Japan bans luxury goods to N.Korea

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japan on Tuesday decided to impose a ban on exporting luxury goods to North Korea in a move experts say could dent morale among the communist nation's elite, who receive such items as perks.

Japan's cabinet approved bans on exports of 24 kinds of luxury goods to North Korea including cars, wrist-watches, liquor, cigarettes, jewelry, perfume and caviar.

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution that among other measures blocks trade with North Korea in luxury goods following Pyongyang's nuclear test on October. 9.

"We have decided to take measures to ban exports of luxury goods to North Korea in response to the (U.N. Security Council) resolution," Foreign Minister Taro Aso told Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has long been known for his fondness for cognac and is said to have a wine cellar with space for 10,000 bottles.

South Korean intelligence officials familiar with Kim's habits say the biggest gifts for top North Korean cadres are cars, with Mercedes-Benz the top choice. Pianos and camcorders are also popular.

"The measures are designed to block the transfer from Japan of goods that we assume will be used by North Korean leaders for themselves or supplied by the leaders," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters.

He said the items accounted for 15.9 percent, or 1.09 billion yen ($9.23 million) of Japan's total exports to North Korea worth 6.88 billion yen in 2005.

Shiozaki said Japan had decided not to include in the list of banned items daily necessities used by ordinary people in North Korea.

Japan first imposed punitive measures after Pyongyang fired off a barrage of test missiles in July and stepped them up after its nuclear test. They include a ban on imports and a prohibition on North Korean ships entering Japanese ports.

Japan's total two-way trade with North Korea amounted to some $180 million in 2005, about half the 2002 figure.

International unity

Shiozaki said Japan would urge other countries to take punitive measures against North Korea in line with the U.N. Security Council resolution.

"The international community is taking coordinated action and the North Korea leadership must accept the message from the international community," he said.

Aso said it was important for the international community to convey its unified messages "accurately" to North Korea.

North Korea said recently it would return to six-party talks on ending its nuclear programs.

But Japan said it would maintain its sanctions on North Korea despite Pyongyang's agreement to return to the talks, which bring together North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Tokyo said the sanctions would not be lifted until the communist state committed to abandoning its nuclear ambitions and settled a dispute over Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s to help train spies.

A survey of 1,042 Japanese voters conducted on November 9-11 and released on Tuesday by NHK public broadcaster showed nearly 70 percent of respondents supported the government's decision.

According to the Associated Press, Japan has banned all of North Korea's vessels from Japanese ports and all imports from North Korea, along with severely limiting travel from the country since the test.

The news agency further reported that The United States played down South Korea's rejection of a U.S.-led attempt to intercept North Korean ships suspected of carrying nuclear supplies, saying Monday the decision would not harm international efforts to confront the North's nuclear weapons program.

U.S. officials praised South Korea for taking strong action against its reclusive neighbor as part of U.N. sanctions, but refrained from criticizing Seoul's decision not to join fully the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, which the United States set up to stop North Korean weapons traffic at sea.

Seoul, which has joined the initiative as an observer, favors engaging the North and is reluctant to anger Pyongyang now that the communist-led regime has agreed to return to six-nation talks
copied from http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/11/13/nkorea.sanctions.reut/index.html

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Up to 150 kidnapped from Baghdad institute

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen wearing Iraqi police commando uniforms kidnapped up to 150 staff and visitors in a lightning raid on a government research institute in downtown Baghdad on Tuesday, the largest mass abduction since the start of the U.S. occupation.

Iraq’s higher education minister immediately ordered all universities closed until security improvements are made, saying he was “not ready to see more professors get killed.”

“I have only one choice which is to suspend classes at universities. We have no other choice,” Abed Theyab said in an address to parliament

Alaa Makki, head of the parliament’s education committee, interrupted a legislative session to say that between 100 and 150 people, both Shiites and Sunnis, had been abducted in the 9:30 a.m. raid.

He urged the prime minister and ministers of interior and defense to respond rapidly to what he called a “national catastrophe.”

