The Gulf News
Madrid bombing mastermind likely in custody of Pakistani authorities
By Amir Mir, Correspondent
Lahore: Pakistani security and intelligence agencies reportedly have the alleged mastermind of the March 2004 Madrid bombings in their custody, a senior intelligence official told Gulf News.
Syrian national Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, who carries a US reward of $5 million on his head, is accused of playing a major role in the attacks on four commuter trains that killed around 200 people.
He is believed to be a key member of the Al Qaida network in Europe.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=190191
Various nationalities celebrate Eid in their own special way
By Nissar Hoath and Nina Muslim, Staff Reporters
Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Some danced and sang, some thronged parks and others stayed with friends and family, sharing special moments and lip-smacking cuisine.
The day began in Abu Dhabi with Eid congregations in the morning, followed by special prayers for regional and international peace as well as for prosperity for the country and the world.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=190164
Kuwaitis fly home from Guantanamo
Reuters
Kuwait City: Five Kuwaitis who had been held in Guantanamo Bay for three years were flying home where they will be tried in a local court, a representative of the detainees said yesterday.
The five were among a dozen Kuwaitis imprisoned at the US military base in Cuba during the 2001 US-led war to oust Al Qaida from Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks.
Khalid Al Odah, Chairman of the Families of Kuwaiti Detainees at Guantanamo, said two of the five prisoners were in very bad health, adding that they were expected to arrive in Kuwait late last night or this morning.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190140
Mogadishu revels in goodwill and toy guns
Reuters
Mogadishu: Africa's most lawless city was awash yesterday with guns toy guns, that is as Mogadishu staged a rare moment of peace, gift-giving and goodwill to mark the end of Ramadan.
Children running through the city's battle-scarred streets replayed the clan fights of their elders, cocking toy firearms they had received in honour of Eid Al Fitr.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190047
Toy gun toting Palestinian shot at
Reuters
Jenin: Israeli soldiers shot and critically wounded a 13-year-old Palestinian carrying a toy weapon in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
The Israeli army said troops had mistaken him for a gunman.
The shooting, during an Israeli raid to detain suspected Palestinian militants, came amid the worst surge of violence since a truce was agreed nine months ago.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=190139
Playing to the gallery or playing with fire?
By Pascal Boniface, Special to Gulf News
By declaring that "Israel should be wiped off the map", Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to have crossed the line.
Not only with regard to Israel, but also with respect to the whole of the Middle East where such comments can only add fuel to fire.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=190058
Actions hurt a lot more than words
By Manal Alafrangi, Staff Writer
Last week, the UN Security Council met in a special session and issued a strong condemnation of the words of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against Israel.
In the same week, Israeli occupying forces launched more than 13 raids in Gaza resulting in the death of at least four innocent Palestinian civilians.
No meeting took place by the Security Council to condemn or even discuss this.
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/OpinionNF.asp?ArticleID=190057
UK soldiers cleared of Iraqi teen's murder
Agencies
London: Seven British soldiers were acquitted on Thursday of charges of beating an innocent Iraqi teenager to death with rifle butts.
A military court in eastern England ordered the "not guilty" verdicts against the seven because of sufficient evidence against them, the Ministry of Defence said.
The defendants, four serving soldiers and three former soldiers, were accused of killing 18-year-old Nadhem Abdullah during a clash in a village near the southern city of Basra in 2003.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189981
Iran grants access to military site
Agencies
Vienna/Paris: Iran granted UN nuclear inspectors access to a high-security military site as part of efforts to avoid referral to the Security Council, the agency said yesterday.
However, Tehran has also told the IAEA that it will soon resume converting uranium into a gas that can be enriched either to generate energy or produce nuclear weapons, one of the diplomats said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189902
Tehran set to recall 40 envoys in major diplomatic shake-up
Agencies
Tehran: Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has replaced top Iranian ambassadors in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United Nations in Geneva.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President
The senior diplomats replaced were involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme under former leader Mohammad Khatami, the BBC reported.
