http://www.antiwar.com/jamail/?articleid=4158

US Obstructing Medical Care in Iraq
Dahl Jamail

http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/latimes439.htm

A Cult is Trying to Hijack Our Iran Policy
These fanatics seek to replace Tehran's religious tyranny with their own
Reza Aslan, author of the forthcoming book, "No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam," to be published by Random House

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ffhobblesthefbi

Exodus of staff hobbles FBI

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A...anguage=printer

Immigration Backlog Forces Justice to Shift Staffing

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/513889.html

UTJ likely to get Finance Committee chair in unity government

http://216.26.163.62/2004/ss_israel_12_13.html

FBI investigating Israelis for military industrial espionage

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-12...POE=click-refer

Rate of Guard deaths higher

Subj: Progress Report: A Campaign For Balance At Sinclair
Date: 12/14/2004 8:42:02 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: progress@americanprogressaction.org
To: kearneyjmm@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)




THE PROGRESS REPORT

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin

December 14, 2004

MEDIA
A Campaign For Balance At Sinclair

Media Matters and a coalition of progressive groups have launched Sinclairaction.com, a campaign to protest Sinclair Broadcasting's "continued misuse of public airwaves." The campaign aims to spur action against the company's use of television stations to "systematically promote partisan political interests," especially on a nightly "news and commentary" segment, entitled, "The Point," in which Sinclair vice president Mark Hyman "espouses one-sided, conservative rhetoric without any counterpoint." In a letter to Sinclair chairman David D. Smith, the coalition asks the station to present a counterpoint to Hyman's conservative views. In a separate letter, the coalition asks advertisers to encourage Sinclair to balance the content of its news programming, by offering equal air time for a counterpoint. You can help by contacting Sinclair's advertisers here. For more background on Sinclair, check out these Progress Reports.

HEALTH CARE
Medicaid On The Chopping Block

In 2005, President Bush and his congressional allies appear ready to cut spending on Medicaid, "the nation's largest health care program for the poor, disabled and nursing home residents." Despite increases in poverty which make the program more necessary than ever, and budget shortfalls so severe that many states are already making plans to restrict eligibility and benefits and increase co-payments for 2005, the Bush administration has signaled it will slash Medicaid in order to pay down the deficit. Meanwhile, President Bush is discussing ballooning the deficit by borrowing $2 trillion for a costly Social Security overhaul and he has refused to repeal any part of his first-term tax breaks for the wealthy. The deficit may have been caused by tax breaks for the rich, but the president is making sure it will be the poor that pay.

A PROBLEM IN THE STATES: States across the country are already dealing with massive Medicaid-related shortfalls. Just in the last few months, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has proposed dismantling his state's popular TennCare program, potentially leaving thousands uninsured; Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has initiated a cost-cutting measure, currently delayed, that could erase "up to 65,000 elderly and disabled Mississippians from the Medicaid rolls"; and in Georgia, state administrators are considering moving "more than a million Medicaid recipients from the state's traditional health-care program for the needy into managed care." According to Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, whose own state faces an $800 million Medicaid shortfall this year, Medicaid funding is "the No. 1 issue among governors." State budget directors, surveyed by the National Conference of State Legislatures, agreed, citing the problem of fixing current shortfalls in Medicaid as their "top priority" for 2005.

THE NON-MANDATE FOR CUTTING MEDICAID: A survey by GOP pollster Linda A. DiVall found that "only 7 percent of Americans...think the government is spending too much on Medicare, and only 6 percent say the same about Medicaid." So how do Americans think President Bush should trim the budget deficit? DiVall found that 59 percent "favor reductions in tax cuts for those with over $200,000 a year in taxable income."

THE WAIVER SOLUTION: President Bush's new nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, sponsored a controversial Medicaid waiver program, as Governor of Utah, which the Bush administration has touted as a way for states to deal with budget shortfalls. But the waiver program is far from an adequate solution to the problem: it works by siphoning benefits from the poorest beneficiaries to pay for an extension of a "narrow benefit package" (for instance, Utah's program doesn't include hospital coverage) to some adults not previously eligible for Medicaid. Families USA director Ron Pollack said the program was "like robbing Peter and Paul to pay Phil...It will result in many thousands of low-income people being placed at risk of losing their Medicaid lifeline."

WILL LEAVITT WILT: Bush administration officials said the cuts to Medicaid "might be accomplished through a cap on federal spending," forcing states to adjust by raising state taxes or lowering benefits. New HHS director Mike Leavitt opposed this idea when it was proposed by President Clinton in 1997. At the time, Leavitt told Congress, "states strongly oppose federal spending caps on Medicaid...because they would force states to pick up extra costs." In the 3/13/97 Deseret News, he was quoted as saying he believed it was "critically important the level of Medicaid savings not be set arbitrarily to fill a hole in a deficit-reduction package." Will Leavitt stick to his guns? Hopefully, the new HHS secretary will follow his own advice and stop the Bush administration from making Medicaid a casualty of a "deficit reduction package."

THE PROFIT MARGIN: There is one surefire way to cut Medicaid costs without punishing low-income families: stop handing out "inflated reimbursements" to pharmacists and the drug industry. Congress has found "drug companies, particularly manufacturers of generic prescription drugs, are setting prices artificially high...[which] lets both the drug maker and the pharmacists dispensing the medications make big profits." At a time when the government complains it cannot afford basic health benefits for the nation's poorest citizens, a congressional investigation found that "drug stores paid an average of 22 cents for seven widely prescribed generic medicines, but received 56 cents in reimbursements from Medicaid."

HEALTH CARE
Administration Pushes Dangerous Drug

The U.S. government hid research that showed a drug it planned to use to treat AIDS was severely flawed. In 2002, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) received warnings about a drug called nevirapine which "were serious enough to suspend testing for more than a year, let Uganda's government know of the dangers and prompt the drug's maker to pull its request for permission to use the medicine to protect U.S. newborns." The NIH ignored warnings that research on nevirapine was flawed and "underreported severe reactions including deaths." In the meantime, President Bush decided to spend $500 million to send the drug to Africa. Today, the White House "still remains confident in Bush's $500 million plan to send nevirapine to Africa."

WHAT IS IT?: Nevirapine is an antiretroviral drug, used since the early 1990s to fight AIDS, which is currently marketed in the United States as Viramune. It was being tested in Uganda to "see if a single dose to a mother in labor and one later to the newborn could prevent HIV transmission from an infected, pregnant woman to her baby." The common side effects when used in smaller doses include nausea, fatigue, headache, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal and muscle pain. The side effects in studies in Uganda, which the NIH hid, included death.

WHAT HAPPENED: The U.S. has fought the use of generic AIDS drugs, which are considerably cheaper than brand names, saying they are "unsafe." The NIH instead tested pharmaceutical heavyweight Boehringer Ingelheim's nevirapine in Africa. When the results showed the drug was dangerous and led in some cases to "death," the NIH hid the results. "An audit of the Uganda research," for example, "showed that 14 deaths were not reported in the study database as of early 2002 and that the top two researchers in Uganda acknowledged 'thousands' of bad reactions weren't disclosed." In 2002, the Office of Human Research Protections told Ugandan authorities that NIH research "may have represented a failure to minimize risk to the subjects." The government's research was also sloppy, "so flawed that health officials had to use blood tests after the fact to confirm patients got the medicine." At the same time, Bush announced a plan to spend $500 million on the drug; since then, "hundreds of thousand of doses of the drug have been administered to African mothers and babies."

