The Jordan Times
Fortunes of a barbershop mirror Baghdad's high and lows
By Hamza Hendawi
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — There was hope when Saddam Hussein's statue came tumbling down outside Qais Al Sharaa's barbershop. Most of his customers dreamed of a better life.
Three years later, they show up with guns and bodyguards.
Al Sharaa barbershop sits on the corner of Firdous Square, where the most lasting image of the Iraq invasion unfolded — US Marines, cheered by a throng of Iraqis, hauling down a statue of the fallen ruler on April 9, 2003.
Life in his modest but clean shop — three reclining chairs and eight more for waiting customers — reflects Baghdad's transformation over the last three years. The sign outside offers Jacuzzi and sauna — nonexistent for now but indicative of the high hopes the owner once had.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news7.htm
US to maintain vital aid to Palestinians
RAMALLAH (AP) — A senior US envoy promised on Saturday to continue sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people even after a Hamas government is formed, in the first-high level meeting between the two sides since the Islamic fighters' surprise election victory.
The US and the European Union, the Palestinian Authority's main donors, have threatened to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in financial backing if Hamas doesn't abandon its violent campaign against Israel.
With that threat looming, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who favours peacemaking with Israel, again warned in comments published Saturday that he would quit if Hamas didn't change its ways.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news2.htm
Coming to terms
Is the world slowly coming to terms with Hamas' victory? The initial ill-thought-through, knee-jerk Western reaction would seem to have left room for little wriggle, and apparently some calm has descended upon a rather emotive stance.
Yesterday, US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the US would not end assistance to the Palestinian people, but that this would be made available through nongovernmental organisations rather than direct funding to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority for as long as Hamas refuses to recognise Israel, etc., etc.
Since a substantial amount of US aid is given directly to infrastructure projects outside the PA, in other words, Washington, for all its bluster, appears to have started reconciling itself with the new democratic Palestinian reality.
Elsewhere, the United Nations is also taking a pragmatic stand, with UN envoy Alvaro de Soto urging donors not to dry up funds to the PA, indeed to make up for the shortfall expected next month when Israel has said it will not make a monthly payment it owes the PA of the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA.
Finally, the EU will release the admittedly minuscule amount of just over $100,000 next week to the interim Palestinian government.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/opinion/opinion1.htm
Jordanian hostage arrives home after two-month ordeal
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN — A Jordanian embassy driver held hostage for two months in Iraq was greeted by Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Saturday on his return to the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib, Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff General Khalid Sarayreh and senior officials were also at the airport to welcome Mahmoud Saaidat, as well as several of his family members and friends.
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, the premier, informed Saaidat of the intense efforts to secure his release.
“The relentless efforts and ongoing follow-up from King Abdullah with various government institutions were very successful,” Petra quoted Bakhit as telling Saaidat.
The prime minister also thanked all those who played a part in the release.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews3.htm
Abbas says may resign if peace not pursued
LONDON (Reuters) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will resign if he feels he is no longer in a position to pursue his peacemaking agenda when the new Hamas government takes over.
In an interview to be shown on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby politics programme on Sunday, Abbas accepted there were difficulties posed by Hamas' refusal to acknowledge Israel, but held back from saying directly he would quit if they continued.
"We could reach a point where I cannot perform my duty, then I will not continue sitting in this place, against and in spite of my convictions," he said, speaking in Arabic and dubbed into English.
"If I can do something then I will continue, otherwise I won't. From the beginning, I said ... that if I fail I will resign," he added.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news3.htm
Turkish youth discuss dangers of stereotyping
AMMAN (JT) — Common global humanity, dangerous stereotypes and the need for greater understanding were the focal areas of discussion between Her Majesty Queen Rania and a group of Turkish youth during a televised roundtable in Istanbul last week.
The discussion, entitled: The Youth Bridge, comes in the wake of the recent cartoon crisis and forms part of the Queen's efforts to reach out to youth and highlight their role in combating extremism through dialogue and interaction.
The Queen dismissed the clash of civilisations theory between East and West, arguing that there is only a clash of “extremists against all civilisations.”
“There is so much more that brings us together, than there is that separates us,” said the Queen.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews4.htm
Queen promotes Jordanian-Turkish collaboration in Early Childhood Development, Education
Her Majesty Queen Rania with a group of children at the Caglayan Primary School on Thursday (Photo by Nasser Ayoub)
AMMAN (JT) — Her Majesty Queen Rania explored and promoted Jordanian-Turkish collaborations in the field of Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Education during a two-day working trip to Istanbul, which concluded on Friday.
