Only when he restores liberty can we praise him
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2110204,00.html
The Chancellor needs to move fast if he is to demonstrate his
credentials as a democrat. So far, the signs are not good
Henry Porter
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Someone seems to have mixed up the film canisters. A prince over the
water takes power, but now he is a puritan and he arrives with a
smoking ban. Meanwhile, the outgoing Prime Minister seeks the comfort
of Rome: the priest-holes in Downing Street are being emptied,
mantillas lowered and there shall be no more dancing and mixing with
the likes of Oasis on the Sabbath.
This reverse Restoration is a curious one. All week, I've met people
who speak optimistically about the new seriousness of politics: an age
of stern and workmanlike heroism dawns. Greatness is born.
Authenticity will be restored to government and the way it treats with
the people. Blessed be this day for we are saved from all frivolity
and Clarkson showing off his new motor down at Chequers.
Little wonder so many see all roads lead to Rome
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2110203,00.html
Cristina Odone celebrates the Prime Minister's decision to convert to
Catholicism
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
It is probably unwise for a persecuted minority to show any degree of
triumphalism. Unwise, but immensely tempting. When you've been kicked,
mocked and hissed at, the natural reaction when something goes your
way is to cheer your side on. Hence I hope Catholics may be forgiven a
small hurrah at the news of Tony Blair's (apparent) conversion to
Rome.
The famous converter, Fr Michael Seed, has been in and out of Number
10 for years and Fr Timothy Russ revealed in 2004 that Blair took
communion in the Catholic church near Chequers.
Tony Blair's premiership has big lessons for Gordon Brown
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2110064,00.html
Whatever their cunning plans, the most testing times for leaders come
from the shock events they never anticipated
Andrew Rawnsley
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
'He wanted to be Prime Minister. He wanted to be Prime Minister now.
There was nothing else.' Gordon Brown started to hammer at Tony Blair
to resign and give way to him as soon as they had won the 2001
election. That is the utterly believable account of Barry Cox, a close
and non-Westminster friend of the Blairs who has never spoken in
public before. 'And ever since then it's been continuous.'
Glastonbury, more than mud and music
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2109997,00.html
Will Hutton
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
One hundred and seventy thousand enthusiasts are braving the mud at
Glastonbury. What started as a niche event has become one of the most
sought-after tickets of the summer. It could not have grown so dizzily
if there were not a growing number of people with an appetite to brave
the elements for the music. There are now five million active
musicians in Britain and 250,000 play in bands. There are reckoned to
be more than 4,500 gigs every evening in the country. Glastonbury is
the prize bloom of an extraordinary flowering of musical talent.
Britain is gazing on in envy; most of us want to be there as well.
Lay off America - its heart is in the right place
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2109998,00.html
It's an easy target, but it's time to stop mocking the States. They
could sure teach the Brits a thing or two
Carol Sarler
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Once again, this time for a report commissioned by the broadcaster
itself, the ostensibly neutral BBC stands accused of a sneaky
preference for dressing to the left. Much of the evidence for this is,
at best, wobbly, but one witness employee, Washington correspondent
Justin Webb, needs to be heard. The organisation, he peeved, is anti-
American; it treats the US with scorn and derision and accords it 'no
moral weight'.
He is, thus far at least, correct. The last 10 years have seen
American stories relegated to a slew of 'and finally' freak shows, a
vast country's talents reduced to synchronised gas-guzzling as
choreographed by Paris Hilton. The trouble is that it is not just the
BBC; disdaining Americans has become a national sport, regardless of
the fact that it requires the skill of all sports involving fish, guns
and barrels.
And winner of the best city is...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2109999,00.html
Tyler Brule
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Cramped commuting, overpriced housing, shoddy workmanship, scorched
parks, charmless high streets and outdated schools are a few of the
things that make city life less than pleasant. Random violence, bad
weather and Victorian trading hours make it hell. Over the next few
weeks, the northern hemisphere makes its annual migration and millions
will sample how the fortunate and less fortunate live. New Yorkers
will be seduced by Barcelona, Dubliners by Paris and Glaswegians will
be charmed by Lisbon. Some will be so taken that they'll go home, hand
in their notice and embark on a new life in a new city.
