Sydney Morning Herald
Terror suspect 'met Osama'
A man accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation had trained with al-Qaeda and met Osama bin Laden shortly before the September 11 attacks in the US, a court has been told.
Shane Kent, 28, who is charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation, applied along with Amer Haddara, 26, who is facing the same charge, for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates Court today.
Kent, of the Melbourne suburb of Meadow Heights, and Haddara, of suburban Yarraville, are two of 10 Victorian men charged after raids in Melbourne and Sydney last month.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/terror-suspect-met-osama/2005/12/20/1135032012529.html
Widow wins sperm battle
A 36-year-old woman has won a seven-year legal battle to use her dead husband's sperm to get pregnant.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal today gave the woman permission to use the sperm as part of IVF treatment in NSW.
The woman, referred to as YZ, was living with her husband in the ACT when he died in a car accident in Victoria in July 1998.
She successfully won a court order to extract and freeze a sperm sample from her husband the day after the fatal accident.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/widow-wins-sperm-battle/2005/12/20/1135032005726.html
Four stung by deadly irukandji
Four people have been stung by potentially deadly irukandji jellyfish off central Queensland within the last few days.
Surf Lifesaving Queensland's spokesman for the Wide Bay-Capricorn region Craig Holden said today the people were stung by the tiny jellyfish at Agnes Water beach, which has been closed as a precautionary measure.
Mr Holden said reopening the beach, which was closed following a similar jellyfish problem four years ago, would be considered as a day-to-day proposition.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/four-stung-by-deadly-irukandji/2005/12/20/1135031998954.html
Shipwrecked pair survive 11 days on diet of willpower and urine
AN AUSTRALIAN skipper and his New Zealander first mate survived 11 days in a storm-battered life raft with no food or water - and were forced to drink their own urine - after their yacht sank off Vietnam.
Mark Wesley Smith and Steven John Freeman recounted yesterday how they clung desperately to their life raft as storms flipped it over and over for days on end.
They ate nothing for 11 days, licked rainwater off the raft and were forced to drink their urine.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/shipwrecked-pair-survive-11-days-on-raft/2005/12/19/1134840796240.html
UK gay couples take their vows
The United Kingdom's first gay couple to win legal recognition under a new British civil partnership law drove past anti-homosexual protesters to make their marriage-style vows inside Belfast City Hall.
Northern Ireland woman Grainne Close and her American partner, Shannon Sickels, walked hand in hand from a black taxi for a 20-minute ceremony that featured an exchange of matching platinum rings and a recording of Dolly Parton's Touch Your Woman.
"We just want to say that this is a very privileged position we are in this morning, and for us this is about making a choice," said Close, 32, who wore a black tuxedo.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/uk-gay-couples-take-their-vows/2005/12/20/1134840823623.html
Critics on the wrong track over racism
December 20, 2005
Page 1 of 2
Criminals caused the Cronulla riots, not failed multiculturalism, writes Gerard Henderson.
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IT'S not John Howard's fault. And Geoffrey Blainey does not have the solution. Since the civil disorder on Sydney's southern beaches over the past couple of weeks, there has been a tendency in some sections of the community to blame the Prime Minister for Sydney's discontents.
This view has found expression among some left-wing activists along with some letter writers, commentators, journalists and cartoonists. On occasions, the critique has had a bipartisan angle, with the Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, and former NSW Labor premier Bob Carr copping some of the blame. The suggestion is that Australia's political leaders have either ignited latent racism or allowed a racist climate to endure.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/critics-on-the-wrong-track-over-racism/2005/12/19/1134840796093.html
Beaches now safe: Iemma
Return to your beaches, NSW Premier Morris Iemma urged residents of southern Sydney and other NSW cities today.
After asking people in NSW to stay away from some of the state's best known beaches at the weekend in case of violence, Mr Iemma today declared beaches safe and called on beachgoers to return to the sand.
Mr Iemma said today police now believed the threat of unrest at beaches in southern Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle had passed.
"The intelligence and the security assessments are such that people are encouraged to return to normal business," he told reporters.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/beaches-now-safe-iemma/2005/12/19/1134840765876.html
More Aussies facing poverty: charities
Charities nationwide are reporting record appeals for help this Christmas with more and more Australian households facing a slide into poverty.
St Vincent de Paul Society social policy national director John Falzon said the need for charity would continue to balloon as the federal government pushes ahead with its workplace and welfare reforms.
"We at Vinnies have experienced an increased demand not only for presents and food for the Christmas season but even with the day-to-day expenses such as prescriptions, doctors' visits, school excursions and electricity bills," Dr Falzon said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/More-Aussies-facing-poverty-charities/2005/12/19/1134840782459.html
Revealed: the true cost of late-life IVF
IN VITRO fertilisation is three to seven times less cost effective for women aged over 42 than for younger women, but older women account for only a small percentage of IVF costs, according to a study.
The direct health care cost of non-donor IVF for each live birth is, on average, $24,809 for women aged 30 and under. But the cost jumps to $97,884 for women aged 40-plus and to $182,794 for those 42 years and older, a University of NSW report has found.
"The study did find it is more costly for older women because of the natural decline in a woman's fertility … but older age groups make up a smaller percentage of the women who apply for IVF," said one of the report's authors, Georgina Chambers, a researcher at the university.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/revealed-the-true-cost-of-latelife-ivf/2005/12/18/1134840742434.html
Rape counselling offered online
AN ONLINE rape counselling service will be launched in Sydney today. In what is said to be a world first, the NSW Rape Crisis Centre will provide one-on-one counselling in real time to sexual assault victims who log onto its website.
December and January are peak months for sexual assault, with the centre usually recording a 20 to 30 per cent increase in calls, said the centre's manager, Karen Willis.
For some, assaults happened at work parties or other social functions; for others, the prospect of facing the perpetrator "across the Christmas table" prompted them to seek support.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rape-counselling-offered-online/2005/12/18/1134840742448.html
Air New Zealand to cut 110 jobs
Air New Zealand will lay off 110 workers, and more than 500 other jobs may also go, following a decision to outsource heavy maintenance of its wide body aero-engines.
The airline plans to outsource the underperforming business from next year, in a move expected to save $NZ53 million ($49 million) in costs.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said the decision came after 18 months of talks, and the state of the business was bleak.
"Volumes in this business are low and falling," Mr Fyfe said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/air-new-zealand-to-cut-110-jobs/2005/12/19/1134840773261.html
Bad times could become worse
A rough year for Evans & Tate.
Photo: James Brickwood
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By Scott Rochfort
December 19, 2005
MARGARET River winemaker Evans & Tate has had a wretched year - and could face a worse one if its convertible note holders do not pass a resolution this Friday which will quarantine the company from the effect of new accounting standards.
Under International Financial Reporting Standards, which come into effect on January 1, the $20-odd million of convertible notes on issue by Evans & Tate will no longer be treated as equity but as debt.
This would result in the already debt-ridden company breaching its debt convenants and expose it to being "wound up" by creditors.
Jitters over this week's meeting pushed the winemaker's shares to a new low of 21.5c last Friday. Helped by the $49.8 million full-year loss posted in August, Evans & Tate shares have fallen 80 per cent since mid-January.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/bad-times-could-become-worse/2005/12/18/1134840742138.html
Qantas says Roo's in top shape
By Julian Lee
December 19, 2005
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Qantas claims its brand is the healthiest in its 85-year history and that Australians still call the Flying Kangaroo "home".
Despite negative press in the past year and increased competition from Virgin Blue and Emirates, everything is just fine at Qantas, says executive general manager, John Borghetti.
Far from weakening the Qantas brand, he said, the arrival of its low-cost stablemate Jetstar had actually strengthened it.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/qantas-says-roos-in-top-shape/2005/12/18/1134840742150.html
U.S. teacher sexpidemic spreading across planet
Long list of American rapists
joined by female Australians
Posted: December 14, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Bridget Nolan (courtesy Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
The seeming U.S. epidemic of cases involving female teachers raping or molesting their students has been "sexported" Down Under, as Australia is experiencing a similar rash of cases.
Bridget Mary Nolan, 24, of Adelaide, Australia, is facing a possible seven-year prison term after admitting to three counts of sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old student in late July.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47895
"The victim ... and his family are the subject of a lot of scrutiny by members of the school community and (the) town community in which they live," prosecutor Elizabeth Griffith told a court hearing.
"The victim has ... been teased and bullied and pointed out within the school community as somebody who might have been involved with the teacher."
Meanwhile, another woman teacher is facing charges for allegedly seducing one of her own 15-year-old students.
Natalina D'Addario, a 36-year-old languages instructor from the Melbourne area is accused of beginning a sexual relationship with the teen in May.
Police say they engaged in oral sex on six occasions through July off school grounds. The affair reportedly came to a close in September when the boy notified his assistant principal of the liaisons.
These two cases are the latest in a series of Australian women having illicit relations with their male students.
According to the Australian, Cindy Leanne Howell, a female teacher's aide, was sentenced last month to at least two and a half years for preying on a 15-year-old boy; Sarah Jayne Vercoe was sentenced to four years for a series of sex offenses against five boys in Tasmania; and Karen Ellis of Victoria was jailed in May after pleading guilty to six charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16.
The Australian incidents are hauntingly reminiscent of the flood of cases reported in the United States and elsewhere.
Among the most well-known is the case of Debra Lafave, a 26-year-old reading teacher in Florida accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy in her classroom, car and at home. Her plea deal sparing her jail time and giving her just house arrest was thrown out last week and her trial is now slated for April 10.
Other cases collected from news reports by WND and iGossip include:
Adrianne Hockett: Accused of having sex with a 16-year-old special-needs student in a Houston apartment she rented for the get-togethers. The boy has testified the pair would "have sex, drink beer and smoke weed."
Amber Jennings, 31: Initially charged with having sex with a 16-year-old, the counts against the Sturbridge, Mass., woman were reduced to a single charge of disseminating harmful materials to a minor. She reportedly admitted e-mailing naked photos of herself to a former student.
Amber Marshall, 23: Northwest Indiana woman allegedly had sexual contact, including intercourse, with several students, and turned herself into authorities, telling police she knew what she did was illegal.
Amira Sa'Si, 30: Clayton County, Ga., woman remarked she didn't think her relationship was inappropriate based on her Internet research, learning the Peach State's age of consent is 16.
Amy Gail Lilley, 36: Inverness, Fla., woman charged with an alleged relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
Angela Stellwag, 24: Delran, N.J., woman accused of having sex in her apartment with a 14-year-old boy she met in school.
Beth Raymond, 31: Private-school employee from Pownal, Maine, charged with risk of injury to a minor and second-degree sexual assault of a juvenile male.
Bethany Sherrill, 24: Daughter-in-law of school-board president is charged with molesting a middle school student when he was 14.
Carol Flannigan, 50: Boca Raton, Fla., music teacher reportedly slept with 11-year-old former student, and also had a simultaneous sexual relationship with the boy's father.
Celeste Emerick, 32: Police in Huber Heights, Ohio, say she hosted a party where students were shown porn.
Christina Gallagher, 26: Jersey City, N.J., woman ordered to pay more than $1,000 in fines, sentenced to a lifetime registration as a convicted sex offender and ordered to attend therapy for having sex with a 17-year-old student.
Deanna Bobo, 37: Arkansas teacher allegedly had sex twice with a 14-year-old boy in his own bed while his parents were not home.
Donna Carr Galloway, 33: Married mother of two found naked in a car with a 17-year-old student.
Elisa Kawasaki, 25: Officials say ex-biology teacher had sexual relations with a 16-year-old student on up to 20 different occasions.
Elizabeth Miklosovic, 36: Grand Rapids, Mich., woman pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old female student she "married" in a pagan ritual.
Elizabeth Stow, 26: Woman from Fresno, Calif., area convicted of having sex with three of her students was sentenced to nine years, but the judge suspended that sentence and gave her one year, possibly on house arrest, as well as faces five years probation.
