The Calgary Herald
One year later families remember water's deadly toll
Four lives lost in June 2005
Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, June 06, 2006
It had been raining for five days straight in much of southwestern Alberta when last June's first big storm arrived a year ago today.
As heavy rain pelted the Foothills and prairie, flood warnings were issued. Twenty-one rivers, creeks and streams from Pincher Creek to Claresholm and Calgary threatened to spill their banks.
The three floods of 2005 swamped basements, mangled bridges and tore apart roads, pathways and parks.
In their wake, they also swallowed four lives.
The deaths of 21-year-old Jason Shantz, 15-year-old Caitlin Sharpe and 59-year-old Rick James Petrie have served as lessons about the dangers of walking and working near raging rivers.
The death of 44-year-old Tim Guicheteau of Kelvington, Sask., offers a different lesson.
On April 28, in a provincial courtroom in Drumheller, a couple from the small Alberta town of Morrin were convicted on Traffic Safety Act charges related to Guicheteau's death.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=eda08530-6b2b-4176-8fcc-69e5996087bf&k=28603
O'Connor skips NATO meeting in case of confidence vote
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, June 07, 2006
OTTAWA - When NATO defence ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss a major decision to almost double troops in Afghanistan a question with direct impact on Canada one key player will be missing: Canada's defence minister, Gordon O'Connor.
CanWest News Service has learned that O'Connor will forgo the meeting because he doesn't want to be responsible for missing a House of Commons vote that could topple the minority Conservative government, although no confidence votes are scheduled for Thursday.
''We wanted to go,'' said a senior Defence Department official, but added: ''Our minister will not be the one responsible for bringing down the government.''
Instead, Canada will be represented at Thursday's meeting by the unelected senior bureaucrat in the Defence Department: assistant deputy minister Ward Elcock.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=e54bd24c-2915-4f9b-a049-00c1ed9b0fcf
Tory budget passes thanks to opposition 'error'
Allan Woods, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, June 07, 2006
OTTAWA - The Conservative government's first budget passed with unanimous consent Tuesday thanks to a ''procedural error'' that has allowed Prime Minister Stephen Harper to survive the biggest test he is likely to see this parliamentary session.
The House of Commons had what is known as a ''voice vote,'' where those opposed to a particular law cry out ''nay'' and those in favour cry ''yea.'' It appears the Liberals and the New Democratic Party did not realize they were voting on the budget at third reading and sat quietly through the vote.
''Nobody on the Liberal side added their voice,'' Liberal Leader Bill Graham admitted to reporters. ''It was an unfortunate error, but it doesn't change anything ... We're opposed to the budget. I don't think anybody thinks that we're not.''
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=2020da87-6173-4566-add3-4e6771c71330&k=3631
Kobasew cheers Carolina 'friends'
Jean LeFebvre, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, June 07, 2006
For Chuck Kobasew to flat-out declare he wants the Edmonton Oilers to fall on their collective mushes would be petty. A little gauche, even.
Instead, the Calgary Flames right-winger has a much more tasteful way to express his team of choice in the Stanley Cup final tussle.
"Having some friends on Carolina," Kobasew chuckled, "just gives me a great reason to cheer for them."
Said pals would be former colleagues from the Lowell Lock Monsters, the American Hockey League outfit with which Kobasew spent the lockout winter. Lowell at that time was a shared Flames/Hurricanes affiliate, which means Kobasew played alongside current Carolina players Eric Staal, Chad Larose and Cam Ward, not to mention Flame-cum-'Cane Mike Commodore.
"They're good guys," said Kobasew, whose new two-year contract with the Flames was announced Tuesday. "I enjoyed playing with them, so I guess I'm cheering for them. You know what? If the last game is a taste of what's to come, it should be an exciting series."
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=653a5a23-a67a-4a6e-a968-29b7e77e5963&k=44526
Teenage schoolgirl fights off male attacker
Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, June 07, 2006
A teen girl grabbed by a male youth as she walked from school to her Deer Run home Tuesday afternoon handled the incident properly, police say.
The 14-year-old was returning home around 4:15 p.m. when a 15- or 16-year-old male walking the same way approached her.
