From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia
Reserch Senter(*)
		OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS   #79
                ===============================
In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant
to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere
(validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra).

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Iraqi Body Count: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ [6,086+ as at 04 Aug 2003].

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Selecting latest news stories and other data for you...
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New record extreme events occur every year somewhere on the globe, but
in recent year the number of such extremes have been increasing.  New
analyses of proxy data for the northern hemisphere indicate that the
increase in temperature in the 20th century is likely to have been the
largest in any century during the past 1,000 years.
    -- World Met Organisation report, 2003.

I cannot see that the action [GWII], in the way it was justified, was
compatible with the UN Charter.
    -- Dr Hans Blix, 06 Aug 2003.

[T]he terrorists need to know that we will not be deterred. We will
certainly not be defeated. And we are ever more determined to go after
them wherever they are, until this scourge is dealt with.
    -- US Sec of State, Colin Powell, 07 Aug 2003.
       The Whitehouse is in the process of re-classifying "small"
       nuclear weapons as conventional, so they can be used in
       civilian areas again. Apparently the anniversary of the
       Hiroshima/Nagasaki nuclear attacks gave them the idea.

We've made a lot of progress in 100 days and we're pleased with the
progress, but we know we've got a lot more work to do.
    -- US Pres Bush Jr, Crawford, 08 Aug 2003.
       Mr Bush is on day 4 of his 45-day vacation.

There is indeed a possibility that not every death can be accounted
for. Injuries are another matter. The injured are alive, perhaps
receiving treatment, and the cause, nature and extent of their
injuries will appear in medical, official, and informal records.
    -- IBC project report, 08 Aug 2003.
       The Iraq Body Count project estimates 20,000 Iraqi civilians 
       have been injured during GWII and its aftermath, up to Jul 6.

What you really got to do is, eliminate terrorist networks and
eliminate terrorism as a problem. And clearly Iraq was one of the
country -- you know top of the list of countries actively using
terrorism as an instrument of nat'l policy.
    -- US Dep Sec of Def, Paul Wolfowitz, 08 Aug 2003.
       Giving the latest rationalisation for GWII.

We're grateful for the sacrifices of our soldiers.
    -- Pres Bush Jr, Crawford, 08 Aug 2003.
       Mr Bush is on day 4 of his 45-day vacation.

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Fri, 08 Aug 2003.

Positive reports push Wall St higher
NY.  Economic hopes have been raised again in the US.  A number of
encouraging reports have helped lift share prices on Wall Street.
Investor sentiment looks to have been largely undamaged by the latest
deaths of US soldiers in Baghdad and the car bomb blast outside the
Jordanian embassy that has killed at least 10 people.
And another auction of US Treasury bonds has gone off well with the
higher prices pushing down yields and further calming fears among
share market investors of rising interest rates.
On the NYSE, the Dow Jones industrial average has closed
65 points ahead at 9,126.
On the economic front, the US Labor Dept has reported American businesses
lifted productivity at a robust annual rate of 5.7 in the Q2.
At the same time, the weekly total of people making new claims for
jobless benefits has dropped to a 6-m low.
And a PricewaterhouseCoopers quarterly survey of 150 leading US
executives has found 2/3 of them now have a positive outlook on
the economy.  However, investors on the Nasdaq market have not had a
particularly positive outlook on high tech shares overnight.
The Nasdaq composite index has slipped by 1/2 a point to 1,652.  The
Brit share market has managed a moderate recovery on well-received
profit results from banking group Barclays and engineering firm GKN.
London's FT-100 index has recouped 25 points to finish at 4,096.
Yesterday, there was a small advance on the AUS market.
AMP Limited held the overall market back with its shares touching
another all-time low of $4.26 at one stage.
They finished at $4.35 as the company tried to limit the damage from a
leaked audit report identifying problems at its funds management arm,
AMP Henderson Global Investors.
The All Ordinaries index added 6 points to 3,125.
On foreign exchange markets, the AUD is back above 65 US cents
at US65.20 cents.  That is up 7/10 of a cent on yesterday's local close.
The gold price is at $US352.90/oz.
W Texas crude oil is back up to $US32.41/bbl.

6 Russian soldiers killed in gunfight on Chechen border
Ossetia.  6 Russian soldiers have reportedly been killed and 7 others
injured when unknown assailants opened fire on an armoured vehicle nr
the Caucasian Republic of Ingushetia's border with the breakaway
Chechnya.  At the time of the incident, the troops were returning to
their base after escorting a group of Russian soldiers to the Chechen
border, local police officials told the ITAR-TASS news agency.  Police
were combing the nearby forests for the assailants, who managed to
escape the scene, officials added.  It was not clear whether the
attackers were Chechen rebels who continue to target Russian forces
daily despite Moscow's assurances that the separatist insurgency,
which flared up in Oct 1999, had been put down.

The case for war in hindsight: Downing Street plans new Iraq WMD report
London.  Downing Street is planning to publish yet another Iraq
weapons dossier in Sep, in time for the Labour Party conference.
The report will be based on the findings of the Iraq Survey Group
(ISG), which is made up of American and Brit teams that have been
searching for an alleged arsenal of WMD since the war.
Lord Hutton's inquiry into the apparent suicide of David Kelly, the
main source of a BBC report that the Govt "sexed up" an Iraq weapons
dossier, is expected to be finished before the party conference,
scheduled to begin on 28 Sep.
The hearings at the High Court may lead to highly embarrassing
disclosures for the Govt over the way Dr Kelly's identity was exposed
for the media, and a "positive" new dossier would help to limit some
of the damage.
The ISG teams, under the direction of David Kay, a former UN arms
inspector, have been conducting interviews with Iraqi scientists and
officials of Saddam Hussein's regime. Their report will be sent to the
Joint Intel Committee, chaired by John Scarlett, before being passed
on to No 10.
No evidence has been unearthed so far that Iraq possessed WMD. But
members of the ISG are said to be optimistic that they will find plans
to develop WMD "programmes".
According to a report in The Economist, MI6 is also confident that the
investigations will vindicate last Sep's Iraq dossier. The magazine
says that there appears to be "hard evidence" of cover-up programmes
designed to conceal WMD.
"We would hope to be able to demonstrate, in the fullness of time,
that almost all the info in the [Sep] dossier was accurate," an
insider" told the magazine.

Gov't: hijacker crashed flight 93 on 9/11
Washington (AP).  US investigators now believe that a hijacker in the
cockpit aboard United Airlines Flight 93 instructed terrorist-pilot
Ziad Jarrah to crash the jetliner into a Pennsylvania field because of
a passenger uprising in the cabin.
This theory, based on the govt's analysis of cockpit recordings,
discounts the popular perception of insurgent passengers grappling
with terrorists to seize the plane's controls.
The govt's findings -- laid out deep within the report on the Sep 11,
2001, attacks that was sent to Congress last m -- aim to resolve one
of the enduring mysteries of the deadliest terror attacks in US
history: What happened in the final minutes aboard Flight 93?
The FBI strenuously maintains that its analysis does not diminish the
heroism of passengers who -- with the words "Let's roll" -- apparently
rushed down the airliner's narrow aisle to try to overtake the hijackers.
Pres Bush and A-G John Ashcroft have regularly praised the courage of
those aboard Flight 93, some of whom told family members by telephone
they were planning to storm the cockpit.
"While no one will ever know exactly what transpired in the final
minutes of Flight 93, every shred of evidence indicates this plane
crashed because of the heroic actions of the passengers," FBI rep
Susan Whitson said Thu.
33 passengers, 7 crew members and the 4 hijackers died.
Citing transcripts of the still-secret cockpit recordings, FBI
Director Robert Mueller told congressional investigators in a closed
briefing last y that, minutes before Flight 93 hit the ground, one of
the hijackers "advised Jarrah to crash the plane and end the
passengers' attempt to retake the airplane."
Jarrah is thought to have been the terrorist-pilot because he was the
only of the 4 hijackers aboard known to have a pilot's license.
Mueller's description was disclosed in a brief passage far into the
858-page report to Congress. Previous statements by FBI and other govt
officials have been ambiguous about what occurred in the cockpit.
The same cockpit recording was played privately in Apr 2002 for family
members of victims aboard Flight 93, and the FBI also provided them
with its best effort at producing an understandable transcript.
Some family members indicated afterward they were led to believe that
passengers used a food cart as a shield and successfully broke into
the cockpit.
The FBI has been loath to publicly put forward a contradictory theory
out of sensitivity to the families and because of uncertainty about
what happened.
People who have heard the recording describe it as nearly indecipherable,
containing static noises, cockpit alarms and wind interspersed with cries
in English and Arabic. Near the end of the tape, sounds can be heard
of breaking glass and crashing dishes -- lending credence to the theory
that passengers used the food cart to rush the jetliner's narrow aisle.
Separately, the data recorder showed the plane's wings rocking
violently as the jet flew too low and too fast for safe flight.
Intel officials believe the likely target for Flight 93 was the White
House, based on info from Abu Zubaydah, a snr al-Qaida terrorist
leader in US custody who is believed to have played a key role in
organising the Sep 11 attacks.
Prosecutors have sought a US judge's permission to play recordings
from Flight 93 during the terrorism trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the
only defendant in a US case prosecutors have directly tied to the
attacks. Moussaoui is accused of conspiring with the hijackers.
The govt has said it can link Moussaoui to Jarrah, using a telephone
number found on a business card recovered at the Shanksville, Pa,
crash site. Prosecutors believe the card belonged to Jarrah and that
Moussaoui had called the same number.
Moussaoui has acknowledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida
but says he was not involved in the attacks.

Wolfowitz: Iraq was not involved in 9-11 attacks
Washington.  Dep Sec of Def Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects
for the war in Iraq, admitted for the 1st time that Iraq had nothing
to do with the Sep 11 terrorist attacks, contradicting public
statements made by snr White House and Pentagon officials whose
attempt to link Saddam Hussein and the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda
was cited by the Bush Admin as one of the main reasons for
launching a preemptive strike in March against Iraq.
In an interview with conservative radio personality Laura Ingraham,
Wolfowitz was asked when he 1st came to believe that Iraq was behind
the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
"I'm not sure even now that I would say Iraq had something to do with
it," Wolfowitz said in the interview, aired Fri, Wolfowitz's answer
confirms doubts long held by critics of the Iraq war that the Bush
Admin had no evidence linking Iraq to 9-11 or al-Qaeda, but
simply used the horrific terrorist attacks as a reason to overthrow
Saddam Hussein and his Baathist regime.
"I think what the realization to me is -- the fundamental point was
that terrorism had reached the scale completely different from what we
had thought of it up until then. And that it would only get worse when
these people got access to WMD which would be only a matter of time,"
Wolfowitz said in the interview. "What you really got to do is,
eliminate terrorist networks and eliminate terrorism as a problem. And
clearly Iraq was one of the country -- you know top of the list of
countries actively using terrorism as an instrument of nat'l policy."
Since the US invaded Iraq 111 days ago, no chemical or biological
weapons have been found in the country.
A rep for Wolfowitz would not return repeated calls for comment.
During the buildup to the war in Iraq, the Bush Admin
successfully convinced the public and members of Congress that Iraq
had played some role in the 9-11 terrorist attacks, according to
numerous polls that showed a majority of the American public believe
Iraq was involved in 9-11 attacks, despite the absence of evidence to
support the allegations.
Sec of Defence Donald Rumsfeld last y boasted that the Pentagon
and CIA had "bulletproof" evidence linking Iraq to al-Qaeda, although
Rumsfeld refused to declassify any of the intel he had to support his
claims. Shortly after the attacks, however, the Admin claimed
that Mohammed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the 9-11 attacks, met
with an Iraqi agent in Prague in early 2001, suggesting a possible
connection with Saddam Hussein.
Reports of the meeting were based primarily on accounts of Czech
officials like PM Milos Zeman, who discussed it with officials in
Washington in Nov. But Fed law-enforcement officials concluded in May
that no such meeting took place.
Since Bush declared in May an end to major combat in Iraq, Wolfowitz
has given numerous interviews contradicting the Admins
rationale for starting the war. Most notably, Wolfowitz told a
reporter for Vanity Fair a few m ago that: "the decision to highlight
WMD as the main justification for going to war in Iraq was taken for
bureaucratic reasons...."
But despite the obvious contradictions about the reasons cited for war
and unanswered questions as to whether the Bush Admin
manipulated intel to build a stronger case for striking Iraq, the
president and his snr staff maintains that the war was justified.
But Dems in Congress, a majority of who supported a resolution
authorising the use of military force to overthrow Saddam Hussein,
said they are particularly interested in questioning Wolfowitz and
other Pentagon officials about its use of intel info that critics
claim the Pentagon hyped to show Iraq not only played a part in 9-11,
but that the country had a stockpile of chemical and biological
weapons that it planned to use against the US Republican lawmakers,
however, in an attempt to protect the White House from further
embarrassment about the accuracy of its use of prewar intel, are
thwarting efforts by Democrats to launch such a probe.
At issue is a secret Pentagon committee headed by Wolfowitz and
Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith, that is widely
believed to be responsible for gathering much of the erroneous intel
info used by Pres Bush and snr White House officials on the
so-called Iraqi threat, specifically, its ties to al-Qaeda.
The Pentagon unit, called the Office of Special Plans, was formed,
according to published reports, after the 9-11 terrorist attacks to
find links between Iraq and al-Qaeda. It was disbanded late last y,
Feith said during a briefing with reporters in May. About a dozen
former CIA intel officials have been quoted as saying that the Office
of Special Plans cherry-picked intel, much of which was gathered by
unreliable Iraqi defectors, to make a stronger case for war and
delivered directly to Vice Pres Dick Cheney's office and Nat'l
Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice without 1st being vetted by the CIA.
Congressman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, is planning on writing a letter
to the GAO sometime this wk urging the agency to immediately launch an
inquiry into the group to find out if Wolfowitz and his underlings in
the Special Plans Office knowingly manipulated intel to help the White
House win support for a war in Iraq.

Iraq invasion violated internat'l law: Blix
Stockholm (AP).  With unusual candour, the former chief UN weapons
inspector Hans Blix today denounced the US-led war on Iraq as a
violation of internat'l law, and questioned Washington's motives for
the invasion.
"I cannot see that the action, in the way it was justified, was
compatible with the UN Charter," Blix said, adding that it had
undermined the Sec Council's authority.
The former Swedish foreign minister spoke on a popular Swedish Radio
program that features leading personalities who chat and choose music.
Blix questioned whether Saddam Hussein posed an immediate threat to
his neighbours and to the US. He said the Admin of US Pres
Bush Jr must have had other reasons to invade besides "the
officially pronounced purpose to find and destroy WMD."
"An important element surely was the need to show striking power after
the terror attack on the US on Sep 11, 2001," Blix said in the
90-minute show.
Neither the Sec Council nor the American public would have seen
"Saddam's terror" as grounds for military action, he said, before
playing "Send the Marines," by Tom Lehrer, a sarcastic song from the
1960s about US military intervention.
The US and its allies tried for wks to gain support in the Sec Council
for military action against Iraq, but later decided to invade without
any UN mandate because of vehement opp'n led by France and Germany.
Blix said the invasion could have positive effects on the Mideast
peace process and in keeping the region free from WMD, but noted that
those were not the main reasons presented for the action.  He said he
was disappointed the US didn't show more faith in the UN weapons
inspectors, who failed to find any WMD in Iraq.
"Personally, I found it peculiar that those who wanted to take
military action could -- with 100% certainty -- know that the weapons
existed, and at the same time turn out to have 0% knowledge of
where they were," he said.
Blix said that the Sec Council might have approved military
intervention if Iraq had continued to resist weapons inspections.  UN
inspectors were only allowed to search for prohibited weapons for 
3-and-1/2 ms. They pulled out on March 18, 2 days before the US and Brit
launched the invasion.
Blix said it was increasingly improbable that US and Brit forces would
find prohibited weapons in Iraq, noting that they now have searched
longer than the weapons inspectors.

2nd blast follows embassy attack in Baghdad
Baghdad.  There has been a 2nd explosion in the Iraqi capital Baghdad,
hrs after a car bomb attack on the Jordanian embassy left at least
10 people dead and more than 50 injured.
US officials say it is not yet clear whether the explosion at the
Jordanian embassy was the work of a suicide bomber, or whether the car
bomb was detonated by remote control.
The incident has outraged locals, who say they came under fire from
Jordanian security guards when they attempted to come to the aid of
injured civilians in the street outside the embassy.
Most of the victims are believed to be Iraqi civilians.
Several local police officers are also reported to be among the dead.
Just hrs after the car bombing, 2 US soldiers were wounded in
central Baghdad when their vehicle was destroyed by an improvised
explosive device.
At least one Iraqi is reported to have died in an ensuing firefight,
as American soldiers backed by tanks and armoured vehicles raced
through the busy Karadah shopping district.
US officials are refusing to comment on possible motives for the
attack.  Jordan is a US ally, but it also offered asylum to Saddam
Hussein's 2 daughters last wk, angering some Iraqis.
The US military cmdr in Iraq, Lt-Gen Ricardo Sanchez, says the
embassy blast shows professional terrorists are now operating in the country.
"It shows that we are still in a conflict zone which is what we've
been saying all along and this is something that every one of us and
the internat'l community has to cope with," he said.
"We've been saying this all along, that we've got to join together to
put an end to this violence that exists here in Iraq and with the help
of the Iraqi people we'll be able to do that."

