One Last Scene of the Asian Tsunami. Let's hope it is exactly that.
Japan Today
Japan to host 'good neighbor' orientation for U.S. military officers
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 05:56 JST
TOKYO — The Japanese Foreign Ministry will host a three-day orientation program this week for about 20 U.S. military officers who have recently begun their stints in Japan to help deepen "good neighbor" ties between U.S. forces in Japan and Japanese citizens.
The annual orientation program, which will start Tuesday, began in December 1995 in the wake of a public outcry over a rape on Sept 4 that year of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen in Okinawa.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324879
Photojournalist, peace activist Matsushige dies at 92
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 09:59 JST
TOKYO — Yoshito Matsushige, photojournalist and peace activist, famous for his photos of Hiroshima taken shortly after the U.S. atomic bombing at the end of World War II, died of acute kidney failure at a hospital in the city Sunday, his family said Monday. He was 92.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324910
Thousands observe 10th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 16:29 JST
Kobe citizens pray before candles in a park Monday morning.
KOBE — Numerous events were held in Kobe and its vicinity Monday morning to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake which took the lives of 6,433 people.
Under a cold drizzle, thousands of participants in a memorial service at Higashi Park in central Kobe lit about 6,433 candles, forming the shape of "1-17," before observing a moment of silence at 5:46 a.m., the time the temblor struck the southern Hyogo Prefecture region on Jan 17, 1995.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324900
62% of Kobe quake victims seek more support
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 07:24 JST
KOBE — Sixty-two percent of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake survivors want continued or expanded support to rebuild their lives despite the planned end of the Hyogo prefectural goverment's reconstruction program, according to a Kyodo News survey conducted on the occasion of the quake's 10th anniversary.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324899
Japan drafts remote island defense plan out of China concern
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 07:56 JST
TOKYO — Japan has prepared a plan to defend the southern remote islands off Kyushu and Okinawa from possible invasion amid rising security concerns about China, according to papers obtained Sunday by Kyodo News.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324859
SDF peacekeeping mission at Golan Heights extended
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 16:25 JST
TOKYO — The government decided Monday to extend the participation of Japanese troops in a U.N. peacekeeping mission at the Golan Heights another six months.
The decision follows a U.N. Security Council resolution in December to extend the mission of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force at the Golan Heights, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said. As a result, 43 Self-Defense Forces troops will continue their mission until Sept 30, Hosoda said. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=324960
Japan backs Abbas with $60 mil aid package to Palestinians
Monday, January 17, 2005 at 07:56 JST
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Japan on Sunday threw its full support behind the new Palestinian leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas and announced a new $60 million aid package to the Palestinian Authority. Visiting Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura revealed the aid plan in a meeting with Abbas, who won the Jan. 9 presidential election.
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=324880
U.S. forces key to containing China
Writing in this month's issue of Voice magazine, Kyoto University Professor Terumasa Nakanishi says the redistribution of U.S. forces is an opportunity to contain China.
Nakanishi says that the United States is calling its redistribution of forces a "transformation" and has set out on a historic realignment of forces that goes beyond the movement of troops and bases.
While one result of this undertaking will be that U.S. forces are withdrawn from Europe and Asia, this does not signal a return to isolationism, Nakanishi notes.
He explores three factors he says make possible a strategic shift: (1) The overall development of information technology allows global strategic management to be conducted from inside the United States. (2) Referring to the reorganization as a "shift in line with the fight against terrorism" provides political cover. (3) The United States is developing new allies in both Europe and Asia.
Pointing to the fact that the headquarters of the U.S. Army's I Corps will be moved from Fort Lewis, Washington, to Camp Zama, Japan, and that portions of the U.S. military command center in Germany will be transferred to Britain, Nakanishi asserts that the United States is placing priority not on multilateral alliances but on the U.S.-Britain and Japan-US bilateral alliances.
He argues that for Japan, taking this opportunity to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance is the only way to prevent China from becoming a superpower and establishing hegemony. (Foreign Press Center)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=kuchikomi&id=327
The New York Times
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS. It is a MORE common phenomina that the corals evacuate their algae and that is what coral bleaching is all about. There has been discoveries of algae more resistant to heat but not THAT much more resistant. This is a far cry from being a 'cure' to Global Warming.
