Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Rainfall record taken by storm
Hurricane Sergio in the East Pacific never rose past a Cat 2 and dissipated into a Tropical Storm on November 20th. The resultant heat that sustained it had oscillated to the Gulf of Mexico where the current vortex seen in this image near Pritchard Island, South Carolina. It took shape and is now moving along the coast once it had built up enough vorticity, assisted by the Arctic Vortex seen in extreme white. This mess culminated in huge amounts of rain at about 36 North Latitude.
Current 12 hour loop (click on)
Seattle, Washington exceeded any record on the books for rainfall in one month and November still has 8 more days.
SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293299_weather22.html
Rainfall record taken by storm
Sea-Tac mark shattered; wet holiday looms
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
By AMY ROLPHP-I REPORTER
It's now the wettest month in the history of measurements at Sea-Tac -- a somewhat significant milestone in a region where drizzle usually accompanies three seasons out of four.
Rainfall at Sea-Tac Airport Tuesday night topped off the stormy month's measurements at 13.11 inches, shattering the record of 12.92 inches set in January 1953.
"This is unusual, isn't it?" said Lara Gordon, visiting from Puerto Rico. She coped with the Seattle weather in downtown Tuesday.
Meteorologists had been expecting the record to be set in the afternoon, but just as it was about to be broken, rain clouds started moving out around Sea-Tac.
"Showers have kind of been hit or miss at Sea-Tac," said Dennis D'Amico, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
There's still the December 1933 Seattle record of 15.33 inches accumulated at the Federal Building.
But even if the 53-year-old Sea-Tac record hadn't been broken last night, it wouldn't have stayed intact for long.
"We're expecting a pretty good storm for Thanksgiving and Friday," D'Amico said.
That storm will be complete with wind and rain, as well as snow in the passes, he said.
Thunder and lightning tore into Seattle Tuesday, striking about 20 pole-top transformers and causing power failures throughout the city, according to Seattle City Light.
The lightning strikes resulted in power failure for at least 1,350 City Light customers Tuesday afternoon.
It also sent a Mill Creek man to the hospital for a brief time. Al Fitz told KOMO/4 he was getting out of his truck at his home when a lightning bolt struck an evergreen tree, with the electrical shock from it traveling through the ground, knocking him unconscious. He was home Tuesday night and was expected to make a full recovery.
D'Amico described activity in the grumbling, electrified skies as a "low-based thunderstorm, which is not all that uncommon for the area."
A KOMO/4 camera on top of the Columbia Center recorded one flash of lightning that appeared to strike the Space Needle and the Washington Mutual Tower. No damage was reported to either.
Gov. Chris Gregoire asked President Bush on Tuesday to declare parts of the state a federal disaster area, requesting that people in 11 counties become eligible for federal help after flooding earlier this month. The request covers Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King, Lewis, Pierce, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston and Wahkiakum counties.
November 19, 2006
Wellington, New Zealand
Photographer states :: Landslide - Several land slips along roadways in New Zealand. Heavy rains over last week, coupled with 2 minor earthquakes within 12 hours, caused numerous hillsides to collapse throughout the city. This type of scene is becoming more and more commonplace as the number of major storms and extended periods of precipitation over this winter and spring have been unusually high.
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Have city job, will travelMunicipal employees, elected officials are often on the road, with modest oversight
By KATHY MULADYP-I REPORTER
First there was the trip to Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest film and music festival. Next, James Keblas jetted to San Francisco and Hollywood to investigate nightlife. Then it was off to Scotland for Cineposium, an international film industry conference. In January, the director of the Mayor's Office for Film and Music headed to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah for six days.
Records show that Keblas spent almost $11,000 in taxpayer money on travel during his first nine months in office.
He wasn't the only well-traveled city employee.
Last year, hundreds of Seattle employees racked up $2.4 million in out-of-city travel expenses, including $909,000 spent by Seattle City Light, the city-run electric utility. But despite its travel bills, the city has no computerized database or central oversight of employee travel. In fact, travel has not been audited citywide in 10 years.
And that means few expenses are questioned outside of individual departments, leaving the city's nearly 40 department managers to unilaterally OK conference, workshop and training travel -- often in far-flung or fun destinations.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293277_travelx22.html
State Supreme Court upholds conviction in medical marijuana case
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a Skamania County woman who used marijuana to relieve chronic pain.
In the 6-3 decision today the court said Sharon Lee Tracy failed to prove that she qualified under Washington's medical marijuana law -- Initiative 692, which passed in 1998. She had a California medical marijuana card but it was not entered as part of the evidence.
Tracy was convicted of possession and manufacture of marijuana.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge James Johnson says the court should have recognized voter intent for the compassionate use of marijuana.
Judge: No class-action suit over Vioxx
By JANET MCCONNAUGHEYASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS -- Thousands of federal lawsuits claiming the drug Vioxx caused heart attacks and other conditions that killed or injured people cannot be pooled into one national class action, a judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon, who was appointed to deal with pretrial matters for all federal suits involving Merck & Co.'s withdrawn painkiller, did not rule on the possibility of separate class-actions suits for each state and the District of Columbia.
His 25-page ruling rejected the plaintiffs' proposal to try all of the cases under the laws in New Jersey. They argued that the company should reasonably expect to follow the laws of the state where it is headquartered.
"While this is true, it is just as true that Merck, an international corporation providing its drugs to every state in the nation, should expect to abide by every jurisdiction's laws," Fallon wrote.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Vioxx_Trials.html
Rainier Valley barber shop owner flees U.S.Facing sentencing in plea deal, he phones FBI to say he's in Somalia
By PAUL SHUKOVSKYP-I REPORTER
Ruben Shumpert, who federal agents allege made his Rainier Valley barber shop a kind of "anti-American training ground for Muslims" where children were taught "how to shoot and fight the Americans," has telephoned the FBI to say he won't be going to prison anytime soon.
Shumpert, who faces sentencing on federal counterfeiting and weapons charges, has fled to Somalia.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Shumpert, who is also known as Amir Abdul Muhaimin, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Redkey said. He was to be sentenced Tuesday.
Shumpert -- an African American convert to Islam -- was among more than a dozen, mostly African immigrants from Islamic countries arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force two years ago on a mix of charges, including immigration fraud and bank fraud.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293279_antiamerican22.html
Yellow rain gear key to hiker's rescueClothing she found helped catch pilot's eye
By HECTOR CASTROP-I REPORTER
They were too big to wear, but a pair of bright yellow rain pants that Cindy Wysocki found during her two days lost in the wilderness proved to be a perfect rescue beacon.
The 31-year-old lawyer, who survived in the Snoqualmie National Forest for two nights and two days, used those yellow pants Monday afternoon to wave down a King County sheriff's helicopter searching for her.
"I was just really glad that they were there, because I was thinking that this next night was going to be a really hard time," Wysocki told KOMO-AM radio reporter Kristin Hanes in an interview the station shared with local
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293293_hiker22.html
October deadliest month ever in Iraq
By STEVEN R. HURSTASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At least 101 Iraqis died in the country's unending sectarian slaughter Wednesday, and the U.N. reported that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll of the war and one that is sure to be eclipsed when November's dead are counted.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq also said citizens were fleeing the country at a pace of 100,000 each month, and that at least 1.6 million Iraqis have left since the war began in March 2003.
Life for Iraqis, especially in Baghdad and cities and towns in the center of the country, has become increasingly untenable. Many schools failed to open at all in September, and professionals - especially professors, physicians, politicians and journalists - are falling to sectarian killers at a stunning pace.
Lynchings have been reported as Sunnis and Shiites conduct a merciless campaign of revenge killings. Some Shiite residents in the north Baghdad neighborhood of Hurriyah claim that militiamen and death squads are holding Sunni captives in warehouses, then slaughtering them at the funerals of Shiites killed in the tit-for-tat murders.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html
Chemical plant explodes near Boston
By GLEN JOHNSONASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DANVERS, Mass. -- A chemical plant outside Boston blew up Wednesday with a roar so thunderous that people thought it was an earthquake or a plane crash, destroying two dozen homes in the tightly packed neighborhood but causing only minor injuries.
The fiery blast flattened the CAI Inc., a manufacturer of solvents and inks, around 3 a.m., knocking buildings off their foundations, shredding roofs and shattering windows in neighboring Salem. The explosion could be heard more than 20 miles away.
"I was in bed and then next thing I knew, I was on my feet. I saw the flames and grabbed my clothes. My first thought was that an airplane crashed," said Paul O'Donnell, an aircraft mechanic, "but then I thought it was too early for that."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Massachusetts_Explosion.html
Calif. cities reject coal-fired power
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES -- Southern California is gambling its future power needs on its constant sunshine, wind and the ability of engineers to effectively harness those and other alternative energy sources.
