Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1765 the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.
1777 the second Battle of Saratoga began during the American Revolution. (British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered 10 days later.)
1800 Gabriel Prosser is publicly hanged after refusing to reveal his key followers. He was betrayed on the night set for the planned attack. Prosser's plan was doomed when the area was hit by a hurricane-like storm and an untimely betrayal moments before his "divinely deliverance."
1821 William Still, head of Philadelphia's Underground Railroad, is born.
1934 Playwright-poet Imamu Amiri Baraka is born LeRoi Jones in Newark, NJ. He will publish his collection of short stories called "Tales"
1940 Artie Shaw and his Orchestra recorded Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" for RCA Victor.
1954 Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York.
1960 Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican opponent Richard M. Nixon held the second of their broadcast debates.
1979 Pope John Paul II concluded his weeklong tour of the United States with a Mass on the Washington Mall.
1985 Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean with more than 400 people aboard. (The hijackers killed an elderly Jewish American tourist, Leon Klinghoffer, and threw his body overboard; they surrendered two days after taking the ship.)
1993 Toni Morrison receives the Nobel Peace Prize for literature. She is acclaimed as one of the most celebrated American writers of the twentieth-century.
1998 Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was beaten and left tied to a wooden fencepost outside of Laramie, Wyo.; he died five days later. (Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney are serving life sentences.)
2001 Barry Bonds finishes his remarkable season by hitting his 73rd home run and shattering the slugging percentage record that Babe Ruth had held since 1920.
Missing in Action
1966 GILCHRIST ROBERT M. LITTLETON CO
1966 KNIGHT LARRY DALE ALBANY OR
1966 PABST EUGENE M. NEW YORK NY
1966 TREECE JAMES A. MEMPHIS TN CACCF/CRASH/PILOT/OFFSHORE MR1
1967 APPLEBY IVAN D. FRESNO CA REMAINS RETURNED 01/95 IDENTIFIED 10/95
1967 AUSTIN WILLIAM R. SIMPSONVILLE SC 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1967 FULLAM WAYNE E. CHATTANOOGA TN REMAINS RETURNED 09/24/87
1967 HODGES DAVID L. CHEVY CHASE MD REMAINS IDENTIFIED 04/16/99
Haaretz
Weissglas, Erekat make progress on arrangements for Gaza border
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By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
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Israel and the Palestinians moved ahead Friday with provisions for the Gaza border with Egypt, in the wake of the recent Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The talks on the border were part of a series of meetings between top aides to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas ahead of an upcoming summit between the two leaders.
Dov Weissglas and Saeb Erekat held talks for more than two hours in Tel Aviv on Friday, to iron out the details of the summit. They also agreed on the establishment of two joint professional bodies to work out the arrangements for the Egypt-Gaza border at Rafah.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/632572.html
Palestinians release abducted Hamas militants unharmed
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By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent, and the Associated Press
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Three Hamas members who were abducted by Palestinians were released Friday night unharmed in Bethlehem.
One of the Hamas members said that his captors were Fatah members, and that they warned him that Hamas would suffer if it acted in the West Bank the same way it did in Gaza.
Earlier, a senior member of the Palestinian general intelligence service was abducted and shot by unknown gunmen in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/632869.html
ElBaradei says Nobel Peace Prize win sends strong message
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By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
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Chief nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei said Friday he felt "humbled" after winning the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, and said it sent "a very strong message" about the importance of the nuclear agency's role.
The Egyptian diplomat and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency that he leads, were awarded the prize for their efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
"I'm extremely humbled and honored," ElBaradei said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/632876.html
Gaza evacuees to stay in hotel another week despite eviction
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By Haaretz Service
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Gush Katif evacuees staying at the Shirat Hayam hotel in Ashkelon will not be evicted immediately, despite the hotel's earlier demand that they leave, due to the intervention of the Disengagement Administration (Sela), Israel Radio reported.
Sela facilitated an arrangement between the hotel management and the evacuees whereby they will remain in the hotel for one more week.
Earlier Friday, the hotel's management announced that the evacuees would be unable to remain. It then cut off their electricity and water and said it was not planning to provide them with dinner.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/632908.html
Between friendly countries
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Pentagon official Larry Franklin, a Middle East expert and researcher, confessed this week to having passed classified information to a senior diplomat at Israel's embassy in Washington and to two senior employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The affair has been under investigation for a long time, and it appears that the FBI has been employing wiretaps in the probe since 2002. The assessment is that most of the parties involved in the investigation exercised maximum caution in order to avoid causing excessive damage to those under investigation, who included senior American and Israeli diplomats.