As the Seas Warm, Algae Help Some Coral Stand Up to the Heat
By CORNELIA DEAN
Published: December 21, 2004
KEY LARGO, Fla. - For some time, scientists have predicted that the world's coral reefs will be among the first ecosystems to suffer devastating damage from global warming. Some reefs, however, are proving surprisingly resilient, researchers say, not because of qualities of the corals themselves, but because of heat-tolerant algae that live with them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/21/science/21cora.html?ex=1106110800&en=fddba400605f351f&ei=5070
Big Arctic Perils Seen in Warming, Survey Finds
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: October 30, 2004
A comprehensive four-year study of warming in the Arctic shows that heat-trapping gases from tailpipes and smokestacks around the world are contributing to profound environmental changes, including sharp retreats of glaciers and sea ice, thawing of permafrost and shifts in the weather, the oceans and the atmosphere.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/30/science/earth/30arctic.html?ex=1106110800&en=10cd55e76caa62e3&ei=5070
Sharon Orders New Crackdown on Gaza Factions
By GREG MYRE
Published: January 17, 2005
GAZA, Monday, Jan. 17 - In a blunt warning to the new Palestinian leader, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel said Sunday that he had given the military orders to act "without restrictions" against Palestinian factions that have stepped up attacks in the roiling Gaza Strip.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/international/middleeast/17mideast.html?hp&ex=1106024400&en=a9a9c8868815f52a&ei=5094&partner=homepage
How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: January 17, 2005
KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 16 - As protests here against a rigged presidential election overwhelmed the capital last fall, an alarm sounded at Interior Ministry bases outside the city. It was just after 10 p.m. on Nov. 28.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/international/europe/17ukraine.html?hp&ex=1106024400&en=2e1aa5aa4131bb4d&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Rebels Express Thanks for Aid to Indonesians
By IAN FISHER
Published: January 17, 2005
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Jan. 16 - The rebel, dressed in military fatigues and carrying a cellphone and an old Kalashnikov, had a message for the scores of foreigners who have come here to help after the tsunami: You are welcome, and we will not hurt you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/international/worldspecial4/17rebels.html?hp&ex=1106024400&en=2fd8aff24865d691&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Unmarried Fathers Gain Tax Incentive in Pataki Proposal
By LESLIE KAUFMAN
Published: January 17, 2005
Gov. George E. Pataki will unveil a program this week that would make New York the first state in the nation to use tax credits, along with other incentives, intended to motivate low-income fathers to work and pay child support, according to state officials.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/nyregion/17dads.html
New Jersey Faces Tough Competition for Stem Cell Scientists
By LAURA MANSNERUS
Published: January 17, 2005
TRENTON, Jan. 14 - While the federal government has sharply limited research on embryonic stem cells, casting it as a moral issue, governors around the country are moving aggressively to push the research forward, spending millions, seeking to lure top scientists to their states and planning state-of-the-art research facilities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/nyregion/17cell.html
If YOU WANT to read about Zhao Ziyang's passing do it here at The New York Times because you won't find it in The China Daily.
Purged Chinese Party Chief Zhao Ziyang Dies
By REUTERS
Published: January 17, 2005
Filed at 7:01 a.m. ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - Zhao Ziyang, a Chinese reformist toppled as Communist Party chief in 1989 for opposing an army crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, died in hospital Monday, his family said. He was 85.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-china-zhao.html
The China Daily
UK, China unite in hi-tech research
By Cui Ning (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-17 22:14
Energy, electronics, stem cell studies and space and aviation sciences are major fields for scientific co-operation between China and the United Kingdom.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/17/content_409784.htm
Fall of POW camp wall leads to outcry
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-17 22:51
Destruction of parts of a World War II-era concentration camp in Shenyang, built by Japanese invaders to house allied prisoners of war, has raised an outcry from angered local residents and historical researchers.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/17/content_409788.htm
China Eastern unveils uniforms for direct flight attendants
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/17/content_409767.htm
YOU FIND MEMORIAL TO HIM in The Taiwan Edition either.
