Free Internet Press Newsletter - Monday November 6 2006 - (813)

Monday November 6 2006 edition
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Six Arab States Join Rush To Go Nuclear 2006-11-05 22:53:09 The spectre of a nuclear race in the Middle East was raised yesterday when six Arab states announced that they were embarking on programmes to master atomic technology. The move, which follows the failure by the West to curb Iran's controversial nuclear program, could see a rapid spread of nuclear reactors in one of the world's most unstable regions, stretching from the Gulf to the Levant and into North Africa. The countries involved were named by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also shown interest. Read The Full Story Public Pensions, Once Safe, Now Facing Cuts 2006-11-05 22:51:44 After losing a leg in the line of duty, Dan Toneck, a San Diego, California, police officer, spent nearly a year in rehabilitation before returning to work, doing his job for another five years with an artificial limb. Toneck, 37, was granted a disability retirement last year after 16 years on the job. Some of his fellow officers wept as he left headquarters for the last time. Then, 10 months later, the impossible happened. San Diego cut his pension by about 10 percent, along with those of about 180 other disabled city retirees. “They’re trying to pay the bills on the backs of the employees,” said  Toneck. Across the country, government workers’ pensions are protected by guarantees even stouter than those on pensions in the private sector. The legal promises, often backed up by union contracts, cover more than 15 million people. Read The Full Story 20,000 Protest In London For Action On Global Warming 2006-11-05 22:50:21 More than 20,000 people rallied in London, England, at the weekend, calling for urgent action on climate change ahead of Monday's United Nations conference on the issues in Nairobi, Kenya. As marchers from the Stop Climate Chaos coalition of environmental and development groups assembled in Grosvenor Square, events began with a protest bike ride past the U.S. embassy to Downing Street to hand in a petition calling for a tightening of emission targets. The climax was a rally in Trafalgar Square with performers including singer K.T. Tunstall and Razorlight. Activists urged the government to negotiate an international deal to keep the increase in global warming to less than 2 Celsius. On stage Tunstall said: "I'm here today because of the situation with the environment. We are screwing it up." A U.N. report published on the eve of the conference said Africa could suffer greater effects from global warming than previously feared, with the risk of widespread coastal flooding, substantial loss of animal habitat and lower cereal yields all likely in coming decades. Environmentalists said the continent needed help in dealing with a problem created by the industrialised world. Read The Full Story Endgame For A Dictator: Saddam Sentenced To Hang 2006-11-05 22:48:40 Saddam Hussein, who ruled Iraq for 24 brutal years before being ousted by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, was sentenced to death by hanging in a Baghdad court Sunday for crimes against humanity. The sentence, which was delivered in a short but tumultuous hearing that echoed the mayhem of the trial itself, sparked celebrations across much of the country in defiance of an official curfew, and triggered protests in Sunni areas, reflecting the divisions facing Iraq more than three years after the dictator's fall. Saddam's rule was marked by mass killing and torture, but the death sentence was for one episode - the massacre of 148 men and boys from Dujail, the site of a 1982 assassination attempt against him. Read The Full Story	As Drug Prices Go Up, Democrats Find Fault In Medicare Plan 2006-11-05 22:52:25 For big drug companies, the new Medicare prescription benefit is proving to be a financial windfall larger than even the most optimistic Wall Street analysts had predicted. But those gains may come back to haunt drug makers if Democrats take control of Congress this week. Democrats, who have long charged that the drug industry is profiteering at taxpayers’ expense, say they want to introduce legislation to revoke the law that bars Medicare from negotiating prices directly with drug makers like Pfizer for the medicines it buys. Read The Full Story Canada-U.S. Dispute Over Northwest Passage Revived 2006-11-05 22:50:52 A long-standing legal wrangle between the United States and Canada could complicate future shipping through the Arctic as global warming melts the ice in the Northwest Passage. The United States contends that the Northwest Passage, though owned by Canada, is an international strait with free passage for all, like other straits around the world. U.S. officials say they are following a long-standing position in favor of keeping straits free to all navigation and want unimpeded movement of U.S. ships. Canada counters that it has sole jurisdiction over the Northwest Passage and wants to enforce its own laws on ships in the Arctic waters. Canadian officials argue that their authority over the myriad channels and straits that make up the legendary route from the Atlantic to the Pacific is the best way to minimize unsafe ships and accidental spills in the pristine North. The issue has suddenly come alive because climate change is reducing the Arctic ice pack that prevents regular shipping through the passage. Read The Full Story Far From Healing Iraq's Divisions, Saddam's Trial Has Deepened Them 2006-11-05 22:49:15 This is victor’s justice. There is a tiny chance that it will calm Iraq’s turmoil, but much more likely, it will have the opposite effect. The verdict is no surprise. One hundred per cent of Iraqis anticipated it; 80 per cent with a sense of vindication, 20 per cent with fury. The only doubt Sunday was whether the court would condier that the Dujail case was sufficiently strong to warrant the death penalty, or whether it would wait for one of the later charges, where the chain of command from Saddam Hussein to the killings might be more firmly established. But it didn't. Read The Full Story Saddam Hussein Sentenced To Death 2006-11-05 08:04:45 Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death by hanging today after being found guilty of crimes against humanity in ordering the deaths of 148 Shi'ite villagers. If an automatic review of the death sentence fails, the former strongman will hang within 30 days. Judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman ordered bailiffs at the Iraqi High Tribunal to force Saddam to stand before the court as, visibly trembling, the former strongman attempted to shout down the verdict. Read The Full Story
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