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U.S. Urges 60,000 Americans to Leave India
washingtonpost.com -- The State Department on Friday advised all but essential American diplomats in India to leave and urged about 60,000 Americans there to depart as well because of a rising risk of conflict between India and Pakistan. "Tensions have risen to serious levels" and those Americans who chose to remain should steer clear of all border areas between the two countries, the State Department said. About 60,000 U.S. citizens in India also were urged to depart. "Conditions along India's border with Pakistan and in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have deteriorated," the State Department said in its travel warning. The warning cited artillery exchanges between Indian and Pakistani troops and said terrorist groups linked to the al-Qaida network and implicated in attacks on Americans have attacked and killed civilians.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:30 AM

 

US plans evacuation from India, Pakistan over nuclear fears
usatoday.com -- As border tensions heighten between nuclear powers Pakistan and India, a U.S. government team is in India to plan the possible evacuation of 1,100 U.S. troops and up to 63,000 U.S. citizens from both countries. India's foreign minister urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday to honor pledges to halt terrorism in contested Kashmir and warned of "the urgency of the situation." The Pentagon needs no such warning. About 1,000 U.S. troops are on three military bases in Pakistan, and an undisclosed number of special operations forces are hunting al-Qaeda leaders in the country's western provinces. In addition, about 100 commandos are completing a military training exercise, code-named Balance Iroquois, with Indian forces in Agra, site of the Taj Mahal.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:10 AM

 

Defiant Pakistan threatens to use nuke
United Nations, May 30 (PTI) - Pakistan has threatened to use nuclear weapons even if India stuck to conventional arms in any conflict, asserting that it has never subscribed to "no-first-use" of atomic weapons and that ruling out their use would give New Delhi a "license to kill."

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:08 AM

 

Venezuelan coup leader goes into exile
CARACAS, Venezuela, May 29 (UPI) -- Venezuelan business leader Pedro Carmona, who briefly replaced President Hugo Chavez after mid-April's military coup, went into exile in Colombia Wednesday. Carmona had been under house arrest since Chavez's triumphant return to power on April 14 and was facing a judicial investigation into his role in the short-lived coup. The 62-year-old dodged guards outside his Caracas residence last Thursday after learning that Venezuela's Appeals Court had decided he should await trial in prison. Carmona was facing charges of rebellion and the usurpation of official functions. He is to date the only civilian to have been charged with offenses arising from the failed coup.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 12:38 PM

 

War on terrorism 'used to erode rights'
guardian.co.uk -- Amnesty International yesterday accused the government of draconian security measures "unparalleled in Europe" for introducing legislation allowing the detention of suspected terrorists without charge or trial. The human rights charity compared the UK with countries such as India, South Korea and Jordan which had also responded to September 11 by curbing civil liberties. Launching Amnesty's annual report, the secretary general, Irene Khan, said the charity's delegates had been told by an official of one non-western government: "Your role collapsed with the collapse of the twin towers in New York." "What happened on September 11 was a crime against humanity, a gross abuse of the human rights of thousands of people," Ms Khan said. "What developed in the wake of the attacks affected the human rights of many others. In the days, weeks and months that followed, governments around the world eroded human rights in the name of security." In refusing to accept that human rights and national security can be compatible, western democracies such as the UK and the US had helped curb civil liberties nationally and foster a "racist backlash" internationally.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:44 AM

 

UN warns of southern Africa crisis
bbc.co.uk -- At least 10 million people face starvation in four southern African countries unless the international community acts swiftly, UN aid agencies have warned. "We have to get the message out to donors - a famine can be averted if they act quickly." WFP regional director Judith Lewis A report jointly compiled by the UN World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation - one of the most comprehensive to date of the crisis - said that famine in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland is not yet widespread, but warned that urgent action is needed in order to avert a humanitarian crisis.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:38 AM

 

Pakistan tests third missile
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 28 (UPI) -- Pakistan test-fired its third missile Tuesday, in defiance of the international criticism that followed its first two tests over the weekend. "The successful test fire of the new missile concludes for now the series of tests conducted over the last few days," said an official statement. The Defense Ministry announced that the new missile Hatf-II -- also called Abdali after the founder of the current Afghan dynasty -- is nuclear-capable, like the previous two tested over the weekend. "The system is capable of carrying warheads accurately up to a range of 180 kilometers (112 miles)," the statement said. "The flight data collected from the test confirmed its accuracy and all other design parameters, which were successfully validated."

