The Middle East Times
Tut's mum's mummy? Cliffhanger in Egypt's Valley of the Kings
LUXOR, Egypt -- Egyptologists are holding their breath over the mystery surrounding the first tomb discovered in Luxor's Valley of the Kings since that of the boy king Tutankhamen in 1922.
News of the surprise discovery in February by an American team from the University of Memphis has had repercussions far beyond this famous necropolis from the time of the Pharaohs.
Could the small tomb, designated KV63, hold a royal mummy, perhaps that of Tutankhamen's widow or even his mother?
The theory is being openly discussed - and argued over - by American and native Egyptologists.
"It's very exciting, it's the joy of this unique discovery. But let's be very cautious," the director of the University of Memphis Archaeology Institute, Lorelei Corcoran, said.
Mansour Boraik, director of antiquities at Luxor, is optimistic about the find.
"I think there is a 70-percent chance that is a royal mummy in the last coffin," he said, referring to the last of seven wooden coffins that lay for 3,000 years amid 28 earthenware urns.
The weekend announcement of the discovery in the tomb of three small gilded sarcophagi supports Boraik's theory, even though they were at first thought only to contain materials used in the mummification process.
Otto Schaden, the man who found them, leads the American team. He believes that they may have located the mummy of Tutankhamen's widow Ankhesenpamon, after traces of her name were found on the seal of one urn.
The secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, thinks that the final coffins may contain the remains of the Pharaoh's mother, whose identity is unknown, and not the wife of Tutankhamen, the boy king who died at the age of 18.
"Tutankhamen's widow married again, to the high official Ay who later became Pharaoh at the end of the 18th dynasty," Hawass said.
"She certainly lived long enough to be buried in a more dignified" tomb than this vault, he added.
When it was found, the sepulcher was buried under four meters (13 feet) of rubble. It lies just seven meters (yards) from KV62 - the tomb of Tutankhamen himself - that contained a hoard of extraordinary treasures.
If the Pharaoh Akhenaton the Heretic was thought to have fathered Tutankhamen, the identity of his mother is not known for sure.
It may have been Nefertiti, a foreign princess or his wet nurse Maya, whose tomb was found in 1996 at Saqqara by French Egyptologist Alain Zivie.
"This is exciting," Zivie said. "This discovery could shed some light on the end of this crucial period."
If the Egyptian and American archaeologists are airing their different opinions about the find in public, a dispute within the US team itself is more muffled but no less real.
Hawass, the all-powerful antiquities supremo, has revealed that relations between Schaden and Corcoran are not the best.
He told the Al Ahram Weekly magazine that their dispute centers on "the direction of the dig," and that these "excellent Egyptologists" also engage in acrimonious exchanges.
"Small curses have occurred, [such] as the fight between the two fine Egyptologists Otto Schaden and Loreilei Corcoran. They both want to be director of the excavation. They even argue over who can give interviews," Hawass told the magazine.
Corcoran said: "People sometimes want to create a dramatic situation, but we have to focus on which is really important, and I don't have a personal hypothesis" about the opening of the last coffin.
She said that the permit for the excavation has been extended until the end of June.
In-fighting within the American team is not the only controversy surrounding the discovery.
One of the top experts on the Valley of the Kings, British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, claims that it was he who first located the tomb.
As the head of the huge Amarna Royal Tomb Project (ARTP), Reeves worked in the area of KV63 until 2002, when he was wrongly suspected of trafficking in Egyptian antiquities.
"ARTP thought long and hard about KV63 for many months," Reeves wrote on his Internet Website. "Sadly we were given no opportunity to put our strategy into practice."
"Otto Schaden ... stumbled upon the shaft and our project was presented with a fait accompli."
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060606-050925-5936r
USA Today
Last year's floods give way to drought
Updated 6/14/2006 8:20 AM ET
By Claudia B. Laws, The Daily Advertiser
A farmer drives down a dusty dirt road north of Kaplan, La. Southern Louisiana, much of which was underwater after last year's hurricanes is now in the throes of a severe to extreme drought.
By Catherine Rampell
Less than a year after suffering one of the most disastrous floods in U.S. history, the Gulf Coast is in the midst of a drought.
For a region defined by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the floodwaters that came with them, this summer has become about jagged cracks in the soil and the constant threat of fire.
The dry conditions in Louisiana, Mississippi and southeast Texas have hit rice, crawfish, sugar cane and soybean farmers the hardest.
Ricky Gonsoulin, a sugar cane farmer in New Iberia, La., says he lost about 50% of his crops to the hurricanes last year. He's worried the drought will claim 25%-30% of this year's yield.
"Before the last four years, we always seemed to have typical summer, typical winter, with typical rains," Gonsoulin says. "But now it's either too much or not enough."
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2006-06-13-gulf-coast-drought_x.htm
Consumer inflation up 0.4%; core rate suggests inflation spreading beyond energy
Posted 6/14/2006 8:40 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer inflation registered another sizable increase in May, pushed higher by soaring gasoline prices, and there was further evidence that the jump in energy costs is beginning to cause more widespread inflation troubles.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its consumer price index posted a 0.4% increase in May after an even bigger 0.6% rise in April. Gasoline prices jumped 4.9% and have been soaring this year at an annual rate of 69.4% so far this year as motorists contend with pump prices above $3 per gallon in many parts of the country.
