The Mail and Guardian
Khutsong gathers to protest demarcation
Johannesburg, South Africa
11 November 2005 12:26
Hundreds of singing protesters from Khutsong and other areas around Carletonville gathered at the township's stadium on Friday morning to march to the local police station.
Their mission was to present a memorandum on the latest events related to protests over provincial demarcation.
Anger erupted last week in Khutsong over proposals to incorporate the Merafong municipality into North West. It is at present part of Gauteng.
South African Communist Party secretary Vishwas Sasga said the Khutsong community wanted to apologise to the country for last week's violence.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=256297&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/
Zuma in bid to stop trial
Sam Sole
11 November 2005 08:00
Jacob Zuma’s lawyers are preparing an application to set aside charges laid against their client, based on arguments that he will be denied a fair trial.
Zuma’s attorney, Michael Hulley, confirmed that such an application was being prepared and would be launched some time before Zuma’s corruption trial next year.
“Such an application has always been in the offing; but, yes, a decision has been taken that it will go ahead,” Hulley told the Mail & Guardian.
Hulley said he did not want to disclose details of the case, but confirmed it would be based on claims that the conduct of the investigation against Zuma — including the raids on his (Hulley’s) offices and those of Zuma’s former attorney, Julie Mahomed — had irretrievably prejudiced Zuma’s right to a fair trial.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said this latest move by Zuma’s defence team had not been officially brought to their notice: “We don’t share the view that Zuma has been denied a fair trial, but he’s obviously entitled to bring such an application. We’ll deal with the matter if and when it is brought to our attention, legally.”
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=256233&area=/zuma_report/zuma_news/
Srebrenica: 227 bodies of massacre victims found
Samir Krilic Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
11 November 2005 11:44
Forensic experts have recovered the remains of 227 victims of the Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst mass killing since World War II, an official said on Friday.
The exhumations from a mass grave in the north-eastern Bosnian village of Snagovo had been completed and "we found 147 incomplete [bodies] and 80 complete bodies", said Murat Hurtic, the head of the forensic team.
He added that with the completion of exhumations in Snagovo, his team has ended the exhumations in Bosnia for this year because of the approaching winter.
In 1995, Serb troops overran the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica, which had been declared a safe zone by the United Nations, and killed as many as 8 000 Muslim men and boys.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=256288&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
Seeing, rather than seen
Wilson Johwa Johannesburg, South Africa
11 November 2005 07:45
Black women in South Africa are no strangers to photography. In years gone by, however, they have typically found themselves in front of the lens -- often portrayed as "'mother of the nation', 'black sex object' or 'poor, black victim without agency'," in the words of gender activist Janine Moolman.
Now this situation is changing. Photographers such as Neo Ntsoma -- the first woman to win the Mohamed Amin award -- make up a growing list of black women who are finding success behind the camera.
Named after a Kenya-based photographer and cameraman who died in the 1996 hijacking of an Ethiopian airliner, this award is given during the Cable News Network’s (CNN) annual competition honouring the best of African journalism.
Ntsoma won the prize last year for a series of images entitled Their World in Flames, which documented the plight of families from a squatter settlement in the commercial centre of Johannesburg when their homes were destroyed by fire.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=256229&area=/insight/insight__africa/
Top female politician takes lead in Liberian vote
Todd Pitman Monrovia, Liberia
10 November 2005 11:16
Liberia's top female politician took a strong early lead in a presidential run-off as her millionaire soccer-star opponent charged the vote was fraudulent, throwing uncertainty over elections that had raised hopes for peace in the war-ravaged nation.
National Election Commission chairperson Frances Johnson-Morris said on Wednesday that with results in from 59% of polling stations across the country, including the capital, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf had 56,4% of the vote so far. George Weah had 43,6%.
Weah, at a news conference held at the same time Johnson-Morris was speaking to reporters elsewhere in the capital, accused poll workers of having plans to stuff ballot boxes in Johnson-Sirleaf's favour. Weah has repeatedly been critical of the National Election Commission and Johnson-Morris, who is not related to Johnson-Sirleaf.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=256172
Namibia demands answers after unearthing mass grave
Pretoria, South Africa
11 November 2005 09:43
Investigations into the discovery of a mass grave 400m from a former South African military base in Namibia would be a government to government issue, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) said on Friday.
Construction workers earlier this week discovered a mass grave containing human bones and ammunition.
