This is the UNCW Forest. It is a significant carbon sink to the region. The Wilmington Community is upset. The link to this title explains why.

None of the buildings cited at this link are necessary.

Any student parking can easily be accommodated by off campus parking and/or the return of the student parking currently exploited by the new Chancellor with parking meters. The students are not interested in destroying their 'living labs' currently known as the UNCW Forest for additional parking or housing. We'd rather walk and leave the vehicles parked within reasonable walking distance than destroy the forest.

Currently, UNCW employs the local mass transit authority to provide buses for transportation. Those jobs would be lost if all parking were self-contained on University's campus land.

Additionally, the new residence hall isn't necessary. Currently, the community of Wilmington has apartment complexes surrounding the University that have many students living on their properties. There are student liasons between the University and the surrounding apartment complexes. If the University were to erect more unnecessary housing the surrounding economics of the area would change and there would be higher vacancy rates in the apartments.

Noted in the 'Google Earth' photo above is also single family housing surrounding about 50% of the main campus. If the UNCW Forest were destroyed and an athletic complex erected the noise level to the neighboring community would escalate to unbearable driving housing values down. The people that live near the campus like the UNCW Forest and the quiet that accompanies it.

The Millenium Complex is a private business venture no one wants. It's presence will place designs on the campus that was never intended. The campus of UNCW has always been primarily a living laboratory for the biological and environmental sciences, including, geology, geography, physics and oceanography. The Cameron School of Business and The Watson School of Education are a nice compliment to the purpose of the University. It is easy to realize the future of any of the 'primary mission sciences' of UNCW will be 'the future' of the USA and it's energy needs and sustainability. The other 'schools' are very important to the mission of the 'Arts and Science School' but in no way was the campus ever intended to be overrun with opportunity to business alone or a divergence away from it's scientific mission on a highly dynamic Coastal Plain of North Carolina.

Public comment is supposed to be conducted sometime in April, but, April is also the slated time schedule to begin the destruction of the forest. Chancellor Rosemary already stated to the President of the campus environmental club, "The final plans have been approved and it will go forward."

Excuse me? But, then why hold public hearings?

The ambitions of this Chancellor was never to consider the best interest of the students of the University or the community it is an integral part. Her 'attitude' is one of self-righteousness, with short term goals. The reason she has driven the Board of Directors of UNCW in an expedient manner to 'old, dusty ideas' at one time shelved as 'bad ideas' is to enhance an ambition and resume to get her on the path of her own agenda. Chancellor Rosemary is the worst thing that ever happened to this campus regardless of the enormously warm and generous welcome and willingness of the University to serve her demands of comfort.

To address and thwart the draconian agenda for the UNCW Forest, information can be obtained and addressed to Ron Core: corer@uncw.edu, phone 910 962-3067.

I thank everyone sincerely interested in protecting the UNCW Forest. There needs to be a movement toward insuring the well being of the UNCW Forest, making a Preserve in perpetuity. Please get involved. "Again, thank you and good night."

Dionaea muscipula - The venus fly trap in the wild is an endangered species, endemic to Wilmington, North Carolina

Among the flora of the forest floor on the UNCW campus is the endangered wild Venus Fly Trap

Another resident of the UNCW Long Leaf Pine Forest

The UNCW Long Leaf Pine Forest is also home to a species of Pileated Woodpecker (click here).

Adapted to Fire

After a seedling opens after the cone is exposed to fire, it will 'blot' to a taller than usual, but narrow trunk. It does this genetically. This is a two year old Long Leaf Pine Seedling. Upto this stage most of it's energy has come from the chlorophyll in the bark as well as leaves, but, now it will put more energy into growing branches and producing more leaves.

Species Pinus palustris

Historical picture of a mature "Old Growth" forest of Long Leaf Pine. The canopy is far above the forest floor and there is still penetration of sunlight providing a forest floor rich in opportunity for species survival of many forms of flora and fauna.

As long as the fire doesn't reach the canopy, these trees will never succumb to damage. As a matter of fact they thrive as a fire resistance species.

The Long Leaf Pine requires a fire from time to time and controlled burns are performed on campus with this forest. As these trees grow they voluntarily drop branches to allow the canopy to remain above fire level.

A resident of the UNCW Long Leaf Pine Community is The Fox Squirrel - A Threatened Species

This particular squirrel can be black in color. It is an adaptation to the fact it survives in a forest that is fire resistant. The 'understory' of the canopy can be black from buring from time to time and the squirrel while frequently grey also has a 'genetic allel' that provides some squirrels with this color.

The North Carolian Long Leaf Pine range has only three old growth forests and they are significantly small in size.

Camp Lejune Tract
Size: 49 acres
Ownership: Department of Defense Marine Corps
Location: Onslow Co, NC

Boyd Tract
Size: 160 acres
Ownership: North Carolina Division of Parks and Rec.
Location: Moore Co, NC
An old (trees > 350 years) stand that had undergone fire-exclusion for ~ 80 years. Restoration efforts (burning and raking) are underway. Old turpentining scars are present on most trees, providing a unique aspect and cultural history.
Threats: wildfire danger, urban interface, non-native species invasions.
Several past and current research projects (see Gilliam et al. 1993 and others).

Bonnie Doone Tract
Size: 160 acres
Ownership: City of Fayetteville, NC
Location: Cumberland Co, NC
A rare tract of “round timber” (meaning never been turpentined) in the sandhills region of North Carolina. Stand is fire-excluded and in need of a careful restoration program.
Threats: wildfire danger, urban interface issues. No past or present research projects or publications.

Currently, the Chancellor has sold The Board of Directors on the idea of expanding the campus in population to raise revenues and make this campus a 'premier' university.

UNCW is a 'laboratory' university which has tough standards for admission, but, also has always been unique in providing experience in the biological sciences, including environmental sciences with a large population of students majoring in Biology and Marine Biology. The UNCW forest is needed for all kinds of laboratory experiences, especially when considering this is a Long Leaf Pine Forest an endangered species with completely unique properties including fire resistance.

The Long Leaf Pine species performed better than any other pine species during the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina (click here, please see graph).

The Range of Long Leaf Pine of the Southeast Coastal Plain of the United States of America. The range noted here is not continuous. Within that range are dearly few pine forests.

There are 48 endemic genera and 1732 endemic taxa within this range.

Not having much savvy as to the best direction to take to raise income and improve her resume, Rosemary put student parking off campus.

I don't know a student on campus that would rather find better ways to provide parking, housing and 'space' for any university activity than to destroy an endangered species of forest on the southeast coast of the USA. The off campus parking would be an opportunity to eliminate the parking deck totally and other purchases of land and buildings throughout Wilmington and the surrounding community would bring additional community access. The Wilmington Community does not want this forest destroyed either.


She opened off campus parking with shuttle bus service and turned the 'on campus' parking into metered parking. Now, when students are late to arriving to 'bother' with the shuttle bus service, they simply pay for parking in addition to the fees they pay to park in off campus lots.

I'm sorry, but, when a Chancellor is as poorly motivated as this to find ways to raise funds while placing undue burden on the Students there isn't much to say about the 'innovative spirit' she brings with her.

There was a lot of fanfare for Rosemary when she arrived. We all expected a lot from the first woman Chancellor. What we got was an ambitious woman without creativity or know how and now she wants to destroy a living laboratory on the campus of the most densely environmental university in the State of North Carolina.

I don't think so.

In 2005, the "Parking Deck" was scrapped because of it's huge expense and undue burden to the students. Now, because she doesn't know what else to do and wants to speed her accomplishments along, Rosemary went to the attic of her Chancellor Residence, pulled out every abandoned project that ever existed and has placed 'the cost' on the backs of the students (click here).

Mandatory Fee Allocation (click here)

Union Debt (this is the construction of the New Student Union)
Union Expansion Debt (this is improvements made to old University Union that is to be reopened for meeting space and a cafe)
Westside Expansion Debt (this is the expansion of Westside Hall)
Recreation Debt (this is the debt for the $1 million Student Recreation Center)

The point is there will be more fees for every new building that goes up on campus along with rising tuition, books and simple day to day living expenses.