"He ran up to her, grabbed her and appeared to try to remove her pants," said Calgary Police Service duty Insp. Luch Berti.
Although local residents were out in their yards or returning home from work at the time of the incident, they may not have realized anything criminal was happening, said Berti.
"Sometimes people don't understand what they're seeing," he said.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=82d94af5-4425-4f19-8448-8522a11b922b&k=25642
$10,000 reward offered for turning in Nazis
Laura Payton, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, June 07, 2006
OTTAWA - An international organization focusing on the history of the Holocaust has stepped up efforts to catch suspected Nazi war criminals living in Canada.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center announced Tuesday that it will give rewards of up to $10,000 for tips leading to convictions of Nazi war criminals.
The strategy falls under a campaign known as Operation Last Chance, a program formerly in use only in countries where Nazi crimes were committed.
"Obviously, the name reflects the urgency of the situation," said Efraim Zuroff, a director of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
"We're almost at the last possible opportunity to bring these killers to justice and we decided that we have to be a little more proactive."
A Justice Department representative said Canada is unwilling to be a safe haven for war criminals, and that the government is willing to investigate the tips collected by Operation Last Chance, as well as tips about anyone suspected of committing atrocities.
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=4e4ccddd-2e8a-4b7d-a1bb-9746659e2425&k=89054
Billing Gazette
Gazette Opinion: In new storm season, FEMA must not fail
No one could have predicted how badly the Federal Emergency Management Agency would perform in responding to Hurricane Katrina.
The ineptitude of America's response to this horrific natural disaster compounded the suffering of thousands. This was a man-made tragedy piled on top of Mother Nature's destruction.
On Thursday, officials noted the official start of the 2006 hurricane season with promises of a better performance in the face of these violent storms to come.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says FEMA, an agency that falls under his department's umbrella, is "much more prepared than we were last year or any previous year."
They'd better be. The National Hurricane Center predicts that as many as 16 tropical storms could pound the Atlantic coastline and Gulf Coast this season. Forecasters say eight to 10 of the storms could become hurricanes.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/07/opinion/gazette/50-gazetteopinion.txt
Tester routs Morrison, will challenge Burns
Embattled incumbent beats Keenan by 3-to-1 margin
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA -- Jon Tester, a populist farmer, won a decisive victory over John Morrison in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and will face three-term Republican incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns, who won his primary handily, in November.
Tester, outspent by Morrison by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, led almost from the start of the vote counting Tuesday evening. He ended up defeating Morrison, the state auditor, by about 25 percentage points in the five-way primary.
Although Tester was considered an underdog in the five-candidate Democratic Senate race, he gained momentum in closing weeks of the campaign through an extensive grass-roots effort.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/07/news/state/20-tester-burns.txt
Voters split on 2 sex-related ordinances
Obscenity ban fails; zoning plan OK'd
By TOM HOWARD
Of The Gazette Staff
Yellowstone County voters Tuesday defeated a proposed ordinance that sought a countywide ban on obscenity. But a companion ordinance that uses the county's zoning regulations to restrict the operations of strip clubs and other sexually oriented businesses was approved by a narrow margin.
In unofficial results, voters rejected the obscenity ordinance by a 56 to 44 percent margin, with 15,314 voting no and 12,064 in favor.
The sexually oriented business ordinance, which would affect businesses outside the city of Billings, was approved by a 425-vote margin, with 13,612 in favor, 13,187 opposed.
"We have a very educated group of voters, and it appears that the obscenity ordinance is something that they didn't want," said John Ostlund, chairman of the Yellowstone County commissioners.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/07/news/local/20-ordinances.txt
Lindeen wins chance to run against Rehberg
By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA -- It's official: Billings-area state lawmaker Monica Lindeen will square off against three-term incumbent Rep. Denny Rehberg in the race for Montana's lone congressional seat this fall.
With 80 percent of precincts reporting as of press time, Lindeen enjoyed a handy 72 percent to 28 percent lead over dark-horse challenger Eric Gunderson of Frenchtown.
