31 March, 2005
IEA
Proposes Brakes On Fuel Consumption
By Adam Porter
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is to propose
drastic cutbacks in car use to halt continuing oil-supply problems.
Those cutbacks include anything from car-pooling to outright police-enforced
driving bans for citizens
Global Warming
Of Atlantic Could Hit Fish
By Jeremy Lovell
The potential shutdown due to climate warming of
the key Atlantic Conveyor current that warms northern Europe could have
a major impact on fish stocks in the region
Children Starving
In New Iraq
By BBC
Increasing numbers of children in Iraq do not have
enough food to eat and more than a quarter are chronically undernourished.
Malnutrition rates in children under five have almost doubled since
the US-led invasion - to nearly 8% by the end of last year
US Money
And Personnel Behind
Kyrgyzstans Tulip Revolution
By Andrea Peters
The interim government established in Kyrgyzstan
in the aftermath of the overthrow of the regime of President Askar Akayev
is largely the product of US intervention
The
Bush Administration Initiates An Arms Race
By Amitabh Pal
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those
who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
Much Ado About
F-16s
By Ahmad Faruqui
Who will gain from the sale of the F-16s? Clearly,
Lockheed Martin that builds the plane in Texas. And, who will lose from
it? The people of Pakistan, for whom the prospect of democracy has been
pushed further off in the future. Millions will go hungry to bed and
remain illiterate since their government thought it better to spend
$60 million a copy on the F-16s
Palestinians
Also Sleep In The Day
By Amira Hass
East Jerusalemites are "trapped" when
they leave the Bethlehem area through that checkpoint, and receive a
summons to report to the police so they can be questioned about their
violation of the order prohibiting their travel
Palestinian
Women 'Have Suffered Most In Intifada'
By Donald Macintyre
Palestinian women have borne the brunt of the pain
inflicted by four-and-a-half years of conflict but their plight has
been largely ignored
30 March, 2005
Two-Thirds
Of World's Resources Used Up
By Tim Radford
The human race is living beyond its means. A report
backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries warns that the almost two-thirds
of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded
by human pressure
Sleepwalking To
Disaster In Iran
By Scott Ritter
Based upon history, precedent, and personalities,
the intent of the United States regarding Iran is crystal clear: the
Bush administration intends to bomb Iran. Whether this attack takes
place in June 2005, when the Pentagon has been instructed to be ready,
or at a later date, once all other preparations have been made, is really
the only question that remains to be answered
US Scatters Bases
To Control Eurasia
By Ramtanu Maitra
The United States is beefing up its military presence
in Afghanistan, at the same time encircling Iran. Washington will set
up nine new bases in Afghanistan in the provinces of Helmand, Herat,
Nimrouz, Balkh, Khost and Paktia
New Documents Confirm
Widespread
Torture In Iraq
By Joseph Kay
A new series of documents released over the weekend
provides fresh evidence of the pervasive US military abuse of prisoners
in Iraq.An additional document posted on the ACLUs web site on
Tuesday provides evidence that the former top military official in Iraq,
Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, directly authorized illegal interrogation
techniques
Iraqi Women's
New Battle Ground
By Rory Carroll
After decades of oppression the Shia majority is
now in the ascendant and free to express its version of Islam. Female
students say the incidence of intimidation by classmates connected to
Shia parties and militias is increasing
Indian Army
Intervenes Against
The Nepal People's War
By Li Onesto
On February 28, Nepal's Royal Army, backed up by
the Indian army, inflicted serious losses on a contingent of the Western
Division of the Maoist People's Liberation Army. This involvement of
Indian soldiers in a major battle against Maoist guerrillas in Nepal
represents a new and alarming development in the war
Last Refuge
Of The Scoundrel
By Praful Bidwai
When India demanded to withdraw Brigadier-General
Paul Tibbetts, the pilot who had dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima,
from the United States embassy in New Delhi nobody then thought that
issues of diplomatic protocol,come prior to the moral-political imperative
of preventing, protesting and punishing grave crimes against humanity.
By contrast, the US denial of a visa to Narendra Modi has caused a great
outpouring of crude nationalistic anger in India
29 March, 2005
The
Dawn Of A New Oil Era?
By Robert J. Samuelson
Anything could now happen to oil. Prices could
drop, if the immediate fears behind today's buying don't materialize.
But the long-term trends are unpromising. Global demand is rising inexorably;
global supply seems less expansive
Iraq's Parliament:
New Farce
By Ghali Hassan
A farce parliament produced by illegitimate elections
in the shadow of war of aggression and occupation does not make a nation
democratic, free and sovereign. It makes a colonial dictatorship
A Message From
Falluja ToThe American People
By Mark Manning
All of the people I talked to had messages to the
American people. They said: "We did not attack you! We have done
nothing to the Americans. Why have you done this to us?"
Forgetting
Afghanistan...Again
By Sonali Kolhatcar
In the past two years the US media have drastically
reduced their coverage of Afghanistan. What little is published focuses
mostly on feel-good stories, superficial change and unopposed reportage
of the Bush administration's claims. There is little to no critical
coverage of the effects of the on-going US military and political presence
What
Will Be The Sharon Legacy?
By Am Johal
As Sharon prepares to meet President Bush next
month, his government is continuing to change the facts on the ground.
Under the cover of the Gaza withdrawal, the plan for continued settlement
expansion is moving ahead
The Jurisdiction
Dilemma
By Ali Dayan Hasan
Nearly three years after she was raped by four
"volunteers" on the order of a village panchayat, Mukhtar
Mai still awaits justice. The release and re- arrest of the four and
the events surrounding the progress of the case raise yet larger questions
about the sorry state of Pakistan's legal system
Et Tu
George?
