The Mail and Guardian
Iran to resume nuclear work
Iran said on Thursday it will resume sensitive uranium-conversion work within one or two days, defying warnings from the international community over its nuclear programme.
Hossein Moussavian, spokesperson for the nuclear negotiating team, told state television that activities will begin when inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrive at the conversion plant of Isfahan.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=247246&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Iraqi leaders work to break Constitution deadlock
Iraqi leaders prepared on Thursday for a conference to try to break the deadlock on a draft Constitution amid unabated violence that left at least 20 people dead, a day after 15 United States marines were killed by rebels.
US President George Bush insisted his troops will remain in Iraq until their mission is accomplished, despite the military losses, even as Wednesday's attack on marines marked one of the deadliest against US forces since the war.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=247249
Opposition decries SA's loan to Zimbabwe
Opposition parties have strongly rejected the idea of any South African loan to Zimbabwe without any conditions attached.
"Now that Cabinet has given an in principle 'thumbs up' for South African taxpayer's money to be given to Zimbabwe, it is up to the government to outline the specific conditions attached to the loan," Democratic Alliance foreign affairs spokesperson Douglas Gibson said on Thursday.
This should be done without delay. Zimbabwe was deep in the red with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), owing it close on $300-million.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/&articleid=247211
Wake-up call: UN appeals for $75m for Niger
The United Nations increased its appeal to over $75-million to help 2,5-million people in desperate need of food in Niger and said more money will be needed to tackle the humanitarian crisis in the west African nation.
The UN World Food Programme more than tripled the amount of emergency aid it is seeking for southern Niger -- the epicentre of the crisis -- from $16-million six months ago to $57,6-million.
"With the situation deteriorating over recent weeks, our main objective is to save lives," James Morris, executive director of the Rome-based agency said in a statement.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=247194
Cheney observer
ANTHRAX CASE: Justice Department Attempts To Silence Wife Of Bioweaponeer
Submitted by: Anonymous "
by Jerzy Pollack
July 2, 2005
Exclusive to SiaNews
Justice Department attempts to quash testimony by wife of bioweaponeer William Patrick III in STEVEN J. HATFILL, M.D. v. ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN ASHCROFT, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE; THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (et al).
Headed by former federal prosecutor Tom Connelly, pro bono attorney's for Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, the former "person of interest" in the anthrax letters case, have been quietly doing battle behind the scenes with attorney's for the US Justice Department, in the United States District Court for The District of Columbia.
http://www.friendsofliberty.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2531
Iran Says It Will Break U.N. Seals Placed at a Nuclear Plant
By NAZILA FATHI
Published: August 2, 2005
TEHRAN, Aug. 1 - Defying the warning of European leaders, Iran said Monday that it was removing the seals placed by the United Nations nuclear agency at one of its nuclear sites to restart activities there.
European diplomats said that if Iran did go ahead and resume the nuclear activities, then they would have little choice but to ask for the agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to place the issue before the United Nations Security Council for possible political and economic sanctions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/international/middleeast/02iran.html
Iran warns of nuclear activity as EU breaks deal deadline
MICHAEL THEODOULOU
EUROPE'S hopes of striking a vital deal to end the nuclear stand-off with Iran receded sharply yesterday when Tehran said it would definitely resume some sensitive nuclear fuel activities today. The move follows the European Union's failure to meet a deadline to submit proposals to break a diplomatic impasse.
"As we did not receive the EU proposal, naturally we will definitely resume work at the Isfahan plant tomorrow," a senior Iranian official said.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1710002005
Crude Oil Rises After Iran Threat to Resume Uranium Processing
Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose for a sixth day in seven in New York after Iran brought forward its deadline for European Union proposals to end a dispute over the country's nuclear power program.
Iran, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, will restart some of its uranium- ore conversion activities in Isfahan if the EU didn't respond to the new deadline, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, citing Iran's negotiator Ali Agha Mohammadi.
``It's another risk to the stability in the region,'' said Mark Waggoner, President of Excel Futures Inc. in Huntington Beach, California.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=ap6YGgNSUm0g&refer=home
Iran: US failure behind bid to stain prez-elect
TEHRAN: Iran said US accusations that its president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had helped take dozens of US diplomats hostage after the 1979 Islamic revolution were due to its failure to influence Iran and its polls.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1186877.cms
Iran will not accept full uranium enrichment suspension: Speaker
TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel said here on Sunday Iran will not accept full suspension of uranium enrichment.
Hadad Adel made the remark addressing the open session of the Majlis.
"If the three European states (Germany, Britain and France) consider ‘objective guarantee’ as full suspension of uranium enrichment, the Islamic Republic of Iran would not accept it as it runs counter to the Paris agreement and the (International Atomic Energy) Agency's articles of association," he said.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=8/1/2005&Cat=2&Num=002
Floods kill 16 in northeast Iran
31 Jul 2005 16:29:19 GMT
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, July 31 (Reuters) - Floods caused by heavy rain killed 16 people in northeastern Iran on Sunday, the official IRNA news agency said.
It quoted a local governor as saying the people were killed in the village of Galidagh in Golestan province which borders Turkmenistan on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
The floods also damaged houses and bridges and cut electricity to some 30 villages in the area.
Floods in a nearby region killed at least 170 people in 2001.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L31204682.htm
The Daily Show: August 2, 2005
Posted Aug 3, 2005, 12:55 AM ET by Annie W.
Welcome back to another week (uh... three days) of The Daily Show! There's nothing better than a four day weekend, Stewart says. Well, a five day weekend is pretty awesome -- or a whole week off -- actually, how about just being unemployed? Yeah. That sounds about right.
Moving on to the news of the new UN Ambassador, John Bolton (simply conjure up an image of an aging Yosemite Sam). In New York City, he was booed by people from the sidewalks outside of the United States Mission. Yeah, that NYC is a tough town. The hot dog vendors were probably in on it too. Bolton has been known to be vindictive and a loose cannon. Seems as though he isn't very fitting for this new job (appointed by Bush, of course) but perhaps better for a position as a villainous dogcatcher. Hmm...
http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/08/03/the-daily-show-august-2-2005/
Oil firms near record as supply fears persist
Wed Aug 3, 2005 2:05 AM IST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices firmed on Tuesday to within striking distance of the record as fears over the stability of world supplies persisted following the death of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd.
A spate of refinery problems in the United States and expectations a U.S. government report Wednesday would show a fifth consecutive weekly draw in crude oil supplies also supported the market, dealers said.
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-08-03T012437Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-211370-1.xml
National Oil Firms Take Bigger Role
Governments Hold Most of World's Reserves
By Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 3, 2005; Page D01
As the world's thirst for oil increases, government-controlled national oil companies are challenging international firms such as Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Chevron Corp. in the global competition for oil reserves.
National oil companies are increasingly venturing beyond their home country's borders in search of reserves. The governments' motives are varied, but in cases such as China and India, they are seeking more secure oil supplies to meet the needs of their fast-growing economies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201978.html
RPT - Oil futures near 62 usd, end at another record
08.02.2005, 08:54 PM
(Repeating for technical reasons)
SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - Crude futures neared 62 usd a barrel Tuesday to close at another record, as investors weighed the potential for instability in Saudi Arabia following the death of its king against expectations for a fifth-weekly fall in US crude inventories.
At the same time, natural gas futures climbed almost 3 pct to end the session at their highest level since November of last year.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/08/02/afx2168960.html
Oil futures remain near record level
UNCERTAINTIES: Fears of a potential future secession spat within the Saudi royal family, along with instability in Iran and fires at refineries in the US, kept prices high
AP , SINGAPORE
Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005,Page 12
Benchmark crude oil futures fell slightly yesterday, but still hovered near their record overnight closing price, as traders worried about future oil production from Saudi Arabia after the death of King Fahd.
More threats from Iran to resume its nuclear processing and refinery fires in the US also supported prices.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2005/08/03/2003266262
Dick Cheney's Plan To Nuke Iran
Stand athwart the apocalypse, and shout: "No!"
by Justin Raimondo
"The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections."
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=RAI20050802&articleId=790
Don't mess with the Bushes
In her new book, Kitty Kelley shows how the first family intimidates those who've tried to expose the clan's dark secrets of drugs, drinking, womanizing and nepotism. Now, she tells Salon, they're coming after her.
Sept. 14, 2004 After weeks of bracing by the Bush White House, the Category 5 storm has hit: Hurricane Kitty. Bestselling author Kitty Kelley's withering portrait of the Bush dynasty, "The Family," is landing in bookstores on Tuesday -- more than 720,000 copies of it. And the White House is already on high alert. "This book is fiction and deserves to be treated as such," snarled Republican spokeswoman Christine Iverson, as the RNC fired off an anti-Kelley talking-points memo to friendly media assets. The media blowback against Kelley, author of controversial biographies of Nancy Reagan and Frank Sinatra, has already begun. On the Monday morning "Today Show," host Matt Lauer showed how tough an interviewer he can be when not questioning presidents and other potentates, pressing Kelley on who she's going to vote for in November ("Who're you voting for?" Kelley shot back) and the timing of the book's publication, weeks before the November election ("Why not? It's relevant," countered the author, who's been working on the book for four years).
http://www.salon.com/books/int/2004/09/14/kelley/
Just a Minute, Mr. Postman
Cairo’s American expat community mirrors a global determination to make the overseas vote count
By
Hadia Mostafa
IN THE 2000 US presidential election, Al Gore received 202 more votes in Florida than George W. Bush. It was only after the overseas ballots were counted (12,000 from Israel alone) that Bush was able to secure the White House by a margin of 537 votes. The absentee ballots, not Florida voters, were what put him in office.
