Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
1 Publisher delays Potter reference work
By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 9, 11:08 PM ET
NEW YORK – After being sued by J.K. Rowling, a publisher has agreed to delay its plans to release an encyclopedic reference work on the fictitious world of the Harry Potter novels.
RDR Books Publisher Roger Rapoport said he volunteered to halt typesetting on the planned “Harry Potter Lexicon” until a judge rules on whether the work constitutes a violation of Rowling’s intellectual property rights, or the copyright on her novels held by Warner Bros.
The book, drawn on material from the fan-created Harry Potter Lexicon Web site, had been scheduled for release on Nov. 28.
2 Captain America back from dead?
By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer
Sat Nov 10, 4:37 AM ET
DALLAS – Captain America may not be back from the dead, but he’s back – sort of. After Marvel Comics unexpectedly killed off the champion of liberty and the American way earlier this year, he appears in a comic made exclusively for U.S. soldiers. He is seen on a videotape made before his death.
One million copies of “The New Avengers: The Spirit of America,” the fifth in Marvel’s series for the military, will be available free starting Saturday at military base stores worldwide.
The star-spangled Avenger’s appearance is expected to create a demand for the comic, once word spreads among collectors.
3 Bart heads cast of ‘Young Frankenstein’
By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Writer
Sat Nov 10, 8:24 AM ET
NEW YORK – In the last six years, Roger Bart has had quite a ride. “The Producers,” of course. Movies. Television. Remember George, the psychotic pharmacist on “Desperate Housewives”? And now back to Broadway as the lead in Mel Brooks’ stage version of his 1974 film classic, “Young Frankenstein.”
…
“I had to think about it,” says Bart, talking about the part of Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of the man who created the most famous monster of all time.
…
Bart has been involved with “Young Frankenstein” since its first readings, during which he first portrayed Frankenstein’s loyal, humpbacked servant Igor (now played by Christopher Fitzgerald).
4 Review: ‘Young Frankenstein’ is alive!
By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
Fri Nov 9, 7:24 AM ET
NEW YORK – What does it take to bring a big green monster – not to mention a $20 million musical – to toe-tapping life? A nearly 80-year-old Irving Berlin standard called “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”
The song shakes the slumbers out of “Young Frankenstein,” the feverishly anticipated Mel Brooks musical that arrived Thursday at Broadway’s Hilton Theatre. Dressing the creature (a delightfully lumbering Shuler Hensley) in top hat and tails as well as backing him up with a similarly clothed chorus line invigorates what until then has been a scattered, fitfully entertaining show.
You can’t help having some fun at “Young Frankenstein,” especially when you have a parade of expert comedians and musical-theater performers such as Roger Bart, Megan Mullally and Andrea Martin around to strut their stuff. They work hard, sometimes too hard. Comedy, heaven knows, is difficult, but it should look easy. Here, the effort sometimes gets in the way of the laughs.
5 Broadway stagehands strike, plays close
By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Writer
1 hour, 52 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) – Broadway stagehands went on strike Saturday, shutting down more than two dozen plays and musicals on what is the most popular theatergoing day of the week.
Picket lines went up at theaters throughout the Times Square area. The first show to be affected was “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical,” a holiday attraction for families that had an early 11 a.m. matinee.
Rudy Ross, who portrays Max the dog in the show, greeted disappointed ticket-holders outside the St. James Theatre, urging them to come back when performances resume. “This is the stage door,” he said and pointed. “Knock here and come and say hi to me.”
6 Striking Hollywood writers rally as pressure mounts
By Steve Gorman and Dana Ford, Reuters
Fri Nov 9, 11:35 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Thousands of Hollywood screenwriters on strike against film and TV studios rallied outside 20th Century Fox on Friday in their biggest collective show of force yet as pressure mounted on both sides to resume contract talks.
With the walkout in its fifth day, tensions also rose for popular TV hosts Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres, whose talk shows became the latest battlegrounds of a labor confrontation over how screenwriters get paid for work on the Internet.
DeGeneres drew a scathing rebuke from the East Coast wing of the Writers Guild of America for returning to work on her syndicated daytime show after honoring picket lines the first day of the strike.
