From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed May 2 14:49:47 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed May 2 14:52:06 2007 Subject: NYMHM: Affirmative action, NoLa discrimination, EPA under pressure Message-ID: EDITOR'S NOTE: Based on your feedback, we've modified our newsletter format to be even easier to scan. Please let us know what you think! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=363873673890 ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * May 2, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 18 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004265.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime Christians in Iraq, and in particular Baghdad, have faced persecution for the first time in the history of this country." -- Iraqi Christian legislator Romeo Hakkari (see "Top Stories, below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Republican-backed voter suppression alleged New Orleans: No home to African Americans Iraq's Christian flight continues *Environment* The EPA under pressure *Immigration* Between America and Mexico, a broken border *Race & Society* Affirmative action foe has new targets ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Republican-Backed Voter Suppression Alleged Former Justice Department employees say the White House used Republican political appointees to prevent thousands of poor and minority voters from registering ahead of the 2006 midterm elections, McClatchy Newspapers reports. They say the appointees inflated fraud concerns to justify tough voter ID rules that were later overturned as unconstitutional, pushed a database method that caused three states to "mistakenly" disqualify "tens of thousands" of new registrations, and pushed U.S. attorneys to prosecute voter fraud cases favored by Republicans in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Washington. > New Orleans: No Home to African Americans African Americans face discrimination in their search for housing in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina, according to a year-long study in which African and Caucasian "testers" applied to rent the same apartments but got different results. Nearly 60 percent of all landlords didn't return phone calls from African Americans, wouldn't show them apartment units or give them applications, and offered the same rental units to Caucasian applicants for less money. > Iraq's Christian Flight Continues Thousands have fled Mosul and Baghdad under death threats from Islamists who say will kill Christians if they do not pay a special religious "tax" for non-Muslims. Romeo Hakkari, a Christian parliamentarian in Iraq's Kurdish region, says hundreds of Christians, who numbered half a million before the war, have resettled in Kurdistan; the rest have fled the country. Sources: "Housing discrimination cited in N.O." The Advocate (LA), April 25, 2007 http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/7178031.html "Campaign against alleged voter fraud fuels political tempest" McClatchy, April 19, 2007 http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/usattorneys/17102317.htm "Iraq: Christians face mounting threats, MP says" ADNKronos, April 27, 2007 http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.409259200&par= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................. > The EPA Under Pressure The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire from activists and state officials for not enforcing laws to protect the public from harmful chemicals and emissions, even as it considers controversial budget cuts that will reduce its enforcement staff. California has threatened to sue the EPA within six months if it does not ... *Get the whole story online: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004262.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMMIGRATION ............................................................................. > Between America and Mexico, a Broken Border A heavy crackdown in immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border has resulted in more arrests, but has not deterred Mexicans from trying to cross, or from dying along the way. Immigrants attempting to cross the desert in the hot summer months have only a 50 percent chance of ... *Get the whole story online: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004263.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- RACE & SOCIETY ............................................................................. > Affirmative Action Foe Has New Targets The man who led a successful 1996 ballot-initiative campaign to ban affirmative action in California is turning his attention to Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and South Dakota. Ward Connerly and his group, the American Civil Rights Institute, hope all these states will ... *Get the whole story online: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004264.html ============================================================================= Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson ............................................................................. SUPPORT PUBLIC-SERVICE MEDIA Newsdesk.org and News You Might Have Missed are commercial-free, and available at no charge. We welcome your tax-deductible contributions: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 ............................................................................. News You Might Have Missed and Newsdesk.org are free services of Independent Arts & Media: http://artsandmedia.net/ ............................................................................. E-mail list powered by Group D Communications: http://www.groupd.com/ ............................................................................. DISCLAIMER: All external links are provided as informational resources only, consistent with the nonprofit, public-interest mission of Independent Arts & Media. Independent Arts & Media does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations and does not have a copyright on any of the content located at these sites. ============================================================================= From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed May 9 17:14:04 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed May 9 17:15:46 2007 Subject: NYMHM: the Palestinians; biotech plants; crowded prisons Message-ID: We value your feedback on the new NYMHM and newsletter format: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=363873673890 ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * May 9, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 19 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004268.