Maravot's News of the World: news headlines and trends

1.01.05 TSUNAMI HELP & RESOURCES

1.07.05 Safety fears for aid workers

1.08.04 – Patricia Karvelas and Samantha Maiden report that Islamic militants in the region of Aceh, Indonesia, may pose a threat to supplying aid to the tsunami wracked region: Fuelling the volatility of the region, fundamental Islamic activists are also flooding into the region in a bid to guard against what they regard as dangerous Western influences. As relief efforts continued yesterday, the death toll in Indonesia from the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunamis jumped by almost 20,000 to 113,306, taking the total number of dead across the region to more than 165,000. Australian aid workers in Aceh told The Australian yesterday that Indonesian soldiers had warned they could not guarantee security outside Banda Aceh. Workers were being urged to travel in large convoys that were clearly marked for safety. [More>>news.com.au]

1.07.05 Trafficking in children after the tsunami confirmed by the UN

1.08.04 – THE United Nations Children's Fund today confirmed a case of trafficking in children orphaned or separated from parents by the Indian Ocean tsunami...Birgithe Lund-Henriksen, chief of the UNICEF and Indonesian police had confirmed that a four-year-old boy was taken out of Banda Aceh, the capital of devastated Aceh province, by a couple claiming to be his parents...Ms. Lund-Henriksen said there were other reports of possible child-trafficking cases, including a sighting by an NGO worker of about 100 infants being carried in a speedboat in the middle of the night in Aceh province. [More>>news.com.au]

1.07.05 British Foreign Secretary says Thailand does not need aid

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan. 7 – British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives need foreign aid, but not Thailand. [More>>colombopage.com]

1.07.05 US advertises reward in Pakistan daily, Jang

ISLAMABAD, Jan 7 (PTI) – The US today advertised huge rewards in a top Pakistani daily for information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden and 13 other "most wanted people." Bin Laden and his deputy Aiman al-Zawhri each carried a reward of $25 million while Taliban supremo Mullah Muhammad Omar had a $10 million price on his head, according to the half-page advertisement published in the Urdu daily 'Jang'. "All the information would be kept secret," the advertisement issued by the US Justice Department said.... Other men named in the ad were Mudhat Mursi al-Syed Omar, Saif-ul Adil, Ans Alebi, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, Mustafa Muhammad Fazil, Mustafa Syet Maryam Nasr, Ali Syed Muhammad Mustafa al-Bakri, Ahmed Muhmmad Hamid Ali, Sheikh Ahmed Saleem Swedan, Muhsen Musa Atvi and Adnan G al-Shukre Juma. Each of them carried a reward of $5 million for "terrorist" activities. [More>>Press Trust International]

1.07.05 Scores of reporters from Banda Aceh missing

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (Antara), Jan. 8 – A number of Banda Aceh-based reporters are still missing 12 days after the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the capital of the province on Dec. 26, 2004. Information gathered by Antara in Banda Aceh up until Friday gave no indication of the whereabouts of the reporters. The missing reporters, working in various print and electronic media companies both in Medan, North Sumatra, and Jakarta...most employees at the local media companies are also still missing. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

1.07.05 The increase of dengue cases has doubled in Malaysia

From an average of 450 cases per week before the tsunami, the incidence of dengue had jumped to about 1,000 cases per week since last month. Dengue is a severe infectious disease of tropical and subtropical regions. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and marked by fever and severe pains in the joints. A warning was issued by Health Minister Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek of Malaysia. [More>>thestar.com]

1.07.05 UN Secretary-General Annan shocked at loss of people

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Jan. 7 – U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan flew over the tsunami-ravaged landscape of Indonesia's Aceh province on Friday and asked, "Where are the people?" as Jakarta raised its death toll by thousands...Jakarta added more than 7,000 deaths to its toll. It now stands at 101,318, out of a total of more than 153,000 for the 13 nations affected. [More>>Reuters]

1.07.05 Crocodiles and snakes on remote Andaman and Nicobar islands gorging on people

PORT BLAIR, Jan. 7 – Five years ago, the tiny island of Katchal ushered in the dawn of a hopeful new millennium for India. Today, this chunk of the remote Andaman and Nicobar chain is bathed only in despair. Last month's killer tsunami left nearly 6,000 people dead or missing on the chain of remote islands, with hundreds stranded in jungles, braving hissing pythons and wild pigs...More than half of Katchal's 8,512 people have been missing ...S.K. Ghosh, an electricity worker, said he and his wife fought their way into a packed rescue boat, saying she needed medical attention. They were dropped off at Hut Bay island, where they waded ashore in crocodile-infested waters.

