Haaretz
Sharon, Abbas to hold talks at end of September
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the end of September, after the two return from a United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 19, sources in Jerusalem said on Friday.
Sharon will meet with United States President George W. Bush at the UN General Assembly meeting, but is not expected to meet with Abbas.
Abbas called Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Friday and expressed his appreciation for the contribution made by Peres and the Labor party to Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/620473.html
Jordan's King Abdullah to visit Israel publicly for first time
By Aluf Benn and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents
Jordan's King Abdullah will visit Israel next week and meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss the aftermath of the disengagement, Israeli officials said.
Although Abdullah has previously visited Sharon in secret at his Sycamore Ranch, this will be the king's first public visit to Israel.
The Israeli officials said the meeting was coordinated by the head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, but officials in Jordan are denying reports of the planned visit to Israel. Jordan regularly denies such reports until a fixed date is set for a visit.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/620417.html
Pakistani official: No Musharraf-Sharon meeting at UN assembly
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
Mohammed Naeem Khan, a spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said Friday there are no plans for Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf to meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York later this month. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Thursday he had discussed the possibility of such a meeting in talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday defended Thursday's talks with Israel as Muslim clerics denounced the shift in policy in fiery sermons during prayers, but planned street protests fell flat.
"There is no harm in having talks," Aziz told the lower house of the National Assembly, where opposition Islamist legislators walked out in token protest.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/620200.html
Sharon plans to meet Pakistani president at UN
By Aluf Benn
Pakistan took a first step toward normalizing ties with Israel yesterday, with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom meeting his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Kasuri, in Istanbul.
In the public meeting, the ministers discussed ways of promoting bilateral ties, but not establishing full diplomatic relations.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/620222.html
It wasn't their fault. They should receive compensation.
Justice Min. mulls granting full compensation to evacuees who missed deadline
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is mulling a proposal under which Gaza settlers who did not leave their homes by the end of the official August 16 deadline but who did not act violently during their evacuation would still benefit from the full compensation offered by the Evacuation-Compensation Law.
The proposal was put forward during the evacuation of the settlements itself. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised Knesset Chairman Reuven Rivlin he would consider favorably the possibility that the government will amend the Evacuation-Compensation Law, although he was referring to the option of offering all evacuated settlers full compensation, regardless of their behavior.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/620249.html
State Comptroller finds holes in security of the separation fence
By Arnon Regular
The State Comptroller found serious shortcomings in operating the separation fence and the obstacle strip running alongside it.
Basing its findings on studies conducted between August-December 2004, the State Comptroller found that "the passage points in the seam line obstacle strip are not equipped with the technology or personnel to operate them according to the standards required to meet security needs or to preserve the Palestinians' `fabric of life'."
The State Comptroller's Office identified flaws in the purchasing process and use of warning, command and control, and observation devices, as well as war rooms along segments of the fence that already have been built.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/619927.html
Philadelphia Inquirer
Aid vs. anarchy in New Orleans
By Allen G. Breed and David Espo
Associated Press
As New Orleans descended into anarchy yesterday, Congress rushed to provide a $10.5 billion down payment in relief aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the federal government promised to send more troops to help restore order.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared war on looters who have made New Orleans a menacing landscape of disorder and fear. "They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," Blanco said of 300 National Guard troops who landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/12538830.htm
Lawmakers seek ways to ease pain at pumps
By Robert Moran and Mario Cattabiani
Inquirer Staff Writers
Responding to public shock over soaring fuel prices, Gov. Rendell said yesterday that he may ask the legislature to temporarily lift Pennsylvania's 31-cent-per-gallon gas tax.
In New Jersey, state lawmakers were calling for price-control measures to ease the pain at the pump in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on Gulf Coast oil and refinery production.
Politicians in both states swiftly jumped on the hot-button issue as motorists reeled from $3-a-gallon gas.
However, no quick relief is in sight.
The Pennsylvania legislature, which would need to approve a suspension of the gas tax, is not scheduled to return to work for three weeks. And New Jersey's Legislature is not expected back in session until after the November election.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12538719.htm
Charges filed in export of toxic chemicals
Officials say Joel D. Udell set up a phony sale to send the hazardous stuff to the Netherlands from Pottstown.
By John Shiffman
Inquirer Staff Writer
In 2000, businessman Joel D. Udell faced a serious problem. The EPA had determined that his crowded Pottstown warehouse was so hazardous - filled with leaking, corroded drums of chemicals - that it qualified for Superfund status.
