0714-2007f - FOREIGN PRESS REVIEW (FPR) - ‘Relevant news, views, comments and analyses from all around the world for informed debate’ Compiled by Şanlı Bahadır Koç U.S. / Britain / Turkey / Magazines / Think-tanks / Blogs / Misc /Books / Quickread / Numbers / Reports - FPR Table - Subscribe to FPR

H1 Financial Times Editorial Dollars and sense The last time the dollar was this low against the pound, Americans had just discovered who shot J.R. and the euro was still a gleam in the eye of Jacques Delors.

The Geopolitics of World Population Change Source: Center for Strategic & International Studies Full Paper (PDF; 55 KB)

China and the West in the 21st Century Will Hutton

Weekly Standard COVERCheney Speaks by Stephen F. Hayes

Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal: American Grit — We can't fire the president right now, so we're waiting it out.

Gaps in Training Iraqi Forces Worry Top U.S. Commanders

Signal to Attack? Worries Over Latest al Qaeda Tape...

Guardian Leader Starting a new relationship Foreign Policy: Douglas Alexander's speech was a sign that Mr Brown and his team intend to rebalance Britain's foreign policy objectives. This shift may be a subtle one. But it is taking place.

There are very few causes worth dying for. Iraq is not one of them Ian Jack

A ray of hope for Iraq Signs of Shia Sunni unity in Tal Afar

The myth of al-Qaida's omnipotence

Soumaya Ghannoushi: In reality, the terrorist network has no useful answers to the complex questions of modern Islamic societies. In time, it will wither away.

US Papers Sat: Everywhere, Casualties of War

Iraqi Kurds Say Politics Revised Oil Law

BBC UN hails Iran nuclear agreement Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog agree to new inspections at a key site and hail a framework for talks.

USA Today U.S. military's efforts to build "an unprecedented" database of Iraqis by taking fingerprints and eye scans of thousands of men.

Daily Star Once mighty, Egypt is weak-kneed and without a clue

Rudy's New Foreign Policy Posse By: Philip Giraldi | National Interest
The naming of leading neoconservative Norman Podhoretz as one of Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani’s senior foreign policy advisers is disconcerting to those Americans who have hoped that the current disagreements with Iran might be resolved short of war.

CRS Iran: Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Iraq: Oil and Gas Legislation, Revenue Sharing, and U.S. Policy

Al Hayat Withdrawing from Iraq: An Opportunity for a New American Strategy Raghida Dergham - What is needed is to produce an Arab strategy for the post-US withdrawal phase, and this should be done in with seriousness and a sense of urgency.

Iran Asks Japan to Pay Yen for All Oil...

UPI Outside View: Who needs a Mideast war? By MARIANNA BELENKAYA

Ha’aretz – How to wage a pullout from Iraq

Waiting for an Iranian Chernobyl - Deborah Campbell
Earlier this year an Iranian nuclear scientist at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan died from poisoning with uranium hexafluoride gas. Accidents like this keep Najmedin Meshkati awake at night. A leading expert in nuclear safety at the University of Southern California, the Iranian-born engineer worries that the Russian technology and human error that led to the Chernobyl disaster may cause a similar tragedy at Iran's nuclear facilities in Bushehr and elsewhere. The biggest nuclear threat from Iran is not from an attack but from an accident, he said. (New Scientist)

Jul 13 SD# 1655 - Al-Zawahiri Threatens to Renew Terror Attacks in Britain, Urges Pakistanis to Wage Jihad Against Their Government

EDM AS UKRAINE LOOKS TOWARD NATO, MOSCOW’S MARITIME INTERESTS SHIFT EASTWARD

- RUSSIA LAUNCHES MASSIVE PROGRAM TO DEVELOP BLACK SEA PORTS

Los Angeles Times Editorial Missing the benchmarks

Is satisfactory progress on eight out of 18 goals in Iraq justification for prolonging the war?

Clear-Eyed Questions About Iraq By: Rosa Brooks | Los Angeles Times If we're serious about resolving the Iraq crisis, we need to get away from the rhetoric of sacrifice, cost and responsibility and instead ask clear-eyed questions about our capacities and interests

Independent Robert Fisk: TE Lawrence had it right about Iraq

Leading article: A new Prime Minister and an impressive break with the past

H2 Time Turkey's Great Divide On the brink of its most important election in decades, the nation is split over how Islamic it should be. The answer lies in the hands of its youth

Time'ın kapağında 'Türkiye'nin ikilemi'

Liberation Le Kurdistan irakien menacé L’armée turque procède à des concentrations de troupes massives à la frontière. Par KENDAL NEZAN président de l'institut kurde de Paris.

