News And Gossips From Around The World

CIA Sept. 11 review recommends disciplinary proceedings for top officials. WASHINGTON, DC- The CIA's independent watchdog has recommended disciplinary reviews for current and former officials who were involved in failed intelligence efforts before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, The Associated Press has learned. CIA Director Porter Goss now must decide whether the disciplinary proceedings go forward. The proceedings, formally called an accountability board, were recommended by the CIA Inspector General John Helgerson. It remains unclear which people are identified for the accountability boards in the highly classified report spanning hundreds of pages. The report was delivered to Congress on Tuesday night. Following a two-year review into what went wrong before the suicide hijackings, people familiar with the report say Helgerson harshly criticizes a number of the agency's most senior officials. Among them are former director George Tenet, former clandestine service chief Jim Pavitt and former counterterrorism centre head Cofer Black. The former officials are likely candidates for proceedings before an accountability board. The boards could take a number of actions, including letters of reprimand or dismissal. They could also clear them of wrongdoing. Those who discussed the report with The AP all spoke on condition of anonymity because it remains highly classified and has been distributed only to a small circle in Washington. Tenet and Pavitt declined to comment. Black could not be reached Thursday.

Rocket almost hits U.S. navy ship at Red Sea resort; Jordanian soldier killed.

Photo: The US navy vessel USS Kearsage, an amphibious assault ship, leaves the Jordanian port of Aqaba, Friday, after unknown attackers fired at least three missiles, killing a Jordanian sailor.

AQABA, Jordan- Attackers firing Katyusha rockets narrowly missed a U.S. amphibious assault ship docked at this Red Sea resort Friday, but killed a Jordanian soldier in the most serious strike at the navy since the USS Cole bombing nearly five years ago. Two more rockets were shot toward nearby Israel without causing serious damage. Jordanian security forces hunted for at least six Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi suspects...Read the full article.

FBI warns police of possible terrorist attacks in LA, New York and Chicago. LOS ANGELES, California - The FBI has warned police that al-Qaida cells might use fuel trucks as weapons to attack Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, but officials stressed Thursday the warning was based on uncorroborated intelligence....Read the full article.

Pope issues anti-Semitism warning. Pope Benedict XVI has warned of rising anti-Semitism as he visited a synagogue in Cologne, in his native Germany. Condemning the "unimaginable crime" of the Holocaust, he joined in prayers before a memorial to the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany...Read the full article.

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said on Friday that military victory in Iraq was essential to any US exit strategy and warned that an early US troop withdrawal was "a potentially fateful event".

"Because of the axiom that guerrillas win if they do not lose, stalemate is unacceptable," said Kissinger, who drew parallels with the Vietnam War, while cautioning that "the military challenge in Iraq is more elusive". "American strategy, including a withdrawal process,"...Read the full article.

Bush warns Iran on nuclear plans

Rafsanjani:  "Our people are not going to allow their nuclear rights to be seized."

US President George W Bush says he still has not ruled out the option of using force against Iran, after it resumed work on its nuclear program. He said he was working on a diplomatic solution, but was skeptical that one could be found. The UN's atomic watchdog has called on Iran to halt nuclear fuel development...Read the full article.

London Islamist Who Moved to Lebanon, Omar Bakri: We Don't Know Who Carried Out 9/11. I Don't Have Any Opinion, Negative or Positive, about Al-Qa'eda. The following are excepts from an interview with Sheik Omar Bakri Muhammad Fustuq, a London Islamist who left for Lebanon, which aired on Al-Mustaqbal TV on August 11, 2005. Fustuq: After the events of 9/11, there was much harrassment, especially of Muslim preachers in the UK. Since then I have been thinking about returning (to Lebanon). When I disbanded the Al-Muhajirun movement in London last year, in October, 2004...Read the full article.

