The suspected ringleader of the raid may have to be tried in Morocco after he allegedly fled to North Africa with his share of the cash. The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is now defending moves to extradite him to Britain and claiming Moroccan nationality through his father.
Police believe the suspect, one of Britains top cage fighters, may have been forced to postpone his alleged plans for the robbery by several months after he was the victim of a stabbing through the heart outside a nightclub. Although he lost 30 pints of blood surgeons were able to staple his punctured lung and repair the heart wound. The father-of-three and his alleged lieutenant in the heist, a fellow cagefighter who cannot be named, are alleged to have driven to Dover, Holland and then travelled to Morocco in the days after the raid.
They arrived in Rabat with two associates, police believe. They were allegedly seen in the nightclub of the citys finest hotel, La Tour Hassan, mingling with well-heeled young Moroccans as they came out to dance at midnight, while taxi drivers were tipped handsomely. Basing themselves in a rented villa in the upmarket Souissi district, near homes owned by members of the Saudi and Emirates royal families, the friends would take trips along the coast to Casablanca or inland to Marrakech, spending time in lavish hotels and at gaming tables. The men also shopped extensively and drove around in a gold Mercedes.
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Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has secured decisive support from the political and army elite for what Algerians say looks likely to be a bid to change the constitution and stand for a third term expiring in 2014.
It's kind of the defining characteristic of Second and Third World countries that they just have to have the same guy n power, year after year, until he dies. That one fact gives me more appreciation for George Washington than a hundred biographies could.
Bouteflika's second and final five-year term as head of state of the OPEC member country runs out in April 2009, but political allies in recent months have urged the 70-year-old to change the basic law to enable him to stay on.
Bouteflika's second and final five-year term as head of state of the OPEC member country runs out in April 2009, but political allies in recent months have urged the 70-year-old to change the basic law to enable him to stay on.
Two influential groups have added their voice to the calls: the National Rally for Democracy (RND), an anti-Islamist party believed to be close to the military, and a group of veterans of the north African state's independence war against France.
"We support the amending of the constitution to provide a legal framework to President Bouteflika so he can reinforce and guarantee the country's stability," Ahmed Ouyahia, RND leader and a former prime minister, told party officials on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Former UN chief Kofi Annan has begun a new push to broker a deal between the Kenyan government and opposition, in attempts to end spiralling violence.
Mr Annan opened talks flanked by President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who says Mr Kibaki stole victory in December's polls. Mr Annan will present the leaders with a "route-map" for talks, which the BBC's Adam Mynott says may last weeks.
The talks came as the death of an opposition MP sparked fresh violence. At least four people died as mobs torched houses in a slum in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, after Mugabe Were, from beaten presidential candidate Raila Odinga's ODM party, apparently died in violence triggered by last month's disputed elections.
Meanwhile towns in the Rift Valley also witnessed outbreaks of inter-ethnic fighting. All this inter-ethnic fighting may be murderous, but it's great cardio.
Army helicopters fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a mob of ethnic Kikuyus attacking Luo refugees trying to flee the town of Naivasha. Quagmire!
#2
I've read reports of forced circumsion by an ethnic group to an another, so it might be muzzies vs Christians, but I'm too lazy to look for an article that would dare to say it aloud. We've got at least one great India connaisseur here, anybody savvy with africa?
#3
According to The Source Of All Knowledge (aka wikipedia), "The violence has been directed mainly against Kikuyus, belonging to the same ethnic group as Kiba" (though they seem to have deathsquads of their won, too), 73% of whom are Christians, BOTHO, the 10% of kenyan muslims seem to live in the coastal region, not in the places where there was violence (though nairobi seem to have asubstantial muslim pop).
An opposition politician was fatally shot on Monday in the Kenyan capital. Police said they were not ruling out "political motives" as riots and ethnic fighting linked to Kenya's disputed presidential election convulse the country.
Mugabe Were was shot as he drove up to the gate of his house in suburban Nairobi just after midnight, Kenya police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said.
"We are treating it as a murder but we are not ruling out anything including political motives," he said. "We are urging everyone to remain calm."
