From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia
Reserch Senter(*)
OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #103
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In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant
to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere
(validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra).
Our Home Page:
The Undeniable Evidence:
Even More Uneniable Evidence:
US Centcom News Releases:
Iraqi Body Count: [7,352+ as at 01 Oct 2003].
UN Mailing List:
Some Of The News, Some Of The Time:
This Stuff Blogged:
Also Kindly Archived:
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Selecting latest news stories and other data for you...
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Steve Irwin says he has animals in him... He has a bird brain. ... I
always barrack for the crocodile, myself.
-- anon talk-back caller, ABC TV, 07 Oct 2003.
Not everyone appreciated an ABC interview with the "Crocodile Hunter".
[Syria] must cease harbouring terrorists and make a clean break
from those responsible for planning and directing terrorist action
from Syrian soil.
-- US State Dept statement, 05 Oct 2003.
[the Israeli govt] may read this as an opening if they see
it as strategically beneficial.
-- Shibley Telhami, Prof of Internat'l Rels at U MD, 05 Oct 2003.
Prof Telhami is worried that ms of US criticism of Syria
might lead to regional instability.
[Israel and Syria must] avoid actions that could lead to an
escalation of tension.
-- State Dept rep Joann Moore, 05 Oct 2003.
It retains [India's] right to retaliate in the event that the primary
centre is rendered ineffective.
-- C Uday Bhaskar, dep dir Inst of Def Studies and Analyses, 05 Oct 2003.
India is adopting world's best practice nuclear first strike.
We're making good progress in Iraq... Sometimes it's... hard to tell
that... when you listen to the filter.
-- Pres Bush Jr, 06 Oct 2003.
A crowd gathered in the market place. Then the police attacked them
and [other] people ... and were also shooting. 4 people were hit and
were lying on the ground.
-- "Majid", N Iraq, 05 Oct 2003.
Filter. Iraqi protesters have ousted the mayor in a N Iraqi oil town.
We have not yet found stocks of weapons, but we are not yet at the
point where we can say definitively either that such weapon stocks do
not exist, or that they existed before the war and our only task is to
find where they have gone.
-- CIA weapon hunter David Kay, 02 Oct 2003.
Evidence of WMD found! Kay's team has found a test tube of live
botulism after 3 m and $300 mn of searching.
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt
that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most
lethal weapons ever devised.
-- Pres Bush Jr, 17 Mar 2003.
Precision intel. The US knew about that test-tube, even then!
Nothing could be a more serious violation of public trust than to
consciously make a war based on false claims. Its handling of intel
and its retaliation against its critics may have been criminal.
-- Gen Wes Clark (ret), 05 Oct 2003.
Clark is calling for another probe into the reasons the US went
to war with Iraq.
The transition to self-government is a complicated process, because it
takes time to build trust and hope after decades of oppression and fear.
-- Pres Bush Jr, 03 Oct 2003.
No timetable. The Whitehouse doesn't know when the Iraqis will
be able to govern themselves again.
And the N Koreans said, 'Sorry, there's so much US attention on us
that we cannot deliver it.' And the Iraqis said, 'Well, we don't like
this but give us our $10 mn back.'
-- David Kay, 05 Oct 2003.
Iraq was trying to buy long-range missiles as the US was
massing on its borders getting ready to invade, but Saddam
didn't get what he paid for.
It's not just about the size of the seat but it's also trying to walk
past, going to the toilet and other things, it is extremely tight and
the comfort of the persons sitting there needs to be addressed.
-- RMIT design expert Hendrikus Berkers, 06 Oct 2003.
Australia's bottom end is getting larger.
We think that people are entitled to eat properly and we wouldn't
expect people in the community to put up with food being served like that.
-- rep for Rural Aussies for Refugees Kathy Verran, 06 Oct 2003.
It's no picnic. It's been revealed Muslim immigration detainees
have been fed pork, and a 12 mo baby a hotdog.
Some of the tunnel spiders we have are quite spectacular and very
large, we've got trap door spiders, a whole variety of which would be
attractive to people who want to collect them.
-- NT Parks and Wildlife's David Lawson, 06 Oct 2003.
Have you ever considered an 8-legged Aussie pet?
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Mon, 06 Oct 2003.
Resources, media buoy All Ords
Sydney (ABC TV). Strong employment data out of the US on Fri has
buoyed global financial markets.
On the AUS sharemarket the All Ordinaries Index rose 17 points to
3,223, pushed higher by resource and media stocks.
However trading was thin, with a public holiday in NSW, the ACT and SA.
In the resource sector, BHP Billiton jumped 30 c or almost 3% to
$10.95, Rio Tinto advanced $1.05 or more than 3% to $34.40 and
Woodside Petroleum gained 13 c to 13.38.
Media giant News Corp gained 37 c or 3% to $12.34, Fairfax rose
6 c to $3.42, while PBL lost 6 c to $10.99.
The major banks were weaker. The ANZ retreated 4 c to $18.08, the
Commonwealth fell 10 c to $27.85, the NAB lost 4 c to $31.26 and
Westpac slipped 6 c to $16.40.
AMP was steady at $6.60.
Retailer Coles Myer picked up 6 c to $7.61 and Woolworths was steady
at $11.18.
Telstra retreated 2 c to $4.97.
The AUD weakened to 67.8 US c.
At around 5.30 pm AEST, on the cross rates it was buying 40.9 pence
sterling, 75.3 Japanese yen and 58.7 euro cents.
The price of gold has tumbled by more than $US10/oz.
At around 5.30 pm AEST spot gold was trading at $US371.80/oz.
Gold stocks have also taken a battering. Newcrest fell 38 c or 3.4% to
$10.82 and Lihir lost 3 c to $1.65.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil is higher at $US30.37/bbl.
In Japan, the Nikkei added 31 pts to close at 10,740.
The Hang Seng gained 126 pts to end the session at 11,734.
Newspaper job ads at 4-m high
Canberra. The number of jobs advertised in major metropolitan
newspapers rose by 3% in Sep in the strongest increase in 4 m.
The ANZ survey shows an average of almost 22,000 jobs were advertised
each wk in the major dailies in the m of Sep.
It is the highest number recorded since Nov last y and up 3% from Aug.
ANZ snr economist Melanie Hay says the survey is consistent with other
data suggesting the AUS economy is gaining momentum.
"I think what jobs ads is telling us is that employment growth is
likely to strengthen and at current levels it's predicting employment
growth of around 15,000 a m in the next couple of months," he said.
"That will be enough to keep the unemployment rate below 6%."
She says the survey suggests the employment outlook is positive across
the country.
"This m there was a strengthening in newspaper job advertisements in
all states.
"The territories saw the largest gains in the month, but there are
also encouraging gains in Vic and NSW which up until recently had been
the weakest of all the states and territories."
Pakistan fireworks factory fire claims 3 lives
Kasur (AFP). 3 people have been killed and scores injured in a fire
at a village fireworks factory nr Pakistan's E city of Kasur,
state media reported. Police said it was unclear what caused the fire
in the factory in Pirowal village, 2 km from Kasur, the Associated
Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. Rescue and relief work is underway,
police said.
Chinese man poisons reservoir to boost purifier kit sales
Beijing. Police in China say a man has admitted to poisoning a
reservoir in a bid to boost his sales of purifiers. In the latest in
a series of bizarre crimes made public in China, a 27-yo male in
central China has admitted to throwing pesticide into a reservoir
supplying water to 9,000 homes at the beginning of this m. China's
state news agency says the man told police he poisoned the water
supply in a bid to boost sales of his water purifying devices. 64
people were poisoned, with more than half hospitalised. It is unknown
if he has been formally charged over the poisoning.
US cites Syria as sponsor of terrorism
Washington (AP). The US served notice Sun that it considers Syria on
the wrong side of the fight against terrorism and appealed for
restraint in the Middle East after Israel struck inside its Arab
neighbour's territory.
The Bush Admin did not criticise Israel for the attack, which Israel
said was directed at a training camp for Islamic Jihad, the group that
claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that caused heavy
casualties Sat in Israel.
But the State Dept said Syria "must cease harbouring terrorists and
make a clean break from those responsible for planning and directing
terrorist action from Syrian soil."
Arab leaders warned that a "circle of violence" could encompass the
region after Israeli warplanes attacked deep inside Syria for the
first time in 3 decades.
The UN Sec Council called an emergency meeting Sun to discuss Syria's
complaint to Sec Gen Kofi Annan about the strikes nr Damascus, the capital.
Pres Bush telephoned Israeli PM Ariel Sharon to offer condolences and
condemnation for the Haifa bombing that killed 19 people.
The 2 agreed on a need to continue fighting terrorism and "on the need
to avoid heightened tension in the region at this time," said Ken
Lesius, a Whitehouse rep.
Admin officials said Israel had not informed Washington in advance of
its retaliatory strike nor indicated whether it intended any move
against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to remove him from his West
Bank HQ.
The State Dept has listed Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism since
the list's inception 3 decades ago, and the dept contends Syria offers
sanctuary and political protection to groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas
and Islamic Jihad -- all considered terror organisations by the US.
At the Whitehouse, an Admin official said the United States
repeatedly has told Syria that Washington believes it is on the wrong
side in the fight against terrorism and that it must stop harbouring
terrorists.
At the same time, the US was urging Israel and Syria "to avoid actions
that could lead to an escalation of tension," said Joann Moore, a
State Dept rep.
A deep divide over the war in Iraq, which borders Syria, exacerbated
already frayed US-Syrian relations. In March, as US troops moved
toward Baghdad, Def Sec Donald H Rumsfeld complained that military
gear was being smuggled to Iraqi forces through Syria and threatened
to "hold the Syrian govt accountable." Syria denied the allegation.
In mid-Sep, the undersecretary of state for arms control told Congress
that Syria was allowing militants to cross its border into Iraq to
kill Americans and was seeking aggressively to acquire and develop
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
John Bolton said the Admin was trying to change Syria's behaviour
through diplomatic means, and he urged lawmakers to let the effort run
its course before passing trade restrictions or exacting other punishment.
Syrian Pres Bashar Assad, after meeting with Sec of State Colin
Powell in May in Damascus, indicated his govt had closed certain
Palestinian offices.
Last weekend, however, nat'l security adviser Condoleezza Rice said
the US is "not working as constructively with the Syrians as we need
to. ... There is much more that Syria needs to do, and that message is
being communicated to them."
Lawmakers appearing on the Sun talks shows said they understood
Israel's position.
Sen Joe Lieberman, D-Conn, compared Israel's military action to US
strikes against al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan after the Sep 11,
2001, attacks in NY and Washington.
Lieberman, a presidential candidate, called Israel "our most steadfast
ally in the region, ... an ally in a new way since Sep 11 -- we're
both victims of terrorism."
"No govt can stand by and let that continue to happen," Lieberman told
"Fox News Sun." "Unfortunately, the Syrians have continued to refuse
American demands that they break up terrorist bases and HQ in their country."
Sen Carl Levin, D-Mich, said Israel had a right to go after its
attackers where they are being trained.
But, he told CNN's "Late Edition," "It obviously does unleash some
forces in the Middle East which Israel and all the other countries
there have to consider."
Sen Arlen Specter, R-Pa, said he was certain Israel had strong proof
before attacking the camp in Syria. "There is a question of how much
Israel can take," Specter said.
Dennis B Ross, who was the snr US mediator for the Middle East for 12
y, said Israel had crossed a threshold with its attack in Syria. But
he said that was no surprise, given Islamic Jihad's claim of Sat's
bombing in Haifa, Israel.
Ross, in an interview, said the Palestinian group had training camps
and support inside Syria. The Israeli missile strike "establishes a
precedent that if these groups have training camps they are not beyond
Israel or someone else's reach," he said.
Shibley Telhami, a professor of internat'l relations at the University
of Maryland, said that in light of US criticism of Syria in the past
few months, the Israeli govt "may read this as an opening if they see
it as strategically beneficial."
He added: "The problem is you do not know where it will end. A lot of
Israelis have an interest in pressuring Syria. But they cannot have an
interest in instability in Syria."
US says Syria on "wrong side" of terror war
Washington (Reuters). The US has urged restraint by all parties after
Israeli warplanes struck in Syria following a Palestinian suicide
attack, but accused Damascus of being on the wrong side in the war
against terrorism.
Syria has called an emergency UN Sec Council meeting over Israel's
raid, saying it threatened "security and peace in the region and
internationally".
Israel said its deepest air strike into Syria in 30 y targeted a
training camp for Palestinian militants and was in self-defence.
Washington said it would not support a Syrian resolution condemning
Israel's raid as it made no mention of the suicide attack, in which 19
people were killed in an Israeli restaurant.
Syria wanted an immediate vote, but the US -- which has a veto on the
council -- said the resolution would have to be studied further.
Other diplomats said there would be no action on Mon, the Jewish Yom
Kippur holiday.
"The US believes that Syria is on the wrong side of the war on
terrorism," said US Ambassador John Negroponte, echoing past US
demands for Damascus to stop supporting what Washington says are
terror groups.
Syria has denied the charges.
US Pres Bush Jr, whose aides said Israel told Washington of the
air raid only hrs afterwards, phoned PM Ariel Sharon and urged both
sides to observe restraint.
Persistent violence has derailed a US-backed "road map" for peace
between Israelis and Palestinians that envisages a Palestinian state
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel occupied in the 1967
Middle East war.
Palestinian Pres Yasser Arafat, facing Israeli threats to "remove him"
over charges he incites violence, declared a state of emergency in
Palestinian areas and approved an 8-member crisis cabinet under
premier-nominee Ahmed Qurie.
* 2 wounded
A Palestinian official said 2 guards were wounded in the raid by
Israeli warplanes on Sun on a "facility" of the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
"There are no training activities there," said the official. But he
did not say what it was used for.
Israel said it hit a training camp used by "terror groups" including
Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for Sat's suicide attack
in the N city of Haifa.
Hamas, a militant faction leading a 3-yo revolt against Israel for
statehood, vowed to exact revenge for the air strike on what it said
was a Palestinian refugee camp.
It said it had started by firing 10 mortar bombs toward a Jewish
settlement in the Gaza Strip. It gave no further details and there was
no immediate Israeli comment.
Israel said it did not intend to pick a fight with Syria but wanted
the air strike to serve as a warning for it to stop Palestinian
militant groups operating on Syrian territory.
Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman, who left the Sec Council as soon
as he finished speaking for the Yom Kippur holiday, accused Syria of
"complicity and responsibility" in Palestinian suicide bombings.
Israel's air raid was the 1st time it had struck so far inside Syrian
territory since the 1973 Middle East war, military experts said.
Mr Arafat took emergency measures in apparent response to growing
pressure from the Israeli public and powerful rightists in Mr Sharon's
coalition cabinet to exile the former guerrilla leader, who denies
fomenting the violence of militant groups.
"We have a deterioration of the security situation and we need to
assert control over security," PM-designate Ahmed Qurie told Reuters.
He was alluding both to suicide attacks by Islamist radicals vowing to
destroy Israel and the Sharon govt's military actions against
militants, including assassinating leaders in missile strikes.
An Arafat ally, Nasser Youssef, will be interior minister running
security in the 8-member crisis cabinet. US favourites Salam Fayyad
and Nabil Shaath retain the finance and foreign affairs portfolios.
Syrian-based Palestinian groups have kept a low profile to reduce
pressure on their hosts, who say they have only media arms of groups
that include Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PFLP.
Israeli raid in Syria alarms Arab world
Golan Heights (AP). Israel bombed a target inside Syria that it
claimed was an Islamic Jihad training base, striking deep inside its
neighbour's territory Sun for the 1st time in 3 decades and widening
its pursuit of Palestinian militants.
The airstrike -- a retaliation for a suicide bombing Sat that killed
19 Israelis -- alarmed the Arab world and deepened concerns that 3 y
of Israeli-Palestinian violence could spread through the
region. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Sat's bombing, in
which 55 people were wounded.
Washington urged both sides to show restraint -- but added pointed
criticism of Syria, saying Damascus "must cease harbouring terrorists
and make a clean break from those responsible for planning and
directing terrorist action from Syrian soil."