Another Kidnapping as UN Evacuates. On the day on which the UN announced its intention to evacuate "all non-essential" staff from the Gaza Strip another international has been kidnapped inside the Gaza Strip.  PCHR calls for his immediate release and for the PNA to act to bring the perpetrators to justice by arresting them and placing them on trial.  PCHR also calls on civil society, local communities and the political factions to ensure that no further kidnappings take place...Read the full article.
 

Anger at Nazi criminal's holiday.

A row has erupted in Italy after a Nazi war criminal being held under house arrest in Rome was allowed to go on holiday to Lake Maggiore.

New al-Qaida Video Headlines on al-Arabiya: "As you bomb, you will be bombed!"

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates- A purported al-Qaida video shows militants in Afghanistan - including Europeans, Arabs and others - preparing to attack U.S. troops and showing off what they said was a U.S. military laptop. The video, parts of which have been shown by Al-Arabiya television, including a segment aired Tuesday, features interviews with a masked man yelling "As you bomb, you will be bombed" and shows a group of men packing explosives into bombs. The authenticity of the videotape could not be confirmed. U.S. air force Capt. Lennea Montandon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Central Command in Qatar, said the military would not comment because it had not seen the broadcast. If authentic, the program would be the latest attempt by the al-Qaida network to use the broadcast media and Internet to promote its cause. The three-part video, titled The War of the Oppressed People, depicts what appears to be a few months in the lives of a group of fighters in wilderness camps in the Afghan mountains...Read the full article.

Dissident: "IRAN HAS 4,000 CENTRIFUGES"

Photo: Two technicians adjust their protective wear, alongside a box containing uranium ore concentrate, known as yellowcake, at the Uranium Conversion Facility of Iran.

VIENNA, Austria- Iran's president said Tuesday he will submit new proposals in negotiations over his country's nuclear program but denounced a European offer of aid as an "insult," as the UN nuclear agency tried to resolve the crisis without referring Tehran to the Security Council. While the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-country board considered a new warning to a defiant Iran to suspend its atomic activities, fresh areas of concern emerged Tuesday. An exiled dissident said Iran recently produced 4,000 centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to weapons grade. Alireza Jafarzadeh, who helped uncover details of Iran's program in 2002 that fuelled U.S. suspicions the country was trying to build a nuclear bomb, told The Associated Press the centrifuges are ready to be...Read the full article.

ABC News' Peter Jennings, network anchor for five decades, dies at 67.

Photo: Peter Jennings is shown at a party marking his 20 years as anchor of ABC's 'World News Tonight' at Manhattan's Lincoln Center in New York, Sept. 2, 2003.

All aboard Russian mini-sub survived.

Da Vinci Code does not infringe on the copyrights of a book published in 2000 by another author, a judge ruled. NEW YORK- The best-selling thriller The Da Vinci Code does not infringe on the copyrights of a book published in 2000 by another author, a judge ruled. U.S. District Judge George Daniels said Dan Brown's book exploring codes hidden in Leonardo Da Vinci's artwork is not substantially similar to Daughter of God, by Lewis Perdue. Brown's book "is simply a different story," Daniels said...Read the full article.

Nobel winners back Ganji petition.

Eight Nobel laureates have signed a petition calling on Iran to free an imprisoned journalist, said to be close to death after weeks on hunger strike. The petitioners, backed by Paris-based media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, say they fear Akbar Ganji will die if he is not released soon. Mr Ganji was jailed for implicating top officials in a series of political assassinations. He has been only drinking tea and water for the past 55 days...Read the full article.

Europe offers long-term support for Iran's civil nuclear program. Russia has committed itself formally to supplying nuclear fuel for the lifetime of Russian-built reactors in Iran. LONDON, UK- European negotiators on Friday offered Iran long-term support for its civilian nuclear program, including access to nuclear fuel, in exchange for a binding commitment not to develop atomic weapons. Britain, France and Germany - which are spearheading diplomatic efforts on behalf of the European Union - also want Tehran to "make a legally binding commitment not to withdraw" from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to the proposals...Read the full article.