The kidnapping is the largest of any group since about 50 people taken from the offices of a private security company in March. Their fate remains unknown.

'Quick operation'
“It was quick operation. It took about 10 to 15 minutes,” Theyab said. “It was a four-story building and the gunmen went to the four stories.”

Makki said the gunmen had a list of names of those to be taken and claimed to be on a mission from the government’s anti-corruption body. Those kidnapped included the institute’s deputy general directors, employees, and visitors, he said.

Police and witnesses said about 80 gunmen were involved in the raid on the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Scholarships and Cultural Relations Directorate in the downtown Karradah district. The institute is responsible for granting scholarships to Iraqi professors and students wishing to study abroad.

Police spokesman Maj. Mahir Hamad said the entire operation took about 20 minutes and began with gunmen closing off surrounding streets. Four guards at the institute put up no resistance and were unharmed, he said.

Witnesses including a female professor visiting at the time said the gunmen forced men and women into separate rooms, handcuffed the men, and loaded them aboard about pickup trucks. She said the gunmen, some of them masked, wore blue camouflage uniforms of the type worn by police commandos.

Shiite militias and other illegal groups are known to wear stolen or fake police and army uniforms.

Academics targeted
The abductions were the most brazen attack yet on Iraqi academics, who have often been targeted by insurgents. Recent weeks have seen a university dean and prominent Sunni geologist murdered, bringing the death toll among educators to at least 155 since the war began.

Thousands of professors and researchers have fled to neighboring countries to escape the lawlessness and sectarian strife, robbing the country of its brain trust.

The academics apparently were singled out for their relatively high public stature, vulnerability and known views on controversial issues in a climate of deepening Islamic fundamentalism.

Ali al-Adib, a Shiite lawmaker, said U.S. troops are to blame for the security lapse.

“There is a political goal behind this grave action,” he said.

A spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq said American troops were ready to help hunt for the kidnappers.

“If the reports are true, then this is a terrible crime, and we will support all efforts by the Iraqi government to bring these criminals to justice,” Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said.

The abductions came just hours after a U.S. assault on the northwest Baghdad Shiite district of Shula that drew strong condemnation from al-Adib and other Shiite members of parliament. Shula is a stronghold of radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, sponsor of one of Iraq’s most powerful and feared militias, the Mahdi Army.

It also came a day after Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, confronted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over how Iraqi forces would halt the raging violence.

In other violence Tuesday, police and medical workers said at least 20 Iraqis were killed in clashes in the western city of Ramadi, where U.S. ground troops and warplanes have conducted a series of operations over recent days targeting Sunni insurgents. U.S. forces had no immediate comment

copied from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15710584/


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Troubled Airbus jet could be bargain for airlines

The double-decker Airbus A380 will be the biggest passenger jet when it goes into commercial service, but costly production problems have pushed back that date by two years so far

The biggest financial crisis in Airbus’ 36-year history could be a boon to commercial airlines.

After breaking its delivery dates three times on its super-jumbo A380 jet, Airbus sales executives are courting customers all over again to keep them from dumping the new model.

Even though the plane is overweight and wrought with production snafus, some industry insiders say airlines should think twice before sending the superjumbo packing

If they’re patient and don’t urgently need the airplanes, airlines could end up getting "the deal of the century," one analyst said.

“Airbus has to go to every customer hat in hand, get down on their knees and say, What can I do to make it right?’’ said Edmund Greenslet, publisher of Airline Monitor, a trade publication. “One way to make it right is to make it cheaper.”

In the meantime, A380 customers, many of whom already received 30 to 40 percent discounts for being the first to sign up for the 555-seat "cruise ship of the skies," are demanding financial compensation for three rounds of delivery delays since June 2005.

In just 19 months, the giant, double-decker passenger plane has gone from being Europe’s crowning engineering achievement to what some view as a white elephant that is two years behind schedule and expected to cost the company billions in lost profits.

“My advice to airlines would be don’t bail out. Stay on board and use your leverage to get all the bells and whistles you want for free,’’ Greenslet said.