By Ra Ravishankar
A fictional account of LK Advani's letter to US
President George Bush on the denial of Visa to Gujarat Chief Minsiter
Narendra Modi
28 March, 2005
Weaponizing
The Indian Subcontinent
By Christopher Brauchli
United States decision to deliver 25 F-16 fighter
jets to Pakistan will only destroy the peace initiatives between India
and Pakistan and once again push the two nations into an arms race from
which USA will benefit economically
The Long Emergency
By James Howard Kunster
Carl Jung, one of the fathers of psychology, famously
remarked that "people cannot stand too much reality." What
you're about to read may challenge your assumptions about the kind of
world we live in, and especially the kind of world into which events
are propelling us. We are in for a rough ride through uncharted territory
Same Shit,
Different Hemisphere
By Malcom Lagauche
While most of the eyes of the world are on the
Middle East, Washington is already drawing plans to combat Chavez
When Weeping For Religious
Martyrs Leads
To The Crucifixion Of Innocents
By Robert Fisk
Passion and redemption were part of our parents
religious experience. It would be wiser to reflect on the sins of our
human gods,those evangelicals who also claim we are fighting for "good"
against "evil"
Visa Denial Hurt
National Pride?
By Harsh Mander
Nehru once refused a request by Mussolini to meet
him, because he was a fascist. This was widely admired as a principled
stand based on democratic and humanist traditions, and never an affront
to the people of Italy. Similarly, most nations refused diplomatic relations
with the apartheid regime of South Africa, which was an act not of insult
but of solidarity of the international community with large sections
of the South African people
27 March, 2005
More
Torture Stories From Iraq
By David Randall and Andrew Buncombe
Damning evidence of how prisoners were "systematically
and intentionally mistreated" at a military base in Mosul, culminating
in the death of one. Nobody was court-martialled over the abuse
Genocide In Fallujah
By Brussells Tribunal
Report on the current situation in the city of
Fallujah presented to the 61st session of the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights For the period of 1st January to 25th March 2005 by
Studies Center of Human Rights and Democracy - Brussells Tribunal
Hot Air And Global
Warming
By Derrick Z. Jackson
Every time the world calls for action on climate
change, the United States emits more White House gases. The latest puff
came from James Connaughton, the director of environmental quality,
during last week's conference of 20 nations that met in London to attempt
once again to make global warming a global priority
The
Israeli Left Is Opting For Suicide
By Tanya Reinhart
Of the 100,000 people who showed up for the demonstration
of the Left parties a year ago, that demanded a pullout from Gaza, 90,000
stayed home in this weeks demonstration. Could it be that many
of them feel in their heart of hearts that they are being deceived?The
Israeli Left chose to commit suicide. It is no longer beholden to its
voters. It is beholden only to Sharon
24 March, 2005
The
Iranian Threat: The Bomb Or The Euro?
By Dr. Elias Akleh
Iran does not pose a threat to the United State
because of its nuclear projects, its WMD, or its support to terrorists
organizations as the American administration is claiming, but
in its attempt to re-shape the global economical system by converting
it from a petrodollar to a petroeuro system
Two Years...
By Baghdad Burning
Two years ago this week.
We've completed two years since the beginning of the war. These last
two years have felt like two decades, but I can remember the war itself
like it was yesterday
A Dozen Questions
For Dahr Jamail
By Dahr Jamail &Douglas Herman
An interview with Dahr Jamail
Hijacking Democracy
In Iraq
By Scott Ritter
The American 'cooking' of the Iraqi election is,
in the end, a defeat for democracy and the potential of democracy to
effect real and meaningful change in the Middle East. The sad fact is
that it is not so much that the people of the Middle East are incapable
of democracy, but rather the United States is incapable of allowing
genuine democracy to exist in the Middle East
New Indian Patent
Law, A Sell Off
By Alternative Law Forum
The Bill permits generic manufacturers to continue
producing generic version of new drugs which are in the mailbox. However,
this only applies where the generic producer has made a significant
investment provided they were producing and marketing the generic version
prior to 1 January 2005
Remembering Ram Manohar
Lohia:
The Che Of Non-Violence
By Niranjan Ramakrishan
Rammanohar Lohia was regarded by friend and foe
alike as an honest, brilliant, and profound man. He inspired deep loyalty
and enormous respect.He lived and died in simplicity, owning nothing.
His death was a huge loss to India, for she had lost her one of her
finest political minds. He was only 57
23 March, 2005
Cuba
And Venezuela Face The US And Colombia
By James Petras
The US strategy against Cuba involves a joint US-Colombian
attack of Venezuela backed by internal terrorists and the ruling class
Schiavo Case Quantitates
Genocidal US Racism
By Gideon Polya
The Schiavo Case continues to excite the US and
indeed the World. The US Congress, Senate and President are setting
a new, radical, high level of respect for human life, but only if this
new respect were to be applied to everyone! But in the US-conquered
Afghanistan a life is at about 20,000 times cheaper than that of a brain-damaged,
white American woman
Nepal: The
Royal Regression And
The Question Of Democratic Republic
By Baburam Bhattarai
The need of the hour is unity of all democratic
forces of the country on the common minimum programme of a democratic
republic. If anything is lacking so far it is the real democratic vision
and will power on the part of the leadership of major political parties
Journalists
Tell Of US Falluja Killings
By Aljazeera
All is quiet in Falluja, or at least that is how
it seems, given that the mainstream media has largely forgotten about
the Iraqi city. But independent journalists are risking life and limb
to bring out a very different story
Indian Patent
Law: A Death Blow To Cheap Drugs
By Randeep Ramesh
The days of cheap treatments for millions of Aids
patients around the world are coming to an end, after the Indian parliament
passed a bill that makes it illegal to copy patented drugs
God And The Good
Earth
By George Monbiot
amid the cracking of Easter eggs and the murmur
of prayer, there can still be heard the small, faint voice which reminds
us that our ecological hubris must eventually be greeted by nemesis
No Land Even
For Burial
By C.K Janu ,Jaison Chacko & Subhash Gatade
"Adivasis are the real owners of land. Our
lands were snatched away from us. None of the governments came into
power in the state took any serious initiative to provide this land
back to these real owners." An interview with C.K. Janu, leader
of the indigenous people of Kerala
22 March, 2005
Glass
Half Empty For Fifth Of Worlds Children
By i-Newswire
According to UNICEFs State of the Worlds
Children 2005, 21% of children in developing countries are severely
water deprived, living without a safe water source within a fifteen
minute walk of their homes. In addition, a staggering 2.6 billion people
do not have access to basic sanitation. Today is World Water Day
Rock Dust Fights
Global Warming?