U.S. can't account for its weapons in Gaza. The United States has major plans to bolster the Palestinian Authority on the eve of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been prepared to improve the Palestinian economy and security forces. One thing is clear: the Bush administration plans to pump the money into enhancing PA security without taking a real inventory of its weaponry and links to guns, missiles and bombs used by such groups as Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad...Read the full article.

Monroe not suicidal, says ex-prosecutor

LOS ANGELES, California-  On the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death, a former prosecutor has unveiled what he says are notes of her secret confessions to a psychiatrist that show her as anything but suicidal. "There was no possible way this woman could have killed herself," John Miner told the Los Angeles Times for a story published Friday. "She had very specific plans for her future. She knew exactly what she wanted to do." Miner, 86, said he would like to see another autopsy performed on Monroe and believes the large dose of barbiturates found in her body may have been administered by someone else...Read the full article.

U.S. officials evacuate Southwest Airlines plane after bomb threat note found. HOUSTON, Texas - A note found in a Southwest Airlines seat pocket claiming a bomb was on the plane prompted a landing and evacuation of 136 passengers. No one was injured and no explosives had been found as of Friday afternoon. Law enforcement agencies interviewed and re-screened passengers while bomb-sniffing dogs searched the plane at an isolated end of Houston's Hobby Airport....Read the full article.

Tony Blair plans to crack down on extremist Islamic clerics

Photo: Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed strict anti-terror measures Friday that would allow Britain to expel foreigners who preach hatred, close extremist mosques and bar entry to Muslim radicals.

LONDON, UK- Prime Minister Tony Blair's government on Saturday defended its plans to crack down on extremist Islamic clerics who preach hate, as critics warned the measures could further alienate British Muslims. Britain's chief legal official, Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer, said the deadly attacks in London on July 7 showed the government must act against people "who are encouraging young men who are becoming suicide bombers." "I think there is a very widespread sense in the country subsequent to July 7th that things have changed. A new balance needs to be struck. It needs to be a lawful balance but it needs to be an effective balance,"...Read the full article.

Russian rescuers struggle to save 7 sailors trapped in naval mini-submarine

Photo: Navy crews prepare a Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV) called a Super Scorpio, to be loaded onto a C-5 transport plane on Friday, at NAS Coronado, in Coronado, Calif. The Navy is transporting two of the ROV's in an effort to assist the rescue of seven Russian Sailors trapped on the ocean floor in a mini-submarine off the Kamchatka Peninsula. .Read the full article

Hiroshima's 60 Years After

Photo: Women light candles in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, western Japan, praying for the world peace and repose of the victims of the world's first nuclear bombing.

President Bush rejects early Iraq pullout

 

 The roadside bombing in which they were killed was one of the deadliest attacks on US forces since the 2003 invasion. It happened near the north-western city of Haditha, in the same area where seven marines were killed on Monday. Washington is worried such strikes could affect the public mood in the US. The latest attacks brought the US death toll to more than 1,800 since the Iraq invasion. More than 13,000 US troops have been wounded. Polls in the US show a fairly constant level of pessimism among Americans...Read the full article.

US challenged over 'secret jails'

Two Yemeni men claim they were held in secret, underground US jails for more than 18 months without being charged, Amnesty International has said. The human rights group has called on the US to reveal details of the alleged secret detention of suspects abroad. Amnesty fears the case is part of a "much broader picture" in which the US holds prisoners at secret locations. ..Read the full article.

Four more U.S. marines killed in Iraq.

Photo: U.S. Marine inspects the remains of a vehicle destroyed by a roadside bomb, killing 14 Marines and a civilian interpreter, in Barwana, near Haditha, Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Iraq .The U.S. military said Thursday that four more American service members died in Iraq, including one in Euphrates River valley where 14 marines were killed in the worst roadside bombing targeting American forces in the Iraq war. A car bomb also hit members of a radical Shiite militia in northern Iraq as attacks nationwide killed at least 11 people Thursday. Three U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday night in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday. The statement identified them only as members of the army's Task Force Baghdad. However, officials in Georgia said they were assigned to the 48th Brigade of the Georgia National Guard....Read the full article.

