Free Internet Press Newsletter - Saturday October 14 2006 - (813)

Saturday October 14 2006 edition
Free Internet Press is operated on your donations. Donate Today
Insurance Company Earnings Are Soaring 2006-10-14 00:53:34 Insurance companies are expecting record profits in 2006 after predictions of another year of devastating hurricanes have so far come to naught. Industry experts are estimating that profits may reach $60 billion, on a combination of higher premiums along the coasts, no major payouts for natural disasters and strong investment returns. The insurers also had high profits on other lines of coverage like auto insurance, workers compensation and general liability. The record profits expected this year come after a terrible 2005, when insurers paid out $61 billion for damage from Hurricane Katrina and other storms. Even so, the insurers ended up with a profit of $43 billion for the year because of exceptionally good results on investments, declining claims on policies on homes away from the coast and profits on other lines of coverage. Read The Full Story U.S. Detects Signs Of Radiation Consistent With N. Korea Test - Maybe 2006-10-14 00:52:48 Initial environmental samples collected by a U.S. military aircraft detected signs of radiation over the Sea of Japan, possibly confirming North Korea's nuclear test, intelligence officials said yesterday. Officials said the positive radiation result was consistent with an atomic test and would make it possible to rule out the possibility that Monday's test had been conducted with conventional explosives alone, but intelligence and administration officials were cautious about reaching a conclusion before reviewing all incoming data. "The intelligence community continues to analyze the data," said Frederick Jones, spokesman for the National Security Council. "When the intelligence community has a determination to present, we will make that public." Earlier detection attempts by the United States, China and South Korea did not pick up any radiation. An intelligence official said additional samples are being collected, and analysts are also taking a harder look at seismic data, satellite photos and communications intercepts. Read The Full Story Feds Bought Fake University Degrees 2006-10-13 23:57:28 At least 135 federal employees, including a White House staff member and National Security Agency employees, bought bogus online college degrees from a diploma mill, a lawyer in the case against the mill operators said. Read The Full Story U.N. Security Council To Vote On N. Korea Saturday 2006-10-13 17:27:54 The United Nations Security Council today agreed to a Saturday vote on a resolution calling for sanctions against North Korea after negotiators eliminated an explicit mention of military enforcement that had brought objections from China and Russia. The new draft also redefined the legal limits of the inspections it calls for of cargo going into and out of North Korea and dropped a blanket embargo on conventional weapons, limiting the ban to large sized arms, military systems and weapons of mass destruction. The measure, drafted by the United States and revised three times this week, still requires all countries to prevent the sale or transfer of material related to North Korea's nuclear, ballistic missile and unconventional weapons programs and maintains a ban on travel by persons associated with those programs. It also bars North Korea from exporting such weapons, a provision aimed at the international concern over the possibility of unconventional arms from North Korea ending up with terrorist groups or rogue states. Read The Full Story British Coroner Seeks Trial For U.S. Soldiers Who Killed TV Journalist 2006-10-13 17:27:06 The American soldiers who shot dead ITN journalist Terry Lloyd could face trial in a British court for murder after a coroner ruled that they had unlawfully killed an innocent civilian. Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, said Friday he would be writing to the attorney general and the director of public prosecutions "to see whether any steps can be taken to bring the perpetrators responsible for this to justice". The verdict was welcomed by Lloyd's family, employers and the National Union of Journalists. His widow Lynn accused U.S. forces of allowing soldiers to "behave like trigger-happy cowboys in an area in which there were civilians travelling on a highway". In a statement she said: "The marines who fired on civilians and those who gave those orders should now stand trial. Under the Geneva Conventions Act, that trial should be for the murder of Terry Lloyd and nothing less." Read The Full Story Huge Support From British Military For Gen. Dannatt 2006-10-13 17:26:04 The head of the British Army has received overwhelming support from across the ranks over his call for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq "sometime soon". Senior officers said General Sir Richard Dannatt should be "saluted" for his honesty while frontline soldiers praised their commander for "telling it how it is". Their comments came after Sir Richard, who became Chief of the General Staff in August, gave an interview to the Daily Mail warning that we should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems". Read The Full Story Rep. Ney Pleads Guilty To Taking Bribes In Abramoff Scandal 2006-10-13 12:08:41 Congressman Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) pleaded guilty today to corruption charges arising from the influence-peddling investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, becoming the first elected official caught up in a scandal that may damage his party's chances in next month's midterm elections. Ney emerged from a month in alcohol rehabilitation to appear in federal court in Washington, where he admitted he performed official acts in Congress for