The indictment against Franklin does not make any claim that employees of either AIPAC or the Israeli Embassy in Washington engaged in espionage; rather, it accuses him of illegally passing on information about national security issues. There is no claim that the Israeli Embassy recruited Franklin to spy for it. But even this lesser charge against Franklin is sufficient to land him with an extremely heavy sentence and to cause shock waves in the relationship between the two countries.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/632627.html
The Middle East Times
Afghanistan releases first election results
Waheedullah Massoud
AFP
October 6, 2005
FRAUD CHECK: An Afghan election worker goes through ballot papers in Kabul on October 6. Ballots from 299 polling stations have been excluded from the count for last month's Afghan legislative elections because of fraud.
(REUTERS)
KABUL -- War-scarred Afghanistan took another step on Thursday toward forming its first parliament in more than three decades when the first provisional results from last month's landmark vote were released.
But with key warlords and members of the ousted Taliban regime dominating initial counting in some areas, there was concern that the new body would become mired in the old power struggles that have broken down this destitute nation.
"We have now completed the physical process of counting the ballot papers in all provinces across Afghanistan," said Peter Erben, head of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) that organized the September 18 elections.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20051006-093643-5862r
IS EVERYONE ELSE READING WHAT I AM READING HERE? BRITISH TROOPS ARE ARRESTING IRAQI POLICE. GOT THAT? Now, under the new constitution does that mean the British have Homeland Security rights or not? I have a problem with jurisdicition with these arrests.
British troops arrest Iraq police after attacks
AFP
October 7, 2005
BASRA, Iraq -- British troops in southern Iraq have arrested 12 people, including policemen and militiamen, on terrorist charges following recent attacks on their forces, a British commander said on Friday.
"Some of the individuals we have arrested are linked to militia groups in Basra ... some of the individuals are members of the Basra police service," Brigadier John Lorimer said in a statement following the Thursday evening arrests.
A leader of the Mehdi Army militia, loyal to firebrand Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, said that all those detained belonged to his organization.
"They all belong to the Mehdi Army," Fatah Al Sheikh said.
Sheikh, who is also a member of the national parliament belonging to Sadr's faction, said that the arrests were part of "a US-British plot to hobble the Sadr movement" ahead of the December general elections.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20051007-091758-4203r
EU trumpets new era as talks open with Turkey
Michael Thurston
October 4, 2005
NEW ERA: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul (R) and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana pose for photographers at a European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on October 4.
(REUTERS)
LUXEMBOURG -- The European Union celebrated a new chapter in the continent's history on Tuesday after opening entry talks with Turkey, a large mainly Muslim state whose admission would take the EU right up to the borders of the Middle East.
But while the 25-nation bloc's leaders celebrated after clinching a late-night deal to launch the talks, the fact that most ordinary Europeans oppose it cast a cloud over the sense of triumph.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, looking exhausted after a 30-hour marathon haggle to overcome objections notably by Austria, said that the agreement was nothing short of historic.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20051004-065007-9610r
Islamic global free trade area urged
United Press International
October 5, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Muslim countries have agreed to start building a global Islamic free trade area in a bid to boost their economic development.
At a three-day World Islamic Economic Forum that has just ended in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, delegates from the 57 countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) agreed to establish a permanent secretariat for the project in the Malaysian capital.
The host of the meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi, told the forum that the world's 1.5 billion Muslims were "a huge Islamic consumer market" and that an Islamic free trade area was a way for the Muslim world to punch its real weight in global trade deliberations. It would also give the Islamic world a powerful voice in the World Trade Organization talks that sets the rules for global trade.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20051005-061013-1611r
Viewpoint: The Sharonization of Hamas
Debra DeLee
October 4, 2005
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent statement that he would withhold Israeli cooperation from Palestinian legislative elections in January if Hamas candidates take part, flies in the face of his own experience with the moderating influence that holding public responsibility can have on extremist views.
In explaining his 180 degree turn from being a strong advocate of Israeli settlements in Gaza to the driving force behind their evacuation, Sharon has repeatedly observed that, "what you see from here [in the Prime Minister's Office], you don't see from there". In other words it was not until he obtained a position of ultimate responsibility for Israel that Sharon began to recognize the burden that the Gaza settlements imposed on the state.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20051004-061446-9181r
Arab women happier than US thinks
AFP
September 29, 2005
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- US media are being disingenuous in portraying Arab women as unhappy and wronged, a close aide to President George W. Bush on a PR visit to Saudi Arabia was told this week.