He had an order to empty and clean the place. And quickly.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12538851.htm
Officials blamed for deaths of 3 boys
A self-appointed panel castigated "the command structure" for failing to rescue the boys in June.
By Adam Fifield and Dwight Ott
Inquirer Staff Writers
A citizens group that examined the deaths of three boys in a car trunk in June has faulted a range of city and county officials and singled out one Camden police lieutenant for failing to search the vehicle fully.
It also absolved the boys' families of any responsibility.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12538776.htm
Pa. vaccine factory will be reopened
GlaxoSmithKline said it would use the Lancaster County site to develop new ways to make flu vaccine.
By Marian Uhlman
Inquirer Staff Writer
GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. said yesterday that it has bought a shuttered vaccine plant in Lancaster County that will create nearly 300 jobs, advance the fight against influenza, and cement the region's position as the nation's flu-vaccine capital.
The British firm, which has U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, said it will invest at least $100 million to buy and upgrade the 90-acre manufacturing site previously owned by Wyeth, of Madison, N.J.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12538720.htm
A child's garden of classic books
By Denise Cowie
Inquirer Staff Writer
When children's author/illustrator Lynne Cherry decided to write a picture book about a tree in the rain forest that affects many lives, she didn't just sit down and start painting scenes based on other people's descriptions. She headed off to Brazil, trekking into the Amazon rain forest to learn about it firsthand.
"For all my books, I travel to the place I'm writing about," says Cherry, a graduate of Temple University's Tyler School of Art. "The feel of the place, the smell, the texture... somehow it comes out in the illustrations."
That book, The Great Kapok Tree, has been read by millions of children since it was published in 1990. Now, it has been declared a book-of-the-century by the judges for a new awards program that honors children's books with a gardening or ecology theme.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12538739.htm
The Jordan Times
Bush waives Jordan aid restriction
SAN DIEGO, California (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Tuesday waived for six months a restriction on millions of dollars in aid to Jordan, which could have been blocked over Amman's membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Under a US law passed last year, money from the $2.5 billion economic support fund cannot go to countries that are parties to the court but have not signed agreements to give US citizens immunity from the tribunal.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news2.htm
Jordan, Syria agree on controls on employment of Syrian workers
AMMAN (JT) — Jordan and Syria on Wednesday reached agreement on several measures to control the employment of Syrian workers in the Kingdom.
The agreement followed talks between Labour Ministry Secretary General Majid Habashneh and his Syrian counterpart Issa Maldaoun in Amman.
Under the agreement, Syrian workers wishing to work in Jordan should obtain a certified work permit endorsed by the Jordanian and Syrian ministers of labour, before entering the Kingdom.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews6.htm
1st executions since Saddam ouster conducted
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq on Thursday hanged three convicted murderers in the first executions since the toppling of former dictator Saddam Hussein, despite appeals from the United Nations and human rights groups.
“The capital punishment was carried out this morning at 10:30am (0630 GMT) on three convicts. They were hanged to death,” government spokesman Leith Kubba said.
The three, believed to be members of Al Qaeda linked extremist group Ansar Al Sunna, were sentenced in May for killing and kidnapping policemen and raping Iraqi women.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news10.htm
Western anti-terror units accused of abuse
NAIROBI (Reuters) — Foreign security services chasing terrorist cells in lawless Somalia are abusing human rights with kidnappings, harassment and threats to suspects, some of whom may be innocent, a UN envoy said on Thursday.
“This has to be highlighted. I cannot just sit back and watch,” Ghanim Alnajjar, the UN-named rights expert on Somalia, said after an 11-day trip to the Horn of Africa nation.
US and other Western security services see Somalia as a potential haven for terrorists as it has been without government since warlords overthrow dictator Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news9.htm
President to be elected in 1st contested poll next week
CAIRO (AFP) — With Egypt just a week away from its first-ever contested presidential election, which incumbent Hosni Mubarak is widely expected to win, concern is mounting over the likely transparency and fairness of the poll.
The victory of the 77-year-old Mubarak, at the helm since 1981, is not even open to question despite a strong challenge from his most outspoken challenger, and 37 years his junior, Ayman Nur.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news8.htm
Opposition in love-hate relationship with US
By Jean-Marc Mojon
Agence France-Presse
CAIRO — Washington's drive for democratic change in Egypt has left the country's reformist opposition torn between a deep-rooted anti-Americanism and the potential windfall of US support.
