| Monday, October 20, 2003 |  |
| Wealth Doesn't Mean Free Press | 1 comment |
| 20 Oct 2003 @ 23:05 Wealth Doesn't Mean Free Press News24.com 10-20-3 PARIS (AFP) -- The richest countries in the world are not necessarily those with the freest media, and some countries are more respectful of such freedoms at home than abroad, a leading journalists' rights group said on Monday. Releasing its second World Press Freedom Ranking, the Paris-based group Reporters without Borders (RSF) also took the original step of rating some countries by their behaviour in territories under occupation. That left the US-led occupation authorities in Iraq at a mediocre rating of 135 out of 166 - even lower than the rating of 124 for the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein, and way below the ranking of 31 for the United States as a country. In similar vein, the RSF report put Israel at number 146 for its actions in the Palestinian territories, as against a ranking of 44 for Israel on its home turf. The report, based on a poll of journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists, put four northern European countries - Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway - at the top of its list, running neck and neck as the countries judged to have the freest press. North Korea was listed at the bottom, ranking 166 out of 166. Cuba was ranked second to worst at 165, and the report described the country as "the world's biggest prison for journalists." China was near the bottom, at 161. Selected rankings: 1 (tied) Finland, Iceland, The Netherlands and Norway (0.50 points) 5 (tied) Denmark, Trinidad and Tobago (1.00) 7 Belgium (1.17) 8 Germany (1.33) 9 Sweden (1.50) 10 Canada (1.83) 11 Latvia (2.25) 12 (tied) Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia, Switzerland (2.50) 16 Austria (2.75) 17 (tied) Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand (2.83) 20 Slovenia (3.00) 26 France (4.17) 27 United Kingdom (4.25 31 United States (American territory) (6.00) 44 (tied) Israel (Israeli territory), Japan (8.00) 49 South Korea (9.17) 50 Australia (9.25) 53 Italy (9.75) 56 Hong-Kong (11.00) 71 Brazil (16.75) 74 Mexico (17.67) 79 Kenya (18.50) 103 Nigeria (31.50) 104 Malaysia (32.00) 108 Algeria (33.00) 110 Egypt, Indonesia (34.25) 115 Turkey (35.00) 122 United Arab Emirates, Jordan (37.00) 124 Iraq (37.50) 128 India, Pakistan (39.00) 130 Palestinian Authority (39.25) 134 Afghanistan (40.17) 135 United States of America (in Iraq) (41.00) 141 Zimbabwe (45.50) 146 Israel (Occupied Territories) (49.00) 147 Colombia (49.17) 148 Russia (49.50) 149 Tunisia (50.83) 150 Nepal (51.50) 151 Belarus (52.00) 152 Oman (57.75) 153 Libya (60.00) 154 Uzbekistan (61.50) 155 Syria (67.50) 156 Saudi Arabia (71.50) 157 Bhutan (77.33) 158 Turkmenistan (82.83) 159 Vietnam (89.17) 160 Iran (89.33) 161 China (91.25) 162 Eritrea (91.50) 163 Laos (94.83) 164 Myanmar (formerly Burma) (95.50) 165 Cuba (97.83) 166 North Korea (99.50) copyright Media24 Ltd. All rights reserved. More > |
| The Beatles, Let it Be... Naked | 0 comments |
| 20 Oct 2003 @ 22:45 The Beatles, Let it Be... Naked 5 stars EMI It could have been another McCartney vanity project. But, says John Harris, stripping away Spector's production and ditching a couple of tracks has let the final album shine at last John Harris Sunday October 19, 2003 The Observer We'll begin with a nauseating name-drop. I first heard official word about Let it Be... Naked back in February, when I was interviewing Ringo Starr in a South Kensington restaurant. He was making his way through a dressing-free salad, sipping mineral water and attempting to promote a solo album entitled Ringo Rama ; I, of course, was set on gently nudging the conversation towards The Beatles. With commendable grace, he soon resigned himself to the inevitable: we talked about the DVD release of the Anthology series, and then he tipped me the wink about his and Paul McCartney's next enterprise: the release of a new version of the Beatles album that was salvaged from miles of abandoned tape by Phil Spector and released as their last(ish) word in May 1970. 'It's the de-Spectorised version,' said Ringo. 'Cleaned up a little. Same tracks, same people.' He emitted a confident, though slightly forced laugh. 'I've been listening to it, and it's really great. It fills my heart with joy to hear that band that I was a member of. They were just great.' At this point, I think I nodded vigorously, keen to make it clear that I too thought The Beatles were quite a tidy act. 'Paul was always totally opposed to Phil,' he went on, 'and I told him on the phone, "You're bloody right again: it sounds great without Phil." Which it does. Now we'll have to put up with him telling us over and over again, "I told you."' It was at this point that I decided to bring up Spector's syrupy treatment of 'The Long and Winding Road' - which caused McCartney no end of annoyance - and remind Ringo that one of the alleged reasons he had so smothered the song was to cover up the fact that John Lennon's bass part was a plunky, out-of-tune disgrace. Ringo put his cheery bonhomie on temporary hold and looked rather irritated. 'Well, people say a lot of things,' he said. 'And even playing out of tune, he played better than most.' This is not strictly true. If you go back to Spector's arrangement, which grafts strings, horns and a choir on to what sounds like a demo, you hear Lennon indulging in something close to musical sabotage. How could stripping it all back do anything other than blow the gaff? Moreover, wasn't this the ultimate Paul McCartney vanity project - thumbs-aloft's belated attempt to pull off what his colleagues had long denied him? That lunchtime, however, was not the best setting for such harumphing. It Gets Better, Click for More > |
| Bush's 'Spirit' Cursed, Tossed Into Thai River | 2 comments |
| 20 Oct 2003 @ 22:40 Bush's 'Spirit' Cursed, Tossed Into Thai River 10-20-3 (AFP) -- The spirit of US President George W Bush has been trapped in a clay pot and tossed into a river in northern Thailand after being cursed by hundreds of farmers protesting US agriculture policy. A photograph of the US leader was sealed inside a pot amid black magic mantra chants, then tossed into the Ping River on Friday by demonstrators after they rallied at the US consulate in Chiang Mai, a farm group leader said. "This is a traditional northern Thai ceremony aimed at keeping his spirit down on the riverbed so he could not come and exploit our natural resources or suppress our (farming) brothers with his superior influence," Weerasak Wan-ubol, an executive of the Northern Farmers Alliance, said today. The 300 protesters, claiming to represent 20,000 members from seven northern provinces, railed against imminent plans for a free-trade agreement between Thailand and the United States. The act was also a protest against Washington's military intervention in sovereign nations, the Bangkok Post reported. A respected elder performed the voodoo rites, inscribing ancient Khmer scripts on the pot, aimed at trapping the spirit of the US president. © 2003 The Sydney Morning Herald More > |