Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1580 Battle of Alcantara, Spain defeats Portugal
1609 Galileo demonstrates his 1st telescope to Venetian lawmakers
1804 Alice Meynell becomes 1st woman jockey (England)
1825 Uruguay declares independence from Brazil (National Day)
1830 Belgium revolts against Netherlands
1835 NY Sun publishes Moon hoax story about John Herschel
1862 Secretary of War authorizes Gen Rufus Saxton to arm 5,000 slaves
1862 The Secretary of War authorizes General Rufus Saxton to arm up
to five thousand slaves.
1864 Combination rail & ferry service available from SF to Alameda
1886 Kentucky State College (now University), chartered in May, 1886 as
the State Normal School for Colored Persons and only the second
state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky, is
founded in Frankfort, Kentucky. It will become a land grant
college in 1890.
1886 Some six hundred delegates organize the American National Baptist
Convention at a St. Louis meeting. Rev. William J. Simmons is
elected president.
1916 National Park Service established in the Dept of the Interior
1920 1st US woman to win in Olympics (Ethelda Bleibtrey)
1921 US signs peace treaty with Germany
1927 Althea Gibson is born in Silver, South Carolina. She will grow
up to be a pioneer in the field of tennis, becoming the first
African American to play tennis at the U.S. Open in 1950 and
at Wimbledon the following year. In 1957, she will win the
singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon, another first for an
African American.
1925 A. Phillip Randolph organizes the Sleeping Car Porters' Union
(Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) at a mass meeting in the
Elks' Hall in Harlem. He is elected president.
1932 Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight
1944 Paris liberated from Nazi occupation
1945 Jewish immigrants are permitted to leave Mauritius for Palestine
1946 Ben Hogan wins the PGA championship
1950 Sugar Ray Robinson knocks out Jose Basora to retain the Pennsylvania
Middleweight Title.
1964 Blair Underwood is born. He will become an actor and will star in
"Downtown," and will be best known for his role as "L.A. Law's"
Jonathan Rollins.
1965 James M. Nabrit Jr. is named ambassador and assigned to the
United Nations' delegation.
1967 Paraguay accepts its constitution
1981 Jeff Schwartz, sets solo record for trampoline bouncing (266:09)
1981 Mark Chapman, John Lennon's murderer, is sentenced to 20 years
1981 Voyager 2's closest approach to Saturn (63,000 miles/100,000 km)
1983 Triple A baseball's Louisville breaks 1 million fan mark
1983 US & USSR sign $10 billion grain pact
1988 Challenger Center opens its classroom doors in Houston
1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-214
1989 Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune (0400 GMT)
1990 Li Hui Rong of China sets the triple jump women's record (47'8«")
1991 Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds
1991 - African Americans receive seven Emmy awards, a record number up to
that time.
Missing in Action
1966 BULLARD WILLIAM H. ELSINORE CA
1967 BOIS CLAIRE RONALD A TUCSON AZ RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG
1967 JACOBS EDWARD JAMES JR. MT VERNON WA
1967 ZAVOCKY JAMES JOHN PARMA OH RADIO CONTACT LOST SAR NEG
1968 GREGORY KENNETH R. ALTUS OK 05/26/69 RELEASED
1968 JOHNSON BOBBY L. DETROIT MI 02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG
1968 JONES THOMAS N. LYNNVILLE IN 01/01/69 RELEASED
1972 DOYLE MICHAEL W. PHILADELPHIA PA REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85
1972 ENSCH JOHN C. SPRINGFIELD IL 03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
The Jerusalem Post
Where to for the evacuees? Not the West Bank
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's Jewish residents have elected to end their settlement enterprise in the lands Israel won in 1967, despite the initial push of the settlement movement to absorb them into West Bank communities.
Amid swelling criticism of its handling of the anti-disengagement struggle, the settlement leadership has backtracked from calling on Gaza evacuees to relocate in West Bank communities, saying now that it "would be cynical to take advantage of them after their loss."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124938375659
1,000 families 'have no homes to go to'
By DAN IZENBERG
A leader of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel charged on Tuesday that only 100 of the 1,700 families evacuated from the West Bank and northern Samaria settlements have found permanent housing solutions so far, and that only 700 families have found temporary solutions to tide them over. The other 1,000 have no solutions at all.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124763678519
Dispute deepens over relocation options
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL AND DANIEL KENNEMER
Decrying the tent cities as an "unnecessary media ploy," the Constructing and Housing Ministry continued to insist Wednesday that there were still numerous housing options for the settlers to choose from.
