The Guardian
Breast cancer survival rates improve
Press Association
Monday October 10, 2005
Two in every three women who is diagnosed with breast cancer will survive for at least 20 years, researchers predicted today.
A Cancer Research UK study used statistics from the last 30 years to estimate that 64% of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer in England and Wales will live for at least 20 years - compared with 44% in the early 1990s.
More than seven out of 10 women (72%) are now predicted to survive for at least 10 years, compared with 54% diagnosed in the early 1990s.
Survival in women aged 50 to 69 - the age group in which breast cancer is most commonly diagnosed - was even better.
Among these women, 80% were estimated to live for at least 10 years while 72% survived to at least 20 years.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/news/0,8363,1588985,00.html
Coordinating the relief effort
Christian Aid's Dominic Nutt explains the problems facing aid workers as they race to help those affected by the south Asia earthquake
Monday October 10, 2005
The disaster that has hit the people of the Kashmir region will have a huge impact on friends and relatives back in the UK.
Many Muslims in Britain have strong Pakistani and Kashmiri connections, and UK charities, including Christian Aid and Islamic Relief, are launching a joint appeal for the victims of the earthquake.
In this month of Ramadan - a month of prayer and of charitable giving - Muslims in the UK will be the first in line to donate. And many others will want to do their bit, too.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/aid/comment/0,14178,1589022,00.html
Fathers to be offered six months leave
Patrick Wintour
Monday October 10, 2005
The Guardian
The government is to announce that fathers should have the right to six months' unpaid paternity leave independent of the decision of the female partner to take leave.
Ministers regard the move as central to making fathers feel more responsible for the upbringing of their children. They believe it also reflects the importance of parents being present in the crucial first stages of their child's life.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,1074,1588722,00.html
Blue Watch relive the bomb hell inside carriage 346A
It was a routine call-out - but within minutes firefighter Aaron Roche and his colleagues were plunged into the carnage of the 7 July bombings. For the first time, they tell their stories. By Mark Townsend
Sunday October 9, 2005
The Observer
He found her bolt upright, sitting still in some sort of private hell. For an hour she had remained, unblinking in the gloom, hemmed in by corpses on either side. The two people stared at one another, each wondering how they had stumbled across such carnage that mild summer's morning.
She was an ordinary commuter who found herself at the epicentre of Britain's deadliest terrorist attack. He was firefighter Aaron Roche, the first person to enter carriage 346A of the 8.51am Piccadilly Line service from King's Cross after the 7 July bombs went off.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/emergencyplanning/story/0,14501,1588747,00.html
Fire destroys Wallace and Gromit home
Staff and agencies
Monday October 10, 2005
Triumph and disaster: Aardman Animations has been destroyed by fire as news comes of international triumph for Wallace & Gromit's first feature
A fierce blaze at the warehouse of the animation company behind the Wallace and Gromit films has destroyed "the entire history" of the much-loved film-makers.
The roof of the Aardman Animations building in Silverthorne Lane, near Temple Meads station in Bristol, collapsed after fire tore through the Victorian building early today.
A spokesman for Aardman said the building housed all the props and sets from the company's history, which has scored a string of successes with its trademark "clay-mation" and gentle humour, beginning with the Morph cartoons on the BBC and going on to huge international success with Nick Park's Creature Comforts, the movie Chicken Run and the Wallace and Gromit films.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1588867,00.html
Russia halts rocket launches after European satellite failure
Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
Monday October 10, 2005
The Guardian
Russia's beleaguered space industry suffered another setback yesterday when officials suspended launches of a rocket system that had been used at the weekend in a failed attempt to put a European polar monitoring satellite into orbit.
State television said yesterday that Russia's space agency would not launch another Rokot missile until it had found out why a rocket crashed into the Atlantic. It was carrying the European Space Agency's Cryosat satellite, which monitors depletion of the polar ice-cap and gives vital clues on climate change. The £93m satellite was destroyed in the crash.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,16559,1588644,00.html
Investor's Business Daily
Stocks Finish Near Lows Amid Delphi News, Profit Warnings
BY KEN SHREVE
Posted 10/10/2005
It was more of the same Monday as early strength turned into weakness and stocks finished near their lows for the session. News of Delphi's bankruptcy and a few earnings warnings fueled negative sentiment.
