The Arab News
Iraq: We Don’t Owe It to the Dead to Stay Course
Barry Schwartz, LA Times
You’ve paid $10 to get into the movie, and it just plain stinks. The plot is ridiculous, the acting is terrible, the violence is excessive. But you’ve already watched half of it. Do you sit through the movie to the end, or do you leave?
Just a month ago, you spent $2,000 getting your 10-year-old car’s transmission rebuilt. Now you find out the car is leaking oil and needs a ring job. Do you spend the next thousand or buy a new car?
You’ve been living with your romantic partner for 10 years. The relationship has had its ups and downs, and both of you have invested a lot in keeping it going. But every day it seems to involve more work and less joy. Is it time to move on?
You work for a private equity firm and personally persuaded your skeptical partners to invest $2 million in a high-tech start-up. Now the chief executive comes to see you with the news that they’ve hit some snags in developing their product, and they’ll need at least another million to bring it to market. Do you write the check?
We’ve all encountered situations like these. We make a significant investment — of money, time or emotion — in some project, relationship or business deal, and it doesn’t seem to be working out. Do we continue to “throw good money after bad” or do we “cut and run” and “stop wasting time”? What’s the right way to think about such decisions?
Psychologists, decision scientists and economists have an answer. They tell us that it’s a mistake to continue with a project or an activity because of what you already have invested in it. The time or money you’ve spent is gone; you can’t reclaim it. Using a past investment to justify a future investment is what they call the “sunk-cost fallacy.”
Instead of thinking about the past, what we should be doing is thinking about the future. “Will my life be better if I leave this terrible movie or if I stay to the bitter end?” “Will my car give me 20,000 more trouble-free miles if I just do this one last repair?” None of these questions have sure answers. Life is full of uncertainty. But what we can say is that if the reason for “staying the course” is past commitment — sunk costs — we need to find a better one.
“Cut and run.” “Stay the course.” Where have we heard these phrases lately? Oh, yes, we’ve heard them trotted out in defense of continued US involvement in Iraq as death, injury and insurgency mount. President Bush has offered several reasons for staying the course. And one is the more than 2,600 Americans who have died in Iraq.
“I’m going to make you this promise,” the president said at Ft. Bragg, N.C., on July 4. “I’m not going to allow the sacrifice of 2,527 troops who have died in Iraq to be in vain by pulling out before the job is done.” And Bush has not cornered the market on this kind of reasoning. Bill Clinton said it too, more than a year ago. Asked about Iraq, he said that “we’ve all got a stake in its succeeding.” Why? “We’ve got over 600 dead Americans since the conflict was ended.”
We heard this argument often enough in the 1960s. As casualties mounted in Vietnam, it became more difficult to withdraw because withdrawal would have “cheapened” the lives of those already sacrificed. We “owed” it to the dead and wounded to “stay the course.” What staying the course produced was thousands more dead and wounded. “Knee deep in the big muddy” is how folk singer Pete Seeger described it. The question never should have been, “What have we invested so far?” but “What are our objectives for the future and can we attain them at a reasonable cost?”
The sunk-cost fallacy took many lives in Vietnam. Whether Iraq is another quagmire I leave to others, and to history, to determine. But there is one respect in which we must not allow Iraq to become another Vietnam: Continued involvement must not be justified by appealing to the imperative not to allow the dead to have “died in vain.”
How should we honor the sacrifices of those who have died or suffered serious injury in a US military conflict? The best way to show how much we respect and value their lives is by not risking other lives unless future prospects for success fully justify putting more people in harm’s way. Therefore, our standards for putting more people at risk should, if anything, become more rigorous, not less, as casualties mount. To change course under such circumstances need not be an admission of foolishness — even if enemies do accuse the decision-maker of “flip-flopping.” One can think through a problem in a logical and rigorous way, and formulate a sensible course of action, only to discover that it doesn’t work. Good decisions do not guarantee good results (just as bad decisions don’t guarantee bad ones).
Yet people seem willing to waste even more (time, money or lives) to justify what they have spent and avoid that sick feeling of failure. Think about it. You haven’t really lost money on a stock whose share price keeps plummeting until after you sell it. So you keep holding on, in the hope that your judgment as an investor eventually will be vindicated. And troops haven’t really “died in vain” as long as you continue to press on in the fight, no matter how disastrous the results.
I am not arguing that we should “declare victory and leave” Iraq. Nor am I suggesting that the only justification being offered for continued US involvement in Iraq is the “sunk cost” in American lives. I am not saying that obligations from the past should never enter into one’s consideration about the future. And I certainly don’t propose that we should think about death and injury, war and peace in exactly the same way we think about car transmissions and investments in start-ups. My suggestion here is more modest. You may attempt to justify the continued Iraq occupation in many ways, as the Bush administration has. Perhaps you think it will prevent further terror, democratize the Middle East or restrain Iran. Perhaps you think that leaving Iraq before “the job is done” will undermine the world’s confidence in US promises to other nations.
But it is unacceptable to justify continued involvement in Iraq or any other conflict on the grounds that we “owe” it to those who have fallen. That is a justification that has strong emotional appeal, but it is fallacious, and no one should be allowed to get away with it.
Whatever the differences between Iraq in 2006 and Vietnam in 1968, if we allow policymakers to use our “sunk costs” — our dead military — to justify further conflict, we will have turned Iraq into another Vietnam. And if we do, we will be shamed by Iraq just as we were shamed by Vietnam.
— Barry Schwartz is professor of psychology at Swarthmore College and author of “The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less.”
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=86854&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion
Kingdom Supports Kyoto, but ‘Green Power’ Can’t Meet Demand: Al-Naimi
Javid Hassan & Rodolfo C. Estimo, Jr., Arab News
RIYADH, 20 September 2006 — Riyadh Governor Prince Salman called on the business community yesterday to take advantage of opportunities that await them in the energy sector, especially in the area of clean development mechanism (CDM), which provides a new investment avenue. The governor made his remarks while inaugurating the three-day first international conference on CDM organized by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources here last night.
CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol that allows for industrialized countries to contribute to reducing greenhouse gases not by reducing their own emissions but by investing in the construction of modernized, energy-efficient technologies in developing countries.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said that the Kingdom as a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol stands committed to reducing its CO2 emission. However, Al-Naimi said that the world could not rely on alternative energy alone in this day and age. “Solutions, such as solar, wind, nuclear or hydroelectric power may contribute to CO2 emissions reductions, but they cannot meet increasing global demand for energy,” he said.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=86830&d=20&m=9&y=2006
Al-Turki Episode Makes Saudis Think Twice Before Sending Children to US
Saleh Fareed, Arab News
JEDDAH, 20 September 2006 — Due to the intimidation and harassment Saudi students have been recently experiencing in the United States, especially after what happened to Homaidan Al-Turki and his family, Saudis are thinking twice before sending their children to study in America.
“Such discrimination and humiliation would discourage parents from even thinking about sending their children to study in the US,” said Muhammad Al-Enezi, 39.
