From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed Oct 3 13:38:35 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed Oct 3 13:40:33 2007 Subject: NYMHM: Bhutto promises nuclear access; Russia and the Muslims; Death penalty on trial? Message-ID: *** TELL A FRIEND: You can help News You Might Have Missed grow its subscriber base. New subscribers can sign up here: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * October 3, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 40 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004412.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "Maybe we'll have one or two executions each year, just to prove that we still can." -- Activist Stephen Elliot on new challenges to capital punishment nationwide (see "Crime & Punishment," below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Kurdish vote puts pressure on Arabs Refugees take a risky route to Yemen Bhutto promises nuclear access *Energy* A nuclear "renaissance" *Crime & Punishment* The death sentence on trial? *World* Russia and the Muslims ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Kurdish Vote Puts Pressure on Arabs Kurdish officials are beginning the process of sending Arab residents back to their cities of origin ahead of a referendum on whether to absorb Kirkuk into the Kurdistan Regional Government area. Some Arabs, who were originally placed in Kirkuk by Saddam Hussein to counter the political influence of ethnic Kurds, fear they will be forced to leave their comparatively peaceful region. Kurdish officials fear the Arabs will ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004413.html > Bhutto Promises Nuclear Access Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said that if she were to return to power, she would permit the United Nations -- but not the United States or other Western powers -- to interview the nuclear weapons expert AQ Khan. Khan, who was pardoned in 2004 by President Pervez Musharraf for passing nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea, has "lived under virtual house arrest" since then, reports Agence France-Press. Bhutto, who plans to return from exile to ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004414.html > Refugees: A Risky Route to Yemen Thousands of Somali and Ethiopian refugees attempting to flee to Yemen are risking their lives in covert smuggling voyages across the dangerous Gulf of Aden, reports ADNKronos. Of the 4,741 people who crossed in September alone, 89 were killed and 154 are missing and presumed dead. Many refugees are killed by asphyxiation below board or drown when smugglers throw them ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004415.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENERGY ............................................................................. > A Nuclear "Renaissance" Although it is a long way from becoming a reality, pundits are already predicting a "nuclear renaissance" in America for the first time in 30 years, even as plans for new plants take shape around the world. A New Jersey company has filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to built two nuclear power plants in Texas, and the NRC expects to receive applications to build 28 more reactors in the next 15 months, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The traditional arguments against nuclear energy -- that it is dangerous, costly, offers terrorist attack targets and creates radioactive waste -- have not ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004416.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CRIME & PUNISHMENT ............................................................................. > The Death Sentence on Trial? Support for capital punishment may be on the wane, as the Supreme Court ponders a Kentucky case that pivots on the question of whether lethal injections constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," reports the Globe & Mail in Toronto. In Texas, at least one inmate's execution has been put on pending a decision in the case, according to the Houston Chronicle. Lawyers there are predicting that judges will begin placing a moratorium on all executions until the case is heard this winter. But Texas Governor Rick Perry wants ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004417.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD ............................................................................. > Russia and the Muslims A series of unprovoked attacks on native Russian families living in Ingushetia, a Muslim Republic in Southern Russia, have brought hundreds of Russian security forces into the area and increased the level of carnage in recent days. Accusations abound as to who is responsible for the killings. Some believe the assailants are boyeviki, or Muslim rebels based in the mountains, who want to gain power in the region. Others think the killings are organized by opponents of President Murad Zyazikov as a way to ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004418.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. ============================================================================= From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Mon Oct 8 11:02:47 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Mon Oct 8 11:05:45 2007 Subject: Tell the world about Newsdesk.org & News You Might Have Missed Message-ID: Dear Readers, One of the biggest challenges for any news project -- especially one specializing in news that DOESN'T make the mainstream -- is getting the word out. So, we're asking for your help in recruiting new subscribers for the News You Might Have Missed email list. We'd be grateful if you could tell your friends, family, co-workers and peers about our work, and encourage them to sign up here: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ As journalists and avid news junkies, our dilemma is that we live in a society with a media culture that's obsessed with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Everyone complains about commercial news outlets that fixate on celebrities, scandal and trivia. But, the fact is, that kind of news -- especially on the Web, where it's all about pushing buttons for instant gratification -- gets gobbled up like candy by the