"I have seen several crocodiles, big ones. I am sure they are looking for bodies," said a tired Ghosh, who moved around in the jungles for more than 10 days after his house was swept away. [More>>expressindia.com]

1.07.05 OTHER NEWS

1.07.05 Pakistani security forces arrest 3 suspected Al-Quaeda-linked terrorists

Jan. 8 – Pakistani security forces arrested three suspected Al Qaeda-linked terrorists, including a Yemeni national, in a raid outside the southern port city of Karachi on Friday, intelligence officials said. The Yemeni, identified as Sheikh Yousuf, and two Pakistanis were arrested more than 60 km north of Karachi, an official said. Security forces seized documents, a satellite telephone and some weapons, the official said, declining to be identified. [More>>Reuters via hindustantimes.com]

1.07.05 Barghouti expelled from Jerusalem for campaigning on Temple Mount

JERUSALEM, Jan. 7 – A Palestinian election candidate was expelled from
Jerusalem on Friday after trying to enter the Temple Mount in defiance of a ban on campaigning at the bitterly contested holy site, police said. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti was detained for questioning for an hour Friday afternoon after violating previously arranged agreements reached with the Palestinians, which forbid election campaigning on the Mount...[More>>Jerusalem Post]

The Temple Mount is controlled by the Palestinians. It is to the Jews the holiest site in the world and the third holiest site in the world to Moslems. Orthodox Jews believe that the Messiah (Christ) will appear in the "Last Days" and proceed to the Temple Mount through the Golden Gate and rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem. Some Christians believe the Jews are referring to Jesus Christ. Palestinians (Moslems) have sealed up the Golden Gate to prevent the Messiah from entering the Temple Mount in either case. It would seem fair that if the Messiah can't enter for political purposes neither should a politician. See our comment on "Why the Jihad?" .
Mel Copeland

1.07.05 Italian train collision kills 18

Eighteen people are reported to have been killed and many others injured in a train crash near Bologna in Italy. A regional express train crashed head-on into a freight train, derailing its engine as the goods train ploughed into passenger carriages. Italian officials say the accident happened on a stretch of single-track near Bolognina di Crevalcore on Friday. [More>>bbc.co.uk]

1.07.05 Bombs in Iraq fewer but more powerful

WASHINGTON — Bombs used with deadly accuracy to kill U.S. troops in Iraq have recently become more powerful, the latest shift in tactics employed by the insurgency, Pentagon officials said today. Army Brig. Gen. David Rodriquez said that insurgents have greatly increased the destructive power of roadside bombs by packing more explosives into the munitions, which the military calls "improvised explosive devices." [More>>latimes.com; see also Al-Jezeera]

1.07.05 UN watchdog IAEA investigating Egypt for small nuclear experiments

VIENNA, Jan. 6: The UN nuclear watchdog is investigating Egypt for small, undeclared nuclear experiments that could be related to atomic weapons development, diplomats said. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit swiftly denied that his country had done anything counter to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The experiments involved making uranium metal, which could be used to make weapons-grade plutonium, and carrying out the first steps of uranium enrichment by making uranium tetra fluoride (UF4), one diplomat said. [More>>dawn.com]

1.07.05 UN watchdog, IAEA, to inspect Parchin military site in Iran

Jan. 8 – The United Nations atomic watchdog agency will be sending inspectors in the coming days to the Parchin military site in Iran, following allegations that it was linked to nuclear weapons testing. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Thursday that Iran agreed to its request for access to the site, where the inspectors will take environmental samples to determine whether nuclear activity has taken place there. [More>>bignewsnetwork.com]

1.07.05 Sinclair Broadcasting to sue webloggers

The following was posted on a Americablog Jan. 7:

"The evil Sinclair broadcasting group, the group that planned to run the entire anti-Kerry attack film on their TV stations around the country right before the election, has threatened to sue David Brock's MediaMatters AND they've threatened to sue ANYONE who JOINS MEDIA MATTERS EMAIL LIST!