Aviation consultant Scott Hamilton agrees, saying airlines would be crazy to cancel A380 orders today.

“By the time the airlines get through raking Airbus over the coals, we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the launch-order A380 pricing wound up being in the $100 million range,’’ Hamilton wrote in a recent report to clients. “Getting the A380 for this little amount would be the deal of the century.’’

The A380 has a list price of $300 million, although airlines rarely pay the list price for new aircraft.

While deep discounts are expected on the A380, not all airlines can afford to wait it out, noted Forecast International aerospace analyst Raymond Jaworowski.

FedEx Corp., one of Airbus’s most loyal customers, this week canceled its order for 10 of the A380 freighter models because of the delivery delays. It turned to rival Boeing Co. for 15 Boeing 777s because they could be delivered more quickly. The 777 has a list price of $178 million to $240 million, depending on the version

Airbus’ 15 remaining freighter orders — 10 from United Parcel Service Inc. and five from International Lease Finance Corp. — still need to be “reconfirmed’’ and are in the “cancellation zone,’’ according to executives from Airbus' parent, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. UPS and ILFC reportedly are holding onto their orders while they weigh their options with Airbus, which has blamed wiring difficulties for its production delays

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Top political analyst arrested! Explosive end to affair that turned sour

An affair gone sour. A woman spurned. Blackmail. Murder...
Prominent think-tank head and three police personnel likely to be charged today.

KUALA LUMPUR: The country was abuzz yesterday after a prominent political analyst was arrested in connection with the abduction and brutal murder of a Mongolian woman.

The New Straits Times understands that Attantuya Shariibu @ Aminah allegedly demanded US$500,000 (RM1.85 million) as payment after he signalled the end of their affair. She claimed that she had given birth to his child and threatened to go public if her demand was not met.

After checking and finding her claim to be false, he lodged a police report last month. What happened next is a bit murky but three police personnel — including two from the Special Action Squad — have been arrested and are likely to be charged with murder. It is believed that she was shot execution-style somewhere in Puncak Alam before her body was placed over some explosives and detonated.

Using a battery of metal detectors, sniffer dogs and post- blast investigation equipment, police personnel examined a shallow grave and surrounding areas for nearly eight hours. They found a handful of bone fragments.

Aminah’s case came to light after Aminah’s sister lodged a missing person’s report on Oct 21. In it, she identified the political analyst as a suspect. Bit by bit, the police dug and managed to put together a mosaic of what took place.

They learnt that she and the analyst — who runs a think- tank — were introduced to each other at a party abroad a few years ago. They struck up a relationship and had been seeing each other off and on abroad.

Several months ago, the analyst told her that he wanted to end the relationship.

Early last month, Aminah, her sister and cousin turned up in Kuala Lumpur. She hired a private investigator to obtain as much information about the analyst. She also bombarded him with SMSes.

She attempted to visit him at his office and home in Damansara but was prevented by security staff. The analyst also engaged the services of a security consultant to make sure that she did not continue to harass him.

On Oct 19, she showed up outside his home and created a ruckus.

Her sister said that Aminah did not return to their hotel in Chinatown and lodged a police report two days later.



Top-notch investigators were yesterday interrogating those in custody to fill some important blanks in the case, namely how the police personnel got involved. The analyst, in his 40s, is expected to be produced before a magistrate today.



Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday clarified that the member of the Special Action Squad detained in connection with the murder was not part of the Prime Minister’s permanent personal security team.

A spokesman told Bernama that the police personnel was only a member of a team whose duties include providing security on a rotational basis to Malaysian VIPs when they travel overseas


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Shaken Saddam sentenced to hang, Iraqis divided

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi court sentenced a shaken but defiant Saddam Hussein to hang on Sunday for crimes against humanity, sparking joy for Shi'ites he oppressed and resentment among his fellow Sunnis across Iraq's violent sectarian divide.

As mortar rounds crashed on warring Baghdad neighbourhoods and police reported sporadic clashes despite a curfew on the capital, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for unity after the ousted leader was handed "the punishment he deserves".