US alters raid strategy.
Baghdad (NYT).  The US military, in a major revision of strategy, has
decided to limit the scope of its raids in Iraq after receiving
warnings from Iraqi leaders that they were alienating the public,
according to the top allied cmdr.
In its search for Baath Party operatives and other foes, the US
military has carried out large sweeps, some of which have rounded up
100s of Iraqis.
But Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, the chief cmdr of allied forces in
Iraq, said in an interview Wed that the military had virtually
exhausted the gains from this approach and that continuing it could be
counterproductive.
"It was a fact that I started to get multiple indicators that maybe
our iron-fisted approach to the conduct of ops was beginning to
alienate Iraqis," Sanchez said, referring to military operations. "I
started to get those sensings from multiple sources, all the way from
the Governing Council down to average people."
The change in approach comes at an important juncture for the US-led
coalition. The US and its allies are trying to defeat loyalists to
Saddam Hussein's toppled govt and other foes, including foreign
Islamic fighters. At the same time, they are striving to maintain the
support of an Iraqi public that has had to struggle with erratic
electrical power supplies, wide-scale unemployment and rampant crime
and which has not always been reassured by the presence of US troops.
US forces have mounted major operations, like Soda Mountain, which
sought to break up a possible insurgent offensive. That operation,
which was conducted in mid-Jul, involved 143 raids across Iraq.
Sanchez said last m that almost 700 criminals and loyalists to the old
govt had been detained and that 64 of them were "high-value targets."
But Iraqis have complained that too many of those rounded up by US
troops were not Baath Party operatives but ordinary citizens. They say
the US tactics have been too aggressive and not sensitive enough to
Iraqi culture and traditions.
US cmdrs said they decided to revise their approach after
concluding that the number of attacks against US forces had subsided
somewhat and that Iraqis were providing more intel, a development that
US officers say will enable them to take more of a "precision
approach" in planning their operations to capture or kill Saddam and
former ranking officials from his govt.
But the new US approach also reflects a recognition that raids could
unintentionally be creating a reservoir of support for the insurgents
or even spurring attacks by ordinary citizens.
Sanchez said: "After we declared an end to major operations we quickly
realized that there was a non-compliant element out there that was very
willing to conduct ops against us to kill us and therefore we had to
go out there and do these big sweeps. Unquestionably, I think, we
created in this culture some Iraqis that then had to act because of
their value systems against us in terms of revenge."
The general added that Iraqi leaders who supported the allies had said
they understood the goal of the US raids but that some were concerned
over their effects on the Iraqi population.
Their message, he said, has been that "when you take a father in front
of his family and put a bag over his head and put him on the ground,
you have had a significant adverse effect on his dignity and respect
in the eyes of his family."
In effect, he said, you create more enemies than you capture.
Sanchez revealed other steps that he is taking to try to improve
security. To reduce the risk to planes, the allies are beginning a new
program to buy shoulder-fired SA-7, SA-14 and SA-18 surface-to-air
missiles from Iraqis. The Americans are offering $500 a missile but
have yet to buy any.
The missile threat has prevented the allies from opening the Baghdad
Airport in the effort to rebuild the country.
But developing a new approach that relies more on cooperation with
Iraqi tribal leaders, clerics and politicians is central to the new
strategy.
The US military deployment has gone through several phases. Initially,
the Americans were welcomed by many Iraqis. The biggest threat to
order seemed to be looting and crime, including robberies by some of
the tens of 1000s of prisoners freed by Saddam before the war.
But organised attacks began to increase in Jun. There are about 9,000
former Iraqi military officials who are barred from serving in the new
military or in other govt jobs because they were snr Baath Party
officials. Nobody knows for sure how many are fighting the Americans,
but they are believed to number in the 1000s.

Iraq's 20,000 wounded civilians ignored
London (Reuters). Around 20,000 civilians were wounded in the Iraq war
and the US-Brit occupiers are ignoring their suffering, a research
group says in what it terms the 1st study of the conflict's casualty toll.
"The maimed civilians of Iraq have been brushed under the carpet," the
Iraq Body Count (IBC) said on Thu.
The Anglo-American group of academics and peace activists chided US
and Brit postwar administrators for failing to set up programmes for
the wounded or pay them compensation.
"A sizeable if as yet unknown proportion of Iraqi families will
contain a relative whose life was ended or put on hold by the US or
Brit forces," it said in a report seen by Reuters prior to publication
on its website, www.iraqbodycount.net.
"Even if only in self-interest, the US and UK Admins should
be putting the needs of the injured at the very heart of its strategy
to 'win hearts and minds'."
The report, titled "Adding Indifference to Injury", said the IBC had
calculated civilian casualties known so far as between a minimum of
16,439 and maximum 19,733.
Incomplete info about casualties meant that the maximum figure was
likely to be a closer approximation to the real total and might itself
be an under-estimate, it said.
The IBC's figures were based on media reports and counting projects
from independent investigators up to Jul 6.
The group has also for m been publishing a running total of estimated
civilian deaths from the Iraq war, with its latest calculation a
minimum of 6,086 and a maximum of 7,797.
The IBC said the US and Brit military's reluctance to calculate the
number of civilian wounded was inexcusable.
"There is indeed a possibility that not every death can be accounted
for," it said. "Injuries are another matter. The injured are alive,
perhaps receiving treatment, and the cause, nature and extent of their
injuries will appear in medical, official, and informal records."
The need for investigation and assessment "is particularly urgent, for
many of the injured may still be suffering and their condition may be
improved if we act promptly," it added.
The US and Brit have repeatedly said their forces tried to keep
civilian casualties to a minimum, but have declined to give any estimates.
A rep for Brit's Ministry of Defence said it was impossible to say
whether the IBC estimate was accurate.
"The conflict was aimed at minimising civilian casualties," he
said. "But it's very difficult to assess figures."
The rep said US and Brit efforts to bring about an Iraqi
Admin and resurrect infrastructure, including medical
facilities, would benefit the wounded. Compensation claims should be
taken up with the interim authority, he added.
The occupiers' only attention to wounded civilians has been in
high-profile cases like Ali Ismaeel Abbas, the 12-yo boy air-lifted out
for medical treatment after losing both arms, or limited care from
some units after battles, the IBC said.
That has left the wounded relying on vandalised and depleted Iraqi
hospitals and "a few charities and aid agencies, which have struggled
against US obstruction to gain a foothold for their work with the sick
and injured," the report said.
20,000 injury compensation claims at $10,000 each would cost the
occupiers $200 mn -- less than the US spends every 2 days
on the occupation, the group said.

Death marches at double in Iraq but US public unaware
Washington (The Guardian).  US military casualties in Iraq are running
at more than twice the number most Americans have been led to believe
they are. The public is largely unaware of a high number of accidents,
suicides and other non-combat deaths.
Since May 1, when Pres Bush Jr called an end to combat operations,
52 of his troops have been killed by hostile fire, according to
Pentagon figures.
But the total of deaths from all causes is much higher at 112.  The other
unreported cost of the war for the US is the number of wounded -- 827.
But unofficial figures put the total in the 1000s. Many of the wounded
have lost limbs.
The number of US combat deaths since the start of the war is 166,
which is 19 more than the toll in the 1st Gulf war.
The passing of that benchmark last m scotched the perception that the
US had scored an easy victory. The death toll this time is 248 when
accidents and suicides are included.
According to a Gallup poll, 63% of Americans still think Iraq was
worth going to war over, but a quarter want the troops out now, and
another 3rd want a withdrawal if the casualty figures mount.
Military observers say it is unusual, even in a "low-intensity"
guerilla war, for non-combat deaths to outnumber combat casualties.
The Pentagon does not tabulate the cause of those deaths, but
according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a website that tracks
official reports, 23 US soldiers have died in car or helicopter
accidents since May 1, and 12 have been killed in accidents with
weapons or explosives.
3 deaths have been categorised as possible suicides, 3 have died from
illness and 3 from drowning. The rest are unexplained.
Wounded US soldiers continue to be flown back to Andrews Air Force
Base near Washington at a relentless rate.
The Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington was so overwhelmed by the
influx that it had taken over beds normally reserved for cancer
patients, a CBS report said.
The Pentagon figure for wounded in action in Iraq is 827, but here
again the total of injuries appears much higher.
The estimate given by central command in Qatar is 926, but Lt-Col
Allen DeLane, in charge of the airlift of wounded into Andrews Air
Force Base, argues that too is understated. "Since the war has
started, I can't give you an exact number because that's classified
info, but I can say to you over 4000 have stayed here at Andrews, and
that number doubles when you count the people that come here to
Andrews and then we send them to other places ..." Col DeLane told
Nat'l Public Radio.
90% of injuries were directly war-related, he said.
"When the facility where I'm at started absorbing the people coming
back from theatre [in Apr], those numbers went up significantly -- I'd
say over 1200. That number even went up higher in the m of May, to
about 1500, and continues to increase."

US defends using napalm-like firebombs
Washington (AFP).  US forces used napalm-like MK-77 firebombs against
Iraqi forces in their drive toward Baghdad last spring, a Pentagon
official confirmed today, defending their use as legal and necessary.
US Marine Corps jets dropped the firebombs at least once in March to
take out Iraqi positions at the town of Safwan just across the Kuwait
border from the US-led invasion force, the official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
"It is like this: you've got [an] enemy that's hard to get at. And it
will save your own lives to use it, and there is no internat'l
contraventions against it," the official said.
"I don't know that there is any humane way to kill your enemy."
Marines used the napalm-like bombs on at least 2 other occasions
during the drive to Baghdad -- against Iraqis defending a bridge
across the Saddam Canal and nr a Tigris river bridge N of the town of
Numaniyah in S C Iraq, the San Diego Tribune reported this wk.
"We napalmed both those [bridge] approaches," Col Randolph Alles, the
cmdr of Marine Air Group 11, was quoted as telling the newspaper.
"Unfortunately, there were people there because you could see them in
the [cockpit] video.
"They were Iraqi soldiers there. It's no great way to die."
The MK-77 are filled with a different mix of incendiary chemicals than
napalm but have the same terrifying effect, a penetrating fire that
seeps into dug-in infantry positions.
"The generals love napalm," Alles was quoted as saying.
"It has a big psychological effect."
The US military destroyed its stock of napalm bombs in 2001 because
they were deemed an environmental hazard.

Powell: US will not be defeated in terror war
Washington (US State Dept Press Release).  The US is determined to
unite the civilised world in a campaign to rid the world of terrorism
and will not be deterred or defeated in this effort, Sec of
State Colin Powell said Aug 7 in a question and answer session with
journalists at the State Dept's Foreign Press Center in Washington,
and via satellite at the NY and LA centers.
"We're seeing our friends around the world understand the seriousness
of this issue," Powell said.
He pointed to arrests in Saudi Arabia of suspected terrorists and the
uncovering of caches of munitions there, and similar actions in other
countries.
Despite continuing acts of terrorism like the one earlier in the day
at the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad and the day before at the Marriott
Hotel in Jakarta, Powell said a lot of progress is being made in the
war against terror.
"[T]he terrorists need to know that we will not be deterred. We will
certainly not be defeated. And we are ever more determined to go after
them wherever they are, until this scourge is dealt with," he said.
Powell condemned the bombing of the Jordanian Embassy. He said he
telephoned Jordanian For Min Marwan Muasher to convey US regret over
the injuries to Jordanian Embassy staff members, and the deaths of
Iraqi police officers and others at the scene.
Powell said that over time coalition forces will be able to deal with
Baath party holdouts and others who he said are trying to deny Iraqis
peace and a better life.
"As time goes by, they will learn more and more and more about the
nature of the threat that's out there, who's responsible for these
attacks," he said. "And slowly but surely, they will isolate them, get
them, and bring the security situation under control."
Powell predicted that Saddam Hussein will be located "in due course,"
though he cautioned that this in itself, like the deaths of his sons
in Jul, would not solve the security situation.
Powell said "the removal of a despot from office in Baghdad" and "the
ascension of PM Abbas to prime ministership of the Palestinian
Authority" has created "a new strategic situation" in the Middle E.
These events, he said, "allowed us to get started on the road map" for
peace -- sponsored by the US, Russia, the EU, and the UN.
"We have seen some progress since the summits at Sharm el-Sheikh and
Aqaba," he said, "but we need to see a lot more."
Powell urged "a concerted effort on the part of the Palestinian
Authority to go after those organisations within the Palestinian
community that have the capacity of conducting terrorist acts --
organisations such as Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad."
"We can't have a situation where during a time of a cease-fire, those
organisations are improving their capability, testing new weapons, or
creating new factories in order to build more weapons," he said. "So,
we're looking for a concerted effort on the part of the Palestinian
security officials to go after the infrastructure, the terrorist
infrastructure that exists within the Palestinian community."
Regarding the responsibility of the Israelis, Powell said the US
is in conversations with Israeli officials about prisoner
releases, about the nature of their settlement activity.
"[W]e want to see settlement activity ended," he said, and "there is a
discussion ongoing with the Israelis about the fence that is being put
up, and in certain places the fence is actually a wall. We have
concerns about that fence. We have problems with it. We have expressed
our concerns to the Israelis, and the Israelis are considering the
problems that we have identified to them, and we expect that dialogue
to continue until we can find a solution."
On the question of US loan guarantees to Israel, Powell said the US
has not made any decisions or announcements about this yet. "But we
have to be faithful to the congressional direction that we had with
respect to how to use these loan guarantee monies," he said.
On relations between Pres Bush and Russian Pres Vladimir Putin, Powell
said the 2 "have worked very closely together over the last 2 y, have
become good friends and talk about a wide range of bilateral issues
and internat'l issues. And even when there is disagreement, such as
there was over Iraq, we recognise that the broader relationship is
such that we can work our way through these disagreements without
seeing a relationship go off track."
On N Korea, Powell said "there should be ways to capture assurances to
the N Koreans from not only the US but, we believe, from other parties
in the region that there is no hostile intent among the parties who
might be participating" in a multilateral discussion with N Korea.
"[W]hen one comes up with such a document or such a written assurance,
there are ways that Congress can take note of it" through a resolution
of some kind, he said, "without it being a treaty or some kind of pact."
On Liberia, Powell said the Bush Admin expects Liberian Pres
Charles Taylor to leave the country. "If Mr Taylor leaves Liberia, as
we expect him to do in the very nr future, and is given asylum in
Nigeria, this does not remove the indictment" against him by the UN
tribunal for Sierra Leone, Powell said. "It then becomes a matter
between Mr Taylor" and the tribunal, Powell said. "And we support the
indictment. He certainly has allegations against him which I think
clearly warrant him appearing before that tribunal."
On the situation in Venezuela, Powell said "We are pleased that a
mechanism was found where the govt, under Pres Chavez, and the opp'n
could have this referendum to allow the people of Venezuela to speak
and to be heard with respect to the nature of their govt.
"We support democracy in Venezuela, we support the constitutional
process in Venezuela, and we have found a constitutional way to deal
with the conflict, the disagreement between the govt and the
opp'n. And it is up to the people of Venezuela to determine how they
will be governed. And as long as it is done in a free, open,
democratic and constitutional way, the US will be supportive."
On US relations with Africa, Powell said Pres Bush returned from his
recent visit to Africa "deeply impressed and moved" by the vitality
and promise he saw in Africa, "and also, moved by the challenges he saw."
"And so, he came back from Africa reassured that the approach that he
has taken to Africa since the beginning of this Admin is the
correct approach: engage, be visible, have real programs and make sure
that our policy is one that is based on real substance and not just style."

US to hold secret nuke talks, mull resumption of nuke tests
Washington (Kyodo News).  The US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) will
hold a secret meeting Thu in Nebraska gathering snr govt and
military officials to discuss a new US policy on nuclear weapons,
including the possible resumption of nuclear weapons tests, several US
Congress sources said Tue.  The move has sparked renewed concerns from
domestic and internat'l groups calling for arms control who fear the
meeting may pave the way for the US to move toward resuming its
suspended nuclear weapons tests.

US developing mini-nukes: timing odd for nuclear meeting
Omaha.  If our standing in the world community is already a little
shaky, won't the timing of today's nuclear-weaponry meeting at Offutt
Air Force Base strike many as arrogant?
It's at least curious. Of all times, the govt chose the anniversary wk
of the atomic bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Aug 6 and 9) for a
high-level meeting to re-examine the nation's nuclear arsenal.
Was this wk chosen to commemorate and celebrate the atomic blasts on
Japan? Was it picked to rub it in the faces of anti-nuclear peace
activists? Or did the schedulers not even notice the coincidence of
dates?  More than 100 scientists, govt officials and others are
converging on Omaha for a hugely important meeting that received
little attention until recently.
Some say "re-examining" the arsenal means solidifying the Bush
Admin's plans for acquiring a new generation of nuclear arms
-- smaller, bunker-buster, mini-nuke types.
We won World War II. We won the Cold War. But now it appears we are
entering the 2nd nuclear age.
Yes, it's a different world. It's no longer just the US vs. the Soviet
Union, in which the doctrine of mutually assured destruction served as
a deterrent to nuclear war.
It's a post-9/11 world of terrorists and of rogue nations, many of
which ask why they can't develop nuclear weapons. In the 2nd nuclear
age, perhaps we need a new kind of deterrence?
"How much deterrence do you need?" asks longtime Omaha peace activist
Joyce Glenn, noting that we have 1000s of nuclear warheads.
Glenn, 52, pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, grew up
in a family of 8. She has participated in peaceful protests at
Offutt for more than 20 y.
In 1988, she served 4-and-1/2 m in prison for crossing the line at Offutt
after being barred. She said the security guards have always been
polite and understanding, "very willing to work to make sure no
violence happens."
Most military people are not warmongers. The motto of the old
Strategic Air Command was "Peace is our profession."
SAC, headquartered at Offutt, deserves great credit for its service
during the Cold War. In a reorganisation, it was replaced by the US
Strategic Command, or StratCom, which oversees the nation's nuclear weapons.
During the Cold War, we always thought that Omaha and SAC were prime
targets for Soviet nuclear attack. The command post remains crucial --
Pres Bush flew there after the Sep 11 attacks.
Today's meeting at Offutt, too, is crucial.
The final cmdr of SAC, Gen Lee Butler, in retirement became an
ardent anti-nuclear activist. He set up a foundation to fund
anti-nuclear activity.
But after Pres Bush and Pres Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation
signed the Treaty of Moscow, promising to greatly reduce nuclear
stockpiles, Butler shut down his foundation -- saying his work was
essentially over.
It was always hard, Butler said, for people to imagine 10,000 nuclear
weapons. But after 9/11, they could imagine something more real -- one
nuclear weapon.
The result, he predicted, would be a rebuilding of our intel agencies
and a commitment to work with other countries.
Anti-nuclear protesters will hold vigils at Offutt and pray. No matter
how we stand on the frightening thought of nuclear proliferation, we
should pray that the folks meeting at StratCom act with wisdom.
And pray that humanity won't again have to detonate even one nuclear weapon.

NK to hold secret nuke tests
Pyongyang (Hiko News).  The NK Strategic Command will hold a secret
meeting Thu in room 235b of Building Block C in the Yongbong nuclear
facility gathering snr govt and military officials to discuss a new
NK policy on nuclear weapons, including the possible commencement of
nuclear weapons tests, several NK Diplomats secretly whispered to
American congress officials in the back room of disarmament talks held
by China on Tue.  The move has sparked renewed concerns from domestic
and internat'l groups calling for arms control who fear the meeting
may pave the way for N Korea to start bombing the living crap out of
everyone and everything in range of their V-2 based missiles,
including themselves.

