Democracy & Civics

FBI Apology Spurs Further Questions

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The FBI has apologized for monitoring the telephone records of Washington Post and New York Times journalists in 2004 — but exactly why the phones records were monitored, and nature of the “exigent” letters used to gain that information — remain unanswered. Reporters Without Borders said in an Aug. 13 statement they want an explanation why the FBI deemed it necessary to catalog incoming and outgoing calls at the newspapers’ Indonesian bureaus. At the time, the reporters in question were working in southeast Asia on stories about Islamic terrorism. In 2007, the Justice Department’s Inspector General unearthed thousands of cases in which the FBI improperly issued national security letters — a type of administrative subpoena that bypasses the court system, and which imposes a gag order preventing recipients from disclosing the letter’s existence — to gain access to phone records in terrorism investigations.

World

Myanmar Junta's 'Odd' Rules Sap Cyclone Aid: Reports

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The military junta that rules Burma has changed its currency conversion rules, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid intended for victims of Cyclone Nargis, according to reports. Between May and July, the junta sharply devalued the foreign exchange credits, or FECs, used by international agencies working in the country. As a result of the devaluation, financial aid from the United Nations and other organizations loses roughly 20 percent of its value before finally being delivered to the Burmese street, a situation that one U.N. official described as “odd.” FECs were established under decades-old regulations intended to keep overseas currency out of the black market, and are the only acceptable currency for local purchases by international organizations, reports the Bangkok Post. Speaking anonymously to Mizzima, a source in the “military establishment” said that the while the one U.S. dollar trades for 1180 Myanmar kyat on the street, the junta has valued FECs at just 880 kyat, bringing in a profit of 200 to 300 kyat for every dollar traded.

Democracy & Civics

Save the (Native) Humans

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Last Saturday marked the U.N. International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples — and international media took little notice. Yet a few stories emerged from advocacy sources that tell of threatened natives cultures around the globe. The Pan American Health Organization, in a statement on its Web site, chided mass media for its extensive coverage of endangered animals such as the polar bear, while continuing to neglect the stories of indigenous people, such as the Zapara of Ecuador and Peru. That said, the World Wildlife Fund, better known for working to help endangered animals, put out a call last week for “Saving Sumatra’s Endangered Peoples.” On the WWF’s Web site, the organization called attention to the plight of the Orang Rimba people, a nomadic culture that has lived for centuries in the Indonesian island’s forests.

Environment

World Forests Face Multiple Threats

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It’s hardly news that forests the world over are in danger from logging, human encroachment and other threats, but news stories in recent weeks have pointed to new developments — and partial solutions to the problem. The forests of England are facing their worst crisis since the last Ice Age, according to the London Telegraph, with native species threatened by invaders, development and climate change. Dr. Keith Kirby, a woodland scientist with the group Natural England, told the newspaper: “Climate change will have a (big) impact over the next five decades. Our woods will change. Many species will cope with some warming but there is uncertainty about what happens with extreme events such as droughts and storms, which we expect to become more frequent.”

World

Olympic Terror Fears Spur West China Crackdown

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China’s western Xinjiang province is still simmering with violence and repression, as the government cracks down on Uighur rebels seeking to capitalize on the Beijing Olympics. Critics, however, say that the threat has been exaggerated to justify harsher security measures. Last week, a coordinated series of bombings targeted a dozen public buildings, leaving as many as eight dead, and prompting a complete lockdown of Kuqa City, home to 400,000 people. Businesses have been shuttered there, and travel restricted. The week before, two Muslim jihadists drove a truck into a group of security forces out jogging, killing 16 people and injuring 16 more, the China Post reported.

Democracy & Civics

Immigrants Seek Assimilation under the Surgeon's Knife

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Plastic surgery that alters ethnic features to align with Western beauty conventions is on the rise, according to new reports. Madrid’s El Pais newspaper reports that more immigrants to Spain are undergoing cosmetic surgery than ever before. South Americans there show the most willingness to go under the knife and erase features common to their ethnic roots. Rhinoplasty is the most common procedures, although chin implants are also popular for Central American women with rounder faces. The newspaper also noted that specialized clinics in the United States and Australia are opening to meet demand by Chinese and Japanese immigrants for rounder eyes and creased lids.

Economy

Timber Trumps Salmon in California

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Coho salmon, whose numbers have dropped 73 percent in California coastal habitat in the past year, may face an uncertain future following the state’s rejection of a habitat-protection plan. The Sacramento Bee reports that the California Board of Forestry ruled 6-3 against a petition by an activist coalition to protect salmon streams from the effects of logging. The ruling puts the board in conflict with federal fishing regulators, who said logging limitations would improve salmon habitat, and that the state board’s current regulations actually harm the fish. The National Marine Fisheries Service has suspended all salmon fishing on the coast for the first time in history, in response to some of the lowest numbers of California salmon ever recorded. A petition by the Sierra Club, California Trout and other advocacy groups sought to mandate coastal stream protections on private land — a plan that the forestry board rejected, citing lack of evidence that logging was at fault.
The board did suggest new stream protections last year, but only if the state Department of Fish and Game ruled that logging would kill salmon.

Democracy & Civics

How Green is My Wal-Mart?

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Wal-Mart may be investing in environmental initiatives to become recognized as a “green” company, but it has also been lobbying against clarification of the carbon-offset standards published in the Federal Trade Commission’s “Green Guides.” The FTC guidelines are used to determine what products and services a company can label environmentally friendly. The FTC hopes to clarify what companies can say about carbon offsets and renewable-energy credits, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The credit system enables companies, and their customers, to “offset” their own globe-warming carbon dioxide emissions by supporting projects that reduce emissions by the same amount. Several certification agencies offer these credits, but currently there are no uniform standards that define the offsets clearly.

Democracy & Civics

Women Claim Space at AIDS Conference

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Circumcision, female condoms and sex work grabbed attention at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City last week. Researchers at the conference said circumcision in African men can minimize rates of HIV transmission by up to 60 percent, the United Nations news service reported. But despite assurances that women’s infection rates will concurrently decline, Marge Berer, editor of Reproductive Health Matters, was skeptical. “From a public health perspective, we are told that 60 percent protection [for circumcised men] is far better than nothing,” Berer said. “But is male circumcision good enough for women?”

Public Health

Dogs Could Guide Humans in Vision Study

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Norwegian scientists believe dachshunds might hold the key in discovering the root of hereditary blindness in humans, according to the BBC. Dr. Frode Lingass of the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science said a similar gene that causes blindness in humans has been discovered in wiener dogs. The gene initially causes day-blindness in the eyes’ photoreceptors and gradually full blindness in humans. “This gene has been associated with a combination of kidney and eye disease in human patients,” Lingass told the BBC. Lingass also said his find could lead to breeding out canine vision disorders.