The San Francisco Chronicle
The voters strike back
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
GOV. ARNOLD Schwarzenegger can retire his favorite applause line about going direct to the voters if legislators don't do what he wants. While he's at it, he ought to find words other than "losers'' and "stooges" and "girlie men" to describe the legislators he will need to work with to accomplish anything of substance.
As the returns rolled in last night, it was clear that the myth of Schwarzenegger the invincible salesman had encountered a hard dose of reality. The measure that would have most directly shifted the balance of power to the governor -- Proposition 76, which would have endowed him with expanded authority over the budget -- lost resoundingly.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/09/EDG9PFKJ161.DTL
Prince, duchess meet with homeless people in Tenderloin
Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
The first time Eddie Smith ever got the royal treatment in his life was one year ago, when he moved off the street into San Francisco's finest homeless supportive housing program, kicked heroin and got his head straight. The second time was Tuesday.
That's when the 48-year-old former construction worker sat down with Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and had a little chat about how to help homeless people rise from the gutter.
The royal couple met with Smith and four other ex-street people in a conference room at their home, the Empress Hotel on Eddy Street -- and once pleasantries were exchanged, carried on a half-hour conversation that dug into nitty-gritty issues one might not expect highnesses to be interested in.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/BAG8IFKULI16.DTL
THE SPECIAL ELECTION
CALIFORNIANS SAY NO TO SCHWARZENEGGER
ANALYSIS: His next challenge is to rebuild bipartisan support
Carla Marinucci and John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writers
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Los Angeles -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger found his box office appeal and rhetoric as a reformer couldn't convince California voters that his special election initiatives were critical to the state's future.
With about three-quarters of the ballots counted, all four of the Republican governor's measures were headed for defeat.
The resounding defeat of the governor's self-styled reform effort leaves him weakened as he heads into his 2006 re-election campaign and forced to deal with a Democratic majority in the Legislature pumped up by Tuesday's victories.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/09/MNG6IFLAMD1.DTL
SAN FRANCISCO
MEASURES: Voters take stand against guns, recruiting at schools
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
San Francisco voters took a stand Tuesday against military recruitment on public school campuses, voted to keep firehouses open and approved the nation's toughest ban on handguns by making it illegal for city residents to possess them.
Proposition H, which requires city residents who already own guns to turn them in to police by April 1, was winning 58 percent to 42 percent with 98 percent of precincts counted.
The measure also makes it illegal to buy, sell, distribute and manufacture firearms and ammunition in the city.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/BAG9RFKD1C82.DTL
THE SPECIAL ELECTION
PROPOSITIONS
ABORTION: Measure that would require doctors to notify parents of underage girls 48 hours before procedure trails by narrow margin
Greg Lucas, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
California voters were narrowly rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment to require that doctors planning to perform abortions on girls under age 18 notify their parents.
Under Proposition 73, doctors would have to notify parents in writing at least 48 hours before the procedure, except in medical emergencies. Thirty-four other states require that the parents of an underage girl seeking an abortion either be notified or give their consent.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/MNG5SFLAI11.DTL
THE SPECIAL ELECTION
CALIFORNIANS SAY NO TO SCHWARZENEGGER
STATE MEASURES: Governor reaches out, doesn't concede
Mark Martin, Carla Marinucci and Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle political writers
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
California voters were rejecting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election agenda Tuesday, handing the governor a humbling loss after he gambled on a high-stakes plan to reshape state government.
With more than three-quarters of the votes counted, the four initiatives that Schwarzenegger said were needed to reform California were all losing.
The centerpiece of the governor's agenda, Proposition 76, which would limit state spending, was trailing badly. Proposition 77, which would strip lawmakers of the ability to draw political voting districts; Proposition 74, which would lengthen the time it takes for public school teachers to get tenure; and Proposition 75, aimed at curbing public employee unions' political spending, were also losing.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/09/MNG6IFLAMF1.DTL
BACK TO BALLOT FOR THE BAY AREA
BIG MONEY: Initiative campaigns hugely costly
Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
When all is said and done, the amount spent on Tuesday's election in California will easily surpass the more than $241 million that John Kerry spent running for president last year, and could even top the $306 million that President Bush spent to win re-election.