Hiroshima laments nuclear trend on anniversary
Hiroshima (Reuters). Hiroshima marked the anniversary of the world's
1st atomic bombing Wed with condemnation of a global trend toward
nuclear proliferation and an invitation to N Korean leader Kim Jong-il
to visit the Japanese city destroyed in a nuclear inferno 58 y ago.
In an annual ritual of remembrance for the more than 230,000 people
who ultimately died from the blast, a crowd of 1000s including
survivors, children and dignitaries gathered to pray at Hiroshima's
Peace Park, close to where the bomb was dropped.
The ceremony comes just days after N Korea agreed to talks on its
secret nuclear program, following m of tension that erupted last Oct
and saw the secretive communist state pull out of a key
non-proliferation treaty in Jan.
"The world without nuclear weapons and beyond war that bomb survivors
have sought for so long appears to be slipping under a thick cover of
dark clouds that they fear at any minute could become mushroom
clouds," Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba told the crowd.
At 8.15 am, the exact time the bomb exploded on Aug 6, 1945, the
crowd stood and bowed their heads as the Peace Bell tolled and doves
were released.
Cicadas shrilled in heavy summer heat, said to be like that of the day
the bomb was dropped, and people made offerings of folded paper cranes
and chrysanthemums as fragrant clouds of incense smoke rose.  The US
dropped a 2nd atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki on Aug 9. Japan
surrendered 6 days later.
Akiba criticised what he called a sharp world tilt toward war and a
serious weakening of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which he
described as being on the "verge of collapse."
"As the US-UK led war on Iraq made clear, the assertion that war is
peace is now being trumpeted as truth," he said.
And his harshest words were for the US.  "The chief cause [of the
weaker treaty] is the US nuclear policy that, by openly declaring the
possibility of a pre-emptive nuclear first strike and calling for
resumed research into mini-nukes and other so-called 'usable nuclear
weapons', appears to worship nuclear weapons as God."
Akiba called on Pres Bush and the leaders of all nuclear-weapons
states, along with Kim Jong-il, to visit Hiroshima and face the
reality of what nuclear weapons can do. Prime Min Junichiro Koizumi
pledged to uphold Japan's pacifist constitution and non-nuclear stance.
"We will work for nuclear arms reduction with all our strength," he
told the crowd.
But Hiroshima survivors, whose average age is now over 71, worry that
fading memories of the blast will lead Japan toward an increasing
military role, particularly as it moves to support its key ally, the US.
Just last m, Japan enacted a controversial law to send troops abroad
to help rebuild Iraq in what would be its largest post-war military dispatch.
"The whole world is moving away from peace," lamented Sunao Tsuboi,
who was a 20-yo university student when the bomb was dropped.
"Even in Japan, there seems to be a growing sense that in some cases,
there may be no way to avoid war."
In addition, some feel that growing worries over neighbouring N Korea
could push Japan toward eventually having its own nuclear weapons.
"It would be really bad if N Korea had nuclear weapons," said 15-yo
Hiroaki Ishida, a Hiroshima student. "We must avoid war."
But with the Hiroshima bombing nearly 6 decades in the past,
indifference appears to be growing among many Japanese.
"I don't know war or the bomb," said 55-yo Kazuo Morimoto, from the
central Japanese prefecture of Gifu. "Yes, I can think 'how terrible,'
but how much impact does it really have on peoples' lives today?"
Morimoto, who is unemployed, said the majority of Japanese have more
pressing things to worry about these days.
"The chances of N Korea launching an atomic weapon at us are probably
one in ten thousand. But being able to earn a living tomorrow is a
much bigger question."

US acts on missile threat
Washington (Reuters).  The US has sent teams of aviation security
officials to cities in Europe, Asia and Iraq to advise on securing
airports against terrorists using shoulder-fired missiles.
US intel agencies have warned that they have info suggesting an
imminent attack by terrorists using shoulder-launched heat-seeking
missiles to shoot down passenger planes.
Portable missiles can reach altitudes higher than 5,000 metres, making
airliners vulnerable up to 50 km from take-off.
Dept of Homeland Security rep Brian Roehrkasse has confirmed US
experts have been sent to help improve security in Basra and Baghdad
in Iraq, as well as in a number of Asian and European airports, which
he declined to specify.
Today's NY Times listed Baghdad and Basra along with Istanbul, Athens
and Manila among the inspections.
Earlier this y a congressional report found the stockpile of portable
surface-to-air missiles numbered between 500,000 and 700,000 across
the globe.
"We are going to countries that want to work with us," Mr Roehrkasse
said.  "They are airports that have US-flagged aircraft flying in and
out of them."
Efforts to improve defences against portable missile attacks are
already underway at US airports, Mr Roehrkasse says.
The US has drastically tightened security at domestic airports since
the Sep 11 attacks in 2001.
Mr Roehrkasse says that while "the US intel community does not have
any specific intel that Al Qaeda intends to use shoulder-launched
missiles for a major attack against US commercial aviation", officials
feel concerned there is a growing possibility of an attack.
The best-known portable missiles are the American-made Stinger and the
Russian-made SA-7. The Stinger was once widely used by Afghan groups
close to Al Qaeda.
Officials began to focus on the threat from shoulder-mounted missiles
last Nov, when unknown assailants narrowly missed an Israeli charter
flight taking off from Mombasa, Kenya.
In May, another missile missed a US military jet taking off from
Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda is suspected in both attacks.
In Iraq last m, a US C-130 military transport plane came under fire
from a surface-to-air missile as it landed at Baghdad's airport.
That attack came as US forces noted an increase in the
"sophistication" of guerrilla strikes in Iraq, where dozens of US
troops have been killed since May 1, when US Pres Bush Jr
declared the end of major combat operations.
US lawmaker John Mica, chairman of the House of Representatives'
Aviation Subcommittee, which issued a report on the availability of
the missiles, has introduced legislation calling for outfitting all of
the nearly 7,000 US commercial aircraft with anti-missile
technology. The move would cost up to $2 mn per plane.
Mr Mica advocates fitting aircraft with decoy flares, infra-red
jamming devices, or high-powered lasers -- all of which could deter an
incoming missile.
A rep for the Florida lawmaker said that while Mr Mica welcomed US
moves to improve security at foreign airports where American aircraft
are likely to land, he is still convinced of the need to equip planes
with their own defences.
Peter DeFazio, a Democrat from Oregon who worked with Mr Mica on the
legislation, has welcomed the latest security measures but says he is
also convinced that commercial airliners must have their own defence systems.
"I'm pushing for some technology -- that's what I'd like to see," said
Mr DeFazio, adding that increasing security around airports can be
"very difficult".
"You're going by heavily populated areas," he said. "There are
multiple hiding places for folks ... you're never going to be able to
get 100% assurance of security that you're going to be able to
prevent the launch of one of these things."

Sudden US pullout to harm Iraq
Baghdad. One out of every 4 Americans wants US forces to withdraw from
Iraq now, according to a Gallup poll. Some worry over the mounting
rate of casualties.
Others sense they were duped over the need for war. Some are
traditional isolationists who want no American part in foreign
affairs. Others oppose the Bush Admin's new imperialism with
its doctrine of pre-emptive military strikes and its contempt for
other nations' opinions -- the 2 vices which led to the attack on Iraq.
Whatever their motives, American calls for "US troops out" raise the
same questions that rack the minds of Iraqis as they enter the fourth
m of the occupation. What would happen if the Americans indeed pulled
out abruptly? Would there be a security "vacuum" and who would fill it?
The return of Saddam Hussein and his regime -- which US officials cite
as a serious possibility -- is one of the less likely scenarios. It
would clearly be a massive propaganda blow to Bush and his
neo-conservatives, dooming him to defeat in next y's election. But the
chances are remote.
The old regime has been smashed for ever.
A handful of its loyalists and security apparatchiks have gone
underground and are part (but only one part) of the groups who are
mounting armed attacks on US forces. Most former Baathists are busy
trying to repair their lives, looking for safety from revenge-seekers,
rewriting their CVs and breathing sighs of relief that the dictator
who perverted the Baath party is out of power at last.
Iraq's collapse into civil war on ethnic or religious lines is also
improbable on present form. Some "ethnic cleansing" took place in and
around Kirkuk and Mosul in the 1st post-war wks as Kurds moved to
reverse Saddam's Arabisation campaigns. US forces helped to stop it by
imposing a freeze on all evictions until a property claims commission
could adjudicate them. Would a US troop withdrawal prompt the
evictions to resume again?
Not necessarily. Kurdish political leaders had no hesitation in
joining the US-appointed "governing council" for Iraq and still have
faith that they can draw up a new Iraqi constitution that would give
them regional autonomy as well as a significant say in central
politics. As long as they feel their dual demands can be met, they
have a strong motive to press their constituents not to resort to
ethnic violence. At the local level, Kirkuk and Mosul now have
councils with Kurdish and Arab (as well as other minority)
representation. This is also a strong factor in favour of stability.
The risk of Shia/Sunni violence is also low. Iraq's modern history
does not contain major cases of it. Saddam's mass killing of Shia
after their 1991 uprising was ordered from the top and performed by
the security forces. It had little resonance among ordinary Sunnis, in
contrast to the way that religiously or ethnically based hatreds have been
aroused and manipulated by politicians in the Balkans, Ireland and S Asia.
Like their Kurdish counterparts, Shia leaders still give top priority
to a new constitution that will outlaw discrimination on ethnic and
religious lines for the 1st time. As Iraq's majority community, they
have an even greater stake in creating a fed state, and see no reason
at this stage to contemplate armed action.
Of course, policies of violence cannot be totally discounted in a
country traditionally awash with guns. The Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq can still call on the Badr brigade, the
armed Shia guerrilla force which it built up during exile in Iran.
Muqtada al-Sadr, the fiery young fundamentalist from Najaf, is forming
an "army" of devotees.
Their activities hint at what could be the main danger in a post-US
Iraq -- the threat of regional fragmentation and warlordism under the
umbrella of a nominally unified state. Rather than sliding into civil
war over who controls Baghdad, power in Iraq might slip into the hands
of local religious leaders or Afghanistan-style warlords linked to, or
tolerant of, mafia and other crime.
Iraq's tribal traditions proved remarkably resilient in the face of
Saddam's initial drive for secular modernisation. Later the dictator
sought to encourage and coopt them. So the foundations for tribally
based warlordism are still strong, as became clear in the aftermath of
the old regime's retreat in Apr when several tribal leaders sought to
seize power in their own regions by force.
None of this means the US should claim the right to stay in Iraq. It
does, however, point to the need to pull out carefully and responsibly.
Precipitate and disorderly withdrawal is a sorry part of the legacy of
colonialism in Palestine, India, Congo and elsewhere. This is why many
Iraqis say they want the US to stay at least until it repairs the
country's infrastructure.
They believe a sudden retreat, just to save the lives of
guerrilla-threatened American troops, would be too easy a cop-out and
another example of Washington's failure to consult Iraqis. Having
damaged their livelihoods through a decade of sanctions and 3 wk of
ferocious war, the US must clean up the mess before it leaves, they argue.
The key point is to give a clear calendar for the US and its Brit
allies to go, preferably before the date of independence, but
certainly no later. This would reassure Iraqis that the restoration of
their sovereignty is imminent and guaranteed. By the same token, the
US must abandon its efforts to pre-empt strategic decisions, sign
leases on the long-term use of military bases, or award contracts in
the oil sector or in privatising the economy before an independent
Iraqi govt is in place.
In the interim it should heed the call from many Iraqis for foreign
troops to pull out of the cities and give way to a reformed police
force. This would remove the visibility of the occupation, reduce the
danger of trigger-happy patrolling and significantly cut the number of
attacks, most of which seem to be prompted by people who want to
avenge the deaths of relatives at the hands of US troops or feel
humiliated by foreign soldiers.
It is not too late for the UN to be given overall control over the
transition to independence, as France, India, Russia and others have
suggested. This would make it possible for UN peacekeepers to come
in. The notion of US and Brit troops remaining in Iraq after an
independent Iraqi govt takes power in elections next y is absurd.
A govt that hosts invaders cannot be independent. But a govt can
retain UN- authorised peacekeepers for a period of several y without
forfeiting its sovereignty, as for example Cyprus has done. If Iraqis
want protection from potential instability when the US departs, the UN
is the place to turn.-Dawn/The Guardian News Service.

Russia calls for new UN resolution on Iraq
Moscow (AFP).  Russia repeated its calls for a new UN Sec Council
resolution on Iraq Thu, saying such a step would legitimise the
US-installed temporary govt there.
For Min Igor Ivanov said in an official statement that Russia -- which
has veto power within the UN council -- "would be able to recognise
the temporary leadership of Iraq" if a new resolution were drafted.
His comments came as Russia and the US wrapped up 2 days of high-level
consultations on the Middle E, which included Iraq and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But top US Middle E diplomat William Burns, who flew into Moscow ahead
of a key regional tour, sidestepped the issue of a new resolution at a
press conference Thu at the end of his visit.
"We are continuing to take a careful look at how we can work together
in the Sec Council to build on" previous UN resolutions on Iraq, said
Burns, an assistant secretary of state for Near E affairs. Russian
Deputy For Min Yury Fedotov, who appeared alongside Burns, said: "We
have a lot of room for mutual understanding on these issues."
"We exchanged concrete proposals on this count and we have agreed to
continue consulations," Fedotov said. Ivanov's statement said the new
UN resolution must also set "precise dates for agreeing a new
constitution and holding democratic elections" in Iraq.
The statement hinted that Russia, which opposed the US-led war to
topple Saddam Hussein, could be edging toward approval of Washington's
postwar efforts in the country.
A centrepiece of these efforts is the 25-member interim Governing
Council, which was appointed on Jul 13 and was hailed as the
country's 1st step towards democracy.
But after it took 2 wk to appoint its 1st president and after 3 wk
with no cabinet, the body has often given the impression of straining
to reach a compromise among the country's fractious Kurdish,
Christian, Turkmen, Sunni and Shiite Muslim constituencies.
"We both have an interest... in supporting the governing council which
is a very important step forward in trying to build on the very
political process that has begun," Burns said in Moscow.
"The establishment of an interim council in Iraq is an important step
forward," Fedotov said. "The settlement of the situation in Iraq and
the creation of a genuine sovereign govt in Iraq will stable the sit
in the entire region."
Burns's comments also indicated that the 2 sides were discussing the
role Russia and its companies would play in the lucrative
reconstruction of the war-battered country.
"We had an opportunity to talk about the reconstruction in Iraq, a
subject in which Russia and Russian companies have a very keen
interest and we look forward to continuing those conversations in the
future," Burns said.
Russian companies had signed $bns worth of contracts with Saddam's
govt and Kremlin has consistently called for those contracts to be
honoured. Iraq also owes Russia an estimated $8 bn of Soviet-era debt.
Moscow opposed the Iraqi campaign from the start and regarded Saddam
Hussein as a guarantor of Russia's massive oil investments in Iraq
even though relations with him had long turned frosty.

W Nile Virus cases triple in 1 wk
Atlanta (AP).  The number of W Nile virus cases has tripled to at
least 164 since last wk and will likely break last y's record, a top
fed health official said Thu in the latest warning about the rapid
advance of the mosquito-borne disease.
"The numbers are starting to change very, very quickly," said Dr
Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention . "That is very concerning."
State health officials report 7 people -- all of them elderly -- have
died from the virus. Four of the deaths were reported in Colorado, the
hardest-hit state.
Health officials had expected the disease to spread this y to all
corners of the country, invading W states previously unscathed. But
they appeared somewhat surprised at its speed.
"It indicates we are starting the epidemic with more cases than last
year," Gerberding said. She warned of "a great number of infected people."
Nationwide, the CDC said at least 164 people in 16 states are infected,
compared with 59 a wk ago. The latest figures do not include new cases
reported by Colorado health officials, which the CDC had not verified.
Last y, 4,156 people caught the virus, and 284 died. There were 112
cases in 4 states at this point in 2002, when the US
suffered the biggest reported outbreak of W Nile encephalitis in the world.
W Nile virus rarely kills, but about 1 in 150 people who get it will
develop its potentially deadly encephalitis or meningitis. Most often,
it affects the elderly. Of its 7 victims this y, the youngest was 68.
Why 4 of those occurred in Colorado, which reported 154 cases Thu, is
somewhat a mystery. Some experts blame the outbreak on a wet Jun and
very hot Jul, which they say provided the perfect summer for mosquitoes.
"I can't predict what will happen in Colorado, nor can I completely
explain why it is happening," Gerberding said.
Colorado differs from others because it reports all confirmed cases,
including mild cases that some states do not report, said state
epidemiologist John Pape. The CDC has only confirmed 72 Colorado cases.
Last y, that state had about a dozen cases. Four states -- Arizona,
Utah, Nevada and Oregon -- had no signs of the disease in man or animal.
"If it can increase that dramatically in Colorado, it has the
potential to do so in Arizona," said Craig Levy of the Arizona Dept of
Health Services. "That certainly makes us very nervous."
Until Colorado's 1st death a wk ago, the virus had never killed anyone
W of the Great Plains states.
The CDC is urging people in the 16 states where the virus has appeared
to use mosquito repellent, cover arms and legs with clothing and avoid
early morning and evening hrs when mosquitoes are most active.
Those states are Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, N Dakota,
Ohio, S Carolina, S Dakota and Texas.
Since W Nile 1st entered this country through NY in 1999, health
officials have tried everything -- mosquito spraying and other control
efforts, prevention messages and disease detection systems.
But there's no way to prevent the virus from spreading and there's no
way to predict which areas it will strike hardest, said Dr Sue
Montgomery of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last y, Louisiana had more than 300 cases and 25 deaths from the
virus. They did "everything ... according to the book and we had a
large epidemic," recalls Dr Raoult Ratard, state epidemiologist for
the Louisiana Dept of Health and Hospitals.
"It's like a viral hurricane."
Most people who are infected with the virus won't get sick. The CDC
says about a fifth of those will develop a fever, headache, body aches
and sometimes a rash and swollen lymph glands.
Symptoms for W Nile encephalitis or meningitis include headache, high
fever, neck stiffness, disorientation and sometimes paralysis.

Politicians split on Amrozi's death penalty
Canberra (AFP).  The sentencing of convicted Bali bomber Amrozi to
death by firing squad has sparked debate on the death penalty.  A
panel of 5 judges found Amrozi guilty of terrorism for his role in the
killing of more than 200 people, including 88 Aussies, in last Oct's
nightclub bomb attacks.  PM John Howard says urging Indonesia to spare
the death sentence on Amrozi would send the wrong signal in the
internat'l fight against terrorism.  "It would be sending a very
distracting signal if the focus of public debate were now to be an
exchange of communication between the AUS Govt and the Indonesian Govt
about the nature of the penalty to be imposed on the person in part or
not in part, along with others, responsible for the murder of 88 of
our citizens," he said.  "I think the public would scratch its head
and the internat'l community would say: 'Gee, what's all this about? I
thought they were meant to be working together to fight terrorism'."
Mr Howard says he does not feel any sense of jubilation over the death
sentence for Amrozi, but he can understand why others have been
celebrating.  "These people lost their kids," he said.  "I remember
the people, I remember how they felt and I just try and put myself in
their situation."  Mr Howard says he does not believe the death
sentence against convicted Amrozi will make him a martyr, and Labor
front-bencher Mark Latham agrees.  "If that evil little bastard thinks
that he's going to some paradise in the sky after he's put to death,
then it just confirms to me that he's even sillier than he looks," Mr
Latham said.  However, other Labor Party members hold a different
view.  Labor backbencher Duncan Kerr says there should no exceptions
to AUS's opp'n to the death penalty.  Fed Opp'n leader Simon Crean
says while he disagrees with the death penalty, he will not be
objecting to the Indonesian court's decision to sentence Amrozi to
death.  Mr Crean denies that amounts to a double standard.  "I'm not a
supporter of capital punishment as you know, but the fact is he
committed a crime on Indonesian soil and he faced justice under the
Indonesian judicial system," he said.  "I'm not quibbling with their
decision."  SA Prem Mike Rann also disagrees with the death penalty
handed to Amrozi but not because he thinks it is harsh.  "As far as
I'm concerned, I'd rather see Amrozi rot in an Indonesian jail for the
rest of his life," he said.  "I think the death penalty is too good
for him."  'Rise above emotions' The AUS Democrats believe AUS's major
political parties should make their opp'n to the death penalty clear,
even in the case of Amrozi.  Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett says if
AUS govts oppose the death penalty in AUS then it is important to
stick to that principle where other countries are concerned.  He says
AUS should make an unequivocal statement that it opposes the death
penalty in any circumstances.  "I have no doubt that if it was my
daughter that had been subjected to this I would feel the same," he
said.  "I'd want to get revenge and punishment and I'd probably want
to carry it out myself personally.  "But I'm not judge and jury and
I'm simply saying as leaders we need to rise above the understandable
emotion of the families affected and stand up and make unequivocal
statements about opp'n to the death penalty."

