Morning Papers - continued

China Daily

President Hu ends fruitful visit to Pyongyang
By Xing Zhigangand Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:15

President Hu Jintao sealed a double victory when he wrapped up his three-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) yesterday.
President Hu Jintao (left) shakes hands with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong-Il upon his arrival at Pyongyang Airport on Friday. [AFP]
He successfully persuaded Pyongyang to return to the scheduled Six-Party Talks early next month, and he took advantage of the official goodwill trip to strengthen relations with China's close neighbour.
President Hu's visit to Pyongyang was "successful" and "fruitful," a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said in Beijing yesterday.
Hu, also general-secretary of the CPC Central Committee, returned to Beijing yesterday morning.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488922.htm


Local authorities step up war against bird flu
By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:15

Local authorities across the nation stepped up the war against avian influenza after three outbreaks and the death of a girl who had pneumonia-like symptoms in a bird flu-hit area this month.
A Chinese health worker sprays disinfectant over chickens in cages at a poultry market in Beijing October 30, 2005. [Reuters]
Increased surveillance on migratory birds has become a priority in many areas and local officials are setting up checkpoints to keep questionable poultry away from markets.
In Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a pigeon race was cancelled for fears that the birds might transmit the virus even though an organizer said homing pigeons could not fly as far as Inner Mongolia, Anhui or Hunan where outbreaks were reported.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488921.htm


HIV insurance debuts in Henan Province(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:17

ZHENGZHOU: An insurance company in Central China's Henan Province has launched a new policy that guarantees compensation of up to 300,000 yuan (US$37,050) in case of HIV infection.
According to the policy offered by the Henan Provincial Branch of China Taiping Life Insurance Co, policyholders will pay an annual premium of 12.9 yuan (US$1.6) to secure a 10,000 yuan (US$1,235) payout if they are infected with HIV during the year.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488926.htm


Foreign investment in water sector welcomed(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-31 08:46

China welcomes foreign investors to participate in urban water supply and sewage disposal projects,said Chinese Construction Minister Wang Guangtao here Sunday.
Addressing an international symposium on the development of urban water-related projects, Wang said China will diversify the financing channel for the construction and operation of urban water projects.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_489003.htm


China to reform oil pricing mechanism(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-10-30 09:03

BEIJING -- China will reform its long-debated oil pricing mechanism by making the prices of its processed oil more responsive to the global oil price fluctuation, said a senior official here Friday.
The move will help crack down on domestic oil speculation and ensure the supply, said Zhao Xiaoping, director of the pricing department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) .

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/30/content_489070.htm


Three-day revelry marks build-up to Halloween
By Wang Shanshan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:15
Parts of Beijing seemed like ghost towns over the weekend -- no, not deserted, but populated with ghost-like figures.
Never mind that Halloween fell on a Monday today this year. It was the perfect excuse for a three-day binge for party-goers.
People in scary, sexy and funny costumes turned up to celebrate Halloween on Saturday night in Beijing's Central Business District. [newsphoto] And never mind that it's meant to be a festival celebrated in the United States, Canada, and the British Isles by children going door to door while wearing costumes and begging treats and playing pranks.
In Beijing, like in other major cities in China, it was a good time for adult expatriates or visitors to let their hair down and be like kids.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488962.htm


Relief team reaches quake-hit Pakistan
(China Daily)Updated: 2005-10-31 05:17

BALACOT, Pakistan: China's second rescue and relief team arrived in the earthquake-hit Balacot District of Pakistan on Saturday afternoon, with the help of local military troops.
The 41-member team contacted the disaster-relief headquarters immediately after arrival and decided on the location of their camp, a difficult task in the mountainous area.
A high-ranking military officer from Pakistan told Xinhua: "We, the local military force and ordinary people, appreciate the generous help of the Chinese rescue team."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488874.htm


Residents to be relocated from wetlandBy Li Fangchao
(China Daily)Updated: 2005-10-31 05:17
HARBIN: In an effort to rescue the fast shrinking and deteriorating Zhalong Wetland, 5,400 people who live in the main area of the wetland are to be relocated by the year 2010, sources with the Heilongjiang Provincial Forestry Department said.
Zhalong Wetland, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is the largest of its type in the country and home to hundreds of endangered species of fauna and flora.
Around 500 species of plants and 300 species of waterfowl can be found in the reserve. It is particularly noted for the rare red-crowned crane.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488878.htm


Democrat urges Rove to quit over CIA leak
(AP)Updated: 2005-10-31 08:59
The US Senate Democratic leader said Sunday that presidential adviser Karl Rove should resign because of his role in exposing an undercover CIA officer, and a veteran Republican senator said President Bush needs "new blood" in his White House.
Rove has not been charged, but he continues to be investigated in the CIA leaks case that brought the indictment and resignation Friday of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, an adviser to Bush and the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not made a decision on whether Rove gave false testimony during his four grand jury appearances. Rove is Bush's most trusted adviser.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_489074.htm


Democrat urges Rove to quit over CIA leak(AP)Updated: 2005-10-31 08:59
The US Senate Democratic leader said Sunday that presidential adviser Karl Rove should resign because of his role in exposing an undercover CIA officer, and a veteran Republican senator said President Bush needs "new blood" in his White House.
Rove has not been charged, but he continues to be investigated in the CIA leaks case that brought the indictment and resignation Friday of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, an adviser to Bush and the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not made a decision on whether Rove gave false testimony during his four grand jury appearances. Rove is Bush's most trusted adviser.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_489074.htm


The New York Times

In Indictment's Wake, a Focus on Cheney's Powerful Role
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: October 30, 2005
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 - Vice President Dick Cheney makes only three brief appearances in the 22-page federal indictment that charges his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., with lying to investigators and misleading a grand jury in the C.I.A. leak case. But in its clear, cold language, it lifts a veil on how aggressively Mr. Cheney's office drove the rationale against Saddam Hussein and then fought to discredit the Iraq war's critics.
The document now raises a central question: how much collateral damage has Mr. Cheney sustained?
Many Republicans say that Mr. Cheney, already politically weakened because of his role in preparing the case for war, could be further damaged if he is forced to testify about the infighting over intelligence that turned out to be false. At the least, they say, his office will be temporarily off balance with the resignation of Mr. Libby, who controlled both foreign and domestic affairs in a vice presidential office that has served as a major policy arm for the West Wing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/politics/30cheney.html?hp&ex=1130734800&en=e0bf76a2584ac179&ei=5094&partner=homepage


China's Next Big Boom Could Be the Foul Air
By JIM YARDLEY
Published: October 30, 2005
BEIJING — The steady barrage of statistics trumpeting China's rise is often greeted elsewhere as if the figures were torpedoes and the rest of the world a sinking ship. Economic growth tops 9 percent! Textile exports jump 500 percent! Military spending up! Manufacturing up!
What should the Chinese government do to control pollution?
The numbers inflame the exaggerated perception that China is methodically inhaling jobs and resources and, in the process, inhaling the rest of the planet. Burp. There goes the American furniture industry. Burp. Thanks for your oil, Venezuela.
But one statistic offered last week by a top Chinese environmental official should stimulate genuine alarm inside and outside China. The official, Zhang Lijun, warned that pollution levels here could more than quadruple within 15 years if the country does not curb its rapid growth in energy consumption and automobile use.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/weekinreview/30yardley.html?hp


Conservatives are elitists. They seek not to serve the needs of the people of this nation. They serve the needs of business and justify that by believing their ideals are the best ideals and therefore the people are served.

Bush is making 'cuts' in who he is interested in nominating not on whom it might be that is best for the job but along 'longevity' issues. Bush is disciminating along race and longevity to impact the Supreme Court for a long time. He wants to leave a 'mark' on the Supreme Court. Alito is 55. Roberts is 50. Miers is 60. Age discrimination. I guess he can't find white people younger that is ready to sit on the Supreme Court.

Nomination Likely to Please G.O.P., but Not Some Democrats
By CHRISTINE HAUSER and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: October 31, 2005
President Bush nominated Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., who currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to the Supreme Court today, four days after his previous choice withdrew her nomination. The nomination is likely to please Mr. Bush's conservative allies, whose sharp attacks on Harriet E. Miers was instrumental in prompting her to withdraw last week. But the president is more likely to get a battle from Democrats and liberals who may believe Judge Alito's views are too extreme.
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Over the weekend, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, warned President Bush not to pick Judge Alito, 55. "I think it would create a lot of problems," Mr. Reid said on "Late Edition" on CNN.
Mr. Bush this morning described Judge Alito as having an "extraordinary breadth of experience" and as being "tough and fair." Referring to his long career and his current role on the appeals court, the president said Judge Alito now has "more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/politics/politicsspecial1/31cnd-court.html?hp&ex=1130821200&en=1100e2db3270fceb&ei=5094&partner=homepage


Alito. A summary.

