Morning Coffee Edition for Wednesday, November 04, 1998
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U.S. Front Page Stories
-----------------------
*** Clinton makes another comeback from disaster
*** Democrats make gains, defy history in vote
*** Shuttle astronauts recapture sun-observing satellite
*** Drug-abuse seen having no impact on U.S. welfare
The U.S. Political Scene
------------------------
*** Bush brothers win, though Republicans lose ground
*** Calif.'s Sen. Boxer narrowly holds seat
*** N.Y. says, 'So long, Sen. Pothole'
*** Fitzgerald defeats Moseley-Braun in Ill.
*** Feingold captures tight Wis. Senate race
*** Voters vote on array of state ballot issues
The Courts
----------
*** Judge orders Nazi guard deported
*** Judge appoints receiver to auction Simpson assets
U.S. Business and Financial News
--------------------------------
*** Wall St. takes time out to watch Election Day
*** Clinton signs securities litigation bill
World Front Page Stories
------------------------
*** Mitch death toll heads to 9,000, volcano erupts
*** Update: Draft condemning Iraq action gets favorable hearing
*** Netanyahu insists peace deal delay no trick
*** Malaysia's Anwar used power in sex probe - witness
The World Political Scene
-------------------------
*** China, Russia, N. Korea set river border
The Americas
------------
*** Colombia torn by rebel war on eve of peace talks
*** Update: Brazil's Cardoso in 1st test of crisis plan
*** Mexico sets up aid air bridge for neighbors
Europe and Russia
-----------------
*** Envoy seeks action to boost returns to Sarajevo
*** Swedes agree no punishment for 5, 7-yr-old killers
*** U.S. offers Russia big food aid package
India and the Middle East
-------------------------
*** Israeli agents try to use Canada passports
*** Tajik troops battle gunmen at airport
The Far East
------------
*** Amnesty monitoring Samoa after religious attack
*** Indonesia army warns against disrupting assembly
*** Vietnam's biggest graft scandal set for court
Science and Medicine
--------------------
*** New test may detect birth defects earlier
*** Antibiotics in agriculture creating superbugs
*** Scientists find possible 'malignancy gene'
*** Study backs radiation after brain tumor surgery
Technology
----------
*** Hackers break into Stanford Univ. e-mail system
The Environment
---------------
*** Birth rates seen as issue in global warming debate
*** New England may lose sugar maples to global warming
*** World Bank eyes rainforest investment
Human Interest
--------------
*** Election Day $20 bill radio prank sparks panic
*** Personal Kennedy check for sale at NYC auction
*** Norway PM urges men to drop machismo
*** Greek bishop to be tried over Penthouse interview
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Clinton makes another comeback from disaster
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a stunning turnabout, President Clinton has
made yet another comeback from political disaster and emerged from
Tuesday's elections strengthened by a surprising Democratic showing.
Just two months ago the president's sex scandal staggered the
Democratic Party. Republicans were predicting big gains, perhaps 40
seats in the House and five more in the Senate. Then they held the
election, and Republicans appeared to lose a handful of House seats,
a historical stunner, since the last time the president's party
gained seats in the sixth year of a presidency was in 1822. Now
Clinton can say the people have spoken, it is time to end the scandal
for good. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925389-f50
*** Also: Democrats seen making surprise U.S. House gains, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925212-e08
*** Also: Republicans, Democrats neck-and-neck in Senate, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556924783-bea
*** And: Wall Street seen greeting poll results with relief, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556926540-13c
*** Democrats make gains, defy history in vote
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats defied history in mid-term elections
Tuesday, throwing New York's Alfonse D'Amato out of the Senate,
toppling Republican governors in the South and heading for gains in
the House of Representatives. Democratic Rep. Charles Schumer beat
the feisty, acerbic D'Amato - a constant thorn in President Clinton's
side - after a slugfest of a campaign. The Democrats also defeated
North Carolina Sen. Lauch Faircloth as a last-minute Republican
attack on Clinton's morals appeared to backfire. Most dramatically,
Democrats seemed poised to defy history by winning seats in the House
of Representatives, the first time the party holding the White House
will have gained House seats in a mid-term election since 1934. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556923956-28d
*** Also: More - Democrats defy odds, make gains in U.S. vote, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556926584-f97
*** Also: Democrats win 2 big Republican U.S. Senate seats, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556923000-b35
*** Also: Indications of heavy voter turnout in U.S. election, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556918834-fdc
*** Shuttle astronauts recapture sun-observing satellite
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas (Reuters) - The crew of the U.S. space
shuttle Discovery snared a satellite Tuesday that had flown free of
the orbiter for two days studying the fiery outer rim of the sun.
