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The Rooster
"Okeydoke"

America does not vote in Pakistan and this is not a paid political commercial.

Senator Clinton's stand on the investigation is correct. It is not a political stand as CNN would like the world to believe, it's one that has credence globally. An independant investigation resulting in answers to the dynamics leading to the assassination of Former and Late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's death must take place.

All of her life, Benazir Bhutto has tried to lead Pakistan out of the turmoil of internal strife and oppression. A comprehensive investigation of the circumstances surrounding the Former Prime Minister's death much take place. I point to a similar dedication now being conducted by the IAEA of the Shia and the minority status of that faith in regard to Iran's militant political will as that relates to it's determination to seek nuclear competency including centrifuges.

The same type of historical dynamics plays in Pakistan. The Bhuttos for decades have attempted to bring Pakistan out of the drudgery of military oppression including the aggressively violent nature of the ISI. This has to stop. The death of Benazir Bhutto is more than finding out who caused her death, it encompasses the very reason she returned to Pakistan after a 10 year self-imposed exile.

The current dynamic at play in Pakistan have been building for as long as the Bhuttos have been a force to contend with and that force involves liberating the people of Pakistan from the oppression of military dictatorships. It has been impossible to bring Pakistan out of turmoil and there is every indication anarchy has been the state of affairs in Pakistan since the coup that brought Musharraf to power.

This has to end. The Hariri investigation exposed the underbelly of corrupt power and continues to seek justice for not only the death of a great leader of Lebanon and a brave leader, but, for the exoneration of freedom and democracy that is continually oppressed by political structures in that region.

It is a nearly an impossible task to liberate Pakistan, but, one that must be done. Senator Clinton in this segment is not speaking out for the sake of politics, but, for the sake of the Pakistani people. She is correct and needs to be validated by the UN in an investigation that seeks liberation of the people of Pakistan from oppression so that free elections can go forward with equitable safety for all candidates. I swear the words "Opposition Candidates" need to be struck from the vocabulary of any and all Presidential Elections in any country. It makes legitimate elections should like a war or at best a brawl at the WWF.

We cannot sacrifice this moment in time to allow pandering to Musharraf and his deceptions any longer. The global community needs to take a serious stand to bring Pakistan out of the clutches of oppression, hence exposing and eliminating the very terrorist networks allowed to thrive there.

We can no longer be deceived by oppression of the truth and the reality of the Bhutto assassination.

As fate would have it...coming of age at 19 is a Bhutto destiny.,.

Benazir Bhutto was the daughter of Pakistani President Ali Bhutto. In June 1972, the 19-year-old accompanied her father to Simla, India, where he met Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for a summit. Benazir Bhutto is seen here walking with India’s Foreign Affairs Minister Swaran Singh.

Bhutto is posthumous Parade mag cover
By KAREN MATTHEWS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW YORK -- An interview with Benazir Bhutto before the former Pakistani prime minister was assassinated was important enough to keep on the cover of Parade magazine, the magazine's publisher said Sunday - even though the publication had already gone to print when Bhutto was killed.
Randy Siegel said Parade went to press on Dec. 21 and was already on its way to the 400 newspapers that distribute it when Bhutto was killed in a Dec. 27 shooting and bombing attack at a campaign rally in her country.
The Web version of the story was updated, Siegel said, but it was too late to change the magazine. He said the only option other than running the outdated article would have been asking newspapers not to distribute the magazine at all.
"We decided that this was an important interview to share with the American people," he said.
In the interview, Bhutto says that her enemies want her dead.
"I am what terrorists most fear, a female political leader fighting to bring modernity to Pakistan," Bhutto told author Gail Sheehy, who interviewed her weeks earlier. "Now they're trying to kill me."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_bhutto_magazine_cover.html

Seattle Post Intelligencer

US military deaths in Iraq at 3,910
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
As of Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008, at least 3,910 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,178 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is six higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EST.
The British military has reported 174 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107ap_iraq_us_deaths.html



Bomber kills 11 at Iraqi army festival
By BRADLEY BROOKS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD -- Three Iraqi soldiers threw themselves on a suicide attacker wearing an explosives vest at an Army Day celebration Sunday - an act of heroism the U.S. said likely prevented many more deaths. Iraqi police said at least 11 people were killed in the blast, the deadliest in a series of bombings in Baghdad.
One of the attacks in the capital killed an American soldier - one of two U.S. deaths announced on Sunday.
Shortly before the bomber struck the Army Day festivities, about two dozen Iraqi soldiers were standing outside the offices of a local non-governmental agency pushing for unity in Iraq. The troops, their AK-47 rifles raised in the air, chanted pro-army slogans and a common anti-insurgent taunt: "Where are the terrorists today?"

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107ap_iraq.html



Iraqi refugees in Turkey seek move to US
By OMAR SINAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Sinan Marogi is tiring of waiting.
The 25-year-old Iraqi refugee's money is running out. He lives in a tiny, shared studio - sleeping on the sofa, jobless and isolated in a country where he can't speak the language, hoping the United States will let him in.
But just thinking of getting to the States makes his face light up. He adds - with big smile - that he's staying single so "I'll be available for American women as soon as I get there."
It's when he thinks about his current life that that Mirogi, who fled Iraq after working for a U.S. contractor, gets dejected. He turns to his guitar - his "companion in loneliness," he calls it - and strums a sad Iraqi folk tune.
"We are supposed to knock on the (U.S.) embassy's doors, instead of the U.N.'s," he said, referring to his repeated interviews with the U.N. refugee agency, the first stop for Iraqis seeking resettlement in the United States. "Time is running out, as well as my money. I cannot work or ask for help from my parents, because I should be helping them, not the other way around."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107ap_turkey_iraqi_refugees.html


Environmentalists push $1 million program to save urban trees
By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER
The shumard oak on a vacant lot in northwest Seattle was planted more than a century ago by Josephine Denny, a daughter of one of the city's founding families. Its trunk measured more than 3 feet across. The owner wanted it axed to make way for a house, even though the tree was on the edge of the property.
Across the lake in Kirkland, two old trees were also tagged to be cut down, squeezed out by development. One was a Western red cedar with drooping branches, a towering presence on the corner of the lot on Market Street. On an opposite corner stood a large old cypress.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346352_trees07.html



Ice pioneer eyes farthest glaciers
By CHARLES J. HANLEY
AP SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea -- For 5,000 years, great tongues of ice have spread over the 3-mile-high slopes of Puncak Jaya, in the remotest reaches of this remote tropical island. Now those glaciers are melting, and Lonnie Thompson must get there before they're gone.
To the American glaciologist, the ancient ice is a vanishing "archive" of the story of El Nino, the equatorial phenomenon driving much of the world's climate.
More than that, the little-explored glaciers are a last unknown for a mountaineering scientist who for three decades has circled the planet pioneering the deep-drilling of ice cores, both to chronicle the history of climate and to bear witness to the death of tropical glaciers from global warming.
"No one knows how thick these remaining glaciers are," Thompson said of Puncak Jaya, or Mount Jaya. "We do know they are disappearing."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1106ap_glacier_quest.html



Levee breaks amid West Coast storms
By MARTIN GRIFFITH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
FERNLEY, Nev. -- Still more snow piled up Sunday in the Sierra Nevada, where at least 5 feet had fallen from a storm that contributed to flooding in Fernley, killed at least three people and blacked out thousands of customers.
Forecasters predicted more rain and snow Sunday, but without the severity of the weather that has pounded the three-state region for three days.
Winter storm warnings remained in effect for some mountainous areas and the main highway through the Sierra Nevada was closed during the night. Residents were warned of possible mudslides in parts of rain-soaked Southern California where slopes had been denuded by the fall's wildfires.
One hiker was missing in snow-covered mountains in Southern California, and four snowmobilers were missing in heavy snow in the mountains of southern Colorado.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_winter_storm.html?source=mypi



Plane crash in Alaska kills at least 6
By JEANNETTE J. LEE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A small plane crashed Saturday in waters off Kodiak island in southern Alaska, killing six of the 10 people on board, authorities said.
The Piper Navajo Chieftain crashed soon after take off at 1:48 p.m. in shallow waters, according to the Coast Guard. The pilot radioed that he would be turning the plane around, according to Clint Johnson, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.
"Just after takeoff, the pilot reported an undisclosed problem to tower," he said. "We don't know why he tried to come back."
A private float plane from a fish processing company pulled four people from the wreckage. One person died trying to swim the roughly 300 yards to shore, said State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_plane_crash.html



Ex-Indonesia dictator's health improves
By ZAKKI HAKIM
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's former dictator Suharto was responding well to dialysis treatment Sunday but remains in critical condition, his doctor said.
Suharto, 86, was admitted Friday to Pertamina Hospital with swollen intestines, a dangerously low heart rate and anemia.
Suharto had stable blood pressure and swelling of his lungs and intestines had been reduced by a blood transfusion and ongoing dialysis, said Dr. Joko Raharjo, one of dozens of physicians treating the former strongman.
"He has stabilized," Raharjo said. "He is still in critical condition because he is now supported by medicines and equipment."
Suharto needs a second pacemaker, but must make a greater recovery before he can safely be sedated for the procedure, doctors said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_indonesia_suharto.html



