Shillong- September 10, 2006- A quake measuring four on the Richter scale was felt along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur on Sunday. There were no reports of any casualties or damage.
The quake occurred at 11.42 am. Its epicentre was plotted along the country's border with Myanmar in Manipur, said CL Upadhyay, an official at the Regional Seismological Centre....    MORE

Sep. 10, 2006- ORLANDO, Fla.- The strong earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico that sent shocks through Florida on Sunday was rare in various ways, scientists said.
Don Blakeman, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., said earthquakes in the Gulf are unusual because the sea is not near the edge of a tectonic plate, the massive pieces of the Earth's surface layer that are in constant movement.
Consequently, there have been only about a dozen earthquakes registered in the Gulf in the past 30 years, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. By comparison, areas such as Indonesia can register twice that many in a day. . . . .
But because the Gulf is not near the edges of the North American plate upon which it sits, the seismic movement had to occur in the interior of the plate itself.
Such midplate earthquakes are rare. . . . .
Blakeman reiterated that the location of the quake puzzles him and his colleagues. "We just don't have many earthquakes in the Gulf," he said....    MORE

Sep 10- CASTAIC, Calif.- Firefighters face more hot, dry weather Sunday as they struggle to contain a wildfire burning across nearly 20-square miles of dry brush and timber in the Los Padres National Forest.
The blaze broke out Monday about 40 miles north of Los Angeles. More than 1,380 firefighters were battling the blaze and there was no estimate on when it might be contained, said James Turner of the U.S. Forest Service.
No homes have been damaged or were threatened Saturday and no one has been hurt fighting the blaze, he said.
The 12,700-acre fire burned to the shoreline of Pyramid Lake on Friday, forcing the closure of several camping sites and recreation areas and charring three cabanas and picnic tables.
About 1,200 campers and fishermen evacuated when the fire ignited Monday. . . . .
In Nevada, improved weather and more manpower helped fire crews hold the line against two fires burning more than 407 square miles in northeastern Nevada. . . . .
The two fires had burned more than 261,000 acres, or 407 square miles, in Lander and Elko counties. A 150,270-acre blaze was contained late Saturday, and a 110,738-acre fire was 75 percent contained with full containment expected by Monday.
In Idaho, fires had burned more than 234,000 acres, or 365 square miles, according to the Boise-based National Interagency Fire Center, composed of various federal agencies that coordinate to battle wildfires.
In Washington, firefighters battled two of the state's largest wildfires. A fire in southeastern Washington that burned more than 101,000 acres, or 157 square miles, was 55 percent contained, while another in north-central Washington that torched over 170,000 acres, or 265 square miles, was 60 percent contained.
Crews in southern Montana continued to fight a 205,000-acre fire - about 320 square miles. The fire, which started Aug. 22 from lightning, earlier burned 26 homes.
A fire in the Sierra foothills in California was threatening between 100 and 200 homes. The 5-square-mile fire prompted a call for voluntary evacuations for residents in Michigan Bluff and Baker Ranch Friday....    MORE

September 10, 2006- KIBBUTZ KINNERET, Israel- Wading into the Jordan River, the pastor blessed his flock, tapping the believers on the head before sending them into the hallowed waters to be baptized.
The faithful wet their faces and arms, shouting 'amen' and 'hallelujah' after each baptism, unaware that just downstream, raw sewage was flowing into the water.
That's the split personality of one of the world's most sacred rivers.
Small sections of the Jordan's upper portion, near the Sea of Galilee, have been kept pristine for baptisms. But Israel, Jordan and Syria have siphoned off huge amounts of river water to meet their needs in this arid region, and pumped waste water back in.
Hardest hit is the 60-mile downstream stretch - a meandering stream from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.
Environmentalists say the practice has almost destroyed the river's ecosystem.
Now Christian evangelicals have teamed up with environmentalists to save the Jordan. THEY WANT UNESCO TO DECLARE THE ENTIRE JORDAN VALLEY AND RIVER A WORLD HERITAGE SITE, hoping it will force all countries involved to work together to save it. . . . .
Environmentalists blame all three countries. . . . .
"To read about it is one thing, but to really be here and to be in THE PLACE THAT JESUS WAS BAPTIZED, it's really an emotion that you can't describe," Spence said. "Saying yes to Jesus Christ is the ultimate, it's just the ultimate."....    MORE

10 September 2006- Millions of people in Afghanistan face starvation after a drought destroyed crops, a UK charity has warned.
A Christian Aid survey of 66 villages suggests farmers in the worst affected areas have lost all their produce.
The aid agency is urging the British government and international bodies to give money to prevent people starving in north and west Afghanistan.
The crop failure comes as fighting continues in the south between the NATO-led troops and the Taleban.
Most of the water has dried up in the provinces of Herat, Badghis and Ghor, and the wheat harvest is down by 90% to 100% in parts of Faryab province, the study indicates....    MORE

LONDON- Sept. 10- Patients of the British National Health Service have reportedly been implanted with possibly contaminated bone from a batch stolen from the United States.
The flaw involved more than 70 pieces of bone from a New Jersey company now under investigation, that may have been grafted into patients at numerous British hospitals, the Sunday Time of London reported.
The bones were harvested from corpses at funeral parlors in the United States without prior consent from the deceased and without proper tests to make sure the bodies were not contaminated, the newspaper said.
Although many of the affected bone products that came into Britain were recalled after a safety alert, it was too late to retrieve 77 implants that were already grafted on to the hips and jaws of British patients.
Among the bodies desecrated was that of Alistair Cooke, whose "Letter from America" series ran on BBC radio for 58 years....    MORE

September 10, 2006- In the academic habitat of evolutionary scientists, religious sympathies are weeded out over time, and the fittest survive to pass along their traits through haughty books and lectures examining the “delusion” and purely biological origins of faith. So when an eminent evolutionary biologist breaks from the pack to address religious folk in warm and respectful terms, this is what’s known in the field as “punctuated” change — a sudden and, in this case, pleasant variation.
There is good reason for the friendlier tone, explains Edward O. Wilson in this engaging and gracious book. A renowned entomologist and Harvard professor emeritus, Wilson has warned for years, in books like “The Future of Life” (2002), of global warming, mass extinction and other troubles of humanity’s own making. But these works were addressed largely to fellow environmentalists, and that approach will get you only so far.
More out of habit than considered judgment, Wilson believes, many religious people and especially conservative Christians tend to brush off environmental causes as liberal alarmism, vaguely subversive, and in any case no concern of theirs. Wilson’s book is a polite but firm challenge to this mind-set, seeking to ally religion and science — “the two most powerful forces in the world today” — in an ethic of “honorable” self-restraint toward the natural world. . . . .
About “5 percent of the Earth’s land surface is burned every year” to make way for cattle and crops, helping to fill the atmosphere with greenhouse gases “sufficient to destabilize the climates of the entire planet.” Throw in the effects of industrial pollution, merciless hunting and commercial fishing practices, invasive species showing up everywhere, and the unyielding demands of human development, and we are “the first species in the history of life to become a geophysical force.” In case you missed the hint, “we are the giant meteorite of our time,” doing grave injury to the biosphere upon which we and all life depend. As other creatures are brushed aside or driven off, humanity could soon enter “what poets and scientists alike may choose to call the Eremozoic Era — the Age of Loneliness.” . . . .
Matthew Scully, a former senior speechwriter for President Bush, is the author of “Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy.”....    MORE

