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

2.10.05 North Korea: we have nukes

Feb. 11 – NORTH Korea has for the first time unambiguously declared that it has nuclear weapons, and says it has quit international talks aimed at resolving the nuclear stand-off. The announcement late yesterday sent shockwaves through neighbouring capitals, where governments have been trying to coax one of the world's most isolated and unpredictable regimes back to the negotiating table.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry official said in a statement carried by a regime mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency: "We have manufactured nukes for self-defence to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." Yesterday, even before the statement, top US arms control official John Bolton admitted "time is not on our side" to curb the menace from North Korea -- which might have as many as 10 nuclear weapons.

"To whatever extent the North Koreans are proceeding with their program, and we believe they are, the absence of progress in six-party talks means they are making further progress toward their increased capability," Mr Bolton, the State Department's under-secretary for arms control, told reporters in Tokyo...Mr Downer has already said he believes North Korea could have as many as three nuclear warheads and is developing the missile capability to reach Australia with its weapons... [More>>theaustralian.new.com.au; see also chinadaily.com.cn for China's take on the threat and more details.

Editorial note: "Has America been turned into a 'War-keeping nation?'" While Australia may be concerned about having North Korean weapons landing on its cities, the same concern applies for the US west coast and British Columbia. Rice seems to have been taught that rattling sabers, scaring people, and attacking without a foundation is diplomacy. She may have learned this from George H. W. Bush, who attacked Panama, violating UN covenants. In times past the US was criticized for being too reticent in engaging in war (re: WWII). President Bush has demonstrated that he looks for opportunities to go to war. When he referred to himself on several occasions that he "is a War President," he was not kidding. I suspect that the American people may not agree with that persona – as a profile of their mission. I know California Senator Diane Feinstein may have mixed emotions on the issue, since her husband's company has profiteered quite well from the war in Iraq, according to the sources listed in About Maravot News. While it is apparent that Feinstein may enjoy her life of luxury and fine dining thanks to the dead souls in Iraq, I suspect she might be a bit harsher towards spreading war if San Francisco were to suddenly disappear because of a North Korean missile. In any event, I hope that the former mayor of San Francisco will vociferously draw a battle line with the war mongers and save the world from the Bush administration's hostility.
Mel Copeland
Berkeley, CA

2.10.05 Task of collecting Indonesia's tsunami dead will take six months: Red Cross

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (AFP), Feb. 11 – Teams collecting corpses in the Indonesian province of Aceh have estimated it will take at least another six months to find all the tsunami victims, the Red Cross said on Thursday. Volunteers have been pulling scores of bodies from the rubble daily since the Dec. 26 disaster, a grim task complicated by rapid decomposition in tropical temperatures.

The Red Cross earlier put a deadline of two months to collect the bodies but with the extent of the carnage still not yet fully known, those involved say it will take much longer. "According to the information from the local Red Cross volunteers, the collection will go on for six months," Red Cross spokeswoman Yrsa Grune told AFP. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

2.10.05 British navy releases first images of Indian Ocean earthquake seabed

LONDON (AFP), Feb. 10 – A British Navy survey ship on Wednesday released the first images of the seabed at the epicenter of last year's killer earthquake and tsunami that reveal the massive canyons and ridges left by the collision of two of the earth's plates. The Royal Navy's HMS Scott has been taking underwater sonar readings off the Indonesian island of Sumatra to try to find out how the Dec. 26 earthquake unfolded and then produced the giant waves that have killed nearly 300,000 people in 11 countries. The ship's officers presented the readings in the form of colored digital mapping at the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office in Taunton, Somerset, southwest England, indicating a large landslide some 100 metres high (328 feet) by two kilometers (1.2 miles) in length. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

2.10.05 NATO agrees to expand Afghan mission

NICE, France (AP) - NATO defense ministers agreed Thursday on a major expansion of the alliance's peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and will send troops into the western sector of the country, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said. Agreement came after Italy, Spain and Lithuania ended months of delay by committing to send hundreds of troops to support U.S. forces under NATO command in the city of Herat and three other western Afghan cities...NATO military planners have struggled for months to find European nations willing to commit the troops needed to expand the 8,200-strong International Security Assistance Force into western Afghanistan. [More>>thestar.com.my]

