The Rooster
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Do"
"Okeydoke"
History
Today is Tuesday, Nov. 1, the 305th day of 2005.
There are 60 days left in the year.
1512, Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public.
1604, William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London.
1765, the Stamp Act went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.
1870, the United States Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.
1920 Charles Gilpin opens in "Emperor Jones" at Provincetown Playhouse in New York.
1937 Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. succeeds his father and becomes the new senior minister of Abyssinian Baptist Church in NYC.
1944, "Harvey," a comedy by Mary Chase about a man and his friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit, opened on Broadway.
1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.
1961 Albany students organized by SNCC, sat down in a white-only waiting room in a bus station to test compliance with the Interstate Commerce Commission ruling barring segregation in interstate bus and train stations.
1973, following the "Saturday Night Massacre," Acting Attorney General Robert H. Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new Watergate special prosecutor, succeeding Archibald Cox.
1979, former first lady Mamie Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C., at age 82.
1991 Judge Clarence Thomas formally seated as 106th Associate Justice of U.S. Supreme Court. He replaces Thurgood Marshall who was the first Black Associate Justice
Ten years ago: Bosnia peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio, with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia present. The House voted to ban so-called "partial birth" abortions by a vote of 288-139.
Five years ago: Yugoslavia's new democratic government joined the United Nations after eight years of U.N. ostracism under former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
One year ago: American contract worker Roy Hallums was one of several people kidnapped during an armed assault on the Baghdad compound where he lived; Hallums was rescued by coalition forces on Sept. 7, 2005. A 16-year-old Palestinian laden with explosives blew himself up in an outdoor market in Tel Aviv, killing three Israelis. U.N. nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei urged Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and called on North Korea to dismantle its weapons program.
Missing in Action
1965 GILLSON PETER R. AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE W/PARKER
1965 KNIGHT BILLY CLIMAX GA 01/27/73 PRG SAYS DIC CACCF=REMAINS RECOVERED TIME OF LOSS 10/22/68
1966 CARPENTER ALLAN R. SPRINGVALE ME 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1966 WEAVER GEORGE R. JR. LANCASTER PA
1968 KENNEY HARRY J. CINCINNATI OH
1969 ADVENTIO RUDOLPHO ANDRES
1969 BAILEY DANIEL T.
1969 PARTINGTON ROGER D. SPARTA IL
The Gulf News
Mehlis returns to Beirut
Agencies
Beirut:
The UN team investigating the murder of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri arrived back in Beirut on Tuesday.
Detlev Mehlis, who was heading the inquiry said in his interim report that the plot included Syrian and pro-Syria Lebanese officials and pointed the finger at Damascus for misleading the UN team.
On Monday night The UN Security Council voted unanimously for a resolution demanding Syria cooperate with a UN inquiry into the death of a former Lebanese prime minister or face possible "further action."
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189723
Iran says it launched its first satellite into orbit
AP
Tehran:
Iran said yesterday it has joined the club of countries enjoying space technology after launching its first satellite last week in a joint project with Russia, state-run television reported.
Sina-1 was launched from Plesetsk launch pad in northern Russia on Thursday, the report said.
"By placing Iran's Sina-1 (Z-S.4) in its designated orbit, we have practically joined the group of countries enjoying space technology. It was a big achievement," the broadcast quoted Telecom Minister Mohammad Soleimani as saying on his return to Tehran from a four-day visit to Beijing.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189620
Bahrainis to be freed from Guantanamo during Eid
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A number of Bahrainis detained by US authorities at Guantanamo Bay will be freed during the Eid holidays, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
A ministry spokesman on Sunday evening said that the information had been conveyed by US officials, but no details about the number or names of the detainees were given.
"The release is the outcome of the efforts and contacts by the competent authorities in Bahrain, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, based upon the directives of the country's leadership as well as those of the lawyers appointed by the families of the detainees," the spokesman said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189609
US claims precision strike against Al Qaida hideout
Agencies
Ramadi, Iraq : US planes bombed a house near the Syrian border early Monday in what the military said was a precision strike on an Al Qaida leader.
The jets also used precision-guided munitions to attack a second house suspected of being a base for attacks against American and Iraqi forces, the US command said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189715
King Abdullah performs umrah
Reuters
Makkah: Jordan's King Abdullah performs umrah with his son Prince Hussain (left) and his wife Queen Rania (right), in Makkah on Sunday.
King Abdullah arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for talks with Saudi officials to discuss the Iraqi crisis and Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189614
Border guards seize 2 tonnes of hashish
Reuters
Riyadh:
Saudi Arabian border guards seized more than two tonnes of hashish on an island off the kingdom's Gulf coast, Al-Riyadh newspaper said yesterday.
This was one of their largest drug hauls in recent times.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189613
Preacher jailed for inspiring 9/11 bombers rejects killing of innocents
AP
Tangiers: For the first time since his imprisonment two years ago, Morocco's most famous jailed cleric is smiling.
Mohammad Al Fazazi, accused of inspiring the September 11 terrorist attack as well as strikes in Morocco and Spain, was transferred to a studio-like cell with a private kitchen, bathroom and colour TV that allows him to watch his favourite all-news Arab channel, Al Jazeera.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189629
The Miami Herald
Lack of power severely limits elderly in care facilities
BY CHUCK RABIN
crabin@herald.com
Haydee Lezcano is 77, has chronic high blood pressure, and uses an oxygen tank to treat shortness of breath. Her third-floor apartment lost power when Hurricane Wilma hit and is still in the dark.
Unable to make her way down any of the dark staircases at Samari Towers in Hialeah Gardens, Lezcano has not been outside for eight days. One day last week she had to borrow an oxygen tank from a neighbor.
She has been eating and drinking thanks in large part to the Hialeah Gardens government, which has visited every day with food and drink. But her apartment is hot and she says she gets anxious when it gets dark.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13048479.htm
Miami-Dade schools to resume Thursday; Broward out all week
By MATTHEW I. PINZUR and HANNAH SAMPSON
mpinzur@herald.com
School will resume Thursday in Miami-Dade County, but remain closed in Broward through the end of the week, district leaders announced today.
Miami-Dade's 327 schools were repaired and ready by Monday, Superintendent Rudy Crew said, but electricity was restored more slowly than utility officials originally expected.
''The impact is devastating,'' Crew said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13052357.htm
Bottled water from Dania distribution site may be unsafe
By WANDA J. DEMARZO
wdemarzo@herald.com
The state Department of Health is advising residents who received Nirvana water at the Dania Beach distribution site to throw away the one-liter bottles because the water may be unsafe to drink.
Health department officials say the free water, distributed along with free ice from lots 0914 and 0915 at Dania Beach City Hall, 100 W. Dania Beach Blvd., may be unsafe to drink because it contains algae.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13051715.htm
Nearly a half-million homes still powerless in Broward and Miami-Dade
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@herald.com
Restoration efforts are slowing down as crews deal with more complicated problems, but South Florida will soon get a boost as workers move in from the Gulf Coast, Florida Power & Light executives said Tuesday afternoon.
''We're in the tough stage of the restoration,'' said FPL Vice President Geisha Williams at a press conference.
With the fixing of substations and main distribution lines, workers are now focusing on more time-consuming repairs, which involve going into backyards, replacing individual poles and stringing individual lines.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13046267.htm
Boil water order in section of Coral Springs
By WANDA J. DEMARZO
wdemarzo@herald.com
The Broward County Health Department has issued a boil-water order for a portion of Coral Springs.
The order applies to any customer who pays their water bills to the City of Coral Springs and lives in the area bordered by Wiles Road to the north, Royal Palm Boulevard to the south, the Sawgrass Expressway to the west and State Road 7 to the east.
A boil water order remains in effect for the City of Fort Lauderdale, Hillsboro Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Sea Ranch Lakes, Tamarac- east of 31st Avenue only, Wilton Manors, Port Everglades, and the community of Hacienda Village in Davie.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13052155.htm
Homeowners scramble to get tarps on roofs
Fixing roofs became a matter of urgency Monday, as rain clouds gathered and life began to return to normal in South Florida.
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD AND WANDA J. DeMARZO
ebolstad@herald.com
Looking anxiously to increasingly cloudy skies, thousands of people across South Florida scrambled Monday to complete makeshift repairs to roofs damaged one week ago by Hurricane Wilma.
By day's end Monday, more than 10,000 people in 10 Florida counties were expected to have applied for temporary roofs through Operation Blue Roof, the program administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An estimated 2,000 of those homeowners applied Monday, said spokeswoman Nancy Regalado, and the Corps had plans to expand the program to three other counties hit by the storm.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13048537.htm
FPL: Wind felled poles - not rot
Strong winds, not poor maintenance, caused utility poles to break or topple, FPL says.
BY DAVID OVALLE AND JACK DOLAN
jdolan@herald.com
Thousands of utility poles snapped and toppled during Hurricane Wilma because of freakishly strong gusts, not because of poor maintenance, Florida Power & Light officials said Monday.
FPL has examined 900 downed poles since last week's storm and found no evidence that deterioration, substandard materials or failure to anchor them deeply enough contributed to their demise, company officials said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13047908.htm
Pets, owners reunite at shelters
Some lucky pet owners looking for their lost dogs or cats are finding them at South Florida animal shelters.
BY NATALIE P. McNEAL AND ELINOR J. BRECHER
nmcneal@herald.com
The morning after Hurricane Wilma, Melissa DeBooy's mother-in-law allowed her pit bull to use the bathroom in the backyard. That was the last DeBooy saw of her dog until Monday, when she claimed Bambi at the Humane Society of Broward County.
''I'm in shock, I thought that I had lost her,'' DeBooy said. ``God was watching over me.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13047901.htm
The Times Picayune
La. Legislature to look at tax relief, budget cuts
11/1/2005, 3:31 p.m. CT
By MELINDA DESLATTE
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Levee oversight, New Orleans schools and an array of divisive matters that could bog down lawmakers are on the lengthy list of hurricane recovery topics included in a special legislative session called by Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who had initially pegged it for limited emergency needs.
Among the hot-button issues the governor is backing are stronger statewide building codes, a revamp of the New Orleans school system that would take control of the city's failing schools away from the troubled local school board and unified state oversight of the fractured system of levees that protect coastal areas, towns and New Orleans.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1130856842143202.xml&storylist=louisiana
Corps wanted gate instead of levee walls
But local agencies blocked structure
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
By Mark Schleifstein
Staff writer
An Army Corps of Engineers proposal to build a gate across the 17th Street Canal instead of building levee walls along the canal's banks was shot down in 1990 by the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board and the Orleans and Jefferson parish levee boards because of fears the gate could cause flooding from rainwater accompanying a hurricane.
Corps officials still think the proposed structure, known as a "butterfly gate," would have made more sense than building the levee walls that failed and flooded much of the area during Hurricane Katrina, but they agreed to scrap the plan because of the local agencies' concerns, said Al Naomi, corps project manager for the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity levee protection program.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/113083204513840.xml
St. John, FEMA choose mobile home sites
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
By Allen Powell II
River Parishes bureau
After nearly a month of discussions, St. John the Baptist Parish officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have agreed on several sites for temporary housing communities for Hurricane Katrina evacuees and industrial workers.
Sites in Reserve, LaPlace and Edgard are being considered for a total of 169 travel trailers and mobile homes, said Natalie Robottom, the parish's chief administrative officer. Previously, the parish declined to release which sites were being considered because all the discussions were preliminary, Robottom said.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/113083081113840.xml
Michael Moore Today
November 21, 2005 Issue
Copyright © 2005 The American Conservative
Forging the Case for War
Who was behind the Niger uranium documents?
by Philip Giraldi
From the beginning, there has been little doubt in the intelligence community that the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame was part of a bigger story. That she was exposed in an attempt to discredit her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, is clear, but the drive to demonize Wilson cannot reasonably be attributed only to revenge. Rather, her identification likely grew out of an attempt to cover up the forging of documents alleging that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger.
What took place and why will not be known with any certainty until the details of the Fitzgerald investigation are revealed. (As we go to press, Fitzgerald has made no public statement.) But recent revelations in the Italian press, most notably in the pages of La Repubblica, along with information already on the public record, suggest a plausible scenario for the evolution of Plamegate
http://www.amconmag.com/2005/2005_11_07/feature.html
Questions About Vietnam War Raised by Controversial NSA Article
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency has been blocking the release of an article by one of its historians that says intelligence officers falsified documents about a disputed attack that was used to escalate the Vietnam War, according to a researcher who has requested the article.
Matthew Aid, who asked for the article under the Freedom of Information Act last year, said it appears that officers at the NSA made honest mistakes in translating interceptions involving the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. That was a reported North Vietnamese attack on American destroyers that helped lead to President Johnson's escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4744
Trial Could Pit Libby's Interests Against Bush's
By Jim VandeHei and Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post
Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, is expected to plead not guilty to charges that he lied and obstructed justice in the CIA leak probe when he is arraigned Thursday, setting the stage for a possible courtroom fight in which Libby's interests could collide with those of the Bush White House, according to several Republican officials.
Libby, who was charged with five felonies, is putting the finishing touches on a new legal and public relations team. It will argue in court and in public that he is guilty of nothing more than having a foggy memory and a hectic schedule, according to people close to him. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court before Judge Reggie B. Walton.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4743
White House Rebuffs Calls for Shakeup
By Terence Hunt / Associated Press
The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way. Bush ignored reporters' questions during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4740
Syria's future in doubt as pressure mounts
By Carol Giacomo / Reuters
By tightening the diplomatic noose around Syria's leadership, the United States is aiming to ensure a weakened, compliant government in Damascus without the use of military force.
The Bush administration, tempered by the Iraq experience, appears to be approaching the conflict over the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri with more caution.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4736
Labor Dept. Is Rebuked Over Pact With Wal-Mart
By Steven Greenhouse / The New York Times
The Labor Department's inspector general strongly criticized department officials yesterday for "serious breakdowns" in procedures involving an agreement promising Wal-Mart Stores 15 days' notice before labor investigators would inspect its stores for child labor violations.
The report by the inspector general faulted department officials for making "significant concessions" to Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, without obtaining anything in return. The report also criticized department officials for letting Wal-Mart lawyers write substantial parts of the settlement and for leaving the department's own legal division out of the settlement process.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4745
Guantanamo Desperation Seen in Suicide Attempts
One Incident Was During Lawyer's Visit
By Josh White / Washington Post
Jumah Dossari had to visit the restroom, so the detainee made a quick joke with his American lawyer before military police guards escorted him to a nearby cell with a toilet. The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had taken quite a toll on Dossari over the past four years, but his attorney, who was there to discuss Dossari's federal court case, noted his good spirits and thought nothing of his bathroom break.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4734
Military Faces Parental Counterattack
High School Recruitment, a Longtime Tradition, Raises Worries in Wartime
By Lori Aratani / Washington Post
For as long as Principal Alan Goodwin can recall, military recruiters -- in their crisp, carefully pressed uniforms -- have stopped by Walt Whitman High School to chat with students about the benefits of a career in the armed forces. They set up tables, greeted students with a firm handshake and passed out glossy brochures.
