Sydney Morning Herald
Plame memoir bags Bush boys
Anne Davies Herald Correspondent in Washington
October 20, 2007
IT IS the spy scandal that continues to dog the White House even though many of its key players, like Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, are already fading into history.
Four years after her CIA cover was blown in a newspaper column - allegedly at the behest of the White House - Valerie Plame, America's "Jane Bond", is about to get even.
Her memoir will be published on Monday, and the White House can expect to be in the firing line. She takes aim at staffers - notably President George Bush's former chief of staff, Rove, and Vice-President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Libby - as well as the journalists involved in leaking her name into the public domain.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/plame-memoir-bags-bush-boys/2007/10/19/1192301044786.html
Workers sue over horse flu outbreak
Frank Walker
October 21, 2007
THOUSANDS of horse industry workers will be included in a planned class action suing the Federal Government for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses because of the horse flu outbreak.
Lawyers representing several horse associations said they were building a case against the Federal Government's Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service based on alleged negligence for failing to prevent the outbreak.
A law firm planning a class action, Clinch Neville Long Letherbarrow, is collecting details of financial losses from a range of people in the horse industry.
"They include vets, saddlers, riding schools, instructors, farriers, equestrian associations, suppliers and breeders," said a partner in the firm, Matthew Hourn.
"Tens of thousands of people lost their income.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/workers-sue-over-horse-flu/2007/10/20/1192301100160.html
Air sickness
Matthew Benns
October 21, 2007
FLIGHT crews have been overcome by toxic fumes on Australian jets, the latest on a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Auckland.
Senior pilots warn that crew and regular passengers could suffer serious long-term illnesses unless the aviation industry admits jet airliners worldwide have a critical design flaw.
A Qantas flight engineer was off work for a week after inhaling toxic fumes on the flight deck of a Boeing 747 flying from Los Angeles to Auckland in July. WorkCover in NSW issued an improvement order telling the airline to address the problem.
But The Sun-Herald can reveal it was not a one-off incident, and that flight crews fear there would be "a disaster" if both pilots were overcome by fumes during a flight.
Australian & International Pilots Association general manager Peter Somerville said: "People don't need to stop flying but there is a problem and it needs to be fixed."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/toxic-fumes-permeate-cabins/2007/10/20/1192301100075.html
Backpack backdown
Lost sales … Zebra Crossing Club hopes its plush toy backpacks will be big sellers this Christmas, despite 'copycat' versions briefly appearing on Kmart shelves.
Photo: Rebecca Hallas
Heath Gilmore
October 21, 2007
RETAIL giant Kmart has been forced to recall and destroy thousands of toy animal backpacks and trolleys after it was accused by a small local business of ripping off its designs.
Owners of the Zebra Crossing Club brand, Paul Iorlano and Micha Nangami, were hoping their Backpack Buddies and Wheelie Friends designs, with detachable plush toy, would be big sellers this Christmas.
But in July Kmart began advertising its new plush fabric Animal Backpack Buddy and Travel Buddy trolley - almost $15 cheaper than the Zebra Crossing Club products. The Melbourne-based designers feared financial ruin. The pair, who have a trademark registration on the products, hired trademark lawyer Trevor Choy.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/kmart-recalls-toy-bags/2007/10/20/1192301100115.html
Sun-loving migrants heading our way
Hannah Edwards Environment Reporter
October 21, 2007
CANE toads and dangerous marine stingers are among an army of animals migrating south to Sydney to enjoy rising temperatures brought on by climate change.
Warm-climate species already here include the green sea turtle, several types of butterfly and moth, an unusual cockroach and a cicada.
Australian Museum naturalist Martyn Robinson warned that unwelcome species, such as the destructive cane toad, might arrive in the near future.
At the same time, many local insects and animals that find Sydney too warm are heading south. The red-crowned toadlet, the blackbird, sparrow and European wasp are now rarely seen.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sunloving-migrants-heading-our-way/2007/10/20/1192301100096.html
Private firms chasing $10bn in unpaid tax
Frank Walker
October 21, 2007
THE Australian Tax Office has for the first time hired private debt collectors to try to gather $10.1 billion in unpaid taxes.
It will spend $42 million of taxpayers' money to pay the approved debt collection firms.
Most of the outstanding debt has been built up by companies rather than individuals.
