Monday, December 31, 2001
BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | US denies bombing Afghan civilians"If there were any innocent people that were killed there, the numbers being reported, I think, are unfounded."
12/31/2001 11:56:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Rules of War Can't Protect Al Qaeda...some international-law scholars suggest that President Bush's plan for military tribunals itself violates international law. This view is based on a serious misreading of international treaties on how wars should be fought.
12/31/2001 11:24:30 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Al-Ahram Weekly | War | The bottom linePittman reports that "the Bush administration doesn't need to do anything to censor media outlets; they do it themselves." The Washington Post, for example, reported that CNN Chairman Walter Isaacson ordered news staff to limit reports of Afghan war casualties and use World Trade Center deaths to justify the killing of Afghan civilians by the US military. After the deaths in the US, it "seems perverse to focus too much on casualties or hardship in Afghanistan," Isaacson wrote in a memo quoted by WorkingForChange, which also quoted Brit Hume, anchor for the conservative Fox News Channel, saying that neutrality is inappropriate in covering this war because the enemy are "murderous barbarians."
12/31/2001 11:23:30 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
More Than 100 Reported Killed in U.S. Afghan Air RaidA Reuters cameraman in the stricken village in eastern Paktia province said he could see huge craters blasted by bombs. Amid the destruction were scraps of flesh, pools of blood and clumps of what appeared to be human hair.
12/31/2001 10:58:37 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Creating in a World Where the Moon Can FallThese shifts are both instructive and worrisome, Baldessari said. "Are we going to have all horizontal art for a while? Will it get that bad?" he asked. "We live in a fragile world, and it's good that we think about it once in a while. I am continuing to do what I do, because otherwise it would be censorship."
12/31/2001 10:32:32 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark Argentina loses second president in ten daysCorrespondents say his departure leaves the country without a clear consensus on how to resolve the crisis, which has prompted mass street protests.
Power should have passed automatically to Senate Chairman Ramos Puerta, but he too resigned minutes later on grounds of ill-health.
12/31/2001 10:27:51 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The New Yorker | A WOMAN'S PREROGATIVEElsewhere, the fully empowered Muslim woman sounds like a self-assured, post-feminist type -- a woman who draws her inspiration from the example of Sukayna, the brilliant, beautiful great-granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, who was married several times, and, at least once, stipulated in writing that her husband was forbidden to disagree with her about anything.
12/31/2001 10:22:01 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Times:We will win nuclear war, says India[George Fernandes, the Indian Defence Minister] warned Pakistan not to consider the use of a first strike, which he said would be tantamout to national suicide. "We could take a strike, survive and then hit back," he said. "Pakistan would be finished. I do not really fear that the nuclear issue would figure in a conflict."
12/31/2001 10:19:01 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Sunday, December 30, 2001
Chicago Tribune: U.S. bombs leave wasteland"We believe the Americans were always a few hours behind them, dropping bombs on villages they just left," said Habib Rahman, a village elder in the Zamar Khel district, where a huge bomb fell on the house of a man named Akal Khan, killing four family members, including two women.
12/30/2001 06:03:56 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Slate | The Mosque to CommerceYamasaki received the World Trade Center commission the year after the Dhahran Airport was completed. Yamasaki described its plaza as "a mecca, a great relief from the narrow streets and sidewalks of the surrounding Wall Street area." True to his word, Yamasaki replicated the plan of Mecca's courtyard by creating a vast delineated square, isolated from the city's bustle by low colonnaded structures and capped by two enormous, perfectly square towers -- minarets, really. Yamasaki's courtyard mimicked Mecca's assemblage of holy sites?the Qa'ba (a cube) containing the sacred stone, what some believe is the burial site of Hagar and Ishmael, and the holy spring -- by including several sculptural features, including a fountain, and he anchored the composition in a radial circular pattern, similar to Mecca's.
12/30/2001 05:57:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: Huge weapons cache seized in PakistanChief Suddle said police recovered 124 submachine guns, 248 rifles, one recoilless rifle, two mortars, 342 mortar bombs, rockets and almost 30,000 rounds of ammunition.
12/30/2001 05:31:18 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Radio Australia News - China sentences to death two church founders: rights groupThe centre says 46 year old Gong Shengliang was sentenced to death for having founded the group and having been involved in more than a dozen cases of rape and "immoral conduct".
12/30/2001 01:50:48 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
IWon : China's economy grows preliminary 7.3 pct in 2001"I'm expecting a moderate slowdown next year. I believe seven percent is achievable but it depends on how the global economy will behave and when it will begin to recover," Liao said.
12/30/2001 01:50:10 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Digital Chosunilbo : Press Freedom in 2001If the Korean press does not work to be even more accurate and even more impartial, then readers in 2002 will ignore the press that beat state authority in 2001. If it does not accept readers' advice, that it abandons its authoritativeness and become more modest; if it does not learn to speak of the dark areas in our society and those who alienated from it, then its hard-earned freedoms will be meaningless.
12/30/2001 01:45:00 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
British reporters smuggle knives on board flightsThe smuggled weapons allegedly included a 10cm blade hidden inside a lady's comb, a razor-sharp toughened-metal stiletto concealed in a pen, and a steel cleaver which could be hidden in a wallet.
12/30/2001 01:43:18 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
iWon - Afghans Finalize Deal on PeacekeepersThe deal on Afghanistan's International Security Assistance Force, which the United Nations Security Council authorized to fill the security vacuum after last month's defeat of the Taliban, paves the way for the arrival of about 3,000 troops.
12/30/2001 01:36:18 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Modern Day Rome (washingtonpost.com)The tone of the poll respondents wasn't an indictment of American power so much as a plea that the United States use this great power to solve problems that create instability. The poll respondents suggested the need to do more to alleviate poverty, for example; they also urged the United States to help create a Palestinian state that would defuse tensions in the Middle East.
12/30/2001 02:37:19 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AMERICAS | Riots stun Argentine Government"I put my money in the bank for them to look after it - not to be stolen," read one protester's banner.
12/30/2001 01:59:32 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Chicago Tribune: Groups say police battered 5 journalistsCuban police beat up five dissident journalists as they tried to cover an opposition event on Christmas Day, a local reporters association and an international press watchdog said Friday.
12/30/2001 01:58:44 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AMERICAS | Riots stun Argentine Government"I put my money in the bank for them to look after it - not to be stolen," read one protester's banner.
12/30/2001 01:56:13 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
IHT: Kabul Asks U.S. to End BombingPressure has been growing in Afghanistan for a halt to the American bombing, and Mr. Fahim said there would be no need for bombing once a few remaining border areas had been cleared of final resistance. Earlier, his spokesman said that suppressing that resistance would take no more than three days, after which the bombing must stop.
The United States, though, said it had received no request to stop the bombing, and declined to make such a promise.
12/30/2001 01:54:20 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Afghanistan nurses psychological scars of war"When a man faces a woman for the first time, some of them suffer from a lack of basic knowledge. This can create sexual problems in the future."
12/30/2001 01:51:20 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
India prepares to camouflage the Taj Mahal amid war fearsOfficials at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said on Saturday they planned to drape the shrine in the northern city of Agra with olive green cloth so that it blended with the surroundings.
12/30/2001 01:49:54 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Saturday, December 29, 2001
CBC News: Civil liberties group calls PM worst offender of the yearIt also accuses Chretien of showing contempt for the findings of the APEC inquiry, which examined the treatment of student protesters during Vancouver's APEC summit in 1997.
12/29/2001 09:32:30 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Friday, December 28, 2001
CBC News: Shells fired across India-Pakistan borderThe Indian army told some 5,000 people in 17 villages in Kashmir to leave their homes within 36 hours, officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday.
12/28/2001 07:45:58 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Umberto Eco - Language of war claims its own victims - smh.com.auEarly on, Bush let that word "crusade" slip and pandemonium broke loose. Bush was among those who were unaware that the Crusades comprised a "holy war" by the Christians (who were the ones who started it) against the Muslim world (which, by the way, in the end managed to repel the invaders). He retracted the gaffe and then spoke of "infinite justice", which was even worse.
12/28/2001 02:55:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Society of Professional Journalists - Asleep at the switchThey justified their actions by opportunistically blaming the American public for a lack of interest in global affairs. In April 1997, CBS News President Andrew Heyward told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that “it’s just a fact of television ratings life that almost without exception it’s very difficult to score a number with international news.” NBC News Vice President Bill Wheatley told the same newspaper that “a lot of foreign news after the Cold War seemed to be less vital ... more complicated, less directly linked to many Americans. How do you cover the former Soviet Union and make sense of it?”
12/28/2001 02:54:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Afghan Warlords and Bandits Are Back in BusinessEarlier this week, the United Nations' World Food Program said it had been unable to deliver food to Kandahar because militiamen were stopping their trucks and demanding $100 each to pass.
12/28/2001 02:53:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
2001 Media Follies - Eat the State! (December 19, 2001)Afghanistan's women can't vote. The US press goes on about the two women cabinet members in the interim government, but Afghan women don't even have the vote yet, much less any identification papers that would allow them to register to vote, even if it were legal. And there are no protections for women who want to cast off the burqa (the Northern Alliance is as socially conservative as the Taliban). A democracy can't exist with over half its population disenfranchised.
[...]
The Afghan interim president, Hamid Karzai, is a CIA man. This obvious fact is left out of the US media's biographies of Karzai, but the foreign press is quick to point out that he worked for the CIA during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and is working for them now, stirring up the southern Pashtun tribes against the Taliban. And he'll work for them in the future, too.
12/28/2001 02:47:57 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Economist.com | Homeland securityEvidence of ambivalence towards domestic security is everywhere. More than 100 bills have been introduced into Congress with the label "homeland security" on them. Yet compared with the $15 billion doled out to the airline industry, the cash they provide for things like emergency health care is puny. When the governor of California posted troops on bridges in response to a terrorist alert, he was widely criticised for panicking the public.
12/28/2001 01:58:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CANOE - Fears of war and separation as tension mounts between India and PakistanTens of thousands of soldiers, squadrons of fighter jets, artillery and ballistic missiles face each other along the border that reaches from the Himalayas in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south. Both sides say they don't want war, but each says it is ready.
12/28/2001 01:47:42 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
RCMP and police from across Canada say goodbye to slain Manitoba MountieIn all, more than 350 police officers from Canada and the United States made the trip to this community about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg where Strongquill spent 14 of his 20 years on the force.
12/28/2001 01:46:50 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
PM should bid adieu after this term: pollThe SOM-Gazette poll asked: "Do you think Jean Chrétien should seek another term as prime minister?" To this, 39.9 per cent of respondents said yes and 55.5 per cent said no.