"Because the SADF [South African Defence Force] no longer exists, having been replaced by the SANDF, the issue of the mass grave will have to be discussed directly between the two governments," said SANDF spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/&articleid=256253
Miller granted a last word as she leaves 'the convent'
11 November 2005 09:57
The New York Times journalist Judith Miller, whose reporting on weapons of mass destruction, and alleged dissembling before a grand jury, raised questions about the credibility of both her work and her newspaper, has "retired".
Miller's departure follows weeks of negotiations and public criticism of her work by the paper's editor, columnists and reader's editor that has damaged the reputation of one of the nation's most venerated journalistic institutions.
The controversial 28-year career of Miller at the Times ended with a letter to the editor, that was published on Thursday, in which she defended her record.
This was part of a deal that also included an undisclosed pay-off and a letter from the editor, Bill Keller, "clarifying" his criticism of her. She told the New York Observer she was "really very satisfied" with the arrangement, posting her letter on her own website, so scooping the paper on the story.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=256262
Scientists find 'bad boy' dinosaur in Argentina
Randolph Schmid Washington, United States
11 November 2005 09:20
In the era when dinosaurs ruled the Jurassic earth, a 3,9m oceanic crocodile with a short snout and a mouthful of deadly teeth hunted large creatures in the sea, scientists reported on Thursday.
Nicknamed "Godzilla" by its discoverers, the new find was very different from other marine crocodiles, which had long snouts with many small teeth.
The discovery of the creature, given the scientific name Dakosaurus andiniensis, was reported on Thursday in ScienceExpress, the online edition of the journal Science.
"This animal was one of the latest members of its family and certainly the most bizarre of all marine crocs," said Diego Pol of Ohio State University, one of the authors of the report.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=256249
Microsoft settles South Korean anti-trust suit
Seoul, South Korea
11 November 2005 11:07
United States software giant Microsoft said on Friday it has sealed a $30-million deal with South Korean internet portal Daum Communications to settle an anti-trust suit and put the two firms in a new partnership.
The deal ends a legal battle with Daum, which had accused Microsoft of violating anti-trust rules by unfairly incorporating its MSN instant-messaging software into the Windows system.
The settlement includes a cash payment of $10-million, together with an advertising commitment valued at $10-million and another $10-million in business terms.
Microsoft and Daum said the deal will include putting "select online content from Daum on MSN and other marketing and promotional opportunities".
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__business/&articleid=256276
Elvis impersonator helps police recover Presley items
Kathleen Hennessey Las Vegas, United States
10 November 2005 04:16
A retired Elvis Presley impersonator helped police nab a man suspected of stealing more than $300 000-worth of memorabilia from the Elvis-a-Rama museum in Las Vegas, authorities said on Wednesday.
Duke Adams, a 62-year-old "older-era Elvis", said he was approached while in line at a pharmacy by a man offering to sell him items once owned by Presley, including jewellery, clothing and the king's revolver.
Remembering the March 2004 burglary, Adams said he asked the man to stop by his business the next day. Adams went home and called the police.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/other_news/&articleid=256201
Microwave your bra and stay warm
Tokyo, Japan
09 November 2005 03:25
For the woman who wants to stay both warm and environmentally conscious this winter -- and isn't bothered by extra bulk under her shirt -- a lingerie maker on Wednesday unveiled a thick bra that can be heated in a microwave.
Triumph International modelled the bra in Japan, which has launched a "Warm Biz" campaign urging people to bundle up to save on heating.
The bra pads are filled with an eco-friendly, reusable gel that can be heated up in a microwave or with hot water. For good measure, a pendant of a hot pepper dangles from the front.
But the bra isn't for those favouring understated attire. A long strap flows down from the back, which is meant to be wrapped around like a boa to keep one's neck warm.
"We hope this will not only help prevent global warming, but also provide a little fashion chic to the office," Triumph's Japan branch said in a statement.
But for the time being, the bra, which comes with matching shorts, won't be in stores, with the lingerie maker instead using the technology to develop other warm clothing.
Japan, the land of the Kyoto Protocol, is encouraging people to set their heating at no more than 20 degrees Celsius this winter to save energy.
It follows a "Cool Biz" casual-dress campaign promoted by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who eschewed his tie for most of the summer, to reduce air-conditioner use and therefore greenhouse-gas emissions. The drive is estimated to have saved enough energy to supply 240 000 households for a month. -- AFP
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/other_news/&articleid=256116
The New York Times
Bombers Kill at Least 40 in Iraq
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 10, 2005
Filed at 8:43 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a restaurant frequented by Baghdad police, killing at least 33 people and seriously injuring 19, while a car bomb killed seven army recruits in Saddam Hussein's hometown, police said.