It's hard to tell who the joke's on, Donald
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2110211,00.html
Ruaridh Nicoll
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
It's lucky we still have Donald Findlay to amuse us now that Bernard
Manning is dead. Who else could produce a routine for Rangers
supporters in Larne that had him say: 'A nun was walking down the
street and she had the biggest turnip I've ever seen.' Or else, to
puff away on that pipe of his, and then brush aside the smoke saying:
'*****'s sake, has another pope died?' or perhaps, though Findlay
denies it: 'Has another fucking pope died?' It's just part of the
show, Findlay says, claiming he also mocks the less sensitive kirk. He
is, you see, an atheist.
What advertising should we ban next?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2110040,00.html
In the last month, the authorities have prohibited the promotion of
both full-fat milk and 'going to work on an egg'
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Karol Sikora
Intrusive adverts are annoying and ineffective, but banning is a form
of censorship and a characteristic of either a dictatorship or a nanny
state. Most food promotion will lead to obesity with its serious
health consequences. Singling out milk and eggs is unfair - we could
include all fast food, snacks and sugary drinks. Anything that
encourages us to live dangerously could be questioned. But in the end,
the best sort of advertising is free. A lot of what reaches us in the
media is placed by skilful PR agencies acting for organisations that
gain from the spin. Nobody does this better than politicians. They
should be banned.
My week: Rajiv Chandrasekaran
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/7days/story/0,,2109946,00.html
The prize-winning author finds that four long-haul flights in a row
leave him less than coherent, reflects on his wedding and a rabbi with
a palm computer and finds a like mind on Iraq's bloody problems
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
I have driven from my flat in downtown Washington to Dulles
International Airport scores of times. It's really quite simple: a few
turns and then down the highway. But a week ago, as I sought to catch
a plane to London, I wound up making all the wrong turns.
I had what I deemed to be a legitimate excuse. My new wife and I had
returned from our honeymoon a day earlier, flying from Bangkok to
Tokyo to Los Angeles to our home in America's capital. After
travelling for more than 24 hours, I was barely able to stand
straight, see clearly or think coherently.
Old media habits die hard, and may see Rupert losing face
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2109739,00.html
John Naughton
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Facebook is the current craze du jour. For those who have been
vacationing on Mars, it is a semi-respectable social networking site
founded by a Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg to offset the
social frigidity of that august institution. In its early period it
grew steadily as a virtual space for students across the US.
To join, you had to have a valid email address from a recognised
higher-education institution. This placed Facebook effectively beyond
the purview of the mainstream media, in comparison with, say, MySpace,
which would take anybody, and did. But then Facebook opened its doors
to all comers and has been growing like, well, MySpace.
'Princes of private equity' face a second wave of attacks
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2109726,00.html
Pension funds have joined MPs to demand lower fees and better returns
on investment from the multi-million dealmakers, writes Nick
Mathiason
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Under siege from MPs, the masters of the private equity universe face
a fresh threat to their business model. The National Association of
Pension Funds (NAPF) is holding an emergency meeting this week to
discuss the fees its members pay to invest in buyout funds. The
implications of this unprecedented meeting are profound. It could see
demands from powerful pension funds that those massive fees be
reduced.
Pension fund investment in buyout funds has grown dramatically in
recent years as they stampeded to benefit from the huge returns made
by private equity. Permira, for instance, claims its returns over a
decade are up 36 per cent against 10 per cent achieved by the stock
market. Buyout funds are often oversubscribed and success allows
private equity partners to dictate terms and conditions to investors.
The accidental millionairesses
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2109725,00.html
They weren't self-publicising, hard-nosed or ruthless - all they did
was make a fortune. Zoe Wood meets a generation of entrepreneurs who
succeeded in an era when women weren't supposed to
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
The latest race to become Alan Sugar's Apprentice introduced the
nation to a business 'dirty dozen', desperate to get to the top at all
costs. In keeping with changing times, some of the show's hardest
cases were women, not least ruthless single mother Kristina Grimes and
inscrutable physicist Dr Sophie Kain.