Arab pop fashion hits the high street. Young people in the Arab world have copied popular singers for years, but the phenomena is reaching new heights on the latest wave of photogenic female stars. Teenage girls pester parents to help them recreate the look of Lebanon's Nancy Ajram  And as stars like Egypt's Ruby (right) become increasingly racy, the clothes in the shops have been getting raunchier

. Read the full article.

Researchers have developed a chart that can tell women what level of exercise they need to stay fit. TORONTO, Canada- For the first time, researchers have developed a chart that can tell women what level of exercise they need to stay fit at any given age. A study conducted by the same team reveals that falling short of the age-specific exercise targets can significantly increase the risk of premature death. "Despite extensive research on the role of exercise stress testing and exercise capacity, there has been a lack of data on what is normal or expected for healthy women," said lead researcher Dr. Martha Gulati...Read the full article.

Yoga classes 'provoke' prisoners

Photo: Yoga originates from India and dates back some 5,000 years.

A prison in Norway has stopped holding yoga classes after it found that instead of calming inmates, they were actually making some more aggressive. High-security Ringerike jail near Oslo offered the classes to eight inmates on a trial basis earlier this year. Prison warden Sigbjoern Hagen said some of the inmates became more irritable and agitated and had trouble sleeping... Read the full article.

 

A spacewalking astronaut gently pulled two potentially dangerous strip of protruding fabric from Discovery's

Photo: Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi works with tethers in space shuttle Discovery's payload bay in this view from television.

SPACE CENTER, Houston- A spacewalking astronaut gently pulled two potentially dangerous strip of protruding fabric from Discovery's belly with his gloved hand Wednesday, successfully completing an unprecedented emergency repair job. Astronaut Stephen Robinson said both pieces came out easily... .Read the full article.

 

Unseeded Sania Mirza stuns No. 4 Nadia Petrova with easy Acura win

Photo: Kim Clijsters of Belgium hits a backhand shot during her second round match against Marta Domachowski of Poland.

CARLSBAD, California- Unseeded Sania Mirza of India stunned No. 4 Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1 Wednesday at the Acura Classic, which has lost two of its top three players in two days from an already-depleted field. Mirza, ranked 59th in the world, had a surprisingly easy time with the ninth-ranked Petrova in the second-round match. ..Read the full article.

Mr Vincent was abducted with his female Iraqi translator at gun point by men in a police car on Tuesday. His bullet-riddled body was found on the side of  highway south of the city a few hours later. He had been writing a book about the city, where insurgents have recently stepped up their attacks. Bundled into car: The pair were kidnapped by five gunmen in a police car as they left a currency exchange shop, Lt Col Karim al-Zaidi said. "Both were later shot, but Vincent was killed, while the girl [translator] is alive," said Mr Zaidi. Mr Vincent was shot several times in the head and body, said Mr Zaidi. The translator, Nour Weidi, was seriously wounded. Mr Vincent's relatives have been informed and US officials are working with the UK military and Iraqi authorities to identify the killers. "I can confirm to you that officials in Basra have recovered the body of journalist Steven Vincent," said embassy spokesman Pete Mitchell. "Our condolences go out to the family." Mr Vincent had been in Basra in recent months working for the Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times. In a recent New York Times article, Mr Vincent wrote that Basra's police force had been infiltrated by Shia militants. He quoted a senior Iraqi police lieutenant saying some officers were behind many of the killings of former Baath party members in Basra. Mr Vincent also criticised the UK forces, who are responsible for security in Basra, for ignoring abuses of power by Shia extremists.

A federal appeals court upheld most of a patent infringement verdict against the Canadian company that makes BlackBerry. NEW YORK- A federal appeals court upheld most of a patent infringement verdict against the Canadian company that makes BlackBerry e-mail devices, but ordered a lower court to reconsider part of the case and agreed to hear arguments that the long-running dispute is actually beyond U.S. jurisdiction. The mixed ruling issued Tuesday seemed to confuse investors, who initially sent shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. of Waterloo, Ont. up about one per cent to $71.99 US in New York and at $87.65 Cdn in Toronto. ..Read the full article.