As of 4:00 p.m. Eastern, the Dow slipped 54 points, or -0.5%, to 10,239; the S&P 500 gave up 9 points, or -0.7%, to 1187 and the Nasdaq lost 11 points, or -0.6, to 2079. It was the lowest close for the Dow and S&P 500 since May. Nasdaq volume came in around 1.4 billion shares, a 4% decline from Friday's level. NYSE volume totaled 1.6 billion shares, about equal with Friday's level.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=1
Rebels Want Drug Benefit Delay, But GOP Leaders Dismiss Idea
BY SEAN HIGGINS
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 10/7/2005
In the scramble to find offsets for the rising Gulf recovery costs, Republican budget hawks are targeting the new Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit.
The lawmakers say just postponing the benefit's rollout, set for Jan 1., for a year would reduce Medicare costs by at least $40 billion. That would go a long way toward stanching the government's flow of red ink.
They are facing determined opposition from their own leadership. Both the White House and congressional GOP leaders have said the benefit is off-limits and have reportedly chastised members for targeting it.
"We're hearing 'no change to the benefit. We don't want to revisit it at all,' " said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., the idea's leading House advocate.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&issue=20051007
Server Chip Field Heats Up As Intel Set To Answer AMD
BY JAMES DETAR
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 10/7/2005
Intel's been leaving good money on the table in the network server chip market.
The world's No. 1 chipmaker plans to change that on Monday with the launch of Paxville, its first dual-core server chip.
The Paxville launch is a big deal for Intel (INTC) in a couple of ways. First, Paxville marks Intel's entry into the dual-core server chip arena, where its main rival has already set up shop. Second, Paxville is a curtain-raiser for a string of dual-core chips that Intel plans to roll out in 2006.
There's added urgency for Intel with this rollout. Archrival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has gained market share from Intel in servers this year because of its dual-core head start.
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=17&artnum=1&issue=20051007
Hindustan Times
Quake victims loot supplies; toll could climb to 40,000
Agencies
Islamabad/Srinagar,
Grief gave way to anger as hungry victims of the devastating earthquake in Pakistan occupied Kashmir on Tuesday looted army vehicles carrying essential supplies and clashed with shopkeepers amid indications that the death toll in the worst-ever tragedy could climb to 40,000.
With time running out for finding survivors buried under rubble, the authorities were trying to rush rescue teams and relief to the devastated areas of PoK where alone 25,000 people are feared to have been killed in Saturday's earthquake.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1515327,0008.htm
Another casualty: Terror camps in Pak, PoK hit
(image placeholder)
Press Trust of India
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New Delhi,
The earthquake on Saturday last is understood to have caused a massive damage to major terrorist outfits running training camps in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), security sources said in New Delhi on Monday.
According to central security agencies, the camps of terrorist outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehrek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM), Hizbul Mujahideen and Al-Badar had been damaged to a great extent.
All these areas fall within a radius of 10 kilometres from the epicentre of weekend's tremor.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1515306,0008.htm
Peace bus service suspended indefinitely
Press Trust of India
Srinagar,
The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service has been suspended indefinitely in view of the earthquake that struck Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, regional passport officer Ramalu said.
"The bus service has been suspended till further orders in view of the natural calamity that has struck Jammu and Kashmir," Ramalu said.
The suspension was temporary and should not be construed as cancellation.
The service would be resumed as soon as conditions permit the same, he added.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1515372,000900010002.htm
Quake rocks sub-continent
The magnitude
The quake occured at 9.20 am on Saturday, measured 7.6 on Richter scale.
While 755 people were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, Pak death toll is estimated at 40,000.
Epicentre in west Muzaffarabad in PoK, 95 km from Islamabad. 22 aftersocks on Saturday and 2 on Sunday morning.
Casualties
In J&K the toll is 755. 157 deaths recorded in Kupwara, 139 in Baramulla, six in Srinagar and 18 in Jammu. Dead included 39 soldiers.