The bombers struck at about 9:45 a.m., when officers usually stop by the restaurant for breakfast. Police Maj. Abdel-Hussein Minsef said seven police officers and 26 civilians were killed in the blast and 24 others injured, among them 20 civilians.
Doctors in Tikrit transferred a victim wounded in the bombing to a local hospital.
The blasts came just before British Foreign Secretary Straw was expected in the country for a meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
Samiya Mohammed, a housewife who lives nearby, said she rushed outside when she heard the explosion.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq.html?hp
House Shelves Alaska Drilling in Budget Fight
By CARL HULSE
Published: November 10, 2005
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 - House Republican leaders were forced to jettison a plan for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska on Wednesday night to save a sweeping spending bill, a concession that came one day after the party suffered significant election loses.
In dropping the drilling plan and a second provision, on coastal exploration, the leadership was trying to win over moderates in the party to enhance the chances of winning initial approval on Thursday of more than $50 billion in spending cuts demanded by House conservatives. But the decision is likely to meet objections from the Senate, where senior lawmakers are insisting on the drilling plan, a priority for President Bush.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge via Associated Press
This part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is known as Area 1002.
The last-ditch effort by the leadership to avoid an embarrassing legislative defeat was the latest symptom of party unrest arising from instability in the leadership and anxiety about the 2006 elections. Those concerns were heightened by election results on Tuesday that Democrats and some Republicans said exposed the party's vulnerabilities and threatened its policy agenda.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/national/10cong.html?hp
New poll finds Bush's approval hit new low
11.09.2005, 09:37 PM
WASHINGTON (AFX) - US President George W Bush's approval ratings have hit a new low, signaling political trouble ahead for the American leader, according to a new opinion poll made public.
The joint survey by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found that public opinion of Bush performance in five areas -- overall job performance, the economy, foreign policy, terrorism and Iraq -- have hit new lows.
The president's overall job approval rating stood at 38 pct, a one-point decline since October, the poll showed.
Meanwhile, only 34 pct of those surveyed approved of his handling of the economy, 35 pct of foreign policy, 39 pct of his policy on terrorism and 32 pct of Iraq.
The survey showed 57 pct of Americans believed Bush deliberately misled people to make the case for war, compared with 35 pct who said he gave the most accurate information he had.
In addition, 58 pct were less confident the war will come to a successful conclusion, while 57 pct said the US should reduce the number of US troops in Iraq.
The CIA leak investigation, which has resulted in the indictment of former vice presidential chief of staff Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, appears to have also taken its toll on the president.
Only 33 pct of Americans now believe Bush is being honest and straightforward with the public, a drop of 17 points since January, the poll showed.
The survey of 1,003 adults conducted Nov 4-7 had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 pct.
mk/ksb/dk
http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/afx/2005/11/09/afx2328524.html
Senate Approves Limiting Rights of U.S. Detainees
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: November 11, 2005
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 - The Senate voted Thursday to strip captured "enemy combatants" at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, of the principal legal tool given to them last year by the Supreme Court when it allowed them to challenge their detentions in United States courts.
The vote, 49 to 42, on an amendment to a military budget bill by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, comes at a time of intense debate over the government's treatment of prisoners in American custody worldwide, and just days after the Senate passed a measure by Senator John McCain banning abusive treatment of them.
If approved in its current form by both the Senate and the House, which has not yet considered the measure but where passage is considered likely, the law would nullify a June 2004 Supreme Court opinion that detainees at Guantánamo Bay had a right to challenge their detentions in court.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/politics/11detain.html?hp&ex=1131771600&en=ef324454cb3a79c4&ei=5094&partner=homepage
THEY HAVE NO REASON TO DOUBT IT BUT THEY HAVE NO REASON TO VALIDATE IT EITHER ! Where are the forensics. That stuff takes time. Let's just politically jump on the first enemy that comes to the forefront so we can appear to know what we are doing while the real perpetrator gets away to do it again.
Iraq-Based Jihad Appears to Seek Broader Horizons
By DOUGLAS JEHL
Published: November 11, 2005
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 - Over the last two years, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has risen to prominence on the front lines of the anti-American fight in Iraq. But American intelligence officials say that Mr. Zarqawi, a Jordanian, long ago set his sights more broadly on an Islamic jihad extending to the Mediterranean.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/international/middleeast/11intel.html?hp&ex=1131771600&en=ba7adfd43f6789b4&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Deal to Replace Schools After Katrina Is Faulted
By ERIC LIPTON
Published: November 11, 2005
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss., Nov. 10 - From their new metal-encased classroom, the third graders who returned to school this week can look straight into the carcass of the old North Bay Elementary.