millions. What we're trying to do with Newsdesk.org and NYMHM is to create a NEW circuit that can get the important news into circulation. We're building it practically by hand, and we need your help getting people connected to it. Please let them know about what Newsdesk.org has been doing, and invite them to sign up here: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ The important news isn't always glitzy or glamorous. A strike by 27,000 Egyptian textile workers is just not going to sell papers like Britney's hairdo. But, at the end of the day ... people still kvetch endlessly about the inadequacy of commercial media. We guarantee that as the 2008 election season ramps up, complaints about that inadequacy are only going to increase. We can work together to create an alternative circuit for getting important news into circulation. We have a bit more than 1,900 people on our email list. We need many times that to make a REAL difference ... 25,000 would be a nice start ... dare we dream of as many as 300,000 subscribers? How about twice that? It'll be work, but we can do it, especially if you tell your friends, and ask them to sign up here: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ Our email subscriber base is our lifeblood. Subscribers get our work into circulation, make donations, and tip us off on important news the mainstream is missing. Help us build a solid foundation for the future of this project, which is far more ambitious than simply doing a weekly newsletter of overlooked reportage from around the world. We'll share those details with you in the coming weeks and months. Just remember: in the end, this isn't about Newsdesk.org, but about the *conversation of democracy* itself, which right now is being drowned out by commercial breaks, celebrity scandals, yapping talk-show hosts and canned laugh tracks. Thanks for helping create a new circuit for that conversation, by helping sign up new subscribers to Newsdesk.org and News You Might Have Missed. If each one of you can bring in TWO to FIVE NEW SUBSCRIBERS, we'll have more than doubled our listserv. Refer your best prospects here, with our thanks: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ The sky's the limit! Sincerely, Josh Wilson Editor * Newsdesk.org Julia Scott Editor * News You Might Have Missed Jen Anderson Founder * News You Might Have Missed -- Newsdesk.org News You Might Have Missed: Subscribe: From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed Oct 10 13:59:21 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed Oct 10 14:01:25 2007 Subject: NYMHM: French DNA law; a threat to Turkey's Jews?; challenges to U.S. arms trade Message-ID: WELCOME NEW SUBSCRIBERS! Thanks to the recruiting efforts of NYMHM fans everywhere, we are in the midst of a terrific surge in e-mail subscriptions. You can help spread the word by recommending NYMHM to your friends, family and co-workers: http://lists.artsandmedia.net/mailman/listinfo/nymhm/ ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * October 10, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 41 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004419.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "This is not an immigration law ... it's a nod to National Front electors ahead of the municipal elections." -- A French editorial cartoon targets a DNA-testing proposal for prospective immigrants (see "Top Stories," below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Inter-agency spying a U.S. "intelligence nightmare" Genocide resolution a threat to Turkey's Jews? French DNA bill stirs anti-immigrant fears *Refugees* Political asylum becomes private detention *Arms Race* U.S. leads in weapons trade -- for now *Crime & Punishment* The world's prison crisis ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Inter-Agency Spying a U.S. "Intelligence Nightmare" A Marine at San Diego's Camp Pendleton pleaded guilty to passing top secret documents along to L.A. police and counterterrorism officers -- but says he did it out of a sense of patriotism. Sgt. Gary Maziarz said bureaucracy was preventing military and civilian agencies from working together, and spirited more than 100 classified documents out of the base and into ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004420.html > Genocide Resolution a Threat to Turkey's Jews? Turkey's Foreign Minister issued a cryptically threatening remark in response to a non-binding resolution before the U.S. Congress that would declare the World War I killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia to be genocide. The Turkish government still denies the murders happened on such a large scale, and warned that if the U.S. were to ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004421.html > French DNA Bill Stirs Anti-Immigrant Fears If a French bill becomes law, any immigrant seeking to join relatives in France will have the option of taking a DNA test to prove they are related. The controversial bill is described as voluntary, but opponents say they fear anyone who refuses will be discriminated against when they apply, and that ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004422.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- REFUGEES ............................................................................. > Political Asylum Becomes Private Detention "Untouchable" refugees -- including the elderly, certain ethnic groups, large families, single men and poorly educated individuals -- remain unwelcome in many prospective host countries, according to a new U.N. report. The report notes that even if their asylum claims are justified, refugees from countries like Iraq, Sri Lanka and Somalia face a poor reception depending on where they go. Some countries even refuse to allow ocean-traveling refugees to disembark when their ships make landfall. Those that are permitted entry may be treated no differently than criminals, facing "legal limbo" in ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004423.