news20090823lat

[Today's Newspaper] from [Los Angeles Times]

[Local News]
THE CALIFORNIA FIX
Decisive action on prison cuts is hard to come by
Legislators agreed last month to cut $1.2 billion from the prison budget, but details of how to do that remain in question. Federal orders to reduce the inmate population add pressure to the debate.
By Michael Rothfeld
August 23, 2009

Reporting from Sacramento - California lawmakers signed off last month on deep cuts to education, healthcare and welfare that many said they could scarcely have imagined in years past. But when it came time last week to address the state's overcrowded prison system -- an area where the Democrats who control the Legislature have long pushed for change -- they froze.

State prisons, criticized as unwieldy and inefficient by experts in California and across the country, have in recent years become the most sacred area of state government, seemingly impervious to transformation because of politics, fear and mistrust.

"You have an absolute hysteria," Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) said last week. Crime and corrections, she said, are "a visceral issue."

With federal courts this month ordering the state to reduce the prison population by 40,000 inmates, a budget crisis that makes it crucial for the state to do so and a major riot recently at a crowded Chino lockup, the likelihood of relieving pressure and saving money at California's correctional institutions has appeared higher than ever.

When state leaders reached a budget deal last month, prisons were the only area of government on which they could not agree how to make the necessary cuts -- $1.2 billion. On Thursday, the state Senate, without a vote to spare, approved a controversial package to fill in the details.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other supporters say the plan would refocus resources on California's most violent criminals, as other states have done, and reduce the number of low-level offenders churning in and out of expensive prison cells, cutting the inmate population by 37,000 over two years. It would also create a commission to reexamine state sentencing laws.

But in the Assembly, Bass could not round up enough votes from wary Democrats, at least 16 of whom are waging bids for higher office -- including three for attorney general -- that could be hampered if they were seen as soft on crime. With letters, phone calls and personal entreaties at the Capitol, local law enforcement representatives were lobbying lawmakers against the bill, hoping to defeat it.

Legislators listened to attack lines from Republicans: "Mayhem on the streets," Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Atwater) predicted. And Senate GOP leader Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta said the changes would let "bad people" take away Californians' life, liberty and property.

One senator invoked the name of Lily Burk, the Los Angeles teenager slain last month, even though corrections officials say the suspected killer, a parolee, would have received more scrutiny under the plan because he had a record of violence.

So Bass said she would try again Monday with a slimmed-down package.

Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), who is running for attorney general against fellow Assemblymen Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) and Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara), opposed the measures. He described as "early release" a provision that would allow some inmates to serve the last year of their term on home detention with electronic monitoring. In an interview, Lieu said his bid to become the state's chief law enforcer had nothing to do with his stance on the plan.

"Forget about healthcare, environment or education policy," Lieu said. "If people are not safe or don't feel safe, then government has failed."

Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Gardena) said that problems in prisons are important "institutional issues" but that they pale beside the public safety implications of releasing criminals into neighborhoods, "where the rubber meets the road."

The number of inmates in California's prison system has skyrocketed, from 76,000 in 1988 to nearly 170,000 today, with the advent of tough-on-crime measures such as the three-strikes law and increasingly harsh sentences imposed by lawmakers. Over the last decade, spending has more than doubled, from $4.7 billion in 2000 to $10.8 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June.

Over the years, the main impetus for change in prisons has been pressure from inmates' lawyers backed by the federal courts, which took control of a prison healthcare system they judged to be unconstitutionally deficient. Many experts have recommended ways to improve the prisons without significantly impairing public safety, but those suggestions have been swallowed by Sacramento's political vortex.

Schwarzenegger made fixing the prison system a priority in his first term, reorganizing the California Department of Corrections and adding the word "Rehabilitation" to its name. But critics said too little money followed to rehabilitate prisoners, and some of that funding is being cut now.

The governor several times proposed scaling back the state parole system, one of the nation's most stringent. But he has been unable to win support from legislators and law enforcement groups and in the past has backed away. Now, however, he has staunchly advocated the plan approved by the Senate.

He called on Democrats last week to exercise political courage on an issue he said was "politically risky." And he criticized Republicans who asked for more time on the issue: "We are losing total control over the system and people say, 'What is the rush?' "

Many experts say less serious offenders belong in county jails or on probation, where they may have family support systems nearby and a better chance to turn their lives around. County and city law enforcement officials have expressed willingness to take those prisoners, but they don't believe the state would provide funding for the added burden.

"The lack of trust about money is really interfering with great criminal justice policy in the state," said Jeanne Woodford, a former San Quentin State Prison warden and a corrections secretary under Schwarzenegger.

At least one local law enforcement group, the California State Sheriffs' Assn., does not oppose putting some state prisoners on home detention, an "alternative custody" approach that counties use with their own inmates. But in a letter Thursday, the association asked that state leaders reconsider proposals that would reduce penalties for some crimes and send those offenders to county jails instead of prison.

County lockups "are facing their own overcrowding crisis," the letter said.

Nick Warner, legislative director for the sheriffs' association, said they understand that if the state doesn't take action soon, the federal courts will. The judges in the prison case could order the state to implement parts of the package that is now before lawmakers or to release prisoners and limit admissions. They have said they would delay such plans pending an appeal of their ruling, however, which would probably keep the budgetary pressure on state officials.

Warner, citing the tough decisions to be made, said: "We'd like to help the legislators and the governor make reasoned choices in a way that is workable and manageable -- even if they are not good choices."

news20090823nyt

[Today's Newspaper] from [The New York Times]

[Middle East]
U.S. Shifts, Giving Names of Detainees to the Red Cross
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: August 22, 2009

WASHINGTON — In a reversal of Pentagon policy, the military for the first time is notifying the International Committee of the Red Cross of the identities of militants who were being held in secret at a camp in Iraq and another in Afghanistan run by United States Special Operations forces, according to three military officials.

The change begins to lift the veil from the American government’s most secretive remaining overseas prisons by allowing the Red Cross to track the custody of dozens of the most dangerous suspected terrorists and foreign fighters plucked off the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is a major advance for the organization in its long fight to gain more information about these detainees. The military had previously insisted that disclosing any details about detainees at the secretive camps could tip off other militants and jeopardize counterterrorism missions.

Detention practices will be in the spotlight this week. The Central Intelligence Agency on Monday is to release a highly critical 2004 report on the agency’s interrogation program by the C.I.A. inspector general.

The long awaited report provides new details about abuses that took place inside the agency’s secret prisons, including C.I.A. officers carrying out mock executions and threatening at least one prisoner with a gun and a power drill.

Also, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is expected to decide in the next several days whether to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate the interrogations of suspects accused of being involved in terrorism after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The new Pentagon policy on detainees took effect this month with no public announcement from the military or the Red Cross. It represents another shift in detention policy by the Obama administration, which has already vowed to close the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by next year and is conducting reviews of the government’s procedures for interrogating and detaining militants.

A spokesman for the Red Cross in Washington, Bernard Barrett, declined to comment on the new notification policy, citing the organization’s longstanding practice of refusing to talk about its discussions with the Defense Department about detention issues.

Unlike the secret prisons run by the C.I.A. that President Obama ordered closed in January, the military continues to operate the Special Operations camps, which it calls temporary screening sites, in Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanistan.

As many as 30 to 40 foreign prisoners have been held at the camp in Iraq at any given time, military officials said; they did not provide an estimate for the Afghan camp but suggested that the number was smaller.

