2 Irish Catholic Church hid sex abuse for decades: official
by Andrew Bushe, AFP
1 hr 1 min ago
| DUBLIN (AFP) - Ireland's Catholic Church apologised and admitted its shame Thursday after a damning new report showed it covered up child sex abuse over more than three decades.
The Irish government also said sorry for failing to protect children after the latest report, published six months after a first landmark study revealed widespread abuse of children in Catholic care.
"I offer to each and every survivor my apology, my sorrow and my shame for what happened," said Diarmuid Martin, who has been archbishop of Dublin since 2004. |
3 India marks anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks
by Phil Hazlewood, AFP
48 mins ago
| MUMBAI (AFP) - India on Thursday marked the first anniversary of last year's deadly attacks on Mumbai with a show of security strength and prayers for the dead, as the government vowed a tough line to curb terror.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led tributes to the 166 people who were killed when 10 heavily-armed Islamist gunmen stormed India's financial capital, sparking a bloody, 60-hour siege shown live on television around the world.
"The government will not rest till we have brought the perpetrators of this crime to justice. This is our solemn duty," Singh said from Washington, where he is on a visit to boost US ties. |
4 China unveils plan to limit carbon emissions
by Allison Jackson, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 9:39 am ET
| BEIJING (AFP) - China unveiled on Thursday what it called an ambitious plan to boost energy efficiency and curb its carbon footprint in the most detailed indication yet of its stance heading into a world climate summit.
The world's most populous country will cut the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of gross domestic product in 2020 by between 40 and 45 percent, based on 2005 levels, a statement from the State Council, or cabinet, said.
"This is a voluntary action taken by the Chinese government based on its own national conditions and is a major contribution to the global effort in tackling climate change," the statement said. |
5 Iran pilgrims stage protest as hajj peaks
by Adel Zaanoun, AFP
36 mins ago
| ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Iranians chanted death to America and Israel on Thursday as some 2.5 million Muslims, drying out after a day of torrential rains, continue their hajj pilgrimage and mass at the site of the prophet Mohammed's last sermon.
Ignoring Saudi warnings against political activity, the Iranians called for Muslim unity against the "enemies" of the faith in their camp at Mount Arafat outside of Mecca.
"Death to America, death to Israel," thousands of Iranians chanted inside a huge tent on the Plain of Arafat. |
6 Dubai debt fears hit world stock markets
AFP
45 mins ago
| LONDON (AFP) - Global equities slumped Thursday, with Europe down three percent after Dubai's shock call to suspend the debt of a key state company fuelled anxiety about excessive public borrowing, analysts said.
The government of Dubai shocked financial markets on Wednesday when it said it would ask creditors of its Dubai World conglomerate for a debt moratorium of at least six months.
The request "fed a climate of insecurity and crisis of confidence at a time when fears are mounting about excessive public debt," said Xavier de Villepion, an analyst with Global Equities in Paris. |
7 Fed's zero rate policy sparking growing complaints
by Rob Lever, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 1:22 am ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Federal Reserve's zero interest rate policy is provoking growing complaints from some economists who argue it is doing little to spark lending activity and may be fueling new asset bubbles.
Few expect any immediate hike in the federal funds rate, which has been in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since last December in an effort to jolt the economy from recession.
But some economists say the Fed is running the risk of falling into a "liquidity trap" in which monetary policy, no matter how stimulative, fails to spark new lending or growth. |
8 No Thanksgiving rest for retailers in sales race
By Michele Gershberg, Reuters
2 hrs 2 mins ago
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers may stretch tight budgets this year to reward loved ones after months of thrift, a softening of heart that store chains hope will erase the holiday season sales debacle of 2008.
Retailers from Wal-Mart Stores to Gap, RadioShack and Walgreens opened their doors on Thursday as U.S. families celebrate Thanksgiving, aiming to capture early bird shoppers a day before the official start of holiday shopping on "Black Friday."
The unsettled state of the U.S. economy, with a 26-year high in unemployment and tighter access to credit, has industry holiday sales forecasts varying from a decline of 3 percent to an increase of 2 percent. |
Yup. Everyone I know is spending more on me. Dream on suckers.
9 Cost concerns unlikely to sink U.S. health overhaul
By Donna Smith, Reuters
2 hrs 24 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. debt that is topping $12 trillion is raising fresh questions about the cost of President Barack Obama's proposed healthcare overhaul, but those concerns are unlikely to sink the legislation.
The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan scorekeeper of federal spending, put the first 10-year cost of the Senate healthcare bill at $849 billion and said it would reduce budget deficits by $130 billion over that period.
Republican critics of the overhaul, a top domestic priority for Obama, say those numbers reflect timing gimmicks that skew the bill's costs and that the price tag will be closer to $2.5 trillion in the first decade the bill is fully implemented. |
10 German military chief resigns over Afghan air strike
By Noah Barkin, Reuters
30 mins ago
| BERLIN (Reuters) - The head of Germany's armed forces and a senior Defense Ministry official were forced to resign on Thursday over reports the military withheld details about a September 4 air strike that killed civilians in Afghanistan.