UNCW Parking Deck Plans Postponed (click here)
October 5, 2005
Wilmington, N.C. - Because of the escalating cost of construction and the subsequent impact on parking fees, University of North Carolina Wilmington has postponed plans for a new parking deck. UNCW has been exploring different options to meet the need for additional parking including the pending purchases of new property. These properties have the potential to create nearly 600 parking spaces, virtually the same number that would have been provided by the deck which was slated for completion in 2007, according to Sharon Boyd, associate vice chancellor of business services.
With a deck priced at more than $12 million (that was the price in 2005, the anticipated costs now are far, far higher), the cost of a parking permit was expected to rise by approximately $120 per year. The purchase of land for more off-campus parking is expected to cost significantly less resulting in significantly lower increases in parking permit costs. Any increases in parking permit costs will not take effect until the 2006 academic year.
Parking spaces already lost to construction coupled with plans to site the new nursing building on Lot T, one of the largest parking lots on campus, left the university with a sudden need for approximately 600 commuter student parking spaces. Plans to meet this need included a deck on campus and/or off-campus parking lots.
Now that land located in close proximity to campus has become available, the university’s objective to provide additional parking as economically as possible can be realized. While the university is currently in the due diligence phase of the purchase, the locations cannot yet be disclosed. However, this solution mitigates steeply rising construction costs while providing some financial relief to students and employees.
Convenient off-campus parking with express shuttle service will continue to be priced at a lower rate than prime on-campus parking. “The security and convenience of our students and adequate, reliable shuttle services will be of paramount importance,” says Boyd.
For more information, please contact Sharon Boyd at 910/962.3772.

First wnen Rosemary showed up as God's Gift to UNCW she demanded her residence be renovated to the tune of $1.5 million.

Rosemary DePaolo and Laura Bush with an inspiring book about 'The Ole West' and Cowboys and Indians. Right. Every librarian's dream come true.

Dr. Leutze used to live there when he was Chancellor and never complained, but, simply asked maintenance to come whenever needed. Rosemary is not a nice woman.

The University now charges $15.00 per person to tour the place. Amazing.

Dr. Leutze, currently Chancellor Emeritus, was a "Green Chancellor." He did extensive work for the people of NC. He liked water projects

...A native of Charleston, S.C., Leutze (click here) holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, a master’s degree from the University of Miami and a doctoral degree from Duke University. He served in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of captain, and worked as a legislative assistant for Sen. Hubert Humphrey...

Dr. Leutze retired in 2003 and was replaced by a 'hard-core' draconian business woman that has dragged out every unfinished project UNCW ever entertained and is attempting to create a resume to 'die for' to go on and find a better position as a Fortune 500 CFO or CEO at the expense of the integrity and dignity of the Student Body of UNCW.

There is a Long Leaf Pine Ecosystem slated for destruction on a USA University Campus

There is only 2% of Long Leaf Pine Forests left on the Southeastern Seaboard of the USA. The Long Leaf Pine Forest of UNCW, which is used as a 'live laboratory' by Professors and Students is one of them.

Duke has a forest (click here).

Harvard has a forest (click here).

Harvard has an an arboretum (click here).

Harvard has a Sustainability Program (click here).

And last I hear, University of California, Berkley still had an Oak Grove (click here).

It's Saturday Night

Crocodile Woman (She Bites) by The Hollies

Keep away from that hard-looking woman.
Don't be fooled by her crocodile smile.
She uses charm like a witch casting bad spells.
You can't see what I can see for miles.
I know she'll leave you with no self-respect.
Don't let her leave you reject.
Builds you up only to destroy you.

It'll happen at a time you won't expect.
Sly girl, good timer, she's just a social climber
She bites
Entice, so nice, but you have to pay the price
She bites
She'll take away everything that you've got.

leaving you cold when you think things are hot.
Bad kind, no good, making up her own rules.
Be on your guard, boy, if she loses her cool.

Sly girl, good timer, she's just a social climber
She bites
Entice, so nice, but you have to pay the price
She bites
Sly girl, good timer, she's just a social climber
She bites
Entice, so nice, but you have to pay the price
She bites

Keep away from that hard-looking woman.
Don't be fooled by her crocodile smile.
You can't see what I can see for miles.
She uses charm like a witch casting bad spells.
She bites

Sly girl, good timer, she's just a social climber
Entice, so nice, but you have to pay the price
She bites
Sly girl, good timer, she's just a social climber

She bites
Entice, so nice, but you have to pay the price
She bites
She bites
she bites
she bites

"Morning Papers" - It's Origins

The Rooster
"Okeydoke"

Wealthy countries' greenhouse gas emissions close to a record

Change in U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 1990-2006


Fact #479: July 23, 2007U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Sector, 1990-2006 (click here)
Emissions of carbon dioxide from the commercial sector increased by about 34% from 1990 to 2006. The transportation and residential sectors increased carbon dioxide emissions by about 25% over the same period. The industrial sector was the only sector to decrease carbon dioxide emissions.




...Emissions by the US (in 2005)- long the world's top emitter ... rose to 7.24 billion tonnes from 7.19 billion in 2004....

Rough Diamonds
Côte d'Ivoire: Diamonds From Country Need Cleaning (click here)
A new initiative for preventing diamonds from financing conflict in the Cote d'Ivoire has been agreed at an international conference in Brussels.

Tokyo: A woman gazes at a 60cm tall dragon sculpture, made of pure gold and platinum and priced at 34.65m yen ($300,000). Gold prices rose for the fifth day in a row in the New York Mercantile Exchange to their highest level in more than 27 years, as investors again turned to the precious metal as an alternative to the plunging US dollar – AFP.

The Nation

Dollar slumps to fresh record low against euro
LONDON (AFP) - The dollar hit a new record low against the euro Friday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke painted a gloomy picture of the US economy that fuelled speculation about another US rate cut, dealers said.
The euro jumped to an historic high of 1.4752 dollars in early European trade, also a day after the European Central Bank kept its key interest rate at 4.00 percent. The European single currency later stood at 1.4737 dollars, from 1.4676 in New York late on Thursday.
“Not even Bernanke’s reference to the upside risks for inflation has been able to deter (US) rate cut expectations among investors, in particular as the economic slowdown against the background of rising inflationary pressures can only be considered to be detrimental for the dollar,” Commerzbank currency strategist Antje Praefcke said.
In his testimony to Congress Thursday, Bernanke focused on the risks to growth and expectations of a significant slowdown in the fourth quarter and into 2008.
“Further sharp increases in crude oil prices have put renewed upward pressure on inflation and may impose further restraint on economic activity,” Bernanke told lawmakers.
He said consumer spending was likely to grow more slowly in view of higher energy prices, credit issues and continuing weakness in housing.
“The market is firming up for another rate cut in December,” said Tim Condon, research head at ING Financial Markets, who expects the Fed to trim rates by 25 basis points.
US interest rates stand at 4.50 percent after being cut by 75 basis points in two moves since September, making the dollar less attractive as an investment compared with the euro.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/bnews4.php



EC sees markets stress, oil prices weighing on growth
BRUSSELS (AFP) - European economic growth will be weaker than previously expected next year, the European Commission warned Friday, blaming distressed financial markets, a relentless rise in oil prices and a weakening US economy.
In an autumn update of its economic forecasts, the European Union’s executive arm cut its 2008 growth estimate for the 13 nations sharing the euro to 2.2 percent from the 2.5 percent projected in May.
But the European Commission lifted slightly its 2007 estimate to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent previously despite the growing risks facing economic growth in Europe.
In the broader 27-nation EU, economic growth was forecast to slow from 2.9 percent this year to 2.4 percent in 2008.
“Clouds have clearly gathered on the horizon with this summer’s turbulence in the financial market, the US slowdown and the ever-rising oil prices,” said EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.
“As a result, economic growth is becoming more moderate and the downside risks have recently increased,” he added.
A steep and rapid housing downturn in the United States rattled nerves on financial markets in recent months, raising doubts about the health of the world’s largest economy.
However, the slowdown in Europe’s biggest trade partner would be in part offset by still solid growth in major emerging economies such as China, the Commissionn said.
As European businesses struggle to cope with tight credit conditions and high oil prices, private consumption has become the major engine driving growth, with falling unemployment boosting consumer confidence.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/bnews8.php



Pakistan may face 10pc gas shortage by 2010
Energy shortfall to hinder growth in SA: WB
SHAHBAZ RANA
ISLAMABAD - The World Bank warns that lack of adequate infrastructure and reliable energy are the key impediments in achieving and sustaining economic growth at the targeted rates in South Asia, especially in Pakistan and India.
A new WB report on South Asia says that energy hungry countries such as India and Pakistan have energy demand more than their outstripping domestic supply. The report estimates that power needs in the region is expected to grow in the range of 6.6 per cent to 11.5 per cent annually during the next 15 to 20 years.
The report, received here on Friday, suggests that widespread cross border electricity and gas trade not only within South Asia but also with its neighbors in the West including Central Asia and Iran, and in the East, Myanmar could provide significant relief from energy constraints to rapid economic growth in the large energy importing countries
India and Pakistan had total annual gas consumption of about 2.5 trillion cubic feet in the financial year 2006-07. The gas demand in India and Pakistan are forecast to grow annually at the rate of 8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively in the next 25 to 30 years. But in Pakistan supply shortfall would be about four per cent to ten per cent by the financial year 2010 and thereafter widen to 20 per cent or more.
India’s import dependency for gas is expected to increase from the present modest level of seven per cent to in between 49-58 per cent by 2032.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/bnews3.php



