Judging Musharraf
Tariq Hassan
April 2, 2007 8:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tariq_hassan/2007/04/pakistan.html
In his recent memoir, General Pervez Musharraf, the commander-in-chief
of the armed forces and self-imposed ruler of Pakistan, sought to
create the perception that he was, as the leader of a front-line state
in the war against terror, "In The Line of Fire". But the
autobiography has turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy for the
general, who has now actually landed himself in harm's way - and not
under the pretenses of aiding the war against terror. Musharraf's
recent troubles are the result of his vain effort to subvert the
Pakistani judiciary, ahead of this year's elections, by suspending
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry of the Supreme Court, and
then trying to correct his mistake by sending him on "forced leave".
Now, Musharraf is facing fire from within his own country. The legal
community has unequivocally expressed outrage at the general for
frivolously referring the chief justice to the Supreme Judicial
Council - the legal body considers judicial misconduct cases - on
charges that he misused his office. Legal scholars contend that the
misconduct charges are intended to intimidate judges and undermine the
independence of the judiciary: It is suspected that Musharraf feared
Chaudhry might rule against him if he attempts to remain both
president of the country and chief of the army. Although the referral
is under private judicial consideration and cannot be discussed
publicly, representatives of the legal community have unanimously
demanded the withdrawal of the charges and reinstatement of the chief
justice.
A letter to Ian Rankin
Christopher Harvie
April 3, 2007 8:45 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/christopher_harvie/2007/04/a_letter_to_=
ian_rankin.html
You have recently said that Scotland wasn't ready for independence,
and that although some in the SNP were impressive, the party made too
much of North Sea oil. I remain chuffed that bits of my Fool's Gold
are "difplagged" throughout your Black and Blue, and with my family
and students share a continuing concern about the mental and physical
condition of my near-exact contemporary John Rebus. But I'm still in
the political game, fighting our mutual friend Gordon Brown as an SNP
candidate in the Kingdom of Fife, largely because I find an
independent Scotland less frightening than a continuing Union.
The only time we met was on a TV discussion panel after the 1999
Holyrood elections. You had just voted Labour and Green, so I wouldn't
have expected you to back independence. Yet you also said something
that gave cause for thought: that the political situation you wrote
about, and in which Rebus acted, was "post-imperial".
The rise of Walm-Art
Kriston Capps
April 2, 2007 10:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/kriston_capps/2007/04/the_rise_of_walma=
rt.html
Last year more than four and a half million people visited the
National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. That gave nine million
eyeballs a likely last look at Kindred Spirits, a transcendentalist
Hudson River School masterpiece by Asher Durand. It will be years,
maybe decades, before as many viewers see it again. From summer 2005
through this March, it enjoyed prominent place in a great museum in
the nation's capital; as of 2009, Kindred Spirits will debut in its
new permanent home: Bentonville, Arkansas.
That's the site of Crystal Bridges, a museum of American art founded
by Alice Walton - Wal-Mart heiress, self-minted Medici, and new owner
of Kindred Spirits. More than a plot in development, Bentonville is
the birthplace of Wal-Mart; in fact, Crystal Bridges will share a
campus - and by the sounds of things, equal booking - with the Walton
5&10 Museum, a house of tchochkes that commemorates the myth of the
megaloretailer.
Sublime intervention
Ian Williams
April 2, 2007 8:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ian_williams/2007/04/humanitarian_inter=
vention_two.html
Those who make a fetish of opposition to "liberal interventionism"
would have probably defended the slave trade.
As sundry public figures engage in "we are sorrier than you are"
competitions about the slave trade to commemorate the 200th
anniversary of its abolition in the British empire, it is worth
looking at the significance of what followed. It was perhaps the first
clear example of humanitarian intervention in modern history.
The grassroots are stirring
Jonathan Fenby
April 2, 2007 7:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jonathan_fenby/2007/04/_the_nailhouse_o=
f_chongqing.html
The "nailhouse" of Chongqing in China's Sichuan province stands out in
the middle of an excavated building site in a city that is due to
contain more than 30 million people when its development is completed.
It has become an unlikely symbol of rising popular discontent - a
process that has major implications for the authorities in Beijing and
may show that while democracy and accountability remain far off, the
authoritarian Leninist party that rules the world's most heavily
populated nation is having to take notice of the grassroots.