By Paul Kelbie
A scottish couple claim the technique of spreading
rockdust may play a significant role in the fight against climate change
as calcium and magnesium in the dust converts carbon in the air into
carbonates
Damning Verdict
On GM Crop
By Paul Brown and David Gow
Final report on world's most comprehensive field
trials says oil seed rape varieties would harm wildlife and environment
Iraqi Invasion Reverberates
Across The Middle East
By Robert Fisk
The idea that "regime change" would bring
new-found stability to the countries of the Gulf - another of President
George Bushs excuses for the 2003 invasion - now appears to be
a myth
Shocked And
Awed Into 'Freedom'
By Pepe Escobar
Two years after being shocked and awed into "freedom",
freedom on the ground is a meaningless concept for large swathes of
the Iraqi population
Sects And Solidarity
In Iraq
By Dahr Jamail
Despite talk of civil war, Sunnis and Shiites seem
more united than divided
Opec Loses Control
By Adam Porter
This week Opec repeatedly assured the world they
would pump more oil to bring prices down.Yet immediately the 11-country
group closed the doors on its 135th conference in Isfahan, Iran, prices
surged to new all-time record highs
Remember What? Remember
How?
By Uri Avnery
Sixty years after the end of the Holocaust, it
is time to grow out of all this.The time has come to turn the memory
of the Holocaust from an exclusively Jewish property into a world-wide
human possession.The mourning, the anger and the shame must be turned
into a universal message against all forms of genocide
How We Made U.S.Deny
Visa To Modi
By Angana Chatterji
That Narendra Modi was denied a visa, that his
active involvement in crimes against humanity has been officially noted,
is something to celebrate. The larger task remains to hold accountable
Narendra Modi, who has committed genocide
18 March, 2005
Oil
Prices To Reach Record Highs
By Bloomberg
Crude oil prices in New York, which rose above
$57 a barrel for the first time yesterday, are likely to increase on
speculation demand will expand faster than supply
Secret U.S.
Plans For Iraq's Oil
By Greg Palast
The Bush administration made plans for war and
for Iraq's oil before the 9/11 attacks sparking a policy battle between
neo-cons and Big Oil
Why Wolfowitz?
By Jim Vallette
Occupied Iraq represents Paul Wolfowitz's main
development experiencewhere he ensured billions of
dollars of oil export revenues flowed into the Bush administrations
favored corporations. Jim Vallette of the Institute For Policy Studies
reviews Wolfowitz's resumé and sees that all his paths have led
to oil
No Stopping Global
Warming
By Maggie Fox
Even if people stopped pumping out carbon dioxide
and other pollutants tomorrow, global warming would still get worse
Naming The Real
Killers
By John Pilger
The US and UK government finds it convenient to
blame Colombia's huge murder rate on the drugs trade. The reality is
that most of the killings are being done by a regime it supports
The Media, The
Entertainment
Industry And Michael Jackson
By David Walsh
The Jackson trial has become the latest media extravaganza,
given saturation coverage and endlessly hyped as part of the effort
of corporate-controlled news outlets to coarsen and corrupt
public sensibilities. The sordid character of the trial should come
as a surprise to no one
Kerala's Silent
Revolution
By Rajaji Mathew Thomas
It was the participation of huge masses in public
action and political decision making that transformed Kerala. At present
a silent revolution driven by hundreds of thousands of women is in the
making. The women self-help groups, especially the state supported
Kudumbasree project are turning the poor women of Kerala
into small time entrepreneurs
17 March, 2005
Wolfowitz
For World Bank President
By Adam Entous
President Bush selected Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz, a magnet for controversy as one of the leading architects
of the Iraq war, as his choice for World Bank president
Bush's Hitman
At The World Bank
By Jude Wanniski
It doesnt really matter that Wolfowitz doesnt
know the first thing about banking or the economics of development projects.
He will sit behind the biggest desk at the Bank and take the telephone
calls from the Big Banks and the Multinationals, telling him what to
do.When the White House needs a big favor for one of its big hitters,
it need only put in a call to Wolfie, who will throw the right switch
Independent
Media: Enemy Target
By Ghali Hassan
Since the start of the 2003 War on Iraq, there
have been 13 incidents involving the killing of journalists by US soldiers.
All the journalists who have been killed were "unembedded"
journalists. Were they accidents or intentional?
'How Sgrena
Forced Italy's
Withdrawal From Iraq'
By Mike Whitney
Yesterday, without notice, Italian Prime Minister
Berlusconi announced that Italy was planning to draw down its troop
levels in Iraq. Did "Bush loyalist" Berlusconi discover something
about the attack on Sgrena and Calipari that forced him to take pre-emptive
action by ordering an early withdrawal?