Excluding energy and food, core inflation rose a larger-than-expected 0.3%. That increase was certain to get attention at the Federal Reserve, where Chairman Ben Bernanke last week called a recent uptick in core inflation rates unwelcome.
Over the past 12 months, core prices have risen 2.4%, the biggest gain since the period ended in February 2005 and up from a 2.3% increase in the period ended in April.
More troublesome, however, is the rise in recent months. Core consumer prices have advanced at an annual rate of 2.9% in the past six months and a steep 3.8% in the past three months. Both of those gauges accelerated over the past month.
The burst in core prices over the past three months was the most severe in more than 10 years.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/inflation/2006-06-14-cpi_x.htm
Justice Department looks into deaths of people subdued by stun guns
Updated 6/13/2006 11:35 PM ET
By Khampha Bouaphanh, AP
A TASER X26, the newest model equiped with a TASER Cam.
By Kevin Johnson
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing the deaths of up to 180 people who died after law enforcement officers used stun guns or other electro-shock devices to subdue them.
"These deaths raise a question in our mind that should be examined," said Glenn Schmitt, acting director of the department's National Institute of Justice. He said the review will initially focus on 30 deaths, including one from two decades ago.
Most of the deaths occurred within the past four years, corresponding with the mass deployment of stun guns to police departments throughout the country. A number of departments have re-evaluated their use of the weapons because of the fatal incidents.
More than 80 deaths since 1999 were identified in a recent analysis by The Arizona Republic. Amnesty International has identified more than 150 deaths since 2001.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-13-stun-guns_x.htm
FEMA lost $1B to fraud, errors
Updated 6/14/2006 8:21 AM ET
KATRINA AID MISMANAGEMENT
FEMA also could not establish that 750 debit cards worth $1.5 million even went to Katrina victims, the auditors said. Among the items purchased with the cards:
• an all-inclusive, one-week Caribbean vacation in the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.
• five season tickets to New Orleans Saints professional football games.
• adult erotica products in Houston and Girls Gone Wild videos in Santa Monica, Calif.
• Dom Perignon champagne and other alcoholic beverages in San Antonio.
• a divorce lawyer's services in Houston.
By Mimi Hall
WASHINGTON — Sloppy mistakes and con artists cost FEMA at least $1 billion in questionable disaster-relief claims in the six months after last year's devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes, according to a report by government investigators due out today.
VIDEO: Exclusive report on Katrina fraud
The government sent checks to thousands of people who registered with FEMA using information belonging to prison inmates or who provided only a post office box as the address of their damaged home, according to the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog agency of Congress.
The investigation found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, harshly criticized for its poor response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, lacked basic mechanisms to discourage rampant fraud. FEMA, the accountability office said, needs to immediately put "adequate safeguards" in place to "build the American taxpayers' confidence that federal disaster assistance only goes to those in need."
Among the many examples of waste and fraud cited in the report:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-13-katrina-fraud_x.htm
Albert brings flooding to Florida - Video - Click on Full Screen
http://usatoday.feedroom.com/ifr_main.jsp?nsid=a6f897af2:10bd2be777f:-5dd5&fr_story=FEEDROOM147109&st=1150293163937&mp=WMP&cpf=true&fr=061406_095246_6f897af2x10bd2be777fxw5dd4&rdm=752989.8035025506
Large eruption of Mt. Merapi forces new evacuation
Posted 6/14/2006 7:58 AM ET
E-By Achmad Ibrahim, AP
Mount Merapi spews hot clouds of gas and ash seen from Babadan village outside Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia (AP) — Large eruptions of searing hot gas and debris forced more than 1,000 villagers to flee Mount Merapi's slopes Wednesday, and authorities raised the volcano's alert level to its highest status again, just a day after they let people go back home.
A gas cloud nearly enveloped one village, and ash covered another village that was 4 1/2 miles from the crater with a gray blanket an inch thick, officials said. Up to 20,000 people are living in the mandatory evacuation zone.
The alert level was dropped a notch Tuesday, sparking widespread relief for people who have spent weeks in evacuation camps. That relief quickly turned to concern Wednesday.
"We were very happy to go back in the morning but as soon as we got there we saw a massive cloud steaming toward us," Egan said after being trucked back to the camp. "We all decided it was time to leave."
Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia's most dangerous and unpredictable volcanoes, has been venting massive clouds of hot gas and debris and sending lava flows streaming down its slopes for more than a month.
Activity had slowed in recent days, allowing villagers to return home. They were told to stay alert, and evacuation trucks remained on standby in each village.
"When we downgraded the status, we said that if its activities increased and we thought it was dangerous to the people, then we will review it," government scientist Subandrio told el-Shinta radio station when he announced the alert status had been raised again.
Wednesday's deadly gas clouds rolled more than three miles down the slope and nearly enveloped one village, said Triyani, another government scientist who also goes by a single name.
Some 12,000 in seven villages in the Magelang district, on the mountain's west side, were ordered to leave, said district official Edy Susanto. Some were awaiting trucks to take them to shelters as dusk fell.