And it came from the horse's mouth.
"We are happy. We want to show that image [but] the general image of the Arab woman in the American media is that she is not happy," a female student at Jeddah's private Dar Al Hekma university said during an encounter with US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes, drawing thunderous applause from colleagues.
"Your media is not really as fair as it used to be," came another voice from among the crowd of women clad in the mandatory black abaya (traditional cloak-like garment) who gathered in an amphitheater on Tuesday to "exchange" views with the American visitor.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050929-042043-7723r
US envoy grilled by Turkish women over Iraq war
Isabel Malsang
AFP
September 29, 2005
GRILLED: US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes blows a kiss to Turkish children during her visit to the Turkish Education Volunteers Foundation Education Park in Istanbul on September 28.
(REUTERS)
ANKARA -- A close aide to US President George W. Bush was harshly criticized here on Wednesday by Turkish feminists and rights activists demanding an end to the war in Iraq, but the US envoy politely but firmly dismissed their appeals.
"Decisions must be made that are very hard," Karen Hughes, the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, told a forum of several nongovernmental organizations working to improve women's rights in Turkey.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050929-032818-6873r
The Times Picayune
NOPD investigation of Cadillac cops may involve brass
Dozens may have fled in 'commandeered' cars
Cops turned up in Baton Rouge after storm
By James Varney
and Walt Philbin
Staff writers
Acting New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley said Thursday that as many as 40 officers from the department's 3rd District, including the commanding captain, are "under scrutiny" for possibly bolting the city in the clutch and heading to Baton Rouge in Cadillacs from a New Orleans dealership.
"It is a subject that is under review," Riley said, stopping short of saying he has launched a formal investigation. Asked if Capt. Donald Paisant, who replaced Capt. James Scott as the 3rd District commander, was a part of that review, Riley said, "Certainly the commander of that district is under scrutiny."
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_10_07.html
Kenner joins chorus scorning decision to move drainage pump operators
2:45 p.m.
By Mary Swerczek
Kenner bureau
Kenner politicians added their voices to the chorus criticizing Jefferson Parish’s decision to evacuate its drainage pump operators before Hurricane Katrina, and they asked that Kenner workers be trained to run the pumps.
“Kenner has been seriously affected by this,” Councilman Kent Denapolis said at Thursday night’s City Council meeting. “There is no doubt in my mind that this caused great destruction in my district.”
Hundreds of homes across Metairie and Kenner flooded after Katrina struck Aug. 29.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_10_07.html
Mass for St. Bernard residents scheduled
Father Herb Kiff, pastor of St. Bernard and San Pedro parishes, will celebrate a special Mass for parishioners Sunday, Oct. 9 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc Church, 529 West 5th Street, LaPlace.
A reception will follow in the church's Family Life Center. A map of the church's location is available at its Web site, http://www.sjachurch.com/. For more information, please contact the curch at (985) 652-9100.
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Louisiana lawmakers to hold special session in November
By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE – Lawmakers will be called into a special session Nov. 6-18 to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s two chief legislative floor leaders said today.
Senate President Don Hines, D-Bunkie, and House Speaker Joe Salter, D-Florien, said the new dates were agreed to after a meeting with legislative leaders and key Blanco staffers.
The previous dates mentioned for a special session were Oct. 23 to Nov. 3.
But the October date "was too early for them (the administration) to get everything together,’’ Hines said.
Salter agreed: "Everybody was talking after the hurricane about having a session as soon as possible. I didn’t see how they could be ready by the 23rd (of October).’’
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_10_07.html
Even in Atlanta, Sugar Bowl will retain a New Orleans flavor
Friday, 3:45 p.m.
By Ted Lewis
Staff writer
The 2006 Sugar Bowl may be headed in Atlanta for a year. But it will retain a New Orleans flavor – perhaps complete with a Mardi Gras parade.
That was one of the points driven home Friday in Atlanta as official announcement was made that this season’s game will be played at the Georgia Dome because of Hurricane Katrina-caused damage to the Superdome.
“We want to put on the best possible New Orleans-style show that’s part of the best Sugar Bowl we’ve ever produced,” said bowl president Mark Romig. “We’d love to include a parade and benefit concert to give everyone a sense of what the Sugar Bowl and New Orleans are all about.”
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpsports/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpsports/archives/2005_10_07.html
China Daily
Flooding forces huge evacuation in Shaanxi
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-07 06:57
About 286,000 have been evacuated from flood-hit regions in Shaanxi Province in Northwest China along the banks of tributaries of the Yangtze River and Yellow River the country's top two rivers.