Mainland, Taiwan clinch deal on direct flights
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-15 23:05
The Chinese mainland and Taiwan reached a landmark deal on Saturday to allow non-stop charter flights over the Chinese New Year holidays, a move which could ease tensions and improve cross-Straits ties.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/15/content_409347.htm
Taiwan urged to agree to festival flights
By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-03 22:42
Beijing's latest push for direct charter flights across the Taiwan Straits has raised high hopes for immediate talks with Taipei in time for the upcoming travel season.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/03/content_405512.htm
SO PERHAPS it is safe to say both parts of China mutually hated Ziyang.
The Star
Finally, some good news from the Arab world
FAREED ZAKARIA
Since Sept. 11, 2001, I've written a column once a year pointing out the good news, which is that Islamic extremism is losing. The movement, in all of its variations, has been unable to garner mass support in any Muslim country.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1104521199350&call_page=TS_EditorialOpinion&call_pageid=968256290204&call_pagepath=Editorial/Opinion&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email
An update on the `war on terror'
In order to counter groups such as Al Qaeda, the West must make better use of the `soft' power of diplomacy to accommodate Islam, and not just rely on coercive, `hard' power
JONATHAN STEVENSON
Despite U.S. government rhetoric that often suggests the West is winning the "war" on terrorism, Al Qaeda remains a highly viable and dangerous transnational terrorist network.
The U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq appears to have inspired more young Muslims to take up Osama bin Laden's cause. Perhaps the most pressing counterterrorism challenge for the U.S. and the West, then, is salvaging some positive political dividend from the fraught occupation of Iraq.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1104521199347&call_page=TS_EditorialOpinion&call_pageid=968256290204&call_pagepath=Editorial/Opinion&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email
Darwin beats God in Red America
Schools told to remove stickers
Setback for Georgia board
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
MARIETTA, Ga.—The increasingly powerful evangelical movement in the United States has been dealt a legal setback in its own backyard, in the heart of one of the most conservative counties in the American south.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611315&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes
'Bumpy' new world foreseen by CIA group
America to face more competition
China, India to be global players in 2020
KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANGLEY, Va.—And now, a look into the future: Al Qaeda, out; murky and scattered new terror cells, in. Hollywood, out; India's "Bollywood" in. America as sole superpower, out; China and India as world players, in.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611223&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email
A safer haven, by design
Officers, volunteers unveil renovation
Space caters to victims of sex assault
TRACY HUFFMAN
CRIME REPORTER
On the third floor of police headquarters yesterday in a room where victims of sexual crimes try to recall every awful detail of their attack, Toronto police revealed a major development.
It was measured in brush strokes, soft lighting and glass sidetables.
For the past four months, Det. Const. Pamela Bruce, an experienced investigator with the sex crimes unit, has been working with other officers, volunteers and a design firm to renovate the space, which for years has looked more like an interrogation room.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611118&call_page=TS_GTA&call_pageid=968350130169&call_pagepath=GTA/News&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email
Ontario set to boost fuel cell development
Initial investment to be $3 million a year, source says Minister expected to announce
program today
TYLER HAMILTON
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
The McGuinty government is investing in the creation of a fuel-cell innovation program that will help businesses and universities turn discoveries into commercial products.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656610692&call_page=TS_Ontario&call_pageid=968256289824&call_pagepath=News/Ontario&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email
U.S. missile system operating
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon may never publicly declare its new missile-defence system is fully ready to defend against long-range missiles aimed at the United States but it already has a limited capability against a small-scale attack, a U.S. official said yesterday.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1105656611322&call_page=TS_World&call_pageid=968332188854&call_pagepath=News/World&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email
The Cheney Observer
Jeb Bush's personal journal from trip to tsunami-shattered Southeast Asia
By Special to The News-Press
Published by news-press.com on January 16, 2005
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush traveled with Colin Powell and other U.S. representatives to South Asia after the area was stricken by a powerful earthquake and tsunamis. During his trip he kept this personal journal.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050116/NEWS01/50116001/1075
Oil prices rise on supply worries
Oil prices hovered close to six-week highs on Friday amid renewed worries over US winter fuel reserves, the prospect of OPEC production cuts and supply problems in the North Sea.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1282397.htm
Calif. storms leave hundreds of oil-covered birds
15 Jan 2005 00:20:51 GMT
Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of seabirds covered with oil have washed ashore along the Southern California coast following a series of punishing winter storms, puzzling wildlife officials who say they can find no oil spill.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14220392.htm
Govt pushing oil firms to meet clean fuel deadline
Posted online: Saturday, January 15, 2005 at 0012 hours IST
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 14: The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has put oil companies on notice, asking them to ensure that the April 1 deadline for introduction of ultra low sulphur auto fuels, is met at all cost.