Chinas
Anti-Secession Law
By John Chan
At the final session of Chinas National Peoples
Congress on Monday, the handpicked delegates assembled in the Great
Hall of the People passed an anti-secession law that outlaws
any declaration of independence by Taiwan. The legislation formalises
Chinas longstanding threat to use military force in the event
of any Taiwanese breakaway
Dollar Catching
Asian Flu
By Alan Boyd
They may be telling a different story to money
markets, but Asian central banks have been quietly switching their dollar
holdings to regional currencies for at least three years, confirm global
banking data
Fear And Loathing
Across The Middle East
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah
The Bush administration is eager to weave recent
events in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon into a narrative that "democracy
is on the march" across the region. Even some of Bush's critics
seem impressed lately. Underlying the turmoil, however, is a heavy dose
of old-fashioned power politics and manipulation rather than the outburst
of "people power" that the US media is revelling in. And where
people power is strongest, it isn't marching in the direction Bush wants
The Dark Side Of
Australia's Palm Island
By Andrew Boe
Tensions between police and locals continue to
run high on the troubled indigenous settlement of Palm Islan, Queensland,
Australia following last November's death in custody of Cameron (Mulrunji)
Doomadgee. It also raises questions about Australia's racial prejudices
16 March, 2005
Italy
To Pull Out Of Iraq
By Peter Popham
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister,
will begin withdrawing Italian troops from Iraq in September
Brainstorming
On Climate Change
By Jeremy Lovell
As the ministerial conference of 20 of the biggest
polluters on earth got underway in London the need for action to avert
a looming climate catastrophe was rammed home by graphic images of melting
glaciers and makeshift sea defences displayed at the venue of the meeting
Racing To Extinction
By Hill Henderson
"I am afraid the atmosphere might get hotter
and hotter until it will be like Venus with boiling sulfuric acid,"
said Stephen Hawking. "I am worried about the greenhouse effect."If
we go over this cliff no more humanity; the extinction of almost every
existing species except some bacteria; the end of life on Earth as we
know it
Coming To Terms
With China
By Chalmers Johnson
Can the United States and Japan, today's versions
of rich, established powers, adjust to the reemergence of China -- the
world's oldest, continuously extant civilization -- this time as a modern
superpower? Or is China's ascendancy to be marked by yet another world
war
On Empire And Those
Who Fight It
By Tariq Ali
Two years after the invasion of Iraq, writer and
activist Tariq Ali spoke to Socialist Worker about US strategy in the
Middle East and the growth of the Iraqi resistance to the occupation
The Brutality
Of Occupation
By Dahr Jamail
Even the ancient city of Babylon has been turned
into a US military base, and thousands of years of history and priceless
artefacts are being crushed under the tracks of US tanks.On so many
different levels Iraqi society and culture have been shattered by the
occupation, and continue to be as it drags on
We
Won't Forget Rachel Corrie
By Alison Weir
There is a quiet battle going on for the memory
of a young woman who could have been my daughter, or perhaps yours.On
one side are those who would like to erase her from history her actions,
her beliefs, her murder.On the other side are those who feel her shining
principles should be praised, her courage honored, her death grieved
Fuelling The
Arms Race
By Praful Bidwai
The rise in India's defence budget has evoked a
hostile response from Pakistan. This could soon translate itself into
acquisition of new weapons to blunt India's superiority and higher military
spending. The likely second- and third-order responses spell a disastrous
South Asian arms race, which will accelerate further as New Delhi and
Islamabad acquire more nuclear weapons and missiles
15 March, 2005
Himalayan
Glaciers Retreat Fast
By WWF
Himalayan glaciers are among the fastest retreating
glaciers globally due to the effects of global warming, and this will
eventually result in water shortages for hundreds of millions of people
who rely on glacier-dependent rivers in China, India and Nepal
Mount Kilimanjaro
Photo Wake-Up Call For
Action Against Global Warming
By Jeremy Lovell
A photo of Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap
for the first time in 11,000 years will be used as dramatic testimony
for action against global warming as ministers from the world's biggest
polluters meet today
The Checkpoint
Experience
By Annia Ciezadlo
As a Westerner working in Iraq, Annia Ciezadlo
has to brave military checkpoints just to get around town. It's an ordeal
that never gets any less confusing or terrifying
In Bad Faith
By Salman Rushdie
The exception to European secularism can be found
in Britain, or at least in the government of the devoutly Christian
and increasingly authoritarian Tony Blair, which is presently trying
to steamroller parliament into passing a law against "incitement
to religious hatred", in a cynical vote-getting attempt to placate
British Muslim spokesmen, in whose eyes just about any critique of Islam
is offensive
The People
Make A Stand Over
The Lies Of Lebanon
By Robert Fisk
Never before have we seen anything like it in Lebanon.
Never before have we seen anything like it in the Arab world.Almost
a third of the population of Lebanon was there; they walked many miles
through the city to Martyrs Square, they arrived by bus from the
far north and from Sidon in the south, most of them young, many of them
children
Extreme Cinema
Verite
By Louise Roug
American soldiers shoot Iraq battle footage and
edit it into music videos filled with death and destruction. And they
display their work as entertainment
Baghdad's Streets
Now A Deadly Gantlet
By Patrick Quinn
Adnan Shalaal left the Sheraton with his two sons,
aged 3 and 6, and his 12-year-old daughter.Shalaal never made it down
the tunnel of flying lead."He'll be forgotten in five minutes,"
one man murmured in Arabic after looking at Shalaal's bullet-riddled
white compact car. "That's Iraq today."
Kerala's Sex
Industry
By Amrith Lal, P K Surendran & K.Ajitha
K.Ajitha was a revolutionary communist who later
turned into a crusader for women's rights in Kerala state of India.
Here is an interview with her on the violence against women in Kerala
14 March, 2005
US
Report Acknowledges Peak-oil
By Adam Porter
It has long been denied that the US government
bases any policy around the idea that global oil production may be in
terminal decline.But a new US government-sponsored report does exactly
that!