With little option for military retaliation, Syria turned for
internat'l support. On requests from Damascus, the UN Security Council
and the 22-member Arab League held emergency sessions Sun as Syria's
foreign minister Farouq al-Sharaa sought measures to deter Israeli
"aggression."
Syria's UN Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad called on the council to adopt a
resolution condemning the attack.
"Arabs and many people across the globe feel that Israel is above
law," Mekdad said.
Israel's Ambassador Dan Gillerman defended the attack. He accused
Syria of providing "safe harbour, training facilities, funding, [and]
logistical support" to terrorist organisations.
Syria's draft calls for Israel to stop committing acts that could
threaten regional security. It was unclear when the council would vote
on the resolution or whether the US would veto it.
Leaders of Islamic Jihad and other militant groups are based in Syria,
but Jihad on Sun denied having any training bases there.
Syrian villagers nr the targeted site said the camp had been used by
Palestinian gunmen in the 1970s but was later abandoned -- and was now
only used by picnickers and other visitors to its spring and olive groves.
The raid was a dramatic new tactic for Israel in its attempts to stop
Palestinian militants. Closures, assassinations and military strikes
into Palestinian areas have failed to stop suicide attacks, and
Washington strongly opposes expelling Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
as Israel has threatened.
Israel said the bombing signalled it would pursue militants wherever
they found support -- and it added an accusation that Iran also backs
Islamic Jihad. "Any country who harbours terrorism, who trains
[terrorists], supports and encourages them will be responsible to
answer for their actions," govt rep Avi Pazner said.
In the West Bank, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat declared a state of
emergency and installed an emergency Cabinet with Ahmed Qureia as
prime minister. The hasty action was an apparent attempt to deflect
possible Israeli action against Arafat following the suicide bombing
since Israel has threatened to expel him.
The leader of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shallah, told Dubai-based
Al-Arabiya TV that the Israeli attack was "a grave development that
exceeded all rules of the game." He also warned Israel that the
suicide bombing "will not be the last resistance operation" committed
by his group.
In Egypt, the Arab League condemned the Israeli attack. It said the
bombing "exposes the deteriorating situation in the region to
uncontrollable consequences, which could drag the whole region into
violent whirlpool."
The strike was launched just hrs before the start of Yom Kippur, the
holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It also came on the eve of the
anniversary of the 1973 war between Israel and Syria, when Israel
fought off a Syrian attack aimed at reversing Israel's 1967 seizure of
the Golan Heights, a strategic border plateau. Sun marked Israel's 1st
military action deep in Syria since 1973.
The attack hit several targets at the Ein Saheb camp NW of Damascus,
Israeli security officials said. Hours later, plainclothes security
officials banned journalists from approaching the camp.
Dense trees blocked the site from view.
Bush Admin officials said Israel had not informed Washington in
advance of its retaliatory strike.
Raanan Gissin, adviser to Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, said the base was
financed by Iran and used by several terrorist organisations,
including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Undated footage said to be from the camp, taken from Iranian TV and
released by the Israeli military on Sun, shows a military officer
conducting a tour of the camp. 100s of weapons, including grenades
with Hebrew markings apparently captured from Israel, were displayed
in one room. Underground tunnels were packed with arms and ammunition.
Another group, the tiny Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine-General Command said it once used the camp, 22 km NW
of Damascus, but that it is now deserted. A civilian guard was injured
in the air strike, the group said.
However, a snr Popular Front member, speaking on condition of
anonymity, acknowledged that there is close cooperation between his
group, Islamic Jihad, the militant group Hamas, and the Lebanese
guerrilla faction Hezbollah. All 4 train together, mostly in Lebanon,
but also in Syria, he said.
In an understanding with the Syrian govt, Hamas and Jihad leaders have
been careful in recent m to give statements from Lebanon to avoid the
impression that they still operate from Damascus.
Still, Syrian Pres Bashar Assad is on the defensive, with the US
accusing him of hosting extremist groups and sponsoring terror.
Assad, after meeting with Sec of State Colin Powell in May in
Damascus, indicated that his govt had closed certain offices of
Palestinian militant groups. However, last weekend, US Nat'l Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice said Syria needed to do more.
It seemed unlikely Syria would retaliate. It has 380,000 active duty
soldiers, but Israel holds a commanding technological edge. Israel is
more worried about Syria's growing missile program and its ability to
launch chemical and poison weapons into Israel's cities.
Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon -- 3 Arab countries border Israel --
condemned the air strike. "It can drag the whole region into a circle
of violence," said Jordanian For Min Marwan Muasher.
Brit, the leading US ally in the UN Sec Council, was more critical of
Israel. Brit's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said, "Israel's action
today is unacceptable and represents an escalation."
"Israel should not allow its justified anger at continuing terrorism
to lead to actions that undermine both the peace process and we
believe Israel's own interests," he said.
The US, trying to put its peace efforts back on track, has in past
days appeared willing to give Qureia a chance, and any Israeli action
against Arafat could force Qureia's immediate resignation and cause
chaos in the Palestinian areas.
Syria demands UN condemn Israeli strike
NY (Reuters). Syria has asked the UN Sec Council to condemn an
Israeli attack on a suspected Palestinian militant camp N of
Damascus, but the council has adjourned without taking a vote.
Israel has defended the strike as a legitimate act of self-defence
against a state that supports terrorists.
"Consultations will take place as soon as possible," US ambassador to
the UN and Sec Council president John Negroponte, said after the session.
He says no date for the resumption of the meeting had been set.
Israel accuses Syria of supporting the group Islamic Jihad, which took
credit for Sat's suicide bombing in Haifa that killed 19 people.
Mr Negroponte says in the US view no new UN Sec Council resolution is
needed at this point.
"What is needed is for Syria to dismantle the terrorism in its
borders," he said.
But Syrian ambassador Fayssal Mekdad says he is heartened by the fact
that most members of the Sec Council condemned the Israeli raid in
their speeches.
He says Syria did not insist on an immediate vote, in order to give
delegates time to consult with their respective govts.
Syria introduced a draft resolution that "strongly condemns the
military aggression carried by Israel against the sovereignty and
territory of the Syrian Arab Republic ... in violation of the charter
of the United Nations, the rules and principles of internat'l law and
relevant Sec Council resolutions".
The draft also calls on the Sec Council to declare the attack a
violation of a 1974 disengagement deal between Israel and Syria and to
demand Israel not act in a way that threatens regional security.
The draft would task UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to report to the
council in a m on Israel's compliance.
Earlier, Mr Annan warned of escalating tensions in the wake of the
Israeli airstrike and urged all parties in the region "to respect the
rules of internat'l law and to exercise restraint".
Imad Mustafa, Syria's acting ambassador in the US, told CNN Damascus
was counting on the UN to solve the crisis.
"We have made a strategic option for peace. This is what we want," he said.
Israel's UN ambassador Dan Gillerman criticised the council for
rushing into session on the eve of the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur
while ignoring repeated Palestinian attacks on Israel, calling it a
double standard that puts the world body's credibility at risk.
"There are few better exhibits of state sponsorship of terrorism then
the one provided by the Syrian regime," he said.
"It would be laughable if it wasn't so sad."
French ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere condemned the ongoing
violence as "neither acceptable nor particularly effective," declaring
the Israeli airstrike an "unacceptable violation of internat'l law and
rules of sovereignty".
Israel has said it launched the raid on what it says is a training
camp NW of Damascus used by the Palestinian militant groups Islamic
Jihad and Hamas.
It was the deepest military strike by Israel inside Syria since the
Yom Kippur war 30 y ago. The area has been sealed off by Syrian authorities.
Damascus says the attack hit a civilian area, causing material damage
but no deaths.
Lib Dems now the party of opp'n, says poll
London. Iain Duncan Smith's leadership of the Conservatives was
facing a crisis last night after a series of poor opinion poll
ratings, claims of a BBC plot against him and fresh unrest among MPs
and party activists.
As Mr Duncan Smith arrived at the party conference in Blackpool, an
Independent/NOP poll found that more voters view the Liberal Democrats
as the real opp'n to the Govt than the Tories.
The poll also found that nearly half of voters have no idea who the
leader of the Conservatives is, and even 28% of Tory supporters are
not aware that Mr Duncan Smith leads their party, 2 y after he was
elected.
The Conservative leadership hopes to use this wk to set out a series
of new policies for the next election, such as increasing all pensions
by 7 Stg a wk, elected police chiefs and detailed plans to give
patients and parents greater choice.
But Mr Duncan Smith became embroiled in fresh questions about his
leadership, with claims that Tory "modernisers" had colluded with the
BBC over allegations about the brief role of his wife, Betsy as his
Commons secretary. He said reports of alleged improprieties were
"false lies" and he would sue any publication that aired them.
Several backbenchers are expected to meet their constituency chairmen
in secret tomorrow to gauge the level of unease among the grass roots
about their leader and the party's recent trouncing by the Liberal
Democrats in the Brent E by-election.
The Independent understands that at least 2 constituency associations
have passed motions of no confidence in Mr Duncan Smith in recent
wks. If there is evidence that rank-and-file members are unhappy,
party grandees and MPs are ready to ask him to step aside.
Michael Howard, the shadow Chancellor, has already discussed in
private with the former foreign secretary Douglas Hurd a plan to bring
"big beasts" such as Kenneth Clarke and Michael Portillo back into the fold.
Mr Howard admitted yesterday that the party's new pensions policy
would not leave the poorest claimants of the pension credit much
better off. He was also more circumspect than Mr Duncan Smith about
firm promises to cut taxes in the next parliament.
The NOP poll for The Independent shows that 41% of voters now think
that the Liberal Democrats are the real opp'n to Labour, compared with
39% for the Tories. Twelve% felt that neither offered real opp'n, and
8% didn't know.
When asked to name the leader of the Tories, just 53% of all voters
and 71% of Tory supporters correctly identified him. Some 45% of all
voters didn't know he was the leader and 28% of party supporters were
similarly unaware of him. 2% of the public even believed that William
Hague was still leader.
Francis Maude, one of Mr Portillo's main allies, went public with his
concerns about Mr Duncan Smith. Asked on GMTV's Sun Programme if "the
leadership is an issue", Mr Maude replied: "Yes, it has been for a
long time, yes.
"We ought to be doing better than we are -- I don't think anyone has
any illusions about that. I shouldn't think Iain is at all happy about
where we are ... We're not benefiting to anything like the degree we
need to from Labour's discomfiture and fall."
A YouGov/Sky News poll published today will also spell bad news for
the Tory leader. A majority of those questioned [57%] said Mr Duncan
Smith was the wrong person to lead the Conservative Party. But he will
be buoyed by another of the polls' findings. When asked if they were
more likely to vote Tory if Mr Howard, Mr Portillo or Mr Clarke were leader,
most [66%, 51% and 51% respectively] said it would make no difference.
Texas presid'l primary may be delayed
Austin, Texas (AP). The role of Texas in Democratic presidential
politics could be damaged by bitter Republican infighting over
congressional redistricting.
As the clock ticked Sun without a deal on redistricting, a delay in
the March 2 Texas primary became increasingly likely.
That could leave state Democrats without much influence in picking
their party's nominee to challenge Pres Bush next y, since one of the
Democratic candidates might have his party's nomination sewn up before
a delayed Texas vote.
Lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol had hoped to have an agreement
in place by Sat. No map had been filed by Sun afternoon, and the House
and the Senate left for the day.
Gov Rick Perry has cited Mon as the "drop dead date" for him to sign a
map agreed on by lawmakers. With a required 24-hr waiting period
before any map could be considered for a vote, the Mon deadline was
nearly impossible.
The office of Sec of State Geoff Connor has said the Legislature
must adjourn and the bill must be signed no later than Mon to maintain
the March 2 primary with new congressional districts.
The Texas Senate approved the redistricting legislation Wed in an
18-12 vote mostly along party lines. The House adopted its own
GOP-friendly map last wk following 2 Democratic walkouts.
Republicans, however, are arguing with themselves over the shape of 3
West Texas districts. House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, wants a
new Midland-based district that would represent the oil and gas
industry by separating it from Lubbock, but Sen Robert Duncan,
R-Lubbock, wants to maintain his region's farm and agriculture
representation in Congress.
Republicans want a map that will increase their numbers in Texas'
congressional delegation, which is now led by Democrats 17-15. Some
GOP proposals would increase Republican seats by as many as 6.
Democrats say the Republican maps would trample minority
representation in Congress, while the GOP says voting trends show that
Texas should have more Republicans in Washington.
During an earlier legislative session, the Texas presidential primary
was moved up a wk from March 9 to March 2 to join California and NY
and enhance Texas' role in the selection of presidential nominees.
Critics say that delaying the primary would diminish turnout, waste
tax dollars and interfere with local elections.
India sets up alternative nuclear command centres to ensure retaliation
New Delhi (AFP). Indian Defence Min George Fernandes said India had
established alternative nuclear command centres to ensure it could
effectively retaliate to a nuclear strike.
"We have established more than one [nuclear control] nerve centre,"
Fernandes told the Press Trust of India news agency in an interview on Sun.
He said India had set up infrastructure such as nuclear command
shelters and bunkers to protect snr leaders, including the PM.
India stunned the world in 1998 by conducting 5 nuclear tests and
declaring itself an atomic power. Rival neighbour Pakistan conducted
its own tests within days.
India stresses it has a policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.
Establishing alternative command centres is standard military practice.
"It retains [India's] right to retaliate in the event that the primary
centre is rendered ineffective," said C Uday Bhaskar, deputy director
of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, a govt-affiliated
think tank in New Delhi.
"That India took 5 y to establish this is a reflection of New Delhi's
reticent response to becoming a nuclear power," he said.
India on Sep 1 held the 1st meeting of a Nuclear Command Authority
chaired by PM Atal Behari Vajpayee to coordinate civilian control over
the nuclear program.
In Jan, India appointed Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana as
cmdr-in-chief of a newly set-up command and control system over its
nuclear forces.
Police flee as Saddam loyalists fuel city revolt
Baiji, Iraq. Iraqis shouting pro-Saddam Hussein slogans have staged
an uprising in the important oil refining city of Baiji, burning down
the mayor's office, fighting with American troops and forcing local
police to flee.
About 1,000 people, some holding pictures of Saddam Hussein, were in a
stand-off with American troops last night, with tanks surrounding the
police station in the city, 260 km N of Baghdad.
Loyalty to the ousted president, who is still being sought by Allied
troops, is strong in the Sunni Muslim heartland.
The crowds were chanting: "With our blood, with our spirit, we are
ready to die for you Saddam."
"We were in a big firefight this morning but now we're back in
control," claimed a US soldier manning a checkpoint on the outskirts
of the city.
But, despite the presence of American forces, pro-Saddam townspeople
appeared to be in command of most streets in Baiji.
The uprising, which started early on Sat morning, underlines the
fragile grip on power held by the occupying US troops, and the local
police they have appointed, even in an important centre such as Baiji.
The city lies on the main road between Baghdad and the N capital city
of Mosul. Baiji contains the largest oil refinery in Iraq and is on a
main oil pipeline. The uprising was largely spontaneous but was
fuelled by hostility to the American occupation and by rumours that
Iraqi oil was being smuggled to Israel via Turkey.
According to Majid, a local man who was in the city centre at the time
5 or 6 men arrived in a Brazilian-made car and began chanting
pro-Saddam slogans.
He said: "A crowd gathered in the market place. Then the police
attacked them and [other] people ... and were also shooting. 4 people
were hit and were lying on the ground."
Enraged by the shooting, many citizens joined the crowd in attacking
the police. The town's police chief, Gen Ismail Abdullah Jassim,
was in any case extremely unpopular according to Rafid, a truck driver
who, like many people in Baiji, refused to give his family name for
fear of retribution.
He said: "The police chief took all the cars belonging to the govt for
himself. He became like a president here in Baiji." A large crowd then
advanced on the office of the mayor of Baiji, Hamid Rajabayef al-Qaissi.
He tried to stop them by saying that the police had over-reacted but
the crowd refused to accept this and burnt his office.
The fire was put out but scorch marks showed where the flames had
consumed the building.