"The villagers are confused. They said it was safe, but hot clouds re-emerged. One thing for sure, we have readied ourselves to evacuate anytime," said Budiono, the chief of Ngargosoko, a village six miles from the peak that was ordered evacuated.
Despite the danger, many people have stayed put in the last month, citing the need to look after homes, crops and animals.
The main dangers at the 9,700-foot Merapi are fast-moving bursts of blistering gases and rock fragments called pyroclastic flow.
One killed more than 60 villagers in 1994, and about 1,300 people died when Merapi erupted in 1930.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-14-indonesia-volcano_x.htm
'New Direction' is new theme for Democratic plan
Updated 6/13/2006 11:45 PM ET
By H. Darr Beiser
In an interview with USA TODAY, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi previews the "New Direction for America" platform hammered out by Democratic members of Congress, mayors and governors.
By Kathy Kiely
WASHINGTON — Democratic House and Senate leaders are planning to reduce the cost of student loans and prescription drugs, raise the minimum wage and launch an effort to develop alternative fuels if they win back control of Congress.
In an interview Tuesday with USA TODAY, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi previewed the "New Direction for America" platform hammered out by Democratic members of Congress, mayors and governors. She and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid plan to formally unveil the plan today.
"The American people need to know, if you win, what are your priorities," she said. Reid said the party is standing "with the people we have always stood with: seniors, students and the hardworking families of America. We intend to tackle the issues that matter most."
Democrats need to pick up 15 seats in November to regain control of the House of Representatives. In the Senate, six additional seats would give Democrats control.
ON THE PRAIRIE: Democrats see signs of hope in Nebraska
Pelosi discouraged comparisons with the Republican "Contract With America," a 10-point pledge that GOP lawmakers and candidates signed six weeks before the 1994 election. That campaign manifesto helped the GOP win control of both the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-13-dems-agenda_x.htm
Palestinian workers storm parliament
Posted 6/14/2006 9:44 AM ET
By Muhammed Muheisen, AP
A Palestinian civil servant shouts as dozens protest overdue salaries in a session of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Hamas lawmakers were attacked and the parliament speaker had to flee the building.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Dozens of Palestinian civil servants stormed parliament Wednesday to demand long-overdue salaries, pelting Hamas lawmakers with water bottles and forcing the parliament speaker to flee the building.
The second attack on the parliament this week, along with the shooting death of a Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip, cast doubt on renewed efforts by leaders of the rival Fatah and Hamas parties to halt their increasingly deadly infighting.
Tensions have been high since Hamas defeated Fatah in legislative elections in January. President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who was elected separately last year, has been in a power struggle with the Islamic group, and 22 people have been killed in factional fighting in recent weeks.
Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas agreed late Tuesday to start a weeklong series of meetings to try to reach an agreement over a proposal that implicitly recognizes the Jewish state. Their talks continued Wednesday, as senior security commanders joined in.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-14-palestinian-parliament_x.htm
Gay Episcopalian bishop to speak against discrimination
Posted 6/14/2006 4:15 AM ET
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The first openly gay Episcopal bishop says it is unlikely the church's top policymaking body will create new barriers for homosexual clergy despite turmoil over his 2003 consecration.
The Episcopal General Convention, which runs through June 21 in Columbus, must vote on whether to stop electing gay bishops for now so the embattled Anglican family can stay together.
"Most Episcopalians think that God's gay and lesbian children are every bit as worthwhile as the rest of God's children and they won't be willing to sacrifice gays and lesbians on the altar of unity," New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson told The Associated Press in an interview prior to the meeting, which began Tuesday.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-06-14-episcopalians-gay_x.htm
THIS IS A HUGE movement of segregation and increased intolerance to others. Southern Baptists need to come to terms with the 'idea' that some of the children they trying to 'shield' from homosexuality are indeed homosexual themselves. It's the worst thing that can happen to their children. Segregation is always socially destructive. Both of my sons have lived in North Carolina since 1996. My youngest graduated from a North Carolina High School. The schools are just not that bad. As a matter of fact they are somewhat segregated, especially by 'socio-economic' barriers due to the school districts and the where people can afford to purchase a home. So, this is a 'further' movement away from integrating socialization. Kids don’t' care about this stuff. They just want to be happy and accepted. It really isn't an issue. This 'kind' of inflammatory movement is a direct result of Bush's bigoted agenda on social issues.
Southern Baptists weigh public school 'exit strategy'
Posted 6/14/2006 4:05 AM ET
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — As concerns persist about how classrooms are handling subjects such as homosexuality and "intelligent design," some members of the nation's largest Protestant denomination want the Southern Baptist Convention to consider creating an exit strategy from public schools.
A committee at the Southern Baptists' annual gathering was scheduled to report Wednesday on a resolution that would urge the denomination to form a strategy for removing Southern Baptist children from public schools in favor of home schooling or education at private schools.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-06-14-southern-baptists_x.htm
THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. Japan has the corner on Robotics and now companies are rolling back R&D. This is a huge mistake, but, with inflation the cost of business goes up and CEOs are expected to keep the stockholder dividends up.