Lawyers have called former Liberian President Charles Taylor to testify in the appeals case of a businessman convicted in 2006 of arms smuggling to Liberia, a spokeswoman for the Dutch public prosecutor said on Monday. Taylor, himself on trial in The Hague on war crimes charges relating to the conflict in Sierra Leone, will give evidence on Feb. 8 to a judge investigating the case of Dutchman Guus Kouwenhoven in a closed session, the spokeswoman added.
A spokesman for the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is conducting Taylor's trial, said a final decision had not yet been made on whether to allow Taylor to participate.
A Dutch court sentenced Kouwenhoven, a business associate of Taylor, to eight years in prison for arms smuggling but acquitted him of war crimes because of lack of evidence. Both the prosecution and the defence are appealing the ruling, and defence lawyers are calling Taylor as a witness.
Known as "Big Gus" in Liberia, the former executive of the Oriental Timber Corp. and the Royal Timber Co. was accused of selling arms in exchange for timber concessions in Liberia, in direct violation of a U.N. weapons embargo.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Tory MPs are forging links with Hillary Clinton as the traditional alliance between the Conservatives and the Republican Party shows signs of increasing strain.
One Conservative MP is so convinced by the Democratic senator and wife of former president Bill Clinton that he travelled to the US this month to work on her campaign. Simon Burns, the MP for West Chelmsford, has spent nine days pounding the streets as a member of Team Hillary. Other Tories backing Mrs Clinton include Alan Duncan, the shadow secretary of state for enterprise, and Nadine Dorries, the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire.
While most Conservatives support John McCain, the Republican senator who addressed the party's conference in Bournemouth two years ago, some modernisers are turning to Mrs Clinton because they fear Mr McCain will lose the nomination to a more Right-wing candidate such as Mitt Romney.
Mr Burns turned up unannounced at the Clinton campaign headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, offering to work for free. He said: "I walked in and I said 'I want to see Hillary Clinton as president and I'm prepared to work in any way you want to try to help'.
"I said, 'Look, I'm British so the accent might not be helpful and I happen to be a Tory MP'. For those who understood what a Tory MP was politically, they were very good about it. They immediately put me to work. I did a considerable amount of telephone canvassing and helped with 'visibilities'."
This is a technique whereby campaigners stand at crossroads with placards chanting slogans as drivers hoot their horns. Mr Burns, who met Mrs Clinton at a rally, said he had told the Tory leader, David Cameron, about his activities. "He asked, 'Did you have a good time?' and I explained what I had done and he just listened. I can't speak for him, but he is an intelligent and astute politician, so he must be interested in Hillary."
An increasing number of Tories have become alienated from the Republicans during George W Bush's presidency because of the situation in Iraq. Mr Burns said: "Maybe it's perceived as a bit odd for a Tory MP to want to support Hillary Clinton but the Republican Party has moved so far to the Right and has been captured by a rather unpleasant religious agenda, and the Tory Party under David Cameron is not equivalent to that. I have nothing in common with them and I wouldn't have thought many of my Conservative colleagues had either."
Mr Duncan, who supported the Democrats in the last two American elections, said: "I'm for Hillary unless it's McCain, in which case I'm for McCain. Over the last 10 years I have been worried about the American deficit, the increasing dominance of the Christian Right and the need for deeper understanding of the Middle East."
Because the European understanding of the Middle East has worked well for decades. Just ask them.
Ms Dorries, one of several female Tory MPs in the Clinton camp, said: "If it is going to be a Democrat I want Hillary to win the nomination. She's a woman with a lot of substance and experience. It will be great to have a woman as president."
A Clinton victory is an interesting prospect for Mr Cameron who last year distanced himself from "neo-con" Republicanism. MPs point out that Clinton and Cameron have similar stances on childcare and health and that Mr Cameron has much more in common with a centrist Clinton than he does with the American religious Right.
Mr Cameron has not declared a preference, although earlier this month he said he admired Barack Obama, the rival Democratic contender, whom he called a "brilliant speaker". One senior Tory said: "He likes the fact that some of his MPs are Democrats. In the end it's the big picture that counts for him and if it's Hillary he will make it work."
Posted by: ed ||
01/29/2008 01:03 ||
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#1
I seriously do not know if this is satire or not. I don't want to find out, either.
#4
Here's an suggestion. Most Americans don't care who runs your country and would prefer that you stay the fuck out of ours.
You should've picked up on that about 230 years ago...
#9
Another reason (as if we needed one) to NOT vote for Billary.
