Robin in Winter
The Boston Globe
A light snow yesterday coated the sidewalk along the Evelyn Moakley Bridge where Seaport Boulevard passes over Fort Point Channel in South Boston, as a lone man walked past a row of lantern lights lining the structure. (David L. Ryan / Globe Staff)
Snowy scenes from across the US
Wintry mix hits Massachusetts
Snow, sleet and rain lashed Massachusetts Thursday in the second phase of a one-two punch of winter weather.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/01/06/wintry_mix_hits_massachusetts/
Winter storm stretches from Rockies to New England
By Nathaniel Hernandez, Associated Press January 6, 2005
CHICAGO -- A deadly storm carrying freezing rain and snow marched across the Great Lakes and into New England on Thursday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, setting loose barges and forcing snowplows into round-the-clock duty.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/01/06/winter_storm_stretches_from_rockies_to_new_england/
Wintery scenes from across the country.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/gallery/snow_010604/>
The Japan Times
Japan gripped by obsession with pure love
By KAORI SHOJI
2004 was the year of jun-ai (pure love), epitomized by the huge popularity of Yon-sama (the reverential nickname for Bae Yong Joon, star of the hit Korean drama "Winter Sonata") and a craze for sentimental love stories that gripped the nation from Hokkaido to the Okinawa.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?ek20041230ks.htm
THE ZEIT GIST
OVERSEAS EXECS TIRED OF REJECTION
Racism is bad business
Arudou Debito offers accounts of how "Japanese Only" policies are turning international business away from Japan
By ARUDOU DEBITO
The Community Page has commented at length on socially-sanctioned exclusionary practices in Japan. However, it has rarely touched upon their quantifiable, longer-term effects.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050104zg.htm
EDITORIAL
Uncertain economic prospects ahead
The world's economic outlook for 2005 is uncertain at best. Pessimists may worry about worst-case scenarios, but economic disasters, unlike natural disasters, can be prevented through better planning and management. Much depends on how major economic powers -- particularly the United States, Europe, Japan and China -- handle domestic and international problems in the year ahead.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?ed20050106a1.htm
San Diego Union Tribune
Tape found in Baghdad shows former Al-Jazeera manager thanking Saddam's son for support, newspaper says
By Hussein Dakroub
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:12 p.m. January 3, 2005
BEIRUT, Lebanon – A videotape found in Baghdad after the ouster of Saddam Hussein shows a former manager for Al-Jazeera television thanking one of Saddam's sons for his support, the newspaper Asharq al-Awsat says.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20050103-1312-iraq-al-jazeera.html
County officials may get big raises
By Daniel J. Chacón
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 6, 2005
San Diego County's five supervisors are considering giving themselves 25 percent pay raises in April – or $28,768 more a year – as well as boosting the salaries of the sheriff, district attorney and treasurer-tax collector.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050106-9999-7m6raise.html
Discounts for victims of wildfires are ending
By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 25, 2004
With the first wave of 2003 wildfire victims just moving into rebuilt homes – and many, many others still far from finished – these survivors are alarmed to see some merchants ending discounts they offered after last year's wildfires.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/fires/20041225-9999-1m25discount.html
No injuries reported
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:55 a.m. January 6, 2005
FONTANA – A series of minor earthquakes struck San Bernardino County early Thursday, but no injuries or serious damage were reported, officials said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050106-0655-ca-socalquakes.html
New Strait Times (Malaysia)
Free replacement for driving licence lost during tsunami
By Eileen Ng
PUTRAJAYA, Wed:
THOSE who had lost their driving licences and related documents during the tsunami will get free replacements.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said Road Transport Department (RTD) staff will be placed at the relief centres to take down the particulars of those affected within the next two days.
“The applications will then be sent to the nearest RTD office for processing and the victims will be exempted from paying any fees,” he said at his ministry’s post-cabinet meeting today.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/NewsBreak/20050105180150/Article/indexb_html
Sabah CM: Tsunami rumours spread by irresponsible people
By Jaswinder Kaur
KOTA KINABALU, Wed:
IRRESPONSIBLE people who wanted to loot homes were probably the ones who spread rumours that a tsunami was going to hit Semporna and some other coastal districts on Sunday night.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the public should not be alarmed by such rumours as the authorities were constantly monitoring the situation and would make an announcement to warn people if a disaster was about to happen.
He was reacting to reports, first carried by the New Straits Times, that there was panic in Semporna and some other coastal districts on the east coast that a tsunami was approaching and that parts of the Philippines had already been devastated.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/NewsBreak/20050105151715/Article/indexb_html
Penang not on dengue alert, says health committee chief
By Marina Emmanuel
GEORGE TOWN, Wed:
Penang is not on dengue alert, State Health Committee chairman P.K Subbaiyah today.
