September 19, 2006.
Fire at Angeles National Forest, California.

September 19, 2006.
Angeles National Forest

September 19, 2006.
Angeles National Forest.

Photographer states :: This whole week has been busy, from shooting the Day Fire to the BoostMobile Pro Surf contest to the Pine Fire.

Morning Papers - continued

The Moscow Times

Duma Ratifies Nuclear Terror Treaty
Combined Reports
The State Duma on Friday ratified a global treaty aimed to prevent nuclear terrorism, a year after President Vladimir Putin became the first leader to sign the pact.
Lawmakers in the State Duma demonstrated their loyalty to the Kremlin by voting 424-0 in favor of ratification, following remarks by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Ratification of this document answers to the interests of Russia and the entire international community," Lavrov said.
The Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism makes it a crime to possess radioactive material or weapons with the intent of committing a terrorist act, or to damage a nuclear facility with the intent of killing or seriously injuring someone, or substantially damaging the environment.
Russia sponsored the seven-year effort leading to the treaty's adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2005, and Putin was the first leader to sign the treaty last September, followed swiftly by U.S. President George W. Bush, in a display of solidarity amid persistent fears that terrorists could acquire nuclear weapons.
Lavrov said five countries had ratified the treaty, signed by 107 nations, and that ratification by a total of 22 was needed for it to go into force.
Russia's backing of the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism highlights the importance of the global struggle to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorists' hands, said Matthew Bunn, nuclear security scholar at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Bunn added, however, that the convention should be complemented by "a fast-pace global effort to ensure that every nuclear weapon and every kilogram of potential nuclear bomb material worldwide is secured and accounted for."
Groups based in Chechnya have actively sought weapons of mass destruction and technology needed to stage acts of catastrophic terrorism in the past.
During the first Chechen war they acquired radioactive materials, threatened to attack domestic nuclear facilities, plotted to hijack a nuclear submarine and attempted to put pressure on the national leadership by planting a device containing radioactive materials in Moscow and threatening to detonate it.
Since armed conflict resumed in Chechnya in 1999, the rebels have scouted nuclear facilities and tried to contact an insider at one such facility.
Many scholars argue that groups of militant Islamists and other ideologically driven extremists based in the North Caucasus crossed the moral threshold between conventional and catastrophic terrorism when they seized School No. 1 in Beslan in 2004, leading to the deaths of more than 300 people.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/18/011.html



Shell Faces Sakhalin Stumbling Block
By Valeria Korchagina
Staff Writer
The Natural Resources Ministry on Monday revoked its environmental approval of Shell's Sakhalin-2 project in an apparent intensification of the state's attack on oil and gas projects operated by foreign majors under production sharing agreements.
The move effectively pulls the rug out from under the feet of the project's operator, Sakhalin Energy, and its key shareholder, Shell, by halting work on the project's second phase.
The decision is the biggest threat so far to the multibillion-dollar project, and comes after months of gradually increasing state pressure.
It could also mean that the Kremlin wants to push for a change in the terms of all of the country's three existing production sharing agreements, or PSAs, analysts said Monday.
"This is just another step in what seems a brutal effort to shake up that PSA and to shake up PSAs in general," said Adam Landes, oil and gas analyst with Renaissance Capital investment bank.
The other PSA projects are operated by Exxon and Total.
The State Expert Environmental Review, or SEER, for the second phase of Sakhalin-2, initially approved by the ministry in 2003, is a crucial document without which no further work can be done or funding secured.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/19/001.html



President Pushes for a Role in EADS
By Angela Charlton
Putin, right, and Merkel looking on as Chirac signs a guest book to end their three-way summit in Compiegne, France.
COMPIEGNE, France -- President Vladimir Putin pushed the country's interest in Airbus parent EADS and pledged to share more Russian natural gas riches with European customers during a summit Saturday with his French and German counterparts.
Putin, appearing confident and determined, also sought to allay European fears about his country's reach -- but seemed to revel in the role of friendly and increasingly wealthy neighbor, thanks to soaring oil prices.
All three leaders stressed their warm relations at their first such three-way talks, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel laughed affectionately when French President Jacques Chirac kissed her hand upon arrival at a chateau northwest of Paris.
Chirac insisted that their alliance was not aimed at forming a counterweight to the United States -- as Russia, France and Germany did in their opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
"These meetings aren't directed against anyone," he said.
Economic issues topped the agenda -- including the recent purchase by Vneshtorgbank of a 5 percent stake in Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/041.html



Stocks Slide on Fears of Worldwide Slump
By William Mauldin
Staff Writer
Investors dumped Russian stocks and bonds last week as fears of a global economic slump and falling commodity prices pushed money toward safer investments in the West.
"Sentiment toward emerging markets evidently remains bearish," MDM Bank said in a research note released Friday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve declined to raise interest rates at a meeting on Wednesday, reviving fears of a weakness in the U.S. economy that could spread throughout the world.
On Friday alone, the RTS dropped 2 percent, to 1504.90.
The index has dropped 3 percent over the last week and more than 9 percent since its recent high of 1657.20 on Aug. 11.
Investment funds focused on Russia and the CIS lost $11 million in the week ending Wednesday and $18.5 million in the week ending Sept. 13, according to figures from Emerging Portfolio Fund Research.
Funds dedicated to Brazil, Russia, India and China, known collectively as the BRIC countries, have stopped attracting additional investments and have lost $50 million over the past 10 weeks.
Among Russian commodity stocks on Friday, Gazprom closed at $10.18, down 3 percent; Norilsk Nickel closed at $117.30, down 2.7 percent; and LUKoil closed at $74.70, down 3 percent.
NYMEX crude oil futures closed at $60.55 per barrel on Friday, down 21 percent from the recent high of $76.98 on Aug. 7.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/047.html



Duma Approves 25% Bigger Budget
By Anna Smolchenko and Oksana Yablokova
Staff Writers
The State Duma on Friday gave preliminary approval to a 2007 budget that is expected to be 25 percent bigger than this year's, prompting worries of overspending and higher inflation as next year's elections near.
The hike comes on top of a 40 percent increase this year, as the government spends windfall revenues created by the bonanza of high world oil prices.
By a 343-94 vote with no abstentions, deputies passed the draft budget on first reading. Budget spending is to swell to 5.46 trillion rubles ($205 billion), or 17.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product. With expected revenues of 6.96 trillion rubles, the budget foresees a surplus of 1.5 trillion rubles, or 4.8 percent of GDP.
The projected surplus, however, will largely depend on the oil price, as the budget is based on an average price of $61 per barrel of Urals crude -- a far higher level than in previous years. Should the price fall significantly below this level, the budget could slip into deficit.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told deputies in an address that the draft budget would help the country regain economic ground and fulfill its "industrial potential."

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/001.html


Russia's debt down $5.8 billion in 1H06
RIA NOVOSTI. August 30, 2006, 9:38 PM
MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state debt decreased by 158.7 billion rubles, or $5.8 billion, to 2.9 trillion rubles, or $109.1 billion, during the first six months of 2006, a draft government report said Wednesday.
The Russian government will hold a meeting Thursday to discuss the implementation of the federal budget in the first half of 2006.


Information exchange agreement with U.S. in doubt
RIA NOVOSTI. August 30, 2006, 9:04 PM
MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's energy ministry doubts that a Russian-U.S. agreement on information exchange, which outlines the coordination of energy strategies and is set to expire this year, will be prolonged, a ministry official said Wednesday.
The bilateral agreement was signed between the Russian Ministry of Industry and Energy and the U.S. Department of Energy in 2004.
"The agreement expires at the end of 2006, and there is a question as to whether or not we should prolong it," said Stanislav Naumov, director of the Analysis and Planning Department at the ministry.
His statement came in response to recent comments made by U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, who said Russia, along with Iran and Venezuela, was on a list of countries that used their energy resources to pressure neighboring countries.
But Naumov said the energy ministries of both countries proactively developed bilateral ties. Russia and the United States formed a working group on cooperation in the energy sector to promote the exchange of opinions on the situation in the global oil and gas markets, domestic energy strategies, investment in the energy sector, energy efficiency and environmental protection policies.
"As far as we understand, the U.S. saw the dialogue with Russia as a means to strengthen its energy security and stabilize global supplies, including through the increased supply of Russian energy resources to the global market, and the U.S. market in particular," the ministry's official said.
He said the ministry welcomed the proactive participation of U.S. businessmen and politicians in the Moscow Energy Dialogue, scheduled for October 30 in Moscow. The forum will focus on the implementation of the energy declaration adopted at the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg in July.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html


Russia Hits U.S. Pork With Ban
Bloomberg
The government banned some pork products from Premium Standard Farms for violating health standards, carrying out a threat the country had made to the United States for blocking its membership in the World Trade Organization.
Pork processed at Premium Standard's Milan, Missouri, facility was banned for violating "veterinary-sanitary standards,'' the Agriculture Ministry said on its web site Friday, without elaborating. The ban took effect on Thursday.
The government last month threatened to tighten import barriers on U.S. meat unless it won U.S. approval to join the global trade group by October. Russia has been trying to join the WTO for more than a decade and has reached the required bilateral agreements with all 149 members except the U.S., which is seeking more concessions on agriculture.
Four days ago, Premium Standard agreed to be acquired by Smithfields Foods, the world's largest pork processor, for about $693 million in cash and stock. The deal will boost Smithfields' hog output by almost 30 percent. Premium Standard had a net income of $45.3 million in the year ending June 24 on revenue of $880 million.
Russia and the United States signed a four-year accord last year setting annual quotas for U.S. pork imports at 502,000 tons and fixed tariffs for imports that exceed the quotas, Kommersant said earlier this month. Russian poultry and pork output surged 10 percent in the first half of this year after import quotas were introduced.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/046.html



Putin Tries to Soothe France's Total Fears
Combined Reports
President Vladimir Putin tried to ease fears Friday that his country was planning to revoke French oil company Total's license to operate in the Arctic, insisting that the concerns were based on rumors.
Putin was in Paris for talks with French President Jacques Chirac on the eve of a three-way summit between the two men and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on subjects from the Middle East to business cooperation.
Putin's visit, however, came at a time of tensions over the oil field contract. The Natural Resources Ministry said last week that officials were considering canceling Total's license to extract oil at its Kharyaga project, north of the Arctic Circle.
"I want to calm you right away about the rumors about the withdrawal of the Total company's license, which are a bit exaggerated to say the least," Putin told reporters before dining with Chirac at the Elysee Palace.
"We will give an exhaustive response to French questions about the contract if they have them," he said.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/042.html



Kramnik Seizes on Topalov Blunder
The Associated Press
ELISTA -- Classical World Champion Vladimir Kramnik defeated World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov on Saturday in the first game of a three-week series of matches being played in the Kalmykia region, which are intended to end the schism that has riven the chess world for 13 years.
Russia's Kramnik had White in the first game. He opened by moving the queen's pawn in a Catalan Opening.
By the 12th move, both queens were eliminated and Topalov had seized a psychological upper hand.
Kramnik's position was uncomfortable, but he maintained his composure.
Topalov sacrificed a pawn around the 40th move, securing an opportunity to force a draw at anytime. But the Bulgarian grandmaster preferred to keep maneuvering instead, waiting for Kramnik to make a mistake.
White defended well, and on the 57th move, Topalov made an error that cost him the game.
Black could secure a draw by taking the f2 pawn with a knight, but instead, Topalov moved his bishop's pawn.
"Actually, it was a dream position for any chess player," Topalov said after the match. "Black was clearly better, although I had significant technical difficulties in converting the advantage. Vlad [Kramnik] defended well, and I eventually made a blunder."
Having missed this opportunity, Topalov was forced into an endgame with a two-pawn deficit.
Kramnik showed impeccable technique and won the opening game of the match after 6 1/2 hours of play.
"This is a world championship match, and serious mistakes are important part of the game," Kramnik said. "The struggle is tense, and mistakes are unavoidable. I understand that I was just lucky in this game."
The match is the sixth attempt to reunify the chess world since then-world champion Garry Kasparov broke away from the international chess federation in 1993.
The rift in the chess world grew after Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the impoverished Kalmykia region, became president of the federation in 1995. While Ilyumzhinov was praised for pouring millions of dollars into chess, he also introduced numerous controversial changes, including a new knockout format for the world championship (which was later abandoned under pressure from the chess world) and a new, faster time control.
The 12-game match is scheduled to conclude on Oct. 13th.
The two 31-year-old players are to share the tax-free $1 million prize no matter who wins the title.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/092.html