Ellen Garfield, 43: Former student says teacher took him into an empty classroom where she worked, partially disrobed, and coaxed him into having sex with her in 1998. Garfield was acquitted of all charges in September of this year.
Emily Morris, 28: Alabama woman faced a possible 20-year sentence, but received one year in jail for having consensual sex with a 15-year-old student.
Erica Rutters, 29: York, Pa., woman allegedly wrote erotic messages to a 17-year-old student and had sexual intercourse with him four times in her apartment.
Georgianne Harrell, 24: Sylvester, Ga., woman charged with performing oral sex on a 9-year-old boy, allowing students to gaze down her blouse and slashing her wrists with glass in front of her students. She pleaded not guilty.
Gwen Ann Cardozo, 33: Colorado woman charged with having sex with a 17-year-old male student.
Heather Ingram, 30: Mathematics, science and business teacher in British Columbia had sex with a 17-year-old student.
Janelle Marie Bird, 24: Accused of having a two-year affair with a 15-year-old student from East Hill Christian School, in Pensacola, Fla.
Jaymee Wallace, 28: Basketball coach in Tampa, Fla., charged with having an 18-month lesbian relationship with a student.
Joan Marie Sladky, 28: Redwood City, Calif., woman sentenced to six months in county jail for having sex with a 16-year-old student after pleading no contest to four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, oral copulation and penetration with a foreign object.
Katherine Tew, 30: Married English teacher from Greenville, N.C., arrested for having sex with a 17-year-old student.
Kathy White, 39: Charged with having sex with a 17-year-old student in Lumberton, Texas. Victim alleges: "She just started grabbing me and hormones were on and it just happened."
Kelly Lynn Dalecki, 28: Woman from St. Augustine, Fla., pleaded no contest to charges she had sex with a 13-year-old boy.
Kristen Margrif, 27: Michigan woman accused of having sex with a 16-year-old male student in her car or at his summer workplace.
Kristi Dance Oakes, 32: Former Tennessee high-school teacher allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old boy who was in her biology class the previous year.
Lakina Stutts, 40: School-bus driver admitted to cops she had sex with a 14-year-old student in her home and in a car outside the boy's home.
Laura-Anne Brownlee, 26: Former music mistress at a top private school in Belfast, N. Ireland, was sentenced on six charges of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Laura Lynn Findlay, 30: Middle-school band teacher in Buena Vista Township, Mich., charged with having sex with at least 5 students, one as young as 14.
Margaret De Barraicua, 30: Sacramento, Calif., area woman arrested after police found her having sex with a 16-year-old male student in her car while the woman's toddler was strapped into a seat in the back.
Maria Saco, 28: Passaic, N.J., woman sentenced to a year in jail for an intimate relationship with a teen student who was 14 when they first met.
Mary Kay Letourneau, 34: Des Moines, Wash., woman did prison time after having an affair with a sixth-grade student, and had two children by him. The couple recently married.
Melissa Michelle Deel, 32: Bristol, Tenn., woman pleaded guilty to crossing the state line into Virginia to have oral sex with a 13-year-old male student.
Michelle Kush, 29: Ohio woman allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old boy several times during summer break.
Nicola Prentice, 22: British woman from Sheffield, England, given a 12-month suspended jail sentence after she seduced a 16-year-old student and began a 19-month affair.
Nicole Andrea Barnhart, 35: Reportedly told police she loves the 16-year-old boy with whom she was allegedly having sex.
Nicole Pomerleau, 31: High-school English teacher in Charlotte, N.C., accused of having a sexual relationship with her 16-year-old student.
Pamela Smart, 22: Media-services director at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, N.Y., had convinced her 15-year-old lover to murder her husband. The Nicole Kidman film "To Die For" is based on her story.
Pamela Turner, 27: Former model and beauty-pageant contestant accused of having a three-month sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy.
Rachelle Vantucci, 32: Ex-substitute teacher in western New York admitted having sex with a 16-year-old boy.
Rebecca Boicelli, 33: Redwood City, Calif., woman gave birth to a baby last year and DNA test results gave prosecutors enough evidence to prove the father is Boicelli's former student, who was 16 at the time of conception.
Rhianna Ellis, 24: New York City teacher who allegedly had a 10-month affair with an 18-year-old, and allgedly gave birth to his baby.
Robin Gialanella, 26: Elementary teacher in Toms River, N.J., engaged in kissing, and inappropriate conduct and conversations with two sixth-grade boys, ages 11 and 12. She was sentenced to 364 days in jail.
Robin Winkis, 29: York, Pa., woman allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old boy after giving him alcohol.
Samantha Solomon, 29: Fired after school bosses learned she was having sex with a teenage boy. She denies the charges.
Sandra "Beth" Geisel, 42: Albany, N.Y., woman was fired from her job at an private all-boys school after police in found her in a parked car with a 17-year-old. She pleaded guilty to a single count of rape and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Shelley Allen, 35: East Texas teacher's aide accused of sexual assault and faces a possible 20 years behind bars.
Shelley White, 24: Geography teacher in Britain had been engaged to be married before she kissed a 15-year-old student on at least three occasions. She avoided jail, but received 12 months community service.
Stephanie Burleson: Volleyball coach and teacher at Floresville High School in Texas six years ago, pleaded guilty to all charges for molesting a 16-year-old female student. She was sentenced to 10 years probation, and required to register as a sex offender.
Susan Eble, 35: Former teacher's aide is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy.
Tara Lynn Crisp, 29: Police allege she had sex with a student at least three times beginning when he was 14.
Toni Lynn Woods, 37: The Braxton County, W.Va., woman confessed to having sexual intercourse with three juveniles a total of four times and oral sex with one of those juveniles and another juvenile a total of four times. She resigned.
If you'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47895
The Gulf News
Iran nuclear plant may pose risk to Gulf region
By Jumana Al Tamimi, GCC & Middle East Editor
Abu Dhabi: Gulf countries expressed serious concerns over Iran's nuclear programme and called on the Islamic Republic to provide guarantees against "any radioactive leakage," UAE Foreign Minister Rashid Abdullah said on Monday.
"We are asking for guarantees to protect ourselves," he told a press conference held at the end of the Fahd Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
"We are asking Iran to join the [international] early warning agreement to alert us in case of any leakage, God forbid," he added in reference to the agreement, which was signed by all GCC states and which calls upon signed countries to notify others in case of nuclear radioactive leakage.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/United_Arab_Emirates/10006201.html
GCC fears Iran nuclear activities
By Jumana Al Tamimi, GCC and Middle East Editor, and Samir Salama, Bureau Chief
Abu Dhabi: Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council concluded their 26th summit here on Monday, calling for a Middle East, including the Gulf region, free from weapons of mass destruction and urged Iran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"We have a legitimate fear" of Iran's nuclear programme, Rashid Abdullah, UAE Foreign Minister, told reporters at a press conference with Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah, Secretary General of the GCC.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/United_Arab_Emirates/10006187.html
Jordanian kidnapped in Baghdad
Agencies
Baghdad: An employee from the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad was taken hostage after leaving his home on Tuesday.
Police say that three cars pulled up outside Jordanian Mahmoud Saedat’s house and seized him in a southern district of Baghdad.
Saedat has been a driver for the embassy for the past four years.
It is not yet clear what the man’s role at the Jordanian embassy was and an official said that diplomats had no information on the incident.
Al Qaida in Iraq abducted the Egyptian envoy and two Algerian diplomats and they were killed in July.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10006211.html
Defence lawyer says Saddam believes he was betrayed
AP
London: A lawyer for Saddam Hussain said the deposed Iraqi leader believes someone tipped off US forces to his whereabouts, resulting in his capture from a spider hole near his hometown of Tikrit, a newspaper reported on Monday.
The Sun quoted former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark as giving Saddam's view of his capture two years ago.
"Saddam thinks he was gassed in the tunnel," the newspaper quoted Clark as saying. "He tried to get to the exit of the tunnel. But he did not have time to get away. He told us he spent maybe minutes in this tunnel - not hours or days.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10006172.html
Early Iraq election results show Shiite strength
Reuters
Baghdad: Early results from the count of votes in more than half Iraq's regions, including Baghdad, confirmed a strong showing for the ruling Shiite Islamist Alliance, figures from the Electoral Commission showed on Monday.
The Alliance won 58 per cent of the vote in the capital, the biggest of 18 provinces and accounting for 59 of the 230 parliamentary seats allocated among the regions. A further 45 seats will be allocated according to shares of the national vote.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10006145.html
Women break ground in politics
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: Women's representation on the national boards of Bahrain's political societies is at its highest level ever, a study has revealed.
Women today hold 21 board seats in the 15 political societies, or 16 per cent, compared to 139 men. The figure is an unprecedented one in the male-dominated sector of politics.
According to the study based on the list of names released by the political formations in the kingdom, Islamic societies are faring unexpectedly well, with eight women holding board seats.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Bahrain/10006039.html
Billionaires can help poor millions
It is a tired cliché India is a land of contrasts. But with a growing number of Indians joining the worldwide billionaire club, while many of their compatriots scrabble out a meagre existence, there is more than a little truth in the old saying.
According to Forbes, at least seven new Indians made the list, bringing the total to 27 billionaires from the subcontinent worth $106 billion.
There is little question that the nation is on its way towards becoming one of the major global powerhouses. Stories abound about the burgeoning Indian middle class, the power of outsourcing and the drive towards plush shopping malls.
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/world/10005842.html
The mother of all ironies
By Adel Safty, Special to Gulf News
I argued in my previous column that the rumours of the premature death of irony were grossly exaggerated and that irony was alive.
The issue of immoral use of banned weapons, used to justify the Iraq war, was ironically turned against the US with the accusation that US troops used white phosphorous against Iraqi civilians. The Bush administration also claimed it had waged war to make Iraq a democratic beacon in the Middle East.
Recent revelations, however, subjected such claims to ironic discredit. The Pentagon recently admitted it had been bribing Iraqi and Arab journalists to write positive stories about the American occupation of Iraq.
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10005815.html
Is Lebanon heading for a catastrophe?
By Patrick Seale, Special to Gulf News
Located at the storm-centre of the Middle East, Lebanon is in danger of succumbing to a lethal combination of internal, regional and international conflicts. Will this small and vulnerable country sink once more into chaos?
At the heart of the problem lies Lebanon's umbilical, love-hate relationship with its Syrian neighbour. When Syria comes under great pressure as is at present the case the repercussions in Lebanon are immediate.
What are the danger signals? First and foremost is the unprecedented spate of murders and attempted murders of prominent politicians and media personalities, following the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, last February. These killings have created an atmosphere of panic.
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10005816.html
Iran nuclear plan 'not worrisome'
By Jumana Al Tamimi, GCC & Middle East Editor
Abu Dhabi: Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdul Rahman Hamad Al Attiyah said on Sunday that the GCC countries are not concerned over Iran's nuclear programme, if it is limited only to peaceful applications.
However, he continued, "if it was otherwise, I personally believe, than that the issue is not justified, and it cannot be left as it is because it affects the international peace and security", he responded to a question by Gulf News.
"We have confidence in Iran, but we don't want to see the Iranian nuclear reactor, which is closer to our coasts than the distance between it and Tehran, as a cause of danger to us", Al Attiyah told a small group of journalists in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of "Fahd Summit".
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/United_Arab_Emirates/10005979.html
Chronology of earthquakes in Iran
Staff Report
The following is a chronology of some of the major earthquakes in Iran in the past three decades:
April 10, 1972 - 5,347 people were killed when an earthquake with a radius of more than 250 miles struck southern Iran around Ghir Karzin. The quake measured 7.1 on the Richter scale.
March 22, 1977 - 167 people were killed when an earthquake struck the southeastern coastal region around the town of Bandar Abbas. It measured 7 on the Richter scale.
