Divided by the veil
Elif Shafak
July 18, 2007 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/elif_shafak/2007/07/divided_by_the_veil=
..html
On July 23 millions of Turks will wake up into a new, post-elections
Turkey. What will happen is hard to foresee.
Turkish politics is full of surprises that only foreigners find
surprising. Today, and this seems to surprise most people outside
Turkey, it is women, not men, who are at the heart of political
debate. Indeed, in these elections the number of women candidates from
all parties has visibly increased and so has female political overall
activism.
Disciplining parents
Rosa Davis
July 18, 2007 9:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/rosa_davis/2007/07/disciplining_parents=
..html
The decision on whether to completely ban any form of physical
punishment of children, by parents, was subject to great debate before
the writing of section 58 of the Children's Act 2004. This section
barred all hitting, beating, or harming of children by parents, except
for "smacking".
Smacking was defined as a physical punishment that does not leave a
bruise or a swelling. The DfES is currently reviewing this legislation
through consultations with parents and organisations directly involved
in working with children and dealing with these types of issues. This
has reopened the debate as to how far the government should control
the way in which a child is raised.
Something means nothing
Ilana Bet-El
July 18, 2007 8:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ilana_betel/2007/07/something_means_not=
hing.html
There are dark murmurings afoot internationally: phrases are being
used, signifying intervention in an impending disaster. Most
particularly, "something must be done", a phrase that should haunt the
international community, is being bandied about: the needy of the
world beware.
"Something must be done" was said in the early 1990s as the former
Yugoslavia, especially Bosnia, was being murderously hacked to pieces,
and Rwanda was descending into - then actively implementing -
genocide. In both cases "something" was done, through the UN. In
Bosnia a vast peacekeeping mission was sent to protect not the
vulnerable citizens but rather the humanitarian aid delivered to the
besieged inhabitants of the six notorious enclaves of Muslim
inhabitants, including Srebrenica. In Rwanda, a mission that had been
sent to stop weapons reaching the rebels was actually withdrawn once
the genocide started.
A taboo of our times
Nathalie Rothschild
July 18, 2007 7:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/nathalie_rothschild/2007/07/a_taboo_of_=
our_times.html
Holocaust and genocide denial is the most forceful taboo of our times.
Numerous countries now have laws against Holocaust denial and recently
an EU directive has made "publicly condoning, denying or grossly
trivialising crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes" an offence punishable by law.
But might the institutionalisation of this taboo have dire
consequences - not just for the cranks and charlatans who, often
motivated by racism and bigotry, distort historical truth, but also
for free, open and academic debate? Some believe that anti-denial
legislation will stifle debates about history, as well as political
protest and free thinking.
Rotten business at Whole Foods
Dan Kennedy
July 17, 2007 9:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_kennedy/2007/07/rotten_business_at_=
whole_foods.html
When the Whole Foods supermarket chain announced earlier this year
that it intended to buy its rival Wild Oats for $670m, you'd have
thought it wouldn't be that difficult a trick to pull off.
Yes, it would have eliminated competition between the two leading
natural-foods supermarkets. But there's a certain ritual to these
things. All Whole Foods executives had to say was "We need to get
bigger to compete with Wal-Mart/Safeway/Stop & Shop/whatever," and you
could bet the week's grocery money that the Federal Trade Commission,
which rules on such mergers, would roll over and play dead. But the
FTC has been roused, and Whole Foods founder and chief executive John
Mackey has no one but himself to blame.
Tales of derring-do
Richard Norton-Taylor
July 17, 2007 8:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_nortontaylor/2007/07/tales_of_d=
erring-do.html
The Special Air Service, the SAS, is surrounded by more mystery and
mystique than MI6 or MI5. The Ministry of Defence refuses to comment
officially on its operations in Iraq (and those of its naval
equivalent, the SBS, the Special Boat Service, in Afghanistan). Yet
military commanders, notably senior officers of the SAS, are the first
to welcome media reports of the regiment's derring-do.
Hypocrisy abounds.
