The Globe and Mail
Typhoon makes landfall in Taiwan
Taipei, Taiwan
01 September 2005 07:04
Typhoon Talim lashed Taiwan on Thursday, paralysing air and land traffic, shuttering offices and schools, and leaving at least one person dead and 24 injured.
By the time Talim made landfall at 7.30am local time at Ilan in north-eastern Taiwan, it had developed two centres and pounded the island with heavy rain and strong winds.
"The typhoon speed is slowing down from 20kph to 16kph, but the force of the typhoon will linger on over Taiwan for some time, causing downpours and gusts of wind to most parts of the island," the Central Weather Bureau said.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=249652&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Thousands feared lost in Hurricane Katrina
01 September 2005 07:00
The death toll from Hurricane Katrina could rise into the thousands in New Orleans alone, the city authorities believe, in what United States President George Bush described as "one of the worst national disasters in our nation's history".
The US government declared a public health emergency along the devastated Gulf Coast as the scale of the disaster became apparent, and fears grew that disease could spread in the stagnant water.
After flying low over the shattered region in Air Force One, Bush said: "We're dealing with one of the worst national disasters in our nation's history. This recovery will take a long time. This recovery will take years."
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=249651&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Wolfowitz put Zimbabwe in it's place.
Zimbabwe makes surprise payment to IMF
Harare, Zimbabwe
01 September 2005 07:33
Zimbabwe has paid back $120-million of its $300-million debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had threatened to expel Harare for arrears, state television said on Wednesday.
"Zimbabwe has managed to pay $120-million to the IMF out of its own resources as part of efforts aimed at servicing its international debt," said a statement read on state television.
"This development is a source of immense national pride as it demonstrates the country's unwavering commitment to turn around its economic fortunes," it said.
Minister of Finance Herbert Murerwa said it proves "that no one can write off Zimbabwe as yet," and that we "can still do things on our own".
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=249655&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/
Almost 1 000 dead in Baghdad stampede
01 September 2005 07:16
At least 965 Iraqis were crushed to death or drowned in Wednesday's stampede on a Baghdad bridge as vast crowds of Shi'ite pilgrims were sent into panic by rumours of suicide bombers in their midst.
In Iraq's deadliest day since the United States-led war of March 2003, hundreds of women, children and elderly people were trampled underfoot or jumped to their deaths from the bridge after a deadly mortar strike on a Shi'ite shrine.
Iraq authorities said the tragedy -- which risks inflaming sectarian tensions in the country -- was a "terrorist" act by toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's loyalists and al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=249653&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
It seems obvious to me. Armstrong was fighting his cancer at the same time he was preparing for The Tour. It is up to France as to whether Epogen is a legitimate medication to support cancer fighting efforts and still compete. It seems to me people who survive cancer or who are fighting it needing medication to sustain their lives are legitimate competitors. The only way this should be considered a violation is if Lance illegally took Epogen after he was finished with his cancer treatment to 'cheat' in 1999.
Expert adds to Armstrong doping claims
Berlin, Germany
01 September 2005 08:30
The exploits of seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who is alleged to have used the banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) in 1999, are also down to the use of other banned substances, according to one expert.
Alessandro Donati, a specialist in the fight against doping in sport, suggested the performances of the 33-year-old American appear to show he has used a range of banned substances, including anabolic steroids.
Armstrong, who retired after his seventh yellow-jersey victory last month, has always denied ever taking banned substances, and has been on a major defensive since a report by French newspaper L'Equipe last week showed details of doping test results from the Tour de France in 1999.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=249671&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__sport/
The Jerusalem Post
Schools open after last-minute compromise on reforms
By TALYA HALKIN AND YAAKOV KATZ
Introduction of reforms to the nation's school system as outlined by the Dovrat Report will highlight the opening of school Thursday for some 1,700,000 Israeli pupils.
An Education Ministry situation room was in operation from 7 o'clock p.m. Wednesday evening and will be open until 6:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Education Ministry situation room phone number: 1212234567.
The opening of the new school year on September 1 was in jeopardy until late Tuesday night, when the Education Ministry and the teachers' organizations finally reached an agreement after months of failed negotiations.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125454957834
Nearly half of Gaza kids not enrolled
By TALYA HALKIN
Close to 1,000 children whose families were evacuated from Gush Katif and northern Samaria were still not enrolled in new schools on Wednesday, a day before the opening of the new school year.
