The African Union comprises all of Africa including Madagascar. The countries of African joined the African Union May 25, 1963 with it's latest members dating back to the 1990s (click here).
First Short-Term Global Warming Forecast: Record Heat
EXETER, UK, August 10, 2007 (ENS) - Get ready for the heat. In the world's first near-term global warming forecast, British climate scientists say the planet's temperature will plateau for two years and then rise sharply through 2014.
Using powerful computer models, scientists at the British meteorological service's Hadley Center predict that at least half of the years after 2009 will exceed temperatures during 1998, the warmest year currently on record.
Wildfires will increase as the planet heats up. Here, firefighters battle a blaze in California. 2007. (Photo credit unknown)
The year 2014 is likely to be 0.3°Celsius (.5°Fahrenheit) warmer than 2004, the Met Office scientists predict.
This forecast means that while it has taken a century for the global temperature to rise 0.8°C (1.44°F) it will take only 10 years for the planet to heat up half again as much.
Published in the journal "Science," today, the forecast indicates that a natural cooling trend in the eastern and southern Pacific Ocean has kept global warming in check, but that trend is about to end.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007/2007-08-10-02.asp
Concern Rises About Reports of New Fighting in Darfur
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: August 11, 2007
MALAKAL, Sudan, Aug. 10 — The African Union is investigating reports of a new round of intense fighting between Sudanese government troops and rebels in Darfur in which more than 100 soldiers may have been killed, an African Union spokesman said Friday.
Several aid organizations said the fighting was imperiling humanitarian programs in a swath of southern Darfur that has become so lawless and violent — and rebel-controlled — that it is considered a no-go zone even for peacekeepers.
“We’re looking into several reports about the fighting and we’re very concerned,” said Noureddine Mezni, a spokesman for the African Union, which has 7,000 peacekeepers in Sudan. “What’s most disappointing is that this broke out just days after the Arusha agreement.”
An agreement was signed this week in Arusha, Tanzania, by more than half a dozen of Darfur’s many rebel groups, which pledged to work together to end the bloodshed in Darfur that has claimed more than 200,000 lives and destabilized a large area of central Africa. The Sudanese government welcomed the rebels’ agreement tepidly, saying it supported the idea of a cease-fire, but was disappointed that several insurgent groups had boycotted the peace process.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/world/africa/11darfur.html
New Darfur Clashes Raise Questions About Peace Efforts
By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
10 August 2007
Clashes in Sudan's Darfur region have reportedly killed dozens of people including rebels and government forces. The rebels say that subsequent air raids by the Sudanese government has forced 25,000 people to flee their homes in the troubled region. Nick Wadhams has more from Nairobi.
The latest round of fighting began last week with an attack by rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement on the town of Adila. The subsequent clashes between the rebels and government forces raises new fears that efforts to end the Darfur conflict will be lost just a week after the U.N. Security Council authorized a peacekeeping force of 26,000 for the region.
The peacekeepers are not expected to arrive for months but will find themselves paralyzed if there is no peace to keep. An estimated 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million others have been displaced in Darfur since fighting began in 2003, and many had hoped the peacekeeping force was a sign of better things to come.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-10-voa34.cfm
‘Darfur force will be challenge’
RENNES: The deployment of the UN-African Union peacekeeping force to the western Sudanese region of Darfur will be an unprecedented challenge, the UN official in charge of the mission said on Friday.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN under-secretary general for UN peacekeeping operations, told the French newspaper Ouest France that “markedly more troops” than the 26,000 planned for the mission would ultimately be needed.
He said the relative lack of mobility and firepower currently on the table would have to be addressed.
“Attack helicopters and transport are needed to have the necessary responsiveness”, he said.
The peacekeeping force is already to be the biggest ever deployed in the world.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C08%5C11%5Cstory_11-8-2007_pg4_2
U.N. to take broader role in Iraq
RECONCILIATION: New mandate may require more staff
Daniel B. Schneider,Damien Cave, New York Times
Saturday, August 11, 2007
(08-11) 04:00 PDT United Nations --
The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Friday that broadened the world body's mandate in Iraq to include efforts to promote national reconciliation, help settle border disputes, encourage internal dialogue and lay the groundwork for a national census.
Though not specifically mentioned in the text, the resolution also raises the allowable ceiling for U.N. international staff in Iraq significantly, to 95 members by the end of October from 65 currently.
"This updated mandate marks another important step along the road to increased support for Iraq, from the region and the international community," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in a statement after the vote. "In fulfilling the tasks set out in this resolution, U.N. staff in Iraq are making, have made and will make a vital contribution to Iraq's future stability."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/11/MNS3RGVGM.DTL
UN staff forced back into Iraq to provide ‘fig-leaf cover’ for US
Saturday, August 11, 2007
By Anne Penketh
The United Nations is to return kicking and screaming to Iraq under an internationally-approved plan for it to have an expanded political role in support of the Iraqi government.
The 15-member UN security council yesterday unanimously adopted a resolution authorising the UN to return to Iraq almost four years to the day that it pulled out most of its staff after a deadly car bomb that killed its envoy.
The resolution, co-sponsored by the US and Britain, will provide a fig-leaf, if needed, to cover a withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq in the coming months, and pick up the pieces afterwards. But the US and Britain deny any such intention.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article2854586.ece
Iraq: At least 15 dead as US helicopter down
Posted: 10-08-2007 , 12:18 GMT
A car bomb exploded a market in a Kurdish area in the northern city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, police said. South of Baghdad, the U.S. military said a helicopter was forced down, leaving two soldiers wounded.
The helicopter was en route to support a planned mission when it made the forced landing in Youssifiyah, the U.S. military said, adding the cause was not immediately clear. Two soldiers sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to the statement. U.S.-led forces had secured the site and recovered the aircraft, military spokesman Lt. Col. Rudolph Burwell said, according to the AP.
An Iraqi army officer said the helicopter went down after hitting an electricity pole at about 1:30 a.m. He said the raid was targeting a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in the agricultural area.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq/215902
Blast Destroys Kirkuk Fruit Market
Agencies
KIRKUK, Iraq, 11 August 2007 — A car bomb tore through a bustling fruit and vegetable market in Iraq’s city of Kirkuk yesterday, killing seven people and wounding more than 40 in a mass of charred metal from incinerated stalls.
The attack in a Kurdish neighborhood of the ethnically fraught oil center that Iraqi Kurds want to make part of their autonomous region in the north, came after a US military helicopter was forced down, south of Baghdad.
And the UN Security Council agreed yesterday to expand the United Nations mission in Iraq. A car packed with explosives ripped through the Al-Hurriyah market in eastern Kirkuk killing seven people, four of them ripped into chunks of raw flesh, said Brig. Gen. Burhan Hamid Tayeb, police chief in the city.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=99627&d=11&m=8&y=2007
Soldier-reporters rewrite the rules
ILLUSTRATION BY RAFFI ANDERIAN/TORONTO STAR
Dozens of U.S. soldiers have been filing stories and videos from the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the process, they’ve rewritten the rules on combat coverage.
Explaining Canadian silence
A Google search turned up only two blogs written by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Why so few?
Numbers: Since 2001, some 15,000 Canadian troops have served in Afghanistan. Over 1 million American troops, by contrast, have rotated through Afghanistan and Iraq.
Security regulations: Canadian Forces’ blogs policy is strict. Military members, the policy states, are to “consult with their chain of command” before posting anything related to the Canadian Forces — “regardless of how innocuous the information may seem.”
Canadian Forces culture: “The American military is far more open than the Canadian military,” says Bob Bergen, who wrote his University of Calgary Ph.D thesis on the Canadian military’s management of the media during the Kosovo war. In 2006, Canadian soldier Matt Austin was ordered to shut down his blog in Afghanistan.