The provincial civil affairs department said that a total of 3.16 million people in the province have been affected by the floods along the Hanjiang River, tributary of the Yangtze River and Weihe River, tributary of the Yellow River.
More than 45 counties in the province have been hit by the flood caused by continuous rainfall since late September. The flood in the Weihe River is said to be the most severe since 1981.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482985.htm
Fujian starts reconstruction after typhoon
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-07 09:58
People in southeast China's Fujian Province have started their reconstruction work orderly after the conclusion of awesome Typhoon Longwang, which has claimed 15 lives and left 11 missing.
Longwang, which landed in Fujian Sunday night and swept over the province for ten hours, destroyed 5,500 houses, affected the normal life of 3.71 million people, forced 186 highways in the province to close and 2,125 enterprises to stop production.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482998.htm
Cold currents to bring rainfall to most regions
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-07 06:57
Northern cold currents will bring rainfall in most regions of China as the week-long National Day holiday comes to a close.
China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said yesterday that temperatures would drop dramatically in western and northern China in the coming three days because of the strong cold currents, which have hit the western part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
"The currents will continuously move forward to affect southern and eastern China, and temperatures in the regions they cover will drop by an average of 4 C to 8 C," said the administration.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482982.htm
Death toll up in central America flooding
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-07 10:31
Rescuers pulled at least 40 more bodies from a muddy landslide in Guatemala Thursday as the death toll from five days of storms in Central America and Mexico jumped to more than 200.
Crews unearth the remains of the villages from the avalanche in Solola, a town near Lake Atitlan, about 60 miles west of the capital, Guatemala City. But the toll could rise amid fears that as many as 150 people are still buried at the site.
"We took out 40 to 45 bodies today," said Pedro Mendoza, 25, one of numerous area residents participating in the recovery. "The landslide was Wednesday but because the roads are blocked, no one can get through to help us."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_483008.htm
Exports buoyant as trade volume rockets
By Dai Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-07 06:56
A report completed by the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Foreign Trade said yesterday the country's two-way foreign trade will hit US$1.4 trillion, according to International Business Daily, a newspaper published by the ministry.
The ministry has forecasted a trade surplus of US$90 billion to 100 billion for 2005, compared to a surplus of US$32 billion in 2004.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482981.htm
Washington pressures Beijing for further currency moves
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-10-07 08:52
Growing high-level visits between China and the United States underline the importance of the bilateral relations, though officials from Washington often bring with them pressures and directives to the other.
On the eve of a trip to Beijing, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said yesterday during a testimony to the Senate Finance Committee at the Capitol that he would ask China for more currency flexibility.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482988.htm
US, China textile talks resume next week
(Reuters/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-07 09:37
The United States and China will make a fourth try next week at negotiating a comprehensive textile trade deal, U.S. trade officials said on Thursday.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators will meet Oct 12-13 in Beijing for talks on a pact that potentially could restrict China's textile and clothing shipments to the United States through the end of 2008, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said.
The negotiations are driven by U.S. industry concerns about a sharp increase in textile and clothing shipments from China following the end of a global quota system on January 1.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482991.htm
Yum 3Q profit up on China sales
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-06 09:00
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Yum Brands Inc. posted 16 percent growth in third-quarter profits Wednesday on the strength of resurgent sales in China coupled with solid U.S. performances by its Taco Bell and KFC restaurant brands. The fast-food company also raised its full-year forecast, and its shares rose more than 2 percent in late morning trading.
Louisville-based Yum reported net income of $214 million, or 72 cents per share, for the three months that ended Sept. 3, compared with $185 million, or 61 cents per share, a year ago.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/06/content_482847.htm
China develops new products to treat sewage
(People's Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-04 10:02
China has recently developed world-class high-molecular-weight polyacrylamide products which can be used for sewage treatment, paper making and oil exploitation.
The products were developed by the Changchun Research Institute of Applied Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province.
According to experts from the institute,the new materials, up to international criteria, are in conformity with the development trend of green chemistry. The new products require simple production techniques and cause no second-time pollution.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/04/content_482588.htm
Giant panda breeding base to be built in Shaanxi
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-07 09:58
China will establish a breeding base for giant pandas in northwestern Shaanxi Province in an another effort to save the highly endangered species from extinction.
