This is not where we wanted to be at the end of the meeting, I assure you. It certainly isn’t where we need to be in order to prevent islands from going under and other unimaginable impacts.Kieren Keke, Foreign Minister of Nauru • Speaking on the agreement at a UN conference in Qatar today to extend provisions of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change through 2020. This may sound hopeful on its face, but the agreement is far short of of the level of coordination needed to impact the changing climate, as it only covers about 15% of global emissions. Canada, Russia, New Zealand, and Japan (where, notably, Kyoto is located) all opted out of the deal. A major sticking point in the negotiations — how new emissions standards would impact wealthy, industrialized nations versus developing ones, and securing funding from the richer states to help the poorer meet those marks. The conference reaffirmed a pledge to come to a global treaty by 2015, a lofty goal considering the competing interests involved, and also not a delay anybody like the minister quoted above wants to consider. For tiny islands like Nauru or Kiribati, the climate change debate isn’t just academic. source
Top Syrian diplomat defects: Nawaf Fares, the Syrian ambassador to Iraq, has defected and switched to the opposition side, backing away from Bashar al-Assad’s leadership. Syria says Fares was fired, though he defected on his own beforehand and is now in Qatar. Fares is the first senior Syrian diplomat to turn on Assad and move to the opposition side.
Al Jazeera’s news director resigns. Was it due to WIkiLeaks? Today’s big mystery revolves around the fate of Wadah Khanfar, the news director of the Qatar-based news organization, who resigned not long after some unflattering information linked from Wikileaks diplomatic cables. The cables suggested that Khanfar went out of his way to assure U.S. government officials that it was being fair in its coverage of the Iraq War, sharing information with a diplomat and going so far as to spike a story. So, was that it? BTW, Khanfar’s replacement is Sheik Ahmad bin Jasem bin Muhammad Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, which won’t help refute claims that the news organization is under the country’s influence. (thanks climateadaptation)
Al Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz has been released nearly three weeks after she went missing after arriving in the Syrian capital of Damascus, where she was to cover the protests.
On Wednesday morning, the Al Jazeera network confirmed in a statement that she had been released, and was safe and in good health.
Editorial priorities are weighed on a number of factors at any given moment. All news organizations have faced these pressures, but despite this and the challenging terrain in Bahrain, we have covered events in the country extensively.Spokesman for Qatar-based/funded Al Jazeera on the news channel’s perceived lack of coverage surrounding the protests in Bahran. (via soupsoup)
This is a big deal for the opposition council. The Libyan rebel government’s deal with Qatar to export oil has obvious benefits to their cause, and they aren’t strictly economic. One aspect of the Libyan struggle we can’t overlook is the need for others to perceive their legitimacy — the more the rebellion shows a unified, proactive, and competent front, the more pressure it may put on Gaddafi’s beleaguered allies to desert him. The immediately refused rebel ceasefire offer was a good example, and this follows suit — the practical proof that oil exports can resume despite Gaddafi’s efforts to the contrary is another psychological victory against a regime that’s already reported as suffering key defections by officials. source
We are producing about 100,000 to 130,000 barrels a day. We can easily up that to about 300,000 a day.Libyan rebel spokesman Ali Tarhouni • The rebels have reportedly signed a deal with Qatar under which they’ll export oil to the nearby country. Ahh, oil politics, we’ve missed you. source (via • follow)
The notion that there is a common struggle across the Arab world is something al-Jazeera helped create. They did not cause these events, but it’s almost impossible to imagine all this happening without al-Jazeera.George Washington University Middle East Studies professor Marc Lynch • Describing the role in popular uprisings that al-Jazeera has had over the years. It’s a role that’s clearly becoming more apparent this week as protests and popular uprisings become more widespread. While many praise the Qatar-based network for this role (we certainly do), others note that its coverage often seems biased or plays favorites – particularly favoring Hezbollah and Hamas. That said, al-Jazeera hasn’t played such a central role as the conscience of the Arab world since the heady days of the Iraq War in 2003. Especially considering scenes like this one. source (via • follow)
Who might that be? Well … back in 2005, when Al-Jazeera was a tad bit more controversial, it leaked that George W. Bush and Tony Blair talked about attacking up the Qatar headquarters of the Middle East’s most-well-known news outlet. More recently, in the latest spat of WIkileaks data, cables suggested U.S. was concerned that the news outlet was a mouthpiece for Qatar. Al-Jazeera denies those allegations, saying that their goal has long been “to give a voice to the voiceless; to hold centres of power to account; and to uphold our editorial independence no matter what the cost.” In recent years, this has perhaps become a bit more obvious, but after 9/11 … source
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