Opposition parties also called on Franz Josef Jung, defense minister at the time and now labor minister, to step down in what could become a major embarrassment for Chancellor Angela Merkel just as she considers sending more troops to Afghanistan.
In a speech to parliament, Jung's voice faltered as he told the Bundestag lower house what he knew about the attack, noting he had been aware of the existence of a military police report into the deaths which his critics have seized on. |
11 China unveils carbon target for Copenhagen deal
By Emma Graham-Harrison and Chris Buckley, Reuters
26 mins ago
| BEIJING (Reuters) - China unveiled its first firm target to curb greenhouse gas emissions on Thursday, a carbon intensity goal that Premier Wen Jiabao will take to a summit in Copenhagen next month hoping to aid a global climate deal.
The announcement came a day after the United States, the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China, unveiled a plan to cut emissions by 2020 and said President Barack Obama would attend the U.N.-led talks in Copenhagen.
China said Wen would go to the December 7-18 talks and pledged to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each yuan of national income 40-45 percent by 2020, compared to 2005 levels. |
Reset after Thanksgiving Dinner and Nap
12 Witnesses saw politician carry out massacre: govt
AFP
1 hr 11 mins ago
| GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines (AFP) - Many witnesses saw a Philippine politician order and participate in an election-linked massacre that claimed at least 57 lives, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said Friday.
"One of the witnesses said he was the one who was ordering them," Devanadera told the GMA television network, referring to Andal Ampatuan Jnr, a mayor in the southern Philippines who surrendered to authorities on Thursday and who is now claiming innocence.
Witnesses also saw soldiers and policemen participate in the election-linked killing, Devanadera added. |
13 Philippine massacre suspect says he is innocent
AFP
Thu Nov 26, 2:18 am ET
| GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines (AFP) - The Philippine politician accused of masterminding an election-linked massacre that left 57 people dead surrendered to authorities on Thursday but insisted he was innocent.
Amid rising criticism about the perceived slow response to Monday's slaughter in the troubled south of the country, authorities finally took Andal Ampatuan Jnr into custody while implementing sweeping security measures.
However Ampatuan Jnr insisted he did not orchestrate the horrifying killings in his home province of Maguindanao, where his family has been a dominant political force for decades. |
14 UFO-obsessed Briton loses bid to block US extradition
by Trudy Harris, AFP
1 hr 3 mins ago
| LONDON (AFP) - A Briton accused of hacking into US military and NASA computers faces extradition to the United States after the British government rejected last-ditch requests to block the move.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson concluded that sending Gary McKinnon to the United States would not breach his human rights, and said he has no general discretionary powers to stop the extradition.
"If Mr McKinnon's human rights would be breached, I must stop the extradition. If they would not be breached, the extradition must go ahead," Johnson said in a statement. |
15 Argentine couple ready for region's first same-sex marriage
AFP
2 hrs 29 mins ago
| BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - A gay man tying the knot next week in Latin America's first same-sex marriage predicted Thursday that his ground-breaking wedding will inspire other homosexual couples to follow suit.
"Our December 1 civil wedding service will launch a new campaign in the coming months in different major cities to allow same-sex couples to do the same," said Alejandro Freyre, 39, at a press conference here.
An Argentine judge paved the way for the region's first gay marriage earlier this month when she granted Freyre and his partner Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, permission to marry. |
16 Sarkozy hails US, Chinese climate proposals
by Yana Marull, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 6:20 pm ET
| MANAUS, Brazil (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in Brazil Thursday for a one-day meeting on climate change and Amazon forest conservation, hailed new US and Chinese proposals on combating global warming as "extremely encouraging."
At a press conference, Sarkozy praised US President Barack Obama's "courage" for setting goals that would reduce US carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020, while also offering positive words for China's proposed moves to reduce carbon emissions.
"The latest statements by Barack Obama and China's leaders are extremely encouraging in making Copenhagen a success," said Sarkozy, who is attending the meeting because France's overseas department of French Guiana is in the region. |
17 Euro slips
AFP
Thu Nov 26, 1:19 pm ET
| LONDON (AFP) - The euro slipped against the dollar on Thursday as world markets were shaken by news that Dubai had moved to suspend part of the debt of a major state-backed development company.
The dollar meanwhile slumped to a 14-year low point against the yen, prompting fears that a further surge could hurt a fragile recovery in Japan, the world's second largest economy.
The euro fell to 1.4989 dollars from 1.5127 dollars late Wednesday, as investors moved away from the European single currency, which is considered a higher-risk investment, analysts said. |
18 Philippines charges massacre suspect with murder
By Manny Mogato, Reuters
Thu Nov 26, 7:00 am ET
| MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine police filed murder charges on Thursday against the main suspect in the massacre of 57 people in the south of the country this week as authorities moved to dismantle his clan's control over the region.
