Médecins Sans Frontières is a secular humanitarian-aid
non-governmental organisation most recognised for its projects in
war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic disease.
Headquartered in Brussels, MSF is governed by an International Board
of Directors and organised into 20 national sections. Private donors
provide about 80% of the organisation's funding, while governmental
and corporate donations provide the rest, giving MSF an annual budget
of approximately USD 400 million. The organisation actively provides
health care and medical training to populations in more than 70
countries, and frequently insists on political responsibility in
conflict zones such as Chechnya and Kosovo. Only once in its history,
during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, has the organisation called for a
military intervention. In recognition of its members' continuous
effort to provide medical care in acute crises, as well as raising
international awareness of potential humanitarian disasters, MSF
received the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%83%C2%A9decins_Sans_Fronti%C3%83%C2%A8res
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1570:
Pope Pius V issued the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis to excommunicate
Queen Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnans_in_Excelsis)
1836:
Samuel Colt received a patent for a "revolving gun."
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/revolver)
1921:
The Democratic Republic of Georgia was occupied by the Soviet Red
Army.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_Georgia)
1951:
The first Pan American Games opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_American_Games)
1986:
EDSA Revolution: Corazón Aquino was inaugurated as President of the
Philippines, as Ferdinand Marcos fled the nation after 20 years of
rule.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraz%C3%83%C2%B3n_Aquino)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"That so many writers have been prepared to accept a kind of martyrdom
is the best tribute that flesh can pay to the living spirit of man as
expressed in his literature. One cannot doubt that the martyrdom will
continue to be gladly embraced. To some of us, the wresting of beauty
out of language is the only thing in the world that matters." --
Anthony Burgess
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Burgess)