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| April 26, 2004 |
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World Media Watch by Gloria R. Lalumia BUZZFLASH NOTE: WMW provides BuzzFlash readers foreign views and perspectives that are not usually available from the media here in the U.S. The presentation of these articles from these international publications is not an endorsement of their viewpoints. * * * WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR APRIL 26, 2004 1//The Independent, UK--POLICE WILL BE ABLE TO ORDER EYE SCANS UNDER ID CARD PLAN (Police will have powers to stop and check people against a national biometric database under plans for a compulsory identity card scheme to be unveiled today. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, confirmed that police would be able to compare people against national fingerprint or iris records even if they did not carry the controversial document...Under the draft Bill, people renewing their passports from 2007 will have to be scanned for biometric data such as their irises and fingerprints. Driving licences could also include the data.) 2//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--SMALL INCREASE IN IRAQ DEPLOYMENT POSSIBLE: HOWARD (Prime Minister John Howard today hinted more Australian troops could be deployed to Iraq...The prime minister has repeatedly said he sees no reason to boost the number of troops in Iraq but today left open the possibility of a small increase in Australia's deployment. "If we did do more that would be appreciated," Mr Howard told ABC radio..."That doesn't mean that if there is a small increase for whatever reason in the number of people deployed that that should be seen as some reversal of that original policy." Australia has around 850 personnel in and around Iraq.) 3//The Jordan Times, Jordan--FRENCH DEFENCE MINISTER RULES OUT DISPATCH OF SOLDIERS TO IRAQ (French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Sunday ruled out the dispatch of French troops to Iraq although she said Paris could help train Iraqi soldiers in neighbouring countries. "The political and legal conditions have not been met and today, we are not considering this at all," Alliot-Marie told reporters on the plane from Abu Dhabi to the Red Sea port of Aqaba, at the start of a two-day visit..."We believe that we must go to a new phase that will open the way to the reconstruction of Iraq," she said, adding that the UN must play a bigger role in the future. "Then we could begin to consider if the conditions are met to take part in the reconstruction of Iraq," she said, such as training Iraqi police and soldiers.) 4//The Toronto Star, Canada--MUSLIMS GIVEN HANDBOOK ON DEALING WITH CSIS (An Islamic group is distributing a pocket guide to Canadian Muslims advising them what to do if CSIS or the RCMP tries to interrogate them about terrorism. Almost 30,000 copies of the Know Your Rights guide are already in circulation across the country and demand is growing among Muslims left shaken by sensational headlines following recent anti-terrorism raids..."We've been encouraging people to speak to CSIS and the RCMP because they should have nothing to hide, but we've also been telling them to do so with a lawyer present so that the questions are not intrusive, offensive or sort of witchhunt-type," said Saloojee, who is himself a lawyer.) 5//The Moscow Times, Russia--NEW LIFE TRICKLES BACK TO CHERNOBYL (Life is returning to the 30-kilometer-radius exclusion zone around Chernobyl, as many former residents have taken part-time maintenance jobs at the plant or returned to their native villages nestled in pine forests... Undeterred by radiation levels that in places are dozens of times higher than acceptable norms, some 500 former residents like Dika have since returned, while 4,000 others are shuttled into the zone to work on the gradual powering down of the plant...But even as scientists work to minimize radiation levels, the danger of a new tragedy lingers, this time in the form of a radioactive dust cloud. Experts warn that the collapse of an unstable wall in reactor No. 4 could release some of the 200 tons of nuclear fuel encased inside the unit by a protective shell of concrete and steel that was hastily thrown up in the aftermath of the disaster.) * * * 1//The
Independent, UK 26 April 2004 POLICE WILL BE ABLE TO ORDER EYE SCANS UNDER ID
