Morning Papers - continued ...

The Arab News

Kingdom Frees 18 Former Gitmo Detainees
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab News
JEDDAH, 27 December 2006 — The Interior Ministry announced yesterday that 18 former Guantanamo detainees that returned from the US prison camp in Cuba earlier this year have been released from custody. The announcement comes a week after 11 other former detainees were released.
Twenty-eight of these former prisoners of the so-called US “War on Terror” are Saudi nationals while one is a Saudi-born resident whose parents also live in the Kingdom.
The Interior Ministry said that the 11 men released last week had completed prison sentences for various charges related to their detention in Guantanamo, while the charges against the 18 released yesterday were dismissed. To date, 51 Saudis have been released from Guantanamo while 74 still remain at the prison.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the cooperation of the freed Saudis is vital to ensure the return of the other men still languishing in Guantanamo.
Many of the men held at Guantanamo Bay were captured in Afghanistan in the US-led war to oust the Taleban government. None of the men that ended up in Cuba have been charged with any crimes, and many of them have been denied access to legal help.


Editorial: Outside Players
27 December 2006
After fifteen years of murderous chaos, Somalia was on the brink of peace. The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) had achieved what the squabbling warlords had failed so signally to do. They had brought stability and an end to violence in the capital Mogadishu and large areas of the country. They had not managed this purely by force of arms. There has been widespread support for their advance simply because of the stability and end to insecurity that they promised. The warlords had had their chance. Even when they finally agreed a government, they were incapable of agreeing on its establishment in Somalia itself; so Somalis were treated to the ridiculous spectacle of a government that could only meet safely on Kenyan soil.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=90438&d=27&m=12&y=2006


Democracy and Its Discontents in Gaza
Ramzy Baroud, Aljazeera.net English.
It's all too convenient for the BBC website to describe the ongoing bloodshed between Hamas and Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip as “inter-factional rivalry,” and it’s equally fitting for the Washington Post to narrate the same unfortunate events — which have left many Palestinians dead and wounded — as if they are entirely detached from their adjoining regional and international milieus.
Also puzzling are calls made by “leading moderate Arab leaders” to fighting Palestinian factions to convene in this Arab capital or that to settle their differences and to achieve an increasingly elusive cease-fire, as if they, the Arabs — who cowed to US pressure to ensure the success of the debilitating sanctions imposed against the democratic Palestinian governments — haven’t contributed, actively and knowingly to the unfolding crisis in Palestine.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=90436&d=27&m=12&y=2006


The Gulf News

Asian nations remember 2004 tsunami victims
Agencies
Bali, Indonesia: Thousands of people fled Indonesia’s coast on Tuesday as the country practiced its largest-ever earthquake and tsunami drill, while other Asian nations prayed at mass graves and lit candles marking the two year anniversary of the killer tsunami. Two years after an earthquake off western Indonesia unleashed a tsunami the threat still lives on as Asian residents were reminded when two powerful earthquakes struck off southwestern Taiwan, sparking a brief alert that a damaging tsunami might be on its way. However, nothing materialised. The devastating waves claimed 230,000 lives; some 167,000 of the deaths were on Sumatra's northern tip. Sri Lanka, India and Thailand also suffered major losses.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Indonesia/10092467.html


Up to 500 killed in Lagos fuel blast
Reuters
Lagos: Up to 500 people were burned alive yesterday when fuel from a vandalised pipeline exploded in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, emergency workers said.
Hundreds of residents of the Abule Egba district went to scoop fuel using plastic containers after thieves punctured the underground pipeline overnight to siphon fuel into a road tanker, locals said.
Abiodun Orebiyi, secretary-general of the Nigerian Red Cross, said there was no official death toll but estimated that between 200 and 500 people could have been killed.
"We know it is over 200 [dead]. We are talking hundreds. We don't know if it is 300, 400 or 500," he said, adding that 60 people had been evacuated to hospital with serious burns.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Nigeria/10092454.html


Powerful quake strikes off south Taiwan
Agencies
Taipei, Taiwan: A powerful earthquake struck off southwestern Taiwan on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning on the second anniversary of the waves that killed more than 200,000 in southern Asia.
Two hours later, seismologists lifted the warning, saying the threat of destructive waves had passed.
The tremor was centered at sea about 23 kilometres southwest of Hengchun on the southern tip of Taiwan Hengchun Peninsula and 90 km south-southeast of Taiwan's second city Kaohsiung.
The US Geological Survey said the quake, which hit at 8:26 p.m. (1226 GMT), registered magnitude 7.1, while Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau measured it at 6.7. It was followed eight minutes later by an aftershock registering 7.0, the USGS said.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Taiwan/10092260.html


Hunters keep Boxing Day tradition alive
Agencies
London: Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, has by tradition been the best day for hunting.
Last year record numbers turned out in 2005 to show their support for the blood sport, which was banned in February of that year.
A high turnout, possibly reaching 250,000 in total, is expected again with campaigners saying support for the sport is higher than ever.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/United_Kingdom/10092370.html


Shopping mall fire kills 24 on Christmas day
By Cher Jimenez, Correspondent
Manila: Tragedy struck some parts of the Philippines on Christmas day as at least 24 people died and 21 were injured when a fire razed a one-storey shopping mall in Ormoc City in Leyte province.
The fire is believed to be caused by firecrackers.
Investigators found the charred bodies of victims, mostly shoppers. More bodies were expected to be recovered yesterday, according to authorities.
The injured were taken to two local hospitals.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10092438.html


Mumbai readies for 24-hour water cut
AP
Mumbai: Residents of Mumbai, India's commercial capital, filled buckets, pots and containers with water yesterday to prepare for a 24-hour shutdown of the city's water supply.
Officials plan to cut off the supply to the city of some 16 million people for one day starting this morning to allow engineers to lay several kilometres of new pipes to improve the water distribution network.
The work will enable the city to supply its residents with an additional 250 million litres of water per day, said A.N. Kajbaje, a senior city hydraulic engineer.
The city currently receives about 3.2 billion litres of water a day but needs close to 3.9 billion litres , he said.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/India/10092427.html


First post-1947 linguistic survey planned
IANS
Patna: India will conduct its first post-independence "National Linguistic Survey" from April next year to know the exact number of languages in this nation.
"The survey will be the first of its kind in post-independence India," said Udaya Narayana Singh, director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL). It will take 10 years to complete.
George Abraham Grierson, a British government official, conducted the first Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) in 1898-1927. It was then mainly conducted in southern India.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/India/10092349.html


Courts put the fear of law in high and mighty in '06
IANS
New Delhi: The year set to end will be remembered as one when the judiciary put the fear of the law in the high and mighty.
A series of high profile convictions this year sent out a powerful message that justice was not beyond the reach of the common man.
Six convictions came in quick spate in the closing months of 2006. While all of these were horrific crimes, the sentencing of the killers of two young women - Priyadarshini Mattoo and Jessica Lal - evoked a huge sigh of relief across the country.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/India/10092350.html


Blast at Peshawar airport kills one
By Rahimullah Yusufzai, Correspondent
Peshawar: A car bomb explosion yesterday outside Peshawar international airport located in a military area killed one person and injured two others.
Malik Saad, head of police in Peshawar, said it was an "act of terrorism". He said the explosion was being investigated but there were no clues yet as to the persons behind the attack.
Eyewitnesses said the explosion occurred around 7am at a time when the airport was crowded due to scheduled arrival and departure of flights to and from the Gulf countries.
The vehicle in which the bomb was planted was parked outside the airport on the road. The explosion destroyed the vehicle and damaged several other vehicles and shattered window panes of nearby buildings.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10092433.html


Islamabad to fence eastern border with Afghanistan
By Shahid Hussain, Correspondent
Islamabad: Pakistan said yesterday it would fence and mine portions of its 2,400km porous border with Afghanistan to prevent militant infiltration into the neighbouring country plagued by Taliban insurgency.
"The Pakistan army has been tasked to work out modalities for selective fencing and mining the Pak-Afghan border," Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan told a news conference.
These steps "supplement the measures which are already enforced to prevent any militant activity from Pakistan inside Afghanistan", the foreign secretary said.
Khan said designated crossing points on the border would continue to work while Pakistan would strictly monitor the camps of Afghan refugees the country still shelters.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10092434.html