"Fore!"Indigenous
Women In A Hole As One
By Richard Oxman
"Not only has the land been raped,
our Mother has been raped." -- Haunani-Kay Trask, Hawai'ian resident
What The
Lebanese Fear Most
By Robert Fisk
Assads troops are pulling back, but who will
replace them in Lebanon?
One Month On In
Lebanon
By Laurie King-Irani
As the Lebanese prepare to mark one month since
the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, they could
best honor his memory by pledging never again to destroy Beirut through
internally generated or externally manipulated conflicts
Why
Kasparov Quit Chess
By Stephen Moss
"I wouldn't say that I'm entering Russian
politics, because politics doesn't exist in Russia in the terms you
use here," he explains. "I will be trying to help Russia to
get back into normal political life and to make sure my country lives
in a civilised way."
13 March, 2005
Are
We Past Our 'Extinct By' Date?
By Robin McKie
Some say the world will end in fire, some say in
ice, wrote Robert Frost. But whatever is to be our fate, it is now overdue.
After analysing the eradication of millions of ancient species, scientists
have found that a mass extinction is due any moment now
Bird Flu Could Kill
Millions
By Geoffrey Lean
Pandemics occur when a new virus, to which no one
is immune, spreads rapidly among people. Experts are unanimous that
this will inevitably happen with bird flu, though they are unable to
predict when
"Are You
The Journalist That Was Kidnapped?"
By Giuliana Sgrena
They were all young Americans. I couldn't breathe,
my lungs were tightening up, I was constantly asking for water. Only
then did they ask my name and nationality. Then whispering in my ear,
one of them asked me: "Are you the journalist that was kidnapped?"
Rape: As An Instrument
Of state
Repression In Nepal
By Peoplesmarch
In Nepal women, suspected to be Maoists or sympathisers
of Maoists, have been marched nakedly in front of the public, subjected
to repeated rape with all forms of sadistic torture on their private
parts while in custody
Women's Rights
Eroding In Latin America
By Laura Carlsen
Domestic violence claims the lives of 14 women
a day in Mexico, but the law in 8 states does not consider domestic
violence a crime and 12 do not penalize rape in marriage. It is often
the custom to consider a rape case resolved if the rapist offers to
marry the victim
Middle East And Afterlife
By Robert Fisk
In a part of the world where a persons religion
is part of their life, the end of life does not appear so terrible or
so final
Syria And
Lebanon: Big Time Double Standards
By Kurt Nimmo
If you were a Palestinian, you might be angry with
this European bureaucrat for taking the Palestinian Authority to task
while Israelis settlers and soldiers murder Arab school children, bulldoze
homes (with people still inside), and assassinate your leaders. If you
were Syrian, you might wonder why the hell some European white man is
threatening your country. The last time the United Nations talked like
this against Arabs, 500,000 Iraqi children died
Cinema And Secularism
By Mahesh Bhatt
The first rotten phase that Bollywood saw was when, under the name of
demonising Pakistan, a lot of movies actually took perverse delight
in mocking and ridiculing the Muslim community. It was a phase after
which the public, having made one odd film into a big hit, themselves
boycotted such films. And it is unlikely now that any such films will
be made since they do not run at the box office anymore
12 March, 2005
The
Mystery Of The Second Sgrena Video
By Dave Fryett
In a second video the kidnappers angrily charge
that there is an "army of occupation in Iraq under the name of
Al Zarqawi" and that it was sent there to destroy the Resistence
by causing a fratricidal war among them. They did not actually say,
but certainly left open the idea, that Al Zarqawi was Washington's man.Is
the video genuine? Or in whose interest was this video produced?
Violence:
A Universal Threat For Women
By Pat Orvis
Thirty years ago--when the first U.N. World Conference
on Women was held in Mexico--it was mostly men who came, especially
from the more tradition-bound "third-world" cultures, to debate
the issues for women. But for the past two weeks for the Beijing Plus
+10, conference rooms have been filled to standing-room capacity with
women. A report
Sexism And Science
By R Ramachandran
Remarks made by the President of Harvard University
on the under-representation of women in the fields of science and engineering
bring the issue of gender discrimination to the forefront once again
Haiti: The Forgotten
Milestone In
Bushs Crusade For Freedom
By Bill Van Auken
With its death squads, political prisoners and
abject poverty, Haiti stands as a showcase for Bushs crusade for
freedom. Anyone harboring illusions about Washingtons aims in
countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Iran should turn their eyes
to Haiti to see the real face of American imperialisms democratizing
mission
Apartheid
Targets Palestinian
Home-Owners Inside Israel
By Jonathan Cook
Ali Zbeidat is a palestinian.Ali's problem is that
he is also a citizen of Israel and Israel is threatening the demolition
of his home terming it as illegal. Ali's plight is far from unique.
There are tens of thousands of other Palestinians in the same desperate
situation as Ali, living in homes Israel defines as illegal
11 March, 2005
Planet
Faces Nightmare Forecasts
By Abid Aslam
The worldwide pursuit of prosperity and material
luxury--long dubbed 'the American dream'--will lead to global nightmares
unless China and other nations like India retool their economies to
rein in consumption and generate growth without doing so much harm to
the planet
Democracy In The
Middle East? Where?
By Ted Bohne
There certainly isn't one in Afghanistan. Karzai
might be president in his house depending on his wife's mood, but past
that, it's business as usual. What about Iraq? Why there's still a shooting
war going on there. Threatening Syria makes little sense
Homecoming
By Richard Oxman
By any standard of measurement, the numbers of
unnecessary, unconscionable deaths we have caused --through bombing,
banking and betrayal-- far exceeds Hitlers wildest dreams of devastation
Chalabi For
The Nobel Peace Prize
By Baghdad Burning
I got an interesting email today telling me about
an internet petition to nominate Sistani, of all people, for the Nobel
Peace Prize. That had me laughing and a little bit incredulous. Is that
what the Nobel Peace Prize has come to?
