The New Zealand Herald
6.4 quake jolts North and South Islands
14.03.05 10.45am UPDATE
An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale shook the North Island and parts of the upper South Island early today.
The strong quake was centred off the coast of Taranaki in the Tasman Sea, 160km northwest of Wellington at a depth of 150km.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10115161
Al Qaeda ally may target schools and theatres in US
14.03.05 1.00pm
WASHINGTON - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's chief ally in Iraq, may be planning attacks on "soft targets" in the United States including movie theatres, restaurants and schools, Time magazine has reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115187
Locals volunteer to rebuild tornado-ravaged town
14.03.05 1.00pm
Greymouth carpenters are coming forward to rebuild their tornado-ravaged town in such numbers that the town doesn't need extra help offered from outside the region.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10115203
China passes controversial Taiwan anti-secession bill
14.03.05 3.30pm
By Tamora Vidaillet and Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING - China's parliament has passed a contentious anti-secession bill that mandates the use of military force against Taiwan if the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own formally declares statehood.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115218
Syrian-backed Hizbollah rallies against US
14.03.05 1.00pm
NABATIYEH, Lebanon - Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for a Hizbollah rally against the United States, even as a United Nations envoy met the Lebanese president to press demands for a Syrian pullout.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115191
Critics row over US government's 'fake news' video clips
14.03.05 1.00pm
by Andrew Gumbel
The Bush administration has produced news look-alike video propaganda clips and successfully persuaded television news stations across the country to air them uncritically and, often, uncut. As many as 20 government departments have produced fake news that stations relayed as though they had produced the segments themselves according to the standard rules of journalism, the New York Times reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115200
White House acknowledges Iran intelligence 'hard to come by'
14.03.05 1.00pm
by Adam Entous
WASHINGTON - The White House has acknowledged the difficulty of gathering good intelligence in Iran but said Tehran's behaviour was "suspicious enough" to warrant stepping up pressure over its nuclear program.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115182
Bloggers campaign for 'traditional press freedoms'
14.03.05
by Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON - Internet bloggers should enjoy traditional press freedoms and not face regulation as political groups, lawmakers and online journalists said on Friday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115224
Medsafe examining two alternative flu vaccine
14.03.05 1.00pm
The Health Ministry's drug safety authority Medsafe is examining two alternative influenza vaccines after a manufacturing fault left its 2005 influenza vaccination unable to fully protect against one strain of the virus.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10115180
Bono says Powell could make ‘amazing’ World Bank head
14.03.05
NEW YORK - Irish rock singer Bono whose name had been bandied about for the job of president of the World Bank, says former Secretary of State Colin Powell could do a good job at the helm.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115127
Stalin’s secret Hitler book to be published
14.03.05
LONDON - A secret biography of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler commissioned by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin is to be published later this month, the book’s British publisher says.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115122
Keith Suter: Why Bolton is not the right American for the UN job
14.03.05
President George W. Bush's assault on the United Nations has continued with his nomination of John Bolton as the next United States Ambassador to the UN. This is not a good omen.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10115056
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Fine
-15.0°
Updated Monday 14 Mar 9:59PM
Northern Territory News
Massive cleanup begins, Territory counts cost
THE Tiwi Islands resembled a war zone tonight after Cyclone Ingrid unfurled her full wrath on the tiny community.
Tiwi Islanders began to emerge from emergency shelters this afternoon after enduring a terrifying 24 hours as the eye of the destructive cyclone passed directly overhead.
At least two houses were ripped apart, and flying trees damaged several other homes, as gales pummelled the two islands, north of Darwin, last night.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12538125-17001,00.html
Australia hedges on US-Taiwan support
By Sandra O'Malley
March 14, 2005
From: AAP
AUSTRALIA has dodged questions whether it would back the US in a war against China if it used force to prevent Taiwanese independence.
China's parliament passed an anti-secession law today which gives approval for the use of military force if Taiwan declares independence.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12545133-29277,00.html
Annan, Abbas discuss ceasefire
By Hazel Ward in Ramallah
March 14, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on his first visit to the Middle East in four years, has begun talks with Mahmud Abbas one day before the Palestinian leader was due to hold ceasefire talks in Cairo.
Mr Annan flew into the Muqataa compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah before laying a wreath at the grave of the late Palestinaian leader Yasser Arafat and going into his scheduled talks.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12545638-23109,00.html
Controlled burns jump lines
March 14, 2005
From: AAP
VICTORIAN fire crews are battling three fires that jumped containment lines during controlled burns in the state's east.
The largest fire is at Licola, in Victoria's high country 260km east of Melbourne, where Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) crews were conducting a controlled burn over 3000ha of rugged country 10km north of the town.
DSE state fire controller Mark Woodman said the fire began spotting ahead of containment lines on Saturday, and had now burned an extra 480ha, including some private land.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12540205-1702,00.html
Water crisis fear as glaciers melt
From correspondents in Geneva
March 14, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse
GLOBAL warming is causing Himalayan glaciers to rapidly retreat, threatening to cause water shortages for hundreds of millions of people who rely on glacier-dependent rivers in China, India and Nepal, the World Wide Fund For Nature WWF warned today.
The warning by the global conservation group comes as the WWF released a report which it said exposed the rate of retreat of Himalayan glaciers accelerating as global warming increased.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12538792-23109,00.html
China goods rush feared
March 14, 2005
From: AAP
A FREE trade deal between China and Australia could open the floodgates for cheap Chinese goods to swamp the local market, Australian manufacturers warned today.
Prime Minister John Howard yesterday hinted Australia would soon sign up to formal talks on an agreement with China, even though it meant giving ground on anti-dumping protections.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12538395-31037,00.html
US bans Sinn Fein fundraisers
By staff writers and wires
March 14, 2005
From: NEWS.com.au
SINN Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has been banned from fundraising in the US, The Times has reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The order, passed to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams via US State Department channels, followed White House anger over accusations the IRA was continuing criminal activity, the newspaper reported.
The paper did not say how long the ban would last.
Mr Adams is on a week-long tour of the US and has come under fire for his party's ties to the IRA, which has been accused of mounting the world's largest bank robbery, stealing £26.5 million ($64.57m) from a Belfast bank on December 20, and shielding the killers of a Catholic man in Northern Ireland, Robert McCartney.
Mr McCartney, 33, was killed outside a Belfast pub on January 30.
He was attacked in a crowded pub and had his throat slit outside, but none of approximately 70 witnesses - including at least one Sinn Fein election candidate and several party activists - have been willing to identify the attackers.
Mr McCartney's five sisters and fiancee have mounted a high-profile campaign to bring his killers to justice.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12540210-38200,00.html
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
37 °F / 3 °C
Overcast
Windchill:
34 °F / 1 °C
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
34 °F / 1 °C
Wind:
5 mph / 7 km/h from the NNW
Pressure:
30.48 in / 1032 hPa
Visibility:
5.0 miles / 8.0 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Few 100 ft / 30 m
Mostly Cloudy 1800 ft / 548 m
Overcast 3097 ft / 944 m
end
