Former Czech President Vaclav Havel is calling for deeper European integration and saying the EU should be made more democratic.
Speaking to European Parliament lawmakers Wednesday, Havel said Europe must learn the lessons of its war-torn past and connect better with its citizens.
He said the …
WASHINGTON Democrats on Tuesday blocked consideration of aconstitutional amendment to limit terms of members of Congress to 12years, scuttling the measure for the rest of the year despite pollsshowing the issue is enormously popular with voters.
Republicans immediately vowed to take the issue to the countryin November's elections and raise it again in the next Congress.
The amendment was blocked after Republicans squelched aDemocratic move to force a vote on broadening it to bar re-electionof lawmakers who already have served at least 12 years. Thatamendment would have threatened the careers of nearly half theSenate's members.Democrats argued the Republicans' …
SHAW ISLAND, Wash. (AP) — The Coast Guard says two people were flown to a hospital with injuries after a crab boat carrying seven ran aground near Shaw Island in the San Juan Islands, about 70 miles northwest of Seattle.
Petty Officer Jacob Mansga in Seattle says the two were crew members. They suffered broken bones and hypothermia.
The Coast Guard was notified of the grounding …
After achieving notable success in dealing with the worst economic crisis in decades, major countries are now struggling to manage the global recovery.
Leaders of the Group of 20 rich industrial and major developing countries were wrapping up their summit by agreeing to pursue separate strategies to sustain the fledgling economic comeback.
The United States continued to insist that stimulus spending is needed to bolster the rebound. But a growing list of countries, worried about a Greek-style debt crisis, prefer to cut government spending and raise taxes to attack ballooning deficits.
The G-20 conference was scheduled to conclude with a final …
Coach Dave Wannstedt remained mum Thursday regarding who willstart Saturday's preseason home opener against the Arizona Cardinals.Wannstedt said only that the starters will play three quarters, withboth Erik Kramer and Rick Mirer getting work with the first unit.
"No decision has been made on who is going to …
Federal preemption is taking another dimension through Illinois-based State Farm Bank. The Office of Thrift Supervision has issued a 17-page legal ruling sought by State Farm that state licensing and registration requirements that do not apply to a federal savings association also do not apply to the agents as long as they act exclusively on behalf of a particular thrift, undergo training by that thrift, and are subject to the thrift's supervision and control.
"Subjecting the association, through its agents, to state licensing and registration requirements impermissibly interferes with and burdens the association's deposit and lending operations. Such requirements are tantamount to …
The New Jersey Devils signed Brian Rolston to quarterback the power play. The move is paying off now.
Back up to speed after an ankle injury, Rolston scored a power-play goal 1:43 into overtime to give the Devils a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.
Rolston's winner came on a slap shot from about 40 feet with Senators defenseman Brian Lee and Devils forward Brian Gionta standing in front of goalie Alex Auld.
"It's been a bit of a struggle coming back from my ankle," Rolston said. "It was just a 4-on-3 situation and I just pulled it to the middle. Gio had a good screen in front and I got off a good shot. There wasn't …
Detectives are investigating the apparent murder-suicide of twowomen found dead of gunshot wounds yesterday in their North Sidecondominium.
Police found the bodies of Irmegard Blanck, 62, and Dora T.Treptau, 61, of 5901 N. Sheridan, yesterday, after being called by acondominium association official.
The official said she had received a letter from one of …
NEW YORK - Stocks surged Thursday, carrying the Dow Jones industrials into record territory as investors gleaned positive consumer spending trends from retailers' June sales reports.
A new bid for aluminum maker Alcan Inc. added to the upbeat mood on Wall Street, which drove the Dow up more than 100 points to a new intraday high.
Though retail sales on the whole appeared to be crimped last month by higher gasoline prices and a tepid housing market, a few reports beat Street expectations - notably that of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, which posted a better-than-expected 2.4 percent jump in sales at stores open at least a year.
Wal-Mart, one …
Mark Cuban wants a judge to throw out the Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit alleging the Dallas Mavericks owner was involved in insider trading.
U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater will hear arguments Tuesday on a motion from Cuban's lawyers. The hearing is expected to last about an hour, with each side allotted 30 minutes.
…
WASHINGTON Unemployment dipped to 6.8 percent in July, the lowestlevel in 22 months, with the government reporting today that so far,the Midwestern floods have had little adverse impact on jobs.
In Illinois, unemployment dropped to 7.2 percent in July from 8percent in June and 8.2 percent in July, 1992.
But analysts greeted word of the improvement in the state'semployment picture with skepticism.
"Any month-to-month volatility you have to take with a littlegrain of salt," said Diane Swonk, an economist with First NationalBank of Chicago. "It's hard to get a true picture."
But, Swonk was impressed by reports that the unemployment dropcoincides …
PARIS (AP) — A judicial official says the Paris prosecutor's office is opening a preliminary investigation into the claims of a French lawyer that former President Jacques Chirac received suitcases of cash from African leaders when he was in office.
The financial division of the prosecutor's office will question Robert Bourgi, who claimed to be the go-between, about his allegations that also …
Tom Thibodeau's NBA coach of the year celebration was two decades in the making and nearly over before it began. It will be old news by the time the Chicago Bulls wrap up their second-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks. He wouldn't want it any other way.
Too bad. Lost in all that haste is a tale that owners and general managers around the league should be required to memorize. It's about a guy who studies like mad and does everything right, but gets passed over time and again because he doesn't have the pedigree or look the part.
Thibodeau played basketball at Division III Salem State, and after three years as an assistant there, worked his one and only season (1984-85) as a head coach until owner Jerry Reinsdorf handed him the keys to the Bulls last summer. In between were four years as an assistant at Harvard and 21 more at a half-dozen NBA stops, where every defense Thibodeau touched got better — and someone else got the credit.
That changed in a few important ways Sunday, if only for a short time, when Thibodeau received 76 first-place votes to finish well ahead of Philadelphia's Doug Collins in balloting for the award. For once, there was a reason to celebrate how much loyalty Thibodeau had inspired in others, instead of the other way around. He reacted the way you'd expect.
"I never doubted that it would happen. I knew I had to be patient," he said. "I recognized that these jobs were hard to get, and I was hopeful that I would get a chance. Then, I wanted to make the most of it."
And then, likely because he's a very smart man, or simply by force of habit, Thibodeau spent the rest of his allotted time trying to make everyone else around him look good.
"I realize how fortunate I am to be here," he said. "It's a great city, great fans, great organization, great players ... it was well worth the wait."
There's plenty of truth to that, of course. Most rookie pro coaches catch their first ride with a team that's cratered, or is about to. By that point, the players are coaching themselves more often than not.
What Thibodeau inherited instead was a team that had gone 41-41 under Vinny Del Negro, but was clearly on the rise. Derrick Rose was already the best young player in the league. Veteran Carlos Boozer came over during the offseason.
So, yes, Thibodeau was fortunate. Just don't confuse that with luck. It may have taken him way too long to get noticed, but he wasn't exactly a secret anymore. He was just coming off a stint as project manager of the Boston Celtics' championship-caliber defense. In 16 of his 21 previous seasons, Thibodeau-coached units ranked among the NBA's top 10; during one memorable stretch of his stay in New York a decade ago, the Knicks set a record by holding opponents below 100 points in 33 straight games.
He achieves that by endlessly breaking down games, possession by possession, then drawing up a plan to win every one. Not surprising, every place Thibodeau has been, players crack jokes about wandering into the practice facility at all hours and seeing the light from a video projector illuminating his office.
