Rip and Read

May 9, 2007

2007-05-08T23:07:00.000-07:00

Texas governor backs down on HPV vaccine effort
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0848771820070509

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on Tuesday he is backing down in his effort to require that pre-teen girls be vaccinated against a virus known to cause cervical cancer after the state's legislature overturned his order. The February order would have made Texas the first U.S. state to require that girls receive the Merck & Co. Inc.'s vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) so they can enroll in sixth grade, when most students are 11 or 12 years old. But social conservatives opposed it, saying it would lead to sexual promiscuity. The Republican-majority Texas Legislature passed a bill last month contravening the order by preventing the vaccination program for at least four years. Several other states are also considering requiring the vaccine.

Russia to deploy fixed-site Topol-M ICBMs by 2010 -SMF cmdr.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070508/65086382.html

Russia's Strategic Missile Forces will complete the deployment of silo-based Topol-M ICBMs by 2010, the SMF commander in chief said Tuesday. Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said Monday the Topol-M system will be equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV) in the next two or three years, adding the new system will help penetrate missile defenses more effectively. His statement comes against the background of growing tensions between Moscow and the West regarding plans by the United States to deploy elements of its global antiballistic missile defense system in Central Europe. Gen. Solovtsov said the Strategic Missile Forces would factor in the new threats.

Lavrov: the EU and NATO connive with efforts to rewrite history http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=44889
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov yesterday accused the European Union and NATO of conniving with nations that disrespect the memory of Soviet soldiers and seek to rewrite history, the latest angry words in a dispute deepened by Estonia's relocation of a World War II monument. "Attempts to make a mockery of history are becoming an element and an instrument of the foreign policy of certain countries," Lavrov said in televised comments at a ceremony honoring Russian diplomats who died during the war. "Unfortunately certain organizations such as NATO and the EU connive with these attempts." The dispute has tested relations between Russia and the West, already strained by disagreement on an array of issues ranging from human rights and democracy to arms control. The West is wary of President Vladimir Putin's increasingly assertive Kremlin, while Putin has accused Western forces of seeking to weaken Russia. The newspaper Kommersant reported yesterday that Putin is expected to sign a decree this month to create a system of seven representative offices abroad - mostly in central Europe, including in Poland, Hungary and the Baltics - that would be responsible for the inventory and preservation of war graves. The Kremlin said it could not immediately comment on the report, which cited Russian military officials.

China, Russia deny weapons breach
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6632959.stm

China and Russia have denied claims by Amnesty International that they are supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo. A report by the rights group says the weapons end up in the hands of the government-backed Janjaweed militia. It also includes apparent photographic evidence of Sudan using military aircraft camouflaged white in Darfur. China said its exports to Sudan were legal, limited and on a small scale. Russia also denied any embargo breach. A Russian foreign ministry official said Moscow "unswervingly" observes the UN restrictions. Under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed in March 2005, an embargo is in place on the supply of arms to all parties in the conflict in Darfur. The Sudanese ambassador to the UN, Abdel Mahmood Abdel Haleem, said the Amnesty allegations were "baseless and unfounded".

Serbia at 'crossroads' after hardliner wins top post http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Serbia_at_crossroads_after_hardline_05082007.html
Serbia elected an extreme nationalist to one of the most powerful positions in the country on Tuesday, prompting fears of a return to the isolation of the Slobodan Milosevic era. Leader of the Serbian Radical Party, Tomislav Nikolic, was voted in as parliamentary speaker with backing from caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica after a marathon 15-hour debate in parliament. The move deepens the political paralysis in Serbia where Nikolic's Radicals emerged as the biggest party in January's legislative elections and squabbling moderate parties have failed to form a coalition after weeks of wrangling. Nikolic's Radical party was an on-off ally of Milosevic's Socialist party of Serbia throughout the Balkan wars up until his arrest in 2001 and removal to the UN international warcrimes tribunal in the Hague where he died just over a year ago. The previous leader of the party, Vojislav Seselj, who was in the vanguard of Serbia's bloody role in the break-up of the former Yugoslavia is currently awaiting trial at The Hague on war crime charges. Under Serbia's constitution, parties have until May 14 to form a new government or else new elections must be called opening the way for the Radical party to increase its share of the vote.

US judge drops charges against anti-Castro militant http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_judge_drops_charges_against_anti_05082007.html
A US federal judge in El Paso, Texas freed anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles after dropping immigration charges against the ex-CIA contractor whom Cuba and Venezuela call a terrorist. Posada Carriles escaped prison in Venezuela after being convicted of masterminding the 1976 downing of a Cuban airliner, killing 73, and has since been accused of other activities against Fidel Castro and his government. The Cuban-born Venezuelan national was detained by US immigration officials in May 2005 for entering the United States illegally and lying about his immigration status.

US Blames Venezuela For European Drug Problem
http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=42125

The United States' anti-drug czar blamed Venezuela on Tuesday for an increase in shipments of cocaine into Europe and urged EU governments to apply diplomatic pressure on the Latin American country to combat the problem. John Walters, White House director for drug control policy, said Venezuela had become the main transit route for illegal drugs between neighbouring Colombia -- the world's top cocaine producer -- and the increasingly attractive European market. Walters' comments came against the background of persistently tetchy relations between Washington and Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chavez. Walters accused the Venezuelan administration of failing to sufficiently tackle the drugs issue and urged European Union politicians to "use their influence" to persuade Chavez to stop the illegal traffickers.

English rule of Northern Ireland ends
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/05/08/english_rule_of_northern_ireland_ends/

Direct rule of Northern Ireland by London ended Tuesday as Protestant and Catholic parties signed a power-sharing agreement in Belfast. British Prime Minister Tony Blair attended the ceremony where Protestant Democratic Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley, 80, was sworn in as first minister and Martin McGuinness, 56, of Sinn Fein became deputy first minister, the BBC reported. The British government suspended self-rule in October 2002 when allegations of intelligence gathering within the Stormont parliament came to light. In March, DUP leader Ian Paisley met with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and the two agreed to share power to end London rule.

Utility argues it protects Great Lakes
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2007/05/08/utility_argues_it_protects_great_lakes/

The owner of four older Chicago-area power plants argues that dumping hot water into local rivers keeps invasive species out of the Great Lakes. Midwest Generation says ending the hot-water discharge would also be prohibitively expensive, The Chicago Tribune reports. The Chicago and Des Plaines rivers were connected more than a century ago to allow barges to travel from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. For decades, the rivers were open sewers devoid of most life. Now, the rivers are becoming cleaner. But that raises the possibility that the Asian carp, which escaped from southern fish farms, could make its way into Lake Michigan. Environmentalists say the argument makes no sense, especially since carp prefer warm water. On the other hand, they say the discharges threaten other species of fish that have returned to the rivers.

Student loan chief leaving Education Dept.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/05/09/student_loan_chief_leaving_education_dept/
The department announced this week that Theresa Shaw has resigned as chief operating officer of the office of student aid, The New York Times reported. The announcement came two days before Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was scheduled to testify before a congressional committee. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been investigating ties between universities and companies that make student loans. In his testimony before the House Education Committee, he accused the Education Department of being "asleep at the switch."

Data Says 2.5 Million Less Watching TV
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8P0F6RG0&show_article=1

In TV's worst spring in recent memory, a startling number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months: More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show. Everyone has a theory to explain the plummeting ratings: early Daylight Savings Time, more reruns, bad shows, more shows being recorded or downloaded or streamed. Scariest of all for the networks, however, is the idea that many people are now making their own television schedules. The industry isn't fully equipped to keep track of them, and as a result the networks are scrambling to hold on to the nearly $8.8 billion they collected during last spring's ad-buying season. The viewer plunge couldn't have come at a worse time for the networks—next week they will showcase their fall schedules to advertisers in the annual "up front" presentations.

May 8, 2007

2007-05-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Concerns raised on China's global health disclosures
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/07/news/pigs.php
The international and Hong Kong authorities said Monday that they had received little information from mainland Chinese officials about a mysterious ailment killing pigs in southeastern China or about Chinese wheat gluten contaminated with plastic scrap, raising questions again about whether Beijing is willing to share data on global health issues. The Chinese government, and particularly the government of Guangdong Province, next to Hong Kong, suffered heavy criticism in 2003 after concealing the SARS virus for the first four months after it first emerged in Foshan, 150 kilometers, or 95 miles, northwest of Hong Kong. After SARS spread to Hong Kong and around the world, top Chinese officials promised to improve disclosure. But officials in Hong Kong as well as at the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization said Monday that they had received practically no information about the latest pig deaths and limited details about wheat gluten contamination. Because pigs can catch many of the same diseases as people, notably bird flu, the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization maintain global networks to track and investigate unexplained patterns of pig deaths. State-controlled media in China have carried a few reports on the wheat gluten problem but almost nothing on the pig deaths. Hong Kong media were full of lurid accounts Monday of pigs staggering around with blood pouring from their bodies in Gaoyao and neighboring Yunfu, both in Guangdong Province. Apple, a daily newspaper here, said that up to 80 percent of the pigs had died in the area, that peasants were engaged in panic selling of ailing animals at deep discounts and that pig carcasses were floating down the river. Medical experts said that the extent of the reported bleeding from the pigs, including bloody skin lesions, did not sound like common symptoms of bird flu, but added that the pig deaths needed to be investigated. Because pigs can be infected with many avian and human influenza viruses, the most popular scientific model for how avian influenza viruses cause pandemics in humans is that human and avian influenza viruses exchange genetic material when they infect a pig at the same time.

Venezuela criticizes DEA as 'new cartel'
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4782872.html
Venezuela on Monday said it will not allow U.S. agents to carry out counter-drug operations in the country, accusing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of being a "new cartel" that aids traffickers. Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said the South American nation suspended cooperation with the agency in 2005 after determining that "they were moving a large amount of drugs." President Hugo Chavez at the time also accused the DEA of spying. Washington has repeatedly accused Venezuela of not cooperating in counter-drug efforts and says cocaine shipments are increasingly passing through the country from neighboring Colombia. U.S. officials say about 10 DEA agents have remained in Venezuela working with law enforcement contacts even after the Chavez government suspended formal cooperation. Carreno was responding to comments by John Walters, the U.S. director of National Drug Control Policy, who told the Colombian magazine Semana in an interview published last week: "Chavez has refused to cooperate. It's a shame. Venezuela is gaining in importance for the drug traffickers." Carreno said Venezuela is making important strides in fighting drug trafficking.

Ecuador will not renew investment agreement with United States http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070507-1502-ecuador-us.html

Ecuador's new leftist president has decided not to renew a bilateral investment treaty with the United States, the country's foreign minister said Monday, just days before a senior U.S. official is due to visit. Maria Fernanda Espinosa said President Rafael Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, will not renew the agreement that expires this week, but is “totally open” to discussing “an alternative that mutually guarantees the investments of each country.” The announcement came less than a week before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is scheduled to visit the country. The treaty, signed in 1993, is meant to encourage and protect investments. Michael Greenwald, a U.S. embassy spokesman in Quito, said Ambassador Linda Jewell has not yet commented on Correa's decision. Last year, Occidental Petroleum Corp. cited the treaty when it sought $1 billion in damages over Ecuador's cancellation of the California-based company's oil-production contract. The arbitration claim before the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington has not been resolved. Espinosa said Sunday the treaty “has really caused many problems for our country” and “does not respect national interests,” although she did not elaborate. Some Ecuadorean executives worry that Correa's decision will cause the U.S. to deny Ecuador another extension of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, a package of trade benefits offered in exchange for cooperation in counter-drug activities. The act expired Dec. 31, but was extended for six months.

World Bank says Wolfowitz broke rules
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21691983-1702,00.html
A WORLD Bank panel has found that bank President Paul Wolfowitz's handling of a promotion and pay increase for his companion represented a conflict of interest and broke staff rules. According to board sources, the panel made no recommendation on how he should be reprimanded. The former US deputy defence minister, who has faced calls by staff to resign over the lucrative deal for his companion, Shaha Riza, a World Bank Middle East expert, has been given time to respond to the report, but senior bank officials repeated that he would not step down. One source close to the World Bank board said the panel found Mr Wolfowitz's actions amounted to conflict of interest, while another source said the panel found he broke governance rules. A meeting of the 24-nation World Bank board of shareholder governments, which will determine whether Mr Wolfowitz should be fired for his actions, is now scheduled for later in the week, possibly on Friday. According to board sources, there is "widespread feeling" among member countries that it is virtually impossible for Mr Wolfowitz to finish his term because of the damage to the bank's credibility and its ability to be effective.

Its official: Norway thinks Wal-Mart sucks
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/02/business/norway.php
Norway has amassed a fortune in excess of $300 billion over the past decade, thanks to a geyser of profits from its oil exports. Yet few countries are more ambivalent about their vast wealth than this modest, socially conscious Scandinavian society of fewer than five million people. So rather than managing this monstrous nest egg simply for the best returns, the reluctant billionaires of Norway are using the fund to advance an ambitious ethical code that they established in 2004 for their oil reserve, known as the Government Pension Fund. Among the first companies to run afoul of Norway's standards were makers of cluster bombs and nuclear weapons or related components - a list that includes Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Then last June, Norway added Wal-Mart Stores to its blacklist, alleging that the retailer was guilty of tolerating child-labor violations by its suppliers in the developing world and obstructing unions at home. The fund sold off more than $400 million worth of Wal-Mart shares. Norway is the world's No. 3 oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Protest Halts Major Chevron Oil Plant in Nigeria
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/41768/story.htm
Villagers with sticks and machetes staged a protest at a major Chevron oil production facility in Nigeria on Monday, forcing the company to shut it down as a precaution, security sources said. The protest at the gates of the Ebite flow station in the western Niger Delta, which is a primary feed point for the 160,000 barrel per day Escravos export terminal, was triggered by alleged delays in compensation for an oil spill. "There is a community protest. They are carrying sticks and machetes, but the place is full of government security forces who were drafted in over the weekend. The company has not lost control of the facility," a security source said. Another source said the plant had been shut down as a precaution and talks had started to resolve the dispute. Oil spills are one source of constant friction between oil companies and communities in the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands region which is home to all of Nigeria's crude. Companies blame spills on criminal gangs illegally tapping oil from their pipelines, while communities blame the companies and often demand substantial compensation. Unrest and militant attacks on oil facilities in other parts of the delta have already shut down a quarter of Nigerian oil production, helping lift world oil prices.

Annie Lennox's home destroyed in MySpace party http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=453293&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=

Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox might well be feeling, as in the words of her hit song, just like she's walking on broken glass today. The popstar, 52, has been hit with a hefty repair bill after her 16-year-old daughter became the latest victim of gatecrashers who get wind of a party on the internet. The mayhem happened after Annie's teenaged daughter Lola innocently let slip she was having a get-together at home while her film producer father Uri Fruchtmann was away. But the email which was meant to get to just 30 close school friends ended up frenziedly circulating to hundreds of others. It is understood that the information about the party spread on websites like MySpace. Their £2 million family home in north London was trashed when more than a hundred youngsters forced entry. Party-goers daubed graffiti on walls, broke pictures and lampshades, tore apart books, urinated and vomited on carpets, flooded the kitchen and had a pitch battle in the garden. It was not long before it was standing room only at the house and in its grounds and the party quickly got out of hand. Her singer mother, who divorced from her father Uri in 2000 after 12 years of marriage and also lives in north London, is not understood to have heard about the party at the former marital home until the damage had been done.

Embryonic stem cells can repair eyes, company says
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0735624120070507?feedType=RSS&rpc=22
Stem cells made from human embryos can home in on damaged eyes, hearts and arteries of mice and rats, and appear to start repairs, a U.S. company said on Monday. Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology said it had devised a straightforward way to make blood vessel precursor cells out of the stem cells and plans to test them in humans. Embryonic stem cells are the ultimate master cell of the body, giving rise to all of the tissues and organs. The use of human embryonic stem cells is controversial because many people oppose destroying the embryo. The U.S. Congress has passed several bills that would expand federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research but President George W. Bush vetoed one and has said he will veto any more. However, companies working with private funding, such as the over-the-counter listed ACT, may do as they please.

Red Cross steps up Iraq missions in face of "crisis"
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07358280.htm
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday it was stepping up its relief operations in Iraq in the face of what an official called "an ever-deepening humanitarian crisis." The Swiss-based ICRC said it was upping its Iraqi budget for this year by over 60 percent -- from some $47 million to $75.2 million -- and was appealing to international donors to come up with the extra $29 million as soon as possible. The additional funds would be partly used to help the most vulnerable among the growing numbers of internally displaced people -- now estimated at totalling 850,000 across the country -- and the poorest in communities sheltering them

Despite warnings, most U.S. babies watch TV, DVDs http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07340982.htm
About 90 percent of U.S. children under age 2 and as many as 40 percent of infants under three months are regular watchers of television, DVDs and videos, researchers said on Monday. They said the number of young kids watching TV is much greater than expected. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that children in the United States watch about four hours of television every day. They recommend that children under age 2 should not watch any and older children should watch no more than 2 hours a day of quality programming. A second study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that teens who watch three to four hours of television a day are more likely to have attention or learning problems and are less likely to get a college degree. Just 12 percent of the parents whose children watched less than an hour of television a day said their child "hardly ever does homework," compared to 21 percent of those who watched one to three hours a day and 27 percent of those who watched more than three hours a day. Parents said 22 percent of teens who watched less than an hour a day were often bored at school, compared to 35 percent of the moderate watchers and 42 percent of those who watched three hours or more. The result was the same regardless of socioeconomic status.

Popcorn can kill you http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2007/05/07/lung_disease_linked_to_flavoring_chemical/
The Washington Post is reporting that since 2001, academic studies have linked bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and life-threatening form of fixed obstructive lung disease, with an artificial butter flavoring called diacetyl,. Diacetyl is often used in microwave popcorn flavoring plants. Flavoring manufacturers have paid out more than $100 million in lawsuits during the past five years. One death from popcorn workers lung has been confirmed. Politicians and health care workers are pushing for a ban on diacetyl. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has been criticized for being slow in acting on the issue. Because of this, California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber has introduced a bill to ban the use of diacetyl. The Post reported that most people infected with popcorn workers lung are young Latinos with no history of smoking.

Bee disorder hasn't impacted Kansas http://www.kansas.com/113/story/63825.html
Kansas has so far been spared from the mysterious problem that is killing honeybees across the nation, according to a report from Kansas State University entomologist Sharon Dobesh. Dobesh said that the state has probably been spared because most of the states hives are owned by individuals who keep bees as a hobby. Most of the populations that have been killed by the problem, which has been called "colony collapse disorder" have been commercial migratory hives, which are trucked from state to state to pollinate orchards and fields. Kansas has fewer than a dozen beekeepers who would quality as commercial operators. Dobesh said there is no known cause for colony collapse disorder, which causes bees to die or abandon their hives. Speculation has included new diseases, pesticides or parasites. Bees are vital to the pollination of about 30 percent of the crops grown nationwide. Domestic hives have become extremely important in recent years because many of the country's wild bees have been killed by infestation with the varroa mite.

May 6, 2007

2007-05-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

On Iraq, Gates may not be following Bush's playbook http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gates6may06,0,2140065.story?coll=la-home-headlines

During a recent trip to the Middle East, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Iraqi government that time was running out and praised Democratic efforts in the U.S. Congress to set a timetable for withdrawal, saying it would help prod the Iraqis. He reiterated that point during a meeting with reporters last week. A spokesman for Gates insisted there was no distance between the Defense secretary's thinking on the timetable for Iraq and views held by the White House or Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq. But his warnings to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki are just the latest indications from Gates that he believes the window of opportunity for the administration to get Iraq right is closing sooner rather than later. Any determination by Gates that time is running out on the current plan could severely complicate the administration's strategy this summer, a prospect that has begun to worry some backers of the troop "surge." Gates' sharpest public difference with supporters of Bush's strategy has been over the question of how long the buildup should last before undergoing a thorough assessment. Gates insisted for much of the year that the current Baghdad security plan be evaluated this summer — just two months after all five of the "surge" brigades are in place. And Gates occasionally scolded senior officers who have suggested otherwise. When Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, suggested in recent weeks that a progress report may have to wait until the fall, Gates responded harshly. "I was a little disturbed, frankly, to hear that one of our military officers — and I don't know who it was — saying it will be fall before we have some good idea," Gates told a congressional hearing, unprompted by any question about timing.

Voting brisk as the French decide
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6629077.stm

France is reporting record turnout as voters choose between socialist Segolene Royal and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy for their next president. In a hotly contested poll, nearly 75% of voters had cast their ballots by late afternoon - the highest turnout at that point in more than 30 years. The two rivals are bidding to succeed Jacques Chirac after 12 years. Ms Royal has suggested a Sarkozy win might spark riots. Mr Sarkozy accused her of verbal violence. Polls opened at 0800 (0600 GMT) for mainland France's 43.5 million voters and are due to close at 2000 (1800 GMT).

Russian partnership with the West in peril http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Russian_partnership_with_the_West_i_05052007.html

In an effort to ease bilateral strains, Moscow and Washington have reached an unusual agreement to have their foreign and defence ministers meet, particularly to address Russian concerns about the missile shield. Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, a favourite to replace President Vladimir Putin next year, said Thursday that Moscow would no longer inform partners when it moves troops across its territory. The announcement, the application of a freeze Putin made on the Soviet-era Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, was the first concrete move in what are tense and possibly changing times. In this atmosphere of confrontation, some at NATO fear that Kosovo, where the alliance has some 16,000 troops and whose ethnic Albanian majority is impatient for independence, could ultimately pay the price.

Communist symbol returns to Russian Army's flag
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915193.htm

Russia's Parliament has voted to restore the communist-era hammer and sickle to the official flag of the Russian Army. It is expect President Vladimir Putin will ratify the move in time for next week's commemorations marking the end of World War II in Europe. If so, Russians will again have the Soviet version of the victory banner for next week's Victory in Europe parade in Moscow. For many Russians, especially the elderly, its symbolism is immense. The red banner, together with the hammer, sickle and a white star, was the one raised on the Reichstag roof on May 1, 1945. Millions of people all over the world know that photograph, but in Russia its significance is much deeper, with the Soviet victory over fascism in World War II remaining something seen in almost religious terms.

Asian finance ministers agree on currency pact overhaul
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Asian_finance_ministers_agree_on_cu_05052007.html

Asian finance ministers agreed Saturday to pool part of their huge foreign exchange reserves to shield themselves against a repeat of the financial crisis that rocked the region a decade ago. Finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan and South Korea also voiced optimism about prospects for their economies while noting such risks as slowing global growth. A decade after the regional financial crisis, ministers are now concerned about a tide of capital flowing into the smaller economies, whose exporters are struggling with stronger currencies that damage their competitiveness. While in 1997 many countries in the region were running current account deficits, several now have large surpluses and swelling foreign exchange reserves because of their export-driven expansions. In an effort to bolster their defences, ministers agreed in principle on a system of pooled foreign currency reserves to replace the existing bilateral emergency currency swap system.
In the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 10 ASEAN nations plus Japan, China and South Korea agreed to set up a bilateral currency swap scheme known as the Chiang Mai Initiative in a bid to prevent a repeat of the turmoil. Although the full details have yet to be thrashed out, the idea of the overhaul is to enable a country to borrow foreign currency from another more quickly to shore up its international reserves until a crisis passes. Asia now holds the bulk of the world's foreign reserves at some 2.7 trillion dollars, led by China, which alone has more than one trillion dollars. Economists warn that the reserves are far in excess of what is needed to ensure stability, leaving the risk of asset bubbles. Last year, the 10 ASEAN nations along with China, Japan and South Korea agreed to study the creation of a single Asian currency akin to the euro, but ministers said the issue was not even discussed this time around. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

FBI probing Posada's alleged links to Havana bombing
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/FBI_probing_Posada_s_alleged_links__05032007.html

The Miami Herald said FBI agents recently traveled to Cuba gather evidence on the attack, one of several Cuba claims was masterminded by Posada Carriles, including the deadly 1976 downing of a Cuban jetliner. The paper said the Havana hotel bombing is the focus of a federal grand jury probe in Newark, New Jersey. A Cuban-born Venezuelan national staunchly opposed to President Fidel Castro's government, Posada Carriles, 79, is currently under home detention in Miami awaiting trial later this month in Texas on immigration charges. Cuba claims Posada Carriles planned the 1997 bombing at Havana's Copacabana hotel that killed Italian tourist Fabio di Celmo, whose family is now seeking his prosecution for the crime. Posada Carriles was jailed in Venezuela in 1976 for allegedly masterminding the downing of the Cuban jet off Barbados, which killed 73 people. He escaped from prison in 1985, was sentenced to eight years in jail in Panama in a 2000 bomb plot to assassinate Castro, and was pardoned four years later. Declassified US documents show that Posada Carriles worked for the CIA from 1965 to June 1976. He also reportedly helped the US government ferry supplies to the Contra rebels who waged a bloody campaign to topple the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

Power Station Under Threat from Dog-Sized Concrete-Eating Rats
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=62185

A hydroelectric power station on the River Pica which supplies power to Montenegro is under threat from an army of rats reputed to be the size of small dogs. Authorities are attempting to come up with a plan to combat the invasion. Local workers are terrified of the animals. "There are thousands of them and they have eaten through all the cables inside the dam walls and are burrowing lots of holes inside it. We are afraid the dam might collapse..." one said. None of the workers will go in the station as it is at the moment. "It's like something out of a James Herbert book, they are even eating through concrete," a spokesperson said.

UFOs Spotted over UK, France on Same Day
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=79914

A commercial airline pilot has reported seeing two unidentified flying objects in the sky near Guernsey Island, England, on April 23, BBC informed. The pilot, Captain Ray Bowyer, reported seeing bright yellow flat disc shapes twice the size of a Boeing 737 some 15 miles north east of the island. "This is not something you see every day of the week - it was pretty scary," the shocked pilot said for BBC. At first he thought it was the sun reflecting from greenhouses in Guernsey. He said the objects were bright like the sun, but did not hurt his eyes when he looked at them. The stationary objects were also observed by other aircraft and the passengers on the plane. The same phenomenon was witnessed on the same day in southern France. Videos by people who saw it were published immediately on-line in several free-to-watch sites.

Grateful Dead memorabilia on auction in band's US birthplace http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Grateful_Dead_memorabilia_on_auctio_05052007.html

Guitars played by The Grateful Dead's legendary front man and gold records from the psychedelic-era band will be up for auction to the group's famously cultish followers beginning Tuesday. Rudson Shurtliff, an heir of a longtime Grateful Dead road manager Lawrence "Ram Rod" Shurtliff, hauled the band mementos to Bonhams Butterfields in San Francisco for an auction expected to attract bidders worldwide. One of the guitars even has a broken string from the last time that lead singer Jerry Garcia, whose death in 1995 caused the band to dissolve, plugged it in and played. Big ticket items include some of the band's "Wall of Sound" gold records and Garcia-played guitars, including one dubbed "The Eagle" and a circa 1975 electric guitar expected to fetch more than 250,000 dollars. Other items include two never-before-seen Garcia-drawn ink on paper drawings, tie-dyed sound speaker boxes, photographs, a concert rubber mat with dirt on it and an unopened box of Camel non-filter cigarettes.

May 4, 2007

2007-05-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

Defusing Buffalo Power Play Boosts Rangers http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/sports/hockey/04nhl.html?pagewanted=print

By LYNN ZINSER

A big reason for the Rangers’ success against Buffalo has been their ability to frustrate the Sabres’ power play. In the series, which is tied 2-2, Buffalo has converted only 3 of 25 chances, including 1 of 13 in two losses at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers, who have had power-play woes at times this season, are 5 of 19 in the series. Both of their goals in a 2-1 victory in Game 4 were on the power play.

(In a series that has gone approximately 277 minutes, Buffalo has clearly dominated at best 35 of those minutes. During that time they went ahead 3-0 in the second period of game 1; and they erased a 1-2 deficit in period 3 to prevail 3-2 in game 2. Overall Buffalo has scored 10 goals, including an empty-netter. So, in approximately 240 minutes, the Rangers have outscored Buffalo, while giving up 5 goals. In other words, the Rangers are dominating, including giving up 6 shots in the first forty minutes of the away game 2.)

Thanks to all who sent items recently. news@piratecatradio.com

Egypt plays host as great Satan eyes up axis of evil

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2071328,00.html

Close to 60 different flags are flying in the hot sunshine of Sharm el-Sheikh as an international conference on Iraqi stabilisation and security gets under way today. Iraq's neighbours are here in force and being urged to do more to help as the US and Britain hone their exit strategies. But no one is betting that it will have much immediate effect on the mayhem in Iraq. Nouri al-Maliki, the Shia prime minister of Iraq, is leading his country's delegation to the two days of talks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort and is hoping that a combination of multilateral support and greater regional goodwill can help provide some light at the end of a very dark tunnel. The background to all this is the grandly named International Compact for Iraq, an initiative co-chaired by the UN, the World Bank and Iraq itself. It aims to build a framework for security, good governance and regional economic integration with the ambitious goal of a stable and prosperous Iraq within five years. The broader purpose of the conference is to talk about what is at stake, for Iraq and the region, on the clear if unspoken assumption that the Americans and British are on their way out and that the neighbours need to more to help clear up the mess. The big hope is that Syria and Iran can be persuaded to play a more constructive role and end their support for the Sunni insurgency and Shia militias respectively. But the pre-conference messages from Damascus and Tehran - attacking US policy and repeating calls for an immediate withdrawal - are hardly encouraging. The big event at Sharm al-Sheikh is expected to come tomorrow. Nothing has yet been finalised, but that is the likely moment for talks between Dr Rice and her Iranian counterpart, Manuchehr Mottaki, the highest-level encounter between Washington and Tehran for close to 30 years. That will be billed as "the axis of evil meets the great Satan," though the symbolism - like that of the entire conference - could turn out to be greater than any substance

'Herald Tribune' defends Iran nuke ad http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1178198606220&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The International Herald Tribune newspaper has defended its acceptance of an advertisement seeking bids for two large scale nuclear reactors in Iran. The ad appeared on April 20. Inviting bidders to help in the construction of two pressurized light water reactors in the Bushehr province, the ad also ran in the Financial Times on April 25. Iran announced on April 15 that it is seeking bids for two additional reactors to be located near Bushehr for producing electricity. The announcement came as Iran and Russia remained at loggerheads over funding for the first plant in the same region. An IHT spokesman, asked whether accepting such an ad was appropriate, wrote: "We believe that advertising should be as free and open as the dictates of honesty and decency allow. In our view, advertising is an essential ingredient in the broad concept of a free press."

Chavez braced for assassination attempt http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={0CD1618F-7071-418F-A46C-9BAC7530BC3C})&language=EN

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez slammed an assassination plan against him with the participation of Cuban-born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. Addressing an act on May 1 for recovering control in the Orinoco Oil Belt, Chavez stated that the recent release of Posada Carriles, termed as the "biggest terrorist of Latin America," is linked to assassination plans. The Venezuelan leader accused the US government of protecting the criminal, responsible for the mid-air explosion of a Cuban airplane in 1976 that cost the life of 73 people, and impeding his extradition to trial in this country. Chavez has mobilized all security and intelligence bodies to neutralize any attempt of aggression against Venezuela, including assassination.

UN: Bolivia Embodies Social Change http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={A817FCEE-7703-4DE0-B383-405534727DFC}&language=EN

Special UN rapporteur on the Right to Food Jean Ziegler stated on Friday that Bolivia is an example of country where social transformations favors equally everyone. After almost a week in La Paz to analyze advances in this aspect, the expert told Prensa Latina that health and education programs, supported by Cuba, are an example of the change President Evo Morales leads. Free medical services, a Zero Malnutrition program and the national campaign to teach 1.2 million people to read and write work toward the UN Millennium Goals, from which other governments are still far away, said the rapporteur. According to the official, the international community must learn from democracy in Bolivia, including the nationalization of hydrocarbons, "an exemplary decision." He explained the mission he leads examines national policies and programs established by the Bolivian government to facilitate availability and access to food and water. The top commissioner also supports Bolivia's wish to enter the Permanent Human Rights Council in Geneva, in recognition of its work in that matter.

LA Mayor Cuts Short Mexican Tour http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-ex-lapd4may04,1,185289,print.story

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who cut short his trip to Central America and Mexico in the wake of the May Day clash between Los Angeles police and protesters, is scheduled to speak this afternoon about the matter, into which the FBI has opened an inquiry. The mayor, speaking to reporters Thursday in Mexico City on a stop during a trade mission, said he would welcome the FBI's investigation into the violence at the end of mostly peaceful immigrant rights marches and rallies. The mayor, who was seeking to stimulate trade and encourage international cooperation in fighting street gangs, announced late Thursday night that he was flying back to Los Angeles today, and his office had scheduled a 3 p.m. news conference. New questions about how commanders handled Tuesday's incident at MacArthur Park have been raised after sources said that the Los Angeles Police Department removed dozens of elite officers from immigration protest duty in the hours before a violent clash with marchers and reporters that left 10 people injured. Police Chief William J. Bratton escalated his criticism of the officers' tactics and said the department's three investigations would focus on the actions not only of line officers but also of the top brass who gave the orders. Bratton and other LAPD officials declined to discuss the deployment plan or other specific details of the investigation. But the disclosure of the shift provides more details of how commanders managed the protest and suggests that police might have been caught off guard by its scope. Three platoons of the highly trained Metro Division, which were originally set to be at MacArthur Park for the end of the immigration march and rally, instead were sent home or to other assignments, including one in South Los Angeles, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it involves ongoing investigations. (The size of a platoon varies, but sources estimated that the total number of officers moved were 50 to 80.) The redeployments occurred shortly before a group of agitators began throwing bottles and other debris at the remaining officers. As crowds grew and tensions rose, officers came under attack, sources said, and commanders scrambled to get some of the departed officers back. Some arrived just as the confrontation began. The sources said it was not clear why commanders ordered the platoons to depart. Bob Baker, president of the L.A. Police Protective League, said his organization had heard from its members about the redeployment and said some officers thought not enough officers were at the scene. "Why would you take away assets when you know what happened at that location a year before?" Baker said, referring to similar disturbances that occurred at the end of the 2006 May Day rally at the park. Even with the reduced staffing, several hundred LAPD officers -- including many not in the Metro unit -- were in the vicinity when commanders decided to clear the area. It is not clear whether extra officers might have changed the outcome.

