World

U.K. Journalist Gets Some Source Protection

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A freelance journalist in Manchester, England, may reveal some, but not necessarily all, of his source material on a book about al-Qaida terrorists to police, a panel of judges said. The panel ruled the police order for Shiv Malik to hand over all materials, including an interview with a suspected British operative, was too broad. Malik said the decision was a “victory for common sense” that protects journalists everywhere, The Guardian reports. He will return to court on June 26 to hear specific terms on what he must divulge under Britain’s Terrorism Act. — T.J. Johnston/Newsdesk.org
Source:
“Shiv Malik: Journalist claims victory in terrorism sources case”
The Guardian, June 19, 2008

Democracy & Civics

A Big Year for (Democratic) Drug Deals

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The pharmaceutical industry spent $168 million lobbying Congress in 2007 — a record sum that helped influence legislation and prevented new restrictions on drug advertisements, the Center for Public Integrity reports. Industry spending on lobbying has tripled since 1998, adding up to more than a $1 billion total in that time. CIR reports that 90 percent of the spending was by 40 companies and three industry groups, including Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association. The big spending in 2007 may have been spurred in part by the Democratic takeover of Congress in November 2006, which saw industry critics, such as Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ascend to leadership positions formerly occupied by Republicans. However, Ken Johnson, a spokesman for PhRMA, told CIR that a “difficult political environment” in Washington was not a result of partisanship.

Democracy & Civics

Philly Police Raid Raises Hackles

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After four residents of a North Philadelphia home passed out petitions criticizing surveillance cameras in the neighborhood, police raided their house and detained them without charges for 12 hours, the Philadelphia Daily News reported. After the police search last week, the house was reportedly inspected by several government agencies — including the Department of Homeland Security — and finally sealed off by the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections. “This leaves me homeless,” Daniel Moffat, a co-owner of the house, told the Daily News. Police told the press that the occupants had anti-government “propaganda” in the house. “They’re a hate group,” Police Captain Dennis Wilson told Philadelphia’s City Paper.

Environment

Africa's Double Dip of Global Warming

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Africa is already the continent hardest hit by the worldwide food crisis, but according to a new report it’s also the one most threatened by global warming. “The Atlas for Changing Environment in Africa,” published last week by the United Nations Environment Program, is a 400-page publication detailing how climate change is expected to affect the continent — and the outlook is chilling. According to the Atlas, food production is expected to drop by half by 2020, and a quarter of the continent’s people will have no access to drinking water. Much of the Atlas is made up of satellite photos of 100 locations in Africa, showing how climate change has already affected the landscape. In the photos, the famous snow cover of Mount Kilimanjaro appears to be shrinking, and two vital water sources, Lake Chad and Lake Victoria, appear to be drying up.

Public Health

Doctors Resign as Life-Support Lawsuit Drags On

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A Canadian hospital is facing a shortage of doctors, who are resigning rather than continue to care for an elderly man on life support. Samuel Golubchuck, 84, has been on life support since last fall; physicians say his brain functions are minimal and his chances of recovery are slim. This, along with destructive surgery to remove infected ulcers that one doctor likened to “torture,” have prompted a wave of resignations Winnipeg Grace Hospital, CTV.ca reports. Golubchuck’s Orthodox Jewish family says it is against their religion to hasten death, and successfully sued to block doctors from taking him off life support. Source:
“More doctors resign from Winnipeg hospital”
CTV.ca, June 17, 2008

Nation

Pa. Militia Allegedly Threatens Blacks, Candidates

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A self-professed militia member in Pennsylvania has allegedly threatened to shoot African Americans and public officials, and said that if Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama were elected a revolution would ensue. However, a federal judge declined to jail Bradley Kahle, 60, of Clearfield County, citing lack of evidence that he was willing to carry out those threats. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Kahle was one of several people swept up in a raid that netted automatic weapons and homemade bomb materials. Kahle, a Vietnam veteran, allegedly told undercover agents that he would engage in sniper-style killings of African Americans from a Pittsburgh skyscraper, and that he would also target public officials if he became terminally ill. Two of Kahle’s associates remain imprisoned at this time.

Democracy & Civics

Philippines: Activist Deaths Persist

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A human rights activist warned that the extrajudicial killing and disappearance of activists in the Philippines could spike again in 2008, following steep declines last year. Aurora Parong of Amnesty International said that poor witness protections, inadequate forensics and slow prosecution may threaten gains made against the killings, which claimed 33 lives last year, down from as many as 96 in 2006. Parong also said that extrajudicial killings should be a separate class of crime from murder, and that families of victims may not be aware of legal measures that could help their cases, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports. She called for federal officials to be more responsive to communities, and blamed the lack of prosecutions on incompetance or “unwillingness” to pursue the cases. Source:
“Lack of due diligence denies justice in extrajudicial cases”
Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 18, 2008

World

German Zeppelins Target London, San Francisco

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More than 70 years after the fiery crash of the Hindenburg, that once-mighty invention — the airship — has been reduced to little more than a floating billboard. But London’s Guardian newspaper is reporting that a German company will soon send a new airship to London, where it will take sightseers high over the city. The Zeppelin NT, funded by German aviator Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, is now undergoing test flights and has already begun taking tourist reservations, the London Times reported. The airship’s operators, the Guardian reported, plan to eventually fly the 12-seat craft all the way to San Francisco for more sight-seeing trips. According to the Guardian, the NT is just one sign of resurgent interest in airship technology.

Democracy & Civics

When is 'Voter Fraud' a Fraud?

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Willie Ray, a Texas grandmother and Democrat, says had been helping elderly shut-ins to vote for years when she was singled out by the state Republican attorney general and charged with voter fraud. “All I did was mail ballots for folks who couldn’t get to a mailbox themselves,” she told her state’s Democratic Convention last week, according to the Dallas Morning News. “The attorney general admitted there was no fraud, that no ballot was altered,” she said. “But Attorney General Greg Abbott charged me with a crime.” Ray’s case was part of what Abbott had called “an epidemic” of voter fraud in Texas.

Public Health

U.K. Faces Diabetes "Explosion"

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A new report predicts a 46 percent increase in diabetes in the United Kingdom by 2025, driven primarily by eating habits and booming obesity rates. As many as 4.2 million people in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are expected to have contracted type 2 diabetes by then, a result of junk-food diets and low rates of exercise. With this, experts foresee a parallel boom in related ailments — such as heart disease, kidney problems, amputations and blindness — as well as increased medical costs. In Scotland alone, the National Health Service is currently spending 10 percent of its budget on diabetes-related issues. Campaigners called for greater efforts by the government to encourage healthy dietary habits and lifestyles.