That narrow victory was a wake-up call to millions of Americans living abroad, a group that in the past was largely passive when it came to elections, that their votes do indeed make a difference.
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2840
Karl Rove Scandal and the Big Picture
by Stephen Crockett
http://www.opednews.com
Karl Rove Scandal and the Big Picture
George W. Bush seems to be placing personal loyalties and political loyalties over his Presidential obligations and image. Bush promised the American people publicly repeatedly that he would fire anyone responsible at the White House who was involved in revealing the identity of the CIA operative married to former Ambassador Wilson.
This illegal outing of a secret agent is extremely serious. It demonstrates that some White House operatives found it acceptable to break the law and endanger American national security for political advantage.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__050804_karl_rove_scandal_an.htm
Rove assistant appears before grand jury
RICHARD B. SCHMITT
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - A top assistant to White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove appeared last week before the federal grand jury investigating possible criminal wrongdoing by the Bush administration in the exposing of a CIA operative, a person familiar with the case said Tuesday.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/12290074.htm
Anonymous Lies From Anonymous Sources
So now we know for sure. Those "highly placed Bush Administration sources" anonymously quoted over and over again in front-page and cover stories are, in fact, the likes of Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. The Valerie Plame affair has not only outed the chronic propaganda leakers in the Bush Administration; it has also exposed for the public to see the corrupt relationship between the White House and leading members of the national press corps.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050815&s=whittelsey
Halliburton announces 284 percent increase in war profits
by Haliburton Watch.Org
August 4, 2005
Haliburton Watch.Org
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WASHINGTON, July 25 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- Halliburton announced on Friday that its KBR division, responsible for carrying out Pentagon contracts, experienced a 284 percent increase in operating profits during the second quarter of this year.
The increase in profits was primarily due to the Pentagon's payment of "award fees" for what military officials call "good" or "very good" work done by KBR in the Middle East for America's taxpayers and the troops.
Despite the scandals that plague KBR's military contracts, the Pentagon awarded $70 million in "award" fees to the company, along with four ratings of "excellent" and two ratings of "very good" for the troop logistics work under the Army's LOGCAP contract.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=HAL20050804&articleId=801
Perks Of A One-Party Town
David Corn
August 04, 2005
David Corn writes The Loyal Opposition twice a month for TomPaine.com. Corn is also the Washington editor of The Nation
and is the author of
The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception (Crown Publishers).
Ahhh, the benefits of a one-party town. For the party in charge, that is—not the citizens.
Over on the House side, somebody—I wonder who—inserted a provision into the energy bill that would set up a fund (of up to $1.5 billion) that energy firms, such as Halliburton, could tap into for money for exploration activities. According to Representative Henry Waxman, this measure was slipped into the bill after the legislation was officially settled, and most of this fund is expected to be managed by a big-energy consortium based in Sugar Land, Texas—which just happens to be in the congressional district of a fellow named Tom DeLay.
Doesn't this just cry out for an investigation? Not necessarily because it was criminal—though who knows?—but because it was wrong. (This may be the best recent proof of the axiom that not all wrongdoing in Washington, not even most of it, is illegal.) But don't expect any House GOPer to express indignation over such a flagrant abuse of power and brazen expropriation of taxpayer money. (At $60 a barrel, energy companies need incentives to find new sources of oil? Where's Milton Friedman when you need him?)
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050804/perks_of_a_oneparty_town.php
W.C. & A.N. Miller Appoints Retired Bechtel Executive to New Board Position
Larry Ruhland Is First Outside Board Member of 94-Year-Old Company
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 08/04/2005 -- As a sign of the times and its continued effort to keep key business focuses in its advisory ranks, W.C. & A.N. Miller Companies today announced that Larry E. Ruhland will become the first non-Miller family member or Associate to serve on its Board of Directors. Ruhland, who will also serve on the 94-year-old real estate services company's Advisory Committee, is retired from the Bechtel Corporation, where he held various executive level national and international management positions.
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=92424
DOE fines Bechtel Jacobs for nuclear safety violations
Oak Ridge (WVLT) - The Department of Energy is fining Bechtel Jacobs more than $247,000 for violating the department's nuclear safety requirements.
The violation cites two events that happened in 2004.
On May 14th last year, leakage from a radioactive waste shipment caused contamination to spread to public roadways.
http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3683778
DOE fines Bechtel Jacobs for radioactive spills
August 4, 2005
OAK RIDGE (WATE) -- The Department of Energy is fining Bechtel Jacobs $247,500 for its responsibility in dangerous chemical spills in Oak Ridge.
In May 2004 , radioactive material leaked from a truck during an environmental cleanup mission. That leak spread to public roads and forced the officials to close the road until the material could be cleaned up.
http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=3683995
Govt ignored capital gains tax dues of DPC
Mamata Singh / New Delhi August 5, 2005
While settling claims, the government and Indian lenders to the Dabhol power project overlooked the capital gains tax which had to be paid by GE, Bechtel and foreign lenders.
Tax dues run into a few hundred crore rupees. This means that tax officials and the Indian lenders, which have taken over the assets of the erstwhile Dabhol Power Company (DPC) and transferred them to New Age Power Company, have spent the last few days working out the liability.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&autono=196481&leftnm=lmnu2&lselect=0&leftindx=2
Electricity Production in Iraq Remains Below Pre-War Levels
by Dahr Jamail (bio)
Contrary to Bush Administration reports, Iraqi officials say the country's electricity problems remain endemic, and fear that despite Coalition promises, Iraq's plants will remain inadequate for the foreseeable future.
Baghdad, May 14, 2004 - Contrary to US President George Bush’s recent statement that electricity in Iraq "is now more widely available than before the war," Iraqi officials say the power supply in their country has not yet been repaired to pre-war levels. Bush made the claim in his May 1, 2004 speech commemorating the one-year anniversary of the "mission accomplished" address he delivered from aboard the USS Lincoln.
http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=345
Settlement with Bechtel over DPC complete
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ THURSDAY, AUGUST 04, 2005 12:34:22 AM]
Surf 'N' Earn -Sign in
now
THE IDBI-led Indian lenders to Dabhol Power Company (DPC) have cleared the final hurdle towards settling the 4-year old impasse over the power plant, reports Our Mumbai Bureau.
On July 12, Indian lenders signed the settlement with US-based Bechtel for $160m, as reported by ET in a series of articles over the past two weeks. Sources said Bechtel has agreed to pay tax on this amount, which was one of the contentious issues.
While the lenders had concluded deals with GE, offshore lenders and OPIC, the settlement with Bechtel was hanging fire due to a few issues regarding tax payment and further third-party claims. It isn’t clear what consensus has been reached over future third party claims.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1190416.cms
Cheney's Deadly 'Last Throes'
John Nichols Wed Aug 3, 4:11 PM ET
The Nation -- Vice President
Dick Cheney, who predicted on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, that Americans would be "greeted as liberators," has in recent weeks been peddling a new line of spin.
Any attempt to address Cheney's rhetorical excesses brings to mind the words of a young veteran from another misguided and unnecessary war.
"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?" young
John Kerry asked the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
Cheney has come up with a contemporary answer for that question.How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Iraq? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?
For Cheney, that's simple: Just keep telling the young men and women who are marching to their deaths that they will be greeted as liberators and that the enemy is so weak that it is in its "last throes."
In other words, just keep spinning a slurry of fantasy and lies into U.S. policy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20050803/cm_thenation/19968
Preempting Cheney
Ray McGovern
August 03, 2005
Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his 27-year career as a CIA analyst, he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared/briefed the President's Daily Brief. He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
Whatever plans Dick Cheney and his neo-conservatives may have had to conjure up a nuclear threat from Iran as "justification" for military action have been sharply undercut by some timely leaks to the Washington Post. In a redux of President George W. Bush's spin on the "grave and growing" danger from Iraq, Cheney protégé and newly appointed U.N. Ambassador John Bolton is on record warning that Iranian "deception" must not be allowed to continue much longer: "It will be too late. Iran will have nuclear weapons."
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050803/preempting_cheney.php
Top Rove Aide Reportedly Testified in Leak Case
By Richard B. Schmitt, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — A top assistant to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove appeared last week before the federal grand jury investigating possible criminal wrongdoing by the Bush administration in the exposing of a CIA operative, a person familiar with the case said Tuesday.
The interest in Susan Ralston, Rove's longtime executive assistant, was unclear. But it comes as special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has been focusing on differences in witness statements made to federal agents and the grand jury investigating who revealed the identity of Valerie Plame.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rove3aug03,1,6456237.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
Bush changes his story on the Rove leak
When President Bush was elected in 2000 he said he would raise the ethical and moral standards at the White House. Since our national security has been jeopardized by the leak of a CIA covert agent's name I have to say his administration has considerably lowered these standards.
No one in his administration is willing to admit to this serious breach in security.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/editorial/letters/12290714.htm
Hold Rove accountable for leak of CIA operative
August 3, 2005
It appears now it was Karl Rove who caused a CIA operative to be publicly identified, a violation of law and a serious breach of national security.
That he might not have "used her name" is a moot, silly excuse.