Yanukovych Says Gas Price to Be Settled in October
By Alex Nicholson
The Associated Press
Ukraine will ensure the smooth transit of gas to Europe this winter, the nation's prime minister said Friday after talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych also said Ukraine and Russia would agree on a gas price for the final months of the year in the "coming days" and would set a price for 2007 in October. Ukraine pays $95 per 1,000 cubic meters -- a price that Yanukovych said Ukraine would seek to keep at least until the new year.
"The question of $95 is of great importance for us, although we clearly understand that this is a difficult issue," he said on television following talks with Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.
Russia strongly supported Yanukovych's fraud-marred bid to win the Ukrainian presidency in 2004, and his return as prime minister was broadly seen as a boost for the Kremlin's interests in Ukraine, as Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko tries to move his nation closer to the West.
The Kremlin said Putin met with Yanukovych late Thursday.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/043.html


Balkan pipeline deal to be signed by end of 2006
RIA NOVOSTI. August 30, 2006, 9:01 PM
MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - An intergovernmental agreement to build an oil pipeline in the Balkans to bypass some of the world's busiest shipping lanes may be signed by the end of the year, a senior Russian energy official said Wednesday.
The Russian, Bulgarian and Greek governments signed a memorandum on the construction of a pipeline stretching 280 kilometers (175 miles) from the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea to Greece's Alexandroupolis on the Aegean in April 2005.
The project, which is expected to cost at least $800 million, will allow Russia to export oil through the Black Sea, bypassing the busy Bosporus Strait in Turkey. Initial throughput capacity will be 35 million metric tons (255 million bbl), before rising to 50 million metric tons (370 million bbl).

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html


Hamas Says it Is Ready to Share Power With Abbas
The Associated Press
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The Islamic militant Hamas Party said Sunday that it was serious about sharing power with the moderate Fatah movement, and that the leaders of both sides planned to meet for new coalition talks this week.
Hamas sent the conciliatory signal a day after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads Fatah, warned that his efforts to set up a government acceptable to the West were "back to zero." Abbas spoke after Hamas angrily denied Abbas' assurances to the international community that a Hamas-Fatah coalition would recognize Israel.
Earlier this month, Hamas said it was ready to bring Fatah into the government, in hopes of ending a crippling international aid boycott on the Palestinian Authority. The coalition deal included a tacit, but not explicit, recognition of Israel, and the United States and Israel said they wanted clear commitment from any new government.
Despite their ideological differences, Hamas and Abbas appear to have little choice but to govern together.
Hamas needs Fatah to win international recognition and to restore foreign aid. Abbas could fire the current government and install a new one, but would require the approval of the parliament, which is controlled by Hamas. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Sunday signaled willingness to compromise. Haniyeh and Abbas are to meet in Gaza on Monday or Tuesday.
"We are going to resume talks on the formation of a national coalition government," Haniyeh said in a statement. "We hope that the talks will resume soon."

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/252.html


Violence Rages on the Eve of Ramadan
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD -- At least 20 people were killed and 37 injured Sunday in scattered violence around Iraq, including a mortar attack on the Health Ministry, followed by a car bombing targeting a police patrol.
In the wake of the sectarian violence, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis on Sunday to use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to put aside their differences.
"Either we live as ... brothers side by side and undivided by sectarianism, or Iraq will shift into an area for settling accounts of political parties," he said.
Police also discovered another 13 bodies, the apparent victims of sectarian death squads. The Health Ministry in northern Baghdad was hit by two mortar shells. As police patrolled the area later, a roadside bomb exploded, killing four policemen and wounding four more, and killing two civilians and injuring two others, police said. In eastern Baghdad a car bomb targeting another patrol killed five people and wounded 17.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/253.html


Kondopoga Chechens Move Out
By Carl Schreck
Staff Writer
Some 50 Chechens who fled ethnic violence in the northwestern industrial town of Kondopoga have begun to leave the summer camp near Petrozavodsk, the Karelian capital, where they have been living for three weeks.
Hamzat Magamadov, a representative of the group living at the Aino summer camp, said last Friday that the families were deciding whether to return to their homes in Kondopoga or to move elsewhere.
Magamadov denied reports Friday that the Chechens were being evicted from the two-story dormitory on Lake Lososinnoye, where they were put under police protection after ethnic Russians attacked and looted Kondopoga businesses, prompting most of the several hundred natives of the Caucasus living in the town to flee.
"We have met with local and regional officials and expressed our concerns. Now the families are deciding where they want to go," Magamadov said by telephone from the camp Friday.
"Some have already returned to Kondopoga, some want to go back to Chechnya and others want to move to Petrozavodsk or somewhere else in Karelia," he said.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/011.html



North Caucasus Lawmaker Killed
The Associated Press
Unidentified attackers shot and killed a local lawmaker and wounded a police officer in separate attacks in the North Caucasus on Saturday, officials and witnesses said.
The lawmaker, a member of a district legislature in Dagestan, was gunned down in the town of Khasavyurt as he was driving, a police spokesman said.
Meanwhile, in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkariya, a law enforcement officer was injured when the police van he was riding in exploded, said Marina Kyasova, a spokeswoman for the regional branch of the Interior Ministry.
Kyasova said that, according to preliminary findings, a homemade explosive device placed inside the van caused the blast. She said the officer's life was no longer in danger.
Witnesses said the van was parked near a building housing state-run media located in the vicinity of a regional government building.
The attacks deal a blow to a government amnesty plan intended to persuade militants in Chechnya and surrounding regions to disarm and surrender to authorities, which came into effect Saturday.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/017.html



Chechen Amnesty Plan Breezes Through Duma
Combined Reports
The State Duma on Friday approved a government amnesty plan intended to persuade militants in Chechnya and surrounding regions of the North Caucasus to disarm and surrender to authorities.
Deputies quickly passed the legislation, proposed by President Vladimir Putin, in a 350-80 vote, with one abstention. The amnesty, part of an effort to end more than a decade of separatist resistance following the deaths of rebel leaders this summer, would remain in effect until Jan. 15.
The amnesty would also apply to servicemen suspected of committing crimes while serving in Chechnya and the North Caucasus.
Pavel Krashennikov, head of the Duma's Legislation Committee, denied speculation that the amnesty might apply to servicemen convicted or indicted of serious crimes, such as the murder of civilians, Interfax reported Saturday.
The amnesty does not apply to soldiers who have committed crimes, such as murder, theft, robber and rape, Krashennikov said. He stated specifically that Colonel Yury Budanov, convicted in July 2003 of murdering an 18-year-old Chechen woman, would not be covered by the amnesty.
A temporary amnesty measure announced in July by Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev is nearing its end. It first gave militants about two weeks to surrender, but was extended through Sept. 30.
Like the initial amnesty proposal, the measure approved Friday promised that militants would not be prosecuted if they surrendered and were not suspected of grave crimes such as murder, rape or terrorism.
Nearly 300 militants have surrendered under the initial amnesty, said Vladimir Bulavin, deputy head of the Federal Security Service. "The approval of the bill will help uproot terrorism," Bulavin told lawmakers.
Militants have to disarm to avoid prosecution; the amnesty will not apply to servicemen accused of selling or stealing weapons.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/015.html



Russia Muscles Past U.S. in Davis Cup
Dmitry Tursunov put Russia into the Davis Cup final after holding off Andy Roddick 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 Sunday, giving his country an unassailable 3-1 lead over the United States.
Russia will host the Davis Cup final against Argentina in December and will hope to add to its single previous Davis Cup title, won in Paris in 2002.
Roddick struggled from the start on the clay court at the Olimpiisky Sports Complex, losing his first service game.
Roddick won only three points in his opponent's first five service games in the third set, but held serve and upped his game at the crucial moment to break Tursonov at 6-5 to avoid a tiebreaker and stay in the match.
As Roddick gained confidence, his opponent seemed to falter. They traded service wins until Tursonov netted an easy forehand and Roddick converted his third break point with a backhand volley to take a 5-3 lead.
In the marathon 32-game final set, both players survived scares and held serve until Tursunov netted an easy forehand to go down 30-40 in the 11th game. He saved one break point, but hit two shots wide at deuce.
But the home favorite, roared on by the partisan crowd, broke straight back to even it at 6-6 when Roddick sent a return wide after saving one break point.
The two then traded service wins until Roddick netted a forehand slice to give Tursunov his fourth match point. The Russian held his nerve to send a backhand down the line for the victory.
Tursunov, who was knocked out of the U.S. Open in the third round and struggled with his backhand in Saturday's doubles, was an unexpected pick by Russia coach Shamil Tarpishchev.
Nikolay Davydenko is Russia's best clay-court player, but he withdrew from the Chinese Open last weekend with dizziness, and Tarpishchev instead picked Marat Safin to play Roddick in the opening singles.
Safin beat Roddick 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) and Mikhail Youzhny beat Blake 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 on Friday, putting the U.S. squad down 2-0.
On Saturday, Bob and Mike Bryan overcame Youzhny and Tursunov with little trouble, reviving U.S. hopes with a commanding 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win.
James Blake beat Safin 7-5, 7-6 in the dead rubber, but it will be of little consolation to the U.S. team.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/25/091.html


The Chicago Tribune

Storms ease after 12 deaths
Flooding still threat in several states in South, Midwest
By Dylan T. Lovan, Associated Press. Associated Press writers Bruce Schreiner and Will Graves in Louisville; Jeff McMurray in Lexington, Ky.; Jill Zeman in Little Rock, Ark.; and Heather Hollingsworth
Published September 25, 2006
LOUISVILLE -- Stormy weather blamed for 12 deaths in the Midwest and South subsided on Sunday, though residents in some states remained shut out of their homes because of high waters.
Flood warnings remained in effect for parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri. Many Kentucky roads were still submerged Sunday, but waters in many areas began to recede.
"It looks like everything's kind of quieting down, and things are being handled on the local level right now," said Buddy Rogers, a spokesman for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in Frankfort.
The storms that hit parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee on Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.
The death toll in Kentucky reached eight, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. Two deaths were reported in Arkansas.
In Illinois, authorities say lightning evidently was the cause of a house fire that killed Roberta Russell, 89, and Lucille Stroud, 73, in the village of Spillertown. High winds destroyed three trailer homes and a log home in southern Massac County, with about a dozen homes damaged in Jackson County, said Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson.
The National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Over 24 hours, parts of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain, the weather service reported.
In Kentucky, about 200 people at the Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival were evacuated by boats and school buses.
"It was almost Katrina-like pretty much," said Chester Craig, a lieutenant with the Mercer Central Volunteer Fire Department. "There were vehicles underwater and people were walking around in a daze."
Arkansas rivers swelled up to 8 feet above flood levels, officials said. Campers at River Bend Park in Hardy, Ark., were asked to evacuate when the Spring River began rising.
"I didn't think we were going to make it out of there," said Charles Lenderman. He and family members -- wearing life jackets -- swam from the camper to higher ground about 100 yards away.
In central and eastern Missouri, nearly 400 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 10 people were injured by about 10 tornadoes, officials said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0609250185sep25,1,5783228.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed



E. Coli Spinach Cases Rise to 173
By Associated Press
Published September 24, 2006, 7:10 PM CDT
WASHINGTON -- Two more cases of illness were blamed Sunday on the outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach, raising the number of people sickened to 173, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
So far, 92 people have been hospitalized, including a Wisconsin woman who died. Two other deaths have been reported in suspected cases -- a child in Idaho and an elderly woman in Maryland -- but those cases are still being investigated.
Since the outbreak was reported two weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration has recommended people not eat fresh, raw spinach. State and federal investigators since have traced the contaminated spinach back to three counties in California's Salinas Valley.
On Friday, officials said spinach grown anywhere outside that area is safe to eat -- but industry needs to figure out how to let consumers know the origin of what they're buying before the green can return to sale, said Dr. David Acheson of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
The 25 states that have reported infections are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-tainted-spinach,1,2092844.story?coll=chi-news-hed