Analysts for the BBC say the move could be a “tough new approach on [Iran’s] stalled nuclear issue” and may cause concern in Western capitals.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189967
Abdullah seeks Bush help for release of Saddam brother
Agencies
Riyadh: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has asked US President George W. Bush to release Saddam Hussain's half brother on humanitarian grounds.
King Abdullah had sent a letter to Bush asking him to release Barzan Ebrahim Al Tikriti because he is suffering from an advanced stage of cancer, Al Riyadh daily reported on Wednesday quoting unidentified sources
The monarch was making the "humanitarian (request) because of (Barzan's) critical health condition, as he is suffering from a deteriorating cancer illness," it said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189965
Contradiction after contradiction after contradiction ...
Car bomb outside Shiite mosque kills 23
Reuters
Karbala: A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in central Iraq killed at least 23 people and wounded 46 yesterday, targeting Iraqis on one of the last days of Ramadan.
Earlier several roadside bombs and shootings killed at least a dozen people, mostly in Baghdad, and a US helicopter crashed in Ramadi in the west of the country where US forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency that shows no signs of abating.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189879
BUT ACCORDING TO USA OFFICIALS ….
Life beginning to improve in Iraq, says top US officer
By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Iraqis are beginning to turn on their country's insurgents and security is improving as a result, a top US officer told Gulf News on Wednesday.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189878
Hamas to end truce with Israel as violence escalates
Agencies
Gaza City : Rocket fire at Israel from Gaza resumed on Wednesday as Hamas said it would not renew an informal nine-month-old truce, which expires at the end of the year.
The truce was brokered by Egypt which is expected to invite militant groups, including Hamas, to Cairo in coming weeks to discuss extending the agreement.
Israel killed a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank after a soldier was shot dead and militants fired rockets into Israel on Wednesday in the worst week of violence to threaten a truce deal since a Gaza pullout.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189973
Syria says it can cope with any sanctions
Agencies
London/Moscow: Syria is confident it could cope with any sanctions against Damascus over the killing of Lebanon's former prime minister, its deputy prime minister said in comments published yesterday.
Speaking to Britain's Financial Times, Abdullah Al Dardari said Syria had set up an economic crisis team to plan for "every scenario".
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189884
San Francisco Chronicle
Visit by bluebloods has a green theme
Prince Charles, wife plan stops in Marin, Berkeley and S.F.
England's Prince Charles and his new wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will arrive in San Francisco Friday night for a meticulously choreographed four-day visit that combines the earthy with the glitzy -- organic farmers with power brokers.
It will be the first British royal visit to the Bay Area since Prince Andrew was here for several days in 1997.
Amid gawking and gossip and layer upon layer of security, the royal couple will take in a small country church in Marin County, a zany musical revue, San Francisco's Ferry Building and a model homeless center in the heart of the Tenderloin.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/04/PRINCE.TMP
Overhaul of prison health system delayed
Court hires search firm after original effort can't find a manager for struggling system
A court-ordered takeover of California's dangerously mismanaged prison health care system could take months longer than expected despite a federal judge's insistence last summer that receivership was urgently needed to save lives.
The judge, Thelton Henderson of federal district court in San Francisco, had insisted in a dramatic series of hearings that, because of inadequate medical care, inmates were dying needlessly at the rate of one every week or so, and he ordered immediate action.
But the process has been more challenging than expected, several people involved in the search for a receiver said -- yet another sign of the extraordinary depth of the problems in the state's vast prison medical system.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/03/BAG6CFHV8U1.DTL
Brown Discussed Wardrobe During Katrina
(11-03) 16:09 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
Newly-released e-mails show former FEMA director Michael Brown discussing his wardrobe during the crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina.
A House panel has released 23 pages of internal e-mail offering additional evidence of a confused and distracted government response to Katrina, particularly from Brown, the former head of Federal Emergency Management Agency, at critical moments after the storm hit.
The e-mails show that Brown, who had been planning to step down from his post when the storm hit, was preoccupied with his image on television even as one of the first FEMA officials to arrive in New Orleans, Marty Bahamonde, was reporting a crisis situation of increasing chaos to FEMA officials.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/national/w094831S76.DTL
Parents should be notified
THE LOGIC doesn't work. By definition, minors who get pregnant are less mature than those who do not -- in general, they belong to the subset of teens who have sex but don't use birth control at all or correctly, as opposed to teens who either use birth control consistently or abstain from having sex. So it doesn't make sense to have laws, like those in California, that give the least responsible teens more rights than are accorded a responsible teen who wants a tattoo.