TURKEY: Traffic Lights to Arbil Back on Red IPS

MEMRI Jul 13 IA# 372 - The Upcoming Elections in Turkey (1): General Background

RFERL Iraq: Kurdish Region Feels Threat Of Turkish Invasion Locals in northern Iraq fear that Turkey's threats to pursue Kurdish militants across the border are a threat to their own lives as well.

EurasiaNet Turkey: Upcoming Parliamentary Vote Highlights Gender Inequality in Politics

Seçim ve kadınlar
Economist'e göre, kadınlara yönelik reformlar AKP'ye oy kaybettirebilir

FT Sleuth will out

Parris: "MHP Meclis'e girerse uzlaşma olur"

Google News KurdishMedia Kurdish Kurdish Aspect BBC Monitoring

Ertuğ Yaşar Kürt milliyetçiliği

Parties see no ‘Kurdish problem' in Turkey

Semih İDİZ ABD'den bir başka K. Irak senaryosu

Turkey vs. Iraq? Richard May (repeat)

ABD ‘Türkiye asker yığıyor’ iddiasını yalanladı

Fransa'nın bıraktığı PKK lideri Irak'a kaçtı

Avrupa Mahkemesi'nden PKK'ya yeşil ışık

CHP lideri Baykal, Doğu'daki ilk mitinginde hayal kırıklığı yaşadı

Kürdistan Bölge Başkanlığından Türk büyükelçisinin açıklamalarına yalanlama

PKK'ya güneş enerjisi, MP3

Iraq Kurdish Paper Says "No New Front" Can Defeat Al-Maliki's Government

SINIRA GİDEN TANK KATARI

Yığınak Haberlerine Yalanlama

ABD Savunma Bakanı ve Genelkurmay Başkanı, Türkiye'nin Irak sınırına yığınak yaptığı haberlerinin doğru olmadığını açıkladılar

Two Soldiers Killed In Eastern Turkey

Turkey Boosts Troops At Iraqi Border: Sources

ABD Türkiye'yi kaosa sürüklüyor

Kuzey Iraklı Kürtlerin tatil gözdesi Ölüdeniz

Terör uzmanlarına göre, İzmir'de bulunan bombanın amacı seçime gölge düşürmek

Army clears way to use French GIAT guns against PKK

Ali Bulaç Açıklama

Google News Greece Cyprus Turkish Cypriot Press ABHaber

ERDAL ŞAFAK Neler oluyor?
Türkiye'nin Kıbrıs politikası değişti mi?

Krizi takmadık çok mutluyuz!

AB'den sivil topluma 20 milyon euro'luk fon

Mensur Akgün Montparnasse’da iki sıradan Fransız

Sezer Yaptığınız insan haklarına aykırı

"Almanca bilmeyen ülkemize gelmesin"

Ankara'dan Berlin'e 'göç yasası' mektubu

KKTC'de Kıvrıkoğlu'ndan sert mesajlar

Kıvrıkoğlu'ndan yine sert çıkış

Kocharian: Relations with Turkey 'complicated'

Is Matthew Bryza's opinion the same as that of US State Department's?
PanARMENIAN.Net

Avrupa aşkına tanıtım
BAHADIR KALEAĞASI

Bakoyannis backs Turkey's EU bid, examines special relationship

Independent Turkish scientists confront creationists' theory

Türk askeri bilinmeyene ilerliyor

Sezer'den Alpogan kararnamesine onay

Alpogan İngiltere Büyükelçisi

YSK, yasaklar konusunda siyasi partileri bir kez daha uyardı

Sadi SOMUNCUOĞLU
Erdoğan imzalı İslam'ı silme genelgesi... mi?

Çeteyle irtibatlı yargı mensuplarına soruşturma açıldı

Çetenin uyuşturucu dosyası seks partilerindeki hakimde

Dink cinayeti davasında tahliyeye onay

13 Temmuz 2007 Basın Özeti

H3 Fikret BİLA Gül'den ABD'ye silah sorgusu

Gül: Silahları sorduk Murat Yetkin

Yeni Şafak Halkın tercihi AK Parti ile ikinci dönem

Silah alarmı

Baykal MHP ile bir temasımız yok...

Can Dündar Devletin 'Mehmet'inden Milletin 'Mehmet'ine

Gül Yeniden aday olurum

Erdoğan'dan Baykal'a: Mal varlığını açıkla

Baykal: Asker askerliğini bilecek

650 dairesi olan bakan oğlu kim?