September 7 and 9: No obvious partly or fully Earth directed CMEs were detected in incomplete LASCO imagery.
September 8: While there were mayn data gaps some of the LASCO images from early in the day and around noon displays CMEs in progress. Based on the scant evidence available it is hard to tell if these CMEs had a frontsided origin.
Forecast
The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly quiet on September 10-16. There is a slight chance of CME effects reaching Earth on September 11. Weak coronal hole effects are possible on September 17....    MORE

09/09/2006- Jakarta- An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 jolted western Indonesia on Saturday, but a meteorological agency official said there was no danger of a tsunami.
There were no immediate reports of any deaths or damage after the quake centred in the Flores sea at a depth of 573 km, said Muhaimin, an analyst at the meteorology and geophysics agency....    MORE

September 9, 2006- JERUSALEM- An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.9 shook Israel on Saturday with no immediate reports of casualties or damage, Army Radio reported.
The epicenter was located in central Israel but the quake was felt throughout the country.
Minor earthquakes are not uncommon in Israel and surrounding countries....    MORE

Sep. 09, 2006- Tornadoes might be frequent occurrences in Kansas, but in Southern Nevada?
On Friday at 2:42 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a warning that a storm brewing over CalNevAri could produce a tornado at the intersection of California, Nevada and Arizona.
The weather service reported that a severe thunderstorm was hovering about eight miles west of CalNevAri and could dump heavy rains and even hail.
Then, 15 minutes later, the warning expired and the thunderstorm dissipated over CalNevAri.
"It's gone. It's no longer a threat," weather service meteorologist Charlie Schlott said about 3:10 p.m. . . . .
"We're not in the tornado belt," he said. "We do get them, but it's a rare occasion." . . . .
The thunderstorm over CalNevAri on Friday wasn't nearly as dramatic, but it did cause flash flood warnings in San Bernardino County, Calif....    MORE

Sep 9, 2006- Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire's commercial lagoon-side capital. Photo: Sarah Simpson/IRIN So far, some 3,000 people in Cote d'Ivoire's main city, Abidjan, have sought medical treatment after inhaling fumes from toxic waste dumped in residential areas, according to the United Nations.
The vile stench has caused a host of complaints, including intestinal and respiratory problems, nose bleeds, nausea and vomiting. Hospitals say three people have died and more patients are arriving at hospitals everyday.
"We are inundated. We are not only dealing with those ill from the toxic waste problem, but our regular patients too; it's not easy. The government has to find more personnel to help," said Dr. Bernard Kouadio at the University Hospital Centre (CHU), in Cocody.
Cocody is one of a number of mostly poor residential neighbourhoods permeated by the sharp fumes coming off dumped toxic residue from gasoline cargo, shipped to Abidjan's port last month.
Though it is remains unclear what is in the waste, it is thought to contain acutely toxic, hydrogen sulphide, according to a report from the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). . . . .
"In this case we are seeing the extreme impact [of waste dumping] where it has led to direct poisoning of hundreds of people and even killed some, but in other cases dumping goes on far out at sea, and in those cases we are not seeing the impact," said Vicaire.
An international agreement, the Basel Convention, was signed in 1989 to address hazardous waste disposal and included a special clause to protect poor nations that are less able to protect their environments from unscrupulous dumpers. . . . .
Some of the substance is thought to have been dumped in sewage systems and in the lagoon in the heart of Abidjan. Several of the suspected dumping sites are close to water sources, said OCHA.
In meetings with the UN, the government, which ostensibly resigned over the scandal, has acknowledged that it does not have the capacity to assess or clean up the waste and has called for assistance from international partners.
Cote d'Ivoire is a former beacon of stability in a region all too often beset by conflict. But that image was lost in 1999, when the country suffered its first ever coup d'etat. In 2002 it slipped into a civil war that has left the country divided.
Rebels hold the north of Cote d'Ivoire, but Abidjan lies in the government-controlled and more industrialised south of the country....    MORE

September 9, 2006- SIDOARJO, Indonesia- Nothing, it seems, can stop the mud.
For more than three months, the hot, noxious goop has spewed up through a crack in the earth at a natural-gas exploration site, swamping everything in its path.
The expanding, surreal gray lake with the stench of rotten eggs has enveloped more than 10 square miles of land in eastern Java, Indonesia's most densely populated island. The flow has forced 8,000 to 10,000 people from their homes, engulfed about a dozen factories, contaminated fish farms and intermittently closed a major highway.
Confusion has reigned over how to stop it. An effort to drill a series of relief wells was slow to begin and has thus far failed. With the mud continuing to gush, emergency crews have scrambled to put up earthen barriers to contain and redirect the flow away from villages. Some of the dams already have been breached, and officials are running out of space.
In a country reeling from a string of natural disasters, this man-made fiasco has thrown a fresh, harsh light on an overwhelmed government struggling to counter accusations of corruption and ineptitude. . . . .
It is unclear what went wrong during the drilling of a 2-mile-deep exploration well. Several environmental and community groups have accused the company of shoddy work and lax oversight, saying a protective lining that could have prevented the disaster was not properly in place.
Company officials initially suggested the mudflow had resulted from an earthquake days before, but quickly abandoned the idea. . . . .
At the shore of the mud lake, white smoke billows ominously. Large bubbles burp at the center, marking the roughly 50-foot-wide crack, where temperatures reach about 140 degrees. Only rooftops and the tips of denuded trees poke above the surface of the mud, which is 20 feet deep in places. . . . .
Rawindra, a regional manager for Lapindo, said the company had been paying displaced residents about $35 a month for living expenses, while also offering about $550 to families to cover two years' rent and to purchase their homes from them. Many villagers, however, are reluctant to abandon the idea of going home....    MORE

September 9- HELSINKI, Finland- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged the European Union Saturday to lift its ban on arms sales to Beijing imposed after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.
Beijing has lobbied repeatedly for lifting the ban, calling it a "Cold War relic." France is in favor, but others in the 25-nation EU have failed to reach agreement.
Wen told a news conference China has made significant progress in "protecting the human rights of Chinese people."
"No country can say they can resolve all the issues related to human rights perfectly," Wen said after a summit meeting with EU officials. . . . .
Wen also urged the international community not to threaten Iran with economic and other sanctions over Tehran's nuclear enrichment program....    MORE

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan- Sep 9, 2006- A U.S. Air Force officer found alive three days after she went missing near the Kyrgyz capital was abducted by someone who put a purported bomb object in her pocket, a top government official said Saturday.
Maj. Jill Metzger, 33, disappeared Tuesday from a department store in Bishkek while on temporary duty there from her base in Georgia.
Shortly before midnight Friday she knocked on the door of a house in Kant, a town about 22 miles from the capital, and told its residents she had been abducted, Kyrgyz Deputy Interior Minister Omurbek Suvanaliyev said.
Metzger told Kyrgyz law enforcement agents she had been seized by three young men and a woman in a minibus and held in a rural area about 30 miles from the capital, Suvanaliyev told The Associated Press, citing local police in Kant.
She was exhausted and her hair had been dyed, he said.
Metzger's disappearance had baffled investigators, and the military had 22 special agents looking for her.
A Kyrgyz police official, Kemilbek Kiyazov, said Metzger told police that while she was in a popular department store someone placed an unspecified object in the rear pocket of her trousers. Writing on the object said it was a bomb.
The message also gave detailed instructions telling her where to go in Bishkek, which she followed, Kiyazov quoted Metzger as saying. "Metzger stated that it was as if she were in a trance," he said.
She was then met by three men and a woman who put her into a vehicle, took her to a residence and placed her in a dark room. According to Kiyazov, Metzger managed to escape after an abductor brought her food and she struck him.
Kiyazov, who personally saw and talked to Metzger, told the AP her hair had been dyed dark brown and her hands were stained with dye.
This account differed from one given by Metzger's father-in-law, Kelly Mayo, who told The Associated Press in Colorado Springs that the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations said she was found on the side of the road with her head shaven. He also indicated she had been kidnapped and beaten. . . . .
It wasn't immediately clear why the two accounts differed. . . . .
The U.S. military has maintained an air base at Kyrgyzstan's main civilian airport since 2001, backing operations in nearby Afghanistan....    MORE