Officials in Pasadena, Anaheim and several other large cities notified the Intermountain Power Agency this week that they would not be renewing their contracts for cheap, coal-fired power.
Those contracts expire in 2027. That leaves the cities two decades to secure the alternative energy sources they'll need, from wind farms to desert solar power.
"It's a huge change," said Mayor Todd Campbell of Burbank, among the cities that decided Tuesday to not renew its contract. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had already given notice to the Utah-based power agency. Glendale and Riverside also joined the group.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Calif_Clean_Energy.html
Woman, 92, dies in shootout with police
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA -- A police official said narcotics officers were justified in returning fire on a 92-year-old woman they shot to death after she shot them as they tried to serve a warrant at her house.
Neighbors and relatives said it was a case of mistaken identity. But police said the woman, identified as Kathryn Johnston, was the only resident in the house at the time and had lived there for about 17 years.
Assistant Chief Alan Dreher said the officers had a legal warrant and "knocked and announced" before they forced open the door. He said they were justified in shooting once they were fired upon.
As the plainclothes Atlanta police officers approached the house about 7 p.m., a woman inside started shooting, striking each of them, said Officer Joe Cobb, a police spokesman.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120AP_Elderly_Shootout.html
U.S. to implement passport requirement
By BEVERLEY LUMPKINASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Virtually all air travelers entering the United States beginning Jan. 23 will need to show passports - even U.S. citizens, the Homeland Security Department announced Wednesday.
Until now, U.S. citizens, travelers from Canada and Bermuda, and some travelers from Mexico who have special border-crossing cards for frequent visitors were allowed to show other proofs of identification, such as drivers' licenses or birth certificates.
"The ability to misuse travel documents to enter this country opens the door for a terrorist to carry out an attack," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1155AP_Passports_Air_Travel.html
Some Muslims call airport detention bias
By JOSHUA FREEDASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MINNEAPOLIS -- The police report listed the incident as "Security-Other," but some saw the detention of six imams at the airport here as a case of "Flying while Muslim" - the idea that Muslims come in for extra scrutiny when they fly.
The imams were removed from the flight to Phoenix on Monday night after three of them said their normal evening prayers in the terminal in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport before boarding, said Omar Shahin, president of the North American Imams Federation, who was one of the passengers removed. The passengers were among 150 imams who attended a federation meeting in Minneapolis.
"It's discrimination," Shahin said, calling for a boycott of US Airways.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Passengers_Removed.html
Fusion reactor deal sets stage for energy revolution7 partners hope to mimic sun's power source
By ANGELA CHARLTONTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS -- Physicists have dreamt about it for decades: harnessing the fusion process that powers the sun to make clean, safe and limitless energy. A multinational pact signed Tuesday may bring that dream a step closer to reality.
Seven partners representing half the world's population have agreed to build an experimental fusion reactor in southern France that could revolutionize global energy use for future generations.
Yet it is also just an experiment -- a bold, long-awaited, $12.8 billion experiment -- and it will be decades before scientists are even sure it works.
The ITER project by the United States, the European Union, China, India, Russia, Japan and South Korea will attempt to combat global warming by offering an alternative to fossil fuels. Controlling climate change and finding new energy sources are urgent goals for a growing global population.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/293264_nukefusion22.html
More babies out of wedlock, but don't blame teensBirth rate among girls ages 10 to 17 falls to record low
By MIKE STOBBETHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA -- Out-of-wedlock births in the United States have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, government health officials said Tuesday.
While out-of-wedlock births have long been associated with teen mothers, the birth rate among girls ages 10 to 17 actually dropped last year to the lowest level on record. Instead, births among unwed mothers rose most dramatically among women in their 20s.
Experts said the overall rise reflects the burgeoning number of people who are putting off marriage or living together without getting married. They said it also reflects the fact that having a child out of wedlock is not necessarily the source of shame it once was.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/293280_births22.html
Rape case has Saudis asking questions about legal systemWoman who says she was raped faces punishment
By DONNA ABU-NASRTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AL-AWWAMIYA, Saudi Arabia -- When the young woman went to the police a few months ago to report that she was gang-raped by seven men, she never imagined that the judge would punish her -- and that she would be sentenced to more lashes than one of her rapists received.
The story of the Girl of Qatif, as the alleged rape victim has been called by the media here, has triggered a rare debate about Saudi Arabia's legal system, in which judges have wide discretion in punishing a criminal, rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no defense lawyers are present.
The result, critics say, are sentences left to the whim of judges. These include one in which a group of men got heavier sentences for harassing women than the men in the Girl of Qatif rape case or three men who were convicted of raping a boy. In another, a woman was ordered to divorce her husband against her will based on a demand by her relatives.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/293230_saudi22.html
Aerospace Notebook: Bothell company may offer Internet in skies
By JAMES WALLACEP-I REPORTER
[Editor's Note: This story has been altered since it was first published. The company name of Panasonic Avionics was previously misstated.
Plug in your iPod at 36,000 feet and watch the latest downloaded movies or TV shows on the seatback monitor in front of you.
Make calls on your cell phone or BlackBerry, or send and receive text and instant messages.
Use your laptop to surf the Internet with high-speed broadband service.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/293252_air22.html
Puget Sound Energy offers incentive planIt's aimed at those generating electricity on own
By BILL VIRGINP-I REPORTER
Generating more electricity than you know what to do with? Puget Sound Energy might like to buy some of it from you.
There are some catches to the incentive program the Bellevue-based utility announced Tuesday: The electricity has to come from wind, solar or anaerobic digester systems and from customers already connected to Puget's system.
Those consumers, businesses, government organizations, school districts and non-profits that qualify could receive 15 to 54 cents for every kilowatt-hour of power they generate and sell to Puget, with an annual cap of $2,000 per customer.
What price those customers receive depends on whether the electricity was generated with made-in-Washington equipment. The highest level of credit, for example, would go to a customer using solar modules and an inverter, both made in the state.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/293256_pugetenergy22.html
New Zealand Herald
Wary eyes on bushfire near Sydney
Thursday November 23, 2006
SYDNEY - Firefighters battling a huge bushfire burning out of control in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney said it posed a serious threat to property if winds intensified.
The blaze has burned more than 8000ha of bushland across a broad front about 4km north of the township of Blackheath.
Yesterday, it had not pushed through the Grose Valley because predicted strong winds had not eventuated - gusts of up to 70 km/h were expected, but they were blowing at only half that strength.
Forecasters were still warning of gusts up to 45 km/h and temperatures over 30C.
A New South Wales Fire Brigades strike team was sent to Mt Tomah in case the fire broke out towards property in the lower Grose Valley.
They are among more than 400 firefighters fighting the blaze.
A reconnaissance plane was plotting the fire's course, and 15 aircraft were ready to start waterbombing.
Fire crews were trying to consolidate a 35km containment line
Minister: I'm too busy to join a sex club
Thursday November 23, 2006
Investigate magazine claimed last night that Cabinet Minister David Benson-Pope is a member of a sado-masochistic sex club.
The publication said on its website that Mr Benson-Pope was a member of Southern Kinx, which lists itself as a bondage and discipline sado-masochism (BDSM) club.
One club member said that Mr Benson-Pope, MP for Dunedin South, was not a member. Mr Benson-Pope said that he had taken legal advice about Investigate editor Ian Wishart and his lawyer had been in contact with television networks.
"Enough is enough. You've seen my diary. When would I have time for this?" he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10412063
Doctors warning over immunisation rates
7.45am Thursday November 23, 2006
Doctors have warned of a resurgence of lethal diseases after figures were released showing more than 20 per cent of New Zealand babies miss out on essential vaccinations by five months of age.
The Health Ministry said 95 per cent of children should be vaccinated, but the first figures from the new National Immunisation Register show that while 87 per cent of babies get their first six-week jab, and 84 per cent their second at three months, by five months only 78 per cent are vaccinated.
The Press reported that doctors warned that if immunisations rates got too low, then a range of childhood diseases, including whooping cough and measles, could become more prevalent.
Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner told the newspaper the rates were "extremely concerning if they are correct".
She said a national survey last year showed rates of nearly 90 per cent for the third injection.
Rates above 90 per cent were essential to control diseases such as measles, which can lead to pneumonia and permanent brain damage, and whooping cough, she said.