During a press conference on Friday, Her Majesty noted the importance of ensuring access to, and quality of, education for all its children — girls and boys — while commending Turkish initiatives in the field.
Queen Rania and Emine Erdogan, wife of the Turkish prime minister, reiterated the importance of ECD programmes to members of the press.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews2.htm
Japan grants assistance to support NAMH
AMMAN (JT) — The government of Japan will sign an agreement with the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped (NAMH) today to support the organisation's work in providing education and physical care.
The grant agreement, totalling $15,642, will be signed by Matahiro Yamaguchi, chargé d'affaires of the embassy of Japan and Aida Bseiso, president of NAMH, at the association's Centre for Special Education in Amman.
The grant will help furnish the association's educational equipment in order to expand its capacity and reduce the number of students on the waiting list, according to a statement by the Japanese embassy.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/homenews/homenews7.htm
Arab parliamentarians call on member states to ratify anti-terrorism agreement
King Abdullah voiced hope that the conference would strengthen Arab solidarity and institutionalise democracy and public participation in political life
His Majesty King Abdullah with heads of the Arab delegations attending the 12th AIPU conference on Monday (Photo by Yousef Allan)
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
THE DEAD SEA — The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) political committee on Monday called on member states of the Arab League to ratify the 1998 Arab anti-terrorism agreement and consolidate efforts to uproot terrorism.
During a meeting on the sidelines of the biannual AIPU conference being held at the Dead Sea, the committee noted that only eight members of the Arab League have so far ratified the agreement.
On April 22, 1998, officials from 22 Arab countries signed for the first time an accord to fight terrorism and extremism.
The agreement calls on Arab countries to deny refuge, training and financial or military support to groups that launch attacks on other Arab nations.
The signatories also promised to exchange information on terrorist groups.
But so far only Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan and the Palestinian Authority have ratified the agreement.
The committee yesterday also urged Arab parliamentarians to lobby the international community to hold an international conference on terrorism under the auspices of the United Nations.
The committee stressed the importance of coming up with a clear definition of terrorism.
“We must differentiate between terrorism and the right to legitimate resistance,” said the committee.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the right to fight occupying forces in Iraq stand at the heart of the dispute when it comes to defining terrorism.
While the Arab and Islamic worlds support the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation, the US and its allies label most of the Palestinian factions as terrorist organisations.
Speaking on behalf of Jordan's delegation, Senator Taher Masri told Arab parliamentarians to stand united against “blind terrorism,” pointing out that Jordan had recently suffered as a victim of such “despicable acts.”
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali inaugurated the 12th AIPU conference on Monday with a call for Arab unity.
During the two-day conference, Arab lawmakers will focus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Iraqi situation and the global war on terror.
Also yesterday, Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Salim Zanoun offered an olive branch to Kuwait in order to put an end to 16 years of severed relations.
Zanoun said he was ready to visit Kuwait and apologise to the Kuwaiti people for the Palestinian leadership's support for the Iraqi invasion in 1990.
“I am ready to visit Kuwait and offer my apology if that would bring relations between the two sides back to normal and consolidate Arab unity,” he said.
Kuwaiti delegates at the AIPU said they were “surprised” by Zanoun's comments.
The Kuwait delegation is expected to issue an official statement on the proposal today.
As a result of the PLO's support for Iraq's invasion, over 300,000 Palestinian expatriates were kicked out of Kuwait after the American- led liberation in 1991, and Kuwait cut off all aid to the PLO.
King receives Arab parliamentarians
King Abdullah held a lunch banquet for heads of the Arab delegations on Monday, where he voiced hope that the conference would strengthen Arab solidarity and institutionalise democracy and public participation in political life.
The King also received Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa to discuss issues on the agenda of the upcoming Arab summit, to be held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in late March.
The King said the summit comes at a time when the Arab nation is facing exceptional and critical challenges.
He urged Arab countries to support the ongoing political process in Iraq to help the country preserve its security and national unity.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/homenews/homenews1.htm
The Washington Post
Iraq Death Toll Higher Than First Thought
Violence Unleashed Last Week Killed More Than 1,300
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 27, 2006; 7:12 PM
BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday -- sprawled, blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies had their hands still bound -- and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701128.html
Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300
Morgue Count Eclipses Other Tallies Since Shrine Attack
By Ellen Knickmeyer and Bassam Sebti
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 -- Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701128.html
Coast Guard Had Concerns on Port Deal
By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
Monday, February 27, 2006; 6:21 PM
WASHINGTON -- Citing broad gaps in U.S. intelligence, the Coast Guard cautioned the Bush administration weeks ago that it could not determine whether a United Arab Emirates-based company seeking a stake in some U.S. port operations might support terrorist operations.