2.10.05 India, China move to end oil rivalry

NEW DELHI, Feb. 11 – In what could be the high point of the Mani Shankar Aiyar-initiated oil diplomacy, China's external oil arm, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) are likely to bid jointly for oil and gas assets across the globe — instead of battling against one another. The idea was first mooted by the deputy chairman of the Chinese National Reconstruction and Development Council (the equivalent of India's Planning Commission) during the recent Asian oil ministers conclave in the Capital. [More>>hindustantimes.com]

2.10.05 China, India move closer in trade

HONG KONG, Feb. 11 – China has edged past the United Arab Emirates to become India's second-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade has set a record, touching US$13.6 billion in 2004, up by 79% over the total trade volume of 2003. India enjoyed a comfortable trade surplus of $1.75 billion, according to Chinese customs statistics. If growth remains at current levels, India-China trade could cross $17 billion by end of 2004-05. In contrast, India's trade with the United States - its largest trading partner - has grown by just over 23% in April-August 2004. The total figure achieved during 2004 was $3.6 billion more than expected at the beginning of the year, indicating the huge trade potential between the two fastest-growing economies. [More>>atimes.com]

2.10.05 Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan denies bin Ladens own land for terrorist use

Feb. 11 – On February 9, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan released an official statement on interview of director of regional anti-terrorist center of Shanghai Cooperation Organization that was recently published in the Russian "Independent Newspaper." Vyacheslav Kasymov, director of the center said in particular that "there are territories in our country that were bought by the firms, belonging to bin Ladens." He also added that Kazakhstan didn't adopt the law on preventing of terrorism financing. The Kazakhstani Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies this and says that the country has necessary lawful basis.

– There were no and there are no bases and camps on the territory of Kazakhstan that train the terrorists. Therefore, the MoFA considers the statements of the leader of the anti-terrorist structure of SCO as contradicting the spirit and main documents, which were signed by the leaders of member-states of SCO. [More>>khabar.kz]

2.10.05 Iraqi Army rids Baghdad hotspot of Americans

BAGHDAD (AFP), Feb. 10 – Iraqi Army Major Hadi has found the best way of ridding his country of foreign forces: going out on a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol in Baghdad's notorious Haifa Street district. "God willing, my work will hasten the American's departure," said Hadi, a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 U.S.-led invasion of his motherland, and today running a company of the Iraqi Army's 303 Battalion. "I'd like to see them leave now," Hadi said.

The U.S. 82nd Airborne will pass responsibility for Haifa Street over to Iraqi forces next Tuesday, so for a few days American and Iraqi troops are fighting insurgents side by side. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]

2.10.05 Abbas fires three top security commanders

Feb. 10 – Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas fired three of his senior security commanders Thursday, after militants launched a massive shelling attack on Israeli targets around the Strip and dozens of armed Palestinians raided the main PA jail in Gaza and killed three prisoners. "These are very dangerous developments, and they violate the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority," Palestinian cabinet secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh said. "No one can continue with these violations." [More>>haaretzdaily.com]

2.10.05 Khatami warns US of 'burning hell'

LONDON, Feb. 10 (IranMania) – Iranian President Mohammad Khatami warned Thursday that any invader would be met by a "burning hell" as tens of thousands of people braved blizzards to join rallies for the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. "All the people of Iran are united against any attack and any threats," Khatami told a rally in the snow-bound capital. "Any invader will find Iran to be a burning hell for them."