Lahore plans security system of global calibre
By Amir Mir, Correspondent
Lahore: The Punjab Police is planning to establish a City Information and Security System matching international standards to prevent crime, trace criminals and handle natural disasters.
According to the Punjab sources, some senior police officers visited Turkey recently to study the system designed and operated by Istanbul Police as it is considered to be more suitable for Pakistan.
The sources said the authorities were evolving a comprehensive system on the Istanbul pattern and it would be presented to the government.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10092431.html


Riaz Khan supports Tehran's nuclear bid
AP
Islamabad : Iran has the right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said yesterday, opposing UN sanctions against the Middle East nation for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
"Pakistan had never been in favour of sanctions against Iran," Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan said. "We always emphasised that there ought to be a diplomatic solution of the Iranian nuclear issue."
Khan's comments came after the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Saturday to bar countries from supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programmes.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10092432.html


Tigers forced crew from ship, says captain
AP
Colombo: The captain of a Jordanian ship whose vessel was seized by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said yesterday the guerrillas fired shots as they boarded and ordered the crew to leave the ship.
"They boarded the ship armed and fired a total of four shots to force us to board their boats," the Iraqi captain of the ship, Ramaz S. Abdul Jabbar, told a news conference.
Three of the crew were hurt when they jumped onto the rebel boats, he said.
On Monday, the crew was brought to the Sri Lankan capital by the International Committee of the Red Cross from the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, where they were taken by the insurgents after being removed from the ship.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Sri_Lanka/10092278.html


Communist party calls for action against rights violators
AP
Manila: The underground Communist Party of the Philippines celebrated its anniversary yesterday by calling on rebels to recruit thousands of new militants and take action against alleged human rights violators in the police, military and government.
The military declared a nationwide alert in anticipation of guerrilla attacks on the 38th anniversary of the rebel organisation.
The party said in a statement more cadres and members were needed to "raise the revolutionary struggle to a new level". It urged its armed wing, the New People's Army, to recruit more militants, step up offensives against the government and improve command structures.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10092436.html


Army wants coup plotters kept together
By Rafael Juan, Correspondent
Manila: The Armed Forces of the Philippines is mulling the idea of placing all 28 Army and Marine officers charged in connection with the botched February 28 coup in a single detention facility.
In an interview, Armed Forces chief Gen Hermogenes Esperon Jr said having all accused in one detention centre will make their interrogation and court martial convenient.
"We are looking into that possibility [consolidating the accused in one detention facility] so it would not be too far for the Marine officers," Esperon said.
At present, the 28 accused officers, facing charges of mutiny among other offences, are housed in four separate detention facilities: Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal in eastern Manila, the Army and Naval headquarters in Fort Bonifacio in suburban Taguig City, and at Fort San Felipe in Cavite, southern Luzon.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Philippines/10092437.html


British Council ends English classes in Russia
AP
Moscow: The British Council has stopped offering English-language lessons in Russia after the country's foreign ministry required that it obtain a licence to keep the classes operating, an official said.
The council, an NGO that acts as the cultural department of the British Embassy and offers education and culture exchange programmes has come under pressure over the past two years from Russian authorities who claimed it was a for-profit organisation subject to taxation.
But James Kennedy, head of British Council Moscow stressed that the decision to terminate the English-language programme was its "personal decision, a business decision".

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Russia/10092422.html


Russia-China space ties
AP
Moscow: Russia will cooperate with China on space projects, but will not transfer sensitive technologies that could enable Beijing to become a rival in a future space race, the head of Russia's space agency said yesterday.
Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov said that Moscow and Beijing would cooperate in China's robotic missions to the moon. He added, however, that Russia would maintain restrictions on sharing technology.
"The Chinese are still some 30 years behind us, but their space programme has been developing very fast," Perminov said at a news conference. "They are quickly catching up with us."

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Russia/10092423.html


Castro could govern again says doctor
Agencies
Madrid: A Spanish surgeon who examined Cuban leader Fidel Castro said he did not have cancer, was making excellent recovery and could return to govern the country. Castro disappeared from the public eye after undergoing emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding in July. Doctor Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido shunned frenzied public speculation about Castro’s health, saying the communist leader was in good condition. "His physical activity is excellent, his intellectual activity intact, I'd say fantastic, he's recovering from his previous operation," Garcia Sabrido, head of surgery at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon public hospital, told a news conference after returning from Cuba.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Spain/10092466.html


Security database worries human rights activists
By Dan Eggen, Los Angeles Times -Washington PostNews Service
Washington: The Justice Department is building a massive database that allows state and local police officers around the country to search millions of case files from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal law enforcement agencies, according to Justice officials.
The system, known as "OneDOJ", already holds approximately one million case records and is projected to triple in size over the next three years, Justice officials said. The files include investigative reports, criminal-history information, details on offences, and the names, addresses and other information about criminal suspects or targets, officials said.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/U.S.A/10092378.html


Proteins controlling cells may be key to cancer
Agencies
London: Scientists have pinpointed a possible reason why pancreatic cancer is such an aggressive disease.
A University of Liverpool team found a family of proteins involved in controlling cell movement could be key.
The study, which appears in the journal Gut, could offer a new lead on a disease which is hard to treat.
Symptoms include abdominal pain, weight loss over a period of months and nausea. It also affects appetite, makes the sufferer feel incredibly weak, and jaundiced.

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/United_Kingdom/10092369.html


Nato has little to offer to GCC
By Amir Taheri, Special to Gulf News
By the end of this month all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) were supposed to announce the number of troops they would be prepared to contribute to the alliance's force in Afghanistan.
The expected announcements were spun as the surest sign that the 57-year old alliance was determined to win its first nation-building mission.
Instead, what happened was a disappointment.
France announced that, far from contributing more troops, it was withdrawing its 200 Special Forces fighters who were engaged in anti-Al Qaida operations in southeastern Afghanistan alongside US Marines.
France's Defence Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie described the seven deaths that the French contingent has suffered in the past three years as "too high", insisting that French troops would now focus only on policing operations in and around Kabul.
Turkey, for its part, appeared to have reneged on its promise of providing 300 more men and there were persistent reports that the Dutch also plan to cut their small contingent within the next few months.
Signs that Nato may be losing in Afghanistan confirm its decline as an alliance when it reneged on its promise of helping train the new Iraqi army and police.
Many now wonder whether the alliance will exist, except on paper, five or 10 years from now. And, yet, Nato salesmen are touring the Middle East looking for new partners.
They are right; the region is a market for stability and desperate need of long-term security structures.
Major portion
Called by some observers as "the Arc of Crisis", the region, spanning from North Africa to the Indian Subcontinent, is the only major portion of the globe still threatened with long-term instability and war.
The United States is not the only power with major national interests in the Middle East. The European Union, China, Japan and India also depend on the region for the bulk of their energy needs. Instability and war in the Middle East will also affect neighbouring nations in the Subcontinent, Central Asia, Russia, the Mediterranean basin and the Horn of Africa.
It is against that background that Nato is launching its quest for regional partners for a long-term security relationship. Nato, which has one full member, Turkey, in the region, has already forged partnership ties with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Azerbaijan.
As already mentioned, it is present in Afghanistan with which it hopes to establish durable ties. The alliance also maintains some level of cooperation with Pakistan, continuing a tradition established in the 1950s when Islamabad joined the Baghdad Pact and its successor the Central Treaty Organisation (Cento).
At the other end of the spectrum, hopes of closer Nato ties with the Central Asian republics and Armenia have been put on hold, largely because of Russian and Iranian pressure.
That leaves the Arabian peninsula as the most promising chunk of the region where Nato hopes to fish for partners. The alliance already has an informal dialogue with Yemen, one of the region's most vulnerable nations targeted by Islamist groups.
However, it is unlikely to formalise ties with the alliance anytime soon. In recent months, the alliance has directed its attention towards the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). At first glance, the six GCC members might look like a homogenous bloc.
Despite that apparent unity, however, GCC members have developed different, at times contradictory, defence doctrines. This is why Nato planners have realised that seeking a relationship with the GCC, as a bloc, might not produce results.
In that context, Nato's current efforts to forge closer ties with Kuwait and Bahrain may point to a new strategy by the alliance. Last month Kuwait hosted a joint conference with Nato to highlight similarities in the way both sides read the situation in the region.
Kuwait has despatched a high-level parliamentary delegation to meet Nato officials in Brussels and put one of its most senior diplomats in charge of relations with the alliance.
New partners
Nevertheless, chances of Nato securing new partners in the region must be rated as dim. The reason can be summed up in one word: Iraq.
Having refused to support the US-led war that toppled Saddam Hussain in 2003, the alliance has reneged on its promise of helping train the new Iraqi army and police force.
In a sense, the Iraq experience spelled the end of Nato as an alliance. Its prestige has suffered further blows in Afghanistan where several member states have engaged in Byzantine tactics to ensure their symbolic presence without obliging them to do much fighting.
Nato, originally created to face the Soviet challenge in Europe, has not succeeded in developing a new doctrine in the post-Cold War world. Its members no longer agree on the source of threats to them. Worse still, some members are prepared to sabotage the efforts of other allies to deal with perceived threats.
As far as the GCC states are concerned, association with Nato may be of interest on diplomatic grounds. Having an agreement with Nato may look like a certificate of good conduct from a bloc of Western democracies.
In terms of offering the GCC anything resembling genuine security, however, Nato has little to offer. A divided alliance cannot secure its own flanks, let alone offer outsiders effective protection against predatory powers in a chronically unstable region.