Fewer maths and physics pupils 'danger to NZ economy'
Thursday November 23, 2006By Claire Trevett
Senior secondary students are shying away from core maths and science subjects, with 24 per cent fewer students taking maths with calculus this year than in 2003 and 15 per cent fewer taking physics.
Since the last year of Bursary exams in 2003, the number of NCEA level 3 students sitting maths with calculus has dropped from 10,280 to 7766 this year.
Physics is another casualty, with a drop from 7761 in 2003 to 6611 level 3 students this year, although numbers at level two have increased slightly.
Maths with calculus has been a topic of controversy in the past two years, when the scholarship exam was criticised for being too difficult for even top maths teachers to complete.
Professor Richard Bellamy, dean of science at Auckland University, said many students now believed maths was the hard way to get into university, even though calculus and physics were prerequisites for courses such as medicine and engineering.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10412060
TV3 wants ad ban waiver for Rugby World Cup
7.00am Thursday November 23, 200
TV3 owner Canwest is seeking an exemption to the ban on Sunday morning television advertising during the Rugby World Cup.
With five of the All Blacks' possible seven games in France next year airing on Sunday morning NZ time, Canwest is worried the advertising ban between 6am and midday could hit its earnings. The games include the semifinal and final.
Opus' Malaysian spin-off
Thursday November 23, 2006
Malaysian property management firm Opus International is to list its New Zealand unit, possibly in that country, a Malaysian business weekly reports.
The Edge said a key driver for the listing was to unlock value in the unit, which has been contributing as much as 90 per cent of group profits.
Stadium decision: Legal challenge threatens today's vote
Thursday November 23, 2006By David Eames
Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard is promising to fight an eleventh-hour legal bid to stop tonight's Auckland City Council decision on the waterfront stadium.
"All our legal advice indicates we are totally in the clear in terms of procedure," he said last night.
Auckland lawyer Rodney Harrison, QC, yesterday said he was preparing a High Court injunction "seeking to restrain decision-making in relation to the waterfront stadium by Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Council".
In a Herald DigiPoll survey, 50 per cent of respondents preferred an upgraded Eden Park to a waterfront stadium.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10412066
U2: From A to NZ
Thursday November 23, 2006
With U2 playing two previously postponed sold-out Auckland concerts we thought it was time to look at the group's 30-year history and examine what they mean now
A is for Adam Clayton
The English-born bass player and the band's non-Christian who after their rise to fame made the most of being a rock star whether he was stepping out with supermodel Naomi Campbell, getting arrested for possession of hash, posing nude for the cover artwork of Achtung Baby, or missing a Sydney concert on the 1993 Zoo TV tour after going on a bender. He stopped drinking after that.
B is for Bono
The man born Paul Hewson in Dublin on May 10, 1960, and whose stage name - Bono Vox was inspired by a sign over a Dublin hearing-aid shop but eventually shortened. Husband of Ali, father of Elijah, Eve, John and Jordan. Neck-risking rock frontman turned human placard turned rock's most respected statesman. Bender of ears of the planet's most powerful figures. Good cop to Bob Geldolf's bad cop when confronting world leaders about Africa.
"My gift is that I'm a singer, a songwriter and a performer. I just happened to have learned other skills to protect that gift and those skills seem to suit political activism."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501133&objectid=10411964
UK may hand Basra back to Iraq in early 2007
8.15am Thursday November 23, 2006By Sophie Walker
LONDON - The British government says it could hand back Basra province to Iraqi control early next year.
The announcement puts a date on a major step towards reducing Britain's presence in Iraq for the first time.
"The progress of our current operation in Basra gives us confidence that we may be able to achieve transition in that province ... at some point next spring," Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told parliament.
Britain, Washington's biggest ally in the Iraq war, has previously refused to set timetables for withdrawal. But a US defence official said last month Britain hoped to withdraw troops within 12 months to focus on the war in Afghanistan.
With troops in both countries, Britain's forces are stretched, particularly as soldiers in southern Afghanistan are embroiled in a fierce struggle against a revitalised Taleban -- which says it is planning a fresh offensive when winter ends.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10412072
Mourners pay tribute to Lebanon minister
7.55am Thursday November 23, 2006
BEIRUT - Hundreds of Lebanese mourners have pressed to touch the coffin of minister Pierre Gemayel whose assassination, blamed by his allies on Syria, stoked fears of more killings and a surge in factional violence.
Anger and apprehension gripped the country as it prepared to bury Industry Minister Gemayel, a Christian gunned down as he drove through a Beirut suburb on Tuesday. He was the sixth anti-Syrian politician to be killed in nearly two years.
Anti-Syrian Lebanese leaders said Damascus was behind the killing and they expected the murders of more politicians who spearheaded protests that led to Syria's military withdrawal from Lebanon last year.
"It seems the Syrian regime will continue with the assassinations. I expect more assassinations but no matter what they do, we are here and we will be victorious," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10412071
World condemns Lebanon killing
11.35am Wednesday November 22, 2006By Paul Hughes
LONDON - World leaders have condemned the killing of a Lebanese Christian cabinet minister, with Western powers vowing to do their utmost to prevent the collapse of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's unsteady government.
Pierre Gemayel, shot dead near Beirut, was the fourth outspoken anti-Syrian critic to be killed in Lebanon since the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri sparked a period of political upheaval in the country.
US President George W. Bush, speaking in Hawaii, called for a full investigation to "identify those people and those forces behind the killing."
The industry minister's death coincides with sharp differences between Lebanon's anti-Syrian majority and the pro-Damascus opposition led by Hezbollah, which is determined to topple what it sees as a pro-US government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411940
London Olympics costs jump 40pc
Thursday November 23, 2006
LONDON - The estimated cost of building sports facilities for the 2012 London Olympics has soared by about 40 per cent.
Sports Minister Tessa Jowell has blamed higher steel prices and transport costs for the rise to £3.3 billion ($9.48 billion) in the official estimate of the cost of building the Olympic Park, the main complex for the Games in east London.
That is £900 million higher than the estimate given in London's bid to host the Games. Some newspaper reports have said the games could cost as much as £10 billion.
The British media has voiced concern over the escalating cost of the Olympics after Jack Lemley resigned last month as chairman of the body responsible for creating infrastructure for the event.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412047
Papua New Guinea militia chief shot in raid
Thursday November 23, 2006
PORT MORESBY - A notorious conman and leader of a private army has been shot and wounded and four of his bodyguards killed in a raid on their base in Bougainville.
Self-proclaimed king Noah Musingku was wounded in the neck when former combatants in Bougainville's bloody secessionist conflict attacked his Tonu base, Papua New Guinea's two national newspapers said.
The raiders, calling themselves the Bougainville Freedom Fighters, burnt down the camp, killed four bodyguards and wounded Musingku and three of five former Fijian soldiers hired to train his security force, the National reported. One BFF man was killed and two were wounded.
The raid reportedly arose from frustration at the inability of the Autonomous Bougainville Government to arrest Musingku and stop crime in the area.
Disbelief at French judge's claims of war crimes
Thursday November 23, 2006By Alex Duval Smith
PARIS - The Rwandan Government reacted with stupefaction yesterday to a call by a French judge for the country's President, Paul Kagame, to face an international tribunal for his alleged role in triggering the 1994 genocide.
"France is trying to turn the blame around to salve its own very damaged conscience over the genocide and the role of high-ranking French officers in it," said Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Murigande.
Legal experts were puzzled by the move on Tuesday by high profile French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, to call for arrest warrants to be issued against nine Rwandan officials, including Rwanda's current chief of staff.
Bruguiere also said he would write to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to ask that Kagame be brought before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which tries genocide suspects in Arusha, Tanzania. French law prevents him from attempting to prosecute Kagame because he is a serving head of state.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412042
Sense of guilt surrounds search for truth
Thursday November 23, 2006By Fergal Keane
Will we ever learn the truth about this genocide? In the months leading up to the explosion of genocide in Rwanda in April 1994, human rights groups, diplomats and United Nations peacekeepers were warning of the danger of large-scale killing.
Human rights organisation Africa Watch wrote: "The perpetrators, high within Government circles, had made meticulous plans. A radio station under their control, Radio Mille Collines, had been whipping up anti-Tutsi hysteria for months. Secret arms caches were kept ready for use by Government soldiers and the party militia, the core cadre of which had been trained in the tactics of slaughter. Lists of Tutsis and their Hutu sympathisers had been compiled for targeting. Only a trigger was needed."
None of this would have escaped the attention of the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Major General Paul Kagame. He would have been well aware that Rwanda was a tinderbox. Any violent action by a group linked to the Tutsi minority could provoke a terrible response from the Hutu extremists.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412041
Auckland berth leaves Tauranga at sea
Thursday November 23, 2006By Jenny Keown
The decision by giant container line Maersk to run the bulk of its services through Ports of Auckland puts question marks over the proposed merger with Port of Tauranga and could drive a wedge between the ports.
