World Children's Day

How To Participate World Children’s Day
2006 at McDonald’s is a worldwide fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and other children’s causes that takes place annually in November.
This year in the United States, from November 10-19, customers can show their support by purchasing paper cut-out hands for $1 and personalizing a brick to post in the participating restaurant. Also, from November 17-19 in participating U.S. restaurants, a portion of sales from Happy Meals, Mighty Kids Meals and Extra Value Meals will be donated to RMHC and other vital children’s causes.
World Children’s Day is celebrated and supported in unique ways all across the globe. In Chile, McDía Feliz will benefit the country’s first Family Room. In Japan, a concert with pop stars will support World Children’s Day. In Poland, McDonald’s will sell phone straps with RMHC logos to benefit the charity. In Mexico, fifth-anniversary T-shirts will be sold with profits going to RMHC. And in Switzerland, McDonald’s is selling RMHC stuffed Elk toys to benefit the charity.

http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/values/place/community_giving/wcd/participate.html


THE DUCHESS OF YORK NAMED 2006
GLOBAL AMBASSADOR FOR WORLD CHILDREN'S DAY AT McDONALD'S®Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has been named global ambassador for World Children's Day at McDonald's for a second straight year today. The annual fundraising program, which raises money for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) and other vital children's causes, enters its fifth year in 2006.
More than 100 countries participate in World Children's Day by selecting a day or days in November to host fundraising events with local dignitaries, celebrities and McDonald's executives. McDonald's customers from around the world have raised more than $75 million for children's causes since the program's inception in 2002. As global ambassador in 2006, The Duchess will go on an international tour to help China, Japan and five U.S. cities to celebrate World Children's Day and support local fundraising efforts.

http://www.rmhc.com/rmhc/index/news/events/world_children_s_day.html


All Africa. com

Africa: Curb Harmful Gas Emissions, Annan Urges
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 15, 2006Posted to the web November 15, 2006
Nairobi
The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday urged developed countries to step up efforts to reduce harmful gas emissions that have been blamed for global warming, adding that poor countries were bearing the brunt of climate change.
"Low emissions need not mean low growth, or stifling a country's development aspirations," Annan told more than 6,000 delegates attending the conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
"It is increasingly clear that it will cost far less to cut emissions now than to deal with the consequences later," he said.
Several industrialised countries, notably the Unites States and Australia, have declined to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty that sets legally binding targets for developed countries to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases by 2012. They argue that doing so would entail implementing measures that could harm their economies.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611150007.html



Nigeria: Nation Earns $400 Billion Oil Revenue Daily Trust (Abuja)
November 16, 2006Posted to the web November 16, 2006
Mohammed ShosanyaLagos
Nigeria earned $400 billion as economic rent from the 27 bil-lion barrels of oil produced in the last 50 years [1956-2006], Austin Avuru, Pres-ident of the Nigerian Asso-ciation of Petroleum Explora-tionists [NAPR] has said.
Avuru disclosed this Tuesday in Abuja in his opening address at the 24th International conference and exhibition of the Association.
He said within the period, out of the 183tcf of gas dis-covered in the country, 13tcf was produced. Eighty tree percent of this he said has been flared.
He however berated the country for not doing well to manage the oil wealth in the last 50 years even as only two percent of adult population take charge of the nation's ninety five percent export earnings.
"We have laboured to share rather than create, and even in sharing we have been found wanting. The parlous state of our economy today only summarizes the fact that we have, so far squandered our riches".

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611160928.html



Sudan: Government 'Accepts' UN Troops in Darfur
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 17, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
Addis Ababa
The Sudanese government has 'agreed in principle' to the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in the western region of Darfur alongside African Union forces, officials said after a high-level meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
"A hybrid operation is agreed in principle, pending clarification of the size of the force," stated a communiqué released at the end of the meeting. "The peacekeeping force will have a predominantly African character [but] backstopping and command and control structures will be provided by the UN."
The meeting, which discussed the continuing violence in Darfur, was attended by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the AU and representatives from Security Council member countries.
Sudan, however, expressed reservations over the size of the proposed hybrid force, saying the planned 17,000 soldiers and 3,000 police would need to be agreed on later. At the moment the AU has 7,000 troops, but critics say the underfunded force has largely been unable to stem the violence. The Addis Ababa meeting said it was necessary to urgently improve the capacity of the force.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170146.html