PUNISHING THE MESSENGER: The NIH hired a top scientist to handle the scandal once it surfaced last year. The expert, Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, was threatened with being fired for bringing attention to the problem. At issue, the AP reports, "Fishbein refused to discipline an employee for reporting safety concerns to the Food and Drug Administration, and another time he was overruled when he objected to restarting problematic research."

A PATTERN OF DECEPTION: Four years ago, the company which produces nevirapine was involved in a scandal with the American Heart Association (AHA). In 2000, an AHA panel recommended a clot-busting drug marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim, for patients with certain kinds of strokes. The advice "was controversial because bleeding, a complication of the treatment in some cases, can be life-threatening." One member of the panel argued against using the dangerous drug and was omitted from the final report. The dissenting opinion was also expunged. It was later discovered that six of the eight panelists had ties to Boehringer Ingelheim or its marketing partner, Genentech, which had given over $11 million to the AHA.






Under the Radar

BUDGET -- THE $230 BILLION WAR: The Wall Street journal reports that "Pentagon officials...will ask the Bush administration for an additional $80 billion in emergency funding to help pay costs of the military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan." That request would push "the total military costs, since the Iraq war began, to well over $230 billion." The additional funding "comes on top of $25 billion that Congress approved in August to help tide the Pentagon over until it could make a larger supplemental request."

MILITARY -- PROGRESSIVE FIGHTERS: The perception among many Americans is that most soldiers hold conservative views and that progressive policies have no effect on the Army. But the military itself operates within an extremely progressive architecture -- it is the largest segment of American society to provide universal health care, guarantee a living wage and offer a free post-secondary education to those who want one. Civic Soldier Forum is a new grassroots organization dedicated to fighting the myth that the army is an anti-progressive institution. Civic Soldier was founded to build a community of progressive service members, help them find like-minded organizations and bridge the gap between progressives in and out of uniform. To help this group in redefining what it truly means to "support the troops," please visit www.SoldierForum.org and become a member today.

CIVIL RIGHTS -- DISCRIMINATION OVERSTATED, SAYS NEW COMMISSION CHAIR: President Bush last week reshuffled the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights after declining to reappoint chair-woman Mary Frances Berry, "who has criticized Mr. Bush's civil rights record and earned a reputation for combativeness in nearly 25 years at the commission." The new chairman, Gerald A. Reynolds, is a conservative African American lawyer from Kansas City and a former employee of two conservative think-tanks in Washington. Reynolds has described affirmative action programs as a "big lie" and believes "traditional civil rights groups...overstate the problem" of racial discrimination in the United States. Not surprisingly, Reynolds also isn't sure he has ever personally experienced discrimination; he told the New York Times that while he "just assume[s] somewhere in my life some knucklehead has looked at me and my brown self and said that they have given me less or denied me an opportunity," the "bottom line is...I am so insensitive that I probably didn't notice." William Taylor of the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights called Reynolds' appointment "the death of the agency as an independent force and a fair fact-finder."

HUMAN RIGHTS -- MORE ABUSE, MORE SECRECY: According to Reuters, "eight detainees have died in American military custody in Afghanistan, more than previously reported." According to the non-profit group, Human Rights Watch, "the Pentagon has launched criminal probes into detainee deaths in Afghanistan only after cases get media attention." Further, "these probes have proceeded slowly and in excessive secrecy." Read Human Rights Watch's letter to Secretary Rumsfeld.

ECONOMY -- BUSINESS WANTS BUSH TO TAKE DEFICIT SERIOUSLY: President Bush touts radical changes to the tax code as the path to America's long term economic success. The business community disagrees. John Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, says he sees tax reform as subordinate to "getting the fiscal deficit down." Bush's promise to cut the deficit in half during his second term "was greeted with skepticism by independent economists, looking at Mr. Bush's first term and at spending commitments, including the war in Iraq, that have been left out of the budgetary arithmetic."

HOMELAND SECURITY -- PORT SECURITY DANGEROUSLY UNDERFUNDED: A port and shipping advocacy group on Monday warned that "ports are vulnerable and must 'scrape the bottom of the barrel' for help" after conservatives in Congress "authorized only about a third of the $400 million next year that ports believed was 'absolutely the minimum necessary to protect their facilities from a terrorist attack.'" As American Progress detailed in September, Congress rejected four provisions to the 2005 Homeland Security spending bill that would have allocated more than $1.2 billion to maritime security. Reinforcing the findings of the September 11 Commission, which said in its final report that "over 90 percent of the nation's $5.3 billion annual investment in the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) goes to aviation -- to fight the last war," the advocacy group's director said the Bush administration had "overreacted on aviation security funding" to the detriment of seaports. ABC News has twice conducted secret tests of American port security over the past two years, successfully smuggling 15 pounds of "harmless, depleted" uranium into the country both times.



DON'T MISS

DAILY TALKING POINTS: Troops Pay Price For Administration's Incompetence.

MEDIA: Progressive coalition launches grassroots campaign against Sinclair Media's right-wing agenda.

SOCIAL SECURITY: Right-wing plans include deep benefit cuts.

HISTORY: How health care reform was brought down in the 1990s.


DAILY GRILL

"The Republican majority on Capitol Hill looks ready to join President Bush in putting a lid on federal Medicaid spending, according to members of Congress and state officials."

-- Sacramento Bee, 12/11/04

VERSUS

"States strongly oppose federal spending caps on Medicaid...because they would force states to pick up extra costs."

-- HHS Nominee (then Utah Gov.) Mike Leavitt, quoted in the Deseret News, 3/13/97


DAILY OUTRAGE

In Monday's New York Times, Missouri State Rep. Cynthia Davis ® said people feel "liberals have taken our country somewhere we don't want to go" just like "when the hijackers took over those four planes on Sept. 11 and took people to a place where they didn't want to go."

Iraq War Crime Trials Could Begin Next Week

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0CD:2F72C9D

Interim PM Allawi does not specify who will be going on trial; it has
not been disclosed when Saddam Hussein himself might face trial Iraq's
interim government says war crime trials of members of the former
regime of Saddam Hussein could begin as early as next week. In the
meantime, at least two people were killed and as many as 13 wounded
early Tuesday when, for the second time in as many days, a suicide car
bomber attacked a security checkpoint in Baghdad. And, a group of
celebrities, accompanied by the head of the Pentagon, arrived in
Baghdad to help boost morale among U.S. troops in Iraq.

Iyad AllawiThe interim prime minister of Iraq, Iyad Allawi, told a
gathering of the interim national assembly Tuesday that trials of
suspected war criminals could begin in Iraq as early as next week. If
so, senior government officials in Iraq say those trials would likely
begin with war council members of the former regime of Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Allawi did not specify who would be going on trial and it has not
been disclosed when Saddam Hussein himself might face trial.

The prime minister also said Iraqi security forces had killed a senior
aide to wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and took into custody
two other wanted militants. Mr. al-Zarqawi is the most wanted man in
Iraq. He is believed to be behind numerous car bombings, kidnappings
and killings of hostages.

Mr. Allawi made his comments just hours following a second car bombing
in as many days outside the heavily protected Green Zone in central
Baghdad.