On Aug. 31, a Colorado court sentenced Al-Turki to 27 years in prison for sexually assaulting his maid, forcibly imprisoning her and not paying her wages — charges he vehemently denies.
Al-Enezi, a teacher at one of the largest high schools in Jeddah, said that many of his students who had been contemplating of studying in the US now showed no interest in heading there.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=86840&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Man Forgives Neighbor Who Killed His Son
Arab News
RIYADH, 20 September 2006 — In a gesture of forgiveness, Fahd Al-Subaie pardoned the killer of his son who happened to be his neighbor’s son, Al-Riyadh reported yesterday. Al-Subaie did not ask for money and no mediator was needed. (Mediators are sometimes involved in trying to persuade victims’ families to pardon those on death row.) A fight had erupted between the neighbors following the stabbing of Al-Subaie’s son last month. The father decided to show good faith toward all of the neighbors and forgave the young man who killed his son. Riyadh Governor Prince Salman received Al-Subaie in his office and thanked him for his gesture of mercy.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=86837&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
I Was Desperate, Says Saudi Jailed for Marrying Nigerian Overstayer
Zainy Abbas, Arab News
MAKKAH, 20 September 2006 — He was a poor Saudi teenage runaway in a big city. Without a family to support him, he was earning scruples pushing wheelchairs in the Grand Mosque. Desperate to get married, he wed a young Nigerian overstayer, fell in love with her and had five children. He was finally arrested for harboring an illegal overstayer.
Now 13 years later, Haidar Abdullah Mansour’s epic is a story of hardship, love and now pain at being imprisoned and separated from his beloved wife who possibly faces deportation.
“I was desperate to get married. I asked many families for their daughters’ hands in marriage but I wasn’t successful because I had no money and no steady job. The only way I could settle down and start a family was by marrying an overstayer,” said Mansour.
Arab News met the Saudi in a cell at the Expatriate Monitoring Department in Makkah to find out why the young man married an overstayer and how he now ended up in such a hopeless situation.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=86834&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
He Has Only Ants for Company for a Year
Andrew Selsky, Associated Press
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, 20 September 2006 — A Saudi detainee has been held in solitary confinement for a year at the Guantanamo Bay prison, his lawyers said in a motion that claimed he is now so mentally unbalanced he considers insects his friends.
Shaker Aamer, a 37-year-old resident of Britain, was placed in isolation on Sept. 24, 2005, and has been beaten by guards, deprived of sleep and subjected to temperature extremes, according to the motion filed Monday in US District Court for the District of Columbia. The motion asks the court to order Aamer’s immediate release from solitary confinement.
Keeping Aamer isolated violates Geneva Conventions protections, Aamer’s lawyers argued. The US military denied he is being mistreated.
The allegations surfaced as US President George W. Bush and Congress wrestle over legislation to set rules for interrogating and trying terror suspects. Bush officials argue they need to establish ground rules so suspects can be interrogated to prevent horrors like the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Mr. Aamer has been held in complete isolation for the past 360 days,” Aamer’s lawyers said in the motion, adding that except for infrequent meetings with his attorneys, he has had consistent contact only with the Americans running the prison on this US Navy base in southeastern Cuba.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86832&d=20&m=9&y=2006
Report Criticizes US in Torture Case
Associated Press
TORONTO, 20 September 2006 — The United States “very likely” sent a Canadian software engineer to Syria, where he was tortured, based on the false accusation by Canadian authorities that he was suspected of links to Al-Qaeda, according to a new government report.
Syrian-born Maher Arar was exonerated of all suspicion of terrorist activity by the 2 1/2-year commission of inquiry into his case, which urged the Canadian government to offer him financial compensation. Arar is perhaps the world’s best-known case of extraordinary rendition — the US transfer of foreign terror suspects to third countries without court approval.
“I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offense or that his activities constitute a threat to the security of Canada,” Justice Dennis O’Connor said Monday in a three-volume report on the findings of the inquiry, part of which was made public.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86845&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Pakistan’s Top Court Summons MPs With Madrasa Degrees
Azhar Masood, Arab News
ISLAMABAD, 20 September 2006 — The chief of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Iftkhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has directed all MPs who submitted madrasa degrees to run for the 2002 general elections to appear before the top court.
Justice Chaudhry issued the ruling yesterday in response to a petition filed by Dr. Aslam Khaki that argued that madrasa degrees were not equivalent to university degrees.
During the 2002 elections, the Pakistani government made it mandatory for people running for elections to have degrees in order to qualify to contest elections. Some 68 contestants, who are now members of Parliament, had submitted madrasa degrees to qualify for participation.
During yesterday’s hearing on the petition, no MP — holding a madrasa degree — appeared in the court prompting the chief justice to issue an order directing them to make an appearance.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86849&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Musharraf Calls for End to Bias Against Muslims
Agence France Presse
UNITED NATIONS, 20 September 2006 — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday called for a ban on the “defamation of Islam” in a speech to the UN General Assembly in which he took a veiled swipe at Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks linking the Muslim faith to violence.
“We also need to bridge, through dialogue and understanding, the growing divide between the Islamic and Western worlds,” Musharraf told the 192-member assembly.
“It is imperative to end racial and religious discrimination against Muslims and to prohibit the defamation of Islam.” And in an indirect reference to Pope Benedict XVI, he added: “It is most disappointing to see personalities of high standing oblivious of Muslim sensitivities at these critical moments.”
Musharraf also addressed the vexing issue of global terrorism, noting that Pakistan’s cooperation with many countries, including the United States and Britain, had “pre-empted several terrorist plots, such as the one uncovered recently to blow up airliners flying from London.”
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86850&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Canada, Australia Urge Islamabad to Check Taleban
Latafat Ali Siddiqui & Agencies
OTTAWA, 20 September 2006 — Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer said they have “encouraged Pakistan government” to check the movement of Taleban between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“It’s a tall order,” said MacKay, noting that Pakistan seems to be struggling to meet that challenge. But Downer suggested that some elements in Pakistan’s security forces were sympathetic to the Taleban.
The Australian minister expressed concern that there is “some sympathy” within Pakistani security forces for Taleban rebels. He said Taleban fighters were moving back and forth across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. “They’re finding refuge in Pakistan,” he said.
“There’s no doubt there are people in Pakistan who support the Taleban, and, you know, we have some concerns that in the Pakistani security forces, there is some, what you might politely describe as some sympathy for the Taleban,” Downer said.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86852&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Taleban Tougher Than Expected: Browne
Agencies
LONDON/KABUL, 20 September 2006 — Britain warned yesterday that the credibility of NATO was at stake in Afghanistan after it was surprised by the strength of resistance from the Taleban, the country’s hard-line former rulers. Taleban opposition to NATO forces in Afghanistan is far tougher than was expected when alliance troops were initially deployed, Defense Secretary Des Browne said.
“The Taleban’s tenacity in the face of massive losses has been a surprise, absorbing more of our effort than we predicted it would and consequently slowing progress on reconstruction,” he told the Royal United Services Institute think tank.