Some tech companies cut R&D budgets
Updated 6/14/2006 1:33 AM ET
By Michelle Kessler, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Some U.S. tech companies are trimming research and development budgets to save money — sparking fears that the country eventually could become less competitive.
IBM on Wednesday plans to launch a consulting service to help businesses manage R&D efforts. It's needed because companies increasingly must do more with smaller budgets, IBM executive Melvin Weems says.
Tech companies traditionally are big R&D spenders. Those trading on the American, Nasdaq and New York stock exchanges spent almost $92 billion on R&D in the most recent fiscal year, says a USA TODAY analysis of data from Reuters Fundamentals. Spending grew from the previous year, but more slowly than revenue. Thus, the industry spent a smaller chunk of its budget on R&D — as it has for the past four years.
Many cuts came from some of tech's most innovative companies:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-06-13-tech-research_x.htm
NICE "Father's Day" article. Very nice.
Woods still taking his dad's advice — he's ready to win at U.S. Open
Updated 6/13/2006 11:29 PM ET
By Jerry Potter, USA TODAY
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Tiger Woods followed the advice of his father, Earl, to 10 major championships. Though Earl died May 3 after a long battle with cancer, his influence is still present.
"Dad was always adamant that if you're not ready to play, then you shouldn't play," said Woods, who returns to competition Thursday at the U.S. Open after a nine-week layoff. "He said if you weren't ready to play, you were not going to be there mentally."
AUDIO: Woods confident layoff won't dog him
Woods said Tuesday that he is focused and ready to compete but that he struggled mentally while trying to resume his career on the PGA Tour. He went a month without touching a club, and it wasn't until two weeks ago — when he skipped the Memorial, a tournament he has won three times — that he knew he would return for the U.S. Open.
"I have so many great memories of my dad," Woods said. "He loved golf. I always smile when I think back to my childhood. A lot of my memories of dad come from golf."
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/pga/2006-06-13-woods-return_x.htm
New Zealand Herald
Icy blast causes havoc throughout Canterbury
UPDATED 5.45pm Monday June 12, 2006
Heavy snow throughout Canterbury today collapsed roofs, cut transport links, closed schools, felled power lines and kept workers at home as a wintry blast swept across the country.
The snowstorm dumped about 25cm of snow throughout South Canterbury overnight.
Thousands of houses and rural properties went without power today as the snow toppled trees, snapped branches and brought down power lines throughout the province.
Christchurch International Airport was closed from 8.30am until 1.30pm, affecting thousands of travellers, with airlines forced to divert and reschedule flights.
Rural and city bus services were also cancelled and snow on the Midland rail line forced the cancellation of the Trans Alpine Express from Christchurch to Greymouth.
Schools throughout the region were closed and Lincoln University, near Christchurch, was forced to cancel examinations scheduled for today.
Police warned of "treacherous" road conditions around Canterbury and advised people who did not need to travel to stay at home.
Transit New Zealand advised this afternoon that State Highway 1 was closed at Rolleston, just south of Christchurch, and between Timaru and Rakaia, with delays expected.
A number of other lower and central South Island roads remained closed.
Motorists were advised to watch for ice and grit in shaded areas and on bridge decks and to take extreme care in the icy conditions. Drivers travelling on the alpine passes were advised to carry chains.
High winds and snow had closed Arthur's Pass, but the Lewis Pass remained open.
SH80 between the junction of SH8 and Mt Cook was closed, as was SH79 between Geraldine and Fairlie. SH77 between Ashburton and Darfield was closed and a land slip had closed SH73 between Otira and Kumara Junction.
SH8 between Timaru and Twizel was closed with no alternative route available.
Postal deliveries were cancelled in Timaru, Ashburton and Rangiora because of the heavy snow.
New Zealand Post advised that only limited mail and courier deliveries would be made in Christchurch today.
Snow was continuing to fall steadily in parts of Christchurch late this afternoon, forcing the closure of some bus routes in the hill suburbs.
Some surface flooding was reported in the Wigram area and Christchurch City Council roading staff were keeping an eye on the Heathcote River, with high tide expected about 6pm.
Snow was also reported to be falling in Banks Peninsula, which had escaped the brunt of the storm earlier today. Snow clearing was continuing on roads throughout urban Christchurch and motorists were urged not to pass snowploughing equipment.
Flooding was reported on SH75 in isolated locations between Tai Tapu and Kaituna Valley Rd.
Power cuts
Thousands of electricity users throughout the province are expected to spend a cold dark night, with contractors finding some back country roads totally impassable.
Elecricity Ashburton operations manager Ken Stirling said about 8000 customers in rural Mid Canterbury were still without power late this afternoon.
Contractors would work until dark and then be out again at first light tomorrow repairing lines brought down by snow or trees.
Orion New Zealand Ltd general manager, infrastructure, John O'Donnell told NZPA about 4500 customers in areas west of Christchurch had still to be reconnected by mid-afternoon.
Most central Canterbury townships, except Darfield, had been reconnected, but it was doubtful if Castle Hill and Arthurs Pass residents would have power restored tonight.
Contractors were working "flat tack" to make repairs, but snow was still falling in many areas.
