via NYT > Editorials by on 2/13/12
China, Russia and India are resisting international action against Syria and Iran.
February 14, 2012
The Enablers
China, Russia and India see themselves as global leaders. So why have they been enabling two dangerous regimes, Syria and Iran, to continue on destructive paths?
On Tuesday, President Bashar al-Assad showed again his willingness to use brutal force to crush the pro-democracy opposition. He brushed aside stinging criticism by Navi Pillay, the top United Nations human rights official, and resumed the shelling of the city of Homs. The government has barred independent reporting for most of the yearlong unrest, but activists said rockets and tank shells had pummeled the city.
The violence has gotten worse in the 11 days since Russia and China vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution, sponsored by the Arab League, calling for a peaceful transfer of power. India was on the right side that day, voting for the resolution. But, for months, it had worked to block action. The resolution was no panacea, but, if it had passed, it would have sent a compelling message of international solidarity against Mr. Assad and the elites who keep him in power.
Many Syrian deaths later, China may be reconsidering its stance. As an oil-hungry nation, it could not have failed to hear the rebuke issued to China and Russia on Friday by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for opposing the resolution. “We are going through scary days and unfortunately what happened at the United Nations is absolutely regrettable,” he said.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China, speaking at a European-China summit meeting in Beijing, said, “What is most urgent and pressing now is to prevent war and chaos” in Syria. There is no evidence Russia has had similar second thoughts, but China is showing renewed interest in working with the Arab League. Beijing’s shift could shame Moscow into reconsidering its support for Mr. Assad, and approving United Nations action, including sanctions.
China and India are also hampering the effort to ratchet up sanctions on Iran even as penalties imposed by the Security Council, the United States and the European Union appear to be affecting Iran’s economy and politics. (The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is expected to announce on Wednesday that a new uranium enrichment plant is fully operational.)
China cut its purchases of Iranian oil this year and secured alternative supplies from Russia and Saudi Arabia. But it is still a major purchaser. India is also still buying and is now Iran’s biggest oil customer. Because of American sanctions, these deals are not as lucrative as they could be for Iran.
The two countries’ need for oil is real, but they should take full advantage of Saudi Arabia’s offer to ramp up production to offset any losses from Iran. The International Energy Agency says there is enough oil supply worldwide to prevent a price shock from an embargo.
We do not know if sanctions can force Iran to give up its nuclear program or force it to negotiate a compromise deal. But the international community is finally at a moment when serious sanctions are in place and beginning to bite. Iran is finding it hard to pay for food imports and has resorted to bartering. It’s time for Russia, China and India (which desperately wants a Security Council seat) to meet the test of leadership.
That means all three need to work to find ways to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions. For Russia and China, it means standing against Mr. Assad’s siege on his people.
Op-Ed Contributor: Putin’s Critics Hit Big With YouTube
via NYT > Global Opinion by By SAMUEL RACHLIN on 2/16/12
Putin and his supporters should spend more time watching Russian YouTube to understand what's really brewing in the country.
February 15, 2012
www.putin.skewered
By SAMUEL RACHLIN
The problem that Vladimir Putin and his team face is that they, quite simply, just don’t get it — they’re stuck back in the U.S.S.R. while an important and growing slice of Russia has moved firmly into the 21st century and, with tongue in cheek, is humming the latest YouTube hit: “Our madhouse votes for Putin / Our madhouse is happy with Putin.”
When a political leader becomes the laughing stock of such a huge share of his country’s 142 million people, he should start paying attention.
Some of the strongest acts on Russia’s YouTube are bands and performers who have taken rock, rap, parody and satire to a new level in Russia’s political culture, delivering their anti-government messages with irony and biting humor.
A shining leader among them is Rabfak, the band behind the now famous lines “Our madhouse votes for Putin.” Led by the songwriter Alexander Yellin and the guitarist-singer Alexander Semyonov, the band has released a string of outrageous and hilarious political songs.