Astronaut Steve Robinson plucked the Spartan spacecraft from orbit
with the 50-foot robot arm as the two craft sailed 343 miles above
Earth. The shuttle crew turned in for the night about 8:50 CST after
another successful day of science, NASA officials said. Just before
the start of the eight-hour sleep period, retiring U.S. senator and
space pioneer John Glenn, who returned to orbit last week as a
medical guinea pig, gave up a vial of blood for research on aging.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556923756-512
*** Drug-abuse seen having no impact on U.S. welfare
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Welfare recipients may be more likely to abuse
alcohol and drugs, but substance abusers are no more likely to stay
on welfare long-term, researchers said Tuesday. The findings, by a
team at the University of California at Berkeley, contradict the
widely held idea addicts and alcoholics abuse welfare for years.
Laura Schmidt and colleagues at the university interviewed 600
recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children and general
assistance around the country in 1989, when they first applied for
welfare. They tracked down more than 400 of them in 1995 and
interviewed them again. The average AFDC recipient stayed on welfare
for 33 months, compared to 16 months for the general assistance
clients. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920607-522
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Bush brothers win, though Republicans lose ground
DALLAS (Reuters) - On a disappointing night for most Republicans,
former President George Bush's family had plenty to celebrate
Tuesday, forging a new political dynasty as his two sons were elected
governors of Texas and Florida. George W. Bush, already tipped by
many to follow his father's footsteps into the White House, scored a
huge re-election victory in Texas while his younger brother Jeb was
elected governor of Florida on his second attempt. The Bush family's
victories marked the high spot of an otherwise poor night for
Republicans, who had hoped to gain more power in Congress but instead
watched as Democrats picked up House seats and appeared close to
averting an increase in the Republicans' Senate majority. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925863-f4b
*** Also: Exit poll says G.W. Bush would beat Gore in 2000, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556926026-5fd
*** Calif.'s Sen. Boxer narrowly holds seat
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Democrat Barbara Boxer, one of the
staunchest liberals in the U.S. Senate, won a second term Tuesday,
defeating a challenger she relentlessly depicted as a closet
conservative against abortion and gun control. TV networks projected
Boxer would easily beat Republican State Treasurer Matt Fong after a
tough fight pollsters said was too close to call. Boxer's victory was
a fresh blow to Republican hopes of locking in control of the Senate
by winning away from Democrats the five additional seats necessary
for a filibuster-proof majority. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925025-d9e
*** Also: Democrat sweeps up Calif. gov.'s race, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556924565-b9f
*** Also: Calif. voters set to pass $9.2 bln school bond, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925832-3a2
*** N.Y. says, 'So long, Sen. Pothole'
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The defeat of Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato
means the departure of "Sen. Pothole," one of the U.S. Senate's most
colorful characters who stirred up a campaign controversy by calling
his rival "a putzhead." Despite his national stature in the
Republican Party and as head of the powerful Senate Banking
Committee, D'Amato has been known for his gaffes, outlandish behavior
and a politically incorrect sense of humor that could make
constituents cringe. Using the Yiddish insult "putzhead" (penishead)
to describe Democratic challenger Rep. Charles Schumer - who defeated
D'Amato - was just the latest of D'Amato's outspoken moments. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925941-2df
*** Also: Pataki comfortably re-elected N.Y. gov., see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556924141-eff
*** Fitzgerald defeats Moseley-Braun in Ill.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Carol Moseley-Braun, the first black woman ever
elected to the U.S. Senate, was defeated for re-election Tuesday, in
an apparent rebuke from voters concerned about her ethics. Peter
Fitzgerald, a conservative state senator who dipped into his $40
million banking fortune to finance his campaign, emerged victorious
after months of attacking Moseley-Braun for what he depicted as
lapses of good judgment. Moseley-Braun's defeat was not a surprise.
