President Hu ends fruitful visit to Pyongyang
By Xing Zhigangand Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:15
President Hu Jintao sealed a double victory when he wrapped up his three-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) yesterday.
President Hu Jintao (left) shakes hands with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong-Il upon his arrival at Pyongyang Airport on Friday. [AFP]
He successfully persuaded Pyongyang to return to the scheduled Six-Party Talks early next month, and he took advantage of the official goodwill trip to strengthen relations with China's close neighbour.
President Hu's visit to Pyongyang was "successful" and "fruitful," a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said in Beijing yesterday.
Hu, also general-secretary of the CPC Central Committee, returned to Beijing yesterday morning.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488922.htm
Local authorities step up war against bird flu
By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:15
Local authorities across the nation stepped up the war against avian influenza after three outbreaks and the death of a girl who had pneumonia-like symptoms in a bird flu-hit area this month.
A Chinese health worker sprays disinfectant over chickens in cages at a poultry market in Beijing October 30, 2005. [Reuters]
Increased surveillance on migratory birds has become a priority in many areas and local officials are setting up checkpoints to keep questionable poultry away from markets.
In Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a pigeon race was cancelled for fears that the birds might transmit the virus even though an organizer said homing pigeons could not fly as far as Inner Mongolia, Anhui or Hunan where outbreaks were reported.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488921.htm
HIV insurance debuts in Henan Province(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:17
ZHENGZHOU: An insurance company in Central China's Henan Province has launched a new policy that guarantees compensation of up to 300,000 yuan (US$37,050) in case of HIV infection.
According to the policy offered by the Henan Provincial Branch of China Taiping Life Insurance Co, policyholders will pay an annual premium of 12.9 yuan (US$1.6) to secure a 10,000 yuan (US$1,235) payout if they are infected with HIV during the year.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488926.htm
Foreign investment in water sector welcomed(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-31 08:46
China welcomes foreign investors to participate in urban water supply and sewage disposal projects,said Chinese Construction Minister Wang Guangtao here Sunday.
Addressing an international symposium on the development of urban water-related projects, Wang said China will diversify the financing channel for the construction and operation of urban water projects.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_489003.htm
China to reform oil pricing mechanism(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-10-30 09:03
BEIJING -- China will reform its long-debated oil pricing mechanism by making the prices of its processed oil more responsive to the global oil price fluctuation, said a senior official here Friday.
The move will help crack down on domestic oil speculation and ensure the supply, said Zhao Xiaoping, director of the pricing department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) .
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/30/content_489070.htm
Three-day revelry marks build-up to Halloween
By Wang Shanshan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-31 05:15
Parts of Beijing seemed like ghost towns over the weekend -- no, not deserted, but populated with ghost-like figures.
Never mind that Halloween fell on a Monday today this year. It was the perfect excuse for a three-day binge for party-goers.
People in scary, sexy and funny costumes turned up to celebrate Halloween on Saturday night in Beijing's Central Business District. [newsphoto] And never mind that it's meant to be a festival celebrated in the United States, Canada, and the British Isles by children going door to door while wearing costumes and begging treats and playing pranks.
In Beijing, like in other major cities in China, it was a good time for adult expatriates or visitors to let their hair down and be like kids.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488962.htm
Relief team reaches quake-hit Pakistan
(China Daily)Updated: 2005-10-31 05:17
BALACOT, Pakistan: China's second rescue and relief team arrived in the earthquake-hit Balacot District of Pakistan on Saturday afternoon, with the help of local military troops.
The 41-member team contacted the disaster-relief headquarters immediately after arrival and decided on the location of their camp, a difficult task in the mountainous area.
A high-ranking military officer from Pakistan told Xinhua: "We, the local military force and ordinary people, appreciate the generous help of the Chinese rescue team."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488874.htm
Residents to be relocated from wetlandBy Li Fangchao
(China Daily)Updated: 2005-10-31 05:17
HARBIN: In an effort to rescue the fast shrinking and deteriorating Zhalong Wetland, 5,400 people who live in the main area of the wetland are to be relocated by the year 2010, sources with the Heilongjiang Provincial Forestry Department said.