Sep 9, 2006- TAMPA- Nearly seven years ago, Roy Brown watched from a courtroom gallery as a judge sentenced Willie Crain to death.
Friday morning, Brown and Crain again sat in a Hillsborough County courtroom. The hearing was short and fraught with legal terminology, but Brown said every time Crain comes to court, he will be there too.
"The only thing I understand is that he killed my daughter," Brown said Friday. "Everything that he has to be a part of, I have to be a part of."
On Sept. 11, 1998, Amanda Brown disappeared after Crain spent the night in her mother's Seffner mobile home.
Amanda's body has never been found.
The last time Brown saw Crain in person, Crain walked out of a courtroom, a condemned man.
"He smiled at me and said he wasn't going to die for this," Brown said. "He still hasn't." . . . .
Crain, a convicted pedophile, met Amanda's mother, Kathy Hartman, two days before the girl disappeared. He ate dinner with Hartman and Amanda on Sept. 11, 1998, then gave Hartman $100 and five Valiums. They returned to Hartman's home on Old Hillsborough Avenue; she invited him to spend the night.
Crain slept in the bed next to Hartman and Amanda, prosecutors said.
When Hartman woke, Crain and Amanda were gone. Prosecutors said Crain, a commercial crab fisherman, probably threw Amanda's body in Old Tampa Bay. . . . .
Crain said he suffers from colon cancer and cannot get needed medication here. He asked to be returned to state prison quickly to continue his treatment.
Sylvia Brown, Roy Brown's wife, said she's sure the cancer will make these court proceedings moot. Cancer will catch Crain before the executioner, she said. . . . .
Recently, he said, a retired deputy helped him pen the letter. In a few short paragraphs, he detailed a simple request.
Sylvia Brown read the note out loud.
"Let us know where we can find Amanda," Sylvia read. "Let us know so we can bring her home."
Roy Brown wept....    MORE

September 9, 2006- Family members of a mother who committed suicide while a search continued for her missing 2-year-old son said the intense media coverage in the case may have pushed her over the edge, according to a Local 6 News report.
Leesburg authorities said Melinda Duckett's body was found Friday in a home at 638 Rainbow Lane in the Villages of Lady Lake. Police said the house belonged to the woman's grandparents.
Local 6 News reported that Melinda Duckett's grandparents said media coverage may have been too much.
Two days before she died, Melinda Duckett told Local 6 News that she was frustrated that the media and police were scrutinizing her whereabouts before her son vanished.
And in a taped interview that aired hours after Melinda Duckett's suicide, CNN news anchor Nancy Grace grilled the woman about her alibi on national television.
"Where were you?" Grace asked Melinda Duckett. "Why aren't you telling us where you were that day? You were the last person to be seen with him."
"We were just shopping, going around…" Duckett said.
"Shopping where?" Grace asked.
"Well, we didn't go any where specific," Duckett said.
"If you went shopping, you had to go into a store -- what store did you go into?" Grace said.
"I wasn't (going to get) into any specifics," Duckett said.
The boy's father, Joshua Duckett, said he did not think the media was unfair in their coverage.
"At first, the media was rough on me too and I had a lot of fingers pointed at me and stuff like that," Duckett said. "To me, I don't feel the media was unfair to either side."
"Despite Melinda Duckett's apparent suicide, police are not yet publicly calling her their primary suspect," Local 6's Mike DeForest said. "They say everyone is still a possibility at this point."
Saturday, investigators searched Melinda Duckett's apartment but so far there was no sign of a suicide note.
Joshua Duckett said he is optimistic his son will be found but the death of his estranged wife complicated things. . . . .
According to authorities, Trenton Duckett was last seen in his room. His mother first noticed he was missing around 9 p.m. Leesburg police said a screen on a window in the boy's room was cut and that he was apparently taken through the opening.
Melinda Duckett had earlier told Local 6 News that the day before Trenton vanished, she and the child were driving around visiting friends and family.
Detectives are still searching for witnesses who can either back up her account or contradict it.
The search continues for the missing boy....    MORE

Sep 9- WASHINGTON- Investigators were trying to determine how a loaded handgun got into a cellblock inside a busy downtown courthouse, the first serious security breach in at least 10 years, authorities said.
A cleaning contractor found the .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol under a wad of paper in a cell toilet at the District of Columbia Superior Court on Friday, said Steve Conboy, the U.S. marshal for the court.
Conboy, who oversees courthouse security, said he does not know how the small pistol was smuggled into the building. "We're not ruling anything out," he said. "At this point everybody's a suspect."
All prisoners are patted down by deputy marshals before being taken into the cellblock - whether coming from the D.C. jail, police headquarters or off the street. But only people who are taken into custody in a courtroom after coming in off the street are scanned by a metal detector, Conboy said.
He said it was not unusual for drugs, makeshift weapons and other contraband to turn up, but finding a gun is far more serious because marshals do not carry firearms when working in the cellblocks. In 1988 and again in 1994, loaded guns were seized in the cellblocks before they could be used to do any damage, Conboy said....    MORE

September 9, 2006- Sheriff's deputies in Brevard County, Fla., used thermal imaging cameras to find and capture a suspected car burglar this weekend, according to Local 6 News.
The car burglar, who was not identified, was found in a boat parked in front of a neighborhood house.
A K-9 unit helped track down the man and deputies took him into custody.
Officers said items reported stolen from several cars were in his possession....    MORE

