The Moscow Times
Caspian Complicates Iran-Russia Relations
By Stephen Boykewich
Staff Writer
Hooshang Amirahmadi was still a boy when the Russians came to his hometown on Iran's Caspian Sea shore in the late 1960s.
Almost 40 years and a run for the Iranian presidency later, Amirahmadi remembers how the natural gas pipeline they built transformed the entire region.
"I used to like that pipeline," Amirahmadi said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Princeton, New Jersey. "It became the cause for highway development as the Russians had to build a highway for trucks and other construction machinery. ... Particularly for rural people, it created connections between places that would have taken decades to get connected otherwise."
The Soviet-built gas trunk line was a boon for both sides, supplying the Soviet Union with gas from southern Iranian oil fields in exchange for Soviet help building a key steel plant in Isfahan.
And when price disputes led Iran to shut down the trunk line in 1980, one year after the country's Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, it was a sign that "cooperation and conflict," as Amirahmadi said, would always go hand in hand.
Russia's balancing act with Iran has never been more evident -- or more precarious. While the two countries are trade and energy partners, especially in the nuclear field, old suspicions and competition for influence in the energy-rich Caspian region continue to cloud the waters.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/25/002.html
Money Brings Pain in Beslan
By Yuras Karmanau
The Associated Press
Valiko Margiyev sitting by the grave of his daughter Elvira, who was 12 when she was killed in the Beslan attack.
BESLAN, North Ossetia -- A year ago, Elvira Tuayeva had to wade through mud to visit the plot where her son and daughter were laid to rest after they were killed in the Beslan school.
Today, huge red granite tombstones stand over every grave, neat paths wind between the rows, and a "Tree of Grief" statue soars above, showing children as angels. All were financed by the state.
"The authorities understand they are guilty, so money and aid are just raining down on Beslan," said Tuayeva, 44, who was held captive with her 12-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son.
"It's painful for me to see what's showing up in Beslan, because I think it has all been bought with my children's blood," she said, still wearing mourning black 20 months after the tragedy.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/25/013.html
Dollar Is a Dirty Word for the Duma
Combined Reports
The State Duma gave initial approval on Wednesday to a bill that would punish government ministers for saying "dollar" when they could have used the word "ruble" instead.
The Duma also passed in first reading a bill that would force stores, restaurants and other businesses to list all prices in rubles.
"The ruble is on the move," Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, said, drawing a parallel with the Soviet Red Army's victorious march across Europe at the end of World War II. "The next stop is Berlin."
Duma deputies backed the first bill with 384 votes, with one abstention. The bill outlawing prices other than in rubles passed by 375-2 with one abstention. Both bills must pass a further two readings.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/25/012.html
Deputy governor in South Urals charged with abuse of office
RIA NOVOSTI. May 25, 2006, 3:04 PM
YEKATERINBURG (South Urals), May 25 (RIA Novosti) - A deputy governor in the South Urals has been charged with abuse of office for illegal purchase of art, local prosecutors said Thursday.
Konstantin Bochkaryov, a deputy governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, allegedly used budget funds on behalf of the governor to buy art worth about 180 million rubles ($6.7 mln) from a Moscow-based supplier to decorate a regional administration building. An expert committee evaluated the price of the art collection at only 68 million rubles ($2.5 mln).
Prosecutors asked the Chelyabinsk Central Court to sanction Bochkaryov's arrest, but the court opted to bind him over until the trial.
The case comes against the backdrop of a pledge made by President Vladimir Putin to tackle corruption in his May 10 state of the nation address and a court ruling Wednesday sanctioning the arrest of a governor in Russia's extreme north on fraud charges.
Putin said that corruption remained a major barrier in the way of Russia's economic prosperity and that the government must fight all attempts by state bodies and business to profit personally at the expense of the common good.
Russia's chief prosecutor also said Thursday that new high-profile anti-corruption cases could be opened in the near future.
Prosecutor hints at new anti-corruption cases in near future
RIA NOVOSTI. May 25, 2006, 2:55 PM
(Recasts headline, lead, adds paragraphs 3-5)
MINSK, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's top justice official said Thursday that new high-profile anti-corruption criminal cases could be launched in the near future.
Vladimir Ustinov said the Prosecutor General's Office was focusing on the fight against corruption, which remains a key problem facing Russia and was highlighted by President Vladimir Putin in his state of the nation address May 10.
Putin said in his speech that anti-corruption efforts would be intensified, and investigators said Thursday that they had started 20 investigations into the economics ministry and customs services. One case concerns the issue of licenses for meat imports that cost the state 27 million euros ($35 million), investigators said.
Following his address, Putin fired a number of senior security officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB), and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov dismissed high-ranking officials from the Federal Customs Service as investigators launched a major probe into corruption.
The latest high-profile case hit the headlines Tuesday, as Alexei Barinov, governor of the mineral-rich Nenets Autonomous Area in Russia's far north, was arrested May 23. Barinov and his aides are suspected of involvement in fraudulent activities to the tune of 19 million rubles ($700,000).
Yekhanurov govt. resigns as new Ukraine parliament convenes
RIA NOVOSTI. May 25, 2006, 2:09 PM
KIEV, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - The Ukrainian government headed by Yuriy Yekhanurov has officially resigned after the newly elected parliament started its first session Thursday.
But Yekhanurov's cabinet will remain in place until the Supreme Rada forms a new government, which under the Ukrainian Constitution should happen within the next 60 days.
The Constitution says parliament must first agree on a parliamentary coalition in the next 30 days, and then put forward a candidate prime minister and cabinet members for the president's consideration. If parliament fails to form a coalition and does not put forward candidates within the time limit, President Viktor Yushchenko has the right to disband the Rada and call new elections.
The former Soviet republic has been in parliamentary limbo since the March 26 vote ended in deadlock, as the pro-Russia Party of Regions finished 10% ahead of its nearest rival in the vote but has been frozen out of the coalition-building process as three other movements sought to do a deal.
The eponymous bloc of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, pro-presidential Our Ukraine and the Socialist Party agreed to form a coalition earlier Thursday and said they would prepare the text of the agreement by June 7.
Tymoshenko, the heroine of the "orange revolution" that swept Yushchenko to power in 2004, has made no secret of her ambition to come back as prime minister - a post from which Yushchenko sacked her in a very public fallout in September 2005 - while Our Ukraine seems likely to insist on its own candidate, Yekhanurov.
Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych, a former prime minister, who was Yushchenko's main rival in the 2004 presidential elections, also has a good chance of getting the post, given his experience and his party's win in the parliamentary elections, analysts say.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Pakistan Halts MMK's First Foreign Deal
By Yuriy Humber
Staff Writer
Magnitogorsk Steel & Iron's bid to expand through acquisitions abroad hit a snag Wednesday after Pakistan's Supreme Court halted the steelmaker's first foreign buy.
The court halted the transfer of shares of Pakistan Steel Mills from the country's state property fund to a three-firm winning consortium, which includes Magnitogorsk, or MMK, after labor unions protested, Bloomberg reported, citing India's GEO Television.
Workers at Pakistan Steel Mills protested the outcome of last month's auction of 75 percent for the plant, which MMK's consortium won with a bid of $362 million, calling the sale too cheap, the agency said. The share transfer is stopped until June 30. MMK could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Majority-owned by board its chairman Viktor Rashnikov, MMK operates Russia's largest single steel factory and has no assets outside of the country.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/25/041.html
A Church for Something
By Georgy Bovt
To Our Readers
The Moscow Times welcomes letters to the editor. Letters for publication should be signed and bear the signatory's address and telephone number.
Letters to the editor should be sent by fax to (7-495) 232-6529, by e-mail to oped@imedia.ru, or by post. The Moscow Times reserves the right to edit letters.
The recent Moscow premiere of the controversial film "The Da Vinci Code" was greeted by a small picket line of people claiming to be Orthodox Christians and representing an organization called the True Bearers of the Banner of Orthodoxy. The protest was along the lines of the old Soviet tradition of "I haven't seen the film but will tell you my opinion."
The Orthodox Church apparently decided to put in an appearance. These days, the church tries not to miss any significant social event. In this case, a church representative even proposed creating a kind of Orthodox Hollywood in Russia. Right now anti-Americanism is fashionable in Russia, so why not join in? You never know; you might get something out of it.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/25/008.html
The Trouble With Women
The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater presents a new production of "Cosi Fan Tutte" in honor of Mozart's 250th birthday.
By Jennifer Butler
Published: May 19, 2006
Mozart's works are not a common fixture of the Russian opera scene; local audiences are more likely to encounter the composer onstage as the idiot savant depicted by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in his one-act, Pushkin-based opera "Mozart and Salieri," and last year, Leonid Desyatnikov dragged the composer and his uncouth genius onstage again in his opera "The Children of Rosenthal." Despite such irreverence, this year's 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth has attracted serious attention here. In April, Nizhny Novgorod hosted an international conference called "Mozart in Russia"; here in Moscow, the Alexander Pushkin Museum recently organized an exhibition of Mozart autographs, letters, sketches and other curiosities called "The Russian Mozart Myth"; and, on Wednesday, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre is presenting a new production of Mozart's "immoral" opera "Cosi Fan Tutte."
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/19/108.html
Friendly Fire
A new book by historian John Lukacs explores the relationship between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin in the years leading up to German-Soviet conflict.
By Gerhard L. Weinberg
Published: May 19, 2006
In "June 1941: Hitler and Stalin," John Lukacs, the author of numerous books on World War II, offers his personal assessments of the events leading up to and following the June 22, 1941, German invasion of the Soviet Union. Lukacs first came to the attention of the scholarly world in 1953, a few years after he left his native Hungary for the United States, with a major book titled "The Great Powers and Eastern Europe." He then accompanied a teaching career at Chestnut Hill College with a succession of more than 25 works. In "June 1941," he focuses on Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin's views of each other, their plans and hopes for political relations, and their decisions -- or failure to make them -- during the summer of 1941.
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/19/106.html
Global Eye
Gates of Eden
By Chris Floyd
Published: May 19, 2006
Beneath the thunder of the mighty cataclysms unleashed by the Bush administration -- the war crime in Iraq, the global torture gulag, the epic corruption, the gutting of the U.S. Constitution, the open embrace of presidential tyranny -- a quieter degradation of American society has continued apace. And this slow descent into barbarism didn't begin with President George W. Bush, although his illicit regime certainly represents the apotheosis of the dark forces driving the decay.
With the world's attention diverted by the latest scandals and shameless posturings of the Bush faction -- domestic spying, bribes and hookers at the CIA, military units roaring down to the border to scare unarmed poor people looking for work -- few noticed a small story that cast a harsh, penetrating light on the corrosion of the national character.
Earlier this month, the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College London released its annual World Prison Population List. And there, standing proudly at the head of the line, towering far above all others, is that shining city on the hill, the United States of America. But strangely enough, the Bush gang and its media sycophants failed to celebrate -- or even note -- yet another instance where a triumphant America leads the world. Where are the cheering hordes shouting "U.S.A! U.S.A!" at the news that the land of the free imprisons more people than any other country in the world, both in raw numbers and as a percentage of its population?
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/19/120.html
Posh Future Awaits Ex-Pioneer Camp
By Maria Levitov Much infrastructure is yet to be built.
PUSHCHINO, Moscow Region -- A resort hotel that is set to open this summer on the Oka River, 80 kilometers south of Moscow, will become the testing ground for the Marshall Capital Partners investment fund's new Tsargrad hotel chain.
Construction crews are working around the clock at the Spas-Teshilovo resort to finish the two four-story residential buildings and the main entertainment complex, which is to house several restaurants, a conference center, bars and other amenities. By the beginning of next year's vacation season, the complex, spanning some 100 hectares, will offer 108 rooms and 24 cottages, at rates starting from $163 per guest, according to Marshall Capital.
"We wanted to find a niche that is not too full yet," said Alexander Provotorov, managing director at Marshall Capital Partners, which manages more than $500 million -- the lion's share of which is invested in the food processing industry.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/25/046.html
Survivors From the Soviet Era
The Moscow Times
Out with the old and in with the new -- that's the Moscow hotel scene in 2006. Yet, as old Soviet behemoths like the Intourist, Moskva and Rossiya disappear from the city's skyline and elite, international brand-name hotels take their place, some classics of Soviet hotel architecture and design remain. These gems include the Sovietsky, where upgrading has only enhanced the features of historical interest; the Ukraina, expected to close soon for renovations; and the Peking, where little of the past remains except on the outside.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/05/25/051.html
Houston Chronicle
THE GULF COAST REVISITED
Down in the delta, going is slow don't need credit on front pics
Some tiny towns felt the wrath of both storms
By TONY FREEMANTLE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
FIFTH OF A SIX-PART SERIES
PORT SULPHUR, LA. - Driving south from the the ruined city of New Orleans on Highway 23 toward the mouth of the Mississippi River, one can be momentarily lulled by the order, the lush orange groves and cattle grazing in spring-green meadows.