CARD PLAN Police will have powers to stop and check people against a national biometric database under plans for a compulsory identity card scheme to be unveiled today. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, confirmed that police would be able to compare people against national fingerprint or iris records even if they did not carry the controversial document. The draft Bill will outline plans to introduce biometric data on passports in three years' time, with a compulsory scheme introduced by 2013. Civil liberties campaigners expressed alarm at the proposals, but a defiant Mr Blunkett insisted that legislation would be put before Parliament by the autumn after consultation on technical issues are resolved. A pilot test of the equipment needed for the cards will be launched this week. Mr Blunkett said: "This isn't some kind of fetish. This is about recognising the massive change that's taken place in the world around us." Under the draft Bill, people renewing their passports from 2007 will have to be scanned for biometric data such as their irises and fingerprints. Driving licences could also include the data. By 2013, when the scheme is expected to become compulsory, 80 per cent of people of working age are expected to be included. The cost of the scheme, estimated at £3.1bn, will be met by increasing the price of passports to around £73. (MORE)
SMALL INCREASE IN IRAQ DEPLOYMENT POSSIBLE: HOWARD Prime Minister John Howard today hinted more Australian troops could be deployed to Iraq. Mr Howard made a surprise visit to Iraq for Anzac Day and met with Australian troops and US administrators in Baghdad. The prime minister has repeatedly said he sees no reason to boost the number of troops in Iraq but today left open the possibility of a small increase in Australia's deployment. "If we did do more that would be appreciated," Mr Howard told ABC radio. "I have made it very clear all along that we did not have the capacity to have large numbers of additional troops - I called them peacekeepers at the time a year ago - and that remains the case. "That doesn't mean that if there is a small increase for whatever reason in the number of people deployed that that should be seen as some reversal of that original policy." Australia has around 850 personnel in and around Iraq. Mr Howard said Australians training Iraqi security forces had only just arrived in the country and he did not expect their commitment to be short-term. "It's not a short-term commitment ... I've indicated that the upcoming Budget will fund our involvement in Iraq until the middle of next year, that's the end of the next financial year, 30th June 2005," he said. "That doesn't mean we're going to leave on that date, it just means we're making prudent provisions for being in Iraq for a while yet." Mr Howard said he had learnt a lot first hand from speaking to American generals and members of the Iraqi governing council on the challenges facing Iraq and the progress being made. But he was even more determined now that Australia stay to finish the job. "I'm more determined than ever that Australia should stay the distance and finish the task that Australia has," Mr Howard said. Opposition Leader Mark Latham has said he would bring Australian troops home by Christmas if his party won the election expected later this year. (MORE) FRENCH DEFENCE MINISTER RULES OUT DISPATCH OF SOLDIERS TO IRAQ AQABA (AFP) - French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Sunday ruled out the dispatch of French troops to Iraq although she said Paris could help train Iraqi soldiers in neighbouring countries. "The political and legal conditions have not been met and today, we are not considering this at all," Alliot-Marie told reporters on the plane from Abu Dhabi to the Red Sea port of Aqaba, at the start of a two-day visit. She was responding to whether France would send troops to Iraq as part of the reconstruction drive once the UN is given a bigger role and power is transferred from the US-led coalition to an interim Iraqi authority. Alliot-Marie reiterated, however, France's readiness to help rebuild the Iraqi army outside Iraq. "There are in the region several countries which could serve as a site for such a training," she said. Jordan is helping to train Iraqi police and soldiers on its territory. Alliot-Marie stressed that she had not discussed the issue with her interlocutors during visits to Qatar, Oman and the UAE, which preceded Jordan. "We believe that we must go to a new phase that will open the way to the reconstruction of Iraq," she said, adding that the UN must play a bigger role in the future. "Then we could begin to consider if the conditions are met to take part in the reconstruction of Iraq," she said, such as training Iraqi police and soldiers. On Saturday Alliot-Marie told a press conference in Muscat that French conditions included a rapid transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis by the June 30 target date set by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority. (MORE)