September 9, 2006- FORT PIERCE, Fla.- A Florida county has grand plans to ditch its dump, generate electricity and help build roads -- all by vaporizing garbage at temperatures hotter than parts of the sun.
The $425 million facility expected to be built in St. Lucie County will use lightning-like plasma arcs to turn trash into gas and rock-like material. It will be the first such plant in the nation operating on such a massive scale and the largest in the world.
Supporters say the process is cleaner than traditional trash incineration, though skeptics question whether the technology can meet the lofty expectations.
The 100,000-square-foot plant, slated to be operational in two years, is expected to vaporize 3,000 tons of garbage a day. County officials estimate their entire landfill -- 4.3 million tons of trash collected since 1978 -- will be gone in 18 years.
No byproduct will go unused, according to Geoplasma, the Atlanta-based company building and paying for the plant.
Synthetic, combustible gas produced in the process will be used to run turbines to create about 120 megawatts of electricity that will be sold back to the grid. The facility will operate on about a third of the power it generates, free from outside electricity.
About 80,000 pounds of steam per day will be sold to a neighboring Tropicana Products Inc. facility to power the juice plant's turbines.
Sludge from the county's wastewater treatment plant will be vaporized, and a material created from melted organic matter -- up to 600 tons a day -- will be hardened into slag, and sold for use in road and construction projects.
"This is sustainability in its truest and finest form," said Hilburn Hillestad, president of Geoplasma, a subsidiary of Jacoby Development Inc. . . . .
The plasma-arc gasification facility in St. Lucie County, on central Florida's Atlantic Coast, aims to solve that problem by eliminating the need for a landfill. Only two similar facilities are operating in the world -- both in Japan -- but are gasifying garbage on a much smaller scale.
Up to eight plasma arc-equipped cupolas will vaporize trash year-round, nonstop. Garbage will be brought in on conveyor belts and dumped into the cylindrical cupolas where it falls into a zone of heat more than 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. . . . .
County Commissioner Chris Craft said the plasma process "is bigger than just the disposal of waste for St. Lucie County." "It addresses two of the world's largest problems -- how to deal with solid waste and the energy needs of our communities," Craft said. "This is the end of the rainbow. It will change the world."....    MORE

Sep 9, 2006- Asteroids and meteorites are supposed to be made of the same stuff – at least that's what earth science teachers have been telling their students for decades. But until re-cently, the data didn't quite fit the story. When researchers compared the near-infrared reflec-tance of asteroids (as measured from Earth) and meteorites (collected on Earth) they found enough differences to raise doubts about whether the asteroids really could be the source of Earth's meteorites.
A detailed new comparison of the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa with existing meteorite samples confirms that the process of space-weathering can explain the difference in reflectance pattern (spectrum) between asteroids and ordinary chondrites, the most common class of meteorites.
"They [chondritic meteorites] are so abundant, there have to be many, many asteroid sources, said Takahiro Hiroi, the paper's lead author, but we couldn't find any that matched so clearly, until now. These observations really let us see space weathering at work." . . . .
Evidence of space weathering has been seen before on moons and larger asteroids, but such clear evidence is new for smaller asteroids, such as the 550-meter Itokawa. It had been thought that such bodies, with their smaller gravitational fields, would quickly be stripped of the weathered material. This new evidence shows that space weathered material does accumulate on small as-teroids, which probably are the source of most meteorites....    MORE

GENEVA- Sept 8, 2006- About 22,000 people have been left homeless and facing hunger after heavy flooding in Niger and Burkina Faso, the United Nations' humanitarian body said Friday. Niger has borne the brunt of almost four weeks of heavy rains, with almost 16,000 people affected, said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
To the west, in Burkina Faso, the figure is about 6,000.
Besides destroying homes, the floods have also wiped out swathes of farmland and devastated herds of livestock, raising the spectre of hunger for a population that has long been vulnerable to food shortages.
There are also rising fears that the disaster could fuel deadly outbreaks of cholera and malaria.
Aid agencies are rushing supplies to the affected areas, including tents, food, medicines and mosquito nets, said Byrs.
The floods have also affected other West African nations, including Mauritania, Mali and Nigeria....    MORE

MANILA- Sept. 8- The Philippines' health authority warned on Friday that fogging operations against mosquitoes carrying dengue virus should be stopped, because the method could worsen the health situation in local communities.
"The public should not let fogging operations being conducted by local governments because it might worsen the dengue problem in your areas," Eric Tayag, director of National Epidemiology Center, the Department of Health (DOH) told reporters.
Tayag said communities with a rising number of dengue cases should coordinate with DOH for "search and destroy" operations against dengue mosquitoes. The effective way is to identify and destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitoes, he added.
Earlier reports said that fogging operations fail because they merely drive away mosquitoes to other areas.
DOH said that from Jan. 1 to Aug. 29 this year, it has recorded 13,468 dengue cases nationwide. At least three deaths have been reported in rural area....    MORE

90806- South Korea has announced it has ending its 3-year ban on U.S. beef imports. The ag ministry has approved U.S. beef imports from 36 U.S. processing plants and will allow imports from cattle less than 30 months old on condition that parts considered "risky" be removed. Shipments should start arriving in South Korea by late September and be on grocery store shelves by October....    MORE

8 September 2006- A Japanese scientist who invented environmentally friendly sources of light has been awarded this year's Millennium Technology Prize.
Professor Shuji Nakamura was given the 1m Euro (£680,000) prize at a ceremony in Helsinki, Finland.
The award recognised his inventions of blue, green and white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the blue laser diode.
White LEDs could provide a sustainable, low-cost alternative to lightbulbs, especially in developing countries. . . . .
This invention makes it possible to improve quality of life for many millions of people . . . .
"This is not just a source of light that makes enormous energy savings possible, it is also an innovation that can be used in the sterilisation of drinking water and for storing data in much more efficient ways."....    MORE

Natick, MA- Sep 08, 2006- The Army's Future Force Warrior (FFW) system is one step closer to being fielded as the Ground Soldier System following a successful demonstration in August of its electronic networking capability.
Developed and managed by the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center (NSC) with General Dynamics C4 Systems as the lead integrator, FFW is the Army's flagship science and technology program, aimed at integrating "best in class" technologies from the Army's Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) enterprise, other government agencies, and industry to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Soldier and Small Combat Unit.
Carol Fitzgerald, program manager for the FFW Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD), said that last month's success marked a major milestone for the program.
"This was the first of two incremental design phases, in which we have successfully demonstrated network interoperability of the Soldier/Small Combat Unit (SCU) with the future force network," she said. . . . .
The FFW Increment 1 capabilities demonstrated at the OTM included: SCU integration into the future force network via the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW); demonstration of the Soldier Protective Individual Equipment System (SPIES), an advanced body armor and load carriage system; demonstration of cooperative engagement/networked fires using digital target handoff and Non Line of Sight (NLOS) fire; demonstration of headgear thermal and Image-Intensification (I2) sensor fusion; demonstration of system voice control; and simulation of physiological status monitoring.
In addition, the FFW early Increment 2 capabilities demonstrated at OTM included: demonstration of Leader level Command and Control (C2) via FalconView (leveraged from the US Air Force), system voice control, integrated Class I Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery, look-down display integrated into combat goggles, and advanced power management devices to extend mission duration; demonstration of Soldier level Situational Awareness (SA) leveraged from CERDEC's Command and Control Mobile Intelligent Net-Centric Computing System (C2MINCS) program; Warrior Physiological Status Monitoring (WPSM); and deeper integration of electronics into the FFW combat ensemble....    MORE

Sep 8- PORTLAND, Ore.- A nurse returning from work discovered an intruder armed with a hammer in her home and strangled him with her bare hands, police said.
Susan Kuhnhausen, 51, ran to a neighbor's house after the confrontation Wednesday night. Police found the body of Edward Dalton Haffey, 59, a convicted felon with a long police record.
Officer Katherine Kent said homicide detectives have determined that Kuhnhausen killed Haffey in self-defense. She said a prosecutor is investigating but that the case is not expected to go to a grand jury.
Police said there was no obvious sign of forced entry at the house when Kuhnhausen, an emergency room nurse at Providence Portland Medical Center, got home from work shortly after 6 p.m.
Under Oregon law people can use reasonable deadly force when defending themselves against an intruder or burglar in their homes. Kuhnhausen was treated and released for minor injuries at Providence.
Haffey, about 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, had convictions including conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, robbery, drug charges and possession of burglary tools. Neighbors said Kuhnhausen's size - 5-foot-7 and 260 pounds - may have given her an advantage.
"Everyone that I've talked to says 'Hurray for Susan,' said neighbor Annie Warnock, who called 911. "You didn't need to calm her. She's an emergency room nurse. She's used to dealing with crisis."....    MORE