D.C. dispute puts security push on hold
How to protect judges, border splits Congress
By Christi Parsons
Washington Bureau
Published September 25, 2006
Many lawmakers are hoping to pass a bill chock full of spending for military communities in time for the November elections, but an aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said Sunday the speaker won't move that bill unless it also includes strict border security provisions.
Spokesman Ron Bonjean said the speaker also wants the bill to include a House Republican measure to improve court security, an issue championed by the Illinois delegation in Congress in the wake of the murders of family members of a federal judge in Chicago last year.
Hastert's staff partially blames Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate and a vocal proponent of improving court security across the country.
"What we don't understand is why Sen. Durbin, who is the No. 2 Senate Democrat, does not seem to have the influence over his colleagues to get this court security measure through," Bonjean said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0609250211sep25,1,1523378.story?coll=chi-news-hed



Emergency call for fire brigades
In small towns, fewer citizens able or willing to fight blazes for free
By Dahleen Glanton
Tribune national correspondent
Published September 25, 2006
McLAURIN, Miss. -- After more than two centuries as one of America's favorite community service endeavors, the glory days of the volunteer firefighter are fading. Most people, particularly younger ones, now don't have the time or the inclination to put out fires for free anymore.
As a result, some volunteer fire departments that provide emergency and rescue services, respond to natural disasters and make public service calls in addition to fighting fires are dangling on the edge of extinction. And people in small communities that rely solely on volunteers, such as McLaurin, a town of about 900 families outside Hattiesburg, increasingly risk calling 911 and not getting help.
About 73 percent of the more than 1 million firefighters in the U.S. are volunteers, as opposed to paid career firefighters, and about two-thirds of all fire departments are primarily volunteer, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council, a Washington-based lobbying group. But in two decades, the number of volunteers has declined by more than 10 percent, from 897,750 in 1984 to 800,050 in 2003. The council has begun a national recruitment campaign to rebuild the ranks.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0609250192sep25,1,4996568.story?coll=chi-news-hed



Former migrants take root
Hispanic residents stabilize populations, fuel business growth in small, Downstate town
By Greg Burns
Tribune senior correspondent
Published September 25, 2006
COBDEN, ILL. -- Mexican migrant workers have picked the crops around this farming community in the southern tip of the state for decades, and Jerry Jimenez, true to his roots, was stooping over a long row of pepper plants last week.
But contrary to the stereotypes, Jimenez owns his tidy farm here and hasn't picked vegetables for a living in decades. As he sipped coffee on the porch of his comfortable farmhouse, the 63-year-old entrepreneur outlined an ambitious plan for expanding his hot-pepper-jelly business over the Internet.
"We want to see how far we can take it," he said.
Times have changed in Cobden. Its population of 1,102 includes dozens of former migrants who have settled here permanently, boosting an otherwise dwindling community and launching some of the few new businesses around.
Across the Corn Belt, as the children of longstanding residents have moved out of rural hamlets in search of better job opportunities, Mexican workers and their families have moved in.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0609250138sep25,1,3012058.story?coll=chi-business-hed



Welcome mat never out at Dune Acres
By Jason George
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 24, 2006
Dune Acres is the place to be; no visitors to bother me.
Beach spreadin' out so far and wide; keep out Gary, this is the quiet side.
No, that's not a verse from the official song of Dune Acres, Ind., but for more than 80 years this tiny hamlet just north of Chesterton has been developing a reputation for giving uninvited guests the cold shoulder. In fact, while most Lake Michigan towns battle it out for every last tourism dollar, Dune Acres has developed a unique pitch to potential visitors: Stay away.
Residents contend that they take certain measures, such as staffing a guard shack at the town's lone entrance--on a public, state-funded road--not because they are snobs, elitists or even lepers. It's just that 4-square-mile Dune Acres wants to assist lost motorists and keep out big-city problems. They know that legally, they cannot stop people from entering the town.
Any suggestion that the stop sign that sits square in the middle of the road at the town's entrance, and the guards alongside it, are there to prevent admittance is just not true, town officials say. Think of the guards as greeters--who just happen to stop and question motorists and write down names and license plate numbers.
A visitor fortunate enough to make it past the guards and security cameras nestled next to bird feeders will see a charming architectural medley of houses in Dune Acres, home to about 250 residents and thousands of towering oak, birch and maple trees. With any luck--as the town's dozen or so roads are all disorienting dead ends--a visitor could stumble upon the white sandy beach, not that leaving one's vehicle there is recommended.
"We don't restrict access to the beach; we just control and monitor parking in the lot, which requires a parking permit," Town Council President John Wilhelm III said.
How does one go about getting a permit?
"They have to be a resident."
Cars found parked there without a sticker are towed.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-0609240335sep24,1,184801.story?coll=chi-homepagetravel-hed



Clinton, Fox Anchor Battle in Interview
By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer
Published September 25, 2006, 5:35 AM CDT
NEW YORK -- In a combative interview on "Fox News Sunday," former President Clinton defended his handling of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden, saying he tried to have bin Laden killed and was attacked for his efforts by the same people who now criticize him for not doing enough.
"That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now," Clinton said in the interview. "They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try."
Clinton accused host Chris Wallace of a "conservative hit job" and asked: "I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked, 'Why didn't you do anything about the Cole?' I want to know how many people you asked, 'Why did you fire Dick Clarke?'"
He was referring to the USS Cole, attacked by terrorists in Yemen in 2000, and former White House anti-terrorism chief Richard A. Clarke.
Wallace said Sunday he was surprised by Clinton's "conspiratorial view" of "a very non-confrontational question, 'Did you do enough to connect the dots and go after Al Qaida?'"
"All I did was ask him a question, and I think it was a legitimate news question. I was surprised that he would conjure up that this was a hit job," Wallace said in a telephone interview.
Clinton said he "worked hard" to try to kill bin Laden.
"We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody's gotten since," he said.
He told Wallace, "And you got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever, but I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it, but I did try and I did everything I thought I responsibly could."
The interview was taped Friday during Clinton's three-day Global Initiative conference.
On NBC's "Meet the Press," also taped Friday and aired Sunday, Clinton told interviewer Tim Russert that the biggest problem confronting the world today is "the illusion that our differences matter more than our common humanity."
"That's what's driving the terrorism," he said. "It's not just that there's an unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict. Osama Bin Laden and Dr. al-Zawahiri can convince young Sunni Arab men, who have -- and some women -- who have despairing conditions in their lives, that they get a one-way ticket to heaven in a hurry if they kill a lot of innocent people who don't share their reality."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-clinton-fox-news,1,4719119.story?coll=chi-news-hed



U.S. to Allow Some Liquids on Airliners
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writer
Published September 25, 2006, 11:46 AM CDT
WASHINGTON -- The government is partially lifting its ban against carrying liquids and gels onto airliners, as long as they are purchased from secure airport stores, and will also permit small, travel-size toiletries brought from home, officials said Monday.
A total ban on such products, instituted after a plot to bomb jets flying into the United States was foiled, is no longer needed, said Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley.
"We now know enough to say that a total ban is no longer needed from a security point of view," Hawley told a news conference at Reagan National Airport.
He said that most liquids and gels that air travelers purchase in secure areas of airports will now be allowed on planes. He called the new procedures a "common sense" approach that would maintain a high level of security at airports but ease conditions for passengers.
That means that after passengers go through airport security checkpoints, they can purchase liquids at airport stores and take them onto their planes.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/sns-ap-air-travel-security,1,6666642.story?coll=chi-news-hed



Pope to Meet With Muslims to Defuse Anger
By Associated Press
Published September 25, 2006, 2:24 AM CDT
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy -- Muslim diplomats were meeting Monday with Pope Benedict XVI in the pontiff's latest effort to mend relations after his remarks about Islam and violence ignited the Vatican's most serious international crisis in decades.
Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the meeting, at the Vatican summer residence, was "certainly a sign that dialogue is returning to normal after moments of ... misunderstanding." He predicted that the encounter would lead to further steps
Since the Sept. 12 speech on Islam, Benedict has said that his remarks were taken out of context and said he regreted that Muslims were offended.
Vatican Radio said that it would cover the meeting live, and the speeches were scheduled to be shown to journalists on closed-circuit Vatican TV.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-vatican-pope-muslims,1,1741246.story?coll=chi-news-hed



New Zealand Herald

Nepal helicopter search hampered by weather
1.20pm Monday September 25, 2006
Bad weather in eastern Nepal is continuing to hamper efforts to find a missing helicopter with 24 people on board.
The helicopter disappeared in a remote mountainous area during heavy rain.
Five Nepalese air search teams are struggling to carry out their mission because of incessant rain.
Police say visibility is almost zero.
Among those on board are a government minister, a foreign diplomat and members of the conservation group, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), including Australian Jill Bowling.
The director of the WWF in Nepal, Anil Manandhar, says there is still hope the passengers will be found alive.
"We still don't believe that the worst has happened," he said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402862



Sunburn danger this weekend
1.00pm Friday September 22, 2006
New Zealand will suffer a record "low ozone event" for spring on Sunday meaning people could burn even if the weather is cool, climate scientists are warning.
Niwa said space agencies are forecasting that there could be 23 per cent less ozone over New Zealand than the average for this time of year, making it highly likely people could burn if the weather is good.
The forecast comes from the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute and the European Space Agency. They say a sliver or filament of low ozone air circulating in the stratosphere around Antarctica will spin off and pass over much of New Zealand.
"Ozone values of about 275 Dobson Units are possible, whereas the September average at Lauder, Central Otago, is 358 Dobson Units,' says Dr Greg Bodeker of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research.
"The forecast suggests that the ozone values around noon on Sunday are likely to be a record low for this time of the year,' says Dr Bodeker.
New Zealand ozone records began in 1970.
The forecast low ozone will push UV levels higher than usual for this time of year.
Wendy Billingsley, a spokesperson for SunSmart, says protection will be essential if the day is clear or partly cloudy.
Protection is essential when UV levels reach 6. According to Niwa, if the skies are clear, the forecast low ozone means that UV levels in the south of New Zealand are likely to increase from a typical September noon-time UV index of 4 to 5.5.
In the north of the country, the noon UV index could be as high as 8 compared to the usual September value of around 6.5.
At southern ski fields, where the snow-covered surface enhances UV levels, the reduced ozone could cause noon-time UV levels to increase from 6 to close to 8.
A UV index of 8 represents very high UV levels, though not the levels reached on a sunny summer day.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=2&ObjectID=10402498



Ozone hole kills sea life, says scientist
Thursday July 20, 2006
The ozone hole over Antarctica is having a bigger impact on life than realised, scientists believe.
The layer, 24km above Earth, acts as a shield against ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
An annual thinning of the ozone over Antarctica allows significantly more UV light to reach the ocean and damage DNA.
New Scientist magazine reported yesterday that an analysis of east Antarctic waters had shown that high levels of UV light could significantly reduce phytoplankton blooms.
These microscopic plant cells at the bottom of the food chain provide food for zooplankton, tiny marine animals that are eaten by more than 50 species of seabirds and by fish and sea mammals ranging from sardines to whales.
"If you have a substantial reduction in the amount of plant material, that's going to have all sorts of knock-on effects for the rest of the food web," said Andrew Davidson, of the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=2&ObjectID=10392054



Antarctic waters may hold cure for heart disease
10.00am Tuesday July 18, 2006
The waters of the Antarctic may hold a cure for heart disease, a researcher says.
Canterbury University researcher Victoria Metcalf plans to travel to Scott Base in October, to fish "Eskimo-style" for research subjects.
"We get on the sea ice, drill a hole and drop in a baited hook," Dr Metcalf, 32, told the Press newspaper today.
Fish samples would then be taken to Northeastern University in Boston next year where genetic filter technology would be used to study how the fish metabolised fat.
Antarctic fish used fat as their primary fuel, whereas humans used carbohydrates.
Dr Metcalf said her research could have some "very real medical spin-offs".
Her study would centre on whether Antarctic fish suffered from heart disease. She said very little was known about fat matabolism.
"What we know is it's really well linked to heart disease. Fat metabolism pathways are really complicated."
Any research on any vertebrates would be able to link in with humans and tell us more, Dr Metcalf said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=2&ObjectID=10391796



