http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F80...929638B1522.htm

Sri Lankan truce in tsunami trail

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CED...9C7D10086CA.htm

Yushchenko moves to form cabinet

We Need a Real Iran Policy

By Susan E. Rice

Has President Bush quietly concluded that the United States can live with a nuclear-armed Iran? If this seems preposterous, recall the president's words at his year-end news conference. Asked about U.S. policy toward Iran, he said: "We're relying upon others, because we've sanctioned ourselves out of influence with Iran . . . in other words, we don't have much leverage with the Iranians right now."

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...istans_secrets/

Pakistan's Secrets

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/business...er=MOREOVERNEWS

US Acts to Take Over Faltering Pilots' Pension Plan at United

Editorial: Are We Stingy? Yes

December 30, 2004

The $35 million that the United States plans to spend on
disaster relief for the tsunamis in Asia is a miserly drop
in the bucket.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/opinion/...0df2a0bdb917e4a

Terminating Spyware With Extreme Prejudice

December 30, 2004
By RACHEL DODES

Have adware and spyware commandeered your computer? An
extreme solution: erasing your hard drive and starting
over.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/technolo...23facecdb1b6534

Frank Rich: Washington's New Year War Cry: Party On!

January 2, 2005
By FRANK RICH

As the soldiers in Iraq soldier on, we party on.
Washington's next celebration, a $40 million inauguration,
will be most entertaining.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/arts/02r...ac1f4c1ccb42cbf

Editorial Observer: Legal Breach: The Government's Attorneys and Abu Ghraib

December 30, 2004
By ANDREW ROSENTHAL

The Bush administration's assault on the Geneva Conventions
has caused collateral damage to the legal offices of the
executive branch and the military.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/opinion/...dff02b16bd763f8

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1219inaugural19.html

14 give $250,000 each to Bush Inaugural

http://slate.msn.com/id/2111611/

Rumsfeld's Dubious Deficit Cutting - Pentagon budget cuts will take years to translate into savings

Justice Expands 'Torture' Definition

By R. Jeffrey Smith and Dan Eggen

The Justice Department published a revised and expansive definition late yesterday of acts that constitute torture under domestic and international law, overtly repudiating one of the most criticized policy memorandums drafted during President Bush's first term.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

Average-Wage Earners Fall Behind

By Jonathan Krim and Griff Witte

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Teresa Geerling is living the future of life in the middle of the American workforce.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

An Easier, but Less Deadly, Recipe for Terror

By Joby Warrick

If you can get past the guards and fences, the ingredients for a chemical attack are available off the shelf at a crumbling military base called Shchuchye in south-central Russia. There, stacked like dusty wine bottles on wooden racks, is a collection of 1.9 million artillery shells filled with nerve agents such as VX, an oily yellow liquid so deadly that a single drop on the skin can kill.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

Questions for 2005

By Jim Hoagland

William Faulkner is the grinch of New Year's. Not for him the sentimentality of "out with the old, in with the new." Mississippi's Nobel laureate famously insisted that the past not only is not yet past, it is not even over, as long as we all shall live.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=4242

The Great Crime Spree of 2004
Justin Raimondo

http://www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=4241

Bay of Pigs Redux?
Gordon Prather

http://www.antiwar.com/bock/?articleid=4238

Confused About Democracy
Alan Bock

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/st...255E663,00.html

Legal Flaws Threat to Saddam Trial

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/...2004123030.html

Arab States won't dispatch troops to Iraq under US military command

Many Still in Need as Aid Is Trickling to Stricken Area
By JANE PERLEZ
The injured and the stranded awaited food drops and other
aid as the death toll surged past 120,000.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/internat...31quake.html?th

How Scientists and Victims Watched Helplessly
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
The magnitude of the tsunami that killed tens of thousands
and remade the coasts of the Asian subcontinent was slowly
gauged across the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/internat.../31wave.html?th

THE GREAT DIVIDE
China's 'Haves' Stir the 'Have Nots' to Violence
By JOSEPH KAHN
The number and scale of protests have been rising because
of conflicts between different interest groups in China's
quasi market economy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/internat...31china.html?th

QUOTATION OF THE DAY -

"We are looking at this as the disaster of the decade."
- PATRICK C. JOHNS, the director for security and emergency services for
Catholic Relief Services, speaking of the earthquake and
tsunami destruction in Asia.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/internat...1relief.html?th