"Every time," Bulls forward Luol Deng recalled. "I don't know if he gets here at 5 or 6. He's here early and he's the last one to leave."
That work ethic made a similar impression on Arne Duncan, the current U.S. Secretary of Education and a former basketball student of Thibodeau's at Harvard. Duncan somehow wrangled the keys to the school's gym while a player, often ran into Thibodeau and started spending offseasons working out under his tutelage. Duncan went on to play four seasons in the top tier Australian pro league after graduation. The Chicago native returned the favor when the Bulls' job opened up, lobbying Reinsdorf to hire his mentor.
Persuading Rose to buy into his hiring required no high-level intervention. Thibodeau promised to plot every possession, making as many switches or substitutions that were necessary to get matchups he wanted, then gave Rose responsibility to press that advantage. Instead of resting him late in the regular season, Thibodeau piled up minutes on his star's slim shoulders. The Bulls pulled away to win 21 of their last 23 games, snare homecourt through the playoffs with the league's best record — and an MVP award that Rose is expected to collect on Tuesday and celebrate just as long as Thibodeau did his coaching award.
"His job is to come up with the game plan," Rose has said more than once. "My job is to execute it."
___
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org
A court has ordered a Romanian surgeon to pay euro500,000 (US$795,000) in compensation to a patient whose penis he accidentally severed during an operation.
In July 2004, Dr. Naum Ciomu made a surgical error while operating on the man's testicles, severing the penis instead of making an incision to the testicle.
The Bucharest Magistrates Court ruled Friday that Ciomu had been "superficial" in his approach to the operation, ordered the fine and handed Ciomu a one-year suspended prison sentence. The ruling can be appealed.
A piece of muscle from the man's arm has now been attached to where his penis was, but its function is aesthetic.
"You don't have to be an expert to realize that the 33-year-old victim does not have a good state of mind," said Mihai Olariu, the victim's lawyer.
DOVER, Del. - To many among the 140,000 at Dover InternationalSpeedway on Sunday - and even to a few drivers in Nextel Cup carsracing against him - the appearance of Greg Biffle as the driver tobeat was unexpected.
"Where did Greg Biffle come from?" were the first words spoken bysecond-place finisher Kyle Busch after Biffle and his No. 16 Ford hadscored a 4.3-second victory over Busch in his No. 5 Chevrolet in theMBNA RacePoints 400.
"At the end, there was no catching Greg Biffle," Busch said. "Hewas checking out."
Biffle has been quietly checking out much of the season. Sunday'svictory was his Nextel Cup-leading fourth and brings him within 46 ofpoints leader Jimmie Johnson, who finished fourth in his No. 48Chevrolet.
The race was what third-place finisher Mark Martin called "goodold-school racing," in which drivers gave each other room ... well,most of the time.
"The best man won," Martin said. "That's the way racing should begreen-flag racing, plenty of it. The guys who had the best cars wereable to go to the front and stay in the front.
"The guys who made the best adjustments in the last 200 lapsreally are the ones that won the race, because up until that pointBiffle was behind me. So, those guys hit it on the money."
Unlike last weekend in Charlotte, N.C., where these same driversset a NASCAR record for the most caution flags in the sport's 56-year history, this race was the cleanest of the season.
There were just seven yellow flags for 33 laps, and four of themwere for debris. Only one created controversy, that being the oneinvolving four-time champion Jeff Gordon and 2002 champ Tony Stewartas the two were about to emerge from Turn 2 on Lap 42.
"I got into the back of him," Stewart said. "It doesn't take toomuch of a rocket scientist to figure that out, now does it?"
Gordon, who finished 39th and dropped out of the top 10 in points,said Stewart was a little faster and he "probably" was going to moveout of the way on the backstretch.
"Tony just ran out of patience," Gordon said. "The next time Tonyis holding me up, it won't take long for me to move him out of myway."
Stewart saw it differently.
"Everybody else was doing a pretty good job of give and take,"Stewart said. "It's just when you get around Jeff, he always takesmore than he gives. I don't known what it is with him and Jimmie(Johnson) and Ryan (Newman), but it's a group of them that think theroads are named after them - one way."
Stewart said he hadn't planned to knock Gordon aside.
"I just wanted to get close enough that he knew I was there tosay, 'Hey, you know, let us go, and if you're faster, we'll let yougo,' " Stewart said.
The only problems Biffle had were ones he created for himself.First, he and crew chief Doug Richert made major changes before therace that tightened the car much more than they expected and forcedthem to spend nearly the entire race loosening it with wedge andtrack-bar adjustments.
Then, they got it too loose, and on Lap 157 coming out of Turn 3,Biffle got sideways.
"I had the wheel turned, completely locked," he said. "My frontwheels wouldn't turn any more. I was looking at the guy beside me.Then I started turning it back."
He got it under control and kept driving, adjusting his style tothe car.
Finally, after crossing the finish line with an average speed of122.626 mph, he got so enraptured with his thoughts that whileattempting to do a celebratory burnout, he backed the car smack intothe front-stretch wall.
"It was so overwhelming to win today and I was so excited to winand I was thinking about that," said Biffle. "I had a lot of guysriding with me. I had the picture taped to my roll bar of a soldier,Ryan Doltz, who died in Iraq one year ago today. And I met a soldierjust before the race who had lost his leg and he was so excited andenjoying life.
"I was thinking about them, and I hit the wall and I really didn'tcare. It just meant a lot to me to win today."
Biffle drives the National Guard car, and he has been driving itfast since the middle of last year.
Now, he said he doesn't want to be overconfident or arrogant, buthe'd just won for the fourth time in 13 races and he has strongfeelings about his Roush Racing team.
"I feel we could win seven or eight races this season, with someof our good racetracks coming up," he said. "It's a wonderful feelingto believe you have the opportunity to win almost any week."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is optimistic that Afghanistan and Pakistan will fight extremists,and she is "quite impressed" with recent Pakistani military action against the Taliban.
Amid talks with the two nations' leaders, Clinton told reporters that the two countries had committed themselves to cooperating against militants in coordination with the United States. She said that Pakistan's moves this week against the Taliban in the northwestern Swat Valley was "called for, and action has been forthcoming."
Pakistan launched an offensive against the Taliban in the region after the collapse of a peace deal that had seen the extremists expand their territory toward the capital, compromising the government's hold on power.
The first ladies of 15 African nations held a rare gathering Tuesday to talk about dealing with HIV/AIDS, infectious disease and gender inequity on their continent.
Though many of the women have seen each other socially, often on the arms of their husbands in Washington or at the United Nations, it was the first time they gathered in the United States to candidly discuss the problems faced by women and children in Africa.
The meeting was co-sponsored by the nonprofit group US Doctors For Africa, which is based in Los Angeles, and African Synergy, a charitable group formed by 22 first ladies of Africa.
"First ladies have a unique role. They exist outside the political realm to some degree but have a very powerful role in their communities" as role models to other Africans, said Cora Neumann, an organizer for US Doctors For Africa.
"There's never been a summit focused exclusive to them," Neumann said.
A news conference hosted by Sharon Stone and Danny Glover was held last week to announce the event. Plans also included a fundraiser with a performance by Natalie Cole and a luncheon hosted by California first lady Maria Shriver.
Dressed in an array of fine suits and colorful traditional ensembles, the women spoke passionately in French and various African dialects through translators at the Skirball Cultural Center.