But a visit this fall to the Bethesda school by recruiters had parents firing off frantic missives on the school listserv. They demanded to know exactly what recruiters were doing on campus and why the parents had not been told in advance. Goodwin was puzzled.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4735
Coalition of the Unwilling
Counter-recruiters arm potential GI's with facts about the war in Iraq
by Anya Kamenetz
October 28th, 2005 5:41 PM
One Saturday this summer, Monique Dols, a Columbia University senior and a national leader of the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN), saw again why she has been working so hard to reach potential military recruits. "We were handing out flyers for an event with the brother of a military resister," Dols says of that day in Washington Heights. "Three 16-year-old [ROTC] cadets walked by in full military uniform. We started talking to them, and it turned out they were completely against the war. They had joined because it was an after-school program that provided structure and something for them to do. The priorities of a society that puts millions into military recruitment and continually cuts funding for after-school programs, that's backward, and that's the reality people are responding to."
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0544,kamenetz,69514,15.html
BUSH THE CANDIDATE PROMISED TO UPHOLD THE HONOR AND INTEGRITY AT THE WHITE HOUSE...
"I will swear to uphold the laws of the land. But I will also swear to uphold the honor and the integrity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God," said then-Governor George Bush [CNN, "Inside Politics," 8/11/00]
"Americans are tired of investigations and scandal, and the best way to get rid of them is to elect a new president who will bring a new administration, who will restore honor and dignity to the White House." [Then-Governor George Bush on CNN's "Burden of Proof," 9/15/00]
"Americans want to be assured that the next administration will bring honor and dignity to the White House." [Then-Governor George Bush on CNN's "Capital Gang," 8/13/00]
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/28/11422/749
continued ...
"Okeydoke"
History
Today is Tuesday, Nov. 1, the 305th day of 2005.
There are 60 days left in the year.
1512, Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public.
1604, William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London.
1765, the Stamp Act went into effect, prompting stiff resistance from American colonists.
1870, the United States Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations.
1920 Charles Gilpin opens in "Emperor Jones" at Provincetown Playhouse in New York.
1937 Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. succeeds his father and becomes the new senior minister of Abyssinian Baptist Church in NYC.
1944, "Harvey," a comedy by Mary Chase about a man and his friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit, opened on Broadway.
1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.
1961 Albany students organized by SNCC, sat down in a white-only waiting room in a bus station to test compliance with the Interstate Commerce Commission ruling barring segregation in interstate bus and train stations.
1973, following the "Saturday Night Massacre," Acting Attorney General Robert H. Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new Watergate special prosecutor, succeeding Archibald Cox.
1979, former first lady Mamie Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C., at age 82.
1991 Judge Clarence Thomas formally seated as 106th Associate Justice of U.S. Supreme Court. He replaces Thurgood Marshall who was the first Black Associate Justice
Ten years ago: Bosnia peace talks opened in Dayton, Ohio, with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia present. The House voted to ban so-called "partial birth" abortions by a vote of 288-139.
Five years ago: Yugoslavia's new democratic government joined the United Nations after eight years of U.N. ostracism under former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
One year ago: American contract worker Roy Hallums was one of several people kidnapped during an armed assault on the Baghdad compound where he lived; Hallums was rescued by coalition forces on Sept. 7, 2005. A 16-year-old Palestinian laden with explosives blew himself up in an outdoor market in Tel Aviv, killing three Israelis. U.N. nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei urged Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and called on North Korea to dismantle its weapons program.
Missing in Action
1965 GILLSON PETER R. AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE W/PARKER
1965 KNIGHT BILLY CLIMAX GA 01/27/73 PRG SAYS DIC CACCF=REMAINS RECOVERED TIME OF LOSS 10/22/68
1966 CARPENTER ALLAN R. SPRINGVALE ME 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1966 WEAVER GEORGE R. JR. LANCASTER PA
1968 KENNEY HARRY J. CINCINNATI OH
1969 ADVENTIO RUDOLPHO ANDRES
1969 BAILEY DANIEL T.
1969 PARTINGTON ROGER D. SPARTA IL
The Gulf News
Mehlis returns to Beirut
Agencies
Beirut:
The UN team investigating the murder of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri arrived back in Beirut on Tuesday.
Detlev Mehlis, who was heading the inquiry said in his interim report that the plot included Syrian and pro-Syria Lebanese officials and pointed the finger at Damascus for misleading the UN team.
On Monday night The UN Security Council voted unanimously for a resolution demanding Syria cooperate with a UN inquiry into the death of a former Lebanese prime minister or face possible "further action."
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189723
Iran says it launched its first satellite into orbit
AP
Tehran:
Iran said yesterday it has joined the club of countries enjoying space technology after launching its first satellite last week in a joint project with Russia, state-run television reported.
Sina-1 was launched from Plesetsk launch pad in northern Russia on Thursday, the report said.
"By placing Iran's Sina-1 (Z-S.4) in its designated orbit, we have practically joined the group of countries enjoying space technology. It was a big achievement," the broadcast quoted Telecom Minister Mohammad Soleimani as saying on his return to Tehran from a four-day visit to Beijing.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189620
Bahrainis to be freed from Guantanamo during Eid
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A number of Bahrainis detained by US authorities at Guantanamo Bay will be freed during the Eid holidays, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
A ministry spokesman on Sunday evening said that the information had been conveyed by US officials, but no details about the number or names of the detainees were given.
"The release is the outcome of the efforts and contacts by the competent authorities in Bahrain, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, based upon the directives of the country's leadership as well as those of the lawyers appointed by the families of the detainees," the spokesman said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189609
US claims precision strike against Al Qaida hideout
Agencies
Ramadi, Iraq : US planes bombed a house near the Syrian border early Monday in what the military said was a precision strike on an Al Qaida leader.
The jets also used precision-guided munitions to attack a second house suspected of being a base for attacks against American and Iraqi forces, the US command said.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189715
King Abdullah performs umrah
Reuters
Makkah: Jordan's King Abdullah performs umrah with his son Prince Hussain (left) and his wife Queen Rania (right), in Makkah on Sunday.
King Abdullah arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for talks with Saudi officials to discuss the Iraqi crisis and Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189614
Border guards seize 2 tonnes of hashish
Reuters
Riyadh:
Saudi Arabian border guards seized more than two tonnes of hashish on an island off the kingdom's Gulf coast, Al-Riyadh newspaper said yesterday.
This was one of their largest drug hauls in recent times.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189613
Preacher jailed for inspiring 9/11 bombers rejects killing of innocents
AP
Tangiers: For the first time since his imprisonment two years ago, Morocco's most famous jailed cleric is smiling.
Mohammad Al Fazazi, accused of inspiring the September 11 terrorist attack as well as strikes in Morocco and Spain, was transferred to a studio-like cell with a private kitchen, bathroom and colour TV that allows him to watch his favourite all-news Arab channel, Al Jazeera.
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=189629
The Miami Herald
Lack of power severely limits elderly in care facilities
BY CHUCK RABIN
crabin@herald.com
Haydee Lezcano is 77, has chronic high blood pressure, and uses an oxygen tank to treat shortness of breath. Her third-floor apartment lost power when Hurricane Wilma hit and is still in the dark.
Unable to make her way down any of the dark staircases at Samari Towers in Hialeah Gardens, Lezcano has not been outside for eight days. One day last week she had to borrow an oxygen tank from a neighbor.
She has been eating and drinking thanks in large part to the Hialeah Gardens government, which has visited every day with food and drink. But her apartment is hot and she says she gets anxious when it gets dark.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13048479.htm
Miami-Dade schools to resume Thursday; Broward out all week
By MATTHEW I. PINZUR and HANNAH SAMPSON
mpinzur@herald.com
School will resume Thursday in Miami-Dade County, but remain closed in Broward through the end of the week, district leaders announced today.
Miami-Dade's 327 schools were repaired and ready by Monday, Superintendent Rudy Crew said, but electricity was restored more slowly than utility officials originally expected.
''The impact is devastating,'' Crew said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13052357.htm
Bottled water from Dania distribution site may be unsafe
By WANDA J. DEMARZO
wdemarzo@herald.com
The state Department of Health is advising residents who received Nirvana water at the Dania Beach distribution site to throw away the one-liter bottles because the water may be unsafe to drink.
Health department officials say the free water, distributed along with free ice from lots 0914 and 0915 at Dania Beach City Hall, 100 W. Dania Beach Blvd., may be unsafe to drink because it contains algae.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13051715.htm
Nearly a half-million homes still powerless in Broward and Miami-Dade
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@herald.com
Restoration efforts are slowing down as crews deal with more complicated problems, but South Florida will soon get a boost as workers move in from the Gulf Coast, Florida Power & Light executives said Tuesday afternoon.
''We're in the tough stage of the restoration,'' said FPL Vice President Geisha Williams at a press conference.
With the fixing of substations and main distribution lines, workers are now focusing on more time-consuming repairs, which involve going into backyards, replacing individual poles and stringing individual lines.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13046267.htm
Boil water order in section of Coral Springs
By WANDA J. DEMARZO
wdemarzo@herald.com
The Broward County Health Department has issued a boil-water order for a portion of Coral Springs.
The order applies to any customer who pays their water bills to the City of Coral Springs and lives in the area bordered by Wiles Road to the north, Royal Palm Boulevard to the south, the Sawgrass Expressway to the west and State Road 7 to the east.
A boil water order remains in effect for the City of Fort Lauderdale, Hillsboro Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Sea Ranch Lakes, Tamarac- east of 31st Avenue only, Wilton Manors, Port Everglades, and the community of Hacienda Village in Davie.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13052155.htm
Homeowners scramble to get tarps on roofs
Fixing roofs became a matter of urgency Monday, as rain clouds gathered and life began to return to normal in South Florida.
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD AND WANDA J. DeMARZO
ebolstad@herald.com
Looking anxiously to increasingly cloudy skies, thousands of people across South Florida scrambled Monday to complete makeshift repairs to roofs damaged one week ago by Hurricane Wilma.
By day's end Monday, more than 10,000 people in 10 Florida counties were expected to have applied for temporary roofs through Operation Blue Roof, the program administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An estimated 2,000 of those homeowners applied Monday, said spokeswoman Nancy Regalado, and the Corps had plans to expand the program to three other counties hit by the storm.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13048537.htm
FPL: Wind felled poles - not rot
Strong winds, not poor maintenance, caused utility poles to break or topple, FPL says.
BY DAVID OVALLE AND JACK DOLAN
jdolan@herald.com
Thousands of utility poles snapped and toppled during Hurricane Wilma because of freakishly strong gusts, not because of poor maintenance, Florida Power & Light officials said Monday.
FPL has examined 900 downed poles since last week's storm and found no evidence that deterioration, substandard materials or failure to anchor them deeply enough contributed to their demise, company officials said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13047908.htm
Pets, owners reunite at shelters
Some lucky pet owners looking for their lost dogs or cats are finding them at South Florida animal shelters.
BY NATALIE P. McNEAL AND ELINOR J. BRECHER
nmcneal@herald.com
The morning after Hurricane Wilma, Melissa DeBooy's mother-in-law allowed her pit bull to use the bathroom in the backyard. That was the last DeBooy saw of her dog until Monday, when she claimed Bambi at the Humane Society of Broward County.
''I'm in shock, I thought that I had lost her,'' DeBooy said. ``God was watching over me.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13047901.htm
The Times Picayune
La. Legislature to look at tax relief, budget cuts
11/1/2005, 3:31 p.m. CT
By MELINDA DESLATTE
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Levee oversight, New Orleans schools and an array of divisive matters that could bog down lawmakers are on the lengthy list of hurricane recovery topics included in a special legislative session called by Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who had initially pegged it for limited emergency needs.
Among the hot-button issues the governor is backing are stronger statewide building codes, a revamp of the New Orleans school system that would take control of the city's failing schools away from the troubled local school board and unified state oversight of the fractured system of levees that protect coastal areas, towns and New Orleans.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1130856842143202.xml&storylist=louisiana
Corps wanted gate instead of levee walls
But local agencies blocked structure
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
By Mark Schleifstein
Staff writer
An Army Corps of Engineers proposal to build a gate across the 17th Street Canal instead of building levee walls along the canal's banks was shot down in 1990 by the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board and the Orleans and Jefferson parish levee boards because of fears the gate could cause flooding from rainwater accompanying a hurricane.
Corps officials still think the proposed structure, known as a "butterfly gate," would have made more sense than building the levee walls that failed and flooded much of the area during Hurricane Katrina, but they agreed to scrap the plan because of the local agencies' concerns, said Al Naomi, corps project manager for the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity levee protection program.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/113083204513840.xml
St. John, FEMA choose mobile home sites
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
By Allen Powell II
River Parishes bureau
After nearly a month of discussions, St. John the Baptist Parish officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have agreed on several sites for temporary housing communities for Hurricane Katrina evacuees and industrial workers.
Sites in Reserve, LaPlace and Edgard are being considered for a total of 169 travel trailers and mobile homes, said Natalie Robottom, the parish's chief administrative officer. Previously, the parish declined to release which sites were being considered because all the discussions were preliminary, Robottom said.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/113083081113840.xml
Michael Moore Today
November 21, 2005 Issue
Copyright © 2005 The American Conservative
Forging the Case for War
Who was behind the Niger uranium documents?
by Philip Giraldi
From the beginning, there has been little doubt in the intelligence community that the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame was part of a bigger story. That she was exposed in an attempt to discredit her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, is clear, but the drive to demonize Wilson cannot reasonably be attributed only to revenge. Rather, her identification likely grew out of an attempt to cover up the forging of documents alleging that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger.
What took place and why will not be known with any certainty until the details of the Fitzgerald investigation are revealed. (As we go to press, Fitzgerald has made no public statement.) But recent revelations in the Italian press, most notably in the pages of La Repubblica, along with information already on the public record, suggest a plausible scenario for the evolution of Plamegate
http://www.amconmag.com/2005/2005_11_07/feature.html
Questions About Vietnam War Raised by Controversial NSA Article
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency has been blocking the release of an article by one of its historians that says intelligence officers falsified documents about a disputed attack that was used to escalate the Vietnam War, according to a researcher who has requested the article.
Matthew Aid, who asked for the article under the Freedom of Information Act last year, said it appears that officers at the NSA made honest mistakes in translating interceptions involving the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. That was a reported North Vietnamese attack on American destroyers that helped lead to President Johnson's escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4744
Trial Could Pit Libby's Interests Against Bush's
By Jim VandeHei and Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post
Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, is expected to plead not guilty to charges that he lied and obstructed justice in the CIA leak probe when he is arraigned Thursday, setting the stage for a possible courtroom fight in which Libby's interests could collide with those of the Bush White House, according to several Republican officials.