The debt collectors will also be calling on bosses who have failed to pay $299 million in workers' superannuation contributions.
The move comes after a three-month trial last year in which debt collection firm Dun & Bradstreet managed to haul in $21 million in unpaid taxes. It was paid a $220,000 fee.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/private-firms-chasing-10bn-in-unpaid-tax/2007/10/20/1192301100157.html
Google brings up result in the billions
Jessica Guynn in San Francisco
October 20, 2007
GOOGLE outgoogled itself in the third quarter. With the market counting on an aeronautic financial performance from the internet search leader, Google turned on the afterburners and surpassed even the most bullish expectations that have propelled the stock price into rarefied air.
With a market value just shy of $US200 billion ($224 billion), Google on Thursday edged past Cisco as Silicon Valley's most valuable company.
Google's profit jumped 46 per cent to $US1.07 billion on a 57 per cent rise in revenue to $US4.23 billion, propelled by simple text ads on web pages.
"It's an amazing business performance for a company of that magnitude to sustain those levels of growth," Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said. "We always look for balance and we are looking very hard to find something negative to say about this quarter, but it's very difficult. Google improved on all fronts we were hoping it would improve on."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/google-brings-up-result-in-the-billions/2007/10/19/1192301043412.html
Rising grain prices put a dent in fuel revolution
EVENTS in the Middle East this week should have guaranteed towns such as Condobolin a thriving role in the biofuels revolution.
Turkey's determination to go after Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq spooked markets and saw the global oil price reach record highs of nearly $US90 ($101) a barrel.
That's more than twice the price at which an ethanol industry was supposed to be a viable concern in Australia.
But this week Oaklands, Coleambally and Condobolin in NSW, and Swan Hill just over the Murray River in Victoria, were dealing with news that proposed Agri Energy ethanol plants had been put indefinitely on hold.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/rising-grain-prices-put-a-dent-in-fuel-revolution/2007/10/19/1192301043371.html
Sugar cane country goes green
The practice of burning sugar cane before harvest is being fazed out in favour of green harvesting.
Sugarcane Country - The Burn Goes Green
http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/2007/national/canefarmers/index.html
US asks court to dismiss rendition lawsuit
October 20, 2007 - 12:21PM
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The US government has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit against a unit of Boeing that charges the firm helped fly suspects abroad to secret prisons.
"Allowing plaintiffs' claims to proceed would risk the disclosure of highly classified information concerning the alleged 'intelligence activities, sources, and methods' of the CIA," said the filing, signed by Acting Assistant Attorney-General Jeffrey Bucholtz.
The American Civil Liberties Union first filed a complaint in May accusing Jeppesen Dataplan Inc of providing flight and logistical support to at least 15 aircraft on 70 "extraordinary-rendition" flights.
The complaint to the US District Court for the Northern District of California alleged Jeppesen "falsified flight plans to European air traffic control authorities to avoid public scrutiny of CIA flights".
The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of five men who say the CIA had them flown to foreign prisons for interrogations and torture.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-seeks-to-squash-rendition-lawsuit/2007/10/20/1192301086138.html
Market plays follow-the-leader, lands in red
THE Australian stockmarket ended the week in the red, with losses in all sectors after a slight dip on Wall Street overnight.
At the close, the benchmark ASX 200 index was down by 61.4 points at 6706.3 and the All Ordinaries 57.7 points lower at 6723.3. For the week, the ASX 200 was down by 42.6 points compared with last Friday's close.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange the December share price index contract lost 91 points to 6730 on a volume of 22,458 contracts.
A dealer with CMC Markets, Matt Wacher, said the market had followed a weak lead from the US. "The US markets provided little lead overnight, and for the second day in a row local investors looked to the Asian region for direction and followed Asian markets lower."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/market-plays-followtheleader-lands-in-red/2007/10/19/1192301043377.html
Skype goes mobile
Asher Moses
October 19, 2007 - 12:40PM
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Skype is preparing to launch its own branded mobile phone in conjunction with the 3 mobile network as early as this month.
The phone is codenamed "white phone" and BusinessWeek reported it would launch in Australia, Britain, Italy and Hong Kong "by late October".
A spokeswoman for 3 in Australia confirmed it was working with a leading internet communications company "to produce an exciting new product to make free internet calls completely mobile".