Asker ile yargının da dokunulmazlığı kalksın

Seyfettin Gürsel AK Parti daha az milletvekili ile daha güçlü bir iktidar kurabilir

Serdar Turgut AKP'nin oyları

MHP'li Aktan'dan Hudson toplantısı yorumu: Benzerlerini ben de düzenledim

Taha AKYOL Hukuk savaşını kim kazandı?

'Eğitim vaatleri kötü ödev gibi' Eğitimciler, siyasi partilerin eğitime yaklaşımını yüzeysel ve samimiyetten uzak buldu. Eğitimcilere göre ÖSS'nin kaldırılması mümkün değil, bazı söylemler iyi de olsa bunlara nasıl kaynak bulunacağı belirsiz, okulda giderek artan şiddet konusunda parti bildirgelerinde tek bir satır yok

Demokrasi tramvayı İsmet Berkan

CHP-MHP koalisyonu Türkiye'yi geri götürür

Yalçın Doğan Ahmet Türk: Gerekirse AKP’yi dışarıdan destekleriz

Semih İDİZ ABD'den bir başka K. Irak senaryosu

İlter Türkmen Irak’ta son perde mi?

Ertuğrul Özkök Mehmet Ağar'a oy verilir mi

Samanlıktaki iğne M.Ali Kışlalı

[Yorum - M.Naci Bostancı] CHP-MHP koalisyonu mümkün mü?

[Türkiye Sivil Anayasası'nı arıyor - 3] 1982 Anayasası ile Türkiye yol alamaz!

[Yorum - Prof.Dr. Zühtü Arslan] Önce anayasacılar sivilleşmeli...

İsmailağa cemaati için AKP ile SP rekabeti var

Sivil toplum: Cumhurbaşkanı Meclis'ten çıkmalı

Partizan basının geri dönüşü
Haluk Şahin

MİT'in sırlarla dolu tarihi

Cengiz Çandar Kamuoyuna karşı çıkmayı reddetmemek

İç Basında Türk Dış Politikası

Dış Basında Türkiye-AB İlişkileri - Dış Basında Güncel Türkiye Bülteni

Dış Basında Irak BBC Turkish 0700

VOA TSİ 06:30 Dış Basında Türkiye Turkish Press Review Google News Turkey Turquie Türkei TurcoPundit

Taha Kıvanç

Fehmi Koru Cevap yerine -giriş-

ALİ BAYRAMOĞLUKorku ve şiddet: MHP'ye dair…

KÜRŞAT BUMİNİnşallah haklı çıkmam

NAZLI ILICAK Arınç ve cumhurbaşkanlığı

YASİN AKTAYYaman çelişkiler

Engin Ardıç Muhtıra olmayan muhtıra

İsmail Küçükkaya Çatışmadan uzlaşmaya politikanın psikolojisi

Mehmet Kamış CHP'nin ve MHP'nin genetik kodları

Abdülhamit Bilici İflah olmaz AK Parti düşmanı

Mehmet Altan Cumhurbaşkanı kim olacak?

Mahir Kaynak Seçimden sonra

M Ali Birand Boşver politikayı, maçın skoruna bakalım

Enis Berberoğlu 4x4 çeker Ömer

Oktay Ekşi ABD sahiden masum mu?

Özdemir İnce Türkiye ve AKP

Mehmet Barlas 22 Temmuz’da cumhurbaşkanı değil başbakan seçeceğiz…

Şahin Alpay Oyum Baskın Oran'a

Derya SAZAK Baykal'dan barış mesajı

MUHARREM SARIKAYA

MHP lideri Devlet Bahçeli'den İlhan Selçuk'a övgü

ERGUN BABAHAN Taraf olmak

Elections within elections by MÜMTAZ’ER TÜRKÖNE

Şakir Süter Kesici’nin seçim tahlili

Çoğunluk ve azınlık Murat Belge

Ege Cansen IMF ile ipleri koparmak

Güngör URAS Döviz açığının ardında ithalat var

Dolar daha ne kadar düşer?

Deniz Gökçe Cır, cır, cır....