Amir Taheri is a member of Benador Associates.


Selective and unjust sanctions
By Manal Alafrangi, Staff Writer
Much of what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says in his reactionary speech to the announcement of sanctions against his country makes sense.
Certainly, his comment that the West had lost its chance to improve relations with Iran applies.
Only recently, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was insisting that the US and his country should talk directly to Tehran regarding the escalating situation in Iraq but, following American refusal of the idea, Blair decided to pretend this suggestion never meant anything. Instead, he toured the region with a clear message: Iran is "at war" with "moderate Arab states" and "Western forces trying to bring peace and stability to the region".

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10092357.html


Airbus deals can't weather the storm
Gulf News
Airbus' woes continue to mount, with Emirates and other airlines pushing for compensation for late delivery of the A380 superjumbo.
Basically, the company fell into a very basic bad business trap - over-promising and under-delivering. Already delivery of the A380 is delayed by two years, which may cost the company roughly $6 billion in profits.
The breakdown that led to the delay reads like a business comedy of errors. Miscommunication between plants in Germany and France resulted in wiring in the front and back half of the planes - which should have just snapped together - not matching.

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/business/10092353.html


Lessons of the tsunami reconstruction
By Bill Clinton, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
Yesterday marked two years since the 2004 tsunami unleashed untold suffering and devastation upon Indian Ocean coastal communities.
The tragic toll still resonates: more than 200,000 dead; 2 million people displaced; 370,000 homes destroyed or damaged; some 5,000 miles of coastline devastated; and 2,000 miles of roads ruined.
The tsunami was also unprecedented in the magnitude of the response by donors, the affected governments and their everyday citizens. The homeless received shelter, the hungry were fed, disease was prevented and substantial recovery has been achieved over the past 22 months.
Nearly 150,000 homes have been rebuilt or repaired and 80,000 more are being reconstructed. More than 1,600 schools and health centres have been rebuilt or are under construction, tourists are returning to the region in large numbers, and economic growth rates have improved substantially.

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/world/10092356.html


Iraqi pilgrims make a perilous journey to pray for peace
Reuters
Makkah: Divided in their troubled homeland, Iraqi pilgrims who made the journey to Makkah for Haj this week are united in their prayers for peace, stability and the loved ones they have lost.
"What other motivation would I have than to pray for the unity of our country. Only unity can bring back security and safety," said Zohra Um Mohammad.
"We pray for the Americans to leave. They are the ones who have torn us apart," added the 54-year old accountant, who braved dangerous roads on a five-day journey from Iraq's ancient city of Babel to Makkah.

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10092366.html


'Fugitive Iraqi minister is in Jordan'
AP
Amman: A former Iraqi Cabinet minister who escaped from a Baghdad prison this month has arrived in Jordan, Jordan's prime minister said yesterday.
"Ayham Al Samaraie who escaped from his jail in Baghdad arrived in Amman as an American and on an American plane," Prime Minister Marouf Al Bakhit told reporters.
Al Samaraie, a former minister of electricity with dual US and Iraqi citizenship, was serving time for corruption when he escaped mid-December. On December 19, he called the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times and gloated over his escape, referring to US and Iraqi officials in Baghdad as "suckers."
He declined to tell the newspapers where he was, but said he was in a "a very safe place."

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10092440.html


Miami Herald

Tornadoes slam state hard
DAYTONA BEACH - (AP) -- Four Christmas Day tornadoes damaged hundreds of Florida homes, flipped airplanes at a flight school and tore the roofs off three apartment buildings, officials confirmed Tuesday.
''It's all gone,'' said Estelle Hunter, 25, who left her home five minutes before the wind uprooted a tree and slammed it through the roof.
''All of my baby's Christmas presents are under water,'' she said as she tried to salvage what she could.
The tornado that hit Daytona Beach on Monday was an F-2, with wind speeds between 113 and 157 mph. Its wind tore the roofs off three apartment buildings, extensively damaging many of the 240 units. At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, it hurled an airplane into a wall, sparking a fire, and snapped off wings or flipped about 50 others.
''It's near miraculous that no one was killed,'' said Bart Hagemeyer, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Melbourne.
More than 200 homes in a number of mobile home parks were damaged west of Daytona Beach around DeLand, where another F-2 tornado was confirmed, the Volusia County Property Appraiser's Office said.
An F-2 tornado also damaged about 80 homes in Pasco County north of Tampa, largely at the Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club. An F-0, bringing winds of 70 miles per hour, was confirmed in Lake County, near Leesburg.
Elaine Mandela was among those forced from their homes in Pasco County. She spent Monday night with friends, but has no future plans.
''I have no idea,'' she said. ``I'm not sure it has hit me yet.''
A squall line from a deep low-pressure system moved across Florida and southeast Georgia from the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, dumping several inches of rain.
Thousands of homes lost power, but it was largely restored Tuesday. Numerous injuries were reported, but most were minor.


Former President Gerald Ford dead at 93
BY FRANK GREVE
WASHINGTON - Gerald Rudolph Ford, an Eagle Scout from Grand Rapids, Mich., whose earnest integrity helped Americans recuperate from the devious evils of the Watergate affair, has died at age 93.
Ford, who was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan who also died at 93, had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments -- including an angioplasty -- in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Ford was the nation's only unelected president, radiant with decency, successful without seeming ambitious, ''an ordinary man,'' according to biographer James Cannon, called to serve America in extraordinary circumstances.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16324854.htm


Ohio Gov. Taft reprimanded over ethics
ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state Supreme Court on Wednesday publicly reprimanded Ohio Gov. Bob Taft for his ethics violations in office, a black mark that will stay on his permanent record as an attorney.
Taft, a Republican and great-grandson of President William Howard Taft, pleaded no contest in 2005 to failing to report golf outings and other gifts and was fined $4,000. He could not seek re-election because of term limits and leaves office in less than two weeks.
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel, an arm of the state Supreme Court, said in April that Taft violated Ohio's code of professional conduct for lawyers, and Taft later signed an agreement admitting the violation.
The justices agreed by a vote of 6-0 Wednesday with a recommendation from the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline to issue the public reprimand. The court could have rejected the recommendation or ordered a stronger punishment.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16328133.htm


Polar bears may be listed as threatened
JOHN HEILPRIN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Polar bears are in deep trouble because of global warming and other factors and deserve federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, the Bush administration is proposing Wednesday.
Pollution and overhunting also threaten their existence. Greenland and Norway have the most polar bears, but almost 5,000 live mainly in Alaska and travel to Canada and Russia.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne plans to announce later Wednesday that polar bears should be listed as a "threatened" species on the government list of imperiled species, a department official confirmed Wednesday. The "endangered" category is reserved for species more likely to become extinct.
Such a decision would require all federal agencies to ensure that anything they authorize that might affect polar bears will not jeopardize their survival or the sea ice where they live. That could include oil and gas exploration, commercial shipping or even releases of toxic contaminants or climate-affecting pollution.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16326810.htm