The Associated Press declared Lindeen the winner just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
At just before midnight Tuesday, Lindeen had 52,325 votes, compared with Gunderson's 20,503. Lindeen claimed 83 percent of the vote in Yellowstone County. Lindeen carried 79 percent of the vote in Lewis and Clark County.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/06/07/news/state/25-lindeen.txt
2 GOP incumbents lose in House bids
By MIKE DENNISON
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA -- Incumbent Republican House members in Missoula and Kalispell went down to defeat in primary elections Tuesday, while another Republican House member lost his bid to defeat an incumbent state senator.
In Kalispell, Rep. Bernie Olson, a Republican moderate targeted by members of his own party, lost to challenger Mark Blasdel, also of Kalispell.
And in Missoula, one-term Republican Rep. John Balyeat lost to Missoula businessman Bill Nooney.
The races are some of several high-profile primaries statewide, as Democrats and Republicans prepare for a showdown this fall over control of the Legislature.
Democrats have a 27-23 edge in the Senate now, and the House is tied 50-50 between the parties.
Several other important legislative races were too close to call late Tuesday.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/news/state/45-incuments.txt
New Haven Register
ACLU takes on telecom spying
Robert Varley, Register Staff
05/25/2006
The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut joined a national effort Wednesday calling on attorneys general and utility commissions in 20 states to investigate whether telecommunications companies broke laws by allowing the National Security Agency to spy on their customers.
"It’s time for this illegal invasion of privacy, that could affect everyone in this country, to be unveiled," said Roger C. Vann, executive director of the state chapter.
The civil rights organization wants the state Department of Public Utility Control to conduct a formal investigation into the possibility that AT&T and Verizon disclosed information on their customers in Connecticut to the NSA.
In total, 20 ACLU affiliates are involved in an attempt to stamp out what they termed "illegal government spying."
President Bush and other administration officials have neither confirmed nor denied a USA Today report that the NSA is collecting the calling records of ordinary Americans in its effort to detect the plans of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations. Bush has said the administration’s anti-terrorism surveillance programs are legal and constitutional.
"We do not seek to obstruct legitimate law enforcement activities, but we are determined to stand up for the fundamental privacy and due process rights of people whose telephone records have been divulged without a warrant, notice or consent," said Vann.
Connecticut DPUC spokeswoman Beryl Lyons said the department’s commissioners and legal staff have not gone through the unprecedented complaint yet. "This has to do with terrorism, so no . . . I’ve never had anything like this in here," she said.
The nationwide "Don’t Spy on Me" campaign urges the public to go to an ACLU Web site to add their names to the complaints about allegations that telecommunications companies illegally cooperated with the NSA to collect calling information on Americans.
"We are prepared to investigate vigorously and aggressively with other attorneys general whether there have been disclosures of consumer telephone records that violate state or federal law," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. "We welcome views from the ACLU and other groups or individuals who may have information indicating lawbreaking in connection with release of information."
Verizon said that the company "cannot and will not confirm or deny whether it has any relationship to the classified NSA program. . . . (Helping protect the country from terrorist attack and ensuring customers’ privacy) are not in conflict. When asked for help, we will always make sure that any assistance is authorized by law and that our customers’ privacy is safeguarded," the company said.
An AT&T statement said the company will "vigorously protect our customers’ privacy. If and when AT&T is asked by government agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions. Beyond that, we can’t comment on matters of national security."
ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said Congress has been "curiously silent" on the spying issue. He wanted to pressure the Federal Communications Commission and its chairman, Kevin Martin, to investigate the telephone records program even though Martin has said the agency does not have the power to review classified information.
Pasted from <http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16690057&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=566835&rfi=6
Neighbors fight methadone clinic
William Kaempffer, Register Staff
06/07/2006
NEW HAVEN — Judith Oliveras-Colon spent most of her life in Trowbridge Square and watched it deteriorate from a proud Italian neighborhood to a crime-ridden slum and then reclaim its streets in what residents described as something of a renaissance.
She and her neighbors had considerable angst when they just recently learned of a long-planned proposal to open a methadone clinic near their homes.
"We’ve worked so hard to have this come in," she said, waiting outside Sacred Heart Church for a meeting to start with clinic representatives Tuesday night.
