This article discusses the struggle that Turkey has with the PKK [a reorganized Kurdistan Workers' Party]. The PKK are based in Iraq. The PKK are considered terrorists, and they fight with Turkey, each side killing many of the people on the other side. It tells us that the U.S in unsure whether to help Turkey militaristically, or to try and convince the two sides to come to a peaceful standstill. Though the PKK had been defeated once before, it has resurged with new hostility, and people are surprised that it is as strong as it is now. The fight between Turkey at the PKK has killed over 40 thousand people in the last twenty years. Though the U.S considers PKK a terrorist group, it is unwilling to help because before, when the PKK leader was captured, Turkey promised to do something about the Kurdish issue to ease the hostility, but it did nothing.

 

The author shows some bias against Turkey, because it shows all the reasons why the US is unwilling to help them, and what they did wrong when dealing with the PKK before. However, they also seem biased against the PKK because they establish them as terrorists and tell what a threat they are.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JF03Ak03.html

Natural Resources in Iran

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JF05Dj02.html

This article tells us about how Iran has many untapped resources, however, Western influences have prevented these resources from being tapped. Iran is among the top three countries with the biggest oil and gas reserves. However, while there is demand for the resources in their own country, it imports most of its gas and oil for the people in their own country, and domestic demand has risen. The Energy Information Administration also reports that Iran has not been able to effectively produce as much oil since 1979, because of wars, decline in the oil fields, and investment, but before this, Iran was able to produce up to 6 billion barrels a day. It is stated that the lack on investment is due to the Prime Minister, and the arguments the U.S is having with Iran about nuclear issues.

 

The author seems biased in the fact that he says the West is keeping Iran’s resources away, which is a bad idea. They also seem to disapprove of the fact that Iran imports the gas that it’s people use when they have so many resources in their own country.

“Obama Offers Assurances at Pro-Israel Meeting”

This article discusses a speech Barack Obama gave before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby group.  Obama said that he supports the creation of separate Israeli and Palestinian settlements.  He is adamant, however, that Jerusalem should not be divided and should remain the capital of the Jewish nation.  Palestinian leaders feel strongly that Jerusalem needs to be divided with the western part as part of Israel, and east Jerusalem as part of—and the capital of—a Palestinian state.  Not surprisingly, a spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, as well as the president of the Palestinian authority, criticized Obama’s remarks. 

The major theme of this article is politics.  There are two authors of this article: John Broder and Michael Powell.  The authors seem to not have any biased, and seem impartial. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/us/politics/05aipac.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Mexico’s War Against Drugs Kills Its Police

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/world/americas/26mexico.html?_r=1&ref=americas&oref=slogin   JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr

President Filipe Calderon of Mexico has made it his business to stop drug trafficing and police corruption in Mexico since coming into office in 2006. However, a string of drug related killings of police officers have people questioning Mexico’s ability to win its war on drugs. When Comissioner Edgar Gomez, chief of the federal police, was assasinated on May 8 it was a demonstration of the increasing power of the drug dealers as well as the continued corruption within the police. Mr. Gomez’s assasination was an inside job; the drug dealers were able to ambush him in one of his secret residences and kill him. In total 1378 people have been killed by drug cartels this year, and 4125 since Calderon took office. Many police cheifs fear for their lives becuase it is mostly high-ranking police officers who are being killed in the violence. While Calderon has an elite group of lawenforces in charge, as well as 3000 new recruits the thousands of corrupt officers still in the system are preventing real change and progress from happening in Mexico.

From this article it seems as though the author might be biased towards Felipe Calderon’s ability to end the drug violence in Mexico. It also seems as if the author doubts if there will be any real progress. Overall the article gives an objective account of what is happening in Mexico with the increasing drug violence.

Venezuela decree sparks fears on spying- LA Times

Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez has been forcing Venezuelans to spy on their neighbors and if they aren’t compliant it is punishable by law. The reason for instating this law was to make national security safer, even when privacy is gotten rid of. He is also organizing communal meetings in order to call upon for intelligence. He believes that this law will stop any military coup or assassination plots for his life.

It seems like governments these days will do anything to stop terrorism and preserve their legitimacy even when people’s rights are disregarded. When neighbors start spying on you, everything will seem like a threat and fear will spread throughout the country. It is unnecessary for everyone to be spying on everyone else because that is what intelligence agencies and the government is for (they can gather intelligence while keeping people’s rights). Basically the government is terrorizing the people of Venezuela.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/latinamerica/la-fg-venezuela4-2008jun04,0,4954401.story?track=rss