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARMS RACE ............................................................................. > U.S. Leads in Weapons Trade -- For Now The United States still dominates the global arms trade, but its modus operandi has come under increased scrutiny, even as competitors battle for first place. Australia, Britain Japan, and mush of Africa are among 100 countries that would like to create a U.N. treaty regulating the arms trade. The NRA vehemently opposes the proposal -- which would focus only on arms imports and exports, but which the advocacy group perceives as a slippery slide toward ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004424.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CRIME & PUNISHMENT ............................................................................. > The World's Prison Crisis Overcrowding, poor hygiene and drug addiction aren't just issues that affect U.S. prisons, but extend to those of other regimes worldwide. In Iraq, several prisoners in Interior Ministry facilities have been diagnosed with scabies -- though it's not clear whether the problem extends to U.S.-run prisons. The government denies that scabies are a problem, and refuses to accept medication from an Iraqi advocacy group, which is now calling for international intervention. In Zimbabwe, overcrowded prisons -- crammed with 40,000 people, but designed for only 16,000 -- are rife with filth, and have become home to a mass outbreak of ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004425.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 Oct 17 15:52:14 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed Oct 17 15:53:27 2007 Subject: NYMHM: Girls and mining; water pollution made easy; dissent in Indonesia, Iran Message-ID: ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * October 17, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 42 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004428.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "This permit is indecipherable. They tell me I'm going to get some answers, but I'm still waiting." -- Indiana physician John Crayton, on a plan to limit regulation of steel mill pollution in Lake Michigan (see "Environment," below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Families a casualty of Kashmir split New testimony in Indonesia activist death AIDS bias targets 11-year-old boy *Mining* Girls, pollution, poverty: The other mining disasters *Environment* U.S. water pollution laws routinely flouted: report *Iran* Dissent crackdown deepens ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Families a Casualty of Kashmir Split As many as 50,000 Indian-Pakistani families have been divided by the disputed Kashmir province since 1989. Among them are several hundred women who have not seen their husbands in decades, and are subject to harassment and worse. According to Women's E News, Hanifa Aktar has lived alone for years on the Indian-controlled side of the border, separated from her husband and daughter in nearby Pakistani territory. Although the official peace process has allowed some 2,000 people to reunite in Kashmir, Aktar's petitions to cross have been GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004429.html > New Testimony in Indonesia Activist Death A "massive" dose of arsenic in an airline meal took the life of a prominent critic of the Indonesian government, and now may send a former airline executive to jail for decades. The Times of London reports that an off-duty Garuda Air pilot was initially convicted of the "agonizing" mid-flight death of Munir Said Thalib in 2004, who was en route to Amsterdam to present a report on military abuses in Indonesia's Aceh and Papua provinces. The pilot made more than 40 phone calls to a director of Indonesia's spy agency immediately prior to Thalib's death, but was later acquitted by the Supreme Court for ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004430.html > AIDS Bias Targets 11-Year-Old Boy An 11-year-old who received "regular blood transfusions" for years was diagnosed as HIV-positive, and later kicked out of a school in West Bengal 20 days after being admitted. School authorities were reluctant to enroll him, and kept him on a separate bench from the other students ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004431.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MINING ............................................................................. > Girls, Pollution, Poverty: The Other Mining Disasters Recent stories about workers trapped in mines often overlook an array of related labor, ecological and human rights issues. Most articles never mention the biggest growing mining sector workforce: young girls. A recent report by the International Labor Organization singles out Ghana, Niger, Peru and Tanzania as places where girls are increasingly doing dangerous small-scale mining work. Underground, they are exposed to toxic dust and metals and are forced to work long hours without proper safety gear, according to the report. Pollution is also rampant ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004432.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................. > U.S. Water Pollution Laws Routinely Flouted: Report For years, U.S. municipal governments, corporations, and even the EPA have circumvented Clean Water Act safeguards against industrial pollution. More than half of all city wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities in the United States exceeded pollution limits, according to a national report released last week by the activist group U.S. PIRG. Fifty-seven percent of the 3,600 major facilities violated the Clean Water Act by ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004433.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- IRAN ............................................................................. > Dissent Crackdown Deepens Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government is in the midst of an unprecedented crackdown on civilians, criminals and dissenters. Experts suggest that the government is afraid a recent economic downturn will breed unrest across the country, and has resolved to "govern by fear." At least 60 criminals convicted of murder, rape, drug trafficking or abduction have been convicted and hung since May, including 21 people on one day alone. International human rights campaigners believe the trials are rigged, while the executions are carefully filmed and uploaded to the Web for all Iranians to see -- some suggest as cautionary tales engineered by ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004434.