Docudharma Times Thursday January 1

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Israel rejects ceasefire move as divisions emerge in leadership

• More troops mass on border

• Hamas rockets land 25 miles into Israel

Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem

The Guardian, Thursday 1 January 2009

Israel rejected any temporary halt to its five-day bombing campaign in Gaza yesterday and continued to hit targets in the Palestinian territory amid the first signs of disagreement over strategy among Israel’s leaders.

Israeli troops and tank crews gathered in larger numbers on the Gaza border ready for a new stage in the fighting. A possible invasion by Israeli forces could range from limited ground incursions to a much larger land invasion of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. Another call-up of reservists has been approved, bringing the total to 9,000.

Israel widened its buffer zone under military authority around Gaza to a radius of 25 miles after the reach of Hamas rockets extended to the town of Be’er Sheva

Britain ready to take in Guantánamo prisoners

Deal will help Obama to close down terror jail



From The Times

January 1, 2009

Sam Coates, Tim Reid and Richard Ford

Britain is preparing to receive foreign terror suspects from Guantánamo Bay so that Barack Obama can shut it down, The Times has learnt.

Government sources say that Britain now supports moves to rehouse the detainees, despite previous refusals to help President Bush.

A Downing Street official said that a process to deal with the detainees was being put in place and that decisions “would be for the Home Secretary to decide on a case-by-case basis”.

The issue is the subject of intense negotiations within Whitehall. The Foreign Office appears much keener on the idea than other departments, which will have to deal with the suspects’ immigration status and whether they will need special housing and cash benefits. Having foreign terror suspects with no links to the UK housed here inevitably will provoke controversy.

USA

New Sentencing Guidelines For Crack, New Challenges



By Del Quentin Wilber

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, January 1, 2009; Page A01

Michael D. Thompson, a former crack cocaine dealer, thought he deserved a break.

Sentenced in 2000 to 15 years and eight months in prison, Thompson asked a federal judge in the District to release him, arguing that he had received an unfair sentence and has turned his life around behind bars, earning a general equivalency diploma and completing a commercial driving course.

Federal prosecutors said that was a terrible idea. Citing Thompson’s criminal past and prison disciplinary record, which includes threatening a prison official with a knife, prosecutors argued in court papers that the 37-year-old poses a danger to the community and should complete his sentence.

Tough Calculus for Blagojevich on Senate Seat



By MONICA DAVEY and RACHEL L. SWARNS

Published: December 31, 2008

CHICAGO – Since his arrest on corruption charges on Dec. 9, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois wavered several times on whether to appoint a new senator to fill the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, people with knowledge of his thinking said Wednesday.

But once it became clear that state lawmakers would not call a special election, Mr. Blagojevich had an emissary make a call on Dec. 24 to Danny K. Davis, a Democratic representative and longtime African-American leader.

Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat who had already been accused of trying to sell the seat, had a difficult calculus to meet: someone who would accept his offer under the circumstances and someone, political experts say, whose standing might somehow help spare his own future, political or otherwise.

Europe

Fears as Czech Republic takes over helm of EU

• Concern grows over ability to cope with crises

• President is Eurosceptic and government weak

Ian Traynor in Brussels

The Guardian, Thursday 1 January 2009

The Czech Republic becomes the first former Soviet satellite to run the European Union today, as it takes over the EU presidency from President Nicolas Sarkozy after six months of dynamic crisis management.

With its centre-right government weak and unstable and the country’s head of state, President Václav Klaus, the strongest Eurosceptic in office anywhere in the EU, fears are widespread that Prague might struggle to lead Europe at a time of multiple and fast-moving international crises.

In the first move of the Czech presidency the foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, will go to the Middle East this week to try to mediate in the Gaza crisis, after voicing support for Israel’s onslaught against Hamas

Russia to Cut Off Gas Supplies After Talks With Ukraine Fail

The CEO of Russia’s state gas monopoly Gazprom said Russia will cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on Jan. 1. The decision was made after talks with Ukraine over outstanding debt payments and a new contract failed.

Deutsche-Welle

Russia’s Gazprom said on Wednesday its engineers were starting preparations for a Jan. 1 cut-off of gas to Ukraine that could have an impact on supplies to Central and Western Europe.

The CEO of the energy giant, Alexi Miller said the decision to shut off the flow of natural gas was made after last-minute negotiations with Ukrainian gas firm Naftogaz ended without agreement on how much Ukraine will pay for shipments in 2009. Miller also told reporters Gazprom had not yet received the money Ukraine said it transferred to cover its debt for deliveries in 2008.

“From 10:00 am (0700 GMT) on January 1, 2009, Gazprom will fully, 100 percent, stop deliveries of gas to Ukraine,” Miller said. “All responsibility lies with the Ukrainian side.”

Africa

Activists accused of plotting Zimbabwe coup remain in jail

16 held over bid to topple Mugabe fail to win freedom at court hearing

By MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare

Thursday, 1 January 2009

A Zimbabwean court has ruled that a leading human rights campaigner and 15 other activists should remain in custody pending a remand hearing, in a case that has deepened doubts over a power-sharing deal.