U.S. President George W. Bush, whose forces set up the court three years ago, called it "a milestone in the Iraqi people's effort to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law".

U.S. officials dismissed charges the verdict was timed to aid Bush's Republicans at elections on Tuesday that have been dominated by mounting dismay at the bloodshed in Iraq.

Defence lawyers, saying they saw little hope from an appeal in the coming months, dismissed it as "victor's justice".

The curfew in Baghdad and other flashpoint areas would go on through Monday on fears of violence, a government source said.

Saddam, 69, initially refused to stand when brought in to hear the verdict from Kurdish chief judge Raouf Abdul Rahman, at a quickfire, 45-minute hearing. When he did, shakily, with clear emotion, he yelled the defiant Arab battle cry "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest) and "Long live Iraq" as the judgment was read

We can't kill this guy in war but yet able to hang this guy after tons and tons of trial. If we really do hang him, what is the real difference between us and him?


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Zakaria finally quits ......... but still not enough..

SHAH ALAM: Port Klang state assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros has finally decided not to continue as Klang municipal councillor.

In a statement released around midnight, Zakaria said his decision not to accept nomination was made following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's advice yesterday.

“I thank the trust given to me in allowing me to serve the council all this while,” said Zakaria, who had served as a councillor in the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) for more than two decades.

He declined to elaborate but said he would hold a press conference later.

Hours earlier, Abdullah, who is also Umno president, had said Zakaria should pull out from the swearing-in ceremony for councillors on Nov 8.

As for Zakaria’s post as Klang Umno division chief, he said no decision had been made.

“He has been a good leader to his division,” Abdullah said after chairing the supreme council meeting yesterday.

Asked why Umno allowed Zakaria to continue holding his division chief post despite the embarassment he has caused, Abdullah said the wrongdoing was not a party matter.

“It has to do with the (state) government. It is enough for us to decide that he should not be appointed councillor.”

Zakaria drew ire when it was disclosed that he had built his four-storey Istana Idaman without submitting the building plan to the council.

He had also failed to pay assessment for 12 years for the house he is staying in.

Zakaria also illegally built a restaurant, DZ Satay House, on state reserve land. The restaurant was recently sealed off by the council.

(Two other councillors – Datuk Mazlynoor Abdul Latif and Faizal Abdullah – also failed to submit plans for their houses. Faizal, who is Kapar Umno youth chief, resigned as councillor on Wednesday.)

The controversy over Zakaria led to the Sultan of Selangor summoning him to the palace. The ruler told Zakaria to quit.

At yesterday’s press conference, Abdullah, when asked about other action the party would be taking other than asking Zakaria not to be a councillor, said: “Nothing. We merely gave him advice.”

To a question on Zakaria’s action affecting Umno's image, Abdullah said the assemblyman claimed that he had paid up what he owed

WE DO NOT let him just pass this way and let him to decide anything at all. This guy is seriously in big deep shit and resignation is the only punishment? I dont think is fair at all .... we must request all his money to be hand out !!!!

Flat rate for DiGi prepaid users

SHAH ALAM: Effective Oct 16, From now on, all DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd’s prepaid mobile phone subscribers will pay one flat rate of 38 sen for calls.

The calls are to anyone on any network, anywhere in Malaysia, regardless of the time of day, if subscribers have used more than RM30 worth of calls in a month.

DiGi chief executive Morten Lundal said the new tariff structure was simple, fair, and good value, in keeping with what customers wanted.

"Since we introduced the first prepaid mobile service in 1997, more and more innovative prepaid services, rate plans and packages have been introduced, adding complexity to making a phone call," he said.

Currently, prepaid mobile services customers were charged one rate for calls within their network and another rate for calls that went outside it, Lundal said.

And they had to pay a premium for outstation calls that went through other cellular networks.But with the new price, there would be no such hidden costs, he promised.

"Additionally, customers on DiGi's Friends and Family package will be able to call six designated numbers at just 15 sen per minute per call and 1sen per SMS," he said.