The Red Cross is allowed access to almost all American military prisons and battlefield detention sites in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Special Operations camps have been excluded.

The New York Times reported in 2006 that some soldiers at the temporary detention site in Iraq, then located at Baghdad International Airport and called Camp Nama, beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces, and used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball.

Military officials say conditions at the camps have improved significantly since then, but virtually all details of the sites remain shrouded in secrecy.

Under Pentagon rules, detainees at the Special Operations camps can be held for up to two weeks. Formerly, the military at that point had to release a detainee; transfer him to a long-term prison in Iraq or Afghanistan, to which the Red Cross has broad access; or seek one-week renewable extensions from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates or his representative.

Under the new policy, the military must notify the Red Cross of the detainees’ names and identification numbers within two weeks of capture, a notification that before happened only after a detainee was transferred to a long-term prison. The option to seek custody extensions has been eliminated, a senior Pentagon official said.

Pentagon officials sought to play down the significance of the shift, saying that most detainees at the camps had already been registered with the Red Cross within the two-week period.

“The department makes every effort to register detainees with the I.C.R.C. as soon as practicable after capture,” said Bryan G. Whitman, a Defense Department spokesman.

But human rights advocates hailed the policy change, saying that Special Operations forces had often extended the custody of detainees, leaving them in a legal limbo for weeks on end.

“Any improvement in I.C.R.C. notification and access is a positive development because it not only accounts for the whereabouts of a person, but hopefully will expedite notification to the family who is left anxious wondering about the fate of his or her relative,” said Sahr MuhammedAlly, a senior associate for law and security at Human Rights First, an advocacy group. The change in notifying the Red Cross stemmed largely from a new climate that emerged after Mr. Obama’s election, military officials said. The new administration set out the larger goal to revamp detention and interrogation practices that had drawn international condemnation under the Bush administration.

Into this environment stepped Gen. David H. Petraeus, newly selected to lead the Central Command of American military operations in the Middle East. When he was the top commander in Iraq, General Petraeus supported ideas promoted by Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone to overhaul the detention system there, separating hard-core militants from petty criminals who could be easily radicalized, offering detainees vocational training and family visits. The United States is now adopting this approach to revamp the Afghan prison system.

This spring, based on a request by General Petraeus, Mr. Gates ordered a review of the Special Operations camps. Lt. Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, an Air Force officer who had served on the military’s Joint Staff in Washington, spent several weeks in Afghanistan and Iraq examining the sites. At the request of Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Breedlove also accompanied Special Operations teams on some of their missions to observe how they treated prisoners at the point of capture.

In July, Admiral Mullen sent a confidential message to all of the military service chiefs and senior field commanders asking them to redouble their efforts to alert troops to the importance of treating detainees properly.

Admiral Mullen felt compelled to issue his message after viewing photographs documenting abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan by American military personnel in the early years of the wars, a senior military official said.

Mr. Obama decided in May not to make the photographs public, warning that the images could ignite attacks against American troops.

In a classified report dated June 17, General Breedlove largely praised the conditions at the camps. He found only minor problems, including a failure to provide a Koran to each detainee, and a lack of arrows or other symbols indicating which direction Muslim prisoners should face to pray toward Mecca.

Military officials acknowledged that the Special Operations forces might have improved conditions to impress the visiting investigator. But one of the general’s recommendations surprised officials: provide more information about detainees at the camps to the Red Cross earlier in the detention process.

The Red Cross has been lobbying the Pentagon for years for access to those held at the Special Operations camps, or least information about who is being detained in them. General Breedlove’s recommendation gave the group’s efforts a prominent military endorsement.

news20090823wp1

[Today's Newspaper] fom [The Washington Post]

[Health > Children and Youth]
Swine Flu Campaign Waits on Vaccine
Only Third of Supply Is Expected for First Round of Vast Effort
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 23, 2009

Government health officials are mobilizing to launch a massive swine flu vaccination campaign this fall that is unprecedented in its scope -- and in the potential for complications.

The campaign aims to vaccinate at least half the country's population within months. Although more people have been inoculated against diseases such as smallpox and polio over a period of years, the United States has never tried to immunize so many so quickly.

But even as scientists rush to test the vaccine to ensure it is safe and effective, the campaign is lagging. Officials say only about a third as much vaccine as they had been expecting by mid-October is likely to arrive by then, when a new wave of infections could be peaking.

Among the unknowns: how many shots people will need, what the correct dosage should be, and how to avoid confusing the public with an overlapping effort to combat the regular seasonal flu.

To prepare, more than 2,800 local health departments have begun recruiting pediatricians, obstetricians, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and even dentists, along with a small army of volunteers from churches and other groups. They are devising strategies to reach children, teenagers, pregnant women and young and middle-aged adults in inner cities, suburban enclaves and the countryside.

"This is potentially the largest mass-vaccination program in human history," said Howard Markel, a professor of medical history at the University of Michigan who is advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it spearheads the effort.

Public health officials describe the effort as crucial to defend against the second wave of the Northern Hemisphere's first influenza pandemic in 41 years.

As schools reopen, the number of cases could jump sharply within weeks, sparking a second wave potentially far larger than the outbreak last spring. Although the swine flu appears no more dangerous than the typical seasonal flu, the new virus -- known as H1N1 -- is likely to infect many more people because most have no immunity against it.

The vaccine effort carries political risks for the Obama administration. "If the outbreak fizzles, they will be susceptible to being criticized for spending billions of dollars," said Harvey V. Fineberg, president of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, which advises Congress about medical issues. "On the other hand, if this outbreak is early and severe and there isn't enough vaccine, they'll be criticized for under-preparation."

Officials stress that they are proceeding cautiously. A final decision to move forward will not be made until they get the results of clinical trials -- testing to determine safety and dosing -- and assess the virus's threat. But officials are confident the vaccine will pass muster and expect a campaign will be launched as soon as manufacturers deliver the first vials.

"There's little doubt we're going to vaccinate people," said Anthony S. Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is leading the government's testing of the vaccine. "Who and when and exactly how -- we have to figure out."

The campaign is haunted by memories of the government's ill-fated 1976 effort to vaccinate against swine flu. The epidemic fizzled, but the vaccine was given to 40 million people and blamed for causing a rare paralyzing disorder known as Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

Another wild card will be whether the vaccine will be delivered with an "adjuvant" to boost its effectiveness or stretch limited supplies into more doses. Adjuvants have been used in Europe, but the Food and Drug Administration has not authorized their use in the United States.

"This is an overreaction," said Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center, which opposes many vaccine policies. "There is no national security threat here. Why are we operating like this? This is not polio. This is not smallpox."

Fears and misinformation about the vaccine are circulating, including inaccurate claims that it will be mandatory.

"I'm very concerned about the dangers of vaccines," said Janice Smith, 58, of Misawaka, Ind., who attended a public hearing Aug. 15, one of a series of meetings the CDC has sponsored to gauge public sentiment about the vaccine.

Authorities are adamant that vaccination will be voluntary, and they say there is no reason to think the vaccine will be any less safe than the usual flu vaccine. An adjuvant will be used only if necessary and proven safe, they say.

To address concerns of pregnant women and parents with young children, some vaccine is being produced without a mercury additive. And because the short-term studies can identify only common, immediate side effects, the CDC will step up monitoring for rarer, serious complications such as Guillain-Barré.

