The Jordan Times
Khatami says nuclear talks at delicate stage
PARIS (AP) — Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday condemned the US invasion of Iraq but expressed sadness over the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/news/news5.htm
King names Badran PM
By Amy Henderson
AMMAN — Weeks-long anticipation of a government reshuffle on Monday turned into speculation on the constitution of a new government under the premiership of Adnan Badran, who was instructed by His Majesty King Abdullah to accelerate the pace of reform and institutionalise the reform process.
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/homenews/homenews1.htm
Jordan celebrates World Health Day
AMMAN (JT) — Jordan celebrated World Health Day on Tuesday calling for further measures to prioritise mother and child healthcare in the region.
"Every mother, and every child, counts," is the World Health Organisation's global theme for this year's World Health Day.
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/homenews/homenews8.htm
AHDR 2004 details challenges facing Arab world
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — The Arab world is taking a serious gamble with the region's future stability and progress due to flawed political structures and limited personal freedoms, warned authors of the 3rd Arab Human Development Report (AHDR).
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/homenews/homenews4.htm
Lessons from Gorbachev and Qadhafi
Rami G. Khouri
Syria is being driven, and is driving itself, into a very difficult corner, with fewer and fewer realistic policy options as time passes.
The status of Syria is all the more urgent and relevant, in view of its pullout from Lebanon under intense Lebanese and international pressure. Syria cannot leave Lebanon — as it has confirmed to the UN it will do by the end of this month — and simply watch the process and its aftermath on CNN and Al Jazeera. Pressures will increase against Damascus, which must respond in a more constructive and productive way than it has dealt with its predicament in the past few years.
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/opinion/opinion2.htm
Hindawi asks US to reduce customs tariffs under FTA
By Rami Abdelrahman
AMMAN — A senior US trade official and the Minister of Industry and Trade Ahmad Hindawi held talks Tuesday on “reinforcing and further-developing economic and trade relations between both countries.”
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/economy/economy4.htm
Private sector views business opportunities to rebuild Iraq
By Sarah McGregor-Wood
AMMAN — Speaking at the opening of the Rebuild Iraq 2005 conference, Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmad Hindawi yesterday underlined the supporting role Jordan has been playing in the reconstruction effort and noted the importance of consolidating business relations between the two countries.
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/economy/economy1.htm
Health
Health benefits help peanuts shed stigma
ALBANY, Ga. -- Peanuts, a dietary outcast during the fat-phobic 1990s, have made a comeback, with consumption soaring to its highest level in nearly two decades and more doctors recommending nuts as part of a heart-healthy diet.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=FIT%20Peanuts%20Rebound
What Kills Billionaires
Vanessa Gisquet
Think trophy wives, boating accidents and feckless dependents are the primary causes of death for billionaires? Think again. Billionaires are killed by the same unglamorous things that kill the rest of us: diseases such as cancer, heart attacks, kidney failure and others.
The only difference is they may live a little longer.
The average age of death for the 20 billionaires featured in the 2004 and 2005 "In Memoriam" sections of the annual Forbes Billionaires list was 78.
http://www.forbes.com/2005/04/05/cx_vg_0405feat.html?partner=lifestyle_newsletter
Egypt Today
Death of a GIANT
Rafiq Al-Hariri rebuilt Lebanon from the ashes of civil war, only to be assassinated last month while gearing up for another run for the prime minister’s office.
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4571
Egypt to the Rescue?
The Sharm El-Sheikh peace conference puts Israeli-Palestinian talks back on track
ONLY A FEW months after the June 2003 peace conference that gave birth to a US-led “Road Map” for peace in Israel and Palestine, then-Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned his post, powerless after former President Yasser Arafat withheld control over the Palestinian security apparatus.
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4486
Eyes Wide Shut
Why doesn’t Egypt keep better track of migrating bird species?
By
Richard Hoath
The black bush robin (Richard Hoath/Egypt Today)
THERE IS NO real reason why the black bush robin should enter the Egyptian psyche. This skulking, black relative of the thrushes was first confirmed in Egypt as recently as 2000 in Gebel Elba, to the nation’s far south, though there have been three previous unconfirmed records stretching back to 1896. Its chestnut relative, the rufous bush chat will be arriving here soon, but its sooty cousin remains a foreigner, an avian khawaga.
