Docudharma Times Thursday January 31

This is an Open Thread: I make my living off the evening news

Thursday’s Headlines: Showdown Nears on Stimulus Bill: Strong early lead that petered out : SA police arrest 1,500 in church: Australia will apologise to Aborigines: Bomb takes death toll of journalists in Iraq war to 126: N Korea ‘stands by nuclear deal’: Rio police crisis before carnival

Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women’s rights

A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country’s rulers. This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after “liberation” and under the democratic rule of the West’s ally Hamid Karzai.

The fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan. He was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.

USA

Showdown Nears on Stimulus Bill

Senate Panel’s Version More Generous Than Bush-House Plan

With bipartisan support, the Senate Finance Committee yesterday approved a $157 billion economic stimulus plan that rivals the measure fashioned by President Bush and House leaders, setting up a Senate showdown today that could determine who will receive rebates from the federal government and how quickly the checks will arrive.

The Bush administration and House leaders had hoped the Senate would simply accept the stimulus plan approved by the House on Tuesday, ensuring final passage this week and the mailing of the first checks by May. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will try today to block the Senate from adopting the Finance Committee plan and force the passage of the House bill instead.

Strong early lead that peteredout

Suzanne Goldenberg in Columbia, Missouri

Thursday January 31, 2008

The Guardian

There was a moment in the last Democratic candidates’ debate two weeks ago when John Edwards’ fate seemed clear. Barack Obama was talking about the extraordinary interest in the contest. “There’s no doubt [of] that in a race where you’ve got an African-American, and a woman” – he hesitated for a second – “and John”.

Edwards, conscious that the cameras were on him, struggled to smile, but there was no missing his pain at being the perpetual afterthought in the Democratic race. He had been campaigning for president for at least five years – far longer than Clinton or Obama – and he entered this election season with much promise.

Africa

SA police arrest 1,500 in church

Police in Johannesburg have raided the city’s Central Methodist Church, arresting around 1,500 homeless people and Zimbabwean refugees.

Dozens of police, some heavily armed, raided the church compound at around 2300 (0100 GMT), rounded up those there and took them away.

The police said they were looking for drugs, guns and illegal immigrants.

But Paul Verryn, the church’s bishop, described the raid as a violation of the sanctity of the church.

US envoy says violence in Kenya is ethnic cleansing

The top United States diplomat for Africa has described the violence in parts of Kenya since the disputed presidential election as “clear ethnic cleansing”.

Jendayi Frazer, US assistant secretary of state, said that the mass displacement of civilians in the Rift Valley was part of an “organised effort”. About 150,000 people were chased from their homes in January, most of them from president Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu ethnic group. The perpetrators were mainly Kalenjins, who have a historic claim to the land.

Asia-Pacific

Australia will apologise to Aborigines

Australia’s newly elected Labor government is to apologise next month to the “stolen generation” of Aborigines forcibly removed from their families.

The formal apology, a measure that previous conservative administrations refused to countenance, will take place on February 13 when parliament resumes after a seasonal break.

Indigenous affairs minister, Jenny Macklin, called the apology “a bridge to the future” and confirmed yesterday that the wording of the statement would be made after widespread consultation with indigenous leaders. But she added that the government would not accede to longstanding demands for a $1bn (£447m) fund to compensate those affected by the policy, which was based on race.

Middle East

Olmert survives despite criticism over conduct of Lebanon war

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was determined to stay in office last night despite a stark official critique of the deficient decision-making, military unpreparedness, and absence of clear strategy in the Lebanon war he waged 18 months ago.

The Israeli government’s and military management of the 34-day conflict is described as a “serious missed opportunity” in the final report from the Winograd Commission, which provides the first authoritative acknowledgement that “it failed to win” the war. But with members of his ruling Kadima party expected to rally round him, Mr Olmert showed every sign last night of resisting a chorus of opposition calls to step down in response to a scathing account of the “flaws and failings” in the war that began after Hizbollah abducted two Israeli reservists in July 2006.

Bomb takes death toll of journalists in Iraq war to 126

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad

Thursday, 31 January 2008

Iraq confirmed its reputation as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists this week when a roadside bomb killed an Iraqi television cameraman, Alaa Abdul-Karim al-Fartoosi, the first journalist to be killed in Iraq this year and the 126th since the start of the war.

Mr Fartoosi, 29, worked for al-Furat, the television station of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, one of the main Shia Islamic parties. He had left Baghdad at about 5pm on Tuesday for Samarra to cover the second anniversary of an attack on the Shia shrine in the city that provoked widespread killings.

Europe

Businessman drops plans to sue parents of boy he killed

A Spanish businessman has withdrawn his plans to sue the parents of a teenager he ran over and killed while at the wheel of a luxury car.

Tomas Delgado had demanded damages of €20,000 (£14,850), from the family of 17-year-old Enaitz Iriondo Trinidad, claiming the fatal crash damaged his Audi A8.

But as the case was due to go to court yesterday, Mr Delgado dropped his legal claim after the publicity sparked national outrage in Spain, where many felt sympathy for the parents of Iriondo.

Rogue trader cashed in on 7/7 bombings

Jérôme Kerviel claims to have got his first taste of unauthorised trading after making a €500,000 profit as a result of the London bombings 2½ years ago.

Mr Kerviel told investigators that he had placed a bet that the share price of the German insurer Allianz would fall. It paid off in July 2005 when the Tube attacks, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700, triggered a sharp fall in share prices across Europe.

“My first experience of this kind goes back to 2005, when I took a position on Allianz shares, betting on a drop in the market,” Mr Kerviel said in comments published in Le Monde and confirmed as genuine by a judicial offical. “It so happened that a little later the market fell as a result of the attacks on London and it was a jack-pot of €500,000,” he said.

Asia

‘Condolence cash’ could free killer rapist

Joji Obara, the convicted rapist and killer accused of causing the death of the British bar hostess, Lucie Blackman, could be freed early if the father of one of his victims accepts a £472,000 payment, Japanese police say.

Nigel Ridgway, whose daughter, Carita, died in Tokyo in 1992, is due to arrive in Tokyo this morning to meet representatives of Obara, a 54-year-old property developer.

Mr Ridgway is considering an offer of as much as 100 million yen (£472,000) in “consolation and condolence” money from the man convicted last year of drugging, raping and accidentally killing his daughter.

N Korea ‘stands by nuclear deal’

North Korea has not changed its mind about ending its nuclear programme, leader Kim Jong-il has told a visiting Chinese diplomat.

Disagreements over implementing the deal could be overcome, the reclusive leader told top official Wang Jiarui.

North Korea agreed last year to abandon its nuclear activities in return for aid.

But progress came to a halt after North Korea missed a year-end deadline to disclose all of its nuclear facilities.

Latin America

Rio police crisis before carnival

The police force in Rio de Janeiro is facing a crisis after dozens of senior officers offered their resignations just days before the carnival.

Forty-three officials signed a letter of resignation after their commander was sacked by the state governor.

The head of the military police was dismissed after he allowed a mass protest by officers over their pay to go ahead last weekend.

Security chiefs say they are confident the carnival will go ahead peacefully.