ADB approves $200 million for gas-fired power plant project
javed mahmood
ISLAMABAD - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved investment in a gas-fired power plant project in Pakistan that will provide additional low-cost electricity to consumers to address a looming power shortage.
The project is estimated to cost approximately $200 million and will be the first gas-only plant developed under the 2002 power policy of Pakistan. The estimated time of completion is two years and it will be operational by the end of 2009.
The scheme involves the development of a 171-megawatt combined cycle low-BTU gas-fired power plant that is expected to supply base load power to the national grid. The facility will be located in Daharki, district Ghotki, in Sindh. The gas will be supplied from the nearby Mari fields.
The ADB has approved an equity investment of up to $2.75 million in the project’s holding company and a guarantee for a $44 million loan for the company. However, subject to approval of concerned authorities, both the guaranteed loan and equity investment will be contributed by the holding company, as equity in Foundation Power Co. Daharki Ltd.. The project is sponsor by the Fauji Foundation.
Proceeds from the equity investment and guaranteed loan will be used to partially fund the costs of designing and constructing the project. A consortium of local and international banks has provided $150 million in debt financing for the venture.
The power plant will increase the net electricity generation capacity of Pakistan, which would reduce constraints on economic growth caused by power shortages. About 60 per cent population has access to electricity from the national grid. The rest of the population uses kerosene, wood and other bio-fuels for lighting, cooking and heating. The average annual electricity demand of Pakistan is currently increasing by 11 per cent, with urban areas experiencing significantly higher demand growth. However, power supply has not kept pace. The ADB estimates that Pakistan needs to add about 2,000 megawatts of new capacity every year to avoid power shortages.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/bnews5.php



China threatens to block industrial goods deal at WTO
GENEVA (AFP) - China has threatened to veto any proposals on cutting customs tariffs on industrial goods at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) if its requests are not met, trade sources said on Friday.
During a meeting of the negotiating group on non-agricultural market access (NAMA), China’s delegate said he had received instructions from Beijing to veto any revised text put forward by group chair Don Stephenson if it “propose(d) flexibilities that failed to meet China’s minimum requirements,” the sources said.
China did not make clear what its precise requirements were, they added. The move was seen as a bid to put pressure on the negotiations in the Doha Round of trade liberalisation talks. But sources said it would be very difficult for China to veto the whole Doha package as Beijing stands to make substantial gains from a successful WTO deal.
“It could just be grandstanding,” a trade source said. Back in July, Stephenson, who is also Canada’s ambassador to the WTO, issued draft proposals that called for a cut in industrial tariffs charged by about 30 developing nations to less than 23 percent.
For China, this would mean a cut to between 6.1 and 6.5 percent on average, from 9.0 percent currently.
China would “not accept a provision in the new text that would be discriminatory,” the sources cited the delegate as saying. The European Union reacted sharply to the Chinese intervention, warning it could spark “political reactions” given China’s weight in the world economy, the sources added.
The United States did not react directly however, they noted.
Stephenson was due to issue a revised “modalities” text on November 15 but trade sources said last Monday that this will now be delayed by one or two weeks. He said there is a need to narrow differences and clarify the options for the negotiations, the sources added.
Developing and emerging nations in the six-year-old Doha Round of trade talks are seeking cuts in rich country subsidies and in import tariffs for agricultural produce. Developed nations want better access to industrial markets in poorer economies in return.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/bnews6.php



Wheat growers facing severe water shortage
Naqi Akbar
LAHORE - The less-than-expected water availability at the start of Rabi 2007-08 season coupled with the fact that there is discrepancy in the Punjab view about IRSA, the farmers in the key wheat-sowing areas of south Punjab are facing extreme difficulty in the water supply, as there were frequent canal closures in the area.
It may be pointed out here that the south Punjab cotton belt depends upon the Tarbela command area and being at the tail end has a greater risk of being left out in the water supply allocations.
In this context, Hamid Malhi of Punjab Water Council when contacted in this regard said that the farmers from the area were facing difficulty in getting the first watering resources as there was a discrepancy between the Punjab and IRSA forecasts. He argued that this estimation conflict was compromising the actual indent estimates and due to the resultant canal closures the wheat farmers were in the dire straits. He argued that with such a state of affairs the wheat sowing can affect the wheat production estimates for the current season.
Malhi also took exception to the fact that while IRSA was insensitive to the issues of Punjab farmers, the Punjab representative in IRSA was not doing the needful, he noted. He said that such situation could be ill afforded by the south Punjab farmers. Here it is pertinent to note that the much delayed IRSA meeting to decide the Rabi 2007-08 award ended on the note that while Punjab pleaded more than 25 per cent shortage, IRSA stuck on to 22 per cent advising the provinces to design canal operations in accordance with the 22 per cent shortage. The Punjab irrigation experts however pleaded review over which the award would be decided in the third week of the current month.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/bnews1.php



'Pakistan cricket strengthens with new Constitution, governing board'
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
LAHORE -The new PCB constitution having already been promulgated and Dr Nasim Ashraf appointed as chairman for a fresh term of three years, the newly anointed governing board replacing the advisory council of the long ad hoc years, met here Friday for its first session.
And after a whole day's deliberations, the governing board gave its seal of approval on a raft of issues that are likely to determine how the PCB and Pakistan cricket would be managed from now on.
In a press conference afterwards, Dr Ashraf, quite visibly upbeat after Pakistan's best victory ever in a run chase in India, said, "Pakistan cricket would be strengthened with the adoption of the new Constitution and the ushering in of this governing board - which has a term of two years.
"For the last one year, our emphasis has been on reform, to change the culture both of the team and the PCB. The induction of this governing board brings in participation from the regions, former cricketers and technocrats and their input is likely to stand Pakistan cricket in good stead", said he.
Other than the chairman and chief operating officer, Shafqat Naghmi, this governing board consists of 13 members, five representing the 11 regions, two former cricketers and a smattering of management, financial and legal minds.
To introduce this governing board with the PCB's affairs, CFO Hasan Ahmed, Director Cricket Operations Zakir Khan, Director Game Development Mudassar Nazar and Director Human Resources Nadeem Khan also attended the meeting.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/sports1.php



Benazir put under house arrest
Asks govt to arrest bombers instead of stopping her from going to rally; vows she won't let Pakistan become Iraq; says talks with govt abandoned after emergency: police baton-charge protesters: MPs among hudreds arrested: Govt withdraws detention order late on Friday
NAVEED BUTT AND SHAHID RAO
ISLAMABAD — Former Prime Minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto was put under house arrest on Friday to prevent her from addressing a protest rally against the state of emergency.
The police also rounded up hundreds of PPP activists to foil the public rally at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi. Earlier, the PPP Chairperson, boarding a car, twice tried to leave her residence to attend the rally, while asking police not to raise hand on women. “You are Muslims. This is un-Islamic,” she said. However, they ignored these remarks and put her back in her residence.
Benazir had planned to defy the government ban on political rallies and address at the public meeting at Liaquat Bagh, but the police resorted to teargas and baton-charge to disperse hundreds of Benazir supporters.
Commenting on the house arrest of Bhutto, Minister of State for Information, Tariq Azim, said there was a restraining order against Bhutto and she had been told to stay home and not to proceed to Rawalpindi in the face of growing security threat.
Meanwhile, addressing the party activists from the other side of the barricades after her second foiled attempt to escape, Bhutto said, “We have suspended negotiations with Musharraf after the emergency was imposed. She also repeated demands that General Musharraf must step down as army chief by next week, when his presidential term expires.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/index1.php



Emergency to be lifted in a month: Malik Qayyum
A state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf is likely to be lifted within one month, the country's attorney general said Saturday. "The emergency is likely to be lifted in a month," attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum told a private TV channel. "It is mainly because of the law and order situation in some parts of the country. We hope it will continue to improve as it is improving now," Qayyum added. Qayyum, the government's chief lawyer, said earlier this week that the emergency would be lifted in one or two months, ahead of elections that Musharraf has said will be held by February 15. Military ruler Musharraf imposed the emergency a week ago citing a surge in Islamic militant attacks and interference in government by hostile judges.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/latest.php