To the left, the superstructures of oceangoing ships glide along the top of the giant levee that tames the mighty river. To the right a smaller earthen wall protects the road from the marshes of the rivers' delta as they stretch across Barataria Bay toward the Gulf of Mexico.
We leave Belle Chase, cruise through Naomi, Myrtle Grove and Socola. There is the odd downed tree, the occasional blue tarp on a roof. A little of the numbness accumulated over many days and many miles begins to seep away.
And then we arrive in Port Sulphur, where it becomes apparent why, possibly, it is insane to live here in the delta, huddled on a narrow strip of land lower than the surface of one of the world's great rivers.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3887082.html
THE ENRON TRIALS
Jury seeks 3 exhibit lists, full transcript
Latest in series of requests may signal thoughtful, slow deliberation
By MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
The jury in the fraud and conspiracy trial of former Enron top executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling spent a fifth day in the deliberation room Wednesday and is due back today.
Just before the jurors went to lunch, they sent a note to the judge requesting three more copies of the lengthy exhibit list and asking whether they could get the transcript of the entire trial. The note was signed by the forewoman, one of eight women on the jury.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3887122.html
Leader in space tourism wins prize
The $500,000 Heinlein award named for writer honors spaceflight breakthroughs
By MARK CARREAU
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
The inaugural Heinlein Prize, a $500,000 award established in Houston from the earnings of the late science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, will go to Peter Diamandis, who spurred the global competition that produced the first privately financed human spaceflight.
The annual award was created to recognize individual contributions to commercial spaceflight.
The Diamandis-led X-Prize Foundation raised the $10 million won by maverick aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Paul Allen, the Microsoft Co. co-founder, in 2004 for achieving back-to-back spaceflights with their privately built SpaceShipOne. The Los Angeles entrepreneur will be honored in ceremonies at Houston's St. Regis Hotel on July 7.
"Peter Diamandis has certainly catalyzed the development of commercial space activities for the whole world," said Houston attorney Art Dula, a longtime associate of Heinlein. "People now talk about it just like they talk about climbing Mount Everest, not like it's something crazy."
Heinlein died in 1988. With the death of his wife, Virginia, three years ago, Dula fulfilled the couple's wish for a trust awarding such breakthroughs.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3887126.html
Local collector parting with Frida
'Time to let her go,' the owner says of Kahlo's 1943 self-portrait, likely to sell for millions
By PATRICIA C. JOHNSON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Roots, one of Frida Kahlo's most memorable self-portraits, has belonged to Houston collector Marilyn Oshman for a quarter century. But Oshman has decided to put it on the auction block. Sotheby's, in New York, predicts that Roots will fetch $5 million to $7 million at its auction next week.
The low estimate is around the $5,065,750 paid for a 1929 Kahlo self-portrait in a Sotheby's sale in May 2000. That painting set the record for Kahlo and, according to the auction house, for the most expensive work of Latin American art sold at auction.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/3868676.html
Kahlo's Roots sets two records
Most expensive work by the artist and all Latin work sold at auction
By PATRICIA C. JOHNSON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Roots, the 1943 painting by Frida Kahlo, sold Wednesday night at Sotheby's auction house in New York for $5,616,000, a record for a Kahlo painting, and the most expensive work of Latin American art sold at auction.
Sotheby's did not release the winning bidder's identity at the buyer's request.
The previous record for a Kahlo painting was $5,065,750 in 2000, for a 1929 self-portrait.
"Somebody got a very good picture at a very good price," said Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The self-portrait in oils on metal shows the legendary Mexican artist lying on her side with leafy roots growing out of her body into a sere landscape.
Marilyn Oshman, a private collector from Houston, sold the painting after owning it for 25 years. Prior to that, Dolores Olmedo, trustee of the estates of both Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, in Mexico City, owned the work.
Roots, 12 inches by 20 inches, is one of about 150 works Kahlo created.
The price includes Sotheby's commission — 20 percent of the first $200,000 of the hammer price and 12 percent on any amount in excess of $200,000.
Total sales for the evening, the first of two sessions, exceeded $18.6 million. That's approximately $5 million more than the previous record for a Latin American auction set in 1994, said Carmen Melian, director of Sotheby's Latin American department.
"It was terribly exciting," Melian said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3887031.html
BRAZIL
Google will rein in popular Web site
RIO DE JANEIRO - Google Inc. said Wednesday that it has agreed to shut down some communities on its popular Orkut social networking site because the Brazilian government says they advocate violence and human rights violations. Google agreed to shut down any sites that violate Orkut's terms of service, which forbid "any illegal or unauthorized purpose," after the company met Tuesday with a Brazilian human rights commission, which presented evidence that Brazilians have been using the invitation-only networking site to promote crimes and violence. Orkut is extremely popular in Brazil. In recent years, news reports have linked drug dealing operations and fights between soccer fans to Orkut communities. One community allegedly advocated killing the president and planting a bomb in Congress.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3886891.html
Foreign Peacekeepers Deploy to East Timor
By GUIDO GUILLIARD Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
DILI, East Timor — Gunbattles killed at least three people and wounded more than a dozen in East Timor's capital, as Australia and New Zealand sent troops Thursday to help the tiny nation quell a rebellion by disgruntled ex-soldiers.
Firefights between the army and dismissed soldiers erupted in several areas around the capital, Dili, and homes and business were torched.
Two former soldiers and an army captain have been killed since late Wednesday, said the military and Letnan Gastao Salsinha, a spokesman for the ex-soldiers. Fourteen ex-soldiers have been wounded.
The latest deaths bring the total number of people killed in the unrest this week to five. The fighting has prompted the fledgling nation's government to ask for international troops just days after celebrating East Timor's fourth anniversary of independence from Indonesia.
The U.S. Embassy started evacuating nonessential personnel.
"We can't control the situation," Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said, adding that troops from Malaysia and Portugal also had been asked to help "disarm renegade troops and police rebelling against the state."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3887332.html
2-Year-Old Killed Outside Ga. McDonald's
By CHARLES ODUM Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
COVINGTON, Ga. — A man accused of driving a car that struck two sisters and their three small children outside a McDonald's restaurant hit them intentionally, authorities said Wednesday. One of the children died later Wednesday at a hospital, a relative said.
"There was clear intent to injure the people. It was obvious," Police Chief Stacey Cotton said. "This was absolutely not an accident."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3887357.html
5 Run Over at Ga. McDonald's; 3 Are Tots
By CHARLES ODUM Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
COVINGTON, Ga. — A driver ran over three young children and two women in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant Tuesday, police said. One witness described the man as having a smile on his face.