Browne underlined the need for London’s allies to share the burden of fighting in the volatile south of the war-scarred country. Britain remains confident of ultimate victory despite a recent surge in deadly violence, he said. Britain took over command of NATO forces in the volatile south of Afghanistan in May, and have faced fiercer-than-anticipated resistance from Taleban insurgents. A total of 33 British troops have died since then, compared to a total of 40 since NATO moved into Afghanistan in 2001 in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86841&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Manila Moves to Salvage Peace Talks as Rebel Group Threatens War
Al Jacinto, Arab News
ZAMBOANGA CITY, 20 September 2006 — Government negotiators yesterday scrambled to break the deadlock in peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the southern Philippines as the separatist group warned of renewed fighting.
Jesus Dureza, the government’s peace adviser, said he has sought an urgent meeting with MILF leaders to to find a way to get the talks back on track.
MILF Chairman Murad Ebrahim earlier warned of a possible collapse of the talks because of what he described as the government’s dilly-dallying on the issue of ancestral domain.
During a press conference in the MILF’s main base in Maguindanao yesterday, the group’s chief negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal, said they were prepared for war if the issue on ancestral domain would remain unresolved.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86828&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Power Shortage Sparks Protests in Bangladesh
Reuters
DHAKA, 20 September 2006 — Nearly 200 people attacked the office of a state-run power company in western Bangladesh yesterday with stones and sticks, protesting against shortage of electricity in the area, police and witnesses said.
The protesters chased the employees of the Rural Electrification Board in the district of Meherpur and tried to ransack the office, Tuhin Aranyo, a resident said.
He said several protesters were injured after police used batons to evict them from the building. A police official confirmed the incident but did not give any details. Meherpur is 250 km from the capital Dhaka.
Frequent power outages, often lasting for hours, have hit the country including the capital Dhaka since early this year after the gap between supply and demand widened, officials said.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86853&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Tigers Bombed After Muslims’ Killing
Amal Jayasinghe, Agence France Presse
COLOMBO, 20 September 2006 — Sri Lankan jets bombed suspected Tamil Tiger targets in the island’s east yesterday, officials said, while rebel mortars killed four soldiers escorting journalists in the embattled Jaffna peninsula.
Israeli-made Kfir war planes bombed positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the district of Batticaloa, the government’s defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.
“We have taken identified LTTE targets in Batticaloa today,” Rambukwella said without giving information on any casualties.
Hours later, Tiger rebels fired mortar bombs at the army’s de facto front line in the northern peninsula of Jaffna as the military brought a group of 25 reporters and photographers to showcase gains of the security forces.
AFP photographer Lakruwan Wanniarachchi was in a convoy of four armored personnel carriers that were hit by shrapnel from mortar bombs.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86846&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Memon’s Driver Found Guilty of Bombay Blasts
Shahid Raza Burney, Arab News
BOMBAY, 20 September 2006 — A special court yesterday convicted Abdul Gani Turk, accused No. 11, in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts outside Century Bazaar, a shopping mall, in Bombay that killed 113 people and wounding 227.
The former driver of Tiger Memon, the prime conspirator who is absconding, faces a minimum sentence of five years in jail and a maximum of capital punishment.
Turk was the lone accused held guilty for the blasts by the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) court here. He was found guilty of loading vehicles with RDX and transporting arms and ammunition leading to the deadliest of the 13 blasts on March 12, 1993.
“Abdul Gani Turk has been found guilty on all four counts he was charged with,” Special Judge P.D. Kode said.
“The accused No. 11 has been found guilty for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, attempt to murder (Section 307), causing grievous hurt (Section 367), damage to public property and damage of residential property (Sections 435 and 436).
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86847&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Two Muftis Suspended for Taking Money
S.A. Ali, Arab News
NEW DELHI, 20 September 2006 — Two muftis (Muslim religious leaders) caught on camera allegedly taking money for issuing fatwas were suspended as Ulemas decided to form a body to monitor issuance of religious edicts.
The prominent Islamic religious school, Darul Uloom, Deoband, suspended Mufti Habibur Rehman and Meerut’s Shahi Jama Masjid removed Maulana Imran Rahman after a TV channel showed them accepting money for issuing fatwas. The Star News broadcast an investigative show entitled “Benaqaab” on the world of supposedly made-to-order fatwas. The investigation discovered that fatwas or Islamic legal rulings cannot only be easily bought but made-to-order according to a person’s needs.
Darul Uloom’s Vice-Chancellor Marghoobur Rehman said Mufti Habibur Rehman was suspended Sunday after he was allegedly seen on television accepting money. He said a committee would investigate the matter and if found guilty the mufti would be dismissed.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86848&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Yemen Arrests ‘Terrorist’ Linked to Saleh’s Rival
Khaled Al-Mahdi, Arab News
SANAA, 20 September 2006 — Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said yesterday security forces had arrested a bodyguard of his main rival in today’s presidential election over links to the Al-Qaeda terror network.
At a news conference at the presidential palace in Sanaa, Saleh displayed to reporters photographs showing the opposition’s presidential candidate Faisal Bin-Shamlan with his bodyguard Hussein Ahmad Al-Dharhani standing next to him.
“This man was an Al-Qaeda terrorist and was planning attacks against US targets in Sanaa, and he was arrested,” said Saleh, pointing his finger to the photographed bodyguard. The Yemeni president, who runs for re-election in the country’s second direct presidential vote today, linked the bodyguard to Friday’s bomb attacks against two oil facilities in the country.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=86838&d=20&m=9&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
Editorial: Spin Out of Control
20 September 2006
IT is unfortunately virtually inevitable that at some point, all politicians lie to voters. Sometimes, as in the case of Bush and Blair, even when unmasked, they insist the falsehoods were peddled in the honest belief that they were in fact true. They may also contrive to hint that, against all the available evidence, there was nevertheless still some grain of truth in what they said. The behavior of Hungary’s socialist prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany, is, however, extremely rare. He admitted in May at a private meeting of his party’s MPs that his government had lied and lied in order to win April’s general election.
Somebody at the gathering recorded Gyurcsany’s extraordinary admissions and the tape was played Sunday on state radio. The result has been a series of ugly riots in Budapest and widespread calls for the premier’s resignation. Though the demonstrators’ extensive violence must be condemned, it is hard not to agree with the demand that for Gyurcsany to quit is right and proper. While spin and falsehood may be part and parcel of politics, when a politician is found out, the correct response is resignation. And this is exactly what Hungary’s leader has refused to do.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=86858&d=20&m=9&y=2006
The Washington Post
'06 Cuts In Iraq Troops Unlikely
General Points to Sectarian Violence In New Assessment
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A01
The U.S. military is unlikely to reduce forces in Iraq before next spring because the current contingent of more than 140,000 troops is battling sectarian violence that could prove "fatal" to the country if not arrested, the top American commander for the Middle East said yesterday.