"There’s no answers. Who lives here? We do. They don’t live here. We’ll have to deal with what’s left over."
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16748391&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=566835&rfi=6
DeStefano pushes for ‘working wage’
Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor
06/07/2006
-NEW BRITAIN — Standing in front of a popular deli, gubernatorial hopeful John DeStefano Jr. Tuesday called for a "moral minimum wage" that would be tied to the consumer price index and increase automatically.
"Today in Connecticut, people are working their way into poverty," DeStefano said as he stood outside Angelo’s Catering.
"If you work, you ought to get paid a working wage," he said of the 40,000 people in the state now earning minimum wage, largely single women heads of household. "It’s important to do it in a state with the highest cost of living."
DeStefano, New Haven’s mayor, is running against Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor in an Aug. 8 primary.
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16748387&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=566835&rfi=15
New Zealand Herald
Axe attack on PM's office 'symbolic gesture', court told
4.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
The man involved in an axe attack on the Prime Minister's electoral office told a jury today the act symbolised the Government's broken promises on the foreshore and seabed legislation.
Timothy Selwyn, 31, has admitted to conspiring to commit wilful damage when an axe was planted in the window of Helen Clark's office in Mt Albert, Auckland, on November 18, 2004.
Selwyn denied two other charges of being party to a seditious conspiracy and publishing statements with seditious intent.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10385470
Canada plot suspect accused of plan to behead PM
1.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Cameron French and Jonathan Spicer
BRAMPTON, Ontario - One member of an alleged al Qaeda-inspired terror ring arrested in Canada last weekend faces the accusation that he sought to behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his lawyer has said.
The man, Steven Chand, 25, was among 15 members of the alleged ring who appeared in a heavily guarded courtroom northwest of Toronto on Tuesday local time to set dates for bail hearings.
"There's an allegation apparently that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada," Chand's lawyer, Gary Batasar, told reporters.
Canadian police arrested 17 Muslim men, five of whom are under the age of 18, on Friday and Saturday in Canada's largest counterterrorism operation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385456
Some 6000 corpses taken to Baghdad mortuary this year
4.20pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Jerome Taylor
The bodies of 6000 people, many of whom died violently, have been brought to Baghdad's main mortuary this year, officials from Iraq's Health Ministry said.
In May, one of the bloodiest months in the city so far this year, 1400 bodies were received by the mortuary.
According to health ministry officials who spoke anonymously to the BBC, the vast majority of victims brought to the morgue were the victims of sectarian killings, which have increased dramatically since the bombing of a Shia shrine earlier in the year.
The statistics were released just hours after police made the gruesome discovery of nine severed heads which had been stuffed into a cardboard box in a volatile area north of Baghdad.
Police in Baquba said they found the heads in the al-Hadid district, just three days after suspected sectarian attackers beheaded seven cousins from one family and a Sunni Arab imam in the same region.
Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, is a religiously mixed province that has seen large numbers of inhabitants flee the area because of killings and assassinations based solely on ethnicity.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385469
Iran sees positive signs in nuclear proposals
1.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Parisa Hafez
TEHRAN - Proposals by six world powers to end a dispute over Iran's nuclear fuel enrichment had positive points but also some "ambiguities" that must be removed, Tehran's chief negotiator has said.
The proposals, which have not been made public but include incentives and penalties, seek to persuade Iran to give up enriching uranium, which the West fears will be used to build atomic bombs. Tehran says its nuclear aims are purely civilian.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday presented Iran's chief negotiator Ali Larijani with the package, agreed by the United States, Russia, China and the "EU3" - Britain, France and Germany.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385422
UN fails to convince Khartoum to allow Darfur force
1.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
KHARTOUM - UN Security Council members have failed to convince Sudan's President of the need for a UN peacekeeping mission in the violent Darfur region, diplomats have said.
Since 2003, at least 200,000 civilians have died in the region through fighting, hunger and disease, and more than 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes.
