Buenos Aires Herald
Service station lockout
Owners of some 4,700 service stations throughout the country have said that for three hours today they "will not sell fuel."
The lockout planned for between 5pm and 8pm today is to protest against the falling profit margins that the sector has experienced since 2003, when prices at the pump were frozen but costs have continued to escalate.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/business/note.jsp?idContent=284647&hideIntro=true
Officers in brig over lax security
Incidents during President’s Army Day speech.
Kirchner made a harsh speech at a military school in the city suburbs, urging the officers to support the government’s proactive human rights policy and lambasting a pro-military demonstration last week which he said vindicated state terrorism.
The President read his speech but improvised the last lines after a group of women in the audience heckled him.
"As the President of Argentina, I have no fear, I don’t fear you," said Kirchner, who left the ceremony immediately after concluding his speech although he was initially scheduled to attend a military parade.
The four high-ranking officers ordered arrested yesterday were in charge of the ceremony’s security.
One of the hecklers was María Cecilia Pando, the wife of an army officer, Rafael Mercado, who was ordered into retirement last year after she criticized the government’s human rights policy. Defence Ministry sources said Pando was allowed in even though she had not been invited to the ceremony at the military school in El Palomar.
Pando was one of the organizers of a demonstration in Plaza San Martín attended by around 1,500 people on May 24 to honour the victims of guerrilla subversion in the ’70s. Six serving army officers who attended were later placed under arrest for participating in a rally that the government described as "political."
Retired general Jaime Cesio said that Kirchner’s bitter speech was not aimed at the whole of the army but just at the small group that attended the Plaza San Martín demonstration.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/argentina/note.jsp?idContent=284642&hideIntro=true
Iraq to investigate Haditha massacre
"There is a limit to the acceptable excuses," Nuri al-Maliki told reporters when asked about a US investigation into the deaths of 24 Iraqis last November.
The White House yesterday pledged that the public would be told everything learned during a Defence Department probe into the events. The Pentagon said charges including murder may be brought against the marines following the investigation.
The case emerged when local people passed film of the bodies to the international media.
The killings have led US commentators to make comparisons with the March 16, 1968, killing of unarmed civilians by US troops in the Vietnamese village of My Lai.
US President George W. Bush learned of the reports only after reporters began asking questions , the White House said yesterday.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/the_world/note.jsp?idContent=284657&hideIntro=true
On to the world cup!
Juan Pablo Sorín scores the second goal in Argentina’s 2-0 friendly victory over Angola, the national team’s last match before their June 10 World Cup debut against Ivory Coast in Frankfurt.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/sports/note.jsp?idContent=284662&hideIntro=true
The Washington Post
Canada Pays Environmentally for U.S. Oil Thirst
Huge Mines Rapidly Draining Rivers, Cutting Into Forests, Boosting Emissions
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A01
FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta -- Huge mines here turning tarry sand into cash for Canada and oil for the United States are taking an unexpectedly high environmental toll, sucking water from rivers and natural gas from wells and producing large amounts of gases linked to global warming.
The digging -- into an area the size of Maryland and Virginia combined -- has proliferated at gold-rush speed, spurred by high oil prices, new technology and an unquenched U.S. thirst for the fuel. The expansion has presented ecological problems that experts thought they would have decades to resolve.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001429.html
Afghan Lawmakers Speak Out on U.S. Crash
By AMIR SHAH
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; 8:23 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's parliament has approved a motion calling for the government to prosecute the U.S. soldiers responsible for a deadly road crash that sparked the worst riots in Kabul in years, officials said Wednesday.
The assembly passed the nonbinding motion Tuesday, after debating Monday's crash in which a U.S. truck plowed into a line of cars, killing up to five Afghans and sparking citywide, anti-foreigner riots, said Saleh Mohammed Saljuqi, an assistant to the parliamentary speaker.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053100362.html
50 Die in Rising Iraq Violence
'Multiple-Fatality' Bombings Reach Highest Level Since Invasion
By Nelson Hernandez and Saad al-Izzi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A13
BAGHDAD, May 30 -- A series of car bombings and other attacks killed more than 50 Iraqis and one U.S. soldier on Tuesday, evidence of a new intensity in the violence in Iraq and underlining the security problems facing the country's 10-day-old government.
In an indicator of rising violence, more "multiple-fatality" bombings -- involving at least three deaths -- occurred this month than in any other since the war began in 2003, according to the Brookings Institution, which issues a twice-weekly report of security and reconstruction statistics. The report this week noted 44 such bombings as of May 25; since then, that number has risen above 50. The next-worst month was September 2005, with 46.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001226.html
U.S. Sets Conditions for Talks With Iran
By William Branigin and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; 10:51 AM
The United States is willing to join European nations in direct talks with Iran if the Iranian government first agrees to suspend its programs to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel, activities that Washington charges are part of plans to build nuclear weapons.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scheduled a news briefing to announce the shift in U.S. policy toward Iran, and the State Department released excerpts of her remarks as prepared for delivery.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053100488.html
High Court's Free-Speech Ruling Favors Government
Public Workers on Duty Not Protected
By Charles Lane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A01
The Supreme Court yesterday bolstered the government's power to discipline public employees who make charges of official misconduct, ruling that the First Amendment does not protect those who blow the whistle in the course of their official duties.
By a vote of 5 to 4, the court ruled that the Los Angeles County district attorney's office did not violate prosecutor Richard Ceballos's freedom of speech by allegedly demoting him after he wrote to supervisors charging that a sheriff's deputy had lied to get a search warrant.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053000463.html
Bush's Nominee From Wall Street
Goldman Sachs Chairman Paulson Is Noted for His Adept Handling of Crises
By Brooke A. Masters
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page D01
NEW YORK, May 30 -- Treasury Secretary nominee Henry M. Paulson Jr. is often described as the kind of guy who thrives in a crisis.
In 2003, Paulson was chairman of the Nature Conservancy when the Arlington charity came under withering scrutiny for a variety of practices, including drilling for oil and selling undeveloped land to its trustees at reduced prices. Paulson immediately took charge, moving to rectify problems that had occurred during his tenure.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001384.html
White House Shake-Up Rolls On
The appointment of a new Treasury secretary is the latest in a series of recent White House changes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/05/31/GR2006053100204.html
What You Don't Know About the Immigration Bill
By Robert J. Samuelson
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A19
The Senate passed legislation last week that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) hailed as "the most far-reaching immigration reform in our history." You might think that the first question anyone would ask is how much it would actually increase or decrease legal immigration. But no. After the Senate approved the bill by 62 to 36, you could not find the answer in the news columns of The Post, the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Yet the estimates do exist and are fairly startling. By rough projections, the Senate bill would double the legal immigration that would occur during the next two decades from about 20 million (under present law) to about 40 million.
