November 9, 2005

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.

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR NOVEMBER 9, 2005

1/The Daily Times, Pakistan--CLERICS ISSUE FATWA AGAINST COMING DOWN FROM HILLTOPS (Clerics in Allai area of Battagram have reportedly issued a fatwa forbidding people from descending the hilltop and a federal minister on Tuesday warned that 50,000 people or more in the Allai area could die if they do not come down. … The people of Allai have so far not descended from the hilltop and their reluctance largely stems from a reported fatwa by some local clerics that it was un-Islamic to flee from a disaster zone. Another reason for people refusing to come down to live in the tent villages in the valley was the fear of local politicians that they might lose potential voters if the people decided to quit the area for good.)

2/The Daily Star, Lebanon--ARAB ACTIVISTS MEET TO DISCUSS DEMOCRACY (Arab activists meeting in Bahrain on Tuesday to press for democratic change find themselves caught between battling "dictator" regimes and U.S.-led initiatives for reform. While some activists at a Manama conference insisted that Arab democratic movements are too weak to implement reforms without external help, others warned that the U.S.-sponsored pushes for reform may be meant to serve Washington's aims in the region. "We believe that seeking the help of enemy foreign forces will cause a national catastrophe like what is happening in Iraq," board member of the outlawed Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria, Ghaleb Amer said. "We are against domestic oppression and foreign aggression at the same time. This is a difficult equation now ... but we believe in gradual peaceful change from within," Amer said. … The "Parallel Conference of Forum for Future" comes ahead of the November 11-12 "Forum for Future" during which foreign ministers of 38 countries from the Middle East and the G8 will discuss the U.S.-sponsored Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative.)

3/The Toronto Star, Canada--HARPER ASKS, GETS LAYTON PLEDGE (Jack Layton sent the Conservatives the clarion signal they have been demanding, stating unequivocally today that he is committed to helping them bring down the government at the next available opportunity. The NDP leader moved to assuage Tory fears that he might be a fickle ally and abandon any effort to topple the Liberals over the coming weeks. His guarantee came after Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said he would discuss toppling the government only upon receiving an iron-clad commitment from Layton. The NDP leader could hardly have been more adamant. In fact he sounded even more gung-ho than Harper about defeating the Liberals. … The opposition might not be able to force an election without co-operating. If they can’t agree on how to word a non-confidence motion and when to table it, there’s only one surefire way to defeat the government before the winter break — and it’s a politically difficult one. They would have to vote against budget estimates which contain $13.5 billion in spending for the provinces, municipalities, the military, third-world debt, and seniors’ benefits. A Dec. 8 vote against the estimates would trigger an election the following day, and mean a mid-January vote.)

4/Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy--WOMEN: WHAT IF NOT ENOUGH ARE AROUND
(A recommendation by a British parliamentary committee to allow a couple to select the sex of their child under certain circumstances is leading to new fears in Asian and African communities. The practice of sex determination of a foetus leading to abortion if female is widespread in several parts of Asia and Africa already. The new fears arise over new technology that would allow a couple simply to select the sex of their child instead of waiting for the foetus to form. In many communities in Asia and Africa parents are inclined to prefer sons to daughters. The move is controversial enough even to have divided the parliamentary committee itself. "We've recommended many things, but one is that sex selection is now possible technologically, and it should be made available under certain circumstances," Labour Party MP Ian Gibson who headed the committee told IPS in an interview. "That perhaps is an issue that tended to split the committee." Darshan Grewal, mayor of Hounslow borough in London said such a provision could be devastating for families. … In countries like India and Pakistan, he said, everyone wants boys. "Then where will we get the girls from, how will the generation move further? This would be a disaster.")

5/The Moscow Times, Russia--GAZPROM NAMES NEW EDITOR FOR IZVESTIA (Gazprom-Media, the new owner of Izvestia, said Tuesday that it had named a new editor of the newspaper "to suit shareholder needs." Vladimir Mamontov, editor since 1998 of Komsomolskaya Pravda, the country's top-selling tabloid, was to take over on Wednesday from Vladimir Borodin. … Media insiders said the change of editor was motivated more by politics than profits. Igor Yakovenko, who heads the Russian Journalists Union, said it was probably done with the 2007-08 elections in mind and reflected a Kremlin desire "to finish cleaning up the information field, which started with NTV." … Gazprom-Media, an arm of the state-controlled natural gas monopoly, which took over NTV television in 2001, bought a 50.2 percent stake in Izvestia in June from Prof-Media, a media holding in Vladimir Potanin's business empire. Prof-Media still owns Komsomolskaya Pravda.)

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1/The Daily Times, Pakistan Wednesday, November 09, 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2005...

CLERICS ISSUE FATWA AGAINST COMING DOWN FROM HILLTOPS
State minister says 50,000 Allai survivors could freeze to death

By Iqbal Khattak

BALAKOT: Clerics in Allai area of Battagram have reportedly issued a fatwa forbidding people from descending the hilltop and a federal minister on Tuesday warned that 50,000 people or more in the Allai area could die if they do not come down.