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "The Syrians are saying that we have 450,000 Palestinians already, since 1948 and 1967, and that is enough." -- U.N. spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes (see "The Palestinians," below) CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Iraqi Sunnis have a new enemy: Al Qaeda Sharia law imposed on Nigeria school dress codes India welcomes illegal toxic waste *Crime & Punishment* Packed into prisons, with no relief in sight *Genetic Engineering* Biotech plants, and controversy, take root *The Palestinians* There's no place like home ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Iraqi Sunnis Have a New Enemy: Al Qaeda Following ongoing violence against civilians, Sunni tribes in the Anbar province of Iraq are joining forces to combat al Qaeda militants, re-open local courts and boost political participation. This includes forming a new political party, called Iraq Awakening, which has its first convention this month. The Sunni alliance, which includes former insurgents, also formed the Salvation Council, which uses U.S. funds to train soldiers and rebuild medical centers and schools. But resentment over U.S. forces presence in Iraq may undermine the alliance long-term. > Sharia Law Imposed on Nigeria School Dress Code All 2,000 private schools in the Nigerian state of Kano must now enforce a strict Islamic uniform whether students are Muslim or Christian, according to authorities tasked with imposing Sharia law. All state schools in Nigeria already use the Islamic dress code. > India a Target For Japan's Toxic Trash India has illegally imported thousands of tons of hazardous chemicals from Japan, including DDT and PCBs, for "recycling," the Indo-Asian News Service reports. Now activists say a new trade pact, negotiated in secret, will bring even more Japanese waste and medical refuse into India's shipyards, despite laws prohibiting such imports. Sources: "Sunni join forces against Al-Qaeda" Institute for War & Peace Reporting, May 4, 2007 http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=335327&apc_state=henh "Nigerian province extends Islamic dress code to all schools" Agence France-Presse, May 5, 2007 http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=May2007&file=World_News2007050585132.xml "Treaty with Japan may legalize dumping toxic waste in India" Indo-Asian News Service, May 8, 2007 http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20070508/50677.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CRIME & PUNISHMENT ............................................................................. > Packed Into Prisons, With No Relief in Sight Crowded jails from the Mexican border to North Carolina have prisoners packed into cells, sleeping in day rooms and struggling with overflowing sewers and waste water. There's plenty of money in Arizona for boosted border patrols, which capture more illegal immigrants who are then charged with felonies. But the Christian Science Monitor reports that funding is in short supply for ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004270.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- GENETIC ENGINEERING ............................................................................. > Biotech Plants, and Controversy, Take Root The United States, Canada and Europe are grappling with standards for genetically modified plants, which promise economic and health benefits along with irreversible ecological damage. In San Francisco, a federal judge issued the first-ever ban on growing Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa after tests showed it was contaminating non-genetically engineered crops -- something FDA officials did not consider when ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004271.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PALESTINIANS ............................................................................. > There's No Place Like Home Underfunded, living in illegal camps and turned away from Arab and Israeli borders -- the lot of the Palestinian grows ever more dire. In the Palestinian territories, a Western aid boycott against the Hamas government has led to a strike last week by tens of thousands of government workers who haven't GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004272.html ============================================================================= Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson ............................................................................. SUPPORT PUBLIC-SERVICE MEDIA Newsdesk.org and News You Might Have Missed are commercial-free, and available at no charge. We welcome your tax-deductible contributions: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 ............................................................................. News You Might Have Missed and Newsdesk.org are free services of Independent Arts & Media: http://artsandmedia.net/ ............................................................................. E-mail list powered by Group D Communications: http://www.groupd.com/ ............................................................................. DISCLAIMER: All external links are provided as informational resources only, consistent with the nonprofit, public-interest mission of Independent Arts & Media. Independent Arts & Media does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations and does not have a copyright on any of the content located at these sites. ============================================================================= From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed May 16 16:28:51 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed May 16 16:29:50 2007 Subject: [NYMHM] NYMHM: Domestic spying; child militants; gun control Message-ID: <965bc1a8582d1b8345beb082e3b39062@artsandmedia.net> ======================================================================== ===== NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * May 16, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 20 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004274.