She would not give any further details but said the product would "close the gap between internet communications and mobile calling and is something you won't see from any other operator".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/skype-goes-mobile/2007/10/19/1192301008633.html
Suiteness and light
In a sun-drenched city tower Julietta Jameson finds a Sydney address to impress.
THE LAST time my niece came from country Western Australia to visit me with her family, it did not go so well. I live in the tiniest of one-bedroom apartments, with no room for more than one visitor at a time, two at a push. So the foursome that was my niece, nephew, brother and his wife needed to sleep elsewhere.
I put them up in a nearby motel that I saw as cheap and cheerful. It was on the bus route, in a quiet neighbourhood, with panoramic coastal views. It also had a fabulous 1960s Hollywood charm, with its red neon sign, palm trees and kidney-shaped pool.
At least, I thought it did. That charm was clearly lost on my 10-year-old niece, who did not consider the place up to standard. (She wasn't alone. It's since been demolished for apartments.)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/short-breaks/a-sydney-address-to-impress/2007/10/11/1191696064076.html
Father's road death crumbled son, court told
THE son of an 83-year-old Sydney war veteran "crumbled" after his father was killed by another pedestrian who had shoved him out of his way.
Robert Narramore died after falling into the path of a passing car when he was pushed aside by Craig William Wheatley on a footpath in September last year.
At a sentencing hearing in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday, Justice Virginia Bell was told Robert Narramore jnr had been deeply affected since receiving the first call about the tragedy in Riverwood. "From being able to handle the everyday stresses of life and work, there is now a little bottle of pills sitting on the shelf," his wife, Joan, wrote of him.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/19/1192301045417.html
Global fury over Puerto Rico pet massacre
October 19, 2007 - 12:31PM
The fury over the massacre of dozens of seized dogs and cats in Puerto Rico has gone global.
Thousands of people from Puerto Rico and around the world have signed an online petition calling on the governor of the U.S. Caribbean territory to ensure those who hurled some 80 pets off a highway bridge last week are brought to justice.
Nadia Donato, a 39-year-old New Yorker, said Wednesday an Associated Press story that appeared Friday about the slaughter of the dogs and cats drove her to tears — and to launch the petition drive.
A local activist
http://www.smh.com.au/news/pets/fury-over-us-pet-massacre/2007/10/19/1192301008079.html
Heads roll over nuke error
IN its first explicit confirmation that nuclear-armed missiles were erroneously flown across the United States, the US Air Force has called the episode an "unacceptable mistake" and a safety and security breach that had never happened before.
"We are making all appropriate changes to ensure this has a minimal chance of ever happening again," Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said.
He spoke at a Pentagon news conference after Defence Secretary Robert Gates was briefed on the results of the air force's investigation into the August 29-30 incident, which is regarded as one of the worst known breaches of nuclear weapons-handling procedures in decades. Appearing with Mr Wynne was Major-General Richard Newton, the air force deputy chief of staff for operations, who attributed the episode to an "unprecedented string of procedural errors".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/heads-roll-over-nuke-error/2007/10/20/1192301098964.html
Iraqi dilemma over Turkey
TURKEY'S decision to send troops across Iraq's border in pursuit of Kurdish guerillas presents Iraq's leaders with a problem.
On one hand, Iraq wants a cordial relationship with Turkey, a powerhouse in the region and a counterweight to the competing pulls of Iran and Saudi Arabia.
But Iraq has been unable to do much to halt the rebels' activities because its central government must rely on its ethnic Kurdish minority - that lives in the region where the guerillas are active - to take a stand against them.
The Qandil Mountains region near the Turkish border - one of the most rugged areas in the Middle East - has never been fully under any government control.
Iraq's Kurdish region has been semi-autonomous since 1991 and controls its own military, which also patrols the border with Turkey. The ethnic Kurds are reluctant to fight the rebels, who are primarily from Turkey and speak Turkish, because it means fighting brother Kurds with whom they are generally sympathetic.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/iraqi-dilemma-over-turkey/2007/10/19/1192301044798.html
Inequality soars even as China's poverty plunges
John Garnaut and Maya Li in Beijing
October 20, 2007
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THE number of people living in poverty has fallen below 1 billion for the first time since measurements began, and the one-third decline since 1981 is almost entirely due to a rising China.