"As fast as we're putting (lines) up, they're coming back down again," Mr O'Donnell said.
"It's a wee bit frustrating."
Mainpower planning manager Stuart Wilson told NZPA about 2000 customers in rural North Canterbury were without power this afternoon and repairs were "slow work".
"It's very slow moving staff and trucks around in the field," Mr Wilson said. "They can't go anywhere quickly and in some places they can't go."
Most main feeder lines would be connected by tonight, but there would still be properties without power.
"We'll probably still be fixing faults all day tomorrow."
Ministry of Education regional manager Michael De'Ath told NZPA he understood most schools throughout Canterbury were closed today, decisions taken by individual boards of trustees.
Almost 1000 students at Lincoln College had their exams cancelled because of the weather.
MetService spokesman Hayward Osborn told NZPA the cold snap was caused by a deepening depression coming off the Tasman Sea and moving late this afternoon across the top of the South Island.
The situation had brought gales to severe gales in the North Island and "dragged up very cold southerlies over the South Island".
Snowfalls of 10cm to 15cm had been recorded in parts of Christchurch, with 25cm-30cm at Rolleston, 30cm in Kirwee, 32cm at Burnham and 25cm-30cm at Geraldine.
The New Zealand Mountain Safety Council (MSC) has issued an "extreme" avalanche danger warning for the Mt Cook region.
Meanwhile, the stormy weather also caused disruption in other parts of the country.
In Auckland, around 700,000 people were left without power after a wire snapped at the Otahuhu substation.
High winds caused the closure of Tauranga Airport this morning and a fallen tree closed the northbound lane on SH22 at Pukekohe Golf course.
An oil spill, heavy rains and gale force winds have also combined to close State Highway 1 between Pukerua Bay and Paraparaumu, 50km north of Wellington.
Central police communications spokesman Chris Turner said roading contractors were attempting to clean the oil spill and debris from the road.
Despite the severe conditions Cook Strait ferry sailings had not been affected and flights in and out of Wellington Airport were still on schedule.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10386190
4WDs to check communities still cut off by snow
UPDATED 12.25pm Wednesday June 14, 2006
Civil Defence staff are organising a fleet of four-wheel-drive vehicles to check Canterbury rural communities isolated for three days after a huge snowfall.
Thousands of properties are still without electricity and telephones after heavy snow on Monday closed roads and felled power lines.
Electricity lines contractors were working flat out to repair main feeder lines and restore power to rural communities, but warned today that some isolated properties might have to wait without power until after the weekend.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10386525
Alberto becomes first Atlantic storm of season
1.00pm Monday June 12, 2006
MIAMI - The first tropical storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, Alberto, formed off Cuba on Sunday and appeared headed toward Florida, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
The storm, located during late afternoon near latitude 24.5 north and longitude 87.8 west in the Gulf of Mexico, was about 605km west of Key West, Florida, according to the centre's website.
Alberto was a wake-up call for a new hurricane season for US coastal residents battered by eight hurricanes in the last two years, including Hurricane Katrina - the most costly and one of the deadliest natural disasters in America's history.
Alberto's maximum sustained winds rose to nearly 75km/h, but the winds, which reached as far as 370km east of the storm's centre, were expected to change little during the next day, the forecasters in Miami said.
Forecasters described Alberto as "disorganised" and said the storm, which was headed northwest at 11km/h, would turn gradually toward the northeast during the next 24 hours.
Alberto has dumped heavy rain on Cuba and was predicted to make landfall in heavily populated Florida on Tuesday, cross the northern part of the state, and then enter the Atlantic.
The US hurricane forecasters issued a warning for Florida's west coast from Bonita Beach to Steinhatchee, cautioning residents that tropical storm conditions were possible during the next 36 hours.
"Rainfall totals of 125 millimetres to 250 millimetres are possible over the Florida Keys and the Florida peninsula through Tuesday," the hurricane centre said in a late-afternoon bulletin.
Florida emergency management officials have put responders on heightened alert by activating the state's emergency operations center to monitor the storm.
Civil defence officials in Cuba reported Alberto had forced 26,000 people to evacuate low-lying areas in the Caribbean island's western-most province of Pinar del Rio, where 400mm to 500mm of rain fell in 24 hours.
Some minor flooding was seen but no deaths, injuries or significant damage to housing or agriculture were reported, according to the Cuban officials.
Tropical storms, while they do not present a significant threat to developed nations, can cause deadly floods in low-lying areas and destroy ramshackle buildings.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10386203
Cleric linked to Bali bombings leaves jail
UPDATED 2.00pm Wednesday June 14, 2006
Hardline Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir walked out of a Jakarta jail today after serving time for links to the 2002 Bali bombings.
Wearing his trademark white skullcap and shawl, a smiling Bashir was surrounded by supporters shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).
"I thank God almighty, also my lawyers and the gentlemen who defended me during my trials," Bashir said.
"I will maintain my struggle to uphold sharia (Islamic law), he added, before getting into a black van.
Seen by the West as the spiritual head of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional militant network, Bashir was convicted of being part of a conspiracy behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10386559
Four die in crashes over weekend
5.00am Monday June 12, 2006
Four people died over the weekend in car accidents.