Andal Ampatuan Jr, a local mayor in Maguindanao province, came face to face with Esmael Mangudadatu, husband of one of the women murdered, who filed multiple murder complaints before state prosecutors in southern General Santos City.
Ampatuan was flown out from Maguindanao province by an army helicopter after he was handed over by his brother to a senior government official and a top regional army general. |
19 U.S. will be out of Afghanistan by 2017: White House
By Ross Colvin and Jeff Mason, Reuters
Thu Nov 26, 8:05 am ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort.
After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war.
He is expected to announce he is sending about 30,000 more troops as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy that will place greater emphasis on accelerating the training of Afghan security forces so that U.S. soldiers can eventually withdraw. |
20 Obama's agenda runs into economic angst in Congress
By Thomas Ferraro and Emily Kaiser, Reuters
Wed Nov 25, 4:01 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is paying a price for a recession that began before he took office, and fellow Democrats have started to balk at his legislative agenda and demand greater efforts to create jobs.
Some liberal Democrats even want Obama to replace his economic team while moderates fear his bid to overhaul healthcare and stem global warming -- two top priorities -- may mean more fiscal hard times, at least in the short term.
In one sign of the angst on Capitol Hill, a group of black Democratic lawmakers last week temporarily blocked a bill to tighten financial regulation, another Obama priority, signaling they believe more help is urgently needed for the unemployed. |
21 Iran seizes rights lawyer's Nobel Peace medal
By NASSER KARIMI and IAN MacDOUGALL, Associated Press Writers Nasser
45 mins ago
| TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian authorities confiscated Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi's medal, the human rights lawyer said Thursday, in a sign of the increasingly drastic steps Tehran is taking against any dissent.
In Norway, where the peace prize is awarded, the government said the confiscation of the gold medal was a shocking first in the history of the 108-year-old prize.
Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts in promoting democracy. She has long faced harassment from Iranian authorities for her activities - including threats against her relatives and a raid on her office last year in which files were confiscated. |
22 Dubai request for debt 'standstill' raises fear
By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 26 mins ago
| DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Just a year after the global downturn derailed Dubai's explosive growth, the city is now so swamped in debt that it's asking for a six-month reprieve on paying its bills - causing a drop on world markets Thursday and raising questions about Dubai's reputation as a magnet for international investment.
The fallout came swiftly and was felt globally after Wednesday statement that Dubai's main development engine, Dubai World, would ask creditors for a "standstill" on paying back its $60 billion debt until at least May. The company's real estate arm, Nakheel - whose projects include the palm-shaped island in the Gulf - shoulders the bulk of money due to banks, investment houses and outside development contractors.
In total, the state-backed networks nicknamed Dubai Inc. are $80 billion in the red and the emirate needed a bailout earlier this year from its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. |
23 New climate targets may not change daily life much
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Thu Nov 26, 5:31 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - Americans' day-to-day lives won't change noticeably if President Barack Obama achieves his newly announced goal of slashing carbon dioxide pollution by one-sixth in the next decade, experts say.
Except for rising energy bills. And how much they'll go up depends on who's doing the calculating.
The White House will commit the U.S. to a goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 to about 17 percent below 2005 levels at a U.N.-sponsored climate change summit in Copenhagen early next month. That's about 12.5 percent below 2008 levels, according to the Department of Energy. He also set a goal of cutting emissions by 83 percent by 2050, which is what European nations want. |
24 Americans give thanks, see parades, feast in space
By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press Writer
56 mins ago
| NEW YORK - Giant balloons, floats, marching bands and clowns with confetti brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of revelers eager to catch a glimpse of a parade as steeped in Thanksgiving Day tradition as turkey and pumpkin pie.
Crowds six to seven people deep lined the streets of Manhattan on Thursday for the 83rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as merrymakers gathered nationwide for massive parades in cities such as Detroit and Philadelphia.
Soldiers in war zones received phone calls of appreciation from President Barack Obama, while astronauts hovering above the Earth's surface feasted on turkey smuggled aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. |
25 Experts: Bishops covered up priests' child abuse
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 6:12 pm ET
| DUBLIN - Roman Catholic Church leaders in Dublin spent decades sheltering child-abusing priests from the law and most fellow clerics turned a blind eye, an investigation ordered by Ireland's government concluded Thursday.
Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who handed over more than 60,000 previously secret church files to the three-year investigation, said he felt deep shame and sorrow for how previous archbishops presided over endemic child abuse - yet claimed afterward not to understand the gravity of their sins.
Martin said his four predecessors in Ireland's capital, including retired Cardinal Desmond Connell, must have understood that priests' molestation and rape of boys and girls "was a crime in both civil and canon law. For some reason or another they felt they could deal with all this in little worlds of their own. |
26 Immigration reform activists diversifying ranks
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 6:44 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - Beyond the noisy town hall meetings, Tea Party protests and sky-is-falling speeches characterizing much of the health care debate is a less visible, but no less intense push to broaden the face of the immigration reform movement.