The people of Baiji, 50 km N of Saddam's home town of Tikrit,
are Sunni Muslims. Many of the inhabitants worked in the security
forces and Admin of the old regime and lost their jobs after the
occupation, a predicament that has led to many protests.
After the burning of the mayor's office, most of the police fled,
according to local people. American officers at the US base just N
of Baiji demanded that the police returned to their posts. They
replied that they would be killed if they did.
The Americans threatened to sack the officers, who mostly come from
villages outside the city, unless they went back.
The police said they had no bulletproof vests or radios, but later a
few patrols did return to Baiji. Local people attacked Turkish trucks
passing through the town, leaving 2 vehicles burnt out.
Turkish truck drivers are a target for local hatred in Baiji because
it is believed that they buy fuel cheaply, causing local shortages,
and then smuggle it into Turkey to sell at higher prices.
The crowds were particularly enraged, according to one report, by a
rumour that the oil being taken by the Turkish truck drivers was to be
sold in Israel. But there is no doubt that people in Baiji are more
willing to express their support for Saddam Hussein than demonstrators
in Ramadi and Fallujah, the Euphrates river towns where there have
been repeated attacks on American troops.
The atmosphere in Baiji yesterday evening was still very tense. Iraqi
truck drivers said they were frightened of driving through in case
they were mistakenly identified as Turkish. "No one is in control. It
is anarchy there," said one man on the outskirts of the city.
The number of dead and injured is unclear. At one point on the road
there was an orange truck which was hit by a rocket, killing the
driver, local people said.
A medic at the local hospital, Dr Assaf, said 11 people had been
brought in with bullet wounds on Sat, but he did not know how many
casualties were treated yesterday.
"The most seriously injured have all been moved to the main hospital
in Tikrit," the doctor said.
Last night American troops appeared keen not to provoke further
trouble. Although crowds, many holding stones, were still surrounding
the main police station.
Pentagon officials ignored reports on dire state of Iraq's oil industry
Washington (Independent). Senior Pentagon officials ignored bleak
in-house assessments of the state of Iraq's oil industry when they
gave optimistic predictions to Congress during the war that oil
revenue would quickly get the country back on its feet.
The disclosure, in The NY Times yesterday, seems bound to fuel charges
that the Bush Admin distorted financial and intel facts in its
determination to make the case for war.
As the problems in Iraq continue, it is becoming clearer that the
Whitehouse grossly underestimated the dilapidation of Iraq's
infrastructure. Nowhere, however, was the gap between assertion and
reality wider than over the country's oil sector.
Addressing Congress in Apr, the deputy defence secretary, Paul
Wolfowitz, insisted that "we are dealing with a country that can
really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon". Shortly
afterwards, he estimated that Iraq's oil revenues could quickly climb
to more than $30 bn pa, despite warnings from UN and internat'l oil
industry specialists who visited Iraq that its oil installations had
been damaged by a decade of sanctions and neglect.
It now emerges that a secret task force, based in the Pentagon, had
also produced findings that flatly contradicted Mr Wolfowitz's
assertions. In an exhaustive report, the Energy Infrastructure
Planning Group concluded that output would be at least 25% less than
the 3 mn bpd estimated by Mr Wolfowitz and others. Paul Bremer, the US
administrator of post-war Iraq, estimates that revenues will run at
only $14 bn annually.
The disclosure comes at an awkward moment for Pres Bush Jr, who
stunned Republicans and Democrats alike on Capitol Hill last m with
his supplementary $87bn funding request for Iraq for 2004 (with every
prospect of more to come in future ys).
On top of $65 bn for military operations, the sum includes $20 bn for
rebuilding Iraq -- at a time when the fed budget deficit is at a
record high and state govts are forced to impose spending cuts.
Answers please, Mr Bush
Michael Moore fired his opening salvo against George Bush and his
right wing cronies with his bestseller Stupid White Men. Now the
president is in his sights again. In this 2nd extract from his new
book he asks his old enemy 7 awkward questions.
Michael Moore (Guardian). I have 7 questions for you, Mr Bush. I ask
them on behalf of the 3,000 who died that Sep day, and I ask them on
behalf of the American people. We seek no revenge against you. We want
only to know what happened, and what can be done to bring the murderers
to justice, so we can prevent any future attacks on our citizens.
1. Is it true that the Bin Ladens have had business relations with you
and your family off and on for the past 25 y?
Most Americans might be surprised to learn that you and your father
have known the Bin Ladens for a long time. What, exactly, is the
extent of this relationship, Mr Bush? Are you close personal friends,
or simply on-again, off-again business associates? Salem bin Laden --
Osama's brother -- 1st started coming to Texas in 1973 and later
bought some land, built himself a house, and created Bin Laden
Aviation at the San Antonio airfield.
The Bin Ladens are one of the wealthiest families in Saudi
Arabia. Their huge construction firm virtually built the country, from
the roads and power plants to the skyscrapers and govt buildings. They
built some of the airstrips America used in your dad's Gulf
war. Billionaires many times over, they soon began investing in other
ventures around the world, including the US. They have extensive
business dealings with Citigroup, GE, Merrill Lynch,
Goldman Sachs, and the Fremont Group.
According to the NYer, the bin Laden family also owns a part of
Microsoft and the airline and defence giant Boeing. They have donated
$2 mn to your alma mater, Harvard University, and 10s of 1000s to the
Middle East Policy Council, a think-tank headed by a former US
ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Charles Freeman. In addition to the
property they own in Texas, they also have real estate in Florida and
Massachusetts. In short, they have their hands deep in our pants.
Unfortunately, as you know, Mr Bush, Salem bin Laden died in a plane
crash in Texas in 1988. Salem's brothers -- there are around 50 of them,
including Osama -- continued to run the family companies and investments.
After leaving office, your father became a highly paid consultant for
a company known as the Carlyle Group -- one of the nation's largest
defence contractors. One of the investors in the Carlyle Group -- to
the tune of at least $2 mn -- was none other than the Bin Laden
family. Until 1994, you headed a company called CaterAir, which was
owned by the Carlyle Group.
After Sep 11, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal both ran
stories pointing out this connection. Your 1st response, Mr Bush, was
to ignore it. Then your army of pundits went into spin control. They
said, we can't paint these Bin Ladens with the same brush we use for
Osama. They have disowned Osama! They have nothing to do with him!
These are the good Bin Ladens.
And then the video footage came out. It showed a number of these
"good" Bin Ladens -- including Osama's mother, a sister and 2 brothers
-- with Osama at his son's wedding just 6 and a half m before Sep 11.
It was no secret to the CIA that Osama bin Laden had access to his
family fortune (his share is estimated to be at least $30 mn), and the
Bin Ladens, as well as other Saudis, kept Osama and his group,
al-Qaida, well funded.
You've gotten a free ride from the media, though they know everything
I have just written to be the truth. They seem unwilling or afraid to
ask you a simple question, Mr Bush: WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
In case you don't understand just how bizarre the media's silence is
regarding the Bush-Bin Laden connections, let me draw an analogy to
how the press or Congress might have handled something like this if
the same shoe had been on the Clinton foot. If, after the terrorist
attack on the Fed Building in Oklahoma City, it had been revealed that
Pres Bill Clinton and his family had financial dealings with Timothy
McVeigh's family, what do you think your Republican party and the
media would have done with that one?
Do you think at least a couple of questions might have been asked,
such as, "What is that all about?" Be honest, you know the
answer. They would have asked more than a couple of questions. They
would have skinned Clinton alive and thrown what was left of his
carcass in Guantanamo Bay.
2. What is the 'special relationship' between the Bushes and the Saudi
royal family?
Mr Bush, the Bin Ladens are not the only Saudis with whom you and your
family have a close personal relationship. The entire royal family
seems to be indebted to you -- or is it the other way round?
The number one supplier of oil to the US is the nation of Saudi
Arabia, possessor of the largest known reserves of oil in the
world. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, it was really the
Saudis next door who felt threatened, and it was your father, George
Bush I, who came to their rescue. The Saudis have never forgotten
this. Haifa, wife of Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US,
says that your mother and father "are like my mother and father. I
know if ever I needed anything I could go to them".
A major chunk of the American economy is built on Saudi money. They
have a trillion dollars invested in our stock market and another
trillion dollars in our banks. If they chose suddenly to remove that
money, our corporations and financial institutions would be sent into
a tailspin, causing an economic crisis the likes of which has never
been seen. Couple that with the fact that the 1.5 mn barrels of oil we
need daily from the Saudis could also vanish on a mere royal whim, and
we begin to see how not only you, but all of us, are dependent on the
House of Saud. George, is this good for our nat'l security, our
homeland security? Who is it good for? You? Pops?
After meeting with the Saudi crown prince in Apr 2002, you happily
told us that the 2 of you had "established a strong personal bond" and
that you "spent a lot of time alone". Were you trying to reassure us?
Or just flaunt your friendship with a group of rulers who rival the
Taliban in their suppression of human rights? Why the double standard?
3. Who attacked the US on Sep 11 -- a guy on dialysis from a cave in
Afghanistan, or your friend, Saudi Arabia?
I'm sorry, Mr Bush, but something doesn't make sense.
You got us all repeating by rote that it was Osama bin Laden who was
responsible for the attack on the US on Sep 11. Even I was doing
it. But then I started hearing strange stories about Osama's
kidneys. Suddenly, I don't know who or what to trust. How could a guy
sitting in a cave in Afghanistan, hooked up to dialysis, have directed
and overseen the actions of 19 terrorists for 2 y in the US then
plotted so perfectly the hijacking of 4 planes and then guaranteed
that 3 of them would end up precisely on their targets? How did he
organise, communicate, control and supervise this kind of massive
attack? With 2 cans and a string?
The headlines blared it the 1st day and they blare it the same way now
2 y later: "Terrorists Attack US." Terrorists. I have wondered about
this word for some time, so, George, let me ask you a question: if 15
of the 19 hijackers had been N Korean, rather than Saudi, and they had
killed 3,000 people, do you think the headline the next day might have
read, "NORTH KOREA ATTACKS UNITED STATES"? Of course it would. Or if
it had been 15 Iranians or 15 Libyans or 15 Cubans, I think the
conventional wisdom would have been, "IRAN [or LIBYA or CUBA] ATTACKS
AMERICA!" Yet, when it comes to Sep 11, have you ever seen the
headline, have you ever heard a newscaster, has one of your appointees
ever uttered these words: "Saudi Arabia attacked the US"?
Of course you haven't. And so the question must -- must -- be asked:
why not? Why, when Congress released its own investigation into Sep
11, did you, Mr Bush, censor out 28 pages that deal with the Saudis'
role in the attack?
I would like to throw out a possibility here: what if Sep 11 was not a
"terrorist" attack but, rather, a military attack against the United
States? George, apparently you were a pilot once -- how hard is it to
hit a 5-storey building at more than 500 miles an hr? The Pentagon is
only 5 stories high. At 500 miles an hr, had the pilots been off by
just a hair, they'd have been in the river. You do not get this
skilled at learning how to fly jumbo jets by being taught on a video
game machine at some dipshit flight training school in Arizona. You
learn to do this in the air force. Someone's air force.
* The Saudi air force?
What if these weren't wacko terrorists, but military pilots who signed
on to a suicide mission? What if they were doing this at the behest of
either the Saudi govt or certain disgruntled members of the Saudi
royal family? The House of Saud, according to Robert Baer's book
Sleeping With the Devil, is full of them. So, did certain factions
within the Saudi royal family execute the attack on Sep 11? Were these
pilots trained by the Saudis? Why are you so busy protecting the
Saudis when you should be protecting us?
4. Why did you allow a private Saudi jet to fly around the US in the
days after Sep 11 and pick up members of the Bin Laden family and fly
them out of the country without a proper investigation by the FBI?
Private jets, under the supervision of the Saudi govt -- and with your
approval -- were allowed to fly around the skies of America, when
travelling by air was forbidden, and pick up 24 members of the Bin
Laden family and take them 1st to a "secret assembly point in
Texas". They then flew to Washington DC, and then on to
Boston. Finally, on Sep 18, they were all flown to Paris, out of the
reach of any US officials.
They never went through any serious interrogation. This is mind-boggling.
Might it have been possible that at least one of the 24 Bin Ladens
would have possibly known something?
While 1000s were stranded and could not fly, if you could prove you
were a close relative of the biggest mass murderer in US history, you
got a free trip to gay Paree!
Why, Mr Bush, was this allowed to happen?
5. Why are you protecting the Second Amendment rights of potential
terrorists?
Mr Bush, in the days after Sep 11, the FBI began running a check to
see if any of the 186 "suspects" the feds had rounded up in the 1st 5
days after the attack had purchased any guns in the m leading up to
Sep 11 (2 of them had). When your attorney general, John Ashcroft,
heard about this, he immediately shut down the search. He told the FBI
that the background check files could not be used for such a search
and these files were only to be used at the time of a purchase of a gun.
Mr Bush, you can't be serious! Is your Admin really so gun nutty and
so deep in the pocket of the Nat'l Rifle Association? I truly love how
you have rounded up 100s of people, grabbing them off the streets
without notice, throwing them in prison cells, unable to contact
lawyers or family, and then, for the most part, shipped them out of
the country on mere immigration charges.
You can waive their Fourth Amendment protection from unlawful search
and seizure, their Sixth Amendment rights to an open trial by a jury
of their peers and the right to counsel, and their First Amendment
rights to speak, assemble, dissent and practise their religion. You
believe you have the right to just trash all these rights, but when it
comes to the Second Amendment right to own an AK-47 -- oh no! That
right they can have -- and you will defend their right to have it.
Who, Mr Bush, is really aiding the terrorists here?
6. Were you aware that, while you were governor of Texas, the Taliban
travelled to Texas to meet with your oil and gas company friends?
According to the BBC, the Taliban came to Texas while you were
governor to meet with Unocal, the huge oil and energy giant, to
discuss Unocal's desire to build a natural-gas pipeline running from
Turkmenistan through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and into Pakistan.
Mr Bush, what was this all about?
"Houston, we have a problem," apparently never crossed your mind, even
though the Taliban were perhaps the most repressive fundamentalist
regime on the planet. What role exactly did you play in the Unocal
meetings with the Taliban?
According to various reports, representatives of your Admin met with
the Taliban or conveyed messages to them during the summer of 2001.
What were those messages, Mr Bush? Were you discussing their offer to
hand over Bin Laden? Were you threatening them with use of force? Were
you talking to them about a pipeline?
7. What exactly was that look on your face in the Florida classroom on
the morning of Sep 11 when your chief of staff told you, 'America is
under attack'?
On the morning of Sep 11, you took a jog on a golf course and then
headed to Booker elementary school in Florida to read to little children.
You arrived at the school after the 1st plane had hit the N tower
in NY City. You entered the classroom around 9 am and the 2nd plane
hit the S tower at 9.03 am. Just a few minutes later, as you were
sitting in front of the class of kids, your chief of staff, Andrew
Card, entered the room and whispered in your ear. Card was apparently
telling you about the 2nd plane and about us being "under attack".
And it was at that very moment that your face went into a distant
glaze, not quite a blank look, but one that seemed partially
paralysed. No emotion was shown. And then ... you just sat there. You
sat there for another 7 minutes or so doing nothing.
George, what were you thinking? What did that look on your face mean?
Were you thinking you should have taken reports the CIA had given you
the m before more seriously? You had been told al-Qaida was planning
attacks in the US and that planes would possibly be used.
Or were you just scared shitless?
Or maybe you were just thinking, "I did not want this job in the 1st
place! This was supposed to be Jeb's job; he was the chosen one! Why
me? Why me, daddy?"
Or ... maybe, just maybe, you were sitting there in that classroom chair
thinking about your Saudi friends -- both the royals and the Bin Ladens.
People you knew all too well that might have been up to no good. Would
questions be asked? Would suspicions arise? Would the Democrats have
the guts to dig into your family's past with these people (no, don't
worry, never a chance of that!)? Would the truth ever come out?
And while I'm at it ...