A 2-year-old girl was in critical condition Tuesday night; two other children and a pair of adult sisters were in stable condition, authorities said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3884372.html
Ex-Fla. Official Pleads Guilty to Fraud
By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A former West Palm Beach commissioner and state legislator pleaded guilty Wednesday to using his powers as a city official to harass business owners in exchange for bribes from investors who wanted to buy the businesses below market value.
Ray Liberti, 59, pleaded guilty in federal court to fraud and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors say he accepted $66,000 in cash and a $2,000 wristwatch from the investors for his actions against the owners of a massage parlor and a nightclub.
One "investor" was an undercover FBI agent, and most of Liberti's meetings and phone calls were tape recorded, said federal prosecutor John Kastrenakes.
Liberti made false health and city code violation complaints about the businesses, persuaded police to conduct a prostitution investigation involving them and even posed over the telephone as a newspaper reporter, threatening to write a negative story.
The aim was to drive down the businesses' sale prices for the investors, Kastrenakes said.
Liberti quit his city post shortly after the charges were made public.
The charges carry prison time totaling a maximum of 50 years. He is to be sentenced Aug. 25.
Liberti's attorney, Richard Lubin, said his client is giving authorities information about possible wrongdoing by others, which could lead to a lighter sentence.
Liberti was a state representative from 1978 to 1992. He was elected to the West Palm Beach commission in 2003 and re-elected in 2005.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/3887254.html
Taliban appear to be getting stronger
At least 24 militants killed in latest fighting
By NOOR KHAN
Associated Press
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - Fighting in rugged southern Afghan mountains killed at least 24 militants and five Afghan forces, while the U.S. military acknowledged Wednesday that the Taliban have grown in "strength and influence" in recent weeks.
The violence came after a week of some of the deadliest violence since the Taliban regime's ouster in 2001. As many as 336 people have died, mostly militants, according to officials.
The Afghan military said up to 60 rebels had died in the latest fighting in Uruzgan province, which involved ground forces and a U.S. airstrike. The U.S.-led coalition, however, said 24 militants had died. The reason for the discrepancy in the figures was unclear.
Uruzgan was one of three southern provinces where U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins said the insurgents have bolstered their numbers.
He said the militants are recruiting poor villagers.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3886813.html
4 Palestinians die in Israeli undercover operation
The timing of the military raid in Ramallah is said to show bad faith
By GREG MYRE
New York Times
JERUSALEM - An Israeli undercover arrest operation on Wednesday turned into a chaotic gunbattle in the center of Ramallah, leaving four Palestinians dead and about 50 wounded.
It was the second time in two days that the Israeli military had raided Ramallah, the Palestinian political headquarters in the West Bank, to seize a Palestinian on its most-wanted list. But, unlike Tuesday's raid, which led to the arrest of Hamas leader Ibrahim Hamed, and caused no casualties, the action on Wednesday quickly degenerated into a shootout.
Palestinian leaders said the timing of the raid, while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was visiting Washington, showed bad faith. "Israel is trying its best to block any effort to calm the situation," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, an aide to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president.
The Israeli military described Muhammad Shubaki, the target of the raid on Wednesday, as a senior figure in Islamic Jihad, the group responsible for many suicide bombings against Israel in the past year.
An Israeli undercover unit, disguised as Palestinian civilians, seized Shubaki in a building on Manara Square in the center of Ramallah, Palestinian security officials said.
But word quickly spread that the Israeli forces were in the area, and youths began throwing rocks. A civilian car used by the Israelis was set ablaze, and gunbattles broke out. Shortly afterward, uniformed Israeli soldiers in jeeps arrived, and the conflict escalated.
Four Palestinians, including a member of the Palestinian security forces, were killed, and about 50 were injured, hospital officials in Ramallah said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3886994.html
A Top Hamas Fugitive Caught in West Bank
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
RAMALLAH, West Bank — A top Hamas fugitive blamed for attacks that killed dozens of Israelis and five Americans surrendered to Israeli troops Tuesday after they ringed his West Bank hideout and threatened to demolish it with him inside.
The capture of Ibrahim Hamed, 41, was a blow to Hamas' morale as the Islamic militants engaged in an increasingly bloody power struggle with gunmen and police loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Army Col. Amir Abulafiyeh, who oversaw the capture, described Hamed as "creative and cruel" in plotting attacks on a Jerusalem university, where the Americans were killed; an Israeli fuel depot; Israel's rail system; and a pool hall.
Troops acting on a tip surrounded Hamed's hideout in a two-story building in a well-to-do district of Ramallah, just 200 yards from Abbas' residence. A dozen jeeps and two armored personnel carriers surrounded the cement-block building, which had a yellow awning, and soldiers called on Hamed over loudspeakers to surrender.
Soldiers warned him in Arabic that the building would be razed if he did not come out.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3883614.html
Hamas militant captured, blamed for 78 deaths
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
Associated Press
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A top Hamas military commander, linked by Israel to attacks that killed 78 people, including five Americans, surrendered today after Israeli troops surrounded his hideout and threatened to demolish it with him inside.
The army said Ibrahim Hamed, 41, masterminded "some of the most deadly terror attacks against Israel in recent years," including suicide bombings at a pool hall in central Israel, an outdoor cafe in Jerusalem and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where five Americans and four Israelis died.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/3881978.html
The New Zealand Herald
French sugar tax fights obesity
Thursday May 25, 2006
A sugar tax on "alcopop" drinks in France - leading to a big fall in sales - shows regulating the sales of unhealthy food and drinks can be effective, a visiting French lawmaker has told local MPs.
Parliament's health select committee is conducting an inquiry into obesity and yesterday heard from the Vice-President of France's Parliament, Yves Bur.
Mr Bur, a representative of French President Jacques Chirac's conservative UMP party, has championed several initiatives aimed at cracking down on unhealthy habits, including banning snack machines in schools and a sugar tax on alcopop drinks.
He said the tax on alcopop drinks, which are predominantly marketed at young people, appeared to stop sales growth of sugar-rich drinks in its tracks.
Over 2003 and 2004 sales increased 10-fold, but a year after the tax was introduced sales dropped 40 per cent.
Mr Bur said the ban on snack-vending machines in schools was also effective. He later said New Zealand should institute a similar move.
His comments were backed by the New Zealand Medical Association, which told the committee it supported a ban on school vending machines.
Schools should also be encouraged to move away from selling junk food in their canteens.
Mr Bur said another proposed French initiative was requiring snack food companies to put health warnings on advertisements aired in peak children's television viewing times.
If they failed to do this they would have to pay a 1.5 per cent tax on their advertising budget.
