Japan Today
Tokyo publisher to re-issue disputed children's book 'Little Black Sambo'
Thursday, March 3, 2005 at 19:26 JST
TOKYO — A popular, long-selling children's picture book will again go on sale in early April in Japan after its printing was halted in 1988 due to protests that it fanned racism against black people, the book's new publisher said Thursday.
The book is "The Story of Little Black Sambo," written by British author Helen Bannerman during a trip to India. It was released in Britain in the late 19th century.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=&id=329643
Hosoda urges calm over isle row with South Korea
Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 14:00 JST
TOKYO — Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda on Thursday urged South Korea and the Shimane Prefectural Assembly to be calm over a move by assembly members to designate a commemorative day for a disputed island controlled by South Korea and claimed by Japan.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=328819
South Korea changes outdated Chinese name
Friday, January 21, 2005 at 15:30 JST
BEIJING — Seoul will scrap its outdated Chinese name for one that suits its modern image, Chinese media and a Korean source said Friday.
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, will drop the Chinese name "Hancheng," which literally means "city of the Han," and replace it with the name "Shouer," which is phonetically similar to the city's English name. "Han" refers to a Chinese dynasty about 2,200 years ago as well as the Chinese people's racial identity. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=325437
Japan, U.S. slam N Korea, expect China role in resuming talks
Monday, February 21, 2005 at 07:02 JST
WASHINGTON — Japan and the United States slammed North Korea on Saturday for its recent declaration that it possesses nuclear arms and is indefinitely boycotting six-party nuclear talks, calling it a "serious challenge" and "direct threat."
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=328359
The Miami Herald
Press freedoms are under attack
BY EDUARDO BERTONI
www.cidh.org/relatoria
On Feb. 15, three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld a trial-court decision that found two journalists in contempt of court last year. With this ruling, the journalists risk going to jail if they refuse to respond to questions before a grand jury in an investigation of a leak of a covert CIA officer's identity. The questions could be related to the confidential sources of information of the journalists.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11036441.htm
14 indicted over hurricane claims
A grand jury indicted 14 Miami-Dade residents accused of submitting phony damage claims in the aftermath of Hurricane Frances last fall.
BY DAVID OVALLE AND DEBBIE CENZIPER
dcenziper@herald.com
Fourteen Miami-Dade County residents who were paid a total of more than $156,000 in disaster assistance after Hurricane Frances were indicted Wednesday on charges of submitting bogus claims to the federal government.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11036408.htm
KOBE BRYANT CIVIL CASE
Settlement reached in sexual assault suit
DENVER - (AP) -- Ending a sordid case involving one of the NBA's brightest stars, Kobe Bryant and the 20-year-old woman who accused him of sexual assault nearly two years ago have agreed to settle her civil lawsuit against him, attorneys said Wednesday.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/11036427.htm
Journalism at Risk
WHEN Bill Clinton went out in the world to make in roads with other countries he stayed out of their business and concentrated on making friendships and building relationships while asking serious questions about quality of life for all the people of any country. He asked questions. He didn't make judgements. He was successful. Journalists need to reconsider their approach in an age of pumped out propaganda by once an open USA government. They need to 'tone' their rhetoric by self examination of their own biases. I guess my pet pieve is 'How helpful can journalism be without complaining?" If journalism isn't connecting with both sides of an issue then the 'risk' of government control grows. How much do we know about Kim? How do we know we are viewing the issue clearly? What level of 'trust' given the power hungry Cheney/Bush Administration; does any one country feel comfortable with when it comes to journalism. With 'openness' breaking out all over the planet why aren't there sincere 'trust' relationships with the leaders of every nation and the editors of every major newspaper in the world. Why is any form of journalism at risk when the countries of Earth have mostly closed ranks due to the 'closed' and 'corrupt' agenda now found in Washington, DC? Journalism is challenged. I don't believe other than demanding freedom to it's members has it met the NEW and somewhat dangerous needs of the public and it's loyality to the 'truth.'