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 Oct 24 13:55:19 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed Oct 24 13:56:15 2007 Subject: NYMHM: Chechen cancer spike, "onshoring" vs. outsourcing, Kandahar's child brides Message-ID: ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * October 24, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 43 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004436.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "They hope by using these scare tactics they can persuade policymakers to alter labeling, and they can use the label to drive people away." -- James Greenwood of the Biotechnology Industry Association, on a new push to label GMO foods (see "Food Safety," below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* The child brides of Kandahar Cancer is the latest Chechen Scourge Fakin' it: Officials forge a future in Iraq *In Context: Wildfires* Why California must burn *Labor* Offshoring meets "onshoring" in the quest for cheap labor *Food Safety* Activists seek labels for biotech foods ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > The Child Brides of Kandahar Human rights activists in Afghanistan say arranged marriages involving young girls under 16 still account for half of all marriages in some parts of the country, such as in southern Kandahar province. The tradition is perpetuated by poverty and illiteracy, say activists -- problems that are just as systemic. Many young brides get married without a full understanding of their wedding vows, leading to situations where ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004435.html > Cancer is the Latest Chechen Scourge Chechnya is experiencing a "cancer epidemic" never before seen in its history, according to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. By anecdotal and official accounts, the incidence of lung, breast, thyroid and skin cancers and other disorders has risen steeply since war broke out in ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004437.html > Fakin' It: Officials Forge a Future in Iraq More than 900 officials in the Iraqi government, including parliamentarians, are obtaining forged degrees to continue to serve in the government and obtain higher ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004438.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- IN CONTEXT: WILDFIRES ............................................................................. > Why California Must Burn As the flames spread through San Diego County, Newsdesk.org looks back at our 2004 article on California wildfire ecology, why the Golden State will always be a fire hazard, and how humans have made it worse. This is classic Newsdesk.org reporting -- digging into the backstory to take the headlines out of the discontinuous, TV-driven present, and into the realm of deep context and long-term cause and effect. GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/003212.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- LABOR ............................................................................. > Offshoring Meets "Onshoring" in the Quest for Cheap Labor Some major American companies like Northrop Grunman and IBM are finding they can save money by keeping their IT and customer service operations in the U.S. rather than moving them to India -- a trend some experts have dubbed "onshoring," reports the Los Angeles Times. Increasingly, companies are setting up shop in small-town America and training the local workforce -- saving money for companies operating out of Silicon Valley or Los Angeles. Even Wipro Technologies, a software maker based in India, is establishing a center in Atlanta that will ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004440.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOD SAFETY ............................................................................. > Activists Seek Labels for Biotech Foods Environmental groups in the U.S. and abroad continue to argue that food products containing genetically modified ingredients ought to be labeled as such, if for no other reason than to give consumer a choice. Environmental groups in Iowa are leading a campaign to make labeling the law, and have succeeded in getting Hillary Clinton and John Edwards to agree with them. Biotech companies continue to reject arguments that GMOs could have environmental or health implications, pointing out that the FDA has ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004441.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 Mon Oct 29 13:37:45 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Mon Oct 29 13:40:58 2007 Subject: You can help strengthen Newsdesk.org and NYMHM Message-ID: Dear friends of Newsdesk.org, We are in the midst of our Winter 2007 fundraising campaign. Here's how you can help sustain our free News You Might Have Missed service, delivering "important but overlooked news from around the world -- and your own backyard." -1- HELP CLOSE THE 2007 BUDGET GAP Our annual budget is $6,500. With your support, we've raised $5,350 in 2007. Please help us close the budget gap! We need just $1,150 to continue publishing News You Might Have Missed for the rest of the year. You can make a secure donation online: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 -2- BUILD THE FOUNDATION FOR 2008 We also seek to raise $6,500 for our minimum 2008 operations. Our initial goal is $2,000, which you can help us meet by going to our Web site and clicking on the "ChipIn" widget in the right sidebar to make a secure transaction via PayPal. Click on the ChipIn widget here: http://newsdesk.org/ These are very small sums of money, to pay the cost of NYMHM's research and writing. All other editorial expenses for Newsdesk.org are provided for free by pro bono editors. Here's to you, and many thanks! Josh Wilson Editor * Newsdesk.org Office phone: 415/861-5302 p.s. You can also help connect us with a broad network of support by placing the ChipIn widget on your blog or Web site ... this will direct any donations to Newsdesk's PayPal account. Just cut and paste the following code into your site's index file: From nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net Wed Oct 31 15:58:54 2007 From: nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net (nymhm@lists.artsandmedia.net) Date: Wed Oct 31 16:01:04 2007 Subject: NYMHM: Blood diamonds still glitter, Uganda peace, Iran's other little problem Message-ID: Thanks for supporting our Winter 2007 Fund Drive! You can make a secure online donation here: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 Or, send donations via PayPal to: admin@artsandmedia.net ============================================================================= NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * October 31, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 44 Important but overlooked news from around the world. NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Online this week: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004444.html - RSS: http://newsdesk.org/news/atom.xml - Donations: http://artsandmedia.net/contribute/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTED: "There are a lot of powerful countries meddling in a weak state and a lot of strategic interests involved." -- An anonymous regional analyst on Niger's burgeoning uranium rebellion (see "Africa's Resource Wars II," below). CONTENTS: *Top Stories* Iran's other little problem -- inflation Resistance deepens to Afghan poppy spraying A taste of old Russia *Uganda* New hopes and hurdles for Uganda peace *Africa's Resource Wars I* Blood diamonds sullied, but still glitter *Africa's Resource Wars II* Uranium ignites Niger strife *Dissent* Old wounds deepen for government critics ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES ............................................................................. > Iran's Other Little Problem -- Inflation Nary a word about Iranian President Ahmadinejad's nuclear ambitions or headline-grabbing trip to the United States appeared in a recent Agence France-Presse article. Instead, the piece focused entirely on complaints about his economic stewardship, which experts say will push inflation to more than ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004445.html > Resistance Deepens to Afghan Poppy Spraying A secretive test-spraying of "harmless plastic granules" over Afghan poppy crops has revealed deepening opposition to drug- eradication efforts backed by the United States. The program, intended to gauge reactions to future spraying of real herbicide, provoked questions and outrage from local farmers all the way up to Afghanistan's President ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004446.html > A Taste of Old Russia European authorities are decrying a move by Russia to cut the number of international observers at its upcoming December 2 vote from 465 to 70 individuals. A spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which organizes vote-monitoring teams, said the plan would greatly reduce its capacity for "meaningful ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004447.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UGANDA ............................................................................. > New Hope and Hurdles for Uganda Peace Overshadowed by the Darfur conflict, one of Africa's most bloody and intractable rebellions inches closer to resolution. Reconciliation is on the agenda in Uganda, where an unprecedented meeting between elected President Yoweri Musevini and leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army is scheduled for the capital city of Kampala, reports The Monitor, a leading newspaper there. The LRA, renowned for extraordinary cruelty in ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004448.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFRICA'S RESOURCE WARS I ............................................................................. > Blood Diamonds Sullied, But Still Glitter Delegates from 70 countries and international groups will meet in Brussels next week to discuss progress in stamping out trade in "conflict diamonds." Also called blood diamonds, the rare gems are unearthed in war zones and are used to fund militant operations. SABC News reports that the multinational Kimberly Process has successfully reduced the trade from 15 to one percent of all diamonds sold on the world market. An opinion piece in The News, a Liberian newspaper, even notes that Sierra Leone, once riven by civil war fueled by diamond smuggling, now seeks to develop a lucrative tourist industry focused on its "spectacular" beaches. But Reuters reports that Belgian authorities also seized 14 million euros worth of ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004449.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFRICA'S RESOURCES WARS II ............................................................................. > Uranium Wealth Ignites Niger Strife Africa's struggle with mineral wealth and regional poverty has a new poster child, as Tuareg nomads in Niger take up arms for a greater share of the booming uranium trade there. Niger is not only the continent's leading uranium exporter, it is also one of the most impoverished -- a situation exacerbated by progressively severe drought. According to ISN Security Watch in Switzerland, a nascent rebellion by Tuareg rebels has claimed the lives of 50 soldiers, although the government claims the attacks were by drug smugglers and robbers, and has deployed "thousands" of troops to the region. The situation is further complicated by the presence of foreign mining companies, which have been the target of rebel attacks -- but are also blamed for exacerbating the ... GET THE WHOLE STORY: http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004450.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISSENT ............................................................................. > Old Wounds Deepen for Government Critics A snapshot of anti-government and protest movements in Bolivia, Zimbabwe and the Philippines reveals little progress towards healing old wounds. In fact, some appear to be deepening. In eastern Bolivia, opposition to the socialist government of Evo Morales is digging over attempts to nationalize lucrative natural gas fields for the benefit of the impoverished ... 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