Most viewers accept that the programme offers a pantomime view of the
boardroom but Maxine Benson, co-founder of everywoman.co.uk, a website
for businesswomen, believes it has also provided aspiring female
entrepreneurs with new role models.
British 'failing India's lowest caste workers'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2109717,00.html
Oliver Morgan
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Leading British companies are being accused of supporting a system of
apartheid in India by failing to ensure that they treat members of the
country's lowest caste equally.
The International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), which campaigns on
behalf of the caste, pejoratively known as 'untouchables', says UK
companies with operations in India are not monitoring their staff and
are refusing to sign up to positive action to combat the problem.
Dalits are often excluded from work in India and do not have the
educational opportunities available to India's middle classes. The
IDSN has approached Standard Chartered, which employs 15,000 people in
India, HSBC (25,000), Shell (10,000), Barclays and ICI and asked if
they monitor recruitment and workforces. It also asked them to sign up
to the 10 so-called Ambedkar principles, which enshrine affirmative
action against discrimination.
Creative industry 'as important to Britain as finance'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2109705,00.html
James Robinson
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Britain's creative industries are as vital to the country's economy as
the financial services sector, according to a report to be published
tomorrow.
The Work Foundation think tank says in its report, 'Staying ahead: the
economic performance of the UK's creative industries', that sectors
including architecture, TV, fashion and music are the UK's 'great
unsung success story', employing 1.8 million people. But it warns that
its growth could slow without 'targeted public investment'.
Blair tells Pope: Now I'm ready to become a Catholic
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2110067,00.html
John Hooper in Vatican City
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Tony Blair yesterday used his last official foreign engagement before
leaving office to tell Pope Benedict he wanted to become a Roman
Catholic, a Vatican source said last night.
But, in talks lasting more than half an hour, the outgoing Prime
Minister was left in no doubt that the Pope took a dim view of his
record in office. A statement issued afterwards by the Vatican said
there had been a 'frank exchange of views'.
The melting ice man cometh
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,2107531,00.html
He believes his support for Kyoto lost him the coal states of Kentucky
and West Virginia - and the 2000 race for the presidency. But
Hurricane Katrina and his Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient
Truth, changed all that. Now, on the eve of his Live Earth global
concerts, climate change could put Al Gore back in the White House
James Traub
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
One afternoon in February, Al Gore was waiting to board a flight from
Nashville to Miami, where he was to deliver the slide show that forms
the basis of An Inconvenient Truth, his Academy Award-winning
documentary on global warming. Gore was telling me about Ilya
Prigogine, a Belgian chemist who won a Nobel Prize in 1977 for his
insights into the thermodynamics of open systems, an intriguing
subject that has very little to do with global warming. Every minute
or so he flashed a microgrin at a passer-by without interrupting his
oratorical flow. We had moved on to complexity theory, in which Gore
would really immerse himself if only he had the time, and then to the
concept of nested systems, which of course had been developed by the
late psychologist Uri Bronfenbrenner, when a woman in a blazing orange
shirt emerged from her flight, did a double take and cried, 'Isn't
that AL GORE?!' There was no ignoring this fan. As she came over to
thank Gore for trying to save the planet, I saw that my bags were in
the way. 'I'll move them,' I said; and Gore, before he could think,
said: 'No, don't.'
The Australians who are outcasts in their own land
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2109959,00.html
Political moves to curb alcoholism and truancy have ignited a national
debate over the heartache and squalor affecting troubled aboriginal
communities
Barbara McMahon in Wadeye, Northern Territory
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Walk around the sprawling community of Wadeye and you will be assailed
by children, quick to spot a stranger in town. They crowd around
curiously and talk to you in broken English but chatter among
themselves in Murrinh-patha, the indigenous language of this former
Catholic mission. Six other languages are spoken here, all of them
endangered, making Wadeye a laboratory for linguists.