Sifting for solutions
Miami-Dade officials want to strike a deal to restart a dredging project on the Miami River that was halted because of a shortage of federal money.
The Miami River is like an old, sometimes forgotten workhorse: Salty river crews labor in battered boatyards as the river's cloudy, darkened waters stream toward Biscayne Bay.
But it's also an economic engine, home to $4 billion a year in cargo shipping, and city, county and business leaders have long eyed the economic potential of the 5.5-mile waterway and the land beside it.
More than two years ago, a long-awaited, federally funded dredging project got under way -- one that in the eyes of city of Miami and Miami-Dade County officials would boost cargo shipping, rid the river of polluted sediment, draw more luxury yachts and the yards to service them, and attract riverside development. As service industries grew, so would the workforce. More condos would be built.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16324310.htm


Legal, working and need a green card? It might be a few years
Immigration attorneys spend much of their time helping legal immigrants overcome obstacles to get citizenship and
Michael Bander, a Miami immigration attorney, was discussing how his client could qualify for a green card when he suddenly asked a personal question: ``Do you have a boyfriend?''
Monica Rengifo, a 28-year-old Colombian graphic designer, said she did -- but back home. Thus, her dilemma: Without an American husband, Rengifo may end up waiting years for a green card -- stuck in the same job. With an American spouse, she could get a green card in months.
Rengifo is typical of the thousands of foreigners who turn up at the offices of an ever-growing number of immigration attorneys in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and other U.S. cities. They are in the States legally, but face excessive delays in obtaining residency status or citizenship.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16325096.htm


Saddam letter urges Iraqis not to hate
CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis not to hate the U.S.-led forces that invaded Iraq in 2003 in a farewell letter posted on a Web site Wednesday, a day after an appeals court upheld the former dictator's death sentence and ordered him to be hanged within one month.
One of Saddam's attorneys, Issam Ghazzawi, confirmed to The Associated Press in Jordan that the letter was authentic, saying it was written by Saddam on Nov. 5 - the day he was convicted by an Iraqi tribunal for ordering the killings of scores of Shiite Muslims in the city of Dujail in 1982.
"I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," the letter said.
Ghazzawi said the letter was released on Tuesday and published on Saddam's former Baath Party's Web site on Wednesday.
The deposed leader said he was writing the letter because his lawyers had told him the Iraqi High Tribunal which tried his case would give him an opportunity to say a final word.
"But that court and its chief judge did not give us the chance to say a word, and issued its verdict without explanation and read out the sentence - dictated by the invaders - without presenting the evidence," Saddam wrote.
"Dear faithful people," Saddam added, "I say goodbye to you, but I will be with the merciful God who helps those who take refuge in him and who will never disappoint any honest believer."
The letter was released as Saddam's last legal means of avoiding execution came under question. A spokesman for President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday the appeals court order upholding the death sentence might not require Talabani's approval to carry out the execution.
Iraqi officials had said such a decision must be ratified by Talabani and Iraq's two vice presidents. But presidential spokesman Hiwa Osman said that was not necessarily the case.
"Some people believe there is no need for his approval," Osman said. "We still have to hear from the court as to how the procedure can be carried out."
Meanwhile, some Saddam loyalists threatened to retaliate if the ousted Iraqi leader is executed, warning in a posting on the same Baath Party Web site that carried Saddam's letter they would target U.S. interests anywhere.
"The Baath and the resistance are determined to retaliate, with all means and everywhere, to harm America and its interests if it commits this crime," the statement said, referring to Baath fighters as "the resistance."
The Baath Party was disbanded after U.S.-led forces overthrew Saddam in 2003. The Web site is believed to be run from Yemen, where a number of exiled members of the party are based.
In its ruling Tuesday, the appeals court said Saddam must be hanged within 30 days for his role in the Dujail killings. The appeals court also affirmed death sentences for two of Saddam's co-defendants, including his half brother. It ruled that life imprisonment for a third was too lenient and demanded he too be sentenced to death.
Some Iraqis said Saddam should be hanged immediately, but others feared Iraq's bloodletting could escalate if the former dictator is executed at a time when sectarian attacks are already on the rise.
"Executing him now is dangerous. The situation is very bad. Things need to be calmer," said Saadia Mohamed Majed, a 60-year-old Shiite in Baghdad who wants the penalty to be postponed for at least three years. Shiites endured persecution under Saddam and his fellow Sunni Arab leaders, and many are eager to remove a symbol of the old regime.
The court's decision came on a particularly bloody day in Baghdad, when at least 54 Iraqis died in bombings and police discovered 49 apparent victims of sectarian reprisal killings.
Many Baghdad neighborhoods were jittery on Wednesday amid fears that Sunni Arab insurgents would target Shiite areas in revenge attacks. There was a heavy police presence in the downtown area of Karrada, and parents picked up their children from a school after reports of a car bomb in the area.
Violence appeared to be relatively minimal, though, with one car bomb explosion killing eight civilians and wounding 10 near an Iraqi army checkpoint in the capital, police said.
Two Latvian soldiers were also killed and three were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded under their Humvee, the Latvian Defense Ministry said. Latvia has about 130 troops serving with a Polish contingent in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad.
Saddam's defense lawyers, who are based in Amman, Jordan, urged Arab governments and the United Nations to intervene to stop the execution.
"Otherwise, all may be participating in what is going on, either actually or due to their silence in face of the crimes, which are being committed in Iraq in the name of democracy," the lawyers said in an e-mail statement to The Associated Press.
The statement signed by "the Defense Committee for President Saddam Hussein" said the court's rejection of Saddam's appeal was part of the "continued shedding of pure Iraqi blood by the current regime in Iraq, which (is) directly connected with the American occupation."
An expert on war crimes speculated the sentence might be carried out very quickly.
"I won't be surprised if there's just an announcement in several days saying the sentence has been carried out. The ruling says the sentence has to be carried out within 30 days, but it doesn't say you need to wait," said Michael Scharf, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Human Rights Watch, which opposes the execution, said the law creating the Iraqi High Tribunal mandates that death sentences can never be commuted. However, international law says that when a death sentence is given, there must be an opportunity for it to be commuted, the group said.
"There's some real confusion as to who has the authority to ratify the death sentence," said Richard Dicker, director of the group's International Justice Program.
The legal maneuvering in Baghdad was of little concern in the northern Kurdish city of Irbil, where people who suffered under Saddam's brutal rule celebrated the decision upholding his death sentence.
Saddam is currently in the midst of another trial, charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq. An estimated 180,000 Kurds died during the operation. That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, but experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue even if he is executed.
Saddam is being held at Camp Cropper, an American military prison close to Baghdad's airport. U.S. military officials did not say whether the former dictator will now be turned over to the Iraqis in anticipation of his execution.
Saddam was captured while hiding in a hole in the ground near his home village north of Baghdad in December 2003, eight months after he fled the capital ahead of advancing American troops.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16323833.htm


Court won't force gay marriage vote
JAY LINDSAY
Associated Press
BOSTON - The state's highest court ruled Wednesday it had no authority to force lawmakers to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, but it still criticized them for not acting.
Opponents of same-sex marriage had collected 170,000 signatures to get an amendment on the 2008 ballot that would define marriage in Massachusetts as between a man and a woman, but their effort still needed the support of a quarter of the Legislature.
When lawmakers failed to vote on the question in November, the governor and angry opponents sued.
They asked the court to clarify whether the state's constitution required lawmakers to vote on a proposal that was sent to the legislature by a voter petition drive. The Supreme Judicial Court determined it could not force a vote.
"Beyond resorting to aspirational language that relies on the presumptive good faith of elected representatives, there is no presently articulated judicial remedy for the Legislature's indifference to, or defiance of, its constitutional duties," the court wrote.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16328352.htm