“Although 30 confirmed cases of dengue had been reported weekly in the State since September last year, there is no cause for alarm,” he said. Prior to this increase, Penang had between 7 and 10 dengue cases reported weekly in 2004.
"The increase is due to cyclical patterns of dengue incidences in various parts of the world and the country, including Penang.
"The situation has been addressed through the stepping up of continuous surveillance and preventive measures," he told reporters at his office in Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/NewsBreak/20050105165109/Article/indexb_html
The Arizona Republic
Court throws out Yates' convictions for drowning children
Associated Press
Jan. 6, 2005 10:00 AM
HOUSTON - Andrea Yates' capital murder convictions for drowning her children were overturned Thursday by an appeals court, which ruled that a prosecution witness' erroneous testimony about a nonexistent TV episode could have been crucial.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0106ChildrenDrowned06-ON.html
Blue skies won't spawn a supercell
Jan. 6, 2005 12:00 AM
Today we have two weatherish sorts of questions, which isn't too surprising because things have been unusually weatherish around here lately.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/columns/articles/0106clay06.html
Storms putting Valley to the test
Next rains may strain flood-control system
Christina Leonard
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 6, 2005 12:00 AM
With two major storms behind us, flood-control experts are watching the Valley's system of protective dams and diversion ditches closely.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0106flooding.html
Hayworth blasts Mexico border-crossing comic book
Wants halt to guide for border crossers
Billy House
Republic Washington Bureau
Jan. 6, 2005 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth has written a letter of protest to the Mexican government urging a halt to its distribution of a new how-to comic book providing safety information for border crossers, calling it "state-sponsored illegal immigration."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0106hayworth-mexico06.html
The Jakarta Post
Donors likely to provide debt relief
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia moved closer to securing debt relief on Wednesday with Japan, the country's largest single donor, joining a group of nations supporting the idea.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20050106.@01&irec=0
World leaders in unite in crisis
Agencies, Jakarta
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and world leaders arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday to try to deal with Asia's tsunami crisis and a US$2.3 billion humanitarian relief operation, the biggest since World War II.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20050106.@02&irec=1
NGO accuses officials of abusing aid for Aceh
Forum-Asia, an Asian-based human rights watchdog, expressed concern on Wednesday over the alleged abuse of aid for tsunami victims in Aceh as some officials were selling the food aid to survivors.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20050106.A02&irec=3
UN bodies work around the clock for victims
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The severe devastation in Aceh and North Sumatra, caused by the earthquake-triggered tsunami that crushed the two provinces only a few days before New Year, has forced United Nations bodies to work hand-in-hand around the clock to help save victims.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20050106.B02&irec=8
Will the world deliver on its promises to Aceh?
Kornelius Purba, Jakarta
U.S. military crews launching more than 100 helicopter flights a day from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ferrying food, water and medicine to tsunami victims in Aceh, regard their current mission as more satisfying than the Iraq war.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20050106.E03&irec=2
We humbly thank you
It has been obvious from the beginning that the devastation caused by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami was simply too enormous for Indonesia to deal with alone. The huge death toll, the massive destruction and the hundreds of thousands of people now forced to live in refugee camps are simply unprecedented.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20050106.E01&irec=0
Incompetence the real killer
With Indonesia bearing the brunt of the death and destruction wrought by the Indian Ocean tsunami, it is instructive to ask whether this was entirely because of its proximity to the earthquake's epicenter. The answer, it seems, is a resounding "no".
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20050106.F02&irec=4
Getting our act together
Indeed, it is not too early now to start planning the reconstruction of the province of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam so that life can resume as normally as the circumstances there permit. A number of aspects, however, should be taken into serious consideration.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20050106.E02&irec=1
Snow forces flight cancellations
January 5, 2005
BY NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chicago was hit by a blast of winter weather today, causing hundreds of flight cancellations at O'Hare International Airport and hazardous driving conditions.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/storm05.html
Chicago letting shovelers stake their claim
January 5, 2005
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
The World Series rings around the Red Sox' fingers are not the only difference between Boston and Chicago. There's also a snowy tradition that Beantown has ended and Chitown is determined to continue.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-snow05.html
Congressional delegation has serious weight
January 5, 2005
On Tuesday, after the swearing-in of the 109th Congress, Dick Durbin's office was one of the places to be on Capitol Hill. At his reception, hundreds of Democrats, Republicans, lobbyists, political groupies and journalists -- all eager to court the Democratic Party's new Senate whip -- lined up to enter Durbin's office of five well-appointed rooms sporting wood-burning fireplaces and impressive chandeliers.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits05.html
concluding...