Chinese Stifle Grieving Parents’ Protest of Shoddy School Construction

On May 12th, a horrible earthquake hit China, particularly affecting the mountainous Sichaun Province in the southwest. One area, Dujiangyan, was the site of several school collapses. Over ten thousand schoolchildren were killed in the earthquake, leaving many parents questioning why it is that the schools so easily collapsed. Many of these parents peacefully protested in the courthouse square in Dujiangyan, carrying pictures of the children they lost and asking that the government investigate the shoddy construction of schools around China.  However, rather than listening to their grievances, the government has been attempting to stifle the protests and media coverage of them, and to convince the parents to stay quiet. On the day of the protest, policemen dressed in black uniforms forced reporters on the scene into the courthouse. The police then surrounded the parents and asked them to go to the petition office next door, and a government official asked the parents to remain calm as families who had lost a child would receive ”financial compensation”. The police even forcibly picked up mothers who had sad on the ground and were crying, and dragged them to the petition office. Eventually, the parents relented the pressure of the police and left the courthouse square. On May 25 Sichuan officials began to investigate the construction of the school buildings, finding that many of the schools had design defects and were obsolete  buildings, and national education officials in Beijing have promised to institute stricter standards for school buildings. However, in Dujianyang, the parents of the deceased have not received any information about the investigations and continue to feel wronged by the government. This article helps to demonstrate the extreme censorship that is going on in China. These parents were simply asking that for an investigation into the school buildings, they were not directly challenging the government in any way, and were just simply looking for answers. However, the the government still attempted to silence them and treat them harshly when they were grieving the terribly unfortunate loss of their children. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/world/asia/04china.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=asia

 

Annelise Post

 Virus Spreading in Eastern China

      Annelise Stabenau

      In China, a fast spreading virus has killed 22 children, and sickened almost 3,600 others. All of the fatalities have been in children under age six, and a majority of them under two. The virus is intestinal and is known as EV-71. It has spread through the city of Fuyang ever since early March. However, health officials only announced it this week, therefore raising question about a possible attempt at concealment. The World Health Organization warned that the disease could spread in the upcoming summer months, because it thrives in warm weather and is easily passed through children. School and childcare centers were advised to stay closed until the spread died down. Symptoms of the virus begin with a fever, leading often to mouth ulcers and blisters on the body. There is no known vaccine or cure, but most patients recover in a week sans treatment. Brain swelling in more serious cases can lead to paralysis or death. Cleaning surfaces with bleach and washing hands thoroughly can reduce the spread of pathogen. Health officials in Fuyang reported that over 970 children are hospitalized, 48 of them in critical condition. 340 cases have spread to Hubei. The number of infected children is growing, but fortunately the fatality rate has dropped significantly over the past weeks.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/world/asia/03china.html

Thousands Flee S Africa Attacks

In South Africa, there are many Zimbabwean refugees because of the violence and chaos they face in their country. According to reporter Caroline Hawley, the immigrants have done nothing but cause crime and social problems. The South Africans have looted foreign shops and attacked foreighners. The Zimbabweans have appeared to fight back against South Africans near the border but this has caused police to step in and take control in what was called a “warzone”. People in South Africa say they would rather go home then face this violence in South Africa. Some have said this appears to now be an ethnic conflict.

            The theme of society, economics, and culture is reflected in this article because it shows how in this society with all the immigrants and foreigners, the education is very low and therefore the economics cannot be good. The lack of economics has also led these immigrants into crime. Culture is addressed because a big reason why these groups are fighting is because of a difference in culture that these groups cannot overcome.

The author of this article may be from a foreign paper and therefore might not give as much detail on this as possible. They also seems to side with the government in this argument saying that the police should do whatever is necessary to control the people. I feel that in this article there is not enough information on how theses riots and fights started.

            

Stubborn Junta confiscates UN aid supplies in Myanmar

UN officials announced today that they would suspend the importation of relief supplies to Myanmar, in response to the stubborn the Junta’s decision to confiscate the food and supplies that had been sent into the country. This comes as a surprise to the World, because earlier in the weak the government had changed its policy and allowed for foreign aid to be let into the country. In a statement made by the government, they explained that the reason the supplies were confiscated were because the planes that brought the supplies in, also brought disaster assessment experts and unauthorized media groups.

Only 11 planes carrying relief supplies have successfully landed in Myanmar, which is a very small amount for an area that the UN says has directly affected over 1 million people. The Myanmar government has been very protective of their image, stating that only 22,500 people have died. However, America’s top diplomat in Myanmar estimates that the number will reach 100,000 if the foreign aid continues to be denied. The difference in response to the tsunami in Indonesia, compared to this cyclone is baffling. Within 48 hours of the tsunami hitting Indonesia, an “air bridge of daily flights was established,” (1). It has now been one week, and still foreign aid is being denied as the conditions in Myanmar worsen.

This is now the second article I have read by Seth Mydans on the situation in Myanmar. And there are notable differences in the way the two articles were written. His first article contained many personal opinions on the country, with only his word to back it up. This article still contains a bias, which is an opposition to the current government, however it is not based on personal opinion as much as on the opinion of government analysts monitoring the situation. All we can do now is pray that the Junta will come to his senses and realize that a governments power is not based on its ability to do things on its own, but on its ability to keep its people safe (even if it means asking other countries for help).

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/world/asia/10myanmar.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Chinese Pope Performance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/world/europe/08vatican.html?_r=1&ref=asia&oref=slogin

The Chinese philharmonic orchestra gave a special performance for Pope Benedict XVI today, playing Mozart’s Requiem. “How is this important?” one might ask. However, music is a common ground that many countries use as a way of establishing or encouraging diplomacy. The pope has said that he would like to try and mend ties with China, as well as create new ties with the country. This concert is a great start for a possible plan leading to more connections between the Catholic church and China. Maybe this concert is a look into what the future holds for these two parties, maybe it won’t be. But in this moment, it is a very important event.