Johnette Bilbo, center right, helps students in Bay St. Louis, Miss., through temporary classrooms installed by Akima Management Services.
Kent Adams's company also sought to help replace classrooms.
To the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the modular classrooms lined up next to the soon-to-be demolished former school show, as the billboard out front boasts, "Katrina Recovery in Progress."
But to critics, the 450 portable classrooms being installed across Mississippi are prime examples in their case against FEMA and its federal partner, the Army Corps of Engineers, for wasteful spending and favoritism in the $62 billion hurricane relief effort.
Provided by a politically connected Alaskan-owned business under a $40 million no-bid contract, the classrooms cost FEMA nearly $90,000 each, including transportation, according to contracting documents. That is double the wholesale price and nearly 60 percent higher than the price offered by two small Mississippi businesses dropped from the deal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/national/nationalspecial/11schools.html?hp&ex=1131771600&en=9c902d201cc0f26a&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Genetic Find Stirs Debate on Race-Based Medicine
By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: November 11, 2005
In a finding that is likely to sharpen discussion about the merits of race-based medicine, an Icelandic company says it has detected a version of a gene that raises the risk of heart attack in African-Americans by more than 250 percent.
The company, DeCode Genetics, first found the variant gene among Icelanders and then looked for it in three American populations, in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Atlanta.
Among Americans of European ancestry, the variant is quite common, but it causes only a small increase in risk, about 16 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/health/11heart.html
Ocracoke in Fall: Gloriously Empty
Jenny Warburg for The New York Times
SITTING PRETTY With the summer boat crowd gone, there's room for sunbathing on the dock at Silver Lake Harbor. Fishing is also big on the island, especially in the fall.
By CINDY PRICE
Published: November 11, 2005
SITTING on a back porch in Ocracoke, N.C., my feet kicked up, watching the fishing boats sail into the harbor under a fading autumn sky, I'm reminded of something a friend once said about a favorite bar: "It's the kind of place you're always looking for, but never actually find."
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/travel/11ocracoke.html
A Decisive Election in a Town Roiled Over Intelligent Design
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: November 10, 2005
DOVER, Pa., Nov. 9 - In the end, voters here said they were tired of being portrayed as a northern version of Dayton, Tenn., a Bible Belt hamlet where 80 years ago a biology teacher named John Scopes was tried for illegally teaching evolution.
On Tuesday, the residents of Dover ousted all eight school board members running for re-election who had put their town in a global spotlight and their school district on trial for being the first in the nation to introduce intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in science class. In swept the full Dover Cares slate of eight candidates, which had coalesced to oppose the change in the science curriculum.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/national/10dover.html
G.M. Lowers 2001 Profit; Error Cited
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: November 10, 2005
DETROIT, Nov. 9 - General Motors said on Wednesday that it overstated its 2001 results by as much as $400 million, or 35 percent, and said that it might have to restate results for the following years as well.
The company said a review of its supplier payments for the years 2000 through 2005 concluded that it erroneously credited some payments to its results for 2001, instead of recording the payments for later years.
The restatement was the latest bad news for G.M., the world's biggest carmaker, whose outlook has been pummeled by the bankruptcy filing at the Delphi Corporation, its biggest parts supplier.
Even before the filing was disclosed on Wednesday, G.M. shares fell $1.23, to $24.63, only a penny above its 52-week low, over fears of a strike at Delphi, which is demanding sharply lower wage and benefit rates from its workers. The shares of G.M. have fallen nearly 40 percent so far this year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/business/10auto.html
The New Zealand Herald
France must react to urban ills, says Chirac
11.11.05 1.00pm
By Jon Boyle
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac said on Thursday the government had to respond quickly to problems residents face in riot-hit suburbs and a police chief said he feared rioters were planning protests in central Paris.
Violence in urban areas around France fell for the third straight night after emergency powers allowed local officials to impose night curfews on youths behind two weeks of unrest over racism, poverty and unemployment.
"We will have to draw all the consequences from this crisis, once the time comes and order has been restored, and with a lot of courage and lucidity," Chirac said after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354715
France suspends 8 police officers for beating youth
11.11.05 9.20am
PARIS - France has suspended eight police officers after two of them beat a young man they had detained during rioting in a suburb north of Paris and the other six looked on, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
A police inquiry showed the beating took place on Monday in Seine-Saint-Denis, the area north of Paris where the accidental electrocution of two youths apparently fleeing police triggered the unrest, the ministry said in a statement.