Claims military involved in Jakarta blast
Jakarta (Reuters).  There are claims this morning Indonesia's armed
forces may have been involved in the explosion that took place at the
Marriott Hotel in Indonesia's capital earlier this wk.  A car bomb
killed 10 people and injured dozens more at the luxury hotel in
Jakarta.  The Indonesian Govt adviser, Jawanda, has told ABC
correspondent Peter Lloyd attempts to blame Muslim extremists for the
latest blast may be premature.  He says such claims may in fact be
covering up a campaign to undermine the Pres, Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Jawanda says Indonesia's naval intel has launched an informal
investigation into the possibility.  "That is already in the
works,"Jawanda said.  "People who want to undermine Megawati?," Lloyd
asked.  "Yes, undermine, but at the same time to make a path for them
taking the power, so creating the political tension," Jawanda responded.

Liberia's Taylor names his successor
Monrovia (AP). Pres Charles Taylor submitted his resignation and named
his vice president to take over the reins of the embattled govt Thu as
throngs cheered the 1st W African peacekeepers to enter the besieged capital.
Vice Pres Moses Blah said the hand-over is planned for Mon, but rebel
leaders warned they will not accept any ally of Taylor holding power
as Liberia tries to find a way out 14 y of bloodshed.
Outside Monrovia, peacekeepers reportedly seized a new weapons
shipment from Libya that apparently was destined for govt forces in
violation of a UN arms embargo.
Rebels and govt troops are fighting in several parts of the country,
and a 2-m battle over Monrovia has killed 100s of civilians and left
the 1.3 mn people crowded into the divided city short of food and water.
People poured into the streets when more than 100 Nigerian soldiers in
the peacekeeping mission drove into the capital. "We want peace!  No
more war!" the crowds chanted. The peacekeepers blew kisses and waved
white handkerchiefs.
Nigerian Lt Col Amos Nudamajo would not say when the force would begin
regular patrols of the city, saying only that would happen "at the
appropriate time."
The force's 1st foray into Monrovia came as Congress formally endorsed
Taylor's letter of resignation and he designated the 56-yo Blah to
succeed him.
Blah told The Associated Press he received a telephone call Thu
morning from Taylor who said he would be sworn in as president Mon.
"He congratulated me, and he said he is hoping I will cope with the
situation on the ground," Blah said. "A lot of people are suffering."
Despite a fearsome reputation as a former guerrilla general, Blah is a
quiet, unassuming man who drives himself around Monrovia in a Jeep
while other officials travel in flashy motorcades. He was trained as a
mechanic and has travelled extensively.
Taylor indicated he would go into exile "very shortly," said Blah, who
was a feared Taylor ally in the 1988-96 civil war that killed 100,000
people and put Taylor in power over a nation left in ruins.
However, Taylor has repeatedly hedged on when he will take up an offer
of asylum in Nigeria.
But Thu night he told CNN: "I can assure you that I will be here not
one minute longer than necessary," he refused to say when he would
leave Liberia. "I will be stepping down on Mon."
His govt said that would happen only after enough foreign peacekeepers
were on the ground -- and if a war crimes indictment was dropped. A
UN-backed court alleges Taylor supported a brutal rebel group in
neighbouring Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war.
"Nigeria has chosen to ignore that court, and I will be going to
Nigeria," Taylor said in the CNN interview. "They've all seen the
political nature of this ... they see no reason why I should be
harassed. I will go to Nigeria, God willing."
In Washington, Sec of State Colin Powell said Taylor would not
get out of the war crimes charges.
"If Mr Taylor leaves Liberia, as we expect him to do in the very near
future, and is given asylum in Nigeria, this does not remove the
indictment in any way," Powell said.
Rebel leaders reached by phone at the scene of off-and-on peace talks
in Ghana said the rebels would observe an often-violated Jun 17
cease-fire pact for Monrovia, but insisted they would not accept
Taylor's allies holding power.
Kabineh Ja'neh, a leader of the rebel group besieging Monrovia, said
his men "will not recognise Mr Blah or any other chosen
representative of Mr Taylor's criminal empire."
Ja'neh said negotiations for a comprehensive peace accord leading to a
transitional govt were continuing in Ghana's capital, Accra.
At the airport 50 km from Monrovia, peacekeepers intercepted a
plane carrying an arms shipment that landed overnight in defiance of a
UN arms embargo, according to airport workers, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
W African officers confirmed only that a Boeing 707 arrived from Libya
and that its cargo was seized. Nigerian soldiers were seen guarding 2
navy blue shipping containers -- one empty, the other locked.
Taylor's defence minister, Daniel Chea, denied the cargo of "military
equipment" arrived by plane. He said it was part of the govt's
movement of supplies to the SE city of Buchanan and the N town of
Gbarnga, where fighting persists between govt and rebel forces.
Taylor received guerrilla training in Libya before starting the
uprising in 1988 that eventually put him in power.
The Nigerian peacekeepers arrived in Monrovia aboard white armoured
personnel carriers, trucks and sport utility vehicles, travelling from
their base at the airport.
"Oga, welcome!" some people yelled, using the word for "big man" in
the Nigerian language of Yoruba.
"I'm going with them," shouted Prince Phillip, a young man running
alongside the convoy. "We need to eat. We're tired of this war."
During a pause in the peacekeepers' drive, a man handed his baby boy
to a Nigerian soldier sitting on an armoured vehicle. The soldier held
up the toddler briefly and waved at the delighted crowd.
The peacekeepers drove through the govt-held downtown and past the
presidential mansion where Taylor's troops hurriedly dismantled
roadblocks to allow the convoy to pass. The Nigerians made no attempt
to enter the city's rebel-held island port.
Despite the celebrations, Monrovia remained on edge after more than 2
wks of mortar barrages and gun-battles.
After the convoy passed, the sudden chatter of machine guns sent
people running for cover. It was not clear whether Taylor loyalists
were celebrating the peacekeepers' arrival or trying to disperse the crowd.
Hoping to quell the fighting, W African leaders have promised to build
up a 3,250-soldier peace force that will eventually be replaced by a
broader UN force.
The US has faced mounting internat'l pressure to take the lead in
helping to restore peace in Liberia -- a nation founded by freed
American slaves in the 19th century. But Washington has insisted that
American involvement will be limited to helping with getting food and
other supplies in.

Honiara. KEKE SAYS HOSTAGES ALL DEAD!  Notorious Solomons rebel leader
Harold Keke has agreed to hand in his weapons to the AUS-led
intervention force.  But he told intervention force chief Nick Warner
that 6 hostages he'd been holding are now all dead.  Warner had flown
to the troubled Weathercoast region on the remote side of the main
Solomons Is, Guadalcanal, to meet personally with the colourful Keke.
During the 2-hr meeting held in the local church, the 2 agreed that
Keke's rebels will surrender their guns within 1 wk.
[Apparently the 6 were Anglican brothers from PNG who'd come to the
Solomons looking for a missing group taken hostage previously. They
were taken hsotage themselves, and now have been killed. The
circumstancs of the deaths is not clear still not clear].

Association told ADF to drop misconduct charges against soldier
Canberra.  The SAS Association has been told the AUS Defence Force
(ADF) will not proceed with the prosecution of a trooper facing
charges of misconduct during peacekeeping operations in E Timor in
1999.  The soldier, who cannot be identified, was to face trial on
allegations he kicked the corpses of Timorese militiamen killed in a
firefight during an ambush.  The charges flowed from an almost 4 y
investigation, costing $3 mn, into allegations of improper conduct
against members of the AUS peacekeeping force.  SAS Association rep
Bart Mavrick says the military has wrongly pursued a case that never
had any merit.  "I think their investigation in the 1st place was very
poor and I think their allegations were unsubstantiated right from the
word go," he said.  A rep for the ADF was unavailable to make comment.

Crean accuses Govt of attempting to muzzle ABC
Canberra.  The Fed Opp'n leader, Simon Crean, says a Labor Govt would
recommit to funding an independent ABC after cuts announced this wk.
He has criticised the latest move which will see the axing of the
popular children's current affairs program, Behind the News.  Mr Crean
says, in the meantime, the Opp'n will pressure the Govt for
appropriate funds.  "This is another example of a govt that wants to
cut the ABC, the public broadcaster and muzzle what it says," he said.
"That is not the sort of govt that this country deserves and the Govt
should layoff."

Aussies adopt renewable energy at home
Hobart.  More Aussies are turning to the sun as a source of power.  A
forum of renewable energy experts meeting in Hobart has heard the
market for solar energy has risen 27% in the past y.  Almost 8,000 AUS
homes now use solar power.  The executive director of the AUS Business
Council for Sustainable Energy, Ric Brazzale, says renewable energy is
the way of the future.  "AUS's greenhouse gas emissions have increased
substantially over the past 5 to 10 y and I expect it to increase
substantially out to 2020," he said.  "Electricity is one of the
biggest contributors to that and we really need to do something about
it.  "Renewable energy is one of the more cost-effective ways to not
only reduce electricity consumption but that also reduces greenhouse
gas emissions."

Ettridge puts forward defence case in fraud trial
Brisbane.  A District Court jury in Bris has begun hearing the defence
case in the fraud trial of One Nation founder Pauline Hanson and
former party director David Ettridge.  Hanson and Ettridge have
pleaded not guilty to fraudulently registering the party in 1997.  The
prosecution has alleged the pair acted dishonestly by claiming members
of the Pauline Hanson support movement were also members of the One
Nation political party.  Ettridge, who is representing himself, has
submitted into evidence several financial statements relating to the
party, including details of membership fees.  Ettridge has also called
the party's accountant of 3 y, Ron Target, to give evidence.  Mr
Target told the court he was aware the party and the support movement
were 2 separate entities.  He said he has seen a party membership list
and prepared the party's financial statements on the basis all
documents provided to him were correct.

Lightning sparks new fires in W Canada
Kamloops (Reuters). 100s of lightning strikes kept fire-fighting crews
scrambling in the parched mountains of Brit Columbia on Thu, but
officials reported progress against 3 major blazes already plaguing
the Canadian province.
Thunderstorms have sparked 90 new fires in the past 48 hrs in
south-central Brit Columbia, which has seen some of worst fires in
this W Coast Canadian province this summer.
With wks of little or no rain, the province is suffering its worst
forest fire conditions in decades, and crews have to move quickly to
put out the small fires before they get out of control.
"We're going to be busy, no doubt about it," said Kevin Matuga of the
BC Forest Service.
The biggest fire burning in the Kamloops area, the 17,800 hectare
McLure fire, which has forced as many as 5,000 from their homes,
continued to rage out of control but was spreading into an area of
wilderness that is easier for crews to work in, officials said.
Officials said 577 fires were burning in Brit Columbia on Thu, the
biggest of which covered more than 28,000 hectares in a
relatively un-populated area nr Chilco Lake in the province's interior
Cariboo Region.

Tokyo. TYPHOON HITS JAPAN!  A typhoon packing winds up to 144 kph has
battered mainland Japan, snaring traffic, cutting power, and swelling
rivers.  Media reports say several people have suffered minor
injuries.  Typhoon Etau is skirting the coast of Kyushu, the S-most of
Japan's 4 main islands, and is headed for the neighbouring main island
of Shikoku.  The nation's Met Agency has warned a number of S prefectures 
to brace for impact, with gusts of more than 90 kph expected along
with heavy rains.

It ain't half hot here, mum!
London.  As the N hemisphere fries in an unprecedented and
devastating heatwave, climate experts have warned that man-induced
global warming appears to be accelerating -- and probably at a much
faster rate than previously thought.
Europe's hottest summer in decades, which has seen temperatures rising
to about 5 degrees above average for several ms, has delighted
holidaymakers and ice-cream sellers, but its cost is now being counted
in lives and livelihoods. Scientists say that without changes in how
the Earth is used, current events may well be the shape of things to come.
14 people have died in Portugal's worst ever forest fires, 13 in Spain
from heat exhaustion and, in several countries, consumers face water
shortages and rising food prices as crops, fruit and vegetables shrivel.
Outside of air-conditioned Europe the picture is worse. More than 1500
people have recently died in India as temperatures rose to between 45
and 49 degrees, while the Pakistani floods which followed the recent
drought have left 1000s homeless.
Behind the immediate impacts of the blistering heat are concerns that
long-predicted excesses of global warming -- caused by human and
natural carbon dioxide emissions -- have somehow arrived on Earth 20
to 30 y earlier than expected.
Asher Minns, a rep from the Brit's Tyndall climate research centre,
told the Herald that extreme weather conditions now in force are
"being seen earlier than anybody thought". "They are becoming more
immediate and more frequent. We seem to be getting more and more
unprecedented events."
[Mosley pls note:]
He says if the trends continue, this y is likely to pass 1998 as the
hottest globally in the past 1000 y.
To what extent human activity is solely to blame for the record highs
in normally temperate Switzerland and Norway, deep freezes in N
America or floods in China and Germany, remains a hotly contested
debate within the scientific community. Research by the Brit
Meteorological Office's Hadley Centre has, for instance, indicated
that as the Earth warms far more carbon dioxide is released from the
soil than previously considered.
But a recent report by the UN's Geneva-based World Meteorological
Organisation, a normally conservative voice in the global warming
debate, left no doubt that the extreme weather seen this y will
increasingly become the norm -- and the world's population faces some
very dangerous, expensive and uncomfortable ys.
"New record extreme events occur every y somewhere on the globe, but
in recent y the number of such extremes have been increasing," the
report said. "New analyses of proxy data for the N hemisphere indicate
that the increase in temperature in the 20th century is likely to have
been the largest in any century during the past 1000 years."
The WMO's research director, Ken Davidson, says extreme conditions are
becoming a fact of life for mns of people and that "man-induced
climate change is a big part of it".
"What we need to understand is how much is normal variation in the
climate and how much is man-induced," he says. "We need a few y to
study and observe to be absolutely sure of it."
Using computer models and detailed observation, researchers are also
attempting to fathom an answer to the expected long-term impact of
extreme conditions, painfully aware that even if the world magically
turned off carbon emissions today, the planet would still go on warming.
The UN intergovtal panel of climate change -- the consensus body of
some 2000 climatologists, estimates that world temperatures will rise
by about 5 degrees over the next 100 ys. But if global warming is
accelerating, as events this N summer suggest, then the panel's upper
estimates, a warming of between 7-9 degrees, come into play toward the
end of the century.
Such temperature rises will make the effects of this y's haywire
weather pall by comparison, put mns at risk from starvation and
drought and radically alter our lives.
Simon Brown, the head of climate research at the Hadley Centre, says
the summer's weather should be seen as a "learning event".
"There's no need to panic because the trends are gradual, but it's
probably a good experience in terms of showing people how we need to
adapt in order to cope with things in the future," he says.
At Tyndall, home to some of Brit's leading climate scientists, the
focus is on warning people on the need to adapt everyday life, from
growing different crops and installing solar panels to building more
energy-efficient homes.
But its more radical ideas will cost big money and truly test to what
extent the developed world is prepared help the developing, especially
in countries immediately in the flood line of rising sea levels.
"What we might need is a trillion dollar US fund which goes to helping
southern hemisphere countries adapt to climate change," Minns says.
"Global warming is not about the end of the world as we know it, but
it is about learning to live with and manage global change."

Brussels. EUROPE COOLS OFF!  Cooler temps have brought relief from
Europe's blistering heat wave.  But experts are warning that weather
blamed for deaths, drying rivers, and scorching wild-fires could last
into Sep.  In Belgium, clouds and a light morning rain have kept the
mercury from rising to a record-breaking 40 C, as had been forecast.
Winds shifted to the N over Brit, lowering temps that had been in the
mid-30s down to as low as 22 C at Heathrow Airport.

NSW farmers facing dry summer
Sydney.  NSW has slipped slightly further into drought over the past m.
There are also indicators farmers may face an extremely tough summer
ahead.  Agriculture Min Ian Macdonald has released the drought figures
for Aug which show the areas of the state still in drought have risen
slightly, with around 90% of the state still experiencing drought
conditions.  There was rainfall last m in some parts of the state but
it was not sustained enough to do any good.  Mr Macdonald says dam
levels servicing the bush are at a 24% capacity, which he says is a
worrying scenario for the summer m ahead.  "With having low
capacities, it means the water available for irrigation likely will be
reduced again this y with obvious impacts upon production," he said.
He says the big hope is that spring will bring heavy widespread rains
to ease the plight of farmers.

New EU plan to toughen asylum rules
London (The Guardian).  Failed asylum seekers will be deported by bus,
train, and unmarked police cars, until they are "finally removed" from
the EU under a plan drawn up by European officials.
They would be "escorted" out of the EU in an attempt to "terminate the
illegal residence of 3rd country nat'ls", according to the hitherto
secret proposal. Any "legitimate measure" would be used to prevent
them escaping.
The plan, proposed by the EU's Italian presidency and leaked to the
Guardian, reflects an increasing determination among EU govts to step
up the pace of deportations.
Last m the Italian presidency came up with a radical proposal for the
EU to set an annual quota for the number of asylum seekers accepted in
European countries.
Its new plan is designed partly to overcome the reluctance of one EU
state to accept deportees from another for fear they will simply stay
in that 2nd EU country or claim asylum there.
Failed asylum seekers in this way can be passed from one member
country to another, EU govts argue.
Lack of any agreement on this between member states means that all
deportations have to take place by air or sea.
Under the proposed EU directive, "third country nat'ls who are the
subject of removal orders" would be escorted by guards throughout
their journey across member states. They would be deposited when they
reached their country of origin or the last "safe" non-EU country they
had passed through.
"Use may be made of public carriers such as scheduled buses, trains,
or unmarked police cars," it says .
As a general rule, it says, a "transit operation shall take place
within 36 hours".
The EU state requesting deportation would pay its partners for their
help.  Escorts would be allowed to "take reasonable and proportionate
action to deal with a serious and immediate risk so as to prevent the
3rd country nat'l from escaping or from causing injury to himself or
to others or damage to property".
Escorts would not carry weapons and they would wear civilian clothes.
The plan, part of what the proposed directive describes as the EU's
programme to combat illegal immigration and trafficking in human
beings, and manage the external borders, was obtained by Statewatch,
an independent European human rights watchdog.
The proposed EU directive, its authors say, would not impinge on the
sovereignty of member states.
Illegal immigrants should not be deported to countries where they face
the threat of the death penalty, torture, or "inhumane treatment".
Tony Bunyan, editor of Statewatch, said yesterday he was not convinced
by the assurances. "How safe are migrants being transported in
unmarked police cars or vans?", he said. "Will we ever know what
happened to them if they do not arrive at their destination?"
In a related proposal, the Italian presidency also wants to establish
regular joint EU flights for what it calls "rational repatriation
operations". They would carry illegal immigrants to their country of
origin or the last "safe" country they passed through.
The planned directive deporting illegal immigrants by land is not
automatically binding on Brit or Ireland because they have an opt-out.
However, Brit has voluntarily adopted a number of EU measures in these areas.
The Home Office said last night the proposal, to be tabled next m,
would require detailed consideration. Brit was "actively
participating" in talks, a rep said, "to create dignified sustainable
returns" of failed asylum seekers.