"This level will probably have to be sustained through the spring" amid aggressive operations to stabilize Baghdad, said Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command. "I do believe that the secular tensions, if left unchecked, could be fatal to Iraq . . . and the center of the problem is Baghdad. It's the main effort," he told defense reporters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091900459.html?sub=AR
Boeing Wins Deal For Border Security
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A01
Aerospace and defense giant Boeing Co. has won a multibillion-dollar contract to revamp how the United States guards about 6,000 miles of border in an attempt to curb illegal immigration, congressional sources said yesterday.
Boeing's proposal relied heavily on a network of 1,800 towers, most of which would need to be erected along the borders with Mexico and Canada. Each tower would be equipped with a variety of sensors, including cameras and heat and motion detectors.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901715.html
A Quiet Break for Corporations
Tariff Suspensions, Often Initiated by Companies Based Overseas, Keep Millions of Dollars From Flowing to the Treasury Each Year
By Joe Stephens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A01
For three generations, the Dungey family of Auburn, N.Y., has produced handmade dog collars and leashes for pet stores around the country. The family's six-person shop has staved off competition from cheaper foreign labor by offering a range of products, from affordable "Sparky's Choice" leashes to a $100 beveled-brass collar known as the "Gatsby."
One day this spring, the company president, Anita Dungey, happened across a few words on a Web site, leading her to a startling discovery: One of her small advantages over imports was about to disappear, thanks to a little-noticed proposal in the Senate. The plan, it turned out, had been promoted by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901759.html
U.S. Policy on Iran Evolves Toward Diplomacy
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A20
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 -- Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, U.S. officials confidently predicted that the toppling of Saddam Hussein would lead to renewed momentum on the Israeli-Palestinian peace track. "The road to Jerusalem leads through Baghdad" was a common refrain.
President Bush's speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly showed how much that diplomatic calculation has changed in Bush's second term. With the United States ensnarled in an increasingly difficult campaign in Iraq, war is no longer a viable option. Instead, the administration is struggling with the difficult and messy business of diplomacy. That often means accommodating the interests and demands of other countries, even backtracking on what had been firm positions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901570.html
Thai Army Leaders Depose Prime Minister
Move Follows Protests Against Thaksin, Who Was in New York for U.N. Assembly
By Ron Corben
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; 7:02 AM
BANGKOK, Sept. 20 -- Thai army leaders deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a longtime ally of President Bush, using tanks and soldiers to seize the capital Tuesday night without firing a shot. The coup was the first in 15 years in a country where many people believed that military seizures of power were a thing of the past.
Thaksin was in New York, attending the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, when soldiers surrounded Government House, his office, at about 10:30 p.m. He declared a state of emergency by telephone, but his announcement, carried on television, was cut off midway and had no discernible effect as army units seized key facilities in a light rain.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000296.html
Extensive Spying Found At HP
Feb. Report Sent to 4 Senior Executives
By Ellen Nakashima and Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page D01
The Hewlett-Packard Co. spying effort that has sparked criminal investigations was wide-ranging and included physical surveillance, photographs and spyware sent via e-mail, and it also targeted wives and other relatives of HP board members and reporters, according to a consultant's report prepared for the company.
The Feb. 10 report, obtained by The Washington Post, summarized in eight pages how investigators, to identify an internal leak of confidential HP information, surreptitiously followed HP board member George A. Keyworth II while he was giving a lecture at the University of Colorado. They watched his home in Piedmont, Calif. They used photographs of a reporter to see if the reporter met with him. And they tried to recover a laptop computer stolen from him in Italy so they could analyze its contents.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901632.html
Abe Wins Vote for Japan Party Presidency
By JOSEPH COLEMAN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; 2:52 AM
TOKYO -- Nationalist Shinzo Abe became head of Japan's ruling party by a landslide Wednesday, a victory expected to lead to his election as prime minister next week.
Abe won 464 of the 702 votes counted, a majority of 66 percent. Foreign Minister Taro Aso came in a distant second with 136 votes and Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki garnered 102 votes.
By winning the three-year term as Liberal Democratic Party president, Abe, a proponent of a hard line against North Korea, and a more militarily assertive Japan, all but guarantees his election as premier in the vote in parliament on Sept. 26.
"From now on, I would like to join everyone in helping Mr. Abe win the public trust," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Abe's mentor, said minutes after the vote. Abe stood up and quietly bowed in all directions when the results were read.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000164.html
E. Coli Probe Focuses on 9 Calif. Farms
By Annys Shin and Sonya Geis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page D01
Investigators searched nine California farms for evidence of spinach-borne E. coli yesterday, going into the fields for the first time, as the number of confirmed illnesses rose by 17 to 131.
A team of about a dozen investigators from the Food and Drug Administration and the state of California fanned out to farms in Monterey County's Salinas Valley, according to Kevin Reilly, deputy director of the California Department of Health Services. The farms grew spinach for Natural Selection Foods LLC and River Ranch Fresh Foods LLC, which have recalled all of their fresh spinach, officials said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901641.html
A True Believer In Immigrants
"One day, we will gather for celebration. I believe that this takes time." The Rev. José E. Hoyos
By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page B01
José E. Hoyos stood on a stage in front of the U.S. Capitol this month, calling on lawmakers to do what is "morally correct and just" by welcoming illegal immigrants into society. The Catholic priest had dreamed of seeing an ocean of immigrants stretching from his feet to the Washington Monument. Instead, the crowd before him filled a fraction of one block of grass.
When illegal immigrants demanded amnesty at nationwide rallies in the spring, Washington area organizers turned to Hoyos, director of the Arlington Diocese's Spanish Apostolate, to marshal and inspire protesters. Though unfamiliar to many outside the Hispanic community, his magnetic preaching and frequent appearances in Spanish-language media have earned him near-celebrity status among local Latinos and in El Salvador, a nation to which he has dedicated much of his ministry.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901649.html
U.S. Policy on Iran Evolves Toward Diplomacy
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A20
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 -- Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, U.S. officials confidently predicted that the toppling of Saddam Hussein would lead to renewed momentum on the Israeli-Palestinian peace track. "The road to Jerusalem leads through Baghdad" was a common refrain.
President Bush's speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly showed how much that diplomatic calculation has changed in Bush's second term. With the United States ensnarled in an increasingly difficult campaign in Iraq, war is no longer a viable option. Instead, the administration is struggling with the difficult and messy business of diplomacy. That often means accommodating the interests and demands of other countries, even backtracking on what had been firm positions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901570.html
Following Suit, Chrysler to Cut Production by 15 Percent
By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page D03
Chrysler said it would cut U.S. vehicle production by 15 percent in the second half of the year, compared with 2005 levels, and added that it was scouring its operations for further cost reductions. General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have already outlined plans to close plants and eliminate jobs.