Does Joseph Wilson have another wife? Why would Rove tell six reporters about Wilson's wife, apparently, if he did not intend to have her identity revealed and lives endangered? It is not believable that he would not know she was a secret agent.
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050803/OPINION/508030311/1050
Natural Disasters
Tornado leaves Edgbaston wicket looking a soft touch
Soft pitch will require a shrewd, flexible approach says Ashley Giles
Thursday August 4, 2005
The Guardian
At Warwickshire, we have always had a healthy disregard for Steve Rouse's weather forecasts. If as much rain fell during the summer as he predicted then we would never get a game in. When he predicts the ground will be awash, there might be a quick shower during the tea interval.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ashes2005/story/0,15993,1542107,00.html
Published: Thursday, August 4, 2005
Post gets tornado picture
By Sarah Lagan
The Birmingham Post claims to be the only newspaper to have captured a photograph of the devastating tornado that hit the city last week.
Photographer Neil Pugh was on his day off and driving home when he saw a "black and green mass of clouds"
above the trees. He pulled over and grabbed his camera from the boot of his car. The Post devoted its front page to Pugh's picture and filled nine pages with reports and eyewitness accounts
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/article/040805/post_gets_tornado
Tornado confirmed in Lewis County
Updated: 8/3/2005 12:00 PM
By: News 10 Now Staff
The cleanup is underway after a tornado touched down in western Lewis County. It split some trees in half and ripped others right out of the ground.
A neighbor says it started raining pretty hard right after four Monday afternoon. His rain gauge measured almost nine inches during a one hour period.
The tornado caused homes on the south side of Mad River, where it crosses Salmon River Road, to lose power.
http://news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=46607
Tornado GM plans to visit sponsors
Five local companies had signed up but hadn't paid
By Joey Berlin
The Capital-Journal
Officially, Nikki Waterbury's work in the All American Professional Basketball League is done.
Unofficially, she's not yet ready to close the book on a bizarre, disappointing turn in her career.
Waterbury was, until Monday, the general manager of the Tornado, which it increasingly appears will never play a regular season game. Now, Waterbury has sponsors who aren't out of any money, but she feels they need to hear from her.
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/080305/tor_tornado.shtml
Cricket: Rouse's pitch hit by tornado
Aug 3 2005
Western Mail
ENGLAND are squaring up to face Australia in the second Ashes Test this week on an Edgbaston pitch several days behind in its preparation following last week's tornado in Birmingham.
Merthyr-born Steve Rouse, the head groundsman at Edgbaston, believes he is four days behind where he would like to be in his preparation following the tornado which swept through and devastated surrounding areas of Birmingham last Thursday.
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0700sports/0300cricket/tm_objectid=15811221&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=rouse-s-pitch-hit-by-tornado-name_page.html
The Washington Post
Afghanistan Agrees To Accept Detainees
U.S. Negotiating Guantanamo Transfers
By Josh White and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 5, 2005; Page A01
The Bush administration is negotiating the transfer of nearly 70 percent of the detainees at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to three countries as part of a plan, officials said, to share the burden of keeping suspected terrorists behind bars.
U.S. officials announced yesterday that they have reached an agreement with the government of Afghanistan to transfer most of its nationals to Kabul's "exclusive" control and custody. There are 110 Afghan detainees at Guantanamo and 350 more at the Bagram airfield near Kabul. Their transfers could begin in the next six months.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080402125.html
U.K. to Institute New Deportation Measures
The Associated Press
Friday, August 5, 2005; 6:18 AM
An armed police officer on duty in central London as a bus passes by, Thursday Aug. 4, 2005. Thousands of police officers patrolled London's streets and sprawling subway system Thursday, four weeks after four suicide bombers killed 52 people on three subway trains and a bus.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) (Kirsty Wigglesworth - AP)
LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday announced new deportation measures against those who foster hatred and advocate violence, as his government tries to counter Islamic extremists in Britain.
Blair said the government would draw up a list of extremist Web sites, book shops and organizations and said that involvement with them could be a trigger to deport foreign nationals.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/05/AR2005080500204.html
In Tense Sudan, Divisions Resurface
Arabs Flee Violence In Southern City
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, August 5, 2005; Page A06
JUBA, Sudan, Aug. 4 -- The mood of this rattled country, after the sudden death Sunday of the former rebel leader John Garang, is etched on the fearful faces of northern Arab merchants, surrounded by suitcases and nylon sacks, as they wait in the airport to flee further attacks by southerners.
The once-lively central market of this southern city is a deserted maze of smoldering fires and burned metal roofs after three days of rioting. Goats and children pick through the rubble of charred soda bottles, detergent boxes and plastic roses.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080401968.html
U.S. Indicts 2 in Case Of Divulged Secrets
Both Worked for Pro-Israel Lobby
By Dan Eggen and Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 5, 2005; Page A01
Two former employees of an influential pro-Israel lobbying group were indicted yesterday on charges that they illegally received and passed on classified information to foreign officials and reporters over a period of five years, part of a case that has complicated relations between the United States and one of its closest allies.
Although no foreign government is named in the indictment, U.S. government sources have identified Israel as the country at the center of the probe. The Israeli Embassy in Washington also confirmed yesterday that it has been "approached" by investigators in the case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080401129.html
Russian Mini-Submarine Stuck on Sea Floor
By YEVGENY KULKOV
The Associated Press
Friday, August 5, 2005; 5:01 AM
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- A Russian mini-submarine with seven sailors aboard snagged on a fishing net and was stuck on the sea floor off Russia's Pacific Coast, navy officials said Friday.
It wasn't clear how long the oxygen aboard the vessel would last, and Navy authorities scrambled to try to figure out how to raise the sub from a depth of some 625 feet.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Alexander Kosolapov said there had been contact with the sailors, who were not hurt, and that authorities were preparing to send down a similar vessel to assess the situation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/05/AR2005080500159.html?nav=hcmodule
CNN Suspends Novak After He Walks Off Set
By DAVID BAUDER
The Associated Press
Friday, August 5, 2005; 12:42 AM
NEW YORK -- CNN suspended commentator Robert Novak indefinitely after he swore and walked off the set Thursday during a debate with Democratic operative James Carville.
The live exchange during CNN's "Inside Politics" came during a discussion of Florida's Senate campaign. CNN correspondent Ed Henry noted when it was over that he had been about to ask Novak about his role in the investigation of the leak of a CIA officer's identity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080401606.html
CNN Suspends Novak After He Walks Off Set
By DAVID BAUDER
The Associated Press
Friday, August 5, 2005; 12:42 AM
NEW YORK -- CNN suspended commentator Robert Novak indefinitely after he swore and walked off the set Thursday during a debate with Democratic operative James Carville.
The live exchange during CNN's "Inside Politics" came during a discussion of Florida's Senate campaign. CNN correspondent Ed Henry noted when it was over that he had been about to ask Novak about his role in the investigation of the leak of a CIA officer's identity.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080401606.html
Thousands in Cookie Money Stolen From Va. Scout Troop
Girls Forced to Cancel Trip, but Council Doesn't Press Charges
By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 5, 2005; Page B05
It took long weekends camped outside their local grocery stores and hours tromping door-to-door, but the Girl Scouts in Springfield Troop 1868 eventually sold enough Thin Mints and Tagalongs to help fund a camping trip to Hersheypark in Hershey, Pa.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080402121.html
Indians Continue Wait for Accounts' Resolution
Nine-Year-Old Lawsuit Against Interior Department on Trust Funds Appears Far From Settlement
By Evelyn Nieves
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 5, 2005; Page A13
BROWNING, Mont. -- Nine years have ticked away since Elouise Cobell sued the government on behalf of as many as 500,000 Native Americans whose land the United States was supposed to manage. But the end of what has become the longest, largest class action lawsuit against the federal government remains nowhere in sight.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/04/AR2005080401685.html
continued …
Friday, August 05, 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
warmest summer on record leads to disintegration
Between January 31st and March 7th,
3,275-square-kilometers of the Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated. While unusual in style, this event follows a pattern of retreat on this eastern Peninsula ice-shelf first identified by glaciologists from the Argentine Antarctic Institute.
The break-up of the floating ice mass, which had survived thousands of years of climate variations, comes at the end of one of the warmest summers on record around the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Larsen Ice Shelf has been under careful observation since 1995, when its northernmost sector collapsed in a similarly dramatic event. At the time, there was no obvious explanation for why an ice shelf should break apart into so many small pieces. The usual pattern is frequent, small iceberg calving events punctuated by infrequent, larger calving events.
Perhaps even more remarkable is the uniqueness of these events within our current interglacial climate. The breakup events have allowed marine geologists access to the sub-ice shelf seafloor, where sediment layers reveal ocean-surface conditions over the millennia. That record indicates that the Larsen A had been in place for about the last 2000 years. The Larsen B is likely to have been significantly older, according to new results from Eugene Domack (Hamilton College, Clinton, NY), Glenn Berger (Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada), and Robert Gilbert (Queen's University, Canada), who sailed into the region this spring aboard the RV Nathanial B. Palmer (the U.S. NSF-supported research icebreaker).
3,275-square-kilometers of the Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated. While unusual in style, this event follows a pattern of retreat on this eastern Peninsula ice-shelf first identified by glaciologists from the Argentine Antarctic Institute.