Prime Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs one lakh each to the next of the kin of those killed
In Pakistan the toll is estimated to cross 40,000. Initial reports said there were 17,115 fatalities in PoK alone. Those injured were 41,000. 250 students killed in a NWFP school
In Pakistan, 215 army personnel were killed, including seven officers, and 424 injured.
Over 90 Indian families in the Indian High Commission and that of the two journalists are safe in Islamabad.
UN sending emergency coordinators to Pakistan to prepare the world body's response to the earthquake.
Helpline: Control Room number of Home Ministry's Crisis Management team--011-23093563-6
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1515327,0008.htm
Britain flooded with trafficked women
VIJAY Dutt
CITIES IN Britain are turning into vice centres with criminal gangs flooding them with women trafficked for the sex trade. According to one report, over 1,000 women are being brought in every year, mostly from eastern Europe, by gangs and they literally "melt" away unnoticed.
Recently, 19 women, virtual prisoners of the sex traders, were rescued from a massage parlour in Birmingham. The police said criminal vice masters were making millions profiting from trafficked women in a growing illegal trade. MPs claimed the government was failing to curb the trade.
Senior police officials said cities were so flooded with sex-trafficked women that turf wars were breaking out between rival gangs as supply had started to outstrip demand.
Campaigners accuse the government of not doing enough to protect the women, some as young as 15, duped into coming to Britain on the false promise of jobs as nannies or waitresses only to be forced into sex and brutality.
Yet ministers have not signed a new European agreement, already supported by 15 states, aimed at combating human trafficking. An influential committee of MPs and peers are to debate whether to launch an inquiry into the government's failure to sign the convention.
MPs on the Joint Committee on Human Rights accused the government of failing to combat "an evil trade in human misery" by refusing to grant women rescued from trafficking the right to stay in Britain long enough to recover from their ordeal.
Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, and a committee member, was quoted as saying it was "disgraceful" the government was turning sex trafficking into an immigration issue.
Amnesty International said the women in volved are treated as illegal immigrants and deported home to face social stigma, poverty and even death threats from the criminals who brought them to Britain.
http://70.86.150.98/Hindustantimes/ArticleText.aspx?article=10_10_2005_015_007
Israeli, American share 2005 Economics Nobel prize
Matt Moore (AP)
Israeli and US citizen Robert J Aumann and American Thomas C Schelling won the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday for their work in game-theory analysis.
The pair won the prize "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Aumann, 75, and Schelling, 84, have helped to "explain economic conflicts such as price wars and trade wars, as well as why some communities are more successful than others in managing common-pool resources," the academy said in its citation. "The repeated-games approach clarifies the raison d'etre of many institutions, ranging from merchant guilds and organised crime to wage negotiations and international trade agreements."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1515043,001301370000.htm
The Boston Globe
Radar malfunction causes long delays at Logan
October 10, 2005
BOSTON --A malfunctioning radar system triggered long delays at Logan International Airport on Monday, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman.
Many flights were delayed by more than four hours after the radar surveillance system at an FAA facility in Merrimack, N.H., malfunctioned around 7:30 a.m.
Air traffic controllers were seeing "false targets" on their radar scopes -- blips that the controllers knew did not represent planes in flight, said FAA spokeswoman Arlene Murray.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/10/radar_malfunction_causes_long_delays_at_logan/
New Hampshire declares emergency after flooding
October 10, 2005
BOSTON (Reuters) - The worst floods to hit southern New Hampshire in 25 years killed at least three people, forced 1,000 people to evacuate their homes and prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency, authorities said on Monday.
Flooding triggered by torrential rains over the weekend submerged a third of the city of Keene in up to 8 feet (2.4 metres) of water, while rivers in western Massachusetts and eastern Vermont swelled to dangerous levels, emergency officials said.
"This is a statewide flooding event," said New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management spokesman Jim Van Dungen.
