Top headlines from tomorrow's World Media Watch(inc Canada going after US)

[Gloria]

Full excerpts and links up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR AUGUST 24, 2005

1//The Daily Star, Lebanon--WITH EYES ON IRAQ, ARABS FEAR SPREAD OF FEDERALISM (As Kurds and Shiites in Iraq push for a federal constitution, fears are rising in the Arab world that the urge to create separate states could spread in countries with religious and ethnic minorities, analysts said. When minority groups feel oppressed or deem that their rights are restricted by the centralized states in which they live, they are drawn to notions of autonomy or federalism so that they can better exercise their rights, Arab experts said. Therefore, the Arab world is keeping a close eye on the outcome of demands for a federalist Iraq as it creates its first constitution since the fall of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein, said Nabil Abdel-Fattah, an analyst from Cairo's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "The result of the fight - between Sunnis who are against federalism in Iraq and Kurds who are for it - will have a decisive influence on how other countries' crises play out, from west of Asia to the Middle East and Iran," he said. ... . The trend toward federalism, if it catches on, could incite minorities - from Berbers in North Africa to various ethnic and religious groups in Lebanon to the sizable Kurdish populations in Syria, Turkey and Iran - to seek their own states, said Hassan al-Barari, a researcher at Amman's Center for Strategic Studies. "In developing countries, federalism amounts to a step toward splitting up," Barari said. … . "the federalism bug, if it takes hold in Iraq, will spread fatally to complex societies like Lebanon, where each community is going to demand it, saying it is necessary to defend their own interests," Barari said.)



2//The Telegraph, UK--VENEZUELA VOWS TO HELP CASTRO REPEL US “LORD OF WAR” (President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has launched a blistering tirade against the United States, describing President George W Bush as the "lord of war". Mr Chavez also pledged to send troops to the aid of President Fidel Castro if Washington ever dared to order an invasion of Cuba. He sat beside Dr Castro following a summit meeting in western Cuba, as the two men used a six-hour live broadcast on Sunday night to set out their plans for the region and to condemn Washington's foreign policy. Mr Chavez, apparently responding to accusations by Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, that he was funding anti-democratic movements in Latin America, hit back, saying: "The grand destroyer of the world and the greatest threat … is represented by US imperialism. "The truth is that they are the great destabilisers in the region." … . In the meantime, Cuba and Venezuela have found numerous non-military schemes to confound the Americans. The two leaders recently launched Telesur, a regional satellite station which Rght-wing US critics have branded "Latin America's al-Jazeera". Cuba has been given substantial quantities of cheap oil by Caracas and, in return, has dispatched a fifth of its doctors to Venezuela's poorer neighbourhoods. Mr Chavez will travel on today to Jamaica, where he will sign a deal providing cheap oil to the island.)



3//The Toronto Star, Canada--ESCALATING TRADE WAR OVER SOFTWOOD LOOMS (The federal government hinted at an escalating trade war today as two senior cabinet ministers warned of potential tariffs on American exports in retaliation for U.S. policies on softwood lumber.Trade Minister Jim Peterson is identifying areas where Canadian tariffs could put maximum pressure on the U.S. economy with minimal damage domestically, two of his cabinet colleagues said. One federal minister used a Canadian sports analogy to describe the federal government's willingness to retaliate against its NAFTA partner. "I have a background from my younger days in hockey. When somebody slammed you into the boards with undue force and aggression, you took their number," Industry Minister David Emerson said in a scrum. "I think we've got to take their number." … . Emerson said Ottawa is trying to "identify a number of products where a tariff on American exports into Canada can be applied without serious damage to the Canadian economy and, hopefully, with maximum impact in the U.S. "The idea is a wakeup call ")



4//The Daily Times, Pakistan--NUCLEAR BLACK MARKET: WESTERN COMPANIES LET OFF: KASURI (Pakistan uncovered the involvement of Western companies in the nuclear black market that Dr AQ Khan operated in, but the US and UK have taken no action against them, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri has said. The US and Britain blacklisted 290 people who helped former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein build his nuclear set up, but they have not been touched, Kasuri said in an interview with the BBC Hard Talk programme.)

5//The Manila Times, Philippines--IMPEACH TRY SET BACK (Lawmakers backing an attempt to impeach President Arroyo for alleged vote-rigging suffered a setback Tuesday when they lost an initial vote on how to handle impeachment complaints. Voting 54-24 with three abstentions, the House of Representatives Committee on Justice decided that “prejudicial questions” preclude it from immediately hearing the three complaints against her. Opposition legislators believe the vote is a prelude to the committee’s eventually deciding to hear what is believed to be the weakest complaint, even though the opposition has threatened a walkout if it does. … . Opposition Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano said the vote would allow the Arroyo camp to further delay the impeachment proceedings. “I think it’s more of a setback for the Filipino people,” he said. We can expect massive delays. We can expect additional questions instead of going straight to the question” whe­ther Mrs. Arroyo can be impeached, Cayetano said. … . What is seen as the weakest complaint is the one filed by the lawyer Oliver Lozano alleging she betrayed public trust through vote fraud.)