Birinci AK Parti İktidar tek parti

Yiğit Bulut AB ile ilişki '0', borsa 50 binin üstünde

Erdal Sağlam Piyasa ekonomisi ve şirket kurtarma

Metin MÜNİR Kazak Başbakan, Erdoğan'a Petkim için mektup yazdı

Unakıtan: Hepsini özelleştireceğim

Ekonomi, seçmen ve seçim
Taner Berksoy

Vahap Munyar 6 milyar doları masaya koydular Vardanyan’ın fotoğrafını verdiler

OKAN MÜDERRİSOĞLU
'Faiz kararı seçime bağlı tüm tedbirlerimiz hazır'

OKAN MÜDERRİSOĞLU
Erdoğan'ın karnesinde iki kırık: 'İşsizlik, kurun seyri'

MELİHA OKUR PETKİM'in patronu kim?
İstikrarlı hükümet gelirse faiz hemen 2-3 puan düşer

H5 Washington Post Two GOP Senators Defy Bush On Iraq Warner, Lugar Propose Troop Redeployment

Sunni Insurgent Leader Paints Iran as 'Real Enemy' U.S. Strategy Described as Only Inflaming Iraqi Resistance

What Is He Thinking? By Masha Lipman, Page

Russian President Vladimir Putin may not be talking about his successor, but the rest of the country certainly is.

O Ye of Little Faith By Christopher Hitchens, Unlike Michael Gerson, I don't need a celestial dictatorship to tell right from wrong -- especially when it comes to his argument in this column.

Rivalries Split McCain's Team

After Months of Staff Fights, Rick Davis Emerges as the Leader of a Diminished Campaign

They Still Don't Mix By Colbert I. King,

Religion and politics have always been a dangerous combination. Can someone please tell Sen. Hillary Rodham Clnton?

H6 Guardian Leader Starting a new relationship Foreign Policy: Douglas Alexander's speech was a sign that Mr Brown and his team intend to rebalance Britain's foreign policy objectives. This shift may be a subtle one. But it is taking place.

There are very few causes worth dying for. Iraq is not one of them Ian Jack

A ray of hope for Iraq Signs of Shia Sunni unity in Tal Afar

The myth of al-Qaida's omnipotence

Soumaya Ghannoushi: In reality, the terrorist network has no useful answers to the complex questions of modern Islamic societies. In time, it will wither away.

Don't flatter terrorists with po-faced hush. Mock them Marina Hyde: Taking the mickey out of these criminals is a serious necessity - by laughing at them we deny them all dignity.

House vote to withdraw adds to pressure on Republicans Division between President Bush and Congress over the Iraq war hardens.

Iraq's future now depends on how it plays in Omaha Martin Kettle: It matters little what any of us, Douglas Alexander included, say: the fate of this war rests on political wrangling in Washington.

No change for change's sake
Richard Layard: My advice to novice ministers: be wary of restructuring, and focus on policy and morale.

Fear of Islamist recruiting in jails· Special branch unit keeps watch on extremism
· Tube plotter and shoe bomber 'talent-scouted'

BBC orders inquiry as pressure mounts· Channel controller refuses to resign over editing error
· Staff are urged to look for any further 'incidents'

Downfall of Citizen Black Disgraced press baron Conrad Black faces a lengthy jail term in America after being convicted of embezzling $6m.

All you need is cash

Josh Freedman Berthoud Jul 13 07, 09:00pm: As the Israeli political scene stagnates, a Ukrainian oligarch is winning hearts and minds with his open chequebook.

Not such a lovely bloke Alastair Campbell's diaries are gappy, scrappy - and utterly compelling, says David Hare.

UN brings hope to divided Korea
Return of UN nuclear inspectors to North Korea brings new hope for reunification.

H7 Rudy's New Foreign Policy Posse By: Philip Giraldi | National Interest
The naming of leading neoconservative Norman Podhoretz as one of Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani’s senior foreign policy advisers is disconcerting to those Americans who have hoped that the current disagreements with Iran might be resolved short of war.

CRS Iran: Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Iraq: Oil and Gas Legislation, Revenue Sharing, and U.S. Policy

Al Hayat Withdrawing from Iraq: An Opportunity for a New American Strategy Raghida Dergham - What is needed is to produce an Arab strategy for the post-US withdrawal phase, and this should be done in with seriousness and a sense of urgency.

Iran Asks Japan to Pay Yen for All Oil...

