Free Internet Press Newsletter - Wednesday January 24 2007 - (813)

Wednesday January 24 2007 edition
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Iraq Struggles To Finish Oil Law 2007-01-24 02:53:42 Four months ago, about 80 oil company executives and consultants packed an office on St. James's Square in London for a briefing on exploration prospects in Iraq's Kurdish region and a Kurdish draft of an Iraqi national petroleum law. Despite the immense risks of working in Iraq - pipeline explosions, kidnappings, insurgency, political infighting - the oil company executives were lured by the potential rewards, which are immense, too. Outside Saudi Arabia,  no country has proven oil reserves as big as Iraq's. And the oil there is high quality, easy and cheap to produce, and bottled up in reservoirs that many major oil companies were familiar with three decades ago before wars and sanctions drove them out. "Exxon Mobil has more seismic data on Iraq than on Houston real estate," says Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. who used to work for Mobil. "If Exxon had security on the ground, the following day it would have crews there," said Gheit. "And money would be no object." Read The Full Story Bush Urges Congress To Give Iraq Plan A Chance 2007-01-24 02:53:08 President Bush implored lawmakers and the nation last night to give him one more chance to win the war in Iraq and avoid the "nightmare scenario" of defeat while presenting a domestic agenda intended to find common cause with the new Democratic Congress on issues such as energy and immigration. Politically wounded but rhetorically unbowed, Bush gave no ground on his decision to dispatch 21,500 more troops to Iraq despite a bipartisan cascade of criticism. Addressing for the first time a Congress controlled by the other party, Bush challenged Democrats to "show our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory" and warned that the consequences of failure in Iraq "would be grievous and far-reaching." "I respect you and the arguments you've made," Bush told skeptical lawmakers from both parties in his sixth State of the Union address and the fourth since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. "We went into this largely united - in our assumptions and in our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work." Read The Full Story Analysis: The State Of The President - Beleaguered 2007-01-24 02:52:10 President Bush used his State of the Union address last night to try to revive his presidency against what may be the greatest odds any chief executive has faced in a generation. Other presidents have encountered difficult moments and have been dealt electoral setbacks, but few have faced the combination of obstacles that now confront this White House. Bush arrived at the Capitol at his lowest point in public-opinion polls, facing new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and lame-duck status as attention turns rapidly toward a 2008 presidential campaign that will choose his successor. Bush's problems all stem from the same issue. The public has lost confidence in his Iraq war policy, and, in the face of evidence that Americans are looking for a change in course, the president has chosen with his new plan to deploy additional troops to the conflict - a direction the public overwhelmingly opposes. Read The Full Story ABC Newsman Escapes Injury In Iraq Bomb Attack 2007-01-24 02:49:55 ABC newsman Chris Cuomo narrowly escaped harm in Iraq yesterday when a roadside explosion crippled the armored Humvee he was riding in but the shrapnel failed to fully penetrate the vehicle. "I got very, very lucky," Cuomo, 36, said in a telephone interview from Baghdad. He praised "the greatness of the soldiers" involved, saying: "I know if I had been there with any other group of individuals, I would not be able to have this conversation." The harrowing episode unfolded almost one year after another roadside bomb in Iraq badly injured ABC anchor Bob Woodruff, who is still recovering from head wounds. Read The Full Story U.S. Attorney General Gonzales Denies Habeas Corpus 2007-01-23 23:14:24   In one of the most chilling public statements ever made by a U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales questioned whether the U.S. Constitution grants habeas corpus rights of a fair trial to every American. Responding to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18, Gonzales argued that the Constitution doesn’t explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights; it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended. “There is no expressed grant of habeas in the Constitution; there’s a prohibition against taking it away,” Gonzales said. Gonzales’s remark left Specter, the committee’s ranking Republican, stammering. “Wait a minute,” Specter interjected. “The Constitution says you can’t take it away except in case of rebellion or invasion. Doesn’t that mean you have the right of habeas corpus unless there’s a rebellion or invasion?” Gonzales continued, “The Constitution doesn’t say every individual in the United States or citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn’t say that. It simply says the right shall not be suspended” except in cases of rebellion or invasion.” Read The Full Story British Pound Nears The $2 Mark As Dollar Declines 2007-01-23 17:07:46 The British pound leapt to