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=62722
Businesses pick up tab for Bush bash
Next week's inaugural costs expected to top $40 million
By Corbett B. Daly, CBS MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Gearing up for President Bush's inauguration next Thursday, thousands of business leaders from around the country are descending on the capital for four days of eating, drinking, dancing and pressing flesh with politicos and pundits.
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B2A7EA68A-0361-4533-BC34-EA1BEBDCA8EB%7D&siteid=google&dist=google
UN Told of Weaknesses in U.S. Handling of Iraqi Oil
Fri Jan 14, 2005 06:19 PM EST
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. handling of Iraq's oil money after the defeat of Saddam Hussein was marked by weaknesses including problems tracking oil production and cash, a watchdog told the U.N. Security Council on Friday, diplomats said.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7334302
President Bush is lobbied in Jacksonville on fate of aircraft carrier
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@herald.com
JACKSONVILLE - Visiting Florida for the first time since the presidential election, President Bush vowed today to consider the state's attempt to save a fabled aircraft carrier that Navy budget cutters have targeted for retirement.
In town to tout his administration's education record -- at a community college just miles from the base the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy calls home -- Bush was pressed by a full contingent of Florida politicos, including Jacksonville Republican U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, who flew aboard Air Force One from Washington to plead the carrier's case. Bush's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, and former Housing Secretary-turned U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, along with Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, joined the lobby on the motorcade from the airport to the Florida Community College campus.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10647961.htm
Bush Is Told of Carrier's Value
Idling USS Kennedy Would Be Blow to Economy of Jacksonville, Fla.
By Ron Word
Associated Press
Monday, January 17, 2005; Page A15
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- President Bush said Friday he has gotten the message about the strategic importance of Mayport Naval Station and the USS John F. Kennedy to this area's economy, but he made no commitment about the future of the aircraft carrier.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14270-2005Jan16.html
China Aviation Needed More Time on Singapore Petroleum Deal
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp., which is being sued by Satya Capital Ltd. over a contract to buy a stake in Singapore Petroleum Co., wasn't given enough time to enforce a clause in the agreement, the company said in a court document.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aRWUHTHD2fBQ&refer=asia
North Korea ready to resume talks if Bush offers olive branch
01-14-2005, 14h06
Jung Yeon-Je - (AFP)
SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea said it would resume talks on its nuclear weapons drive if US President George W. Bush toned down his rhetoric and formulated a more friendly policy towards Pyongyang.
http://www.turkishpress.com/world/news.asp?id=050114140637.fjuzdsgl.xml
Bush Proposes $500 Boost for Student Aid
President Vows to Restructure Loan System
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 15, 2005; Page A02
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan.14 -- President Bush proposed Friday increasing the maximum federal grant for low-income college students by $100 a year for five years, a change that he said would make higher education more accessible to thousands of Americans.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10576-2005Jan14.html
Bush expresses `misgivings' over notable phrases
AP , WASHINGTON
Saturday, Jan 15, 2005,Page 7
Advertising
US President George W. Bush expressed misgivings for two of his most famous expressions: "Bring 'em on," in reference to Iraqis attacking US troops, and his vow to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive."
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/01/15/2003219498
FCC Orders Probe of Williams-Bush Deal
FCC Chair Orders Investigation Into Williams' Deal With Bush Administration
WASHINGTON Jan 14, 2005 — The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation Friday into whether conservative commentator Armstrong Williams broke the law by failing to disclose he was paid by the Bush administration to plug the president's education agenda.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=413704
THE PEOPLE IN NIGERIA are not happy about oil wells. AT ALL !!!
Oil majors fight Nigerian moves to stop licences
IAIN DEY CITY EDITOR
idey@scotlandonsunday.com
SHELL and ChevronTexaco are in dispute with the Nigerian government over an unexpected decision to revoke 24 oil development licences.
Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) claims the majors have failed to submit proper plans on how they will develop the fields. A clutch of smaller firms have also been affected by the decision.
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=54712005
TOO BAD. The West needs to develop alternative energy sources. The West is the biggest polluter on Earth. Get over it !!
Russia’s Asian overtures may hit Western oil firms
LONDON: Kremlin invitations to Chinese and Indian state oil companies to boost their presence in Russia have prompted fears among some Western oil companies that they will find it harder to seal Russian oil deals in future.
The Kremlin campaign against domestic oil firm YUKOS has made the country a riskier place to do business. If Russia shifts its focus away from the Western international oil companies (IOCs) as favoured partners, it will become an even tougher place for them to operate.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-1-2005_pg5_28
15-year energy plan to help boost growth
ISLAMABAD: Amanullah Khan Jadoon, the federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, said on Saturday that the 15-year energy plan would help to achieve the growth rate set by the government in agriculture, industrial and socio-economic sector.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-1-2005_pg5_9
Oil prices jump 6% in course of week
Possible supply problems, epectations of colder weather listed among the concerns.
By Brad Foss
Associated Press
January 15, 2005
Crude oil futures prices rose for the fourth day in a row Friday, reaching a level not seen since late November as traders pinned a 6 percent rise in the past week on supply snags and expectations of colder weather.
http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/209533-9341-223.html
Fascinated Horror: Watching It
Month after month, year after year, we've watched with fascinated horror as George W. Bush revives the ancient tools of tyranny. Aggressive war, torture, secret prisons, arbitrary detention, death squads, mass surveillance, contempt for law, elitist corruption, deification of the leader, co-option of religion to serve state power, rule by executive fiat: It's like watching a ghastly pantomime of imperial Rome or some feudal state, rigged up in modern dress.
Global Eye
Green Acres
By Chris Floyd
Published: January 14, 2005
Thus it was no surprise when Bush trotted out another weapon from the oppressor's hoard last month: tax-farming, the practice of turning over government revenue collection to private profiteers. Yes, that scourge of honest yeomen from time immemorial will soon be stalking the streets of 21st-century America, shaking down the populace for personal gain.
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1508&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
OF COURSE there is no politics. Good Neocon women grow up to have babies and ornament the poolside.
Politics not in twins' plans
09:27 PM CST on Friday, January 14, 2005
By G. ROBERT HILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – They crossed the country for votes for their father last year. But neither of President Bush's 23-year-old twin daughters seems to have caught the political bug.
"I don't think so, although who knows," first lady Laura Bush said Friday.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/011505dnnattwins.42fe0.html
Petroleum Minister plans to bring Caspian, Russian oils
20.07 IST 15th Jan 2005
By IndiaExpress Bureau
After negotiating India's biggest ever energy deal with Iran for import of LNG worth 40 billion dollars and getting Bangladesh to agree on allowing its territory for importing gas from Myanmar, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today mooted the idea of a pipeline corridor for supply of Caspian Sea crude oil to Asia.
http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/regional/delhi/20050115-1.html
Woman doctor’s gang-rape: PPL tried to twist facts
KARACHI: Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, the organization for which the lady doctor was working at Sui and where she was allegedly raped, had tried to sweep the matter under the carpet by shifting her to a Karachi psychiatry hospital immediately from Sui, it has been reliably learnt.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-1-2005_pg7_40
Bush vows to cap 'compensation culture' payouts
By Philip Sherwell in Washington
(Filed: 16/01/2005)
President George W Bush has approved a radical assault on America's burgeoning "compensation culture" as part of an ambitious programme of domestic reform to be unveiled in his inaugural address this week.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/16/wcomp16.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/16/ixworld.html
ENTITLEMENT. When does an election turn into a nightmare? When a Bush is elected.
Bush Says Election Ratified Iraq Policy
No U.S. Troop Withdrawal Date Is Set
By Jim VandeHei and Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, January 16, 2005; Page A01
President Bush said the public's decision to reelect him was a ratification of his approach toward Iraq and that there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12450-2005Jan15.html
Bush hit for linking Iraq to vote
Monday, January 17, 2005 Posted: 0707 GMT (1507 HKT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has been criticized for claiming that his re-election in 2004 was a ratification of his policy on Iraq.
