Iran in the World Press 20 Jan 2010 #Iranelection

Hillary Clinton lancia la battaglia per la liberazione di Internet cato della Repubblica Popolare: «Non siamo più disponibili a collaborare con la censura». Poche ore dopo è arrivato il pronto sostegno della Clinton che ha chiesto chiarimenti alla Cina. Pechino ieri ha preferito giocare d’anticipo. Prima ancora che Hillary iniziasse a parlare, ha provato a evitare l’apertura di una guerra fredda digitale sottolineando che «l’incidente di Google non deve essere legato alle relazioni tra Cina e Stati Uniti, altrimenti si rischia di sopravvalutarlo». ll viceministro degli esteri cinese He Yafei assicura che «le relazioni tra i due Paesi sono stabili» e spiega che «se Google o qualsiasi altra impresa straniera ha dei problemi in Cina, questi devono essere risolti in accordo con la legge cinese, e il governo vuole essere d’aiuto nel risolvere i loro problemi». Hillary Clinton non cerca lo scontro ma chiede alla Cina «un’inchiesta minuziosa e trasparente». Leggere l’intervento del Segretario di Stato unicamente come risposta al “caso Google”, però, sarebbe riduttivo. Il coordina Il Riformista | 2010-01-22 | Italy | Page: 11 Obama Mia! “Hope—The Obama Musical Story” premiered in Frankfurt Sunday evening. One is tempted to end the review right there. Seriously, isn’t the oeuvre’s title and premature timing commentary enough? Sure, the U.S. president has been (favorably) compared to God but even Jesus Christ had to wait nearly 2,000 years before he became a Superstar. With polls showing that most Americans now realize they are being (mis)led by a mere mortal, it is no coincidence that this production had its debut in Germany. Here the president’s messiah status (remember the 200,000 worshipers at his 2008 Berlin speech?) is still accepted dogma and helped fill the Jahrhunderthalle, a 2,000-seat venue. “In no way does Hope show Obama as a saint,” the musical’s organizers say on their Web site. And truly, as the mostly American cast tells, through song and dance, the story of Mr. Obama’s rise from a Chicago community organizer to the White House, we learn of the president’s human imperfections—or at least one: “He’s an idealist,” the Mrs. Oba The Wall Street Journal Asia | 2010-01-22 | China | Page: 41 Today’s great defamation of the Jewish people UNTIL RECENTLY, Holocaust memorials were almost exclusively sponsored by Jews mourning murdered kinsmen. Today, many democratic governments have transformed Holocaust commemoration into an educational vehicle to demonstrate the monstrous consequences of unbridled racism and antisemitism. The UK is one of a number of western countries that have an annual Holocaust Commemoration Day. However, today’s Israel bashers have stooped to the depths of distorting the genocidal murder of the Jews as a vehicle to demonise the descendents of the victims. Iranian President Ahmadinejad may have taken Holocaust denial to new depths and in Muslim countries generally it may have become a primary component of antisemitic delegitimisation of Israel, but in western nations it no longer occupies a major role. Prosecution of Holocaust deniers in democratic countries transforms them into martyrs and is thus counterproductive. In fact, deniers are now usually considered cranks or charlatans; more sophisticated antisemites steer cle The Jewish Chronicle | 2010-01-22 | UK | Page: 30 BBC denies organ blood libel to Evgeny Kissin THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL of the BBC has defended its coverage of the conflict in the Middle East after internationally renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin complained about its “bias against Israel”. Mr Kissin, who was a child prodigy in his native Russia and is now widely recognised as one of the greatest living pianists, accused the BBC’s Persian Service of a “blood libel, concerning Israel’s allegedharvestingof Palestinianorgans and blood for future transplant”. Writing to director-general Mark Thompson in December, Mr Kissin said: “I receive verified reports on an almost daily basis of the BBC’s slander and bias towards Israel, painfully reminiscent of the old Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda. “It beggars belief that the British taxpayer should be funding an organisation aligning itself with Iran’s despotic leader in its antisemitic propaganda.” But Mr Thompson replied: “The BBC World Service would like to make it clear that this report was not created by the BBC, but was a translation of a news story which appea The Jewish Chronicle | 2010-01-22 | UK | Page: 10 Record lobby day for Zionists POLITICIANS FROM across the spectrum have shown their support for a change in the current universal jurisdiction laws at a Zionist lobby of Parliament on Wednesday. More than 200 people attended the lobby day, the biggest ever organised by the Zionist Federation and Christian Friends of Israel. MPs spoke about Iranian nuclear weapons, university hate preaching, prospects for the BNP in the next election and perceived