Still, I seriously considered voting against Proposition 73, a constitutional amendment that would require parental notification or a judge's waiver before a minor has an abortion.
I would not support an initiative that made a pregnant teen carry an unwanted child. Prop. 73 does not require parental consent. An earlier law requiring parental consent was overturned by the California Supreme Court, thus this measure requires only that doctors notify a parent of a pending abortion, without requiring parental consent, unless a judge grants a waiver.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/03/EDG9UFHKD61.DTL
Bird Flu in Asia Could Kill 3 Million
By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 14:10 PST MANILA, Philippines (AP) --
The Asian Development Bank projected Thursday that a bird flu pandemic in Asia could kill 3 million people, cause economic losses of up to nearly $300 billion and possibly push the world into a recession. China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand would likely be hit hardest in the event of an outbreak, the report said.
The bank outlined two potential scenarios, both assuming a pandemic would last about a year, would cause 20 percent of the region's population to fall ill and would kill 0.5 percent of them — or 3 million people.
In the first scenario, where an outbreak seriously affects economic demand for six months, Asia could suffer $99.2 billion in lost consumer spending, trade, services and investment — equivalent to a contraction of 2.3 percentage points in regional gross domestic product.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/11/03/financial/f141024S95.DTL
House Vote Counters Eminent Domain Measure
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 17:03 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
Contending that the Supreme Court has undermined a pillar of American society, the sanctity of the home, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday to block the court-approved seizure of private property for use by developers.
The bill, passed 376-38, would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in June, recognized the power of local governments to seize property needed for private development projects that generate tax revenue. The decision drew criticism from private property, civil rights, farm and religious groups that said it was an abuse of the Fifth Amendment's "takings clause." That language provides for the taking of private property, with fair compensation, for public use.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/national/w154446S12.DTL
Sailors Prepare for Around-The-World Trip
By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 14:36 PST SANXENXO, Spain (AP) --
Fifty-foot waves, icebergs, exhaustion, savage weather. For 36,000 miles, crews in the Volvo Ocean Race will face all that the world's oceans can offer. The 10 sailors on each of the seven yachts begin their seven-month, around-the-world voyage with preliminary races Saturday.
They'll be soaked and hammered by waves that seem like car crashes and struggle for catnaps in the din of a tiny cabin.
"Everyone here is an adrenaline junkie," American sailor George Peet said. "It's only cold and wet. It's pretty minor suffering when you look at the best sailing in the world."
The crews from six nations — the United States, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia — begin with port racing off this small town on Spain's northwest coast. The first of nine offshore legs starts Nov. 12 from nearby Vigo and ends in South Africa.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/sports/s143644S75.DTL
Top Bush aides privately doubtful about Rove's future
Jim VandeHei, Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Washington -- Top White House aides are privately discussing the future of Karl Rove, with some expressing doubt that President Bush can move beyond the damaging CIA leak case as long as his closest political strategist remains in the administration.
If Rove stays, which colleagues say remains his intention, he may at a minimum have to issue a formal apology for misleading colleagues and the public about his role in conversations that led to the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame, according to senior Republican sources familiar with White House deliberations.
While Rove faces doubts about his White House status, there are new indications that he remains in legal jeopardy from Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's criminal investigation of the Plame leak. The prosecutor spoke this week with the attorney for Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper about his client's telephone conversations with Rove before and after Plame's identity became publicly known because of anonymous disclosures by White House officials, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/03/MNGU4FIAOG1.DTL
Homosexual Kiss Causes Stir on Brazil TV
By MICHAEL ASTOR, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 11:45 PST RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) --
Brazilian TV is no stranger to scandal, but Friday night's final installment of the TV Globo telenovela "America," which may air a scene involving a kiss between two men, has created more than the usual stir.
Fans across the nation are eagerly waiting to see whether Junior, the son of a powerful ranch owner will go so far as to kiss, Zeca, one of the hired hands.
