Ctrl.Alt.Shift writer Richard Lemmer scopes across this week’s headlines from across the globe: protest at Iranian Embassy following attack on camp, Somalia bans mixed-sex handshakes, polls open in Sudan and protests to save Forest of Dean.

Protest At Iranian Embassy In London

Activists have protested outside the Iranian Embassy in London after reports of Iranian agents attacking a refugee camp in Iraq (9 January 2011). The activists claim that Camp Ashraf came under attack from Iranian agents and Iraqi special forces, leaving 175 people injured.

The camp is located close to the border with Iran and houses 3,500 Iranian dissidents. Under the Geneva Convention, they have protected persons’ status. Maryam Rajavi, president elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, currently in exile in Paris, said that “the Iranian regime’s henchmen, from Iraq and Iran” carried out a “criminal aggression.”

Video from FreedomMessenger20

Please note: the views expressed in this video are those of FreedomMessenger20, not Ctrl.Alt.Shift.
 

Somalia Ban For Mixed-Sex Handshakes

Al-Shabab, an Islamist group in control of the Somali town Jowhar, have banned men and women from shaking hands. Men and women who are not related are also barred from walking together or chatting in public. The BBC’s Mohamed Moalimuu in Mogadishu says the penalty would probably be public flogging.
 

Sudan Votes On Creating A New Country

Nearly 4 million people in southern Sudan are expected to vote on whether the south of Sudan should separate from the north to form a new country. The voting will carry on all week.

"The turnout was emotional... we have never witnessed this kind of turnout before."

There has been internal fighting between northern and southern factions in Sudan for much of the country’s post-colonial history. The vote has been organised by the International Organisation for Migration under a 2005 peace agreement.

More than 1,400 international observers are deployed across Sudan to see that the vote is legal and peaceful. If the vote is for independence, the south will become a new country in the coming months. Chan Reec Madut, head of the South Sudan Referendum Burea, said, “the turnout was emotional… we have never witnessed this kind of turnout before, even during the election… there is singing, there is dancing, this is day like no other in the history of the people of south Sudan.”
 

Protest To Save Forest of Dean

More than 3,000 activists have rallied in the Forest of Dean to protest against the government’s plans to sell national woodland (3 January 2011). The Public Bodies Bill, which is already being discussed in the House of Lords, will enable the sale of Forestry Commission land, of which the Forest of Dean is a part.

Large parts of the Forestry Commission’s 650,000 acres of land may be sold to real estate developers. The rally, organised by Hands Off Our Forest, featured a march through the forest, numerous live musical acts and a model of Big Ben being burned.

HOOF is currently putting together a petition against the bill, which has more than 100,000 signatures. Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper has announced that “plans in the White Paper will protect the Forest of Dean.” Jonathon Porritt, former sustainable development commission chair, said, “I regard the possible sale of the Royal Forest of Dean and other Crown Forests to faceless investors as a national disaster. The Royal Forest of Dean is steeped in ancient history and tradition…it is our duty to preserve ancient rights and traditions.”
 

Words: Richard Lemmer
Photos: Sudan referendum - Christian Aid
Forest - Flickr user Ben909