Kerry and Bush, whose 2004 spending totals were compiled by the Center for Responsive Government, had to run in 50 states. Here in California it was all about eight initiatives.
Democratic media adviser
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/BAG3JFL3CG1.DTL
Kansas challenges Darwin
Board says students should study doubts on evolution theory
Peter Slevin, Washington Post
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Topeka, Kan. -- The Kansas Board of Education voted Tuesday that students will be expected to study doubts about modern Darwinian theory, a move that defied the nation's scientific establishment and gave voice to religious conservatives and others who question the theory of evolution.
By a 6-4 vote that supporters cheered as a victory for free speech and opponents denounced as shabby politics and worse science, the board said high school students should be told that aspects of widely accepted evolutionary theory are controversial. Among other points, the standards allege a "lack of adequate natural explanations for the genetic code."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/MNG6TFL67K1.DTL
A 'Countdown' to big change in network news
Tim Goodman
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
As with most events related to television, the future is already past. The Next Big Thing is invariably something done years ago. A buzz-heavy arrival deemed "fresh" and "innovative" turns out to be old and stolen. It's all a matter of when and how and where you view it.
And so it is that the future of broadcast network news has been hiding out, as it were, for two and half years on -- of all places -- cable. If you want to know what the face of the future looks like -- at least the successful version, not some warmed over Bob Schieffer action or a trio of Triple A prospects on "Nightline," then look no further than this man: Keith Olbermann.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/09/DDGPVFKGI01.DTL
OPINION: Conservatives Give Bush An Earful
Cinnamon Stillwell
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Leftist Bush-bashing is certainly nothing new, but recently the president has been getting an earful from his right flank as well. For some time now, a lively debate has been raging among conservatives over a variety of Bush administration policies and decisions.
For conservatives, criticism of the Bush administration centers not so much on style than on substance. Unlike the left's scattershot attacks, the president's appearance, past habits or religious beliefs are unlikely to figure in the equation. Disagreement exists over the war in Iraq, but conservatives are largely united in the belief that the war on terrorism is the preeminent struggle of our lifetime. Instead, contentiousness tends to center on domestic and security issues on which the administration seems inconsistent.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/10/26/cstillwell.DTL
The Australian
Bali bomber Azahari dead
Sian Powell, Jakarta correspondent
November 10, 2005
THE most feared terrorist in Asia, Azahari bin Husin, the man responsible for the two Bali bombings and an attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta, has blown himself up after being cornered by police in East Java.
Police said it appeared Azahari, Indonesia's most wanted man, had died during a police raid in the city of Malang yesterday afternoon.
Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad Detachment 88 tracked Azahari down after months of surveillance. It is understood one of the master bomb-maker's acolytes inadvertently led police to the hideout. Police have hunted the elusive Malaysian militant since the 2002 Bali blasts, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17197786%255E601,00.html
Bank quits $300m defence HQ over breach
Steve Lewis, Chief political reporter
November 10, 2005
MACQUARIE Bank has stepped down as commercial adviser on the $300 million new headquarters for the Defence Department after a serious security breach that could damage the reputation of the nation's biggest investment bank in Canberra.
The sudden withdrawal comes at the worst possible time for the bank, with Macquarie considered one of the frontrunners to help sell the Government's 51.8per cent stake in Telstra, an appointment that would generate tens of millions of dollars in fees.
The Australian has learned that Macquarie Bank staff breached confidentiality agreements, distributing commercial-in-confidence material to other bank employees who had not received Defence clearance.
Some of the internal bank emails were sent by mistake to Defence personnel, who blew the whistle on Macquarie's breach.