Man pleads not guilty to people smuggling charges
Perth.  A 46-yo man has pleaded not guilty to charges laid over the
arrival of more than 50 suspected asylum seekers in W AUS's NW.  The
MEL man of Vietnamese origin appeared in the Perth Magistrate's Court
today via video link-up from Hakea prison.  The man was on board a
wooden vessel which was intercepted nr Port Hedland last m.  It is
alleged the 27 men, 17 women and 9 children on board were all his
relatives.  The man intends to make an application for bail to the
Supreme Court later this m.

Afghan takes fight to stay in AUS to High Court
Canberra.  A man who fled recruitment for military service by the
Taliban in Afghanistan has won the chance to appeal to the High Court
in his battle to stay in AUS.  The man had earlier been denied the
right to stay by the Refugee Review Tribunal.  The Refugee Review
Tribunal ruled the man was not subject to the internat'l refugee
convention because he was not a member of a particular social group.
But lawyers for the man told the High Court that in Afghanistan
able-bodied young men were a social group subject to persecution and
the convention does apply.

Report released into Red Cross appeal
Sydney.  Report criticises Red Cross handling of Bali appeal The AUS
Red Cross has been criticised for failing to adequately communicate
details of its fundraising appeal to the victims of the Bali bombing.
A report has been handed down into the distribution of funding.  The
report conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers found the Red Cross spent
funds in accordance with the original state of intent of the appeal
and found no evidence of fraud or misuse of donor funds.  But the
report stated the clarity and timeliness of certain aspects of
communication could have been improved.  The report was commissioned
on May 22 in response to media criticism of the Admin of the
Bali appeal, which has raised $14.8 mn.  It recommends the need for
formal risk assessment methods, rigorous communication in the
management process and discussion with govt on how multi-agency
responses to such tragedies can be improved.

NASA watchdog calls Columbia decisions "shocking"
Cape Canaveral (Reuters). NASA made "shocking" and "disappointing"
mistakes before and during the doomed Columbia flight, the watchdog
picked by the space agency to monitor its return to flight said on Thu.
Richard Covey, a former astronaut who was pilot of the 1st shuttle
flight to follow the Challenger accident of 17 y ago, is co-chairman
of the task group tapped by NASA to oversee the reforms expected after
another panel completes its investigation of the Feb 1 Columbia crash
and turns over its findings to Congress later this m.
Covey told reporters at the Kennedy Space Center that he was not
necessarily surprised that NASA suffered a 2nd shuttle disaster, since
"space flight is risky business and it will remain risky business."
But he said he was disappointed there were so many management mistakes
similar to those that preceded Challenger.
"Shocking? Yeah. Disappointing? Particularly when ... it has
similarities to the Challenger accident," Covey said.  Following the
Challenger crash, an investigation board tagged NASA with the term "go
fever," a malady that led managers to ignore or minimise risk in order
to meet an ambitious launch schedule.
In Columbia's wake, investigators have said NASA ignored the potential
danger of foam shedding from the shuttle's external fuel tank during
liftoff, then managers failed to get imagery from spy satellites that
could have assessed the injury to the shuttle's left wing from a foam
impact 81 seconds after liftoff.
Columbia and its crew of 7 were lost over Texas when the wing failed
at about 21 times the speed of sound.
Covey said his 27-member task group, which he co-chairs with retired
astronaut Tom Stafford, may never adequately address the so-called
cultural, or managerial, issues.
Their charter requires them to wrap their work a m before NASA resumes
shuttle flights. By their nature, such cultural issues, as opposed to
purely technical issues, are hard to assess until the space program is
fully operational again. Covey said his board may be restricted to
studying plans and concepts.
"But it would not be a complete assessment because the real
implementation may take longer," he said.
That next launch is tentatively scheduled for March or Apr, but could
be pushed back ms, or even a y or more, depending on how many problems
are uncovered by the separate investigation group, headed by retired
Adm Harold Gehman.
Gehman has said that cultural problems at NASA will be given attention
equal to the technical problems.

45-second late plane refused landing clearance
Melbourne.  A plane from MEL was unable to land in SYD last night
because it was running 45 seconds late.
Passengers on the Virgin Airlines plane were angered by the incident,
after arriving back in MEL after a 2.5 h round trip.
The plane was unable to land because it arrived at SYD Airport after
the curfew.
Virgin rep David Huttner says passengers were not impressed with the
round trip.
But he says the pilot tried his hardest to make it to the airport on
time.  "These things are once in a blue moon and we haven't had
anything like this for some time," he said.
"It does happen to all airlines, they are very strict about the
curfew, for good reason but once again like we said, in this
particular circumstance it was so close that we actually created more
noise for the people of SYD by being sent around then if they'd just
let us land per the clearance they originally gave us."
Air traffic control has admitted the Virgin Blue flight was prevented
from landing at SYD airport last night.
A rep for Air Services AUS says the airline advised it that the flight was
running late and everything was done to increase the speed of the flight.
However, it was unable to confirm Virgin Blue claims the plane missed
the 11 am AEST curfew by 45 seconds.

Algebra points way to happy marriage
Seattle.  A mathematician says he can predict with almost total
accuracy which newlywed couples will enjoy a happy marriage using 2
lines of algebra.
Prof James Murray says the 2 formulae he devised have a 94% success
rate at forecasting whether a couple will stay together.
The Daily Telegraph reports Professor Murray, from the University of
Washington in Seattle, calculated the formulae during a 10-y study of
700 couples in the US.
The experiment, conducted with the help of a psychologist, involved
observing the couples during a 15-minute conversation when they were
newly married, Prof Murray said.
He presented his findings to a conference in Dundee in Scotland for
the first time on Thu, the Telegraph said.
A couple's ability to communicate on subjects such as sex, child
rearing or money was measured using a scale that gave positive points
for good signals, such as smiles and affectionate gestures, and
negative points for bad signals, such as rolling of the eyes, mocking
and coldness.
"We used an accepted psychological scoring system to award them
points, such as minus 3 for scorn and plus 2 for humour," Professor
Murray said.
Professor Murray is also the author of Mathematics for Marriage.  The
points were then converted into algebraic terms, enabling the study's
authors to make divorce projections.
The results were fed into 2 equations, one for the husband and one for
the wife.
The couples were checked every 2 y and the model predicted which
marriages failed with almost complete accuracy.

Sydney. MARKETS!  The ASX made solid gains today, with most sectors
led by movements on Wall St o'night.  The All Ords ended up 11 pts to
3,136.  Oil was up at $US32.42/bbl.  Gold is trading above $353/oz.
The AUD has claimed the territory between 65 and 65.25 after falling
close to 64 US c in the past 48 hrs.  In Japan, the Nikkei closed up
62 pts to 9,328.  The Hang Seng lost 13 pts to end at 9,945.

{{
6 pm
Beijing. A girl born with 3 legs and subsequently abandoned by her
parents on a Beijing street will have surgery to remove the extra
limb. State media and a doctor say surgeons at Dongzhimen Hosp in the
Chinese capital plan to study the deformity for 20 days before
deciding on a plan of action.  The doctor is quoted as saying the
operation will be as "difficult as separating conjoined twins"
because the leg has a nerve connecting it to the spine.  The doctor
says the surplus leg is growing out of the girl's back and has already
started to deform the girl's lower body.

Monrovia. Liberian Pres Charles Taylor has submitted his resignation
and nominated his VP as his successor.  The announcement came as
throngs of people in the capital cheered the arrival of the first W Af
peacekeepers.  VP Moses Blah [!] says the hand-over of power is planned
for Mon, but rebel leaders have warned they will not allow any ally
of Taylor to lead the country. 

Hobart. PM Howard has defended the failing Job Network system against
criticism levelled by a Tassie jobseekers' group.  Mr Howard faced
questions from Unemployed People's Movement rep Bill Watson, who asked
when the govt was going to call an inquiry into the system.  The group
has also foreshadowed a class action suit against Centrelink and the
fed govt over its treatment of the jobless. [This goes in my "I'd like
to see THAT!" file ;-)].

MEL. The Red Cross has welcomed an audit report of its management of
the Bali appeal, that found no evidence of fraud or misuse of the
money.  Bute the report said the ARC could have communicated better
concerning the $14.8 mn it raised to help victims of the Oct 12 blast
that killed 88 Aussies.  The audit was commissioned by the Red Cross
after public complaints the charity had diverted money from the appeal
to other uses.

Canberra. The Collins submarines have been taken off duty after
concerns maintenance was not up to scratch.  The RAN has begun safety
inspections of underwater valves on the subs after the ASC said value
maintenance had not been done according to its specifications.
Maritime Cmdr chief of state Nigel Perry says 1 of the 6 subs has been
returned to port for "the safety of the crew".

Honiara.  6 missionaries taken hostage by Solomon Islands warlord
Harold Keke are reportedly all dead.

Philadelphia.  California porn director Lizzie Borden and her husband
face a fed indictment for the sale of obscene films.

Jakarta.  Indonesians have lauded the death sentence on smiling bomber
Amrozi for the Bali blasts.

Prague.  Prague emerges from mud.  Sipping lager in his Prague bar,
Martin Kotas points high up an 18th-century wall to where flood waters
left their calling card.

11 pm
Thus US military says they killed 2 people in a shootout in a Tikrit
marketplace today.  But local newspapers put the dead at 6, incl a child.
Gen Sanchez says the Iraqi resistance has become increasingly professional.
}}

----------------------------------------
Sat, 09 Aug 2003.

NAGASAKI DAY!

NY. MARKETS!  The Dow has surged 65 pts on renewed economic optimism
to end at 9,191.  In London, the FTSE ended up 52 pts at 4,148.  Gold
was higher at $US355.70/oz.  The German Dax closed almost even at 3,332.

Melbourne. 100S COMMEMORATE HIROSHIMA DAY!  100s of peace protesters
have rallied in MEL to mark the anniversary of the WWII atomic attack
on Nagasaki.  More than 600 members of the Vic Peace Network and the
Medical Assoc for the Prevention of War took to the city's streets to
show the opp'n to nuclear weapons.  Assoc rep Giji Gya says
maintaining nuclear weapons and a nuclear capacity puts all nations in
danger through terrorism or the response to terrorism.
[Or bad intel!]

4 dead, 3 injured in Colombia car bombing
Bogota.  4 people were killed and 3 injured in a car bomb explosion in
Saravena, NE Colombia, police said.  Police Chief Luis Alcides Morales
of the Arauca dept said the victims, all civilians, included 2 adults
and 2 minors, and that the bomb was detonated as a police patrol was
passing.  He did not immediately speculate on responsibility for the
bomb.  The violence-ridden dept bordering Venezuela is the stronghold
of Colombia's 2 main guerrilla groups, the Nat'l Liberation Army (ELN)
and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  The 23,800
square km dept is also rich in oil, and 70 US Special Forces troops
have been there since Jan, training a Colombian anti-guerrilla unit to
protect a strategic oil pipeline used by the US firm Occidental
Petroleum.  A July 17 grenade attack in Saravena, 300 km NE of Bogota,
killed one and injured 17 h after a visit by Colombian Pres Alvaro Uribe.

The hawks are gunning for a showdown with N Korea and Iran 
Washington (The Guardian).  John Bolton might be termed an old
hand. The US under-secretary of state for arms control and internat'l
security, a Yale-educated lawyer, has held a string of senior posts in
the state and justice depts. By any yardstick, he is an experienced if
conservative-minded diplomat of some gravitas who, it must be assumed,
knows what he is doing. But according to an official N Korean
statement this mk, Bolton is "human scum".
Even by Pyongyang's astringent rhetorical standards, this is strong
stuff.  It constituted a reply in kind to a stunningly splenetic
tirade delivered by Bolton in Seoul 3 days earlier that amounted to a
fierce, personal attack on Kim Jong-il.
North Korea's leader was a tyrannical despot and extortionist who
"lives like royalty", Bolton said, while 100s of 1000s of his people
were locked up and millions more endured a life of "hellish
nightmare...  scrounging the ground for food in abject poverty". For
good measure, Bolton also attacked the UN for not facing up to its
responsibilities -- a familiar theme for students of the Iraq crisis.
The curious thing about this exchange is not so much its intensity as
its timing. Bolton went nuclear, verbally speaking, only hrs before
N Korea finally acceded to longstanding US demands for multilateral
talks on its nuclear arms ambitions. S Korean officials were relieved
that the North had not used Bolton's broadside as an excuse for
further prevarication. But like the rest of us, they were left
wondering whether Bolton had launched a deliberate pre-emptive strike
against the nascent diplomatic process.
This raises a key question, as America's twin confrontations with N
Korea and Iran over nuclear arms accelerate towards a crunch in the
next few wks. In a nutshell, peaceful, internat'lly supportable,
diplomatic solutions to both disputes are available. Their outlines
may be clearly discerned; the mechanisms by which they can be achieved
are more or less in place. But does the US actually want to cut a
deal?  The ambiguities clouding US policy towards N Korea date back to
the early days of the administration, when George Bush put a damper on
former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung's "sunshine policy" of
detente with the North. Since 9/11 and Bush's "axis of evil" speech,
matters have just gone from bad to worse.
The planned talks in China, also involving S Korea, Japan and Russia,
are viewed in the region and beyond as a crucial opportunity to arrest
this apparently inexorable downward spiral. The UN secretary-general,
Kofi Annan, and others have suggested that N Korea might initially
freeze its nuclear arms programmes in return for a sort of US
non-aggression pact.
But such compromises may not suit the likes of Bolton, Paul Wolfowitz
and Douglas Feith at the Pentagon, and other hard-liners, including
perhaps Bush himself -- who has professed personal loathing for
Pyongyang's communist leader. For them, it seems, nothing less than
Kim's overthrow will ultimately suffice, although it may have to wait
until a 2nd Bush term.
A former US envoy, James Goodby, warns that Washington must beware of
over-reaching itself. "Many in the Bush administration want regime
change in N Korea and think that slow strangulation might do it,"
Goodby wrote in the NY Times. But security assurances and economic
incentives were what was really needed. "Improving the lot of the N
Korean people should be a fundamental aim."
Such common-sense advice risks being drowned out by the beat of
Washington's ideological war drums. That discord will strain ties with
US regional allies, encourage N Korean paranoia and miscalculation,
and could yet shipwreck any talks on a reef of mutual distrust, bad
faith and hidden agendas.
As usual, secretary of state Colin Powell takes a softer line,
insisting for now at least that the US is not intent on regime change
and rejecting Wolfowitz's claim that the N is teetering on the edge of
economic collapse.
Such assurances may again strike students of the Iraq crisis as
unhappily familiar. Powell is not yet a lame duck but he is definitely
limping after the latest spate of speculation that he will quit at the
2004 election.
Powell may be getting tired of trying to restrain neo-con knee-jerkers. 
He surely does not relish 4 more y of being stabbed in the back.
The strange, treacherous ways of American diplomacy are also
complicating that other nuclear stand-off, with Iran. A Sep deadline
now looms, by which time Tehran is told it must accept "challenge"
inspections of its nuclear facilities. If not, the US may seek UN
sanctions and step up unilateral pressure; military options are not
entirely ruled out.
Following Washington's line, and egged on by Israel, Tony Blair is
turning the screw, too, threatening to block an EU trade deal and
highlighting human rights issues.
Like N Korea, the Iranian govt is fully aware that US tactics do not
stem from worries about WMD proliferation alone. But nor does it
totally dismiss W concerns. In fact, Tehran has developed a series of
not inflexible negotiating positions. The question, once again, is
whether the US is really interested in finding solutions.
On the nuclear issue, Iran might swallow the Internat'l Atomic Energy
Agency's "additional protocol" if article 4 of the non-proliferation
treaty, entitling it to acquire "equipment, materials and scientific
and technological info for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy", were
honoured. On the issue of al-Qaida, Iran is ready to surrender
suspected members if the US will exchange the Mujahedeen terrorists it
is harbouring in Iraq. Even on Palestine, there is just a hint of a
future accommodation. Iran says it supports Iraq's new governing
council and is not involved in attacks on US troops there (for which
the US has indeed produced no evidence). As an earnest of its
intentions, it has offered to supply much-needed electricity to Iraq
-- an offer made 3 wk ago and to which it has had no response.
Although, like the Bush administration, Iran speaks with many voices,
it knows it must improve relations with the W if it is to succeed
in building its economy and if the aspirations of its younger
generations are to be met without more trouble on the streets.
But this, of course, is exactly why some in Washington think that by
hanging tough and raising the stakes, they can eventually have it
all. By continuing and possibly escalating disputes, US hawks hope not
merely to tame the mullahs but to topple them.
This is a potentially disastrous miscalculation, a recipe for
intensifying internal and external strife. It has little to do with
arms control or encouraging civil reform from within, and a lot to do
with imposing the US world view from without. This is why Iran's
heated debate over UN inspections has acquired a symbolic
quality. This is why, as in N Korea, some in Iran oppose anything that
smacks of concessions.
They call it a trap. But we should call it Bolton's 1st law of
internat'l power politics: keep the other guy guessing; wear him down.
When he gives a little, demand a whole lot more. Then zap him anyway.

North Korea 6-way talks may start Aug 26: report
Tokyo.  6-way talks aimed at resolving the standoff over N Korea's
nuclear program may begin on Aug 26, Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun
daily said on Sat local time.
The US, S Korea and Japan have conveyed to China their wish to start 2
days of talks on that date in Beijing the newspaper said, without
citing sources.
A Chinese delegation is now in Pyongyang trying to make the final
arrangements, it said.
The report comes at the start of a weekend of shuttle diplomacy ahead
of the negotiations.
Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yasuo Fukuda, is set to arrive in
China on Sat and meet Pres Hu Jintao, while Chinese For Min Li
Zhaoxing visits Japan from Sun.
North Korea agreed last wk to take part in multilateral talks, after
insisting previously on bilateral negotiations with the US to resolve
a crisis over its plans for nuclear weapons.
The talks are expected to involve Japan, Russia and China as well as S
Korea and the US.
Japanese newspapers have said officials from the US, S Korea and Japan
will meet for preparatory talks on Aug 13-14 in Washington.
The impasse over N Korea's nuclear program started last Oct after US
officials said Pyongyang had admitted to pursuing a covert nuclear
weapons program.
No one was available for comment at the Japanese foreign ministry on Sat.