Kenya: Review Talks Collapse As Five Parties Walk Out The Nation (Nairobi)
November 17, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
David MugonyiNairobi
The new talks initiated by the Government to give the country a new constitution collapsed yesterday when the representatives of political parties walked out.
The plan, which had brought together representatives of the Government, political parties and civil society, failed after Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua rejected key minimum reforms proposed by a committee formed two months ago.
The five parties represented were Kanu and LDP, which form ODM Kenya, Ford Kenya, National Labour Party and Mazingira Greens Party of Kenya.
Tensions ran high during the meeting of the Multi-Sectoral Review Forum at the KICC, Nairobi, as co-chairman Dalmas Otieno and other representatives stormed out, with an MP vowing to take the war to Parliament.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170259.html



Rwanda: Munyakazi Gets Life Sentence The New Times (Kigali)
November 16, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
Robert MukomboziKigali
The Military Tribunal, presided over by Maj. Gen. Karenzi Karake yesterday sentenced the embattled Maj. Gen. Laurent Munyakazi to life imprisonment after it found him guilty of supervising and coordinating Genocide related crimes.
Convicted along with his co-accused, Fr. Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, the prosecution found Munyakazi, the former Second Division Commander, guilty of several counts of murder among other capital offences. Fr. Munyeshyaka, who is a former Parish Priest of St. Famille Church, was convicted in absentia after he failed to answer to court summons. He is currently said to be in France. The convicts, according to the Military Tribunal, have 15 days in which to appeal.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170356.html



Namibia: Way Cleared for German N$160 Million
The Namibian (Windhoek)
November 17, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
Christof Maletsky
A SPECIAL team, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Libertina Ama­thila, has finalised consultations with Herero, Nama, Damara and San communities to pave the way for the distribution of N$160 million a year over the next 10 years as part of German reparations.
Called the 'special initiative' by Germany, the European country undertook to give 20 million euro each year over 10 years to those communities, effectively to pave the way for reparations to Herero, Nama, Damara and San communities massacred during the colonial era, which lasted from 1884 to 1915.
Amathila, on instructions of President Hifikepunye Pohamba, undertook a consultation mission to Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Kunene, Otjozondjupa and Omaheke regions in February and March.
She submitted a list of projects to Pohamba that will benefit the communities if funded by the German millions.
Cabinet last week agreed to establish a steering committee to oversee the implementation of special initiative.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170352.html



East Africa: Kagame Implores Comesa Leaders On Integration The New Times (Kigali)
November 16, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
Kigali
President Paul Paul Kagame has urged his Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) counterparts, to strengthen peace iniatitives in the region in a bid to attain sustainable integration. The President, who was handing over the Comesa chair to Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh, noted that there was need to assess the progress registered by the Comesa institutions
in regard to the systems and processes of integration. "Now in our twenty second year of building Comesa, it is appropriate to pose questions along the same lines as the theme of this Summit: Is the pace of achieving our vision of becoming a prosperous Customs Union adequate? Are we indeed deepening our regional integration?" Kagame, who was on Wednesday November 15, addressing the 11th Comesa Heads of State and Government in Djibouti, implored.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170351.html



Congo-Kinshasa: Bemba to Challenge Election Result in Court
SouthScan (London)
November 16, 2006Posted to the web November 16, 2006
Jean-Pierre Bemba's party has filed for a recount of the votes at the Supreme Court after Joseph Kabila was announced the winner of the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Independent Electoral Commission announced on Wednesday that Kabila took 58.05% of the vote in the October 29 run-off, compared to Bemba's 41.9%.
Local observers said the court was unlikely to overturn the decision, but the hearing may take some of the heat out of the IEC's announcement.
By Thursday morning, after a night of celebrations in Kabila strongholds in the east, Bemba's cabinet chief Fidele Babala said: "People were expecting a war plan from us, some troubles. But we're not into that. At the level of the national assembly we have our deputies and we're going to play our role as the opposition."
Earlier Kabila urged Congolese to remain calm and said the police and army remained loyal to him, suggesting security forces would not tolerate further trouble following clashes with Bemba's supporters in August and last weekend, according to a Reuters report.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611160854.html



Congo-Kinshasa: Joseph Kabila Re-Elected
November 15, 2006Posted to the web November 15, 2006
François GouahingaWashington, D.C.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of the Democratic Republic of Congo declared in a statement on Wednesday evening that incumbent Joseph Kabila had won the October 29, 2006 run-off presidential election.
The statement, read on Congolese national television and broadcast live over the Internet by Radio Okapi, said Joseph Kabila had won 9,436,779, or 58.05 percent, of the votes, while challenger Jean Pierre Bemba received 6,819,822, or 41.95 percent.
"Mr. Kabila Kabange Joseph is elected as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the statement said.
Under Congolese law, these results must be certified by the Supreme Court, but the certification is generally considered a formality.
None of the two candidates had issued a statement immediately following the announcement by the IEC.