Twenty-four hours after a suicide bomber struck Monday at an entrance
to the Green Zone, another suicide bomber blew himself up near the
same location. An Iraqi National Guard recruiting station is also
located in the area.

The area is the most heavily protected and fortified section of
Baghdad, where several embassies and the offices of the interim
government are located. It has become a favorite target of insurgents
over the past several months, attacking it with car bombs, mortars and
rockets.

Mortar attack in BaghdadAttacks in Baghdad have become more deadly
ever since the U.S.-led invasion last month of the city of Falljuah,
west of Baghdad. That assault was intended to root out thousands of
insurgents. Since then, interim government officials have said the
insurgents have spread throughout Iraq.

Military and interim government officials say they expect the
insurgency to become more violent as the country prepares for national
elections to be held next month.

Meanwhile, Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Richard
Myers, arrived in Baghdad for a visit intended to boost morale among
the troops. He was accompanied by actor Robin Williams, former
American National Football League quarterback John Elway and
sportscaster Leeann Tweeden.

General Myers said U.S. troop levels in Iraq will rise to 150,000 by
the scheduled January 30 elections. He said events on the ground in
Iraq would determine whether the troop level would be scaled back
afterwards.

Iraqi voters will go to the polls to elect a 275-seat interim national
assembly, that will be responsible for writing a new constitution.
They will decide late next summer whether to approve that
constitution. Elections for a permanent national assembly are expected
by the end of next year.

Afghan Forces Capture Key Taleban Leader

[http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0CC:2F72C9D

Security sources say Mullah Naqibullah was carrying satellite phone
and documents, which could lead to further arrests Afghanistan
security forces have captured an alleged senior leader of
anti-government forces in the southern province of Kandahar. The
suspect is believed responsible for a string of deadly terror attacks
during the past several years.

Afghan officials said they have arrested Mullah Naqibullah Khan, an
alleged leader of insurgents loyal to Afghanistan's former Taleban
regime.

Security sources say Mullah Naqibullah, arrested with one of his
deputies, was also carrying a satellite phone and documents, which
could lead to further arrests.

Kandahar spokesman Khalid Pashtoon says the insurgents that Mullah
Naqibullah allegedly commanded posed a major threat to the province,
and security will likely improve now that their leader is in custody.

"About three or four-months ago, they ambushed one of the local
government vehicles, and they killed all the people inside the
vehicle," said Mr. Pashtoon. "And they have conducted a lot of
operations on the coalition forces."

Mullah Naqibullah previously served as the head of security for the
Taleban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, who remains at large.

But Mr. Pashtoon says the two men have probably not seen each other
since Afghan and U.S. forces overthrew the Taleban in 2001. As a
result, the latest arrest is unlikely to lead to the capture of Mullah
Omar, who Mr. Pashtoon says is probably no longer in Afghanistan.

Still, he adds, the capture of Mullah Naqibullah represents a major
success for Afghanistan's new government.

"The government was chasing this guy and looking for this guy for the
last one year, and finally we got him, and we are very happy about
that," said Mr. Pashtoon.

Taleban loyalists have been staging hit-and-run attacks across
Afghanistan, though the number and scope of such attacks have
decreased from their peak in mid-2003.

Iraq Urges UN to Boost Support for Elections

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0CE:2F72C9D

Appeal for more help in organizing next month's elections laced
with biting criticism of world body's limited role in Iraq Iraq
has appealed to the United Nations for more help in organizing next
month's elections. The appeal was laced with biting criticism of the
world body's limited role in Iraq.

Briefing the Security Council Monday, U.N. special envoy to Iraq
Ashraf Qazi said there is no alternative to successful elections in
Iraq. But he suggested that violence in parts of the country would
remain an overriding concern as the U.N. evaluates its role in
preparations for the January 30 vote.

"Daily reports of insurgent, terrorist and criminal activity and of
military and security operations, graphically illustrate the fragility
of the situation," he said.

Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie, however, countered Mr. Qazi's
concern, saying much of the country was relatively peaceful. In a
scathing critique of the limited U.N. role, the Iraqi envoy noted that
much of the world body's assistance to his country is being provided
by long-distance.

"The preferred mode of interaction with Iraqi officials seems too
often to be videoconferencing or telephone calls from outside Iraq, or
indeed through letters which inevitably find their way into the
press," he said. "We believe that, not only elections preparations but
vital humanitarian and developmental work can be greatly enhanced
through direct contacts in Iraq."

The Security Council, in a resolution adopted earlier this year,
called for the United Nations to take a leading role in rebuilding
Iraq "as circumstances permit." But Secretary-General Kofi Annan has
repeatedly pointed to security concerns in limiting the U.N. presence.

The current maximum is 59 foreigners, including fewer than 20 election
workers.

In his comments to the Security Council Monday, Iraqi ambassador
Sumaidaie suggested that Secretary-General Annan is using the phrase
"as circumstances permit" as as a mantra to justify what he called an
"insufficient" U.N. presence in Iraq.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard rejected the Iraqi ambassador's charge.

"The 'as circumstances permit' language was something the
secretary-general insisted that the Security Council include in the
resolution to give him the freedom to assess the security situation
and to commit international staff to Iraq only as the security
situation permits, and he continues to insist on that," he said. "And
I don't think in fairness we can say that we're hiding behind it."

The Iraqi ambassador Monday suggested more U.N. staff would be
dispatched to Baghdad shortly, but declined to be more specific.

U.N. diplomats noted, however, that Secretary-General Kofi Annan would
be going to Washington later this week for talks on Iraq with
Secretary of State Colin Powell and his designated successor
Condoleeza Rice. Increasing the U.N. presence is expected to be at the
top of the agenda.

At Least 2 Dead in Latest Baghdad Suicide Bombing

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0D3:2F72C9D

US military says the attack occurred at the same checkpoint where at
least nine Iraqis were killed in a suicide car bombing Monday Another
suicide car bomber has struck at an entrance to Baghdad's heavily
guarded Green Zone, a day after nine Iraqis were killed in an attack
at the same checkpoint.

Hospital officials say at least two people were killed in Tuesday's
attack, and a dozen others were wounded.

Meanwhile, to the north, in Mosul, the U.S. military says six bodies
were found Tuesday, all killed execution-style with a bullet to the
head. Monday, hospital officials said they had received the bodies of
eight other men, all killed in the same way.

And in Fallujah, more clashes have been reported in the city that was
the target of last month's massive U.S.-led offensive against
insurgents.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Mediators Struggle To Keep Darfur Talks Going

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0C3:2F72C9D

Talks were scheduled to resume at Abuja's International Conference
Center, but instead mediators went to nearby hotel where most of
delegates are staying African Union mediators are struggling to keep
alive Sudan's Darfur peace talks, which are taking place in Nigeria.
Sudanese rebels are refusing to negotiate until government attacks in
the Darfur region stop.

The talks were scheduled to resume at Abuja's International Conference
Center, but instead mediators went to a nearby hotel where most of the
delegates are staying.

The African Union spokesman Assane Ba said consultations were ongoing
so the delegates could return to the conference hall and talks could
resume. Late Monday, after rebels announced to reporters they were
quitting the talks, Mr. Ba expressed frustration.