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posted by West 9:56 AM

 

'12m deaths' in nuclear war
telegraph.co.uk -- An American intelligence report says a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan could kill up to 12 million people and injure seven million. The disclosure came as Pakistani nuclear experts bitterly criticised the armies of both countries for trivialising nuclear war and failing to educate their people about the consequences. The US assessment said a limited nuclear exchange would have cataclysmic results, overwhelming hospitals across Asia and the Middle East and requiring vast foreign assistance, particularly from America, which would be forced to go in and clean up the radioactive mess. Millions more people would die of starvation, disease and radiation. Most of the bombs would explode on the ground, spreading radioactive debris over a large area and destroying agriculture for years. Between nine and 12 million people would die and another two to seven million would be injured. The contamination would spread far beyond India and Pakistan.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:38 AM

 

Amnesty: US Sacrificing Human Rights
washingtonpost.com -- The United States has fought the war on terrorism at the expense of human rights, eroding its credibility as a global leader on humanitarian issues, Amnesty International said Tuesday. In an annual report on human rights worldwide, the group took numerous swipes at the U.S. government for its response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including the indefinite detainment of foreigners being investigated for terrorism links. "Citizens around the world suffer the consequences when the U.S. defaults on its responsibility to promote human rights," said William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA. The report also documented a decrease in the use of the death penalty, from 40 countries in 1997 to 27 last year. The United States is among the 27. The group also found a decrease in the number of nations using torture on prisoners, from 90 percent in 2000 to 73 percent last year. But in its bid to hold together a coalition to fight the war against terror, the United States has stifled its own criticism against allies with records of human rights abuses, the group said.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:35 AM

 

Musharraf: there will be no more sacrifices
Financial Times -- General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, said on Monday that Pakistan would not make any further sacrifices of the country's "honour and dignity" as the price of avoiding war with India. India, which has hundreds of thousands of troops on high alert along the Line of Control, the international border that divides the disputed province of Kashmir, has strongly hinted that it will launch military strikes on its nuclear-armed neighbour unless Pakistan ceases its alleged sponsorship of terrorism.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:32 AM

 

British military prepare for nuclear war aftermath
(Michael Evans & Philip Webster, Times Online, May 24, 2002)
BRITISH military chiefs are drawing up plans for dealing with the consequences of a nuclear war on the Indian sub-continent that they now believe to be a “real possibility”. . . . Indeed, the Government is so alarmed by one of the most pessimistic intelligence assessments since the Cuban missile crisis that the military has been ordered to start planning for the possible emergency evacuation of Britons from India and Pakistan. . . . The fear in Britain’s intelligence services is that neither leader is listening to reason and that with more than a million soldiers lined up against each other, it would be difficult for either to be seen to be backing down. . . . The sources said that since both countries were new nuclear weapons powers, they did not have the same attitude to deterrence as the five older members of the nuclear club and may resort to using their weapons of mass destruction; that applied particularly to Pakistan if it faced defeat from an overwhelming Indian conventional attack.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 1:03 PM

 

White House Watch: Caviar Anyone?
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, May 26 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is relating an anecdote about his friend George W. Bush to photographers at the Hermitage, this city's magnificent palace museum. The night before in Moscow, he said, as he was serving caviar to Bush and guests' at a dinner at the presidential residence, he explained to Bush how Russia produces caviar. They catch the sturgeon, open up the fish, carefully remove the eggs, close the fish and throw it back into the water. Everyone at the table is laughing, they don't believe Putin. Laura Bush is laughing, Ludmilla Putin is laughing, Secretary of State Colin Powell is laughing, Condoleezza Rice is laughing, and the Russian foreign minister is laughing. "Everybody was laughing -thinking I was really inventing things on the spot, something really improbable" Putin relates. "And there was only one person who wouldn't laugh and said 'I do believe you, Mr. President,' and that was the president of the United States." (Incidentally, as far as United Press International can determine everyone was laughing because they knew it was a gag.)