The days when Mao Zedong could blithely state that the people were
behind him and whatever new initiative he chose to launch are long
gone. For China's managerially minded leadership of the early 21st
century, a delicate deal has been struck between the economic growth
needed to keep the show on the road and dealing with the discontent
spawned by that growth, from wealth disparities greater than those in
the US or Europe to disastrous ecological damage, from huge gaps in
health, education and pensions to the gap between the booming coastal
cities and the backward interior.
The banality of geekiness
Jeff Jarvis
April 2, 2007 6:45 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jeff_jarvis/2007/04/the_banality_of_gee=
kiness.html
In the US election, an attack ad mashing up video of Hillary Clinton
with a legendary Apple commercial with a 1984 motif caused quite the
stir, got almost 3 million views on YouTube, and caused more news when
Arianna Huffington dispatched her troops to report and unmask the
anonymous filmmaker, who then was fired from a firm doing business
with Barack Obama, whom the ad supported. Now he speaks:
ParkRidge47, aka Phillip de Vellis, is interviewed on video by
YouTube's editor of news and politics, Steve Grove. (Interesting new
form of journalism, by the way: the asynchronous webcam interview).
War wounds and internal injuries
Simon Tisdall
April 2, 2007 6:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_tisdall/2007/04/israeli_arabs_lef=
t_out_of.html
Israel is still counting the cost of last summer's war against
Hizbullah in Lebanon - though the final balance may not be entirely
disadvantageous. Regional analysts say internally challenged Arab
regimes such as Egypt were privately pleased to see a threatening "sub-
state" actor like Iranian-backed Hizbullah knocked on the head. After
all, they could be next.
Arab-Israeli relations have followed an upward curve ever since the
war, culminating in prime minister Ehud Olmert's weekend offer of
multilateral peace talks without preconditions. Unconfirmed reports
abound of secret meetings between Israeli and Saudi officials. Miri
Eisin, Mr Olmert's spokeswoman, declined to address the issue
directly: "We have contacts with some Gulf states. Saudi Arabia is a
central, important, stabilising factor in the Middle East."
Passover and slavery
Tony Bayfield
April 2, 2007 5:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tony_bayfield/2007/04/on_slavery.html
It's sobering to report that tonight will be my 60th Seder. Probably.
Neither I nor my parents can recall for sure where we were in the
spring of 1947, but let's stay with 60.
The Seder is the Jewish family re-telling of the story of the Exodus
from Egypt. At its heart is the injunction to see myself as though
I've actually taken part in the experience - in the journey from
slavery in Egypt to freedom in the wilderness of Sinai.
A different league
Faisal al Yafai
April 2, 2007 5:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/faisal_al_yafai/2007/04/a_different_lea=
gue.html
There are two adverts on Arabic TV that illustrate the difficulties of
the Arab League, which held its annual summit last week.
The first ad, most often aired on the US-run TV station al-Hurra, is a
call to report terrorist activity: it features a determined looking
man striding into a crowded marketplace, watched by a small boy. The
boy and the man lock eyes. Moments later, in the middle of the crowd,
the man throws open his jacket to reveal explosives and blows himself
up. When you need to run adverts warning people about suicide bombers,
you know your country is in trouble.
A big missed stake
Phillip Inman
April 2, 2007 4:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/phillip_inman/2007/04/a_big_missed_stak=
e=2Ehtml
How did Gordon Brown whack pension funds 10 years ago and did it wreck
the whole pension system? It's a question that almost seems out of
date now that the debate has moved on to an examination of Mr Brown's
integrity after his mis-handling of the ensuing political row. But as
claim and counter-claim fill the pages of newspapers it is still a
question worth asking.
In essence, during the 1980s and 1990s British pension funds looked
like a big pot of gold parked in a corner of the economy. They were
mostly invested in shares. The stock market was buoyant. As a result,
occupational final salary schems were overflowing. By 1997 they had
become so big and powerful they supported 11 million workers and were
the envy of the western world.
Undertrained, under-resourced and over there
Richard Norton-Taylor
April 2, 2007 4:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_nortontaylor/2007/04/undertrain=
ed_underresourced_an.html
The sailors and marines captured by Iranian revolutionary guards would
not have had any special "conduct after capture" training. They should
simply use their common sense with the aim to get released as soon as
possible, say naval officers. Gone are the days when, as second world
war films so eloquently show, under the Geneva Convention captives
were obliged only to give their rank, date of birth, and service
number. The naval personnel were unlikely to have any sensitive
secrets, anyway. And we are not at war with Iran.