US may sell Egypt 200 M109A5 155mm Self-propelled Howitzers. (Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency). Dr. Aaron Lerner: "The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not affect the  basic military balance in the region." - not because anyone actually checked  this but because the statement is required by Congress. After all, if this boiler plate statement was in fact true that would mean  that the US sells billions of apparently worthless weapons systems to the  Arabs. ..Read the full article.

A prestigious Vienna art gallery has encouraged art-lovers to strip off, letting naked or scantily-clad visitors in for free.

The Leopold Museum hosted hundreds of skin-baring sightseers to mark the launch of The Naked Truth, an exhibition of early 1900s erotic art. "We find a naked body every bit as beautiful as a clothed one," museum founder Elisabeth Leopold said...Read the full article.

US fans shun Michael Jackson CD.

Photo: Joe Jackson has been promoting his son's CD

Michael Jackson's latest greatest hits album has sold just 8,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, reaching number 128 in the chart. The Essential Michael Jackson is the star's first release since he was cleared of child abuse a month ago. Jackson's two-disc set went straight to number two in the UK...Read the full article.

Sony pays $1.5m over fake film critic. LOS ANGELES, California- Sony Pictures Entertainment must pay $1.5 million US to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the studio of citing a fake movie critic in ads for several films. Moviegoers who saw the films Vertical Limit, A Knight's Tale, The Animal, Hollow Man or The Patriot during their original theatre runs must file a claim to be eligible for a $5 per ticket...Read the full article.

No toilet, no seat, says minister

Photo: Better hygiene must be practised, says the rural affairs chief

Village council candidates in India should be allowed to stand for election only if they have a toilet at home, the rural development minister says.. In a letter to all chief ministers, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said the toilet rule should be set out in law. He said too many elected members "do not have toilet facilities in their own houses and defecate in the open". Mr Singh said this activity was the main cause of the high incidence of diarrhoea in rural areas. ..Read the full article.

The Uzbek government orders U.S. to leave the air base in Uzbekistan. WASHINGTON, DC, USA- The Central Asian country Uzbekistan has notified the U.S. State Department U.S. military aircraft and personnel must leave an Uzbek air base that has been an important hub for military operations in Afghanistan, a Pentagon official said Saturday. Glenn Flood, a Pentagon spokesman, said the notice was received Friday at the U.S. Embassy in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. Flood said he did not know whether the Uzbeks stated a reason for evicting U.S. forces from Karshi-Khanabad air base, commonly referred to as K2. ..Read the full article.

US PENTAGON: "Iraq's police force is recruiting insurgents and former criminals to its ranks."   The US Pentagon blames poor vetting procedures and recommends that the quality of records at Iraq's interior ministry be checked. US-run training programs, in which more than 60,000 Iraqi recruits have taken part, are only a qualified success, the Pentagon report says. An earlier report found only 50% of battalions able to combat insurgents. ..Read the full article.

THE HONORABLE JOHN HOWARD, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA, TO BE HONORED WITH THE WORLD STATESMAN AWARD  FROM THE APPEAL OF CONSCIENCE FOUNDATION

Photos from L to R:  #1. The Honorable John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia. # 2.  Jorma Ollila, Chairman and CEO of NOKIA Corporation.

JORMA OLLILA, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF NOKIA CORPORATION, TO RECEIVE THE APPEAL OF CONSCIENCE AWARD AND The Honorable Peter G. Peterson, Senior Chairman and Co-Founder, The Blackstone Group to receive the Public Service Award at the appeal of conscience foundation’s 40^th anniversary dinner.Read the full article..

TV series depicts with stark reality the experiences of American GIs serving in Iraq, as well as the effect on those left back home.

Photo: Erik Palladino (centre) is a sergeant leading rookie soldiers in Over There.

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