The base will be located at the Shaanxi Salvage and Breeding Research Center for Endangered Wild Animals in Zhouzhi county on the northern side of the Qinling Mountains, said Wang Wanyun, an official with the Shaanxi Provincial forestry Department.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482997.htm
Toothbrush gives sea lion winning smile
By Zheng Yanyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-07 06:56
DALIAN: How do sea creatures keep their teeth pearly white? Those living in an ocean park manage by using a toothbrush just like human beings.
When given a brushing with an electric toothbrush, Xiaojia, a sea lion from Laohutan Pole Aquarium, shows a bit of unwillingness and turns his head several times. However, he finally opens his mouth and closes his eyes to enjoy the treatment.
To this six-year-old California sea lion, brushing is required once or twice each week, so that oral diseases are kept to a minimum.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482979.htm
Second manned space flight set on Oct 13
(chinadaily.com.cn/AFP)
Updated: 2005-10-06 08:44
HONG KONG - China will launch its second manned space flight at 11:00 am (0300 GMT) on October 13.
"We expect (to launch the flight) on October 13 if weather permits," said Jiang Jingshan, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who was involved in the first flight.
The launch date for Shenzhou VI could change according to weather conditions, Jiang said on local radio.
It is reported that Shenzhou VI spaceship was successfully connected to the Long March 2F rocket Tuesday afternoon at the Jiuquan satellite launch center.
He said two astronauts have been selected to orbit Earth for five days, expanding on the 21-hour flight of Shenzhou V which circled Earth 14 times in 2003.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/06/content_482843.htm
Heilongjiang sees HIV cases rising
By Li Fangchao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-07 06:57
HARBIN: Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is reaching a critical stage in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as the HIV infection rate is increasing rapidly, sources with the Heilongjiang Provincial Health Department said.
By September this year, 261 HIV/AIDS cases have been detected in the province.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-10/07/content_482986.htm
The New York Times
Justice Department Nominee Tied to Lobbyist Withdraws
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: October 7, 2005
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 - President Bush's pick for the second-ranking position at the Justice Department abruptly withdrew his nomination today after facing weeks of questions over his ties to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his role in formulating torture policies, officials said.
The nominee, Timothy Flanigan, was scheduled to face yet another round of questioning next week from senators who had grown increasingly skeptical about his nomination as deputy attorney general.
Of chief concern to Democrats and some Republicans was Mr. Flanigan's role at Tyco as general counsel in overseeing the lobbying work of Mr. Abramoff in pushing for Tyco and other companies to maintain their tax-exempt status.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/07/politics/07cnd-lobby.html?hp&ex=1128744000&en=67e209536c14d6a9&ei=5094&partner=homepage
BP to Sell Chemical Unit to British Company for $9 Billion
By HEATHER TIMMONS
Published: October 7, 2005
LONDON, Oct. 7 - BP said today that it would sell its Innovene chemical division to the private British company Ineos Group for $9 billion in cash, instead of spinning the unit off in an initial public offering as expected.
BP said it planned to return all the proceeds of the sale to shareholders. Earlier this week, BP warned that damage from hurricanes in the Gulf would cut its third-quarter profits by $700 million.
With the sale, BP exits the business of manufacturing olefin and derivatives, which are by-products of petroleum that can be used to make plastic. BP created Innovene in April 2004 by separating the chemical units from the rest of its business, in anticipation of a public offering. The big oil companies have been unloading their petrochemical divisions since the late 1990's.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/07/business/worldbusiness/07cnd-chemical.html
World Court Issues First Arrest Warrants for Uganda Cult
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 6, 2005
Filed at 8:29 p.m. ET
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The International Criminal Court has issued its first arrest warrants, for five members of Uganda's notoriously cruel Lord's Resistance Army, the top U.N. envoy for Congo said Thursday.
The International Criminal Court, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal, was founded in 2002 and had said for some time it was investigating the LRA, infamous for abducting more than 30,000 children, forcing them to become fighters, porters or concubines. The group has killed thousands of civilians and forced more than a million to flee their homes.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-UN-Criminal-Court.html
Palestinians Blamed for Hamas Abductions
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 7, 2005
Filed at 3:43 p.m. ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- The Palestinian security services were behind the abductions of four local Hamas leaders from their West Bank homes, the Islamic militant group and a security official said Friday, reflecting rising tension between the group and the Palestinian Authority.
A spokesman for the security forces denied the claim, but a senior security official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the involvement of the security services and members of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.