The U.S. automakers have blamed higher gas prices for curtailing demand for pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Chrysler went through a bruising round of plant closing and job cuts after its 1998 merger with Germany's Daimler-Benz AG.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091900512.html
In China, Paulson's Currency Is Patience
With Expectation High, Treasury Chief Plans Go-Slow Approach in Trade Talks
By Peter S. Goodman
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page D01
BEIJING, Sept. 19 -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is fond of recounting stories from his dozens of visits to China as chief executive of Goldman Sachs, a legacy that has fueled expectations he can accomplish a feat that eluded his predecessors: persuading China's leaders to significantly raise the value of their currency, the yuan.
Tall and lean, Paulson in the past has applied his brash charm toward securing mega-deals here. He has visited remote villages and the highest offices of the ruling Communist Party. He refers to China's central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan by his given name.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091900446.html
Enough Apologies
By Anne Applebaum
Tuesday, September 19, 2006; Page A21
Already, angry Palestinian militants have assaulted seven West Bank and Gaza churches, destroying two of them. In Somalia, gunmen shot dead an elderly Italian nun. Radical clerics from Qatar to Qom have called, variously, for a "day of anger" or for worshipers to "hunt down" the pope and his followers. From Turkey to Malaysia, Muslim politicians have condemned the pope and called his apology "insufficient." And all of this because Benedict XVI, speaking at the University of Regensburg, quoted a Byzantine emperor who, more than 600 years ago, called Islam a faith "spread by the sword." We've been here before, of course. Similar protests were sparked last winter by cartoon portrayals of Muhammad in the Danish press. Similar apologies resulted, though Benedict's is more surprising than those of the Danish government. No one, apparently, can remember any pope, not even the media-friendly John Paul II, apologizing for anything in such specific terms: not for the Inquisition, not for the persecution of Galileo and certainly not for a single comment made to an academic audience in an unimportant German city.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091800992.html?nav=most_emailed_emailafriend
The Road to Disillusionment
Army Reserve Captain 'Anxious and Depressed' Over Iraq
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A23
Few Americans served in Iraq longer than Army Reserve Capt. A. Heather Coyne.
She arrived in Baghdad with the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade in April 2003 and was in the military in Baghdad until June of the following year. She stayed on to head the U.S. Institute of Peace's mission there until earlier this year.
Coyne's personal saga in many ways tracks the broader American disillusionment in Iraq. When she got to Baghdad, she was a strong supporter of the invasion. "I bought into the vision of an alternative Middle East," she said.
But by the time she left Baghdad in February, she was heartbroken. "I'm terribly anxious and depressed about it," she said in a recent interview in Washington, where she continues to work for the Institute of Peace.
Coyne doesn't see any easy answers. "I don't even know what to do," she said. "There are enough people [in Iraq] who want a good option. I just don't know how they're going to get there."
It has been an odd trip for Coyne, now 33. She is the daughter of California semi-hippies. The "A" in her name stands for nothing -- it was intended by her parents to commemorate a friend who, when Coyne's mother was pregnant, died in an avalanche while mountain climbing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901361.html?referrer=emailarticlepg
Lebanon Peacekeepers Met With Skepticism
True Role of U.N. Force Is Subject Of Debate Among Wary Residents
By Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, September 20, 2006; Page A12
BAZOURIYA, Lebanon -- There are two faces to the U.N. force today in Lebanon, ensuring a cease-fire that ended 33 days of war with Israel. One has a certain swagger: more than 4,800 soldiers, 14 French battle tanks, four 155mm artillery guns, 10 Italian amphibious assault vehicles and an array of armored personnel carriers. The other is a contingent of several bored-looking Italian soldiers in blue berets watching traffic pass, their roadside stop demarcated by red-and-white tape within eyeshot of Hezbollah's yellow banners.
"They're just standing there," said Muslim Srour, sipping coffee at his gas station down the road.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901736.html
Crowe Honors Irwin at Memorial Service
The Associated Press
Tuesday, September 19, 2006; 7:40 PM
BEERWAH, Australia -- A public memorial service for "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin began Wednesday with a tribute from actor Russell Crowe.
"It was way too soon for all of us," Crowe said in the recorded tribute. "We have lost a friend, a champion. It will take some time to adjust to that."
In a file photo Australian Steve Irwin, of the TV show "The Crocodile Hunter," holds a nine-foot female alligator in company with his American wife Terri, who is from Eugene, Oregon, at his "Australia Zoo" in Beerwah, Queensland, Australia, June 18, 1999. Steve Irwin, the Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the Crocodile Hunter, was killed Monday., Sept. 4, 2006, by a stingray barb during a diving expedition, Australian media reported. (AP Photo/Russell McPhedran) (Russell Mcphedran - AP)
Australian Prime Minister, among the 5,000 in attendance at the Australia Zoo for the ceremony, was the first to speak at the memorial.
"This is ... a celebration of terrific life well-lived," Howard said. "For all of us, it is touched with the deepest possible conceivable sadness."
As expected, there was one empty seat at Steve Irwin's personal stadium _ the one set aside for the late and hugely popular "Crocodile Hunter" himself.
A zany television entertainer and conservationist, Irwin, 44, was killed Sept. 4 when the barb from a stingray pierced his chest while he was filming for a TV show on the Great Barrier Reef. His family held a private funeral service for him on Sept. 9 at Australia Zoo.
Flags on the Sydney Harbor Bridge flew Wednesday at half-staff, and giant television screens were set up in Irwin's home state of Queensland for people to watch the service. Three of Australia's main television networks carried the hour-long ceremony, which was to be made available to U.S. and international networks and which family officials said could be watched by as many as 300 million people.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901307.html
New Zealand Herald
Climate change wreaking ecological havoc on globe
1.00pm Friday September 15, 2006
By Daniel Howden, Andrew Buncombe and Justin Huggler
In Greenland, barley is growing for the first time since the Middle Ages.
In Britain, gardeners were warned this week that the English country garden will be a thing of the past within the next 20 years.
In Italy, skiers were told yesterday that melting glaciers will mean an end to their pastime unless they can get above 2,000 metres.
Even those enjoying the warmer temperatures in unpredictable bursts by venturing into the sea have been confronted by swarms of jellyfish, who have flourished in record numbers in Europe in the warmer waters.
Those same waters are rising in Venice, prompting arguments over costly plans to seal off the lagoon from the sea.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10401423
Dread as spectre of El Nino haunts a parched continent
Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - Raging bushfires and shrivelled crops have given Australia a grim pointer to the coming summer.
As temperatures along most of the east coast yesterday climbed into the middle to high 20s, the nation was again warned of looming drought, water shortages in the major cities, and the likelihood of major fires over vast tracts of the continent.
Last month was the driest August since records began in 1900, with key catchments in Perth and Melbourne recording the lowest rainfalls in more than a century. Worse may be coming.
The Bureau of Meteorology is wary that another El Nino may be on the way, bringing with it extremely hot, dry summer months.
The United States Climate Prediction Centre estimates the chance of an El Nino - a weather phenomenon caused by changes in ocean surface temperatures - is 50 per cent.
Although the Australian Bureau of Meteorology is not yet predicting a recurrence of the phenomenon that in the past has been linked to severe drought and horrendous bushfires, it says that even if it does not occur the summer will still be very harsh.