7 Weakening art sales rattle Sotheby’s, Christie’s
AFP
Fri Nov 9, 9:52 PM ET
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – The slipping US economy and plunging bourses appeared to infect the market for multi-million dollar paintings, as major works including a Van Gogh went unsold at auctions here this week.
The two major art auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, both got a shock in New York as they sought to mark new price records for artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Gaugin, and Van Gogh.
The week got off to a promising start Tuesday evening, when Christie’s hit the hammer at 33.6 million dollars for a 1937 Matisse, “L’Odalisque, harmonie bleu,” far above the 20 million dollar upper estimate.
But smiles shriveled when, by Wednesday night, wealthy buyers’ pocketbooks were cinched up.
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8 Stocks end volatile week with huge drop
By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer
Sat Nov 10, 12:51 AM ET
NEW YORK – Wall Street finished a turbulent week with another huge drop Friday after major banks warned of further losses on their debt portfolios, raising investor concerns that the credit market slump shows no sign of abating. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 220 points.
Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp. all said the ongoing credit crisis will cause another round of heavy losses during the fourth quarter. Financial institutions took big hits during the last quarter as losses from subprime mortgages hurt their balance sheets, and these three companies were just the latest to report bad news that sent stocks lower.
BofA said continued “market dislocations,” including those related to securities it owns that are backed by loans, will affect its fourth-quarter results. The bank did not provide an estimate of how large the impact will be. JPMorgan said difficult conditions may cause a fourth-quarter writedown, but did not say how much.
9 Private mortgage insurers dragged down
By EMILY FREDRIX, AP Business Writer
Sat Nov 10, 8:18 AM ET
MILWAUKEE – As the housing market crumbles, homeowners are worried about mortgage payments and sellers are worried about slumping prices – but the companies that insure their loans are worrying about their very survival in the face of billions of dollars in claims.
Insurers like industry leader MGIC Investment Corp. are predicting they won’t turn a profit for at least a year. The uncertainty has sent their stocks plunging and raised questions about what happens if so many loans go bad that the insurers behind them go out of business.
In the short term, regulators and analysts say they aren’t concerned about the biggest insurers staying in business.
10 Foreign cash could boost housing market
By STEPHEN BERNARD, AP Business Writer
Sat Nov 10, 2:35 AM ET
NEW YORK – The weakening dollar has caused many problems for consumers, but it may also be providing the fuel for one unintended – and very welcome – benefit: a rally in the struggling housing market driven by foreign investors.
For an individual or developer trying to sell a home, interested buyers are just as likely to already have a place in London or Paris as they are to be first-timers new to the market.
“European investment is likely to pick up,” said Mark Vitner, chief economist for Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp. “Now is the time to come over and take advantage.”
The theory goes that foreign investors step in and replace first-time home buyers who have been squeezed out of the housing market during the recent downturn. These new investors in turn allow current homeowners to sell and trade up to larger homes.
11 Congress aims to extinguish cigarettes
By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
Sat Nov 10, 10:04 AM ET
WASHINGTON – Congress is taking new whacks at the cigarette industry, banning tobacco sales in Senate buildings and – more importantly – seeking a significant federal tax increase on cigarettes.
The industry, once a lobbying behemoth, is quietly working against the tax bill. But it lacks the clout it once wielded.
Several key lawmakers said they have had no recent contacts with tobacco lobbyists. And both houses have signaled a willingness to raise the cigarette tax if other provisions of a children’s health bill can be resolved.
12 German workers end freight train strike
AFP
Sat Nov 10, 11:24 AM ET
BERLIN (AFP) – German train drivers ended the country’s longest freight train strike on Saturday, a union official said, but the labour dispute is set to continue next week.
The GdL train drivers’ union said a 42-hour nationwide strike which began early Thursday ended at 6:00 am (0500 GMT) on Saturday. He claimed that almost all freight trains were immobilised, with 2,600 drivers on strike.
Eastern Germany was hardest hit by the strike, national rail operator Deutsche Bahn said. The protest launched by 1,800 drivers saw 700 trains stalled, it said.
The strike was the fifth in two weeks and represents a new peak in the bitter three-month-long pay dispute between the union and Deutsche Bahn.