The break-up of the floating ice mass, which had survived thousands of years of climate variations, comes at the end of one of the warmest summers on record around the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Larsen Ice Shelf has been under careful observation since 1995, when its northernmost sector collapsed in a similarly dramatic event. At the time, there was no obvious explanation for why an ice shelf should break apart into so many small pieces. The usual pattern is frequent, small iceberg calving events punctuated by infrequent, larger calving events.
Perhaps even more remarkable is the uniqueness of these events within our current interglacial climate. The breakup events have allowed marine geologists access to the sub-ice shelf seafloor, where sediment layers reveal ocean-surface conditions over the millennia. That record indicates that the Larsen A had been in place for about the last 2000 years. The Larsen B is likely to have been significantly older, according to new results from Eugene Domack (Hamilton College, Clinton, NY), Glenn Berger (Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada), and Robert Gilbert (Queen's University, Canada), who sailed into the region this spring aboard the RV Nathanial B. Palmer (the U.S. NSF-supported research icebreaker).
The remnant of the Larsen Ice Fields & it's changes
Map of the Study AreaThis satellite image from NASA’s MODIS sensor aboard the Terra spacecraft shows the Larsen B Ice Shelf region on 1 November 2003. Red dots indicate sites where ice flow speed was measured using more detailed Landsat 7 images. The colored lines track the retreat of the Larsen B Ice Shelf during the past 6 years, and the black line shows the coastline, or “grounding line,” where the thick ice begins to float off the sea floor. Blue lines on the glaciers show the location of laser elevation profiles from ICESat. A weather station location marked in the upper right of the image map (”Matienzo AWS”) has tracked atmospheric warming in summers over the past 30+ years in the region. Credit: National Snow And Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
CLICK ON THE TITLE LINK:
RADARSAT Peers Through The CloudsThis series of radar images shows change in the ice shelf configuration between 1996 and 2003. The first image was derived from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ERS-1 satellite and the last four from the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Radarsat-1 satellite. Credit: ESA (for the 1996 image) and CSA (for the other four images)
Additional deterioration after Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapse
GLACIERS SURGE WHEN ICE SHELF BREAKS UP
Since 2002, when the Larsen B ice shelf broke away from the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists have witnessed profound increases in the flow of nearby glaciers into the Weddell Sea. These observations were made possible through NASA, Canadian and European satellite data.
Two NASA-funded reports, appearing in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, used different techniques to arrive at similar results. Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md., and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colo., said the findings prove ice shelves act as “brakes” on the glaciers that flow into them. The results also suggest climate warming can rapidly lead to rises in sea level.
Large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 1995 and 2002, as a result of climate warming. Almost immediately after the 2002 Larsen B ice shelf collapse, researchers observed nearby glaciers flowing up to eight times faster than prior to the breakup. The speed-up also caused glacier elevations to drop, lowering them by as much as 38 meters (124 feet) in six months.
“Glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula accelerated in response to the removal of the Larsen B ice shelf,” said Eric Rignot, a JPL researcher and lead author of one of the studies. “These two papers clearly illustrate, for the first time, the relationship between ice shelf collapses caused by climate warming, and accelerated glacier flow,” Rignot added.
Rignot’s study used data from European Space Agency Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS) and Canadian Space Agency RADARSAT satellite. The United States and Canada share a joint agreement on RADARSAT, which NASA launched.
Scambos and colleagues used five Landsat 7 images of the Antarctic Peninsula from before and after the Larsen B breakup. The images revealed crevasses on the surfaces of glaciers. By tracking the movement of crevasses in sequence from one image to the next, the researchers were able to calculate velocities of the glaciers.
The surfaces of glaciers dropped rapidly as the flow sped up, according to ICESat measurements. “The thinning of these glaciers was so dramatic that it was easily detected with ICESat, which can measure elevation changes to within an inch or two,” said Christopher Shuman, a GSFC researcher and a co-author on the Scambos paper.
The Scambos study examined the period right after the Larsen B ice shelf collapse to try to isolate the immediate effects of ice shelf loss on the glaciers. Rignot’s study used RADARSAT to take monthly measurements that are continuing. Clouds do not limit RADARSAT measurements, so it can provide continuous, broad velocity information.
According to Rignot’s study, the Hektoria, Green and Evans glaciers flowed eight times faster in 2003 than in 2000. They slowed moderately in late 2003. The Jorum and Crane glaciers accelerated two-fold in early 2003 and three-fold by the end of 2003. Adjacent glaciers, where the shelves remained intact, showed no significant changes according to both studies. The studies provide clear evidence ice shelves restrain glaciers, and indicate present climate is more closely linked to sea level rise than once thought, Scambos added.
###Contacts:
Gretchen Cook-AndersonNASA Headquarters, Washington DC 202-358-0836
Krishna Ramanujan Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 607-273-2561
Since 2002, when the Larsen B ice shelf broke away from the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists have witnessed profound increases in the flow of nearby glaciers into the Weddell Sea. These observations were made possible through NASA, Canadian and European satellite data.
Two NASA-funded reports, appearing in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, used different techniques to arrive at similar results. Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md., and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colo., said the findings prove ice shelves act as “brakes” on the glaciers that flow into them. The results also suggest climate warming can rapidly lead to rises in sea level.
Large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 1995 and 2002, as a result of climate warming. Almost immediately after the 2002 Larsen B ice shelf collapse, researchers observed nearby glaciers flowing up to eight times faster than prior to the breakup. The speed-up also caused glacier elevations to drop, lowering them by as much as 38 meters (124 feet) in six months.
“Glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula accelerated in response to the removal of the Larsen B ice shelf,” said Eric Rignot, a JPL researcher and lead author of one of the studies. “These two papers clearly illustrate, for the first time, the relationship between ice shelf collapses caused by climate warming, and accelerated glacier flow,” Rignot added.
Rignot’s study used data from European Space Agency Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS) and Canadian Space Agency RADARSAT satellite. The United States and Canada share a joint agreement on RADARSAT, which NASA launched.
Scambos and colleagues used five Landsat 7 images of the Antarctic Peninsula from before and after the Larsen B breakup. The images revealed crevasses on the surfaces of glaciers. By tracking the movement of crevasses in sequence from one image to the next, the researchers were able to calculate velocities of the glaciers.
The surfaces of glaciers dropped rapidly as the flow sped up, according to ICESat measurements. “The thinning of these glaciers was so dramatic that it was easily detected with ICESat, which can measure elevation changes to within an inch or two,” said Christopher Shuman, a GSFC researcher and a co-author on the Scambos paper.
The Scambos study examined the period right after the Larsen B ice shelf collapse to try to isolate the immediate effects of ice shelf loss on the glaciers. Rignot’s study used RADARSAT to take monthly measurements that are continuing. Clouds do not limit RADARSAT measurements, so it can provide continuous, broad velocity information.
According to Rignot’s study, the Hektoria, Green and Evans glaciers flowed eight times faster in 2003 than in 2000. They slowed moderately in late 2003. The Jorum and Crane glaciers accelerated two-fold in early 2003 and three-fold by the end of 2003. Adjacent glaciers, where the shelves remained intact, showed no significant changes according to both studies. The studies provide clear evidence ice shelves restrain glaciers, and indicate present climate is more closely linked to sea level rise than once thought, Scambos added.
###Contacts:
Gretchen Cook-AndersonNASA Headquarters, Washington DC 202-358-0836
Krishna Ramanujan Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 607-273-2561
Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapse
Global Warming. The Collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf.
LATER THAT YEAR, October 4, 2002; the ice river C Zero reversed it's direction as a result of melt water running under the ice. On the same day the mechanism of Global Warming manifested and has yet to abate in the way of vortices. There were two that morning, one in the Northern Pacific and one in the Northern Atlantic. I found it odd that on the same day I read about C Zero the vortices came under my gaze as well. It was a stark reality that validated by concern after this collapse.
The Larsen B ice shelf collapsed and broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula during February and March, 2002 — a progression observed by Terra's Moderate-resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS) and analyzed at the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center. The collapse is thought to have been accelerated by warm summer temperatures which caused meltwater to fill crevasses along the landward side of the Larsen shelf, leading to intensified pressures within the sheet structure.
Morning Papers - continued ...
Michael Moore Today
We die along with these kids'
By Connie Schultz / Plain Dealer
As Jeanette Schroeder rounded the corner of her front yard with the lawn mower, she spotted two Marines standing at her brother Paul Schroeder's front door Wednesday.
Immediately, she knew.
"Oh, no!" she sobbed. "Oh, no! Oh, no!"
The two men looked at her, then stepped away from the door and started walking toward her.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3557
Send Your Condolences...
http://www.cleveland.com/iraq/tributes/
Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record
With Long Sojourn at Ranch, President on His Way to Surpassing Reagan's Total
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker / Washington Post
WACO, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3548
The Theme of Bush's Presidency when Everything it "W"rong. Let's hope he and Cheney have done all the dastardly things they can to this country.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/splash/f911_vacation.mov
Americans Are Warned About Overseas Travel
By Robin Wright / Washington Post
The State Department issued an updated worldwide caution on terrorism yesterday, warning Americans about the threat of extremist violence against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.
The warning did not list countries, nor did department officials offer any additional specifics about threats. The statement said "current information" indicates that al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups are planning attacks against U.S. interests in "multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3545
Roadside Bomb Kills 14 Marines in Iraq
By Tini Tran / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fourteen U.S. Marines were killed Wednesday when a huge bomb destroyed their lightly armored vehicle, hurling it into the air in a giant fireball in the deadliest roadside bombing suffered by American forces in the Iraq war.