"We're putting into place systems that are as good as we can have to identify problems quickly if they do occur," CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden said.

On Friday, officials reported that no "red flags regarding safety" had emerged in the clinical trials. "We are continuing oversight on the quality and safety of the vaccine being produced, and the production process itself," said Jesse Goodman of the FDA. "That's going well so far, but our oversight is continuing."

In the meantime, local officials are drafting plans tailored to their communities. The shots in the arms and squirts up the nose will happen in schools, medical offices, hospitals, public health clinics, workplaces, drug stores and at mass vaccination events, possibly including drive-through clinics in parking lots where people would stick their arms out their car windows for a stab.

"It is clearly what we would call an all hands on deck," said James Blumenstock of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. "We're not starting from scratch, but we also don't have everything on the shelf that we can just pull off and put in place. It's a full-court press in moving forward to have everything in place when we're ready to go."

In Maryland, officials estimate that 2.9 million people fall into the priority groups for the vaccine; Virginia estimates the number at 2.5 million and the District at 225,000. The national total is about 159 million people.

Public health departments "have suffered from decades of neglect and are now facing a fiscal crisis in many places where they have had to lay staff off, or furlough staff or freeze hiring," Frieden said. "So H1N1 has not come at a particularly good time."

Setting priorities for delivering the vaccines will bring other complications. The elderly, usually first in line for flu shots, will not be this time because they seem more resistant to the virus. But they remain a top priority for the seasonal shots.

Schools considering giving shots to children are making plans to get permission from parents and have to determine how best to line up anxious, rambunctious students.

Everyone who gets a swine flu shot may need a booster several weeks later, potentially causing mix-ups about who got which shot when.

But Frieden and other outside observers expressed confidence that the program would be safe and successful.

The federal government has spent close to $2 billion to buy up to 195 million doses of vaccine and adjuvant, including the standard shots and the newer FluMist nasal spray vaccine made by MedImmune of Gaithersburg.

The government is prepared to buy enough to vaccinate every person -- 600 million doses all together -- if the pandemic or demand warrants it. That could increase the cost to $5 billion for the vaccine alone. It would cost at least $9 billion to administer the vaccine to the entire population, according to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
Although five companies are racing to produce as much vaccine as possible, the first batches are not expected for two months, in part because the virus grew at about half the projected rate. Production appears to be increasing, but the first 45 million to 52 million doses -- about a third of what officials were anticipating -- won't be ready until mid-October, with about 20 million doses a week expected after that to continue the campaign through the winter.

Experts are uncertain whether they will face a shortage of vaccine because of high demand or will have plenty of vaccine but little interest.

"People's enthusiasm will depend largely on what they see happening around them," Fauci said. "If we get into the fall season and we don't see an explosion of cases, people will be less enthusiastic. If they see a lot of young people and kids getting sick, people will be very enthusiastic about getting vaccinated."

The CDC is formulating a $4.8 million multimedia campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated and help alleviate concerns and confusion, including radio and television public service announcements, print ads, and messages delivered via Twitter, RSS feeds and video podcasts on YouTube.

Although the vaccine will be free, providers could charge about $15 to administer it -- a fee that will be covered by Medicare and many health insurance plans.

CONTINUED ON newswp2

news20090823wp2

[Today's Newspaper] fom [The Washington Post]

[Health > Children and Youth]
Swine Flu Campaign Waits on Vaccine
Only Third of Supply Is Expected for First Round of Vast Effort
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 23, 2009

CONTINUED FROM newswp1

Experts also worry the swine flu will divert attention from the seasonal flu, which can cause serious illness. Officials will launch the seasonal flu vaccine campaign Sept. 10 -- about a month early in the hopes of vaccinating as many people as possible before the swine flu campaign. The more people who get both vaccines, the less likely the swine flu virus will mingle with one of the others to produce a more dangerous mutant.

"We really don't want those ugly viruses mixing together," said Kim Elliott of the Trust for America's Health, a private nonprofit research and advocacy group.

news20090823slt

[Today's Paper: A summary of what's in the major U.S. newspapers] from [Slate Magazine]

The Pentagon Names Names
By David Sessions
Posted Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009, at 4:21 AM ET

The New York Times (NYT) leads with the Pentagon's decision to release the names of detainees held at secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Red Cross. The military previously insisted that the detainees' identities be kept classified for fear they could jeopardize counterterrorism efforts. The Washington Post (WP) leads with an unprecedented government effort in the works to vaccinate half of the U.S. population against swine flu "within months." More than 2,800 local health departments are gathering medical personnel and developing strategies to reach as many as possible. The Los Angeles Times (LAT) leads with California legislators having a difficult time slashing the required $1.2 billion from the state's ailing prison system. Federal courts ordered California to reduce its prison population by 40,000, and the state's ongoing budget crisis makes deep cuts a fiscal necessity.

Red Cross efforts to obtain the names of detainees held at two Special Operations prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan have long been for naught, but the U.S. military has finally agreed to hand over the information. The new tack from the Pentagon, which came without a formal announcement, indicates a shift in detention policy in keeping with the Obama administration's promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay by the end of the year. It also foreshadows a week where detainees and interrogations are likely to dominate the news: On Monday, the C.I.A. will release a long-awaited, critical report on its own interrogation techniques, and Attorney Gen. Eric Holder is expected to decide whether or not to begin a criminal investigation into C.I.A. interrogation policy after September 11, 2001.

Public health officials are cooking up a plan for what one professor says is "potentially the largest mass-vaccination program in human history"—a sweeping effort to protect Americans against H1N1, the first influenza pandemic the country has faced in 41 years. The number of cases could spike within the next few weeks as schools and colleges reopen, but vaccination efforts are still fraught with uncertainty. Scientists are "rushing" to test the vaccine for safety, but they still don't know how many shots people will need and what dosages should be. The campaign will not move forward until the results of clinical trials are in; the government is being cautious to avoid a repeat of a 1976 vaccination effort that caused more illness than it prevented.

The LAT reports that the clock is ticking on the U.S.'s remaining stockpile of chemical weapons, which it is internationally obligated to destroy by 2012. Construction on the facility to destroy an arsenal of deadly gases in Kentucky has been endlessly delayed, and the Pentagon notified Congress in May that even on an accelerated schedule the job will not be done until 2021. The Army holds chemical weapons at six locations, four of which are currently incinerating their stockpiles. The Kentucky site is the most difficult operation because the weapons "are loaded in highly explosive M55 rockets and corroding, fully armed munitions."

Tom Daschle may have withdrawn his nomination to be President Obama's "health czar," but he's still a key player in the debate over reform. A NYT front-pager reports that Daschle has met regularly with the president, and a "highly paid policy advisor" to Alston & Bird, a legal and lobbying firm with powerful health industry clients. Democrats are moving toward a health care solution centered on nonprofit insurance co-ops, a plan Daschle has promoted and that "happens to dovetail with the interests of many Alston & Bird clients."

Cartels that smuggle illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border have realized they can extort money from other undocumented residents: their customers' relatives. A gripping WP story reports that cartels have called family members demanding ransom, forcing them to pay up or make an equally frightening call to U.S. immigration officials.

A front-page LAT story suggests that support for a junk-food tax is growing among the American population, though no one in Congress has endorsed it. According to a poll, 55 percent of Americans support a ban on "unhealthful snack foods," and "63 percent of those who opposed the idea said they would change their minds if the revenue were used to fund healthcare reform and combat health problems related to obesity." Junk-food taxes are "a no-brainer" to many health experts, but the numbers suggest they're not as effective as other "sin taxes" because it's easy to switch to an untaxed alternative.