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Frugal woman dies at 100, donates $35.6M

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - A 100-year-old woman who quietly amassed a vast fortune before her death last year left $35.6 million to local diabetes and cancer research.

Eugenia Dodson donated two-thirds of the money to the University of Miami’s Diabetes Research Institute, the largest gift in its 35-year history. The rest goes to the university’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“She didn’t want any recognition in her lifetime, so she directed her lawyer to keep it confidential,” said Dr. W. Jarrard Goodwin, director of the Sylvester Center. “I told her people would be grateful. She said, ’No, I don’t want anyone to know.”’

God, I wish I got 36 hundred to donate....


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Longest undeveloped coastline gets protection

WASHINGTON - President Bush signed legislation Tuesday protecting more than 273,000 acres in Northern California, the state's biggest federal wilderness designation in more than a decade.

Areas protected include King Range, the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline in the contiguous United States; Cache Creek, home to the second-largest wintering bald eagle population in California; and portions of Eel River, which hosts 30 percent to 50 percent of the state's endangered summer-run steelhead trout.

Environmentalists cheered Bush's action on the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Act. The law protects some of the most remote and beautiful landscapes in California, including a long stretch of undeveloped beach and coastal bluffs in Humboldt and Mendocino counties.

Its a beautiful piece ...

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Auto sales down in September

PETALING JAYA: Automotive sales experienced another dismal month in September, with its total sales dropping 9.1% or 4,305 units month-on-month, compared to August.

According to figures released by the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), total sales in September fell by 15.2% year on year to 42,884 units.

Out of these, 31,178 were passenger cars and 11,706 units were commercial vehicles.

National vehicles sales fell year on year by 12.3% with just 27,920 vehicles while non-national cars also dropped 19.6% at 13,964 units sold.

Production has also fallen by 23.8% at 39,587 cars.

There were 28,904 passenger car units and 10,683 commercial vehicles made in the month.

Production of national passenger cars dropped by 21.1%, with 23,849 units.

However, national commercial vehicles were fairly level from last year, at just a 0.4% rise with 3,789 units made.

As for non-national cars, 11,949 units were manufactured, which was a year on year drop of 33.5% compared to the corresponding period last year.

On its outlook for October, MAA said that sales volume are expected to be lower than that of September, due to the short working month as a result of the festive holidays

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U.S. at 300 million: 'Heaven on earth' to 'uncharted territory'

(CNN) -- Forty years ago, Elizabeth Heydanek lived in her "heaven on earth" -- Schaumburg, Illinois.

She chased lightning bugs in her back yard, filled buckets on the porch with tadpoles from a nearby creek, played tag with friends.

Elizabeth was 7 years old in 1967, one of 200 million Americans at the time. As she and her country grew -- the 300 millionth American will be born at 7:46 a.m. ET Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau says -- things changed in Schaumburg and the country.

Heydanek had moved to Illinois from New Jersey a year earlier in 1966, a trip made by train. If she and her family were moving now, they would be more likely to be moving to Florida, according to census figures. And they probably would be traveling by car -- there are 237 million vehicles on U.S. roads now compared with just under 100 million 40 years ago.

Intercity passenger train travel has dwindled -- just 0.2% of the amount of intercity travel done by car.

Heydanek said her little Illinois town began to change in 1972, just after the Woodfield Mall opened -- one she said was billed as one of the nation's largest at the time -- bringing in traffic and taking away some of the small-town charm.

Larger commercial properties have opened since, according to a study done at Eastern Connecticut State University, and their locations in Florida, California, Nevada and Virginia are indicative of where the U.S. population is growing and how the suburban sprawl Heydanek found in Illinois has taken over Sunbelt cities




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Yunus wins peace Nobel for anti-poverty efforts

OSLO, Norway - Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their pioneering use of tiny, seemingly insignificant loans — microcredit — to lift millions out of poverty.

Through Yunus’s efforts and those of the bank he founded, poor people around the world, especially women, have been able to buy cows, a few chickens or the cell phone they desperately needed to get ahead.

The 65-year-old economist said he would use part of his share of the $1.4 million award money to create a company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor. The rest would go toward setting up an eye hospital for the poor in Bangladesh, he said.