Here's my favorite quote from Sinclair's release:

Although Sinclair respects the rights of these organizations to voice their opinions, we find inappropriate that their tactics include advocating their constituency to contact our advertisers in a blatant attempt to use economic pressure to censor the speech of Sinclair. Moreover, the continued misrepresentation of the facts surrounding any company's advertising practices regarding Sinclair stations constitutes "trade defamation" which would entitle Sinclair to seek damages in a court of law. Sinclair will aggressively pursue any organization or any individual which engages in such defamation, including individuals who lend their names to mass e-mail campaigns spreading such misinformation.

Oh man. Make. My. Day."

The Sinclair Press Release is at: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050107/phf019_1.html. See also http://www.rawstory.com/ and others.

1.07.05 Reporters Without Borders condemns mistreatment of cyberjournalists and webloggers in Iran

Jan. 6 – Reporters Without Borders has condemned the mistreatment in prison of cyberdissidents and webloggers after an Iranian committee report concluded that public confessions of two of them, Omid Memarian and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, were obtained under duress. "We fear that the authorities are succeeding in purging the web of all critical content through brutality, intimidation and censorship," the worldwide press freedom organization said. "In a country in which weblogs and news sites have flourished in the past few years such a setback would be a catastrophe for freedom of expression."

Confirmation that Memarian and Mir Ebrahimi were mistreated after their arrests in November 2004, along with a group of other online journalist, was given on 4 January 2005 in a report from the committee for Monitoring the Implementation of the Constitution, on which both conservatives and reformists sit...Ali Abtahi said on his weblog (http://www.webneveshteha.com) that the testimony of Omid Memarian and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi "made committee members weep". [More>>rsf.org via bignewsnetwork.com]

1.07.05 The US at the center of a world doughnut that is crumbling

Jan. 7 – Andre Gunder Frank makes an interesting comparison on the influence of the US economy "Uncle Sam" upon the world, how it is at the center of a doughnut that is no good to anyone. In 1993 in Duty and Profit, and Immoral Coercion, a conversation with Wm. F. Buckley Jr., I noted how the US has become a Leviathan that will, when it runs out of bait, begin to consume itself. It may be that Frank's allegory of the doughnut is more appropriate. It is stale and subject to being rejected by those who had been feeding on it. His commentary for the Asian audience makes one feel that George W. Bush may be worse than Justinian and Theodora (~427-550 A.D.) who – according to Procopius – were not only the most heinous, corrupt people to run and ruin the Roman Empire, but were so hated by God that he brought all kinds of calamities upon the masses of the known world. Whom Justinian and Theodora did not purloin they murdered or, through their agents, were responsible for the murders. Being so despicable to God, the wrath of God brought on hundreds of millions of deaths from earthquakes and floods at the time. While I am reminded by Frank's tale of woe a resemblance to Procopius' indictment of Justinian and Theodora, it may be that Justinain and Theodora were a bit more successful in pillaging the Roman Empire during their time than George W. Bush has achieved with regards to Uncle Sam's empire. Frank's article can be read at: atimes.com and, for comparison, one might wish to read Procopius' indictment of Justinian and Theodora, The Secret History.

