“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

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.

Bright Lights and Big Money in India’s New Cricket League

The Indian Premier League is the newly-formed, revamped and very popular cricket league aiming to change the game from the classis British colonialist form to a new, fast-paced and exciting game. A new format has been introduced called Twenty20, where matches last only a few hours instead of several days. The league has drawn thousands of specators and some household-name sponsors like Nike, Adidas, and Reebok. A major difference between the new and old formats is that in the Premier League there are private teams, like an NBA or MLB team. Previously, matches were played between countries.

“Cricket has been the major vehicle for Indian nationalism, of a special and aggressive kind” says Ramachandra Guha, a historian and cricket writer. This new format, although bringing much more money and attention to cricket, has erased patriotism out of the equation. Cricket used to be a kind of battle between countries, as matches were played as much for pride as for the win in the standings. Now the Premier League has become almost identical to any major Western sport. Trade barons and billionaires buy franchises and trade players, while even adopting elements of Western sports. Vijay Mallaya, owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, recently imported the Washington Redskin’s cheerleading squad to work for his franchise in the football off-season. This has caused much controversy in India, where people feel that the game is becoming too un-Indian. Although some may not like the Westernization of the sport, its growing popularity and revenue is undeniable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/sports/othersports/07cricket.html?ref=asia

Death Toll in Myanmar Storm Could Reach 10,000

Today the people of Myanmar struggled to recover from a cyclone that hit on early saturday leaving more than 3,900 people dead. And today new estimates were made, that state that the death toll could reach 10,000. This would make this cyclone the most devastating natural disaster since the tsunami that hit Asia in 2004. Tens of thousands have been left homeless and without water or food. This came at a time where military rulers were running for election. But some people say, that Myanmar’s government and military were slow to respond to the devastation of the cyclone, and that this may affect the vote (which is coming up this week). The military has a poor history, especially since firing upon and killing many pro-democracy monks at a protest, and they have frequently killed rioters to quell any uprisings. People have been very disappointed with the military’s response. The American Embassy in Myanmar authorized the release of $250,000 as aid.

There is little evidence of bias in Seth Mydans’ article. He does frequently challenge the military’s grim past, and only provides examples of how their military has had a negatively affected Myanmar’s society. But this all seems within reason, as their military does have a history of being very violent and brutal towards any uprising people. As the Southeast Asian correspondent for the New York Times, Seth Mydans may have an Americanized view of things. It is also possible that he feels a certain affinity for the Southeast Asian people, because he has been working there for a long time. Because he is used to a democratic government, his distaste for the military-led government is understandable.

I have found it shocking how relatively small this news has been. While the news of this cyclone has been covered worldwide, in most major American newspaper this was not the main story. I find it disturbing, that the death of 10,000 people is the second biggest story to the predictions for the upcoming American primaries.

Zimbabwe Party Seeks to Verify Vote

            Last Friday the opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai won the Zimbabwe election with 47.9% of the votes over the last ruler Robert Mugabe, who lost with 43.2%.  Mugabe is challenging Tsvangirai to a runoff to decide who will win, yet the opposition party believes that they have won by enough of a portion that their candidate should win automatically.  Yet by Zimbabwean law, if the opposing candidate boycotts the race, Mugabe will be declared as the winner.  During the election process Tsvangirai has often needed to rely on the Southern African Development Community to stop Mugabe from shifting the election results by using the corruption that has defined his last 28 years in power.  Now that the SADC has put their hand in attempting to create fairness within the election, they have noted the voting tallies form two out of the six stations are not documented on official forms with signatures by the opposition’s agents, which raises suspicion of tampering.  Before the opposition agrees to participate, they want African leaders to insist on a verified count of the votes.  While all this is happening Mugabe still brings violence and atrocities to the homes of those who support the opposition leader.

            For me this represents the importance of having an intricate system of checks and balances to stop leaders such as Mugabe from both coming to power and retaining that power even when the country cries out against it.  For twenty-eight years Mugabe has harmed the people of Zimbabwe and now that someone might be able to replace him he still holds onto his power through corruption and violence.  It is the duty of the African Nations surrounding Zimbabwe to look over the votes and make sure that peace comes back to Zimbabwe.

 

            http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/africa/04zimbabwe.html?_r=1&ref=africa&oref=slogin