If he does, it would mark the first time two men have exchanged a homosexual kiss on Brazilian television.
"I think this is a very significant moment in Brazilian history. The gay movement has exploded and there's a real shift in people's understanding of homophobia. The media is finally catching up," James Green, author of "Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil," said in telephone interview from Rhode Island.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/entertainment/e111316S32.DTL
Where Are The Gay Pro Athletes?
No, the WNBA doesn't count. What about the NFL? The NBA? What about the big, macho men?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
You know they're out there. The gay pro male athletes, grunting and sweating and spitting and running and crashing and hurling, right now, acting all manly and tough and rugged and heroic on the field or on the court.
And they're signing autographs and getting themselves all beloved by largely homophobic 'Murkin men and swooning 'Murkin boys and even handfuls of women as they jam the secret of their sexuality way, way down and go on raking in their millions, leading their lives of quiet, albeit loaded, desperation.
Do the math, baby: There are 25 players on a major league baseball team roster, and there are 30 teams. That's a total of 750 spittin', groin-scratchin' men. For the NBA, it's 12 players per, across 30 teams, totaling 360 really tall dudes who can no longer wear excess bling. For the NFL, the numbers shoot way up: about 45 players each, across 32 teams, totaling nearly 1,440 hulking hunks of pummeled meat.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/11/02/notes110205.DTL
EDITORIAL
Beyond the indictments
Thursday, November 3, 2005
THE WHITE HOUSE had hoped to change the subject after Friday's indictment of the vice president's chief of staff showed that the effort to silence critics of the flawed prewar intelligence went to the highest levels of government.
To their credit, Senate Democrats this week kept the focus on the central question: Did the Bush administration intentionally mislead the nation into war with its now-discredited claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction?
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid drew heavy flak from the ruling Republicans for using a parliamentary maneuver Tuesday to bring the Senate into closed session to discuss the progress -- or lack thereof -- of its own investigation into the matter.
The Republicans tried to dismiss the closed session as a partisan publicity stunt, but there is no issue at hand that is more critical to this administration's credibility and this nation's international standing.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/03/EDG9UFHKDE1.DTL
Bush's Ratings Still Sink Over War, Court
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 17:19 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
President Bush's job approval has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency amid worries over the Iraq war, a fumbled Supreme Court nomination, the indictment of one White House aide and uncertainty about another.
Concerned that the president has lost his footing, some influential Republicans are urging Bush to shake up his staff and bring in new blood.
A new AP-Ipsos poll found Bush's approval rating was at 37 percent, compared with 39 percent a month ago. About 59 percent of those surveyed said they disapproved.
The intensity of disapproval is the strongest to date, with 42 percent now saying they "strongly disapprove" of how Bush is handling his job — twice as many as the 20 percent who said they "strongly approve."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/11/03/national/w141504S06.DTL
This is a couple of years in the offing. A lot can happen and the people of Alaska aren't really supportive of this measure. This is typical of this 'throw away' administration. They throw off all these federal regulations that no one wants to have destroyed so nothing is ever acted on. A lot of businesses receiving tax cuts and monies poured on them are looking at their infrastructure and not doing much with DC's measures. Businesses have employees and live in communities, they still have a lot to answer to regardless the deregulation of the federal laws. It's rather interesting actually.
Oil drilling in refuge a step closer
Senate refuses to keep home to Arctic wildlife free of wells, ending decades-long debate
Washington -- The Senate rejected a last-ditch effort by Democrats on Thursday to stop plans to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, moving closer to ending one of the most heated environmental disputes of the past quarter century.
By a 51-48 vote, the Senate defeated an amendment that would have stripped a provision allowing drilling in the Alaskan refuge from the huge budget reconciliation bill.
