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Of all books published in the United States, he says, only 2.8% are translations from other languages,
Of all books published in the United States, he says, only 2.8% are
translations from other languages, and no translated book has reached the US bestseller lists for years. The figure for Britain is similar. In Germany, however, the figure is a whopping 40%. [com-news] Radio Havana Cuba Sep 23 Radio Havana Cuba Sep 23 http://www.radiohc.cu/homeing.htm Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque Meets with World Leaders at United Nations United Nations, September 23 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque is meeting with representatives of UN member-states as part of his agenda at the United Nations General Assembly. The island's top diplomat and head of Cuba's delegation has met with his counterparts from Sudan, Algeria, Rwanda, Egypt, Eastern Timor, Nepal, the Democratic Republic of Korea and Bahrain. Discussions centered on topics of bilateral interest and issues related to the current session of the UN General Assembly, which began Tuesday. The Cuban delegation also held a meeting with Jean Ping, UN General Assembly President and Gabon's foreign minister on matters related to reform of the United Nations. Felipe Pérez Roque also took part in the Meeting of World Leaders on Actions to Fight Hunger and Poverty earlier this week, called by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. US House of Representatives Votes to Remove Travel and Trade Restrictions on Cuba Washington, September 23 (RHC)-- Just one day after voting to deny government funding for implementation of new restrictions on family travel to Cuba, the US House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to remove barriers to agricultural sales and student exchanges to Cuba. However, political analysts on Capitol Hill say that, as in the past, legislative actions to eliminate sanctions imposed on Cuba for more than 40 years will not be successful, given the determination of the George W. Bush administration to further tighten Washington's blockade against the island. The White House is currently threatening to veto the 90 billion dollar Transportation and Treasury Department appropriations bill if it contains any language to weaken sanctions imposed on Cuba. The bill for fiscal 2005 programs passed on Wednesday by a vote of 397-12. Congressional representatives approved two amendments to the bill related to Cuba. The first, introduced by Democratic Representative Maxine Waters from California, would make it easier to sell agricultural products, medicine and medical supplies to Cuba. Sales of healthcare products have been legal since 1992, and cash-only sales of food products were legalized in 2000, but restrictions on commercial financing and credit guarantees have discouraged exports. The second amendment, sponsored by Representative Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, prohibits funds to enforce regulations promulgated June 30 this year that erect obstacles to American student programs in Cuba. She told her colleagues in the House of Representatives that the rules are "just plain undemocratic and punitive and simply don't make sense for Americans." The legislation now goes to a House-Senate conference committee, where a final version will be negotiated. It is there that analysts believe the Cuba-related language will "disappear" -- as congressional representatives remove any amendments that may endanger its passing. Last year, similar legislation faced a certain White House veto. At the last minute, Republican congressional leaders took out the provisions related to Cuba in order not to 'embarrass' Bush by forcing him to use his first and only veto. United Nations Official Praises Local Human Development Programs in Cuba Santiago de Cuba, September 23 (RHC)-- United Nations Coordinator and National Human Development Program Representative in Cuba, Bruno Moro, has praised the island's achievements in human development programs. Addressing participants at the International Workshop on Local Human Development in municipalities of fragile ecosystems, the UN official noted that the local human development program in Cuba is very effective and works with eight countries and more than 200 organizations. Bruno Moro told the delegates that "Cuba is an example in this field, particularly some new initiatives that could be extended to other countries." The United Nations official also praised the island's strong institutionalization of programs that facilitate continuity of these policies. The three-day international workshop opened Wednesday in Santiago de Cuba. Among the participants are delegates from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, El Salvador and Guatemala. The agenda includes issues related to local development, international collaboration, mechanisms, methods and municipal management, participation and technological alternatives. The workshop is sponsored by the Cuban Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, the Canadian Agency for International Development, the non-governmental organization Alternative, the United Nations Development Program and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences. Mexican