She had been listed by some pundits as the Senate's most vulnerable
Democratic incumbent. CNN said its analysis showed ethics topped the
list of issues on which voters based their choices. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925831-ea9
*** Also: Republican Ryan wins Ill. gov. race, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556924440-db7
*** Feingold captures tight Wis. Senate race
MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold
beat back a Republican challenger to win re-election Tuesday, after a
tight race viewed as a referendum on campaign finance reform. In
winning a second term, Feingold, 45, kept his pledge to spend no more
on his campaign than $1 for each of Wisconsin's 3.8 million voters.
He reminded listeners in stump speeches he had turned down ads
financed by "soft money" from his own party. Feingold insisted he was
not "committing political suicide" by refusing soft money and
allowing himself to be outspent by his opponent, Republican Rep. Mark
Neumann, a 44-year-old fiscal conservative. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925971-8d0
*** Voters vote on array of state ballot issues
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Voters in several states favored legalizing
marijuana for medical purposes and opposed doctor-assisted suicide as
they cast ballots on a wide array of issues. The issues were among
234 listed on various statewide ballots across the nation, including
a hotly contested vote on affirmative action in Washington state,
where early results showed voters in favor of banning race and gender
preferences in state hiring, contracting and education policies.
Marijuana was on the ballot in five states including Washington and
Nevada, where voters approved a measure allowing patients with
cancer, AIDS and other diseases to possess and use the drug if a
physician recommended it. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925739-a36
*** Also: Calif. Indian gambling measure passing, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556926361-037
*** Also: Mich. bond measure wins approval, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556924685-6bd
*** Also: Mich. voters defeat assisted suicide measure, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556923916-e22
*** Also: District will not issue results of marijuana vote, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556923155-da4
*** Also: Mo.'s floating casinos can continue to operate, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556926541-361
*** And: Wash. state voters approve ban on race preferences, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556927160-755
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Courts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Judge orders Nazi guard deported
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal immigration judge has ordered the
deportation of a Nazi guard who participated in the massacre of Jews
during World War II, the Justice Department said Tuesday. It said
Bronislaw Hajda, 74, a retired factory worker in Schiller Park, Ill.,
was ordered deported to Poland, where he was born, or to Germany, the
country from which he immigrated to the U.S. The deportation was the
next step after a federal judge in Chicago stripped Hajda of his U.S.