1950 - born in Trenton, New Jersey

1972 - graduates from Princeton

1975 - earns Doctor of Law degree at Yale

1981-85 - assistant to US solicitor general

1985-87 - deputy assistant to US attorney general

1987-1990 - US attorney for district of New Jersey

1990-present - judge US court of appeals


Grieving for Parks, Rights Leaders Ponder Future
By FELICIA R. LEE
Published: October 31, 2005
The body of Rosa Parks lay in the Capitol Rotunda this morning, on view for thousands of Americans who wanted to honor the woman known as the mother of the civil rights movement. Her death last week has created a moment, many African-Americans engaged in political struggle say, to take stock of what that movement accomplished and whether it is still alive.
Kenneth Dickerman for The New York Times
T. J. Crawford, chairman of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention, says the rights movement needs more community building.
With the deaths this year of other major figures from a movement that once galvanized a mass following over issues like the right to vote, segregated lunch counters and a seat in the front of the bus, some say that not enough has been done to share that history with the young or to shape future leaders to carry on the cause. That movement has been replaced, in large part, by more dispersed struggles over issues like housing and employment, health care and incarceration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/national/31civil.html?hp&ex=1130821200&en=2c46bd70b2784da5&ei=5094&partner=homepage


Funds Fade, Deaths Rise as Iraq Rebuilding Lags
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: October 31, 2005
As the money runs out on the $30 billion American-financed reconstruction of Iraq, the officials in charge cannot say how many planned projects they will complete, and there is no clear source for hundreds of millions of dollars a year needed to operate the projects that have been finished, according to a report to Congress released yesterday.
The report, by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, describes some progress but also an array of projects that have gone awry, sometimes astonishingly, like electrical substations that were built at great cost but never connected to the country's electrical grid.
With more than 93 percent of the American money now committed to specific projects, it could become increasingly difficult to solve those problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/international/middleeast/31reconstruct.html?hp&ex=1130821200&en=0a89caee408b8a78&ei=5094&partner=homepage


Novartis to Pay $5.1 Billion for Rest of Chiron
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 31, 2005
Filed at 8:41 a.m. ET
GENEVA (AP) -- Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG said Monday it agreed to buy the 58 percent of Chiron Corp. that it does not already own for $5.1 billion, improving a previous offer that the embattled biotechnology company had rejected.
Novartis, which made an initial $4.5 billion proposal last month that was rejected by the second-largest vaccine maker in the United States, said it had sweetened its offer to acquire approximately 113 million Chiron shares for $45 each in cash.
That represents a 23 percent premium over Chiron's closing price on Aug. 31, the last trading day before Novartis proposed buying the shares at $40 each, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said. Shares of Chiron rose 85 cents, or about 2 percent, to $44.25 in pre-market trading.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Novartis-Chiron.html


Scientists Tie Two Additional Genes to Dyslexia
By SANDRA BLAKESLEE
Published: October 29, 2005
One year after scientists discovered a gene whose flaw contributes to dyslexia, two more such genes have now been identified.
The findings, described yesterday in Salt Lake City at a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, support the idea that many people deemed simply lazy or stupid because of their severe reading problems may instead have a genetic disorder that interfered with the wiring of their brains before birth.
"I am ecstatic about this research," said Dr. Albert M. Galaburda of Harvard Medical School, a leading authority on developmental disorders who was not involved in the latest discoveries.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/29/science/29gene.html


Afloat in the Flood Zone
By PETER EDIDIN
Published: October 27, 2005
FROM Jakarta to the coast of Louisiana, floodwaters are a growing concern. This is especially true in delta regions, where river and sea combine, as they do in many of the world's great cities, to create a double hazard.
No place is more concerned with this problem than the Netherlands, literally "the lowlands," where for centuries people have lived on the edge of water-borne disaster. About a quarter of the country is land reclaimed from the sea, while half of it lies at or below sea level. The country's vulnerability to rising water levels, commonly ascribed to climate change, was on full display last summer at the Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, titled "The Flood," which contained proposals for a floating soccer stadium and housing built on spongelike synthetic riverbanks capable of absorbing flood waters.
"Since World War II, the Dutch have relied on technology for protection from the rivers and the sea," said Adriaan Geuze, a landscape architect and the chief curator of the biennale. "We are convinced that this is not a clever way to deal with reality, and three months after the exhibition closed, Katrina showed us the truth of that."
For the Dutch, as for everyone else, there appear to be no simple solutions, only costly ones, like abandoning vulnerable terrain. For the first time in its long history, the Netherlands has begun to strategically uncreate itself; last year the government, at the start of a 15-year program, began buying up land and reserving it as flood plain, mostly along river banks. The Dutch are also exploring a solution as old as the first flood: floating architecture. The notion is still in its early stages, with only a handful of houses built and a few developments under way, but it has already attracted the attention of leading Dutch designers and some developers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/27/garden/27boat.html


To Battle the Telephone Giants, Small Internet Providers Choose Wi-Fi as a Weapon
By MATT RICHTEL
and KEN BELSON
Published: October 31, 2005
With cable providers and the Bell telephone companies dominating the market for residential high-speed Internet service, smaller Internet access providers are desperately trying to find a new way to connect with consumers. They say they may have found it in wireless technology that avoids the need to build expensive underground networks.
The most prominent example is EarthLink, once a leader in dial-up Internet service. The company made a big leap into the wireless market this month when it won the right from Philadelphia to provide inexpensive Wi-Fi Internet connections citywide. Last week, the company also won an exclusive franchise to build a wireless network for the city of Anaheim, Calif.
The wireless option is attractive because it does not require building or leasing costly underground lines, and the cost of Wi-Fi equipment and installation is falling rapidly, said Donald B. Berryman, president of a new division of EarthLink, called EarthLink Municipal Networks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/technology/31wifi.html


The Moscow Times

Russia Nears UN Deal on Syria
By Nabi Abdullaev Staff Writer Ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday, Russian envoys said they would oppose the threat of sanctions against Syria and warned against politicizing a UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
But they said Russia would not oppose a tough resolution demanding that Syria cooperate with the investigation when it is put before a ministerial meeting of the 15-member council. It was not clear how far Moscow would go to keep any mention of sanctions out of the resolution, while China, another veto-wielding country, also said it would not oppose the resolution.
The Foreign Ministry called Saturday for Syria to cooperate with investigators following a UN report that linked top Syrian officials to Hariri's killing.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Andrei Denisov said that talks were "on the right track" and that Moscow was not considering a veto.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/10/31/002.html


Iran condemns bomb attacks in India
RIA NOVOSTI. October 30, 2005, 5:27 PM
TEHERAN, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Iran condemns Saturday's terrorist attacks in Delhi, the official spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Sunday. Hamid Reza Asefi said that such acts contradicted human principles and norms. Iran expressed its condolences to the Indian government and the relatives of the victims. According to the latest figures, the three powerful explosions that went off in India's capital Delhi have left 61 people dead and about 188 wounded


Correction: Putin sends condolences to Indian leaders over Delhi attacks
RIA NOVOSTI. October 30, 2005, 1:38 PM
In Moscow story dated October 30 and headlined "Putin sends condolences to Indian president over Delhi attacks," please read headline as "Putin sends condolences to Indian leaders over Delhi attacks".The full article follows below: MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President APJ Abdul Kalam Sunday conveying his condolences over Saturday's attacks in crowded areas of India's capital Delhi, in which three powerful blasts left around 60 people dead.The president called the attacks "pointless and inhuman acts of terrorism.""Terrorists have again shown that nothing to them is sacred, that they are driven entirely by blind malice and hatred to all humanity," he said.The president said his country shared the grief of the Indian people.The attacks took place a few days before major Hindu and Muslim festivals, while crowds did their pre-holiday shopping


Ukraine's premier to discuss country's admission to WTO in U.S
RIA NOVOSTI. October 29, 2005, 6:18 PM
KIEV, October 29 (RIA Novosti, Taras Burnos) - During his upcoming visit to the United States, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov plans to discuss Ukraine's admission to the World Trade Organization and granting it the status of a market economy country, the Ukrainian government press service said Saturday."The prime minister has repeatedly said that Ukraine will continue negotiations [with the U.S.] on priority matters. One of the key priorities is the development of Ukrainian-U.S. relations, Ukraine's admission to the WTO, and granting it the status of a market economy country," the press service said.Yekhanurov also intends to discuss Ukraine's graduation from the Jackson-Vanik amendment, the lifting of certain trade sanctions against Ukraine, and U.S. assistance for the country's further integration into the world economy.On October 24, at a meeting with representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Ukraine, Yekhanurov said that Ukraine "is counting on broad U.S. participation in the Black and Caspian Sea regional cooperation, especially in the economic and energy spheres." The Ukrainian prime minister is to visit the United States on October 30 through November 4.