One job of journalism is to inform the public about what our political leaders are doing. In this case, we failed. The Senate bill's sponsors didn't publicize its full impact on legal immigration, and we didn't fill the void. It's safe to say that few Americans know what the bill would do because no one has told them. Indeed, I suspect that many senators who voted for the legislation don't have a clue as to the potential overall increase in immigration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001181.html
Older Students Who Need Basics Pose Challenge
Systems Use Special Programs to Help Immigrants With Little Education in Their Native Countries
By Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 29, 2006; B02
When Jose Velasquez, a soft-spoken teenager from Nicaragua whose basketball jersey and baggy jeans drape his lean frame, enrolled in a Montgomery County high school, his teachers soon discovered that he was far from ready for the classroom.
Although he was 17, he couldn't do division, write a paragraph or read a simple sentence in English.
Although many immigrant students excel in school, a few, such as Velasquez, have so little education in their native language that they pose a special challenge when they enter local schools. They lack the basic skills necessary to benefit from traditional programs -- known as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) -- that are designed to acclimate immigrants to the U.S. educational system.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/28/AR2006052801012.html
Theft of Data Leads to Firings, Moves at VA
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A17
Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson announced several personnel changes yesterday that will include the firing of a senior career data analyst who lost the sensitive personal information of millions of veterans.
The 60-year-old civil servant, a GS-14 employee who earns between $91,407 and $118,828 a year, has been notified that he will be terminated, VA officials said. The employee violated department policy by taking home electronic files containing the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of as many as 26.5 million veterans.
Those records were stolen May 3 from the employee's Aspen Hill home. Thieves took a laptop computer and an external disk drive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001204.html
GM Chief Yields Control Of North American Unit
Wagoner to Stay On as Chairman and CEO
By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page D01
General Motors Corp. Chairman G. Richard Wagoner is relinquishing day-to-day control of the automaker's core North American division, after a year of slashing structural costs, assembly plants and manufacturing jobs at the unit.
Troy Clarke, president of GM's growing Asia Pacific operations, was named the new head of GM North America. Clarke, 51, who was GM's chief negotiator during the last major round of contract talks with the United Auto Workers union in 2003, will oversee GM's labor relations team during coming negotiations. Analysts are predicting a historic showdown between the union and Detroit's Big Three automakers over wages, benefits and job security.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053000416.html
Former Ney Aide Details How Abramoff Treated 'Champions'
By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A07
In the first public testimony by a member of Jack Abramoff's inner circle, a former congressional aide told a federal jury yesterday how the disgraced lobbyist identified his "champions" in government and then showered them with favors to get inside information and help for his clients.
Neil G. Volz, who was chief of staff to Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) before joining Abramoff's lobbying firm, testified that among those he and his colleagues considered allies were Ney and former General Services Administration official David H. Safavian, the first person brought to trial in connection with the Abramoff scandal.
Neil Volz, left, poses with Ralph Reed, Paul Vinovich, Robert Ney, William Heaton, David Safavian, Michael Williams, Alex Abramoff and Jack Abramoff in front of the chartered plane that took them to Scotland in August 2002. (U.s. District Court Via Associated Press)
Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist at the center of a wide-ranging public corruption investigation, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison on March 29, after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a deal that required him to provide evidence about members of Congress.
Central to Team Abramoff's lobbying operation, Volz said, was developing contacts in government "who operate at a higher level" and who "for whatever reason want to help you out."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001206.html
FBI Raid Hits a Constitutional Nerve
By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A02
When asked to hold hearings on the rendition and torture of terrorism suspects, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) respectfully declined.
Invited repeatedly to probe the Bush administration's leaking of a CIA operative's identity, the chairman sent his regrets.
"Documents having nothing whatsoever to do with any crime" were "seized by the executive branch without constitutional authority," House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner said at the first hearing on the raid. (By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images)
Washington Sketch
A national political reporter for the Post, Milbank writes Washington Sketch, an observational column about political theater in the White House, Congress and elsewhere in the capital. He covered the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns and President Bush's first term. Before coming to the Post as a Style political writer in 2000, he covered the Clinton White House for the New Republic and Congress for the Wall Street Journal.
Urged to have hearings dedicated to the administration's warrantless eavesdropping, Sensenbrenner demurred once more.
But when FBI agents searched a congressional office 11 days ago, Sensenbrenner went up to the attic and found his gavel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001102.html
Late Pope's Birthplace Shrine Will Honor Jews
Landlord's Descendant Makes Deal for Holocaust Memorial
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, May 28, 2006; Page A14
WADOWICE, Poland, May 27 -- This small Polish town, population 20,000, is accustomed to papal visits. Its native son, Pope John Paul II, returned from Rome three times to great acclaim as he publicly shared fond memories of his childhood and the early years of his faith.
On Saturday, another pope sought out Wadowice. As part of a four-day tour of Poland, Benedict XVI came here to see the centuries-old church where his predecessor was baptized, to tour the home where he was born and to raise Polish hopes that John Paul one day will be declared a saint.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/27/AR2006052700891.html
647,000 Indonesians Displaced by Quake
By CHRIS BRUMMITT
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; 4:48 AM
BANTUL, Indonesia -- U.S. Marines joined an international effort to deliver aid and medical care to nearly 650,000 Indonesians displaced by a devastating earthquake, as hopes faded of finding more survivors.
Two U.S. Marine cargo planes carrying a mobile field hospital landed Tuesday in Yogyakarta, closest to the quake area in central Java, after cracks in the airport runway were patched.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053100260.html
Abuse, Deaths in D.C. Group Homes Detailed
Citing Scaldings and Starvation, Filing Urges Court to Hold City in Contempt
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page A01
Newly filed court papers give vivid and startling details about the extent of abuse -- from severe scaldings to fatal starvation -- that mentally and physically disabled residents have endured in some of the District's group homes.
Emily, 60, who liked movies, shopping and piling mountains of stuffed animals on her bed, weighed only 50 pounds when she died in 2004, the Justice Department wrote in a court filing last week, warning that hers was not an isolated case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001224.html
Tears Flow as Katie Couric Leaves 'Today'
By DAVID BAUDER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; 10:37 AM
NEW YORK -- With co-host Matt Lauer bringing the tissues, the "Today" show threw a going-away party Wednesday for 15-year host Katie Couric, who is leaving to become the next anchor of the "CBS Evening News."