Well made big-budget movies for adults are disappearing, according to a trend piece in the WP "Style" section. "High-end, relatively sophisticated movies made with glossy production values and well-paid stars" are becoming scarcer because their actors' salaries and marketing campaigns eat up so much of the studios' profits. Movies tied to an already-successful book or video game—or better yet sequels in already-successful movie franchises—are less of a financial gamble and more likely to get a green light.

Slate contributor Robert Wright suggests a compromise between militant atheists and religious believers, who are both wrong about the conflict between science and religion for the same reason. "Believers could scale back their conception of God's role in creation, and atheists could accept that some notions of 'higher purpose' are compatible with scientific materialism. And the two might learn to get along."

NYT ombudsman Clark Hoyt responds to a deluge of mail complaining that a recent Times story seemed to mock J.C. Penney's first store in New York City.

news20090823gc1

[News] from [guardian.co.uk]

[UK news > Lockerbie plane bombing]
Gordon Brown in new storm over freed Lockerbie bomber
• Talks with Gaddafi six weeks ago
• US campaign for Scottish boycott
Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
The Observer, Sunday 23 August 2009 Article history

Gordon Brown faced fresh questions tonight after it emerged that he discussed with Colonel Gaddafi detailed conditions for the Lockerbie bomber's return nearly six weeks ago, while senior Labour figures warned of an economic backlash from angry Americans "costing our country dear".

Downing Street released the text of a cordial letter sent to the Libyan leader on the day that Abdulbaset al-Megrahi was released, asking that the event be kept low key because a "high-profile" ceremony would distress his victims and their families.

But critically the letter also refers to a meeting between the two leaders six weeks earlier at the G8 summit in Italy, adding that "when we met [there] I stressed that, should the Scottish executive decide that Megrahi can return to Libya, this should be a purely private family occasion" rather than a public celebration.

Previously officials have said that the two men's conversation in Italy at the beginning of July was brief and that, while the Lockerbie case was raised, Brown merely stressed the matter was one for the Scottish government to decide.

However, the new letter, addressed to "Dear Muammar" and signed off by wishing him a happy Ramadan, suggests that the decision was well enough advanced and Brown well enough briefed to set terms for a homecoming – albeit unsuccessfully. A jubilant Libyan crowd, some waving Scottish flags, greeted Megrahi at the airport.

Meanwhile, details emerged of a second letter written by the Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis to the Scottish justice minister, Kenny MacAskill, confirming that there were no legal reasons not to let Megrahi go and concluding: "I hope on this basis you will now feel able to consider the Libyan application."

Although the Foreign Office said it was not intended to make representations either way, the leaking of the letter suggests the SNP-led administration may be starting to fight back.

Tonight the shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, redoubled calls for the government to release official records of conversations about the release, as Gaddafi increased the embarrassment by publicly thanking "my friend Brown, his government, the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth, and Prince Andrew who all contributed to encouraging the Scottish government to take this historic and courageous decision".

The scale of fury in America was laid bare in a vitriolic letter from the director of the FBI, Robert Mueller – who as a justice department lawyer led the investigation into the bombing – describing the release in a scathing letter to MacAskill as a "mockery of the rule of law" and of the victims' grief.

However, the Scottish government last night responded defiantly, insisting the US had made clear in discussions that, while it opposed Megrahi's release, it regarded freeing him on compassionate grounds because of his terminal cancer as "far preferable" to a prisoner transfer deal that would have seen him in custody.

Fears that the US could retaliate against the British government were eased when Whitehall sources disclosed that the White House had made no complaint to Downing Street, reserving its ire for the Scottish administration.

However, public anger at scenes of the convicted bomber receiving a hero's welcome has prompted demands from ordinary Americans for economic reprisals, with two websites set up to promote a boycott and angry Americans discussing on Twitter which products they should avoid, from Scotch whisky to Highland holidays.

Senior Scottish Labour figures say that MacAskill's references in his original statement last week to the compassion of Scotland's people had turned the entire country, which earns £260m a year through American tourists, into an economic target.

Iain Gray, Labour leader in Scotland, said: "Those calling for a boycott of Scotland are emboldened by [MacAskill's] foolish claim that the decision was taken in the name of the people of Scotland. In seeking to portray this as a decision supported by the whole of the country, he has damaged Scotland's reputation. It shows serious lack of judgment which has cost our country dear."

Jack McConnell, the former Labour first minister, said the decision damaged Scotland in a way "that will take years to recover" and called on MSPs to show it did not have popular support.

A spokesman for the Scotch Whisky Association said it was "monitoring" the situation, but hoped that initial anger would pass, as it has done in past protests. "We hope that people recognise that this is not necessarily the solution."

The business secretary, Lord Mandelson, left hospital today – where he was recovering from a prostate operation – insisting it was "completely wrong" and "offensive" to suggest that Megrahi's release was linked to trade deals over oil and gas.

Mandelson met Gaddafi's son during a holiday in Corfu this month, several weeks after the prime minister's meeting in Italy, and has admitted the Lockerbie issue was raised. Today he said the Libyans had had "the same response from me as they would have had from any other member of the government".

MacAskill will give a statement on Monday to the Scottish parliament, which has been recalled from recess. He is likely to face tough questioning on why the convicted bomber was not transferred to a Libyan jail.

McConnell said it was a "big if" to suggest that the convicted bomber deserved compassionate treatment but even then, allowing Megrahi "to be welcomed home in Libya as a free man should have been the last option on the list. There were other options that could have been applied if the Scottish government had the will."

However, Monday's session could also examine the political manoeuvrings around the deal, with MacAskill said to believe that he was set up by the British government's refusal to respond to his consultation.

Yesterday John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN, also called for a congressional hearing into how the US government lobbied Britain over the issue, which could shed new light on the British response.


[News > Education > Schools]
Tories warned over cost of radical school plans
Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
The Observer, Sunday 23 August 2009 Article history

David Cameron faces fresh questions over his plans for thousands of Swedish-style "free schools" to help children escape failing comprehensives, after a review in Sweden warned that the reforms drove up costs in urban areas.

The Tories have suggested that letting parents and philanthropists set up schools could boost standards and deliver savings for taxpayers, with the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, claiming this month that new providers in Sweden were "spending that money more effectively" from day one.

But a report by the Skolverket (Swedish National Education Agency) on the first 13 years of the scheme found that nearly half of Swedish local education directors did not think the new schools had produced "more effective use of resources" and 90% identified "significant increases in costs". Skolverket's own sampling suggested costs per pupil rose in urban areas, where free schools may be most popular in Britain, but fell in others. The study also reflected fears that while free schools may do well, partly thanks to attracting motivated parents, the competition they create may do little for students left behind in comprehensives. A third of directors said standards had not improved at all in the old state schools.

A source close to Ed Balls, the education secretary, said there were serious questions over how the Tories could afford the Swedish system at a time of spending cuts in a recession: "When you are setting up these schools you are not actually closing the old ones. So either you have to cut schools funding for everybody else or you can't afford it."