Libby, who was charged with five felonies, is putting the finishing touches on a new legal and public relations team. It will argue in court and in public that he is guilty of nothing more than having a foggy memory and a hectic schedule, according to people close to him. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court before Judge Reggie B. Walton.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4743
White House Rebuffs Calls for Shakeup
By Terence Hunt / Associated Press
The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way. Bush ignored reporters' questions during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4740
Syria's future in doubt as pressure mounts
By Carol Giacomo / Reuters
By tightening the diplomatic noose around Syria's leadership, the United States is aiming to ensure a weakened, compliant government in Damascus without the use of military force.
The Bush administration, tempered by the Iraq experience, appears to be approaching the conflict over the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri with more caution.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4736
Labor Dept. Is Rebuked Over Pact With Wal-Mart
By Steven Greenhouse / The New York Times
The Labor Department's inspector general strongly criticized department officials yesterday for "serious breakdowns" in procedures involving an agreement promising Wal-Mart Stores 15 days' notice before labor investigators would inspect its stores for child labor violations.
The report by the inspector general faulted department officials for making "significant concessions" to Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, without obtaining anything in return. The report also criticized department officials for letting Wal-Mart lawyers write substantial parts of the settlement and for leaving the department's own legal division out of the settlement process.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4745
Guantanamo Desperation Seen in Suicide Attempts
One Incident Was During Lawyer's Visit
By Josh White / Washington Post
Jumah Dossari had to visit the restroom, so the detainee made a quick joke with his American lawyer before military police guards escorted him to a nearby cell with a toilet. The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had taken quite a toll on Dossari over the past four years, but his attorney, who was there to discuss Dossari's federal court case, noted his good spirits and thought nothing of his bathroom break.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4734
Military Faces Parental Counterattack
High School Recruitment, a Longtime Tradition, Raises Worries in Wartime
By Lori Aratani / Washington Post
For as long as Principal Alan Goodwin can recall, military recruiters -- in their crisp, carefully pressed uniforms -- have stopped by Walt Whitman High School to chat with students about the benefits of a career in the armed forces. They set up tables, greeted students with a firm handshake and passed out glossy brochures.
But a visit this fall to the Bethesda school by recruiters had parents firing off frantic missives on the school listserv. They demanded to know exactly what recruiters were doing on campus and why the parents had not been told in advance. Goodwin was puzzled.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4735
Coalition of the Unwilling
Counter-recruiters arm potential GI's with facts about the war in Iraq
by Anya Kamenetz
October 28th, 2005 5:41 PM
One Saturday this summer, Monique Dols, a Columbia University senior and a national leader of the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN), saw again why she has been working so hard to reach potential military recruits. "We were handing out flyers for an event with the brother of a military resister," Dols says of that day in Washington Heights. "Three 16-year-old [ROTC] cadets walked by in full military uniform. We started talking to them, and it turned out they were completely against the war. They had joined because it was an after-school program that provided structure and something for them to do. The priorities of a society that puts millions into military recruitment and continually cuts funding for after-school programs, that's backward, and that's the reality people are responding to."
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0544,kamenetz,69514,15.html
BUSH THE CANDIDATE PROMISED TO UPHOLD THE HONOR AND INTEGRITY AT THE WHITE HOUSE...
"I will swear to uphold the laws of the land. But I will also swear to uphold the honor and the integrity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God," said then-Governor George Bush [CNN, "Inside Politics," 8/11/00]
"Americans are tired of investigations and scandal, and the best way to get rid of them is to elect a new president who will bring a new administration, who will restore honor and dignity to the White House." [Then-Governor George Bush on CNN's "Burden of Proof," 9/15/00]
"Americans want to be assured that the next administration will bring honor and dignity to the White House." [Then-Governor George Bush on CNN's "Capital Gang," 8/13/00]
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/28/11422/749
continued ...
Morning Papers - continued
The Boston Globe
Fed boosts key interest rate to 4 percent
In a file photo Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, seated left, presides over a meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve in Washington Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be presiding at one of his last meetings when Fed policy-makers gather on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005. It is widely expected that he and his colleagues will do what they have done for the past 11 meetings _ boost a key interest rate by a quarter-point, to 4 percent. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --The Federal Reserve, still concerned about inflation, raised a key interest rate on Tuesday to the highest level in more than four years and signaled more increases are likely.
The Fed announced it was pushing its target for the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to 4 percent from 3.75 percent, where it had been since the Fed's last interest-rate meeting on Sept. 20.
It marked the 12th consecutive quarter-point increase since the Fed began gradually raising rates in June 2004 to make sure that a growing economy did not generate higher inflation.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/01/fed_boosts_key_rate_by_quarter_point/
N.J. jury begins deliberating Vioxx case
Defense attorney Diane Sullivan motions to the jury during her closing arguments, Monday, Oct. 31, 2005, in Atlantic City, N.J. Sullivan is representing pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in a product liability trial over the withdrawn paninkiller Vioxx. (AP Photo/Mary Godleski, pool)
By John Curran, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. --A state court jury in a closely watched Vioxx product liability case began deliberating Tuesday afternoon, capping a seven-week trial in which drug manufacturer Merck & Co. was accused of knowingly misrepresenting the safety risks of its blockbuster arthritis drug.
The six-woman, three-man panel on Tuesday heard the closing argument of a lawyer for an Idaho postal worker blaming Vioxx for his heart attack. Lawyer Chris Seeger called Merck a "monster" and told jurors that their verdict will send a message about what is acceptable when marketing drugs.
The jurors got the case after Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee finished instructing them on the laws at issue in the case of Frederick "Mike" Humeston. Jurors will have hundreds of documents and testimony from 21 witnesses -- enough to fill 5,764 pages of trial transcript -- to consider.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/01/lawyer_merck_tried_to_obscure_facts/
Dying whale key in attempt to drown south Ga. marina project
By atgjglbjc November 1, 2005
ATLANTA --Conservation groups are trying to scuttle construction of one of Georgia's biggest marinas by staking their argument on a whale dying off the coast of New England.
The endangered North Atlantic right whale was clipped in March by a yacht off Georgia's coast and has since become a rallying cry for environmental groups opposing the 400-boat marina at Cumberland Harbour. The whale was last seen earlier this fall, apparently near death, off the coast of Cape Cod.
The marina is a short boat ride from Cumberland Island, a federally protected seashore and a favorite breeding ground for the threatened whale species. Only about 350 remain.
"If a 65-foot commercial vessel can harm a right whale, so can a 65-foot recreation vehicle," said Chris DeScherer, senior lawyer at Southern Environmental Law Center.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/01/dying_whale_key_in_attempt_to_drown_south_ga_marina_project/
As student, Alito warned against reading too much into opinions
By Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
NEW HAVEN, Conn. --As a law student 31 years ago, Samuel A. Alito cautioned against trying to glean justices' personal opinions from their decisions.
But now that the 1975 Yale Law School graduate is President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, reporters, congressional aides and interest groups are trying to do just that: sifting through Alito's writings from 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia in preparation for what's expected to be a contentious court fight.
Alito would replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate voice who has been a swing vote on many issues considered by the court. The 55-year-old Alito could be in a position to cast the deciding votes in a range of cases from affirmative action to abortion, campaign finance to the death penalty if he is confirmed by the Senate.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/01/as_student_alito_warned_against_reading_too_much_into_opinions/
Democrats force closed meeting on Iraq
In this photo provided by ABC News, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., appears for an interview with George Stephanopolous on ABC's "This Week," in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005. (AP Photo/ABC News, Linda Spillers)
By Liz Sidoti, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --Democrats forced the Republican-controlled Senate into an unusual closed session Tuesday, questioning intelligence that led to the Iraq war and deriding a lack of congressional inquiry.
"I demand on behalf of the America people that we understand why these investigations aren't being conducted," Democratic leader Harry Reid said.
Taken by surprise, Republicans derided the move as a political stunt.
"The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership," said Majority Leader Bill Frist. "They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas," the Republican leader said.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/01/democrats_force_closed_meeting_on_iraq/
Put your 2 cents in: Stamp prices going up
By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --A 2-cent boost in the price of a postage stamp was approved Tuesday by the independent Postal Rate Commission.
Under the recommendation, which now goes to the Postal Service's Board of Governors for final action, the cost of a first-class stamp will go from 37 cents to 39 cents and the postcard rate will rise a penny to 24 cents. The Postal Service requested the increase last April. It is expected to go into effect in January.
The increase is needed so the post office can make a $3.1 billion escrow payment required by Congress. A bill that would eliminate that payment and make other changes in postal operations was approved by the House but has not yet passed the Senate. The White House has expressed reservations about the bill.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/01/put_your_2_cents_in_stamp_prices_going_up/
Nightmare of 'loose nukes' still haunts
People walk through a security check point to enter the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading nuclear research center, in Moscow, in this May 15, 2002 file photo. Since 1994, Russian work crews and U.S. money _ some $6 billion thus far _ have been hardening walls, installing surveillance cameras and radiation detectors, and otherwise "locking down" 600 tons of Russian bomb-grade material that isn't inside warheads. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, FILE)
By Charles J. Hanley, AP Special Correspondent November 1, 2005
VIENNA, Austria --After years of warnings, hard work and billion-dollar budgets, the "loose nukes" of Russia and other nations are coming under tighter control, and nuclear smuggling cases have fallen sharply, international and U.S. agencies report.
Despite the good news, however, the potential nightmare of nuclear terrorism still haunts those charged with preventing it.
"There's still so much to be done," said Jerry Paul, whose U.S. Energy Department office aims to complete work by late 2008 upgrading security at Russian nuclear sites, two years ahead of the original schedule.
Here in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency says only a dozen incidents of uranium or plutonium trafficking were reported worldwide in 2004, down from an average of about 30 a year in the mid-1990s. Only one reported last year involved bomb-grade material, and that was a minor amount.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/11/01/nightmare_of_loose_nukes_still_haunts/
'Intelligent design' battle goes to polls
By Martha Raffaele, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
DOVER, Pa. --A battle over a policy requiring that ninth-graders in this rural community learn about "intelligent design" in biology class is being fought on two fronts -- one political, one legal.
In a federal courtroom in Harrisburg, 20 miles away, a judge is hearing arguments in the sixth week of a landmark trial over whether the concept can be introduced in public school. The non-jury trial is expected to conclude Nov. 4; it is unclear when the judge will issue a decision.
At the polls in Dover, voters will render their decision Nov. 8 on whether to retain eight of the nine Dover Area School Board members -- all Republicans -- or replace them with a Democratic slate whose platform calls for removing intelligent design from the curriculum.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/11/01/board_member_testifies_in_evolution_case/
Illegal fish threaten Wyo. trout stream
By Ben Neary October 31, 2005
CHEYENNE, Wyo. --Burbot -- an aggressive, eel-like fish that eat young trout -- have been illegally stocked in a reservoir in southwest Wyoming, and officials say they now pose a threat to some of the state's premier trout water in the upper Green River.
Craig Amadio, fisheries biologist for the Green River Region of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said the department found some young burbot, also called ling, in nets it set in Fontenelle Reservoir in late October. He said that while burbot have been found below the reservoir in the past, the dam has kept them from spreading upstream until now.
"Somebody has obviously put burbot upstream of Fontenelle Dam," Amadio said. "It's a pretty selfish action for somebody to take. They wanted fishing for burbot closer to home."
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/10/31/wyoming_trout_threatened_by_illegal_fish/
Great Salt Lake may return to normal level
October 31, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY --The drought-shrunken Great Salt Lake could be back at its typical level in as few as two or three years, experts say.
The U.S. Geological Survey automated gauge has recorded the level at about 4,195.5 feet above sea level for the past three weeks. That translates to a surface area of about 1,000 square miles.
By comparison, the average lake level over the years since Utah was settled is 4,200 feet, at which it covers 1,700 square miles, according to the USGS.
Many Utahns hope the lake will rise soon and "cover up those stinkin' mud flats, so it doesn't create a huge dust storm every time a storm comes through," said Randy Julander, snow survey supervisor for the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Salt Lake City.
And that may be exactly what will happen, provided the drought does not return.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/10/31/great_salt_lake_may_return_to_normal_level/
The Chicago Sun Times
School drops American Girl show
November 1, 2005
MILWAUKEE -- A Roman Catholic school in suburban Milwaukee is the first nonprofit group in the nation to cancel a coveted American Girl Fashion Show.
It comes after concerns that the doll company behind the show gives money to a national girls organization that accepts abortion and lesbian sexual orientation.
St. Luke School in Brookfield notified its parents through bulletins at masses over the weekend.
"It seemed like a match made in heaven; a motivated Catholic school and an all-American icon," wrote Frank Malloy, St. Luke pastor, in his explanation. "We seemed poised to raise enough funds for a new playground and a remake of the school library."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-girl01.html
White House says no to shakeup, apology
November 1, 2005
BY TERENCE HUNT
WASHINGTON -- The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way.
Bush ignored reporters' questions during a meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-leak01.html
Anti-violence advocates want answers in 2003 slaying
November 1, 2005
BY JOHN O'CONNOR
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SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois State Police officials must explain why they didn't seize guns from an employee who threatened his girlfriend before killing her and himself in 2003, anti-violence advocates said Monday.
If State Police are correct that they were powerless to intervene and take guns away from Donald Dunkirk, they need to ask the Legislature to change the law, one activist said.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that police officials began paperwork to revoke Dunkirk's Firearm Owner's Identification card and confiscate his weapons after suspending him from his maintenance job at the police training academy.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun01.html
Martha sought to fire Trump, fly solo on 'Apprentice'
November 1, 2005
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NEW YORK -- Before her version of ''The Apprentice'' began, Martha Stewart thought she was saying ''you're fired'' to Donald Trump.
While ''The Apprentice: Martha Stewart'' hasn't done well in the ratings, Stewart initially had much higher hopes -- even that her NBC show would eclipse Trump's original.
''I thought I was replacing The Donald,'' Stewart says in the Nov. 14 issue of Fortune magazine, on newsstands Nov. 7. ''It was even discussed that I would be firing The Donald on the first show.''
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-martha01.html
Dawn
Creek Marina. Pakistan has plans. Earthquake buildings are an issue.
http://www.creekmarina.com/
G8, emerging powers meet in London to discuss climate change LONDON, Nov 1 (AFP) The world's emerging economic powers, including China and India, were encouraged Tuesday to join their Group of Eight seniors to develop sustainable clean energy sources in response to climate change. Meeting in London, energy and environment ministers from the G8 leading industrialised nation and from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa sought common ground on the pressing issue. "The focus of our agenda for this meeting is on energy, and on how we can make better use of technology to make the transition to a low-carbon economy," British Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said.(Posted @ 21:35 PST)
http://www.dawn.com/2005/11/01/welcome.htm
French leaders under fire over riots
Nov 2, 2005
French government leaders came under fire on Wednesday for their handling of unrest in a poor suburb north of Paris, as police braced for further possible violence after five successive nights of clashes.
The main opposition Socialists accused President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin of an "inexcusable" silence over the violence, which began after the accidental death by electrocution last Thursday of two teenagers.