12/28/2001 01:45:30 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNEWS - War On Terrorism: Canadian military crew to head overseas to join war on terrorismThe 75 members are part of the long-range patrol task force, which will support Operation Apollo in operations in the Middle East. The Auroras will do surveillance for the coalition forces off Afghanistan, Robitaille said.
12/28/2001 01:43:15 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: EU publishes terrorist listGroups on both sides of the Northern Ireland struggle, such as the Real IRA and the Loyalist Volunteer Force, are listed, but the Irish Republican Army, a group formerly considered terrorists by the British government but which has committed itself to the peace process, is not.
12/28/2001 01:33:33 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Soon to be 'citizen of New York,' Giuliani advocates soaring memorial for WTC"This place has to be sanctified. It has to become a place, when anybody comes, that they immediately feel the power, strength and emotion of what it means to become an American. ... This is too important a place."
12/28/2001 01:31:32 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
FOXNews.com: White House Won't Call Captives POWHuman rights watchdogs have expressed concerns that describing the captives as "detainees" instead of "prisoners of war" could impinge on rights guaranteed by international law, including the right to meet with Red Cross officials, and due process should any of them face trial.
12/28/2001 01:30:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Ottawa neglecting military, poll says"Canadians know that the men and women serving in the military are brave and operate in hostile conditions, but their helicopters don't fly and machine parts aren't available," Mr. Wright said yesterday. "The issue is whether the military is living up to its responsibilities."
12/28/2001 01:29:39 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Palestinian 'suicide bomber' killedThe militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad - in a faxed statement to Associated Press news agency in Beirut - said the dead man was one of their members and was killed during an attempted ambush.
12/28/2001 01:26:52 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
WorldNetDaily: Child-rape epidemic in South AfricaThe trend is worsening. Babies as young as only a few months old are being raped almost daily. Many black South African men infected with AIDS erroneously believe that by having sex with a virgin -- even a baby -- they will be cured of AIDS or their HIV infection.
12/28/2001 01:22:39 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Boston Globe Online: Now serving journalistic steak, scoopsFor years, it was scoffed at as ''McPaper,'' that light and fluffy thing that showed up in front of your hotel door bristling with short articles and Larry King's musings. But even in an industry where old reputations die hard, USA Today has emerged - particularly in the post-Sept. 11 world - as a newspaper with ambition, energy, and gravitas.
12/28/2001 01:20:47 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Russian navy journalist guilty of espionage / Nuclear waste case verdict is surpriseThe court said the sentence reflected a judgment that Pasko's crime had little impact on the nation's security. His lawyer, Ivan Pavlov, said it reflected both the thinness of the evidence against his client and a political calculation that the lighter sentence would cause less protest.
12/28/2001 01:12:50 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Rules on Tribunal Require Unanimity on Death PenaltyThe standard the regulations provide would allow the military judges to consider any evidence that "a reasonable person" would find useful. That means that evidence like the videotape of Osama bin Laden boasting of the Sept. 11 attacks and any intelligence interceptions would be admissible.
12/28/2001 01:11:00 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Monday, December 24, 2001
World Sousveillance DayAt noon on Monday, December 24, 2001, ordinary people all over the world will call into question the growing and dehumanizing effects of increased video surveillance, automated face recognition, and Covernment (Corporate Government) tracking in public places, as well as private places.
I photographed CSIS for World Sousveillance Day. Will post later.
12/24/2001 07:41:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNEWS Media News - Iraqi newspaper: World better off without Bush"No doubt that the world would be better without some people such as Bush, Rumsfeld, Lieberman and many other U.S. officials because they are corrupt," al-Thawra said in the front-page editorial.
"Those people are war mongers because they have personal interests with oil companies and weapons manufacturers."
12/24/2001 07:35:53 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
allAfrica.com: Attorney- General Shot Dead in BedroomThe gunmen who may have been waiting in the vicinity then stormed the house and tying up family members, got one of them to lead them uptstairs to the room of Chief Bola Ige where they led his wife and son to an adjourning room and locked them up.
12/24/2001 07:02:26 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
AfricaOnline.com - Mugabe: British government is ‘mad’Mugabe says he does not expect the Commonwealth to suspend Zimbabwe from membership. In a meeting this week, Commonwealth foreign ministers considered the suspension of the country, citing concerns over human rights and the rule of law.
12/24/2001 06:58:11 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Arafat condemns Bethlehem ban"The unjust Israeli tanks, cement barriers and guns prevent me from participating with you at our annual celebrations," Mr Arafat told a disappointed crowd.
12/24/2001 06:45:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
U.S. resumes bombing raids on AfghanistanThe Pentagon said on Monday that airstrikes resumed on Sunday with a B-52 heavy bomber attack on caves and ammunition dumps north of Kandahar, using precision-guided munitions in the drive against Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
12/24/2001 06:42:57 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Anti-Terrorism Legislation Comes into Force"The threat posed by terrorism remains constant here in Canada and around the world," Minister McLellan said. "The Government of Canada is following through on its commitment to ensure that law enforcement and national security agencies have the tools they need to protect the security and safety of Canadians from terrorist activity."
12/24/2001 06:41:49 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Sunday, December 23, 2001
| KEN . LAYNE . DOT . CON |Folks, Saudi Arabia attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. It doesn't matter whether the command came from that bloated hog King Fahd or the fanatic religious leadership he can't control. What is obvious to everyone except the Bush Administration is that our ally, Saudi Arabia, harbored, supported and created the terrorists who launched a war against the United States 100 days ago.
12/23/2001 09:42:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
One person dead, four wounded after gunfire at wedding in Vancouver suburbPolice - who happened to be at a Christmas party in the same banquet hall - say shots rang out at another function on the lower floor of the building at about midnight. RCMP officers rushed to the chaotic scene where a couple in their 20s had been celebrating their wedding with about 100 guests.
12/23/2001 04:39:25 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Substance in man's shoe on flight diverted to Boston positive for explosivesFrench police said that Raja - who also goes by the name Abdel Rahim - tried to take the same flight on Friday but was pulled aside by police after raising suspicions.
12/23/2001 04:36:14 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Bangkok Post Monday 24 December 2001 - Ship sunk by Japanese may be spy vesselCoast guard officials said they believe the ship, built like a fishing boat, may have been sent by Pyongyang as it resembled two suspected North Korean spy vessels chased from Japanese waters in March 1999.
12/23/2001 04:34:11 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Canadian held hostage in Philippines freed``He's a regular person, not a man of significant financial means, and so it's a puzzle to us and to him particularly that he was kidnapped by this group."
12/23/2001 04:27:18 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
allAfrica.com: Maize Runs Out"As commercial stocks run out, this shortage will become more and more serious and it can be expected that by mid January, Zimbabwe will have run out of its staple food," said Eddy Cross, the MDC secretary for economic affairs.
12/23/2001 04:23:13 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AMERICAS | Argentina to suspend debt paymentsMr Rodriguez Saa, a 54-year-old provincial governor, was speaking immediately after being appointed to serve as replacement president for Fernando de la Rua, who resigned last week in the wake of rioting and protests which left at least 25 people dead.
12/23/2001 04:18:43 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
TIME 2001 Person of the Year: Rudy Giuliani, because Time is staffed with cowardly little salesmen12/23/2001 04:15:08 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
news.telegraph.co.uk - Girl gang-raped as shoppers look onThe town was packed with Christmas shoppers when the victim, who was with a friend, was surrounded by a gang of about 15 youths in the Friary Centre and led to a car park where she was raped repeatedly between 11.30am and 1pm, police said.
A Surrey police spokesman said the girls were surrounded in the shopping centre before being chased by the youths. The rape victim's clothes, including her trousers and underwear, were pulled from her as she tried to escape down an escalator.
The future is coming up Burgess.
12/23/2001 11:47:56 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
'Heroic acts' avert air tragedyThat official said that if the passenger on the American Airlines plane did have plastic explosive in his shoes and was trying to detonate it by lighting a shock cord, "it was a pretty clever attempt to get past the metal detectors by using a bomb that didn't require any metal."
12/23/2001 11:40:54 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Saturday, December 22, 2001
MediaGuardian.co.uk | Marketing & PR | US brands suffer as anti-American feeling runs highThe survey found more than two-thirds of British consumers are concerned the world is becoming too Americanised, while 72% agreed with the statement: "Multinational corporations have grown too powerful".
12/22/2001 05:59:52 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: 'Mom' Boucher sues Quebec government for $30 millionHe says in the lawsuit that he is just a cook who likes to ride motorcyles for fun.
[...]
Boucher is being detained as he awaits trial on 15 counts of first-degree murder.
12/22/2001 05:37:24 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: War support drops outside G-7: poll"The doubts reflected there should serve as a warning to the U.S. government on the limits of world support should the military campaign extend beyond the borders of Afghanistan," Mr. Riehle said.
12/22/2001 05:27:33 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Montreal man tutored convicted terrorist: CSISThere was no explanation for why criminal conspiracy charges have not been laid against Ikhlef.
According to documents filed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) with the Federal Court of Canada, Ikhlef was a close associate of Ressam and one of several Algerians who made up a Montreal-based terrorist cell with connections to bin Laden's Al Qaeda.
12/22/2001 04:54:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Canada naive on terrorist population, says French judgeJudge Jean-Louis Bruguiere told the Montreal newspaper La Presse that dismantling of Ahmed Ressam's terrorist cell is no long-term solution. Other people remaining in Canada have ties to the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, said the judge, interviewed in his Paris office.
12/22/2001 04:51:44 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Hamas and Islamic Jihad declare end to suicide bombingsNone of it had any effect on the streets as the shooting continued for several hours.
12/22/2001 04:44:46 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Joint Statement by United States, Canada and Mexico on ArgentinaArgentina is our neighbor and friend and we have witnessed recent events with concern and compassion. We hope that all Argentines can come together to find a solution that leads the country back to sustainable growth and prosperity. We applaud the great strength displayed by Argentina's institutions through this period, and reiterate our confidence in the country's standing as one of the Western Hemisphere's leading democracies.
12/22/2001 04:43:30 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
iWon - Police arrest 'God of Garbage'Mizuo Tamura, 55, a manager in the environmental section in the Kajiki municipal government, was arrested for breaking Japan's Firearms and Swords Control Law early on Thursday, the newspaper said in its online edition.
12/22/2001 04:42:07 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Eight foreigners arrested in Somalia over terrorism linksNews reports quoted a high ranking representative for the provisional Somali government as saying on Friday that the eight suspected persons were arrested during several operations and they have been interrogated by the Somali intelligence.