The initiative was stalled at present while lawmakers and industry groups debated the proposed wording of the health warnings.
Mr Bur said it was important to be firm with the food industry and its powerful corporate lobby.
"We must say to these industries that marketing has its own limits specifically when children are concerned and we need to have very clear information."
He said a long-term campaign aimed at changing attitudes was necessary to combat obesity.
If action was not taken now in countries with a moderate burden of obesity, then in 15 years they could find themselves in the United States' position where the problem was almost too big to tackle.
Green MP and health committee chairwoman Sue Kedgley yesterday reiterated her call for a ban on junk food being sold from school canteens.
She said new research published by the Obesity Action Coalition suggested that unhealthy food was contributing to obesity and reducing children's ability to concentrate in the classroom.
"This research shows that poor nutrition is often linked to short attention spans, disruptiveness, and other behavioural and emotional issues which can all have a seriously detrimental effect on children's learning."
In its written submission to the committee the Medical Association also called for a ban on TV ads of unhealthy food in children's peak viewing times.
It said New Zealand had one of the highest rates of child obesity in the world and the saturation of junk food advertising in children's viewing times was growing.
It said a taskforce spanning several Government departments was also necessary to ensure activities like walking and cycling were encouraged in towns and cities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383432
Timorese ask NZ to help quell rebellion
UPDATED 8.10am Thursday May 25, 2006
By Mike Houlahan and Derek Cheng
New Zealand soldiers are poised to fly to East Timor to help end fighting between the military and disgruntled former soldiers.
Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, said yesterday that New Zealand and Australian troops would "disarm renegade troops and police rebelling against the State".
Mr Ramos-Horta said both countries had agreed to the request.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383437
Troops on way to tense East Timor
12.35pm Thursday May 25, 2006
East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said the situation in the capital Dili today was one of uneasy calm.
The army and disgruntled ex-soldiers exchanged fire in gun battles yesterday for a second day running, but Mr Horta said order was holding this morning.
However, he said foreign troops - including a possible deployment from New Zealand - were still required. Australia said its forces could begin arriving there this afternoon.
There has been trouble in the country since five people were killed late last month during a protest by 600 soldiers sacked for desertion. A sixth person was killed on Tuesday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383471
Chile top court asked to muzzle Fujimori
Wednesday May 24, 2006
SANTIAGO - Chile's government asked its Supreme Court to muzzle former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori - who is out on bail in Chile - to keep him from commenting about Peru's presidential election, Chile's president said on Tuesday.
Fujimori is a fugitive from justice in Peru, where prosecutors want him to face trial on charges he embezzled millions of dollars from the state and condoned death squads.
Peru said on Monday it sent a diplomatic note to Chile asking the government to stop Fujimori from commenting publicly about the two candidates for its June 4 presidential vote or about his extradition.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383282
Chilean cult leader gets 20-year sentence for abuse
12.20pm Thursday May 25, 2006
SANTIAGO - The German leader of a former religious cult in Chile has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual abuse of 25 children, local media has reported.
Paul Schaefer, 84, fled Chile in 1997 when authorities began investigating sex abuse accusations against him.
He lived in hiding in Argentina until last year when he was discovered and sent to Chile to face trial.
He had been convicted of the sex crimes in absentia, but was retried after he was brought back to Chile.
Judge Hernan Gonzalez also ordered Schaefer to pay US$1.4 million($2.25 million) in reparation to his victims, media reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10383482
Myanmar may want stronger global ties, UN says
1.00pm Thursday May 25, 2006
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS - Myanmar appears to want to strengthen its ties with the international community, a senior UN official has said, after visiting the reclusive Asian state.
Ibrahim Gambari, UN undersecretary-general for political affairs said he encouraged the ruling junta to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a sign it wanted to work more closely with other nations.
"There appears to be a willingness to turn a new page in the country's relations with the international community. What better signal than this one?" he told reporters
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383474
Rescuers search for Thai flood victims
1.20pm Thursday May 25, 2006
Rescue workers in northern Thailand have been continuing their search for scores of people missing after widespread flooding.
Relief teams have so far pulled 30 bodies from receding floodwaters, but officials fear over 100 people could have died.
Heavy monsoonal rain has caused massive flooding in five northern provinces, leaving some towns under two metres of water.
Uttaradit, 500km (310 miles) north of Bangkok, was the worst-hit province with 22 known dead and 75 missing in the worst floods in 60 years.
"From what we've seen at the affected sites, we believe the toll will rise to a hundred as many might have still been buried under the mud," Uttaradit's deputy provincial health chief said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10383486
African Union accepts Nato help in Darfur
1.00pm Thursday May 25, 2006
BRUSSELS - The African Union has accepted a Nato offer to extend its assistance in Sudan's violent Darfur region, the Western military alliance has said.
Nato provided training and transport to African Union (AU) troops struggling to quell the violence in Darfur earlier this year and has signalled its willingness to provide more help.
"The AU has asked Nato to extend its support. Nato has already taken a decision to be willing to do it, so that will now go forward," Nato spokesman James Appathurai said.
He added that the AU had requested more help in airlift of troops and training until end-September, noting that by then it should have handed over leadership of the peace mission to the United Nations.
"It means a limited number of Nato personnel there.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383444
Bombs kill 25 in Baghdad violence
1.00pm Wednesday May 24, 2006
At least 25 people have been killed in four separate attacks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
A bomb in a motorcycle exploded outside a Shi'ite mosque in the Tunis district of the city, killing at least 11 people in a nearby shop.
Four people were also killed by a bomb at a Baghdad bakery and two car bombs were detonated.
One of the car bombings killed five people in Shi'ite east Baghdad and another - aimed at police commandos - left five civilians dead.
Shaken Iraqis stood around examining burnt-out cars and shops where the car bomb aimed at the police detonated.
"The bomb exploded and flipped a minibus. What can we do? We just try to earn a living," said shopkeeper Abu Mohammad.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383309
Property council backs regional rates rise to fund transport
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Mathew Dearnaley
Auckland local bodies seeking higher regional rates for public transport found an unlikely ally yesterday in the New Zealand Property Council.
National director Connal Townsend, whose organisation represents about 500 property firms and professionals, stunned the Auckland Regional Council by advocating a more liberal approach to its transport funding woes. He called a proposal to limit regional rates rises to around 5 per cent for each of the next 10 years "far too tight" given the shortfall, which could exceed $1.4 billion after lost Government public transport subsidies are added to a $710 million council deficit.