As the clerical regime marked the 26th anniversary of the revolution that ousted the US-backed shah, Iranians were urged to turn out en masse in cities across the country and give a show of unity in the face of mounting international pressure over its nuclear programme. Tens of thousands gathered around Azadi square in central Tehran despite the fierce cold and snow to hear Khatami step up the rhetoric in the escalating war of words between Iran and the United States. [More>>iranmania.com]

2.10.05 Iraqi police suffer sustained attacks

Feb. 10 – At least 10 Iraqi policemen have been killed and up to 65 more wounded in fierce battles with anti-US fighters south of Baghdad, police sources said. Intense and deadly skirmishes near the town of Salman Pak, about 65 km southeast of Baghdad, continued for several hours on Thursday. At one point, Salman Pak's main police station was taken over by fighters before the US military sent in helicopter gunships to attack the building. Police sources said at least 65 officers had been wounded. The fighting was so fierce that police reinforcements were unable to reach many of the wounded or recover the dead left lying in the road. [More>>Al-Jezeera]

2.10.05 Kuwait denies torture death claim

Feb. 10 – A suspected Islamic militant leader who died in a Kuwaiti jail suffered heart failure and did not die under torture, the country's interior minister said. Sheikh Nawaf al-Sabah said there was no evidence of maltreatment and a forensic report would prove that Amer al-Enezi died from low blood pressure. Mr Enezi, who was 29, was reported dead on Wednesday, 10 days after his arrest. An Islamist MP who heads parliament's human rights panel has questioned Sheikh Nawaf about the death. [More>>bbc.co.uk]

2.10.05 US trade deficit exceeds a record $600 billion

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 – The American trade deficit broke the $600 billion barrier in 2004, soaring to a record of $617.7 billion, the Commerce Department reported today. The figure amounts to more than 5 percent of the American economy, a level some economists and lawmakers said was unsustainable. Domestic manufacturers, labor unions and Democrats decried the report, saying the trade deficit was responsible the erosion of the American manufacturing base and the concurrent loss of jobs.

The administration disagreed. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said through a spokesman that the report reflected the strength of the economy. He said the ability of American consumers to buy more imports demonstrated that the American economy was growing faster than other nations. [More>>nytimes.com]

2.08.05 Lawyers rush to freeze Arab bank assets

Feb. 9 – The New York branch of the Amman-based Arab Bank was facing two lawsuits worth more than $875 million from the relatives of terror victims when the Central Bank of Jordan announced on Tuesday that it was going to gradually close it down.
Lawyers involved in the lawsuits in Israel and the US quickly announced that they would take immediate measures to make sure the bank does not smuggle any of its assets or documents out of the country. "We are preparing to file requests for temporary restraining orders and temporary seizures against the bank and its assets before it closes down and smuggles them out of the country," said Israeli attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner on Wednesday. [More>>Jerusalem Post]

2.08.05 Judge orders Islamic fund-raiser deported

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8 – A federal immigration judge on Tuesday ordered a former fund-raiser for a prominent Islamic charity to be deported, saying his activities posed a threat to national security. The judge found that the man, Abdel Jabber Hamdan, who has lived in Orange County for more than 20 years, knew or should have known that the money he raised for the Holy Land Foundation was being used to support terrorism. The government contends that the foundation has funneled more than $12 million to Hamas and other Palestinian organizations that the United States considers sponsors of terrorism. [More>>nytimes.com]

2.09.05 Update Toll in Asian tsunami disaster tops 295,000+

JAKARTA, Feb. 8 – JAKARTA - The number of people believed killed in December's tsunami disaster topped 295,000, six weeks after the catastrophe, as Indonesia again increased its number of dead. Indonesia was hardest-hit by the December 26 quake and tsunamis, with a total of 242,347 people listed as dead or missing, the health ministry said in its latest figures. [More>>China Daily; in a Feb. 9 jang.com.pk report 640 more bodies were found in Aceh]

2.09.05 Bush cuts draw heat from GOP members

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 – As President Bush began promoting a 2006 budget plan that calls for reductions in an array of popular domestic programs, Republicans in Congress on Tuesday started searching for ways to achieve his overall deficit-reduction targets without slaying such political sacred cows as farm subsidies, Amtrak and aid to states.