Waiting for an Iranian Chernobyl - Deborah Campbell
Earlier this year an Iranian nuclear scientist at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan died from poisoning with uranium hexafluoride gas. Accidents like this keep Najmedin Meshkati awake at night. A leading expert in nuclear safety at the University of Southern California, the Iranian-born engineer worries that the Russian technology and human error that led to the Chernobyl disaster may cause a similar tragedy at Iran's nuclear facilities in Bushehr and elsewhere. The biggest nuclear threat from Iran is not from an attack but from an accident, he said. (New Scientist)

Jul 13 SD# 1655 - Al-Zawahiri Threatens to Renew Terror Attacks in Britain, Urges Pakistanis to Wage Jihad Against Their Government

Weekly Standard Keep on Surgin'
Bush is beating them back.
by William Kristol

Cheney Speaks On Clinton's pardons, 9/11 as seen from the White House bunker, mistakes made in Iraq, and more.by Stephen F. Hayes

Boston Globe Editorial Al Qaeda without illusions

'AL QAEDA Better Positioned to Strike the West." That is the title of a new threat assessment from the National Counterterrorism Center discussed Thursday at the White House. The message should be sobering. It confirms the Bush administration's failure to diminish, much less destroy, the operational capabilities of the Islamist gang led by Osama bin Laden.

Iraq Fact Check: Responding to Key Myths Source: White House Press Office

Dan Rather interviews Iranian Baluchi rebel leader Rigi, and "presents an in-depth look into reports that the CIA may be seeking to destabilize the Iranian government."

Hunter: Too soon to scrap surge

Victor Davis Hanson / City Journal:

The New York Times Surrenders A monument to defeatism on the editorial page — On July 8, the New York Times ran an historic editorial entitled "The Road Home," demanding an immediate American withdrawal from Iraq. It is rare that an editorial gets almost everything wrong, but "The Road Home" pulls it off.

Upside-down Middle East

Victor Davis Hanson The end result of multiculturalism in the real world is an insidious relativism.

A False Choice in Pakistan CFR A 7-page US essay urging Washington to maintain a cautious strategy in its dealings with Islamabad

A White House in Denial - Robert Dreyfuss, The Nation

H8 IraqSlogger Google News Iraq Iran Syria Mideastwire.com - NPR Iraq stratfor

US Papers Sat: Everywhere, Casualties of War

Iraqi Kurds Say Politics Revised Oil Law

BBC UN hails Iran nuclear agreement Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog agree to new inspections at a key site and hail a framework for talks.

USA Today U.S. military's efforts to build "an unprecedented" database of Iraqis by taking fingerprints and eye scans of thousands of men.

Daily Star Once mighty, Egypt is weak-kneed and without a clue
By Daniel Kurtzer

Editorial Bad timing, PR and policy in Tehran's threats in the Gulf

Hizbullah between awe and hostilit By Rami G. Khouri

A Divine Victory for Disinformation: Questions about the Veracity of Lebanese Polls about Hizbullah - Michael Young

Sunni insurgents spread jihad fervor by Internet postings

Message of Sunni Insurgents in Iraq Penetrates Mainstream Arab Media (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty)

Government Abducts "Iran's Lech Walesa" - Amir Taheri (New York Post)

BBC In pictures
Keeping the peace: On patrol with Unifil in Lebanon

The limits of Blair's mission Maher Othman - Blair's failure can also be traced to many underlying reasons, such as his inability to separate his views from the US policies... appointing Lord Michael Levy, a Zionist reputed for his biased position towards Israel as his special envoy to the Middle East...

H9 Ha’aretz – How to wage a pullout from Iraq

What to read A collection of articles from the U.S. and other countries on Israeli and Jewish issues.

Jordan: Next few weeks are crucial for Mideast peace

What to Do Now About the Palestinian Authority? - Khaled Abu Toameh (Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

CRS International Reaction to the Palestinian Unity Government

Crossing the Threshold: The Untold Nuclear Dimension of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and Its Contemporary Lessons Arms Control Today

The PLO's "Peoples War" Strategy and Israel's Inadequate Response - Joel Fishman (JCPA)

Return of the Kibbutzim - Amnon Rubinstein

Do former generals have a place in politics?
[ ANSHEL PFEFFER

Daily Alert.org – Middle East Progress - EJC Israeli Press Review – Google News Israel - Palestine

The Tyranny of the Weak - Ruthie Blum

Next War with Hizbullah Inevitable - Majdi Halabi

India, Israel to Co-Develop Advanced Barak Ship Defense Missile System (India Defence)

Asia Times War games, mind games or the real deal?
Israel's failure in Lebanon one year ago humiliated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and shredded the myth of Israeli military invincibility. Hezbollah remains proud, defiant and active. Round 2 in Lebanon, or war with Syria, whether provoked or orchestrated, might be what Olmert needs to prove his mettle. - Sami Moubayed

H10 Christian Science Monitor

ASIA Breaking Point of China's Communists By: Tom Plate | The Japan Times Beijing needs to understand that many Western critics of the Chinese Communist Party are not rooting for the breakup of China.