End bear-baiting now
Neil Clark
July 17, 2007 7:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/neil_clark/2007/07/end_bearbaiting_now.=
html
Bear-baiting in Britain was banned nearly 200 years ago. Someone
obviously didn't tell Britain's new Foreign Secretary David Miliband,
who yesterday ordered the expulsion of four Russian diplomats from
Britain. Miliband is annoyed that Russia refuses to extradite ex-KGB
agent Andrei Lugovoi, wanted to stand trial for the murder of
Alexander Litvinenko. But Russia is also annoyed that Britain
repeatedly refuses to extradite the billionaire oligarch Boris
Berezovsky, charged with embezzling millions of dollars from the
Russian national airline Aeroflot. (A trial of the Aeroflot case
started in Berezovsky's absence in Moscow last week.) Those who
believe the charges against Berezovsky are politically motivated
should reflect that the same man is also wanted by the authorities in
Brazil for alleged money laundering. To claim that the Brazilian
authorities' arrest warrant was "an extension of the Kremlin's
politicised campaign" as Berezovsky has done, is clearly absurd.
Enough guff
Lynsey Hanley
July 17, 2007 7:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/lynsey_hanley/2007/07/enough_guff.html
I'm not one to expect daily miracles, but the government's - or at
least, that part of the government represented by the employment
minister, Caroline Flint - response to the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation's report on inequality has got me hopping from one foot to
the other with rage.
Here's what she said: "Our commitment to ensuring everyone shares the
nation's increasing wealth has resulted in the rising trend of
inequality recently stabilising. Since 1997, 600,000 children and over
1 million pensioners have been lifted out of poverty."
ABC's sex scandal striptease
Rob Capriccioso
July 17, 2007 6:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/rob_capriccioso/2007/07/vitter_the_dc_m=
adam.html
While US senator David Vitter yesterday offered another apology for
his sexual affairs, ABC News still has a lot of explaining to do on
why the network presented a half-reported story about the alleged "DC
Madam" during the lucrative May television sweeps period instead of
waiting to report the full truth - a truth that was ultimately
unveiled by the pornographic magazine Hustler.
After ABC News ran a 20/20 news piece on May 4 that failed to reveal
well-known politicos or power players who had used Pamela Martin &
Associates, the now-defunct escort service owned for over a decade by
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, many journalists felt that the story of the
alleged "DC Madam" was dead. This was in part due the declarations of
Brian Ross, the lead investigative reporter on the ABC report, who
outwardly admitted that his piece, as presented on air, was somewhat
of a letdown.
Top of the tips
Paul Randle
July 17, 2007 5:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/paul_randle/2007/07/top_of_the_tips.html
Recycling needn't be tarnished with an image of maggot-ridden, foul-
smelling bins and rotten recycling rates. Rushcliffe borough council
has just been rated second-best district/borough council, with 73%
overall customer satisfaction rating. This success is largely down to
getting its strategy right when introducing recycling and alternate
weekly collections. Rushcliffe's recycling service was also awarded a
Beacon by the government in 2006 - the highest independent proof of
excellence a council can achieve. Rushcliffe often bucks national
trends, making thing work which other councils have difficulty with.
Rushcliffe is in South Nottinghamshire and is home to recycling2go- a
branded alternative weekly collection service. The borough's recycling
rate is the second best in the country, at 52%. For five years,
Rushcliffe borough council has been top of its game in recycling -
collecting from both urban and rural residences without the
controversy currently being highlighted in similar areas - and there
are many reasons for this success.
Progress in Pyongyang
Mark Leon Goldberg
July 17, 2007 4:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mark_leon_goldberg/2007/07/progress_in_=
pyongyang.html
The first big step toward North Korean nuclear disarmament was
confirmed by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors yesterday.
The plutonium producing facility in Yongbyon is now closed - the
result of a diplomatic breakthrough achieved through the six party
talks in February. Per the agreement, North Korea would take steps to
dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for food and fuel
subsidies.
So what does this mean? Foremost, it shows just how impractical
American policy has been over the last five years. In fall 2002, the
Bush administration abruptly ended fuel and technology shipments to
North Korea that were negotiated by the Clinton administration as part
of the so-called Agreed Framework of 1994.
Out of this world
Open Thread
July 17, 2007 3:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2007/07/out_of_this_world.h=
tml
A report published today by the Science and Technology Committee calls
for the British government to end its ban on manned space travel.
Since the 1960s successive British governments have decided not to
fund space projects involving humans because of the expense and
possible loss of life involved.