China explains why the world is on track to meet the World Bank's millennium development goal of halving the number of people on less than $US1 a day by 2015, Martin Ravallion, the director of the World Bank's Development Research Group, told a poverty conference in Beijing this week. "We've never seen anything like it," he said.
A Stockholm University professor, Peter Svedberg, said the number of stunted and underweight Chinese children had halved in the 10 years to 2002.
Figures and analysis released at the conference, co-hosted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, shows poverty is rapidly becoming a South Asian and African problem.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/inequality-soars-even-as-chinas-poverty-plunges/2007/10/19/1192301044792.html
US search engines 'hijacked' in China
October 19, 2007 - 5:10PM
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US internet search engines in China were being hijacked and directed to Chinese-owned Baidu, analysts said Wednesday, speculating that the move was in retaliation for Washington's award to Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Analysts at Search Engine Roundtable, a website focusing on Internet search, said Chinese users trying to search on Google, Yahoo and Microsoft websites were being directed to the Chinese search engine.
Google confirmed the blocking of its Chinese search engine and Microsoft said it was looking into the matter.
"It seems like China is fed up with the US, so as a way to fight back, they redirected virtually all search traffic from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to Baidu, the Chinese based search engine," analysts Danny Sullivan and Barry Schwartz wrote at Search Engine Roundtable.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/us-search-engines-hijacked-in-china/2007/10/19/1192301035610.html
Bombings by Taliban soar
WASHINGTON: Afghanistan's Defence Minister has asked for more money and equipment to fight rising Taliban violence as his US counterpart, Robert Gates, criticised NATO allies for failing to deliver promised aid.
Abdul Rahim Wardak said suicide bombings were up 50 per cent from a year ago and that the Afghan Army needed more troops and equipment.
"We have achieved a great deal with limited manpower and old weapons and equipment," General Wardak said on Thursday after meeting Mr Gates, the US Defence Secretary, at the Pentagon.
"Imagine what we could do with better equipment and additional help."
Despite six years of war in Afghanistan, the Taliban regained strength last year and has stepped up attacks on US, Afghan and NATO forces this year. NATO forces have also begun to intercept convoys of bomb technology coming into Afghanistan from Iran, NATO and US military officials say.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bombings-by-taliban-soar/2007/10/19/1192301044804.html
Rome or Bangkok? Sydney's reputation depends on the answer
Scooters. They're spreading like nits in a kindy. At the lights there's always one or two now. Guy in a suit. Tiny girl in heels. Off they dart like they've done something wrong.
And so, as a city we face a difficult choice. What kind of scooter city do we want to become? Do we want to be Rome or Bangkok?
Sydney was never a scooter city. The scooter stood out in Sydney traffic like someone in socks and sandals on the Corso. It was wrong. What kind of vehicle was that for Australian conditions? How could you tow a boat or a van or hit the ton on the Hume on one of those things? A scooter had all the cachet of a Gogomobile with none of the wit.
There were some mods with furry jackets and a mirror fetish roaming the streets in the hope of a ska band. Occasionally someone would be inspired by a trip abroad and they would become scooter advocates for a moment. It was much like the sari and the sarong - what seemed brilliant in Goa or Kuta just didn't fit here.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/rome-or-bangkok-sydneys-reputation-depends-on-the-answer/2007/10/19/1192301044262.html
Bit of a fabulous obsession, darling, with all the chiffon and ageing execs
Why does anyone read the social pages? Why stir up confused feelings of rage, boredom and jealousy? And yet people do. I am one of them. Like many people, I might happen to just glance, almost accidentally, at these pages over breakfast on Sunday.
Like being drawn to a car accident or a nasty wound, something about the heady circuit of shop openings and cook-book launches fascinates, something about the talk of "fashion supremos", "top execs" and "marketing honchos" in their "threads" draws me in, despite the self-disgust that comes with being a gawker.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/bit-of-a-fabulous-obsession-darling-with-all-the-chiffon-andageing-execs/2007/10/19/1192301044253.html
New Zealand Herald
Pygmies stand tall over logging
5:00AM Tuesday October 16, 2007
By Jonathan Brown
Forty million people in the Congo, including 600,000 pygmies, depend on the rainforests for survival. Photo / Reuters
The rumble of giant machinery heralds the arrival of loggers deep in the heart of the Congo rainforest. For the pygmy tribes who have inhabited this thick jungle for millennia, the sound of the advancing column is the sound of encroaching hunger and the loss of a way of life stretching back hundreds of generations.