. . . Read more!


posted by West 12:35 PM

 

Don't wag your finger at us, Mr Bush
observer.co.uk -- Henry Porter, a proud friend of America, reluctantly concludes that the President must listen more and lecture less if he is to win Europe's support. The President's lecture tour of Europe and Russia reminds us how little experience he has of foreign affairs and how recent is his discovery of the history and complexities of issues which have been unquestionably better covered and probably better understood in Europe than in the US.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:19 AM

 

'Massacre' in DR Congo
bbc.co.uk -- Human rights activists say more than 200 people have been killed by special death squads sent to the Congolese city of Kisangani, following the seizure of the main radio station by self-declared army mutineers last week. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that many of the dead were innocent civilians, while the rest are policemen and army officers. Speaking on condition of anonymity, aid workers described the gruesome task of pulling up to 150 decapitated and disembowelled bodies out of the town's rivers. And people from one of the poorest districts, Mangobo, told of how a squad of drunk Rwandan and Congolese rebel fighters fired indiscriminately into their homes, killing about 40 innocent people. Airport workers claim more bodies and two fresh mass graves can be found just beyond the airport runway. Human rights workers are seeking refuge with international organisations, too scared to sleep in their own beds.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:16 AM

 

Colombia votes for new president
bbc.co.uk -- Colombians are voting for a new president in an election marred by escalating violence and threats of reprisals by left- and right-wing armed groups. More than 200,000 troops and police have been deployed to protect voters amid warnings that rebels attacks are likely. Casting his vote in Bogota, outgoing President Andres Pastrana - who is constitutionally barred from re-election - urged people to employ the weapon of democracy against violence.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:14 AM

 

Pakistan Tests Missile as India Tension Simmers
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -- Pakistan on Saturday test fired a missile capable of dropping nuclear warheads on key Indian cities as India's prime minister urged world leaders to step up pressure on Pakistan to curb Muslim militants. The test of the medium range, surface-to-surface Ghauri missle was done on the anniversary of the birth of Islam's Prophet Mohammad.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:51 AM

 

United States Congress Whacks Argentine President Crisis Plans
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - President Eduardo Duhalde, threatening to quit if he fails to garner support for plans to rescue Argentina from economic chaos, suffered a major setback on Friday after legislators rebelled against a key reform demanded by the IMF.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 3:00 PM

 

Afghanistan - The Futile Campaign
(Madeleine Bunting, Ghe Guardian, May 20, 2002)
The only sensible conclusion is that we know as much about Operation Condor as we do about its predecessors - Anaconda, Ptarmigan, Snipe - and before that, Tora Bora: very, very little. Follow the reports for the past six months and there is a ludicrous pattern of claims of victory, then a few discordant details trickle out and, finally, an admission of failure. So, now we know that Tora Bora was regarded as one of the "gravest errors of the war": the US depended too heavily on unreliable Afghan fighters. Osama bin Laden and many AQT fighters managed to escape. . . . Afghanistan is in danger of becoming the most embarrassing chapter in the recent history of British military engagements. . . . Afghanistan offered the perfect solution to September 11 - a massive expiation of US anger and, more subtly, guilt. Dropping all those bombs felt doubly good: it was retaliation for a terrible crime, but also getting rid of an evil regime. The emotional rush was everything; whether the latter actually worked has fallen off most people's radar screen. They're not interested. The selective memory means that what is remembered is that a few women in Kabul threw off their burkas in November, not that many more women in northern Afghanistan have been raped since then in a wave of ethnic revenge against the Pashtun. Nor is anyone much interested that since the fall of the Taliban, the old lawlessness of highway looting and illegal road tolls has re-emerged. Or that in the past few months there have been at least two major conflicts between warlords - in Mazar-i-Sharif and in Gardez - as an uneasy truce awaits the results of next month's loya jirga. . . . The war was a crude and clumsy intervention which did little for the wretched Afghans, and even less for the struggle against terrorism.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 8:43 AM

 

Some fear Kashmir conflict could escalate to nuclear disaster
usatoday.com -- A festering regional dispute could spark the world's first nuclear exchange and make the Sept. 11 terrorism toll look minuscule by comparison. Experts say half a million to 50 million people could die if the conflict between Pakistan and India over the disputed province of Kashmir escalates to the use of nuclear weapons. The livelihoods of more than 1 billion people could be ruined, accompanied by global economic consequences.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:42 AM