Mind your own goddam business, idiots.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/29/2008 15:12 Comments ||
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#10
Curious that most of the world don't know their boundaries when it comes to interfering every four years in the American political process. But let one word leak out that the US gov has a preferred candidate and all hell breaks loose. So the best antiseptic is the glare of publicity and a well deserved backlash from American voters. In short, ESAD.
Posted by: ed ||
01/29/2008 17:29 Comments ||
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#11
IRAN-DAILY > GENDER AND THE POLITICS OF HATE; + IRANIAN.WS > THE LAW WAS WRITTEN FOR MEN.
#2
WAFF Poster Thread > AGENCE FREE PRESSE > CIA REPORT: RUSSIA MAY BREAK UP INTO 5-8 STATES [in 10 years]WHILE THE US PROSPERS. Also from WAFF > RUSSIA'S ARMS EXPORTS TO CHINA IN COLLAPSE.
OTOH, TOPIX > A COLD WAR REDUX IN THE NEAR FUTURE, between US + Russia over Iran??? + INTELLIBRIEFS > RUSSIA RESPONDS TO PROVOCATIONS WITH THREATS OF NUCLEAR WAR. See RIAN/Other.
An acute coal shortage left China suffering its worst power crisis in years as unseasonably large snowfalls saw hundreds of thousands stranded when they tried to travel to their families for the lunar new year holiday. About half of Chinas 31 provinces and regions have been hit by brownouts, or voltage reductions, caused by Beijings attempt to reimpose and tighten price controls on commodities including coal and oil.
Beijing is using old-fashioned price controls in an effort to stop food inflation, which has pushed the consumer price index to an 11-year high, from spreading to the rest of the economy.
That will work as well as price controls usually do ...
Power companies insist the brownouts are the result solely of coal shortages. But executives admit privately the industry may have exacerbated the situation to drive home to Beijing the unfairness of price controls. Global prices of coal, Chinas staple fuel, have surged, causing pressure for the rises to be passed on. Power industry margins have also been cut by higher freight costs.
#1
China is good at brownouts and rolling blackouts. If the main train station in Guangzhou is without power, it is because the power company executives wish it so. They can black out only parts of a city, or only black out the factories and leave the city intact, and so on.
The fact that they're doing it during the pre-Spring Festival rush just adds to it. The poor workers, they're always the ones to pay when the big boys fight.
#3
Chinese media estimated that 150,000 travellers were stuck on Monday at the main rail station in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, with hundreds of thousands more expected in coming days.
All those people in one place? Sounds to me like a perfect opportunity for a opinion poll on global warming.
Notify the local Greenpeace chapter!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/29/2008 15:15 Comments ||
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How many are going to die at the railroad station? It can't possibly have enough food, water and sanitary facilities for so many... although with that mass of bodies hopefully lack of provided heat won't be as much of an issue.
#2
Could that be that... the ethnic composition of the finnish population is changing through some kind of unexplainable process, say like mass migration? Gee.
I'm sorry if I dwell on that, but one of the biggest trend I see, and even I can see that one, is how the white/european/western sphere is imploding, collapsing on itself; after having been chased (and being chased even now, think zimBobwe or ivory coast, or africa in general) of the lands it occupied during its demographic expansion, it is now under demographical & civilizational (does this word exist?) siege even in its native lands.
I mean, everyone can feel that, even on a subconscious level, from kaddhaffy or quaradawi prophetizing the conquest of Europe, to the raza or aztlan racists/supremacists who want to chase whitey out of the Americas (hey, it worked for Asia and africa, didn't it?).
This is enourmous news, not just for Europe, but for the USA, Australia,... and there is no turning back. Just dwell on that for a moment.
Hum, I don't wish to rain on your parade, but even without being pessimistic, don't the USA have some kind of an "immigration problem", too?... You don't have the same level of cultural deathwish bred and taught into you, though I'm not so sure about the younger generations... YET, true, but you're clearly headed toward the same way, and you've got the same players in action too (national education, msm, entertainment, academia,...).
The question is not "do we want to go along that path?", but "will we go all the way along that path?", rather.
#5
As I recall, you have to fly the khat in daily. It doesn't store well. So they must be using a great deal indeed to make it economical to fly it there from Africa every day.
#6
...don't the USA have some kind of an "immigration problem", too?