New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch sent 500 National Guard members to worst-hit regions on Sunday. He also set up a Red Cross emergency shelter in Keene, although most evacuees
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/10/new_hampshire_declares_emergency_after_flooding/
Katrina leaves thousands of cars in its wake
City begins to tow waterlogged vehicles
By Martin Miller, October 10, 2005
NEW ORLEANS -- As electricity is slowly switched back on, and as drinkable water starts to flow again, the city is turning to another Herculean labor after Hurricane Katrina -- the removal and the scrapping of more than 200,000 waterlogged and abandoned cars.
The cars are strewn about the city, on freeway mediums, on side roads, in parking lots. They are stranded in front of homes and apartments, and in some areas, the middle of the street.
So far, the city has towed about 1,600 of them. At that rate, it will take about a decade to finish the job.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/10/katrina_leaves_thousands_of_cars_in_its_wake/
Google's rush to print
October 10, 2005
GOOGLE, FLUSH WITH resources, has a grand vision to catalog and offer snippets of every book in the New York Public Library and several university collections, including Harvard's. But this is a case of too ambitious and too quickly. The Google proposal probably runs afoul of US copyright law, and an incremental approach is better to insure maximum online access to the riches of great libraries.
Google would have no problem if it limited its new search engine, Google Print, to only those books published before 1923. But after that, most works are covered by copyright, and enough copyright holders objected to inclusion that the Authors Guild, a trade association for published writers, has filed suit. These people and companies have a legitimate interest in determining who may publish their books.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/10/10/googles_rush_to_print/
Jerusalem Post
Security forces arrest 117 Hebron-area Hamas activists
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed on Monday that 117 Hamas activists belonging to three separate terror infrastructures in the Hebron area were arrested by security forces.
The activists were involved in many attacks, including the abduction and murder of Sasson Nuriel, the suicide bomb attack in the Beersheba bus station in August, and a planned bombing of an air force helicopter at a training base in the Judean desert.
A senior Shin Bet official noted that the infrastructures continued to operate intensively despite the tahdiya called in February of this year. They were responsible for the deaths of six Israelis and the wounding of scores.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1128955347434&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Sharon-Abbas summit postponed
By HERB KEINON AND JPOST STAFF
The summit between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas scheduled for Tuesday was postponed until the end of the month, Israel Radio reported, after an inconclusive meeting between representatives of both men on Sunday.
According to a senior Palestinian spokesman the meeting was postponed until an unknown date, either the end of the month or the beginning of November, Army Radio reported.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1128864029000&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Israel eases restrictions for Ramadan
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
In the framework of easing up restrictions on Palestinians living in the West Bank,
Israel carried out a number of steps as a gesture during the month of Ramadan.
Israel will permit 400 Palestinian worshipers aged 45 and upward to attend prayers at the Temple Mount each Friday of the Ramadan month, as well as 450 religious workers who will be permitted to travel to east Jerusalem, and an additional 100 religious workers who will be permitted to enter Israel.
Furthermore, 150 Christian teachers and 400 Muslim teachers will be allowed into east Jerusalem and Israel will also allow 150 Wakf workers from the West Bank to enter the Temple Mount.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1128864031543&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
IDF warns Hamas may kidnap Israelis
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
The IDF is certain that Hamas is trying to boost its terrorist capabilities in the West Bank, while at the same time have chosen to change their tactics in their fight against Israel, a senior intelligence official said Monday.
The group's strength on the Palestinian street has waned, largely due to their own missteps – including a deadly accident during a Gaza rally on September 23, the indiscriminate shelling of Israel which lead to this month's Operation First Rain, and the killing of PA security officers.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1128864030317&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Wichita Eagle
VA points way to drug savings
If you're a veteran with Veterans Affairs drug benefits, count yourself lucky. The VA offers some of the most affordable drug prices in the country for its patients.
And as reported by a new study, it achieves those remarkable savings primarily through the power of negotiation on bulk purchases.
Which raises anew the question: Why can't the new Medicare prescription drug program -- already seeing budget-busting cost overruns -- leverage its bulk purchasing power to achieve the same savings?