Injecting the discussion
Ann Robinson
July 17, 2007 1:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ann_robinson/2007/07/injecting_the_disc=
ussion.html
The GMC case involving the doctor Andrew Wakefield and his two
colleagues, looks set to run through the summer months and provide
lots of twists and turns to keep us all interested.
The trio of doctors faces professional misconduct charges over their
controversial research into the MMR vaccine. The case centres on
research carried out by Dr Wakefield, and colleagues Professor John
Walker-Smith, and Professor Simon Murch, which raised doubts about the
safety of MMR. In a 1998 research paper published in the Lancet, they
suggested that MMR was linked not only to autism, but also to the
bowel disorder Crohn's disease.
Lies and videotape
Paul MacInnes
July 17, 2007 1:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/paul_macinnes/2007/07/tv_myth_takes.html
It appears to be a further fraying of that golden bungee rope of trust
between television and its audience: Channel 4 have confessed that an
expedition off the Devon coast to hunt sea bass bore fruit only
because the star of the show (the F Word), Gordon Ramsay, had a
professional spearfisher in attendance. The gruff chef may have spent
an hour diligently prodding underwater, but any achievements of his
own were bass-less.
The crux of the problem was the lines Gordon uttered in front of the
camera, having emerged from the sea grasping fish handed to him just
moments previously. "I have got three stunning sea bass", he observed.
"I have never caught a fish from a spear and it's not bad for [a]
first time out."
The wonder of Apu
Saptarshi Ray
July 17, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/saptarshi_ray/2007/07/the_wonder_of_apu=
_1.html
As the Simpsons Movie publicity machine hulks its way towards opening
day, the overhaul of several 7-Eleven stores into fictional Kwik-E-
Marts has seen a backlash by Asian-Americans, as articulated by Manish
Vij on Comment is free yesterday. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a brown
representative among the yellow residents of Springfield, is the town
shopkeeper, famous for phrases like "Thank you, come again" and "The
bullet holes in my chest spell 'lucky'"; and effigies of him
throughout the made-over 7-Eleven stores have seen accusations of
racism.
As a British Asian, it has always been difficult for me to gauge the
corresponding nature of communities in the US. Judging by their
representation in Hollywood, the bulk of US literature or even
American TV, it is a wonder they actually exist at all. Whenever I
spoke to Asian-Americans in London, they marvelled at the robust
identity of South Asians in the UK compared to back home - that you
could go from a place like Southall or Tooting to central London
within half an hour always struck them as amazing, let alone a
community like Brick Lane lying on the doorstep of the City. And it is
not a case of no minorities appearing on US TV sets or magazines, it's
just that Asian-Americans are more of a sideshow compared to
Hispanics, blacks, Jews or even people who label themselves Irish or
Italian. And of Asian-Americans, South Asians are a sub-clause
themselves.
Votes speak
Sunny Hundal
July 17, 2007 11:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunny_hundal/2007/07/votes_speak.html
In November last year, I spearheaded the launch of a manifesto
published first on Cif by a group of people calling themselves New
Generation Network (NGN). I'm pleased to find the argument I made in
an accompanying editorial, that New Labour's engagement with
"community leaders" had essentially been born of laziness ("the
colonial model of 'bring me your headman'"), has now been echoed by
Madeleine Bunting despite her earlier misgivings. It feels like a
vindication.
I have no intention of getting involved in the recent fracas between
Madeleine, Martin Bright or David T, but I think it's worth having a
stab again at the broader debate: who should the government engage
with and on what basis. Have these commentators had any impact on
policy? The conflicting evidence so far sheds little light on this.
Happy campaigners
Derek Wall
July 17, 2007 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/derek_wall/2007/07/get_away.html
Politics involves pressure, which is why I am shouting loudly for all
those who care about the environment to support Camp for Climate
Action in Heathrow this summer.
It runs from 14-21 August; so, instead of flying to Cape Cod, why not
have a carbon neutral holiday at the end of the Piccadilly line?
Creating waves
Jim Giles
July 17, 2007 9:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jim_giles/2007/07/creating_waves.html
Last week on Cif, Nature's Adam Rutherford argued that a scientist who
professed to being a creationist should be denied tenure. He said that
since creationism rests on claims that cannot be tested by experiment,
the idea lies outside the realm of science. Any researcher holding
such beliefs does not therefore understand science and so should not
be granted a professorship.