its highest level in 14 years against the dollar Tuesday at over $1.99 with analysts predicting the $2 pound could soon be a reality for British tourists crossing the Atlantic. So-called "carry trades" boosted sterling as investors borrowed at ultra-low interest rates in Japan and put their money in Britain, where interest rates are now at their highest for five years at 5.25% and expected to go higher in the coming months. The relative certainty that interest rates are going up in the U.K., while many experts think they may soon be cut in the U.S., reduced the attraction of the dollar too, allowing the pound to rise to its highest since it crashed out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992. The pound has gained almost 45% against the greenback since troughing at around $1.37 in 2001 and 16% in the past year. Many analysts said the dollar is on a firm downward trajectory on the foreign exchanges as a result of America's huge trade deficit and the recent slowdown in its economy, led by the housing market. Read The Full Story E.U. States Urged To Investigate CIA Rendition Flights 2007-01-23 17:06:10 The European parliament Tuesday urged member states to investigate so-called rendition flights by the CIA, and condemned the U.K. for failing to cooperate properly with its inquiry into the matter. The final report by a European parliament committee said more than 1,200 CIA-operated flights had used European airspace between 2001 and 2005. It accused some European countries of "turning a blind eye" to the flights, a number of which were allegedly used to transport terrorism suspects illegally. The U.S. intelligence agency may also have operated secret jails for terrorism suspects at U.S. military bases around Europe, according to the report, which members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are due to vote on next month. Read The Full Story Study: Since 9/11 Travel To U.S. Drops 17 Percent, Cost $15 Billion In Lost Taxes, 200,000 Lost Jobs 2007-01-23 17:05:07 A 17 percent drop in overseas travelers to the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks has cost the country more than $15 billion in lost taxes and nearly 200,000 jobs, a study showed Tuesday. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has tightened security measures and toughened its visa and entry requirements. As a result, the country was ranked as the world’s most unfriendly to visitors in a survey conducted last year of travelers from 16 nations. “Our economic security is suffering from a drastic decline in overseas travelers and we are missing an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen America’s image around the globe,” said Stevan Porter, president of Intercontinental Hotels Group and chairman of the association’s Discover America Partnership. “We are in the midst of a travel crisis.” Read The Full Story Israeli President Faces Rape Charges 2007-01-23 17:04:37 The Israeli attorney general Tuesday recommended that the country's president, Moshe Katsav, be indicted on charges of rape and abuse of power. Katsav - who has been defying calls to resign or step aside while the case against him progresses - has been waiting more than three months for Menachem Mazuz's recommendations. A final decision on an indictment of the 60-year-old can only be made after a hearing at which he will be able to present his case. The Israeli president - who is the country's ceremonial head of state - has denied the charges, claiming he is the victim of a conspiracy by political enemies. The charges stem from complaints made by several women who worked for him during his tenure as president and, before that, as a cabinet minister. Read The Full Story Prosecutor: Libby Repeatedly Lied To Conceal CIA Leak 2007-01-23 15:22:31 A special prosecutor this morning accused Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff of concocting an elaborate series of lies for federal investigators to conceal that he and Cheney had been actively trying to discredit a powerful critic of the administration's Iraq war policy. In his opening statement on the first day of trial for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald said Libby first tried to put off agents investigating the leak of a CIA officer's identity by saying that reporters had told him about her role. Later, the prosecutor said, Cheney's top aide falsely claimed to have suffered an innocent memory lapse when the probe continued and fellow administration officials and reporters repeatedly contradicted his account. Fitzgerald framed the criminal charges facing Libby against the backdrop of the summer of 2003, when the Bush administration was under fire for the new war in Iraq and the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction that the President claimed made Iraq such a serious threat. Libby, 56, is accused of five felony counts of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of the leak investigation, and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is not charged with the disclosure of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity to the media, but Fitzgerald said Libby's lies made it impossible to determine his intentions when he was discussing Plame with reporters. Read The Full Story Commentary: Trying To Change The Subject 2007-01-23 15:21:58 Intellpuke: The following newsblog is written by Dan Froomkin and appears