"They can complain all they want, but the fact is that very few settlers approached us before the disengagement and we are working at a breakneck speed now to meet their needs," said ministry director-general Shmuel Abuav. "You cannot help but be awed by all we have accomplished in the past months."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850021447
Manhunt underway for J'lem stabber
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
A massive police manhunt was underway Thursday for an Arab man who stabbed 21-year-old British yeshiva student Shmuel Mett to death and seriously wounded a classmate with a large kitchen knife in a terror attack in Jerusalem's Old City.
Mett's funeral will begin at 5 p.m. from his yeshiva.
The Wednesday night attack came just a day after Israel completed its pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850020015
Pets rescued from empty Gaza homes
By ANAV SILVERMAN
It's not every day that a goose is relocated to a new home, or for that matter hundreds of other dogs, cats, turkeys, chickens, lizards, ducks and parakeets. However, that's exactly what's been happening to animals in Gush Katif, who have not been evacuated by soldiers or police, but rather by volunteer workers in animal protection organizations like Noach and Kol Chai, who have volunteered to save these animals from starvation in the abandoned homes.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124850021060
Mortar fire in north, Kassams in south
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND JPOST STAFF
Three days after the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip – an operation conducted amidst near-total quiet on the part of the various terror organizations – Israel again found itself under fire.
A mortar shell landed in Moshav Margaliot near the Lebanese border Thursday morning. No one was injured, but a chicken coop sustained damage.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1124938373544
Important Animals
Campaign for Turtle Eggs Stirs Controversy
By LISA J. ADAMS, Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY -- A campaign aimed at halting the illegal consumption of endangered turtles' eggs has run into trouble before it starts, with a women's group asking officials to block public service announcements featuring a scantily clad model.
"My man does not need turtle eggs because he knows they don't make him more potent," Argentine model Dorismar purrs from posters in which she poses alternately in sexy bathing suits, skimpy shorts and an unbuttoned shirt and cowboy hat.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-mexico-turtle-controversy,1,5220376.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines
Zoo ready to bid sad farewell to elephants
23/08/2005 - 15:18:02
It’s going to be an emotional farewell for Dublin Zoo’s two popular elephants when they head to a new home in Germany in a few weeks, the zoo’s assistant director said today.
Elephants Judy and Kirsty, who have been at the zoo for a decade, will be moving to Neunkirchen Zoo in western Germany in mid September.
Paul O’Donoghue, Dublin Zoo’s assistant director, said the decision to move the elephants was a difficult one, but the zoo was committed to an elephant breeding programme.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=153521818&p=y535zz5z4
A day at the zoo
By Minna Jacobs
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
As if in a Technicolor dream sequence, we found ourselves walking on jungle-like trails through what felt like tropical heat and perspiration-inducing humidity while gazing at animals that weren't exactly your garden variety.
Beautiful peacocks were strutting right beside us, all the while managing to look much more at home than any of us.
Believe me when I tell you we were doing all that at a very unique birthday party for my great-grandson, Tyler, who changed form 3 to 4 years-old in what seems like the blink of an eye.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/socialcolumn/s_366202.html
Audubon Zoo Clones Wild Cats
Researchers in New Orleans say they have proved cloning can be used to save endangered species.
Two litters of wild cats born in July and August are the offspring of cloned wild cats.
Zoo officials say the eight kittens are doing just fine.
According to scientists at the Audubon Center, this is the first time clones of two wild cats, or any kind of cat for that matter, have been able to reproduce.
The kittens will be on display later this year at the Audubon Zoo.
http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=3757701
Dog day afternoon at the zoo
By DIANA COZADINOS
Wednesday, 24 August 2005
THEY hoot to communicate and regurgitate food for their young - but Mogo Zoo's newest residents are not birds.
While it's not too often that dogs would be found living amongst the exhibits at any zoo, the rare and endangered Cape Hunting Dogs are far from the average household pet.