citizenship in 1997. The judge found Hajda served in Nazi-occupied
Poland at a training camp in Trawnicki and at a labor camp in
Treblinka, where he took part in the mass execution of hundreds of
Jewish prisoners. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920733-812
*** Judge appoints receiver to auction Simpson assets
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Reuters) - A judge appointed a receiver Tuesday
to auction the assets of ex-football star O.J. Simpson and split the
money between the children of Nicole Brown Simpson and the parents of
Ron Goldman. The auction is tentatively set for February, Goldman
family lawyer Gary Caris said. Caris said Goldman's parents would get
62.7% of the proceeds of Simpson's belongings, while Nicole Brown
Simpson's two children will get 37.3%, Caris said. Simpson was found
not guilty in 1995 of the June 1994 killings of Nicole Brown Simpson
and Goldman, but a civil jury in 1997 judged him responsible for the
deaths and ordered him to pay the families $33.5 million. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556919062-076
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Wall St. takes time out to watch Election Day
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow closed unchanged Tuesday as Wall Street
took time out to watch Election Day and enjoy a breather after its
extended rally. The Dow closed unchanged at 8706.15 points. On the
New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues led declines four-to-three
with a modest 700 million shares changing hands. The tech-laden
Nasdaq ended off 12 points at 1788.49. The broad market Standard &
Poor's 500 stock index closed off 0.77 point at 1110.83. Investors
sat back for the election results. Few expected the election results
to alter the view on Wall Street that President Clinton will see out
his term despite the impeachment threat. Second thoughts about the
Federal Reserve cutting rates at its next meeting Nov. 17, also
helped prompt the day's pause in stocks, analysts said. The 30-year
Treasury bond was up 14/32 to yield 5.22%. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556919870-9bd
*** Clinton signs securities litigation bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton signed legislation Tuesday
to stem the migration of some securities fraud class-action lawsuits
to state courts from federal courts, but objected to a pay-related
provision. Clinton said he objected to an 11th-hour addition dealing
with a separate authority for job classification and greater salary
flexibility for Securities and Exchange Commission economists. The
bill, the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, applies only
to securities traded on national exchanges and Nasdaq. The
legislation aims to protect widely held and traded companies from
reckless lawsuits having nothing to do with shareholder protection.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920840-a4a
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Mitch death toll heads to 9,000, volcano erupts
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - The death toll after catastrophic
floods in Central America headed toward 9,000 Tuesday, making
Hurricane Mitch one of the deadliest Atlantic storms on record, while
a volcanic eruption in Nicaragua compounded the misery there.
Millions of people were stranded in the impoverished region, hundreds
of thousands of homes were swept away and as many as 13,000 people
were still missing by late Tuesday. In Honduras, its fragile economy
and precious cash crops almost totally ruined by devastating floods,
the body count reached 7,000 as rescue workers spread out over the
country of 5.8 million to dig corpses from the mud. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925087-297
*** Also: Americans warned about bad conditions in Honduras, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556921783-311
*** Also: Nicaragua family refuses to leave storm-hit volcano, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556922568-f37
*** Also: Central American ambassadors appeal for relief, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556921160-d2a
*** Also: Pan American Health agency issues Mitch appeal, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920553-d6a
*** Also: Mitch regains tropical storm strength, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920418-dce
*** And: Mitch turns lush tropical island to near desert, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920197-0f7
*** Update: Draft condemning Iraq action gets favorable hearing
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A British resolution condemning Iraq's
decision to stop cooperating with U.N. weapons teams and demanding an
unconditional reversal received a generally favorable response
Tuesday, Security Council members said. Another round of closed-door
consultations was scheduled for Wednesday, after delegations had time
to refer the text to their capitals. A non-permanent council member
said there was support for the draft, which did not threaten the use
of force against Iraq. Although some delegations suggested changes,
no "killer amendments" were offered drastically altering the text, he
added. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556922803-7cc
*** Also: U.S. to secure Kuwait support, Saudi backing on Iraq
crisis, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556927194-9d5 and
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920949-3a5
*** Also: Russian minister warns U.S. over Iraq crisis, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556918485-a29
*** Netanyahu insists peace deal delay no trick
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted
Wednesday an Israeli security demand holding up approval of a new
peace deal with the Palestinians was no whim or trick. Netanyahu has
twice delayed a cabinet meeting meant to ratify the land-for-security
deal signed last month and demanded the Palestinians promise the U.S.
in writing they will jail 30 alleged Palestinian killers of Israelis.