Special forces and pilots get the most advanced training, including
briefing on interrogation techniques - how interrogators step up the
pressure, the "nice and nasty" routine, and so on. The marines among
them might have had the benefit of some extra training as potential
frontline troops, but the eight young sailors in the group of 15
personnel seized by Iran's revolutionary guards would have had the
minimum, according to military officials. That is to say, a 20-minute
video which essentially advises not to anything stupid, though they
are also advised not to volunteer details about their families.
Persecution complex
Terry Sanderson
April 2, 2007 3:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/terry_sanderson/2007/04/persecution_com=
plex.html
In a somewhat over-blown speech in London last week, the head of the
Catholic church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor,
claimed that religion is under attack in this country.
Still raging at the defeat of the church in its attempt to be exempted
from legislation designed to protect gay, lesbian and bisexual people
from discrimination, Murphy O'Connor became the first Catholic leader
in nearly 200 years to suggest that a government is actively
interfering with the practice of Roman Catholicism. He accused the
British government of creating, "a different version of our democracy,
one in which diversity and equality are held to be at odds with
religion".
Israel v exile
Seth Freedman
April 2, 2007 3:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/seth_freedman/2007/04/next_year_in_jeru=
salem.html
Tonight is the first night of Passover, when Jews across the world
celebrate their ancestors' freedom from the yoke of slavery in ancient
Egypt. Sitting round the dinner table, we will recount the tale of
liberation and the first aliyah in minute detail, with four glasses of
wine to help us get into the festive spirit. We'll move on to a
lovingly-prepared feast midway through proceedings. Once Grace has
been recited, the singing begins - including the traditional and
rousing refrain of Next Year In Jerusalem.
For me, this is always a source of consternation - I already live in
Jerusalem, yet every year I find myself flying back to my family in
London for Seder night, in apparent contradiction of the song's
instructions. Thus, year after year, I try to imagine what it would
take to get my nearest and dearest to actually up sticks and join me
in the promised land - and I also wonder where the buck stops.
Making a crisis out of a drama
Larry Elliott
April 2, 2007 2:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/larry_elliott/2007/04/gordon_and_pensio=
ns.html
The Treasury's handling of the "Great Pension Swindle" has been
abject. Indeed, so inept has Gordon Brown been that, in years to come,
the ham-fisted attempt to block the release of papers surrounding the
1997 Budget and the rather pathetic attempts to claim that the CBI
supported the move (when it blatantly didn't) should be used by
government spin doctors as the template for how not to do things.
As it happens, Brown has a reasonable story to tell. For years, nay
decades, the Achilles' heel of the British economy has been the lack
of investment in new plant and products. Where companies in other
countries were re-investing their profits in up-to-date techniques, UK
companies - encouraged by the tax system - doled out larger dividend
payments than their rivals overseas.
You say 'Malvinas', we say 'Falklands' ...
Open Thread
April 2, 2007 1:45 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2007/04/the_falklands_twent=
yfive_years.html
It is 25 years to the day since Argentinian forces invaded the
Falkland Islands, a tiny clump of land in the South Atlantic. The war
lasted nearly three months and its effects continue to be felt on the
small islands, which are currently home to 2,500 people. The recapture
of the Falklands caused a wave of patriotism on the British mainland
and among the islanders, determined to retain their British
sovereignty.
Peace in our time?
Brian Whitaker
April 2, 2007 1:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_whitaker/2007/04/peace_in_our_tim=
e_1.html
Potentially, the Israeli prime minister's offer to meet all Arab heads
of state face-to-face is the most dramatic step towards peace since
Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president, addressed the Knesset in 1977.
Whether anything will actually come of it remains to be seen; there
are many reasons to be sceptical but also a few reasons to be hopeful.
In making positive noises Mr Olmert may simply be going through the
motions and he has, in effect, tossed the ball back into the Arab
court by saying that if King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia can get all the
Arab leaders together, he will be there to meet them. The history of
Arab summits shows that persuading them all to sit in the same room at
the same time can be no mean feat.
Blogger beware!
