Free Internet Press Newsletter - Monday October 30 2006 - (813)

Monday October 30 2006 edition
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2 Dead As Wild Wind Storms Hit U.S. East Coast 2006-10-29 22:43:42 Thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity Sunday from Maryland to Maine as a storm system blasted the region with winds gusting to more than 50 mph, knocking over trees and a construction crane. The storm was blamed for at least two deaths. Gusts of 70 mph were possible Sunday in northern New York state, said the National Weather Service. A falling tree killed a motorcyclist in Massachusetts, said police. In New Hampshire, one man was missing after falling off a cruise ship on Lake Winnipesaukee during the storm late Saturday, and one man drowned when his kayak overturned on a rain-swollen river, said state officials. Read The Full Story U.S. Is Said To Fail In Tracking Arms For Iraqis 2006-10-29 22:42:26 The American military has not properly tracked hundreds of thousands of weapons intended for Iraqi security forces and has failed to provide spare parts, maintenance personnel or even repair manuals for most of the weapons given to the Iraqis, a federal report released Sunday has concluded. The report was undertaken at the request of Senator John W. Warner, the Virginia Republican who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and who recently expressed an assessment far darker than the Bush administration's on the situation in Iraq. Read The Full Story Of 104 People On Board, Only 6 Survive Nigerian Airliner Crash 2006-10-29 22:41:10 A Nigerian airliner with 104 people aboard slammed into the ground moments after takeoff Sunday, the third deadly crash of a passenger plane in less than a year in this West African country. Six people survived. Among those killed was the man regarded as the spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslims, and thousands of people gathered at a regional airport to receive his body. The Boeing 737 crashed one minute after taking off from the Abuja airport, said Sam Adurogboye, an Aviation Ministry spokesman. President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the crash, said his spokeswoman, Remi Oyo. Read The Full Story Mexican Riot Police Retake Central Oaxaca 2006-10-29 22:39:47 Federal police backed by armored vehicles and water cannons tore down barricades and stormed embattled Oaxaca on Sunday, taking control of the city center which was held by protesters for five months and attempting to restore order. A human rights worker said a 15-year-old protester was killed in the offensive launched earlier in the day. But authorities did not immediately confirm his death. Officers in black helmets entered the city from several sides, reinforced by armored vehicles, trucks mounted with high-pressure water cannons and bulldozers. Helicopters roared overhead. Read The Full Story Iraq: Gunmen Kill 19 At British-Run Police School 2006-10-29 22:38:20 Gunmen killed 17 Iraqi police instructors and two translators Sunday afternoon as they travelled home from work at a British-run police academy training school near Basra in southern Iraq. It was the first incident of its kind in the south of the country and resembled attacks on police in Baghdad. A senior British military source last night described the attack as "a complete change in tactics and not something we have seen down there before". Read The Full Story After The Fighting And Dying For Musa Qala, Afghanistan, Taliban Return As British Depart 2006-10-29 22:35:42 Among the many battles in his life, Nafaz Khan recalls the long fight for Musa Qala as one of special significance. As the former chief of police and militia commander in the northern Helmand town it was there that he fought alongside British troops against the Taliban. "I loved those British soldiers," he said. "They were great fighters and knew each of my men by name. Together we killed many, many Taliban." Soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment, who were withdraw from Musa Qala this month as part of a deal with Afghan tribal elders after more than two months of heavy fighting, remember the experience as one of violence, dirt, heat and lack of water. For Khan, though, it held particular deprivation. Read The Full Story	Funding Is Falling For Research Budgets In Race To Fight Global Warming 2006-10-29 22:43:13 Cheers fit for a revival meeting swept a Denver, Colorado, hotel ballroom as 1,800 entrepreneurs and experts watched a PowerPoint presentation of the most promising technologies for limiting global warming: solar power, wind, ethanol and other farmed fuels, energy-efficient buildings and fuel-sipping cars. "Houston," Charles F. Kutscher, chairman of the Solar 2006 Conference, concluded in a twist on the line from Apollo 13, "we have a solution." Hold the applause. For all the enthusiasm about alternatives to coal and oil, the challenge of limiting emissions of carbon dioxide, which traps heat, will be immense in a world likely to add 2.5 billion people by midcentury, a host of other experts say. Moreover, most of those people will live in countries like China and India, which are just beginning to enjoy an electrified, air-conditioned mobile society. Read The Full Story Report: BP Knew Texas Refinery Was At Risk 2006-10-29 22:41:50 Safety experts for BP PLC warned their bosses of the potential for a "major site incident" 2 years before an explosion at the company's Texas City refinery killed 15 people, according to a broadcast report. CBS' "60 Minutes" also reported Sunday that the Texas City plant manager, Don Parus, told his bosses in the company's London headquarters that most workers at the refinery felt the plant was unsafe. According to CBS, one worker wrote, "This place is set up for a catastrophic failure." Read The Full Story British Government Signs Up Al Gore As Environment Adviser 2006-10-29 22:40:26 Britain is to send the author of Monday's landmark review on global warming to try to win American hearts and minds to the urgent cause of cutting carbon emissions - as it emerged Sunday that the British government has already signed up former U.S. vice-president Al Gore to advise on the environment. Sir Nicholas Stern, who Monday morning publishes an authoritative report on climate change warning that inaction could cause a worldwide recession as damaging as the Depression of the 1930s, will lobby politicians and business people in America at the turn of the year. Read The Full Story Typhoon Cimaron Whips Northern Philippines 2006-10-29 22:38:59 Typhoon Cimaron, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines in eight years, whipped over the north of the country on Monday, shuttering schools and public offices and grounding some domestic flights amid flood warnings. The storm, packing winds of about 175 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 210 kilometers per hour, hit Luzon island, the most populated region and the Philippines' rice bowl, late on Sunday forcing residents of coastal and low-lying areas to seek higher ground. There were no immediate report of casualties, said the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Read The Full Story Israeli Attorney General Says President Should Step Aside 2006-10-29 22:37:27 Israel's attorney general recommended Sunday that President Moshe Katsav recuse himself from official duties pending a decision on whether he will be indicted on charges of rape and sexual assault. In a non-binding opinion filed with Israel's high court, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said the state does not have the authority to remove Katsav from his post but urged him to resign voluntarily if indicted. Under Israeli law, Katsav, 60, is immune from prosecution while in office. His term expires next year. Read The Full Story Gallaudet University Board Revokes Appointment Of New President 2006-10-29 22:34:36 The board of trustees of the U.S.' premier school for the deaf voted Sunday to revoke the appointment of the incoming president, who had been the subject of weeks of protests that at times shut down the campus. The vote at Gallaudet University came after a daylong closed-door meeting that followed protests by students and faculty members, said the board. Jane Fernandes, the former provost, had been selected in May to take office in January. "Although undoubtedly there will be some members of the community who have differing views on the meaning of this decision, we believe that it is a necessity at this point," the board said in a written statement. Read The Full Story
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