BBC governors axed, licence fee to stay
What the new BBC Trust will do
Tara Conlan
Wednesday March 2, 2005
Jowell: proposes new BBC Trust with responsibility for licence fee and to ensure corporation fulfils public service obligations
Tessa Jowell today unveiled plans for a radical change in the governance of the BBC as she laid out her vision of how the corporation will be run and funded over the next 10 years.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1428550,00.html
Comment: Media Stifled By Harsh Laws and Thuggery
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (London)
OPINION
February 1, 2005
Posted to the web February 1, 2005
Gugulethu Moyo
London
The Mugabe government will stop at nothing to silence press criticism.
Barely one month into the New Year and with a general election looming, it comes as no surprise that Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's first new law of 2005 tightens the noose around the neck of the country's media.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502010948.html
McDowell to push on with press council plan
By Caroline O’Doherty and Fionnán Sheahan
JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell insisted yesterday that he is pressing ahead with his plans to establish a body to deal with press complaints following controversy over media intrusion into the private lives of public figures.
He told the Cabinet yesterday that he plans to bring forward proposals for the press council very shortly.
http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/ireland/Full_Story/did-sguUR12NLuY1ssgdq-nXlDAyFE.asp
Seeking journalists' release, CPJ sends 400 signed appeals
to government
New York, February 1, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists has sent 400 appeals to the government of Burma calling for the immediate and unconditional release of imprisoned journalists Aung Pwint and Thaung Tun, recipients of CPJ's 2004 International Press Freedom Awards.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Burma01feb05na.html
Eleven jailed Iranian journalists start the New Year in harsh prison conditions
Reporters Without Borders has expressed its indignation at the prison conditions of 11 Iranian journalists, most of them ill and in a very physically and psychologically weakened state.The international press freedom organisation renews its objections to their often-arbitrary detention and calls for their release.
http://www.payvand.com/news/04/jan/1068.html
Journalist Jailed in Defamation Case
Committee to Protect Journalists (New York)
PRESS RELEASE
February 2, 2005
Posted to the web February 2, 2005
CPJ seeks release
A reporter with the Congolese private daily La Référence Plus was taken into custody on Monday and imprisoned in the western town of Matadi on defamation charges brought by two national oil executives. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for his immediate release.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502020866.html
Hawk's wing of US State terrorism provided base for chaos in Venezuela
Venezuelan journalist Raul Bosque writes: The US State Department complains about the information provided by Venezuelan politicians and media businessmen concerning the ability of Hugo Chavez.
George Bush's consultants for Latin America nothing else but disregarded Chavez, comparing him amongst others with Manuel Antonio Noriega and Abdala Bucaram.
Chavez, however, has not only behaved as a hardened man of politics making them swallow the dust of the defeat in more than 10 occasions, in elections as well as in precarious socio-economical situations, but has turned out to be a skilled super-chancellor within diplomacy on a world scale and is now known and admired by almost all governments seeking an antidote to globalization, and consequently, to the Empire.
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=25234
China jails most journalists: watchdog
China is placing itself outside the international mainstream by imprisoning more journalists than any other country in the world, a media rights watchdog says.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1296296.htm
Kathmandu may release politicians: media
KATHMANDU: Nepal’s king could begin releasing arrested political leaders soon, local media reported on Saturday, as the new government said it was setting up a panel to fight corruption.
In its first meeting, King Gyanendra’s appointed cabinet drafted a strategy focusing on corruption and poverty, the state-run Rising Nepal newspaper said on Saturday, but announced no moves to seek peace with Maoist rebels fighting the monarchy.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-2-2005_pg4_23
China tops world list for journalists jailed
Friday, February 4, 2005 at 10:08 JST
NEW YORK — China, Cuba, Eritrea and Myanmar accounted for more than three-quarters of the journalists imprisoned around the world in 2004, an organization for defending press freedom reported Thursday.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=326735&page=2
BORDERS: Young or old, First Amendment guards our rights
By GARY BORDERS, The Lufkin Daily News
Sunday, February 06, 2005
The First Amendment consists of a single 45-word sentence that protects a quartet of rights: freedom of religion; freedom of speech; freedom of the press; and freedom of assembly and petition. It is the spring from which all our liberties flow. Some argue that the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms, is more important. As a longtime gun owner, I strongly support the right of citizens to own weapons. But nothing matters more to a representative democracy than its citizens having the right to speak freely; to worship or not as they wish; to have a press unfettered by government restrictions; or to peaceably protest.