Zhalong Wetland, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is the largest of its type in the country and home to hundreds of endangered species of fauna and flora.
Around 500 species of plants and 300 species of waterfowl can be found in the reserve. It is particularly noted for the rare red-crowned crane.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_488878.htm
Democrat urges Rove to quit over CIA leak
(AP)Updated: 2005-10-31 08:59
The US Senate Democratic leader said Sunday that presidential adviser Karl Rove should resign because of his role in exposing an undercover CIA officer, and a veteran Republican senator said President Bush needs "new blood" in his White House.
Rove has not been charged, but he continues to be investigated in the CIA leaks case that brought the indictment and resignation Friday of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, an adviser to Bush and the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not made a decision on whether Rove gave false testimony during his four grand jury appearances. Rove is Bush's most trusted adviser.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_489074.htm
Democrat urges Rove to quit over CIA leak(AP)Updated: 2005-10-31 08:59
The US Senate Democratic leader said Sunday that presidential adviser Karl Rove should resign because of his role in exposing an undercover CIA officer, and a veteran Republican senator said President Bush needs "new blood" in his White House.
Rove has not been charged, but he continues to be investigated in the CIA leaks case that brought the indictment and resignation Friday of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, an adviser to Bush and the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not made a decision on whether Rove gave false testimony during his four grand jury appearances. Rove is Bush's most trusted adviser.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/31/content_489074.htm
The New York Times
In Indictment's Wake, a Focus on Cheney's Powerful Role
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: October 30, 2005
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 - Vice President Dick Cheney makes only three brief appearances in the 22-page federal indictment that charges his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., with lying to investigators and misleading a grand jury in the C.I.A. leak case. But in its clear, cold language, it lifts a veil on how aggressively Mr. Cheney's office drove the rationale against Saddam Hussein and then fought to discredit the Iraq war's critics.
The document now raises a central question: how much collateral damage has Mr. Cheney sustained?
Many Republicans say that Mr. Cheney, already politically weakened because of his role in preparing the case for war, could be further damaged if he is forced to testify about the infighting over intelligence that turned out to be false. At the least, they say, his office will be temporarily off balance with the resignation of Mr. Libby, who controlled both foreign and domestic affairs in a vice presidential office that has served as a major policy arm for the West Wing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/politics/30cheney.html?hp&ex=1130734800&en=e0bf76a2584ac179&ei=5094&partner=homepage
China's Next Big Boom Could Be the Foul Air
By JIM YARDLEY
Published: October 30, 2005
BEIJING — The steady barrage of statistics trumpeting China's rise is often greeted elsewhere as if the figures were torpedoes and the rest of the world a sinking ship. Economic growth tops 9 percent! Textile exports jump 500 percent! Military spending up! Manufacturing up!
What should the Chinese government do to control pollution?
The numbers inflame the exaggerated perception that China is methodically inhaling jobs and resources and, in the process, inhaling the rest of the planet. Burp. There goes the American furniture industry. Burp. Thanks for your oil, Venezuela.
But one statistic offered last week by a top Chinese environmental official should stimulate genuine alarm inside and outside China. The official, Zhang Lijun, warned that pollution levels here could more than quadruple within 15 years if the country does not curb its rapid growth in energy consumption and automobile use.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/weekinreview/30yardley.html?hp
Conservatives are elitists. They seek not to serve the needs of the people of this nation. They serve the needs of business and justify that by believing their ideals are the best ideals and therefore the people are served.
Bush is making 'cuts' in who he is interested in nominating not on whom it might be that is best for the job but along 'longevity' issues. Bush is disciminating along race and longevity to impact the Supreme Court for a long time. He wants to leave a 'mark' on the Supreme Court. Alito is 55. Roberts is 50. Miers is 60. Age discrimination. I guess he can't find white people younger that is ready to sit on the Supreme Court.
