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TOP STORIES * May 10-16

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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.

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News You Might Have Missed * Vol. 6, No. 20

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Important but overlooked news from around the world. 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).

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There's No Place Like Home

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Palestinian refugees in Iraq (at right) were once welcomed, but now face persecution. Those hoping to flee have been held indefinitely at the Syrian border in a camp with few services and only one doctor, while native Iraqis are admitted freely. Photo: IRIN

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Biotech Plants, and Controversy, Take Root

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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 approving the product. In Canada, the government has supported the nascent “biopharming” industry, which engineers plants to produce pharmaceutical ingredients, CanWest News Service reports. But that support has been limited to research, and officials have prohibited the outdoor cultivation or import of modified plants and seeds, to the frustration of the industry there. Taxpayer-funded research produced safflowers with seeds that can be used to make insulin and heart-disease medications.

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Top Stories: May 3-9

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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.

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News You Might Have Missed * Vol. 6, No. 19

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Important but overlooked news from around the world. 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.

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Without Fear or Favor: Building a 'Public Press'

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[EDITOR’S NOTE, Dec. 2008: The Public Press project has significantly advanced since the writing of this paper in May 2007. For details, visit The San Francisco Public Press home page.]
A research project to outline a noncommercial model for newspapers
By Michael Stoll, San Jose State University
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:
We propose a yearlong study examining the plausibility of a new model for the ownership and operation of newspapers. A “public press” would be a noncommercial daily newspaper chartered under a popular-education mission similar to that of a public broadcaster. By incorporating as a nonprofit organization and refusing all advertising, the paper would be freed from both the expectation of ever-higher profit margins and the reliance on an increasingly unpredictable ad market.

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Voter Fraud in Question

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Former Justice Department staff say political appointees tried to suppress minority and poor voters using tough voter ID requirements (right) later determined unconstitutional.

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News You Might Have Missed * Vol. 6, No. 18

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Important but overlooked news from around the world. 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 fraud 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.

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TOP STORIES * April 26-May 2

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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.