Oh ya baby.
BUT... we are starting to see pushback and a revolt of the voting public against it. I don't see the same happening in Europe (except Denmark). Could the US go the way of the Do-do in the next 20 years with massive, unchecked illegals and public bennies being given away? Absofuckinglootly. That is why this election is so important. We are tottering at the edge of the slide to ruin, but a lot of us are fighting hard too keep from going over. Unlike what the dhimocrats want.
. . . until Deval Patrick was elected last year, we had Republican governors for 16 years. GOP lost its last U.S. House seat over a decade ago though, and numbers that gave them a little clout in the state Senate under the first Weld admin have dwindled to meaningless nothingness. In JFKs day, it was a heavily Republican state, and despite the subsequent shift, lunchpail Dems voted for Reagan. A third to half the state consistently still votes Republican in statewide and national elections, but shows little interest in running. Kennedy benefits greatly from (A) Camelot legacy, (B) incumbency, (C) money and (D) generally low-caliber opponents, his toughest challenge in living memory being Romney in the mid-1990s. My own conservative newspaper has endorsed him as recently as a couple of years ago, a somewhat Murdochian recognition of his unquestionable power in Washington, when his opponents campaign barely registered a blip. I think the mindless cheers you saw during his absurdly vapid and revisionist Obama endorsement speech yesterday tell the whole story. The uninspired younger brother of JFK and RFK, delivered a hand-me-down U.S. Senate seat four decades ago, was the last man standing and took on the Kennedy mantle, itself an odd anomaly of American 20th Century politics, utter cynicism blooded into legend. A scandal driving off a bridge, abandoning a young woman to drown, taking a powder while figuring out what to do about that that would have run out mere mortals a long time ago rarely even rates a mention any more except by meanspirited partisans who cruelly question how such a man could possibly claim to represent the interests of common people.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/29/2008 15:47 ||
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#1
The best things that ever happened to this excretable man were Lee Harvey Oswald and Sirhan Sirhan. He's built, and kept, his career on the dead bodies of his brothers. And he knows it.
#2
well, that and the waitress sammich. I ordered that, and all I got was slapped. Guess I need old silver-haired-devil Chris Dodd with me. If so, the sammich ain't worth it
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2008 18:00 Comments ||
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#1
not so far fetched; a left leaning whacko voiced the same game plan here in sleepy Oak Harbor for the upcoming WA primary. in order to vote in this charade, you need to declare your party affiliation, and due to the way the D's and R's apportion their national convention delegates, you could lie ( something the D's excell in) and vote in the R's primary, and in the words of this nutcase, cast your vote for Ron Paul ( i guess he figures that RP is a non-starter) thus discounting the R's voting base. or something.
Letter from Barack Obama on his Muslim heritage: My father was a Muslim, the religion of my father and his family was always something I had an interest in
"NOTE: It came to our attention shortly after we published the above letter that it was a fraud, actually written by Umar Lee. We received the letter from a trusted reader and we assumed it was genuine when we published it . By the time we received it the letter did not have Umar Lee's signature at the bottom
Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian"
In the countdown to President Bushs final State of the Union address, there are strong signals that it will be reminiscent in some ways of the speech given by his father 16 years ago.
President Bush is certain to focus on the economy on Monday night, reiterating his faith in Americans enterprise and work ethic, arguing for a short-term shot in the arm and repeating his call for low taxes as a permanent way of life. Mr. Bush believes deeply in Americans keeping more of their hard-earned money, rather than sending it to Washington, as his spokeswoman, Dano Perino, put it the other day.
President George H.W. Bush also emphasized the economy in his hourlong final State of the Union address, on Jan. 28, 1992. We are going to lift this nation out of hard times inch by inch and day by day, and those who would stop us had better step aside, the first President Bush said, as he proposed various quick tax-relief measures, including breaks for the housing industry in general and first-time home buyers in particular.
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Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Wasn't impressed with the speach, I was more entertained by the fact that important poltiical speeches contain applause lines so the partisans can stand (or not) to show their pleasure. it's become more of a crowd participation event than a real political speech.
And what was the deal with the extra long standing ovation at the start? Was that support from Republicans and glad this is his last speech from Democrats because that bipartisanship certainly ended once he started.