The food company, to be known as Social Business Enterprise, will sell food for a nominal price, he said.

“Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty,” the Nobel Committee said in its citation. “Microcredit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.”

Yunus is the first Nobel Prize winner from Bangladesh, a poverty-stricken nation of about 141 million people located on the Bay on Bengal.

“I am so, so happy, it’s really a great news for the whole nation,” Yunus told The Associated Press shortly after the prize was announced. He was reached by telephone at his home in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

Grameen Bank was the first lender to hand out microcredit, giving very small loans to poor Bangladeshis who did not qualify for loans from conventional banks. No collateral is needed and repayment is based on an honor system


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Tens of thousands rally for Hamas leader

Palestinian prime minister repeats that Hamas will not recognize Israel

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas will not be edged out of power, accept compromise or recognize Israel, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told tens of thousands of banner-waving supporters at a rally Friday.

Haniyeh’s fiery performance was interrupted when he fainted onstage, seemingly overcome by the combined effects of heat and two weeks of dawn-to-dusk fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. He resumed his speech after a few minutes.

The Hamas leader ruled out a proposal by members of his own Hamas movement to form a new government of technocrats as a way of winning international support and ending a seven-month aid freeze.

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Funeral services begin for Amish girls

Families urge forgiveness of gunman who killed five children

GEORGETOWN, Pa. - Horse-drawn buggies clip-clopped past roadblocks Thursday morning as Amish families gathered to bury four of the five young girls gunned down inside their tiny rural schoolhouse.

All roads leading into the village of Nickel Mines, where a milk truck driver took 10 girls hostage and opened fire, were blocked off for the funerals.

The Amish families had asked for privacy as they pray at three homes before burying Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7; Marian Fisher, 13; and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7. The funeral for a fifth girl, Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, was scheduled for Friday.

Five of their friends caught in the schoolhouse attack continued to fight their injuries, at least four of them still hospitalized.

Country coroner G. Gary Kirchner said he had been contacted by a doctor at Penn State Children¡¯s Hospital in Hershey who said doctors expected to take one victim off life support so she could be brought home.

Dr. D. Holmes Morton, who runs a clinic that serves Amish children, said Thursday that the reports that a 6-year-old had been taken off life-support and taken home to die were accurate ¡°as far as I know.¡±

¡°I just think at this point mostly these families want to be left alone in their grief and we ought to respect that,¡± Morton said.


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Thai banker 'favored as next PM'

Thai banker 'favored as next PM'

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- In the wake of this week's military coup in Thailand, former central bank Governor Chatumongol Sonakul is favored to become the country's interim civilian leader, The Bangkok Post newspaper said Saturday. An appointment will be made by September 30, the paper said.

Thai army chief Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the military group that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup on Tuesday, has already said he would appoint an interim prime minister within two weeks and the military would then step back.

On Friday, Sonthi, who earlier received the endorsement of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, took part in a nationally broadcast ceremony that formalized the monarch's backing, The Associated Press reported.

Friday also saw the first isolated protests in Bangkok against the coup.

The Post newspaper, citing highly placed sources, said Chatumongol Sonakul was regarded as among the best-qualified for the interim job because of his monetary and fiscal expertise as well as his recognition in the world community.

The British-educated technocrat led the Bank of Thailand from 1998 to 2001, when he was sacked by Thaksin in a dispute over interest rate policy, Reuters news agency reported.

Other potential candidates are said to be Supreme Administrative Court President Ackaratorn Chularat, former World Trade Organization chief Supachai Panitchpakdi and central bank boss Pridiyathorn Devakula.

Thaksin was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly at the time of the coup, but he is now in London, England.

On Friday, the coup leaders said they had completed setting up a nine-member commission to review corruption accusations made against the ousted billionaire leader.

They also sacked police officials tied to the former prime minister.