 

Text of joint Bush-Putin declaration
MOSCOW, May 24 (UPI) -- Text of the joint declaration by President George W. Bush and President Vladimir V. Putin on the new strategic relationship between the United States and the Russian Federation:

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:27 AM

 

No talks, says India, amid warning of nuclear war
Yahoo! News -- India rejected calls to engage Pakistan in talks over Kashmir, as Islamabad announced the recall of troops on foreign duty and Britain warned confrontation between the bitter rivals could escalate into nuclear war.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 6:35 PM

 

Texas, Mexico Quarrel Over Water
HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) -- Parched farmland, a summer drought and frustrated farmers have raised the stakes in the international struggle over water flowing through the Rio Grande. About 200 Texas farmers planned to bring tractors and pickup trucks to an international bridge Thursday in an attention-getting protest over what they complain is an overdue promise by Mexico to allow more Rio Grande water flow into Texas. "We're going to park our tractors where we can block all the produce trucks," Mission farmer Tommy Garcia said. "Then we'll go ahead and drive to the center of the bridge." They are expected to be joined by farmers on the Mexican side, likewise suffering because they depend on the upriver dam releases stipulated by a 1944 water-sharing treaty.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 6:33 PM

 

Pentagon Offers Jets With Advanced Missiles to Brazil - the First Such Sale in Latin America
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon has offered to sell F-16 fighter jets to Brazil that would include advanced air-to-air missiles - the first U.S. sale of the weapon in Latin America.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 12:37 PM

 

Nuclear war threat over Kashmir crisis
timesonline.co.uk -- BRITAIN gave warning of the “very real and very disturbing” possibility of nuclear war between India and Pakistan last night as the Government prepared an emergency mission to Delhi and Islamabad.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 8:43 AM

 

In Cuba, Carter Got It Right
(David Corn, Alternet.org, May 17, 2002)
Jimmy Carter got it right. During his trip to Cuba, when he was permitted to deliver a speech on national television, he was critical of both the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba and Fidel Castro's anti-democratic regime. Albeit, as a good guest, he was, in tone, a bit tougher on the former than the latter. But Carter did call for radical change on each front -- the United States should end the embargo; Cuba should introduce political freedoms and democracy. . . . Wisely, he did not link the two. Carter skirted the Gordian knot of U.S.-Cuba policy, in which each side has indicated it will not change its ways until the other side does. Carter suggested that both the U.S. government and Castro were wrong to point to the other's misguided policies in order to defend their own failings. The embargo does not justify Cuba's denial of basic freedoms; Cuba's repressive political and human rights practices does not justify the U.S. embargo. But Carter, in his best Sunday school manner, did say that "because the United States is the most powerful nation, we should take the first step."

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 9:45 AM

 

Bush will use Berlin stage to demand war on Saddam
timesonline.co.uk -- PRESIDENT BUSH risks sparking a new row with Europe this week when he calls for Europe’s support for expanding his War on Terror to include the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:55 PM

 

India, Pakistan Seek World Support as Tensions Mount
By Penny MacRae and Raja Asghar
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - India and Pakistan jockeyed for international diplomatic support on Monday as their troops traded heavy border fire, fueling fears of war between the nuclear-capable neighbors.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 11:44 AM

 

Tensions rise again between nuclear powers India and Pakistan
WASHINGTON, May 17 (UPI) -- The United States said Friday it was doing everything it could to avert a war between India and Pakistan, both of whom have nuclear weapons, as tensions appeared to rise sharply in the region. At least seven people were killed Friday in border clashes and a bomb exploded in Kashmir, a Himalayan valley disputed between the neighbors for the last 54 years.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 7:34 PM

 

India Swelters in Deadly Heat Wave (washingtonpost.com)
HYDERABAD, India (AP) –– India baked in a heat wave Friday so intense that mud huts became as hot as ovens and birds in trees dropped dead, villagers said. This month's heat has killed 638 people nationwide. Officials described the temperatures exceeding 115 degrees as "a natural calamity." In Andhra Pradesh state, 622 people died. Temperatures there reached a record 124 degrees, said D.C. Roshaiah, an official in charge of relief work in the state.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 7:31 PM

 