Representatives of the 15-nation UN Security Council were visiting Sudan to try to convince the Khartoum government the UN did not intend to send an invasion force to the western region or dispatch troops without Sudan's consent.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385449
Jordan to urge Israeli PM to resume peace talks
1.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Suleiman al-Khalidi
AMMAN - Jordan's King Abdullah will use talks in Amman on Wednesday to urge Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to revive stalled Arab-Israeli peace talks through international mediation, Jordian officials have said.
They said Jordan would focus on lobbying its western neighbour to return back to talks sponsored by Middle East peace brokers under the "road map for peace", drafted in 2003 which seeks a negotiated two-state solution.
It is the first visit to Jordan by an Israeli prime minister in six years. Olmert's office said in a statement his meeting with King Abdullah would take place in Amman at 1.30pm (10.30pm NZT) on Wednesday.
"The visit comes as part of Jordan's efforts to revive the peace process by a commitment to the road map and its implementation through direct talks," government spokesperson Nasser Joudeh told the state news agency Petra.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385414
Spain's opposition withdraws support for Eta talks
1.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
MADRID - Spain's opposition party has withdrawn its support for the Socialist government's plans to start peace talks with Basque guerrillas Eta, another hurdle in a process to end 38 years of separatist violence.
The conservative Popular Party (PP) threatened to break its backing for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero last week when the Basque Socialists said they would open talks with Batasuna, a party banned for its links to Eta.
"The PP cannot stand silent while things like this are happening and so breaks all relations with the government," opposition leader Mariano Rajoy told parliament.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385410
US says data on 2.2 million troops may have been stolen
1.20pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
WASHINGTON - Personal information on about 2.2 million active-duty, National Guard and Reserve troops may have been stolen in a burglary at a government employee's house in January, US officials have revealed.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said the information, including names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth, may have been stored in the same stolen electronic equipment that contained similar personal data on 26.5 million US military veterans.
In the wrong hands, such data can be used in credit-card fraud and other crimes.
The government disclosed on May 22 that unidentified burglars on May 3 had broken into the Maryland residence of a Veterans Affairs employee who was not authorized to take the data home, and stole equipment containing the veterans' data.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385462
US senators urge Bush to act on Haditha probe
Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Sue Pleming and Vicki Allen
WASHINGTON - US senators have demanded the Bush administration swiftly establish what happened in Haditha, where US Marines are suspected of killing 24 unarmed Iraqis.
The senators said only rapid action could salvage the image of the military and US international relations.
The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to soon begin hearings on last November's incident in the western Iraqi town and determine whether the military tried to cover it up.
One senator, from President George W. Bush's own Republican Party, insisted US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be brought to account.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385467
Killings linked to 6-6-6 belief, Colombian police say
12.20am Wednesday June 7, 2006
BOGOTA - Six members of the same family who were murdered on Tuesday may have been victims of a satanic cult carrying out a ritualistic killing because of the date, Colombian authorities have said.
"It seems to have been related to today's date," Jorge Gomez, a human rights official in the town of Barrancabermeja, in Colombia's northern Santander Province, where the murders took place, told reporters.
Tuesday's date was June 6, 2006, or 6-6-6, a set of numbers taken by some to be the mark of the devil. Police said that, plus the fact that there were six victims, raised their suspicion that there could be a ritualistic angle to the crime.
Three family members in the house at the time of the attack were being questioned by police and a suspect not related to the victims has been detained, authorities said.
"These are demonic things. The devil did this," a neighbor of the family told local television.
For days Colombian media have been filled with stories about 6-6-6, and worries in this mostly Catholic country of 41 million people that the Antichrist could appear.
In chapter 13, verse 18 of the King James version of the Bible's Book of Revelations, 666 is the number of "the beast."
The number has a long association in both occult literature and popular culture with Satan, the fallen angel in Christian doctrine also known as "the devil," Lucifer and "the beast."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385439
Beijing police make first raid on male escort nightclub
3.20pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
BEIJING - Beijing police have made their first ever raid on a male escort nightclub, the China Daily said on Wednesday, part of a crack down on 46 bars and other places suspected of various vices.
"Police officers found 98 male escorts and dozens of women customers when they raided the nightclub in April," the newspaper said in its online edition, quoting the Beijing Morning Post.