'Language is our identity and if we forget our identity, we are
nothing,' says Patrick Nudjulu, sheltering from the sun on the veranda
of his house. A patriarchal figure, with white beard and a leg
withered by leprosy, he points to his grandchildren playing nearby.
Speaking in their mother tongue will keep them connected to their
culture, says this old man. But he encourages the children to go to
school to do their sums and to learn how to speak in English. 'You
need to be able to talk to the white fella,' he says.
Hamas war chief reveals his plans for Gaza peace
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2109951,00.html
The man now controlling Gaza City talks exclusively to Mitchell
Prothero about his plans
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
At the height of the fighting 10 days ago in Gaza City, the commander
of the Hamas militants laying siege to the Palestinian Authority
compound received a call from his Fatah counterpart inside. 'He asked
if we were going to invade and take the building,' said Abu Obieda,
the top Hamas military commander for the Gaza Strip. 'He said if we
entered his compound, he would kill himself.'
'Abu Obieda begged him not to commit such a sin,' interjected Abu
Khalid, one of his lieutenants. 'He promised him that he and all of
his men would be protected if they just surrendered. And finally they
did. And all of them are still alive and free in their homes.'
America's disgust at 'perfect Angelina'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2109952,00.html
Brad Pitt's partner is accused of hypocrisy as she tries to control
interviews about press freedom movie, and bans selected journalists
from its premiere
Paul Harris in New York
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
She's one of the most beautiful women in the world, a talented actress
who lives with a man many claim is the sexiest man on the planet and
she has a penchant for doing high-profile good deeds. But now -
perhaps inevitably - the Angelina Jolie backlash has begun. The
stunning movie star generates headlines almost every day but now those
headlines have taken a distinctly negative turn.
For the backers of her new film, A Mighty Heart, which tells the story
of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, negative
publicity around Jolie's recent activities is becoming a potential
threat to its success.
Barnacle-busting paint makes ships' voyages greener
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2109953,00.html
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Scientists have developed a novel way to combat one of the world's
stickiest and most expensive maritime problems: the encrusting of
ships' hulls by algae and barnacles. They have created a special
coating, using nanotechnology, that is engineered to a scale of a
millionth of a millimetre. Organisms that try to hitch a ride will
simply slip off.
The development, announced at the EuroNanoForum in Dusseldorf last
week, is important because 'bio-fouling' costs billions of pounds a
year, not just to the shipping industry but to private yachtsmen and
owners of power and desalination plants whose pipes get blocked by
bacteria and barnacles. In addition, ships burn excess fuel with
encrusted hulls, increasing carbon emissions; while current anti-
fouling paints are thought to harm sealife.
Women set to join the Gurkhas
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2110282,00.html
Female Maoist rebels desperate to be recruited to the British Army
congregate at training camp
Dan McDougall in Katmandu
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Hundreds of Nepalese women have started high-altitude training in the
hope of joining the Gurkhas this summer, officially ending the 200-
year men-only tradition of one of the world's toughest military
regiments.
The women, many of them Maoist rebels, have started congregating at
the Gurkhas' main training camp in the remote Himalayan resort of
Pokhara, where male recruits traditionally prepare for the tough
British army entrance exams. Around 50 Nepalese women will be
recruited over the next few months for a pilot entry scheme. The move
follows a change in Ministry of Defence recruitment laws that take
into account sex discrimination regulations.
Rushdie honour breaks UN code, says Pakistan
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2110188,00.html
Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Pakistan has told Britain that Salman Rushdie's knighthood breaches a
United Nations resolution aimed at calming tensions between different
religions, The Observer has learnt. The highly unusual warning was
made during a meeting with the British High Commissioner in Pakistan
and reveals the extent to which senior Pakistani politicians fear the
award will damage relations between the countries.