With the 2010 election year looming, Democrat Barack Obama in the White House and increasing numbers of Asian-American and Pacific Islanders in Congress, many groups, including the NAACP, are working harder in the traditionally Latino-led movement, sensing a fresh opportunity to overhaul laws affecting millions of immigrants, both legal and illegal.
"For far too long, the Latino population in the U.S. has really borne the brunt of the anti-immigrant sentiment," said Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y. Washington NAACP bureau director Hillary Shelton said: "The immigration debate needs to have, in addition to a Latino face, it needs to have a Haitian face. It needs to have an Asian face." |
27 Robotic hamsters are holidays' unlikely new craze
By MAE ANDERSON, AP Retail Writer
Thu Nov 26, 12:48 pm ET
| NEW YORK - When Lori Fowlkes first saw robotic Zhu Zhu Pets toy hamsters in September, she remembers her kids started jumping up and down and saying "Please! Please! Can we buy them?"
Seeing a fully stocked shelf, she decided to hold off until Christmas.
That was "before I knew that the hamsters would soon be off the shelves and more scarce than an H1N1 vaccine," said Fowlkes, 32. |
28 Soldiers in Afghanistan enjoy turkeys they raised
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 12:19 pm ET
| BARAKI-BARAK, Afghanistan - As daylight faded and the winter cold set in, soldiers huddled inside a crude wooden hut to tuck into Thanksgiving turkeys the unit itself had fattened and to give thanks for having survived a year of combat in Afghanistan.
"They become your family and being able to eat together like this, to break bread together is a highlight," said 1st Sgt. Gonzalo Lassally of soldiers from Able Troop, 3-71 Cavalry Squadron sitting down to the traditional turkey plus ham basted in brown sugar and honey, five varieties of pies and nonalcoholic beer. A stack of local flatbread added an Afghan touch.
A much-scaled down version of the feast was helicoptered to a handful of soldiers in an observation post perched on a 6,900-foot (2,100-meter) spur. |
29 Tight economy forces some to stay home for holiday
By MICHAEL TARM, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 7:34 am ET
| CHICAGO - There's still family, turkey and football, but one Thanksgiving tradition is taking a hit this year. Millions of Americans are spending the holiday at home, saying the poor economy has made it unaffordable to hit the road or board a plane.
"It's too expensive," said Benita Hall, 24, a nurse's aide who can't afford to travel from Cincinnati to Atlanta to see her mother and siblings. "It's depressing because you want to be with your family for the holidays."
Nearly 38 million people are expected to take trips this year, slightly more than last year but 20 million fewer than in 2005 when the economy was better, according to AAA auto club. Air travel is expected to drop 6.7 percent this holiday compared with last year, AAA said. |
30 Stores look to basics to draw in holiday shoppers
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer
Thu Nov 26, 7:35 am ET
| NEW YORK - As stores prepare for hordes of Black Friday shoppers and mark down high-definition TVs and hot toys, they're also pushing deals on something more mundane - necessities like socks and diapers.
Toys R Us, Walmart and clothing stores in malls are responding to tough economic times by luring people who are making it a more practical holiday this year.
What should shoppers expect? Fewer sumptuous sweaters, $200 robotic toys and other flashy items. Everyday items like flannel shirts, blankets and underwear are the order of the day. |
31 Obama to plead US case at global warming summit
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 5:57 am ET
| WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will commit the United States to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas pollution over the next decade - despite resistance in Congress over higher costs - when he travels to a major climate conference in Copenhagen next month.
Obama will attend the start of the conference Dec. 9 before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. He will "put on the table" a U.S. commitment to cut emissions by 17 percent over the next decade, on the way to reducing heat-trapping pollution by 80 percent by mid-century, the White House said.
Cutting U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by one-sixth in just a decade would increase the cost of energy as electric utilities pay for capturing carbon dioxide at coal-burning power plants or switch to more expensive alternatives. The price of gasoline probably would increase, and more fuel-efficient automobiles - or hybrids that run on gasoline and electricity - probably would be more expensive. |
32 Ex-CNN host Lou Dobbs weighs Senate run in NJ
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 6:21 am ET
| HILLSIDE, N.J. - Former CNN host Lou Dobbs is seriously considering running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey in 2012 as a stepping stone to a possible White House bid - a congressional matchup that would pit one of illegal immigration's biggest critics against a champion for immigrant rights.
Dobbs spokesman Robert Dilenschneider told The Associated Press Wednesday that Dobbs may challenge Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat, but is considering other offers he's received since his abrupt exit from CNN on Nov. 11 after 29 years on the news network.