* Danger -- multi-millionaires at large
I've always thought it was interesting that the mass murder of Sep 11
was allegedly committed by a multi-millionaire. We always say it was
committed by a "terrorist" or by an "Islamic fundamentalist" or an
"Arab", but we never define Osama by his rightful title:
multi-millionaire. Why have we never read a headline saying, "3,000
Killed by multi-millionaire"? It would be a correct headline, would
it not?
Osama bin Laden has assets totalling at least $30 mn; he is a
multi-millionaire. So why isn't that the way we see this person, as a
rich fuck who kills people? Why didn't that become the reason for
profiling potential terrorists? Instead of rounding up suspicious
Arabs, why don't we say, "Oh my God, a multi-millionaire killed 3,000
people! Round up the multi-millionaires! Throw them all in jail! No
charges! No trials! Deport the millionaires!!"
* Keeping America safe
The US Patriot Act and the enemy combatant designation are just a hint
of what Bush has in store for us. Consider a brainchild of Admiral
John Poindexter, an Iran-contra perp, and the Defence Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA): the "policy analysis market", which
the govt was to put up on a website.
Apparently, Poindexter reasoned that commodity futures markets worked
so well for Bush's buddies at Enron that he could adapt it to
predicting terrorism. Individuals would be able to invest in
hypothetical futures contracts involving the likelihood of such events
as "an assassination of Yasser Arafat" or "the overthrow of Jordan's
King Abdullah II". Other futures would be available based on the
economic health, civil stability and military involvement in Egypt,
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. All
oil-related countries.
The proposed market lasted about one day after it was revealed to the
Senate. Sens Wyden and Dorgan protested the Pentagon's $8 mn request,
and Wyden said, "Make-believe markets trading in possibilities that
turn the stomach hardly seem like a sensible next step to take with
taxpayers money in the war on terror." As a result of the uproar over
this, Poindexter was asked to step down.
* Giving Saddam the key to Detroit
In Las Vegas, an armoured fighting vehicle was used to crush French
yogurt, French bread, bottles of French wine, Perrier, Grey Goose
vodka, photos of Chirac, a guide to Paris and, best of all,
photocopies of the French flag. France was the perfect country to pick
on. If you're a cable news company, why spend priceless reporting time
on investigating whether Iraq really does have weapons of mass
destruction when you can do a story about how rotten the French are?
Fox News led the charge of pinning Chirac to Saddam Hussein, showing
old footage of the 2 men together. It didn't matter that the meeting
had taken place in the 1970s. The media didn't bother to run (over and
over again) the footage from when Saddam was presented with a key to
the city of Detroit, or the film from the early 1980s of Donald
Rumsfeld visiting Saddam in Baghdad to discuss the progress of the
Iran-Iraq war. The footage of Rumsfeld embracing Saddam apparently
wasn't worth running on a continuous loop. Or even once. OK, maybe
once. On Oprah.
[Keep on kickin', son! ;-)].
Weapons inspector promises "remarkable things"
Washington. Washington's chief weapons inspector in Iraq says he is
confident that new search would turn up "remarkable things" in the
coming ms.
In his interim report, CIA special adviser and head of the Iraqi
Survey Group (ISG) David Kay says despite not finding any Iraqi
WMD, much had been overlooked by the media.
Mr Kay says they have found a vast secret network of laboratories
involved in chemical and biological warfare material.
These included some 2 dozen laboratories hidden in the Iraqi intel
service and operated while UN inspectors were still in the country.
Mr Kay says the search for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons
would take another 6 to 9 m.
He also says there were multiple reports from Iraqis of substances
being moved across borders into Jordan, Iran and Syria.
Jordan has denied that weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) from Iraq
have been moved across its border.
But Jordan's Info Min Nabil Sharif expressed surprised the question
was being raised.
Mr Kay says the movements are still being probed and stressed that the
ISG does not know if any of the movements were related to WMD programs.
Doubts over Iraqi weapons continue to mount
Telling the truth: The Central Intel Agency's chief weapons hunter
David Kay blew several holes in the Admins core reasons for invading Iraq.
Washington (AP). On the eve of war, US Pres Bush Jr told the
world that intel left no doubt Iraq had WMD.
It was among the final assertions of an 18-m campaign by his Admin to cast
Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein as a serious and imminent threat.
Six m later, there are doubts.
Last wk, the CIA's chief weapons hunter, David Kay, told Congress:
"We have not yet found stocks of weapons, but we are not yet at the
point where we can say definitively either that such weapon stocks do
not exist, or that they existed before the war and our only task is to
find where they have gone."
On March 17, 2 days before the war, Bush said, "Intel gathered by this
and other govts leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to
possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
Kay presented an interim report Thu that disclosed findings of his
search teams. He argued against drawing final conclusions, saying he
will be able to provide a full picture on Iraq's weapons programs in 6
to 9 m.
So far Bush's prewar assertion is one of many that have not been
validated by discoveries in Iraq.
A look at some:
* Nuclear weapons
VP Dick Cheney, in a speech on Aug 26 last y:
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons
of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use
against our friends, against our allies and against us."
Formal intel assessments were more conservative:
"Although we assess that Saddam does not yet have nuclear weapons or
sufficient material to make any, he remains intent on acquiring
them. Most agencies assess that Baghdad started reconstituting its
nuclear program about the time that [United Nations] inspectors depart
-- Dec 1998," says the Nat'l Intel Estimate, or NIE, in Oct last y.
Kay: "Despite evidence of Saddam's continued ambition to acquire
nuclear weapons, to date we have not uncovered evidence that Iraq
undertook significant post-1998 steps to actually build nuclear
weapons or produce fissile material."
* Biological weapons
"The issue is that he's developing and has biological weapons," Cheney
told CNN on March 24 last y.
The NIE, 6 m later: "We judge Iraq has some lethal and incapacitating
BW agents and is capable of quickly producing and weaponizing a
variety of such agents, including anthrax, for delivery by bombs,
missiles, aerial sprayers and covert operatives. ... Baghdad has
established a large-scale, redundant and concealed BW agent production
capability."
Kay said his teams have uncovered evidence of what they interpret as a
covert biological weapons development program, possibly centred in
secret labs run by the Iraqi intel service. But he reported no signs
any weapons were produced.
"Teams are uncovering significant info -- including research and
development of BW-applicable organisms, the involvement of Iraqi Intel
Service in possible BW activities and deliberate concealment
activities. All of this suggests Iraq after 1996 further
compartmentalised its program and focused on maintaining smaller,
covert capabilities that could be activated quickly to surge the
production of BW agents."
* Chemical weapons
Before the war, the belief was widely held that Iraq had chemical
weapons. Saddam had used them in the 1980s against Iranian troops in
the 8-y Iran-Iraq war and against restive Iraqi Kurds.
"The issue is that he has chemical weapons, and he's used them,"
Cheney told CNN in March last y.
The NIE from last Oct said, "Although we have little specific info on
Iraq's CW stockpile, Saddam probably has stocked at least 100 metric
tons and possibly as much as 500 MT of CW agents -- much of it added
in the last y."
Kay said on Thu: "Our efforts to collect and exploit intel on Iraq's
chemical weapons program have thus far yielded little reliable info on
post-1991 CW stocks and CW agent production, although we continue to
receive and follow leads related to such stocks. We have multiple
reports that Iraq retained CW munitions made prior to 1991 ... but we
have to date been unable to locate any such munitions."
* Combat readiness of chemical weapons
Sec of State Colin Powell, on Feb 5 this y, told the UN: "We
have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorised
Iraqi field cmdrs to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the
dictator tells the world he does not have."
Kay: "We have not yet found evidence to confirm prewar reporting that
Iraqi military units were prepared to use CW against coalition
forces."
* Chemical weapons production line
The NIE said: "We assess that Baghdad has begun renewed production of
mustard, sarin, GF [cyclosarin] and VX; its capability probably is
more limited now than it was at the time of the Gulf War, although VX
production and agent storage life probably have been improved."
Kay: "Multiple sources with varied access and reliability have told
[weapons search teams] that Iraq did not have a large, ongoing,
centrally controlled CW program after 1991.
Info found to date suggests that Iraq's large-scale capability to
develop, produce and fill new CW munitions was reduced -- if not
entirely destroyed."
* Scud missiles
"Iraq also possesses a force of Scud-type missiles with ranges beyond
the 150 km permitted by the UN," Bush told the UN on Sep 12 last y.
"[Iraq] retains -- in violation of UN resolutions -- a small number of
Scud missiles that it produced before the Gulf War," CIA Director
George Tenet told the Senate Intel Committee on Feb 11 this y.
According to Kay: "One high-level detainee has recently claimed that
Iraq retained a small quantity of Scud-variant missiles until at least
2001, although he subsequently recanted these claims. Work continues
to determine the truth."
* Longer-range missiles
Tenet: "Iraq ... is developing missiles with ranges beyond 1,000 km."
True, Kay said: "The Iraqis were engaged in a very full-scale program
that would have extended their delivery systems out beyond 1,000 km."
Leak of CIA agent meant to quash debate on Iraq: ex-envoy
Washington (AFP). Former diplomat Joseph Wilson again took aim at the
Whitehouse over a leak naming his wife as a covert CIA agent, an act
he claimed was meant to quash criticism of pre-war intel on Iraq.
"I believe it was done to discourage others from coming forward,"
Wilson told NBC TV.
The outcry over the leak has mushroomed into an FBI-led probe to
determine who told a reporter Wilson's wife's name, a possible
violation of a law against revealing covert intel agents.
Wilson said it was someone wanting to punish him for charging
publicly that the case for war with Iraq was exaggerated.
The journalist who published the leak, Robert Novak, identified "2
senior Admin officials" as his sources.
Wilson said Sun that he believed the initial leak was followed by a
2nd wave of calls by Whitehouse officials trying to promote the story
among journalists.
Wilson has linked a Whitehouse snr adviser, Karl Rove, to the
leak. The Whitehouse has called that "ridiculous."
"I have every confidence that he and the Whitehouse communications
office continued to push the story," Wilson said of Rove.
"I'd like to see the 2 who leaked frog-marched out of the Whitehouse
in handcuffs," he told CBS TV.
"As for the other guys who pushed the story, I would be happy to see
them frog-marched, or escorted out of the Whitehouse out of
handcuffs," he told NBC.
Novak told NBC that he did not believe officials intentionally leaked
the story to him.
The Whitehouse has given all staff until 5.00 pm Tue to hand over
copies of all relevant materials, including e-mails, telephone logs
and notes, related to the leak.
The leak has raised concerns that the safety of Wilson's wife could
have been jeopardised and that Bush's Admin was overly concerned with
promoting its case for war despite doubts about the accuracy of some
intel on Iraq.
Wilson was ambassador to 2 African countries and the last US diplomat
to have spoken with deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Separately, the State Dept and Defence Dept have confirmed that they
have been directed to preserve records linked to the widening probe
into the disclosure, which took place in Jul.
"Her career as an undercover operative is over," former CIA officer
Jim Marcinkowski told Time magazine in Mon's edition.
"She will no longer be safe travelling overseas," he said.
"I liken that to the knee-capping of an athlete."
Wilson said his wife planned to stay at the CIA for the time being,
but added: "My wife's career will certainly change as a result of this."
Senior Washington lawmakers from both parties said that anyone found
responsible for illegally Valerie Plume's name should be jailed.
"Whoever did it ought to go to jail," Republican Sen Arlen Specter
told CNN.
"I think a law was broken and I think there has to be a tough penalty
when we apprehend the perpetrator," Specter said.
Democratic Sen Carl Levin told CNN that he believed the president was
taking the probe seriously, but that a special independent prosecutor
should be appointed to probe the leak.
"The best way to do this is to have an outside prosecutor," Levin said.
Bush aides have categorically rejected calls for an independent
investigator, even though polls show a majority of Americans support
an independent inquiry.
Clark wants probe of Whitehouse on Iraq intel
Arlington, Va. (Reuters) Democratic presidential candidate Wesley
Clark called on Fri for an independent probe of the Bush Admin's use
of intel before the Iraq war, calling it "twisted" and possibly
criminal.
The retired 4-star Army general and NATO cmdr who entered the 2004
Whitehouse race 2 wk ago amid a flood of publicity and instantly
rose among the leaders in some polls, said the American public needed
to know if it was "intentionally deceived."
In his harshest indictment yet of Pres Bush, Clark said the Admin's
"irresponsible" Iraq policy had put Americans in danger and the US in
crisis mode at home and abroad.
Going further than his 9 rivals for the Democratic presidential
nomination, most of whom have called for a special counsel to probe
the leak of an undercover CIA officer's name, Clark also demanded an
independent commission investigate the "possible manipulation" of
intel leading to the war in Iraq.
"Nothing could be a more serious violation of public trust than to
consciously make a war based on false claims," he told a conference of
military reporters and editors. "Its handling of intel and its
retaliation against its critics may have been criminal."
* "INTELLIGENCE GAP"
"We need to know if we face an intel gap ... because the system has
been twisted to suit the prejudices of the policy makers," Clark said.
Bush defended on Fri his decision to attack Iraq, brushing aside
questions about his justifications for war and citing what he said was
preliminary evidence from the top CIA weapons hunter that Baghdad had
been developing unconventional weapons even though none have so far
been found.
Clark, who retired from the military 3 y ago, said he had seen "no
compelling" evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was an imminent
threat and depicted the war in Iraq as a policy hatched "behind the scenes."
He said he heard the arguments that the Sep 11, 2001 attacks
justified an invasion to oust Saddam, that it provided an opportunity
to remake the region and that there was "a list of states they want to
take down in the Middle East."
"I had hoped it was just Pentagon hallway scuttlebutt ... but it looks
like it was more than that," he said. Clark accused the Bush Admin of
having an answer before they knew the question.
"They seized on Sep 11 as proof of a problem that required the
solution of attacking Iraq," he said. "Saddam was involved in Sep
11, they implied, and Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, so they
made Iraq a centrepiece in the war on terror."
Clark, who has portrayed himself as the best Democratic candidate to
challenge Bush on nat'l security issues, charged the Admin with
violating the principles of American democracy by retaliating against
anyone who expressed dissent or questioned logic.
The Justice Dept is investigating who disclosed the identity of an
undercover CIA officer whose husband had challenged Bush's claims
about Iraq's weapons threat.
US challenged in quest for UN Resolution on Iraq
UN (Reuters). The US faces an uphill fight this wk in trying to get
enough UN votes for its blueprint on Iraq after Sec Gen Kofi Annan
challenged the plan, aimed at getting more troops and money.
Despite optimistic comments from US officials, UN Security Council
members say Annan's rejection of the American-Brit approach stopped
progress in its tracks on a draft resolution, to be discussed again on Mon.
Annan told Sec Council ambassadors on Thu he did not want to risk more
lives, following the deadly Aug 19 bombing of US offices in Baghdad,
for a marginal political role in Iraq as in the US-drafted resolution.
At issue are US plans to hand over sovereignty to Iraq after a
constitution and free elections, which the Bush Admin estimates could
take a y and UN officials say should take 2 y if done correctly. The
UN was to help with the election process under the US-led occupation.
"The transition to self-govt is a complicated process, because it
takes time to build trust and hope after decades of oppression and
fear," Pres Bush said in his weekly radio address on Sat.
In contrast Annan prefers a plan, almost identical to proposals from
France and Germany, that would transfer some sovereignty to an interim
Iraqi govt in several m and then take some 2 y to write a constitution
and organise elections as in Afghanistan .
* "POWERFUL SIGNAL"
"The end of the formal occupation would send rather a powerful signal
to Iraqis," a snr UN official said.
The official said Annan was not trying to haggle, bargain or be
obstructionist. "It is not axiomatic that the UN has to play a
political role in every crisis there is," he told reporters.
France, Germany and Russia, as expected, signalled approval of Annan's
remarks shortly after he spoke. But diplomats said the impact of his
comments on undecided nations was considerable and made it unlikely
the US measure would be adopted without substantial changes.
US Ambassador John Negroponte, this m's council president, hopes for
adoption before a donor's conference on Iraq in Madrid on Oct 23-24.
None of the permanent council members with veto power have threatened
to use it to kill the resolution. But the measure, co-sponsored by
Spain and Brit, needs 9 out of 15 votes to be adopted.
