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HavenWorks.com/us/archive/2004 |
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News-
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Bernard
Kerik - Rudolph
Giuliani - 
New
York
- 
Police
- 
Government
- 
Politics
- "Kerik
made millions from agency contractor: Homeland Security
nominee sat on board of stun-gun maker." ... "Bernard Kerik, [Republican]
President Bush's choice to run the Homeland Security Department, made $6.2
million by exercising stock options he received from a company that sold
stun guns to the department — and seeks more business with it." ... "Taser
International was one of many companies that received consulting advice
from Kerik after he left his job as New York City police commissioner in
2001, when he was earning $150,500 a year. Kerik remains on Taser's board
of directors, although the company and the White House said he planned
to sever the relationship." ... "Partnering with former New York Mayor
[Republican] Rudolph Giuliani and also operating independently, Kerik has
had business arrangements with manufacturers of prescription drugs, computer
software and bulletproof materials, as well as companies selling nuclear
power, telephone service, insurance and security advice for Americans working
abroad." ... "Kerik and other former New York City officials joined the
ex-mayor in Giuliani Partners, a consulting firm. In 2003, Kerik became
chief executive officer of an affiliate consulting company, Giuliani-Kerik."
-AP via -MSNBC
- Robots
- "Army
to deploy robots that shoot: Next year, the U.S.
Army will give robots machine guns, although humans will firmly be in control
of them." ... "The Army next March will begin to deploy Talon robots from
Waltham, Mass.-based Foster-Miller.
The robots will be mounted with M240 or M249 machine guns, said a Foster-Miller
spokesman. The units also can be mounted with a rocket launcher. Defense
agencies have been testing an armed version of the Talon since 2003." -By
Michael Kanellos -CNETNews
via -ZDNetNews
- 
- 
- Austin
- Tom
DeLay
- "GOP
Pushes Rule Change to Protect DeLay's Post." ...
"House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members
indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that
would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged
by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates,
according to GOP leaders." ... "House Republicans adopted the indictment
rule in 1993, when they were trying to end four decades of Democratic control
of the House, in part by highlighting Democrats' ethical lapses. They said
at the time that they held themselves to higher standards than prominent
Democrats such as then-Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (Ill.),
who eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud and was sentenced to prison."
-By Charles Babington -WashingtonPost
- 
- Pat
Robertson - "Bush
Predicted No Iraq Casualties, Robertson Says." ...
"The Rev. Pat Robertson said President Bush dismissed his warning that
the United States would suffer heavy casualties in Iraq and told the television
evangelist just before the beginning of the war that "we're not going to
have any casualties."" ... "Robertson related the conversation during an
interview with CNN late Tuesday. He said he spoke to Bush before the invasion
of Iraq in March 2003 and urged him to prepare the nation for heavy casualties.
While Bush's response was a mistake, Robertson said, God has blessed the
president anyhow." -By Alan Cooperman-WashingtonPost
Nathan
Sproul - Criminal
- Politics
- 
2004
Election - 
Oregon
- 
Nevada
- Phoenix
- 
Arizona
Nathan
Sproul - Criminal
- Politics
- 2004
Election - 
Library
- Portland
- Ore
- Nevada
- Arizona
Larry
Franklin - 
Douglas
Feith - Criminal
Investigation - US
- 
Israel
- 
Italy
- 
Iran
- 
Military
- 
Intelligence
- 
History
Education
- Law
- Politics
- "Nation's
Charter Schools Lagging Behind, U.S. Test Scores Reveal."
... "The first national comparison of test scores among children in charter
schools and regular public schools shows charter school students often
doing worse than comparable students in regular public schools." ... "The
findings, buried in mountains of data the Education Department released
without public announcement, dealt a blow to supporters of the charter
school movement, including the [Republican President] Bush administration."
... "The data shows fourth graders attending charter schools performing
about half a year behind students in other public schools in both reading
and math." ... "Charters are expected to grow exponentially under the new
federal education law, No Child Left Behind, which holds out conversion
to charter schools as one solution for chronically failing traditional
schools." ... ""The scores are low, dismayingly low," said Chester E. Finn
Jr., a supporter of charters and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation,
who was among those who asked the administration to do the comparison."
... "Charters are self-governing public schools, often run by private companies,
which operate outside the authority of local school boards, and have greater
flexibility than traditional public schools in areas of policy, hiring
and teaching techniques." (1 of 2)
-By Diana Jean Schemo
-NYTimes
Richard
Shelby
- Criminal
- 
Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Federal
- Classified
- Law
- 
Media
- 
Ala
ELECTION
2004 - "Kerry
vows freedom anew: In accepting nomination, he pledges
to improve security and rebuild alliances." ... "Promising ''a new birth
of freedom" for Americans facing economic uncertainty and security threats,
John Forbes Kerry accepted the Democratic presidential nomination last
night with a pledge to strengthen the US military and reform its intelligence
services, introducing himself as a Vietnam veteran who healed divisions
as a US senator and will unite a world uncertain about American power to
fight against terrorism." ... "''As president, I will bring back this nation's
time-honored tradition: the United States of America never goes to war
because we want to, we only go to war because we have to," Kerry, 60, told
a roaring Democratic audience bathed in red, white, and blue lights. ''With
confidence and determination, we will be able to tell the terrorists: You
will lose, and we will win. The future doesn't belong to fear; it belongs
to freedom."" ... "''I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead
us into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings
with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a secretary
of defense who will listen to the advice of our military leaders. And I
will appoint an attorney general who will uphold the Constitution of the
United States," Kerry said, delighting the partisan audience in his most
direct attack on their favorite targets: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald
H. Rumsfeld, and John D. Ashcroft, respectively." (1, 2,
3)
-By Patrick Healy -Boston/Globe
OPINION
- Free-Speech
-
- "Firms
play tough game to defend a good name." ... ""Overzealous
companies often try to assert trademark ownership in inappropriate ways
to stifle free speech," says Kembrew McLeod, a communications studies professor
at the University of Iowa and author of the forthcoming book "Freedom of
Expression: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of Creativity."
"The real harm comes from self-censorship in a world where [companies]
fire off cease-and-desist letters, and where we and our employers back
down from lawsuits, even when they're baseless."" ... "The stakes can run
high. Microsoft, for instance, is vigorously defending its ubiquitous Windows
trademark from what it views as an infringement by a San Diego software
firm called Lindows, which markets an alternative computer-operating system.
Last summer, Fox News made headlines when it attempted to prevent humorist
Al Franken from using its "Fair and Balanced" tag line in the title of
his bestselling book." -By Eric Schellhorn
-CSMonitor
- 
-
- "Lance
Armstrong wins record sixth Tour de France." ...
"Lance Armstrong rode into history Sunday, winning a record sixth Tour
de France and cementing his place as one of the greatest athletes of all
time." ... "Never in its 101-year history has the Tour had a winner like
Armstrong — who just eight years ago was given less than a 50% chance
of overcoming testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain."
... "Armstrong's victories and his inspiring comeback from cancer have
drawn
new fans to a race that has been won five times by four other riders. His
professionalism, attention to detail, grueling training regimens and tactics
have raised the bar for other riders hoping to win the three-week cycling
marathon." ... "After more than 1,900 miles of racing, riders mostly took
it easy on the 101-mile final stage, until they reached the crowd-lined
Champs-Elysees." -By John Leicester
-AP via -USATODAY
2004
ELECTION - "Clinton
to take key role in Kerry campaign." ... "Bill Clinton
will play a prominent role campaigning for Democratic challenger John Kerry
over the next three months, starting on Monday night with his speech at
the opening of his party's convention." ... "By contrast with the 2000
election when the Gore team had mixed feelings about Mr Clinton's contribution
and muted his role in the campaign, Mr Kerry and the 2004 Democratic leadership
are working up a busy programme for the former president." -By
James Harding and Joshua Chaffin -FT.com
2004
ELECTION - "Wavering
voters have doubts about Bush." ... "Persuadable
voters in a Associated Press poll taken by Ipsos-Public Affairs early this
month were more likely to say the country was headed down the wrong track
— 63% compared with 56% overall." ... "They were more likely to disapprove
of Bush's handling of the economy — 56% compared with 50% overall — and
more likely to disapprove of Bush's handling of other domestic issues like
health care and education — 59% to 52% overall. They also were more concerned
about the economy than voters generally." -AP
via -USATODAY
- 
-
- "US
increases pressure on Sudan." ... "The US secretary
of state, Colin Powell, today said he expected the UN security council
to threaten sanctions against Sudan over the humanitarian crisis in Dafur."
... "More than one million refugees there face the threat of famine, disease
and attacks by pro-government militia." ... "A draft resolution, circulated
by the US yesterday, called on Khartoum to prosecute the leaders of the
predominantly Arab Janjaweed militia, and advocated an immediate embargo
on weapons to the region." ... "The refugees, mainly from Darfur's black
African tribes, have fled their homes after being attacked by the Janjaweed.
They now live in tent cities, where overcrowding a shortage of rations
are leading to deaths from hunger and disease."
-Guardian.co.uk
-
- 
- "Sudanese
slam genocide resolution." ... "Sudanese Arabs have
criticised a U.S. congressional resolution declaring genocide in the Darfur
region, while Darfuris asked what Washington would do to make it safe for
them to go back home." ... "hey do not understand anything," said Ismail
Gasmalseed on Friday, a 34-year-old driver in Khartoum." ... "The U.S.
Congress approved the resolution on Thursday and its supporters hope it
will help mobilise the international community to protect Africans in Darfur
from Arab militias." ... "But the accusation of genocide is highly controversial.
The United Nations has declared the situation in Darfur the world's worst
humanitarian crisis but has not called it a genocide, which would force
it to take action." -By Nima Elbagir-Reuters
- "Failure
of 'imagination' led to 9/11: The 9/11 final report
assigns little blame, but cites many errors, and lays out bipartisan steps
to avert future terror acts." ... "Nearly three years after the attacks
of Sept. 11, a national commission blames no one agency or administration
for the strikes, but makes it clear that many errors occurred prior to
that fateful day." ... "It leaves open the question as to whether the attacks
could have been prevented, but in total it portrays a strike against America
that did not come out of nowhere. It was rather the result of a growing
threat that perhaps could, and should, have been foreseen." ... "Top officials
all told the 9/11 commission that they understood the dangers of Al Qaeda
- but commissioners in the end became convinced that there was uncertainty
at the top as to whether this was just a new and especially venomous version
of the longstanding terrorist menace, or whether it was indeed something
radically new." -By Peter Grier and Faye Bowers
-CSMonitor
-
-
- "U.S.
[Proposes UN] Gives Sudan 30 Days to Arrest, Prosecute Militia (Update2)."
... "The U.S. proposed giving Sudan's government 30 days to arrest and
prosecute leaders of the Janjaweed militia that has attacked people in
Darfur or face the threat of United Nations sanctions." ... "The demand
for action and threat of sanctions are included in a draft resolution given
today to UN Security Council members. The text, a revision of a measure
first distributed last month, also imposes an arms embargo on the Janjaweed
designed to prevent its resupply by Sudan's government."-By
Bill Varner ed. by Paul Tighe -Bloomberg
-
- 
- 
-
- Religion
- Osama
bin Laden
- "9/11:
The Iran Factor: The final report of the 9-11 Commission
reveals troubling new evidence that Tehran was closer to Al Qaeda than
Iraq was." ... "U.S. intelligence believes that in faraway Tehran, the
hard-line Islamist clerics who now exercise near total control over Iran
directed their border guards to help jihadists coming from Afghanistan.
And sometime between October 2000 and February 2001, according to the forthcoming
final report of the 9-11 Commission, eight to 10 of the "muscle" hijackers
of the September 11 plot were among those who benefited from this Iranian
good-fellowship." ... "According to a December 2001 memo buried in the
files of the National Security Agency, obtained by the commission, Iranian
officials instructed their border inspectors not to place Iranian or Afghan
stamps in the passports of Saudi terrorists traveling from Osama bin Laden's
training camps through Iran. Such "clean" passports undoubtedly helped
the 9/11 terrorists pass into the United States without raising alarms
among U.S. Customs and visa officials, sources familiar with the report
told NEWSWEEK." -By Michael Isikoff and Michael Hirsh
with contributions by Mark Hosenball and Steve Tuttle
-Newsweek 20040726
ed. via -MSNBC
-
-
-
- 
- "War
Costs Exceed Budget, Watchdog Panel Says." ... "Military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are running $12.3 billion over budget
this year, and Pentagon officials are trying to make up for the shortfall
by transferring money from other accounts and delaying refurbishment of
worn-out equipment in Iraq, the General Accountability Office said Wednesday."
... "The office, a nonpartisan Congressional agency, estimated that the
Army was running about $9.4 billion short of what had been budgeted. By
putting off other kinds of spending until next year, the military is likely
to run up higher costs in future, said the agency, which was formerly the
General Accounting Office." -By Edmund L. Andrews
-NYTimes
UPS
News - "United
Parcel 2nd-Qtr Net Rises 18% on Global Growth (Update2)."
... "United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest package-delivery company,
said earnings in the second quarter rose 18 percent as global economic
growth raised shipments." ... "Net income increased to $818 million, or
72 cents a share, from $692 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier, the Atlanta-based
company said in a statement. Revenue climbed 7.8 percent to $8.87 billion
from $8.23 billion." -By Mary Schlangenstein ed. by
Steve Geimann -Bloomberg
-
- 
- 
-
- "Halliburton
unit's Iran role probed." ... "The investigation
centers on Halliburton Products and Services Ltd., a subsidiary registered
in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Dubai that provides oil field
services in Iran. The unit's operations in Iran included [US Vice President]
Cheney's stint as CEO from 1995 to 2000, when he frequently urged the lifting
of such sanctions." ... "Current law forbids US companies from doing business
with countries considered by the US government to be sponsors of terror.
The list includes Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Sudan. However, numerous
US companies operate indirectly in Iran under strict guidelines requiring
that their subsidiaries have a foreign registry and no US employees, and
act independently of the parent company. At issue is whether Halliburton's
subsidiary met those criteria." --LAtimes
via -Boston/Globe
-
-
-
-
- "US
group admits to criminal probe over Iran." ... "Halliburton,
the oilfield services company formerly headed by US Vice-President Dick
Cheney, has disclosed that a Treasury Department probe into its business
dealings with Iran had been elevated to a criminal investigation. The company
acknowledged that it had been subpoenaed by a grand jury in the southern
district of Texas to present documents related to a Cayman Islands subsidiary
that serves the Iranian National Oil Company." -By
Joshua Chaffin -FT.com
- Osama
bin Laden - "Intelligence
failures cited in 9/11 report: Doesn't conclude whether
attacks were preventable." ... "The report, to be released publicly tomorrow,
includes a list of 10 ''operational opportunities" that the government
missed to potentially unravel the Sept. 11 plot, according to a government
official who has read the document. Six of the incidents listed came during
the Bush administration and four were during the Clinton years, the official
said." ... "Another government official who has been briefed on the report
said the tally of missed opportunities includes the CIA's failure to add
two hijackers' names to a terrorism watchlist; the FBI's handling of the
August 2001 arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui, who has been accused of conspiring
in the plot; and several failed attempts to kill or capture Osama bin Laden."
-By Dan Eggen and Mike Allen
-Boston/Globe
via -WashingtonPost
-
- 
-
- 
-
-
- "Poor
Relations With Iran Turning Worse." ... "The Bush
administration is pressing Britain, France and Germany for strong measures
against Iran in response to its violation of a nonproliferation agreement
reached with the three last fall, a State Department official said Wednesday."
... "The issue is part of a deepening American concern over recent Iranian
activities that range from weapons programs to terrorism. To head off a
potential crisis, some analysts believe the administration should work
harder to promote a dialogue with Iran." ... "The United States believes
Iran is developing nuclear weapons, a view reinforced by Iran's recent
decision to resume construction of centrifuges. This is a key step in the
development of a uranium-based bomb, one that Iran promised the Europeans
last fall that it would not take." -By George Gedda
-AP via -Newsday.com
-
-
- "Fear
of Nuclear Iran Could Influence U.S. Diplomacy."
... "The intense antagonism that has existed since militant students held
52 Americans hostage for 444 days during the 1979 Iranian revolution "could
become a collision course," former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski
said this week." ... ""But perhaps there are the makings of somewhat ameliorating
the relationship between the two sides," he said." ... "[However] Many
experts believe even if Tehran's hard-line leaders are replaced, it may
have no impact on the quest for a nuclear bomb because a broad spectrum
of Iranians endorse that goal." (1, 2)
-By Carol Giacomo-Reuters
-
-
- "Short-Changed
Soldiers: Report: U.S. Army Reservists Encounter
Pay Problems." ... "An overwhelming number of U.S. Army reservists are
having problems getting paid, and many are paid late." ... "A report issued
today by the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress,
discovered major problems with the way the Army compensates its reservists."
... "Such problems are causing a considerable hardship for Melinda Delain,
a single mother who had just purchased a new home when her reserve unit
was deployed to Afghanistan." ... "Like everyone else in her medical unit,
she did not receive her full paycheck for three months." ... "In its report,
GAO investigators found that 95 percent of Army reservists had pay problems."
(1, 2)
-ABCNEWS.com
UPS
News - "EBay
2nd-Qtr Profit More Than Doubles on 52% Sales Increase."