I agree with Adam on one point. Creationism is outside of science. The
same goes for intelligent design, the failed disguise that
creationists have employed in recent years. If someone wants to
believe that, just a few thousand years ago, God decided to knock
together the Earth in a few days of intense work, that's fine with me.
But without empirical evidence that makes that idea more attractive
than existing explanations, it will remain a statement based on faith,
not scientific reasoning.
This flurry of Middle East activity is the product of a very real
threat: Iran
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2128690,00.html
The rise of Tehran has petrified Arab capitals - and intensified
debate in the US and Israel about the use of force
Jonathan Freedland
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
As the good book says, God loves the sinner that repenteth even if he
repenteth late - so George Bush will probably win a smile from heaven
for his belated call for a Middle East peace conference before the
year is out. Sure, it's a bit late now for the president to be
scrabbling to make amends for six-and-a-half years of at best
intermittent attention towards the Israel-Palestine conflict. But
something is better than nothing - even if Tony Blair is probably a
bit miffed that the proposed chair for this international powwow will
not be him, despite his new job, but Condoleezza Rice.
Urban Britain is heading for Victorian levels of inequality
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2128668,00.html
The chasm between rich and poor seen in London today resembles the
Manchester that Engels described in the 1840s
Tristram Hunt
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Today's super-rich are endowing a new generation of cities as divisive
and ostentatious as themselves. In New York, Shanghai and London, the
cosmopolitan plutocracy outdo each other in displays of ritual
vulgarity from the car showroom to the restaurant table. But beneath
the helipads, there lurks a growing cityscape of poverty and
exploitation.
Yesterday's Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on social segregation in
Britain has highlighted the crisis, talking of poverty "clustering"
and wealthy flight to the outskirts. With the personal wealth of the
richest 1% now controlling 24% of the national share, it seems we are
heading towards Victorian levels of inequality. So it is worth
recalling how the most astute critic of urban geography regarded the
effects of such extremities of wealth and poverty.
A new cold war? Nonsense. It's old-fashioned diplomacy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2128659,00.html
It is puerile to compare this Anglo-Russian mess to that titanic
ideological struggle. Shared interests tower over these spats
Simon Jenkins
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
The pundits are misty-eyed with nostalgia. Just when the so-called war
on terror is looking passe, the old cold war is back. Four-hour waits
at Heathrow and a handful of beards in the slammer are no match for Dr
Strangelove, Checkpoint Charlie and George Smiley. What is a
fertiliser bomb against the awesome carapace of mutually assured
destruction? For most people, foreign policy is a cliche. With the
Russian bear behaving badly again we can relax to default mode and
flip diplomats like tiddlywinks.
Eternally virginal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2128667,00.html
Rehymenisation surgery is the lastest example of an ancient obsession
with totemic purity
Anke Bernau
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Is virginity still of interest to us today, in the west, in the 21st
century? Some would argue that the sexual revolution of the 1960s did
away with such a notion. Yet it still fascinates, and female virginity
in particular remains a potent - and titillating - idea and ideal. Why
otherwise are plastic surgeons offering women "rehymenisation" or
"vaginal rejuvenation" procedures? Then there are the celebrities who
make virginity a central aspect of their brand. And this week a
British schoolgirl lost her high court challenge to be allowed to wear
the ring that signalled her membership of the pro-chastity
organisation, the Silver Ring Thing, to school.
The MMR story that wasn't
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2128807,00.html
Whatever you think about Andrew Wakefield, the real villains of the
MMR scandal are the media.
Ben Goldacre
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Whatever you think about Andrew Wakefield, the real villains of the
MMR scandal are the media. Just one week before his GMC hearing, yet
another factless "MMR causes autism" news story appeared: and even
though it ran on the front page of our very own Observer, I am
dismantling it on this page. We're all grown-ups around here.
The story made three key points: that new research has found an
increase in the prevalence of autism to one in 58; that the lead
academic on this study was so concerned he suggested raising the
finding with public heath officials; and that two "leading
researchers" on the team believe that the rise was due to MMR. Within
a week the story had been recycled in several national newspapers, and
the news pages of at least one academic journal.