HIV/AIDS remains one of the toughest problem faced by Africa. The continent is home to nearly 70 percent of all adults and 80 percent of all children living with HIV/AIDS, according to US Doctors For Africa. Other infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis also plague the continent.
Some of the first ladies called for improved nutrition for children and pregnant mothers, along with clean water, sanitation infrastructure and inexpensive tools such as insecticide-treated bed nets to help combat malaria.
The first ladies all called for better education for girls.
"Developing partnerships with the education sector will give us significant mileage in preventing maternal and child mortality in the long term," Kenyan first lady Ida Odinga said.
The World Health Organization estimates that 121 of every 1,000 children who survive childbirth in Kenya will die before they reach age five.
The children who do survive are often left without parents, especially when faced with epidemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Kenya has 2.4 million orphans, Odinga said.
Neumann said US Doctors For Africa will check in with some of the first ladies throughout the next year to gauge their progress.
Some of the first ladies have already been working as health advocates in their countries.
First lady Nyama Koroma of Sierra Leone said she's been working to rebuild hospitals and medical infrastructure in the years since the country's bloody civil war.
Experts from the World Health Organization, Gates Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development, World Bank and RAND were among those who participated in round-table discussions alongside the first ladies.
The president of Nigeria has suspended the national soccer team from international competition for two years after its poor showing at the World Cup.
The announcement by President Goodluck Jonathan's spokesman Wednesday also follows corruption allegations which surrounded the team in the run-up to the tournament. Spokesman Ima Niboro said all funds directed toward the Nigeria Football Federation would be examined and "all those found wanting will be sanctioned."
Niboro gave no other specifics about the investigation, other than saying Jonathan's decision came after reading a report submitted by the presidential soccer task force.
Federation spokesman Ademola Olajire told The Associated Press that he had no information about the suspension.
"We have not been directed," Olajire said. "We have no letter" from the president.
The Nigerian Football Federation's executive committee had earlier offered an apology to the government and "all football loving Nigerians" for the early exit.
Nigeria got eliminated from the World Cup after the group stage, having earned just one point _ in a 2-2 draw with South Korea in its last game. Nigeria lost to Argentina 1-0 in its Group B opener and fell to Greece 2-1 in a game turned by the first-half expulsion of midfielder Sani Kaita.
The team, nicknamed the Super Eagles by loyal supporters and the Super Chickens by critics, faced almost countrywide derision after finishing third in the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year.
Nigeria fired coach Shaibu Amodu in February and later hired Swedish coach Lars Lagerback to take charge, but with only about four months before the World Cup.
Local newspapers questioned Lagerback's selection and made allegations about endemic bribery in the program. The football federation also had to pay a reported $125,000 contract to cancel its reservations at the Hampshire Hotel north of Durban in South Africa. Nigerian officials apparently complained the three-star hotel was noisy, mosquito-infested and unsafe.
Analysts and watchdog groups say Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million people, has one of the world's most corrupt governments.
The Super Eagles haven't won a World Cup match since 1998. The Nigerians went out with two losses and a draw in 2002 and did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup.
Nigeria now risks being banned by FIFA from all international soccer because of the political interference.
"At the time of writing, we have no official information on this matter," FIFA said in a statement. "However, in general, FIFA's position regarding political interference in football is well known."
Nigeria's next scheduled international match is a qualifier for the 2012 African Cup of Nations, at home against Madagascar in early September.
FIFA rules demand that national federations manage their affairs independently, or face suspension from world soccer.
National and club teams, plus referees, would be barred from participating in international matches and soccer officials prevented from attending meetings.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter had already expressed concern over the French government's investigation into France's first-round elimination from the World Cup.
"Definitely I can tell you that political interference will be dealt with by FIFA notwithstanding what kind of interference and what is the size of the country," Blatter said Tuesday while discussing France.
___
Jon Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria.
Almost, but Not Quite
Questions persist on Chicago Arabesque
CHICAGO'S ARAB FESTIVAL DROPS ISRAEL-BASHING
TERRORISM RESEARCHER CONCERNED
CITED: UNITED HOLY LAND FUND AND PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND
There's no doubt that Katya was one of the big hits at this year's fourth annual Chicago Arabesque, a three-day festival once again held under the auspices of the City of Chicago.
The attractive belly dancer was a good choice for opening day entertainment, drawing a sizable lunchtime crowd to a sun-drenched Daley Plaza on June 24. Likewise appealing was the noontime show featuring women modelling Arabic fashions.
This year's event went a long way towards "showcasing the wonderful culture and art of the Arab world," as Dana V. Starks, Chairman of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) Advisory Council on Arab Affairs, described its goal in a letter included in the festival guide.
The various food and product vendors appeared intent on introducing Chicagoans to "the rich and diverse cultures of the Arab world," Mayor Richard M. Daley wrote in the same guide.
It was almost enough to make a visitor forget the main themes of the previous festivals: Israel-bashing and anti-Jewish statements (Jewish Star, July 3, 2009). Almost enough - but not quite.
A hint that the change from past years was not complete is found in the words "a non-religious, non-political festival". That's how City officials characterized Chicago Arabesque in their 2007 and 2009 promotional brochures.
This year, those words were not used by either Mayor Daley or CCHR officials - with good reason, it turns out.
Among the non-profit booths were those under the auspices of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) and the United Holy Land Fund (UHLF).
While PCRF was described in 2002 by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs as "a non-political, non-profit, purely humanitarian organization'' (and in a similar way in 2007 by the Arab American News, Dearborn, Michigan), and the UHLF on its website is called a "non political ... humanitarian organization," both have had ties to radical or anti-Israel organizations.
In addition, the former has been connected to terrorist-supporting organizations and the latter has employed anti-Israel rhetoric.
"If the other groups [at Chicago Arabesque] were purely celebrating culture, then it's inappropriate to invite groups part of whose agenda is to be supportive of either terrorists or to be involved in Israel delegitimization," terrorism and national security expert Steven Emerson told the Jewish Star this week.
"Some of the links [of the PCRF and UHLF] are troubling," Emerson said.
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
In studies prepared in response to an inquiry from the JEWISH Star this month, the past connection between the PCRF (founded in 1991) and the Holy Land Foundation was noted.
The studies were undertaken by The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) in Washington, D.C., an independent, non-profit group started by Steven Emerson in 1995. IPT describes itself as possessing "the world's most comprehensive data center on radical Islamic terrorist groups".
According to one of the IPT studies, the Holy Land Foundation was closed in 2001 by the U.S. Treasury Department for raising money for Hamas, deemed a terrorist group by the United States (and other countries). In 2008, a U.S. jury convicted five former Holy Land Foundation officials, all of whom were given prison terms (Jewish Star, June 5, 2009).
Among other links over the years, The Investigative Project on Terrorism study found that in a 1997 Holy Land Foundation newsletter, it was stated that "Since 1991, the Holy Land Foundation has coordinated efforts with [thej Palestine Children's Relief Fund."
The IPT study also notes anti-Israel statements of PCRF founder and president Steve Sosebee.
These include a 1996 letter to the Dallas Observer stating that both the Holy Land Foundation and PCRF "were helping victims of Israeli state terrorism"; a 20(K) article describing how. during the Second Intifada, "Inside Israel, over a dozen Israeli 'citizens' have been shot dead"; and a 2006 article quoting Sosebee as alleging that the "American media focus on Israeli victims" was "mainly due to the manipulation of the Zionist lobby."