at washingtonpost.com's website today (Tuesday, January 23, 2007). Mr. Froomkin surveys the news media on what the president, in tonight's State of the Union address, will say and how it will be received and perceived. Mr. Froomkin's column follows: President Bush tonight will try to change the subject - and will fail. That's the consensus of the Washington press corps, which is nearly unanimous today in describing a badly weakened president desperate to boost his standing by talking about anything but Iraq. Mark Silva writes in the Chicago Tribune: "Planning a State of the Union address Tuesday night heavy on health care, energy and education, President Bush will attempt to get beyond a raging debate over the war in Iraq as he faces a new Democratic-controlled Congress for the first time. "Yet, with mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq and a majority of Americans voicing disapproval with the nation's direction, criticism is likely to remain fixed on Bush's war policy while congressional leaders attempt to swiftly discredit some of his new domestic initiatives, such as a tax deduction for health insurance to help more people obtain coverage." Read The Full Story Republican Opposition To Bush's Iraq Plan Grows 2007-01-23 03:30:34 Congressional Republicans pushed back Monday against President Bush's decision to increase troop strength in Iraq, some voicing opposition while others urged holding the administration and Iraqi government more accountable for the war effort. "We've had four other surges since we first went into Iraq," said Sen. Susan Collins, referring to the administration's plan for an additional 21,500 troops. "None of them produced a long-lasting change in the situation on the ground. So I am very skeptical that this surge would produce the desired outcome," said the Maine Republican. In the Senate, Collins joined two Republicans and one Democrat to unveil nonbinding legislation expressing disagreement with Bush's plan. The president should consider "all options and alternatives" involving a smaller force, said the measure. In the House, members of the leadership drafted a series of what they called "strategic benchmarks," and said the White House should submit monthly reports to Congress measuring progress. Read The Full Story Reports: Russia Fulfills Iran Missile Deal 2007-01-23 03:29:48 Russia has fulfilled a contract to sell air defense missiles to Iran, Russian news agencies quoted the head of the country's state-run weapons exporter as saying Tuesday. Russia fulfilled its contract obligations and "completed in full the delivery of Tor M-1 missiles to Iran," ITAR-Tass quoted Rosoboronexport chief Sergei Chemezov as saying in Bangalore, India, where he was on a visit along with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Defense Ministry officials have previously said Moscow would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a US$700 million (euro540 million) contract signed in December 2005, according to Russian media reports. Read The Full Story Public Funding Of Elections In Jeopardy Of Extinction 2007-01-23 03:28:35 The public financing system for presidential campaigns, a post-Watergate initiative hailed for decades as the best way to rid politics of the corrupting influence of money, may have quietly died over the weekend. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, of New York, became the first candidate since the program began in 1976 to forgo public financing for both the primary and the general election because of the spending limits that come with the federal money. By declaring her confidence that she could raise far more than the roughly $150 million the system would provide for the 2008 presidential primaries and general election, Sen. Clinton makes it difficult for other serious candidates to participate in the system without putting themselves at a significant disadvantage. Officials of the Federal Election Commission and advisers to several campaigns say they expect the two candidates who reach Election Day 2008 will raise more than $500 million apiece. Including money raised by other primary candidates, the total spent on the presidential election could easily exceed $1 billion. Read The Full Story Vatican Divided As Cardinal Says Patients Should Have The Right To Die 2007-01-23 03:27:35 The Vatican's rigid opposition to euthanasia has come under fire from within its own ranks after it denied a religious funeral to a paralyzed man who had asked to be removed from a life-saving respirator. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the influential former archbishop of Milan, said on Sunday that terminally ill patients should be given the right to refuse treatments and that the doctors who assist them should be protected by law. On December 20 a doctor in Rome unplugged the respirator which for many years had kept alive Piergiorgio  Welby, who had muscular dystrophy. Read The Full Story	A Million Iraqi Refugees Strain The Hospitality Of Jordan 2007-01-24 02:53:29 Yusif Agoub is proud of the fleshy Masgouf fish from the river Euphrates swimming in a tiled pool in his kitchen and the rough Iraqi bread baking in the wood-fired oven. It feels like Baghdad but the carp are imported from Syria and this is one of the best restaurants in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Agoub used to run the Al-Finjan restaurant in