Musharraf Says He'll Continue as Army Chief
By SALMAN MASOOD
President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan announced that he
would continue as the army chief despite his pledge to give
up the post by the end of 2004.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/internat...akistan.html?th

Abbas Gets Strong Support From Palestinian Militant Leader
By STEVEN ERLANGER
During a campaign stop in the Jenin refugee camp, Mahmoud
Abbas, the leading candidate for the Palestinian
presidency, was received by Zakariya Zubeidi, one of
Israel's most wanted men.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/internat...mideast.html?th

THE THIRST
From All Corners, a Rush to Get Clean Drinking Water to
Survivors in Stricken Areas
By DENISE GRADY and LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
Tanker trucks, bottled water, pumps, disinfecting kits and
clean jugs are being rushed to regions struck by the
tsunami in hopes of providing safe drinking water.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/internat...31water.html?th

Social Security Underestimates Future Life Spans, Critics
Say
By ROBERT PEAR
Many population experts say that Americans' life expectancy
will increase rapidly in the 21st century, making the
program's financial problems even worse.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/politics/31benefit.html?th

Montana Universities Must Offer Health Insurance to Gay
Employees' Partners
By ADAM LIPTAK
The majority in the Montana Supreme Court's 4-to-3 decision
said the ruling had nothing to do with the rights of gay
couples to marry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/national/31gay.html?th

Price of Bush Inauguration Party Is Too Rich for Some
By GLEN JUSTICE
Attending the entire slate of events during the three days
of festivities could easily top $10,000 in tickets and
other expenses for a fund-raiser bringing a spouse or guest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/politics/31money.html?th

Social Security Underestimates Future Life Spans, Critics
Say
By ROBERT PEAR
Many population experts say that Americans' life expectancy
will increase rapidly in the 21st century, making the
program's financial problems even worse.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/politics/31benefit.html?th

ASSESSMENTS
In Efforts to Organize Aid, Powell and Governor Bush Will
Tour Ravaged Areas
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN and DAVID E. SANGER
The decision to send the secretary of state and Gov. Jeb
Bush of Florida is seen as likely to help defuse hurt
feelings in Asia over President Bush's slow response to the
crisis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/politics/31policy.html?th

Watchdog Groups Criticize G.O.P. Plan on Ethics Complaints
By CARL HULSE
Republican proposals to change the way House ethics
complaints are handled present a serious threat to the
House's ability to police itself, some groups say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/politics/31ethics.html?th

Government Seeks Control of Pilot Fund
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
The government moved to take over the pension fund for
United Airlines' pilots, a step to prevent the airline from
exploiting the federal pension-insurance program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/business/31pension.html?th

China May Be Offered Stake in Yukos Subsidiary
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
A senior Russian official said that China's state oil
company could be offered 20 percent of a giant subsidiary
of the oil company Yukos.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/business...31yukos.html?th

Trial of Ex-Chief of HealthSouth Is Set to Open
By REED ABELSON and MILT FREUDENHEIM
The trial of Richard Scrushy, the former chief executive of
HealthSouth, the chain of rehabilitation hospitals, on
fraud charges opens next week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/business/31scrushy.html?th

TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Real-World New Year's Resolutions
This is the moment when we list our priorities for the new
year, counting off the social challenges the country faces
and the remedies we'd like to see adopted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/opinion/31fri1.html?th

Energizer Bunnies
Americans can be heartened by the fact that the 9/11
commission feels the need to lay bare Congress's dangerous
refusal to reform its ways.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/opinion/31fri2.html?th

Trifling With Tailgating
The proposed stadium on the Far West Side of Manhattan
would offer mostly garage parking and would interfere with
the pastime of tailgating.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/opinion/31fri3.html?th

The Year of Karl Rove
--------------------


December 31 2004

Cartoonists like to depict the departing year as a stooped and bearded old man, inevitably greeting his diapered replacement with a bit of comic advice. This year the old guy would have to be drawn with his arm in a sling and blackened eyes, his "2004" banner patched and torn in a dozen places. Combat has been the theme of the year — from the bloody streets of Iraq to the political and even NBA arenas.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editor...0,6207881.story

U.S. Aid Generous and Stingy
--------------------

It depends on how the numbers are crunched -- total dollars or a slice of the overall economy.