MUSLIMS GIVEN HANDBOOK ON DEALING WITH CSIS An Islamic group is distributing a pocket guide to Canadian Muslims advising them what to do if CSIS or the RCMP tries to interrogate them about terrorism. Almost 30,000 copies of the Know Your Rights guide are already in circulation across the country and demand is growing among Muslims left shaken by sensational headlines following recent anti-terrorism raids. The blue and black soft-cover booklet is smaller than a credit card, and the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada is encouraging Muslims on its website to "keep it in your wallet - you may need it when you least expect it." "We've received a number of complaints of tactics and techniques used by primarily CSIS, but also the RCMP, in visitations of Muslims and Arabs in Canada," said CAIR-CAN director Riad Saloojee, in an interview from Ottawa. "Most people just don't know what to do in that situation." The 12-page guide is a layman's legal primer, offering counsel on Canadian legal and human rights. One section advises Muslims they are under no obligation to talk to CSIS or the RCMP. It also directs them not to meet with security agents without a lawyer, assuring that such refusal will not imply deception. Moreover, unless there's a search warrant, people can refuse entry to their homes or offices, the guide says. And even then, they don't have to answer questions, it states, while cautioning that lying to investigators is a crime. "We've been encouraging people to speak to CSIS and the RCMP because they should have nothing to hide, but we've also been telling them to do so with a lawyer present so that the questions are not intrusive, offensive or sort of witchhunt-type," said Saloojee, who is himself a lawyer. Kent Roach, an independent legal expert at the University of Toronto, confirmed the advice was generally accurate, but highlighted one rare exception to the rule of silence. "One exception under the Anti-Terrorism Act is that the police and the Crown can apply to have an investigative hearing before a judge, in which case, a person would have to co-operate," Roach said. A CSIS spokeswoman stressed that CSIS interviews are conducted on a "voluntary basis" under strict guidelines. "And certainly our representatives do so in a non-threatening fashion," said Nicole Currier, adding that CSIS does not engage in racial or religious profiling. And neither do the Mounties, said RCMP spokesman Staff Sgt. Paul Marsh. (MORE)
NEW LIFE TRICKLES BACK TO CHERNOBYL CHERNOBYL, Ukraine -- Maria Dika remembers the flash of flames and a collapsing wall as Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 exploded in the world's worst nuclear disaster 18 years ago Monday. Although she took an extremely high dose of radiation on that day, Dika, who was working as a security guard at the power plant, again lives in the glum town of Chernobyl, just 10 kilometers from the reactor. "The radiation got used to us," said Dika, a jolly 42-year-old who now manages a hostel for maintenance workers in the contaminated zone. "I was born and spent my life here. It's my home." Life is returning to the 30-kilometer-radius exclusion zone around Chernobyl, as many former residents have taken part-time maintenance jobs at the plant or returned to their native villages nestled in pine forests. Once the area had a population of close to 120,000 people, who were evacuated in the aftermath of the disaster. Undeterred by radiation levels that in places are dozens of times higher than acceptable norms, some 500 former residents like Dika have since returned, while 4,000 others are shuttled into the zone to work on the gradual powering down of the plant. (SNIP) But even as scientists work to minimize radiation levels, the danger of a new tragedy lingers, this time in the form of a radioactive dust cloud. Experts warn that the collapse of an unstable wall in reactor No. 4 could release some of the 200 tons of nuclear fuel encased inside the unit by a protective shell of concrete and steel that was hastily thrown up in the aftermath of the disaster. The reactor exploded in the early hours of April 26, 1986, when technicians failed to power down its core after a series of poorly timed tests, killing 30 people immediately and exposing more than 8 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia to radiation. (SNIP) Nuclear fuel trapped in the remains of reactor No. 4 are causing the structure to deteriorate, said Yulia Marusych, a spokeswoman for the plant. "God knows how long it will hold," she said, pointing to a meter-tall model of reactor No. 4. The real reactor loomed outside the plant's observation deck. The aging gray shell of the sarcophagus encasing unit No. 4 leaks radiation through some 100 square meters of cracks and holes on its surface, Marusych said. A dosimeter gave a reading of 1,600 roentgens per hour, or 90 times background radiation levels in Kiev. (SNIP) When the 50,000 residents of Pripyat, a town just two kilometers from the reactor, were evacuated, they were not allowed to take their pets. Within a few months rumors spread of giant mutant dogs roaming the zone. "What really happened was that the dogs got hungry and ate all the little dogs until none where left. Natural selection reclaimed Chernobyl," Grodzinsky said. | ||||||
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