China may grant loan for floating nuclear power unit in Russian north
RIA NOVOSTI. October 30, 2005, 2:41 PM
BEIJING, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - China could give Russia an export loan to build a floating energy unit for the nuclear power plant being constructed in Severodvinsk in Russia's European Far North, a source in the Russian delegation currently visiting Beijing said Sunday. The Russian delegation led by Russian Vice Premier Alexander Zhukov is making preparations for the 10th regular meeting of the two countries' heads of government scheduled for November 3. According to the source, Russia and China aim to resolve as soon as possible the issue of the project's financing through a Chinese loan. The parties also aim to reach a swift agreement over building a hull for the floating station at a Chinese shipyard. Russia is building a floating atomic power plant in Severodvinsk under a 2003 contract signed between China's Mashimpex and the Russian companies Rosenergoatom and Sudoimport. According to the source, China also plans to design a pilot energy unit with a 600 MWt fast-neutron facility based on a closed fuel cycle. Russia and China are already building a 65 MWt fast-neutron experimental facility under an inter-governmental agreement signed in July 2002. The parties plan to test the reactor between May 2006 and December 2008, and to put it into operation on December 31, 2008. Russia and China may also jointly develop an experimental ground-based reactor prototype for a space energy unit, the source said. According to the source, Russia's cooperation with China in the nuclear fuel cycle has strong potential given China's plans to bring the capacity of its atomic power plants up to 200 Gigawatts by 2020.


Monday, October 31, 2005. Issue 3285. Page 1. Aa Aa Aa
A Wife's Long Journey to a Chita Prison
By Catherine Belton Staff Writer
Denis Gukov / AP
Khodorkovsky's wife, Inna, arriving on Saturday morning at the railway station in the city of Chita after taking the overnight train from Krasnokamensk. KRASNOKAMENSK, Chita Region -- Inna Khodorkovskaya is still reeling from the tremendous turnaround her life, and her husband's, has taken. From quietly enjoying the comforts of being the wife of the nation's richest man and keeping a low profile throughout his highly publicized trial, she has been thrust into the spotlight while visiting her husband inside an east Siberian prison camp.
"I never thought it would go this far," she said in an interview in Krasnokamensk on Friday after a three-day stay in the town's prison camp, YaG 14/10. Wearing jeans and a sweater, she looked tired and pale, but somehow still collected despite the arduous journey from Moscow to the camp and the press pack hunting her down.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/10/31/003.html


RAI Novosti

Putin hopes Kabardino-Balkaria leaders will stabilize situation 1
1:59 30/ 10/ 2005
NALCHIK, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, visiting Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic in the North Caucasus Sunday to attend the former leader's funeral, expressed his hope that the republic's leaders would be able to stabilize the situation in the region.
Valery Kokov, Kabardino-Balkaria's first president, died Saturday morning in Moscow.
Vladimir Putin said that Sunday was a sad day for Russia and Kabardino-Balkaria, which was paying its last respects to "a man who had dedicated his whole life to his people and to strengthening Russian statehood."
"This is why the militants who recently tried to destabilize the situation in the republic failed to reach their criminal goals. They found themselves in complete isolation and were destroyed," Putin said.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051030/41936019.html


Russian Pacific Fleet makes Asia-Pacific tour
09:38 28/ 10/ 2005
ON BOARD THE MISSILE CRUISER VARYAG, JAKARTA October 28 (RIA Novosti, Mikhail Tsyganov) - A group of ships from the Russian Pacific Fleet headed by the Varyag missile cruiser arrived early Friday in Indonesia to mark the first Russian fleet presence in the area since 1968, the Russian military attache to Jakarta said.
Vice Admiral and Deputy Pacific Fleet Commander Sergei Avramenko who runs the unit said the ships had arrived in Indonesia after conducting the Russian-Indian navy exercise Indra-2005 in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
"The main goal of our cruise is to demonstrate that Russia is a great sea power," he said, adding that it would contribute to international cooperation and promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20051028/41918601.html

The Washington Post

The congressional committee investigating how the fugitive financier came to be pardoned by President Bill Clinton.For a man known to thrive on anonymity, who as Vice President Cheney's top aide would only talk to reporters if his name was not used, and who cautioned White House subordinates not to talk to the media -- no one, least of all Libby, expected an encore.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103001130.html?sub=AR


On Patrol in Vt., Minutemen Are the OutsidersAlong the Border, Group Targets Illegal Immigrants
By David A. FahrentholdWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A02DERBY LINE, Vt. -- Somewhere near this spot -- where five men with lawn chairs and binoculars were watching the woods -- runs the long and mostly invisible border between the United States and Canada.The New England Minutemen were here to guard this border.A Massachusetts man who identified himself only as Rick J. watches the Vermont-Canada border with others from the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. (By David A. Fahrenthold -- The Washington Post)They just weren't precisely certain where it was."That's west, so I believe the border is that way," said Jeffrey Buck, the group's leader, as he made an expansive gesture in the direction of a nearby home on Saturday. "It's not really clear to me."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000822.html


Death of Syrian Minister Leaves A Sect Adrift in Time of Strife
By Anthony ShadidWashington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A01BIHAMRA, Syria -- In this scenic village, along terraced hills of pine and palm trees, the body of Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan rests in a coffin draped in a Syrian flag, a leather-bound Koran at each corner. His death on Oct. 12 was certain. Less so are the shadowy circumstances that removed from the scene one of Syria's most powerful men, an interlocutor between the religious sect known as the Alawites, who have long ruled the country, and a government they controlled but increasingly see as distant and corrupt.A suicide, officials said, closing the case the day after Kanaan died. A relative, Mazen Kanaan, smiled at the thought.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103001270.html


U.S. Soldiers Charged in Afghan Case
Associated PressMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A15
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 30 -- Two U.S. soldiers have been charged with assault for allegedly punching two detainees in the chest, shoulders and stomach at a military base in Afghanistan, the military said Sunday.
The announcement came 10 days after the military launched an investigation into television footage purportedly showing a group of U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters.
Afghan shopkeepers wait for customers at a market in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, Oct. 28, 2005. Afghanistan's economy is gearing up after passing over tow and half decades of war and occupations. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) (Musadeq Sadeq - AP)
The charges against the two soldiers include conspiracy to maltreat, assault and dereliction of duty. The allegations, if substantiated, could lead to disciplinary action, the military said, adding that neither detainee required medical attention.
The military did not say when the soldiers were charged.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000315.html


Cervical Cancer Vaccine Gets Injected With a Social IssueSome Fear a Shot For Teens Could Encourage Sex

By Rob SteinWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A03
A new vaccine that protects against cervical cancer has set up a clash between health advocates who want to use the shots aggressively to prevent thousands of malignancies and social conservatives who say immunizing teenagers could encourage sexual activity.
Although the vaccine will not become available until next year at the earliest, activists on both sides have begun maneuvering to influence how widely the immunizations will be employed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000747.html


Moscow News

Fewer Muscovites are opting to adopt Russian children with each passing year
Changing Children's LivesAccording to the Moscow ZAGS (Citizens Status Registration Department) statistics, 1,034 children were adopted in the past 8 months, which is 200 kids less than in the same period of the previous year. This annual reduction in the number of adoptions has been a tendency for the past ten years.
Putin Tired of WorkingBy Marina Tokareva The Moscow NewsSays a French expert on Russian affairs
A persona non grata in the Soviet Union and a welcome guest in new Russia; an expert on Russia, an authority for university students, and a consultant to presidents; a democrat by persuasion and an aristocrat by blood; a French woman of Russian descent; an intellectual, leader of the "immortal," perennial secretary of the French Academy, Helene Carrere d'Encausse has just completed her latest book, L'Empire d'Eurasie. It spans four centuries of Russia's political history - from the moment the empire began to evolve until its evolution into a democracy.

http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2005-41-2


U.S. War Dance: An Innocent Craze?
By Robert Bridge The Moscow NewsThe United States is heading for a showdown with Iran and Syria, while democracy's basket case, Iraq, teeters between civil war and revolution
In summing up the new Iraqi constitution, U.S. Republican politician Pat Buchanan said it best: "A constitution does not create a nation. A nation creates a constitution... the Iraqis are Shia, Kurds, Sunnis, Turkmen and their primordial bonds are blood and soil, mosque and the 'mystique chords of memory.'" In other words, the Iraqi patient will most likely reject America's costly democratic transplant.According to U.S. officials, however, Iraq is unraveling largely due to the interference of outside states, most notably Iran and Syria, from where it is believed Iraq is getting fighters and weapon technology. In other words, the Iraqi people would be accepting their fate much better if evil forces just stopped inciting them (Has anybody questioned where Saudi Arabia, with its own violent anti-American lobby, fits into the porous-border question with Iraq?).

http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2005-41-14


Does Nature Protect Cancer?
By Yelena Kokurina The Moscow NewsIn the past 10 years, the incidence of cancer in Russia has grown by 15.8 percent
An all-Russia congress of oncologists - a major event in this field of medicine which is held every five years - was recently held in Rostov-on-Don. Eight-hundred participants discussed topical issues - from new treatment procedures to social assistance for cancer patients. It is too early, however, to talk about a revolution in oncology, said Academician Valery Ivanovich Chissov, a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, chief oncologist of the Russian Health and Social Development Ministry, and director of the P.A. Gertsen Moscow Scientific Research Oncological Institute.

http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2005-41-18

continued ...