But most of their anger was directed toward Nicolas Sarkozy, the ambitious interior minister and would-be president, whose tough rhetoric on urban crime has aroused charges of pandering to the far right.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/623898
Paris suburb riots continue
2.34PM, Tue Nov 1 2005
French youths have rioted in a Paris suburb for the fifth night running despite calls for calm from Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Eleven vehicles were burned out and a policemen lightly injured in the latest night of violence in the north-eastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where passions were raised a day earlier when a tear gas grenade was fired into a mosque.
The violence began after two teenagers died last Thursday night when they were electrocuted in an electricity sub station while apparently fleeing police.
An official at the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture in Bobigny said: "It was less serious than the previous nights."
In the nearby area of Montfermeil, two cars were destroyed and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a police garage.
http://www.itn.co.uk/news/554066.html
The Guardian
Sarkozy pledges police crackdown after riots in Paris
· Special units assigned to rundown districts
· 30 held after worst clashes with youths for years
Jon Henley in Paris
Tuesday November 1, 2005
The Guardian
France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday defended his law-and-order tactics and pledged rapid police reinforcements after four nights of rioting in Paris.
Mr Sarkozy, who also promised the parents of two teenagers whose deaths sparked the violence that they would learn "the full truth" about how their sons died, said the situation in some deprived neighbourhoods had been deteriorating "for 30 years" and had to be tackled firmly. More than 30 people were under arrest last night in the rundown northeastern district of Clichy-sous-Bois after some of the most violent clashes between riot police and mainly immigrant youths that the country has seen for some years.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1605792,00.html
Tributes paid to July 7 victims
Mark Oliver and agencies
Tuesday November 1, 2005
A memorial service for the victims of the London bombings gets underway in St Paul's Cathedral. Photograph: John D McHugh/AFP/Getty
The Archbishop of Canterbury told a national memorial service for victims of the July 7 bombings today that each of the victims was "unique, precious ... non-replaceable".
Rowan Williams told the service at St Paul's Cathedral that every victim of the attacks in London had "a separate, unique beauty".
The Queen and the prime minister joined relatives of the victims of the attacks, survivors and emergency workers for the 55-minute service.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1606219,00.html
Diwali celebrations defy Delhi bombers
Staff and agencies
Tuesday November 1, 2005
Women light earthen lamps, in Agartala, India, for Diwali, the festival of lights. Photograph: Ramakanta Dey/AP
The sound of firecrackers greeted the dawn in Delhi today as the city began the Hindu festival of Diwali in the wake of bomb attacks at the weekend that killed 59 people.
Defiant shopkeepers decorated their stalls with glowing lights and shiny tinsel to mark the festival of lights - representing the triumph of good over evil - but security was tight as investigators continued their hunt for the bombers.
Police sifted through millions of mobile telephone call records, trying to uncover who had carried out the attacks, and checkpoints were set up around the city.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,12559,1606197,00.html
Remote front line in the war on bird flu
In a small laboratory in a Budapest suburb, scientists are developing a vaccine which could prevent a global pandemic
Daniel McLaughlin in Pilisborosjeno
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
The road from Budapest meanders through forested hills and quiet villages, before reaching a neat yellow building guarded by an old man in a boiler suit and a barking alsatian. This is the unlikely front line in the global war against bird flu.
At this laboratory, Hungary is leading the fight against the H5N1 virus, which has arrived in Europe after killing dozens of people in Asia, and preparing for deadly future forms of an ever-changing disease that could cause a flu pandemic.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1604650,00.html
In deepest space, the earth really mustn't move for you
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
They should be out-of-this-world experiences. But US experts have warned that sex in space will bring problems not pleasure for men and women heading to the moon and Mars.
A panel of scientists has told Nasa interplanetary passion could cause chaos to its latest plans to send humans on long missions.
Cramped in spaceships for years, surrounded by the starry void, astronauts thoughts are bound to turn to romance, states the report, 'Bioastronautics Roadmap: a risk reduction strategy for human exploration of space'.
The resulting close encounters could have profound consequences, it adds. Without supplies of the necessary precautions, zero-gravity romps could lead to zero-gravity pregnancies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1604708,00.html
Space flight is hell on Earth
A manned flight to Mars means up to three years of discomfort and isolation - how would the cosmonauts cope? Tom Parfitt visits a terrifying simulation
Thursday September 8, 2005
The Guardian
Past a loose pile of broken asphalt, down a weed-choked path behind the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) in Moscow lies the hidden jewel in Russia's space programme.
For decades, critics have bemoaned the state of modern space exploration. They rue the fact that since the Apollo moon landings in the late 1960s and early 1970s there has been no attempt at a manned mission beyond Earth's orbit. And the most gung-ho among them have their minds fixed on humans flying to Mars.
Last year, President Bush announced the US would send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, and from there to Mars. Spurred on, this summer the Russians included a groundbreaking experiment in their draft $10bn space programme for the next decade.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1564375,00.html
Bird-like lungs key to size of dinosaurs
Alok Jha
Thursday October 27, 2005
The Guardian
Bird-like lungs could have helped the biggest dinosaurs reach their astonishing size, say scientists.
According to New Scientist, Steve Perry and Jonathan Codd from the University of Bonn said sauropods, which reached 40 metres and weighed 100 tonnes (10 times as much as the largest elephants) sucked in air more efficiently than mammals today. In mammals a diaphragm pumps air through the lungs.
Birds have up to nine extra air sacs to supplement their lungs. And birds' "lung" tissues are only half as thick as those of mammals. It adds up to around 80% greater efficiency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1601296,00.html
Breathalyser detects traces of explosives
Alok Jha
Thursday October 27, 2005
The Guardian
A device able to detect traces of chemicals found in explosives on the breath of people who have handled them has been developed.
Originally destined for medical diagnosis and already used to detect early-stage lung cancer, the Heartsbreath analyses the volatile organic compounds in a person's breath.
It works because chemicals from explosives can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin, and are subsequently stored in the body. Michael Phillips at Menssana Research in New Jersey, US, tested people who handled explosives regularly and found they exhaled compounds others did not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1601324,00.html
The San Francisco Chronicles
SAN FRANCISCO
A not-too-scary Halloween
Crowds in Castro generally are well-behaved
Steve Rubenstein, Leslie Fulbright and Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
There were the typical -- angels, devils, Zorros, pirates and witches. And the San Francisco atypical -- men dressed as Midwestern beauty queens, a corpse bride protesting the governor's special election and an iPod Shuffle that blared thumping house music.
Halloween in the Castro district Monday night was crowded, but orderly and low-key compared with years past. Though thousands of people still attend, the festivities have mellowed considerably, and a rough estimate put only about 15 percent of the attendees in costume.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/01/HALLOWEEN.TMP
Governor raises the specter of taxation
He counters lack of support for his ballot measures
Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a new Field Poll showing all of his ballot measures trailing, spent Halloween using a potential tax increase as the bogeyman waiting for Californians if his special election agenda fails at the polls next week.
Schwarzenegger rallied support for his budget-related initiative, Proposition 76, by saying it could be the only to way to avoid raising taxes to pay the state's bills. He made his pitch in a new commercial launched Monday and at a staged Southern California event featuring a Dracula-like character representing the car tax.
Supporters said the governor would continue the tax message through election day as a way to show voters how defeat of his plans to make changes in government could affect them. But Schwarzenegger's opponents called the theme a scare tactic raised by a desperate politician.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/01/FIELD.TMP
Election flummoxes many across state
Californians give mixed reviews to governor, measures
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
Fillmore, Ventura County -- On a sun-washed park bench in their small town plaza, Frank Cervantez, 56, a retired landscaper, and his buddy, Angel Carrillo, 53, are savoring their special corner of rural California on a spectacular fall day.
But as they tick off concerns about the future here -- growth, traffic and jobs -- Cervantez throws up his hands.
"Why," he asked, "are we having a special election again?"
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/31/MNG28FGN011.DTL
SF State launches investigation into arrest of professor
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 10:40 PST San Francisco (AP) --
The president of San Francisco State University said an independent commission will investigate alleged racial profiling after the arrest of a black professor on campus.
Antwi Akom, 37, an ethnic studies assistant professor, was arrested on October 25 after he allegedly refused to provide identification to a security guard during a late-night visit to his office. Authorities said Akom instigated a scuffle with university police officers.
Akom was charged with two felony counts of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. One officer was treated for minor injuries at a hospital.
Akom was released on his own recognizance and is expected to return to teaching Tuesday.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/10/31/state/n104048S31.DTL
Cheney Names Two to Fill Libby's Positions
By TERENCE HUNT, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 15:23 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way. Bush ignored reporters' questions during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
"We don't want to do anything from here that could prejudice the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial," presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/31/national/w092701S26.DTL
New IED - Armor Piercing.
Seven More U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 20:00 PST BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --
Capping the bloodiest month for American troops since January, the U.S. military reported Monday that seven more U.S. service members were killed — all victims of increasingly sophisticated bombs that have been become the deadliest weapon in the insurgents' arsenal.
Bombs also claimed a toll Monday among civilians in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and the major metropolis of the Shiite-dominated south, which has witnessed less violence than Sunni areas. A large car bomb exploded along a bustling street packed with shops and restaurants as people were enjoying an evening out after the daily Ramadan fast. At least 20 were killed and about 40 wounded, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/31/international/i154922S56.DTL
Chronicle staff photographer Kim Komenich and staff writer Anna Badkhen went on assignment with U.S. Army and Marine units in Iraq in the spring and fall of 2005. The assignment has taken them from the border area near Syria, where U.S. Marines fought for towns controlled by insurgents, to the area around Tikrit, in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," which has long been a hotbed of insurgent activity.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/10/28/iraqgallery.DTL
John Ashcroft's Focus of Homeland Security was based in Anti-Arab profiling.
Sikhs struggle to be accepted
Since 9/11, many have been harassed or threatened
San Jose -- A teenager accosted Sukhdev Singh Bainiwal, 39, at Home Depot, saying he should take his turban back to the desert where he might actually need it.
Another time, a fellow driver swerved toward him, saying "Arab, get out of here." And once, the driver of a car near his rolled down his window to ask if Bainiwal had told his family he loved them that morning.
A member of Santa Clara County's Airport Commission and a software engineer at Sun Microsystems, Bainiwal is a Sikh. He is one of 500,000 in the United States, some 40,000 in the Bay Area alone, according to area Sikh leaders. Like many Sikhs, he has been threatened or harassed repeatedly since Sept. 11, 2001, by people who think he is Muslim and equate that with terrorism.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/31/BAGT3FGDR01.DTL
FINDING MY RELIGION
Neo-pagan witch on celebrating the dead and casting spells
This being Halloween, M. Macha NightMare will dress up with a pointy hat, black clothing and a broomstick. It's mostly for fun, but it's also what people expect from the 62-year-old educator, author and priestess, who also happens to be a witch.
NightMare -- not her given name -- considers herself a Neo-Pagan, an eclectic term describing a diverse cluster of religious movements in the last 100 years or so seeking to resurrect pre-Christian spiritual beliefs, like a reverence for nature and Goddess worship. Some Neo-Pagans are witches, others are Wiccans and still others are both and neither.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/10/31/findrelig.DTL
The Halloween Celebration
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?m=/c/pictures/2005/11/01/mn_halloween_jrs_0152.jpg&f=/c/a/2005/11/01/BAGPUFH6H61.DTL
continued ...
Fed boosts key interest rate to 4 percent
In a file photo Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, seated left, presides over a meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve in Washington Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be presiding at one of his last meetings when Fed policy-makers gather on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005. It is widely expected that he and his colleagues will do what they have done for the past 11 meetings _ boost a key interest rate by a quarter-point, to 4 percent. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --The Federal Reserve, still concerned about inflation, raised a key interest rate on Tuesday to the highest level in more than four years and signaled more increases are likely.
The Fed announced it was pushing its target for the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, to 4 percent from 3.75 percent, where it had been since the Fed's last interest-rate meeting on Sept. 20.
It marked the 12th consecutive quarter-point increase since the Fed began gradually raising rates in June 2004 to make sure that a growing economy did not generate higher inflation.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/01/fed_boosts_key_rate_by_quarter_point/
N.J. jury begins deliberating Vioxx case
Defense attorney Diane Sullivan motions to the jury during her closing arguments, Monday, Oct. 31, 2005, in Atlantic City, N.J. Sullivan is representing pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in a product liability trial over the withdrawn paninkiller Vioxx. (AP Photo/Mary Godleski, pool)
By John Curran, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. --A state court jury in a closely watched Vioxx product liability case began deliberating Tuesday afternoon, capping a seven-week trial in which drug manufacturer Merck & Co. was accused of knowingly misrepresenting the safety risks of its blockbuster arthritis drug.
The six-woman, three-man panel on Tuesday heard the closing argument of a lawyer for an Idaho postal worker blaming Vioxx for his heart attack. Lawyer Chris Seeger called Merck a "monster" and told jurors that their verdict will send a message about what is acceptable when marketing drugs.
The jurors got the case after Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee finished instructing them on the laws at issue in the case of Frederick "Mike" Humeston. Jurors will have hundreds of documents and testimony from 21 witnesses -- enough to fill 5,764 pages of trial transcript -- to consider.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/01/lawyer_merck_tried_to_obscure_facts/
Dying whale key in attempt to drown south Ga. marina project
By atgjglbjc November 1, 2005
ATLANTA --Conservation groups are trying to scuttle construction of one of Georgia's biggest marinas by staking their argument on a whale dying off the coast of New England.
The endangered North Atlantic right whale was clipped in March by a yacht off Georgia's coast and has since become a rallying cry for environmental groups opposing the 400-boat marina at Cumberland Harbour. The whale was last seen earlier this fall, apparently near death, off the coast of Cape Cod.
The marina is a short boat ride from Cumberland Island, a federally protected seashore and a favorite breeding ground for the threatened whale species. Only about 350 remain.
"If a 65-foot commercial vessel can harm a right whale, so can a 65-foot recreation vehicle," said Chris DeScherer, senior lawyer at Southern Environmental Law Center.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/01/dying_whale_key_in_attempt_to_drown_south_ga_marina_project/
As student, Alito warned against reading too much into opinions
By Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
NEW HAVEN, Conn. --As a law student 31 years ago, Samuel A. Alito cautioned against trying to glean justices' personal opinions from their decisions.
But now that the 1975 Yale Law School graduate is President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, reporters, congressional aides and interest groups are trying to do just that: sifting through Alito's writings from 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia in preparation for what's expected to be a contentious court fight.
Alito would replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate voice who has been a swing vote on many issues considered by the court. The 55-year-old Alito could be in a position to cast the deciding votes in a range of cases from affirmative action to abortion, campaign finance to the death penalty if he is confirmed by the Senate.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/01/as_student_alito_warned_against_reading_too_much_into_opinions/
Democrats force closed meeting on Iraq
In this photo provided by ABC News, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., appears for an interview with George Stephanopolous on ABC's "This Week," in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005. (AP Photo/ABC News, Linda Spillers)
By Liz Sidoti, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --Democrats forced the Republican-controlled Senate into an unusual closed session Tuesday, questioning intelligence that led to the Iraq war and deriding a lack of congressional inquiry.