Passive Genocide
In Iraq
By Gideon Polya
The Coalition funding of medical services in Occupied
Iraq is miniscule and the consequence is a huge avoidable mortality
that amounts to what bio-ethicists would call "passive genocide"
The Resort To Torture
By Ghali Hassan
The new documents and other documents received
by the ACLU reveal that the illegal practice of abuse and torture of
Iraqi men, women and children took place immediately after the US-led
invasion of Iraq. Iraqi POW and Iraqi detainees not only at Abu Ghraib,
the Wests convenient propaganda, but also throughout Iraq were
imprisoned, abused, tortured and murdered by British and US soldiers
Defusing
Israel's "Demographic Bomb"
By Hasan Abu Nimah
Israeli Jews thought the day they would become
a minority was perhaps still twenty years away, the evidence is increasing
that the bomb has already exploded and Palestinians are already a majority
in historic Palestine, as they were until Israel was created
Bush's Guru
By Uri Avnery
When Israelis heard for the first time about Bush
citing Natan Sharansky as his guide and mentor, they gasped in disbelief.
Sharansky? Our Sharansky?
Syrian Ally Returns
As Lebanese Prime Minister
By Robert Fisk
The most pro-Syrian prime minister of Lebanon -
his cabinet was dubbed "made in Syria" by the US administration
- was reappointed by one of the countrys most pro-Syrian presidents
Masks Unlimited:Vajpayee,
Babri Demolition
And Gujarat Riots
By Ram Puniyani
Vajpayee's association with RSS and his loyalty
to the agenda of RSS, the one of Hindu Nation and Hindutva politics
remained the central point of his politics and gave him the craftiness
and ability to pretend moderation and double speak, a role which suited
him perfectly
10 March, 2005
Malaria
Hits One In 12 Of World Population
By Steve Connor
More than half a billion people are suffering from
malaria today, twice as many as scientists thought had been affected
by one of the biggest killers in the developing world
Iraq Elections
And The Liberal Elites:
A Response To Noam Chomsky
By Ghali Hassan
To describe the Iraqi people resisting this violent
and illegal Occupation of their nation as simply "bomb-throwers"
is to ignore the gross atrocities committed against the Iraqi people
by US forces
"Falluja
Was Wiped Out"
By Rüdiger Göbel, Mahammad J. Haded and Mohammad Awad
An interview with the physician Mahammad J. Haded
and Mohammad Awad, director of a refugee center, who were in the besieged
and bombarded Iraqi city of Falluja during the large U.S. offensive
called "Dawn" in November 2004
After The
War Comes Cancer
By Jürgen Hanefeld
After two wars where oil wells were torched, chemical
factories bombed and radioactive ammunition fired, the first thing Iraqi
women ask when giving birth is not if it is a boy or a girl, but if
it is normal or deformed. The number of cancer cases and children born
with deformities has skyrocketed after the two Gulf Wars
The Heroic
National Guards
By Baghdad Burning
Its difficult to consider National Guardsmen
as heroes with the image of them beating doctors in white gowns in ones
head. Its difficult to see them as anything other than expendable
Iraqis with their main mission being securing areas and cities for Americans
It Is Not
Democracy On The March
By Seumas Milne
The claim that democracy is on the march in the
Middle East is a fraud. It is not democracy, but the US military, that
is on the march
Half A Million
Gather For Pro-Syrian Rally
To Defy Vision Of US
By Robert Fisk in Beirut
This was an inventive piece of history. Israel
certainly killed many thousands of Lebanese - more than the Syrians,
although their soldiers took the lives of many hundreds - but the half
million roared their approval
A State
Terrorist Visits American Hoteliers
By Vijay Prashad
For a business sector that likes to call itself
the "hospitality industry," it is painful that the chief guest
at its March 2005 gathering will be Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister
of the Indian state of Gujarat, who presided over the genocide of over
2000 muslims in March, 2002
Sustaining
The Mutuality Of Life
By Goldy M George
An enquiry into the sustainable life style practices
of the dalit and tribal population in the Indian state of Chattisgarh
09 March, 2005
Massive
Rally In Beirut
By Nadim Ladki
Hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Lebanese flooded
central Beirut Tuesday for a pro-Syrian rally called by Hizbollah that
dwarfed previous Lebanese protests demanding that Syrian troops quit
Lebanon
Lebanese Respond
To Bush, Chirac, And Sharon
By Kurt Nimmo
As well, as in Iraq, sectarian and ethnic violence
in Lebanon works in the favor of Israel and the United States - once
again imposing, as the French did before them, the colonial rule of
divide and conquer.Millions of Lebanese know this and that is why they
poured in the streets in record numbers, demanding Israel and the United
States keep their hands off Lebanon
Gorbachev's
Lost Legacy
By Stephen F. Cohen
The most important event of the late twentieth
century began twenty years ago this month. Perestroika, as Gorbachev
called his reforms, officially ended with the Soviet Union and his leadership
in December 1991
The
Last Of The Utopian Projects
By Eric Hobsbawm
Perestroika plunged Russia into social ruin - and
the world into an unprecedented superpower bid for global domination
Wangari Maathai
Speaks
By Wangari Maathai & Amy Goodman
Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai speaks on
the environment, the war in Iraq, debt and women's equality
Reign
Of Terror In Kasipur
By Statesman News Service
The People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) which went on a fact finding
mission to the Kasipur area of Raygada district in the Indian state
of Orissa where the Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) plans
to establish an alumina plant reports of a "reign of terror"
The
Good News From Islamabad
By Radha Kumar
After a depressing lull in the India-Pakistan talks,
during which the two governments appeared to be stuck on niggling technical
details, Foreign Ministers Singh and Kasuri have given us an enormous
breakthrough
08 March, 2005
Women
Still Are Second-Class Citizens
By Dian Harrison
Today is International Women's Day, a worldwide
celebration of women's fight for equality and human rights. Let us remember
that in much of the world women are still second-class citizens
Women Against
Fundamentalism
By Dolores Chew
Repeatedly we see that intrinsic to fundamentalist
thinking and operating is the control of women, their autonomy, their
sexuality, their choices. That is why women are often the primary or
exclusive targets of fundamentalist forces. Control the women, control
the community
Victims Of
Abuse
By Mita Kapur
Violence against women is the most persuasive human
rights violation in the world today. Opening the door on the issue is
like standing on the edge of a deep ravine vibrating with collective
anguish. Where there should be outrage, there is denial and largely
passive acceptance
In The Shadow
Of Violence
By Mari Marcel Thekaekara
Despite the celebrations on March 8, the incidence
of violence against women is rising. A look at what can be done to change
attitudes
Empower Women
By Praveen Dalal
The plight of the women cannot be improved till
they are duly represented in the "power structure". In a democratic
country the voice of women can be heard only to the extent they are
sharing the power structure in the governance of the country
Is Lebanon Walking
Into Another Nightmare?