"We do not want the process to be driven by the media. We are helping
to bring peace in Darfur so the AU. is helping, it is committed. The
government of Nigeria is committed also to bring peace. Everybody, the
international community, is supporting what the AU is doing," stated
Mr. Ba. "I am telling you the international community has put a lot of
interest in this thing, the resources as well as time. But those
things are not limitless, the resources as well as the time, people
have to know that. We are not here to waste time, we are here to find
solution to this Darfur."

The spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army, Bahar Ibrahim, says the
two rebel groups will not continue in this fourth round of
negotiations unless government attacks in Darfur are stopped.

"The positions of the two movements are the same. As the situation on
the ground in Darfur is deteriorating we have no other alternative
rather than to come to this conclusion in order to put the Sudan
government in question and to stop the all-over operations, military,
activities that are going on in Darfur," said Mr. Ibrahim. "So these
are the stated positions of the two movements and we will see the
reaction of the other party."

Government negotiators told VOA. there is no way army troops will pull
back since they say soldiers are clearing out roads of what they call
lawless elements to protect civilians.

The African Union mediators have said rebels, government troops, and
pro-government militias are all violating the existing cease-fire and
that the fighting must stop immediately.

Two aid workers were killed in the recent violence.

Mediators are still hoping to reach a comprehensive peace deal by late
next week to end Darfur's 22-month conflict. It has killed tens of
thousands of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their
villages.

Egypt, Israel Ink Trade Deal with US

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0CA:2F72C9D

Egypt says the deal could create 250,000 jobs in 2005, especially in
the clothing and textile industry, which is the country's
number-one export arena Israel, Egypt, and the United States signed a
trade agreement that a senior U.S. official called the most
significant trade pact between Egypt and Israel in the past 20 years.

Israel hailed the agreement as a potential economic boon that could
bring $150 million to Israel in its first year.

Egypt says the deal could create 250,000 jobs in 2005, especially in
the clothing and textile industry, which is the country's number-one
export arena.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick called it, "The most
significant agreement between Israel and Egypt in 20 years." The
agreement signed in Cairo allows Egypt to export goods to the United
States duty-free, as long as a minimum percentage of the product is
made in cooperation with Israeli companies. It establishes so-called
Qualified Industrial Zones in parts of Cairo, Alexandria, and Port
Said where the goods are to be made.

The treaty was signed by Mr. Zoellick, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, and Egypt's Foreign Trade Minister Rachid Mohammed
Rachid.

Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement in 1979, but ties are
anything but close. Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel four-years
ago when the Palestinian uprising began and no one is expecting a new
envoy to be sent any time soon.

Israel's ambassador to Egypt, Eli Shaked, told Israel Radio the trade
pact is a good sign, but cautioned about raising expectations too high
about what it will mean to ties between the countries.

"We have to wait for awhile in order to see there are no obstacles and
that bilateral relations are supported by a regional good atmosphere,"
he said.

The agreement does have its detractors, especially by those in Egypt
who oppose any sort of relations with Israel, as well as, those who
fear it gives too much economic control to Israel. They dismiss
projected benefits as far fetched.

Supporters point out that similar zones set up in Jordan have seen
their exports to the United States rise to $800 million a year in just
five years. The Jordanian deal also created 40,000 jobs in an economy
that is much smaller than Egypt's.

Preliminary Results Indicate Decisive Win for Ruling Party in
Mozambique

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0C6:2F72C9D

Armando Guebuza receives about 70 percent of vote in six declared
provinces; main opposition party  already crying foul In
Mozambique's presidential election, the ruling Frelimo Party candidate
has won all six provinces where official results have been declared,
with the results in the four other provinces still pending. But, the
main opposition party, Renamo, is already crying foul.

Armando Guebuza casts voteMozambique's National Elections Commission
says Frelimo's presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza received about
70 percent of the vote in the six declared provinces in the central
and southern part of the country. These provinces are traditional
strongholds of Frelimo.

The opposition Renamo Party draws its support primarily from the
northern provinces, all of which remain undeclared. The party's
candidate, Afonso Dhlakama, is expected to do much better in those
areas.

But Mr. Dhlakama says the election was riddled with fraud, and warned
that his party will demand a rerun of the voting. Several other
opposition parties have joined in the demand for a new election.

Joachim Chissano He says incumbent President Joachim Chissano should
remain in office for a further six months to allow this. The Elections
Commission has said this would be a violation of the constitution.

International observers described the election as largely free and
fair. But they have expressed concern at the delay in announcing the
results of the voting, which was held on the first two days of this
month.

The Commission is required to declare the final result by this Friday,
although it can do so earlier. Commission officials say logistical
problems and heavy rains have delayed results from remote rural areas.

Zimbabwe Opposition Releases Annual Report on Political Violence

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0D0:2F72C9D

Movement for Democratic Change violence blames violence on ruling
ZANU-PF party Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change has
published its charges of political violence for 2004, blaming it on
the ruling ZANU-PF party. ZANU-PF is denying the claims.

The Movement for Democratic Change says seven of its members of
parliament, 53 party officials, and hundreds of activists were
subjected to arrest, intimidation, beatings or torture in 2004. The
15-page report says violence began three days into the year.

The report says every second day during January, somebody seen as
connected with the MDC was beaten up, knocked unconscious, raped, had
their homes destroyed or their children attacked and abducted. Two
died that month.

The report says the pace of violence picked up again before parliament
by-elections.

The rate of attacks decreased slightly after the MDC announced at the
end of August it would take part in no more elections.

Most of the violence described by the report was gang attacks,
destruction of poor people's property, arrests, rape, torture, and
beatings. Most of the victims in the report are named, and the MDC
also names many of those it says were the perpetrators.

Many of the incidents appeared in monthly reports by the independent
group of researchers from the Human Rights Forum.

Lawyer Says Saddam is on Hunger Strike, Despite US Denial

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=A6E0C5:2F72C9D

French lawyer Emmanuel Ludot says he wants the International Red Cross
to check on Saddam's condition

Saddam HusseinOne of Saddam Hussein's lawyers says the former Iraqi
leader is refusing food, despite reports to the contrary. French
lawyer Emmanuel Ludot says he wants the International Red Cross to
check on Saddam's condition.

Lawyer Emmanuel Ludot says he heard from a colleague in Iraq that
Saddam Hussein is on a hunger strike.According to his sources in Iraq,
Mr. Ludot says, Saddam stopped eating three days ago, to protest the
conditions of his detention, and the fact he cannot meet his family or
his lawyers. Mr. Ludot says he will meet with Red Cross officials in
Geneva on Wednesday to discuss the situation. He wants the
international agency to visit Saddam and several other imprisoned
members of his regime in Iraq, and publish a report on their
detention.

The Red Cross officials visit Saddam and the other detainees
regularly. Its last visit was in November, when, according to Mr.
Ludot the officials reported Saddam was in good health.

The U.S. military denies Saddam is on a hunger strike. It says eight
colleagues who did stop eating have now ended their protests.

The conflicting assertions come a year after U.S. soldiers discovered
Iraq's former leader in an underground hiding spot, near his hometown
of Tikrit. Saddam remains in prison in an undisclosed location, where
he reportedly gardens and writes poetry. It is not clear when he will
be brought to trial.

Mr. Ludot is one of about 20 lawyers from around the world, who are
reportedly representing Saddam. None of them is known to have met with
the former Iraqi leader, including Mr. Ludot.

Mr. Ludot says he will raise the issue of meeting with Saddam, along
with the hunger strike reports, when he meets with Red Cross officials
this week.