A 2004 article in The New York Times, not cited by the EPT, quoted a suspected alQaeda supporter appearing on NBC television as claiming that "PCRF is a front for Islamic Jihad" (designated a terrorist group by the United States). PCRF denied the assertion.
United Holy Land Fund
While UHLF (established in Burbank, Illinois in 1968) claims to help needy Palestinians and to be "non-political," a separate IPT study indicates that the group has in the past been a sponsor of anti-Israel events and has an association with anti-Israel groups.
For example in 2009, it was a sponsor of "Chicago Women and Children in a Silent Protest for Peace and Justice in Palestine", while in 1990, a Toronto Star article cited a PLO official as claiming that UHLF would provide "a family sponsorship fund" for a general strike against Israel in the West Bank.
A 2001 article in the Arab American View (published in Chicago and not cited in the IPT study) noted that Farouk Kaddoumi, the PLO "Foreign Minister" critical of the peace process with Israel, was to be the featured speaker at a local banquet.
The IPT study does note that UHLF has provided funds to the anti-Israel alQuds University in Jerusalem (which intends to boycott Israeli academic institutions).
Official: Non-controversial
This year's festival garnered "positive feedback". Ken Gunn, First Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations told the Jewish Star this week. "It was non-controversial. People enjoyed it."
He said an estimated 12,000 people visited the festival each of its three days, which would represent about a 50 percent decline from past years.
"The organizations we had trouble with [last year] did not participate this year," Gunn said, adding that they did not apply this year.
He speculated that this could be for economic reasons, as it costs a vendor around $750 for a booth, although less for a non-profit group.
Mayor Daley spoke at the festival on Saturday, June 26 and visited some of the booth displays, Gunn said.
Jay Tcath, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at the Jewish Federation who has long been involved in monitoring the City's programming, told the Jewish Star this week that "It is clear that the coverage and editorials of the chicago Jewish Star, as well as the discussions that JUF has had with leadership of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, have positively impacted what was, and wasn't, displayed at this year's Chicago Arabesque.
"In the past and this year, we focused on the actual contents of what was displayed or distributed at the booths, and have not complained about the participation of certain groups based on their activities outside of the festival," Tcath said.
Alderman Berny Stone (50th) was told this week about the Jewish Star article, and said he would follow up if necessary after assessing the newspaper's report.
Last year, Stone had warned he would move to dissolve the CCHR if antiIsrael. anti-Semitic material continued to be displayed at Chicago Arabesque (Jewish Star, Sept. 18, 2009).
"People didn't do enough due-diligence," Steven Emerson told the Jewish Star. "They get misled by the name of the group and don't look further."
He added: "There are too many questions I would have about these groups at this point to give them my o.k."
[Sidebar]
Among the booths at this year's Chicago Arabesque were ones sponsored by the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and the United Holy Land Fund. Both non-profits, according to a terrorism research group, have questionable profiles.
[Author Affiliation]
By DOUGLAS WERTHEIMER
EDITOR
A groundbreaking training exercise ended late Tuesday after U.S. and Russian fighter jets crisscrossed the Pacific in pursuit of a chartered plane playing the role of a hijacked airliner.
The "hijacked" plane _ actually a chartered executive-style Gulfstream _ landed in Anchorage after flying across the Pacific and back, monitored all the way by fighters and aerial command posts from both sides.
On board were officers from Russia and from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a U.S.-Canadian force that patrols the skies over North America.
The exercise was designed to test how well Russia and NORAD could coordinate their efforts in the event of a hijacking, especially during the critical handoff stage when the commandeered plane moves from one side's airspace to the other.
The drill will make it harder for terrorists to pull off a hijacking against the U.S., Canada or Russia by building up the air travel system's defenses, said Canadian Forces Col. Todd Balfe, the deputy commander of NORAD's Alaska region and the senior NORAD observer aboard the Gulfstream.
"I think any time that we increase our cooperation and our coordination, we harden ourselves against further events," Balfe said.
"If, for example, we make it harder for terrorists to do us harm, they'll choose either not to do us harm or will look for other, more difficult manners or other ways of approaching us," Balfe said.
If terrorists do succeed in hijacking a plane, the exercise will help NORAD and the Russians be prepared to respond.
Military commanders and civilian analysts say the threat of terrorism is serious for the U.S. and Russia. On July 29, a man seized a plane with 105 passengers and crew at a Moscow airport. On Christmas Day, a Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up a jetliner over Detroit.
The joint exercise, called Vigilant Eagle, started Sunday when the Gulfstream, code-named Fencing 1220, left Anchorage and headed west. Along with Balfe, Russian Air Force Col. Alexander Vasiliev, U.S. Army Maj. Michael Humphrey and a U.S. translator were on board.
The Associated Press had exclusive access to the Gulfstream on both the westbound and eastbound flights.
Shortly after takeoff, the Gulfstream's civilian pilots sent a digital distress code to civilian air traffic controllers in Alaska signaling it had been "hijacked."
Civilian controllers notified NORAD, which dispatched two F-22 Raptor fighter jets to shadow Fencing 1220 and an E-3 Sentry airborne surveillance and control plane to track it.
When the Gulfstream entered Russian airspace over the Pacific, commanders in the E-3 handed over responsibility for the plane to their Russian counterparts on an A-50 Mainstay surveillance and control plane. Four Russian Su-27 fighters and one MiG-31 then took turns shadowing the Gulfstream.
On the return trip, the process was reversed, with Russian fighters and surveillance planes shadowing Fencing 1220 for the first portion before handing off responsibility to NORAD.
A detailed evaluation of the exercise is planned in September.
Balfe said the exercise has already succeeded on one of its goals _ a smooth handoff from NORAD to the Russians.
"We've already done that," he said.
All three observers aboard Fencing 2012 _ Russian, American and Canadian _ marveled at the historic nature of the exercise, which demanded a level of cooperation that was unthinkable during the Cold War standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Russia's predecessor.
Vasiliev said he always thought the time would come when the two former enemies would work together, but he said he never expected to be Russia's representative. Humphreys said the Russian fighters cruising alongside Fencing 1220 was an incredible sight.
Balfe called the exercise "a watershed moment."
"If I'd been told 20, 25 years ago I'd be sitting on a U.S.-registered airplane with a Russian colonel as my counterpart, going through Russian airspace on this exercise, I'd have thought you were crazy."
___
Associated Press photographer Ted Warren contributed to this report.
RECENTLY Congresswoman Shelly Moore Capito wrote in a guest columnto the Daily Mail that "Bush's tax cuts are working."
The real question, however, is "just who are these tax cutsworking for?"
To characterize these tax cuts as beneficial to West Virginia'sworking families is like calling Col. Sanders a friend of thechicken.
When this legislation passed last year, Capito called it "goodnews for West Virginians." Sen. Robert Byrd, however, stronglydisagreed with that assessment, saying it helped only "thoseindividuals who earn six-figure salaries."
West Virginia's senior senator characterized it as doing "zero,zip, zilch" for working people, and stated that the bill wouldbenefit only "the jet set." (See Daily Mail, May 11).
In fact, every member of the West Virginia delegation except forCapito voted against this measure because it didn't do enough forWest Virginia and for working families.
In a study released just this month by Citizens for Tax Justiceand the Children's Defense Fund, West Virginia ranked 51st (includingthe District of Columbia) in the amount of tax reductions offeredcitizens under the plan supported by Congresswoman Capito.