Many of the proposals in Bush's $2.57-trillion spending plan drew fire not only from Democrats but also from members of the president's own party who are reluctant to cut programs because they – unlike Bush – face reelection in 2006 and beyond. [More>>latimes.com]

2.09.05 Top terror leader dies of heart failure

KUWAIT, Feb. 9 – The alleged ringleader of a terror group accused of attacking Americans and Kuwaiti security has died of heart failure while detained in prison, an interior ministry official said on Wednesday. Amer Khlaif al-Enezi died yesterday, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Al-Enezi was believed to be in his 30s. He was arrested January 31 in a police raid on a house in Mubarak al Kabir, south of Kuwait city. He was questioned by state security and then referred to the prosecution. The government has been locked in a battle against militant Muslims since last month. Al-Enezi and scores of other terror suspects were being questioned by the prosecution on accusations of plans to attack the country's state security as well as American civilians and members of the US military. [More>>expressindia.com; see also Al-Jezeera, "Kuwaiti detainee dies in custody." The suspected leader of an outlawed group in Kuwait has died while in police custody, according to news agencies in Kuwait. Amir Khilaif al-Inizi died of a heart attack at the military hospital late on Tuesday evening, according to Kuwaiti news agencies. He was aged 29. Al-Qabas news told Aljazeera.net that al-Inizi "had apparently complained of having problems breathing on Tuesday afternoon after which he was taken to the military hospital." Lieutenant-Colonel Adil al-Hashash, the head of public relations at the Interior Ministry, added that Amir died at a military hospital "due to a collapse in [his] blood circulation."...A Kuwaiti journalist speaking to Aljazeera.net said al-Inizi was arrested on 31 January and was suspected of being a ring leader of a group known as The Lions of the Island...

2.09.05 ETA car bomb near Madrid Art Fair injures 43

MADRID (Reuters) Feb. 9 – A car bomb exploded near Madrid's main convention center on Wednesday, wounding 43 people, hours before Spanish and Mexican leaders were due there and after a warning from the Basque separatist group ETA. The worst blast in the Spanish capital since last year's March 11 al Qaeda train bombings came before King Juan Carlos and Mexican President Vicente Fox were to open the prestigious ARCO art fair at the complex on the outskirts of the city. Forty-three people were hurt, none seriously, including 24 taken to hospital, an emergencies official said. Six police officers were among those injured. The explosion, which coincided with a major police crackdown on ETA, seemed to erase any hope the group might declare a truce before Basque regional elections in April. [More>>reuters.com]

2.09.05 Gunmen kill Iraqi journalist

BAGHDAD (Reuters) FEb. 9 – Gunmen killed an Iraqi journalist working for a U.S.-funded television network in Basra and assassinated a senior government official in Baghdad on Wednesday in the latest attacks following the Jan. 30 election. Police in Basra, 550 km (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, said Alhurra correspondent Abdul-Hussein Khazal had been shot dead at his home in the mainly Shi'ite city. Alhurra is a Virginia-based satellite news network set up with U.S. funding to compete with Arabic channels like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. Alhurra said one of Khazal's sons had also been killed. He was three years old. [More>>reuters.com; see also Al-Jezeera, " Iraqi official assassinated in Baghdad," and Al-Jezeera,"Iraqi official seized, journalist killed."

2.09.05 Russian icebreaker helsp US McMurdo Polar Station

MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's iceboat the Krasin has completed the last stage of the operation to help the American Polar station McMurdo. The Krasin has piloted back the American Tern container-carrier from the berth to clear water in the Ross Sea, says the communique of the Far Eastern Marine Shipping Company, which has come to hand at RIA Novosti on Wednesday. It was uphill pilotage because the weather got seriously worse near the station – biting cold and bitter wind, the iceboat's captain Victor Kovalchuk said. "It was hard work for the icebreaker," the press release cites him as saying.