"A logical step for Lou, should he choose to go into public life, is to run for the next Senate seat in New Jersey, or to accept some kind of appointed position, nationally or in New Jersey," Dilenschneider said. |
33 China vows to dramatically slow emissions growth
By CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 1:31 pm ET
| BEIJING - China promised Thursday to slow its carbon emissions, saying it would nearly halve the ratio of pollution to GDP over the next decade - a major move by the world's largest emitter, whose cooperation is crucial to any deal as a global climate summit approaches.
Beijing's voluntary pledge comes a day after President Barack Obama promised the U.S. would lay out plans at the summit to substantially cut its own greenhouse gas emissions. Together, the announcements are building momentum for next month's meeting in Copenhagen.
But environmental experts warned that China's plan does not commit it to reducing emissions - and that they will in fact continue to increase, though at a slower rate. |
34 INSIDE WASHINGTON: Stream of WH health care visits
By SHARON THEIMER and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writers
Thu Nov 26, 4:11 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained by The Associated Press.
The records, obtained Wednesday, disclose visits by a broad cross-section of the people most involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily toward those who want to overhaul the system.
The list includes George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Health Plans; Scott Serota, president and CEO of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; Kenneth Kies, a Washington lobbyist who represents Blue Cross/Blue Shield, among other clients; Billy Tauzin, head of PhRMA, the drug industry lobby; Richard Umbdenstock, chief of the American Hospital Association, and numerous lobbyists. |
35 'Ghost' traps, long lost, keep catching lobsters
By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 2:39 pm ET
| PORTLAND, Maine - Beneath the cold ocean waters off the coast of Maine, the nation's lobster breadbasket, lie hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of old wire lobster "ghost traps." Lost over the years to storms, boats - even the knives of fishermen who've cut them from their buoys to settle scores - many of the traps continue catching lobsters.
Marine biologists say lost and abandoned lobster, crab and other fish traps plague coastal waters around the globe, putting pressure on a number of already-stressed fish populations. In U.S. waters alone, millions of dollars' worth of marketable seafood is lost each year.
Lobstermen this winter will grapple up gear from selected spots in the first large-scale study of ghost traps along the Maine coast. Nationwide, other studies are focusing on lost traps off the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. |
36 Seniors suffer in troubled California subdivision
By JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 12:40 pm ET
| HEMET, Calif. - John and Donna Pringle were newly widowed when they fell in love and decided to slip into retirement together at a sprawling community being built for the 55-and-up crowd a few miles from their homes in this sun-bleached Southern California town.
The Peppertree subdivision promised an expansive swimming pool where visiting grandchildren could splash and swim, a gym stocked with exercise equipment and hundreds of similarly aged neighbors.
But when Peppertree's builder abandoned the project months after the Pringles moved in, the pool disappeared behind a locked iron gate, the exercise machines were repossessed and the 13 existing residents were left alone to grow testy with each other in their cramped corner of the 85-acre development, looking out at empty, overgrown lots stacked with abandoned metal pipes and roof tiles. |
37 Thanksgiving Day: Pilgrims were a surprisingly worldly, tolerant lot
By Robert Marquand, The Christian Science Monitor
Wed Nov 25, 4:00 am ET
| Leiden, The Netherlands - The first Pilgrims of the first American Thanksgiving in 1621 were unusually devout - even by Puritan standards. They crossed the ocean on a conviction that "the Lord has more truth and light yet to break forth out of his holy Word," as pastor John Robinson said before they sailed from the Netherlands.
Yet the Pilgrim band that braved the Mayflower and shared deer and turkey with native Americans were also some of the most cosmopolitan and tolerant among the Puritan groups willing to brave the wilds of a new world.
Before going to Plymouth, the Mayflower group lived 11 years in the Dutch city of Leiden. Those years of exile in Leiden, where the Pilgrims worked, worshipped, and debated - amid hefty clashes of civilizations and belief in Europe - profoundly influenced their sensibilities in ways that have not been widely recognized. |
38 Filipino who lost wife in massacre files candidacy
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 39 mins ago
| AMPATUAN, Philippines - A politician whose wife and relatives were among 57 people massacred in the southern Philippines in an apparent bid to stop him from running for governor filed his candidacy Friday for the election.
"Only death can stop me from running," said Ismael Mangudadatu, escorted by soldiers, a police commander and a senior army general. He submitted his documents to the Elections Commission in the Maguindanao provincial capital of Sharrif Aguak.
His caravan of more than 50 vehicles took the same road where his wife, two sisters, supporters and journalists were stopped and killed Monday and their bodies dumped in mass graves. |
39 Lawyers say Khmer Rouge prison chief a scapegoat
By SOPHENG CHEANG and LUKE HUNT, Associated Press Writers
56 mins ago
| PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Closing arguments were expected to conclude Friday in the genocide trial of a Khmer Rouge prison chief, with the two sides sparing over how much the former Cambodian school teacher should be held accountable for the regime's brutality.