He said the abductions were meant as a warning to Hamas to lie low following a series of deadly clashes between its gunmen and police in Gaza.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html
Over the Shoulder, Over the Top
By RUTH LA FERLA
Published: October 6, 2005
How did this happen?" Nina Collins asked as she settled down to a lunch of miso soup and salad in downtown Manhattan last week. "When did we get to this place where we spend $1,000 on a bag?
The question was rhetorical. Not long ago Ms. Collins herself arrived at that place, succumbing, she confided a bit sheepishly, to a yen for a handbag styled like a saddle bag from Mulberry, a British luxury brand in high demand at stores like Barneys New York and Bergdorf Goodman. The price, about $1,200, struck her as an affront to reason. But she had to have it.
Luxury analysts say the new handbag aficionados aren't necessarily middle-aged or rich, and that some may defer other purchases in order to splurge. "Bags are selling to women in a wider age range than we've ever seen before," said Dana Telsey, a retail analyst with Bear, Stearns, citing customers from their 20's to their 60's and 70's. The youngest are willing to make a tradeoff, Ms. Telsey said. "Maybe it's their lunches. Or maybe it's their living quarters. They'd rather wear their paycheck."
Pamela N. Danziger, the president of Unity Marketing, a consulting firm specializing in the luxury market, maintained that the majority of women buying luxury bags tend to be younger than 40 and to earn from $50,000 to $75,000 a year, or in rarer cases just over $100,000. "Those women are the most likely to be extravagant," said Ms. Danziger, the author of "Why People Buy Things They Don't Need" (Dearborn Trade, 2004). The tend to sacrifice vacations, restaurant dinners and other designer fashion in favor of a luxury bag. "They are the consumers who have something to prove," she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/fashion/thursdaystyles/06handbags.html
Belfast Telegraph
Adams hits out at assets swoop
Raids linked to reputed IRA chief Tom 'slab' murphy
By Debra Douglas
07 October 2005
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams last night claimed raids on £30m worth of suspected IRA property in Manchester were part of a political agenda.
Anti-racketeers searched 250 homes and businesses as part of an investigation linked to Tom "Slab" Murphy, the Provisionals' alleged Chief of Staff, as both Mr Adams and Martin McGuinness prepared for Downing Street talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair aimed at focusing on a fresh push to revive a power-sharing administration.
Speaking after the raids, Mr Adams challenged the allegations and hit out at the Assets Recovery Agency's Belfast chief, Alan McQuillan.
"Have the Assets Recovery Agency named some person?" he said. "I am not going to respond to what are obviously briefings headed up by a man, Alan McQuillan, a former Special Branch officer.
"I don't think it's any accident and I am not surprised that this is trotted out today.
"This is obviously a political agenda," he added.
But Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain rejected the criticisms and emphasised the Agency's independence.
"Let everybody be crystal clear about this, in Northern Ireland or anywhere else, that if you acquire assets, if you acquire resources illegally by criminal means then every effort will be made by the agency and the security forces to track down those assets," he said.
Asked about Mr Adams' claim that "a political agenda" was at work in the timing of the investigation, Mr Hain added: "Whether the ARA knew about the meetings I rather doubt. Certainly their activities are quite independent of any political negotiations that have been taking place in Downing Street and that will continue to be the case in the future when political discussions occur."
Meanwhile, unionists warned that yesterday's offensive could destroy new attempts to restore devolution in Northern Ireland.
Danny Kennedy, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionists, said: "If, after investigation by the ARA, the properties turn out to be linked to the IRA this will have very serious consequences for the political process in Northern Ireland."
DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, who accused the ARA of concentrating on loyalist gangsters and ignoring republicans, backed the raids but said they should have happened sooner.
"We should have started a bit earlier on to deal with IRA racketeering," he said.
"I wish the police every success and I trust that soon these people will be brought to the courts, have British justice applied to them and be removed from our society which they have cursed for far too long."
The raids were also welcomed by Alliance leader David Ford and the SDLP's Alex Attwood.
© 2005 Independent News and Media (NI)
a division of Independent News & media (UK) Ltd
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=664239
BSix held after murder of former UDA boss
Gray: did he know too much?
By David Gordon and Jonathan McCambridge
05 October 2005
Gray: the questions
•Did the UDA kill their former 'brigadier'?
•What does this mean for the UDA ceasefire?
•Was Gray spilling the secrets of his former allies?
•How will death of central suspect affect money laundering probe?
Speculation was today growing that loyalist Jim Gray was gunned down over rumours that he was helping police investigations into former allies in the UDA leadership.