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13 Biographer: Norman Mailer dead at age 84
By RICHARD PYLE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 33 minutes ago
NEW YORK – Norman Mailer, the macho prince of American letters who for decades reigned as the country’s literary conscience and provocateur with such books as “The Naked and the Dead” and “The Executioner’s Song” died Saturday, his literary executor said. He was 84.
Mailer died of acute renal failure at Mount Sinai Hospital, said J. Michael Lennon, who is also the author’s biographer.
From his classic debut novel to such masterworks of literary journalism as “The Armies of the Night,” the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner always got credit for insight, passion and originality.
Some of his works were highly praised, some panned, but none was pronounced the Great American Novel that seemed to be his life quest from the time he soared to the top as a brash 25-year-old “enfant terrible.”
14 Pakistan’s Bhutto free from house arrest
By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan announced plans to lift its state of emergency within one month and allowed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to leave her villa following a day under house arrest, as the country sought Saturday to restore its battered image at home and abroad.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf insists he called the week-old emergency to help fight Islamic extremists who control large swathes of territory near the Afghan border, but the main targets of his crackdown have been his most outspoken critics, including the increasingly independent courts and media.
Thousands of people have been arrested, TV news stations taken off air, and judges removed. Three reporters from Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper were ordered to leave Pakistan because of an editorial in the paper that used an expletive in an allusion to Musharraf, a government spokesman said Saturday.
The editorial also said Musharraf governed with a “combination of incompetence and brutality” and has become “part of the problem” in the battle against Islamic militants.
15 Bush sees positive signs in Pakistan
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
33 minutes ago
CRAWFORD, Texas – President Bush stepped up praise of Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf Saturday, hailing “positive steps” the general took by promising to lift emergency rule, resign as army chief and hold elections.
Indeed, Bush refused to pointedly criticize Musharraf at a joint news conference here with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, continuing the cautious and measured response he’s embraced in the week since Musharraf imposed the crackdown.
Bush did, however, dodge a question whether Musharraf’s moves, seen by many as an attempt to cling to power, constitute a dangerous distraction from the battle against al-Qaida insurgents.
16 U.S. soldier found not guilty of Iraq murders
Reuters
Sat Nov 10, 6:29 AM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A U.S. solider has been acquitted of three murder charges after investigations into the unlawful killings of three Iraqis earlier this year, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
A U.S. court martial, however, found Staff Sergeant Michael Hensley, a sniper from the 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, guilty of wrongfully placing an AK-47 rifle beside the body of an Iraqi man.
Hensley was one of three U.S. soldiers charged with the killings of three Iraqis in separate incidents during U.S. operations between April 14 and May 11 near the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad.
17 NATO and Afghan soldiers killed in ambush
By Hamid Shalizi, Reuters
Sat Nov 10, 4:23 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) – Taliban insurgents killed six troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and three Afghan soldiers in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan, an ISAF spokesman said on Saturday.
It is unusual for such a large number of foreign and Afghan forces to be killed in a single engagement in Afghanistan where ISAF and U.S.-led coalition troops, backed by air power, routinely inflict heavy losses on Taliban insurgents.
“I have sad news to report from regional command east where six ISAF soldiers and three Afghan army were killed by Taliban insurgents in an ambush yesterday,” Brigadier General Carlos Branco told a news conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
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18 Iran, Pakistan finalise gas exports contract
by Aresu Eqbali, AFP
Sat Nov 10, 10:14 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran and Pakistan have finalised a contract for a multi-billion-dollar gas export deal scheduled to be signed within a month, the Iranian oil ministry’s news service Shana on Saturday.
“The content of the Peace Pipeline contract has been finalised and all the points prepared by the two sides’ legal experts have been re-read and agreed by the two sides,” Iran’s deputy minister in charge of the project, Hojatollah Ghanimifard, was quoted as saying.
“The remaining points which are technical issues… must be studied within a month to make the contract ready for the simultaneous signing by the heads of the two countries,” Ghanimifard said.
Tehran and Islamabad have neared a conclusion to the contract in the absence of India, a potential party to the deal.