Unfortunately most high school students don't understand how important the First Amendment is to their freedom. A massive study (100,000 students, 8,000 teachers and 500 administrators) conducted by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation found that high school students give short shrift to many of the protections offered by the First Amendment.
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2005/02/06/20050206LDNborders.html;COXnetJSessionID=CnnG6Trg5wWjliArGdNLhzgGyusk2AzjFLBO1XE5XARy2wENnV2j!1017209460?urac=n&urvf=11098622786990.4956473614181338
IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists
Wednesday, 9 February 2005, 11:11 am
Press Release: International Federation of Journalists
IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists After Book Fair Censorship Sparks Free Expression Fears
The International Federation of Journalists today accused the Egyptian authorities of censorship and intimidation of independent journalism after a crackdown on activists working at the Cairo International Book Fair.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0502/S00238.htm
CPJ delegation meets with Yemeni ambassador
Calls for immediate release of jailed editor, protests recent prosecutions
Washington, D.C., February 8, 2005—A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists met with Yemen's ambassador to the United States, Abdulwahab Abdulla al-Hajjri, today to express deep concern about the imprisonment of a Yemeni opposition newspaper editor and a recent spate of criminal convictions handed down against several other journalists.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Yemen08feb05na.html
William Fisher: What First Amendment?
Wednesday, 9 February 2005, 1:45 pm
Opinion: William Fisher
What First Amendment?
By William Fisher
While authoritarian states in much of the world are routinely jailing journalists and others for expressing their views, a substantial proportion of U.S. high school students believes the government should censor the American press and that the free speech protections of the Bill of Rights First Amendment go "too far."
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0502/S00104.htm
In Imprisoning Journalists, Four Nations Stand Out
Committee to Protect Journalists (New York)
PRESS RELEASE
February 4, 2005
Posted to the web February 4, 2005
Four countries with long records of press repression - China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma - account for more than three-quarters of the journalists imprisoned around the world, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502040765.html
Secrecy As Three Jailed for Spying for SA
The Daily News (Harare)
February 9, 2005
Posted to the web February 9, 2005
Harare
In an unprecented move never before seen in the Zimbabwean judicial system, a Harare court yesterday made a "in camera" sentence on three locals accused of spying for a foreign nation
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502090036.html
Results of Landmark Iraq Election Delayed
Wednesday February 9, 2005 3:16 PM
AP Photo ANS101
By MARIAM FAM
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi officials said Wednesday the announcement of final results from landmark national elections will be delayed because the election commission must recount votes from about 300 ballot boxes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4788702,00.html
Big Brother Thriving in High School Classrooms
William Fisher
NEW YORK, Feb 9 (IPS) - While authoritarian states in much of the world routinely jail journalists and others for expressing critical opinions, a high percentage of U.S. high school students believe the government should censor the press and that constitutional protection of free speech goes ”too far”.
These are among the findings of a two-year, one-million-dollar study of 100,000 high school students, nearly 8,000 teachers, and more than 500 administrators and principals, carried out in more than 500 high schools by researchers at the University of Connecticut.