Prosecutors earlier in the week demanded a 40-year jail sentence for Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, but the defense insisted he was not a senior Khmer Rouge leader and therefore should not be prosecuted at all.
That prompted an angry rebuttal Friday from Australian co-prosecutor William Smith, who said such defense assertions showed that Duch (pronounced DOIK) was "not facing up to who he was back in 1975 to 1979." |
40 Mujica headed for presidential victory in Uruguay
By RAUL O. GARCES, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 5:52 pm ET
| MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Uruguay's likely next president tried to lead an armed revolution as a young man, hiding in sewers, killing a police officer and twice escaping prison through elaborately dug tunnels.
Polls suggest Jose Mujica - now 74 and committed to working within the democratic system - will easily win Sunday, keeping the center-left Broad Front coalition in power.
His rival Luis A. Lacalle, 68, a former president with the center-right National Party, has failed to gain traction with claims that Mujica would transform Uruguay into a radical socialist state. |
41 Brazil miniskirt student will parade in Carnival
By TALES AZZONI, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 7:28 pm ET
| SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil - Brazilians will be seeing a whole lot more of the student whose short pink dress got her booted from college: She's agreed to march in the nation's famously flesh-baring Carnival parades.
Geisy Arruda, who became an instant celebrity after being heckled by hundreds of fellow students because of her dress, said Thursday she has accepted invitations to participate with samba groups in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
"It will be a dream come true for me," Arruda said just before giving a deposition to police who are investigating whether crimes were committed when a crowd of students harassed her on Oct. 22 at the University Bandeirante in Sao Bernardo do Campo, just outside Sao Paulo. |
42 Iraqi PM: Election dispute poses risks to security
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers
Thu Nov 26, 1:07 pm ET
| BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister on Thursday vowed there will be no delay in the withdrawal of U.S. troops despite an Iraqi political dispute that is expected to force a January vote to be postponed.
In an interview with The Associated Press, however, Nouri al-Maliki warned that the dispute threatens national security and he harshly criticized Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab vice president who vetoed a key election law.
"The use of the veto by Mr. al-Hashemi, and persisting with it, will put the country, in terms of security, the economy and the constitution, at grave risk," said al-Maliki, a Shiite. |
43 Saudi floods kill 77 while Muslims perform hajj
By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 10:54 am ET
| MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia - Muslim pilgrims holding white umbrellas against the blazing sun clambered up a rocky desert hill for prayers Thursday during the annual hajj, a day after torrential rains that killed at least 77 people.
Flooding from the unusually heavy downpours hit hardest in the Red Sea coastal city of Jiddah, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) away from the holy city of Mecca and its surrounding sacred sites where the 3 million Muslims from around the world were performing the rites of the pilgrimage.
Most of the deaths occurred in the shantytowns around Jiddah and along the main highway to Mecca, populated by poorer, foreign immigrants who work in the city as drivers, construction workers and domestic help. Streets were swamped with water, some houses collapsed and mudslides took place, Civil Defense officials said. |
44 Ex-UK envoy: US focused on Iraq hours after 9/11
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Nov 26, 11:28 am ET
| LONDON - Tony Blair could have delayed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and ensured better plans were in place for its chaotic aftermath by taking a tougher stance with President George W. Bush, Britain's ex-ambassador to Washington said Thursday.
Christopher Meyer, Blair's U.S. envoy from 1997-2003, told a panel investigating the Iraq war that Blair failed to use his influence with Bush to stall the frantic rush to invasion.
"We could have achieved more by playing a tougher role," Meyer testified to the five-person inquiry. |
45 Honduras to vote for new president amid coup crisis
By Mica Rosenberg, Reuters
Thu Nov 26, 4:17 pm ET
| TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras chooses a new president on Sunday in an election that may defuse a crisis caused by a coup against President Manuel Zelaya, but the vote is splitting Washington and Latin America.
Neither Zelaya nor arch-rival Roberto Micheletti, the country's de facto leader, are running in the election, which could give a new president the chance to take Honduras beyond the political gridlock that has divided the Central American nation and cut off international aid.
"We see the running of these elections -- assuming that they're run in a fair and transparent way -- we see them as an essential part of the solution of this crisis," U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said this week. |
46 Two million Muslims prepare to stone devil at haj
By Souhail Karam, Reuters
Thu Nov 26, 12:41 pm ET
| MUZDALIFA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Some two million Muslims headed to Muzdalifa on Thursday after spending the day at the plain of Arafat to prepare to cast stones at the devil in the most dangerous part of the annual haj pilgrimage.
Bright weather greeted the pilgrims after heavy rain hit the nearby city of Jeddah, gateway to Mecca, on Wednesday. Some 77 people were killed, none of them pilgrims, most of whom were swept away by currents and drowned, state television said.