LAPD officers fired at least 240 rounds of foam, sponge or fiber projectiles as they swept through the park about 6:15 p.m. The move came after police had clashed with a small group of protesters near the intersection of 7th and Alvarado streets. Sources have said that neither the top commander nor captain was on the skirmish line as officers confronted the crowd. Bratton also said the LAPD's order to scatter, which was made from a police helicopter, in English, was inadequate. On Thursday, Chief Bratton offered a more detailed and pointed critique of the police actions, particularly those involving Telemundo anchor Pedro Sevcec, who was broadcasting from under a canopy. He was pushed to the ground while on live television as police shoved through.He also said he was troubled by reports that police used force on women and children who had gone to the park to play. "The idea that officers would be firing -- some of these devices send out five or six projectiles with one shot -- that is a concern," Bratton said. Andre Birotte, the LAPD's inspector general, said part of his investigation would focus on whether there were adequate resources and training for the officers involved. "Were there sufficient planning and resources detailed and dedicated to this event, and was LAPD's response appropriate to the actions of the crowd?" Birotte said. "If they thought they were undermanned, it could play a role in why they used the force they used. We are going to look at that issue." The FBI said in a statement that its "preliminary inquiry" will examine "whether the civil rights of protesters taking part in the May 1st immigration rally were violated." The FBI has opened similar probes after other recent high-profile LAPD incidents, including the fatal shooting in 2005 of a 13-year-old. Mexico's consul general in Los Angeles, Ruben Beltran, said in Mexico City that he trusted Bratton to deal with the issue in an honest and candid way. Beltran, who witnessed the melee in the park, said Chief Bratton called him Wednesday in Mexico to say that the Police Department would reach out to the immigrant community and take its investigation seriously.

House GOP hits shift of spy funds to study climate

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070504-123740-8370r.htm

The House next week will consider the Democrat-crafted Intelligence Authorization bill, which includes a provision directing an assessment of the effects that climate change has on national security. Democrats, who outnumber Republicans on the committee, blocked the minority from stripping the warming language from the bill. Intelligence panel Chairman Silvestre Reyes, Texas Democrat, said the climate-change study is one of several shifts his party has made to intelligence policy. Few details about its method were available. "There are other parts of the government better suited to doing this type of study," said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican. "Our government should not commit expensive spy satellites and human intelligence sources to target something as undefined as the environment." Several Republicans trotted out the statistic that the government already spends $6.5 billion annually on global-warming related issues through several agencies, including NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. "It's hard to imagine how anyone could believe that climate change represents a more clear and present danger to the United States than radical Islamic terrorists armed with bombs, but that's essentially what Democrats have concluded in this bill," said Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. The House is expected to vote Wednesday or Thursday on the overall authorization measure, which identifies how intelligence appropriations can be spent in 2008. It is not clear whether Democrats will allow Republicans to offer amendments to the bill.

Russia to help Slovakia upgrade nuke capacity http://www.bbj.hu/news/news_25984.html

Slovakia has two power plants with six units, including four designed by Soviet experts. Two units generate power at the Bohunice plant in the west of the country. Another two units operate at the Mochovce plant in the south, and the third and fourth units of the plant are to be commissioned by 2012. During his Russian visit last November, Slovakia's Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek said his country was ready to set up a consortium with Russia to complete the third and fourth units. "But that plant does not belong to Slovakia, as 66% is controlled by an Italian company, and the decision will be up to it," the minister said in a reference to Italy's utility Enel, which acquired 66% in the Mochovce power plant almost a year ago. Russia and Slovakia agree that energy is the area of the most intensive bilateral cooperation, which, apart from nuclear power, includes gas and oil. Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, which covers 100% of Slovakia's gas imports. Slovakia, which enjoys discounted gas price rates as a transit nation for Russian natural gas, fears that possible gas price hikes could complicate the government's efforts to maintain low inflation, which is the major condition for entering the euro zone in 2009. Slovakia is the second transit nation for Russian energy exports to Europe after Ukraine, pumping Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. European consumers have expressed serious concerns about the reliability of Russian energy exports after Moscow's pricing spats with Belarus, another transit country, early this year and with Ukraine last year. The tensions led to shortfalls in Europe.

Stunning' Nepal Buddha art find http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6624117.stm

Paintings of Buddha dating back at least to the 12th century have been discovered in a cave in a remote area of Nepal's north-central region. The find was in the Mustang area, 250km (160 miles) northwest of Kathmandu. It was set in sheer 14,000ft (4,300m) cliffs in Nepal's remote Himalayan north. The team of international researchers - including film makers, climbers and archaeologists - from Nepal, Italy and the US were told of the works of art by a sheep herder. In passing conversation he said that he had seen a cave with old paintings in it several years ago as he took shelter from the rain. It turned out to be a treasure trove of Buddhist art. Besides the main mural, other paintings were discovered which the team believes are marginally older. A nearby cave had manuscripts written in the Tibetan language, which were photographed by the team to be translated later by experts, along with pre-Christian era pottery shards. The team has refused to divulge the exact location of the caves to prevent the possibility of visitors disturbing the centuries-old art.

Dog Destroys Elvis' Teddy Bear at Museum

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/08/02/international/i112102D73.DT

A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum. "He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney. Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff. The collection, valued at more than $900,000, included a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936. The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis, Tenn., and had loaned it to the museum. "I've spoken to the bear's owner and he is not very pleased at all," Medley said. A security guard at the museum, Greg West, said he spent several minutes chasing Barney before wrestling the dog to the ground. (submit by BBB)

AGGRESSIVE ELEPHANT SEAL MENACES SONOMA BEACHES

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/24/MNGJGPE9Q51.DTL&hw=aggressive+seal&sn=001&sc=1000

A rogue elephant seal nicknamed Nibbles has run rampant near the mouth of the Russian River in recent weeks, killing a dozen harbor seals, biting a surfer and jumping out of the water to attack a pit bull terrier on Easter. One witness said the 2,500-pound male, who often lunges at his victims, is the most aggressive elephant seal he's ever seen. "This bull does straight-out murder," said Keary Sorenson of Sebastopol, a former surfer who volunteers for government and nonprofit agencies in Sonoma County. "A week ago, I saw him chase down a female harbor seal, use chest blows to crush her, then bare his upper canine teeth and drive them down onto her head and back." Warning signs have gone up on beaches near Jenner, and officials cautioned the public Monday not to swim or wade in the estuary waters around Goat Rock Beach or approach the big seal should they see him basking in the sun. Kayakers also have grown wary, scouting the estuary from overlooking bluffs before going for a paddle. Kathie Lowrey, who lives nearby and was outside washing her car before going to church, saw the dog emerge from the water, drop the stick and begin to shake off droplets of water. "I saw the elephant seal come out of the water like a torpedo, angle down on the dog and land on him," said Lowrey. "Somehow the dog wriggled out and turned and squared off with the seal." Erinn Flaherty, the dog's owner, said Garcia told her Sativa barked defiantly at the seal while Garcia hurled the stick at him. Garcia then escaped with the dog, which suffered a puncture wound the diameter of a quarter in one thigh. soon after the bull first appeared, he tried unsuccessfully to mate with the (much smaller) female harbor seals. Then, last year, after trying again to mate, he turned violent and began to kill. This year, he is staying around well past his usual departure date at the end of March, and now has started to consume his kills. (submit by DJ Mom)

May 3, 2007

2007-05-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

Alcohol makes you dumber
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/alcohol-may-shrink-brain-scans-show/2007/05/02/1177788225202.html

Using magnetic resonance imaging scans, the study found that people who had more than 14 drinks a week had an average 1.6 per cent reduction in the ratio of brain volume to skull size compared with non-drinkers. Study author Carol Ann Paul, of Wellesley College in the US, said the effect was slightly larger in women than men, and drinking large amounts of alcohol seemed to have the greatest impact on brain volume among women aged in their 70s. Several years ago, US researchers found moderate drinkers had smaller brains than those who abstained, while a separate study of 79 alcoholics showed females were losing almost twice as much grey matter as men. In the 1990s, Professor Clive Harper, of the University of Sydney, examined the brains of dead people and found that even moderate or social drinking could reduce brain size. Emeritus professor Jim McLeod, consulting neurologist at the University of Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, said the latest study provided another layer of information. He said other studies had shown some of the pathological changes were reversible if people stopped drinking.

neckties are a health hazard http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4044585a4560.html

Malaysian doctors have declared neckties a health hazard and called on the heath ministry to stop insisting that physicians wear them. Citing studies that show ties are unhygienic and can spread infection, the Malaysian Medical Association says they are not often washed and carry germs that can cause pneumonia and blood infections, the Star newspaper said on Tuesday. "And when doctors are doing their clinical rounds, they dangle all over the place," the paper quoted association president Dr Teoh Siang Chin as saying. But the Star quoted a ministry official as saying it needed more proof that neckties were a danger before it relaxed the dress code for doctors in hospitals.

Bee swarm blocks traffic signal http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200705030080.html

Honeybees swarmed a traffic signal at the Shijo-Karasuma zebra crossing in Kyoto's Shimogyo Ward on Wednesday. Police received complaints that the green light was hard to see due to the swarm. The crossing was blocked from around 11 a.m. and a contractor hired by the city health center finally removed the bees with a vacuum cleaner. Nobody was stung, police said.

Urban striders shift into fast lane
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/urban-striders-shift-into-fast-lane/2007/05/02/1177788225111.html

Psychologists have measured the speed at which people walk and discovered a 10 per cent increase in the past decade. The findings, from 32 countries, reflect the increasing numbers of people living in the fast lane. The original research showed that people in fast-moving cities were less likely to help others, and had more heart disease than those in slower places.

Ass Candy
http://www.dlisted.com/node/9440

May 2, 2007

2007-05-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

2,176 Secret Warrants Issued in 2006

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8ORR5TG0&show_article=1

In all, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court signed off on 2,176 warrants targeting people in the United States believed to be linked to international terror organizations or spies. The record number is more than twice as many as were issued in 2000, the last full year before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. One application was denied in part, and 73 required changes before being approved. The disclosure was mandated as part of the renewal of the Patriot Act, the administration's sweeping anti-terror law. It was released as a Senate intelligence panel examined changes to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that could let the government more easily monitor homegrown terrorists. But in its three-page public report, sent to Senate and House leaders, the Justice Department said it could not yet provide data on how many times the FBI secretly sought telephone, Internet and banking records about U.S. citizens and residents without court approval. The department is still compiling those numbers amid an internal investigation of the FBI's improper—and in some cases illegal—use of so-called national security letters. The letters are administrative subpoenas that do not require a judge's approval. A March audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine concluded that some FBI agents had demanded personal data without official authorization, and improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances. It also found that the FBI for three years underreported to Congress how often it used national security letters to ask businesses to turn over customer data. Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling said the FBI would give Congress updated numbers for 2007, and corrected data for last year, when it finishes "taking steps to correct the identified deficiencies in its tracking of NSLs." In 2005, the FBI reported issuing national security letters on 3,501 citizens and legal residents.

Bush, lawmakers to discuss Iraq

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-05-02-voa38.cfm

President Bush vetoed a spending measure that would force him to start withdrawing troops by October, because he says leaving now would bring short-term satisfaction at the cost of long-term disaster. In a speech to a convention of general contractors, the president again sought to link the war in Iraq with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He said his new strategy for success in Iraq is beginning to show significant progress in reducing sectarian violence. The president meets with congressional leaders later Wednesday to discuss a possible compromise. White House Spokesman Tony Snow says if Democrats come with another timetable for troop withdrawal, they will get another veto. Because the measure passed the House and Senate by close votes, it is highly unlikely Democrats can find the two-thirds majority needed to override the presidential veto. Party leaders say they will not back down.

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death

http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/05/army_bloggers

The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say. Army Regulation 530--1: Operations Security (OPSEC) (.pdf) restricts more than just blogs, however. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to "consult with their immediate supervisor" before posting a document "that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum." The new version, in contrast, requires "an OPSEC review prior to publishing" anything -- from "web log (blog) postings" to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home. Failure to do so, the document adds, could result in a court-martial, or "administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action." Despite the absolutist language, the guidelines' author, Major Ray Ceralde, said there is some leeway in enforcement of the rules. "It is not practical to check all communication, especially private communication," he noted in an e-mail. "Some units may require that soldiers register their blog with the unit for identification purposes with occasional spot checks after an initial review. Other units may require a review before every posting."

Pentagon to Merge Next-Gen Binoculars With Soldiers' Brains http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/05/binoculars

In a new effort dubbed "Luke's Binoculars" -- after the high-tech binoculars Luke Skywalker uses in Star Wars -- the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is setting out to create its own version of this science-fiction hardware. And while the Pentagon's R&D arm often focuses on technologies 20 years out, this new effort is dramatically different -- Darpa says it expects to have prototypes in the hands of soldiers in three years. The agency claims no scientific breakthrough is needed on the project -- formally called the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System. Instead, Darpa hopes to integrate technologies that have been simmering in laboratories for years, ranging from flat-field, wide-angle optics, to the use of advanced electroencephalograms, or EEGs, to rapidly recognize brainwave signatures. In March, Darpa held a meeting in Arlington, Virginia, for scientists and defense contractors who might participate in the project. According to the presentations from the meeting, the agency wants the binoculars to have a range of 1,000 to 10,000 meters, compared to the current generation, which can see out only 300 to 1,000 meters. Darpa also wants the binoculars to provide a 120-degree field of view and be able to spot moving vehicles as far as 10 kilometers away. The most far-reaching component of the binocs has nothing to do with the optics: it's Darpa's aspirations to integrate EEG electrodes that monitor the wearer's neural signals, cueing soldiers to recognize targets faster than the unaided brain could on its own. The idea is that EEG can spot "neural signatures" for target detection before the conscious mind becomes aware of a potential threat or target. Darpa's ambitions are grounded in solid research, says Dennis McBride, president of the Potomac Institute and an expert in the field. "This is all about target recognition and pattern recognition," says McBride, who previously worked for the Navy as an experimental psychologist and has consulted for Darpa. "It turns out that humans in particular have evolved over these many millions of years with a prominent prefrontal cortex." That prefrontal cortex, he explains, allows the brain to pick up patterns quickly, but it also exercises a powerful impulse control, inhibiting false alarms. EEG would essentially allow the binoculars to bypass this inhibitory reaction and signal the wearer to a potential threat. In other words, like Spiderman's "spider sense," a soldier could be alerted to danger that his or her brain had sensed, but not yet had time to process.

EU steps into Estonian embassy row

http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/3ND_Russian_defiant_as_EU_steps_int_05022007.html

The Russian Foreign Ministry sounded a defiant note on Wednesday as it responded to criticism of its handling of a row with Estonia by laying the blame at Tallinn's door. Only hours before, the European Commission had stepped into the row with a statement expressing its "deep concern regarding the increasing violence of demonstrations around the Estonian embassy in Moscow" and demanding that EU missions be "protected adequately." The comments came shortly after demonstrators broke into a Moscow press conference at which Estonia's Ambassador to Russia Marina Kaljurand was scheduled to talk about the ongoing siege of the Estonian embassy building by pro-Kremlin youth groups. The intruders attempted to physically attack the ambassador, but were kept back by security guards using gas. Other demonstrators outside the building attacked her car, snapping the Estonian flag off its bonnet, ministry spokeswoman Ehtel Halliste said. And almost simultaneously, demonstrators at the embassy itself attacked the car carrying Sweden's Ambassador Johan Molander as he was leaving the area. They snapped the car's state flag and damaged a window, but the passengers were not hurt, Swedish sources said. Meanwhile on Wednesday, Russian Railways reported it had "changed the schedule for oil deliveries to Estonia," citing track repair work. It was unclear what exactly that change would mean, as Russia is by far the biggest source of oil and gas for Estonia and Europe. Last Thursday the Estonian government ordered that a Red Army monument in central Tallinn be relocated to a nearby war cemetery. The move sparked protests, which rapidly spilled over into the worst rioting Estonia has seen since the Russian Revolution. Estonians see the monument as a symbol of their country's illegal occupation by the Soviet Union, but most ethnic Russians see it as a tribute to Russians' sacrifice in the victory over Nazism.

Feinstein's $Bn conflict of interest

http://thehill.com/david-keene/feinsteins-cardinal-shenanigans-2007-04-30.html

From 2001 to late 2005, she was the top Democrat on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (or "Milcon") sub-committee. During this period, URS of San Francisco and the Perini Corporation of Framingham, Mass., were controlled by Feinstein's husband, Richard C. Blum, and were awarded a combined total of over $1.5 billion in government business thanks in large measure to her subcommittee. Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, or CREW, told a California reporter earlier this month that while "there are a number of members of Congress with conflicts of interest … because of the amount of money involved, Feinstein's conflict of interest is an order of magnitude greater than those conflicts." And the director of the Project on Government Oversight who examined the evidence of wrongdoing assembled by California writer Peter Byrne told him that "the paper trail showing Senator Feinstein's conflict of interest is irrefutable." It may be irrefutable, but she almost got away without anyone even knowing what she was up to. Her colleagues on the subcommittee, for example, had no reason even to suspect that she knew what companies might benefit from her decisions because that information is routinely withheld to avoid favoritism. What they didn't know was that her chief legal adviser, who also happened to be a business partner of her husband's and the vice chairman of one of the companies involved, was secretly forwarding her lists of projects and appropriation requests that were coming before the committee and in which she and her husband had an interest — information that has only come to light recently as a result of the efforts of several California investigative reporters.

Iran president goes all Richard Gere on his old teacher

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1912815.htm

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been accused of indecency after he publicly embraced and kissed on the hand an elderly woman who used to be his schoolteacher. At a ceremony on Tuesday ahead of Iranian teachers' day, Mr Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed by state media stooping to kiss the woman's hand and then clasping her arms in an embrace. The ultra-conservative Hezbollah newspaper, which is not related to the group in Lebanon of the same name, criticised him on the front page. The elderly woman, who was not named, wore thick gloves along with a headscarf and long black coat, meaning that Mr Ahmadinejad avoided any skin contact. But his action raised eyebrows because according to sharia law, it is forbidden for a man to have any physical contact with a woman to whom he is not related. While Mr Ahmadinejad is considered an ultra-conservative in the West, this is not the first time he and his Government have been attacked by hardline elements even further along the spectrum. He courted controversy when he unsuccessfully proposed women be allowed to attend football matches, and one of his vice presidents came under huge pressure last year after allegedly watching a woman dance at a ceremony in Turkey. But other hardline publications published the images of the latest incident without further comment. "A kiss on the hand for the teacher," was the headline in the government daily Iran. Mr Ahmadinejad's action appeared to be a public gesture of humility before Iranian teachers, who have publicly protested against low salaries and accused the Government of not doing enough to improve their work conditions.

Joan Baez banned at Walter Reed hospital

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070502/ap_en_ot/people_baez_4

Joan Baez says she doesn't know why she was not allowed to perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as she planned. In a letter to The Washington Post published Wednesday, she said John Mellencamp had asked her to perform with him last Friday and that she accepted his invitation. Baez, 66, told the Post in a telephone interview Tuesday that she was not told why she was left off the program by the Army. "There might have been one, there might have been 50 (soldiers) that thought I was a traitor," she told the paper. The Post reported that Walter Reed officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday, but that in an e-mailed statement published Monday on RollingStone.com, spokesman Steve Sanderson said the medical center received the request for participation by Baez just two days before the concert.

Cigs make you smarter

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070501172318.htm

UC Irvine researchers have identified a new class of compounds that could be used for drugs to treat cognitive disorders that accompany schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and ADHD, according to an article published in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The compounds target receptors in the brain that are activated by nicotine. They impart the beneficial effects of nicotine – specifically enhanced cognition – without the numerous health threats associated with smoking. Anecdotally, the effect of nicotine in the brains of schizophrenics has been noted for years. Many people with the mental illness use tobacco as a sort of self-medication to help them think more clearly. The three-year study conducted with rodents supported the anecdotal evidence, showing that activating a certain nicotinic receptor in the brain improved working memory and made it easier to filter sensory input. Additional animal work is needed to confirm findings and make sure the compound is safe before testing can be done with human subjects.

U.S. Supreme Court puts limit on patents

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/01/news/patents.php

The U.S. Supreme Court, in its most important patent ruling in years, has raised the bar for obtaining patents on new products that combine elements of existing inventions. If the combination results from nothing more than "ordinary innovation" and "does no more than yield predictable results," the court said Monday in a unanimous opinion, it is not entitled to the exclusive rights that patent protection conveys. "Were it otherwise," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the opinion, "patents might stifle, rather than promote, the progress of useful arts." Because most inventions combine previously known elements, the court's approach to deciding what sort of combination is so "obvious" as to be ineligible for patent protection will make U.S. patents harder to obtain and defend.

Bee Swarm Shuts Ark. Hospital 's ER

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8ORQTLG0&show_article=1

A swarm of bees clustered outside the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center shut down the emergency room Monday, as officials waited for a beekeeper to come vacuum up the 7,000 insects. Although no one was stung, the Little Rock emergency room still decided to be closed for ambulance traffic. Beekeeper Harvey Johnston arrived Monday afternoon to remove the beehive. "Somewhere around here was a beehive that got overcrowded," he said. "When bees get crowded, (the queen) leaves and takes a portion of the bees with her."

U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement http://newsblaze.com/story/20070501175642nnnn.nb/newsblaze/WORLDNEW/World-News.html

The United States and European Union have signed a comprehensive, first-stage Air Transport Agreement that will have significant economic benefits for America and Europe. The Agreement will replace existing bilateral agreements between the United States and EU member states and establish an Open-Skies Plus framework between the United States and all 27 EU Member States. The Agreement will authorize every U.S. and every EU airline to:

· fly between every city in the European Union and every city in the United States;

· operate without restriction on the number of flights, aircraft, and routes;

· set fares according to market demand; and

· enter into cooperative arrangements, including codesharing, franchising, and leasing.

In addition, the Agreement will foster enhanced regulatory cooperation in areas as diverse as competition law, government subsidies, the environment, consumer protection, and security. It establishes a consultative Joint Committee through which the U.S. and the EU can resolve questions and further develop areas of cooperation.

World Bank ethics chief says Wolfowitz broke rules
http://news.asiaone.com.sg/a1news/20070502_story3_2.html

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz broke staff rules when he intervened directly in the personnel matters of his girlfriend even though he said he wanted no part in a deal to transfer her outside the bank, the head of a bank ethics panel at the time said on Tuesday. In a statement to a bank committee examining Wolfowitz's role in arranging a high-paid promotion for his girlfriend, the former official, Ad Melkert, said it would have been better if Wolfowitz had instructed one of his deputies to handle the transfer for Shaha Riza, to avoid conflict of interest issues. In a late-night statement, the World Bank's overseeing board of directors, said the special committee had completed interviews on the matter and would now draw up a report.

May 1, 2007

2007-05-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

Study: Los Angeles Most Polluted

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1616256,00.html

Los Angeles has once again topped the American Lung Association's bad air list of most polluted cities in America. The association found that the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metropolitan area had the worst air based on 2003 through 2005 figures. The Pittsburgh, Pa. area was ranked as the nation's second most polluted metropolitan area followed by Bakersfield, Calif., Birmingham, Ala., Detroit and Cleveland. Visalia, Calif., Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis rounded out the top 10. The news wasn't all bad for Los Angeles. Despite the dubious distinction, the number of days residents breathed the nation's worst ozone levels was fewer than in previous years. The organization based the rankings on ozone pollution levels produced when heat and sunlight come into contact with pollutants from power plants, cars, refineries and other sources. The group also studied particle pollution levels emitted from these sources, which are made up of a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles in the air. Nearly half of the U.S. population lives in counties that still have unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution, even though there appeared to be less ozone in many counties than previous years, the study found.

US must cut agriculture subsidies to below 19 billion dollars: WTO

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_must_cut_agriculture_subsidies_t_04302007.html

The World Trade Organisation on Monday sought to revitalise moribund agriculture talks by calling on the United States to cut trade distorting domestic support to below 19 billion dollars (14 billion euros) per year. Crawford Falconer, the chairman of the WTO's special committee on agriculture, told the 150 member states it was "inconceivable" that Washington should be able to spend more on domestic support than the 19 billion dollars it is allowed now. The current US proposal tabled in deadlocked global trade talks would allow Washington domestic support worth 22 billion dollars, Falconer said in a discussion paper released to try to spark the negotiations. The European Union, meanwhile, could cut its own overall trade distorting domestic support by a minimum of 70 percent, and possibly up to 75-80 percent, said Falconer, who is also New Zealand's ambassador to the WTO.

Wal-Mart's union-busting tactics

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2069358,00.html

The world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, will today stand accused of routinely flouting its workers' human rights through a sophisticated strategy of harassing union organisers, discriminating against long-term staff and indoctrinating employees with misleading propaganda. In a forensic indictment based on two years' research, the Washington-based pressure group Human Rights Watch will lift the lid on Wal-Mart's aggressive tactic of stamping on the slightest sign that workers are organising representation. Evidence in Discounting Rights, a report to be published this morning, includes examples of workers forced into unpaid overtime and an alleged strategy of squeezing out long-serving staff who are more costly than low-wage, temporary, younger workers. The company is accused of focusing security cameras on areas where staff congregate and shifting around loyal workers in "unit packing" tactics to ensure votes for union recognition are defeated. American store bosses get a "manager's toolbox" - a manual which openly describes itself as a guide on "how to remain free in the event union organisers choose your facility as their next target". They are told to phone a special "union hotline" if they suspect staff. Teams of union busters are then sent from Wal-Mart's Arkansas headquarters who regale workers with vitriolic presentations on the perils of unionisation.

For Sale: 29 U.S. Embassies http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/30/153426.shtml?s=ic

From Kinshasa to Katmandu, Bangkok to Bogota, U.S. embassies, ambassadorial residences and other diplomatic digs are up for sale as the State Department moves its employees to more secure locations, upgrades facilities and combines operations in multipurpose compounds. Some 29 properties worth more than $205 million are now on the market in 21 countries, including a huge and historic embassy annex in the heart of London, large chancery buildings in Panama , Nicaragua and Nepal and homes fit for envoys extraordinary in Belize and Venezuela.

Viewers get sick watching 'Babel'

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070501a6.html

Seven people have complained of nausea and other symptoms while watching the Oscar-nominated U.S. movie "Babel" in Aichi and Mie prefectures, theater officials said Monday. The maladies are believed to be linked to a scene about 80 minutes into the movie, when the high school student played by actress Rinko Kikuchi dances in a club that has strobe lights. The blinking lasts about a minute. None of the seven who complained exhibited serious symptoms, and all left the theaters after resting for a while, the officials said.

News Corp. Makes Bid for Dow Jones

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8ORMVPG0&show_article=1

Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said Tuesday it has received an unsolicited bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to buy the company for $60 per share, or $5 billion. Shares of the financial news publishing company soared after the cable news channel CNBC reported news of the offer earlier Tuesday. After opening at $37.12, the shares jumped $20.95, or 58 percent, to $57.28 before being halted on the New York Stock Exchange for news pending. They had traded in a 52-week range of $32.16 to $40.08 before Tuesday's news. Dow Jones said in a brief statement that its board had received the proposal from News Corp. to buy the company with either cash or a combination of cash and News Corp. stock. Dow Jones is controlled by the Bancroft family through a special class of shares and cannot be taken over without their consent. The company said in its statement that its board and members of the Bancroft family were evaluating the proposal, and that there was no assurance it would lead to a transaction. Spokesmen for Dow Jones, News Corp. and the Bancroft family did not immediately return calls seeking additional comment. Like other newspaper publishers, Dow Jones' shares have been beaten down over the past few years amid sluggish advertising and as more readers and advertising dollars move to the Internet.

Russia sees moon plot in Nasa plans

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/01/wmoon01.xml

Mankind's second race for the moon took on a distinctly Cold War feel yesterday when the Russian space agency accused its old rival NASA of rejecting a proposal for joint lunar exploration. The claim comes amid suspicion in Moscow that the United States is seeking to deny Russia access to an isotope in abundance under the moon's surface that many believe could replace fossil fuels and even end the threat of global warming. Nasa announced in December that it was planning to build an international base camp on one of the Moon's poles, permanently staffing it by 2024. Russia's space rocket manufacturer Energia revealed an even more ambitious programme last August, saying it would build a permanent Moon base by 2015. While the Americans have either been coy or dismissive on the subject, Russia openly says the main purpose of its lunar programme is the industrial extraction of helium-3. Dismissed by critics as a 21st-century equivalent of the medieval alchemist's fruitless quest to turn lead into gold, some scientists say helium-3 could be the answer to the world's energy woes. A non-radioactive isotope of helium, helium-3 is a proven and potent fuel for nuclear fusion - so potent that just six metric tons would supply Britain with enough energy for a year. As helium-3 is non-polluting and is so effective in such tiny quantities, many countries are taking it very seriously. Germany, India and China, which will launch a lunar probe to research extraction techniques in September, are all studying ways to mine the isotope. The United States has appeared much more cautious, not least because scientists are yet to discover the secrets of large scale nuclear fusion. Commercial fusion reactors look unlikely to come on line before the second half of this century.

Earth's Climate Is Seesawing, According To Climate Researchers

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070428170229.htm

During the last 10,000 years climate has been seesawing between the North and South Atlantic Oceans. As revealed by findings presented by Quaternary scientists at Lund University, Sweden, cold periods in the north have corresponded to warmth in the south and vice verse. These results imply that Europe may face a slightly cooler future than predicted by IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The research group retrieved cores of lake sediments and peat along a north-south transect of Atlantic islands and adjacent land areas: Greenland, Iceland, Faroes, Azores, Tristan da Cunha, Isla de los Estados, and the Antarctic Peninsula. Based on detailed analyses of geochemistry, mineral magnetism and pollen content, hitherto unknown details of Atlantic climate dynamics have been resolved. Extensive radiocarbon dating and rapid sedimentation rates in the terrestrial deposits allow a much higher temporal resolution of the data than provided by marine sediment cores. The records reflect details of the climatic evolution in the Atlantic region since the end of the last Ice Age to the present day. The group was unable to compare its results to similar data sets from other parts of the South Atlantic, as no other records provide the same degree of resolution. After the end of the last Glacial both Hemispheres became warmer as a result of melting ice sheets, but during the last 9000 years we can identify a persistent "seesaw" pattern. When the South Atlantic was warm it was cold in the North Atlantic and vice versa. The researchers believe this phenomenon “most certainly” relates to large-scale ocean circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. The main current system - "the Great Ocean Conveyor" - is driven by sinking of dense, relatively cold and salty water in the northern North Atlantic. This results in southward-flowing deep-water that is replaced by warm surface water brought to high northern latitudes from the tropics and ultimately from the South Atlantic. The deep-water formation in the north is dependent on cooling of surface water with a high salt content. If sufficiently large amounts of fresh water are supplied to the North Atlantic, such as from melting ice-sheets or major increases in precipitation, the deep-water formation, and hence the transport of warm surface water from the south, may cease or at least decrease substantially. This is known to have happened repeatedly during the present Interglacial (the warm period since the last Ice Age). Minor disturbances have taken place in recent time, such as the Great Salt Anomaly in the 1970s, which seriously affected the cod population around the Faroe Islands. Results from Nightingale Island in the Tristan da Cunha island group, between South Africa and Argentina, for the first time give evidence of warming of the South Atlantic associated with cooling in the north. In agreement with most other climate researchers, the Lund group is not concerned about a complete shut-down of the Gulf Stream as envisioned in the apocalyptic film "The day after tomorrow".

'Epidemic' of sleep deprivation

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=451760&in_page_id=1770

Only 3 per cent of British professionals get their eight hours every night of the working week, according to a survey conducted by budget hotel chain Travelodge. Company directors are the most sleep-deprived of all, with 8 per cent getting under four hours of rest per night. Surveying more than 5,200 individuals from 30 different careers to discover more about how work affects rest, the majority of those questioned were getting fewer than the recommended eight hours every night. Those in the travel industry, such as cabin crew and pilots, found it hardest to get to sleep - 86 per cent struggled with sleepless nights. Teachers were the most likely to stay awake because they were worrying about their work (39 per cent). Some 86 per cent of those employed in public relations or marketing said they got enough sleep - but that might be because 95 per cent of them said they fell asleep on the sofa once they get in from work. The report said the top 10 most sleep-deprived professions are:

Company directors (averaging 5.9 hours of sleep a night)

Ambulance crew/paramedics (6 hours)

Tradesmen (6 hours) Leisure and hospitality workers (6 hours)

Police officers (6.1 hours)

Factory workers (6.2 hours)

Nurses (6.3 hours)

Engineers (6.3 hours)

Doctors (6.4 hours)

Civil servants (6.4 hours).