Thai military says security improving
By SUTIN WANNABOVORN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's military insisted Saturday that security was improving in the country's restive south and that peace would come to the region in 2008, despite New Year's Eve bombings that injured dozens.
Authorities have detained more than 800 insurgents over the past 12 months in a stepped-up offensive against rebels in the Muslim-dominated south, army spokesman Akara Thiprote said.
The violence has claimed nearly 2,700 people in the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, and some parts of neighboring Songkhla, since a long-simmering Islamic separatist insurgency flared up in January 2004.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_thailand_southern_violence.html



Missing South Korean sailor found dead
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea -- One of the 14 sailors missing from a cargo ship that sank off South Korea's south coast last week was found dead Saturday, the Coast Guard said.
Local fisherman found the body in their net at a site 12 miles from where the cargo ship sank Dec. 25, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
Family members later identified the body as that of Ye Heung-rak, 54, the Coast Guard said.
Ye was one of 15 sailors aboard the ship, which sank in bad weather off the coast of Yeosu, 280 miles south of Seoul, while carrying 2,000 tons of nitric acid.
One crew member was rescued hours after the accident, but 13 others were still missing.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_skorea_sailor.html



Saving Earth saves you money
Seattle often pays consumers back for buying green
By ROBERT McCLURE
P-I REPORTER
Around Seattle, it's easier being green -- because often it pays, or at least costs less.
Local governments and utilities around here offer a variety of rebates for citizens and businesses who save energy, save water, even build eco-friendly buildings.
While a recent Associated Press survey found cities around the country starting to offer such eco-rebates, it's been a way of life in Seattle for decades. Seattle City Light first launched its program in 1977.
"The rest of the country is now starting to step in where we've been for a long time," said Scott Thomsen, a City Light spokesman. "It's not just good for the environment. It's good for our customers."
And it's paying dividends: Right now City Light is paying part of the cost of cut-rate, super-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs that consumers can pick up at Home Depot, Bartell Drugs, Costco or Fred Meyer -- some for less than $1 apiece, discounted up to $8. Final numbers aren't in for last year, but retailers anticipated selling a half-million bulbs in the continuing "Twist and Save" project, conserving enough juice to power 18,000 homes, City Light officials say.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346177_rebates05.html



SpongeBob snowmen melt as Ill. warms
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BELVIDERE, Ill. -- SpongeBob's melting. So are Patrick, Squidward, Gary and Plankton.
The massive made-from-snow replicas of the cast of the Nickelodeon cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" aren't expected to survive this week's record-setting warm weather.
Dave King spent more than 30 hours crafting the full-color snowmen in his front yard as a way to entertain his children.
"It was everything in my front yard, everything in my neighbor's driveway, everything in my driveway," the Belvidere resident said. "We were filling the pickup truck full of snow and backing it up and dumping it."
The snowy SpongeBob, the yellow sponge who calls a pineapple under the sea home, is nearly 13-feet tall.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1120ap_odd_melting_snowmen.html?source=mypi



Ice slows cleanup in flooded Nev. town
By MARTIN GRIFFITH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
FERNLEY, Nev. -- Hundreds of homes sat in as much as 8 feet of water Sunday following a canal rupture as freezing weather spread sheets of ice over yards and streets, hindering efforts to get the water to drain away.
Nearly 300 homes were damaged when the canal's bank gave way following heavy rainfall produced by the West Coast storm system that had piled snow as much as 11 feet deep in the Sierra Nevada.
Thousands of customers were blacked out across the West and many of them in California could remain in the dark for days because the storm ripped down nearly 500 miles of power lines, utility officials said Sunday.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_winter_storm.html



Bhutto is posthumous Parade mag cover
By KAREN MATTHEWS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW YORK -- An interview with Benazir Bhutto before the former Pakistani prime minister was assassinated was important enough to keep on the cover of Parade magazine, the magazine's publisher said Sunday - even though the publication had already gone to print when Bhutto was killed.
Randy Siegel said Parade went to press on Dec. 21 and was already on its way to the 400 newspapers that distribute it when Bhutto was killed in a Dec. 27 shooting and bombing attack at a campaign rally in her country.
The Web version of the story was updated, Siegel said, but it was too late to change the magazine. He said the only option other than running the outdated article would have been asking newspapers not to distribute the magazine at all.
"We decided that this was an important interview to share with the American people," he said.
In the interview, Bhutto says that her enemies want her dead.
"I am what terrorists most fear, a female political leader fighting to bring modernity to Pakistan," Bhutto told author Gail Sheehy, who interviewed her weeks earlier. "Now they're trying to kill me."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110ap_bhutto_magazine_cover.html



PARADE EXCLUSIVE
'A Wrong Must Be Righted'
An interview with Benazir Bhutto
By Gail Sheehy
Published: December 27, 2007
Editor's note: The assassination of Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto on Dec. 27 occurred after PARADE’s Jan. 6 issue went to press.
Bhutto’s murder adds more danger and confusion to the already chaotic situation in this region. Pakistan is vital to U.S. security interests and the global fight against terrorism. In late November, PARADE sent Contributing Editor and best-selling author Gail Sheehy to Pakistan to interview former Prime Minister Bhutto as she campaigned through the country. Bhutto told Sheehy that she had long been a target of terrorists as well as the Musharraf government. She knew she could be murdered at any time.
PARADE’s Jan. 6 interview with Bhutto is one of the last interviews of her complex life.
After her assassination, PARADE immediately posted the entire interview online, and Sheehy appeared on network and cable TV news shows to discuss her face-to-face conversations with Bhutto.

http://www.parade.com/benazir_bhutto_interview.html



Pakistan: Militants kill 8 tribal elders
By SADAQAT JAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Suspected Islamic militants fatally shot eight tribal leaders involved in efforts to broker a cease-fire between security forces and insurgents in Pakistan's volatile northwest, authorities said Monday.
The men were killed in separate attacks late Sunday and early Monday in South Waziristan, a mountainous region close to Afghanistan where al-Qaida and Taliban militants are known to operate, a security official and the military said in a statement.
The suspected insurgents killed three of the men in a market in Wana, the region's main town, while the other five were killed in attacks on their homes, the security official said. The men were scheduled to meet each other on Monday in Wana to discuss the negotiations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_pakistan_militant_attacks.html?source=mypi



China party expels 500 over child rules
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING -- Authorities in central China have expelled 500 people from the Communist Party for defying the country's one-child policy, state media said Monday.
More than 93,000 people in Hubei province violated the policy last year, including hundreds of officials, lawmakers and political advisers, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
China has been trying to crack down on officials and the wealthy who ignore its strict family planning laws. Expulsion from the party could end a political career or prohibit promotions.
Xinhua said 395 offenders were dismissed from their posts, but it wasn't immediately clear if they were included in the 500 who were expelled from the Communist Party. It also wasn't clear if the offenders were additionally penalized. Fines are another common punishment for violating the one-child policy.
Under the policy, implemented in the late 1970s, most urban couples are limited to one child and rural families to two to control population growth and conserve natural resources.
China's 1.3 billion people account for 20 percent of the world's total. The government has set growth targets, pledging to keep the population under 1.36 billion in 2010, and under 1.45 billion in 2020.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_china_family_planning.html



Attacks on Chinese activists raise fears
By WILLIAM FOREMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SHENZHEN, China -- Huang Qingnan lifts his hospital sheets and shows a long scar below his left hip. His right thigh needed stitches and surgeons fought to mend muscle and tendon gashed in his calf.
The 34-year-old labor activist was stabbed repeatedly by knife-wielding thugs, one in a series of attacks that experts and workers' rights advocates fear may signal a worrying new trend - privatized intimidation.
Once it would have been the communist government going after activists such as Huang. Today, he's less worried about the government and more about gangsters he believes are being hired by China's rough new capitalists to cow troublesome workers.
"The attack happened so fast," Huang said, lying in bed on the 19th floor of the Shenzhen Second People's Hospital. "It lasted just a minute or so, but I lost so much blood that I blacked out. Everything went blank."
A week before the November assault, another Shenzhen labor activist, Li Jinxin, was badly beaten, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily, a state-run newspaper. The paper said at least two others had been attacked around the same time. Shenzhen is a southern boomtown in Guangdong, one of China's most prosperous and industrialized provinces.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_china_attacks_on_activists.html



Drugs most commonly used in executions
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The three drugs most commonly used in lethal injections in the United States:
-Sodium thiopental, an anesthetic that is supposed to leave the inmate unconscious and unable to feel pain.
-Pancuronium bromide, a paralytic that is intended to prevent involuntary muscle movements.
-Potassium chloride, used to stop the heart.
Critics of the three-drug combination say that if the executioner administers too little anesthetic or makes mistakes in injecting it, the inmate could suffer excruciating pain from the other two drugs. But those involved in the execution might be unable to tell because the paralyzing drug would prevent any expression of pain.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1154ap_lethal_injection_drugs.html