By Robert Fisk
As the Syrian army begins its withdrawal from
Lebanon, after mounting pressure from President George Bush - whose
anger at the Syrians has been provoked by the insurgency against American
troops in Iraq - there are growing signs that the Syrian retreat is
reopening the sectarian divisions of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war
Ripples In The
Middle East?
By Mahir Ali
Nothing can change the fact that the war was a
criminal act. And wishful thinking alone cannot transform a silver lining
into a rainbow
Video Shows
More US Iraq Abuse
By Aljazeera
US Army soldiers in Iraq have filmed themselves
kicking a gravely wounded prisoner in the face and making the arm of
a corpse appear to wave.The video, made public on Monday, was shot by
Florida National Guard soldiers
Did The US
Military Target Guiliana Sgrena?
By Peter Symonds
The incident highlights the ruthless methods employed
by the US military in the face of continuing armed resistance and widespread
hostility to the US occupation. But the reality could be even more sinister:that
Sgrena, who had been held hostage for a month by a little known Islamic
group, was deliberately targetted either to send a warning or to silence
her
07 March, 2005
My truth
By Giuliana Sgrena
"At that point a rain of fire and bullets
came at us, forever silencing the happy voices from a few minutes earlier.
Nicola Calipari dove on top of me to protect me and immediately, and
I mean immediately, I felt his last breath as he died on me".The
Italian hostage who came under fire from the Americans writes about
her horrific exeprience
What Iraq's
Checkpoints Are Like
By Annia Ciezadlo
The checkpoint experience perfectly encapsulates
the contradictions and miseries and misunderstandings of everyone's
common experience - both Iraqis and Americans - in Iraq
Atrocities
Continue To Mount
By Haifa Zangana
Despite the election, ordinary Iraqis face a daily
struggle to survive attacks, kidnappings and killings
An
Evening With P. Sainath
By Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Fluent in his subject and familiar (rather too
well, it appeared at times) with the American lecture circuit, Sainath
sprinkled his talk with interesting factoids about the rich-poor divide,
the politics of SARS, why he stopped drinking Coke and Pepsi, and a
host of other gems
RSS In Action
In Rajasthan
By Nalini Taneja
If anybody needs convincing that every election
is important, they should look at the chain of events in Rajasthan since
the BJP came to power in the state
06 March, 2005
Ozone Layer Could
Develop Hole Over Britain
By Geoffrey Lean
Scientists will tomorrow fly a spy plane high into
the world's protective ozone layer, amid increasing fears that it may
be about to develop a hole over Britain and northern Europe
US Attack Against
Italians In Baghdad
was Deliberate: Companion
By AFP
The companion of freed Italian journalist Giuliana
Sgrena on Saturday leveled serious accusations at US troops who fired
at her convoy as it was nearing Baghdad airport, saying the shooting
had been deliberate
Promoting Democracy
In Middle East
By Noam Chomsky
'Where democracy appears to fit in well with US
security and economic interests, the United States promotes democracy.
Where democracy clashes with other significant interests, it is downplayed
or even ignored.'
The Next Crusades
By Uri Avnery
The US government's posturings to bring democracy
and freedom to Lebanon , disregarding its complexities and history can
only push that country into civil war and with it the whole of Middle
East
An
Economic Hit Man Speaks
By Kathyayini Chamaraj
One of the exciting events at the World Social
Forum (WSF) at Porto Alegre in Brazil this year in the last week of
January, was a dialogue with John Perkins, the author himself, who,
from being an economic hit man, has now crossed over to the "other
side" and joined those who have all along believed that "Another
world is possible"
Target: Al Jazeera
By Christopher Brauchli
It's easy to get crosswise with the United States.
Just ask Qatar. In 1988 it was Stinger missiles-today it's Al Jazeera
From Manu To
Manav
By Chandrabhan Prasad
There is a conflict brewing between the OBCs and
the Dalit in North India. But will it lead it to a historic alliance
between Brahmins and Dalits, asks Chandrabhan Prasad
04 March, 2005
Forests
Could Be Key To Curbing Global Warming
By Alister Doyle
Effective control of forest fires may prove crucial
in the fight against global warming since blazes from Alaska to Indonesia
spew out vast amounts of heat-trapping gases
There is No
More Time
By Lucinda Marshall
All evidence suggests that our lives and that of
our planet are in grave peril.It is our refusal
to face the realities of global warming and our continued illegal use
of Depleted Uranium that are the true terrors of our time
Oil Prices
Confound Experts
By Adam Porter
One quote from Shihab-Eldin,secretary-general
of Opec , is the most pertinent for the man in the street in 2005. A
quote we may hope does not bare true."When we look at the future,"
he said "we find ourselves facing a wall of uncertainty."