Doctors: Pot Triggers Psychotic Symptoms http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8ORAMNO0&show_article=1

British doctors took brain scans of 15 healthy volunteers given small doses of two of the active ingredients of cannabis, as well as a placebo. One compound, cannabidiol, or CBD, made people more relaxed. But even small doses of another component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, produced temporary psychotic symptoms in people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors said. The results, to be presented at an international mental health conference in London on Tuesday and Wednesday, provides physical evidence of the drug's damaging influence on the human brain.

Knut Steadily Getting Less Cute

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,480321,00.html

Knut's days of extreme cuteness are numbered now that he has acquired a markedly longer snout and weighs a chubby 17 kilograms (37 pounds), twice as much as when he first appeared before an adoring public five weeks ago. Knut's faithful handler Thomas Dörflein has taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts or pullovers and gloves to protect himself when he handles Knut. But the polar bear cub immediately obeys when Dörflein has had enough and tells him to stop biting him with the stern command "Aus!" Klös said it's impossible to predict when Knut will be able to sleep on his own without a keeper by his side, or when he will be too dangerous to handle closely. "At the moment handling him is no problem and we don't have a timetable in that regard."

April 30, 2007

2007-04-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

Bridge collapse affects commute less than expected

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-freeway1may01,0,5617707.story?coll=la-home-local

Some Bay Area commuter rail lines were more crowded than usual this morning but freeway congestion appeared normal despite the partial collapse of a key interchange known as the MacArthur Maze over the weekend. A 170-foot stretch of the interchange warped and collapsed after a gasoline tanker truck crashed and exploded into flames early Sunday, leaving the truck driver of the truck with moderate burns. Riders on a train headed west into San Francisco from the East Bay said they did not notice many more passengers than usual but trains headed east were more crowded than usual, according to passengers. BART trains were free today to help alleviate highway traffic congestion.

Feelings mixed as marches near

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-march29apr29,1,183150.story?coll=la-commun-los_angeles_metro

City officials are bracing for thousands of marchers to converge Tuesday on Central Los Angeles in two separate May Day rallies for immigration reform and labor rights, gatherings that are stirring anticipation among immigrant-rights advocates but anxiety, even anger, among some business owners. Although organizers predict much smaller crowds than the roughly 650,000 who participated last year, city officials are nevertheless urging the public to avoid downtown, where one of the events will occur. They are warning that the downtown march will snarl traffic for hours, disrupt more than 60 bus lines and halt some public business, including the high-profile murder trial of music producer Phil Spector. City managers have been asked to allow employees to take vacation days or work from alternative sites. Organizers say much of the anger that motivated marchers nationwide last year was alleviated after congressional legislation that would have criminalized illegal immigrants and toughened border enforcement failed to win passage. Organizers have said on their official march permits this year that they expect crowds of about 100,000 downtown and 15,000 for the other event, a couple of miles to the west.

Sri Lankan army pounds north after Tamil airstrike

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-tamil30apr30,1,2939109.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Tamil Tiger rebels bombed a fuel refinery and gasoline storage facility Sunday near the Sri Lankan capital, and authorities cut power to the city, officials said. Hours later, the military pounded rebel positions in the north. The predawn rebel attack was the third aerial assault by the Tamil Tigers. Last month, the separatist group carried out its first airstrike, bombing an air force base near Colombo and killing at least three airmen. On Tuesday, the group bombed military positions in the northern Jaffna peninsula, killing six soldiers. On Sunday, Tiger aircraft dropped four bombs that started a fire in an oil facility six miles north of Colombo, according to the Defense Ministry. More than 69,000 people have been killed since the separatist conflict flared in 1983. Rebels are fighting for an independent homeland for the country's 3.2 million ethnic Tamils.

U.S. force aims to secure Africa

http://www.washtimes.com/world/20070430-124131-8532r.htm

The United States hopes by year's end to establish an Africa Command that will anchor military operations across a continent seen to be of increasing strategic importance and threatened by transnational terrorists. The new force, known informally as AfriCom, will preside over all countries on the continent except Egypt and is expected to be operational by the fall, according to Pentagon officials. They say it is needed to secure vast, lawless areas where terrorists have sought safe haven to regroup and threaten U.S. interests. Plans for such a force were first disclosed in April 2004, but it was not until February this year that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates laid out the scope of the new command. AfriCom will initially operate as part of the Stuttgart, Germany-based European Command before becoming independent at the end of 2008. It will be a "unified combatant command" that includes branches of the military along with civilians from the departments of Defense, State and Agriculture, among others. The force will deal with peacekeeping, humanitarian aid missions, military training and support of African partner countries. A headquarters location has yet to be determined. The United States now maintains five military commands worldwide, with Africa divided among three of them: EuCom covers 43 countries across North and sub-Saharan Africa; Central Command oversees East Africa, including the restive Horn of Africa; and Pacific Command looks after Madagascar. In 2001, CentCom established a task force in the Horn to track down al Qaeda terrorists and monitor instability in Somalia. It has since expanded to conduct humanitarian missions in the region. EuCom directs a seven-year, $500 million counterterrorism initiative that provides military and developmental aid to nine Saharan countries deemed vulnerable to groups looking to establish Afghanistan-style training grounds and carry out other illicit activities.

PM Erdogan to address country after disputed presidential election

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18393031/

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he would address the country Monday amid a crisis over a presidential election that has pitted secularists, including the army, against his Islamist-rooted government. Turkey’s financial markets tumbled as investors took fright at instability sparked by a court challenge to the presidential election process, a mass anti-government rally involving up to one million people and the specter of an army intervention.But Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, buoyed by strong economic growth and the support of the European Union it aims to join, has shown unprecedented defiance of the powerful military, which only 10 years ago ousted a cabinet it saw as too Islamist. AK Party’s presidential candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, architect of Turkey’s EU bid, has refused to stand aside. Parliament, where the AK Party has a big majority, elects the president in Turkey. Secularists suspect Erdogan and Gul, both ex-Islamists whose wives wears the Muslim headscarf banned from state institutions, of wanting to subvert Turkey’s strict separation of state and religion. Erdogan and Gul reject the claim and point to their pro-Western record in office. Turkey’s Constitutional Court began on Monday to examine an opposition request to suspend the presidential election, a move which would trigger early parliamentary polls and, in the view of many analysts, would help defuse tensions. The court has said it will try to issue its verdict by Wednesday..

Inside the struggle for Iran

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2068649,00.html

A grand coalition of anti-government forces is planning a second Iranian revolution via the ballot box to deny President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad another term in office and break the grip of what they call the "militia state" on public life and personal freedom. Encouraged by recent successes in local elections, opposition factions, democracy activists, and pro-reform clerics say they will bring together progressive parties loyal to former president Mohammad Khatami with so-called pragmatic conservatives led by Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. The alliance aims to exploit the president's deepening unpopularity, borne of high unemployment, rising inflation and a looming crisis over petrol prices and possible rationing to win control of the Majlis in general elections which are due within 10 months. Parliament last week voted to curtail Mr Ahmadinejad's term by holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously next year. Though the move is likely to be vetoed by the hardline Guardian Council, it served notice of mounting disaffection in parliament. But opposition spokesmen say their broader objective is to bring down the fundamentalist regime by democratic means, transform Iran into a "normal country", and obviate the need for any military or other US and western intervention

Climate change hits Mars

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1720024.ece

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period. Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena. The mechanism at work on Mars appears, however, to be different from that on Earth. One of the researchers, Lori Fenton, believes variations in radiation and temperature across the surface of the Red Planet are generating strong winds. In a paper published in the journal Nature, she suggests that such winds can stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet’s temperature. Fenton’s team unearthed heat maps of the Martian surface from Nasa’s Viking mission in the 1970s and compared them with maps gathered more than two decades later by Mars Global Surveyor. They found there had been widespread changes, with some areas becoming darker. When a surface darkens it absorbs more heat, eventually radiating that heat back to warm the thin Martian atmosphere: lighter surfaces have the opposite effect. The temperature differences between the two are thought to be stirring up more winds, and dust, creating a cycle that is warming the planet.

Gore Calls Canada Climate Plan a 'Fraud'

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070430/D8OQM6MO0.html

Al Gore condemned Canada's new plan to reduce greenhouse gases, saying it was "a complete and total fraud" because it lacks specifics and gives industry a way to actually increase emissions. Under the initiative announced Thursday, Canada aims to reduce the current level of greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. But the government acknowledged it would not meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, which requires 35 industrialized countries to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The country's emissions are now 30 percent above 1990 levels. The conservative government's strategy focuses both on reducing emissions of gases blamed for global warming and improving air quality. But the plan failed to spell out what many of its regulations will look like. Gore said the plan did not make clear how Canada would reach its 2020 emissions goal. He also criticized the plan for allowing industries to pollute more if they use emissions-cutting technologies while increasing production. He said "intensity reduction" - which allow industries to increase their greenhouse gas outputs as they raise production - was a poll-tested phrase developed by think tanks financed by Exxon Mobil and other large polluters. Canadian Environment Minister John Baird rejected Gore's criticisms.

Nuclear power will save the world, UN scientists claim

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=451658&in_page_id=1965

More than 2,000 scientists have contributed to the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) report and 400 of them met today in Bangkok to finalise it before publication on Friday. The report is the biggest to study the practical actions that could reduce emissions and its findings will play a key role in Kyoto negotiations which will take place in December. The new report is the third this year by the UN climate panel. An IPCC report in February said it was at least 90 per cent certain that mankind was to blame for global warming and on 6 April it warned of more hunger, droughts and rising seas. As well as plans for more nuclear power, genetically modified biofuels and carbon storage, the report sets out a vision of the future that is a mixture of existing policies, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy from wind and wave farms, and more futuristic ideas for hydrogen car fleets and "intelligent" buildings which can control energy use. In addition, the report makes it clear that both developed countries, including the United States, and developing nations, in particular India and China, will have to play major roles. However, the scientists in Bangkok have already voiced fears that some countries, including China and the US, will say the proposed measures are unrealistic. Michel Petit, a member of the French delegation, said: "Some countries may challenge these figures." The report has also angered environmentalists. Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth said: "Nuclear reactors are dangerous and land clearance and chemical pesticides and fertilisers used to grow fuel crops can cause huge environmental damage."

India-U.S. nuclear pact remains stalled

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-usindia30apr30,0,1116781.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Officials on both sides are expressing growing frustration over each other's seeming intransigence in overcoming the final obstacles to sealing the agreement, which would reverse years of U.S. policy and allow American companies to sell and share civilian nuclear technology with India even though it has refused to join the global nuclear nonproliferation regime. When proposed nearly two years ago, the nuclear pact made headlines as proof that the world's most populous democracy had joined hands with the most powerful to create a new balance of power, especially as a counter to a rising China. But negotiators have been unable to reach agreement on issues concerning India's right to conduct nuclear tests, its desire to reprocess spent fuel and its demand for assurances of uninterrupted nuclear fuel supplies. India exploded its first atomic device in 1974 and became a declared nuclear-weapons state nine years ago, after a nuclear test in the Rajasthani desert that prompted archrival Pakistan to follow suit, sparking fears of an arms race in South Asia.

April 29, 2007

2007-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Mali votes for next president http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Mali_votes_for_next_president_04292007.html

Malians voted peacefully Sunday in presidential elections tipped to hand the incumbent a second five-year term and boost the west African country's democratic credentials. Amadou Toumani Toure, who won praise for restoring civilian rule after he led a military takeover in the early 1990s, is seeking a new term as an independent candidate. The former general ousted dictator Moussa Traore in 1991 and installed a multi-party system before stepping aside in 1992. Ten years later he stood for presidential elections and won. Toure, 58, does not have a political party but enjoys the backing of two large coalitions and a myriad of small parties, including the Tuareg ex-rebels who once waged a separatist war in the northeast. He is facing seven other candidates, the most credible being key opposition figure Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, a former prime minister and head of the national assembly. For the first time in the history of this mainly Muslim country a female candidate is among the presidential hopefuls. Sidibe Aminata Diallo, 50, is a professor in town planning at the university of Bamako and has previously worked for the UN children's agency UNESCO.

More than one million rally in Turkey for secularism, democracy http://rawstory.com/news/afp/More_than_one_million_rally_in_Turk_04292007.html

The crowd, carrying red-and-white Turkish flags and portraits of founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, filled Istanbul's sprawling Caglayan square in a demonstration organized by some 600 non-governmental organizations. "Turkey is secular and will remain secular," "Neither Sharia, nor coup d'etat, democratic Turkey," they chanted. Police at the scene told AFP that the number of demonstrators was well over one million. Organizers said the rally drew people from all over Turkey and abroad. The Istanbul demonstration followed a similar one in Ankara on April 14 that attracted up to 1.5 million people, according to some estimates. Tensions rose after Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a former Islamist from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), narrowly missed becoming the country's next president in a first round of voting in parliament on Friday. The AKP dominates the 550-seat parliament, but does not have the required two-thirds majority to get Gul elected in the first two rounds of voting. The opposition boycotted the vote because of Gul's Islamist past and because they were not consulted on his candiacy for the non-partisan post. The army, which has carried out three coups in the past, issued a statement saying it was determined to protect Turkey's secular system and was ready to take action if the need arose, making it clear, according to many analysts, that Gul's candidacy was not welcome. The government responded by calling the army to order and Gul on Sunday ruled out withdrawing his presidential bid.

Around the world, protestors call for action on Darfur http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Around_the_world_protestors_call_fo_04292007.html

Protests are taking place around the world Sunday as campaigners demand that world leaders act to prevent further bloodshed in Darfur on the fourth anniversary of the conflict's start. The Global Day for Darfur, organised by a coalition including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, will see activists globally turn over more than 10,000 hourglasses filled with fake blood. These are designed to convey the message that delaying intervention will cost lives in the troubled western region of Sudan. In Rome, hundreds of people took part in a march on the Colosseum. There was also a 200-strong protest in Berlin, where marchers carried alarm clocks and a banner saying: "It is five minutes to midnight, we're sounding the alarm!" The conflict in Darfur has caused 200,000 deaths and led to two million people being displaced, according to the United Nations. Sudan contests the figures, saying that only 9,000 have died.

'Africa' laptops for US schools http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=28552

A PROJECT that aims to deliver low-priced laptops with string pulleys to the world's poorest children may have a new market: US schools. The nonprofit "One Laptop per Child" project, which was formed to bridge the technological divide in poor countries such as Africa, said it might sell versions of its kid-friendly laptops in the US, reversing its previous position of only distributing them to the poorest nations. "We can't ignore the United States. We are looking at it very seriously," sais Nicholas Negroponte, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology academic who founded the project. Once known as the US$100 laptop, the devices are inching up in price. In February, the project estimated said they would sell for US$150 each. Negroponte now puts their price tag at US$176 apiece, but it will cost more for US market. The laptop features a string pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless connectivity and Linux open-source operating software tailored for remote regions. It requires just two watts of power compared to the typical laptop's 30 to 40 watts, and does away with hard drives, relying instead on flash memory and four USB ports to add memory devices. A minute of yanking on its pulley generates 10 minutes of electricity. Negroponte said US schools could receive the laptops by the end of the year in response to interest from 19 governors.

Bush predicts change is near for Cuba http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2007-04-28T220616Z_01_N28367518_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-CUBA.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-R1-MostViewed-1

President Bush took fresh aim on Saturday at Cuba's communist government, calling it a "cruel dictatorship" and predicting that democratic change was near. The U.S. president's comments came amid signs that Cuban leader Fidel Castro was recovering from an intestinal ailment that has kept him out of the public eye for the past nine months and may soon resume some government duties. Bush, who has tightened economic sanctions on Havana and boosted aid to dissidents with a goal of hastening the end of Castro's grip on power, said in a commencement speech at Miami Dade College that many Cubans were dreaming of a better life.

Calif. interchange collapses after fire http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070429/ap_on_re_us/highway_collapse

An interchange connecting highways to the busy Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge collapsed early Sunday after a tractor trailer hauling 8,600 gallons of gasoline caught fire, authorities said. The truck's driver suffered second-degree burns. The tanker ignited after crashing into a pylon on an interchange connecting westbound lanes of Interstate 80, which includes the Bay Bridge, to southbound I-880 in Oakland, officials said. The fire led to the collapse of a second interchange from eastbound I-80 to eastbound Interstate 580 located above the first interchange, Cross said.

Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Food, Water Supply http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3094072&page=1

At a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce this week, a government report was made public for the first time revealing that at sites in more than 25 states, perchlorate had leaked into the drinking water and soil. About 65 percent of that contamination was attributed to the Department of Defense and to NASA. The Pentagon said it has invested "over $114 million in research related to perchlorate toxicity," and that they are "developing substitute chemicals." Doctors agree that large amounts of the chemical can lead to thyroid problems in adults and abnormal brain development in children, but it is still unknown how much damage smaller amounts can inflict. Democrats on Capitol Hill are working on a bill that would require the EPA for the first time to set strict guidelines limiting the amount of perchlorate in the nation's drinking water.

Satellite to study world's most mysterious clouds
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2491826.ece

Scientists hope that the wisp-like clouds - the highest in the world - will lead them to a deeper understanding of how the Earth's atmosphere is able to protect the planet from harmful solar and cosmic radiation. The night-shining "noctilucent" clouds - meaning they can only be seen when the ground is in darkness - are one of the least-understood meteorological phenomena because they appear so rarely at heights of about 50 miles. They were first observed in 1885 by an amateur astronomer two years after the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia, which sent millions of tons of water vapour into the upper atmosphere. Since the 1960s, scientists have taken a closer look at the clouds with the help of satellites designed for other purposes but there were still many unresolved questions about how and why they formed in the air. Now that could change with the launch of a scientific satellite dedicated to studying the clouds as they form in the mesosphere, the layer directly above the stratosphere. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) said that the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft will spend the next two years studying the physics and chemistry of noctilucent clouds from its orbit 370 miles above the poles.

Aussie Priest says prayer is pointless http://www.cathnews.com/news/704/112.php

Last week, Prime Minister John Howard warned that unless there was significant rainfall in the next six to eight weeks, there would be no water available for irrigation at the start of the water year on 1 July. "We should all, literally and without any irony, pray for rain over the next six to eight weeks," he told ABC TV. But well-known Melbourne priest, Fr Bob Maguire (pictured) says church leaders across Australia can pray for rain "until they go black in the face" but it won't solve the water crisis. According to the Australian, Fr Maguire's scepticism is also shared by weather experts. Seasonal rainfall predictions from the Bureau of Meteorology reveal a moderate increase in the chance of above-average rainfall across southeast Queensland and northeast NSW. The rest of the country, however, has only a one-in-two chance of even average rainfall over the next three months.

Australia's epic drought: The situation is grim http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=56&ItemID=12655

Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation. The Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. Australia is in the grip of its worst drought on record, the victim of changing weather patterns attributed to global warming and a government that is only just starting to wake up to the severity of the position. The Prime Minister, John Howard, a hardened climate- change sceptic, delivered dire tidings to the nation's farmers yesterday. Unless there is significant rainfall in the next six to eight weeks, irrigation will be banned in the principal agricultural area. Crops such as rice, cotton and wine grapes will fail, citrus, olive and almond trees will die, along with livestock. A ban on irrigation, which would remain in place until May next year, spells possible ruin for thousands of farmers, already debt-laden and in despair after six straight years of drought.

Is ‘carbon-neutral’ just a gimmick?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/29/opinion/29revkin-web.php

On this, environmentalists aren't neutral, and they don't agree. Some believe it helps build support, but others argue that these purchases don't accomplish anything meaningful — other than giving someone a slightly better feeling (or greener reputation) after buying a 6,000-square-foot house or passing the million-mile mark in a frequent-flier program. In fact, to many environmentalists, the carbon-neutral campaign is a sign of the times — easy on the sacrifice and big on the consumerism. "The worst of the carbon-offset programs resemble the Catholic Church's sale of indulgences back before the Reformation," said Denis Hayes, the president of the Bullitt Foundation, an environmental grant-making group. Some environmental campaigners defend this marketplace as a legitimate, if imperfect, way to support an environmental ethic and political movement, even if the numbers don't all add up.
"We can't stop global warming with voluntary offsets, but they offer an option for individuals looking for a way to contribute to the solution in addition to reducing their own emissions and urging their elected representatives to support good policy," said Daniel Lashof, the science director of the climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Bart bares all in film http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/lifestyle/story.html?id=b21c4912-a551-4b7e-89a7-a9e2ad832672

According to Newsweek, which got a sneak peek at The Simpsons Movie, "little Bart flashes his little part to the entire world" while skateboarding sans clothing on a dare from dad Homer.

April 28, 2007

2007-04-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Chevron shareholders may be liable for billions in environmental damages
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0425-amazon_watch.html

The lead lawyer in the landmark environmental lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador is in California to warn that the oil major has failed to prepare for a possible multi-billion dollar damages bill within the coming months. Speaking ahead of Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Pablo Fajardo, who represents 30,000 plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, stressed that a judgment was now likely in early 2008. Meanwhile, environmental group Amazon Watch warned that Chevron had broken SEC regulations by misrepresenting that evidence. During three decades of drilling for oil in an inhabited area of the Ecuadorian Amazon, Chevron allegedly dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic by-products from the drilling process directly into rivers and streams, on which local families depend. That waste contained 30 times more crude than the Exxon Valdez spill, prompting local communities, racked by cancers and other health problems, to sue Chevron in 2003. Now, after four years, the judge has rejected Chevron’s complaints and fast-tracked the David-and-Goliath trial to finish hearing evidence by the end of July. A judgment, which could see Chevron being ordered to pay one of the largest damage awards in civil history, is expected in early 2008. Chevron’s handling of the case has landed the oil major in hot water in both Ecuador and the US. Here, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been investigating Chevron over its failure to disclose details of the court-case in its 10k and other financial filings. Meanwhile, in Ecuador, Chevron is facing a potential criminal investigation resulting from a complaint by Luis Macas, a national indigenous leader and former presidential candidate.

U.S. Proposal Would Allow Oil Drilling Off Virginia http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042701611.html?hpid=topnews

The Interior Department will announce a proposal Monday to allow oil and gas drilling in federal waters near Virginia that are currently off-limits and permit new exploration in Alaska's Bristol Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, according to people who have seen or been told about drafts of the plan. The department issued a news release yesterday that was lacking details but said that it had finished a five-year plan that will include a "major proposal for expanded oil and natural gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf." Department officials declined to describe the plan. Congress would still have to agree to open areas currently off-limits before any drilling could take place off Virginia's coast. Every year since 1982, after an oil spill off Santa Barbara, Calif., Congress has reaffirmed a moratorium on drilling off the nation's Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Last year, after a vigorous push by drilling advocates, Congress opened new waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

NEW YORK GOV. UNVEILS BILL TO LET GAYS TIE KNOT
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04282007/news/regionalnews/eliot_unveils_bill_to_let_gays_tie_knot_regionalnews_.htm

Gov. Spitzer, following through on a campaign pledge, unveiled a bill yesterday to legalize gay marriage in New York. But the powerful Republican leader of the state Senate declared himself still opposed to the notion of having New York join neighboring Massachusetts as the only states permitting same-sex marriage. Noting a host of other recent proposals from the governor, including one to overhaul the state's campaign finance laws, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said, "This governor has his priorities wrong." Bruno said that given the fatal shooting of a state trooper this week, Spitzer should be worried more about bringing back the death penalty for those who kill police officers and creating jobs. Bruno's continued opposition effectively blocks the measure from moving ahead in the state Legislature for now, a fact Spitzer is well aware of.

US anti-missile system may cause ‘mutual destruction’: Putin http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C04%5C28%5Cstory_28-4-2007_pg7_55

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that a US anti-missile system planned for deployment in eastern Europe would greatly heighten the risk of mutual destruction, the Interfax news agency reported. “The threat of causing mutual damage and even destruction increases many times,” Putin was quoted as saying after a meeting with Czech President Vaclav Klaus in Moscow. Putin said the range of the system, which is designed to shoot down overflying missiles, would extend right to the Ural Mountains, covering the European section of Russia. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice complained that Russia was applying Cold War logic to the missile defence issue. She said any suggestion that the system was directed at Moscow was “ludicrous”.

Putin orders restructuring of nuclear sector
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=April2007&file=World_News200704287211.xml

President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to reorganise Russia’s nuclear sector by creating a state nuclear firm with global clout, sources told RIA news agency yesterday. The Kremlin press service said Putin had signed a decree “On the Restructuring of Russia’s Atomic Energy and Industrial Complex”, but gave no other details. Russia’s is overhauling its nuclear sector to boost energy production and strengthening Russia’s presence on the expanding world nuclear market. Under the Russian plan, a state-owned company called Atomenergoprom will be created on the base of the smaller, sometimes overlapping, civilian nuclear companies in the sector. Climate change and high oil prices have prompted many countries to look more favourably on nuclear energy as a cheap source of power.

Algae bloom killing birds, mammals off California
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1177734789557&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112101662670

A particularly virulent outbreak of domoic acid off the California coast has killed hundreds of marine mammals and birds in recent weeks, leaving beaches littered with pelicans, sea lions and dolphins, researchers said Thursday. Domoic acid, a naturally occurring neurotoxin produced by microscopic algae, has become increasingly prevalent. Scientists suspect the upsurge has been caused by overfishing, destruction of wetlands and pollution, all of which have harmed fisheries and allowed algae to flourish. While the toxin has not been definitively linked to all the recent deaths, many of the dead animals -- including five species of birds -- tested positive for domoic acid, said scientists at the rescue centre and the Caron Laboratory at the University of Southern California. Domoic acid, which accumulates in shellfish and fish and is then passed on to the birds and animals that eat them, has occurred each spring over the past decade as ocean water warms and algae blooms. But this year's algae is "especially virulent," according to the rescue centre.

Scorpions Plague Invades Mexican State
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7b85C76031-58D8-497F-95BE-85DBF6BB5FD1%7d&language=EN

A plague of scorpions invaded the Mexican state of Aguascalientes Friday, and a patient is taken care in the hospitals every hour, because of the bites of scorpions. Television reports said there are even several serious cases in intensive therapy rooms with convulsions and respiratory problems. According to the views showed from ruins and uninhabited sites in the city, practically under every stone, a scorpion may be found. Doctors interviewed by local reporters said a bite from determined kinds of scorpions injects a compound of 80 toxins, of which 10 function on the human body and can even cause death of children.

Tenet says Cheney had eye on Iraq long before 9/11 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4756983.html

White House and Pentagon officials, and particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, were determined to attack Iraq from the first days of the Bush administration, long before the Sept. 11 attacks, and repeatedly stretched available intelligence to build support for the war, according to a new book by former CIA director George Tenet. Although Tenet does not question the threat Saddam Hussein posed or the sincerity of administration beliefs, he recounts numerous efforts by aides to Cheney and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to insert "crap" into public justifications for the war. Tenet also describes an ongoing fear within the intelligence community of the administration's willingness to "mischaracterize complex intelligence information." In their threat briefings for the incoming Bush administration in late 2000, Tenet writes, CIA officials did not even mention Iraq. But Cheney, he says, asked for an Iraq briefing and requested that the outgoing Clinton administration's defense secretary, William Cohen, provide information on Iraq for Bush. A speech by Cheney in August 2002 "went well beyond what our analysis could support," Tenet writes. The speech charged, among other things, that Saddam had restarted his nuclear program and would "acquire nuclear weapons fairly soon ... perhaps within a year." Caught off-guard by the remarks, which had not been cleared by the CIA, Tenet says he considered confronting the vice president on the subject but did not.

UK parents slam 'bikini for tiny tots'
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/uk-parents-slam-bikini-for-tiny-tots/39324-13.html

Tiny briefs and bra-style tops for adolescent girls by famous brands are flooding London’s upmarket stores. One of the walk-ins at a London store, mother-of-two Anna Heywood said she was shocked to see what was on offer as a swimsuit for her seven-year-old daughter. "I could not believe what I was seeing. These were bikinis with tiny triangles and straps were clearly copies of swimwear that is aimed at teenagers or older women,” she told the news daily. However the manufacturers say they are only catering to the popular demand. "Our swimsuits - including the bikinis - are generally more generous in cover than those of our competitors, and come in the bright, fun colours that have been popular among kids for decades. We reject any suggestion that they are indecent or provocative," a manufacturer was quoted by Daily Mail.

Germany Halts Online Computer Spying by Intelligence Agents
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2459853,00.html

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble faced massive criticism this week after it was revealed that German intelligence agencies were secretly snooping on terrorism suspects via the Internet. Schäuble has ordered a temporary halt to the practice. Intelligence agencies have monitored suspects' computers via the Internet for two years, according to members of the Bundestag's interior affairs committee. Representatives from all political parties questioned the legality of the practice. Critics say the secret searches violate Article 13 of the German basic law, which governs privacy. Schäuble, of the Christian Democratic Union, has suggested the government consider expanding Article 13 to allow it. But the government doesn't want to go ahead with the monitoring until a clear legal foundation is provided, Schäuble told parliament. Until then, the monitoring will stop, he said.

Turkish Military Issues Threat as Voting Is Derailed
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/28/world/europe/28turkey.html?ref=europe

A revolt by Turkey’s secular opposition on Friday derailed the first round of voting on a presidential candidate with a background in political Islam, and in a harsh warning, the military hinted that it might act against the government if it strayed too far from secularism. The growing tension over the candidate, Abdullah Gul, a close ally of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has brought Turkey to a defining moment. Since Mr. Gul’s emergence as the sole candidate for president, a powerful post chosen by parliamentary vote, the country’s opposition and military have warned that his selection would bring an end to the era of secular modernism that began with the Ataturk revolution in 1923. The action on Friday began on the floor of Turkey’s Parliament, where all of the country’s secular political parties boycotted a vote for Mr. Gul, a member of Mr. Erdogan’s political movement, which has its roots in Islam. Even with the absence of the opposition, Mr. Gul received 357 votes, 10 votes short of the two-thirds mark he needed to be confirmed. After the boycott and during the voting, the main secular party applied to the constitutional court to have the vote annulled, arguing there were too few lawmakers present. If the party prevails and the court intervenes, it could trigger early nationwide elections. But more troubling was a statement released by the military shortly before midnight. In it, the general staff invoked its responsibility as the defender of Ataturk’s legacy of secularism — a thinly veiled threat, given that the armed forces have ousted four elected governments in the past 50 years.

Zimbabwe inflation soars to 2200%
http://business.iafrica.com/news/812662.htm

Zimbabwe, already battling to contain the world's highest rate of inflation, announced on Thursday that the figure had soared once more to 2200 percent. After the official announcement of the rate for March was twice postponed earlier this month, central bank governor Gideon Gono confirmed the figure had crashed through the 2000 percent barrier for the first time after rising by another 470 percentage points from the 1730 percent mark for February. Gono has compared inflation in Zimbabwe to the Aids pandemic and the latest figure further undermines a prediction by then finance minister Herbert Murerwa in December that it would fall to around 300 percent by the end of 2007. Best Doroh, an economist with Harare-based ZB Financial Holdings, said all the evidence pointed to the prospect of an even bigger figure by the end of the year. Zimbabwe's economy has been on a downturn over the past seven years with four in every five persons out of work and perennial shortages of commodities like sugar, cooking oil and fuel in the one-time bread basket of Africa. Over 80 percent of the population is living below the poverty threshold often skipping meals or cycling or walking long distances to work in order to stretch their wages. The government blames the economic crisis on targeted sanctions imposed on veteran President Robert Mugabe and members of his inner circle by the United States and the European Union following presidential polls in 2002 which the opposition and western observers charged were rigged.

United States To Shift Focus of Funds for Colombia
http://newsblaze.com/story/20070425191221tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html

The United States plans to focus more of its aid to Colombia on social, economic and human rights programs, while gradually decreasing its assistance for drug eradication and interdiction programs in the Andean nation, say two State Department officials. In their April 24 prepared congressional testimony, State's Charles Shapiro and Anne Patterson outlined U.S. support for a new phase of Colombia's efforts to fight drug trafficking that is will help bring peace and reconciliation in the country. The new phase, issued by Colombian officials in January, is called "Strategy to Strengthen Democracy and Promote Social Development." The six-year plan, running from 2007-2013, builds on the success of the first phase of the Colombian peace strategy, called Plan Colombia, while responding to new challenges. Plan Colombia began in 2000. With U.S. support, it has achieved "remarkable gains" for Colombia, said Shapiro, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

South Korean Team Cleared in Cloned Wolf Probehttp://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/555836

South Korean scientists, whose reputation has been tainted by fraudulent stem cell studies, committed errors in a paper on producing the world's first cloned grey wolves but did not manipulate data, an investigative panel said on Friday. The Seoul National University team, once hailed at home as heroes but later seen as an embarrassment after reports of stem cell fraud, was being investigated on suspicion of massaging data to increase the cloning success rate for the wolves. "Cloning and Stem Cells", the U.S. periodical that published the team's report on cloning wolves, had withdrawn the paper from its Internet site earlier this month pending the results of the university's investigation panel. Since the team produced the wolves named Snuwolf and Snuwolffy, who were born about a year and a half ago, it had produced six more Korean grey wolves. Three of those wolves have since died. The team was once led by Hwang Woo-suk, who resigned from his post in December 2005 after an interim investigation found his team had fabricated data on producing patient-specific embryonic stem cells, a paper that was once hailed as a breakthrough. A few weeks later, the investigation panel said another landmark paper on the creation of cloned embryonic stem cells was marred by serious fraud. Hwang is on trial for fraud, embezzlement and violating the country's bioethics laws.

