NYMHM: Dow Chemical fined; Europe hate-speech debate

Wed Feb 21 14:40:39 PST 2007

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 NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * February 21, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 8

 Important but overlooked news from around the world.
 NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org.

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THIS WEEK: 

   Europe is fraught by old crimes and a new economic slump, a 
   Dow Chemical fine stirs up Bhopal ghosts, inflation and dissent 
   converge in Zimbabwe, Baghdad's broken homes are up for grabs, 
   Shia rivalry wags the dog, race and pollution are linked in 
   California, Southeast Asians risk a European sea voyage with 
   low returns ... and a brownfield grows in Queens, New York. 

QUOTED: 

   "It is a great misunderstanding to consider anti-Semitism as 
   racism. The Jews of Poland are racially indistinguishable from 
   the Poles. However, the fact that they stick to their own 
   community, their own civilization, their own separateness, 
   results in biological differences developing."

   -- Maciej Giertyc, a Polish member of the European Parliament, 
   writing in a booklet critics say was published with E.U.
   funding (see "Hate Speech," below). 

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TOP STORIES
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 > Dow Fine Stirs Bhopal Ghosts

   Survivors of the Bhopal chemical disaster called for a police
   investigation after U.S. regulators fined Dow Chemical for 
   paying $200,000 to Indian bureaucrats to legalize a pesticide 
   banned in the United States in 2000. 

   India's Agriculture Ministry said it was "surprised" by the
   fines, and that it follows "strict norms" for pesticide 
   regulation, the Financial Express reports. But activists told 
   the Indo-Asian News Service that the bribery incident is only 
   the "tip of the iceberg." 

 > Poverty, Unemployment on the Rise in Europe 

   Pressure is building for economic and labor reform in Europe, 
   where one out of six citizens, especially children, are living 
   below the poverty line, and four in ten young people are 
   unemployed -- particularly those without higher education. 

   Some critics say making it easier to hire and fire young people
   will help bring them into the job market, but just such a 
   measure sparked huge protests in France last year, causing 
   reformists to back down. 

 > A Risky New Sea Route, With Low Returns

   Growing numbers of Southeast Asian migrants are spending thousands
   of dollars flying to Addis Ababa or Dubai, and trekking across 
   Africa to risk their lives on boats headed for the Canary Islands. 
   Many destroy their passports to avoid being repatriated, a practice
   that usually sends them into the stateless limbo of refugee camps. 

Sources: 

"Bhopal gas survivors demand action against U.S. firm"
Indo-Asian News Service, February 16, 2007
http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=32334

"Dow chem's kick-back issue rocks agriculture ministry"
The Financial Express (India), February 17, 2007
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=155106

"One in six Europeans living below the poverty line"
The E.U. Observer (Belgium), February 20, 2007
http://euobserver.com/9/23532

"Jobless youth fuel Europe's heated debate about reform"
The Financial Times (U.K.), February 17, 2007
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=FT&Date=20070219&ID=6501840

"Immigrants open a new path to Europe"
International Herald Tribune, February 16, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/16/news/immigrants.php 

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ZIMBABWE 
.............................................................................

 > Inflation, Dissent Converge

   With inflation at 1,600 percent, Zimbabwe is removing subsidies
   on flour, maize and fuel, causing prices to as much as 
   quintuple for staple foods and transportation. 

   Officials say inflation is caused by businesses that illegally 
   increase prices set by the state, and to prevent corruption 
   have doubled the salaries of youth militia charged with 
   enforcing the new rules. 

   The new militia salaries are about 10 times the amount paid to 
   teachers and state doctors, a sore point in a nation where 
   leaders of the national teachers' union were recently arrested
   for calling for strikes over low wages. 

   Robert Mugabe's government routinely smothers dissent, last 
   week detaining student leaders who protested a 2,000 percent fee 
   hike, and banning an election rally by the opposition party. 

Sources: 

"Zimbabwe: Police deny permission for Tsvangirai rally"
Business Day (South Africa), February 16, 2007
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702160171.html

"Zimbabwe: Massive price hikes loom"
Zimbabwe Independent, February 16, 2007
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702160351.html

"Zim militia squads pay doubles"
South African Press Association, February 13, 2007
http://business.iafrica.com/news/627989.htm

Learn more about Zimbabwe on Newsdesk.org: 
http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004183.html

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IRAQ
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 > "Soldiers of Heaven": Wagging the Dog? 

