NYMHM: Who is Rafsanjani?; Food crops feel climate change

Wed Mar 21 15:09:07 PDT 2007

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 NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * March 21, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 12

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

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THIS WEEK: 

    Pipeline politics are aflow in Central Asia, Venezuela is a new
    hub for cocaine traffic, Yahoo! is blamed for the arrest of 
    Chinese dissidents, food crops show the effects of global warming, 
    doubts follow the HP and marijuana verdicts, "democracy" is easy 
    to say but difficult to do ... and just who is Rafsanjani, anyway?       

QUOTED: 

   "If we were talking about people stealing identities and doing 
   crystal meth, they'd have gotten 25 to life. But doing it as an 
   established business practice will let you off easy."

   -- Privacy consultant Ray Everett-Church, on the verdict in the
   Hewlett Packard spying scandal (see "Law & Justice," below). 

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TOP STORIES
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 > Pipeline Politics Aflow in Central Asia

   A new pipeline is expected to bring more than $200 billion
   into Azerbaijan in the next 20 years, but with such a windfall
   comes claims of birth defects caused by pollution, accusations 
   of profiteering, lawsuits and conflicting land claims in the 
   impoverished villages that line the pipeline's course. 

 > Yahoo! Blamed for Chinese Dissident's Arrest

   The wife of a Chinese dissident says her husband was jailed
   after Yahoo! gave his personal information to government
   security forces, and is now in the United States preparing
   to sue the company. A spokesman says Yahoo! is "required to 
   follow the laws" of its host nations, Wired News reports. 

   Human rights groups accuse Yahoo! of enabling the arrest of 
   at least three other activists in China. 

 > Cocaine Traffic Finds New Hubs

   Under pressure at home, Colombian smugglers have a new route 
   through Venezuela, which ended cooperation with U.S. anti-drug
   programs. Cocaine increasingly comes to the United States via 
   Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and to Europe via West Africa, 
   where gangs take advantage of lawlessness and poverty to set up 
   front companies and illegal air strips, and use locals as "mules."

Sources: 

"Life along the pipeline: BTC's impact on Azerbaijan"
Eurasianet.org, March 19, 2007
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav031507.shtml

"'Yahoo Betrayed My Husband'"
Wired.com, March 15, 2007
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72972-0.html

"Drug smugglers blaze new trail"
Miami Herald, March 16, 2007
http://www.miamiherald.com/582/story/43128.html

"West Africa becomes a hub for cocaine traffic to Europe"
Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2007
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.cocaine18mar18,0,3303527.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

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FARMING FUTURES
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 > Food Crops Struggle With Climate Change, "Green" Cred

   Climate change over the past 20 years has already impacted
   production of staple grain crops, a new report finds. 

   Wheat, barley and corn yields around the world have declined 
   about 40 million metric tons per year due to changes in 
   temperature and rainfall patterns.  

   In Australia and New Zealand, farmers are being warned that
   their future success may depend on their "green" credentials, 
   the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. 

   Analysts say that farmers there need to prove that their 
   exported crops are just as environmentally friendly as 
   locally produced crops increasingly favored in Europe. 

Sources:

"Cereal crops feeling the heat"
Environment News Service, March 16, 2007 
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2007/2007-03-16-03.asp

"Farmers warned to emphasise green credentials"
Australian Broadcast Corporation, March 19, 2007
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1875911.htm

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LAW & JUSTICE
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 > Doubts Follow Hewlett Packard, Marijuana Verdicts

   Former HP chair Patricia Dunn had spying charges against her
   dismissed, in part to ease her battle with ovarian cancer. 

   On the same day, Angel Raich, a California resident suffering 
   from a brain tumor, lost her appeal in a suit against federal 
   drug laws that make her use of doctor-prescribed marijuana a 
   prosecutable offense. 

   San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Lazarus says the 
   dismissal of Dunn's charges, and the sentencing of three
   other defendants to 96 hours community service, amounts to 
   a slap on the wrist for commonplace business spying. 

   Critics said the case was shaky, and that then-California 
   Attorney General Bill Lockyer pursued the HP spying scandal 
   to boost his campaign for state treasurer -- a charge 
   Lockyer's camp denies. 

   The Raich case is equally convoluted. She has not been accused
   of a crime, and instead sued to exempt from federal law her 
   use of marijuana as cancer therapy. 

   She lost, but the ruling "left open the possibility" that, 
   if arrested, Raich and other patients could claim that the drug
   is a life-saving last resort, the Chronicle reports.