The Danish shipping line said yesterday that Ports of Auckland would get the "significant" share of its port calls but Tauranga would continue to handle some of Maersk's services.
Port of Tauranga said the decision would cost it $1 million a month in revenue - or around 7 per cent of its annual revenue - and its shares tumbled 50c to close at $5.70.
The two ports announced their plan to merge to form a super-port last October in a move that would have tipped the balance of negotiating power in favour of the ports.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10412020
Follow the rainbow on the beach
Thursday November 23, 2006By Andrew Stone
The Australian coast, you'd think, would be hard to miss. Its treacherous shores with reefs and sharks and stingers sound loud notes of caution. But the captain of the Cherry Venture, a 1600 tonne Singaporean cargo ship bound for Brisbane from Auckland, ran into it in July 1973, driven ashore by a ferocious storm and huge seas.
Without cargo, and with little ballast on board, the ship was at the mercy of wind and tide when it got too close to the lighthouse at Double Island Point, a Sunshine Coast landmark and popular surfing spot.
With 12m swells lifting the ship's propeller clear of the sea and the atrocious weather making a rescue impossible, the Cherry Venture was carried ashore on a king tide, snapping anchor cables dropped in a forlorn bid to hold the ship off the beach.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/7/story.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10411417
Chinese cyclists in highly charged power struggle
Thursday November 23, 2006By Clifford Coonan
GUANGZHOU - The classic images of Chinese traffic are armies of bicycles jostling for space or thousands of cars filling the sky with smog, but for millions of commuters in the big cities, the electric bike is the only way to travel.
They're cheap, costing between £200 ($568) and £600, use no expensive petrol and are much less polluting than cars, making them the preferred mode of transport of choice for 15 million Chinese.
The sight of electric bicycles beating the traffic by whizzing between the cars is an increasingly common and often hair-raising sight.
Delivery men and office workers swear by them, while they are also popular with retirees lacking pedal power for getting around town.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412040
Airbus may end up grounded if superjumbo fails to take off
Thursday November 23, 2006By Michael Harrison
PARIS - The superlatives abound. It is wider than a football pitch and almost as long, four times the height of a double-decker bus, and weighs 560 tonnes.
The A380 superjumbo is, in other words, large. Obscenely so, some might say, since the list price is an equally extravagant £166 million ($471.5 million) - enough to build a hospital or three.
Its maker, Airbus, is seeking to reassure the world that the biggest airliner ever to grace the skies will be a commercial success when it enters service.
But when exactly will that be? There could be no more pertinent question for Europe's answer to Boeing and, until recently, a shiningly successful example of cross-Channel industrial co-operation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412038
Britain just the job for eastern European workers
Thursday November 23, 2006By Nigel Morris
LONDON - From bus drivers to beauticians and from clowns to civil engineers, the influx of east and central Europeans has had a dramatic impact on the British jobs market.
Everyone has heard of Polish plumbers and Slovak nannies, but new figures disclose that newcomers from former Iron Curtain countries are working in every conceivable capacity across the United Kingdom.
The number of immigrants from the European Union's new member states registering to work has reached half a million for the first time since the EU expanded in May 2004.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411992
Frog kits fail to make cut
Thursday November 23, 2006
NEW YORK - Shoppers at upscale United States menswear and accessory store Jack Spade in Manhattan were hopping mad to see frog dissection kits selling alongside leather file cases and Italian calfskin passport holders.
The US$40 ($60) kit came in a cloth bag complete with a vacuum-sealed formaldehyde-treated frog, scissors, magnifying glass, forceps, probing sticks, ruler, instruction booklet on how to explore the animal's innards, and a moist tissue. After complaints from shoppers and animal activists, the store apologised and said it had removed the kits and would not stock them.
Doctors say cause of KGB agent's illness unknown
9.25am Wednesday November 22, 2006By Cahal Milmo
LONDON - Doctors treating the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko have said he is unlikely to have been poisoned with the lethal toxin thallium and the cause of his symptoms is unknown.
Urgent tests are being conducted to try to identify the substance or substances which have left the 43-year-old intelligence officer in an intensive care unit with a crippled immune system.
In a day of further twists to the Cold War-style saga, which is the subject of an international hunt by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, experts raised the possibility that Mr Litvinenko had been attacked with a radioactive chemical.
Early tests had indicated that the former agent, a strident critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned on November 1 with a thallium salt, known as the "secret agents' poison" because it is tasteless, odourless and deadly in very small quantities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411921
Eight dead, 15 trapped after Polish mine blast
1.00pm Wednesday November 22, 2006By Wojciech Zurawski
RUDA SLASKA, Poland - A gas explosion killed at least eight miners and trapped around 15 others underground in a deep coal mine in southern Poland on Tuesday, officials said.
A major rescue effort was under way in the town of Ruda Slaska, around 300km southwest of the capital, Warsaw.
A spokesman for the state-run Polish Coal Company said it was impossible to say whether rescuers would be able to reach the rest of the men who were trapped underground after a large explosion, probably caused by methane, at around 4:30pm (0430 NZT).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411945
Red Cross suspends Gaza field work after abductions
10.45am Wednesday November 22, 2006
GAZA - The Red Cross has suspended its field work in the Gaza Strip following the abductions of two employees, a spokesman said.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross has suspended its field operations in Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of two employees of the Italian Red Cross in Gaza," Iyad Nasir, a spokesman in Gaza for the ICRC, said.
He said Red Cross employees would continue to work in Gaza but inside their offices and would intervene only in "urgent" matters of life and death situations.
Individual Palestinians own '40 per cent of occupied West Bank'
1.00pm Wednesday November 22, 2006By Donald Macintyre
JERUSALEM - Almost 40 per cent of the land used by Israel for its settlements in the occupied West Bank is the private property of Palestinians, the Israeli organisation Peace Now said yesterday on the basis of leaked official maps and other data.
Contrary to official claims that the land used for settlements is state-owned and that private property is only seized temporarily for security reasons, the leak shows that privately owned Palestinian land has been repeatedly used to build and expand settlements.
The potential embarrassment to Israel of the disclosure is all the greater because it suggests that the use of Palestinian private land is especially prevalent in some of the Jewish settlements which successive Israeli governments have made clear they are determined to keep in any final peace deal.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411924
Israel enters deep into Gaza
6.20am Wednesday November 22, 2006
Israeli troops and tanks pushed deep into the Gaza Strip in two raids, clashing with Palestinian gunmen in Gaza City.
A column of about 30 tanks penetrated the heart of Gaza City and entered the Zeitoun district, a known militant stronghold.
There were no reports of any casualties.
Australian woman arrested in Bali on drugs charges
5.20am Wednesday November 22, 2006
An Australian woman has been arrested in Bali, accused of possessing heroin and marijuana.
Michelle Dawn Condon was last night being held at Bali's provincial police headquarters.
Police allege she had 0.2g of crystal methamphetamine.
NZ troops to go on patrol in Tonga but 'not taking sides'
Thursday November 23, 2006
New Zealand troops have been given permission to go on patrol alongside their Tongan colleagues.
Ministers yesterday gave the go-head for the soldiers to do more than than guard the international airport and can now enter the riot-torn streets of the capital Nuku'alofa.
In another development, it was reported that China was preparing to evacuate its nationals from Tonga.
Radio New Zealand quoted a Chinese diplomat in Nuku'Alofa, which was devastated by rioters looting and burning buildings, as saying about 200 people were being cared for at the Chinese embassy or in a hotel. Those who wanted to leave would be repatriated on a charter flight.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the defence force and police acting in the joint force with Australia would help authorities maintain law and order so the reform process could proceed peacefully. He rejected suggestions that New Zealand had effectively sided with the Government by deploying personnel to Tonga.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10412062
New Zealand ponders aid package for Tonga
Wednesday November 22, 2006By Mike Houlahan and Agencies
New Zealand politicians have turned their attention to how to pay for the rebuilding of Nuku'alofa, as residents of the Tongan capital ask who was behind destructive violence that caused an estimated $90 million damage.
Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday said New Zealand was considering what developmental aid could be given to Tonga.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Government was last night still to decide whether soldiers rushed to Tonga over the weekend to secure the airport would have their role expanded to patrolling Nuku'alofa.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411890
Prince Charles on the web
8.20am Wednesday November 22, 2006
Prince Charles has taken a leap into the internet age, posting a day-in-the-life video on his revamped personal website, www.princeofwales.gov.uk
The short film follows the Prince through a typical day.