Of the 3,233 children evacuated from Gush Katif, 913 children had formerly studied in schools outside the Gush area, and will continue to study in those schools. Of the remaining 2,422 children from the Gush, and the 102 children from northern Samaria, only 1,200 children have already enrolled in other schools.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125454956826
After the tempest
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is not alone in sending condolences and sympathies, on behalf of the State of Israel, to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Our sympathies, too, are roused for all those affected.
After all, who can remain numb to the devastation that this most violent of storms has wrought, and continues to wreak, throughout the southern United States? Katrina has blown winds of unfathomable fury and poured surging waves of water that have overwhelmed New Orleans and its environs. The mammoth storm has swallowed entire city blocks, utterly destroyed countless homes and businesses, cut off electricity to vast stretches of land and sent millions of people fleeing in search of safe haven, far inland.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125454956333&p=1006953079865
Katrina's wrath continues: no time to count dead
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
GULFPORT, Mississippi
Along the Gulf Coast, there was simply no time to even count the dead. Engineers scrambled to plug two broken New Orleans levees and rescuers searched for survivors clinging to both hope and rooftops as the swirling, tea-colored water continued to rise.
The flooding in New Orleans grew worse by the minute Tuesday, prompting Gov. Kathleen Blanco to say that everyone still in the city, now huddled in the Superdome stadium and other rescue centers, needs to leave. She said she wanted the Superdome evacuated within two days, but it was still unclear where the people would go.
To repair damage to one of the levees holding back Lake Pontchartrain, officials late Tuesday dropped 1,360 kilograms sandbags from helicopters and hauled dozens of nearly 5-meter concrete barriers into the breach. Officials also had a more audacious plan: finding a barge to plug the hole, Maj. Gen. Don Riley of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125281956804
CHABAD HURRICANE RELIEF
http://www.chabadneworleans.com/
PM rejects compromise on primary date
By GIL HOFFMAN
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected efforts by his allies in the cabinet on Wednesday to mediate a compromise with his rival, former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, on a date for the Likud leadership primary.
Sharon told the ministers that he intends to fight for his political life ahead of the key September 26 Likud central committee vote on advancing the primary. He said he would work to defeat a proposal initiated by his political opponents that would force a November Likud race instead of submitting an alternative proposal.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125454957374
Generals to sign Philadelphi deal Thurs.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF, HERB KEINON AND JPOST STAFF
Twenty-six years after Egypt and Israel signed an historic peace treaty, an Israeli major general and an Egyptian counterpart will get together in Cairo on Thursday in order to sign a new article of the deal that would transfer the control of the Philadelphi route to Egyptian security control.
According to the new clause, which was approved by the Knesset on Wednesday, 750 Egyptian border policemen would deploy along the route, which separates Sinai and the Gaza Strip, in the coming days.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125454957837
4 indicted in anti-Jewish terror plot
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES
The head of a militant Islamic prison gang and three other men were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of planning terrorist attacks against National Guard facilities, the Israeli Consulate and other Los Angeles-area targets.
The four conspired to wage war against the US government through terrorism, kill armed service members and murder foreign officials, among other charges, according to the indictment.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125454957942
Reports: Shalom to meet Pakistani FM
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pakistan's foreign minister Khursheed Kasuri was set to hold talks Thursday with his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom on the situation in the Middle East, a landmark diplomatic meeting between the countries, two Pakistani newspapers reported Thursday.
The Dawn newspaper said the meeting, to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, was taking place "in response to Israel's keenness to establish contact with Pakistan."
The two countries - which don't have diplomatic ties - decided to hold the meeting in Turkey because it is a "neutral" country, Dawn said. Turkey is a predominantly Muslim nation that has diplomatic relations with Israel and is a close friend of Pakistan.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125541481169
Israelis in Florida Jihad Trial
By NATHAN GUTTMAN
Washington
Five Israelis who witnessed a Palestinian suicide attack three years ago, were called to the stand Tuesday to testify in the trial of professor Sami Al-Arian who is accused of heading the Palestinian Islamic Jihad branch in the US and of raising money used to finance terror attack against Israelis.
