Free Internet Press Newsletter - Thursday September 13 2007 - (813)

Thursday September 13 2007 edition
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New Earthquake, 7.8 Magnitude, Rattles Sumatra 2007-09-12 23:45:35 People on the Indonesian island of Sumatra were jolted Thursday by a powerful tremor that prompted the Indonesian government to issue another tsunami warning. The quake came just 12 hours after Indonesia had been rocked by a deadly earthquake that killed at least nine people. Residents in other Indian Ocean nations were also put on notice on Thursday about the possibility of tsunami waves. Most of those watches were later dropped, although a watch remained in effect for Australia. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake stuck about 6:45 a.m. (7:45 p.m. Wednesday ET), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter of Thursday's quake was about 185 kilometers (115 miles) south-southeast of Padang and about 201 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of Bengkulu, at a depth of about 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Thursday quake was about 322 miles (200 miles) to the north of where an 8.4-magnitude quake struck Wednesday evening. Read The Full Story U.S. Troops Who Criticized Iraq War Strategy Killed In Baghdad 2007-09-12 20:13:46 Article claimed Bush's policy was total failure. Deaths reported on eve of presidential address. Two U.S. soldiers who helped write a critique from the front saying America had "failed on every promise" in the war have been killed in Iraq, it was reported Wednesday. Staff Sergeant Yance Gray, 26, and Sergeant Omar Mora, 28, were among a group of seven soldiers serving in Iraq who wrote a piece excoriating America's conduct of the war. The piece was published in the New York Times last month. The men were killed in Baghdad when the cargo truck in which they were riding rolled over, the Associated Press and local news outlets reported Wednesday. The Pentagon had yet to confirm their deaths early Wednesday. The criticism caused a flurry of public debate because of the candor with which the men, all serving in the 82nd Airborne, described the situation in Iraq. Read The Full Story Warner To Seek Warner's U.S. Senate Seat In 2008 ... Huh? Let's See .. Yep, That's Correct 2007-09-12 20:12:31 Former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner will announce in an e-mail to supporters Thursday morning that he plans to run next year for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican John W. Warner. Sources close to the former governor said Warner has told them he will announce his intention to run for the Senate in 2008, which would set the stage for one of the most competitive races in the country next year. The e-mail, which is scheduled to be released about 9 a.m., will be Warner's only public comment Thursday on his future plans, said Monica Dixon, a Warner spokeswoman. Read The Full Story Oil Hits $79.29 Per Barrel, Setting Record 2007-09-12 12:29:24 Oil hit a record high above $79 a barrel on Wednesday, propelled by an unexpectedly large drop in U.S. crude oil stocks that coincided with only a small output increase from OPEC ahead of peak winter demand. U.S. light crude for October delivery set a record high of $79.29 a barrel, beating the previous record of $78.77 reached on August 1. U.S. crude was 70 cents higher at $78.93 a barrel by 11:30 a.m. EDT. London Brent crude was up 57 cents at $76.95. Crude oil stocks in top consumer the United States fell 7.1 million barrels last week to their lowest in eight months, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Analysts had expected a fall of 2.4 million barrels. Read The Full Story Bush's Endorsement Petraeus Withdrawal Plan Draws Fire 2007-09-12 03:27:44 Democrats, some Republicans seek a faster withdrawal of troops. Plans by President Bush to announce a withdrawal of up to 30,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer drew sharp criticism Tuesday from Democratic leaders and a handful of Republicans in Congress, who vowed to try again to force Bush to accept a more dramatic change of policy. A second day of testimony by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker yielded some of the most biting Republican objections since the president announced his troop buildup in January. Several Republicans joined Democrats in saying that Petraeus' proposal to draw down troops through the middle of next summer would result only in force levels equivalent to where they stood before the increase began, about 130,000 troops. After meeting with Bush Tuesday at the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nevada) expressed similar dismay with the Petraeus plan. The general has refused to commit to further reductions until he can assess conditions on the ground next March. Pelosi said she told Bush that he was essentially endorsing a 10-year "open-ended commitment." Reid said the president wants "no change in mission - this is more of the same." Read The Full Story Editorial: Running On Empty 2007-09-12 03:27:04 Intellpuke: The following editorial appears in the New York Times edition for Wednesday, September 12, 2007. The dangers of America’s Faustian bargain with Pakistan’s military dictator are growing more obvious by the day. Gen. Pervez Musharraf was on his way to declaring a state of emergency last month until Washington rightly warned him that such a move could set off a political explosion. This week General Musharraf defied Pakistan’s Supreme Court and blocked the return of his longtime political rival, Nawaz Sharif, and then arrested nearly the entire top leadership of Mr. Sharif’s party. Mr. Sharif is no Washington favorite, and this time the Bush administration’s criticism of the general’s overstepping has been pro forma. The violent street protests in Pakistan, however, are raising new fears of cataclysmic political upheaval in a country that is both armed with nuclear weapons and the fault line in the fight against terrorism. Mr. Sharif, a wealthy industrialist, is certainly no hero. His two stints as prime minister were seriously marred by corruption. And there is particular irony in his self-promotion as an opponent of military rule, since the military first helped put him in office. That is until General Musharraf decided to oust him in a bloodless coup. General Musharraf has spent the eight years since squandering his popular support. Pakistanis - professionals, ordinary people and even some in the military - have made clear that they are now sick of the general’s rule. Most want a return to civilian democracy. That should include elections in which all candidates, even deeply flawed ones like Mr. Sharif, can participate. Read The Full Story Japanese Prime Minister Abe Will Resign 2007-09-12 03:26:15 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Wednesday he will resign, ending a year-old government that has suffered a