12/22/2001 04:40:28 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Bush signs anti-Mugabe law"My administration shares fully the Congress' deep concerns about the political and economic hardships visited upon Zimbabwe by that country's leadership," Bush said. "I hope the provisions of this important legislation will support the people of Zimbabwe in their struggle to effect peaceful democratic change, achieve economic growth and restore the rule of law."
12/22/2001 04:39:31 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
TIME.com: Choosing the Person of the Year: TIME Editor Jim KellyQuestion: How could TIME even consider bin Laden for Man of the Year? I'm a TIME subscriber and could not believe they would consider someone of his caliber.
12/22/2001 04:31:40 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Iran: Journalist at Risk (Human Rights Watch Press release, New York, December 22, 2001)Human Rights Watch today said it was gravely concerned about the detention of Siamak Pourzand, a 73-year-old journalist who was arrested on November 29 and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
12/22/2001 04:29:51 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Republic of Botswana - Journalists must display sense of patriotism"In the discharge of duties both the government and private media have to exhibit a good sense of judgement and belonging. They have a duty to disseminate the nation building message," Matshediso said.
12/22/2001 04:23:10 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
NATIONAL POST ONLINE | At home with EnzaThroughout the two hours it takes for Enza to get made up and dressed up for the evening's party, I've been trying to ask him if he seriously thinks he has a shot. Over and over again, I ask the same question: "Is this a joke?"
He never quite admits it is but, finally, when I ask him if he understands there's no chance he will win, he says, "Totally. I just want people to enjoy the ride. Political races are always so boring. There's nothing wrong with shameful self-promotion, either. Politicians do it all the time.
"Now, where's my bra?"
12/22/2001 04:14:43 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Karzai sworn in as new Afghan leaderArmed British marines patrolled outside the ceremony to ensure security at the first peaceful and undisputed handover of power in decades.
12/22/2001 04:11:06 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Afghan convoy row growsTribal leaders from the eastern Afghan town of Gardez have repeated allegations that a convoy of dignitaries from a neighbouring town was bombed by United States warplanes.
12/22/2001 04:10:05 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Friday, December 21, 2001
Local News - Ottawa - Child, 2, hit with belt in crowded store - Woman tells horrified shoppers to mind their own businessThe woman was questioned at length by police and finally released, along with her child, after police officers determined the child had not suffered any visible injuries.
12/21/2001 06:42:38 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
OH MERDE! Furious Sharon demands the resignation of 'anti-Semitic' French ambassador who labelled Israel a 'shitty little country'"Paris will take any decision about my future." He told colleagues his comment was due to his "grasp of the English language letting me down". The French embassy insisted the comment referred to Israel's geographical size and said the word "shitty" was not used.
12/21/2001 06:27:54 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Six killed in Gaza clashesSix people have been killed and over 60 wounded in gunbattles with Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip, as the militant group Hamas said it was suspending attacks inside Israel.
12/21/2001 06:26:12 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Gag order placed on spanking case: Pastor, parents no longer allowed to discuss it with the mediaA Church of God pastor, a group of Aylmer, Ont., parents and the Family and Children's Services of Elgin-St. Thomas came to an agreement on eight points which include that: no party shall make any statements to the media, parents of the children in question must advise the FACS if they intend to use corporal punishment and that the family make all efforts to ensure the children don't receive e-mail from anyone outside of the Church of God.
12/21/2001 06:20:07 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Infamous Paul Bernardo tapes destroyedNot only did the tapes depict the brutal rapes and tortures of Mahaffy and French, they also documented a similar attack on Homolka's sister Tammy and a fourth victim identified only as Jane Doe.
12/21/2001 06:18:35 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Thursday, December 20, 2001
Argentine president resigning amid widespread unrestEarlier Thursday, de la Rua's sent in riot police to quell the violence after 20 people died across the country in two days of rioting sparked by the government's failure to end a punishing recession marked by double-digit joblessness, hunger and rising poverty.
12/20/2001 10:08:06 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AMERICAS | US denies lawyer to American TalebanA White House spokesman described the 20-year-old as someone who fought against the United States in an armed conflict and was therefore being treated as a "battlefield detainee" under the Geneva Convention.
12/20/2001 03:15:57 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Wednesday, December 19, 2001
Falun Gong's cult nature proven again, according to China DailyWhen questioned by police, Fu, who practised Falun Gong for three and a half years, calmly admitted that he had killed his family members with a kitchen knife, but claimed that the flesh of his family members had "rotted" and he did this to help them "jump out of their bodies" and enjoy "absolute happiness" with him.
12/19/2001 08:12:09 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Statue of Liberty to remain off-limitsThe park service plans to allow people into the statue -- one of New York's most popular tourist attractions -- sometime next year, he said.
12/19/2001 06:45:58 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNEWS - War On Terrorism: Fires finally out at World Trade CenterThe fires were fuelled by such things as documents and office furniture. As demolition and rescue crews toiled to clear the debris, air pockets would open, causing flare-ups.
12/19/2001 06:29:30 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNEWS - War On Terrorism: Bush suggests "unique penalty" for Walker"Make him leave his hair the way it is and his face as dirty as it is and let him go wandering around this country and see what kind of sympathy he would get," Bush said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
12/19/2001 06:27:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
National Assembly rebukes CanWest over editorials"The National Assembly, in accordance with the unanimous recommendation in the report by the commission on culture and concentration of media ownership, asks the directors of the Southam News enterprise to publish a statement of principle and of commitment to the quality and diversity of news, this in order to maintain and preserve the original character and autonomy of its Quebec daily, the Gazette."
12/19/2001 06:19:26 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: Argentina declares state of siegeIn Entre Rios province north of Buenos Aires vastly outnumbered police looked on helplessly as hundreds more looters filled cars and shopping carts with goods and fled with their booty, shielded by smoke billowing from piles of tires set alight by fellow looters.
"There are people in our neighbourhood dying form [sic] hunger," one angry looter told local television. "We've only taken food. It's not much to ask."
12/19/2001 06:10:29 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Captured al-Qaida fighters make escape attempt in Pakistan, 13 killedHundreds of al-Qaida - including some top commanders - were allowed to escape by commanders in the Afghan eastern alliance that led the assault on Tora Bora, an alliance official said. Two alliance commanders have been rebuked for conniving to let bin Laden followers flee into Pakistan, the official said.
12/19/2001 06:06:37 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNN.com - Zimbabwe preps to limit media freedoms - December 19, 2001"We will not have regional peace as long as the apartheid press is allowed to continue as the leading mouthpiece...We are saying they must now be brought to book, because what they are doing is criminal. They want a region which is at war with itself," Moyo told reporters.
12/19/2001 05:55:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | EUROPE | Court throws out case against NatoThe lawyers for the 17 defendants - the European members of Nato - had argued that the human rights court did not have the right to judge because the bombing took place in a country which is not a signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights.
12/19/2001 05:48:32 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Hundreds of Qaeda Fighters Slip Into PakistanAl Qaeda fighters who have escaped appear to have blended in with Pashtuns whose tribal lands straddle the Afghan-Pakistani border and who have proved reluctant to alert the army, which is viewed with suspicion, Western and Pakistani officials said.
12/19/2001 05:45:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
washingtonpost.com: Kabul's Lost WomenQasim said that many of the girls were used as concubines by Taliban officers, some of whom kept a dozen or more. He said many others were sold as sexual slaves to wealthy Arabs through contacts arranged by the al Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. Proceeds helped keep the cash-strapped Taliban afloat, he said.
12/19/2001 05:40:59 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
A Pitch for Smart Postal StampsWaxman is proposing the implementation of a two-dimensional barcode "stamp" that would contain the sender's identity as well as the date, time and place the postage was paid. The technology is currently used by companies that provide Internet mailing services, such as Stamps.com.
12/19/2001 05:30:39 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Canada's JTF2 in Kandahar: EggletonThe Joint Task Force 2 unit was formed as a top-secret unit in the early 1990s to take over the counter-terrorism role previously filled by the RCMP. Its members are some of the army's most skilled troops, including sharpshooters and explosives experts.
12/19/2001 03:33:34 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Tora Bora: Deep Ravines Hide Many Enemies"The man's name is Abu Abdur Rahman, and he told us Osama was with them until the 28th day of Ramadan," said Mr. Khan. "Osama had told them to pray, then suddenly disappeared."
12/19/2001 01:04:34 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNEWS - War On Terrorism: Anti-terror bill pushed through SenateWithin the hour it had received royal assent from Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson at a ceremony in the ornate Senate chamber.
12/19/2001 01:28:00 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Tuesday, December 18, 2001
The New Yorker | RECOUNTED OUTIn any case, there is no longer any doubt that more Florida voters intended to vote for Gore than for Bush: according to the Times, some eight thousand Gore overvotes, net, were lost because of bad design (the notorious "butterfly" of Palm Beach) or confusing instructions (the two-page Duval County "caterpillar" ballot, which directed voters to "vote all pages"). But those votes were irredeemably spoiled, and the consortium did not consider them. In terms of those votes that were arguably valid, Florida -- still -- is too close to call. In every scenario, the margins are smaller than the five hundred and thirty-seven votes by which Bush officially prevailed -- and smaller, too, than the margin of error.
12/18/2001 04:43:30 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Legal motions continue in trial for Hells Angels bikersGilles Dore, a lawyer for several other bikers, told Quebec Superior Court Justice Rejean Paul he has tried to interest colleagues but they don't want to be tied up in a lengthy trial.
They are also concerned about getting paid because the government has frozen the bikers' assets, claiming they are the proceeds of crime. The bikers are also not eligible for legal aid.
12/18/2001 03:20:39 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Guardian Unlimited Film | News | Hollywood enlists its heroes to lift the spirit of America"I wasn't trying to find scenes that would fit. When you add up all the images - from a spunky Mary Pickford to Ben Affleck as a heroic soldier, you feel the changing, enduring and endlessly interesting American character"
Would that be the same Mary "America's Sweetheart" Pickford that was born in Toronto, which happens to be in Canada?
12/18/2001 02:59:54 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
ZDNet |UK| - News - Story - Computer experts probe 11 September deals"There is a suspicion that some people had advance knowledge of the approximate time of the plane crashes in order to move out amounts exceeding $100m," Wagner said. "They thought that the records of their transactions could not be traced after the main frames were destroyed."
12/18/2001 02:53:44 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Klein to 'curb and control' drinking after shouting match with homelessHe also told reporters he doesn't believe drinking alcohol has affected his duties as premier.