Jestina Mukoko, head of a localhuman rights group, and the other activists have been charged with recruiting or trying to recruit people to undergo military training to topple the President Robert Mugabe’s government. “The accused cannot be released at this stage, this is a proper case for [a] remand hearing,” said the magistrate, Mishrod Guvamombe. The activists will appear in court next Monday for a bail hearing.

Zimbabwe’s money man plans to keep on printing

Central bank chief Gideon Gono makes no apology for continuing to crank out money, which economists say fuels hyperinflation. Critics call him a megalomaniac with a vise-like grip on the economy.

By Robyn Dixon

January 1, 2009

Reporting from Harare, Zimbabwe — Gideon Gono prints money, lots and lots of money that’s worth next to nothing. Depending on whom you talk to, the architect of Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation is a megalomaniac, a workaholic, a thief — or the country’s savior.

Zimbabwe’s central bank chief seems to have a finger in every government ministry. No project goes ahead without his approval. No underling approaches without fear and trembling.

He makes no apologies for his furious money-printing, as the country, mired in disease and hunger, inflation beyond calculation and political crisis, keeps on spiraling downward. Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures, he says.

The 49-year-old former tea boy, target of Western economic sanctions and confidant of President Robert Mugabe has made more enemies in the ruling ZANU-PF party than any other senior member. And some people think he may be its weak link. But for now, it’s his obsession with photo ops and his autocratic control over government affairs that dominate

Asia

Fire at Thai nightclub kills 59 revellers

Foreigners among dead at Bangkok new year party

By Kathy Marks, Asia-Pacific Correspondent

Thursday, 1 January 2009

At least 59 people were killed and scores injured in Bangkok this morning when fire gutted a popular nightclub where revellers were celebrating the New Year.

Local police said a number of foreigners, including Australians, Nepalese, Japanese and Dutch people, were among the dead at the Santika club, in the Thong Lor district, an area known for entertainment venues. The fire was possibly caused by a pyrotechnics display inside the club. It sparked immediate panic amongst the party-goers, more than 1,000 of them; some were killed during a stampede to escape through the door, which was both the entry and exit.

Sri Lanka captures key Tamil Tiger town >

From Times Online

January 1, 2009

Anne Barrowclough

The Sri Lankan military has taken control of a key Tamil Tiger town, cutting off the supply line to rebel troops and bringing it a crucial step closer to capturing the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, the defence ministry claims.

At least 50 rebels were killed and twice as many wounded in heavy fighting around Paranthan said the ministry. It gave no figures on casualties among the government troops.

The capture of Paranthan, just four miles from Kilinochchi, the rebels’ administrative centre which lies 210 miles north of Columbo, the capital, is a vital step forward for the government.

Middle East

US hands over green zone in Baghdad as Iraq takes control

From The Times

January 1, 2009

Deborah Haynes, in Baghdad

Control of Baghdad’s fortified green zone, a symbol of the US-led occupation of Iraq, will pass to Iraqi hands today in one of many transfers of power taking place as the country regains its sovereignty almost six years after the invasion.

The keys to Saddam Hussein’s Republican Palace, which served as the US Embassy, will also be given back to Iraq’s increasingly assertive Government. In addition, US commanders returned control of a swath of Iraqi airspace at midnight and British Forces are due to hand back Basra airport in the south.

Some Iraqis welcome the long-awaited transition but others fear that little will alter on the ground, with US forces scheduled to be in Iraq for another three years and the green zone remaining a walled-off compound.

How Hamas is altering Israeli politics

The conflict in the Gaza Strip is already having an impact on the political landscape in Israel ahead of parliamentary polls in February.

By Joshua Mitnick | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

TEL AVIV – While war between Israel and Hamas reverberates from Gaza City to southern Israel and to Arab capitals, the fallout will also be felt within the Israeli Knesset.

The fighting is already affecting Israeli public opinion ahead of the Feb. 10 parliamentary vote: Before the offensive began polls showed conservative opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party leading. But now, the hawks are losing ground and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, leader of the center-left Labor Party, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of centrist Kadima are gaining.

But while it’s too early to tell which politician will emerge from the high-stakes Gaza conflict with the upper hand, Israel finds itself once again at a moment of transition as a mix of war and politics promises change for the Jewish state.

“Israel often starts wars looking very good, and the end is often less clear,” says Asher Arian, a political science professor at Haifa University. “The only thing that is clear is that every campaign will try to spin the outcome to their advantage.

Latin America

As hard times bite, Cubans show little appetite for celebration

The revolutionary leader said history would judge him, but the daily struggle to survive is testing even his most loyal supporters

Rory Carroll and Andres Schipani Havana

The Guardian, Thursday 1 January 2009

Carmen Gonce remembers the triumph of Cuba’s revolution as the happiest day of her life. Fidel Castro and his guerrillas swept down from the Sierra Maestra and delivered the island from a corrupt and brutal dictatorship. People danced in the streets and welcomed the “bearded ones” into their homes. It was 1 January 1959 and a time for hope. “We were nearly all Fidelistas,” she said.

Half a century later, the girl of 15 is a pensioner of 64 who watches sunsets over the Caribbean from a cracked chair on the balcony of her Havana home a few blocks from the Karl Marx theatre. Much has happened since that day, yet it seems close enough to touch. “It feels just like last year.”