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/editorial/12861217.htm
New Orleans officers plead not guilty
MARY FOSTER
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - Three New Orleans police officers pleaded not guilty Monday to battery charges based on a videotape showing two patrolmen repeatedly punching a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication and a third officer grabbing and shoving an Associated Press Television News producer who helped capture the confrontation on tape.
After a brief hearing, at which trial was set for Jan. 11, the officers were released on bond. They quickly left in cars without commenting.
They were suspended without pay Sunday, police spokesman Marlon Defillo said. The police promised a criminal investigation.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12861377.htm
Flooding in east kills at least seven
DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI
Associated Press
ALSTEAD, N.H. - Prolonged, heavy rain caused flooding from North Carolina to Maine over the weekend, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate, knocking out electricity, weakening dams and making roads impassable.
At least 10 people died in flooding or in rain-related crashes, including two young people killed in New Hampshire when a car apparently drove off a washed-out bridge into flood waters, officials said. At least one other person was seen being swept away in a swift-flowing river.
Gov. John Lynch returned from Europe to take charge of relief efforts in New Hampshire. He declared a state of emergency and called in 500 National Guard members for assistance.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12861494.htm
What did you think of the CBS movie, ""The Hunt for the BTK Killer," shown Sunday night?
It was great.
21 votes (4%)
It was OK.
117 votes (21%)
I have a mixed reaction.
78 votes (14%)
I didn't like it.
166 votes (30%)
I didn't watch.
169 votes (31%)
551 people have voted so far
Your vote was I didn't watch. on 10/10/2005 4:27 pm
http://forums.kansas.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=kr-kansas_news&tid=9908&vote=5&submit=Vote
Hearing: Will Rader get media?
BY TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle
Prosecutors are expected to argue at a Wednesday hearing that BTK serial killer Dennis Rader should be denied materials he could use in prison to feed his sexual fantasies.
The 3 p.m. court hearing will be held at El Dorado Correctional Facility, where Rader is being evaluated to determine where he will serve 10 consecutive life sentences -- one for each of his 10 victims from 1974 to 1991.
Sedgwick County District Judge Greg Waller is expected to hear arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers, then make a recommendation about the conditions of Rader's imprisonment.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12861966.htm
Remains of 3 people found in apartment ruins
Associated Press
LAWRENCE - The remains of three people have been discovered in the ruins of an apartment complex that was destroyed by fire Friday, and no other residents are missing, fire officials said today.
The three victims were found Sunday in various locations throughout the three-story, block-long building in the Boardwalk Apartments complex, said Mark Bradford, interim chief of the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical department.
Bradford refused to release names, causes of death or other information about the victims. He said it could be several days before they are officially identified.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12867246.htm
State's flu response plan paints scary picture
A half-million Kansans could need medical care, and 2,500 could die during an influenza pandemic, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment estimates.
Businesses would stand nearly empty as sick employees stayed home; garbage collection and home meal delivery would stop; day cares would close.
That scenario is laid out in KDHE's Kansas Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan, released today in Topeka.
For more on this story, see Tuesday's Eagle.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12866672.htm
Students protest abortion protest
Kids object to church's use of grisly poster on campuses
BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS
The Wichita Eagle
Sunday, the protesters were protested. For three hours, a group organized by West High School students demonstrated outside Wichita's Spirit One Christian Center. The students were expressing their displeasure about the abortion protest the church supported earlier this week at the high school.
Church members responded Sunday with a counter-demonstration. In all, about 300 people were involved, though it was difficult to tell how many were on each side.
The demonstration was sparked by a graphic picture of an aborted fetus that appeared at the abortion protests at West High School and Wichita State University last week.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12863544.htm
Hungry Pakistanis wait for quake relief
SADAQAT JAN
Associated Press
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan - Shopkeepers clashed with looters Monday, and hungry families huddled under tents while waiting for relief supplies after Pakistan's worst earthquake razed entire villages and buried roads in rubble. Death toll estimates ranged from 20,000 to 30,000.