"I'm feeling happy and sad and completely out of control," Couric said, "and you know how much I like that."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/31/AR2006053100463.html
Couric, Vargas, Us? We're No Different
Newscaster Elizabeth Vargas enjoyed brief poster-girl-for-working-moms status when she became the ABC World News Tonight co-anchor alongside Bob Woodruff (four children) earlier this year. Weeks into the limelight, Bob Woodruff was injured in Iraq; in January, Vargas announced she was pregant with her second child (she has a three-year-old son and two stepchildren). Along the way, the queen of TV working moms, Katie Couric (two children), decided to leave The Today Show (her last on-air day is today) to anchor the CBS Evening News starting this fall. Note the good news: Most potential replacements for Katie's chair were working mothers -- Soledad O'Brien (four children), Natalie Morales (one child) and Ann Curry (two children).
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/onbalance/
A Bud for The Ladies
Fly Solo, and a Guy Can Get So Shot Down. Wingman to the Rescue!
By Laura Sessions Stepp
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; Page C01
In the back of the club, on a bench built for two, a short college guy with a baby face is putting the moves on a miniskirted beauty whose shapely legs, crossed just so, rival Katie Couric's. The only thing between him and his destiny is her girlfriend, squished between the two of them, large lips in a pout.
Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is blasting from the speakers at U Street's Republic Gardens, rented out for an end-of-school-year bash. There's not much dancing going on, but lots of drinking and flirting among what appear to be mostly students from George Washington University.
Veteran wingman Jay Jentz, a senior at George Washington, and Lindsey Hamilton get to know each other under a beer at the Adams Mill Bar and Grill.
The young suitor is neatly dressed all in black, his long-sleeved shirt tucked into pressed cotton trousers. In this casual crowd of colorful polo shirts and frayed jeans, he might as well be wearing a sign that says, "Trying too hard." As he presses his end of the conversation, the beauty nods slightly but her eyes roam the room. He ignores her friend, whose pout grows ever more pronounced. If anyone ever needed a wingman, this guy is it.
You know the wingman. He's the guy who accompanies his buddy to a bar to help him pick up babes. He does whatever it takes to give his friend some time alone with the girl of choice: telling flattering lies about him, enticing away the sidekick girlfriend, running interference at the approach of a rival male.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001455.html
Animal Attraction
Anyone who knows my family knows we love dogs. By any measure--and then some--our dog, Bailey, is king of the house. We are his humble servants, particularly my husband who, by T-shirt count alone, is by far the Number One dog lover in our house. I don't think he has a single T-shirt without a dog's picture on it!
So, it's no surprise that a friend gave him a subscription to Bark, "the modern dog culture magazine" whose slogan is "Dog is my co-pilot." It's a great magazine, that's been called the "The New Yorker of dog magazines." What started as a Berkeley newsletter advocating a leash-free area is now a bimonthly magazine. Its latest issue is 112 pages, so full of ads that it's got to make other magazine publishers drool.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/
Zoos - Some less up beat news about Zoos. Not all of it's bad news, just be prepared the world is not perfect.
Southern Indiana zoo to build $11.1 million rain forest exhibit
EVANSVILLE, Ind. Officials in Evansville, Indiana have approved an eleven (m) million dollar contract for an Amazonian rain forest exhibit at the city's Mesker Park Zoo.
Zoo Director Dan McGinn calls the decision by the Parks Board "the biggest day in the history of the zoo."
In March, the board rejected project bids after post-Hurricane Katrina construction spikes and skyrocketing fuel costs pushed them all well over the engineer's cost projection.
Zoo officials scaled down the project and sought new bids. An Evansville contractor submitted the winning bid.
Construction of Amazonia will take 18 months to two years. It's expected to become the zoo's new centerpiece exhibit with tropical trees, birds, monkeys and a jaguar.
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4921814&nav=4CAL
Tiny tortoise with big future
Ben Rooth
THIS baby tortoise may be no bigger than a raspberry, but its birth has enormous significance at Chester Zoo.
The Egyptian tortoise is the latest addition to the zoo.
And although it may be tiny, it has made enormous strides to ensure the survival of the species.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/213/213892_tiny_tortoise_with_big_future.html
Zoo welcomes three tiny tortoises
The baby Egyptian tortoise is no bigger than a raspberry
Staff at Chester Zoo are celebrating the arrival of three tiny rare tortoises - who are each smaller than the size of a raspberry!
The Egyptian tortoises are critically endangered in the wild, so continuing to breed them in zoos is the only way to ensure they don't become extinct.
Exotic pet trade and damage to its habitat are blamed for its decline.
A Zoo spokesperson said: "What they currently lack in size, they make up for in importance!"
Click here to try our tortoise quiz
The Egyptian Tortoise is found in the wild in Mediterranean coastal deserts of Egypt, Eastern Libya and western Negev in Israel.
Its numbers have been dropping rapidly since the 1960s.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_5000000/newsid_5006300/5006398.stm
Bowmanville Zoo director cleared of charges
Justice of Peace calls case a 'waste'
May 17, 2006
TORONTO -- Bowmanville Zoo and its director Michael Hackenberger have been acquitted on charges of having prohibited animals within City boundaries.
A Toronto bylaw prohibits elephants within the City's boundaries except for educational purposes. Mr. Hackenberger was charged last October as he stood outside the National Trade Centre at a charity event with two elephants, Limba, a female Asian elephant and Caesar, a male African elephant.
A city of Toronto Animal Services officer testified he wasn't satisfied that an elephant standing outside the National Trade Centre was part of an educational program. However, Justice of the Peace Kevin Nadigan saw it differently when rendering his decision, calling the case "a waste of judicial time."
"This is a serious situation where a lot of inconvenience has been caused both to the defendant and the judicial system," he said.
If convicted Mr. Hackenberger could have faced a fine of as much as $10,000 per elephant or jailed six months if he refused to pay.
http://www.durhamregion.com/dr/regions/clarington/story/3500517p-4044851c.html
Primates in the courtroom: Sanctuary at center of fight
Web Posted: 05/07/2006 12:00 AM CDT
Cindy Tumiel
Express-News Staff Writer
If you believe everything you read, seven chimpanzees and two capuchin monkeys hired their own lawyer and went to court in Bexar County last week, asserting they were entitled to a court-appointed guardian who would take care of them and oversee $200,000 that has been pledged to their well-being.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050706.01A.Chimp_Sanctuary.871d319.html
PETA WANTS STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT TO ISSUE PETTING ZOO ADVISORY
Request Comes as New Studies Reveal That Washing Hands Is Not Enough to Prevent Deadly E. Coli Outbreaks
For Immediate Release:
May 23, 2006
Contact:
Jackie Vergerio 757-622-7382
Raleigh, N.C. — This morning, PETA sent an urgent appeal to North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services Carmen Hooker Odom urging her to immediately issue a public health advisory warning parents to steer clear of petting zoos because of the health risks that children who visit them may face. PETA’s request comes on the heels of three studies presented in March at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases that dispelled the idea that hand-washing can adequately protect children from contracting E. coli and other dangerous infectious diseases from petting zoo experiences.