FEMA is doing a heck of a job, huh?

October 30, 2005.
Gulfport, Mississippi.

Two months and 1 day after "Katrina" this is the former site of The Driver's License Bureau. Not what I would call progress.

October 27, 2005.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida post "Wilma."

October 27, 2005.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida post "Wilma."

October 27, 2005.

Downtown Fort Lauderdale post "Wilma."

October 27, 2005.
Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This building was made of glass. The color of the blue panels is reflection of the sky. This is a poor choice of facade for any building in a hurricane zone. Given this is Florida and the temperature is usually hot the best facade is one that is white which reflects the sunlight off the building and decreasing it's energy demands.

Morning Papers - continued

Sydney Morning Herald

Jackson gags Rowe
October 31, 2005 - 10:48AM
Flashback ... Jackson and his second wife Debbie Rowe.
AdvertisementAdvertisementMichael Jackson's former wife, Debbie Rowe, went to bat for the pop star at his child molestation trial, but he reportedly played hardball with her in their recent child visitation deal.
The top-secret agreement allows Rowe, whose testimony last April helped save Jackson, only sporadic visits with Prince Michael I, 8, and Paris, 7, and she's not allowed to tell the children she's their mother, sources told the New York Daily News.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/jackson-gags-rowe/2005/10/31/1130607182264.html


PM's 'legendary persistence could stop hanging'
October 31, 2005 - 11:32AM
Page ToolsEmail to a friend Printer format RelatedWhere do you stand? Should PM appeal to Singapore for clemency? The lawyer for the 25-year-old Australian on death row in Singapore wants Prime Minister John Howard to use his "legendary" persistence to help save the convicted drug smuggler's life.
Lex Lasry, QC, who will meet Singapore High Commissioner Joseph Koh and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in Canberra today, also hopes to have an unscheduled meeting with Mr Howard.
Mr Lasry wants the politicians to pressure the Singaporean government into reconsidering the death sentence passed on Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, who was convicted of heroin smuggling.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/female-mps-campaign-to-stop-execution/2005/10/31/1130607179654.html


Palestinian groups agree to stop attacks on Israel
October 31, 2005 - 1:35AM
Page ToolsEmail to a friend Printer format Palestinian factions have agreed to halt rocket and other attacks against Israel, sources close to an umbrella committee of the militant groups said on Sunday.
So far only the Islamic Jihad has issued an announcement to this effect. The other factions are expected to follow suit after the Follow-Up Committee, comprising representatives of 13 factions, meets on Sunday night.
Well-informed Palestinian security sources said the Palestinian Authority had reached a deal with the Jihad on halting the launching of homemade rockets at southern Israel.
The sources said the authority had contacted Quartet Committee, comprising the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, and asked it to mediate an end to the Israeli air and ground offensive against the militant groups.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/palestinian-groups-agree-to-stop-attacks-on-israel/2005/10/31/1130607160548.html


Libby charges may push Bush into shake-up
By Michael Gawenda in Washington
October 31, 2005

Page ToolsEmail to a friend Printer format Lewis "Scooter" Libby.Photo: AP
RelatedAnalysis: Hard to believe that Cheney did not know No longer the figure behind the world's second-most powerful man Ethical deficit Michael Gawenda: The journalist who became the news Joseph Wilson: Attempt to silence is the ultimate crime Pressure is growing on President George Bush to shake up his administration to avoid the looming threat of a disabled presidency.
Lewis Libby, chief of staff to the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, and one of Mr Bush's key security advisers, has been indicted on five charges of obstructing justice, perjury and making false statements, and the President is being urged to use the situation to "turn over" key staff.
Some Washington talk even suggests Mr Bush should replace the Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, whom many conservatives hold responsible for serious mistakes in Iraq after the invasion.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/libby-charges-may-push-bush-into-shakeup/2005/10/30/1130607150325.html


Ethical deficit
October 31, 2005

Washington: Most Americans say Lewis Libby's indictment signals broader ethical problems in the Bush Administration, and nearly half say the level of honesty and ethics in the Federal Government has fallen since George Bush took office, a Washington Post-ABC News survey says.
The poll found 55 per cent of Americans believe the Libby case indicates wider problems "with ethical wrongdoing" in the White House, while 41 per cent believe it was an "isolated incident". By a 3-1 ratio, Americans say honesty and ethics in government have declined under Mr Bush. After the latest crisis for the White House, Mr Bush's approval rating has fallen to 39 per cent, his lowest yet in Post-ABC polls.
Hard to believe that Cheney did not knowBy Michael GawendaOctober 31, 2005
Page ToolsEmail to a friend Printer format Some White House officials may believe they dodged a bullet when the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald announced after a two-year investigation that only Lewis "Scooter" Libby faced criminal charges in the CIA leak affair.
After all, Karl Rove, though still under investigation, seems likely to escape indictment and Fitzgerald did not find that any Administration official had broken the law by leaking the identity of a CIA agent to journalists - the trigger for his two-year investigation.
While the charges against Libby are serious, they "only" involve allegations that he lied to FBI investigators and to the grand jury about how he learned the identity of Valerie Plame, wife of the former ambassador Joe Wilson, who was a trenchant critic of the Administration's decision to go to war in Iraq.
But if these White House officials believe the CIA leak fallout will be restricted to the destruction of the career of a key aide of the Vice-President, Dick Cheney, and a close adviser to President George Bush in the lead-up to the war in Iraq, they are kidding themselves.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hard-to-believe-that-cheney-did-not-know/2005/10/30/1130607150328.html


Bird flu pandemic would 'wipe out' international travel
By Jewel Topsfield
October 31, 2005 - 12:48AM
Disaster experts from the Asia-Pacific region will meet in Brisbane today to discuss how to cope with a global outbreak of deadly bird flu, amid warnings that international travel would be virtually wiped out in a pandemic.
Health Minister Tony Abbott yesterday said overseas travel would almost cease for a "significant period" if avian flu broke out in the region.
"Regardless of what border controls countries might put on, there will be very few people who will be wanting to travel," Mr Abbott told Channel Ten.
He said Australia would do all it could to bring home Australians abroad during a pandemic. He would not be drawn on whether Australia would accept so-called flu refugees — a new class of migrant escaping a flu pandemic in their own countries.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/health/bird-flu-pandemic-would-wipe-out-international-travel/2005/10/31/1130607160904.html

Net child porn ring member jailedMagdeburg, Germany

October 28, 2005 - 10:43AM
A leading member of a giant global internet child pornography ring has been sentenced in Germany to 3½ years in prison and told to undergo psychiatric therapy.
The unnamed 29-year-old belonged to a network that swapped thousands of images of children being sexually abused.
It was smashed in an international police operation codenamed Marcy in September 2003.
The discovery of such photographs and films on computers at the defendant's home in an initial search in early 2002 helped lead police to 26,500 suspects in 166 countries in an unprecedented swoop against child pornography online.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/net-child-porn-ring-member-jailed/2005/10/28/1130400334996.html

Charles takes crusade for Islam to Washington

October 31, 2005
London: Prince Charles will try to persuade President George Bush of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the US has been intolerant of the religion since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Prince, who leaves tomorrow for an eight-day tour of the US, has said privately that he is concerned about the US's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.
Charles raised his concerns when he met senior Muslims in London in November 2001, two months after the attacks.
"I find the language and rhetoric coming from America too confrontational," a leader at the meeting quoted him as saying.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/charles-takes-crusade-for-islam-to-washington/2005/10/30/1130607150331.html

Guards killed in US raids, says Syria

By Harry De Quetteville in BaghouzOctober 31, 2005
Page ToolsEmail to a friend Printer format RelatedArmy admits keeping eye on rising Iraqi toll Syria has accused the United States of launching lethal military raids into Syrian territory from across the Iraqi border, escalating the diplomatic crisis between the two countries as the Bush Administration seeks to step up pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
A Syrian officer, Major-General Amid Suleiman, said US cross-border attacks into Syria had killed at least two border guards, wounded several more and prompted an official complaint to the US embassy in Damascus.
He made the allegations during an official media tour of Syrian security forces on the Iraqi border, which Washington says is a barely guarded passage into Iraq for hard-core foreign jihadists.
While showing off what he said were beefed-up Syrian border measures designed to blunt those criticisms, including new police stations and checkpoints, General Suleiman alleged his own border forces had come under repeated US attack.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/guards-killed-in-us-raids-says-syria/2005/10/30/1130607150349.html
Michael Moore Today

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

It Was Payback -- Cheap Political Payback

Wilson on the indictment, the threats, more...