It shows him working at his London office, carrying out public engagements with the Duchess of Cornwall and flying by helicopter to his country home.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411907
Borat movie gives Kazakh state website a hit
Thursday November 16, 2006
ALMATY - Visits to the website of Kazakhstan's state news agency have almost doubled in the run-up to the premiere of a film about spoof Kazakh TV reporter Borat.
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the boorish and offensive Borat, set up a website to promote his new film, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan".
Styling itself as the "Ministry of Information", Borat's page carries a prominent link to the country's real state news agency Kazinform.
According to data provided by Russian website traffic monitoring service Mail.ru, the number of unique visitors to Kazinform's website has nearly doubled to 27,000 a week in the run-up to the movie's premiere.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10411057
US creates spy share technology
Saturday November 18, 2006
United States officials say they have created their own version of Wikipedia for intelligence agents in a bid to encourage US spy agencies to share information and transcend bureaucratic rivalries.
Launched in April, Intellipedia allows analysts and officials from a range of agencies to add and edit content on intelligence topics in a collaborative manner through a classified internal web.
The office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) says the project will help revolutionise the prevailing culture of the US intelligence community, widely blamed for failing to "connect the dots" before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The project was greeted initially with "a lot of resistance", says Michael Wertheimer, DNI's chief technology officer in analysis, because it runs counter to past practice that sought to limit the pooling of information.
"There were a lot of analysts who said, 'I'm never going to use this, this is a waste of time'."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10411314
continued ...
Have city job, will travelMunicipal employees, elected officials are often on the road, with modest oversight
By KATHY MULADYP-I REPORTER
First there was the trip to Austin, Texas, for the South by Southwest film and music festival. Next, James Keblas jetted to San Francisco and Hollywood to investigate nightlife. Then it was off to Scotland for Cineposium, an international film industry conference. In January, the director of the Mayor's Office for Film and Music headed to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah for six days.
Records show that Keblas spent almost $11,000 in taxpayer money on travel during his first nine months in office.
He wasn't the only well-traveled city employee.
Last year, hundreds of Seattle employees racked up $2.4 million in out-of-city travel expenses, including $909,000 spent by Seattle City Light, the city-run electric utility. But despite its travel bills, the city has no computerized database or central oversight of employee travel. In fact, travel has not been audited citywide in 10 years.
And that means few expenses are questioned outside of individual departments, leaving the city's nearly 40 department managers to unilaterally OK conference, workshop and training travel -- often in far-flung or fun destinations.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293277_travelx22.html
State Supreme Court upholds conviction in medical marijuana case
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a Skamania County woman who used marijuana to relieve chronic pain.
In the 6-3 decision today the court said Sharon Lee Tracy failed to prove that she qualified under Washington's medical marijuana law -- Initiative 692, which passed in 1998. She had a California medical marijuana card but it was not entered as part of the evidence.
Tracy was convicted of possession and manufacture of marijuana.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge James Johnson says the court should have recognized voter intent for the compassionate use of marijuana.
Judge: No class-action suit over Vioxx
By JANET MCCONNAUGHEYASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS -- Thousands of federal lawsuits claiming the drug Vioxx caused heart attacks and other conditions that killed or injured people cannot be pooled into one national class action, a judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon, who was appointed to deal with pretrial matters for all federal suits involving Merck & Co.'s withdrawn painkiller, did not rule on the possibility of separate class-actions suits for each state and the District of Columbia.
His 25-page ruling rejected the plaintiffs' proposal to try all of the cases under the laws in New Jersey. They argued that the company should reasonably expect to follow the laws of the state where it is headquartered.
"While this is true, it is just as true that Merck, an international corporation providing its drugs to every state in the nation, should expect to abide by every jurisdiction's laws," Fallon wrote.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Vioxx_Trials.html
Rainier Valley barber shop owner flees U.S.Facing sentencing in plea deal, he phones FBI to say he's in Somalia
By PAUL SHUKOVSKYP-I REPORTER
Ruben Shumpert, who federal agents allege made his Rainier Valley barber shop a kind of "anti-American training ground for Muslims" where children were taught "how to shoot and fight the Americans," has telephoned the FBI to say he won't be going to prison anytime soon.
Shumpert, who faces sentencing on federal counterfeiting and weapons charges, has fled to Somalia.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Shumpert, who is also known as Amir Abdul Muhaimin, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Redkey said. He was to be sentenced Tuesday.
Shumpert -- an African American convert to Islam -- was among more than a dozen, mostly African immigrants from Islamic countries arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force two years ago on a mix of charges, including immigration fraud and bank fraud.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293279_antiamerican22.html
Yellow rain gear key to hiker's rescueClothing she found helped catch pilot's eye
By HECTOR CASTROP-I REPORTER
They were too big to wear, but a pair of bright yellow rain pants that Cindy Wysocki found during her two days lost in the wilderness proved to be a perfect rescue beacon.
The 31-year-old lawyer, who survived in the Snoqualmie National Forest for two nights and two days, used those yellow pants Monday afternoon to wave down a King County sheriff's helicopter searching for her.
"I was just really glad that they were there, because I was thinking that this next night was going to be a really hard time," Wysocki told KOMO-AM radio reporter Kristin Hanes in an interview the station shared with local
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293293_hiker22.html
October deadliest month ever in Iraq
By STEVEN R. HURSTASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At least 101 Iraqis died in the country's unending sectarian slaughter Wednesday, and the U.N. reported that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll of the war and one that is sure to be eclipsed when November's dead are counted.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq also said citizens were fleeing the country at a pace of 100,000 each month, and that at least 1.6 million Iraqis have left since the war began in March 2003.
Life for Iraqis, especially in Baghdad and cities and towns in the center of the country, has become increasingly untenable. Many schools failed to open at all in September, and professionals - especially professors, physicians, politicians and journalists - are falling to sectarian killers at a stunning pace.
Lynchings have been reported as Sunnis and Shiites conduct a merciless campaign of revenge killings. Some Shiite residents in the north Baghdad neighborhood of Hurriyah claim that militiamen and death squads are holding Sunni captives in warehouses, then slaughtering them at the funerals of Shiites killed in the tit-for-tat murders.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html
Chemical plant explodes near Boston
By GLEN JOHNSONASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DANVERS, Mass. -- A chemical plant outside Boston blew up Wednesday with a roar so thunderous that people thought it was an earthquake or a plane crash, destroying two dozen homes in the tightly packed neighborhood but causing only minor injuries.
The fiery blast flattened the CAI Inc., a manufacturer of solvents and inks, around 3 a.m., knocking buildings off their foundations, shredding roofs and shattering windows in neighboring Salem. The explosion could be heard more than 20 miles away.
"I was in bed and then next thing I knew, I was on my feet. I saw the flames and grabbed my clothes. My first thought was that an airplane crashed," said Paul O'Donnell, an aircraft mechanic, "but then I thought it was too early for that."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Massachusetts_Explosion.html
Calif. cities reject coal-fired power
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES -- Southern California is gambling its future power needs on its constant sunshine, wind and the ability of engineers to effectively harness those and other alternative energy sources.
Officials in Pasadena, Anaheim and several other large cities notified the Intermountain Power Agency this week that they would not be renewing their contracts for cheap, coal-fired power.
Those contracts expire in 2027. That leaves the cities two decades to secure the alternative energy sources they'll need, from wind farms to desert solar power.
"It's a huge change," said Mayor Todd Campbell of Burbank, among the cities that decided Tuesday to not renew its contract. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had already given notice to the Utah-based power agency. Glendale and Riverside also joined the group.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Calif_Clean_Energy.html
Woman, 92, dies in shootout with police
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA -- A police official said narcotics officers were justified in returning fire on a 92-year-old woman they shot to death after she shot them as they tried to serve a warrant at her house.
Neighbors and relatives said it was a case of mistaken identity. But police said the woman, identified as Kathryn Johnston, was the only resident in the house at the time and had lived there for about 17 years.
Assistant Chief Alan Dreher said the officers had a legal warrant and "knocked and announced" before they forced open the door. He said they were justified in shooting once they were fired upon.
As the plainclothes Atlanta police officers approached the house about 7 p.m., a woman inside started shooting, striking each of them, said Officer Joe Cobb, a police spokesman.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120AP_Elderly_Shootout.html
U.S. to implement passport requirement
By BEVERLEY LUMPKINASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Virtually all air travelers entering the United States beginning Jan. 23 will need to show passports - even U.S. citizens, the Homeland Security Department announced Wednesday.