"It's the beginning of the end of the opposition" to drilling, said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "I think we're going to get it -- finally. This giant resource is going to be developed."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a longtime opponent of drilling, said of the vote: "The Republican Senate has shown its true colors -- it is clear by their overwhelming support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that they have no respect for the environment."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/04/REFUGE.TMP
This is an example of the 'give away and take back' efforts going on. If the aire is found to be fouled by efforts elsewhere then they permission to exploit natural resources will be on hold anyway. Then there is Canada. They aren't happy about the change in regime in DC. So, regardless of the activism of this regime in DC on a Greed Agenda there is a lot in the way of any of these initiatives being carried out. The federal government is only one layer of authority.
Senate approves funds for cleaning San Joaquin Valley Air
(11-03) 16:43 PST Fresno, Calif. (AP) --
Federal lawmakers on Thursday approved funding for research meant to reduce the San Joaquin Valley's long-standing air pollution problem.
The final version of the agriculture appropriations bill included $401,000 earmarked for studying pollution coming from farms and dairies, and to find cost-effective ways to combat it, officials said.
Farming is the biggest industry in the area, which is plagued by double-digit unemployment. But the valley also has the country's most persistent air pollution. Officials with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District say farming is responsible for much of the smog and the airborne specks that contribute to heart attacks and other fatal illnesses in the area.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/state/n164303S16.DTL
Senate OKs Bill Cutting $36B Over 5 Years
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
(11-03) 17:55 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
The Senate on Thursday narrowly approved the first cuts since 1997 to benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and farm subsidies, giving Republicans a modest victory against ever-rising government spending.
The bill, passed by a 52-47 vote, makes mild cuts to the health care programs for the elderly, poor and disabled, but leaves the food stamp program untouched.
The measure also permits exploratory oil drilling in an Alaskan wilderness area. Five Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate who oppose the drilling voted against the bill.
"The Senate took an important step forward in cutting the deficit," President Bush said in a statement issued in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where he is attending a conference. "Congress needs to send me a spending-reduction package this year to keep us on track to cutting the deficit in half by 2009."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/national/w151735S07.DTL
This is only one victory as the man was only on Vioxx for two months and the threshold for death is 16 - 18 months. It's sounds a little odd to me. But there are a lot more cases for Merck to weed through, in the hundreds if not thousands.
Merck Gets Victory in Second Vioxx Case
By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, November 3, 2005
(11-03) 11:07 PST Atlantic City, N.J. (AP) --
Merck & Co. won a major victory in the battle over its Vioxx painkiller Thursday when a New Jersey state jury found that the drugmaker properly warned consumers about the risks of the medication. The finding means Merck won't be held liable for the 2001 heart attack suffered by a man taking Vioxx.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/11/03/financial/f101956S41.DTL
New Zealand Herald
Pania statue found
04.11.05 2.15pm
The statue of Pania of the Reef, which was stolen from Napier's foreshore last month, has been found.
Napier police said they had located the statue at a residential address in Napier and were interviewing a person.
The life-sized bronze statue, which has been part of the Marine Parade landscape since 1954, disappeared nine days ago.
Napier area commander Inspector Kevin Kalff told a media conference that Pania had been found safe and sound as a result of "routine inquiries" based on information received during the investigation
No charges had yet been made yet, he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10353607
Helicopter missing with two aboard
04.11.05 11.15pm UPDATE
An aerial search will begin at first light for a helicopter which went missing yesterday on a flight from Auckland to Queenstown.
The Eurocopter with HTF on its side, being flown by an Auckland man with an overseas passenger, was last seen on radar at 10.14am, over land south of Raglan Harbour after leaving Auckland at 9.45am, Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman Heidi Brook said.
Liquor baron Michael Anthony Erceg, of Auckland, is listed by the Civil Aviation Authority as owning a Eurocopter with the registration number ZKHTF. He is ninth on the National Business Review Rich List.
Ms Brook said searches for the helicopter with planes and some helicopters would begin at first light, 5.40am.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353685
Somali asylum-seeker to be deported
04.11.05 12.25pm UPDATE
Somali asylum-seeker Abdikarin Ali Haji is to be deported from New Zealand following an investigation by the Ombudsman's office into his rejected residency application in 2003.
Ombudsman Mel Smith announced the decision today at a press conference, and said Haji had exhausted all legal options to stay in the country.