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=8353
Gorilla from Memphis Zoo Dies
Posted: 5/18/2006 8:45:49 PM
Officials with the Memphis Zoo confirm to Eyewitness News that Tumai the Gorilla has died.
Tumai died on a plane flying to Cleveland. The animal was on his way to a new home at the zoo in Erie, Pennsylvania. Tumai was supposed to replace another gorilla that had died in Erie.
According to the Memphis Zoo, it is quite common for zoos to trade animals.
The Curator of the Memphis Zoo says Tumai was in great health and breathing fine when he left Memphis. He stopped breathing on the flight. There was not a vet on board, so the animal could not get treatment.
There were no obvious signs of death. A necropsy will be performed to determine how Tumai died.
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=40A9D4D5-F761-470F-9445-8CD74C4B6D35
Supreme Court issues notice on unauthorised zoos in Orissa
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The Supreme Court has served notices on the Orissa State Government and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) relating to unrecognised zoos spread across the eastern state.
The notice followed after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) who sought a prohibition on zoos run by private bodies.
Incidentally, most of these so called zoos are deer parks are facing severe infrastructure problems. Animal welfare organisations have urged that the state government should move in and take responsibility for their management.
"In the last cyclone, the trees and boundaries were not maintained properly. There are no specialised zoo doctors. That is why, the condition of animals is getting bad day by day. The Central Zoo Authority has given orders to close all these zoos," said Jiwan Das, the Secretary, People For Animals.
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=62580
Wildlife park culls pack of wolves 'to stop them killing each other'
JOHN ROSS
A WILDLIFE park has culled a pack of wolves because it feared the animals would eventually kill each other.
A pack of Mackenzie River wolves, normally found in North America, had been a feature at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kincraig, near Aviemore, since 1972.
However, it has been revealed that the remaining six animals, aged between six and eight, have been destroyed because they were no longer displaying natural behaviour.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which owns the park as well as Edinburgh Zoo, said the deaths were carried out humanely and with the backing of the independent Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee.
Animals rights protesters have condemned the move, but the society says it was done after prolonged discussion and research.
A spokeswoman for the park said the catalyst for recent problems was that the pack's leader died of natural causes some time ago and the female did not accept the next male wolf in the pecking order.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=761572006
Petting Zoo Blues: Barnyard Exhibits Are Bad for Both People and Animals
By Heather Moore (05/27/2006)
Last spring, at least 26 children and four adults contracted life-threatening E. coli infections after visiting petting zoos at the Central Florida Fair in Orlando, the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City, and the Florida State Fair in Tampa. The E. coli bacteria was traced to six animals - two goats, two sheep, and two cows - used by Ag-Venture Farm Shows, the company that supplied the animals at all three fairs. The outbreak put fear into parents' hearts, caused a number of schools to cancel field trips to petting zoos, and prompted health officials to scrutinize barnyard exhibits more carefully.
http://americandaily.com/article/13745
No pattern in deaths at zoo
9 prominent animals have died in the past year, 2 this month
By KATHY MULADY AND JOHN IWASAKI
P-I REPORTERS
Nine high-profile animals have died at Woodland Park Zoo in the past year, including an ocelot and a tree kangaroo in the past two weeks.
Some of the animals were longtime zoo residents, including a 32- year-old zebra named Rosie and a 16- year-old cougar.
Other animals that died this year were an 11-year-old pony named Bonnie, a snow leopard, a Rocky Mountain goat, a Pallas' cat and a DeBrazza's guenon, a type of monkey.
The list comprises only mammals, not the reptiles, birds, smaller animals or insects that are in the zoo's collection.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272174_deadanimals31.html
The New Zealand Herald
Worker crushed to death by log
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
A West Coast forestry worker has been crushed to death by a runaway log.
An investigation has been launched into the death of the 37-year-old, which happened on Monday morning.
The Kumara man, whose name hasn't been released, was clearing land in the Hohonu Forest, north of Greymouth, when the accident happened.
A log was being pulled up a steep hill by a cable when it became detached. The log rolled, crushing the man and killing him instantly.
Detective Constable Dan Keno of the Greymouth police said: "His colleagues tried to assist him, they removed the log and checked him but obviously he was beyond assistance."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10384362
Man fined for child pornography collection
1.15pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
A former computer systems administrator at Christchurch's College of Education has been fined $2200 for possessing more than 115,000 objectionable pornographic internet pictures and video files.
It is understood that John Louis Francis Schaper has moved to another job since Department of Internal Affairs officers executed a search warrant at his home and seized his computers in March 2004.
But when he pleaded guilty to 22 charges relating to objectionable publications in the Christchurch District Court yesterday, defence counsel Lee-Lee Heah said publication of his name would mean loss of his present job.
Judge Phillip Moran refused to continue the interim suppression.
A judge refused the order in the District Court in February, but Schaper appealed to the High Court and got it reinstated.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10384378
Unarmed police officer overpowers gunman
UPDATED 4.45pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Juliet Rowan
An unarmed police constable single-handedly overpowered an alleged gunman this morning after a shooting on a Rotorua street.
The incident followed a high-speed vehicle chase along Devon Street.
The vehicles collided outside the International Stadium, and one man got out of his vehicle and shot the driver of the other car three times with a pistol, police said.
The 43-year-old victim is in a serious condition in Rotorua Hospital after being shot in the head and body.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10384374
'Police' email a hoax
10.15am Wednesday May 31, 2006
Police today warned that a hoax email purporting to be from them, and which contains a virus, is circulating within New Zealand.
The Police Commissioner's office said today the email had caused concern among the public.
The email suggested that recipients were "under suspicion of financial machination" and asked them to complete details and fax or email them.
The email contained a trojan virus which would be filtered out by computers with anti-virus software.
The police commissioner's office said recipients should simply delete the email and did not need to contact the police.
Officers were still investigating the origins of the email.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10384348
Fire leaves Niue without power, facing water shortage
9.20am Wednesday May 31, 2006
Niueans have been told to stay home and conserve water after a blaze at the South Pacific nation's only power station last night left the island without electricity.