Its almost a week the coup ... and I do still feel sorry for Thaksin... but this is life....hope he is well


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Officials, friends can't confirm Bin Laden death report

Officials, friends can't confirm Bin Laden death report

France (CNN) -- A report that Osama bin Laden is dead has set off a flurry of denials from U.S., French and Pakistani officials, who say the newspaper report citing French intelligence cannot be independently confirmed. A Saudi intelligence official, however, told CNN on Saturday that the al Qaeda leader is suffering from a waterborne illness. There have been credible reports that the most wanted man in the world is ill, but there is no intelligence indicating he is dead, the source said.

L'Est Republicain, citing a September 21 French foreign intelligence document, reported that Saudi officials had received confirmation that bin Laden died August 23 of typhoid fever in Pakistan. (Watch CNN's Nic Robertson reveal the latest intelligence on bin Laden's health -- 1:54)

"We believe this reporting to be unsubstantiated," a U.S. intelligence official said.

Other U.S. intelligence officials concurred, and White House spokesman Blair Jones said, "We have no confirmation of that report." (Watch a former CIA director explain how this report could be confirmed --3:34)

A senior White House official with access to intelligence reports added that he has made several calls to senior government officials and could not verify the report.

Across the Atlantic, French President Jacques Chirac said the report was "in no way confirmed" and that he was initiating an investigation into who leaked the confidential document to L'Est Republicain.

"I was rather surprised to see that a confidential note from the [General Directorate for External Security] was published, and I have asked the minister of defense to start an investigation immediately and to reach whatever conclusions are necessary," Chirac said after trade talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Compiegne, France.


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Pope invites Muslim envoys to meeting

Pope invites Muslim envoys to meeting

6:32 a.m. EDT, September 22, 2006

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI has invited ambassadors from Muslim nations to meet him on Monday in a bid to calm anger over his use of a medieval text saying their religion was spread by violence. The pontiff will open the doors of his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, to the ambassadors and members of the Italian Islam Consulta, according to ANSA, an Italian news agency. The Islam Cosulta is a council of the various muslim community leaders in Italy who meet periodically with Italian government officials.

"The purpose of this meeting is to relaunch dialogue with the Islamic world," a senior Vatican official said on Friday. Islamic diplomats accredited to the Holy See said they hoped the meeting would help restore trust between the Roman Catholic Church and Muslims angered by the pope's speech last week in Germany.

"We welcome it and are definitely going to participate," Iran's deputy ambassador to the Holy See, Ahmad Faihma, told Reuters.

"This is a positive signal from the Vatican. I know that this will improve relations with the Islamic world."

"This meeting will be very important, especially in these days, to try to stop every action that is not good," Fathi Abuabed, head of international relations at the Arab League's Vatican mission, told the agency.
Since making his controversial speech last week in his native country, quoting a 14th-century emperor's thoughts about Islam, the pontiff has made a series of increasingly apologetic statements.
On Wednesday, Benedict said the now controversial quotes regarding Muslims that he made were "able to perhaps be misunderstood" and for the "attentive reader they would be clear," he told an audience in St. Peter's Square.

The medieval emperor's "negative words" did not "express my personal convictions," Benedict said.
During the speech to professors last Tuesday, the 79-year-old pontiff quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus when he said, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
Global reaction from Muslims has been strong, prompting Italian police to raise the alert level around the Vatican and Castel Gandolfo, a police spokesman said. Protests have been staged worldwide.
The pope, who on Sunday said he was "deeply sorry" for the reaction to comments he made, said Wednesday the emperor's words did not reflect how he himself felt. He said the intent of his remarks were to call for a dialogue on the role of religions in modern life.

"I hope that in several occasions during the visit ... my deep respect for great religions, in particular for Muslims -- who worship the one God and with whom we are engaged in defending and promoting together social justice, moral values, peace and freedom for all men -- has emerged clearly," Benedict said during his weekly audience at the Vatican.

"I trust that after the initial reaction, my words at the university of Regensburg can constitute an impulse and encouragement toward positive, even self-critical dialogue both among religions and between modern reason and Christian faith," the pope told thousands of faithful in St. Peter's Square.