Ethiopian, Somali troops near Mogadishu
MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN
Associated Press
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somali and Ethiopian troops drove Islamic fighters out of the last major town before Mogadishu on Wednesday, and the government predicted that the capital and stronghold of the radical Islamists would fall without a fight.
Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said no assault was planned on Mogadishu because the forces of the Council of Islamic Courts were crumbling so fast.
"Islamic courts militias are already on the run and we hope that Mogadishu will fall to our hands without firing a shot," he said.
The Islamic Courts movement had grown steadily in power for six months, until the dramatic entry into the war by Ethiopian troops last week. Since then, fortunes have changed dramatically with the Islamists in full retreat.
On Wednesday, thousands of Ethiopian and Somali government troops were seen in tanks heading toward Balad, only about 18 miles away from Mogadishu, said Nadifo Ali Tifow, a resident in Qalimow village, along the same road.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16323741.htm


Katrina evacuees on the clock to appeal housing decisions
MATT APUZZO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees whose federal housing funding was cut off this summer may be eligible for renewed payments, but face a tight deadline to seek them.
Under a court order, the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent letters to about 4,000 storm victims in Texas last week, explaining why they were deemed no longer eligible for aid. A federal judge ruled the original letters unconstitutional because they contained only hard-to-decipher computer codes and agency jargon.
With the new letters, storm victims can appeal the decision to FEMA and may be eligible for renewed housing payments of about $750 a month.
But the program is set to expire at the end of February and the appeal process can take up to three months. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who has called the agency's housing program a "legal disaster" said Wednesday that he wanted to speed up the appeals.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16329108.htm


Economy is expected to slow in 2007
Consensus among economic analysts foresees slower U.S. growth in 2007. Some see recession, most don't. Housing and energy are key.
BY KEVIN G. HALL
McClatchy News Service
WASHINGTON - Analyzing the economy these days is like trying to read faint signals in thick fog: There are positive signs, but also troubling and sometimes conflicting signals.
The U.S. economy is sure to slow next year, but most experts say it probably won't slip into recession -- though some think it could be a close call.
Housing and energy prices will probably prove decisive.
Most mainstream economists are projecting that the economy will grow at an annual rate of 2 percent to 3 percent in 2007. It averaged 3.8 percent annual growth from 2003 to 2005 and slowed in 2006 to a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16323890.htm


Other states feeling the insurance pinch
OUR OPINION: CONGRESS MUST ENACT A NATIONAL CATASTROPHE POLICY
The latest news from the windstorm-insurance front is more of the same: an insurance company cutting risks, consumers left vulnerable, government standing on the sidelines like a powerless observer, watching the disaster unfold yet offering no help. This scenario is all too familiar to Floridians, but now it is playing out all over the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
Higher premiums
Allstate, the nation's second-largest home and auto insurer behind State Farm, announced last week that it would reduce coverage in coastal regions of North and South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Alabama. In some places, it will no longer write new policies. In others, it is dropping coverage altogether, essentially telling customers that it doesn't want their business. Previously, Allstate had announced cutbacks in seven other coastal states.
Because things haven't gotten as bad elsewhere as in Florida -- yet -- other insurance companies may step in for a brief period with steeply higher premiums for policyholders. But it won't end there, as Floridians know all too well.
''I have no doubt other companies will be taking action,'' said Eleanor Kitzman, director of the Department of Insurance in South Carolina. ''I am sure there will be other announcements by other companies.'' Bet on it, especially if there is a turbulent hurricane season in the offing.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16325126.htm


New Zealand Herald

Give yourself up, police advise husband
Police hunting a murder suspect they believe killed his wife in a Christmas day of alcohol-fuelled violence have urged him to give himself up.
"This is not going to go away," Detective Senior Sergeant Richard Middleton from the Counties Manukau police in south Auckland said today.
He is leading a team hunting 43-year-old Keleti Seau who they believed stabbed his wife, Atonauga Seau, 42, to death in their Otara home on Christmas night. She had multiple stab wounds.
Police also revealed the dead woman had been granted a temporary protection order earlier this year by the Manukau District Court.
She still lived with her husband but the order allowed her to call police if she was threatened.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416933


Year's weather punctuated by polar outbreaks
The past year's weather was punctuated by polar outbreaks, the worst of which brought a big snowstorm in June which blanketed Canterbury.
MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said today that New Zealand experienced the coldest June since 1972, and that was mainly due to the "snowball storm" that hit on June 11-12.
"We had a southerly autumn, an early and slippery winter, a windy spring and then a cool start to summer," Mr McDaviit said.
Notes from his diary regularly feature what he termed "polar outbreaks" during the year.
The first came on Friday, March 3, with a southerly from the Southern Ocean.
Wind gusts reached 113km/h in Lyttelton, 137km/h in Kaikoura, and 143km/h at Mt. Kaukau. Swells up eight to 10 metres cancelled the Cook Strait ferries. Trees were snapped in Christchurch, roofs lifted in Wellington, and a warehouse fire fanned in Hawke's Bay.
Polar Outbreak No 2 happened on Anzac Day, April 25, and April 26. It was caused by rain clouds wrapping around onto south Canterbury just as a southerly arrived.
Flooding affected Oamaru, Dunedin, Mosgiel, and Taieri, and 300 homes were evacuated. Snow closed the Lindis Pass.
On Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, Polar Outbreak No 3 struck and snow closed Milford Road, Burkes Pass and the Desert Road.
The big one, Polar Outbreak No 4, hit on Monday June 12.
"Winter started with a bang when a deepening low managed to mix moist air from the tropics with cold air fresh from the southern ocean," said Mr McDavitt.
"This low-pressure system was a large feature and MetService issued a record number of wind, rain and snow warnings. Hokitika was flooded, a gale in Auckland cut power to half the city for around five hours, and trees were toppled in Taupo and Tauranga. Snow blanketed Canterbury to a depth of 25cm at sea level (in Timaru) and up to 90cm deep around Fairlie."
This snow lasted on the inland plains for a fortnight and 10,000 homes were affected by power cuts in Canterbury, some of the cuts lasting until the end of June.
Insurance claims reached around $43 million but the snow laid good foundations for a bumper ski season that realised $75 million in revenue.
On Sunday, June 18, Polar Outbreak No 5 brought a southeasterly gale, with wind gusts up 98km/h in New Plymouth and 80 km/h to Gisborne. Both the Desert Road and the Napier-Taupo road were closed by snow.
Polar Outbreak No 6 struck on Wednesday, June 21, when another southerly brought snow that closed all the central North Island main roads and settled down to 500m in Hawke's Bay.
More snow fell on Tuesday, August 22, courtesy of Polar Outbreak No 7. The snow settled to a depth of 30cm in the Tekapo Basin, and was enough to close roads in Otago, and schools in Dunedin.
Wet, windy conditions from Polar Outbreak No 8 killed several hundred new-born lambs in Southland and Otago on Sunday, September 17.
Wellington and Wairarapa bore the brunt of Polar Outbreak No 9 on Wednesday, October 4. This southerly disrupted transport in Wellington: planes, trains, and ferries were cancelled. A rail bridge at Mauriceville, north of Masterton, was washed out.
On Wednesday, November 8, Polar Outbreak No 10 dumped snow over Southland and Central Otago.
The strongest wind gust recorded during the year happened on Saturday, September 2.
A low-pressure system deepened south of Campbell Island, producing a vigorous westerly flow over the South Island.
Mr McDavitt said trees were toppled at Athol and a car and caravan were blown off the road near Lake Tekapo. The Mid-Dome anemometer in Southland reported gusts to 195km/h, the strongest recorded wind gust of 2006.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416931


Shops busier than last year on Boxing Day
Shops running Boxing Day sales did better this year than last year, according to one measure of shopper behaviour.
Paymark, the company that accounts for 80 per cent of all electronic transactions, said Boxing Day electronic transaction volumes were up 12 per cent on last year, with over 1.2 million transactions worth $68 million.
However, trading on Boxing Day did not reach the peaks seen on the Thursday to Saturday prior to Christmas.
Transaction volumes peaked at 54 transactions per second on Boxing Day, well short of the 99.5 per second seen in the lead up to Christmas.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416930


Rain damaging Central Otago cherries
12:55PM Wednesday December 27, 2006
It's fingers crossed for Central Otago cherry growers that they don't get much more rain over the next fortnight.
Rain throughout Christmas night and Boxing Day morning has caused some damage to early cherry crops, but much of the fruit is still to mature.
In Cromwell, Duncan Mathers at Sarita Orchard said there had been a lot of rain, but damage was variable, depending on variety
"Some varieties are quite badly affected and other varieties have hardly been affected," he said today.
"It was really yesterday's rain that did the damage. We're certainly optimistic, but we'd definitely like the rain to stop."
Harvesting was in full swing with pickers and packers hard at work
"We've survived pretty well really," Mr Mathers said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416923