A spokesman from Niue Broadcasting Corporation said people were particularly concerned about water supply as the pumps were electric.
"The water is actually being pumped up by power and because there is no power we are only going by whatever's in the reservoirs at the moment," he told National Radio.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10384341
Government demands answers from CAA over fatal air crash
Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Paula Oliver
The Government is demanding "urgent" answers from the Civil Aviation Authority after yet another report criticised the watchdog's air safety monitoring role.
The CAA - already under fire from the Auditor-General for taking too long to act on serious safety issues - was yesterday chastised in a coroner's report which found that a fatal air crash in 2003 could have been prevented.
Eight people were killed and only two survived the crash of a light plane near Christchurch Airport, making the tragedy the seventh-worst air crash in New Zealand aviation history.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10384338
Clean-up of waterways slow but steady, ministers find
Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Stephen Ward
Government ministers are praising dairy farmers' efforts to clean up waterways but official figures indicate progress is incremental rather than dramatic.
Under the 2003 Dairying and Clean Streams Accord between Fonterra, the Government and regional councils, five targets were set to help prevent farming operations polluting waterways in dairying areas.
The percentage of dairy farms with a plan to manage nutrients rose from just 17 per cent to 19 per cent, against a target of 100 per cent by next year. The report said: "In all regions, farmers showed a lack of information or knowledge about nutrient management planning and nutrient budgets."
Another accord target was for dairy effluent discharges to comply immediately with resource consents and regional plans.
The report said that last season there was wide regional variation on compliance, ranging from 97 per cent of inspected farms in Otago to just 9.4 per cent in Tasman.
But the report noted that regional data was not comparable because of differences in collecting data.
A statement from Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton and Environment Minister David Benson-Pope said the report showed dairy farmers were making significant progress in implementing practices to improve water quality.
But they acknowledged the slower progress on meeting the nutrient management plans target.
Steps to promote better nutrient management from Fonterra and dairy research organisation Dexcel include more training for farm advisory staff and technical information for farmers.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10384328
Villagers ignore warnings as they return to live near Mt Merapi
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Kathy Marks
MOUNT MERAPI - "Am I nervous?" asked Heru Suparwaka, watching the needle of the seismograph sketch a crazy route across the page, accompanied by a high-pitched whine.
"Of course I'm nervous." Mr Heru is part of a small team monitoring Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, from an observation post high on its slopes.
The area, on Indonesia's Java island, has been on red alert for weeks, since Merapi began spewing out lava and clouds of gas and hot ash.
But since last weekend's earthquake, its activity has intensified dramatically, sparking fears of an imminent deadly eruption.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10384373
Problems linger as aid flows in for Java quake
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
BANTUL, Indonesia - International relief efforts picked up today for survivors of the earthquake that killed more than 5700 people on Indonesia's Java island, but many victims complained that vital aid was not reaching them.
Planes carrying supplies and foreign experts, including Japanese paramedics and a contingent of US Marines, reached the stricken region to reinforce government aid and workers.
The landed at the airport of the ancient royal capital of Yogyakarta, which re-opened to commercial traffic despite a heavily damaged terminal. A 135-member US military medical unit was expected to arrive by Tuesday night.
UN officials said more than 22 countries had responded to Indonesia's call for help with aid or pledges of assistance. But help was still a long way off for some.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384369
Afghan army patrols Kabul amid anger with US troops
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
KABUL - Afghan troops patrolled the streets of Kabul and the capital was put under curfew for a second night today after at least seven people were killed in the worst anti-US riots since the 2001 fall of the Taleban.
In northern Afghanistan, Taleban gunmen shot dead three Afghan women working for a Western aid agency, while a roadside bomb killed two Afghans employed by a US firm, officials said.
While the heavy security presence restored order on Kabul's streets, anger burned among many Afghans over the behaviour of US troops when a fatal road accident involving a US army truck sparked unrest in many parts of the city.
"They worry about their own safety. They only care about themselves," said Abdul Karim, a 28-year-old resident of the city, who nevertheless blamed criminals for turning protests into riots in order to go on a crime spree.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384370
US poultry experts using Google to beat bird flu
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
LOS ANGELES - Poultry experts are turning to sophisticated computer imaging to help them prepare for the expected arrival of the deadly bird flu virus in the United States later this year.
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is being used to pinpoint the location of commercial poultry flocks, feed mills and processing plants, said Sherrill Davison, professor of avian medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
The information will be used to help create buffer zones around an infected flock and contain the H5N1 strain when it makes its US appearance.
Since the beginning of the year, experts have also been using Google Earth, which combines satellite imagery, maps and the company's search engine to span the globe. It gives extra details including the location of buildings, schools and roads near large chicken and turkey farms and production facilities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384363
Study finds no link between leukaemia risk, nuclear plants
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
NEW YORK - Children living near nuclear plants in France do not have an increased risk of leukaemia, a new study confirms.
Most studies that have examined cancer risk near nuclear installations have looked only at how far a child lives from the plant, Dr Jacqueline Clavel of Universite Paris Sud, Villejuif and colleagues note, assuming that the greater the distance, the lower the radiation exposure. However, radiation dispersion follows a more complex pattern, they note.
To get a more accurate picture of the risk, Clavel and her team divided regions around each of 23 different French nuclear plants into five zones based on radiation exposure to the red bone marrow (RBM) due to gaseous discharge from the plant. They evaluated the rate of leukaemia diagnoses among children younger than 15 years old between 1990 and 2001 over 40sq km around each plant.
A total of 750 cases of leukaemia were diagnosed, slightly lower than the 795 cases that would have been expected, although the difference was not statistically significant. The researchers also found no evidence of an increased risk that correlated with increased radiation exposure.
The average radiation exposure from gaseous discharge was very low, a small fraction of the estimated exposure from natural sources of ionizing radiation, such as radon, or from medical tests, such as X-ray imaging.
The average RBM dose from gaseous radioactive discharge among children who lived in the vicinity of nuclear plants was about 1000 to 10,000 times lower than the average RBM dose from natural sources, Clavel and her colleagues report.
They conclude that there was no evidence of an increase in the rate of childhood leukemia in the vicinity of these 23 French nuclear plants between 1990 and 2001.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384379
French youths clash with police in Paris
8.20am Wednesday May 31, 2006
PARIS - Around a hundred youths have clashed with French police after setting fire to cars and rubbish bins in a Paris suburb that was the scene of violent riots last November, a local official said.