"I am waiting to receive what we agreed upon. This is no whim. There
are no sort of tricks here. One clause on a central issue we are
still waiting for and when it will be received, I will convene the
cabinet," Netanyahu told Israel Radio. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556927186-c1d
*** Malaysia's Anwar used power in sex probe - witness
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters) - A witness in Anwar Ibrahim's trial
said Wednesday the former finance minister had urged Malaysian police
last year to force a man and a woman to retract allegations of sexual
misconduct by him. Testimony by the prosecution witness addressed
four corruption charges alleging Anwar had abused his power to
influence the course of an investigation into accusations he had
committed sodomy. But the testimony by Police Special Branch Director
Mohamed Said Awang on the third day of the trial also shed light on
what the officer called Malaysian authorities' practice of
"neutralizing" witnesses' statements for political ends. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925583-189
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** China, Russia, N. Korea set river border
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, Russia and North Korea have extended a
World War II-era border agreement along the Tumen River after years
of stalling by Pyongyang, the Xinhua news agency said Wednesday. The
agreement, signed in North Korea Tuesday, ended a longstanding
dispute over how the border should be delineated following changes in
the Tumen's course. The Tumen river flows from China's northeastern
province of Jilin into the Sea of Japan and separates the northern
tip of North Korea from Russia. Russia and China agreed in 1991 to
resolve border issues and have ended disputes over their 2,700-mile
boundary. But the Tumen area was left out of the bilateral agreement
pending discussions with North Korea. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556926038-6cd
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Americas
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Colombia torn by rebel war on eve of peace talks
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Fighting raged on in a jungle town in
eastern Colombia Tuesday as Marxist rebels dealt the military its
worst single defeat of the 30-year civil conflict, killing at least
100 security force members since the weekend. The continuing battle
around Mitu, capital of Vaupes province near the border with Brazil,
is sounding alarm bells in official circles less than a week before
the government is to start preliminary peace talks with guerrillas.
At least 80 policemen were killed and 45 others captured when 1,000
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia insurgents pounded Mitu's
police base with homemade missiles Sunday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556918101-7db
*** Also: Brazil protests alleged Colombia troop incursion, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556921081-149
*** Update: Brazil's Cardoso in 1st test of crisis plan
BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian President Fernando Henrique
Cardoso, on the eve of a test of his new austerity plan, urged an
unruly Congress Tuesday to back his reforms and save Latin America's
powerhouse economy from crisis. "To reduce interest rates, we must
have the reforms. That is the crux of the issue," Cardoso told
reporters after announcing moves to tackle near-record unemployment
levels expected to rise further. The lower house of parliament was
due to vote Wednesday on the final three amendments to a social
security reform bill, bogged down in Congress for more than three
years. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556919409-4f8
*** Also: British minister glows over 'superb' Castro meeting, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556919345-47a
*** And: Brazil announces job measures as recession looms, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556918370-274
*** Mexico sets up aid air bridge for neighbors
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico said Tuesday it would establish an air
bridge to ferry urgently needed aid to storm-ravaged Central America
and called on the international community to help the impoverished
region rebuild. Health Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente was due to
head Wednesday to Honduras, where authorities say Hurricane Mitch has
left as many as 7,000 people dead, to deliver the first shipment of
Mexican emergency supplies. As many as 9,000 people were reported
dead throughout Central America by Tuesday, a week after Hurricane
Mitch began to pound the region with tremendous rains. Around 13,000
were still missing and millions more stranded Tuesday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925792-bb8
*** Also: Mexico reports large drug seizures, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556922267-16e
*** And: Mexico arrests relatives in murder of reporter, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925970-26b
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe and Russia
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Envoy seeks action to boost returns to Sarajevo