Asia Times CHAN AKYA
The robbery of the century Hardworking Asian savers will see their central banks post billions in losses in the next few years as investments in US subprime mortgage bonds turn to dust. The central bankers allowed themselves to be led by the nose by Western rating agencies and Wall Street investment banks, but ultimately the Asian banks and governments have only their own policy follies to blame. As usual in Asia, nobody will be held accountable, and one of the greatest robberies of our time will be swept under the carpet

Energy for China The Economist
China's energy challenges are monumental. The economy is in the midst of a highly energy-intensive stage of growth, but domestic reserves—especially of oil—are far from adequate to meet burgeoning demand.

Cost of Unleashing China's Currency By: William H. Overholt and Pieter Bottelier | The Christian Science Monitor While China's currency may well be undervalued, the fundamental causes of the job losses and the trade deficit actually lie elsewhere. Sometimes solutions that seem like common sense and draw popular support turn out to be ineffective when examined more closely.

A New Battle Front Opens in Pakistan By: Syed Saleem Shahzad | Asia Times
With the Lal Masjid saga all but over now, the second phase in the battle against an "Islamic revolution" has began many kilometers away in the picturesque Swat district in North-West Frontier Province.

N Korea's Military Seeks US Talks BBC News
North Korea's military has called for direct talks with US forces to discuss "peace and security on the Korean peninsula", state media reports.

Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Cooperation: Reprocessing Issue Reconstructed
IPCS

H11 IHT Letter from Europe: Climate change
By JUDY DEMPSEY Chancellor Angela Merkel's reluctance to challenge Germany's powerful energy industry is limiting her campaign to address climate change

EUROPE European press review

A Tradeoff for Peace in Kosovo By: Jonathan Power | The Boston Globe
At last the Western powers are beginning to pull back a little on the vexed question of independence for Kosovo. They haven't gone as far as conceding that Moscow's arguments against independence make a good deal of sense, but they do realize they can't afford to ride roughshod over Russian sensibilities.

A New Battlefield The Economist
The Russians have staved it off for now, but unilateral independence for Kosovo may still be coming.

Time Kosovo Stalemate (Spotlight)

By ANDREW PURVIS

Dangers grow as Kosovo's independence is delayed again

Dutch Treat By: Gerald Robbins | The Weekly Standard
Merging Muslim communities with European societies is a trying task. This is particularly noticed in the Netherlands, where legalized vices and laissez-faire attitudes grapple with finding the right formula to successfully integrate its own Islamic population. Several initiatives have been tried over the last quarter century but with little success.

BBC Mardell's Euroblog
Do young federalists really want a country called Europe?

Breaking the Rushdie Taboo: German Writer Wants to Read 'Satanic Verses' in Cologne Mosque

An Italian Strategy for Relaunching the EU Constitutional Treaty
IAI

Annual review of working conditions in the EU 2006–2007 Source: Eurofound + Full Report (PDF; 820 KB)

H12 RFE/RL Russia Says Abkhazia No Threat To 2014 Olympics

Central Asia: Governments, Banks Gradually Open Up To Islamic Banking

Russia: Moscow Content To Block Kosovo Resolution

Nagorno-Karabakh: Who Will Be The Next President?

Turkmenistan: The End Of Isolationism?

Google News Azerbaijan

EDM AS UKRAINE LOOKS TOWARD NATO, MOSCOW’S MARITIME INTERESTS SHIFT EASTWARD

- RUSSIA LAUNCHES MASSIVE PROGRAM TO DEVELOP BLACK SEA PORTS

- YUSHCHENKO’S MULTI-VECTOR ELECTION STRATEGY

Why Russia and Europe need each other

NYT 'Shadow of the Silk Road' By COLIN THUBRON Reviewed by LORRAINE ADAMS Colin Thubron, the dean of British travel writers, travels on civilization’s oldest and longest road, which isn’t quite a road.

EurasiaNet Urumqi: China’s Economic Hub in Central Asia BY JACK CARINO
Arriving at the Bian Jiang Hotel in the western Chinese city of Urumqi, foreigners tend to be quickly surrounded by a bevy of salesmen and moneychangers. But the men hawking cell phone cards and clamoring to convert currency are not speaking Mandarin, or even Uighur, the language of the Turkic ethnic group indigenous to the area. The first language they try is Russian, increasingly the medium of commerce in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

Plus Gasification of Entire Europe By: Natalya Grib | Kommersant
All major Gazprom’s projects have political underpinning. Sometimes, it makes them look contradictory. For instance, former Gazprom chairman Rem Vyakhirev said in 1998 that the North-European pipeline project was economically unfeasible. Ten years later, the same project, under the new name of Nord Stream, is considered one of the most promising routes to directly link Russia and the EU.