A civilian translator also was killed and one Marine was wounded. The victims were from the same Ohio-based Reserve unit as six members of a Marine sniper team killed on Monday in an ambush claimed by the Islamic extremist Ansar al-Sunnah Army.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3549
2 Aides to Rove Testify in C.I.A. Leak Inquiry
By David Johnston / New York Times
WASHINGTON - Two aides to Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, testified last Friday before a federal grand jury investigating whether government officials illegally disclosed the identity of an undercover C.I.A. operative, according to a person who has been officially briefed on the case.
The aides, Susan B. Ralston and Israel Hernandez, were asked about grand jury testimony given on July 13 by Matthew Cooper, a reporter for Time magazine, the person who was briefed said. Mr. Cooper has said that he testified about a July 11, 2003, conversation with Mr. Rove in which the C.I.A. officer was discussed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3551
Judge Says Bush's Easing of Forest Plan Is Illegal
By Bettina Boxall / Los Angeles Times
A federal judge has concluded that the Bush administration broke environmental laws last year when it cleared the way for more commercial logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
In 1994, the government adopted environmental protections and limits on timber harvesting — the Northwest Forest Plan — to halt the decline of the northern spotted owl and other wildlife that depended on large, old trees.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3555
Traverse City Record Eagle
Free clinic set to open
Low income people without coverage
By SHERI MCWHIRTER
Record-Eagle staff writer
GRAYLING - A free clinic for low income people without medical insurance or Medicaid coverage will open in the Mercy Professional Building.
The Au Sable Free Clinic will provide health care to people who meet income requirements from Crawford, Roscommon, Oscoda and Montmorency counties. The $75,000 budget to run the clinic in its first year is backed by donations and grants. Doctors, nurses and nurse assistants all volunteer their time.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04clinic.htm
Bellaire Lions thank community for support
By STEPHANIE BEACH
Record-Eagle staff writer
The Bellaire Lions Club would like to send a heartfelt thank you to the many community residents and visitors who donated so generously to the club's White Cane Days fundraiser.
The $1,262.50 collected will be used for local charitable activities including eye exams and glasses for the needy, collection of used eyeglasses and hearing aids and more.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04notes.htm
The Detroit News, Free Press switch owners
By JOHN PORRETTO
AP Business Writer
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press will change ownership and compete head-to-head as morning dailies under a new arrangement involving the nation's two largest newspaper publishers.
Gannett Co. said Wednesday it is buying the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc. will assume ownership of The Detroit News from Gannett.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_DETROIT_NEWSPAPERS_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Audit says Michigan schools fail to follow U.S. tutoring rules
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A federal audit says the Michigan Department of Education failed to comply with the No Child Left Behind act in ensuring that schools make tutoring available to children who need it and monitor the effectiveness of the tutoring.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_TUTORING_AUDIT_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Training camp's return good for fans, economy
Memo
To: The Detroit Red Wings
From: The Grand Traverse Area
re: Training camp
We missed you. Welcome home.
So what more has to be said? It's time to forget about The Year That Wasn't and get back to what counts - playing hockey, buying Wings gear and pumping a few million bucks into the local economy (and hoping this never happens again).
For seven years in a row, the Red Wings had traveled to Traverse City in the fall to hold training camp and prepare for the rigors of an upcoming National Hockey League campaign.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04edit.htm
NASA Decides Against Another Spacewalk
By PAM EASTON
Associated Press Writer
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) -- NASA told space shuttle Discovery's astronauts Thursday that a spacewalk to repair a torn thermal blanket will not be necessary.
Mission Control told the crew of seven that the shuttle will be safe for re-entry with the ripped blanket below the cockpit window.
The space agency had been considering sending the astronauts out to snip away part of the blanket for fear a 13-inch section weighing just under an ounce could tear away during the return to Earth and slam into the shuttle, perhaps causing grave damage.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SPACE_SHUTTLE?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Gunshots Reported Near Colo. Ranger Search
By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer
ESTES PARK, Colo. (AP) -- Rescuers entering their sixth day of searching for a missing park ranger were focusing Thursday on an area where gunshots and smoke were reported the night before, officials said.
Jeff Christensen, 31, hasn't been seen since last Friday, when he left on what was supposed to be a routine patrol in Rocky Mountain National Park's vast and rugged Mummy Range some 65 miles northwest of Denver.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_RANGER?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Kentucky Coal Mine Accident Kills One
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer
CUMBERLAND, Ky. (AP) -- The roof of a coal mine collapsed suddenly, killing one miner, and rescue crews were searching for another who could be trapped in or behind a wall of fallen rocks, authorities said Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MINING_ACCIDENT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NYC Sued Over Police Subway Bag Searches
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Five city subway riders and a civil liberties group sued the city Thursday to stop random police inspections of bags in subways, calling the searches ineffective, unconstitutional and a publicity stunt that does not enhance safety.
"It's a needle-in-the-haystack approach to law enforcement," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TRANSIT_SECURITY_LAWSUIT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NATO Taking Over Afghan Security in 2006
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A NATO-led international force is set to expand and will be ready to assume responsibility for security across all of Afghanistan by the end of next year, freeing up many of the 17,600 American troops battling militants here, a NATO general said Thursday.
The announcement follows a surge in fighting between U.S.-led forces and Taliban rebels ahead of elections next month. The bloodshed has led the military to rush in an airborne infantry battalion of about 700 troops on standby in North Bragg, N.C.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_SECURITY?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
U.S. Sending Afghan Detainees Home
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghans held in U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere will be sent back to Afghanistan to be detained here, Afghan and U.S. officials said Thursday.
Hundreds of Afghans are being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at other American detention facilities. Afghanistan's U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai has long urged Washington to send them home.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_US_DETAINEES?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Co-Pilot of Air France Crash Faces Query
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer
TORONTO (AP) -- Investigators trying to piece together why an Air France jetliner crashed and burned at Canada's busiest airport said Thursday they will interview the co-pilot first because the pilot remains hospitalized and unable to answer questions.
Real Levasseur, leading the investigation by Canada's Transportation Safety Board, said the captain of Flight 358 from Paris was still in the hospital with back injuries.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_PLANE_CRASH?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Four More U.S. Service Members Die in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S. military said Thursday that four more American service members died in Iraq, including a Marine killed in the Euphrates River valley where 14 Marines lost their lives in the worst roadside bombing targeting American forces in the Iraq war.
A car bomb also hit members of a radical Shiite militia in northern Iraq as attacks nationwide killed at least 11 people Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Report: U.S. Secretly Held Two Prisoners
By MICHELLE FAUL
Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Two Yemeni men say they were held in solitary confinement in secret, underground U.S. detention facilities in an unknown country and interrogated by masked men for more than 18 months without being charged or allowed any contact with the outside world, Amnesty International charged Wednesday.
Amnesty and human rights lawyers argued that the report added to long-standing claims that the United States has held "secret detainees" in its war on terror.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SECRET_DETENTIONS?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
N. Korea Seeks Peaceful Nuclear Activities
By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea's envoy to disarmament talks said Thursday that Pyongyang insists on retaining the right to "peaceful nuclear activities" - a condition that other delegates say has deadlocked the talks.
"We are for denuclearizing, but we also want to possess the right to peaceful nuclear activities," said Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister. "Every country in the world has the right to peaceful nuclear activities.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KOREAS_NUCLEAR?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
The Moscow Times
THE NEW RUSSIAN ELITE
New Private Luxury Train Hits Tracks
By Alexander Duncan
Special to The Moscow Times
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned luxury train, operates daily between Moscow and St.Petersburg.
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned and operated luxury passenger train, was launched Wednesday, offering a daily overnight service between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
A one-way ticket starts at 3,150 rubles ($110) to travel in a shared sleeping compartment, after which prices are for a private space. The top level costs 12,500 rubles ($437) for a compartment decked out with an en-suite bathroom, DVD player and Internet access.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/043.html
Whistle-Blower Says Finance Ministry Embezzled $140M
By Maria Daanilova
The Associated Press
A former employee of Russia's main financial watchdog accused the Finance Ministry on Wednesday of embezzling some $140 million in state funds, with a state-controlled bank profiting in the process.
Natalya Kuznetsova, a former senior inspector at the Audit Chamber, also claimed her former bosses were deliberately covering up the activities.
Speaking at news conference, Kuznetsova accused Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin of ignoring the results of an inspection in which she said she discovered rampant violations involving the Finance Ministry's management of government debt.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/048.html
Participants in Korean nuclear talks determined to reach compromise
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:43 PM
BEIJING, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - The participants in the fourth round of the six-party negotiations on the North Korean nuclear program are hopeful they will be able to find mutually acceptable solutions, the head of Russia's negotiating team, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, told a press conference in the Chinese capital Thursday. "But this doesn't mean they'll be easy to find," he added.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Government endorses draft agreement on exclusive economic zones in Baltic Sea
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:31 PM
MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed a draft agreement that provides for negotiations with Lithuania and Sweden on the borders of exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf in the Baltic Sea.
Amendments may be introduced to the document if they are not essential.
Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in near future
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:28 PM
LONDON, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Smotrov) - International ratings agency Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in the near future, Fitch Sovereign Ratings Director Sharon Raj said Thursday.