Jarsi, Karsi, Biggs and Scar arrived from Perth Zoo with Mogo Zoo owners Sally and Bill Padey, who drove them across the country in just two and a half days.
http://batemansbay.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=418484&y=2005&m=8
Zoo's tortoise gets baseball-sized bladder stone removed
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - A desert tortoise at the San Francisco Zoo is moving more swiftly now after having four bladder stones - one as large as a baseball - removed from his underbelly.
The 40-year-old tortoise named Cactus returned to public display this week after undergoing the surgery, in which veterinarians cut into his shell, removed the bladder stones and resealed the incision using fiberglass.
The stones weighed a little more than a pound - a lot for an animal that normally weighs just eight pounds, and potentially life-threatening at that size if not removed, zoo officials said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/12464327.htm
San Diego Zoo's Panda Cub Is A Girl
Last Updated:
08-24-05 at 4:36PM
After three weeks of wondering, San Diego Zoo officials have announced that the new panda cub is a girl.
Veterinarians got a second look at the cub this week. They say the baby girl now weighs 22 ounces, a gain of nine ounces in just one week.
"The veterinary staff had its suspicions during the cub's first exam last week, but chose to wait one more week to get a second look as the cub continues to develop," according to a zoo statement.
http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.21438.html
ROYAL OAK, Mich., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest member of the ArcticRing of Life, the polar bear cub Talini, has started swimming in the exhibit'slarge ice pack pool. Accompanied by her mother, Barle, the cub is spendingtime learning how to swim in the pool every Sunday.At more than 100 pounds, the polar bear cub is big enough to swim in theArctic Ring of Life's 300,000 gallon saltwater pool in the Ice Pack exhibit.Regular swimming lessons in the large pool will help develop her muscles.Barle and Talini will continue to live separately from the other polar bearsuntil Talini is fully grown, in approximately one year."The polar bear cub has been showing great progress in her development.Her mother has been teaching her all the skills she needs to survive on herown, and we are excited to see her take this next step to adulthood," saidScott Carter, Director of Conservation and Animal Welfare for the DetroitZoological Institute.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-24-2005/0004093614&EDATE=
3 stars join zoo campaign
birthdays of note
Steven Stolen, executive director of the Indianapolis Children's Choir, turns 48; former Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller turns 40; and Catt Sadler of WXIN (Channel 59) morning news turns 31 today. On Thursday, Joseph D. Barnette Jr., president of Sexton Cos., will turn 66; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison will turn 33; Sen. Glenn Howard, D-Indianapolis, will turn 66; Joe Slash, president and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Urban League, will turn 62; and Susan W. Brooks, U.S. attorney for Indiana's Southern District, will turn 45.
Actors Harrison Ford and Jane Alexander and businessman/philanthropist Ted Turner are now associated with the Indianapolis Prize.
Indianapolis Zoo officials announced Tuesday the celebrity trio will serve as honorary chairs for the program, which will present a $100,000 prize every other year to an individual who has made significant contributions to animal conservation efforts.
Star power was a tiny part of their appeal. "You can't win the conservation wars we're fighting just by having researchers out in the field," said Indianapolis Zoo CEO Michael Crowther, who added: "They believe in what we are doing."
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050824/COLUMNISTS04/508240451
ONLINE EXTRA: Group condemns private Alberta zoo for allowing patrons to kiss bears
Canadian Press
INNISFAIL, Alta. - A private zoo in central Alberta is under attack for training bears to smooch with visitors while they pose for pictures.
Zoocheck Canada, a Toronto-based animal welfare group, says letting a brown bear named Ali Oop licks people's faces at the Discovery Wildlife Park is "dangerous and stupid."
The organization also says it's dumb that the zoo allows the bear to strike a scary pose while standing on its hind legs behind visitors while photos are snapped.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/12464246.htm
Michael Moore Today
Casey Sheehan's Combat Boots Arrive in Crawford, Texas
U.S. Newswire
Marq Anderson, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) national tour manager, arrives at Camp Casey to return the military combat boots worn in Iraq by fallen U.S. soldier, Casey Sheehan to his grieving mother, Cindy Sheehan, in Crawford, Texas on Thursday, August 25, at 11:30 a.m. EST (10:30 a.m. CST).