States' methods of executions
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- If the Supreme Court decides that the three-drug combination most commonly used in lethal injection executions should be scrapped, 14 states could be forced to change their law to restart executions.
Other states easily could switch to a single drug, as critics of the current combination want, or use a different means of execution.
Nebraska is the only state that has electrocution as its only method of execution.
A look at methods of executions and the states using them, plus a list of states where legislation might be required before resuming lethal injections:
LETHAL INJECTION (35 states): Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming.
STATES THAT COULD REQUIRE LEGISLATION TO RESUME LETHAL INJECTIONS (14 states): Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wyoming.
ELECTROCUTION (9 states): Alabama, Arkansas (only for crimes committed before July 4, 1983), Florida, Kentucky (only for inmates sentenced before 1998), Nebraska, Oklahoma (if lethal injection unconstitutional), South Carolina, Tennessee (only for crimes committed before 1999), Virginia.
GAS (4 states): Arizona (only for inmates sentenced before Nov. 1992), California, Missouri, Wyoming (if lethal injection unconstitutional).
HANGING (3 states): Delaware, New Hampshire (only if lethal injection can't be given), Washington.
FIRING SQUAD (3 states): Idaho, Oklahoma (only if both lethal injection and electrocution are found unconstitutional), Utah (only for inmates who chose it before 2004).
NO DEATH PENALTY (14 states and the nation's capital): Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey (death penalty abolished in December), New York (death penalty law declared unconstitutional by state court), North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1154ap_lethal_injection_glance.html



Israeli fuel cuts force Gaza blackouts
By IBRAHIM BARZAK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- With winter deepening, Gazans will be forced to live without lights and electric heaters for eight hours a day because Israel has cut fuel supplies to the territory's only electric plant in half, Gaza's top energy official warned Sunday.
Israel said the purpose of the cutback was to nudge Palestinians to call on militants to stop their daily rocket attacks on southern Israel. But Gazans charged they have become the target of unfair punishment, and 10 human rights groups took that argument to the Israeli Supreme Court.
The power outages, which will rotate across Gaza, come just days ahead of President Bush's visit to the region in an effort to promote recently restarted peace talks between Israel and the moderate Palestinian government in the West Bank.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107ap_israel_palestinians.html



4 suspects in Turkey bombing released
By C. ONUR ANT
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Authorities released four suspects Sunday who had been detained after a deadly bomb attack in a predominantly Kurdish city of southwest Turkey, a local official said.
The bomb, which had been packed in a parked car, exploded Thursday in Diyarbakir as a military bus carrying soldiers passed by. Five people were killed, including four high school students, and 68 people were wounded, including more than 30 soldiers.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Turkish officials quickly blamed separatist Kurdish rebels. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that the attack, in which plastic explosives were used, bore the hallmark of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103ap_turkey_explosion.html



Report: French president to remarry
By JAMEY KEATEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PARIS -- Recently divorced President Nicolas Sarkozy will marry his former supermodel girlfriend next month, a French newspaper reported Sunday.
The weekly Le Journal Du Dimanche, citing unidentified sources, said Sarkozy gave Carla Bruni a heart-shaped diamond engagement ring in December and that the pair would wed on Feb. 8 or 9.
The presidential palace declined to comment on the report.
Sarkozy, who divorced his wife Cecilia in October, has flaunted his relationship with Bruni on recent holidays in Egypt and Jordan, drawing criticism that he is being too loose with the presidential image.
Political analyst Dominique Moisi said that a Sarkozy proposal to Bruni could be an effort to head off any future controversies, and its speed would fit with his personality as a busy man in a hurry.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103ap_france_sarkozy.html



Georgian president wins second term
By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TBILISI, Georgia -- Mikhail Saakashvili won a second term as Georgia's president Sunday in an election that thousands of opposition protesters denounced as fraudulent, threatening instability in this former Soviet republic once considered a beacon of reform.
For the pro-Western Saakashvili, the prospect of unrest is an ironic echo of the mass demonstrations that swept him into office four years ago as a champion of democracy fighting rigged elections.
An observer mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe gave the election a mixed assessment, calling it a significant step for democracy while pointing to an array of violations. Russia, which vies with the West for influence in Georgia, sharply criticized the vote.
Saakashvili nearly 53 percent of Saturday's vote - narrowly clearing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff election - said Central Elections Commission head Levan Tarkhnishvili. His main challenger, Levan Gachechiladze, had 27 percent.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103ap_georgia_presidential_election.html



Warlord's delegation at Congo talks
By EDDY ISANGO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
GOMA, Congo -- One of Congo's fiercest warlords sent a delegation on Sunday to meet with members of the government on the first day of peace talks in the provincial outpost of Goma.
The delegation of 10 rebels loyal to Laurent Nkunda, who commands an army of over 1,000 men, arrived in Goma under the guard of U.N. troops. The rebels declared a cease-fire last week.
Although Congo last year held its first free election in over 40 years, the enormous, jungle-covered country has struggled to control its lawless eastern province, where numerous militias vie for land.
A spokesman for the delegation said its No. 1 concern is the continued presence in Congo of the extremist Hutu militia FDLR, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda. The militia fled to the forested hills of eastern Congo after being chased out of neighboring Rwanda, where it is accused of orchestrating the 1994 genocide of half a million Tutsis.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105ap_congo_peace_talks.html



Kenya's unrest takes violent toll
By TODD PITMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KACHIBORA, Kenya -- Armed with bows and arrows and automatic weapons, hundreds of attackers poured through the camp where the terrified had sought refuge Sunday. They fired into the air, sparking a brief gunbattle with police before fleeing into the hills.
Hours later, after the bodies of a woman and her baby shot dead were carted away, aid agencies arrived to hand out emergency sacks of food to the hungry masses.
It sounds like a scene from war-ravaged Congo or Darfur. But this is Kenya, a country long known for welcoming refugees from troubled neighbors - not producing them.
A week of postelection violence has left at least 250,000 people homeless, shattering the East African country's image as a haven for those fleeing conflict.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105ap_kenya_on_the_brink.html



Kenyan police accused of killings, arson
By KATHARINE HOURELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Noor Adam begged police to spare his children as he lay bleeding from a bullet wound in front of his shop but they set fire to his store anyway, burning to death his 7-year-old daughter and teenage son inside.
The Nairobi shopkeeper says he was targeted by police from a rival tribe - underscoring how riots that began as opposition protests have sent simmering ethnic tensions boiling over and how some police appear to have fueled rather than tamped the violence.
More than two dozen Kenyan civil organizations say police have taken to using extraordinary force, and in some cases carried out extrajudicial executions, in the face of riots sparked by anger over alleged election fraud. Police deny the accusations.
The unrest began when supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga accused President Mwai Kibaki of rigging the Dec. 27 vote but soon exploded into widespread ethnic clashes, pulling in many more than Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe and Odinga's Luo, and leaving more than 300 people dead.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105ap_kenya_police_violence.html



Kenyan opposition leader open to talks
By MICHELLE FAUL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenya's opposition leader on Sunday signaled he is willing to share power with the government he accuses of rigging elections, but at the same time called for mass rallies - a move that threatens renewed bloodletting.
Weary Kenyans, some hungry and homeless after a week of violence marked by ethnic clashes, prayed for peace and begged their leaders to break the political deadlock.
"This fighting is meaningless," said Eliakim Omondi, 17, at a Lutheran church in Nairobi's Kibera slum that was torched last week. "I wish they would just talk and square everything so the fighting will stop."
Pastor Dennis Meeker urged congregants kneeling before a charred cross to "be with those who tried to kill you and destroy you." A woman dropped to the floor screaming "Forgive the people who attacked our church!"

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105ap_kenya_elections.html



Chavez waits for word on hostage release
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday he is waiting to hear from Colombia's largest rebel group about two rebel-held hostages that the guerrillas promised to release to the leftist leader last month.
Chavez lamented that his initiative to help free the hostages - former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez and former vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas - failed when rebels said last week that operations by Colombia's U.S.-backed military had prevented a planned handover.
"We continue waiting for new contacts for the liberation of Clara and Consuelo," Chavez said during his weekly television and radio program "Hello President."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102ap_venezuela_colombia_hostages.html



DNA: Orphan is Colombian hostage's son
By JOSHUA GOODMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Leftist rebels had promised to hand over a 3-year-old along with the child's mother and a third hostage, raising hopes that a rescue effort spearheaded by Venezuela's president would succeed.
But the result of a DNA test on Friday was downright soap opera material: It revealed that the boy, Emmanuel, had spent the last two years not in a jungle rebel camp, but in a Bogota foster home.
The result was a setback for those involved in the now-tabled rescue operation, as well as a major embarrassment for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The story of Emmanuel has transfixed Colombia since a Colombian journalist first reported in a 2006 expose book that the child was born to one of the rebels' most prominent hostages, former vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas, as the product of a relationship with one of her captors, reportedly a rank-and-file guerrilla named Rigo.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102ap_colombia_child_hostage.html

continued...