#3
They should go back to the system used before Woodrow Wilson's Presidency. The President used to deliver the speech to the House Clerk, who read it to a Joint Session. The most memorable of those speeches ended with:
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
01/29/2008 22:00 Comments ||
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson said late Sunday that he was not offended by comments on Saturday by former President Bill Clinton, who brought up Mr. Jacksons name in response to a question about Senator Barack Obama. Mr. Clinton had noted that Mr. Jackson had won South Carolina in the Democratic contests in 1984 and 1988. Pundits and many in the blogosphere interpreted Mr. Clintons mention of Mr. Jackson as an attempt to diminish Mr. Obama and what would turn out to be his landslide victory Saturday in South Carolina over Senator Hillary Clinton because Mr. Jackson had not gone on to win the Democratic nomination.
But Mr. Jackson said he did not see it that way. I dont read anything negative into Clintons observation, Mr. Jackson said in a phone conversation late Sunday night from India, where he is taking part in a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Still, Mr. Jackson said that he had spoken to Mr. Obama on Saturday night and to Mr. Clinton a few days earlier and that he had appealed to both to take it to a higher ground.
Mr. Jackson, the long-time civil rights activist, is supporting Mr. Obama while his wife, Jacqueline Jackson, is supporting Mrs. Clinton. Their son, Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., is supporting Mr. Obama.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Remember the Rev had a personal session with Billy Boy during the Monica tiff. Don't know whether they covered the idea of Christian forgiveness for sins or were comparing notes on mistresses. Frat Boys Gone Wild (Washington edition).
#3
Yup, lots of change going on there.
So we have hillarity bucking for change when her election would continue a bush/clinton 20 year era.
Or, there is b.o. who also advocates change by accepting the endorsement of perhaps the most widely known family dynastic figures who, as the morning news reminds us, is the brother of President Kennedy (no crap morning show).
#5
I hope Obama realizes that, outside of the New York Times editorial pages, Massachusetts, and a few other places which he probably already has locked up, this endorsement probably isn't gonna mean much. In fact, it'll probably hurt him, since most people not from Massachusetts that I meet think that Ted belongs in an insane asylum.
#6
Looks like he's lost the chickie babes of NOW-New York State Chapter...
Senator Ted Kennedy Betrays Women by Not Standing for Hillary Clinton for President
Ultimate Betrayal Felt by Women Everywhere
ALBANY, NY (01/28/2008; 1101)(readMedia)-- Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedys endorsement of Hillary Clintons opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.
And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! Hes picked the new guy over us. Hes joined the list of progressive white men who cant or wont handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not this one). They are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! Thats Howards brother) who run DFA (thats the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow). They are Alternet, Progressive Democrats of America, democrats.com, Kucinich lovers and all the other groups that take women's money, say theyll do feminist and womens rights issues one of these days, and conveniently forget to mention women and children when they talk about poverty or human needs or Americas future or whatever.
This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for womens rights, womens voices, womens equality, womens authority and our ability indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who know whats best for us.
Well, Teddy, at least they had the common courtesy not to mention a certain drowned dead girl...
Yeah, I think that's what I'd do, too, if I was coming up on a real important, make or break primary. Or I could keep my mouth shut and wait for one of my rivals to leak something along the same lines.
Top of the Ticket at the Los Angeles Times reports that Rudy Giuliani may be laying the groundwork for quitting the Republican nomination race if he doesn't win the Florida primary tomorrow.
In the back of his chartered plane on the way to St. Petersburg, the blog says, Giuliani told Times reporter Louise Roug and others, "The winner of Florida will win the nomination." Though he went on to predict he would win, "that's an unusually categorical statement," the bloggers note.
Especially since it would take an upset for him to win. Polls show Mitt Romney and John McCain fighting for first place, with Giuliani trailing badly.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Bet he finishes 4th behind Huck.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
01/29/2008 6:45 Comments ||
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Giuliani is only a significant candidate if the key election issue is Islamic terrorism. His position in the polls is evidence that America is no more concerned about it than Europe. At some point all will get another very painful wake-up call.
#3
first off, I bet a lot of McCain voters are very concerned about terrorism. Im not arguing if theyre right or not, just what their concerns are. On the Dem side, Clinton has actually used the possibility of a terr act as a reason not to vote for Obama (again, not saying if shes right or not) and has attacked Obamas position on Iran.