Move to suspend F-16s' sale to Pakistan initiated
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON: - In a first legislative move aimed at penalizing President Pervez Musharraf's government for imposing emergency rule, two key Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Thursday called for the suspension of certain U.S. military sales -- including the sale of F-16 fighter jets -- if the Constitution is not restored.
In a resolution, Senator Joe Biden, a presidential candidate and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator John Kerry urged a careful review of U.S. military assistance to Pakistan after Gen. Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Saturday.
According to the text, U.S. "assistance for the purchase of certain weapons systems not directly related to the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban should be suspended if President Musharraf does not revoke the state of emergency and restore the Constitution, relinquish his position as Chief of the Army, and allow for free and fair elections to be held in accordance with the announced timeframe."
The United States has given Pakistan $10 billion in aid over the past five years, and has agreed to sell Pakistan up to 36 new F-16 fighter jets together with refurbished F-16s.
Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon's No. 1 contractor, won a $144 million contract last year for materials needed to build the F-16s.
Biden told reporters he addressed the issue of the F-16 sales in a conversation with Gen. Musharraf.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/index3.php



Police ring Imran Khan's cancer hospital
Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE - PTI has announced to set up a ‘Save Judiciary Fund’ to extend financial assistance to those daunting judges who denied taking oath under PCO, saying party would not leave the judges in lurch in critical time and boycott the general elections under current unlawful dispensation. On the other hand, police sealed off Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital as they sought to track down the cricketer-turned-politician who has escaped arrest under the state of emergency.
However, PTI Chairman Imran Khan made the announcement of setting up of the Fund while addressing a hurriedly-called Press conference organised at the residence of a party leader instead of party’s provincial office here on Friday. PTI Punjab President Ahsan Rashid, vice president Mehmoodul Rashid, central vice president Javaid Chaudhry and other office-bearers were present on the occasion.
Imran Khan said he would monitor the fund by himself. He said that account number of the fund would be delivered to masses in couple of days. He appealed to masses to put their share in the fund to provide pecuniary help to brave judges.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/index6.php



US poll monitors arrive on 20th
Hunt asks Musharraf to restore democracy quickly
MUBASHIR HASSAN
LAHORE - The United States Friday urged President Musharraf to restore democracy in Pakistan “as quickly as possible”, and said it remained committed to supporting free, fair and credible elections in Pakistan.
“We also expect President Musharraf to step down as army chief and begin his promised transition to civilian democratic rule”, said US Counsel General Bryan D Hunt while talking to reporters on Friday following his meeting with Ms Asma Jehangir, chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan at latter’s Gulberg residence, which has been declared as sub-jail by the authorities after her house arrest. He, however, said that US welcomed President Musharraf’s statement that he would hold elections by February 15, and maintained that it was important for the Pakistani people to hear that message.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/index8.php



Arrests and fall-out
THE moderation-promoting government seems to be pathetically out of tune with its declared policy when its minions start mercilessly using batons against unarmed liberal forces for protesting against the imposition of emergency and the actions taken under it. Even a week after the President took this extra-constitutional step, a cross-section of the public – lawyers, political workers, students, human rights activists and others from civil society – continue to express its disapproval, undeterred by the harsh treatment the official law enforcement agencies have been meting out to the protesting crowds.
The authorities have arrested thousands, indiscriminately in the sense that even those suspected to be planning to make trouble have been taken in custody. Charging campaigners against the emergency with treason and sedition – 12 persons have been booked on these two charges – sounds too severe. The number of lawyers and civil rights activists runs into hundreds, while of only PPP supporters detained yesterday to forestall Ms Benazir Bhutto’s Friday rally at Rawalpindi, which was not held, is reported to be of the order of 5,000. Inevitably, the already overcrowded prisons in the country are now literally overflowing with newcomers. The Punjab jails, for instance, have a total capacity of 22,000 inmates but have 60,000 to accommodate. Besides, a number has been put under house arrest, including Ms Bhutto.
The extraordinarily severe action by the administrative machinery that tends to put the drive towards full-fledged democracy on the backburner has, quite expectedly, drawn strong worldwide condemnation and led to domestic outcry. Even close allies of the government have taken exception to the promulgation of emergency. With a view to keeping law and order, the government has been forced to make excessive security arrangements across the country. Lawyers have continued to stay away from the court proceedings, compelling litigants, who at times come from long distances, to ask for adjournments. The solution lies in a studied and dispassionate assessment of the situation by the powers that be to come to a decision that promotes the national interest, over-riding any other considerations. An immediate reversal of the November 3 order; honouring the commitment to hang up the uniform that has become an intensely acrimonious issue; putting in place measures that can ensure free and fair elections on schedule; and a peaceful transfer of power to the elected representatives would not only serve the national interests but also put an end to the turmoil presently engulfing the country.

http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/nov-2007/10/editorials2.php



All Africa

Rwanda: PL Triumphs in Court Battle
10 November 2007
Posted to the web 10 November 2007
Felly Kimenyi
Kigali
The Liberal Party (PL) have won the much publicized lawsuit filed by expelled former senior party executives contesting what they called illegal sacking.
"There is no content in the complaint filed by the plaintiffs because they were expelled according to procedure and should pay Frw5 million for tarnishing the party image by dragging it in unnecessary legal battles," High Court President Justice Johnston Busingye ruled yesterday.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711100010.html



Uganda: LRA Leader Speaks Out on Deputy Otti
8 November 2007
Posted to the web 9 November 2007
Alfred Wasike, Dennis Ojwee and Caroline Ayugi
Kampala
LORD'S Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony has said his deputy, Vincent Otti, is under house arrest on charges of plotting to kill him and "conspiring with the enemies of the LRA".
Speaking by satellite phone to Gulu district chairman Norbert Mao yesterday afternoon, Kony clarified that Otti was alive but detained, and that five other commanders involved in the plot, including Opiyo Makasi, had escaped.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711090002.html



Nigeria: FG Pegs Budget At N117 to $1
8 November 2007
Posted to the web 9 November 2007
Ayodele Aminu, Stanley Nkwazema, Juliana Taiwo and Sufuyan Ojeifo
Lagos
The 2008 budget of the Federal Government has been based on a presumed exchange rate of N117 to US$1, although the current official rate is N122.
Presenting his first budget - which has a deficit of N0.56 trillion - to a joint session of the National Assembly yesterday, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua projected a total revenue of N1.986 trillion, 80 per cent of which will come from crude oil sales.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711090005.html



South Africa: Treat MDR TB in the Communities
10 November 2007
Posted to the web 10 November 2007
Anso Thom
Cape Town
Decentralising the treatment of multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) to community level is gaining popularity as the way forward.
Researchers, scientists, activists, doctors, nurses, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations and other agencies agree that the sheer numbers will become so big that it will be impossible to continue putting patients in hospital beds for six months.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711100022.html



South Africa: Treat TB, HIV As 'A Single Threat'
7 November 2007
Posted to the web 7 November 2007
Chris Van Gass
Cape Town
Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV should be thought of as a single challenge instead of two separate diseases, Dr Greg Hussey of the University of Cape Town's Institute for Infectious Diseases said yesterday.
Hussey called for TB to be considered not only as a medical problem, but also as a social and community problem that required a "broader approach" if it was to be solved.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711070322.html



Benin: Agricultural Techniques Adapted to the Constraints of HIV/Aids
29 October 2007
Posted to the web 29 October 2007
Cotonou
Comlan Houessou, head of the network of people living with HIV/AIDS in Benin, was fascinated to learn about projects by the Songhaï Centre in the capital, Porto Novo, to develop inexpensive agricultural production systems based on agrobiology.
"We are realising that it's not necessary to have a large area of land to be able to farm," said Houessou, a 42-year-old farmer. He visited the centre as part of a conference on mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture and food security in West Africa, held in early October in Cotonou.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200710291773.html



Nigeria: Country is World's Fastest Growing Economy - Yar'Adua
9 November 2007
Posted to the web 9 November 2007
Philip Nyam
Abuja
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday declared that the Nigerian economy is the world's fastest growing with a sharp increase in Growth Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of over US$1,000. This is even as 50 per cent of the nation's population still lives below the poverty line.
The president disclosed this while presenting the 2008 budget proposal to the joint session of the National Assembly, yesterday, saying the country had experienced significant progress since the turn of the century.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711090139.html