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19 Suitcase nukes said unlikely to exist
By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer
Sat Nov 10, 11:23 AM ET
WASHINGTON – Members of Congress have warned about the dangers of suitcase nuclear weapons. Hollywood has made television shows and movies about them. Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency has alerted Americans to a threat – information the White House includes on its Web site.
But government experts and intelligence officials say such a threat gets vastly more attention than it deserves. These officials said a true suitcase nuke would be highly complex to produce, require significant upkeep and cost a small fortune.
Counterproliferation authorities do not completely rule out the possibility that these portable devices once existed. But they do not think the threat remains.
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20 Deaths mark grim Afghan, Iraq milestones
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer
10 minutes ago
KABUL, Afghanistan – Militants ambushed and killed six U.S. troops walking in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan – the most lethal attack of the year. The deaths made 2007 the deadliest for the U.S. military here since the 2001 invasion, mirroring the record U.S. toll in Iraq.
Both conflicts have seen an increase in troop levels this year that has put more soldiers in harm’s way, including those killed Friday while returning from a meeting with village elders in Nuristan province. Militants wielding rocket propelled grenades killed the six Americans and three Afghan soldiers. Eight U.S. troops were wounded.
“They were attacked from several enemy positions at the same time,” Lt. Col. David Accetta, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and the U.S. military, said Saturday. “It was a complex ambush.”
The six deaths brings the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year to at least 101, according to an Associated Press count, surpassing the 93 troops killed in 2005. About 87 died last year. The toll echoes the situation in Iraq, where U.S. military deaths this year surpassed 850, also a record.
21 Pakistan’s Bhutto turns screw on Musharraf
by Rana Jawad, AFP
52 minutes ago
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistani ex-premier Benazir Bhutto upped the pressure Saturday on President Pervez Musharraf, joining a protest against his emergency rule and appealing for help from the international community.
Addressing foreign diplomats here, she called for support for the campaign to end the state of emergency imposed by Musharraf a week ago.
“Nuclear-armed Pakistan is threatened by an internal implosion,” she said, and the only way forward was through a return to democracy.
22 The Contender
By ALEX PERRY/JOHANNESBURG, Time Magazine
Sat Nov 10, 10:20 AM ET
It’s a wonder Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma still has a political career. Since 2005, he has been sacked as Deputy President of South Africa, tried and acquitted of rape and embroiled in a corruption scandal over defense contracts. He is uneducated, has somewhere from two to six wives (he refuses to confirm the exact number) and has 17 children by nine women. And at rallies of his supporters, he sings the Zulu anthem Mshini wami, which translates as “Bring me my machine gun.”
Yet Zuma, 65, is the front runner to succeed Thabo Mbeki as President of South Africa. Mbeki has two years left in his second term–the constitution bars him from a third. In December, Zuma will try to replace him as president of the African National Congress (ANC), which has dominated politics since, under Nelson Mandela, it was instrumental in ending apartheid in 1994. If Zuma wins the party presidency at the ANC conference in the northern city of Polokwane, he is all but assured of elevation to South Africa’s highest office in 2009. The only man who could beat Zuma to the party post is the incumbent, but though Mbeki has declared that he is willing to serve again, he has been weakened by a series of political missteps. The prospect of a Zuma presidency or two more years under the lame-duck Mbeki so alarms some in the party’s old guard that they are scrambling to nominate alternatives, including ANC stalwarts turned businessmen Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa.
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23 South Carolina beckons wary White House hopefuls
by Porter Barron, AFP
2 hours, 27 minutes ago
COLUMBIA, United States (AFP) – Two fierce 2008 election showdowns are shaping up in South Carolina, the southern state where blood sport politics will test the mettle of even the toughest White House hopeful.
Campaigns here wallow in a nervous cocktail of race and religion, which has spawned some of America’s hardest-headed election operatives and the most brutal and personal negative attacks.
In their respective races for their parties’ nominations for the 2008 election, Republicans are squabbling over disaffected Christian conservatives while the democratic race appears hinged on who can best mobilize African American voters: Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
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24 McCain gets outside help as polls rise
By JIM KUHNHENN and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers
Fri Nov 9, 10:15 PM ET
WASHINGTON – Republican John McCain, climbing in polls but lagging in money, is negotiating a $3 million loan while some of his backers launch an independent advertising effort seemingly at odds with his years of fighting outside influence in campaigns.