Seven police officers were slightly injured and six youths were arrested in a neighbourhood of Seine-Saint-Denis in confrontations that started on Tuesday morning local time, according to a security official from the suburb.
The youths began burning cars in reaction to a police operation in which a young man was arrested several hours earlier. Officials said they did not yet know how many cars had been burnt.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384322
Blast targets Greek culture minister
6.20am Wednesday May 31, 2006
A powerful bomb exploded near the home of Greek Culture Minister George Voulgarakis on Tuesday, wrecking a car, but causing no injuries.
"He was still at home. It was really strong, it was aimed at Voulgarakis," a police official said.
Mr Voulgarakis had been Public Order Minister until February and was under pressure over a phone tapping scandal and claims made by 28 Pakistani immigrants, who said they were abducted and tortured by Greek authorities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384320
NZ troops head straight into Dili hot spots
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Maggie Tait
DILI - Another contingent of New Zealand troops arrived in East Timor today and are likely to be given the job of patrolling the streets of the hottest part of the capital Dili.
About 40 soldiers touched down at about 1pm NZ time. After landing in Dili the troops left the plane in searing heat, fully kitted out with packs on their backs and guns in their hands, ready for action.
Another plane is due to arrive later today.
With the international forces under ever-increasing pressure to show results faster, the NZ force is likely to fill the void in the western block of the city.
They come at a politically sensitive moment, just as the Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato and Defence Minister De Roque Rodriguez were dumped after crisis talks involving the top government and civil leaders.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384367
East Timor's president assumes emergency power
Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Greg Ansley
DILI - President Xanana Gusmao assumed emergency powers in East Timor late last night, taking sole control of the Army after days of violence in which at least 20 people have been killed.
President Gusmao told a news conference he had taken control of the nation's entire security, information and intelligence branches and would be solely responsible for coordination with international peacekeepers.
He said he had made the decision in collaboration with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri - with whom he is said to be at odds over the government's handling of the crisis - and the head of parliament.
As the leaders continued their negotiations last night, rival gangs continued to roam Dili.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384331
Crucial post aims to keep weapons out of Dili
Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Greg Ansley
DILI - The road west from Dili runs tight along the coastline, leaving the city at Taci Tolu into country where anything can happen.
A group of 160 Timorese soldiers and police live in a barracks there with their families and some refugees.
Between them and the city are the 31 men of Burnham-based 2nd/1st battalion, housed in a school and sharing the countryside with grazing goats.
Quiet as it seems, this is the crucial post, guarding access to the city and preventing any of the thousands of weapons circulating among rebels, militia and thugs from adding to the violence that has overtaken Dili.
Since they set up their roadblock on Sunday, the haul has been slim: a single sword. But then they take the weapons from a group of Timorese soldiers, secure them in a New Zealand vehicle and take them to a military camp at Hera on the far side of Dili.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384272
Australian troops plan for six months in Timor
1.20pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
CANBERRA - Australia plans to keep troops in East Timor for at least six months but hopes to scale down its deployment as order returns to the tiny nation, a top military official said today.
Australia is leading a 2500-strong contingent of international peacekeepers in East Timor after it appealed for help to quell a rebellion by almost half of the army, which led to widespread violence in the capital Dili.
"Our planning base is on the basis of a six-month deployment," military commander Angus Houston told a parliamentary hearing. "My hope is that as things stabilise, we can adjust the force downwards at some time in the future. But I'm not focused on that at the moment."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10384380
Blame placed on failure of leadership
Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Mike Houlahan
Dissenting factions in East Timor may not agree about much but one thing unites them and the international community - a belief the country has been badly governed.
Since the emotional and historic high of becoming the world's newest independent state in 2002, the high hopes for East Timor have evaporated as the fires of ethnic tension and political rivalry rage out of control.
While the catalyst for the chaos that has beset East Timor in recent days was Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's March decision to fire 600 striking soldiers, East Timorese and foreign leaders have pointed at deeper-seated problems.
"They have to discharge ... the responsibilities of independence more effectively than has been the case over the last few years," Australian Prime Minister John Howard said at the weekend.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384273
Pictures show destruction of Zimbabwe clearances
1.00pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Jeremy Lovell
LONDON - Human Rights Group Amnesty International released satellite images today showing the obliteration of a large community during last year's settlement clearances in Zimbabwe that made some 700,000 people homeless.
The particularly graphic before and after shots show the destruction of the Porta Farm settlement 20 km west of Harare that was until last year home to up to 10,000 people.
Where once stood 850 structures including homes and schools is now empty scrub land with only the outlines of the former streets to hint at what used to be there.
"These images ... are a graphic indictment of the Zimbabwean government's policies. They show the horrifying transition of an area from a vibrant community to rubble and shrubs," Amnesty Africa director Kolawole Olaniyan said.
The pictures from Digital Globe, Inc. were acquired, processed and analysed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation., and given to Amnesty.
The Zimbabwean government said it launched Operation Murambatsvina (Restore Order) in May last year to remove illegal settlements that had mushroomed around Harare.
It was widely condemned as brutal and inhumane, and critics accused President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government of using it as an excuse to victimise urban opposition strongholds.
Amnesty, noting that government supporters also lost homes, said the clearances and forced dispersal of the inhabitants back to rural villages was at the behest of the security services who feared the settlements were set to explode.
Inflation in the former breadbasket of Africa is now running officially at 1,040 per cent -- but unofficially at 1,800 per cent -- and 90 per cent of the population are below the poverty line.
So catastrophic are conditions in the former British colony of Rhodesia that average life expectancy is now just 34 years compared with 55 when it won independence in 1980.
The irony of Porta Farm is that it was established by the government in 1991 as a temporary home for thousands of squatters whose shacks had been demolished in Harare in clean-up exercises ahead of a Commonwealth summit hosted by Zimbabwe.
Although their stay at Porta was meant to be temporary, the settlement expanded over the years as rising poverty in the capital Harare drove people to the settlement where they eked out a living from fishing and working on neighbouring farms.
Porta farm residents clashed with police while resisting eviction from the settlement in 2004. Police however denied a report by Amnesty that some 10 people died as a result of teargas fired during the clashes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384372
Zimbabwe prints new high denomination dollar note
3.40pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's central bank today unveiled a Z$100,000 note and said it would not hesitate to introduce higher denominations in future as the country battles with the world's highest inflation rate.
The southern African country is the throes of a deep economic crisis shown in shortages of foreign currency and fuel, rising unemployment and inflation above 1000 per cent, forcing people to carry huge wads of cash which often buy little.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono said a new 100,000 Zimbabwe dollar bearer cheque (worth $1.54) would come into circulation on Thursday, June 1.