Ice invasion under discussion
11.04.06 3.00pm
Biosecurity issues in Antarctica have been the focus of an international meeting in Christchurch.
Delegates from France, the UK, Australia and America have met with their New Zealand colleagues at the Antarctica Non-Native Species Workshop which opened yesterday.
Under scrutiny is the growing threat being posed to the Antarctic environment by invasions from outside species and what options can be considered to mitigate them.
Delegates will develop a report which will be presented to the Antarctic Treaty meeting in Scotland in June

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=2&ObjectID=10376999



Arctic sea ice disappearing
Saturday September 16, 2006
By Michael McCarthy and David Usborne
The melting of the sea ice in the Arctic, the clearest sign so far of global warming, has taken a sudden and enormous leap forward, in one of the most ominous developments yet in the onset of climate change.
Two separate studies by Nasa, using different satellite monitoring technologies, both show a great surge in the disappearance of Arctic ice cover in the last two years.
One, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, shows that Arctic perennial sea ice, which normally survives the summer melt season and remains year-round, shrank by 14 per cent in just 12 months between 2004 and 2005.
The overall decrease in the ice cover was 720,000 sq km - an area almost the size of Turkey - gone in a single year.
The other study, from the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, shows that the perennial ice melting rate, which has averaged 0.15 per cent a year since satellite observations began in 1979, has suddenly accelerated hugely. In the past two winters the rate has increased to 6 per cent a year - that is, it has got more than 30 times faster.
The changes are alarming scientists and environmentalists, because they far exceed the rate at which supercomputer models of climate change predict the Arctic ice will melt under the influence of global warming - which is rapidly enough.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=2&ObjectID=10401578



Climate change wreaking ecological havoc on globe
1.00pm Friday September 15, 2006
By Daniel Howden, Andrew Buncombe and Justin Huggler
In Greenland, barley is growing for the first time since the Middle Ages.
In Britain, gardeners were warned this week that the English country garden will be a thing of the past within the next 20 years.
In Italy, skiers were told yesterday that melting glaciers will mean an end to their pastime unless they can get above 2,000 metres.
Even those enjoying the warmer temperatures in unpredictable bursts by venturing into the sea have been confronted by swarms of jellyfish, who have flourished in record numbers in Europe in the warmer waters.
Those same waters are rising in Venice, prompting arguments over costly plans to seal off the lagoon from the sea.
The prospect of flooded squares on the scale of Venice's Piazza San Marco is driving plans to expand and reinforce the Thames flood barrier.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=2&ObjectID=10401423



Staff exodus threatens Pacific health systems
4.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
The World Health Organisation says the loss of health workers from Pacific nations will push the region's health systems toward collapse.
It says a human resources crisis has overtaken funding issues as the biggest threat to public health, with an estimated global shortfall of more than four million doctors, nurses, dentists and others.
The organisation, which is holding its annual western Pacific meeting in Auckland this week, says Pacific governments face a shortage of health staff and will have to make major structural and fiscal changes.
It has urged member states to examine the infrastructure, technology, supplies and financing of their health systems, to understand why workers are leaving.
WHO says the effects of staff losses are being compounded by ageing populations, the burden of chronic diseases and new threats from emerging diseases.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10402863



Sri Lanka says 11 rebel boats sunk
4.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's navy sank 11 Tamil Tiger vessels and killed dozens of rebels in a fierce five-hour battle overnight, the military has said, a fortnight after the foes agreed to resume peace talks to halt renewed civil war.
"There were 25 Sea Tiger boats sailing south. Eleven boats were sunk, and about 70 cadres were killed," said Chief Inspector of Police Percy Perera of the Center for National Security. He said five navy sailors were hurt in the clash.
Perera said the Navy believed a top Tiger naval commander was killed or injured during the clash at sea around 50 miles north of the strategic northeastern harbour of Trincomalee.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were not immediately available for comment on the incident, which comes days after a suspected rebel front threatened to recapture recently lost territory on the southern lip of Trincomalee harbour.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402864



Colombia hostages plead for freedom in video
3.20pm Monday September 25, 2006
By Patrick Markey
BOGOTA - In a video released by their rebel captors, Colombian lawmakers held hostage for more than four years pleaded with President Alvaro Uribe to negotiate with leftist guerrillas to secure their release.
The recording broadcast on local television was the latest from the 12 provincial lawmakers since their kidnapping in 2002 by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, the largest rebel group in Colombia's four-decade conflict.
Farc wants Uribe to withdraw troops from two municipalities to start an exchange of rebel prisoners for 62 hostages, including three US contract workers and Colombian-French national Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate.
With sheets pinned up behind them to disguise their whereabouts, the lawmakers read from notes greeting family members and urging the government to reach an agreement.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402870



Thailand's military leaders launch corruption probe
2.20pm Monday September 25, 2006
Thailand's military leaders say a new committee has been set up to investigate corruption in the government of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thailand's military seized power from the prime minister last week, in what they said was a bid to unite the nation after months of political turmoil.
In part, the military has justified the coup by accusing Thaksin Shinawatra of graft.
And as the corruption probe starts, tanks are being removed from key sites in the capital, Bangkok, as the military presence on the streets is scaled down.
Meanwhile, our correspondent in Bangkok, Shane McLeod, says another member of Thaksin Shinawatra's ousted cabinet has arrived back in the country, pledging to co-operate with the military governing council.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402858



Police arrest 263 after clashes in Copenhagen
12.20pm Monday September 25, 2006
COPENHAGEN - Danish police arrested 263 people on Sunday after violent clashes during a protest over the closure of a youth centre in Copenhagen.
Protesters hurled bottles and stones at several dozen riot police and set fire to park benches and rubbish bins, a police spokesman said. One or two demonstrators were injured in the violence, but no police were hurt.
About 500-600 young people had joined a protest over plans to evict left-wing activists and members of the city's squatter movement from a building they have been using as their base.
Police said it was not clear how many people would face charges after the protests.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402855



Sudan says to impose travel ban on US officials
11.20am Monday September 25, 2006
KHARTOUM - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, under international pressure over wartorn Darfur, has said his government would impose a travel ban on US officials that would confine them to the capital Khartoum.
Bashir, in his first news conference since returning from a trip to New York, said the ban was in response to similar restrictions placed on Sudanese officials in the United States.
"The (US) decision was that any Sudanese official has only 25km (as a radius) from the White House in Washington," Bashir told journalists.
"Any American official who comes to Sudan, we will stamp his passport for only 25km from the presidential palace," he added.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402842



More demonstrations against Hungary PM
8.20am Monday September 25, 2006
Protesters vowed last night to keep up their effort to topple Hungary's Prime Minister after their biggest rally yet but analysts said Ferenc Gyurcsany was likely to survive despite admitting lying to win re-election.
Some 40,000 people poured into Budapest's Parliament Square after a week of demonstrations calling for him to step down.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402768



Pakistan denies coup rumours while Musharraf away
1.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has denied rumours of a coup attempt against President Pervez Musharraf while he is visiting the United States.
Newspaper offices and journalists were inundated with telephone calls and text messages inquiring about the rumours, which coincided with a widespread power cut.
But television programmes did not allude to them until Geo Television ran a ticker headline saying Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani had accused "rumour mongers" of exploiting the power cut.
Reuters made checks with senior government as well as military officials, and journalists saw nothing unusual in the capital or the neighbouring garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Durrani, who is travelling with Musharraf, told Reuters from New York: "These rumours were sparked by the power breakdown. These are baseless. These rumours spread because televisions were off and telephones were on."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402853



Palestinian prime minister sees hope of unity deal
1.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA - Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said talks on a Palestinian unity government could still succeed, brushing aside President Mahmoud Abbas's comment that they had reached "point zero" and must start from scratch.
"We will resume the consultations over the formation of a national unity government and I believe we have gone a long way down the road," Haniyeh told reporters in the Gaza Strip. "There is a real hope that it will succeed."
Abbas plans to travel to Gaza on Monday or Tuesday local time to resume talks, which he froze a week ago before attending the UN General Assembly in New York, senior aide Saeb Erekat said.
Erekat said Abbas would tell Hamas: "If you want a unity government, there are international requirements that need to be met, and that's the only way to form a unity government."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402849




US detains Venezuela's Foreign Minister at airport
Monday September 25, 2006
CARACAS - The United States has apologised after Venezuela's Foreign Minister, Nicholas Maduro, was detained at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York while flying home.
A State Department spokesman said the US regretted the incident.
Venezuelan television said Maduro was stopped for an hour and a half and stripped of his travel documents.
"This is a provocation from Mr Devil," said President Hugo Chavez, referring to US President George W. Bush.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402755




White House rejects blame for rise in terrorism
7.55am Monday September 25, 2006
WASHINGTON - A newspaper report that a US intelligence analysis said the Iraq war gave rise to a new generation of Islamic radicals and made the overall terrorism problem worse was "not representative of the complete document," the White House said on Sunday.
The New York Times in its Sunday editions reported that a classified National Intelligence Estimate completed in April said Islamic radicalism had mushroomed worldwide and cited the Iraq war as a reason for the spread of jihadist ideology.
It was the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by US intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began in March 2003 and represents a consensus view of the 16 spy services.
"The New York Times' characterisation of the NIE is not representative of the complete document," White House spokesman Peter Watkins said.
"Their (terrorists') hatred for freedom and liberty did not develop overnight, those seeds were planted decades ago. Instead of waiting while they plot and plan attacks to kill innocent Americans, the United States has taken the initiative to fight back," he said.
The spokesman said he would not comment on information contained in the classified document.
President George W. Bush has steadfastly insisted that his decision to invade Iraq was the right action to take to head off a potential threat.

Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402767>




Ethnic civil war rages through Iraq
1.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
By Patrick Cockburn
Civil war is raging through the Iraqi countryside.
Sunni insurgents have largely taken control of the province of Diyala, where local leaders believe the insurgents are close to establishing a 'Taleban republic'. Officials in the strategically important, mixed Sunni and Shia province with a Kurdish minority, have no doubt about what is happening.
Lt Col Ahmed Ahmed Nuri Hassan, a weary looking commander of the federal police, says: "Now there is an ethnic civil war and it is getting worse every day."
At the moment the Sunni seem to be winning it. As the violence has escalated in Iraq over the past three years it has become too dangerous for journalists to find out what is happening in the provinces outside the capital.
The UN said last week that 5106 civilians were killed in Baghdad in July and August and 1493 in the provinces outside it.
Insurgents have cut the roads out of the capital to the west and the north.