Nigeria: Niger Delta, Internal Security, Energy Take Priority in 2008 Budget
8 November 2007
Posted to the web 8 November 2007
Abuja
President Umar Musa Yar'Adua on Thursday November 8 presented the 2008 Appropriation Bill to a Joint Session of the National Assembly, which placed emphasis on the development and security of the Niger Delta region, as well as improved funding of national security, energy and education sectors.
The President presented a budget proposal of over N4.5trillion in the Appropriation Bill, his first in office, to a full session of the Senate and House of Representatives which had Senate President David Mark and House Speaker Hon Dimeji Bankole presiding.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711081122.html



Namibia: Survival Forces Underage Girls Into Sex Trade
8 November 2007
Posted to the web 8 November 2007
Charles Tjatindi
Windhoek
In an effort to cover basic necessities and provide for themselves more and more young girls are allegedly turning to sex work, or prostitution.
Fuelling this development are their parents, who are allegedly supporting the practice by offering their children to older men for payment. New era caught up with a few of these children, whose ages range from 15 to 16, most of whom reveal that they have been in the sex trade for more than three years.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711080462.html



South Africa: Cabinet Approves Justice Turnaround
9 November 2007
Posted to the web 9 November 2007
Wyndham Hartley
Cape Town
In a major admission that the government is not coping with SA's rampant crime rate, the cabinet has approved a major turnaround strategy to revamp the criminal justice system after accepting that parts of it were "dysfunctional".
A key element of the plan is for a "champion of the criminal justice system" to be established, probably at ministerial level, who will head up a council of all the relevant security departments in order to address practical matters in the criminal justice system.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711090247.html



Uganda: Coffee Risks Being Blacklisted
7 November 2007
Posted to the web 8 November 2007
Peter Kaujju
Kampala
UGANDA'S coffee may be blacklisted on the international market following a spate of thefts of coffee in transit this year worth billions of shillings, industry sources have said.
Kyagalanyi Coffee, a leading exporter, has been one of the hardest hit.
"Between May and October, we have lost about $500,000 (sh860m) in container thefts. In 2006, we lost two boxes but this year alone, 16 boxes have been stolen. They manipulate the doors without breaking the seals," Kyagalanyi's managing director David Barry said.
It is safer for the coffee to go by railway Barry said, as opposed to road but most of the exporters use road transport because it takes about 10 days to get to Mombasa. He said rising coffee prices this year could be one of the reasons for the thefts.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711080038.html



Sudan: Ban Ki-Moon Warns Against Delays in Deployment of Hybrid Force
9 November 2007
Posted to the web 10 November 2007
New York
The hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission to the war-torn Darfur region (UNAMID) still lacks critical transport and aviation units and the Sudanese Government has not responded yet to the UN-AU submission on the force's composition, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says, warning that delays to deployment will only exacerbate the humanitarian situation.
In his latest report on UNAMID, Mr. Ban says the combination of the delays and the recent spike in security incidents across the western Sudanese region has left Darfur "at a crossroads."

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711100007.html




Sudan: New Details On Garang's Death
10 November 2007
Posted to the web 10 November 2007
Angelo Izama and Rodney Muhumuza
Kampala
The former Sudanese interior minister who lost his job for claiming that John Garang was killed "by his friends" has given a new interview in which he once again points a finger at Uganda.
Mr Aleu Ayieny Aleu, who is in the United States, told the New Sudan Vision that former Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi knows something about Garang's death.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711100001.html



Zimbabwe: Trouble Brews for Tsvangirai As Youth Council Meet Over Matibenga
9 November 2007
Posted to the web 10 November 2007
Lance Guma
Trouble is brewing for MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai after the party's Youth Assembly called an emergency meeting of its National Council to discuss the controversial dissolution of the Women's Assembly.
Although press reports suggest Tsvangirai is trying to appease ousted women's chairperson Lucia Matibenga with a post as Deputy National Chairperson, Matibenga is not interested and the youths in the party are backing her to the hilt. A Youth National Council member who spoke to Newsreel on Friday ahead of the Saturday meeting said the Youth Assembly did not recognise Theresa Makone as chairperson and will use the platform to make their position clear to Tsvangirai.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711100006.html



Burundi: Heavy Rains Destroy 100 Houses in Kanyosha
9 November 2007
Posted to the web 10 November 2007
Bujumbura
Heavy rains that hit the city of Bujumbura on 08 destroyed more than 100 houses in the commune of Kanyosha according to administrative sources who already have started counting the damages.
The rains also destroyed crops, houses and plantations in Mutambu commune in Rural-Bujumbura province. The power plant of Mugere was also damaged by the rains causing electrical disturbances in the city of Bujumbura.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711100094.html



Ghana: Words of Wisdom From the Diaspora
EDITORIAL
10 November 2007
Posted to the web 10 November 2007
A statement issued by "citizens of Anlo state in the Diaspora" has reached us. See story on page 3. We are editorializing on it because we appreciate the tone of the message.
Though it concedes the "most deplorable development in Anlo state" it is couched in conciliatory language devoid of any rabble rousing and partisanship - a far cry from some of the fiery statements coming from the factions here at home.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711100185.html

continued...

Attack at Pelindaba nuclear facility - Another fine mess of Bush/Cheney the next administration has to contend with...

The Bush/Cheney "Democracy for All" is simply a political montra to continue to justify occupation of Iraq. It is a Domestic Political strategy to control elections in the USA. The FACT is if the populous of the USA ever began to understand how DEMOCRACY does not work around the world, we would dearly never have a reason for a military.

Osama bin Laden got his start in a country where The West TRIED but FAILED to instill democracy once before. Osama bin Laden is the product of failed capitalism ON THE STREETS of Somalia. The ONLY place the American Flag belongs is waving over it's own capital in Washington, DC.

Operation Eastern Exit (click here)
During 1980s the authoritarian regime of President Mahammad Siad Barre abandoned the previous government's policy of scientific socialism on Marxist-Leninist lines and implemented market-oriented structural reforms of economy, while consolidating personal political authority. Broad-based national opposition met escalating government repression and provoked armed revolt in 1988. The resulting civil war caused the eventual defeat of government forces and exile of Siad Barre in January 1991. Following the fall of the Siad Barre regime in January 1991, Somalia fell under an interim provisional government established by Executive Committee of United Somali Congress (USC) and headed by provisional president Ali Mahdi Mahammad. As of September 1991, the country was effectively under control of as many as twelve rival clans and subclans. The central government authority at Mogadishu challenged by Somali National Movement (SNM), which in June 1991 declared independent Republic of Somaliland in former territory of British Somaliland.
On 01 January 1991, the US Ambassador to Somalia requested military assistance to evacuate the Embassy. Americans and other foreign nationals had sought shelter in the Embassy compound that day as the reign of Somali dictator Siad Barre disintegrated into a confused battle for control of Mogadishu. The next day, Operation EASTERN EXIT was initiated. Conducted between 2 -11 January 1991, participating units included USS Guam, USS Trenton, 4th Marine Expeditionary Bde, Air Force AC-130 (intelligence gathering and fire support, and 9-man Navy SEAL team), and other elements.
Responding to the deteriorating situation, Operation Eastern Exit involved the evacuation of 281 noncombatants from the US Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia. Despite the priorities of the Gulf War, special operations forces helicopters were put on alert, Air Force C-130 transport aircraft were deployed to Kenya, and two Navy amphibious ships with elements of a Marine expeditionary brigade embarked were sent south from the North Arabian Sea toward Somalia.
Initial plans called for evacuation of the endangered Americans through Mogadishu’s international airport, utilizing Air Force aircraft staged in Kenya. The situation in Mogadishu rapidly worsened and aircraft, even those of the US Air Force, could not land safely at the airport. It seemed unlikely in any case that those sheltered at the Embassy could travel safely through the embattled city to the airport....


