Docudharma Times Tuesday March 30

Moscow Attack a Test for Putin and His Record Against Terror



By CLIFFORD J. LEVY

Published: March 30, 2010

MOSCOW – The brazen suicide bombings in the center of Moscow have confronted Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin with a grave challenge to his record of curbing terrorism, and raised the possibility that he would respond as he has in the past, by significantly tightening control over the government.

The explosions were set off Monday morning by female suicide bombers in two landmark subway stations. The blasts killed at least 39 people – a woman died of her injuries late Monday night, according to a TV news report here on Tuesday – and scores of others were wounded. The blasts also touched off fears that the Muslim insurgency in southern Russia, including Chechnya, was once again being brought to the country’s heart.

Homer Simpson isn’t the only would-be ‘Messiah’ in Jerusalem



By Jessica Ravitz, CNN

Leave it to “The Simpsons” to kick off Holy Week with a zinger.

Christians observe this as a sacred time marking Jesus’ journey in Jerusalem from Palm Sunday to Easter, and many treat it with reverence by attending services, singing hymns and offering prayers. None likely would picture the one they deem their savior in the form of Homer Simpson.

In “The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed,” the latest episode of the long-running Fox sitcom, which aired Sunday, The Simpsons set off to Israel on a church mission. They go at the urging of neighbor and devout Christian Ned Flanders, who thought a dose of the Holy Land would bring Homer much-needed salvation.

No surprise, this plan didn’t go well.

USA

FDA pressured to combat rising ‘food fraud’



By Lyndsey Layton

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, March 30, 201

The expensive “sheep’s milk” cheese in a Manhattan market was really made from cow’s milk. And a jar of “Sturgeon caviar” was, in fact, Mississippi paddlefish.

Some honey makers dilute their honey with sugar beets or corn syrup, their competitors say, but still market it as 100 percent pure at a premium price.

And last year, a Fairfax man was convicted of selling 10 million pounds of cheap, frozen catfish fillets from Vietnam as much more expensive grouper, red snapper and flounder. The fish was bought by national chain retailers, wholesalers and food service companies, and ended up on dinner plates across the country.

Toyota’s acceleration woes part of two new inquiries

A National Academy of Sciences investigation will scrutinize electronic controls in all vehicles.

By Ralph Vartabedian and Ken Bensinger

March 29, 2010 | 8:44 p.m.

The National Academy of Sciences will lead a broad investigation into unintended acceleration and electronic vehicle controls under a 15-month study expected to be announced by federal regulators Tuesday.

In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will conduct a separate inquiry into sudden acceleration by Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles. Toyota has issued nearly 10 million recall notices worldwide to correct floor mat and gas pedal defects that it says can lead to runaway vehicles.

Europe

MPs call for review of arms exports after Israeli assault on Gaza

Components from UK ‘almost certainly’ used in Operation Cast Lead

Richard Norton-Taylor

The Guardian, Tuesday 30 March 2010

A cross-party group of MPs will call today for a review of the way arms sales are approved after the government admitted British equipment was “almost certainly” used in the assault on Gaza last year.

“It is regrettable that arms exports to Israel were almost certainly used in Operation Cast Lead [the attack on Gaza],” the Commons committee on strategic export controls says in a report published. “This is in direct contravention to the UK government’s policy that UK arms exports to Israel should not be used in the occupied territories.”

Shaun Walker: Was the motive for Moscow attacks revenge?

It’s difficult to judge how much capacity the rebels have to launch more attacks

Tuesday, 30 March 2010  

It has been several years since the Russian capital was last hit by a major terrorist attack, but yesterday’s events recall the early years of Vladimir Putin’s presidency, when Chechen terrorists struck at trains, planes and even a theatre in the city. They suggest that a decade after Mr Putin’s promise to track down terrorists and “waste them in the outhouse”, the Caucasus insurgency still has the ability to strike at the heart of Russia.

Few doubt that the atrocities are the work of groups operating in Chechnya and the other republics of the North Caucasus. The apparent use of female suicide bombers, the “Black Widows” employed in many previous attacks by Chechen rebels, also suggests a link to the restive region.

Middle East

Turkish police detain 22 al-Qaeda suspects in a string of raids  

From Times Online

March 30, 2010

Alex Christie-Miller, Istanbul

Turkish police detained 22 al-Qaeda suspects yesterday in a string of raids across the country’s central and western provinces.

Police and local gendarmerie from Aksaray province uncovered documents allegedly belonging to the terrorist group, as well as an unregistered gun and two shotguns, the daily Hurriyet newspaper reported.