France's Highest Civil Court Bans Hezbollah TV Broadcasts 

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It is unclear how effectively the ban can be enforced France's highest
judicial authority has banned the broadcast of a Lebanese satellite
channel because of what it calls its militant and anti-Semitic
statements. It is unclear how effectively the ban can be enforced.

Only a month after Al-Manar was allowed to air in France, the French
Council of State ruled late Monday to ban the Lebanese-based satellite
channel. It gave Al-Manar's Paris-based distributor, Eutelsat, 48
hours to comply, or face a $6600 daily fine until it did.

Eutelsat broadcasts Al-Manar across Europe, as part of a package of TV
channels offered by the Saudi-based Arabsat. A Eutelsat spokeswoman
reached by VOA Monday night said the company would comply with the
state council's decision.

Al-Manar is linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and its
programs include videos glorifying suicide bombers, and anti-Semitic
commentaries.

Last month, the French broadcast regulator, CSA, granted Al-Manar a
license on the condition that it respect French laws against inciting
racial or religious violence. Then Al-Manar broadcast a commentary
blaming Jews for spreading HIV/AIDS. So last Tuesday, the CSA
recommended to the French state council that it ban Eutelsat from
distributing Al-Manar.

Al-Manar's broadcasts have also sparked outrage on the part of
anti-discrimination activists and members of France's Jewish
community.

Emmanuel Weintraub, a senior member of France's Representative Jewish
Council, said the French council's decision Monday was a step forward.

"If what the Conseil d'Etat is going to be applied, and it has to be
applied by Eutelsat, Eutelsat being the main operator in France, this
will be a solution of 90 percent of the problem," he said.

But Mr. Weintraub and others have doubts about how effective the
French ban will be. Al-Manar officials claim viewers can still access
the channel through alternative satellites. France's state council
also says it might reconsider the ban if Al-Manar eventually complies
with French anti-hate laws.

Thousands Still in Need of Food Aid in Zimbabwe

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Food distribution stopped for many after government declared Zimbabwe
had enough food and did not need assistance The World Food Program
continues to feed hundreds of thousands of people in Zimbabwe despite
government claims that there is enough food for everyone.

Earlier this year the World Food Program distributed food aid to close
to half of the 130,000 people of Mudzi district in northeastern
Zimbabwe.

Distribution of WFP food aidFood distribution stopped for many after
the government declared that Zimbabwe has enough food and will not
need assistance. That claim is disputed by the donor agencies and even
by a parliamentary committee made up of members of the ruling ZANU PF
and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

The WFP is still helping to feed those considered vulnerable despite
government orders to stop food distribution.

Among those the WFP considers at risk are infants and school children
and those infected by HIV and AIDS.

One of those who receives food aid is 19-year-old orphan Elizabeth
Shoko who lives with her grandmother. She said stopping food aid would
make life very difficult for them.

"f it stops it kills us, we do not have anybody to give us food again
so if they stop we are going to suffer a lot," she said.

It is the rainy season in Zimbabwe and people in Mudzi are hoping for
good rains so they can harvest enough to feed themselves and maybe
even have crops to sell.

For most of the district's people agricultural production is the only
source of income. Bad harvests over the last four years has plunged
many of them into poverty.

Rudo Katsande says while the government has disbursed some free seed
corn to some families, it is not enough. She says if the farmers do
not get any fertilizer they won't harvest much.

Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic troubles since
independence 24 years ago. Its agriculture, once the source of foreign
income, has collapsed after several years of drought.

But donor agencies and analysts however also blame the drop in
production on the country's chaotic land reform program. Under that
program, white commercial farms have been expropriated and the land,
which was to be distributed to landless blacks, ended up mostly in the
hands of President Robert Mugabe's top officials.

Pinochet Fit For Trial, House Arrest Order Suspended

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Retired General Augusto Pinochet was charged with kidnapping opponents
and killing one of them during his military rule from 1973 to 1990

Retired General Augusto Pinochet has been charged with killing and
kidnapping opponents during his 17-year military rule and briefly
placed under house arrest on Monday.

Pablo Rodriguez Grez, lead lawyer for General Pinochet, immediately
appealed the house arrest ruling Monday. Hours later an appeals court
accepted the defense arguments and suspended the arrest order against
Mr. Pinochet. A ruling on that appeal is expected in one to two days.

The case is now likely to go before the Chilean Supreme Court for a
final ruling.

Judge Juan Guzman charged General Pinochet in connection with the
murder of one person and the kidnapping of nine others during what was
known as "Operation Condor," a plan by a number of South American
dictatorships to execute and kidnap hundreds of left-wing activists in
the 1970s.

Court documents state that "Operation Condor" was largely organized by
the DINA secret police, working under the direct control of General
Pinochet, then commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Monday's decision reverses earlier court decisions, both in Chile and
Britain, which had determined that a series of minor strokes left the
former dictator mentally incapacitated and unable to stand trial.

Judge Guzman, told reporters that General Pinochet demonstrated
"extraordinary subtlety" and coherent mental capacity during a 2003
interview given to WLDP, Channel 22, a Miami TV station.

That interview, which the former leader called "the last interview I
will give in my life," shows an aged, but coherent man describing his
place in history. General Pinochet told the interviewer in his words,
"I harbor no hatred or rancor. I am good. I feel like an angel." He
said: "I have kindness. Whenever I can do something to help someone, I
do it, to help anyone."

This is the second time Judge Guzman has placed General Pinochet under
house arrest. In 2001, the former Chilean leader was under house
arrest for 42 days. In Britain, General Pinochet was held for 503
days, after being arrested during a private visit to London in October
1998.

Earlier this month, the Chilean Supreme Court stripped General
Pinochet of immunity from prosecution for a 1974 car bombing attack
against Carlos Pratts, a Chilean army general, who staunchly opposed
General Pinochet and the 1973 military coup, which led to the
overthrow and death of President Salvador Allende.

Government reports estimate that 31 hundred Chileans were murdered and
28 thousand tortured during General Pinochet's 17-year dictatorship.

Southeast Asia Braces for Job Losses as Textile Quotas End

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There are fears that without quotas, large garment exporters in China
and India will expand, forcing factories out of business in smaller
countries An agreement that for more than 30 years allowed wealthy
countries to limit textile imports, particularly from developing
nations, expires in 2005. Free trade advocates hail the end of the
national textile quotas as a step toward a free world market. But
there are fears that without quotas, large garment exporters in China
and India will expand, forcing factories out of business in smaller
countries.

Across Southeast Asia, millions of workers spend their days in factory
sewing lines like this one, producing clothing for export to Europe
and the United States.

The workers are mainly women and unskilled rural residents, and they
generate billions of dollars in earnings for governments in the
region.

But the industry is about to undergo a major shake-up. Rules that
allow wealthy nations to place quotas on textile imports from poor
countries expire at the start of the new year.

An official with the Thailand Garment Manufacturers Association,
Suchart Chantaranakaracha, says that means buyers will be able to
purchase from just one or two countries, instead of using factories in
several nations.

"In the past, buyers have diversified because of the quota issue. But
now since quota is not an issue, the buyers are going to short-list,"
he said.

He says buyers will be able to work closely with a few suppliers to
produce better quality garments at lower prices. This is expected to
favor large companies in China and India. The World Bank estimates
that China's share of the world textile market will triple to 45
percent within a few years.