Until now, U.S. citizens, travelers from Canada and Bermuda, and some travelers from Mexico who have special border-crossing cards for frequent visitors were allowed to show other proofs of identification, such as drivers' licenses or birth certificates.
"The ability to misuse travel documents to enter this country opens the door for a terrorist to carry out an attack," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1155AP_Passports_Air_Travel.html
Some Muslims call airport detention bias
By JOSHUA FREEDASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MINNEAPOLIS -- The police report listed the incident as "Security-Other," but some saw the detention of six imams at the airport here as a case of "Flying while Muslim" - the idea that Muslims come in for extra scrutiny when they fly.
The imams were removed from the flight to Phoenix on Monday night after three of them said their normal evening prayers in the terminal in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport before boarding, said Omar Shahin, president of the North American Imams Federation, who was one of the passengers removed. The passengers were among 150 imams who attended a federation meeting in Minneapolis.
"It's discrimination," Shahin said, calling for a boycott of US Airways.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Passengers_Removed.html
Fusion reactor deal sets stage for energy revolution7 partners hope to mimic sun's power source
By ANGELA CHARLTONTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS -- Physicists have dreamt about it for decades: harnessing the fusion process that powers the sun to make clean, safe and limitless energy. A multinational pact signed Tuesday may bring that dream a step closer to reality.
Seven partners representing half the world's population have agreed to build an experimental fusion reactor in southern France that could revolutionize global energy use for future generations.
Yet it is also just an experiment -- a bold, long-awaited, $12.8 billion experiment -- and it will be decades before scientists are even sure it works.
The ITER project by the United States, the European Union, China, India, Russia, Japan and South Korea will attempt to combat global warming by offering an alternative to fossil fuels. Controlling climate change and finding new energy sources are urgent goals for a growing global population.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/293264_nukefusion22.html
More babies out of wedlock, but don't blame teensBirth rate among girls ages 10 to 17 falls to record low
By MIKE STOBBETHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA -- Out-of-wedlock births in the United States have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, government health officials said Tuesday.
While out-of-wedlock births have long been associated with teen mothers, the birth rate among girls ages 10 to 17 actually dropped last year to the lowest level on record. Instead, births among unwed mothers rose most dramatically among women in their 20s.
Experts said the overall rise reflects the burgeoning number of people who are putting off marriage or living together without getting married. They said it also reflects the fact that having a child out of wedlock is not necessarily the source of shame it once was.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/293280_births22.html
Rape case has Saudis asking questions about legal systemWoman who says she was raped faces punishment
By DONNA ABU-NASRTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AL-AWWAMIYA, Saudi Arabia -- When the young woman went to the police a few months ago to report that she was gang-raped by seven men, she never imagined that the judge would punish her -- and that she would be sentenced to more lashes than one of her rapists received.
The story of the Girl of Qatif, as the alleged rape victim has been called by the media here, has triggered a rare debate about Saudi Arabia's legal system, in which judges have wide discretion in punishing a criminal, rules of evidence are shaky and sometimes no defense lawyers are present.
The result, critics say, are sentences left to the whim of judges. These include one in which a group of men got heavier sentences for harassing women than the men in the Girl of Qatif rape case or three men who were convicted of raping a boy. In another, a woman was ordered to divorce her husband against her will based on a demand by her relatives.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/293230_saudi22.html
Aerospace Notebook: Bothell company may offer Internet in skies
By JAMES WALLACEP-I REPORTER
[Editor's Note: This story has been altered since it was first published. The company name of Panasonic Avionics was previously misstated.
Plug in your iPod at 36,000 feet and watch the latest downloaded movies or TV shows on the seatback monitor in front of you.
Make calls on your cell phone or BlackBerry, or send and receive text and instant messages.
Use your laptop to surf the Internet with high-speed broadband service.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/293252_air22.html
Puget Sound Energy offers incentive planIt's aimed at those generating electricity on own
By BILL VIRGINP-I REPORTER
Generating more electricity than you know what to do with? Puget Sound Energy might like to buy some of it from you.
There are some catches to the incentive program the Bellevue-based utility announced Tuesday: The electricity has to come from wind, solar or anaerobic digester systems and from customers already connected to Puget's system.
Those consumers, businesses, government organizations, school districts and non-profits that qualify could receive 15 to 54 cents for every kilowatt-hour of power they generate and sell to Puget, with an annual cap of $2,000 per customer.
What price those customers receive depends on whether the electricity was generated with made-in-Washington equipment. The highest level of credit, for example, would go to a customer using solar modules and an inverter, both made in the state.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/293256_pugetenergy22.html
New Zealand Herald
Wary eyes on bushfire near Sydney
Thursday November 23, 2006
SYDNEY - Firefighters battling a huge bushfire burning out of control in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney said it posed a serious threat to property if winds intensified.
The blaze has burned more than 8000ha of bushland across a broad front about 4km north of the township of Blackheath.
Yesterday, it had not pushed through the Grose Valley because predicted strong winds had not eventuated - gusts of up to 70 km/h were expected, but they were blowing at only half that strength.
Forecasters were still warning of gusts up to 45 km/h and temperatures over 30C.
A New South Wales Fire Brigades strike team was sent to Mt Tomah in case the fire broke out towards property in the lower Grose Valley.
They are among more than 400 firefighters fighting the blaze.
A reconnaissance plane was plotting the fire's course, and 15 aircraft were ready to start waterbombing.
Fire crews were trying to consolidate a 35km containment line
Minister: I'm too busy to join a sex club
Thursday November 23, 2006
Investigate magazine claimed last night that Cabinet Minister David Benson-Pope is a member of a sado-masochistic sex club.
The publication said on its website that Mr Benson-Pope was a member of Southern Kinx, which lists itself as a bondage and discipline sado-masochism (BDSM) club.
One club member said that Mr Benson-Pope, MP for Dunedin South, was not a member. Mr Benson-Pope said that he had taken legal advice about Investigate editor Ian Wishart and his lawyer had been in contact with television networks.
"Enough is enough. You've seen my diary. When would I have time for this?" he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10412063
Doctors warning over immunisation rates
7.45am Thursday November 23, 2006
Doctors have warned of a resurgence of lethal diseases after figures were released showing more than 20 per cent of New Zealand babies miss out on essential vaccinations by five months of age.
The Health Ministry said 95 per cent of children should be vaccinated, but the first figures from the new National Immunisation Register show that while 87 per cent of babies get their first six-week jab, and 84 per cent their second at three months, by five months only 78 per cent are vaccinated.
The Press reported that doctors warned that if immunisations rates got too low, then a range of childhood diseases, including whooping cough and measles, could become more prevalent.
Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner told the newspaper the rates were "extremely concerning if they are correct".
She said a national survey last year showed rates of nearly 90 per cent for the third injection.
Rates above 90 per cent were essential to control diseases such as measles, which can lead to pneumonia and permanent brain damage, and whooping cough, she said.
Fewer maths and physics pupils 'danger to NZ economy'
Thursday November 23, 2006By Claire Trevett
Senior secondary students are shying away from core maths and science subjects, with 24 per cent fewer students taking maths with calculus this year than in 2003 and 15 per cent fewer taking physics.
Since the last year of Bursary exams in 2003, the number of NCEA level 3 students sitting maths with calculus has dropped from 10,280 to 7766 this year.
Physics is another casualty, with a drop from 7761 in 2003 to 6611 level 3 students this year, although numbers at level two have increased slightly.
Maths with calculus has been a topic of controversy in the past two years, when the scholarship exam was criticised for being too difficult for even top maths teachers to complete.
Professor Richard Bellamy, dean of science at Auckland University, said many students now believed maths was the hard way to get into university, even though calculus and physics were prerequisites for courses such as medicine and engineering.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10412060
TV3 wants ad ban waiver for Rugby World Cup
7.00am Thursday November 23, 200
TV3 owner Canwest is seeking an exemption to the ban on Sunday morning television advertising during the Rugby World Cup.
With five of the All Blacks' possible seven games in France next year airing on Sunday morning NZ time, Canwest is worried the advertising ban between 6am and midday could hit its earnings. The games include the semifinal and final.
Opus' Malaysian spin-off
Thursday November 23, 2006
Malaysian property management firm Opus International is to list its New Zealand unit, possibly in that country, a Malaysian business weekly reports.
The Edge said a key driver for the listing was to unlock value in the unit, which has been contributing as much as 90 per cent of group profits.
Stadium decision: Legal challenge threatens today's vote
Thursday November 23, 2006By David Eames
Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard is promising to fight an eleventh-hour legal bid to stop tonight's Auckland City Council decision on the waterfront stadium.