April 6/7, 1977 - 352 people were killed when an earthquake struck Isfahan province. It measured 6.5 on the Richter Scale.
December 21, 1977 - An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck the town of Zarand in Kerman Province, killing 521 people.
September 16, 1978 - 15,000 people were killed by an earthquake which measured between 7.5 and 7.9 on the Richter scale. It levelled the town of Tabas and many other villages.
January 16, 1979 - An earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale struck Khorasan province, killing 199 people.
November 14, 1979 - An earthquake struck eastern Iran measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale. It hit a string of villages in Khorasan province, killing at least 385 people.
June 11, 1981 - 1,027 people were killed and more than 800 injured. It measured 6.8 on the Richter scale. The town of Golbaf, 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Tehran, was destroyed.
June 21, 1990 - 35,000 died and 100,000 were injured when an earthquake, which registered 7.7 on the Richter scale, devastated the Caspian regions of Gilan and Zanjan. Some 500,000 were made homeless.
February 28, 1997 - A quake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale killed about 1,000 people in northwestern Iran.
May 10, 1997 - A quake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale killed 1,560 people in rural areas of eastern Iran near the Afghan border.
June 22, 2002 - An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale razed dozens of villages in north Iran's Qazvin province killing 229.
Deember 26, 2003 - An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale strikes the city of Bam, 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of Tehran. 30,948 were killed in the quake.
February 21, 2005 - An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hits Zarand village in Kerman province, about 700 km (440 miles) southeast of Tehran, killing 612 people.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10000856.html
Ten killed as quake strikes Iran
Agencies
Tehran: A powerful earthquake measuring at least 5.9 on the Richter scale struck Qeshim island off Iran's southern coast, killing at least ten people and damaging four villages.
The main hospital on Qeshim was full of wounded people.
"The hospital is full of wounded and those accompanying them. The hospital lacks basic facilities," an IRNA (Iran national news agency) bulletin read.
IRNA said that marketplaces in the island's capital Qeshim City were shaken to the ground and that the villages of Tonban, Gavarzin and Khaledi have been badly hit.
State television said the tremor struck at 1:30pm (1000 GMT) and was centred close to the Qeshim Island near Bandar Abbas city.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iran/10000851.html
Iran quake: reader's experiences
Staff Report
Dubai: Gulfnews.com readers share their experiences of the tremors which shook the UAE on Sunday afternoon.
Did you feel the tremors?
Was your building evacuated?
How did you react?
Email your experiences to write2tabloid@gulfnews.comSunday afternoon happened to be a deja-vu of a 1980 earthquake I experienced in Athens which measured 5.8 on the Richter scale. Those tremors lasted more than 60 seconds - the longest 60 seconds of my entire life. The wall in my living room cracked all across and opened diagonally by about half a metre. I had a clear view of the street outside. That doomed February scarred me for ever. Two month later I relocated to UAE.
Eve
Sharjah
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/United_Arab_Emirates/10000855.html
Ten killed in fresh Baghdad violence
Agencies
Baghdad: Ten Iraqis, including five police officers, have been killed in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital, medical and security sources said Sunday.
The US command also reported the death of a Marine from a non-hostile wound.
Since Thursday's peaceful voting, Iraqi officials have reopened border crossings on Saturday, except on the frontier with Syria.
Dhiab Hamad Al Hamdani and his son Munah were shot in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, police Colonel Shirzad Mofari said.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10005780.html
Jordan court hands second death penalty against Al Zarqawi
Agencies
Amman: Jordan's state security court on Sunday handed Al Qaida's leader in Iraq Abu Musab Al Zarqawi his second death penalty in absentia, for a failed suicide bombing on the Jordanian-Iraqi border a year ago.
His two accomplices in the December 2004 plot were also given the death sentence.
Jordanian-born Al Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq where he has a US bounty of $25 million on his head, has also been sentenced to death by the state security court for the October 2002 murder of a US diplomat in Amman.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Jordan/10005783.html
Ariel Sharon leaves hospital
Agencies
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was discharged from hospital on Tuesday, two days after the 77-year-old suffered a minor stroke.
"I must hurry to return to work so that we can move forward," Sharon told reporters as he left Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital.
Sharon was admitted to hospital after suffering a stroke on Sunday evening while being driven from his official residence in Jerusalem to his ranch in the southern Negev desert.
http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10006216.html
The Boston Globe
Periwinkle snails harming La. marshes
December 19, 2005
NEW ORLEANS --There are plenty of culprits from which to choose in assigning blame for the destruction of Louisiana's marshes: oil companies that carved wetlands to tatters with their exploratory canals, levees that hemmed in the nourishing waters of the Mississippi River, burrowing nutria that left marshes exposed to grass-killing saltwater.
Now, the state's dwindling coastline must deal with another nemesis: the marble-sized periwinkle snail.
Researchers from Brown and Louisiana State universities added it to the list after witnessing millions of the snails chomping their way through drought-weakened marshlands across the Gulf of Mexico and up the eastern seaboard. Over the past six years, the snails have left in their wake thousands of acres of bare mud flats where there were once thriving wetlands.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/12/19/periwinkle_snails_harming_la_marshes/
New York City transit workers strike
By Sara Kugler, Associated Press Writer December 20, 2005
NEW YORK --The city's transit union called a strike Tuesday morning after failing to reach a deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority following days of bitter labor talks.
The decision ensured that New York would be thrown into chaos by the height of the morning rush hour.
"This contract between the MTA and the Transport Workers Union should have been a no-brainer," union president Roger Toussaint said at a news conference announcing the strike. "Sadly that has not been the case."
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow called the strike "a slap in the face" to all New Yorkers and said state lawyers will immediately head to court in seeking to block the walkout.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/20/strike_deadline_passes_in_ny_transit_talks/
Bush bypassed compliant court on wiretapping
Warrants rarely denied
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff December 20, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The court that authorizes wiretaps on terrorism suspects had not rejected a government request for a warrant in its 22-year existence to 2001, when President Bush issued an order allowing agents to wiretap citizens without judicial approval.
Bush's actions surprised many lawyers familiar with the court's workings, because federal law allows the US attorney general to authorize wiretaps without waiting for a warrant, as long as federal agents later present evidence to a judge.
Bush and his advisers have argued that the need for rapid monitoring of international telephone calls involving terrorism suspects had justified his decision to allow agents to bypass the surveillance law.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/12/20/bush_bypassed_compliant_court_on_wiretapping/
Heavy crowd expected at Williams funeral
By Paul Chavez, Associated Press Writer December 20, 2005
LOS ANGELES --Few condemned inmates have generated as much public support as Stanley Tookie Williams -- and so much post-execution attention. His final send-off promises to be no different.
A funeral normally reserved for a dignitary or religious leader was scheduled for Tuesday, almost exactly a week after Williams was executed by lethal injection for murdering four people during a pair of 1979 robberies.
Among those expected to attend were the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who visited Williams shortly before his death; Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan; and hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg.
The service was to include a five-minute video tribute by documentary filmmaker Jonathan Stack and speeches by motivational guru Tony Robbins and actor Jamie Foxx, who portrayed Williams in the TV movie "Redemption: The Stanley Tookie Williams Story."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/20/heavy_crowd_expected_at_williams_funeral/\
Families gathered for tragic new of crash
By Denise Kalette, Associated Press Writer December 20, 2005
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. --Never again will Sabrina Dean braid her cousins' hair. Never again will her husband, Barto, crack jokes with his nephew, 16-year-old Adrian Jones.
The couple and their infant daughter died Monday when a Chalk's Ocean Airways plane carrying 20 people crashed into the water near Miami Beach. Nineteen bodies had been recovered as of Tuesday morning.
Boats and helicopters searched the waters where the plane went down near Government Cut channel, used by ships traveling from the Atlantic to the Port of Miami. Bodies encased in black bags were taken from rescue crafts.
Throughout the evening, shocked relatives streamed to the Miami Beach Police Department to learn details of the crash and meet with grief counselors and clergymen. Some, like Jones, sat on the steps outside, trying to absorb the loss.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/20/families_gathered_for_tragic_new_of_crash/
One of three teens convicted in beating is granted a new trial
December 20, 2005
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. --One of three Springfield teenagers, who had been found guilty in the beating death of a high school senior, has been granted a new trial.
Hampden Superior Court Judge C. Brian McDonald, who presided over the trial, ordered Timothy X. Rudd, 19, of Springfield to report to probation officers daily and ordered a hearing for Jan. 4 to set a new trial date. In the meantime, Rudd was allowed to go home.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/20/one_of_three_teens_convicted_in_beating_is_granted_a_new_trial/
Record fine levied against former GOP candidate
By Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press Writer December 20, 2005
BOSTON --A former candidate for lieutenant governor and one-time chairman of the state Republican Party has agreed to pay the largest campaign finance fine in state history, prosecutors said Monday.
It's the second time James W. Rappaport has been fined for failing to fully disclose expenditures from his personal account during his failed 2002 run for lieutenant governor.
Rappaport, a real estate developer who lost the Republican nomination to Kerry Healey, has agreed to pay $60,000 in fines, according to Attorney General Tom Reilly, a Democratic candidate for governor.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/20/record_fine_levied_against_former_gop_candidate/
Horse racing eliminated from Three County Fair
December 20, 2005
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. --There will be no horse racing at the Three County Fair next year for the first time in 150 years because competition from casinos and the state lottery has cut into racing profits to the point that it is no longer financially viable, fair president Alan Jacque said.
Racing began at the Three County Fair in 1856 and continued through this year without interruption, according to fair officials.
Harness racing was the main event at the fair until 1943, when the switch to thoroughbred racing was made.
Tracks throughout the region have lost betting customers to casinos and other legalized forms of gambling, Three County Fair general manager Bruce Shallcross said on Monday.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/12/20/horse_racing_eliminated_from_three_county_fair/
ACLU says FBI misuses terror powers
By Ted Bridis, Associated Press Writer December 20, 2005
WASHINGTON --The American Civil Liberties Union accused the FBI of misusing terrorism investigators to monitor some domestic political organizations, despite apparently disparate views within the FBI whether some groups supported or committed violent acts.
Citing hundreds of pages of heavily-censored documents it obtained from the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act, lawyers for the ACLU described this disputed use of terrorism resources as the latest illustration of intensified surveillance aimed toward Americans.
"Using labels like domestic terrorists to describe peaceful protest activity can chill robust political debate in this country," ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner said in New York. The ACLU said it will publish the FBI reports it obtained on its Web site Tuesday.
In one case, government records show the FBI launched a terrorism investigation of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Norfolk, Va., despite acknowledgment by one FBI official that, "The FBI does not consider PETA a terrorist organization."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/12/20/aclu_says_fbi_misuses_terror_powers/
Germany frees jailed Hizbollah member to Lebanon
December 20, 2005
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Germany has secretly released a Hizbollah member jailed for life for killing a U.S. Navy diver and returned him to Lebanon despite an extradition request from the United States, Lebanese political sources said on Tuesday.
They said Mohammad Ali Hammadi, convicted of killing Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem during the 1985 hijacking of a TWA flight to Beirut and sentenced to life without parole, was flown back to Beirut last week.
Diplomatic sources in Germany confirmed Hammadi's release.
Hammadi was captured in 1987 and all attempts to have him exchanged with German hostages held in Lebanon in the late 1980s and early 1990s failed. Hammadi's brother, Abdul-Hadi, was a senior security official of Hizbollah at the time.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/12/20/germany_frees_jailed_hizbollah_member_to_lebanon/
Morgan Stanley expands in UK with Lloyds card deal
LONDON (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley has paid a 175 million pound ($308.7 million) premium for the Goldfish credit card business of UK bank Lloyds TSB , expanding a business the U.S. bank had once looked to shed.