"I demand on behalf of the America people that we understand why these investigations aren't being conducted," Democratic leader Harry Reid said.
Taken by surprise, Republicans derided the move as a political stunt.
"The United States Senate has been hijacked by the Democratic leadership," said Majority Leader Bill Frist. "They have no convictions, they have no principles, they have no ideas," the Republican leader said.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/01/democrats_force_closed_meeting_on_iraq/
Put your 2 cents in: Stamp prices going up
By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
WASHINGTON --A 2-cent boost in the price of a postage stamp was approved Tuesday by the independent Postal Rate Commission.
Under the recommendation, which now goes to the Postal Service's Board of Governors for final action, the cost of a first-class stamp will go from 37 cents to 39 cents and the postcard rate will rise a penny to 24 cents. The Postal Service requested the increase last April. It is expected to go into effect in January.
The increase is needed so the post office can make a $3.1 billion escrow payment required by Congress. A bill that would eliminate that payment and make other changes in postal operations was approved by the House but has not yet passed the Senate. The White House has expressed reservations about the bill.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/01/put_your_2_cents_in_stamp_prices_going_up/
Nightmare of 'loose nukes' still haunts
People walk through a security check point to enter the Kurchatov Institute, Russia's leading nuclear research center, in Moscow, in this May 15, 2002 file photo. Since 1994, Russian work crews and U.S. money _ some $6 billion thus far _ have been hardening walls, installing surveillance cameras and radiation detectors, and otherwise "locking down" 600 tons of Russian bomb-grade material that isn't inside warheads. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, FILE)
By Charles J. Hanley, AP Special Correspondent November 1, 2005
VIENNA, Austria --After years of warnings, hard work and billion-dollar budgets, the "loose nukes" of Russia and other nations are coming under tighter control, and nuclear smuggling cases have fallen sharply, international and U.S. agencies report.
Despite the good news, however, the potential nightmare of nuclear terrorism still haunts those charged with preventing it.
"There's still so much to be done," said Jerry Paul, whose U.S. Energy Department office aims to complete work by late 2008 upgrading security at Russian nuclear sites, two years ahead of the original schedule.
Here in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency says only a dozen incidents of uranium or plutonium trafficking were reported worldwide in 2004, down from an average of about 30 a year in the mid-1990s. Only one reported last year involved bomb-grade material, and that was a minor amount.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/11/01/nightmare_of_loose_nukes_still_haunts/
'Intelligent design' battle goes to polls
By Martha Raffaele, Associated Press Writer November 1, 2005
DOVER, Pa. --A battle over a policy requiring that ninth-graders in this rural community learn about "intelligent design" in biology class is being fought on two fronts -- one political, one legal.
In a federal courtroom in Harrisburg, 20 miles away, a judge is hearing arguments in the sixth week of a landmark trial over whether the concept can be introduced in public school. The non-jury trial is expected to conclude Nov. 4; it is unclear when the judge will issue a decision.
At the polls in Dover, voters will render their decision Nov. 8 on whether to retain eight of the nine Dover Area School Board members -- all Republicans -- or replace them with a Democratic slate whose platform calls for removing intelligent design from the curriculum.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/11/01/board_member_testifies_in_evolution_case/
Illegal fish threaten Wyo. trout stream
By Ben Neary October 31, 2005
CHEYENNE, Wyo. --Burbot -- an aggressive, eel-like fish that eat young trout -- have been illegally stocked in a reservoir in southwest Wyoming, and officials say they now pose a threat to some of the state's premier trout water in the upper Green River.
Craig Amadio, fisheries biologist for the Green River Region of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said the department found some young burbot, also called ling, in nets it set in Fontenelle Reservoir in late October. He said that while burbot have been found below the reservoir in the past, the dam has kept them from spreading upstream until now.
"Somebody has obviously put burbot upstream of Fontenelle Dam," Amadio said. "It's a pretty selfish action for somebody to take. They wanted fishing for burbot closer to home."
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/10/31/wyoming_trout_threatened_by_illegal_fish/
Great Salt Lake may return to normal level
October 31, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY --The drought-shrunken Great Salt Lake could be back at its typical level in as few as two or three years, experts say.
The U.S. Geological Survey automated gauge has recorded the level at about 4,195.5 feet above sea level for the past three weeks. That translates to a surface area of about 1,000 square miles.
By comparison, the average lake level over the years since Utah was settled is 4,200 feet, at which it covers 1,700 square miles, according to the USGS.
Many Utahns hope the lake will rise soon and "cover up those stinkin' mud flats, so it doesn't create a huge dust storm every time a storm comes through," said Randy Julander, snow survey supervisor for the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Salt Lake City.
And that may be exactly what will happen, provided the drought does not return.
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/10/31/great_salt_lake_may_return_to_normal_level/
The Chicago Sun Times
School drops American Girl show
November 1, 2005
MILWAUKEE -- A Roman Catholic school in suburban Milwaukee is the first nonprofit group in the nation to cancel a coveted American Girl Fashion Show.
It comes after concerns that the doll company behind the show gives money to a national girls organization that accepts abortion and lesbian sexual orientation.
St. Luke School in Brookfield notified its parents through bulletins at masses over the weekend.
"It seemed like a match made in heaven; a motivated Catholic school and an all-American icon," wrote Frank Malloy, St. Luke pastor, in his explanation. "We seemed poised to raise enough funds for a new playground and a remake of the school library."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-girl01.html
White House says no to shakeup, apology
November 1, 2005
BY TERENCE HUNT
WASHINGTON -- The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way.
Bush ignored reporters' questions during a meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-leak01.html
Anti-violence advocates want answers in 2003 slaying
November 1, 2005
BY JOHN O'CONNOR
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SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois State Police officials must explain why they didn't seize guns from an employee who threatened his girlfriend before killing her and himself in 2003, anti-violence advocates said Monday.
If State Police are correct that they were powerless to intervene and take guns away from Donald Dunkirk, they need to ask the Legislature to change the law, one activist said.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that police officials began paperwork to revoke Dunkirk's Firearm Owner's Identification card and confiscate his weapons after suspending him from his maintenance job at the police training academy.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun01.html
Martha sought to fire Trump, fly solo on 'Apprentice'
November 1, 2005
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NEW YORK -- Before her version of ''The Apprentice'' began, Martha Stewart thought she was saying ''you're fired'' to Donald Trump.
While ''The Apprentice: Martha Stewart'' hasn't done well in the ratings, Stewart initially had much higher hopes -- even that her NBC show would eclipse Trump's original.
''I thought I was replacing The Donald,'' Stewart says in the Nov. 14 issue of Fortune magazine, on newsstands Nov. 7. ''It was even discussed that I would be firing The Donald on the first show.''
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-martha01.html
Dawn
Creek Marina. Pakistan has plans. Earthquake buildings are an issue.
http://www.creekmarina.com/
G8, emerging powers meet in London to discuss climate change LONDON, Nov 1 (AFP) The world's emerging economic powers, including China and India, were encouraged Tuesday to join their Group of Eight seniors to develop sustainable clean energy sources in response to climate change. Meeting in London, energy and environment ministers from the G8 leading industrialised nation and from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa sought common ground on the pressing issue. "The focus of our agenda for this meeting is on energy, and on how we can make better use of technology to make the transition to a low-carbon economy," British Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said.(Posted @ 21:35 PST)
http://www.dawn.com/2005/11/01/welcome.htm
French leaders under fire over riots
Nov 2, 2005
French government leaders came under fire on Wednesday for their handling of unrest in a poor suburb north of Paris, as police braced for further possible violence after five successive nights of clashes.
The main opposition Socialists accused President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin of an "inexcusable" silence over the violence, which began after the accidental death by electrocution last Thursday of two teenagers.
But most of their anger was directed toward Nicolas Sarkozy, the ambitious interior minister and would-be president, whose tough rhetoric on urban crime has aroused charges of pandering to the far right.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/623898
Paris suburb riots continue
2.34PM, Tue Nov 1 2005
French youths have rioted in a Paris suburb for the fifth night running despite calls for calm from Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Eleven vehicles were burned out and a policemen lightly injured in the latest night of violence in the north-eastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where passions were raised a day earlier when a tear gas grenade was fired into a mosque.
The violence began after two teenagers died last Thursday night when they were electrocuted in an electricity sub station while apparently fleeing police.
An official at the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture in Bobigny said: "It was less serious than the previous nights."
In the nearby area of Montfermeil, two cars were destroyed and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a police garage.
http://www.itn.co.uk/news/554066.html
The Guardian
Sarkozy pledges police crackdown after riots in Paris
· Special units assigned to rundown districts
· 30 held after worst clashes with youths for years
Jon Henley in Paris
Tuesday November 1, 2005
The Guardian
France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday defended his law-and-order tactics and pledged rapid police reinforcements after four nights of rioting in Paris.
Mr Sarkozy, who also promised the parents of two teenagers whose deaths sparked the violence that they would learn "the full truth" about how their sons died, said the situation in some deprived neighbourhoods had been deteriorating "for 30 years" and had to be tackled firmly. More than 30 people were under arrest last night in the rundown northeastern district of Clichy-sous-Bois after some of the most violent clashes between riot police and mainly immigrant youths that the country has seen for some years.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1605792,00.html
Tributes paid to July 7 victims
Mark Oliver and agencies
Tuesday November 1, 2005
A memorial service for the victims of the London bombings gets underway in St Paul's Cathedral. Photograph: John D McHugh/AFP/Getty
The Archbishop of Canterbury told a national memorial service for victims of the July 7 bombings today that each of the victims was "unique, precious ... non-replaceable".
Rowan Williams told the service at St Paul's Cathedral that every victim of the attacks in London had "a separate, unique beauty".
The Queen and the prime minister joined relatives of the victims of the attacks, survivors and emergency workers for the 55-minute service.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1606219,00.html
Diwali celebrations defy Delhi bombers
Staff and agencies
Tuesday November 1, 2005
Women light earthen lamps, in Agartala, India, for Diwali, the festival of lights. Photograph: Ramakanta Dey/AP
The sound of firecrackers greeted the dawn in Delhi today as the city began the Hindu festival of Diwali in the wake of bomb attacks at the weekend that killed 59 people.
Defiant shopkeepers decorated their stalls with glowing lights and shiny tinsel to mark the festival of lights - representing the triumph of good over evil - but security was tight as investigators continued their hunt for the bombers.
Police sifted through millions of mobile telephone call records, trying to uncover who had carried out the attacks, and checkpoints were set up around the city.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,12559,1606197,00.html
Remote front line in the war on bird flu
In a small laboratory in a Budapest suburb, scientists are developing a vaccine which could prevent a global pandemic
Daniel McLaughlin in Pilisborosjeno
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
The road from Budapest meanders through forested hills and quiet villages, before reaching a neat yellow building guarded by an old man in a boiler suit and a barking alsatian. This is the unlikely front line in the global war against bird flu.
At this laboratory, Hungary is leading the fight against the H5N1 virus, which has arrived in Europe after killing dozens of people in Asia, and preparing for deadly future forms of an ever-changing disease that could cause a flu pandemic.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1604650,00.html
In deepest space, the earth really mustn't move for you
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday October 30, 2005
The Observer
They should be out-of-this-world experiences. But US experts have warned that sex in space will bring problems not pleasure for men and women heading to the moon and Mars.
A panel of scientists has told Nasa interplanetary passion could cause chaos to its latest plans to send humans on long missions.
Cramped in spaceships for years, surrounded by the starry void, astronauts thoughts are bound to turn to romance, states the report, 'Bioastronautics Roadmap: a risk reduction strategy for human exploration of space'.
The resulting close encounters could have profound consequences, it adds. Without supplies of the necessary precautions, zero-gravity romps could lead to zero-gravity pregnancies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1604708,00.html
Space flight is hell on Earth
A manned flight to Mars means up to three years of discomfort and isolation - how would the cosmonauts cope? Tom Parfitt visits a terrifying simulation
Thursday September 8, 2005
The Guardian
Past a loose pile of broken asphalt, down a weed-choked path behind the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) in Moscow lies the hidden jewel in Russia's space programme.
For decades, critics have bemoaned the state of modern space exploration. They rue the fact that since the Apollo moon landings in the late 1960s and early 1970s there has been no attempt at a manned mission beyond Earth's orbit. And the most gung-ho among them have their minds fixed on humans flying to Mars.
Last year, President Bush announced the US would send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, and from there to Mars. Spurred on, this summer the Russians included a groundbreaking experiment in their draft $10bn space programme for the next decade.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1564375,00.html
Bird-like lungs key to size of dinosaurs
Alok Jha
Thursday October 27, 2005
The Guardian
Bird-like lungs could have helped the biggest dinosaurs reach their astonishing size, say scientists.
According to New Scientist, Steve Perry and Jonathan Codd from the University of Bonn said sauropods, which reached 40 metres and weighed 100 tonnes (10 times as much as the largest elephants) sucked in air more efficiently than mammals today. In mammals a diaphragm pumps air through the lungs.
Birds have up to nine extra air sacs to supplement their lungs. And birds' "lung" tissues are only half as thick as those of mammals. It adds up to around 80% greater efficiency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1601296,00.html
Breathalyser detects traces of explosives
Alok Jha
Thursday October 27, 2005
The Guardian
A device able to detect traces of chemicals found in explosives on the breath of people who have handled them has been developed.
Originally destined for medical diagnosis and already used to detect early-stage lung cancer, the Heartsbreath analyses the volatile organic compounds in a person's breath.
It works because chemicals from explosives can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin, and are subsequently stored in the body. Michael Phillips at Menssana Research in New Jersey, US, tested people who handled explosives regularly and found they exhaled compounds others did not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1601324,00.html
The San Francisco Chronicles
SAN FRANCISCO
A not-too-scary Halloween
Crowds in Castro generally are well-behaved
Steve Rubenstein, Leslie Fulbright and Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writers
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
There were the typical -- angels, devils, Zorros, pirates and witches. And the San Francisco atypical -- men dressed as Midwestern beauty queens, a corpse bride protesting the governor's special election and an iPod Shuffle that blared thumping house music.
Halloween in the Castro district Monday night was crowded, but orderly and low-key compared with years past. Though thousands of people still attend, the festivities have mellowed considerably, and a rough estimate put only about 15 percent of the attendees in costume.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/01/HALLOWEEN.TMP
Governor raises the specter of taxation
He counters lack of support for his ballot measures
Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a new Field Poll showing all of his ballot measures trailing, spent Halloween using a potential tax increase as the bogeyman waiting for Californians if his special election agenda fails at the polls next week.
Schwarzenegger rallied support for his budget-related initiative, Proposition 76, by saying it could be the only to way to avoid raising taxes to pay the state's bills. He made his pitch in a new commercial launched Monday and at a staged Southern California event featuring a Dracula-like character representing the car tax.