The bearer cheque note was introduced three years ago as a temporary measure to plug a shortage of bank notes in the face of rising inflation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10384387
Where the weekly shop now costs $15 million
Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Brian Latham and Antony Sguazzin
HARARE - Vinod Rugnathji charges a shoebox full of bank notes for a pair of jeans at his general store in Mvurwi, 95km north of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.
He gave up counting each note when the price per pair rose to Z$5 million ($77).
"Five million dollars fits into a shoebox, so if you know the person you just trust him," said Rugnathji, 53.
His back office is cluttered with boxes full of cash, which he sends to the bank twice a day to deposit.
Zimbabwe's inflation rate surged to 1043 per cent in April on shortages for goods such as bread and petrol, and John Robertson, an independent economist in Harare, forecasts inflation will accelerate to 2000 per cent by the end of the year. Wages have failed to keep pace, worsening poverty and threatening civil unrest.
This month, farm worker representatives and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said they might call strikes and protests over pay and, on May 21, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change reiterated a threat of mass action over rising prices.
"We're getting to the point where people can't take any more," said Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of lobby group the National Constitutional Assembly. "It's just a matter of time before inflation sparks civil disobedience. Poverty and suffering are growing by the day."
President Robert Mugabe, 82, said in February the state would continue to print money, fuelling inflation, to prevent starvation in an economy that's in its seventh year of recession.
"The Government has shrunk the economy without shrinking its commitments," Robertson said. "They are left with the option of printing money and printing will make more inflation than we have now."
The International Monetary Fund puts that economic shrinkage at 4.7 per cent for this year. The country has been suffering even more since Mugabe ordered the seizure of white-owned commercial farms in 2001 for redistribution to black subsistence farmers. And last week the Government turned on black farmers, forcing them to rip out vegetable crops in a bizarre drive that only allows the planting of maize - the country's staple food. Farmers who refused were beaten badly. They were also told they had to sell most of their harvest to Zimbabwe's Grain Marketing Board for a price yet to be determined - as the Government wants to sell most of it abroad to garner much-needed foreign exchange.
Yet despite all the Government's efforts, the harvest is expected to be only half of that in 2001.
The upheaval in the countryside has also slashed the tobacco crop to the lowest in 32 years. Zimbabwe was the world's second-largest exporter of top grade tobacco after Brazil just six years ago. It is now the fifth largest and is expected to drop even further.
The resulting foreign currency shortage has led inflation to outpace the central bank's ability to print money. The Reserve Bank prints the biggest note of Z$50,000 over old Z$20 notes, which can still be seen under the ink of the new bill.
"Six years ago, my weekly shopping probably cost about Z$1000 a week," said Sandy Macdonald, 45, a mother of two who lives in Harare's affluent Borrowdale suburb and carries a rucksack full of cash to go shopping. "Now it costs Z$15 million to Z$20 million - but then a jar of coffee costs a million and we're a lot more frugal nowadays."
Inflation accelerated from 133 per cent at the start of 2005 following a foreign currency shortage and after the central bank printed money to help repay debts to the IMF, which had threatened to expel Zimbabwe.
The central bank says the Zimbabwe dollar trades at 101,196 to the American dollar but on the black market it trades at about 220,000.
And Mugabe is adamant the state will keep printing money.
"Those who say printing money will cause inflation are suggesting that you just fold your hands and say, 'ah, let the situation continue and let the people starve'," he said in February. "I will print money today so that people can survive."
Meikles Africa's TM Supermarkets, the country's biggest grocery chain, has installed cash-counting machines in a bid to cut down on queues.
Aphrodite, a Greek restaurant, charges about Z$2 million for a meal for two including a glass of wine. Five years ago, the same meal cost Z$200.
Wages have failed miserably to keep pace with inflation.
Farm workers earn Z$1.3 million a month but the Consumer Council estimates a family of six needs Z$42 million to get by.
A farm wage is enough to buy five litres of motor fuel on the black market or four packs of cigarettes in a shop.
"We all just wish this would end," said John Takawira, 34, a street vendor who sells fruit in Harare's northern suburbs and can't afford to make the 35km journey home every day.
"Sometimes I make less than a million a day but, if the police find me sleeping in town, I can get beaten or arrested and if I go home without money my wife will scold me."
INFLATION RUNS AWAY
* The inflation rate is running at 1043 per cent.
* It is expected to accelerate to 2000 per cent by the end of the year.
* The central bank says the Zimbabwe dollar trades at 101,196 to the US dollar.
* But it trades at about 220,000 on the black market.
COSTLY SHOPPING
* Six years ago, the weekly shop cost an affluent Zimbabwean about Z$1000.
* Today, it costs between Z$15 million and Z$20 million.
* A loaf of bread costs about Z$45,000 (71c).
* A jar of coffee costs Z$1 million.
* A pair of jeans costs Z$5 million.
- BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384261
EU court rules airline data deal with US illegal
5.00am Wednesday May 31, 2006
BRUSSELS - The European Union acted illegally when it agreed to transfer airline passenger data to the United States as part of US efforts to fight terrorism, the bloc's highest court has ruled.
Under a May 2004 EU-US agreement, European airlines have been obliged to give US authorities 34 items of information on passengers flying to the United States.
They include passengers' names, addresses, all forms of payment and contact telephone numbers.
The United States insisted the transfer of data was essential to fight terrorism following the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by suicide plane hijackers.
The European Parliament challenged the deal, contending it had no legal basis and infringed fundamental rights.
The European Court of Justice ruled that the EU Council of Ministers' decision to sign the agreement lacked an adequate legal basis.
"Consequently, the court annulled the council decision approving the conclusion of the agreement and did not consider it necessary to consider the other pleas relied on by parliament," a court statement said.
But it gave the executive European Commission and member states four months to find a solution, saying that it maintained the legality of the decision until Sept. 30 "for reasons of legal certainty".
Among possible options, the Commission and EU countries could seek a new legal basis for signing the agreement, try to renegotiate the deal, or individual member states could conclude bilateral agreements with the United States instead.
The Court did not rule out on the lawmakers' claims that the agreement infringed on passengers' privacy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384326
Beijing turns back the tide of sand
Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Leonard Doyle
China has announced it has slowed the rate at which desertification is eating up farm and other land, a remarkable achievement in a country where the desert already covers one-third of its land mass.
To the disbelief of many who endure the sandstorms that sweep the country every year, officials also expressed confidence that the 2008 Olympics in Beijing would not be affected by them.