... "EBay Inc., the world's No. 1 Internet auctioneer, said second-quarter
earnings more than doubled to $190.4 million as a record number of users
bought and sold merchandise online and utilized its electronic-payment
system." ... "EBay added 9.2 million users to sites in the U.S. and 22
countries, helping boost the value of items sold through them to $8 billion."
... "During the quarter, AuctionDrop Inc., a company that takes items on
consignment for sale on EBay, reached an agreement with United Parcel Service
Inc. to have 3,400 stores to act as drop- off points for the service."
-By Greg Wiles ed. by Vince Bielski -Bloomberg
- Microsoft
News - "[Microsoft
dividends] Giving $75 billion back, with plenty to spare."
... "On Tuesday July 20th, Microsoft said it would return a whopping $75
billion to shareholders over the next four years, in the biggest corporate
cash disbursement in history." ... "Regardless of the legal situation,
Microsoft's bosses realised some time last year that they could no longer
sit on their cash pile (valued at $56.4 billion as of March 31st this year),
and resolved to take steps to give it back to shareholders." ... "Under
the disbursement announced this week, Microsoft will pay out a special
dividend worth $32 billion in early December; buy back a further $30 billion
in stock over the next four years; and double its annual dividend to 32
cents per share." -Economist
-
- "U.S.
hostage head found in freezer: The head of slain
American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was kidnapped and beheaded in
Saudi Arabia last month, has been found in a freezer [in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia], a Saudi Interior Ministry official said." ... "Two suspected al
Qaeda militants were killed during raids, the official added Wednesday."
... "Security forces found the head and a cache of weapons in a raid on
a villa Tuesday night and it was positively identified Wednesday morning."
-CNN
-
-
-
-
- Osama
bin Laden
- "9/11
Panel's Report to Offer New Evidence of Iran-Qaeda Ties."
... "The final report of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks
will offer new evidence of cooperative ties between Iran and Al Qaeda,
including information drawn from intelligence reports suggesting that Iran
provided several of the hijackers with safe passage in the year before
the attacks, government officials said yesterday." ... "The officials emphasized
that the commission had no evidence to suggest that Iranian officials knew
of the Sept. 11 plot. But they said the evidence raised new questions about
why the Bush administration focused on the possibility of Iraqi ties to
Osama bin Laden's terror network after Sept. 11, 2001, when there may have
been far more extensive evidence of an Iranian connection." -By
Philip Shenon -NYTimes
-
-
-
-
- "9/11
Commission Finds Ties Between al-Qaeda and Iran:
Senior U.S. officials have told TIME that the 9/11 Commission's report
will cite evidence suggesting that the 9/11 hijackers had previously passed
through Iran." ... "A senior U.S. official told TIME that the Commission
has uncovered evidence suggesting that between eight and ten of the 14
"muscle" hijackers—that is, those involved in gaining control of the four
9/11 aircraft and subduing the crew and passengers—passed through Iran
in the period from October 2000 to February 2001. Sources also tell TIME
that Commission investigators found that Iran had a history of allowing
al-Qaeda members to enter and exit Iran across the Afghan border. This
practice dated back to October 2000, with Iranian officials issuing specific
instructions to their border guards—in some cases not to put stamps in
the passports of al-Qaeda personnel—and otherwise not harass them and to
facilitate their travel across the frontier. The report does not, however,
offer evidence that Iran was aware of the plans for the 9/11 attacks."
-By Adam Zagorin and Joe Klein
-TIME
-
- "The
[diamond] cartel isn't for ever." ... "On July 13th
in an Ohio court De Beers, the world's largest producer of rough stones,
finally pleaded guilty to charges of price-fixing of industrial diamonds
and agreed to pay a $10m fine, thereby ending a 60-year-long impasse. De
Beers executives are at last free to visit and work directly in the largest
diamond market, America." ... "A few days earlier, on July 9th, the first
case of successful industry self-regulation against trade in so-called
conflict diamonds took place when Congo-Brazzaville was punished
for failing to prove the source of its diamond exports. And on June 28th
Lev Leviev, an arch-rival of De Beers, opened Africa's biggest diamond-polishing
factory in Namibia." ... "Behind all these events lies sweeping change
in an industry that sells $60-billion-worth of jewellery alone each year.
For generations it has been run by De Beers as a cartel. The South African
firm dominated the digging and trading of diamonds for most of the 20th
century. Yet the system for distributing stones established decades ago
by De Beers is curious and anomalous—no other such market exists, nor would
anything similar be tolerated in a serious industry."
-Economist
- Enron
- "Lay
surrenders to authorities: Ex-Enron CEO turns himself
in after indictment, pleads not guilty in massive accounting fraud." ...
"In the 11-count indictment, Lay was accused of lying to the public, investors
and Enron employees in charges that include securities and wire fraud and
making false statements." ... "He pleaded not guilty to all charges and
was released on $500,000 bail." ... "In a related move, the Securities
and Exchange Commission accused Lay in a civil complaint that seeks more
than $90 million. It also seeks to bar him from serving as an officer or
director of a public company." -By Krysten Crawford
with contributions by Jen Rogers -CNN
-
- Enron
- "Enron's
Lay indicted: Former Enron CEO [Kenneth Lay] indicted
by grand jury in Houston, says he's "done nothing wrong."" ... "Enron filed
for bankruptcy Dec. 2, 2001 after investigators found it had used partnerships
to conceal more than $1 billion in debt and inflate profits. The company
once ranked as the country's seventh-largest." ... "To date the federal
government has launched 30 separate prosecutions related to Enron's implosion,
including a criminal case that brought down auditor Arthur Andersen two
years ago and criminal probes of about 20 former Enron employees. Of those,
11 have resulted in convictions or guilty pleas." -By
Krysten Crawford and Kelli Arena -CNN
-
- Enron
- [PDF]
"United
States of America V. Richard A. Causey, Jeffrey K. Skilling, and Kenneth
Lay, Defendents." [65 pages] ... "Superseding
Indictment." -From the "United States District Court
Southern District of Texas Houston Division." via
-FindLaw /LegalNews/Documents
Stephen
Cambone - Torture
- Prisons
- Classified
- Military
- Intelligence
- US
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Noteworthy
US
- Afghanistan
- Military
- Terrorism
- Prisoner
- War
Crimes Act - Human
Rights - Death
Penalty - Politics
- "Memos
Reveal War Crimes Warnings: Could Bush administration
officials be prosecuted for 'war crimes' as a result of new measures used
in the war on terror? The White House's top lawyer thought so." ... "The
White House's top lawyer warned more than two years ago that U.S. officials
could be prosecuted for "war crimes" as a result of new and unorthodox
measures used by the Bush administration in the war on terrorism, according
to an internal White House memo and interviews with participants in the
debate over the issue." ... "The concern about possible future prosecution
for war crimes-and that it might even apply to Bush adminstration
officials themselves- is contained in a crucial portion of an internal
January
25, 2002, memo by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales
obtained by NEWSWEEK. It urges President George Bush declare the
war in Afghanistan, including the detention of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters,
exempt from the provisions of the Geneva Convention." ... "In the memo,
the White House lawyer focused on a little known 1996 law passed by Congress,
known as the War Crimes Act, that banned any Americans from committing
war crimes-defined in part as "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions.
Noting that the law applies to "U.S. officials" and that punishments
for violators "include the death penalty," Gonzales told Bush that
"it was difficult to predict with confidence" how Justice Department prosecutors
might apply the law in the future. This was especially the case given that
some of the language in the Geneva Conventions-such as that outlawing "outrages
upon personal dignity" and "inhuman treatment" of prisoners-was "undefined.""
... "One key advantage of declaring that Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters
did not have Geneva Convention protections is that it "substantially reduces
the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act,"
Gonzales wrote." -By Michael Isikoff
-MSNBC/Newsweek
Stephen
Cambone -Torture
- Prison
- Military
- Intelligence
- Police
- Human
Rights - Law
- Politics
- US
- 
Syria
- Iraq
Stephen
Cambone - Torture
- Prisons
- Military
- Intelligence
- Police
- Human
Rights - Law
- Politics
- Feith
- 
Rhode
Island - 
Virginia
- US
- Iraq
- Guantánamo
Bay - 
Cuba
- Noteworthy
James
Inhofe - Torture
- Politician
- US
- Military
- Prisoners
- Photographs
- Iraqi
- Human
Rights - Lawmakers
- 
Oklahoma
-
- "Cost
of ads on 'Friends' finale at Super Bowl level."
... "Advertisers paid up to $2 million for 30 seconds on the "Friends"
finale tonight, making it the Super Bowl of sitcoms." ... "That puts the
one-hour finale, which NBC has estimated will draw an audience of at least
50 million people, second in price only to the Super Bowl this year. CBS
took in $2.3 million for a half-minute of ad time on the Super Bowl."
-AP via -TucsonCitizen.com
Richard
Pombo
- Government
- Animal
- 
Land
- Law
- Politics
- 
California
-
- "US
forces kill 64 in fighting near Iraqi holy city of Najaf."
... "US forces have killed 64 rebel militiamen in clashes near Shia Islam's
holiest city, Najaf, a US military spokesman in Baghdad said yesterday."
... "At least 115 US troops have been killed in fighting this month - as
many as died in combat during the two-month invasion of Iraq." -By
Nicolas Pelham -FT.com
-
-
- 2004
ELECTION - "Unleashing
the Cheney factor: Joint 9/11 appearance with Bush
highlights debate about V.P.'s role." ... "When President Bush and Vice
President Cheney sit down together on Thursday for their long-anticipated
meeting with the 9/11 commission, it will cap a week that has, like no
other in Mr. Bush's presidency, been dominated by the White House's No.
2 man." ... "It was Mr. Cheney who used such red-meat language against
Democratic presidential contender John Kerry in a speech Monday that the
president of the host college publicly objected to "the content and tone"
of the vice president's remarks and offered Senator Kerry a similar speaking
engagement." ... "It is Cheney who is at the center of a long-anticipated
Supreme Court case, argued Tuesday, over his energy task force - and the
breadth of the zone of privacy in which the executive branch of government
may operate. Cheney has long advocated restoration of the White House's
powers to pre-Watergate levels." -By Linda Feldmann
-CSMonitor
-
-
- "U.S.
gunships topple tower of mosque." ... "A protracted
firefight between Marines and insurgents in a Fallujah suburb on Monday
culminated with U.S. helicopter gunships and tanks firing at a mosque and
toppling its minaret, further dimming hopes for a peaceful end to the three-week
siege." ... "The U.S. command said that the battle erupted when insurgents,
breaching a shaky cease-fire in Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, used
the mosque to launch rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire at Marine
positions. After two hours, pinned down by fire, the Marines called in
helicopters and tanks, which directed "suppressing fire" at the mosque,
the command said." ... "One U.S. Marine was killed and eight others wounded
in the battle, which also killed eight insurgents, a U.S. spokesman said."
-By John Burns -NYTimes
via -RegisterGuard
-
- "Iowa
lab marks century of testing." ... "The Iowa Hygienic
Laboratory has been on the forefront diseases for 100 years and counting."
... "The state established the lab in April 1904. It wasn't until later
that year, on Sept. 26, 1904, that the first disease sample was recorded
- a tuberculosis test result for woman from Shell Rock. It turned out to
be negative." -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "U.S.,
Libyan Bankers Discuss Frozen Assets -Libya." ...
"Libyan officials say assets worth about $1 billion are frozen in the United
States, including equity holdings in banks." ... "Although assets remain
blocked, a Libyan banking official said there would be no further freezing,
which would previously have occurred if, for example, any Libyan dollar
transactions were cleared through New York." (1, 2)
-By Salah Sarrar -Reuters
-
-
-
- "Bush
eases years-long economic sanctions against Libya."
... "President Bush on Friday eased economic sanctions against Libya, ending
its status as a pariah nation and clearing the way for the return of American
oil companies." ... "Bush's order ending Libya's economic isolation gave
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi the reward that he wanted for agreeing in
December to abandon his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction." -By
Ron Hutcheson -Knight Ridder via
-SLTrib.com
-
-
-
- "NFL,
Arizona Football Fans Mourn Death of Pat Tillman, Who Gave Up Career to
Fight for Country." ... "Pat Tillman overachieved
in football, and just about everything else. He worked his way from seventh-round
draft pick to starting safety for the Arizona Cardinals, then walked away
from millions of dollars to join the Army Rangers and serve his country.
This week, he paid with his life. Tillman was killed in an ambush Thursday
night in Afghanistan. He was 27." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "U.S.
Soldiers Re-Enlist in Strong Numbers: Despite Violence
in Iraq, U.S. Soldiers Are Re-Enlisting at Rates Higher Than Pentagon Expected."
... "Despite the shrapnel wounds Staff Sgt. William Pinkley suffered during
his tour in Iraq, the 26-year-old is joining other soldiers who are re-enlisting
at rates that exceed the retention goals set by the Pentagon." ... "As
of March 31 halfway through the Army's fiscal year 28,406 soldiers had
signed on for another tour of duty, topping the six-month goal of 28,377.
The Army's goal is to re-enlist 56,100 soldiers by the end of September."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
- "Shi'ite
cleric threatens suicide attacks." ... "Militant
Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ratcheted up his anti-American rhetoric
yesterday, threatening to launch suicide attacks if US forces enter Iraq's
holy cities to capture or kill him." ... "Sadr's remarks, made during Friday
prayers at the Kufa mosque, marked an ominous escalation in the standoff
between the cleric, whose militia has seized control of mosques and other
key sites in Najaf and Kufa, and US officials who have been threatening
to retake the southern cities by force." -By Edmund
Sanders-LAtimes
via -Boston/Globe
-
-
- "House
OKs Speedy Elections if Attacked." ... "Under the
legislation, the House speaker could declare "exceptional circumstances"
when 100 or more seats in the 435-seat body are left vacant by a catastrophic
event, triggering special elections in affected districts that must be
held within 45 days." ... "While the final vote was decisive, many Democrats
warned that speeding up elections was not enough and, at a time of terrible
crisis, could expose Congress to weeks of lacking the manpower or the authority
to act. Many sought a constitutional amendment that would allow temporary
appointments of lawmakers before elections could be held." ... "Some warned
of the executive branch, possibly headed by a Cabinet secretary if the
president is killed, assuming dictatorial powers."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "Marines
Warn Insurgents in Fallujah to Hand Over Heavy Weapons or Face Possible
U.S. Attack." ... "The stark warning came two days
after city leaders called on insurgents to hand over their heavy weapons
in return for a U.S. pledge to hold back on plans to storm Fallujah and
allow the return of families that fled the city." ... "Now Marines have
halted the return of families because of the failure to disarm and the
desire to have fewer civilians in the city if fighting resumes. More than
a third of Fallujah's 200,000 people fled to Baghdad and elsewhere during
the fighting that began April 5." ... "Early Thursday, Marines launched
a major assault on the village of Karma, 10 miles northeast of Fallujah,
in a second attempt to put down guerrillas there."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
ELECTION
2004 - "4
potential running mate picks hit trail with Kerry."
... "Max Cleland was the most ferocious. John Edwards, with a tan that
only enhanced his telegenic good looks, sounded the most silky smooth --
if oddly subdued. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson drew laughter and applause
from voters but did not rouse them to their feet." ... "In recent days,
the Democratic ''veepstakes" -- that shadowy process by which Senator John
F. Kerry is sizing up possible running mates -- took on a decidedly public
cast this week as those four southern politicians (all senators save Cleland,
a former senator from Georgia) spoke at campaign events and Kerry fund-raisers
alongside the prospective presidential nominee." (1, 2)
-By Patrick Healy
-Boston/Globe
ELECTION
2004 - "Kerry,
Bush launch rival television ads." ... "Just as John
Kerry launched two campaign ads Wednesday intended to help voters become
familiar with him, President Bush's campaign unveiled a commercial calling
the Democrat more liberal than Ted Kennedy or Hillary Rodham Clinton."
... "Kerry says in one of his new ads: "My priorities are jobs and health
care. My commitment is to defend this country." In the other, the presumptive
nominee says he would "reach out to the international community in sharing
the burden" in Iraq." -By Liz Sidoti
-AP via -Boston/Globe
- 
- "Santa
Cruz group wins court OK to grow pot: Ruling allows
medical marijuana distribution." ... "A Santa Cruz medical marijuana collective
shut down by federal agents two years ago can grow and distribute marijuana
for its patients while its civil lawsuit against the federal government
is decided by the courts, a federal judge ruled Wednesday." ... "The ruling
by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose marks the first time a
court has granted a medical marijuana organization the right to grow the
federally outlawed herb without interference from federal drug agents."