lobbyists in exchange for campaign contributions, expensive meals, luxury travel and skybox sports tickets. Ney also admitted to taking thousands of dollars in gambling chips from an international businessman who sought his help with the U.S. State Department. Read The Full Story Bangladeshi Economist, Grameen Bank Win Nobel Peace Prize 2006-10-13 12:07:45 Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, whose system of micro-credit loans reshaped development efforts in poor nations, won the Nobel Peace Prize today, along with the bank he founded. Yunus, 66, founded Grameen Bank in 1976, and was praised by the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thursday as a man who paved the way for helping economic development among the poorest of his nation - particularly among rural women. Yunus was something of a surprise winner in a large field of nominees that included diplomats who brokered peace deals in hotspots like Indonesia's troubled Aceh Province and global celebrities like U2 lead singer and development advocate Bono. In awarding the $1.36 million prize to the Vanderbilt University-trained economist, the committee said his work showed that "even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development". Read The Full Story Analysis: Bush Confounded By ... Unacceptable 2006-10-13 00:45:04 President Bush finds the world around him increasingly "unacceptable." In speeches, statements and news conferences this year, the president has repeatedly declared a range of problems "unacceptable," including rising health costs, immigrants who live outside the law, North Korea's claimed nuclear test, genocide in Sudan and Iran's nuclear ambitions. Bush's decision to lay down blunt new markers about the things he deems intolerable comes at an odd time, a phase of his presidency in which all manner of circumstances are not bending to his will: national security setbacks in North Korea and Iraq, a Congress that has shrugged its shoulders at his top domestic initiatives, a favorability rating mired below 40 percent. Read The Full Story Canadian Troops Battle 10-Foot Marijuana Plants In Afghanistan 2006-10-13 00:44:10 Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy - almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall. General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armored car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana. "The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices. ... And as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those marijuana forests," he said in a speech in Ottawa, Canada. Read The Full Story	Iraqi Colonel Who Bridged Sectarian Divide Is Killed 2006-10-14 00:53:12 Operating between the insurgent Sunni Arab suburbs of Baghdad and the Shiite militia-dominated south, Col. Salam al-Mamuri and his Scorpion commando team were a rarity among Iraqi security forces, American and Iraqi colleagues said: a police unit fighting on both sides of the country's sectarian divide. On Friday, a bomb blew apart Mamuri and an aide at the Scorpions' headquarters in the southern city of Hilla. The attack ended the life of a broadly respected commander who had been one of the longest-serving and longest-surviving men in a cadre of Iraqi army veterans struggling to restore law and order after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Mamuri's comparative evenhandedness enforcing the law may have earned him an enemy within his own sect, the Shiites. Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani in Baghdad called it a "possibility and a probability" that the assassination was at least in part an inside job, because the killer was able to gain access to Mamuri's office to plant the bomb. Read The Full Story Attachment To New Port Security Bill Cripples Internet Gamling 2006-10-14 00:52:28 Placing bets over the Internet was effectively criminalized by the federal government yesterday, as lawmakers work to eliminate an activity enjoyed by as many as 23 million Americans who wagered an estimated $6 billion last year. Attached to a port-security bill signed by President Bush yesterday was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibits online gamblers from using credit cards, checks and electronic fund transfers to place and settle bets. The law puts enforcement on the shoulders of banks and other U.S. financial institutions, some of which fought the legislation. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Virginia), said he opposes all gambling, citing its "ill effects on society," but particularly Internet gambling, which led him to draft the legislation in the summer. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) attached Goodlatte's bill to the port-security measure to ensure its passage and Bush's signature. Read The Full Story Teen Crashes Car To Escape Kidnapper 2006-10-13 23:11:15 When two vehicles violently collided in Des Moines Sunday morning, police were surprised to learn the crash was intentional -- it was the only way for a young man to escape a kidnapper armed with a handgun. "I don't care about the pain as long as I'm alive," said 19-year-old Adrian Vallez, who's recovering from injuries at his Federal Way home. Read The Full Story 4 Found Shot Dead - 2 Of Them Children - Along Florida Turnpike 2006-10-13 17:27:31 The bodies of a man, a woman and two children were discovered today on land adjacent to the Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie County, about two-thirds of the way down the Florida peninsula. They all had been killed by multiple gunshots, police said. Police said all appeared to be Hispanic and said that the man was 29 years old, the woman 25 and the children appeared to be 4 and 6 years old. They would not release identities because the next-of-kin had not yet been notified. Sheriff Ken Mascara of St. Lucie County said in a