The UN chief doesn't have to shout to get results
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2128652,00.html
Be it on Darfur or climate change, Ban Ki-moon has already made
diplomatic gains, says Michael Meyer
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Jonathan Steele is unkind to the point of churlishness (It is time for
Ban Ki-moon to speak out, July 13). He lays into the United Nations
secretary general with a litany of garden-variety criticisms: he is
America's man; he is faceless, cautious and oh-so-polite in that Asian
way; he is surrounded by Koreans, Indians and other non-Europeans with
little inside experience of the UN culture and its mystifying ways; he
has accomplished nothing and is not likely to do so in the face of an
entrenched bureaucracy resistant to change, especially from such a
shrinking violet as Ban Ki-moon.
The real reason Hollywood's terrorists aren't Al-Qaida
Peter Bradshaw
July 18, 2007 12:18 PM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/07/why_hollywoods_terrorists_aren.html
Nick Cohen wrote an intriguing article in this week's Observer which
raised a mystery that I myself have pondered many times: the Case Of
Hollywood's All-American Terrorist. As Sherlock might have said: it
really is a three-pipe problem.
Why is Hollywood so keen to create terrorists who are not Al-Qaida,
not Islamist, not Muslim? Why not name the elephant in the living
room? After all, any screenwriter could easily create some "good"
Muslims in the script to pre-empt accusations of xenophobia, or
Islamophobia. It was after all pretty common for World War Two
pictures to create depictions of decent Germans to balance the swinish
Nazis.
How Hollywood declared war on France
Colin Randall
July 17, 2007 3:51 PM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/07/how_hollywwod_declared_war_on.html
A visiting Martian might take the view that there are more
bloodthirsty gangsters in America and more terrorists in Britain or
Colombia than anywhere else in the world. So what would it make of
Hollywood's apparently unwavering belief that if you want a villain in
your movie, it's safest these days to make him a Frenchman (Vincent
Cassel in Oceans 12, the police chief in The Da Vinci Code, the French
count in The Legend of Zorro)?
Even though the only man so far convicted in America in relation to
9/11 is French, it seems to strain belief that the terrorist baddies
in Die Hard 4 should also, as Lib=E9ration elegantly puts it, "speak the
language of Moliere".
Europeans lukewarm as Britain tries to rally support in row with
Russia
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2128844,00.html
=B7 German officials suggest UK has overreacted
=B7 Only France offers strong support over extradition
Julian Borger, Luke Harding and David Gow
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
The furious diplomatic row between Britain and Russia spilled into
Europe yesterday as Britain looked for solidarity from its EU partners
and Russia warned them not to get involved.
Britain failed to win the immediate, concerted response it was
seeking. The Foreign Office had wanted a quick statement from the
Portuguese, who hold the EU presidency, that would express a united
European position denouncing Moscow for its lack of cooperation over
the Litvinenko murder inquiry. But late yesterday the Portuguese prime
minister, Jose Socrates, had been unable to find a consensus among his
fellow leaders.
Senators debate through the night on Iraq
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2129161,00.html
James Sturcke and agencies
Wednesday July 18, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The US Senate has sat all night in a marathon session to debate
Democrat demands to withdraw American troops from Iraq.
Beds were installed for any senators needing a break from the
proceedings, which were accompanied by an anti-war rally outside the
building.
Republicans agreed to stay and respond to any votes that might be
scheduled around the clock, but remained opposed to the Democrats'
anti-war legislation.
They dismissed the debate as a publicity stunt, the BBC reported.
Bush Middle East plan starts to unravel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2128763,00.html
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
George Bush yesterday encountered the weakest of welcomes for his call
for an international peace conference on the Middle East.
A day after he unveiled his plan for a conference of Israelis,
Palestinians and Arab governments in the autumn, there were few signs
of optimism that such a gathering could produce a final resolution to
the conflict.
The White House moved to douse expectations. "I think a lot of people
are inclined to try to treat this as a big peace conference. It's
not," Tony Snow, the White House's press secretary, told reporters.
Dust, waste and dirty water: the deadly price of China's miracle
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2128826,00.html
China wakes up to dangers of pollution
In pictures: pollution in China
John Vidal, environment editor
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Hundreds of millions of people are being made ill every year or dying
prematurely from pollution caused by China's breakneck economic
growth, a leading economic thinktank has concluded following an 18-
month investigation.