Detectives today made six arrests over the murder and denied that 47-year-old Gray had been under police protection.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=664072
The case of God's Banker: Roberto Calvi the trial begins
Twenty-three years ago, an Italian businessman was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge. Today five people face murder charges in a courtroom drama that promises to provide yet more explosive twists in an extraordinary story. Peter Popham reports from Rome
06 October 2005
Nearly a generation has passed since a London postman on his way to work discovered the body of a well-heeled, nicely-turned out Italian businessman hanging by the neck from scaffolding under Blackfriars Bridge.
The businessman was a banker called Roberto Calvi. His body was discovered at 7.30am on 18 June 1982. Ex-banker would be more accurate, because the day before he died Calvi had been relieved of his duties at Banco Ambrosiano, of which he had been chairman, and his secretary had jumped to her death. The bank was about to collapse with £800m in debts.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=664222
US estate agency on way to Ulster
Competition 'will drop fees'
By Debra Douglas
06 October 2005
People across Northern Ireland selling houses could reap the benefits of stiffer competition due to the arrival of a multi-national company here, a property expert predicted last night.
Following yesterday's announcement that American company RE/MAX are set to open around 30 branches in the province and are hoping to grab 30% of the market, Professor Alastair Adair, from the School of the Built Environment at the University of Ulster, said it could have a significant impact.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=664145
Can dance music and politics really mix?
Claire Hughes talks to Ms Dynamite, Paul Van Dyk and Adam Freeland to find out
03 October 2005
Politics and dancing? The two words just don't go together, do they? But music and politics have been linked throughout history. Dance music's first "Summer of Love" took place in the UK in 1988, and with it came one of history's most vehement clashes between politics and music. The dawning of "acid house" prompted a wave of public panic, exacerbated by the British press, which had us believing that anyone listening to this new music was a crazed drug addict.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/music/story.jsp?story=663774
Will Wikipedia swallow Google?
Charles Arthur
05 October 2005
Wikipedia is the top result on Google, the site that the most links point to from elsewhere on the web. But what is so special about it? The first is that anyone can start a new entry on any topic that they like. The second is that experts can chip in if they want to. And it can all be done anonymously. Sure, someone may come along and decide you were wrong; but you may have added to the sum of online human knowledge.
Wikipedia has just three essential tenets: its contributors carry out no original research (instead, they link to web or external sources); articles should be verifiable using trusted data; and written from a "neutral point of view".
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/story.jsp?story=664060
Dolphins go to war
They're as cuddly as sea creatures ever can be yet the American military has been using them for years. They've got bigger brains than we have and they can even sing the theme tune from 'Batman'. Is there anything these mammals can't do? Peter Marren reports
05 October 2005
One of the strangest stories to emerge from the ruins of Hurricane Katrina is a tale of military-trained dolphins on the loose in the Gulf of Mexico. Whether they were whistling the Batman theme is not known.
The cetacean mammals were reportedly being used by the US navy to detect stray torpedoes and mines, and were controlled using signals transmitted to a neck harness. It is possible that some were armed with toxic darts tied to their backs to immobilise terrorists or enemy agents. "If divers or windsurfers are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber, they could fire," warned an accident investigator close to the US government's marine fisheries service.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=664054
The Chicago Tribune
3rd Suspect Nabbed in Subway Terror Plot
By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Associated Press Writer
Published October 7, 2005, 2:27 PM CDT
NEW YORK -- The investigation into an alleged plot to bomb the city's subway moved forward on several fronts Friday as a third suspect was arrested in Iraq and authorities looked into whether a fourth person had traveled to New York as part of the scheme, officials said.
A law enforcement official familiar with the case said the man's trip to New York was described by an informant who had spent time in Afghanistan and proved reliable in past investigations.
"He's been a source of multiple correct information in the past," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation. "Does that mean a fourth person he identified is in fact in New York? We don't know that."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-nyc-subway,1,2583904.story?coll=chi-news-hed
D.C. Police Evacuate Washington Monument
By Associated Press
Published October 7, 2005, 2:22 PM CDT
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Monument was evacuated Friday after a bomb threat was called in to local police.
U.S. Park Police Sgt. Scott Fear said the call came in at 2:24 p.m. EDT and the monument was evacuated a short time later. Bomb-sniffing dogs were called in and two blocks between Constitution and Independence avenues were closed off.
An initial search turned up nothing worrisome.