Morgan Stanley said on Tuesday the deal would expand its UK credit card business significantly, adding 800 million pounds worth of balances to its existing 1.5 billion pound book of business and increasing its accounts by 47 percent to over 2.3 million.
Morgan Stanley paid a 22 percent premium to the unit's 800 million pounds of net balances, a higher price than some recent credit card deals in the United States and above the 14 percent premium Lloyds paid for a 70 percent stake in Goldfish in 2003.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/12/20/morgan_stanley_buys_lloyds_card_unit/
Failed Beagle 2 probe "found" on Mars - scientist
LONDON (Reuters) - The scientist behind the lost 2003 Beagle 2 mission to Mars said on Tuesday the craft may have been spotted in NASA pictures which indicate the project very nearly worked.
Beagle 2, named after the ship Charles Darwin sailed in when he formulated his theory of evolution, was built by British scientists for about 50 million pounds ($90 million) and taken to Mars aboard the European Space Agency's orbiter Mars Express.
It was due to land in a crater on the red planet in a bouncing ball of airbags and begin looking for signs of life on Christmas Day, 2003. But it lost contact with Earth once it separated from the mother ship in mid-December.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/12/20/failed_beagle_2_probe_found_on_mars___scientist/
Wyoming launches cloud-seeding project
By Bob Moen, Associated Press Writer December 20, 2005
CHEYENNE, Wyo. --Wyoming is embarking on an $8.8 million, five-year cloud-seeding project that aims to bolster mountain snowpack, and possibly yield proof of whether cloud seeding actually works.
"Hopefully in Wyoming, we'll find evidence for that to be a viable tool in water resource management," said Dan Breed, project scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a federally funded research center based in Boulder, Colo.
The state is paying the center $1.9 million to monitor and evaluate the Wyoming project.
"In a lot of the other programs, the evaluation part has been more ad hoc or not planned into it," Breed said. In addition, he said, the Wyoming project will last for five years, while most others are conducted year to year.
"The Wyoming program is very unique with the amount of science that's being employed," said project manager Barry Lawrence of the Wyoming Water Development Commission. "The scientists are involved throughout the process."
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/12/20/wyoming_launches_cloud_seeding_project/
Ambitions for victory
December 20, 2005
PRESIDENT BUSH, less confrontational toward his critics than usual, defended the war in Iraq Sunday night as essential to victory in the struggle against terror. The Iraq campaign is far from won, yet in Baghdad, Vice President Cheney suggested that American troops would be pulled back into a few locations next year. The American people deserve to know whether the object in Iraq is total victory or a gradual withdrawal to allow the Iraqis to determine their own destiny.
''To retreat before victory would be an act of recklessness and dishonor, and I will not allow it," Bush said Sunday night. He was even more emphatic in a speech last Wednesday. ''Their [the terrorists'] stated objective is to drive the United States and coalition forces out of the Middle East so they can gain control of Iraq and use that country as a base from which to launch attacks against America, overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East, and establish a totalitarian Islamic empire that stretches from Spain to Indonesia," he said.
The US force level in Iraq is inadequate to prevail against a foe of this magnitude. If the stakes were really this high, Bush would be justified in reinforcing the 160,000 troops there and fighting until the terrorists are vanquished, just as the United States did against Japan and Germany in World War II.
The situation in Iraq is not as apocalyptic as the president portrays it. The conflict is more like an incipient, three-sided civil war, with the United States as a barely tolerated intruder.
Perhaps the Iraqis will sort it out for themselves. The relative peace with which elections were conducted last week offers hope, as Bush pointed out Sunday night. But it will take much bargaining and major concessions for the Iraqis to form a durable government that can defeat the insurgents.
RELATED STORY: Bush hails Iraqi vote, raps critics
Bush's speeches and his press conference yesterday are part of a public relations campaign to blunt the calls of some Democrats, notably Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, for a quick troop pullout. The administration considers that defeatist, but there is a sense in Washington that Bush has a sub rosa plan to draw down troop levels over the next year. ''As these achievements [by Iraqis] come, it should require fewer American troops to accomplish our mission," Bush said Sunday night.
In a rare Clinton-esque moment, Bush had empathetic words for domestic opponents of the war. ''Yet," he added, ''now there are only two options before our country: victory or defeat." Bush prefers moral clarity, something history does not always provide. The challenge for Bush is to manage a gradual withdrawal from Iraq even if the outcome there is uncertain
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/12/20/ambitions_for_victory/continued ...
December 17, 2005. Hail in Nieuwegein, Netherlands. 
December 19, 2005. Portland, Oregon. The ice is melting. No Ice Age is on the way.
Haaretz
No lasting stroke damage, prime minister may go home Tuesday
By Jonathan Lis, Aluf Benn and Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Physicians at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem in Jerusalem said Monday that they hoped to release Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday, after he underwent a new series of tests, including a CAT scan and MRI, to determine the effects of the stroke he suffered Sunday evening.
The stroke, termed a mild cerebral vascular event, "Will not leave behind any damage or any traces," said Dr. Tamir Ben-Hur, chief of the hospital's neurology department.
"There's an excellent chance it won't repeat itself," Ben-Hur said. "After a rest, he can return to full functioning.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/659324.html
After stroke, PM tells Haaretz: I'm fine
By Haaretz Staff and Agencies
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was in stable condition last night after being rushed to the hospital in Jerusalem after apparently suffering a minor stroke and briefly losing consciousness.
However, doctors at the Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem said that he appears not to have suffered any damage from the incident. "Unequivocally there is no damage," said Sharon's long-time personal physician, Dr. Boleslav Goldman. "He has had anti-coagulant treatment. He will need to be in the hospital for a few days."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/659367.html
Knesset panel okays bill on restoring Holocaust victims' assets
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday approved the Holocaust victims' bill and submitted it to the plenum for second and third readings.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been urging Finance Minister Ehud Olmert to push the legislation through and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin had promised to make every effort to ensure that it is passed.
MK Yosef Lapid, who sponsored the bill, said that, ?this is one of the most important law?s in Israel?s history. It?s a shame it wasn?t passed 50 years ago.?
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/659638.html
Poll: Netanyahu triumphs in Likud primary with 47%
By Mazal Mualem, Yuval Azoulay and Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service
Facing a crowded hall of supporters in the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv on Monday night, newly-elected Likud Chairman MK Benjamin Netanyahu announced the Likud's intention to regain power in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Netanyahu swept to a comfortable victory in the Likud chairmanship race, as his main rival Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom conceded defeat in a phone conversation with him.
According to the Channel 1 poll, Netanyahu won 47 percent of the votes in the party primaries. Shalom came in second with 32 percent of the vote. Far-right candidate Moshe Feiglin won 15 percent of the vote, while Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz trailed in fourth place with 6 percent of the vote.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/659518.html
Syria considering ceding Shaba Farms to Lebanon
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
Syria is considering a proposal to give Lebanon sovereignty over the Shaba Farms, on the slopes of Mount Hermon, by signing a new border deal with Lebanon, according to information that has reached Israel from several sources in the last few days.
Political sources in Jerusalem said the proposal indicates that the Syrians are trying to ease the diplomatic pressure on them and put the ball in Israel's court.
If the Shaba Farms are considered Lebanese territory, Israel will be asked to withdraw from the region. Failure to do so will provide Hezbollah with justification to act in South Lebanon and call the Israeli occupation ongoing.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/659932.html
Analysis: The Likud has never been such a right-wing party
By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent
The Likud's old-new chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is facing two urgent tasks. First, he must assess in the next two to three days whether Labor Chairman Amir Peretz can be a partner in an alternative government - the "government that is s-c-a-r-e-d of Ariel Sharon."
Second, he will have to extract Likud ministers, led by Silvan Shalom, from the government and get them to abandon their ministerial Volvos, so that he, Benjamin Netanyahu, can become the only person with an official title, opposition head, with all of its perks: an armored car, a swarm of security guards and a monthly update from the prime minister.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/659865.html
MI chief: W. Bank, Gaza could become Fatahstan, Hamastan
By Gideon Alon
Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash) warned the government during its meeting yesterday that there is an increasingly high chance that next year will see what he called the "Hamastan" brigade ruling the Gaza Strip, while the "Fatahstan" brigade will control the West Bank.
Ze'evi, who took his leave of the government yesterday at the end of his term as director of MI, said Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is in a difficult position and has limited maneuverability.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/659364.html
London calling Israeli firms
By Efrat Neuman
Israel changed its positioning in Europe significantly this year. The trend dates back to last December, when local companies started sniffing a golden opportunity on London's second market, the AIM.
Until then, Israeli companies had moved, in very small numbers, to the London Stock Exchange. However, after BATM's glorious splash on AIM in 2000, moments before the bubble burst, eyes have moved to London's second-largest exchange.
Vigilant Technologies announced yesterday it plans to raise $18 million on the AIM, becoming Israel's 20th company listed on the market.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/659925.html
The Seattle Post Intelligencer
Volunteers clear out New Orleans synagogue
By STACEY PLAISANCE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS -- Standing on moldy and debris-covered floors, college students cleaning up a Jewish temple paused Monday for a prayer service - the first at Beth Israel Synagogue since Hurricane Katrina flooded it with more than 10 feet of water three months ago.
The dozen or so students were among roughly 50 from colleges across the country who have come to New Orleans to spend their winter break helping with recovery efforts at the century-old synagogue, as well as at area homes and schools left damaged by the storm.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Katrina_Flooded_Synagogue.html
Gregoire announces major Puget Sound clean up plan
By LISA STIFFLER AND ROBERT McCLURESEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS
Hoping to make the restoration of Puget Sound into a national priority, Gov. Christine Gregoire today announced the most-ambitious plan to date to clean up toxic dumps around the Sound, prevent oil spills and take other actions to revive the ailing estuary.
Gregoire’s $42 million proposal would provide a boost to the approximately $90 million currently earmarked for Sound-related work which is spread among a dozen agencies and institutions.
The funds would come from the state’s $1.4 billion surplus. Environmentalists hope this will mark the first significant commitment to a long-term effort to save the Sound.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/252659_sound19ww.html
Software Notebook: Microsoft, Mozilla: A symbol of cooperation?
By TODD BISHOPSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Granted, it's not exactly the Dayton Peace Accords. But Microsoft's Internet Explorer group and the rival Firefox browser team surprised the technology world last week with a small token of cooperation.
To be precise, it was a tiny orange icon. Microsoft worked out an arrangement to use the same symbol that Firefox does to alert people when a Web page makes extra streams of information available for subscription.
Microsoft will use Firefox's icon for online feeds.
The industry has seen bigger deals, to put it mildly. In fact, describing it as a deal might be a stretch. It was an informal agreement, with no money changing hands, said Sean Lyndersay, lead program manager on Microsoft's Internet Explorer team.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/252520_software19.html
Researchers find Barbie is often mutilated
By JILL LAWLESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- Barbie, beware. The iconic plastic doll is often mutilated at the hands of young girls, according to research published Monday by British academics.
"The girls we spoke to see Barbie torture as a legitimate play activity, and see the torture as a 'cool' activity," said Agnes Nairn, one of the University of Bath researchers. "The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving."
Researchers from the university's marketing and psychology departments questioned 100 children about their attitudes to a range of products as part of a study on branding. They found Barbie provoked the strongest reaction, with youngsters reporting "rejection, hatred and violence," Nairn said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Britain_Hating_Barbie.html
Schwarzenegger to hometown: Remove my name
By JENNIFER COLEMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday told officials in his hometown in Austria to remove his name from a sports stadium and stop using his identity to promote the city.
The governor's request came after politicians in Graz began a petition drive to rename the stadium, reacting to Schwarzenegger's decision last week to deny clemency to condemned inmate Stanley Tookie Williams. Opposition to the death penalty is strong in Austria.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Schwarzenegger_Hometown.html
Aceh shows best, worst of tsunami spending
By TIM SULLIVAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
It has been a year since the tsunami laid waste to the isolated Indonesian province of Aceh, but tens of thousands of people still live in a vast archipelago of shanty towns made of scrap wood spit back by the sea. Along the coast, towns and villages remain nothing but swampland and ankle-high rubble. In plywood barracks hurriedly built across the region, survivors are jammed together in windowless rooms.