anti-Israel bias in the British media. A widely discussed topic was views on changing legislation to allow the Attorney General, rather than magistrates, to decide if arrest warrants for politicians accused of war crimes are to be granted, after opposition leader Tzipi Livni cancelled a visit last month for fear of being arrested. Alan Beith MP, president of the LibDem Friends of Israel, said: “My own individual view is that it’s a bad situation when an individual coming into the country can run the risk of arrest. I’d be quite happy if the government went down the route of the Attorney Gener The Jewish Chronicle | 2010-01-22 | UK | Page: 7 Israelis experienced in the world in treating mass injuries and using specially trained sniffer dogs to locate wounded people in the rubble. They filmed as Israelis risked their lives in highly complex manoeuvres to extricate trapped Haitians. Sky’s Mideast correspondent Dominic Waghorn, who flew to Haiti on an IDF jet, has been filing heart-warming reports giving Israel full credit. (This contrasts with some very unfair coverage he has given Israel from the Middle East recently.) One notable exception has been the BBC which, by contrast with other networks, has gone out of its way to minimise the central role the Israelis have played. As for Iran’s Press TV, they haven’t actually blamed the Jews for causing the earthquake yet, but they have said that Israeli doctors are there “in order to steal more organs”. Watch some of the videos referred to above on tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001083.html The Jewish Chronicle | 2010-01-22 | UK | Page: 3 Brainwashing, from the start As they struggle to fend off their current political opponents, Iran’s rulers are looking to eliminate future opposition by launching an ambitious project to inject more Islamic content, anti-Western values and pro-regime content into the country’s education system. Education Minister Hamid Reza Haji Babai announced the reforms on December 20, citing a recent statement by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that advocates fundamental changes in education. “That means transforming the textbooks and teaching methods,” Haji Babai said. Discussions on how to overhaul the country’s education curriculum began about three years ago. The sweeping changes being proposed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration include re-writing school textbooks to make their content more Islamic and gender-specific, and eliminating any subjects deemed too Western or secular. Furthermore, elements of Iran’s own history are to be excised, in particular relating to its royal dynasties, a decision that seems intende Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Weekday | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 16 Old regime still divides a nation Seven years after the U.S.led invasion, and three years after the leader it overthrew was executed, a question in Iraq remains unanswered: Who is a Baathist? The term is as malleable as it is incendiary, and the quandary it represents has underlined the growing dispute over the credibility of Iraq’s parliamentary elections in March, which the Obama administration had viewed as a milestone in its plans to withdraw tens of thousands of combat troops by August. Some of the country’s more ardently Shiite leaders see the hand of the Baathists, followers of the secular Arab nationalist party of former President Saddam Hussein, in a spate of spectacular attacks, a sign that the party has yet to relinquish its ambition to return to power. To many Sunni Arabs, though, it is a catchall term employed to disenfranchise them. This month, it has become the fig leaf, critics say, for a brazen campaign of score-settling that has reopened sectarian wounds and thrown into question the legitimacy of the March 7 vote. ‘‘We’r International Herald Tribune | 2010-01-22 | Austria | Page: 2 Clinton calls for global censure of cyberattacks Coupling a salute to Internet freedom with a carefully worded caution to countries like China and Iran, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that countries that engaged in cyberattacks should face consequences and international condemnation. ‘‘In an interconnected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all,’’ she said in a speech in Washington. ‘‘By reinforcing that message, we can create norms of behavior among states and encourage respect for the global networked commons.’’ Mrs. Clinton’s comments came in a speech in which she announced anew$15 million effort to help more young people, women and citizens’ groups in other countries communicate on the Web. Her remarks came at a time when Internet controls have drawn increasing public attention. Limits on Internet searches led to a dispute made public this month between Google and China, and sites like Facebook and Twitter, which played a critical role in helping protesters in Iran spread news and images of violent International Herald Tribune | 2010-01-22 | Austria | Page: 15 Nuclear plant built for Iran to start this year, Russia says Russia will start up the reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran this year, the head of the Russian state nuclear corporation said Thursday. Russia agreed in 1995 to build the 1,000-megawatt plant at Bushehr on the Gulf coast in southwestern Iran, but delays have haunted the $1 billion project and diplomats say Moscow has used the project as a lever in relations with Tehran. The power station was once a source of disagreement between Russia and the West, which suspected that Iran could try to use it to build nuclear weapons. But in recent years, the United States has dropped its opposition and says the plant removes any need for Iran to have its own enrichment program. International Herald Tribune | 2010-01-22 | Austria | Page: 3 7 Baha’i followers on trial in Iran on charges of spying, endangering national security TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Seven members of Iran’s Baha’i minority are on trial on charges of spying and acting against the country’s national security, state media reported. According to state TV Web site, the charges against them also include cooperating with archenemy Israel, gathering classified documents and “corruption on earth” — an Islamic term for crimes punishable with the death sentence in Iran. Since 1979 when Islamic clerics came to power, the Iranian government has banned the Baha’i religion, founded in the 1860s by Baha’u’llah, a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by the Baha’is. Islam considers Muhammad the last of the prophets. The first hearing in the trial of the seven was held Tuesday at Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told the state IRNA news agency. State media also reported that the defendants’ alleged confessions and evidence proves they shared information and personal views while visiting homes of various western European ambassadors to Tehran. The s St. Clair Times | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 16 Global anti-missile plan just ‘pie in sky’ It is too early for China to say whether it is to join in the global anti-missile system that the US and Russia are discussing, as the targets and scale of the system are still unclear, a Chinese military expert said. “ The interests of many countries are involved in the plan, and it is too early to comment whether China will take apart in it,” Peng Guangqian, a Beijng-based senior military analyst, said. US Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle said on Wednesday in Moscow that the two nations are currently in discussion over the global missile defense plan. Experts from both sides have held two rounds of talks on the possibility of setting up such a system, he told the Ekho Moskvy radio station, although he added the details have not yet been touched upon. US President Barack Obama announced in September last year that the US would abandon the Bush-era missile defense shield program and instead initiate a “ phased, adaptive approach” to counter missile threats from Iran. The move that was warmly welcomed by China Daily | 2010-01-22 | China | Page: 11 Wen tops list of influential leaders Premier Wen Jiabao is the most influential leader shaping global politics in 2010, a leading think tank said in a report released on Wednesday. The New York-based Eurasia Group attributed Wen’s ranking to his success in guiding China through the worst of the economic crisis last year. Wen is followed on the “ Leaders to Watch in 2010” list by US President Barack Obama; Ichiro Ozawa, former president of the Democratic Party of Japan; David Cameron, leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party; Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani; Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani; Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin; Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates; and Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs. Eurasia noted that Wen now faces the challenges of shifting policy from stimulating the economy to containing inflation and preventing asset bubbles. China Daily | 2010-01-22 | China | Page: 1 Baidu fuels cyber tension by suing US Web firm Brassy chief leads Baidu to ‘Google-killer’ status Internet search giant Baidu is suing a US Web firm after its site was hacked – a new salvo in a growing row after Google’s threat to quit the mainland market because of cyber-attacks. Baidu, the mainland market leader, is seeking damages from Register.com, its domain name registration service provider, which it accuses of gross negligence. Baidu said its site went down for several hours after the attack last week by a group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army, which Baidu said “unlawfully and maliciously altered” its homepage. The group is thought to have mistaken Baidu for a US-based company because it is registered there. State media reported that a sentence in Farsi on the hacked site said: “In reaction to the US authorities’ intervention in Iran’s internal affairs. This is a warning.” Google’s announcement has thrown a spanner into already frayed Sino-US ties, with Washington calling for an explanation and Beijing defending its right to filter information available on the Web and telling foreign fir South China Morning Post | 2010-01-21 | China | Page: 1 Western allies fear China playing hard to get over Iran Underneath the declarations that six key world powers are united in their push for new UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, Western capitals fear that China may be breaking ranks. But the United States and its Western allies hope Russia’s support for increasing the pressure on Iran will help to persuade China, a vetowielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, not to block new measures against Tehran. Representatives from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US met in New York at the weekend to discuss prospects for further sanctions against Iran but China made it clear it opposed more punitive action for now. Five members of the group and the European Union sent senior officials – so-called “political directors” – to the meeting. But China sent a lowlevel diplomat from its UN mission, which Western diplomats said was virtually a snub. No decisions were taken at the three-hour meeting, which Russian delegate Sergei Ryabkov described as “inconclusive”. Afterwards, seni South China Morning Post | 2010-01-21 | China | Page: 11 Karzai and Brown to co-host London talks on Afghan crisis MINISTERS from about 50 countries will meet in London next week in a bid to build momentum for political reform in Afghanistan, after last year’s controversial elections and widespread allegations of corruption. The conference, which will be attended by the UN and organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, will be hosted jointly by President Hamid Karzai and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Afghanistan’s neighbours and other regional nations, including Iran and Turkey, are invited. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will attend, and the US will be represented by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A senior British official told The Australian the goal was a three-way strategy to improve the training of the Afghan army and police, speed up development and deal with corruption. To stay in Afghanistan, coalition nations with troops there had to show their people there was a clear strategy in place, and that strategy must be led by the Afghan government. ‘‘We have to build renewed momentum,’’ the offi The Australian | 2010-01-22 | Australia | Page: 2 L’IRAN VEUT SUPPRIMER TROIS ZÉROS DE SA MONNAIE NATIONALE TÉHÉRAN | (AFP) Les autorités iraniennes prévoient de supprimer trois zéros de la monnaie nationale, le rial, afin qu’elle retrouve une partie de sa valeur perdue au cours des années passées, a déclaré hier le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Lors de la révolution islamique en 1979, un dollar s’échangeait sur les marchés des changes internationaux 70 rials, contre un peu moins de 10 000 aujourd’hui. Le chef de la banque centrale Mahmoud Bahmani a déclaré hier à la presse s’attendre à ce que le « dollar devienne encore plus cher cette année ». En septembre, M. Bahmani avait annoncé que l’Iran projetait de supprimer trois zéros de sa monnaie avant de déclarer la suspension du projet. Le Journal de Quebec | 2010-01-21 | Canada | Page: 44 HK filmmakers prominent in Asian Film Awards HONG KONG: The Hong Kong-mainland co-production Bodyguards and Assassins proved the hot favorite among the 37 Asian fi lms on the list of nominations for the 4th Asian Film Awards. At a press conference yesterday, famed Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka-fai, the Jury President for the awards, announced six nominations for the Best Film. The list includes Bodyguards and Assassins, City of Life and Death from China, Lola from the Philippines, Mother from South Korea, No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti from Taiwan, and Parade from Japan. Nominations were also announced for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Newcomer, Best Screenwriter, Best Cinematographer, and newly added Best Costume Designer, in a total of 14 categories. Bodyguards and Assassins heads the list and occupied six nominations, including the weighty Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best supporting Actress. Mainland actor Wang Xueqi is considered the front-runner for Best Actor for his role in Bodyguards and Assassins. His role has just ea China Daily | 2010-01-21 | China | Page: 25 Baidu sues US company after attack Baidu. com, China’s leading search engine, has sued a US Internet firm after a cyberattack paralyzed its site last week. Baidu is seeking damages from its US domain name registration service provider Register. com, Inc, the Beijing-based company said in a statement. The website was paralyzed for several hours after a cyberattack on Jan 12, denied