Pasted from <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402824


Ramadan bomb kills 34 in Baghdad Shi'ite slum
9.00am Sunday September 24, 2006
By Peter Graff and Mussab Al-Khairall
BAGHDAD - A bomb killed 34 people in Baghdad's Sadr City Shi'ite slum on Saturday as Iraq's minority Sunnis began the fasting month of Ramadan, which US commanders said might see a rise in sectarian bloodshed.
The bomb - most likely a car bomb, according to police - struck near a tanker distributing kerosene for stoves in Sadr City, whose two million or more poor residents are the power base of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia.
Among other violent incidents across the country, police in Tikrit said gunmen had beheaded nine people including some policemen after dragging them out of two cars in a nearby town.
Three US soldiers were killed by two roadside bombs, in Baghdad and near the violent northern oil city of Kirkuk, and an American working for the State Department and a Danish soldier died in attacks around the Shi'ite southern city of Basra.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402698



Russia holds out olive branch to Shell
1.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
By Susie Mesure
Russia attempted to defuse the growing diplomatic crisis over its threats to strip Shell of its licence to operate the US$20bn Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project yesterday, insisting it was a "long way" from breaking the deal it struck in the early 1990s.
Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, offered the oil major an olive branch in an attempt to calm down a row that has embroiled most Western governments and raised serious concerns over the Kremlin's plans for its vast natural resources.
Over the weekend, the US government added its voice to the international condemnation of Moscow's decision last week to withdraw ecological permits for Shell's Sakhalin-2 venture, saying it was "very concerned" by Russia's actions.
The British, Dutch and Japanese governments have all publicly criticised Russia's move.
Speaking in New York, Mr Lavrov said: "We are a long way from backing out of agreements we have reached, no matter how difficult the conditions were when they were agreed to."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10402830



Blair critics march before party rally
8.45am Sunday September 24, 2006
By Adrian Croft
MANCHESTER - Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Saturday against Prime Minister Tony Blair on the eve of a rally of his Labour Party where a struggle over the leadership looked set to steal the headlines.
Activists shouting "Blair must go!" and chanting opposition to the Iraq war and to nuclear weapons streamed through the centre of the Manchester, which will host Labour's annual conference from Sunday until Thursday.
It will be Blair's final conference as party leader after nine years in office and three successive election victories.
Blair's backing for the US-led war on Iraq, his policies in the Middle East and his reforms of public services have angered many in Labour, leading to a slide in his popularity.
He was forced earlier this month to say he would resign within a year as rows over the succession exploded into public.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402697



Brown sets out progressive agenda but Blair refuses to endorse him
8.17am Monday September 25, 2006
By Andrew Grice
LONDON - Gordon Brown will pledge today to bring in more "progressive" reforms than Tony Blair if he becomes Labour leader but will promise to keep the party firmly in the political centre ground.
In what is seen as the most important speech of his life, the Chancellor will stake his claim at the Labour conference to succeed Mr Blair by making clear he would offer change as well as continuity. He will praise the Prime Minister's record since 1997 and endorse changes such as the personalisation of public services as he tries to deliver a unifying and forward-looking speech about the challenges facing Britain in the next 10 years.
In a highly personal speech, Mr Brown will outline a moral vision of what he will call "the good society" and a "new Britain".
His promise of "progressive" change will be seen as a signal that he would give greater priority to the fight against poverty.
He will pledge to create "a new politics" and restore people's trust in politicians.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402819



Islamists poised to take Somalia's third city
7.20am Monday September 25, 2006
KISMAYO, Somalia - Islamist forces were poised to take over Somalia's strategic southern port city of Kismayo after the warlord in charge of the region fled, witnesses and officials said.
Colonel Abdikadir Adan Shire, also known as Barre Hiraale, is defence minister in Somalia's weak interim government and led the Juba Valley Alliance, an independent authority that has controlled the region around Somalia's third largest city.
His deputy, Yusuf Mire Mahmud, confirmed Barre Hiraale's hasty exit on Sunday following a split within the Alliance on how to respond to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which seized Mogadishu and other parts of southern Somalia earlier this year.
"I wanted to talk to the ICU, and he did not. He sent a delegation to Ethiopia and that was the final straw for me," Mahmud said.
"Tomorrow the people of Kismayo will welcome the courts," he said, adding that Islamist forces were some 100km away.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402811



Saudi Arabia says no evidence bin Laden dead
7.25am Monday September 25, 2006
WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia has said it has no evidence Osama bin Laden is dead, shedding further doubt on a secret document leaked in France that said Saudi secret services believed he died last month.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that as far as he knew the Saudi-born al Qaeda leader was still alive.
"To my knowledge Osama bin Laden is not dead," he said on LCI Television. But he added he had not seen a French secret service report, printed by a newspaper, which said Saudi Arabia was convinced bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.
France, the United States and Britain all said earlier they were unable to confirm the report in French regional daily L'Est Republicain, which quoted the DGSE foreign intelligence service.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402812



'Jihad' car commercial upsets US Muslims
9.20am Monday September 25, 2006
CINCINNATI - A car commercial proclaiming a jihad on the US auto market and offering "Fatwa Fridays" with free swords for the kids is offensive and should not be aired, Muslim leaders said on Sunday.
The radio advertisement for the Dennis Mitsubishi car dealership in Columbus, Ohio, has "a whole jihad theme," said Adnan Mirza, director of the Columbus office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"They are planning on launching a jihad on the automotive market and their representatives would be wearing burqas ... ," Mirza said.
"They mentioned the Pope in there and also about giving rubber swords out to the kiddies -- really just reprehensible-type comments."
Details of the radio ad, which has not yet been broadcast, have been reported in the local media, but officials at the dealership declined to comment about the content of the radio spot.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402828



More languages close to extinction
Monday September 25, 2006
By Derek Cheng
About half the planet's languages are facing extinction and with them a differing vision of the world, says a leading language expert.
Professor David Crystal, of the University of North Wales, said: "This is the big crisis. Of the 6000 or so languages in the world, half are so seriously endangered they are unlikely to last the century.
"Each language in the world is a unique vision of the world. Each has something to offer everyone else. The more visions of the world, the more you understand notions of tolerance."
Professor Crystal is in New Zealand to give a series of lectures on linguistics and language.
"The number of speakers go from the two billion or so that speak English, to about 60 languages in the world where there is one speaker left. These are the ones in danger. Ninety-six per cent of the world's languages are spoken by 4 per cent of the people."
But revitalising languages is not difficult as long as the community wants it to survive, "like here with Maori".

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402731



PM seeks details on academic funding 'corruption' [+audio]
1.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
Prime Minister Helen Clark today said she would be seeking more information on claims academics awarded themselves funds while sitting on a judging panel.
The $38 million Marsden Fund annual round came under fire in the Sunday Star-Times yesterday after nine of the panellists judging the awards were given $6m funding themselves.
Panellists were awarded almost 20 per cent of the total set aside for senior researchers in the hotly contested government-funded awards. Less than one application in 10 is successful.
Helen Clark said today: "Normally these funds are surrounded by the strictest of rules and evaluations and one would certainly be concerned if there was less than the normal high standard.".

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10402839



Rocket launch ushers in cheap space flight
1.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
NEW MEXICO - A rocket packed with cargo is set to blast off into space from a desert launch range in New Mexico, an event backers say will usher in a new era of cheap public access to space.
UP Aerospace plans to launch the SpaceLoft XL rocket early on Monday local time from Spaceport America, a remote desert launch site near the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
The telephone pole-sized rocket will carry around 50 items of payload -- including a Ziploc bag of Cheerios, some cremated remains and several high school science projects -- on a brief sub-orbital flight 110km above Earth.
The rocket is not the first privately funded bid to reach for the stars.
Two years ago, SpaceShipOne brushed the edge of space with a man on board, scooping up a US$10 million ($15 million) prize for its backers.
But Connecticut-based UP Aerospace says the brief 13-minute flight will inaugurate a new era that puts space within reach of large numbers of paying customers.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10402836



Good oil: Coupe in clean clothing
Saturday September 23, 2006
Peugeot's hydrogen-powered concept has a range of 320km, gets to 100km/h in a dawdling 15 seconds, has a top speed of 130km/h. It will be unveiled at next week's Paris motor show. Called the 207 Epure, it's a thinly disguised version of Peugeot's 207 coupe/cabriolet. It is powered by an electric motor and battery pack combined with a 20kW fuel cell designed in partnership with the French Atomic Energy Commission. The hydrogen cylinders are stored under the boot floor, allowing space for the folding metal hard top and luggage.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/9/story.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10402526



Golf: UK media put Clarke centre stage
4.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
By Ken Ferris
Darren Clarke was the toast of the British media today, as newspapers paid tribute to his bittersweet celebrations after Europe's crushing Ryder Cup victory over the United States.
Exactly six weeks after his wife Heather died of breast cancer Clarke stood soaked in champagne and tears as he celebrated an 18-9 win that gave Europe an historic third success in a row and matched their biggest victory.
Under the headline "Pure Genius" -- a reference to the adverts for the pints of Guinness Ireland is famous for -- the Daily Mirror wrote: "Hero Darren sinks putts, sinks Yanks... then sinks a pint in one!"
It added: "Darren Clarke drank a cocktail of champagne, Guinness and tears after inspiring Europe to the most emotional Ryder Cup triumph ever".
The Daily Express described it as "The Cup of Tears" on its back page adding, "Europe dedicate victory to Heather".

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10402869

concluding ….

Stranded seal at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

September 24, 2006.
Copenhagen, Denmark

Morning Papers - continued

Zoos

Marineland petitioners wrong, says activist
1.00pm Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Rachel Pinder
Animal activist group World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has lambasted the 13,588 people who signed a petition to replace the iconic dolphins at Napier's Marineland.
WSPA spokeswoman Bridget Vercoe says people should instead be taking a stand against Japan's annual slaughter of dolphins and small whales.
"This method of hunting dolphins involves driving pods of dolphins into bays and coves to be cruelly and violently butchered. The meat from these dolphins is then sold in local markets for human consumption.
"Some dolphins driven into these coves are spared the violent death, but unfortunately an equally cruel fate awaits them - a lifetime in captivity.
"Unscrupulous dolphinariums financially support the hunts by buying live dolphins - usually young females - from the fishermen to be used for captive display.
"These animals witness the screaming slaughter of their close family group in a sea turned red with blood, before being transported off to live the rest of their lives confined in pools as entertainment.
"So many dolphins die in captivity and the breeding programmes can't keep up, so dolphinariums frequently have to purchase dolphins caught from the wild," she said.
Miss Vercoe claimed that every year, between the months of October and March, Japan killed more than 20,000 dolphins through its drive hunts.
She added that between October 2004 and March 2005, 1165 dolphins were slaughtered in drive fisheries.
And between October 2003 and March 2004, 78 dolphins were captured during the Japanese drive hunts and sold to dolphinariums around the world.
"Sadly, if facilities like Napier's Marineland insist on keeping captive dolphins, many more dolphins will continue to be killed, caught and sold in the Japanese drive hunts.
"Replacing Shona, the latest dolphin to die at Napier Marineland, with a captive bred dolphin is not the answer. It only means there will be one less captive dolphin available to other dolphinariums, meaning more dolphins will eventually be caught.
"The Japanese claim this hunt must go ahead as the dolphins eat too many fish and the fishermen are simply eradicating competition. The Japanese Government and fishermen say dolphin hunting is part of Japanese culture and support the activity."

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10402150




Heart-rending farewell to Irwin
UPDATED 12.05pm Wednesday September 20, 2006
Of all the tributes being delivered at the memorial service to crocodile hunter Steve Irwin today, it was perhaps the one read out by Steve's daughter Bindi which proved the most touching to the huge crowd at Australia Zoo.
Bindi spoke of how he was her hero and she hopes his work will continue.
Bindi, 8, read a tribute to her father, saying he had wanted to change the world so that "everyone loved wildlife as much as he did".
In a strong, clear voice, she told the crowd that he had adored his family and had taken them everywhere on his adventures and they would miss him every day.
"My Daddy was my hero -- he was always there for me when I needed him.
"He listened to me and taught me so many things but most of all he was fun.
"I know that Daddy had an important job. He was working to change the world so everyone would love wildlife like he did.
"He built a hospital to help animals and he bought lots of land to give animals a safe place to live.
"He took me and my brother and my mum with him all the time. We filmed together, caught crocodiles together and loved being in the bush together.
"I don't want Daddy's passion to ever end.
"I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did.
"I have the best Daddy in the whole world and I will miss him every day.
"When I see a crocodile I will always think of him and I know that Daddy made this zoo so everyone could come and learn to love all the animals.
"Daddy made this place his whole life and now it's our turn to help Daddy."
After she finished, a minute-long standing ovation resounded around the precincts of Australia Zoo.
Thousands of people have gathered at the Zoo to farewell Steve Irwin, 44, who was killed in a freak accident when he was speared in the chest by a stingray while filming a documentary off north Queensland.
They heard Kiwi-born Australian actor Russell Crowe, star of The Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind, deliver from New York a video-taped tribute to his "mate".
Crowe spoke of how Steve Irwin's death has affected millions around the world.
'Your passing has suspended reality for all of us," Crowe told the crowds.
"It was way too soon and completely unfair on all accounts.
"I know as humble as you always were you would still be pleased to know that the world sends its love and people all over this planet have been grieving.
"We have all lost a friend, we have lost a champion and we are going to take some time to adjust to that."
As many as 300 million people are thought to be tuned in to televisions worldwide for the service in the Australia Zoo Crocoseum on the Sunshine Coast.
The estimated 5000 people there gave a standing ovation to Irwin's wife Terri and and his children Bindi and Bob and other family members.
The service will be viewed by an estimated 300 million fans worldwide.
In another taped tribute CNN host Larry King spoke of how he had been elevated in the eyes of his two young sons by interviewing Irwin.
He said he had interviewed presidents, monarchs, rock stars and sportsmen and women.
"But he made me a hero in the eyes of his sons."
They had watched every interview they could of the crocodile hunter, whose television shows made him a hero in north America, Europe and Australasia.
In a brief address, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Irwin had touched many Australians because of his genuineness and zest for life.
"My fellow Australians, we gather in this special place that Steve created to celebrate the life of a remarkable man and remarkable Australian.
"Steve Irwin touched the hearts of Australians and touched the hearts of millions around the world in a very special way.
"He did that because he had that quality of being genuine, of being authentic, of being unconditional and having a great zest for life and throughout his all-too-short life he demonstrated a love for the two things that ought to matter more to all of us than anything else -- his love of his family and his love of his country.
"In everything he did he was direct, he was genuine and oh so Australian and that is what we loved about him."
Irwin's producer and friend John Stainton said Irwin had changed his life forever.
"From the time we first met we clicked. The khaki-clad wildlife warrior and the city slicker became the best of friends over 20 odd years, and they were odd."
Irwin had been fearless behind the camera and a professional in front of it.
"You could always rely on Steve to get the best shot and the dangerous ones at that."
"But in front of the camera Steve was the ultimate professional."
Academy-award winning American actor Kevin Costner said in a taped tribute to the crowd gathered at Beerwah, Queensland, many of them wearing khaki outfits in tribute to the conservationist, that Irwin had been fearless - and not just in front of wild animals.
"He was fearless because he let us see who he was. That's brave in our society," said Costner, the Hollwyood star of Dances with Wolves, The Bodyguard and Field of Dreams.
He said being so open risked people mocking you.
"But Steve was not afraid of that."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402143