Geographical location of Somalia



African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty
also known as the Treaty of Pelindaba (click here)

Pelindaba Nuclear Facility

9 November 2007, 07:17

A brazen attack by four gunmen on the Pelindaba nuclear facility has left a senior emergency officer seriously injured.
Anton Gerber, Necsa emergency services operational officer spoke to the Pretoria News from his hospital bed hours after the attack.
He was shot in the chest when the gunmen stormed the facility's emergency response control room in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The shooting comes four months after Necsa's newly appointed services general manager Eric Lerata, 43, was gunned down in front of his Montana home after returning from a business trip in France.
Pelindaba is regarded as one of the country's most secure national key points.
It is surrounded by electric fencing, has 24-hour CCTV surveillance, security guards and security controls and checkpoints.
The attack comes as the country prepares to preside over an International Atomic Energy Agency convention on nuclear safety.
The convention is aimed at achieving a high level of global nuclear safety via safety related technical co-operation; establishing and maintaining effective defences in nuclear installations against potential radiological hazards and preventing accidents with radiological consequences.
A visibly shaken Gerber, who was rushed to Eugene Marais hospital, on Thursday said that he was sitting in the control room with his fiancée Ria Meiring when he heard a loud bang.
Meiring, who was working nightshift, is the supervisor of the control room.
Gerber said he kept Meiring company. "I do not like it when she is at work at night and I go with her to keep her company and ensure that she is safe," he said.
Describing the attack Gerber said they were inside the electronically sealed control room when they heard a loud bang.
They then spotted the gunmen coming into the facility's eastern block.
It is believed that the attackers gained access to the building by using a ladder from Pelindaba's fire brigade and scaling a wall.
The men are thought to have forced open a window by pulling out several louvers.
Pushing Meiring underneath a desk, Gerber attacked two of the gunmen as they forced their way into the control room and ran straight for the control panel.
"I did not know what they were going to do. I just kept on hitting them even when one of them attacked me with a screwdriver.
"I knew that if I stopped they would attack Ria or do something to the panel.
"I could not let anything like that happen," he said.
Unbeknownst to Gerber one of the robbers had shot him in the chest as he fought them off.
The bullet narrowly missed his heart breaking a rib before puncturing his lung. Doctors said the bullet missed his spine by 2cm.
Gerber, who at one stage thought he was going to die, said he had been very scared.
"The facility is meant to be safe. There are security guards, electric fences and security control points. These things are not meant to happen," he said.
Necsa spokesperson Chantal Janneker confirmed the attack.
She declined to say how the gunmen had gained access to the facility or whether they had stolen anything.
Janneker said Necsa was conducting an internal investigation into the attack.
Once the police investigation was complete Necsa would divulge what happened, she said.
Later in the afternoon, Pretoria News was phoned by a man identifying himself as a Necsa legal adviser, saying the newspaper will be breaching the National Keypoints Act by publishing the story.
He said that Necsa may seek a court order preventing dissemination of the story.
He claimed that the interview with Gerber was "unethical" as "he was under sedation and thus incoherent" when it was conducted.
Pretoria News sought and was granted permission to interview Gerber, by hospital management, and Gerber himself. While he was obviously in pain, he appeared coherent and made sense throughout the interview.
His recall of the events was sequential and to the point. He also agreed to have his picture taken in his hospital bed.
North West police spokesperson Superintendent Louis Jacobs said that no arrests had been made.
"A case of armed robbery and attempted murder are being investigated," he said.

This article was originally published on page 1 of

The Pretoria News on November 09, 2007


Death toll mounts in Mogadishu (click here)
Mustafa Haji Abdinur Mogadishu, Somalia

Ethiopian troops shelled suspected Islamist hideouts on Friday in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, where some of the worst clashes in months have left at least 43 dead in two days, many of them civilians.

The escalating violence came as the Ethiopian army tried to flush out pockets of insurgents in southern districts of the Somali capital, from which thousands of residents have fled in recent days.

Heavy fighting that erupted on Thursday went on into Friday when Ethiopian tanks fired shells on suspected hideouts in the notoriously dangerous Bakara market neighbourhood, killing six civilians."

A tank shell landed into a crowd in Bakara area and killed six people, including a woman and her son. Some of the bodies could not be identified because they were ripped to shreds," said Hanad Guled, a witness.

An Agence France-Presse correspondent saw shells being fired from the neighbouring Blacksea district, where witnesses said several Ethiopian tanks were posted.An Ethiopian shell killed four other civilians in Howaldag district, according to resident Mariam Hassan....

..."In Mogadishu now there is no safe place to go," he said. MSF is one of the only international organisations providing health services in Mogadishu. -- Sapa-AFP

Morning Papers - continued...

Mail and Guardian

DRC official arrested over radioactive waste
Eddy Isango Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
10 November 2007 09:58
A government official in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suspected of ordering up to 17 tonnes of radioactive waste dumped in a river in the south-east of the country has been arrested, authorities said on Friday.
Environment Minister Didace Pembe declined to identify the person who was arrested because investigations were ongoing. He said the waste belonged to a Chinese company called Magma-Lubumbashi, but that the company had not requested the waste be dumped in the Likasi River.
The mining minister for the DRC's Katanga province announced on a United Nations-backed radio station that 17 tonnes of "highly radioactive" minerals had been found in the river on Monday. He did not provide further details and could not be reached for comment.
Authorities have issued calls over local radio stations asking people to avoid using the river to drink or bathe, Pembe said.
The Likasi River runs through a town of the same name and is not far from the village of Shinkolobwe, which provided the uranium used by the United States in the atomic bombs it dropped on Japan at the end of World War II.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=324562



Doubts abound over Guinea leader's capabilities
Dakar, Senegal
10 November 2007 09:50
The enthusiasm that came with the storming to office of Guinea's latest prime minister has waned and there are doubts over his capability to lift the country out of misery, a global think tank said on Friday.
Lansana Kouyate, an ex-United Nations diplomat, was early this year named Prime Minister by ailing President Lansana Conte, who bowed to union demands after violent unrest and agreed to an independent head of government with broader powers than his predecessors.
But in its latest report, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) warns that Kouyate has to act fast to avoid losing credibility and prevent the country slipping back into the iron-fisted rule of Conte.
"Initial enthusiasm for Kouyate has been replaced by doubt over the capabilities and will of the new government to break with the Conte system and seriously tackle the daily economic difficulties," said Carolyn Norris, ICG chief in West Africa.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=324560


Masetlha 'had no political ambitions'
Pretoria, South Africa
10 November 2007 07:48
Former spy boss Billy Masetlha had no political ambitions and would have retired as National Intelligence Agency director general had he not been fired, the Hatfield Community Court heard on Friday.
Masetlha is charged with contravening the Intelligence Services Oversight Act by allegedly withholding information from Inspector General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani. He has denied guilt and is adamant that Ngcakani was furnished with all the information needed.
With the defence and state presenting their closing arguments to the court on Friday, Masetlha's attorney, Neil Tuchten, argued that a man of Masetlha's stature and high reputation would not lie.
This followed state prosecutor Matric Luphondo's submission that Masetlha's version of events was so improbable that it bordered on science fiction. He said Masetlha could not say he already gave enough information as it was not for him to decide which information was deemed necessary.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324540&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/


Masetlha accused of being inconsistent in testifying
Pretoria, South Africa
31 October 2007 06:12
Former spy boss Billy Masetlha was on Wednesday accused of not being consistent in testifying in the Hatfield Community Court.
Prosecutor Matric Luphondo said Masetlha gave different versions of when a report requested by Inspector General of Intelligence (IGI) Zolile Ngcakani was compiled.
Masetlha is charged with contravening the Intelligence Services Oversight Act by withholding evidence from Ngcakani.
Luphondo contended Masetlha testified earlier he could not explain when the report wanted by the IGI was created.
Testifying under cross-examination, the former spy boss said he had a good recollection of when the report was compiled, and that this happened on September 30 2005.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=323649&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/


'All this, for one unarmed woman'
10 November 2007 08:37
Benazir Bhutto was going nowhere. A phalanx of riot police stood at the end of her leafy street, tapping their shields and manning a barbed-wire barricade. Armoured vehicles rolled in.
Officers even prowled the neighbours' gardens, just in case the opposition leader might vault her back wall. "All this, for one unarmed woman," said her spokesperson Sherry Rehman.
In nearby Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was due to hold a mass rally against President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule, the clampdown was even greater. A city of five million people had virtually shut down. Police roamed the deserted streets on motorbikes, horses and by foot.
A straggle of Bhutto loyalists who ventured outside were chased and, in some cases, thrashed. The party said that 5 000 had already been arrested.
The handful that made it to Bhutto's suburban house in Islamabad, 24km away, were bundled away by plain-clothed intelligence officials. All resisted arrest, waving V-signs to the media as they were carted off. A few took it personally.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324549&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/