"They bring with them huge machines which go deep into the forest and make noise which frightens all the game animals away," says Adrian Sinafasi, the man seeking to alert the outside world to the plight of central Africa's pygmies. "When the loggers arrive, they bring many workers who are needed to fell the trees. They also need to eat and start hunting but, rather than use traditional weapons in the right season, they hunt with firearms and don't care about seasons or how much food they take."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10470039
Biofuels are coming, ready or not
5:00AM Monday October 15, 2007
By Angela Gregory
Why are we asking this now?
New Zealand's fuel companies are expected to start selling biofuels from 2008 as part of the Government's policy to fight climate change and reduce our dependence on imported transport fuels. Biofuels will have to account for at least 3.4 per cent of total fuel sales by 2012. Oil companies have not revealed exactly how they will meet the targets but they could introduce bioethanol petrol blends for 91 or higher octane petrol or biodiesel.
What is biofuel?
Fuels that can be produced from or are made up of a renewable material of plant or animal origin. Those used in transport are typically bioethanol and biodiesel blends. Bioethanol is made from sugar and starch products while biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil or animal fats.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10469825
6 big ideas to change face of the Earth
5:00AM Saturday October 13, 2007
By Robin McKie and Juliette Jowit
Endless treaties to cut carbon emissions and halt global warming have failed to turn the tide of pollution. Now coming into focus are the ultimate technological fixes: schemes that will span our planet and involve scientists in reshaping our world to save it from global warming.
Yet only a few years ago, such projects - giant space mirrors, flotillas of artificial cloud makers and ocean fertilisation programmes - were dismissed as the stuff of science fiction.
Today many engineers and researchers - fearful of the rate at which our planet is warming - say geo-engineering projects are now mankind's only hope of saving itself from the impact of climate change.
A major report and a new exhibition at the Science Museum in London, starting next week, will resurrect the debate.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10469553
War threat a deliberate 'wind up' claims activist
5:00AM Sunday October 21, 2007
By Stephen Cook
Anti-terror police have been accused of falling victim to a well-organised hoax designed to ambush a year-long investigation into alleged paramilitary operations around the country.
Self-styled activist Jamie Lockett - one of 17 people arrested as part of nationwide police raids on suspected weapons training camps - is claiming incriminating text and phone messages were sent deliberately to wind up police who had been bugging his phone.
Lockett and his network of supporters are also claiming the men seen in surveillance photographs at a training camp in the Ureweras are actually members of the New Zealand Army, who were on a training exercise at the time.
Police allege Lockett attended the camp around the time the photographs were taken, but supporters say an entry in his work diary shows he was in Auckland on that date.
Several of Lockett's associates have
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10471147
New wind warning for Harbour Bridge
5:00AM Sunday October 21, 2007
By Jared Savage
Heavy trucks should be banned completely from the Auckland Harbour Bridge clip-on lanes in high winds, according to an official engineering report - despite earlier assurances from Transit that no such measures were necessary.
Extreme winds have emerged as a potentially greater risk than previously thought by Transit, and a recent report from Beca Infrastructure recommended further tunnel wind testing in Australia.
The June report also said more strengthening work was needed to cater for potential contact between the main truss bridge and the clip-on extensions.
"It can be confirmed that heavy traffic must be restricted on the extensions in high winds.
"Under peak traffic loading, the box girder touches down on the truss bridge, requiring local strengthening of both the box girders and truss bridge."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10471131
Pain at the pumps as petrol prices increase
5:00AM Sunday October 21, 2007
By Alice Hudson
Thousands of holiday makers heading away for the long weekend were hit hard in the pocket at the fuel pumps yesterday, by which time all fuel retailers had bowed to pressure and hiked prices.
BP had led the way on Wednesday, upping prices for 91 octane by 3 cents a litre to 163.9c. Diesel rose to 116.9c.
By yesterday, as queues of cars waited for a turn at the pumps, the remainder of the big four had settled on the slightly more affordable, but still comparatively expensive rate of 160.9c per litre for 91 octane and 113.9c for diesel.