Nomination Likely to Please G.O.P., but Not Some Democrats
By CHRISTINE HAUSER and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: October 31, 2005
President Bush nominated Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., who currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to the Supreme Court today, four days after his previous choice withdrew her nomination. The nomination is likely to please Mr. Bush's conservative allies, whose sharp attacks on Harriet E. Miers was instrumental in prompting her to withdraw last week. But the president is more likely to get a battle from Democrats and liberals who may believe Judge Alito's views are too extreme.
Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Over the weekend, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, warned President Bush not to pick Judge Alito, 55. "I think it would create a lot of problems," Mr. Reid said on "Late Edition" on CNN.
Mr. Bush this morning described Judge Alito as having an "extraordinary breadth of experience" and as being "tough and fair." Referring to his long career and his current role on the appeals court, the president said Judge Alito now has "more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/politics/politicsspecial1/31cnd-court.html?hp&ex=1130821200&en=1100e2db3270fceb&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Alito. A summary.
1950 - born in Trenton, New Jersey
1972 - graduates from Princeton
1975 - earns Doctor of Law degree at Yale
1981-85 - assistant to US solicitor general
1985-87 - deputy assistant to US attorney general
1987-1990 - US attorney for district of New Jersey
1990-present - judge US court of appeals
Grieving for Parks, Rights Leaders Ponder Future
By FELICIA R. LEE
Published: October 31, 2005
The body of Rosa Parks lay in the Capitol Rotunda this morning, on view for thousands of Americans who wanted to honor the woman known as the mother of the civil rights movement. Her death last week has created a moment, many African-Americans engaged in political struggle say, to take stock of what that movement accomplished and whether it is still alive.
Kenneth Dickerman for The New York Times
T. J. Crawford, chairman of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention, says the rights movement needs more community building.
With the deaths this year of other major figures from a movement that once galvanized a mass following over issues like the right to vote, segregated lunch counters and a seat in the front of the bus, some say that not enough has been done to share that history with the young or to shape future leaders to carry on the cause. That movement has been replaced, in large part, by more dispersed struggles over issues like housing and employment, health care and incarceration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/national/31civil.html?hp&ex=1130821200&en=2c46bd70b2784da5&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Funds Fade, Deaths Rise as Iraq Rebuilding Lags
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: October 31, 2005
As the money runs out on the $30 billion American-financed reconstruction of Iraq, the officials in charge cannot say how many planned projects they will complete, and there is no clear source for hundreds of millions of dollars a year needed to operate the projects that have been finished, according to a report to Congress released yesterday.
The report, by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, describes some progress but also an array of projects that have gone awry, sometimes astonishingly, like electrical substations that were built at great cost but never connected to the country's electrical grid.
With more than 93 percent of the American money now committed to specific projects, it could become increasingly difficult to solve those problems.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/international/middleeast/31reconstruct.html?hp&ex=1130821200&en=0a89caee408b8a78&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Novartis to Pay $5.1 Billion for Rest of Chiron
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 31, 2005
Filed at 8:41 a.m. ET
GENEVA (AP) -- Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis AG said Monday it agreed to buy the 58 percent of Chiron Corp. that it does not already own for $5.1 billion, improving a previous offer that the embattled biotechnology company had rejected.
Novartis, which made an initial $4.5 billion proposal last month that was rejected by the second-largest vaccine maker in the United States, said it had sweetened its offer to acquire approximately 113 million Chiron shares for $45 each in cash.
That represents a 23 percent premium over Chiron's closing price on Aug. 31, the last trading day before Novartis proposed buying the shares at $40 each, the Basel, Switzerland-based company said. Shares of Chiron rose 85 cents, or about 2 percent, to $44.25 in pre-market trading.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Novartis-Chiron.html
Scientists Tie Two Additional Genes to Dyslexia
By SANDRA BLAKESLEE
Published: October 29, 2005
One year after scientists discovered a gene whose flaw contributes to dyslexia, two more such genes have now been identified.
