ASIA!

STARTERS

 

On speaking in Thailand

A Thai engineer with a transnational oil company was sentenced to ten years in prison after posting doctored pictures of the Thai King. He was found guilty under the Computer Crimes Act. If he was charged under the lese-majeste laws, he could have received up to 15 years in prison.

An activist group claims Thai authorities have banned some 50,000 websites which feature “pornography, southern Thailand terrorism or articles attacking the high institution”. Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) is offering help to netizens to bypass the bans.

Under new rulings, foreign visa holders – both tourist and business – must disclose if they own a website or intend to post information about Thailand on a website forum or blog. If a visa-holder intends to post material to a website--including internet forums and blogs--the posting must first be approved by the Ministry of Culture.

Pay for your news!

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch got fiesty, as he rallied fellow financially-troubled newspaper owners.

"The question is, should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyright... not steal, but take.”

He wanted them to take back the revenue from the search engine and others who aggregate news content on the web.

 

MAINS

 

The Other Taliban

“Ninety-five percent of the Taliban want to reconcile with the government if they can be assured security."

"But the government of Afghanistan cannot ensure their safety. If they defect to the government, the other Taliban will kill them. They are fighting for their lives."

Mullah Abdul Salam, a former high-ranking Taliban commander and now governor of Musa Qala in southern Helmand province.

Iran lends a hand

Iran is ready to help both in fighting Afghanistan's huge opium trade and in reconstruction of the impoverished state.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the announcement by Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh at an international meeting “promising”.

Forget the Holocaust!

Arab musician is expelled by the Palestinians for performing to Holocaust survivors. Wafa Younis, head of the "Strings of Freedom" orchestra, is lambasted for taking children from the Palestinian Jenin refugee camp to play in Tel Aviv.

Her actions, they said, reminded people of the Holocaust. That, in turn, would help justify the existence of the country of Israel.

The New Israeli Cabinet

Right-wing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu finally forms a coalition government. Here are two noteworthy members.

1. Ehud Barak, Defence Minister.

In 1972, he led a team of 16 Israeli commandos that executed a daring rescue of a Belgian plane flying from Vienna to Tel Aviv, that was hijacked by Palestinian terror group Black September. Netanyahu was one of the 16.

Barak is one of Israel's most decorated soldiers.

2. Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman

In 2007, he said,

"Time and time again our leaders go to Egypt to meet (President Hosni) Mubarak and he has never agreed to make an official visit here as president. If he wants to talk to us, he should come here. If he doesn't want to come here, he can go to hell."

Diplomacy, a la Lieberman?

The Price is Right for Israel?

It is a Likud-led government, headed by Netanyahu. The hawks are in charge, but there may be hope yet.

There is a view that Israeli history shows, the hardliners are the best people to be in government for there to be progress in peace talks.

In 1978, Israel's first peace treaty with her Arab neighbours was signed with Egypt under the premiership of Menachem Begin. Begin was a former leader of the Zionist militant group, the Irgun, which had once terrorised Arab communities before Israel was formed in 1948.

In 1991, Yitzhak Shamir restrained from retaliating against Iraqi Scud missiles that hit Israel and killed civilians. This helped paved the way for the Madrid Peace talks later that year with the Palestinians.

In 1998, it was Netanyahu who turned over most of Hebron to the Palestinians in his first term as prime minister, something his predecessor, the more moderate Yitzhak Rabin tried and failed.

In 2004, Ariel Sharon unilaterally pulled out from the Gaza Strip, evicting all Israelis and turning it over to the Palestinian Authority.

They had all been right-wing prime ministers.

The Palestinian Side

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party meet with Hamas in Egypt for a third round of talks to try to form a unity government. One of the divisive factors: How to deal with Israel.

Fatah wants Hamas to honour peace accords with the Jewish state. Hamas will offer a truce, but for only 15 years.

 

DESSERTS

 

Hidden Desires

Journalists dialling for a conference call with officials accompanying US President Barack Obama to London this week got a sex line instead.

"Do you have any hidden desires?" asked a sultry-sounding woman.

"Well, do you feel like getting nasty? Then you came to the right place -- brought to you by the girls of Swank magazine."

The White House has not explained how it released the wrong number in an email.

Peaches call the shots

As President Obama learnt at a townhall meeting in Strausbourg, France, his name means “peaches” in Hungarian.

Incidentally “peaches” is also the nickname of General David Petraeus, Chief of the US Central Command. (See Day 51 of The Imaginary Factual Journal of General David Petraeus)

 

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, The Bangkok Post, AFP, CNBC