It's easy to be "Green." I'll be back late tonight to finish up.

The Greening of CES
Is this year's Consumer Electronics Show going to be the largest carbon-neutral event in the world?
By Brian Braiker Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jan 5, 2008
Did they pay you to consult with them?
We're a nonprofit organization. They [just] pay for the offsets.
Have you done a trade show this big before?
This is by a lot of estimations the biggest trade show on earth. For us it's great to be a part of it.
What specifically happens at a hotel that you can offset?
Hotels are typically front end and back end. What the guests sees is front-end: the room, hallway lighting, the minibar. Then there's the cleaning of the towels, production of food and all the things that happen behind the scenes. You end up with an average figure and you come up with a per-night carbon footprint so that way you don't have to go to every specific hotel and calculate.
Think of the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual high-tech bacchanal in Las Vegas, and what may come to mind are the blinking lights, the hordes of attendees and exhibitors who have traveled millions of miles, a forest's worth of brochures and promotional flyers--waste and more waste. In the past, there wasn't much green awareness at the world's largest gadget fest. Not anymore. This year, expect to see plenty of HDTVs equipped with efficient light-emitting diodes as their primary light source, more products powered by solar panels and even hand cranks. But even more impressive is that CES 2008 will be carbon neutral, making it the largest such event in the world.
The Consumer Electronics Association, which organizes CES, has teamed up with the nonprofit Carbonfund.org to estimate how much carbon is emitted at a tradeshow that typically draws 140,000 attendees from around the world. Then the association ponied up more than $110,000 to purchase carbon offsets that will invest in renewable energy, reforestation and energy efficiency endeavors.
NEWSWEEK's Brian Braiker caught up with Eric Carlson, Carbonfund.org's executive director, about turning the gadget fest green. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: When you think of CES you certainly don't picture a particularly Earth friendly event.
Eric Carlson: What CES is doing is they've asked us to inventory the carbon emissions from the show--emissions from the guest rooms, freight, a number of the hotels, the site of the exhibits and the shuttle buses.
And what number did you come up with?
Twenty thousand metric tons of CO2. Most of that is the hotel space: 63 percent is from hotels, 24 percent from freight, 12 percent from the convention center and then the [show space at the] Sands, the Hilton and the Venetian hotels.
So this doesn't include all the air travel of attendees and exhibitors?
CES has provided a link on their Web site and they're encouraging people to offset their travel coming to and from the event. Once you're in Vegas it's basically carbon neutral. [CES organizers are] offsetting their employee travel and all that as well.
How is all this carbon being offset?
One third is through renewable energy, which means things like wind energy and methane. Another third is through reforestation and the other third is through energy efficiency, which is general industrial energy improvements. CES is offsetting 6,500 tons per type.
And what emissions are there on the show floor itself?
That's the energy used by the convention center and the hotels that are hosting the exhibits. It's electricity and it's gas.
The hotel would be operating whether or not this convention would be happening. Which suggests that any average traveler leaves a trail of emissions behind him.
I think every responsible consumer should offset as much of their personal life as they can. When you travel you have an impact on climate change. You can do something about it. I think it's simply responsible to offset the carbon emissions from your air travel, your hotel. By offsetting your travel you drive investment in clean energy.
I'm flying to Vegas on Sunday. My flight has apparently not been offset. What can I do?
Go to our Web site and on it simply put in where you're flying from [New York] and to [Las Vegas] and they'll tell you the carbon footprint of that flight. Roundtrip that's 2.19 tons of CO2 and that's about 4,800 pounds of CO2. To offset that is just over $12.
That's it?
What an offset really represents is the additional funds needed to make a project cost-effective. The good news is that if we want to fight climate change, there are solutions out there that don't cost too much.
© 2008 Newsweek, Inc.

Morning Papers - continued...

So they're training lions now in Pakistan to protect candidates. That's interesting. That male lion is about a year old. It's akin the ancient practice of training Chow-Chow's to protect the Chinese emperior.

So, Perez now states, 'Bhutto shot, not bump head. But, Bhutto has to take responsiblity for her own death.' Perez must be a clairvoyant. He can ask Bhutto to accept responsiblity for her own death.

Is he stating she wanted to die? He that what he is saying?

Where is the proof, because by every measure that is a lie and the Former and Late Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was alive and well during her rally and attempting in every way to raise support for her candidacy.

Benazir's death is no different than that of JFK. They were cut down in the prime of their lives while attempting to lead a country democratically down a path of peace.

The bullet that killed her needs to be found and identified if at all possible. Perez Musharraf is guilty of allowing the cards to be stacked in his favor prior to the elections and allowing other Presidential Candidates to have their lives in danger. He never afforded his opposition the same margin of safety he enjoys.

New Zealand Herald

Bhutto bears responsibility for death - Musharraf
12:00PM Sunday January 06, 2008
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf conceded that a gunman may have shot Benazir Bhutto but said the opposition leader exposed herself to danger and bore responsibility for her death, CBS News said on Saturday.
Musharraf was also quoted as telling the CBS "60 Minutes" programme to be broadcast on Sunday that his government did everything it could to provide security for Bhutto, who was killed last week in a gun and suicide-bomb attack after a political rally.
"For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone. Nobody else. Responsibility is hers," Musharraf said in the interview taped on Saturday morning.
Pakistan's government has said Bhutto died when she struck her head on a handle on her vehicle's sunroof - a contention widely derided in Pakistan where many people suspect Musharraf's government of complicity. The government has also blamed al Qaeda for the attack.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485491


US urges all sides to respect Thai poll results
5:00AM Monday December 24, 2007
The party backing exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (L) has claimed victory; the US government called it a 'crucial step' towards true democracy. Photo / Reuters
WASHINGTON - The United States called on all sides on Sunday to respect the outcome of Thailand's first parliamentary elections since a September 2006 coup prompted Washington to suspend millions of dollars in aid.
Washington welcomed initial reports the vote had been free and fair, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
The party backing exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the People Power Party, declared victory in the poll and said it would seek to form a coalition government.
"We call on all sides to respect the results, and for a fair and transparent process for the adjudication of any disputes or fraud claims," McCormack said in a statement.
A spokesman for President George W Bush had said on Friday the United States eagerly awaits the return of democracy in Thailand "so that we may resume our close and abiding relationship with this important ally."
Under a US law that curbs aid after an elected leader is deposed by a military coup, Bush suspended about US$24 million ($32 million) in assistance to Thailand, including funds designed to promote military professionalism.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10484084



Thousands flee NSW floods
5:00AM Sunday January 06, 2008
Are you a kiwi who has experienced the floods in Australia?
Send your stories and photos to the Herald Newsdesk.
Thousands of residents from the northern New South Wales town of Kyogle were evacuated from their homes as floodwaters peaked at near-record levels - leading to parts of the New South Wales north coast being declared natural disaster areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology said an 18.1m flood peak was recorded on the Richmond River at Kyogle yesterday, the second-highest flood peak on record, after pelting rain.
"We evacuated the town and surrounding areas about mid-morning before the peak and are continuing to monitor the situation," a State Emergency Services (SES) spokeswoman said. Concerns then turned to Casino, where the Richmond River was expected to peak next, she said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485427


One dead in Swiss alpine chairlift accident
10:12AM Friday January 04, 2008
One person is dead and at least three others injured following a chairlift accident at a Swiss alpine resort.
A German man died when the chairlift on the Kleine Scheidegg pass, in Grindelwald, near Interlarken, fell to the ground just before 1pm yesterday.
An official told AP the accident occurred after a cable apparently jumped off a guidewheel on one of the chairlift's support towers.
Swiss newspaper the Basler Zeitung reported that a German woman was also badly injured in the accident and a man and woman, both from Australia, escaped with moderate injuries.
A number of other passengers received minor injuries.
Those still on the chairlift following the accident were evacuated from the ground as the high winds made the use of helicopters too dangerous, AP reported.
The national weather centre said winds in the area had reached speeds of 90 km/h, but canton police in Bern told the Basler Zeitung it was speculation to suggest the high winds had caused the cable to dislodge.
Walter Steuri, CEO of the Jungfraubahnen company, which runs alpine rail and chairlift services in the area, said the chairlift was well maintained and regularly serviced.
Grindelwald is one of Switzerland's best-known tourist destinations. The 2061m Kleine Scheidegg pass is one of the best places from which to see the country's famous Eiger, Moench and Jungfrau peaks.
Tens of thousands of people visit the area each year.
- NZ HERALD STAFF

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485258


Post-mortems to reveal whether deaths were murder-suicide
10:45AM Friday January 04, 2008
Post-mortem examinations to be conducted today are expected to reveal how a Sydney man and his teenage daughter died, in what police believe was a murder-suicide.
The bodies of the 50-year-old man and his 13-year-old daughter were found in the family's home in Stevens Road, Pennant Hills, about 6pm yesterday.
A police spokesman said the post-mortems, being performed later today, would reveal how they died and in what order.
Police believe the deaths were a result of a murder-suicide.
"No third person is wanted in relation to the deaths, but an investigation is under way," the spokesman said last night.
"Someone returning to the home, we are not sure whether a friend or family, made the grisly find," he said.
- AAP