On Sunday the pope said he hoped his remarks and the Vatican's explanation Saturday were enough to
"appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect."
But an al Qaeda linked militant group this week vowed a war against the "worshippers of the cross" in response to the pope's speech.

"We tell the worshipper of the cross (the pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya," said an Internet statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda, according to the Reuters news agency.
"We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement.

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

I would like the Pope to think more deeply within himself before making more gesture to the public, because of his wrongful dedication or quotation has make him appear to be a weak conversationalist. maybe he need to cool off by not saying or suggesting anymore for the time being.


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Thursday September 21, 2006

Snatch thieves slash wrists of Chinese woman

SEREMBAN: A 26-year-old foreign housewife was slashed on her wrists by two motorcyclists before they snatched her waist-pouch at Taman Bunga Blossom here.

China national Zhang Hui Xian fell on the road with her hands bleeding profusely and screamed for help.

A couple, who responded to her screams, rushed her to a nearby clinic for treatment and she was later transferred to the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital.

Zhang, who followed her husband to Kuala Lumpur on a business trip, is in stable condition.

She came here to visit a friend on Monday and planned to return to the capital before the snatch theft incident.

She said she was walking to a nearby bus stop when two motorcyclists blocked her way about 12.30pm on Thursday.

“When I was about to remove my waist-pouch and hand it to them, one of the robbers slashed me with a knife.

“They then snatched my pouch containing my passport, a cellphone and RM2,000, and fled,” she added.

Ten minutes before the incident involving Zhang, a 78-year-old woman had her bag containing RM200 snatched in a housing estate about 500m away, also by two motorcyclists.

One of the motorcyclists cut the strap of the victim’s bag with a parang, before picking it up and zooming off.

OCPD Asst Comm Hasanuddin Hassan confirmed the two incidents.

In 1994 when I was a kid, I watch the football as just same game as I played my own soccer field backyard. I didn't know the meaning of true football till when I saw, the fancy Roberto Baggio, my favourite player in that world cup tournament, shoot the penalty shot high and wide. I feel so stupid at that moment, I wonder how can actually he shot so high? From that day, my heart is sink into the Italy team and always in my heart, Italian = football, my true passion in them never went off.

In 1998, I was 19 years old but I didnt follow much of football, but in my soul, I know Italy deep and also the Brazillians. However, in my memory I didnt know that France actually do also play football. So that year when Italy lose to France in a penalty shoot out, I am shocked. After that France win Italy in the European Cup again. I am totally annoyed with the French at that time and from then on till today

In 2002, the Italian lose to the Korea to a golden goal. I hated Korea from then on

In 2006, after 12 years waiting and hating rest of the world beside Brazil, the Azzuris bless me with their fourth World Cup wins. I am now so happy and too happy to believe this, finally once the Italians lify up my soul.

Thank you very much, my most beloved Italians

Below is my selected dream team, I love them all .... I hope you all would too .....

BUFFON Gianluigi

ZAMBROTTA Gianluca CANNAVARO Fabio MATERAZZI Marco GROSSO Fabio

PIRLO Andrea TOTTI Francesco GATTUSO Gennaro CAMORANESI Mauro

TONI Luca DEL PIERO Alessandro

Below is the Heroes of 2006 World Cup winning Team player List , you all got my well blessing

1 BUFFON Gianluigi (GK)
2 ZACCARDO Cristian
3 GROSSO Fabio
4 DE ROSSI Daniele
5 CANNAVARO Fabio
6 BARZAGLI Andrea
7 DEL PIERO Alessandro
8 GATTUSO Gennaro
9 TONI Luca
10 TOTTI Francesco
11 GILARDINO Alberto
12 PERUZZI Angelo (GK)
13 NESTA Alessandro
14 AMELIA Marco (GK)
15 IAQUINTA Vincenzo
16 CAMORANESI Mauro
17 BARONE Simone
18 INZAGHI Filippo
19 ZAMBROTTA Gianluca
20 PERROTTA Simone
21 PIRLO Andrea
22 ODDO Massimo
23 MATERAZZI Marco

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