Latest update: 13/05/2009 

- Afghanistan - Cannes Film Festival - culture - Holocaust - Nazis - Pakistan - Taliban - trial


In the Papers
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France 24 journalists present a daily round-up of the world's papers.
By Marian HENBEST (text)

 

 
The Independent reports that some 90 young girls from a village school in the northeast of Afghanistan were rushed to hospital after fainting and vomiting.  The Taliban has been blamed for the incident – the local authorities believe they were trying to poison the young girls with gas in a latest attempt to drive women out of education. 

According to an article in the opinion section by Kim Sengupta, the US was very critical of the British military’s handling of women’s security issues in Iraq. When control of Basra was handed over to Shia militia, about 100 women were executed for going to work and trying to lead 'normal' lives.  The columnist suggests if the US wants to prove it can help improve the situation for women in Afghanistan, now would be a very good time to do so, in light of the changes in military command afoot following the recent dismissal of the top US military commander.
 

Nation (Pakistan)
The real vs fake Taliban
 
An article in the editorial section of Nation describes how women in Pakistan are being warned to shun Western dress or risk being “defaced beyond recognition”. The author of the piece suggests it is not the “real Taliban” making such threats but rather a subsidiary group known as TTP.  According to Nauman Qaiser, the “real” group is above all concerned with fighting occupying forces in Afghanistan.  Meanwhile the “fake” clan is working on a hidden US and Indian agenda to break Pakistan up.  He goes on to explain that under Musharraf’s rule, foreign secret agencies recruited locals as a spying network and supplied them with new state-of the art weapons.  It is now these groups who are running riot in the country, the paper says.
 

Jerusalem Post (Israel)
Demjanjuk in Germany; is he fit for trial?
 
The Jerusalem Post reacts to the arrival of John Demjanjuk – the former Nazi death camp guard  accused of being an accessory to the murder of 29,000 Jews.  The article explains that, while some would be happy to see the 89-year-old brought to justice, for others it’s hard to see him sitting in his wheelchair being supplied with oxygen via a nasal tube. But it states: “For survivors of the Shoah it’s intolerable to watch him seek sympathy.”
 

Liberation (France)
Demjanjuk in extremis
 
Liberation features a double-page spread on the Demjanjuk trial featuring details and photos of his three decades fighting accusations.
 
With the Demjanjuk trial due to take place in Germany, Der Tagesspiele is among numerous German papers to feature an article on the case.   The piece is a witness statement from Thomas Blatt – a survivor of the Nazi Sobibor Camp in Poland.  For him it is vital that Demjanjuk is forced to speak. 
 

Liberation (France)
Hyper Huppert
 
Liberation publishes extensive coverage of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, which gets underway today.  Among the articles included is a special piece on French actress Isabelle Huppert, this year’s President of the Jury.  She is no stranger to Cannes and has already won two awards for best interpretation.  The paper also publishes a “10 Commandments” survival kit for Cannes.
 

 

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