Baghdad, which closed after the city's descent into chaos. He packed up in 2004 and invested here with a partner with Jordanian citizenship. This restaurant, Zad al-Kheir (Generous Fare), is an elegant place buzzing with well-heeled diners arriving in Mercedes and BMWs, many with Iraqi or diplomatic number plates. With his pocket calculator and two mobile phones in front of him, Agoub does not look like a refugee. "I am succeeding with the help of our Jordanian brothers, led by His Majesty the King, who make things easy for us," he says. "We have a good life here. I would like to go home tomorrow, but it's hard to be optimistic." Read The Full Story Democrats' Response To Bush's Speech 2007-01-24 02:52:29 When President Bush concluded his State of the Union address, Democrats did not turn to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, or to the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, to deliver their response. They chose a different face for the party: a former Republican, an ex-marine and a secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration. That Democrat, Senator Jim Webb, of Virginia, who won his seat at least in part through his tenacious opposition to the Iraq war, wore his son’s combat boots on the campaign trail last year. And on Tuesday evening, Webb invoked his own biography, and his family’s three generations of military service, as he declared that today’s soldiers could no longer trust the judgment of their commander in chief. “The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought, nor do the majority of our military, nor does a majority of our Congress,” said Webb. “We need a new direction.” Read The Full Story Through Settlement With Mississippi, State Farm Will Pay 640 Katrina Claims 2007-01-24 02:50:14 In a move that is expected to jump-start rebuilding along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, State Farm Insurance said Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with state officials to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to owners of homes along the coast that were wrecked by Hurricane Katrina. The agreement settles lawsuits filed by 640 homeowners and allows thousands of others to reopen damage claims that State Farm previously closed. Insurance executives said they expected the outlines of the deal to be adopted by other carriers. The agreement does not apply to New Orleans, where the failure of the levees left much of the city underwater for days. Lawyers and insurers say no similar settlement talks are in progress there. Read The Full Story Mass Protest At Editor's Funeral In Turkey 2007-01-24 02:49:21 More than 100,000 people marched in a funeral procession Tuesday for the murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. "We are all Armenians," chanted mourners in an extraordinary outpouring of affection for a journalist who had made enemies by calling the mass killings of Armenians towards the end of the Ottoman empire genocide. Dink was shot dead outside his newspaper Agos on Friday. The murder touched off debate about excessive nationalism, free expression and the ability of Turks of different backgrounds to live together. Throngs of mourners marched along the five-mile route from the Agos offices to an Armenian Orthodox church, virtually shutting the city center. Many carried placards that read: "We are all Hrant Dinks." Thousands leaned out of office windows to applaud and throw flowers. Read The Full Story Full Text Of Bush's State Of The Union Speech 2007-01-23 21:53:26 Madam Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: This rite of custom brings us together at a defining hour - when decisions are hard and courage is tested. We enter the year 2007 with large endeavors under way and others that are ours to begin. In all of this, much is asked of us. We must have the will to face difficult challenges and determined enemies - and the wisdom to face them together. Some in this chamber are new to the House and Senate - and I congratulate the Democratic majority. Congress has changed, but our responsibilities have not. Each of us is guided by our own convictions - and to these we must stay faithful. Yet we are all held to the same standards, and called to serve the same good purposes: To extend this nation's prosperity ... to spend the people's money wisely ... to solve problems, not leave them to future generations ... to guard America against all evil, and to keep faith with those we have sent forth to defend us. We are not the first to come here with government divided and uncertainty in the air. Like many before us, we can work through our differences and achieve big things for the American people. Our citizens don't much care which side of the aisle we sit on - as long as we are willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done. Our job is to make life better for our fellow Americans and help them to build a future of hope and opportunity - and this is the business before us tonight. Read The Full Story U.N. Report: Global Warming 'Very Likely' Caused By Human Activities 2007-01-23 17:07:09 Signals that humans are the main factor behind recent global warming are stronger than ever, an authoritative global scientific report will warn when it is released next week. A draft of the United Nations report by 600 scientists says it is "very likely" that human activities are the main cause of warming in the past 50 years, strengthening a conclusion in their last study in 2001 that the human link was "likely". "It is very likely that ... greenhouse gas increases (from human activities) caused most of the globally average temperature increases since the mid-20th century," one source who had seen the draft quoted it as saying. The 2001 report defined "very likely" as a 90-99 percent probability and "likely" as a 66-90 percent chance. Read The Full Story Man Thrown Off Jet For Bush T-Shirt? 