Steve Irwin : WildLife Warrior
Steve Irwin was a great Australian Ambassador, Crowd Drawer and definitely the best Croc Hunter the world ever saw. This article is a tribute to Steve on behalf of the gay community of Australia
Steve Irwin was a great Australian Ambassador, Crowd Drawer and definitely the best Croc Hunter the world ever saw. He will be truly missed, but remember Steve Irwin isn't dead no-one ever truly dies unless they are forgotten and Steve, we all know he won't be forgotten. We all knew Steve as the loveable aussie larakin, the image that international countries perceived as truly australian but do we really know what he did for Australia? He did a lot of amazing things in his lifetime no doubt about that, but this just may be the best thing he ever did.

http://www.queerplanet.com.au/moxie/news/international/25-09-2006-2.shtml



Zoo prepares for Irwin memorial
Final preparations are being made for the public memorial service for the "Crocodile Hunter", Steve Irwin.
The high-profile conservationist was struck in the chest by a stingray barb while diving off the north Queensland coast earlier this month.
The ceremony on Wednesday morning will be held at the family's Australia Zoo at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast.
Friend and event organiser John Stainton says it will be an emotional day for Irwin's widow Terri and children, Bindi and Bob.
"Terri will be strong as ever," he said.
"I'm hoping tomorrow that it's not too stressful for her because just seeing Steve on the screen and hearing the people say the things they've said they're going to affect her really badly.
"I feel for her tomorrow, I think it's going to be a very stressful and traumatic hour for her."
About 5,000 people, including Prime Minister John Howard and Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, will attend the ceremony.
Tens of thousands more are expected to watch on screens throughout Australia, while millions are expected to tune in worldwide.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1744828.htm



Russell Crowe wants to play Steve Irwin
1.00pm Monday September 25, 2006
Oscar-winning New Zealand-born actor Russell Crowe wants to play Steve Irwin in a film based on the life of the late Crocodile Hunter.
The multi-millionaire actor, who now calls Australia his home, has repeatedly spoken of his affection for his friend Irwin after he was tragically killed, aged just 44, by a stingray on the Great Barrier Reef.
Crowe is reportedly in talks with Universal Studios about making a biopic, according to a Hollywood industry magazine, In Touch Weekly.
Sydney-based Crowe, 42, told the magazine he is "desperate" to be involved with the movie project.
The Gladiator and Insider star and owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs league team, speaking on videotape at Irwin's memorial service, said: "We've all lost a friend, we've lost a champion, and we're going to take some time to adjust to that."
Meanwhile, the widow of the Crocodile Hunter has spoken publicly for the first time since Steve Irwin's death.
Terri Irwin says she is a long way from coming to terms with what has happened.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10402857



Arctic seal's long journey comes to a sad end
By Gareth McGrath
Staff Writer
gareth.mcgrath@starnewsonline.com
A wayward ice seal found stranded on Wrightsville Beach last week was put to death Tuesday evening at the Virginia Aquarium.
The move was ordered by the Virginia state veterinarian after the hooded seal, estimated to be younger than 18 months old, bit an aquarium staff member over the weekend.
The animal will now be tested for rabies, although the fatal neurological disease is very rare in seals. The only known method of rabies testing is an examination of brain tissue.
While not the fate anyone envisioned when the seal was taken to Virginia for rehabilitation, officials with the marine mammal stranding networks in both Virginia and North Carolina said they whole-heartedly supported the decision.
"The most important thing is that we have to put human health and safety first, and this is a very wise and judicious decision," said Ann Pabst, a marine biologist with the University of North Carolina Wilmington and member of the state's stranding team.
"This is just an unfortunate incident and the kind of thing that can happen to any person who is doing rehabilitation with wild animals."
Susan Barco, the Virginia Aquarium's stranding response coordinator, said the incident had left a somber atmosphere around her facility.
But she said everyone understood why the decision was made.
"Although there's a low risk of the animal having rabies, there's no doubt that this is the right thing to do," Barco said.
"The staffer and all of us feel terrible. But it is the right decision."
Ricky Langley, a medical epidemiologist with the N.C. Department of Health, said killing wild animals after a bite incident isn't unusual.
He said that while domestic and agricultural animals are sometimes quarantined, wild animals ranging from bats to coyotes are almost always euthanized because an animal can have rabies and not exhibit signs.
"I don't know any that aren't put down, and unfortunately that's the only way we can test," Langley said of a brain exam.
Treatment for a potential rabies bite can be long and painful, and Barco said the seal would have been put down even if the staffer had agreed to go through the series of shots.
But what made Tuesday's action tough to swallow was that Bald Bill - so named due to the seal molting its hair and alleged similarity to UNCW research assistant Bill McLellan, the state's marine mammal stranding coordinator - seemed to be on the path to recovery.
The seal was eating on his own and showing a feisty attitude, which included biting an X-ray machine power cord as well as a staffer.
Although Bald Bill had ingested a lot of sand and shells while on the beach at Wrightsville, that also didn't appear to be slowing his recovery.
The hooded seal had prompted a rescue attempt by local stranding officials last Friday morning because it had wandered so far out of its normal habitat.
The seals, which rely on Arctic pack ice for habitat, don't normally venture too far south of the Canadian Maritime provinces.
But Bald Bill was just one of several hooded seals that have been found stranded well outside their normal range this year, including a pair that were rescued in Florida on Sunday.
Pabst said the seal's death won't be in vain.
"It will definitely continue to help us learn more about the species and potentially offer us unique insight into what's going on with these animals this year," she said.
While speculation has ranged from global warming to overfishing as reasons for the seals' wandering tendencies this summer, Pabst said researchers haven't come up with a smoking gun.
Barco also said Bald Bill's fate would prompt her office to be more pro-active with the state veterinarian's office about adopting new policies for dealing with rehabbing marine mammals, including possibly a pre-rabies application for staffers.
But both researchers said those benefits would do little to soothe the sting for those who had invested so much in the seal's recovery.
"We're going to have a bunch of sad people tomorrow," Pabst said late Tuesday afternoon.
Gareth McGrath: 343-2384
gareth.mcgrath@starnewsonline.com

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060920/NEWS/609200494



Seal's next stop: landfill
Rabies results expected today
By Veronica Gonzalez
Staff Writer
veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com
The lethal injection would be administered at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The crime? Biting the mammal who feeds it.
Before that, he would eat his last meal - herring - after surviving on seashells and sand - quite a shift from his seafood diet.
Then, the whiskered, doe-eyed beast dubbed Bald Bill - an Arctic seal - would make his last journey … to a Virginia landfill.
His brain is being tested for rabies.
Samples of his organs are being tested for other diseases and to find out why one of his lungs was bleeding and how a bruise appeared between two of his ribs.
In Wilmington, people reacted with a mix of sadness and outrage Wednesday to Bald Bill's demise.
"It's a shame they had to put it to sleep," said Louise McDonald, the 74-year-old owner of a shepherd/chow mix named Addie. "I love animals."
The seal was euthanized at the aquarium in Virginia Beach where he was taken for rehabilitation after being stranded at Wrightsville Beach early Friday morning.
"We want to learn as much as we can both from the animal and from the whole experience," said Susan Barco, the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center's stranding response coordinator.
The seal was euthanized after biting an employee who was trying to throw a towel over his head to restrain him so a tube could be placed into his mouth to hydrate him.
In the process, Bald Bill chewed through the towel and the worker's latex glove, leaving her with three puncture wounds. She received 11 stitches.
"This particular animal was very aggressive," Barco said. "Most hooded seals, I would say, are the most belligerent. … Part of it is how the animal is feeling. It could be that the bruise made him sore."
The decision was difficult, but necessary, Barco said.
"We have to be careful," Barco said. "We have to protect our staff."
Workers aren't given pre-exposure rabies vaccinations.
Because of Bald Bill, the aquarium will study whether that's something they need to start doing and whether there are other methods to hydrate wild animals.
The Virginia health department's rabies results are expected to be available today.
If they prove positive, the worker who was bitten as well as other people who came in contact with Bald Bill's fluids may need to be treated.
"If the animal were positive, we would look hard at who had handled the animal and think long and hard about what the best thing would be," Barco said.
A necropsy, or animal autopsy, revealed bruising to two of the seal's left ribs and bleeding in his lungs.
Theories on why the seal ended up in North Carolina center around global warming.
The wayward seal belongs as far south as the Canadian Maritime provinces, not North Carolina's waters.
After being stranded here, the seal ate sand and shells to stay alive.
But Wilmington residents formed an alternate, albeit unscientific, theory.
"How'd it get to Wrightsville Beach? 'Cause people are so stupid they probably had it for a pet. … and then threw it out in the ocean," said Beverly Johnson, who sat on a bench waiting for a bus after a doctor's appointment.
"People do that all the time. It's so sad. The poor little animal suffered."
Veronica Gonzalez: 343-2008
veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060921/NEWS/609210361



Panicked whale vanishes as storms close in
Thursday July 6, 2006
By Anne Beston
A humpback whale entangled in craypot lines thrashed around for four hours trying to free itself before slowly swimming on up the coast.
The Department of Conservation's ranger at Kaikoura, Mike Morrissey, said the animal would have panicked once entangled and done everything it could to get free.
"They're very sensitive to anything on their skin, if you even touch one it will react," he said.
The adult whale had now disappeared, as stormy weather closed in yesterday around the Kaikoura coast where it was last seen.
"Whether it's gone east or west we don't know. It could be unseen for weeks but then pop up."
A team based at Kaikoura spent four hours in inflatable boats trying to disentangle the whale on Sunday, without success.
A search for it the next day was also unsuccessful.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=2&ObjectID=10389990



Niabi Zoo awarded accreditation, visitors could benefit
Sep 25, 2006 05:53 AM EDT
COAL VALLEY, Illinois - Niabi Zoo is now an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The zoo found out about the AZA honor at a Tampa, Florida convention this weekend. The five-year accreditation can bring with it new grant money, an animal sharing program with other elite zoos, and free admission for members at other accredited zoos.
"Zoos and aquariums in North America are continually evolving and reaffirming their commitment to animal care, professionalism, ethics, conservation, and education," said Association of Zoos and Aquariums president Jim Maddy in a press release. "We are very pleased to grant accrediation to Niabi Zoo."
The zoo has spent thousands of dollars improving exhibits, building an animal clinic, and upgrading the grounds to gain the accreditation. Every five years the zoo must undergo a new series of inspections to renew its accrediation.
The process includes an initial application, inspections by experts, an extensive written report to the Accreditation Committee, and a formal hearing before the commission.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=5452103&nav=1sW7



Event helps 600 pets find homes
Web-posted Sep 25, 2006
By DAVE GROVES
Of The Oakland Press
ROYAL OAK - Hundreds of Metropolitan Detroit households welcomed new additions to their families this weekend - all after stopping for a visit at the Detroit Zoo. On Saturday and Sunday, the Michigan Humane Society collaborated with zoo representatives and 26 area animal welfare organizations to host the sixth annual Meet Your Best Friend at the Zoo - the nation's largest dog and cat adoption event.
"We are delighted to have found good, loving and supportive homes for nearly 600 of these lovely animals," said Jan Cantle, marketing programs manager for the Michigan Humane Society. "We think it is just phenomenal."
Cantle noted that total of 591 adoptions was down slightly from the counts at previous events, but not too dramatically considering the gloomy skies and occasional downpours that likely dampened turnout. After meeting any number of furry orphans in tents outside the zoo and spending a little time to get to know their favorites, adopters paid relatively nominal adoption fees to pair up with friends who have been sterilized and received age-appropriate shots, medical exams and behavior checks.

