TOP SECRET AMERICA
A Washington Post Investigation
White House shifts Afghanistan strategy towards talks with Taliban
Senior Washington officials tell the Guardian of a ‘change of mindset’ over Obama administration’s Afghanistan policy
Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Monday 19 July 2010 23.49 BST
The White House is revising its Afghanistan strategy to embrace the idea of negotiating with senior members of the Taliban through third parties – a policy to which it had previously been lukewarm.Negotiating with the Taliban has long been advocated by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, and the British and Pakistani governments, but resisted by Washington.
The Guardian has learned that while the American government is still officially resistant to the idea of talks with Taliban leaders, behind the scenes a shift is under way and Washington is encouraging Karzai to take a lead in such negotiations.
The bitter legacy of Franz Kafka
A milestone has been reached in the battle over the ownership of the author’s unpublished papers.
Tony Paterson reports Tuesday, 20 July 2010
The treasure trove of unpublished Kafka works is said to contain thousands of decaying manuscripts, postcards, drawings and letters composed by the Czech-born, Jewish writer who is considered one of the most brilliant and revolutionary German language authors of the 20th century.Yet for more than 40 years, the huge cache of unseen yet potentially vital Kafka literature lay stacked in piles in a humid, cat-infested first-floor flat in a suburb of Tel Aviv. Watching over them was the former secretary of Max Brod, the author’s friend who claimed to be protecting his legacy.
USA
Signs of the times: Oil-spill victims on Grand Isle post protest
By Ylan Q. Mui
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
GRAND ISLE, LA. — SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends in Bikini Bottom have a message for the BP contractors, cleanup crews and news media that have descended on this small beach town where oil washes up almost daily.
“Seriously . . . When Can We GO BACK IN THE WATER?” they ask in a painting, staked on the side of the main road, that shows slivers of oil marring the ocean. “Don’t Wish you were Here!!”If you want to know how residents here feel about the oil spill, just read the signs that are posted on seemingly every electrical pole, planted in front yards or hung on the 10-foot stilts that keep houses off the ground in case of flooding.
Veterans can have seizures decades after a head injury, study finds
It’s unclear what can trigger the post-traumatic epilepsy, which can hit up to 35 years after a penetrating head wound. The long-term study looks at Vietnam veterans.
By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times
July 20, 2010
Soldiers who suffered brain injuries can develop seizures decades – as long as 35 years – after the initial injury, researchers have found.A study published Tuesday in the journal Neurology found that among a group of 199 Vietnam veterans, about 13% developed post-traumatic epilepsy more than 14 years after they had suffered a penetrating head wound, such as a gunshot injury or shrapnel that entered brain tissue. Penetrating head injuries are generally linked with a higher risk for epilepsy than other types of head injuries, such as concussions.
Europe
Northern Cyprus plans to become Mediterranean ‘Las Vegas’
Northern Cyprus has unveiled ambitious plans to become the Las Vegas of the Mediterranean
By Damien McElroy in Kyrenia
Published: 12:36AM BST 20 Jul 2010
The Turkish enclave of Cyprus has announced proposals for a series of glamorous new resorts and shopping arcades in a move which risks straining relations with the south.
Details were revealed by a new hardline leadership in the north as it prepared to mark the 36th anniversary of the Turkish invasion today.
The centrepiece of events to mark “Peace and Freedom Day” will be the opening of a £150 million hotel and casino complex by President Dervis Eroglu.
The Cratos Premium resort ignited worldwide controversy after booking Jennifer Lopez to perform at its launch.
Russian upper house increases KGB successor’s power, to activists’ dismay
President Medvedev’s bill to increase secret police powers has won parliament’s approval. Human rights activists fear the government may use the law against the opposition, returning to a Soviet-style police state.
RUSSIA
The Russian upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, has approved a bill aimed at widening the powers of the secret police (FSB), successor to the Soviet-era KGB.The new law would allow the FSB to call citizens in for “precautionary talks” in connection with potential crimes that agents believe may be committed in the future. Secret police would be allowed to take such measures without firm evidence.
Those who fail to attend such meetings could be slapped with fines of about $1,500 (1,160 euros) or 15 days of jail time.
Fighting terrorists – or intimidating the opposition?