"You need to be more flexible," he told councillors.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383421
Kurdish separatists claim Turkish airport blaze
2.20pm Thursday May 25, 2006
By Paul De Bendern
ISTANBUL - A Kurdish separatist group has claimed responsibility for a fire that swept through a cargo area at Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport on Wednesday afternoon local time.
Officials had said the blaze - which injured three people, caused extensive damage and delayed flights - was probably caused by an electrical fault.
Officials did not mention the possibility of foul play, but the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility, according to the Europe-based Firat news agency, which is the group's mouthpiece.
TAK said it was an "act of sabotage" to protest against Turkey's treatment of the Kurdish minority. There was no way of independently confirming the claim.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10383496
Indian PM calls separatists home at Kashmir talks
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Palash Kumar
SRINAGAR- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Kashmiri militants in Pakistan to "come home", as he presses forward with peace talks.
Despite tight security for the talks in India's summer capital, Srinagar, separatist rebels set off five grenades, injuring at least 19 civilians and nine policemen.
An Islamist revolt in Indian Kashmir has killed more than 45,000 people since it began in 1989.
"In the light of the changing environment, we are reviewing the cases of all detainees," Mr Singh said in his opening address at the two-day roundtable conference.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383449
Australian politicians to discuss Aboriginal violence
10.20am Thursday May 25, 2006
The issue of Aboriginal violence and abuse is to be discussed in Canberra today.
Australia's Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough will meet with the Northern Territory's Chief Minister to look at ways to tackle domestic and gang violence.
The meeting follows reports of child rape and abuse of women in Aboriginal communities.
A correspondent told Newstalk ZB Mr Brough had stoked things up by claiming there may be paedophile rings operating in aboriginal communities.
He said while Mr Brough may have overstated the case by saying paedophiles had been operating in rings, there was plenty of evidence paedophilia was rampant.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383465
Missile shield to counter Iran
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Rupert Cornwell
WASHINGTON - In a move that is raising hackles in Moscow, the US is proposing to install an anti-missile defence system in central Europe to counter any future attack from a nuclear-armed Iran.
The plan, for which the Pentagon has requested US$56 million of exploratory funding from Congress, would cost US$1.6 billion ($2.55 billion) and involve 10 interceptor units.
The most likely base for the system was Poland, followed by the Czech Republic, officials said. For the moment, the scheme - first reported in the New York Times and which would parallel the anti-missile shield being built in Alaska and California against attacks from North Korea - is largely symbolic and hypothetical.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383412
Eight arrested in British terror raids
5.20am Thursday May 25, 2006
Around 500 British police officers raided houses last night in an operation targeting people suspected of planning terrorist attacks overseas.
Seven people were arrested in Manchester and one in Merseyside.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383415
Australia faces tough choices on nuke future
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - Australia is facing a reinvigorated anti-nuclear movement as Prime Minister John Howard increases his support for expanded uranium mining and the prospect of its own reactors.
The Opposition Labor Party has dumped its earlier equivocation on the issue to front a campaign likely to repeat the furious hostility that capped uranium production two decades ago.
The Government is also facing division within its own ranks on the economic viability of nuclear power, and more general debate over its supposed environmental benefits.
Even so, Howard has firmly put uranium mining and nuclear energy on the political agenda, further defining the growing policy gap between the ruling Coalition and Labor.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383362
World's largest democracy rests on communist whims
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Rahul Bedi
NEW DELHI - There is a certain irony to the fact that recent elections in India saw communist parties become the main power-brokers in the world's largest democracy.
Broadly pursuing an agenda that many say will stilt the nation's development, the communists gained power in two of five provinces, claim 63 seats in Parliament and form the backbone of a new coalition Government.
In eastern Bengal state, the Communist-led Left Front was celebrating its seventh consecutive victory, making it the world's longest-running elected Communist Administration: in office uninterruptedly for nearly three decades.
A Communist-led coalition of nine parties also comfortably wrested power from the Congress Party in Kerala state.
In India's federal structure that includes 29 states and six centrally administered regions, provincial legislatures are responsible for everything other than defence, currency, railways and communication, which are federal areas.
The 63 seats represented the communist bloc's best election performance, and made them architects of a Congress Party-led coalition that displaced the Hindu nationalist-headed Government.
Their new political muscle also resulted in Parliament electing its first ever Marxist speaker, Somnath Chatterjee. However, despite supporting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's new coalition, they declined to join due to policy differences.
Such a move, opponents say, will see holding power from the outside of government which could be used to topple coalition leaders.
Critics also say their communist principles will act like a dead weight on the country's economic growth and global profile.
Marxist Governments in Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have insisted on market reforms with a human face, and have consistently opposed labour reforms, seen as essential for attracting overseas investment and boosting the economy.
They have also stalled privatising state-run, loss-making industrial behemoths as their employees constitute a committed vote bank for the communists.
In Bengal unions have paralysed the state's industrial growth, forcing its once booming businesses and manufacturing units to either close down or move.
Over the past two years, however, communist leaders have attempted to pacify India's booming financial markets by claiming that they welcome foreign investment provided it augmented existing productive capacities, upgraded technology and generated jobs.
The communists make no secret of their dislike for the US, especially at a time when PM Singh is edging strategically and militarily closer to Washington.
India's Communist Party - before it split in 1964 into the CPM supported by Beijing and the other rump the CPI backed by Moscow - was the world's first to be democratically elected in Kerala in the late 1950s.
This caused alarm at home and abroad, and led to the US stepping up its obsessive covert anti-Communist drive in India and for decades looked upon it with ill-informed suspicion.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383361
Human transmission 'possible' in bird flu case
1.00pm Wednesday May 24, 2006
An Indonesian who died of bird flu after nursing his sick son may have caught the virus in a case of direct human-to-human transmission, the World Health Organisation has said.
The WHO said it was still looking for the source of the outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in the village of Kubu Sembelang in North Sumatra, which has killed six people.
The 32-year-old Indonesian man is the latest to die and the WHO said Indonesian health officials had confirmed he was infected with the virus.
"The father was closely involved in caring for his son, and this contact is considered a possible source of infection," the WHO said in a statement.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383316
Police ambush five-year anti-war protest
Thursday May 25, 2006
LONDON - Veteran British peace activist Brian Haw was stripped of his anti-war banners and placards by up to 50 police officers mounting an early-morning ambush in Parliament Square.
Amid chaotic and farcical scenes, police wrestled with nine dishevelled protesters - led by Haw - as a 40m line of anti-war placards was dismantled and dumped in a metal container.
Two demonstrators who attempted to mount the metal container to salvage placards were arrested.
Haw has camped out in front of the Houses of Commons since 2001.
