World

Experts Fear 'Another Darfur' in Ethiopia

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Fleeing refugees say that soldiers of the U.S.-backed Ethiopian government are suppressing a widely supported separatist movement with rape, beatings and murder. The government claims the Ogaden National Liberation Front insurgents have ties with Eritrea and Somali Islamists, and that its troops are “well-trained” and wouldn’t attack civilians, according to McClatchy. Aid groups are banned from Ogaden, an eastern desert region already isolated by years of neglect. While the Bush administration echoes Ethiopia’s claims that no civilian slaughter is afoot, experts are starting to worry that the conflict could become “another Darfur.” Source:
“Ethiopia starves, kills own people, its refugees say”
McClatchy, September 15, 2007

World

Taliban Weapons Traced to Iran and China

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A weapons cache found in Afghanistan’s Herat province was traced back to Iran and China, prompting U.S. and British concerns over weapons sales to the Taliban. Deputy U.S. Secretary of State John Negroponte said weapons sold by China to Iran have been found in Taliban hands, and that Iranian armor-piercing munitions are also a threat. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Iran is “a helper” in the fight against extremists, and denied the possibility of any arms sales to Taliban forces, reports Agence France-Presse. Source:
“U.S. concerned about Iranian weapons going to Taliban”
Agence France-Presse, September 11, 2007

Economy

Labor Day Highlights Immigrant Dilemma

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This Labor Day, different corners of America were confronted with fallout from the debate over illegal immigration and the jobs immigrants do that support local economies. While some people call for greater restrictions on hiring, others say immigrants are a vital part of their communities. Bay Area row crop farmers are worried about losing their workers to a new policy that forces employers to fire employees if the government notifies them that their social security numbers don’t match existing records. Like other industries, farmers depend on immigrant labor to do the hard work they say no one else will do, reports the San Mateo County Times. Many workers use fraudulent Social Security numbers to collect wages, leaving farmers with a tough choice: fire their workers, some of whom have been with them for decades and live with their families, or risk federal prosecution for harboring illegal immigrants.

Economy

Slavery (and Emancipation) for the New Millennium

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Children and adults alike throughout the world are kidnapped and trafficked out of their home countries, or leave home in search of a better life only to be forced into conditions akin to slavery. In China, a major scandal erupted when the parents of 570 enslaved child workers started searching for their missing children, only to discover that they had been forced into heavy labor at brick kilns in Shanxi and Henan provinces. The culprits were more than 60 officials, including policemen and Communist Party members, reports Agence France-Presse. An op-ed in the Philippine Inquirer cites testimonial by an American medical technician working in Baghdad that he had witnessed the kidnapping and enslavement of 51 Filipinos. Roy Mayberry told a U.S. Congressional committee that the workers had been hired by the First Kuwaiti Company to work in Dubai, only to learn, once they were on the airplane, that they were going to Iraq.

Democracy & Civics

Rwanda: Genocide Inquiry Stumbles on French Connection

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With the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda due to wrap up early next year with many genocide suspects still at large, Rwanda is keen to find and prosecute fugitives at home or abroad. But distance, cost, and international politics make this an unlikely goal. Along with France and Switzerland, Canada is trying Rwandan genocide suspects who stole across its borders in 1994. Genocide survivors claim to have seen at least five who are still at large in Canada. These expatriates criticize the Canadian government of tolerating the fugitives in the same way they refused to intervene during the genocide.

World

In Iraq, School is Out

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Iraq’s school system, reportedly once one of the finest in the Middle East, is wracked with violence and disrepair following the sanctions imposed under Saddam Hussein’s regime and the sectarian violence that followed his downfall. Children are regularly kidnapped for ransom and about 600 teachers were killed last year, according to the Ministry of Education. In Baghdad, daily violence disrupts classes and parents are pulling their children out of school to be tutored at home, according to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. UNICEF estimates that 800,000 students, 63 percent of them girls, did not attend school in 2005-2006. Sectarian graffiti covers school walls and classrooms have become divided by sect, with Sunni teachers separated from Shia teachers.

Nation

The FBI's Just a Mouseclick Away

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New details on the FBI’s domestic wiretapping program reveal it to be far more technologically sophisticated than experts believed. FBI wiretapping rooms across the country, connected by a private network run by Sprint, gives officials direct access to the country’s telecom infrastructure. Wired News reports that with a few clicks of a mouse, the FBI can now intercept land-line phone calls, cell phone calls and text messages, broadband, wireless, and internet streaming conversations on Vodaphone and other networks. The surveillance system, called DCSNet, for Digital Collection System Network, pays telecom companies thousands of dollars for weeks of access to a user’s phone calls. Once a court order is issued and a company turns on the wiretap, the FBI can download the communication data in real time.

Nation

Thousands Still Sick from Cold War Radiation

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Government records show 36,500 Americans were sickened from exposure to uranium, plutonium and beryllium since 1945, most from building or transporting atomic weapons. At least 4,000 people have died from related illnesses, although an investigation by the Rocky Mountain News suggests many more were affected than the government is willing to compensate. Former atomic bomb manufacturers say no one ever told them it would be dangerous to breathe in, eat next to, or sit on piles of uranium. Well into the 1960s, soldiers were ordered to march toward nuclear bomb tests in the Nevada desert, putting them within three miles of the blasts. Marines were exposed to nuclear blasts on the deck of an aircraft carrier 16 years after Hiroshima.

World

Afghanistan: A Fundamentalist Surge Gains Ground

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The Taliban is making political as well as military headway in many parts of Afghanistan, and using opium production to further entrench their dominion. The guns have been silenced at last over Musa Qala, a district of Helmand province newly controlled by the Taliban, according to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. With no one willing to challenge them, including the Afghan government and the occupation forces, the Taliban have been able to reinstate Islamic law and customs, take over government and police forces, and ensure security for its grateful residents. Business pay a tax to the organization, but it has discontinued the practice of conscripting one man from each household for militia service, and has relaxed other rules, such as permitting women to leave the house alone. But residents are now altering their own lifestyles to avoid upsetting the theocrats — such as not watching TV and not listening to any music besides Taliban songs.

World

A House Divided: Palestinians Trapped by Warring Factions

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There seems to be little hope for any sort of resolution in the ongoing civil war between the Palestinian Fatah party and its rival, Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip two months ago. Hamas is cracking down on Fatah supporters at protests and in the street with beatings and torture, and has banned all demonstrations and even outdoor weddings without prior approval, according to the Telegraph. Neither Fatah nor Hamas want local residents to hear criticism of their leadership, so Fatah has banned distribution of all Hamas-affiliated newspapers in the West Bank, and Hamas has banned all Fatah-connected papers and radio stations in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian journalists have been caught in the crossfire, and last week announced a series of protests against the violent treatment they have received at the hands of both factions. One critical voice has been heard — that of Dr. Ghazi Hamad, who resigned this week as spokesman for Hamas.