Spain's UN ambassador, Inocencio Arias, said on Fri there could be 6
abstentions, showing a bitter division. "If it passes, what's the use
of having 9 votes and 6 abstentions?" he said. "That would be unacceptable."
There is no dispute among council members over the US proposal in the
resolution to transfer the military operation to a UN-approved
multinat'l force under US command. This provision was meant to give
political cover to nations hesitating to contribute troops and other
assistance to an occupied country.
Saddam fleeced by N Korea, says CIA
A report claims Saddam handed over mns to Pyongyang for illicit
weapons, but got nothing in return.
Washington (LA Times). N Korea's wily leader Kim Jong Il bilked
Saddam Hussein out of US$10 mn in an aborted deal to smuggle ballistic
missile technology and other prohibited military equipment to Iraq
shortly before the war, according to the chief US weapons hunter.
The no-honour-among-tyrants case is the 1st solid evidence that Iraq
and N Korea were directly conducting clandestine business deals in
violation of the UN arms embargo, snr Bush Admin officials said.
The case is only one of several illegal Iraqi military procurement
schemes uncovered by US investigators since they began scouring Iraq
early last summer for evidence of Saddam's suspected weapons of mass
destruction, according to Mr David Kay, head of the weapons hunting teams.
Other nations, including several in Europe, plus companies and individuals
also are under investigation, he said, declining to name them.
How significant such deals were is a matter of debate.
Mr Kay, speaking to reporters in a conference call organised by the
CIA last Fri, insisted he had uncovered a 'rather remarkable amount'
of evidence -- from smuggling schemes to hidden laboratories -- that
Iraq had concealed from UN weapons inspectors.
Had the Sec Council known during this spring, he said: "I'm confident
there would have been an uproar."
But Mr Hans Blix, the Swedish diplomat who led the UN inspectors until
the war began, said Mr Kay's unclassified report showed only "some
fairly minor items that should have been declared" to the UN and they
probably would not have affected council deliberations.
So far, Mr Kay said the group has found the greatest surprises in
Saddam's previously unknown efforts to develop and build medium-and
long-range missiles able to fly well beyond the limit imposed by UN
resolutions.
He said plans and advanced design work were found for 3 different
kinds of rockets able to fly at least 1,000 km and thus capable of
hitting the capitals of Turkey, Egypt or Dubai.
The missile that Iraq sought to buy from N Korea, called the Nodong,
has a range of just more than 1,290 km.
Mr Kay said his investigators discovered that Saddam's regime
negotiated and signed a contract with Pyongyang in late 1999 and paid
US$10 mn in advance to secretly purchase Nodong missile technology, as
well as other prohibited military equipment, in violation of UN sanctions.
Late last y, Mr Kay said, the Iraqis demanded: "Where is the stuff we
paid for?"
"And the N Koreans said, 'Sorry, there's so much US attention on us
that we cannot deliver it.' And the Iraqis said, 'Well, we don't like
this but give us our $10 mn back.'"
Mr Kay said "lots of records" showed Iraqi officials frantically
trying to recover the money and the N Koreans refusing or ignoring
them. US-led forces invaded Iraq in March.
One y on, no end in sight in N Korean nuclear crisis
Seoul (AFP). 1 y after the N Korea nuclear crisis erupted, analysts
expecting an early end to N East Asia's latest geo-political nightmare
are thin on the ground.
On the positive side China, N Korea's one close ally and champion,
triggered hope by stepping up to its responsibilities as Asia's
regional power and brokering multi-party talks in Beijing in Aug.
On the negative account, the US has yet to convince regional players
that it wants to deal with the regime and N Korea has already boasted
of breaking one undertaking made at the Beijing talks -- not to
escalate the crisis further.
N Korea's latest claims this wk that it was making atomic bombs
after reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods were hard to verify
and met with considerable scepticism.
Koh Yoo-Hwan of Seoul's Dongguk University said the N Korean
sabre-rattling was an attempt to win concessions ahead of negotiations.
"North Korea wants to influence the ongoing policy consultations among
S Korea, the US and Japan on this issue and stir S Korea and Japan to
press the US to soften its stance," he said.
Washington has maintained a hard line since James Kelly, the US
Assistant Sec of State for E Asian and Pacific Affairs,
travelled to Pyongyang in Oct 2002.
Experts believed he was packing in his travel bag a new paradigm for
better US-North Korean relations. Pres Bush Jr's so-called
"bold" initiative would offer Pyongyang an end to decades of mutual
hostility by removing economic and political sanctions in return for N
Korea's help in eliminating WMD and cutting back on its heavy deployment
of conventional forces.
Pressed by European and Asian allies, Washington went ahead with
Kelly's visit despite disquieting intel indicating that N Korea had
embarked on a nuclear weapons programme based on enriched uranium.
This would violate a nuclear freeze agreed between Washington and
N Korea in 1994 that ended a previous N Korean attempt to build
atomic bombs through a plutonium-producing plant at Yongbyon, 90 km N
of Pyongyang.
Even so, a mood of optimism accompanied Kelly as he flew to Pyongyang
on Oct 3, 2002. As instructed by the Bush Admin, he duly confronted
the N Koreans on the enriched uranium suspicions.
According to US officials, Kelly was stunned when N Korean Deputy For
Min Kang Sok-Joo blurted out an "aggressive" verbal admission.
N Korea has denied that admission was ever made, but has since boasted
of a much more dangerous nuclear game.
Responding to the US decision to stop the supply of emergency fuel oil
to the energy starved regime in Nov, N Korea began a strategy of
regularly raising the stakes in the crisis.
That culminated in N Korea's announcement on the eve of the
anniversary of Kelly's visit that it had begun making bombs from
weapons grade plutonium obtained by reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods
stored at Yongbyon since 1994 under monitoring by the Internat'l
Atomic Energy Agency.
Those rods can yield enough fuel for half a dozen atomic bombs within
ms, whereas the CIA reportedly says the uranium-based programme would
take y to produce weapons-grade fuel.
In the absence of internat'l inspectors, the world is blind to what
really goes on at Yongbyon. Spy satellites and air surveillance
flights yield an imperfect picture.
One snr S Korean official suggested recently that the whole nuclear
crisis could be a brilliant N Korean bluff, the biggest hoax in the
history of internat'l diplomacy.
It is known that N Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was highly praised in
Pyongyang for skilled nuclear brinkmanship that won $bns of in aid
from Washington in 1994 in return for promising to mothball the state's
previous nuclear weapons drive, a promise he nonetheless broke.
"Nobody knows precisely what N Korea has or doesn't have," said
Professor Yu Suk-Ryul, a N Korean expert here.
The US believes N Korea has already produced one or 2 nuclear bombs
from weapons-grade plutonium diverted prior to the 1994 nuclear freeze.
Many S Korean officials are convinced that N Korea, once it secures
economic and political concessions, will agree to dismantle it nuclear
threat. Some independent experts say N Korea has come to view nuclear
weapons as its only guarantee of survival and will push for a big
pay-out for an empty promise to scrap them.
They argue that if N Korea, as it claims, is producing atomic bombs
from reprocessing spent fuel rods, it can add 6 more to the 2 it
already may possess within ms, then bargain away one or 2, while still
holding a sizeable and growing nuclear arsenal as an insurance policy.
N Korea says it believes in a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, but
needs nuclear weapons to counter a plan by Washington to invade the
Stalinist state under the new US military doctrine introduced a y ago
permitting pre-emptive strikes on would-be weapons proliferators.
From the outset of the crisis, Pyongyang has held out for a
non-aggression pact as a 1st step before responding to Washington's
demand for a complete and verifiable dismantling of its nuclear
weapons drive.
Bush has vowed never to bow to nuclear blackmail, but again Washington
is under pressure from regional allies and China and repeated attempts
by the Stalinist state to ratchet up the crisis.
"Over the past y not a great deal has changed in those positions,"
said Professor Yu. "Few people expect an end to all this any time
soon."
NATO agrees to widen Afghan mission: diplomats
Brussels (Reuters). NATO agreed on Mon on a limited expansion of its
internat'l peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan beyond the Kabul area
to the provinces for the 1st time, diplomats said.
The agreement backed German plans to send up to 450 soldiers to the
northern region of Kunduz, once the UN Sec Council approves an expanded
mandate for the NATO-led Internat'l Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Germany, which holds the ISAF command, is expected to submit a
resolution soon.
Diplomats said the NATO decision endorsed the principle of other
limited, temporary deployments outside Kabul, for example to protect
elections due next y, subject to forces being available.
They said France and the US both submitted letters expressing some
reservations about the scale of NATO's commitment in Afghanistan but
did not block the decision.
A snr NATO diplomat said the 19-nation W alliance agreed in principle
that it might support other Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) --
internat'l aid workers under military protection -- in the light of
the Kunduz pilot project.
Detailed military plans for the Kunduz operation are to be submitted
to NATO ambassadors by Oct 20.
ISAF is separate from the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom which
continues to fight the remnants of the former ruling Taliban movement
and its al Qaeda militant allies in S and E Afghanistan.
NATO officials said the main problem with expanding ISAF was the
shortage of available forces due to other priorities in Iraq, the
Balkans and Africa.
Military planners last m proposed a range of options for expanding the
peacekeeping mission, as requested by Afghan Pres Hamid Karzai and UN
Sec Gen Kofi Annan.
The suggestions ranged from around 2,000 troops to 10,000 at the top
end. The alliance ran into difficulties putting together the existing
5,500-strong force when it took over command of ISAF in Aug.
Somali aid worker reported killed by gunman
Somalia (AFP). Un-ID'ed gunmen shot and killed an award-winning
Italian aid worker in the W of self-declared African republic of
Somaliland overnight, police in the territory have said. Annalena
Tonelli, who devoted more than 3 decades to helping Somali refugees,
was murdered in the Somaliland town of Borama late yesterday. In Apr,
she won the Nansen Refugee Award, named after the Nobel peace prize
winning Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who went on to do
important internat'l refugee work after World War I. "No stone will
be left unturned to identify and bring to justice those who murdered
Tonelli," Somaliland's president Dahir Riyalew Kahin told AFP by
telephone from the territory's capital, Hargeisa. Somaliland broke
away from the rest of Somalia in May 1991, 5 m after dictator Mohamed
Siad Barre was overthrown and fled into exile. But it has yet to be
recognised by the internat'l community, despite having developed the
tools of statehood, including its own currency, penal code and flag.
Chechnya's "rigged" poll closes
Grozny. Polling in the presidential election of the troubled Russian
republic of Chechnya has closed. Security was tight in an election
the vast majority of Chechens regard as rigged by Moscow. Leading
candidate for president Akhmad Kadyrov is the Russian appointed
administrator of Chechenya. Most of his rivals withdrew or were
eliminated in the run up to the poll. Most Chechens still recognise
the rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, elected president in 1997, as the
rightful president of the troubled republic. Despite widespread
reports of near-empty polling stations, Russian election officials say
turnout was over 80%. The Kremlin hopes the election will quell the
violent conflict between the Russians and the Chechens. The Kremlin
is planning to follow the poll with a treaty dividing power between
itself and the republic.
Protests likely as Russian favourite wins in Chechnya
Grozny (AFP). The presidential election in Chechnya has been won by a
candidate backed by Russia. Reports say that with vote counting still
going, pro-Russian administrator Akhmad Kadyrov has secured victory in
the poll. Internat'l observers say the election has been neither free
nor fair. The Kremlin hopes the election will quell the violent
conflict between Russia and Chechnya. But correspondents say this is
unlikely as most Chechens still recognise the rebel leader Aslan
Maskhadov as the republic's rightful Pres.
UN warns against slide into slum-dwelling
NY (BBC). A report by the UN is warning that the number of people
living in slums around the world will double to 2 bn in the next 30 y,
unless drastic measures are taken soon. The report says that across
the globe there is an irreversible flow of people from rural areas to
towns, and govts are failing to plan for the influx. Many people are
forced to live without proper access to water, sanitation, public
services or jobs, conditions in which crime can flourish, the report
warns. Asia has 60% of the world's slum dwellers -- with 550 mn
people currently living in squalid conditions there.
Unprecedented security for Bali anniversary: police chief
Melbourne (Reuters). AUS Fed Police Commissioner Mick Keelty says an
unprecedented amount of security is in place for this weekend's
anniversary ceremony in Bali. Mr Keelty was addressing 100s of world
delegates at the Internat'l Crimestoppers Conference in MEL. He says
while it is concerning that some key terrorists involved in the Bali
bombings have not been caught, security this weekend should allay the
fears of any visitors. "We've never seen and Indonesia's never seen
this amount of security in Bali before, so whilst we can't on one hand
guarantee you nothing will happen, on the other hand everything that
can be done is being done to ensure nothing does happen," he said.
Beer festival diehards drink close to record
Munich (Reuters). Beer fans drank the equivalent of 6 Olympic-sized
swimming pools during the 2-wk Oktoberfest in Germany, close to the
annual event's record, organisers said. The world's biggest beer
festival, which ended last night, reported a jump in attendance as
well as beer consumption, after a 2-y decline following the Sep 11,
2001 attacks in the US. About 6.3 mn people crowded into the beer
tents during the festival, some 400,000 more than in the last 2 y, and
drank 6.1 mn litres of Bavaria's top export beverage -- up 7% from
last y. Only in 2000, when a record 6.5 mn litres were drunk, was
more consumed. Demand for beer was so spectacular in the 1st wk of
the festival, due to warm and dry weather, that some taps briefly
stopped flowing, said local brewers. Oktoberfest began in 1810 with a
lavish 5-day event to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince
Ludwig and Princes Therese of Saxony-Hildenburghausen.
Big bums put squeeze on venues
Melbourne. AUS's expanding bottom line has sparked a trend for larger
seats in some of the nation's newest sporting and cultural venues.
MEL Cricket Ground's new N stand is reportedly one venue that has
increased individual seat sizes by around 30%, partly as a measure to
cater for patrons' larger bottoms. But design expert at MEL's RMIT,
Hendrikus Berkers, says it is not just about bottom size, but comfort.
"It's not just about the size of the seat but it's also trying to walk
past, going to the toilet and other things, it is extremely tight and
the comfort of the persons sitting there needs to be addressed," he said.
Convicted paedophile held in East Timor over child porn
Dili. A convicted AUS paedophile has been remanded in custody in East
Timor after being found with pornographic images of Timorese children.
Wilfred Mentink, 56, is also facing charges of illegally entering East
Timor after defying a deportation order issued in Jun. Mentink was
arrested by UN and East Timorese police last wk when they searched his
yacht and found nearly 40 items relating to child pornography,
including photographs, CDs and 2 laptop computers. He was remanded in
custody for 30 days by an East Timorese court while further
investigations are carried out. Mentink was jailed for 6 y in Qld in
1993 after pleading guilty to child sex abuse charges.
Papua PM intervenes in row over work permits for foreigners
Pt Moresby. Papua New Guinea's PM has intervened in a damaging row
over the issuing of work permits to foreigners. Sir Michael Somare
has demanded an urgent meeting with his Labour Min, Peter Yama, who
last wk announced a moratorium on the issuing of visas. Mr Yama also
threatened to revoke the work permit for the AUS head of PNG's
airline, Air Niugini, saying CEO Rod Nelson was overpaid, and his
position should be localised. Sir Michael says Mr Yama's comments do
not reflect govt policy, and he has vowed to take steps to rectify the
situation. "That's his personal view, that's not the govt policy, and
the minister will be told in no uncertain terms today," he said.
"I've asked the minister to call on my office this afternoon, to make
sure of where he got that policy guideline to make that statement in
the Parliament."