Defence ordered the bank to conduct an internal inquiry to ensure the breach was contained.
Macquarie's decision to resign is another setback for the plan to build a new Defence headquarters just outside Canberra in the Liberal-held seat of Eden Monaro. One of the first big commonwealth projects to be based on a public-private partnership, it has been plagued by controversy since it was announced just before the 2001 election. There are reports that one, or possibly two, of the three consortiums bidding to build the project could soon pull out of the process.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17196707%255E601,00.html
Curfew fails to prevent riots sweeping France
Emma-Kate Symons, Paris
November 10, 2005
FRANCE'S unprecedented mainland curfew has failed to deter the rampaging gangs intent on burning cars, schools and businesses across Paris and the provinces.
Early police figures put the number of cars burned during the 13th night of violence at 558, with more than 200 arrests. This was a significant reduction on the previous night's violence, but far from the immediate restoration of order demanded by French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17196389%255E601,00.html
Aboriginal elders 'routinely abused'
Amanda Banks
November 10, 2005
ABORIGINAL elders are being abused in their own communities - blatantly harassed for their money on pension days, physically and sexually assaulted, robbed and neglected.
The indigenous elders often tolerated the abuse, fearing they would lose their children and grandchildren to authorities and "welfare" in yet another legacy of the stolen generation.
A report by the West Australian Public Advocate, the first of its kind in the nation, has found financial abuse is the most common type of abuse against Aboriginal elders.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17196380%255E2702,00.html
Rival Chinese fans at Palace gates
November 10, 2005
LONDON: China pulled off a brilliant piece of political theatre by packing London's showcase Mall with thousands of pro-Beijing supporters in an attempt to silence hundreds of noisy demonstrators protesting against the arrival of President Hu Jintao.
With the British hosts looking on bemused, the ceremonial pomp of the state visit - complete with an honour guard, cavalry escort and a 21-gun salute - was eclipsed by the cheers and jeers of the flag-waving crowds.
At times the atmosphere resembled a football match
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17193304%255E2703,00.html
Pakistan lost 2500 soldiers in quake
Rahul Bedi, New Delhi
November 09, 2005
THE Pakistani Army took serious hits in last month's earthquake, losing about 2500 soldiers, including at least three brigadiers, 15 battalion commanders and a large number of junior officers.
Military intelligence sources in New Delhi said that along with the loss of officers and men, the Pakistani Army also sustained serious damage to its infrastructure across Kashmir in the October 8 quake. The overall death toll from the catastrophe jumped to 87,350 yesterday. Pakistan's official toll rose by 13,000 - from 73,000 to 86,000 - following a broad assessment headed by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, working with local provincial governments and aid agencies. India has reported 1350 deaths in its portion of Kashmir.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17186452%255E2703,00.html
Swamped by debt, Venice up for sale
November 09, 2005
ROME: For sale: 13 Renaissance-era palazzi and other historic buildings in the heart of Venice.
The vendor? The Venetian city council, which is practically broke and hopes to raise hundreds of millions of euros from the auction.
It is hard to believe that Venice, which receives 15 million visitors a year, could be so hard up, but Massimo Cacciari, the Mayor, acknowledged: "We haven't got a cent."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17186253%255E2703,00.html
Aceh moves on housing crisis
Sian Powell, Banda Aceh
November 08, 2005
AFTER 10 months struggling to provide permanent housing for Aceh's massive homeless population, the authorities in Indonesia's westernmost province have finally turned to a temporary solution - a kit house first developed in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.
The Boxing Day tsunami that wrecked much of the coastline of Aceh left more than half a million people homeless. Despite a huge outpouring of aid, about 70,000 of the dispossessed still live in tents and squalid shacks, and 100,000 in barracks that are often in an appalling state.