They stated in their analysis that the "tax cuts are targetedtoward upper-income taxpayers (and that) citizens of wealthier statesgenerally get larger average tax reductions, while residents ofpoorer states get smaller average tax reductions."
West Virginia, the study goes on to note, is more than 25 percentbelow the national average. (The Bush Tax Plan, State-by-State, June13, 2001)
Citizens for Tax Justice also found that by 2010, when the Capito-supported plan is fully in place, "an astonishing 52 percent of thetotal tax cuts will go to the richest 1 percent" of taxpayers. Thosetaxpayers will average a tax cut windfall of $85,000 in that yearalone.
By way of contrast, "for the four out of five families andindividuals making less than $73,000 . . . three-quarters of the taxcuts - averaging about $350 this year - are already in place."
Put another way, the wealthiest 1 percent can get a Mercedes-Benzwith their rebate, while the rest of West Virginia's working familiesare lucky if they can afford a new muffler. (See Citizens for TaxJustice, June 12).
The reality is that the Capito-supported plan is wonderful ifyou're from Connecticut - whose residents get more back than thecitizens of any other state - and have a six-figure income.
But if you're from West Virginia the plan is, as Byrdcharacterized it, "sheer madness." (See Daily Mail, Feb. 28, 2001)
Ironically, Citizens for Tax Justice have also estimated that afully funded comprehensive Medicare prescription drug benefit forsenior citizens could be funded by eliminating the tax cuts going tothe wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers. Four hundred and thirtythousand of those seniors live in West Virginia and are still waitingon just such relief.
William McNary of USAction put it this way: "Our choices arestark. Do we want to give 39 million senior citizens the respect theydeserve with prescription drug coverage under Medicare? Or do we give$774 billion in tax giveaways to a million millionaires?"
No one disagrees about the need for tax relief. But before givingEnron-type corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayersmultibillion-dollar windfalls, shouldn't we make sure that the fourout of five families that make less than $73,000 a year - and ourparents and grandparents - get a bigger and fairer piece of the pie?
Humphreys, a Democrat, is running against Capito for the 2ndDistrict seat in Congress.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Is going unbeaten - or even staying with azero in the loss column - overrated?
The subject isn't the NFL Colts and their resting-regulars lossSunday, although West Virginia plays basketball only an hour's drivefrom Indianapolis today.
When No. 4 Purdue (12-0) entertains the sixth-ranked Mountaineers(11-0) at Mackey Arena in a major marquee ESPN telecast, somebody'sgoose egg is going to be history by late afternoon.
Then there will be five unbeatens - and it's a long way tothirtysomething-and-oh. No major college club has done it since abeloved team in this state, the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers.
Don't get WVU Coach Bob Huggins wrong. He wants to win every gameas much as anyone. However, he doesn't seem sure his Mountaineers -"younger than I think most people realize we are" - play all thatrelaxed with that zero on their backs.
"Everybody has comfort zones," Huggins said after WVU's thirdteeth-grinding victory in four games, a 63-62 decision Tuesday nightover Marquette on Da'Sean Butler's 20-foot jumper. "And I don't knowhow comfortable we are being where we are."
Is today's game - other than being the kind of intersectionalmatchup that the NCAA Tournament selection committee loves - moreimportant than the remaining Big East Conference dates to come forWest Virginia?
"I don't know if it is or not," Huggins said. "Let's be honest,we could have lost the last three (or three of four). Maybe weshould have lost the last three."
The one thing the WVU coach does know is that at Purdue, his teamis finishing "one hard stretch. It's been hard for everybody."Today's game will be the Mountaineers' fifth (three of those on theroad) in 14 days and fourth in 10 days. The nailbiters have beenbuzzer beaters at Cleveland State and over Marquette, and anovertime survival at Seton Hall.
While the veteran coach grasps what today's game meanspotentially down the road when the NCAA committee is splitting hairsto make seeds, his players - comfortable at 11-0 or not - enjoy theperks of playing a team like the Boilermakers.
"These are the kind of big games, if you're a player, that youreally want to play," WVU sophomore Devin Ebanks said. "The idea isto go out there and prove not that just we belong where we are, butthat we're better than No. 6.
"We work hard in practice to get to where we are, and so we needto go out at Purdue and do our business. I don't think we werelooking past Marquette to Purdue. You've got to handle the taskthat's next, and we just didn't play the kind of defense we have.
"At Purdue, if you get a lead, you can't relax."
Asked if he were happy to be entering 2010 with an 11-0 record,Huggins said, "It beats the alternative." Asked if he's gettingtired of his Mountaineers squeaking past foes, he said, "I get moretired when we lose."
The appreciation of where West Virginia's 2009-10 team stands inschool annals is there, however. The last time WVU reached 11-0 in aseason was 52 seasons ago, on Jan. 8, 1958 with a win at Villanova.Jerry West was a 19-year-old sophomore then. The Legend and Logo is71 now.
That team started 14-0, a WVU record. In 1945-46, West Virginiawon 13 before it lost. The next season, the start was 12-0. Thosethree teams are the only ones in Mountaineer history who have toppedthe current 11-0.
In his long coaching career of 650 victories, Huggins had fourseasons start 11-0 or better at Cincinnati - the best was a 15-winopening in 1998-99 before a loss at UNC-Charlotte.
However, just as memorable to Huggins is a Cincinnati season thatstarted with a zero in the left column. His point was that it's notjust how you start.
"We opened Gallagher-Iba Arena (at Oklahoma State in 2001-02),and we got smacked," Huggins said. "It may have been 9 or 10 points(69-62 actually), but it seemed like 90. It seemed like we werepushing a rock uphill the whole game.
"I come in (the locker room) and I'm going berserk. We got backto the hotel and one of my assistants says, 'We've got to get betterplayers.' Now, this is a guy who never even had his a- outrecruiting and he says we've got to get better players.
"I told him, 'I should fire you right now.' ... Our job is tomake them better, try to accentuate the positives they do and stayaway from the negatives. That's coaching. That's what coaches do.
"Being undefeated, my point was we lost in Gallagher-Iba Arena,but after that night we went out and won 20 in a row. That's notbad.
"I think you have to be a really stupid person to have to lose tolearn. I think we should have learned from the Cleveland State game.I think we should have learned from the Seton Hall game. I think weshould have learned from (the Marquette) game."
The point being, win or lose at Purdue, it's not the end of theworld or even close to the end of the season for the Mountaineersand Boilermakers. The Big East and Big Ten are big deals.
Whatever happens at sold out Mackey, Huggins hopes his teamlearns that and heeds the lesson as the calendar turns.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS West Virginia Universitys Devin Ebanks saidhe looks forward to big games like todays matchup with unbeaten andfourth-ranked Purdue.
BERN, Switzerland (AP) — A goalkeeper in the Swiss league has been fined for rousing fans and taunting opponents by shouting through a megaphone after a match.
Thun goalkeeper David da Costa has been ordered to pay 2,500 Swiss francs ($3,440; €2,420) by the Swiss league's disciplinary panel for "repeated profanity in public" after his side beat Grasshoppers on July 24.
One week earlier, Da Costa scaled a perimeter fence at Servette's stadium to address Thun fans with a megaphone after a season-opening victory.
The league says the 25-year-old goalkeeper's behavior was "denigrating the opponent" and "unsportsmanlike."
Da Costa escaped a suspension after he and Thun apologized, the league says.