"Now the Department of Labour can take steps to remove Mr Haji," Mr Smith said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353574
US plan paints frightening bird flu picture
04.11.05 1.00pm
WASHINGTON - Nearly two million dead. Schools and public transit closed for days or even weeks. Hospitals overwhelmed.
This frightening picture of an influenza pandemic is envisaged in the official United States (US) plan released this week.
H5N1 avian influenza has killed 62 people and infected at least 122 since 2003 - hardly an alarming number. But the virus is sweeping through poultry flocks and has moved into birds in Europe.
Agriculture and health officials agree the H5N1 virus is probably unstoppable, and say it could mutate at any time to become a disease that sweeps just as easily among humans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353553
42 killed in Ethiopian unrest
04.11.05 1.00pm
The death toll from election-related political unrest in Ethiopia rose to 42 yesterday when three people were shot dead as police broke up anti-government protests in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The latest round of demonstrations, which have prompted the British government to advise against all but essential travel to Ethiopia, entered their third day yesterday.
Children were among a dozen people wounded.
The violence broke out on Tuesday, after a day of peaceful protests, when riot police clashed with opposition supporters claiming that elections last May were rigged.
The shootings yesterday took place at Old Airport, a wealthy neighbourhood where many foreign expatriates live, according to doctors.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353596
Ongoing Paris violence rooted in depression
04.11.05
By Catherine Field
PARIS - The worst outbreak of urban violence in France in 15 years has triggered renewed fears about the country's alienated Muslim youths and rattled the Government.
The clashes in the Paris down-at-heel suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois spread into nearby towns with high immigrant populations, an indication of growing unrest among immigrant communities.
The trigger was the accidental death of two teenage immigrants, electrocuted after scaling a wall of an electricity relay station to flee a police identity check.
A man of Turkish origin was also badly injured. Police have denied chasing them into the station.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353477
Ongoing Paris violence rooted in depression
04.11.05
By Catherine Field
PARIS - The worst outbreak of urban violence in France in 15 years has triggered renewed fears about the country's alienated Muslim youths and rattled the Government.
The clashes in the Paris down-at-heel suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois spread into nearby towns with high immigrant populations, an indication of growing unrest among immigrant communities.
The trigger was the accidental death of two teenage immigrants, electrocuted after scaling a wall of an electricity relay station to flee a police identity check.
A man of Turkish origin was also badly injured. Police have denied chasing them into the station.
The last time violence erupted on such a scale in French cities was in 1990 in the Lyons suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin, also touched off by a controversial death involving the police.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353477
Rival French leaders team up as riots spread
04.11.05 8.00am
BOBIGNY, France - France's rival leaders have closed ranks to denounce rioting in the poor suburbs ringing Paris after a seventh straight night of unrest in which protesters shot at police and firemen for the first time.
Prime Minster Dominique de Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, whose bitter political rivalry has overshadowed the government's reaction, teamed up in the French Senate to announce that restoring order was their "absolute priority".
They spoke after an overnight rampage that left a trail of 177 torched vehicles and many burned shops in nine areas north and east of Paris, home to North African and black African minorities that feel excluded from French society.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353533
10 migrants drown in Turkey boat accident
04.11.05 5.20am
At least 10 people drowned after a boat carrying illegal migrants to Greece capsized off the Turkish coast, authorities said.
Coastguards rescued seven migrants in the Aegean Sea off the town of Cesme, reports said.
Earlier television reports said 12 people drowned and that the Coast Guard was searching for 18 migrants.
Authorities said they could not determine the exact number of migrants aboard the boat.
Thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa pass through Turkish waters each year to reach Europe.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353469
Suspected al Qaeda militant caught in Pakistan
04.11.05 9.00am
ISLAMABAD - A suspected al Qaeda militant has been killed and another captured during a shoot-out with Pakistani security men in the southwestern city of Quetta.
Al Jazeera television said it had received a statement that two people had been arrested, identifying one as Mustafa Setmariam, a Syrian with a $5 million US reward on his head.
But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said authorities were still trying to determine if the arrested man was Setmariam. He believed neither the arrested man nor the man killed in the shoot-out were "high-value targets".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353542
Al Qaeda threatens to kill two Moroccan hostages
04.11.05
DUBAI - Al Qaeda in Iraq said yesterday that it had decided to kill two Moroccan embassy employees it kidnapped last month, according to an Internet statement.