The people of Allai have so far not descended from the hilltop and their reluctance largely stems from a reported fatwa by some local clerics that it was un-Islamic to flee from a disaster zone. Another reason for people refusing to come down to live in the tent villages in the valley was the fear of local politicians that they might lose potential voters if the people decided to quit the area for good.

“The lives of 40,000 to 50,000 people are at stake. They will freeze to death if they continue to stay on the hilltop,” said Engineer Amir Muqqam, the state minister for water and power, while talking to Daily Times after visiting the earthquake areas to review the ongoing relief operations in Balakot. Bad weather interrupted the helicopter visit of the minister, where he was scheduled to meet the quake survivors in order to persuade them to descend.

(SNIP)

“There is a lot of negative propaganda in the area,” Muqqam said. The minister said that he had made all efforts to allay the fears of the people but he was only partially successful in his efforts.

2/The Daily Star, Lebanon Wednesday, November 09, 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=...

ARAB ACTIVISTS MEET TO DISCUSS DEMOCRACY
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

MANAMA: Arab activists meeting in Bahrain on Tuesday to press for democratic change find themselves caught between battling "dictator" regimes and U.S.-led initiatives for reform. While some activists at a Manama conference insisted that Arab democratic movements are too weak to implement reforms without external help, others warned that the U.S.-sponsored pushes for reform may be meant to serve Washington's aims in the region.

"We believe that seeking the help of enemy foreign forces will cause a national catastrophe like what is happening in Iraq," board member of the outlawed Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria, Ghaleb Amer said.

"We are against domestic oppression and foreign aggression at the same time. This is a difficult equation now ... but we believe in gradual peaceful change from within," Amer said.

But Rida Ali Ibrahim, board member of Bahrain Human Rights Society, said foreign help was needed to implement reforms.

"Over the past 60 years, it was evident that we could not force reforms alone. We need a foreign catalyst to promote reforms," Ibrahim said.

"I don't look with skepticism toward the U.S. initiative. Things are transparent so we should take what we want and abandon the rest," he said.

Dozens of activists representing Arab non-governmental organizations (NGOs) opened the two-day conference on Monday by branding reforms as a "necessity" to modernize the Arab world.

The "Parallel Conference of Forum for Future" comes ahead of the November 11-12 "Forum for Future" during which foreign ministers of 38 countries from the Middle East and the G8 will discuss the U.S.-sponsored Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative.

"Some think that the initiative is an absolute evil because it came from the G8 and democracy suffers as a result," said Ziad Abdel-Samad, executive director of the Arab NGO Network for Development.

"I think we must utilize this historical moment to press for change ... Democratic change must respond to domestic needs. It cannot be implemented from outside," Abdel-Samad said.

(SNIP)

U.S. policies in the Middle East came under fire at the opening session and during workshop discussions for Washington's perceived bias for Israel and its occupation of Iraq.

"We want to create a new Arab world, but not aboard American warships," Mohammad Safa, Lebanese rights activist, told a discussion panel.

Recommendations of the NGOs conference will be submitted to the foreign ministers of Bahrain and Britain to be discussed by the foreign ministers of G8 and BMENA.

3/The Toronto Star, Canada Nov. 8, 2005. 06:53 PM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename...

HARPER ASKS, GETS LAYTON PLEDGE
Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Jack Layton sent the Conservatives the clarion signal they have been demanding, stating unequivocally today that he is committed to helping them bring down the government at the next available opportunity.

The NDP leader moved to assuage Tory fears that he might be a fickle ally and abandon any effort to topple the Liberals over the coming weeks.

His guarantee came after Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said he would discuss toppling the government only upon receiving an iron-clad commitment from Layton.

The NDP leader could hardly have been more adamant. In fact he sounded even more gung-ho than Harper about defeating the Liberals.

“We are very clear,” Layton told reporters in Vancouver. “If there’s non-confidence motions before the House (of Commons) we’ll be voting against confidence. We don’t believe the government deserves our confidence any longer.”

Layton went a step farther than Harper, stating that he would also vote against the Liberals’ supplementary budget estimates Dec. 8 or any other confidence matter.

Not even Harper went that far. The Tory leader said he has not decided whether to support the Liberals in the vote on $13.5 billion in government spending.

Layton’s tough talk came after Harper asked him for a guarantee.

“I’m really looking for a clear signal that in fact he wants to defeat the government,” Harper said.

“If that’s the case, then obviously we’ll have options to talk about.”

The opposition might not be able to force an election without co-operating.

If they can’t agree on how to word a non-confidence motion and when to table it, there’s only one surefire way to defeat the government before the winter break — and it’s a politically difficult one.

They would have to vote against budget estimates which contain $13.5 billion in spending for the provinces, municipalities, the military, third-world debt, and seniors’ benefits.

