Obama, Denied Full Victory on 2 Issues, Takes Validation
NEWS ANALYSIS
By PETER BAKER
Published: December 19, 2009
WASHINGTON – President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, likes to say that the only thing that is not negotiable is success. The last 48 hours offered a case study in how the president applies that maxim to governing.After weeks of frustrating delays and falling poll numbers, Mr. Obama decided to take what he could get, declare victory and claim momentum on some of the administration’s biggest priorities, even if the details did not always match the lofty vision that underlined them.From Copenhagen to Capitol Hill, the president determined the outer limits of what he could accomplish on climate change and health care and decided that was enough, at least for now.
China blamed as anger mounts over climate deal
• Beijing accused over emissions cuts
• Campaigners say accord ‘a disaster’
Jonathan Watts and John Vidal in Copenhagen Robin McKie and Toby Helm
The Observer, Sunday 20 December 2009
An outbreak of bitter recrimination has erupted among politicians and delegates following the drawing up of the Copenhagen accord for tackling climate change.The deal, finally hammered out early yesterday, had been expected to commit countries to deep cuts in carbon emissions. In the end, it fell short of this goal after China fought hard against strong US pressure to submit to a regime of international monitoring.
The Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, walked out of the conference at one point, and sent a lowly protocol officer to negotiate with Barack Obama. In the end, a draft agreement put forward by China – and backed by Brazil, India and African nations – commits the world to the broad ambition of preventing global temperatures from rising above 2C. Crucially, however, it does not force any nation to make specific cuts.
USA
FBI walks tightrope in outreach to Muslims, fighting terrorism
By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 20, 2009
At a retirement party last week for the head of the FBI’s Washington field office, Muslim and Arab leaders presented the guest of honor with a crystal plaque.It thanked Joseph Persichini Jr. for reaching out to the local Muslim and Arab communities. Yet even as the tribute on Capitol Hill went on, his agents had a different mission. They were flying to Pakistan to interrogate five Washington area Muslim men arrested in a terrorism probe. The outcome of that investigation threatens to undermine the very relationships their boss tried to foster.
Productivity rises as workers do more with less
Employee output per hour rises 8.1% in the third quarter, the largest gain since 2003. But with people working harder in hopes of keeping their jobs, employers have less incentive to hire again.
By Alana Semuels
December 20, 2009
When her Irvine office began laying off workers in a lousy economy, Deborah Haas did what every employee fearful of being the next one booted is doing these days: She got busy.An executive assistant to the head of a furniture company, she became the receptionist, event planner, marketing assistant and office manager. When the catering budget got whacked, she threw on an apron and started whipping up chile lime crab cocktails and carne asada skewers for sales events.
Workers like her are fueling a surge of productivity in the U.S. economy. Employee output per hour jumped 8.1% in the third quarter this year, the largest gain since the third quarter of 2003.
Middle East
In Iran, a blind musician leads the way for a women’s orchestra
Ali Jafarian teaches music to young women in Shiraz — his blindness giving him access he couldn’t have otherwise. Together they practice the slow, sad rhythms and searing melodies of Iranian music.
By Borzou Daragahi
December 20, 2009
Reporting from Shiraz, Iran – Every Friday, the young women gather at the blind man’s home in a fading district of a sleepy city once famous for its poets and wine. They unpack vessels of wood, string and stretched hides. They cradle them in their arms. And as the afternoon wears on, they fill the alleyways with song.My Bahar, my daughter,
wake up!
Put on a sweet smile and
stir emotions.
The song is an old one, a bittersweet melody of grief and hope about a girl, Bahar, whose name is synonymous in Persian with the season of spring.
Christians in lands across Middle East face uncertain time this Christmas
In the birthplace of Christianity, present fear and future uncertainty threaten populations which have praised Christ for centuries.
By Richard Spencer in Amman, Samer al-Atrush in Cairo and Rob Crilly in Bethlehem
Published: 8:00AM GMT 20 Dec 2009
Rima, whose sister was murdered by Saddam Hussein’s officers, is going to America. Hani, another Christian, is off to Sweden after being kidnapped by a Baghdad militia. Michael Marody, whose cousin was likewise abducted but did not come back alive, is heading for Australia.
War-torn, anarchic Iraq, however, is not the only place in the Middle East that will see fewer Christians celebrating this Christmas. The region that was Christianity’s birthplace is witnessing an unprecedented modern-day exodus – victims of radical Islam, the global economic crisis, and new currents of sectarian feeling from both Arabs and Jews alike.