   When the governor of Najaf called on U.S. air support for an
   Iraqi Army attack on a heavily fortified compound, the target
   was originally described as an al Qaeda-affiliated Sunni group 
   -- and then later a Shia doomsday cult -- that sought to massacre 
   Shia imams and pilgrims during a religious festival. 

   But the Institute for War & Peace Reporting now cites "security 
   officials" who claim no attack on imams and pilgrims was planned, 
   and quotes Najaf's deputy governor as stating that regional Shia 
   leaders simply wanted to eliminate a rival militant Shia sect.  

 > The Broken Homes of Baghdad

   Observers say Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's plan to return 
   every Baghdad home to their original owner within 15 days, or 
   have displaced families prove they have permission to be there, 
   will drive another wave of refugees. 

   One man interviewed by the U.N. news service says his family was
   placed by Sunni politicians in a new home after being "purged" 
   from his old neighborhood by the Mahdi Army.  

"Shia rivalry sparked battle of Zarqa"
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, February 15, 2007
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=333280&apc_state=henh

"Rebel Muslims longed for doomsday / 'Heaven's Army' battled near Najaf with high-tech arms"
Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/30/MNG5ENR9PH1.DTL

"New security plan could make more Iraqis homeless"
Integrated Regional Information Networks (UN), February 15, 2007
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/221131adf059f9fc96c997d621e8097e.htm 

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POLLUTION
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 > Scotland's Routine Radiation Leaks

   A Scottish nuclear plant operator was fined $273,000 last week
   for dumping solid nuclear waste in a public landfill, and for
   discharging contaminated water into effluent pipes that washed
   up on local beaches for more than 20 years. 

   Less than five hours after the fine was handed down, another
   suspected radioactive particle was found on a nearby beach, 
   the BBC reports. 

 > Pollution, Race Linked in SF Bay Area

   A new report finds that most people living within a mile of power
   plants, refineries and other pollution sources in the nine-county
   San Francisco Bay Area are ethnic minorities with higher rates of 
   asthma and cancer, and less access to health care. 

   Neighborhood activists say children need to use inhalers, and 
   told KCBS that they're perpetually washing "black gook" and 
   "black soot" off their windows and houses.

 > A Brownfield Grows in Queens

   Neighbors of an old lot targeted for a $50 million low-income 
   housing and commercial complex were never told of the site's 
   70-year history of "excessive" contamination by a dry-cleaning 
   business, the Queens Chronicle in New York reports. Studies show
   that pollution could have spread as much as a quarter-mile 
   underground, within reach of a municipal well. 

   The developer, an influential local church, downplays the risk
   of toxic vapor leaks and runoff, but has applied for "brownfield"
   status that would both cover cleanup expenses and limit liability. 

Sources: 

"Nuclear site operator fined 140k" 
BBC (U.K.), February 15, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6364351.stm 

"Low-income, minority areas bear brunt of Bay Area pollution"
ANG Newspapers, February 18, 2007
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_5254289

"Study claims environmental racism in Bay Area"
CBS5/KCBS (San Francisco), February 20, 2007
http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_051211155.html

"Toxic site eyed for housing"
Queens Chronicle (NY), February 15, 2007
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17856455&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574908&rfi=6

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HATE SPEECH
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 > Talkin' Crimes of Old Europe

   Germany's push for new hate-crime laws across Europe is 
   creating fissures in the growing European Union. 

   Some former Soviet bloc nations want to include a provision 
   that makes denial of Nazi and Communist war crimes equivalent.

   But the measure, advanced by Estonia, Poland and Slovenia, 
   has been criticized by a Slovakian minister who says it's 
   impossible to equate fascism and communism.  

   The E.U. Observer reports that Poles are also lobbying to ban 
   the phrase "Polish death camps," because, say advocates, such 
   camps were built and operated by occupying Nazi forces. 

   Meanwhile, a prominent Polish politician has drawn charges of 
   anti-semitism after claiming in a booklet that there are 
   "biological differences" between Jews and gentiles, 
   TheParliament.com reports. 

   The booklet was written by Polish E.U. minister Maciej Giertych,
   father of Poland's deputy prime minister. Critics say E.U. funds
   were used to publish the book, and want the money returned.  

Sources: 

"E.U. anti-hate law sparks debate on Nazi and Soviet crimes"
EUObserver (Belgium), February 16, 2007
http://euobserver.com/9/23515

"E.U. parliament in row over antisemitic book"
TheParliament.com (Belgium), February 16, 2007
http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200702/56f8440a-6f89-4dac-a260-b70c26a3308f.htm

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Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson
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