Their madhouse patient complains that everything is so complicated and screwed up, but nobody cares to clean up the mess. He asks why there is such fraud, neglect and debauchery everywhere. For an answer, he gets an injection in his behind.
The Internet crowd loved the song and its madhouse metaphor — its directness and its absurdity. So much so, they voted it the best song in a YouTube competition announced by Aleksei Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger and one of the organizers of the recent demonstrations.
Pro-Kremlin bloggers are not sitting on their hands, and have created YouTube videos of their own. Some claim the opposition is plotting a coup concocted by Hillary Clinton. One is a scary apocalyptic vision of Russia without Putin: a country torn apart by civil strife with opposition leaders, nationalists and separatists at each others’ throats and citizens overwhelmed by refugees, war and famine.
But in terms of popularity and artistic creativity, YouTube belongs to singers and rappers who have rallied against Putin, President Dmitri Medvedev and their party, United Russia — the “party of crooks and thieves,” as it is labeled by bloggers, speakers and singers alike.
One of the other songs from Navalny’s competition, “A Song about Bears,” shows an image of Putin being transformed into Dobby, one of the elf characters from the Harry Potter films. Dobby is a recurring figure in songs by rappers who also like to show Putin with the hair and mustache of Hitler. Seemingly there are no boundaries for free speech on the Russian Web.
Since the dissidents of the ’70s and ’80s, Russia has not heard such daring voices reflecting the mood and misgivings of the nation. The difference is that today’s singers and bands have millions of listeners on the Web. Rabfak’s songs alone have received more than 4 million views. Other groups show similar numbers, and their Web audience has embraced them with likes, shares and LOLs, spreading the message in tweets and retweets.
In another hit, “A Cross for Everyone,” Rabfak displays a generous use of four letter words along with a play on words: the cross that voters use to mark their ballots and the Russian idiom, to “put a cross” on someone, meaning to take him out.
The words are put into the mouth of a regular voter, Ivan Nobody, who is fed up with all the candidates. Over images of the political leaders, he makes fun of how they try to charm him to get his vote. “A cross for everyone, a cross for everyone,” he declares.
In their newest YouTube song, “A New Song about Truth,” Rabfak mixes images of Moscow protesters with images from the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement.
Rabfak is knocking on the Kremlin’s door. Maybe Putin and his supporters should spend more time watching YouTube to understand what’s really brewing in their country.
Samuel Rachlin, a journalist and writer based in Washington, is a former Moscow correspondent for Danish TV.
Letter: Russia’s Veto on Syria
via NYT > Opinion Sun. 1pm by on 2/15/12
A Human Rights First official calls for sanctions against Russia for providing arms to Syria.
February 15, 2012
Russia’s Veto on Syria
To the Editor:
Re “Iran’s Achilles’ Heel” (Op-Ed, Feb. 8): While the Syrian regime methodically goes about the business of killing, arbitrarily detaining and torturing its citizens, Efraim Halevy explains Russia’s veto of Security Council action with the observation that “Russia simply wishes to maintain its access to Syria’s Mediterranean ports in Tartus and Latakia and to remain a major arms supplier to Damascus.” Access to ports, O.K. — but supplying arms?
Fortunately, even most casual observers recognize the link between the Syrian government’s atrocities and its enablers, including Russia. The United States may have little influence over the Assad regime, but it does have leverage with Russia. It must use that leverage to promote policies that increase the cost to Russia and others that enable the continuing Syrian atrocities.
More targeted sanctions against Russian companies that provide arms to the murderous regime are an immediate course of action that the Treasury should pursue.
GABOR RONA
International Legal Director
Human Rights First
New York, Feb. 10, 2012
Aggressive Acts by Iran Signal Pressure on Its Leadership
via NYT > Business Day by By SCOTT SHANE and ROBERT F. WORTH on 2/16/12
A flurry of actions and statements by Iran this week suggest its leaders are responding frantically, and more unpredictably, to the tightening of sanctions by the West.