The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you want to scare the mightiest military in the world, try wielding both at the same time.
Aug 11, 2007 04:30 AM
DANIEL DALE
STAFF REPORTER
In August 2004, one of former U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzzell's superiors scolded a reporter for "endangering operational security."
In a vivid dispatch from Mosul the correspondent had described the confusion and horror of a fierce Iraq firefight between black-clad insurgents and Buzzell's besieged battalion. To the commander's dismay, he had mentioned that the Americans ran low on water during the fight and detailed the steps soldiers took to find new ammunition.
Now, in his base office, the commander held a printout of the story – heavily marked with red pen – and demanded an explanation from the offending journalist.
U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzzell.
Embedded reporter? Try combatant-reporter. To national acclaim and his superior's fury, Buzzell had chronicled the battle on his blog, CBFTW.
That is: Colby Buzzell F--- The World.
"I heard and felt the bullets whiz literally inches from my head, hitting all around my hatch making a `Ping' `Ping' `Ping' sound," Buzzell wrote. "All of the (sic) sudden all hell came down around us, all these guys, wearing all black, a couple dozen on each side of the street, on rooftops, alleys, edge of buildings, out of windows, everywhere, and started unloading on us..."
The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you want to frighten the mightiest military in the world, try wielding both at the same time.
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Ideas/article/245204
Rafsanjani: Iran ready to hold un-preconditioned talks with U.S.
Service: Foreign Policy
1386/05/20
08-11-2007
12:43:01
News Code :8605-11071
ISNA - Tehran
Service: Foreign Policy
TEHRAN, Aug. 11 (ISNA)-Iran's Expediency Council chief stated that if the Middle East's stability was disturbed, many countries especially colonial powers would be troubled.
Hashemi Rafsanjani while warning about the consequences of provoking violence and extremist behavior in the region went on to state that the West had to pursue diplomacy not confrontation to resolve the crisis in the Middle East.
"We advise them to choose the right path. Negotiation is the best way and we are ready to negotiate at all levels. Let us place aside sarcasm and illogical preconditions; let us sit down and solve regional problems and the dispute over Iran's peaceful nuclear program. We are ready to aid them. They should know that through disturbing the region's stability they will only trouble themselves."
"The U.S. accuses us of meddling with Iraq's domestic affairs; this is while they have 150 thousand troopers in Iraq. Accusing is not the solution to this issue. This matter should be studied and reviewed fundamentally."
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-976435&Lang=E
NPR - Goes NEOCON. Whatever happened to the articles about conservation, global warming and humanitarian crisis? What next?
NASA Finds Gouge on Endeavour's Belly
from The Associated Press
In this photo made available by NASA, astronaut Rich Mastracchio, STS-118 mission specialist, works at the control panel on the aft flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour during flight day two activities, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/NASA) Associated Press © 2007
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. August 11, 2007, 2:47 a.m. ET · NASA discovered a worrisome gouge on Endeavour's belly soon after the shuttle docked with the international space station Friday, possibly caused by ice that broke off the fuel tank a minute after liftoff.
The gouge — about 3 inches square — was spotted in zoom-in photography taken by the space station crew shortly before Endeavour delivered teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan and her six crewmates to the orbiting outpost.
"What does this mean? I don't know at this point," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team. If the gouge is deep enough, the shuttle astronauts may have to patch it during a spacewalk, he said.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12519384
'War Czar' Concerned over Stress of War on Troops
All Things Considered, August 10, 2007 · Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, says he is concerned about the toll the war in Iraq and extended deployments are taking on U.S. forces.
The man who is widely known as the "war czar" also says that from a military standpoint, a return to a draft should be part of the discussion.
On the ground in Iraq, Lute tells Michele Norris that there has been "demonstrable progress" on the security front. But on the political front, the Iraqi government is lagging behind, though he does cite progress at local and provincial levels.
How heavy a toll is the war taking on American forces? Do you agree with other military leaders who have expressed worries that U.S. forces are near the breaking point?
As an Army officer, this is a matter of real concern to me. Ultimately, the American army, and any other all-volunteer force, rests with the support and the morale and the willingness to serve demonstrated by our — especially our young men and women in uniform. And I am concerned that those men and women and the families they represent are under stress as a result of repeated deployments.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12688693
From Pulpit to Politics, a World-Famous Evangelist
All Things Considered, August 10, 2007 · Billy Graham is the nation's evangelical father, known for his theatrical preaching and his decades as both a political and spiritual adviser to many presidential administrations – from Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Bush family.
"He really found politics a little seductive, and he talks about it that way. He sometimes wondered whether the devil wasn't at work because he felt really pulled," Michael Duffy, co-author of The Preacher and the Presidents tells Michelle Norris.
Graham was thrown into the political world at a young age, and over more than half a century, he forged bonds with nearly a dozen presidents. He counseled Lyndon Johnson on Vietnam, became close friends with Richard Nixon and provided support and advice to Hillary Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky affair surfaced.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12688635
White House Calls for Action on Illegal Immigration
by Pam Fessler
All Things Considered, August 10, 2007 · The Bush administration castigated Congress on Friday for not passing comprehensive immigration legislation.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced that because Congress did not act, the administration would do what it could to increase action against illegal immigration.
Among other measures, they proposed rules that would require employers to fire people whose Social Security numbers don't match that agency's records. Employers who still have such employees on their payrolls after 90 days would be fined.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12692603
Microphone Fails to Detect Mine Survivors
NPR.org, August 10, 2007 · Rescuers trying to make contact with six coal miners might have drilled a hole into the wrong chamber, but they have not given up hope that the trapped men are still alive, officials said Friday.
Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said an initial air sample taken through the hole that was drilled 1,900 feet below the surface indicated there was enough oxygen to support life. However, later readings showed dangerously low levels in a sealed chamber next to the one where the miners are believed trapped.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12667572
Second Drill Reaches Miners' Location
from The Associated Press
HUNTINGTON, Utah August 11, 2007, 8:12 a.m. ET · A second drill broke through early Saturday to a mine shaft where officials hope to find six trapped workers, clearing the way for a video camera to be lowered and provide the first answers to the miners' fate.
Nearly 9 inches wide, the hole reached the mine shaft between just before 3 a.m., said Bob Murray, chief of mine co-owner Murray Energy Corp. Crews were removing the heavy drill steel and planned send down the camera within a few hours.
There has been no word from the miners since the Crandall Canyon mine collapsed early Monday. A microphone lowered into a smaller hole yielded no sounds of life and an air sample taken through the 2-inch hole detected little oxygen.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12666476
Taliban: Koreans' Release May Come Soon
from The Associated Press
The closed gate of the Afghan Red Crescent Society of Gazni province west of Kabul, Afghanistan behind which two top Taliban leaders and four South Korean officials met for face-to-face negotiations Friday Aug 10 2007, talking on the fate of 21 hostages from the Asian country, the first in-person contact of the three-week-old crisis, an Afghan official said. Associated Press © 2007
GHAZNI, Afghanistan August 11, 2007, 8:29 a.m. ET · A Taliban leader taking part in hostage negotiations for the lives of 21 South Koreans said Saturday that the hostages would "definitely" be released and possibly as soon as "today or tomorrow."
Mullah Qari Bashir said that face-to-face negotiations with four Korean officials that began Friday were going well and that the Taliban were sticking with their original demand — that 21 Taliban prisoners be released from prisons in Afghanistan.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6479149
Bush, Sarkozy Look for Better Relations
from The Associated Press
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine August 11, 2007, 7:54 a.m. ET · It is not a summit, not even a working lunch. Just a social meal between two world leaders who happen to be vacationing near each other in New England. That, at least, is how the White House describes Saturday's sit-down between President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But there is more to it than a get-to-know-you.