Caltex spokeswoman Sharon Buckland had earlier told the New Zealand Herald the company tried to avoid putting up prices to coincide with the long weekend.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10471159
Air force colonels sacked after nuclear bombs flown over US
9:10AM Sunday October 21, 2007
By Stephen Foley
NEW YORK - The US Air Force has disciplined 70 service personnel after nuclear warheads capable of unleashing the equivalent of 10 Hiroshima bombs were mistakenly flown across the US.
A Pentagon investigation found that air and ground crews took a "lackadaisical" approach to vital safety checks put in place during the Cold War.
In the incident on 30 August, a B-52 bomber took off from the remote Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota with 12 cruise missiles that were being taken out of commission and scheduled for burial at the opposite end of the country at a Louisiana air base.
The warheads on the decommissioned missiles should have been replaced with dummies of the same weight, but personnel failed to notice that six of the 12 were fully operational nuclear warheads.
The 1,770km flight was the first time in 40 years that nuclear bombs have been flown over US territory without top-level authorisation, and the terrifying mistake was not discovered for 36 hours.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10471183
Kidnapped Colombian dog found days after shootout
5:10PM Saturday October 20, 2007
BOGOTA - A kidnapped Colombian dog held for $350,000 ($NZ470,873) ransom was recovered on Friday after his abductors dropped him off at a veterinarian's office, saying he needed a bath.
When no one came to pick up the German shepherd after it was washed, the office called police who said they identified the canine as Aldo de Fescol, snatched last month from his home in a rich Bogota neighborhood while his owners were away.
No ransom was paid, police said.
Aldo was in healthy condition but two of his kidnappers were wounded in a Tuesday shootout with police who ambushed them at a fake meeting staged to pay the extortion money.
The abductors tried to pressure the family by sending a proof of life video with a note saying, "This is how your dog cries at night."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10471082
Blair emerges as candidate for 'President of Europe'
4:00PM Saturday October 20, 2007
By Andrew Grice
Tony Blair has emerged as a possible candidate for "President of Europe", a new post created by the treaty approved by EU leaders at their Lisbon summit.
The former prime minister's name was put in the frame yesterday by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, who described Mr Blair as "a very remarkable man - the most European of all Britons."
He added: "To think of him would be a good idea."
The treaty scraps the current system under which one country holds the EU's rotating presidency for six months.
It will be replaced by the appointment of a President, who will chair EU meetings, drive through its agenda and serve for two-and-a-half years.
Gordon Brown said: "Tony Blair would be a great candidate for any significant international job."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10471080
Guns still have stranglehold on US despite mass shootings
5:00AM Saturday October 20, 2007
A gun in a US home is 22 times more likely to be used in an accidental shooting, a murder or a suicide than in self-defence against an attack. Photo / Reuters
Shirley Katz is not afraid to fight for her rights. Last week the schoolteacher, 44, went to court in her home town of Medford, Oregon, to protest at her working conditions. Specifically she is outraged she cannot carry a handgun into class. "I know it is my right to carry that gun," she said.
Katz was in court in the week someone else took a gun to school in America. Asa Coon, 14, walked the corridors of his school in Cleveland Ohio, a gun in each hand, shooting two teachers and two students. Then he killed himself. Coon's attempted massacre made headlines.
But a more bloody rampage, the murder of six young partygoers by policeman Tyler Peterson in Crandon, Wisconsin, got less attention, even in the New York Times - America's newspaper of record - which buried it deep inside the paper.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10470960
Elephants see red as a risky colour
5:00AM Saturday October 20, 2007
Elephants are very intelligent animals. Photo / Reuters
Elephants mourn their dead and engage in long-distance communication using barely audible, low-frequency growls. Now they have been shown to be able to distinguish between different human tribes based on the smell and colour of their clothing.
It is believed to be the first time that any wild animal has been found to have the ability to categorise different sub-groups within the same species depending on the potential threat that they pose.
A study of elephants in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya has found that they react differently to members of the Maasai, cattle-herding pastoralists whose young men sometimes spear elephants to prove their virility, and the Kamba, who are village-dwelling farmers who pose little threat to them.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10470952
Nobel prize-winning scientist suspended
8:15AM Saturday October 20, 2007
Prominent New York scientific institution the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory suspended Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Dr James Watson yesterday over racially insensitive comments he was quoted as making in a newspaper interview.