Perth crew intercepts suspected illegal fishing boat
Perth. A Perth-based fishing company says it has intercepted what is
thought to be an illegal fishing boat in the sub-Atlantic waters of
the S Ocean nr remote Heard Island. An AUS fishing boat, the S
Champion, encountered what is believed to be the Ghanian-flagged,
Alos, 80 km inside AUS's territorial zone 2 wk ago. Austral
Fisheries, which owns 70% of the AUS licences to catch the prized
patagonian toothfish, says the Alos has been renamed a number of times
and was previously registered to the Spanish flag. Austral says AUS
authorities have called on Ghana and Spain to explain why this vessel
is inside AUS's zone. CEO of Austral David Carter says it is quite
clear the boat was fishing illegally. "There was no doubt, names had
been painted out, the vessel was in blackness other than for the area
where the gear was being worked, the skipper of the illegal boat
either wasn't aware or wasn't paying attention, which was surprisingly
sloppy of these people," he said.
Canberra. AUS ASKS CHINA TO CHASE SHIP! Australia has called on China
to help catch a suspected illegal fishing boat spotted in the S Ocean
around Heard and McDonald Islands. Fed Fisheries Min Ian MacDonald
says a vessel thought to be the Ghanaian-flagged Alos has been signed
fishing in AUS's exclusive economic zone. Sen MacDonald says the boat
was spotted in AUS waters by radar satellite late last m and was
photographed by the AUS-licensed fishing vessel Southern Champion.
NT abattoir puts hand up for stranded sheep
Darwin (Reuters). The owner of the N Territory's largest abattoir has
put his hand up to take the 50,000 head of sheep stranded on a ship in
the Middle East.
Brett McDonald, who runs the Tanarra abattoir at Batchelor, S of
Darwin, says it is a last resort, due to the quarantine risk.
The Fed Govt is considering bringing the sheep back to AUS, following
a breakdown in negotiations with several countries.
Mr McDonald says while he would need to make some changes, it would be
possible to slaughter the sheep in the Territory.
"I have spoken to a couple of my colleagues and asked them whether
they'd give me some help and they would send up some equipment and
some crew," he said.
"Our abattoir's designed at the moment for beef and buffalo, so I'd
have to reconfigure the chain to a small stock type of chain,
basically different types of hide mechanisms and things like that.
"I could render them or [prepare them] for human consumption, we make
meat, meal and tallow, like a conveyor-type situation where the meat
goes one way and the blood and bones go the other way."
But a former chief vet of AUS, Bill Gee, says it is 'absolute madness'
to offload the sheep in the Territory.
Mr Gee says the animals would have been exposed to screw worm fly,
Rift Valley fever, and blue tongue -- diseases that could devastate
the N cattle industry.
High Court celebrates centenary
Canberra. 100 y ago today the High Court held its 1st sitting in MEL,
but much has changed since then.
The original 3 judges included AUS's 1st prime minister Sir Edmund Barton.
There are now 7 High Court judges.
It took most of the court's 1st century before it assumed its full
position as the final court of appeal in AUS.
Appeals above the court to the Brit Privy Council were abandoned in 1975.
In recent y decisions like Mabo have exposed the court to attacks,
which constitutional law expert Tony Blackshield says has harmed the court.
"There's no doubt that some of the drawing in of horns by the court in
the last 10 y has been partly a response to that damaging criticism,"
he said.
Chief Justice Murray Gleeson says the criticism is expected in a
robust democracy.
Former chief justice Sir Anthony Mason says the problem will pass.
"[Over the] long term the court manages to ride out these transient
storms," Sir Anthony said.
Muslim refugees fed pork in SA detention: activist
Adelaide. A refugee support group claims the health of detainees at S
AUS's Baxter detention centre is being threatened by sub-standard and
culturally inappropriate food. Rural Aussies for Refugees says Muslim
detainees at the centre have been given pork -- which is forbidden by
Islam -- and on one occasion a 12-mo baby was fed a hot dog for
dinner. The group's rep, Kathy Verran, says the standard of food has
dropped dramatically recently and that there is increasing concern
about the impact on detainees health. "We think that people are
entitled to eat properly and we wouldn't expect people in the
community to put up with food being served like that," she said.
"It's even more important when people are held in detention that their
nutritional requirements are provided for."
NT farms spiders for pet shops
Darwin. The N Territory's Parks and Wildlife Service says a spider
farm has been established to supply the invertebrates to the pet shop
industry. Service rep David Lawson says some tarantulas and scorpions
have been declared protected in a bid to prevent them being taken from
the wild without a permit. "Some of the tunnel spiders we have are
quite spectacular and very large, we've got trap door spiders, a whole
variety of which would be attractive to people who want to collect
them," he said. He says breeding spiders for pets is big business in
the US and there is growing demand in AUS. "There is great interest
in scorpions and spiders in the pet trade and what we're trying to do
is to say there's nothing wrong with that as long as it is done
responsibly," he said. "In this issue, we're a head of the game
because there is a man in Howard Springs, who is going to set up the
1st spider farm."
Rain brings hope for record wheat harvest
Canberra. This y's wheat harvest has staged a dramatic turnaround,
with analysts predicting it will go close to breaking the record of 3
y ago. The independent group AUS Wheat Forecasters says rain has
boosted the nat'l harvest to 24.4 mn tonnes, not far behind the
1999-2000 harvest of 24.9 mn tonnes. AWF managing director Brian
Bailey says the only states still struggling are NSW and Qld, which
have been hit hard by frosts and then hot dry winds. He says wheat
growers are inching closer to the nat'l record, as long as there are
no frosts. "We're not through the frost-prone period in S NSW, Vic, S
AUS or WA. We have another say 10 to 14 days of exposure to frost damage."
Canada wheat imports harming US farmers
Washington (AP). Imports of Canadian-subsidised hard red spring
wheat, used for making flour and bread, are harming American farmers,
the US Internat'l Trade Commission ruled Fri, clearing the way to
begin imposing a tariff.
The commission, however, said it could find no such harm from imports
of durum, a type of wheat used to make pasta.
The rulings were prompted by a complaint from the N Dakota Wheat
Commission and other US farmers that said Canada was dumping wheat
into the US market -- selling it for less than it costs to produce.
US flour millers and pasta makers, including Barilla America Inc, had
sided with Canada in the dispute, contradicting the farmers' complaint.
They said Canada didn't sell wheat priced cheaper than US wheat.
The Commerce Dept issued a preliminary ruling in Aug that Canada was
unfairly subsidising its wheat farmers and dumping grain on the US
market. It recommended a 14 percent tariff -- if the commission
determined that American farmers were being harmed.
Fri's decision means that red spring wheat will soon face a penalty
tariff, but durum imports won't. The tariff will not go into effect
until the Commerce Dept issues a final determination on the proper
size of the tariff. Commerce officials said that determination would
be made in the next few wks.
"It's been a long time coming," said Sen Byron Dorgan,
D-N.D. "Finally, American trade officials are standing up for
America's family farmers."
Dorgan said he disagreed with the commission's finding that imports of
Canadian durum are not harming farmers but added, "Half a loaf is
better than none."
Alan Tracy, president of the US Wheat Associates, said the Commerce
Dept and ITC decisions "are so clear that more people than ever now
understand the anticompetitive nature of the Canadian wheat system."
However, Jim Bair, a vice president at the N American Millers'
Association, said the commission's decision on durum wheat recognises
that US farmers don't produce enough of it to satisfy the total demand.
Ken Ritter, chairman of the Canadian Wheat Board, welcomed the
decision on durum wheat, saying it means the Canadians won't have to
pay a 14% tariff.
But the commission's determination that US farmers suffered from imports
of Canadian wheat "is wrong," he said. "We are going to appeal this."
The board represents more than 80,000 Canadian growers.
Last y, the US imported 15 mn bushels of hard red spring wheat from
Canada and 14 mn bushels of Canadian durum wheat.
The N Dakota Wheat Commission said those figures represent a third of
the US market and argues that indicates there was dumping.
Neal Fisher, administrator of the organisation, said the result would
not affect prices for bread and other baked goods.
He said that for the case to significantly affect the price of bread,
"we'd have to have duties that are much higher than this level."
WA joins nat'l fight against salinity
Perth. Farmers in WA are looking forward to renewing the fight
against salinity, after their state finally signed on to a nat'l
action plan instigated 2 y ago. Under the bilateral agreement, the WA
Govt has been promised $62 mn by the Commonwealth to manage and
improve salinity and water quality on a regional scale. WA Natural
Resource Management Council chairman Rex Edmondson is looking forward
to getting the momentum going again, after a series of long delays.
"A lot of momentum has been lost with community groups and we've seen
a lot of projects stall or the momentum stalled, or people have moved
onto other jobs, so we've lost a lot of expertise as well," he said.
"The quicker we can get to that the better, because salinity keeps
marching on."
Canada aims to set example in exporting AIDS drugs to developing world
Montreal (AFP). Canada this wk sought to be an example to other
industrialised nations by altering its legislation to allow for
generic AIDS drugs to be exported to developing nations.
Over the past few days, Industry Min Allan Rock and Internat'l Trade
Min Pierre Pettigrew stressed that Canada has worked tirelessly to
amend its patent laws.
Canada hopes to become the 1st country in the Group of 7 to make major
laboratories operating within its borders -- both Canadian companies
and multinat'l firms -- share their formulas with the manufacturers of
generic AIDS drugs for export to developing countries, which are
hardest hit by the pandemic.
These countries, primarily in Africa, quite often have no means for
producing the drugs and are at the mercy of developed countries to
obtain them.
Ottawa wants to be the 1st industrialised country to make good on an
agreement, reached by the 146 World Trade Organisation (WTO) member
nations in late Aug in Geneva, to furnish low-priced medications to
developing nations.
For now, the details of a bill are still being hammered out, but
supporters hope to see a measure passed by Parliament within as little
as 1 wk.
"I would like to present a draft to ministers in the next few wks or
months, [but] I have not been given a deadline. We've been asked to
take the time we need but to speed up the process," Eric Dagenais,
head of patent policy at the Ministry of Industry, told AFP.
The UN's special envoy for HIV /AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, said
that "the additional capacity to produce generics is vital because, at
the moment in Africa, only between 50,000 and 75,000 people are in
treatment, out of 4.1 mn that are said to be eligible for treatment."
While many nongovt'al organisations expressed doubts about the scope of
the WTO accord, several of them -- including Doctors Without Borders
and Oxfam -- called a press conference Wed in Toronto to congratulate
the Canadian govt on its plans and to keep the pressure on.
The groups fear that the legislation will get mired in "legal
fineries," as Doctors Without Borders said, or fall victim to the
pharmaceutical lobby.
However, through the umbrella group known as Canada's Research-Based
Pharmaceutical Companies, these firms have expressed a readiness to
cooperate with the govt project.
The group, which represents 60 laboratories with some 23,000
employees, said it "welcomed the WTO decision to strike a balance
between addressing the needs of the poorest countries while ensuring
the protection of intellectual property."
Still, the plan faces another stumbling block, according to Doctors
Without Borders, with pressure being applied to Ottawa ahead of the
next ministerial-level meeting in Miami next m of countries
negotiating the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Peer-to-peer telephony to take off
Toronto (AP). The software developers who wrote file-swapping legend
Kazaa are taking the concept of peer-to-peer sharing to
telecommunications, launching an internet phone service they claim
could put traditional phone companies out of business.
The service, called Skype, purports to offer free, unlimited phone
service between users -- with sound quality nr to what its developers
derisively dub POTS -- a Plain Old Telephone Service.
Unlike Kazaa, which drew the wrath of the music industry, Skype
shouldn't stir up a legal hornet's nest.
"The goal here is that we want Skype to be the telephone company of
the future," Niklas Zennstrom, the firm's chief executive told The
Associated Press. "Traditional network technologies date back to the
1870s. They're inflexible and costly to maintain."
Skype users can currently use the program only to talk to each other,
but it could later be enhanced so someone could call other types of
programs, or even regular landline and cell phones, Zennstrom said.
Once downloaded from the company's site and installed, Skype works on
personal computers running Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP. It requires a
sound card, speakers, a microphone and a high-speed internet
connection.
Peter Firstbrook, a snr research analyst with the Meta Group in
Toronto, questions whether consumers would be willing to trade their
cell phone, or even landline, for the chance to talk via computers.
Broken network connections could hamper calls, he added.
"There wouldn't be any priority for traffic," Firstbrook said. "If
anything, what they need is a purer, cleaner pipe from the network
provider and priority within the network."
At least some users praised the sound quality, including disc jockeys
who use it for on-air interviews at the KUKU radio station in Estonia,
a tiny former Soviet republic that sits on the E edge of the
Baltic Sea.
"The sound quality of Skype is close to the quality we are used to on
a phone -- but not better, at least not currently," said Linar Viik,
an Estonian internet consultant.
The service remains marginally useful because Skype users can only use
it to talk to other Skype users, Viik said.
"I don't think this could replace regular phones, not now" said Viik.
"But it could find a niche, say, in branch offices of the same company."
Although other programs, including instant messaging programs from
Microsoft and Yahoo!, permit sound and voice transfers, Skype bundles
those features and catalogues users in a directory so they can find
each other.
The program directs peer-to-peer data through the quickest networks,
ensuring that quality isn't degraded. Privacy is ensured through
encryption, the Skype Web site said.
Skype claims to operate through firewalls, software used by
corporations to monitor traffic in and out of its office computers.
Zennstrom said multiple users could eventually converse with each
other, but he didn't say when that would happen or how Skype would be
modified to do so.
The basic program is available at no charge, but Zennstrom said a
beefed-up version will be sold for an unspecified fee.
Zennstrom, 37, and his main partner at Skype, Janus Friis, 27, 1st
made a splash in 2001 when they released Kazaa, which went on to
become the most downloaded software on the internet.
Although they denied any wrongdoing, they sold Kazaa to an AUS company
in 2002 after coming under intense legal pressure from the
entertainment industry, which accused Kazaa of facilitating the theft
of mns of copyright songs and videos.
Estonian programmers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn --
who took the lead in writing Kazaa -- also did the bulk of the work on
Skype, said Zennstrom, who is Swedish and maintains offices in both
Stockholm and in Tallinn, Estonia's capital.
Cyber-savvy Estonia is widely regarded as having the most advanced
internet infrastructure of any former Communist country. That, plus
lower labour costs and proximity to Sweden, made it a logical place to
seek designers for the company's software, Zennstrom said.
Even though Skype has no direct stake in Kazaa, Skype uses Kazaa
references to promote itself.
Within a wk of posting the program on its Web site on Aug 29,
Zennstrom said, more than 15,000 copies of Skype were downloaded.
Recently, its Web site was claiming 660,000 downloads. Kazaa has been
downloaded some 300 mn times since its launch 2 y ago.
"Obviously, you get more attention when you've done something before,"
he said. "With us, people have expectations."
Researchers create super-fast quantum computer simulator
Tokyo. Using a classical computer to manipulate Shor's algorithm -- a
centrepiece of quantum-computer science -- Japanese researchers hope
they can shore up the shaky marriage of quantum mechanics and
computing that scientists hope will someday produce offspring of
super-fast HAL-9000 style machines.
"The proposed system will be a powerful tool for the development of
quantum algorithms," claim University of Tokyo scientists Minoru
Fujishima, Kento Inai, Tetsuro Kitasho and Koichiro Hoh.
* Shoring up Shor
Shor's algorithm uses the probabilities of quantum mechanics to factor
large numbers in fewer steps than possible with more conventional means.
Factoring a number means breaking it into a product of its prime
factors. Fifteen, for instance, breaks into the product of the prime
numbers 3 and 5.
Using conventional factoring algorithms, the time it takes to factor a
number increases exponentially -- 2^N -- with the size of the number,
where the exponent N is the number of digits. To factor the 5-digit
number 65,448, for instance, it might take 2^5, or 32 minutes, using
conventional computer algorithms.
In 1994, AT & T researcher Peter Shor created an algorithm based on
quantum probabilities wherein the time required to factor a number
grows only as a polynomial function -- N^2 -- of the number's size. N
again is the number of digits.
In theory, factoring 65,448 with Shor's algorithm would take 7 minutes
less than with the conventional method -- 5^2, or 25 minutes.
* Simulate To Emulate
Aircraft engineers design jumbo jets using ground-based simulators to
emulate real flying. Likewise, computer engineers hope to design
quantum-computer software and hardware by simulating quantum
computation on classical computers.
"In order to develop software efficiently, a system which can emulate
large-scale problems at high speed is required," Fujishima told NewsFactor.