By welcoming Sarkozy to his parents' seaside home, Bush is laying a foundation for what he hopes are drastically improved relations with France over the rest of his term. In turn, the newly elected Sarkozy is eager to bond with Bush and display a pro-American mind-set.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12710427
The Argument over The North Pole Heats Up
Now Danes test claim on Pole
There is a lot of prestige and vast resources at stake Oystein Jensen , maritime law expert
Expedition seeks proof underwater ridge is connected to their Greenland territory
Aug 11, 2007 04:30 AM
OSLO, Norway–Danish scientists head for the Arctic ice pack tomorrow seeking evidence to position Denmark in the race to claim the North Pole region's potentially vast oil and other resources.
Canada has been making its own moves to strengthen its territorial claims in the Arctic, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper announcing northern initiatives on a three-day swing through the region that ended yesterday.
The month-long Danish expedition will seek evidence that the Lomonosov Ridge, a 2,000-kilometre underwater mountain range, is attached to the Danish territory of Greenland, making it a geological extension of the Arctic island.
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/245319
Harper bolsters military strength in Arctic
Updated Fri. Aug. 10 2007 10:16 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
In an effort to strengthen territorial claims in the Arctic, Canada will build an army training centre and construct a deep-sea military port in the heart of the Northwest Passage, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Friday while touring the region.
Harper said the North holds a special place in the nation's soul and needs protection.
"That's why we react so strongly when other countries show disrespect for our sovereignty over the Arctic," he said.
The 4,100-member Canadian Rangers force will also be increased by 900, Harper said in Resolute Bay, Nunavut.
The prime minister has been asserting Canadian sovereignty over the region while touring the far north this week.
"Protecting national sovereignty -- the integrity of our borders -- is the first and foremost responsibility of the national government," he said.
The Canadian Forces training centre, which will be built in Resolute Bay, will be a year-round facility that can accommodate 100 personnel.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070810/canada_denmark_arctic_070810/20070810?hub=CTVNewsAt11
Canada Announces Plans for 2 New Bases in Its Far North
Published: August 11, 2007
OTTAWA, Aug. 10 — In the latest of a series of claims over portions of the Arctic, Canada said Friday that it planned to build two new military bases in the far north to assert its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage.
The status of the shipping route, navigable only with the aid of icebreakers for a small part of the year, has been the source of a longstanding dispute that has pitted Canada against the United States and Russia.
Warming climate trends may reduce ice in the passage and make it a substantially shorter alternative to the Panama Canal for commercial shipping. The seabed under the route may also contain oil, gas and minerals that could be extracted if the ice cover diminishes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/world/americas/11canada.html
New Zealand Herald
Tourists ignore glacier danger
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
Thousands of tourists visiting West Coast glaciers are continuing to ignore warning signs and enter danger zones.
In February, a tourist standing beside an ice cave at the terminal face of the Franz Josef Glacier was injured when the roof collapsed. He had walked past signs warning of the danger of falling ice.
As a result, the Department of Conservation decided to have its management of the glacier valley reviewed by its Canterbury technical support manager, Don Bogie.
The rapidly advancing Franz and Fox glaciers get about 600,000 visitors a year, and surveys show 170,000 go past the last barrier into the danger zone.
Mr Bogie said the department knew many people were taking the risk, which indicated its duty of care was not "being adequately discharged". Unless action was taken, there was a high risk of an accident with multiple fatalities.
- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/7/story.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10457073
Four UK troops die in Iraq in 48 hours
10:25AM Friday August 10, 2007
BASRA, Iraq - Two British soldiers were killed in Iraq early on Thursday, taking the death toll to four in about 48 hours.
The Irish Guards soldiers killed shortly after midnight were in a convoy hit by a roadside bomb near the Rumaila oil fields, west of Basra. Two other soldiers were seriously injured.
British-patrolled southern Iraq has become more dangerous for British troops since the government announced in February that London would cut back its force during the course of 2007.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456957
Hundreds gather to welcome VC recipient home
2:08PM Saturday August 11, 2007
Corporal Willie Apiata. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Formal celebrations are underway at the home marae of Corporal Willie Apiata.
A huge crowd has gathered to welcome the Victoria Cross recipient back to Te Kaha on the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Defence Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mike Shatford says Corporal Apiata is excited and nervous about today's proceedings.
Mr Shatford believes it will be the hardest of the three ceremonies held in conjunction with the awarding of the medal because the soldier's friends and whanau will be present.
Mr Apiata has laid a wreath by pictures of many deceased war heroes including the first Maori recipient of the Victoria Cross, Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu.
Mr Apiata, an SAS soldier, was awarded the Victoria Cross for carrying an injured colleague through gunfire to safety while on an mission in Afghanistan.
- NEWSTALK ZB
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457167
Low key, large-scale family party for VC
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Yvonne Tahana
Willie Apiata. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Kaha Marae billed the first day of celebrations to honour Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Willie Apiata as a low-key affair.
It was a time for iwi closest to the soldier - host Te Whanau a Apanui, their East Coast cousins Ngati Porou and northern iwi Ngapuhi - to come together before an official party including Prime Minister Helen Clark arrives for the formal ceremony today.
But Maori do low-key big.
At least 4000 descended on the isolated Bay of Plenty village where Corporal Apiata grew up.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457128
Finally, Louise Nicholas' full story
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Juliet Rowan
Louise Nicholas says she is now looking forward to spending time with family, including her 10-week-old, Luke.
After years of battling for justice, the Rotorua woman says she couldn't have done it without the support of her husband Ross, three daughters and her parents.
But she still wants to see a better deal for rape complaints.
Revelations that up to a dozen other women were allegedly victims of a group of police officers that involved two of her accused, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, came as no surprise. "I knew that I wasn't the only one and I took on the battle of many," she said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457136
Palestinian link in lecturer's firing
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Simon Collins
Paul Buchanan was popular with students, and also a champion of the Palestinian cause. Photo / Richard Robinson
Palestinian activists at Auckland University appear to have helped - unwittingly or deliberately - to bring down one of their strongest champions in this country, sacked political scientist Paul Buchanan.
Weekend Herald inquiries indicate the university may have felt pressured to sack him because an offending email he wrote was circulated widely in the two months before he was sacked.
Dean of Arts John Morrow dismissed Dr Buchanan on July 25 for an email sent on May 30 to Arab student Asma Al Yammahi refusing her a deadline extension because claiming her father's death as an excuse was "culturally driven and preying on some sort of Western liberal guilt".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457120
Foodstuffs labels to state place of origin
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Derek Cheng
Demand for country of origin food labels is growing after a major food retailer said it would introduce them labels because of customer pressure.
Foodstuffs NZ hopes to have the new labelling policy fully implemented by December for its stores nationwide. It will apply to fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood sold in Pak 'N Save, New World, Write Price, Shoprite supermarkets and Four Square stores. It will not apply to processed foods, which often have more than one ingredient.
Foodstuffs executive manager Melissa Hodd said the policy was customer-driven, and not a food safety issue.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457129
Crowd gathers in Auckland to protest youth wage rates
2:29PM Saturday August 11, 2007
A large crowd has gathered in Auckland to protest against youth wage rates.
This is the last chance they will have before a watered-down bill to abolish youth pay rates goes before Parliament on Wednesday.
About 200 people gathered in Britomart Square.
Among them are Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and prominent unionists, along with the bill's key proponent Sue Bradford.
Ms Bradford says watering down her bill - by applying a 200-hour probationary period - is anti-family and discriminatory.
The march route goes from Britomart Square then south up Queen Street towards Aotea Square.