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=4476
…isms
Spain fights racism claims in defence of Madrid’s bid for 2012 Games
Web posted at: 4/3/2005 4:33:40
Source ::: Agencies
BRISBANE: Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr yesterday jumped to the defence of his country amid suggestions that football racism could damage Madrid’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Sports_News&subsection=Olympics&month=April2005&file=Sports_News2005040343340.xml
Race/Gender Wage Study Finds Surprising Difference
Monday, 4 April 2005, 11:16 am
Article: Between The Lines
Between the Lines Q&A
A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release April 8, 2005
http://www.btlonline.org
Race/Gender Wage Study Reveals Surprising View of U.S. Work Force http://www.btlonline.org/btl040805.html
Interview with Avis Jones-DeWeever, Institute for Women's Policy Research, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Listen in RealAudio: http://www.btlonline.org/jonesdeweever040805.ram (Needs RealOne player or RealPlayer)
A new report released in late March by the U.S. Census Bureau on the average earnings of workers with a four-year college education reveals that African American and Asian women earn significantly more than white women. Asian American women average almost $44,000 a year, while black women make $41,000 and white women just under $38,000. The survey also shows that white women earn just 58 percent of the $66,000 that white men with a bachelor's degree earn. Among men, whites earn the most, followed by Asians, then Hispanics with African Americans in last place. Far fewer black men than black women have college degrees.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0504/S00019.htm
Religions unite against gay festival
They say event set for Jerusalem would desecrate the Holy City
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and GREG MYRE
New York Times
International gay leaders are planning a 10-day WorldPride festival and parade in Jerusalem this August, saying they want to make a statement about tolerance and diversity in the Holy City, home to three great religious traditions.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3114276
Editorial: John Paul II broke the papal mould
April 04, 2005
SO little known was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla on October 16, 1978, that the Italian cardinal who introduced him to the throng in St Peter's Square could not pronounce his name properly. The crowd was dumbstruck. Then they saw a handsome, athletic 58-year-old standing before them on the balcony. He was not stern or formal. In accented but fluent Italian, he told the crowd he came from a faraway place but was already joined with them in the worldwide communion of faith. He apologised for his imperfect Italian, then joked: "If I make mistakes, you will correct me." The crowd went wild. Never mind that this man had emerged as a circuit-breaker after seven ballots in the conclave had failed to overcome the deadlock between the two leading candidates, both Italians. From day one, being pope seemed part of his, and the world's, destiny. Almost 26 tumultuous years later, he is for millions of adults the only pope they have known and loved.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12743409^7583,00.html
Bigotry from the Left
by Kimberley Jane Wilson
Bigotry can be found in the places one would least expect it to thrive.
Author Shirley Jackson, remembered most for horror tales such as The Lottery, understood this when she wrote the slyly brilliant story "After You My Dear Alphonse." The story's unnamed narrator is a middle-class, white housewife who considers herself an upstanding liberal in both actions and thoughts. She is delighted when her young son comes home with his new best friend - a black child named Boyd.
http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21NVWilsonRacism1204.html
‘Long chain of bigotry leads to sectarian violence’
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/36559.html
Saturday, April 2, 2005
MEMRI TV Clips: Antisemitism on Iranian TV
MEMRI TV Project
Friday April 1, 2005
Antisemitism on Iranian TV
From December 2004 through February 2005, MEMRI TV translated and released
clips from 'Zahra's Blue Eyes,' an Iranian series on Sahar TV produced by a
former official of the Iranian Education Ministry that depicts Israeli
government, military, and civilian personnel conspiring to steal the eyes of
Palestinian children. Today's clips include a Sahar TV report from March 13,
as well as other examples of Anti-semitism on Iranian TV: an Iranian
professor discussing Jews spreading corruption throughout history; a special
on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion; and a series on Jewish control of
Hollywood.
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=24756
Israel: A Jews-only state- Part II
The Jews-only state in Palestine tries to purify its Jewish essence through the construction of Jews-only roads.
"Israel has established a 300-mile road network throughout the West Bank connecting the settlements. These are high-security roads-three football fields wide with their surrounding security perimeters - and they are accessible only to Israelis. They separate Palestinian population areas from each other and from their agricultural land; in fact, before the current warfare, they segmented the areas of semi-autonomous Palestinian control into 227 separate, non-contiguous patches of land." (Kathleen Christison 'Before There Was Terrorism')
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_ID=7723
Negative discrimination
By Liam McDougall, Home Affairs Editor
MUHAMMAD Qureshi will never forget the day he first stepped out on the beat as a fledgling police constable. The shirt, brilliantly white, was ironed to perfection and the buttons on the uniform were shiny silver.
http://www.sundayherald.com/48818
We need positive discrimination to meet race targets, say police chiefs
By David Harrison
(Filed: 03/04/2005)
Police applicants from the ethnic minorities should get automatic preference over white candidates with the same qualifications for posts in the service, according to senior officers.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/03/ncop03.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/03/ixhome.html
Owners of Chalmette apartments settle discrimination lawsuit
CHALMETTE, La. Owners of more than one-hundred-twenty apartments in Saint Bernard Parish have agreed to pay 170 thousand dollars to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit.