$350,000 retirement dream on the rocks
Thursday December 28, 2006
By Claire Trevett and Anne Beston
The collision with the reef badly damaged the launch of Graham Calvert.
The retirement dream of former dairy industry heavyweight Graham Calvert is now high and dry after his 12.2m launch, worth at least $350,000, hit rocks and sank in the Hauraki Gulf.
Mr Calvert was rescued after his boat Crystal Clear, a Genesis 400 Flybridge, struck a reef near Crusoe Rock.
His was one of 20 Boxing Day callouts for the Coastguard.
Yesterday, a 12m launch hit Glazier Rock, directly off the entrance to Puhoi River, as the owner was going into the river to collect his wife about 2.40pm.
Although he was unhurt, the boat was still stuck firm on the rocks. The Coastguard was unable to dislodge it, so had propped it up until a salvage company could remove it.
A spokeswoman said if he had been 20m to either side he would have made it through the river mouth - it is understood the man was unfamiliar with the waters.
"He was all right, but a bit shaken as owners are when their boats get stuck on rocks."
Mr Calvert said last night that he was alone when his boat hit the reef between Waiheke Island and Motuihe, leaving just its bow and part of the cabin above water.
"It took about 10 seconds, so you don't have time to be afraid," he said. "I would like to say the Coastguard performed marvellously. The whole team was good to me."
Crystal Clear was yesterday in the boatyard at Pine Harbour Marina, east of Auckland, after being pumped out and towed back.
Aucklander James Marshall was fishing nearby and saw the boat with only its bow and part of its cabin visible.
"It was a beautiful boat - looked like someone's Christmas present," he said.
Mr Calvert had the launch custom-built after he retired in 2000.
Crystal Clear was his first boat, a long-planned part of his retirement from a business life including directorships on the NZ Dairy Group, the Dairy Board and the Federated Farmers executive.
"I just take my family out on different days. I have heaps of grandchildren and they all want to have a go," he said.
It was too early to say what Crystal Clear's fate would be or how extensive the damage was.
"That is one of the debates I have in my own mind. When I bought it I was about 65 and now I'm 72. So you have to think about those things."
He told a boat magazine in 2000 that he chose it because it was comfortable enough for him and his family's needs but could be handled without an experienced crew.
The incident was one of 228 jobs for the Coastguard so far this month, compared to 217 for the whole of December last year.
"There's been a lot of mechanical problems with people taking the boat out for the first time," said spokeswoman Joanne Ottey.
"Everyone wants to get out there, but make sure you've got safety equipment on board and a means of communication."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416991


Windfarm project progress
New 5:30AM Thursday December 28, 2006
NZ Windfarms said all of the conditions for its joint venture with Babcock and Brown and National Power for the Te Rere Hau project have been satisfied.
Under the joint venture, NZ Windfarms retains a 50 per cent interest in the project, with National Power and Babcock & Brown Windpower sharing the other 50 per cent.
The conditions included transfer of contracts and property related to the project held by NZ Windfarms, and completing a contract for NZ Windfarms to provide management services.


Holidaymakers in Tairua receive unsafe-water alert
Thursday December 28, 2006By Mike Houlahan
The beautiful harbour makes Tairua popular. Photo / Lesley Staniland
Tairua holidaymakers have been warned they could contract illnesses such as diarrhoea from drinking unsafe tap water.
The Thames Coromandel District Council (TCDC) is playing down the "boil water" notice issued for Tairua, saying it is precautionary in case low-quality water has to be taken from local streams to meet demand.
Over the holidays the population of Tairua can increase eight to tenfold from its usual 2700.
Just before Christmas, the council told Tairua residents their tap water could be contaminated. The boil water notice has angered some business owners, who say they had to scramble to cope with the problem.
They said water shortages were a regular problem. Donna Early, who runs a dive shop, said several residents had stomach upsets.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416988


Shortage of males very real
Wednesday December 27, 2006
By Mike Dinsdale
It's official. There's a serious subject that could be troubling the women of Northland - there's a man drought, with nearly 2800 fewer men than women in the region.
The so-called "man drought" has been the stuff of rumour and urban legend for years now, but the 2006 Census results show that the fears of eligible women around the region have been confirmed - there are just not enough men to go around.
Statistics NZ has released the Census results, which give a snapshot of the make- up of our country on the night the information was collected - March 7.
The Census shows that the population of Northland has grown by 5.9 per cent since 2001, up from 140,133 residents to 148,470.
Nationally the population increased by 7.8 per cent to 4,027,947.
The Whangarei District was well ahead of the national average, with growth of 9.4 per cent, from 68,094 to 74,463.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=000277EF-9483-1591-B74E83027AF10017


Snapping up Fiji bargains
New Thursday December 28, 2006
New Zealanders are taking post-Christmas bargain-hunting to a new level by snapping up cheap holidays in troubled Fiji.
Post-coup deals offering 40 to 50 per cent off accommodation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' downgrading its travel risk warning have resulted in an upsurge of interest in Fiji as a holiday destination.
Flight Centre spokesman John McGuinness said Fiji was the second-most popular holiday destination for New Zealanders behind Australia.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416983


The horn of Africa - a region ringing to sound of cross-border conflict
Thursday December 28, 2006
Meles Zenawi. Photo / Reuters
Area:
A peninsula of East Africa that juts into the Arabian Sea. The term also refers to the greater region containing Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. It covers 2 million sq km and has a population of about 86.5 million. Sudan and Kenya are sometimes included.
Religion:
Somalia's main religion is Islam (Sunni), with a small Christian minority. About half of Ethiopia's population are Muslim and half Ethiopian Orthodox Christian. Nearly half of all Eritreans are Coptic Christians and most of the rest are Muslims. There are also Catholic and Protestant minorities.
Aid:
Eritrea is one of the world's most aid-dependent nations. Ethiopia receives the lion's share of European development aid to sub-Saharan Africa and foreign donors finance about one-third of its annual budget. Aid for Somalia has dropped off since a disastrous and bloody international intervention in the 1990s.
DOMESTIC TURMOIL
Somalia:
The rise of the Islamists, who control much of the south after seizing Mogadishu from United States-backed warlords in June, has threatened the Government's attempts to reimpose central rule on a country in chaos since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Before the latest fighting, the interim Government was confined to the provincial town of Baidoa.
Ethiopia:
The Government arrested thousands of Opposition members and others after two bouts of violence following May 2005 parliamentary elections. At least 82 people were killed in clashes in the capital, Addis Ababa. Some have suggested nearly double that number died. Ethiopia also has active rebel groups, including the Oromo Liberation Front, which represents the country's largest ethnic group and is fighting for independence for the Oromo region. The Government of Meles Zenawi says Eritrea backs the OLF, which Eritrea denies. The Ogaden National Liberation Front, which wants self-determination for Ethiopia's ethnically Somali Ogaden region, is also active.
Eritrea:
The Government has been holding 21 politicians and journalists for five years without trial following a crackdown on dissidents and independent media. Before the September 2001 crackdown, the media had played a growing role in fostering open dissent in Eritrea, ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since the country gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year struggle.
NEIGHBOURING TENSIONS
Somalia:
Ethiopia and Somalia have been rivals throughout history. Ethiopia has sent troops into Somalia to attack radical Islamic movements, wary they could stir trouble in the ethnically Somali regions on its side of the border. Several times from 1992 to 1998, Ethiopian soldiers attacked members of al-Itihaad al-Islaami, a militant Somali group. The Islamist leader in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, was head of its military wing during that time. The US has accused Eritrea of shipping arms to Somali Islamists. Eritrea has long denied any involvement in Somalia, but reports to the United Nations Security Council have documented numerous weapons shipments by Eritrea to the Islamists.
Eritrea/Ethiopia:
In 1998 the town of Badme was the flashpoint for the Ethiopia-Eritrea border war which caused 70,000 deaths and ended with a 2000 peace deal under which both sides agreed to accept an independent ruling on their border. It is heavily guarded by both sides and monitored by a UN mission with 2300 peacekeepers. Ethiopia rejected the border as set out by an independent commission in April 2002 and Eritrea refused to consider any changes. The commission has given Ethiopia and Eritrea a year to demarcate the border according to its proposals.
- REUTERS