and Cuban Legislators Work to Improve Bilateral Relations Havana, September 23 (RHC)-- Cuban and Mexican legislators began working to improve bilateral relations at the 7th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting on Wednesday. The meeting officially opened at the Hotel Nacional with the participation of ten Mexican senators and six congressional representatives, representing six political parties. Eight deputies from Cuba's Parliament -- known as the National Assembly of People's Power -- were also taking part in the meeting. At the opening ceremony, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón urged participants to improve fraternal relations between the two countries based on honest dialogue among true friends. On Thursday, the legislators discussed ways to improve bilateral relations and exchanged information and experiences on their respective congressional duties. During the final day of the meeting tomorrow, Friday, the Cuban and Mexican lawmakers will discuss participation in international parliamentary bodies and approve a Final Declaration. In Washington, Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi Tries to Convince Doubting Voters That Things Are Getting Better in His Occupied Country Washington, September 23 (RHC) - Addressing Thursday a joint session of the US Congress, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi tried to convince doubting American voters that things are getting better in his occupied, violence-ridden country. In an appearance that many news reports asserted was an effort by advisers to President Bush to take the sting out of recent criticism of the administration's management of the Iraq situation, Allawi told Congress that despite struggles and setbacks "the values of liberty and democracy" are taking hold. Allawi's visit comes as troop casualties and civilian kidnappings in Iraq have increased, large parts of the country have come under the control of insurgents and doubts have surfaced at the United Nations that democratic elections can be held in January as planned. Bush has admitted that the importance he sees in Allawi's visit lies largely in the opportunity for the Iraqi leader to reinforce for Americans the president's own confident assessment of Iraq. But an assessment of Iraq's future put together recently by US intelligence officials spoke of possibilities ranging from tenuous stability to civil war, and even some GOP senators have said there is a need for more candid talk from the White House. Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the administration should spend less time staging an attractive photo opportunity and more time adopting a realistic view of the challenges ahead. Cordesman told Associated Press Thursday amid Allawi's visit, that public opinion needs real accomplishments, real progress and honest measures of capability, not "sound bites of rhetoric which are not substantiated by the figures being issued in detail by the United States government." And Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry has kept up the pressure on Bush, saying that Allawi was sent before Congress to put the "best face" on a Bush administration policy that has gone wrong. Kerry's remarks come one day after he told The Associated Press that Bush's statement that a "handful" of people were willing to kill to stop progress in Iraq was a blunder that showed he was avoiding reality. US Airstrikes Against Baghdad Neighborhood Continue, Leaving Civilian Casualties, Including Children Baghdad, September 23 (RHC) - On the ground in Iraq, meanwhile, US airstrikes against the Baghdad Shiite slum of Sadr City continued Thursday, with at least one person killed and 12 wounded - many of them children, according to local hospital officials. The Thursday attacks followed a day of fierce clashes between American troops and fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. US warplanes and helicopters roared overhead and residents said loud explosions could be heard for hours. Militia fighters returned fire with machine guns. An American Bradley fighting vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and caught fire, but it was not clear if there were any casualties. It was the third night of violence in the Shiite stronghold as US forces risk a politically dangerous crackdown on al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army, in which many believe that a high number of civilian casualties in this neighborhood of more than 2 million will further inflame anti-American sentiments. Hospital officials said at least 10 people were killed and more than 90 wounded in Wednesday's clashes, but the number of civilian casualties in that fighting was not clear. At the same time, US troops sealed off the city of Samarra and called in air strikes in which three people were killed, including an elderly woman, according to the local police chief. The US military and interim Iraqi authorities had boasted of pacifying Samarra, but insurgents in the city launched a series of attacks against occupation troops in recent weeks. And gunmen killed a senior official of Iraq's North Oil Company Thursday in the northeastern city of Mosul, less than two weeks after his boss escaped an assassination