12/18/2001 01:56:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
washingtonpost.com: Capitol Hill Anthrax Matches Army's StocksThose matching samples are at Fort Detrick; the Dugway Proving Ground military research facility in Utah; a British military lab called Porton Down; and microbial depositories at Louisiana State University (LSU) and Northern Arizona University. Northern Arizona University received its sample from LSU, which received its sample from Porton Down. Dugway and Porton Down got their samples directly from USAMRIID.
12/18/2001 01:29:14 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
politechbot.com: U.S. phone eavesdropping software open to spying --Fox NewsThe manufacturers have continuing access to the computers so they can service them and keep them free of glitches. This process was authorized by the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA. Senior government officials have now told Fox News that while CALEA made wiretapping easier, it has led to a system that is seriously vulnerable to compromise, and may have undermined the whole wiretapping system.
12/18/2001 09:29:14 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Monday, December 17, 2001
Thestar.com/Nobody monitoring safety of Ontario water"We don't know whether they're analysing the data they do have, we don't know what they know, and without reporting to the public, the public can't determine whether the environmental policies that are in place are effective."
12/17/2001 07:11:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNN.com - U.N.: Child sex trade 'a form of terrorism' - December 17, 2001"The commercial sexual exploitation and abuse of children is nothing less than a form of terrorism -- one whose wanton destruction of young lives and futures must not be tolerated for another year, another day, another hour," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy told Reuters news agency.
12/17/2001 07:07:24 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Suspect Claims Al Qaeda Hacked Microsoft - ExpertDuring interrogation, Afroze, 25, also claimed that a member or members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, posing as computer programmers, were able to gain employment at Microsoft and attempted to plant "trojans, trapdoors, and bugs in Windows XP," according to Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad, a New Delhi information systems and telecommunication consultant.
12/17/2001 07:05:09 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
amebo: I Have Been Fair to Women, Says ObasanjoHe added that there were certain positions and social roles in the society that were not suitable for women.
12/17/2001 06:37:06 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
washingtonpost.com: National ID Card Gaining SupportAny such proposals in the past foundered on a distrust of centralized government as old as the American republic. Opponents raised the specter of prying bureaucrats with access to databases full of personal information, of Gestapo-like stops on the street and demands to produce papers, and the kind of unchecked police authority that would erode constitutional protections.
12/17/2001 06:06:49 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Ananova - Woman registers poodle to voteAlbert's address was on a card registering "Cocoa Fernandez," the poodle, as a Republican. Cocoa got on the [Florida] voter register in July.
Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose.
12/17/2001 06:00:38 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
ALLNEWS.RU: NEWS: Prosecutor Demands 9 Years For Russian Journalist[Gregory Pasko] was arrested on November 20, 1998 at the airport of Vladivostok, after his arrival from Japan. Russia's fleet intelligence service accused him of espionage, saying he had divulged information about the combat readiness of Russia's Pacific Fleet to the Japanese television station NHK.
12/17/2001 05:50:04 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AMERICAS | Haiti gunmen stage 'coup attempt'The presidential spokesman said that before attacking the national palace, the commandos had attempted to assault the national penitentiary, but had been rebuffed.
12/17/2001 05:44:41 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
cbc.ca: Sept. 11 no longer taboo for American comics"I checked my bags in. The person said, 'Are these your bags, sir?' Yes they are. 'Did you pack them yourself.' Yes I did. They arrested me."
12/17/2001 05:37:15 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Foreign journalists told to leave Kandahar now"You are our guests, but it is no longer safe," said commander Gul Lali, who now heads the militia that is trying to bring order to Kandahar after two months of bombing by the United States and more than a week of deadly fighting by rival tribal factions.
12/17/2001 05:21:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Ananova - Police enlist tabloid in hunt for sex offendersThe sex offenders have served their jail sentences but have since gone missing and unlawfully failed to notify police of their whereabouts.
12/17/2001 05:20:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
AfricaOnline.com - Burkina demonstrators demand explanation of journalist's deathOn December 13, 1998, the charred bodies of Norbert Zongo, editor of the newspaper L'Independent and three other people were found in a car, 100 km outside Ouagadougou. The demonstrators were marching to protest the fact that, three years later, no one knows why they were murdered. It is the latest in a long wave of protests touched off by the killings.
12/17/2001 05:17:47 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Not Much Exuberance, Irrational or Otherwise, on Wall St."We're going to hear layoff announcements into the first quarter of next year," said Frank Fernandez, chief economist of the Securities Industry Association, a trade group. Mr. Fernandez said that he believed that Wall Street profits would bottom out by the second quarter of next year but that firms might not be ready to expand again for another two or three years.
12/17/2001 05:14:37 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
cbc.ca: Sept. 11 could hurt Canadian charities"Bowel disease is not sexy," laments Mort Weiseberg of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, as he drops off a bag of bagels to a supporter. "It's very difficult to find people who want to contribute to bowel disease."
12/17/2001 04:52:06 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Book From Cantor Fitzgerald ChiefHoward W. Lutnick, chairman of the bond-trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is writing a book about his company's struggle through the deaths of more than 600 of its 1,000 employees in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
12/17/2001 04:22:57 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Chicago Tribune: Coercive and illegal tactics torpedo scores of Cook County murder casesPolice have obtained confessions from men who, according to records, were in jail when the crime occurred. They have obtained confessions refuted by DNA evidence. They have obtained confessions that contradicted the facts of the crime.
12/17/2001 04:00:19 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Saturday, December 15, 2001
NATIONAL POST ONLINE | Al-Qaeda operatives in CanadaDetails of bin Laden's Canadian operations, obtained exclusively by the National Post, show al-Qaeda has suspected supporters in Canada's largest cities, many of them engaged in functions such as fundraising that feed the international Islamic terror network.
12/15/2001 12:56:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Friday, December 14, 2001
CBC News: Israel sends planes, tanks into Palestinian villagesWitnesses reported at least seven major blasts.
12/14/2001 01:09:01 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Still Heavily Armed, Ready to Die and Recovering NicelyToday, in a bizarre penultimate twist in this month's dramatic collapse of the Taliban, those same patients still occupy three adjacent rooms in Ward D. They demand top medical care, but they also stand ready at the slightest provocation to blast themselves and anyone nearby to bits.
12/14/2001 11:12:52 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Afghan 'kamikaze camels' warningThe Afghan mujahideen fighters would strap dynamite to a camel and send it towards a Russian base. Then, as the animal wandered near troops or equipment, they would set it off with a remote detonator, to deadly effect.
12/14/2001 11:05:15 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Ananova - Terror suspect to confess Houses of Parliament plot"I do not want to engage any advocate to defend me. I have decided to confess on my own. It is also not true that I am mentally sick and I do not want to undergo any psychiatric treatment."
12/14/2001 10:58:21 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
USAF outlines plans for 'military space plane' - Jane's Defence NewsThe MSP concept envisions a family of systems capable of missions like replenishing on-orbit satellites and surging space-based surveillance assets during a crisis. It could also be used to conduct precision strikes against terrestrial targets.
12/14/2001 10:55:29 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
DEBKAfile: Was Bin Laden Playacting for Incriminating Tape? 14 DecemberThis show of piety and humility sounds very much like Bin Laden playing to the fundamentalist gallery. He meant to impress and inspire the faithful to follow in his footsteps. In another part of the tape, it is claimed that since September 11, the numbers of applicants for places at Muslim study and prayer centers is up. His horrific deed was thus justified in the eyes of his Saudi friend.
12/14/2001 10:39:23 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: Alliance ousts Grey, StrahlThe woman who helped found the Reform Party and became its first MP has been dumped from the movement in a decision Thursday night by the Canadian Alliance's national council.
12/14/2001 10:37:16 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
91 E-Mails From Ground ZeroFrom: MCDonnell, Gerry
Sent: Tues, September 11, 2001
9:12 AM
To: NY OFFICE
Subject: Plane Crash
If anyone is there please call me immediately at extension 7273. I need to check on your safety and to see if there is anything I can do to help you.
Gerry McDonnell
12/14/2001 10:22:14 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Digital Mementos of Terror's VictimsIn the electronic age, everything can be deleted with a keystroke. But it turns out that some bits and bytes are no less emotionally charged than mementos like clothing and handwritten letters. Many of those involved in the events of Sept. 11 have done whatever they can to preserve voice mail and e-mail and even instant messages that in some cases are the last electronic imprint of a person's life.
12/14/2001 10:19:48 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
NATIONAL POST ONLINE | South African justiceA starting prosecutor grosses less than $10,000 a year. Mr. Schoenteich says that in one township office, 18 prosecutors share three desks. Many others are not equipped with a computer or a fax machine. Their libraries are out of date and some say it is impossible to access the latest law journals.
12/14/2001 10:06:51 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Neighbour states give Mugabe their blessing"I will have some difficulty in inviting some white men here," said Mr Mugabe, according to the state-owned Herald newspaper. "I would rather invite Asians or the Caribbeans, but for the EU as a bloc, I doubt."
12/14/2001 09:54:27 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Namibian | Local News | Rand plunge, Zim crisis hit Namibia"If prices of basic foodstuffs like grain and wheat are going up this can have a negative impact on the poor and can have political consequences"
12/14/2001 09:37:57 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
news.telegraph.co.uk: Zimbabwe police detain opposition leader[Morgan Tsvangirai] said that police had demanded that he produce a licence for a walkie-talkie he used to communicate with his personal security guards.
12/14/2001 09:34:54 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | WORLD | SA ordered to provide Aids drugsThe landmark ruling said that the government had to provide the drug nevirapine to all women giving birth in public hospitals, and institute a comprehensive programme to reduce mother-to child transmission nationwide.
12/14/2001 09:30:59 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Congo students kill three police in campus riot"People were running for their lives. Two government ministers were stoned and when they tried to leave the campus, the crowd pulled three policemen into the bush, stabbed them and took their AK-47s"
12/14/2001 09:26:06 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
PDF transcription of December 13, 2001 bin Laden broadcast12/14/2001 09:21:56 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Thursday, December 13, 2001
amebo:Secession Threat Irresponsible, Obasanjo Tells OjukwuSaid he: "I have no fear that if what Nigeria comes out with from the National Conference is not exactly what we Ndigbo want, we may talk about secession. We do not want to break up Nigeria but if you treat us as a goat, we will behave like a goat, even like a he-goat."
12/13/2001 06:34:06 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
TAP: Web Feature: Afghanistan Rebuilds as Israel Crumbles. by Alyssa R. Rayman-Read and Lindsay Sobel. December 6, 2001.Very extensive. Via Bushwacker.