Officially the measure is intended to help fight criminal acts by terrorists and extremists. Proponents of the new powers have said the law should prevent later criminal acts targeted “against the country’s security.”
Middle East
Iraq’s Conflict, Reflected in a Family Tragedy
SAMARRA JOURNAL
By TIM ARANGO
Published: July 19, 2010
SAMARRA, Iraq – When the Americans arrived, Hamid Ahmad, a former air force warrant officer imprisoned under Saddam Hussein, imagined a new life for his family, freed from the burdens of tyranny. In seven hard years, nothing went as planned.
He spoke good English and believed in America. He got a job, his family says, with the United States military. Late last month, he wound up dead at the hands of his 32-year-old son, who had turned into an insurgent who sought money and purpose in fighting the Americans.
Syria bans niqab from universities
Regime fears face-covering Islamic veil poses threat to country’s secular identity
Associated Press in Damascus
The Guardian, Tuesday 20 July 2010
Syria has banned the face-covering Islamic veil from the country’s universities to prevent what it sees as a threat to its secular identity, as similar moves in Europe spark cries of discrimination against Muslims.The education ministry issued the ban on Sunday, according to a government official. The ban, which affects public and private universities, is only against the niqab – a full Islamic veil that reveals just a woman’s eyes – not headscarves, which are far more commonly worn by Syrian women.
Asia
India rolls out red carpet for its pariah friend
The world’s largest democracy may have an eye on Burma’s energy reserves
By Andrew Buncombe in Delhi Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Burma’s military ruler, Than Shwe, is set to receive the red-carpet treatment in India when he makes a rare overseas visit to further cement a controversial relationship that is increasingly vital to both countries.The senior Burmese general, who has ruled the country with unceasing authoritarianism for the past two decades, will make the four-day official state visit next week to discuss military co-operation and a series of energy and business deals.
Kyrgyz deal a Silk Road turning point
By M K Bhadrakumar
Central Asia arrived at a turning point last weekend far removed from the history of Genghis Khan riding out to conquer the world, as it sought peacekeepers from Europe. Russia, which has provided security to the region for the past century and more is stepping aside – unable or unwilling, and possibly incapable of performing that role anymore.The historic decision to bring in European peacekeepers was taken on Saturday at a conclave of statesmen from 56 countries in Almaty, a short distance from the Chinese border. Beijing was not a participant and has yet to speak its mind, but will be watching with raised eyebrows the appearance of “foreign devils on the Silk Road” at a juncture when its own regional profile is deepening.
Africa
Studies show promise in curbing AIDS in Africa
In one finding, the use of a microbicide is shown to reduce chances of HIV transmission in women by more than half. Another indicates that financial incentives can delay girls’ sexual activity.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times
July 20, 2010
For the first time in the bleak history of the AIDS epidemic on the African continent, researchers have identified two new approaches that could blunt the effects of HIV on women: a vaginal gel to block infection, and cash payments to delay sexual activity. Together, experts say, they might finally make headway against a disease that has already killed millions.The approaches, described in separate findings released Monday at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, are considered especially important because women have borne the brunt of the epidemic.
Sudan brutally suppressing dissent, says Amnesty
Amnesty International on Monday accused Sudan of using arrests and torture to brutally suppress dissent, days after an international court filed charges of genocide against President Omar al-Bashir.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOMThe London-based group, in a report entitled “Agents of Fear”, accused Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) of perpetrating institutionalised human rights violations “for years”.
“The NISS rules Sudan by fear. The extensive, multi-pronged assault on the Sudanese people by the security services has left the critics of the government in constant fear of arrest, harassment or worse,” said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty’s Africa programme director.
The report accuses the NISS of carrying out arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions, ill-treatment, unlawful killings and enforced disappearances.
Latin America
Cold temperatures cause death, damage in South America
By the CNN Wire Staff
An intense cold front in southern Latin America continues to blanket the region, causing deaths, school and highway closures, and other woes.
A total of 18 people have died in Bolivia as a direct or indirect consequence of low temperatures, the Peruvian state-run Andina news agency reported. The deaths were spread out throughout the country.
On Monday, Bolivian officials said temperatures in the major city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra would reach 3 C (37 F), the lowest in 29 years, and in other regions the mercury dropped below freezing, Andina reported.