The findings, described yesterday in Salt Lake City at a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, support the idea that many people deemed simply lazy or stupid because of their severe reading problems may instead have a genetic disorder that interfered with the wiring of their brains before birth.
"I am ecstatic about this research," said Dr. Albert M. Galaburda of Harvard Medical School, a leading authority on developmental disorders who was not involved in the latest discoveries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/29/science/29gene.html
Afloat in the Flood Zone
By PETER EDIDIN
Published: October 27, 2005
FROM Jakarta to the coast of Louisiana, floodwaters are a growing concern. This is especially true in delta regions, where river and sea combine, as they do in many of the world's great cities, to create a double hazard.
No place is more concerned with this problem than the Netherlands, literally "the lowlands," where for centuries people have lived on the edge of water-borne disaster. About a quarter of the country is land reclaimed from the sea, while half of it lies at or below sea level. The country's vulnerability to rising water levels, commonly ascribed to climate change, was on full display last summer at the Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, titled "The Flood," which contained proposals for a floating soccer stadium and housing built on spongelike synthetic riverbanks capable of absorbing flood waters.
"Since World War II, the Dutch have relied on technology for protection from the rivers and the sea," said Adriaan Geuze, a landscape architect and the chief curator of the biennale. "We are convinced that this is not a clever way to deal with reality, and three months after the exhibition closed, Katrina showed us the truth of that."
For the Dutch, as for everyone else, there appear to be no simple solutions, only costly ones, like abandoning vulnerable terrain. For the first time in its long history, the Netherlands has begun to strategically uncreate itself; last year the government, at the start of a 15-year program, began buying up land and reserving it as flood plain, mostly along river banks. The Dutch are also exploring a solution as old as the first flood: floating architecture. The notion is still in its early stages, with only a handful of houses built and a few developments under way, but it has already attracted the attention of leading Dutch designers and some developers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/27/garden/27boat.html
To Battle the Telephone Giants, Small Internet Providers Choose Wi-Fi as a Weapon
By MATT RICHTEL
and KEN BELSON
Published: October 31, 2005
With cable providers and the Bell telephone companies dominating the market for residential high-speed Internet service, smaller Internet access providers are desperately trying to find a new way to connect with consumers. They say they may have found it in wireless technology that avoids the need to build expensive underground networks.
The most prominent example is EarthLink, once a leader in dial-up Internet service. The company made a big leap into the wireless market this month when it won the right from Philadelphia to provide inexpensive Wi-Fi Internet connections citywide. Last week, the company also won an exclusive franchise to build a wireless network for the city of Anaheim, Calif.
The wireless option is attractive because it does not require building or leasing costly underground lines, and the cost of Wi-Fi equipment and installation is falling rapidly, said Donald B. Berryman, president of a new division of EarthLink, called EarthLink Municipal Networks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/technology/31wifi.html
The Moscow Times
Russia Nears UN Deal on Syria
By Nabi Abdullaev Staff Writer Ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday, Russian envoys said they would oppose the threat of sanctions against Syria and warned against politicizing a UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
But they said Russia would not oppose a tough resolution demanding that Syria cooperate with the investigation when it is put before a ministerial meeting of the 15-member council. It was not clear how far Moscow would go to keep any mention of sanctions out of the resolution, while China, another veto-wielding country, also said it would not oppose the resolution.