Mel Copeland

1.04.05 TSUNAMI NEWS

1.04.05 Tsunami toll nears 10,000 in India; number of missing at 5,801

PORT BLAIR / CHENNAI, Jan. 4 – Special rescue teams were today despatched to Andaman and Nicobar to scour inaccessible islands for bloated bodies on the seas and in dense forests as central teams began on-the-sport assessment of the devastation caused by tidal waves in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. With the relief and rehabilitation operations in full swing in all affected areas, 25 bodies were recovered in coastal areas of worst-hit Tamil Nadu, and the total death toll was officially put at 9571 and the number of missing at 5,801. [More>>Press Trust of India]

1.04.05 Tsunami aid operation stumbles as UN fears tens of thousands more deaths

BANDA ACEH – A global push to reach survivors of Asia's tsunami faltered Tuesday after a plane accident in Indonesia and heavy rain in Sri Lanka with the United Nations warning that the death toll from the disaster could rise by tens of thousands. With the official toll already reaching to nearly 150,000, US Secretary of State Colin Powell held talks in Thailand on creating a tsunami warning system to prevent a repeat of the catastrophe, kicking off a regional tour to include a crisis summit Thursday in Jakarta.

Ahead of the meeting, the world's major industrialized countries and the Paris Club of creditor nations moved closer on Tuesday to freezing the debt of countries ravaged by the disaster, said sources. [Jang.com.pk]

1.04.05 Bangkok Post offers to serve as medium to facilitate search and relief efforts in Thailand

Special Announcement from the Bangkok Post: "With many people, especially foreigners, still desperately looking for missing friends and relatives in the wake of the tsunami which struck southern Thailand on Dec 26, the Bangkok Post feels obliged to serve as a medium to facilitate search and relief efforts.

Any people who are looking for missing loved ones can email to

missingperson@bangkokpost.co.th or visit our website at

www.bangkokpost.com/tidalwave/index.html. We are more than willing to put the messages, photos or any other information in our newspaper. Such information will also appear on our website, which will be helpful in tracking down missing people or identifying the bodies. Follow-up inquiries about progress of the search and relief efforts should be directed to the 24-hour coordinating centre of the Foreign Affairs Ministry at (662) 643-5262, 644-7245, 644-7249, 643-5000 ext 5003, 5501, 5502, 5055 and 5056." [More>>bangkokpost.net]

1.04.05 UN to set up relief coordination center for tsunami victims in Singapore

SINGAPORE (AP), Jan. 5 – The United Nations will establish a coordination center in Singapore to help victims of last week's tsunami and earthquake, the city-state's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. "The coordinating center in Singapore will help to alleviate the situation and bring emergency relief," the ministry said in statement. It did not say when the center would begin distributing aid.

Nearly 150,000 people have died in the earthquake and tsunami that struck on Dec. 26. Most of the deaths have been in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

1.04.05 Three task forces to lead Sri Lanka rescue and relief

Jan 04, COLOMBO, Jan. 4 – Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday appointed three apex task forces to spearhead the revival of the tsunami-hit nation. A key development was the selection of business leaders to articulate the way forward regarding the rebuilding of Sri Lanka.

The Presidential Secretariat said the three appointed task forces are Rescue and Relief (TAFRER) chaired by Dr. Tara de Mel, Task Force to Rebuild the Nation (TAFREN) chaired by Mano Tittawella, and Task Force for Logistics, Law and Order (TAFLOL) chaired by Tilak Ranaviraja. The task forces have been set up with overall accountability to the President through the Secretary to the President. The government said it was crucial that an organized set of structures is put in place to rebuild the nation. [colombopage.com]

1.04.05 OTHER NEWS

1.04.05 Governor of Baghdad assasinated; resistance heats up

Baghdad governor Ali al-Haidri has been assassinated by armed men in the capital, police and hospital sources say. [More>>Al-Jezeera]

Al-Jezeera also reports that there may be more resistance fighters in Iraq than the US government claims. [More>>Al-Jezeera]

1.04.05 U.S. preparing post-election boost in Palestinian aid

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is considering a proposal to boost U.S. aid to the Palestinians this year by up to $200 million – a more than two-fold increase – to help shore up support for a newly elected president, sources close to the deliberations said on Tuesday. [More>>Reuters via Haaretzdaily.com]

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Copyright © 1981-2005 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved
Painting of Apple by Mel Copeland, early 70's
Background: tile from Cicero's villa (Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 B.C. - 43 B.C.)