Our 27 months of hell
By Joseph C. Wilson IV / Los Angeles Times
JOSEPH C. WILSON IV was acting ambassador in Baghdad when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. He is the author of "The Politics of Truth" (Carroll & Graff, 2004). He was a diplomat for 23 years.
AFTER THE two-year smear campaign orchestrated by senior officials in the Bush White House against my wife and me, it is tempting to feel vindicated by Friday's indictment of the vice president's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Between us, Valerie and I have served the United States for nearly 43 years. I was President George H.W. Bush's acting ambassador to Iraq in the run-up to the Persian Gulf War, and I served as ambassador to two African nations for him and President Clinton. Valerie worked undercover for the CIA in several overseas assignments and in areas related to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4701


At The Heart of It All
"The indictment provides a rare glimpse inside a vice presidential operation that, under Mr. Cheney, has been extraordinary both for its power and its secrecy

Indictment Gives Glimpse Into a Secretive Operation
By Douglas Jehl / The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 - Over a seven-week period in the spring of 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney's suite in the Old Executive Office Building appears to have served as the nerve center of an effort to gather and spread word about Joseph C. Wilson IV and his wife, a C.I.A. operative.
I. Lewis Libby Jr., the vice president's chief of staff, is the only aide to Mr. Cheney who has been charged with a crime. But the indictment alleges that Mr. Cheney himself and others in the office took part in discussions about the origins of a trip by Mr. Wilson to Niger in 2002; about the identity of his wife, Valerie Wilson; and whether the information could be shared with reporters, in the period before it was made public in a July 14, 2003, column by Robert D. Novak.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4707


Cheney's office at center of CIA leak indictment
By James Vicini and Adam Entous / Reuters
WASHINGTON - The indictment of former top White House aide Lewis Libby in the CIA leak investigation will put Vice President Dick Cheney's office at the center of court proceedings, with the potential of a politically damaging trial for the beleaguered Bush administration.
Libby, who resigned on Friday as Cheney's chief of staff after being indicted for obstructing justice, perjury and lying, is expected to make his first court appearance in the next week or so for an arraignment.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4708


Dick's Chance to Shine
More headaches for an administration defending an increasingly unpopular war.

Despite urging calm for Libby, Cheney may face firestorm, too
By Susan Milligan / Boston Globe Staff
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney urged people yesterday to give his chief of staff the benefit of the doubt in facing perjury and obstruction of justice charges, but he might also have been referring to himself.
Though not indicted yesterday, Cheney is linked to the case as I. Lewis ''Scooter" Libby's source of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson's identity. If the case goes to trial, Cheney may have to testify, analysts said -- a situation that could give Democrats ammunition to further portray the episode as an abuse of power by the White House.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4710


Libby Said to Concoct Story in Leak Case
By Larry Margasak and Pete Yost / Associated Press
The prosecution's conclusion: Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff zealously pursued information about a critic who said the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to make the case for war.
The view of the president and vice president: I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is a dedicated public servant who has worked tirelessly on behalf of his country.
Is Libby an influential White House adviser who lied? Or is he a man with a hectic schedule who happens to remember events differently from the reporters and administration figures who will eventually be called to testify against him?

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4709


The TRUTH is greater than Lewis Libby.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/splash/rovejobsecurity.mov


OUT OF MANY, ONE
"If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration."
--Scott McClellan, September 29, 2003 (VIDEO)
Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney's left arm, has been indicted on five counts and has resigned. If you believe Dick Cheney (and why wouldn't you?), Scooter is a patriot who has served America "with great distinction."
Patrick Fitzgerald, the special counsel investigating the CIA leak, says Libby lied repeatedly. The GOP, the White House and your Conservative Brother-in-law will all tell you that Libby's indictments are mere technicalities -- this excuse has no wings.
The President's apologists will also claim that even if the White House provided Valerie Plame's name to reporters, they may have done so without knowing her covert status. This talking point is almost believable because it presupposes a shocking level of incompetence in the White House. They would have had to discuss a CIA officer's identity with reporters without first checking the covert status of that officer.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=531


Calls for White House shakeup focus on Karl Rove
By Randall Mikkelsen / Reuters
U.S. President George W. Bush, whose top adviser Karl Rove remains in jeopardy in a CIA-leak probe, needs to shake up his White House staff if he hopes to revive a presidency reeling from multiple setbacks, Republican and Democratic lawmakers said on Sunday.
The lawmakers also urged Bush to investigate the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, whose chief of staff, Lewis Libby, resigned on Friday and was indicted on perjury and other charges in connection with the probe.
Bush should take Cheney "to the woodshed" if necessary, a Democratic lawmaker said, and the Senate's top Democrat said Rove should be fired or quit.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4712


By a 3 to 1 ratio Americans say the level of honesty and ethics in the government has declined rather than risen under Bush.

White House Ethics, Honesty Questioned
55% in Survey Say Libby Case Signals Broader Problems
By Richard Morin and Claudia Deane / Washington Post
A majority of Americans say the indictment of senior White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby signals broader ethical problems in the Bush administration, and nearly half say the overall level of honesty and ethics in the federal government has fallen since President Bush took office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News survey.
The poll, conducted Friday night and yesterday, found that 55 percent of the public believes the Libby case indicates wider problems "with ethical wrongdoing" in the White House, while 41 percent believes it was an "isolated incident." And by a 3 to 1 ratio, 46 percent to 15 percent, Americans say the level of honesty and ethics in the government has declined rather than risen under Bush.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4714


Intrigue Has Familiar Ring for Libby and Associates
David E. Sanger / The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 - The intrigue in I. Lewis Libby's novel, "The Apprentice," centers on a group of travelers seeking shelter from a blizzard in a Japanese inn. With a distant war as the backdrop to their conversations, the guests are unfailingly polite, but they are also deeply suspicious of one another's motives.
Two days after the indictment of Mr. Libby, the White House shares more than a few similarities with his fictional ryokan, the traditional Japanese inn where ritual can mask reality.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4722


Next Nominee May Well Spark a Climactic Battle
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and ELISABETH BUMILLER / The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 - When Harriet E. Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court, she may have taken with it the last chance to avoid a climactic confrontation over who will succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring.
As he picks another nominee - Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit emerged as a leading candidate on Friday - President Bush faces redoubled pressures from both the left and the right. His conservative supporters are more determined than ever to demand someone with a clear conservative record on abortion rights and other social issues; Senate Democrats are emboldened by the unraveling of the Miers nomination, the downturn in the president's popularity and the indictment Friday of I. Lewis Libby Jr., a top White House official.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4700


Marines ‘borrow’ Haditha homes
By Antonio Castaneda / Associated Press
HADITHA, Iraq — The Marines call it a necessary evil — taking over houses and buildings for military use. For the Iraqis who become unwilling hosts, it can be anything from a mild inconvenience to a disruption that tears apart lives.
In a recent offensive in Haditha, the headmaster of one school where Marines were based pressed them for a departure date so he could resume classes. At another school, Marines fortified the building with blast walls and sandbags for long-term use.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4704


Lack of Armor Proves Deadly for Iraqi Army
By Michael Moss / The New York Times
After a string of deadly attacks against Iraqi forces in the spring, American soldiers in the Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad established an operation at their Army base to add armor to the unprotected open-bed trucks used by the Iraqis. But it is a meager enterprise: four Iraqi ironworkers armed with two welding torches and thin sheets of metal.
Even as American forces are relying more on Iraqis to fight the insurgency, the Iraqi Army is facing some of the same procurement problems that American troops have experienced in getting adequate armor and other equipment, according to interviews in Iraq with American and Iraqi military officials. But if the Americans have faced an uphill battle in getting vital gear - their shortfalls continue to this day - then their Iraqi counterparts are confronting a herculean task.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4702


Military shares public's declining support for Bush, war
Associated Press
More than half the North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll don't like the way President Bush is handling his job and the war in Iraq.
The survey results were released today.
Of the 539 adults surveyed, nearly 53 percent of military members said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of Bush's handling of his job. And 56 percent of that same group said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of his handling of the Iraq war.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4706


2016 today? Another death occurred between the reporting on the 29th and the reporting today. We are on our way to 2100. Should be there in no time. The amount dying is easily reaching that of Vietnam now.