access to users. The attackers posted a message in red saying, “ This site has been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army.” It is believed the unidentified “Iranian Cyber Army” changed Baidu’s domain name server records and redirected traffic to another website. “ Register. com, Inc’s gross negligence resulted in severe damage to the company,” the statement said. The company declined to detail its losses and did not disclose the damages it is seeking. The search engine, which claims 70 percent of China’s Internet search market, had only been down once previously, for half an hour in December 2006. China Daily | 2010-01-21 | China | Page: 3 Baidu Fights Back Baidu files damages suit at US provider BAIDU Inc has taken legal action against a United States domain service provider for compensation over a hacker attack last week. China’s leading search engine provider said in a statement yesterday that last week’s malicious attack was due to the negligence of Register.com, and it has filed a lawsuit at a court in New York. “ The malicious attack, which lasted several hours, has brought Baidu serious damages,” the company said in the statement. It didn’t specify the amount of compensation it is seeking. It is also considering changing its domain name registration service provider to a Chinese company. Baidu suffered from its worst attack last Friday since it was established 10 years ago, and its service wasn’t restored until four hours after the attack. Baidu seriously condemned the behavior of attacking legal Websites in an e-mail statement sent to the media. Baidu said its domain name was externally manipulated, and its search service and online forums were disrupted. Internet users said they were led Shanghai Daily | 2010-01-21 | China | Page: 1 Net users ‘protected’ THANK you, Senator Conroy and the ALP, for alleviating the strain of decision-making for adults. Soon, when they access the internet, they won’t have to worry about questionable sites that mention anorexia, nudity or ‘‘right to die’’ information. I am personally relieved. It brings Australia into line with other ‘‘progressive’’ countries such as Iran, China or Burma. James Day, Sunshine Coast you have any idea how much the Tote means to the Melbourne music community? Of all the times I’ve been there, I cannot recall one incident of booze-fuelled violence, and that’s saying something these days. It is/was an unpretentious, down-to-earth pub that was great for budding musicians. It’s a shame to see such music venues are paying for violence that is not their fault. All the fights I’ve seen are outside nightclubs and bars, not live gigs. The State Government is killing our music culture, but happily pouring money into sports events that also attract violent behaviour. Andrew Kroussoratsky, Wheelers Hill desp Herald Sun | 2010-01-22 | Australia | Page: 54 Democrats dealt major blow Obama down, but not out BOSTON: In a major upset, Republican Scott Brown has captured the US Senate seat held by liberal champion Edward Kennedy for nearly a half century, leaving President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul in doubt and marring the end of his first year in office. Mr Brown’s defeat of once-favoured Martha Coakley for the Massachusetts seat yesterday was a stunning embarrassment for the White House after Mr Obama rushed to Boston on Sunday to try to save her candidacy. Her defeat signalled big political problems for the Democrats in November when there are House, Senate and gubernatorial elections. Mr Brown will become the 41st Republican in the 100-member Senate, which could allow the Republicans to block the President’s healthcare legislation and the rest of Mr Obama’s agenda. Democrats needed Ms Coakley to win for a 60th vote to thwart Republican procedural manoeuvres to block votes on legislation. Mr Brown led by 52 per cent to 47 per cent with all but 3 per cent of precincts counted. Mr Brown will finish The Courier Mail | 2010-01-21 | Australia | Page: 29 Clinton aims at China in free internet speech US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton will call today for an uncensored global internet where individuals and companies can operate without fear of repression or computer attacks such as those that Google says emanated recently from China. Mrs Clinton will outline the Obama Administration’s vision of promoting internet freedom and security, highlighting how the US is supporting organisations around the world to develop tools to circumvent firewalls and promote democracy and economic growth, officials said. Alec Ross, Mrs Clinton’s adviser on technology, told a policy forum on Wednesday in Washington that her speech would frame the issue as a threat to the free flow of information and resources. ‘‘Do we want to live in a world where there is one internet, one knowledge commons from which we can all draw’’ or where the ‘‘ knowledge you have access to is based on what country you live in and the whim of the censors?’’, Mr Ross said at the New America