The Israelis that testified in court in Tampa, Florida were all witnesses of the June 2002 attack on an Egged bus near the Megiddo junction. The attack, carried out by a terrorist who crashed his explosive-packed car into the bus, killed 17 people and injured 45. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claimed responsibility for the attack.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125454957140
Journalism at Risk
Reuters soundman killed in Baghdad, police blame US
29.08.05 1.30pm
BAGHDAD - A Reuters Television soundman was shot dead in Baghdad on Sunday and a cameraman who was wounded was still being questioned by US troops 12 hours later.
Iraqi police said the two, both Iraqis, were shot by US forces. A US military spokesman said the incident was being investigated. The cameraman was being held and questioned because of "inconsistencies in his initial testimony", he added.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10342978
More journalists killed in Iraq than Vietnam
PARIS, Aug 28 (Reuters) - More journalists have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003 than during the 20 years of conflict in Vietnam, media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Sunday.
Since U.S. forces and its allies launched their campaign in Iraq on March 20, 2003, 66 journalists and their assistants have been killed, RSF said.
The latest casualty was a Reuters Television soundman who was shot dead in Baghdad on Sunday while a cameraman with him was wounded and then detained by U.S. soldiers.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3894
EDITORIAL]High fatality of reporters
The death of a Reuters Television soundman in Bagh-dad Sunday raised the total number of journalists who have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003 to 66. Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based media rights group, compared the number with the total 63 deaths of journalists in Vietnam over a period of 20 years from 1955 to 1975.
Reporters covering the war in Iraq get killed in the explosion of roadside bombs and are often caught in the crossfire between Coalition troops and insurgents. Excluding deaths in accidents, there have been 52 deaths (14 in 2003, 24 in 2004 and 14 this year), with the fatalities consisting of 33 Iraqis, nine Europeans, two Americans and eight other nationalities.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/08/30/200508300007.asp
Little freedom when jail threatens
August 29, 2005
The media need help to be an effective watchdog, writes Petro Georgiou.
It is a grave matter to jail someone. Graver still when that imprisonment is for the expression of views, the publication of ideas or the reporting of an issue.
In a healthy democracy, it is hard to believe that a journalist might be jailed for accurately reporting a story of significant public interest which poses no risk to national security.
And yet we are facing the prospect of contempt of court charges and the jailing of two journalists from the Melbourne Herald Sun, Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus. Their offence is their refusal to disclose sources who assisted them in reporting on cuts to recommended benefits to war veterans.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/little-freedom-when-jail-threatens/2005/08/28/1125167548234.html
Former American businessman lobbies for China's political prisoners
TERENCE CHEA
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - If China frees any political prisoners before its president's first official visit to the United States next week, chances are John Kamm will have played a role in this goodwill gesture.
The former chemical company executive, who now heads the nonprofit Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco, has emerged as a key intermediary between Washington and Beijing on human rights matters. When a jailed dissident is released or sent into exile, the announcement often comes from Kamm.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/12500422.htm
Report criticizes media coverage of Egyptian presidential race
Ola Galal
Middle East Times
August 29, 2005
CAIRO -- A report evaluating media coverage of the first week of Egypt's presidential campaign that started on August 17 indicates that state-owned publications were biased toward incumbent president and current head of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Hosni Mubarak.
"Since President Mubarak announced his intention to run for presidency ... most of the editors of national newspapers have declared their support for him," stated the report by the National Campaign for Monitoring the Elections 2005, which was released on August 22. It added that the state-owned daily Al Ahram had given Mubarak more space on its pages than the total space given to all other candidates.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050829-101932-5519r
Reuters cameraman jailed in Abu Ghraib
September 1, 2005 - 8:40AM
The Reuters news agency said today it was shocked and appalled by the sentencing of one of its cameraman to Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
Reuters said 36-year-old cameraman Ali al-Mashhadani, who was detained by US forces in Iraq three weeks ago, had been ordered by a secret tribunal to be held without charge in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison until his case was reviewed - a process which could take up to six months.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/iraq/reuters-cameraman-jailed-in-abu-ghraib/2005/09/01/1125302657696.html
The Chicago Tribune
Total evacuation of New Orleans begins
By Howard Witt and Michael Martinez
Tribune national correspondents
Published August 31, 2005, 10:40 PM CDT
NEW ORLEANS -- A massive forced evacuation of this sunken city began Wednesday as Mayor Ray Nagin said thousands were feared dead in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the federal government deployed thousands of troops to help combat rampant looting and lawlessness.
Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the entire city would be empty for months as officials began the long task of pumping out floodwaters and assessing the damage caused by one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
"The city will not be functional for two or three months," the mayor said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-050831hurricane,1,5714532.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Total evacuation of New Orleans begins
By Howard Witt and Michael Martinez
Tribune national correspondents
Published August 31, 2005, 10:40 PM CDT
NEW ORLEANS -- A massive forced evacuation of this sunken city began Wednesday as Mayor Ray Nagin said thousands were feared dead in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the federal government deployed thousands of troops to help combat rampant looting and lawlessness.
Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the entire city would be empty for months as officials began the long task of pumping out floodwaters and assessing the damage caused by one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-050831hurricane,1,5714532.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Blagojevich sends Illinois National Guard to Louisiana
By Tara Burghart
The Associated Press
Published August 31, 2005, 5:30 PM CDT
The Illinois National Guard will send 300 soldiers and up to 50 military vehicles to Louisiana to assist with the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office announced Wednesday.
The large military cargo trucks can drive through several feet of water, making them suitable for cleaning up debris and transporting supplies, officials said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050831nationalguard,1,398008.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Gasoline prices take off as day goes on
The disruption in the nation's supply of crude has motorists paying more than $3 a gallon in the Chicago area, and twice that in Georgia
By John Biemer and Erika Slife
Tribune staff reporters
Published August 31, 2005, 9:50 PM CDT
Motorists across the Chicago area were stunned Wednesday as gasoline prices soared past the $3-a-gallon mark as the ripple effect of Hurricane Katrina, which crippled most of the Gulf of Mexico's oil output, spread across the country.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050831gas-story,1,4220757.story?coll=chi-news-hed
The New Zealand Herald
Yachting: Team NZ wait on slick new 'McLaren'
01.09.05
By Julie Ash
MALMO - Team New Zealand are counting down the days, if not hours, until their slick new racing machine emerges from the boatyard.
The Emirates-sponsored syndicate finished third behind Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing in the sixth America's Cup pre-regatta in Malmo, Sweden.
Team New Zealand won nine out of 11 races. They could have ended with a 10-from-11 record had they not been over the startline against Italian syndicate +39 or if a jib sheet had not blown out against Oracle.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10343441
Baghdad stampede provokes civil war fears
01.09.05 4.00pm
By Anne Penketh
There are fears that the stampede on the Imams bridge in Baghdad could be the event that causes Iraq's long-suffering Shia community to take up arms against the Sunni-led insurgents and start a full-scale civil war.
Sunni leaders were anxiously trying to calm the situation last night as emotions ran high after the pilgrim stampede.
Defence Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab himself, insisted on television that "what happened has nothing at all to do with any sectarian tension".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10343532
Hurricane recovery to take years, says Bush
01.09.05 1.00pm
WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush says it will take years for the country's Gulf Coast states to fully recover from the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina.
More than 78,000 people are now in shelters after the hurricane that struck on Monday Bush said, calling it "one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history."
He said "tens of thousands of homes and businesses are beyond repair" and that part of the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been "completely destroyed."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10343505
Gay affair not adultery says court
01.09.05 8.20am
A Vancouver woman has gone to court to fight for a divorce after her husband's gay affair was not recognised by the Judiciary as adultery.
Shelley Pickering, 44, had been married nearly 17 years when she found out last year that her husband was having an affair with a man.
Her spouse admitted to the fling in an affidavit, but a provincial Supreme Court judge refused to grant them an immediate divorce as Canada, despite allowing gay marriage, does not recognise homosexual relationships in adultery law.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10343474
US largest weapons supplier
01.09.05 7.20am
The United States is the largest supplier of weapons to developing nations, delivering more than US$9.6 billion ($14.09 billion) in arms in 2004.
The total value of all arms agreements last year was close to US$37 billion and nearly 59 per cent of the agreements were with developing nations, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The weapons being sold range from ammunition to tanks, combat aircraft, missiles and submarines.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10343475
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