by Gloria R. Lalumia
World
Media Watch
by Gloria R. Lalumia
BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.
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1//The Independent, UK--GOVERNMENT SIDES WITH MURDOCH ON SATELLITE FEES (The Government is set to back Rupert Murdoch this week in a battle over satellite carriage charges when it announces that the BBC and other public services must pay for their channels to be carried on BSkyB...A senior executive at a terrestrial broadcaster said: "Every British government is scared that if they don't roll over for Murdoch, there'll be trouble.What we wanted them to take into account is that we're free-to-air public service broadcasters and we have to make ourselves universally available.")
2//Turkish
Daily News, Turkey--TURKEY TAKES INFORMATION ON IRAQI OPPOSITION (On the
eve of the controversial Iraqi oppositions meeting in Brussels Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani continued his visits in Ankara
with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) while Iraq Turkoman
Front (ITC) leader Sanan Ahmet Aga is visiting the Turkish Foreign Ministry...
A diplomatic source who did not want to be identified said both sides
have discussed the attendance of the Turkomans in the Iraqi opposition
groups meetings and regional parliament adding, "Turkey wants the
recognition of equal rights of Turkomans at first by the PUK and Kurdistan
Democratic Party in the regional parliament.")
3//Al Bawaba, Middle East (Regional Internet Network)--EGYPT'S PRESIDENT
DEMANDS ISRAEL TO GET RID OF ALL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak demanded at the start of the new session of parliament
on Saturday that Israel's weapons of mass destruction be submitted to
the same United Nations (UN) inspections being imposed on Iraq.)
4//The
Dawn, Pakistan--TAILORED DEMOCRACY GETS UNDER WAY (Two hours before the
342-seat House held its inaugural meeting, Gen Pervez Musharraf took the
oath as president for five more years with sweeping powers to retain his
grip on state affairs even after a civilian prime minister takes office
possibly next week... But in effect the oath given to them was under a
Constitution that incorporates the LFO - a package of constitutional amendments
decreed by the president, including those empowering him to sack the future
prime ministers, dissolve parliament and set up an overseeing National
Security Council to give armed forces a permanent role in the country's
governance.)
5//The Moscow Times, Russia--SCHOOLS TO TEACH ORTHODOX CULTURE (With the
apparent blessing of the Kremlin, the Education Ministry has defied resistance
even from within its own ranks and taken a major step toward introducing
an Orthodox Christian component into the public school system..."This
document smacks of the Middle Ages and obscurantism," government
spokesman Alexei Volin was quoted in Friday's Gazeta as saying. "If
the Education Ministry considers it necessary to introduce studies in
religion, the course should include the basics of all religious world
views and the history of atheism in addition.")
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1//The
Independent 18 November 2002
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=353215
GOVERNMENT
SIDES WITH MURDOCH ON SATELLITE FEES
By Saeed Shah
The Government is set to back Rupert Murdoch this week in a battle over satellite carriage charges when it announces that the BBC and other public services must pay for their channels to be carried on BSkyB.
Mr Murdoch recently lashed out at the BBC, saying it was "untouchable". However, despite the rigorous personal efforts of BBC director-general Greg Dyke, who has lobbied MPs hard on the access charges the corporation pays to be on Sky, the Government will reject his plea that public service broadcasters should only pay a nominal amount for their channels to appear on the satellite service.
A senior executive at a terrestrial broadcaster said: "Every British government is scared that if they don't roll over for Murdoch, there'll be trouble.What we wanted them to take into account is that we're free-to-air public service broadcasters and we have to make ourselves universally available."
The Government decision would be a blow for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, who wanted a "must carry" obligation imposed on Sky in the Communications Bill, which is expected to be published tomorrow. The Bill will instead stick with the current system for "conditional access" to Sky.
With the switch-off of the analogue TV signal fast approaching, all television in this country will be digital and Sky is by far the most successful digital platform. That leaves Sky as the "gatekeeper" for all television content in the digital era. The public service broadcasters fear that, in years to come, they will be held to ransom by Sky and have to pay vast amounts each year for a slot on the platform, which already has 6.3 million subscribers.
(SNIP)
In the draft Communications Bill, published earlier this year, the Government did signal that it was considering a "must carry" obligation on Sky for public service broadcasters. This obligation is already imposed on the cable companies. The parliamentary committee that scrutinised the draft Bill, led by Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, was also broadly in favour of the provision.