12/13/2001 04:44:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Surgeon General Orders Americans to Lose Weight12/13/2001 04:11:38 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AFRICA | Hands-on sentence in NigeriaLast week, in a bid to stop his hand being amputated, Mohamed Ali told the Islamic court in Sokoto where he was charged with theft, that he had renounced his Muslim faith, was now a Christian and therefore could not be tried under Sharia law.
But the young man stunned the court on Thursday when he admitted he had lied.
12/13/2001 04:01:48 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Chicago Tribune: Germany uses new law to ban extremist groupThe Caliphate State and its imprisoned leader have been closely observed by German domestic security services for years. But only now does the country have the power to dismantle the organization, one of whose aims is to topple the secular government of Turkey and replace it with a fundamentalist Islamic state.
12/13/2001 03:24:08 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Opening of the bridge between Uzbekistan and AfghanistanThe European Union welcomes the announcement of the re-opening of the Friendship Bridge between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. This action by the Uzbek government should allow the volume of humanitarian aid entering Afghanistan from the north to be greatly increased.
12/13/2001 03:22:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
allAfrica.com: State Admits Failure to End Violence in Tana RiverThe Pokomo, a farming community, have protested at the government decision to disarm local homeguards saying it would make them vulnerable to attacks by the pastoralists who have sophisticated weapons.
12/13/2001 03:16:40 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
iWon - Ukraine Journalists Armed with Rubber Bullet GunsReporters' representatives were quoted by local media as saying the measure would put journalists in danger and was an admission the government was powerless to defend the press.
12/13/2001 02:56:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Guatemala to Reopen Journalist's Case[Irma Flaquer Azurdia] had drawn the ire of this country's military with her column "What Others Don't Say," in which she openly criticized the government and the army, accusing both of committing thousands of human rights violations.
12/13/2001 02:52:44 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | EUROPE | Russian journalist in treason re-trialGrigory Pasko is accused of passing classified documents on the combat-readiness of the Russian Pacific fleet to Japanese media.
BBC is loaded with interesting stuff today.
12/13/2001 02:51:16 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Background checks, higher fees for Canadian passportsThe government is considering a booklet embedded with holograms, a three-dimensional photographic image, and other security features.
12/13/2001 02:21:33 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Bin Laden discusses Sept. 11 attacks: videotape"We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower. We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them all. (...Inaudible...) due to my experience in this field, I was thinking that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above it only. This is all that we had hoped for," said bin Laden, according to the translation.
12/13/2001 01:48:41 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AMERICAS | US withdraws from ABM treaty"Russia has no fears for its security. Russia can be unconcerned with its defence systems. Maybe other nations should be concerned if the United States chooses to abandon the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty," [Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Kasyanov] told the Associated Press news agency.
12/13/2001 11:41:48 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Parliament suicide attack stuns IndiaThe motive remains unclear. No group has admitted carrying out the attack - which Indian Home Minister LK Advani said was similar to an October strike against the Kashmir state assembly by separatist militants.
12/13/2001 11:34:46 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. -Ambrose Bierce
12/13/2001 02:46:02 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Wednesday, December 12, 2001
Iran Judiciary Closes Newspapers``One of our greatest glories is closure of offending newspapers. Based on our assessments, by doing this, we have done the greatest service to the people,'' IRNA quoted him as saying.
12/12/2001 09:51:50 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
politechbot.com: The odd Usenet trail of "American Taliban" WalkerI plan on selling all of the 200 items listed below as a single package, and I'm not willing to break any of it up. Among these records are many classics, collectors items, and out of print rarities, so please make reasonable bids. If you have any questions about individual records, just ask. I intend to take the best offer I recieve.
12/12/2001 06:57:09 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Ottawa considering allowing armed U.S. customs agents in CanadaCanadian officials insist the government isn't bowing to U.S. pressure. They say it's a response to the unparalleled terrorist attacks exactly three months ago.
12/12/2001 01:20:09 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Thestar.com/Terror cell `had base in Canada'Security expert Norm Inkster, a former RCMP commissioner, said it is the first he's heard that Al Qaeda had a direct presence in this country.
"I haven't read anything suggesting Al Qaeda had cells or people here," Inkster said in an interview yesterday.
"I think it re-enforces the need for Canadians to be vigilant," he said, adding the new information suggests Canada is vulnerable to infiltration by groups like Al Qaeda.
12/12/2001 01:10:16 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Afghan women still wait for liberty"The men in the crowd listen to us, but the women don't. They need discipline," one soldier said.
12/12/2001 12:52:16 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Defiant Nigeria to import cheap copies of HIV drugsThe groundbreaking decision will infuriate big drug firms which have been trying to coax African governments into de facto recognition of copyright agreements by offering cut-price medicines.
12/11/2001 10:30:28 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Gazette NewsroomWelcome to a site put together by some Montreal Gazette reporters and editors on their own time. It is part of a protest against the decision by Southam News to force 12 of its major metropolitan newspapers to run "national editorials" written at the corporate headquarters of parent company CanWest Global Communications Corp.
12/11/2001 08:11:50 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
War on Terrorism Brings Plan to Cut Smithsonian FinancingFortress America, safe and stupid.
12/11/2001 07:34:36 PM shad muegge bookmark
Man whose flying lessons raised suspicion indicted in Sept. 11 terror attacksThe attorney general also announced a list of 23 unindicted coconspirators. In addition to bin Laden, they include bin Laden's deputy, Ayman Zawahiri; all 19 of the Sept. 11 hijackers; a man the FBI has identified as the intended 20th member of the hijack team; and bin Laden's alleged financial manager, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hisawi.
12/11/2001 05:16:49 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
SUBINTSOC.NET: Brain Teaser: Homeland Insecurity12/11/2001 05:11:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
15 reasons to seal the Presidential Papers -- if you're the presidentIt just might be that, during the Reagan/Bush years, we were visited by creatures from outer space and their meeting with Messrs. Reagan and Bush would be alarming to the general population even 20 years down the road. It is, of course, one of the duties of the very brilliant and very gifted to look out for the rest of us, to provide a shield, if you will..
12/11/2001 02:20:40 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Anti-terror protesters moved from McLellan's office sit-inThey've been in the office since Friday to protest against the government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation, Bill C-36.
12/11/2001 02:03:03 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | EUROPE | Milosevic defiant at genocide hearing"I should be credited with peace in Bosnia, not for war," he said.
12/11/2001 02:00:10 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
WTC UFO sightings page Not in English. Could be saying anything.12/11/2001 01:59:21 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
IHT: After Years of Denials, U.S. Links Illness to Gulf WarMore than 100,000 U.S. service members sent to the region in 1990 and 1991 have reported a range of maladies, including fatigue, muscle pain, memory loss and sleep disorders. But previous studies had found no definitive links, although several suggested that the ailments might be due to chemical exposures, stress or prophylactic medicines administered to soldiers.
12/11/2001 01:48:51 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Monday, December 10, 2001
Afghan women's group gloomy on post-Taliban era"The Northern Alliance were criminals to our mothers and young daughters," the women shouted at a small demonstration in the Pakistani capital. Children accompanying them waved banners and pictures of Northern Alliance fighters killing Taliban.
12/10/2001 09:38:16 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
China Introduces Anti-Dumping LawAccording to the statute, anti-dumping investigations will be conducted on the condition that imported products enter China at a price lower than their actual export value, and actually cause damage, or pose a potential danger, to domestic enterprises.
12/10/2001 09:31:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
online.ie : Defiant Zimbabwe ready to risk isolation"There can be no sanctions smart enough to affect Zimbabweans alone. Our destinies are intertwined," Mudenge told visiting ministers of the 14 nation Southern African Development Community in Harare.
12/10/2001 09:22:09 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Daily Mail&Guardian: God bless Zimbabwe ... as no one else in authority will. The state of political play in Zimbabwe not only raises global concerns, but also deeper issues about the nature of the regime, writes DUNCAN CLARKEControl of the press and later its intimidation and attempted repression was implemented as a necessity for the retention of fading power and diminished legitimacy. Propaganda in the form of the Ministry of Information took on a grotesque and Kafkaesque quality.
12/10/2001 09:20:43 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Is it in Bush's political interest to prolong the war? - Get tomorrow's cliché today at kausfiles. By Mickey KausPrediction! Kausfiles will be roundly condemned as unpatriotic for this item. But within two months the essential point?that it's in Bush's political interest to keep the war going?will be such a staple of punditry that you will switch channels when you hear it.
12/10/2001 04:39:37 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: Hey, Alan -- how about those credit-card rates?Last year, Canadians spent about $110-billion on their Visa and MasterCard credit cards, equivalent to 10 per cent of Canada's gross domestic product, and three times as much as was charged in 1990. At the end of last year, $35-billion of that was still outstanding -- and depending on the card, the interest rate on that outstanding balance could be anywhere from 18 per cent to 20 per cent. And those are the cheap credit cards. Department store cards such as those from Sears and Zellers, or cards issued by gas stations and other retailers, often have rates closer to 30 per cent.
12/10/2001 03:13:14 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Canada crowing over NATO pactRussian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has heaped praise on Canada for suggesting the new NATO joint council. When he discovered Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley at an international meeting in Romania last week, Mr. Ivanov interrupted the meeting to hug Mr. Manley and express his fondness for the Canadian minister.
12/10/2001 02:48:51 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Chicago Tribune: Terror attacks spur Japan to ease curbs on its armed forcesThe law, passed Friday on the 60th anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, came after decades of vitriolic debate between pacifists determined to maintain Japan's "peace constitution" and those who argued that the time had come for Japan to commit combat troops to international peacekeeping efforts.
12/10/2001 02:47:03 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
ZDNet |UK| - News - Story - Internet kiosks help domestic violence victimsFour public Internet points across the capital have been installed with a new channel, which provides advice and helpline information for victims of abusive relationships. Cityspace, the IT company that provides the i-plus network of kiosks for the Greater London Authority (GLA), reports that the level of response has been encouraging, with an average of eight women a day using the kiosks for advice on mental or physical abuse.
12/10/2001 02:45:48 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Silver Bullet-ism: Technology Runs to the RescueSome members of the audience seemed uncomfortable with this vision of the future. But while Mr. Huber blithely agreed that it was "Orwellian," he insisted that "it can be done with due regard to civil liberties."
12/10/2001 02:32:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | BUSINESS | Barbed-wire bra protest over Burma investmentUnder the slogan "Support Breasts - not Dictators", protestors will urge British consumers to boycott the firm [Triumph International] until its Burmese factory is closed.