2007-01-23 17:05:31 A man was removed from a Qantas flight to London because he would not take off a T-shirt with a picture of President Bush and the slogan "World's 1 terrorist"> Allen Jasson said Monday he was turned away last Friday at a Qantas departure gate in Melbourne, Australia. Jasson said he wore the shirt unchallenged through official security checks, then approached a Qantas staff member at the gate to draw attention to it because he had been asked to remove it before boarding a domestic flight days earlier. "I raised the issue, but I wanted primarily to thank Qantas for relenting when he told me: 'I'm surprised you got this far, the staff should have stopped you'," said Jasson. Read The Full Story Gunmen Bomb Gaza Resort, Claim Al-Qaeda Ties 2007-01-23 17:04:52 Masked gunmen claiming to be from al-Qaeda stormed a Gaza beach resort Tuesday and blew up a reception hall in an attack aimed at intimidating a strongman allied with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a witness said. No one was hurt because the resort was empty, except for a few guards. The assault threatened to spark a new wave of internal violence, casting a cloud over the next round of talks on forming a Palestinian unity government between Abbas' Fatah and the rival Hamas. About 40 gunmen swarmed into the resort, which was a favorite of Israelis before Palestinian-Israeli violence erupted in 2000. A guard said the attackers hooked boxes of explosives and tanks of fuel to a battery and blew up the main hall, collapsing a huge glass ceiling and knocking down a wall. Other gunmen threw grenades at seaside cabins, destroying furniture and televisions. Resort manager Yousef Sari said the gunmen had a warning for Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan, an Abbas confidant. Dahlan has been rumored to own the resort but he says he does not. Read The Full Story Oklahoma Police Seek 2 Escaped Inmates In Abduction 2007-01-23 17:04:13 Two escaped inmates, including a convicted killer, were suspected of abducting a woman and stealing cars in a crime spree in Oklahoma, authorities said Tuesday. The woman has been freed, but the inmates are still missing after they escaped Monday from the medium-security Great Plains Correctional Center in Hinton by cutting through a recreation yard fence, said Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Authorities believe Charles McDaniels, 35, and Tony Ellison, 23, broke into a Hinton residence, abducted a female resident and drove her and her vehicle into Oklahoma City, where they broke into another home, said Oklahoma City police Sgt. Keith Vance. "They took the first victim into the house, left her there along with the second victim, but stole her (the second woman's) car," he said. Read The Full Story Bush To Propose Reducing Gasoline Consumption In Tonight's Speech 2007-01-23 15:22:14 President Bush intends to propose reducing gasoline consumption in the United States by 20 percent over the next 10 years through increased use of ethanol and tougher fuel economy standards, according to a source familiar with the plan to be announced in tonight's State of the Union address. Three-quarters of the reduction in consumption would come by increasing the mandated use of ethanol as an alternative to petroleum. The mandate would increase from today's 7.5 billion gallons a year to 35 billion gallons annually in 10 years, the source said. The rest of the decreased gasoline consumption would come through additional authority for the administration to change the minimum required fuel economy for vehicles, the source said, but it was not clear precisely which vehicles would be affected or how much change the administration would seek. The energy plan represents the major remaining surprise in a speech that will also advance new and recycled proposals on health care, immigration and education and will allow the president to defend his decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq. Bush will address both houses of Congress and a national television audience from the lectern in the House chamber starting at 9 p.m. EST. Read The Full Story Opposition Protesters Paralyze Lebanon 2007-01-23 15:21:43 The Hezbollah-led opposition cut roads in Beirut and across Lebanon to enforce a strike Tuesday aimed at toppling the Lebanese government, paralyzing the country and embarrassing officials ahead of an international aid conference. Clashes erupted along the country's fault lines, injuring at least 50 people. Fires at scores of barricades sent billowing black smoke against a pale blue sky. Across the capital, only mopeds, some carrying Hezbollah cadres with walkie talkies, navigated the roadblocks along usually clogged streets that were empty. On the airport highway, a half-dozen barricades blocked traffic, forcing some travelers to drag their luggage by foot. Government supporters and foes