A further 250,000 are staying with friends or relatives. Only about 2000 permanent houses have been built since the aid effort began -- an unacceptable total, according to experts.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17173874%255E2703,00.html
Hariri investigator to grill Syrian officers
November 07, 2005
BEIRUT: The chief UN investigator into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has summonsed six senior Syrian intelligence officers, including President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, for questioning.
Detlev Mehlis, armed with new powers from the UN Security Council, sent the summons to the Syrian Government via the UN on Wednesday, a Lebanese official close to the investigation said yesterday.
"Mr Mehlis has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanding to question at least six Syrian officials," the official said, on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate Syrian comment.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17160954%255E2703,00.html
Oil-for-food engulfs India
November 07, 2005
NEW DELHI: India's Prime Minister indicated yesterday he would order an inquiry into allegations that the Foreign Minister and ruling Congress party benefited from deals linked to the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq.
A retired judge was likely to examine details of a report by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, The Hindustan Times said.
The report said Foreign Minister Natwar Singh and Congress were among beneficiaries across the world allowed to buy Iraqi oil at below market rates in return for kickbacks to the regime of Saddam Hussein.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17160962%255E2703,00.html
Wheels grind for tsunami victims
Many months after the Boxing Day disaster, families are still stuck in tent cities, writes Jakarta correspondent Sian Powell in Mon Ikeun, Aceh
November 07, 2005
IT is damp, crowded and hot - a tatty canvas tent surrounded by mud and puddles and home to four adult Acehnese sisters and two children. More than 10 months after the devastating Boxing Day tsunami killed her husband and her first child, 30-year-old Agustini and her sisters still live under canvas in the crowded tent village of Mon Ikeun, west of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
Agustini was pregnant when the giant waves flattened her house. Her four-month-old son has never known his father, nor a house with a roof. The tragedy swamped Agustini's entire family. Her mother drowned, and her elder sister Lindawati lost her husband and her child.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17160989%255E2703,00.html
Philadelphia Inquirer
Corzine sweeps in
New Jersey Democrat runs strong even in GOP areas
By Tom Turcol
Inquirer Staff Writer
A political unknown only five years ago, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon S. Corzine captured the governor's office in New Jersey yesterday with a lopsided victory over Republican Douglas Forrester.
The resounding win keeps the Democrats in total control in Trenton and boosts Corzine's political star power.
Despite Forrester's relentlessly hard-edged campaign, Corzine's surprisingly broad mandate included impressive showings even in traditionally GOP areas, including Burlington and Atlantic Counties.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13116823.htm
Riots strike deep at a French ideal
"The myth of national homogeneity."
By Ken Dilanian
Inquirer Staff Writer
PARIS - Last year, a French sociologist answered 258 help-wanted ads for salespeople by sending nearly 2,000 fictitious resumes with identical qualifications, and photos attached, as is the custom here.
Faring poorly, among others, were members of France's most disadvantaged minority group - Arab Muslims.
White males with French names received an invitation to interview at a rate of 30 percent, compared with just 5 percent for people with Arab names.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13116824.htm
Owens apologizes to just about everyone
By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer
The setting once again was Terrell Owens' in-season Moorestown home, the upscale, up-for-sale residence he made infamous this summer with an absurd driveway exercise routine in front of television cameras, reporters, fans and neighbors after being exiled from training camp by Eagles coach Andy Reid.
This time, which is sure to be the final time, T.O. asked for a media audience so he could say he was sorry. In the process, he and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, begged for one more chance with the Eagles, a 180-degree turn from where things were eight months ago when Owens went public with his demand for a new contract.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13116814.htm
A mix of oil, politics, profit in the Senate
Executives will explain how five firms made $356 million a day in 3d quarter.
By Kevin G. Hall
Inquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - The stakes couldn't be higher for captains of the oil industry when they appear before a joint hearing of two U.S. Senate committees today to answer questions about the highest quarterly corporate profit ever.