The Foreign Ministry called Saturday for Syria to cooperate with investigators following a UN report that linked top Syrian officials to Hariri's killing.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Andrei Denisov said that talks were "on the right track" and that Moscow was not considering a veto.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/10/31/002.html
Iran condemns bomb attacks in India
RIA NOVOSTI. October 30, 2005, 5:27 PM
TEHERAN, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Iran condemns Saturday's terrorist attacks in Delhi, the official spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Sunday. Hamid Reza Asefi said that such acts contradicted human principles and norms. Iran expressed its condolences to the Indian government and the relatives of the victims. According to the latest figures, the three powerful explosions that went off in India's capital Delhi have left 61 people dead and about 188 wounded
Correction: Putin sends condolences to Indian leaders over Delhi attacks
RIA NOVOSTI. October 30, 2005, 1:38 PM
In Moscow story dated October 30 and headlined "Putin sends condolences to Indian president over Delhi attacks," please read headline as "Putin sends condolences to Indian leaders over Delhi attacks".The full article follows below: MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President APJ Abdul Kalam Sunday conveying his condolences over Saturday's attacks in crowded areas of India's capital Delhi, in which three powerful blasts left around 60 people dead.The president called the attacks "pointless and inhuman acts of terrorism.""Terrorists have again shown that nothing to them is sacred, that they are driven entirely by blind malice and hatred to all humanity," he said.The president said his country shared the grief of the Indian people.The attacks took place a few days before major Hindu and Muslim festivals, while crowds did their pre-holiday shopping
Ukraine's premier to discuss country's admission to WTO in U.S
RIA NOVOSTI. October 29, 2005, 6:18 PM
KIEV, October 29 (RIA Novosti, Taras Burnos) - During his upcoming visit to the United States, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov plans to discuss Ukraine's admission to the World Trade Organization and granting it the status of a market economy country, the Ukrainian government press service said Saturday."The prime minister has repeatedly said that Ukraine will continue negotiations [with the U.S.] on priority matters. One of the key priorities is the development of Ukrainian-U.S. relations, Ukraine's admission to the WTO, and granting it the status of a market economy country," the press service said.Yekhanurov also intends to discuss Ukraine's graduation from the Jackson-Vanik amendment, the lifting of certain trade sanctions against Ukraine, and U.S. assistance for the country's further integration into the world economy.On October 24, at a meeting with representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Ukraine, Yekhanurov said that Ukraine "is counting on broad U.S. participation in the Black and Caspian Sea regional cooperation, especially in the economic and energy spheres." The Ukrainian prime minister is to visit the United States on October 30 through November 4.
China may grant loan for floating nuclear power unit in Russian north
RIA NOVOSTI. October 30, 2005, 2:41 PM
BEIJING, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - China could give Russia an export loan to build a floating energy unit for the nuclear power plant being constructed in Severodvinsk in Russia's European Far North, a source in the Russian delegation currently visiting Beijing said Sunday. The Russian delegation led by Russian Vice Premier Alexander Zhukov is making preparations for the 10th regular meeting of the two countries' heads of government scheduled for November 3. According to the source, Russia and China aim to resolve as soon as possible the issue of the project's financing through a Chinese loan. The parties also aim to reach a swift agreement over building a hull for the floating station at a Chinese shipyard. Russia is building a floating atomic power plant in Severodvinsk under a 2003 contract signed between China's Mashimpex and the Russian companies Rosenergoatom and Sudoimport. According to the source, China also plans to design a pilot energy unit with a 600 MWt fast-neutron facility based on a closed fuel cycle. Russia and China are already building a 65 MWt fast-neutron experimental facility under an inter-governmental agreement signed in July 2002. The parties plan to test the reactor between May 2006 and December 2008, and to put it into operation on December 31, 2008. Russia and China may also jointly develop an experimental ground-based reactor prototype for a space energy unit, the source said. According to the source, Russia's cooperation with China in the nuclear fuel cycle has strong potential given China's plans to bring the capacity of its atomic power plants up to 200 Gigawatts by 2020.