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485259


Fires continue to rage in Victoria
6:30PM Friday January 04, 2008
MELBOURNE - Victorian firefighters expect to have the last of three fires burning in the state's east contained by tonight.
Favourable weather conditions allowed firecrews to finish containment lines around the largest fire at Nowa Nowa, 10km southeast of Buchan today.
The fire was sparked by lightning on New Year's Day and is expected to scorch 710ha within containment lines before burning itself out.
"Things are going well, we've only got three (fires) still going," Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) spokesman Stuart Ord told AAP.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485287


Weather bomb hits across Tasman
12:03PM Saturday January 05, 2008
The stormy weather has created up to 3,000 evacuees along the NSW coast.
Torrential rains continue to batter the New South Wales coast, causing immense damage and widespread evacuations in the Australian state.
The state government will consider making a natural disaster declaration as floods continue to threaten parts of the coast.
Overnight some 500 people have been evacuated from areas around Kyogle and South Murwillumbah where more than 300mm of rain fell in just three hours.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued flood warnings for the Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Bellinger, Orara, Bogan,Warrego and Paroo rivers.
Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees says initial advice from SES crews in the region indicate that the flooding is going to be far worse than initially predicted.
He says it's possible up to three thousand people will have to be evacuated from the towns and many caravan parks.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485383


Where's your proof? Scientists tackle celebrities over ad claims
5:00AM Saturday January 05, 2008
Nicole Kidman and other celebrities have been criticised by scientists for spruiking the benefits of various remedies, without having solid evidence to support them.
The Aussie actress, fellow Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and fashion designer Stella McCartney, are among those targeted for making claims about the benefits of everything from brain-based workouts to face creams and diets.
Sense About Science, a charitable trust set up to tackle the misrepresentation of scientific facts, reviewed a list of "pseudoscience" claims made by celebrities last year and contacted various experts to put them to the test.
Kidman was singled out for promoting Nintendo's new mini-computer based mental workout program, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.
The 40-year-old has starred in TV ads in Britain promoting the device and saying: "I've quickly found that training my brain is a great way to keep my mind feeling young."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485324


Motorsport: Terrorist menace forces last-minute cancellation of Dakar rally
5:00AM Sunday January 06, 2008
By Claire Soares
The Dakar Rally, the race across the Sahara deemed to be one of motorsport's toughest and most dangerous, has been cancelled for the first time in its 30-year history because of security fears.
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which organises the race, said it took the last-minute decision following the murders of four French tourists in Mauritania, as well as threats from terrorist groups against the rally itself, which was due to start in Lisbon overnight.
"No other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken," the ASO said in a statement last night. "[We] condemn the terrorist menace that annihilates a year of hard work, engagement and passion for all the participants."
Three gunmen, who police suspect were linked to al-Qaeda, shot dead four French tourists in Mauritania on 24 December as they had a picnic at the roadside near the border with Senegal. The killings prompted the French Government to issue a security warning.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485431


Sydney council to plead for lives of Bali bombers
2:19PM Sunday January 06, 2008
An inner-Sydney council will plead with Indonesia to spare the Bali bombers less than a month before their scheduled execution.
News Limited newspapers say the left-leaning Marrickville council will write to Indonesia's government this month asking it to commute death sentences imposed on three convicted Bali bombers, whose final appeals officially failed last week, leaving them just 30 days to seek last-minute presidential clemency.
The council will also ask Indonesia to spare six Australian members of the Bali Nine, sentenced to death by firing squad for trying to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.
The move follows Amnesty International Australia's recent controversial bid to save the Bali bombers. To defend its position, the organisation cited its universal opposition to capital punishment.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485493


Bloody new era looms as shaky ceasefire ends
5:00AM Saturday January 05, 2008
Violence has surged since the end of 2005 and the Tigers have reverted to their original demand for independence.
Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels is likely to escalate into the bloodiest period of fighting the island has seen after the Government this week scrapped a tattered truce, experts say.
Sri Lanka plunged back into war after four years of relative peace almost as soon as President Mahinda Rajapaksa took power in late 2005. But both he and the Tigers had held off scrapping a Norwegian-brokered truce to avoid appearing the villain.
With the pact now formally ended, hopes of resurrecting collapsed peace talks any time soon are dead and investment in the US$26 billion ($34 billion) economy could suffer.
"This means all-out war. The Government has dropped the peace option and has opted for a fuller military onslaught on the rebels," said Iqbal Athas, an analyst with Jane's Defence Weekly in Colombo.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485322


Gwynne Dyer: Kenya's promise betrayed
5:00AM Saturday January 05, 2008
By Gwynne Dyer
More than two years ago, when Kenya's current opposition leader, Raila Odinga, quit President Mwai Kibaki's Government, I wrote the following: "The trick will be to get Kibaki out without triggering a wave of violence that would do the country grave and permanent damage ... Bad times are coming to Kenya."
The bad times have arrived, but the violence that has swept Kenya since the stolen election on December 27 is not just African "tribalism".
Kikuyus have been the main target of popular wrath, and non-Kikuyu protesters have been the principal victims of the security forces, but this confrontation is about trust betrayed, hopes dashed and patience strained to the breaking point.
Nobody wants a civil war in Kenya, but it's easy to see why Raila Odinga rejects calls from abroad to accept the figures for the national vote that were announced Sunday.
If Odinga enters a "government of national unity" under Kibaki, as the African Union and the United States want, then he's back in the untenable situation he was in until 2005, and Kibaki will continue to run Kenya.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485297


Call of the wild silenced in Kenya
5:00AM Saturday January 05, 2008
A short distance from the slums and skyscrapers of Nairobi, Naanyu Ntirrisa pulls thorn bushes around her Maasai village to keep out marauding lions that have killed a cow and two sheep.
"We are doing our very best to be vigilant," she says.
Across a river from the village, tourists in Land Rovers photograph giraffes munching on acacia thorns, with the city's towers visible in the distance. They are enjoying the charms of Nairobi National Park, the closest park of its kind to a capital city in the world, where visitors can grab a quick safari during a business trip and airlines even take stopover passengers out for a game drive. Airliners making their final approach fly over vultures wheeling in the sky and zebras browsing with antelopes.
The scene on the Athi plains south of the Kenyan capital is typical of the Maasai lands stretching hundreds of kilometres to the Tanzanian border. The park hosts one of the largest concentrations of the rare black rhino in Kenya and lions and even cheetahs can still be seen - with a bit of luck.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485301


Kenyan crisis threatens whole region
5:00AM Saturday January 05, 2008
Kenya's sudden spiral into chaos after years as a regional anchor has badly set back Africa's democratic progress and will strike a heavy blow against the economies of a wide swathe of neighbouring nations.
In the few turbulent days since a tarnished election last week, Kenya has gone from democratic hope to disaster, from a country seen as an island of stability in a dangerous region to a new trouble spot torn by ethnic bloodletting.
The election, which Kenya's opposition says was rigged to re-elect President Mwai Kibaki, ended a year in which democratic hopes in Africa had already been dented by a discredited poll in Nigeria and turmoil in the politics of South Africa.
"This is the greatest setback to Africa's reputation since the 60s. Kenya has an iconic status, seen as synonymous with Africa," said Kenya expert Michael Holman.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485317


Kenya's opposition defiant, US envoy flying in
4:24PM Friday January 04, 2008
NAIROBI - Kenya's opposition vowed to defy police for a second day running today and try to hold a mass rally in the capital while the top US diplomat for Africa was flying in amid chaos that has killed more than 300.
Efforts by the opposition to stage the banned protest on Thursday were met by police firing teargas and warning shots as thousands of angry youths poured out of Nairobi's slums and tried to march on the city centre.
The protesters are enraged by President Mwai Kibaki's disputed victory in the December 27 election. Five days of ethnic violence and riots since the official results were announced have shocked the world.
More than 300 people have died in clashes mostly pitting Luo supporters of opposition candidate Raila Odinga against Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group and the police.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10485276


Chance to think again about the big questions
5:00AM Wednesday January 02, 2008
By Steve Connor
Steven Pinker has reconsidered human evolution. Photo / Paul Estcourt
It takes a lot to admit that you have changed your mind about something but dozens of leading scientists, scholars and intellectuals have done just that for a New York-based website that describes itself as an influential online salon for free thinkers.
This year's annual question posed by www.edge.org asks visitors to the site to submit a short explanation to address the issue of what you have changed your mind about and why?
Previous questions on the site have been along the lines of, what is your most dangerous idea? And, what are you optimistic about?
"When thinking changes your mind, that's philosophy. When God changes your mind, that's faith. When facts change your mind, that's science. And science is what's on the minds of the world-class scientists and thinkers on Edge," said John Brockman, the New York literary agent behind the website.
Steven Pinker, the Harvard psychologist and language expert, said he had changed his mind about whether humans were still evolving. He used to believe people had so isolated themselves from natural selection that evolution had stopped, but now he was not so sure.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10484958