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/092506/loc_2006092534.shtml



Local zoo under fire
Sep, 25 2006 - 5:00 AM
CALEDONIA (AM900 CHML) - The Killman Zoo in Caledonia is once again being criticized by the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
The group has filed a complaint about the zoo with the province.
The animal rights group says the animals are in cages the size of a single-car garage, which provides little room for exercise.
The group also said the cages are littered with feces and that animals, who are social and usually live with others, are being housed alone.
Owner Mark Killman denies there are problems.
He says his facility was inspected by the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in August and "everything was fine."

http://www.900chml.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428109912&rem=48292&red=80110923aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm



Boy Or Girl? New Panda Cub To Get Check Up
POSTED: 6:24 am EDT September 25, 2006
ATLANTA -- The world will not have to wait much longer to find out the gender of the newest addition to Zoo Atlanta's panda family.
Zoo keepers say they should be able to have enough alone time with the cub in the next week to do a thorough examination, which will reveal the sex of the 19-day-old baby.
The mother, Lun Lun, has begun leaving her cub more frequently to eat bamboo in a room adjacent to where the baby is.
Zoo spokeswoman Susan Elliott says they're building up to the point where Lun Lun's keepers can do a check on the baby.
The nine-year-old Lun Lun gave birth September 6 after a record 35-hour labor. It's the fifth giant panda born at a U.S. zoo in the last six years.
The cub is being kept from the public until it turns 100 days old, when, according to tradition, there will be a naming ceremony. Until then, panda fans have been keeping up with the cub on the zoo's online panda cam.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/9926345/detail.html



Zoo given one year to fix problems
By Marques Harper
The Mill Mountain Zoo was given a year-long extension on its accreditation request to fix a series of on-going problems involving its finances and exhibits, according to a panel from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
During a 45-minute hearing in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, the AZA committee tabled its decision to accredit the zoo, with one committee member telling Mill Mountain officials the "clock is ticking," said the zoo’s director Sean Greene in a phone interview on Monday.
The zoo will be reviewed again next fall at the AZA’s conference in Philadelphia, and that’s when a final decision will be given. Last year, the AZA granted the zoo an initial one-year grace period after Beth Poff, the long-time zoo director, resigned.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/84279



Go Hog Wild for the Zoo Raises $70,000.00
Syracuse, NY-The inaugural "Go Hog Wild for the Zoo" fundraiser resulted in a little over $70,000.00 raised for the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. The three-month promotion and raffle of a customized locally fabricated motorcycle by County Line Choppers, culminating in a block party catered by the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, made this first time fundraiser a success. Additional sponsors were T.J. Sheehan and the Zeller Corporation. Zoo Director Chuck Doyle was very encouraged by the large turn-out at the September 17th block party on Willow Street. "The thousands of people who attended the party and purchased raffle tickets not only had a great time but became more aware of the zoo and its mission." Doyle said.
More than three thousand people attended the block party outside of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Fred Giarrusso of Syracuse had the lucky ticket, winning the custom fabricated motorcycle, valued at $40,000.00 built by Pat Briggs of County Line Choppers. The winning ticket was purchased by Fred's three sons, Dan, John and Jim in his honor. "We can't believe we won.we bought only one ticket at the Dinosaur the day of the event. " Jim Giarrusso of Syracuse said. The Giarrusso family was overwhelmed by the artistry of the customized motorcycle calling it "awesome".

http://bvilledailynews.com/index.php/bville/home_page/headlines/go_hog_wild_for_the_zoo_raises_70_000_00



Zoo reaccredited
The Little Rock Zoo has announced it's been reaccredited for another five years. News release on the jump.
ZOO NEWS RELEASE
The Little Rock Zoo is proud to announce it will maintain accreditation for another five years from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
The Little Rock Zoo was granted accreditation today by a twelve-person accreditation commission of AZA. Accreditation hearings are held every five years for AZA member institutions. The Little Rock Zoo was granted accreditation in 2001 but was required to go through the entire process again in 2006 to maintain its accreditation.
Earlier this year, the Zoo was required to submit all formal documents and records outlining Zoo policies and procedures for animal care, safety, and conservation as well as policies covering staff safety, guest services, and future development plans for the Zoo.
In July of this year, the Zoo was inspected by a three-person team from AZA selected by the accreditation commission to be the “eyes and ears” of the accreditation commission. The visiting inspection team was complimentary of the Little Rock Zoo.

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2006/09/zoo_reaccredited.aspx



Quality of life index
By Wire services
Published September 25, 2006
3 Number of zoos and aquariums in Hillsborough County - Busch Gardens, Lowry Park Zoo and the Florida Aquarium - accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which opens its annual conference today in Tampa.
16 Number of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums in Florida.
210 Number of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums nationwide.
735,173 Number of animals housed in AZA zoos and aquariums in 2005.
339,195 Number of fish housed in AZA zoos and aquariums in 2005, more than any other type of animal.
143-million Number of visitors to AZA institutions each year.
33,300 Number of workers employed by AZA institutions.
72,000 Number of volunteers at AZA institutions.
4.5-million Number of hours of work these volunteers devote each year to zoo and aquarium work.
$237-million Amount zoos and aquariums donated to research and conservation in 2005.
$561-million Amount zoos and aquariums spent in 2005 on construction, such as new classrooms and veterinary care facilities.
40 Percentage of zoo and aquarium visitors who believe those institutions play an important role in education.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/25/Worldandnation/Quality_of_life_index.shtml



Tourism Biz Sees Boost at Oregon Coast Aquarium
(Newport, Oregon) - The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport is reporting very positive visitor numbers, with attendance continuing to run high well past Labor Day.
“We are up 2 percent for September and about 11 percent for the summer - both are versus last year,” said Aquarium President Dale Schmidt. “We were concerned at the beginning of the summer that the gas prices may dampen our business, but that has not occurred. We have had a great summer thanks to the opening of our Claws exhibit, the addition of the Western Snowy Plover Exhibit, events such as our Labor Day Classic Car Show, and an expanded marketing campaign.”
Other statistics released by the Aquarium reveal additional reasons for increased attendance figures. Two other surveys just released this week, the Oregon Coast Aquarium Visitor Survey and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) three-year research project, showed positive public perception about zoos and aquariums.

http://www.beachconnection.net/news/ecoaq_0906_25034.htm



Rare chameleons eye a brighter future at zoo
John Stapleton
MUM is dead, dad is locked in a cage and only four of the youngsters are there to carry on the line.
Sydney's Taronga Zoo has unveiled the latest additions to its spring baby boom: bright-green veiled chameleons.
Taronga took charge of a breeding pair of veiled chameleons, which are native to the oases across the deserts of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in 2004.
The female laid eight eggs at the zoo six months ago but died shortly afterwards. Four of the eggs hatched last month, and the youngsters were unveiled to the public yesterday.
They have already doubled in size to 5cm in length, living on a diet of day-old crickets. "They eat all day," said reptile manager Peter Harlow.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20443466-30417,00.html



Providence zoo plans major expansion
September 19, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Roger Williams Park Zoo is launching a $35 million renovation that will expand a polar bear exhibit and create a North America trail and a children's zoo, park authorities said.
Zoo Director Jack Mulvena said the goal of the five-year project is to have a more user-friendly zoo and increase the number of visitors to one of Rhode Island's most popular attractions.
Attendance has declined to about 650,000 patrons annually since hitting a record of 770,000 visitors in 1997.
"If we don't invest wisely over the next five to 10 years, we face the possibility of becoming obsolete," Mulvena said.
One goal is to bring visitors closer to the animals. The project includes a deck where people can get an eye-to-eye view of giraffes and elephants.
Work has already begun to expand the living space of three female elephants, which the zoo plans to breed.
One major part of the renovation is transforming one of the oldest parts of the zoo into a trail that immerses visitors in North American ecosystems. The centerpiece will be an expanded polar bear exhibit nine times bigger than an old one.
Providence officials must seek voter approval in November to borrow $11 million for the project and use proceeds from a previously approved $4 million bond. Zoo officials say they also plan to fundraise $20 million.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2006/09/19/providence_zoo_plans_major_expansion/



Scientists: Make invasive carp zoo feed
By JIM SALTER Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Voracious carp that can literally throw themselves right into boats and pose a major ecological threat to Midwestern rivers and lakes could someday be a meal at the local zoo.
For years, boaters and fishermen on many Midwestern rivers have battled the Asian carp, brought to the U.S. by private fish farmers 30 years ago.
The high-jumping fish can be so dangerous that Missouri Department of Conservation staff wear head gear for protection while motoring on fast-moving boats. Some have protective netting around the driver area and across the bow.
There's little profit for commercial fishermen in harvesting the fish. But the St. Louis Zoo may have a partial answer to that problem, as a team of researchers seeks to create a carp product to feed to animals.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/4199481.html



Zoo Safari Challenge makes South Africa 'possible' as a top destination
20/09/2006
On Tuesday, agents, wholesalers and operators alike gathered at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo to be immersed in all things South African. It was an event that allowed those in the travel industry to gather more knowledge of the area in order to be more able to tell their clients about how they can “Experience South Africa”.
The 100 travel agents, 4 South African operators and 7 wholesalers were told that a ‘surprise’ that awaited them at the zoo. As the sun was setting over Sydney Harbour, it was revealed that South African Tourism was sending everyone on a scavenger hunt, or more artfully termed, ‘Zoo Safari Challenge’ through the world-famous zoological park.
It involved ten randomly picked teams to perform activities and gather information designated around the park. Activities ranged from pretending to be animals to searching for the South African operators dotted around the park. Operators such as African Anthology, MIX, Sun International and Cape Town Routes Unlimited took part in the ‘Zoo Safari Challenge’ as ‘sites’ for the groups to discover.

http://www.etravelblackboard.com/printerfriendly.asp?id=56167



Smithsonian National Zoo Exhibit To Open in October
Exhibit Will Feature Sloth Bears And Giant Pandas
WASHINGTON -- The Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail at the Smithsonian's National Zoo opens to the public on Oct. 17, according to zoo officials.
Over the next few weeks, National Zoo staff are helping the animals adjust to their new environments.
One of the animals featured in the exhibit is Balavat, a sloth bear cub born on Jan. 9, 2006
In addition to sloth bears and giant pandas, the new exhibit will also feature fishing cats, clouded leopards, Asian small-clawed otters, red pandas, and Japanese giant salamanders.

http://www.nbc4.com/news/9886446/detail.html



'Murphy,' N.C. Zoo's weather-predicting groundhog, dies suddenly
ASHEBORO, N.C. The furry ambassador of the North Carolina Zoo has died. "Murphy" was a groundhog who visited schools and events across the state, as well as predicting the return of spring on Groundhog Day.
Zoo officials say Murphy suddenly became ill and died on Sunday. More tests are needed to determine exactly what happened.
Murphy just two months old when he was found by a roadside and brought to the zoo's wildlife rehabilitation center in 2002. The staff there discovered he was unafraid of people, which meant he couldn't survive in the wild, so they put him on the zoo payroll.