Bush hails Iraq progress 100 days on
Washington.  US Pres Bush Jr says the US had made progress in Iraq in
the 100 days since he declared the end of major combat.
But he has also mourned the growing loss of US life there.
"Iraq is more secure. The economy of Iraq is beginning to improve," Mr
Bush said at his Texas ranch on day 4 of his 35-day vacation.
"We've made a lot of progress in 100 days and we're pleased with the
progress, but we know we've got a lot more work to do."
He has also paid tribute to the 56 American soldiers who have died in
combat since May 1, when Mr Bush declared major fighting over only a
few wks after Saddam Hussein was toppled from power.
"We suffer when we lose life," he said. 
"Our country is a country that grieves with those who sacrifice and
our heartfelt sympathies and appreciation go to the loved ones of any
soldier who's willing to defend the security of the US."
After originally using the threat of Iraq's alleged weapons programs
to justify the war, Mr Bush now says the Iraq campaign was a key part
of the war on terrorism.
"It's very important to people to understand that this is a part of
the war on terror, that we're dealing with terrorists today," he said.
Baghdad is still reeling from a car bombing of Jordan's embassy that
claimed 2 more lives on Fri, raising the death toll to 13, as a US
cmdr says his forces face more attacks with improvised explosive devices.
Meanwhile American snipers have killed at least 2 Iraqis whom they say
were selling weapons in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.
A Tikrit hospital chief has told the AFP news agency 3 people were
killed in Tikrit as US soldiers opened fire at arms sellers who were
test-firing Kalashnikov assault rifles.
But Lt Col Bill MacDonald, of the US Army's 4ID assigned
to Tikrit, gave a different version of events.
"Soldiers of Fourth Infantry sent out an observation patrol to monitor
a location where suspected former regime loyalists were trafficking
illegal arms," he said.
"A team observed 4 men illegally trafficking weapons. The team engaged
the 4 men. 2 were wounded, 2 were killed."
Soldiers who checked the area afterwards found AK-47 rifles, loaded
magazines and small arms ammunition "and material that can make up
improvised explosive devices, such as wires and switches".
A US Army rep in Tikrit, Lt Col Steve Russell, says it has
been made clear anyone carrying a weapon will be presumed to be hostile.
"If you are walking around with weapons in this city you become a
combatant at that point. The rules are very clear. They all know that
there is no such thing as a weapons market, it's illegal," he said.
"The police have been trying to control it so that's why we engaged
them."  US military rep Guy Shields says troops have not changed their
rules of engagement for when they open fire.
In N Iraq, witnesses say up to 6 soldiers were wounded when a US
military vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Mosul.
There was no immediate confirmation from the US army. 
And 60 km to the W of Baghdad, witnesses say at least 3 more US
soldiers were wounded when a roadside blast hit 2 US all-terrain
vehicles by Al-Amariya.

Russian mother pleads for son to stay in Guantanamo
Moscow.  A Russian mother says conditions in Russian jails are so
awful that she would prefer her son remain in the "humane" conditions
of the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.  A number of
govts, including Russia's, are in talks with the US to extradite their
nat'ls from the prison camp in Cuba.  The Guantanamo Bay facility was
set up to house Taliban and Al Qaeda suspects after the war in
Afghanistan.  "I am terribly scared of a Russian prison or Russian
court for my son," Amina Khasanova was quoted as saying by Gazeta
newspaper.  "At Guantanamo they treat him humanely, the conditions are
fine."  Her son, Andrei Bakhitov, is one of 8 Russian detainees and
the newspaper quoted a letter he wrote to his mother.  "I think that
there is not even a health resort in Russia on the level of this
place," the letter said.

Saudi Arabia releases 5 over bombings
Riyadh.  Saudi Arabia has released 5 Britons and a Canadian who had
been jailed for bomb attacks in the kingdom.  All 6 are alleged by the
Saudi authorities to have been bootleggers who used explosives as part
of a turf war against rival alcohol smugglers.  However their families
have always said the charges were trumped up and the bombings in Nov
2000 were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists.

[This is the US version:]
US troops kill 2 Iraqis in Tikrit
Tikrit.  US forces have killed 2 Iraqis who they say were selling
weapons in Saddam Hussein's home town, Tikrit.  Lt Col Steve Russell
says a 3rd was captured at a hospital where he was being treated for
wounds, while a fourth, also believed to be wounded, is on the run.
He denied reports that other people were killed or wounded in the
incident.  Col Russell says his troops had the area under discreet
observation after a tip from local people.  US troops opened fire
after the 4 men began unloading weapons and what appeared to be the
elements for making bombs.

[Some reports have claimed more deaths in the Tikrit incident:]
US troops kill 6 Iraqis
Tikrit. US troops shot dead 5 Iraqi men and a child in Saddam
Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Fri, a local hospital chief said, but
the military said they had killed only 2, who were "illegally
trafficking weapons".
Dr Salah al-Dulaimi told AFP US soldiers opened fire at 5 arms
sellers who were test-firing Kalashnikov assault rifles for customers
at 8:30am (0430 GMT), killing them. A child who was in the marketplace
of the town, 175 km N of Baghdad, was also fatally shot,
and a woman was wounded, he said. But Lt-Col Bill MacDonald, 
of the 4ID, assigned to Tikrit, gave a different version of events.
"Soldiers of 4th ID sent out an observation patrol to monitor a
location where suspected former regime loyalists were trafficking
illegal arms. At 7:30am (0330 GMT), a team observed 4 men. The team
engaged the 4 men, 2 were wounded, 2 were killed," MacDonald said.
"One of the wounded was treated at the scene, the other wounded man
was evacuated to an Iraqi hospital, both are under custody of the
Iraqi nat'l police," he added. No US forces were injured, MacDonald
said. The soldiers, who checked the area afterwards, found AK-47
rifles, loaded magazines and small arms ammunition "and material that
can make up improvised explosive devices, such as wires and switches".
MacDonald also said 3 US soldiers were wounded in separate attacks
around Tikrit, where the 4ID is scouring the countryside in a bid to
disable the support network of Saddam and hopefully find the ousted
president himself. 2 were hospitalised after roadside bomb attacks,
and a 3rd was wounded by a mortar round, but returned to duty.
The 4ID arrested 12 Iraqis, including 3 wanted for attacks, during
raids overnight and early Fri, MacDonald said. "Late Thu-early Fri, we
conducted 4 raids and we detained 12. Out of these 12, 3 were former
regime loyalists involved with illegal weapons training and organising
attacks against coalition forces," he said. 2 weapons caches were
seized, containing a total of more than 100 Kalashnikovs, a dozen
sniper rifles, more than 35 rocket-propelled grenades, 23 rockets, 10
mortars and a box of ammunition.
Also on Fri, a Fourth Infantry Division soldier died while sleeping at
his base in the town of Kirkush nr the N Iraqi city of Mosul, US
Central Command said in a statement. No further info was available,
but the incident was under investigation, it said.
As the death toll in the car bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in
Baghdad rose to 19 on Fri, American authorities tried to determine if
the attack was the work of an individual or was masterminded by the
al-Qaeda-linked militant group Ansar al-Islam.
US-run Radio Sawa, which broadcasts to the Middle East, quoted
American Lt-Gen Norton Schwartz as saying American authorities were
looking at Ansar al-Islam as a potential sponsor of the bombing.
At a news conference in Baghdad, US military rep Col Guy Shields said,
"we know that that group is in the country," but added: "At this point
of time, it's too early to say which group is behind it."
Jordan's Petra news agency said US Sec of State Colin Powell
promised Jordan's foreign minister that US troops would protect the
embassy. But a US military official said it was up to individual
nations and Iraqi police to guard diplomatic missions.
Meanwhile, Pres Bush Jr claimed major progress in Iraq but mourned the
growing loss of American lives. "We suffer when we lose life," Bush
said. "Our country is a country that grieves with those who
sacrifice." The tally of soldiers who have died in action in Iraq over
the last 100 days has reached at least 55. Bush said the soldiers had
been participating in a vital "part of the war on terror".
Bush spoke at his Texas ranch alongside Vice-Pres Dick Cheney and Def
Sec Donald Rumsfeld following a meeting on military
strategy. Reviewing developments in Iraq, Bush said: "We've made good
progress. Iraq is more secure." He cited the reopening of banks,
improvements in Iraq's infrastructure and the stirring of democracy,
which Bush said, "is a major shift of system in that part of the world".
Bush would not say whether he shared the assessment of the cmdr
of coalition forces in Iraq, Army Lt-Gen Ricardo Sanchez, who said on
Thu that US forces will remain in Iraq at least 2 years. Bush would
only say "I will do what's necessary to win the war on terror".
Bush said Americans have "got to understand I will not forget the
lessons of Sep 11," when America was hit with its worst ever terrorist attack.
The president also would not say whether he had an estimate on how
many more soldiers would die. Nor did he answer a question on future
costs of the American presence in Iraq. Bush said he was heartened by
financial and military contributions other countries were making in
Iraq, and promised to present a "well thought-out" cost estimate to Congress.

Authorities seize missiles in N Pakistan
Pakistan/Afghan border (AFP).  Pakistani paramilitary forces Fri
seized a cache of missiles, rockets and ammunition smuggled from
Afghanistan into N Pakistan, an official said.  "We have seized heavy
arms including 2 surface-to-air missiles and 8,000 rounds of heavy
ammunition," cmdr of Mehsud Scouts Col Hameed Iqbal Khattak told AFP.
The catch also features 107 mm rockets, 82 mm mortar shells, 80 mm
anti-tank rockets, anti-tank mines and rocket-propelled grenades.  The
Russian-made arms were being smuggled from Afghanistan, Col Khattak
said.  The arms were concealed under tea sacks aboard a goods truck in
the Khyber tribal area, some 30 km W of Peshawar, he said.
The driver and his helper escaped when scouts intercepted the truck,
Col Khattak said.

Chilean pair arrested over illegal Potter translation
Santiago.  Police in Chile have made their 1st arrests in a crackdown
on pirated versions of Harry Potter's latest adventure.  Chile is
believed to have produced the 1st illegal Spanish translation of the
book, however the official Spanish version of the Order of the Phoenix
is not due out until the end of the year.  It has been selling on the
streets of Santiago for wks.  Police have now struck back with the
arrest and charging of 2 men who were found in a production studio
with 200 copies of the book.  Publishers for the author J K Rowling
are battling to stop pirated copies of the book being sold around the
world in English and other languages.  The head of the Chilean Book
Chamber welcomed the arrests and described the Spanish version as a
"very bad translation".

4 kidnapped tourists in Mali desert seriously ill: report
Berlin (AFP).  4 of the W tourists kidnapped in Algeria early this y and
held in the Malian desert are seriously ill and mediators are calling
for them to be freed immediately, a source close to the negotiations says.
"It is urgent for us that they are released on humanitarian grounds,"
the source told AFP by telephone, stating that the 4 were "seriously ill".
The source said mediators were putting pressure on the hostage-takers
to release the sick captives, but did not indicate the identities of
the 4 or what they were suffering from.
14 hostages from Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland are being
held by Islamic extremists, reportedly in the N Malian desert close to
the Algerian border.
They were among the total of 32 Europeans kidnapped in Jan and Feb in
Algeria, of which 17 were freed in an Algerian army raid in May.
The death from heatstroke of German hostage Michaela Spitzer was
reported in July in a statement signed by her fellow hostages and
passed to the German embassy in Bamako.
At Berlin's request, Malian former rebel warlord Iyad Ag Ghali is
leading the negotiations with the radical Islamist group holding the
hostages, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).
The abductors and their suspected leader, Algerian army renegade
Abderrezak Ammari, are reportedly demanding about 5 mn euros
($US5.5 mn dollars) in ransom for each captive.
Algerian press reports on Thu suggested the talks had reached a
"last-ditch" stage, with the Malian army preparing to act to free the
hostages if there were no releases by Fri evening.
But a Malian official vigorously denied a report in Algerian newspaper
El Watan that an ultimatum had been issued, and an assault planned in
case it failed to bring results.
"At no point have we threatened to intervene militarily," the official
told AFP.
"Negotiations are continuing."

Hamas vows revenge for Nablus raid
Gaza (Reuters).  The Palestinian militant group Hamas says it will not
allow an Israeli raid on the West Bank town of Nablus to go unanswered.
Four Palestinians, including 2 local leaders of Hamas' military wing,
died when the Israel Army attacked what it says was a bomb factory in
Nablus' Askar refugee camp.
An Israeli soldier was also killed.
Hamas rep Ismail Abu Shanab predicts a ceasefire by militants will not
last much longer.
"We cannot continue from our side to respect the ceasefire while the
Israelis are, at the same time, violating this and killing our
people," he said.
"I guess the moment which the ceasefire will collapse is coming very soon."
Israeli Govt rep Dore Gold says his country is still waiting for the
Palestinian Authority to crack down on Hamas.
"Israel operated last night against a Hamas explosives factory in the
Nablus area," he said.
"Obviously it was the Palestinian Authority that should have
dismantled this kind of terrorist infrastructure ... Israel continues
to insist that the Palestinians live up to their roadmap obligations and 
dismantle these types of explosive factories and disarm the Hamas terrorists."
Meanwhile Israeli forces have attacked Hezbollah positions in Lebanon
after the group fired mortar shells along Israel's N border.
The exchange of fire lasted several hrs.
It is the 1st time in 7 m Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa
Farms area have come under fire.
Hezbollah fired dozens of mortar rounds and Katyusha rockets in the incident.
2 mortars landed in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from
Syria in the 1967 6 Day war.
There were no casualties.
Hezbollah has promised to continue its armed campaign until Israeli
vacates all Lebanese territory.

Israeli warplanes bomb Lebanon village
Beirut.  Israeli warplanes have bombed the fringes of a S Lebanon
village after Hezbollah militiamen attacked Israeli army posts in a
disputed border region.  Fighter bombers swooped 4 times to fire
missiles at targets nr the Shebaa Farms.  At the same time, militiamen
of the Shiite fundamentalist movement Hezbollah traded artillery fire
with Israeli troops.  Hezbollah pounded Israeli positions on the
slopes of Mt Hermon with dozens of mortar bombs and rockets.

Jewish settlers charged over explosives find
Jerusalem.  Israel has charged 2 Jewish settlers with stealing army
explosives that security officials suspect were to be used against
Palestinians.  One of the suspects, Yitzhak Pas, is the father of a
10-mo girl shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank
city of Hebron 2 ys ago.  PM Ariel Sharon's office says 7 bricks of
explosives stolen from the army were found in Pas's car when he was
stopped at a roadblock last m.  His brother-in-law was also in the
vehicle at the time and arrested.  The men are suspected of
involvement with a six-member Jewish cell planning to bomb a
Palestinian girl's school in East Jerusalem in Apr.

Liberian rebels threaten fresh push as aid arrives
Monrovia (Reuters).  Liberian rebels have threatened to resume their
deadly onslaught on Monrovia, just as a 1st humanitarian convoy
managed to gain access to the besieged capital's insurgent-held zone.
Violent tensions resurfaced in the harbour city 3 days before
embattled Pres Charles Taylor is due to step down as part of a fragile
W African-led peace effort and as peacekeepers expand their patrols.
The rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
(LURD) claim Taylor loyalists have breached the ceasefire in an attack
on a town just N of the city, and warn they will respond.
"We got reports that Taylor sent troops to Arthington and they
attacked our positions," Sekou Fofana, civilian deputy secretary
general of the LURD, told an AFP reporter in the LURD-held port area
in the N of the city.
"We are asking for Taylor to leave Arthington, which is fully under
our control, or we will resume fighting."
Arthington is around 40 km NW of Monrovia.  Mr Taylor, who now
controls only one fifth of Liberia, has a sprawling farm in the area.
Defence Min Daniel Chea denies there has been any govt attack,
countering that LURD's allies, the MODEL rebel movement, are attacking
on a frontline 100 km E of the capital.
Meanwhile, Gen Festus Okonkwo, the head of the ECOMIL W African
peacekeeping force, says he has suspended his attempt to cross into
rebel territory for a 2nd time to discuss control of the port.
"I'm not going today... There are some things to sort out, I'll go
tomorrow," he said.
The peacekeepers need to gain control of the port to ensure that
shipments of humanitarian aid can be brought in to a war-ravaged city
where more than 250,000 people displaced by fighting are going hungry.
Despite the delays in reopening the port, an emergency convoy of aid
from the Internat'l Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Medecins
Sans Frontieres did manage to drive across the frontline to the port area.
The teams, travelling in a 5-vehicle convoy, found some 60 wounded
civilians and fighters who were being treated in a clinic housed in a
former brewery.
An ICRC member said several of them were in critical condition but
added that they could not be transported to Monrovia's main hospital
in the govt-controlled zone before negotiations were effected with
govt troops manning checkpoints on the other side.
The rebel-held suburbs, which include the food warehouses of Freeport,
are better fed than the besieged govt area, but last wk's fierce
battles on the frontline have prevented aid agencies from
administering to the wounded.
Meanwhile LURD leaders have underlined they will not accept Vice-Pres
Moses Blah, who is due to take over as the head of an interim govt
after Mr Taylor's planned resignation on Mon.
"We cannot leave the Liberian people to Moses Blah, who is a general
in Taylor's army. We need a neutral civilian to lead the transition,"
LURD's Mr Fofana said.
If all goes according to schedule, Taylor should step down at midday
on Mon and start making preparations to travel to exile in Nigeria,
the region's economic and military giant, which has offered him asylum.

Magistrate calls for Fed terrorism compensation scheme
Adelaide.  The father of one of the Bali bombing victims is leading a
push for a unified Fed compensation scheme for victims of terrorist
acts.  Adel Magistrate Brian Deegan, whose son Josh was killed last
Oct, says the current system where each state has different
entitlements is grossly inadequate.  "It is only persons within SA who
are in fact eligible for criminal injuries compensation," he said.
"That is just plainly unfair, even if the other states did legislate
to encompass this terrorist act, even then you have a disparity
between the various states."  A rep for PM John Howard says the Fed
Govt is currently monitoring the needs of Bali bombings victims.

Megawati calls for global terror response
Jakarta (AFP).  Indonesian Pres Megawati Sukarnoputri has called for a
global coalition to tackle terrorism.
A blast at a Jakarta hotel on Tue killed 10 people, renewing attention
on Indonesia's ability to crack down on militant groups.
Ms Megawati says no single country, or regional group of countries,
can overcome the threat of terrorism alone.
"[This is] an Indonesian view which is shared by the rest of the ASEAN
[Association of Southeast Asian Nations] members," she said.
"It would take a global coalition involving all nations, all
societies, religions and cultures to defeat this threat."
She was speaking at a meeting to mark the 36th anniversary of ASEAN.
AUS PM John Howard says terrorist attacks in Jakarta and Bali Jakarta
are a reminder to AUS to redouble efforts to build closer
relationships with its neighbours.
He says terrorism in the region will go on for several y but AUS must
maintain a sense of balance.

