The Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera launched an English-language Web site yesterday, five months after hackers brought down a temporary site at the height of the Iraq war but how long will it stay up for?
The English-language site - 
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage - works closely with the television station and its Arabic Web site, launched in 2001 but also has its own staff of nearly 50 Western and Arab journalists.
A temporary version of English.aljazeera.net went on-line on March 24 to cover the war but was soon brought down by h4X0rz. The Arabic site also was unavailable for long periods during the war.
The California h4X0r, John William Racine II, pleaded guilty in June to felony charges of wire fraud and unlawful interception of an electronic communication. He had intercepted e-mail and content from Al-Jazeera and rerouted users to another site showing the U.S. flag and the phrase "Let Freedom Ring."
If the site gets taken down before you get the chance to see it then the Google cache might have a copy - http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:LPJonvx-BE4J:english.aljazeera.net/+al+jazeera&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
The site's main story as at 00:00 UTC+1 20030902 is entitled "Outrage at Israeli mission to Morocco" and the first few paragraphs read thus:
"A Moroccan Palestinian rights group has criticised Rabat's efforts to normalise diplomatic ties with the Jewish State.
Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom left Jerusalem on Monday for Morocco, where he is to discuss a normalisation of relations with the North African country, Aljazeera reported.
During talks with King Muhammad VI and Moroccan Foreign Minister Muhammad Benaissa, Shalom is expected to raise the question of re-opening liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat, closed following the September 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian uprising. "
Let's hope that the site is given a chance to stay up as, these days more than ever, it's invaluable to have an Arab perspective on world events.
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage - works closely with the television station and its Arabic Web site, launched in 2001 but also has its own staff of nearly 50 Western and Arab journalists. A temporary version of English.aljazeera.net went on-line on March 24 to cover the war but was soon brought down by h4X0rz. The Arabic site also was unavailable for long periods during the war.
The California h4X0r, John William Racine II, pleaded guilty in June to felony charges of wire fraud and unlawful interception of an electronic communication. He had intercepted e-mail and content from Al-Jazeera and rerouted users to another site showing the U.S. flag and the phrase "Let Freedom Ring."
If the site gets taken down before you get the chance to see it then the Google cache might have a copy -
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:LPJonvx-BE4J:english.aljazeera.net/+al+jazeera&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 The site's main story as at 00:00 UTC+1 20030902 is entitled "Outrage at Israeli mission to Morocco" and the first few paragraphs read thus:
"A Moroccan Palestinian rights group has criticised Rabat's efforts to normalise diplomatic ties with the Jewish State.
Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom left Jerusalem on Monday for Morocco, where he is to discuss a normalisation of relations with the North African country, Aljazeera reported.
During talks with King Muhammad VI and Moroccan Foreign Minister Muhammad Benaissa, Shalom is expected to raise the question of re-opening liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat, closed following the September 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian uprising. "
Let's hope that the site is given a chance to stay up as, these days more than ever, it's invaluable to have an Arab perspective on world events.
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
My choice
01.09.2003 23:36
AL-Jazeera caring about what is fed to us!
in case the site goes down..
UK pig farmers ignore hormone ban
Monday 01 September 2003, 5:19 Makka Time, 2:19 GMT
UK pigs given more antibiotics than those in any other EU state
British farmers are still pumping pigs with growth hormones, years after the European Union banned them over worries about their effect on humans.
"Antibiotics are still being used to force pigs to grow unnaturally quickly, despite a ban and amid fears about the impact on human health," the UK organic lobby group Soil Association said on Monday.
It has been illegal for EU farmers to use certain antibiotics to make pigs grow faster since 1999. But sales of the growth-enhancing drugs have soared in recent years, the group said.
EU health ministers pushed through the restrictions on their sale because of concerns they could reduce human resistance to similar drugs.
"The Soil Association is concerned that some pig farmers are using a loop-hole to continue feeding these drugs to their animals - although the drugs cannot be legally used to promote growth, they can be prescribed by vets to prevent diseases in healthy animals," it said in a statement.
"We suspect that they are secretly being used for growth promotion," the group added.
Hooked on antibiotics
Soil Association policy advisor Richard Young said the drugs prescribed were already starting to lose their effectiveness against preventing disease because of overuse.
"It is inevitable that animals become ill when they are kept in crowded conditions, which is why the intensive pig industry is still hooked on antibiotics," Young added.
"We suspect [the drugs] are secretly being used for growth promotion"
The Soil Association
The Soil Association said widespread use of the drug Tylosin, a member of antibiotic group "macrolides" and banned as a growth promoter, was a particular concern.
Government figures show that the amount of macrolides prescribed by British vets jumped from 23 tonnes in 1995 to 55 tonnes in 2001, but a breakdown for Tylosin use has never been published.
Tylosin can still be used for therapeutic use under EU rules.
Mockery
The Soil Association said the government must act to ensure that the drug is not being inappropriately used and is demanding it set up an expert panel to monitor the industry's use of such drugs.
"The situation makes a mockery of the growth promoter ban, which was brought in because of concerns from scientists, despite strong industry opposition," Young said.
British pig farmers use four times as many antibiotics than their Danish counterparts and the meat produced contains more antibiotics per tonne of meat produced than any other EU member state, official studies have shown.
EU countries are still phasing out the use of antibiotics for promoting growth in animals, with a 2006 deadline set for complete abolition.
The drugs have been used for decades to prevent disease and increase weight gain in animals, shortening the time between breeding and slaughter.
Reuters
ram
Fat pigs
01.09.2003 23:54
Good on ya man
dh
The original poster wrote...
02.10.2003 22:20
"Let's hope that the site is given a chance to stay up as, these days more than ever, it's invaluable to have an Arab perspective on world events."
Yes, of course, its "invaluable" to see just what the LATEST problem is that the Arabs are blaming upon the JOOOOOOOOOOS!
Flaming Sword
Vice Versa
02.10.2003 23:05
Z