Croatia ratifies Kyoto protocol
http://www.mrt.com.mk/en//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2754&Itemid=28

Croatia's parliament on Friday ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which commits nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to try to slow global warming. The former Yugoslav nation that signed the Kyoto treaty in 1999, but held off ratification until getting approval last year for a higher limit of annual carbon dioxide emissions. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, 35 nations and the European Community pledged to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Ruzinski said Croatia is expected to become a European Union member by 2012 _ and it would therefore join the EU plan, approved in February, to trim gas emissions by at least 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. Some parliament deputies warned, however, that despite its pledges, Croatia has failed to develop the production of biofuel despite being a largely agricultural country and thus having the ability to do so.

Oil firms bow to Chavez demand
http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/28/stories/2007042800671600.htm

Officials from Chevron Corp., BP PLC, France's Total SA and Norway's Statoil ASA signed memorandums of understanding agreeing to give state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA a majority stake in three of the projects. Exxon Mobil Corp. signed earlier in private, officials said. But Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Houston-based ConocoPhillips was yet to sign an agreement. He said if ConocoPhillips did not sign by May 1, the state will take control of its two projects, but added that Venezuela remained open to dialogue with the company. He declined to say what would happen with ConocoPhillips' assets — including equipment and infrastructure — if it refuses to sign. A ConocoPhillips spokesman told AP that ``discussions are ongoing''. The companies have until June 26 to negotiate the terms of the takeover, including compensation, their new stakes and operational control for the projects, which they have run independently until now.

Physicians Continue To Receive
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=44524

Ninety-four percent of physicians have relationships with pharmaceutical companies in which the companies provide them with food and beverages, medication samples, and other gifts and payments, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/26). For the study, Harvard Medical School researchers in late 2003 and early 2004 mailed surveys and a $20 check to a random sample of 3,167 anesthesiologists, cardiologists, family practitioners, general surgeons, internists and pediatricians (Rubin, USA Today, 4/26). More than 1,600 physicians responded to the survey. The study found:
83% of physicians received food and beverages from pharmaceutical company sales representatives;
78% received medication samples (Gellene, Los Angeles Times, 4/26);
35% received reimbursement for the cost of attendance at continuing medical education conferences sponsored by pharmaceutical companies;
28% received fees from the pharmaceutical companies for consulting, speaking engagements or enrollment of patients in clinical trials; and
7% received tickets to sports events and entertainment (Pereira, Wall Street Journal, 4/26).

White House chided for trying to loosen 'dolphin-safe' rules
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/28/MNGF2PHDCQ1.DTL&type=printable

A Bush administration attempt to loosen rules for catching "dolphin-safe" tuna so more Mexican imports could be allowed into the country was scuttled Friday by a federal appeals court, which said government agencies had ignored congressional mandates and allowed politics to interfere with science. The ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco could be the last word on the government's decadelong effort to relax dolphin-safe labeling standards, established by a 1990 federal law. The court had harsh words for the Bush administration's science policies, saying a Commerce Department finding in 2002 that Mexican and other foreign fleets' tuna-fishing practices were not killing dolphins "was, at least to some degree, influenced by political, rather than scientific, concerns.'' It said there was evidence of political pressure from foreign governments and the State Department. The effect of Friday's ruling is to extend the virtual ban on U.S. imports of tuna caught by fleets from Mexico and several other nations that encircle dolphins with their nets to catch the tuna that swim beneath the aquatic mammals. Such tuna can be sold in the United States, but U.S. consumers have been largely unwilling to buy tuna that lacks the dolphin-safe label.

Scientific evidence shows a "strong likelihood" that tuna fishing is hurting dolphin populations in the eastern Pacific, contrary to the administration's position, the appeals court said. The court said it would not give the government another chance to justify relaxing the labeling standards because of the administration's "intransigence'' in failing to follow steps mandated by Congress. Any loosening of the standards will require congressional action, the court said. The Earth Island Institute, a San Francisco conservation group that has fought the Clinton and Bush administrations over the issue, said the battle appeared to be over. "I believe this is the end of the effort to unravel the dolphin-safe definition,'' said the group's executive director, David Phillips. "There will be no flood of dolphin-unsafe tuna from Mexico onto the U.S. market.'' The government is disappointed by the ruling but has not decided whether to appeal to the Supreme Court, said Monica Allen, spokeswoman for the Commerce Department's National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Official opening of Tate & Lyle’s SPLENDA® Sucralose facility, Singapore http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/newsATemp.aspx?articleid=18368&zoneid=12

Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry, toured Tate & Lyle’s SPLENDA® Sucralose facility yesterday to commemorate the site’s official opening. The facility, which was mechanically complete in January 2007, will now begin the process of ramping-up to full capacity. This process is expected to take 12 – 18 months. The official ceremony included a plaque unveiling and plant tour. Guests included government officials, the British High Commissioner and members of his team, the Singapore Economic Development Board, key customers, suppliers, distributors, and contractors. SPLENDA® Sucralose (a no-calorie sweetener made from sugar) was invented by Tate & Lyle in 1976. Since gaining regulatory approval, this ground-breaking food ingredient has enjoyed success all over the world. It is currently in over 4,000 products worldwide. Tate & Lyle also operates a SPLENDA® Sucralose facility in Alabama, USA.

April 27, 2007

2007-04-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

White House dismisses ex-CIA chief Tenet's criticism http://rawstory.com/news/2007/White_House_dismisses_exCIA_chiefs_criticism_0427.html

“A senior White House counselor on Friday dismissed former CIA Director's George Tenet portrait of a Bush administration that rushed to war in Iraq without serious debate," reports the Associated Press. The counselor, Dan Bartlett, said per the AP, "The president did wrestle with those very serious questions." Bartlett, the AP article continues, referred to Tenet as a "true patriot" but he "suggested he might have been unaware of the breadth of the prewar debate that led Bush to dismiss other options, such as diplomatic means," for dealing with Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein. "This president weighed all the various proposals, weighed all the various consequences before he did make a decision," said Bartlett. Tenet earlier lashed out at the Bush administration in an interview broadcast on CBS' 60 Minutes, accusing it of distorting his pre-Iraq War claim that the existence of weapons of mass destruction was a "slam dunk."

Democratic Hopefuls Show Political Heft

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/26/AR2007042602957.html?nav=hcmodule

“The overall impression from the first formal debate from this early-starting campaign is that the Democrats have a field of contenders that, by any historical measure, matches in quality any the party has offered in decades,” is the thrust of this analysis in the Washington Post. “At least six of the eight declared candidates -- Biden, Clinton, Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.), former senator John Edwards (N.C.) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson -- showed themselves to be both substantive and direct in their responses. The other two, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) and former senator Mike Gravel (Alaska), provided a counterpoint of left-wing ideas that drew rebukes for a lack of seriousness from Biden and Obama. The challenges from the liberal flank allowed almost all the others to assert that, despite their criticisms of President Bush's Iraq policy, they are ready to use military force to retaliate against future terrorist attacks...In the segment on Iraq, all the candidates vowed to end U.S. military operations in short order -- with varying dates for withdrawal. Obama repeated his assertion that he opposed the war from the start, while Clinton -- still declining to apologize for her vote to authorize hostilities -- said that "I take responsibility" for her mistake in judgment. Edwards, who has apologized for taking the same stand as Clinton, passed up an invitation to criticize her directly for not having apologized...But for all the pre-primary attention focused on those three, it was by no means clear at the end of 90 minutes that they are any more effective advocates of the Democratic cause than Dodd, Richardson or Biden. The field seems both talented and evenly balanced.”

German prosecutor dimisses Rumsfeld war crimes case http://rawstory.com/news/2007/German_prosecutor_dimisses_Rumsfeld_war_crimes_0427.html

Germany's federal prosecutor announced she will not be proceeding with an investigation against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA Director George Tenet, and other high-ranking U.S. officials for torture and other war crimes committed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo, according to a press release obtained by RAW STORY. Prominent jurists, scholars, and human rights experts from around the world had examined the complaint and found it sound. Many signed on in support. The complaint states that because of the failure of authorities in the United States and Iraq to launch any independent investigation into the responsibility of high-level U.S. officials for torture despite a documented paper trail and government memos implicating them in direct as well as command responsibility for torture, and because the U.S. has refused to join the International Criminal Court, it is the legal obligation of states such as Germany to take up cases under their universal jurisdiction laws.In her decision to not go forward with an investigation, Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms argued that the crimes were committed outside of Germany and the defendants neither reside in Germany, nor are they currently located in Germany, nor will they soon enter German territory. However, the German law of universal jurisdiction expressly states that it is a universal duty to fight torture and other serious crimes, no matter where they occur or what the nationality of the perpetrators and victims is. Attorneys said they are contemplating an appeal of the decision as well as filing similar cases in other countries.

We will fire missiles at China, says Taiwan

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21618193-663,00.html

TAIWAN has said for the first time it would fire missiles at Chinese airfields and missile launch sites if its archrival ever attacked the island. The details emerged as Taiwan military leaders discussed the results of simulated attack scenarios, part of the island's annual military exercises that began last month and which the defence ministry said showed Taiwan could successfully repel a Chinese attack. Taiwan's military has not in recent history openly said it would launch a large military strike against China if it were attacked and in the past its plans have been largely defensive in nature. The admission comes during accelerated military spending by China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and refuses to rule out an invasion to take it back. The exercise, run over five days last week, used computers to simulate attack scenarios by China in the year 2012, beginning with an air and sea blockade, followed by cruise missile attacks on the island's airbases, air defence weapons and radar sites. It also modeled an amphibious assault and landings by enemy forces. The exercise was conducted in the secretive joint operations command centre located in a fortified bunker in mountains near the capital, the defence ministry said. In the simulation, however, Taiwan responded with ground-based missiles to counter the enemy's threat from the air and sea. Taiwan and China have lived in a state of preparedness for major armed confrontation since 1949 when the former Chinese Nationalist government lost a civil war to Mao Zedong's Communists and fled to the island. Local media and analysts suspect the simulated missile was most likely based on the Hsiung Feng 2E cruise missile, which is still being developed by Taiwan. Military officers declined to say which areas in China were targeted, but insisted their missiles would only be used against military facilities. Analysts and Taiwan military officers say the likely targets would be in areas adjacent to Taiwan along China's west coast where Beijing has deployed nearly 1000 short-range cruise missiles, according to Taiwan government estimates. China also has 700 fighter and bomber aircraft within strike range, along with 400,000 ground troops, according to a Pentagon report on China's military power. By comparison, Taiwan has 130,000 ground forces and 330 combat aircraft, according to the Pentagon. The exercise was observed by a delegation of US officials, including former commander of US forces in Asia, retired Admiral Dennis Blair.The defence ministry will hold live military drills in May in the next stage of the annual exercise, officers have said.

Head of U.S. Forces Korea calls on S.K. to up missile defense http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/205517.html

In a document submitted to the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee on April 23, General Burwell Bell, commander US Forces in Korea, urged South Korea make concessions related to the so-called ‘Missile Defense’ system. Bell said the importance of Theater Missile Defense to protect the Korean peninsula is gaining after North Korea test-fired missiles last year. Bell said that South Korea must buy a system that is fully compatible with the U.S. system, hinting that South Korea should buy the newest Patriot Missile models (Pac-3) that U.S. Forces Korea currently uses. In addition, Bell said a continued supply of the Patriot Pac-3 system, combined with early warning systems, Aegis-equipped destroyers and high-altitude protection, would allow the U.S. forces in South Korea to have what he called a multi-level anti-missile capability in the future. Such remarks came as South Korea is trying to build up its own anti-missile system. Currently, South Korea is pushing to buy 48 units of Patriot Pac-2 missiles from Germany starting in 2008 to replace outdated Nike missiles. Compared with the Pac-3, the Pac-2 is cheaper and reportedly has limited compatibility with the U.S.-led missile defense system. In addition, the South Korean government has expressed its intention of not joining the U.S.-led defense system because it says such a system would be ineffective in a small region like the Korean peninsula. Bell also commented on the possibility of a review of U.S. base relocations in South Korea, as well as asking South Korea to increase its payment to the U.S. for maintaining troops in Korea, while at the same time asking the U.S. government and Congress to allot more money to U.S. Forces Korea. The remarks are likely to see backlash from South Korean officials who have complained about the breakdown of defense cost sharing for U.S. Forces Korea, as well as how the budget is allocated. There are currently 29,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, rather than a peace treaty

Kuwait Sends a Signal

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htintel/articles/20070423.aspx

Westerners who live in the Persian Gulf (working for oil companies, governments and so on) have their own intelligence system, used to predict what the next disaster will be, and whether it's time to get out of the region. For example, all the talk about the U.S. invading Iran has generally been ignored by the Western expats in the Gulf. The reason was simple; the Kuwaitis weren't doing anything. For centuries, Kuwait was the canary in the coal mine as far as Iran went. Kuwait has a large Shia minority, and many families that have Iranian branches. These days, Kuwait is also a major American ally in the region. So all the talk of America attacking Iran was dismissed as long on the Kuwaitis were going about their business as usual. Now, however, the Kuwaitis are doing something, and that is making the expats, and many of the natives, nervous. Kuwait has publicly announced government ministries are preparing for the possibility of war between Iran and the United States. The Kuwaitis are not implying that such a war is a sure thing, but they are acknowledging that such a conflict is now a real possibility. Currently, about 15,000 American troops are stationed in Kuwait, which serves as a staging area and logistics base for U.S. operations in Iraq. The war has been a bonanza for the Kuwaiti economy, as many goods and services for U.S. troops have been bought in Kuwait.

Russian launches for Saudi Arabia satellites http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htspace/articles/20070427.aspx

Saudi Arabia put six more satellites into orbit, giving it a total of twelve circling the earth. The six new ones were launched by a converted Russian ICBM. For the last two years, Russia has been offering cheap ($14 million per shot) satellite launch services using converted ICBMs. After developing a new third stage, the Russian "Rokot" (demilitarized SS-19 ICBMs) are available for use as low cost launchers. The Russian price comes out to about $3,300 per pound of stuff put into space. This is a third of the rate when using a regular commercial launchers. Each Rokot launch can put about 1.9 tons into low orbit. This is sufficient for many commercial satellites, and is especially handy for the increasing number of communications and photo satellites going up. The Russians will have a lock on this low cost market until the end of the decade, when their supply of Cold War surplus ICBMs run out, and equally cheap commercial launchers (in development) come on the market. The United States has a similar satellite launching program, using recycled Minuteman 2 ICBMs, to put half a ton into low earth orbit. These are launched from a space port off the coast of Virginia.

Russia will counter U.S. missile shield: Putin http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-04-27T152901Z_01_L27670234_RTRUKOC_0_US-SHIELD-RUSSIA-PUTIN.xml

President Vladimir Putin on Friday renewed criticism of U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Eastern Europe, telling Czech President Vaclav Klaus at a Kremlin meeting that the proposed missile shield would be used to track Russian military activities. "These systems will monitor Russian territory as far as the Ural mountains if we don't come out with a response," Putin told Klaus. "And we will indeed do this. Anyone would." Moscow's top brass say the missile shield does not pose any immediate military threat for Russia, but warn that Russia will have to develop new anti-missile technology to counter it. Speaking at a news conference with Klaus, Putin compared the missile shield plan with the deployment of U.S. Pershing-2 missiles in Western Europe in the early 1980s, which triggered a bitter diplomatic crisis in the final years of the Cold War. In a sign of growing tensions, Putin announced in a speech on Thursday that Russia was freezing its commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, a deal hammered out at the end of the Cold War to maintain the regional strategic balance.

EU Urges Russia to Resume Oil Supplies to Lithuania http://www.mosnews.com/money/2007/04/26/lithuaniaoil.shtml

On Wednesday, April 25, the EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and European MPs adopted a joint statement, urging Russia to stop using its energy as a political weapon and resume oil supplies to Lithuania. The statement also says that Russia and the European Union are mutually dependent on energy, and that majority of problems arise from political disagreements. RIA Novosti reported that Piebalgs told MPs in Strasbourg he intended to pressure Russia into ratifying the Energy Charter, adding he had received a letter from the Russian Industry and Energy Minister expressing hope that oil supplies along the Druzhba pipeline to Lithuania’s Mazeikiu Nafta refinery will be resumed in the near future. Leaders of the 25-nation EU, increasingly concerned over energy security, are pushing for Russia to sign the Energy Charter, which would compel the country to open up its vast reserves and pipelines to European companies and to provide safeguards for investors. The European Union, which imports more than a quarter of its oil and natural gas from Russia via Ukrainian pipelines, faced a brief disruption last winter when Moscow suspended gas deliveries to Ukraine over a price dispute, sparking doubts over Russia’s reliability as a supplier. However, Russia, which has restricted European companies’ access to its energy sector, insists that energy security works both ways, and wants Europe to offer purchase safeguards for its energy if it wants Russian producers to guarantee steady deliveries. President Vladimir Putin, who met with EU leaders at an informal summit in the Finnish town of Lahti last October, assured them that Russia was a reliable energy supplier, but reiterated his refusal to sign the charter in its current form. Last July, an oil spill on the western section of the Druzhba pipeline caused shipments to Mazeikiu Nafta to be suspended. As MosNews reported, Lithuania has accused Moscow of dragging its feet on the repair work, which is ongoing. Russia’s continued suspension of crude supplies to the refinery was seen by analysts as a punitive measure following the Lithuanian government’s decision to sell it to PKN Orlen, rejecting Russian bids. Russia’s energy spats with Belarus and Ukraine have undermined its reputation as a reliable energy supplier and drawn accusations that it is using energy resources as a political lever.

Putin Blasts Foreign Interference Into Russian Affairs in State of the Nation Address

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2007/04/26/putincondemns.shtml

“There is a growth in the flow of money from abroad for direct interference in our internal affairs,” Putin said in his annual state of the nation address, delivered to the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament. “There are those who, skillfully using pseudo-democratic rhetoric, would like to return to the recent past—some to loot the country’s national riches, to rob the people and the state; others to strip us of economic and political independence,” Putin said. Putin did not cite specific countries as sources of the funding, but the comments echoed recent Russian official complaints against U.S. funding of democracy-promoting organizations in Russia. Officials have repeatedly alleged that such funding aims to provoke mass opposition protests such as those that helped propel pro-Western leaders into power in neighboring Georgia and Ukraine in recent years. Opposition forces charge Putin is strangling democracy through an array of measures to centralize power and increase the influence of large political parties such as his allied United Russia party, which dominates the Russian parliament. This December’s parliamentary elections will see seats distributed entirely on a party-list basis, eliminating the opportunity for small parties to win seats through strong local support in particular district—a change that critics say is among the measures to smother opposition. The death Monday of Putin’s predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, drew new attention to complaints that Putin is heading the country away from democracy.

China to buy 4 N-reactors from US

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1949537,prtpage-1.cms

China will purchase four state-of-the-art nuclear reactors from the United States at an estimated cost of $8 billion. The US has agreed to the transfer of AP1000 technology, which is believed safe, cost efficient and advanced compared with the 1970s-era reactors that dominate in China. The deal with Westinghouse Electric Company, in which the extent of technology transfers includes design of equipment and nuclear facilities as well as technical support, will be completed in May, and the first of the four reactors will begin to generate power by 2013, the state media reported on Tuesday. Meanwhile, China is looking to fuel its nuclear power industry with largely self-developed technology by 2020 as it gradually reduces its reliance on imported technology, a senior academic of the nation's top science institute said. China's first self-developed pressurised water reactor is expected to be put to use by 2017. As it seeks to reduce its reliance on coal-fired, polluting plants, China is committed to increasing nuclear power generation capacity to 40 gigawatt by 2020, about five times the installed capacity in 2005. Last week, China announced plans to build a strategic reserve of natural uranium. China's nine operating nuclear power units generated 54.8 billion kwh of electricity in 2006, or 1.9 per cent of the country's total. China plans to increase its nuclear power capacity to 40 million kilowatts by 2020, to account for four per cent of the country's total electric power, according to the country's medium and long-term development plan for nuclear power building. China built its first nuclear power plant in east coastal Zhejiang Province in 1991.

Regulators Declare 2 Power Corridors http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6589552,00.html

The Department of Energy proposed two ``national interest electric transmission corridors,'' the first of their kind under a 2005 law that could overcome local objections in order to relieve bottlenecks in the electricity grid. The proposed Southwest corridor would be composed of seven counties in southern California, three in Arizona and one in Nevada. The mid-Atlantic corridor would run north from Virginia and Washington, D.C., and include most of Maryland, all of New Jersey and Delaware and large sections of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The proposed corridors were announced a day after some House Democrats criticized the 2005 law's possible effects. The law gave the federal government greater say on where high-priority transmission lines should be built. If states and regional groups fail to build such lines, the government could order them built. Concerns about congestion in the electrical grid were heightened after a major blackout in 2003 that swept from Ohio to Canada and New York City. Still, local representatives fighting proposed towers in their communities were incensed by the announcement. Authorities will hold public meetings on the corridors in San Diego, Arlington, Va., and New York City. Once the 60-day comment period ends, the law calls for state regulators to try to strike an agreement on where new lines should be built. If state authorities do not approve any construction after a year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the authority to intervene and approve a grid project if the new line is deemed necessary to satisfy national power needs. While the two corridors proposed Thursday are the first, they may not be the last. A report last year identified several other potential corridors, including sections of New England, the Phoenix-Tucson area in Arizona, the Seattle-Portland area in the Pacific Northwest, and the San Francisco Bay area.

War monument removal sparks deadly riot http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21631462-1702,00.html

ESTONIAN authorities moved a Soviet-era war memorial from central Tallinn under cover of darkness today setting off riots that left at least one dead and sparking fury in Moscow. As Estonian authorities cordoned off the central square where the Red Army war memorial has been for decades, about 1000 pro-Russian demonstrators gathered nearby to protest. Their demonstration turned into a riot in which police used water cannon, rubber batons, and flash and sound grenades to disperse crowds and prevent youths from forcing their way through a police cordon. More than 300 people were detained following the riots which were the worst the Baltic state has seen since restoring independence from Moscow in 1991. A government emergency commission met during the night and ordered the controversial monument removed from the square to a new location, which is being kept secret, the Government press office said. Ethnic Estonians see the memorial as a symbol of 50 years of Soviet occupation while Russia considers it a symbol of the fight against Nazism in World War II. The plan to relocate the statue has caused anger in Moscow, which says the Estonians are glorifying fascism by insisting on moving it. The Estonian Government voted last year to move the monument to a less prominent location after scuffles broke out at the memorial between pro-Russian supporters and ethnic Estonians. Estonia and its Baltic neighbours were annexed by the Soviet Union at the close of World War II and only regained independence in 1991.

Carrefour puts India entry on hold http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1963561,prtpage-1.cms

Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer, has postponed plans to enter India until policy on foreign investment in the segment was clear, according to a report in the Economic Times. Foreign multiple-brand retailers are limited to cash-and-carry and franchise or licence operations in India. The French firm was also waiting to see the structure of a proposed venture between India's Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for cash-and-carry and the back-end. Details of the venture were to be finalised in April. India's fragmented $300-billion retail industry is forecast to more than double by 2015, but the proposed entry of big foreign retailers has triggered political concerns and protests from small shop owners who fear loss of jobs.

Myanmar to crack down on Indian rebel bases

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Myanmar_to_crack_down_on_Indian_rebel_bases/articleshow/1963672.cms

Myanmar is set to begin a military offensive following New Delhi's request to crack down on rebel bases. New Delhi had asked Mayanmar to evict Indian separatists from its soil, said Indian officials said on Friday. New Delhi has mounted pressure on Yangon to launch a military offensive against Indian militant groups – mainly the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF). The ULFA, a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland in Assam, is on the run since the Indian Army launched a crackdown in January after the group killed 80 people. At least five major militant groups from India's northeast, where numerous tribal and ethnic groups are fighting for greater autonomy or independence, have training camps in the dense jungles of Sagaing in northern Myanmar. The NSCN-K, a rebel group fighting for an independent tribal homeland in Nagaland, operates out of Myanmar with the outfit's general headquarters located in Sagaing. Myanmar had earlier pledged that the junta would not let Indian rebels operate from its soil. The country last year launched a military operation against the NSCN-K, killing at least a dozen rebels and overrunning several of their bases. India and Myanmar share a 1,640-km long unfenced border, allowing militants from the northeast to use the adjoining country as a springboard to carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on Indian soldiers. The rebels say they are seeking to protect their ethnic identities and allege that the central government has exploited the resources in the region rich with mineral, tea, timber and oil. Over 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.

Gere's arrest warrant outrages legal experts http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Geres_arrest_warrant_outrages_legal_experts/articleshow/1962371.cms

A Jaipur additional chief judicial magistrate on Thursday ordered the arrest of Hollywood actor Richard Gere for landing a peck on the cheeks of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, triggering an outrage among the country's top legal experts who called it a "cheap publicity stunt" that bordered on "judicial indecency". Former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee, who is one of the most respected legal luminaries of the country, took little time to describe the stunt as reminiscent of the "Taliban moral police". Other top legal experts too called it yet another instance of "hounding orders on frivolous complaints". They said the Indian judiciary would become a laughing stock in the world and urged the high court to take suo motu notice of the order and quash it. Magistrate Gupta, who issued the controversial ruling, found Gere's conduct objectionable and in violation of sections 294 and 34 of the IPC. Section 294 says, "Whoever to the annoyance of others does any obscene act in any public place shall be punished with imprisonment of three months or with a fine or both."

Kublai Khan's pearl up for grabs http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Gulf/Kublai_Khans_pearl_up_for_grabs_/articleshow/1962789.cms

A saltwater pearl insured for $5 million is due to be auctioned in May in Abu Dhabi. The 115-gram pearl is believed to have been the possession of the grandson of Ghengis Khan, the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan in the 13th century. According to media reports, the pearl is expected to attract bids of up to $8 million. Kublai Khan was the fifth Khagan or Great Khan (1260-94) of the Mongol empire as well as the founder and the first emperor (1271-94) of the Chinese Yuan dynasty.

April 26, 2007

2007-04-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

Democrats Prepare for Tonight's Debate
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OOB3380&show_article=1&catnum=-1

Eight Democratic presidential candidates will take part in a 90-minute debate tonight at South Carolina State University. For their first debate, the White House hopefuls are trying to dampen expectations for themselves so that any bright moments will seem like home runs. It's called the Expectations Game. The two leading candidates—Clinton and Obama—will be standing next to each other on stage, based on a random drawing. “NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams was set to moderate the MSNBC debate, which was being hosted by the university and the South Carolina Democratic Party. Special software designed by the network will keep track of how long each candidate gets on the air to ensure equal time. That's just about 11 minutes per candidate. Long shots like former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich would get just as much time to explain their views as their better-known rivals.

Oakland resolutions condemn federal immigration raids http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/25/BAGDNPFGV213.DTL

Oakland city officials today announced two new resolutions condemning recent federal immigration raids and formalizing the city's intention not to cooperate with the U.S. government effort to deport undocumented residents. The resolutions, one by Mayor Ron Dellums and the other by Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, both condemn the recent raids, which included one on Friday at an East Oakland manufacturer. Both resolutions are also an effort to update Oakland's 1986 "City of Refuge" ordinance which only applies to refugees fleeing political violence in Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua and South Africa, De La Fuente said. His proposed ordinance would give refuge to any undocumented immigrant regardless of national origin. The council president, Dellums, Police Chief Wayne Tucker, City Councilwomen Jean Quan and Jane Brunner, and other city officials appeared at a City Hall news conference to support both resolutions. The measure by De La Fuente and co-sponsors Quan and Brunner would direct city departments and staff not to cooperate with any federal immigration investigation, detention, or arrest procedures. They will introduce the measure Thursday to the City Council Rules Committee, De La Fuente said. "The City of Refuge declaration is just as relevant today as it was 21 years ago, if not more, as our federal immigration policies are still in need of comprehensive reform," said De La Fuente, a native of Mexico and one of the Bay Area's more prominent immigrant elected officials.

Federal raid triggers Chicago protest

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=upiUPI-20070425-112127-7518R&show_article=1

Residents of a predominately Hispanic Chicago neighborhood took to the streets in protest after heavily armed U.S. immigration agents raided businesses. "Soldiers bombarded our neighborhood," Baltazar Enriquez told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It looked like they were marching into Iraq." Heavily armed federal officers in bullet-proof vests, locked down a strip mall Tuesday in a Southwest Side neighborhood known as Little Village, Enriquez said. The raid triggered a protest of 250 to 300 people that lasted into the evening, the newspaper said. The federal agents were searching for sellers of fake Social Security and resident alien green cards, authorities said, refusing to say how many people were arrested in the search. Those arrested were to appear in federal court Wednesday. Neighborhood activists said the raid may have been to intimidate people from participating in a downtown May 1 march and rally to protest recent federal raids nationwide, the Chicago Tribune said.

"Women's town" to put men in their place http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/od_nm/china_womentown_odd_dc_1

Chinese tourism authorities are seeking investment to build a novel concept attraction -- the world's first "women's town," where men get punished for disobedience, an official said Thursday. The 2.3-square-km Longshuihu village in the Shuangqiao district of Chongqing municipality, also known as "women's town," was based on the local traditional concept of "women rule and men obey," a tourism official told Reuters. "Traditional women dominate and men have to be obedient in the areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing, and now we are using it as an idea to attract tourists and boost tourism," the official, surname Li, said by telephone. The tourism bureau planned to invest between 200 million yuan ($26 million) and 300 million yuan in infrastructure, roads and buildings, Li said. "We welcome investors from overseas and nationwide to invest in our project," he added. The motto of the new town would be "women never make mistakes, and men can never refuse women's requests," Chinese media have reported. When tour groups enter the town, female tourists would play the dominant role when shopping or choosing a place to stay, and a disobedient man would be punished by "kneeling on an uneven board" or washing dishes in restaurant, media reports said. The project, begun in the end of 2005, was expected to take three to five years to finish.

New Hampshire to pass civil unions bill http://rawstory.com/news/2007/New_Hampshire_to_pass_civil_unions_0426.html

Lawmakers voted to authorize a civil unions measure today that would give same-sex couples the same rights and benefits as married heterosexual couples, according to an Associated Press report. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch has signaled his intention to sign the measure into law. "This legislation is a matter of conscience, fairness and of preventing discrimination," a spokesman for the governor was quoted as saying. "It is in keeping with New Hampshire's proud tradition of preventing discrimination. "New Hampshire would become the fourth state to authorize civil unions, following decisions by New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont. Massachussetts is the only state to allow gay marriages. The New Hampshire legislation was passed along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. The law will take effect in January of next year.

Vermont Senate rejects Impeachment

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/White_House_Do_Vermont_impeachment_resolutions_0425.html

Rep. Thomas Koch, R-Barre Town, was the first legislator to speak out against the resolution on the floor Wednesday. Passing the resolution would add to the acrimony of modern politics and “not make our troops any safer,” he said. “One of the lessons we learned from the Clinton impeachment is that it should not be treated lightly,” Koch said. “It ought to be reserved for the most egregious, most urgent high crimes and misdemeanors. It should not be about whether or not you support the president or the war.” Rep. David Sunderland, R-Rutland Town, questioned if Bush’s alleged misdeeds rose to the level of impeachment. To prove his point, he referenced congressional testimony indicating that the president has the right to “wiretap terrorists” and read statements from prominent Democrats on the threat Saddam Hussein posed to the world.
“I don’t think it is the intent to impeach these other individuals based on statements made and actions taken based on the best information available at the time,” Sunderland said. Democrats siding with House Speaker Gaye Symington in opposing the measure included Rep. David Deen of Westminister. He noted that while he “does not support this administration,” the current hearings and investigations in the U.S. Congress are working.

White House admits it conducted election briefings

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/White_House_admits_it_conducted_election_0426.html

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said briefings were held at other federal agencies besides the GSA, for a total of about 20 - most in 2006 and a couple in 2007. They were conducted by White House political director Sara Taylor or Jennings, her deputy. It had been known that other briefings had been held, but not how many. Others were held in previous years as well, but Stanzel said the White House hasn't kept a count of how many. Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said no laws were broken and that the White House counsel's office signed off on the effort. "It's not unlawful and it wasn't unusual for informational briefings to be given," Perino said. "There is no prohibition under the Hatch Act of allowing political appointees to talk to other political appointees about the political landscape in which they are trying to advance the president's agenda." She added: "These briefings were not inappropriate, they were not unlawful, they were not unethical."

Could Global Warming Be Halted by Controlling the Weather?

http://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/04/25/could-global-warming-be-halted-by-controlling-the-weather

One idea put forth by a physicist involved in climate-control discussions would involve bombarding the Arctic stratosphere with specially engineered particles to deflect the sun’s rays, thereby lowering temperatures. Alternatively, a fleet of crop-dusting airplanes could deliver the particles by flying continuously around the Arctic Circle. An astronomer suggested placing a huge fleet of mirrors in orbit to divert solar radiation. Some of these ideas, says Mr. Fleming, are reminiscent of the optimism that framed the first attempts at climate control, which date to the 19th century. In the 1940s, scientists developed cloud-seeding to produce rainfall, a technique that was later adopted by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War to hinder enemy troops movements.