12/10/2001 02:30:25 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
‘He’s Got To Decide if He Wants to Live or Die Here’On the tape, it is a bright Sunday morning in Kala Jangi. Dozens of prisoners have been taken out of the prison and placed outside, near the center of the compound. Waiting for them are the Americans, Johnny "Mike" Spann, and another CIA agent known only as Dave. Spann is wearing blue jeans and a black jumper. A Kalashnikov rifle is strapped across his back. Dave is dressed in a black tunic that reaches below his knees, with tan trousers beneath. Walker had apparently been pointed out to Spann as a Westerner, or someone who spoke English.
12/10/2001 02:28:01 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Is pristine B.C. on a slippery slope?Making good on an election promise to spur economic development, the provincial Liberal government is chipping at a backlog of dozens of applications from tourism companies that aim to capitalize on B.C.'s many untouched mountaintops, river valleys and glacier-fed lakes.
12/10/2001 02:24:47 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BIN LADEN'S SONS WILL KILL HIM ON TVEstranged wife Sabiha, who abandoned him after he took another wife aged 17, revealed the "suicide" plan on Russian TV channel, TV6.
12/10/2001 02:22:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Narco News Beats Banamex!"Since principles of defamation law may be applied to the Internet... this court determines that Narco News, its website, and the writers who post information, are entitled to all the First Amendment protections accorded a newspaper-magazine or journalist in defamation suits... Furthermore, the nature of the articles printed on the website and Mr. Giordano's statements at Columbia University constitute matters of public concern because the information disseminated relates to the drug trade and its affect on people living in this hemisphere..."
12/10/2001 01:36:33 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Sunday, December 09, 2001
Ottawa Sun: Diplomat's death remains unsolved...a jailed American who claims to be an ex-naval intelligence agent is spinning another story about the death. Part of his fantastical conspiracy theory is that Bastien had been working as an intelligence agent and was murdered because he knew too much. Delmart Vreeland, 35, has sworn information in a Toronto courtroom that suggests Bastien obtained highly sensitive information about terrorist plots -- including foreknowledge of attacks that took place Sept. 11 on U.S. targets.
12/9/2001 06:29:31 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Saturday, December 08, 2001
Journalist Robert Fisk attacked in Afghanistan"At first they were reasonably friendly but then a little kid threw a stone at me. More stones followed and then I found myself being punched and beaten in the face."
He knocked a couple of his attackers to the ground but was then rescued by a Muslim religious leader, who forced the mob back and guided him to a police wagon.
"Without his intervention I would now be dead," [Fisk] said.
12/8/2001 09:40:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Pakistan Ended Aid to Taliban Only HesitantlyOn Oct. 8 and again on Oct. 12, Pakistani border guards at a dusty checkpoint in the Khyber Pass waved on convoys headed into Afghanistan. Western intelligence officials said that under the trucks' tarpaulins were rifles, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenade launchers for Taliban fighters.
12/8/2001 09:32:55 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Confessions of a TraitorTo use Mr. Gerson's language, it's sick that amid a Justice Department crackdown that indiscriminately (and often pointlessly) rounds up young men for questioning on the basis of their ethnicity, the administration is not practicing such profiling at the venue where the strongest case can be made for it -- the airports where 19 hijackers jump-started their crime.
12/8/2001 09:28:25 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
washingtonpost.com: Ill-Equipped Troops Struggle to Find Way Into Al Qaeda's Lair"They are good people," Ghafar said, "but they are not organized well."
12/8/2001 09:24:50 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Patriotism & Censorship: Some journalists are silenced, while others seem happy to muzzle themselvesWar fever in the wake of the September 11 attacks has led to a wave of self-censorship as well as government pressure on the media. With American flags adorning networks' on-screen logos, journalists are feeling rising pressure to exercise "patriotic" news judgment, while even mild criticism of the military, George W. Bush and U.S. foreign policy are coming to seem taboo.
12/8/2001 02:30:21 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Times:Mullah Omar 'is captured'Mr Pashtoon said that Mullah Omar was being held in a "(Taleban)-friendly environment", but his group would demand that the Taleban Supreme Leader be handed over, probably to the new Afghan government, at a tribal meeting this morning.
12/8/2001 01:49:58 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Friday, December 07, 2001
CBS News | Smart Bombs Made Dumb? | Thu, 06 Dec 2001 23:50:06 ESTDue to production and testing problems at the plant, Peoples said, some were duds. Others exploded. Many developed cracks and should have been discarded, costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But employees tell us after-hours - with government inspectors gone - that they were ordered to seal the cracks with an unapproved material called loctite.
"And Eagle Picher did this not on hundreds, not on thousands, but on millions of batteries that they sold," Peoples said.
12/7/2001 06:07:39 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
washingtonpost.com: On the Run, Unrepentant"If I had a gun now, I would shoot you!" he yelled at two American reporters. "Get out of my face!"
12/7/2001 06:06:14 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNN.com - Celebrations, confusion as Kandahar falls - December 7, 2001Franks said the military does not have a "sense of comfort" regarding the stability of both Kandahar or Spin Boldak.
12/7/2001 05:27:08 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Reuters AlertNet - PHOTO GALLERY: demining in AngolaA communications team from AlertNet member Mines Advisory Group is sending daily photographic dispatches directly from Angola during the first week in December, showing how people get on with their lives in a village surrounded by land contaminated by mines. This photo gallery follows a MAG community liaison team in discussions with a village about landmines and unexploded ordnance in their community.
12/7/2001 03:46:14 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Former cops sentenced for subzero dropJudge Eugene Scheibel cited the fact that both men were facing financial ruin as reasons for the lighter sentence. Both men lost their jobs and their pensions after the incident.
12/7/2001 02:36:51 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Enza Wants You!No, I don't agree with many of the current policies of the Canadian Alliance Party. They have not been supportive of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans community in Canada. But I can see they desperately need my help, and as leader I can fix the party from within to make it a more inclusive and representative national party. And surely a Supermodel can make the Canadian Alliance take notice of our community and its strengths.
12/7/2001 09:33:33 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Taliban surrender Kandahar, Omar fate uncertain"Around 10,000 people, the majority of them Taliban soldiers, have been killed. During the last two weeks the casualties were so heavy that we were unable to resist the bombing and our defence lines were broken,"
12/7/2001 09:32:06 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
opinion.telegraph.co.uk - Murderous Mugabe should be treated like bin LadenHe has no cash for meals, just vouchers, and he can't even get a job as a waiter. He's an asylum seeker, an incredibly talented one. Having only started playing the piano aged 11 because they needed a pianist for school assembly, he didn't have a piano to practise on until he was 13. Yet he won a music scholarship to Britain after the judges listened to a tape recording of his work. After five years' training, he wanted to return to his country to play in concerts and teach classical music to black children. But Robert Mugabe had other ideas.
12/7/2001 03:54:52 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Israeli jets hit Gaza CityThe BBC Correspondent in Gaza City says she was woken up by a loud explosion, and saw clouds of smoke rising into the sky in the area of the main police station.
12/7/2001 12:17:48 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Thursday, December 06, 2001
Does This Really Pose a Security Threat?Disposable cell phones can be purchased and used anonymously. People--including terrorists--can pay cash, communicate with each other and then grab a new phone, making it difficult for law enforcement to track criminal activity. Ashcroft and his lackeys contend that changes in the law are needed immediately because the new phones offer anonymous communication.
12/6/2001 06:03:22 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Nando Times: Saudi man denies reported links to bin Laden; inquiry underway in GermanyStern published an interview Wednesday with an unnamed German businessman who said that in 1993, Enany approached him about purchasing missiles, biological and chemical substances that were intended for Arab friends with connections to bin Laden.
12/6/2001 05:31:15 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Uzbek warlord rejects Afghan dealHe said he had demanded his mainly Uzbek Jombesh-e Melli faction be given the foreign ministry in the transitional government.
Instead, it got the portfolios of agriculture, mining and industry - and a rival alliance faction, Jamiat-e Islami, took foreign affairs, as well as defence and interior.
12/6/2001 05:22:31 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Three Cleared by DNA Tests Enjoy Liberty After 15 Years"This evidence appeared overwhelming, and yet we know now, obviously, that it was underwhelming," said Rob Warden, director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern Law School. "When we see the vast numbers of errors that occur in these relatively few DNA cases, what does that say about the rest of the system? We can only wonder about how many innocent people we've executed and how many hundreds, thousands of people are languishing in prison for crimes they did not commit."
12/6/2001 05:02:54 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
NYPOST.COM Regional News: EX-CON EYED IN VISA SCAM, WTC RIP-OFF By AL GUARTTin Yat Chin, 44, was charged with impersonating a federal agent to rob Chinese immigrants with phony promises he could deliver green cards for their family members.
12/6/2001 04:04:33 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | MEDIA REPORTS | Taleban blast Bonn accord"This is a puppet administration set up by outsiders. This administration cannot resolve the problems of Afghanistan," the Taleban former ambassador in Islamabad, Mullah Abdossalam Zayif, told the Afghan Islamic Press news agency.
12/6/2001 03:57:00 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Elite Canadian commandos get marching ordersMembers of the Canadian army's secretive anti-terrorist unit Joint Task Force Two or JTF-2, are on the move and may be heading to Afghanistan.
12/6/2001 03:49:04 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNN.com - Protests follow house arrest of Hamas leader - December 6, 2001Yassin's house arrest came as a result of action taken by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who, under growing pressure from the United States and Israel to crack down on terrorists. was scheduled to meet Thursday with retired U.S. Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni. Arafat promised Zinni in a meeting earlier this month he would devote 100 percent of his efforts to fighting terrorism.
12/6/2001 02:57:08 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | AFRICA | 'Hundreds raped' in Kenya clashesThey accused both police and rioters of raping women during the fighting between mostly ethnic Nubian landlords and their Luo tenants which started on Tuesday.
12/6/2001 02:49:40 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Taliban leader to surrender KandaharKarzai says Omar agreed to put himself under the protection of tribal leaders but he did not specify what Omar's ultimate fate would be. He said that remained to be decided.
12/6/2001 02:19:28 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Matt Welch: Judge Tells ex-SLA Terrorist Olson She’s GuiltyBut before the show could begin, Olson pled guilty. Then, facing reporters, she claimed she was innocent, but knew she couldn't get a fair trial after the Sept. 11 massacre. The judge, who was pissed off, called her back in a week later to ask her if she was guilty or not. She said she was, and reaffirmed her plea. A week after that, she reversed herself again, said she lied about being guilty because no jury could give her a fair trial. The judge called a hearing, which was held yesterday, and said he would put Olson on the witness stand to be cross-examined. She once again withdrew her plea.