Two people were killed after a car carrying five adults ran off the road on State Highway 38 in northern Hawkes Bay between Wairoa and Tuai. The car hit a bridge and landed in a stream.
Michael Keith Weir, 52, of Napier died when his car left the road near Te Aute, 28km southwest of Hastings, and ploughed into a stand of trees.
And a Lower Hutt man, 32-year-old Lepaio Simi, died in a suspected hit and run accident in Lower Hutt early Saturday morning.
Mr Simi was found unconscious lying on the road by a motorist on Cambridge Terrace in the suburb of Waiwhetu.
Police are appealing to the public for any information about the incident.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10386138
Judge calls for confirmation of hunger strike
12.25pm Monday June 12, 2006
A judge today called for medical reports on prison inmate Arthur Taylor after being told he was on a hunger strike and too unwell to appear in court.
Taylor was scheduled to appear in the High Court in Wellington on escape charges.
He is charged with escaping from custody and jointly charged with his wife Carolyn Jameson and Manu Royal of kidnapping and aggravated wounding.
Taylor also faces a number of other charges including possession of cannabis for sale and possession of firearms and explosives.
Crown prosecutor Nick Chisnall told Justice Ronald Young today he understood Taylor was on a hunger strike.
It is understood that Taylor is being held in Rimutaka Prison in Upper Hutt
Judge Young asked that the court be presented with medical information later today.
He adjourned the case until June 19 at which time a trial date, all pre-trial dates and Taylor's presence would be reviewed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10386205
Princess Margaret's NZ wedding present on sale
12.45pm Monday June 12, 2006
New Zealand's wedding gift to Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon in 1960 is being sold off by her children.
But the Queen has intervened to ask Lord Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto, the late Princess Margaret's children, to donate the proceeds from the pair of silver models of kiwi -- and another 46 state gifts -- to charity.
According to senior royal sources, the Queen was determined to prevent embarrassing accusations that members of the Royal family have "cashed in" on gifts when they were given to the recipient as a representative of the state.
The two silver kiwi -- lot 452 in a sale to be held on Wednesday by Christie's auction house -- are expected to sell for around £600 ($1745) to £900 ($2615), the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10386213
Strong quake jolts Japan
9.40am Monday June 12, 2006
TOKYO - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 jolted western and southern Japan on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The focus of the tremor, which occurred at 2001 GMT (8:01am NZT), was 140 km below the surface of the earth in Oita prefecture, about 800 km southwest of Tokyo.
The earthquake measured "lower 5" on the seven-point Japanese intensity scale, which measures ground motion. A quake with that reading can damage roads and less earthquake-resistant buildings.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10386184
NZ Stocks: Whippy markets take toll on NZ shares
6.40pm Wednesday June 14, 2006
By Catherine Harris
The New Zealand sharemarket got spooked by whippy offshore markets as they recovered from a massive case of economic jitters.
The Top 50 NZX-50 index sank more than 1.8 per cent during the session, but a recovery in Australia gave it a hand up and it closed down 37.26 points or 1.03 per cent at 3563.25.
One of the biggest falls was in Contact Energy, down 28c to 745 on the share price slide of its Australian major shareholder, Origin.
Another stock with Australian exposure, Fletcher Building, fell 18c to 8.47 on low volume.
Market leader Telecom led the turnover, closing down 5c to 432 on $61.5 million shares traded.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10386585
So, the New Zealand economy takes a hit on it's Stock Market and in it's currency raising the cost of buying American products. It would seem Bush's administration touting the 'weak' dollar as increasing foreign trade and bring down the American trade imbalance is NOT the case across the board. New Zealand is still an inexpensive vacation for Americans.
Currency: Kiwi bows to US dollar pressure
5.45pm Wednesday June 14, 2006
The New Zealand dollar bowed to US dollar strength today, as global volatility sent the greenback to seven-week highs.
The kiwi slipped to a four-week low of US61.92c, but made it back to US62.08c by today's close (from US62.57c yesterday).
Lower commodity prices and yesterday's lower retail figures locally had both taken their toll on the kiwi, Murray Hindley, chief foreign exchange dealer ANZ Investment Bank said.
"Obviously with gold plunging overnight and through the Asian markets, we've seen the Aussie also softer in our session."
The Australian dollar was trading at US73.75c (US74.22) at 5pm locally.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10386575
Airbus warns of delivery delays with A380s
3.40pm Wednesday June 14, 2006
Airbus said today that deliveries of its new superjumbo A380 could be delayed by up to seven months, with airlines likely to only get nine planes next year.
The European manufacturer, chief aviation rival to America's Boeing Corp, blamed its scheduling problems on production-line bottlenecks.
Airbus told the Associated Press that flight certification of the 555-passenger aircraft and the first delivery to launch customer Singapore Airlines were still expected by year's end. Progress in flight testing is "satisfactory," it said.
But "the delivery schedule will undergo a shift of six to seven months," said a statement from the aircraft manufacturer.
It said the new delays were mainly due to bottlenecks with the plane's electrical systems.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10386541
Man shot in London terror raid speaks out
12.10pm Wednesday June 14, 2006
By Peter Griffiths
LONDON - An innocent man shot without warning during a dawn raid by London police seeking a possible chemical bomb has spoken of the incident for the first time.
