NYMHM: Afghans fight back for schools, U.S. attorneys "fired"

Wed Jan 24 16:29:55 PST 2007

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 NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * January 24, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 4

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

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THIS WEEK: 

   Afghans fight back for schools, the swastika again divides Europe,
   Los Angeles grapples with gangland "ethnic cleansing," Sunnis make
   a new push for peace in Iraq, a Pentagon official bashes Guantanamo
   lawyers, Feinstein says key federal prosecutors have been fired, 
   and bankruptcy may fell the Headwaters redwoods ... or not.  

QUOTED: 

   "The Lebanese people are poor, and the taxes are already too high. 
   We can't afford to pay them. I've got four sons and only one of 
   them is working. I came all the way from Hermel hoping that 
   Siniora would hear my voice."

   -- Souad, a Lebanese mother who came to Beirut to protest a new
   tax aimed at privatizing industry and reining in debt (see
   "Middle East: Democracy," below). 

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TOP STORIES
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 > Citizens Secure Schools in Afghanistan

   The Taliban denies responsibility for arson attacks that have
   destroyed more than 100 Afghan schools, a huge setback in a nation 
   where only half of all children attend classes. Some communities 
   are even closing new schools in fear of vengeful militants, but a 
   new government program has citizens banding together and sometimes
   arming themselves to successfully fend off attacks. 

 > U.S. Weapons Disappear in Iraq

   Corruption infests Iraq's Ministry of Defense like "termites," 
   reports The Times of London. As many as 14,000 U.S. guns have been
   diverted to insurgents, Iraqi Army officials steal the salaries 
   of "ghost" soldiers who appear on the roster but are absent from 
   the ranks, and efforts to audit the total number of troops have 
   proven futile.

 > A Digital Revolution for India Farmers, With Risks

   Illiterate Indian farmers will now be able to access government
   subsidies through a fingerprint-scan ATM without sacrificing a 
   percentage to corrupt middlemen. But some fear the new technology 
   will provoke criminals to chop off fingers to access accounts.

"Neighborhood watch for Afghan schools"
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, January 19, 2007
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=arr&s=f&o=328655&apc_state=henh 

"How ghost soldiers are bleeding the Iraqi army of guns and money"
Times Online (U.K), January 19, 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-2554802,00.html 

"Thumb-print banking takes India"
Wired.com, January 19, 2007
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72284-0.html?tw=wn_index_2

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FREE SPEECH: THE SWASTIKA
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 > Hindus, the Holocaust and the Limits of Hate Speech

   Germany hopes to use its E.U. presidency to push through a 
   controversial law criminalizing Holocaust denial and incitement 
   to hate crimes in all 27 European member states, many of which
   oppose the measure on free speech grounds. Hate-based crime is on 
   the rise in Germany. 

   Religious groups in five countries also oppose the law, saying its 
   ban on swastika displays will affect 2.5 million European Hindus 
   who still regard it as a sacred symbol. 

"Germany pushes for E.U.-wide law on Holocaust denial"
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Germany), January 19, 2007
http://www.ejpress.org/article/13126 

"Hindus oppose swastika ban in E.U."
Press Trust of India, January 18, 2007
http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=011836

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RACISM
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 > L.A. Targets Gangs for Hate Crimes

   The Southern Poverty Law Center says a powerful Latino gang based
   in the California prison system has widened its feud with a rival 
   African American gang, and is now engaged in an "ethnic cleansing"
   campaign that targets blacks indiscriminately. 

   The latest victim, 14-year-old Cheryl Green, was fatally shot 
   after straying too close to the "forbidden line" that divided her  
   neighborhood down the middle, NBC4 in Los Angeles reports. Race-
   based attacks there have spiked in the past few years, and state 
   and federal agencies are teaming up for a crackdown.

"L.A. blackout"
Intelligence Report (Southern Poverty Law Center), Winter 2007
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=722 

"Injunction to be filed against 204th street gang"
NBC4.TV (Los Angeles), January 19, 2007
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10787387/detail.html

"No age of innocence in gangland's turf war"
New York Times, January 21, 2007
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/no-age-of-innocence-in-ganglands-turf-war/2007/01/20/1169096027814.html

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MIDDLE EAST: DEMOCRACY
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 > Loyal Opposition in Iraq, Lebanon

   A new organization of 500 Sunni scholars and clerics have vowed 
   to stand with Iraqi officials and Shiites to "close the gaps 
   and divisions among the Sunni authorities," according to United
   Press International.  

   The move puts them in potential conflict with the Sunni Islamic
   Scholars Association, Iraq's highest Sunni authority and a
   dedicated opponent of the government and the political process.

   In Lebanon, a tax to privatize key industries and secure new loans 
   for debt relief drew opposition from a coalition of Hizbollah, 
   Christian, Druze, Sunni and leftist partisans. They say the tax 
   will harm already-impoverished Lebanese, and neglects development
   and agricultural needs.    

"New religious Sunni group declared in Iraq"
United Press International, January 19, 2007
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070119-071755-4363r 

"Lebanon's new battleground"
Al-Ahram Weekly (Egypt), January 18-24, 2007
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/828/re83.htm

"Donors promise generosity in Paris despite turmoil in Beirut"
The Daily Star (Lebanon), January 25, 2006
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=78931

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NATION
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 > Redwood Protections Run Deep 

   Protections woven into the deeds on 200,000 acres of old-growth 
   redwood trees in Northern California may come in handy now that 
   their owner, Pacific Lumber, has filed for bankruptcy. Taxpayers
   put up $480 million in 1999 to protect the smaller Headwaters 
   Grove, but the deal came with extensive habitat protections 
   covering the rest of the property. 

 > U.S. Attorneys "Fired" by White House

   Sen. Dianne Feinstein says the federal attorneys who prosecuted 
   the BALCO steroids case and the bribery trial of Rep. Randy "Duke"
   Cunningham have been forced to resign. She blames a provision of 
   the Patriot Act that allows the president to replace U.S. attorneys
   at any time, and seeks its repeal.  

 > Christians-Only Health Plan Stands

   A cost-sharing medical program that covers 19,000 churchgoers, and 
   collected $42.8 million in monthly premiums in 2005, can continue 
   to operate in Kentucky. A court rule that the plan is not health 
   insurance, does not guarantee payment of medical bills, and is not 
   subject to regulation. Critics say this may be confusing to some 
   customers, the Associated Press reports.

"Redwood protections expected to stand"
San Jose Mercury News, January 21, 2007
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/16512580.htm 

"U.S. attorney was forced out, Feinstein says"
San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/19/BAGE1NLGHJ1.DTL 

"Judge says Christian health plan OK in Ky."
Associated Press, January 19, 2007
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070119/NEWS/701190352/1002/business

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COMMENTARY
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 > Lawyers Bashed for Representing Guantanamo Detainees

   A Pentagon official apologized for what two Atlanta law firms 
   called a "crass attempt at economic blackmail." But a columnist
   for the Atlanta Journal Constitution says Deputy Assistant Defense
   Secretary Charles Stimson should be fired for suggesting that the 
   firms, which provide pro bono representation to Guantanamo inmates,
   were taking money from terrorists. 

"U.S. official terrorizes Atlanta firms"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 18, 2007
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/stories/2007/01/18/0118edbookman.html

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Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson
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