The operation brings the number of al-Qaeda suspects arrested in the country to more than 160 this year.

In January, police detained 120 al-Qaeda suspects, including the group’s alleged leader in Turkey, Serdar Elbasa, known by the codename “Abu Zer”.

G8 ministers to call for ‘strong steps’ over Iran’s nuclear activity

Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight leading industrial nations will call on the international community to take “appropriate and strong steps” to show its resolve over Iran’s nuclear activities.  

Published: 8:47AM BST 30 Mar 2010

A draft of the final communique, due to be delivered at the end of a two-day summit, also said that the G8 remained open to dialogue with Tehran, which denies widespread western charges that it is seeking to make atomic weapons.

The document is the latest step in a campaign of pressure by many of the world’s most powerful nations to force Iran to comply with demands from the UN Security Council and co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

“Iran’s continued noncompliance with its United Nations Security Council and IAEA obligations regarding its nuclear program is of serious concern to G8 ministers,” said the final communique.

Asia

Bribery verdicts show peril of doing business in China

Australian executive of Rio Tinto among four jailed after secret hearing / Trial followed wrangles between Beijing and multinational mining companies

By Alistair Dawber Tuesday, 30 March 2010

A senior Australian executive of one of the world’s biggest mining companies was jailed for 10 years for commercial espionage by a Chinese court yesterday, in a case that threw light on the fractious relationship between Beijing and multinational business.

Stern Hu, a top former salesman of the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, was convicted along with three Chinese colleagues of taking bribes worth as much as $9m (£6m) after a three-day hearing in Shanghai, part of which was held in secret.

Burmese opposition sacrifices a place in the poll to stand by leader

From The Times

March 30, 2010

Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor

The opposition in Burma chose loyalty to its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, over participation in the country’s first election for 20 years in a momentous decision that will lead to its dissolution as a legal party.

The 115 delegates of the National League for Democracy (NLD) voted to boycott the poll, which has been promised later this year by Burma’s military dictatorship.

Under the junta’s election laws the NLD could register as a competing party only if it expelled Ms Suu Kyi. By choosing not to do so it will lose its legal status and will face the choice of either going underground or giving up its 20-year political fight.

Africa

Gaddafi says Nigeria should split into several states

Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi says Nigeria should be divided into several states along ethnic lines – comments which are bound to anger Nigeria’s government.

The BBC  

He said Nigeria should follow the model of Yugoslavia, after previously saying it should be divided into two – along the lines of India and Pakistan.

He recently said Nigeria should be split into a Muslim and a Christian country to end communal clashes.

That prompted a furious Nigeria to recall its ambassador to Tripoli.

Nigeria’s foreign ministry said Col Gaddafi’s initial comments were “irresponsible”.

“His theatrics and grandstanding at every auspicious occasion have become too numerous to recount,” said a foreign ministry statement.

A Nigerian senator called Col Gaddafi, until recently head of the African Union, a “mad man”.

A Guiding Voice Amid the Ruins of a Capital City

MOGADISHU JOURNAL

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Published: March 29, 2010

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A veiled female journalist (who also happens to be wearing a snug denim skirt) sits in a soundproof studio with a fuzzy microphone in front of her face.

“Salaam Aleikum,” she says, greeting a man who has called in to the radio station.

“Yes, hello,” he replies anxiously. “I want to talk about pirates. These guys aren’t being treated fairly.”

In a booth next door, news producers prepare the daily diet of mayhem and more: three bodies found in Bakaro market; President Sheik Sharif preaches reconciliation at a mosque; Islamic scholars speak out about the Shabab insurgent group cutting off hands; the livestock market is looking up and the price of goats, thank God, is steadily rising.

Latin America

Beyond Haiti relief, UN looks at building outside Port-au-Prince

When donor countries meet at the UN in New York this week to discuss Haiti relief, a top topic will be decentralization away from congested Port-au-Prince.

By Kathie Klarreich, Correspondent, Sara Miller Llana, Staff writer / March 29, 2010

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Mexico City

When the international community comes together Wednesday to pledge money to help Haiti relief efforts, high on the agenda will be immediate needs, such as a push to get people into adequate housing as the rainy season nears.

But as countries convene at the United Nations in New York this week, they will be looking beyond basic relief. In fact, not just how to rebuild, but how to build a better functioning Haiti has been a dominant theme among NGOs, the donor community, Haitians and their officials. A primary focus: Decentralization – or creating several poles of power to balance out the dominance of Port-au-Prince.

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