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416964


Floods claim at least 100 in Indonesia
10:15AM Wednesday December 27, 2006
JAKARTA - Floodwaters that killed scores of people in northwestern Indonesia have begun to recede, authorities said on Tuesday, as rescuers search remote areas for up to 200 people still missing.
State news agency Antara said one district official reported 500 bodies found in a remote village in Aceh province, but senior government and Red Cross officials said they had no information to confirm that.
Officials said the floods and subsequent landslides have killed at least 100 people in Aceh and neighbouring North Sumatra province, with tens of thousands forced to flee their homes for higher ground, officials said.
In Aceh, still reeling from the devastating tsunami two years ago that left about 170,000 dead or missing in the impoverished province, the death toll rose to 69, the officials said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416915


Australia's military asked to battle cane toads
CANBERRA - Environmentalists have asked Australia's military to wage war on cane toads, which have spread across the country's north in near-plague proportions.
The toads, introduced in a batch of 101 from Hawaii in 1935 in a failed bid to control native cane beetles, have spread 3000km from northeast Queensland to Darwin in Australia's tropical north. There are now more than 200 million.
"We need as many people on the ground as we can possibly get, and if the military can work out strategies for controlling toads on their ground, well that's fine with us," Frog Watch spokesman Ian Morris told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio on Wednesday.
Cane toads are one of Australia's worst environmental mistakes, ranking alongside the catastrophic introduction of rabbits.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416935


French Polynesia elects new president
2:15PM Wednesday December 27, 2006
PAPEETE - A politician close to France's ruling UMP party was elected President of French Polynesia on Tuesday, replacing the pro-independence former incumbent after a vote denounced by the loser as "robbery".
Gaston Tong Sang, 57, an ally of longtime regional boss Gaston Flosse, who is a friend of French President Jacques Chirac, was elected by the assembly which runs day-to-day affairs in the French territory by 31 votes to 26 for his rival Oscar Temaru.
The vote, which follows a censure motion earlier this month to oust Temaru's government, followed months of protests against high prices in the territory which includes Tahiti and is supported financially by Paris.
The former president attacked the procedure before the vote had even been taken.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416929


Landing scare for Blair in Miami
2:39PM Wednesday December 27, 2006
Tony Blair. Photo / Reuters
MIAMI - A British Airways flight carrying 343 passengers and crew members including British Prime Minister Tony Blair overshot a runway at Miami's airport on Tuesday, the Miami Herald newspaper reported on its website.
No one was injured when the Boeing 747-400 jet arriving from London slid off the runway after landing about 6.15pm/2315 GMT, airport spokesman Marc Henderson told the newspaper.
The US Secret Service confirmed Blair and his immediate family were aboard the plane, flying in first class, according to the Miami Herald report.
They were due to vacation in the Miami area.
The Secret Service did not have any agents on the plane, but the agency is providing protection for the British government leader and his family during their South Florida visit.
The plane, which was not damaged, returned to a terminal and passengers were allowed to get off, Henderson said.
- REUTERS


Quake triggers Asian tsunami alert
9:53AM Wednesday December 27, 2006
A meteorologist at Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau in Taipei points to a graph showing the tremors of an earthquake that rattled the island. Photo / Reuters
MANILA - A major 7.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Taiwan on Tuesday set off a tsunami warning in the Pacific but there were no immediate reports of significant damage.
The quake came two years to the day after the Asian tsunami disaster, as jittery nations were remembering the devastation that left 220,000 people dead across the region.
The US Geological Survey reported two quakes, one of 7.1 magnitude and one of 7.0 magnitude.
An undersea quake reportedly hit at 8.26pm (0126 NZT) just off the southern tip of Taiwan, where authorities reported three more tremblors, measuring 6.4, 5.2 and 5.5 in magnitude respectively, following the first.
Almost two hours later yet another struck in the same area, the US Geological Survey reported, measuring 5.4.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10416912


Indonesia still unprepared for tsunami two years on
Wednesday December 27, 2006By Geoffrey Lean
BANDA ACEH - Two years after the Boxing Day tsunami - which killed 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean - the area is still unprepared for a repeat.
Only a fraction of the number of hi-tech buoys and sea-level gauges designed to give early warning against a new catastrophe are in place, even though geologists warn that it could happen at any time. And most countries in the area are not sufficiently prepared to get an alarm out to coasts and beaches.
At the same time, many millions of dollars in foreign aid, promised by governments to the disaster-hit areas, have not been paid. And only a third of those made homeless two years ago have so far been rehoused.
Experts say that countless lives would have been saved from the tsunami - the worst natural catastrophe in modern times - if the Indian Ocean had had a tsunami early-warning system, like one that has been successfully operating in the Pacific for more than 35 years.
Unesco and other United

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416868


Iran's oil problems deep-seated
Wednesday December 27, 2006
WASHINGTON - Iran's nuclear ambitions are motivated not just by a desire for regional supremacy but by a potentially devastating crisis in its oil industry, a researcher said.
Iran's image is of a muscular oil producer with plentiful reserves, but in fact it could soon face its own energy crunch owing to failing infrastructure and lack of investments, Professor Roger Stern at Johns Hopkins University said.
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, the professor of geography and environmental engineering said Iran's oil problems have the potential to topple the clerical regime. "The regime's dependence on export revenue suggests that it could need nuclear power as badly as it claims."
Generous domestic subsidies for petrol mean that Iran's national oil company cannot make money at home and so needs to export as much as it can. But rapid population growth means that domestic demand is rising, while authorities have let their refineries and pipelines fray.
Despite being the second-biggest exporter in Opec behind Saudi Arabia, Iran has to import oil products like petrol to cope with demand. Since 1980, energy demand in Iran has risen 6.4 per cent, exceeding supply growth of 5.6 per cent. Exports have stagnated. For at least 18 months, Iran has failed to meet its quota for oil production.
The strong suggestion is that oil production is now falling.
- AFP

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416872


Catherine Field: French high life is heading for a fall
At the gleaming counters of Fauchon in the Place de la Madeleine, Parisian ladies jab a manicured nail in the direction of the foie gras to add a succulent wedge to their New Year order.
At Le Chien Qui Fume restaurant in les Halles, oysters rushed from Brittany nestle in a bed of crushed ice and fronds of seaweed.
The autoroute to the Alps is chocka with families heading for the ski slopes. Those not going away these holidays may well be planning their break for the next holiday period, just seven weeks away. When you only work 35 hours a week and have six to eight weeks of leave, or you're a civil servant who has retired at 55, you have a lot of leisure time on your hands.
This is France in late 2006: well-heeled, high-spending, luxuriating in the good life. But how will it look at the turn of the decade?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416963


Snow for singed Victoria
Saturday December 23, 2006
AUSTRALIA - Snow is forecast in bushfire-ravaged areas of Victoria for Christmas Day.
Temperatures over 30C and wind gusts of up to 100km/h were yesterday fanning the enormous bushfires which have placed dozens of communities at risk in Victoria's north and east.
But the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) says the four-day weather forecast holds some relief for the 4600 emergency personnel who have been battling the alpine fires.
Spokesman Duncan Pendrigh said rain was coming, "and it will be really cold on Christmas Day. Maybe even some snow, so it's crazy."
The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed it was forecasting up to 15mm of rain - the biggest rain dump this month. A cold stream of air would follow, and the bureau says this is expected to produce a light dusting of snow on Mt Buller, and other alpine peaks, on Christmas Day.
On the fire front yesterday, there were about 350 visiting firefighters from the ACT, NSW and New Zealand.
The Kiwi firefighters will return home today but a fresh contingent is due in Victoria in the first week of January.