Foundation. Google, which runs the most popular internet s The Age | 2010-01-22 | Australia | Page: 13 Documentaries generate buzz at Sundance A documentary about disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney is generating a lot of buzz heading into this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Casino Jack and the United States of Money examines the roller-coaster career of Abramoff, a high-powered Washington lobbyist now in prison for defrauding American Indian tribes, bribing public officials and evading taxes. Promotional materials describe it as “a rollicking circus of corruption, from high rollers in Indian casinos, hookers in Saipan, a murdered Greek tycoon, Cold War spy novels, plush trips to paradise ... and the United States Congress.” Money plays a crucial role in at least seven other documentaries at the 11-day festival in Utah, which opens Thursday and runs through Jan. 31. They include To Catch a Dollar, The Shock Doctrine, Gasland, Lucky, Space Tourists, Waiting for Superman and A Small Act. “With what’s happening in the economy, money is obviously on everyone’s mind,” Sundance director John Cooper said in a telephone interview Houston Chronicle | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 44 Shadowy arms deal leads to Kazakhstan SHYMKENT, KAZAKHSTAN — The trail of the plane busted in Thailand last month for allegedly smuggling North Korean weapons to Iran leads back to a small air freight company housed near an old Soviet airfield on the edge of the Kazakh steppe. The aging Russian plane’s odyssey took it through a web of companies with addresses stretching from New York through the Persian Gulf to New Zealand, an Associated Press investigation found. Alexander Zykov, whose crew was flying the plane grounded in Bangkok, denies he had anything to do with the seized shipment of 35 tons of explosives, rocket-propelled grenades, surface-to-air missiles and other weaponry. But family members say the plane’s pilot and crew were working for Zykov’s East Wing air freight company. Speaking from the Kazakh city of Almaty, Zykov insisted the crew wasn’t working for him at the time of the Dec. 12 weapons seizure, saying all five took an unpaid leave about two weeks before the flight. He and his wife, Svetlana Zykova, listed as the plane’s o Houston Chronicle | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 9 L’IRAN VEUT SUPPRIMER TROIS ZÉROS DE SA MONNAIE NATIONALE TÉHÉRAN | (AFP) Les autorités iraniennes prévoient de supprimer trois zéros de la monnaie nationale, le rial, afin qu’elle retrouve une partie de sa valeur perdue au cours des années passées, a déclaré hier le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Lors de la révolution islamique en 1979, un dollar s’échangeait sur les marchés des changes internationaux 70 rials, contre un peu moins de 10 000 aujourd’hui. Le chef de la banque centrale Mahmoud Bahmani a déclaré hier à la presse s’attendre à ce que le « dollar devienne encore plus cher cette année ». En septembre, M. Bahmani avait annoncé que l’Iran projetait de supprimer trois zéros de sa monnaie avant de déclarer la suspension du projet. Le Journal de Montreal | 2010-01-21 | Canada | Page: 46 Buffett sour on Kraft’s candy deal Warren Buffett said yesterday that Kraft Foods Inc’s proposed $19.6-billion (U.S.) acquisition of Cadbury PLC is a “bad deal” and questioned how chief executive officer Irene Rosenfeld chose to pay for it. While Mr. Buffett said he does not plan to sell his stake in Kraft, shares of the company fell more than 2 per cent as the U.S. food group came under pressure from its largest shareholder. “Irene has done a good job in operations. I like Irene. I mean, I find her – she’s been straightforward with me, we just disagree,” Mr. Buffett said yesterday. “She thinks this is a good deal, I think it’s a bad deal. I think she’s a perfectly decent person. She could be a trustee under my will. I just don’t want her making this particular deal,” he said. The integration of Cadbury and meeting cost-cutting and revenue growth targets will be the key going forward for Ms. Rosenfeld, whose tenure as Kraft CEO will now be judged by the deal, analysts said. But it will be months if not years before the market will be able The Globe and Mail Metro (Ontario Edition) | 2010-01-21 | Canada | Page: 23 Ramadan klaagt gemeente aan Rotterdam, 21 jan. Tariq Ramadan heeft zowel de gemeente Rotterdam als de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam officieel aangeklaagd wegens reputatieschade. Moslimfilosoof Ramadan werd afgelopen zomer ontslagen omdat hij een tv-programma presenteert op een zender van het omstreden regime in Iran. De VS hebben besloten om Ramadan na een verbod van vijf jaar weer in het land toe te laten. NRC Handelsblad | 2010-01-21 | Netherlands | Page: 1 Minister Israël had ‘warm contact’ met Iraniër Door een onzer redacteuren Rotterdam, 21 jan. De Syrische vertegenwoordigers keerden hem de rug toe, zei hij. Maar de Israëlische minister van Toerisme Stas Mezeshnikov had