Last weekend the Sunday Times newspaper printed an interview in which Watson was quoted as saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10470963
Scared faces warning
7:15AM Monday October 15, 2007
Happy faces make less of an impression on the brain than fearful ones, new research has shown.
Tests showed the brain becomes aware of a scared face faster than it does one that is smiling. The reaction is thought to be an instinct that evolved as a "threat radar" millions of years ago.
Psychologist Dr David Zald, from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in the US, who co-led the study, said: "There are reasons to believe that the brain has evolved mechanisms to detect things in the environment that signal threat. One of those signals is a look of fear.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10469889
Nearly half of smokers want ban on advertising
12:37PM Monday October 15, 2007
By Craig Borley
Almost half of New Zealand's smokers believe point-of-sale cigarette displays should be banned, a Cancer Society survey has found.
However, Dunedin Green MP Metiria Turei believes there is little chance the displays will be outlawed, as the two major political parties are unlikely to back such a proposal.
Speaking after a Cancer Society of New Zealand survey showed 46 per cent of smokers had tried to quit in the past year, and 45 per cent believed point-of-sale advertising made quitting difficult, Mrs Turei said only the Green Party and Maori Party were likely supporters of the societys call to ban the displays.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10470415
Norovirus outbreak in Christchurch
12:50PM Saturday October 13, 2007
The Norovirus genome under a microscope.
An outbreak of norovirus is continuing to put pressure on hospital services in Christchurch.
Four wards at Princess Margaret Hospital are closed to new admissions, along with another two at Christchurch Hospital and one more at Burwood Hospital.
Canterbury District Health Board says it has the virus contained, but needs people to stay away from the Emergency Department unless they have a genuine emergency.
Communications Manager Michele Hider says there is a lot of norovirus in the community at the moment.
It is a severe form of gastroenteritis, the symptoms of which include stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting.
Ms Hider says shutting wards off to deal with the cases they have means less space or even no space for new patients.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10469692
Dolphins flown to Dubai resort
5:00AM Friday October 19, 2007
Two jet airliners carrying 28 live dolphins have left the Solomon Islands bound for Dubai, despite protests from environmental groups and threats to boycott Solomons tuna.
The dolphins were loaded by staff of the Marine Mammal Education Centre and Exporters, a company run by Canadian Chris Porter.
Director Robert Satu said the dolphins would be looked after with "great care" on their 30-hour flight to Dubai, and the export would pave the way for more lucrative shipments.
The sale was worth more than $1.2 million.
The dolphins are going to Dubai's new Palm Atlantis resort hotel, partly owned by ruling elites in the United Arab Emirates.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10470811
Britain to claim part of Antarctica
9:21AM Thursday October 18, 2007
By Kate Kelland
LONDON - The British government plans to submit a claim to the United Nations to extend its Antarctic territory by a million square kilometres, the foreign office has said.
The claim is one of five territorial requests planned by the country ahead of a May 2009 deadline and covers a vast area of the seabed around British Antarctica near the south pole, a spokeswoman said.
"We are one of many coastal states who are submitting various claims," she said.
She said the four other claims would be for Atlantic seabed territory around South Georgia and the Falkland Islands and also around Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, near the Bay of Biscay in the North Atlantic, and in the Hatton-Rockall basin off Scotland's coast.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10470635
Climate hope lies in forests
5:00AM Thursday October 18, 2007
By Nick Mathiason
Industrial clearance of rainforests accounts for 20 per cent of greenhouse gases. Every second of each day a portion of jungle the size of a football pitch is destroyed. As timber is carted off for export, giant agribusinesses often move in. And so spins the nightmare cycle: a growing release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which in turn alters weather patterns and destroys delicate ecosystems.
Climate-change economists believe that slowing the speed of rainforest destruction is the most cost-effective way to fight global warming. In his British Treasury report into the economics of climate change last year, Nicholas Stern said US$5 billion ($6.6 billion) a year was needed to provide rainforest nations with funds to ensure what remained was kept intact. But many people say Stern is unduly optimistic and put the real price at US$15 billion ($20 billion).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10470521
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