One question sure to get their attention: Why shouldn't Congress impose a windfall-profits tax on them?
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13116801.htm
Children and the poor unfairly targeted
It would have been difficult for budget-cutters in Congress to devise a plan to punish poor children more severely if they had set out with that goal in mind.
House Republican leaders are pushing for a vote tomorrow on a $54 billion deficit-reduction plan. From food stamps to health care to child-support enforcement, children in low-income families would bear a cruelly disproportionate share of these proposed cuts.
The legislation would cut food stamps for 225,000 low-income families in which one or more adults is working. (So much for the notion of rewarding people for getting off of welfare.) Another 70,000 legal immigrants would be denied food stamps. Because of these cuts, 40,000 children would lose their eligibility for free school lunches, too.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13116841.htm
The New Zealand Herald
Brownlee outburst shows National 'not fit to govern'
09.11.05 4.00pm
National has shown why it is not fit for Government with its deputy leader Gerry Brownlee's attacks on the Governor-General, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said today.
Mr Brownlee has not backed off his criticism of the Governor-General yesterday, on the day Dame Silvia Cartwright went to Parliament for its State opening.
Mr Brownlee said yesterday he had "lost respect" for the Governor-General and had lost confidence in the process followed to form the new Government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354397
Auckland man exposed as millionaire who faked death
10.11.05
By Louisa Cleave and Nzpa
Robert Motzel clearly expected to be back in his Henderson office yesterday.
A message on his work phone recorded on Monday says he is heading to Sydney but will be back about lunchtime on Wednesday.
But instead he flew into a police trap in Sydney that exposed him as Australian millionaire Harry Bentley Gordon, who was believed to have drowned five years ago.
He has been in New Zealand since at least November 2002, and married a New Zealand woman in September. But it was his first wife, Sheila Gordon, who tipped off police that he was living in New Zealand as Robert Motzel.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354487
Youth gets 10 years for child abuse
10.11.05
By Juliet Rowan
Gang culture was implicated in the "callous, unadulterated' abuse of a 2-year-old boy who almost died after he was bashed about the head and fed dog faeces by a man who yesterday received a 10-year jail sentence for the crime.
Harley Mac Wharewera, 19, stood with his head bowed and his back to the public gallery during the sentencing at the Whakatane District Court, after earlier admitting four charges related to the abuse of the boy for seven weeks this year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354489
Australian Muslims running scared after arrests
10.11.05
CANBERRA - Fears are growing of a violent backlash against Australia's large Muslim community in the wake of the arrests of 17 terror suspects in Sydney and Melbourne.
While politicians and most newspaper commentators said the arrests had vindicated new anti-terror laws, Muslim leaders backed away from their earlier support for the changes.
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali said the arrests had been made under existing laws with intense media scrutiny, but if the new legislation giving extraordinary powers of detention had been in force, the raids would have been made "in darkness".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354474
Australian Muslims running scared after arrests
10.11.05
CANBERRA - Fears are growing of a violent backlash against Australia's large Muslim community in the wake of the arrests of 17 terror suspects in Sydney and Melbourne.
While politicians and most newspaper commentators said the arrests had vindicated new anti-terror laws, Muslim leaders backed away from their earlier support for the changes.
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali said the arrests had been made under existing laws with intense media scrutiny, but if the new legislation giving extraordinary powers of detention had been in force, the raids would have been made "in darkness".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354474
UN fights US over internet's future
10.11.05
By Rupert Cornwell
They are five letters you have probably never heard of: ICANN, acronym for the hitherto obscure Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a public-private, non-profit organisation based in the pleasant Los Angeles suburb of Marina del Rey, and operating under the very loose supervision of the United States Department of Commerce.