squared off across the barricades, hurling rocks, sticks and insults in clashes that sometimes lasted hours. The campaign threw Lebanon into even deeper turmoil, marking a dramatic turn in the uncertainty and anxiety that has reigned in the country since last summer's devastating war with Israel. Opposition leaders hailed the success of a strike that, by choice or circumstance, closed shops, shut schools, emptied streets of traffic and cut key roads to the airport and Mediterranean port. Government supporters spoke darkly of a coup d'etat, and some suggested elements within the military might be complicit. Read The Full Story Rifts Cloud Climate Plan In U.S. House 2007-01-23 03:30:17 The House Democrats had not quite finished their "100 hours" agenda when they met in the Capitol basement Thursday morning, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California) was already looking ahead. As her colleagues ate bagels and turkey sausage, she warned that their next challenge would be a lot tougher than popular issues such as student loans and ethics reforms. For her next act, she planned to take on global warming. Democrats, she explained, had to show a sense of urgency about the carbon emissions that threaten the planet, and so she was creating a select committee on energy independence and climate change to communicate that urgency. The new committee, she said, would help the caucus speak with one voice - even if it trampled the turf of existing committees. Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Illinois), a close Pelosi ally, raised his gavel and asked whether anyone had anything else to say, in the same pro forma way that question is posed at weddings. "One, do I hear anything?" he asked. "Two do I hear, 2 1/2 do I hear, three." Emanuel's gavel came down. "The caucus meeting is over." Read The Full Story The Dilemma Of A Deadly Disease: Patients May Be Forcibly Restrained 2007-01-23 03:29:21 South Africa is considering forcibly detaining people who carry a deadly strain of tuberculosis that has already claimed hundreds of lives. The strain threatens to cause a global pandemic, but the planned move pits public protection against human rights. The country's health department says it has discussed with the World Health Organization and South Africa's leading medical organizations the possibility of placing carriers of extreme drug resistant TB, or XDR-TB, under guard in isolation wards until they die, but has yet to reach a decision. Pressure to take action has been growing since a woman diagnosed with the disease discharged herself from a hospital last September and probably spread the infection before she was finally coaxed back when she was threatened with a court order. Read The Full Story 10 Corporations Urging Bush To Take Action On Global Warming 2007-01-23 03:27:55 On the eve of the State of the Union address, the chief executives of 10 major corporations urged President Bush to embrace mandatory ceilings on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in order to stem climate change. Monday White House spokesman Tony Snow said that binding caps on carbon dioxide emissions would not be part of the president's proposals Tuesday night, and a member of the corporate delegation said that last week the White House canceled a meeting with the executives that had been scheduled for Monday morning. "The President has always believed, when it comes to climate change, that the best way to achieve reductions is through innovation," said Snow, "and to figure out ways to come up with energy sources that are going to meet our economy's constant demand for energy, and at the same time, do it in a way that's going to be friendly for the environment." There has been widespread speculation about what Bush might say about climate change tonight. Several legislative proposals have emerged in Congress with different ways for addressing climate change. Read The Full Story ICM Poll: Blair's Unpopularity Hurting His Political Party 2007-01-23 03:27:19 Declining public trust in British Prime Minister Tony Blair is dragging down wider public support for his Labor Party, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published Tuesday. It shows that the Conservatives have secured a lead in policy areas that once helped Blair win three commanding general election victories. The poll underlines the scale of the job facing Gordon Brown if he is to renew support to win a fourth general election. On nine key issues that shape the way people vote, the Labor Party now has a lead in only three. The political map of Britain has been reshaped since 2005, with the Tories now ahead as the party with the best policies in such former Labor stronghold areas as education, tax and public services. Labor leads only on the fight against terrorism, the economy and health. Labor has a one-point lead as the party with the best policy on Britain's National Health Service (NHS) - in contrast to a Guardian/ICM poll in May last year that put the Conservatives narrowly ahead. It can also draw confidence from a narrowing of the gap on some other issues, such as law and order, despite a series of difficulties at the Home Office; but Labor's lead on the economy is slipping - five points ahead of the Conservatives compared with 20 points at the last general election. Read The Full Story
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