PM sees terror threat for y to come
Canberra (Reuters).  PM John Howard has warned the spectre of
terrorism in the region and the threat of attacks on AUS soil may not
go away for several ys.
He says terrorism has constrained Aussies but they must get on with
their lives.
Mr Howard delivered the message at the Tasmanian Liberal Party state
council in Smithton in far NW Tasmania last night.
Mr Howard says it has been an extraordinary wk for AUS and its
neighbours, with the bombing of a Jakarta hotel on Tue and the
sentencing of Bali bomber Amrozi on Thu.
Mr Howard has questioned the alleged motives behind the Jakarta attack. 
"When Jemaah Islamiah and when the rep for those fanatics who despoil
the honourable name of Islam speak of avenging their Muslim brothers,
they neglect to say that last Tue they didn't avenge their Muslim
brothers, they killed their Muslim brothers," he said.
The PM says Aussies must accept terrorism has placed constraints on
them, but not stop living otherwise normal lives.
"We cannot live our lives in perpetual alarm and fear, we must get on
with our lives," he said.
He says AUS must redouble efforts to build closer relationships with
its neighbours.

Navy orders urgent Collins checks
Sydney.  AUS's fleet of Collins Class submarines has been withdrawn
from service for the 2nd time this y.
The Navy is running urgent safety checks on the vessels over concerns
about underwater valves.
The company which built and now maintains the Collins Class fleet, AUS
Submarine Corporation (ASC), has revealed to the AUS Navy that checks
on the underwater valves have not followed specifications.
Navy rep Nigel Perry says there will be a rigorous check of company
records and engineering tests carried out on the valves as a
precaution.  "We obviously have very high safety standards and don't
want to do anything that will impact and put our men and women at sea
at risk," he said.
But Labor Defence rep Chris Evans says the safety problem could be
linked to uncertainty about ASC's maintenance contract.
"Their future's uncertain and if they're now failing to deal with
maintenance issues correctly I think that raises very serious
concerns," Mr Evans said.
In Feb, the submarines were withdrawn from service after one of them
sprang a leak off the W AUS coast.

Portugal turns to EU for help to foot fire bill
Lisbon.  Portugal says bushfires still raging across the country have
caused it 1.6 bn euros worth of damage.  The Portuguese economy
will need significant help from the European Union to pay for aid
already promised to the victims.  After some of the worst summer fires
in living memory the Portuguese Govt says it has promised more than a
100 mn euros in aid for people who have lost their jobs and homes and
for farmers who have lost crops and livestock.  There is also
considerable pressure to pay for more resources for the countries
under funded fire fighting services.  Portugal is one of the poorest
countries in Europe and the govt will almost certainly be turning to
the EU to help it foot the bill.  The govt says the fires have burnt
almost 5% of its forests, cut roads, disrupted power supplies and
destroyed 100s of homes.  The damage bill is expected to reach almost
a bn euros.  As Europe's unusually hot summer continues, fires are
still burning in parts of Portugal, Spain, France and Poland.

Palma de Mallorca.  FIRES SCORCH MALLORCA!  More than 150 people, incl
tourists, have been evacuated from fire threatening the Spanish
holiday island of Mallorca.  The fire broke out on the slopes of the
Puig de Randa mtn in the E part of the Med island's capital, Palma.
Officials say the flames spread quickly to 2 fronts late last night,
and firefighters weren't able to keep the flames under control.
Wild fires have spread t'out Europe during one of the hottest and
driest summers on record.

SA starts nuke dump stalling bid
Adelaide.  The SA Govt has launched legal action aimed at stalling the
Fed Govt's plans for a radioactive waste dump in the state's N.
Prem Mike Rann says an application for a judicial review of the Govt's
compulsory acquisition process of the land, nr Woomera, has been filed.
The Fed Govt cannot act until after the review is heard.
That will not be before Dec and may take a m to bring down.
If it fails, Mr Rann says an appeal could tie up the issue in the
courts for another 3 m.
"We can do it without costing much at all. That's the great lie of
what was said by the Fed Govt, the lawyers we'll be using are the
lawyers who are on our payroll anyway," he said.
"At a cost of a few thousand dollars I'm trying to stop millions of
dollars worth of damage to our state's reputation in terms of exports
of food and wines."
Mr Rann says he is happy to make it a major election issue.
"The Fed Govt wants to get this nuclear waste dump up and running
before an election year," he said.
"What I'm determined to do is make sure that we stop them or delay
them until the fed election so SA-ians can have a vote in this matter."

{{
2 am
100 days after the official end of combat action in GWII, 122 American
soldiers have died in the Gulf, 56 from enemy action.

DW Radio.  2 Palestinians from the armed wing of Hamas are dead after
an Israeli raid on the W Bank.  8 other Palestinians have been shot and
wounded.  1 is in serious condition.  1 Israeli soldier was also
killed in the attack.  Hamas has called for revenge against Israel.
The renewed violence calls into question the truce it declared.  The
Israeli army says it raided a camp in Nablus to arrest a snr Hamas
leader who were planning attacks on Israel.

Indon police say they've ID-ed the body of the Jakarta hotel attacker.
JI members in custody ID-ed the body.

W Af supports the lifting of war crimes charges against Liberian Pres
Taylor.  The announcement is seen as encouragement for Taylor to leave
Liberia ASAP.  The Guardian newspaper accuses soldiers on both sides
of the Liberian civil war of 1000s of rapes.  Aid agencies say the
sit'n outside the capital is approaching crisis proportions.

The Zimbabwe High Court has upheld treason charges against Morgan
Tsagarai.  2 co-defendants have been cleared of treason.  Tsagarai's
lawyers tried to get the case dismissed, saying there was insufficient
evidence.

There are 26 new fires in Portugal.  15 have died in fires there in
the past 2 wks.  Authorities have called for assistance from NATO and
the EU.  Norway is sending a water-dropping aircraft to join others.
Other fires are burning in Spain, Italy and France.  Germany shut down
its oldest reactor because of the heat wave.  Other reactors have been
reduced power because of the high temps.

2 Afghan journalists are facing the death penalty for blasphemy.
Reporters Without Borders, based in Paris, is campaigning for their
release.  The pair were charged after publishing an article
complaining about "holy fascism".  Why, if Islam was a favoured
religion, they argued, are Islamic countries generally lagging behind
the rest of world?  Reporters Without Borders say the supreme court
denies it's asking for the death penalty, but they say that claim is
in conflict with the official words of the court.

Iraq.  US and Iraqi investigators are expect to ID the Jordanian
embassy bombers.  At least 17 were killed and 60 wounded in the attack.  
In Tikrit, 2 Iraqis were shot by US forces. They were accused of
trading weapons.  Iraqis accuse the US of heavy-handedness.
Elsewhere, in latest attack against the US military, at least 3 US
soldiers were injured when their convoy came under fire 60 km W of Baghdad.  
2 US soldiers were killed on Wed and several were injured in another attack.  
After that incident, Gen Sanchez said he'd decided to limit the scope
of US raids looking for Saddam and illegal weapons.  There are growing
signs they were alienating Iraqis and promoting retaliation against US
forces, said Gen Sanchez.  He also said the bounty for killing US
soldiers has been quadrupled.  This is just a sign of the increasing
desperation of the supporters of the old regime, say US cmdrs.  
[Which must really say a lot about OBL and Saddam, considering the
size of their rewards!]  
Gen Sanchez told the NY Times the US would conduct less aggressive
searches.  In future the military will focus on co-operation with local 
political and religious leaders to improve targeting of the searches.  
But the Gen's words are at odds with snr Pentagon officials who say
Iraqis have have not been alienated by US forces, and claim a decline
of attacks in the past wk.  They claim patrolling is having a positive
effect.  Sec of State Powell said the US would not be put off by
attacks on US forces.

US forces say they've captured 2 former Iraqi army Generals in Tikrit,
plus a leader of the Fedayeen who was paying Iraqis to attack US
forces in the area.

6.15 pm
Iraq. The US is processing around 11,000 claims for damages after it
began paying blood money for accidental killings and property damage
during raids on civilian homes reports say it will pay around $US1/4
mn for property damage and at least 2 wrongful deaths.

A state of emergency has been declared in Palm Beach, Fla, after a
tornado with winds in excess of 100 kph ripped through 500 homes.
There are no reports of death or injuries.

Suddenly, Howard Dean is being taken seriously.  And he's now been
joined by John Kerry from Mass -- who'd previously given the war
qualified support. He now says Bush's post-war policy is failing.
Other Democrats say Americans could punish the party if criticism
goes to far.

US forces in Liberia have rescued to little girls who held American
passports. Somehow they'd been overlooked in the evacuation.

7 pm
Vancouver. 1000s who fled raging forest fires in W Canada have been
allowed to return home as officials release the first damage
assessments after the blaze.  The biggest out-of-control fire now
burning in W Canada is a 300 km sq blaze in a sparsely populated area
of BC's Cariboo region, nr Chilco Lk.  A fire covering nearly 180 sq
km is burning out of control nr the town about 300 km NE of Vancouver.

Canberra. The fed govt has announced an inquiry into the future
sustainability of Aussie cities.  The inquiry will examine issues
incl the environmental and social impacts of sprawling urban
development.

Canberra. Dep PM John Anderson says mandatory water restrictions
should be imposed on all of the nation's capital cities.  Mr Anderson
says the average Aussie household uses around 750,000 L pa, around 30%
higher than the OECD average.  [Perhaps, because it's HOTTER THAN
AVERAGE?].  Meanwhile, Aussie households still insists on bigger,
more polluting a/c units.  [Ah-HAH!]

Brisbane. Imm Min Philip Ruddock says it will cost "considerably more"
to build an immigration detention centre in rural Qld than nr Bris
airport.  Just like it would cost less to process people here, rather
than take them to Nauru or PNG by RAN ship?

The case against an Australian Army officer, who was accused of
abusing the body of a dead rebel in E Timor, has collapsed.  The Army
is embarrassed the case had to be abandoned on a technicality. A NZ
soldier wanted to give evidence in the court martial, but their ID
could not be protected.  The Army says it will now take
"administrative action" against the AUS officer. At worst he will have
his pay and privileges cut. Reps for the officer have thanked everyone
for their support.

Boston. The RC Archdiocese of Boston has offered $A85 mn to settle
over 500 claims of sexual abuse.  A lawyer for the plaintiffs say
they're considering the offer.  The Archdiocese was hit with a suit
last y from 542 plaintiffs charging sexual abuse from priests dating
back to 1950.  The lawyers have formed a steering committee to
consider the offer. The process could take ms.

Miami. Fla Gov Jeb Bush has declared a state of emergency in Palm
Beach County after a tornado damaged or destroyed dozens of homes.
The twister flipped trucks and knocked out power to 1000s of
customers.  It caused damage along a path several km long when it
touched down yesterday afternoon in parts of Riviera Beach and Palm
Beach Gardens nr W Palm Beach.

Canberra. AUS will send 4 pilotless aircraft, scientists and imagery
specialists to the Solomons on Mon to help restore law and order.  It
will be the first time the ADF has used the aircraft in an op'l env.
The development will reinforce the AUS-led 2,225-strong force of
police and troops, who landed last m to return order to the
nr-bankrupt nation.

Jo'burg. S Af's cabinet has bowed to public calls for more aggressive
measures to fight the AIDS epidemic.  It says it aims to draw up a
plan for rolling out anti-retroviral drugs by the end of the m.  The
move signals an important change in S Af's approach to AIDS, which has
infected an estimated 4.7 mn people in the country, the highest
caseload in the world.  Pres Thabo Mbeki has been criticised for
playing down the severity of the epidemic.

Tokyo. A tropical storm is rumbling up Japan's most populous island,
dumping heavy rain, stranding 1000s of travellers and raising fears
of floods and mudslides.  At least 3 people have died on the main
island of Honshu.  Dozens have been reported injured since the storm
bore down on the archipelago 2 days ago.  Japan's Met Agency says 3
people remain missing as Etau moves overland along the W part of Honshu.

Auckland. Nauru is in political turmoil again, with the election of
the 4th President this y.  A Nauru govt rep in MEL told Radio AUS that
incumbent Ludwig Scotty was ousted yesterday in a no confidence vote.
The rep says he's been replaced by Rene Harris, who had prev served
twice as president.  Once one of the world's richest nations per
capita, Nauru is now on the edge of bankruptcy because of extravagant
spending and poor investments.

Dhaka. A Royal Bengal tiger escaped from a Bangladesh zoo yesterday
after its keeper left the cage open.  But it reportedly snuck back in
an hr later, apparently scared by the crowds.  The big cat, named
Bhim, snuck out yesterday before it was spotted roaming nearby by its
unsuspecting keeping. The keeper fainted from shock.  A zoo official
says Bhim apparently found life on the outside wasn't all he'd heard
it was, and went back into his cage of his own accord.  Royal Bengal
Tigers are an endangered species in their natural habitat in
Bangladesh's Sunderban mangrove forest.
}}

----------------------------------------
Sun, 10 Aug 2003.

Srinagar. 9 DEAD IN KASHMIR!  9 people, incl an elderly Muslim and his
son, have been killed in separatist-linked violence in
Indian-administered Kashmir.  Police say the residence of a state
lawmaker has also been attacked.

Ankara. 7 KILLED IN MINE EXPLOSION!  7 people have died after an
explosion rocked a mine in E Turkey.  The state-run Anatolian news
agency says at least 16 other miners were injured in the blast at
the Kukurtlu minerals mine.  The agency quotes Turkish officials as
saying all the dead and injured are accounted for.

Tokyo. JAPAN DENIES IT WILL GO NUCLEAR!  PM Junichiro Koizumi has
denied Japan will go nuclear as the city of Nagasaki marks the 58th
anniversary of the US nuclear attack.  Koizumi told the main memorial
service in Nagasaki Japan will never change its position on the 35-yo
police banning nuclear weapons on its territory.  [Note the
qualification, folks].  He says Japan will use all its might to work
for the eradication of nuclear weapons.  [Like the US, Brit, Russia
and France?]  At the same gathering, Koizumi was urged by Nagasaki
mayor Itcho Ito to write the non-nuclear pledge into a law.

Basra. BASRA RIOTS!  Residents of Iraq's 2nd city of Basra have rioted
and clashed with Brit troops.  The Basra rioting broke out after a
grenade was thrown at a Brit military truck nr a gasoline stn.  The
soldiers fires in the air to warn off the crowd and then started to
shoot off rubber bullets, wounding at least 4 people.  Meanwhile, the
US military has announced the surrender of former interior minister
Mahmud Dhiyab al-Ahmad -- number 29 of 55 former Iraqi officials on
the US "most wanted" list. The arrest has embarrassed the US, who
claimed to have captured al-Ahmad last m.

Bogota. ANOTHER COLOMBIA BOMBING!  A civilian has been killed and a
police officer wounded following the 2nd car bombing in Colombia in as
many days.  A car loaded with explosives was placed along a highway
between Bogota and Caqueza, about 80 km from the capital.  The man who
was killed had been working on the highway.  In an earlier incident, 5
civilians, incl 2 children, were burned to death yesterday by a rebel
car bomb.

Pristina. KOSOVO SHOOTOUT!  One person has been killed and 2 have
been injured in a shootout between ethnic Albanians in SW Kosovo.  UN
police in the prov say the shooting in a village nr Pec is the latest
in a series of violent incidents across the prov over the past few
wks.  The UN administration took over the province in 1999 after 11
wks of NATO bombing to halt Serbian repression of its majority
Albanians under then-Pres Slobodan Milosevic.

Taipei. SHIP ATTACKED BY PIRATES!  Taiwanese officials say they capt
of a Taiwan fisheries cargo ship was wounded after his vessel was
attacked by pirate boats in the Malacca Strait.  An official from
Taiwan's Nat'l Rescue Command Centre says the 3,000-tonne vessel Tung
Yi came under machine-gun fire from 2 pirate vessels as it sailed for
Singapore yesterday.  The capt, ID'ed as Lo Ying-Hsiung, says his
ship had to speed away following the sub-machine gun attack which
latest for 2 hrs.

Monrovia. TAYLOR WARNS OF BLOODSHED!  Days from the promised
stand-down of Liberian Pres and wanted war criminal, Charles Taylor,
his rep has warned of bloodshed to follow.  Taylor's rep Vaani Passawe
says he fears what Taylor's demoralised fighters will do and all hell
might break loose after the Pres gives up power.  The threat came with
a weak truce in Liberia's war-torn capital holding, but with fighting
persisting in the N town of Gbarnga.  There is also fighting in the SE
port city of Buchanan.

Jenin. ISRAELI ARMY SHOOTS ANOTHER CIVILIAN!  A Palestinian
stone-thrower was seriously injured by Israeli army gunfire as troops
advanced into a N W Bank village.  Palestinian security and medical
sources say the 22 yo was hit in the face by a bullet as troops fired
at a group of stone throwers in Jaba, 15 km from Jenin.  Local
residents threw stones after around 10 army jeeps pushed into the
village and circled a group of houses.  An Israeli military source
says the incident occurred as a Palestinian threw a Molotov cocktail
at troops carrying out a routine patrol.

Canberra. REGIONAL TERROR SUMMIT!  For Min Alex the Downer says his
Indonesian counterpart Hasan Wirayuda will travel to AUS in the next
few wks to discuss setting up a regional terrorism summit.  Mr Downer
says the two countries have already exchanged correspondence about
how the summit will be run.  He says govt mins from around the
Asia-Pac, incl the US, will review where they're at in terms of intel
and police co-operation.  And he says they'll look at what further
steps can be taken to take that forward.

Sydney. NEW ANTI-TERROR UNIT!  An elite group of technical wizards
with skills ranging from engineering to biology and robotics will be
established as a precaution against terrorism.  The Sun-Herald says
that experts with technical expertise in a range of sciences are
being recruited from govt depts to form a new anti-terrorism unit.
The paper says the unit will operate within the Nat'l Security
Division of the PM's Dept.  It says efforts will be focused on
protecting the CBD of major AUS cities.

Canberra. COLLINS SUBS CLEARED FOR SEA!  AUS' Collins class navy subs
have been cleared to return to sea after being taken off duty last
wk due to safety concerns.  One sub was recalled to port on Fri and
all the vessels were examined after advice that underwater valves
hadn't been maintained as strictly as they might have been.  The Chief 
of Staff to the Maritime Cmdr, Commodore Nigel Perry, says the navy
takes the safety of its submarine crews seriously.  He says the RAN is
pleased that the subs have been assessed as safe to go to sea so quickly.

Rio. MASS PRISON BREAKOUT IN BRAZIL!  Police in Brazil say 84
prisoners have escaped from a maximum security prison in NW Paraiba
state by digging a 50-m tunnel to the jungle outside.  In a breakout
reminiscent of the 1963 Hollychook hit "The Great Escape", prisoners
burrowed through a cell block, under 2 buildings and beyond the
prison's walls.  Police say they have re-captured 3 prisoners and the
hunt for the rest is continuing.  The breakout is the largest in
Paraiba state's history.

Tokyo. 11 MISSING AFTER TYPHOON HITS JAPAN!  11 people are still MIA
after a tropical storm that's also killed at least 4 people across N
Japan.  Etau -- which has been downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical
storm on Fri -- hit Japan's N-most main island of Hokkaido early
today.  Japanese authorities say 11 people are missing after heavy
rains brought flooding and landslides to parts of Hokkaido.
[At 6 pm AEST Etau had moved away from the Japanese coast, leaving 7
dead and 8 missing. The last fatality was an Hokkaido woman who died
after a bridge collapsed, tipping her car into a swollen river].