Congo-Kinshasa: Congolese Urged to Accept Election Results BuaNews (Tshwane)
November 16, 2006Posted to the web November 16, 2006
Oupa SegalweMidrand
The Pan African Parliament's (PAP) President Gertrude Mongella has appealed to the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to accept the official election results once they were available.
"The thing that we must watch as we go along is that when the results are finally out, we do expect the people of the DRC to accept them.
"Most of the problems in Africa [following elections] have been non-acceptance of the results," Ms Mongella told reporters today after a Parliamentary session on peace and security on the African continent.
President Mongella's comments come after Wednesday's declaration by the DRC's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), that incumbent President Joseph Kabila had won October's run-off Presidential election, capturing 58 per cent of the votes, while opponent and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba had 42 per cent.
The provisional results mean that President Kabila could be the first democratically elected President in that country in over 40 years.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611160337.html



Zambia's Chiluba unfit for trial
Mr Chiluba led Zambia for 10 years Zambia's ex-President Frederick Chiluba is not medically fit to stand trial on corruption charges, a court has ruled. A medical examination was ordered after his personal doctor told the court that Mr Chiluba needed a heart transplant.
The state has been ordered to release Mr Chiluba's passport immediately so he can seek treatment in South Africa.
The former leader and two businessmen deny charges connected to the alleged disappearance of $488,000 from state funds during his time in office.
Mr Chiluba was elected in 1991 and led Zambia for 10 years.
He was not in court when the ruling was made.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6157990.stm



Zambia: Chiluba Asks Court to Allow Him Travel to South Africa for Treatment
The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
November 17, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
SECOND Republican president, Frederick Chiluba, has applied to the Lusaka magistrate's court to release his passport immediately to enable him to travel to South Africa for specialist treatment.
Dr Chiluba has further attached a certificate of urgency through his lawyer, Robert Simeza, certifying that the application for variation of bail conditions was one of extreme urgency.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170246.html



Nigeria: Foreign Reserves Hit 41 Billion Dollars This Day (Lagos)
November 17, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
Lagos
Central Bank Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, has disclosed that the nation's foreign reserve stands at $41 billion as at the end of October 2006.
Soludo disclosed this at an interactive session with members of the House of Representatives committee on Finance yesterday in Abuja.
He said as at October 31, the balance in the excess crude oil account, stood at $9.4 billion, while the balance of recovered funds during the same period was $18 million and one million pounds sterling.
Defending the proposed borrowing to finance the 2007 budget deficit, Soludo said the decision was to avoid inflation that may be caused by excess liquidity.
To use proceeds from the excess crude account, as advised by the chairman of the committee, Abdullahi Umar, would not be helpful, the CBN boss added.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170180.html



Zimbabwe: Govt to Compensate White Farmers Business in Africa (Johannesburg)
November 16, 2006Posted to the web November 16, 2006
Harare
The Zimbabwean government has invited over 1000 white farmers to collect compensation for farms that were seized under President Robert Mugabe's directives.
Secretary of lands, Ngoni Masoka, issued a statement in state-run newspaper The Herald calling for dispossessed farmers to contact the lands ministry.
Masoka said: "The former owners or representatives should contact the ministry of lands, land reform and resettlement as a matter of urgency in connection with their compensation."
The spokesman did not indicate whether compensation would be market related or whether machinery and land development costs would be taken into account when reaching a figure.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611160325.html



South Africa: New-Look Aids Plan for Thousands More
Business Day (Johannesburg)
November 17, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
Tamar KahnJohannesburg
GOVERNMENT aims to halve the HIV-infection rate, and provide treatment to 750000 patients within the next five years, according to the latest draft of a new HIV/AIDS-combating strategy.
The plan, a copy of which has been seen by Business Day, comes amid signs of a dramatic rethink in government circles about a comprehensive approach to the pandemic. It also coincides with a new drive led by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the head of the South African National AIDS Council (Sanac) to reverse negative international perceptions of SA's AIDS-fighting efforts.
SA has one of the world's worst HIV epidemics, with more than 5,5-million people, or 11% of the population, infected with the disease. Although government's treatment programme is the world's biggest, the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society estimates that only about a fifth of the HIV patients in need are getting life-prolonging antiretroviral medicines.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170492.html