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- QUOTED: "I will be satisfied when I can get a tour of the Folsom Street building and I can see the equipment has been ripped out ... They have embedded spying into the infrastructure of the Internet. I'm not sure people are fully conscious of what is going on." -- Whistleblower Mark Klein says NSA spying gear remains in AT&T's San Francisco headquarters (see "Privacy," below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Trouble follows Korea bride business Depressed? The Army still wants you Prejudice, abuse in India's top medical school *Privacy* Domestic spying expansion would exonerate AT&T *Gun Control* Little progress for gun opponents *War & Terrorism* From Iraq to Nepal, child militants swell the ranks ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- TOP STORIES ........................................................................ ..... > Trouble Follows Korea Bride Business Business is booming for commercial marriage brokers in South Korea, where a surfeit of bachelors seek brides from Vietnam, China, and the Philippines. Some agencies even arrange a five- day package tour which includes a lineup of women to choose from, as well as a wedding ceremony and one-night honeymoon. But beatings, alcoholism and divorce are also on the rise, and one legislator has sponsored a bill prohibiting "reckless matchmaking" by commercial agencies. > Depressed? The Army Wants You An undercover reporter in Tennessee was told by staff in three different Army offices that concealing his use of the anti- depressant Zoloft would enable him to avoid being disqualified as a potential recruit. Now, a local Congressman has asked for a federal investigation into what he says could be a nationwide practice by Army recruiters. > Prejudice, Abuse in India's Top Medical School Dalit, or "untouchable," students in India's premiere medical school say teachers and students alike discriminate against them. They say they are beaten, segregated in dorms and dining halls, and given failing grades based on their social background. State-funded schools are required by law to admit a significant percentage of Dalits, who make up about 25 percent of India's population. Sources: "International marriages -- and divorces -- surge in S. Korea" Agence France-Presse, May 11, 2007 http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070511/1/48gtk.html "Reports: Army recruiters said lie" Associated Press, May 11, 2007 http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_5532113,00.html "India: Low-caste Hindus at top hospital treated as untouchables" Asian Age, May 11, 2007 http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php? cat=Trends&loid=8.0.413656464&par=0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- PRIVACY ........................................................................ ..... > Domestic Spying Expansion Would Exonerate AT&T The Justice Department wants to further loosen domestic spying laws under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to permit the monitoring of U.S. residents suspected of receiving terrorist communications. The FISA "update" would also grant legal immunity to telecom companies that cooperate with the government -- such as AT&T, which faces five major civil liberties suits for opening its networks to the National Security Agency ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004276.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- GUN CONTROL ........................................................................ ..... > Little Progress for Gun Opponents Lawmakers raced to propose tougher gun control laws following the Virginia Tech and Montreal school shootings, but each has drawn criticism -- and not just from the usual suspects ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004277.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- WAR & TERRORISM ........................................................................ ..... > From Iraq to Nepal, Child Militants Swell the Ranks Thousands of Iraqi children earn $3 to $7 a day making bombs, cleaning guns and transporting weapons for Shiite and Sunni militias in Baghdad. The chlorine bombs burn the children and sometimes detonate, but insurgents say they can't be blamed GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004278.html ======================================================================== ===== Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson ........................................................................ ..... SUPPORT PUBLIC-SERVICE MEDIA Newsdesk.org and News You Might Have Missed are commercial-free, and available at no charge. We welcome your tax-deductible contributions: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 ........................................................................ ..... MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Subscribe, unsubscribe, etc: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ ........................................................................ ..... News You Might Have Missed and Newsdesk.org are free services of Independent Arts & Media: http://artsandmedia.net/ ........................................................................ ..... E-mail list powered by Group D Communications: http://www.groupd.com/ ........................................................................ ..... DISCLAIMER: All external links are provided as informational resources only, consistent with the nonprofit, public-interest mission of Independent Arts & Media. Independent Arts & Media does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations and does not have a copyright on any of the content located at these sites. ======================================================================== ===== From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed May 23 13:42:45 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed May 23 13:44:33 2007 Subject: NYMHM: Iran's bicycle crimes, lupus/petroleum link, newspapers sell the farm Message-ID: ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * May 23, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 21 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004280.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "The dish's installer is very nice and gives a 40 percent discount for clients who have to replace a seized dish. My mother says she can't live without satellite television and she is right, our channels are boring and pious." -- Mariam, a 30-year-old Iranian clerk, on a vigorous but unpopular morals crackdown in her country (see "Iran," below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Transplant tourism fuels China's live organ harvest Saddam's Kurdish spies in the spotlight U.S. Sadr plot led to disaster *Iran* Vice squad targets women on bicycles *Media* Newspapers sell the farm, give up the goat *Public Health* Lupus linked to petroleum exposure ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Transplant Tourism Fuels China's Live Organ Harvest Activists say the surge of kidneys and other organs available for transplant in China is no accident: they're being harvested from living Falun Gong members imprisoned by the military, and then sold to desperate Western patients on long waiting lists back home. Now Canadian doctors are calling for a ban on visiting doctors from China until the practice is forsworn, and warn transplant tourists that their new lease on life comes at a deadly price. > Saddam's Kurdish Spies in the Spotlight Allegations that 300 Kurds from several political parties were double agents for Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist government are shaking up the Kurdish establishment. Two newspapers made the allegations based on documents looted from Hussein's intelligence service; some parties are offering amnesty to the accused, or say that the spying was sanctioned. The Kurdish public is in a less charitable mood, calling for trials for suspected collaborators. An investigating council has been formed, but has no powers of prosecution. > U.S. Sadr Plot Led to Disaster Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr turned against the United States once and for all in August 2004, when U.S. forces laid seige to his brother's house after inviting him there to finalize peace talks. Iraq's National Security Adviser Dr. Mowaffaq Rubai'e claims he was used by the U.S. to lure Sadr to the house; but the cleric escaped, scuttling the peace plan, entrenching his anti-Americanism, and emboldening the Mahdi Army, which then took over Baghdad and many Shia cities across Iraq, the Independent reports. Sources: "China kills to harvest organs: MDs" National Post (Canada), May 18, 2007 http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=20d0fa3c-f0a4-4767-ab09-25456c176c4b "More alleged Kurdish spies exposed" Institute for War & Peace Reporting, May 11, 2007 http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=335516&apc_state=henh "Exclusive: Secret U.S. plot to kill Al-Sadr" Independent (U.K.), May 21, 2007 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2565123.ece ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- IRAN ............................................................................. > Vice Squad Targets Women on Bicycles Thousands of women have been cited and hundreds will stand trial for not complying with the Iranian government's new rules on stricter Islamic dress, listening to Western music and even walking a dog in public, which officials consider impure. The new rules, introduced for "the country's moral health," also include a ban on satellite dishes, co-ed Internet cafes, and any public establishment with darkened windows that prevent ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004282.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEDIA ............................................................................. > Newspapers Sell the Farm, Give up the Goat Across the country, falling newspaper circulation and the flight of ad dollars to the Web have caused publishers to fire employees, sell their buildings and outsource their ad and subscription departments to India. The San Jose Mercury News is the latest to do so; it follows other newspapers across the country, including the ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004283.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PUBLIC HEALTH ............................................................................. > Lupus Linked to Petroleum Exposure Scientists in Boston and New Mexico have shown that exposure to petroleum is linked to the deadly auto-immune disease lupus, with residents of low-income and minority communities ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004284.html ============================================================================= Editors: Julia Scott, Josh Wilson ............................................................................. SUPPORT PUBLIC-SERVICE MEDIA Newsdesk.org and News You Might Have Missed are commercial-free, and available at no charge. We welcome your tax-deductible contributions: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 ............................................................................. MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Subscribe, unsubscribe, etc: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ ............................................................................. News You Might Have Missed and Newsdesk.org are free services of Independent Arts & Media: http://artsandmedia.net/ ............................................................................. E-mail list powered by Group D Communications: http://www.groupd.com/ ............................................................................. DISCLAIMER: All external links are provided as informational resources only, consistent with the nonprofit, public-interest mission of Independent Arts & Media. Independent Arts & Media does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations and does not have a copyright on any of the content located at these sites. ============================================================================= From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed May 30 11:33:52 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed May 30 11:34:59 2007 Subject: NYMHM: Pakistan's democracy, G8 warm-up, nuclear terrorism Message-ID: ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * May 30, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 22 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004286.