Although both nations have pledged to work together to fight al-Qaeda,
the Rushdie affair has exposed a deep schism. On Friday, protests
against the award broke out at mosques in Britain. Former members of
the now disbanded extremist group al-Muhajiroun - which helped co-
ordinate the protests over the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet
Muhammad - led protests outside the Regent's Park Mosque in London,
prompting calls from Islamic clerics for restraint.
Confessions of a super Grass
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2109680,00.html
Gunter Grass's Peeling the Onion caused a furore when published in
Germany; now available in English, it demands to be read, says Tim
Gardam
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Peeling the Onion
by Gunter Grass
Harvill Secker =A318.99, pp432
This is a book torn between the desire to confess and the need to
obscure. When Peeling the Onion was published in Germany last year,
Gunter Grass faced a hailstorm of disdain after he revealed that in
the dying months of the Second World War he had been enlisted, aged
17, into the Waffen SS. Germany's radical conscience of the Cold War
years, the Danzig-born champion of the Poles, the righteous polemicist
who had torn at Germans' denial of their collective memory of Nazism,
had suppressed the crucial fact of his personal complicity. Coming
clean now, his adversaries charged, was no more than calculation -
controlling the damage before others exposed the truth.
The Gipper writes
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2109687,00.html
It's the small details of life as President - pining for Nancy,
chopping logs - not pesky affairs of state that distinguish Ronald
Reagan's White House diaries, says Carole Cadwalladr
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
The Reagan Diaries
by Ronald Reagan, edited by Douglas Brinkley
HarperPress =A330, pp784
You don't get to be President of the United States of America by
accident. Or, then again, do you? If you substituted every instance of
the word 'Soviet' in The Reagan Diaries with another word such as
'golf' and replaced all mentions of 'General Noriega' with, say, 'Bob
Hope', you could be reading the desktop diary of the chief executive
of a middle-ranking American company engaged in the manufacture of, I
don't know, sporting goods.
What if Hitler hadn't ...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2109689,00.html
Ian Kershaw's Fateful Choices offers a scholarly analysis of the
Second World War's key turning points, says Robert McCrum
Sunday June 24, 2007
The Observer
Fateful Choices: 10 Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941
by Ian Kershaw
Allen Lane =A330, pp624
The Second World War has always been overshadowed by the First. Now,
as the war aptly named 'the great' merges with the titanic conflicts
of the past, its infinitely more destructive, and more global,
successor begins to attract the renewed scrutiny of historians. Ian
Kershaw is the latest and most scholarly to re-examine some of the
turning points in the war he describes as 'the most awful in history'.
Will there be a happy ending?
Jonathan Freedland
June 24, 2007 11:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jonathan_freedland/2007/06/will_there_b=
e_a_happy_ending.html
Well, say what you like about the Blair era that will end on
Wednesday, but it's one hell of a story. In an excellent piece
(subscription only) in the current edition of the Nation, DD
Guttenplan writes that "It would take a Shakespeare to do justice to
the man" who went from the hero of 1997 and eloquent spokesman for the
world after 9/11 to "a Macbeth smeared with gore" following the war in
Iraq. My Observer colleague Andrew Rawnsley may not match the Bard,
but his TV history of the Blair age, which aired on Channel 4 last
night (with a concluding part to follow on Monday) captured well the
first three acts of this extraordinary drama.
In The Rise and Fall of Tony Blair, the basic stories were lavishly
retold - the obsession with spin; the euphoria Blair felt after the
Kosovo war, fuelling an exaggerated, almost messianic sense of his own
powers; the fateful, even tragic, decision to follow George Bush, no
matter where he led. For those who already know the basic plotlines,
the programme's chief pleasure was its nuggets of new info and
insight. The opening montage of one-word summaries of Blair from
assorted witnesses was especially revealing. "Great," said Jack Straw,
who has always had a streak of public sycophancy. "Winner," said Neil
Kinnock, which instantly prompted the thought that Kinnock sees
himself as the very opposite. "Actor," said Britain's former
ambassador to Washington, Christopher Mayer.