The youth beaten by police had been detained "in the context of the recent urban violence".
He suffered superficial injuries to the forehead and foot, the ministry said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354690
Expulsion vow from French Interior Minister
11.11.05
PARIS - Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered the expulsion of all foreigners convicted of involvement in the French riots.
Sarkozy told the National Assembly that 122 foreigners had been convicted of roles in the unrest.
"I have asked that foreigners here legally or illegally, who have been convicted, be expelled without delay from our territory," he said.
The order would also include those foreigners with a residency permit, Sarkozy said.
"For when one has the honour of a residency permit, the least one can say is one shouldn't be going around getting arrested for urban violence." Sarkozy did not give the nationalities of any of the foreigners whose expulsion he had ordered or how many faced being thrown out.
Sarkozy's earlier promise to wash the "scum" from rioting suburban areas has been widely criticised for provoking violence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354580
European far right seizes on French riots
11.11.05 1.00pm
By Mark John
BRUSSELS - Far-right groups across Europe are seizing on riots by the children of French immigrants as a potential vote-winner and intensifying their demands that governments halt immigration and toughen up nationality laws.
Some portray the violence as the seed of bloody ethnic civil war, or play on fears of Islamic radicalism to warn that today's petrol bomb-hurling teenager could be tomorrow's suicide bomber.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354708
Crackdown douses riot firestorm
11.11.05
By John Lichfield
PARIS - The two-week firestorm of violence by gangs of youths in France subsided yesterday, as arrests, exhaustion and boredom took their toll.
A state of emergency and new measures to help poor suburbs and alienated youth, announced by a panicky Government on Monday, may also have had some effect.
Some police intelligence sources and social workers warned that yesterday's relative calm - "only" 617 cars burned, compared with 933 the night before - might yet prove to be just a lull.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354582
Santa now taking letters and web messages
11.11.05 4.00pm
Santa Claus has advised New Zealand Post that his special mailroom at the North Pole is up and running, and he is looking forward to receiving letters from children all over New Zealand this Christmas.
Children can write to Santa by sending a letter to his home address of Santa's workshop, c/o The North Pole, or by contacting him online via the New Zealand Post website at www.nzpost.co.nz/christmas (link below).
Children writing to Santa through the mail should attach a 45-cent stamp, include their return address and try to send their letter before December 15 so he can reply before Christmas.
Last year more than 76,000 children either posted letters to Santa or sent their wish list to him online.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354780
Invasive sea squirt spreads to Coromandel
11.11.05 2.00pm
The invasive sea squirt has spread to the Coromandel, according to Biosecurity New Zealand.
A mussel farm operator discovered what he suspected was the organism during a harvest in the Wilsons Bay area, 34km north of Thames, and reported his fears.
A sample from the farm has been confirmed as positive.
The clubbed tunicate, more commonly known as sea squirt, is a fouling organism that grows on marine structures, including aquaculture equipment.
There are no known human health issues around consuming shellfish that have been associated with it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10354738
Maestro Pavarotti's eyes still sparkle for women
11.11.05
By Carroll Du Chateau
The maestro leans forward, brown Italian eyes glistening as the lissom young TVNZ reporter gets to her feet to ask the first question of his 2005 Farewell Tour: "Maestro, what do you think of our country?"
"You are so beautiful ... and it ees a beautiful country ... "
At 70, Luciano Pavarotti has lost none of his passion - or his sex appeal. He sits there in his black pants and shirt, a startlingly bright shawl of orangey-yellow, purple, green and pink round his neck, and answers with care and respect the questions put to him.
Despite his massive "figure", his huge shoulders and crossed muscled forearms could belong to a much younger man. And like the passionate Italian he is, his eyes sparkle for the women.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10354679
Low unemployment points to higher wages
11.11.05
By Ruth Berry
The unemployment rate continues to drop, sending a strong signal to employers that higher wages and better working conditions will be needed to attract and retain staff, the Government says.
Statistics NZ figures out yesterday reveal unemployment at 3.4 per cent, the lowest in the 19 years since the Household Labour Force Survey began.
This was 0.2 per cent lower than in the June quarter.
The labour force participation rate grew a further 0.5 per cent to 68.2, also the highest since the survey began.