Many people are desperately frustrated.
"We know a lot of money is going to Aceh, but where is it? Where are the buildings? Where is the construction?" demanded Zoelfitri, a 32-year-old man who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name. He lives in a homemade shanty on the fringes of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital on the northwestern edge of Sumatra island, and cares for nearly a dozen relatives who lost parents, children and siblings in the tsunami.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Tsunami_The_Money_TS1.html
Returns show Shiites lead in Iraq election
By MARIAM FAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Preliminary election returns Monday showed Iraqi voters divided along ethnic and religious lines with a commanding lead held by the religious Shiite coalition that dominates the current government.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi lawyer said at least 24 top former officials in Saddam Hussein's regime were freed from jail without charges. They included biological and chemical weapons experts known as "Dr. Germ" and "Mrs. Anthrax."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html
Iraq war veteran launches bid for House
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOMBARD, Ill. -- Iraq war veteran L. Tammy Duckworth, a helicopter pilot who lost her legs to a rocket-propelled grenade attack, formally announced her candidacy Sunday for the congressional seat of retiring Republican Rep. Henry Hyde.
The Army major is one of about a half dozen Iraq war veterans running for office as Democrats, lending their military backgrounds to the party's argument that it can be strong on defense and national security, even as its leaders criticize President Bush's handling of the war.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1132AP_Congress_Iraq_Veteran.html
Report: Russian official worried over bases
By MIKE ECKEL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MOSCOW -- Russia's foreign spy chief said military forces from other countries deployed at bases along Russia's periphery are a threat to the nation, a Russian news agency reported Monday.
In comments that appeared directed at U.S. forces deployed on bases in former Soviet countries, the Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Lebedev, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, as saying that Russia no longer had a "main adversary" as during the Cold War.
But "Russians cannot help but be concerned about new military bases and military contingents being deployed around our country," he was quoted as saying.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Russia_Intelligence_Chief.html
N. Ireland begins granting gay unions
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Two lesbians become the first gay couple in the United Kingdom to win legal recognition under a civil partnership Monday, a ceremony that attracted scorn from evangelical Christian protesters but praise from gay rights activists.
Grainne Close, a social worker from Northern Ireland, and Shannon Sickels, a playwright from New York, were the first of several hundred gay couples exchanging vows nationwide this week - including Elton John and his longtime partner.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Britain_Gay_Marriage.html
Federal survey shows unwanted births up
By MIKE STOBBE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ATLANTA -- More American women are having babies they didn't want, a survey indicates, but federal researchers say they don't know if that means attitudes about abortion are changing.
U.S. women of childbearing age who were surveyed in 2002 revealed that 14 percent of their recent births were unwanted at the time of conception, federal researchers said Monday.
In a similar 1995 survey, only 9 percent were unwanted at the time of conception.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Unwanted_Pregnancies.html
South America shifting left, away from U.S.
By BILL CORMIER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LA PAZ, Bolivia -- South America's leftward tilt has gained momentum with the likely victory of Bolivian presidential candidate Evo Morales, the coca-farming Indian who calls himself "Washington's nightmare."
Morales, whose election is all but assured given his wide margin in Sunday's voting, takes guidance from the anti-American populist Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and considers the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara his hero.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Bolivia_Leaning_Left.html
The New Zealand Herald
Siberians even colder than usual
20.12.05 7.20am
More than 100,000 people in the Siberian city of Kyzyl were left without heat and hot water amid -37C temperatures after a breakdown at the central heating plant.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360749
Narwhal tusk for sensing, smooching
15.12.05
The narwhal's mysterious spiral tusk works as a giant sensor to help it test water qualities and to smooch other narwhals, according to a United States researcher.
The whale's 2.4m long tusk has long mystified naturalists and hunters, and the explanation may be equally intriguing, Harvard School of Dental Medicine researcher Dr Martin Nweeia said.
The tusk, it seems, has hydrodynamic-sensing capabilities, Dr Nweeia said before his presentation to the Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in San Diego.
The mammals are among the rarest of whales, usually 4 to 4.5m long, found mostly in the Arctic Ocean waters of Canada but as far east as Russia.
Dr Nweeia's team found that the narwhal tusk is like a membrane with an extremely sensitive surface. It has 10 million nerve connections to the outer surface that would be capable of detecting changes in water temperature, pressure, and salinity.
"There is no comparison in nature and certainly none more unique in tooth form, expression, and functional adaptation."
Anyone with sensitive teeth who has bitten into an icecream would wince.
"Why would a tusk break the rules of normal development by expressing millions of sensory pathways that connect its nervous system to the frigid arctic environment?" Dr Nweeia asked.
"Such a finding is startling and indeed surprised all of us who discovered it."
Dr Nweeia's team also noted that narwhal males will rub tusks and said it was likely this provided the big animals with a "unique sensation".
"Now that we know the sensory capabilities of the tusk, we can design new experiments to describe some of the unique and unexplained behaviours of this elusive and extraordinary whale."
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10359968
Union relief as Air NZ reconsiders job losses
19.12.05 1.00pm UPDATE
The union acting for hundreds of Air New Zealand engineers threatened with redundancy says it is delighted the airline is reconsidering its plans.
Air NZ had announced in October that more than 600 staff would lose their jobs due to of a decision to send heavy maintenance work to Asia.
After receiving a proposal from the union, it today confirmed 110 would be made redundant but said the remaining 507 would hear their fate in February.
The EPMU said it was delighted the airline would seriously consider its cost-cutting proposal, which could save more jobs.
Andrew Little, national secretary for the union, said it was "regrettable" Air NZ believed it needed to cut staff, but the most important aspect was that New Zealand would still have an aircraft heavy engineering operation which could be built upon in the future.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10360636
NZ gets top marks in World Bank business survey
19.12.05 1.00pm
New Zealand has received top marks in a World Bank survey on 'Doing Business in 2006'.
The country ranked number 1 in terms of ease of doing business, in the survey of 155 countries by the bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) division.
Australia was sixth on the list, which assessed the ease with which to establish and maintain a business, while Pacific nations Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, ranked 34th, 36th and 39th respectively.
Sean Duggan, IFC's regional programme coordinator for the Pacific, said Pacific Island nations "fared remarkably well", in this year's survey, but he warned that "the Pacific does have its fair share of problems, particularly with the administration of regulation".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10360637
Birdflu cost to NZ 'up to $30bn in first year'
20.12.05 1.00pm
A birdflu pandemic would cost New Zealand between $15 billion and $30 billion in the first year, Treasury said today.
The loss to the economy would be around 10 to 20 per cent of GDP in the year that a pandemic occurred, it said in a report.
The cost over four years would be up to $40 billion.
"The economy would take several years to recover from a shock of this scale and losses could amount to 15-30 per cent of annual GDP over the medium term," Treasury said.
The report, written on November 2, was published on its website today (link at foot of page).
Normally, the risk of flu pandemic is considered to be 1 to 2 per cent over any one year, or 20 to 30 per cent over 20 years, but Treasury quotes Australia's Chief Medical Officer as putting the odds of a pandemic over the next few years at 10 per cent.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10360807
Romania detects new suspected bird flu case
20.12.05 12.20pm
BUCHAREST - Romania has found suspected bird flu in hens in another village 100km east of Bucharest, where an outbreak was detected last week, officials said on Monday.
The H5 type of the virus was confirmed last week in two villages in Ialomita county, indicating the avian disease could be spreading towards the capital.
Since October, the Balkan country has found avian flu in 21 villages in and around the Danube delta where the deadly strain of the virus was first discovered 300km from Bucharest.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10360777
'Dr Germ' and 'Mrs Anthrax' released
20.12.05 1.00pm
By Alastair Macdonald
BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein's weapons experts known as "Dr Germ" and "Mrs Anthrax" are being released by US forces, an Iraqi lawyer said on Monday, and the US military confirmed several "high-value detainees" were being freed.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said eight leading detainees had been freed on Saturday.
He said they were among 27 prisoners, considered senior members of the administration overthrown by US forces in 2003, who now posed no threat to security, were neither charged with crimes nor material witnesses, and had no intelligence value.
Johnson declined to identify any of the detainees or comment on the fate of those still held prisoner.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10360771
US House passes torture ban and war funding
20.12.05 1.00pm
By Vicki Allen
WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives has passed final legislation to ban the torture of detainees and voted to advance the Pentagon US$50 billion ($73.42 billion) for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House passed two separate defence bills, one for funding and one for defence policies, that contained identical measures initially opposed by President George W. Bush requiring humane treatment of detainees in US custody.
But, in a concession to the White House, the bills curb the ability of inmates at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to challenge their detention in federal court.
Congress is pushing to complete its work for the year and the policy bill could go to the Senate for final passage late today before being sent to Bush.
The Senate will take up the funding measure this week, with a fight expected over an unrelated measure added to the bill to allow oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge.
The bills also would let information gleaned by coercion to be used against Guantanamo inmates.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10360787
Greens want block on passing spy information to US
19.12.05 1.00pm
The Green Party has said New Zealand should stop sending information obtained by its spy base to the United States following revelations it could be misused.
US President George W Bush has admitted he allowed domestic eavesdropping without court approval following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.
The revelation in the New York Times caused outrage in the US, with both Democrats and Republicans calling for congressional investigations into the decision.
The Greens' security and intelligence spokesman Keith Locke said New Zealand should suspend the transfer of data intercepted by the Waihopai spy base to the US National Security Agency (NSA).
Waihopai is part of the NSA-run Echelon communications intelligence network.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10360631
Former Aceh rebels complete weapons handover
20.12.05 1.00pm
BANDA ACEH - Former rebels in Indonesia's Aceh completed a weapons handover on Monday under a peace pact that ended one of Asia's longest running civil wars, foreign monitors said.
"Today we could confirm that the (Free) Aceh Movement has offered the last of their weapons, thereby completing their commitment under the Helsinki MOU (Memorandum of Understanding)," Pieter Feith, chief of the European Union-led Aceh Monitoring Mission, told a news conference.
The rebel movement, known as Gam, and the government have moved quickly to reduce tensions since signing an agreement in Helsinki in August to end the 30-year war in which 15,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
Gam and Indonesia's government signed the peace pact after months of negotiation spurred on by the Dec. 26 tsunami that smashed into Indian Ocean coastlines.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360776
Iran tells West to be tolerant of Holocaust views
19.12.05 1.00pm
TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust is a matter for academic discussion and the West should be more tolerant of his views, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
Ahmadinejad last week called the Holocaust a myth and suggested Israel be moved to Germany or Alaska, remarks that sparked international uproar and threaten diplomatic talks with Europe over Iran's nuclear programme.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi defended the president's remarks, which also drew a rebuke from the UN Security Council.
"What the president said is an academic issue. The West's reaction shows their continued support for Zionists," Asefi told a weekly news conference.
"Westerners are used to leading a monologue but they should learn to listen to different views," he added.
Some 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their allies between 1933 and 1945.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10360628
EU was aware of rendition, says Powell
19.12.05 1.00pm
By Jerome Taylor
LONDON - European governments, including Britain's, were under growing pressure last night to reveal the extent of their involvement in controversial US "extraordinary renditions".
Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State, said that statements of ignorance by European leaders such Jack Straw about the transport, detention and torture of suspects were not believable.
"There's a little bit of the movie Casablanca in this, where, you know, the inspector says, 'I'm shocked, shocked that this kind of thing [gambling] takes place'," he said in the interview with Sir David Frost.
Speaking on the BBC's World TV channel yesterday, Mr Powell criticised the US's European allies for expressing ignorance of rendition, and dismissed suggestions that governments were surprised that their airports may have been involved in rendition.