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Reuters) - Peace envoy Carlos
Westendorp urged Sarajevo authorities Tuesday to "re-double" their
efforts to enable Serb and Croat refugees to return to the now
predominant Muslim Bosnian capital. The Spanish diplomat expressed
disappointment over the small number of non-Muslims going to their
pre-war homes in Sarajevo following the 1992-1995 war between the
country's religious and ethnic communities. "It is clear that the
target of 20,000 minority returns to the city will not be met this
year," he said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556918539-64b
*** Swedes agree no punishment for 5, 7-yr-old killers
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - Sweden quietly accepted Tuesday a
decision not to punish two small boys for killing a 4-year-old, a
crime which stunned a country where films are censored for violence
and murder is rare. Police delivered the result of an investigation
Monday into the death in August of 4-year-old Kevin, saying he was
strangled when the two other boys, aged 5 and 7, pressed a stick to
his throat after he was thrown onto his back. Swedish media did not
question the decision to close the case, Sweden's first holding
children responsible for a killing. Children under 15 may not be
punished in Sweden. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556917856-2ad
*** U.S. offers Russia big food aid package
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. is prepared to offer Russia 3.1
million metric tons of wheat and other food to help soften the
effects of a looming food supply crisis, a senior U.S. official said
Tuesday. The size of the package was lower than what U.S. farm groups
had expected, but it was greeted as welcome news in the midst of a
near-record harvest that has depressed commodity prices. The
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the food aid
package included 1.5 million metric tons of wheat. The rest is a mix
of other foodstuffs. The net worth of the total package was not
revealed but the wheat alone would be worth $200 million. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556921699-002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
India and the Middle East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Israeli agents try to use Canada passports
TORONTO (Reuters) - Agents from Israel's Mossad security service have
tried to obtain Canadian passports illegally despite a public promise
last year to stop the practice, Canadian TV reported Tuesday. The
report came barely a year after Canada voiced outrage at the use of
forged Canadian passports by Israeli agents who tried to assassinate
Khaled Meshal, political chief of the Islamic militant Hamas
movement, in Jordan. The network's W-FIVE program reported Israeli
agents had repeatedly asked Leslie Lewis, a 55-year-old Hasidic Jew
who holds joint Canadian-Israeli citizenship, to allow them to use
his passport and that of his daughter. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556923567-c4c
*** Tajik troops battle gunmen at airport
LONDON (Reuters) - Tajik government troops are battling a group of
gunmen at an airport in the northern town of Chkalovsk, ITAR-TASS
news agency reported Wednesday, quoting military sources. The gunmen
"created disturbances" in the town and attacked a unit of
presidential guard positioned there, the agency said from the
Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe. "According to latest reports,
government forces have the group surrounded at Chkalovsk airport,"
the agency said. Tajikistan remains chronically unstable more than a
year after a peace agreement was signed between the secular
government, backed by Moscow, and Islamist opposition forces. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925023-3f1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Far East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Amnesty monitoring Samoa after religious attack
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (Reuters) - Human rights group Amnesty
International is monitoring developments in the Pacific island nation
of Samoa after reports five men were hogtied and their home destroyed
for conducting a non-Methodist service in their village. According to
media reports from Samoa, monitored in nearby American Samoa, the
five men have been banned from the village since the incident took
place Oct. 17. Hogtying involves tying the feet and hands of a person
together. It is not known how long the punishment lasted. Samoa,
formerly known as Western Samoa, has a complex, highly-communal
culture still strongly influenced by ancient customs and values. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556924471-145
*** Indonesia army warns against disrupting assembly
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's armed forces chief Gen.
Wiranto said Wednesday the military would take stern action against
any group that tried to disturb a special meeting of the country's
highest legislative body next week. The People's Consultative
Assembly meets from Nov. 10 to 13 to ratify Indonesia's planned
election timetable. The MPR usually meets once every five years to
choose Indonesia's president and vice president. It last convened in
March to elect former President Suharto for a seventh five-year term.