An ongoing battle between the 57-year-old protester and police has been waged for some time. Last July, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act came into force, bringing with it powers to halt demonstrations in Parliament Square or its vicinity - a provision widely seen as having been designed with Haw in mind.
Haw, in turn, has claimed the restrictions do not apply to him because his demonstration began in June 2001, before the Act became law. But a Court of Appeal hearing this month rejected his argument and refused leave to appeal to the Lords. The court said he would have to apply to the police for authorisation to continue the dispute.
Permission to demonstrate in the square has been restricted by the police to a display that must not exceed 3m in length with not more than 20 protesters.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383409
Britain's Blair suffers another party revolt
9.00am Thursday May 25, 2006
By David Clarke
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair's authority has again been challenged after another party revolt over flagship school reform plans.
The schools bill was passed by a huge majority of 324 in parliament at its crucial third reading thanks to support from the main opposition Conservative Party.
But 46 Labour lawmakers voted against the legislation, Labour's biggest revolt at this stage of a bill since the party first came to government in 1924.
Blair's standing within Labour has taken a battering in past weeks following dire local election results and relentless headlines of sleaze, scandal and government incompetence - and analysts said his authority was on the line.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383453
NZer involved in Everest rescue
4.00pm Thursday May 25, 2006
A former Aucklander on Mt Everest has directed the rescue of a sick climber from the summit, with a party of 18 Sherpas helping to get the commercial client back down the mountain alive.
Jamie McGuinness, a New Zealander who runs treks around Everest and leads climbing expeditions, had to take a climber he had escorted to the top of Everest back down the mountain, according to the head of another expedition, Anne Parmenter.
"Our sister expedition 'The Peace Project,' summitted on (May) 18 but have had an almost 36-hour rescue effort for one of the members," she told the mounteverest.net website, run by ExplorersWeb.
"With the support of 10 of our Sherpas and at least eight Sherpas from the Peace Project, the member was carried in a litter all the way from the North Col.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383498
Dying Everest climber was frozen solid, says Inglis
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Jarrod Booker
Double amputee climber Mark Inglis has defended himself from criticism by Sir Edmund Hillary, saying there was little his team could have done to save an "effectively dead" Briton on Mt Everest.
Inglis is wary about returning to a storm of controversy in New Zealand today after Sir Edmund criticised climbers for failing to stop to help ill-equipped mountaineer David Sharp on their way to the summit.
Inglis said it "certainly wasn't a decision that I made" to leave Sharp 300m below the summit in a place known as the "Death Zone".
"Far more qualified people from our own team gave assistance ... to no avail. I was probably the least qualified person on that mountain that day."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383436
Inglis faces mental stress after harsh criticism
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Angela Gregory
An experienced Himalayan guide says Sir Edmund Hillary's "harsh criticism" of Mark Inglis and other climbers for leaving a British man to die on Mt Everest could be psychologically harmful to Inglis and his team.
Australian mountaineer Adam Darragh, who teaches at the Australian School of Mountaineering and instructs guides, said Inglis would inevitably feel remorse for not doing more for 34-year-old David Sharp but that did not mean he had failed in his duty.
"The fact that someone died that day and they had walked past him does not mean they were negligent in their care," Mr Darragh said.
"You don't know people on the mountain and climbers are responsible for their own decisions."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383425
Inglis arrives home
12.00pm Thursday May 25, 2006
Double amputee climber and Everest conqueror flew back to New Zealand today into a storm of controversy over dying British climber David Sharp.
Inglis was greeted by supporters at Auckland Airport before flying on to Christchurch.
He showed waiting media his frost-bitten fingers and artifical legs.
Inglis became the first double amputee last week to scale Mt Everest, the world's highest mountain. But on the way up he was one of 40 climbers to pass the Sharp about 300 metres from the summit.
Inglis said his team tried to help Sharp but he was so near death there was nothing they could do for him.
He could not speak, his limbs were almost frozen solid and the only sign of life was slight movement in hs eyes.
The decision from the Inglis team not to abandon their climb drew criticism from Sir Edmund Hillary, who with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first men to reach the summit of Mt Everest in May, 1953.
He said he was "gutted" at Sir Edmund's criticism but said he welcomed the debate.
Inglis was due at Christchurch Hospital today and was expected to lose the end of the ring finger on his right hand. He returned from the mountain with the tips of several fingers black with frostbite.
- NZPA, HERALD ONLINE STAFF
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383483
Dead climber in love with mountain tops
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Derek Cheng
The British mountaineer who died after dozens of climbers passed him near the summit of Mt Everest was an ambitious young man with a love of travel and standing on mountain tops.
David Sharp, 34, developed a love for climbing while studying engineering in Nottingham.
"He probably packed as much in at 34 as some people do in a lifetime," his mother Linda told the UK-based newspaper the Northern Echo.
He had backpacked throughout southeast Asia and South America, climbed Kilimanjaro in Africa, Cho Oyu in Nepal and tried for the top of Mt Everest three times, succeeding only on his final, fatal attempt.
"He was a great son, a very able climber and we loved him," his father John said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383426
World powers inch forward in Iran nuclear talks
1.00pm Thursday May 25, 2006
By Madeline Chambers
LONDON - World powers meeting in London to discuss ways of limiting Iran's nuclear capability failed to reach consensus on their first day of talks.
Officials from UN Security Council permanent members China, Russia, the United States, France and Britain, plus Germany, had met to try to narrow divisions over how to induce Tehran to halt sensitive uranium enrichment work.
The US and some of its Western allies suspect Iran's professed bid for nuclear power for its economy is a cover for efforts to develop an atomic bomb.
The US State Department said there had been "great progress" at the talks, but that a deal "was not done yet".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383457
Drugs worth $135m seized
3.15pm Thursday May 25, 2006
Police and customs officials have seized 95kg of methamphetamine - by far the biggest ever bust of the drug in New Zealand.
The haul has a street value of $135m, police said. The previous biggest seizure was of 8kg.
They seized the drug, also known as P, on its way into New Zealand ports and it was expected it would be sold in the country.
Six people - two New Zealanders, a Hong Kong national and three Chinese - were arrested.
Police found a handgun, an M16 assault rifle and false passports in raids.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10383510
US general denies urging use of dogs in interrogations
4.00pm Thursday May 25, 2006
By Bill Trott
FORT MEADE, Maryland - The highest ranking officer to testify in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal has denied suggesting using military dogs in interrogations of Iraqi prisoners.
Major General Geoffrey Miller was called as a defence witness by a military police dog handler charged with using his dog to abuse prisoners at the jail outside Baghdad.