attempt. Washington Accused of Sabotaging Release of British Hostage in Iraq By Refusing to Free Detained Iraqi Woman Scientist Despite Lack of Evidence on Alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction London/Baghdad, September 23 (RHC) - The brother of a British hostage has accused Washington of sabotaging his brother's release by refusing to free a detained woman scientist in Iraq - despite the lack of evidence on the existence of alleged weapons of mass destruction. Paul Bigley told the BBC that there had been "a shadow of light" when Iraqi ministers said Wednesday the woman would go free. But just hours later the US ruled out freeing her, and interim Iraqi authorities fell in line on Thursday - also saying the scientist would remain imprisoned. Though interim Iraqi Minister of State Kassem Daoud denied that his government had bowed to US pressure, Baghdad's about-face revived the issue of who is really in charge in Iraq, the coherence of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's government and the degree of Bush administration influence over him. The incident also raised questions over why the scientist has been detained for so long when no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, prompting some observers to say that her release would be a tacit admission that Iraq had no such weapons. US authorities have reportedly also blocked efforts by the Iraqi Ministry of Science and Technology to free some detained scientists because their expertise is needed to rebuild the country's scientific potential. Afghan Presidential Candidates Accuse US of Interfering in Elections Kabul, September 23 (RHC) - Presidential candidates in Afghanistan have accused the United States of interfering in the country's electoral process. Several of the contenders told The Los Angeles Times newspaper that the US embassy in Kabul has pressured them not to run against pro-American incumbent, President Hamid Karzai. Candidate Mohammed Mohaqiq, an ethnic Hazara warlord, said in an interview with the L.A. Times published Thursday that last month US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad offered him unspecified rewards if he dropped out of the race. Mohaqiq said the ambassador also called his most loyal men, and the most educated people in his party and campaign, to the presidential palace and told them to pressure him to resign the nomination, and to ask him what he needed in return. The charges were repeated by several other candidates and their senior campaign staff in interviews granted to the newspaper, which asserted that they reflected anger over what many Afghans see as foreign interference that could undermine the shaky foundations of a democracy the US promised to build. Presidential candidate Younis Qanooni, Karzai's leading rival, said he and 13 other contenders, of a total of 18, planned to meet this week in Kabul to air complaints about Khalilzad's interference. The L.A. Times reported that Khalilzad has been nicknamed "the Viceroy" because the influence he wields over the Afghan government reminds some Afghans of the excesses of British colonialism, and that some of Karzai's rivals think the ambassador has taken on a new role: that of presidential campaign manager. This is not the first time the US ambassador has been accused of meddling in Afghan politics. Delegates to gatherings that named Karzai interim president in 2002 and ratified Afghanistan's new Constitution last December also accused him of interfering, even of paying delegates for their support. But the L.A. Times called the latest allegations perhaps more serious because the Bush administration is portraying Afghanistan's presidential election as a democratic victory for the country's people, who suffered under more than two decades of strife, and has touted bringing Afghan democracy as a foreign policy success in his election campaign. War of Words Between Israel and Iran Takes Sharp Turn for Worse United Nations, September 23 (RHC) - A simmering war of words between Israel and Iran rose in tone Thursday with Tel Aviv accusing Tehran of replacing Saddam Hussein as the world's leading exporter of "terror, hate and instability" and Tehran warning Tel Aviv that it would respond harshly to any Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom challenged the UN General Assembly to "end its obsession" with the Jewish state and focus instead on "the active involvement of Iran and Syria in terrorism." Shalom told reporters Wednesday that the UN should move toward sanctions against Iran because Tehran was never going to abandon its alleged quest for nuclear weapons. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi responded by saying that Israel, not Iran, was the greatest threat to all countries in the Middle East because it is freely producing "nuclear bombs as well as other weapons of mass destruction." Israel is widely believed to have the only atomic arsenal in the Middle East, although it maintains a policy of refusing to confirm or deny its nuclear capability. Iran also warned that it will react "most severely" to any Israeli action against its nuclear facilities, after Israel said the United States was selling it 500 bunker buster bombs. Israeli military officials said Tuesday that the Jewish state will also receive from the US nearly 5,000 smart bombs, including the 500 one-ton bombs that can destroy six-foot concrete walls. Enquiry Launched into British Collusion in Murder of Irish Lawyer Belfast, September 23 (RHC)--A full 15 years after he was murdered, the British government has agreed to launch an official enquiry into the death of the Irish Catholic lawyer Pat Finucane. Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy made the announcement after years of campaigning for an investigation by Finucane's family. Murphy, however, tempered the promise by saying that the enquiry would be carried out in secret for what he called national security concerns. Pat Finucane was killed in 1989 by recently convicted Protestant paramilitary Kenneth Barrett with apparent British security forces collusion. The lawyer was targeted for defending IRA members. He was assassinated before his wife and children while eating at home. The accusation of British police and army collusion with Protestant paramilitaries has dogged Downing Street, with London police chief Sir John Stevens last year determining that there had indeed been some security force involvement and that the British authorities could have prevented the murder had they so desired. Michael Moore to Visit US Campuses in "Slacker Uprising Tour" New York, September 23 (RHC)-Saying that he could understand why Republicans would be upset at his plans given that they only have a few more weeks left in power, world famous documentary maker Michael Moore has announced that he will tour 60 cities in the days leading up to the US presidential election. The cities will all be in important swing states and will focus on university students who usually turn out in low numbers for elections - a fact, says Moore, that is hardly surprising. The "Slacker Uprising Tour" will attempt to drag as many traditional non-voters to the polling booth on November 2 as possible. Prizes will be offered for people who register to vote, there will be showings of unseen clips from Moore's coming DVD "Fahrenheit 9/11" and he will lead those who gather to hear him in what he terms as the "world's largest karaoke sing-a-long" to US Attorney General John Ashcroft's singing of "Let the Eagle Soar" made famous by its inclusion in Moore's award winning documentary. There are some 100 million eligible voters who do not cast their ballot through disgust, feelings of disenfranchisement, laziness or cynicism, says Moore. "I am calling for a non-voter uprising, led by thousands of campus slackers who proudly sleep 'til noon and who believe papers are for rolling, not reading...Their motto will be: "Bush and Kerry Both Suck -- That's Why I'm Voting for John Kerry!" Michael Moore is openly attempting to rid the United States and the world of George Bush by getting people to vote for Kerry despite his dislike of the Democratic candidate. Along with his devastating books and documentaries, he is seen as a major threat to the Bush re-election campaign. Arab Literature Avoided by Western Preconceptions and Reluctant Publishers London, September 23 (RHC)--An article published by The Guardian today reports that Arab literature barely makes it onto any Western bookshelves and that nowadays if you want people to read what you are saying it must be written or published in English. "Reluctant publishers, translation difficulties and tired preconceptions have all hampered the progress of Arabic literature in the west", says the article's author, Brian Whitaker. Off all books published in the United States, he says, only 2.8% are translations from other languages, and no translated book has reached the US bestseller lists for years. The figure for Britain is similar. In Germany, however, the figure is a whopping 40%. Books written in Arabic, however, are especially likely to be ignored for reasons ranging from publisher's preconceptions to lack of translators to cultural clash. Less than 0.3% of those 40% of foreign authors in Germany are Arab. This surprises Whitaker because Arabic is the planet's sixth most important language with some 186 million native speakers. He also questions why more Arab authors go untranslated when the region in which they live dominates the western press day after day. Peter Ripken, of the German Society for the Promotion of African, Asian and Latin American Literature accuses western publishers of imposing their own ideas of what Arab creative writing should be about, selectively translating books that meet the readers' often prejudiced expectations of the orient and ridden with cliché sales oriented themes. The need for Arab culture to be better understood by westerners is ever more important in these times, say those in favour of closer relations with the orient, and publishers should be encouraged to be part of this rapprochement of cultures and peoples. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 182 00811 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: subscribe: Geopolitical news: subscribe: Katsauksia suomeksi: __________________________________________________ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSI...LSAA/XgSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~- Yahoo! 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