- NEWSTALK ZB
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457168
NZ could escape virulent aussie flu
6:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
New Zealand could escape the virulent outbreaks of influenza sweeping Australia this winter, says a Christchurch virus expert.
"We won't necessarily follow Australia. Australia quite often follows us," said Dr Lance Jennings.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457131
Internet can prejudice jurors - judge
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Martin Johnston
Roy Wade. Photo / Richard Robinson
Restrictions on reporting preliminary court hearings may need to be tightened because internet coverage could contaminate juries, a judge says.
Judge Roy Wade, of the Manukau District Court, says fellow judges have told him of "at least two instances" in the past 12 months of internet material being found in jury rooms.
In February last year, Judge Roderick Joyce, QC, reprimanded a jury for jeopardising a trial by doing its own legal research on the internet rather than relying on his directions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457127
Journalist made editor-in-chief
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
The former editorial director of Your Home & Garden, Sally Duggan, has been appointed editor-in-chief of Metro and North & South magazines.
The position was created following the departure of North & South editor Robyn Langwell, who lost her job in June after 22 years at the magazine.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457130
Space shuttle Endeavour reaches space station
11:06AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Irene Klotz
Endeavour has docked at the International Space Station two days after blasting off from Cape Canaveral. Photo / Reuters
HOUSTON - The US space shuttle Endeavour on Friday completed a two-day trek to intercept the International Space Station and docked with the orbital outpost to deliver its next-to-last support beam and more than two tons of gear.
Shuttle commander Scott Kelly gently pulsed his spaceship's steering jets to align a docking ring in Endeavour's open cargo bay with a matching latch mounted on the front of the station's Destiny laboratory module.
The rings clasped shut at 2:02 p.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed 214 miles above the South Pacific.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457161
Return of the goddess
5:00PM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Andrew Buncombe
Sajani Shakya, glad to be home with her father Nyuchhe. Photo / Reuters
In Nepal, she has been worshipped as a deity since she was 2. But when 10-year-old Sajani took a trip to the United States, Nepali religious officials threatened to strip her of her exalted status. Is life for a goddess as divine as it sounds?
The goddess is sleeping, her head resting against the window of the plane. Far beneath the clouds outside lie the mountains of her native country to which she is returning. Soon she will be stepping on to the tarmac, the broadest of happy smiles beaming across her young face. But for now the goddess is quiet and calm. Tranquil. The plane banks and dips.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456842
Three killed in accident at Indiana coal mine
7:17AM Saturday August 11, 2007
PRINCETON, Indiana - Three construction workers fell to their deaths on Friday as they were lowered into a coal mine air shaft, authorities said, in the second serious accident at a US mine in less than a week.
"As they were lowering them, the bucket caught on something - maybe on the wall of the shaft - and it tipped and they fell," Princeton Mayor Bob Hurst said in a telephone interview.
The air shaft, which was under construction, was about 600 feet deep, and was two-thirds of the way to its intended 900 foot depth, where the coal seam is located, said Hurst, a retired geologist for coal mining companies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457142
Another victim found in US bridge collapse
10:33AM Saturday August 11, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS - Recovery teams in Minnesota found a ninth victim from last week's highway bridge collapse, police said on Friday.
Four people are still listed as missing. The recovery operation since the August 1 collapse has been slowed by the tangled wreckage in the murky waters of the fast-moving Mississippi River, but the body of a man and the remains from two other victims were found on Thursday.
US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that US$50 million ($67.43 million) of the US$250 million approved by Congress would be released immediately to help Minnesota with cleanup, recovery, and reconstruction of the bridge.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457159
Democratic nudge for Musharraf
8:15AM Saturday August 11, 2007
US President George W. Bush wants Pervez Musharraf to move towards democracy after the embattled Pakistani leader pulled back from declaring a state of emergency.
Any such move would have automatically extended the current Parliament for another 12 months, meaning a delay in elections due by early 2008.
Bush also renewed US calls for full co-operation from its key anti-terror ally in the hunt for al Qaeda leaders believed to be holed up in remote tribal lands along the Pakistan-Afghan border.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457117
Rights group sues
7:15AM Saturday August 11, 2007
US airline JetBlue Airways and a federal airport official illegally blocked a man from getting on a flight because he was wearing a T-shirt with a message in Arabic - "We will not be silent" - on it, according to a discrimination lawsuit filed by two civil rights organisations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457116
Mosque plans thwarted
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
The Sehitlik-Moschee mosque in Berlin, where there have been anti-mosque protests. Photo / Reuters
Across Europe, Muslims who have long prayed in garages and old factories face scepticism and concern for wanting to build stately mosques to give proud testimony to the faith and solidity of their Islamic communities.
Some critics reject them as signs of "Islamisation".
Others say minarets would scar their city's skyline.
Given the role some mosques have played as centres for terrorists, others see Muslim houses of worship as potential security threats.
"The increasingly visible presence of Muslims has prompted questions in all European societies," Tariq Ramadan, one of Europe's leading Muslim spokesmen, argued when far-right groups proposed this year to ban minarets in his native Switzerland.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457052
Rescuers hopeful despite no word from Utah miners
Page 1 of 2 View as a single page 1:04PM Saturday August 11, 2007
By James Nelson
Rescuers trying to reach six men trapped in a collapsed Utah coal mine refused to give up hope of finding them alive on Friday, even though instruments dangled into an underground chamber found no signs of life.
The six miners have not been heard from in five days, since the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington caved in on Monday morning, and did not respond when a microphone was lowered 550m through a drill hole.
The rescuers said it was possible that they had missed the shaft where the miners were thought trapped and drilled instead into a sealed chamber nearby.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457165
Dozen feared dead as bus falls in reservoir
3:54PM Friday August 10, 2007
BEIJING - A bus carrying more than 20 passengers plunged into a reservoir in east China on Friday and a about a dozen people were missing, feared dead, Xinhua news agency said.
The accident occurred in Taishun county in coastal Zhejiang province when the bus collided with a truck and fell more than 10 metres into the Pengxi reservoir and sank, Xinhua said.
Seven people had been rescued but the others were feared dead, it said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457007
Solomons PM avoids no-confidence vote
1:20PM Friday August 10, 2007
HONIARA - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has avoided a vote of no confidence in his leadership after the motion was withdrawn on the floor of parliament today.
The mover of the motion, opposition MP Edward Huniehu, elected to withdraw it until a court case against him and Speaker Peter Kenilorea, which is related to the no-confidence vote, is resolved.
In anticipation of the vote, security was stepped up around Parliament House in Honiara by Solomons police and members of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456985
UK lab may be source of Legionnaires and foot and mouth
8:50AM Friday August 10, 2007
By Colin Brown
LONDON - The public labs run by the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbrighthave become embroiled in a fresh controversy after revelations that a contractor who worked at the site has contracted Legionnaire's Disease.
The Pirbright labs, which comprise the IAH and the privately-run Merial company, are believed to be the most likely source of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease which has paralysed two Surrey farms.
The latest revelation comes as a profound embarrassment for the management of the labs who have gone to great lengths to deny any breaches of health and safety regulations.
"They need this like a hole in the head," said a source at the Merial lab.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456940
50,000 condoms to curb rising STIs in Samoa
Page 1 of 3 View as a single page 1:30PM Friday August 10, 2007
By Cherelle Jackson
The Safe Games Campaign is now well under way, with promises by the campaign committee to distribute more than 50,000 condoms before, during and after the South Pacific Games which begin this month.
Samoa is expecting a drastic increase in population by perhaps more than 20,000 people in a period of two weeks.
No doubt the anticipation of the crowds, the parties, the VIP cocktails, networking and travelling to the sunny Samoa will be some of the reasons thousands will descend upon our shores during the games.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456988
continued...