Mozambique: Peer Review Funding Document Signed Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
November 17, 2006Posted to the web November 17, 2006
Maputo
Mozambique's Minister of Planning and Development, Aiuba Cuereneia, pledged on Friday that the government will take all the actions necessary to ensure peer review of Mozambique, under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Mozambique was one of the first countries to sign up for peer review, and the APRM is the means chosen to check on countries' economic and political governance, under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Cuereneia was speaking at a ceremony in Maputo, at which he signed the document confirming the funding required to implement peer review in Mozambique. The money involved is about 1.8 million US dollars over 30 months, provided by Norway, Britain and Germany.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611170556.html



APEC Summit 2006

https://www.apecceosummit2006.org/default.asp

APEC CEOs work to narrow development gaps Delegates to the APEC CEO Summit 2006 in Ha Noi on Nov. 17 discussed measures to take full advantage of opportunities and overcome difficulties in order to narrow the gap between economies in the Asia-Pacific rim.
Speaking at the summit, Chinese President Hu Jintao reminded participants of profoundly complicated changes in the world, including globalisation, the process that has brought countries closer and enabled them to promote cooperation to a higher level.
However, there still exist development gaps while new challenges already appear to threaten the growth and security of the region, President Hu pointed out.
"I call on you to give more priority to exploring business opportunities and expanding market share in developing countries," President Hu said while affirming businesses are major participants and investors in the market.
Meanwhile, Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNTAD) argued that Asia needs a stimulus otherwise its economies would suffer from deflations.

https://www.apecceosummit2006.org/detail.asp?id=217



The Washington Post

Burma's Refugees

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/panorama/2006/11/16/PA2006111601153.html

Misery Spirals in Burma As Junta Targets Minorities
By Anthony FaiolaWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A01
CAMP EITUTA, Burma -- In a burgeoning encampment here on Burma's eastern frontier, Hay Nay Tha, a 30-year-old mother of three, awakens in the darkness most nights to the sound of her children's screams.
"They keep having nightmares about our journey here," she said.
VideoNightmare in Eastern BurmaBurmese forces are waging the largest military offensive against its own people in more than a decade, targeting the country's eastern ethnic groups with violence and destruction. Tens of thousands of refugees, mostly Karen minorities, are abandoning villages in search of safety in Thailand.
Save & Share Article What's This?
DiggGoogledel.icio.usYahoo!RedditFacebook That journey, Hay recalled, began when she was four months pregnant and government soldiers torched her village and forced local farmers off their land. It ended four weeks later, after her husband died of malaria en route to this camp. She and her children arrived here this summer dehydrated and exhausted. Hay soon went into early labor with a stillborn son.
"To be honest," the copper-skinned woman said, shyly gazing down at her hands, "I am having nightmares, too."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601277.html


Five Civilian Contractors Held Hostage in Iraq
By Sudarsan RaghavanWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, November 17, 2006; 1:16 PM
BAGHDAD, Nov. 17 -- Five civilian security contractors, including four Americans and one Austrian, were being held hostage Friday morning after gunmen masquerading as policemen stopped their convoy and abducted them in southern Iraq, a U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said.
The convoy of 43 trucks, carrying supplies, and six private security vehicles, typically heavily-armed SUVS, were stopped by men at "what appeared to be a police checkpoint" near Safwan, a small Iraqi town bordering Kuwait, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111700261.html



Debate Grows Over Beefing Up U.S. Force in Iraq
Military Leaders Oppose McCain's Push for Thousands of Additional Troops
By Josh WhiteWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A17
The debate about how to proceed in Iraq, which in the past few months has focused on withdrawing U.S. troops, now includes serious discussion about adding more forces to the fight.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) repeatedly suggested this week that the United States needs thousands more troops in Iraq, and members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group have discussed similar ideas as they prepare a much-anticipated policy recommendation. Members of Congress raised the concept on Wednesday in hearings with the region's top U.S. military commander.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601647.html



In Vietnam, Old Foes Take Aim at War's Toxic Legacy
By Anthony FaiolaWashington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, November 13, 2006; Page A01
DA NANG, Vietnam -- For a stark reminder of the Vietnam War, people living near the airport in this central industrial city can still stroll along the old stone walls that once surrounded a U.S. military base. But Luu Thi Nguyen, a 31-year-old homemaker, needs only to look into the face of her young daughter.
Van, 5, spends her days at home, playing by herself on the concrete floor because local school officials say her appearance frightens other children. She has an oversize head and a severely deformed mouth, and her upper body is covered in a rash so severe her skin appears to have been boiled. According to Vietnamese medical authorities, she is part of a new generation of Agent Orange victims, forever scarred by the U.S.-made herbicide containing dioxin, one of the world's most toxic pollutants.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/12/AR2006111201065.html