Monday, October 31, 2005. Issue 3285. Page 1. Aa Aa Aa
A Wife's Long Journey to a Chita Prison
By Catherine Belton Staff Writer
Denis Gukov / AP
Khodorkovsky's wife, Inna, arriving on Saturday morning at the railway station in the city of Chita after taking the overnight train from Krasnokamensk. KRASNOKAMENSK, Chita Region -- Inna Khodorkovskaya is still reeling from the tremendous turnaround her life, and her husband's, has taken. From quietly enjoying the comforts of being the wife of the nation's richest man and keeping a low profile throughout his highly publicized trial, she has been thrust into the spotlight while visiting her husband inside an east Siberian prison camp.
"I never thought it would go this far," she said in an interview in Krasnokamensk on Friday after a three-day stay in the town's prison camp, YaG 14/10. Wearing jeans and a sweater, she looked tired and pale, but somehow still collected despite the arduous journey from Moscow to the camp and the press pack hunting her down.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/10/31/003.html
RAI Novosti
Putin hopes Kabardino-Balkaria leaders will stabilize situation 1
1:59 30/ 10/ 2005
NALCHIK, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, visiting Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic in the North Caucasus Sunday to attend the former leader's funeral, expressed his hope that the republic's leaders would be able to stabilize the situation in the region.
Valery Kokov, Kabardino-Balkaria's first president, died Saturday morning in Moscow.
Vladimir Putin said that Sunday was a sad day for Russia and Kabardino-Balkaria, which was paying its last respects to "a man who had dedicated his whole life to his people and to strengthening Russian statehood."
"This is why the militants who recently tried to destabilize the situation in the republic failed to reach their criminal goals. They found themselves in complete isolation and were destroyed," Putin said.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051030/41936019.html
Russian Pacific Fleet makes Asia-Pacific tour
09:38 28/ 10/ 2005
ON BOARD THE MISSILE CRUISER VARYAG, JAKARTA October 28 (RIA Novosti, Mikhail Tsyganov) - A group of ships from the Russian Pacific Fleet headed by the Varyag missile cruiser arrived early Friday in Indonesia to mark the first Russian fleet presence in the area since 1968, the Russian military attache to Jakarta said.
Vice Admiral and Deputy Pacific Fleet Commander Sergei Avramenko who runs the unit said the ships had arrived in Indonesia after conducting the Russian-Indian navy exercise Indra-2005 in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
"The main goal of our cruise is to demonstrate that Russia is a great sea power," he said, adding that it would contribute to international cooperation and promote stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20051028/41918601.html
The Washington Post
The congressional committee investigating how the fugitive financier came to be pardoned by President Bill Clinton.For a man known to thrive on anonymity, who as Vice President Cheney's top aide would only talk to reporters if his name was not used, and who cautioned White House subordinates not to talk to the media -- no one, least of all Libby, expected an encore.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103001130.html?sub=AR
On Patrol in Vt., Minutemen Are the OutsidersAlong the Border, Group Targets Illegal Immigrants
By David A. FahrentholdWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A02DERBY LINE, Vt. -- Somewhere near this spot -- where five men with lawn chairs and binoculars were watching the woods -- runs the long and mostly invisible border between the United States and Canada.The New England Minutemen were here to guard this border.A Massachusetts man who identified himself only as Rick J. watches the Vermont-Canada border with others from the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. (By David A. Fahrenthold -- The Washington Post)They just weren't precisely certain where it was."That's west, so I believe the border is that way," said Jeffrey Buck, the group's leader, as he made an expansive gesture in the direction of a nearby home on Saturday. "It's not really clear to me."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000822.html
Death of Syrian Minister Leaves A Sect Adrift in Time of Strife
By Anthony ShadidWashington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A01BIHAMRA, Syria -- In this scenic village, along terraced hills of pine and palm trees, the body of Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan rests in a coffin draped in a Syrian flag, a leather-bound Koran at each corner. His death on Oct. 12 was certain. Less so are the shadowy circumstances that removed from the scene one of Syria's most powerful men, an interlocutor between the religious sect known as the Alawites, who have long ruled the country, and a government they controlled but increasingly see as distant and corrupt.A suicide, officials said, closing the case the day after Kanaan died. A relative, Mazen Kanaan, smiled at the thought.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103001270.html
U.S. Soldiers Charged in Afghan Case
Associated PressMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A15
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 30 -- Two U.S. soldiers have been charged with assault for allegedly punching two detainees in the chest, shoulders and stomach at a military base in Afghanistan, the military said Sunday.