Turkmenistan Personality Cult Lives On Eurasia Net
A few days ago, the silhouette portrait of the deceased Turkmen despot, Saparmurat Niyazov, was unexpectedly removed from the upper corner of state television broadcasts. While it might be tempting to see the disappearance as a harbinger of the dismantling of Turkmenistan's notorious cult of personality, there is plentiful evidence in Ashgabat to suggest otherwise.

H13 The Times Call an election soon Wherever Gordon Brown is in the polls this year, the position is likely to deteriorate Matthew Parris

Leader Time and Politics

There is military progress in Iraq but it has to be sustained for many more months

Muslim heads stuck firmly in the sand

This tendency towards denial is now writ large with the problem of terrorism and Muslims Hassan Butt

Corrupt media tycoon faces 20 years’ behind bars

Brown seeks to mend 'anti-US speech' damage

Gordon Brown has moved to bring his ministers into line over the US special relationship to reassure the White House

Wall Street Journal Diplomat
The first lady never expected to be spending so much time on foreign affairs.
By BRENDAN MINITER

H14 Financial Times Editorial Dollars and sense The last time the dollar was this low against the pound, Americans had just discovered who shot J.R. and the euro was still a gleam in the eye of Jacques Delors.

NATIONAL NEWS: Brown acts to avoid risk to US ties

Baby boom times return for Germany An upturn in the German economy could be one reason for a reversal of the long decline in fertility rates nationally

NATIONAL NEWS: Quartet meeting to discuss Blair role

Editorial Black gets justice, not vengeance The conviction of Conrad Black on counts of fraud and obstruction of justice yesterday was a just verdict in a complex case.

Black guilty of fraud, cleared of racketeering Conrad Black, the British peer who at the height of his power controlled one of the world’s biggest media empires, was facing up to 35 years in jail after being convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice

Rachman Blog: Conrad Black and the filthy rich

Europe warns US over visa plans Coul d scupper last-minute business trips

IEA calls for Opec to increase production Oil demand for 2008 to escalate

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: The resurgent charmer Would the charisma of the resurgent charmer who used to be France’s finance minister work at the IMF?

Spinning around Never mind the clients: the unvarnished truth is that PR professionals need to do a much better PR job on themselves

WORLD NEWS: US warns China over safety of its exports

H15 Los Angeles Times Editorial Missing the benchmarks

Is satisfactory progress on eight out of 18 goals in Iraq justification for prolonging the war?

Clear-Eyed Questions About Iraq By: Rosa Brooks | Los Angeles Times
If we're serious about resolving the Iraq crisis, we need to get away from the rhetoric of sacrifice, cost and responsibility and instead ask clear-eyed questions about our capacities and interests.

GOP senators seek new way out of Iraq

Bush quiets GOP revolt over Iraq

Extremism Gains Ground in Gaza By: Jeffrey Fleishman | Los Angeles Times
Hamas factions and other groups promote a more radical form of Islam.

Iran grants inspectors greater access to reactor

Senate votes to double reward for Bin Laden's capture

Iran's Press TV to give alternative view

H16 American Politics

Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:

American Grit — We can't fire the president right now, so we're waiting it out. — It's been a slow week in a hot era. I found myself Thursday watching President Bush's news conference and thinking about what it is about him, real or perceived, that makes people who used to smile at the mention of his name now grit their teeth.

House rebuffs Bush's appeal for more time for Iraq plan

Curse of Iraq
Why the White House hopes of John McCain look distinctly shaky

Obama Says Clinton War Plan 'Convoluted'...

Skelton urges ISG strategy on Iraq

The race is on: the Republicans

Christopher Lockwood Jul 13 07, 06:00pm: The Republican presidential candidacy is in disarray, but Rudy Giuliani looks like the frontrunner. Does he have the right stuff - or will he get stuffed?