Sep 8- EAST CHICAGO, Ind.- A 39-year-old man died Friday at a hospital, two weeks after his family says he was beaten by police who mistook his diabetic seizure for drunkenness.
Jerome Clement, who had lapsed into a coma after the incident Aug. 24, was taken off a respirator, insulin and a feeding tube late Tuesday, said Patricia Zegley, a paralegal with the law firm representing the family.
Police officers said they found Clement passed out in a car after receiving a report about an apparent drunken driver at a scrap yard. They reported that he smelled intoxicated, and when they to wake him up, he spoke in slurred tones.
He became unruly when they tried to pull him from the car, and they used pepper spray and hit him three times with a baton while trying to subdue him, they said.
Attorneys for the family say police mistook a diabetic seizure for Clement being drunk.
Police Chief Robert Machuca has said that officers "responded appropriately, given the situation. They believed he was drunk, and he was very combative, so they took him into custody."
Clement's heart stopped as paramedics administered treatment and he fell into the coma. A statement released on the family's behalf said tests over the weekend showed Clement had little brain activity and minimal chance of regaining substantial brain activity.
Zegley said the family plans to sue the city....    MORE

BEIJING- Sept. 8- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisers on late Thursday rejected a government report that amalgam dental fillings containing mercury are safe, saying more research is needed.
The joint panel of government health advisers said, in a 13-7 vote, that the federal report did not objectively and clearly present the current state of knowledge about the fillings.
But the FDA panel did not say the so-called "silver fillings" are unsafe. It did say, in a second 13-7 vote, that conclusions about the safety of these fillings were not reasonable and asked for more information.
The announcement came after FDA committee meetings held Wednesday and Thursday --the first public hearings in more than a decade on the safety of these fillings.
Dental amalgam contains elemental mercury combined with other metals such as silver, copper, tin and zinc. The fillings, about 50 percent mercury, have been used for generations to stabilize decaying teeth.
Dental experts contended that when mercury is bound to the other metals it is encapsulated and does not pose a health risk. However, consumer groups contended that mercury, a known neurotoxin, does leak out in the form of mercury vapor and then gets into the bloodstream.
They believe that the vapors put people at risk of neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Those groups are asking the FDA for a partial ban on the use of amalgam fillings.
But the health officials argued that the mercury vapors emitted from fillings are too small to be dangerous, though certain levels and forms of mercury are known to cause brain and kidney damage.
Panel member Dr. Ralph Sacco said patients should not interpret the concerns about the FDA report as a reason to have their silver fillings removed.
"I'd hate to see an overreaction and a panic," said Sacco, a neurologist and epidemiologist at Columbia University.
Use of silver fillings has been on the decline as newer materials become available that are closer to tooth color. According to the American Dental Association, only 30 percent of fillings placed in 2003 were the silver version....    MORE

BEIJING- Sept. 8- Scientists have identified 189 mutated genes that may cause breast and colorectal cancers, according to a study published Thursday in Science.
The findings could lead to new treatments for cancer, better ways to diagnose it, and certainly will provide insights into the second-leading cause of death in the developed world, the researchers said.
The researchers examined more than 13,000 genes in 11 different breast tumors and 11 colorectal cancers, removed from patients during surgery.
The work stresses that cancers differ greatly from organ to organ: Mutations in the breast tumors are substantially different from those in the colorectal tumors.
Researchers also were surprised to find that each tumor they analyzed was different. Even tumors of the same organs had only about five genes in common, which could shed light on why many chemotherapy drugs help only a fraction of patients.
"For the first time, this tells us that you could identify what in cancer is the Achilles heel," said Elias Zerhouni, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which partially financed the research, "instead of doing what we do now, which is to give the standard treatment for everybody, we will adjust the treatment for each patient and hopefully dramatically affect their cancer."
Researchers focused on breast and colorectal cancers because they are two of the leading cancer killers. More than 210,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in U.S., and 40,000 people die of the disease; 145,000 cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed each year, and 56,000 people die....    MORE

Sep 7- TUCSON, Ariz.- Heavy rains pounded the Tucson area on Thursday, flooding numerous streets and strangling traffic.
A man's body washed up from a river, and officials said he may have fallen into rushing water upstream.
A record 1.14 inches of rain was reported at Tucson International Airport, and up to 2 inches of rain fell in other parts of the area before 7 a.m. The rains stopped mid- to late-morning and remained cloudy the rest of the day. . . . .
Through Thursday morning, 9.83 inches of rain was recorded in Tucson since monsoonal rains began June 15, the eighth-highest total rainfall ever, said Jim Meyer, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson.
The record of 13.84 inches was recorded in 1964....    MORE

SYDNEY- Sept 7, 2006- One man was killed, rush hour traffic was thrown into chaos and flights were delayed as storms driven by gale-force winds lashed Australia's largest city Sydney on Thursday. The man died after being thrown overboard from a dinghy as he tried to secure a yacht at its moorings at the upmarket suburb of Mosman on Sydney Harbour, police said.
Despite the efforts of water police, paramedics and a member of the public, the man, who is yet to be identified, died in hospital a short time later.
Daily ferry services which carry thousands of passengers across the harbour to the central business district were cancelled, roads and railway lines were flooded and flights into and out of Sydney airport were delayed.
A weather bureau spokesman said part of the city had recorded its wettest September day since 1883 with a 107.2mm drenching, while some areas exceeded their average rainfall for the entire month of September. . . . .
Overnight storms brought welcome rain to most of New South Wales, although some regions, desperately dry after years of drought, received only 1mm.
Residents living to the north of Sydney awoke to a blanket of snow Thursday morning, the first major snowfall of the year....    MORE

Sep 7- HELENA, Mont.- Firefighters battling a wildfire that has blackened nearly 290 square miles and burned 26 homes faced a new challenge, authorities said Wednesday: bees.
The blaze that started with lightning on Aug. 22 has forced hundreds to evacuate. After being grounded by smoke for a day, firefighting helicopters returned to work Wednesday, pouring water on the fire that was 45 percent contained.
Bee stings among firefighters have surged to as many as 50 a day, information officer Joan Dickerson said. Some of those stung required medical attention.
"We've had a couple of our leaders taken to the hospital," she said, but added that she had no explanation for the surge in stings....    MORE

7 Sep, 2006- SINGAPORE- The Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) countries began on Thursday a military exercise in Singapore involving their armies, navies and air forces.
Codenamed Bersama Badu, a Malay term meaning 'Together United', the three-week exercise has brought together 21 warships, 85 aircraft, a submarine and ground components, said a FPDA statement on Thursday.
The operation "aims to enhance the interoperability, operational capacity and mutual cooperation" among the armed forces of Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Britain and Singapore," it said, with activities in Singapore, the South China Sea and peninsular Malaysia.
Tackling various scenarios of threats to maritime security such as terrorism and piracy and enhancing coordination among the forces are among the goals for the exercise.
The inaugural exercise also involved other Singapore agencies such as the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the Maritime and Port Authority and the Red Cross, giving both the military and non-military elements opportunities to strengthen their levels of coordination. . . . .
The exercise is scheduled to last up to September 27....    MORE