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "If I had my way, the DNA we now take from newborn babies to check for genetic disorders would be added to the national database in the national interest." -- Brian Mackenzie, a peer in the House of Lords, on security concerns in the United Kingdom (see "Homeland Security," below.) CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Mexico's "Sahara" only growing Protestors in a G8 warm-up bring riot police Pope acknowledges colonial woes *Pakistan* Fears of Islamism Grow as Democracy Retreats *Nigeria* An election gives, and takes *Homeland Security* Disaster "contingencies" provoke privacy fears and follies ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Mexico's "Sahara" Only Growing Chicken and dairy moguls, a Coca-Cola plant and clearcutting are turning arid but habitable land in northern Mexico into desert at a rate of 150,000 hectares each year. The San Francisco Bay Guardian reports that dozens of villages and indigenous tribes are threatened, even as developers turn to the Cuatro Cienegas biosphere, "Mexico's Galapagos," for more water. > Protestors in a G8 Warmup Bring Riot Police Hamburg's session of the Asia-Europe Meeting addressed Darfur, nuclear proliferation and climate change, setting the stage for next week's G8 meeting in the Baltic town of Heiligendamm. The Hamburg meeting also saw throngs of protestors come out for their own "warm up" for the G8, which is expected to draw as many as 100,000 dissidents from June 6-8. > Pope Acknowledges Colonial Woes The Los Angeles Times reports that Pope Benedict XVI is back- pedaling -- but not apologizing -- for claiming that the conversion of South American Indians to Christianity did not involve the "imposition of a foreign culture." Speaking in Rome, Benedict later affirmed "sufferings and injustices" had occurred, but didn't detract from the achievements of missionaries during the colonial era. Sources: "An American Sahara / Mexico is milking its northern deserts dry" SFBG.com, May 15, 2007 http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=3663&catid=4 "Leftists Target EU-Asia Meeting in Preparation for G8 Demos" Deutsche Welle, May 28, 2007 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2560053,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-top-1022-rdf "Asia-Europe Meeting Serves to Flesh Out G8 Priorities" Deutsche Welle, May 29, 2007 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2559894,00.html "Pope recognizes colonial injustices" Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-fg-pope24may24,1,6200822.story?track=rss ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAKISTAN ............................................................................. > Fears of Islamism Grow as Democracy Retreats Even as President Pervez Musharraf's dismissal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry continue to shake up Pakistan, Islamists along the fractious border with Afghanistan are extending their territory and evading government efforts to bring them to heel ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004288.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NIGERIA ............................................................................. > An Election Gives, and Takes Labor unions across Nigeria went on a two-day strike in protest of the recent presidential election, which was condemned by observers as "massively rigged." The BBC reports that results were announced even for regions where no voting took place ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004289.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOMELAND SECURITY ............................................................................. > Disaster "Contingencies" Provoke Privacy Fears and Follies Even as President George W. Bush authorized a controversial plan to centralize government powers in the White House following any large-scale national disaster, a closed group of government officials and scholars drew up "contingencies" for dealing with nuclear terrorism in the United States ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004290.html ============================================================================= Editor: Josh Wilson ............................................................................. SUPPORT PUBLIC-SERVICE MEDIA Newsdesk.org and News You Might Have Missed are commercial-free, and available at no charge. We welcome your tax-deductible contributions: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 ............................................................................. MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION Subscribe, unsubscribe, etc: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ ............................................................................. News You Might Have Missed and Newsdesk.org are free services of Independent Arts & Media: http://artsandmedia.net/ ............................................................................. E-mail list powered by Group D Communications: http://www.groupd.com/ ............................................................................. DISCLAIMER: All external links are provided as informational resources only, consistent with the nonprofit, public-interest mission of Independent Arts & Media. Independent Arts & Media does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations and does not have a copyright on any of the content located at these sites. =============================================================================