"To the astonishment of police officers, a man was performing a striptease on top of a table in front of some female audience." Most of the male escorts come from northeastern China and were in their early 20s, the newspaper said.
"Many of the female customers were off-duty escorts, some of the male escorts said. Businesswomen were also found mingling in the crowd, who, police believe, patronise the club quite frequently."
Prostitution was virtually wiped out in the years after the Communist Party swept into power in 1949, but along with pornography and other perceived western vices has staged a comeback in the wake of reforms over the last three decades.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385474
NZer 'on rape charges in Vanuatu'
3.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
A New Zealand yachtie is being held in Vanuatu on rape and assault charges, it has been reported.
The alleged victim, allegedly with her legs tied, was rescued from his boat off the coast of the Pacific island.
Local newspaper The Independent reported that Tony Vivian was bailed after appearing in court in the capital Port Vila.
The drama was said to have begun when the 21-year-old Solomon Islands woman on board the yacht Sea Camp attracted the attention of a passing vessel.
The newspaper said the crew of the vessel investigated and discovered she had her legs tied to the boat and appeared to have been almost drowned.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385468
Watchdog warns blood diamond trade continuing
11.20am Wednesday June 7, 2006
UNITED NATIONS - A deadly trade in blood diamonds persists, three years after the launch of an initiative to prevent illicit gem sales from fuelling African wars, a watchdog group has said.
African governments and the diamond industry launched the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in January 2003 to provide guarantees that participating nations were not dealing in diamonds financing local conflicts.
The scheme has helped stem the flow of blood diamonds but millions of dollars in illicit stones are still entering the world market, Global Witness said.
"The Kimberley Process has definitely improved the situation but there are serious loopholes," said Corinna Gilfillan, a spokeswoman for the London-based advocacy organisation that investigates the links between natural resource exploitation and conflicts.
"There is still a problem of diamonds fueling human rights abuses."
Under the scheme, participants exporting rough diamonds, diamonds that are straight from the ground and not yet cut, issue a certificate stating the stones are conflict-free.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385435
Taxi firm ordered off road
3.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
A taxi company with a fleet of around 300 cabs has been ordered off Auckalnd's roads.
Economy Taxis has had its licence revoked as of yesterday, Land Transport NZ said.
An investigation had found uncovered several serious breaches of the regulations which apply to cab firms.
These included the existence of false rosters for drivers, false entries for driving hours in drivers' logbooks, taxis operating with expired Certificates of Fitness and without Passenger Service Licences, and drivers with expired passenger endorsements and/or suspended driver licences, Land Transport NZ said.
"There was a general lack of control by company management over its members and drivers," said John Doesburg, Land Transport NZ's national manager for commercial road transport.
"The operating standards of this company were simply not up to scratch. We've given them opportunities to make improvements – they haven't done so and as a result their ATO status has been revoked."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10385476
Tasers judgment on hold
1.00pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
Readers' Views: Click on the link at end of story.
The Police Minister has declined to give her view on Taser guns until trials of the weapons are completed.
The stun guns are due to be trialed in police districts in the Auckland and Wellington regions this month, despite opposition from civil liberties advocates who have formed a group -- Campaign Against the Taser (CATT).
Police can embark on trials without the approval of the minister, Annette King, and she said today she was waiting for the outcome of the trials before she formed a final opinion.
Her spokesman said she was concerned police had adequate protection without having to use firearms.
But the purpose of the trials was to see whether they could or should be used in New Zealand as they were in other countries.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10385446
Police hunting armed man with terminal cancer
1.35pm Wednesday June 7, 2006
An armed man with a drug habit who has terminal cancer is being hunted by south Auckland Police.
Tifiga Atanoa is wanted in relation to numerous violent offences committed to feed his P habit, Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone of Papakura CIB said.
He said Atanoa, whose cancer has left him a large growth on the side of his neck, was not taking any medication and had "an extremely short life expectancy".
Mr Grimstone said Atanoa was considered extremely dangerous, unpredictable and volatile, and should not be approached.
"It is known by police that he is in possession of a number of firearms and that he is committing crime to feed a massive P habit," he said.