"We discussed using dogs only for control - not for interrogation," Miller said under cross-examination.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10383501
Bids in for Navy's last steam warship
11.15am Thursday May 25, 2006
Five different organisations are after the navy's last steam warship, the Leander-class frigate HMNZS Canterbury.
The 36-year-old frigate was taken out of commission last year and has been sitting at the Devonport Naval Base in Auckland while a decision is made on her future.
When tenders closed last week the navy had received five -- three from organisations wanting to sink the 3000-tonne ship as a dive attraction, and two from scrap metal merchants.
The ship was moved by tug to a training berth at the entrance to the naval base a few days ago.
One of the organisations wanting to sink the old frigate is believed to be the Tutukaka Coast Promotions Society, which already has a resource consent.
The society planned to sink the ship close to a sister ship -- another Leander class frigate, the former HMNZS Waikato.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383476
Air force plane's cockpit fills with fumes
11.35am Thursday May 25, 2006
An air force Orion surveillance aircraft declared a full emergency as it was about to take off from Whenuapai air base in Auckland today when the cockpit filled with fumes.
The RNZAF said the Orion was taxiing to take off on a training flight when the fumes became apparent and the emergency was declared.
It turned back as there was a full turnout of the emergency firefighting crews. The 14 people on board were evacuated.
Air force spokeswoman Danielle Coe said everyone on board was given a medical check and maintenance staff were trying to find out what caused the fumes.
She said there was no obvious sign of damage.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383479
Dutch gamer finds unwelcome fame with gaming movie
Thursday May 25, 2006
THE HAGUE - The Dutch creator of a video game-based movie, which the US government says is being used as a recruitment tool by Muslim militants, says that his home-made creation was nothing more than a bit of fun.
The 11-minute video shows a man in Arab head-dress carrying an automatic weapon into combat with US invaders, and it was shown to a US Congressional Committee this month as evidence of a militant campaign to recruit Muslim youth on the internet.
"It was just for fun, nothing political," said Samir, a 25 year-old Dutch gamer, in an interview with Reuters. "It has nothing to do with recruiting people or training people."
Samir, who did not want to be identified by his full name, is a Muslim who was born and raised in the Netherlands and is a fan of US movies and rap music.
His short movie is based on a popular video game, "Battlefield 2," which usually shows US troops engaging Chinese or Middle Eastern forces.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383446
US envoy on North Korea in Beijing for talks
5pm Thursday May 25, 2006
BEIJING - The US chief negotiator to talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme has arrived in Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart.
US envoy Christopher Hill was to hold talks with China's Wu Dawei before flying to Seoul later.
His trip is aimed at breathing life into the six-party talks that North Korea has refused to attend since an inconclusive session in November.
China, an old ally of the North and host to the talks that also group the two Koreas, Japan and Russia, has been seen as key to persuading Pyongyang back to the table.
But analysts said Mr Hill's visit was as much aimed at keeping China and South Korea engaged in the stalled process as to push for any leverage.
"He's going to urge China and South Korea to redouble their patience," said Jon Wolfsthal, a North Korea analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"Where the administration sees the challenge is in South Korea and China peeling off from what needs to be a co-ordinated policy," he said.
China is to host North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun next week, and South Korea's president has been quoted as saying he would be willing to meet the North's leader anytime for talks.
By contrast, Mr Hill had no substantive discussions with Pyongyang envoy Kim Kye-gwan when both were in Tokyo last month, something analysts said was hindering progress.
Washington has also been cracking down on financial institutions it suspects of assisting Pyongyang in money laundering and counterfeiting, actions whose long-term effectiveness Seoul has questioned.
The six countries agreed in principle at talks last September that North Korea would dismantle its nuclear programmes in exchange for aid, security assurances and diplomatic ties.
But the following session in November ended without progress and Pyongyang has refused to take part ever since, citing the financial crackdown.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10383507
China in the market for arms
7.20am Thursday May 25, 2006
China is buying more long-range aircraft and weapons that will allow it to compete with the United States and potentially pose a threat to other countries in the region, a Pentagon report said.
In the past year China has taken steps to buy transport and tanker aircraft from Russia, shown interest in attack planes and continued to buy short-range ballistic missiles.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383413
To combat road rage, you must first understand it
Thursday May 25, 2006
By Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - Australian crime experts are struggling to define just what is road rage as reports suggest violence by angry drivers is rising.
The statistics available indicate that tens of thousands of drivers a year are victims of violence, running from obscene gestures to being physically attacked or run off the road.
And, a new paper from the Australian Institute of Criminology says, many cases of road rage are not reported.
Principal criminologist Russell Smith's paper urges the improvement of statistics to help devise strategies to reduce driver anger.
Smith says the problem of defining road rage is notoriously difficult because it can range from "selfish" driving, to hostility involving verbal abuse and obscene gestures, to violence including severe tailgating, driving another vehicle off the road, and assault.
Because of the emotions involved, it is also hard at times to determine who was the aggressor and who was the victim.
Consequences included financial loss, public liability and insurance costs.
Smith says a 1997 Victorian survey found that 14 per cent of the 800 drivers questioned had been a victim of severe road rage in the previous year, and one-third had been a victim at least once since they began driving.
Last year a survey of 2400 drivers by insurer AAMI found that 4 per cent of victims claimed to have been physically assaulted by another driver.
A West Australian survey of 1200 drivers reported that 13.5 per cent had suffered serious road-rage attacks that involved other drivers acting aggressively or violently towards them.
Victimisation rates in Victoria of between 1 and 5 per cent would mean that between 33,000 and 165,000 of the state's 3.3 million licensed drivers have been road rage victims.
Smith says studies have indicated that road rage tends to be under-reported, especially compared with rates for other assaults.
Australian figures for the latest international crime victimisation survey showed 37 per cent of assaults or threats were reported. But in a WA survey, only 21 per cent said they had reported incidents of road violence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383408
Study backs MRI breast cancer checks
11.20am Wednesday May 24, 2006
Detecting breast cancer with magnetic resonance imaging is cost-effective for women who carry a gene mutation that puts them at higher risk for the disease, a US study has found.
Though rare, the inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations increase a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer by as much as 80 per cent.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) costs 10 times more than mammography but is capable of detecting hard-to-find tumors earlier.
Using a computer model that set a threshold of $160,000 spent for each year of life gained, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine concluded MRIs were cost-effective for women aged 35 to 54 who had the BRCA1 mutation.
MRIs were also cost-effective for women in that age group with the BRCA2 defect for whom mammographies were not sensitive enough to detect tumors it said.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded: "With substantial declines in its cost, breast MRI screening is likely to represent an acceptable value for a broader group of women."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10383302
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