Fitch views the Russian government's financial policy and early redemption of the Paris Club debt as positive.
The ratings agency raised Russia's long-term foreign currency sovereign rating Wednesday from BBB- to BBB. Russia's short-term foreign currency rating was confirmed at F3. Both ratings have a stable outlook.
The high price of oil, increased tax revenue and relatively limited expenditure have enabled Russia to sustain strong budget figures, letting it redeem most of its external debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations, she said.
Raj said the Russian economy's rally is due to several factors, including the realistic ruble rate, strong GDP growth and early redemption of external debt.
Among the problems in Russia that concern Fitch are the fall in the economic growth rate from 7% to 4-5% per year and delays in structural reforms.
The agency sees banking sector and social payment reforms as generally successful
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Kangaroo Meat Skips Off Shelves
By Conor Humphries
Staff Writer
Russia last year imported more kangaroo meat than any other country in the world, but it's not clear whether those who ate it knew the meat on their plate began life skipping around in the Australian outback.
Of the $11 million worth of kangaroo meat exported from Australia to Russia in 2004, the majority was sold in Russia's Far East for sausage making, said Nina Mitropolskaya, senior business development manager at the Australian Embassy's trade department in Moscow.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/003.html
Adidas Buying Rival Reebok
By Ulf Laessing
Reuters
FRANKFURT -- German sporting goods maker Adidas-Salomon is buying U.S. rival Reebok in a 3.1 billion euro ($3.8 billion) deal to expand its reach in Nike's home market.
Adidas, the No. 2 in the sporting goods industry, behind Nike, said on Wednesday it was buying the outstanding shares of No. 3 player Reebok for $59 per share in cash, a 34 percent premium to Reebok's closing share price on Tuesday.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/254.html
THANK YOU, Vladimir. The world doesn't need every drop of oil right now. There is prudent use for the preservation of reserves for generations to come.
Shell Faces Sakhalin-2 Output Delay
Reuters
TOKYO / LONDON — Peak oil production from the giant Sakhalin-2 project will be delayed until 2008 at the earliest, lead shareholder Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Shell said the previously announced delay to startup of liquefied natural gas production would also mean delays to plans to effectively quadruple oil output.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/047.html
Like the Censors of Old
By Masha Gessen
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
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Back in the dark old days of the Soviet Union, foreign journalists in Moscow led pretty ridiculous lives. They lived in hotels and, later, in special closed compounds. They were required to use interpreters, drivers and office staff supplied by the Soviets -- and, generally speaking, employed by the KGB. They had to ask for permission to venture outside of Moscow.
Before 1961, all foreign journalists were required to file their reports from a particular room in the Central Telegraph building on what was then called Gorky Street. The reports were read by the censor, who sometimes held them up for days and sometimes returned them with multiple deletions -- or marked "not cleared." The censor made few decisions by himself or herself. During the Stalinist era, all questions were phoned directly in to Stalin's secretariat, which issued instructions.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/006.html
Ivanov Went Too Far in Barring ABC
Editorial
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The military and Federal Security Service must be beside themselves. They had spent months hunting for Shamil Basayev, and a Russian journalist working for U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty manages to spend two days and nights with Terrorist No. 1 himself in Chechnya. To top things off, the journalist, Andrei Babitsky, said he happened upon Basayev by chance.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that Defense Minister and former KGB officer Sergei Ivanov declared that ABC television, the U.S. network that broadcast the resulting interview with Basayev, was now considered persona non grata by his ministry.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/005.html
Warming to Russia
By Anwer Mooraj
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch.
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Until 1990, Pakistan had a particularly close relationship with the United States. But starting in the 1990s, it has been faced with a peculiar foreign relations situation. The visible tilt of the United States toward India, with an eye on India's huge market, accentuated Pakistan's growing dilemma. It was in this context that policymakers in Pakistan started to look at different foreign policy options. What was unthinkable a few years ago -- extending the hand of friendship to Russia -- suddenly seemed a viable option.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/007.html
Interview Did Authorities a Major Favor
By Alexei Pankin
Last weekend at the dacha I became convinced once again that the world is full of paradoxes.
To Our Readers
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I had settled down on the covered porch to read an article in Novye Izvestia called "Forgotten Voices: Why Western Radio Stations Are Becoming Less Popular With Russian Listeners." The article reported that stations such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Russian service of the BBC have fallen far behind local radio stations in the ratings. As I read, I listened to the radio in the background. My radio at the dacha is always tuned to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, but it was on the fritz. The voices of the station's hosts and guests floated in from my neighbors' dachas.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/006.html
New Zealand Herald
Ice shelf collapse biggest for 10,000 years
04.08.05 1.00pm
By Steve Connor
The disintegration of the huge Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica was an unprecedented event in the past 10,000 years of geological history, a study has found.
Research by scientists from Hamilton College in New York, based on the scrutiny of six ice cores from the vicinity of the ice shelf, found that a collapse of this size had not happened during the period since the end of the last Ice Age.
The piece of ice which sheered away from Larsen B into the sea in 2002 was roughly the size of Luxembourg.
The study, published in the journal Nature, shows that the ice shelf had been thinning over the millennia but went through a more rapid loss in recent decades, probably due to global warming.
In March 2002, scientists announced the Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula had entered a phase of rapid break-up with more than 50 billion tons of ice spilling into the Weddell Sea to form thousands of massive icebergs. It had been known for many years that the ice shelf was thinning and in retreat but the speed of its final collapse astonished scientists.
It took just 35 days for the Larsen B ice shelf to fall away completely after a Nasa satellite detected the first ruptures in the 1,255 square miles of ice at the end of January 2002.
Although the disintegration of ice shelves does not itself cause sea levels to rise (because they are already floating), their loss is thought to speed up the flow of ice from ice sheets on land, causing sea levels to rise.
Larsen B's smaller neighbour, Larsen A, broke off in 1995 and other much bigger ice shelves nearby, such as the Ross and Ronne, are also considered to be at risk of disintegrating, according to studies by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.
Researchers have measured a 2.5C increase in average temperatures in the Antarctic peninsula over the past 50 years and many scientists believe there is little doubt that this rise can be linked to global warming and climate change exacerbated by man-made pollution.
The latest study by a team led by Eugene Domack analysed oxygen isotopes and the microscopic plankton called formanifera, which are found in ice cores dating back 10,000 years.
"We infer from our oxygen isotope measurements in planktonic formanifera that the Larsen B ice shelf has been thinning throughout the Holocene [from the present to 10,000 years ago], and we suggest that the recent prolonged period of warming in the Antarctic peninsula region, in combination with the long-term thinning, has led to collapse of the ice shelf," the researchers said.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339097
Ecstasy helps Parkinson's disease, say researchers
05.08.05
WASHINGTON - Amphetamines, including the party drug Ecstasy, have reversed the effects of Parkinson's disease in mice, researchers say.
Their finding does not suggest using illegal drugs to treat the incurable brain disease, but may offer a way forward.
The team at Duke University in North Carolina treated mice that were genetically modified to suffer from Parkinson's-like symptoms.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339181
Spacewalk repairs concern astronauts
Discovery Commander Eileen Collins waves as the assembled crew of the shuttle and the space station talk to US President George W. Bush. Picture / Reuters
03.08.05 1.00pm
HOUSTON - The shuttle Discovery's crew had misgivings about performing a spacewalk to remove two fabric fillers dangling from the ship's delicate heat shield, astronauts said.
Nasa ordered the repair because it fears another heat shield failure, such as the one that claimed Columbia and its seven-member crew in February 2003.
"I think a number of us, we did have some misgivings," said astronaut Andy Thomas of Australia. "We were concerned about the implications of it and what was motivating it."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10338953
Russia coach accident kills 10
05.08.05
MOSCOW - A passenger coach and a truck collided in Russia's western Siberia region yesterday, killing 10 people, including five German tourists, the Emergencies Ministry said.
The coach was carrying passengers from Moscow to Omsk when it was in collision with a truck carrying metal construction material near the town of Kurgan in the early hours.
"Ten people were killed including five German citizens. Two of the dead are children," said ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov, adding that the drivers of both vehicles were killed.
Twenty-seven others were injured, he said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10339258
Rape accuser tells court of police sex talk
05.08.05
By Nicola Boyes
The woman who has made historical rape allegations against a high-ranking police officer says she suffered unwanted sexual remarks and innuendo from other officers at the Rotorua police station where she worked.
A 44-year-old high-ranking police officer is charged with raping her in 1984, while she was a probationary constable at the Rotorua police station.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10339250
continued …
A Hard Blow for One Town in Ohio
By P.J. Huffstutter / Los Angeles Times
BROOK PARK, Ohio - Crisp American flags and emotionally worn spirits Wednesday filled the streets of this working-class town, headquarters of a Marine battalion that this week lost 19 young men in Iraq.Families and neighbors waited anxiously to hear the names of the 14 members of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, who died Wednesday while on patrol near Haditha, about 130 miles northwest of Baghdad. Military officials said the reservists' armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb.
We die along with these kids'
By Connie Schultz / Plain Dealer
As Jeanette Schroeder rounded the corner of her front yard with the lawn mower, she spotted two Marines standing at her brother Paul Schroeder's front door Wednesday.
Immediately, she knew.
"Oh, no!" she sobbed. "Oh, no! Oh, no!"