However, Sky has been pressing ministers forcefully against "must carry" and the Government has now decided to drop the idea. In a visit to London earlier this month, Mr Murdoch made clear his anger at what he perceived as special treatment for the BBC. "The BBC gets a free run at everything. It gets anything it wants and has done from any government," he said at Sky's annual general meeting.
2//Turkish Daily News November 16, 2002
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f2
TURKEY
TAKES INFORMATION ON IRAQI OPPOSITION
Ankara- Turkish Daily News
While PUK leader Talabani continues his visits before the opposition groups Brussels meeting, ITC leader Aga starts his visits in Turkey with Foreign Ministry to discuss the issue...
On the eve of the controversial Iraqi oppositions meeting in Brussels Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani continued his visits in Ankara with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) while Iraq Turkoman Front (ITC) leader Sanan Ahmet Aga is visiting the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
AK Party deputy chairman Yasar Yakis met with Talabani at party headquarters. Yakis speaking at the press conference after the one hour long meeting said they exchanged views with Talabani on the common issues relating to both sides adding, "Talabani has given information on the opposition groups meeting which will be held in Brussels."
(SNIP)
"Iraqi opposition groups will hold a meeting on November 29, in Brussels, we have exchanged views on the issue with Yakis. We have also discussed the position of the Turkomans. We are living in peace and cooperation with the Turkomans," said Talabani.
(SNIP)
On the other hand Iraq Turkoman Front leader Sanan Ahmet Aga visited the Turkish Foreign Ministry and met with the undersecretary Ugur Ziyal on the problems of Turkomans in Iraq and their representation in the opposition groups meetings and in the regional parliament in northern Iraq.
A diplomatic source who did not want to be identified said both sides have discussed the attendance of the Turkomans in the Iraqi opposition groups meetings and regional parliament adding, "Turkey wants the recognition of equal rights of Turkomans at first by the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party in the regional parliament."
3//Al Bawaba 17-11-2002, 08:24
http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=233789&lang=e&dir=news
EGYPT'S
PRESIDENT DEMANDS ISRAEL TO GET RID OF ALL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak demanded at the start of the new session
of parliament on Saturday that Israel's weapons of mass destruction be
submitted to the same United Nations (UN) inspections being imposed on
Iraq.
The Egyptian President, in addition, warned against any attempts to exploit the US-led war against terrorism to change regimes by force.
"We continue to demand, with insistence, that the same norms be applied to Israel to get rid of all its weapons of mass destruction potential," Mubarak said.
Such a move would "consolidate the international movement toward the banning of the proliferation of these weapons, because of their danger for all humanity," he expressed.
Moreover, he stressed the necessity of "opposing campaigns, being conducted by certain parties, to exploit the international campaign against terrorism with the aim of bringing about economic benefits or changing leaders and regimes by force," without naming any specific countries, according to AFP.
(MORE)
4//The Dawn 17 November 2002 Sunday 11 Ramazan 1423
http://www.dawn.com/2002/11/17/top5.htm
TAILORED
DEMOCRACY GETS UNDER WAY
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Nov 16: From democrats to turncoats to religious revolutionaries swore on Saturday to become the country's newest National Assembly that is - at least for now - designed to be subordinate to five more years of military control.
Two hours before the 342-seat House held its inaugural meeting, Gen Pervez Musharraf took the oath as president for five more years with sweeping powers to retain his grip on state affairs even after a civilian prime minister takes office possibly next week.
Despite the promise of only a partial restoration of democracy after more than three years of military rule, the country made history as a record number of 72 women and more than 60 members from religious parties marched into the parliament hall to take the oath.
Some of the MNAs-elect from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal are the self-proclaimed allies of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban against whom Pakistan had joined the US-led coalition against terrorism.
Their emergence in such a big number and a serious claim to take prime ministership has threatened Pakistan's key role in the coalition's military campaign in Afghanistan. Never before so many members of religious parties and women had entered parliament.
(SNIP)
Saturday's oath-taking by President Musharraf marked the beginning of his new five-year term he won through the controversial referendum of April 30 in which he was the only candidate for the office he will hold in addition to that of the Chief of the Army Staff.