Meanwhile, the Krasin has coped with the job and promptly brought fuel, food, medicines and research equipment during the brief navigation in the Ross Sea. "Now McMurdo has all it takes to carry it through till the end of the year," the press release reads. [More>>rian.ru]

2.09.05 17 killed in Russian mine blast

MOSCOW, Feb. 9 – At least 17 people were killed Wednesday in a coal mine blast in Russia, reports Xinhua. "Rescuers have found another seven bodies over the past hour and another nine people are still missing and believed to be trapped in the mine," the Interfax news agency quoted an Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman as saying. Earlier reports said a blast at the Yesaulskaya mine in the Kemerovo region of Siberia occurred at 8 a.m. local time (10.30 a.m. IST) Wednesday. Leaking methane is believed to have caused the blast.

Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleyev said continuing flashes of methane gas were hampering search and rescue operations in the mine. Tuleyev said the victims' families would be given 700,000 roubles ($25,000) to 800,000 roubles ($28,000 dollars) as compensation and the funds would come from the regional budget and Yuzhkuzbassugol company, which owns the Yesaulskaya mine. A special commission has been set up to help the victims' families, the governor said.

The explosion is the second accident at the Yesaulskaya mine this year. On Jan. 25 a fire broke in which all the miners in the shaft were rescued. [Indo-Asian News Service via newkerala.com]

2.09.05 Japan's action on island lighthouse illegal'

Feb. 9 – Japan said it had placed under "state control" a lighthouse built by nationalists on a disputed island in the East China Sea despite claims by China. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan said in Beijing Wednesday that Diaoyu Islands and neighboring islands have been China's territories since ancient time, and any unilateral action is "illegal and invalid".

Earlier, Kong said China has always maintained that the dispute should be addressed by negotiation and consultation. "No unilateral action should be taken," Kong said on January 18. The 5.6-meter (18-foot) lighthouse was erected in 1988 by Japanese right-wing activists to mark a claim on Uotsuri-jima, the largest of the Senkaku Islands, known as Diaoyu in China, which lie between China's Taiwan Island and Japan. [More>>chinadaily.com.cn; see also kyodo.co.jp, "Japan tightens grip on Senkaku Islands, China condemns move"]

Editor's note: The underlying problem seems to be associated with China's oil exploration activity in the area. China needs oil, and according to a recent article China will economically surpass the US in the 2020's. Hopefully that will not include the American gas-guzzling penchant. [chinadaily.com.cn, "China poised to overtake US in 2020s]
Mel Copeland

2.09.05 South Korean province protests Shimane's TV ads about Takeshima

MATSUE, Japan Feb. 9 – The South Korean province of North Kyongsang has filed a protest with Japan's Shimane prefectural government over its television advertisement about an island in the Sea of Japan which is claimed both by Japan and South Korea, prefectural government officials said Wednesday. "We are concerned about the advertisement," the province, which has a friendship arrangement with the prefecture, said in a protest letter, according to the officials. [Kyodo News via japantoday.com]

2.08.05 EU joins forces to fight spam – the majority originates from the US

Feb. 7 – The EU has called for closer coordination among all member governments to find and prosecute those illegally spreading unsolicited bulk commercial email – the majority of which originate from the US. Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner in charge of new media and information society, also announced that "anti-spam enforcement authorities" in 13 EU countries had agreed to cooperate in investigating complaints against spammers. [More>>Al-Jezeera]

2.08.05 Ex-residents want Russian-held isles back

Feb. 8 – Japanese who used to live on the islands of Shikotan, Kunashiri and Etorofu and the Habomai islets will only accept the total return of the territories from Russia, not just two of the islands as Moscow is proposing, according to Toshio Koizumi, chairman of a group of former islanders. "Our principle to collectively seek the return of the four islands that originally belonged to Japan is unshakable," Koizumi said in an interview. "Any proposal other than a return of all four islands cannot be accepted." [More>>japantimes.co.jp]

(2) The name, Allah, in Arabic is an expression of surprise. It is not unusual for the God of the Bible to be known by many names . Jewish Midrash quotes passages in the Old Testament (Torah) that cite as many as seventy names of God (and more). But they can all be reduced down to one name.

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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.)

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