"The legislative authority of al Qaeda organisation in Iraq has decided to carry God's law against the infidels and has ruled to kill them," the group said.
It was not clear from the statement when the killings would be carried out. The statement's authenticity could not be verified.
The posting, on an Islamist Web site often used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda group, did not show any pictures or videos of them being killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353489
Al Qaeda threatens to kill two Moroccan hostages
04.11.05
DUBAI - Al Qaeda in Iraq said yesterday that it had decided to kill two Moroccan embassy employees it kidnapped last month, according to an Internet statement.
"The legislative authority of al Qaeda organisation in Iraq has decided to carry God's law against the infidels and has ruled to kill them," the group said.
It was not clear from the statement when the killings would be carried out. The statement's authenticity could not be verified.
The posting, on an Islamist Web site often used by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda group, did not show any pictures or videos of them being killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353489
Station crew prepares for spacewalk
04.11.05 1.20pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - Nasa next week will direct its first spacewalk in 2-1/2 years by International Space Station crew-members, space agency officials said today.
The spacewalk set for Monday will be the first under Nasa's full control since a glitch in the cooling system contaminated US spacesuits and the United States (US) airlock aboard the orbital outpost.
Crew-members fixed the airlock, but until a US space shuttle could deliver new US spacesuits, spacewalkers had to use Russian suits, which can only be serviced in the Russian airlock. Moscow oversees spacewalks from its airlock.
New US spacesuits arrived during July's mission to the station by the shuttle Discovery, the only shuttle flight since Columbia burst apart over Texas in 2003.
Station commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev have two main tasks during their planned 5-1/2-hour spacewalk.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353589
India maps DNA of basmati rice to protect it from West
04.11.05 1.00pm
By Justin Huggler
DELHI - Indian scientists are mapping the DNA of one of the country's basic food products: basmati rice.
Concerned that Western corporations may try to take out patents on the food, their aim is not to produce genetically modified rice but to protect one of India's most treasured natural products from aforeign takeover.
Basmati may be beloved of students because it is easy to cook, but to connoisseurs, its long grains and natural scent make it one of the world's most desired varieties of rice.
It is one of the Indian agriculture sector's prime exports.
Already the country has fought off an attempt by an American company to copyright the name basmati for its own product, a crossing of American rice and Indian basmati.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353593
US wants to cut security wait for air travellers
04.11.05 11.25am
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to move forward with a pre-screening plan nationally that would let certain airline passengers avoid extra security at airports, a top homeland security official said today.
Kip Hawley, administrator of the United States (US) Transportation Security Administration, told a House of Representatives hearing that the long-delayed voluntary Registered Traveller programme - designed mainly for business travellers and other frequent fliers - could get off the ground next June.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353560
Belgium opens trial linked to Madrid bombings
04.11.05 10.20am
BRUSSELS - Belgium opened a trial on Thursday of 13 men accused of belonging to an Islamic militant group blamed for bombings in Madrid and Casablanca.
They face charges of providing false papers, safe houses and logistical help to members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), which is held responsible for the 2004 Madrid attacks on four commuter trains that killed 191 people.
The GICM has also been linked to the 2003 bombings in Casablanca, which killed 45 people including 12 suicide attackers.
Among those accused is Khalid Bouloudo, an alleged leader of the GICM's Belgian cell.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353543
Olympics could boost London tourism by $5b
04.11.05 11.30am
LONDON - London's tourism industry could benefit to the tune of £2 billion pounds ($5.2 billion) thanks to the 2012 Olympic Games, the organising committee's Keith Mills said to day.
Mills, deputy chairman of the London Games organisers, said that Olympic-related tourism had emerged as one of the key economic legacies for host cities and countries that have staged the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
"The experience of other cities indicates that London's visitor economy could benefit from as much as 2 billion pounds as a result of the Games," Mills told tourism industry representatives in London.
"The Olympic Games in London will showcase the capital's people, places, cultures and capabilities to the world like never before."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353548
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