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This bowl of raw opium paste (right) is the common ground between the Taliban and the Afghan government, according to reports: Both profit so much from the drug trade that they suspended spring hostilities to accommodate poppy farmers.Photo: unodoc.org
Government, Taliban Let Afghan Poppies Blossom
Shopkeepers selling poppy paste at bazaars in Helmand pay “protection” at a price openly negotiated with police, who in return warn of impending NATO raids. Police officials deny any complicity. The government estimates that Helmand produced about 90,000 hectares of poppies, only 7,000 of which were destroyed in eradication campaigns. According to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, both the government and the Taliban benefit from the trade, and even suspended their fighting in the spring to accommodate farmers. “Intemperate” Asylum Judges Under Fire
Lawyers say bias and an overwhelming caseload cause some immigration judges to deny appeals for asylum at much higher rates than others.
Important but overlooked news from around the world. QUOTED:
“It’s a fledgling industry with high demand and yet there are no standards for the carbon credits themselves. There is no regulation in the business.” — EasyJet spokesman Toby Nicol, on rampant fraud among carbon-emissions trading schemes (see “Climate Change,” below). CONTENTS:
*Top Stories*
Government, Taliban Let Afghan Poppies Blossom
“Intemperate” Asylum Judges Under Fire
Iran’s Eyes on the Nose
*IMMIGRATION*
Migrants Face Dangerous Waters and a Cold Shoulder
*EGYPT*
When is an Islamist Not an Islamist?
Cuatro Cienegas biosphere (right), often called “Mexico’s Galapagos,” is also threatened by desertification as ranches and industry tap into its aquifers. Photo: Christian Frausto Bernal
Mexico’s “Sahara” Only Growing
Chicken and dairy moguls, a Coca-Cola plant and clearcutting are turning 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.”
Important but overlooked news from around the world. 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 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.
Iranian bloggers are circulating photos of a woman beaten by police (right) during a confrontation over “immodest” attire. New laws there target student political activism, satellite dishes, and the “provocative” movements of women on bicycles. Photo: irwomen.net
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.
Important but overlooked news from around the world. 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.
Retired engineer Mark Klein (right) says secret Internet surveillance gear installed by the National Security Agency in AT&T’s San Francisco office is still in place. The company is currently facing five federal lawsuits for giving the government access to its network. Photo: quinnums