"He has made a number of statements to other criminals and other associates which are of a huge concern to the police."
Atanoa was described as a male Polynesian, 33 years of age, about 183cm tall and of solid build.
Police are appealing to the public, and particularly the criminal fraternity, to contact them on (09) 295 0220 if they have any information on his whereabouts.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10385464
Gibraltar vote will show it is not a colony, minister says
10.20 Wednesday June 7, 2006
UNITED NATIONS - An upcoming referendum on a new constitution for Gibraltar will show it is no longer a colony, the territory's Chief Minister Peter Caruana has said.
"Our new constitution has been negotiated by us and agreed with the United Kingdom.
"We shall soon put it to the people of Gibraltar in a referendum, which is an act of self-determination," Caruana told a UN committee on decolonisation on Tuesday local time.
The rocky outcropping on Spain's south coast has been at the centre of a long sovereignty dispute between Britain and Spain. Britain seized Gibraltar nearly three centuries ago and calls it a British colony but Spain contests its rule.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385409
Indonesia evacuating thousands from volcano area
9.20am Wednesday June 7, 2006
JAKARTA - Indonesia has evacuated about 2000 people from areas at risk from a volcano spewing hot gas and lava, and expects to move thousands more amid signs of increased activity from Mount Merapi.
The volcano, on Indonesia's main island of Java and about 450km east of the capital Jakarta, has been sporadically belching out toxic gases and lava for many weeks, with experts saying a major eruption might come at any time.
"The lava has spread out in various directions. The lava domes are weakening," Edi Purwanto of the Mount Merapi evacuation post told Reuters by telephone.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385369
US cash support for Somali warlords 'destabilising'
Wednesday June 7, 2006
WASHINGTON - The United States is destabilising Somalia by funnelling more than US$100,000 ($160,000) a month to warlords battling Islamist militia in Somalia, a former US intelligence expert has said.
The US operation was seriously set back yesterday when an Islamic coalition claimed control of Mogadishu.
Former intelligence officials said the funding was aimed at stopping leaders who could provide al Qaeda with a haven in the country.
The policy had led to dissent within the US Administration, and the defeat of the warlords showed, said critics, that it was fundamentally flawed.
Officials refused to discuss any possible involvement in Somalia, but a US expert on the country said an operation to support the secular warlords involved the CIA and US military.
John Prendergast, who monitors Somalia for the think-tank International Crisis Group, said he learned during meetings with alliance members in Somalia that the CIA was financing the warlords with cash.
Prendergast estimated that CIA-operated flights into Somalia have been bringing in US$100,000 to US$150,000 per month.
The flights remained in Somalia for the day, he said, so that US agents could confer with their allies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385312
Taleban bomb US coalition convoy
8.20am Wednesday June 7, 2006
A Taleban suicide car bomber rammed a US coalition convoy in the southeast Afghan province of Khost last night, wounding some troops, but there were no immediate reports of deaths, a US military spokeswoman in Kabul said.
A Taleban spokesman said the bomber killed six soldiers and three Afghans.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385344
Dream homes turn into nothing but a nightmare in Russia
Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Christian Lowe
MOSCOW - Irina Tarasenko owns an apartment at No 42 on Moscow's Bolshaya Ochakovskaya Street, but the nearest she can get to it is the children's playground 14 floors below.
She paid US$50,000 ($80,000) for her one-room property when the building was still on the drawing board.
It was finished last year, but no one could move in because, it turned out, the developer had sold the same apartments to two or more buyers.
"I still cannot believe it," said Tarasenko, standing next to the swings in the playground. The pregnant 34-year-old aid worker is staying with her sister.
"I would like to have my own home," she said. "But the money I paid disappeared, as did the company I dealt with."
Pressure groups say there are up to 100,000 people across Russia who have lost their money in similar schemes - the developer either swindled them or went bankrupt before finishing the job.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10385307
Polygamy tax for Bangladeshi men
5.20am Wednesday June 7, 2006
Bangladeshi men wishing to have more than one wife will have to pay a polygamy tax from next month in Rajshahi city.