British rescuers unearthed a man trapped in rubble for 54 hours, residents using their bare hands and crowbars freed two girls buried in a school for more than two days, and a woman and child were pulled to safety from a wrecked apartment building after 62 hours.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/12861431.htm
The Gulf News
Fourth Nobel win boosts Egypt's pride
By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Gulf News Report
Cairo: Hardly had the news been broken that Mohammad Al Baradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, when his family's house in the fashionable quarter of Dokki in Cairo was swarmed with well-wishers.
"My son Mohammad has been brilliant since early childhood," said Al Baradei's mother Aida Ali, as her voice quavered with emotions. "This has been the opinion of all those who came to know him, including his kindergarten school teacher," she told Gulf News.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=185923
Living up to his name
By Adel Safty, Special to Gulf News
I argued in my previous article that the primacy of national interests over common interests was inimical to the spirit of the United Nations and was eroding its credibility.
Consider how the Bush administration and its combative ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, dealt with the world body in the negotiations that preceded the recent UN summit.
Since he came to New York, Bolton has been living up to his reputation of disdain. He is widely held responsible for diluting the summit's final document from a set of concrete commitments to vague general principles.
In his zeal to impose the current American view and to oppose any UN restriction on the US ability to use force, he disparaged the reform package document and demanded no less than 750 amendments to it. He threatened delegates with the use of his red pen and warned them against crossing "red lines".
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=186012
US envoy told to keep off Yemen's affairs
By Nasser Arrabyee, Gulf News Report
Sanaa:
The Yemeni Government yesterday said the US ambassador has no business interfering in the internal affairs of the country after he said "progress of democracy in Yemen has stalled".
"Yemen is an independent country and democracy in Yemen concerns the Yemeni people themselves and no one else," the official news agency Saba quoted an unidentified official as saying.
The official, termed as 'media responsible source', said the statements of US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski do not serve the "good relations between the friendly countries", and that such statements are considered an "interference in the internal affairs" of the country.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=185929
Talks on to swing Sunni support for Iraq charter
Agencies
Baghdad: With US mediation, Shiite and Kurdish officials negotiated with Sunni Arab leaders last minute additions to the constitution, trying to win Sunni support ahead of next weekend's crucial referendum.
But the sides remained far apart on Sunday over basic issues - including the federalism that Shiites and Kurds insist on - and copies of the constitution are already being passed out to the public.
Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani met with Sunni Arab leaders Saturday and Sunday trying to convince them on changes to the charter.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=186026
Iraq interior minister regrets his verbal assault on Saudis
Reuters
Baghdad: Iraq's outspoken interior minister was quoted yesterday as saying he hoped his verbal onslaught on Saudi Arabia would be a "passing summer cloud" and that ties between the two countries would remain strong.
Bayan Baqer Sulagh had last week referred to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal as a "bedouin riding a camel" and slammed the kingdom's treatment of women and minority Shiites, forcing Sulagh to apologise.
"I hope these statements and what has been said and written will be a passing summer cloud ... ," Sulagh told Asharq Al Awsat newspaper.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=185897/
Abdullah and Mubarak to meet today
Agencies
Amman:
Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will meet in Cairo today to discuss ways for advancing peace efforts after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip, officials said.
"The meeting is aimed at pushing the stalled peace talks ahead. Both Egypt and Jordan see an opportunity after Gaza to move further and expand peace moves to the West Bank," one palace official said.
Israel last month dismantled 21 Jewish colonies and pulled out its forces from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation, reviving hopes of renewed peace talks after nearly five years of an uprising.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=185925
Majority of AU hostages freed by Darfur rebel group
Agencies
Khartoum : Darfur rebel dissidents have released 36 African Union hostages but are still holding two more in the western Sudanese region.
The rebel faction kidnapped a multi-national AU ceasefire monitoring team on Sunday and then the rescue team.
AU spokesperson Noureddine Mezni said on Monday that the military head of the AU mission had personally witnessed the release of 36 of the hostages.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=186025
Two AU troops and two civilians killed in Darfur
Reuters
Khartoum:
Two African Union peacekeepers and two civilian contractors were killed in an ambush in Sudan's troubled Darfur region on Saturday, the AU's first casualties of the conflict, the acting head of the mission said on Saturday.