Supporters said the governor would continue the tax message through election day as a way to show voters how defeat of his plans to make changes in government could affect them. But Schwarzenegger's opponents called the theme a scare tactic raised by a desperate politician.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/01/FIELD.TMP
Election flummoxes many across state
Californians give mixed reviews to governor, measures
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
Fillmore, Ventura County -- On a sun-washed park bench in their small town plaza, Frank Cervantez, 56, a retired landscaper, and his buddy, Angel Carrillo, 53, are savoring their special corner of rural California on a spectacular fall day.
But as they tick off concerns about the future here -- growth, traffic and jobs -- Cervantez throws up his hands.
"Why," he asked, "are we having a special election again?"
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/31/MNG28FGN011.DTL
SF State launches investigation into arrest of professor
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 10:40 PST San Francisco (AP) --
The president of San Francisco State University said an independent commission will investigate alleged racial profiling after the arrest of a black professor on campus.
Antwi Akom, 37, an ethnic studies assistant professor, was arrested on October 25 after he allegedly refused to provide identification to a security guard during a late-night visit to his office. Authorities said Akom instigated a scuffle with university police officers.
Akom was charged with two felony counts of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. One officer was treated for minor injuries at a hospital.
Akom was released on his own recognizance and is expected to return to teaching Tuesday.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/10/31/state/n104048S31.DTL
Cheney Names Two to Fill Libby's Positions
By TERENCE HUNT, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 15:23 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --
The White House on Monday rebuffed calls for a staff shakeup, the firing of Karl Rove and an apology by President Bush for the role of senior administration officials in the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way. Bush ignored reporters' questions during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
"We don't want to do anything from here that could prejudice the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial," presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/31/national/w092701S26.DTL
New IED - Armor Piercing.
Seven More U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005
(10-31) 20:00 PST BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --
Capping the bloodiest month for American troops since January, the U.S. military reported Monday that seven more U.S. service members were killed — all victims of increasingly sophisticated bombs that have been become the deadliest weapon in the insurgents' arsenal.
Bombs also claimed a toll Monday among civilians in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and the major metropolis of the Shiite-dominated south, which has witnessed less violence than Sunni areas. A large car bomb exploded along a bustling street packed with shops and restaurants as people were enjoying an evening out after the daily Ramadan fast. At least 20 were killed and about 40 wounded, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/31/international/i154922S56.DTL
Chronicle staff photographer Kim Komenich and staff writer Anna Badkhen went on assignment with U.S. Army and Marine units in Iraq in the spring and fall of 2005. The assignment has taken them from the border area near Syria, where U.S. Marines fought for towns controlled by insurgents, to the area around Tikrit, in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," which has long been a hotbed of insurgent activity.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/10/28/iraqgallery.DTL
John Ashcroft's Focus of Homeland Security was based in Anti-Arab profiling.
Sikhs struggle to be accepted
Since 9/11, many have been harassed or threatened
San Jose -- A teenager accosted Sukhdev Singh Bainiwal, 39, at Home Depot, saying he should take his turban back to the desert where he might actually need it.
Another time, a fellow driver swerved toward him, saying "Arab, get out of here." And once, the driver of a car near his rolled down his window to ask if Bainiwal had told his family he loved them that morning.
A member of Santa Clara County's Airport Commission and a software engineer at Sun Microsystems, Bainiwal is a Sikh. He is one of 500,000 in the United States, some 40,000 in the Bay Area alone, according to area Sikh leaders. Like many Sikhs, he has been threatened or harassed repeatedly since Sept. 11, 2001, by people who think he is Muslim and equate that with terrorism.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/31/BAGT3FGDR01.DTL
FINDING MY RELIGION
Neo-pagan witch on celebrating the dead and casting spells
This being Halloween, M. Macha NightMare will dress up with a pointy hat, black clothing and a broomstick. It's mostly for fun, but it's also what people expect from the 62-year-old educator, author and priestess, who also happens to be a witch.
NightMare -- not her given name -- considers herself a Neo-Pagan, an eclectic term describing a diverse cluster of religious movements in the last 100 years or so seeking to resurrect pre-Christian spiritual beliefs, like a reverence for nature and Goddess worship. Some Neo-Pagans are witches, others are Wiccans and still others are both and neither.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/10/31/findrelig.DTL
The Halloween Celebration
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?m=/c/pictures/2005/11/01/mn_halloween_jrs_0152.jpg&f=/c/a/2005/11/01/BAGPUFH6H61.DTL
continued ...
This type of cultivation is also used for drug production and traffiking. "Click On CIA Report"
Slash and Burn Cultivation also known as Swidden Cultivation or Shifting Cultivation.
Morning Papers - concluding
The Australian
Diva walks alone with third Melbourne Cup
Stuart Rintoul
November 02, 2005
"GO and find the smallest child," trainer Lee Freedman said. "That will be an example of the only person here who will live long enough to see something like that again."
And so Makybe Diva, Australia's greatest horse, who raced away to win the Melbourne Cup for an unprecedented third time, yesterday entered Australian folklore.
There are times when words fall short and superlatives cheapen what the eyes have seen. But throughout the nation today, those who did not back the mare will be scratching their heads and wondering what possessed them to think any other horse could win, while the multitude who did back her will be cursing that they did not wager a greater amount.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112537%255E601,00.html
Applause please, Diva exits stage
Brendan Cormick
November 02, 2005
IT was the race that stopped the nation like in no other year. And when it was over, the star of the greatest show on turf took her final bow.
The people may have backed others but they united as one to applaud an achievement unrivalled in the sport of kings by the undisputed queen. With 58kg, Makybe Diva split the field open turning for home, sailed to the front and sprinted clear to register her third successive victory in Australian racing's toughest contest.
Little did we know at the time it would be a farewell performance.
Owner Tony Santic dedicated the Cup to the mare's "20 million owners" and then shocked them with the news Makybe Diva had run her last race.
"This is for you, the people," Santic said holding the Cup aloft as he responded at the presentation for the first time. His racing manager Kevin Williams usually makes the speeches on behalf of the shy owner. Yesterday, there was something that he had to say.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17110331%255E2722,00.html
Race riots expose France's fault lines
Emma-Kate Symons, Paris
November 02, 2005
FRANCE has plunged into a bitter debate over the failure to integrate its large Muslim community after five nights of rioting in a Paris suburb populated by North African immigrants.
As locals mourned the deaths of two teenage boys rumoured to have died last week while being chased by police, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated his vow of zero tolerance against urban violence.
But he stood accused of playing into the hands of the extreme Right and National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen by using words such as "scum" to describe violent youths who made life "impossible" on high-rise council estates such as those in Clichy-sous-Bois.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112484%255E601,00.html
UN veto powers unite on Syria
November 01, 2005
NEW YORK: The UN Security Council has hammered out a tough resolution demanding that Syria co-operate with a probe into the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister or face possible sanctions.
Diplomats from Britain, France and the US told The New York Times they expected the resolution to pass the Security Council overnight and did not foresee a veto from China or Russia, the two countries most reluctant to punish Syria.
The resolution, which will ratchet up international pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad, threatens Syria with economic penalties if it does not give full co-operation to the UN investigation that has identified high-ranking security officials as suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, the paper said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17100127%255E2703,00.html
British blunder may free terrorist suspect
November 01, 2005
LONDON: An extraordinary legal blunder by British government officials may allow a suspected terrorist ringleader being held in Britain to go free.
Italian officials claim that Britain has taken so long to extradite Farj Hassan Faraj that a three-year deadline has passed and he can no longer face trial in Milan for plotting bomb attacks in Europe.
The mix-up over Mr Faraj has caused a serious rift with legal authorities in Italy, who complain that they handed over one of the alleged July 21 London bombers within two months of his arrest in Rome.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17100146%255E2703,00.html
ASIO fears terror cells among us
Patrick Walters, National security editor
November 02, 2005
ASIO has publicly warned for the first time of the existence of a home-grown terror threat - Australian-born Islamic extremists.
The intelligence agency has detailed its concerns about militant Islam in Australia and extremists who advocate violence against "un-Islamic governments".
Its annual report says some Islamic extremists living in Australia have chosen to lean heavily on their perception of conflict as a battle between "Muslims and infidels".
"This perception engenders a sense of isolation and rejection, which is difficult for moderate elements in the Australian community to counteract, and the moderates are perceived to be part of the problem by the extremists."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112535%255E601,00.html
Iraq war makes us target: Faulkner
Samantha Maiden
November 02, 2005
LABOR heavyweight John Faulkner yesterday blamed the Iraq war for making Australia a bigger terror target during a fiery caucus debate over the party's position on proposed anti-terror laws.
Urging a stronger stance on the issue, Senator Faulkner said the ALP should not recoil from making the link.
Labor MPs at the marathon meeting also lashed the premiers for effectively locking the ALP into supporting John Howard's new regime.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112955%255E601,00.html
Local group linked to killing: Mufti
Ean Higgins
November 02, 2005
THE nation's most senior Islamic cleric has called for an urgent investigation into the Australian operations of a Lebanese-based organisation allegedly linked to the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon.
Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali made the call after a UN inquiry implicated al-Ahbash, a Beirut-based Islamic sect and pro-Syrian political organisation, in the bombing murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
The Australian has learned that Mahmoud Abdel-Al, one of the members of al-Ahbash arrested and charged last week following the UN report, has been to Australia and visited al-Ahbash leaders in this country.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112956%255E601,00.html
'All in the loop' on AWB deal
Caroline Overington and Jennifer Sexton
November 02, 2005
THE former executive at the centre of the Iraqi kickbacks scandal claims people at all levels of AWB knew about payments to a Jordanian trucking firm since revealed as sham transactions to funnel millions of dollars in bribes to Saddam Hussein.
Mark Emons, who was manager of Middle East marketing for AWB until 2001, said he did not understand why he had become a target of the investigation into the UN's corrupt oil-for-food program.
"I was part of a management team at the AWB," Mr Emons told The Australian yesterday. "I was just one person and there were many people involved in this, on all different levels (in AWB)." Several directors of the former Australian Wheat Board have said they had no knowledge of payments made to the Iraqi Government front company Alia - which sent $290 million over four years in kickbacks directly to the Saddam regime - until they learnt of the allegations in the UN's Volcker inquiry report released last week.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112532%255E2702,00.html
Fields of double-dealing
The vastness of the oil-for-food scandal is sweeping dozens of nations and corporations into a worldwide legal and moral minefield, writes David Nason
November 02, 2005
BEFORE last week's release of the final and most shocking report on the UN oil-for-food scandal, it wasn't hard to find people in New York's diplomatic community who disliked Paul Volcker.
The former chairman of the US Federal Reserve has a gruff, overbearing manner to match his oversized 1.9m frame and he won few friends on First Avenue while completing the task given to him by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in April last year: report on the extent of the corruption that flourished in the oil-for-food program, tell the world how it occurred and advise what should be done to prevent it happening again.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17110477%255E28737,00.html
The New York Times
But Will It Stop Cancer?
By GINA KOLATA
Published: November 1, 2005
Bernyce Edwards's daughter was 42 in 1997 when she died of breast cancer. It was just 69 days from diagnosis to death. And through her shock and grief, Ms. Edwards had a terrible worry: what if she got breast cancer, too
John Giustina/Getty Images
Preventing Cancer
Part 1: Diet and Cancer
Later articles in this series will look at the effects of stress and the roles of genetics and the immune system.
Peter Yates for The New York Times
ZEALOUS RUNNER Bernyce Edwards, 73, near her home in Bellingham, Wash. She began running regularly after her daughter died of breast cancer.
"That's my biggest fear," she said.
So, to protect herself, she has taken up exercise.
And not just any exercise. This 73-year-old woman has turned into an exercise zealot.
She walks, she runs, she leaves her house in Bellingham, Wash., as early as 5 a.m. and spends an hour every day, rain or shine, putting in the miles on the trails and around a lake.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/science/01canc.html?hp
Bush Calls for $7.1 Billion to Prepare for Bird Flu Threat
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 1, 2005
Filed at 11:08 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush outlined a $7.1 billion strategy Tuesday to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak, saying he wanted to stockpile enough vaccine to protect 20 million Americans against the current strain of bird flu.
The president also said the United States must approve liability protection for the makers of lifesaving vaccines. He said the number of American vaccine manufacturers has plummeted because the industry has been hit with a flood of lawsuits.
Related Site: Pandemicflu.gov
Bush said no one knows when or where a deadly strain of flu will strike but ''at some point we are likely to face another pandemic.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/health/AP-Bush-Flu.html?hp&ex=1130907600&en=8bc68b8aab58d0c3&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Malawi Is Burning, and Deforestation Erodes Economy
Jeffrey Barbee for The New York Times
The hills overlooking Malosa, and throughout Malawi, are being stripped by illegal logging by people who eke out a barren living by selling firewood.
By MICHAEL WINES
Published: November 1, 2005
MALOSA, Malawi - Lovely and lissome, the masuku tree rises maybe 35 feet at maturity, its wood the hue of a rare steak, its branches dotted with sweet golfball-size fruits that ferment into a tasty wine.
Jeffrey Barbee for The New York Times
Joseph Singano cuts yet another tree on a burned-out hillside. Electricity would be a cheaper fuel, but few villages have access to power lines.
The New York Times
Once heavily forested, Malawi is only about 20 percent covered by tree canopies, and the pace of deforestation is faster than almost anywhere else.
Working just after sunrise atop a small mountain not far from here, Injes Juma and his nine friends needed less than five minutes to sever a masuku at its base and send it crashing to the ground.
Another five minutes of furious hacking with axes and machetes reduced the tree to a stack of five-foot logs, ready to be carried down the steep grade to the highway below.
Mr. Juma and his friends are loggers, members of a vast fraternity that has illegally laid waste to half this nation, mostly in the last 15 years, all to hawk firewood and charcoal at roadside stands.
Because of them, experts say, Malawi loses nearly 200 square miles of its forests annually, a deforestation rate of 2.8 percent that the Southern Africa Development Community says is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
The cutting blights a pastoral, sometimes breathtaking landscape. It dries up streams, pollutes the air, lowers the water table, erodes the soil and silts rivers so badly that, officials here say, hydroelectric plants are blacked out by the gunk.
It is hard to think of many other things that Mr. Juma and his fellow loggers could do that would damage the nation more.
The problem is that it is hard to think of many other ways that Mr. Juma and his fellow loggers could make a living, period.
"The problem is that we have nothing else to do," said Mr. Juma, a wiry 33-year-old with a neon green shirt tied around his bare waist, standing over the remains of the chopped-up masuku. "We have no money to raise our families. We have nowhere to run, nothing else to do. So we have to cut the trees to feed our families."
In few places do the dictates of modern environmentalism butt so painfully against economic reality as they do here in Malawi.
Two-thirds of the nation's 12 million people earn less than a dollar a day, according to the United Nations Human Development report. Nine-tenths of those two-thirds live in rural areas where both jobs and the odds of escaping poverty are nonexistent.