Social Development and Employment Minister David Benson-Pope said 300,000 more people were now in work than in 2000, when Labour got back into office and the unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10354633
Russia, EU and US work on Iran nuclear proposal
11.11.05 1.00pm
VIENNA - Russia, the United States and the European Union stepped up attempts on Thursday to end months of deadlock over Iran's nuclear programme.
The powers sought to draft a proposal aimed at satisfying the world that Iran's nuclear intentions are peaceful, but diplomats doubted that Tehran would accept it.
France, Britain and Germany and the United States support the idea of a proposal that would let Iran keep part of its nuclear fuel production programme if the most sensitive part -- enrichment -- was scrapped and moved to Russia, diplomats say.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354712
France must react to urban ills, says Chirac
11.11.05 1.00pm
By Jon Boyle
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac said on Thursday the government had to respond quickly to problems residents face in riot-hit suburbs and a police chief said he feared rioters were planning protests in central Paris.
Violence in urban areas around France fell for the third straight night after emergency powers allowed local officials to impose night curfews on youths behind two weeks of unrest over racism, poverty and unemployment.
"We will have to draw all the consequences from this crisis, once the time comes and order has been restored, and with a lot of courage and lucidity," Chirac said after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354715
Australia terrorism claims 'vague'
11.11.05 1.00pm
CANBERRA - The lawyer representing nine men facing terrorism charges says he must wait an unacceptably long time for police to provide a brief of evidence.
The men will appear in Sydney's Central Local Court today where they will apply for bail.
Eight of the men were among 17 people arrested on Tuesday in co-ordinated counter-terrorism raids in Sydney and Melbourne which police allege foiled a large scale terrorist attack.
Another 25-year-old Victorian man was arrested yesterday in Sydney by NSW counter-terrorism officers carrying a Victorian warrant after stopping a car in the city's west.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354724
Italy finds mild form of feared virus in duck
11.11.05 11.20am
ROME - Italy has found a form of the H5N1 virus in a wild duck, but the Health Ministry said on Thursday it was not dangerous and bore no relation to the strain of Asian avian influenza that has killed more than 60 people.
The H5N1 virus was identified on Wednesday in a testing centre in northern Italy, the health ministry said. It added the virus was genetically similar to strains frequently found among wild waterfowl in Europe, and not highly pathogenic.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354710
Fiji church stopped from marching against gays
10.11.05 3.10pm
Fiji authorities have refused the nation's powerful Methodist Church permission to hold a protest march against homosexuality.
After seeking legal advice, the government official responsible for approving public marches rejected the church's application on grounds it would encourage discrimination against the gay community.
The rally was planned in response to the South Pacific country's High Court upholding an appeal by an Australian tourist and a Fiji man against a gay sex conviction on constitutional grounds.
Fiji's public prosecutor has appealed that decision with the support of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, who believes homosexuality is sinful.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10354558
Peres loses leadership
11.11.05
Elder statesman Shimon Peres, 82, has lost the leadership of Israel's Labour Party to a trade union chief aiming to end an alliance keeping Ariel Sharon in power.
Amir Peretz was declared winner of the poll by a Labour spokesman.
Peres, Nobel Peace Prize winner in the 1990s, accused several polling stations where his challenger was leading of fraud.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354638
Death penalty ruled out for five Guantanamo Bay prisoners
11.11.05
The US will not seek the death penalty against any of the five Guantanamo Bay prisoners charged this week, the Pentagon says.
The charges against Canadian Omar Ahmed Khadr, two Saudis, an Algerian and an Ethiopian brought to nine the number of inmates formally accused of crimes.
The nine cases are scheduled to be decided by a military commission, in the first such US war crimes trials since World War II.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354646
Bookstore bombed in Turkey
11.11.05
A bomb explosion in a bookstore in southeast Turkey has killed one person and injured several others.
Reports said police arrested a suspect and seized three Kalashnikov assault rifles found in a nearby car after the blast in Semdinli, near the border with Iran and Iraq.
After the blast, a group of residents tried to lynch a person suspected of planting the bomb, and later pelted police with stones.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354651
Fashion world unites to help fight against Aids
11.11.05
By Martin Hickman
Ever wanted to own a dress worn by Renee Zellweger? Or a handbag carried by Britney Spears? You can.
A collection of clothing and accessories that promises to be the biggest sale of designer goods in the world goes online at eBay today.
Members of the world's fashion elite such as Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana and Tommy Hilfiger have donated sample dresses, sweaters, shoes, handbags, books, perfumes and even furniture for a four-week auction for HIV/Aids charities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10354604
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