"Two of our military were killed and three AU military were wounded, and two civilian personnel were killed," Jean Baptiste Natama, acting head of the AU mission in Sudan said, adding the ambush took place in South Darfur state.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=185926
The Philadelphia Inquirer
A struggle to find common ground on unfamiliar turf
By Jennifer Moroz
Inquirer Staff Writer
Second of three parts
Within minutes, three Border Patrol cars had 13-year-old Cindia and her mother, Marli, surrounded.
A smuggler had just led the pair and three other Brazilians across the Rio Grande.
The "coyote" had turned back, telling his charges to keep moving until they reached the road. Border Patrol will find you, he said. He knew U.S. detention centers couldn't hold all the illegal immigrants flowing into the country.
As the coyote said, Cindia and Marli were processed and, after providing a false U.S. address, released with a notice to appear in court. They would ignore the notice, and like hordes of others, become fugitives in the eyes of Immigration officials.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12862105.htm
The American Debate
As Bush slips, GOP faces major shift in '08 vote
By Dick Polman
Inquirer Political Analyst
Back when President Bush was riding high - before the public turned sour on Iraq, before conservatives got mad about his lavish federal spending and his Harriet Miers nomination - it was widely assumed that the 2008 Republican presidential candidates would vie amongst themselves for the right to proudly carry their leader's torch.
But that's not happening.
The Republican hopefuls - as many as a dozen men who already are jockeying for advantage - don't want to be perceived as insiders and heirs to the Bush political establishment. On the contrary, most of them are trying to advertise their independence, to distance themselves from Bush on key issues, to appear as rebels fed up with the wicked ways of Washington.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12862102.htm
Gay pride celebrated with little disruption
The 15th annual Outfest drew about 30 protesters to Center City, but there were few reported clashes.
By Natalie Pompilio
Inquirer Staff Writer
Despite fears that protests would mar the party, the 15th annual Outfest went off without any major problems yesterday as thousands crowded the streets of Philadelphia's "gayborhood" to celebrate gay pride.
Last year's city-sanctioned street festival was blemished when 11 members of Repent America, a local antihomosexual evangelical Christian group, were arrested for refusing to move from in front of a stage performance.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/12862133.htm
Jakarta Post
Scientists prepare to install tsunami warning system off Sumatra
ON BOARD THE SONNE, Indonesia (AP): A team of German and Indonesian scientists will set sail Tuesday for Sumatra island to install a tsunami warning system in the region worst hit by last year's Asian killer wave disaster.
The system involves sensors on the ocean floor and giant buoys on the surface of the sea that transmit information about earthquake activity to observation stations on the coast via satellite.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20051010150216&irec=2
Indonesia to test bird flu vaccines after graft scandal
JAKARTA (AFP): Indonesia will run tests its stock of bird flu vaccine after a corruption scandal involving production of sub-standard doses, an official said Monday.
Government auditors suspect that local companies assigned to make the vaccine produced doses of inferior quality to inflate profits, with the collusion of some ministry officials.
The disease has killed at least three Indonesians and 59 others elsewhere in Southeast Asia since 2003.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20051010142102&irec=3
Growing demand for LCD monitors in Asia-Pacific region
SINGAPORE (DPA): Sales of liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors in the Asia-Pacific region are forecast to overtake traditional computer monitors as early as the first quarter of 2006, International Data Corp (IDC) predicted on Monday.
"This is an impressive milestone that signals the impending demise of the CRT (cathode ray tube), because even rural areas of lesser-developed nations such as India and Indonesia are looking at converting to LCDs," The Business Times quoted ReubanTan, IDC's senior analyst for personal systems research, as saying.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20051010123923&irec=4
Australia to urge new counterterrorism measures in Indonesia
CANBERRA (AP): Australia's foreign minister, set to visit neighboring Indonesia Tuesday in the aftermath of the latest Bali bombings, said he will urge the country's government to bolster its counterterrorism capabilities.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Monday he would stop off on his way to Jakarta at the tourist island where 23 people, including four Australians, were killed by suicide bombers on Oct. 1.