But Michael Gove, the shadow education secretary, insisted the reforms were widely held to have been cost-effective. "Every robust academic study of extending diversity and choice in education, from Sweden to America, has shown that resources are used more effectively and standards rise more quickly as a result."

news20090823gc2

[News] from [guardian.co.uk]

[News > Politics > Liam Fox]
Liam Fox demands exit strategy for Afghanistan pull-out
Conservatives call for policy of stabilising country and pulling out British troops from conflict
Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
The Observer, Sunday 23 August 2009 Article history

Liam Fox, the Tory defence spokesman, is calling for Britain to shorten its deployment in Afghanistan by setting clear targets for military success and sending more troops to train the Afghan army.

His words will be seen as moving towards a more populist emphasis on disentangling the UK from a conflict which increasingly lacks public support, as Cameron condemns the 'scandal' of UK helicopter shortage in Afghanistan.

In an interview with the Observer, Fox declined to set any timetable for an exit but said the allies should define their "benchmarks" for military success and thus the end of the mission, the tactic used by Tony Blair when under pressure to withdraw troops from Iraq.

But he suggested "the most important political decisions" would be taken in Washington, not London, and that Britain was not "the prime driver", a surprisingly frank assessment.

"Clearly, if our mission is to create a stable Afghanistan state, the quicker we are able to provide them with the tools they need, the shorter our military involvement is likely to be," Fox said. "And the slower the process of building up the Afghan national army, the longer our deployment is going to be.

"Given the state of Afghan society and its economic development, the international community is likely to be involved there for a very long time … but that's a very different question from how long our military will be involved.

"Setting artificial timetables, particularly for political reasons, runs the risk of saying to our enemies: 'If you can outlast us we will run.' You set benchmarks and objectives, then you work towards them and constantly appraise your progress."

He confirmed he had told US generals that a Conservative government would be "much more sympathetic" than Gordon Brown to requests for more soldiers, who would be deployed to speed up the training of an Afghan army that could control its own security.

However, he warned that the end of the war in Afghanistan would not mean the end of the war on Islamist terrorism. "In the cold war we weren't dealing just with Russia, we had to deal with satellites too. We will have to do the same in this war," he said. "We will face difficulties on a number of fronts and we will simply have to find the political and the military resilience to deal with it."

Public support for the war should be bolstered by explaining that British soldiers were fighting to avoid a strategic defeat for Nato, shattering its credibility as a deterrent force, he added.

This month, President Barack Obama will receive a report from General Stanley McChrystal, commander on the ground in Afghanistan, that is likely to urge a rethink of military strategy and yet another "surge" of up to 10,000 troops to speed up the process of handing Afghanistan back.

Asked if the Tories would support sending more troops, Fox said it would depend on the request, but added: "I said to General McChrystal that had we been the government and had we been asked for more troops to accelerate the training, we would have been much more sympathetic than the current government, and we maintain that view."

A ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday last night found that 60% of Britons believed UK forces should be withdrawn as quickly as possible – down four points on last month – while the number who disagreed was unchanged on 33%.


[News> Education > GCSEs]
Science tsar blasts GCSEs for failing to stretch pupils
Anushka Asthana
The Observer, Sunday 23 August 2009 Article history

The government's science tsar, appointed by ministers to raise the profile of the subject in schools and universities, has launched a devastating attack on GCSE exams, claiming that they lack academic rigour.

Just days before hundreds of thousands of pupils collect their results, John Holman said GCSEs in biology, physics, chemistry and combined sciences were in some ways not "fit for purpose". Questions lacked mathematical and sometimes even scientific content, he said, and exams failed to stretch the brightest pupils.

"I think it is a serious problem," said Holman, national director of the government's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem) programme. "Maths is the language of science, yet in recent years we have seen a reduction in the mathematical content of the questions."

The admission triggered concerns among employer bodies, the Institute of Directors and the CBI. "In a recent survey, increasing the number of young people studying Stem was nominated as one of the top business priorities for government action," said Mike Harris, head of education and skills policy at the IoD. "These conclusions draw big question marks over quality as well as quantity of supply."

Susan Anderson, director of education policy at the CBI, agreed: "Students need a better grasp of maths."

Holman also said that more pupils should be given the option of studying three sciences at GCSE, as evidence suggested it made them more likely to take science to A-level and beyond. "Between a third and a half of schools offer triple science. That is quite a growth from when it was the preserve of independent and grammar schools, but there is some way to go."

Holman said his criticisms were aimed at exams, not the curriculum, which was "broadly right". He particularly highlighted "How Science Works" – a new GCSE science topic. He said: "It is the essence of being scientific and is really important. But the quality of some of the questions has really been very worrying. Awarding bodies have some work to do to help their question-setters to improve the standard there."

He said he agreed with some of the conclusions drawn by Ofqual – the exams regulator – which recently admitted that some parts of science GCSEs failed to challenge pupils.

The schools minister, Iain Wright, said last night: "We acknowledge the problems identified with science GCSE by Ofqual … Ofqual and the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency are working to improve the science GCSEs."

Jon Edwards, of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: "In the past, a pupil was given a problem and asked to give an answer; now they have their hand held all the way through."

Despite his criticisms, Holman said he was pleased to see more pupils opting for science at A-level.

This week's GCSE results are likely to trigger fresh debate over the plight of children emerging without five good GCSEs into a recession.

Ed Balls, the education secretary, will announce shortly that Labour's National Challenge scheme, forcing schools where fewer than 30% of pupils get five good GCSEs to improve or shut, has cut the number of failing schools from more than 600 last year to around 280.

Ministers also say their "September guarantee" – from autumn all 16 to 18-year-olds will be offered a job, apprenticeship, training, school or college place – should stop those who are not academic falling by the wayside. However, college leaders this weekend accused the government of failing to fund the guarantee.

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[News] from [guardian.co.uk]

[News > Technology > Apple]
Steve Jobs's new trick: the Apple tablet
Rumours are rife that Steve Jobs is about to unveil a revolutionary touchscreen gadget
David Smith
The Observer, Sunday 23 August 2009 Article history

Feverish speculation all over the internet, gadget shoppers nearing mass hysteria and pundits predicting our lives will never be the same. It must mean that an Apple product launch is on the way.

The company that makes the Mac computer, iPod music player and iPhone is reportedly poised to launch a tablet computer – small enough to carry in a handbag or briefcase but big enough to comfortably surf the web, read newspapers and watch films. It could be Apple's latest billion-dollar jackpot.

Months of rumour and hype have reached a crescendo in recent days with Mashable.com: Apple Tablet May Launch in September and be in the shops by Christmas. Such is the fascination with all things Apple that blogs are humming with speculation and a new mention of the tablet crops up on Twitter around every eight minutes.

"The Apple magic is great technology and great marketing," said Leander Kahney, a blogger and author of The Cult of Mac. "We've seen it with the iPod, the iPhone and, before that, the Mac. That's why this is so exciting."

He added: "They've been working on this for the past six years. People expect it to be the ultimate Apple surprise. This thing will knock people's socks off."

Apple product launches are celebrated rituals where the talismanic Jobs, in black sweater and jeans, stands on a stage in San Francisco and unveils the company's latest innovation, cheered by adulatory crowds with near religious fervour. The Californian giant has sold more 200 million iPods since their launch in 2001.

Famously secretive, Apple has refused to comment on the tablet speculation. But Tim Cook, its chief operating officer, recently hinted that the company was working on something "very innovative". Jobs – now back at work after a six-month leave of absence following a liver transplant – is thought to have been personally involved in the development of the device over the past two years.