12/6/2001 01:42:29 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Afghanistan's New RulersThis council will rule the country for up to six months, during which an especially-appointed independent commission will make preparations for a loya jirga, a traditional grand assembly of tribal elders. It will decide on a transitional administration to run the country for another two years or so, during which a new constitution will be drafted and, eventually, elections will be held. The agreement also provides for foreign peacekeepers to provide security in and around Kabul.
12/6/2001 01:07:00 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: Afghan doctor named to interim post-Taliban government"It's a very positive thing that women have a role in this interim government; it will be no easy task but at the same time it is not difficult to see and identify the great needs facing women in Afghanistan," Dr. Samar said in a statement Wednesday.
12/6/2001 12:25:40 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
IHT: Qaida's No. 2 Is Said to Die as Tora Bora Attack Starts"This morning I got the news from my commanders in the mountains," said the Afghan commander, Aleem Shah. "Zawahiri is dead."
12/6/2001 12:07:33 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Wednesday, December 05, 2001
Disrepair in military deplored"The [Defence] Department has frequently said that the Canadian Forces have never been more capable," Ms. Fraser said. "But until steps are taken to manage equipment readiness more adequately, these claims should be taken with a grain of salt."
12/5/2001 11:44:45 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Thestar.com/Ottawa to create airport security agencyAn "external agency" operating in a similar fashion to not-for-profit agency Nav Canada will be announced as a means of pulling together all elements of airport security, The Canadian Press has learned.
12/5/2001 11:34:26 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
freedomforum.org: Haitian radio journalist slainThe mob ambushed his car, stopping it and breaking the windows. Lindor managed to escape the rock-throwing crowd and sought refuge in a nearby home. The mob dragged him out and hacked him to death with machetes.
12/5/2001 11:26:58 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Hamas beats off Arafat's forcesGunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas freed their leader soon after he was placed under house arrest by Palestinian security forces.
12/5/2001 11:25:41 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Guardian Unlimited Observer | International | Fury as Zimbabweans sent to 'certain death'Hilton Matiza (21), an MDC member from Harare, the capital, has been told he will be removed from the country tomorrow and sedated with a sleeping drug if necessary to get him on the plane. In Zimababwe, he says, he was set upon twice by Mugabe's Zanu-PF gangs and imprisoned without charge by the authorities after it was discovered he was an opposition supporter.
12/5/2001 01:28:15 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Nando Times: CIA operative sues over accidental bombing of Chinese embassy in 1999The operative is a 46-year-old of Russian origin identified in the lawsuit only by the pseudonym "Mitford." A statement from his lawyers says he was among mid- and lower-ranking agency employees "falsely blamed" for the mistaken bombing, which left three Chinese journalists dead.
12/5/2001 01:27:24 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Thestar.com/How Canada wasted millionsIn the toughly worded report, Fraser blamed the "chronic problems" with federal grant programs squarely on the federal government, complaining that too much money is being spent without the scrutiny of elected politicians.
12/5/2001 01:26:23 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Ellison donates software for U.S. securityEllison has suggested airport security would be improved by requiring travelers to provide their names and social security numbers to airport security personnel. Security personnel could then compared the travelers' thumbprints with those stored in a national security database to ensure accurate identification.
12/5/2001 01:20:31 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Afghan factions sign landmark deal"You must live up to your commitment to promote national reconciliation, protect human rights, encourage relations with your neighbours. You must serve your people in a democratic and transparent manner"
12/5/2001 01:15:55 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Anti-terror powers won't be abused, say police groups"The provisions of this act are not going to come into play typically for the officers on the front line. They will be implemented by officers specially trained for this purpose," said Chief Vince Bevan.
12/5/2001 01:11:32 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Tuesday, December 04, 2001
The Nando Times: Machete-wielding gangs kill 12 in Kenyan slum"They're killing our people with machetes and clubs because they want to force us out of our land. They want our residences," Fatma Nynazwa said of gangs. She was trying to help an injured man when police grabbed him and threw him into a truck. They punched and kicked her before she managed to escape.
12/4/2001 09:30:26 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Straight Goods - Ken Hechtman Exclusive: An incredible journey into and out of AfghanistanOn Sunday, Nov 25, I left a message on my home answering machine ("I'm going to Kandahar this morning, I'll be out of touch for a while.") and caught a bus for the border. After walking across the line I split a cab with a Pakistani aid worker from one of the many Spin Boldak refugee camps. The cab stopped at the Taliban border post, but the driver returned about 15 seconds later. "Nobody there," he said, and drove on.
12/4/2001 07:08:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Alive and Well, No Matter What the Lists SayMr. Heard belongs to one of the more peculiar subsets created by the aftermath of Sept. 11, people who found their way onto one or another of the lists of dead but who are in fact alive. Many were distant from the towers when they crumbled. Others narrowly eluded death. For logical or illogical reasons, however, their names got swept up among the many who did die in the ruins of that day.
12/4/2001 02:13:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
AU Press Release -- November 29, 2001 -- Bush prepared to nominate 'biblical law' activist J. Robert Brame to National Labor Relations Board via BushwackerBrame has served as a top official of American Vision, an Atlanta-based group that seeks to replace America's secular democracy with a "Christian" regime based on "biblical law," including enforcement of the harsh legal code of the Old Testament. He has also served as an advisor to the Plymouth Rock Foundation, a Plymouth, Mass., group with similar views.
12/4/2001 02:00:36 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
IHT: Afghans Set to Attack bin Laden CavesAleem Shah, a frontline commander for Hazarat Ali, a minister of the self-proclaimed, pro-American government here, the Eastern Shura, said the first of the fighters would leave Jalalabad at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. He said that some American special operations soldiers would be with them. Hundreds of Afghan fighters also will head for Meleva, a valley southwest of Tora Bora, where Qaida forces have also been seen in recent days, he said.
12/4/2001 01:55:58 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
STI: NUR MISUARI'S HEADQUARTERS: It's a bomb factory, says military chiefThe military recovered 200 kg of improvised explosives, 20 litres of improvised anti-personnel and armour mines and 600 electronic blasting caps among others from the building known as the Cabatangan complex in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
12/4/2001 01:53:35 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Ananova - Militant Islamic group calls for swift revenge"The (Palestinian) people's choice is resistance," he said, adding that all Palestinian forces, including Arafat's Palestinian Authority, "have to get involved in the uprising."
12/4/2001 01:48:04 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Are We At War Yet?Even the determination by his cabinet, after a stormy five-hour session later the same night, that the PA supports terrorism, is not quite a declaration of war. Nevertheless, it risks the breakdown of Israel's current coalition government. It also certainly paves the way for an intensification of military reprisals that have already begun.
12/4/2001 01:45:15 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
12/4/2001 01:37:41 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Globe and Mail: Don't topple Arafat, Peres warns Sharon"I know there are many members of my party who think the time has come to leave the government," Mr. Peres said Tuesday in Bucharest at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. "Upon my return home we shall meet and we shall decide."
12/4/2001 01:31:47 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
allAfrica.com: Mandela Warns US Attack On Iraq Would Be 'Disaster'"They are introducing chaos into international affairs," Mandela said. Referring to Washington's outstanding UN membership fees, he said it was "unacceptable" that that country was "dictating policy to the United Nations (though) they have not paid their dues".
12/4/2001 01:21:35 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
allAfrica.com: Circumcision, Youths Attack Defiant GirlsThe more than 80 girls had earlier pleaded with the provincial administration to bar their parents from forcing them to undergo circumcision.
12/4/2001 01:19:26 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Chicago Tribune: African critics of Zimbabwe get louderIn response, Zimbabwe's state-controlled newspaper lashed out at South Africa on Monday, accusing President Thabo Mbeki of betraying Zimbabwe and of joining Britain in trying to undermine Mugabe. Britain, the former colonial ruler of Zimbabwe, has been particularly critical of the violence and intimidation there.
12/4/2001 01:18:17 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Ridge warns of possible coming attacksTom Ridge On Monday, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge issued the warning, saying there had been an increase in perceived terrorist threats. "Ladies and gentlemen of America, we're at war," he said.
So Ridge can declare war?
12/4/2001 01:15:02 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Should you fear John Ashcroft?Only in the one case where Congress got involved has there been any real sense of striking a balance between liberty and privacy on the one hand and public safety on the other. Where the administration acts unilaterally, the result often seems skewed in favor of security, with constitutional rights as an annoyed afterthought. On the bright side, Bush, unlike such liberal heroes as Lincoln, Wilson, and FDR, has yet to grossly infringe the rights of Americans. For that he deserves a small bit of-provisional-credit.
12/4/2001 01:07:27 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Senate Declines to Take Up Proposed Cloning MoratoriumThe bill failed overwhelmingly on a procedural motion, in part because it was bundled with another contentious but unrelated measure that would have allowed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Republican leaders had hoped to force a vote on the issues by packaging them into an amendment to an unrelated bill governing retirement benefits for railroad workers.
12/4/2001 01:05:13 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Argentina Limits Withdrawals as Banks Near CollapsePresident Fernando de la Rua ordered that bank account withdrawals could not exceed $250 a week for the next 90 days. For needs beyond that, payments can be made by check or credit card.
12/4/2001 12:57:34 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
washingtonpost.com: Hundreds Flee Kandahar as Pressure RisesPashtun leaders complained that their efforts to negotiate a surrender in Kandahar have been frustrated by the fears of Taliban fighters that they will be killed if they give up. These fears, combined with orders for a fight to the finish from the Taliban leader, Mohammad Omar, have increased the danger of a bloody street-to-street struggle for the historic walled city, they said.
12/4/2001 12:56:26 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
American Taliban Took Odd RouteNow, at age 20, when many young Americans might be settling on a college major or thinking about a career, Walker is making international headlines, dubbed "the American Taliban" by the media worldwide.
12/4/2001 12:55:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Dispelling myth about Canada as terrorist portalYesterday [Ashcroft] went out of his way to stress that all of the hijackers had come to the United States directly. In addition, he revealed for the first time that our most infamous terrorist export, Ahmed Ressam, was caught at the Port Angeles ferry terminal because of a tip from Canadian sources.
12/4/2001 11:53:34 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Border security deal signed in OttawaInformation sharing is a key part of that integration, and under the agreement, the RCMP will become the first international police force to have access to the FBI's fingerprint database. It contains images of 42 million sets of fingerprints.
12/4/2001 01:15:01 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Afghan groups agree on framework for new governmentA United Nations spokesperson said Monday night the four groups - representing the Northern Alliance, those loyal to former King Mohammed Zahir Shah and two smaller groups of exiles - have agreed to set up a 29-member ruling council.