EXETER, UK, August 10, 2007 (ENS) - Get ready for the heat. In the world's first near-term global warming forecast, British climate scientists say the planet's temperature will plateau for two years and then rise sharply through 2014.
Using powerful computer models, scientists at the British meteorological service's Hadley Center predict that at least half of the years after 2009 will exceed temperatures during 1998, the warmest year currently on record.
Wildfires will increase as the planet heats up. Here, firefighters battle a blaze in California. 2007. (Photo credit unknown)
The year 2014 is likely to be 0.3°Celsius (.5°Fahrenheit) warmer than 2004, the Met Office scientists predict.
This forecast means that while it has taken a century for the global temperature to rise 0.8°C (1.44°F) it will take only 10 years for the planet to heat up half again as much.
Published in the journal "Science," today, the forecast indicates that a natural cooling trend in the eastern and southern Pacific Ocean has kept global warming in check, but that trend is about to end.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007/2007-08-10-02.asp
Concern Rises About Reports of New Fighting in Darfur
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: August 11, 2007
MALAKAL, Sudan, Aug. 10 — The African Union is investigating reports of a new round of intense fighting between Sudanese government troops and rebels in Darfur in which more than 100 soldiers may have been killed, an African Union spokesman said Friday.
Several aid organizations said the fighting was imperiling humanitarian programs in a swath of southern Darfur that has become so lawless and violent — and rebel-controlled — that it is considered a no-go zone even for peacekeepers.
“We’re looking into several reports about the fighting and we’re very concerned,” said Noureddine Mezni, a spokesman for the African Union, which has 7,000 peacekeepers in Sudan. “What’s most disappointing is that this broke out just days after the Arusha agreement.”
An agreement was signed this week in Arusha, Tanzania, by more than half a dozen of Darfur’s many rebel groups, which pledged to work together to end the bloodshed in Darfur that has claimed more than 200,000 lives and destabilized a large area of central Africa. The Sudanese government welcomed the rebels’ agreement tepidly, saying it supported the idea of a cease-fire, but was disappointed that several insurgent groups had boycotted the peace process.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/world/africa/11darfur.html
New Darfur Clashes Raise Questions About Peace Efforts
By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
10 August 2007
Clashes in Sudan's Darfur region have reportedly killed dozens of people including rebels and government forces. The rebels say that subsequent air raids by the Sudanese government has forced 25,000 people to flee their homes in the troubled region. Nick Wadhams has more from Nairobi.
The latest round of fighting began last week with an attack by rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement on the town of Adila. The subsequent clashes between the rebels and government forces raises new fears that efforts to end the Darfur conflict will be lost just a week after the U.N. Security Council authorized a peacekeeping force of 26,000 for the region.
The peacekeepers are not expected to arrive for months but will find themselves paralyzed if there is no peace to keep. An estimated 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million others have been displaced in Darfur since fighting began in 2003, and many had hoped the peacekeeping force was a sign of better things to come.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-10-voa34.cfm
‘Darfur force will be challenge’
RENNES: The deployment of the UN-African Union peacekeeping force to the western Sudanese region of Darfur will be an unprecedented challenge, the UN official in charge of the mission said on Friday.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN under-secretary general for UN peacekeeping operations, told the French newspaper Ouest France that “markedly more troops” than the 26,000 planned for the mission would ultimately be needed.
He said the relative lack of mobility and firepower currently on the table would have to be addressed.
“Attack helicopters and transport are needed to have the necessary responsiveness”, he said.
The peacekeeping force is already to be the biggest ever deployed in the world.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C08%5C11%5Cstory_11-8-2007_pg4_2
U.N. to take broader role in Iraq
RECONCILIATION: New mandate may require more staff
Daniel B. Schneider,Damien Cave, New York Times
Saturday, August 11, 2007
(08-11) 04:00 PDT United Nations --
The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Friday that broadened the world body's mandate in Iraq to include efforts to promote national reconciliation, help settle border disputes, encourage internal dialogue and lay the groundwork for a national census.
Though not specifically mentioned in the text, the resolution also raises the allowable ceiling for U.N. international staff in Iraq significantly, to 95 members by the end of October from 65 currently.
"This updated mandate marks another important step along the road to increased support for Iraq, from the region and the international community," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in a statement after the vote. "In fulfilling the tasks set out in this resolution, U.N. staff in Iraq are making, have made and will make a vital contribution to Iraq's future stability."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/11/MNS3RGVGM.DTL
UN staff forced back into Iraq to provide ‘fig-leaf cover’ for US
Saturday, August 11, 2007
By Anne Penketh
The United Nations is to return kicking and screaming to Iraq under an internationally-approved plan for it to have an expanded political role in support of the Iraqi government.
The 15-member UN security council yesterday unanimously adopted a resolution authorising the UN to return to Iraq almost four years to the day that it pulled out most of its staff after a deadly car bomb that killed its envoy.
The resolution, co-sponsored by the US and Britain, will provide a fig-leaf, if needed, to cover a withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq in the coming months, and pick up the pieces afterwards. But the US and Britain deny any such intention.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article2854586.ece
Iraq: At least 15 dead as US helicopter down
Posted: 10-08-2007 , 12:18 GMT
A car bomb exploded a market in a Kurdish area in the northern city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, police said. South of Baghdad, the U.S. military said a helicopter was forced down, leaving two soldiers wounded.
The helicopter was en route to support a planned mission when it made the forced landing in Youssifiyah, the U.S. military said, adding the cause was not immediately clear. Two soldiers sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to the statement. U.S.-led forces had secured the site and recovered the aircraft, military spokesman Lt. Col. Rudolph Burwell said, according to the AP.
An Iraqi army officer said the helicopter went down after hitting an electricity pole at about 1:30 a.m. He said the raid was targeting a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in the agricultural area.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq/215902
Blast Destroys Kirkuk Fruit Market
Agencies
KIRKUK, Iraq, 11 August 2007 — A car bomb tore through a bustling fruit and vegetable market in Iraq’s city of Kirkuk yesterday, killing seven people and wounding more than 40 in a mass of charred metal from incinerated stalls.
The attack in a Kurdish neighborhood of the ethnically fraught oil center that Iraqi Kurds want to make part of their autonomous region in the north, came after a US military helicopter was forced down, south of Baghdad.
And the UN Security Council agreed yesterday to expand the United Nations mission in Iraq. A car packed with explosives ripped through the Al-Hurriyah market in eastern Kirkuk killing seven people, four of them ripped into chunks of raw flesh, said Brig. Gen. Burhan Hamid Tayeb, police chief in the city.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=99627&d=11&m=8&y=2007
Soldier-reporters rewrite the rules
ILLUSTRATION BY RAFFI ANDERIAN/TORONTO STAR
Dozens of U.S. soldiers have been filing stories and videos from the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the process, they’ve rewritten the rules on combat coverage.
Explaining Canadian silence
A Google search turned up only two blogs written by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Why so few?
Numbers: Since 2001, some 15,000 Canadian troops have served in Afghanistan. Over 1 million American troops, by contrast, have rotated through Afghanistan and Iraq.
Security regulations: Canadian Forces’ blogs policy is strict. Military members, the policy states, are to “consult with their chain of command” before posting anything related to the Canadian Forces — “regardless of how innocuous the information may seem.”
Canadian Forces culture: “The American military is far more open than the Canadian military,” says Bob Bergen, who wrote his University of Calgary Ph.D thesis on the Canadian military’s management of the media during the Kosovo war. In 2006, Canadian soldier Matt Austin was ordered to shut down his blog in Afghanistan.
The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you want to scare the mightiest military in the world, try wielding both at the same time.
