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Summary: U.S. The New York Times has refused to publish a correction of its false reporting that Venezuelan President Chavez said that Noam Chomsky had died. The Times reported Sept. 21 that Chavez said he regretted not having met Chomsky before his death. As Just Foreign Policy noted in a letter to the Times, a report by Reuters contradicted the Times account, reporting that Chavez expressed his regrets about not having met American economist John Kenneth Galbraith. A report on the web carries footage of the press conference. The failure of the Times to print a timely and forthright correction recalls its promulgation of the myth that Iran's President Ahmedinijad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." Despite being called to account by Persian scholars for its mistranslation of Ahmedinijad's remarks, the Times has never published a correction, although it has since seemed to acknowledge that its translation was controversial.
A review of White House records has determined that CIA director Tenet did brief Condoleezza Rice and other top officials on July 10, 2001, about the looming threat from Al Qaeda, a State Department spokesman said Monday. When details of the meeting emerged last week in a book by Bob Woodward, administration officials questioned Woodward's reporting.
In reporting on Secretary Rice's trip to the Middle East, the Washington Post characterizes the motivations of U.S. policymakers in terms remarkably similar to those used by Iranian officials. The purpose of holding a meeting on Iran's nuclear program, the Post reports, is "to emphasize the growing gap between moderates and militants, " suggesting that the key motivation of U.S. policymakers is to contain Iran politically and reduce the influence of its allies, and the discussion of Iran's nuclear program is chiefly a "wedge issue."
Iran A top Iranian nuclear official proposed Tuesday that France create a consortium to enrich uranium in Iran, saying that could satisfy international demands for outside oversight of Tehran's nuclear program. French officials distanced themselves from the idea.
The Iranian vacation island of Kish is a place where sexes mix and music flows, and where women let slip their head scarves and frolic with their husbands on the gleaming sands, the New York Times reports.
Iraq Faced with unrelenting sectarian killings, Prime Minister Maliki announced a new security plan. Details were vague, and it was not clear how effective it would be in the face of recent unsuccessful attempts to quell the violence, the Times reports.
Palestine The Hamas government has been unable to pay salaries or govern effectively because the US and the EU have cut off aid funds, and Israel has refused to turn over customs and other fees that it collects for the Palestinians, the Times reports. This report much more accurately describes the revenues being withheld by Israel than the recent reporting by Steven Erlanger in the Times.
Egypt Some estimates of the informal sector in Egypt place its share of the economy as high as 60%, the Times reports.
Afghanistan In a stunning critique of the Bush Administration's policy in Afghanistan, Senate Majority Leader Frist called for bringing Taliban supporters into the government, saying he had learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield.
Turkey In Turkey, even after the protest has died out elsewhere, the pope's remarks about Islam remain headline news, the Times reports. The pope is scheduled to visit Turkey in November.
India The New York Times is running a series about problems of access to water in India. The Times fails to mention the role of U.S. corporations in the issue, although the role of the Coca-Cola company has spurred successful efforts by student groups and labor unions to drive Coke off college campuses in the U.S.
Brazil Lula faces a difficult battle for re-election in the second round of voting, the Times reports. The headline suggests that recent scandals have threatened Lula's base, although the article doesn't address this issue at all.
Venezuela Robert Collier reported yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle that Venezuela is spending billions of dollars on anti-poverty programs, in what may be the largest such effort in a developing nation, and is handing a large degree of authority over these spending programs to thousands of elected local councils.
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-------- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org
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