An economics professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, Somphob
Manarangsan, says hardest-hit will be factories producing garments for
less expensive markets, such as discount stores. Profits for that
market already are extremely thin.

"For the lower market, I think that they are going to face tougher and
fiercer competition and become much more difficult to survive within
the existing situation," he added.

The garment industry is a major source of jobs, export earnings and
tax revenue for Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia. In Cambodia
and Laos, it provides up to 90 percent of export earnings.

The Nike sports brand buys from factories in several countries. The
head of Nike in Vietnam, Amanda Tucker, predicts there will be an
adjustment after quotas expire, but says her company will continue to
diversify its sources.

"Countries that have really not invested in their industries may find
that they're losing to players such as China that have economies of
scale," she noted. "But it doesn't necessarily mean that a brand such
as Nike would all of a sudden concentrate everything in one source."

Vietnam faces a particular challenge. Because it is not a member of
the World Trade Organization, its exports will remain restricted by
quotas.

Vietnam hopes to join the WTO by the end of next year, but some
factory operators worry they may not survive until then.

The less developed economies of Cambodia and Laos face other
challenges.

They must import the cloth needed to make garments. And they have high
utility and transportation costs, because of their poor
infrastructure. In many countries, official corruption also inflates
production costs.

Producers know competition will intensify next year and are adopting
new strategies to address it. The general manager of a factory in
Vietnam, Y.Y. Chen, plans to raise productivity by investing in new
equipment, re-training employees and adopting creative management
techniques.

"It depends a lot on how you can plan ahead, or transfer the orders to
another subsidiary country," he said.

Cambodia is lobbying the U.S. government to suspend import tariffs on
its garments to help it survive the transition.

Mr. Suchart at the Thai garment makers association says Thailand's
industry will group factories that make cloth and those that make
garments together to streamline production.

The Thai government also has introduced a campaign to establish Thai
brand names in the high-fashion market.

"At the end of the day, by improving productivity, by giving better
services, and by giving the buyer better goods and novelty items, I
believe Thailand can compete with China," he added.

Nevertheless, the prospect of a major contraction in the industry
costing hundreds of thousands of jobs worries union leaders and social
workers. They say any economic downturn will hurt the most vulnerable
groups in Southeast Asia and fear that a prolonged crisis in the
poorest countries could lead to social and political unrest.

US to Reach Out to Muslims Under New Law Reforming Intelligence System

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US lawmakers hope new legislation will increase cooperation with other
countries in war on terrorism, and help combat extremism in Muslim
world Legislation approved by the U.S. Congress contains hundreds of
pages dealing with the reorganization of the U.S. intelligence system,
and improving domestic security. But missing from many headlines are
steps U.S. lawmakers hope will increase cooperation with other
countries in the war on terrorism, and help combat extremism in the
Muslim world.

Among the many sections and subsections of the September 11th
Recommendations Implementation Act are steps to improve the way the
United States interacts with key countries in the war on terrorism:
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has faced an upsurge in terrorist attacks blamed on
al-Qaida-linked groups and individuals.

In passing intelligence reform legislation, Congress calls on
President Bush to come up with a strategy for future relations with
the kingdom.

This includes a new framework for cooperation in the war on terrorism
with specific reference to financing of terrorists, and an examination
of steps to, in the words of the legislation, reverse the trend toward
extremism in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries in the Middle
East.

Also mandated: a framework for promoting greater tolerance and respect
for cultural diversity in Saudi Arabia and the region.

Congress hopes to have a similar impact in Pakistan, where it says
U.S. policy should try to ensure a long-term policy of moderation,
including reforms in the education system.

The United States, it says, should support with financial and other
aid, efforts to fight extremism and halt the spread of weapons of mass
destruction.

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff says the September 11th Act
contains steps he supported against nuclear non-proliferation.

"[There are provisions that call for] the establishment of a national
counter-proliferation center that can attack this problem of the
proliferation of nuclear material as well as chemical and biological
material," he said. "It will help oversee operational efforts to
interdict this material, and also recommended changes in the
international legal structure that will better help us deal with the
[Pakistani nuclear scientist] A.Q. Khan's of the world, to deal with
Iran, to deal with North Korea, and attack this very real danger to
our country."

One of the longest sections deals with Afghanistan and efforts to
build democracy while fighting terrorists and opium cultivation.

Similar to Saudi Arabia, the legislation says President Bush should
present in not later than six months, a five-year strategy addressing
a range of goals from security and economic development to the rule of
law.

He is also directed to continue working to ensure progress is not
undermined by warlords and narcotics trafficking, and to urge NATO and
other countries to increase military contributions for an extended
period of time.

Extensive language on narcotics reflects frustration in Congress that
the U.S. military has not been as engaged as many had hoped in
eradicating poppy cultivation. Lawmakers required a report from
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on progress within four months.

The legislation also addresses another of the recommendations of the
September 11 Commission, namely improving U.S. public diplomacy to
help fight spread of terrorism and promote democracy.

It calls for more focused planning for, and an annual assessment of
the impact of such things as foreign broadcasts, on specific target
audiences.

Also, more emphasis on foreign language training for U.S. diplomats,
more money for direct youth and other exchanges with Muslim countries,
and aid to American-sponsored elementary and secondary schools in the
Muslim world.

The September 11th Act also seeks to make improvements in the areas of
human intelligence, in contrast to electronic and other methods, and
non-proliferation.

Retiring Democratic Senator Bob Graham cites weaknesses in one of
those areas as a reason the United States found itself at war in
places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I think the case can be made that defects in our human intelligence
contributed to the circumstances that led to both of those wars and
I'm very pleased that this legislation will recognize the importance
of human intelligence and advance our capacity to provide the kind of
people with the kind of skills prepared to carry out the kind of
missions required today," he said.

Finally, among the many steps becoming law under the intelligence
reform law will be those intended to send a strong message to
governments that may still be supporting terrorists.

Congress calls on President Bush to submit a report within 90 days
with a strategy for addressing and, where possible, eliminating
terrorist sanctuaries.

Renewal of Mideast Peace Process Discussed a Month After Arafat's
Death

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Palestinians scheduled to elect new leader next month, Israel signals
it is willing to cooperate with a more moderate Palestinian president

Yasser ArafatThe death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat just over a
month ago appears to have created a new atmosphere for possible
renewal of peace efforts in the Middle East. Palestinians are
scheduled to elect a new leader next month, and Israel has signaled it
is willing to cooperate with a more moderate Palestinian president.

President Bush says in his second term he is determined to
reinvigorate the Middle East peace process, with the goal of two
states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and
security.

During a recent speech in Canada, Mr. Bush said it is "a time of
change and hope" in the region.

George Bush"We seek justice and dignity, and a viable independent and
democratic state for the Palestinian people," he said. "We seek
security and peace for the state of Israel, a state that Canada, like
America, first recognized in 1948. These are worthy goals in
themselves, and by reaching them, we will also remove an excuse for
hatred and violence in the broader Middle East."

Israeli Brigadier General Michael Herzog has participated in several
major peace negotiations with the Palestinians and is currently a
visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

General Herzog says the most important first step by both sides, after
more than four years of violence, is to create an atmosphere that is
stable and calm.