Legally gay, 40 years on
Geraldine Bedell
June 24, 2007 9:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/geraldine_bedell/2007/06/legally_gay_40=
_years_on.html
Forty years ago in Britain, loving the wrong person could make you a
criminal. Smiling in the park could lead to arrest, and being in the
wrong address book could cost you a prison sentence. Hundreds of
thousands of men feared being picked up by police, often for doing
nothing more than looking a bit gay.
At 5.50am on July 5 1967, a bill to legalise homosexuality limped
through its final stages in the House of Commons. It was a ridiculous,
compromised measure in several respects: the age of consent was set at
21, rather than 16, as for heterosexuals. By the late 1980s, arrests
were running at a much higher rate than in the 1960s. The penalties
for anyone engaging in "gross indecency" (including oral sex and
masturbation) with anyone under 21 actually went up.
We do not need a referendum
Charles Grant
June 23, 2007 6:04 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/charles_grant/2007/06/thank_goodness_fo=
r_the_agreeme.html
Thank goodness for the agreement in Brussels last night. Without a
deal, the EU would have been mired in arguments on treaties,
institutions and process for a prolonged period. Now, hopefully, the
Union can move on to deal with real problems in the real world, such
as climate change, energy security, Kosovo, the revival of Russian
power, and so on.
The new agreement stands a good chance of entering into force. True,
there has to be an "inter-governmental conference" in the autumn, to
translate the Brussels text into treaty language. And then all 27
member-states must ratify the new treaty. But this time - in contrast
to the ratification of the constitutional treaty - most countries will
choose a parliamentary vote rather than a referendum. The Irish will
put the treaty to the people, and possibly the Danes, but probably
nobody else.
Blair's other legacy: immigration
Will Somerville
June 23, 2007 2:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/will_somerville/2007/06/blair_immigrati=
on.html
The fight for Tony Blair's legacy has started. It will take a
generation to be sure but already contemporary historians and
commentators have drawn the battle lines between success and failure:
is he the first prime minister to end the aristocracy of the Lords and
a man of moral courage, who intervened in Kosovo and brought peace to
Northern Ireland? Or as the prime minister who gave us spin and cash-
for-honours, and who must forever wear the albatross of the Iraq war
around his neck?
As for any prime minister, it is natural that constitutional and
foreign policy questions dominate discussions of what he achieved. But
a tendency to ignore the bread-and-butter domestic policy issues has
been reinforced because New Labour has always had two kings, Blair and
his successor Gordon Brown. The latter has been associated with almost
all of Labour's domestic achievements, from the independence of the
Bank of England to the tax credits that have lifted a million children
from poverty.
The other right of return
Khaled Diab
June 23, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/khaled_diab/2007/06/the_other_right_of_=
return.html
With Gaza on a knife edge and any prospect of imminent hope dashed, it
seems hard to believe that just over two months ago the Arab world
dusted off the 2002 Saudi peace initiative and made Israel an offer of
comprehensive peace that few thought Israel could refuse. While not
rejecting it outright, Israel's visionless and embattled premier, Ehud
Olmert, ignored it and wished it would go away.
According to Israeli diplomats, one of the main sticking points is the
issue of the right of return of the 4 million or so Palestinian
refugees. Israel worries that the Arabs will want to implement UN
general assembly resolution 194 of December 1948, which states that
"the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with
their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest
practicable date" - which would pose fundamental difficulties, since
many of these homes no longer exist or have been occupied for
generations by others.
The Hollywood star's bag that shocked a nation
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2701308.ece
Cameron Diaz offends the people of Peru with Mao-inspired accessory
By Cole Moreton
Published: 24 June 2007
Imagine wandering up to the Wailing Wall with a swastika printed on
your handbag. The Hollywood star Cameron Diaz has caused a similar
level of offence to the people of Peru by sight-seeing at the ancient
city of Machu Picchu wearing a bag emblazoned with the words of
Chairman Mao.