12/4/2001 01:13:49 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Monday, December 03, 2001
Statewatch News online: EU to create databases on "suspected" protestors" and all resident "foreigners""Barring potentially dangerous persons from participating in certain events [where the person is] notoriously known by the police forces for having committed recognised facts of public order disturbance"
12/3/2001 01:30:58 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Al-Qaida suspects in T.O.With no spots available at the immigration holding centre near Pearson, or area jails, the refugees had to be released, officers say. Among those, the RCMP and CSIS said, were a dozen men suspected by police of having ties -- or information about -- al-Qaida terrorists.
12/3/2001 02:24:02 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Sunday, December 02, 2001
The Times:Spectrum: Electronic gun aims to outsmart jet terroristsAll very impressive, but on a jet crammed with passengers a “laser beam of lead” is hardly conducive to safety. This is where the O’Dwyer VLE comes into its own. The gun is equipped with a second barrel, which can be loaded with non-lethal projectiles similar to bean bags that would knock an assailant flat without penetrating his skin or the aircraft’s fuselage.
12/2/2001 03:15:00 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Economist: On the GroundTwo worries have already emerged. One follows the words of Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, when he said America was not in a position to take prisoners of war and, at the same time, that he hoped foreign recruits to the Taliban's side would not be allowed to return home. This came horribly close to an invitation to kill even surrendering combatants, a practice long forbidden by the rules of war. Lawyers may argue about the nature of this "war", whether it is civil or international, whether foreigners are mercenaries or regulars, and whether those who fight for al-Qaeda and the Taliban are soldiers or mere terrorists. But the killing of prisoners, however nasty they may be, breaks a cardinal principle of warfare.
12/2/2001 03:10:03 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Twin suicide bombings kill 25The Islamic resistance group Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombings in Haifa and Jerusalem, which occurred as a U.S. envoy was in the region trying to forge an Israeli-Palestinian truce. Hamas and its sister group, Islamic Jihad, had vowed revenge against Israel's killing nine days ago of a top Hamas militant in the West Bank.
12/2/2001 03:07:31 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism Security With 26 Israelis Dead and More than 200 Injured in Palestinian Terror Rampage of Less than 24 Hours - PM Sharon Heads for Home after Foreshortened White House Meeting with President Bush Sunday2 December: Sunday morning, as Israelis held their breath for the Sharon government to stop the hideous cycle of terror peaking Saturday night atthe Jerusalem pedestrian mall, Palestinian terrorists struck again. Snipers shot dead Professor Baruch Singer, a scientist at the Nahal Sorek nuclear reactor, who was driving his jeep on a road between Elei Sinai and Nisanit, in the Gaza Strip.
12/2/2001 03:02:51 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Freed writer, longtime aficionado of Afghanistan, on way home to MontrealThe Montreal computer programmer, who admitted his journalistic career began on Sept. 11 after the terrorist attacks in the United States, defended his Taliban captors in an interview with Canadian reporters Sunday and condemned the U.S. attacks on the desolate country.
12/2/2001 02:51:43 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Ontario judge grants convicted terrorist bail...Justice Nordheimer said he had concerns about what happened in France because Ouzghar was found guilty without even knowning he was on trial.
12/2/2001 02:48:56 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Slashdot | When Should a Website Edit Its Users?"Can a weblog edit users comments without opening itself up to liability in case of a slander suit? I run a political weblog and have a policy similar to slashdots in terms of the comments posted belonging to their owners. I'm worried about instituting something like lameness filters as it seems like as soon as you start regulating what your users post you have agreed to edit them for other reasons as well. Can someone point me to a good resource on issues like this. Those of us who aren't owned by publically traded companies are better off avoiding potential problems rather than hire lawyers to help us wiggle out later."
12/2/2001 02:47:30 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Earth Times/WATER SUMMIT: Bonn will shape Johannesburg agenda. By Brij KhindariaThe UN system is treating water issues as technical matters for hydrology experts and health consultants, whereas they should be top priority political matters. How the family of nations will manage its common water resources in coming decades requires summit level decisions quickly. Based upon our current knowledge, it is not fanciful to assert that nations might fight wars within this century to protect water sources. Water might become a precious commodity sold through pipelines and tankers, as oil is today.
12/2/2001 02:38:57 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Berlin police use tear gas to quell anti-Nazi protestRiot police equipped with helmets and shields responded by driving back the demonstrators with water cannon, truncheons and tear-gas grenades. Police said that at least 20 protesters were arrested. Earlier, Jewish community leaders and the German government had described the decision by the 6,000-member NPD to hold a march near the Jewish quarter of Berlin as "an unbearable provocation".
12/2/2001 02:35:42 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
PioneerPlanet: At the U.S.-Canada crossroads, the vulnerabilities are painfully obviousSeveral miles away, Earl Karboviak has been hearing government helicopters flying over his farm since Sept. 11. He wonders if he will still be able to go get his horse back if the border is tightened up. A couple of times a year, Dakota strays too far north and Karboviak -- after making an international phone call to the Canadian farmer who is his nearest neighbor -- hikes past a century-old cast-iron boundary marker to retrieve his animal. If you're getting the impression that the border has been a bit loose, you're right.
12/2/2001 02:32:15 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CNN.com - Chinese women pursue 'sex slave' cause - December 2, 2001The women, all now in their 70s, belong to the Li ethnic group of south China's island province of Hainan where Xinhua says Japanese troops set up several "comfort houses" during the occupation.
12/2/2001 02:30:29 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
news.telegraph.co.uk - Britain asked to prepare strikes against terror bases in SomaliaThe request was made as it emerged that Saddam Hussein is funding a number of terrorist training camps in Somalia used by a militant Islamic group with close ties to al-Qa'eda. According to Iraqi dissident groups based in London, Saddam has agreed to provide funding, training and equipment to the Somali Islamic group al-Itihaad al-Islamiya in return for assistance from the Somali authorities in avoiding United Nations sanctions. Mr Bush placed al-Itihaad on his list of outlawed terrorist groups after the September 11 incident.
12/2/2001 02:28:49 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
iWon - Senate to Vote Monday on Drilling in Arctic RefugeA key part of the Bush administration's national energy plan, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, faces its first Senate vote late on Monday.
12/2/2001 02:23:44 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Scotsman Online - Zimbabwe press to fight gagging lawsThe law also would permit the government's Media and Information Commission to strip journalists of a planned licence to work that would be available only to Zimbabwean citizens. Special ministerial permission will be required for a Zimbabwean to work for a foreign news organisation.
12/2/2001 02:17:18 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CBC News: Canadian journalist released by Taliban"Because of the airstrikes, they were suspicious somebody was calling in those airstrikes, somebody on the ground, dressed like me, with a satellite phone...
"This makes them suspicious of anybody who's a foreigner, who's carrying maps, and so they thought I was a spy," he said.
12/2/2001 02:15:39 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Israel faces deadly onslaughtIsraeli officials blamed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and the United States demanded that he act against those responsible for the attacks.
12/2/2001 02:09:05 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
news.telegraph.co.uk - Bobby Fischer speaks out to applaud Trade Centre attacks"I was happy and could not believe what was happening. All the crimes the US has committed in the world. This just shows, what goes around comes around, even to the US."
12/2/2001 02:07:01 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Saturday, December 01, 2001
The AIDS Memorial QuiltProvide a creative means for remembrance and healing.
Illustrate the enormity of the AIDS epidemic.
Increase public awareness of AIDS.
Assist with HIV prevention education.
Raise funds for community-based AIDS service organizations.
12/1/2001 02:34:19 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
The Campaign - World AIDS DayBecause HIV and AIDS is a life-threatening disease and because of irrational fears about HIV infection, many people are, at best, uncomfortable with or, at worst, actively hostile to people who are HIV positive.
12/1/2001 02:30:31 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
UNAIDS: The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDSA new report released today, "AIDS Epidemic Update 2001", says the number of HIV infections in Eastern Europe is rising faster than anywhere else in the world. Reported figures are largely underestimated but even so, the latest figures reveal there were more than 75,000 reported new infections in Russia by early November, a 15-fold increase in just three years.
12/1/2001 02:28:20 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Daily Mail&Guardian: HIV/aids barometer - June 2001Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 4.13pm Thursday June 28: 42 164 219
12/1/2001 02:27:19 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Opinions | Herald-Leader Online | Kentucky Connect | AIDS' toll in CambodiaYou would never imagine to look at her, to hold her, that Mariana has HIV. However, like 34 other children in this orphanage of 125, she does.
12/1/2001 02:25:33 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Aids, Drugs, and Harm ReductionDownload PDF resource guide on How to Slow the HIV Epidemic in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union from soros.org.
12/1/2001 02:23:35 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
U.N.: AIDS Conference Whitewash (Human Rights Watch Press release, New York, June 20, 2001)In language agreed to by Canada, Australia, and several Latin American and European countries, the draft declaration makes explicit the goal of reducing incidence among "men who have sex with men, sex workers, [and] injecting drug users and their sexual partners," as well as prisoners and refugees. The United States proposes striking this list and replacing it with the vague and anodyne phrase, "vulnerable individuals," including those engaging in "risky sexual behavior." The Vatican prefers a similarly euphemistic reference to "people who have multiple sex partners." Egypt suggests substituting the judgmental phrase, "homosexuality among men, prostitution, and other forms of irresponsible sexual behavior."
12/1/2001 02:21:31 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Comment: UN Aids fund is a distractionThe UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, has called for funds of between $7bn and $10bn a year to tackle HIV/Aids. The unbelievable truth is that in response to this, a set of countries enjoying unprecedented wealth is proposing a global fund which is unlikely to attract more than $1bn, with no guarantee of further money to follow. Yet 23 of the world's poorest countries are set to repay twice that amount in debt this year.
12/1/2001 02:20:14 PM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
World AIDS Day: Link and Think: December 1, 2001What: Link and Think is an observance of World AIDS Day in the personal web publishing communities. Formerly "A Day With(out) Weblogs", the project involves hundreds of webloggers, journalers, diarists and other personal website publishers, each linking to resources about HIV/AIDS or publishing personal stories about how the AIDS pandemic has affected them.
12/1/2001 01:42:33 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark
CORRECTION: Al Gore Restaurateur Story WithdrawnAccording to a transcript provided by a representative for Gore, the former vice president said ``... we stopped at a little family restaurant in Tennessee. We were eating there by ourselves. It was a low-cost restaurant called Shoney's.''
12/1/2001 01:22:24 AM Gabrielle Taylor bookmark