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3859
The Peaceful Occupation of Crawford (Day 18)
-- a message from Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, Texas
I got up really early today to head back to Camp Casey. On the way, I had some amazing conversations with people. In one of those conversations, I was talking to Tyler who was sitting next to me on one of the planes. We were not talking about me and what I have been doing. Randomly, he told me he had just been in Texas about an hour north of Crawford. I said: "Wow that's where I am going and that's where I have been all month." He said: "I know I own a television." I thought that was pretty cute.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=468
Anti-Iraq war parents to take protests across nation
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parents of soldiers killed in Iraq plan to follow President George W. Bush around the country in the coming months, hoping to generate nationwide anti-war sentiment after camping out at his Texas ranch.
Through much of August, Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq, has stationed herself with other protesters outside Bush's Crawford ranch, garnering international media coverage at a time when more than 1,800 U.S. military have died in the Iraq conflict.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3845
Iraqis Miss Third Constitution Deadline
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The speaker of
Iraq's Parliament announced a one-day extension early Friday in talks on Iraq's new constitution — a fourth attempt to win Sunni Arab approval for the draft.
Hajim al-Hassani, speaking minutes after the midnight deadline, said that after meeting for three days, "we found that time was late and we saw that the matters will need another day in order to reach results that please everyone."
Earlier, however, a Sunni Arab negotiator said Shiites didn't even show up for a late-night meeting, and two Shiite delegates told reporters they saw no reason why the draft presented to the legislature Monday could not be forwarded to the people in a referendum Oct. 15.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AuWRQG0fveNCwAbPp6qCNOCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
One day before crucial vote, fighting breaks out in Najaf
By Hannah Allam and Mohammed al Dulaimy / Knight Ridder
BAGHDAD, Iraq - After months of silence, rebel Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr placed his militiamen on high alert Wednesday and asked his followers in the Iraqi government to suspend their work as Iraq descended into political chaos a day before a crucial vote on its proposed new constitution.
In Najaf, which had been one of Iraq's safest cities and was high on the list of places where U.S. forces could withdraw next year, as many as 24 people died in street fighting between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and a mixture of government forces and the Badr Organization Shiite militia.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3857
A homegrown effort
Columbia residents support Sheehan’s protest with yard vigil
By Candace Phillips / Missourian
Crosses bearing the names of fallen soldiers cover 41 year-old Jamie Walters’ yard as he sits under a blue tent with his friend, Ruth O’Neill. O’Neill’s dog, tied up with a leash, sits at their feet. Behind their tribute to the soldiers is a sign that reads “Camp Casey Columbia.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3858
Pentagon Orders 1,500 More Troops to Iraq
By John J. Lumpkin / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has ordered 1,500 paratroopers to Iraq to provide security in advance of two upcoming national votes, the military announced Wednesday.
Two infantry battalions from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq before the scheduled Oct. 15 referendum on the proposed constitution, and remain through the December national elections, the Pentagon said in a statement.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3855
Of All Gas Consumers, Bush May Be Most
By Jennifer Loven / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Getting President Bush from here to there consumes an enormous amount of fuel, whether he's aboard Air Force One, riding in a helicopter or on the ground in a heavily armored limousine. The bill gets steeper every day as the White House is rocked by the same energy prices as regular drivers. Taxpayers still foot the bill.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3853
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Couple mistaken for radical faces backlash
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LA HABRA, Calif. -- A couple whose home was wrongly identified on national television as belonging to an Islamic radical has faced harassment, and police are providing special protection.
After the report ran on Fox News on Aug. 7, people have shouted profanities at Randy and Ronnell Vorick and spray-painted "terrorist" (spelling it "terrist") on their property.
"I'm scared to go to work and leave my kids home. I call them every 30 minutes to make sure they're OK," Randy Vorick said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=FBI%20Probe%20House
Indonesian measles outbreak kills five
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A measles outbreak on Indonesia's Sumba island has killed five children and sickened 711 others, UNICEF said Thursday.
The U.N. children's agency, along with the World Health Organization and the government, had launched a vaccination campaign to contain the deadly virus.