Downer said he hoped to meet with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as well as government ministers and Indonesia's police chief.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20051010115057&irec=5
Indonesian investors need education on mutual funds
Frank van Lerven, Jakarta
The Indonesian mutual funds industry is suddenly faced with a crisis in confidence. This time not caused by the stock market but by the fixed interest market, also knows as the "bond market" (obligasi).
It all started with the significant hikes in interest rates by Bank Indonesia over the last couple of months as it attempted to protect the rupiah and keep inflation in check in the wake of higher fuel prices. Simply said: A few months ago "money in the bank" would produce about 6 percent in interest, now we are looking at approximately 10 percent.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20051010.E02&irec=1
International cooperation vital for saving the heart of Borneo island
Siswo Pramono, The Hague
The three Bornean countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam -- should develop an integrated conservation policy in order to save the very large blocks of interconnected forests on the island of Borneo. Such a trilateral policy is critical to sustainable development in, and hence the prosperity of, the entire island.
Such an integrated policy, however, is not unprecedented. Through the Yaoundi Declaration of 1999, for instance, the central African states Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon committed themselves to conserve the incalculable natural riches of the Congo Basin forests. Borneo's forest, which is also very rich in biodiversity and natural resources, deserves the same protection.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20051010.E03&irec=2
Eliminating terrorism
Indonesia is one of the Muslim countries being targeted by terrorists due to its alliance with the U.S. We will never condone terrorism and instead should work hand-in-hand to make sure that there are no more acts of terror in Indonesia.
Instead of reactivating Indonesian Military (TNI) territorial commands, it would be better if the government arranged meetings with prominent Muslims and clerics to discuss how security agents could work accordingly in order to eliminate terrorism.
AZHAR ZULKIFLI, Aceh
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20051010.F06&irec=5
Malaysia's new coast guard to begin patrolling Malacca Strait
KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A new Malaysian coast guard with 72 vessels will begin patrolling the piracy-plagued Malacca Strait next month, the government said Monday.
More than 4,000 personnel will eventually be trained to work for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, which will begin surveillance on Nov. 30 along the busy shipping lane between peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra island, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20051010172719&irec=0
Indonesia, East Timor may seek foreign funds for peace commission
DILI (AFP): Indonesia and its former territory East Timor may seek foreign funding for their Commission of Truth and Friendship investigating past bloodshed, East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said Monday.
Horta said that for the initial six months, the two countries have raised a total of US$1.5 million to fund the commission that was set up in August to investigate the 1999 violence surrounding East Timor's push for independence from Jakarta.
Horta said this was more than the commission itself had sought for the first six months, but after that there would be a review of whether it needs more cash.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20051010171817&irec=1
They can run, but how long can they hide?
Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta
The Oct. 1 bomb attacks in Bali exposed gross weaknesses in the capability of the National Police force and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in dealing with terrorism. They may be good in handling the matter after the fact -- our police seem to be quick off the mark in identifying the perpetrators and arresting some of them. But they fall short when it comes to anticipating or detecting the next attack.
Central to any success in the fight against terror will be the capture of the two Malaysians whose names have been connected with the first deadly bomb attacks in Bali in 2002 and with just about every major bombing that has occurred in Indonesia since then. It is thought that Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top orchestrated the coordinated attacks on Oct. 1.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20051010.B06&irec=5
Ex-militant says Bali blasts aimed to discredit Islam
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A former accomplice of Imam Samudra, who received the death sentence for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, has confessed to taking part in acts of violence nationwide, but denied a role in the Oct. 1 blasts on the island.
Hadidi aka Abu Zahro, 40, told the Cilegon Police he was a victim of a grand scenario to label Muslim hard-liners as perpetrators of bomb attacks in the country.
Cilegon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Riansyah led the questioning of Hadidi on Saturday. The native of Banten was also shown pictures of three suspected suicide bombers of last weekend's attacks on two cafes and a restaurant on the tourist island, which left 23 people dead, including one victim who died in hospital on Saturday.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20051010.B07&irec=6
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