Catherine Sanderson
April 2, 2007 12:15 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/catherine_sanderson/2007/04/blogger_bew=
are.html
Once upon a time, I was just another anonymous blogger writing under a
pseudonym. I wouldn't say that my online alter ego - petite anglaise -
was a different person exactly, but I certainly managed the way I
wanted to be perceived, and took pleasure in putting a spin on the
events I related if, say, I wanted to play a particular anecdote for
laughs.
By day, I was a highly competent and dependable bilingual secretary
(in my humble opinion), but as petite anglaise, I boasted about my
lightening speed on the alt+tab keys and joked that if my boss
continued to pile on the work, I'd be forced to look for a more
blogging-friendly job. Irony of ironies, I even wrote an April Fool's
post back in 2005 pretending I'd been unmasked and fired for
blogging.
Tricks of the intelligence trade
Hossein Derakhshan
April 2, 2007 11:32 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/hossein_derakhshan/2007/04/hossein_dera=
khshan_1.html
Let's say Iran has indeed tricked the British sailors into appearing
on camera and apologising for entering Iranian waters.
But what if it is revealed later, when they are finally released, that
the Iranians have actually treated them very well and have not used
violence or torture to force them to say these things?
Bringing Mugabe to book
Rosa Davis
April 2, 2007 10:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/rosa_davis/2007/04/bringing_mugabe_to_b=
ook.html
The situation in Zimbabwe has been at crisis point for a number of
months, but recent events have shocked even the most robust followers
of African politics. The recent beatings of political opponents,
threats to expel diplomats, and other despicable actions have created
a furore amongst the international community. From a legal point of
view, the question is whether Robert Mugabe can be held accountable
for these events and in what forum this will be possible.
There have been a number of instances where attempts have been made to
prosecute foreign leaders abroad for atrocities committed in their own
countries. Belgium issued an arrest warrant for the leader of the
Democratic Republic of Congo in order to prosecute him under the
jurisdiction that he had committed crimes that breached international
conventions, and therefore any party to those conventions could
enforce them. This attempt failed, but shows the basic premise that as
an international community we have an obligation to try to enforce
international law and punish those who breach it.
The city's walls
Josh Freedman Berthoud
April 2, 2007 8:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/josh_freedman_berthoud/2007/04/the_ligh=
thouse_of_fonthill_roa.html
I have always loved Fonthill Road. Not because of the shopping (I
can't remember the last time I wore pink spandex) but because of the
place itself. Apart from late at night, when it becomes a long,
desolate sweep of litter and blustering boxes, the walk from my house
to Seven Sisters Road never fails to absorb me. And in this week's hot
sun the street was in fine form.
This is the place where all of London's women bring their friends,
daughters and daughters' friends to scoop up the bargains that even
Primark can't provide. Large African women squeeze through narrow
doorframes for curiously luminous dresses, while their daughters
loiter loudly outside. Blonde women in matching tracksuits and
glinting gold earrings bow to the floor under the weight of the world
and the large shiny crosses that swing around their necks. As they
open their mouths to scream to the small boys running behind them,
it's still a surprise to hear a bubbling, rounded Russian emanate from
their mouths, rather than the sharper cut vowels of the English women
they so resemble, and who appear now behind them, darting out of one
shop only to disappear into another.
Sharks deserve the conservation status we give to the giant panda
Marine predators are on the verge of extinction, but the fishing
industry still rips the environment to shreds with impunity
George Monbiot
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
If these animals lived on land there would be a global outcry. But the
great beasts roaming the savannahs of the open seas summon no such
support. Big sharks, giant tuna, marlin and swordfish should have the
conservation status of the giant panda or the snow leopard. Yet still
we believe it is acceptable for fishmongers to sell them and celebrity
chefs to teach us how to cook them.
A study in this week's edition of Science reveals the disastrous
collapse of the ocean's megafauna. The great sharks are now wobbling
on the edge of extinction. Since 1972 the number of blacktip sharks
has fallen by 93%, tiger sharks by 97% and bull sharks, dusky sharks
and smooth hammerheads by 99%. Just about every population of major
predators is now in freefall. Another paper, published in Nature four
years ago, shows that over 90% of large predatory fishes throughout
the global oceans have gone.
I cannot quit my place among the gloom-mongers. We still look like
losing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2048653,00.html
Whatever the tactical successes of the US surge, it is hard to believe
that anything other than defeat and disaster await
Max Hastings
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
Every now and again, grown-up people review their cherished opinions
and prejudices. Does the evidence still stack up? Or are there grounds
for thinking again? It seems especially important to do this at
regular intervals with Iraq, because its fate is critical for the
west.