By Sonni Efron
Times Staff Writer

December 31 2004

WASHINGTON — Americans think of themselves as the most generous people on Earth. So to many, it came as a shock to hear that the U.S. response to the southern Asian tsunami this week was considered stingy.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...,0,379722.story

Sumatra's West Coast Devastated
--------------------

Deaths in Remote Areas Push Toll to 125,000; Powell to Tour Region

By Richard C. Paddock
Times Staff Writer

December 31 2004

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — The first survivors from an isolated area of the Sumatran coast were airlifted Thursday to the provincial capital, where they described a horrendous scene in which floodwaters covered a vast swath of land and probably killed more than half of one city's 100,000 people.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,4316477.story

Profits Clothed in Sadness
--------------------

A Southern town benefits by supplying the troops in Iraq, but for many with loved ones at risk, the work has its downside.

By David Streitfeld
Times Staff Writer

December 31 2004

OPP, Ala. — Euna DuBose works in a factory sewing camouflage trousers for the Marines. As the grandmother of three soldiers, this gives her some uneasy moments.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ware...0,7250370.story

Justice Thomas Reports Wealth of Gifts
--------------------

In the last six years he has accepted free items valued at $42,200, the most on the high court.

By Richard A. Serrano and David G. Savage
Times Staff Writers

December 31 2004

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts since joining the high court, including $1,200 worth of tires, valuable historical items and a $5,000 personal check to help pay a relative's education expenses.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...1,0,69310.story

A Camera's View of the Mideast Conflict
--------------------

Rick Loomis' five-part photo essay documenting key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.


December 27 2004

The death of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat last month could profoundly alter the Palestinians' long-running conflict with Israel, which erupted into violence again four years ago.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,7182857.story

Jerusalem
--------------------

This holy city is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.


December 31 2004

Almost nowhere else on Earth do past and present collide with the intensity seen in Jerusalem, where ancient alleyways and parchment-colored walls have borne silent witness to centuries of strife in a city held holy by three faiths. But Jerusalem is more than a shrine to religion and conflict. It is a living metropolis where the sound of sacred chants mingles with the impatient honking of car horns, where satellite dishes dot a skyline defined by soaring bell towers, delicate minarets and simple stone synagogues. In the modern-day struggle between Israel and the Palestinians, Jerusalem is the ultimate prize: Both sides claim it as their capital. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat wanted to be buried in the city, but when Israel objected, Palestinians had to satisfy themselves with a stone-lined tomb in the ruined West Bank compound in Ramallah where Arafat spent the last years of his life. Palestinians say they hope to move the grave to Jerusalem one day.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/f...lines-frontpage

Sharon Deputy Calls for Wider Withdrawals From West Bank
--------------------

Israel should brace for failure in talks with Palestinians, the official says. The government, however, insists that its policy has not changed.

By Ken Ellingwood
Times Staff Writer

December 31 2004

JERUSALEM — Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published Thursday that the government should pull settlers and soldiers from additional areas of the West Bank after the partial withdrawal planned for next year.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...,0,339524.story

Musharraf Defends Role as Army Chief
--------------------

The Pakistani president declares a right to hold both jobs in a television address. His foes vow they will try to oust him.

By Mubashir Zaidi
Special to The Times

December 31 2004

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Pervez Musharraf accused his political opponents of threatening democracy as he explained to the nation Thursday his decision to renege on a promise to step down as army chief.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,1214425.story

Race to Lead OAS Highlights Group's Growing Clout
--------------------

The foreign minister of Mexico, a belated entry, joins Chile's interior minister and a former president of El Salvador as a top contender.

By Chris Kraul
Times Staff Writer

December 31 2004

MEXICO CITY — The race to lead the Organization of American States has narrowed to three candidates, with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez emerging as a somewhat puzzling belated entry.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,1988167.story

Militants Warn Iraqis Not to Take Part in Election
--------------------

Radicals say democracy is not Islamic. All 700 ballot workers in Mosul resign amid threats.

From Associated Press

December 31 2004

BAGHDAD — Three militant groups warned Iraqis on Thursday against voting in the Jan. 30 election, saying that people who participated in the "dirty farce" risked attack. All 700 employees of the electoral commission in the northern city of Mosul reportedly resigned after being threatened.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world