A Dec. 8 vote against the estimates would trigger an election the following day, and mean a mid-January vote.

But there is no guarantee the government will fall that day. The Liberals and the NDP could negotiate an agreement averting the government’s defeat over the next month. Several opposition MPs could fail to turn up for a confidence vote allowing them an honourable exit if they determine the timing isn’t fortuitous for a campaign.

The discord in opposition ranks was just one reason for Liberal optimism today. A new poll also suggested that the government party had vaulted back into the lead in popular support.

(MORE)

4/Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy Nov 8, 2005
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30924

WOMEN: WHAT IF NOT ENOUGH ARE AROUND
Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Nov 8 (IPS) - A recommendation by a British parliamentary committee to allow a couple to select the sex of their child under certain circumstances is leading to new fears in Asian and African communities.

The practice of sex determination of a foetus leading to abortion if female is widespread in several parts of Asia and Africa already. The new fears arise over new technology that would allow a couple simply to select the sex of their child instead of waiting for the foetus to form.

In many communities in Asia and Africa parents are inclined to prefer sons to daughters.

The move is controversial enough even to have divided the parliamentary committee itself. "We've recommended many things, but one is that sex selection is now possible technologically, and it should be made available under certain circumstances," Labour Party MP Ian Gibson who headed the committee told IPS in an interview. "That perhaps is an issue that tended to split the committee."

Gibson said "there are all sorts of questions associated with that in particular communities who've come from other parts of the world, but the choice will be there, the availability will be there to make that choice." But he said he supported availability of the new technology with due safeguards.

"There will have to be some sort of regulation," he said. "I don't think you can just say I fancy a boy, I fancy a girl and that's it. I don't think that will ever become a part and parcel of what happens in this country."

Gibson added that "I don't see any great desire to prefer one sex or another in our society, but I do know in India and China it is very different, for cultural reasons."

But is there a danger that the technology could spill out of control of the medical establishment into private practice that anyone could access?

"Unless we made it illegal, of course that's possible," Gibson said. "Who knows what goes on now in Harley Street (with several medical practices) and other places as well. People have a chance to do that."

The new technology could be misused even if the British government were to make uncontrolled use of it illegal, Gibson acknowledged. "Who knows what will happen in other parts of the world as the technology spins out into Europe and other parts of India, China, Korea and so on. There are some strange things going on in genetics across the world. So I would never rule anything out."

(SNIP)

Darshan Grewal, mayor of Hounslow borough in London said such a provision could be devastating for families.

"A law like this is totally unacceptable -- this is a natural thing, it is god's gift, and if we go against that it would be totally unfair and inhuman," he told IPS. "We are playing against nature, and that is dangerous. This law should not be passed; they should rethink what they are talking about."

In countries like India and Pakistan, he said, everyone wants boys. "Then where will we get the girls from, how will the generation move further? This would be a disaster."

5/The Moscow Times, Russia Wednesday, November 9, 2005. Issue 3291. Page 3.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/09/012.html

GAZPROM NAMES NEW EDITOR FOR IZVESTIA
By Yuriy Humber, Staff Writer

Gazprom-Media, the new owner of Izvestia, said Tuesday that it had named a new editor of the newspaper "to suit shareholder needs."

Vladimir Mamontov, editor since 1998 of Komsomolskaya Pravda, the country's top-selling tabloid, was to take over on Wednesday from Vladimir Borodin.

Mamontov was chosen "to lead the newspaper to the next step of development," said Darya Litvina, spokeswoman for Gazprom-Media. "The newspaper needs to get into profit, or initially to start breaking even. For that, it will look to capture a bigger audience."

Media insiders said the change of editor was motivated more by politics than profits. Igor Yakovenko, who heads the Russian Journalists Union, said it was probably done with the 2007-08 elections in mind and reflected a Kremlin desire "to finish cleaning up the information field, which started with NTV."

"Izvestia was a clever conversationalist, but now it seems the course is set to make it just another tabloid. I doubt they'll succeed, though; that niche is already taken. Meanwhile, the niche for quality information and analysis publications could soon close," Interfax cited Yakovenko as saying on Tuesday.

Gazprom-Media, an arm of the state-controlled natural gas monopoly, which took over NTV television in 2001, bought a 50.2 percent stake in Izvestia in June from Prof-Media, a media holding in Vladimir Potanin's business empire. Prof-Media still owns Komsomolskaya Pravda.

(SNIP)

Borodin, then 26, was appointed in September 2004 after the abrupt departure of the previous editor, Raf Shakhirov, which was widely seen as connected to the newspaper's bold coverage of the events in Beslan. The Kremlin reportedly had pushed for Shakhirov's dismissal.

(SNIP)

Shakhirov said he saw the change in editorship as a sign of the times.

"Today, people who can make compromises are not needed; it's the people who are completely loyal that are in demand. Soviet times are coming back," he said Tuesday on Ekho Moskvy radio.