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3158430
Lodi fire captain files discrimination lawsuit against city
By Layla Bohm
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Last updated: Friday, Apr 01, 2005 - 11:35:01 pm PST
A Lodi Fire captain is suing the city in federal court, claiming discrimination after suffering hearing loss in one ear.
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2005/04/02/news/8_firefighter_050402.txt
Combating online hatred, bigotry
Ignorant student postings show campus close-mindedness
By Angela Fiandaca
Published: Monday, April 4, 2005
I've recently had the words "intolerance" and "ignorance" defined for me. After reading more than 50 e-mails from the UMaine's College Republican folder on FirstClass, I felt sick to my stomach. Then, I wrote a letter to my friend - a letter it pained me to write: "I'm SO sorry you live in this type of world where you cannot just live the way you want to live and be who you truly are inside. No ands, ifs or buts - this is unfair and unjust."
http://www.mainecampus.com/news/2005/04/04/SoapBox/Combating.Online.Hatred.Bigotry-911904.shtml
The Boston Globe
Debris rains on vehicles in tunnel
By Raphael Lewis and John Ellement, Globe Staff April 6, 2005
One day after federal officials declared the Big Dig's tunnels safe, rocks and other debris rained down from an overhead vent in the Interstate 93 southbound tunnel yesterday and damaged at least five vehicles, including an ambulance transporting a patient from Massachusetts General Hospital.
http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2005/04/06/debris_rains_on_vehicles_in_tunnel/
Among students held back, freshmen bear the brunt
By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff April 6, 2005
High school freshmen repeat the grade more than students at any other level in Massachusetts, a trend that some educators and researchers say could cause more teenagers to drop out.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/04/06/among_students_held_back_freshmen_bear_the_brunt/
Small earthquake felt in southeastern Massachusetts
April 6, 2005
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- A minor earthquake shook southeastern Massachusetts on Tuesday evening, prompting a flood of worried calls to area police departments.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/06/small_earthquake_felt_in_southeastern_massachusetts/
Louisiana environmental official says he was forced to retire
April 5, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La. -- An environmental official in the state attorney general's office retired Tuesday after 27 years on the job. Willie Fontenot said he was forced out after a dispute with an industrial plant's security officers -- a charge denied by the attorney general's office.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/04/05/louisiana_environmental_official_says_he_was_forced_to_retire/
Israeli minister acknowledges U.S. rift
By Amy Teibel, Associated Press Writer April 6, 2005
JERUSALEM -- A senior Israeli Cabinet minister acknowledged Wednesday that serious differences exist between Israel and the United States over Jewish settlement expansion.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/04/06/israeli_minister_acknowledges_us_rift/
Partners in crime-fighting
April 6, 2005
MEETINGS BETWEEN Boston police officials and local clergy can sometimes resemble class reunions with plenty of bonhomie. But recent outbreaks of street violence, including a 12-hour period with four murders, are reminders that the crime-fighting partners responsible for helping to reduce gun and gang violence in the 1990s cannot live on past glory.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/04/06/partners_in_crime_fighting/
Haaretz
PM weighs relocating Gush Katif settlers en masse
By Nir Hasson and Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minster Ariel Sharon is considering moving the entire Gush Katif population en masse to a new location near Ashkelon, sources in the Prime Minister's Office said Tuesday. He will also weigh amending the Evacuation-Compensation Law to increase the compensation being offered to the settlers designated for evacuation.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/561458.html
Official: No more room for Jews to build in East Jerusalem
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
"It will not be possible to build new residential neighborhoods, or to expand construction of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem," Jerusalem's city engineer Uri Shitrit said Tuesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/561778.html
Jewish U.S. Nobel laureate Saul Bellow dies, aged 89
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Nobel laureate Saul Bellow, a master of comic melancholy who in "Herzog," "Humboldt's Gift" and other novels both championed and mourned the soul's fate in the modern world, died at age 89.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/561768.html
The Pope, the Church and the Jews
After centuries of strained and often bloodstained relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, the papacy of John Paul II saw landmark events in the history of Catholic-Jewish ties, crowned by his visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome in the 1980s, the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel in 1993, and the Pope's official visit to Israel in 2000.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ArticleNews.jhtml?itemNo=560348&contrassID=13&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0
The real hero in reconciling Christians and Jews
By David Rosen
Forty years ago, during the papacy of Pope John XXIII, the Catholic Church determined that the attempt to present the Jewish people as rejected by God was false, and cleared the Jews of responsibility for the death of Jesus.