The disclosure came during a hearing Monday on Dubai-owned DP World's plans to take over significant operations at six leading U.S. ports.
The Bush administration said the Coast Guard's concerns were raised during its review of the deal, which it approved Jan. 17, and that all those questions were resolved.
The port operations are now handled by London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022700202.html
Governors Lobby Bush About Guard
White House Ensures Funds, Equipment
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A04
President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sought yesterday to allay concerns among the nation's governors about funding and restructuring of the National Guard, but governors in both parties later said the administration must do more to satisfy them fully.
Governors were united in their opposition to what they regard as cuts in Guard funding in Bush's fiscal 2007 budget as well as fears that the Pentagon has been slow to replace equipment that has been shipped to Iraq with state Guard units. Early this month, all 50 governors signed a letter opposing the new budget and calling on Defense Department officials to reequip returning units as quickly as possible.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701274.html
Middle East Envoy Warns of Palestinian Authority Collapse
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 27, 2006; 12:45 PM
JERUSALEM, Feb. 27 -- A special Middle East envoy, James D. Wolfensohn, has warned international donors that the Palestinian Authority could collapse within two weeks unless fresh funding can be found to pay salaries, clear overdue energy bills and sustain government services financed largely by foreign aid.
In a Feb. 25 letter addressed to senior diplomats from Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, Wolfensohn said Israel's decision to withhold the sales tax and customs fees it collects for the Palestinian Authority has pushed the caretaker government to the brink of insolvency.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022700514.html
Court Blocks DOD's New Rules for Workers
Collective Bargaining Hurt, Judge Says
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A01
A federal judge blocked the Defense Department from implementing much of its new personnel system yesterday, handing the Bush administration a major setback in its efforts to streamline work rules and install pay-for-performance systems in federal workplaces.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701394.html
Two-Thirds of Katrina Donations Exhausted
Charities Faced With Difficult Decisions and Countless Requests as They Spend What Is Left
By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A01
Six months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, charities have disbursed more than $2 billion of the record sums they raised for the storm's victims, leaving less than $1 billion for the monumental task of helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims rebuild their lives, according to a survey by The Washington Post.
Two-thirds of the $3.27 billion raised by private nonprofit organizations and tracked by The Post went to help evacuees and other Katrina victims with immediate needs -- cash, food and temporary shelter, medical care, tarps for damaged homes and school supplies for displaced children.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601383.html
Senate Draft on Lobbying Clamps Down on Earmarks
Rules Panel Would Target Narrow Spending and Require Prompt Disclosure of Meals Received
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A07
The Senate Rules Committee plans today to draft legislation that would make it harder for lawmakers to win narrowly focused appropriations and tax breaks called earmarks and to compel lawmakers to quickly disclose any meals they accept from lobbyists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701241.html
In Fire's Wake, Logging Study Inflames Debate
University Study Challenges Cutting Of Burnt Timber
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A03
MEDFORD, Ore. -- If fire ravages a national forest, as happened here in southwest Oregon when the Biscuit fire torched a half-million acres four years ago, the Bush administration believes loggers should move in quickly, cut marketable trees that remain and replant a healthy forest.
"We must quickly restore the areas that have been damaged by fire," President Bush said in Oregon four years ago after touring damage from the Biscuit fire. He called it "common sense."
Common sense, though, may not always be sound science. An Oregon State University study has raised an extraordinary ruckus in the Pacific Northwest this winter by saying that logging burned forests does not make much sense.
Logging after the Biscuit fire, the study found, has harmed forest recovery and increased fire risk. What the short study did not say -- but what many critics of the Bush administration are reading into it -- is that the White House has ignored science to please the timber industry. The study is consistent with research findings from around the world that have documented how salvage logging can strip burned forests of the biological diversity that fire and natural recovery help protect.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601287.html
He's Welcome In Pakistan
By Ahmed Rashid
Sunday, February 26, 2006; Page B01
LAHORE When President Bush lands in Islamabad later this week, it may be the closest he ever comes to being in the same neighborhood as Osama bin Laden. His nemesis is probably only a few hours drive away in Pakistan's Pashtun belt, now considered to be al Qaeda Central and one of the world's most dangerous regions.