"Most of our European friends cannot be shocked that this kind of thing takes place.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10360639
Colombian rebels show video of hostage
20.12.05 11.20am
By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA - Colombian rebels released a video on Monday showing a former government minister they kidnapped five years ago asking officials to negotiate a hostage exchange.
The video, in which a gaunt Fernando Araujo appeared with a small green parrot perched on his shoulder, was shot Dec. 11, two days before the government offered to withdraw troops from around a small mountain town to set the stage for talks aimed at freeing 63 hostages in return for jailed rebels.
"We ask that the government show all the will necessary and the best possible attitude in negotiations to reach an exchange agreement with the (rebels)," Araujo, kidnapped while jogging in the Caribbean resort city of Cartagena in 2000 after he had resigned as minister, said in the video.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10360801
Bombs in Iraq, murder video on web
20.12.05 10.00am
BAGHDAD - Bombs ripped through three Iraqi cities on Monday and two senior officials survived assassination attempts, hours after President George W. Bush told Americans not to despair over the US mission in Iraq.
An Iraqi militant group posted an internet video claiming to show the killing of an American abducted this month.
The level of violence has risen again since the successful and largely peaceful election on Dec. 15, the first parliamentary poll since the US-led invasion.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360783
Latin America's new socialist revolution
20.12.05
By Daniel Howden
LA PAZ - Inside La Paz's bullet-pocked National Congress building, the gloomy halls are filled with portraits of the great and good of European descent, reflecting who has ruled Latin America's poorest and most racially polarised country since independence in 1825.
At the end of a corridor is a room full of images of Che Guevara. Among them hangs a poster with the slogan, "I'd rather be an illiterate Indian than a North American millionaire".
Thirty-eight years after his death in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes, trying to spark a revolution, the Marxist soldier of fortune's boast reverberates in the dilemma now facing the nation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360679
Leaders push for WTO deal
20.12.05
By Fran O'Sullivan
HONG KONG - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to call a G8 summit early in the New Year in response to a request from the World Trade Organisation for the world's political leaders to get behind an aggressive push to complete further talks by the end of next April.
WTO director-general Pascal Lamy said the present round of talks would only be a success if the "bosses" told their trade ministers "you've got to come back with a deal" when they reconvene in Geneva.
Lamy used a press conference - which finished just before midnight Hong Kong time - to go over the top of delegation heads from the 149 nations taking part in the ministerial talks.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360722
'Tsunami of cheap goods' overwhelm African jobs
20.12.05
By John Chiahemen
Johannesburg - South Africa's union federation Cosatu planned to use a rally marking its 20th birthday this month to promote a "buy local" campaign.
But as about 20,000 unionists marched and chanted "Proudly South African" slogans in a Durban stadium, word went round that the bright red T-shirts each wore were made in China.
Thousands of noisy members of the Sactwu textile union, which is spearheading a campaign against a flood of cheap Chinese textile imports, removed the shirts and hurled them into a pile in the middle of the stadium.
"People's reaction to those T-shirts is a clear indication that they've had enough of these cheap products from abroad," Sactwu president John Zikhali said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360687
Cancer vaccine has strong response in young girls
19.12.05 1.00pm
NEW YORK - Girls aged 10 to 14 who received GlaxoSmithKline Plc's vaccine to prevent infection with the virus that causes cervical cancer had immune responses twice as strong as women 15-25 years old given the vaccine, the company said at the weekend, describing results of a late-stage trial.
Glaxo said the first published data from a Phase III trial of its Cervarix vaccine suggest it may provide the strongest and most-prolonged protection if given to girls at very young ages, long before they encounter the sexually transmitted virus.
"The concentrations of antibodies to the virus were twice as high in the bloodstreams of the young girls," said Gary Dubin, a senior research official at Glaxo who was the lead author on the study.
Antibodies are immune-system proteins that seek out and destroy bacteria and viruses. Vaccines, by introducing the body to snippets of specific bacteria or viruses, train the body to crank out tailor-made antibodies that attack them.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10360652
Six face trial in Norway for 'The Scream' theft
20.12.05 1.00pm
OSLO - Six people will stand trial in Oslo in February accused of stealing "The Scream" and "Madonna" even though the two masterpieces by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch are still missing, prosecutors said on Monday.
"The Oslo public prosecutor's office has ... charged five people with taking part in the robbery of the Munch Museum on August 22, 2004", prosecutor Terje Nyboe said in a statement. A sixth person was charged with receiving stolen goods.
In the robbery, two masked gunmen walked into the Munch Museum in Oslo past dozens of terrified tourists, pulled the pictures from the wall and drove off in a car driven by a third man before switching to another getaway car.
The pictures, both painted in 1893, have not been seen since. The main portion of the four-week trial is due to be heard in Oslo in mid-February 2006, the statement said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360781
You've got mail ... and possibly an STD as well
19.12.05
By Andrew Gumbel
LOS ANGELES - You have an embarrassing problem. You have just been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. Worse, you've been sleeping around, so other people are at risk and they need to be told.
Problem is, you barely know them. You certainly don't feel up to a sit-down heart-to-heart about your condition and what they might want to do to check themselves out.
What to do? California's health authorities have found a solution that keeps awkward communication to a minimum: an email service that tells your recent partners what the problem is and commits you to nothing, not even to give your name.
Called Inspot, the service consists of a choice of six e-cards with messages ranging from the jokey to the sombre. One is a close-up photograph of household screws with the message: "I got screwed while screwing. You might have, too."
Another depicts a suntanned, well-toned man holding a towel up to his buttocks. The caption: "You're too hot to be out of action. I got diagnosed with STD since we played. You might want to get checked, too."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10360536
Poor children more likely to die than their rich peers
16.12.05
Children from lower-income households are more likely to die than those from medium- or high-income families, a study has revealed.
Researchers looking into socio-economic factors in child mortality examined the cases of about 2250 children who died between 1981 and 1999.
The paper by the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago, was published in the NZ Medical Journal this week.
"Children living in deprived circumstances are more likely to die in all areas, except for cancer," said Dr Caroline Shaw.
The paper highlighted the need to address the factors that put children at risk, including traffic safety, quality of rental housing and fencing round homes.
"And, of course, no child [should be] living in poverty, so income levels for people living on benefits may need to be looked at," Dr Shaw said.
The higher death rate of children from low-income households was seen most strongly in accidents - burns, poisoning and drownings.
This was followed by a combination of "other" causes of death - such as disease and asthma - and traffic injuries. These two sectors made up about 80 per cent of child deaths.
Deaths from congenital causes were also tied to socio-economic levels.
Cancer was the only death-related cause not affected by socio-economic factors.
Dr Shaw said the number of deaths from suicide and murder was small and, apart from cancer, was the only category where medium-income households dominated.
But the numbers were so small it was not possible to find a substantial trend in that field, and international evidence showed that the lower the income, the more likely children would feature in murder or suicide rates, she said.
Associate Professor Tony Blakely said the study also raised fresh questions about how to pinpoint social policy.
Addressing poverty might help, he said, but there were deaths in the "other" category that might make it difficult to determine how best to focus policy initiatives.
- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10360239
Sunscreens' all-day protection claims challenged
16.12.05
The Cancer Society has complained to the Commerce Commission about three brands of sunscreen which claim all-day protection from only one application.
The society, which is being backed by the Health Sponsorship Council, says Piz Buin, Daylong Sunscreen and Once Sunscreen are promoted as having all-day protection from one use.
The society's chief executive, Neil Chave, said there was no evidence to suggest that one application would provide eight hours of protection for people swimming and putting clothes on and off.
"All the evidence we have suggests that every two or three hours you have to reapply, particularly if you are swimming, because the effectiveness declines," he said.
Most products would wash off or sweat off, particularly on hot days, and fair-skinned people in particular needed ample cover.
An internet advertisement for Once Sunscreen says "people tested" had 95 per cent filter (SPF 20) after eight hours, including two hours in spa pools.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10360247
Sunscreen suppliers defend products
17.12.05
Two sunscreen suppliers have defended the labelling on their products that prompted the Cancer Foundation to complain to the Commerce Commission.
The commission, backed by the Health Sponsorship Council, disputed claims that Piz Buin Day Long, Once Sunscreen and Daylong Sunscreen offered all-day protection from one application.
Cancer Society chief executive Neil Chave said on Thursday that there was no evidence to suggest that one application would provide eight hours of protection for people swimming and taking clothes on and off.
He said sunscreen needed to be applied every two to three hours, particularly with fair-skinned people and when combined with swimming.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10360371
Willie and Arlo bring music back to New Orleans
19.12.05 1.00pm
By Michele Gershberg
NEW ORLEANS - Singers Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson staged a musical homecoming for hurricane-wrecked New Orleans on Saturday night, bringing back a taste of the songs for which the city is famed.
In a concert dedicated to assisting musicians who lost their homes, instruments and livelihoods when Hurricane Katrina flooded the city on August 29, the two pledged to help its songmakers find their voices again.
"The best music comes from difficult times," Guthrie told Reuters. "There will be an injection of something different into New Orleans as a result of the disaster ... the culture here will swallow it up, and something new will sparkle."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360643
Chad blames Sudan for border attack
19.12.05 11.20am
N'DJAMENA - Chad has blamed its neighbour Sudan for an attack on a town near the countries' border on Sunday which killed more than 100 people.
"The Chadian government holds the Sudanese government totally responsible for this morning's attack mounted from its territory," Chad's Communication Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said in a statement that said that more than 100 people were killed during the attack.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10360623continued ...
Before Katrina. May 23, 2005. Pascagoula River, Mississippi.
The twelve week old Jaguars at the Palm Beach Zoo.
Zoos
Extinction alert for 800 species
By Richard Black
Environment Correspondent, BBC News website
Researchers have compiled a global map of sites where animals and plants face imminent extinction.
The list, drawn up by a coalition of conservation groups, covers almost 800 species which they say will disappear soon unless urgent measures are taken.
Most of the 800 are now found only in one location, mainly in the tropics.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers say protecting some of these sites would cost under $1,000 per year.
"This is a whole suite of species threatened with extinction," said Stuart Butchart, global species programme co-ordinator with BirdLife International, one of the groups behind the report.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4522044.stm
Dutch zoos begin vaccinating fowl against bird flu AP Photo AMS106-112
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) _ Rotterdam Zoo began vaccinating its penguins, ostriches, owls and other birds against bird flu Tuesday, among the first European parks to inoculate against the virulent strain that swept through flocks in Asia and threatened humans.
In Europe, wild birds have tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu strain in Romania, Russia, Croatia and Turkey, but the virus strain has not been detected in humans.
That strain, however, has killed at least 69 people in Asia since 2003.
Zookeepers said they feared that wild birds flying south to Africa for the winter might return next year carrying the virus, and wanted to begin building resistance among their flocks now.
Koen Brouwer, the director of the Netherlands Union of Zoos, said that other Dutch zoos would vaccinate birds in the coming days. He said the zoos began lobbying for vaccinations in August. A major hurdle was lifted Nov. 11, when the European Union dropped objections, but the zoos" applications were only now being approved.
"It was a rather bureaucratic process, but I have to say that I was ultimately satisfied with the result, especially the cooperation from the Dutch government," he said. "We"re not in a crisis now, so we understand the urgency is not so great."
The Netherlands lies in the path of bird migration from both Asia and Africa. It is especially sensitive to the threat of plague after suffering a major outbreak of a different bird flu strain in 2003 in which 30 million birds were slaughtered, 89 people were infected and one died.
The Dutch government annoyed politicians in Brussels this summer by ordering that all commercial, pet, and zoo birds be kept in shelters or indoors.
The European Union Commission initially opposed such measures as unnecessary, but later issued similar guidelines for birds near "high risk" areas _ migration routes and large bodies of water.