But it was Pope John Paul II who was the true hero of Christian-Jewish reconciliation. The late pontiff called for "a new and profound understanding between the Church and Judaism everywhere, in every country, for the benefit of all." He stated unequivocally that the idea that the Church has replaced the Jewish people in a covenant with God was wrong, and even questioned the attempt to proselytize among Jews.
The two most significant events in terms of Christian-Jewish reconciliation were his visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome in 1986 and his visit to Israel in 2000. The scene of John Paul embracing the chief rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, reached millions of believers who did not choose to or who could not read his writings. He described the visit to the synagogue as the most important event of that year, one that would be remembered for "hundreds of thousands of years" and gave "thanks and praise to Providence" for the occasion.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=560054&contrassID=13
German neo-Nazis convicted of plot to bomb Munich synagogue
By The Associated Press
MUNICH, Germany - Five neo-Nazis were convicted Tuesday of involvement in plans to bomb the dedication of a Munich synagogue and community center in 2003. All were sentenced to probation.
Most of the defendants - three women and two men - were charged with membership in a terrorist organization, a serious charge rarely applied in Germany against the extreme right.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=561393&contrassID=1&subContrassID=9&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Keeping the Democrat in Democracy
Democrats Criticize Romney's Out-Of-State Speeches
Governor Speaks In South Carolina
POSTED: 6:34 pm EST February 22, 2005
UPDATED: 7:30 pm EST February 22, 2005
BOSTON -- Gov. Mitt Romney spoke before a group of Republicans in South Carolina, speaking about gay marriage and jobs, but it didn't sound like the speeches he makes in Massachusetts.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4222286/detail.html
State Democrats seek contender
Big names decline to challenge Talent.
Published Sunday, April 3, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - Missouri Democrats, shellshocked after a string of tough statewide losses, say they are increasingly optimistic about their chances to unseat Republican Sen. Jim Talent next year.
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Apr/20050403News008.asp
Democrats forced into leadership vote
From Staff reports
Posted April 3, 2005
Stephen Bacallao, who took over as chairman of the Seminole County Democratic Executive Committee just four months ago, is leaving the post for personal reasons.
The county Democratic committee will be run by Carol Cox until an election April 28. Only precinct committee members are eligible to run and to vote.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-smsjustin03040305apr03,1,2991816.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-seminole&ctrack=1&cset=true>
Michigan Democrats push plan
State legislators hit the road to drum up support for Granholm's proposals to lift the state economy.
Detroit News staff and wire reports
LANSING -- Democrats in the Michigan House and Senate plan a statewide tour to promote Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposals to boost the state's stagnant economy.
They will hold 17 town hall meetings across the state through June.
http://www.detnews.com/2005/metro/0504/03/D08-137218.htm
Howard Dean to Speak to Ark. Democrats
Tuesday April 5, 2005 2:46 AM
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont and now chairman of the Democratic National Committee, will be the keynote speaker Friday at the Association of State Democratic Chairs luncheon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4913947,00.html
Democrats want to limit number of lost insurance jobs
(Hartford-AP, Apr. 4, 2005 5:55 PM) _ Top Democrats are hoping to limit the number of Travelers Life and Annuity employees who could lose their jobs.
They fear as many as 12-hundred jobs could be cut. Employees are being notified this week.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3165356&nav=3YeXYGcG
Democrats give Edward Jones vote of confidence for John Hall's seat
Lance Martin Daily Herald Sammy Webb, left, congratulates Enfield Mayor Edward Jones after Jones got a vote of confidence from Halifax County Democrats to fill the unexpired term of state Rep. John Hall, who died two weeks ago.
Lance Martin/Herald Senior Staff Writer
HALIFAX - Enfield Mayor Edward Jones received a strong vote of confidence to fill the unexpired term of state Rep. John Hall, who died March 18.
http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2005/04/04/news/news1.txt
Live Feed from The Wailing Wall
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