http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5429662&nav=2KPp



Necropsy Results Released on Erie Zoo's Polar Bear
The final findings have been released into what killed Alcor, the Erie polar bear who died following surgery to repair a badly broken leg. A necropsy performed at the Bolton Center outside Philadelphia where the surgery took place cited a post anesthetic death due to unknown causes; hyperthermia suspected. The report explains that hyperthermia is a condition where the body produces or absorbs more heat than it is able to dissipate, similar to heat stroke. It can be a concern with anesthetic surgery on any animals, including dogs and cats, but is more of a concern with large animals such as polar bears. With a refrigerated truck, ice baths, and even a cooled operating room, Erie Zoo spokesman Scott Mitchell is convinced that humans did everything possible to save Alcor. And he says the death is not in vain, because veterinary surgeons will be better prepared next time.

http://www.35wsee.com/news2a.cfm?more=9259&category=1&news=fullstory


Panda bites man, man bites panda back at Beijing zoo
BEIJING A drunken Chinese tourist bit a panda at the Beijing Zoo after the animal attacked him when he jumped into the enclosure and tried to hug it, state media said Wednesday.
Zhang Xinyan had drunk four pitchers of beer at a restaurant before "stumbling to the zoo" nearby and stopping off at the pen holding a sleeping 6-year-old male panda, Gu Gu, on Tuesday, the Beijing Morning Post said.
"He felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand" and jumped over a waist-high railing down into the enclosure, the newspaper said. "When he got closer and was undiscovered, he reached out to hug it."
Startled, Gu Gu bit Zhang in the right leg, it said. Zhang, a 35-year-old migrant laborer from central Henan province, got angry and kicked the panda, who then bit his other leg. A tussle ensued, the paper said.
"I bit the fellow in the back," Zhang was quoted as saying in the newspaper. "Its skin was quite thick."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/20/asia/AS_ODD_China_Man_Bites_Panda.php



Zoo in northern India sets up old age home for dying lions
The Associated Press
Published: September 20, 2006
NEW DELHI Zookeepers in north India are watching mournfully as nearly two dozen lions slowly die after a breeding program left many cats sick, a wildlife official said Wednesday.
The program, which began in the late 1980s at the Chhatbir Zoo, tried to crossbreed Asiatic and African lions. It was discontinued in 2002 after many of the nearly 80 lions bred were struck by a mysterious disease aggravated by inbreeding and a weakened gene pool, said Kuldip Kumar, Punjab state's conservator of forests and wildlife.
The Chhatbir Zoo, near the city of Chandigarh, is in Punjab state.
When the program ended, all of the male lions were given vasectomies to prevent further breeding, Kumar said.
It will take about six years for the remaining 22 lions bred through the program to die of natural causes, he said.
Zoo authorities have decided to launch a new captive breeding project using "pure Asiatic lion stock from other zoos in the country but only after the last of the earlier crop of lions have been phased out," he said.
The zoo has recently built an enclosed area for the oldest and most infirm of the lions, so they are not attacked by the more robust cats.
"At any time the zoo has around four to five lions that are too old and weak to compete with the younger more aggressive lions. This enclosure for them separates them from the younger lot," Kumar said.
The lions are fed boneless meat and kept away from the zoo's immensely popular lion safari area, which is spread over 15 hectares (37 acres), he said.
Wildlife officials had originally hoped the hybrid cats could be introduced into the wild in an effort to bolster India's endangered wild lion population.
"But we decided to stop breeding them after the lions were struck by a mysterious disease and some 30 of them died in 1999 and 2000," Kumar said.
Since Indian wildlife laws prevent killing animals, a cull of the aging cats has been ruled out. Meanwhile, zoo authorities were trying to make life a little bit more comfortable for the beasts.
Wildlife experts say rampant poaching is driving the Asiatic lion to extinction, especially in the Gir forests in western India, the last wild refuge of the big cats.
The last lion census conducted in the Gir forests in 2000 put the number of Asiatic lions at 320. However, the animals' numbers have further dwindled due to poaching, open wells that act as death traps and human encroachment on the lions' habitat.
Lions are poached for their pelts and claws, both of which command a huge price in the illegal wildlife trade.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/20/asia/AS_GEN_India_Asiatic_Lions.php



Cheyenne Mountain Zoo looks for new home for baby gorilla
posted by: Sara Gandy Web Producer
Created: 9/20/2006 6:42 AM MST - Updated: 9/20/2006 6:42 AM MST
COLORADO SPRINGS (AP) - The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is looking for a new home and surrogate mother for a gorilla whose own mother rejected him.
Zoo employees and volunteers have been caring for seven-month-old Umande, but he will need a parent until he's about three or four years old.
Zoo officials say other female gorillas at the zoo are also refusing to look after Umande, and he hasn't bonded with his father.
The zoo plans to send Umande to another zoo in a surrogacy program. That zoo hasn't been chosen yet.

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=cb3f6158-0abe-421a-019e-8435d08f3539&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf



Children's Zoo hosts Worldwide Day of Play
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
THE SAGINAW NEWS
The Children's Zoo at Celebration Square in Saginaw is one of several sites in the state and around the country to host a Worldwide Day of Play on Saturday, Sept. 30.
Activities from noon to 4 p.m. will feature interactive exercises and activities inspired by the animals in the zoo, 1730 S. Washington.
Youngsters will hop like kangaroos, learn why swimming like the penguins is great exercise and hear about the healthy fruits and vegetables that monkeys eat.

http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1158758501135730.xml&coll=9



Day after vaccination, two white tigers die in city zoo
Three-yr-olds Sourav and Dia were fine yesterday; another vaccinated tiger critical; zoo officials are waiting for the postmortem report
Express News Service
Chandigargh, September 20: The Chatbir Zoo lost its two white tigers this morning within a span of few hours. The tigers had been vaccinated last evening, said sources in the zoo. One more tiger, which had been vaccinated yesterday, is in a critical condition.
The male, Sourav, was found dead when the cage was opened in the morning. The female, Dia, died at 10.30 am, said the zoo officials. Both tigers were around 3 years old.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=202149



Rare tigers could boost Zoo attendance
Memphis Business Journal - September 20, 2006
by Andy Ashby
Staff writer
The Memphis Zoo's new inhabitants could raise the awe factor, and attendance figures, at the 100-year-old facility.
The zoo's Cat Country exhibit will begin displaying a female white Bengal tiger cub, Orissa, and two other Bengal tiger cubs, Kumari and Naryan, on Saturday.
All three cubs are about 6 months old. Orissa is from a private breeder, while Kumari and Naryan came from the Texas Zoo in Victoria, Texas.
The Zoo had temporary exhibits of white tigers in 1988 and 2000. White tigers are Bengal tigers with white fur, blue eyes and chocolate-colored stripes.
Bengal tigers are between 8-9 feet long and weigh between 300-500 pounds. They are endangered.
The Memphis Zoo is home to giant pandas Ya Ya and Le Le and has exhibits such as Primate Canyon, Animals of the Night and the Northwest Passage.
The zoo drew 810,291 people in 2004 and 761,930 in 2005. So far in 2006, there have been 824,705 visitors to the zoo, with more possibly coming to see the new additions.
"We think zoo visitors will love seeing these beautiful tiger cubs," said spokesperson Julie Dodson. "This has been a busy year with the opening of the Northwest Passage in March and the 100th anniversary celebration. The cubs are just a new reason for people to come out and enjoy a great day at the zoo."

http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2006/09/18/daily28.html?jst=b_ln_hl



Oregon Zoo Releases Threatened Butterflies On Oregon Coast
PORTLAND, Oregon - The Oregon Zoo has been rearing endangered Oregon silverspot butterflies in its conservation lab, and has released a total of 22 butterfly pupae and 18 larvae at the 280-acre Cascade Head Preserve, north of Lincoln City. The zoo hopes to stabilize the declining population. This is the eighth year the zoo has been involved in this conservation project.

http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=332574&cp=10997



County funding for zoo exhibit in question
Quick action sought on rain forest plans
By PHIL FAIRBANKS
News Staff Reporter
9/22/2006
The Buffalo Zoo's urgent request for $4 million ran head first Thursday into Erie County's budget crisis.
County lawmakers like the zoo's plans for a South American Rain Forest, the centerpiece of a $75 million reconstruction program, but wonder if the county can afford it at this point. Legislators also wonder how the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority will view the rain forest project.
"We're ready to go," zoo President Donna M. Fernandes told the Legislature's Community Enrichment Committee. "The longer we wait, the more expensive it will be."
Fernandes repeatedly emphasized the need to act quickly because of skyrocketing construction costs and the possibility that $6.75 million in matching state funds and $5.25 million in private donations may be lost if the county delays action any longer.
"I like to make good on my promises," said Legislator Michele M. Iannello, D-Kenmore, referring to the county's endorsement of the rain forest three years ago.
The project has languished because of the budget crisis and Fernandes' decision to move to Fresno, Calif., where she headed the Chaffee Zoo for four months before returning to Buffalo.
Lawmakers acknowledge the importance of the zoo project but question the wisdom of borrowing $4 million at a time when the control board is urging restraint.
"I would like to hear something from them," Legislator Timothy Kennedy, D-Buffalo, said of the authority.
The zoo's request has the backing of County Executive Joel A. Giambra but needs the support of 10 of the 15 legislators. At this point, it's not clear if the project has that two-thirds backing.
If it doesn't, Fernandes said the zoo could lose both the state grant and the $4 million challenge grant pledged by M&T Bank Chairman Robert G. Wilmers, whose name will adorn the rain forest. That grant is part of the $5.25 million in private funds pledged to the project.
The rain forest is modeled on the habitat around Venezuela's Angel Falls and will have an open walk-through exhibit featuring such South American attractions as vampire bats, piranhas and an anaconda.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060922/1009443.asp



Mill Mountain Zoo offers an adoption program
How many of you have paid a trip to the Mill Mountain Zoo and found a favorite animal?
Now, although you can't take one home, you can adopt an animal at the Mill Mountain Zoo and proudly call yourself a zoo parent.
It's a new program Mill Mountain has come up with to raise money and give the zoo a more interactive feel.
For $30 you get a certificate of adoption, a plush toy, and recognition.
Now there are premium options.
For $50 you can feed the monkeys.
And for $100 you can go behind the scenes and get an up close and personal visit with Nina, the Cougar.

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=5447647



Zoo adds elephant-eye view
Atrium at $4.4M exhibit lets patrons hear, see and smell more
Victoria E. Freile
Staff writer
(September 23, 2006) — Seneca Park Zoo and Monroe County officials Friday unveiled a viewing atrium — the latest addition to the new elephant habitat at the zoo.
The $4.4 million exhibit, which opened to the public in April, is about five times larger than the elephants' former habitat and includes a 10,000-square-foot shelter that can house up to five elephants, and a 20,000-square-foot yard.
Now, it includes a 1,000-square-foot glass-enclosed viewing atrium that is designed to offer a year-round opportunity for visitors to interact with the zoo's two African elephants, Genny C. and Lilac.
"This is going to allow visitors an up-close-and-personal look at the elephants," said Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks.
Construction was completed earlier this month, according to Zoo Director Larry Sorel.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/NEWS01/609230304/1002/NEWS



Bird-of-paradise loss is a gain for the zoo
As the plant outgrows even its room addition, KC couple makes a heartfelt donation.
By MATT CAMPBELL
The Kansas City Star
Jeff Owens of Kansas City gave away his bird of paradise plant when it became too big for the two-story addition to his house created for it. The Kansas City Zoo picked up the plant Friday.
You love them, you raise them, you sacrifice for them, and then one day you have to let them go.
Friday was an emotional day for Jeff Owens of Kansas City, who had to part with his baby, a huge bird of paradise plant. At 22 feet tall, Baba was just too big even for the special room Owens had made for him.
He and his wife, May Tveit, watched as a crew from the Kansas City Zoo hauled away the plant, which Owen bought 15 years ago at the City Market when it was only 6 feet tall.
“I’ve had the plant with me over the last three homes, and this last one we rehabbed and built an addition in the back that is two stories tall,” Owens said.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/15588227.htm

concluding ….