The Chinese characters underneath a red star on her green canvas
messenger bag say "Serve the People", a slogan imposed during China's
Cultural Revolution. Communist chic may be mildly popular among
fashionistas in California, where Diaz lives, but it has a terrible
resonance in Peru: Mao inspired the terrorist organisation the Shining
Path, which sought to overthrow the Peruvian government with a long
and bloody campaign of bombings, assassinations and massacres. The
insurgency petered out after the capture of the Shining Path leader
Abimael Guzm=E1n, who was sentenced to life in prison last year, but a
few hundred fighters remain hidden in the jungle.
Fossil hunters angry at reckless plunder of sites with dynamite
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2701312.ece
By Sean Murphy
Published: 24 June 2007
Unscrupulous fossil hunters are destroying some of the world's most
valuable and important scientific sites by using power tools and even
dynamite to plunder collectable specimens worth thousands of pounds.
Now conservationists have put together the world's first code of
conduct in an attempt to put an end to the destruction.
Joan Smith: Rushdie's gong almost made me ask for my MBE back
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/joan_smith/article2701064.e=
ce
Published: 24 June 2007
From time to time, someone who has accepted an honour from the
Government makes a big point of returning it, declaring that they can
no longer stomach Tony Blair's policy on this or that - or just Tony
Blair. In the case of Joseph Corr=E9, purveyor of racy underwear to
British women, it took a mere three weeks to accept and reject his
award, a conversion so swift that he never had the opportunity to
grasp the insignia (as I believe purists call it) of the MBE in his
hot little hand.
Last week, I felt like making the opposite journey. Having turned down
an MBE four years ago without a second thought, I seriously considered
calling the Foreign Office to say I'd changed my mind as a consequence
of the Government's brilliant decision to confer a knighthood on
Salman Rushdie. Nearly 20 years ago, when some cynical Iranian cleric
pronounced a death sentence on the author, diverting the attention of
ordinary Muslims from the miserable economic and political conditions
under which most of them live, the British establishment was lukewarm
in its support. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, later to become the leader of
Britain's Muslims, actually suggested that death was too good for him.
Rupert Cornwell: Out of America
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2701059.ece
The US health-care system can work brilliantly, as the recent
experience of our correspondent shows. But in a country where 44
million people have no medical insurance, the pressure for change is
building
Published: 24 June 2007
Whisper it not to the assembled Democratic presidential candidates,
and breathe not a word to Michael Moore, whose new film Sicko hits US
movie screens this week. I have just had my first direct encounter
with the much reviled US health-care system - and I won't hear a word
said against it.
During my regular annual check-up with my GP in April, I mentioned
that something was causing severe nerve pains in my leg. He
recommended I see an orthopaedic surgeon (in the very same building).
The appointment was a week later, and came with an on-the-spot X-ray,
which revealed nothing special.
On his instructions I had an MRI scan a few days later, which revealed
the problem even to my ignorant eye: a badly herniated, or "slipped",
disc that was pressing against the spinal cord and causing the pain.
Vicki Woods: Breast is best but don't criminalise male embarrassment
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2695068.ece
Jemima Khan has launched a campaign to promote breastfeeding. But can
it ever be a good idea to transfer bodily fluids in public?
Published: 24 June 2007
Breastfeeding is getting a hot press currently, whipped up by some
heavy hitters. Angelina Jolie has only just weaned little Shiloh, the
Desperate Housewife Marcia Cross is breastfeeding twins at 45, and
Jemima Khan, the Unicef ambassador and latterday girlfriend of Hugh
Grant, was the glossiest celeb at the launch of the Breastfeeding
Campaign Manifesto at Westminster Hall, in May.
It was a blue-chip launch (30 of the breast-is-best organisations,
plus the five royal colleges as well as Unicef and Save The Children)
and it drew 180 MPs. Including David Kidney (Stafford), who actually
asked John Prescott a parliamentary question. It was a questions day.
After swanking about how Jemima was "joining me" at this important
launch, he ran through the breast-is-best articles of faith, and then
asked: "Will he give his personal support to the manifesto, which
seeks to make our society more tolerant and supportive of
breastfeeding?" Prescott's reply: "Absolutely."
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