Sceptics have for years been rehearsing a countdown to a day of doom.
I am often among their number. But, as a compulsive consumer of the
torrent of analysis and situation reports that comes out of Iraq, I
sometimes shut my eyes and ask: is there a shred of hope?
The end of the general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2048652,00.html
By turning on Pakistan's judiciary and media, Musharraf may have
hastened his regime's end
Omar Waraich
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
General Pervez Musharraf has little patience with traditional notions
of democracy. Pakistan's president, who seized power in a coup eight
years ago, prefers to measure public approval by his own standards.
"The vast majority is with me," he insisted in an interview with the
BBC last year. "The day I come to know I'm not popular, I'll quit. But
more than that, they'll be out in the streets, and I would not be
allowed to stay." Over the past month, vast numbers have been doing
just that - taking to the streets in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi in
opposition to London and Washington's favourite military dictator. But
so far he shows no sign of quitting.
Doctor Who has done it again
Daniel Martin
April 2, 2007 2:10 PM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/04/doctor_who_has_done_it_again.html
Traditionalist Doctor Who fans were outraged when the show returned
two years ago as much soap as sci-fi. Audiences didn't agree, and Rose
Tyler's noisy extended family became its beating heart. With
Saturday's new series opener, we got to start the whole journey again
with new companion Martha Jones. The opposite of Rose's big-hearted
shop assistant, Martha is a medical student trying to mediate her
parents' bitter divorce. She's the Sarah-Jane Smith to Rose's Jo Grant
in the Pertwee years: more self-assured, more GCSEs and, for now,
wearing more clothes.
My protest was born of anger, not madness
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2048705,00.html
Toyin Agbetu
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
According to many reports, on Tuesday last week a crazed madman
breached Westminster Abbey security, screamed obscenities and demanded
an unreserved apology for the Maafa (the "great tragedy", used to
describe the enslavement of Africa) and financial compensation from
the Queen and Tony Blair.
As the man at the centre of this version of events, I can say these
assertions are total nonsense. I was moved to make a collective voice
heard at the commemorative ritual of appeasement and self-approval
marking the bicentenary of the British parliamentary act to abolish
what they disingenuously refer to as a "slave trade".
Iran outlines conditions for release of UK sailors
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2048798,00.html
Julian Borger and Ian Black
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
Iran's most senior diplomat, Ali Larijani, called for a "delegation"
to rule on whether a British naval patrol entered Iranian waters last
month before his government would release the 15 marines and sailors
it is holding captive.
Laying out what appeared to be a vague road map for the freeing of the
British personnel, Mr Larijani said that, if it was found they had
crossed into Iranian territory, there should be an apology and they
would then be released.
MI6 cold war spy revealed as 'big fish' double agent
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2048749,00.html
=B7 Russian unknowingly betrayed UK for 15 years
=B7 Then he did it on purpose for another 15 years
Luke Harding in Moscow
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
Hitler had just been defeated, Stalin was victorious and Viktor
Bogomolets was down on his luck. After more than three decades spying
for British intelligence, Bogomolets, who began working for MI6
shortly after the Russian revolution, was curtly informed that he had
been stripped of his British citizenship.
It was at this point that Bogomolets decided to betray his British
masters. According to papers declassified yesterday by Russia's
foreign intelligence service, the SVR, he became one of Moscow's most
accomplished double agents.
US supreme court overrules Bush's refusal to restrict C02
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2048760,00.html
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
The US supreme court yesterday issued a landmark ruling in favour of
environmentalists and against George Bush's stance on global warming.
The court judged that the federal Environmental Protection Agency had
the power through a clean air law to restrict exhaust emissions, and
told the agency to re-examine the issue.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by 12 states and 13
environmental groups frustrated with the Bush administration's lack of
action. Individual states, led by California, have been imposing
regulations of their own. Car makers, public utilities, and others
responsible for carbon dioxide emissions opposed the lawsuit. The
decision opens the way for a new president in 2009 to curb emissions -
all the Democratic and Republican candidates have made climate change
a major part of their platforms.
