Economy

King Tobacco, Balkan Crime Lord

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Cigarette counterfeiting and smuggling in the Balkans is one of the primary drivers of crime and corruption in the region, according to a coalition of investigative reporting projects. Bosnia-Herzegovina alone is estimated to lose $200 million each year in tax revenue from tobacco smuggling, a sum that could approach billions worldwide. The Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project, with bureaus and partners in Sarajevo, Albania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and else- where, has assembled a massive investigative package on tobacco smuggling, and particularly the involvement of government officials in the region. High prices and taxes on tobacco in the West are driving the smuggling boom, with a packet of cigarettes purchased in Ukraine for less than a euro selling for seven euros in London. Extortion, murder are common, and a variety of dubious and notorious public figures are implicated, according to the report.

Nation

Global Warming: Something to Sneeze at

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As if deadlier storms, new diseases, compromised agriculture, rising sea levels and endangered polar bears weren’t enough to worry about, add hay fever to the list of global warming concerns. Studies show that allergy-related pollens are blooming sooner, for a longer period of time and in greater quantity as the climate warms, according to news reports. “It’s an incredibly complicated issue,” Dr. Martin Citardi, a specialist at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, told the Houston Chronicle. “[T]here’s evidence that spring arrives today earlier than it did two or three decades ago,” he said. “That means that pollen levels are greater than they otherwise would be.”

World

Uneasy France Steps up NATO Role

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Playing for a larger role in NATO, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said his country will send 700 or more troops to Afghanistan — but the move has spurred harsh criticism at home. During last week’s NATO summit in Bucharest, Sarkozy also said that France will seek a return to the military command structure of NATO, a position it has not held since the 1960s, when then- President Charles de Gaulle pulled out. Socialist opposition leader Jean-Marc Ayrault said the mission in Afghanistan “makes no sense and has no goal” and warned that France is heading for another Vietnam, according to news reports. Some opposition lawmakers even called for a no-confidence vote or a vote of censure against Sarkozy. Polls show that 68 percent of the French public is opposed to sending more troops to Afghanistan, with only 15 percent supporting the idea, according to news reports.

Democracy & Civics

The Ends of the Internet?

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How shall the Internet come to an end? Let us count the ways. GigaOm.com, an online media service focusing on emerging technology, outlined 10 specific ways in which the Internet as we know it could conclude. These include everything from hostile lawyers and the end of net neutrality, to technical problems, such as a hacker-assisted virus that disrupts the “self-healing” mechanism of Internet routers. And what about all those spam emails?

Democracy & Civics

Rhode Island: Secrecy Affirmed for Cable TV

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Rhode Island’s lead cable TV regulator has agreed to keep secret previously open data about the business operations of the three cable providers in the state. Cox Communications, Verizon Communications and Full Channel TV successfully lobbied the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers to prevent public access to details from their annual reports, including how many customers they have and financial information. The Providence Journal newspaper has filed a request with the state to review the secrecy decision. According to the Journal, Eric Palazzo, the state’s lead cable regulator, said, “we do not want to do anything that the companies feel would be negative in their competitive environment.” Linda Lotridge Levin, a journalism professor at the University of Rhode Island, said the move goes against open-government practices, and could negative effect on consumer choice and rights.

Democracy & Civics

An Investor's Guide to Presidential Candidates

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Pondering a donation to a presidential candidate? Looking for the right choice given the needs of your special-interest group? Friends — look no further than Opensecrets.org, a data-rich Web site published by the Center for Responsive Politics. Using a handy drop-down menu, Open Secrets provides a quick and easy reference guide to which special interest groups and which candidates are most copacetic. Lawyers and lobbyists prefer Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, with more than $15 million and $13 million in donations, respectively, as of March 20.

Democracy & Civics

Windmills and Foul Air in the Navajo Nation

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To much environmentalist acclaim, the Navajo Nation has announced plans to create a new wind-power plant on a reservation in Arizona. But Navajo leadership is still trying to win approval for a coal-fired power plant that environmentalists have bitterly opposed. The wind project, a joint venture with Boston’s Citizens Energy Corp., would produce 500 megawatts of power and provide jobs and up to $100 million in revenue for the Navajo Nation. Plans call for hundreds of windmills reaching as high as 400 feet, the Arizona Republic reported. In an interview with Reuters, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley also discussed his continuing attempts to develop a $3 billion, 1,500-megawatt coal-burning plant on Navajo land.

Democracy & Civics

'The Great Firewall' Lets Down its Guard

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While China, confronted with violence in Tibet, was shutting down some parts of the Internet, it opened access to one long-unavailable site. The BBC reported last week that, after years of being blocked by Chinese authorities, its English language news Web site was suddenly available to the Chinese public. Under a policy that has been called the “Great Firewall of China,” the communist government routinely blocks foreign news sites and other sites that it deems objectionable. China has never openly stated that it was interfering with access to the BBC, but the news site reported that it had been unavailable in China for years until recently. The BBC’s Chinese-language site remained blocked in most of China when the English site reported the news.

World

Rwandan President Disputes Spanish Indictments

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A Spanish judge has issued indictments against 40 Rwandan Army officers — and the nation’s president, Paul Kagame — over the slaying of four Spaniards working for Doctors Without Borders between 1990 and 2002. Kagame was the commanding officer for all 40 officers, and the general of the ultimately victorious rebel forces during Rwanda’s civil war and culminating genocide. Speaking a news conference, Kagame angrily declared that the indictments “mean nothing,” and said the judge, Fernando Andreou Merelles of the Spanish Central Instruction Court, should “go to hell.” Source:
“Rwanda: Kagame Tells Spanish Judge ‘Go to Hell’ Over Summons”
The Nation (Kenya), April 2, 2008

Democracy & Civics

"Avoidable" Gaza Deaths Follow Medical Travel Bans

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The World Health Organization said preventable deaths almost doubled in the Gaza Strip between 2006 and 2007, following the Hamas takeover and a corresponding ban by Israel on most cross-border travel. The number of travel permits denied to sick Gazans seeking medical care in Israel more than quadrupled, from 8.5 percent in December 2006 to 36 percent one year later. Israel said it was concerned about suicide bombers using health issues as a cover story, while critics said the policy amounts to collective punishment of the Palestinian population for rocket launches against Israel by Hamas militants. Medical care in Palestinian territories is in decline due to shortages in equipment, pharmaceuticals and trained personnel. An Israeli defense official told Reuters that tight control of Gaza’s borders has not caused unnecessary deaths, but a WHO spokesman said 100 Gazan patients have died since June after being denied travel permits.