Sources: 

"Medical pot user loses again in federal court"
San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/15/MNG2EOLGPU1.DTL

"Court dismisses charges against former HP chair"
San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/15/BUG2IOL3JG46.DTL

"Lesson learned by lenient sentences for HP defendants"
San Francisco Chronicle, March 16, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/16/BUG9OOM1FL1.DTL

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POLITICAL CRISES
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 > "Democracy": Easy to Say, Difficult to Do

   Riots flared up and victims traded sides in Nepal, as young
   Maoists were first set upon by minority separatists, then
   teamed up with ruling party members to attack supporters of
   the former kingdom's monarchy. 

   In Egypt, parliament approved new constitutional amendments 
   that would ban religious parties, boost government security 
   powers, and eliminate judicial oversight of ballot boxes. 
   The vote provoked a walkout by Islamist lawmakers, who said 
   it would encourage dictatorship. 

   Pakistan's President Musharraf continues to feel the heat
   for his suspension of the country's chief justice, which one
   analyst says results from a disdain for inclusive politics 
   that dates back to the British Raj. 

   Writing in Gulfnews.com, Boston University academic Husain 
   Haqqani says that without real democratic reform, Pakistan 
   will "continue to hurtle forward from crisis to crisis," 
   ultimately at Musharraf's -- and America's -- expense. 

   And Zimbabwe's downward spiral continues, with the opposition
   claiming that the government is now using "hit squads" to 
   target dissidents. South Africa is feeling pressure to 
   intervene, most staple food crops have failed, and even the
   head of Zimbabwe's central bank admits that the system
   there is almost irredeemably corrupt. 

Sources:

"Political attacks flare in Nepal"
March 18, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6463515.stm

"Egyptian MPs in protest walk-out"
BBC, March 18, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6463757.stm

"Crisis for Musharraf over justice chief's sacking"
The Telegraph (U.K.), March 17, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/17/wmush17.xml

"Southern African nations feel pressure to act on Zimbabwe"
Associated Press, March 20, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/03/20/zimbabwe.nations.ap/

"Mugabe using 'hit squads' - MDC"
Agence France-Presse, March 20, 2007
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,9294,2-11-1662_2086249,00.html 

"Zimbabwe says drought will worsen food shortages"
Reuters, March 20, 2007
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20505331.htm

"Our corrupt system is failing, admits bank chief"
The Telegraph (U.K.), March 19, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/18/wzim218.xml

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IRAN
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 > Rafsanjani: A Pragmatist With Plans of His Own

   Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's landslide election to Iran's 
   powerful Council of Experts was widely considered a rebuke to 
   President Ahmadinejad, his fundamentalist backers, and his 
   nuclear brinksmanship. 

   But is he a gift to the West, or a canny, ambitious politician
   with his own agenda for Iran and the Middle East? 

   As Iran's former president, Rafsanjani calls for Sunni and Shia
   cooperation, including stronger ties with Syria, Iraq and Saudi
   Arabia. He says the United States is deliberately destabilizing
   the Middle East -- but compared it to a "wounded tiger" that is 
   being dangerously provoked by Ahmadinejad.

   He is also one of the wealthiest men in a nation that is 
   struggling economically. The Sydney Morning Herald notes that 
   the "Shah of Pistachios" is secretive about his financial 
   holdings, which include caviar, airlines, agriculture, real 
   estate and mining. 

   One journalist who tried to dig into the issue is still in jail, 
   and a rival businessman was also jailed during Rafsanjani's 
   presidency, the newspaper reports. 

   Rafsanjani was recently implicated by Argentinean prosecutors 
   in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, 
   which killed dozens. Interpol issued arrest notices for several 
   Iranian and Lebanese militants at Argentina's request, but 
   excluded Rafsanjani from the list.

Sources:

"Iran's mullahs don't spend all day praying - they make money"
Sydney Morning Herald, March 19, 2007
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/irans-mullahs-dont-spend-all-day-praying--they-make-money/2007/03/18/1174152882005.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

"Iran & Hezbollah will get Interpol red arrest notices"
Associated Press, March 17, 2007
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/03/iran_hezbollah.php

"U.S. behind all problems in Mideast: Rafsanjani"
Mehrnews.com, March 16, 2007
http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=461955

"Iran determined to strengthen convergence among Muslims: Rafsanjani"
Tehran Times, March 15, 2007
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=43479

"Iran: Rafsanjani presses political offensive against president, stressing moderation"
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav022107.shtml

"Paper: Iran Criticizing Ahmadinejad"
MEMRI Blog, February 28, 2007
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/761.htm

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Editors: Josh Wilson | Consulting Editor: Virgil Ward Porter
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