http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=27375
IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists
Wednesday, 9 February 2005, 11:11 am
Press Release: International Federation of Journalists
IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists After Book Fair Censorship Sparks Free Expression Fears
The International Federation of Journalists today accused the Egyptian authorities of censorship and intimidation of independent journalism after a crackdown on activists working at the Cairo International Book Fair.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0502/S00238.htm
Secrecy As Three Jailed for Spying for SA
The Daily News (Harare)
February 9, 2005
Posted to the web February 9, 2005
Harare
In an unprecented move never before seen in the Zimbabwean judicial system, a Harare court yesterday made a "in camera" sentence on three locals accused of spying for a foreign nation.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502090036.html
Results of Landmark Iraq Election Delayed
Wednesday February 9, 2005 3:16 PM
AP Photo ANS101
By MARIAM FAM
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi officials said Wednesday the announcement of final results from landmark national elections will be delayed because the election commission must recount votes from about 300 ballot boxes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4788702,00.html
IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists
Published: 10-FEB-05
The International Federation of Journalists have accused the Egyptian authorities of censorship and intimidation of independent journalism after a crackdown on activists working at the Cairo International Book Fair.
This week a detained journalist began a hunger strike in protest following his arrest and detention along with other activists after a police raid on the book fair on January 28.
http://www.businessinafrica.net/news/412465.htm
Advocates for journalists may take agenda to K Street
By Jonathan Kaplan
The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) is leading a behind-the-scenes effort to build a coalition of media advocacy groups, aided by K Street lobbying firms, to pass legislation designed to improve access to government records and protect journalists from
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/021005/journalists.html
The Clinton Syndrome
Real-life events of the more or less recent past, could read like a super-hyped fiction book. The problem? Big-time book publishers are not inclined to tell the factual truth about the murder of JFK and a lot of other happenings.
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=5275
PAKISTAN: Journalists covering Hashmi court appearance manhandled
One suffers bruises while covering the court appearance of jailed PML-N leader Javed Hashmi
Dawn
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Lahore -- Jailed PML-N leader Javed Hashmi refused to sit in the armoured car when he was flown to Lahore from Islamabad on Thursday morning for his production in a NAB court here.
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=20683
Three foreign correspondents arrested in Harare
(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 15 February 2005 IFJ press release:
IFJ Condemns "New Media Terror" as Mugabe Police Hold Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the Zimbabwe government for unleashing "a new wave of intimidation and terror against media" in advance of hotly contested elections to take place on 31 March.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/64516/
Analysis: Peru's tabloid press jailed
Lima, Peru, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The court sentences imposed on former congressman Moises Wolfenson, his brother Alex and a group of journalists who were in charge of the "chicha press" during the government of ousted President Alberto Fujimori concluded three years of court proceedings in which many people hoped to receive compensation for damages caused during a sleazy era of accusations, libels and defamation.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050212-112635-8334r.htm
Fifth Parly: Worst in History?
February 15, 2005
Posted to the web February 15, 2005
Sifelani Tsiko
Harare
THE Fifth Parliament of Zimbabwe, which closed on Tuesday last week at the end of the fifth session, will probably go down in history as one of the worst sessions in the history of our young democracy.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200502150884.html
IFJ Calls on Egypt to Free Jailed Journalists After Book Fair Censorship Sparks Free Expression Fears
Printer Friendly Version
08/02/2005
The International Federation of Journalists today accused the Egyptian authorities of censorship and intimidation of independent journalism after a crackdown on activists working at the Cairo International Book Fair.
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2947&Language=EN
Journalists face jail time over leak
17.02.05
Two journalists must disclose conversations with their confidential sources to a grand jury investigating a leak that exposed the identity of a covert CIA operative, a United States appeals court ruled.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10111366
Thatcher relief after questioning
By Barnaby Phillips
BBC News, Cape Town
Thatcher has been co-operating with authorities in South Africa
Mark Thatcher looked very nervous as he took the witness stand and swore on oath at a court in Cape Town, where he was questioned about a failed coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.
As the session progressed, it became obvious that he was very familiar with all of the 43 questions submitted by the Equatorial Guinean government, and had worked out his answers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4277845.stm
Two Indonesian journalists missing in Iraq; witness saw them seized
10:22 AM EST Mar 03
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Two Indonesian journalists are missing in Iraq and a witness reported seeing them stopped by armed men, Indonesia's foreign ministry said Friday, but declined to say if the men were abducted.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050218/w021802.html
Federal shield law needed to protect reporters
Friday, February 18, 2005
A federal shield law is needed to protect the nation’s journalists from being forced to reveal their sources.
http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/stories/public/200502/18/4TKK_editorials.html
Journalists rank who has Roh's ear
February 17, 2005 ㅡ Blue House correspondents named Moon Jae-in, President Roh Moo-hyun's senior secretary for civil affairs, as wielding the largest influence over the president.