At Muzdalifa, the pilgrims will collect pebbles to throw at walls at the Jamarat Bridge on three occasions over the next three days in an act that symbolizes the rejection of the devil's temptations. |
47 Irish church obsessively hid child abuse: report
By Andras Gergely, Reuters
Thu Nov 26, 11:45 am ET
| DUBLIN (Reuters) - Roman Catholic archbishops in Dublin obsessively covered up widespread sexual abuse of children by priests until the mid-1990s, a report commissioned by the Irish government said on Thursday.
One priest admitted abusing more than 100 children. Another said he had abused every two weeks for over 25 years, it said.
All archbishops in charge over the 1975-2004 period covered by the inquiry were aware of some complaints and the archdiocese was pre-occupied with protecting the reputation of the Church over and above protecting children's welfare, the report said. |
48 Nazi camp guard Demjanjuk to go on trial in Germany
By Madeline Chambers, Reuters
Thu Nov 26, 7:13 am ET
| BERLIN (Reuters) - John Demjanjuk suffers from bouts of mental absence and will enter court in a wheelchair on Monday to fight charges of helping to kill 27,900 Jews in the Holocaust, the 89-year-old's lawyer said.
His victims' families insist he must face justice.
In what is set to be Germany's last big Nazi-era war crimes trial, all eyes will be on the Ukrainian-born former U.S. auto worker who fought in the Red Army before being captured by the Nazis and recruited as a concentration camp guard. |
49 Khmer Rouge torturer had to "kill or be killed"
By Ek Madra, Reuters
Thu Nov 26, 2:13 am ET
| PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The Khmer Rouge's chief torturer and jailer had to "kill or be killed" and operate like an "obedient machine," his lawyer said on Thursday in defending the first member of Cambodia's murderous regime to face justice.
In the final two days of testimony in the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal, a lawyer for the commander of the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison said his client's life was at stake when he ordered the murder of more than 14,000 people in the 1970s.
Speaking a day after prosecutors asked the court to sentence Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, to 40 years in prison, the lawyer said the tribunal should show leniency because the 67-year-old former maths teacher had fully cooperated. |
50 Putin in France to further energy and military goals
by Luc Perrot, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 2:51 pm ET
| PARIS (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew to France on Thursday to pursue strategic military and energy goals that have raised concerns among states that were once under the grip of the Kremlin.
Moscow wants to buy a French-built helicopter carrier, a move that would mark an unprecedented transfer of naval technology from a NATO power. French officials confirmed the sale may come up at a working dinner Thursday.
Meanwhile, the official agenda of Friday's meeting of ministers reflects Putin's goal of finding more European partners to buy into two pipelines to hook up Western power stations to Russian gas fields. |
51 Commonwealth tries to influence climate change talks
by Marc Burleigh, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 4:03 pm ET
| PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) - The Commonwealth is trying to shape the direction of upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen by inviting top outside leaders to a weekend summit here, host Trinidad said on Thursday.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen have all been invited because "there was some concern about the way negotiations were going ahead of Copenhagen next month," Prime Minister Patrick Manning said.
He told a news conference he put the three extra seats at the table after consulting with Britain and the United Nations -- and was "aware of talk" of US President Barack Obama also being invited, though that ultimately went nowhere. |
52 World Court prosecutor requests Kenya probe
by Mariette le Roux, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 11:59 am ET
| THE HAGUE (AFP) - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Thursday he has asked judges to allow a probe of the deadly violence that followed Kenya's 2007 polls as the masterminds had evaded justice at home.
"I have asked the judges of the International Criminal Court authorisation to investigate the violence that followed the elections in 2007," in which about 1,500 people were killed, Luis Moreno-Ocampo told journalists in The Hague.
"Our policy is to focus our investigation on those who bear the greatest responsibility, those who organised, planned and supported the attacks," he said, adding there would be "a limited number of suspects." |
53 Blair's stance 'hardened' after Bush talks: probe
by Katherine Haddon, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 11:36 am ET
| LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Tony Blair may have swung behind US calls for regime change in Iraq after meeting President George W. Bush at his Texas ranch in 2002, a top diplomat told an inquiry into the war on Thursday.
Christopher Meyer, then Britain's ambassador to Washington, said Blair's line seemed to harden following talks at the Crawford ranch in April 2002, much of which were held in private with no advisers present.
He also detailed the warm personal relationship between the British prime minister and US president, saying Bush could talk to Blair but saw other world leaders as being "like creatures from outer space." |
54 Court urged to accept Khmer Rouge jailer's remorse
by Patrick Falby, AFP
Thu Nov 26, 6:58 am ET
| PHNOM PENH (AFP) - The lawyer for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge jail chief urged judges Thursday to recognise his client's remorse, as the landmark first UN-backed trial over the "Killing Fields" era draws to a close.
Since his trial began in February, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, has begged forgiveness for overseeing the murders of around 15,000 men, women and children at the S-21 or Tuol Sleng prison, a former high school in the capital.