string of damaging scandals and a humiliating electoral defeat. Abe, whose support rating has fallen to 30 percent, cited the ruling party's defeat in July 29 elections for the upper house of parliament, and said he had instructed party leaders to immediately search for a new premier. "In the present situation it is difficult to push ahead with effective policies that win the support and trust of the public," Abe said in a nationally televised news conference. "I have decided that we need a change in this situation." Abe, 52, a nationalist who entered office as Japan's youngest postwar premier, did not announce a date for his departure from office. Read The Full Story	Al-Qaeda Has Revived, Spread And Is Capable Of A Spectacular Strike 2007-09-12 20:14:19 Stark warning from leading thinktank. Iran could have nuclear bomb by 2009. Islamic countries radicalizing at a rapid pace, says London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. Al-Qaeda has revived, extended its influence, and has the capacity to carry out a spectacular strike similar to the September 11 attacks on America, one of the world's leading security thinktanks warned Wednesday. There is increasing evidence "that 'core' al-Qaeda is proving adaptable and resilient, and has retained an ability to plan and coordinate large-scale attacks in the western word despite the attrition it has suffered", says the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). "The threat from Islamist terrorism remains as high as ever, and looks set to get worse," it adds. "The U.S. and its allies have failed to deal a death-blow to al-Qaeda; the organization's ideology appears to have taken root to such a degree that it will require decades to eradicate," it continues. Read The Full Story OUCH! Oil Futures Hit $80 A Barrel Briefly Before Settling At $79.91 2007-09-12 20:13:18 Intellpuke: There are two articles here dealing with the rising price of oil. The first is by the New York Times and, below that is the Associated Press' article. Both articles were filed from New York City, N.Y. Here's the New York Times' article: The dollar fell to an all-time low against the euro Wednesday and oil prices surged to a record, suggesting that a weaker American economy will be accompanied by higher prices for energy and other imported goods. As of early this afternoon, one euro was trading at $1.391, up from $1.384 on Tuesday evening; the euro is up 5.4 percent against the dollar so far this year and about 1 percent so far this week. Crude oil prices were up 2.2 percent, to $79.91 a barrel, after briefly trading above $80, a day after OPEC said its members would increase production by a modest amount. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its benchmark lending rate when its policy-making committee meets on Tuesday, after a report released last week suggested that the troubled housing market was hurting the broader economy more severely than had been previously thought. Gold prices, which were little changed today, have also surged in recent days as fears of a recession have mounted. Gold futures are up 5.7 percent so far this month, to $714 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.  Read The Full Story In Surprise Move, Putin Dissolves Russian Government 2007-09-12 12:29:38 President Vladimir Putin dismissed his long-serving prime minister Wednesday and nominated little-known Cabinet official Victor Zubkov to replace him in a surprise move that could put Zubkov in the running to replace Putin next year. The nomination of Zubkov, who currently oversees the government's fight against money-laundering, appeared to have caught much of the Russian political elite off-guard. Putin had been expected to announce in December whom he would back to run for president next year - and Russia's two first deputy prime ministers - former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and gas giant Gazprom board chairman Dmitry Medvedev - were widely considered to be the leading contenders. After dismissing Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov - triggering the government's automatic dissolution - Putin explained the shakeup was required to "prepare the country" for forthcoming elections. Legislative elections are to be held Dec. 2, and presidential elections are expected three months later. Read The Full Story 8.2 Earthquake Kills At Least 3 In Indonesia 2007-09-12 12:12:29 At least three people are dead in Sumatra as a result of an 8.2-magnitude earthquake that shook buildings across Indonesia and sparked widespread panic. One person was killed by a fallen tree in Bengkulu province and two died in Padang when the force of the quake damaged the building they were in, said the social services department. The quake in the Indian Ocean shook buildings in Jakarta nearly 640 kilometers (400 miles) away from the epicenter off the coast of Sumatra and sent frightened people into the streets. Closer to the epicenter, residents of Bengkulu province panicked and fled their homes, said John Aglionby, a reporter for the Financial Times, from Jakarta. "The panic and concern is likely to continue for some time," he said. Many buildings along Sumatra's western coast collapsed, he added. The quake struck as the heavily Muslim country prepared for Islam's holy month of Ramadan, set to start in the coming days. Read The Full Story Britain's MI5 And MI6 Sued For First Time Over Torture 2007-09-12 03:27:24 A British man who was held in Guantanamo Bay has begun a civil action against MI5 and MI6 over the tactics that they use to gather intelligence. The suit has been brought by Tarek Dergoul, 29, who claims he was repeatedly tortured while he was held by the U.S., and that British agents who had also questioned him were aware of the mistreatment. He wants a high court ruling that will ban the security services from "benefiting" from the abuse of prisoners being held in detention outside the U.K. If Dergoul wins, it would mean that MI5 and MI6 could not interrogate British nationals while they are being held and tortured abroad. Read The Full Story Carlyle Group Puts Off Sale Of Cable Company 2007-09-12 03:26:41 The Carlyle Group has indefinitely postponed the sale of a cable communications company because bidders did not meet the District private-equity firm's price, sources said Tuesday. Carlyle pulled Insight Communications off the market after bidders that included Time Warner Cable had difficulty getting enough bank financing, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because none of the parties in the negotiations has released any public statements. The failure of Carlyle to attract a sufficient offer for Insight is the latest credit-market-related setback for the private-equity giant, which is hosting its annual investors' meeting this week in the District. Carlyle has about $76 billion under management. Read The Full Story
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