Research finds tone matters to dolphins
5:00AM Friday December 21, 2007
Twenty of the whistles and tones recorded were heard frequently and were common to more than one pod. Photo / Reuters
Humans have taken a major step forward in unlocking the mysteries of dolphin-speak, and found their communication is more complicated than originally thought.
A researcher who spent three years listening to bottlenose dolphins living off the coast of Byron Bay, NSW, has found certain whistles are linked to specific behaviour.
PhD candidate Liz Hawkins from Southern Cross University's Whale Research Centre in Lismore listened in on more than 50 different pods of dolphins.
Using the starting and final frequency of the sound and its duration, she distinguished 186 distinct whistle types among the 1650 recorded, of which 20 were heard frequently and were common to more than one pod.
Ms Hawkins also grouped the whistles into five classes based on tone, and found they were related to certain behaviour.
While socialising, dolphins made almost exclusively flat-toned or rising-toned whistles. Travelling pods made mostly "sine" whistles, which rise and fall in bell curves, which Ms Hawkins suggested could be advertising their pod to other pods.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10483570


Great White's amazing 3000km swim
5:00AM Sunday December 30, 2007
By Cliff Taylor
A great white shark's record-breaking swim between New Zealand and Australia could be far more impressive than previously thought.
The 4.4m shark, nicknamed Kerri, started its journey at Stewart Island in March.
An electronic tag attached to its dorsal fin came off 3000km away, near the Great Barrier Reef, two weeks ago.
The journey is the longest ever recorded by a shark from New Zealand. But Department of Conservation scientist Clinton Duffy said it could have been thousands of kilometres longer.
"I would say it's unlikely it would have been a direct route with her being at large for nine months. She could have been all over the place."
Duffy said sharks were known to travel up to 1000km a week.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&objectid=10484695


'Extinct' seabirds captured
5:00AM Monday December 03, 2007
The ornithologist who helped re-discover a native seabird thought for 150 years to be extinct has shot two of them - with a net-gun.
Brent Stephenson, who rediscovered the storm petrel, with Sav Saville, off the coast of Whitianga in January 2003, captured two of the birds with a net fired out of a custom-made gun. "It's not every day you get to hold a seabird that for 150 years was thought to be extinct, let alone hold two," he said.
Altogether three of the "extinct" New Zealand storm petrels were captured in the Hauraki Gulf by Department of Conservation (DoC) staff and scientists.
The expedition, funded jointly by DoC and a grant from National Geographic's committee for research and exploration, was part of an effort to discover where the birds are breeding. It lives and feeds at sea, returning to land only to breed.
If the captured birds had showed signs of breeding, they would have had tracking beacons attached before being released, Dr Stephenson said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=332&objectid=10479680


Voyager finds 'dent' in our solar system
5:00AM Thursday December 13, 2007
By Mark Lawin
Nasa's Voyager 2 spacecraft has found that our solar system is not round but is "dented" by the local interstellar magnetic field of deep space, space experts said on Monday.
The data was gathered by the craft on its 30-year journey into the edge of the solar system when it crossed into a sweeping region called the termination shock.
It showed that the southern hemisphere of the solar system's heliosphere is being pushed in or "dented".
Voyager 2 is the second spacecraft to enter this region of the solar system behind Voyager 1, which entered the northern region of the heliosheath in December 2004.
The termination shock is a turbulent area far beyond Pluto's orbit where the solar winds emanating from the sun are significantly slowed as they run up against the thin gas of interstellar space. Solar winds blow in all directions from our sun, and shape what was once thought to be a bubble around the solar system called the heliosphere.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=325&objectid=10481950


Death star on the edge of space
5:00AM Wednesday December 19, 2007
The 'death star' galaxy blasts its neighbour with a powerful emission deep in outer space. Photo / Reuters
A "death star" galaxy is sending out a powerful jet of particles and magnetic radiation that is probably obliterating any possible life in its broad path, notably in a nearby galaxy, astronomers said yesterday.
They said the two galaxies appear to be merging and the disturbance in the magnetic field caused by this movement may have awakened a dormant, supermassive black hole in one of the galaxies.
They have images of the deadly blast, spurting out from a system known as 3C321.
Data from Nasa's Chandra x-ray observatory show both galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centres, and 3C321, the larger galaxy, is emitting this stream of energy and particles. The unnamed smaller galaxy apparently has swung into the path of this jet.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=325&objectid=10483108


Lunar land prices rocketing
1:20PM Tuesday December 18, 2007
LONDON - Property investors smarting from this year's housing bust in the United States might do well to look farther afield - even out of this world.
Internet searches for lunar land prices show the cost of buying an acre of the moon's surface has risen 40 per cent since the start of 2007, investment bank UBS told clients in a tongue-in-cheek analysis.
Lacing a year-end note with caveats, and not a little holiday cheer, UBS strategists said their "esoteric research" of archived news reports suggests lunar property trends may even be a leading indicator of US house prices.
Rising sharply between 1997 and 2001, the cost of a slice of land on the moon suffered a mid-cycle retreat in 2002-03 after the dot.com bubble burst, the bank said.
But prices defied gravity to hit record highs of US$37 ($50) per acre in December 2005 - nine months before US housing peaked.
- REUTERS

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=325&objectid=10483066


Tourists deepen carbon footprint
5:00AM Friday January 04, 2008
By Angela Gregory
Carbon emissions from visitors' air travel to New Zealand equal total emissions from the country's coal, gas and oil-fired power generation, say University of Otago scientists.
Physics researchers Inga Smith and Craig Rodger say the greenhouse-gas emissions from visiting tourists are far greater than had been thought.
The researchers set out to quantify the contribution of international visitors' air travel to New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions profile from 1983 to 2005.
Their calculations showed that in 2005, the CO2-equivalent emissions from the 2.4 million international visitors' return air flights was nearly 7.9 million tonnes, about the same as the emissions from all the country's coal, gas and oil-fired power generation.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10485250


Commercial property next US worry
5:00AM Monday January 07, 2008
By Ilaina Jonas
As the chances of a United States recession increase with each new batch of economic data, some investors worry that commercial property could follow residential housing down the path of steep decline, leaving behind unpaid debt that would be difficult to unwind.
"Real estate is a derivative of the economy and credit. If the outlook for those two items is not good, that obviously affects real estate," UBS analyst Alexander Goldfarb said. "Clearly, expectations of growth have changed significantly."
A crisis in the credit market has led to tighter lending requirements, forcing some sellers to dramatically reduce prices and in some cases to take properties off the market.
Demand for space is also down compared to 2006 when pent-up demand by businesses was still causing them to snap up space.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10485513


Scene set for a big year in New Zealand film
5:00AM Monday January 07, 2008
By John Drinnan
Niki Caro will direct The Vintner's Luck. Photo / Kenny Rodger
This year promises to be a busy one for the Kiwi film business but there are some big decisions ahead about how taxpayers will underpin the industry's growth.
And if there is a change to a National-led government it is likely to mean a review of the 1978 Film Commission Act that has been a foundation for the industry - at least the industry beyond director Peter Jackson - for 30 years.
Jackson and his Camperdown Studio in Wellington have moved beyond the early successes of Lord of the Rings and King Kong.
Part-owned special effects arm Weta Digital has become self-sufficient and Jackson's lavishly appointed post-production outfit Park Road Post is getting more work.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10485517


Scientists hail campaign as quollified success
5:00AM Friday January 04, 2008
By Nick Squires
A campaign to save a highly endangered cat-sized marsupial from the toxic cane toad has been hailed as a spectacular success by Australian scientists.
Four years ago 65 northern quolls - an endearing creature with spotted fur - were moved to offshore islands in the Northern Territory. They bred with such success that the population has soared to more than 5000.
The quolls were relocated in a A$300,000 operation dubbed "Island Ark" because they were dying in droves after preying on cane toads, which pack a lethal punch as a result of the poisonous glands on their backs.
The toads have accounted for the deaths of millions of crocodiles, lizards, birds and other creatures.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10485210

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Morning Papers - continued...

Suri Cruise and parents

Suri's Movie Career: 'Knut' Happening (click here)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (January 5, 2008) – Bad news Suri Cruise fans, the cuddly tot won’t be lending her pipes to voice adorable German polar bear, Knut, in an animatedmovie about the cub’s life.
“Tom and Katie have no plans for Suri to begin an acting career,” a rep for the Cruise family told
Rumors began swirling that Tom and Katie’s little one was being lined up for the role after the film’s producer, Ash R. Shah, said “I want Suri Cruise to be the English voice of Knut.”
Even if Suri did have acting ambitions, there’s little chance the bowl-cut babe could take her dreams by the reigns at the minute. According to a Cruise family friend, who spoke to MSNBC, “Suri doesn’t even speak in full sentences yet.”
Meanwhile the film itself, isn’t even ready to be made.
Though Shah reportedly has offered $5 million for Knut’s story, a Zoo rep hasn’t said yes.