I think there are quite a few non-Giuliani voters who are concerned about terrorism.
#4
I liked him initially be he wore on my pretty quick. Not that I wouldn't vote for him still, it's just that I wouldn't be really happy about it. Then again none of the remaining Republicans would really make me happy.
#5
I did not say he was THE only significant candidate if the issue was terrorism, only that he was A significant candidate only if THE issue was terrorism.
Several culling teams have stopped working in districts of West Bengal hit by bird flu, complaining of corruption.
They say that they are being put under pressure by local politicians to exaggerate the number of birds killed so that more compensation is paid. Some of the extra money is pocketed by local politicians, they say.
Nearly 200 culling team members have withdrawn from working in Rampurhat and Baroncha in protest against "pressure for false certificates".
"If we kill five birds, we are asked to certify the killing of 50 birds so that the villagers get more compensation, part of which is pocketed by the village politicians," alleged Pintu Ghosh, member of a culling team at Rampurhat.
The decision by some culling team members in Rampurhat and Baroncha in Murshidbad district is significant, because these are areas worst hit by bird flu, where culling targets have been constantly upped as the epidemic spreads.
The officials all work for West Bengal's health and animal husbandry departments.
In the district of Nadia, other culling teams have stopped work because they say they are "too tired". "We are too few and our task is huge. We have been working relentlessly for the last week," said Chandan Das, a culling team member. Desperate district administrators have threatened to arrest those members of culling teams who pull out of work.
On Monday, officials said that the epidemic has spread to 13 of West Bengal's 19 districts. An outbreak has even been reported from Budge Budge, a suburb of the capital, Calcutta, officials say, even though 1.7 million birds have so far been culled.
Police checkpoints have been set up all around the city to prevent any possible smuggling of poultry, Calcutta's police commissioner Gautam Chakrabarty said. "If this spreads to Calcutta, there will be panic and chaos," animal disease expert Barun Roy said.
The municipal authorities in Calcutta are not prepared for such a situation, he said.
West Bengal's Health Minister SK Mishra said that the situation was "alarming" and that a total of 2.5 million birds would need to be disposed of. In some areas just hit by bird flu, like Debra in West Midnapore district, villagers are actively resisting the culling of their backyard poultry, complaining of financial losses. Experts say that this could be contributing towards the spread of the disease.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can cause disease and death in humans. Health experts have warned that the outbreak could get out of control. The only saving grace so far for the authorities is that no cases of human infection have yet been reported.
Tens of thousands of rural families, for whom poultry is the only major source of income, have been ruined.
NEW DELHI: After joint combat exercises to develop "interoperability", the Indo-US military tango is now firmly waltzing into the arms purchase arena as well. With the over $1-billion deal for six C-130J 'Super Hercules' aircraft in the bag, an even bigger defence contract is now headed the US way.
Sources on Monday said the defence ministry and Boeing have begun the "commercial price negotiations" for the purchase of eight P-8i long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) patrol aircraft, with anti-submarine warfare capabilities, for the Indian Navy. Unlike the Super Hercules deal, which as reported by TOI earlier is a direct 'foreign military sale' contract under a government-to-government arrangement, the P-8i has emerged the victor in the global LRMR sweepstakes held by India to plug operational gaps in its maritime snooping abilities.
The P-8i, based on the Boeing-737 commercial airliner, has out-performed the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company's A-319 maritime patrol aircraft and other contenders in meeting 'qualitative requirements' in the technical trials held by the Navy. "The contract will be signed soon. The first P-8i will be delivered within 48 months, that is in mid-2012 and all the eight by mid-2015. They will replace the Navy's eight aging Tupolev-142Ms," said a source.
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Posted by: john frum ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday conveyed his condolences to the Government and people of Indonesia on the death of former President Suharto, his press office said in a statement. Ban, who is on a European and African tour said President Suharto's 32-year leadership of Indonesia "was both an important period in the country's history and a time during which Indonesia played a significant role in international affairs."