Suharto resigned May 21 amid a deepening economic crisis, mass
protests against his 32-year rule and an explosion of rioting in
Jakarta that left almost 1,200 dead. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925657-29b
*** Vietnam's biggest graft scandal set for court
HANOI, Vietnam (Reuters) - Dozens of defendants are likely to face
trial by the end of the year in Vietnam's biggest corruption case, a
scandal that racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and
shocked the nation. Vietnam's top anti-corruption official,
Inspector-General of State Ta Huu Thanh, said Tuesday the case
involving losses at private firm Minh Phung and prominent trading
company EPCO should go to court soon. Official media recently
reported police had finished probing the Minh Phung-EPCO debacle,
which surfaced in March last year, and 77 defendants would be tried,
including many former officials, executives and bankers. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556924564-2d1
*** Also: Hanoi probed high-level graft claims, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556925594-07f
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Science and Medicine
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** New test may detect birth defects earlier
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new test may warn pregnant women of birth
defects as early as the first three months of pregnancy, researchers
said Tuesday. The test combines a check for two proteins in the blood
with ultrasound measurements of the fetus to predict a risk for Down
syndrome, which causes mental retardation and other abnormalities, a
team at Northwestern University in Chicago said. "Overall, we may end
up with an earlier test, with a higher detection rate, doing
less-invasive procedures and losing fewer normal pregnancies," said
Dr. Eugene Pergament, a professor of obstetrics who led the study.
Pergament says the new method may catch 90% of cases of Down
syndrome. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556917919-803
*** Antibiotics in agriculture creating superbugs
TORONTO (Reuters) - Farmers who lace animal feed with antibiotics to
bulk up livestock and prevent infections are creating drug-resistant
bacteria that could cause serious illnesses among humans, a Canadian
medical journal said Tuesday. The report in the Canadian Medical
Association Journal reported the abuse of antibiotics by farmers has
created mutations of microbes such as salmonella and e. coli that can
pass on to humans. Infections may arise from the beef, pork, lamb and
chicken people eat, from farm crops that suck in surface water
contaminated with livestock manure and even from family cats and dogs
who eat contaminated petfood. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556919335-860
*** Scientists find possible 'malignancy gene'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "malignancy gene" found in breast, liver,
colon and other tumors but not healthy tissue, may offer a new way to
diagnose and treat cancer, scientists said Tuesday. The gene, named
"MAG" for malignancy-associated gene, may cause cancer to spread, Dr.
Julia Ljubimova and colleagues at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in
Los Angeles said. "We feel this gene may 'turn on' the process of
malignancy," said Ljubimova, who reported the findings in the journal
Cancer Research. The MAG gene was found in 90% of 51 tissue samples
from pre-malignant and malignant tumors. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556918780-1c5
*** Study backs radiation after brain tumor surgery
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Patients operated on for a brain tumor from
cancer that has spread from elsewhere in the body have a better
chance of avoiding a recurrence if radiation treatment follows the
surgery, a medical report published Tuesday said. While such patients
do not necessarily live longer, the report from the University of
Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington said radiation appeared to
reduce the chances of their dying from a brain tumor with the
extraordinary pain and suffering that accompanies it. The finding was
based on a study of 95 patients who underwent surgery between 1989
and 1997 to remove a single, metastasized tumor in the brain. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556913032-ae0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Hackers break into Stanford Univ. e-mail system
PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Some 4,500 students and staff at
Stanford University had their e-mail passwords stolen last month when
hackers broke into the school's security system and managed to avoid
detection for three weeks. It was unclear if the hackers actually
read individual e-mail messages. School officials said Tuesday it
appeared the intruders broke into the system for other malicious
purposes, but did not say what their intentions might have been. The
information they gained provided them access to the contents of all
the 4,500 e-mail accounts until Tuesday morning, when Stanford pulled
the plug on the violated mail boxes and put tighter security measures
in place. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920150-471
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Environment
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Birth rates seen as issue in global warming debate
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - Nations must pay more attention
to the world's explosive birth rate, particularly in poor nations,
the head of a U.S. think-tank said Tuesday during climate talks on
how to curb global warming. Robert Engelman, director of Population
Action International, said the issue had been passed over, but
matters critically. Engelman noted the world's population had more
than doubled in the last 45 years to about 5.9 billion, and could
double again by 2040, if current birth rates of 225,000 a day went
unchecked. Such a fast-growing population will make it more difficult
to curb smokestack and tailpipe emissions, a chief cause of global
warming. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920067-e26
*** New England may lose sugar maples to global warming
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - A gradual rise in global
temperatures could strip New England of its sugar maple population by
the end of the next century, according to a scientific report
released Tuesday. The Office of Science and Technology Policy said
climate change caused by excessive fossil fuel emissions are likely
to shift the ideal range for some North American forest species as
much as 300 miles north, exceeding the species' ability to migrate
naturally. New England's sugar maple would suffer a dramatic loss in
numbers and eventually recede from all U.S. regions but the northern
tip of Maine by 2100 if emissions level go unchecked. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556919224-155
*** World Bank eyes rainforest investment
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - The World Bank at the U.N.