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq
By The Associated Press Sat Oct 29, 6:47 PM ET
As of Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005, at least 2,015 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the
Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,567 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.
The AP count is eleven higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated at 10 a.m. EDT Friday.
The British military has reported 97 deaths; Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Denmark,
El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia one death each.
Since May 1, 2003, when
President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 1,876 U.S. military members have died, according to AP's count. That includes at least 1,458 deaths resulting from hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq_us_deaths


Berlusconi Sought to Dissuade Bush on Iraq
By Nicole Winfield / Associated Press
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, one of President Bush's strongest supporters over Iraq, says he tried repeatedly to dissuade the American leader from going to war and was never convinced military force was the best way to bring democracy.
Berlusconi is facing a tough re-election battle next year, and his popularity has fallen in part because of Italians' continued opposition to the war. Sluggish economic growth also has hurt him.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4705


Chain of Command
CINDY SHEEHAN: Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's indictment and resignation is a welcome development but, the responsibility for lying to the American people and targeting critics needs to go all the way up the chain of command.
WASHINGTON, DC--Cindy Sheehan is holding a week-long vigil which ends today in Lafayette Park to be a daily, visual reminder to those who live and work in the White House of the strong opposition to the Iraq war and the anger of the nation at the more than 2,000 US lives that have been lost in Iraq. Her protest was among more than 1,000 protests throughout the country that were held this week to honor the US soldiers whose lives were lost in Iraq and call for the troops to be brought home now.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=530


Your signature can end the war in Iraq
Get Involved
HomeFromIraqNow.org is a national campaign to end the war in Iraq by using binding statewide ballot initiatives around the country to pressure the administration to bring our troops home now.
We are currently placing an initiative on the November 2006 ballot in Massachusetts to prevent the Governor from sending any more National Guard troops to Iraq, and we are actively exploring similar initiatives in other states.
A yes vote on this initiative will not only prevent more National Guard troops from being deployed to Iraq, but will also send a very strong message to our elected leaders that we want them to end the war and bring all of our troops home immediately.
To get this initiative on the ballot in Massachusetts for November 2006, we need your help to collect 100,000 signatures of Massachusetts voters by November 15, 2005.

http://www.homefromiraqnow.org/


The Australian

Ivory Coast leader vows early pollFrom correspondents in Abidjan
October 31, 2005
IVORY Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has pledged to do everything he could to organise a vote before a one-year deadline set by the United Nations.
His mandate was due to go into extra time after the west African state's failure to hold elections.
Meanwhile the New Forces rebels, who hold most of the north of the country, reaffirmed their call for Mr Gbagbo to leave and said their leader, Guillaume Soro, should be the prime minister of a government of national reconciliation, due to be set up today.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17089574^1702,00.html


There's trouble on the border
Tensions on the frontier around the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi are running high, writes Jakarta correspondent Sian Powell in Tubu, West Timor
October 31, 2005
YOSEP Palbeno gestures furiously as he tells the story of how he was threatened by five armed East Timorese police officers. Barefoot and grizzled, the market farmer has a garden high in the remote hills of West Timor, on the edge of the international border between Indonesia and the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17084561^601,00.html


Desalination trial ahead of plant

October 31, 2005THE New South Wales Government will begin a desalination trial before the construction of a full-scale desalination plant in Sydney.
The two trial plants will not direct potable water into the mains supply but are to prove the desalination is effective in an engineering sense.
The Government plans to build a $2-billion plant at Kurnell, in Sydney's south, capable of converting up to 500 megalitres of salt water into drinking water a day.
A megalitre is equal to about one Olympic-size swimming pool.
Utilities Minister Carl Scully said the final two consortia short-listed to build the full-scale plant would soon begin operating smaller, pilot plants.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17089568^1702,00.html

Hail foreign invaders

The addition of overseas horses transformed the Melbourne Cup and helped make it an international race. But it takes more than good breeding and money to win, writes Brendan Cormick
October 31, 2005DERMOT Weld is the international face of the Melbourne Cup. In a shrinking world interconnected by air travel, Weld led the initial northern hemisphere assault that has grown in size and quality over the past 12 years.

Back on track: Vinnie Roe arrives in Melbourne to contest the cup for his third and final time before going to stud. He came second in the race last year. Picture: Kelly Barnes
Weld had Australian trainers running scared in 1993 when Vintage Crop led the first successful foreign incursion on the nation's most famous horse race. Because of that victory, Vintage Crop achieved hero status in Ireland. Though not a breeding proposition, the gelding lives at the National Stud where he enjoys rock star status. A statue has also been erected in his honour at The Curragh, the headquarters of horse racing in Ireland.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17084989^28737,00.html


Vatican ready to dump TaiwanRichard Owen, Rome
October 31, 2005THE Vatican is preparing to break its ties with Taiwan and establish diplomatic relations with mainland China, ending more than 50 years of mutual hostility with Beijing.
A Vatican official said a leading spokesman, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, was sending a deliberate signal when he said the Vatican was ready to move its nuncio (ambassador) from Taiwan to Beijing immediately.
And Taiwanese officials said they expect the Vatican to establish relations with Beijing within 18 months.
The shift follows signs that Beijing is tacitly accepting the Pope's right to approve, if not appoint, bishops in China.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17085291^2703,00.html


The Philadelphia Inquirer

Of love and violence
Over seven days in shelters, courts and police units, Inquirer reporters chronicle the toll of domestic abuse across the region.
By Stacey Burling
Inquirer Staff Writer
Crying softly, the tall, slender woman slumps on a bench outside the police department's Domestic Abuse Response Team office in North Philadelphia.
She delicately probes the ballooning lump on her left cheek with long fingers. The punch came out of nowhere, delivered by her ex-boyfriend three hours before when she refused to sleep with him.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/13030646.htm


SEPTA unions begin strike
By Larry King
Inquirer Staff Writer
Most of SEPTA's unionized work force went on strike this morning, shutting down much of the region's mass transit system after failing to forge agreements with management over health-care benefits.
The walkout leaves 400,000 subway, bus and trolley riders in limbo - inconvenienced if they have other means of getting around, stranded if they don't.
The presidents of Transport Workers Union Local 234 and United Transportation Union Local 1594 walked out of talks minutes before the midnight strike deadline, saying no further talks with SEPTA were scheduled.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13039684.htm


Editorial Pa. Vehicle Pollution Standards Speeding down the wrong road
Cars and trucks sold in Pennsylvania were on track to become cleaner and more fuel efficient in coming years until they got sideswiped last week by business-as-usual in Harrisburg.
With just hours' notice and no public input, the House Transportation Committee voted Tuesday to overturn an unanimous decision by the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to require strict vehicle pollution standards to protect public health and economic growth.
The full House is scheduled to vote on the ill-considered decision tomorrow. Members should reject it.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13039706.htm


HIV home test to be debated
By Linda Loyd
Inquirer Staff Writer
Pharmacy shelves are stocked with do-it-yourself home tests for blood glucose, cholesterol and pregnancy - but none for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
That might change.
A small Bethlehem company, OraSure Technologies Inc., wants to sell the first 20-minute, at-home test that screens for two HIV strains using a swab device that tests saliva.
Some AIDS groups have concerns about home testing, and an FDA advisory committee is set to discuss the idea this week.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13039665.htm


Why do you think the Eagles Terrell Owens is selling his Moorestown home?

He wants to get one with a lawn service. 48 votes (7%)

He got tired of neighbor Donovan McNabb stealing his morning paper. 137 votes (21%)

He needs to save bridge tolls so he can take care of his family. 475 votes (72%)

660 people have voted so far

http://forums.philly.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=kr-inq_polls&tid=253&vote=3&submit=Vote


Derided in U.S., flat tax a winner in E. Europe
The economies of several former communist states are booming and the approach to taxation gets a lot of the credit.
By Ken Dilanian
Inquirer Staff Writer
TALLINN, Estonia - Eleven years ago, when this tiny former Soviet outpost was looking to smooth its plunge into the rough seas of the free market, Estonia's upstart leader decided to try something radical: A flat tax on personal income.
Then-Prime Minister Mart Laar, who was 32 at the time, says he really didn't appreciate the extent to which the flat tax - one rate for everyone, with few deductions or exemptions - was lampooned in the West as a right-wing fantasy, a boon for the rich at the expense of the middle class, a throwback to the days before the affluent were expected to pay a higher tax rate on the upper levels of their earnings.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13039690.htm


Jersey Devil: Masterpiece of Franklin's ghostwriting?
By Frank Kummer
Inquirer Staff Writer
Ben Franklin charted the Gulf Stream, invented bifocals, and crafted an iron stove that bears his name.
Is it a surprise he may have spawned the Jersey Devil?
Two hundred and seventy-five years ago, Franklin likely wrote the fictitious story of a Burlington County witch trial conducted after neighbors saw sheep dance and sing.
Soon after, colonists concocted a story of a witch who gave birth to a devil child. In some versions the witch is from Burlington County.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13039722.htm


Some ask: Where did Jesus get his DNA?
By Faye Flam
Darwin's theory of evolution still stands out as the thorniest point of contention between science and religion, but other more recent scientific advances also raise new questions for believers.
How, for example, does the 20th century's biological revolution influence the Christian concept of virgin birth? Where did Jesus get his DNA? His Y chromosome?
A number of scientifically minded Christians have come forward during the Dover trial to say they accept that ordinary humans arose through purely natural processes, no intelligent design needed. But it's another thing to accept that the Lord and Savior was conceived through an act of sex.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13039683.htm


Editorial Gun Trafficking Needed: Steadier aim

The young, armed killers settling scores every day on the streets of Philadelphia and Camden might be hurling only sticks and stones at each other, but for the region's thriving trade in illegal handguns.
So how can guns be kept out of their hands? In their "Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia," local elected, civic and law enforcement leaders call for a full-court press. They plan to target counseling to youths, and services to city neighborhoods most often caught up in shootings, as well as to stem drug trafficking that drives much of the violence.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13039707.htm