A look at key issues in the health care debate:
THE ISSUE: Should every person be required to either have health care insurance or pay a penalty tax?
THE POLITICS: Requiring everyone to buy health insurance can help spread the responsibility for medical costs. With proposed subsidies to help the poor buy in, the so-called "individual mandate" gets Democrats closer to moving millions of uninsured into coverage plans. Insurance companies are largely on board, though they have raised fears that a Senate version of the health bill doesn't impose stiff enough penalties to ensure that people actually comply. Insurers say the mandate, covering everyone so they can't seek insurance just when they are ill, could bring concessions from them on other issues. An example: Acceptance of all, regardless of pre-existing health status. President Barack Obama did not support an individual mandate in his campaign, but now says his thinking has evolved. Critics on the left say the plan leaves out lower-middle-class people who aren't poor enough for a subsidy but will struggle to pay for insurance even if some exceptions are granted.
WHAT IT MEANS: Individuals who don't have health insurance through employers or another group would have to purchase it, either privately or from any public plan Congress creates. Ignoring the mandate would bring a penalty fine. Democrats propose taxpayer-supported subsidies for the lower-income who can't afford insurance, though concerns have been raised about whether those subsidies are generous enough; if not, some people could find it cheaper to forgo coverage and pay the penalty instead. Proponents of the individual mandate say among the cost problems it would solve is the hospital and taxpayer burden of the uninsured who use emergency rooms as their primary care when they're sick.
_ Rita Beamish
Hi Lo Otlk
Anchorage 63 44 PCldy
Baltimore 85 70 Clr
Boston 64 57 Rain
Chicago 77 51 Clr
Dallas-Ft Worth 91 71 PCldy
Denver 82 47 PCldy
Detroit 77 54 Clr
Honolulu 88 75 Clr
Houston 92 76 PCldy
Indianapolis 80 56 PCldy
Kansas City 83 55 Clr
Las Vegas 95 67 Clr
Little Rock 88 69 PCldy
Los Angeles 73 58 PCldy
Memphis 90 73 PCldy
Miami Beach 85 73 Rain
Milwaukee 74 52 Clr
Nashville 85 67 PCldy
New Orleans 91 75 PCldy
New York City 82 71 PCldy
Oklahoma City 85 62 Cldy
Orlando 92 71 PCldy
Phoenix 102 71 Clr
St Louis 80 57 Clr
Salt Lake City 81 51 PCldy
San Diego 65 59 PCldy
San Francisco 69 51 PCldy
Seattle 61 52 Rain
President Barack Obama, holding a summit to urge world leaders to secure their nuclear material, frequently calls the risk of terrorists getting a nuclear explosive "the single biggest threat to U.S. security." What he is less likely to talk about is the United States' own shortcomings in safeguarding its nuclear stockpile.
In one of the U.S. government's most alarming and embarrassing incidents, nuclear cruise missiles were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 bomber in 2007 and flown from North Dakota to a military base in Louisiana. That gaffe occurred during President George W. Bush's tenure.
Attracting less attention, several reviews since Obama became president have found weaknesses in the government's stewardship of its nuclear cache, from weapons to the ingredients and classified information that go into them. Among the findings:
_The Air Force in January removed an entire squadron overseeing a bunker of nuclear warheads at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, citing a failed inspection that it blamed on administrative problems.
_In March, the congressional Government Accountability Office detailed problems with a program under which at least 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium is to be disposed of in fuel for nuclear power plants. Among other things, the Energy Department's Office of Health, Safety and Security had not performed any oversight or taken part in project reviews of one of the facilities used for the project despite its rating as a "high-hazard nuclear facility."
_The Energy Department inspector general reported in January that the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico had not removed some highly enriched uranium while carrying out a department plan to consolidate nuclear materials into the most secure environments possible. The report said while the lab had removed material classified as Categories I and II _ the most risky _ and scaled back security accordingly, it had designated the enriched uranium in question as a lower Category III, using a method that was not formally approved.
_Lat last year, the GAO reported that the Los Alamos National Laboratory, another nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico, had several security lapses in protecting classified information on its computers.
_In September, the congressional investigators recommended that the Pentagon make several improvements in its process for assessing threats to installations where nuclear weapons are stored, maintained or transported.
"Unfortunately, we have a situation in which there is a lot of loose nuclear material around the world," Obama said Sunday, before opening the nuclear summit Monday in Washington. "And so the central focus for this summit is getting the international community on the path in which we are locking down that nuclear material in a very specific time frame with a specific work plan."
The goal is to secure all nuclear materials worldwide from theft or diversion, within four years. The president may have his work cut out for him, starting at home.
TOY SEASON: The holiday season is crucial for toy makers, which can make up to half of their annual revenue during the fourth quarter.
CUTE AND COLLECTIBLE: Blip Toys' Squinkies, tiny figures that fit inside a toy dispensing machines and come in 16 packs for $10; Mattel Inc.'s $12.99 Sing-a-ma-jigs, colorful plush dolls that harmonize; Spinmaster's $5.99 Zoobles, brightly patterned creatures that fold up into a ball but pop open when placed on top of a magnetized stand.
OUTLOOK: BMO Capital Markets analyst Gerrick Johnson expects toy sales to rise 2 percent for the year.
I Have recently been photographed speeding for which I have beenfined GBP60 and given three points on my licence, which I accept.
What I do object to is the fact that a friend of mine has alsobeen stopped but was given the option of either a GBP60 fine andthree points or a GBP60 fine and attend an educational scheme calledTaboo which is run by the Avon and Somerset police.
This, I have been informed is a one and-a-half-hour educationallesson showing the damage that speeding does.
Having spoken to someone who is running the scheme I have beentold that at present Taboo is a pilot scheme which hopefully willtake off.
On Saturday, February 1, 100 people attended the session whichmeant 100 people chose not to have points on their licences. I wasalso informed that this scheme is only available in certain areasaround Bristol - mainly blackspot areas.
Where is the justice in this? I feel that if Avon and Somersetpolice offer this scheme it should be offered to everyone and notjust those who happen to be caught in the pilot area.
B Batt, Lockleaze.
WELL at last that expensive nonsense about changing the way wevote is over. Ninety million quid that could have built a school -or three - was wasted on an issue the public felt so strongly aboutthat half of them never even bothered to turn up to vote.
Once again our current leaders have shown just how closely theyare in touch. To persuade us to change the way we vote, to suittheir ambitions, they imported great intellectual statesmen likeEddie Izzard and Peter Stringfellow - the comic and the clubber.
Even that didn't tempt most people out of the house any more thanlittle Milly and Tricky Nick did.
Inspirational? Today's parliamentarians don't know what the wordmeans. We once had the giants whose intellect and tongues could movemountains - Churchill, Bevan, yes, even Thatcher and Wilson. Peoplewho had done their training at the despatch box over many yearsbefore getting the top jobs in the cabinet.
Now their parties offer us the denizens of the filing cabinets.Clean-shaven men and posh women who've never had to get their handsdirty with proper jobs, but think they are great leaders becausethey went to Oxbridge. Politicians whose priorities include theirability to fill out expense claims.
Not just in Westminster either - the fact that once again fewerthan half (in most cases) of us turned out to vote for localcouncillors speaks volumes.
Ours sold us out to County Hall without asking us, are planningto bulldoze a town hall they have apparently allowed fall intodecay, sacked dozens of decent Brentwood working people in order topay exorbitant consultancy fees and pay themselves some silly moneyinto the bargain.