The man and his brother said the officer who shot him fired straight away during the raid in east London, which involved about 250 police.
"We both had eye contact, he shot me straight away," Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, told the news conference.
"I just saw an orange spark and a big bang. I flew into the wall, slipped down. There was blood coming down my chest. I knew I was shot." [Watch video]
Responding to concern by those affected by the raid, which involved police wearing chemical, biological and radiological protection suits, Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman apologised, but said the intelligence received had raised serious concerns for public safety.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10386558
NZ to battle Japan over whaling
4.00pm Tuesday June 13, 2006
By Grant Fleming
An anticipated attempt by Japan to weaken the role of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will be challenged by New Zealand this week.
Japan appears to have the votes at a meeting in the Caribbean to reduce the commission's role in protecting whales, but Conservation Minister Chris Carter is refusing to give up the fight.
It is believed Japan will try to remove Greenpeace's observer status at the IWC and introduce secret ballots so pro-whaling nations can support it without being named and shamed.
But Mr Carter, who will travel to St Kitts in the West Indies for the meeting, said today he remained hopeful New Zealand and other anti-whaling nations could turn back some of Japan's support.
"This IWC meeting could be crucial to the future of the world's whale populations," he said.
He had recently won an undertaking from the Solomons to abstain on crucial votes and he would "forcibly" remind other wavering countries of the importance of marine conservation once he arrived in the Caribbean.
Over the past three months Mr Carter and his Australian counterpart Ian Campbell have launched a diplomatic offensive, crisscrossing the Pacific in a bid to shore up support for whale conservation.
But Mr Carter acknowledged that Japan, which has given generous aid packages to poorer countries -- including those in the Pacific, still had the edge.
"It seems to be bent on a mission whose costs are almost unlimited."
However, to pass its motions Japan must ensure that its supporters show up to vote.
Last year it also had the numbers for a majority, but did not get one because representatives from some poorer nations did not show up for actual votes.
Mr Carter said although Japan had enough support for a simple majority, it would still lack the three-quarters majority needed to end a two-decade-old moratorium on commercial whaling.
But the simple majority would allow it to chip away and undermine the ban.
Mr Carter said the IWC was badly in need of modernising, but it still played a vital role in preserving the ban.
Japan, along with Norway and Iceland, the only three nations to carry out significant whaling, argue the moratorium has done its job -- and that certain species are plentiful enough to hunt.
Currently, Japan conducts what is known as "scientific whaling" which is permitted by the IWC. In all, pro-whaling states take about 2000 whales a year.
New IWC nations Guatemala, the Marshall Islands and Cambodia, with little whaling history, are expected to vote with Japan.
Israel has also signed up -- reportedly at the behest of the United States, which opposes a return to commercial whaling.
Mr Carter leaves for the Caribbean today, with key votes expected to begin on Friday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=1501010&ObjectID=10386392
Japan to boost whale sales, hoping to whet demand
11.05.06
TOKYO - In an effort to whet an appetite for whale among younger consumers, a new Japanese company is set to expand sales of the meat to include school lunches and some family-oriented restaurant chains.
The move is likely to outrage anti-whaling nations and environmental groups, who have long charged that Japan's programme of what it calls research whaling is really commercial whaling in disguise.
Tokyo, which maintains that eating whale is a treasured cultural tradition, abandoned commercial whaling in 1986 in line with an international ban. It began research whaling the next year and has called for a return to limited commercial whaling.
Much of the meat from Japan's whaling ends up on the tables of gourmet restaurants, but the now-limited supply has made it a pricey delicacy. Young people especially tend to opt for steak and hamburgers rather than raw whale meat or boiled blubber.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=1501010&ObjectID=10381242
Whale coughs up a jackpot
11.05.06
A curious Dunedin boy could be $10,000 richer after finding a smelly, waxy lump that was spat out by a sperm whale that swam past coastal Otago.
Robbie Anderson, 10, was walking his dog Scud along Long Beach, near Purakaunui, when he spied "something that looked unusual" in the sand.
The eagle-eyed youngster thought the misshapen mound half-buried in the sand was a piece of grubby soap, or part of a sheep drowned in recent floods.
His father, Robert, was just as perplexed until the internet (and later, a friend) confirmed it was ambergris - a substance coughed up by sperm whales.
"We found out it was something from a whale, something that you could sell.
"We weighed it and found out it could be worth a wee bit," Robbie said.
The lump Robbie found last Tuesday weighed 860g.
The pieces they found when they scoured the beach the next day added up to another 370g.
They were an unattractive sight on Mr Anderson's kitchen table, but they were heavy enough to be an impressive addition to his son's bank balance.
Ambergris exporter Martine Morris, of Dargaville, said dealers would pay from $9 to $11 for a gram of what some justifiably called "floating gold".
The ambergris was then sent to places such as Dubai and India, where it was turned into a fixing agent for perfume or taken as an aphrodisiac, Mrs Morris said.
Most of what she sold came from the west coast of the North Island or the Chatham Islands, so the Otago find was "one of the rarer ones", she said.