The ad campaign, financed by contributions from undisclosed donors, drew a prompt rebuke from McCain.
“I condemn them,” he told The Associated Press on Friday. “They are a violation of everything I believe in.”
25 McCain says Kerik reflects on Giuliani
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 9, 7:35 PM ET
CONCORD, N.H. – Bernard Kerik did an irresponsible job training police in Iraq, presidential contender John McCain said Friday, adding to criticism of Kerik as Rudy Giuliani’s former police commissioner surrendered to face charges in New York.
McCain cited Kerik’s relationship with his Republican presidential foe as a reason to doubt Giuliani’s judgment.
Giuliani’s longtime associate, business partner and friend surrendered Friday to face federal corruption charges in New York, where he had been police commissioner when Giuliani was mayor. Kerik was also a failed nominee to head the Homeland Security Department, a post Giuliani recommended him for.
26 Romney links rivals to sanctuary cities
By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
ATKINSON, N.H. – Republican Mitt Romney tried to link rivals Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday, suggesting the two share a “sanctuary state of mind” when it comes to illegal immigration.
First in a new TV ad and then on the stump, the former Massachusetts governor accused Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, of favoring amnesty for the more than 10 million illegal immigrants already in the country. He also criticized Giuliani, a fellow Republican, for encouraging illegal immigration by discouraging their prosecution while he was mayor of New York.
“I think that sanctuary state of mind has to end in this country,” Romney said after speaking to voters at a local farmstand. He suggested retracting federal funding for cities that harbor illegal immigrants and for states that provide driver’s licenses and in-state tuition rates for their children.
27 Thompson: Reduce future retiree benefits
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
Sat Nov 10, 1:54 AM ET
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson on Friday proposed reducing benefits promised to future retirees and establishing a system of voluntary personal retirement accounts under Social Security to help shore up the program’s finances.
“If somebody’s got a better idea let them put it on the table,” said the former Tennessee senator in a challenge to fellow Republicans as well as Democrats vying for the White House in 2008.
President Bush proposed roughly similar changes three years ago, but they proved so controversial that they never came to a vote in either house of the Republican-controlled Congress.
28 Indian parliament to debate U.S. nuclear deal
Reuters
Sat Nov 10, 9:36 AM ET
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Indian government and its communist allies agreed on Saturday to a parliament debate on a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, hoping to build consensus on a pact that has destabilized the coalition.
The decision came at talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior communist party leaders ahead of parliament’s winter session which is due to begin on November 15, a government statement said.
A November 16 meeting of a joint panel formed to resolve the crisis, triggered by communist opposition to the deal, would now be held at a later date, it added.
29 Guantanamo readies trial complex … under an awning
by Fanny Carrier, AFP
2 hours, 25 minutes ago
US NAVAL BASE AT GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (AFP) – For the long-awaited trials of “war on terror” detainees, a sprawling legal complex is being built at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with one outstanding feature: it can be taken down in a jiffy.
Called “Camp Justice,” the complex will have to host a veritable army of clerks, military police, lawyers, journalists, witnesses and observers attending each trial, boosting the current 4,000-strong population of the base by several hundred people.
The increase would hardly be temporary, since the US government has insisted it will haul 60 to 80 Guantanamo “war on terror” suspects before special military tribunals, including several Al-Quaeda members.
30 US lawmakers introduce bill backing UN membership for Taiwan
AFP
2 hours, 12 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Nineteen US lawmakers, nearly all of them from President George W. Bush’s Republican party, have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives backing UN membership for Taiwan, a move that could anger China.
It was introduced on Thursday at the House Foreign Affairs Committee by 18 Republican legislators and one Democrat, with the move led by New Jersey Republican Representative Scott Garrett, congressional records showed.
The bill said Taiwan and its 23 million people “deserve membership in the United Nations” and that the United States should fulfill a commitment “to more actively support Taiwan’s membership in appropriate international organizations.”