CARACAS, Venezuela- Aug 28- China will invest around $5 billion in energy projects in Venezuela by 2012 as part of a plan to boost Venezuela’s oil output, the nations’ energy minister told state television on Monday.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez just completed a visit to China to sign cooperation accords as part of an effort to reduce the South American nation’s dependence on U.S. energy markets.
China will invest around $5 billion in energy projects in Venezuela by 2012 as part of a plan to boost Venezuela’s oil output, the nations’ energy minister told state television on Monday. . . . .
Chinese energy company Sinopec will participate in the development of an oil block in the Gulf of Paria in eastern Venezuela, Ramirez said. . . . .
He has aggressively courted energy-hungry China as part of his search for new buyers of Venezuelan crude. Venezuela currently provides around 12 percent of U.S. oil imports....    MORE

August 24 2006- Venezuela has secured China’s support in its bid for a United Nations Security Council seat, Hugo Chávez said on Thursday as he announced a raft of deals to develop his oil-rich nation’s resources.
Detailing an agreement to almost quadruple oil sales to China to 1m barrels a day over the next decade, the Venezuelan president said Hu Jintao, his Chinese counterpart, had assured him of China’s support over its rival Guatemala.
‘‘The support of China is very important from the political and moral point of view,’’ said Mr Chávez after meeting Mr Hu. . . . .
Aside from the energy contracts, six other agreements were signed on Thursday, including those focusing on bilateral trade and infrastructure construction.
Both Mr Chávez and Mr Hu said co-operation would be likely to include the building of oil machinery, railways and telecommunications networks. . . . .
Mr Hu said China was encouraging more companies to invest in Venezuela. Beijing’s leaders have made it a priority to urge competitive Chinese enterprises – particularly in the energy, construction and high-technology fields – to “go out”....    MORE

Washington- Sep 07, 2006- Telecom equipment maker Lucent Technologies said US regulators are likely to take action against the company following an investigation into its Chinese operations.
Lucent said that it has been notified by the Securities and Exchange Commission that investigators are recommending an "enforcement action" against the company to the SEC's leadership.
The telecom equipment maker said in the statement dated Wednesday that the probe was related to "a previously disclosed investigation of Lucent's operations in China under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)."
The US government has previously used the act to charge American companies and executives with bribing foreign officials or businesses in order to obtain favorable contracts. . . . .
The South China Morning Post newspaper has reported that Chinese anti-graft investigators have been scrutinizing multi-billion dollar deals Lucent and other foreign telecom equipment makers have obtained in China's vast telecom market.
Lucent has been pushing aggressively to gain an increased share of China's growing telecom equipment market in recent years, and has counted state-owned operators China Telecom, China Netcom and China Mobile among its customers.
The company's disclosure to investors came on the eve of a shareholder meeting Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, at which shareholders will be voting on Lucent's proposed merger with Alcatel of France....    MORE

September 7- PARIS- Alcatel's purchase of U.S. rival Lucent Technologies Inc. looks set to clear its highest remaining hurdle Thursday, when shareholders on both sides of the Atlantic vote on whether to go ahead with the $11 billion deal to create a new global force in telecoms equipment. . . . .
With annual sales of about $25 billion and an 18 percent share of the global market for telecoms gear -- the backbone of mobile phone, fixed-line and Internet-based services -- Alcatel-Lucent will negotiate better prices with suppliers and customers than either company could win alone, the deal's supporters say. . . . .
Alcatel and Lucent have promised 1.4 billion euros in merger-related savings within three years, to be achieved partly through the shedding of 8,800 jobs -- about one-tenth of the combined work force.
The merged business would be based in Paris and led by LUCENT CEO PATRICIA RUSSO, with Alcatel boss Serge Tchuruk staying on as chairman....    MORE

07 Sep 2006- Dozens of firms have signed up to our Green Computing Charter, unveiled two weeks ago as the core of a campaign to improve IT users’ environmental policies.
Following the launch of our Green Computing campaign, we received an overwhelming response from IT managers wanting to follow the seven-point charter intended to introduce green best practice while cutting costs and improving efficiency.
Financial services firms HSBC and Standard Life are two of the latest organisations to sign up to the charter. HSBC has a group-wide strategy across 76 countries and a dedicated group environmental adviser, Francis Sullivan.
Sullivan says the firm has adopted an integrated approach. ‘If I have one message for other companies it is teaming up IT, the buildings department and purchasing,’ he said.
HSBC’s Matthew O’Neill says reviewing the way technology is used can have a dramatic impact. ‘There are simple things we can do by using what we already have in a smarter way – this isn’t something you need to make a business case to the board for, and it will pay for itself,’ he said. . . . .
The firm is to update data centre equipment. ‘When we procure kit we look to buy the most efficient from a power consumption perspective,’ said O’Day. ‘There is no significant extra cost; it’s about changing management practices.’....    MORE

07 Sep 2006- Somerset County Council is introducing a database as part of a government scheme to improve care of vulnerable children.owing publication of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry in January 2003 that recommended establishing new ways to keep more reliable information on child welfare.
A policy from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) says local authorities must have an Integrated Children’s System (ICS) by January 2007.
The plan involves the establishment of 150 local authority registers, co-ordinated by a unifying system that will create a single identifying number for all children. Parties such as doctors or social workers will be able to add flags if there are concerns about a child’s welfare.
Carey Sherman, Somerset’s business and finance manager for children’s social care, says the council has created a system more advanced than that required by government....    MORE

Sep 7- FRAMINGHAM, Mass.- Fabiola DePaula's quest for beauty took her to a condominium basement, where authorities say she paid an unlicensed doctor $3,300 for a nose job and liposuction performed on a massage table.
But something went terribly wrong and the 24-year-old nanny died, exposing what investigators say was an underground cosmetic-surgery network used by immigrants from Brazil - a country whose women are world-famous for their beauty and their willingness to go under the knife to achieve it.
"Somebody has to speak out. Go to the Brazilians, open their minds and let them know it's dangerous," said Jacque Foster, a friend of DePaula's. "This is totally beyond unsafe. You have to think about what you are doing."
Authorities believe a Brazilian doctor, Luiz Carlos Ribeiro, performed liposuction, nose jobs and Botox injections for three years in the Framingham area, mostly for the town's large Brazilian immigrant population and mostly for cash.
Police say DePaula, a native of Brazil, went to Ribeiro for a nose job on July 27, then died three days later after the liposuction. According to the autopsy report, DePaula died of complications from the liposuction, including pulmonary fat emboli, or fat particles in the lungs. . . . .
Ribeiro and his wife, Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, both 49, were arrested July 31 and charged with manslaughter, unauthorized practice of medicine and drug counts. The couple pleaded not guilty and remain in jail. Their attorneys declined to comment. The owner of the condo was also arrested.
The district attorney said Ribeiro was licensed to practice medicine in Brazil, but his specialty was not cosmetic surgery. Officials have not identified his specialty. . . . .
Cosmetic surgery is "big here too, but in Brazil, it's much bigger," she said. "We suffer all day in high heels, just to look good. Americans think about what is comfortable. Even the underwear is more underwear."
Youth and beauty are positively worshipped in Brazilian culture, exemplified by the scantily clad women celebrating Carnival or sunbathing on the beach (a spectacle immortalized in the sultry song "The Girl From Ipanema.") The best-known plastic surgeons in the country are celebrities. . . . .
"There should be a lesson learned from the death of this young woman," the district attorney. "People think this is an extension of getting my nails done, getting my hair done."
Foster said the sad thing is that her friend had no need for cosmetic surgery: "She was absolutely gorgeous, not only on the outside but on the inside."....    MORE