Other Europe-wide measures in place include extra disinfection procedures for imported birds and a ban on bird markets.
http://www.diariosigloxxi.com/noticia.php?ts=20051213174725
Male elephant knocks out keeper at Tokyo zoo
TOKYO -- A male elephant knocked out a keeper with one of his tusks at a zoo in central Tokyo in what may have been a hormone-driven frenzy, the zoo master said Tuesday.
Attie, a 2.2-ton (2.4-U.S. ton) Asian bull at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, struck his keeper Yutaka Kawaharabayashi in the forehead on Tuesday morning, zoo master Teruyuki Komiya told reporters.
Nine-year-old Attie had recently entered "musth," which means a bull is physiologically ready to mate and is looking for a female, according to Komiya.
Another zoo worker dragged the bleeding Kawaharabayashi from the elephant pen, Komiya said. Kawaharabayashi sustained serious head injuries and has been hospitalized.
Ueno, the only zoo in central Tokyo, is also home to four female elephants. Attie is the only bull.
http://news.inq7.net/world/index.php?index=1&story_id=59905
Zoo Cat Captured After Two Weeks In Hiding
POSTED: 1:50 pm EST December 13, 2005
PARAMUS, N.J. -- Workers inside the Bergen County Zoo administration building in Paramus have found an ocelot that escaped near the end of last month.
The cat wandered into a trap that was set after it got out of a plastic container inside the building while workers cleaned and repaired its exhibit.
The ocelot was not considered dangerous and apparently spent nearly two weeks hiding in the building.
http://www.nbc10.com/news/5526694/detail.html
Commission welcomes proposals for new zoo
Clinch Park site will close in '07
By VANESSA McCRAYRecord-Eagle staff writer
TRAVERSE CITY - The city will give groups who want to create a new zoo until mid-February to submit their plans.
City commissioners Monday provided some direction for how they would like the closure of the city's bayfront Clinch Park Zoo handled. Commissioners agreed in November to a Labor Day 2007 deadline to shutter the current zoo.
The city could provide funding to help a nonprofit open a new facility. Only one group, Citizens for a Wildlife Education Center, announced a desire to work with the city to do so.
Commissioners, however, will give other groups a chance to make a bid. The city will send out a "request for proposals" and ask interested groups to submit plans by mid-February. The city commission will select the successful group at its March 6, 2006 meeting.
Commissioners said they are willing to provide a 50 percent match to fund a feasibility study for the new group. The study could cost "in the high five to low six figures," city manager Richard Lewis estimated.
The wildlife group hoped the city would acknowledge it as the zoo's successor immediately. It also encouraged the city to refrain from relocating zoo animals without first giving it time to make plans for a new center.
But city officials - at the urging of others - will continue to look for suitable homes for the animals.
Lewis said the zoo has found a possible place to send the bears and lynx.
"If we pass up this opportunity I think it would be very sad," said Debi Sanborn, a member of the Grand Traverse Zoological Society board.
The zoological society opposed the city's decision to close the zoo.
"We should be finding homes rather than holding onto them," said commissioner Ralph Soffredine.
April is the earliest any animals would be relocated, Lewis said.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/dec/13zoo.htm
Oregon Zoo Wants To Know - Flying Reindeer - Science Fiction Or Scientific Fact?
Portland, Oregon - Flying reindeer expert and Oregon Zoo Director Tony Vecchio is asking children around the world to e-mail their reindeer sightings to him by visiting http://www.oregonzoo.org/#reindeer. Vecchio has studied flying reindeer for nearly ten years and will talk about his theories during a book signing for Flight of the Reindeer on Dec. 23 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the zoo's Cascade Outfitters Gift Shop.
http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=322696&cp=10997
NEW TIGER ARRIVES AT SAN FRANCISCO ZOO
12/18/05 11:00 PST
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)
The San Francisco Zoo on Friday welcomed a new tenant, a tiger named Tatiana, who will eventually accompany their resident male Siberian tiger, Tony.
Tatiana arrived on a flight from Denver and was placed into a quarantine pen where she will spend the next 30 days, according to zoo curator Bob Jenkins.
Tony, who lived most of his 13 years in the company of his female sibling Emily, lives in the zoo's Lion House. Emily died of cancer of the spleen in late 2004, according to the zoo.
Jenkins said Tatiana will provide Tony with the companionship he is used to while she awaits entry into a national breeding program for tigers.
The San Francisco Zoo participates in the Tiger Species Survival Plan, a cooperative effort of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association to ensure the tiger population in North America remains genetically viable and healthy, Jenkins explained.
"Tatiana is a young tiger, about two years old, and basically she's here on a holding pattern before she enters the breeding program,'' Jenkins said. "Tony is a vasectomized male, so this is an ideal partnership.''
Tatiana will enter the breeding program when its coordinators determine that they need her genetic input into the tiger population. In the meantime, she will bunk with Tony.
The tigers must be introduced to each other gradually, Jenkins said. First, Tatiana goes through her 30 days of quarantine to make sure she's healthy and eating properly. Then, she will be moved to the Lion House where she and Tony will be able to see each other. Eventually, they will be moved into adjacent pens in order to get used to each other's smells and mannerisms. Then they will begin spending bits of time in the same pen. At some point, the two will live together.
"Once you start that process, you're on what we call 'tiger time.' They let you know when they're ready. You're on their schedule at that point,'' Jenkins said.
Jenkins also said that a population of penguins that had experienced some health problems earlier this year are doing "just fine.'' He said the zoo was making preparations for the penguins to breed next year.
http://www.cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2005/12/18/n/HeadlineNews/NEW-TIGER/resources_bcn_html
To ape gorillas, see Zoo Atlanta primatologist
By TOM SABULISThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/19/05
Even King Kong had to research his part.
That's why actor Andy Serkis turned to Zoo Atlanta's Tara Stoinski to learn the ways of real gorillas in Rwanda.
Although Kong is a computer-generated creature on the big screen, Serkis acted as Kong with other performers during the filming, and his movements were electronically captured to help create the beastly character. (He did the same thing for Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.)
A primatologist who also works with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, which is based at Zoo Atlanta, Stoinski talked about what the movie gets right, simian speaking, and how Serkis' visit to the Fossey Fund's Karisoke Research Center in Africa last year influenced the big star's performance.
Why did you like the movie?
"The two things I was most struck by was Kong's protective nature. He's very protective of Ann Darrow [played by Naomi Watts] and spends a lot of time and energy protecting her from various elements in the movie.
Gorillas are like that?
"That's extremely typical of gorillas. Gorillas will defend members of their family to the death. When you hear about gorilla infants that are on sale in the market in Africa, they [poachers] have had to literally kill the mother and often times other members of the group in order to get an infant.
What else did you like?
My other personal favorite part was that Kong laughed in the movie. Gorillas do laugh.
How can you tell they laugh?
They have a vocalization they do. In the movie, Kong does it in response to Ann Darrow. When we generally see them laugh [in real life] is when they are playing. We have a bunch of males right now [at Zoo Atlanta] and sometimes they're laughing so hard when they're playing they actually have to stop and catch their breath. To have Kong laugh in the movie, it was wonderful. That's a really fun side of gorillas that a lot of people don't know about.
Could you tell that Andy Serkis studied gorillas by what you saw onscreen?
He was very interested in how they handled things, their movement patterns. That was really reflected in the movie. I thought a lot of the ways that Kong picked up things and handled things looked exactly how a gorilla would do it.
Can this movie really educate people about the plight of gorillas?
It has a lot of good elements. When the first "King Kong" was made in 1933, we knew absolutely nothing about gorilla behavior. We now know how close their social groups are. How they protect family members. That they have individual personalities. A lot of that is reflected in this "Kong."
The movie won't give them a misleading idea about gorillas?
It's a fantasy-adventure piece, and people recognize that. People know that there aren't 25-foot gorillas roaming around. Still, there are true-to-life aspects of gorillas [in the movie], and anything we can do to raise awareness of gorillas and gorilla conservation is extremely important. We are at a crisis with this species. The words that are used to describe it are "catastrophic decline."
But can they really climb tall buildings?
If there were proper hand-holds, I'm sure they could. They're extremely strong.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/living/1205/19lvzoo.html
Deal to save zoo should be finalized today
By LAURA LAYDEN, lllayden@naplesnews.comDecember 19, 2005
The lions will have reason to roar.
A deal to save the Naples Zoo that has been in the works for nearly two years is expected to be completed today.
The nonprofit Trust for Public Land will purchase 166.5 acres of land in the heart of Naples and sell nearly 130 acres to Collier County, including the roughly 40 acres upon which the zoo sits.
The county will pay $41.5 million for the land, slightly more than voters approved for the purchase in November 2004.
Greg Chelius, Florida director for the Trust for Public Land, flew into town Sunday night from Tallahassee to sign off on the deal, which should be wrapped up by this afternoon.
"It's an extremely important day for the Trust for Public Land and the community of Naples and Collier County," Chelius said. "We think the preservation of this land, saving the zoo and creating a central park really provides long-term sustainability to an urban area, which is the core to our mission."
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_4326263,00.html
Zoo's outreach extends to Kenya
By Gail PenningtonPOST-DISPATCH TELEVISION CRITIC
12/19/2005
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: KMOV (Channel 4)
Mike Favazza dug deep to find precisely the right word to describe his recent trip to Kenya to document the St. Louis Zoo's conservation efforts there. He finally came up with one: "transformative."
Favazza, a photographer for KMOV (Channel 4), and Anne Steffens, the station's education reporter, joined Zoo president Jeffrey Bonner, education director Louise Bradshaw and others as they looked at new ways to help Kenyan schools teach conservation. The two-week trip took them to spots including remote Kalama, where a single school serves all the children in a two-hour radius, and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the hub of efforts to save the endangered Grevy's zebra.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/columnists.nsf/gailpennington/story/4AC22B4398A2BFB2862570DA0037D7ED?OpenDocument
Vets at Zoo Atlanta inseminate snake
Dec 18, 2005, 1:55 GMT
ATLANTA, GA, United States (UPI) -- Veterinarians at Zoo Atlanta have performed what is believed to be the first artificial insemination of a snake.
The zoo was hoping that two eastern indigo snakes would reproduce by doing what comes naturally. But Blu, who was born at the zoo in 1988, just did not have what it takes to make partner, a snake on loan from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, a mom.
Blu also suffers from a low sperm count.
The unnamed female was anaesthetized during the insemination, stretched out to her full 6 feet 2 inches on a gurney. Veterinarians say they will not know for about two months if the procedure took and she is indeed expecting.
Eastern indigo snakes are a non-venomous species and the longest snake in North America. In earlier days, the snakes were popular with carnival snake charmers.
Their numbers have been reduced because of habitat loss and the snake`s own slow movements.
http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1069787.php/Vets_at_Zoo_Atlanta_inseminate_snake
Surge in panda science begets giant surprise
Artificial insemination offers hope of bolstering endangered species
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, December 18, 2005
By D'VERA COHN The Washington Post
WASHINGTON – The National Zoo's giant panda cub, Tai Shan, didn't just happen. He was brought to you by scientists who spent years studying the intimate details of black-and-white-bear biology before they mastered artificial insemination.
A recent surge in giant panda science is helping zoos get more animals pregnant, diagnose their pregnancies and put to rest the long-held belief that pandas are poor breeders. The research is producing insights into how pandas communicate, how mothers raise their young and how the animals look for food.
The ultimate goal is to increase the giant panda's chances in the wilds of China, where only 1,600 remain, threatened mainly by the loss of bamboo forests to logging and development. Scientists are studying the panda's basic survival needs and are trying to build up the number of captive animals so that some could be set loose in potential panda territory.
Money for the studies has come largely from the four U.S. zoos that have giant pandas – including the National Zoo, where Tai Shan went on public display recently.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-pandadog_18nat.ART.State.Bulldog.3dbbf33.html
Poachers kill bear in zoo for gallbladder
Aizawl, Dec. 18: A young Himalayan black bear in Aizawl zoo was found murdered by officials on Friday night with its gallbladder missing.