Time Leveling the Praying Field (Cover Story he Democratic front runners are leading their party's crusade to win over religious voters

The Origins of the God Gap (Viewpoint)
Only 30 years ago, the party of Jimmy Carter had religious voters locked up. How it lost this crucial bloc is a story of fear, ignorance and political deafness

realclearpolitics – ABC’s The Note – US News Political Bulletin

Early Bird GovExec Swamp Gas The Swamp

Thomas B. Edsall / Huffington Post:
Strategists Agree: McCain's Only Option Is To Turn His Back On Bush

Weekly Standard Bush Would Rather Fight Than Switch
The president stands by the surge.
by Fred Barnes

H17 Daily Telegraph Special relationship will survive - as before John O'Sullivan explores why the Anglo-American special relationship manages to survive and re-emerge repeatedly in foreign affairs, despite Kosovo and Iraq.

'Wise eminence' must not sow suspicion Sir Mark (soon to be Lord) Malloch Brown calls himself "the wise eminence behind the young Foreign Secretary". We have not witnessed such self-importance since the heyday of Lord Irvine of Lairg.

H18 Independent Robert Fisk: TE Lawrence had it right about Iraq

Leading article: A new Prime Minister and an impressive break with the past

Howard Jacobson: Those who boycott Israeli universities are doing intellectual violence - to themselves

Lord Fraud: Conrad Black faces jail after being convicted on four counts of fraud and obstruction Conrad Black, the former newspaper tycoon whose ownership of The Daily Telegraph won him the keys to the British establishment and a peerage, is facing 20 years in jail in the US after being convicted as a fraudster.

Stephen Glover: The Conrad I knew was not a bad man

Bush pressed on withdrawal of troops Two leading Republican senators demanded that President George Bush seek Congressional approval for the war again and draw up plans to reduce American forces.

'New York Times' journalist killed in Iraq

Musharraf's threat to fight extremists met with scorn

Abbas to form new caretaker government

H19Military Intelligence Terrorism

CRS Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues

Data Mining and Homeland Security: An Overview

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have done for their report, Iraqi Insurgent Media: The War of Images and Ideas. In their 74-page report (pdf)

National Security Archive Secrecy and U.S. Satellite Reconnaissance, 1958-1976
Even at Height of Cold War, U.S. Officials Regularly Argued Internally for More Transparency

Taliban commander warns terror coming...

Why Are So Many Americans in Prison?
IRP

My Cyber Counter-Jihad - Shannen Rossmiller
Before 9/11, I had no experience with the Middle East or the Arabic language. I was a mother of three and a municipal judge in a small town in Montana. In January 2002, I began taking an Arabic language course online for eight weeks from the Cairo-based Arab Academy, supplemented with an intensive Arabic course at the State University of New York at Buffalo. As I learned more Arabic, the jihadi websites opened for me. Certain individuals stood out for either their radicalism or the information that they sent. I followed and tracked these individuals and kept notebooks detailing each website and person of interest.
I created my first terrorist cover identity on the Internet on March 13, 2002, to communicate and interact with these targets. In my first chat room sting, I convinced a Pakistani man that I was an Islamist arms dealer. When he offered to sell me stolen U.S. Stinger missiles to help the jihadists fighting the U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, I used the Persian Gulf dialect of Arabic to ask him to provide me with information that I could use to confirm his claims. Within a couple of weeks, the missile identification numbers were in my computer inbox. (Middle East Quarterly)

H20 Slate

The Geopolitics of World Population Change Source: Center for Strategic & International Studies Full Paper (PDF; 55 KB)

Population, fertility and environment in the 21st century (PDF; 623 KB)
Source: Optimum Population Trust

See also: Too Many People? (American Enterprise Institute)

Bird flu: if or when? Planning for the next pandemic
Source: Postgraduate Medical Journal

H21

Creative destruction was central to his whole idea of a capitalist economy. For Joseph Schumpeter, there was no alternative to it... more»

From Jesus to the Enlightenment to Hitler and Pol Pot, then on to the neocons, utopian thinking has much to answer for. Too much, in John Gray’s new book... more»

Happiness Research and Cost-Benefit Analysis Source: Scholarship at Penn Law Full Paper (PDF; 446 KB)

Obese workers earn less per hour than their thinner colleagues. So why should thin people care a hoot about paying to cure the so-called obesity epidemic?... more»

Fighting Words on Sir Salman

By RACHEL DONADIO Is the newly knighted Salman Rushdie a “dangerous opportunist,” guilty of “elitism” and “insensitivity”? That’s what a few prominent writers said in 1989.

Undercover Economist: Stakes in kidneys

Trading organs for cash is illegal, so how can more be made available for transplant?

WSJ Happy Blogiversary: It's been 10 years since the blog was born

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: In spite of Paxman, the tie will flap again If history tells us anything, it is that when it comes to clothing, the tie is a notable survivor, writes Vanessa Friedman

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