Sep 7- THORNTON, Calif.- A man fatally hacked his mother and 2-year-old nephew with an ax before apparently committing suicide by stepping into highway traffic, sheriff's officials said.
Michael Allen Carriker, 37, was killed Monday on Interstate 5, said San Joaquin County sheriff's spokesman Les Garcia.
When officials went to Carriker's home to notify family members, they found an ax next to the bodies of Janet Jensen, 55, and nephew Keoni Willis.
Carriker, who suffered from bipolar disorder, was distraught over the death of his father, who was fatally stabbed in May, said his grandmother, Pat Carriker.
Bruce Carriker, 57, was killed in an apartment in Oceanside along with a man and woman, but authorities have never given a motive for the attacks.
The younger Carriker worked at Dewitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility in Stockton from 1996 to 2003 as a part-time officer, then as a full-time youth counselor before resigning for unknown reasons, said George Kostyrko of the state Department of Corrections.
He had previous run-ins with law enforcement and a history of drug and alcohol problems, sheriff's officials said....    MORE

September 7, 2006- CHESHIRE, Ore.-A woman shot her husband in the back after he killed her pet chicken, the Lane County sheriff's deputies said. Deputies said they were sure that Mary Gray, 58, intended to shoot her husband, Stephen Gray, 43. They weren't certain if the husband meant to fire at the chicken.
"We don't know if it was an accident or if it was on purpose," Sgt. Clint Riley said. "It depends who you ask."
Riley said the couple had been drinking for much of Monday while they did yard work at their rented home in the town northwest of Eugene, and they began arguing after Stephen Gray shot the chicken with a .44-caliber handgun.
Deputies said he was then hit with a shot from a .22-caliber rifle, and is recovering. Mary Gray was arraigned Tuesday on an assault charge....    MORE

Sep 7- JENA, La.- Three white high school students have been removed from school for allegedly putting a pair of hangman's nooses in a tree on campus, allegedly after black students suggested they wanted to sit beneath it, too.
The students were removed from Jena High School after last week's incident and are attending an alternative school for suspended students, LaSalle Parish Schools Superintendent Roy Breithaupt said. He would not disclose their ages or grades on Thursday, and said disciplinary hearings for the three were being held Thursday.
Principal Scott Windham has recommended expulsion for all three, Breithaupt said.
The nooses were hung Friday at the campus in the central Louisiana town apparently after some white students became angry over an exchange during an assembly, according to Tracy Bowens, who helped organize a community meeting.
During the assembly, Bowens said, black students asked if they could sit under a tree with white students who usually eat there, and Windham told them they could sit wherever they wanted. The nooses appeared later that week....    MORE

Sep 7- ST. LOUIS- A federal judge ordered a small-town school to suspend a program that gives free Bibles to students, saying it improperly promotes Christianity.
U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Perry also scolded school officials for continuing the program after warnings that it violated the Constitution.
South Iron Elementary in Annapolis, a town of 300 in southeastern Missouri, has quietly allowed Gideons International to hand out Bibles to fifth-graders for years. After concerns were raised last year, the then-superintendent consulted with the district's attorneys and insurance company and recommended that the handouts stop, but the school board voted to continue them.
Acting on behalf of two sets of parents from the district, the American Civil Liberties Union sued in February in federal court in St. Louis.
"The defendants were repeatedly told that their actions violated the Constitution, but they chose not to heed those cautions," Perry wrote in the preliminary injunction issued Wednesday....    MORE

September 7, 2006- Thousands of motorists in Honolulu were stranded in their vehicles for 14-hours after a military vehicle clipped a pedestrian bridge near a major freeway overpass, forcing officials to close the road, according to a Local 6 News report.
Officials said the traffic jam caused by the incident in the westbound lanes of the H-1 Freeway in Honolulu was the worst in Hawaii's history.
Many commuters slept in their cars overnight or just abandoned them on the freeway.
Cars were videotaped on the side of the road after overheating or running out of gas. . . . .
Gov. Linda Lingle apologized for the inconvenience, but said the main focus was on public safety.
"It was a massive disruption in people's lives yesterday afternoon and long into the evening and we regret that, but the decision was made on safety and we think it was a correct decision," Lingle said. . . . .
The Army issued an official apology to the people of Oahu for causing the traffic mess.
The H-1 is the main freeway on Oahu and the only way home for thousands of commuters....    MORE

September 5, 2006- The US War Crimes Act of 1996 makes it a felony to commit grave violations of the Geneva Conventions. The Washington Post recently reported that the Bush administration is quietly circulating draft legislation to eliminate crucial parts of the War Crimes Act. Observers on The Hill say the Administration plans to slip it through Congress this fall while there still is a guaranteed Republican majority--perhaps as part of the military appropriations bill, the proposals for Guantánamo tribunals or a new catch-all "anti-terrorism" package. Why are they doing it, and how can they be stopped?
American prohibitions on abuse of prisoners go back to the Lieber Code promulgated by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The first international Geneva Convention dates from the following year.
After World War II, international law protecting prisoners of war and all noncombatants was codified in the Geneva Conventions. They were ratified by the US Senate and, under Article II of the Constitution, they thereby became the law of the land.
Wishing to rebuke the unpunished war crimes of dictators like Saddam Hussein, in 1996 a Republican-dominated Congress passed the War Crimes Act without a dissenting vote. It defined a "war crime" as any "grave breach" of the Geneva Conventions. It thereby advanced a global trend of mutual reinforcement between national and international law.
The War Crimes Act was little noticed until the disclosure of Alberto Gonzales's infamous 2002 "torture memo." Gonzales, then serving as presidential counsel, advised President Bush to declare that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to people the United States captured in Afghanistan. That, Gonzales wrote, "substantially reduced the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act."
Noting that the statute "prohibits the commission of a 'war crime' by or against a US person, including US officials," he warned that "it is difficult to predict the motives of prosecutors and independent counsels who may in the future decide to pursue unwarranted charges." The President's determination that the Geneva Conventions did not apply "would provide a solid defense to any future prosecution."
Unfortunately for top Bush officials, that "solid defense" was demolished this summer when the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ruled that the Geneva Conventions were indeed the law of the land....    MORE

090506- China's surging trade surplus this year, driven by continued increases in high-tech exports, "constitutes a major challenge to U.S. global competitiveness," declares the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI. If the issue is not addressed and the trade imbalance continues to grow -- "like the gallows" -- then "sooner rather than later the markets will trigger the inevitable adjustment, with what will almost certainly be more grim financial reaping," says the analysis prepared by Ernest Preeg, MAPI's senior fellow in trade and productivity.
During the first six months of this year, China surpassed the United States as being the world's largest exporter. Only five years ago, the United States exported more than double the amount of China. During the first half of 2006, Chinese exports of manufactured goods reached $404 billion compared to $367 billion in exports by the United States.
"This dramatic reversal, together with the increasingly high-tech orientation of Chinese exports, poses a serious challenge to U.S. export competitiveness and long-standing leadership in technological innovation," writes Preeg.
The composition of Chinese exports is undergoing a "structural shift" away from labor-intensive products to high tech and value-added goods. Chinese exports of textiles and apparel declined to 14.6 percent of total exports during the first half of 2006....    MORE