For hundreds of thousands of those rural dwellers, sales of firewood and charcoal provide virtually their only income.
Wood and charcoal are the preferred cooking and heating fuels in Malawi, even in the poorer parts of cities, and the demand is huge: the World Bank estimated in 2001 that charcoal consumption alone was twice what the nation's woodlands could sustain without further deforestation. Indeed, loggers illegally clear 100 square miles of forest each year just to meet the demand for charcoal, the government says.
Yet the income - less than $8 million a year nationwide, by official estimates - is pitifully meager, as Mr. Juma's band of loggers can testify.
A single masuku tree, felled and cut into logs and branches, brings about 2,000 kwacha, or about $15 at current exchange rates, when all has been sold. A bundle of three or four branches sold by the roadside brings about 15 cents; a thick five-foot section of trunk, up to $1.50.
Mr. Juma and his fellow loggers say they cut about 15 trees a year, the most the group can sell in a region where dozens of wood vendors line the main street of every town. That provides an income, on average, of about $20 a month.
That $20 must support the 10 men, their 8 wives and 16 children - 34 people in all. Whatever else they have comes from casual labor as gardeners, for about 40 cents a day, or from the vegetable plots outside their one-room huts, just off the main road linking Blantyre and Lilongwe, Malawi's two main cities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/international/africa/01malawi.html?hp
The New Zealand Herald
Australia may force tourists to declare cheques
01.11.05 4.00pm
SYDNEY - New Zealand tourists arriving in or exiting Australia may have to declare their cache of travellers cheques, or they could be confiscated under the federal government's new anti-terrorism laws.
Existing law requires people to tell officers if they are taking more than $A10,000 ($NZ10,803) worth of cash in or out of Australia, but new financial transaction reporting requirements attached to the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 include a provision to show travellers cheques as well.
If police or customs officers have reasonable grounds for believing the traveller has made a false declaration about their cheques, they can search the traveller and his or her bags.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353048
Bomb kills 20 in Iraq after bloodiest month for US
01.11.05 1.00pm
BASRA, Iraq - A car bomb killed 20 people in Iraq's second city of Basra today at the end of the bloodiest month for US troops in Iraq since early this year.
Witnesses said a suicide bomber targeted Iraqi troops.
Seven US troops were killed by bombs near Baghdad, taking October's death toll to 93, the highest in one month since January, when 107 died. The number of Americans killed in Iraq passed the 2,000 mark a week ago.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353031
Fonterra says it knew nothing of Iraq bribes
01.11.05 1.00pm
Dairy giant Fonterra said today it could not be expected to know about any bribes paid by a Vietnamese company to Iraq under the United Nations oil-for-food programme.
A Government inquiry will investigate any links between Fonterra and the Vietnamese firm.
A Fonterra spokesman confirmed the co-op sold to VinaMilk and VinaFood.
But the spokesman said of any bribes paid: "I don't know how we could be expected to discover that."
The spokesman said Fonterra would investigate the situation in light of the latest concerns.
He said Fonterra sold product to many parties around the world who then took control of it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353027
Public took pictures of cop in trouble
01.11.05 1.00pm
By Kristin MacFarlane
A police officer says witnesses took photographs as he wrestled with an alleged offender and did not try to help him.
Constable Darrell Earney said he had stopped a man in Rotorua at around 4.15pm yesterday for riding a bicycle without a helmet.
He said the man told him exactly "where to go and what he thought of the police" before trying to ride away.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353025
Exxon dismisses Chinese buyout bid
01.11.05 1.00pm
NEW YORK - Exxon Mobil today dismissed a bid to acquire it for US$450 billion by a little-known Chinese concern with an apparent history of making unsolicited offers for large companies.
King Win Laurel Ltd. filed papers Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission offering to buy the world's largest publicly traded oil company for US dollars plus Chinese yuan worth a total of US$70 per share.
The company said the offer was subject to financing and carried certain incentives for shareholders should the price of oil rise further.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10353039
Volcker blames UN's problems on its structure
01.11.05
WASHINGTON - The chairman of an independent commission probing the UN's oil-for-food programme has blamed lapses at the world body on a "systemic problem" instead of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Paul Volcker, who chaired a year-long investigation of the scandal-plagued US$64 ($92.63) billion humanitarian programme for Iraq, also disputed a senator's description of a "culture of corruption" at the United Nations, saying he found "limited" corruption.
Volcker testified to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on investigations, chaired by Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman who has called for Annan's ouster and for a drastic overhaul of the United Nations.
Last week, Volcker's panel issued a report that showed 2200 companies from around the world that did business with Iraq in the oil-for-food programme fed Saddam Hussein's regime nearly US$2 billion either through straight bribes or surcharges on oil sales.
Pressed by Coleman on whether Annan should be fired for corruption in the oil-for-food programme and other problems, Volcker said, "I think it is a systemic problem."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353041
Warship seizes $505m cocaine load in Caribbean
01.11.05 4.20pm
LONDON - A British warship seized two tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated 200 million pounds (NZ$505m) after chasing a gang of smugglers in a speedboat in the Caribbean, the British government said on Monday.
Snipers aboard a Royal Navy helicopter fired shots to stop the boat's engines about 160 km off the Nicaraguan coast after it tried to outrun them.
The chase began when the frigate Cumberland intercepted the speedboat during a routine anti-smuggling patrol, the Ministry of Defence in London said.
"This is a great success for the Royal Navy," Defence Secretary John Reid said in a statement. "(It) has dealt a sledgehammer blow to the drug traffickers."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353050
Fourth night of riots in Paris
01.11.05 10.20am
BOBIGNY, France - French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has defended his tough anti-crime policies after a fourth night of riots in a Paris suburb in which tear gas was fired into a mosque during evening prayers.
Sarkozy vowed to investigate the tear gas incident and repeated his "zero tolerance" policy towards violence that began when two teenagers were electrocuted to death after clambering into a power sub-station while apparently fleeing police.
Overnight youths hurled rocks and set fire to cars in the northeastern Clichy-sous-Bois suburb of the French capital, where many immigrants and poor families live in high-rise housing estates notorious for youth violence.
French television said six police officers were hurt and 11 people arrested in the violence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353007
German coalition plans in turmoil
01.11.05 9.40am
BERLIN - Efforts to forge a German bipartisan coalition were disrupted on Monday when the head of the Social Democrats said he would step down as party leader and might not join a new cabinet after a revolt within his party.
Franz Muentefering made his shock announcement after party leaders voted against his candidate for SPD general secretary, plunging the party into crisis in the midst of talks on forming a power-sharing government with the conservatives.
Traditional rivals, the SPD and conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) were forced into coalition talks after an inconclusive election on Sept. 18 left them with no realistic alternative for a stable majority government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353004
Church destroyed in Dresden inferno rises from the ashes
01.11.05
By Tony Paterson
Tens of thousands took part in a moving and symbolic ceremony marking the formal re-consecration of Dresden’s painstakingly rebuilt Church of our Lady yesterday (Sunday) - 60 years after the Baroque masterpiece was destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War.
The event, which marked the completion of a Euros 180 million ($217 million) restoration project funded by donors from across the globe, was attended by Dresdeners with tears in their eyes and dignitaries from Germany, Britain and the United States.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10352947
North Korea says US spy flights hurt nuclear talks
01.11.05 2.20pm
SEOUL - North Korea said today the United States conducted at least 180 espionage flights in October, adding the missions hurt the chances for a settlement in talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
North Korea, which says it has nuclear weapons, regularly accuses the United States of flying spy planes such as the U-2 to photograph strategic targets from the near the fortified Demilitarised Zone that divides the Korean peninsula.
"These aerial espionage flights clearly prove that the US imperialists are desperately trying to stifle the DPRK militarily behind the scene though they are giving lip-service to the negotiated settlement of the nuclear issue," the North's official KCNA news agency reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353033
Indonesia police seek leads on teenage beheadings
01.11.05
By Ade Rina and Telly Nathalia
JAKARTA - Residents of Indonesia’s eastern region of Poso geared up for the biggest holiday on the Islamic calendar as police sought clues to the beheadings of three teenage Christian girls by mysterious assailants.
Police said they had questioned six people about the attacks on the students but had yet to identify leads into the killings, which have again highlighted simmering tension in Poso regency, racked for years by sectarian violence.
Most of the communal violence in the large but sparsely populated Poso area occurs around the predominantly Muslim seaside town of Poso and the hilltop Christian town of Tentena.
National police spokesman Aryanto Budihardjo said one student who survived the attack was among the six witnesses under questioning.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10352949
North Korea says US spy flights hurt nuclear talks
01.11.05 2.20pm
SEOUL - North Korea said today the United States conducted at least 180 espionage flights in October, adding the missions hurt the chances for a settlement in talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
North Korea, which says it has nuclear weapons, regularly accuses the United States of flying spy planes such as the U-2 to photograph strategic targets from the near the fortified Demilitarised Zone that divides the Korean peninsula.
"These aerial espionage flights clearly prove that the US imperialists are desperately trying to stifle the DPRK militarily behind the scene though they are giving lip-service to the negotiated settlement of the nuclear issue," the North's official KCNA news agency reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353033
Trial opens over random search of NY subway riders
01.11.05 3.20pm
NEW YORK - An attack on New York's subway system would not be deterred by random searches of riders' bags at subway stations, lawyers for the New York Civil Liberties Union argued in court on Monday.
NYCLU lawyer Christopher Dunn told a federal court in Manhattan that the city's search policy, introduced after this summer's London bomb attacks, was unprecedented in the United States and violated constitutional rights protecting citizens from being searched without suspicion of criminal activity.
"It is simply difficult to understand that anyone could believe that sophisticated terrorists trying to attack the subway system are going to be deterred," Dunn said in opening arguments. "The only people being searched are innocent New Yorkers."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353042
continued …
Diva walks alone with third Melbourne Cup
Stuart Rintoul
November 02, 2005
"GO and find the smallest child," trainer Lee Freedman said. "That will be an example of the only person here who will live long enough to see something like that again."
And so Makybe Diva, Australia's greatest horse, who raced away to win the Melbourne Cup for an unprecedented third time, yesterday entered Australian folklore.
There are times when words fall short and superlatives cheapen what the eyes have seen. But throughout the nation today, those who did not back the mare will be scratching their heads and wondering what possessed them to think any other horse could win, while the multitude who did back her will be cursing that they did not wager a greater amount.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112537%255E601,00.html
Applause please, Diva exits stage
Brendan Cormick
November 02, 2005
IT was the race that stopped the nation like in no other year. And when it was over, the star of the greatest show on turf took her final bow.
The people may have backed others but they united as one to applaud an achievement unrivalled in the sport of kings by the undisputed queen. With 58kg, Makybe Diva split the field open turning for home, sailed to the front and sprinted clear to register her third successive victory in Australian racing's toughest contest.
Little did we know at the time it would be a farewell performance.
Owner Tony Santic dedicated the Cup to the mare's "20 million owners" and then shocked them with the news Makybe Diva had run her last race.
"This is for you, the people," Santic said holding the Cup aloft as he responded at the presentation for the first time. His racing manager Kevin Williams usually makes the speeches on behalf of the shy owner. Yesterday, there was something that he had to say.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17110331%255E2722,00.html
Race riots expose France's fault lines
Emma-Kate Symons, Paris
November 02, 2005
FRANCE has plunged into a bitter debate over the failure to integrate its large Muslim community after five nights of rioting in a Paris suburb populated by North African immigrants.
As locals mourned the deaths of two teenage boys rumoured to have died last week while being chased by police, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated his vow of zero tolerance against urban violence.
But he stood accused of playing into the hands of the extreme Right and National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen by using words such as "scum" to describe violent youths who made life "impossible" on high-rise council estates such as those in Clichy-sous-Bois.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112484%255E601,00.html
UN veto powers unite on Syria
November 01, 2005
NEW YORK: The UN Security Council has hammered out a tough resolution demanding that Syria co-operate with a probe into the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister or face possible sanctions.
Diplomats from Britain, France and the US told The New York Times they expected the resolution to pass the Security Council overnight and did not foresee a veto from China or Russia, the two countries most reluctant to punish Syria.
The resolution, which will ratchet up international pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad, threatens Syria with economic penalties if it does not give full co-operation to the UN investigation that has identified high-ranking security officials as suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, the paper said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17100127%255E2703,00.html
British blunder may free terrorist suspect
November 01, 2005
LONDON: An extraordinary legal blunder by British government officials may allow a suspected terrorist ringleader being held in Britain to go free.
Italian officials claim that Britain has taken so long to extradite Farj Hassan Faraj that a three-year deadline has passed and he can no longer face trial in Milan for plotting bomb attacks in Europe.
The mix-up over Mr Faraj has caused a serious rift with legal authorities in Italy, who complain that they handed over one of the alleged July 21 London bombers within two months of his arrest in Rome.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17100146%255E2703,00.html
ASIO fears terror cells among us
Patrick Walters, National security editor
November 02, 2005
ASIO has publicly warned for the first time of the existence of a home-grown terror threat - Australian-born Islamic extremists.
The intelligence agency has detailed its concerns about militant Islam in Australia and extremists who advocate violence against "un-Islamic governments".
Its annual report says some Islamic extremists living in Australia have chosen to lean heavily on their perception of conflict as a battle between "Muslims and infidels".
"This perception engenders a sense of isolation and rejection, which is difficult for moderate elements in the Australian community to counteract, and the moderates are perceived to be part of the problem by the extremists."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112535%255E601,00.html
Iraq war makes us target: Faulkner
Samantha Maiden
November 02, 2005
LABOR heavyweight John Faulkner yesterday blamed the Iraq war for making Australia a bigger terror target during a fiery caucus debate over the party's position on proposed anti-terror laws.
Urging a stronger stance on the issue, Senator Faulkner said the ALP should not recoil from making the link.
Labor MPs at the marathon meeting also lashed the premiers for effectively locking the ALP into supporting John Howard's new regime.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112955%255E601,00.html
Local group linked to killing: Mufti
Ean Higgins
November 02, 2005
THE nation's most senior Islamic cleric has called for an urgent investigation into the Australian operations of a Lebanese-based organisation allegedly linked to the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon.
Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali made the call after a UN inquiry implicated al-Ahbash, a Beirut-based Islamic sect and pro-Syrian political organisation, in the bombing murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
The Australian has learned that Mahmoud Abdel-Al, one of the members of al-Ahbash arrested and charged last week following the UN report, has been to Australia and visited al-Ahbash leaders in this country.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112956%255E601,00.html
'All in the loop' on AWB deal
Caroline Overington and Jennifer Sexton
November 02, 2005
THE former executive at the centre of the Iraqi kickbacks scandal claims people at all levels of AWB knew about payments to a Jordanian trucking firm since revealed as sham transactions to funnel millions of dollars in bribes to Saddam Hussein.
Mark Emons, who was manager of Middle East marketing for AWB until 2001, said he did not understand why he had become a target of the investigation into the UN's corrupt oil-for-food program.