The tablet is rumoured to be any size and scale between the iPhone and the MacBook laptop. Some have described the tablet as a "Kindle-killer", potentially usurping the Amazon Kindle and other electronic book readers. It would be billed as a solution for people who work a lot on the move but don't want to carry a laptop. What experts believe would set the tablet apart would be that, instead of a keyboard, it would use a touch-sensitive screen. Kahney said: "Apple will totally rejig the computing experience. You won't manipulate a keyboard and mouse any more but rather use an intuitive touchscreen. It will very tactile. It will be a whole new paradigm."

It might also prove the launchpad for an "iTunes for newspapers", allowing commuters to read news on screen instead of in print. Even magazines might be reproduced convincingly on the high-resolution screen. Kahney said: "Instead of reading a review of a band, you could have audio and video embedded and listen to them and watch them being interviewed."

Expectations flared recently when Gene Munster, a technology research analyst, said that he had had discussions with an Asian component supplier that claimed to have received orders for a touchscreen device which needed to be filled by the end of the year. Munster took this as evidence that Apple would launch a tablet in early 2010.

He estimated that an Apple tablet, with an onscreen keyboard like the iPhone, would cost around $600 (£363), putting it between the highest-end iPod Touch at $399 and the MacBook, which starts at $999. At $600, Munster calculated that sales of 2 million tablets could add $1.2bn (£727m) to Apple's sales next year.

Sales of Apple laptops are stalling as they face competition from netbooks, the smaller and lighter laptops that have proved popular among students. Rival companies have also introduced tablets but lack the hype that guarantees Apple mountains of free publicity.

andfinally.com, a technology author and blogger, warned, however, that Apple's run of dramatic breakthroughs was unlikely to last for ever. "If Steve Jobs stands up and announces this, it could be his last hurrah. The technology industry has matured and, unless Apple does something completely unexpected, we have a pretty good idea what this will look like. The world has been shaped by technology in such a way that it is no longer surprising."


[World News > Greece]
Athens wildfires force thousands to flee
State of emergency declared as wildfires advance to 12 miles from city centre, destroying homes and forest
James Sturcke and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 23 August 2009 12.10 BST Article history

Wildfires were raging on the outskirts of Athens today, destroying homes and forcing thousands of people to flee in overnight evacuations.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of 10,000 residents of one outlying suburb threatened by the fires, which advanced to within 12 miles of the city centre, blackening thousands of hectares of pine forest. Anti-aircraft missiles at a nearby base were removed as flames approached, the army said.

"The situation is tragic. Fires are out of control on many fronts," said the local governor, Yiannis Sgouros. "Athens had an area of greenery that now has gone." He said an estimated 30,000 acres had been lost.

A state of emergency was declared in greater Athens after the worst destruction since fires struck southern Greece in 2007, killing more than 70 people. Firefighting planes and helicopters from France, Italy and Cyprus were due to arrive today, government officials said.

Yesterday, officials said more than 70 fires had started across Greece in the previous 24 hours. The fires broke out late on Friday and developed overnight, fed by gale-force winds that repeatedly shifted direction.

At dawn today, planes and helicopters resumed water drops after an eight-hour pause that allowed the wildfires to spread across parts of Mount Penteli and reach suburban homes. Clouds of black smoke filled the capital's skyline and obscured the sun.

A deputy fire chief, Stelios Stefanidis, said there were no known casualties. The fires were reported in an area more than 25 miles wide. Gusty winds were expected today, and Stefanidis said the smoke was hampering water drops.

Authorities evacuated two large children's hospitals, camp sites and the suburb of Agios Stefanos, 14 miles north of the capital.

Residents were seen fleeing on foot, by motorbike and in cars amid blackouts and water supply cuts. Some battled fires outside their homes with hosepipes and branches, and many ignored evacuation orders announced over loudspeakers. Volunteers and army conscripts joined hundreds of firefighters to help fend off the flames.

"A massive effort by authorities is taking place to deal with this very difficult challenge," said the prime minister, Costas Karamanlis.

Some of the threatened areas were near the town of Marathon, from which the long-distance foot race takes its name. Officials said the fire was threatening the archaeological site of Rhamnus, home to two 2,500-year-old temples.

Serious fires were reported on the islands of Evia, Skyros and Zakynthos, which has already been damaged by blazes this summer.

news20090823an1

[Today's News] from [abc NEWS]

[News International]
South Korea Holds State Funeral for Kim Dae-Jung
Tens of thousands mourn ex-SKorean President Kim Dae-jung, Nobel laureate, at state funeral
By JEAN H. LEE Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea August 23, 2009 (AP)

Tens of thousands of mourners filled the lawn outside parliament for the state funeral Sunday of ex-President Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and advocate of reconciliation who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to communist North Korea.

The solemn funeral was the first held at the National Assembly, where Kim — who endured torture, death threats and imprisonment during his decades as an opposition leader — triumphantly took the oath of office as South Korea's president in 1998.

In central Seoul, thousands watched a broadcast of the funeral, many holding yellow balloons and waving small yellow posters that read: "Farewell, Mr. Sunshine: Without you, we would never have known democracy."

The mourning period for Kim, who died Tuesday at age 85, lasted six days. Memorials nationwide for a man dubbed the "Nelson Mandela of Asia" for his lifelong struggle for democracy have drawn some 700,000 people, officials said, including a high-level North Korean delegation dispatched by leader Kim Jong Il.

The delegation did not attend the funeral but held talks Sunday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, in Lee's first high-level contact with North Korea's regime.

Relations between the two Koreas have been tense since the conservative Lee took office in February 2008, but the talks Sunday with officials bearing a verbal message from Kim Jong Il were "serious and amicable," a presidential spokesman said.

"Thank you! Thank you! We're returning in a positive mood," senior Workers' Party official Kim Ki Nam told reporters as the delegation departed for their flight.

The two Koreas remain officially in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in 1953 with a truce, not a peace treaty. Tanks and troops still guard the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone bisecting the peninsula.

Kim Dae-jung, however, was respected on both sides of the border. As president from 1998 to 2003, his "Sunshine Policy" advocated engaging the isolated North and sought to ease reconciliation by plying the impoverished nation with aid.

He traveled to Pyongyang in 2000 for a summit with Kim Jong Il — the first between leaders of the two Koreas. Raising their hands aloft in a sight that would have been unimaginable just years earlier, the two Kims pledged to embark on a new era of peace on the Korean peninsula.

The following years saw a flowering of reconciliation projects, including the emotional temporary reunions of thousands of Korean family members separated during the Korean War, the restoration of a cross-border cargo train and inter-Korean business ventures.

Some criticized the flow of money to North Korea, which has evaded years of international pressure to dismantle its nuclear program.

Ties have been tense since Lee abandoned the Sunshine Policy, insisting that North Korea must prove its commitment to international nuclear disarmament pacts before it can expect aid.

Pyongyang, in response, ditched the reconciliation talks and most of the inter-Korean projects. The North also has been locked in an international standoff with the U.S. and other nations over its atomic ambitions after launching a rocket, test-firing missiles and conducting an underground nuclear test earlier this year.

However, there have been signs the tensions may be easing. After welcoming former President Bill Clinton during his mission to secure the release of two jailed American reporters, the North freed a South Korean citizen held for four months. It also said it would allow some joint projects to resume.

Kim Dae-jung's death prompted condolences from Kim Jong Il, who authorized a high-level delegation of six to pay their respects — the first time the North has sent officials to mourn a former South Korean president.