During the past 12 months or so, CIA and Pentagon officials have quietly modified the line they employed for three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- that bin Laden was hiding out "in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border." Now the same officials say with some confidence that he is "not based in Afghanistan." Whatever ambiguity there was in the past is gone: Bin Laden is in Pakistan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022401639.html
IAEA: Iran Advancing Uranium Enrichment
Report Noncommittal On Pursuit of Arms
By Molly Moore and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A10
PARIS, Feb. 27 -- Iran is advancing its uranium enrichment program, but the U.N. atomic monitoring organization still cannot determine whether the country is secretly developing nuclear weapons, according to an agency report made public on Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency "has not seen any diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in a report to the IAEA's board. But the agency was not "in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran," the report added.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701326.html
The New Zealand Herald
Armed forces on standby to tackle water wars
28.02.06 1.00pm
By Ben Russell and Nigel Morris
LONDON - Across the world, they are coming: the water wars.
From Israel to India, from Turkey to Botswana, arguments are going on over disputed water supplies that may soon burst into open conflict.
Yesterday, Britain's Defence Secretary, John Reid, pointed to the factor hastening the violent collision between a rising world population and a shrinking world water resource: global warming.
In a grim first intervention in the climate-change debate, the Defence Secretary issued a bleak forecast that violence and political conflict would become more likely in the next 20 to 30 years as climate change turned land into desert, melted ice fields and poisoned water supplies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370420
Searchers concentrate on area around missing tourist's pack
28.02.06 1.00pm
Police are concentrating on a small area of Arthur's Pass, as they continue their search today for missing British tourist Elizabeth Margaret Thomson.
Ms Thomson, 55, of Kent, England, has not been seen since Saturday, and police search and rescue teams are back today combing the area.
Ms Thomson failed to return from a day tramp in the Arthur's Pass National Park.
Groups of searchers with dogs have been scouring the area since the alarm was raised on Sunday and they headed back out again this morning.
Trampers found her backpack on Sunday on the Mount Aicken track at about 1700m above sea level.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370411
Funding gap for Auckland balloons to $700m
28.02.06 4.00pm
Public transport developments in Auckland are being threatened by a massive funding shortfall.
The Auckland Regional Council has today announced a funding gap of at least $700 million - and possibly a lot more.
Chairman Mike Lee said without the money, the city's public transport system cannot be improved to the level Aucklanders are crying out for.
It will mean delays to increases in bus and rail services.
The ARC will not be looking to raise rates to pay for the shortfall - it believes anything more than the current proposed increase of 4.9 per cent is beyond the limits of public acceptance. It already spends about half its rates take on public transport.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370426
Inmates allowed to watch violent movies
27.02.06 1.00pm
Prison inmates have been allowed to watch R-rated movies glorifying hard-core violence, nudity, drug abuse and jail breaks, according to a National MP.
The Dominion-Post reported the Corrections Department was breaching its own policy on what movies inmates can watch.
The newspaper said inmates were allowed to watch films during recreation time in their cells or common rooms, but those with R-ratings were supposed to be banned.
A list of films released to National MP Simon Power, included the R18 rated Quentin Tarantino-directed flick Kill Bill, Unspeakable, in which a psychopath goes on a murderous rampage with a razor, and Blow, the true story of a career drug dealer who teaches other inmates how to smuggle cocaine while in prison.
Other films shown were Wild Things 2 and Gone in 60 Seconds, which police had blamed for copycat car thefts.
Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor said there was a breach in policy and his department would implement "a vigorous vetting process".
The department made similar promises in 2002 when it was revealed inmates were frequently allowed to watch R-rated films.
Public Prisons Service acting general manager Bob Calland said staff had been reminded of the policy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10370266
Australia still stalled over Iraqi wheat market
27.02.06
By Nick Olivari
BAGHDAD - Australia's Deputy Prime Minister leaves Baghdad with an Iraqi promise to buy Australian wheat, but not from monopoly exporter AWB Ltd.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said his country was ready to buy Australian wheat, but would not overturn a decision to suspend dealings with AWB pending an inquiry into allegations it paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein.
"We are ready to buy Australian wheat and hope to come to some kind of arrangement where we can satisfactorily do that without jeopardising the Cole investigation and its results," Chalabi said after meeting his Australian counterpart.
"We are sure the Australian government will take steps to address the interests of Australian farmers and also the interests of exporting Australian wheat to the world."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10370282
Militants seize parts of Afghan jail, 30 injured
27.02.06 9.00am
By Yousuf Azimy
PUL-I-CHARKHI, Afghanistan - Taleban and al Qaeda inmates armed with makeshift weapons took control of parts of Kabul's main jail and at least 30 prisoners were wounded in efforts to quell the riot, officials said today.