"I was part of a management team at the AWB," Mr Emons told The Australian yesterday. "I was just one person and there were many people involved in this, on all different levels (in AWB)." Several directors of the former Australian Wheat Board have said they had no knowledge of payments made to the Iraqi Government front company Alia - which sent $290 million over four years in kickbacks directly to the Saddam regime - until they learnt of the allegations in the UN's Volcker inquiry report released last week.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17112532%255E2702,00.html
Fields of double-dealing
The vastness of the oil-for-food scandal is sweeping dozens of nations and corporations into a worldwide legal and moral minefield, writes David Nason
November 02, 2005
BEFORE last week's release of the final and most shocking report on the UN oil-for-food scandal, it wasn't hard to find people in New York's diplomatic community who disliked Paul Volcker.
The former chairman of the US Federal Reserve has a gruff, overbearing manner to match his oversized 1.9m frame and he won few friends on First Avenue while completing the task given to him by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in April last year: report on the extent of the corruption that flourished in the oil-for-food program, tell the world how it occurred and advise what should be done to prevent it happening again.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17110477%255E28737,00.html
The New York Times
But Will It Stop Cancer?
By GINA KOLATA
Published: November 1, 2005
Bernyce Edwards's daughter was 42 in 1997 when she died of breast cancer. It was just 69 days from diagnosis to death. And through her shock and grief, Ms. Edwards had a terrible worry: what if she got breast cancer, too
John Giustina/Getty Images
Preventing Cancer
Part 1: Diet and Cancer
Later articles in this series will look at the effects of stress and the roles of genetics and the immune system.
Peter Yates for The New York Times
ZEALOUS RUNNER Bernyce Edwards, 73, near her home in Bellingham, Wash. She began running regularly after her daughter died of breast cancer.
"That's my biggest fear," she said.
So, to protect herself, she has taken up exercise.
And not just any exercise. This 73-year-old woman has turned into an exercise zealot.
She walks, she runs, she leaves her house in Bellingham, Wash., as early as 5 a.m. and spends an hour every day, rain or shine, putting in the miles on the trails and around a lake.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/science/01canc.html?hp
Bush Calls for $7.1 Billion to Prepare for Bird Flu Threat
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 1, 2005
Filed at 11:08 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush outlined a $7.1 billion strategy Tuesday to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak, saying he wanted to stockpile enough vaccine to protect 20 million Americans against the current strain of bird flu.
The president also said the United States must approve liability protection for the makers of lifesaving vaccines. He said the number of American vaccine manufacturers has plummeted because the industry has been hit with a flood of lawsuits.
Related Site: Pandemicflu.gov
Bush said no one knows when or where a deadly strain of flu will strike but ''at some point we are likely to face another pandemic.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/health/AP-Bush-Flu.html?hp&ex=1130907600&en=8bc68b8aab58d0c3&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Malawi Is Burning, and Deforestation Erodes Economy
Jeffrey Barbee for The New York Times
The hills overlooking Malosa, and throughout Malawi, are being stripped by illegal logging by people who eke out a barren living by selling firewood.
By MICHAEL WINES
Published: November 1, 2005
MALOSA, Malawi - Lovely and lissome, the masuku tree rises maybe 35 feet at maturity, its wood the hue of a rare steak, its branches dotted with sweet golfball-size fruits that ferment into a tasty wine.
Jeffrey Barbee for The New York Times
Joseph Singano cuts yet another tree on a burned-out hillside. Electricity would be a cheaper fuel, but few villages have access to power lines.
The New York Times
Once heavily forested, Malawi is only about 20 percent covered by tree canopies, and the pace of deforestation is faster than almost anywhere else.
Working just after sunrise atop a small mountain not far from here, Injes Juma and his nine friends needed less than five minutes to sever a masuku at its base and send it crashing to the ground.
Another five minutes of furious hacking with axes and machetes reduced the tree to a stack of five-foot logs, ready to be carried down the steep grade to the highway below.
Mr. Juma and his friends are loggers, members of a vast fraternity that has illegally laid waste to half this nation, mostly in the last 15 years, all to hawk firewood and charcoal at roadside stands.
Because of them, experts say, Malawi loses nearly 200 square miles of its forests annually, a deforestation rate of 2.8 percent that the Southern Africa Development Community says is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
The cutting blights a pastoral, sometimes breathtaking landscape. It dries up streams, pollutes the air, lowers the water table, erodes the soil and silts rivers so badly that, officials here say, hydroelectric plants are blacked out by the gunk.
It is hard to think of many other things that Mr. Juma and his fellow loggers could do that would damage the nation more.
The problem is that it is hard to think of many other ways that Mr. Juma and his fellow loggers could make a living, period.
"The problem is that we have nothing else to do," said Mr. Juma, a wiry 33-year-old with a neon green shirt tied around his bare waist, standing over the remains of the chopped-up masuku. "We have no money to raise our families. We have nowhere to run, nothing else to do. So we have to cut the trees to feed our families."
In few places do the dictates of modern environmentalism butt so painfully against economic reality as they do here in Malawi.
Two-thirds of the nation's 12 million people earn less than a dollar a day, according to the United Nations Human Development report. Nine-tenths of those two-thirds live in rural areas where both jobs and the odds of escaping poverty are nonexistent.
For hundreds of thousands of those rural dwellers, sales of firewood and charcoal provide virtually their only income.
Wood and charcoal are the preferred cooking and heating fuels in Malawi, even in the poorer parts of cities, and the demand is huge: the World Bank estimated in 2001 that charcoal consumption alone was twice what the nation's woodlands could sustain without further deforestation. Indeed, loggers illegally clear 100 square miles of forest each year just to meet the demand for charcoal, the government says.
Yet the income - less than $8 million a year nationwide, by official estimates - is pitifully meager, as Mr. Juma's band of loggers can testify.
A single masuku tree, felled and cut into logs and branches, brings about 2,000 kwacha, or about $15 at current exchange rates, when all has been sold. A bundle of three or four branches sold by the roadside brings about 15 cents; a thick five-foot section of trunk, up to $1.50.
Mr. Juma and his fellow loggers say they cut about 15 trees a year, the most the group can sell in a region where dozens of wood vendors line the main street of every town. That provides an income, on average, of about $20 a month.
That $20 must support the 10 men, their 8 wives and 16 children - 34 people in all. Whatever else they have comes from casual labor as gardeners, for about 40 cents a day, or from the vegetable plots outside their one-room huts, just off the main road linking Blantyre and Lilongwe, Malawi's two main cities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/international/africa/01malawi.html?hp
The New Zealand Herald
Australia may force tourists to declare cheques
01.11.05 4.00pm
SYDNEY - New Zealand tourists arriving in or exiting Australia may have to declare their cache of travellers cheques, or they could be confiscated under the federal government's new anti-terrorism laws.
Existing law requires people to tell officers if they are taking more than $A10,000 ($NZ10,803) worth of cash in or out of Australia, but new financial transaction reporting requirements attached to the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 include a provision to show travellers cheques as well.
If police or customs officers have reasonable grounds for believing the traveller has made a false declaration about their cheques, they can search the traveller and his or her bags.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353048
Bomb kills 20 in Iraq after bloodiest month for US
01.11.05 1.00pm
BASRA, Iraq - A car bomb killed 20 people in Iraq's second city of Basra today at the end of the bloodiest month for US troops in Iraq since early this year.
Witnesses said a suicide bomber targeted Iraqi troops.
Seven US troops were killed by bombs near Baghdad, taking October's death toll to 93, the highest in one month since January, when 107 died. The number of Americans killed in Iraq passed the 2,000 mark a week ago.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353031
Fonterra says it knew nothing of Iraq bribes
01.11.05 1.00pm
Dairy giant Fonterra said today it could not be expected to know about any bribes paid by a Vietnamese company to Iraq under the United Nations oil-for-food programme.
A Government inquiry will investigate any links between Fonterra and the Vietnamese firm.
A Fonterra spokesman confirmed the co-op sold to VinaMilk and VinaFood.
But the spokesman said of any bribes paid: "I don't know how we could be expected to discover that."
The spokesman said Fonterra would investigate the situation in light of the latest concerns.
He said Fonterra sold product to many parties around the world who then took control of it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353027
Public took pictures of cop in trouble
01.11.05 1.00pm
By Kristin MacFarlane
A police officer says witnesses took photographs as he wrestled with an alleged offender and did not try to help him.
Constable Darrell Earney said he had stopped a man in Rotorua at around 4.15pm yesterday for riding a bicycle without a helmet.
He said the man told him exactly "where to go and what he thought of the police" before trying to ride away.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10353025
Exxon dismisses Chinese buyout bid
01.11.05 1.00pm
NEW YORK - Exxon Mobil today dismissed a bid to acquire it for US$450 billion by a little-known Chinese concern with an apparent history of making unsolicited offers for large companies.
King Win Laurel Ltd. filed papers Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission offering to buy the world's largest publicly traded oil company for US dollars plus Chinese yuan worth a total of US$70 per share.
The company said the offer was subject to financing and carried certain incentives for shareholders should the price of oil rise further.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10353039
Volcker blames UN's problems on its structure
01.11.05
WASHINGTON - The chairman of an independent commission probing the UN's oil-for-food programme has blamed lapses at the world body on a "systemic problem" instead of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Paul Volcker, who chaired a year-long investigation of the scandal-plagued US$64 ($92.63) billion humanitarian programme for Iraq, also disputed a senator's description of a "culture of corruption" at the United Nations, saying he found "limited" corruption.
Volcker testified to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on investigations, chaired by Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman who has called for Annan's ouster and for a drastic overhaul of the United Nations.
Last week, Volcker's panel issued a report that showed 2200 companies from around the world that did business with Iraq in the oil-for-food programme fed Saddam Hussein's regime nearly US$2 billion either through straight bribes or surcharges on oil sales.
Pressed by Coleman on whether Annan should be fired for corruption in the oil-for-food programme and other problems, Volcker said, "I think it is a systemic problem."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353041
Warship seizes $505m cocaine load in Caribbean
01.11.05 4.20pm
LONDON - A British warship seized two tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated 200 million pounds (NZ$505m) after chasing a gang of smugglers in a speedboat in the Caribbean, the British government said on Monday.
Snipers aboard a Royal Navy helicopter fired shots to stop the boat's engines about 160 km off the Nicaraguan coast after it tried to outrun them.
The chase began when the frigate Cumberland intercepted the speedboat during a routine anti-smuggling patrol, the Ministry of Defence in London said.
"This is a great success for the Royal Navy," Defence Secretary John Reid said in a statement. "(It) has dealt a sledgehammer blow to the drug traffickers."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353050
Fourth night of riots in Paris
01.11.05 10.20am
BOBIGNY, France - French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has defended his tough anti-crime policies after a fourth night of riots in a Paris suburb in which tear gas was fired into a mosque during evening prayers.
Sarkozy vowed to investigate the tear gas incident and repeated his "zero tolerance" policy towards violence that began when two teenagers were electrocuted to death after clambering into a power sub-station while apparently fleeing police.
Overnight youths hurled rocks and set fire to cars in the northeastern Clichy-sous-Bois suburb of the French capital, where many immigrants and poor families live in high-rise housing estates notorious for youth violence.
French television said six police officers were hurt and 11 people arrested in the violence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10353007
German coalition plans in turmoil
01.11.05 9.40am
BERLIN - Efforts to forge a German bipartisan coalition were disrupted on Monday when the head of the Social Democrats said he would step down as party leader and might not join a new cabinet after a revolt within his party.
Franz Muentefering made his shock announcement after party leaders voted against his candidate for SPD general secretary, plunging the party into crisis in the midst of talks on forming a power-sharing government with the conservatives.
Traditional rivals, the SPD and conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) were forced into coalition talks after an inconclusive election on Sept. 18 left them with no realistic alternative for a stable majority government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353004
Church destroyed in Dresden inferno rises from the ashes
01.11.05
By Tony Paterson
Tens of thousands took part in a moving and symbolic ceremony marking the formal re-consecration of Dresden’s painstakingly rebuilt Church of our Lady yesterday (Sunday) - 60 years after the Baroque masterpiece was destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War.
The event, which marked the completion of a Euros 180 million ($217 million) restoration project funded by donors from across the globe, was attended by Dresdeners with tears in their eyes and dignitaries from Germany, Britain and the United States.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10352947
North Korea says US spy flights hurt nuclear talks
01.11.05 2.20pm
SEOUL - North Korea said today the United States conducted at least 180 espionage flights in October, adding the missions hurt the chances for a settlement in talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
North Korea, which says it has nuclear weapons, regularly accuses the United States of flying spy planes such as the U-2 to photograph strategic targets from the near the fortified Demilitarised Zone that divides the Korean peninsula.
"These aerial espionage flights clearly prove that the US imperialists are desperately trying to stifle the DPRK militarily behind the scene though they are giving lip-service to the negotiated settlement of the nuclear issue," the North's official KCNA news agency reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353033
Indonesia police seek leads on teenage beheadings
01.11.05
By Ade Rina and Telly Nathalia
JAKARTA - Residents of Indonesia’s eastern region of Poso geared up for the biggest holiday on the Islamic calendar as police sought clues to the beheadings of three teenage Christian girls by mysterious assailants.
Police said they had questioned six people about the attacks on the students but had yet to identify leads into the killings, which have again highlighted simmering tension in Poso regency, racked for years by sectarian violence.
Most of the communal violence in the large but sparsely populated Poso area occurs around the predominantly Muslim seaside town of Poso and the hilltop Christian town of Tentena.
National police spokesman Aryanto Budihardjo said one student who survived the attack was among the six witnesses under questioning.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10352949
North Korea says US spy flights hurt nuclear talks
01.11.05 2.20pm
SEOUL - North Korea said today the United States conducted at least 180 espionage flights in October, adding the missions hurt the chances for a settlement in talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
North Korea, which says it has nuclear weapons, regularly accuses the United States of flying spy planes such as the U-2 to photograph strategic targets from the near the fortified Demilitarised Zone that divides the Korean peninsula.
"These aerial espionage flights clearly prove that the US imperialists are desperately trying to stifle the DPRK militarily behind the scene though they are giving lip-service to the negotiated settlement of the nuclear issue," the North's official KCNA news agency reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353033
Trial opens over random search of NY subway riders
01.11.05 3.20pm
NEW YORK - An attack on New York's subway system would not be deterred by random searches of riders' bags at subway stations, lawyers for the New York Civil Liberties Union argued in court on Monday.
NYCLU lawyer Christopher Dunn told a federal court in Manhattan that the city's search policy, introduced after this summer's London bomb attacks, was unprecedented in the United States and violated constitutional rights protecting citizens from being searched without suspicion of criminal activity.
"It is simply difficult to understand that anyone could believe that sophisticated terrorists trying to attack the subway system are going to be deterred," Dunn said in opening arguments. "The only people being searched are innocent New Yorkers."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10353042
continued …
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