Running algorithms designed for quantum computers on a classic Compaq
or Dell isn't easy. Shor's algorithm, for instance, only produces a
correct result that is "highly probable," so it must be run repeatedly
to increase this probability. The number of simulated "quantum bits,"
or qubits, required to process these re-runs quickly grows cumbersome
in a classical simulation of the algorithm.
Now, however, "something very important has happened," said Texas A&M
electrical engineering professor Laszlo Kish. "Fujishima and coworkers
have found the way to avoid the complexity required to run Shor's
quantum algorithm on a classical computer using CMOS technology."
Fujishima and his team invented a tool called a "quantum index
processor" (QIP) to increase the speed at which classical computers
run quantum algorithms, such as Shor's.
"We found that the computation time of the QIP is 10^26 times faster
than that of the conventional emulator," Fujishima explained. "Our
emulator, named a "quantum index processor," emulates the procedure of
quantum computing at high speed by using the latest CMOS LSI," a type
of semiconductor.
* Closer to Real
"The speed of this computer emulator is 10^26 times [100 trillion
trillion times] faster than our workstations," Kish told NewsFactor --
faster, in fact, than any other quantum simulator built to date, and
more closely approaching the speed of a real quantum computer.
If we are ever to realize the quantum future of computers, "we need
classical [CMOS] special-purpose computing approaches, perhaps
inspired by quantum algorithms like Fujishima's present method," added
Kish, who recently showed that quantum computers may never become
reality without some serious re-tooling.
"We should stop wasting money for 'quantum dreams,'" he says.
Fuel cell cars will make hybrids obsolete, GM says
Tokyo (Reuters) Less than a wk after its biggest Japanese rival touted
the economic and ecological benefits of hybrids, GM made a
case of its own on Mon: only hydrogen-fuelled cars will survive in the endgame.
As the debate heats up over what the car of the future will ultimately
look like, auto makers are staging a loud public relations battle to
play up their strengths and justify the huge spending on developing
the technologies so far.
Just last Thu, Japan's top auto maker, Toyota Motor, invited
journalists to tour the production site of its new Prius hybrid to
demonstrate how cheaply they could be built by sharing an assembly
line with conventional mass-market cars.
But Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research, development and
planning, said zero-emission fuel cell vehicles (FCV) will eventually
make gasoline-electric hybrids obsolete, rejecting Toyota's view that
hybrids will remain on the road even after FCVs become affordable for
the average consumer.
"The race needs to be judged with a long-term view -- the goal is to
get automobiles out of the environmental debate altogether," he told
Reuters in an interview.
Hybrids use electric motors and battery packs to improve fuel
efficiency, adding power during acceleration and reclaiming energy
when braking and coasting, but still need gasoline to run.
GM has invested about $1 bn in developing fuel cells to power electric
motors in vehicles, and wants to be the 1st auto maker to sell a mn
FCVs. It hopes to commercialise FCVs by 2010 -- one of the most
optimistic targets in the industry.
Japan's Toyota and Honda Motor became the 1st to put a saleable FCV on
the road last y, but the cars are only on lease since they still cost
$mns to produce.
Despite the many hurdles that remain to make FCVs commercially viable
-- such as a lack of infrastructure and safety standards -- Burns said
weaning the industry off gasoline would become imperative as fledgling
car markets like those in China and India continue to grow.
"If you look at the growth of economies in the world -- whether it be
the US, Japan, Europe, or Brazil, Russia, India, China and Korea --
commensurate with that is the growth in energy consumption," he said.
And with many countries relying almost 100% on foreign oil, they would
eventually want vehicles that don't o conventional gasoline combustion
engines in the interim before FCVs take over.
In a wk-long presentation in Tokyo with its Japanese affiliates that
started on Mon, the GM group will showcase other cutting-edge
technology such as truck maker Isuzu Motors' clean diesel engines and
Fuji Heavy Industries' research into next-generation car batteries.
GM, which also has a capital alliance with mini vehicle maker Suzuki
Motor and S Korea's Daewoo Motor in Asia, plans to begin selling its
1st gas-electric hybrid cars next y.
----------------------------------------
Tue, 07 Oct 2003.
NY. MARKETS! The Dow has closed up 23 pts to 9,595. Following
yesterday's dive, gold has put on $3.45 to $US372.95/oz. Oil was also
higher at $US30.47/bbl. It was bad news for the dot-comers with
Looksmart shares 1/2-ing after they lost their license with M/S. In
London, the FTSE closed down 4 pts at 4,270. The Dax lost 14 pts to
3,405. The AUD soared o'night as USD sentiment fell to new lows. The
greenback has fallen 8% against the euro since Sep 1. 1 ya it was at
parity. Presently, the AUD is trading around 68.68 USD.
Port-au-Prince. 11 DEAD IN HAITI STORM! Authorities say at least 11
people are dead and 15 others missing after a violent storm swept
through Port-au-Prince. The victims have been found in the debris of
homes destroyed by landslides caused by heavy rains. PM Yvon Neptune
has toured affected regions of the capital and promised emergency aid
for victims. The govt is also considering measures to prevent the
construction of home in danger areas.
HK. 4WD ENTHUSIAST KILLS 8! A 4WD enthusiast has been arrested after
he killed 8 people after driving up a main road at more than 100 kph
in reverse. The S China Morning Post reports that 23 yo Chen Chen
slammed into 2 cars while performing a "stunt" in Zhouzi county, in
Inner Mongolia. He also injured 2 people in his own vehicle. Chen
works for Beijing Hummingbird Club, which trains people to drive
4WD's off-road.
Yazoo City. 5 KIDS DIE WHILE MUMS OUT CLUBBING! 5 children have died
in a house fire in the S US after being left home alone while their
mothers went out clubbing. Police chief Mike Wallace says Clara Bell
and Eugenta Bell from Yazoo City, about 60 km N of Jackson, MI, have
each been charged with 5 counts of negligent manslaughter and 1 count
of felony child neglect. The dead children range in age from 18 m to
10 y. The only surviving child was a 9 yo boy who was rescued through
a window to escape the flames.
Manila. 4 DEAD, 3 WOUNDED IN MANILA SHOOTING! A suspected Muslim
militant who grabbed a guard's rifle at Manila police HQ has killed 3
police and wounded 3 others before being shot dead himself. Snr Supt
Leopoldo Bataoil says the man was 1 of 5 men arrested over a bomb
attack last y in S Philippines' Zamboanga city. He says the suspected
Abu Sayyaf rebel wrested the rifle from a policeman at Camp Crame
early today and opened fire.
Beirut. JIHAD THREATENS COUNTER ATTACKS! Islamic Jihad says Israel
will pay a "big price" if it extends its conflict with Palestinian
militants abroad after a strike nr Damascus. However it's stressed
its own battle remains inside Palestine. Israeli warplanes bombed
what the Sharon govt claimed was an IJ training camp in the hills
outside the Syrian capital on Sun in the first attack inside the
country in 30 y. The attack came a day after a 28 yo Palestinian
lawyer blew herself up in an Jewish/Arab owned restaurant in Haifa,
killing 19 people, incl 4 other Palestinians.
NY. US FINDS NO HELP AT UN! The US has made no headway at the UN
Security Council in drumming up support for a Res it had hoped would
encourage gullable 3rd parties to provide cash and troops to help with
the quagmire in Iraq. US ambassador John Negroponte has denied the
measure has been all but killed after days of harsh criticism, much
of it from UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan. Kofi, Kofi, how can you be so
cru-el? However, Negroponte acknowledged that no end date has been set
of more talks on the proposed measure. No end date? Hey -- just like
US occupation plans!
Ankara. TURKEY TO SEND TROOPS INTO IRAQ! In a move sure to spark
protests from N Iraq, the Turkish govt has announced it will send
troops to neighbouring Iraq, calling on parliament to approve the
measure ASAP. Govt rep Justice Min Cemil Cicek told reporters all
misters have signed a motion calling on parliament to authorise the
dispatch of Turkish soldiers to Iraq. The move comes in response to a
US request for military assistance in the increasingly-turbulent country.
Kigali. UN FINDS BODIES IN DRC! UN peacekeepers have discovered 23
bodies in a village in the NE of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A
local Hema leader says the victims were killed by Lendu, a rival
ethnic group. Ms Abric says local people just S of the town of Bule,
about 70 km NE of Bunia, have told peacekeepers another 32 civilians
were also killed in the same attack and buried.
Monrovia. MONROVIA TO BECOME WEAPONS-FREE ZONE! Days after a gunfight
interrupted 2 m of calm in Liberia's capital, the country's former
combatants have pledged to make the city a weapons-free zone in 72
hrs. UN peacekeepers have promised searches across Monrovia to
enforce the agreement secured by their commander Gen Daniel Opande of Kenya.
Liberia is in ruins from 14 y of warfare under Charles Taylor, a one-time
rebel leader who was forced into exile in Aug by internat'l pressure.
KL. FLOODS THREATEN N MALAYSIA! Dangerous floods are containing to
worsen in Malaysia's N. About 27,000 people have been evacuated and 3
children have died. The Star newspaper reports continuous rain for 4
days has forced local authorities from the NW states of Kedah, Perak
and Penang to call for the immediate displacement of victims to
flood-relief centres. There have been 3 reported victims of the
floods -- a 14 yo girl, and 2 boys aged 9 and 12. All had been
swimming in flood waters despite the heavy rains.
Tokyo. JAPAN FINDS MORE MAD COWS! The Japanese govt says it will
maintain "extremely strict" inspections of cattle, following the
confirmation of new cases of Mad Cow Disease. Chief Cabinet Sec Yasuo
Fukuda says they believe a new strain of the disease has emerged. Mr
Fukuda told a news conf that extremely strict tests were carried out
on all cows and there is no cause for worry about infected beef making
it to the marketplace. However, officials have expressed their concern
about the possibility of a new strain of the disease.
Pt Moresby. GOLD CACHE FOUND IN PNG! A cache of gold reportedly worth
$100s of mns has been discovered on a remote mountaintop in PNG. The
Post-Courier in Pt Moresby says troops and police have been sent to
the site in New Ireland prov to verify the claim and protect the find
from poachers. Snr govt staff have been told up to 10 tonnes of gold,
which was mined and processed by the Japanese during WWII, have been
found in a mtn cave.
Denpasar. MEGAWATI SNUBS HOWARD AGAIN! Indonesian Pres Megawati
Sukarnoputri has ruled out any plans to meet PM John Howard at next
wk's Bali memorial ceremonies. For Min Haddan Wirayuda says "Balinese
cultural sensitives" and a "state visit" by the Algerian Pres will
prevent her from attending the events on Sun. The For Min denies
Megawati's decision to receive the Algerian president instead of attending
the anniversary places relations with Algeria ahead of those with AUS.
NY. ANNAN ROUNDS ON DEVELOPED NATIONS! UN Sec-Gen has blamed wealthy
nations pandering to powerful lobbies for the collapse of world trade
talks in Mexico last m. What collapse? Underlining what has become a
theme in his recent speeches, Annan says developing nations fear
their voices are not being heard. What voices? He says last m's
setback in trade talks at Cancun is the latest, but by no means the
only, example showing how the priorities of the developing world can
be brushed aside when N govts have powerful producer lobbies to placate.
Canberra. ABBOTT SIGNALS HEALTH PACKAGE! Pumping an extra $1/2 bn
into the health system could win the govt a key vote for its Medicare
reform package. Incoming Health Min Tony Abbott has signalled that
improvements to the package will be necessary to get it passed through
the Senate. AUS Progressive Alliance Sen Meg Lees [formerly GST
Democrat] says the solution to falling bulk billing rates and other
doctor issues is more money.
Sydney. 40,000 PROTEST HOSPITAL PRIVATISATION! Up to 40,000 public
hospital workers across NSW have stopped work for 4 hrs to protest
the state govt's plan to partly privatise the redevelopment of
Newcastle's Mater Hospital. Clerical assistants, radiographers,
social workers, pharmacists, and clinical psychologists are among
those who stopped work today. They're threatening further action over
fears of greater privatisation across the sector. The union has
sought an urgent meeting with the state govt.
Sydney. ALMOST 1 MN SUFFERING MENTAL ILLNESS IN NSW! Acting Health
Min Frank Sartor says more than 860,000 adults in NSW are suffering
from some form of mental illness. Mr Sartor says most of these adults
suffer from mild anxiety and depression, but 24,500 suffer
schizophrenia and 31,500 have bipolar disorder. In the next 5 y $22
mn will be committed to expanding services to NGO's which provide
supported accommodation and rehabilitation.
Sydney. AUS 4Q03 LOOKS GOOD! A new survey has revealed the business
outlook for the last Q of 2003 remains strong, with businesses
expecting the best profits quarter in more than 3 y. At the same
time, the latest Dun & Bradstreet outlook shows talk of interest rate
rises has sparked concerns about falling sales and increased operating
costs. However, the survey says most businesses remain undisturbed
about a possible end to the housing construction boom.
Sydney. UNIONS WELCOMES EMAIL BAN! NSW's peak union body has welcomed
a move by the state govt to ban companies from secretly monitoring
their employees' emails. Prem Bob Carr announced at the weekend he
will introduce the laws, saying that covert surveillance smacks of
spying and distrust. The NSW Labor Council first proposed the
changes. Labor Council sec John Robertson says they'll prevent the
blocking of emails and mean communications can only be monitored
through an agreed process.
Sydney. SYD HARBOUR OPS COMING TO END! Unions claim the end of SYD
Harbour as a working port has already begun. The SMH reports
stevedoring operations at White Bay will end within wks, well before
the last lease runs out in 2007. On Sun, the NSW govt revealed it
would move all shipping activity from SYD harbour to Newcastle and Pt
Kembla by 2012. The Maritime Workers Union says their members at
White Bay have been warned the site could be wound up within weeks.
Melbourne. AUSSIE WORKERS HATE THEIR BOSSES! Now HERE's news! A
survey of Australia's workforce has found nearly 1/2 of the nation's
workers hate their work and their bosses. The 2003 SEEK Survey of
Employee Satisfaction and Motivation in AUS paints a bleak picture of
the country's workplace satisfaction. The survey found almost 1/2 of
employees are not happy in their jobs, with 49% saying they're unhappy
or very unhappy. The survey found workers are more disgruntled with
the boss than they are with salary, working hrs, work environment or
career prospects.
Melbourne. WATER CONF TO DEVELOP NATL POLICY! More than 100
delegates from around AUS have converged on [where else?] MEL today
for a nat'l water conf aimed at developing a nation-wide water policy.
The 2-day Nat'l Water Conference 2003, which has been convened by the
UN Assoc of AUS, will be held at the MEL Exhibition Centre. Delegates
will hear presentations from 16 speakers, each with a specialist
interest in various aspects of water management.
Brisbane. QLD GOVT REJECTS SIR JOH COMPO! The Qld govt has rejected a
compensation claim by former Prem Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Prem Peter
Beattie told state parliament he's received Crown law advice that Sir
Joh's claim for an ex-gratia payment should be dismissed. Sir Joh has
recently claimed losses of more than $353 mn following the Fitzgerald
inquiry into govt and police corruption in 1987. The claims are based
on the argument the Inquiry was never properly authorised by Sir Joh.
Melbourne. CHEM SPILL CONTAINED! A chemical spill that forced the
evacuation of staff and patients awaiting surgery at MEL's St
Vincent's Hosp this morning has been contained. Hospital rep Mike
Griffin says staff were setting up for the start of the morning's
operating shift when they noticed a leak of paracetic acid from a
sterilising machine. He says that as a precaution, patients being
prepped were moved into a waiting bay and the area was cordoned off.
Sydney. MARKETS! The All Ords rose only 1 pt to 3,224. In Japan, the
Nikkei added 80 pts to end at 10,820. The Hang Seng lost 11 pts to
close at 11,724. Oil is still trading about $US30/bbl. The AUD is
climbing higher, at 68.6 US c. It's expected to break 69 US c o'night.
{{
3 am
Turkey will become the 3rd country to send substantial troops to
Iraq. The Turkish govt has indicated it will send about 10,00
soldiers into N Iraq. The parliament must ratify the decision, and
it's not clear whether that process will go smoothly. With almost
daily protests about the US-led war in Iraq, opinion polls show about
70% of the population is against sending in troops.