"It is the establishment of an environment free of the devastating
effect of terrorism because if you have an environment that is
violence heavy, it will make it extremely difficult, if not
impossible, for all parties to proceed," he said. "It puts a lot of
pressure on decision making on both sides and I think if you want both
democratization on the Palestinian side and a smooth Israeli
disengagement from Gaza, you need a stable calm."

Israeli leaders have indicated that if Palestinians elect a new
president that is opposed to violence during elections scheduled for
next month, the military is likely to coordinate a planned withdrawal
from the Gaza Strip and small parts of the West Bank with Palestinian
security forces.

Mahmoud AbbasThe frontrunner in the race is former Prime Minister
Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently head of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO).

His main challenger, Marwan Barghouti, a young militant serving five
life sentences in an Israeli prison, has withdrawn from the race and
has endorsed Mr. Abbas.

Mr. Abbas, who is 69 years old, has rejected violence as
counterproductive.

Robert Satloff is the executive director of the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy.

Mr. Satloff says Palestinian political reform and a successful Israeli
pullout from Gaza should come before any serious negotiations on a
permanent peace agreement.

"Do those things first, Gaza disengagement and get the Palestinian
house in order," he said. "Then you are in a much better position to
reengage in the right way in high-level negotiations. Not only that,
but if you do it the other way you are sure to fail. Because if Gaza
fails there will not be a single Israeli constituency for a
significant negotiation over the West Bank. The Palestinian test is in
Gaza."

Egypt's Ambassador to the United States, Nabil Fahmy, agrees that
following the death of Yasser Arafat reform of the Palestinian
Authority is essential.

Ambassador Fahmy says, however, there needs to be a parallel peace
process that rewards Palestinian efforts to bring about change.

"Reform is important, but no Palestinian establishment will succeed if
there is not a political dividend that will actually give it
credibility as it reforms itself," he said. "So I would argue that
one, pursuit of reform, but there has to be a peace process that goes
hand-in-hand with that. I would argue that we need to make the Gaza
withdrawal a success, but that really is contingent on it being a
cooperative process."

The Bush administration announced recently it is lifting a
long-standing ban on direct U.S. aid to the Palestinians, and will
donate more than $20 million in economic aid to the Palestinian
Authority.

The aid is to be used to help conduct the January elections and pay
for several hundred international observers to monitor the voting.

U.S. officials say the decision follows positive steps by the
Palestinians in the transition to new leadership and the commitment
made to the electoral process.

US Signals Opposition to Third Term at IAEA for ElBaradei

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US spokesmen cites general policy against more than two terms for UN
agency heads, rather than specific differences with current IAEA chief

Mohamed ElBaradei The Bush administration signaled Monday it opposes
another term for Mohamed ElBaradei as Director-General of the
International Atomic Energy Agency. U.S. spokesmen cited a general
policy against more than two terms for U.N. agency heads, rather than
specific differences with the IAEA chief.

Officials are declining comment on a published report that the United
States opposes Mr. ElBaradei on policy grounds, and has apparently
gone so far as to monitor his phone calls in a quest for negative
information about him.

But they do not deny that the Bush administration is inclined against
a third term in office for the Egyptian diplomat, who has run the
United Nations nuclear watchdog agency since 1997.

Mr. ElBaradei's second term expires next year and there is already
active debate among the 35 countries that sit on the IAEA governing
board about whether his tenure should continue.

The United States has had disagreements with Mr. ElBaradei over Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction capabilities before the ouster of Saddam
Hussein, and his more recent handling of efforts to discover the full
extent of Iran's nuclear program.

But at a news briefing, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
said U.S. opposition to a third term is based on a general term-limit
policy adopted several years ago in Geneva by the leading donor
countries to U.N. organizations:

"Our view has always been that two terms is enough," he said. "The
Geneva Group, that's an informal group of 14 largest donors to the
U.N. system, has a policy that heads of U.N. organizations should
serve no more than two terms. That has been our view. That remains our
view."

Mr. Boucher did not completely rule out the possibility the United
States might accept another term for Mr. ElBaradei, saying a decision
on replacement or renewal would be made at the appropriate time,
depending on who the candidates are.

He would not address a Sunday Washington Post report that the Bush
administration has sounded out other potential contenders for the job,
among them Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

The newspaper also said U.S. officials have been examining intercepts
of phone conversations Mr. ElBaradei has had with Iranian diplomats to
determine if he lacks impartiality on the issue of Iran's nuclear
program.

Asked about the alleged spying, spokesman Boucher said he would have
nothing to say about accusations or allegations concerning U.S.
intelligence.

There was a similar statement from the White House and the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency also declined comment.

In Vienna, an IAEA spokesman said agency officials were not surprised
by the alleged spy activity and have "always assumed" that this sort
of thing goes on.

US Space Agency Chief Resigns After Presiding Over Major Changes

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Mr. O'Keefe is credited with beginning to reorient an agency beset
by budget troubles and what some have called a lack of focus

Sean O'KeefeThe head of the U.S. space agency, NASA, has resigned
after a tumultuous three years in office that included the loss of a
space shuttle and its seven astronauts. A spokesman for President Bush
has acknowledged that Sean O'Keefe intends to step down. Mr. O'Keefe
is credited with beginning to reorient an agency beset by budget
troubles and what some have called a lack of focus.

Sean O'Keefe became NASA administrator with a Bush administration
mandate to get the agency's spending under control, particularly the
escalating cost of the international space station. Unlike some
previous NASA bosses who were aerospace engineers or astronauts, he is
a management specialist who had been the deputy director of the agency
that oversees the government's budget.

Thirty six months later, Mr. O'Keefe is given credit for beginning to
change the way NASA projects costs on its big, multi-year technical
programs. But the calamitous disintegration of the space shuttle
Columbia and the death of its seven astronauts in early 2003 ensured
that his tenure would not be simply about counting coins.

The Columbia accident set off a major Bush administration change in
space policy. Instead of perpetuating the U.S. presence in low Earth
orbit with the shuttle and space station, Mr. Bush in January
announced plans to return astronauts to the moon late in the next
decade with the longer term goal of sending humans to Mars. The
shuttle is to be phased out by 2010 with U.S. participation in the
space station after that still uncertain. New space exploration
technologies are to be developed, including a new spaceship to ferry
astronauts long distances.

In the meantime, Mr. O'Keefe has presided over a revamp of the shuttle
program, which includes major enhancements in technology and
procedures to help ensure its remaining missions are safe once it
returns to flight next year. He has instituted management reforms
intended to make NASA much more safety oriented.

A White House spokesman says President Bush believes Mr. O'Keefe has
done a great job, and the head of the U.S. House of Representatives
committee that oversees NASA says he has left the space agency in far
better shape than he found it.

George Washington University space policy analyst Ray Williamson says
Mr. O'Keefe's resignation is not surprising. "I'm not sure that having
Sean O'Keefe stay longer would actually help that much at this point.
He's made his mark on the agency and I'm not sure that he could
accomplish a whole lot more," he said.

George Whitesides, executive director of the National Space Society, a
private space advocacy organization headquartered in Washington
agrees.

"My sense is this was the right time for him," he said. "He has always
been someone who was going to help take the agency form a place where
they had substantial problems of finances and otherwise to a place
where someone else could start pushing forward on the vision. I think
he's done that job and feels it's time to step aside and let somebody
else take it from here."