Monthly JoongAng, a news magazine, polled 106 reporters who cover the Blue House late last month and early this month. They were asked to choose 10 figures who they believe influence Mr. Roh the most. Mr. Moon was chosen by 99 correspondents or 93 percent of the group, according to the results released yesterday.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200502/16/200502162153267179900090309031.html
Appeals court rules that "Time" magazine and journalists Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper must reveal sources in CIA leak case
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 15 February 2005 CPJ press release:
Appeals court rules that Time, Miller, and Cooper must reveal sources in CIA leak case
New York, February 15, 2005 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that a federal appeals court has ruled that two journalists can be jailed for not revealing their confidential sources.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/64525/
Moyo to run as independent
18/02/2005 21:26 - (SA)
Bulawayo - Zimbabwe's information minister Jonathan Moyo will contest next month's parliamentary elections as an independent after the ruling party barred him from running as its candidate.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1664724,00.html
Michael Moore Today
Sorry, Tobacco Industry
Zippo Sad
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
Lighters to be banned on airline flights
By Kimberly Morrison / Knight Ridder
WASHINGTON - Airline passengers will have to ditch their lighters or lose them to airport security screeners when a new ban on lighters takes effect in April.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1635
Social security Calculator
http://democrats.senate.gov/ss/calc.html
Wolfowitz on shortlist for World Bank top post
By Andrew Balls and Edward Alden / Financial Times
Paul Wolfowitz, US deputy secretary of defence, has emerged as a leading candidate to replace James Wolfensohn as the president of the World Bank.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1630
Video of teacher's outburst is on Web; Incident may lead to cell phone ban
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
By Naomi Mueller / Asbury Park Press
The Board of Education may toughen its policy on use of wireless telephones in schools, after a videotape showing a Brick Township High School teacher screaming at his students to show respect for the national anthem — and then pulling the chair from underneath one student who refused to stand — was posted on several independent Web sites.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1631
Supreme Court, 5-4, Forbids Execution in Juvenile Crime
By Linda Greenhouse / New York Times
Concluding that the United States and the world have turned against the death penalty for youthful offenders, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the Constitution categorically bars capital punishment for crimes committed before the age of 18.
The 5-to-4 decision, which upheld a ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court, will move 72 people off death row in 12 states. It represented an about-face for a court that only 16 years ago rejected the argument that the execution of those who kill at the age of 16 or 17 violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishments."
Writing for the court on Tuesday, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who voted with the majority 16 years ago, said the new decision was necessary to keep pace with the "evolving standards of decency" that for the last 50 years have shaped the Supreme Court's view of what constitutes cruel and unusual punishments.
Justice Kennedy said that not only did 30 states - five more than 16 years ago - now reject the death penalty for juveniles, but that "it is fair to say that the United States now stands alone in a world that has turned its face against the juvenile death penalty."
Since 1990, he noted, only seven countries outside the United States have executed people for crimes they committed as juveniles, and all seven - Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Nigeria, China and Congo - have disavowed the practice.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1625
U.S. Soldier Fights To Keep Home While In Iraq
Wife Says Bank Threatens To Foreclose On Sergeant's House, Sell Belongings
WFTV-9
OSAWATOMIE, Kan. -- A Kansas soldier who is on active duty in Iraq is also fighting for his home.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1627
SATURDAY, MARCH 19: GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST ON THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR
March 19-20 marks the two-year anniversary of the U.S. bombing and invasion of Iraq. After all of the death and destruction, and with the Bush administration claiming a mandate to continue their war, there's a new urgency and a stronger determination within the global antiwar movement to bring the troops home now.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=1639
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