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News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — tell a friend!  – – – – – – – – – –
QUOTED: “The kids vomit, they walk like they’re drunk, and they are easily annoyed. For the kids, it can never be good here.” — Ashima Avdija, a Kosovar Roma whose children suffer from lead poisoning due to U.N. relocation delays. (Story #14, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “Israeli troops say they were given shoot-to-kill order”
[o2] “Oil products to be rationed in oil-rich Iraq”
[o3] “Support for asbestos makes Canada an ‘international pariah'”
HURRICANE KATRINA
[o4] “Hurricane was sign of divine wrath, fundamentalists say”
[o5] “Rapes, killings hit Katrina refugees in New Orleans”
[o6] “Brace for more Katrinas, say experts”
MEDIA NEWS
[o7] “Thai journalists protest editors’ firings”
[o8] “Unanimous Calif.

Featured

News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — tell a friend!  – – – – – – – – – –
QUOTED: “People here don’t get involved. They put [polluting] things out there and see who puts up the least resistance.” — Debbie Carlin, a Seattle-area homeowner who, like many poor and minority Americans, lives near industrial pollution. (Story #12, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “Farmers protest over alleged lead poisoning”
[o2] “Talk host fired over comments on Islam”
[o3] “Peru’s glaciers in retreat”
WORLD
[o4] “Digging for ‘tainted gold’ in Congo”
[o5] “Government moves job guarantee bill for rural areas”
[o6] “Swedish library to let visitors borrow living people”
[o7] “Army joins parade for Gay Pride”
NATION
[o8] “Stories differ in rave raid; court may decide”
[o9] “Court sides with Navy in dispute over abortion”
MEDIA
[10] “Chad: Journalists stop the presses”
[11] “Canadian broadcasters wage labor war on the Web”
HEALTH
[12] “Toxic burden for poor, minorities”
[13] “Leap in hospital infections”
[14] “City loses state contract to inspect area plants for bad air”
[15] “Seven families file suit over poor air quality”
VIEWPOINT
[16] “Gaza disengagement coverage splintered by factional views online”
[17] “Abu Ghraib general lambastes Bush administration”
[18] “The whiteness of Wi-Fi”

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TOP STORIES
Top
[o1]
“Farmers protest over alleged lead poisoning”
China Daily, August 25, 2005
Village riots and allegations of poisoning prompted the Chinese government to test the soil around a battery factory.

Featured

News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — tell a friend!  – – – – – – – – – –
QUOTED: “If the federal government was doing its job, ranchers would not be living in fear.” –Minuteman President Chris Simcox on an activist who pistol-whipped illegal immigrants, then lost his ranch to them. (Story #13, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “Britain’s organic food scam exposed”
[o2] “Gunmen have elections in their sights”
[o3] “Judge ends immigrant crackdown”
TECHNOLOGY
[o4] “Privacy commissioner seeks info on ‘no-fly’ list”
[o5] “Wiretap the Internet? Not so fast, say some”
[o6] “Copy-protection gear sneaks into products”
[o7] “Power supply is down in the dumps”
WORLD
[o8] “Ecuador oil protesters agree to talk”
[o9] “Palestinian farm family could lose land”
[10] “China creates crack unit to crush poverty protests”
[11] “Scramble to curb Zimbabwe ‘spies in media’ scandal”
NATION
[12] “FDA opposing state warnings on canned tuna”
[13] “Ariz.

Featured

News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — tell a friend!  – – – – – – – – – –
QUOTED: “It is not the tree-huggers or the bunny-lovers who are committing these acts. They’ve become more brazen, and they’re very close to committing murder in the name of the environment.” –Sandy Liddy Bourne of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group targeting “ecoterrorists” in 14 states. (Story #12, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “Yucca Mountain: ‘Monkey wrench'”
[o2] “Baghdad’s boys trapped in sex trade”
[o3] “Yemeni cleric uses dialogue as means to convert radicals”
WORLD
[o4] “Zimbabwe evictions continue in defiance of international outcry”
[o5] “Sweet alternative to opium”
[o6] “Peru copper protests flare up again”
[o7] “Soldier jailed for activist death”
[08] “Israeli Arabs: Israel is racist”
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
[o9] “Suit said to lack ‘legal merit'”
[10] “New report highlights problems faced by Asian American voters”
[11] “Firm’s operations could trouble voters”
ENVIRONMENT
[12] “Feds turn up the heat on ‘ecoterrorists'”
[13] “Troubled park’s buried past”
[14] “Estrogen found in waters alters sex organs of fish”
HEALTH
[15] “Berry farmer’s suit stuns organic Goliaths”
[16] “Data shows cancer spurt at Amchitka”
[17] “Parents question 2 boys’ cancer”

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TOP STORIES
Top
[o1]
“Yucca Mountain: ‘Monkey wrench'”
Associated Press, June 30, 2005
A report finds that some of the nuclear waste proposed for Yucca Mountain will leak and harm workers.