Taiwan to spend 20.3 billion dollars on weapons in 10 years
Yahoo! News Taiwan plans to spend 700 billion Taiwan dollars (20.3 billion US) on arms over the next 10 years to ward off China's military threat. The shopping list included diesel-engined submarines, long-range warning radar systems, attack helicopters and Patriot missiles, the China Times on Friday cited Defense Minister Tang Yao-ming as saying in parliament. The planned weapon purchase was aimed to strenghten Taiwan's anti-aircraft and anti-ship capabilities against possible invasion from Beijing, the report said.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:39 AM

 

India heatwave toll rises to 622 despite rains
HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - The death toll from a heat wave in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh climbed to 622 Thursday, even as rains fell in some parts of the province, officials said.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 9:23 PM

 

The global warning Bush must heed
Michael Meacher, The Guardian, May 16, 2002)
The latest scientific evidence already suggests that the impact of climate change on the UK could be sharper and faster than was previously thought. . . . what is not realised is that the process of climate change may turn out to be much more unpredictable and unstable, with potentially catastrophic consequences in the long run. Many people imagine that temperatures will rise slowly but evenly, so that Britain will gradually take on the same warm temperatures as the Côte d'Azur - Manchester on the Riviera. It may well turn out to be disastrously different. . . . That is why I am so disappointed that this week the US refused to reconsider coming back into the climate talks for 10 years. The need for action is urgent. . . . Even this more alarming model still does not contain the full range of possible feedbacks. It omits, for example, the release of methane from melting permafrost as well as oceanic deposits of methane hydrates. It omits, too, the climatic effects of human-induced land use changes, in particular deforestation and massive displacement of people through agribusiness. . . . If we do not act quickly to minimise these runaway feedback effects, we run the risk of making this planet, our home, uninhabitable.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 6:05 PM

 

All Roads Lead to D.C.
(Emily Eakin, New York Times, March 31, 2002)
Today, America is no mere superpower or hegemon but a full-blown empire in the Roman and British sense. . . . "Nothing has ever existed like this disparity of power," Mr. Kennedy wrote in The Financial Times of London. "The Pax Britannica was run on the cheap, Britain's army was much smaller than European armies and even the Royal Navy was equal only to the next two navies — right now all the other navies in the world combined could not dent American maritime supremacy. . . . America's imperial behavior continues today. "The United States has bases or base rights in 40 countries," he said. "In the assault on Al Qaeda and the Taliban, they moved warships from Britain, Japan, Germany, Southern Spain and Italy. So while Joe Public might say we are not like those old empires — and we resent being called an empire — the actual effect of the projection of American power is not unlike the effect of the projection of Victorian power or Roman power."

. . . Read more!


posted by Emmett 11:34 AM

 

Israel's black propaganda bid falters
(Robert Fisk, The Independent, May 9, 2002)
Israel's so-called Book of Terror – designed to prove that Yasser Arafat is a master of terror involved in suicide attacks on Israel – is riddled with errors, omissions and deliberate misinformation. . . . translations of Palestinian documents allegedly seized by Israeli troops in the West Bank have been doctored to "prove" Arafat's responsibility for anti-Israeli attacks. At least one "translation" of a Palestinian document posted on the Israeli army's website is a palpable falsehood. . . . The original Arabic documents reveal just how the Israelis, in an exercise in black propaganda, have manipulated their true meaning. . . . The Arabic texts suggest that Israel is fighting against men who have long ago passed outside Mr Arafat's control, who are better funded than his Palestinian Authority and whose anti-Israeli attacks can only occasionally be foiled by Mr Arafat's still-loyal intelligence officers. . . . The last thing they prove is that Mr Arafat is behind the wave of suicide bombings that continued in Israel even yesterday.