Led by Kim Ki Nam and spy chief Kim Yang Gon, the delegation went straight to the National Assembly mourning site Friday. Dressed in black, they left a wreath on behalf of Kim Jong Il, bowed before Kim's portrait and lighted incense, with red badges depicting Kim Il Sung, North Korea's late founder, pinned to their suits.

Extending their trip by a day, three North Korean officials met Sunday with Lee for a half hour, relaying Kim Jong Il's thoughts on "progress on inter-Korean cooperation," Seoul presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.

The South Korean president then detailed his government's "consistent and firm" policy on North Korea and reiterated the need for "sincere" dialogue between the two Koreas, the spokesman said.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported that the two sides discussed "developing the relations between the North and the South."

Though best known abroad for his efforts to reach out to North Korea, Kim Dae-jung was beloved at home for devoting his life to the fight for democracy during South Korea's early years of authoritarian rule.

A native of South Jeolla Province in the southwest, he went up against Seoul's military and political elite. He narrowly lost to Park Chung-hee in a 1971 presidential election — a near-win that earned him Park's wrath. Weeks later, Kim was injured in a traffic accident he believed was an assassination attempt, and barely survived a Tokyo abduction engineered by South Korean intelligence.

In 1980, tens of thousands took to the streets in Kim's southern stronghold, Gwangju, to protest the junta that seized power when Park was assassinated in office. Kim, accused of fomenting the protests, was sentenced to death.

International calls for leniency resulted in a suspended prison sentence, and he went into exile. Returning in 1985, he helped usher in new era of democracy in South Korea.

Prime Minister Han Seung-soo praised Kim as a passionate leader who dedicated his life to democracy, human rights, peace and reconciliation. He also recalled Kim's resilience.

"Today we are overwhelmed with heartbreaking grief and sorrow. The whole Korea is truly overcome with great sadness," Han said at the multifaith ceremony held under a blistering sun. Kim was Catholic but in a reflection of the different faiths observed in South Korea, the funeral included Christian and Buddhist rites.

Kim's distraught widow, Lee Hee-ho, bowed deeply before a portrait of her late husband. President Lee, former presidents and foreign leaders who were among the more than 20,000 who attended the funeral also paid their respects at the altar. Kim is to be buried in the national cemetery in Seoul.

Another 14,000 mourners gathered outside City Hall, police said.

"It hurts me so much. I'm so distressed that we lost someone who devoted his entire life to peace, democracy and, ultimately, us," Lee Eun-ah, 35, said tearfully at City Hall.

The funeral comes just three months after the suicide of former President Roh Moo-hyun, a political ally who succeeded Kim Dae-jung in the Blue House and maintained his Sunshine Policy. Roh jumped to his death amid a growing corruption investigation implicating his family.

news20090823an2

[Today's News] from [abc NEWS]

[News International]
Fires Reach Athens Suburbs, Thousands Evacuated
Wildfires reach Athens suburbs, thousands flee homes on foot, by motorbike and in cars
By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press Writer
ATHENS, Greece August 23, 2009 (AP)

Fire tore through suburbs north of Athens early Sunday, destroying homes and forcing thousands to flee in nighttime evacuations, fire service and local officials said.

The fires came within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of downtown Athens and blackened thousands of acres (hectares) of rugged land covered by pine forest or thick bush. The army removed anti-aircraft missiles from a military base as flames approached.

"The situation is tragic. Fires are out of control on many fronts," greater Athens local governor Yiannis Sgouros said. "Athens had an area of greenery that now has gone."

He said an estimated 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of land had been burned.

A state of emergency was declared in greater Athens. It is the most destructive fires seen in Greece since fires in the south of the country killed more than 70 people in 2007.

Firefighting planes and helicopters from France, Italy and Cyprus were due to arrive later Sunday, government officials said.

After daybreak Sunday, planes and helicopters resumed water drops following an eight-hour pause that allowed the wildfire to spread across parts of Mount Penteli and reach suburban homes. Clouds of black smoke filled the capital's skyline and obscured the sun.

Authorities evacuated two large children's hospitals, campsites and homes in villages and outlying suburbs threatened by blazes that scattered ash on streets across the city.

Deputy Fire Chief Stelios Stefanidis said no casualties had been reported by early Sunday, despite the overnight evacuations of hundreds of hillside homes.

The fires, which started late Friday, were reported in an area more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) wide.

Residents fled the fires on foot, by motorbike and in cars, amid blackouts and water supply cuts.

Winds of up to 30 mph (50 kph) were forecast to fan the flames Sunday, and Stefanidis said the thick smoke was hampering water drops.

Volunteers and army conscripts joined hundreds of firefighters to help fend off the flames. Residents battled fires outside their own homes with hosepipes and even branches, and many ignored evacuation orders that were announced over loudspeakers.

"We urge everyone to comply with the instructions," Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said. "A massive effort by authorities is taking place to deal with this very difficult challenge."

Some of the threatened areas were in the vicinity of the town of Marathon, from which the modern long-distance foot race takes its name.

Municipal officials in that area said the fire was threatening the archaeological site of Rhamnus, home to two 2,500-year-old temples.

Elsewhere in Greece, serious fires were reported on the islands of Evia and Skyros.


[News > U.S.]
Hurricane Bill Spinning Past New England Shores
Hurricane Bill blowing off New England shores, heading toward Canadian waters
By JASON BRONIS Associated Press Writer
EDGARTOWN, Mass. August 23, 2009 (AP)

Hurricane Bill taunted the New England coastline from a distance Sunday, after closing beaches and setting off a string of safety warnings for weekend boaters, swimmers and surfers along the eastern seaboard.

President Barack Obama took no chances and planned a later arrival for his family vacation at Martha's Vineyard, which remained under a tropical storm warning early Sunday.

Forecasters said that the hurricane was moving away from the New England coast offshore and closer to Nova Scotia, and was expected to approach Newfoundland by Sunday night. By early Sunday, it was about 275 miles (445 km) south-southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about 185 miles (300 km) east of Nantucket, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Massachusetts' coastline and a storm warning covered Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast.

Even as it weakened to a Category 1 hurricane Saturday, the tempest churned up rough seas and dangerous rip tides.

In Nova Scotia, provincial parks were shut down and people were advised to stay clear of beaches.

"The waves, they're very pretty to look at but very dangerous," said Barry Manuel of the Halifax Emergency Management Office.

By early Sunday, the storm had maximum sustained winds near 85 mph (140 kph) and was moving 26 mph in a north-northeast direction.

The Obamas delayed their planned Sunday morning departure from Andrews Air Force Base to Sunday mid-afternoon because of the weather, White House aides said. The worst of Bill was expected to pass east of Martha's Vineyard before the Obamas arrival.

As plans changed Saturday for the first family, nearly all south-facing beaches on the island were closed to swimmers and large signs blocked roadways to shorefronts. Lifeguards used caution tape to rope off access points, and police patrolled the beach to enforce the closings.

"The concern we have now is that the riptides are very strong," said lifeguard James Costantini. "There's a very strong undertow."

But longtime Vineyard vacationer Jack DeCoste, 69, of Plymouth, Mass., was unimpressed with the storm as he lounged in a beach chair in Edgartown.

"I don't think it's going to impact things that much," DeCoste said. "I think it'll be in and out of here fairly quickly."