Bush Praises Vietnam's Rapid Economic Growth
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 17, 2006; 10:48 AM
HANOI, Nov. 17 -- President Bush arrived in poor but economically vibrant Vietnam Friday on a mission to strengthen business ties that he hopes will help eclipse bitter memories of the unpopular and ultimately unsuccessful war the United States waged here more than three decades ago.
"History has a long march to it," Bush told reporters, when asked how he felt about being hosted by a former U.S. enemy. "Societies change, and relationships can constantly be altered to the good."
VIDEO President Bush has begun what he calls a "poignant" visit to Vietnam -- three decades after the war ended, he says that the conflict's lesson for Iraq is that it takes time for freedom to prevail.
Friday, Nov. 17, at 11 a.m. ETPresident Bush Visits VietnamBen Wilkinson, associate director of the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Vietnam Progran, discusses President Bush's visit to Vietnam.
Who's Blogging?Read what bloggers are saying about this article.Avant News - Deadpan satire from plausible futures - Avant NewsEdward J. Renehan Jr.Notebook

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Facebook Bush is here to take part in the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but arrives with a host of issues on the table -- from the recent North Korean nuclear test to the mounting U.S. trade deficit with China and his own political setbacks at home. Earlier this week, Congress shelved a free trade agreement with Vietnam that Bush had hoped to have in hand for his trip here, and Democratic success in last week's congressional elections highlighted voter concern about American jobs lost overseas, among other issues.
Bush is the second U.S. president to visit Vietnam since the end of the war, following President Clinton's visit here near the conclusion of his second term in 2000.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111700224.html



A Chance To Get Into The RoomBlack Entrepreneurs Grapple With Proving Themselves
By Keith L. AlexanderFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A01
They didn't leave work until after 4 a.m. Four hours later, they were back in the office -- frazzled and on edge. Sitting around a conference table, eight employees of Enlightened Inc., a technology consulting firm, were struggling to polish a proposal that could well determine the firm's future. It was not going well.
Chief executive Antwanye Ford was rubbing his forehead in frustration. He was dressed meticulously, as always, in a pressed Donald Trump-brand suit and a French-cuff shirt. Not even a succession of 18-hour days could make this man look rumpled. But on this day, he was oozing tension. Enlightened's bid for a multimillion-dollar contract to update the computer system used by the District's probation and parole officers was simply not good enough, he told his staff. The proposal needed more graphics, more punch. As Ford saw it, this bid was his fledgling black firm's ticket to a new competitive league.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601932.html



Being a Black ManBalancing Blackness with Business
Keith L. Alexander, Antwanye Ford and Andre RogersWashington Post reporter; Founders of Enlightened Inc.Friday, November 17, 2006; 1:00 PM Many black entrepreneurs find themselves struggling with how much of their identity to sacrifice in the quest for business success. In this latest installment of the "Being a Black Man" series Antwanye Ford and Andre Rogers, founders of technology consulting firm Enlightened Inc., struggle with whether or not the company should promote that it is owned and run by two black men.
Washington Post reporter Keith L. Alexander will be online with Ford and Rogers at 1 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 17 to discuss the story and some of the struggles the two entrepreneurs face as they grow their business.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/11/16/DI2006111600598.html

Being a Black Man

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/interactives/blackmen/blackmen.html


Group Will Sort Terrorism Alerts for Local Governments
By Karen DeYoungWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A10
A new plan to improve information-sharing about terrorism, signed by President Bush this week and delivered to Congress yesterday, establishes a Washington-based "threat assessment group" that includes federal, state and local officials. It also aims to reduce more than 100 restrictive and confusing categories of "sensitive" federal information to a half-dozen or fewer so local-level officials can better understand what they are told.
State and local governments and law enforcement officials have long complained of a lack of coordination among the federal agencies that send terrorism-related alerts, analysis and instructions. The new plan allows state and local officials to participate in deciding what players outside the federal government need to know and designates an online channel to distribute the information.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601424.html


A Second Pour of Good News About Substance in Red Wine
By Rob SteinWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A03
A component of red wine recently shown to help lab mice live longer also protects animals from obesity and diabetes and boosts their physical endurance, researchers reported yesterday.
The new research helps confirm and extend the possible benefits of the substance, resveratrol, and offers new insight into how it works -- apparently by revving up the metabolism to make muscles burn more energy and work more efficiently. Mice fed large doses could run twice as far as they would normally.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111600705.html