... "The ruling clears the way for the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana
in Santa Cruz to challenge the federal government's authority to raid medical
marijuana gardens operating within the boundaries of California law." -By
Maria Alicia Gaura -SFGate.com
- "Eight
Found Dead Day After Ill. Twisters." ... "Searchers
with shovels and buckets pulled eight bodies Wednesday from the rubble
of a [Utica, Illinois] tavern where residents had gathered to seek shelter
from a twister that flattened the century-old building." ... "Mayor Fred
Esmond said several people from a nearby trailer park had congregated in
the basement of the Milestone Tap on a night when dozens of twisters tore
through the Midwest. Nine people were removed alive from the ruins of the
country-western-themed watering hole." ... "The twister cut a wide swath
of destruction in this small town 90 miles southwest of Chicago, turning
homes and businesses into piles of brick and splintered wood" -By
Don Babwin -AP
via -Guardian.co.uk
-
- 
- Photo
News - "Woman
fired by military contractor for published photograph of flag-draped U.S.
coffins." ... "A military contractor fired two cargo
workers responsible for a photograph of flag-draped coffins of U.S. soldiers
that appeared on a newspaper's front page." ... "Maytag Aircraft Corp.
fired Tami Silicio, 50, and her husband, David Landry, because they "violated
Department of Defense and company policies by working together" to take
and publish the photograph, company president William Silva said in a news
release Thursday." ... "The firing was first reported Thursday in The Seattle
Times, which published the April 7 photo on Sunday." -By
Gene Johnson -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
- 
- "Fury
over Diana crash photos: Princess Diana's family,
British media and the prime minister have expressed outrage at a U.S. television
network's decision to broadcast pictures of the princess as she lay dying."
... "CBS, which aired the images in its "48 Hours" program, said the photos
were included in a 4,000-page confidential French investigators' file on
the accident and that they were not graphic or exploitative." ... "But
British newspapers and friends and family of Diana and Fayed strongly disagreed."
-CNN
-
-
- ELECTION
2004 - "Saudi
envoy: Oil policy standard, not a deal: Calls U.S.
politics: 'Your seasonal tribal warfare'." ... "Saudi Arabia's ambassador
to the United States stood firm that his country made no secret deals with
the White House to try to drive down gas prices to help re-elect President
Bush and sought to reassure Democratic contender Sen. John Kerry." ...
""I really don't see what is the big deal," Prince Bandar bin Sultan told
reporters Wednesday after a White House meeting with national security
adviser Condoleezza Rice." ... ""Unless somebody would like to see the
oil prices stay high, then nobody should complain."" -By
John King -CNN
- 
-
- 
-
- "High
court mulls Mexican truck access." ... "A Bush administration
lawyer told the Supreme Court yesterday that the president must be able
to open America's roads to Mexico's trucks without delays for an environmental
study." ... "But a lawyer for labor and environmental organizations cautioned
justices that ''we're talking about tens of thousands of trucks" packing
US roads after a two-decade moratorium ends." ... "Some of those trucks
are older and may be pollution-causing safety hazards, said the organizations'
lawyer, Jonathan Weissglass." -By Gina Holland
-AP via -Boston/Globe
-
-
-
- "Death
toll near 500 in Fallujah, Baghdad." ... "In the
first detailed accounting of Iraqi casualties in the fighting that erupted
across the country this month, officials at the Iraqi Ministry of Health
said yesterday that 264 have been killed and 791 wounded in the Fallujah
area since April 5, while in Baghdad another 235 have been killed and 832
wounded." ... "The health ministry's nationwide data also show that 12
percent of the Iraqis killed were women or children 15 years old or younger."
... "The health ministry's casualty toll for Fallujah was substantially
lower than the death counts reported since fighting broke out there at
the start of April. The data also show a nationwide death toll for April's
fighting that is much lower than the figures widely reported in the media,
some of them exceeding 1,100." -By Anne Barnard
-Boston/Globe
-
- 
- "Cubans
Sentenced in Miami for Plane Hijacking."... "A U.S.
judge sentenced six Cuban men to prison terms of 20 years or more on Wednesday
for hijacking a Cuban airliner in the Communist Caribbean nation last year."...
"The Cubans were convicted in December of air piracy for commandeering
a 1940s-era Aerotaxi DC-3 after it took off from Cuba's Isle of Youth and
forcing it to Key West on Florida's southern tip on March 19, 2003. The
incident was the first in a series of hijackings in Cuba last year." -By
Jim Loney -Reuters
- "NASA
Spacecraft Ascends to Test Einstein's Theory." ...
"Twenty-four hours after a previous launch attempt was stopped with just
three minutes to go, NASA successfully sent its Gravity Probe B mission
into space." ... "The $700 million spacecraft is designed to test two predictions
of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which he proposed in 1916."
-By Sarah Graham -ScientificAmerican.com
-
- "Judges
chosen for Saddam trial." ... "Iraq's US-appointed
governing council today announced that it has chosen judges and prosecutors
to try Saddam Hussein." ... "Their identities are being kept secret for
fear that supporters of the toppled dictator will hunt them down." ...
"Salem Chalabi, the US-educated lawyer who is director-general of administration
for the special tribunal set up to prosecute Saddam, said that seven investigative
judges and five prosecutors would take charge of the case."
-Guardian.co.uk
- Enron
News - "Ex-Enron
CEO Broke Terms of Release -Prosecutors." ... "Prosecutors
charged on Wednesday that former Enron chief executive Jeff Skilling broke
the terms of his $5 million bond during a bizarre alcohol-fueled fracas
in New York earlier this month." ... "The court filing says Skilling's
blood alcohol level was 0.19 -- more than twice the legal limit in most
U.S. states -- when police sent him to the hospital at 4 a.m. on April
9." ... "Officers described Skilling as "uncooperative and intoxicated"
and deemed him "an emotionally disturbed person" because he was accusing
bar patrons of being undercover agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
(1, 2)
-By C. Bryson Hull -Reuters
-
-
-
-
- "High
Court Hears Detention Cases: Policy on Terror Suspects
Challenged." ... "Facing the court in oral arguments over the detention
of al Qaeda and Taliban suspects held at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba, Solicitor
General Theodore B. Olson dramatically reminded the court that "the United
States is at war," that more than 10,000 troops are in Afghanistan, and
that the country faces an "extraordinary threat."" ... "But several justices
asked questions that implied they doubted Olson's assertion that Bush,
as commander in chief, may hold the suspects for interrogation at the base
in Cuba as long as he deems necessary, without judicial oversight." ...
""It seems rather contrary to an idea of a Constitution with three branches
that the executive would be free to do whatever they want -- whatever they
want without a check," Justice Stephen G. Breyer said." ... "The question
is whether the Guantanamo detainees have a right to ask a federal court
to order the president to give them a hearing --not whether the courts
must do so." (1, 2)
-By Charles Lane-WashingtonPost
- 
- "Year-long
space station trips rejected." ... "NASA has rebuffed
a Russian proposal to extend the next mission aboard the International
Space Station from six months to a year. Lengthening the mission would
have allowed Russia's cash-strapped agency to sell two extra Soyuz spacecraft
seats to space tourists, at about $20 million each." -By
Will Knight -NewScientist.com
-
- 
- 
- 
- 
-
- "Powell
urges coalition leaders to keep troops in Iraq."
... "Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday the U.S.-led coalition
in Iraq remains strong despite decisions by Spain and Honduras to pull
out their troops. Later, the Dominican Republic announced that it also
would withdraw its troops." ... "Powell told reporters that leaders of
13 coalition countries with whom he spoke by telephone Monday and Tuesday
"all expressed steadfast support" for their respective troop commitments."
... "Among the leaders Powell spoke with was Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai." ... "In addition to Surakiart, Powell spoke with leaders
of El Salvador, Dominica, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria,
Holland, Romania, the Philippines and Ukraine." -By
George Gedda -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
- "Iraq
jail attack kills 22 inmates: A mortar attack on
an Iraqi detention centre near Baghdad has left 22 inmates dead, the US
military says." ... "All the casualties in the attack on the Baghdad Confinement
Facility in Abu Ghraib were prisoners of the US-led coalition, officials
said." ... "The sprawling prison complex of Abu Ghraib, which covers more
than one square kilometre, was one of Iraq's biggest prisons under Saddam
Hussein's regime and had a fearsome reputation."
-BBC/News
-
-
- ELECTION
2004 - "Poll
Shows New Gains for Bush: Lead Over Kerry Widens
On Issues of Security." ... "President Bush holds significant advantages
over John F. Kerry in public perceptions of who is better equipped to deal
with Iraq and the war on terrorism, and he has reduced the advantages his
Democratic challenger held last month on many domestic issues, according
to a Washington Post-ABC News Poll." ... "In a matchup, Bush held a lead
of 48 percent to 43 percent over Kerry among registered voters, with independent
Ralph Nader at 6 percent. In early March, shortly after he effectively
wrapped up the Democratic nomination, Kerry led Bush by 48 percent to 44
percent." (1, 2)
-By Richard Morin and Dan Balz with contributions
by Claudia Deane -WashingtonPost
-
-
- 
- ELECTION
2004 -
- "Kerry
hits alleged Bush-Saudi deal: Seizes on account in
journalist's book." ... "The latest inside account of the Bush administration
has provided fresh fodder for John F. Kerry's campaign, with the presumptive
Democratic nominee yesterday condemning the president for reportedly allowing
the Saudis to maintain high gasoline prices until just before the fall
election, when they would be cut to boost the US economy." ... "Kerry said
the deal, reported in "Plan of Attack," the new book by Washington Post
editor Bob Woodward, and mentioned in his appearance Sunday on the CBS
program "60 Minutes," was "fundamentally wrong" and "outrageous and unacceptable
to the American people." A day earlier, the Massachusetts senator condemned
Bush for withholding details about Iraqi war planning from Secretary of
State Colin L. Powell, again relying on Woodward's account of the administration's
war planning." -By Glen Johnson -Boston/Globe
-
-
- "Negroponte
named Iraq ambassador: President George W Bush has
named John Negroponte as the first US ambassador to Iraq since the overthrow
of Saddam Hussein last year." ... "Mr Negroponte, currently the US envoy
to the UN, is expected to take over in Baghdad when the US hands power
to an interim Iraqi government by 30 June." ... "The top US official in
Iraq, Paul Bremer, is expected to leave once the political transition is
completed." -BBC/News
-
-
- "Profile:
John Negroponte: John Negroponte was the man who
spearheaded the US diplomatic effort in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion
of Iraq." ... "The soft-spoken diplomat will head the largest US embassy
in the world, in charge of 3,000 staff." ... ""He'll hold the title of
ambassador but he's really being appointed de facto governor-general of
Iraq because the US is going to retain a lot of authority,'' Ted Galen
Carpenter of the Washington-based Cato Institute think-tank told Bloomberg
news service." -BBC/News
-
-
- Osama
bin Laden -
"'Bin
Laden' tape offers peace deal with Europe." ... "Osama
bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, sought to split the US-led coalition
in Iraq by offering European countries a three-month respite from terrorist
attacks if they withdrew their forces and left the US to fight alone."
... "The statement said: "I offer a truce to them (Europe), with a commitment
to stop operations against any state which vows to stop attacking Muslims
or interfere in their affairs, including (participating) in the American
conspiracy against the wider Muslim world."" ... "It went on to say that
the truce would start "with the withdrawal of the last soldier from our
land," and said that the offer to implement it would last for three months
from the date of Thursday's statement. "Whoever rejects this truce and
wants war, we are its [war's] sons and whoever wants this truce, here we
bring it," it said." -By Mark Huband
-FT.com
-
- Osama
bin Laden -
"C.I.A.
Says Voice on Tape Likely bin Laden." ... "The CIA
said Thursday that a tape of a man identifying himself as Osama bin Laden
probably is an authentic recording of the al-Qaida leader." ... "The official,
speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tape was probably recorded
in the past several weeks because of its reference to Israel's killing
last month of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin. In the tape, the speaker
vows revenge against the United States for the killing."
-AP via -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
-
- "Iraq
death toll reaches new high." ... "The last two weeks
have been the bloodiest yet for US soldiers in Iraq since the fall of Saddam
Hussein. Iraqi deaths are much harder to track, but an Associated Press
estimate puts the total since 1 April at 880." ... "April's casualty count
for US soldiers has spiralled to 87, the highest for any month since the
war began." ... "Nearly all the deaths have been in hostile incidents in
two weeks which have seen major battles with both Sunni and Shia insurgents."
... "Most of the US soldiers have been killed in attacks on road convoys,
firefights in the Sunni-dominated towns of Falluja and Ramadi and battles
in and around Baghdad." ... "The total of American soldiers killed in Iraq
is now 686. More than three-quarters of these have died since major hostilities
ceased." ... "Just over a quarter of the casualties have died in "non-hostile"
events such as accidents involving vehicles or munitions."
-BBC/News
- "Broadcaster
mutes liberal radio network in funds dispute: Plug
pulled on Air America in L.A, Chicago." ... "Arthur Liu of Multicultural
Broadcasting, owner of network affiliates WNTD/950 AM in Chicago and KBLA/1580
AM in Santa Monica, put Spanish-language broadcasts on those stations Wednesday
because, he said, Air America had bounced a check and owed him more than
$1 million." ... "Meanwhile, Air America attorney David Goodfriend said
it had stopped payment on the checks because Multicultural was selling
time on the California station it had already leased to the new network."
-By Peter Goodman -Newsday.com
via -SFGate.com
-
- Smallpox
- "U.S.
considers new smallpox vaccine: Scientists optimistic
about MVA." ... "Buoyed by promising results in animal experiments, government
officials are contemplating buying massive quantities of a new type of
smallpox vaccine to supplement the national stockpile already assembled
in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." ... "Scientists believe
that unlike any of the vaccines now available, the new vaccine may be effective
in protecting against the deadly infectious disease without the risk of
serious -- and occasionally lethal -- side effects." ... "As doubts grow
about the existing vaccines, scientists are increasingly optimistic about
the prospects for the experimental vaccine, called Modified Vaccinia Ankara,
or MVA." -By Griff Witte with contributions by Justin
Gillis -WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
- "Danish
furore over Iraq secrets: Denmark is to declassify
intelligence assessments of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction after newspaper
leaks led to criminal charges against three men.'Prime Minister Anders
Fogh Rasmussen said the publication of classified material had given rise
to doubts about the government's credibility." ... "An intelligence officer
had told two journalists that the government knew Iraq was unlikely to
have the weapons." ... "His claims contradicted Mr Fogh Rasmussen's stance
on the issue." ... "The prime minister supported the US-led invasion and
told parliament that he was convinced Iraq was in possession of such weapons."
... "Former intelligence officer Major Frank Soeholm Grevil has been charged
with breaching the official information act and the two journalists, Jesper
Larsen and Michael Bjerre, are charged with exploiting information emerging
from a crime." -BBC/News
-
- "US
troops to stay longer in Iraq: Some 20,000 US troops
now serving in Iraq will have their tour of duty extended, Defence Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld has announced." ... "Mr Rumsfeld said they would spend
another 90 days in Iraq beyond their original one-year deployment." ...
""The country is at war and we need to do what is necessary to succeed,"
he told a news conference." ... "Mr Rumsfeld said the extension came in
response to a request by the commander of US forces in Iraq, Gen John Abizaid."
-BBC/News
- 
- 
- "Cheney
Warns China About Hong Kong: Policy There Linked
to Taiwan, He Says." ... "Linking two contentious issues in U.S.-Chinese
relations, Vice President Cheney warned China's leaders Wednesday that
any efforts by Beijing to thwart democracy in Hong Kong would likely reinforce
the budding movement in Taiwan to formally separate from China." ... "Cheney's
message, which was described, on condition of anonymity, by a senior administration
official, echoed the arguments of recently reelected Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian, who has vowed to draft a new constitution for the island
by 2006. In the talks, Cheney reiterated the long-standing U.S. position
that there is "one China," a statement prominently mentioned in China's
state media." -By Glenn Kessler and Edward Cody -WashingtonPost
-
- "Insurgents
Display New Sophistication: Campaign Leaves Bridges
Heavily Damaged, Hampering Military's Push South." ... "Insurgents fighting
the U.S.-led occupation force have sharply increased the sophistication,
coordination and aggressiveness of their tactics over the past week, Army
officers and soldiers involved in combat here said." ... "With occupation
forces battling Sadr's Shiite militiamen south and east of Baghdad and
Sunni Muslim insurgents to the north and west, the timing of the Iraqis'
tactical development is nearly as troubling for U.S. forces as its effect.
But the explanation for the change is not yet clear, military commanders
said." ... "Here in southern Iraq, which is overwhelmingly Shiite, U.S.
officers say the best guess is that former soldiers who served under President
Saddam Hussein have decided to lend their expertise and coordinating abilities
to the untrained Shiite militiamen." (1, 2)
-By Thomas E. Ricks-WashingtonPost
-
- 
- "Dead
soldier's sisters excused duty in war zone." ...
"Michelle Witmer, 20, died last Friday in an ambush of her Humvee, and
her father's plea to the Pentagon to spare his two other daughters, who
were also serving in Wisconsin national guard units in Iraq, received attention
throughout the US." -By Suzanne Goldenberg
-Guardian.co.uk
-
- "U.N.
Envoy to Iraq Calls for New Interim Government: Continued
Violence Could Upset Election Plans, Brahimi Warns." ... "U.N. special
envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, wrapping up a mission to Iraq to help devise a new
plan for creating a democratic Iraqi government, said today that the U.S.-led
occupation administration could hand over power as scheduled on June 30
to a new interim government but he acknowledged that the current unrest
in the country could upset plans for elections to follow that transfer
of power." ... "Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, Brahimi said, "The security
situation has to improve significantly for these elections to take place
in an acceptable environment," according to a transcript of his remarks.
Nonetheless, he reiterated the need to push forward with that vote next
January." (1, 2)
-By Mark Stencel-WashingtonPost
-
- "Bush
endorses 'courageous' Sharon plan to withdraw from part the West Bank."