climate talks in Buenos Aires unveiled a plan Tuesday outlining ways
world forests could be both preserved and profited from in the battle
against global warming. With the U.S. Nature Conservancy and other
scientific and environmental bodies, the World Bank will counsel U.N.
officials trying to rein in global hydrocarbon emissions in the next
century on viable investment mechanisms that would harness forests'
ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Part of their plan will likely
involve public and private sector investment in the creation or
preservation of world forests, thought to possess nearly as much
carbon as the atmosphere. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556920797-6d0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Human Interest
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Election Day $20 bill radio prank sparks panic
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A radio station in St. Louis sparked a panic
among horrified listeners who were told Tuesday to vote in elections
and to spend their old $20 bills before they turn into worthless
paper at the 12th stroke of midnight. "All I did was to remind people
to get out and vote and to trade their old $20 for new ones because
they would not be valid tomorrow. We had people freaking out. We
started getting calls from every bank that listens to the station,"
said KSLZ-FM disc jockey Rich Stevens. "I got calls, put people on
the air and told them to trade their old $20 bills at the bank,"
Stevens, who anchors the midday program at the Top-40 station, also
said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556921930-86a
*** Personal Kennedy check for sale at NYC auction
NEW YORK (Reuters) - One of three personal checks signed by President
John F. Kennedy just before his fateful trip to Dallas in Nov. 1963
will be sold at auction next week, a New York auction house announced
Tuesday. Auctioneers R.M. Smythe & Co. Inc. said the blank check was
the only one of the three to come to public auction and is expected
to sell for more than $8,500. The auction will be Nov. 10. "Three
such blank checks were issued during preparations for the trip to
Dallas," said R.M. Smythe president Diana Herzog. Kennedy did not
carry cash and signed blank checks carried by his Secret Service
agents. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Nov. 22, 1963. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556919269-a43
*** Norway PM urges men to drop machismo
OSLO, Norway (Reuters) - Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne
Bondevik urged men Tuesday to drop machismo and suggested more men
take jobs in kindergartens. "Times have changed. Chores in the home
must be divided better - both the duties and the joys," said
Bondevik, addressing a conference on men's role in society. A priest
in Norway's Lutheran church, Bondevik sometimes sports a tie
decorated with teddy bears. Norway has come further with implementing
sexual equality than many other western nations, with benefits
including maternity or paternity leave. Nine members of Bondevik's
19-strong cabinet are women. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556915182-a18
*** Greek bishop to be tried over Penthouse interview
ATHENS, Greece (Reuters) - The Greek Church ordered one of its
bishops to stand trial over an interview with Penthouse magazine in
which he advocated premarital sex, the Athens News Agency reported
Tuesday. Bishop Crysostomos of Zakynthos told the Greek edition of
Penthouse last year he believed young unmarried people were better
off in monogamous relationships that could lead to marriage than in
sleeping around. He also advocated the death penalty for drug
dealers. The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, which bans
premarital sex, opposes the death penalty and considers magazines
such as Penthouse anathema. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2556916479-4a5
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