Now Taiwan reports millions of missing bees

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-04-26T104754Z_01_TP162481_RTRUKOC_0_US-TAIWAN-BEES.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

Over the past two months, farmers in three parts of Taiwan have reported most of their bees gone, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported. Taiwan's TVBS television station said about 10 million bees had vanished in Taiwan.A beekeeper on Taiwan's northeastern coast reported 6 million insects missing "for no reason", and one in the south said 80 of his 200 bee boxes had been emptied, the paper said..Beekeepers usually let their bees out of boxes to pollinate plants and the insects normally make their way back to their owners. However, many of the bees have not returned over the past couple of months. Possible reasons include disease, pesticide poisoning and unusual weather, varying from less than 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) to more than 30 degrees Celsius over a few days, experts say. "You can see climate change really clearly these days in Taiwan," said Yang Ping-shih, entomology professor at the National Taiwan University. He added that two kinds of pesticide can make bees turn "stupid" and lose their sense of direction. Billions of bees have fled hives in the United States since late 2006, instead of helping pollinate $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts and other crops annually. Disappearing bees also have been reported in Europe and Brazil.

Rice rebuffs congress on Iraq war subpoena http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070426134503.4rzk54r9&show_article=1&catnum=3

"This is an issue that has been answered and answered and answered," Rice said when asked about the subpoena during a visit to Oslo for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Rice said her staff had written three letters in the last month to Democratic congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, concerning his questions about bogus 2003 White House assertions that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had sought enriched uranium from Niger as part of a program to develop nuclear weapons. Rice, who was Bush's national security adviser at the time, said Thursday that she was willing to provide additional information to Waxman's committee in writing. But she added that her White House work was covered by the constitutional principle of executive privilege, a principle presidents have in the past used to shelter aides from being forced to testify under oath in Congress. But Rice stopped short of ruling out an appearance before Waxman's committee and when asked if she would comply with the subpoena, her spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We haven't decided yet."

Putin ups stakes in missile shield row

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2672082320070426

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a moratorium on a key European arms control treaty. Putin's announcement came hours before NATO and Russian officials were to discuss a project U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted was no threat to Moscow, brushing off such Russian concerns as "purely ludicrous". NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he would ask Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to explain Putin's decision to suspend the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) and rejected Putin's accusation that NATO was ignoring it. He was referring to NATO's longstanding insistence that Russia withdraw its remaining troops from Georgia and Moldova before its members ratify a revised version of the CFE. The CFE Treaty was negotiated in the months after the Cold War among the then-22 member states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries with the goal of achieving verifiable reductions in conventional military equipment. Only Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine have so far ratified an adapted 1999 version. Putin, in a speech to both houses of parliament, accused NATO allies of ignoring clauses in the CFE and said the U.S. shield plan had only made matters worse. Putin aide Arkady Dvorkovich told a news briefing in Moscow that Russia had no plans to exit the treaty immediately and wanted consultations with NATO on the matter.

Russia Shuts Down U.S. NGO http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=21421

A U.S.-based nongovernmental organization will halt operations after a police raid on its Moscow office last week. The Educated Media Foundation — the legal successor of Internews, which trains journalists and works with many media outlets — will temporarily halt its activities after Interior Ministry officers confiscated documents and computers from its office. About 20 officers from the Interior Ministry’s economic crimes department locked themselves in the organization’s office in the Central House of Journalists for nearly 11 hours Wednesday during the raid. A new NGO law, which came into force a year ago, increased the amount of paperwork that NGOs must keep and required them to reregister under stringent new guidelines. The law was adopted after President Vladimir Putin said he would not tolerate foreign funds being used by NGOs for political activities. Foreign-connected NGOs played key roles in regime changes in Georgia in 2003 and Ukraine in 2004. Interior Ministry officials could not be reached for comment.

ACLU Sues Over 'God' License Plates http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/23/211120.shtml
A legal complaint filed this week in Indiana challenges the constitutionality of the year-old law that created the state's "In God We Trust" specialty license plate, saying its supporters receive preferential treatment not available to supporters of other specialty plates. The lawsuit filed in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis claims motorists who request the "In God We Trust" plates receive preferential treatment because they do not have to pay a $15 administrative fee that the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles collects. The administrative fees are added to other fees whose proceeds promote the causes of the other specialty plates. The plaintiff bringing the case, Mark Studler, said he pays an additional $40 for one of the popular environmental plates depicting an eagle above the word "Environment." Of the total fee, $25 goes to a state trust to purchase land set aside for conservation or recreational purposes and the remaining $15 is for the administration fee. The 2006 law establishing the "In God We Trust" plate waives the administrative fee.

PBS Won't Air So-Called 'Alarmist' View of Islamists
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/25/75503.shtml

“Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center" highlights the work of moderate Muslims who oppose the Islamist agenda and are willing to speak out. PBS officials decided against airing the film, which PBS's Robert MacNeil told the Diane Rehm Show earlier this month was "one-sided" and "alarmist." Some of the key Muslim figures featured in the documentary believe PBS is practicing censorship and doing a disservice to the American public. The film, which was supposed to be part of a PBS series, cost taxpayers more than $600,000. Zuhdi Jasser, president of Islamic Forum for Democracy, also is featured in the film. He told Cybercast News Service that the mainstream media and public television officials are responsible for the unbalanced coverage of America's Muslim community. He also said there is a concerted effort by well-organized, well-financed Islamist organizations to silence moderate voices. Jasser and other participants on Tuesday named the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as among those groups. One of the film's co-producers, Alex Alexiev of the Center for Security Policy, called CAIR "as radical as they come." Attempts to get CAIR's reaction Monday and Tuesday were unsuccessful. PBS spokesman Joe Deplasco told Cybercast News Service the film was unfinished and could not be shown. He said films that did not make the cut for the PBS series may still be considered for airing later as "stand alone" pieces.

FCC: Govt. Could Regulate TV Violence http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/4/25/214513.shtml?s=us

Congress could regulate violence on cable, satellite and broadcast television without violating the First Amendment, the Federal Communications Commission said in a report released Wednesday. The report, which had been requested by Congress, contains suggestions for action by lawmakers, but it stops short of making specific recommendations. A correlation exists between bloodshed on television and violence in real life, the commission said. Among those tools, Congress could require cable companies to sell their programming on a per-channel or family tier basis, rather than only in pre-bundled packages. As for broadcast television, the report cites Supreme Court precedent to suggest the agency could regulate violent programming much as it regulates sexual content and profanity _ by barring it from being aired during hours when children may be watching. Or it could create a family-viewing hour. It also says that technology intended to help parents shield their children from objectionable programming, such as the V-chip, is inadequate. The ACLU had harsh words for the report, calling the FCC's recommendations "political pandering," in a statement attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, the organization's director of its legislative office in Washington. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he will file legislation that may incorporate some of the commission's recommendations.

Satellite firm stops Tamil Tigers' illegal broadcasts http://news.asiaone.com.sg/st/st_20070426_114279.html

INTELSAT, the giant satellite services provider, has stopped what it called the unauthorised use of one of its satellites by Tamil rebels, the Sri Lankan Embassy in the United States said on Tuesday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which is considered a terrorist organisation by the US, European Union and Canada, had been using the Intelsat12 satellite for TV and radio transmissions to Europe and Asia, the embassy said in a statement on its website. Intelsat has referred to the transmissions as 'unauthorised', and said it 'does not tolerate terrorists or others operating illegally on its satellites'. Mr Phillip Spector, Intelsat's executive vice-president and general counsel, said the Intelsat transponder used by the Tamil Tigers was shut down last weekend. The Sri Lankan Embassy also revealed that the Tamil Tigers had been broadcasting through the satellite since March 2005.

Thailand's Buddhist monks demand that Buddhism be made national religion http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-04-2007/90421-Thailand_religion-0

Hundreds of Buddhist monks led elephants through Bangkok to demand that Thailand's new post-coup constitution enshrine Buddhism as the national religion. Police had hoped to persuade the monks, who were joined by hundreds of supporters, to leave the elephants at the city limits as they marched into the capital, said Bangkok Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Adisorn Nontree. But protesters pushed their way through a police line as they entered Bangkok, briefly scuffling with police. Marchers planned to meet up with protesters at Bangkok's parliament building. Police said they feared the elephants would make the rally difficult to control, and that the scorching sun would make Bangkok's streets too hot for the animals to walk on. The march came a day after coup leader Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin backed the idea of recognizing Buddhism as the national religion, amid a worsening Islamic insurgency in the south. The uprising has killed more than 2,000 people since it flared in 2004. More than 90 percent of Thailand's 64 million people are Buddhists, and Muslims who form the majority in the deep south have long complained of discrimination. The first draft of a new post-coup constitution, made public last week, retains the wording on the topic from Thailand's previous constitution, from 1997. It does not name Buddhism as the national religion, and says the state will protect all faiths. However, Sonthi said he expected the charter's drafting committee to "review its decision on this issue," The Bangkok Post newspaper reported Wednesday.

Palestianians renew truce in Gaza http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3392188,00.html

Palestinian armed factions renewed their commitment to a Gaza Strip truce on Thursday but said rocket barrages from the territory could resume if Israel did not halt military operations in the West Bank. The message was delivered to Israel by an Egyptian mediator who has been trying to prevent a major confrontation after Hamas's armed wing fired rockets and declared the Gaza truce dead on Tuesday, Palestinians familiar with the talks said. Hamas called Tuesday's barrage a response to the killing of eight Palestinians in Israeli military operations, most of them in the West Bank. Israel has in the past signaled its interest in extending the Gaza truce to the West Bank, but only if militant threats cease first. Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the apparent ultimatum delivered by Hammad.

Japan PM Shinzo Abe in US to Meet Bush http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JAPAN_US_SUMMIT?SITE=ASIAONE&SECTION=ASIA&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-04-25-21-55-27

President Bush is expected to offer a warm welcome to Abe, whose country was a vocal supporter of the Iraq invasion and sent non-combat troops to the southern part of the country - Japan's first dispatch to a country at war since 1945. Abe left Tokyo for Washington Thursday morning on a government aircraft. He was to visit Arlington National Cemetery and attend a dinner at the White House later Thursday, and meet with Bush at Camp David on Friday, before heading off on a tour of the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. High on the agenda in the U.S. will be the two allies' evolving military relationship. Abe is pushing to change the interpretation of Japan's pacifist constitution to allow greater integration with Washington's armed forces. In addition, Bush is expected to float the idea that Japan should boost military spending to pay for items such as missile defense. Tokyo currently limits defense outlays to 1 percent of gross domestic product. The U.S. spends 4 percent of GDP on defense. Abe's political future is uncertain. With his popularity flagging, his ruling Liberal Democratic Party faces the prospect of losing seats in the upper house elections in July. Serious losses in the chamber, where the LDP dominates only with the help of coalition partner the New Komei Party, could damage Abe and prompt the party to look for successors.

Taiwan unveils new tactical missile system for defense http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/front/2007425/107980.htm

The Ministry of National Defense unveiled a tactical missile system designed to strike mainland China's airports and missile batteries in the event of an attack from mainland China. MND revealed the TSMFS, or Tactical Shorebase Missile For Fire Suppression in a statement detailing the rundown of the just-concluded computer battle scenario simulation of the annual Han Kuang exercise. Vice Admiral Hsu Tai-shen said that TSMFS is a passive weapons system designed to react to an attack by mainland China, which will only target the mainland's airports and missile batteries. The shorebased missile system is installed on the coastline of the outer islands and is aimed at countering a combined missile and air attack by mainland China. Reports have said that over 700 cruise missiles in locations along the coast of mainland China are aimed at Taiwan. MND spokesman Rear Admiral Wu Chi-fang said the Hang Kuang exercise showed weaknesses in defense against missiles and submarines and urged legislators to pass the MND's arms procurement package.

Singapore, China to jointly develop an 'eco-city' http://news.asiaone.com.sg/st/st_20070426_114265.html

Details of the 'eco-city', such as whether the project will be carried out in a small city or be part of a big metropolis, have yet to be worked out. But the venture could involve a consortium of Singapore companies backed by the Government and relevant agencies, said a Senior Minister. China is trying to shift its inefficient and highly polluting mode of economic growth towards a more sustainable form of development that reduces the strain on the environment. This could open up many new opportunities for Singapore, which has strengths in environmental services and technology in areas like water treatment and sanitation. A detailed proposal will be written up soon.

Jordan wants nuke plant http://www.star.com.jo/viewnews/DetailNews.aspx?nid=4751

Despite some concerns over the proliferation of nuclear technology in the region and possible political motives, Jordan needs new energy sources and is well placed to develop a nuclear program. The plant will be used for electricity generation and water desalination. Jordan is highly reliant on imports to meet its energy demands with 95 percent of its energy requirements coming from overseas. It is also one of the top 10 most water-impoverished countries in the world with a deficit of over 500mcm a year, which creates both a financial and energy security issue for the kingdom. In 2006, the energy bill was equal to approximately 25 percent of GDP. The country is trying to stimulate a domestic energy program to reduce its reliance on imports. The mooted nuclear plan is central as Jordan is home to approximately 2 percent of the world’s uranium reserves. Jordan is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty under which the IAEA monitors nuclear projects for peaceful purposes. According to Khalid Shraideh, the minister of energy, $450 million of investment will be required up to 2015 for developing wind and solar energy projects. Kabariti said extensive studies are already being carried out for wind farm sites, with much of the mapping and data already completed but not published. One likely site for development is around the northern town of Jerash.

Al Gore's 'Army' Gets Basic Training http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/4/25/113847.shtml?s=us

'Global warming' crusader Al Gore has trained some 1,000 Americans to deliver his Oscar-winning "An Inconvenient Truth” slide show to schools, Rotary clubs and nursing homes across the nation. Thousands of applications for Gore’s effort, The Climate Project, poured in after word of the training circulated last summer through environmental sites and blogs, USA Today reported. Candidates were chosen based on "their ability to commit to doing the 10 presentations and reach unique groups of people,” said project director Jenny Clad. The first group of 50 trainees spent time on Gore’s Tennessee farm.

Texas Showdown on HPV Vaccine Order http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/4/25/160143.shtml?s=he

Texas lawmakers rejected Gov. Rick Perry's anti-cancer vaccine order Wednesday, sending him a bill that blocks state officials from requiring the shots for at least four years. Perry has said he is disappointed with the Legislature's actions but has not indicated whether he will veto the bill. He has 10 days to sign or veto it, or the proposal will become law without his signature. Lawmakers can override a veto with a two-thirds vote of both chambers. The legislation passed by well over that margin in both chambers. Wednesday's vote by the House to accept changes made by the Senate is one of the final steps in a fight that began in February, when Perry made national headlines with an executive order requiring the human papillomavirus vaccine for sixth-grade girls.

A night with the devil on the Rock http://www.star.com.jo/viewnews/DetailNews.aspx?nid=4716

Each day at sundown, when the last tour boat departs this desolate, wind-swept outpost, one lonesome soul is left behind. He’s the night watchman of Alcatraz. Guided by the beam of his flashlight, Gregory Johnson inches down the gloomy infirmary ward of this retired prison, once home to the nation’s most malicious killers and psychotic criminal malcontents. “Hey, what’s that noise?” he asks, throwing the light against the half-open door of a solitary confinement cell. He pauses, shrugging off another unexplained Alcatraz phenomenon. “Man,” he whispers, “I couldn’t imagine being out here at night without my gun.” Until the first boat arrives after dawn, the US park police officer spends the night battling both his nerves and imagination, patrolling the place once known as America’s Devil’s Island. “I don’t believe in ghosts, per se,” says Johnson, 38. Between 1934 and 1963, the Civil War-era military fortress turned penitentiary provided inmates with the hardest time they ever did, in part because San Francisco’s cityscape reminded them of the freedom they had lost. George DeVincenzi, a guard at Alcatraz from 1950 to 1957, said the proximity of the California culture drove prisoners nearly insane. “Yachts circled the island, and men on the third tier of C and B blocks could see girls in bikinis drinking cocktails,” he said. “It was so near, and yet so far.” Erik Novencido worked the island night shift for 10 years. The worst part was walking inside the electroshock therapy room. Once he took a picture at night to show friends. When he developed the film, he says, the snapshot showed a face in the room staring back at him. He never figured out what it was. Even so, there were strange events. “Many times, at night in the cell house, I had the distinct sensation of being pinched on the butt,” said McClure, 52, a former paramedic. “It happened with great regularity. I have no explanation for it, and I don’t talk to people about it, because I know it makes me sound crazy.”

Czech Chamber passes anti-smoking bill in first reading http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=248994

The Chamber of Deputies today passed in the first reading the anti-smoking bill that is to limit smoking in restaurants and some other public areas such as corridors of apartment houses and children's playgrounds. Most opponents of the bill are among Civic Democrat (ODS) deputies, though the bill was mainly worked out by ODS Deputy Boris Stastny. The supporters of the bill pointed out the right of non-smokers to be protected from health consequences of passive smoking. Health Minister Tomas Julinek (ODS) said that it was necessary to fight not only tobacco, but also high alcohol consumption. Under the bill, special separated and well-aired premises at restaurants, cafes and bars would have to be designed for smokers. So far, it is enough for a restaurant operator to place a sign reading "a space for smokers." Surveys show that one out of four Czechs smokes and that about half of youths aged from 15 to 18 are smokers.

Abstract from study on effect of cocoa and tea intake on blood pressure http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/167/7/626

Epidemiological evidence suggests blood pressure–lowering effects of cocoa and tea. We undertook a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to determine changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure due to the intake of cocoa products or black and green tea. Five randomized controlled studies of cocoa administration involving a total of 173 subjects with a median duration of 2 weeks were included. Current randomized dietary studies indicate that consumption of foods rich in cocoa may reduce blood pressure, while tea intake appears to have no effect.

Long-term Aspirin Use and Mortality in Women http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/167/6/562

We conducted a prospective, nested, case-control study of 79 439 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study who had no history of cardiovascular disease or cancer. Women provided data on medication use biennially since 1980. We assessed relative risk (RR) of death according to aspirin use before diagnosis of incident cardiovascular disease or cancer and during the corresponding period for each control subject. In women, low to moderate doses of aspirin are associated with significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality, particularly in older women and those with cardiac risk factors. A significant benefit is evident within 5 years for cardiovascular disease, whereas a modest benefit for cancer is not apparent until after 10 years of use.

Frequency of Analgesic Use and Risk of Hypertension Among Men http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/167/4/394

Nonnarcotic analgesics are the most commonly used drugs in the United States. To our knowledge, the association between the use of these analgesics, particularly acetaminophen, and the risk of hypertension among men has not been extensively studied. The association between analgesic use and risk of incident hypertension was analyzed in a prospective cohort analysis of 16 031 male health professionals without a history of hypertension at baseline. Detailed information about the frequency of use of acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and aspirin was gathered at baseline and updated 2 years later. The frequency of nonnarcotic analgesic use is independently associated with a moderate increase in the risk of incident hypertension. Given the widespread use of these medications and the high prevalence of hypertension, these results may have important public health implications.

Vitamin B6, B12, and Folic Acid Supplementation and Cognitive Function http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/1/21

Despite their important role in cognitive function, the value of B vitamin supplementation is unknown. A systematic review of the effect of pyridoxine hydrochloride (hereinafter "vitamin B6"), cyanocobalamin or hydroxycobalamin (hereinafter "vitamin B12"), and folic acid supplementation on cognitive function was performed. Fourteen trials met our criteria; most were of low quality and limited applicability. Approximately 50 different cognitive function tests were assessed. Three trials of vitamin B6 and 6 of vitamin B12 found no effect overall in a variety of doses, routes of administration, and populations. One of 3 trials of folic acid found a benefit in cognitive function in people with cognitive impairment and low baseline serum folate levels. Six trials of combinations of the B vitamins all concluded that the interventions had no effect on cognitive function. Among 3 trials, those in the placebo arm had greater improvements in a small number of cognitive tests than participants receiving either folic acid or combination B-vitamin supplements. The evidence was limited by a sparsity of studies, small sample size, heterogeneity in outcomes, and a lack of studies that evaluated symptoms or clinical outcomes. The evidence does not yet provide adequate evidence of an effect of vitamin B6 or B12 or folic acid supplementation, alone or in combination, on cognitive function testing in people with either normal or impaired cognitive function.

Alcohol Dosing and Total Mortality in Men and Women http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/166/22/2437

Moderate consumption of alcohol is inversely related with coronary disease, but its association with mortality is controversial. We performed a meta-analysis of prospective studies on alcohol dosing and total mortality. We searched PubMed for articles available until December 2005, supplemented by references from the selected articles. Thirty-four studies on men and women, for a total of 1 015 835 subjects and 94 533 deaths, were selected. Data were pooled with a weighed regression analysis of fractional polynomials. Low levels of alcohol intake (1-2 drinks per day for women and 2-4 drinks per day for men) are inversely associated with total mortality in both men and women. Our findings, while confirming the hazards of excess drinking, indicate potential windows of alcohol intake that may confer a net beneficial effect of moderate drinking, at least in terms of survival.

Drink ethanol, live healthier: study http://health.asiaone.com.sg/eatright/20070420_002.html

Any colored fruit or vegetable is rich in antioxidants, which are chemicals that can cancel out the cell-damaging effects of compounds called free radicals. Berries, for instance, contain compounds known as polyphenols and anthocyanins. People who eat more of these fruits and vegetables have a documented lower risk of cancer, heart disease and some neurological diseases. .S. and Thai researchers said on Thursday. Adding ethanol -- the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits -- boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found. Any colored fruit might be made even more healthful with the addition of a splash of alcohol, they report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. The study did not address whether adding a little cocktail umbrella enhanced the effects.

Feds eye control of vitamins, supplements – even water http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55370http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55370

The Food and Drug Administration says vitamins, supplements, herbs and other natural substances, including water when it is used to "treat" dehydration, should be classified as drugs, and opponents have only until April 30 to express their concern about the proposals under Docket No. 2006D-0480. The government agency under the direction of Andrew C. von Eschenbach, who became commissioner in 2006, also has put its "Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration" on a fast track for implementation.

April 25, 2007

2007-04-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

Kucinich announces impeachment charges against Vice President Cheney
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Kucinich_announces_impeachment_charges_against_Vice_0424.html

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a candidate for president in 2008, announced a series of charges against Vice President Dick Cheney in Washington, DC, late in the day. Kucinich alleged that the Vice President had committed a series of impeachable offenses, and he was therefore introducing Articles of Impeachment against Cheney in the Congress today. The Ohio Democrat's move intended to provide a "defense of the rights of American people to have a government that is honest and peaceful." Kucinich excoriated the Vice President who he called "a driving force for taking us into war against Iraq under false pretenses, and is once again rattling sabers of war against Iran, with the same intent to drive America into war, again based on false pretenses."

The Ohio Congressman, who is running for president for the second time, noted three charges in his Articles of Impeachment, which were submitted as House Resolution 333. The first concerned manipulation of intelligence about Iraq's threat to the US. The second concerned manipulation of intelligence on the Iraq-Al-Qaida relationship. The last concerned what he called having "openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran." Kucinich claimed the charges were "deeply researched," in the press conference, and insisted that his accusations were not just a political stunt. The former Cleveland Mayor further acknowledged in the press conference that he had not recently spoken with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on the matter. Pelosi had said last year that impeach was "off the table." "There is a very practical reason - each and every charge relates to Vice President Cheney's conduct or misconduct in office," he said. But he added, "It is very important that we start with Mr. Cheney because if we were to start with the President, Mr. Cheney would then become president.

Intelligence not linked to wealth, according to US study
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Intelligence_not_linked_to_wealth_a_04242007.html

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics survey included 7,403 Americans who have been interviewed repeatedly since 1979. Based on 2004 answers, people who are now in their mid-40s showed no link between brain- and earning-power. The study confirmed previous research which has shown that smarter people tend to earn more money, but pointed out there is a difference between high pay and overall wealth. An irregular pattern of total wealth as well as financial distress levels -- such as maxed out credit cards, bankruptcy and missing bill payments -- emerged among the various degrees of intelligence, the study said. The study measured intelligence based on scores from the US Armed Services Qualification Test, a general aptitude test used by the Department of Defense.

Scripps Florida claims discovery of gene that causes learning disabilities
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-424scripps,0,7570431.story?track=mostemailedlink

Scientists at Scripps Florida have discovered a new gene associated with a condition that causes severe learning disabilities, including autism, anxiety disorders, psychoses and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Until recently, researchers thought that a defect in only one gene causes the condition, fragile X syndrome, by halting development of a protein needed for normal brain development. That gene was discovered 16 years ago. But Dr. Claes Wahlestedt, director of neuroscience discovery at Jupiter-based Scripps, and postdoctoral student Ahmad Khalil, found a second gene completely shuts down in patients with the syndrome. Instinct told them there was more than one gene because fragile X patients vary widely in mental capacity. While it still falls within the realm of basic science, the discovery adds a new layer of knowledge about a condition that affects one in 2,000 boys and one in 4,000 girls across all populations. And it offers greater hope that by understanding the mechanisms behind fragile X, researchers can develop early treatments and ultimately a cure.

US death by injection under fire as execution method: study
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_death_by_injection_under_fire_as_04242007.html

Lethal injections used to execute death sentences do not guarantee that the condemned will die without suffering, a new study found. The three-drug method, used in most US death penalty executions, includes one drug to induce sleep, another to stop breathing and a third to stop the heart. A dozen states suspended their executions amid debate over a study published in 2005 in the Lancet showing that those being executed had not been properly anesthetized. The study released this week by PLoS Medicine, based on detailed information on 41 executions in North Carolina and California, found that those being put to death did not always react as expected to different substances used. In some cases, the condemned continued to breathe many minutes after receiving the drug meant to stop their breathing or to paralyze them. In others, hearts continued beating as long as nine minutes after receiving the last substance, potassium chloride, meant to kill them immediately. The data also showed anesthesia was still not working reliably, and that subjects could be conscious when hit with the second drug. Doctors underscored that the US constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment. PLoS Medicine opposes capital punishment.

Petition submitted to Dutch Parliament to commemorate the 18th birthday of the 11th Panchen Lama in The Hague, The Netherlands
http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1122

International Campaign for Tibet-Europe marked the 18th birthday of Gedun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama with a manifestation in The Hague and by presenting a petition to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Dutch Parliament in The Hague which was signed by 17 Tibet, Buddhist and Human Rights organizations in The Netherlands. The petition called upon the Members of the Dutch Parliament to keep the issue of the Panchen Lama high on the agenda. Gedun Choekyi Nyima went missing shortly after he was recognized as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1995.

The Story of His Holiness the Panchen Lama
http://www.tashilhunpo.org/panchen.htm

The 11th Panchen Lama, Gedun Choekyi Nyima, son of Kunchok Phuntsok and Dechen Choedon, was born on April 25, 1989 and was officially proclaimed as the true reincarnate of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died unexpectedly after delivering an historic anti-Chinese government speech. The young Panchen Lama is presently the youngest political prisoner in the world and we appeal to the international community, non governmental organizations and every individual to demand the Chinese authorities release and ensure the safety and well-being of H.H. the Panchen Lama, Gedun Choekyi Nyima.

China's Wu Pledges WTO Fight With U.S. as Paulson Summit Looms
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aZW.FG6wdn24&refer=asia

Wu Yi, China's most senior trade official, accused the U.S. of ignoring her country's efforts to curb copyright piracy and pledged to ``fight until the end'' against the latest complaints to the World Trade Organization. ``It's unprecedented for a WTO member to file two complaints against another in such a short time,'' Wu said today in Beijing at a commerce ministry conference on intellectual property rights. ``These moves betray the consensus reached by China and the U.S. to resolve trade issues through dialogue.'' China's highest-ranked woman politician underscored the trade tensions between the two nations ahead of her planned meetings next month with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Washington. The U.S. trade deficit with China last year widened to a record $232.5 billion amid calls in Congress for sanctions. The U.S. this month filed two WTO complaints, seeking to combat the alleged rampant piracy of movies, music, software and books. The Commerce Department last month flagged plans to impose duties on coated-paper imports from China. China is the second-largest trading partner of the U.S., ranking behind Canada after overtaking Mexico last year. China's copying of movies, music and software cost companies $2.2 billion in 2006 sales, according to an estimate by lobby groups representing Microsoft Corp., Walt Disney Co., and Vivendi SA.

Moth triggers Bay Area quarantine
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_5737690?nclick_check=1

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has set up quarantine areas covering at least 182 square miles in Northern California in an effort to control the spread of the state's newest invasive species, a voracious pest native to Australia known as the light brown apple moth. In Santa Clara County, the quarantine area includes most of Palo Alto and portions of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View, places where the moth has been detected. Other counties where infestations have been found and quarantine areas established include Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco. Moths have been found and quarantine areas are expected to be announced soon for San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, according to state officials.

Chavez calls Bush a terrorist
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/sfl-achavez24apr24,0,1796263.story?coll=sfla-news-caribbean

President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela will lodge a protest with the United Nations after the United States released a Cuban militant on bail, accusing Washington of letting a terrorist go free. Venezuela had asked the United States to extradite 79-year-old former CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles on charges that he plotted the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger plane, in which 73 people died. Chavez also said Posada has been plotting to assassinate him for years, and accused President Bush of complicity in failing to bring Posada to justice. "President Bush, you are a protector of terrorists. As such, you are a terrorist," Chavez said Sunday during his weekly TV and radio program Hello, President.

Aftermath of the South American energy summit
http://www.abn.info.ve/go_news5.php?articulo=89668&lee=17

From the perspective of Venezuela, organizer of the first South American Energy Summit, the main relations established seemed to be as follows: Relations with Colombia and Ecuador were intensified by exchanging gas and oil. With Brazil, Venezuela confirmed its relationship on petrochemicals and other petroleum issues but disputed the mass production of ethanol planned by Brazil in cooperation with the United States. The Chilean-Venezuelan relationship seemed at least neutral. Deals were made about the exploration of the southern country of Venezuela's Faja del Orinoco, the new to be exploited oil field in the Venezuelan state of Bolivar. Meanwhile however, there was a quarrel over the renewal of the commercial Venezuelan television channel, RCTV. The Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez told Michelle Bachelet, the president of Chile, that the renewal of the channel was «a national matter», when Bachelet voiced her opinion on the matter. Uruguay and Peru’s president were noted by their absence, implying a disinterest or a rejection of Unified South American politics in which the majority of the countries are socialist and anti-United States. Uruguay was visited by the president of the United States, George Bush a month before the summit. Peru has a right wing government. Paraguay and Bolivia received more oil and a refinery, respectively. The presence of Suriname and Guyana was that economically insignificant that even their own press failed to report on the Summit.

Ban warns Syria on arms smuggling
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1177251158903&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Syria on Tuesday for tough talks with its president on two Lebanese issues - support for an international court to try the killers of Rafik Hariri and preventing arms smuggling to Hizbullah. Syria, a major patron of Hizbullah, has up to now stood its ground on these points, but the government has pledged to cooperate with Ban Ki-moon, who began talks with President Bashar al-Assad shortly after his arrival. The state newspaper Tishrin said in an editorial Tuesday that Ban would find "a lot of common ground that can be built on." Ban has warned that the smuggling of weapons across the Syrian-Lebanese border threatens the August 14 cease-fire that halted the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah. The UN Security Council has authorized a UN mission to monitor the Syrian-Lebanese border to stop the smuggling. But Syria has threatened to close its border with Lebanon, effectively choking the country economically, if such a mission is deployed.

Fearful aid agencies pull out of Darfur
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article1693456.ece

A number of international aid agencies today announced that they had been forced to suspend operations in part of the wartorn Sudanese region of Darfur - affecting crucial assistance to up to 100,000 people - because of escalating violence against them. The agencies, which include the British group Oxfam, said they had no choice but to temporarily withdraw from part of western Darfur after revealing that one of their security guards had been badly beaten up and remained in a critical condition after a recent attack. In another incident, a clearly-marked aid convoy in the area had been shot at and robbed, they added in a joint statement. The agencies said the suspension of operations by Oxfam, Mercy Corps and Save the Children Spain, would affect the border area of western Darfur between Chad and the Central African Republic. It will particularly hit the overcrowded town of Um Dukhun, which has seen its population soar over the last two years as refugees fled there from other areas affected by the conflict, including Darfur as well as neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic. The statement added that a small number of aid workers would remain in place to monitor the situation and maintain essential services. Humanitarian workers have in the past blamed the growing suspicion against them on the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has claimed that humanitarian workers - including the United Nations (UN) - are infiltrated by western agents and, until last week, resisted all attempts to allow the UN to help curtail the region's violence.

Chinese oil workers massacred in attack by army of 200 rebels linked to Islamists
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article1701450.ece

The rebels arrived just before dawn as the Chinese oil workers slept. The assault lasted less than an hour. But by the time an estimated 200 gunmen left the remote oil installation, 74 people lay dead in the biggest and most bloody attack mounted by Somali separatist rebels in a dusty corner of Ethiopia. The Ogaden National Liberation Front, a group with links to the ousted Islamic courts in Somalia, later claimed responsibility in a military communiqué sent to The Times. It is fighting for a separate homeland for the Ogaden region’s population of Somali nomads, with the backing of Eritrea. Last year the group gave warning that it would target foreign oil companies. Ethiopia watchers said that they were surprised by the scale of the attack and that it was likely to be linked to unrest in Somalia, which has long threatened to drag the Horn of Africa into a regional war. Nine Chinese oil workers and 65 Ethiopians died, according to officials from both countries. Bereket Simon, spokesman for the Ethiopian Prime Minister, said that the attack was an act of terrorism.