... "Breaking with long-standing U.S. policy, President Bush on Wednesday
endorsed Israel's retention of part of the West Bank in any final peace
settlement with the Palestinians. In a show of support for Israel's leader
that brought immediate condemnation from the Palestinians, Bush also ruled
out Palestinian refugees ever returning to Israel." ... "An elated Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his plan would create "a new and better
reality for the state of Israel."" ... "But minutes after Bush spoke, Palestinian
Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said in Ramallah that "he is the first president
who has legitimized the (Israeli) settlements in Palestinian territories.""
-Barry Schweid -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
- "Cleric,
Surrounded by U.S., Hints at Easing His Resistance."
... "A 2,500-member American force backed by tanks and artillery took up
positions outside Najaf on Tuesday when a rebel Shiite cleric, Moktada
al-Sadr, resisted demands from the American authorities and other clerics
that he disband a militia that has challenged American authority across
wide areas of southern Iraq." ... "From his Najaf headquarters, Mr. Sadr
shrugged off American threats to capture or kill him, saying he was "ready
to sacrifice my blood" to end the American occupation." ... "But the day
after a delegation sent by some of the most powerful Shiite clerics appealed
to him to avoid a showdown, he also hinted at a face-saving compromise,
saying he was ready to "implement any order" issued by the religious establishment."
(1, 2)
-By John F. Burns with contributions from Warren Hoge
-NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
- "9/11
Panel Report Finds FBI Counterterror Efforts Lacking:
Freeh, Reno Argue Against Setting Up a Domestic Intelligence Agency." ...
"The commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks provided
details today of a number of shortcomings in the FBI's counterterrorism
efforts, saying the agency was not properly structured to root out terrorists
in the United States and that the Justice Department was not sufficiently
focused on the issue during the first months of the Bush administration."
... "In a 12-page staff report issued before today's hearings, the commission
said that, among other failings, the FBI lacked the ability to carry out
"strategic analysis" of the terrorist threat, the kind of work required
to pull disparate bits of intelligence together and connect the dots to
pinpoint potential attacks." ... "In fact, before Sept. 11, "the FBI had
never completed an assessment of the overall terrorist threat to the U.S.
homeland," said the report, read to the commission by executive director
Philip D. Zelikow." (1, 2)
-By William Branigin contributed to by Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost
-
- "Ashcroft
now under scrutiny: Report allegedly calls him 'largely
uninterested' in terrorism issues." ... "Draft reports by the independent
commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks portray Attorney General
John Ashcroft as largely uninterested in counterterrorism issues before
Sept. 11 despite intelligence warnings that summer that al-Qaida was planning
a large, perhaps catastrophic terrorist attack, according to panel officials
and others with access to the reports." ... "They said the draft reports,
which are expected to be completed and made public during two days of hearings
by the commission this week, show that FBI officials were alarmed throughout
2001 by what they perceived as Ashcroft's lack of interest in terrorism
issues and his decision in August 2001 to turn down the bureau's request
for a large expansion of its counterterrorism programs." -By
Philip Shenon -SeattlePI.NWsource
-
- "9-11
panel wants CIA analyst to testify." ... "The commission
investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, rebuffed once previously, asked again
yesterday to interview the CIA analyst who wrote the Aug. 6, 2001, intelligence
briefing given to President Bush on al-Qaida's threat to the United States,
according to administration sources." ... "The commission wants to interview
the author of the article in the now-famous President's Daily Brief to
determine her purpose in assembling the document and how much information
she sought in doing so." -By Walter Pincus
-WashingtonPost via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
-
-
-
- "Iran
distances itself from Sadr." ... "Iran is dismissing
attempts by Washington to link it to Moqtada al-Sadr, the young radical
cleric whose militia has battled US forces in neighbouring Iraq." ... "US
officials and administration ad visers have long alleged that Iran has
secretly funded Mr Sadr's militia. On Monday, General John Abizaid, commander
of US Central Command, told a press briefing "there are indications from
intelligence folks that there are some Iranian activities going on that
are unhelpful". Last week, Donald Rumsfeld, US secretary of defence, accused
Iran of "meddling" in Iraq." -By Gareth Smyth
-FT.com
- "Intel
Says 1st-Qtr Profit Almost Doubled, Sales Rise (Update2)."
... "Intel Corp., the world's biggest semiconductor maker, said first-quarter
net income almost doubled to $1.73 billion as customers accelerated purchases
of new computers." ... "Net income was 26 cents a share, compared with
14 cents a year earlier, Santa Clara, California-based Intel said in a
statement. Sales rose 20 percent to $8.1 billion." -By
Jason Kelly and Ian King -Bloomberg.com
-
-
-
-
- "Seven
Chinese Kidnapped in Iraq; China Urges Rescue." ...
"Gunmen kidnapped seven Chinese citizens in Iraq in the latest spate of
hostage-taking and Beijing on Monday appealed to Baghdad to rescue them."
... "China was regarded as a friend by Iraq's former Baathist government
under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, and it opposed the military invasion
of Iraq. Beijing pledged $24 million for rebuilding the country at a donor
conference in Madrid last year." (1, 2)
-By John Ruwitch -Reuters
-
- "14
Soldiers Killed in Iraq Since Friday: Uneasy Ceasefire
in Fallujah." ... "Meanwhile, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq,
Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, defended the current level of 129,000 U.S.
troops in Iraq as adequate. "We clearly showed some weaknesses here in
the last couple of weeks, and we are retackling the problem with greater
intensity," he said on NBC's "Meet The Press."" ... "Sanchez also said
that the refusal of a new Iraqi army battalion to fight in Fallujah "did
uncover significant challenges" in the Iraqi security forces." ... ""We
knew that there were going to be some risks that we were taking by standing
up security forces quickly, and we also know that it's going to take us
a while to stand up reliable forces that can accept responsibility for
both the internal and the external security of the country," Sanchez said."
(1, 2)
-By Sewell Chan and Pamela Constable with contributions
by Thomas E. Ricks and Saad Sarhan -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
- "Attack
on expectant mom a crime against 2: Relatives of
Peterson, other victims attend bill signing." ... "President Bush signed
legislation Thursday making it a separate crime to harm a fetus during
the commission of a violent federal crime against a pregnant woman, and
he declared that, with the new law, the United States was "building a culture
of life."" ... "The Unborn Victims of Violence Act protects a fetus at
any stage of its development. The measure does not deal with abortion but
at its foundation it deals with the central question in the abortion debate:
At what point does an embryo or a fetus deserve full protection of the
law as a living person?" ... "Advocates of abortion rights fear it will
be used to establish precedent that could undercut those rights, established
in 1973 by the Supreme Court in Roe vs. Wade." -By
James Gerstenzang-LAtimes
via -SFGate.com
-
-
- "Top focus before
9/11 wasn't terrorism: Rice speech cited missile
defense." ... "On Sept. 11, 2001, national security adviser Condoleezza
Rice was scheduled to outline a Bush administration policy that would address
"the threats and problems of today and the day after, not the world of
yesterday" — but the focus was largely on missile defense, not terrorism
from Islamic radicals." ... "The speech provides telling insight into the
administration's thinking on the very day that the United States suffered
the most devastating attack since the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. The
address was designed to promote missile defense as the cornerstone of a
new national security strategy, and contained no mention of al Qaeda, Osama
bin Laden or Islamic extremist groups, according to former U.S. officials
who have seen the text." -By Robin Wright
-WashingtonPost via -MSNBC
-
-
-
- "Sept.
11 Panel Scrutinizing Past Testimony." ... "The staff
of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is conducting
a detailed review of all discrepancies found in public and private statements
by Condoleezza Rice and Richard A. Clarke in drawing up questions for Ms.
Rice when she testifies before the panel, probably next week, commission
officials said Wednesday." ... "The White House, they said, is hoping to
limit any political damage to the president by having Ms. Rice testify
quickly in the hope of ending the furor over the accusations made by Mr.
Clarke, Mr. Bush's former counterterrorism director." ... "Mr. Clarke said
in testimony before the commission last week and in his new best-selling
memoir that the Bush administration — and Ms. Rice, in particular — largely
ignored threats by Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11 attacks." (1, 2)
-By Philip Shenon and Doublas Jehl -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
- "Attacks
in Iraq claim lives of four contractors, five soldiers:
An anti-American mob in the Iraqi city of Fallujah ambushed a group of
contractors Wednesday, beating and dragging four bodies through the streets.
The brutal attack came on the same day a roadside bomb killed five Americans
west of Baghdad." ... "" -PBS.org
/NewsHour
2004
ELECTION -
-
-
- "Political
titles play an unusual role in this campaign." ...
"The influential role that serious, issues-based books are playing is unusual,
historians and political scientists say. "I can't think of anything close
to this happening during a campaign, at least in the 20th century," says
James Campbell, a political science professor at the State University of
New York at Buffalo." ... "The hottest book is Against All Enemies:
Inside America's War on Terror by Richard Clarke. The counterterrorism
expert served in the Reagan, Clinton and both Bush administrations. He
says the current administration paid too little attention to the threat
of terrorism before Sept. 11 and made terrorism more of a threat by going
to war in Iraq." -By Mark Memmott
-USATODAY
-
-
- "Pushing
the limits of 'public use'." ... "Rene Corie installs
drapes in Florida mansions. Her husband, David, builds the mansions' gates."
... "Eight years ago, the working-class couple finally found some waterfront
real estate they could afford: a two-bedroom house for $70,000 in Riviera
Beach, a poor town near the wealthy enclaves of Palm Beach and Jupiter."
... "But Riviera Beach now wants to bulldoze the Cories' home and 2,200
others to make way for one of the nation's grandest redevelopment plans:
a collection of high-rise condos, bigger homes and upscale shops. The city
plans to use eminent domain — its power to confiscate private property
for projects that benefit the public — to take the homes of 5,100 people
if the residents do not agree to move." -By Dennis
Cauchon -USATODAY
Rove
- 
Abramoff
- 
Ralston
- 
DeLay
- Norquist
- 
Reed
- Scanlon
- Money
- Religion
- Government
- Law
- Politics
- Texas
- 2004
Election - History
Tom
DeLay
- "Charity
Tied to DeLay Is Questioned: Group Asks Lawmakers
To Demand Ethics Probe." ... "A public advocacy group yesterday asked each
House member to request an ethics inquiry into a charitable organization
linked to Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), the latest step in a quickening
pace of ethics complaints and reactions in Congress." ... "Democracy 21
contends that the charity, Celebrations for Children Inc., is a political
scheme established to let DeLay raise huge sums from interest groups and
supporters to host lavish parties at this summer's Republican National
Convention." -By Charles Babington -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
- Osama
bin Laden
- "Panel
probing terrorism faults 2 administrations: Says
efforts feel short; officials defend actions." ... "The US government had
substantial intelligence about key Al Qaeda figures indicating the possibility
of a catastrophic terrorist attack beginning in the mid-1990s, but failed
to act forcefully enough to thwart the Islamic terrorist network, the bipartisan
commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks said in an interim report
yesterday." ... "Diplomatic initiatives urging other countries to bring
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to justice were unsuccessful, yet the Clinton
administration could not reach a consensus on a sustained military effort
to kill the terrorist leader or disrupt the organization's home base in
Afghanistan, according to the report released yesterday, at the start of
two days of public testimony from Bush and Clinton administration leaders."
-By Bryan Bender -Boston/Globe
-
-
-
- Microsoft
News - "EU
orders Microsoft to pay $613 million fine: Software
giant found guilty of abusing "near monopoly"." ... "The European Union
declared Microsoft Corp. guilty Wednesday of abusing its "near monopoly"
with Windows to squeeze competitors in other markets and levied a record
fine of $613 million (497.2 million euros)." ... "The EU's antitrust authority
said that "because the illegal behavior is still ongoing," it was also
demanding changes in the way the U.S. software company operates."
-AP via -MSNBC
-
- "9/11
panel blames Bush, Clinton failures in attacks."
... "The independent commission reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks said in
a preliminary report that the decision to use diplomatic rather than military
options
against al-Qaeda allowed the Sept. 11 terrorists to elude capture years
before the attacks." ... "The panel, known formally as the National Commission
on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, presented its findings as
it began hearings with top-level Bush and Clinton administration officials.
The aim was to question officials on their efforts to stop bin Laden in
the years leading up to the attacks." -AP
via -USATODAY
-
- "Amid
Terror Debate, Public Hearings Open on 9/11 Attacks."
... "An issue that has dominated Washington since the weekend — the question
of what the Bush and Clinton administrations knew about the possibility
of terror attacks before 9/11, and how the Bush White House responded afterward
— is taking center stage in the capital today." ... "The public hearings
before the independent commission investigating the attacks of 2001 come
amid a furious debate caused by accusations in a book by a former counterterrorism
official, Richard A. Clarke. Mr. Clarke wrote that the Bush administration
did not heed warnings about Sept. 11 and that President
Bush pushed him the day after the attacks to look for a link to Saddam
Hussein." -By Terence Neilan -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- "Bush
Asks Allies for Unity on Iraq: No Nation Exempt From
Terrorism, President Says on War Anniversary." ... "President Bush yesterday
marked the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq with an appeal
for international unity after a year of division by warning that there
can be "no separate peace" with the West's enemies." ... "Bush spoke to
an audience of 83 diplomats, including those from such countries as France
and Germany, which opposed the war. But his remarks seemed directed toward
such countries as Spain and Poland, allies in Iraq that are now expressing
misgivings, and, in Spain's case, rethinking their cooperation with the
United States." -By Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost
2004
ELECTION - "Bush
camp executes media game plan: Aggressive ad blitz
will define Kerry as indecisive and lacking conviction." ... "President
Bush's re-election campaign is following an aggressive and precise 90-day
media strategy to define Sen. John Kerry as indecisive and lacking conviction,
with a coordinated blitz of advertisements, speeches and sound bites, senior
campaign advisers said this week." ... "The goal, several campaign aides
said, is to first strip Kerry of the positive image that he carried away
from the Democratic primary contests and then to define him issue by issue,
in their own harsh terms before the summer vacation season. The central
thrusts will be national security and taxes, they said." -By
Jim Rutenberg -NYTimes
via -HoustonChronicle.com
- "Ohio
Sniper Suspect Appears in Nevada Court." ... "A 28-year-old
man charged in connection with sniper-style shootings in Ohio that killed
one person told a Nevada court on Friday he would not fight extradition
and agreed to return home to face prosecution." ... "Charles McCoy Jr.,
wearing dark blue prison clothes with his hands cuffed to a chain around
his waist, said little beyond responding "yes" to questions put to him
by Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith." ... "Ohio officials said he would
be returned to the state as soon as possible, perhaps later in the day
or over the weekend." -Reuters
- -
-
- "Spain's
ruling party swept from power amid anger of Madrid terror attacks."
... "Spain's ruling conservatives crashed to surprise defeat in elections
overshadowed by anger over terrorist bombings, becoming the first government
that backed the U.S.-led war in Iraq to be voted out of office." ... "The
win by the Socialists over President Jose Maria Aznar's favored Popular
Party Sunday came amid charges that Aznar made Spain a target for terrorist
by supporting the Iraq war." ... "Spain's incoming prime minister, Jose
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has pledged to bring home the 1,300 Spanish troops
in Iraq when their tour of duty ends in July." -By
Daniel Woolls -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
-
- "Speaking
in 'approved' tongues: Should the government be allowed
more oversight of foreign language study?" ... "As in many college departments,
intellectual independence is a theme at Columbia's Department of Middle
East and Asian Languages and Cultures." ... "An office door is decorated
with a sticker that reads "Subvert the dominant paradigm," and the topics
of faculty-authored books on display range from Iranian cinema to Israeli
literature. But some academics worry this independence may be at risk as
legislation increasing oversight of international studies programs makes
its way through Congress." ... "The bill, called the International Studies
Higher Education Act (HR 3077), reauthorizes about $80 million in funding
for international and foreign language study, but with a twist - now the
government would allocate more resources to programs that emphasize national
security." -By Kimberly Chase
-CSMonitor
-
- 2004
ELECTION - "Kerry:
Comment aimed at 'attack dogs': Hastert takes 'great
umbrage' at comment." ... "Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John
Kerry said on Thursday that he was not referring to all Republicans as
"crooked" in an off-the-cuff comment captured on camera -- just his political
opponents' "attack dogs."" ... "After a union rally in Chicago, Illinois,
on Wednesday Kerry
told a worker that "these guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group
of people I've ever seen." His microphone was still on when he made the
comments." -CNN
-
-
-
-
- "Md.
Woman Accused of Acting as Iraqi Agent." ... "Federal
agents today arrested a Maryland woman at her home on charges of acting
as an agent for the Iraqi government of former president Saddam Hussein
and plotting to aid resistance groups in Iraq after Hussein was ousted
by U.S. forces." ... "Susan Lindauer, 40, a former journalist and congressional
aide in Washington, was taken into custody by the FBI at her home in Takoma
Park after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against her and two
Iraqis, the sons of a former diplomat, who were charged with similar offenses."
-By William Branigin -WashingtonPost
-
- "Calif.
Court Halts San Francisco Gay Weddings." ... "California's
Supreme Court on Thursday ordered San Francisco to halt the same-sex marriages
that have sparked a passionate nationwide debate on whether gay couples
can wed legally." ... "The decision, which will be reviewed again in May
or June, comes exactly one month after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom
gave the green light to gay marriages, resulting in more than 4,000 homosexual
pairings since then." ... "In its order, the state's top court referred
to the California family code that defines marriage as a union of man and
woman and told San Francisco "to refrain from issuing marriage licenses
or certificates not authorized by such provisions."" (1, 2)
-By Adam Tanner -Reuters
2004
ELECTION - "Kerry
Decries GOP as 'Crooked' and 'Lying'." ... "Sen.