Featured

News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — and your own backyard
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QUOTED: “They don’t have to put up yellow tape around a house saying ‘Caution: Benzene.’ Just send me a letter or put a note on my door.” — Alabama homeowner Harry Terry, who suspects a benzene leak under his house gave his daughter leukemia.(Story #13, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “Military ousts more gays for online ads”
[o2] “Illegal defense”
[o3] “All world’s glaciers could melt, latest data indicate”

WORLD
[o4] “Israel scores low on gov’t quality study”
[o5] “Davis attacks U.K. multiculturalism ”
[o6] “Russian TV takes Soviet-era turn”
[o7] “Socialists ditched bill to ban asbestos”
NATION
[o8] “New elite force will guard U.S. weapons-grade nuclear materials”
[o9] “Vets seek apology for anti-gay protest at funeral”
[10] “Nun is public face of investor group”
HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI
[11] “Hiroshima film cover-up exposed”
[12] “Poll: U.S. more likely to expect WWIII”
ENVIRONMENT
[13] “Danger beneath our feet”
[14] “Buried ordnance has residents wondering if yards hold hidden danger”
[15] “Poison feast of salmon contaminates BC grizzlies”
VIEWPOINT
[16] “End of an era”
[17] “Freedom of the press U.S. style on Okinawa”
[18] “The naive American”

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TOP STORIES
Top
[o1]
“Military ousts more gays for online ads”
PlanetOut Network, August 4, 2005
The Army discharged a soldier for his personal ad on a gay website, even though he did not use it while on active duty. [o2]
“Illegal defense”
Center for Public Integrity, August 4, 2005
Rep. Tom DeLay is one of five lawmakers who have illegally accepted lobbyist contributions to their legal defense funds. [o3]
“All world’s glaciers could melt, latest scientific data indicates”
Environment News Service, August 5, 2005
A five-year global study blames human activities for glacial melting that could leave entire mountain ranges free of ice.

Culture

Christians & the War

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Newsdesk.org Staff Report
The latest al Qaeda terror attacks have sparked renewed media coverage of Islam’s relationship with violence, and have spurred questions about the role of moderate and liberal Muslims in preventing the spread of extremism. In America, the same schism plays out between Christian conservatives who invoke the “just war” theory of saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, and pacifists who identify with Christ’s nonviolent example and teachings. The just war theory lays out criteria for Christians to follow when making the decision on whether or not to wage war. The BBC provides a detailed history of the just war theory, its Christian origins, and its basic proscriptions that such a war:
— must be for a just cause,
— is declared by a proper authority,
— is pursued with a righteous intention,
— is a last resort,
— has a reasonable chance of success,
— has an end proportional to the means used,
— should not cause innocents harm. Christian denominations such as evangelicals, Lutherans and Calvinists have drawn on the theory for centuries, according to Darrell Cole, a theologian at Drew University and a student of the Christian writer C.S. Lewis.

Featured

News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — and your own backyard
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Quoted: “[I] think it’s a very disturbing trend. It is a reflection, as best I can judge, of a faulty educational system in the United States.” — Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, on a growing income gap that rewards top executives while hurting other Americans.(Story #12, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “Gaza Strip relocation bewilders settlers”
[o2] “Common drilling technique to be exempt from federal regulation”
[o3] “Gay men’s home burns, with epithet left behind”
WORLD
[o4] “Labor unrest at Honda ends, workers sign deal”
[o5] “Bad food flooding in”
[o6] “Troops start Georgian withdrawal”
[o7] “Vatican hits back in suicide bombers row”
NATION
[o8] “At free dailies, advertisers sometimes call the shots”
[o9] “Migrants to return voluntarily under bill”
[10] “Elderly Americans lose millions to Internet scams”
[11] “E-voting machines rejected”
[12] “Income gap grows in U.S.” ENVIRONMENT
[13] “Ohioans found full of C8 near DuPont plant”
[14] “Disputed border project targets ‘sewage tsunami'”
[15] “State asks for federal probe of Ford cleanup”
VIEWPOINT
[16] “The victim and the killer”
[17] “Press ignores classified info scandal involving terrorists”

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TOP STORIES
Top
[o1]
“Gaza Strip relocation bewilders settlers”
Boston Globe, July 31, 2005
Dozens of Jewish families about to be relocated from the Gaza Strip are in denial, and refuse to pack up. [o2]
“Common drilling technique to be exempt from federal regulation”
Mobile Register, July 29, 2005
The energy bill removes federal oversight for a type of methane drilling said to pollute groundwater.