Massive military parade in North Korea http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Massive-military-parade-in-North-Korea/2007/04/25/1177459766354.html

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reviewed a massive military parade featuring dozens of missiles in Pyongyang to mark the army's anniversary, in a display of might amid tensions over the country's nuclear weapons. Kim waved to the crowd for several minutes during the 90-minute procession through the capital's central Kim Il-sung Square. The parade marked the 75th anniversary of the Korean People's Army, which dates its origin to resistance movements against Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula before its liberation and division following World War II. After soldiers marched in formation, 48 missiles of four different sizes were driven through the square. It was not immediately known if the arsenal included the North's latest model, the Taepodong-2, which experts believe could reach parts of the United States.

Draft constitution faces uphill battle in Thailand
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ID25Ae01.html

Thailand's draft constitution faces a difficult national referendum in September, with provisions aimed at limiting the influence of political parties and the executive branch and amendments to the previous charter that allow for an appointed rather than elected Senate. The draft, released for public debate last week by the military-appointed 35-member Constitution Drafting Committee, comes seven months after elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in a military coup. He stands accused by the military of corruption, sowing national divisions and abusing his powers under the 1997 constitution. Lese majeste charges filed by the coup makers against the exiled premier were dropped this month by a criminal court. Since their takeover last September, the military coup makers have limited the public's role in the political process, alarming the established political parties and pro-democracy groups. The new constitution will be Thailand's 18th since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

Mississippi mayor and bodyguards destroy crack house
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-04-2007/90381-crack_house-0

Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Frank Melton, a tough-talking former television executive elected on a platform of rooting out the city's crime problems, faces five felony charges in the attack on the duplex last August. Melton claims the ramshackle structure was a "crack house" and a blight on the community. The property owners deny it was a drug haven, but testimony revealed the home has been raided before, including less than two weeks before it was damaged. Lawrence Cooper testified that he and another man were drinking beer and watching "Walking Tall" - a movie about a renegade sheriff whose weapon of choice is a large stick - when the mayor and his bodyguards burst in with large sticks. Cooper testified that Melton repeatedly swore and several witnesses also testified that Melton directed at least two juveniles to participate in the attack on the duplex. Former Mayor Dale Danks, one of Melton's attorneys, said during opening arguments that the state could not prove that there was malice involved, an element necessary for conviction. After he was elected, Melton, 57, became known for carrying guns, cruising the city with police and criticizing the district attorney's office for not putting away enough criminals. Melton and the two police detectives are charged with malicious mischief, two counts of conspiracy and directing a minor to commit a felony. Melton and one officer also are charged with burglary. All three pleaded not guilty.

Tarantino reeling after new film is left on shelf
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1701410.ece

For months Grindhouse, a $100 million (£50 million) double bill of nostalgic horror films made with his friend Robert Rodriguez, had been scheduled to arrive in British cinemas on June 1. After disastrous box-office takings in the United States, it has been withdrawn while Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the producers, try to formulate a rescue strategy. For Tarantino, who dazzled audiences with Reservoir Dogs, his debut in 1992, and who won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival with his next film, Pulp Fiction, it is a humiliating development. Grindhouse has proved too long and too obscure for main-stream audiences. It has taken only $23 million in three weeks in American cinemas, with half of that over the Easter weekend, and the Weinstein brothers are considering whether to slice it into two separate films.

August 24, 2007

2007-04-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

IT COULD HAPPEN HERE: The worst ‘global warming’ story ever
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070422224626.hohkyjhk&show_article=1&catnum=4

Germans will have to dig deeper to indulge in their beloved beer in the next few months as barley is increasingly displaced in the country's fields by heavily subsidised crops used for biofuels. The German arm of Belgian brewer InBev, which owns the Beck's and Franziskaner brands, confirmed it would be implementing "slight" price rises, while Germany's Radeberger said it was considering a similar move.

FDA Was Aware of Dangers To Food
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/22/AR2007042201551_pf.html
The Food and Drug Administration has known for years about contamination problems at a Georgia peanut butter plant and on California spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks that killed three people, sickened hundreds, and forced one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history, documents and interviews show. Overwhelmed by huge growth in the number of food processors and imports, however, the agency took only limited steps to address the problems and relied on producers to police themselves, according to agency documents. Congressional critics and consumer advocates said both episodes show that the agency is incapable of adequately protecting the safety of the food supply. FDA officials conceded that the agency's system needs to be overhauled to meet today's demands, but contended that the agency could not have done anything to prevent either contamination episode. The outbreaks point to a need to change the way the agency does business, said Robert E. Brackett, director of the FDA's food-safety arm, which is responsible for safeguarding 80 percent of the nation's food supply. On Tuesday, a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hold a hearing on the unprecedented spate of recalls.

U.S. Social Security trust fund to be exhausted in 2041 http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/24/content_6017622.htm
The growing annual deficits are projected to exhaust the Social Security trust fund in 2041 and the Medicare trust fund in 2019, the trustees of the U.S. government's two biggest benefit programs said Monday. The trustees said Social Security's current annual surpluses of tax income over expenditures will soon begin to decline and then turn into rapidly growing deficits as the baby boom generation retires. There are about 78 million Americans who were born during the baby boom period, from 1946 to 1964, and are going to retire. "Medicare's financial status is even worse," said the trustees. Medicare trust fund is already expected to pay out more in hospital benefits this year than it receives in taxes and other dedicated revenues. According to the trustees, the annual cost of Social Security benefits represented 4.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2006 and is projected to increase to 6.2 percent of GDP in 2030, and then rise slowly to 6.3 percent of GDP in 2081. Medicare's financial difficulties come sooner -- and are much more severe -- than those confronting Social Security. While both programs face demographic challenges, the impact is greater for Medicare because health care costs increase at older ages, the trustees said. The Social Security trust funds are the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund. These trust funds are managed by the Department of the Treasury. A Board of Trustees oversees the financial operations of the trust funds and reports annually to the Congress on the financial and actuarial status of the trust funds.

Democrats challenge Bush with Iraq bill http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OMNKGG0&show_article=1

Democratic leaders agreed Monday on legislation that requires the first U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by Oct. 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six months later. President Bush, confident of enough votes to sustain his veto, was unambiguous in his response. "I will strongly reject an artificial timetable (for) withdrawal…” he told reporters in the Oval Office as he met with his top Iraq commander, Gen. David Petraeus. Taken together, the day's events marked the quickening of a confrontation that has been building since Democrats took control of Congress in January and promised to change policy in a war has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 U.S. troops. Congressional negotiators for the House and Senate met in late afternoon and ratified the details of the legislation. Republicans voiced opposition, but made no attempt to delay or even seek changes. "We all know this bill is going nowhere fast," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., referring to the veto threat. The bill includes more than $90 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the withdrawal timetable that Bush finds objectionable and billions of dollars in domestic spending that he also has threatened to veto. Overall, the bill totals $124.2 billion. Democratic aides said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reid hope to clear the measure through both houses by Friday and send it to Bush by early next week for his expected veto.

U.S. announces sanctions http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/851747.html

The United States has imposed sanctions on 14 foreign people, companies and government agencies, including the Syrian navy and air force, as it boosts efforts to stop transfers of advanced weaponry to and from Iran and Syria. The 14 - which also include Lebanon's radical Hezbollah movement and firms from China, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore - are accused of selling to or buying from Iran or Syria missile technology or material to make weapons of mass destruction. State Department officials refused to comment on specific allegations against those listed in the notice because the determinations involved sensitive intelligence. But, they said Washington had credible evidence they had been involved in illicit transfers. The measures are largely symbolic because many of the targets are already subject to U.S. sanctions for previous similar transactions, most recently in December 2006, officials said. However, the Syrian navy and air force, have never before been identified as violators of the Iran and Syria Nonproliferation Act, they said.

Other violators named in Monday's notice are:- The China National Precision Machinery Import/Export Corporation (CPMIEC)- The Shanghai Non-Ferrous Metals Pudong Development Trade Company of China- The Zibo Chemet Equipment Company of China- Iran's Defense Industries Organization- Singapore's Sokkia company- Syria's Army Supply Bureau- Syria's Industrial Establishment of Defense- Malaysia's Challenger Corporation of Malaysia- Malaysia's Target Airfreight- Mexico's Aerospace Logistics Services- A Pakistani individual named Arif Durrani

EU ministers agree to impose sanctions against Iran http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/24/content_6017833.htm
Foreign ministers from all the 27 European Union (EU) member states agreed on Monday in Luxembourg to introduce sanctions against Iran over its nuclear ambitions in line with a UN Security Council resolution, an EU spokeswoman said on Monday. EU foreign ministers, who met in Luxembourg on Monday, also agreed on a blacklist of people and organizations linked to Iran's nuclear industry, based on UN Security Council sanctions passed in December. The full list of the Iranian persona non grat a subject to a travel ban and assets freeze will be published in the official EU gazette on Tuesday or Wednesday. Foreign ministers also agreed in principle to apply a second UN resolution against Iran, which was passed last month and introduces fresh sanctions against Tehran if it fails to suspend its uranium enrichment activities within 60 days. The latter resolution, whose details EU ministers will outline at a later date, involves notably restriction on arms sales. Earlier on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana confirmed that he would meet this week with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Turkey. Iran rejected on Sunday Western calls for a suspension of its sensitive nuclear activities.

Turkey's military prepares for May invasion of N. Iraq
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/front.html

On April 20, Turkey's NTV television said the Turkish military has set a "specific timetable" for the offensive against the Kurdish Workers Party in Iraq. NTV said the proposed force would attack PKK camps in the Kandil mountains. Turkish sources said a force of at least 10,000 troops, backed by main battle tanks, armored vehicles, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, was being formed for the invasion. They said the operation could take place in May. NTV said the military would monitor the PKK insurgency campaign until May. At that point, the military would be ready to send forces into Iraq. Over the last two weeks, Turkish military commanders have been urging the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan to approve an offensive against the PKK. The commanders were said to have assessed that U.S. efforts to block PKK activities in northern Iraq failed.

US accuses Eritrea of fueling deadly fighting in Somalia
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070423212744.innq7rup&show_article=1&catnum=3

The fighting in Mogadishu pits heavily armed Ethiopian troops allied to the country's UN-recognized interim government against an Islamist militia known as al-Shabab and other insurgents supported by the city's dominant Hawiye clan. Ethiopia intervened in Somalia, with tacit US support, in December to help oust an Islamist movement which had seized control of much of the country from the transitional federal government. Since then, Ethiopian forces and the insurgents in Mogadishu have battled with tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons in fighting that has claimed over 1,000 lives, more than 250 of them in the past week, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. The State Department's top Africa official, Assistant Secretary of State Jendaye Frazer visited Somalia early this month and singled out Eritrea on Monday for helping fuel the fighting in order to weaken Ethiopia, its regional arch rival. Frazer also said the Ethiopians were actively trying to negotiate a truce with the Hawiya clan, which has remained estranged from the interim government. Frazer also called on the interim government to step up efforts to broaden its base to include more clans. Frazer went on to accuse the Islamist militia of trying to undermine reconciliation efforts by targeting Hawiya clan leaders willing to talk to the government. The US also backs the planned deployment of some 8,000 African Union peacekeepers to help stabilize Somalia. But so far only about 1,500 Ugandan soldiers have arrived and their presence has made little difference.

Hillary 'smoking gun' tapes alleged http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55320
A business mogul who says he was Hillary Clinton's biggest donor in her 2000 Senate campaign is preparing to release a newly recovered videotape his lawyer calls "smoking-gun evidence" of the New York Democrat's commission of a series of felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison. Peter Franklin Paul, in a civil fraud suit filed against Bill and Hillary Clinton, claims the former president destroyed his entertainment company to get out of a $17 million deal in which Clinton promised to promote the firm in exchange for stock, cash options and massive contributions to his wife's 2000 campaign. Paul contends he was directed by the Clintons and Democratic Party leaders to foot the bill for a lavish Hollywood gala and fund-raiser prior to the 2000 election that eventually cost him nearly $2 million. Sen. Clinton has claimed through her spokesman Howard Wolfson that Paul gave no money to her campaign, and her supporters have denied she had any anything to do with coordinating the August 2000 event or soliciting contributions directly from donors. Doing so would make Paul's substantial contributions a direct donation to her Senate campaign rather than her joint fundraising committee, violating federal statutes that limit "hard money" contributions to a candidate to $2,000 per person. Furthermore, knowingly accepting or soliciting $25,000 or more in a calendar year is a felony carrying a prison sentence of up to five years.

U.S. had emergency plan for attacking Israel in 1967
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/851708.html

In February 1968, an institute expert, L. Weinstein, wrote an article called "Critical Incident No. 14," about the U.S. involvement in the Middle East crisis of May-June 1967.Only 30 copies of his study were printed for distribution. Years later the material was declassified and can now be read by everyone, although details that are liable to give away sources' identities and operational ideas have remained censored. Strike Command, the entity that was to have launched the attack on Israel, no longer exists. It was annulled in 1971 for domestic American reasons and superseded by Readiness Command, which was abolished in the 1980s in favor of Central Command (CENTCOM) which today includes forces in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Afghanistan; and the Special Operations Command (SOCOM).The general who oversaw the planning in 1967 was Theodore John ("Ted") Conway, then 56 and a four-star general, the head of Strike Command.On May 20, 1967, according to L. Weinstein's confidential study for the Institute for Defense Analyses, cable No. 5886 of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was sent to EUCOM and STRICOM. STRICOM was asked to refresh the emergency plans for intervention in an Israeli-Arab war: one plan on behalf of Israel and the other, on behalf of the Arabs.The basis for the directive was Washington's policy of support for the existence, independence and territorial integrity of all the states of the region. This translated into adherence to the Israeli-Arab armistice lines of 1949. The policy was not to allow Egypt, or any combination of Arab states, to destroy Israel, but also not to allow Israel to expand westward, into Sinai, or eastward, into the West Bank.

Soap-like molecules may regenerate injured nerves http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/23/content_6016068.htm
The soap-like molecules contain a small piece of laminin. After these molecules are injected into the body, they react with chemicals there, assembling themselves instantly into scaffolds of super-thin fibers just six billionths of a meter wide. They biodegrade after roughly eight weeks. The scientists experimented with their molecules on dozens of mice and rats that experienced spinal cord injuries that paralyzed their hind legs. After six weeks, damaged nerves regenerated enough for the paralyzed legs of the rodents to regain some ability to walk. The researchers are currently in talks with the FDA regarding their work and hope to start phase I clinical trials (for toxicity and safety testing) in humans two years from now.

Rabbits wrecking Australian isle
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070422120641.jubfhwn6&show_article=1

An explosion in the rabbit population has "trashed" the World Heritage listed Macquarie Island, which is home to endangered penguins and albatrosses, the World Wide Fund for Nature said.
The conservation group is calling on the government to implement a 25 million dollar (21 million US) strategy to eradicate rabbits, rats and mice on the sub-Antarctic territory. WWF spokesman Andreas Glanznig said it was possible that mice, which have been shown to become carnivorous on an island in the Atlantic, could evolve enough to threaten endangered bird species on the remote scrap of land. The rabbits, which were introduced by sealers in the 1870s but until recently had been kept in check by cats, have destroyed all the vegetation holding the land together, causing dangerous landslides, Glanznig said.

8 TV stations exposed for broadcasting illegal ads
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/23/content_6017504.htm

China's watchdogs exposed eight local television stations on Monday for broadcasting adverts for illegal drugs over the nationwide satellite network. China's State Industry and Commerce Administration and State Food and Drug Administration published a blacklist that included television stations of Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Heilongjiang and Hebei Provinces, Tianjin Municipality and the Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regions. According to the report, the television stations broadcasted adverts for prescription drugs that exaggerated the effects of certain drugs or used celebrities to guarantee a drug's effectiveness. The illegal adverts also included health foods that were advertised as medicines without permission from the authorities.

April 23, 2007

2007-04-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Boris Yeltsin, R.I.P.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6584481.stm

Mr Yeltsin - who had a history of heart trouble - died of heart failure in hospital at 1545 (1145 GMT).

Bush, Putin discuss US missile shield plan

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Bush_Putin_discuss_US_missile_shiel_04232007.html

US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday discussed the US plan for a missile defense shield in Europe and the future of Kosovo, the White House said.

Russia rejects missile shield cooperation

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070423114634.edwrwugc&show_article=1

Russia rebuffed Monday an attempt by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to soften opposition to Washington's plan for a missile defence shield in Europe, saying it threatens global security. Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told Gates in Moscow that the planned system "is a seriously destabilizing factor that can have a significant influence on regional and global security." Gates, who also met with President Vladimir Putin, came to Moscow reiterating Pentagon reassurances that the anti-missile shield would not be aimed at Russia and also holding out offers of cooperation. "In my talks with the Russian leaders we'll reiterate that the United States is willing to explore cooperation with Russia across the full spectrum of missile defence activities," he said. Gates told Serdyukov that he wanted "to see how we can more positively develop our military-to-military relationship." However, there was little sign of progress in easing Moscow's opposition. "I would like to underline the point that the Russian position with respect to this issue remains unchanged," Serdyukov said. The Pentagon wants to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a targeting radar in the Czech Republic, countries that lie close to Russian territory and during the Cold War were under Moscow's control. Russia, increasingly emboldened by new oil wealth, fiercely opposes the plans, regarding them as encroaching into Moscow's traditional sphere of influence. The missile defence issue has threatened to divide Washington's NATO allies in Europe. The United States has assembled a package of incentives aimed at allaying Russian concerns, said officials travelling with the defence secretary. These incentives, already presented last week, include an offer to share missile warning data and cooperate in developing and testing missile defence technology with the Russians.

VA Allows Wiccan Symbols on Headstones http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OME6VG0&show_article=1

The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on goverment-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday. A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief" allowed on VA grave markers. Eleven families nationwide are waiting for grave markers with the pentacle, said Selena Fox, a Wiccan high priestess with Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis., a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The settlement calls for the pentacle, whose five points represent earth, air, fire, water and spirit, to be placed on grave markers within 14 days for those who have pending requests with the VA.

Probe: Katrina contracts given to companies with poor credit histories, bad paperwork http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_5500025,00.html

FEMA exposed taxpayers to significant waste — and possibly violated federal law — by awarding $3.6 billion worth of Hurricane Katrina contracts to companies with poor credit histories and bad paperwork, investigators say. The new report by the Homeland Security Department’s office of inspector general, set to be released later this week, examines the propriety of 36 trailer contracts designated for small and local businesses in the stricken Gulf Coast region following the 2005 storm. It found a haphazard competitive bidding process in which the winning contract prices were both unreasonably low and high. Moreover, FEMA did not take adequate legal steps to ensure that companies were small and locally operated, resulting in a questionable contract award to a large firm with ties to the Republican Party. In the immediate aftermath of Katrina, FEMA handed out lucrative no-bid contracts for cleanup work to large, politically connected firms such as Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Group Inc., CH2M Hill Companies Ltd., and Fluor Corp. Following heavy criticism, FEMA director David Paulison pledged to rebid those large contracts. He ultimately reopened only a portion, awarding 36 contracts which the agency said would be prioritized for small and local businesses. Among the winners was joint venture PRI-DJI, which received $400 million worth of contracts. DJI stands for Del-Jen Inc., a subsidiary of Fluor, one of the original, no-bid winners which has donated more than $930,000 to mostly GOP candidates since 2000.

Oregon Gov. Will Live On Food Stamp Diet

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/23/politics/main2715513.shtml

This is Hunger Awareness Week in Oregon, and for the next seven days, Gov. Kulongoski and his wife, attorney Mary Oberst, will be cutting way back – down to the budget one would live on if relying on food stamps – a diet they hope others will also follow for a few days to better understand the plight of those who have no choice. They'll spend just $3 a day apiece on their meals, $42 in all, to match the amount spent by the average food stamp recipient in Oregon. "I'm gonna probably go back to what I remember in college, Top Ramen and hot dogs," said Kulongoski. The governor this week will begin lobbying Congress against cuts in the food stamp program proposed by the Bush administration.

US urges Iran to join Iraq talks

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3f96545e-f0f9-11db-838b-000b5df10621.html

Condoleezza Rice is urging Iran to join her at a high-level conference on the future of Iraq next week, signalling that Washington is now ready for a serious exchange of views with Tehran after several months of resisting Iran’s advances in the region. In an interview with the Financial Times, the US secretary of state said it would be a “missed opportunity” if Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, did not attend the minister-level meeting to be hosted by Egypt. Ms Rice denied that the Bush administration’s Iran policy had ever been directed at regime change, insisting that the aim was to “have a change in regime behaviour”. Ms Rice’s attempts to draw Iran into the conference – which will include Iraq’s neighbours as well as the permanent members of the UN security council and the G8 industrialised nations – contrasted with her previous resistance to such talks. Since then there had been a “rebalancing”, she said, particularly after President George W. Bush’s speech on January 10 announcing the extra troops and a more aggressive response to Iran’s perceived role in arming and training Iraqi Shia militia. Analysts said it remained to be seen whether the US had achieved what Robert Gates, the defence secretary, said in January was the “leverage” it needed before engaging Iran. Iran says it will decide on its attendance at the May 3-4 conference after meeting Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq’s foreign minister, this week. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday noted a “softening” in Ms Rice’s rhetoric. But he added that any “shift” should be put into practice.

In Dallas, Commercial Radio Without Commercials http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/23/business/media/23radio.html?ei=5090&en=670c6a16935488ef&ex=1334980800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

As of today, KZPS in Dallas — on the dial at 92.5 FM or online at lonestar925.com — will no longer run traditional 30- or 60-second advertisements. Instead, advertisers sponsor an hour of programming, during which a D.J. will promote its product conversationally in what the company calls integration. The product-themed chitchat will account for about two minutes peppered throughout the hour, in contrast to the 12 minutes to 16 minutes of commercials that most stations broadcast each hour. Clear Channel’s move is not unprecedented. In 2005, three stations on Long Island owned by the Morey Organization experimented with a similar model but eventually returned to conventional commercials.

Newsom pledges to make SF a sanctuary for illegal immigrants http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/22/BAGADPDGNF18.DTL

The mayor cannot stop federal authorities from making arrests, Newsom told about 300 mostly Latino members of St. Peter's Church and other religious groups supporting immigrants. But no San Francisco employee will help with immigration enforcement. "I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these raids," Newsom declared. "We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it." The Board of Supervisors first declared San Francisco a "sanctuary city" in 1989. The designation, which many U.S. cities across the country took on during the 1980s, has no legal meaning. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have since May 2006 conducted raids across the country, including arrests in San Rafael, Oakland, Richmond, San Pablo, Santa Clara and other cities across the Bay area. Immigration officials have said they were executing arrest warrants for immigrants who had committed crimes or were in the country illegally and had ignored final deportation orders.

In the course of serving deportation warrants, the officials said, other people whom officers suspected of being illegal immigrants were questioned and then arrested. Of at least 65 Marin County residents arrested in March, for example, just five had been ordered deported. The raids, many of which conducted at private homes before dawn and some of which caught up legal immigrants and even citizens, have created an uproar in the Bay Area. Politicians and community leaders have demanded they end, saying some immigrants parents are now afraid to send their children to school or leave home. Immigration agents on Friday arrested 13 foreign nationals who were working illegally at Eagle Bag Corp. in Oakland, a packaging manufacturer whose clients include the U.S. military. The arrests there of immigrants suspected of using counterfeit documents to obtain jobs were not related to the recent raids. San Rafael Mayor Al Boro in March called on California's U.S. senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, to push the immigration agency to change how it is enforcing immigration law because he believed children were the ones being hurt. Marches and rallies are planned in coming weeks in Redwood City, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and other cities.

Is the Wi-Fi revolution a health time bomb?

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2472140.ece

The technological explosion is even bigger than the mobile phone explosion that preceded it. And, as with mobiles, it is being followed by fears about its effect on health - particularly the health of children. Recent research, which suggests that the worst fears about mobiles are proving to be justified, only heightens concern about the electronic soup in which we are increasingly spending our lives. So far only a few, faint warnings have been raised, mainly by people who are so sensitised to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobiles, their masts and Wi-Fi that they become ill in its presence. The World Health Organisation estimates that up to three out of every hundred people are "electrosensitive" to some extent. But scientists and doctors - and some European governments - are adding their voices to the alarm as it becomes clear that the almost universal use of mobile phones may be storing up medical catastrophe for the future. A recent authoritative Finnish study has found that people who have used mobiles for more than ten years are 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same side of the head as they hold their handset; Swedish research suggests that the risk is almost four times as great. And further research from Sweden claims that the radiation kills off brain cells, which could lead to today's younger generation going senile in their forties and fifties. There has been less concern about masts, as they emit very much less radiation than mobile phones. But people living - or attending schools - near them are consistently exposed and studies reveal a worrying incidence of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizziness and memory problems. There is also some suggestion that there may be an increase in cancers and heart disease. Wi-Fi systems essentially take small versions of these masts into the home and classroom - they emit much the same kind of radiation. Though virtually no research has been carried out, campaigners and some scientists expect them to have similar ill-effects. They say that we are all now living in a soup of electromagnetic radiation one billion times stronger than the natural fields in which living cells have developed over the last 3.8 billion years

Sheryl Crow's carbon footprint

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/scrow/scrow1.html

When the global warming warrior hits the road, her touring entourage (and equipment) travels in three tractor trailers, four buses, and six cars. Now that's a carbon footprint! (4 pages)

Cloned dogs to be mated as test http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21604840-1702,00.html

Snuppy, an Afghan hound who was the first dog to be created through a cloning process, will be mated later this year with second-in-line Bona, researchers in South Korea said.Snuppy will celebrate his second birthday on Tuesday while Bona was born in June last year. Snuppy was cloned under the stewardship of now-disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk. So far, the team has cloned one male and three female Afghan hounds. Mr Hwang was hailed as a national hero in South Korea until a university inquiry ruled that some of his work on cloning embryonic human stem cells was fake. He is now on trial for fraud, embezzlement, ethical breaches and other charges but has insisted he can still prove he created the first cloned human stem cells.

France opts for left-right battle http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6582007.stm

With all the votes counted in Sunday's first round, Mr Sarkozy had 31%. Ms Royal, bidding to be France's first woman leader, got nearly 26%. Centrist Francois Bayrou had 18%, and far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen almost 11%. Voting reached near-record levels, with turnout put at almost 85% - the highest for nearly 50 years. Voters turned out in such high numbers that the authorities decided to allow more time for people who were still queueing. Of the main candidates, Mr Sarkozy, a former interior minister, promised a "rupture" with the past and real economic reform, while Ms Royal has pledged a fairer society. Both are controversial figures who have divided the French. Mr Sarkozy is hated by the left as a reformer who many fear would change the French way of life by making the nation work harder and longer and by cutting back on its generous welfare state. Ms Royal is also regarded with suspicion, seen as too authoritarian and conservative by some Socialists.

Huge win for Nigeria's Yar'Adua http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6584393.stm

Nigeria's ruling party candidate Umaru Yar'Adua has won controversial presidential elections by a landslide, according to official results. He gained 70% of the vote but European Union observers say the elections were a "charade" and any administration that resulted would not have any legitimacy. The EU says at least 200 people have died in poll violence in the past week. The two main opposition candidates have told their supporters to reject the results and want a re-run. Mr Yar'Adua gained 24.6m votes, against 6.6m for his closest challenger, Muhammadu Buhari. Vice-president turned opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar came third with 2.6m votes.

Daily pill to beat genetic diseases http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1690544.ece

The drug, known as PTC124, has already had encouraging results in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis. The final phase of clinical trials is to begin this year, and it could be licensed as early as 2009. As well as offering hope of a first effective treatment for two conditions that are at present incurable, the drug has excited scientists because research suggests it should also work against more than 1,800 other genetic illnesses. PTC124 targets a particular type of mutation that can cause very different symptoms according to the gene that is disrupted. This makes it potentially useful against a range of inherited disorders. In most genetic conditions, between 5-15 per cent of cases are caused by a defect called a “nonsense mutation”. Genes are instruction manuals for cells to make proteins, but nonsense mutations in effect introduce a command halfway through that stops production. The kind of protein disrupted determines the nature of the disease.

Man gets 5,000 calls for YouTube posting

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_YouTube_Calls.html

Ryan Fitzgerald is unemployed, lives with his father and has a little bit of time on his hands. So, he decided to offer his ear, to anyone who wants to call. After posting a video with his cell phone number on YouTube on Friday, the 20-year-old told The Boston Globe he has received more than 5,000 calls and text messages. Fitzgerald said he wanted to "be there," for anyone who needed to talk. "I never met you, but I do care," a spiky-haired Fitzgerald said into the camera on his YouTube posting. He planned to take and return as many calls he could, but on Monday at 5 a.m., his T-Mobile cell phone payment will begin charging him for his generosity when he is no longer eligible for free weekend minutes. "I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do about it," he said. "Come Monday, no way I'm going to just hang up on people and say, 'I don't have the minutes.'" Fitzgerald, who said people consider him "easy to talk to," was inspired by Juan Mann. YouTube video clips of Mann offering "Free Hugs" to strangers became wildly popular on the user-controlled Internet site.

April 22, 2007

2007-04-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth day~

India test fires supersonic cruise missile
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS_FLASH04222007564_15.htm

The missile was fired from a mobile launcher from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea, 200 kilometers northeast of eastern Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar, official sources said. First tested in June 2001, the BrahMos cruise missile, named after India's Brahmaputra River and Russia's Moskva River, has a range of 290 kilometers and can carry a 300-kilogram conventional warhead. The eight-meter missile weighs about three metric tonnes and can be launched from land, ships, submarines or aircraft, traveling at a speed of up to Mach 2.8. Sunday's test came just 10 days after India successfully tested the Agni-III, an intermediate-range missile that for the first time gives New Delhi a device capable of hitting targets inside China, including capital Beijing. The Indian army is set to start deploying the missile this year, the CEO of its manufacturer BrahMos Aerospace A. Sivathanu Pillai said last month. A version of the BrahMos is already used by the Indian navy.

Iran sees "softer tone" from U.S. officials
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070422/ts_nm/iran_iraq_meeting_dc;_ylt=AlmKzKIE8_52likV6H9VWmHMWM0F

The United States is showing signs of softening its attitude towards Iran, an Iranian official said on Sunday, but added that Tehran had not yet decided to attend a meeting on Iraq with senior U.S. officials. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Iran would decide after talks this week with Iraq’s foreign minister whether it would take part in an international conference next month to discuss the conflict in neighboring Iraq. Egypt will host the high-level meeting of a group of countries that includes Syria, Turkey and the United States in the first week of May to discuss how to stop the violence in Iraq. The conference is a follow-up to one in Baghdad in March. An Iranian newspaper reported earlier this month that Iran might not attend if U.S. forces do not release five Iranians they are holding in Iraq. But Hosseini said Iran had not linked the meeting with other issues. “About participating or not participating, or the level of participation, this is still under examination,” he told a regular briefing.

Iran launches new drive against slack dressers
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070422-085110-4156r

Iranian newspapers printed pictures of women in tight and colorful clothing being given warnings on Tehran's streets by female police officers dressed in chadors as the crackdown got underway Saturday. Such moves by the police are customary every year as Iran's hot summer begins, hemlines become shorter and more skin is revealed. But people have been warned about this year's crackdown with more prominence than in the past. According to the Fars news agency, women were initially notified of their transgression on the street and, if they showed resistance, were then taken to a correctional center in Tehran. A Fars reporter saw a bus of 15 women arriving at the center in central Iran. Their parents were then notified, names and photos added to a database, and they were allowed to leave after signing a written commitment and changing clothes. An editorial in the hardline daily Kayhan said that police were right to ignore the wishes of those who favored a more softly-softly approach.

Islamic authorities remove wives, children of Hindus
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070419-084636-2618r

Two Malaysian Hindu men Thursday said that they were battling Islamic authorities after being forcibly separated from their Muslim wives in cases highlighting growing religious tensions in Kuala Lumpur. Suresh Veerapan issued a plea for help after his wife Revathi Masoosai and their baby were forcibly removed from their home and she was put in an Islamic rehabilitation camp. He said that Revathi, an ethnic Indian and practicing Hindu born to Muslim parents, was sent to the camp for 100 days in January by Islamic authorities in western Malacca state. Her detention was extended Wednesday by a Sharia court by 80 days, Suresh said, adding that Islamic authorities in March had also taken the 16-month-old baby from him and given the child to his Muslim in-laws. In a separate case, another Malaysian Hindu man Thursday vowed to fight Islamic authorities for custody of five of his children who were forcibly separated from him, along with his Muslim wife.

Japan's opposition wins at least one of two by-elections: reports
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS_FLASH04222007571_15.htm

Japan's opposition camp appeared set to win at least one of two upper-house by-elections Sunday, in a test to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ahead of national polls in July, news reports said. Teruhiko Mashiko, jointly backed by the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and a minor opposition group, was projected to beat a candidate of Abe's ruling coalition and a communist candidate in rural Fukushima, the Jiji and Kyodo news agencies said. In the remote island chain of Okinawa, a candidate from a DPJ-led alliance and a rival from the coalition led by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party were "in a close contest," Kyodo said citing exit polls. The by-elections were held along with local elections in most of Japan's 47 prefectures to elect mayors and chiefs in 77 cities, 96 towns and villages and 13 wards in Tokyo. Seats in about 780 local assemblies were also contested. The poll results will set the tone for July's national elections, in which Abe's ruling coalition, which includes the Buddhist-backed New Komeito, defends its slim majority in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament.