John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) dueled with President Bush over taxes and the economy
yesterday and then, in an offhand comment to factory workers in Chicago,
called the Republicans "the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever
seen," triggering an angry denunciation from Bush's campaign." -By
Dan Balz -WashingtonPost
-
-
- "U.S.
Confident IAEA to Put Iran on Sanctions Notice."
... "Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday he was confident
the U.N. atomic watchdog, which is assessing Iran's nuclear programs, would
warn Tehran it could face sanctions within months." ... "The resolution
being discussed in Vienna will stop short of declaring Iran in breach of
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and reporting it to the U.N. Security
Council for possible sanctions but will signal that could be close, he
said." -Reuters
2004
ELECTION - "Kerry
within striking distance of mathematically sealing nomination."
... "John Kerry's commanding sweep of four Southern primaries has him on
the verge of mathematically clinching the Democratic presidential nomination,
most likely in the next week." ... "Kerry had 2,037 delegates Wednesday,
just shy of the 2,162 needed to win nomination at the Democratic convention
in Boston in July, an Associated Press tally shows." -By
Genaro C. Armas -AP
via -SFGate.com
Sniper
- "Teenage
Sniper Malvo Gets Life Sentence." ... "Teenage sniper
Lee Boyd Malvo was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday
for an October 2002 killing spree in the Washington, D.C., area that left
10 people dead." ... "Malvo, 19, was sentenced a day after sniper mastermind
John Allen Muhammad was given the death penalty. Malvo did not speak at
the brief hearing." ... "Malvo was convicted in December of the slaying
of FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, outside a Falls Church, Va., Home Depot
store. His defense team had argued that Malvo had been molded into a killer
by the charismatic Muhammad." -By Matthew Barakat
-AP via -Guardian.co.uk
-
- "Prices
at the pump vault toward all-time high: Early hikes
in gas prices across the US could affect everything from flower delivery
to vacation plans." ... "Later this month, gas prices will almost certainly
eclipse the record for the highest average price-per-gallon in US history.
Then, if analysts are right, they will go even higher." ... "Ominously,
some experts suggest that the energy outlook hasn't looked so bleak since
the last days of Mr. Carter. Not that the country would be as severely
affected as it was in the 1970s. For one, today's prices are still well
below 1970s levels, when adjusted for inflation. In addition, many US power
plants have since shifted to natural gas and coal, and manufacturing is
now a smaller share of the economy. As a result, America is less dependent
on oil for its well-being." -By Mark Sappenfield
-CSMonitor
-
-
- -
"UCLA
Denies Role in Cadaver Case: Probe Targets Director
of Willed-Body Program, Suspected Middleman." ... "The University of California
at Los Angeles denied involvement Monday in the sale of cadaver body parts
for profit after the arrest of the head of its medical school's cadaver
program and a second man over the weekend. Authorities are investigating
whether about 800 bodies donated to the program over the past six years
were illegally sawed into pieces and sold to medical research companies."
... "Henry Reid, 54, director of the university's program that makes donated
bodies available for medical education, was arrested Saturday for investigation
of grand theft for allegedly selling corpses and body parts. Ernest Nelson,
the suspected middleman, was arrested at his home in Alta Loma, Calif.,
on Sunday night on suspicion of receiving stolen property." -By
Kimberly Edds -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
-
-
-
- "Five
Guantanamo Britons Fly Home, Fate Unsure." ... "Five
British men jailed for more than two years at the U.S. Guantanamo base
in Cuba headed home Tuesday -- posing anti-terror police a dilemma over
whether to release them to their families or keep them behind bars." ...
"The five, held since late 2001 or early 2002 with more than 600 others
suspected of fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan or supporting al
Qaeda, were expected to reach the Northolt military air base near London
around 7 p.m." ... "Police will take immediate custody of them, but if
they decide there is no case against them under Britain's tough anti-terror
laws, they may be freed in days, legal sources said." (1, 2)
-By Andrew Cawthorne -Reuters
-
-
- "An
Interim President for Haiti Is Sworn In." ... "Interim
President Boniface Alexandre was installed in the National Palace in a
brief, awkward ceremony on Monday, as hundreds of supporters of Haiti's
exiled president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, marched through the capital,
chanting "Aristide or death!"" ... "A power struggle continued in the city's
streets and its salons with the search for a new prime minister, a day
after Aristide loyalists opened fire on anti-Aristide demonstrators near
the presidential palace. Six people were killed and about 30 wounded. United
States marines said on Monday that their return fire had killed one gunman."
(1, 2)
-By Lydia Polgreen and Tim Weiner -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
- Virginia
News - Sniper
- "Virginia
Judge Formally Sentences Sniper John Muhammad to Death."
... "John Allen Muhammad, of two men accused in the sniper-shooting deaths
of 10 people in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002, was sentenced to death
by a Virginia judge today for murdering a man at a gas station." ... "A
jury in Virginia Beach, Virginia, convicted Muhammad of capital murder,
terrorism, conspiracy and firearms violations in November for the death
of Dean Harold Meyers, 53, who was gunned down in Manassas, Virginia, in
October 2002. Meyers was the seventh sniper victim." -By
Chris Dolmetsch -Bloomberg
- 2004
ELECTION - "Bush
Attacks Kerry on Bill to Trim Intelligence Budget."
... "President Bush accused Senator John Kerry on Monday of having tried
to "gut" the nation's intelligence services in 1995 when Mr. Kerry introduced
legislation that would have cut intelligence spending by $1.5 billion over
five years." ... "On a day of rock-'em, sock-'em politics unusual for such
an early stage of a presidential campaign, Mr. Bush said the 1995 legislation,
proposed two years after the first attack on the World Trade Center, undermined
Mr. Kerry's claim to have given the nation the intelligence tools it needs."
... "Mr. Kerry's campaign responded that Mr. Bush's attacks were misleading
and that Mr. Kerry had a long record of supporting increased spending on
intelligence agencies." -By Richard W. Stevenson and
Jodi Wilgoren -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
- "Iraqi
Council Signs Interim Constitution." ... "Iraq's
Governing Council signed a landmark interim constitution Monday after resolving
a political impasse sparked by objections from the country's most powerful
cleric. The signing was a key step in U.S. plans to hand over power to
the Iraqis by July 1." ... "But there were signs that a dispute that delayed
plans to sign the constitution on Friday might surface again." ... "One
clause in dispute, according to [council member Ibrahim] al-Jaafari, would
give Kurds and Sunni Arabs veto power over a permanent constitution expected
to be drafted and put to a referendum next year. The other bars any changes
to the document signed Monday except with the approval of a proposed president,
his two deputies, and three-fourths of a parliament to be elected by January
2005." -By Hamza Hendawi
-AP via -AJC
- "Fears
of rising violence in capital." ... "Anger is growing
in Haiti and there are fears of more violence on the streets of the capital
Port-au-Prince today as thousands are expected to turn out for a protest
march against the toppling of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide." ... "After
a week of anarchy following Aristide's resignation and departure, armed
gangs that support the former leader have continued their shooting and
looting sprees, while the rebels who fought to depose him have been parading
around the city." ... "Now the warring factions are being quelled by the
presence of more than 2,000 international troops, mostly US marines, who
patrol the streets of the capital in armoured vehicles. But in much of
the country no one really knows who is in control." -By
Sibylla Brodzinsky -Observer.co.uk
via -Guardian.co.uk
-
-
-
- "Aristide
Again Says He Was Kidnapped from Haiti." ... "Haitian
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says his departure from his country was
a "kidnapping" as heavily armed "white men" surrounded the National Palace,
according to a statement released on Saturday." ... "The United States
has repeatedly dismissed Aristide's contentions that he was kidnapped when
he left Haiti on Feb. 29. The Bush administration blames the crisis in
Haiti on Aristide, who was restored to power a decade earlier by 20,000
U.S. troops after his ouster in a military coup."
-Reuters
- 2004
ELECTION - "9/11
election ads have Bush in hot water." ... "George
W. Bush tripped over the wreckage of the World Trade Center and stumbled
into controversy yesterday as he tried to take the high road with an expensive
advertising campaign for re-election but was immediately attacked for playing
politics with tragedy." ... "Relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks lashed out at the President's first major TV ad campaign, saying
it was both insensitive and inaccurate." -By Doug
Saunders -GlobeAndMail
-
-
- "Government,
troops get tentative grip on Haiti." ... "The government
and foreign military forces gained a tentative grip on chaotic Haiti Thursday
as U.S. and French troops stepped up patrols and armed rebels who helped
oust the president prepared to leave the capital." ... "Banks reopened
after two weeks of gun battles, looting and barricades in the capital forced
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile. The government says a monthlong
rebel uprising cost Haiti about $300 million, roughly equivalent to its
yearly budget." -By Jim Loney and Alistair Scrutton
editing by Lori Santos -Reuters
via -Forbes
2004
ELECTION - "Edwards
quits presidential race: US Senator John Edwards
has pulled out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination following
his defeat in the "Super Tuesday" polls." ... "In an emotional speech to
a crowd in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mr Edwards praised Senator John Kerry
who will now face George W Bush." ... ""The truth of the matter is John
Kerry has what it takes," he said." ... "Speculation is now increasing
that Mr Edwards may be picked by Mr Kerry as his vice-presidential running
mate." ... "Mr Edwards, a North Carolina senator, failed to win any of
the 10 states on Tuesday and throughout the race only won his native state
of South Carolina." -BBC/News
2004
ELECTION - "Edwards
Plans to Announce Withdrawal Wednesday Afternoon at His Late Son's School."
... "Facing sweeping losses in Tuesday's contests, Senator
John Edwards of North Carolina flew home to Raleigh and made plans
to withdraw from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on
Wednesday, a senior adviser and Democrats familiar with the situation said."
... "Mr. Edwards plans to make his withdrawal announcement on Wednesday
afternoon at Broughton High School, the school his 16-year-old son, Wade,
attended before he was killed in a car crash in 1996. Friends have said
the teenager's death caused Mr. Edwards to reassess his successful career
as a trial lawyer and fulfill a goal to enter politics as a Senate candidate
in 1998." (1, 2)
-By Randal C. Archibold -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
- 
-
- "U.S.
may step up [Haitian]peace force to 2,000." ... "The
number of U.S. troops in Haiti could reach about 2,000, and a decision
had not been made late Monday on whether to station ships off the coast
of the troubled Caribbean nation, defense officials said." ... "U.S. Marines,
along with French and Canadian troops, continued to arrive in Haiti and
were expected to do so for several more days." ... "The U.N. Security Council
authorized the deployment of an interim multinational force hours after
Aristide's departure. According to the United Nations, a stabilization
force is expected to take over from the interim operation in three months."
-By George Edmonson contributed to by Mark Bixler
-AJC
- WorldCom
News - "Ebbers
indicted, ex-CFO pleads guilty: Sullivan is expected
to cooperate with authorities as they prosecute ex-WorldCom CEO." ... "Ex-WorldCom
CEO Bernard Ebbers was charged with securities fraud Tuesday for his role
in the nation's biggest accounting scandal, while his former chief financial
officer pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors." ... "The
indictment says Ebbers and ex-WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan "knowingly and
consistently" manipulated WorldCom's financial results to present the company
in a better light to Wall Street, investors and regulators." -By
Terry Frieden -CNN
-
-
-
- Anthrax
News
- "Tenet
Warns of Al Qaeda Threat: CIA Chief Says Group Is
Fragmented but Still Dangerous." ... "Despite U.S. success in attacking
al Qaeda's hierarchy, the network is still capable of "catastrophic attacks"
against the United States, and acquiring chemical, biological and radiological
weapons remains a "religious obligation" in Osama bin Laden's eyes, CIA
Director George J. Tenet told the Senate intelligence committee yesterday."
... "The most immediate threats include the possibility of "poison attacks"
and al Qaeda's ongoing effort to produce anthrax material, he said: "Extremists
have widely disseminated assembly instructions for an improvised chemical
weapon using common materials that could cause a large number of casualties
in a crowded, enclosed area."" (1, 2)
-By Dana Priest -WashingtonPost
-
-
- "Supreme
Court allows states to deny divinity scholarships."
... "The Supreme Court, in a new rendering on separation of church and
state, voted Wednesday to let states withhold scholarships from students
studying theology." ... "The court's 7-2 ruling held that the state of
Washington was within its rights to deny a taxpayer-funded scholarship
to a college student who was studying to be a minister. That holding applies
even when money is available to students studying anything else." ... ""Training
someone to lead a congregation is an essentially religious endeavor," Chief
Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court majority. "Indeed, majoring
in devotional theology is akin to a religious calling as well as an academic
pursuit."" -AP
via -USATODAY
-
- 2004
ELECTION - "Bush
distances himself from jobs figure in forecast."
... "President Bush distanced himself Wednesday from a forecast made by
his economic advisers predicting that the U.S. economy will add 2.6 million
jobs this year." ... "A Feb. 9 report by the White House Council of Economic
Advisors (CEA) predicted that payrolls would grow to an average of 132.7
million in 2004 from 130.1 million in 2003, an exceptionally rapid employment
gain for an economy that has shed 2.3 million jobs during Bush's tenure.
Facing the prospect that Democrats would make a campaign issue of Bush's
failure to meet his own projections, the president and top administration
officials declined to endorse the 2.6 million jobs forecast." -By
Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost
via -StarTribune.com
-
-
-
- "Guardsman
Charged With Trying to Spy for Al Qaeda." ... "The
Army has charged a member of the Washington State National Guard with attempting
to supply intelligence of Army organizations and weapons systems to the
Qaeda terrorist network, Army officials said on Wednesday. The intelligence
included details about military personnel, troop movement, tactics and
"vulnerabilities," the charges said." ... "Specialist Ryan G. Anderson,
26, a Muslim convert who Army officials said also went by the name Amir
Abdul Rashid, was charged on Feb. 12 at the Fort Lewis base south of here
[Seattle, Washington] with four counts of attempting to supply information
to the enemy, but the charges were not made public until Wednesday." -By
Sarah Kershaw -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- Enron
News - "The
hearing: 'I plead not guilty to all counts'." ...
"Jeffrey Skilling, former Enron chief executive, surrendered to the FBI
on Thursday to face a 42-count indictment, but he remained as defiant as
ever that he was innocent." ... "Prosecutors outlined the charges against
Mr Skilling, which range from conspiracy to insider trading, and said he
faced up to 325 years in prison and more than $80m in fines if convicted."
-By Sheila McNulty -FT.com
-
- Enron
News - "Enron's
ex-CEO Skilling surrenders to FBI." ... "Skilling,
50, entered FBI headquarters in Houston accompanied by about six attorneys
at 6:52 local time." -Reuters
via -Forbes
- -
"Scientists
accuse Bush of twisting facts in his favor: White
House says policy decisions based on sound data." ... "The Bush administration
has deliberately distorted scientific fact to serve policy goals on the
environment, health, biomedical research and nuclear weapons at home and
abroad, a group of about 60 influential scientists said in a statement
issued Wednesday." ... "The statement was released by the Union of Concerned
Scientists, an independent organization that focuses on technical issues
and has often taken stands at odds with administration policy. The organization
also issued a 37-page report that it said detailed the accusations."
-DallasNews.com
-
- "As
court mulls, gays wed: A judge may decide as soon
as Friday whether to stop San Francisco's rush of gay marriages." ... "For
the past week, the broad granite steps of San Francisco's City Hall have
stood like a finish line to gay and lesbian couples from every corner of
the United States." ... "They have come by the thousands to line up in
the rain of a raw northern California winter - in a blocks-long gathering
that is part street festival, part civic protest. All in the hope of exchanging
wedding vows beneath the hall's gilded dome - and in defiance of state
law." -By Mark Sappenfield
-CSMonitor
-
- "Arizona
bishop convicted in hit-run death." ... "Bishop Thomas
O'Brien, the former head of Arizona's largest Roman Catholic diocese, was
convicted yesterday of leaving the scene of an accident in which the car
he was driving struck and killed a pedestrian." ... "O'Brien, 68, is believed
to be the first Catholic bishop in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony.
He stepped down as head of the Phoenix diocese last summer after he was
charged in the accident, which came two months after authorities agreed
not to prosecute him for covering up allegations of sexual abuse by priests."
-WashingtonPost
and -AP via -Reuters
via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
-
-
- 
- "Groundbreaking
ruling in Peterson case Tracking device evidence can be presented."