And it says conditions will be made worse by the legacy of the long, dry period that has gripped much of southern Australia for a decade, and eastern Australia since 2002.
Yesterday the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said the impact was already hammering the nation's farms.
Acting chief executive Karen Schneider said record low rainfall was expected to slash winter crop production by 36 per cent.
In New South Wales, where drought grips 92 per cent of the state, late planting caused by delayed seasonal rains and the dehydrated winter has especially slugged southern and central farms.
Similar conditions afflict farms across much of Victoria, along large areas of the West Australian grainbelt, and most of Queensland.
And a promising start to the winter crop season in South Australia stumbled as the record dry August bit.
Schneider warned that unless rain fell soon, another blow would fall.
Even if farms received average spring rainfalls, summer crop production would still fall by 10 per cent.
Firefighters fear the worst.
In NSW, where weather forecasters have predicted a doubling in days of extreme fire risk even without an El Nino, total fire bans were imposed on Monday across a swath of the south.
Yesterday, Victorian firefighters called in water-bombing aircraft to help battle a blaze that erupted from a fuel-reduction burn into the Murray-Sunset National Park about 500km northwest of Melbourne. In South Australia the fire risk was extreme as temperatures and winds increased.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402042
Canada may protest US treatment of tortured man
4.00pm Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Randall Palmer
OTTAWA - Canada is likely to make a formal protest to the United States over the US deportation in 2002 of a Canadian citizen to Syria, where he was subsequently tortured.
The Canadian government said it agreed with the 23 recommendations by Justice Dennis O'Connor, who headed a US inquiry into the affair and concluded that Maher Arar was tortured in Syria, the country of his birth, after being arrested in New York on suspicion of involvement with al Qaeda.
"Mr. Arar has been done a tremendous injustice," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons. "The government has received this report that has a series of recommendations... The government will act swiftly based on those recommendations."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402165
Thailand still safe to visit, say NZ officials
8.30am Wednesday September 20, 2006
New Zealanders living or touring around Thailand should exercise common sense, the New Zealand Ambassador in Thailand, Brook Barrington warned today in the wake of a military coup overnight.
He said New Zealanders, especially those in the capital Bangkok, should exercise "prudence" when moving about.
"Don't go sightseeing around government buildings. If a curfew is imposed -- and there is talk of a curfew -- then it should be respected," he told National Radio.
Mr Barrington said in the last couple of days there had been talk of a mass rally -- and one had been scheduled for tomorrow.
"That may or may not take place, but if it does tourists should not go to those sorts of events. They should just exercise care.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10402128
Thai army seizes Bangkok as PM ousted [+video]
7.10am Wednesday September 20, 2006
BANGKOK - The Thai army took control of Bangkok overnight (NZ time) without a shot being fired, dismissed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, revoked the constitution and promised a swift return to democracy after political reforms.
A government spokesman at the United Nations with Thaksin telephoned a Thai television station to announce a state of emergency in an apparent attempt to head off the coup. He said the army could not succeed and "we're in control".
But tanks and troops took over Government House in Thailand's first coup in 15 years and a coup spokesman said the army and police were in control of the capital and surrounding provinces.
Armoured vehicles and soldiers took up position on many street corners, but life in most of Bangkok continued much as usual with traffic moving through rain drenched streets and the airport operating normally.
The seizure would be temporary and power "returned to the people" soon, retired Lieutenant-General Prapart Sakuntanak said on all Thai television channels.
Foreign news channels, including CNN and the BBC, were cut off.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402121
Hungarian PM urged to resign
Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Gergely Szakacs
BUDAPEST - Hungary's opposition parties have called on Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany to quit after thousands of people took to the streets in a night of anti-government riots in which 150 people were injured.
The riots, the worst in Hungary since the end of communism, were triggered by the leak of a tape on Sunday in which Gyurcsany said he and his Socialist party had lied for four years about Hungary's parlous budget in order to win April's elections.
Streets were calm on Tuesday and only about 50 protesters were left in front of the parliament building and police presence appeared light.
The initially peaceful demonstration of around 10,000 people in front of parliament turned violent as some protesters stoned and set fire to the state television building, occupied and looted it. Some 150 demonstrators and police were injured.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402069
US Senate blocks bill to pressure Sudan
6.20am Wednesday September 20, 2006
WASHINGTON - The Bush Administration and business interests have been accused of undermining efforts to pressure the Sudanese Government to stop the killing in Darfur.
The United States Senate has blocked a bill that passed in Congress endorsing state legislation that forces publicly owned entities to sell holdings in companies with substantial business with Sudan, or sell Khartoum weapons.
Campaigners blame the White House, saying the long-delayed draft the Foreign Relations Committee put forward last week removed a clause known as Section 11 that would have required publicly owned entities to dump stock.
"If the federal Government is for divestment outright, they should publicly state so," said Jason Miller, a US-based Darfur campaigner. "If they are against divestment, they should publicly state so. If there's some middle ground where they agree with certain types of divestment but not others, they should have been open to compromise ... Instead, they gave us complete ambiguity."
The half dozen states that have passed such measures, and the 15 more said to be studying them, now face the prospect of legal action from a business pressure group. The National Foreign Trade Council has already sued the state of Illinois, which has enacted the most sweeping measure.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10402060
Unease as military hawk Abe poised to lead Japan
Wednesday September 20, 2006
By David McNeill
TOKYO - Japan's most important election in years will not be especially democratic; it will be closed to the public and we already know the winner.
But, for better or worse, by the end of this month the world's No 2 economy will have a new leader - and he is already causing political waves.
Today, a million members of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party will select a new party head who will, thanks to the LDP's dominance of the Diet (Parliament) step into the giant shoes of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi next week.
The public will not have their say until a general election next year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402065
World dignitaries attend funeral of King Tupou IV
Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Angela Gregory and NZPA
Tonga laid its King to rest yesterday in an elaborate state funeral that mixed tribal traditions with Christian prayers, royal pomp with village-style feasts.
Led by his son and successor, King Siaosi Tupou V, dignitaries from 30 nations laid wreaths and joined 10,000 people in a Wesleyan funeral service at the royal tombs.
It was an exhausting day for Tongans, not least the King's family who had stayed up the entire night to pray for him.
While there did not seem a huge number of Tongan onlookers, website editor Pesi Fonua said there were more than for Queen Salote's funeral in 1965.
Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, representing the Queen, the Governors-General of Australia and New Zealand, the Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Fiji and the President of French Polynesia were among the visiting dignitaries.
Church groups began singing hymns on Monday night and continued until dawn yesterday. Surfboard riders stashed their boards in respect for their surfer King.
Government offices and many private businesses closed for the day.
NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark said it was a privilege to have attended the "extraordinary" ceremony.
She had found it elaborate but simple, and very dignified.
She said Tonga had gone through difficult times but she felt that the will to change and move ahead was there.
She was looking forward to dinner last night with King Tupou V, whom she first met 22 years ago in Tonga.