400 die in Mogadishu's worst fighting for 15 years
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2048612,00.html
Xan Rice, East Africa correspondent
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
Nearly 400 people have been killed in fighting between insurgents and
Ethiopian-backed troops in the Somali capital Mogadishu since
Thursday, according to a local human rights group. The International
Committee of the Red Cross , meanwhile, described the fighting in the
capital as the worst for more than 15 years.
Using figures collated from hospitals, burial grounds and residents,
the Elman human rights organisation said that 381 people had died in
the clashes, with 565 more wounded. The toll excluded Ethiopian
fatalities.
Power tower reflects well on sunny Spain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,2048864,00.html
Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
Europe has gained a new source of renewable energy with the
inauguration of the continent's first-ever "power tower" at the centre
of a field of mirrors near the southern Spanish town of Sanl=FAcar la
Mayor.
The 115-metre-high tower (377ft) is the key element in what is being
hailed as the world's first-ever commercial power tower plant. Rings
of huge mirrors laid out around it reflect and focus the sun's power,
beaming it back up to the top of the tower where the intense heat is
absorbed and transmitted to a steam-driven generator.
Miami Cubans soften over US embargo
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cuba/story/0,,2048756,00.html
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
Hardline support among Cuban Americans for sanctions against their
former homeland is falling, according to a new poll published
yesterday.
The findings, published in the Miami Herald, show that Cuban
Americans, especially the younger generation, favour a more relaxed
approach - 55% said they backed unrestricted travel to Cuba.
The US has maintained an economic, financial and travel embargo on
Cuba since 1962, three years after Fidel Castro took power. Cuban
exiles living in America have been one of the most powerful political
lobbies pressuring Congress to maintain the blockade.
Burmese army using rape to terrorise villagers, says report
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2048433,00.html
Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi
Monday April 2, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Rape is being used as a "weapon" to terrorise villagers in Burma
leading to a refugee influx in neighbouring India, a new report
claims.
More than 100,000 people - more than 15% of the population - have fled
Burma's Chin state, a lush thin strip of land the size of Belgium,
into north-eastern India in recent years.
Campaigners say that a push by the Burmese military rulers to crush a
20-year-old "Chin" insurgency combined with a recent state-policy to
"Burmanise" the local population has seen soldiers run amok in the
state.
Arab world gains 25% more billionaires
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2048623,00.html
Associated Press in Dubai
Tuesday April 3, 2007
The Guardian
Thirty dollar billionaires from the Arab world, worth a combined =A36bn,
are among the world's 946 billionaires, according to the April issue
of Forbes Arabia. The number of Arab billionaires was 25% higher than
the previous year. The average increase around the world was 19%, the
magazine said.
The world's biggest producer of oil, Saudi Arabia, is home to 13 of
the 30 Arab billionaires, more than any other Arab country. Saudi
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who made his billions through investments
in property and stocks, was at the top of the Arab rich list and 13th
in the world.
The botched US raid that led to the hostage crisis
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2414760.ece
Exclusive Report: How a bid to kidnap Iranian security officials
sparked a diplomatic crisis
By Patrick Cockburn
Published: 03 April 2007
A failed American attempt to abduct two senior Iranian security
officers on an official visit to northern Iraq was the starting pistol
for a crisis that 10 weeks later led to Iranians seizing 15 British
sailors and Marines.
Early on the morning of 11 January, helicopter-born US forces launched
a surprise raid on a long-established Iranian liaison office in the
city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. They captured five relatively junior
Iranian officials whom the US accuses of being intelligence agents and
still holds.
Found: gene that means some people can't give up cigarettes
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2414772.ece
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 03 April 2007
Smokers who have tried to give up cigarettes and failed may soon be
able to come up with another excuse - they were born to remain
addicted. In the first study of its kind, scientists have identified a
series of genetic traits for addictiveness that appear to be inherited
by smokers who try but fail to kick the habit.
Scientists believe that the findings could soon open the way to
testing a person's genetic make-up to see whether they can be weaned
off cigarettes with the help of specially-targeted treatments.
Clinton nudges ahead of rivals with $26m campaign war chest
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2414727.ece
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 03 April 2007
Hillary Clinton raised a record $26m (=A313m) in the first quarter of
this year, her campaign announced - a display of financial muscle
calculated to scare rivals and create a sense of inevitability about
her bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
The first-quarter figures were legally required to be made public in
mid-April. But, by jumping the gun, the New York senator forced most
other Democratic candidates to do likewise, confirming in the process
that the campaign now under way will be by far the most expensive in
US history, costing at least $1bn in all.