The zoo’s veterinary doctor, Vanlalhruaia Pachuau, said the bear suffered grievous injury on its head, possibly from a blunt object.
The bear was last seen by its feeders on Wednesday. On Thursday, as there was no sign of the bear, the zoo authorities launched a search but managed to find the carcass only on Friday night inside its enclosure.
The doctor said the bear’s entrails and other organs had been taken out though only the gallbladder was missing. “We believe the bear was killed for its gallbladder,” Pachuau said.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051219/asp/northeast/story_5616844.asp
Evansville zoo considering tropics exhibit
Associated Press
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Planners were considering an $11.5 million proposal to add a South American rain forest exhibit to the Mesker Park Zoo.
Torre Design Consortium of New Orleans designed the 10,000-square-foot "Amazonia" exhibit, which would have a climate that allows tropical plants and animals to thrive. It submitted its design this week to the Area Plan Commission.
Erik Beck, Mesker's general curator, said construction bids were likely to be opened in February on the improvements, among those funded by a $15.3 million bond issue for a zoo overhaul. Construction was expected to take from 18 months to two years, making for completion in late 2007 or early 2008.
"People can come in on a February day into surroundings that are 80 degrees, nice and humid, with a really huge waterfall," Beck said. "It'll be a fantastic experience."
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051217/NEWS01/512170436/1006/NEWS01
Elephant pitching in to help zoo expand
OSCAR ABEYTATucson Citizen
A one-of-a-kind painting by Tucson's largest artist is being auctioned to help buy her and her friend a new home.
Shaba, the Reid Park Zoo's African elephant, is doing her part to help raise the $8.5 million needed for the zoo's African exhibit expansion. The expansion would include a larger enclosure for Shaba and Connie, the zoo's Asian elephant, and would allow curators to breed Shaba.
Even though the auction doesn't close until Tuesday afternoon, zoo administrator Susan Basford said it's already a success.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/local/121705a4_brf_elephantart
Palm Beach Zoo Reopens With Two New Cubs
Public Encouraged To Suggest Names For Babies
POSTED: 11:13 pm EST December 16, 2005
UPDATED: 11:28 pm EST December 16, 2005
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Palm Beach Zoo has welcomed some new residents.
On Thursday, two Jaguar cubs made their public debut when the zoo reopened after being closed for eight weeks.
Hurricane Wilma destroyed three exhibits and damaged nearly 30 others.
The zoo also lost one animal.
With help from workers and volunteers, however, the zoo is finally open again for business.
The zoo is also inviting the public to a special reopening celebration on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The zoo is also holding a naming contest for the cubs.
To offer a suggestion, zoo officials are encouraging everyone to go to the Palm Beach Zoo's Web page.
http://www.wpbfnews.com/news/5558427/detail.html
Kids get free trip to zoo
By Lee Bonorden/Austin Daily Herald
Mike and Marge McCoy have rescued a program that gives Austin Public Schools' third graders a free trip to the Minnesota Zoo.
Candace Raskin, Austin superintendent of schools, held a press conference Thursday afternoon at Banfield Elementary School to announce the McCoy's generous donation.
The McCoys, of Austin, donated $8,700 to the Austin school district to fund the free trip to the Minnesota Zoo by all third graders in the public school system. The trip will be made near the end of the 2005-06 school year.
“It's an opportunity the third graders should have,” Mike McCoy said.
Whether it remains an annual affair for future third grade classes remains to be seen.
“I would certainly hope so,” McCoy said Thursday. “As long as we are here in the community, we are committed, and we have told Dr. Raskin we are committed to doing it.”
The children's transportation, zoo entrance and class fees and lunch will be paid by the couple's grant.
Raskin called the Minnesota Zoo experience an “exceptional program for our grade three students.”
Carol Gilbertson, a Banfield Elementary third grade teacher, added her praise to the field trip to the Minnesota Zoo.
At one point, during a question-and-answer session with Gilbertson's third graders, “Minnesota Zoo director” McCoy couldn't help himself.
He told the children the Minnesota Zoo hosts a “sleep-over” style field trip for children, too.
The excited reaction from the children was enthusiastically positive, prompting McCoy to remark, “Maybe, I shouldn't have mentioned that.”
Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at
http://www.austindailyherald.com/articles/2005/12/16/news/news2.txt
Manda Deer Park in Jammu to be upgaded to zoo
Jammu December 17, 2005 11:40:07 AM IST
The Jammu and Kashmir government has given its approval for the upgradation of the prestigious Manda Deer Park, located in a patch of the Ramnagar forests close to the winter capital here, to a full-fledged zoo.
The Central Zoo Authority of India (CZAI) had also given its permission, Regional Wildlife Warden (Jammu) Nasir Ahmad Kitchloo told UNI here today.
He said a CZAI team visited Manda recently and did a comprehensive survey of the project.
The main attractions for Manda visitors are the animals wandering in a semi-wild habitat. The park at present has seven leopards, three leopard cats, a civet, black bear, spotted deer, barking deer, nilgai, sambars, gazelles and porcupines.
The proposed zoo, which will come up in 64 hectares of land surrounded by thick forests, will additionally have walk-in aviaries, Mr Kitchloo said.
More wild animals would be brought from outside the state after the zoo is constructed, he added.
The government also plans to introduce eco-tourism concept in the zoo on the pattern of that existing in Karnataka, besides upgrading the Nature Intrepretation Centre.
Mr Kitchloo said the department had also been releasing from time to time spotted deer, nilgais and other antelopes in the Ramnagar wildlife sanctuary as a result of which their numbers had increased substantially in the forests.
As the department faced problems in the construction of enclosures for leopards and for their maintenance in Manda, some of these animals had been shifted to the Chatvir Zoo in chandigarh, he added.
The state has three national parks -- Kishtwar High Altitude National Park (Jammu region), Dachigam National Park (Kashmir) and Hemis High Altitude National Park -- and 17 wildlife sancturies, besides 36 conservation reserves.
Shankaracharya and Achabal in Kashmir and Gya-miru in Ladakh are proposed to be developed as new wildlife sancturies.
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=193715&cat=India
Czech zoos join European Save the Rhino Campaign
PRAGUE, Dec 15 (CTK) - Czech zoos have recently joined the European Save the Rhino Campaign launched by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria at the beginning of September in support of the conservation and survival of rhinos in the wild.
Fewer than 18,000 rhinos live in the wild and only about 60 Javan Rhinos, the rarest rhino species, have survived. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were about two million rhinos on the planet while at present four in five rhino species face the threat of extinction.
The zoo in Ostrava, north Moravia, has placed information about the campaign that will run till the end of August 2006 on its website, the Prague zoo organised a press conference on the topic on Wednesday, and zoos in Brno, south Moravia, Liberec, north Bohemia and Jihlava, south Moravia, have also joined the campaign.
European Rhino Day will be marked on May 1, 2006.
The main goal of the European Save the Rhino campaign is to support at least 13 selected rhino conservation projects in Africa and Asia. The campaign that aims to create awareness of the threats that rhinos face in the wild, is accompanied by money raising events, the goal of which is to collect 350,000 euros in support of the selected projects.
The money will go, for instance, to Kenya to purchase equipment to monitor rhino populations and finance an educational programme, and to Zimbabwe, for the purchase of a crane to re- settled rhinos. In Indonesia, the collected donations will be used to reinforce security patrols monitoring Javan and Sumatran rhinos. Two security patrols are to be established in Malasya.
http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/?id=20051215F00915;story=Czech-zoos-join-European-Save-the-Rhino-Campaign
Zoo elephants need 3 times more space?
Dec 15, 2005 — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The three elephants at Los Angeles Zoo — Gita, Ruby and Billy — need three times more space than their current quarters but it comes with a price tag of $50 million, according to a report on the future of pachyderms at the zoo.
The independent report was commissioned by Los Angeles' new mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, after years of debate about the keeping of elephants in captivity at the city-owned zoo.
Some U.S. zoos have closed their elephant exhibits in the past few years in the light of concern over odd behavior and arthritis among the animals, who have strong social instincts and roam some 20 miles a day in the wild.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1409114
Turkmenistan's eccentric president is to spend millions of pounds on a lavish desert zoo - to house penguins.
President Saparmurat Niyazov has issued decrees in the past banning recorded music and men with long hair.
Now, he is spending £10 million on the construction of the zoo in the Karakorum desert - where temperatures reach up to 40 degrees Celsius.
But Niyazov has decreed the zoo must have penguins because he believes the birds need to be saved from starvation caused by global warming.
Plans for the zoo, which opens next year, come just a year after the president ordered a giant ice palace be built despite the fact the country is largely covered by desert. - Ananova.com
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol113467128866P623
A hot spot: Jaguar cubs debut at zoo
Damage from Wilma closed attraction for weeks
By MICHELE DARGAN , Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, December 16, 2005
"I want to see the cats, OK?" said 2 1/2-year-old Sam Lindemann, looking through the slats in the screen fence.
His grandmother, Frayda Lindemann of Palm Beach, pointed to the back area of a large enclosure where Nabalam, a female jaguar, stood with her two cubs.
"Right through there," she said. "They're hiding behind the trees. See the mommy?"
It was the first exposure to public eyes for the two female cubs born on Sept. 21 at the Palm Beach Zoo. The first jaguar cubs ever born at the zoo were the main attractions during the zoo's reopening Thursday. It had been closed for repairs since Hurricane Wilma hit on Oct. 24.
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/zoo1216.htmlcontinued ...
The Brookfield Zoo Wind Chime
December 19, 2005. 1224 gmt. The Europe and African Satellite. The heat conduit from South America to Africa reaches around the globe out of sight moving toward the Arctic Circle over Asia.
December 19, 2005. Western Hemisphere. Noted: There is a seemingly connected relationship between the southern and northern hemisphere through a very dynamic 'heat conduit' between South America and Africa. There is as well the movement of heat to Antarctica over South America. For as 'connected as these systems appear, the reality is these probably are separate dynamics.
December 19. 2005. 0730 z. Enhanced Infrared northern and western hemisphere. The heat is not at the equator. It is however at the Arctic Circle where it is carried north off the equator compliments of the carbon dioxide blanket off the east coast of the USA . The exception is the concentrated heat storm off Africa. This is the area that spawned "Epsilon."
December 16, 2005. Quaker Gap, North Carolina. These are single blades of grass wrapped in ice. This is not a normal snow storm This was rain that suddenly was hit with subzero temperature. The water became frozen around the blades of grass because it was so intensely frigid in an abrupt way. This was a glacial wind that moved into a rain storm off the equator. This is the result of Human Induced Global Warming.
December 19, 2005. 0730 z. GOES East Water Vapor Satellite. This is the east coast of North America where a very different scenario erupts due to the dense CO2 cloud at it's thickest creating issues with heat that causes heat transfer from the equator to the Arctic Circle whereby the denser, colder air is forced down to lower latitudes allowing cooling while the ice ocean melts.December 21st the solar radiation starts to migrate north and the melting of all that is frozen now will occur while the areas that spawn storms just a short time ago will continue to build heat. That is evidenced by the heat transfer system off Africa which never really settled down since the storm "Epsilon."For those that would like to say this is an ice age, they are sadly and tragically mistaken. We are losing the Arctic Ocean to Global Warming.
December 19, 2005. Pacific Global Satellite. Equatorial flat line. There is some interaction in the northern hemisphere mid ocean between the north polar vortex and I believe islands in that area. The heat is gone from the equator. It's not even winter yet. The solar radiation starts it's migration north on December 21st. Those are the islands of the USA's Hawaii. No matter where the USA finds it's pollution you can always count on issues with Global Warming and Climate Change.
December 18, 2005. Icy tree in Amarillo, Texas.