At Robert Moses State Park in New York, the beach was shut down as the high tide submerged the sand, though the beach opened later for sunbathing. Along some beaches in Delaware and New Jersey, no swimming was allowed.

"It's just too dangerous right now," Rehoboth Beach Patrol Capt. Kent Buckson said.

The same high waves that worried safety officials, however, had surfers buzzing.

In Atlantic City, N.J., surfers gathered Saturday on beaches where 20-foot waves were expected. But only a few were willing to take their boards into the big swells.

Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Rod Aluise told The Press of Atlantic City that some surfers just stood on the beach "with their eyes popping out" at the size of the waves.

"This is only for experienced surfers," Aluise said.

The stormy conditions were expected to last through the weekend.

"It takes a while for the ocean to relax" after strong storms, said Gary Conte, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "Until it does, riptides will make dangerous sport" for surfers and swimmers.

Hurricane Bill moved past Bermuda earlier Saturday, leaving behind sunny skies, debris and flooding, but no casualties. The storm cut power to about 3,700 customers and flooded some roads. All ferry service was canceled until Sunday.

Meanwhile, forecasters said Sunday that Tropical Storm Hilda had strengthened slightly far out in the Pacific but was not threatening land. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was about 2,025 miles (3,260 km) west-southwest of the tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, and 1,125 miles (1,810 km) east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii.

news20090823bn

[One-Minute World News] from [BBC NEWS]

[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 03:48 GMT, Sunday, 23 August 2009 04:48 UK
S Korean head meets North envoys
South Korean leader Lee Myung-bak has met senior North Korean officials, just before the funeral of the late ex-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

The six envoys brought a message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, saying they hoped to ease bilateral problems.

The meeting is being seen as a significant thaw, as President Lee is denounced as a traitor by the North.

A spokesman for Mr Lee refused to release the wording of the message, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

But he said it explained Mr Kim's thoughts on "progress on inter-Korean cooperation".

{ While meeting many South Koreans here, I came to believe that inter-Korean ties must be improved at the earliest possible date
Kim Yang-gon
North Korean official}

He said Mr Lee, in response, detailed his government's "consistent and firm" policy on North Korea, which has been to push for progress on nuclear disarmament.

"Everything went well," Pyongyang's chief envoy Kim Ki-nam said after the meeting, although he too refused to give any details.

Talks between Unification Minister Hyun In-taek and the North Korean envoys on Saturday were the first high-level meeting between the two sides since conservative President Lee took office in February 2008, promising to take a tougher line with Pyongyang.

Relations chilled as he cut aid to the North, tying its resumption to progress on nuclear disarmament.

State funeral

The half-hour meeting took place shortly before Kim Dae-jung's funeral.

The former South Korean leader won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts to promote reconciliation on the Korean peninsula.

His state funeral, due to start at 0500GMT, will be held at the parliament building in Seoul, and 24,000 people have been invited.

The former president pioneered the South's "Sunshine Policy" of engagement with North Korea, and spent his life pursuing democracy and reunification with the North.

He survived several attempts on his life and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.

'Ties must be improved'

The six officials from North Korea were sent to pay respects for Kim Dae-jung. On Friday they laid a wreath at the National Assembly in Seoul, where Mr Kim's body is lying in state.

"While meeting many South Koreans here, I came to believe that inter-Korean ties must be improved at the earliest possible date," said Kim Yang-gon, the North's official in charge of inter-Korean relations.

"We've had little opportunity to talk... I hope that these first high-level official talks under the Lee Myung-bak administration will provide a chance to have frank talks," he told his Southern counterpart Mr Hyun.

The words mark a turn around for the North, which earlier this year conducted an underground nuclear test and fired a long-range missile over Japan.

But more recently, there has been a series of conciliatory gestures. Two US reporters and a South Korean worker were released from detention and last week Pyongyang said it was interested in resuming cross-border tourism and industrial projects.

Some observers believe that, with UN sanctions beginning to bite, the North is keen to boost cross-border tourism and trade that bring in badly needed foreign currency, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul.


[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 22:59 GMT, Saturday, 22 August 2009 23:59 UK
China officials in smelter probe
Two government officials in central China are being investigated after more than 1,300 children fell sick with lead poisoning, the local government says.

The pair from the environmental agency in Wugang city, Hunan province, are suspected of dereliction of duty.

Last week, two executives of the Wugang Manganese Smeltering Plant were held over the poisonings and the plant shut.

Another smelter in Shaanxi province was closed days earlier after 600 children there developed lead poisoning.

Emissions from the smelting plants are thought to be behind the poisonings in both cases.

"Following a preliminary probe, a case of dereliction of duty has been established against two officials from the city environmental protection bureau," the Wugang government said in a statement posted on its website late on Friday.

The Wugang smelter had been operating since May last year without approval from the environmental bureau. It was closed on 13 August.

Officials said 1,354 children - 70% of those under 14 living in four villages near the plant - were found to have excessive levels of lead in their blood.

Lead poisoning can cause a range of health problems, from learning disabilities to seizures. Children under six are most at risk.


[sia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 09:46 GMT, Thursday, 20 August 2009 10:46 UK
'Hundreds ill' near China smelter
Authorities in China have closed a second metal smelter after more than 1,300 children fell sick with lead poisoning, state media have reported.

The children were living near a manganese plant near Wugang, in Hunan province, Xinhua news agency said.

Two executives of the plant have been detained over the poisoning.

It follows the closure of another smelter in northern Shaanxi province, where more than 600 children were found to have lead poisoning.

In both cases, the smelters were closed after angry parents confronted authorities over their children's illnesses.

Lead poisoning can cause a range of health problems, from learning disabilities to seizures. Children under six are most at risk.

Air, soil and water pollution is common in China, which has seen rapid economic growth over the past few decades.

Protests

An official in Wenping, part of Wugang city in Hunan, said that 1,354 children living in four villages near the Wugang Manganese Smeltering Plant had excessive levels of lead in their blood, Xinhua said.

All the children are under 14 years old.

Adults in the area began to suspect the smelter as the cause of a rash of illnesses among their children and on 8 August blocked a road in protest.

One man told the China Daily newspaper that his 10-month-old daughter became sick and started losing her hair.

The smelter, which had been operating since May last year without approval from the local environmental protection bureau, was closed on 13 August.

On Monday, angry parents in Shaanxi province broke into the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Company, near the city of Baoji.

More than 600 children were found to have lead poisoning, with at least 150 of them treated in hospital.


[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 17:03 GMT, Wednesday, 19 August 2009 18:03 UK
Snorkel rice could feed millions
A new rice plant has been developed which grows "snorkels" when exposed to floods.
By Sudeep Chand
Science Reporter, BBC News

A paper in the journal Nature, describes how the plant elongates rapidly in response to being submerged.

One of the scientists, Motoyaki Ashikari from Nagoya University in Japan, said "the impact is huge".

It could also boost the production of rice in Asia and Africa, where up to 40% of crops are subject to flash floods or deep water.

"People cannot plant any crops in the rainy season, because the crops drown and die in the floods," said Mr Ashikari.

Writing in Nature, Laurentius Voesenek describes how the Japanese scientists discovered the "snorkel" genes in flood-tolerant rice, and introduced them to more sensitive high-yield rice.

"Snorkels" grow as hollow tubes from parts of the plant called internodes, preventing it from drowning.

When the floods arrive, the super rice plants can grow up to 25cm per day.