"Do you think Washington will issue a statement to condemn this?" snapped an angry protester during a recent protest in Cairo by the Kefaya ("Enough" in Arabic) movement that was violently dispersed by security forces.
The US State Department published the statement.
But the very same Egyptians opposed to President Hosni Mubarak's autocratic regime who accuse America of abandoning them also slam the "interference and imperialist policies" of Washington.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news9.htm
King attends ceremony marking Al Israa Wal Miraj
His Majesty King Abdullah attends a ceremony held at the Islamic Cultural Centre marking the anniversary of Al Israa Wal Miraj on Wednesday (Photo by Yousef Allan)
AMMAN (JT) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday acted as patron at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Al Israa Wal Miraj (Prophet Mohammad's nocturnal journey and ascension to heaven).
Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdul Salam Abbadi delivered a speech on this occasion in which he referred to the role of the Hashemite dynasty over the decades in the renovation and the maintenance of Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome.
Custodianship over the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem has been the traditional responsibility of the Hashemite family since the reign of the first Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah I.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/homenews/homenews1.htm
4 suspects in Hariri probe quizzed; 1 released
Artist Zaher Bizri of Sidon paints a portrait of slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, marking 200 days since his assassination (AP photo by Mohammad Zaatari)
BEIRUT (AP) — The UN probe into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri — in which four pro-Syrian generals and a lawmaker were named as suspects — was expected Wednesday to send shock waves through neighbouring Syria by again raising suspicion that Damascus had a role in the slaying.
The generals were being questioned Wednesday, a day after they were detained or surrendered to authorities at the request of United Nations investigators trying to determine who was behind the February 14 bombing that killed Hariri and 20 other people.
http://www.jordantimes.com/thu/news/news3.htm
Pakistan, Israel hold landmark talks
ISTANBUL (Reuters) — Israel held its first public talks with Pakistan on Thursday in a diplomatic breakthrough spurred by its Gaza pullout that signalled a possible thaw in relations with longtime foes in the Muslim world.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said after a high-level meeting in Istanbul that his country had decided to "engage" with Israel after years as one of its harshest critics over its handling of a Palestinian uprising.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, speaking after talks with Kasuri, said the Jewish state hoped to use the Pakistan talks as a springboard for broader diplomatic ties with Muslim and Arab countries that have long shunned it.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news1.htm
Unemployment among women falls by 20.2% over a decade
By Thomas Gringer Jakobsen and Henrik El-Kher
AMMAN — Jordanian women are closing in on men when it comes to participation in the labour market.
In little more than a decade, unemployment among women has plunged 20.2 percentage points — from 36.7 to 16.5 per cent, according to official figures from the Department of Statistics (DoS).
Male unemployment dropped 5 per cent during the same period.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews4.htm
The New York Times
New Orleans Mayor, in Tears, Blasts Washington's Response
By JOSEPH B. TREASTER and TERENCE NEILAN
Published: September 2, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 2 - Fires and explosions jolted an area near the French Quarter this morning in a city gripped by despair and violent lawlessness, and the city's mayor, by turns angry and sad, blasted Washington for what he said was its slow response to the storm disaster
Fires and explosions jolted an area south of the French Quarter this morning.
Today President Bush called the response "not acceptable," as he left for a tour of the ravaged areas. Soon after his remarks the nation's airlines said they had been mobilized to fly up to 25,000 refugees out of New Orleans beginning today, under an emergency plan put into effect for the first time by the Department of Homeland Security. Under the plan, the refugees will be taken from Louis Armstrong Airport outside New Orleans to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/national/nationalspecial/02cnd-storm.html?hp&ex=1125720000&en=c39cf45e7f030e63&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Local Officials Criticize Federal Government Over Response
By JOSEPH B. TREASTER
and DEBORAH SONTAG
Published: September 2, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 1 - Despair, privation and violent lawlessness grew so extreme in New Orleans on Thursday that the flooded city's mayor issued a "desperate S O S" and other local officials, describing the security situation as horrific, lambasted the federal government as responding too slowly to the disaster.
At the New Orleans Convention Center, crowds swelled to about 25,000.