op de Internationale toerismebeurs in Madrid een opmerkelijk vriendelijke ontmoeting met Iraanse regeringsfunctionarissen. De staat Israël hoort wat het Iraanse regime betreft immers niet te bestaan en contacten met Israëliërs zijn dus uit den boze . In telefonische vraaggesprekken met Israëlische kranten vertelde Mezeshnikov gisteren dat hij op een receptie zijn Iraanse tegenhanger, Hamid Baqeie, de hand schudde en een tijdje met hem praatte. Op de tentoonstelling zelf kwam de manager van het Iraanse paviljoen naar buiten om hem te begroeten, zei hij. „Hij schudde me warm de hand en leidde me rond en vertelde me over de plaatsen die ze exposeerden. Toen nodigde hij me uit, informeel natuurlijk, om Iran te bezoeken zodat ik een kans zou krijgen met eigen ogen de archeologische plaatsen en antieke steden te zien. Ik zei tegen hem dat ik op NRC Handelsblad | 2010-01-21 | Netherlands | Page: 5 Missiles threaten nuclear pact PACT President Obama sent two of his top national security officials to Moscow on Wednesday to clear the last hurdles to a new nuclear pact, but a revelation that U.S. missiles will soon be deployed near Russian territory could complicate the talks. The White House said that National Security Adviser James L. Jones and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen will meet with Russian officials “primarily to discuss the remaining issues left to conclude” a follow-on to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which the U.S. ambassador to Moscow predicted will be completed within weeks. “It’s only a question of when, and I think the finish line is approaching in the very near future,” Ambassador John R. Beyrle said in an interview with the Echo of Moscow radio. Washington and Moscow began negotiating a new treaty last spring but failed to work out all their differences by the time START expired on Dec. 5. Verification has been one of the main problems. Russia has insisted on monitoring U.S. missile The Washington Times Daily | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 1 Domestic satellites to be unveiled TEHRAN | Iran will unveil three new satellites in February, a report said Wednesday, amid Western concerns that Tehran is using its nuclear and space industries to develop atomic and ballistic weapons. Iranian Students’ News Agency quoted Communications Minister Reza Taghipour as saying that one of the three domestically built communications satellites is still under construction. Mr. Taghipour named the three satellites as Toloo (Dawn), Ya Mahdi and Mesbah-2, but did not elaborate on exactly when they would be launched. Ya Mahdi, he said, was an “experimental satellite” and the launch would be for testing camera and telecommunications equipment. Mesbah-2, which is under construction, “is a low-orbit telecommunication satellite for storing and sending messages,” he said. Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Wednesday that Toloo is a “reconnaissance satellite,” the news agency reported. Iran’s first domestically built satellite, the Omid (Hope), was launched last February to coincide with the 30th an The Washington Times Daily | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 8 Israelis cannot leave the West Bank, PM insists JERUSALEM— Israel must maintain a presence in the West Bank even after a final peace deal with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. It is believed to be the first time the prime minister has made this explicit demand. He said that would ensure that rockets and missiles cannot be fired from the West Bank at Israel’s population centres. “We are surrounded by an evergrowing arsenal of rockets placed in the Iranian-supported enclaves to the north and to the south,” he said, referring to Lebanon and Gaza. “We cannot afford to have that across from the centre of our country.” Netanyahu was speaking to hundreds of foreign journalists in Jerusalem. He also called on Palestinians to resume peace talks with Israel a day before U.S. special envoy George Mitchell arrives in Israel to try once again to restart peace talks. Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat rejected the call for an Israeli presence in a future Palestinian state, saying independence is the goal in the West Bank, Gaza Toronto Star | 2010-01-21 | Canada | Page: 7 A censored Internet’s silver lining One of China’s most popular bloggers, Han Han, posted a satirical essay this week in which he imagined headlines about China’s censored Internet in a postGoogle era: In 2011, Google, Facebook and YouTube announce their return to the Chinese market — but the news is censored, so no one finds out. The government allocates 100 billion yuan as part of an economic stimulus package to hire people to post Internet comments; it sets a target of 100 billion positive posts. After a few years, e-mail disappears and 5 million Internet-related jobs are lost, but the revived postal service hires 100,000 workers. The People’s Daily writes: “One industry was sacrificed in return for the stability of the