It also is planning to vaccinate as many as 200,000 children aged 6 months to 15 years on the island, located about 620 miles southeast of the capital, Jakarta, said John Budd, a spokesman for UNICEF.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Indonesia%20Measles
Panel: Academies should address behavior
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Hostile attitudes and inappropriate treatment of women persist at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and at the Naval Academy, a Pentagon task force says.
The panel called for better training of future officers at the academies, saying the value of women in the military should be better emphasized. It said present training regarding sexual harassment and assault issues is inadequate, resulting in misunderstandings by cadets and midshipmen about how to obtain medical care, counseling and legal assistance.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Academies%20Sexual%20Assault
Air Force scandal results in reforms
By ROBERT WELLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- As Air Force cadets return to classes this month, they are seeing a new system for handling rape allegations - reforms put in place throughout the military in response to the sex scandal that rocked this prestigious school more than two years ago.
The Defense Department is adding sexual assault response coordinators at every major base around the world. Bases also will have at least one victim's advocate, most of them civilians.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Academy%20Sexual%20Assault
Iran said seeks broader nuke negotiations
By NASSER KARIMI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's top nuclear negotiator called for more countries to join the three European states engaged in talks about Tehran's contentious nuclear program, state-run television reported Thursday.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said he welcomed negotiations with all members of the board of governors of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, plus countries from the 116-member Non-Aligned Movement.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apmideast_story.asp?category=1107&slug=Iran%20Nuclear
Fire and water sweep through Europe
By DANICA KIRKA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
VIENNA, Austria -- Fire and floods have engulfed Europe this summer, as a drought in Spain and Portugal transformed swaths of woodland into a massive tinderbox and torrential downpours carved a trail of destruction through Alpine valleys and impoverished Balkan villages.
Entire sections of the Swiss capital, Bern, have been submerged. Blazes flare up even as old ones are snuffed in Portugal and Spain. And dozens have been killed in a third straight summer of extreme European weather that has people asking: Why?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Europe%20Fire%20and%20Floods
Aid agency said to hide Iraq insurgents
By ARIEL DAVID
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ROME -- Italy's Red Cross treated four Iraqi insurgents and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two Italian aid workers kidnapped last year in Baghdad, an official said in an interview published Thursday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Italy%20Iraq%20Hostages
Rescuers evacuate Switzerland district
By THOMAS BRUNNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BERN, Switzerland -- Rescue workers completed an airlift evacuation of a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital Thursday as large parts of central and southern Europe were hit by flooding that killed at least 42 people.
Hardest hit was Romania with 31 victims, many of whom were trapped inside their homes and drowned as torrents of water rushed in. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Switzerland reported a total of 11 dead, but numbers were expected to climb as more bodies of the missing are recovered.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apeurope_story.asp?category=1103&slug=Europe%20Floods
Earth's core spinning faster than crust
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP SCIENCE WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The giant iron ball at the center of the Earth appears to be spinning a bit faster than the rest of the planet.
The solid core that measures about 1,500 miles in diameter is spinning about one-quarter to one-half degree faster, per year, than the rest of the world, scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1501&slug=Earthspin
Federal judge OKs global warming lawsuit
By DAVID KRAVETS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- Environmental groups and four U.S. cities can sue federal development agencies on allegations the overseas projects they back financially contribute to global warming, a judge has ruled.
A coalition of environmental groups sued two government agencies that provide loans and insure billions of dollars of U.S. investors' money for development projects overseas. Many are power plants that emit greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide that are believed to be a leading cause of global warming.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1501&slug=Global%20Warming%20Lawsuit
Aruba judge to network: Don't show suspect
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- A judge on Wednesday ordered a U.S. television network not to broadcast footage from a tour of an Aruban jail that shows the suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
The judge issued the order at the request of an attorney for the suspect, Joran van der Sloot, following a hearing on the Dutch Caribbean island.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/aplatin_story.asp?category=1102&slug=Aruba%20Missing%20Teen
Middle East Times
Iraq battles for charter deal as Shia rivals clash
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi leaders were battling on Thursday to strike an accord on the constitution by a midnight deadline and restore calm after deadly fighting erupted between Shia rivals that could derail the political process.