French defence lawyer Francois Roux said in final arguments that prosecution demands for a 40-year jail term for the former prison chief failed to take account of his repeated apologies. |
55 Marines' Thanksgiving dinner in Helmand nearly flames out
By Jay Price, McClatchy Newspapers
Wed Nov 25, 4:48 pm ET
| FORWARD OPERATING BASE HASSANABAD, Afghanistan - Just getting the ingredients for Golf Company's one-day-early Thanksgiving dinner was a military operation.
First, the Marines consulted their translators. Then the translators persuaded the Afghan border police to go to a market in what may be the most dangerous part of Helmand province.
Buying the $68 worth of chicken and hot peppers and potatoes and rice and flat bread turned out to be the easy part, however. It was the cooking Wednesday night that nearly caused a squad of casualties. |
56 In Kabul, U.N. workers cope by cooking
By Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers
Wed Nov 25, 4:55 pm ET
| KABUL, Afghanistan - When Susan Marx was awoken before dawn last month with word that United Nations colleagues across town were under attack, the 32-year-old human rights researcher did the only thing she could think of to calm her nerves: Bake.
With ominous, conflicting reports streaming in, Marx and her husband, United Nations program manager Chris Serjak , retreated to their kitchen to bake pumpkin muffins with walnuts, cinnamon and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
"When bad things happen: Bake," Serjak, 34, wrote later that day on "Foodie in a Warzone," a blog the couple writes on their efforts to cultivate their culinary passions while living in one of the poorest countries in the world. |
57 Should we pay higher taxes to cover the cost of Afghan war?
By Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers
Wed Nov 25, 5:50 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - Abraham Lincoln levied the country's first income tax to help pay soldiers and buy rifles for the Civil War.
Franklin Roosevelt raised taxes as well, to help pay for World War II.
Lyndon Johnson tacked a temporary 10 percent surtax on top of normal income taxes to help pay for the Vietnam War. |
58 Will talk of Afghan 'off-ramps' prompt Taliban to hang tough?
By Nancy A. Youssef, Margaret Talev and Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers
Wed Nov 25, 6:59 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will unveil his long-awaited Afghanistan strategy in a prime-time address from West Point, N.Y. , on Dec. 1 , the White House said Wednesday, but the administration's advance remarks have sparked concern that talk of an eventual U.S. withdrawal will encourage Islamist insurgents to persevere.
During the speech, "The president will want to walk through his decision-making process and give people a sense of the importance of our efforts, but reiterate for them that . . . (he) does not see this as an open-ended engagement," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs . "Our time there will be limited, and I think that's important for people to understand."
In a sign that the insurgents may think they can outlast the U.S. and its allies, hours after Obama on Tuesday declared that he intended to end the war during his presidency, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar ruled out a political settlement and said his Islamist movement would "gain strength with the passage of time." |
59 Pakistan military moving to undercut Zardari over his close U.S. ties
By Saeed Shah, McClatchy Newspapers
Thu Nov 26, 5:24 pm ET
| ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Suspicions by Pakistan's powerful army that the country's civilian leadership is growing too close to the United States are fueling a political crisis that analysts here believe threatens the survival of the government and could divert attention from the battle against Islamic extremists.
Military officials believe that secretly taped conversations between Pakistani President Asif Zardari and his ambassador in Washington , prove that it was at Zardari's insistence that a $1.5 billion U.S. aid package passed by Congress in September contained several provisions that angered the Pakistani military. The military publicly protested the aid package last month.
"The reaction (from the military) was not so much to what was in the bill but to the thought that the government was trying to create a civilian-to-civilian dialogue (with Washington )," said a senior Pakistani official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. |
60 When Thanksgiving Comes to Afghanistan
By ARYN BAKER / KABUL, Time Magazine
Thu Nov 26, 3:30 am ET
| Our three turkeys arrived today, shrink-wrapped in red, white and blue plastic. Our Afghan staff handled the packages gingerly, unsure what to make of our enthusiasm for frozen food. When they buy turkey from the local market, it usually comes body-temperature, fresh from slaughter. Also in the goody-bag was a ham, contraband in this Muslim nation, but for me a Thanksgiving staple. It was crying out to be scored, studded with cloves, slathered with honey and mustard and slowly roasted. A friend with connections to the American military food supply business had been good to us this year. I am already looking forward to the leftovers - if there are any. |
61 How a Little Town in Peru Is Becoming a Hotspot
By LUCIEN CHAUVIN, Time Magazine
Thu Nov 26, 6:05 am ET
| A sure way to get people riled up in Quince Mil, a sweltering outpost in Peru's southern jungle, is to ask about the origin of the town's uncommon name. There are at least four versions explaining the name, which means "Fifteen Thousand," each more colorful than the one before it. Mayor Mario Samanez claims to have the official version. He says its rains around 15,000 mm (590 inches) each year in the town, hence the name. "This is the spot with the world's second highest amount of rainfall annually. That is where the name comes from," Samanez says. |
|
March on Washington