Thousands of refugees from Hurricane Katrina boarded buses for Houston, but others quickly took their places at the filthy, teeming Superdome, which has been serving as the primary shelter. At the increasingly unsanitary convention center, crowds swelled to about 25,000 and desperate refugees clamored for food, water and attention while dead bodies, slumped in wheelchairs or wrapped in sheets, lay in their midst.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/national/nationalspecial/02storm.html?hp&ex=1125633600&en=d2abfacae2d859f8&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Government Saw Flood Risk but Not Levee Failure
By SCOTT SHANE and ERIC LIPTON
Published: September 2, 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 - When Michael D. Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, returned in January from a tour of the tsunami devastation in Asia, he urgently gathered his aides to prepare for a similar catastrophe at home
"New Orleans was the No. 1 disaster we were talking about," recalled Eric L. Tolbert, then a top FEMA official. "We were obsessed with New Orleans because of the risk."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/national/nationalspecial/02response.html
Bloomberg Democrats Are a Primary Force
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, at a Fire Department training center on Thursday, is supported by many of the city's Democrats. They have primary options: vote to help the mayor, vote for a second choice, or stay home.
By SAM ROBERTS
Published: September 2, 2005
Most New Yorkers are Democrats. And half of them, a recent poll suggests, would re-elect the city's Republican mayor. So come Primary Day, what are these Bloomberg Democrats to do?
Their intriguing quandary could become a huge factor in determining who wins the Democratic nomination on Sept. 13. Do they vote their hearts? Or do they vote strategically, for "anybody but Freddy" to force the Democratic front-runner, Fernando Ferrer, into a debilitating runoff against either Gifford Miller, Anthony D. Weiner or C. Virginia Fields? Or do they vote for the candidate who they believe would pose the smallest threat to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in November?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/nyregion/metrocampaigns/02voters.html
Education Law Is Loosened for Failing Chicago Schools
By SAM DILLON
Published: September 2, 2005
Moving once again to ease the requirements of the nation's tough new education law, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced yesterday that she would allow the Chicago Public Schools to run federally financed tutoring programs for students at low-performing schools, despite Chicago's failure to meet academic goals.
It was the second time in a week that Ms. Spellings had extended new flexibility in her enforcement of President Bush's signature education law, known as No Child Left Behind. Earlier she had extended a waiver to four Virginia districts, allowing them to offer tutoring before they offer the chance to transfer out of failing schools.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/education/02child.html
76 Arrested Protesting N.Y.U. Cutoff of Student Union
By KAREN W. ARENSON
Published: September 1, 2005
The president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the secretary-treasurer of the United Auto Workers and a state senator were among nearly 80 people who were arrested yesterday during a protest of New York University's decision to end dealings with a union of graduate student teaching and research assistants.
John J. Sweeney, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., told the crowd at New York University's library, "Union busting is for corporate criminals who have no values, not for an educational institution." Last year, a federal labor board reversed an earlier approval of unions of graduate students.
The protesters linked arms and sat down in front of the university's Bobst Library, despite warnings from the police that they would be charged with disorderly conduct.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/nyregion/01nyu.html
Gazing at Breached Levees, Critics See Years of Missed Opportunities
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: September 2, 2005
As federal flood-control officials directed efforts to block the 17th Street Canal, the source of most of the water swamping New Orleans, they faced growing criticism yesterday over decades of missed opportunities to prevent precisely this type of disaster.Workers paused at the point where a levee broke in New Orleans.
In interviews and a telephone conference call with reporters, senior officials and engineers from up and down the ranks of the Army Corps of Engineers conceded that they had no ability to detect quickly small breaches in the matrix of 350 miles of levees around New Orleans.
Unless such holes can be blocked early, the water will almost invariably rip away at the edges, widening the breach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/national/nationalspecial/02levee.html
Iran Hopes for 'Positive' U.N. Nuclear Report
By REUTERS
Published: September 2, 2005
Filed at 9:56 a.m. ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's chief atomic negotiator said on Friday he hoped an upcoming report by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog would contain ``positive points'' that would encourage Tehran to cooperate more with the agency.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to distribute a new report on Iran's nuclear programme on Friday or Saturday to the 35 nations on the IAEA's board of governors.
Diplomats in Vienna, the headquarters of the IAEA, say the report will likely spark U.S. and EU calls to refer Iran's case to the U.N. Security Council.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-nuclear-iran.html
Putin Promises Beslan Mothers a Tough Probe of School Siege
By REUTERS
Published: September 2, 2005
Filed at 9:47 a.m. ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the Beslan school siege would be thoroughly investigated to establish whether official incompetence contributed to the deaths of 331 hostages.
Speaking to a group of bereaved mothers on the anniversary of the siege, Putin said Russia's security forces, as in other countries, had found it was impossible to offer total protection against terror attacks.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-russia-beslan.html
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