Arabs sceptical over Israeli meeting plan
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2414759.ece
By Abdullah Shihri, Associated Press Writer
Published: 03 April 2007
Israel should withdraw from Arab territory and allow the creation of a
Palestinian state before Arabs recognize it, a Saudi official said
yesterday - the first Saudi statement on the issue since Israel's
prime minister publicly invited Arab leaders to discuss their ideas
for peace with him.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert specifically called on Saudi Arabia Sunday
to take the lead, the first time Israel has made such a request of the
Saudis, who maintain a state of war with Israel but are pushing for a
peace deal.
Another advance thanks to the human genome project
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2414773.ece
By Steve Connor
Published: 03 April 2007
The completion of the human genome project has opened up new
possibilities in the study of genes and behaviour.
Scientists have already identified genes, or more accurately
variations in genes, that can be linked with behaviours as diverse as
anxiety, depression, hostility, aggression, sex drive, addiction and
even criminality.
Supreme Court split on Guantanamo
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2414729.ece
By Mark Sherman, Associated Press Writer
Published: 03 April 2007
The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal yesterday from Guantanamo Bay
detainees who want to challenge their five-year-long confinement in
court, a victory for the Bush administration's legal strategy in its
fight against terrorism.
The victory may be only temporary, however. The high court twice
previously has extended legal protections to prisoners at the US naval
base in Cuba. These individuals were seized as potential terrorists
following the 11 September 2001 attacks and only 10 have been charged
with a crime.
Leading article: A war that invites some unflattering comparisons
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2414723.ece
Published: 03 April 2007
The 25th anniversary of the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands
affords us an opportunity to reflect on the parallels and differences
between that war and Britain's present imbroglio in Iraq. There are
some clear similarities between the conflicts. In both cases, Britain
quickly achieved its primary military objective. Port Stanley was
captured on 14 June. Baghdad fell only a month after the joint US and
British invasion began. The casualty rates for British troops were
higher in the Falklands campaign, but in both operations they were
relatively low by historic standards. And in both instances, the BBC
found itself under attack from the Government over its reporting.
Leading article: A positive, and surprising, initiative
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2414731.ece
Published: 03 April 2007
Whatever else the Saudi Arabians may have done in their revival of the
Arab land-for-peace offer to Israel at the Arab League summit last
week, at least they have forced some of the players in the stalled
peace process to respond. The latest offer by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli
Prime Minister, to meet the Saudis, in Jerusalem, or in Riyadh if
necessary, as part of a grand regional conference to negotiate peace
has been widely dismissed as a ruse, a gesture to put the ball back in
the court of the Arabs, knowing it will end in nothing. That may or
may not be true. But at least it is a positive, and surprising,
initiative that could lead somewhere if developed.
It's not just a fad - organic food is better for you, say scientists
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/lifestyle/article2414745.ece
By Ian Herbert
Published: 03 April 2007
New evidence has emerged showing that organic food does contain
nutrients that deliver health benefits, contrary to the view put
forward earlier this year by David Miliband, who said it was only a
"lifestyle choice".
Scientists in Britain, France and Poland examined organic carrots,
apples, peaches and potatoes and discovered that they have greater
concentrations of vitamin C and chemicals that protect against heart
attacks and cancer than non-organic produce. The research could
challenge official government guidelines which suggest there is no
evidence of organic food being healthier than conventional produce.
That led to the assertion by Mr Miliband, the Environment Secretary,
which he later qualified by saying that he ate organic food both
because of its taste and the environmental benefits.
Indonesia's paradise lost - and regained
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2414740.ece
The RSPB is spreading its wings and flying to Indonesia with a deal
designed to protect a stretch of rainforest which is home to some of
the world's richest birdlife. Michael McCarthy reports
Published: 03 April 2007
Once it was the avocet and the osprey. Now it's the rhinoceros
hornbill and the rufous-collared kingfisher, not to mention the great
argus pheasant and the red-naped trogon.
Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is
enlarging its vision, from the denizens of the Suffolk marshes and the
Scottish lochs to the living jewels of the Asian rainforest. The
society is moving into tropical bird conservation in a serious way as
part of a partnership that is seeking to save one of the world's
greatest wildlife hotspots.
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