In an interview with the Washington Post on Sunday, Bush was asked why no one in his administration had been held accountable for perceived missteps on Iraq policy, including being wrong about weapons of mass destruction.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/16/bush.iraq/
The voters stood by me on Iraq, says Bush
By Alec Russell in Washington
(Filed: 17/01/2005)
President George W Bush said yesterday the mission in Iraq had been vindicated by his re-election and he did not need to hold to account any of the officials responsible for the miscalculations before or after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/17/wus17.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/17/ixworld.html
India looking to restructure state-run energy behemoths
01-16-2005, 22h43
Prakash Singh - (AFP/File)
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he backed ongoing moves to revamp and merge state-run energy companies in order to make them globally competitive.
http://www.turkishpress.com/business/news.asp?id=050116224350.2pxian2w.xml
Indian State Oil Companies May Combine to Tackle Chinese Rivals
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- India's state oil companies may combine resources in overseas bids after China beat Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India's biggest explorer, to fields in countries such as Sudan and Indonesia.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aP94zRWZAKDg&refer=top_world_news
MAJOR FLORIDA DONORS
Here is a list of major Florida contributors to the presidential inauguration. Donors are not bound by campaign finance laws, which restrict contributions to parties and candidates.
Depending on the size of the gift, donors are given special tickets to different events, special invitations to private dinners and receptions with President Bush and/ or Vice President Dick Cheney.
• Al Hoffman Jr., Fort Myers developer, longtime Bush fundraiser $100,000
• BlueCross BlueShield of Florida, Jacksonville
$100,000
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10656594.htm
The New Zealand Herald
Eastwood takes aim at Moore
17.01.05
Clint Eastwood squinted like Dirty Harry when he took aim at Michael Moore, the New York Daily News reported.
"Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression," Eastwood told a star-studded crowd attending the National Board of Review awards dinner, where the veteran actor and director picked up a Special Film-making Achievement prize for his latest film, Million Dollar Baby.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=6&ObjectID=10006782
Movie-inspired CPR saves girl
Jade (left) and Brooke Gude gave mother Natasha the fright of her life. Picture / Hawke's Bay Today
18.01.05
By BRIDGET CARTER
Two men copied a life-saving method they had seen in the movies to save a little girl they had pulled unconscious from a swimming spot.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10007001
Whaling embargo hopes on Kiribati
18.01.05
By ANGELA GREGORY
Kiribati is being urged to support whale conservation after joining the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The small Pacific nation is the second in the Pacific to have joined the IWC in the past year, following its neighbour, Tuvalu, which joined last June.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006927
Ford's hybrid cars coming
10.01.05
Car maker Ford plans to expand its fleet of petrol-electric hybrid vehicles as part of stepping up efforts to make cleaner vehicles.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=9&ObjectID=9006036
FBI's $243m security program doomed
18.01.05
The FBI may have to scrap a new US$170 million ($243 million) computer program designed to allow its agents to share information instantly and fix a main problem identified after the September 11 attacks.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006943
Extremist London cleric calls on young
18.01.05
An extremist London cleric is appealing to young British Muslims to join al Qaeda in live broadcasts on the internet, the Times reported.
The Times said cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who is banned from many British mosques, says a "covenant of security" allowing Muslims to live peacefully in Britain had been "violated" by anti-terrorist legislation enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
"I believe the whole of Britain has become Dar ul Harb [land of war]," he says in one of daily two-hour internet broadcasts, which the Times said it had monitored three days in a row from January 10 to 12.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006984
6.6 magnitude quake registered off Micronesia
18.01.05
An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale has been detected off the Pacific island group of Micronesia, the Hong Kong observatory said.
The quake was classified as "severe".
There were no immediate reports of tsunamis or damage on nearby islands.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10006985
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Fog
0.0°
Updated Tuesday 18 Jan 3:59AM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
30 °F / -1 °C
Overcast
...HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTH-CENTRAL ANDPART OF THE NORTH INNER CHANNELS THROUGH TUESDAY......HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN GLACIER BAYTODAY...
Humidity:
80%
Dew Point:
25 °F / -4 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
29.29 in / 992 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 12
Clouds (AGL):
Overcast 4800 ft / 1463 m
Satellite and Global Warming/Climate Change to follow.