Husbands taking a second, third or fourth wife will have to pay 10,000 taka ($230) for the first additional bride, $695 for the second and $925 for the third.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385347
Iraq to free 2500, but no 'Saddam loyalists'
8.00am Wednesday June 7, 2006
BAGHDAD - Iraq's new prime minister announced he would release 2500 prisoners in an apparent bid to shore up his own authority amid signs of tension in his ruling Shi'ite Alliance.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has pledged to heal sectarian wounds and crush a Sunni Arab insurgency, said the prisoner release would free those who had no clear evidence against them or had been mistakenly detained.
Initially, 500 people will be released on Wednesday, he said, but did not give details. Many of those in prison are from ousted President Saddam Hussein's once dominant Sunni community.
"Those who will be released will be people who are not Saddam Hussein loyalists or terrorists or anyone who has Iraqi blood on their hands," said Maliki, who took office on May 20 at the helm of a US-backed government of national unity.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385372
Thousands urge removal of Timor Prime Minister
8.00am Wednesday June 7, 2006
DILI - Some 2000 protesters rallied in Timor's violence-stricken capital yesterday demanding the removal of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, blaming him for the unrest that has left parts of the city in ruins and burning.
Protesters in trucks, buses and on motorbikes shouted "bring down Alkatiri" and voiced support for President Xanana Gusmao as they entered Dili escorted by international peacekeepers.
Protest spokesman Major Augusto de Araujo Tara read a petition calling on Gusmao to "disband the national parliament now and topple the Mari Alkatiri government".
The petition called for a transitional government in the world's youngest nation, led by Gusmao as military commander, to hold new parliamentary elections this month. Elections are not due until May 2007.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385370
Kiwi helps get Timor's police back on beat
Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Greg Ansley
East Timor's Police Academy sits on the western edge of Dili, close to some of the worst rioting and looting in the tiny nation's capital in the past three weeks.
Inside, heavily protected, are members of what used to be the Policia Nationale de Timor Leste (PNTL). The streets outside are far too deadly for them: 10 were killed and 25 injured when the Army opened fire on a column of men surrendering under United Nations protection.
Within the force itself, factions and rivalries tore the PNTL apart as law and order disintegrated. A volatile brew of former senior officers drawn from the pre-independence Indonesian police force, disgruntled former guerillas and the barely-trained were set loose with frightening firepower.
Now, looking beyond the violence that still rages in Dili, Jakarta-based New Zealand Police Superintendent Athol Soper sees a huge task ahead in putting police back on the beat.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385286
Goff to take first-hand look at Dili troubles
Wednesday June 7, 2006
Defence Minister Phil Goff will visit East Timor today to meet Government leaders and New Zealand Defence Force personnel struggling to bring law and order to the capital, Dili.
Mr Goff will discuss the problems that led to the crisis and the role the international peacekeeping force is undertaking.
His visit takes place as New Zealand considers sending police to help military peacekeepers restore order.
Two New Zealand police officers will visit East Timor to assess the situation.
The commander of the Australian peacekeepers, Brigadier Mick Slater, said yesterday that more police were needed, not troops.
"It is about getting criminals off the streets, and police do that better than soldiers," he said in Dili.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385320
Tycoon plans to name coastal town after himself
Wednesday June 7, 2006
By Terri Judd
LONDON - When considering extravagant purchases, most millionaires might settle for a fast car or large mansion - but not Scott Alexander.
The irrepressible tycoon has bought an entire town, which he plans to rename after himself.
The 31-year-old has bought the Bulgarian coastal resort lock, stock and barrel for £3 million ($8.9 million) and insists that its 1000 residents are "quite excited".
Alexander, an entrepreneur who has devoted one wall of his Manchester penthouse to a £10,000 portrait of himself, spent £55,000 on a new set of teeth and was recently dubbed "Britain's vainest man", has laughed off suggestions it is a tad egotistical to name an entire town (the identity of which he refuses to disclose) after himself.
"I've decided to call it Alexander, which I suppose is quite cheeky. It is just a bit of fun," he said. "The reason behind it is that the Bulgarian name is difficult to pronounce."
The lifestyle and property tycoon is certainly no stranger to extravagance.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10385277
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