We pay a council leader few of us even know, let alone elected, alot of dosh and that's not all. In my own ward we have twocouncillors who not only pick up a fair amount of wedge from thetown hall but some pretty impressive poppy from County Hall.
In my book that makes them professional politicians, not thecommunity councillors who used to look after Brentwood for just afew quid to help with their telephone bills. I was always told thatyou can't serve two masters - three, if you count party interests aswell.
Still, I guess it beats working for a living.
Brian Lynch Pilgrims Hatch
CONCERT REVIEW
MAYA BEISER
At Ravinia
If the title of cellist Maya Beiser's solo recital Tuesday nightat Ravinia, "World to Come," is taken literally, the future will befilled with mournful, soulful song by such notable 21st centurycomposers as Arvo Part, Osvaldo Golijov and Steve Reich.
But Beiser also had her eye firmly on the present during her 90-minute performance in the Martin Theatre. A savvy theater artist aswell as a gifted cellist, Beiser managed to plant her vision of theworld to come squarely within the four walls of Ravinia's intimatetheater. Her tools were technically sophisticated though relativelyfew: her own voice, a single, …
Microsoft Corp. may go hostile in its bid for Yahoo Inc. as soon as Friday, according to a published report.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported early Friday that the world's largest software maker may be preparing to go straight to Internet pioneer Yahoo's shareholders.
An announcement was "likely" to come Friday, according to the report, though the newspaper said its sources cautioned that Microsoft may delay.
Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told employees in a company assembly Thursday that he knows how much he'd spend to buy Yahoo and accelerate his company's Internet play.
"We're willing to pay for that at some level, and beyond that level we're not willing to pay for it. I know exactly what I think Yahoo is worth to me," the executive said. "I won't go a dime above, and I will go to what I think it's worth if that gets the deal done."
But he didn't offer a figure, and he didn't say whether Microsoft is considering raising its unsolicited bid, worth $44.6 billion at the time it was made in early February.
The offer is currently worth about $42.4 billion, or $29.48 per share, based on Microsoft Corp.'s closing stock price Thursday. Yahoo Inc. has rejected the offer, saying it undervalues the company. Microsoft's board has been considering whether to raise the bid to as much as $33 per share, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ballmer didn't provide any new insight into the company's efforts to buy the Silicon Valley pioneer during the meeting at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters, but he did indicate that an end to months of speculation was near.
"We ought to announce something in relatively short order," Ballmer told employees.
His comments were first reported by Silicon Alley Insider, an online technology news site, and confirmed by a Microsoft spokesman.
Ballmer added that buying Yahoo is just one of many moving parts in the software maker's strategy to compete with Google Inc. in search and Web advertising, and that if neither a friendly nor a hostile deal "look good," he's willing to walk away.
Microsoft's board met Wednesday but reached no decision on a next step, the Journal reported. The software maker had given Yahoo until last weekend to agree to a deal or face the prospect of an ugly proxy fight.
Meanwhile, Yahoo is exploring a possible advertising partnership with Internet search leader Google Inc. or a merger with the online operations of Time Warner Inc.'s AOL as possible defenses if Microsoft tries a hostile takeover.
Impressed by a two-week test completed last month, Yahoo could firm up a long-term deal within a week, according to the Journal. Any alliance between Yahoo and Google would face intense antitrust scrutiny, however, because the two companies control more than 80 percent of the U.S. market for search advertising.
Yahoo and Google hope to allay those concerns by structuring their deal so their rivals, including Microsoft, could participate in an auction-based system, the Journal said.
NEW THIS DIGEST:
BRITAIN-AIRLINER PLOT. Men accused of plotting to down US airliners with bombs face trial.
AL-QAIDA-ZAWAHRI QUESTIONS. Zawahri says al-Qaida does not kill innocents
FRANCE-ART MARKET. France, challenged by China, pitches plan to save faltering art market.
US-GLOBAL AIDS. US House approves $50 billion to fight AIDS, other diseases.
ARGENTINA-FARMBELT REBELLION. Farmers suspend strike over export tax hike.
US-GREENHOUSE GASES. 18 U.S. states sue federal government over global warming
AUSTRALIA-CROCODILE HUNTER-FAMILY. Widow of late television star Steve Irwin denies a family rift.
TOP STORIES:
KOREAS-TENSION
SEOUL, South Korea _ South Korea's president expresses regret over North Korea's latest provocations in his first comments on rising tensions on the Korean peninsula stemming from his tougher stance on the North.
ZIMBABWE-ELECTIONS
HARARE, Zimbabwe _ President Robert Mugabe's party has lost its parliamentary majority, according to official results, bolstering opposition claims that hundreds of thousands of impoverished Zimbabweans voted for change in weekend elections. Moved. By Angus Shaw. AP Photos.
NATO-SUMMIT
BUCHAREST, Romania _ France and Germany appear certain to thwart a drive from U.S. President George W. Bush to place the strategically important Black Sea states of Ukraine and Georgia on track for NATO membership at a tense alliance summit. Moved. By Paul Ames. Summit resumes at 0530 GMT.
CHINA-TIBET
BEIJING _ Unrest was reported among Muslims in China's far west, a headache for Beijing as it tries to squelch Tibetan protests and another sign that neither investment nor repression has ended anti-government feeling in the hinterlands. By Christopher Bodeen. AP Photos.
WITH: CHINA-ACTIVIST TRIAL
BRITAIN-AIRLINER PLOT
LONDON _ Eight British men accused of planning to bomb airliners bound for the United States and Canada were due to stand trial. At the time the men were arrested, police said the alleged plot could have caused mass murder on an unimaginable scale. Moved. By David Stringer. Prosecutor expected to open case at around 0930 GMT.
AL-QAIDA-ZAWAHRI QUESTIONS
CAIRO, Egypt _ Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri has responded to criticism about the organization's notoriously brutal tactics, maintaining that it does not kill innocents. also addressed the issue of al-Qaida's founder, Osama bin Laden, assuring supporters that the reclusive leader was in good health. Moved. By Paul Schemm.
FRANCE-COLOMBIA-HOSTAGE
PARIS _ France, Spain and Switzerland launch a delicate mission to help an ailing hostage held by Colombian rebels, the French president's office announced. Officials have been tightlipped about details. By Jenny Barchfield. AP Photos.
US-ELECTIONS
WASHINGTON _ Barack Obama has notched three key endorsements, and a new poll shows him narrowing rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania's hard-fought primary contest, a pivotal race in the Democratic presidential nomination. Moved. By Steven R. Hurst. AP Photos.
IRAQ
BAGHDAD _ Iraqi soldiers rolled through a Shiite militia stronghold in Basra drawing scattered bombs and bullets that wounded a camera operator for a U.S.-funded TV station and narrowly missed the commander of government troops in the city. Moved. By Robert H. Reid. AP Photos.
US-GLOBAL AIDS
WASHINGTON _ The U.S. House of Representatives voted more than $10 billion (6.4 billion) a year Wednesday for U.S. spending on fighting AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, mainly in Africa. A Democratic lawmaker said history will remember Republican President George W. Bush for the program. By Jim Abrams. Moved.