The head of Greeces powerful Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, who mended ties with the Vatican but clashed with the Greek state, died of cancer on Monday at the age of 69. A staunch defender of the role of the church in Greece, he died at his home in Athens, only months after plans for a liver transplant in the United States were cancelled. He was an enlightened church leader whose work brought the church closer to society, closer to modern problems and to young people, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in a statement. Flags flew at half-mast on the Athens Acropolis and across the city as bells tolled. Condolences poured in as crowds of black-clad mourners gathered at the Metropolitan Cathedral where his funeral will be held after a three-day wake. It is like I have lost my father, an elderly woman praying outside the church told Greek TV. The government announced he would receive a funeral befitting a head of state, while public services will shut down on the day. The Church said the funeral would take place on Thursday morning and a successor would be elected by the Holy Synod on February 7.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Wired Science has ferreted out the secret amino acid messages contained in "watermarks" that were embedded in the world's first manmade bacterial genome, announced last week by the J. Craig Venter Institute.
As Andy Pollack paraphrased Venter in the New York Times, "These watermarks, Dr. Venter noted, contain coded messages. Sleuths would have to determine the amino acid sequence coded for by the watermarks to decipher the message." Functionally, the watermarks distinguish the synthetic genome from its natural counterpart. The Genbank sequence for the modified Mycoplasma synthetic genome contains five of these watermarks, and speculation has flown about what they were, as Venter refused to disclose them to press.
In response to a phone call from Wired Science, David Wheeler and Tao Tao of the NCBI checked into the genetic sequence submitted by Venter's Institute and found the watermarks hidden in plain sight. For the first time, we reveal the five coded messages that will go down in history as embedded in the first synthetic genome ever created after the jump.
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You don't hear much about it, but food prices are going to be a major source of social and political instability in the near future. GRTWT
KUANTAN, Malaysia: Rising prices for cooking oil in India are forcing residents of Mumbai to ration every drop. Bakeries in the United States are fretting over higher shortening costs. And here in Malaysia, brand-new factories built to convert vegetable oil into diesel for trucks sit idle, their owners unable to afford the raw material.
This is the other oil shock. Shortages and soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil and many other types of vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example of a developing global problem: costly food.
The Food and Agriculture Organization, an agency of the United Nations, reported that its index of export prices for 60 internationally traded foodstuffs climbed 37 percent last year. That was on top of a 14 percent increase in 2006, and the trend has accelerated in the past few weeks.
In some poor countries, desperation is taking hold. Just in the last week, there have been protests in Pakistan over wheat shortages and in Indonesia over soybean shortages. Egypt has banned rice exports to keep food at home, and China has put price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
#2
If Soylent Green comes online, and AlGore goes first, we only have to worry about the next year's crop
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2008 19:19 Comments ||
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#3
I have heard it suggested that George W. Bush went for this ethanol thing whole heartedly, even though he knew it wouldn't work, because he wanted to kill the idea quick, not have some other President dilly dally with it for years.
"Sometimes, the best way to kill an idea is to let it happen."
#2
The Sulzberger family holds supervoting stock allowing them to elect nine of the company's thirteen directors. Galloway and his partners are seeking to name nominees for the other four directors, which are elected by holders of the company's publicly traded shares.
And maybe this'd be a good time to discuss copyright issues, since I am concerned that even what I re-printed above may violate copyright laws.
But lotp's link cetainly does not violate the law.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/29/2008 6:17 Comments ||
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#1
Amazing that even a communist like Kuehl refuses to fund a bill proposed by the Mexican Nunez to provide free health care for all the illegal Mexicans in California. Of course, the destruction of hospitals and health care in California continues apace. Until illegals are denied access to all services, one state after another is going to go broke or be taxed out of their homes. Just keep watching California, once a glorious state.
#2
It's really, really tough to deny care to someone who is in need just because they can't pay for it. OTOH, if you've ever been to a California ER with extreme pain or a life threatening condition and had to wait long hours with the untreated condition because of all the people who are obviously here illegally taking advantage of the resources you need without any thought of ever paying, it kinda ticks you off. They bring their kids to the ER with ear infections and low grade fevers because they don't have primary care physicians. In fact, the ER is their primary care physician. The answer is not universal insurance. The answer is to secure the border and deport the illegals. Failing that, the federal government should pay because in this case it really is Bush's fault. I want to believe that Arnold knows this but has to work with an unfortunate reality and feels compelled to try to save our hospitals.