"But it is there, you just have to be out on the beach at the end of just about every tide to get lucky enough to find it."
Dealers require a permit to trade in ambergris, but Robbie could sell his waxy-windfall red-tape-free after telling the Department of Conservation where and when he found it.
Departmental marine conservation officer Helen McConnell said the excretion was not part of a whale, so its trade did not breach the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
However the department was still required to monitor the "movements" of the migratory beasts, so Robbie had to call the department before he sold it, she said.
A department official was not able to say how much ambergris was exported each year.
Floating gold
* Ambergris is secreted from sperm whale intestines irritated by undigested beak squid (a staple food for the whales) and expelled into the sea when the mammals cough, spit or vomit.
* It floats away as a grey, black or yellow mass weighing a few grams, although much heavier quantities are occasionally found washed up.
* The fixative qualities of the substance are used to enable fragrances and perfumes to retain their scents.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=1501010&ObjectID=10381234
California?
Sunbather killed by police vehicle on beach
11.20am Wednesday June 14, 2006
LOS ANGELES - A woman sunbathing on a California beach was accidentally run over and killed by a police vehicle on routine beach patrol, police said on today.
Cindy Conolly, 49, who was visiting Oxnard, about 80km north-west of Los Angeles, was sunbathing alone on Monday local time on the beach near her hotel just below a 70cm high ridge of sand.
Police said that two officers in a sports utility vehicle stopped on top of the ridge to observe a swimmer who seemed to be in distress. When they pulled forward they ran over Conolly without realising it and drove off.
Another woman on the beach, who witnessed the accident, called emergency services.
Conolly died instantly from head injuries.
"She was below them and they just did not see her, nor did they feel any disruption as they continued on their patrol, " said Oxnard Police Chief John Crombach, calling the death a "tragic accident".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10386547
Microsoft warns of 8 'critical' security flaws
10.40am Wednesday June 14, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft has warned of eight "critical" security flaws in its Windows operating system and Office software that could allow attackers to take control of a computer.
Microsoft, whose Windows operating system runs on 90 per cent of the world's computers, issued patches to fix the problems as part of its monthly security bulletin. It was the biggest such update since February 2005.
The company issued a total of 12 patches that address 21 security holes and cover problems in its Windows, Internet Explorer, Word, Powerpoint and Exchange Server products, security experts said.
"The significance of this large number of patches lies in the fact that 19 of them are remote code executions," said Amol Sarwate, manager of the Vulnerability Research Lab at Qualys.
The world's biggest software maker defines a flaw as "critical" when the vulnerability could allow a damaging internet worm to replicate without the user doing anything to the machine.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10386544
'20th hijacker' named
5.20am Wednesday June 14, 2006
A Saudi militant killed in 2004 was to have been the 20th September 11 hijacker, al Qaeda's media arm said.
"Turki bin Fheid al-Muteiri - Fawaz al-Nashmi - may God accept him as a martyr [was] the one chosen by Sheikh Osama bin Laden to be the martyrdom-seeker number 20."
In May, bin Laden said Zacarias Moussaoui, convicted for the attacks, had nothing to do with them.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10386448
An Islamist victory of convenience in Somalia
Wednesday June 14, 2006
By Kim Sengupta
MOGADISHU - They wave their Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers, proclaiming they are the new Mujahideen. Their leaders talk international power politics while imposing strict sharia laws.
Yet some of the fighters we speak to do not want to be photographed, in case they want to emigrate to the West should events in Mogadishu take a turn for the worst.
There are also tales of al Qaeda moving in the shadows inside Somalia's capital, a city now in ruins, and a potent symbol of a failure of United States foreign policy.
The blasted buildings and shattered streets, the burned and looted factories, the lack of any kind of infrastructure, the gun-toting militants. These are devastating legacies of a failed US intervention more than a decade ago.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10386418
Blair urges push for Middle East peace
1.00pm Tuesday June 13, 2006
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for the international community today to push hard for a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace or risk seeing Israel pursue selective redeployment in the occupied West Bank.
Speaking at a news conference after talks with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Blair said the key was to press the new Palestinian government under Islamic militant group Hamas to renounce violence and accept coexistence with the Jewish state.
"The reality is this thing has got to be moved forward by negotiation, or we are in a stalemate that Israel is necessarily and realistically going to want to unlock," Blair said.
But he stopped short of endorsing Olmert's vision, whereby dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank would be removed and others annexed behind a fortified Israeli border taking in swathes of occupied land where Palestinians want a state.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10386368
Nine killed as Guinea soldiers fire on student protesters
3.20pm Tuesday June 13, 2006
By Saliou Samb
CONAKRY - At least nine people were killed and more than a dozen wounded when soldiers opened fire on student protesters in Guinea today, police and witnesses said, as a general strike gripped the poor West African country.
President Lansana Conte's government blamed the opposition for stirring violence during the student protests against the suspension of exams due today in the former French colony.
The general strike, which began last week, is the latest action by unions leading opposition to Conte's ruinous economic record in mineral-rich Guinea.
Once a bulwark of stability in West Africa, Guinea is struggling with rampant corruption, a collapsing economy and a powerful but fractious military.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10386395
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