The pupil who declared war
10 November 2007 09:07
Waiting for their English lesson to start at 11.45am on Wednesday, Joni Aaltonen and Nurmi Sameli sat on a bench in a corridor at Jokela high school. Close friends and both 17, in their penultimate year at school, the boys chatted.
The school loudspeakers crackled. The voice of the head teacher, Helena Kalmi, sounded an unusual warning to the 500 pupils: get into your classrooms immediately, lock the doors and hide.
"We thought it was a joke. We didn't take it seriously. We ignored it," said Joni. "Then we saw him coming."
Pekka-Eric Auvinen, a student in the year above, came strolling along the corridor. The teenagers glanced at the familiar figure and carried on chatting.
"He walked towards us calmly and slowly. We didn't really pay him any attention. Then he stopped about 2m away from me and my friend. I looked up. He was watching us. He lifted his arm. He pointed the gun at me and started shooting. The dude just pointed it at me and fired."
Joni fled for his life through the corridors, making it to the staffroom, from where he and a teacher dashed out of the school to safety, away from a deranged teenager on a mission to write himself into European criminal history.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324554&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/



Call for cooperation between HIV, TB programmes
Cape Town, South Africa
10 November 2007 08:07
Lives are being lost in many countries through lack of cooperation between tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/Aids health programmes, a senior United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) official said in Cape Town on Friday.
Dr Alasdair Reid, the HIV/TB adviser to the international body, was speaking at a media briefing held alongside a major conference on lung health in the city.
He said all people with TB should be offered an HIV test and the chance to obtain life-saving antiretrovirals. All people living with HIV should be screened for TB regularly and given access to Isoniazid, a basic antibiotic used to prevent TB.
"These lifesaving activities can be achieved with greater cooperation between TB and HIV programmes," he said. "They are cheap, simple and readily available in most countries. However a lack of meaningful partnerships between TB and HIV programmes in many countries means that lives continue to be lost unnecessarily."

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324541&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/



Late Captain America back from the dead?
Angela K Brown Dallas, Texas
10 November 2007 08:29
Comic-book hero Captain America may not be back from the dead, but he is back -- sort of.
After Marvel Comics unexpectedly killed off the champion of liberty and the American way earlier this year, he appears in a comic made exclusively for United States soldiers. He is seen on a videotape made before his death.
One million copies of The New Avengers: The Spirit of America, the fifth in Marvel's series for the military, will be available free starting on Saturday at military-base stores worldwide.
The star-spangled Avenger's appearance is expected to create a demand for the comic, once word spreads among collectors.
"If you really, really want one, you need to know someone in the military," said Jim Skibo, director of support for the Dallas-based Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), which is distributing the comic.
Captain America, whose secret identity was Steve Rogers, was felled by an assassin's bullet on the steps of a New York federal courthouse in a March issue after 66 years of battling villains from Adolf Hitler to the Red Skull.
Captain America is not being resurrected in Spirit of America, said Bob Sabouni, Marvel's vice-president of business development.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324548&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/



Hirst's dove stretches wings in formaldehyde
10 November 2007 08:55
Dennis Hopper certainly seemed to like it. "This is his best piece of work I think I have ever seen," he extolled. "This to me covers surrealism, the history of art, the hanging of meat ... the whole thing is great."
The film star was salivating on Friday over the centrepiece of Damien Hirst's latest art-installation-cum-marketing-stunt: a 3,6m-high tank that contains 10 000 litres of formaldehyde. Inside the fluid a diminutive white dove is suspended, its wings outstretched in a metal cage. Flanking it are two brutal halves of a sliced cow, a long string of fat Italian sausages, a well-worn leather armchair and, with a nod to Magritte, an open black umbrella.
The work stands at the front of a Hirst installation that takes over the lobby of Lever House in Park Avenue, Manhattan. Hirst always likes to think big, but School: The Archaeology of Lost Desires, Comprehending Infinity and the Search for Knowledge, is on a grand scale even by his standards.
He uses the theme of a school of anatomy to draw together many of the strands that have run through his work in the past 15 years. "I've always wanted to do an anatomy school -- it has a lot of threads that come together for me, all in the one idea that you can learn something from art," he says.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324553&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/



Bye-bye abalone
Fiona Macleod
09 November 2007 11:59
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk is optimistic that his controversial ban on abalone fishing will be as successful as the ivory ban has been in saving Africa’s elephants from extinction.
In his first interview since announcing the ban two weeks ago, he said there would be no abalone left in South African seas in a few years if drastic steps were not taken.
A similar fate faced Africa’s elephant populations in the late 1980s before an international ban was placed on trade in ivory.
“When ivory was banned there was the same outcry and huge public debate,” he said, “but now that decision has proved to be the correct one. And for the first time it has put Cites [the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species] in the position earlier this year to consider improving the legal quota of ivory trade, because the elephant population of the African continent has recovered.”
In June Cites approved the sale to Japan of 30 tons of ivory from South Africa, 20 tons from Botswana and 10 tons from Namibia.
Van Schalkwyk said pressures on abalone, which fetches huge prices on international markets as a marine delicacy, had forced several other countries, including Canada, Japan and Australia, to close down their fisheries. North American abalone fisheries have been closed for more than 10 years.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324475&area=/insight/insight__national/



African coastline threatened
Yolandi Groenewald
09 November 2007 11:59
Africa’s coastline is in trouble. Research shows that over the past three decades, the amount of fish in West African waters has declined by up to 50%. Pollution has also increased in the same waters, including South Africa’s west coast as more oil companies set up shop in Africa’s west coast waters. A damning report shows that sensitive wetlands (mangroves) and coastal forests have been lost forever, while the increased nutrient loads in fresh-water and coastal systems are causing coastal “dead zones”.
It is against this backdrop that South Africa hosted about 200 African experts, government officials and other stakeholders in Johannesburg this week to discuss how the different coastal countries could, together, tackle the rising environmental threats against the continent’s coastline. The African countries are part of two United Nations conventions that govern the way they deal with environmental issues along their coastlines.
“The degradation of coastal and marine environments are most evident in Africa,” said the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) executive director Achim Steiner.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324477&area=/insight/insight__national/



Green Scorpions set to sting
Sydney Masinga
09 November 2007 11:59
Companies that pollute face international sanctions as the Green Scorpions step up their campaign to root out guilty parties. Highveld Steel’s Vanchem plant in Mpumalanga may have its international certification revoked if an investigation finds that it lied about its environmental management.
Vanchem is one of 40 factories in South Africa accused by the Green Scorpions of illegally pumping dangerously high levels of toxic sulphur dioxide, ammonia and dust into the air, endangering its workers and residents in adjacent low-income communities.
Green Scorpions investigators also accuse Vanchem of ground and water pollution at the plant in Emalahleni (formerly Witbank).
The toxic pollutants include vanadium, which causes heart disease. Other pollutants include ammonia, which was up to 15 times above the legal limit and dust, which was up to 27 times above the limit. Ammonia can cause severe skin, eye and throat irritation, while dust can lead to tuberculosis (TB).

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324476&area=/insight/insight__national/



Hansie Cronje and the chamber of secrets
David Macfarlane
09 November 2007 11:59
Can we read it or can’t we? The centre of this bizarre mystery is a doctoral thesis on disgraced former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje submitted to Rhodes University in 2005. The thesis was passed last year and the PhD was awarded.
Yet there appears to be an embargo on the thesis, preventing anyone from getting access to it, according to several people involved in the saga. But the university has denied that anyone has been refused access.
Cronje captained the Proteas from 1994, but his glittering sporting career was sharply terminated in 2001 when he was banned for life from participation in the sport for match-fixing for financial gain. In June the following year he died in a plane crash.
The doctorate was written by Anne Warmenhoven, the research for it conducted in the Rhodes psychology department. Sociologist Ashwin Desai, who is writing a biography of Cronje, told the Mail & Guardian he came across a reference to the thesis during a brief research fellowship he held at Rhodes last year.
Given that it is standard practice for university libraries to stock open-access copies of all successful theses, Desai asked the Rhodes library for a copy. He was told that there was an embargo on it. This week he told the M&G that about a year of formal attempts to get a copy of the thesis had failed.
The supervisor of the thesis was Rhodes psychology lecturer Roelf van Niekerk. He told the M&G that to gain access to the Cronje family Warmenhoven had, with his approval, entered into a legal agreement of confidentiality with Rhodes.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=324474&area=/insight/insight__national/


Zimbabwe police question newspaper executives
Harare, Zimbabwe
09 November 2007 02:47
Zimbabwe police on Friday brought in for questioning an editor and two executives from two leading independent media houses, newspaper officials and a police spokesperson said.
Hama Saburi, editor of financial weekly the Financial Gazette, said he and the newspaper's chief executive were on their way to a police station for apparently violating government price controls.
"The police came in and said they need to talk to us about our business, so we are now on our way to the police station. I understand it is all about the newspaper price," Saburi told Reuters by telephone.
Staff at the privately owned weekly, the Zimbabwe Independent, said its chief executive had also been taken in.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=324503