AUSTRALIA-CROCODILE HUNTER-FAMILY
BRISBANE, Australia _ The widow of late television star Steve Irwin denies a family rift, but the father of the khaki-clad "Crocodile Hunter" says he quit the clan's conservation park because he was becoming a "disrupting influence." By 0500 GMT
WITH: AUSTRALIA-CROCODILE ATTACK
ARGENTINA-FARMBELT REBELLION
GUALEGUAYCHU, Argentina _ Argentine farmers rebelling over soaring export taxes on their crops suspended a three-week-long strike that has stripped grocery shelves of beef and produce, granting Cristina Fernandez a reprieve in the first major crisis of her presidency. Moved. By Debora Rey. AP Photos.
FRANCE-ART MARKET
PARIS _ In France, art buyers may soon get interest-free bank loans _ part of a plan to revive France's stagnant art market, which fell behind China last year on a ranking of the world's biggest players in the field. By Angela Doland.
US-GREENHOUSE GASES
BOSTON _ Officials of 18 states are taking the U.S. environmental agency back to court to try to force it to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that rebuked the Bush administration for inaction on global warming. By Jay Lindsay.
BUSINESS & FINANCE:
CHINA-US-TRADE
BEIJING _ Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls for closer U.S.-Chinese cooperation on energy conservation and for Beijing to cut import duties on environmental technology. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. AP Photo.
US-BERNANKE-CONGRESS
WASHINGTON _ Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said a recession is possible and policymakers are "fighting against the wind" in trying to steady a shaky U.S. economy. He would not say if further interest rate cuts are planned. Moved. By Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa.
ECUADOR-CHEVRON
QUITO, Ecuador _ A court-appointed expert has recommended that Chevron Corp. pay up to US$16 billion (10 billion) for allegedly polluting the Ecuadorean Amazon. Chevron called the expert biased, and the trial a farce. By Jeanneth Valdivieso.
JAPAN-LEHMAN LAWSUIT
TOKYO _ Fake business cards, impostors at meetings and forged documents stamped with the company seal are behind what appears to be an elaborate scam that Lehman Brothers in Japan alleges bilked it of millions of dollars in vanished investment money. Moved. By Yuri Kageyama. AP Photos.
___
YOUR QUERIES: Contact your local AP bureau, the North America Desk in New York at +1 212 621 1650 or the Asia-Pacific Desk in Bangkok at +66 2632-6911.
Bicycle messengers don't have a problem with the new cityordinance that regulates them, but they do have a problem withpoliticians and a public that sees them as a menace to society.
Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd) has called the bikers "dangerous andarrogant."
But it's really the pedestrians that cause problems themessengers say.
"If they pass a law for messengers, they should crack down onjaywalkers," said Brian Carey, 19, who rides for On-Time Messengerservice.
The new ordinance was passed in response to citizen complaintsand 146 accidents involving messengers over the last four years.
It requires messengers to wear helmets and safety …
An umbrella on the ground outside the State Education building, above, in Albany was probably just one of many casualties of heavy precipitation Monday. Scott Kellogg, top left, decides …
Byline: Associated Press
DEL MAR, Calif. -- War Emblem, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, galloped five furlongs Tuesday in his final workout for Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
The colt was clocked in 57 3/5 seconds. The workout began a bit awkwardly when another horse …
Byline: Peter Chang
DaimlerChrysler will continue joint projects with Hyundai despite selling its 10.5 percent stake in South Korea's leading automaker.
D/C, the world's fifth-biggest automaker, said it raised more than $900 million (about [euro]728 million) last week by selling the stake.
D/C and Hyundai are cooperating on parts procurement and the two automakers have a joint venture with Mitsubishi to build a new four-cylinder world engine.
Chrysler will sell Hyundai's Atos and Verna small cars and Starex minivan in Mexico under the Dodge brand.
"All the projects will go on," said DaimlerChrysler spokesman Toni Melfi.
…
AUSTIN, Texas - Juvenile prison officials ordered the removal of young offenders from a privately run juvenile detention center on Monday, citing unsanitary and unsafe conditions.
A Texas Youth Commission official found unsanitary conditions at the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center in Bronte after a Sept. 24 visit. A follow-up audit ordered by state officials found it to be in an advanced state of disrepair and that some rehabilitation programs weren't being pursued, leaving detainees mostly confined.
The audit led officials to believe the health and safety of the youth housed at the center was in jeopardy, said commission spokesman Jim Hurley.
"The unsafe …
Frank Hadden insisted there was room for improvement despiteseeing his team run in eight tries in a 56-10 World Cup win overPortugal in St Etienne.
The Scots dominated the majority of the contest with thetournament debutants, scoring 28 points in each half to open theiraccount with a bonus-point victory.
But with tougher tests to come in the shape of first Romania, thenNew Zealand and Italy, Hadden is not getting carried away.
"We fully expect to slicken up in the next games," he said.
"I am sure we will find a number of things when we look at thevideo but the first impression was that we didn't time our run on tothe pass as well as we could.
"It's …
Byron Fisher: The Supply and Demand Paradox BookSurge, North Charleston, SC, 2007, pp. 122
Raymond L. Richman, Howard B. Richman, and Jesse T. Richman: Trading Away Our Future Ideal Taxes Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 2008, pp. 230
The books before us deal with applied microeconomics. The first applies the basic principles of supply and demand to a variety of day-to-day topics--from enacting legislation to evolution; the second applies the basic principles of benefit-cost analysis to international trade and finance and domestic savings.
In his book, Fisher begins by asking two questions: "Will a consumer demand a good or service simply because a producer supplies it? Will a producer supply a good or service simply because a consumer demands it?" (Fisher 2007, p. 1) The answer to these questions--"Supply does not cause Demand, but Demand causes Supply" (Fisher 2007, p. 2; emphasis in original)--is called the supply and demand paradox.
At least three problems beset Fisher's paradox. The first set of problems is associated with the …
Byline: Combined wire services
TOKYO - Even a bad back couldn't slow South Korean teenager Kim Yu-Na.
Fresh off acupuncture treatment, Kim soared ahead of the competition in her World Figure Skating Championships debut, compiling the highest score ever in the women's short program. With 71.95 points, she has a commanding lead over Japan's Miki Ando (67.98) and European champion Carolina Kostner (67.15).
"I had some small mistakes, but I did better than I had hoped," said Kim, who won the title at the junior world championships last year. "When I got to Japan I was feeling some pain, but I was fine tonight."
Defending champion Kimmie …
Byline: FRANCES INGRAHAM Staff writer
Most homes that sell have what realtors refer to as ``curb appeal.'' But in the case of five Columbia County homeowners, it wasn't the view of the house but the Hudson River that whet their homing instinct.
``As beautiful as it is, we would never have bought this house if it wasn't on the river,'' said Lorelle Phillips. ``But we got the river and the extra bonus of this house.''
The Phillips' house is one of five historic houses in the Columbia County town of Stuyvesant that will be open to the public for a house tour on Saturday, Sept. 26, to benefit the restoration of the former Stuyvesant Landing Railroad Station.
Situated on the shore of the Hudson River, the former passenger station was built in 1882 and served the New York Central Railroad until it was closed in 1958.
The town of Stuyvesant purchased the former station in 1996. They will use the proceeds from the tour and a recent federal grant to restore the brick structure under the guidance of the Albany architectural firm of Mesick, Cohen, Wilson and Baker. When completed, the station will serve as a public center showcasing the role of the Hudson River, train travel and 19th-century trade in this quaint historic town that is rich in architectural styles.
Old and new
Many of the homes on the tour were built in the early 1800s, such as the brick Federal home that's now owned by Lorelle and her husband, Roger, a noted sculptor.
``Ours is a marriage of the old to the new,'' said Lorelle. ``The beautiful back …