The OECD study, prepared at China's request, draws on work by the
government, World Bank and Chinese Academy of Sciences to spell out
the scale of the ecological crisis now engulfing the country,
poisoning its people and holding it back economically.
Poppy eradication risking lives, warn MPs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2128861,00.html
Richard Norton-Taylor
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
The lives of British soldiers in Afghanistan are being put at risk
because failure to develop a coherent strategy for eradicating the
country's opium poppies has led to the Taliban forming an alliance
with heroin traders, a highly critical parliamentary report warns
today. The Commons defence committee also warns that the refusal of
other Nato countries to deploy more troops to Afghanistan is
undermining Nato's credibility and the international military
operation in the country.
Tony Blair accepted British responsibility for developing a counter-
narcotics strategy in a country which provides some 90% of the heroin
on British streets, yet the policy lacked "coherence and clarity"
while the Taliban was developing close links with the narcotics trade,
the MPs say.An opium poppy eradication programme is starting but
without the money promised, or needed, to provide Afghan farmers with
an alternative livelihood. The defence committee heard evidence that
poppy fields belonging to poor farmers were being destroyed by Afghan
officials working with Dyncorp, a private US security company.
Iranian militants demand return of British diplomatic compound
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2128783,00.html
=B7 Area was handed to UK illegally, say hardliners
=B7 Officials offer to swap gardens for Hyde Park
Robert Tait in Tehran
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Britain's tense relations with Iran are likely to be further strained
next week by an officially linked campaign demanding the handover of
the British embassy residence compound in Tehran.
Hardliners will stage a conference demanding the return to Iran of
Gholhak gardens, a 200,000 sq metre (50-acre) compound providing
accommodation for British diplomats and their families.
The compound, in north Tehran's up-market Shemiran district, was
presented to Britain at the height of its imperial might by the Qajar
monarchy in the 19th century. It is separate from the sprawling
British embassy complex several miles further south.
Pakistan quake aid scaled back after militant revenge attacks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2128811,00.html
=B7 Charities forced to pull staff from affected areas
=B7 Wave of bombings linked to siege of Red Mosque
Declan Walsh in Islamabad
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Aid efforts for thousands of earthquake and flood victims in Pakistan
have been affected by violence sparked by the recent siege of the Red
Mosque. UN and relief agencies have suspended operations in part of
North-West Frontier Province following a spate of attacks last week.
A mob ransacked stores and torched offices belonging to Care
International, the Red Cross and four other organisations in Batagram,
an area badly affected by the October 2005 quake that killed more than
73,000 people.
CIA dissenters helped expose renditions, says inquiry chief
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2128840,00.html
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
American intelligence officials who were deeply opposed to the secret
transfer of terror suspects to interrogation centres across Europe
cooperated with an investigation into the CIA's undisclosed network of
jails, it was claimed yesterday.
***** Marty, the Swiss senator who produced the Council of Europe's
report on the hidden transport and detention of suspects, yesterday
told a committee in the European parliament that he had received
information about the secret programme from dissident officers within
the upper reaches of the CIA. He said the officers were disturbed that
the programme, known as renditions, led to the torture and
mistreatment of detainees.
EU troops to help Darfur refugees
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2128732,00.html
David Gow in Brussels
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
European Union governments will next week give the green light for
3,000 troops to be sent to Chad to protect refugees from the
neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan and help demobilise thousands of
children forced to take up arms.
Human rights and aid organisations yesterday pressed EU foreign
ministers, who meet in Brussels on Monday, to set "robust" rules of
engagement for the troops, enabling them to fire when they and
refugees are under attack and to arrest wanted war criminals.
Foreign medics in Libyan row over children with HIV escape execution
http://www.guardian.co.uk/libya/story/0,,2128792,00.html
=B7 Families withdraw death sentence demand
=B7 Six seen as scapegoats after virus infected 426
Ian Black, Middle East editor
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Libya has commuted the death sentences of six foreign medics accused
of infecting more than 400 children with the HIV virus, raising
expectations that they will be freed soon.
Last night's ruling by the high judiciary council followed a decision
by the families of the victims to drop their demand for the execution
of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, paving the way
for their release and the end of an eight-year saga. The prisoners
still face life imprisonment, but Bulgaria is expected to formally
request today that the medics be extradited into its custody under a
prisoner exchange agreement. "This decision is a big step," said the
foreign minister, Ivailo Kalfin. "For us the case will end once they
come back to Bulgaria."