Delight as rain ends bushfire threat
2:05PM
Monday December 25, 2006
Overnight rain has kept fire activity at a low today. Photo / Getty Images
MELBOURNE - Woods Point residents have danced in the streets celebrating Christmas rain which has ended the three-week fire threat to north-east Victorian town.
The wet weather extinguished the last of the spot fires around the town and drenched the weary locals as they let off steam.
"It rained all last night and this morning," the manager of Woods Point's Commercial Hotel, Kirrily Pay said.
"We had the biggest party, we were absolutely ecstatic, we can't believe we're still here.
"For three weeks now our lives have been on hold, you'd wake up each day and think is today the day it hits.
"We can't believe how close the fire came to us.
"We're all still in shock."
Ten days ago the locals ducked for cover as the blaze roared towards the town, pulling back at the last minute with a lucky wind change.
Since then spot fires have sprung up sporadically, burning within metres of homes.
This month's bushfires razed 871,000 hectares of mostly bushland in Victoria's northeast and Gippsland regions, destroying 32 houses and resulting in the death of a firefighter who fell off a trailer while battling the blaze.
The cooler weather and overnight rain has kept fire activity at a low today.
Similar conditions are forecast to continue for the next week, giving fire crews a chance to relax their efforts.
More than 800 fire fighters have been sent home for Christmas with 900 remaining on duty over the Christmas season.
A Country Fire Authority spokeswoman said fire front was now burning across bushland and posed no threat to homes.
No towns were alert, she said.
- AAP


Summer poll: Laws' Tonga King insult voted worst of the year
Wednesday December 27, 2006
By Juliet Rowan
Wanganui Mayor and RadioLive host Michael Laws has earned the dubious distinction of delivering the worst New Zealand insult of the year.
Among Herald readers, his calling the King of Tonga a "slug" when Taufa'ahau Tupou IV died was considered only marginally worse than Prime Minister Helen Clark labelling former National leader Don Brash "cancerous" after he attacked Labour for "corrupt" election spending.
Laws also said the King was "a despotic beneficiary of the New Zealand taxpayer" but the slug comment was considered the worst insult by 24.4 per cent of readers, compared with 22.2 per cent who thought Helen Clark went too far in comparing her then political opponent to a tumour.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10416852


NZ super eruption was double trouble, scientists say
10:15AM Monday
December 25, 2006
By Kent Atkinson
The Taupo eruption was 250,000 years ago. Photo / Daily Post
Auckland University scientists have revealed that eruptions of supervolcanoes powerful enough to change the climate and cause mass-extinction can be worse than previously thought.
Ordinary volcanoes spew lava, erupting magma, from cones or vents. But in the case of a supervolcano, the underground magma chamber bursts out in a titanic explosion with a force thousands of times that of a normal eruption and huge amounts of ash, dust, and poisonous sulphur dioxide are thrown into the atmosphere, leaving a giant crater or caldera.
Such large eruptions of greater than 100 cubic kilometres of magma are generally rare and random events worldwide.
But geologist Darren Gravley of Auckland University and his colleagues have shown that one of the largest supervolcano eruptions on record, at Taupo 250,000 years ago, was twice as big as previously thought.
They have published in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America evidence that the eruption in the Taupo Volcanic Zone was actually two supervolcanoes 30km apart which erupted within days or weeks of each other.
It is the first time such a close pairing of supervolcano eruptions has been documented and provides scientists with a new understanding of the potential linkage between geographically separate caldera volcanoes.
Each eruption belched out more than 100cu km rock and volcanic ash, creating what are now known as the Mamaku and Ohakuri volcanic deposits.
"It's possible one of these triggered the other," said Dr Gravley told the Discovery Channel. But exactly how the triggering might have worked is uncertain.
What is clear from the university's explorations is that they were created very close in time - a surprising discovery because most caldera or "supervolcano" eruptions in any one region tend to be tens of thousands of years apart, according to accepted theories.
Among the signs that the rocks from the two eruptions were piled on one another is the conspicuous lack of erosion on the first volcanic deposits -- which is striking, considering the eruptions would have been followed by heavy rains.
Previous studies that looked only at the radioisotope dates of the volcanic rocks from the eruptions missed the timing details, Dr Gravley said, because they have a margin of error of 10,000 years .
"You've got to look at the physical evidence," said Gravley. "It's really getting into the nitty-gritty. From the stratigraphy (rock layers) it's clear two were erupting at the same time. That just blows away any (regional frequency) studies out of the water."
The bad news is that double eruption represents a whole new way that supervolcanoes can threaten humanity.
Caldera researcher Gerardo Aguirre, of Mexico's National University in Juriquilla, said caldera eruptions were far less frequent than other volcanoes.
But when they did erupt, "the consequences for the surroundings and in general for the world would be enormous, because these explosive eruptions are many orders of magnitude bigger than a more common eruption from a volcano, such as Mount St Helens or Vesuvius."
Last year, other research at Taupo - on the more recent Taupo supervolcano of only 26,500 years ago - changed accepted theories that it takes hundreds of thousands of years for the reservoir of molten rock, or magma, beneath a supervolcano to build up to an eruption.
They showed the period between super-eruptions can be much shorter, perhaps a few tens of thousands of years.
Dr Bruce Charlier, from Britain's Open University, showed the build-up at Taupo was no more than 40,000 years - a relatively short time period in geological terms.
"Our findings mean that we have to reassess our understanding of the speed at which the volcano can reactivate, and this has important implications for volcanic monitoring and hazard mitigation at Taupo and similar volcanoes worldwide."
- NZPA


Dinosaurs in Spain grazed mainly on the plain
Saturday December 23, 2006
Fossilised remains of one of the world's largest dinosaurs have been discovered in Europe. Photo / Reuters
SPAIN - Europe can now lay claim to its own massive dinosaur with the discovery of a 150-million-year-old fossil of a giant leaf-eating creature which grew up to 36m long.
Scientists have discovered dozens of fossilised bones of the sauropod dinosaur at a site called Barrihonda-El Humero near the village of Riodeva in Teruel, Spain.
Fully grown, Turiasaurus riodevensis would have weighed between 40 and 48 tonnes - the combined weight of six or seven adult male elephants. Its size puts Turiasaurus on a par with some of the largest dinosaurs in the world, whose remains have been found in Africa and America but never before in Europe.
Brook Hanson of the journal Science, which published details of the discovery, said that the claw of the first digit on the dinosaur's foot was the size of an American football.
- INDEPENDENT


Bone of contention over Joan of Arc
Wednesday December 20, 2006B
y Catherine Field
Joan of Arc responded to "divine voices" to rally the forces of Charles VII against England's domination of northern France.
PARIS - Five hundred and seventy-five years after she was convicted by an English court of witchcraft and heresy before being burned at the stake, Joan of Arc faces another trial - by science.
Initial results from the most rigorous lab assessment ever made of the relics of France's teenage warrior and patron saint suggest the revered bones could be bogus.
"The chances are diminishing that these are the remains of the French heroine," says Philippe Charlier, a forensic scientist and specialist in historical pathology.
"Based on past experiences with relics that are often false, my thoughts prompt me to think we are heading towards the conclusion that this is a fake relic."
Charlier's 18-member team spent six months testing scorched-looking bones, including a 15cm chunk of rib, and a piece of linen.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10416127


Possums may hold key to male prostate problems
Tuesday December 26, 2006
The humble possum may hod the key to a medical breakthrough in men's health.
Horny possums may hold the key scientists have been looking for to help treat some prostrate problems in men.
Scientists at AgResearch and the Otago Medical School believe the prostate gland in the bush-tailed possum is anatomically identical to humans.
AgResearch said the possum's prostate gland grew and shrank seasonally and if research could identify the trigger that caused that shrinkage, it could help develop a drug which could help men.
AgResearch said the prostate gland began to grow in most men over 40 and by the time they were 60, more than half of the men had prostate problems, including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10416830


Major ozone loss in south
Wednesday December 27, 2006
CHICAGO - A new study shows just how dramatic the ozone loss in the Antarctic has been over the past 20 years compared with the same phenomenon in the Arctic.
The study found "massive" and "widespread" localised ozone depletion in the heart of Antartica's ozone hole region, beginning in the late 1970s, but becoming more pronounced in the 1980s and 1990s.
United States Government scientists said that there was an almost complete absence of ozone in certain atmospheric air samples taken after 1980, compared to earlier decades.
In contrast, the ozone losses in the Arctic were sporadic, and even the greatest losses did not begin to approach the regular losses in the northern hemisphere, the researchers said.
"Typically the Arctic loss is dramatically less than the Antarctic loss," said Robert Portmann, an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10416871

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