But that obscurity is about to end. Since 1998 ICANN has been the nearest thing to a governing body for the internet, regulating domains and protocol numbers, and allocating addresses. The debate over its future now pits the US against most of the rest of the world, and the increasingly bitter argument is set to come to a head at a United Nations conference in Tunis next week.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10354409
Bird flu epicentre gets Tamiflu rights
10.11.05
HANOI - Swiss drug-maker Roche has agreed to give Vietnam, the country worst hit by bird flu, the right to make the anti-viral medicine Tamiflu, local reports have said.
So far, 42 of the 64 people killed by the H5N1 strain of the virus have died in Vietnam. Tamiflu can reduce the severity of flu and might slow the spread of a much-feared pandemic should the virus mutate to move easily between humans.
Vietnam has 57 factories capable of producing the drug, thought to be among the best available should H5N1 take hold in humans, and Roche would pick its local partner, the Voice of Vietnam radio said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354447
'Creationists' lose out
10.11.05
A Pennsylvania school board that promoted the teaching of "intelligent-design" in science class has been voted out in favour of candidates who promised to remove the concept.
The Dover Area School board, the first to introduce the creationist doctrine, lost eight of nine members.
The old board was taken to court by parents who said the religious belief cannot be taught in public schools. A ruling is due in January.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354446
Cannabis soothes the pain of arthritis
10.11.05
By Jeremy Laurance
Cannabis-based drugs might be used to treat arthritis after a study showed they could relieve its pain.
Cannabis has already been shown to have a role in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Other studies suggest it may help treat gut disorders such as Crohn's disease.
The latest study - the first to examine its effect in rheumatoid arthritis - found it significantly reduced pain and suppressed the disease.
Researchers followed up a survey of 1000 people who had obtained the drug. About 15 per cent said they had done so to relieve the condition.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10354431
Peru seizes cocaine worth US$70m
09.11.05 12.20pm
LIMA, Peru - Peru's anti-drug police have seized two tonnes of cocaine with a US street value of at least US$70 million ($104 million), one of the biggest hauls in recent years in the country, police said.
Police also arrested around eight men, including several Colombians and a Venezuelan, in a warehouse in the northern coastal city of Chiclayo.
A police official who declined to be named said the cocaine was worth at least US$70 million in the United States, "but probably much more, because this is pure cocaine".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10354347
France faces 'moment of truth' - PM
09.11.05 1.00pm
By Timothy Heritage
PARIS - France is wounded and faces a moment of truth, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has said following the country's 12th night of rioting.
The protests, blamed on racism and unemployment in rundown suburbs, receded in the Paris region after shots were fired at police the previous night but continued unabated in other parts of France.
"The Republic faces a moment of truth ... France is wounded. It cannot recognise itself in its streets and devastated areas, in these outbursts of hatred and violence which destroy and kill," Villepin told the lower house of parliament.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10354340
US Congress may probe leaks in CIA prisons story
09.11.05 11.20am
WASHINGTON - Top Republicans in the US Congress are considering an investigation into leaks of information used by The Washington Post in an article on a covert global CIA prison system, congressional sources said yesterday.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois were "contemplating" requesting the investigation and had drafted a letter proposing such a probe, a congressional source said. The source said letters to the intelligence committees had not yet been sent.
The Washington Post reported last week that the CIA has been holding and interrogating al Qaeda captives at a secret facility in Eastern Europe, part of a covert prison system established after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10354346
Israel's Sharon mulls new political party
09.11.05 1.00pm
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may break away from his rightist Likud and form a new political party after a crisis with hardliners who opposed the Gaza pullout, a television report said today.
The report said national elections, now scheduled for November 2006, could be moved up to April or May after Likud lawmakers still angry at the withdrawal thwarted Sharon's bid on Monday to name two cabinet ministers.
"He cannot work like this," the television's political reporter Ayala Hasson said. "If elections are moved up, Sharon will launch a new party" called My Only Country, she said.
Israel Radio quoted a top aide to Sharon as saying a Likud split would be a "done deal" unless party leaders could rein in the half dozen hardliners known as "the rebels".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10354381
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