New Zealand Herald

Money from US$100m lotto scam ‘hidden in NZ 31.10.05 12.00pmBy Kent Atkinson
US authorities want to seize more than $18 million from a New Zealand bank, after a Vanuatu conman was convicted in Memphis, Tennessee, last week for his part in a US$100 million ($142 million) international lottery scam.
US District Judge Bernice Donald found Robert Murray Bohn, of Vanuatu, guilty last Wednesday of racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering and mail fraud, which she said was committed in the course of laundering money from the lottery fraud.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10352838


Sharks may mistake swimmers for NZ fur seals
31.10.05 1.00pm
Increased numbers of shark attacks on humans in Australia may be partly due to the spread there of New Zealand fur seals, says a marine biologist.
A significant increase in New Zealand fur seals in Australian waters over the past two decades has provided a good source of food for sharks, Scoresby Shepherd, a marine biologist at a South Australian research institute told The Australian newspaper.
Dr Shepherd said the higher number of seals could have contributed to the increased numbers of attacks on swimmers and surfers.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10352842


Suicide bomb and shootings raise Iraqi death toll
31.10.05 1.00pmBy Claudia Parsons
BAGHDAD - Two Iraqi government officials were shot in Baghdad on yesterday, one day after a suicide bombing killed 30 people after luring them to a truck bomb disguised as date vendor’s van.
In the latest of almost daily shootings in Baghdad, many of them targeting government officials, a cabinet adviser was killed when his car was attacked by gunmen and a deputy trade minister was wounded in a separate attack.
The Pentagon estimates that 26,000 Iraqis have been killed or wounded in attacks by insurgents since January 2004, with the daily number increasing fairly steadily.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10352834


Plamegate scandal could put Watergate in the shade
31.10.05
WASHINGTON - Presidential second terms are prone to scandals. But the troubles now circling George Bush's White House could be even worse than Watergate.
It might not appear that way at first. Bush is unlikely to have to join Richard Nixon, the only President in United States history forced to resign from office.
But the issues raised by Plamegate are far more significant than those involved in the "second-rate burglary" of the Democratic National Committee's offices in Washington's Watergate complex in the 1970s.
They go to the heart of why America, and its faithful ally, Britain, went to war in Iraq.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10352768


Cheney's office at centre of CIA leak indictment
31.10.05By James Vicini and Adam Entous
WASHINGTON - The indictment of former top White House aide Lewis Libby in the CIA leak investigation will put Vice President Dick Cheney's office at the centre of court proceedings, raising the specter of a politically damaging trial for the beleaguered Bush administration.
Libby, who resigned on Friday as Cheney's chief of staff after being indicted for obstructing justice, perjury and lying, is expected to make his first court appearance in the next week or so for an arraignment.
The indictment means the next stage of the case will play out in open court, in contrast to the secret two-year grand jury investigation directed by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into the leak of a covert CIA operative's identity.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10352771


High levels of radioactive contamination in French Polynesia
29.10.05 1.00pm
Unexpectedly high levels of radioactive contamination are being discovered in French Polynesia nearly a decade after nuclear testing ended on Mururoa Atoll.
Up to five people a day are being sent to private hospitals in Auckland for diagnosis and treatment for what may be radiation-related illnesses, officials say.
The territory's president Oscar Temaru has accused the French Government of a continuing, high-level cover-up over the health and environmental consequences of the testing.
"We have a lot of health problems," he said.


Kashmir militants claim Delhi blasts
31.10.05 8.10amBy Shailendra Bhatnagar and Palash Kumar
NEW DELHI - An obscure Kashmiri militant group claimed responsibility on Sunday for bomb blasts in India's capital which killed at least 59 people, but analysts said it was probably a front for a larger Pakistan-based group.
New Delhi has so far refused to speculate on who was behind Saturday's triple blasts, but security experts see the hand of Lashkar-e-Taiba (Force of the Pure) behind the attacks, in an attempt to derail the peace process between India and Pakistan.
The explosions took place within half an hour in markets packed with shoppers just days before major Hindu and Muslim festivals. Many of the victims were women and children.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10352814


N Ireland Protestant paramilitaries end feud
31.10.05 10.35am
BELFAST- A murderous feud between rival Protestant paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland which claimed four lives during the past four months has ended, a statement from negotiators said on Sunday.
The feud was called off after a weeks of talks between the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) brokered by a group of community and church activists in Belfast.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10352612

"Those initiating the process had the encouragement of many within political and community life and the prayer support of individuals and churches," the Reverend Mervyn Gibson, a spokesman for the negotiators, said in a statement.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10352821


US and Japan adopt defence pact
31.10.05 6.20am
The United States and Japan have adopted plans to sharply cut US forces in Okinawa, deploy a powerful missile defence radar in Japan and bind their militaries more closely together.
The US would move 7000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, reducing the size of its force in Okinawa to 11,000, Japanese defence chief Yoshinori Ohno said. US officials said they hoped to accomplish the move within six years.
Japan committed to an expansion in the roles and missions of its defence forces, which will train, exercise, plan and operate alongside US forces on shared bases, officials said.


Second wave of deaths when cold weather hits quake-hit Pakistan
29.10.05 1.00pmBy Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA - UN weather experts said unusually low temperatures and heavy snowfall would soon hit areas of Pakistani Kashmir, jeopardising efforts to feed and shelter survivors of the South Asian earthquake.
Aid agencies renewed appeals for funds to keep open a lifeline to the millions left homeless in remote parts of the Himalayas by the October 8 quake, many of them injured.
"The situation is getting more and more desperate," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said that winter was only three weeks away and initial reports suggested the weather would be unusually cold in the stricken mountain areas.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10352620

continued ...

October 29, 2005.
Anchoraage, Alaska.

Coyote stalking across thin ice.

Ah, oh !

October 29, 2005.
Anchorage, Alaska.

Maypies are tough birds. They put up quite a front even to a coyote.

October 29, 2005.
Anchorage, Alaska.

But.

Magpies are not stupid. This one took flight after making a tough front.

October 31, 2005.

Still hungry and on thin ice.

Morning Papers - concluding

What a Zoo!
October 29, 2005 - Ghosts and Goblins, Games and Activities
It's that time of year again, where ghosts and goblins can be seen haunting the animals at the Toledo zoo.
The pumpkin path takes place today and tomorrow at the Toledo zoo and due to popular demand, this year the zoo is making some sweet changes.
Candy is just part of the fun, especially when you can see what everyone else is wearing. If the costumes don't grab your attention maybe some of the other activities will.
The Toledo Zoo has twenty candy stations all along the pumpkin path, along with games and activities, and live performances.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=3584872


Zoo won't build savanna; elephants' future uncertain

By Julie Stoiber
Inquirer Staff Writer
With fund-raising stalled and other projects taking priority, the Philadelphia Zoo yesterday said it would not build a savanna to replace the small yard and barn in which its elephants live, throwing into uncertainty the future of Petal, Bette, Kallie and the ailing Dulary.
The decision to defer construction of the savanna, and to focus on building a new children's zoo and revamping the bird house, was made by the zoo's board of directors, chairman Peter G. Gould said in an interview.
Zoo staffers in the coming months will figure out what to do with the elephants on an animal-by-animal basis. It was not clear whether they would relocate some or all of the elephants to another facility.
"We did not resolve that question today," Gould said.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/13026099.htm


The loneliest animal in the zoo
By Zafrir Rinat
Elephants are sociable creatures who live in herds. At the Safari in Ramat Gan there is a veteran herd of elephants, but in recent months, a female elephant called La Petite has been living alongside them in an isolated cage. She was rejected by her friends and distanced from the herd. Animal rights activists claim that a new home could have been found for the elephant, but the administration of the Safari did not take advantage of this possibility, and continues to keep her in isolation, which is harmful to her welfare.
La Petite, a 19-year-old Asiatic elephant, joined the herd in the Safari after a hard life in the circus and in zoos in Europe, during which she apparently suffered from abuse. This led to an incident during which she killed one of her keepers. The Safari in Ramat Gan agreed to take her in, because in this zoo there is no direct contact between the elephants and the keepers.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/639415.html


I am concerned what this trend is in the survival of giraffes. There has been several deaths across the country.

Giraffe at Riverbanks Zoo dies following foot surgery

(Columbia) October 27, 2005 - A giraffe at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia has died following surgery for a foot problem. The 15-year-old giraffe, named Becky, had been at Riverbanks since 1991.
Zoo volunteer Jim Wilhide, "Becky always came over to greet me and have some food..."
Jim Wilhide must say goodbye to Becky, an animal he's helped care for for two years, "I was very sad. It hurt a great deal because I was with her in the morning when they started the procedure."