DealBook: Moody's Unveils Broad Ratings Review of Major Banks
via NYT > Business Day by By JULIA WERDIGIER on 2/16/12
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, UBS and more than 100 other financial institutions might have their credit ratings cut by Moody's Investors Service because of increasingly challenging market conditions.
Europe Steps Up Talks With China on Its Market Status
via NYT > Business Day by By KEITH BRADSHER on 2/16/12
The trade issue is important because Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China has linked it to the question of whether the country would help bail out the European Union.
Federal Reserve Unlikely to Buy More Assets
via NYT > Business Day by By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM on 2/15/12
Minutes of the Jan. 24-25 meeting of the policy group show that the central bank continued to predict only modest economic growth this year.
David Cameron to Deliver Speech Against Scottish Independence
via NYT > Global Home by By JOHN F. BURNS and ALAN COWELL on 2/16/12
Prime Minister David Cameron’s address in Edinburgh on Thursday is seen here as the first, sparring bout of a longer battle over a referendum on Scottish independence.
Karzai Arrives in Pakistan to Discuss Afghan Peace Talks
via NYT > Global Home by By ALISSA J. RUBIN on 2/16/12
President Hamid Karzai’s visit on Thursday came just after he announced that his government, with the United States, had begun face-to-face talks with the Taliban.
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Karzai Says Afghanistan Has Joined Talks With Taliban
via NYT > Global Home by By ALISSA J. RUBIN on 2/16/12
President Hamid Karzai said talks between Afghanistan, the Taliban and the United States were underway, signaling the end of a longstanding objection to face-to-face discussions.
Why Obama Will Embrace the 99 Percent
via NYT > Magazine by By NATE SILVER on 2/15/12
Any Republican who cannot connect with the white working class is going to have trouble in the Electoral College.
Op-Ed Contributor: This War Is Not Over Yet
via NYT > Opinion Sun. 1pm by By MARY L. DUDZIAK on 2/15/12
President Obama can’t have it both ways: if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are ending, the detention of enemy prisoners without charges must end, too.
Letter: Russia’s Veto on Syria
via NYT > Opinion Sun. 1pm by on 2/15/12
A Human Rights First official calls for sanctions against Russia for providing arms to Syria.
Op-Ed Contributor: Putin’s Critics Hit Big With YouTube
via NYT > Global Opinion by By SAMUEL RACHLIN on 2/16/12
Putin and his supporters should spend more time watching Russian YouTube to understand what's really brewing in the country.
Letter: Recalling J.F.K.'s Dark Side
via NYT > Global Opinion by on 2/16/12
It's one thing to admit to an affair with the president of the United States, but it's another thing to go into detail about J.F.K.'s dark side.
From the International Herald Tribune: 100, 75, 50 Years Ago
via NYT > Global Opinion by on 2/16/12
Highlights from the IHT archives.
International Real Estate: Real Estate in Nicaragua
via NYT > Real Estate by By ALISON GREGOR on 2/15/12
The financial crisis hit hard enough to cut some house prices in half.
Property Values: What You Get for ... $475,000
via NYT > Real Estate by By MIKE POWELL on 2/15/12
A lodge-style house in Portland, Ore., a condo in Chicago and a house in Miami.
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Letter: Internet Piracy
via NYT > Global Opinion by on 2/15/12
The Consumer Electronics Association responds to an Op-Ed essay by a recording executive about Internet piracy.
Letters: Rich and Poor: The Education Gap
via NYT > Opinion Sun. 1pm by on 2/15/12
Readers respond to a front-page article, “Poor Dropping Further Behind Rich in School.”
The 6th Floor Blog: The Middle Class Sours on Benefits, Too
via NYT > Magazine by By MATT BAI on 2/13/12
If you read Sunday's Times and got further than the magazine (and our maddening crossword puzzle with too many French words in it), then you may have noticed a terrific article on the role of government in the lives of some middle-class Americans who nonetheless disdain it.
How Companies Learn Your Secrets
via NYT > Magazine by By CHARLES DUHIGG on 2/16/12
Your shopping habits reveal even the most personal information — like when you’re going to have a baby.
