July 29, 2004

France ends split with Sharon on Jews IHT - France on Thursday patched up a dispute over Jewish emigration to Israel, acknowledging in terse but polite terms a conciliatory speech by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister.   "We have seen the statements by the Israeli prime minister paying tribute to France for its determined action in fighting anti-Semitism, action which he said was of exemplary value," said Hervé Ladsous, the spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry. 9:38:03 PM

Pakistan Says Captures 'Most Wanted' Qaeda Man Wired News - Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, said to be a top al Qaeda operative and one of the world's most wanted men, was in custody in Pakistan on Friday for his suspected role in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa. 9:34:18 PM

Early Steps, Maybe, Toward a Democracy in Iraq NYTimes - Whether democracy is really coming to Iraq, or whether it is even possible here, seemed of no immediate concern to Dr. Ahmad Abu-Raghif, a physician in Baghdad. He was game anyway. He showed up at a university hall here on Sunday with a good haircut, a blue suit and a big smile: the outfit of the office-seeker worldwide. He buttonholed 50 people, he said, at the grass-roots caucus, making the pitch for their votes. 9:02:53 AM

Apple: RealNetworks hacked iPod CNN - Apple Computer accused RealNetworks Thursday of adopting the tactics of a hacker and breaking into its popular music player iPod device. 8:57:46 AM

It's time to save Darfur Ottawa Citizen - The Sudanese government made a false promise to protect the people in Darfur, and has threatened guerrilla war if other nations try to help them. Courage must replace patience in dealing with Khartoum. Under the cover of a 21-year civil war, the Arab Islamist government in Khartoum has been using bandit gangs called Janjaweed to drive black people in its western territory from their homes. The gangs are made up of nomads threatened by desertification and who are loyalists of President Omar el-Bashir; the farmers in Darfur have land Mr. el-Bashir wants to give them. The farmers are also Muslim, though not generally Islamists. The United States and Britain are pushing a Security Council resolution to impose trade sanctions, but they're having trouble getting it passed. Pakistan and China, for instance, are hesitant to interfere with Sudan's oil trade, which supplies about 300,000 barrels a day to Asia, partly pumped by a Chinese company. The critics of the war in Iraq, those who said that was all about oil, are silent. France, the great multilateralist, has given just $6 million to a UN fund for Darfur, which Mr. Annan says needs $350 million. (The Americans have found $130 million so far.) 8:55:25 AM

An UN General Assembly proposed resolution for this September would condemn all forms of anti-Semitism and acts of intolerance, incitement and harassment.  It would also call on member countries to take steps to block anti-Semitism. Seems pretty simple, right? Well the Arab delegates are against it. 8:49:41 AM