The announcement came 10 days after the military launched an investigation into television footage purportedly showing a group of U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters.
Afghan shopkeepers wait for customers at a market in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, Oct. 28, 2005. Afghanistan's economy is gearing up after passing over tow and half decades of war and occupations. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq) (Musadeq Sadeq - AP)
The charges against the two soldiers include conspiracy to maltreat, assault and dereliction of duty. The allegations, if substantiated, could lead to disciplinary action, the military said, adding that neither detainee required medical attention.
The military did not say when the soldiers were charged.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000315.html
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Gets Injected With a Social IssueSome Fear a Shot For Teens Could Encourage Sex
By Rob SteinWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, October 31, 2005; Page A03
A new vaccine that protects against cervical cancer has set up a clash between health advocates who want to use the shots aggressively to prevent thousands of malignancies and social conservatives who say immunizing teenagers could encourage sexual activity.
Although the vaccine will not become available until next year at the earliest, activists on both sides have begun maneuvering to influence how widely the immunizations will be employed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000747.html
Moscow News
Fewer Muscovites are opting to adopt Russian children with each passing year
Changing Children's LivesAccording to the Moscow ZAGS (Citizens Status Registration Department) statistics, 1,034 children were adopted in the past 8 months, which is 200 kids less than in the same period of the previous year. This annual reduction in the number of adoptions has been a tendency for the past ten years.
Putin Tired of WorkingBy Marina Tokareva The Moscow NewsSays a French expert on Russian affairs
A persona non grata in the Soviet Union and a welcome guest in new Russia; an expert on Russia, an authority for university students, and a consultant to presidents; a democrat by persuasion and an aristocrat by blood; a French woman of Russian descent; an intellectual, leader of the "immortal," perennial secretary of the French Academy, Helene Carrere d'Encausse has just completed her latest book, L'Empire d'Eurasie. It spans four centuries of Russia's political history - from the moment the empire began to evolve until its evolution into a democracy.
http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2005-41-2
U.S. War Dance: An Innocent Craze?
By Robert Bridge The Moscow NewsThe United States is heading for a showdown with Iran and Syria, while democracy's basket case, Iraq, teeters between civil war and revolution
In summing up the new Iraqi constitution, U.S. Republican politician Pat Buchanan said it best: "A constitution does not create a nation. A nation creates a constitution... the Iraqis are Shia, Kurds, Sunnis, Turkmen and their primordial bonds are blood and soil, mosque and the 'mystique chords of memory.'" In other words, the Iraqi patient will most likely reject America's costly democratic transplant.According to U.S. officials, however, Iraq is unraveling largely due to the interference of outside states, most notably Iran and Syria, from where it is believed Iraq is getting fighters and weapon technology. In other words, the Iraqi people would be accepting their fate much better if evil forces just stopped inciting them (Has anybody questioned where Saudi Arabia, with its own violent anti-American lobby, fits into the porous-border question with Iraq?).
http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2005-41-14
Does Nature Protect Cancer?
By Yelena Kokurina The Moscow NewsIn the past 10 years, the incidence of cancer in Russia has grown by 15.8 percent
An all-Russia congress of oncologists - a major event in this field of medicine which is held every five years - was recently held in Rostov-on-Don. Eight-hundred participants discussed topical issues - from new treatment procedures to social assistance for cancer patients. It is too early, however, to talk about a revolution in oncology, said Academician Valery Ivanovich Chissov, a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, chief oncologist of the Russian Health and Social Development Ministry, and director of the P.A. Gertsen Moscow Scientific Research Oncological Institute.
http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2005-41-18
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