Syria continues to protest an Israeli attack on a camp in the hills nr
Damascus. Israel says it bombed an Islamic Jihad training camp after a
suicide attack in Haifa killed 19 people, incl young children. But
Syria insists there are no Islamic Jihad training camps in the
country. Local people told BBC reporters there had been a PFLP
training camp where Israeli jets attacked, but it had been closed down
for around 1 y after the group became unpopular with the Syrian
govt. Reporters say they could not reach the site of the attack to
verify the accounts.
Pres Bush has refused to condemn Israel for attacking a camp in Syria,
saying Israel should not feel constrained in its right to defend itself.
Mr Bush also called on Israel not to escalate Middle E tensions. Mr
Bush's comments comes after Israel retaliated for a suicide attack by
striking at what the Sharon govt says is a training camp nr Damascus.
Islamabad. A key Sunni activist, 3 guards and a driver have been
gunned down by unknown assailants on the outskirts of Islamabad.
Witnesses say 3 men sprayed a van carrying the dead men with automatic
gun fire. The assassination comes after the killings of Pakistani
Shi'ites.
At least 5 Iraqi former soldiers have been killed in on-going protests
across Iraq. On the 4th day of protests about back-pay and employment,
former soldiers in Mosul came under fire from US troops and Iraqi
guards. At least 2 people were shot dead and a number wounded.
UN officials say they've seen 2 dozen bodies outside the troubled DRC
town of Bunia. It's reported fighting last wk also claimed 3 dozen
lives, but officials say those bodies were apparently buried earlier.
8 am
Oil had added another 7 US c to $US30.47/bbl.
Prince Harry's visit to outback Qld has reportedly sparked an
economic boom as journalists and media follow his every move.
Midday.
At ASX has moved higher at noon, following a positive lead from Wall
St o'night. At 12.01 the All Ords had added 12 pts to 3,235.
MEL. A Vic man has died on the Buller snowfields after he skied into a
tree. The man, aged in his 40s, is from Parkville. He was using the
intermediate Little Buller Spur when he ran into a tree about 10 am
today. GM of Buller Ski Lifts, Laurie Blampied, says a first-aid
equipped ski patrol was at the scene within 60 seconds. A doctor
from the Mt Buller Medical Centre also attended, but the man died at
the scene.
MEL. The state govt has announced the powers of ticket inspectors will
be increased. They will now be able to inspect tickets after people
get off buses, trams and trains. But the govt has also cracked down
on aggressive inspectors, launching a new code of conduct. That move
comes after several high-profile court cases involving disputes
between passengers and inspectors and increasing complaints from both
passengers and transport staff of abuse and assault. Fines will also
be increased for being without a ticket. $150 for a first offence,
increasing to $250 for a 3rd offence. Putting feet on seats will
increase to a $200 fine from $100. The govt says they expect the
fines will bring in an additional $4 mn next y. The Opp'n says it's a
tax grab. Transport travellers' groups say some of the changes might
exacerbate the problems.
5 pm
US Pres Bush has appointed Conny Rice as head of a new Iraq
Stabilisation group. It's seen by critics as the nearest thing to an
admission things are not going as well as expected. The group is
responsible for security in Iraq and the analysis of intelligence.
While the Whitehouse denies it's a power grab, the re-organisation
will remove some power from the Pentagon and Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld.
Analysts say Mr Rumsfeld's star continues to dim. Mr Bush denies the
appointment is a major shake-up of the Iraq operation.
A new poll has found the percentage of Californians intending to vote
to recall the Governor has dropped 8 pts since Sat to 52%. But Arnie
still leads the replacement candidates, around 8 pts ahead of his Dem
rival and Lt Gov, Cruz Bustamante.
6.30 pm
Bali. Asian leaders have signed what Indon and Malaysia say is a
landmark agreement that will set up a giant free trade zone in the
region by 2020. Australia has been pointed left out of the group.
The conf lauded frequent critic of AUS and the West, Malaysian Pres Dr
Mahathir Mohammed.
NK has antagonised Japan by banning it from future negotiations with
the US over its nuclear stand-off. Japan hit back today, saying NK
has no right to ban it taking part in future dialogue.
An Israeli soldier and a Lebanese child have been killed in a
cross-border attack Israel says was the work of Hezbollah. Later,
several mortars were fired from S Lebanon into Israel. Israel says
Syria is in control in S Lebanon and the attack is in revenge for
Israel's attack nr Damascus, yesterday. Hezbollah has denied it was
involved in the incident.
The Bush Whitehouse is hailing the decision by Turkey to send 1000s of
troops into Iraq. It's significant because it represents the 3rd-largest
force sent to the region, and also the first troops from a predominantly
Muslim country. The decision is highly unpopular with the Turkish
public. Elsewhere, Russia had warned of a quagmire developing in
Iraq, as it experienced in Afghanistan.
6.45 pm
Reports are coming in of a mortar attack on the compound of the Iraqi
Foreign Ministry in Baghdad. The mortar attack was followed by gunfire.
Sunni Muslims have reacted strongly to the assassination of a Islamic
militant and MP. Assan Tariq was gunned down as his car stopped to
pay a road toll on the outskirts of Islamabad. Assailants fired up to
80 bullets into the car. Shia Muslims are suspected in a tit-for-tat
action. Tariq's body was taken to a mosque where Sunnis called for revenge.
SYD. It was the first day of the new semester today, but lecturers and
staff picketed SYD Uni to protest a new fed govt funding package
linked to workplace reforms. The VC told staff he agreed with them,
but asked them to take up their problem with the govt, not the uni.
He said his hands are tied and the uni will lose $400 mn in funding if
he doesn't sign the agreement. Under the contract, the uni can not
offer maternal leave or other benefits, and requires the uni to
abandon collective agreements and move to individual work contracts.
Arnie's toughest audition... and he still might not get the part. As
Cal's 15 mn voters think about going to the polls later today [AUS
time], the gap between the leading Rep and Dem has narrowed. Arnie
told voters in LA to vote yes for recall, yes for Arnold, and yes for
the people of California. Cruz Bustamante said if it had been his
daughter involved in any of the molestation allegations surrounding
Arnie, it would not have taken an election to sort it out. It would have
been "up close and personal" at the time, the Lt Gov told another crowd.
9 pm
The Opp'n and Dems have backed a Greens censure motion in the Senate
against PM John Howard, accusing him of deception over the reasons
behind GWII. Greens Sen Bob Brown also indicated he wants to question
Pres Bush when he visits AUS later this m over his reasons for sending
Americans to their deaths on a lie.
9.30 pm
The Palestinian Emergency Cabinet is meeting for the first time
tonight. PM Abu Allah says a ceasefire with Israel is his top
priority. But he also says he won't be cracking down on militant
groups in the way urged by Israel and the US. He says he does not want
to spark a civil war.
}}
----------------------------------------
Wed, 08 Oct 2003.
NY. MARKETS! The Dow has closed up 58 pts to 9,653. Oil was up 6 c
to $US30.45/bbl. Gold was up $3.25 to $US377.20/oz. In London, the
FTSE added 2 pts to end at 4,272. The German Dax lost 49 pts to close
at 3,356. The AUD broke through 69 US c to 6-y highs o'night.
King Salmon. BEAR KILLS 2 TOURISTS! A bear has killed 2 tourists on
a nature trip in a remote section of Alaska's Nat'l Katmai Nat'l Park
and Preserve. The victims were a man and woman from Malibu, in Cal.
The Nat'l Park Service says it's the first time a bear's been known to
kill anyone in the 1.9 mn ha park, SW of Anchorage. Park rangers have
since killed 2 aggressive bears nr where the bodies were found on Mon.
Baghdad. TURKEY VOTES TO SEND IN TROOPS! Turkish MP's have voted to
send troops to Iraq at the request of the US. However Baghdad's
governing council says it's opposed to soldiers coming in from any of
its neighbouring countries. Washington has been keen to get other
countries to send troops, after its invasion toppled Pres Saddam
Hussein in Apr. The governing council, appointed by the US-led Iraqi
admin, has rejected having neighbours' soldiers on its soil.
Washington. BUSH REPEATS HIMSELF! US Pres Bush Jr has repeated his
insistence that Israeli PM Ariel Sharon has the right to defend
Israel. Buoyed by the US backing, Sharon has said Israel will attack
its enemies any place and in any way, after Israel struck what it
insists is a terrorist training camp in Syria. Meanwhile, Israel has
sent troop reinforcements to its border with Lebanon and raised its
state of readiness, after a soldier was killed in cross-border shooting.
NY. NEW IRAQ RES "NO CHANGES"! Despite divisions in the 15-member
security council, US ambassador John Negroponte has ruled out any
substantial changes to the Bush Admin's draft resolution on Iraq. As
a result, council diplomats say the US must decide whether to drop the
effort entirely or whether to push for a split voter in the council
that might limits its effectiveness. Easy passage of the Res was
assured until Sec-Gen Kofi Annan last wk turned down UN political
participation in the US effort in Iraq unless the transfer of power
back to an Iraqi govt was accelerated.
Pretoria. REBELS SIGN PEACE DEAL! The main rebel group in the C Af
country of Burundi has signed a new peace accord with the govt. It's
aimed at ending a decade of civil war that has killed 300,000 people.
Pierre Nkurunziza's Forces for the Def of Democracy signed the deal on
their entry into govt and the armed forces after 3 days of negotiations
in the S Af capital, Pretoria. Burundi's war has pitted ethnic Hutu
rebels against a politically powerful Tutsi minority.
Washington. US REJECTED NK CALL TO EXCLUDE JAPAN! The US has flatly
rejected a demand by North Korea to excluded Japan from any future
talks on resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula. The US
State Dept says Japan must and will continue to participate in the
talks because of Tokyo's vital interests in seeing a resolution to the
standoff. Rep Richard Boucher says Japan is a neighbour of N and S
Korea and has "vital interests" at stake in the nuclear issue and in
other areas as well.
Tokyo. JAPAN QUARANTINES MAD COWS! Japanese authorities have
quarantined 605 cows that had been raised with a 23-mo animal found to
have died of a new strain of MCD. The dead animal is Japan's 8th
confirmed case of mad cow disease. News reports say a panel of
ministry experts declared the cow to be sick, requiring disposal of
cows that had been bred with it. As a result, farm managers in
Fukushima and Tochigi prefectures, N of Tokyo, have been told not to
move 605 of their cows for fear they have been contaminated.
Berlin. GLOBAL GRAFT SURVEY PUTS AUS LOW! A survey by global graft
watchdog Transparency Internat'l says AUS and NZ are among the least
corrupt countries in the world. The survey of 133 nations shows
Bangladesh, Nigeria and Haiti are bottom of the pile for perceived
levels of corruption among public officials and politicians. At the
top are Finland, Iceland, Denmark, NZ, and Singapore, with HK, most of
W Europe, AUS, the US, Israel and Japan also performing well.
Canberra. CORPORATE SALARY CHECKS! Corporate reforms to be released
by the fed govt today will mean company shareholders may get a say in
how much the company's directors and executives are paid. Treas Peter
Costello is expected to announce checks on corporate salaries as part
in the latest round of the govt's corporate law reform program. The
package is also expected to require companies to rotate auditors, provide
a "cooling off" period before an auditor can become a company director,
and give the securities and investment commission new powers to fine
companies up to $1 mn for failing to keep investors property informed.
Canberra. BUDGET UNDER PRESSURE! Last wk there was a $7.5 bn surplus,
but today Health Min Tony Abbott says the budget is under
"considerable pressure". Mr Abbott says the on-going fight against
terrorism has put demands on this y's budget. Also he says there are
the usual demands for the renewal of govt programs which are coming
to the end of their life. Mr Abbott says it's myth to think there's
enough money from last y's surplus to fund everything Aussies want,
incl health.
Adelaide. POPULATION SUMMIT! SA is to host the 2nd nat'l population
summit next m to address the long-term implications of Australia's
aging population. The conference will also consider ways to reverse
AUS's declining birth rate and create a more even distribution of
people across the country. The AUS Population Inst says current
population trends had implications for every resident.
Brisbane. QLD PRIM IND REMAINS STEADY! Qld's Prim Ind Min Henry
Palaszczuk says the state's farm sector is expecting to show both pain
and gain this FY, with the total value of the sector expected to remain
steady on $8.7 bn. A report on ind'y prospects for 2003/4 released by
the Dept of Prim Ind forecasts downturns in the cattle, sugar, cotton,
wool, sheep and lambs and dairy industries. However it is more
positive about the horticulture, grain, fishery, forestry, poultry,
and egg industries.
{{
6 am
The Turkish parliament has overwhelmingly approved a Cabinet decision
to send 1000s of troops into N Iraq. The move has been criticised by
the Iraqi governing council.
3 US soldiers and a civilian interpreter have been killed in 2
separate bomb explosions in Iraq. 1000s of Iraqis took to the streets
in Baghdad, demanding the release of a cleric who was jailed last wk
after praising Islamic fighters.
Sir Joh's family is seeking legal advice after his $335 mn claim was
thrown out by the Qld govt. After the Fitzgerald inquiry Sir Joh was
tried for perjury, but the case was dismissed after the jury could not
reach a decision. The Qld govt says he was lucky not to face a 2nd trial.
52,000 surviving Aussie ship are expected to set sail from Kuwait
today, but their final destination is still unknown. The ship has
been in port in Kuwait for the past 5 days. The fed govt is
considering slaughtering the animals on Christmas Is or the Cocos Is.
There is reportedly a possibility Afghanistan could take the
animals, but negotiations have been held up.
3,000 commuters are expected to cycle into MEL's CBD as part of a
"bike to work" day today.
It's been revealed the fed govt has mis-calculated the medical
indemnity levy. The Opp'n found the govt didn't take into account
changes in laws in NSW and other states. Officials have been ordered
to get the calculations right this time. It's also been revealed the
so-called "18 month moratorium" will still see about 40,000 doctors
pay up to $1,000 this FY. With Health Min Tony Abbott telling
parliament Aussies don't want to see Ministers play politics with
their health, doctors have called on the Health Min to stop playing
politics with the health of Aussies. The AMA says AUS will be
without a medical workforce unless the fed govt overhauls the heavy
system ASAP.
No policies, a history of sex abuse, and in with a chance.
Californians have decided whether to get rid of Gov Davis and install
The Gropenator.
7.15 am
The Dow has closed up 60 pts. The Nasdaq also ended up 14 pts higher.
Gold is up to $US377.20/oz. Oil is up 6 c to $US30.45/bbl. The AUD
has broken through 69 c, and is presently trading around 69.05 US c.
8.30 am
E Timor prosecutors have now charged 367 people with war crimes and
crimes against humanity in relation to the militia-led violence after
the country's independence vote. The list incl many top Indonesian
cmdrs. 280 of those charged are still at large in Indonesia.
Midday.
MEL. More than 7,000 construction workers have gathered in MEL today
for a stop-work meeting to protest against the fed govt's proposed
crack down on their industry. The stopwork has halted Vic's commercial
construction industry at an estimated cost of $12 mn to the state.
MEL. Bicycle Vic rep Heidi Marfurt says a huge cross-section of the
community took part in the "Ride to Work Day". About 3,000 cyclists
braved the wet and cold weather to ride into the CBD. Starting from
6.30 am they enjoyed a free breakfast at Federation Square. Ms Marfurt
says their organisation hopes people give it a go and discover that
riding to work is enjoyable.
CBR. The RBA has left int rates on hold for the 17th m in a row, but
home-buyers could soon be paying an average $30 extra pm on mortgages.
The Reserve has opted to extend the rates freeze for another m,
following is monthly board meeting yesterday. However, some analysts
are now predicting up to 2 increases of 25 basis pts each before the
middle of next y.
Sydney. The ASX strengthened at noon today after the RBA left rates on
hold. At 12.04 the All Ords was up 15 pts to 3,241.
}}
========================================
(*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S? A small group of dedicated
sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from
support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention
us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers!
All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek.
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