Ugandan rebel hideout hit by cholera
Bogonko Bosire Nairobi, Kenya
09 November 2007 05:30
An outbreak of cholera has swept a hideout camp housing Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army, infecting its leader, Joseph Kony; his deputy, Vincent Otti; and scores of fighters, a spokesperson said on Friday.
The outbreak, caused by recent flooding and poor sanitation in the Sudan-Democratic Republic of Congo frontier hideout, was first reported in September, but details of fatalities remain unclear.
"They are in a healing process," LRA spokesperson Godfrey Ayoo told a press conference in Nairobi.
Scores of LRA fighters were seen on Thursday buying medicine in the border outpost of Nabanga, according to a top official from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which governs the semi-autonomous region of southern Sudan.
The United Nations has delivered medicine to the rebel hideouts, Ayoo said.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=324530

Media independence: From whom?
It can be frustrating when, after speaking to a journalist for 20 minutes, they only use one line of your comments.
This happened to me last week after I was interviewed by the Sunday Times about the proposed takeover of Johncom, publisher of the Sunday Times, by a group involving senior government officials.
I don’t blame the reporter or the newspaper because I understand how these things work, but so often, in situations such as these, one’s comments can be taken out of context.
There are a few issues involved in the Johncom story:
One is the fact that prominent black people, who have already been empowered, are going to be empowered once again. Surely, it is now time to look beyond the usual suspects and start making sure that more and more people are becoming empowered, apart from the small click that seems to be benefiting from all BEE deals at the moment.
Two is the fact that it is not illegal for public servants, whether they be politicians or government officials, to engage in business (maybe it should be, but that is another issue). All they have to do is declare their business interests to their employer, but they don’t have to do it before the deal is done.
It was against this background that I questioned whether the president would have been consulted or would have known about the proposed Koni Media Holdings takeover of Johncom.
I also pointed out that there are so many BEE groups, almost all of them involving senior government officials or senior ANC members, who are all fighting each other for lucrative stakes in companies.
Three is the fact that the Sunday Times is probably the most influential newspaper in South Africa and anyone who wants to be influential in society would consider buying into the Sunday Times. No matter how many guarantees they give about media freedom and editorial independence, one can almost be certain that there will be attempts at interference. It is only human nature….
...I am all for editorial independence, but we need to know from what we want independence. It is not enough to shout about the need for independence from government interference when we appear to remain entirely comfortable with commercial interference.
Just a thought.

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/rylandfisher/2007/11/09/media-independence-from-whom/


Los Angeles Times

Emergency declared in Bay Area oil spill
By Eric Bailey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 10, 2007
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Friday for the San Francisco Bay Area as an oil spill continued to coat some of the state's most storied coastline and imperil marine wildlife.
The declaration commits state money and resources for what he vowed would be an exhaustive battle to clean up the 58,000-gallon spill from the container vessel Cosco Busan.
The 810-foot ship smacked the base of a San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge tower in dense fog Wednesday morning, breaching the vessel's hull and pouring bunker fuel into the bay.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said Friday that a full investigation of the accident was underway and apologized for delays in warning Bay Area officials and the public about the escalating scale of the spill.
The Coast Guard initially said that just 140 gallons of fuel had oozed out, and then failed to update local officials or the public for more than 12 hours as the extent of the spill grew.
Outraged by the delay, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom threatened legal action, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) sent a testy letter to the Coast Guard commandant. On Friday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also demanded accountability.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bay10nov10,0,4417250.story?coll=la-home-center


LAPD defends Muslim mapping effort
By Richard Winton,, Teresa Watanabe and Greg Krikorian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 10, 2007
The LAPD's plan to map Muslim communities in an effort to identify potential hotbeds of extremism departs from the way law enforcement has dealt with local anti-terrorism since 9/11 and prompted widespread skepticism Friday.
In a document reviewed Friday by The Times, the LAPD's Los Angeles Police Department's counter-terrorism bureau proposed using U.S. census data and other demographic information to pinpoint various Muslim communities and then reach out to them through social service agencies.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd10nov10,0,3960843.story?coll=la-home-center



Bhutto kept from rally
Pakistan opposition leader is held under virtual house arrest by police.
By Laura King and Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 10, 2007
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- President Pervez Musharraf successfully thwarted a demonstration Friday by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, encircling her home for hours with riot police, barbed wire and metal barricades, but U.S. officials still held out hope the two could strike a power-sharing agreement.
The latest turn of events appear to have put Bhutto and her Pakistan People's Party on a collision course with Musharraf, who suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule a week ago, about two weeks after Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan10nov10,0,3722078.story?coll=la-home-center


Police officer's 4th wife is missing; officials to exhume 3rd wife.
Kathleen Savio's family long suspected her husband in her death, which was ruled accidental; now the case is reopened.
By P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 10, 2007
CHICAGO -- For years, the family of Kathleen Savio has insisted that her police officer ex-husband was involved in her 2004 death.
They refused to believe an inquest's finding that she had accidentally drowned. Her body had been found face down in an empty bathtub. They said Savio had feared her husband, a veteran police officer in the middle-class suburb of Bolingbrook.
It wasn't until Drew Peterson's next wife, Stacy Ann Peterson, mysteriously disappeared two weeks ago, that their claims were taken more seriously. Investigators launched a search for Stacy on Oct. 29. Days later, they reopened the case of Kathleen Savio.
On Friday, as search teams scoured nearby woods for 23-year-old Stacy Peterson, a judge granted a request by Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow to exhume Savio's body.
Police consider the 53-year-old police sergeant a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, a state law enforcement official said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wife10nov10,1,1104104.story?coll=la-headlines-nation



This explains your doughnut addiction
In a study, rats overwhelmingly prefer sweetened water to cocaine, even those already hooked on the drug.
By Denise Gellene, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 10, 2007
Researchers have learned that rats overwhelmingly prefer water sweetened with saccharin to cocaine, a finding that demonstrates the addictive potential of sweets.
Offering larger doses of cocaine did not alter the rats' preference for saccharin, according to the report.
Scientists said the study, presented this week in San Diego at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, might help explain the rise in human obesity, which has been driven in part by an overconsumption of sugary foods.
In the experiment, 43 rats were placed in cages with two levers, one of which delivered an intravenous dose of cocaine and the other a sip of highly sweetened water. At the end of the 15-day trial, 40 of the rats consistently chose saccharin instead of cocaine.
When sugar water was substituted for the saccharin solution, the results were the same, researchers said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-sweet10nov10,0,5568654.story?coll=la-home-center



Hugo Chavez's criminal paradise
Under the anti-globalization president, Venezuela has become a haven for global crime.
By Moises Naim
November 10, 2007
While President Hugo Chavez has been molding Venezuela into his personal socialist vision, other transformations -- less visible but equally profound -- have taken hold in the country.
Venezuela has become a major hub for international crime syndicates. What attracts them is not the local market; what they really love are the excellent conditions Venezuela offers to anyone in charge of managing a global criminal network.
A nation at the crossroads of South America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe, Venezuela's location is ideal. Borders? Long, scantly populated and porous. Financial system? Large and with easy-to-evade governmental controls. Telecommunications, ports and airports? The best that oil money can buy. U.S. influence? Nil. Corrupt politicians, cops, judges and military officers? Absolutely: Transparency International ranked Venezuela a shameful 162 out of 179 counties on its corruption perception index. Chavez's demonstrated interest in confronting criminal networks during his eight years in power? Not much.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-naim10nov10,0,7607104.story?coll=la-home-commentary



'Pandering' and porn
Once again, the Supreme Court will rule on Congress' effort to crack down on child pornography.
November 10, 2007
Michael Williams, a child pornographer whose appeal was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court last week, is not seeking exoneration. Indeed, he has acknowledged both possessing sexually explicit images of children and offering to provide such loathsome material to an undercover agent. The justices took Williams' case, however, not to establish his guilt or innocence but to answer two larger legal questions: Is the federal law against "pandering" child pornography so loosely worded that it could allow the government to prosecute speech protected by the 1st Amendment? And, if so, must the court strike down the law?
The answer to the first question is clearly yes. The pandering provision makes a criminal out of anyone who "advertises, promotes, presents or distributes" material that "is intended to cause another to believe" that it includes photographs of minors engaged in sexual activities or computer-generated images of children that meet the court's definition of obscenity. The term "presents" is particularly vague.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-porn10nov10,0,2434361.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

continued...