Featured

News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — and your own backyard
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QUOTED: “[We] had to do it. We can’t grow our vegetables here anymore. Young women are giving birth to stillborn babies.” — Chinese farmer Li Sanye, whose village rioted over contamination of their crops by local industry.(Story #15, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “Shaking the core of academic speech”
[o2] “Pentagon faulted on U.S. industrial security”
[o3] “Violent demonstrations across the country”
WORLD
[o4] “U.S.-Canada drug tunnel uncovered”
[o5] “Burma ex-PM guilty of corruption”
[o6] “Bush nuclear deal with India meets congressional disapproval”
NATION
[o7] “Iran militant is now hero of U.S. right”
[o8] “Roberts gave GOP advice in 2000 recount”
[o9] “Rate of HIV infection found on decline in S.F.” [10] “Landmark voting act comes up for debate”
MEDIA CENSORSHIP
[11] “SA media slam newspaper ban in Harare”
[12] “Two journalists imprisoned for articles critical of president”
[13] “FO accused of censoring insider book on Iraq war”
[14] “Pakistan: Journalists remanded in judicial custody”
ENVIRONMENT
[15] “In China’s dash to develop, environment suffers severely”
[16] “Asbestos deaths just tip of the iceberg”
[17] “Chinese mine owners make waves in Peru”
VIEWPOINT
[18] “Oops, sorry, won’t do.”

Featured

News You Might Have Missed

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Important but underreported news from around the world — and your own backyard
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QUOTED: “[N]ot everyone in Baghdad has the money to buy a coffin … Poor people bury their relatives using the coffins that individuals have donated to the mosques.” — Coffin maker Abbas Hussein, on the overwhelming demand for caskets in Baghdad due to daily bomb attacks. (Story #11, below.)
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TOP STORIES
[o1] “It’s one small step for a bug, a giant red face for NASA”
[o2] “Holy Land exempt from property tax”
[o3] “Jailing of Irish villagers sparks anger”
ISRAEL & PALESTINE
[o4] “PA seeks U.N. condemnation of fence”
[o5] “Two settlers indicted over ‘lynching attempt'”
[o6] “Police say may disperse anti-pullout march before it starts”
AMERICAN ELECTIONS
[o8] “BIA’s education programs lagging behind nation”
[o9] “Teachers group goes after Bush’s No Child Left Behind law”
WORLD
[o9] “Newspaper office standoff persists”
[10] “Turbi raiders scaled down village attacks”
[11] “Not enough caskets for the Iraqi dead”
[12] “Klein drops fight against same-sex marriage”
[13] “Alarm over radioactive waste site”
CHEMICAL PLANT SECURITY
[14] “Terror threat a catalyst for action on WNY chemical plant security”
[15] “Risk seen at chemical plants”
[16] “Terrorism fuels concerns about security at U.S. chemical sites”
VIEWPOINT
[17] “The price of pollution”

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TOP STORIES
Top
[o1]
“It’s one small step for a bug, a giant red face for NASA”
Sunday Times (U.K.), July 18, 2005
A NASA scientist says the Mars rovers were contaminated with human bacteria, violating a ban against polluting other planets. [o2]
“Holy Land exempt from property tax”
Orlando Sentinel, July 12, 2005
A theme park designed to convert Jews to Christianity is now considered a church, enabling it to write off property taxes.

Culture

Who Are the Terrorists?

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By Martin Leatherman, Newsdesk.org staff
When considering ways to curb terrorism after last week’s London bombings, some analysts say that Western leaders aren’t looking closely enough at the terrorists’ historical context and long-term goals. Professor Robert Pape, director of the University of Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism, argues that strategic rather than religious issues are behind al Qaeda’s terror campaigns — specifically, the removal of Western powers from the Arabian Peninsula. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Pape said that of the 71 individuals who killed themselves in suicide attacks for al Qaeda from 1995 to 2004, the vast majority came from Sunni Muslim countries where the U.S. has stationed combat forces since 1990. In contrast, he said, Sudan and Iran, both deeply fundamentalist Islamic nations, have yet to produce an al Qaeda suicide bomber. Regardless, followers of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden see the strategic issues as serving a distinctly religious goal — the creation of a larger state, or caliphate, governed by Islamic law.