... "The judge in Scott Peterson's double-murder trial broke new legal
ground Tuesday and ruled that for the first time in a California courtroom,
evidence gleaned from a high-tech tracking device can be presented to a
jury." ... "From January to April of 2003, Modesto police secretly attached
GPS devices to a number of Peterson's vehicles so the police could spy
on his travels, including several trips to the Berkeley marina. The bodies
of Peterson's 27-year-old wife, Laci, and the couple's fetus washed ashore
not far away." -By Stacy Finz, Diana Walsh and Kelly
St. John
-SFGate.com
-2004
ELECTION - "Howard
Dean Ends His White House Bid." ... "Former Democratic
front-runner Howard Dean on Wednesday pulled the plug on his roller-coaster
White House bid." ... "Dean said while his White House campaign is over,
he will turn his Internet-based operation, which set fund-raising records
and connected with legions of new activists, into a grass-roots force for
change." -By Thomas Ferraro
-Reuters via -ABCNEWS.com
2004
ELECTION - "Kerry
wins Wisconsin, edges out Edwards." ... "John Kerry
squeezed past hard-charging John Edwards on Tuesday to win Wisconsin's
primary, gateway to a 10-state, two-man showdown March 2. Howard Dean,
his candidacy doomed, considered endorsing one of his rivals." ... "Clinging
to a six-point lead, Kerry said, "A win is a win."" ... "Counting Wisconsin,
Kerry has pocketed 608 of the 2,161 delegates needed to secure the nomination,
according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Dean had just 201, Edwards
190 and Al Sharpton 16." -By Ron Fournier -AP
via -SFGate.com
- 2004
ELECTION - "Woman
denies Kerry relationship: Rumor wanes as Drudge
backs off earlier Internet report." ... "A rumor that was circulated widely
on the Internet and in the British press, purportedly linking Senator John
Kerry to a much younger woman, crumbled Monday as the wom- an issued a
strong denial and the Inter- net site that launched the report changed
its story." ... "The Massachusetts senator, who is married, denied Friday
that he had a re- lationship with the woman, later identi- fied as Alexandra
Polier, 27, a former Associated Press intern. ‘‘I just deny it categorically,’’
Kerry said." -By Brian Knowlton
-IHT.com
-
-
- "U.N.
Envoy Backs Iraqi Vote: In Meetings, Brahimi Says
Elections Are Viable Before Date Set by U.S." ... "A senior U.N. envoy
has indicated to Iraqi leaders that he believes nationwide, direct elections
could be held late this year or early next year, according to several Iraqis
who met with the envoy this week." ... "The envoy, former Algerian foreign
minister Lakhdar Brahimi, was dispatched to resolve disagreements among
Iraqis over the formation of a transitional government. He has suggested
through questions and responses to various proposals that he favors holding
elections sooner than the United States has envisaged but not before a
planned handover of sovereignty this summer, the Iraqis who met with him
said Thursday." (1, 2)
-By Rajiv Chandrasekaran -WashingtonPost
-
- "Head
of U.S. Central Command's convoy attacked in Iraq:
Follows 2 bombings that killed more than 100." ... "A convoy carrying Gen.
John Abizaid, the commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East, was
attacked Thursday during a visit to Iraqi defense forces in Fallujah, U.S.
officials said. No one was injured." ... "The convoy was at a compound
in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, when three rocket-propelled grenades were
fired from rooftops, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said at a news conference."
-Contributed to by Jane Arraf -CNN
- -
-
- "Feds
Seek U. of Michigan Abortion Records." ... "The Justice
Department is seeking abortion records from the University of Michigan
Medical Center and several other university hospitals as part of a lawsuit
over the federal ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions." ...
"The government insists it does not want specific information about patients,
only general information on abortions that were performed by the seven
plaintiffs in the case." ... "But hospitals have been reluctant to produce
the information. The University of Michigan refused several weeks ago based
on privacy grounds, spokeswoman Kallie Michels said Wednesday." -By
Dee-Ann Durbin -AP
via -Miami/Herald
-
-
- "At
Least 36 Iraqis Killed in Car Bombing Outside Army Recruiting Center, Day
After Similar Attack." ... "A suicide driver blew
up his explosive-rigged car Wednesday outside an army recruiting center
in central Baghdad where hundreds of Iraqis were lined up to volunteer
for the military, killing at least 36 people, U.S. officials and Iraqi
witnesses said." ... "Iraq's deputy interior minister, Ahmed Ibrahim, said
47 people were killed and 50 injured. He told reporters "this crime" will
"not deter the people's march toward freedom.""
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
-
-
-
-
- ELECTION
2004 - "White
House releases Bush's Guard records." ... "Moving
to squelch an election year controversy, the White House yesterday made
public records showing that President Bush attended some Air National Guard
training between mid-1972 and mid-1973 and was paid for it, and said the
records refute reports that Bush did not fulfill his military obligation
during the Vietnam War." ... "But the same records also show that Bush
may not have met the minimum-service requirement expected of most Guard
members, according to National Guard officials. And after releasing the
records, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, could not explain
why, if Bush appeared for duty on the days listed in the documents, Bush's
superiors wrote on May 2, 1973, that he had not been seen at his Houston
air base for the previous 12 months." -By Walter V.
Robinson and Michael Rezendes -Boston/Globe
-
-
-
- "Service
Chiefs Challenge White House on the Budget." ...
"In an unusual public display of differences with the White House, the
top officers of the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force all raised questions
on Tuesday about how the Bush administration plans to pay for operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan after the current financing runs out at the end
of September." ... "Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee,
three of the four chiefs of the armed services expressed concerns about
a financing gap, perhaps of four months, for the two missions, whose combined
cost is about $5 billion a month." -By Eric Schmitt
-NYTimes
-
- 2004
ELECTION - "Wages
up for the well-off, but not for others: 'Rich-poor
gap' relates to long-term forces, but could hurt Bush as it reaches record
level prior to election." ... "Most US workers saw their earnings fall
or stagnate last year, with those at the bottom of the income scale hit
hardest." ... "The trend, coming alongside a slack job market, explains
why many Americans feel left out of the economic recovery - and why President
Bush faces a tough sell with his campaign-trail message that there is "good
strong growth." Democratic rivals point to "two Americas," one for the
rich, one for the poor." -By David R. Francis
-CSMonitor
2004
ELECTION - "Kerry
Claims Decisive Wins In Virginia and Tennessee: Clark
to End Candidacy After Southern Defeats." ... "Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.)
cruised to victory in Virginia and Tennessee last night, adding the first
southern states to his growing string of primary and caucus wins as he
continued to run away with the race for the Democratic presidential nomination."
... "Kerry's victories claimed another victim late last night when retired
Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark decided to end his candidacy after finishing
third in both states. Clark plans to make a formal announcement in Little
Rock this afternoon." (1, 2)
-By Dan Balz and Michael D. Shear
-WashingtonPost
-
-
- "Americans
warned against travel to Haiti." ... "With Haiti
wracked by civil unrest, the United States urged Americans Tuesday to leave
the country "if they can do so safely."" ... "Haiti has been wracked by
violence in recent weeks with armed opponents of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide taking control of several cities." ... "Authorities believe the
rebels are a combination of former paramilitary troops and former supporters
of Aristide, who was ousted in a military coup in 1991 but won a new term
as president in 2000." -CNN
-
-
-
-
- "Al
Qaeda 'plan civil war in Iraq'." ... "The United
States says an al Qaeda operative is plotting to provoke a civil war in
Iraq as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern over divisions
among Iraqis on a plan to assume power." ... "U.S. officials in Baghdad
said U.S. forces had seized a computer disc that contained a letter outlining
the plan written by Abu Musab Zarqawi, who Washington suspects of links
to Ansar al-Islam -- a Muslim militant group operating in Iraq." -By
Joseph Logan -Reuters
via -Reuters.co.uk
- "Experts
Fear Ohio Highway Sniper Has Widened Target Area;
Latest Shootings Bring Total to 23." ... "A recent burst of sniper shootings
along an Ohio highway has been linked to earlier shootings 25 miles to
the north, leaving experts fearful that the gunman has widened his comfort
zone and is looking for more prey." ... ""This particular individual is
definitely getting more brazen," said Franklin County Sheriff's Chief Deputy
Steve Martin after authorities linked two shootings on Sunday to the string
of attacks that have terrorized the community for months and left one person
dead." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- "Gore
Says Bush Betrayed the U.S. by Using 9/11 as a Reason for War in Iraq."
... "In a withering critique of the Bush administration, former Vice President
Al Gore on Sunday accused the president of betraying the country by using
the Sept. 11 attacks as a justification for the invasion of Iraq." ...
""He betrayed this country!" Mr. Gore shouted into the microphone at a
rally of Tennessee Democrats here in a stuffy hotel ballroom. "He played
on our fears. He took America on an ill-conceived foreign adventure dangerous
to our troops, an adventure preordained and planned before 9/11 ever took
place."" -By Katharine Q. Seelye -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- 2004
ELECTION - "Kerry's
rivals say race still open, but voters say otherwise."
... "The three major candidates hoping to outlast one another and take
on John Kerry, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination,
argued Sunday that it's too early to end the race. But in contests across
the country, Democrats are indicating they disagree." ... "Saturday and
Sunday, Kerry won caucuses in Washington state, Michigan and Maine for
a season record of 10 wins, two losses." -By Jill
Lawrence -USATODAY
-
-
- 
-
- "More
newborns said to be at risk from mercury." ... "A
new government analysis nearly doubled the estimate of the number of newborn
children at risk for health problems because of unsafe mercury levels in
their blood. Environmental Protection Agency scientists said yesterday
that new research indicates that 630,000 U.S. newborns had unsafe levels
of mercury in their blood in 1999-2000." ... "The key factor in the revised
estimates is research showing differences in mercury levels in the blood
of pregnant women and their unborn children. In a Jan. 26 presentation
at EPA's National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, in San Diego, EPA biochemist
Kathryn Mahaffey said researchers in the past few years had shown that
mercury levels in a fetus' umbilical-cord blood are 70 percent higher than
those in the mother's blood." -By Guy Gugliotta
-WashingtonPost via
-SeattleTimes.NWsource
-
-
- "CIA
tries to staunch wounds opened by Kay." ... "Mr Tenet
[the director of the Central Intelligence Agency] was disarmingly frank
on Thursday, admitting that while more time was needed to reach definitive
conclusions, the agency's judgments now looked suspect on all the key elements
of Iraq's weapons programmes - its nuclear, chemical and biological capabilities.
He acknowledged that CIA human intelligence was lacking in Iraq, forcing
it to rely on what turned out to be less than accurate sources provided
by other countries." ... ""Our record was mixed," he said. "While we had
voluminous reporting, the major judgments reached were based on a narrower
band of data." But he said that based on Saddam Hussein's history and on
the technical and human intelligence gathered by the agency, "it would
have been difficult for analysts to come to any different conclusions than
the ones we reached"." -By Edward Alden and Mark Huband
with contributions by Salamander Davoudi -FT.com
- "Mad
Cow Quandary: Making Animal Feed." ... "In the month
and a half since a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Washington
State, Americans have been learning more than they wanted to know about
what cattle in this country have been eating." ... "Though consumers may
imagine bucolic scenes of nursing calves and cows munching on grass or
hay, much of American agriculture no longer works that way. For years,
calves have been fed cow's blood instead of milk, and cattle feed has been
allowed to contain composted wastes from chicken coops, including feathers,
spilled feed and even feces." ... "Though the United States banned the
use of cow parts in cattle feed in the 1990's, it still permits rendered
matter from cows to be fed to pigs and chickens, and rendered pigs and
chickens to be fed back to cows. Critics say that in theory, that sequence
could bring mad cow disease full circle, back to cows." -By
Denise Grady-NYTimes
via -Google-News
2004
ELECTION - "Kerry
Wins Gephardt Backing, Dean Makes a Stand." ... "Democratic
presidential front-runner John Kerry, riding a hot streak in the presidential
race, won the backing of former rival Richard Gephardt on Thursday as rival
Howard Dean vowed to make what could be his last stand in Wisconsin." (1,
2)
-By John Whitesides -Reuters
- "Bush's
Guard service: What the record shows." .. "Bush's
military records.... contain evidence that a lackadaisical Bush did not
report for required Guard duty for a full year during his six-year National
Guard enlistment." .. "A detailed Globe examination of the records in 2000
unearthed official reports by Bush's Guard commanders that they had not
seen him for a year. There was also no evidence that Bush had done part
of his Guard service in Alabama, as he has claimed. Bush's Guard appointment,
made possible by family connections, was cut short when Bush was allowed
to leave his Houston Guard unit eight months early to attend Harvard Business
School." ... "Bush received an honorable discharge in 1973. The records
contain no indication that Bush's commanding officers, one of them a friend,
ever accused him of shirking his duty." -By Walter
V. Robinson -Boston/Globe
2004
ELECTION - "Dean
Says He Will Quit Race if He Fails to Win Wisconsin."
... "Howard Dean sent an overnight e-mail message to supporters saying
he would quit the Democratic presidential race if he did not win the Wisconsin
primary on Feb. 17." ... "The message, which comes as Dr. Dean is under
increasing pressure to quit the race from unions and members of Congress
supporting his campaign, is a marked shift from the candidate's recent
comments." ... ""The entire race has come down to this: we must win Wisconsin,"
Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, said in the e-mail, which asked
for $50 contributions, with a goal of raising $700,000 by Sunday, to put
television advertisements up before Wisconsin's primary." -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
- 2004
ELECTION - "Pentagon
scraps 2004 online voting." ... "The Pentagon has
canceled plans to allow military personnel to vote online in the November
2004 presidential elections, a Defense Department spokeswoman said Thursday."
... "A group of four computer scientists criticized
the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment in a Jan.
20 report. The scientists were invited by the Pentagon to critique the
program, and they alleged that the SERVE system has numerous "security
problems that leave it vulnerable to a variety of well-known cyberattacks.""
-By David McGlinchey -GovExec.com
- "Mad
cow panel urges testing: The experts also want stricter
rules on animal feed." ... "An influential panel of international experts
warned Wednesday that there are likely more cases of mad cow disease in
the country and urged the Bush administration to further tighten safeguards
on meat and animal feed." ... "The scientists, who reviewed the U.S. regulations
at the request of the government, said the risk to public health was low
but warned that one sick cow could spread the disease widely if its remains
are used in animal feed." -By Philip Brasher
-DesMoinesRegister/News
2004
ELECTION - "Unable
to clinch a state, Lieberman ends quest." ... "Surrounded
by family and supporters, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the
Democrats' 2000 vice-presidential nominee, has ended his candidacy for
the presidential nomination in a small, nondescript ballroom here." -By
Diane Cardwell -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
-
- "Ricin
Find Stops Most Senate Business Capitol: Physician
Says No Evidence That Anyone Was Exposed to Ricin Enough 'To Make Them
Sick'." ... "A white powder found in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's
office tested Tuesday as an "active" form of the deadly poison ricin, forcing
cancellation of most Senate business in the second such scare from a lethal
toxin to hit the capital." ... "Between 40 and 50 Capitol employees were
quarantined briefly and decontaminated, said Senate aides who spoke on
condition of anonymity." ... "But officials have found no evidence that
anyone was significantly exposed to the poison enough "to make them sick,"
said Dr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician. However, he urged employees
to be alert for symptoms over the next 48 to 72 hours."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
- "Iraqi
Kurds Vow Unity as Blast Toll Reaches 67." ... "U.S.
military officials said the number killed in Sunday's coordinated attacks
had risen to 67 -- from an earlier estimate of 56 -- and those wounded
numbered 247." ... "The attacks, the worst since a suicide car bomb killed
more than 80 outside a mosque in the holy city of Najaf last August, killed
several senior members of the main Kurdish parties --the Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party." ... "The attacks were
especially hard on the KDP, which lost its veteran deputy leader, Sami
Abdul-Rahman, whose moderate views carried much weight." (1, 2,
3)
-Reuters
-
-
- "Bush
to pick panel for WMD inquiry, official says: Independent
probe of intelligence has bipartisan support." ... "The intelligence to
be reviewed was used to justify the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the first under
Bush's national security strategy calling for pre-emptive attacks against
terrorist groups and nations that possess or are developing weapons of
mass destruction." ... "David Kay, the former U.S. chief weapons inspector
in Iraq, told a Senate panel last week that his group did not find such
weapons and that he didn't believe stockpiles of banned weapons would turn
up either." -CNN
-
-
-
-
- "Bush
to Establish Panel to Examine U.S. Intelligence."
... "President Bush will establish a bipartisan commission in the next
few days to examine American intelligence operations, including a study
of possible misjudgments about Iraq's unconventional weapons, senior administration
officials said Sunday. They said the panel would also investigate failures
to penetrate secretive governments and stateless groups that could attempt
new attacks on the United States." ... "The pressure to establish such
a panel became irresistible after David A. Kay, the former chief weapons
inspector, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that "it
turns out we were all wrong, probably," about the perceived Iraqi threat,
which was the administration's basic justification for the war." ... "The
commission will not report back until after the November elections. Some
former officials who have been approached about taking part say they believe
it may take 18 months or more to reach its conclusions." (1, 2)
-By David E. Sanger -NYTimes
-
-
- "Freed
female prison officer 'exceptionally strong': 'They
would have killed me,' ex-hostage says." ... "The spirit of the female
corrections officer -- freed Sunday night by two inmates, who held her
for 15 days in a guard tower -- is "exceptionally strong," an Arizona official
said after the ordeal ended." ... "As the officer was being transported
to the hospital Sunday, she spoke to Gov. Janet Napolitano." ... ""She
said basically, 'Thank you for not leaving me. Thank you for not rushing
the tower. They would have killed me,' " Napolitano said."
-CNN
-
- "Prison
hostage standoff ends; guard released." ... "The
longest U.S. prison hostage standoff in decades ended Sunday when a corrections
officer was released from the guard tower where two inmates had held her
for two weeks, a Corrections Department spokeswoman said." -By
Paul Davenport -AP
via -StarTribune.com
-
-
-
- "Bombs
kill 12 in Iraq, including 3 U.S. soldiers." ...
"Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives have blown themselves up
in the offices of two Kurdish parties aligned with U.S. occupation forces
in northern Iraq, killing at least 56 people and wounding 200." ... "The
Arbil offices of Iraq's two main Kurdish political groups were crowded
with senior officials celebrating the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha when
the bombers struck, killing many top leaders of the two groups." -By
Shamal Aqrawi -Reuters
via -Reuters.co.uk
- "Arizona
Prisoners End 15-Day Hostage Ordeal." ... "The standoff,
which started on Jan. 18 at the Lewis state prison 45 miles from Phoenix,
ended at 6:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. EST) without violence, Alan Ecker, a spokesman
for the Arizona department of corrections, told reporters."
-Reuters
-
- "Uut
and Uup Add Their Atomic Mass to Periodic Table."
... "A team of Russian and American scientists are reporting today that
they have created two new chemical elements, called superheavies because
of their enormous atomic mass. The discoveries fill a gap at the furthest
edge of the periodic table and hint strongly at a weird landscape of undiscovered
elements beyond." ... "Scientists generally do not give permanent names
to elements and write them into textbooks until the discoveries have been
confirmed by another laboratory. By an international convention based on
the numbers, element 113 will be given the temporary name Ununtrium (abbreviated
Uut for the periodic table) and element 115 will be designated Ununpentium
(Uup)." -By James Glanz -NYTimes
-
-
- "Senator:
Flight cancellations necessary." ... " A key member
of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday the United States has
no defense against threats to release biological weapons inside airplanes
except to cancel suspect flights." ... "Asked about reports that a biological
or chemical agent might be used in an attack on a U.S.-bound airline, Sen.
Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, said the United States would have no
way to counter such moves." -CNN
-
-
-
- "Bombs
kill 12 in Iraq, including 3 U.S. soldiers." ...
"Witnesses in Mosul, Iraq's major northern city, said what appeared to
be a suicide attacker drove through a security barricade in front of the
police station before blowing up his vehicle outside the building. Officials
confirmed a car bomb but wouldn't say if it was a suicide attack." ...
"In Kirkuk, a homemade bomb exploded as a 4th Infantry Division convoy
passed by about 25 miles southwest of the city today, killing the three
soldiers, the U.S. military said. The deaths raised to 522 the number of
U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq conflict."
-AP via -HoustonChronicle.com
- 2004
ELECTION - "Kerry,
Bush in statistical dead heat among Minnesota voters."
... "Democratic Sen. John Kerry and President Bush are in a statistical
dead heat in Minnesota, according to a new statewide poll." ... "Forty-three
percent of Minnesota voters favored Kerry compared to 41 percent for Bush.
Sixteen percent were undecided, according to the poll commissioned by the
St. Paul Pioneer Press and Minnesota Public Radio."
-AP via -StarTribune.com
-
- "Negotiators
continue working on prison guard's release." ...
"A prison standoff [in Arizona] that stretched to 12 days Thursday could
be the lengthiest prison hostage situation in the United States in at least
50 years, an expert said." ... "Other standoffs include an 11-day incident
in 1987, when Cuban detainees took control of a penitentiary in Atlanta
and held more than 100 hostages. Inmates in Lucasville, Ohio, also staged
an 11-day standoff in 1993, taking 12 guards hostage to stop mandatory
tuberculosis testing." ... "Both ended in negotiated surrenders." -By
Ananda Shorey -AZDailySun
- 
- "Cost
estimates rise to $540 billion for Medicare plan."
... "The new Medicare drug benefit will cost about 35 percent more than
Congress anticipated, helping to kick the federal budget deficit up to
a record $500 billion next year, according to officials familiar with the
fiscal 2005 budget that President Bush is to release Monday." ... "The
prescription drug plan, which will not be fully in effect until 2006, will
cost about $540 billion over 10 years, instead of the $396 billion projected
in the law that Congress approved late last year, said a government official
and private-sector economists who have been briefed on the budget." -By
Susan Milligan -Boston/Globe
-
-
-
- "2
congressional panels echo Kay on Iraqi weaponry."
... "The House and Senate intelligence committees have unearthed a series
of failures in the prewar intelligence on Iraq similar to those identified
by former weapons inspector David Kay, leading them to believe that CIA
analysts and their superiors did not seriously consider the possibility
that Saddam Hussein no longer possessed weapons of mass destruction, according
to congressional officials." ... "The committees, working separately for
the past seven months, have determined that the CIA relied too heavily
on circumstantial, outdated intelligence and became overly dependent on
satellite and spy-plane imagery and communications intercepts." -By
Dana Priest & Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost
via -SFGate.com
2004
ELECTION -
- 
- "Politics
as punch line: Young voters are turning to comics
like... Jon Stewart, Dennis Miller, and Bill Maher as an alternative to
the news anchors." ... "Philosophy major Joe Harper has never voted in
a presidential election. He doesn't know yet whom he'll vote for this fall.
He is clear on one thing, however." ... ""I'm not watching the evening
news to figure it out, that's for sure," says the 21-year-old college student.
His favorite sources of information about the candidates are the ones increasingly
favored by the under-30 crowd, the comedy of Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show"
and "anything" from Bill Maher. "I trust these guys," says Mr. Harper.
"Their stuff is funnier, but it's also truer."" -By
Gloria Goodale -CSMonitor
-
-
- "U.N.
Election Team to Go to Iraq Within Days, Annan Says."
... "U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday he would send a team
to Iraq within days to explore the feasibility of holding an early election,
after he received security assurances from U.S.-led occupation forces."
-Reuters via -Wired
-
- "U.S.
military probes blast in Afghanistan." ... "The U.S.
military Friday was investigating whether an explosion at a weapons cache
that killed seven American soldiers and wounded three was an accident or
an attack." ... "Thursday's blast — one of the deadliest for U.S. forces
since they deployed here two years ago — also left another American soldier
missing and wounded an Afghan interpreter."
-AP via -USATODAY
ELECTION
2004 -
- "Kerry
turns to the 'band of brothers': Republicans are
keen to portray John Kerry as a limp-wristed liberal, but this genuine
war hero has already tapped into the Vietnam generation, says Philip James."
... "As headline grabbing as his surprise win was in Iowa, and his decisive
victory in New Hampshire, together these two states add up to only 32 delegates
for Kerry. He needs another 2,000 or so to be assured the nomination."
... "Traditionally March 2, aka Super Tuesday, is the date when contested
nominations are decided. California, New York and eight other mostly big
states put over 1,000 delegates in play." ... "But this year a change to
the primary schedule has seven southern, mid-western and western states
voting together on February 3. Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma have clustered
with South Carolina, Delaware, North Dakota and Missouri, to give it the
status and influence of a mini Super Tuesday- with 269 delegates up for
grabs." -Guardian.co.uk
- "Minutes
before execution, killer admits to more murders."
... "Time finally ran out for condemned killer Billy Frank Vickers, but
the career criminal went to his death by leaving behind an unexpected disclosure
he may have been involved in more than a dozen murders, including the Cullen
Davis case in Fort Worth [Texas]." ... "Jack Strickland, a former prosecutor
who worked on the Davis case, said Wednesday night that he had never heard
of Vickers and doubted that he was involved in the 1976 shooting." -By
Michael Graczyk -AP
via -HoustonChronicle.com
-
-
- "About
2 Million to Use Up Jobless Benefits." ... "Nearly
2 million people are expected to exhaust their state unemployment benefits
in the first half of the year without access to more government aid or
a regular paycheck, according to a study released Thursday." ... "Congress
has refused to approve another extension of federal unemployment benefits
for people who exhaust their state aid." -By Leigh
Strope -AP
via -AJC
-
- 2004
ELECTION - "Ariz.
hosts first primary test out West." ... "Targeted
by every major candidate except Sen. John Edwards, Arizona is a prize with
symbolic value beyond the 55 convention delegates at stake. Its primary,
one of seven contests on Feb. 3, is the first to test the contenders' appeal
in the West and among Hispanic voters. Neighboring New Mexico has caucuses
that day." ... "In 1996, President Clinton became the first Democrat to
win Arizona's electoral votes since Harry Truman in 1948. In 2000, Bush
beat Al Gore here, 51%-45%, but Gore put up no fight, Arizona Democrats
say." -By Martin Kasindorf
-USATODAY
2004
ELECTION - "Trailing
Dems refine strategies: Dean replaces campaign manager
-- others vow to stay in race." ... "While Democratic front-runner John
Kerry picked up endorsements Wednesday in Missouri and South Carolina,
his challengers focused on their best bets to win a contest in Tuesday's
coast-to-coast primaries and slow the Massachusetts senator's march to
the Democratic presidential nomination." ... "Former Gov. Howard Dean,
his campaign disappointed by his double-digit loss to Kerry in the New
Hampshire primary, shook up his staff and conducted satellite interviews
with local television stations in each of the seven states that vote Tuesday."
-SFGate.com
-
- -
"al-Qaida
Said Seeking Presence in Iraq." ... "The arrest of
top al-Qaida operative Hassan Ghul shows that the terrorist network is
seeking to establish a foothold in Iraq, a U.S. commander said Thursday."
-AP via -Miami/Herald
-
-
-
- "Afghan
offensive planned to slow Al-Qaida." ... "The Pentagon
is planning a new offensive in Afghanistan to stop remnants of the Taliban
regime and the Al-Qaida terror network, officials said Wednesday, even
as the second suicide assault in Kabul in two days killed one British soldier
and injured four." -By Pauline Jelinek
-AP via -StarTribune.com
-
-
- "Iraq
roadside attacks kill one and injure 13." ... "A
series of roadside attacks in Iraq have killed a local security officer
and wounded at least 13 other people as insurgents mount fresh strikes
against Iraqis seen as collaborating with U.S. forces." ... "Since May
1 last year, when President George W. Bush declared major combat over in
Iraq, more than 300 Iraqi policemen have been killed in shootings, bombings
or suicide attacks, according to Iraq's interior ministry." -By
Michael Georgy -Reuters
via -Reuters.co.uk
-
-
- "Army
given OK to temporarily increase its ranks." ...
"The Army's top general said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,
hoping to quiet critics in Congress, has given him the authority to temporarily
increase the size of the Army by up to 30,000 troops until 2008." ... "Gen.
Peter Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, told the House Armed Services
Committee that the temporary increase would ease strains caused by U.S.-led
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan but not require the billions of dollars
that a permanent troop increase would cost." -By Dave
Moniz -USATODAY
-
-
-
- "Kay
to Testify About Iraqi WMD Search: Kay to Testify
About Search for Iraq's Weapons As Some in Bush Administration Shift Positions."
... "Senators want to speak with the former top U.S. weapons inspector
who said he couldn't find evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons
of mass destruction, a primary justification by President Bush for the
war in Iraq." ... "As special adviser to CIA Director George Tenet, Kay
was chosen last year as the Iraq Survey Group leader in part because he
was convinced weapons would be found. "My suspicions are that we'll find
in the chemical and biological areas, in fact, I think there may be some
surprises coming rather quickly in that area," he said on CNN in June."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 2004
ELECTION - "Kerry
Appeal: Behind New Hampshire Win: Broad Base, Moderate
Image, Electability." ... "A broad base on issues, a moderate image and
a sense of electability powered John Kerry to a double-digit victory in
the New Hampshire primary and being someone other than Howard Dean
didn't hurt." ... "Kerry did best with voters who were looking mainly for
a candidate who can beat George W. Bush (he won 62 percent of them), and
for someone with the "right experience." But Kerry also won big in two
other, larger groups: Those who viewed Dean unfavorably and those who didn't
think Dean has the right temperament for the job." -By
Gary Langer with David Morris, Dalia Sussman and Maureen Michaels
-ABCNEWS.com
-
- "9/11
panel hears crew member's call: Calm voice told how
hijackers terrorized flight." ... "The tape of Betty Ong's voice yesterday,
urgent yet amazingly calm, describing through the background buzz how a
group of hijackers had stabbed two of her fellow flight attendants and
taken over the first plane that slammed in the World Trade Center, silenced
the congressional hearing room." ... ""The cockpit is not answering the
phone. Someone's coming. Another one got stabbed. Our first class gal's
stabbed, our purser has been stabbed. We can't get inside the cockpit,"
Ong, 45, who lived in Andover, told an American reservations specialist
in a call from the rear phone aboard American Airlines Flight 11." -By
Laura Sullivan -BaltimoreSun
via -Boston/Globe
- "Deficit
forecast collides with Bush's plans: Projections
of $477 billion budget gap sharpen debate over extending tax cuts." ...
"This year's deficit will be a record in dollar terms, at $477 billion,
according to CBO. That's equal to about 4.5 percent of the nation's gross
domestic product." -By Peter Grier
-CSMonitor
-
-
- "Truck
bomb detonates outside Baghdad hotel: Blast comes
day after 13 killed in attacks." ... "At least four other people -- all
Iraqis --were injured in the blast." ... "According to Gen. Mark Hertling,
the explosion happened at about 7:15 a.m. (11:15 p.m. Tuesday ET) in front
of the Shaheen Hotel in the Karada section of the Iraqi capital, battering
the front of the hotel and leaving a large crater in the road." ... "The
five attacks Tuesday killed six U.S. soldiers, two CNN employees, four
Iraqi policemen and an Iraqi civilian, according to police and military
sources." -CNN
- "Ariz.
Prisons Staff Rally Around Hostage." ... "Workers
from other prisons around Arizona are donning yellow ribbons and volunteering
to fill in at a prison that has been under lockdown for more than a week
while a guard is being held hostage, a spokeswoman said Tuesday."
-AP via -AJC
-
-
- "UN
team begins Iraq poll mission: A United Nations security
team has arrived in Iraq to see if it is safe enough to send election experts."
... "The US and Iraq had asked the world body to send experts to investigate
the chance of a vote by the end of June." ... "UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan agreed to the request, but said he had to be convinced the mission
was safe." -BBC/News
-
-
- "U.N.
envoy warns against premature polls in Iraq." ...
"U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Tuesday premature elections in Iraq
could do more harm than good and signaled he would not play the kind of
leadership role there that Washington wanted him to play." ... "Annan said
earlier in Paris that, security permitting, he would send a team to Iraq
to see if early elections were feasible." ... "Annan said he would send
a mission to assess whether direct polls would be possible before the U.S.
hands back power to Iraqis mid-year, as the influential Shi'ite cleric,
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has demanded." -Reuters
-
-
- 
- 
-
- "From
Iraq to Libya, US knew little on weapons: Doubts
that Hussein had WMD raise questions about war's rationale and intelligence
reliability." ... "When it comes to unconventional weapons, Iraq may have
been far from the most dangerous country in the world after all. In recent
days a string of surprising revelations has scrambled the world's proliferation
threat assessments." ... "Iraq's weapons programs were apparently in shambles,
for instance, while Libya's were surprisingly advanced. Pakistan's nuclear
scientists might have been rogue agents, proffering secrets for cash. And
it appears that North Korea may be the most advanced rogue nuclear nation
of all, with an advanced capacity to produce fissile material." -By
Peter Grier -CSMonitor
-
-
- "Libya
Nuclear Components Arrive in U.S.: Plane Carrying
Components of Libya's Nuclear Weapons Program Arrives in U.S., White House
Says." ... "Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, following up a promise to end
his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, has shipped some 55,000 pounds
of nuclear and missile components to the United States in a bid to break
out of diplomatic isolation." ... "Bush administration officials indicated
Gadhafi could expect some easing of economic pressure in return if he continued
on a cooperative track. But one official told The Associated Press that
Libya had not proved it no longer supported terrorism."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- "U.S.
says guards cheated in nuke plant terrorism drill."
... "Security guards who repelled four simulated terrorist attacks at a
Tennessee nuclear weapons plant had been tipped in advance, undermining
the encouraging results, the Energy Department's watchdog office said Monday."
... "The surprising successes by guards at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant
last summer in Oak Ridge, Tenn., spurred an internal investigation. It
determined that at least two guards defending the mock attacks had been
allowed to look at computer simulations one day before the attacks. The
plant processes parts for nuclear weapons and maintains vast supplies of
bomb-grade uranium." -By Ted Bridis
-AP via -AJC
- "Negotiators
optimistic in Arizona hostage situation." ... "Two
prison inmates continued Monday to hold a correctional officer hostage
in a guard tower, as negotiators worked into their ninth day to secure
her release." ... "The inmates released one guard on Saturday, the first
major development in the standoff that began Jan. 18."-AP
via -USATODAY
- "Sept.
11 Panel Explores Border Security: Sept. 11 Commission
Hearing Explores Lapses in Border Security, Including Fraudulent Visas."
... "Some of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were allowed into the country despite
carrying fraudulent visas and being questioned by customs agents, an independent
commission investigating the terrorist attacks said Monday in releasing
new details about the attack." ... "For example, hijacker Saeed al Ghamdi
was referred to immigration inspection officials in June 2001 after he
provided no address on his customs form and only had a one-way plane ticket
and about $500. But Al Ghamdi was able to persuade the inspector that he
was a tourist." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- "Iraqi council
splitting under Shiite pressure: Many defer to cleric
on election format." ... "A powerful cleric's demand for quick elections
has delayed the drafting of an interim constitution and has created a serious
new split in the Iraqi Governing Council, officials said, further undermining
the Bush administration's troubled plan for a political transition in Iraq."