Zoos

Auckland Setting the Standard for Green Zoos
Fancy growing some giant sized vegetables in your garden? Grab a bag of ZooDoo and your plants may just get a mammoth sized growth spurt, as the compost is made from the poo of elephants in Auckland Zoo.
The New Zealand zoo's two elephants get through around 100kg of bamboo, sugar cane, banana palm and willow plants each day, but a new environmental emphasis launched by the zoo means nothing goes to waste, as the vast amounts of elephant, and other zoo animal dung, is transformed into a fertilizer for the zoo's gardens, while any food waste is used to fuel their worm farm.
It is green schemes such as these that has helped the Auckland Zoo achieve the highest international environmental management rating this month, the catchily titled ISO 14001 - the global standard of measuring and monitoring environmental performance. The accreditation comes two years ahead of the zoo's 2009 target to achieve the standard, and follows hot on the heels of achieving another 2009 environmental goal by 2007 � that of recycling 85 per cent of all zoo waste.

http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/community/environmental-news/2166-auckland-setting-standard-green-zoos.html


Animal rights group calls for change in zoo policy
Photos by John Han
By John Han
January 4, 2008
Animal rights advocates said Thursday that they plan on asking the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to hold hearings to determine whether there should be policy changes at the San Francisco Zoo.
Fred Rabidoux, a minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church in San Francisco, said during a vigil at the zoo, that large animals should not be kept in zoos.
"Why are we subjecting these animals to such unnatural conditions?" asked Rabidoux. "The right thing to do is to respect the right of each animal to live its life in surroundings that nature put it in. Being captive and held in a confined space is not sufficient to reverse its wild character."
Elliot Katz, founder and president of the animal rights group In Defense of Animals (IDA), said that the zoo has a history of, "letting people provoke the animals," by taunting them repeatedly in "public feeding spectacles."
"They tell people to come into the lion house and see them feed the tigers, and see them growl and get all excited," Katz said.
The vigil was held in memory of both Tatiana and Carlos Sousa, who was mauled to death by the tiger after it had escaped from its grotto. Tatiana was shot and killed when police arrived on scene.
Katz says the zoo should stop public feedings.

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/news_in_brief/jh_sf_zoo_policy_080104.shtml



San Francisco zoo incident sparks nationwide talk about animal safety
By Charles D. Perry · The Herald
Published 01/06/08 - 12:00 AM
A chain link fence with steel poles buried deep into the ground enclose the Tigers at Tiger World.
A Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo left one person dead and two others inured. The mauling sparked a nationwide discussion about zoo safety.
Rock Hill's Lea Jaunakais, who plans to open a tiger refuge in Rockwell, N.C., this summer, said the California zoo used a moat barrier to contain its tigers.
"I have always felt my whole life that moat exhibits are dangerous," Jaunakais said. "And they're not effective at housing animals such as a tiger. ... It gives them the perception that there is no wall. It gives them the perception that their boundaries are limitless. It gives them the perception that if I want something bad enough, I'm going to jump for it."

http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/273004.html



Zoo: Renovations now required for polar bear exhibit
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 01/04/2008 06:59:22 PM PST
SAN FRANCISCO—In the wake of a fatal tiger mauling at the San Francisco Zoo, officials there say they now must bolster the polar bear exhibit as well.
The existing moat wall at the polar bear exhibit is a bit short, and a 3-foot-tall chain link fence will be added to bring it to 16 feet high total.
The add-on fence is being installed today. The zoo was closed today because of the severe weather.
The zoo remains under scrutiny after a tiger escaped its enclosure on Christmas Day and mauled 17-year-old Carlos Sousa, Jr. to death and wounded his two friends.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7884515?nclick_check=1



Albino alligators disappear from zoo
Friday Jan 4 15:00 AEDT
By ninemsn staff
Seven rare albino alligators have gone missing from a zoo in Brazil, sparking concerns the animals may have been stolen for black market trade.
Zoo officials said the reptiles were last seen in their enclosures at the Federal University in Mata Grosso, in Brazil's west, during feeding on New Year's Eve, the BBC reports.
Police believe the alligators, which are distinctive because of their pink eyes and colourless skin pigment, were abducted to be sold overseas.
It is estimated the animals are worth over $11,000 each.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=342227



Zoo leaves polar bear cubs to starve
Allan Hall
Sunday January 6, 2008
The Observer
Three tiny polar bear cubs are being allowed to starve to death after a zoo took the controversial decision not to rear them by hand if their mother continued to neglect them.
Mother bears Vera and Wilma gave birth three weeks and five weeks ago at Nuremberg Zoo in southern Germany. It is thought they have six cubs between them. Wilma is displaying the signs of being a good mother, but Vera shows no interest in her young....
...He said he wasn't opposed to hand-rearing in principle but that it had to be decided on a case-by-case basis. 'Berlin Zoo did a terrific job hand-rearing Knut from day one. But we want to avoid Knutmania at all costs. If people spend hours queuing up to see a polar bear cub, there's something wrong. We've got a baby giraffe too, that's just as cute.'
Bernhard Blaskiewitz, Berlin Zoo director, said he disagreed with the stance taken in Nuremberg.
'This is not some new fad,' he said. 'We hand-reared a bear in 1986 that now lives in Serbia. That is responsible breeding and care. We have no concerns for the welfare of Knut.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/0,,2236218,00.html



Noon Year Eve
By: michelle qualls
On: 01/05/2008 00:19:41
i just wanted to say, that we loved this day my 2yr old and i came only to see deigo but it turned into really special day for us ,,i think we will now make Noon Years eve a new tradtion ,,, thank you for all the people at the zoo for making this a wonderful day for me and my youngest daughter!! God bless you all,, Michelle Qualls Elyria OH

http://www.clemetzoo.com/zblog/default.asp?Display=79



Two big cats ailing at Zoo Atlanta
By MARK DAVIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/04/08
A lion and tiger at Zoo Atlanta are sick — one seriously, the other seemingly on the mend.
Masai, a 17-year-old African lioness, remained in guarded condition, zoo officials said Friday. Male Sumatran tiger Jalal, 14, was in fair condition.
Maria Crane, the zoo's vice president of veterinary services. Crane discovered the creature's condition after treating her for an upper respiratory infection in December.
"She is a 17-year-old lioness, which is toward the end of a lifespan," Crane said. "This is something I would consider life-threatening."
On Wednesday, Crane took a sample from Masai's bone marrow and sent it to the University of Georgia's veterinary labs. She hoped to hear from the UGA late Friday.
Crane was more optimistic in Jalal's prognosis. The tiger, she said, looked as if he would shake off whatever prompted spasms of vomiting on the second day of the new year. He may have eaten something that turned his stomach, she said.
"I don't think we always know what causes an upset stomach," Crane said. "I can't say this is a life-threatening" condition.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/living/stories/2008/01/04/bigcats_0105.html



North zoo gets aid from family
BY AMY DeMELIA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Saturday, January 5, 2008 12:54 AM EST
NORTH ATTLEBORO - World War I Memorial Park Zoo will be getting some much needed updates, thanks to a donation from a local family.
David and Pat Nicholson say they decided to donate $5,000 to the zoo fund after a recent visit, and hope others might consider making a donation.
"We made the donation because we were astounded at how little money the zoo receives to help with upkeep of the animals and the facilities," David Nicholson said. "That park is just a jewel and the staff there does a terrific job. We wanted to make the donation to help support the zoo."
The Nicholsons have a long connection with the zoo. The Aviary at the park is named after their son, Danny.
Danny Nicholson was helping a disabled motorist when he was struck and killed by another car in 1979.
Park Director Steve Carvalho thanked the Nicholsons for the donation, saying, "The timing couldn't have been any better. The budget is getting more difficult every year. Thanks to wonderful people like the Nicholsons we will be able to get some of our projects done."
The money will go toward improving accessibility at the zoo by installing an asphalt path around the perimeter and to fix the aviary roof.
Carvalho said a small amount will also go toward adding the words "good Samaritan" to the rock that denotes the aviary has been named in honor of Danny Nicholson.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2008/01/05/news/news8.txt



Zoo volunteer going strong at 93
By RON HAYES
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 05, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH — Somehow, you don't expect a man who buys a box of Entenmann's doughnuts every day to reach the age of 93.
"Oh, I don't eat them!" laughs Sidney Faber, the oldest and longest-serving volunteer at the Palm Beach Zoo in Dreher Park. "I just put them by the coffee machine and I'm a hero."
On Friday, the zoo staff and fellow volunteers who feast on Faber's doughnuts returned the favor by throwing a birthday lunch for their senior colleague, born Jan. 5, 1915.
Instead of doughnuts, they brought Papa John's pizza and a cake.
"He's a wonderful guy," said Terry Maple, the zoo's executive director. "The great thing about Sidney is that he's always ready to speak his mind. He's hardworking, bright and talented, and we're fortunate to have him here. He's a great role model."
The owner of a wholesale janitorial supply company outside Washington for 40 years, Faber retired to Florida in 1980. But after losing his wife, Joan, in 1987, he realized he needed to keep busy. At the urging of former zoo board President Esther Bondareff, he started volunteering in 1989. And he's been there ever since.
Faber began by telling children's groups about the animals.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/01/05/s3b_ZOOVOL_0105.html