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4041551&nav=0RaP


Baby's zoo debutClumsy but cute toddler wows a crowd at his 1st public appearance

By Theodore Kim
theodore.kim@indystar.com
His trunk movements are as graceful as an out-of-control garden hose. And the walking thing? It needs a little work.But the new baby elephant at the Indianapolis Zoo drew plenty of oh-he's-so-cute gasps during his first public appearance Friday.
He'll grow into those ears: The elephant calf will be on display again from 1 to 2 p.m. today and Sunday.
ADRIANE JAECKLE / The Star
The yet-to-be-named African bull elephant, delivered Oct. 18 by his mother, Kubwa, also will be on display from 1 to 2 p.m. today and Sunday.Hordes of children and parents with strollers and digital cameras began lining the exhibit an hour or so before the baby arrived.With Kubwa and a small army of zoo keepers by his side, the teeny 210-pound pachyderm plunged headlong into his mother's alfalfa pile, beat his curtain-thin ears and took refuge between his mother's legs.He also showcased his newfound walking skills, which evoked images of a newscaster trying to stand straight in hurricane-strength winds. The crowd witnessed at least three full-on banana peel moments."To see something that size try to keep its balance, it's amazing to watch," said David Watt, Fishers, who came with his wife, Shelly, and their 5-year-old son, Andrew.Tricia Everett, 34, Noblesville, came with her three children: 9-year-old Morgan, 7-year-old Connor and 5-year-old Will."Boring," Will declared."He stays in one spot," Connor said."But, really, he's active," Morgan said.Ah, kids.
Call Star reporter Theodore Kim at (317) 444-6247.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051029/NEWS01/510290522/


Tourist 'has not caught bird flu from Thai zoo

Posted on Friday, October 28 @ W. Europe Daylight Time by webmaster
A man who fell ill on the French island of Reunion after visiting a bird zoo in Thailand is not after all suffering from bird flu, the French health ministry said today. NI_MPU('middle');Tests on samples taken from the 43-year-old Frenchman, who being kept in quarantine in hospital, had shown that he "is not a carrier of the H5N1 virus, but rather a flu virus of another sort," the ministry said. It added that it was awaiting the results of tests on two other patients on the Indian Ocean island whose similar symptoms provoked fears yesterday that they might have contracted bird flu. The three had all recently returned from a vacation in Thailand, where they had visited a zoo housing birds.

http://www.lasalute.net/article33809-tourist-has-not-caught.html


Vets guard against flu at the Aviary
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Like people, the nearly 800 birds that inhabit National Aviary in the North Side have personalities.
Some -- such as the green-winged macaws -- are colorful and flashy. Others, such as the Guam rails, are very shy. And a few are friendly: the Victoria crowned pigeons will tag along as tourists walk through the sprawling rain forest exhibit.
And, also like people, they can get sick.
While health officials worldwide are taking steps against the spread of an avian influenza virus killing people in Southeast Asia, on the North Side veterinarians and aviculturists -- including those at the nation's premier bird park -- are taking precautions to keep their birds safe.

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/health/s_389124.html


Ha Noi Zoo intensifies the protection of rare wild bird species as flu looms
10/30/2005 -- 19:58(GMT+7)
Ha Noi (VNA) - The Ha Noi Zoo has taken a number of measures to protect its rare wild large bird species from the risk of be infected with the lethal H5N1 virus that causes bird flu, said Dang Gia Tung, deputy director of the zoo.
The zoo has spent more than 10 million VND in buying equipment and chemicals for disinfecting the area.
Bird rearing areas are cleaned with disinfectants three times a week while areas for large animals, twice a week. The staff of the zoo also follow strict regulations on disinfections.
The staff has been instructed to conduct necessary tests upon detecting any bird having symptoms of being infected with H5N1 virus.
Besides, the zoo has always given its birds with vitamin and mineral supplements and safe and quality food.

http://www.vnagency.com.vn/NewsA.asp?LANGUAGE_ID=2&CATEGORY_ID=32&NEWS_ID=172622


Valley attractions range from fun parks to zoos
Tribune
October 30, 2005
Fast-growing and flourishing, the East Valley embraces a collection of vibrant communities, each offering a broad array of attractions and activities. Here, high-tech production facilities coexist with Old West legends and seemingly endless outdoor recreation opportunities.
Some options:
Castles ’N’ Coasters, 9445 N. Metro Parkway East, Phoenix, (602) 997-7575. Outdoor center with miniature golf and roller coasters, bumper cars and arcade. Opens at 10 a.m. daily, closing hours vary. Prices vary.
D & D Tuff Trax, 9333 E. Apache Trail No. 102, Mesa, (480) 986-2225. Model and slot car racing facility for all ages.
Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, (480) 941-1217. Desert landscaping includes walking tours, bird walks and interactive exhibits. Collection of desert plants from around the world. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily except Christmas and July 4. $4-$9.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=51580


Zoo neighbors blame city for parking problems
As Albuquerque kids make their way to the Rio Grande Zoo for the annual Zoo Boo, hundreds of cars line residential streets near the zoo.
Last Update: 10/30/2005 2:35:11 PM
By: Todd Dukart
The annual Zoo Boo brought thousands of little ghosts and goblins to the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque. But what neighbors are more worried about are the goblin-mobiles that ended up blocking many driveways.
Cars lined the streets near the zoo, slowing down traffic and blocking many zoo neighbors in.
“An emergency could happen, and we can’t get out of our neighborhoods,” said Robert Vigil, who lives near the zoo.
But he’s not mad at the visitors. Instead, he placed the blame soundly on the city of Albuquerque.
“We’ve got a great zoo. We’ve been great neighbors to them,” Vigil said. “I think it’s time they be good neighbors to us.”
Last year, voters approved a $5 million plan to build a new parking structure at the zoo, but the mayor pulled the plug on the construction, saying it would cost more than twice as much to build a structure for 400 cars.
City officials say they need to come up with the $7 million difference before breaking ground. The next opportunity to get a bond issue on the ballot isn’t until next year.

http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=22498&cat=NMTOPSTORIES


Animals Stolen from Wilmington Zoo
Oct 30, 2005, 09:43 PM EST
OCTOBER 30, 2005 -- A Wilmington zoo is broken into, an animal is killed, and other animals are stolen.
Officials say someone beat a priarie dog to death and threw it into the lion's pin at Tregembo Animal Park on Carolina Beach Road.
Authorities say the intruders broke the glass to the snake pins and stole five snakes.
No one has been arrested for the crimes.

http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=4048991&nav=2gQc


Zoo hit harder than last year; repair cost could exceed $1 million
By Ivette M. Yee
Staff Writer
Posted October 30 2005
West Palm Beach · A group of guinea hens roamed the parking lot of the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park. Hurricane Wilma created new escape routes.
Strong hurricane winds once again battered the zoo, which last year suffered more than a $1 million in damage.
This time around, animal losses were minimal -- a couple of ducks were killed -- but there was more structural damage, zoo officials said. They expect damage to equal or exceed last year's.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pzoo30oct30,0,3430009.story?coll=sfla-news-palm


Visitors to the Kolkata Zoo thrilled to see two new guests
Kolkata : The zoo authorities in Kolkata and hundreds of its visitors were delighted as they watched two special guests at the zoo. Two hippopotamus from Mumbai have joined the family of the animals kept in Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata after a Mumbai Court expressed concern over the inadequate space accorded to them.
At a portly three quintals each, these two hippos were brought from Mumbai in a delicate package but it was not easy to unwrap them. “Actually the Mumbai zoo have a lot of Hippopotamus but they don't have big spaces to accommodate so many. So they have sent one pair here to the Kolkata zoo as per the instruction of the Central Zoo Authority,” says S.K.Chowdhury, Director, Alipore Zoological Gardens.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=44299

Montgomery Zoo animals churning out ZooDoo
By Deitrich Curry
Montgomery Advertiser
Zack Enos, one of the keepers at the Montgomery Zoo, uses food Friday to tempt the 26-year-old Indian rhinoceros named Sport. Once Sport is "done" with his food, it will join the massive amounts of animal waste being used in a new project called ZooDoo.
Apparently, anything is recyclable. The Montgomery Zoo has received a $10,000 grant from the governor to recycle animal manure.
The program, called ZooDoo, converts animal waste to soil-enriching fertilizer. The grant was paid to the city to compost animal manure for soil that will be beneficial to farmers.
"I think it is a great idea," said Jennifer Murphy, a zookeeper. "Why waste it?"
Murphy is one of the zookeepers who scoop the animal waste from the barns twice a day to keep them clean. She scooped it from three African elephants Friday morning and said she always knew that the animals' waste would be resourceful.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051029/NEWS01/510290332/1007

concluding ...

Brookfield Zoo Wind Chime

October 31, 2005.

Antarctica.

The Peninsula is above zero already The periphery of the continent is moving in that direction.

Morning Papers - concluded

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is getting warm:

Scott Base Fine -9.0°

Updated Monday 31 Oct 9:59PM

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:

37 °F / 3 °C

MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH AREAS OF FOG THROUGH 4 AM. EAST WINDS TO10 MPH BECOMING NORTHEAST WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH IN EXPOSEDLOCATIONS BY 4 AM.
Humidity: 81%

Dew Point: 32 °F / 0 °C Wind: Calm

Pressure: 29.55 in / 1001 hPa Visibility: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers

UV: 0 out of 16

Clouds: Few 7500 ft / 2286 m (Above Ground Level)