New World Media Watch....stories you won't read in the US press

[Gloria]

The full WMW is up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com

WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR MARCH 4, 2005


1//KurdishMedia.com, UK--SHIITES PRESSURE KURDS ON GOVERNMENT (Senior Kurdish official and interim deputy prime minister Barham Saleh told AFP that the Shiite list was putting heavy pressure on the Kurds…With the bartering in full swing, a senior Kurdish official in Baghdad, Sadoun Shafi of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said the new government might be announced next week. Jaafari’s deputy Jawad al-Maliky and Ahmed Chalabi, a onetime Pentagon favourite now on the Shiite list, warned that the 275-member national assembly would open next week with or without an agreement on the government line-up. "People have voted for this list and they are waiting for this parliament to meet," Chalabi told AFP, adding that the assembly can convene if 20 percent of members request this. In a sign of moderation, Chalabi, who backed the dissolution of Saddam’s army and purging Baathists from government, said he was now in favour of talks with insurgents to try to stop the violence. "We have already started this process, we are meeting with people who want to fight occupation," said Chalabi. It was the latest evolution for the political survivor who fell out of favour with his US backers last May over suspicion of leaking intelligence to Iran and is wanted in Jordan on fraud charges.)



2//The Moscow Times, Russia--ROSNEFT, GAZPROM IN AN OPEN BATTLE (Rosneft battled publicly over the terms of its merger with Gazprom on Thursday in unprecedented infighting over economic spoils that could threaten President Vladimir Putin's plans to build a national energy behemoth and could shake the unity of his administration…The standoff, if continued, could derail Putin's plans to forge a major national energy champion through the merger of Gazprom and Rosneft, in a deal long awaited by the market that would also lift barriers to greater foreign ownership of Gazprom shares. If Putin fails to rein in Rosneft, the conflict could end up posing a threat to political stability and raise questions over whether Putin is in control.)



RELATED: 3 POLLS INDICATE SLIDE IN PUTIN’S POPULARITY (President Vladimir Putin's approval rating has sunk to one of its lowest levels over painful social reforms that kicked off in January, according to three new opinion polls.)



3//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--CHINA’S PEARL IN PAKISTAN’S WATERS (When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Pakistan this month to inaugurate the Gwadar deepsea port, China will take a giant leap forward in gaining a strategic foothold in the Persian Gulf region. It will advance what a recent Pentagon report describes as Beijing's "string of pearls" strategy that aims to project Chinese power overseas and protect China's energy security at home…A presence in Gwadar provides China with a "listening post" where it can "monitor US naval activity in the Persian Gulf, Indian activity in the Arabian Sea and future US-Indian maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean", writes Haider. A recent report titled "Energy Futures in Asia" produced by defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton for the Pentagon notes that China has already set up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar, which are monitoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea.)



4//The Daily Times, Pakistan--BENAZIR WON’T RETURN TO CONTEST 2007 ELECTIONS: SHEIKH RASHID (Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said on Thursday that Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto would not return to Pakistan in 2007 to contest the general elections. Giving an interview to a private television channel, he said Benazir had to face legal proceedings and there was a case pending against her in a Swiss court. He also said she had no role in politics…The information minister admitted to the contact between the government and Benazir. However, he gave no details, but said it would be in Pakistan’s interest if the deal went through.)



RELATED: BENAZIR MIGHT MEET RICE TODAY (The source said Benazir’s meeting with Rice would change Pakistan’s political situation.)



5//The Daily Star, Lebanon--KUWAITI HARD-LINE ISLAMISTS TARGET WOMEN’S RIGHTS (Kuwait's hard-line Islamists, citing foreign interference, have embarked on a counteroffensive in the face of a determined government-led drive to grant disenfranchised women their suffrage. The anti-women rights campaign kicked off late Tuesday with a public rally hosted by tribal Islamist lawmaker Daifallah Buramya under the slogan that "based on Islamic Sharia law, women have no political rights." Buramya vowed to oppose a government-sponsored draft law that would grant women the right to vote and run for public office, citing fatwas, or religious edicts, that prohibit participation of Muslim women in politics.)

[Maple]

1. Er.....links?

Anything?

[Gloria]

2. The links are at the main site (URL given)....

this is the summary section. Full excerpts and links for each article are listed on the main page