Aug 11, 2007 04:30 AM
DANIEL DALE
STAFF REPORTER
In August 2004, one of former U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzzell's superiors scolded a reporter for "endangering operational security."
In a vivid dispatch from Mosul the correspondent had described the confusion and horror of a fierce Iraq firefight between black-clad insurgents and Buzzell's besieged battalion. To the commander's dismay, he had mentioned that the Americans ran low on water during the fight and detailed the steps soldiers took to find new ammunition.
Now, in his base office, the commander held a printout of the story – heavily marked with red pen – and demanded an explanation from the offending journalist.
U.S. Army Specialist Colby Buzzell.
Embedded reporter? Try combatant-reporter. To national acclaim and his superior's fury, Buzzell had chronicled the battle on his blog, CBFTW.
That is: Colby Buzzell F--- The World.
"I heard and felt the bullets whiz literally inches from my head, hitting all around my hatch making a `Ping' `Ping' `Ping' sound," Buzzell wrote. "All of the (sic) sudden all hell came down around us, all these guys, wearing all black, a couple dozen on each side of the street, on rooftops, alleys, edge of buildings, out of windows, everywhere, and started unloading on us..."
The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you want to frighten the mightiest military in the world, try wielding both at the same time.
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Ideas/article/245204
Rafsanjani: Iran ready to hold un-preconditioned talks with U.S.
Service: Foreign Policy
1386/05/20
08-11-2007
12:43:01
News Code :8605-11071
ISNA - Tehran
Service: Foreign Policy
TEHRAN, Aug. 11 (ISNA)-Iran's Expediency Council chief stated that if the Middle East's stability was disturbed, many countries especially colonial powers would be troubled.
Hashemi Rafsanjani while warning about the consequences of provoking violence and extremist behavior in the region went on to state that the West had to pursue diplomacy not confrontation to resolve the crisis in the Middle East.
"We advise them to choose the right path. Negotiation is the best way and we are ready to negotiate at all levels. Let us place aside sarcasm and illogical preconditions; let us sit down and solve regional problems and the dispute over Iran's peaceful nuclear program. We are ready to aid them. They should know that through disturbing the region's stability they will only trouble themselves."
"The U.S. accuses us of meddling with Iraq's domestic affairs; this is while they have 150 thousand troopers in Iraq. Accusing is not the solution to this issue. This matter should be studied and reviewed fundamentally."
http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-976435&Lang=E
NPR - Goes NEOCON. Whatever happened to the articles about conservation, global warming and humanitarian crisis? What next?
NASA Finds Gouge on Endeavour's Belly
from The Associated Press
In this photo made available by NASA, astronaut Rich Mastracchio, STS-118 mission specialist, works at the control panel on the aft flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour during flight day two activities, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/NASA) Associated Press © 2007
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. August 11, 2007, 2:47 a.m. ET · NASA discovered a worrisome gouge on Endeavour's belly soon after the shuttle docked with the international space station Friday, possibly caused by ice that broke off the fuel tank a minute after liftoff.
The gouge — about 3 inches square — was spotted in zoom-in photography taken by the space station crew shortly before Endeavour delivered teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan and her six crewmates to the orbiting outpost.
"What does this mean? I don't know at this point," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team. If the gouge is deep enough, the shuttle astronauts may have to patch it during a spacewalk, he said.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12519384
'War Czar' Concerned over Stress of War on Troops
All Things Considered, August 10, 2007 · Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, says he is concerned about the toll the war in Iraq and extended deployments are taking on U.S. forces.
The man who is widely known as the "war czar" also says that from a military standpoint, a return to a draft should be part of the discussion.
On the ground in Iraq, Lute tells Michele Norris that there has been "demonstrable progress" on the security front. But on the political front, the Iraqi government is lagging behind, though he does cite progress at local and provincial levels.
How heavy a toll is the war taking on American forces? Do you agree with other military leaders who have expressed worries that U.S. forces are near the breaking point?
As an Army officer, this is a matter of real concern to me. Ultimately, the American army, and any other all-volunteer force, rests with the support and the morale and the willingness to serve demonstrated by our — especially our young men and women in uniform. And I am concerned that those men and women and the families they represent are under stress as a result of repeated deployments.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12688693
From Pulpit to Politics, a World-Famous Evangelist
All Things Considered, August 10, 2007 · Billy Graham is the nation's evangelical father, known for his theatrical preaching and his decades as both a political and spiritual adviser to many presidential administrations – from Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Bush family.
"He really found politics a little seductive, and he talks about it that way. He sometimes wondered whether the devil wasn't at work because he felt really pulled," Michael Duffy, co-author of The Preacher and the Presidents tells Michelle Norris.
Graham was thrown into the political world at a young age, and over more than half a century, he forged bonds with nearly a dozen presidents. He counseled Lyndon Johnson on Vietnam, became close friends with Richard Nixon and provided support and advice to Hillary Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky affair surfaced.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12688635
White House Calls for Action on Illegal Immigration
by Pam Fessler
All Things Considered, August 10, 2007 · The Bush administration castigated Congress on Friday for not passing comprehensive immigration legislation.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced that because Congress did not act, the administration would do what it could to increase action against illegal immigration.
Among other measures, they proposed rules that would require employers to fire people whose Social Security numbers don't match that agency's records. Employers who still have such employees on their payrolls after 90 days would be fined.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12692603
Microphone Fails to Detect Mine Survivors
NPR.org, August 10, 2007 · Rescuers trying to make contact with six coal miners might have drilled a hole into the wrong chamber, but they have not given up hope that the trapped men are still alive, officials said Friday.
Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said an initial air sample taken through the hole that was drilled 1,900 feet below the surface indicated there was enough oxygen to support life. However, later readings showed dangerously low levels in a sealed chamber next to the one where the miners are believed trapped.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12667572
Second Drill Reaches Miners' Location
from The Associated Press
HUNTINGTON, Utah August 11, 2007, 8:12 a.m. ET · A second drill broke through early Saturday to a mine shaft where officials hope to find six trapped workers, clearing the way for a video camera to be lowered and provide the first answers to the miners' fate.
Nearly 9 inches wide, the hole reached the mine shaft between just before 3 a.m., said Bob Murray, chief of mine co-owner Murray Energy Corp. Crews were removing the heavy drill steel and planned send down the camera within a few hours.
There has been no word from the miners since the Crandall Canyon mine collapsed early Monday. A microphone lowered into a smaller hole yielded no sounds of life and an air sample taken through the 2-inch hole detected little oxygen.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12666476
Taliban: Koreans' Release May Come Soon
from The Associated Press
The closed gate of the Afghan Red Crescent Society of Gazni province west of Kabul, Afghanistan behind which two top Taliban leaders and four South Korean officials met for face-to-face negotiations Friday Aug 10 2007, talking on the fate of 21 hostages from the Asian country, the first in-person contact of the three-week-old crisis, an Afghan official said. Associated Press © 2007
GHAZNI, Afghanistan August 11, 2007, 8:29 a.m. ET · A Taliban leader taking part in hostage negotiations for the lives of 21 South Koreans said Saturday that the hostages would "definitely" be released and possibly as soon as "today or tomorrow."
Mullah Qari Bashir said that face-to-face negotiations with four Korean officials that began Friday were going well and that the Taliban were sticking with their original demand — that 21 Taliban prisoners be released from prisons in Afghanistan.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6479149
Bush, Sarkozy Look for Better Relations
from The Associated Press
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine August 11, 2007, 7:54 a.m. ET · It is not a summit, not even a working lunch. Just a social meal between two world leaders who happen to be vacationing near each other in New England. That, at least, is how the White House describes Saturday's sit-down between President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But there is more to it than a get-to-know-you.