The result of that referendum, which was opposed by most of the political parties, on Saturday became part of the Constitution that was partly revived on Friday night after being in suspension since Gen Musharraf took power in the Oct 12, 1999 coup that toppled Nawaz Sharif.
BLISSFUL IGNORANCE: It was a show of blissful ignorance when the PPP, MMA and PML-N - all supporting parliamentary supremacy - said in the House their members would take the oath only under the 1973 Constitution as it existed before the 1999 coup and not under the controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO) decreed by the president.
But in effect the oath given to them was under a Constitution that incorporates the LFO - a package of constitutional amendments decreed by the president, including those empowering him to sack the future prime ministers, dissolve parliament and set up an overseeing National Security Council to give armed forces a permanent role in the country's governance.
It also gives the president the previously prime ministerial powers to appoint armed forces' chiefs and provincial governors, who in turn will be empowered to sack provincial chief ministers and dissolve provincial assemblies with the presidential assent.
The LFO is the main sticking point holding up an understanding between Gen Musharraf and opposition parties over the country's political future and the presence of its key provisions in the Constitution will mean that he rather than parliament has supremacy in the country's governance.
(MORE)
5//The Moscow Times Monday, Nov. 18, 2002. Page 1
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/11/18/001.html
SCHOOLS
TO TEACH ORTHODOX CULTURE
By Andrei Zolotov Jr., Staff Writer
With the apparent blessing of the Kremlin, the Education Ministry has defied resistance even from within its own ranks and taken a major step toward introducing an Orthodox Christian component into the public school system.
Education Minister Vladimir Filippov last week released a 30-page description of an optional course called "Orthodox Culture," which can be taught in public schools as a part of the basic curriculum if regional education officials or a school's principal decides to do so.
Filippov said he was submitting the course, developed by Orthodox educators, only for "consideration." But one of the authors said it gives a green light to those who have balked at introducing such a course and attempts to provide a framework for the wide variety of courses already taught in about 60 of Russia's 89 constituent regions.
"It means the ministry does not mind if such courses are introduced," said Hierodeacon Kiprian Yashchenko, dean of the pedagogical department at St. Tikhon Orthodox Theological Institute and one of the authors of the course. "You know our bureaucrats -- they use their offices according to their worldview. Most of them are atheists and they say it is impossible because the school is separate from the church. Yes, we are separate from the state, but we can cooperate, can't we?"
Yashchenko, who has a doctorate in pedagogical science, said he led the group of educators who compiled the program from what is already being tested in the Noginsk district of the Moscow region, Smolensk, Kursk, Belgorod and other regions of Russia. Although the intention is to immerse children in the Orthodox worldview, the course is taught by regular teachers and does not include any church ritual. "Priests may be consultants," he said.
The
30-page document is a vast catalogue of themes, including Biblical subjects,
Orthodox tradition, asceticism, liturgy, literature and art. By the end
of the course, a student could be asked to write a paper on one of 64
subjects, such as "Faith and Science," "Moscow as the Third
Rome" or "Orthodox Understanding of Freedom."
(SNIP)
The program does not spell out how the decision to teach the course is to be made, whether a certain percentage of parents, for instance, has to request the course. And if the course is taught, there is as yet no provision for children who choose not to attend.
Religious education in public schools is a highly sensitive and controversial subject anywhere in the world and especially in Russia, where interpretations of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state vary greatly, and a system of church-state relations is being painfully developed after decades of Soviet atheism.
The
program appears to have bypassed the Education Ministry apparatus, which
Orthodox Church officials have described as among the most reluctant to
cooperate with the church.
(SNIP)
Opponents of religious education in public schools -- who at various stages included State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov, Deputy Speaker Irina Khakamada and the Yabloko party -- say it will divide people and sow xenophobia.
"This document smacks of the Middle Ages and obscurantism," government spokesman Alexei Volin was quoted in Friday's Gazeta as saying. "If the Education Ministry considers it necessary to introduce studies in religion, the course should include the basics of all religious world views and the history of atheism in addition."
(SNIP)
The
Education Ministry's program can be found at www.ed.gov.ru/sch-edu/prkult/let.html
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©
2002, Gloria R. Lalumia
insight@zianet.com
Updated listings of Radio for Progressives on the internet at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
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