Olympic Ban on Saudi Arabia Is Urged Over Lack of Female Athletes
via NYT > Home Page by By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY on 2/16/12
The International Olympic Committee should make Saudi Arabia send female athletes to the London Olympics, a human rights group says, or it should be prohibited from competing.
Maryland Gay Marriage Faces Black Skepticism
via NYT > Global Home by By SABRINA TAVERNISE on 2/16/12
Supporters of a Maryland same-sex marriage bill are making a broad attempt to win over African-Americans, a demographic that has traditionally been skeptical about marriage equality.
Havana Journal: Real Estate Fever Spreads in Cuba
via NYT > Global Home by By VICTORIA BURNETT on 2/16/12
Cubans are injecting money into real estate, spurred by government measures to stimulate construction and a new law that allows property trades for the first time in 50 years.
State of the Art: Reviewing Pinterest, the Newest Social Media Site
via NYT > Global Home by By DAVID POGUE on 2/15/12
Time to make time for another social network. Pinterest is a free Web pinboard for any photos that you want to share.
Another Victory for Marriage Equality
via NYT > Editorials by on 2/8/12
Good news on same-sex marriage from California and Washington adds some critical momentum to votes scheduled for next week in the New Jersey Legislature.
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Still Secret After 30 Years?
via NYT > Editorials by on 2/10/12
An internal C.I.A. report on how the intelligence community decided that “yellow rain” was a chemical weapon should be made public.
His Eminence in Denial
via NYT > Editorials by on 2/12/12
A now retired Cardinal Edward Egan renounced the courageous apology he gave in 2002 for the church’s failure to deal with priests who abused children.
Pursuit of the Whistle-Blowers
via NYT > Editorials by on 2/13/12
A federal lawsuit raises disturbing questions about whether the F.D.A. retaliated against employees for trying to warn Congress about unsafe medical devices.
In Philadelphia, Papers’ Editorial Independence at Issue
via NYT > Business Day by By AMY CHOZICK and DAVID CARR on 2/15/12
A proposed sale to a group composed of the region’s most powerful Democrats is pitting newspaper management against the newsroom.
For London Youth, Down and Out Is Way of Life
via NYT > Business Day by By LANDON THOMAS Jr. on 2/16/12
The lack of opportunity is feeding a mounting alienation and anger among young people across Europe, threatening to poison the aspirations of a generation.
Former Executives and Bankers Arrested Over Olympus Fraud
via NYT > Business Day by By REUTERS on 2/16/12
Three former executives of disgraced medical equipment and camera maker Olympus Corp were arrested on Thursday over their role in a $1.7 billion accounting fraud, one of Japan's biggest corporate scandals.
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Reuters
via Puerto Rico News's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News on 2/14/12
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Reuters
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Reuters
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testingReutersBy Terry Baynes (Reuters) - Puerto Rican residents lost a bid on Tuesday to force the US government to recognize the health effects on the local population of testing of weapons and experimenting with chemicals on the island of Vieques for decades.and more »
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Chicago Tribune
via Puerto Rico News's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News on 2/14/12
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Chicago Tribune
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Chicago Tribune
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testingChicago TribuneBy Terry Baynes Feb 14 (Reuters) - Puerto Rican residents lost a bid on Tuesday to force the US government to recognize the health effects on the local population of testing of weapons and experimenting with chemicals on the island of Vieques for ...Court shields US military from health suitThomson Reuters News & Insightall 2 news articles »
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Chicago Tribune
via Puerto Rico News's Facebook Wall by Puerto Rico News on 2/14/12
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Chicago Tribune
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testing - Chicago Tribune
US court dismisses Puerto Ricans' suit over arms testingChicago Tribune(Reuters) - Puerto Rican residents lost a bid on Tuesday to force the US government to recognize the health effects on the local population of testing of weapons and experimenting with chemicals on the island of Vieques for decades.and more »
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