By welcoming Sarkozy to his parents' seaside home, Bush is laying a foundation for what he hopes are drastically improved relations with France over the rest of his term. In turn, the newly elected Sarkozy is eager to bond with Bush and display a pro-American mind-set.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12710427
The Argument over The North Pole Heats Up
Now Danes test claim on Pole
There is a lot of prestige and vast resources at stake Oystein Jensen , maritime law expert
Expedition seeks proof underwater ridge is connected to their Greenland territory
Aug 11, 2007 04:30 AM
OSLO, Norway–Danish scientists head for the Arctic ice pack tomorrow seeking evidence to position Denmark in the race to claim the North Pole region's potentially vast oil and other resources.
Canada has been making its own moves to strengthen its territorial claims in the Arctic, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper announcing northern initiatives on a three-day swing through the region that ended yesterday.
The month-long Danish expedition will seek evidence that the Lomonosov Ridge, a 2,000-kilometre underwater mountain range, is attached to the Danish territory of Greenland, making it a geological extension of the Arctic island.
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/245319
Harper bolsters military strength in Arctic
Updated Fri. Aug. 10 2007 10:16 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
In an effort to strengthen territorial claims in the Arctic, Canada will build an army training centre and construct a deep-sea military port in the heart of the Northwest Passage, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Friday while touring the region.
Harper said the North holds a special place in the nation's soul and needs protection.
"That's why we react so strongly when other countries show disrespect for our sovereignty over the Arctic," he said.
The 4,100-member Canadian Rangers force will also be increased by 900, Harper said in Resolute Bay, Nunavut.
The prime minister has been asserting Canadian sovereignty over the region while touring the far north this week.
"Protecting national sovereignty -- the integrity of our borders -- is the first and foremost responsibility of the national government," he said.
The Canadian Forces training centre, which will be built in Resolute Bay, will be a year-round facility that can accommodate 100 personnel.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070810/canada_denmark_arctic_070810/20070810?hub=CTVNewsAt11
Canada Announces Plans for 2 New Bases in Its Far North
Published: August 11, 2007
OTTAWA, Aug. 10 — In the latest of a series of claims over portions of the Arctic, Canada said Friday that it planned to build two new military bases in the far north to assert its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage.
The status of the shipping route, navigable only with the aid of icebreakers for a small part of the year, has been the source of a longstanding dispute that has pitted Canada against the United States and Russia.
Warming climate trends may reduce ice in the passage and make it a substantially shorter alternative to the Panama Canal for commercial shipping. The seabed under the route may also contain oil, gas and minerals that could be extracted if the ice cover diminishes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/world/americas/11canada.html
New Zealand Herald
Tourists ignore glacier danger
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
Thousands of tourists visiting West Coast glaciers are continuing to ignore warning signs and enter danger zones.
In February, a tourist standing beside an ice cave at the terminal face of the Franz Josef Glacier was injured when the roof collapsed. He had walked past signs warning of the danger of falling ice.
As a result, the Department of Conservation decided to have its management of the glacier valley reviewed by its Canterbury technical support manager, Don Bogie.
The rapidly advancing Franz and Fox glaciers get about 600,000 visitors a year, and surveys show 170,000 go past the last barrier into the danger zone.
Mr Bogie said the department knew many people were taking the risk, which indicated its duty of care was not "being adequately discharged". Unless action was taken, there was a high risk of an accident with multiple fatalities.
- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/7/story.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10457073
Four UK troops die in Iraq in 48 hours
10:25AM Friday August 10, 2007
BASRA, Iraq - Two British soldiers were killed in Iraq early on Thursday, taking the death toll to four in about 48 hours.
The Irish Guards soldiers killed shortly after midnight were in a convoy hit by a roadside bomb near the Rumaila oil fields, west of Basra. Two other soldiers were seriously injured.
British-patrolled southern Iraq has become more dangerous for British troops since the government announced in February that London would cut back its force during the course of 2007.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456957
Hundreds gather to welcome VC recipient home
2:08PM Saturday August 11, 2007
Corporal Willie Apiata. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Formal celebrations are underway at the home marae of Corporal Willie Apiata.
A huge crowd has gathered to welcome the Victoria Cross recipient back to Te Kaha on the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Defence Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mike Shatford says Corporal Apiata is excited and nervous about today's proceedings.
Mr Shatford believes it will be the hardest of the three ceremonies held in conjunction with the awarding of the medal because the soldier's friends and whanau will be present.
Mr Apiata has laid a wreath by pictures of many deceased war heroes including the first Maori recipient of the Victoria Cross, Second Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu.
Mr Apiata, an SAS soldier, was awarded the Victoria Cross for carrying an injured colleague through gunfire to safety while on an mission in Afghanistan.
- NEWSTALK ZB
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457167
Low key, large-scale family party for VC
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Yvonne Tahana
Willie Apiata. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Te Kaha Marae billed the first day of celebrations to honour Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Willie Apiata as a low-key affair.
It was a time for iwi closest to the soldier - host Te Whanau a Apanui, their East Coast cousins Ngati Porou and northern iwi Ngapuhi - to come together before an official party including Prime Minister Helen Clark arrives for the formal ceremony today.
But Maori do low-key big.
At least 4000 descended on the isolated Bay of Plenty village where Corporal Apiata grew up.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457128
Finally, Louise Nicholas' full story
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Juliet Rowan
Louise Nicholas says she is now looking forward to spending time with family, including her 10-week-old, Luke.
After years of battling for justice, the Rotorua woman says she couldn't have done it without the support of her husband Ross, three daughters and her parents.
But she still wants to see a better deal for rape complaints.
Revelations that up to a dozen other women were allegedly victims of a group of police officers that involved two of her accused, Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, came as no surprise. "I knew that I wasn't the only one and I took on the battle of many," she said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457136
Palestinian link in lecturer's firing
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Simon Collins
Paul Buchanan was popular with students, and also a champion of the Palestinian cause. Photo / Richard Robinson
Palestinian activists at Auckland University appear to have helped - unwittingly or deliberately - to bring down one of their strongest champions in this country, sacked political scientist Paul Buchanan.
Weekend Herald inquiries indicate the university may have felt pressured to sack him because an offending email he wrote was circulated widely in the two months before he was sacked.
Dean of Arts John Morrow dismissed Dr Buchanan on July 25 for an email sent on May 30 to Arab student Asma Al Yammahi refusing her a deadline extension because claiming her father's death as an excuse was "culturally driven and preying on some sort of Western liberal guilt".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457120
Foodstuffs labels to state place of origin
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Derek Cheng
Demand for country of origin food labels is growing after a major food retailer said it would introduce them labels because of customer pressure.
Foodstuffs NZ hopes to have the new labelling policy fully implemented by December for its stores nationwide. It will apply to fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood sold in Pak 'N Save, New World, Write Price, Shoprite supermarkets and Four Square stores. It will not apply to processed foods, which often have more than one ingredient.
Foodstuffs executive manager Melissa Hodd said the policy was customer-driven, and not a food safety issue.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457129
Crowd gathers in Auckland to protest youth wage rates
2:29PM Saturday August 11, 2007
A large crowd has gathered in Auckland to protest against youth wage rates.
This is the last chance they will have before a watered-down bill to abolish youth pay rates goes before Parliament on Wednesday.
About 200 people gathered in Britomart Square.
Among them are Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples and prominent unionists, along with the bill's key proponent Sue Bradford.
Ms Bradford says watering down her bill - by applying a 200-hour probationary period - is anti-family and discriminatory.
The march route goes from Britomart Square then south up Queen Street towards Aotea Square.
- NEWSTALK ZB
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457168
NZ could escape virulent aussie flu
6:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
New Zealand could escape the virulent outbreaks of influenza sweeping Australia this winter, says a Christchurch virus expert.