Pets & Parenthood
On Tuesday, for inexplicable reasons, our Guest Blog discussion took an unusual turn into the realm of pets vs. children. Quite a fascinating detour. Pet owners argued that pets are as important as kids. Parents (some with both pets and children) argued that if you have children, there is no comparison. I have three kids, three pets, and abiding affection for children and animals; I once supervised a childless employee with two dogs whom I regularly allowed to go home early to care for his pets. I can see passion and merit on both sides of the argument.
So I wanted to continue the discussion by asking a few more questions.
What do American pet-owners and parents have in common? What role do pets play in a balanced life? How are today's Americans different from citizens in other countries or our ancestors in terms of devotion to pets and children? Are Americans somehow better nurturers, superior protectors of the helpless, more loving and affectionate? Do we love our children and our pets so deeply because we don't need to worry as much as our predecessors about daily survival? Or am I just over-thinking this?

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/onbalance/



SAT Monitors Napped, Ignored Rules, Teens Say
By Jay MathewsWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A01
They started the SAT that Saturday morning more than an hour late, not helpful for a college-entrance test many consider an ordeal under the best circumstances. But the situation worsened for eight students with learning disabilities in one second-floor testing room at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Northwest Washington.
According to three of the students who were there Oct. 14, the proctor and the associate test supervisor in the room let students work on some sections long after time expired and on others ahead of time. They let students make cellphone calls and eat in the room. Lacking a clock, they let students time the examination themselves with a microwave oven timer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601981.html



Heart Valves Grown From Womb Fluid Cells
By LINDSEY TANNERThe Associated PressWednesday, November 15, 2006; 4:33 PM
CHICAGO -- Scientists for the first time have grown human heart valves using stem cells from the fluid that cushions babies in the womb _ offering a revolutionary approach that may be used to repair defective hearts in the future.
The idea is to create these new valves in the lab while the pregnancy progresses and have them ready to implant in a baby with heart defects after it is born.

Dr. Simon Hoerstrup, a University of Zurich scientist, speaks at an American Heart Association conference Tuesday in Chicago. (M. Spencer Green - AP)
Lean Plate Club E-MailBuild healthy living habits for the long haul, with recipes, exercise ideas and the latest dietary guidelines. The Swiss experiment follows recent successes at growing bladders and blood vessels and suggests that people may one day be able to grow their own replacement heart parts _ in some cases, even before they're even born.
It's one of several sci-fi tissue engineering advances that could lead to homegrown heart valves for infants and adults that are more durable and effective than artificial or cadaver valves.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501033.htlm



Elderly Dying From Falls More Often
By MIKE STOBBEThe Associated PressThursday, November 16, 2006; 4:09 PM
ATLANTA -- The death rate from falling has risen dramatically for elderly people since the 1990s, said federal health officials, speculating that it's because people are living longer with chronic conditions like cancer and heart disease.
"Since people are not dying as much from chronic diseases, they're more likely to die from a fall," said Judy Stevens, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111600834.html



Europeans OK Anti-Obesity Charter
By MARIA CHENGThe Associated PressThursday, November 16, 2006; 6:56 PM
LONDON -- European health ministers from 53 countries approved the world's first charter to fight obesity on Thursday, vowing greater action against the epidemic of expanding waistlines across the continent.
The charter, approved in Istanbul, Turkey, was drafted by the World Health Organization in consultation with its European member states. It is the first real attempt to compel national authorities to take concrete action to combat obesity.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111600130.html



Soldier Gets 90 Years in Rape, Killing of Iraqi Girl
By Josh WhiteWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, November 17, 2006; Page A18
An Army specialist who admitted that he and a group of other U.S. soldiers raped a 14-year-old girl and killed her and her family in an Iraqi village was sentenced to 90 years in prison yesterday, by far the longest sentence for a U.S. soldier in connection with the death of an Iraqi civilian since the war began in 2003.
Spec. James P. Barker, 23, could be eligible for parole in 20 years, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that spares him the possibility of a death sentence. Barker has indicated he will testify against other soldiers in the case, some of whom face the death penalty.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601685.html



BBC News

Kenya dam 'on brink of bursting'
The floods have already forced thousands away from their homes A dam in the eastern Kenya is close to bursting under the strain of waters swollen by torrential rains, United Nations staff have warned. Unusually heavy seasonal rains have raised the water level in the River Tana, near the town of Garissa.
A spokeswoman for the UN said the dam was "on the brink of bursting", and floodgates had to be opened to stop it from buckling and breaking.
Heavy rain is forecast to continue for weeks in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Between 1.5 million and 1.8 million people have already suffered under the heavy rains and severe flooding, the UN says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6158774.stm