nation, but it was worthwhile.” To the Chinese government, however, the future of the Internet and the recent decision by Google to stop censoring its search engine here, even if it means pulling out of this populous country, are no laughing matter. Even though Han Han — high school dropout, successful novelist and race-car The Washington Post | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 12 Bias against Jews, Muslims linked, Gallup poll finds A poll about Americans’ views on Islam concludes that the strongest predictor of prejudice against Muslims is whether a person holds similar feelings about Jews. The Gallup poll, released Thursday, also finds that people who report going to religious services more than once a week are less likely to harbor bias against Muslims. The poll, conducted in the fall, is the latest large-scale survey to find a high level of anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a poll in September showing that Muslims are thought to suffer more discrimination than any other U.S. religious group, by a wide margin. Jews were second. The Gallup poll asked Americans about their views of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism and found that 53 percent see Islam unfavorably. There is no consistent data over time about Americans’ views on Islam or Muslims. Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, said that Americans’ attitudes toward Muslims ge The Washington Post | 2010-01-21 | USA | Page: 3 Straw’s doubts JACK Straw was to give evidence to the Iraq Inquiry today amid speculation that he was nursing private doubts about the military action to overthrow Saddam Hussein. In public, Mr Straw, who was Foreign Secretary at the time of the invasion, was one of the most vigorous advocates of the need to disarm the Iraqi dictator of his supposed weapons of mass destruction. But a series of leaked documents have suggested that behind the scenes he was urging Tony Blair to be cautious about committing British troops to joining the United States in action against Iraq. In one letter to Mr Blair ahead of his talks with George Bush at the president’s Texas ranch in April 2002, Mr Straw warned him that the rewards from his visit would be few while the risks were high. He said that there was no majority within the Parliamentary Labour Party for military action, and warned that regime change was not in itself a justification for war. At a meeting with Mr Blair and other key ministers and officials in July 2002, he describe Evening Chronicle | 2010-01-21 | UK | Page: 12 Tale of nuns on the run starts series Puente Theatre launches this season’s WorldPlay Program 2010 at the Belfry Studio, 1291 Gladstone Ave. Sunday at 8 p.m. The first in a series of four staged readings of plays from around the world is The Nun’s Pilgrimage by Chilean Jaime Silva. The story of a group of nuns who abandon their convent to escape Chilean troops fighting against colonialist Spain in 1810 has been translated from Spanish to English by Rosa Stewart for this reading directed by Puente Theatre’s artistic director, Lina de Guevara. Admission is by donation. Future staged readings at the Belfry Studio in the WorldPlay series include Aurash by Iranian Bhram Beyza’ie on Jan. 31, The Person by Egyptian Alfred Farag on Feb. 7, and Living Memories: Kenya’s Untold Stories by Kenyan Al Kags on Feb. 14. All readings are at 8 p.m. For more information call 250-590-4083 or 250592-4367. Times Colonist | 2010-01-21 | Canada | Page: 52 Paris-Algeria relations strained Paris Relations between France and its former colony Algeria took a turn for the worse after the Algiers government cancelled a planned visit by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported yesterday. The reason was France’s acceptance of the US government’s terrorist blacklist that lists Algeria as “a country of interest” alongside 10 other countries, including Iran, Yemen and Somalia. As a result, Algerians travelling abroad are now subject to specific controls at international airports. — Compiled from agencies Gulf News | 2010-01-21 | UAE | Page: 12 POWERSMAKINGPROGRESS The latest talks by six world powers on the nuclear standoff with Iran were constructive, US officials said on Tuesday. “We are moving on both tracks,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, referring to diplomacy and the threat of further sanctions. “We believe we are making progress.” Crowley, however, said Iran’s response to the international community’s demands for assurances about its nuclear programme had been inadequate. The powers taking part in the talks are the US, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and China. —AFP Gulf News | 2010-01-21 | UAE | Page: 13 NUCLEAR FUEL DEAL SNUBBED: DIPLOMATS Vienna Iran has responded to a UN-brokered nuclear fuel supply deal, rejecting some of the conditions called for by the West and insisting on a simultaneous exchange of fuel, diplomats here said yesterday. One Western diplomat, spe

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