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31 Ecosystem may absorb Bay Area spill
By SCOTT LINDLAW and TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press Writers
Sat Nov 10, 4:44 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO – Most of the oil that spilled into San Francisco Bay when a container ship struck the Bay Bridge will never be retrieved and eventually will be absorbed into the ecosystem, authorities said Friday.
The U.S. Coast Guard, which was criticized for its response to the 58,000-gallon spill, acknowledged miscommunication with local officials but insisted it didn’t impede their efforts to corral the oil.
Tides carried the heavy fuel that poured from the ship’s oil tank under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Pacific Ocean, fouling miles of coastline, closing several beaches, canceling weekend outdoor events and threatening thousands of birds and other marine life. It is believed to be the biggest spill in the bay since 1988.
32 Two astronauts take spacewalk at station
By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
Fri Nov 9, 10:28 PM ET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Two astronauts ventured out on a spacewalk at the international space station on Friday, smoothly picking up where the shuttle Discovery crew left off just days ago.
Commander Peggy Whitson and her Russian crewmate, Yuri Malenchenko, spent seven hours outside getting the space station’s newest addition ready for its big move. They should have performed the spacewalk during Discovery’s visit, but the work was put off after a solar wing ripped and demanded immediate attention.
The two cleared cables from the spot where the Harmony compartment will be relocated next week, and unfastened or plugged in nearly 40 power and data connections. It was a struggle to loosen some of them.
33 Experts to prepare global warming report
By ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 9, 10:28 PM ET
If there’s one document on global warming policymakers might put in their briefcase, this would be it. On Monday, scientists and government officials gather in Valencia, Spain to put together the fourth and last U.N. report on the state of global warming and what it will mean to hundreds of millions of people whose lives are being dramatically altered.
Unlike the past three tomes, this one will have little new data. Instead, it will distill the previous work into a compact guide of roughly 30 pages that summarizes complex science into language politicians and bureaucrats can understand.
It will be the first point of reference for negotiators meeting next month in Bali, Indonesia, to decide the future course of the worldwide push to curb greenhouse gas emissions after the 2012 expiration of the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol, the landmark agreement that assigned binding reduction targets to 36 countries.
34 AP: Indonesian volcano roaring to life
By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer
Fri Nov 9, 10:29 PM ET
ANAK KRAKATAU, Indonesia – Sending a boom across the bay, the offspring of the fabled Krakatau volcano unleashes another mighty eruption, blasting smoke and red-hot rocks hundreds of feet into the sky.
Even on its quiet side, the black sand on the now-forbidden island is so hot that a visitor can only briefly set foot on it.
This week’s display by Anak Krakatau – or “Child of Krakatau” – is impressive, yet it is a mere sneeze when compared to the blast in August 1883 that obliterated its “father” in the most powerful explosion in recorded history.
35 Remnant of Yellowstone volcano rising: study
Reuters
Fri Nov 9, 12:19 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A big blob of molten rock appears to be pushing up remnants of an ancient volcano in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, scientists reported on Friday.
They say no volcanic explosion is imminent — that already happened 642,000 years ago, creating the volcanic crater known as a caldera where part of Yellowstone Lake sits.
But satellite readings show just how volcanically active the area remains, the researchers reported in the journal Science.
36 Russia to create new spacecraft: Roskosmos chief
Reuters
Fri Nov 9, 11:07 AM ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has launched a project to create a new generation of spacecraft and boosters, the head of national space administration said on Friday, making clear that they would not appear on orbit before 2020.
“A tender to design a new booster and spaceship has been announced,” Itar-Tass news agency quoted Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov as saying.
Leadership in space exploration was an issue of national pride in the Soviet Union, which was the first to launch a satellite and a human into space.
37 Climate change: Europe’s most arid country battles desertification
by Virginie Grognou, AFP
1 hour, 16 minutes ago
MADRID (AFP) – When the world’s paramount experts on global warming gather in Spain next week, they will not have to travel far to witness the impact of rising temperatures.
The meeting starting Monday of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) unfolds in the Mediterranean port city of Valencia, in the heart of a coastal belt which is cowering at the prospect of desertification.
“Many people think desertification affects only Africa, Asia or Latin America,” Juan Sanchez, a department head at the Centre for Research on Desertification (CIDE) near Valencia. “But we are also at risk.”