Melamine in pet food may not be accidental
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/2007-04-19-pet-food-usat_N.htm

A nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastic and sometimes as a fertilizer may have been deliberately added to an ingredient in pet food that has sickened and killed cats and dogs across the country, public and private officials say. A leading theory is that it was added to fake higher protein levels. Melamine has been found in wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate and, in South Africa, corn gluten, all imported from China, and all meant for use in pet food, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Thursday. "It adds to the theory when you see other products that are labeled as protein supplements, in this case rice protein, and in South Africa corn gluten and in the previous case wheat gluten," said Stephen Sundlof, FDA chief veterinarian. "That melamine was found in all three of those, it would certainly lend credibility to the theory that this was intentional." How the melamine got there is "not something we're going to be able to determine until we actually investigate the plants in China," he said. The FDA has not yet been able to get letters of invitation from the Chinese government that would allow its inspectors to enter the country, he said.

Human Brain Has Origin in Lowly Worm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070421/sc_livescience/humanbrainhasorigininlowlyworm;_ylt=AiV4jWZ_PwWa5dKjf_i5EmjMWM0F

Humans and other vertebrates evolved from an ancient common ancestor that also gave rise to insects and worms, scientists have long known. But they're of course quite different today. Vertebrates have a spinal cord running along their backs, but insects and annelid worms such as earthworms, which have simple organs that barely resemble a brain, have clusters of nerves organized in a chain along their bellies. So biologists have long assumed these systems—key to ultimately putting a brain to use—arose independently, only after the split. In the new study, researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory [EMBL] in Heidelberg examined they embryos of a marine annelid worm called Platynereis dumerilii, which has a nervous system unchanged for eons. They documented the molecular fingerprints of the developing nerve cells. "Our findings were overwhelming," says study team member Alexandru Denes. "The molecular anatomy of the developing CNS [central nervous system ] turned out to be virtually the same in vertebrates and Platynereis. Corresponding regions give rise to neuron types with similar molecular fingerprints and these neurons also go on to form the same neural structures in annelid worm and vertebrates."

50% Good News Is the Bad News in Russian Radio
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/world/europe/22russia.html?ei=5065&en=d4929f91a6c5b2aa&ex=1177819200&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
At their first meeting with journalists since taking over Russia’s largest independent radio news network, the managers had startling news of their own: from now on, they said, at least 50 percent of the reports about Russia must be “positive.” In addition, opposition leaders could not be mentioned on the air and the United States was to be portrayed as an enemy, journalists employed by the network, Russian News Service, say they were told by the new managers, who are allies of the Kremlin. In a darkening media landscape, radio news had been a rare bright spot. Now, the implementation of the “50 percent positive” rule at the Russian News Service leaves an increasingly small number of news outlets that are not managed by the Kremlin, directly or through the state national gas company, Gazprom, a major owner of media assets. The three national television networks are already state controlled, though small-circulation newspapers generally remain independent. This month alone, a bank loyal to President Vladimir V. Putin tightened its control of an independent television station, Parliament passed a measure banning “extremism” in politics and prosecutors have gone after individuals who post critical comments on Web chat rooms. Parliament is also considering extending state control to Internet sites that report news, reflecting the growing importance of Web news as the country becomes more affluent and growing numbers of middle-class Russians acquire computers. On Tuesday, the police raided the Educated Media Foundation, a nongovernmental group sponsored by United States and European donors that helps foster an independent news media. The police carried away documents and computers that were used as servers for the Web sites of similar groups. That brought down a Web site run by the Glasnost Defense Foundation, a media rights group, which published bulletins on violations of press freedoms.

Libyan, US firms in petrochemical joint venture
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Libyan_US_firms_in_petrochemical_jo_04202007.html

Libya's National Oil Corporation and US firm Dow Chemical have announced a joint venture to operate and expand the Ras Lanuf petrochemical complex in Libya, the NOC said on Friday. Ras Lanuf, on the Mediterranean coast 600 kilometres (370 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, is the country's most important petrochemical complex and was built in the 1980s. The joint venture agreement encompasses Ras Lanuf's existing naphtha cracker, two polyethylene production facilities and associated infrastructure. Ras Lanuf's existing naphtha cracker produces 330,000 tonnes of ethylene a year. The project will include refurbishing and expanding the existing units, followed by construction of an ethane cracker and additional polyethylene and polypropylene facilities. Later phases will include building additional hydrocarbon, plastics and chemical production facilities based on natural gas. Libya is Africa's second largest oil producer at 1.7 million barrels per day. It also has reserves of natural gas estimated at 1.314 billion square metres. Dow Chemical, operating in 175 countries and employing 43,000 people, has annual sales of 49 billion dollars.

‘Global warming’ may turn boys into girls
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070421/sc_livescience/warmingclimatereversessexoflizards

High temperatures can reverse the sex of dragon lizards before they hatch, turning males into females. The finding, detailed in the April 20 issue of the journal Science, could have implications for the development of life as the planet's climate warms. The research reveals that extreme temperatures could inactivate a gene on the male sex chromosomes of dragon lizards and thus turn male embryos into females. The sex-reversed lizards look female and have female organs but genetically they are male, said lead author Alexander Quinn of the University of Canberra in Australia.

France goes to the polls http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2007/04/22/4102832.html

France began choosing a new president Sunday with millions of voters undecided and millions more voting for the first time, making the selection of two final candidates highly unpredictable. The successor to Jacques Chirac, ending 12 years as head of state at the close of his second term, will face a large and listless economy and an alienated young Muslim population, among a host of problems. Only four of the 12 candidates, including conservative front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal, who was No. two in polls, had a real chance of making it to a final round of voting May 6. Turnout among the nation’s 44.5 million potential voters reached 31.2 per cent by noon (3 a.m. PDT), four hours into the voting, the Interior Ministry said, the highest level by that hour than in any of the four previous presidential elections. There were 3.3 million newly registered voters, many from rundown immigrant neighbourhoods wracked by rioting in 2005. Polling firms said enough voters were undecided — at least 30 per cent — that soundings taken over the past few months could say nothing about the result. The French are worried about losing jobs to China, India and Brazil — and losing their influence on the world stage. French entreaties against the Iraq war, while praised by many, ultimately went ignored. The health of the euro depends in part on whether the next French president can stimulate growth. Sarkozy offers the bolder plan, by getting the French to work more and cutting taxes. Royal would raise the minimum wage and subsidize youth jobs. New jobs are the only solution for the rundown housing projects plagued by discrimination, poverty, illiteracy and dependence on state handouts. The landscape remains little changed since the 2005 riots forced France and its leaders to acknowledge their problems.

Gore campaign team assembles in secret
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/22/wgore22.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox

Two members of Mr Gore's staff from his unsuccessful attempt in 2000 say they have been approached to see if they would be available to work with him again. Mr Gore, President Bill Clinton's deputy, has said he wants to concentrate on publicising the need to combat climate change, a case made in his film, An Inconvenient Truth, which won him an Oscar this year. But, aware that he may step into the wide open race for the White House, former strategists are sounding out a shadow team that could run his campaign at short notice. In approaching former campaign staff, including political strategists and communications officials, they are making clear they are not acting on formal instructions from Mr Gore, 59, but have not been asked to stop.
His denials of interest in the presidency have been couched in terms of "no plans" or "no intention" - politically ambiguous language that does not rule out a run.

Chávez arms community groups as he anticipates US invasion
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/22/wchavez22.xml

On Mr Chávez's order, 17,000 communal councils have now been set up across the country, and an estimated £1 billion earmarked to fund them. As the official slogan, "Build power from below", proclaims, their stated purpose is to promote grass-roots democracy and hand power directly to the people - in particular the urban poor who make up the bulk of his most fervent supporters. But as well as grappling with the grim conditions in slums such as Catia, members of these voluntary groups will constitute a nationwide militia, schooled in Cuban-style tactics for both guerrilla warfare and counter-insurgency. The move has caused alarm among Mr Chávez's critics, who claim the groups will be used to repress internal dissent. They point out that, unlike Venezuela's military reservists, the communal councils come under Mr Chávez's direct control, including the appointments of their oversight committees and allocation of funding. They are being created in tandem with plans to expand Venezuela's military reserve fivefold, from about 200,000 people to one million - a move Mr Chávez has introduced in the belief that his sworn foe America is planning some kind of military intervention. Tensions with Washington and the West are likely to escalate further next month, when the Chávez government plans to begin taking control of the main European and American-owned oil fields in Venezuela - a move ordered by presidential decree in February. Ironically the new communal council in Catia has been devoting its energy to fighting the expansion of the nearby Fabricio Ojeda industrial complex, which is built with state oil money and which the Chávez administration portrays as an example of its new socialist co-operative model. Local residents are sceptical of promises to resettle them in better conditions.

Millions face famine as crop disease rages http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2063079,00.html

The disease, known as black stem rust, has already destroyed harvests in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. Now researchers report that stem rust spores have blown across the Red Sea into the Arabian peninsula and infected wheat fields in Yemen. Spores have also blown northwards into Sudan. Experts believe the disease - Puccinia graminis - will spread to Egypt, Turkey, the Middle East and finally India and Pakistan, which would lead to the destruction of the principal source of food for more than a billion people. Some observers warn that the disease could reach Egypt, which is heavily dependent on wheat, before the end of this year.

Device keeps organs alive outside the body
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/22/wkidney122.xml

For the first time, scientists at the University of Oxford have managed to disconnect an organ from the body's blood supply and keep it functioning on an artificial blood circuit. The procedure has allowed them to keep livers viable outside the body for more than 72 hours - four times the current time limit. It is hoped the technique will make it possible to transplant organs that would previously have been unusable - alleviating the problems caused by a shortage of donors. Organs are capable of regenerating high levels of damaged tissue when isolated from the rest of the body, the scientists found. A version of the technique could also be used to treat organs with high doses of chemotherapy to combat cancers without harmful side-effects on the body. Such treatments might also be developed to fight liver disease caused by alcohol and hepatitis. Scientists are now planning the first clinical trials in patients and hope to use the technique on other organs including the lungs, kidneys and pancreas. They hope the procedure will be widely used within five years.

The greatest digital story ever told
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2062777,00.html

Terence Stamp is to take on the challenging role of God in an epic 20-CD verbatim version of The New Testament that is being put together in Chicago. Luke Perry and Marisa Tomei will also be joining a 100-strong cast, playing Judas and Mary Magdalene respectively, and the former adolescent heart-throb Lou Diamond Phillips is to play Mark, while John Heard is cast as Matthew. Such is the optimism about the vast project, which began recording in July and takes the New King James version as its text, that a reading of the whole of the Old Testament is already planned too, with actor Richard Dreyfuss slated to measure himself against Heston's mighty Moses. The complete production will fill 70 spaces in your CD rack. The producer behind The Word of Promise is Carl Amari, 43, an entrepreneur from Chicago who made his fortune by restoring and repackaging hit radio shows from the past. He was a millionaire at 30 after starting a company called Radio Spirits that licensed more than 60,000 shows featuring the likes of George Burns, Milton Berle and Orson Welles. Following the huge critical and commercial success of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ, which cost $30m to make and has grossed roughly $612m in cinemas around the world, Amari has embarked on a plan to offer a digitally up-to-date retelling of the New King James version. His choice of actor to play Jesus was a shoo-in. Amari turned to Jim Caviezel, who took the central role in The Passion of the Christ and is a co-producer on the new audio project. Amari is still negotiating over the part of Satan, a character he concedes has 'some of the best lines'. Michael York is the narrator.

US Army's computer game recruiting plan takes fire
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_Army_s_computer_game_recruiting__04212007.html

In June, the Army is set to sponsor a channel at the Global Gaming League website, a popular spot for Internet computer game lovers. A first-person shooter game based on the army training manual will be a centerpiece of the channel, which will feature other games in the same genre. The "America's Army" game was released about five years ago and ranks in the top 10 most popular computer games of its kind, according to McCann World Group vice president Anders Ekman, who is handling the project for the Army. Play at the channel will be free, but agreeing to "additional contact from the Army" comes with signing up as a player. The Army's investment, estimated at two million dollars, is aimed at finding potential soldiers among gamers in the cherished recruiting age range of 17 to 24.

'Antichrist' Cancels Visit to Guatemala http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6577964,00.html

Puerto-Rican born Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda wears the number 666 tattooed on his arm and claims a following of 2 million people, most in Miami, where he lives, and Colombia. His Growing in Grace church holds a congress every year in different locations in the Americas.
Guatemala's Congress had labeled De Jesus Miranda a terrorist and immigration officials were instructed to refuse him entry to the country, where thousands of his followers from around the world had gathered. He had vowed to defy the ban but canceled Saturday and will instead address the gathering in a video teleconference, said the sect's head pastor in Guatemala, Jorge Batres. De Jesus Miranda founded the Growing in Grace church in 1986. He preaches to followers in some 35 nations, mostly in Latin America, and has 287 radio programs and a 24-hour Spanish-language TV network. He often takes aim at the Catholic Church - the most powerful faith in Latin America - calling all priests child molesters and saying chastity vows contradict the Bible's teachings. De Jesus Miranda preaches that sin and the devil do not exist. In January, he declared that he and his followers were antichrists because their beliefs supersede those of Jesus Christ. The Bible describes the Antichrist as someone who will fill the world with wickedness but be conquered by a second coming of Christ. De Jesus Miranda has also been denied entry into El Salvador and Honduras.

Sheryl Crow Battles Karl Rove at D.C. Dinner
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003574776

President George Bush’s choice not to make jokes, and comedian Rich Little’s somewhat poor attempt to make them, resulted in an unusual White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner Saturday as celebrities and politicians mixed, mingled and dined. One highlight: singer Sheryl Crow, on a cross-country global warming awareness trip, got into it with Karl Rove. Jawing like a baseball manager and an umpire arguing a call, Crow and Rove were disagreeing over global warming, with Crow’s pal, Laurie David, offering support. Approached afterward about the exchange, Rove said he was enjoying it all, “if I can get to my meal.”

Moore playing coy? http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Spotlight/2007/04/22/4102401-sun.html

How is Michael Moore handling the issue of Manufacturing Dissent? Pretty much the same way George W. Bush handled Fahrenheit 9/11 -- by not commenting on it. Moore claims not only not to have seen Manufacturing Dissent, but not to have even heard about it. This despite the fact that he's a media-junkie and the documentary has been written up in The New York Times, among other outlets. At a Q&A at the recent Traverse City Film Festival, Moore responded to a question about it with, "You mean the Noam Chomsky film?," a reference to Manufacturing Consent, the 1992 profile of linguist and political theorist Chomsky. "There are a lot of films made about me," he said, when pressed further by a questioner. "I'm in a lot of movies." However, he did address his sometimes free-form and dramaturgically minded take on the presentation of facts when the session host suggested "non-fiction" might be a better term for his films than documentaries.

FYI, 13yo skool grl is nu US txt mssg chmpN
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/FYI_13yo_skool_grl_is_nu_US_txt_mss_04222007.html

Some 250 challengers shunned the warmest day of the year for a dark ballroom where they battled it out for a chance to take on the reigning West Coast champion, 21-year-old Eli Tirosh, for the title of US Texting Champion. Contestants had to stand with their hands behind their backs until a bell sounded and a message appeared on an overhead screen. The winner was judged on whoever's message -- checked for exact punctuation -- reached the judges first. The text tests ranged from "faster than a speeding bullet..." and "what we do in life echoes in eternity" to the less poetic "OMG, nd 2 talk asap." The 250 competitors were quickly whittled down to eight semi finalists, one of whom, Anne Finn, 24, of Allegany, New York, said the pressure was too much. "It was so nerve wracking. My hands started to shake. I couldn't get my apostrophe," she said. In the end, 13-year-old Morgan Pozgar faced off against Michael "Cheeser" Nguyen in the east coast final, with Pozgar slipping past her challenger to face west coast champion Tirosh, a law student from Los Angeles. Tirosh, who said she practiced with her friend and trainer Amy, who threw out random words or symbols and even motivational Buddhist quotes, admitted to feeling a certain pressure due to the home side advantage.
Wearing a satin boxing robe before her championship bout against Pozgar, she said success would come down to who could marry lightning speed and accuracy. "It's all about the thumbwork," she said. "It's about balance." She said she owed her success to relaxation and deep breathing. So dedicated is she to the art of the text message that Tirosh apparently unwittingly uses abbreviations such as BTW (by the way), TTYL (talk to you later) and LOL (laughing out loud) in her normal speech. Pozgar said she trained by sending on average 8,000 text messages a month to her friends -- an astonishing rate of one every five and a half minutes.

April 21, 2007

2007-04-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Meteor Shower Peaks Before Dawn Sunday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070421/sc_space/meteorshowerpeaksbeforedawnsunday

The sky will be dark and moonless for at least three hours before the first light of dawn on Sunday morning, April 22, when the annual Lyrid meteor shower is due to reach its peak.

Hundreds dead as Mogadishu war escalates http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Hundreds_dead_as_Mogadishu_war_escalates.html?siteSect=143&sid=7739273&cKey=1177166314000

Shells pounded Mogadishu on Saturday, killing at least 73 people to swell a death-toll already in the hundreds from this week's battles between militant Islamists and allied Somali and Ethiopian troops. The escalating war has also sent more than 321,000 residents -- nearly a third of Mogadishu's total population -- fleeing in the biggest refugee movement in Somalia since the 1991 fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre ushered in 16 years of anarchy. Even by Somali standards, Saturday's carnage was shocking. The week's final death-toll is expected to soar and may come close to the estimated 1,000 casualties from a similar four-day flare-up at the end of March. Most of the victims are civilians. The Islamists ruled most of south Somalia for the second half of 2006, before being defeated in a brief war over the New Year. But Islamist fighters -- backed by some disgruntled Hawiye clan elements -- have regrouped to rise up against President Abdullahi Yusuf's administration and his Ethiopian backers. The United Nations and aid agencies say the massive refugee exodus is also creating a looming humanitarian catastrophe, with diseases already striking. Many refugees are living under trees and beside roads, short of food, water and any basic amenities. Inside the city, residents described a terrifying night of near-constant shelling mixed with thunder from a storm. The United States, Ethiopia and Somali government say the rebels are linked to al Qaeda, but Islamist leaders deny that, saying they are being deprived of a say in Somalia's future.

U.S. will offer a deal to Russia on missile shield
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/21/news/missile.php

At the urging of European allies, the Bush administration is offering Russia a new package of incentives to drop its harsh opposition to U.S. missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, including an invitation to link American and Russian antimissile systems, according to senior administration and military officials. The package also includes American offers to share intelligence about common threats, and to permit Russian officials to inspect the future missile bases. U.S. officials said the initiatives reflected an acknowledgment at the highest levels of the Bush administration that it had not been agile in dealing with Russia - and with some European allies - on its missile defense plans. The initiatives include offers that are "deeper, more specific and concrete" than any previous proposal for cooperation from the Bush administration to Kremlin leaders, according to a senior official involved in planning upcoming talks. The offers of cooperation will be laid out for top Russian officials over coming weeks in a series of high-level meetings being scheduled by senior Americans, in particular Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. If those talks go well, they would be continued over the summer and the autumn between President Bush and President Vladimir Putin.

Bush to visit Czech Republic, Poland in June over missile shield http://en.rian.ru/world/20070421/64110797.html

The president of the United States will visit the Czech Republic June 4-5 and Poland June 8 for negotiations on Washington's missile shield plans, the local media said. The Czech government decided March 28 to start the negotiations with the United States over the issue. Preparations for Bush's visit were discussed at a Friday meeting between Czech Foreign Minister Karl Schwarzenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, the Czech news agency CTK said. At the meeting, Rice told Schwarzenberg that the U.S. was also conducting bilateral talks over the missile shield with Poland, NATO and Russia. Bush will fly to Poland after attending a summit of the world's leading industrial nations, the Group of Eight, in Germany June 6-8. Following a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer moved to allay Russia's anxiety and said the placement of the U.S. missile shield would not change the strategic balance because Washington proposed to deploy only ten missile interceptors. Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, said Tuesday that Washington was ready to allow Russian experts to inspect the likely missile site in Poland to show that it posed no threat to Moscow. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will visit Moscow and Warsaw next week, and Secretary of State Rice will be in Russia in May. Czech President Vaclav Klaus is expected in Russia April 26-29 at the invitation of President Putin, the Kremlin press service said Friday.

Moscow court delays hearing on tsar family exoneration
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070420/64047736.html

A Moscow court postponed until May 11 hearings of an appeal by a descendant of the Romanov family requesting that the murder of the last Russian tsar and his family be declared political repression. Both the Prosecutor General's Office and lawyers for Grand Duchess Maria have appealed against a November ruling of the Tverskoy Court, which ordered prosecutors to revise Maria Romanov's request to rehabilitate the tsar and his family, killed in 1918, as victims of political repressions rather than murder victims. Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their teenage son Alexei and four daughters were executed together with a doctor and three servants in Yekaterinburg, the Urals, a year after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The nation's last monarch, Nicholas II and his family were reburied in the former imperial capital St. Petersburg in 1998, 80 years after being massacred by the Bolsheviks.

Coca-Cola Pours Out onto Street
http://www.kommersant.com/p760901/workers_protest/

Workers of Coca-Cola corporation’s factory in St. Petersburg held a protest rally in front of its building on Friday, demanding a 30-percent wage raise. Coca-Cola said that wages at the factory are competitive, adding that the rally was caused by the trade union leaders’ wish to fulfill “personal and political ambitions”. The rally was joined by the workers of Heineken brewery, where an ‘Italian strike’ is going on for the second week already.
Several tens of Coca-Cola factory workers in St. Petersburg demanded on Friday to raise the wages by 30 percent. The decision to hold a protest rally was made after the workers’ last meeting with the management on April 12, where the latter accused dissatisfied workers of “unsanctioned activity” and refused to fulfill their demands. Coca-Cola workers were joined by several employees of St. Petersburg meat factory Samson, members of APK Rossii trade union organization, of the International Union of Food Industry Workers, and by several workers of Heineken brewery in St. Petersburg. Heineken is having the so-called ‘Italian strike’ since April 13 (workers do not leave their workplace, but their labor productiveness may fall by half).

China, U.S. ink document to facilitate cooperation on farm chemical pollution control
http://english.people.com.cn/200704/20/eng20070420_368377.html

China and the United States have inked a letter of intent to facilitate cooperation in improving the quality of farm chemicals as well as its pollution control, a U.S. official said on Friday. The document was signed between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Institute for the control of farm chemicals under the Ministry of Agriculture. As China is a big consumer and producer of farm chemicals, EPA assistant administrator Granta Nakayama said the document helps to facilitate U.S.-China cooperation in farm chemical management. The two countries will cooperate closely to control pollution of agrochemicals and reduce its side-effects to the users. He also appreciated the rapid progress that the Chinese government has achieved in environmental protection and pollution prevention. Nakayama visited China from April 12 to 20 and met with officials of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China, and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. His current trip aims to explore future cooperation areas with China in environmental protection, and share experience in regulation enforcement.

BFA Annual Conference 2007 opens, focusing on Asian integration
http://english.people.com.cn/200704/21/eng20070421_368533.html

With the world moving closer to multipolarization and economic globalization gaining momentum, regional cooperation in Asia will be steadily enhanced, said China's top legislator Wu Bangguo. Wu defined "harmony" as fundamental to Asia's development, saying that harmony is a good tradition and should be carried forward. Despite the robust economic growth among Asian nations, the region is worried about how to achieve sustainable development in face of pollution and energy shortage. Wu called for Asian nations to pursue a new strategy for industrialization which is high-tech driven, resources-efficient and environment-friendly and fully taps the strengths of human resources. During the two-day conference, more than 1,400 of the most influential politicians, business leaders and intellectuals from Asia and around the globe will discuss topics concerning the Asian economic community, Asian values, corporate social responsibility and innovation in the banking and telecommunications sectors.

China to host first ever int'l forum on Dao De Jing
http://english.people.com.cn/200704/21/eng20070421_368490.html

More than 300 delegates from 19 countries and regions will attend the six-day forum which will be held in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and in Hong Kong from April 22, according to the Taoist Association of China, one of the sponsors of the forum. "Dao De Jing is not only the central text of Taoism, but also a precious spiritual and cultural treasure of the Chinese nation," said Qi Xiaofei, vice president of the China Religious Culture Communication Association. "The harmonious philosophy of Dao De Jing transcends history, religion and national boundaries. A classic text, it nevertheless resonates with the aspirations of the contemporary world," Qi said. There are more than 5,000 Taoist temples on the Chinese mainland.

Petrobras denies protests interrupt its natural gas production in Bolivia
http://english.people.com.cn/200704/21/eng20070421_368555.html

According to Bolivia's national oil and gas company YPFB, the protests in the southern Gran Chaco province damaged part of the pipeline system, which transports natural gas from Bolivia to Brazil, causing a reduction of 20 percent in product supply to the Brazilian and Argentine markets. However, Petrobras said the volume of natural gas imports from Bolivia remains at a regular level. YPFB also said the production in the San Alberto field dropped from 10 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to 3.4 million cubic meters. Gas pumping stations were invaded by protesters, who were fighting for a share in the revenues obtained from the exploitation of the fields. This week, the movement threatened to interrupt production in Gran Chaco, from which most of the 26 million cubic meters of natural gas was imported by Brazil every day. Bolivian Vice President Ivaro Garcia Linera warned on Friday that there is a huge risk of tragedy due to the vandalism in the plant.

Hawaii aims to deter volcano offerings http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070421/ap_on_re_us/volcano_offerings;_ylt=Aq54aP7lA5DJ2ZUiP5mbCZRI2ocA

Visitors leave 45 pounds of offerings from Halemaumau Crater each week, including flowers, bottles, money, incense, candles and crystals. But food offerings are the most problematic, park rangers say. The rotting offerings pose a hazard to the endangered nene goose, the state bird endemic to the islands, the park service said. People also burn fake money which in Chinese culture is meant to aid people in the afterlife. Such fires are illegal, the park statement said. Some Hawaiians believe lava is the physical representation of the fire goddess Pele, making the volcano summit sacred. Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been in continuous eruption since Jan. 3, 1983.

Transgender student runs for prom king http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070421/ap_on_re_us/transgender_prom_king;_ylt=AkfzwgaSfXjTR.yGRrgsAjVI2ocA

When school officials announce the name of the Fresno High School prom king on Saturday, Cinthia Covarrubias will be wearing a tuxedo just like the six boys vying for the honor. Administrators agreed to reverse a district protocol this week that limited males to compete for the title after Covarrubias was nominated by her classmates. Covarrubias, who wears black-and-white Vans, baggy shorts and close-cropped brown hair, sometimes identifies herself as Tony. Her date, a close female friend, plans to wear a black dress and red corsage to the prom at an outdoor reception hall surrounded by man-made waterfalls. On Wednesday, officials at the school of 2,700 students shifted course, saying the district's lawyers had recommended adding Covarrubias' name to the ballot to comply with a 2000 state law protecting students' ability to express their gender identity on campus.

War Dead Exhumed Over Prostitutes http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/04/20/014.html

The remains of World War II pilots have been exhumed from a monument along a highway heading toward Sheremetyevo Airport to widen the road and prevent prostitutes from desecrating the site, authorities said Thursday. Several lawmakers accused authorities of desecrating the memory of the six Red Army pilots, who were shot down during the war, and drew a parallel between the exhumations and Estonia's recent decision to remove a Soviet war monument. The remains were dug up near Leningradskoye Shosse in Khimki on Tuesday and will be reburied at a local cemetery on May 9, the Victory Day holiday, said Yevgeny Zaporozhets, deputy head of the Khimki administration. He linked the decision to the upcoming reconstruction of Leningradskoye Shosse and said war veterans had asked for the reburial due to the prostitutes who gathered in the area at night. A local resident and worker at a nearby clinic, Irina Rodionova, 42, agreed that the monument needed to be moved. "Prostitutes have been gathering behind the monument to change their clothes or relieve themselves," Rodionova said. "Many times they left their underwear and condoms there."

Report sets out Switzerland's main challenges http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/politics/detail/Report_sets_out_Switzerland_s_main_challenges.html?siteSect=111&sid=7736842&cKey=1177089030000

Drawn up by the federal administration's strategy unit, the report - published every four years - aims to identify what are likely to be the most important topics for the government in the years to come. Globalisation was high on the report's agenda. To respond to this, political harmonisation across the sectors was necessary, it recommended. The pace of world development and an increase in international competitiveness were major challenges for the country, added the report. Switzerland must therefore maintain its competitiveness and continue its policy of economic growth in order to keep up, said the authors. The report suggested that productivity could be increased through know-how and added that salaries and jobs needed to be guaranteed. It pointed out three groups most at risk – older workers, people trying to balance family and work, and those with low income. A further challenge was social cohesion, which the report said was being shaken by the ageing population and by integration questions. By 2050, it is estimated there will be one older person for every two people of working age. At present this figure stands at one to four. The report therefore called for the social security system to be amended to take into account demographic changes and to avoid placing too much of a burden on future generations. The integration of foreigners was flagged up as an extremely important topic. It added that factors hindering integration needed to be identified, with particular attention paid to foreigners being integrated into the working world. Efforts should be made to promote national language learning and end discrimination. Environment was the final worry for the future. The report called for a stop to environmental destruction, as well as for a reduction in the use of non-renewable sources of energy and the risks from natural disasters. It also urged sustainable use of resources and the countryside. The federal administration said the government had taken note of the report's proposals. The cabinet will present its political priorities during the next legislative period at the beginning of 2008.

Renewable energy attracts investors http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/top_news/detail/Renewable_energy_attracts_investors.html?siteSect=106&sid=7732781&cKey=1177050320000

Last year they poured SFr18 billion ($14.8 billion) into sustainable investments in Switzerland - an increase of 70 per cent over 2005. This impressive growth mirrors the boom in companies active in environmental technology. Meyer Burger and 3S Swiss Solar Systems, both based in canton Bern, are two companies that have embraced the sustainability ideal. 3S is world market leader in the production of manual and semi-automatic solar panels while Meyer Burger produces specialised machines for cutting hard, brittle material used primarily in solar power technology. Both companies were very successful last year. Meyer Burger's earnings doubled to SFr5.6 million, with its turnover up 40 per cent to around SFr83 million. The company share price has risen nearly 200 per cent since its launch on the Swiss exchange in November. For its part, 3S saw black for the first time, making a SFr700,000 profit and almost trebling its turnover to SFr11.6 million. The company's share price has gone up 35 per cent.

Gadgets and gizmos bring invention to Geneva http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/science_technology/detail/Gadgets_and_gizmos_bring_invention_to_Geneva.html?siteSect=511&sid=7729723&cKey=1177063206000

A sushi-rolling machine, underwear for pets, a sure-shot golf putter and even a flying man are all looking to strike it lucky at the 35th Geneva inventions fair. The event, which opened on Wednesday, is said to be the world's leading showcase for inventions, this year drawing around 1,000 gadgets from more than 40 countries. The exhibits – among them a new aphrodisiac – should provide plenty of food for thought for the 75,000 visitors, but it is commercial success that is foremost on the minds of the 700 exhibitors. Global turnover from last year's fair is estimated to have exceeded SFr40 million ($33 million) and the promise of riches lures inventors, distributors and "talent scouts" from all around the world. Gérard Sermier, chief spokesman for the fair, told swissinfo that around 45 per cent of inventors pocketed a deal in 2006. The countries best represented this year are Russia, Malaysia and Iran, which has brought more than 50 exhibitors. Over 100 were registered to come but the Swiss embassy in Tehran failed to grant sufficient visas, much to the annoyance of the fair's organisers. One of the stars of this year's fair is former Swiss air force pilot Yves "Fusionman" Rossy – the first man to fly strapped to a wing equipped with four jet engines. The daredevil's high-speed antics originally sent the country's aviation authorities into a tailspin but they have attracted the attention of both the United States and German military.One gadget catching the eye of journalists, if not yet distributors, is Easy-sushi, a device that rolls the perfect maki sushi. Developed by Lausanne-based inventor Franck Rolland, it operates in a similar way to a cigarette-rolling machine and is having its world premiere in Geneva. Rolland, who works for canton Vaud's roads department, believes Europe and the US are two potential markets but is not so sure about the home of sushi, Japan. Proof of the long reach of the fair is provided by Léonard Louhouassou who has brought his driving simulator all the way from Congo-Brazzaville. The aim of the device is to help novice motorists get a feel for driving before they get behind the wheel of a car. Louhouassou, an inventor of 25 years' standing, insists that once a beginner has mastered the simulator, which features foot pedals and a gear stick, they are more than ready for the open road.

Swiss Alps resorts cool with ‘global warming’ http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=21251&sid=7476109&cKey=1170666251000

There are nearly 6,000 hotels and health spas in Switzerland yet only 20 of them – or less than half of one per cent – are recognised as environmentally friendly. The average Swiss hotel produces 93 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, well above recommended norms. The accommodation sector is now making efforts to improve its record. A joint study completed by the hotel and hospitality schools in Lausanne and Lucerne in 2004 concluded that there was "significant energy-saving potential in the Swiss hotel economy". The detailed report found that the average hotel consumed 20 per cent more heating oil and 45 per cent more electricity than stipulated by Swiss norms, and that six per cent of a tourist accommodation's annual turnover goes towards energy costs. More worryingly, the study, "Energy efficiency and CO2 emissions in the Swiss hotel economy", found that few hotel owners surveyed expressed an interest in addressing the issue. Many felt they could not afford to make the required investments. While improving a building's insulation or installing heating systems to take advantage of renewable energy sources can be costly, the report pointed out that a ten per cent reduction of CO2 emissions could be achieved through simple measures, which would also save money. Hotels are advised to turn off devices and appliances when not in use and to avoid using stand-by modes, and install water-saving fittings on taps and showers. The umbrella organisation, the Swiss Tourism Federation, has joined the chorus calling on hotels to realise their energy-saving potential. Along with the Federal Environment Office, the federation has introduced the European Union "Eco-label" for tourist accommodation.