Bursts of gunfire were heard from the high security Pul-i-Charkhi prison after hundreds of police and troops surrounded the prison on the Afghan capital's eastern outskirts.
A police officer at the scene said seven prisoners were killed but his account could not be independently confirmed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370259
Afghans hopeful for peaceful end to prison standoff
28.02.06 1.00pm
By Yousuf Azimy
PUL-I-CHARKHI, Afghanistan - The Afghan government said today it hoped for a peaceful resolution to a revolt by hundreds of inmates of Kabul's main prison.
Four prisoners have been killed and 38 wounded since more than 1,000 prisoners took over parts of the Pul-i-Charkhi prison on Kabul's eastern outskirts on Saturday, prisoners told a human rights lawyer.
The revolt is led by Taleban commanders and a kidnap gang leader facing a death sentence for the kidnap of an Italian aid worker last year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370414
German spies helped US
28.02.06 8.20am
German intelligence agents in Baghdad obtained a copy of Saddam Hussein's plan to defend the Iraqi capital, which was passed on to US commanders a month before the 2003 invasion, The New York Times reported.
The plan gave the Americans an extraordinary window into how Saddam planned to deploy his most loyal troops. Germany was among European nations against the Iraq war.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370373
Zapped man ignites
28.02.06 7.20am
A 50,000 volt burst from a police Taser gun set an American man on fire when the jolt ignited a butane cigarette lighter in his shirt pocket.
Florida's Sun Sentinel newspaper said officers zapped the man when he refused to drop a knife then threw him to the ground and rolled him around till the flames went out. The 53-year-old man was treated for minor burns and two self-inflicted stab wounds.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370377
Taiwan no closer to unification with China
28.02.06 1.20pm
TAIPEI - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian today scrapped a policy-making body on unification with China and 15-year-old symbolic guidelines on eventual unification, a move that has riled Beijing and drew an appeal from Washington to preserve the status quo.
While the move was almost certain to complicate reunion and fuel tensions, Chen said it did not mean Taiwan would push for formal independence.
"Taiwan has no intention of changing the status quo and firmly opposes any use of non-peaceful means that will cause the status quo to change," Chen said after a meeting with his top national security advisers.
Chen, keen to shake off Beijing's claim of sovereignty over the self-ruled island, declared the National Unification Council has "ceased to function" and guidelines on unification have "ceased to apply".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370424
Australian 'never planned' to join terrorists
28.02.06 1.00pm
Jack Thomas, the first person to be convicted under Australia's new terrorism laws, has told ABC TV's Four Corners program that he never planned to take part in terrorism.
In an exclusive interview, the man dubbed "Jihad Jack" says top Al Qaeda operatives asked him to work for the terrorist organisation in Australia but he declined.
Yesterday, the Victorian Supreme Court found the 32-year-old from Werribee guilty of receiving funds from Al Qaeda and of falsifying his passport.
Thomas, who is in custody awaiting sentencing, says he did not think he was committing a crime by accepting a plane ticket home to Australia.
"I didn't feel that I had committed any crimes apart from changing my passport," he said.
"All I wanted to do was get home."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370418
Flight attendant panics as jet falls 8000ft in seconds
28.02.06 11.20am
By Martin Hickman
An investigation has been launched into claims that a Virgin Atlantic flight attendant panicked during a turbulent flight and repeatedly shouted to passengers: "We're crashing."
Pandemonium broke out on the flight from Gatwick to Las Vegas when it was hit by storms and plummeted thousands of feet in seconds.
A man was hurled to the top of the cabin and others clung to seats from the aisle because of the violent swaying of the plane.
But passengers became more alarmed when an attendant at the rear of the Boeing 747 began screaming.
Claire Daley, one of 451 people on board, hoped the crew would calm her nerves.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370421
Don't worry, be happy and drink lots of cocoa
28.02.06
By Steve Connor
Men who are blessed with a sunny disposition and a predilection for a cup of cocoa before bedtime are also likely to live longer, scientists have discovered.
Two separate studies in the Netherlands have found that regular cocoa drinkers have lower blood pressure than non-drinkers and that an optimistic outlook helps you to avoid heart disease.
Both studies looked at large numbers of men between the ages of 64 and 85 who were interviewed about their lifestyles in order to tease out any associations with potentially lethal diseases.
Brian Buijsse of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven investigated the cocoa-drinking habits of 470 elderly men, whereas Erik Giltay of the Institute of Mental Health in Deft looked at levels of optimism among 545 men of a similar age.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10370441
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