But Ray Williamson at George Washington University wonders whether
NASA's new emphasis on outer space exploration will come at the
expense of other long-standing programs, such as its environmental
monitoring missions from space.

"There are a number of people in the professional community that
question whether NASA will now cut back on its efforts to explore an
Earth-based kind of exploration from space and still continue to
attempt to tackle some of the major environmental and other concerns
about the globe and the future habitability of Earth."

Mr. O'Keefe has also been criticized for refusing to send astronauts
to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope. He has called
instead for development of robotic capabilities for that purpose so a
shuttle crew would not be subjected to what he has described as a
risky mission. But a prestigious National Academy of Sciences panel
has rejected his view, saying a Hubble visit would pose no more risk
than a trip to the space station.

The National Space Society's George Whitesides says the next NASA
administrator will find such issues a major challenge. "The person
will have to navigate the identity of NASA itself. Is it going to be
defined as an exploration agency? Is it going to stay with some mix of
other things? What is NASA really for? I think these are the most
important questions the next administrator is going to have to come to
a leadership consensus on and that is not an easy thing to do," he
said.

In the meantime, news reports say Sean O'Keefe is being considered for
the post of chancellor of Louisiana State University at more than
three times his NASA salary.

Sideways, The Aviator Lead Golden Globe Movie Nominations

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Sideways, a film comedy about a road trip, leads nominees for
Hollywood's Golden Globe Awards, announced in Los Angeles Monday

Sideways, a film comedy about a road trip, leads the nominees for
Hollywood's Golden Globe Awards, which were announced in Los Angeles.
The film from director Alexander Payne earned seven nominations for
the honors from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The Aviator,
a biographical picture about billionaire Howard Hughes, followed with
six nominations.

The seven nominations for Sideways included best musical or comedy
film, three acting nominations and one for director Payne.

The Aviator's six nods included one for director Martin Scorsese and
another for lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who played the reclusive
Howard Hughes. Cate Blanchett was nominated for her supporting role in
the film, in which she played the actress Katharine Hepburn.

Two other biographies are leading contenders this year, and both are
about singers. Jamie Foxx is an acting nominee for his starring role
in Ray, a film about the late music great Ray Charles. Foxx is also
nominated as a supporting actor in Collateral, in which he plays a
taxi driver whose taxicab is hijacked by a hit man.

Kevin Spacey is a nominee for best actor in a musical or comedy for
his role as pop star Bobby Darin, who soared to the top of the music
charts in the late 1950s.

Actress Mira Sorvino helped announce the nominees at an early morning
news conference. Films nominated in the top category for dramas
include the Hughes biography; and Finding Neverland, a fictional film
about writer J. M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan; a drama about the
genocide in Rwanda; the story of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, and a
tale about boxing.

"Best Motion Picture, drama, The Aviator, Closer, Finding Neverland,
Hotel Rwanda, Kinsey, and Million Dollar Baby," she announced.

The Golden Globes are given out by a group of about 90 international
reporters, and industry insiders pay attention because the selections
sometimes suggest winners at the Academy Awards, or Oscars.

The Golden Globes, which honor both film and television, will he
handed out January 16. The Oscars, the U.S. industry's highest honors,
will be given out at the end of February.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/553...4CC032B4C60.htm

Protest against Saudi rulers planned

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/84E...1723FE21153.htm

Israel to allow voting in Jerusalem

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BB3...0CD6AB1B312.htm

Abbas asks Palestinians to drop arms

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8A...FEDF47553DE.htm
Poland to cut troops in Iraq by a third.

__________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal


Dec. 15, 2004

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its target for a key short-term interest rate for the fifth time this year, bringing the rate to 2.25%. The central bank's outlook was almost identical to the one it issued in November and policy makers backed their plan for a "measured" pace of rate increases in the next few months.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, see:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1102606...2795661,00.html

The Oracle/PeopleSoft mess is now a done deal, and Larry Ellison rules as I always thought he would. Invest with abandon.

Oops. I forgot to add, "AT YOUR OWN RISK."

But I like to live a little dangerously.

Parties gird for epic judicial battle
With abortion, gay marriage, and other core issues at stake, Democrats
and Republicans angle for any advantage. By Gail Russell Chaddock
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p01s01-usju.html?s=hns

Google plans giant online library stack
The search engine will team up with five famous libraries to digitize
their collections. By Peter Grier and Amanda Paulson
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p01s02-ussc.html?s=hns

In schools and cities, battles over 'Christ' in Christmas
Religious, secular, inclusive, traditional: It's turning out to be an
intense year in the debate over how to celebrate. By Sara B. Miller
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p01s03-ussc.html?s=hns

Love and money reshape family in China
From arranged matches to the 8-minute date in the span of one
generation. Part 1of three in the series 'The Family Revolution.' By
Robert Marquand
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p01s04-woap.html?s=hns

New bridge raises French pride higher than Eiffel
The Tarn River valley road bridge, the world's tallest, creates a
direct route between Paris and the coast. By Frank Renout
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p04s01-woeu.html?s=hns

In Chile, pace of justice quickens
A judge has ruled that Gen. Augusto Pinochet stand trial for his
alleged involvement in state-sponsored torture. By Danna Harman
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p06s01-woam.html?s=hns

Why Brazil is reluctant to air its 'dirty' past
After two decades of civilian government, Brazil is unwilling to take
former officers of the dictatorship to task. By Andrew Downie
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p06s03-woam.html?s=hns

New agent of change in N. Korea: cellphones
Though illegal, cellphones are connecting more N. Koreans to the
outside world. By Donald Kirk
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p07s01-woap.html?s=hns

The new top in redrawn US intelligence
The director of national intelligence, who could be named this week,
will try to meld disparate agencies. By Faye Bowers
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p02s01-uspo.html?s=hns

Growing role of emotion in jury verdicts
Peterson case shows that jurors can make decisions based on personal
demeanor. By Mark Sappenfield
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p02s02-usju.html?s=hns

Radio ID tags proliferate, stirring privacy debate
Soon, everything from children's backpacks to the shoes you buy could
be tracked by radio signal. By Daniel B. Wood
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p03s01-ussc.html?s=hns

Europe, Turkey, and Darwin
In setting a date for membership talks with mostly Muslim Turkey, the
EU keeps evolving.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p08s02-comv.html?s=hns

Taiwan's Ballot Defense
How China both lost and won in Taiwan's election.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p08s03-comv.html?s=hns

Needed: USIA's people-to-people message
During the cold war, the US Information Agency told America's story
abroad. That function is lacking today. By John Hughes
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p09s01-cojh.html?s=hns

Flagging winds of American idealism across the Middle East
Entangled in Iraq, the Bush administration seems to have abandoned its
vision of democracy for the region. By Ray Takeyh and Nikolas Gvosdev
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p09s02-coop.html?s=hns

Why we're sweet on cookies
Cookies - in bars, rolled, shaped, or no bake - give Americans their
first sweet memories. By Judy Lowe
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p13s01-lifo.html?s=hns

The intangible gifts of Christmas
Ironing a family heirloom tablecloth, a writer muses on other Christmas
traditions. By Marilyn Gardner
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p14s01-cogn.html?s=hns

04/1215/p18s04-hfes.html?s=hns

My subway map is my memory album
Some people take pictures to capture memories; I make check marks on a
subway map. By Kara Newman
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1215/p18s05-hfes.html?s=hns