... "Without an interim constitution, which is supposed to be completed
in less than five weeks, the entire timetable for a U.S. transfer of power
to an Iraqi government by June 30 could be disrupted. And the divide in"
-By Edward Wong -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
-
- "Toyota
surpasses Ford as No. 2 automaker." ... "Toyota confirmed
the tally it gave last Friday for worldwide sales for 2003 of 6.78 million
vehicles, up 9.9 percent from 6.17 million the previous year. Last week,
Ford said its 2003 sales slipped to 6.72 million vehicles, down 3.6 percent
from 6.97 million the year before." -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
-
-
- "Iraq's
Path Hinges on Words of Enigmatic Cleric." ... "An
austere home in a dusty alleyway here [Najaf, Iraq] has become a center
of power rivaling the American occupation headquarters in Baghdad — and
the scene of fierce inner struggles for one man's ear." ... "Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani, a reclusive 73-year-old cleric revered by many of Iraq's
15 million Shiites, hears arguments and requests here from the country's
most senior politicians, occasionally issuing decrees through them that
thwart the plans of the world's sole superpower." ... "The ayatollah's
secular power is clear: his insistence on direct elections for a transitional
national assembly before Iraqi sovereignty in June drew up to 100,000 supporters
to Baghdad's streets on Monday and left the Bush administration scrambling
to salvage plans for a caucus-style selection." (1, 2)
-By Edward Wong -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
-
-
- "WMD
hunter: No stockpiles in Iraq." ... "The man who
has led Washington's search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, David
Kay, says he doesn't think large weapons stockpiles existed there past
the mid-1990s." ... "Kay quit his post as the CIA's chief weapons hunter
in Iraq and will be replaced by Charles Duelfer -- a former official with
the U.N.'s inspection team in Iraq." ... "Though Kay has said new information
has been uncovered about Iraq's programs --particularly its efforts to
build missiles --he has since concluded there are no weapons stockpiles
to be found." -CNN
- ELECTION
2004 - "Reflecting
surge, Kerry focuses fire on Republicans." ... "Kerry
accused President Bush and his administration on Friday of shortchanging
health and pension programs for veterans. The tough, patriotic rhetoric
from the White House isn't backed up by actions, he told a group of 400
activists, most of them veterans." ... ""The first definition of patriotism
is keeping faith with those who have worn the uniform of the country,"
said Kerry, a decorated Navy veteran of Vietnam. He said some veterans
must wait too long for health care, while others who are disabled receive
a reduced pension." -By Mike Glover
-AP via -SFGate.com
-
- "Military
Copter Crash Kills 4 in Calif." ... "A military helicopter
crashed during a training mission at this [Camp Pendleton] base north of
San Diego, killing all four people aboard, officials said." ... "The UH-1
Huey, a cargo-type helicopter, crashed about 7 p.m. Thursday, Maj. T.V.
Johnson said." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
- "Signs
offer hope in Arizona prison standoff." ... "The
appearance of two guards on the deck of an Arizona prison tower where they
are being held hostage by two inmates gave negotiators hope as talks to
end the standoff entered a sixth day Friday." ... ""It's naturally tense,
but the feeling by the negotiating team is positive," Department of Corrections
spokeswoman Cam Hunter said Friday. "As long as it appears that the officers
are still safe, we're very encouraged."" -CNN
- "NASA
Engineers Hope to Resume Communication With Rover After Two Days Without
Receiving Any Data." ... "Anxious NASA engineers
were trying to diagnose and possibly patch up their ailing robotic patient
after the Spirit rover stopped transmitting data from Mars." ... "NASA
hoped communication with the six-wheeled rover would resume Friday morning
after two days without receiving any significant data a potentially calamitous
turn that project manager Pete Theisinger called "a very serious anomaly.""
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
- "Two
U.S. pilots die when chopper comes down in northern Iraq."
... "A statement said the Kiowa helicopter came down at about 8:30 p.m.
(1730 GMT) northwest of Qayara, but that the cause of the crash was not
known and an accompanying helicopter did not mention any hostile activity."
-Reuters
-
-
-
-
- "US
business urging Bush to drop Libya sanctions soon."
... "U.S. oil companies and other corporations eager to do business in
Libya have urged the Bush administration to remove sanctions on that country
by an April 23 deadline set by Tripoli and families of the 1988 Lockerbie
bombing victims, senior industry officials said Friday." ... "Tripoli appears
eager to restore normal diplomatic and trade relations with the United
States, which banned Libyan oil imports in 1982 and imposed additional
economic sanctions in 1986 against the country it accused of sponsoring
terrorism." -By Doug Palmer
-Reuters via -Forbes
-
-
- "Halliburton
acknowledges kickback allegations in Iraq contract."
... "Halliburton has fired employees who allegedly took kickbacks from
a Kuwaiti subcontractor helping to supply U.S. troops in Iraq, the company
said." ... "The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that two employees
of Halliburton subsidiary KBR accepted up to $6 million in kickbacks from
the unnamed Kuwaiti firm." -By Matt Kelley
-AP via -Boston/Globe
-
- "Assailants
Kill 4 Iraqi Women Working for U.S.: Gunmen Follow
Van Carrying Laundry Employees." ... "The shooting deaths of four Iraqi
women, who were being driven late Wednesday to their jobs as cleaners at
a U.S. military base, have heightened official concerns about attacks against
Iraqis who cooperate with or are employed by U.S.-led occupation forces."
... "The attack on Wednesday marked the first time attackers appeared to
deliberately target women after months of recurrent violent assaults against
U.S.-led troops, Iraqi police and other security forces." -By
Pamela Constable -WashingtonPost
-
- "Infiltration
of files seen as extensive: Senate panel's GOP staff
pried on Democrats." ... "Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary
Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret
strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate
officials told The Globe." ... "From the spring of 2002 until at least
April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch
that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without
a password. Trolling through hundreds of memos, they were able to read
talking points and accounts of private meetings discussing which judicial
nominees Democrats would fight -- and with what tactics." -By
Charlie Savage -Boston/Globe
2004
ELECTION - "Transcript:
Democratic Presidential Debate in N.H.." ... "" -FDCH
e-Media via -WashingtonPost
- "Arizona
prison hostages enter fourth day in tower." ... "Negotiators
got their first glimpse of the correctional officers Tuesday, and they
appear to be OK, Hunter said. The guards were also allowed to briefly speak
to law enforcement by radio." ... "The standoff began Sunday morning after
an inmate attacked a guard in the prison kitchen. The prisoner and another
inmate then got into an observation tower where the two guards, one male
and one female, were stationed." -By Anabelle Garay
-AP via -SFGate.com
- 
- "State
of the Union Address." -By President
George W. Bush -Whitehouse.gov
- 2004
ELECTION - "Edwards
Snags Second Place (Remarkably): The come-from-way-behind
kid proves he’s not going away." ... "[John] Edwards’ positive message
had to be the deciding factor in his surge. Even without the ground organizations
of Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt, Edwards was able to capture the silver.
The final reasons won’t be known until the returns are more fully analyzed,
but a huge amount of the Iowa electorate remained on the fence until caucus
day, and those late deciders swung to Kerry and Edwards. Those fence-sitters
might have stayed home in past years, but had an added motivation: They
want George W. Bush out of the White House so badly that nominating the
strongest opponent has become more important than the perfect candidate."
-By Mitch Frank
-TIME.com
-ELECTION
2004 - "'Underdog'
Dean looks to New Hampshire." ... "After finishing
a distant third behind U.S. Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and John
Edwards of North Carolina, Dean flew directly to New Hampshire, which holds
its primary on January 27." ... ""I would love to come in first but you
only have to come in the top three," he told several hundred cheering supporters
at a predawn airport rally in Portsmouth on Tuesday." ... "He cited as
examples Bill Clinton, who won the presidency after losing Iowa, and Michael
Dukakis
who also lost in the Midwestern state but went on to become the Democratic
nominee." -By Patricia Wilson
-Reuters via -Reuters.co.uk
- ELECTION
2004 - "Kerry,
Edwards 1-2; Gephardt to pull out." ... "Iowa Democrats
handed Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry a come-from-behind victory in the
state's presidential caucuses Monday night, throwing wide open the national
race that had been expected to settle quickly on former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean." ... "Dean finished a distant third, behind North Carolina Sen. John
Edwards." ... "Edwards' second place finish was nearly as big a victory
for him as was first place for Kerry. Ten days ago, Edwards was barely
holding double digit support in the polls, while Dean was the frontrunner."
-By Sharon Schmickle -StarTribune.com
- "Arizona
Inmates Hold Prison Guards Hostage." ... "Negotiators
trying to free two guards held by two inmates at a massive Arizona prison
worked into a second day, buoyed by word the hostages apparently are not
seriously injured, authorities said Monday." ... "Authorities reported
that they were able to speak to the male and female corrections officers
held hostage since early Sunday in a tower at the Arizona State Prison
Complex-Lewis, about 45 miles southwest of Phoenix."
-Reuters
- ELECTION
2004 - "Democrats
gird for showdown in Iowa tonight." ... "Swept up
in the closest nomination fight in recent history, Democratic candidates
pulled out surprise guests to vouch for them on the final day before tonight's
Iowa caucuses, while campaign strategists worked intensely behind the scenes
to mobilize voters in a race that hinges on turnout." ... "Howard Dean
introduced his wife on the campaign trail for the first time after staging
an appearance with Jimmy Carter -- events that advisers hoped would grab
headlines and overshadow polls that indicated Dean was trailing Senators
John F. Kerry and John Edwards." -By Anne E. Kornblut-Boston/Globe
- ELECTION
2004 - "Key
precinct reflects wider caucus drama." ... "Each
candidate faces a different set of challenges in Iowa, reflecting their
disparate bases of support. Gephardt needs labor muscle in the urban centers
and votes from family farmers. Dean needs an unprecedented influx of first-time
caucusgoers, not just energetic support in the college towns of Ames and
Iowa City." ... "Kerry needs veterans to turn out on his behalf -- and
big showings in the more heavily populated eastern two-thirds of the state.
For Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, his extensive campaigning in
tiny rural towns, especially in western Iowa, must pay off with bodies
at caucuses." -By Rick Klein -Boston/Globe
-
-
-
- "Annan
Meets
With U.S., U.K. on Iraq Role." ... "Secretary-General
Kofi Annan sought ``greater clarity'' about a possible U.N. role in Iraq,
meeting on Monday with U.S. and Iraqi officials as the Bush administration
faced a dispute with a prominent Shiite cleric over choosing a provisional
government." ... "The U.S.-led coalition wants to keep its June 30 timetable
for the handover of power to an interim Iraqi government. But its plan
for caucuses to choose a provisional assembly has been attacked by the
country's most prominent Shiite leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani,
who has demanded direct elections." -By Edith M. Lederer
-AP via -AJC
-
-
- "U.S.
Eyes Space as Possible Battleground." ... "President
Bush's plan to expand the exploration of space parallels U.S. efforts to
control the heavens for military, economic and strategic gain." ... "Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld long has pushed for technology that could be
used to attack or defend orbiting satellites as well as a costly program,
heavily reliant on space-based sensors, to thwart incoming warheads." ...
"The moon, scientists have said, is a source of potentially unlimited energy
in the form of the helium 3 isotope -- a near perfect fuel source: potent,
nonpolluting and causing virtually no radioactive byproduct in a fusion
reactor." (1, 2)
-By
Jim Wolf -Reuters
- ELECTION
2004 - "Kerry,
Edwards surge: Iowa Poll finds surge by Kerry, Edwards."
... "A late surge by Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and
John Edwards has pushed them slightly ahead of long-standing front-runners
Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt in the race to win Monday's Iowa caucuses,
a new Des Moines Register poll shows." ... "Kerry, a U.S. senator from
Massachusetts, leads the Iowa Poll with 26 percent of likely caucus participants
naming him their first choice for the presidency. The poll, conducted Tuesday
through Friday, also showed him gaining strength as the week wore on."
... "Edwards, a North Carolina senator who was in single digits in an Iowa
Poll taken two months ago, follows in second place at 23 percent - his
highest finish in any media poll of Iowans." -By Jonathan
Roos -DesMoinesRegister/News
-
- "Cheney,
Scalia socialized while Supreme Court considered case."
... "Government watchdogs are raising concerns about a potential conflict
of interest for Justice Antonin Scalia because he had dinner and went on
a hunting trip with Dick Cheney while the Supreme Court was involved in
a case about the vice president's energy task force." ... "Scalia and Cheney,
longtime friends, had dinner at a restaurant on Maryland's Eastern Shore
in November, two months after the Bush administration asked the justices
to overrule a lower court's decision requiring White House to identify
task force members." -AP
via -USATODAY
-
- "After
10 Months in Iraq, U.S. Marks 500th Military Death:
Blast Outside Occupation Headquarters Kills at Least 12." ... "The U.S.
military death toll after 10 months of engagement in Iraq reached 500 yesterday,
roughly matching the number of U.S. military personnel who died in the
first four years of the U.S. military engagement in Vietnam." ... "The
cumulative toll of 500 U.S. deaths was reached in Vietnam in 1965, the
year when the U.S. deployment there rose from 23,300 to 184,300 troops.
In Iraq, in contrast, the United States is rotating forces with the goal
of reducing the total from 130,000 to 105,000 by June and also sharply
scaling back its military presence in Baghdad." -By
R. Jeffrey Smith -WashingtonPost
-
-
- "Blast
kills at least 20 outside coalition headquarters in Iraq."
... "A suicide bomber blew up a pickup truck packed with 1,000 pounds of
explosives outside the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition Sunday, killing
at about 20 people and injuring more than 60 — most of them Iraqis." ...
"The attack on a chill, foggy morning in the heart of Baghdad was the deadliest
in Iraq since the capture of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 13 near his hometown
of Tikrit. The blast occurred a day before the top U.S. civil administrator
in Iraq was to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to ask for the
world body's help in rebuilding the country."
-AP via -USATODAY
- ELECTION
2004 - "The
Iowa Poll, conducted for The Des Moines Register
by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with
randomly selected Iowans."
| John Kerry | 26% |
| John Edwards | 23% |
| Howard Dean | 20% |
| Dick Gephardt | 18% |
| Dennis Kucinich | 3% |
| Wesley Clark | 2% |
| Carol Moseley | 1% |
| Joe Lieberman | 1% |
| Al Sharpton | 1% |
| Not sure/Uncommitted | 5% |
-
- 
- "Court
Won't Block Texas Redistrict Plan." ... "The U.S.
Supreme Court refused Friday to block Texas from holding congressional
elections next fall under a hard-fought new map that could cost the Democrats
as many as six House seats." ... "Congressional Democrats and others claim
the map dilutes minority voting strength, but that was not at issue on
Friday; the high court has yet to decide whether to hear that argument."
... "Instead, the justices rejected an emergency appeal that sought to
stop the state from using the new boundaries in next fall's elections."
-By Jim Vertuno -AP
via -Miami/Herald
-
-
- "Arizona
Map Ruled Unconstitutional." ... "A judge overturned
Arizona's legislative redistricting map Friday, ruling that it violated
the state constitution by failing to give enough consideration to competitive
districts." ... "The decision found that the new congressional map for
Arizona's eight House seats also was flawed, but allowed those boundaries
to stand. The judge said the congressional map accomplished other goals,
including protecting minority representation." -By
Paul Davenport -AP
via -Guardian.co.uk
-
-
- "Bremer will
press UN on larger role: U.S. aide and Iraqis expected
to seek support for plan on power transfer." ... "L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the
administrator of the occupying authority in Iraq, was leaving Thursday
for Washington to consult with the White House before a meeting on Monday
at the United Nations. There, both the United States and the Iraqis it
has temporarily installed in office will press for a significant United
Nations role in support of their plan for a rapid handover of sovereignty.
The meeting, called by Secretary General Kofi Annan and attended by leaders
of the American-backed interim Iraqi Governing Council as well as the Americans,
will be the first significant, high-level negotiations between the parties
to discuss the mechanics of selecting a new legislative body for Iraq by
this summer." -By John H. Cushman Jr.-NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- ELECTION
2004 -"Iowa
race this year: closest in decades: Monday's caucuses
are likely to have a greater impact than usual on the primaries that follow."
... "As Iowa Democrats prepare to kick off the presidential nominating
process in just three days, this year's caucuses are shaping up to be the
closest - and most critical - in decades. Depending on who emerges next
Monday night, the Democratic race could seem on the verge of being over
- or else be blown wide open." ... "The race is already unusually turbulent,
with Iowa polls dramatically tightening in the final days, and now showing
Howard Dean in a virtual three-way tie with Dick Gephardt and John Kerry,
with John Edwards close behind." -By Liz Marlantes
-CSMonitor
- 
- "Bush's
Space Vision Thing." ... "Critics will no doubt accuse
President Bush of fiscal folly for proposing a grandiose plan for space
exploration at a time when the nation faces onerous deficits and insufficient
money to meet costly obligations on planet Earth. The critics would be
right that money is short and there are many more important things to do
than put astronauts on the Moon or Mars. But Mr. Bush is a canny enough
politician to avoid committing much money to his new space vision. He calls
for only $1 billion in new financing for NASA over five years and a reallocation
of the current five-year budget of $86 billion. The cost will of course
explode later on, when NASA tries to actually carry out the program. What
Mr. Bush has really done is promise the moon (literally) while leaving
future presidents and Congresses to figure out how to pay the potentially
large future bills while they cope with the severe revenue losses caused
by Mr. Bush's reckless tax cuts." -NYTimes
via -