A law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because other agencies were handling the case, said the credibility of the threat was low but officials did not want to take any chances.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-washington-monument,1,10911.story?coll=chi-news-hed
City Hall's ex-patronage head, 3 others deny hiring fraud charges
By Mike Robinson
The Associated Press
Published October 7, 2005, 11:54 AM CDT
Mayor Richard M. Daley's former patronage chief and three other men pleaded not guilty Friday to violating Chicago's ban on political patronage hiring, with defense attorneys claiming the charges in the indictment don't even add up to a violation of the law.
Defense attorneys promised a blizzard of motions attacking the indictment in hopes that U.S. District Judge David H. Coar will throw it out as defective because it doesn't allege a crime.
"I don't think they can fix it because they need evidence to fix it," Thomas Anthony Durkin, representing fired patronage chief Robert Sorich, told reporters. He said that "a crime exists only in the minds of the government - not in the facts."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-051007patronage,1,1061246.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Moscow Times
Schroder to St. Pete for Putin's Birthday
By Carl Schreck
Staff Writer
With little of the hype that characterized the run-up to his 50th birthday, President Vladimir Putin was set to celebrate turning 53 on Friday with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in St. Petersburg.
The visit, a private one, could well be Schröder's final foreign trip as his country's leader.
Spokesmen for the Kremlin and the German Embassy in Moscow said Thursday that they did not know what celebratory events were planned, but Friday is the second and final day of a Central Asian Cooperation Organization summit, which has brought leaders from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the city.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/10/07/011.html
Intelligence Design
Stalin's failure to predict Hitler's 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union was a classic mistake of 20th-century intelligence: the projection of one's own values upon an opponent.
By Gabriel Gorodetsky
Published: October 7, 2005
Few Soviet specialists can draw on the kind of personal experience that distinguishes former CIA officer David E. Murphy, who headed his agency's base in Berlin before taking over Soviet operations at U.S. headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Murphy used his insider's perspective to admirable effect in "Battleground Berlin: CIA vs. KGB in the Cold War," a chronicle of espionage co-authored with his KGB counterpart, Sergei Kondrashev. Alas, his venture into less familiar territory exposes the severe shortcomings of a practitioner turned historian.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/10/07/106.html
Drama on the Cutting Edge
Praktika, the latest addition to city's theater scene, plans to fill its repertoire with new and controversial plays.
By Alexander Osipovich
Published: October 7, 2005
Moscow is home to over 100 theaters, but only a handful of them focus on showing new works by living playwrights. On Friday, a new venue is set to join this select club when the Praktika Theater celebrates its grand opening.
Praktika is the brainchild of Eduard Boyakov, best known as the former general director of the Golden Mask festival. In his nine years on the job, Boyakov turned the event from a little-known local awards ceremony to the leading performing arts festival in the country. But he left the Golden Mask last year, and, citing the need to support the so-called "new drama" movement in Russia, redirected his efforts into the new theater. "When the new drama movement began, the first thing it needed was a festival," he told the newspaper Gazeta last month. "Now what it needs is a permanent space."
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/10/07/104.html
Global Eye
Moot Court
By Chris Floyd
Published: October 7, 2005
Last week, President George W. Bush filled the final vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court -- and right on cue, all the knee-jerk Bush-bashers were up in arms, sputtering the usual objections: Unqualified crony! Right-wing apparatchik! Fawning, groveling Bush Family factotum! Wheel-greasing goon in high-priced threads!
Poor little dissident lambkins. They must be the only people left in the United States who still take the country's governance seriously. For it's obvious that the nation's political elite -- whatever party label they happen to wear -- do not. No ruling class that was actually serious about governing would ever countenance the pair of jokers whom Bush has foisted on what is supposed to be the ultimate guarantor of law in the land. Yet the first bad joke sailed through with bipartisan support and the second is bound to follow. Clearly, this is an Establishment in the throes of nervous breakdown, collapsing in a fit of hysteria-induced giggles while a pack of ruthless thugs loot the store and burn down the house.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/10/07/120.html
U.S. Attorneys in Talks Over Adamov
By Stephen Boykewich
Staff Writer
A delegation from the U.S. Attorney's Office was in Moscow on Thursday for confidential talks about the case of former Nuclear Power Minister Yevgeny Adamov, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said Thursday. A Swiss court ruled Monday to extradite Adamov to the United States, shunning a rival extradition request from Russia.
Embassy spokeswoman Courtney Austrian said she could not say what was discussed or the length of the visit.
A source at the Prosecutor General's Office said prosecutors had met the delegation, which was led by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, Interfax reported.
"In the course of talks, questions are being discussed in connection with the investigation of the criminal case against Adamov, as well as his possible extradition from Switzerland," the source said.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2005/10/07/012.html
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