The two men looked at her, then stepped away from the door and started walking toward her.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3557
Send Your Condolences...
http://www.cleveland.com/iraq/tributes/
Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record
With Long Sojourn at Ranch, President on His Way to Surpassing Reagan's Total
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker / Washington Post
WACO, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3548
The Theme of Bush's Presidency when Everything it "W"rong. Let's hope he and Cheney have done all the dastardly things they can to this country.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/splash/f911_vacation.mov
Americans Are Warned About Overseas Travel
By Robin Wright / Washington Post
The State Department issued an updated worldwide caution on terrorism yesterday, warning Americans about the threat of extremist violence against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.
The warning did not list countries, nor did department officials offer any additional specifics about threats. The statement said "current information" indicates that al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups are planning attacks against U.S. interests in "multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3545
Roadside Bomb Kills 14 Marines in Iraq
By Tini Tran / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fourteen U.S. Marines were killed Wednesday when a huge bomb destroyed their lightly armored vehicle, hurling it into the air in a giant fireball in the deadliest roadside bombing suffered by American forces in the Iraq war.
A civilian translator also was killed and one Marine was wounded. The victims were from the same Ohio-based Reserve unit as six members of a Marine sniper team killed on Monday in an ambush claimed by the Islamic extremist Ansar al-Sunnah Army.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3549
2 Aides to Rove Testify in C.I.A. Leak Inquiry
By David Johnston / New York Times
WASHINGTON - Two aides to Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, testified last Friday before a federal grand jury investigating whether government officials illegally disclosed the identity of an undercover C.I.A. operative, according to a person who has been officially briefed on the case.
The aides, Susan B. Ralston and Israel Hernandez, were asked about grand jury testimony given on July 13 by Matthew Cooper, a reporter for Time magazine, the person who was briefed said. Mr. Cooper has said that he testified about a July 11, 2003, conversation with Mr. Rove in which the C.I.A. officer was discussed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3551
Judge Says Bush's Easing of Forest Plan Is Illegal
By Bettina Boxall / Los Angeles Times
A federal judge has concluded that the Bush administration broke environmental laws last year when it cleared the way for more commercial logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
In 1994, the government adopted environmental protections and limits on timber harvesting — the Northwest Forest Plan — to halt the decline of the northern spotted owl and other wildlife that depended on large, old trees.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3555
Traverse City Record Eagle
Free clinic set to open
Low income people without coverage
By SHERI MCWHIRTER
Record-Eagle staff writer
GRAYLING - A free clinic for low income people without medical insurance or Medicaid coverage will open in the Mercy Professional Building.
The Au Sable Free Clinic will provide health care to people who meet income requirements from Crawford, Roscommon, Oscoda and Montmorency counties. The $75,000 budget to run the clinic in its first year is backed by donations and grants. Doctors, nurses and nurse assistants all volunteer their time.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04clinic.htm
Bellaire Lions thank community for support
By STEPHANIE BEACH
Record-Eagle staff writer
The Bellaire Lions Club would like to send a heartfelt thank you to the many community residents and visitors who donated so generously to the club's White Cane Days fundraiser.
The $1,262.50 collected will be used for local charitable activities including eye exams and glasses for the needy, collection of used eyeglasses and hearing aids and more.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04notes.htm
The Detroit News, Free Press switch owners
By JOHN PORRETTO
AP Business Writer
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press will change ownership and compete head-to-head as morning dailies under a new arrangement involving the nation's two largest newspaper publishers.
Gannett Co. said Wednesday it is buying the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc. will assume ownership of The Detroit News from Gannett.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_DETROIT_NEWSPAPERS_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Audit says Michigan schools fail to follow U.S. tutoring rules
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A federal audit says the Michigan Department of Education failed to comply with the No Child Left Behind act in ensuring that schools make tutoring available to children who need it and monitor the effectiveness of the tutoring.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_TUTORING_AUDIT_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Training camp's return good for fans, economy
Memo
To: The Detroit Red Wings
From: The Grand Traverse Area
re: Training camp
We missed you. Welcome home.
So what more has to be said? It's time to forget about The Year That Wasn't and get back to what counts - playing hockey, buying Wings gear and pumping a few million bucks into the local economy (and hoping this never happens again).
For seven years in a row, the Red Wings had traveled to Traverse City in the fall to hold training camp and prepare for the rigors of an upcoming National Hockey League campaign.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04edit.htm
NASA Decides Against Another Spacewalk
By PAM EASTON
Associated Press Writer
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) -- NASA told space shuttle Discovery's astronauts Thursday that a spacewalk to repair a torn thermal blanket will not be necessary.
Mission Control told the crew of seven that the shuttle will be safe for re-entry with the ripped blanket below the cockpit window.
The space agency had been considering sending the astronauts out to snip away part of the blanket for fear a 13-inch section weighing just under an ounce could tear away during the return to Earth and slam into the shuttle, perhaps causing grave damage.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SPACE_SHUTTLE?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Gunshots Reported Near Colo. Ranger Search
By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer
ESTES PARK, Colo. (AP) -- Rescuers entering their sixth day of searching for a missing park ranger were focusing Thursday on an area where gunshots and smoke were reported the night before, officials said.
Jeff Christensen, 31, hasn't been seen since last Friday, when he left on what was supposed to be a routine patrol in Rocky Mountain National Park's vast and rugged Mummy Range some 65 miles northwest of Denver.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_RANGER?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Kentucky Coal Mine Accident Kills One
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer
CUMBERLAND, Ky. (AP) -- The roof of a coal mine collapsed suddenly, killing one miner, and rescue crews were searching for another who could be trapped in or behind a wall of fallen rocks, authorities said Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MINING_ACCIDENT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NYC Sued Over Police Subway Bag Searches
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Five city subway riders and a civil liberties group sued the city Thursday to stop random police inspections of bags in subways, calling the searches ineffective, unconstitutional and a publicity stunt that does not enhance safety.
"It's a needle-in-the-haystack approach to law enforcement," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TRANSIT_SECURITY_LAWSUIT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NATO Taking Over Afghan Security in 2006
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A NATO-led international force is set to expand and will be ready to assume responsibility for security across all of Afghanistan by the end of next year, freeing up many of the 17,600 American troops battling militants here, a NATO general said Thursday.
The announcement follows a surge in fighting between U.S.-led forces and Taliban rebels ahead of elections next month. The bloodshed has led the military to rush in an airborne infantry battalion of about 700 troops on standby in North Bragg, N.C.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_SECURITY?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
U.S. Sending Afghan Detainees Home
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghans held in U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere will be sent back to Afghanistan to be detained here, Afghan and U.S. officials said Thursday.
Hundreds of Afghans are being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at other American detention facilities. Afghanistan's U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai has long urged Washington to send them home.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_US_DETAINEES?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Co-Pilot of Air France Crash Faces Query
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer
TORONTO (AP) -- Investigators trying to piece together why an Air France jetliner crashed and burned at Canada's busiest airport said Thursday they will interview the co-pilot first because the pilot remains hospitalized and unable to answer questions.
Real Levasseur, leading the investigation by Canada's Transportation Safety Board, said the captain of Flight 358 from Paris was still in the hospital with back injuries.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_PLANE_CRASH?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Four More U.S. Service Members Die in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S. military said Thursday that four more American service members died in Iraq, including a Marine killed in the Euphrates River valley where 14 Marines lost their lives in the worst roadside bombing targeting American forces in the Iraq war.
A car bomb also hit members of a radical Shiite militia in northern Iraq as attacks nationwide killed at least 11 people Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Report: U.S. Secretly Held Two Prisoners
By MICHELLE FAUL
Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Two Yemeni men say they were held in solitary confinement in secret, underground U.S. detention facilities in an unknown country and interrogated by masked men for more than 18 months without being charged or allowed any contact with the outside world, Amnesty International charged Wednesday.
Amnesty and human rights lawyers argued that the report added to long-standing claims that the United States has held "secret detainees" in its war on terror.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SECRET_DETENTIONS?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
N. Korea Seeks Peaceful Nuclear Activities
By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea's envoy to disarmament talks said Thursday that Pyongyang insists on retaining the right to "peaceful nuclear activities" - a condition that other delegates say has deadlocked the talks.
"We are for denuclearizing, but we also want to possess the right to peaceful nuclear activities," said Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister. "Every country in the world has the right to peaceful nuclear activities.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KOREAS_NUCLEAR?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
The Moscow Times
THE NEW RUSSIAN ELITE
New Private Luxury Train Hits Tracks
By Alexander Duncan
Special to The Moscow Times
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned luxury train, operates daily between Moscow and St.Petersburg.
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned and operated luxury passenger train, was launched Wednesday, offering a daily overnight service between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
A one-way ticket starts at 3,150 rubles ($110) to travel in a shared sleeping compartment, after which prices are for a private space. The top level costs 12,500 rubles ($437) for a compartment decked out with an en-suite bathroom, DVD player and Internet access.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/043.html
Whistle-Blower Says Finance Ministry Embezzled $140M
By Maria Daanilova
The Associated Press
A former employee of Russia's main financial watchdog accused the Finance Ministry on Wednesday of embezzling some $140 million in state funds, with a state-controlled bank profiting in the process.
Natalya Kuznetsova, a former senior inspector at the Audit Chamber, also claimed her former bosses were deliberately covering up the activities.