Is this a genuine Warhol? Film-maker sues artist's estate for 'price
fixing'
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2128858,00.html
=B7 Owner of self-portrait says work is genuine
=B7 Authentication board 'manipulating art market'
Ed Pilkington in New York
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
A London-based American film-maker has filed a class action law suit
against Andy Warhol's estate, art foundation and authentication board
on the grounds that for the past 20 years the bodies have conspired to
manipulate the art market in order to command multimillion dollar
profits on sales of their own Warhol collection.
The class action, lodged with the district court in Manhattan, alleges
that the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, together with the
board that it set up in 1995 to sift out genuine Warhols from fake
ones, have established an effective stranglehold on the Warhol market.
Pack a bag in case of terror, Sydney residents told
=B7 Go-Bag should hold maps, shoes - and toilet paper
=B7 =A385,000 campaign attracts bemusement and ridicule
Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
People living in Australia's largest city are being urged to keep
survival bags at their homes and workplaces in the event of a
terrorist attack or natural disaster. The so-called Go-Bags should
contain items such as maps, running shoes, sunscreen and toilet paper,
bemused residents of Sydney have been told.
The advice issued by city authorities also tells people "you can carry
your cat in a pillowcase" during an evacuation and tells them to turn
off their gas and electricity and to check on their neighbours before
going to designated emergency gathering points around the city.
Peru near standstill as protests sour president's anniversary
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2128629,00.html
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Strikes and street protests have paralysed swaths of Peru and rattled
President Alan Garc=EDa's government, tarnishing what had been
considered one of South America's great political comebacks.
Teachers and farm workers led a 12th consecutive day of demonstrations
yesterday by boycotting classes, blocking roads and mobilising
resentment over poor living conditions. One farm worker died and
dozens were injured when 4,000 protesters clashed with police in
Andahuaylas on Monday, according to local reports.
Nuclear waste leak fear after Japan quake
http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2128678,00.html
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
Nuclear power officials in Japan yesterday admitted that the world's
largest nuclear power plant had suffered at least 50 malfunctions,
including burst pipes, water leaks and radioactive waste spillage,
when it was hit by Monday's earthquake.
Officials were investigating possible radioactive leaks from the plant
after reports that several drums carrying low-level nuclear waste
tipped over and lost their lids during the earthquake in northern
Japan, which had a magnitude of 6.8.
Galloway faces Commons suspension
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2128736,00.html
=B7 MPs back 18-day ban over charity's Saddam links
=B7 Respect MP says attack on him politically motivated
Will Woodward, chief political correspondent
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Guardian
George Galloway should be suspended from the Commons for 18 days, a
committee of MPs recommended yesterday, after the parliamentary
standards commissioner said it was likely that the outspoken Respect
MP knew a charity appeal by him was partly financed through Saddam
Hussein's Iraqi dictatorship.
Sir Philip Mawer, the commissioner, said he had "no evidence" that Mr
Galloway directly and personally received money from the Saddam regime
via diverted funds from the UN oil for food programme. But there was
"clear evidence" that his Mariam Appeal "did benefit" from money from
Iraq through its chairman, Jordanian businessman Fawaz Zureikat, who
donated =A3448,000 of the =A31.4m raised by the appeal.
Drug barons turn Bissau into Africa's first narco-state
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2779416.ece
By Jonathan Miller in Bissau
Published: 18 July 2007
Welcome to Africa's first narco-state, a country with just 1.5 million
people but a roaring drugs trade. Every day an estimated one tonne of
pure Colombian cocaine is thought to be transiting through the
mainland's mangrove swamps and the chain of islands that make up
Guinea-Bissau, most of it en route to Europe.
Western intelligence sources describe it as "the worst drugs
trafficking problem we've ever encountered on the [African]
continent", and admit they have been blind-sided by the sheer scale of
it. "The more we learn, the more we're shocked by the numbers
involved. We've all been slow off the mark," said one top US Drug
Enforcement Agency official in Europe.
Zimbabwe's desperate people flee across border to escape Mugabe
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2779436.ece
By Basildon Peta in Musina
Published: 18 July 2007
"At the rate which they are flocking in, I think there will soon be
very few people left in Zimbabwe," says Peter Thompson, a South
African farmer .