Asia
Sri Lankan guards ‘sexually abused girls’ in Tamil refugee camp
A British medic held for months in an internment camp for Tamil civilians has revealed how military guards dealt out cruel punishments, while many suspected of links to Tiger rebels were taken away and have not been seen since
Gethin Chamberlain
The Observer, Sunday 20 December 2009
Tamil women interned after escaping the horrors of the civil war in Sri Lanka were sexually abused by their guards who traded sex for food, a British medic has revealed.Vany Kumar, who was locked up behind barbed wire in the Menik Farm refugee camp for four months, also claims prisoners were punished by being made to kneel for hours in the hot sun, and those suspected of links to the defeated Tamil Tigers were taken away and not seen again by their families.
Kumar, 25, from Essex, was released from internment in September, but has waited until now to reveal the full scale of her ordeal in the hope of avoiding reprisals against friends and family held with her.
Banda Aceh’s triumph over war and disaster
The Indonesian island was wrecked by conflict before natural devastation, in the form of the 2004 tsunami, proved a catalyst for change
By Kathy Marks Sunday, 20 December 2009
In a fishing village west of Banda Aceh, young men gather in an outdoor coffee shop at dusk to talk, smoke and watch the television news bulletin. It is an unremarkable scene – yet it is one that for many years was rarely seen in this part of Indonesia. Racked by a separatist conflict for nearly three decades, the province of Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, was a tense, fearful place. Then came the devastating tsunami of Boxing Day 2004, which injected a new urgency into long-stalled peace negotiations. Seven months later, the warring parties signed a historic agreement to end the violence.While peace was an unexpected by-product of the tsunami, it has helped the province to recover from one of the world’s worst natural disasters, while at the same time radically improving the lives of ordinary Acehnese.
Europe
Museum director denies any of his staff were involved in stealing ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ sign
By David Randall Sunday, 20 December 2009
Polish police and border guards made exhaustive checks at airports and border crossings yesterday as the search intensified for the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign stolen from the Auschwitz death camp. A reward of $39,000 has also been offered for its safe return.The director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial museum, said that none of the museum’s staff are considered suspects. “I think it was done by specialists,” Piotr Cywinski said. “It was a very well-prepared action.” Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a museum spokesman, said that numerous cameras were installed at the site and police were analysing the film.
Eurostar trains suspended as cold weather continues
Eurostar passenger trains will remain suspended on Sunday because of concerns about the wintry weather.
The BBC Sunday, 20 December 2009
More than 2,000 people were trapped in the Channel Tunnel for up to 16 hours after condensation caused a series of electrical failures on Friday night.
And a special Eurostar service bringing passengers back from Paris broke down near Ebbsfleet in Kent on Saturday.
The closure of the tunnel left thousands of people stranded on either side of the channel.
Calais port was also closed, causing chaos on roads around Dover and Folkestone.
Kent Police said the queues had eased overnight, with more than 3,500 cars crossing the Channel on ferries.
‘Really uncomfortable’
Five Eurostar trains broke down in the Channel Tunnel on Friday night due to cold weather.
Africa
African musicians nurtured by Starehe School
Pupils reach musical heights thanks to school supported by Telegraph Christmas charity.
By Cassandra Jardine in Nairobi
Published: 7:30AM GMT 20 Dec 2009
The Starehe Boys Choir is singing Jambo Bwana (Hello sir), a Swahili classic with a simple tune and lyrics to match. So far, so jolly with a dozen young men who look rather too old for shorts enthusiastically belting it out while dancing around. Then, over the top of the other voices, soars one so remarkable that it brings shivers to the spine. Up and up goes the descant, improvising wildly on the tune.
This is the voice of Dan Abissi, a 17-year-old pupil who had almost zero knowledge of music until he joined the school two years ago. All he knew was that he loved it. “He wanted to come to Starehe because we have a marching band,” says Barney Everett, a volunteer music teacher who has been working at the school for the past year, courtesy of the British-based Martyn Donaldson Music Trust, after studying jazz at the Birmingham Conservatoire.
Latin America
Tijuana’s security chief needs all of it he can get
Julian Leyzaola lives with threats and worse, plus the accusations.
By Richard Marosi
December 20, 2009
Reporting from Tijuana – Since he took over one of the most troubled police departments in Mexico, Julian Leyzaola has slapped the face of a corpse, led shoot-’em-ups on the street and ordered suspected crooked cops to stick close to his office in downtown Tijuana — he wanted them as human shields.“I told them, if they try to attack me in my office, you’ll be right outside,” Leyzaola said. “The first ones they kill will be you.”
He’s not being paranoid. Since he launched a crackdown on organized crime and police corruption two years ago, Leyzaola has survived at least four assassination plots, including the latest threat to blow up his headquarters.