Bush in Vietnam for Apec summit
President Bush is keen for world leaders to revive free trade talks US President George W Bush has arrived in Vietnam for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit, expected to focus on trade relations. Mr Bush has called on the 21-nation forum to put stalled world trade talks back on track. North Korea's nuclear activities will also be discussed.
Mr Bush later held talks with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, focused on the situation in Iraq.
And he will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao, also in Vietnam for the summit.
Apec's trade and foreign ministers have agreed to press their leaders to issue a statement on trade in the course of the conference.
World Trade Organization talks on free trade have been stalled since July, after countries failed to reach agreement on subsidies in the so-called Doha round.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6156876.stm



'Two foreigners released' in Iraq
Control of Nasiriya was handed over to Iraqi troops in September Two of five foreigners kidnapped from a convoy of civilians in south Iraq have been freed, Iraqi officials say.
An Austrian and four US security contractors were seized in the attack, which reportedly took place near Basra en route to Nasiriya on Thursday.
Unconfirmed reports say the Austrian has been killed and an American wounded, but details are unclear.
US officials in Baghdad said they could not confirm new releases. Nine civilians also held were already freed.
Reports said British and US forces had been mounting raids in the area to find the hostages.
The Basra provincial governor told the Associated Press: "Police were able to free two of the foreigners kidnapped and they are in good health".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6157082.stm


Rome hosts major anti-mafia forum
More police have recently been deployed in Naples A major anti-mafia conference is due to open in the Italian capital, Rome. The three-day forum's 2,500 participants aim to raise awareness of the importance of the fight against organised crime in the country.
Italy's three main mafias have killed some 2,500 people in the past 10 years, yet politicians have failed to tackle the issue, the forum's organisers say.
A spate of recent mafia-related killings in the city of Naples has led to calls for the army to be deployed.
Last week, Italian police carried out a series of co-ordinated raids across the country, detaining more than 100 alleged mafia members suspected of drug-trafficking.
In a separate development, a Sicilian judge on Wednesday sentenced dozens of associates of jailed mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano for a total of 300 years, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6157528.stm



Storm over 'pig-for-name' artist
Hornsleth says the villagers back his campaign A Ugandan minister has condemned a Danish artist as "racist" for persuading villagers to adopt his name in exchange for a pig or a goat. The criticism comes as an exhibition of Kristian Von Hornsleth's photos from the village of Buteyongera opens in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
Hornsleth, however, says he is trying to help the villagers by highlighting the failure of international aid.
The exhibition is called: "We want to help you, but we want to own you."
'Mirror'
"After 50 years of Third World aid, Africa is still poor," Hornsleth told the BBC's World Today programme.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6157612.stm



Brazil police in 'shoot-to-kill' claims
By Steve Kingstone BBC News, Sao Paulo
In May 2006 South America's biggest city was terrorised by a wave of brutal attacks by a crime network. The violence claimed the lives of 32 police officers, but police hit back with lethal force of their own. Six months on, evidence is mounting that officers summarily executed dozens of suspects, as Steve Kingstone reports.
The violence convulsed Sao Paulo for several days
Heliopolis is a vast maze of alleyways and winding streets which together form the largest favela - or shantytown - in Sao Paulo. Controlled by drug-traffickers and scarred by gun crime, it remains a no-go area for most of this city's residents.
But the people of Heliopolis say their community has been the scene of flagrant human rights abuses, which have been ignored by the state government. They accuse the police here of murder.
"They shot my husband five times. It was ridiculous, senseless," protests the widow of 24-year-old Rogerio do Carmo Pereira.
He was killed, along with his brother and a third man, on the night of Wednesday 17 May.
Officers had apparently raided the favela after reports that an armed gang was planning to attack a nearby police station.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6157778.stm


US house building at six-year low
Houses are not selling so fast as demand eases The number of new US homes being built fell to a six-year low last month as housing activity slowed significantly, a Commerce Department report has shown. About 1.48 million houses were started in October, 14% down from the previous month and 27.4% lower than a year ago.
At the same time, the number of permits awarded for future housing projects fell to its lowest level since 1997.
Successive interest rate rises since 2005 have dampened the market, as has a slowdown in the economy, analysts said.
'Soft landing'
The October housing numbers were considerably lower than industry experts had been expecting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6158478.stm