televised news conference that the four had been shot, apparently where they were found, between 1:30 and 3 a.m. He said nearby residents reported hearing noises that could have been gunshots early in the morning. Read The Full Story National Public Radio News Chief Resigns After 9 Months 2006-10-13 17:26:35 William K. Marimow, the top news executive at National Public Radio and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, has resigned after nine months in the job, the broadcasting network announced Friday. He agreed to become the ombudsman for the network. The move is one of several changes within the network's news division and signals a period of instability as many jobs are being filled hastily on an interim basis until permanent replacements can be found. As part of its restructuring, the network is creating a new managing editor position to supervise shows and newscasts and has temporarily hired Richard Harris, who spent nine years as senior producer of ABC's "Nightline" and "This Week" and was a former executive producer for NPR's "All Things Considered." Some NPR employees who attended a staff meeting this morning when the changes were announced described it as harsh and even "nasty." They also said that some of their colleagues praised Marimow for raising the network's level of journalism. Read The Full Story British General Denies Rift With Blair, But Stands By Comments 2006-10-13 17:25:46 The head of the British army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, this afternoon insisted the U.K. will not "surrender" in Iraq - despite calling for troops to be pulled out "sometime soon". Britain's most senior soldier sparked a storm with an interview in which he said the presence of coalition forces was "exacerbating" the problems there. It was seen as an unprecedented attack on government policy and forced the general, who took up the job just six weeks ago, into denying there was any rift with Tony Blair's foreign policy. Read The Full Story North Korea Sample Shows No Radiation 2006-10-13 12:08:13 Two U.S. government officials with access to classified information tell CNN that the initial air sampling over North Korea shows no indication of radioactive debris from the event Monday that North Korea says was an underground nuclear test. The U.S. Air Force flew a WC-135 Constant Phoenix on Tuesday to collect air samples from the region. A third official reiterated that at this point "there isn't information to allow confirmation it was a nuclear test." The intelligence community and the military will continue to fly satellites and collect air samples in the region to try to collect radiological data that would provide confirmation of a nuclear test, said officials, but as time goes on, it will be increasingly difficult to achieve confirmation. Read The Full Story Sneaking Across The Mexican Border With 3 Elephants And A Mariachi Band 2006-10-13 10:59:30 After his first trip to South Texas, a Pennsylvania congressional candidate was back home Wednesday sharing quite a tale, having chased an undocumented immigrant on foot one day and strolled the bank of the Rio Grande with three elephants and a blaring mariachi band the next. All, of course, documented for a campaign commercial. "Border security is a major issue in my district and I wanted to see firsthand the situation and I came away utterly shocked at the state of insecurity that our border is in," said Raj Peter Bhakta, 30, a Philadelphia Republican whose previous claim to fame was being fired from the reality TV show "The Apprentice." Bhakta, a first-generation American citizen, said he was in Brownsville on Monday and Tuesday with the idea of demonstrating a porous border by videoing himself with elephants near a desolate area of the Rio Grande. But he said he upped the ante with a six-member mariachi band after witnessing an undocumented immigrant swim across the river under an international bridge. Bhakta said he chased the immigrant with a camera in tow. Even though authorities apprehended the immigrant, he said he was "utterly shocked" that someone could cross so easily. "I thought to myself, 'Well, if this guy can come right across under the nose of the immigration post, I bet I can get an elephant across, I bet I could get an elephant across with a mariachi band strutting away, welcoming my arrival to America,'" he said. Read The Full Story E. Coli On Ranch Near Spinach But No .. Er .. Smoking Cow Found 2006-10-13 00:44:37 Investigators found E. coli in cattle feces near Salinas Valley spinach fields that matches the strain of the bacteria that sickened 200 people and killed at least three - a major discovery in the nearly two-month search for the cause of the outbreak. The fecal samples were found within a mile of spinach fields, on a farm with both beef cattle and produce operations, Kevin Reilly, a California food safety official, said Thursday. Investigators are turning their attention to how the deadly bacteria could have gotten into spinach crops. Theories include contaminated irrigation water, poor worker hygiene, and wild pigs running through pastures and into the spinach fields. "We do not have a smoking cow at this point, no," said Reilly. Read The Full Story
Original materials on this site © Free Internet Press. Any mirrored or quoted materials © their respective authors, publications, or outlets, as shown on their publication, indicated by the link in the news story. Original Free Internet Press materials may be copied and/or republished without modification, provided a link to http://FreeInternetPress.com is given in the story, or proper credit is given. Newsletter options may be changed in your preferences on http://freeinternetpress.com Please email editor@freeinternetpress.com there are any questions. XML/RSS/RDF Newsfeed Syndication: http://freeinternetpress.com/rss.php