NYMHM: Nigerian oil money; Outsourcing motherhood; Thank you, Julia Scott!

Wed Nov 21 12:00:35 PST 2007

  This week's News You Might Have Missed is the final edition 
  researched and written by Julia Scott. 

  Julia started with NYMHM in early 2003, and went on to set a
  standard for "important but overlooked news" that remains
  unmatched for its breadth, depth and journalistic rigor. 

  Her tireless efforts defined NYMHM through four years of growth
  and change. Her work has been insightful, determined, humane
  and always revelatory. 

  We wish her the best as she continues her successful career 
  as a full-time, daily newspaper reporter here in the Bay Area. 

  THANK YOU, JULIA! You have our gratitude and admiration. 

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 NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * November 21, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 47

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

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QUOTED: 

   "Let the government prevent us from [celebrating] holidays, 
   persecute us and put pressure on us. They only help us 
   by doing that."

   -- A member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a populist Islamist party on the
   rise in Central Asia and beyond (see "Religion & Politics," below).  

CONTENTS:

   *Top Stories*
     $40 million stolen from Nigerian aid plan, ex-official probed
     Rendition inquiry looks to Ukraine 
     Canadian officials knew of Afghan torture, records show

   *Fertility*
     Outsourcing motherhood

   *Religion & Politics*
     Hizb-ut-Tahrir: Winning hearts and minds

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 TOP STORIES
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 > $40 Million Stolen from Nigerian Aid Plan, Ex-Official Probed

   British and Nigerian officials are investigating possibly illict
   payments from Shell and Chevron into the bank account of former 
   Nigerian Governor James Ibori, reports the Sunday Times. 

   Ibori allegedly laundered $40 million meant for education and
   engineering projects through British banks, using part of the
   money instead to buy ...

   GET THE WHOLE STORY: 

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004474.html 

 > Rendition Inquiry Looks to Ukraine 

   An Italian European Union minister wants human rights officials
   to investigate "strong and specific" evidence that the Ukrainian
   government was complicit in building a prison on its military 
   base to hold and torture CIA detainees, reports the EU Observer. 

   The minister cites a document suggesting that a Gulfstream jet 
   known to be used by the CIA landed in ...

   GET THE WHOLE STORY: 

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004475.html

 > Canadian Officials Knew of Afghan Torture, Records Show

   Secret documents obtained by court order show Canadian ministers
   were well aware of torture, rape and other abuse occurring at 
   Afghan prisons filled with detainees that Canadian soldiers had 
   turned over to the Afghan secret police, according to the 
   Globe and Mail. 

   Canadian prison inspectors, for instance, noted the prison 
   floors were covered in ...

   GET THE WHOLE STORY:

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004476.html

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 FERTILITY
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 > Outsourcing Motherhood

   Scores of impoverished Indian women are selling their services
   as childbearers to foreign couples who either cannot, or don't
   want to, bear their own children, reports the Daily Mail. 

   Using an Indian surrogate mother is less expensive and less 
   complicated than paying a Western mother for the same services 
   -- and in some cases, the surrogate offers her own eggs as well. 

   The number of surrogate mothers in India has nearly doubled in 
   the past three years, while surrogacy agencies are springing up 
   to handle the caseload.

   Indian doctors are helping make the arrangements, even setting 
   up a bungalow for surrogate mothers with a cook, a cleaner and
   English classes, according to India's Daily News and Analysis. 

   They say becoming a surrogate for childless couples is a "noble 
   deed." But other doctors disagree, fearing the women are being 
   forced to ...

   GET THE WHOLE STORY: 

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004477.html

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 RELIGION & POLITICS
.............................................................................

 > Hizb-ut-Tahrir: Winning Hearts and Minds

   The Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir is gaining a foothold across
   Central Asia, and is making its presence felt in Britain 
   and elsewhere. 

   Governments have banned the group, with its alleged bent 
   towards violence, and the appeal of its charismatic leaders 
   and Islamic ideology.

   Founded in the Middle East, Hizb-ut-Tahrir spread to Muslim 
   communities in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and 
   Kazakhstan in the 1990s. 

   The group, which calls itself a political party even though it 
   has no elected members, aims to replace all secular governments 
   with a united front of Islamic governments. 

   The group professes nonviolence, but is banned in many places 
   and its members are arrested on a ...

   GET THE WHOLE STORY:

   http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004478.html

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Editors: Julia Scott, Will Crain, Josh Wilson
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