#3
Actually, the answer is even simpler. First, determine the status of anyone presenting at the emergency room. If they are "undocumented," they get one generic analgesic tablet, regardless of their complaint. At this point, they have "received treatment" and may be sent on their way...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/29/2008 14:57 Comments ||
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#4
it gets worse;
we give illegals incentives for coming to clinic. After having the anchor baby, only 40% in our recent study showed up for their appointments. So as added incentives we give them 2 months of free diapers just for showing up to their appointment. no copay but gifts.
Unbelievable that in this time of crunch someone got a great idea to give away even more free stuff.
Posted by: Jan ||
01/29/2008 20:51 Comments ||
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#5
m murcek, it's amazing to learn how ER's can be sued for not giving 'proper care'. So the ER usually checks them for everything so as not to get sued. Including many expensive tests that you and I would have to pay for through the nose.
As an example, kidney dialysis patients that are illegal, come weekly for their dialysis which is very expensive. They even have appointments to do so. I'm not sure how they get away with this, I'm just on the front lines and deal with the illegals getting this care for free.
I'd like to see the hospitals explain the practices of billing for these expenses.
Posted by: Jan ||
01/29/2008 20:57 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has secured decisive support from the political and army elite for what Algerians say looks likely to be a bid to change the constitution and stand for a third term expiring in 2014.
Former UN chief Kofi Annan has begun a new push to broker a deal between the Kenyan government and opposition, in attempts to end spiralling violence. 
An opposition politician was fatally shot on Monday in the Kenyan capital. Police said they were not ruling out "political motives" as riots and ethnic fighting linked to Kenya's disputed presidential election convulse the country.
Lawyers have called former Liberian President Charles Taylor to testify in the appeals case of a businessman convicted in 2006 of arms smuggling to Liberia, a spokeswoman for the Dutch public prosecutor said on Monday. Taylor, himself on trial in The Hague on war crimes charges relating to the conflict in Sierra Leone, will give evidence on Feb. 8 to a judge investigating the case of Dutchman Guus Kouwenhoven in a closed session, the spokeswoman added.
. . . until Deval Patrick was elected last year, we had Republican governors for 16 years. GOP lost its last U.S. House seat over a decade ago though, and numbers that gave them a little clout in the state Senate under the first Weld admin have dwindled to meaningless nothingness. In JFKs day, it was a heavily Republican state, and despite the subsequent shift, lunchpail Dems voted for Reagan. A third to half the state consistently still votes Republican in statewide and national elections, but shows little interest in running. Kennedy benefits greatly from (A) Camelot legacy, (B) incumbency, (C) money and (D) generally low-caliber opponents, his toughest challenge in living memory being Romney in the mid-1990s. My own conservative newspaper has endorsed him as recently as a couple of years ago, a somewhat Murdochian recognition of his unquestionable power in Washington, when his opponents campaign barely registered a blip. I think the mindless cheers you saw during his absurdly vapid and revisionist Obama endorsement speech yesterday tell the whole story. The uninspired younger brother of JFK and RFK, delivered a hand-me-down U.S. Senate seat four decades ago, was the last man standing and took on the Kennedy mantle, itself an odd anomaly of American 20th Century politics, utter cynicism blooded into legend. A scandal
driving off a bridge, abandoning a young woman to drown, taking a powder while figuring out what to do about that
that would have run out mere mortals a long time ago rarely even rates a mention any more except by meanspirited partisans who cruelly question how such a man could possibly claim to represent the interests of common people.
In the countdown to President Bushs final State of the Union address, there are strong signals that it will be reminiscent in some ways of the speech given by his father 16 years ago.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said late Sunday that he was not offended by comments on Saturday by former President Bill Clinton, who brought up Mr. Jacksons name in response to a question about Senator Barack Obama. Mr. Clinton had noted that Mr. Jackson had won South Carolina in the Democratic contests in 1984 and 1988. Pundits and many in the blogosphere interpreted Mr. Clintons mention of Mr. Jackson as an attempt to diminish Mr. Obama and what would turn out to be his landslide victory Saturday in South Carolina over Senator Hillary Clinton because Mr. Jackson had not gone on to win the Democratic nomination.
Top of the Ticket at the Los Angeles Times reports that Rudy Giuliani may be laying the groundwork for quitting the Republican nomination race if he doesn't win the Florida primary tomorrow.
Several culling teams have stopped working in districts of West Bengal hit by bird flu, complaining of corruption. 