"We won't necessarily follow Australia. Australia quite often follows us," said Dr Lance Jennings.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457131
Internet can prejudice jurors - judge
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Martin Johnston
Roy Wade. Photo / Richard Robinson
Restrictions on reporting preliminary court hearings may need to be tightened because internet coverage could contaminate juries, a judge says.
Judge Roy Wade, of the Manukau District Court, says fellow judges have told him of "at least two instances" in the past 12 months of internet material being found in jury rooms.
In February last year, Judge Roderick Joyce, QC, reprimanded a jury for jeopardising a trial by doing its own legal research on the internet rather than relying on his directions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457127
Journalist made editor-in-chief
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
The former editorial director of Your Home & Garden, Sally Duggan, has been appointed editor-in-chief of Metro and North & South magazines.
The position was created following the departure of North & South editor Robyn Langwell, who lost her job in June after 22 years at the magazine.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10457130
Space shuttle Endeavour reaches space station
11:06AM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Irene Klotz
Endeavour has docked at the International Space Station two days after blasting off from Cape Canaveral. Photo / Reuters
HOUSTON - The US space shuttle Endeavour on Friday completed a two-day trek to intercept the International Space Station and docked with the orbital outpost to deliver its next-to-last support beam and more than two tons of gear.
Shuttle commander Scott Kelly gently pulsed his spaceship's steering jets to align a docking ring in Endeavour's open cargo bay with a matching latch mounted on the front of the station's Destiny laboratory module.
The rings clasped shut at 2:02 p.m. EDT as the two spacecraft sailed 214 miles above the South Pacific.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457161
Return of the goddess
5:00PM Saturday August 11, 2007
By Andrew Buncombe
Sajani Shakya, glad to be home with her father Nyuchhe. Photo / Reuters
In Nepal, she has been worshipped as a deity since she was 2. But when 10-year-old Sajani took a trip to the United States, Nepali religious officials threatened to strip her of her exalted status. Is life for a goddess as divine as it sounds?
The goddess is sleeping, her head resting against the window of the plane. Far beneath the clouds outside lie the mountains of her native country to which she is returning. Soon she will be stepping on to the tarmac, the broadest of happy smiles beaming across her young face. But for now the goddess is quiet and calm. Tranquil. The plane banks and dips.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456842
Three killed in accident at Indiana coal mine
7:17AM Saturday August 11, 2007
PRINCETON, Indiana - Three construction workers fell to their deaths on Friday as they were lowered into a coal mine air shaft, authorities said, in the second serious accident at a US mine in less than a week.
"As they were lowering them, the bucket caught on something - maybe on the wall of the shaft - and it tipped and they fell," Princeton Mayor Bob Hurst said in a telephone interview.
The air shaft, which was under construction, was about 600 feet deep, and was two-thirds of the way to its intended 900 foot depth, where the coal seam is located, said Hurst, a retired geologist for coal mining companies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457142
Another victim found in US bridge collapse
10:33AM Saturday August 11, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS - Recovery teams in Minnesota found a ninth victim from last week's highway bridge collapse, police said on Friday.
Four people are still listed as missing. The recovery operation since the August 1 collapse has been slowed by the tangled wreckage in the murky waters of the fast-moving Mississippi River, but the body of a man and the remains from two other victims were found on Thursday.
US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that US$50 million ($67.43 million) of the US$250 million approved by Congress would be released immediately to help Minnesota with cleanup, recovery, and reconstruction of the bridge.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457159
Democratic nudge for Musharraf
8:15AM Saturday August 11, 2007
US President George W. Bush wants Pervez Musharraf to move towards democracy after the embattled Pakistani leader pulled back from declaring a state of emergency.
Any such move would have automatically extended the current Parliament for another 12 months, meaning a delay in elections due by early 2008.
Bush also renewed US calls for full co-operation from its key anti-terror ally in the hunt for al Qaeda leaders believed to be holed up in remote tribal lands along the Pakistan-Afghan border.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457117
Rights group sues
7:15AM Saturday August 11, 2007
US airline JetBlue Airways and a federal airport official illegally blocked a man from getting on a flight because he was wearing a T-shirt with a message in Arabic - "We will not be silent" - on it, according to a discrimination lawsuit filed by two civil rights organisations.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457116
Mosque plans thwarted
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
The Sehitlik-Moschee mosque in Berlin, where there have been anti-mosque protests. Photo / Reuters
Across Europe, Muslims who have long prayed in garages and old factories face scepticism and concern for wanting to build stately mosques to give proud testimony to the faith and solidity of their Islamic communities.
Some critics reject them as signs of "Islamisation".
Others say minarets would scar their city's skyline.
Given the role some mosques have played as centres for terrorists, others see Muslim houses of worship as potential security threats.
"The increasingly visible presence of Muslims has prompted questions in all European societies," Tariq Ramadan, one of Europe's leading Muslim spokesmen, argued when far-right groups proposed this year to ban minarets in his native Switzerland.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457052
Rescuers hopeful despite no word from Utah miners
Page 1 of 2 View as a single page 1:04PM Saturday August 11, 2007
By James Nelson
Rescuers trying to reach six men trapped in a collapsed Utah coal mine refused to give up hope of finding them alive on Friday, even though instruments dangled into an underground chamber found no signs of life.
The six miners have not been heard from in five days, since the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington caved in on Monday morning, and did not respond when a microphone was lowered 550m through a drill hole.
The rescuers said it was possible that they had missed the shaft where the miners were thought trapped and drilled instead into a sealed chamber nearby.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457165
Dozen feared dead as bus falls in reservoir
3:54PM Friday August 10, 2007
BEIJING - A bus carrying more than 20 passengers plunged into a reservoir in east China on Friday and a about a dozen people were missing, feared dead, Xinhua news agency said.
The accident occurred in Taishun county in coastal Zhejiang province when the bus collided with a truck and fell more than 10 metres into the Pengxi reservoir and sank, Xinhua said.
Seven people had been rescued but the others were feared dead, it said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10457007
Solomons PM avoids no-confidence vote
1:20PM Friday August 10, 2007
HONIARA - Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has avoided a vote of no confidence in his leadership after the motion was withdrawn on the floor of parliament today.
The mover of the motion, opposition MP Edward Huniehu, elected to withdraw it until a court case against him and Speaker Peter Kenilorea, which is related to the no-confidence vote, is resolved.
In anticipation of the vote, security was stepped up around Parliament House in Honiara by Solomons police and members of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456985
UK lab may be source of Legionnaires and foot and mouth
8:50AM Friday August 10, 2007
By Colin Brown
LONDON - The public labs run by the Institute of Animal Health at Pirbrighthave become embroiled in a fresh controversy after revelations that a contractor who worked at the site has contracted Legionnaire's Disease.
The Pirbright labs, which comprise the IAH and the privately-run Merial company, are believed to be the most likely source of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease which has paralysed two Surrey farms.
The latest revelation comes as a profound embarrassment for the management of the labs who have gone to great lengths to deny any breaches of health and safety regulations.
"They need this like a hole in the head," said a source at the Merial lab.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456940
50,000 condoms to curb rising STIs in Samoa
Page 1 of 3 View as a single page 1:30PM Friday August 10, 2007
By Cherelle Jackson
The Safe Games Campaign is now well under way, with promises by the campaign committee to distribute more than 50,000 condoms before, during and after the South Pacific Games which begin this month.
Samoa is expecting a drastic increase in population by perhaps more than 20,000 people in a period of two weeks.
No doubt the anticipation of the crowds, the parties, the VIP cocktails, networking and travelling to the sunny Samoa will be some of the reasons thousands will descend upon our shores during the games.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10456988
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