. . . Read more!


posted by Emmett 8:07 PM

 

Opec chief warned Chavez about coup
(Greg Palast, The Guardian, May 13, 2002)
The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, had advance warning of last month's coup attempt against him from the secretary general of Opec, Ali Rodriguez, allowing him to prepare an extraordinary plan which saved both his government and his life . . . The warning - revealed by a Newsnight investigation to be shown on BBC2 tonight - explains the swift and safe return of Mr Chavez to power within two days of his April 12 capture by military officers under the direction of the coup leader, Pedro Carmona. . . . several hundred pro-Chavez troops were hidden in secret corridors under Miraflores, the presidential palace. . . . The US government's panic over the calls for an oil embargo, made public by Iraq and Libya on April 8 and 9, also explains what Venezuelans see as the state department's ill-concealed and clumsy support for the coup attempt. . . . Last month the Guardian reported a former US intelligence officer's claims that the US had been considering a coup to overthrow the Venezuelan president for nearly a year.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 3:54 PM

 

China Wrestles With Healthcare
(Christian Wade, UPI, May 15, 2002)
"China's healthcare system is developing quickly, but this progress has been accompanied by a rising cost in medical treatment and a lowering of standards in medical coverage," . . . Much of the problem lies in the current structure of the economy. China's healthcare system, like many other sectors, is struggling to evolve from a system of state planning to a market economy, a shift that originated with reforms initiated by the late-leader Deng Xiaoping in the late-1970s. . . . Millions of Chinese have been falling off the nation's welfare rolls -- the so-called "cradle to grave" health care and pension provisions that for decades were the hallmark of Communist Party rule.

. . . Read more!


posted by Emmett 3:15 PM

 

Former US President Jimmy Carter Talks About Liberties in Live Speech on Cuban State TV
Speaking in Spanish in a live, uncensored broadcast, Jimmy Carter gave Cubans a glimpse of Western-style democracy Tuesday, revealing to them the existence of a grassroots campaign to bring civil liberties to the communist-ruled island.

. . . Read more!


posted by West 6:53 PM

 

Gap Widens Between U.S., Israel
(The Guardian, May 13, 2002)
President Bush reaffirmed his support for a Palestinian state on Monday as a gap widened between U.S. and Israeli policy in the Middle East. . . . Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, at the White House and at home, has acknowledged Palestinian statehood was likely to emerge from peace negotiations, if they succeeded. . . . Bush has made Palestinian statehood central to U.S. policy in the Middle East. . . . So ingrained has administration acceptance of Palestinian statehood become that Bush's assistant for national security, Condoleezza Rice, and Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman, made almost matter-of-fact references to ``Palestine'' in speeches last week to the American Jewish Committee. . . . Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the Likud decision ``a real slap in the face'' for Bush.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 4:47 PM

 

Why does John Malkovich want to kill me?
(Robert Fisk, The Independent, 15 May 2002)
In 26 years in the Middle East, I have never read so many vile and intimidating messages addressed to me. Many now demand my death. And last week, the Hollywood actor John Malkovich did just that, telling the Cambridge Union that he would like to shoot me. . . . Much of this disgusting nonsense comes from men and women who say they are defending Israel, although I have to say that I have never in my life received a rude or insulting letter from Israel itself. Israelis sometimes express their criticism of my reporting – and sometimes their praise – but they have never stooped to the filth and obscenities which I now receive. . . . Does this kind of filth have an effect on others? I fear it does. Only days after Malkovich announced that he wanted to shoot me, a website claimed that the actor's words were "a brazen attempt at queue-jumping". The site contained an animation of my own face being violently punched by a fist and a caption which said: "I understand why they're beating the shit out of me." . . . Thus a disgusting remark by an actor in the Cambridge Union led to a website suggesting that others were even more eager to kill me.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 4:42 PM

 

Britain's bridge across the Atlantic is fated to collapse
(David Clark, The Guardian, Tuesday May 14, 2002)
On every front, the Bush administration is rejecting multilateralism in favour of an aggressive, America-first policy. It asserts the right to pollute without restraint by rejecting the Kyoto agreement. It demands access to the markets of the world while imposing steel tariffs and hiking subsidies for domestic agriculture. Arms control, it insists, is for others as it abrogates the ABM treaty and prepares a new generation of "mini-nukes". . . . These policy differences are now too wide to be dismissed as part of the normal give and take of transatlantic diplomacy. They arise, instead, from fundamental differences of philosophical outlook. . . . Under George Bush, its approach to the interna tional community assumes a more ostentatious form of rejectionism with every week. . . . America is not about to become any weaker or relinquish power voluntarily. The only option is for Europe to grow stronger by pooling its diplomatic and economic resources more effectively and providing a strategic partner that America cannot ignore.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 4:09 PM

 

This is the beginning of the world events blog.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 3:50 PM