"All our legal advice indicates we are totally in the clear in terms of procedure," he said last night.
Auckland lawyer Rodney Harrison, QC, yesterday said he was preparing a High Court injunction "seeking to restrain decision-making in relation to the waterfront stadium by Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Council".
In a Herald DigiPoll survey, 50 per cent of respondents preferred an upgraded Eden Park to a waterfront stadium.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10412066
U2: From A to NZ
Thursday November 23, 2006
With U2 playing two previously postponed sold-out Auckland concerts we thought it was time to look at the group's 30-year history and examine what they mean now
A is for Adam Clayton
The English-born bass player and the band's non-Christian who after their rise to fame made the most of being a rock star whether he was stepping out with supermodel Naomi Campbell, getting arrested for possession of hash, posing nude for the cover artwork of Achtung Baby, or missing a Sydney concert on the 1993 Zoo TV tour after going on a bender. He stopped drinking after that.
B is for Bono
The man born Paul Hewson in Dublin on May 10, 1960, and whose stage name - Bono Vox was inspired by a sign over a Dublin hearing-aid shop but eventually shortened. Husband of Ali, father of Elijah, Eve, John and Jordan. Neck-risking rock frontman turned human placard turned rock's most respected statesman. Bender of ears of the planet's most powerful figures. Good cop to Bob Geldolf's bad cop when confronting world leaders about Africa.
"My gift is that I'm a singer, a songwriter and a performer. I just happened to have learned other skills to protect that gift and those skills seem to suit political activism."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501133&objectid=10411964
UK may hand Basra back to Iraq in early 2007
8.15am Thursday November 23, 2006By Sophie Walker
LONDON - The British government says it could hand back Basra province to Iraqi control early next year.
The announcement puts a date on a major step towards reducing Britain's presence in Iraq for the first time.
"The progress of our current operation in Basra gives us confidence that we may be able to achieve transition in that province ... at some point next spring," Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told parliament.
Britain, Washington's biggest ally in the Iraq war, has previously refused to set timetables for withdrawal. But a US defence official said last month Britain hoped to withdraw troops within 12 months to focus on the war in Afghanistan.
With troops in both countries, Britain's forces are stretched, particularly as soldiers in southern Afghanistan are embroiled in a fierce struggle against a revitalised Taleban -- which says it is planning a fresh offensive when winter ends.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10412072
Mourners pay tribute to Lebanon minister
7.55am Thursday November 23, 2006
BEIRUT - Hundreds of Lebanese mourners have pressed to touch the coffin of minister Pierre Gemayel whose assassination, blamed by his allies on Syria, stoked fears of more killings and a surge in factional violence.
Anger and apprehension gripped the country as it prepared to bury Industry Minister Gemayel, a Christian gunned down as he drove through a Beirut suburb on Tuesday. He was the sixth anti-Syrian politician to be killed in nearly two years.
Anti-Syrian Lebanese leaders said Damascus was behind the killing and they expected the murders of more politicians who spearheaded protests that led to Syria's military withdrawal from Lebanon last year.
"It seems the Syrian regime will continue with the assassinations. I expect more assassinations but no matter what they do, we are here and we will be victorious," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10412071
World condemns Lebanon killing
11.35am Wednesday November 22, 2006By Paul Hughes
LONDON - World leaders have condemned the killing of a Lebanese Christian cabinet minister, with Western powers vowing to do their utmost to prevent the collapse of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's unsteady government.
Pierre Gemayel, shot dead near Beirut, was the fourth outspoken anti-Syrian critic to be killed in Lebanon since the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri sparked a period of political upheaval in the country.
US President George W. Bush, speaking in Hawaii, called for a full investigation to "identify those people and those forces behind the killing."
The industry minister's death coincides with sharp differences between Lebanon's anti-Syrian majority and the pro-Damascus opposition led by Hezbollah, which is determined to topple what it sees as a pro-US government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411940
London Olympics costs jump 40pc
Thursday November 23, 2006
LONDON - The estimated cost of building sports facilities for the 2012 London Olympics has soared by about 40 per cent.
Sports Minister Tessa Jowell has blamed higher steel prices and transport costs for the rise to £3.3 billion ($9.48 billion) in the official estimate of the cost of building the Olympic Park, the main complex for the Games in east London.
That is £900 million higher than the estimate given in London's bid to host the Games. Some newspaper reports have said the games could cost as much as £10 billion.
The British media has voiced concern over the escalating cost of the Olympics after Jack Lemley resigned last month as chairman of the body responsible for creating infrastructure for the event.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412047
Papua New Guinea militia chief shot in raid
Thursday November 23, 2006
PORT MORESBY - A notorious conman and leader of a private army has been shot and wounded and four of his bodyguards killed in a raid on their base in Bougainville.
Self-proclaimed king Noah Musingku was wounded in the neck when former combatants in Bougainville's bloody secessionist conflict attacked his Tonu base, Papua New Guinea's two national newspapers said.
The raiders, calling themselves the Bougainville Freedom Fighters, burnt down the camp, killed four bodyguards and wounded Musingku and three of five former Fijian soldiers hired to train his security force, the National reported. One BFF man was killed and two were wounded.
The raid reportedly arose from frustration at the inability of the Autonomous Bougainville Government to arrest Musingku and stop crime in the area.
Disbelief at French judge's claims of war crimes
Thursday November 23, 2006By Alex Duval Smith
PARIS - The Rwandan Government reacted with stupefaction yesterday to a call by a French judge for the country's President, Paul Kagame, to face an international tribunal for his alleged role in triggering the 1994 genocide.
"France is trying to turn the blame around to salve its own very damaged conscience over the genocide and the role of high-ranking French officers in it," said Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Murigande.
Legal experts were puzzled by the move on Tuesday by high profile French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, to call for arrest warrants to be issued against nine Rwandan officials, including Rwanda's current chief of staff.
Bruguiere also said he would write to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to ask that Kagame be brought before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which tries genocide suspects in Arusha, Tanzania. French law prevents him from attempting to prosecute Kagame because he is a serving head of state.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412042
Sense of guilt surrounds search for truth
Thursday November 23, 2006By Fergal Keane
Will we ever learn the truth about this genocide? In the months leading up to the explosion of genocide in Rwanda in April 1994, human rights groups, diplomats and United Nations peacekeepers were warning of the danger of large-scale killing.
Human rights organisation Africa Watch wrote: "The perpetrators, high within Government circles, had made meticulous plans. A radio station under their control, Radio Mille Collines, had been whipping up anti-Tutsi hysteria for months. Secret arms caches were kept ready for use by Government soldiers and the party militia, the core cadre of which had been trained in the tactics of slaughter. Lists of Tutsis and their Hutu sympathisers had been compiled for targeting. Only a trigger was needed."
None of this would have escaped the attention of the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Major General Paul Kagame. He would have been well aware that Rwanda was a tinderbox. Any violent action by a group linked to the Tutsi minority could provoke a terrible response from the Hutu extremists.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412041
Auckland berth leaves Tauranga at sea
Thursday November 23, 2006By Jenny Keown
The decision by giant container line Maersk to run the bulk of its services through Ports of Auckland puts question marks over the proposed merger with Port of Tauranga and could drive a wedge between the ports.
The Danish shipping line said yesterday that Ports of Auckland would get the "significant" share of its port calls but Tauranga would continue to handle some of Maersk's services.
Port of Tauranga said the decision would cost it $1 million a month in revenue - or around 7 per cent of its annual revenue - and its shares tumbled 50c to close at $5.70.
The two ports announced their plan to merge to form a super-port last October in a move that would have tipped the balance of negotiating power in favour of the ports.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10412020
Follow the rainbow on the beach
Thursday November 23, 2006By Andrew Stone
The Australian coast, you'd think, would be hard to miss. Its treacherous shores with reefs and sharks and stingers sound loud notes of caution. But the captain of the Cherry Venture, a 1600 tonne Singaporean cargo ship bound for Brisbane from Auckland, ran into it in July 1973, driven ashore by a ferocious storm and huge seas.
Without cargo, and with little ballast on board, the ship was at the mercy of wind and tide when it got too close to the lighthouse at Double Island Point, a Sunshine Coast landmark and popular surfing spot.
With 12m swells lifting the ship's propeller clear of the sea and the atrocious weather making a rescue impossible, the Cherry Venture was carried ashore on a king tide, snapping anchor cables dropped in a forlorn bid to hold the ship off the beach.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/7/story.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10411417
Chinese cyclists in highly charged power struggle
Thursday November 23, 2006By Clifford Coonan
GUANGZHOU - The classic images of Chinese traffic are armies of bicycles jostling for space or thousands of cars filling the sky with smog, but for millions of commuters in the big cities, the electric bike is the only way to travel.