Speaking at news conference, Kuznetsova accused Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin of ignoring the results of an inspection in which she said she discovered rampant violations involving the Finance Ministry's management of government debt.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/048.html
Participants in Korean nuclear talks determined to reach compromise
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:43 PM
BEIJING, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - The participants in the fourth round of the six-party negotiations on the North Korean nuclear program are hopeful they will be able to find mutually acceptable solutions, the head of Russia's negotiating team, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, told a press conference in the Chinese capital Thursday. "But this doesn't mean they'll be easy to find," he added.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Government endorses draft agreement on exclusive economic zones in Baltic Sea
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:31 PM
MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed a draft agreement that provides for negotiations with Lithuania and Sweden on the borders of exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf in the Baltic Sea.
Amendments may be introduced to the document if they are not essential.
Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in near future
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:28 PM
LONDON, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Smotrov) - International ratings agency Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in the near future, Fitch Sovereign Ratings Director Sharon Raj said Thursday.
Fitch views the Russian government's financial policy and early redemption of the Paris Club debt as positive.
The ratings agency raised Russia's long-term foreign currency sovereign rating Wednesday from BBB- to BBB. Russia's short-term foreign currency rating was confirmed at F3. Both ratings have a stable outlook.
The high price of oil, increased tax revenue and relatively limited expenditure have enabled Russia to sustain strong budget figures, letting it redeem most of its external debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations, she said.
Raj said the Russian economy's rally is due to several factors, including the realistic ruble rate, strong GDP growth and early redemption of external debt.
Among the problems in Russia that concern Fitch are the fall in the economic growth rate from 7% to 4-5% per year and delays in structural reforms.
The agency sees banking sector and social payment reforms as generally successful
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Kangaroo Meat Skips Off Shelves
By Conor Humphries
Staff Writer
Russia last year imported more kangaroo meat than any other country in the world, but it's not clear whether those who ate it knew the meat on their plate began life skipping around in the Australian outback.
Of the $11 million worth of kangaroo meat exported from Australia to Russia in 2004, the majority was sold in Russia's Far East for sausage making, said Nina Mitropolskaya, senior business development manager at the Australian Embassy's trade department in Moscow.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/003.html
Adidas Buying Rival Reebok
By Ulf Laessing
Reuters
FRANKFURT -- German sporting goods maker Adidas-Salomon is buying U.S. rival Reebok in a 3.1 billion euro ($3.8 billion) deal to expand its reach in Nike's home market.
Adidas, the No. 2 in the sporting goods industry, behind Nike, said on Wednesday it was buying the outstanding shares of No. 3 player Reebok for $59 per share in cash, a 34 percent premium to Reebok's closing share price on Tuesday.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/254.html
THANK YOU, Vladimir. The world doesn't need every drop of oil right now. There is prudent use for the preservation of reserves for generations to come.
Shell Faces Sakhalin-2 Output Delay
Reuters
TOKYO / LONDON — Peak oil production from the giant Sakhalin-2 project will be delayed until 2008 at the earliest, lead shareholder Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Shell said the previously announced delay to startup of liquefied natural gas production would also mean delays to plans to effectively quadruple oil output.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/047.html
Like the Censors of Old
By Masha Gessen
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Back in the dark old days of the Soviet Union, foreign journalists in Moscow led pretty ridiculous lives. They lived in hotels and, later, in special closed compounds. They were required to use interpreters, drivers and office staff supplied by the Soviets -- and, generally speaking, employed by the KGB. They had to ask for permission to venture outside of Moscow.
Before 1961, all foreign journalists were required to file their reports from a particular room in the Central Telegraph building on what was then called Gorky Street. The reports were read by the censor, who sometimes held them up for days and sometimes returned them with multiple deletions -- or marked "not cleared." The censor made few decisions by himself or herself. During the Stalinist era, all questions were phoned directly in to Stalin's secretariat, which issued instructions.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/006.html
Ivanov Went Too Far in Barring ABC
Editorial
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch.
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Email the Opinion Page Editor
The military and Federal Security Service must be beside themselves. They had spent months hunting for Shamil Basayev, and a Russian journalist working for U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty manages to spend two days and nights with Terrorist No. 1 himself in Chechnya. To top things off, the journalist, Andrei Babitsky, said he happened upon Basayev by chance.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that Defense Minister and former KGB officer Sergei Ivanov declared that ABC television, the U.S. network that broadcast the resulting interview with Basayev, was now considered persona non grata by his ministry.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/005.html
Warming to Russia
By Anwer Mooraj
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Until 1990, Pakistan had a particularly close relationship with the United States. But starting in the 1990s, it has been faced with a peculiar foreign relations situation. The visible tilt of the United States toward India, with an eye on India's huge market, accentuated Pakistan's growing dilemma. It was in this context that policymakers in Pakistan started to look at different foreign policy options. What was unthinkable a few years ago -- extending the hand of friendship to Russia -- suddenly seemed a viable option.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/007.html
Interview Did Authorities a Major Favor
By Alexei Pankin
Last weekend at the dacha I became convinced once again that the world is full of paradoxes.
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
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I had settled down on the covered porch to read an article in Novye Izvestia called "Forgotten Voices: Why Western Radio Stations Are Becoming Less Popular With Russian Listeners." The article reported that stations such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Russian service of the BBC have fallen far behind local radio stations in the ratings. As I read, I listened to the radio in the background. My radio at the dacha is always tuned to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, but it was on the fritz. The voices of the station's hosts and guests floated in from my neighbors' dachas.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/006.html
New Zealand Herald
Ice shelf collapse biggest for 10,000 years
04.08.05 1.00pm
By Steve Connor
The disintegration of the huge Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica was an unprecedented event in the past 10,000 years of geological history, a study has found.
Research by scientists from Hamilton College in New York, based on the scrutiny of six ice cores from the vicinity of the ice shelf, found that a collapse of this size had not happened during the period since the end of the last Ice Age.
The piece of ice which sheered away from Larsen B into the sea in 2002 was roughly the size of Luxembourg.
The study, published in the journal Nature, shows that the ice shelf had been thinning over the millennia but went through a more rapid loss in recent decades, probably due to global warming.
In March 2002, scientists announced the Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula had entered a phase of rapid break-up with more than 50 billion tons of ice spilling into the Weddell Sea to form thousands of massive icebergs. It had been known for many years that the ice shelf was thinning and in retreat but the speed of its final collapse astonished scientists.
It took just 35 days for the Larsen B ice shelf to fall away completely after a Nasa satellite detected the first ruptures in the 1,255 square miles of ice at the end of January 2002.
Although the disintegration of ice shelves does not itself cause sea levels to rise (because they are already floating), their loss is thought to speed up the flow of ice from ice sheets on land, causing sea levels to rise.
Larsen B's smaller neighbour, Larsen A, broke off in 1995 and other much bigger ice shelves nearby, such as the Ross and Ronne, are also considered to be at risk of disintegrating, according to studies by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.
Researchers have measured a 2.5C increase in average temperatures in the Antarctic peninsula over the past 50 years and many scientists believe there is little doubt that this rise can be linked to global warming and climate change exacerbated by man-made pollution.
The latest study by a team led by Eugene Domack analysed oxygen isotopes and the microscopic plankton called formanifera, which are found in ice cores dating back 10,000 years.
"We infer from our oxygen isotope measurements in planktonic formanifera that the Larsen B ice shelf has been thinning throughout the Holocene [from the present to 10,000 years ago], and we suggest that the recent prolonged period of warming in the Antarctic peninsula region, in combination with the long-term thinning, has led to collapse of the ice shelf," the researchers said.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339097
Ecstasy helps Parkinson's disease, say researchers
05.08.05
WASHINGTON - Amphetamines, including the party drug Ecstasy, have reversed the effects of Parkinson's disease in mice, researchers say.
Their finding does not suggest using illegal drugs to treat the incurable brain disease, but may offer a way forward.
The team at Duke University in North Carolina treated mice that were genetically modified to suffer from Parkinson's-like symptoms.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339181
Spacewalk repairs concern astronauts
Discovery Commander Eileen Collins waves as the assembled crew of the shuttle and the space station talk to US President George W. Bush. Picture / Reuters
03.08.05 1.00pm
HOUSTON - The shuttle Discovery's crew had misgivings about performing a spacewalk to remove two fabric fillers dangling from the ship's delicate heat shield, astronauts said.
Nasa ordered the repair because it fears another heat shield failure, such as the one that claimed Columbia and its seven-member crew in February 2003.
"I think a number of us, we did have some misgivings," said astronaut Andy Thomas of Australia. "We were concerned about the implications of it and what was motivating it."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10338953
Russia coach accident kills 10
05.08.05
MOSCOW - A passenger coach and a truck collided in Russia's western Siberia region yesterday, killing 10 people, including five German tourists, the Emergencies Ministry said.
The coach was carrying passengers from Moscow to Omsk when it was in collision with a truck carrying metal construction material near the town of Kurgan in the early hours.
"Ten people were killed including five German citizens. Two of the dead are children," said ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov, adding that the drivers of both vehicles were killed.
Twenty-seven others were injured, he said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10339258
Rape accuser tells court of police sex talk
05.08.05
By Nicola Boyes
The woman who has made historical rape allegations against a high-ranking police officer says she suffered unwanted sexual remarks and innuendo from other officers at the Rotorua police station where she worked.
A 44-year-old high-ranking police officer is charged with raping her in 1984, while she was a probationary constable at the Rotorua police station.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10339250
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