Docudharma Times Tuesday July 22

Hey!

Don’t Listen

To Him

He’s The

Iraqi Prime Minister

Women Are Now Equal as Victims of Poor Economy



By LOUIS UCHITELLE

Published: July 22, 2008

Across the country, women in their prime earning years, struggling with an unfriendly economy, are retreating from the work force, either permanently or for long stretches.

They had piled into jobs in growing numbers since the 1960s. But that stopped happening this decade, and as the nearly seven-year-old recovery gives way to hard times, the retreat is likely to accelerate.

Indeed, for the first time since the women’s movement came to life, an economic recovery has come and gone, and the percentage of women at work has fallen, not risen, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

COUNTDOWN TO BEIJING

China on war footing ahead of Olympic Games

Fearing terrorist threats, Beijing has deployed tens of thousands of security personnel, banned cars into the capital and is installing surface-to-air missiles near stadiums.

By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 22, 2008

BEIJING — In China, the preparations for the Olympics look more like a military deployment than arrangements for a sporting event.

The government is installing surface-to-air missiles near the stadiums and setting up checkpoints to stop out-of-town cars from entering Beijing. It has enlisted 110,000 security personnel and more than 1 million citizens to protect the Games against what it says are credible terrorist threats.

Unmanned drones are to patrol the skies above Beijing for the duration of the Games, from Aug. 8 to Aug. 24. The 800-mile border with North Korea will be sealed, according to reports from South Korea. Beijing’s airport will be closed during the opening ceremony to enforce a “no fly” zone around the city.

USA

Guantanamo Judge Blocks Use of Some Statements

‘Highly Coercive’ Conditions Are Cited

By Jerry Markon

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 22, 2008; Page A01

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba. July 21 — Prosecutors in the trial of Osama bin Laden’s former driver cannot use as evidence some statements the defendant gave interrogators because they were obtained under “highly coercive” conditions while he was a captive in Afghanistan, a military judge ruled Monday evening.

As the first U.S. military commission since World War II got underway, Navy Capt. Keith J. Allred threw out the statements that Salim Ahmed Hamdan made after he was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, including detailed descriptions of bin Laden’s whereabouts.

Israelis, Palestinians look to Obama with hope, skepticism



By Margaret Talev and Dion Nissenbaum | McClatchy Newspapers

AMMAN, JORDAN – As Barack Obama heads into the world’s most complicated region in a bid to establish his foreign-policy credentials as a presidential hopeful, Israelis and Palestinians are voicing a mixture of hope, skepticism and curiosity.

The Illinois Democratic senator, who arrives here Tuesday from visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, has promised a new approach to U.S. diplomacy and a spirit of international healing, and both sides want to see him engage immediately on issues that divide the Middle East.

Many Palestinians worry that Obama will bend over backward in favoring Israel.

Europe

Radovan Karadzic, Europe’s most wanted man, arrested for war crimes

· Bosnian Serb indicted over Srebrenica

· Fugitive on the run for 12 years

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor

The Guardian,

Tuesday July 22, 2008

One of the world’s most wanted men, the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, was arrested last night in Serbia after 12 years on the run from charges of genocide and war crimes.

The man indicted for the Srebrenica massacre and the Sarajevo siege, among other war crimes, was arrested by Serbian security officers and taken before a war crimes court in Belgrade, according to a statement from the office of the Serbian president, Boris Tadic.

Karadzic was said to have been under surveillance for weeks after a tip-off from an unnamed foreign intelligence agency, and had been picked up in Belgrade. The prosecutor’s office at The Hague war crimes tribunal said it expected Karadzic to be handed over “in due course”.

Sarkozy puts on the charm in attempt to sway Irish



By David McKittrick, Ireland Correspondent

Tuesday, 22 July 2008

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, opted for Gaelic charm rather than arrogance yesterday as he visited Dublin in an attempt toreduce the political turbulence over Europe that came after Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum last month.

Though M. Sarkozy may not be a natural conciliator, he attempted to calm the troubled waters, repeatedly insisting that he had no wish to meddle in Irish affairs. Protesters chanted “No means No” as he arrived for talks in Dublin’s Merrion Square. “We don’t want to push you into anything,” he declared. “I did not meddle in any way.”

Asia

Suu Kyi ‘may be free in six months’



By Jan Dahinten

Monday, 21 July 2008

Military-ruled Myanmar could release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in about half a year, once a maximum detention period of six years has expired, Singapore’s foreign minister said yesterday.