'Sharon
Is 'War Criminal'
By Ken Livingstone
"Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, is
a war criminal who should be in prison, not in office", says Ken
Livingstone, Mayor of London
Unilateral Give,
Unilateral Take
By Roni Ben Efrat
If, in order to get back Gaza, which Israel doesn't
want at all, the Palestinians have had to make four years of Intifada,
imagine what kind of World War they would have to wage to retrieve the
West Bank!
Who is AIDS? There's
No One
By That Name In This Village
By Preetu Nair
While India took the lead by conducting clinical
trials for the AIDS vaccine recently, in rural Goa, AIDS can be anything
A name, a plant or an "anti-deficiency something"
03 March, 2005
Arctic Ozone Loss
Raises Concern
By Associated Press
Ozone levels over the Earth's far north dipped
sharply early last year when polar winds trapped nitrogen pollutants
Chronicles Of Kyoto
By Renato Redentor Constantino
The Kyoto Protocol is not based on science, said
George W. Bush. We will meet the challenge of climate change with clean
coal, said John Howard. "The only difference between genius and
stupidity," said Albert Einstein, "is that genius has its
limits."
The Oil Factor
In Bush's 'War On Tyranny'
By F William Engdahl
A world oil price of US$150 a barrel or more in
the next few years would be joined by chokepoint control of the supply
by one power if Washington has its way
Iraq's Crop Patent
Law
A Threat To Food Security
By GM Free Cymru
Aid agencies and NGOs across the globe have been
reacting with horror to the news that new legislation in Iraq was carefully
put in place last year by the US that will effectively bring the whole
of the country's agricultural sector under the control of trans-national
corporations
Former President
Narayanan Speaks Up
By Manava Samskriti
"If the military was given powers to shoot
at the perpetrators of violence, recurrence of tragedies in Gujarat
could have been avoided. However, both the state and central government
did not do so"
Three Years
After Genocide In Gujarat
By Asghar Ali Engineer
Gujarat genocide keeps us reminding what to expect
when communal and fascist forces come to power. The fight against communal
forces should go on through democratic methods. They must be isolated
and weakened
02 March, 2005
US
Companies Seek Dismissal
Of Agent Orange Lawsuit
By Christine Kearney
Attorneys representing major US chemical companies
asked a US District Court judge in Brooklyn, to dismiss a civil suit
that seeks class action status claiming that up to 4 million Vietnamese
people suffered from dioxin poisoning due to Agent Orange
Finger
After Finger
By Uri Avnery
Seven words uttered by President Bush in Brussels
have not been paid the attention they deserve.He called for the establishment
of a democratic Palestinian state with territorial contiguity
in the West Bank, and then added: A state on scattered territories
will not work. It is worthwhile to ponder these words. Who did
he point the finger at?
Darfur, Another
Failure Of
The International Community
By Arjan El Fassed
The debate on Darfur is in danger of sounding like
a historical exercise. No one should forget that people are still being
killed, still being forced to flee their homes, still suffering each
and every day
Disharmony In
Kurdistan
By Seb Walker
The most obvious Shiite-Kurd clash could be over
the role of Islam in Iraqi society. Some senior figures in the United
Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the winning Shiite bloc that secured nearly 50
percent of the national vote on January 30, have insisted that Islam
be inscribed as the only source of legislation in the new Iraqi constitution
Australia: Palm
Islands Dark History
Of Aboriginal Repression
By Erika Zimmer
Conditions on Palm Island have steadily worsened.
The disaster that has been created by a succession of governments, state
and federal, is now being used to justify further inroads into the social
position of Aborigines
Poverty And
Social Misery In Afghanistan
By Joanne Laurier
A recent United Nations report on social conditions
in Afghanistan provides a glimpse of the social reality behind the American
medias talk of a new democracy and the supposedly
benevolent role of the US government in that country
Country
Visa, City Visa
By Beena Sarwar
Breakthroughs like the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus
service are important. But what's needed to really normalise relations
between India and Pakistan is to make cross-border visits easier for
each other
01 March, 2005
Bloodbath
In Iraq
By Patrick Cockburn and David Enders
In the bloodiest single attack since the fall of
Saddam Hussein, a suicide car bomber killed at least 115 people and
wounded 132 when he blew himself up yesterday in the city of Hillah
Is
peace In Palestine About To Break Out?
By Ali Abunimah
Behind the photo opportunities and historic handshakes,
however, the evidence on the ground is that Israel is taking advantage
of the new mood not to build peace, but to build more settlements
Militant Settlers
Put Sharon On Notice
By Jonathan Cook
While the aggressive language of many among Gaza's 7000 Jewish settlers
is making Israeli officials nervous, the government is far more fearful
of the response of the wider settler population of the West Bank and
East Jerusalem
"Powerless"
Bedouin Village
Still Seeking Health Care
By Am Johal
Volunteer Built Solar-Powered Medwed Medical Clinic
in Wadi el Na'am Sits Empty as Public Health Crisis from Toxic Industrial
Site Worsens
The Questions That
Dieudonne Raise
By Dave Fryett
Even if Dieudonne is guilty of ugly hyperbole,
and he may very well be, he, like Professor Norman Finkelstein and others,
has done a thing immensely brave. He has pointed out that there are
those who want to spin our civilization into retrograde motion. And
we cannot let this happen!
Remembering
The Gujarat Genocide
By M Hasan Jowher
The victims of post-Godhra riots await for justice
done, security strengthened and compensation awarded. For three years
to this week they have waited for truth to prevail
Expressions In
Freedom
Documentary film festival by Asian women in Delhi
This International Women's Day, Delhi will witness
a unique celebration of women & the ways in which they express themselves.
'Expressions in Freedom' is a festival celebrating documentary films
by Asian women