Negotiators involved in drafting the constitution said that leaders were in intense talks with Sunni Arabs in a last-minute bid to seek their nod for the charter before it goes to parliament for lawmakers' vote.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-092319-5114r
Palestinians dismayed at Israeli plans for settlement
JERUSALEM -- Israel announced plans on Thursday to build a major new police headquarters close to its largest West Bank settlement after kicking up a storm by appropriating Palestinian land for its huge separation barrier.
The plans were made public after Israel removed all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank enclaves, a move that the international community has hoped would pave the way for further pullbacks from Palestinian land.
"The construction project for a police HQ and an access road has obtained all the necessary authorizations and will begin shortly," said a military spokesman responsible for civil affairs in the West Bank.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-090841-3777r
Viewpoint: Time for Hamas to shut up
Youssef M. Ibrahim
August 23, 2005
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The Palestinians are on the verge of a great moment in their history as Israel pulls all its forces and settlers, unilaterally, out of Gaza making this part of Palestine free for the first time since 1948.
Nothing would be more irresponsible than actions to interrupt that historic moment by the various movements, particularly Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, and others like it that are out of control in Palestine.
Attacking the vastly superior Israeli armed forces as they pull out with toy rockets or settlements and villages on the borders with Gaza, or suicide bombers inside the occupied West Bank would be a criminal irresponsible act, in fact suicide for Palestinians.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050823-071101-4618r
Top Al Qaeda operative in Saudi killed in shootout
RIYADH -- Saudi security forces shot dead one of the country's top Al Qaeda leaders in the holy city of Medina Thursday, adding to a toll of the group's successive chiefs gunned down in shootouts.
The clash that killed Saleh Al Ufi coincided with another operation in the north of the capital Riyadh and was the first of its kind since Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz assumed the throne of the oil-rich kingdom this month.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050818-110129-1767r
Iran questions EU-3 role in nuclear negotiations
Aresu Eqbali
AFP
August 25, 2005
TEHRAN -- Iran's new hardline nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Thursday challenged the role of Britain, France and Germany as the leaders of diplomatic efforts over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
"Based on what logic and agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have the negotiations been limited and dependent on the three European countries?" Larijani was quoted as saying by state television.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-085835-1266r
Egypt election campaign in full swing
Jean-Marc Mojon
AFP
August 24, 2005
CAIRO -- Egypt's first competitive presidential campaign was in full swing two weeks before the poll, with incumbent Hosni Mubarak pledging fair elections but opposition candidates and rights groups crying foul.
A week after the start of the campaign, there was little sign of great popular fervor as 32 millions voters mulled their choice for the September 7 elections.
The 77-year-old Mubarak, who has been in power for 24 years, has been leading an aggressive campaign, crisscrossing the country to promise 4 million new jobs if reelected and billions of dollars to boost the economy.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050824-091928-6652r
Brazilian officials voice support for British probe into police shooting
LONDON -- A delegation from Brazil voiced confidence in a British investigation into the fatal shooting of a Brazilian man in London last month and dismissed the suggestion of a police cover-up for now.
The comments came as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said that it would finish a report into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, by the end of the year.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050824-042446-8538r
Iran judiciary set to close Kazemi case
AFP
August 25, 2005
TEHRAN -- Iran's hardline judiciary will soon close the case of murdered Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi and has blocked family lawyers from pressing for a fresh probe, one of the lawyers said on Thursday.
Last July a Tehran court acquitted an intelligence agent accused of giving the journalist a mortal blow to the head while she was in custody two years ago, and family lawyers have set their sights on bringing to justice a judiciary official that they say is the real killer.
"We predict that the defendant will be cleared," Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said of the intelligence agent.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050825-044421-9146r
Pakistani women candidates defy conservatives
PESHAWAR -- When two men called at Razia Sultana's house late one night to persuade her not to stand in upcoming local elections, it made her more determined to fight.
The 35-year-old is one of thousands of women in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province who are bravely defying an illegal ban on female candidates and voters imposed by Islamic clerics and conservative politicians.
"They came to my house and pressurized me not to stand in the election," she said. "So I told them to bring a letter from President Musharraf saying I couldn't be a candidate, otherwise I would go ahead."
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050817-104207-5869r
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