China would never completely tame the sandstorms, the officials said, but they did promise China would step up efforts to control the problem.
Desertification of western China and the Mongolian steppes has made spring sandstorms worse in recent years, reaching as far away as South Korea and Japan. A persistent drought in northern parts of China has only added to the problem, sucking moisture from the soil and making it more easily picked up by the wind.
Population growth and an increase in livestock had led to a rapid expansion of desert at an annual rate of 10,400sq km.
Imported European cattle such as the friesian and simmental varieties, which eat more than Asian breeds, has made things worse.
But Zhu Lieke, the deputy head of the State Forestry Administration, said that the rate of desertification had slowed to about 3000sq km a year.
"China's anti-desertification work has made major progress," Zhu said. "It has improved agricultural production conditions."
He warned, however, that the levels of desertification were still very serious. "Disadvantageous climatic reasons, especially the influence of drought on speeding up desertification, cannot be underestimated. Overplanting, overgrazing and overuse of water are also issues yet to be totally resolved," he added.
China's State Council said its schemes would ensure that by 2020, half of all land that had been destroyed by desertification would be "rescued".
But a UN study issued last year warned that a deteriorating environment, including encroaching deserts, could drive 50 million Chinese from their homes by 2010.
Beijing has embarked upon a massive tree-planting scheme to hold back the deserts, as well as banning the grazing of domestic animals on fragile soil and trying to improve irrigation.
An enormous "green wall," is now being built. It will eventually stretch more than 5700km in length - nearly as long as the Great Wall of China - to protect so-called "sandy lands", or deserts believed to have been created by human activity.
Oases and farmlands in windy regions are also protected by planting tree fences and grass belts. The sand that manages to pass through the grass belts is caught in strips of trees, which have been planted and act as wind breaks 50 to 100m apart, adjacent to the belts.
Dune and dusted
* Desert covers a third of the landmass of China.
* Areas affected by desertification were expanding at an annual rate of 10,400sq km at end of last century.
* China claims this has slowed to about 3000sq km a year.
* China has embarked upon a massive tree-planting scheme, banning the grazing of domestic animals on fragile soil and trying to improve irrigation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384309
Yangtze river grows 'cancerous' with pollution
Wednesday May 31, 2006
BEIJING - China's longest river is "cancerous" with pollution and rapidly dying, threatening drinking water supplies in 186 cities along its banks, state media said.
Chinese environmental experts fear worsening pollution could kill the Yangtze river within five years, Xinhua news agency said, calling for an urgent clean-up.
"Many officials think pollution is nothing," Yuan Aiguo, a professor with the China University of Geosciences, said. "But the pollution is very serious" he added, warning that experts considered it "cancerous".
Industrial waste and sewage, agricultural pollution and shipping discharges were to blame for the river's declining health, experts said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384307
Unofficial World Cup goods can damage your health
3.20pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
BRUSSELS - People buying unofficial World Cup merchandise risk possible illness, injury or even death, top customs officials said today.
The World Customs Organisation (WCO), representing customs officials from 169 countries, and the European Union's executive Commission issued the warning ahead of the tournament, which starts on June 9 in Germany.
"There is a high risk for your own safety if you buy some of those products. People can get sick, injured or even worse," John Pulford, head of the European Commission's tax and customs unit, told Reuters in an interview.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10384368
FBI ends search for Hoffa's body at Michigan farm
12.20pm Wednesday May 31, 2006
DETROIT - The FBI is calling off its search for the body of Jimmy Hoffa on a Michigan horse farm, the agency said today after failing to recover anything that might help solve the 31-year-old mystery of the Teamsters leader's disappearance.
In an exhaustive two week search, the FBI tore down a barn and excavated several sites on the Hidden Dreams Farm near Detroit looking for a makeshift grave said by prison inmate to contain Hoffa's remains.
The agency said it planned to brief reporters later on what it called "the conclusion of the execution of a federal search warrant in connection with the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of James Riddle Hoffa."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10384365
Base jumper may have taken extra risks on fatal leap
7.20am Wednesday May 31, 2006
A champion Australian Base jumper who plunged to his death from a 1100m-high cliff in Norway may have been taking additional risks in search of a greater thrill.
Tony Coombes, 30, slammed into the cliff face after leaping from Trollveggen, also known as Troll Wall, ending up about 300m above the valley floor with his parachute still attached.
Australian Base Association president Gary Cunningham said Coombes was known for "flying" too close to cliff faces and probably descended too close to the face to maximise its thrill.
It is illegal to Base jump at Trollveggen.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384321
Thailand sets election re-run for October 15
5.20am Wednesday May 31, 2006
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
BANGKOK - Thailand will re-run an annulled general election on October 15, a government minister has announced.
Environment Minister Yongyut Tiyapairat told reporters yesterday the cabinet set the date after a snap April 2 election failed to produce a constitutionally valid lower house of parliament due to an opposition boycott and was later declared unlawful.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called the snap election to counter months of street protests by foes accusing him of abuse of power and corruption, charges he denies.
The October 15 date was chosen to give politicians the 90 days the constitution requires for them to switch parties and run in an election, officials said.
The requirement was introduced in the 1997 constitution to prevent party hopping which made it difficult to form governments.
Some members of Mr Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) are expected to swap parties, disgruntled with his leadership despite expectations that his strong support in the countryside will return the party to power.
With the House of Representatives unable to meet, revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej intervened, summoning top judges to his seaside palace and urging them to sort out the mess.
Yet a month after his intervention, little progress has been made with the Election Commission currently the main stumbling block.
The judges are urging the commission to quit, its three remaining members are holding firm and the main opposition parties are refusing to talk to it despite heeding the king's wish that they run in a new election.
On Tuesday, the Bangkok Criminal Court agreed to hear a lawsuit filed by an opposition politician accusing the commissioners of holding the April 2 poll unlawfully. It said the trial would start on June 19.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384316
Ancient crosses smashed with sledgehammers
Wednesday May 31, 2006
BRUSSELS - Fears that Azerbaijan has systematically destroyed hundreds of 500-year-old Christian artefacts have exploded into a diplomatic row, after European Union MPs were barred from inspecting an ancient Armenian burial site.
The predominantly Muslim country's Government has been accused by the International Council on Monuments and Sites of vandalism similar to the Taleban's demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
The claims centre on the fate of rare "khachkars", stone crosses carved with intricate floral designs, at the burial ground of Djulfa in the Nakhichevan region of Azerbaijan, an enclave separated from the rest of the country by Armenia.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10384260
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http://www.twti.co.nz/website.htm
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