Helen Clark said the new King would bring his own style but she "got the sense" he was likely to stand back and let Prime Minister Feleti Sevele move on his behalf.
The loss of 170 teachers and 30 educational administrators in the redundancies which followed last year's public service strike raised "big issues" given the country's growing youth population, she said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402086
Wolfowitz's corruption policy defeated
Wednesday September 20, 2006
SINGAPORE - Paul Wolfowitz, the head of the World Bank, suffered defeat over his flagship policy to fight corruption yesterday after member countries insisted they would take over control of the plan from its management.
In a significant victory for Britain's Development Secretary Hilary Benn, the bank's development committee said it would take "oversight" of the plan and demanded a progress report in six months.
Wolfowitz, who was US deputy defence secretary during the Iraq war, had wanted the bank to link its loans and grants with its fight against corruption.
Benn launched a high-profile critique of the plan before the meetings in Singapore, saying it could lead to the bank "walking away" from poor people simply because of the venal behaviour of their leaders.
After a lively meeting of the committee of 24 development ministers, the communique said the "principal objective" of the bank was to help states deliver services to the poor.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402068
Bombs kill 30 as Iraqi leaders wrangle over Bill
11.00am Tuesday September 19, 2006
BAGHDAD - Bombs killed 30 people in a police recruitment centre in central Iraq and in a popular market in the north on Monday, as politicians wrangled over a Federation Bill some fear could unleash sectarian civil war.
US officials have warned of an increase in violence by al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamic militant groups fighting the US-backed Shi'ite-led government ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, which starts in 10 days.
In the worst bloodshed, a bomb killed 17 people in a market in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, local police said. Police in nearby Mosul said the blast was caused by a suicide attacker who blew himself up in the market.
Earlier, a suicide car bomber killed 13 people in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
Ramadi police captain Ahmed Ali told Reuters the driver struck outside a recruitment centre where a number of volunteers were gathering to join the police force.
The city is the capital of Anbar province, the deadliest for US troops. Sunni militant groups including al Qaeda frequently attack recruiting centres for the Iraqi army and police, key parts of Washington's plans to eventually withdraw its forces.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401975
Shuttle Atlantis landing put off to Thursday
1.00pm Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - Space agency Nasa today delayed shuttle Atlantis' homecoming by a day due to bad weather expected at the Florida landing site and because it wanted time to examine video of an object seen falling out of the craft.
Nasa rescheduled touchdown at the Kennedy Space Center for 6:22 a.m. EDT on Thursday (10.22pm Thursday NZT).
"Based on this weather we're having, we're going to waive off tomorrow," astronaut Terry Virts from Mission Control in Houston told Atlantis commander Brent Jett.
Nasa also had concerns about a video taken by a shuttle camera of an unidentified small dark object that appeared to fly out of the craft's payload bay on Tuesday.
Johnson Space Center spokesman Doug Peterson said the object was a mystery.
"At this point, we're not willing to hazard a guess," Peterson said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402138
We won't mediate in Solomons stand-off, says Peters
Tuesday September 19, 2006
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand will not be mediating in the diplomatic row between Australia and the Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare expelled the Australian High Commissioner, Patrick Cole, accusing Australia of interfering in an inquiry into riots in Honiara in April.
The expulsion of Mr Cole has resulted in a diplomatic stand-off with Canberra.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard wants Mr Sogavare to scrap an inquiry into the circumstances of the rioting.
Canberra suspects the inquiry is designed to undermine criminal cases against two pro-Sogavare legislators charged with inciting the violence.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401881
Neo-Nazis in election blow to Merkel
Tuesday September 19, 2006
Neo-Nazis dealt an embarrassing political blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday, winning parliamentary seats in her eastern home state for the first time since the country's reunification in 1990.
The overtly racist National Democratic Party, won 6.4 per cent of votes in the Baltic coastal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where Mrs Merkel has her parliamentary constituency and a holiday home.
Mrs Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats were narrowly beaten by the ruling Social Democrats in the state, renowned for having the highest unemployment in Germany.
The Social Democrats suffered losses equal to more than 10 per cent of the vote and it was unclear whether the party would continue its ruling coalition with reform Communists or attempt a grand coalition with the conservatives.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401901
Australian Army internet horseplay no laughing matter
Tuesday September 19, 2006
By Greg Ansley
The Australian Defence Force has again been embarrassed by its sense of humour.
Despite efforts to lift cultural sensitivity among its 55,000 Diggers, the ADF is trying to hose down outrage over internet pictures depicting a soldier holding a gun at the head of another dressed as an Arab.
The pictures, posted on a website by a soldier who has now left the Army, also raised serious concerns over operational secrecy and weapons safety.
The images were shot by soldiers of the Darwin-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment during service in Iraq.
They have already intruded into the inquiry into the death of Private Jake Kovco, shot in the head by his own gun in mysterious circumstances at the Australian Embassy in Baghdad in April.
Although taken between 2003 and 2005, before Kovco arrived in Iraq, lawyers want to examine the images to determine if they have any relevance to an inquiry that has heard suggested causes of death ranging from horseplay to suicide or murder.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401947
Sudan set to agree AU mandate extension
1.00pm Tuesday September 19, 2006
KHARTOUM - Sudan is expected to agree to an extended African Union peacekeeping mandate in Darfur when African foreign ministers meet in New York this week, a presidential adviser was quoted as saying on Monday.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is under pressure to accept UN peacekeepers in war-torn Darfur when the AU mandate in western Sudan expires on September 30.
Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted presidential adviser Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani as saying Sudan may allow AU troops to remain in Darfur past the deadline with more help from the West.
"It is likely we will arrive at an extension of the African Union mandate when the ministers meet in New York. There seems to be a common interest. It will give time for all sides to find a way out of this," Atabani said.
Atabani said Sudan wanted to explore what it called "African Union Plus", whereby AU peacekeepers remain in Darfur but get help in the form of helicopters and surveillance technology from Western states.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401976
Warning of renewed unrest in East Timor
Tuesday September 19, 2006
By John Martinkus
DILI - Australia is warning against travelling to East Timor, citing an increased risk of civil unrest.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra said anti-government protests, street demonstrations and other civil unrest were likely to increase this week and next, without explaining the significance of the dates.
However, Dili has been swept by rumours of protests against the Government of Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta.
The New Zealand Government's travel advisory states: "There is a high risk to your security in Timor Leste and we advise against all tourist and other non-essential travel."
The cautions come amid claims by a former senior Dili police officer that the violence that rocked Timor in May and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was part of a plan instigated by President Xanana Gusmao.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401882
Acne treatment could be trigger factor in suicide, say researchers
Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Jeremy Laurance
An acne treatment blamed for triggering suicides in severely affected young people has been shown to cause depressive behaviour in animal tests, say researchers.
The finding lends support to claims that the drug, not the acne, may have led to the affected individuals taking their own lives.
The drug, Roaccutane, has been a focus of controversy for a decade over claims that it causes depression in vulnerable people.
The families of two English students who killed themselves after taking it blamed it for causing their deaths.