They're cheap, costing between £200 ($568) and £600, use no expensive petrol and are much less polluting than cars, making them the preferred mode of transport of choice for 15 million Chinese.
The sight of electric bicycles beating the traffic by whizzing between the cars is an increasingly common and often hair-raising sight.
Delivery men and office workers swear by them, while they are also popular with retirees lacking pedal power for getting around town.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412040
Airbus may end up grounded if superjumbo fails to take off
Thursday November 23, 2006By Michael Harrison
PARIS - The superlatives abound. It is wider than a football pitch and almost as long, four times the height of a double-decker bus, and weighs 560 tonnes.
The A380 superjumbo is, in other words, large. Obscenely so, some might say, since the list price is an equally extravagant £166 million ($471.5 million) - enough to build a hospital or three.
Its maker, Airbus, is seeking to reassure the world that the biggest airliner ever to grace the skies will be a commercial success when it enters service.
But when exactly will that be? There could be no more pertinent question for Europe's answer to Boeing and, until recently, a shiningly successful example of cross-Channel industrial co-operation.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10412038
Britain just the job for eastern European workers
Thursday November 23, 2006By Nigel Morris
LONDON - From bus drivers to beauticians and from clowns to civil engineers, the influx of east and central Europeans has had a dramatic impact on the British jobs market.
Everyone has heard of Polish plumbers and Slovak nannies, but new figures disclose that newcomers from former Iron Curtain countries are working in every conceivable capacity across the United Kingdom.
The number of immigrants from the European Union's new member states registering to work has reached half a million for the first time since the EU expanded in May 2004.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411992
Frog kits fail to make cut
Thursday November 23, 2006
NEW YORK - Shoppers at upscale United States menswear and accessory store Jack Spade in Manhattan were hopping mad to see frog dissection kits selling alongside leather file cases and Italian calfskin passport holders.
The US$40 ($60) kit came in a cloth bag complete with a vacuum-sealed formaldehyde-treated frog, scissors, magnifying glass, forceps, probing sticks, ruler, instruction booklet on how to explore the animal's innards, and a moist tissue. After complaints from shoppers and animal activists, the store apologised and said it had removed the kits and would not stock them.
Doctors say cause of KGB agent's illness unknown
9.25am Wednesday November 22, 2006By Cahal Milmo
LONDON - Doctors treating the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko have said he is unlikely to have been poisoned with the lethal toxin thallium and the cause of his symptoms is unknown.
Urgent tests are being conducted to try to identify the substance or substances which have left the 43-year-old intelligence officer in an intensive care unit with a crippled immune system.
In a day of further twists to the Cold War-style saga, which is the subject of an international hunt by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, experts raised the possibility that Mr Litvinenko had been attacked with a radioactive chemical.
Early tests had indicated that the former agent, a strident critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned on November 1 with a thallium salt, known as the "secret agents' poison" because it is tasteless, odourless and deadly in very small quantities.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411921
Eight dead, 15 trapped after Polish mine blast
1.00pm Wednesday November 22, 2006By Wojciech Zurawski
RUDA SLASKA, Poland - A gas explosion killed at least eight miners and trapped around 15 others underground in a deep coal mine in southern Poland on Tuesday, officials said.
A major rescue effort was under way in the town of Ruda Slaska, around 300km southwest of the capital, Warsaw.
A spokesman for the state-run Polish Coal Company said it was impossible to say whether rescuers would be able to reach the rest of the men who were trapped underground after a large explosion, probably caused by methane, at around 4:30pm (0430 NZT).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411945
Red Cross suspends Gaza field work after abductions
10.45am Wednesday November 22, 2006
GAZA - The Red Cross has suspended its field work in the Gaza Strip following the abductions of two employees, a spokesman said.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross has suspended its field operations in Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of two employees of the Italian Red Cross in Gaza," Iyad Nasir, a spokesman in Gaza for the ICRC, said.
He said Red Cross employees would continue to work in Gaza but inside their offices and would intervene only in "urgent" matters of life and death situations.
Individual Palestinians own '40 per cent of occupied West Bank'
1.00pm Wednesday November 22, 2006By Donald Macintyre
JERUSALEM - Almost 40 per cent of the land used by Israel for its settlements in the occupied West Bank is the private property of Palestinians, the Israeli organisation Peace Now said yesterday on the basis of leaked official maps and other data.
Contrary to official claims that the land used for settlements is state-owned and that private property is only seized temporarily for security reasons, the leak shows that privately owned Palestinian land has been repeatedly used to build and expand settlements.
The potential embarrassment to Israel of the disclosure is all the greater because it suggests that the use of Palestinian private land is especially prevalent in some of the Jewish settlements which successive Israeli governments have made clear they are determined to keep in any final peace deal.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411924
Israel enters deep into Gaza
6.20am Wednesday November 22, 2006
Israeli troops and tanks pushed deep into the Gaza Strip in two raids, clashing with Palestinian gunmen in Gaza City.
A column of about 30 tanks penetrated the heart of Gaza City and entered the Zeitoun district, a known militant stronghold.
There were no reports of any casualties.
Australian woman arrested in Bali on drugs charges
5.20am Wednesday November 22, 2006
An Australian woman has been arrested in Bali, accused of possessing heroin and marijuana.
Michelle Dawn Condon was last night being held at Bali's provincial police headquarters.
Police allege she had 0.2g of crystal methamphetamine.
NZ troops to go on patrol in Tonga but 'not taking sides'
Thursday November 23, 2006
New Zealand troops have been given permission to go on patrol alongside their Tongan colleagues.
Ministers yesterday gave the go-head for the soldiers to do more than than guard the international airport and can now enter the riot-torn streets of the capital Nuku'alofa.
In another development, it was reported that China was preparing to evacuate its nationals from Tonga.
Radio New Zealand quoted a Chinese diplomat in Nuku'Alofa, which was devastated by rioters looting and burning buildings, as saying about 200 people were being cared for at the Chinese embassy or in a hotel. Those who wanted to leave would be repatriated on a charter flight.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the defence force and police acting in the joint force with Australia would help authorities maintain law and order so the reform process could proceed peacefully. He rejected suggestions that New Zealand had effectively sided with the Government by deploying personnel to Tonga.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10412062
New Zealand ponders aid package for Tonga
Wednesday November 22, 2006By Mike Houlahan and Agencies
New Zealand politicians have turned their attention to how to pay for the rebuilding of Nuku'alofa, as residents of the Tongan capital ask who was behind destructive violence that caused an estimated $90 million damage.
Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday said New Zealand was considering what developmental aid could be given to Tonga.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Government was last night still to decide whether soldiers rushed to Tonga over the weekend to secure the airport would have their role expanded to patrolling Nuku'alofa.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411890
Prince Charles on the web
8.20am Wednesday November 22, 2006
Prince Charles has taken a leap into the internet age, posting a day-in-the-life video on his revamped personal website, www.princeofwales.gov.uk
The short film follows the Prince through a typical day.
It shows him working at his London office, carrying out public engagements with the Duchess of Cornwall and flying by helicopter to his country home.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10411907
Borat movie gives Kazakh state website a hit
Thursday November 16, 2006
ALMATY - Visits to the website of Kazakhstan's state news agency have almost doubled in the run-up to the premiere of a film about spoof Kazakh TV reporter Borat.
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the boorish and offensive Borat, set up a website to promote his new film, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan".
Styling itself as the "Ministry of Information", Borat's page carries a prominent link to the country's real state news agency Kazinform.
According to data provided by Russian website traffic monitoring service Mail.ru, the number of unique visitors to Kazinform's website has nearly doubled to 27,000 a week in the run-up to the movie's premiere.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10411057
US creates spy share technology
Saturday November 18, 2006
United States officials say they have created their own version of Wikipedia for intelligence agents in a bid to encourage US spy agencies to share information and transcend bureaucratic rivalries.
Launched in April, Intellipedia allows analysts and officials from a range of agencies to add and edit content on intelligence topics in a collaborative manner through a classified internal web.
The office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) says the project will help revolutionise the prevailing culture of the US intelligence community, widely blamed for failing to "connect the dots" before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The project was greeted initially with "a lot of resistance", says Michael Wertheimer, DNI's chief technology officer in analysis, because it runs counter to past practice that sought to limit the pooling of information.
"There were a lot of analysts who said, 'I'm never going to use this, this is a waste of time'."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10411314
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