8/29/2006- If you want to make a man your enemy or even get him to hate you, just try and tell him the truth about a politician, his political party, his church or about Israel. I don’t’ have the exact quote handy, but a famous writer once said, the men the people most admire are the greatest liars, while the men they most hate are those who try and tell them the truth. Those of us in the truth movement are hated by those we are trying to educate. This writer has made enemies of his own relations; in both the political and religious field. Facts mean nothing to a person, once his mind is made up. You simply cannot teach some men anything, because they already know so much that is not true.
It has often been said: that the first casualty of war is the truth and we know that to be true. The war against Lebanon was instigated when the Hizbollah went into Israel, killed some Israeli soldiers and captured two more. THAT IS A BALD-FACED LIE, Hezbollah has never entered Israel. Israel entered Southern Lebanon, met fierce resistance from Hizbollah, tucked their tails between their legs, and fled back into Israel, leaving behind their dead and the two live soldiers.
The wire services first reported a statement from Lebanon police: that Israel soldiers had crossed the border and infiltrated the Lebanon city of Aitaa al-Chaab. These reports have not been changed to this date. This same report was carried by several other news agencies, so that there could be no doubt, which side was the aggressor in this war.
But as soon as this happened, the Zionist communist Jewish controlled press, in this country, went into WARP SPEED to cloud the issue and make Hizbollah the aggressor and the Jews the victim. The Jews now control more than three times their original territory, which makes them the aggressor and not the Palestinians or Arabs. The major media has been able to portray the Jews as the poor victims of Arab aggression. But the truth is a different story. For every Jewish victim in this tragedy, there have been at least ten Palestinian victims. But to read the Jewish press, one would think that only Jews are victims.
The plan to attack Southern Lebanon has been on the table for many months, just waiting for an incident that would give Israel the excuse they needed to turn loose their war machine on Lebanon. When Lebanon or Hezbollah would not give them any reason to attack, they simply caused a reason themselves.....    MORE

June 29, 2006- WASHINGTON- Appearing before a religious conference earlier this week, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told the audience that as a child attending Sunday school she would baby-sit the children of migrant workers so that their older siblings could join their parents at work.
"I was fortunate that at an early age, through my church, I was given the opportunity to expand my horizons," Clinton told the 600 adults and teenagers attending the Sojourners "COVENANT FOR A NEW AMERICA" conference.
Politically, the story served two purposes for the New York Democrat. It allowed her to promote a developing Democratic message tailored to the faith community that ties the party's "compassionate" legislative agenda directly to moral values. And, personally, it allowed Clinton to speak about her own spiritually. The latter is not new for the former first lady, but it is a theme we could hear more and more if she decides to run for president.
"She understands where the Democrats need to go in talking about values just as her husband understood it," said Stuart Rothenberg, publisher of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report. "And she is going to go there." . . . .
Freshman Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) got rave reviews for his keynote address yesterday to the Sojourners conference and CNN's John Roberts and Claire Brinberg report on the Democratic Party's efforts to reconnect with "values voters."
"I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people's lives," Obama said in his speech.
Since early last year, Democrats have reached out to religious leaders in an attempt to seek advice on how to promote their goals to people of faith. As CNN's Roberts notes "at stake is a huge swath of voters across the Midwest and through the South."
And Obama just might be the superstar emissary the party has been looking for to help them reconnect with these voters....    MORE

6/17/2006- LITTLE ROCK- Former President Bill Clinton said Saturday that, if he returns to the White House in 2008 because his wife becomes president, his role would be to "do whatever she wants" because that's what a good citizen would do.
Clinton said he didn't know if U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat from New York seeking re-election this year, would run for president in two years as some have speculated, but he predicted a woman could win the most powerful office in the world.
Asked at an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies convention what his role would be if his wife were elected, the former two-term president said, "I'll do whatever she wants, and I have no idea what that is. I honestly don't know whether she's going to run."
Clinton said he believes his wife would make a good president and has been a better senator than he expected she would be, becoming knowledgeable about national security, commerce, political relationships, and other issues. . . . .
While he doesn't agree with much of the Bush administration policies, Clinton said, he has come to understand President Bush better. Clinton said Bush has "an intuitive intelligence," provoking laughter from the audience. But Clinton said he meant that seriously. . . . .
He said global interdependence, the Internet, and the proliferation of non-governmental organizations means ordinary citizens feel the effects of and have more impact on developments worldwide. . . . .
"You have to make a world with more partners and fewer terrorists," he said. "And we know how to do that."....    MORE

31 July 2006- Children in the US could be banned from using social networking sites in schools and libraries by a new law.
The Deleting Online Predators Act tries to limit the access paedophiles have to the networking sites which have become hugely popular with minors.
The act has already been approved by a large majority in the House of Representatives.
Critics say the act is too broad and could mean a huge number of websites are cut off from users. . . . .
Social networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Friendster and many others count large numbers of children among their users. . . . .
The act says the FCC should consider any site that allows users to create and modify a profile, chat to other users and post personal information.
Those criticising the Act said this could mean that a huge number of websites, such as Slashdot, Amazon, blogging sites, wikis and news organisations could be cut off.
"DOPA is redundant and unnecessary legislation," said Leslie Burger, president of the ALA in a statement. She pointed out that the Children's Internet Protection Act already requires libraries to block net content that is harmful to children. . . . .
The act now passes to the Senate and a vote on its approval is likely to take place in early August....    MORE

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) on 17 February 2006 said that while Sudan was likely to reap a reasonably good harvest in 2005/2006, almost 7 million people would still require food aid over the coming year. Most of the needy have either been forced to flee their homes due to fighting or are in the process of returning home following the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Moreover, vulnerable households for the most part will be unable to benefit from the harvest due to the prevailing high cereal prices.
The FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission to Sudan, carried out in late 2005, found that the country's overall cereal production in 2005/2006 amounted to about 5.3 million tonnes, 55 per cent higher than the very poor harvest in 2004/2005 and 17 per cent above the average of the previous five years. Favourable rainfall, low incidence of pests and diseases, improved security in southern Sudan and slightly improved security in Darfur during planting time that started in May 2005 resulted in an increased area of cultivation. The total cultivated land across the country was 57 per cent more than that of the previous year. . . . .
Despite the estimated above-average crop production, the Assessment Mission found that some 6.7 million people would require about 800,000 tonnes of targeted food assistance in 2006. These beneficiaries include more than 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), some 900,000 returnees and close to 3.5 million highly vulnerable people in Darfur and the marginal areas of central and eastern parts of Sudan. Unequal income distribution, problems of physical and financial access to food due to war, displacement and poor infrastructure, a weak marketing system and economic isolation are some of the main factors behind the food insecurity of millions of people and their exposure to destitution, hunger and malnutrition. . . . .
"Timely assistance to the agricultural sector, including emergency support to returnees and other vulnerable farming communities before the start of the next cropping season in April/May in southern Sudan and June/July in northern Sudan, is urgently required", said Henri Josserand, Chief of the FAO Global Information and Early Warning System....    MORE

VOLCANIC ACTIVITY AROUND THE WORLD