Hattiesburg Zoo seeks accreditation
By EMMA JAMES
Officials are working on getting national accreditation for the Hattiesburg Zoo, general curator John Wright told Area Development Partnership members Friday.
The last step in the process, Wright said during the monthly First Friday meeting, is to appear before an Association of Zoos and Aquariums panel in Birmingham in March.
"There are no set standards for accreditation," Wright said. "The panel goes by the evaluators' perceptions and observations. If all of the concerns they have are being addressed, there should be no problems with the accreditation."
A three-person team of evaluators spent two days at the Hattiesburg Zoo in November.
Most of the team's concerns involved updating the zoo's facilities, Wright said, particularly in animal quarantine and treatment. While the zoo uses off-site veterinarians to treat its animals, the on-site treatment is preferred, he said.
Accreditation would mean more access to animal transport, breeding programs and conservation projects nationally, Wright said. It also would make it easier for the zoo to get new exhibits and bring more educational programs to the area.
"We felt that today was a good way to present the business side of the zoo," said ADP president Angie Godwin. "And their accreditation is a way for them to go to the next level and achieve a better dynamic."
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, founded in 1924, is the leading national accrediting organization.
The zoo added the jaguar exhibit in 2004. Wright said more additions are planned.
"A zoo is like an amusement park," he said. "You have to add something new every three years or so to keep people coming."

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080105/NEWS01/801050317/1002



Zoo Says Baby Giraffe Getting Stronger
Jan, 05 2008 - 3:30 AM
ALDERGROVE/CKNW(AM980) - The Greater Vancouver Zoo says the baby giraffe born in captivity a few weeks is ago doing well.
Spokesperson Jody Henderson says the giraffe is still in a private nursery where it's been kept safe and warm, "He's doing well. He's progressing along. He's getting bigger and stronger, and he's eating. He'll be bottle-fed by [his] keepers who are still with him on a 24-hour basis."
The giraffe was born at the Aldergrove facility on December 20th.

http://www.cknw.com/news/news_xml.cfm?cat=1&rss=1&rem=82763&red=80110923aPBIny&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm




Al Ain Zoo welcomes birth of baby giraffe
posted on 05/01/2008
A baby giraffe was born on New Year's Day at Al Ain Zoo, surprising the caretakers who were expecting the birth a week later.
The female baby giraffe was born at 9.30am and immediately got to her feet and started suckling, said Mark Craig, Director of the Zoo. Since the birth, both mother and baby are doing well and have been separated from the main group.
"This was a wonderful New Year's Day present to all visitors and staff and demonstrates our high standards of animal husbandry and management. We now have an extended family group of giraffe numbering 10 in our mixed African exhibit," he said.
Al Ain Zoo recorded record crowds throughout 2007 with a total number of 614,000 visitors throughout the Year. New additions to the zoo and a continued programme of rapid improvements have contributed to the success in 2007.
Majid Al Mansouri, Managing Director said Al Ain Zoo is a major wildlife tourist attraction in Abu Dhabi with priorities of recreation, education and conservation as cornerstones of our success.
"We have further plans in 2008 to improve the zoo and extend our wildlife experiences for families to include a wildlife safari," he added.
New projects planned for 2008 include the addition of five white rhinos to the mixed African exhibit, a new African wild dog exhibit and an Australian exhibit featuring kangaroos and Emus. (Gulf News)

http://uaeinteract.com/docs/Al_Ain_Zoo_welcomes_birth_of_baby_giraffe/28088.htm



Zoo jumps at chance to highlight frogs' plight
By Staff reporter
CHESTER Zoo staff jumped to it on New Year's Eve to highlight the plight of frogs worldwide.
Zoos across the world united at 11am for a giant, simultaneous leapfrog marking the launch of a campaign.
2008 has been declared the Year of the Frog to raise awareness of a looming, mass extinction of amphibian species – the most significant since the dinosaur.
One third to one half of all amphibian species are in danger of disappearing in our lifetime. Amphibian Ark is a campaign supported by zoos to rescue the most endangered 500 species that cannot be saved in the wild.
http://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/chesternews/Zoo-jumps-at-chance-to.3640216.jp

http://wordsjunkie.livejournal.com/15664.html



Oregon Zoo again breaks attendance records
LocalNewsDaily.com, Jan 4, 2008 (1 Reader comment)
For the second year in a row, and the third time in the past four years, the Oregon Zoo has broken its all-time calendar-year attendance record, with 1,503,565 visitors in 2007.
It marks the first time zoo attendance has topped 1.5 million in a year. The zoo’s previous record, set in 2006, was 1,447,116 visitors.
“We continue to open new exhibits and host events visitors expect and enjoy,” said Tony Vecchio, zoo director. “We’re always trying to make new and innovative additions to draw in first-time visitors and bring back our loyal supporters.”

http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=119948121380517200



A wild life
By SHARMILA GANESAN
A zoo curator’s job may be ideal for those who have a soft spot for animals.
HE has been scratched by a leopard, bitten by a snake and nearly killed by an elephant, but Tumar Said’s love for animals has not wavered.
With a resume that would put many adventure heroes to shame, Tumar, 57, is the curator of Zoo Negara.
Tumar — pictured here feeding a green parrot — enjoys his work as the curator of Zoo Negara. — ONG SOON HIN / The Star
Tumar started out at the zoo as a junior keeper. That was his first job and he has been there for about 40 years, gradually working his way up to his present position. Enduring many “gentle” bites and scratches along the way, of course!
Tumar still recalls the sinking feeling he had felt when he was told, on his first week on the job, that his senior had been hospitalised due to an animal attack.
“Imagine hearing that during your first few days at work!
“Do you run or do you stay?
“Luckily, I stayed!”
From that landmark decision, Tumar has gone on to mark many milestones for Zoo Negara.
He once trained a tiger cub to be the mascot for the Malaysian football team and accompanied it to Munich for the 1972 Olympic Games, where he had the opportunity to visit the Munich Zoo.
He learnt much from his visit. Upon his return, Tumar used his experience to open Zoo Negara’s Pet Corner, and slowly increased the number of animals there.
Despite his wealth of experience and achievement, however, Tumar remains humble. “I am where I am because I am willing to learn from my mistakes. Over the years, I have learnt to plan and think ahead.”

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2008/1/6/education/19889943



Good Zoo Offers Master Naturalist Training
POSTED: January 6, 2008
WHEELING – The Good Zoo at Oglebay is accepting applications for its popular Master Naturalist Program. The next session will be held Jan. 11-12.
Area nature lovers, 16 years of age and older, can be trained and certified as Master Naturalists in the program developed by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The Good Zoo was selected as the Northern Panhandle Chapter. Good Zoo staff will be teaching the classes, along with the Schrader Environmental Education Center staff, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resource’s biologists, and university experts.
“Anyone who loves the outdoors will love these classes. Our 40 students range from college students, homemakers, retired couples, scientists, birders and many others,” said Penny Miller, zoo director. Oglebay’s Certified Master Naturalist Lindsey Miller says this about the classes. “My experience with the Master Naturalist program rejuvenated my love for the outdoors and afforded me the opportunity to meet new friends with similar interests. The instructors were supportive and very knowledgeable in their fields, and I am sharing my new knowledge with friends and groups at local nursing homes.”

http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/504219.html?nav=510



Defending the zoo's job performance
BY THAYNE MAYNARD
I write with regard to the "Your Voice" column "Zoo should cut programs before taxes raised" (Jan. 3).
We do three things at the Cincinnati Zoo, and we do them as well, if not better, than any zoo in the world. All three serve the residents of Hamilton County by adding to their quality of life and contributing to our local economy.
We create adventure. More than 1,000,000 people visit the Cincinnati Zoo nearly every year. These folks are mostly families with children and they visit us to create special memories and to learn about the natural world. We have over 42,500 family memberships and over 1,000 volunteers.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080106/EDIT01/801060349/1020/EDIT



Cleveland Metroparks Zoo confident of tiger exhibit's safety
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Leila Atassi
Plain Dealer Reporter
Winter is Klechka's season. Like a picture from an issue of National Geographic, the robust 4-year-old Siberian tiger lounged about his snowy turf at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, curiously eyeing a visitor and her leopard-print earmuffs.
But Klechka must know what they say about curiosity and the proverbial cat. Faced with a moat 20 feet wide, 16½ feet deep and encircled with electrified wire, the 360-pound tiger has never attempted the leap.
Now, after several days spent carefully measuring and remeasuring the enclosures that house Klechka and two female cats, zookeepers and administrators are certain he couldn't make it across if he tried.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1199611874171810.xml&coll=2

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