His verdict is typical of the landowners and businessmen the length of
the border with Zimbabwe who say they are witnessing a dramatic
upsurge in illegal immigration as their northern neighbour's economic
collapse has accelerated in recent weeks.
A load of tosh: America's verdict on Posh
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2779427.ece
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 18 July 2007
It could have been a big as The Osbournes, or so the producers of
NBC's Victoria Beckham: Coming to America, had persuaded themselves.
Instead they were licking their wounds after a rare savaging at the
hands of the usually docile US entertainment media.
Unveiled: The Pakistani tribe that dares to defy the fundamentalists
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2779426.ece
In the North West Frontier Province, the mullahs' word is law and the
veil is worn. But one ancient tribe refuses to cover up. Jerome Taylor
reports from the Rumbur Valley
Published: 18 July 2007
In Pakistan's deeply conservative North West Frontier Province, the
veil is simply a way of life. Whether in the bazaars of the capital
Peshawar or high up in the myriad of Himalayan villages bordering
Afghanistan, women wishing to leave their houses do so under the cover
of a niqab or a billowing burqa. So important is the Islamic concept
of purdah that the fort-like houses in the tribal areas usually
contain separate living quarters for women and men.
Give or take the occasional advertising hoarding or glitzy film from
Lahore, most men are unlikely to see an adult female face outside of
their immediate family until they marry.
Show of strength as China marks anniversary of world's biggest army
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2779421.ece
By Clifford Coonan in Beijing
Published: 18 July 2007
Our Troops toward the Sun, an exhibition which opened yesterday,
allows visitors to drive a tank, see Chairman Mao Zedong's punch-bag
or check out a model of a hydrogen bomb. They can even examine in
detail the new uniforms of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
This year is the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the PLA, the
world's biggest military force, and China is celebrating the occasion
with a stirring exhibition. Day one was packed with visitors,
including children getting to grips with anti-aircraft guns and dozens
of people queuing to fire a warship's gun.
Mark Steel: Why should Galloway be the only fall guy?
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/mark_steel/article2779407.e=
ce
Perhaps the explanation is their procedures were taken from 'Alice in
Wonderland'
Published: 18 July 2007
At last a politician has been suspended for their role in the Iraq
war. You'd have thought it would have happened before now, and you
might have thought when it finally happened, it wouldn't be the
politician most prominently against the war. Suspending George
Galloway for his conduct in Iraq is as if last week's trial of those
failed suicide bombers ended with the judge saying "This was a
monstrous crime. So I'm going to let you off, and jail the bloke who
chased you through the Underground."
The main reason given for the suspension is that some of the money for
Galloway's charity came from a dodgy Jordanian businessman. Is this
the normal attitude with charities, that no donation should be
accepted without the donor being investigated? Maybe it's a new
culture, and in next year's "Children in Need", Terry Wogan will say:
"And how about this? We've had a grand donation of =A325 from Mrs
Wimthorpe in Derby. Well I've got one thing to say - who the hell are
you, Wimthorpe, and what's your game? We're going to go through you
with a microscope and if you've put one finger out of line you can
keep your dirty money you old scallywag, spina bifida doesn't need
you."
Donald Macintyre: Blair faces a hard road in the Middle East
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/donald_macintyre/article277=
9393.ece
The idea that the baggage he carries from Iraq will hurt relations
with Palestinians is wide of the mark
Published: 18 July 2007
As Tony Blair prepares to meet his new bosses, the international
Quartet on the Middle East, tomorrow in Lisbon, Monday's speech by
President George W Bush is hardly the flying start he might have hoped
for. It's true that the one new element, an international conference
on the region, is akin to the one which Mr Blair pressed Mr Bush in
vain to allow him to host over two years ago. But Mr Bush produced no
other new policy, and precious little outline of how, if at all, the
conference will advance the peace process.
Mr Bush's demands on Mr Abbas - borrowed from the ill-fated Road Map -
were as tough as ever; those on Israel little beyond the ritual call
to dismantle settlement outposts and freeze settlement expansion. If
this was meant finally to identify the "political horizon" he talked
about, Palestinians - and Israelis - are going to need some powerful
binoculars to make it out.
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