The Nobel peace laureate’s confinement to her lakeside home in Yangon was extended in May despite international pleas to the generals to end her latest stretch of detention, which began in May 2003.

“Under their law the maximum period of detention for Daw Sang Suu Kyi is one year as approved by the home ministry and five more years as approved by the prime minister as a cabinet decision … meaning a maximum of six years,” Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo quoted Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win as saying.

Why Thai-Cambodian temple dispute lingers

Each side has domestic reasons to prolong the conflict.

By Simon Montlake  | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the July 22, 2008 edition

Bangkok, Thailand –  Senior security officials from Thailand and Cambodia failed Monday to defuse a border dispute centered on a 10th-century temple that has seen hundreds of troops mobilized on both sides and claims by Cambodia of incursions by Thai soldiers.

After a week of saber-rattling over Preah Vihear, which UNESCO recently designated as a World Heritage Site for Cambodia, Thai analysts and Western diplomats say there is a risk that tempers could flare. Neither side wants to be seen backing down, since parties on both sides are using the dispute to further domestic political goals, especially in Thailand.

Africa

By ALAN COWELL and GRAHAM BOWLEY

Published: July 22, 2008

South Africa is hoping to convene negotiations between Zimbabwe’s feuding political parties on Tuesday – one day after their leaders met face to face and agreed to open talks. The pact seemed to draw a line, for the time being at least, under an election season marked by beatings and assassinations of opposition figures.

The agreement struck on Monday in Harare could mark a remarkable turnabout in the fortunes of a land torn by political bloodletting and economic ruin – or, some analysts said, it could turn out to be one more maneuver after many ploys by President Robert Mugabe to maintain the power he has held during 28 years in office.

Media ought to give Africa a fair shake

Is Africa well reflected by the fourth estate? Especially by the South African media?

Lucas Ntyintyane, Cresta

Published:Jul 22, 2008

The Times South Africa

All we read about are the gory and hair- raising stories, depicting the worst of Africa. Are the likes of Mugabe the only news from Africa?

Or are the media too lazy to look around? Maybe it’s the case of the bad news selling more papers.

I believe, despite all our problems, there are still good stories out there.

Stories about unsung heroes and heroines doing their best to change the image of Africa. But we never get to hear about them.

The obsession with dictators of Mugabe’s ilk borders on paranoia. Yes, it’s important to reflect on what is wrong in modern Africa because it’s the only way we can move forward.

Middle East

Iraq Points to Pullout in 2010

High-Level Statement Is Second in Days to Back Timetable Similar to Obama’s

By Sudarsan Raghavan and Dan Eggen

Washington Post Foreign Service

Tuesday, July 22, 2008; Page A01

BAGHDAD, July 21 — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama conferred with senior Iraqi leaders, U.S. officials and military commanders Monday, as a spokesman for the Iraqi government declared that it would like U.S. combat forces to complete their withdrawal by the end of 2010.  

The comments by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh mark the second time in recent days that a senior Iraqi has endorsed a timetable for U.S. withdrawal that is roughly similar to the one advocated by Obama.

Senior al-Qaida leader gives interview



By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A senior al-Qaida leader has urged Pakistanis to help Afghans fight U.S.-led coalition forces and condemned President Pervez Musharraf for arresting Arab and Afghan fighters and handing them over to Washington.

In a rare on-camera interview given to Pakistan’s Geo TV and broadcast late Monday, Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed reiterated al-Qaida’s claim of responsibility for the June 2 suicide car bombing on the Danish embassy in Islamabad that killed six people.

Al-Yazeed, an al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan, praised Pakistani tribesmen for helping Afghans fight – a reference to the Taliban-led insurgency in the country – but lashed out at the Pakistan government.

Latin America

Brazil has top Olympic sailors? Who knew?

Robert Scheidt is poised to win another sailing medal for his soccer-crazy country.

Andrew Downie | Correspondent

There’s a wall at the Santo Amaro Yacht Club with plaques to the club’s sailing greats.

Up high are tributes to the men who in the 1960s and 70s won gold medals in the Pan American Games or bronze medals in the Olympics.

Down below, in the space for more recent conquests, the name Robert Scheidt stands out.

His name is on more plaques than all the others put together. For International Sailor of the Year (twice), for Pan American gold (three times) for World Championships (eight times at Laser class, and once at Star class). And of course for his two Olympic gold medals.