While Austrian resort is hot for climate change http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=21251&sid=7487799&cKey=1170681003000

The Austrian mountain resort of Werfenweng has discovered that sustainability is not only good for the environment but for the economy as well. In summer the pioneering resort puts a fleet of electric vehicles at the disposal of its guests, from battery-powered bicycles to three-wheeled scooters and even a hybrid Toyota Prius car for trips beyond the village. While no restrictions are placed on motorised traffic in the resort, Werfenweng does manage to convince many visitors who come by car to leave them parked. Car owners who hand over their keys for the duration of their stay are eligible for many free perks. The sustainable concept introduced a decade ago has put the modest village of only 800 inhabitants on the map, thanks to the numerous European awards it has received for its efforts – and the accompanying media coverage. It's been a win-win – even a win-win-win – situation: good for the economy, the visitor and the environment. Nights spent in holiday accommodation have increased from 98,000 in 1998 to 210,000 five years later – nearly double the average increase of resorts in Salzburg. What's more, about 25 per cent of visitors to Werfenweng come by train. With such an impressive transport concept, it's easy to overlook Werfenweng's efforts to tap into renewable energy sources. A photovoltaic system provides the power not only for its electric vehicles but also for more than half of the village's households. Some of the streetlights have been replaced by energy-efficient lamps, each topped by a small solar panel. Since they are also equipped with motion sensors, they are only activated when people pass by, thereby also reducing light pollution.

Is Switzerland really a land of sex and love? http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Is_Switzerland_really_a_land_of_sex_and_love.html?siteSect=105&sid=7736340&cKey=1177145431000

The Swiss are not shy when it comes to lovemaking – 123 times a year, according to a global sex survey. The worldwide average is 103. But some experts have doubts about whether the report reveals what is really going on between the sheets in Switzerland. The first part of the Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey, by condom maker Durex, was released earlier this week. The online survey questioned more than 26,000 adults of all orientations in 26 countries about their sexual activities and experiences. In all, 557 people answered in Switzerland. Topping the list of those who had the most sex were the Greeks at 164. Following the land of Aphrodite were the Brazilians (145). The most modest were the Japanese, where kimonos only come off 48 times a year. Switzerland's score of 123 meant it did better than neighbouring Latin lovers Italy (121), France (120). Swiss lovers were also ahead of other neighbours Germany (117), the United States (85) and Britain (92). The Swiss were also found to have good stamina. At 19 minutes, the Swiss made love one minute longer than the world average. World champions in this respect were the Nigerians at 24 minutes, with the fun only lasting 13 minutes in India. However, despite all this good news, the Swiss were still found to be unhappy with their love lives, with only 42 per cent saying they were totally satisfied. The happiest were the Nigerians at 67 per cent and at the bottom of the league were – again – the poor old Japanese at 15 per cent. Around half of the Swiss surveyed said that less stress and tiredness would mean more frolicking in the bedroom. They thought a bit more fun and romance would not go amiss as well. Durex said the disparity between wanting more fun, but not being willing to experiment – only 45 per cent said they wanted to do so - may have contributed to the low figure. But including those "largely satisfied", the figure rose to around 72 per cent.

Russians Making Whoopee http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/04/20/031.html

Russians have the third most active sex lives, behind Greeks and Brazilians, according to a survey of 26 countries conducted by a condom maker. The Durex survey found that 80 percent of respondents in Russia had sex weekly, trailing Brazil at 82 percent and Greece at 87 percent. The survey questioned 26,028 people, of which 22,040 were not virgins, in 26 countries. Only 34 percent of those in Japan reported having sex weekly, behind only the United States at 53 percent.

Atomstroyexport puts Chinese NPP's first unit to full capacity http://en.rian.ru/world/20070420/64070431.html

The first power unit of a Chinese nuclear power plant has been put to full capacity, the press service of Russia's nuclear equipment export monopoly said Friday. Atomstroyexport is building the Tianwan NPP in eastern China's port city of Lianyungang. The plant, which is being built under a 1992 bilateral agreement, features improved VVER-1000 reactors and K-100-6/3000 turbo-generators. "The reactor installation of the Tianwan NPP's first power unit operates to 100% of heating capacity. The reactor installation's electric output is 1,055 MW. The output increase was carried out gradually, with all required tests being conducted successfully," Atomstroyexport said. The company said the first power unit will be put into commercial operation after all tests have been conducted. The first unit of the Tianwan NPP went on line in early January, but was then suspended for maintenance work.

Iran officials in Moscow for nuclear talks on Bushehr http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070421/64116355.html

Iranian nuclear officials arrived in Moscow last night to discuss completion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant that Russia is building in the Islamic Republic, the IRNA news agency said. The project built under a 1995 contract was put in jeopardy after Atomstroyexport accused Tehran in February of failing to make payments for the construction since mid-January. Moscow said the project had only received 60% of the required funding by the fourth quarter of 2006. Iran said in April that only 8% of the work remained to be done and that "this year its construction will be completed." Moscow and Tehran continued talks over the issue last month until the Russian contractor said in late March that Iran had made part of the payments but still had to cover the arrears. The Bushehr project implemented under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog was originally to be commissioned in July 1999, but the deadline has been revised five times since then.

2 studies link hormone use to higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/news/cancer.php

Research on two continents has signaled more bad news for hormone replacement therapy, offering the strongest evidence yet that the drugs can raise the risk of breast cancer and are tied to a slightly higher risk of ovarian cancer. New U.S. government numbers show that breast cancer rates leveled off in 2004 after plunging in 2003 - the year after millions of women stopped taking hormones because a big study tied them to higher heart, stroke and breast cancer risks. Experts said the leveling off showed that the 2003 drop in the cancer rate was real and not a fluke. From 2001 to 2004, breast cancer rates fell almost 9 percent, a sharp decline, researchers reported Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine. The trend was even stronger for the most common form of the disease: tumors whose growth is fueled by hormones. Those rates fell almost 15 percent among women aged 50 to 69, the group most likely to have been on hormone pills. At the same time, a study of nearly one million women in Britain showed that those who took hormones after menopause were 20 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer or die from it than women who never took the pills. That study was published online by The Lancet, the British medical journal.

Training Iraqi troops no longer driving force in U.S. policy
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17104704.htm

Evidence has been building for months that training Iraqi troops is no longer the focus of U.S. policy. Pentagon officials said they know of no new training resources that have been included in U.S. plans to dispatch 28,000 additional troops to Iraq. The officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to discuss the policy shift publicly. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made no public mention of training Iraqi troops on Thursday during a visit to Iraq. U.S. officials don't say that the training formula - championed by Gen. John Abizaid when he was the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and by Gen. George Casey when he was the top U.S. general in Iraq - was doomed from the start. But they said that rising sectarian violence and the inability of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to unite the country changed the conditions. Military leaders in Baghdad planned to train 325,000 Iraqi security forces. Once that was accomplished, those forces were to take control. Military officials say there's no doubt that the November U.S. elections, which gave Democrats control of both houses of Congress, helped push training down the priority list. The elections, they said, made it clear that voters didn't have the patience to wait for Iraqis to take the lead.

Intelligence Budget Estimated At $44 Billion In Taxpayer Money, But Amount Still Secret http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007106034

Pres. George W. Bush's threatened veto of the 2007 intelligence budget authorization bill unless Congressional oversight was stripped out was effective enough that his Republican supporters managed to stop the bill from coming to a vote earlier this week. After allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency had taken suspected terrorists to secret prisons that it operated and that the National Security Agency conducted surveillance without court warrants there was a bipartisan call by Congress to give it more information on intelligence matters. But Bush has resisted that so far. The proposed legislation would require Bush to tell Congress about interrogation techniques, make public the intelligence budget - estimated at $44 billion annually - and introduce stiff penalties for disclosing an intelligence officer's identity. But the real reason to disclose the intelligence budget might be to find out how much money is going to private contractors. It is rumored that anywhere from 50 percent to 60 percent of the CIA workforce is comprised of private contractors rather than government employees.

Russia rejects US 'blackmail' over Kosovo's independence http://www.serbianna.com/news/2007/01567.shtml

Russia's foreign minister on Friday rejected U.S. warnings there could be renewed violence in Kosovo if the province is not granted independence soon. "That very much resembles blackmail and cannot be a reason to dismember a sovereign state," Sergei Lavrov said, reiterating Russia's opposition to a U.S.-backed plan that would allow the majority Muslim province to split from Serbia. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said this week that delaying Kosovo's independence "would lead to more violence, rather than less." He did not elaborate, but there were fears in the West that if Kosovo does not become independent soon, majority Kosovo Albanians could respond with attacks against minority Kosovo Serbs. Russia has repeatedly expressed support for the Serb position on Kosovo, which has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999 when NATO-led airstrikes stopped a Serbian crackdown against separatist Kosovo Albanians. The province's Albanians have been seeking independence, but Belgrade wants to retain at least formal control over the area. Lavrov was visiting Montenegro, a tiny Adriatic Sea state that last year peacefully split from Serbia, after talks in Belgrade.

Black Sea States, Neighbors Plan To Boost Cooperation http://www.serbianna.com/news/2007/01558.shtml

The countries sharing the shores of the Black Sea and a few neighboring states announced plans Thursday to bolster economic and other cooperation in their region, including a construction of a "ring road" around the sea. The foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine convened in Belgrade along with counterparts from Greece, Albania and the host country - all members of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, or BSECO. The participants signed a "memorandum on mutual understanding" to launch projects for the more than 2,000 kilometer-long highway whose cost is yet to be determined, possibly at BSECO summit scheduled for June 25 in Istanbul, Turkey.

‘Mistrust between EU, Russia worst since Cold War’ http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=109037

Relations between the EU and Russia "contain a level of misunderstanding or even mistrust we have not seen since the end of the Cold War," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will tell a conference scheduled to begin next Friday, in Bologna, Italy, according to prepared remarks distributed by his office. "Each suspects the other of double standards. Both believe the other is using the energy weapon as an instrument of politics. Neither thinks they enjoy the respect and goodwill from the other they are entitled to expect," he said. The only long-term solution for Russia was to push ahead with reforms to implement the rule of law in a transparent, impartial manner, he said, repeating the EU's call for Russia to open up its market to foreign traders. He called again for rules to govern global energy trading, saying Europe and Russia would both benefit from removing the political dimension. That would help calm Europe's worries over the security of its supplies and spur investors to put much-needed money into Russian infrastructure. "We should seek to explain why the rule of law must be the highest goal in Russia if the country is not to become trapped in the false strength of a petro-state," Mandelson said. But this goes both ways, he said, and Europe should not give the impression that it is determined to avoid becoming dependent on Russia oil and gas at all costs. Europe must also be open to investment from Russia, he said, referring to state gas monopoly OAO Gazprom's interest in supplying European customers directly. Rules that allow investment to flow both ways would interlock markets and deepen stability, he said. Russia should be drawn into the international trading system to diversify its economy away from its reliance on lucrative oil and gas revenues, he said, describing World Trade Organization membership as something that would strengthen Russia's economy, boost investment and trade and help depoliticize and calm trade disputes with Europe. "Russia needs to be in the WTO and we have a duty to assist this, which is why I am frustrated by our continuing bilateral disagreement on a number of issues," he said.

Turkey rejects ‘Kyoto’ http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=109074

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Güler has announced that Turkey has declined to sign the Kyoto Protocol for the sake of the country's national interests, in particular because certain parts of the protocol would hinder Turkey's infrastructure development. At a meeting sponsored by the Marmara Group, he said it is necessary to be cautious when it comes to energy issues, pointing out the binding nature of international agreements, according to the Anatolia news agency. Remarking that oil had been king for the past 100 years but that natural gas is the heir to the throne, Güler asserted that Russia, which has both gas and oil, has lately been using its energy potential as a means of power in international politics. He added Russia is establishing energy trade connections with countries only if it is strategically important for it. Underlining Turkey’s growing importance in the region, Güler recalled that throughout its history the country has served as a bridge between East and West. Since the Bakü-Tiblisi-Ceyhan pipeline started operation, Turkey’s position has become even more significant, Güler said. He noted one of the most important projects being implemented in Turkey under the EU was the Nabucco project. “We will become a major transit point,” he said, adding that he wants Turkey to grow in its role as an energy corridor. Turkey is pursuing a policy to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources and use more local resources, Güler said, adding that in addition to oil and natural gas exploration, Turkey has also started looking more closely at coal. Pointing out that the government considers the issue of renewable energy very important, Güler noted that they have initiated activities aiming at more intensive exploitation of water, wind and geothermal resources. When asked a question regarding the Kyoto Protocol, Güler said Turkey had reasons for not signing it. Explaining that the protocol wasn’t signed for the sake of national interests, Güler remarked that the same protocol also wasn’t signed by highly developed economies such as the US and China. “We don’t want the world to become more polluted; however, the protocol is against the construction of dams. We have decided to take this action for the sake of our national interests,” he said.

U.S. losing patience with Chinese currency http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.html?id=0891878b-1de0-420b-9f18-f69079b9ce62

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday that China isn't moving quickly enough on currency reform, and said he hopes high-level talks next month will produce results. Paulson has been pushing China to move more rapidly to allow its currency to rise in value against the U.S. dollar as the Bush administration seeks to ward off a protectionist backlash in Congress over rising U.S. trade deficits. Last year, the United States reported a record $232.5-billion trade gap with China. The two countries hold their next high-level talks in Washington May 23-24, the second round of what is known as the Strategic Economic Dialogue. Paulson began those talks in China in December. In recent weeks, the Bush administration has filed two new complaints against China at the World Trade Organization -- over copyright policy and restrictions on the sale of American movies, music and books -- and announced sanctions against Chinese paper imports. Paulson also said the overall economy is "healthy and well-balanced" and the housing market has transitioned to a more sustainable growth rate than the boom of 2003-05.

Taiwan shows model missiles to strike China http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-04-21T143955Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-295070-1.xml&archived=False

During five days of annual drills conducted this past week, , Taiwan’s military simulated a battle via computer featuring weapons that could hit targets on China's coast but not kill civilians, a spokesman said. The Ministry of Defence has not decided whether to develop the weapons, the spokesman said. China has seen self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the civil war of the 1940s and sometimes threatens military force to make the island return. Taiwan now has Patriot anti-aircraft missiles and anti-ship missiles that could strike China, which is 160 kilometres away, but officials say these would not go far enough in a war. China is aiming 988 missiles at Taiwan, the Taiwan government believes, and pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian has said that by 2010 China would be capable of a large-scale invasion.

Bhutan stages dress rehearsal for democratic vote http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-04-21T195337Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-295049-4.xml&archived=False

The people of the isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan streamed into polling stations on Saturday for a "mock election" designed as a dress rehearsal for the country's first truly democratic polls next year. The poll, with dummy parties and imaginary manifestos, takes mainly Buddhist Bhutan a step closer towards ending a century of royal rule, a prospect which has produced a mixture of enthusiasm and trepidation in a country which lived in a mediaeval world a generation ago. As recently as the 1960, Bhutan had no roads and practically no schools or hospitals. Today education and healthcare are free, and life expectancy has risen to 66 years, from less than 40, a fact most people attribute to the monarch's rule. Former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck decided to hand power to an elected government, against the will of his advisers and many subjects, before passing his crown to his 26-year-old Oxford-educated son last December. Wangchuck took the throne as a 16-year-old boy in 1972. Not long afterwards he drew inspiration from Buddhism and Bhutanese culture to propose that gross national happiness was more important than gross national product. He also began to prepare his people for democracy, devolving power to elected local bodies in the 1980s and to a council of ministers in 1998. Nevertheless, with conflicts and corruption in Bangladesh, Nepal and India, many Bhutanese worry about what democracy might bring.

Elections in Nigeria a shambles http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/243409/cs/1/

The presidential and legislative election in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has taken a slow and troubled turn. Many voting centers were without ballots for hours Saturday, while police said they had foiled an attack on election headquarters in Abuja. Tempers flared as hundreds of voters waited in the muggy heat amid open sewage, with no sign of ballot papers. Voting started in a few places on time, but in many cases ballot papers for the legislative election were missing. Officials said there were mistakes on some of them, prompting possible re-votes next week. Presidential ballots had to be reprinted to include current vice president and opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar, who was reinstated by a Supreme Court decision, but his party said old ballots were still being used. Meanwhile, firefights which began overnight in southern Bayelsa state, including at the hotel where the ruling vice presidential candidate was staying, continued on voting day. In Abuja, police said a tank laden with explosives crashed into a poll near election headquarters, but did not explode. In the presidential election, more than 20 candidates are competing to replace President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was denied a chance to run for a third term by the outgoing parliament. The main contenders are the ruling party's Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and former military general Muhammadu Buhari.

Alarm at South Africa's UN votes http://www.serbianna.com/news/2007/01555.shtml

Nelson Mandela's South Africa projected an image of a virtuous nation reconciling with a brutal white minority government and serving as an enduring symbol of resistance to political oppression. But South Africa's brief debut this year on the UN Security Council has tattered its reputation. It has prompted human rights activists to condemn President Thabo Mbeki for abandoning the human rights principles that defined the anti-apartheid movement and for routinely siding with some of the world's worst human rights abusers. In just over three months, South Africa has used its position on the council to try to block discussion of human rights abuses in Myanmar and Zimbabwe. It initially backed Iran's efforts to evade sanctions for defying UN demands to subject its nuclear program to greater scrutiny. And it reacted coolly to Kosovo's bid for independence, lending its backing to a Russian effort to deny Kosovo's president the right to address the UN Security Council in its formal chambers. South Africa's approach has bolstered its standing among the Third World bloc - including the influential Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement - that has long bridled at the power of the council's five heavyweights. It has strengthened its case within Africa for a permanent security council seat if the council is ever expanded. But it has also set Pretoria on a collision course with the US and its closest European allies, undercutting their efforts to use the UN to constrain Iran's nuclear program and highlight human rights abuses. South Africa's more assertive approach has alienated some of its traditional allies in the human rights community and earned praise from countries accused of committing large-scale atrocities. South Africa "is a great nation; it's a role model for us", said Sudan's UN ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad.

Ice Still Grips Canada Seal Hunt Boats http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4735054.html

Commercial seal hunters off the eastern coast of Canada faced food and fuel shortages Friday as their vessels remained stuck in dense ice. The boats were trapped when strong northeast winds generated by a powerful low-pressure system pushed ice toward the coast of northeastern Newfoundland and southern Labrador earlier this week. An easing of the wind Friday morning allowed 10 vessels to make it into port, but Penny said the other 90 boats probably would stay immobilized at least until Saturday. Thick slabs of ice have lift some vessels out of the water, causing them to tip on their sides.

Train service paralyzed in eastern Ontario as Mohawks barricade rail crossing http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=89635fac-df5b-45c9-9ec7-580aa0297621&k=39535

Train service on one of the country's busiest rail corridors was paralyzed Friday as a long-simmering aboriginal land dispute erupted into a full-scale blockade, sending thousands of passengers scrambling onto buses to reach their destinations. Tensions near the eastern Ontario town of Deseronto culminated around midnight Thursday with a school bus parked across a rail crossing - shutting down all freight and passenger service from Toronto eastward to Ottawa and Montreal. The latest aboriginal standoff to hit Ontario comes on the one-year anniversary of a provincial police raid against an occupation in the southern Ontario town of Caledonia. Aboriginal groups had warned that a lack of political will to settle that claim had protesters considering further standoffs in Ontario. On Friday, that warning proved all too prescient. Despite being served an injunction ordering their immediate removal from the site, members of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte vowed to maintain their planned 48-hour blockade.

April 20, 2007

2007-04-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Alec Baldwin 'Father of the Year' http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=042007_alec-baldwin-temporary-custody-ban-for-daugher-ireland-court-hearing-date-set.htm

Power lines link to cancer in new alert

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23393290-details/Power+lines+link+to+cancer+in+new+alert/article.do

The confidential study, obtained by the Evening Standard, urges ministers to consider banning the building of homes and schools close to overhead high-voltage power cables because of possible health risks. The report was drawn up by scientists, electricity company bosses, the National Grid, government officials and campaigners over two years after the Health Protection Agency accepted there was a weak statistical "association" between prolonged exposure to power fields and childhood leukaemia. The report, to be signed off by panel members next week, has sparked conflict at a series of hearings, according to a Whitehall source. Two members of the panel, regulator Ofgem and Scottish & Southern Energy, are understood to have quit. Some members of the panel took the view - adopted by the Government's health advisers and the World Health Organisat ion - that childhood leukaemia is the only adverse health effect where evidence is strong enough for precautionary measures to be considered. A second group generally backed views highlighted by the California Department of Health Services which suggested electromagnetic fields are "possibly carcinogenic" in terms of childhood leukaemia and placed four other health effects in this risk category. They were adult leukaemia, adult brain tumours, miscarriages and a form of motor neurone disease, although some scientists believe there are links with more diseases.

Vermont Senate calls for impeachment of Bush, Cheney

http://vermontguardian.com/local/042007/ImpeachmentVote.shtml

The Vermont Senate this morning approved by a 16-9 margin a resolution calling on the U.S. House to launch impeachment proceedings of Pres. George W. Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney. The Vermont Senate is the first state legislative body in the country to call on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings. Impeachment resolutions are currently active in Hawaii, Missouri, New Jersey, and Washington. A measure in New Mexico was quashed earlier this year.The move comes just days after nearly 150 people from around Vermont converged on Montpelier to urge lawmakers to pass such a resolution out of the House and Senate. The emotionally-charged, 40-minute meeting left backers hopeful that something could happen this session. Impeachment backers were thrilled with the move, and now turn their attention to the House, where an impeachment resolution has been sitting in the House Judiciary Committee for weeks.

New York's baby whale dies http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2007/04/19/4068786.html

A young whale that swam aimlessly for two days in a small bay off an industrial section of Brooklyn beached itself at an oil depot dock Wednesday and died suddenly. Animal activists said the minke whale, about a year old, was too young to survive on its own. Earlier, experts had reported seeing nothing to indicate the mammal was sick, such as swimming erratically or in tight circles. With only the whale’s dorsal fin visible at times, observers could only guess whether it was injured. The whale died about 5 p.m. The end was witnessed by spectators who had been drawn to the dock area in Gowanus Bay by news accounts of the whale. The whale was first spotted on Tuesday in Gowanus Bay, a small estuary off industrial south Brooklyn that is the outlet from the Gowanus canal, a narrow 1.2-mile waterway once lined with coal yards, scrap yards and small industries.

High-level talks set amid US frustration at Indian nuclear deal http://rawstory.com/news/afp/High_level_talks_set_amid_US_frustr_04202007.html

Senior US and Indian officials will meet here next week amid US "frustration" at the pace of negotiations on a landmark deal to give India access to US nuclear technology, a US spokesman said Friday.The agreement, initially reached in July 2006, gives India unprecedented access to US nuclear fuel and technology for its civilian power sector without requiring New Delhi to sign a nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty as normally required by US law. The deal has been defended by President George W. Bush's administration as the centerpiece of a new relationship between the US and India following decades of Cold War tensions. But the negotiations have bogged down, notably over India's refusal to commit formally to its voluntary unilateral moratorium on nuclear weapons testing and its insistence the deal gives it the right to reprocess nuclear fuel. Both elements would contravene US laws. The US Congress passed a law in December paving the way for the Indian civil nuclear arrangement, and implementing the agreement now under negotiation will also have to be approved by the legislature.

Rice discusses missile defence with Czech counterpart http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/Rice_discusses_missile_defence_with_04202007.html

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met withCzech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on Friday to discuss plans to install a missile defence system in Eastern Europe. The United States is negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic to deploy missile defence in the two countries, plans that have angered Russia and sparked controversy in Europe. The United States wants 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic within five or six years to counter Iran's growing ballistic missile capability.NATO appeared to endorse the idea after determining Thursday that the system would not pose a threat to Russia. There have been concerns in Europe that a missile defence system would result in a Cold War-style arms race. The United States has already deployed a missile defence system in Alaska to addressed the threat posed by North Korean missile technology.
Russia, already annoyed by the expansion of NATO toward its borders, has strongly protested against the plans.

Nato allies urge US to open missile shield plan

http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=27628

NATO allies urged the United States yesterday to ensure its planned anti-missile shield could one day be broadened to cover the whole of Europe but did not commit themselves to joining the project. The call came during meetings at Nato headquarters in which Washington aimed to soothe Russian alarm and dispel European scepticism about a defence shield in eastern Europe it says is aimed at blocking potential threats from Iran and elsewhere. Nato has since the mid-1990s been studying creating its own shield against short-range missiles for 2010, and officials said one option was that such a system could ultimately be used to protect areas of southeast Europe _ Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania _ that the US system will not cover. President Vladimir Putin, who some analysts say is using the spat to divide the West, has said the US plan to deploy 10 interceptor rockets in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic by 2012 encroaches on Russia's security interests. But a Russian Air Force commander said yesterday that the missiles Washington planed to deploy posed no military threat. "We see no major threat coming from these systems," the Russian news agency Interfax quoted General Valery Mikhailov as saying. "It's more of a political issue than military." "They are stationary, we will easily and pretty definitely identify their location," Mikhailov added. "So we have no need to feel scared of these systems."

Study: Low-Salt Diet Good for Your Heart

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,267348,00.html

In an extended follow-up of two rigorously designed trials, people who reduced their dietary sodium while participating in the studies saw 25 percent reductions in heart disease and stroke risk 10 to 15 years later, compared with people who ate their usual diets.

Campaign against alleged voter fraud fuels political tempest

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17102317.htm

Since President Bush's first attorney general, John Ashcroft, a former Republican senator from Missouri, launched a "Ballot Access and Voter Integrity Initiative" in 2001, Justice Department political appointees have exhorted U.S. attorneys to prosecute voter fraud cases, and the department's Civil Rights Division has sought to roll back policies to protect minority voting rights. On virtually every significant decision affecting election balloting since 2001, the division's Voting Rights Section has come down on the side of Republicans, notably in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Washington and other states where recent elections have been decided by narrow margins. Joseph Rich, who left his job as chief of the section in 2005, said these events formed an unmistakable pattern.

-Approved Georgia and Arizona laws that tightened voter ID requirements. A federal judge tossed out the Georgia law as an unconstitutional infringement on the rights of poor voters, and a federal appeals court signaled its objections to the Arizona law on similar grounds last fall, but that litigation was delayed by the U.S. Supreme Court until after the election.

-Issued advisory opinions that overstated a 2002 federal election law by asserting that it required states to disqualify new voting registrants if their identification didn't match that in computer databases, prompting at least three states to reject tens of thousands of applicants mistakenly.

-Done little to enforce a provision of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act that requires state public assistance agencies to register voters. The inaction has contributed to a 50 percent decline in annual registrations at those agencies, to 1 million from 2 million.

-Sued at least six states on grounds that they had too many people on their voter rolls. Some eligible voters were removed in the resulting purges.

-In Missouri, where Republican Sen. Jim Talent was fighting to hang onto his seat and hold the U.S. Senate for the GOP, a Republican-backed photo ID requirement cleared the state House of Representatives by one vote in May 2006 after an intense lobbying effort in which backers alleged voter fraud in heavily Democratic St. Louis and Kansas City.

-In late 2001, Ashcroft hired three Republican political operatives to work in a secretive new unit in the division's Voting Rights Section. The unit, headed by unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate Mark Metcalf of Kentucky, bird-dogged the progress of the administration's Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and reviewed voting legislation in the states. The Help America Vote Act directed states to create central, computerized voter registration lists, to make a "reasonable effort" to remove ineligible names and to match new applicants' driver's licenses and Social Security numbers to those in state databases.

A Breach in Nuclear Security

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1612912,00.html

TIME magazine has obtained the report of a task force set up by Energy Secretary Bodman to examine some of the security issues in his department. Given the stakes involved in protecting nuclear secrets in a post 9/11 world, the report makes uncomfortable reading: It details not only more extensive drug use among staff at Los Alamos, but describes a systematic lack of accountability and weaknesses in the safeguards surrounding nuclear secrets. Secretary Bodman's task force report shows, however, that security problems were not limited to Los Alamos. Investigators examined more than 450 security clearances issued over 12 months beginning in June 2001 and found two other cases in which clearances were granted to people with "indications of prior drug use within the month prior to the clearance being granted." A further 35 cases involved drug use within the year prior to requesting a security clearance. Following its internal investigation, the DOE is proposing sweeping changes in security procedures and the issuance of clearances — and not just at Los Alamos.

US court releases Cuban exile wanted for terrorism in Cuba

http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/US_court_releases_Cuban_exile_wante_04192007.html

A US court in Texas Thursday released a Cuban exile sought by Cuba and Venezuela on terrorism charges, a person connected to the case said. Luis Posada Carriles, 78, is wanted in Cuba for the 1976 bombing of a passenger plane and has been charged in the US with seven counts of naturalization violations. But the US has refused to expel him, and has turned down extradition requests for the one-time CIA operative because he could face torture in Venezuela or Cuba, a US judge ruled in 2005. Cuban President Fidel Castro has charged that the US is protecting a terrorist by limiting his legal case to a minor immigration violation. Posada's prospective release triggered hundreds of scattered protest demonstrations in Cuba last week. Cuba and Venezuela accuse Posada - who has long-standing ties with the Central Intelligence Agency and has led several attacks against Cuba - of carrying out acts of terrorism, including the 1976 bombing of a Cubana de Aviacion passenger plane with 73 people on board. Posada was convicted in Venezuela for being one of the masterminds of the airliner bombing, but he escaped from prison after eight years and joined US-directed covert counterinsurgency operations in Central America. He was also convicted in Panama in 2000 for attempting to murder Cuban President Fidel Castro, but was pardoned four years later by a Panamanian president closely allied with the US. Cuba has also accused Posada of masterminding the bombing attacks at Cuban tourist sites in 1997, which claimed the life of one Italian tourist.

Buddhist monks clash in Cambodia amid anti-Vietnam protest

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070420/kyodo/d8oka4e81.html

At least two Buddhist monks were injured Friday in a street clash in Cambodia's capital between two opposing groups of monks during a protest against Vietnam, which some monks accuse of suppressing religious freedom. The demonstration march was made by some 40 monks, most of whom identified themselves as Khmer Krom, an ethnic Khmer minority people of Vietnam who inhabited the Mekong Delta area prior to the colonization of that area by Vietnamese settlers. The marchers were demanding relief from alleged religious suppression of Khmer Krom by Vietnamese authorities, and had hoped to deliver a protest letter to the Vietnamese Embassy but were dispersed by some 150 riot police. They then walked to the Royal Palace, where the clash occurred, and to the U.S. Embassy. Marcher Lim Yuth, 23, his face bloody from a cut above his eye, said he was injured by an object thrown by a small group of Buddhist monks, still unidentified, during his group's peaceful march. It was unclear whether the Buddhist monks who clashed with the marchers acted on their own or under orders from above. Khmers are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90 percent of the country's 14 million people. The area of southern Vietnam where as many as 1 million ethnic Khmer reside is known in Cambodia as Kampuchea Krom. It was once part of Cambodia's territory but was made part of Vietnam by French colonial authorities in 1949. Kampuchea Krom organizations and communities based in the region and abroad have long accused Vietnam of mistreating its ethnic Khmer minority.

Romanian President suspended

http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=27626

ROMANIA'S parliament suspended President Traian Basescu yesterday on charges of unconstitutional conduct, deepening the country's political woes and raising the prospect of new presidential elections. The move deepened political strife in the Balkan European Union newcomer, which analysts say may struggle to meet the bloc's requirements on structural reforms and prepare to absorb billions of euros in aid. Basescu has faced numerous accusations of abusing power from the ruling centrists as well as the leftist opposition in recent months as politicians across party lines jostle for influence following EU accession in January. The suspension was proposed by the leftist opposition party PSD, in what analysts said was an attempt by the Social Democrats to regain power and boost public support badly damaged by corruption scandals. In a last minute attempt to sway deputies to vote against Basescu, the PSD also accused him last Wednesday of blackmailing constitutional court judges to clear him. The straight-talking Basescu, Romania's most popular politician, denies the accusations.Some say political instability has already dented Romania's chances for reaping quick benefits from its new EU membership. Romania may see the EU refuse to accept the decisions of its courts if anti-corruption reforms do not continue, or it could lose export markets if food safety standards are not met.

Nina left US$4b to fortune-teller

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ASIA'S richest woman left her wealth to her fortune-teller in her last known will which is all but certain to spark a huge legal battle with relatives, Hong Kong media reported yesterday. Nina Wang, who died aged 69 earlier this month and had no children, left a legacy estimated as worth at least US$4.2 billion after transforming her company Chinachem into a real estate empire. A day after her lavish funeral on Wednesday, two wills she allegedly wrote in 2002 and last year were published separately in Next Magazine and its sister Apple Daily publication. The 2002 document said Wang's fortune would go to her charitable trust. But the later version named her personal fortune teller, Chan Chun Chuen, as the beneficiary. Citing unnamed sources close to the family, Apple Daily said Wang's family was set to take the issue to court. If true, the 2006 document would have been penned two years after Wang was diagnosed with cancer and after she won an eight-year court battle against her father-in-law for control of her late husband Teddy Wang's estate. He disappeared in 1990 after being kidnapped. His body was never found, and he was declared dead nine years later.Under her control Chinachem developed into a multi-billion dollar empire with over 200 office towers and 400 companies around the world.