But psychiatrists say severe acne can lead to isolation and loneliness, triggering depression.
Jon Medland, 22, had started a course 3 1/2 weeks before he killed himself in Devon, southwest England, in 2004.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402011
Philippine security forces seize potential bomb chemical
6.20am Tuesday September 19, 2006
Philippine security forces yesterday seized about half a tonne of ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in making bombs, from a ferry plying between an island used by Muslim militants and a major southern port.
"We've probably stopped a potential disaster," said military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Susthenes Valcorza after 18 sacks, each containing about 25 kg of the material, were discovered hidden under a shipment of fresh fish.
Security forces seized the ammonium nitrate at the port in the southern city of Zamboanga.
It was hidden in the cargo hold of a ferry that had come from the island of Jolo, used as a base by militants from the Abu Sayyaf, the most militant of Islamic separatist groups operating in the Philippines.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401949
Cancer survivor running 24 half-marathons in 24 days
Tuesday September 19, 2006
By James Ihaka
In the past two weeks Findlay Young has suffered minor sunstroke, sleep deprivation, jet-lag, blisters and has battled through conditions ranging from tropical to arctic.
But these are minor inconveniences for a man who has twice beaten thyroid cancer and is now running 24 half-marathons in 24 consecutive days raising funds for cancer research in Britain.
Mr Young is at the halfway point of his Great World Run, starting his 12th half-marathon around noon today to run from Queens Wharf to St Heliers and back.
He has already completed runs in Iceland, Brazil (two), New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and Alaska (three). Jet lag, lack of sleep and constant time-zone hopping were starting to take their toll.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10401868
Batteries recall by Toshiba new blow for Sony
Wednesday September 20, 2006
TOKYO - Toshiba Corp. said yesterday it would replace about 340,000 laptop computer batteries worldwide, the third recall of faulty batteries made by Sony Corp. in less than 40 days.
The batteries, used in Dynabook and Dynabook Satellite laptops manufactured between March and May this year, could fail on the road because of problems with storing and transmitting power, Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori said.
Ohmori declined to estimate the cost of the move, saying it would not affect earnings, and would not say whether Toshiba was asking Sony to foot the bill.
Toshiba said that the faulty batteries would not cause fires. Although the batteries would die "only in rare cases", that could happen regardless of how carefully they are used, Ohmori said.
Last month, Dell Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. recalled almost six million Sony-made batteries, saying they could produce smoke and catch fire.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10402085
Orcus to dish out international ethnic channels
Wednesday September 20, 2006
By Martha McKenzie-Minifie
Indian, Chinese and French TV channels will be transmitted in New Zealand by an Auckland technology company aiming to cash in on the viewing habits of an increasingly diverse population.
Orcus has bought a previously disused satellite dish in Parnell, capable of carrying 120 channels, to broadcast international TV via the NSS 5 satellite, said business adviser Pavitra Roy.
It had signed exclusive redistribution contracts with four overseas channels, said Roy, and aimed to have its service running by next month.
Viewers will need a satellite dish and decoder to receive the signal and it was possible some channels would be a mix of pay-TV and free-to-air, said Roy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10402077
Wu's five-year plan to take new media top spot
Tuesday September 19, 2006
By Tim Webb
Bruno Wu, head of the Chinese media empire Sun Media, admits to meeting his "financial Waterloo" at the hands of Rupert Murdoch. Several years ago, he spent US$100 million trying to make a success of his satellite television channel, Sun TV, but couldn't knock the US tycoon's Star TV off the top spot in China.
Instead of getting mad, Wu decided to get even and, in 2004, he came up with a new five-year plan ("in China we do everything in five-year plans"). This one, he hopes, will eventually crown Sun Media as China's number one company in new media. If he cannot rule the airwaves at home, he fully intends to rule the internet instead.
Commentators in China now claim Wu, 39, is trying to set himself up as the new Murdoch. He can't help laughing at the comparison but insists: "I have a lot of respect for him. He is someone I'd look up to."
Sun Media, which owns several newspapers and magazines, made its biggest internet push in February with the launch of the "Her Village" online community. Aimed at blue-collar women, links to Her Village appear on hundreds of websites in China.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10401879
Study finds bias against women in science
1.00pm Tuesday September 19, 2006
By Maggie Fox
Women are being filtered out of high-level science, maths and engineering jobs in the United States, and there is no good reason for it, according to a National Academies report released today.
A committee of experts looked at all the possible excuses -- biological differences in ability, hormonal influences, childrearing demands, and even differences in ambition -- and found no good explanation for why women are being locked out.
"Compared with men, women faculty members are generally paid less and promoted more slowly, receive fewer honours, and hold fewer leadership positions," the Academies said in a statement.
"These discrepancies do not appear to be based on productivity, the significance of their work, or any other performance measures."
Female minorities fare the worst, the study found. And the expert panel said the discrepancies are costing the country many talented leaders and researchers and recommended immediate and far-reaching changes to change the balance.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10401980
Certain veges hold the key to killing cancer cells
Saturday September 16, 2006
By Errol Kiong
Broccoli may hold the key to killing cancer cells, New Zealand scientists have discovered.
A team from Otago University's Christchurch school of medicine has found that compounds from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and watercress help kill cancer cells which are resistant to other treatments.
Their research has shown that the naturally occurring chemical compounds known as isothiocyanates cause cell-suicide in cancer cells, including in cells with high levels of the protein Bcl-2. The protein makes cells resistant to normal cell-suicide process, the key to removing damaged cells from the body.
"A cancer cell with a lot of Bcl-2 has increased resistance to chemotherapy drugs that are used to destroy the tumour. We've found that Bcl-2 can't protect cancer cells against certain isothiocyanates," said lead researcher Dr Mark Hampton. The study has recently been published in the American journal, Cancer Research.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10401583
Stormwater grates doing vanishing act
Wednesday September 20, 2006
By David Eames
A council has asked the public for help in catching thieves who are stealing the city's stormwater grates.
More than 100 of the 20kg, cast-iron covers have disappeared in the past month, at a cost to the Manukau City Council of about $130 each.
The thefts are limited to grates. Solid metal manhole covers are not so far a target.
The drain-cover thefts know no geographic or economic boundaries - the grates are reported missing from Manurewa in the south to Howick in the east.
Manukau City transportation manager Chris Freke reckons the covers are being stolen for their scrap value and scrapmetal dealers have been told to be on the lookout.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10402096
NZ urged to 'prepare for the worst' over pandemic
Wednesday September 20, 2006
The World Health Organisation has urged New Zealand and other western Pacific countries to prepare for the worst - a large-scale infectious disease pandemic.
Many western Pacific nations lack the capacity for rapid response and containment which would lessen the blow of a serious health threat, such as an avian influenza pandemic, WHO said in a statement yesterday.
The organisation is holding its annual regional meeting in Auckland this week.
Dr Richard Nesbit, acting director for WHO in the western Pacific, said the threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) illustrated the need for swift action in the event of a pandemic.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10402088
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