Taco Bell bans trans fats in food
Taco Bell's move comes amid increasing concern over trans fats Taco Bell, America's largest seller of Mexican-style fast food, says it will no longer use cooking oils containing trans-fatty acids. The fats have been linked by doctors to raised cholesterol and a subsequent increased risk of heart disease.
The ban is will cover the chain's 5,000 restaurants across the United States.
Wendy's and Kentucky Fried Chicken have already pledged to switch to zero trans-fat oils and McDonald's has said it is considering the move.
With mounting concern about premature deaths and rising obesity in the US, trans-fat has become a number one target for campaigners.
'Right thing to do'
Taco Bell is owned by Kentucky-based Yum Brand Inc, which is also the parent company of Pizza Hut and KFC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6155386.stm



Rumsfeld faces German legal test
Rumsfeld quit after the US mid-term elections last week A lawyers' group has asked Germany to sue former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over alleged prisoner abuse in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. The complaint was filed by the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of a Saudi man held in Cuba and 11 Iraqis held in Baghdad.
German law allows the pursuit of cases originating anywhere in the world.
State prosecutors have yet to decide whether to pursue the case. An earlier request for a case in 2004 was dropped.
Michael Ratner, the centre's president, said he felt the case had a better chance of success now because Mr Rumsfeld was no longer in office and could not exert the same degree of "political pressure".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6146058.stm?ls


Boy detained for Briton's murder
Mr Senitt was an established political activist A 15-year-old boy has been detained for murdering an aspiring British politician in Washington DC. The teenager had pleaded guilty to juvenile charges of murdering Alan Senitt, of Pinner, north-west London.
Mr Senitt, 27, had his throat slashed as he escorted a woman friend home in the city's Georgetown area in July.
The boy, who also admitted to armed robbery and theft charges, was sentenced to juvenile custody until he is 21, at Columbia's Superior Court.
During the sentencing hearing, letters written by Mr Senitt's parents Jack and Karen were read out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6153520.stm



Uruguay's ex-president arrested
Mr Bordaberry is not covered by a 1985 amnesty Former Uruguayan President Juan Maria Bordaberry has been arrested in connection with four political killings during military rule in the 1970s. The former foreign minister, Juan Carlos Blanco, has also been detained.
The two men are accused of involvement in the killing of two congressmen and two left-wing militants in 1976.
Elected in 1971, Mr Bordaberry went on to govern with military leaders, closing congress and banning parties, before being ousted himself in 1976.
As civilians, Mr Bordaberry and Mr Blanco are not protected by an amnesty passed after the end of military rule in 1985.
Mr Bordaberry presented himself to the authorities at the central prison in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, on Friday, a day after his judge ordered his arrest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6157418.stm



Bolivia 'risks revolt over land'
Evo Morales intends to redistribute up to a fifth of Bolivia's land Bolivia's President Evo Morales has warned of mass demonstrations if the country's Senate does not approve his plans for land reform. He said the people would rise up and implement the reforms "by force" if they were not passed into law.
He also ruled out any compromise with the big landowners who oppose his plans to redistribute underused land.
Indigenous protesters from the eastern province of Santa Cruz are marching to the capital in support of the measures.
But landowners in the province, one of the country's most fertile, have threatened to withhold agricultural produce from the rest of Bolivia if the plans are approved.
In September, demonstrators - mainly poor indigenous farmers - blocked roads into the city of Santa Cruz, claiming the opposition was trying to stall the government's plans.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6156698.stm



Criminal probe into Foley emails
Mark Foley denies ever having sexual contact with a minor Authorities in Florida have opened a criminal inquiry into former Republican congressman Mark Foley over sexually explicit emails he sent to young men. He resigned in September after it emerged he had sent lurid messages to teenagers on work experience.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has found the basis for a criminal inquiry, a spokeswoman said.
The scandal widened amid claims Republican leaders knew of Mr Foley's emails years ago, but did nothing.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) began investigating shortly after Mr Foley stepped down.
"It was a preliminary inquiry before but we found the basis to open up a criminal investigation, " said FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6159010.stm



Missing paedophiles named online
The men have failed to comply with the sex offenders' register Some of the UK's most wanted child sex offenders have been identified online. It is believed to be the first time that details of convicted paedophiles have been published nationwide by Britain's law enforcement agencies.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre has set up the new website in an effort to track missing child sex offenders.
Meanwhile, single mothers could be able to check up on new partners to see if they are sex offenders under new plans.
The Home Office is considering proposals that would enable single mothers to ask the police to make the checks, which would have to be supported by reasonable grounds for suspicion.
It is known that predatory paedophiles often befriend single mothers as a way of gaining access to their children.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6156712.stm

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