Paris. HEAVEWAVE CONTINUES ACROSS EUROPE!  Piercing blue skies and a
blazing sun are normally the delight of summer tourists.  But now they
cast a long shadow across Europe as punishing heat and fires
responsible for dozens of deaths show little signs of letting up.
Experts war the record-breaking heat could endure for another wk,
while Europeans scramble to find respite in the sea, underground
catacombs, and the relative cool of the night.  Europe has suffered
Sahara-like weather that regularly has topped 40 C over the past wk.

Lisbon. FIRES CONTINUE TO BURN IN PORTUGAL!  Portuguese firefighters,
aided by cooler o'night temps and higher humidity levels, have gained
control of wild fires that have killed 15 people.  Damage is estimated
at $A1.7 bn.  The director of the Nat'l Rescue Operation Centre, Gil
Martins, says only 1 fire nr the S city of Portalegre is still out of
control.  But he says firefighters remain on alert across the country
because of the threat of more electrical storms and the continuation
of high daytime temps.

Sydney. NSW PREPARING FOR NEXT SUMMER!  More than 1,000 volunteer
firefighters have made more than 30 hazard reduction burns around NSW
over the weekend, with near-perfect conditions for burn-offs
prevailing.  Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg says
drought and adverse weather conditions could subject the state to 1
of its worst bushfire seasons on record next summer.  He says the
fire service and the Nat'l Parks and Wildlife Service are confident
their off-season strategic hazard reduction measures will prepare
them for the worst.

Melbourne. COLDEST MORNING OF THE YEAR!  Melbournians have woken to
the coldest morning of the y.  Snr weather forecaster Ward Rooney
says the temp was just over 2 C in the city at 7 am.  In Wangaratta,
in the state's NE, it was a chilly 1.9 C.  In June last y the temp in
MEL dipped to 1.6 C. [What? No black ice?]

Reykjavik. GAY PRIDE IN ICELAND!  1000s of people braved a cold,
rainy summer day to parade through Iceland's capital for its 5th
annual gay pride festival.  More than 30,000 locals and tourists
have crowded into the town's narrow main street to watch a long line
of floats and marchers pass by before a free concert in Laekjargata
Square in the capital's historic [very] old town.  A heavy downpour
failed to curb the party spirit at the march, the highlight of a 2-day
festival in and around the capital.

Sydney. NSW MOTORISTS REFUSING TO SLOW DOWN!  The Sunday Telegraph
says NSW police are issuing record numbers of speeding fines every
day, but NSW motorists are refusing to slow down.  The paper says
excessive speed is responsible for almost 1/2 of the state's fatal
accidents.  [Other research would normally put that at 1/3].
According to Roads and Traffic Authority figures, the number of fatal
accidents involving speeding drivers had risen from 37% in 1993 to 46%
last y.  The number of tickets issued to lead-footed drivers has risen
accordingly -- by 35% over the last 5 y, to 2,000 fines daily. 
[Elsewhere, SYD race car driver Stewart McColl died in a crash at
Phillip Island race track, S of MEL, yesterday.  23 yo McColl was driving a 
VW Golf at a practice session.  Confed'n of AUS Motorsport Pres Colin
Osborne says McColl crashed on turn 4 of the circuit at 1.39 pm].

LA. CAL GUBANATORIAL PORNS UP!  Porn king Larry Flint has filed to
run in Cal's elections to choose a new governor in Oct.  Electoral
officials say Flint's agent filed papers on his behalf at the LA
County Registrar's office.  The Democrat's candidate was announced
just after superstar Rep Arnold Schwarzeneggar formally put his name
on the ballot.  If offers the tantalising prospect of the Terminator
battling the Hustler mogul for control of the most populous US state.
[Cal has officially gone bankrupt. With a debt of $US38 bn, it missed
the payment on Jul 1. Cal's debt is now bigger than the state budgets
of every state except NY].

{{
9 am
PM John Howard says national security, economic strength, and social
stability are the issues for the next federal election.  He said his
govt will be happy to be assessed on all those areas.  Mr Howard was
addressing the Tas Lib Council. The PM said the next election was 15
to 18 m off, apparently putting an end to the possibility of a DD
election on the basis of un-passed legislation.

SYD. More than 50,000 people have set off on the Sun-Herald City to
Surf fun run. The 14 km race from CBD SYD to Bondi began at 10 am.
The course records, of course, are held by Victorians.  Steve
Moneghetti and Susie Power.

Cal has passed its budget. With Dems refusing to cut services and Reps
refusing to allow tax increases, it wasn't an easy process. Although
the legislature is dominated by Democrats, it needs a 2/3 majority to
pass the budget. With a deficit nr $40 bn this y, Cal has passed a
$100 bn budget for FY 2003/4.  It will be based largely on borrowings,
and will allow the state to limp along for at least another y.  
Cal has the largest population of any US state. It also has the
largest ethnic mix. It's the only US state where whites are not in the
majority. Cal has a majority Latino population. It also has the
largest Korean population outside of Korea, the largest Iranian
community in the W world.  It also has the largest divide between rich
and poor. In the wake of the dot com bust in the 1990s, it also has
the largest unemployment rate -- 3 pts above the US national avg.

3.30 pm
PM John Howard is pinning his hopes for passing controversial
legislation on a referendum, probably to be held next y.  The poll
will ask Aussies to change the constitution to allow a joint sitting
of both houses of fed parliament after any election, not just a double
dissolution election.  The sitting would allow the passage of blocked
legislation from the prev parliament.

40 people have now died across Europe, for either heat stroke or
forest fires, since the record hot weather started about 2 wks ago.
A 3 yo girl was the latest victim.

A Tanzanian has won the city to surf in just over 41 mins.  Heat beat
the 2nd-placed Aussie by 3 secs.  Steve M still holds the record at 40
min 30 sec, although an Aussie hasn't won the race for 6 y.

The AUS military says a ship taking supplies to the Solomons as part
of the intervention effort is not a security risk.  The ship is not
AUS-owned. Maritime unions had complained that some foreign-flagged
vessels were known security risks. But the Navy says the vessel will
be escorted by Aussie warships and is not a security risk.

3.45 pm
The PM says there's a "strong probability" SYD will never need a 2nd
airport.  Mr Howard told Ch 9 the existing airport will handle all of
SYD's needs because of technological changes and improvements.

Def Min Sen Robert Hill has denied a newspaper report that the Def
Dept is facing a $2 bn budget blowout.

Vic has recorded a drop in revenue from poker machines in pubs and
clubs. Since 1991, when the machines were intro'd, Victorians have
been putting 10% more money into them every y.  But the report for
last y shows revenue down $220 mn -- about 9%.  Clubs are blaming
newly-intro'd smoking bans for the sharp decline. Anti-gambling
advocate Tim Costello [brother of Fed Treas Peter] says that's a good
thing. When some people go outside to have a smoking break, they keep
on walking to their cars, rather than sitting for long hrs in front of
pokies and gambling away their family's financial security.

Basra.  The Brit military are over-stretched in providing security for
the population in S Iraq.  Locals tell BBC reports they shake
uncontrollably with fear while going to work. There are an increasing
number of muggings, kidnap-for-ransom and random violence.  An
increasing number of patients at the local hospitals present with
gunshot wounds.  Locals say Iraqi police should do more patrolling
and less standing around guarding their own police stations.  A Brit
cmdr says locals are allowed to have a gun at work and at home for
self-protection, but they are not allowed to carry guns in cars.
There is also a new rule against cars having tinted windows.  The new
rule will make those cars without a/c even hotter in the 40+ C weather.

4 pm
The AUS Inst of Engineers says AUS is lagging behind the US 18 m in
protecting infrastructure. PM Howard says it isn't a fair comparison,
because the threat of terror attack in the US is much greater than AUS.

MEL. An elderly Vic man has apparently been shot dead by a companion
in a deer-hunting accident. The shooter later helped take the body to
the local police stn.  A police rep says the dead man's 2 friends took
his body to Bairnsdale police stn in Vic's SE about 7 pm yesterday.
Police believe the 74 yo man from Warragul, about 170 km from
Bairnsdale, was accidentally shot while out hunting with his friends.
2 men are still being questioned by police, but the death is not being
treated as suspicious.
}}

----------------------------------------
Mon, 11 Aug 2003.

Ahmedabad. 2 KILLED IN INDIAN EXPLOSION!  A powerful explosion had
killed 2 people and injured 20 others in the W Indian state of Gujarat.
Police say the blast that also damaged 6 houses in the crowded
Ektanagar slum in Gujarat's financial capital Ahmedabad appears to
have been accidental.  The slum, which houses both Hindus and Muslims,
remained peaceful during sectarian violence in Gujarat last y in
which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.  One
resident says the blast occurred when explosive material stored in 1
of the houses ignited.

Moscow. CANISTER EXPLODES ON MOSCOW TRAM!  A canister containing an
alkaline substance has exploded on a tram in the Russian capital,
injuring at least 5 people.  Medical choppers have air-lifted some of
the injured from the scene in the Lefortovo region of N Moscow to the
Sklifosovsky Burn Centre.  The injured are being treated for
chemical and acid burns.  It's not immediately clear what caused
the canister to exploded.

Kabul. UN SUSPENDS S AFGHAN OPS AMID FATAL ATTACKS!  The UN has
suspended road missions across much of S Afghanistan following a
series of attacks that have left 7 dead and 15 injured.  A UN rep says
all UN missions to the border districts of Helmand and Kandahar prov
have been suspended.  Rep David Singh says there are also currently no
missions to Uruzgan and Zabul provs or to N Helmand except to the
capital.  Local authorities have blamed the attacks on Taliban
remnants and their al-Qaeda allies. 

Shlomi. HEZBOLLAH SHELLS ISRAELI VILLAGE!  Israeli warplanes have
bombed an anti-aircraft battery on the outskirts of a village in S
Lebanon.  The army says the attack came after shells fired by Lebanese
guerrillas killed an Israeli teen and wounded several others.  A rep
for Hezbollah says the battery fired only anti-aircraft shells at
Israeli fighter jets flying over Lebanon.  It's the first fatality
from Hezbollah shelling of N Israel since Israel withdrew its forces
from S Lebanon in May 2000, after a 22-y occupation.  Today's violence
follows an upsurge in incidents along the Israel-Lebanon border in
recent days.

Basra. RIOTING CONTINUES IN S IRAQ!  In Iraq's S city of Basra,
residents have rioted for the 2nd day with Brit troops coming under
fire [?] amid anger over power and fuel shortages.  Brit troops
clashed with rioters as officials said about 800 people had taken to
the streets to express frustration at a lack of electricity and fuel.
Meanwhile, in Baghdad, 12 people were wounded in a grenade attack on
US soldiers.

London. ARMLESS ORPHAN SEES THE DOCTOR!  An Iraqi boy who lost both
arms in the US-led attack on Baghdad is having his first appointment
at the London hospital rehab centre where he's expected to be fitted
with state-of-the-art prosthetic arms.  The new limbs are worth around
$A50,000.  13 yo Ali Abbas won the sympathy of mns around the world
after being injured in an American bombing raid early in the war,
which also killed both his parents.

Liberia. TAYLOR TELLS LIBERIANS HE'S BEING FORCED FROM POWER!  In a
live TV broadcast Pres Charles Taylor has told Liberians he's being
forced into exile. Taylor is preparing to stand down under an agreement
that will see him escape war crimes charges under exile in neighbouring
Nigeria.  At least 2,000 people have been killed since Jun in the
latest bout of bloodletting to group the W Af country that was founded
by former US slaves.  Taylor's made a farewell address, saying he's
resigning for the good of the country, and is being forced into exile.
He says the US is using food as a weapon to force him from power.
Taylor has prev said he will stand down on Aug 11.

Denpasar. 2ND BALI BOMBER ON TRIAL!  The man accused of leading the
Bali bombers will today return to court to fight chagres carrying the
death penalty.  However, lawyers for Muklas say they're having trouble
finding any witnesses who can win him leniency.  The defence team
plans to read a report concluding the bombs could only have come from
military sources -- possibly implicating foreign govts.

Canberra. OPPN CALLS FOR JAKARTA INTEL!  The fed opp'n has called on
the govt to reveal what intel it had about last wk's deadly bombing
in C Jakarta, that killed 11 people.  The govt has admitted having
seen Indonesian intel that a terrorist attack was being planned for
central Jakarta.  However For Min Alex Downer has defended warnings
given to AUS travellers as "very good".

Avu Avu. SOLOMONS OP CONTINUES!  The AUS-led intervention force in the
Solomons has promised to protect villagers who have surrendered their
guns.  The villagers on the troubled Weathercoast are afraid warlord
Harold Keke will attack them now that they're disarmed.  A delegation
flew to the remote Avu Avu outpost in 3 AUS Army helicopters yesterday
to destroy weapons handed in by militiamen under Keke rival Andrew Te'e.

Suva. FORMER POLICE COMMISSIONER UNDER INVESTIGATION!  It's been
revealed that Fiji's former police commissioner, Isikia Savua, is
still under investigation for possible involvement in the May 2000
coup.  Fiji's Daily Post quotes his Australian successor Andrew Hughes
as saying police are treating Savua in the same way as other people
allegedly involved in the coup.  Hughes says the Dir of Public
Prosecutions will review Savua's file to determine the most
appropriate course of action.  Savua is currently Fiji's
representative at the UN.

Paris. EUROPEAN HEAT WAVE CONTINUES!  Europe is bracing itself for more
blistering temps as a heat wave suffocating large parts of the
continent drags on into a 2nd wk.  Temps in Brit have reached record
highs, with the mercury breaking the old 100 F mark for the first time
in recorded history.  For the past wk, temps across Europe shot up
daily into the uncomfortable mid and upper 30s C, with several cities
topping 40 C.  The oppressive heat has left 19 people dead in Spain
and at least 1 person in France. 

Melbourne. 16 DIE IN VIC DUE TO MEDICAL MISTAKES!  16 people have
reportedly died in Vic hospitals due to medical mistakes last FY, incl
a child who was given the wrong medicine.  Almost a dozen other people
suffered injury due to staff treating the wrong patient or body part,
instruments being left behind after surgery, and neurological damage.
4 more patients reportedly committed suicide in hospital.  The
incidents are recorded in documents obtained by The Age newspaper.

Canberra. DEFENCE CONTRACTS BEHIND SCHEDULE!  The fed opp'n says
vital defence projects are up to a decade behind schedule and a grossly
over budget.  The Def Min Robert Hill has denied reports up to 20
contracts are in danger of collapse due to a budget blowout.  Opp'n
def rep Chris Evans says there's a "cumulative backlog" of 85 y for
hardware, ranging from infantry vehicles to heavyweight torpedoes.
The govt has denied there's a funding crisis in defence, although Sen
Hill has conceded the situation is "tight".  However, Sen Evans says
none of the 20 largest def projects planned in 1996 -- when the Howard
govt first came to power -- has been yet delivered. 

Canberra. NEW GG SWORN IN!  Former SAS cmdr and decorated Vietnam War
hero Maj-Gen Michael Jeffery has been sworn in as AUS's 24th Governor
General.  Gen Jeffery has taken the oath of office in Parliament's
Senate chamber in CBR, in a ceremony presided over by High Court
Chief Justice Murray Gleeson.  Gen Jeffery replaces former GG Peter
Hollingworth, who stood down earlier amid controversy over his
handling of sex abuse claims against the church while he was Anglican
Archbishop of Brisbane.

Townsville. MEN SURVIVE NIGHTMARE JOURNEY!  Straight from the pages of
the tabloids!  2 elderly men have survived a terrifying journey
through shark and croc-infested waters in FNQ after their boat
capsized.  The 2 were fishing off the coast on Fri when their dinghy
was hit by a freak wave.  They cluing to the boat for 2 hrs in
shark-infested waters as it drifted to shore, then dragged it through
the shallows and mangroves in the dark to find help. 

Brisbane. BEATTIE ATTACKS GOVT ON HEALTH DEAL!  Qld Prem Peter Beattie
has accused the fed govt of blackmail and bullying over the new AUS
Health Agreement.  Mr Beattie says Qld will be penalised $9 mn if it
doesn't sign the deal by the end of the m, and will lose $146,000 for
every day after that date until it signs up.  Under the deal, states
will be guaranteed a share of a $42 bn fed funding offer over 5 y if
they commit to and meet a specific level of spending and submit to new
performance reporting measures.  The states have complained the
funding is actually a cut, in real terms.

Brisbane. GREENIES COMPLAIN OVER COBALT SHIPMENT!  Anti-nuclear
protesters, who have been fasting for 9 days in protest over food
irradiation in AUS, will take their message to the Qld govt today.
Campaigners say the fast was triggered by news that the first shipment
of Cobalt 60 -- the nuclear product to be used for the irradiation --
has been transported to the Steritech facility, N of Bris.  The
plant, which obtained AUS's first-ever approval to irradiate food,
began operating last m.

Brisbane. SIR JOH BIDS FOR $1/2 BN COMPO!  Former Qld Prem Sir Joh
Bjelke-Petersen has released 20 yo personal diary notes in his bid to
prove the Fitzgerald corruption inquiry was illegal established.  Sir
Joh is seeking compo from Qld taxpayers after claiming a loss of
income of more than $335 mn based on alleged illegality in the 1987
Fitzgerald inquiry into police and govt corruption.  The Qld govt is
seeking Crown Law advice on the compensation claim.

Sydney. SHOTS FIRED OVER PARKING SPACE!  Shots were fired and a man
was stabbed during what appears to be a fight over a parking space in
SYD's S o'night.  NSW police say a man returned to the driveway of his
unit in Carramar Ave, Carramar, to find a car blocking his access.  A
police rep says the 53 yo man left a none on the vehicle requesting
that it not be parked there in future, but a short time later 2 men
approached the car.  The resident sought cover and only then realised
he had been stabbed in the back. 

Sydney. TWO STABBED DURING ATTEMPTED HOME INVASION!  2 men suffered
knife wounds during an alleged home invasion in SYD's N o'night.  NSW
police say 2 men, 1 allegedly armed with a baseball bat, entered the
home unit in Burns Bay Rd, Land Cove, about 8 pm yesterday.  A rep
says the intruders confronted the 5 occupants of the unit and an
altercation broke out, resulting in 1 intruder suffering a stab wound
to the abdomen.  Police inquiries are continuing.

Sydney. MARKETS!  The ASX has continued to trade marginally higher up
to noon, following a mild improvement in the US markets on Fri.  But
local trading has lacked conviction.  At 12.15 the All Ords is up 9
pts at 3,133.

{{
6.30 am
The AUD is trading around 65.17 US c.  Gold is up strongly at
$US356.18/oz.  The US is running a $550 bn deficit against China,
Japan and the EU.  Analysts say that's un-sustainable, so the USD has
to go down and gold will rise.  One analyst predicts gold will be
$US450/oz within 6 mn.  Oil is down 21 US c to $US32.18/bbl.  It's
also crunch time for AUS big companies.  They start a new round of
profit reports this wk.  Among the heavies are News Corp, Westfield
Trust, TabCorp, and Coke Amatil.

Protests in Basra have continued for a 2nd day.  Ch 9 says clashes
with "US" troops in Basra have left 1 Iraqi man dead.  Troops have
"exchanged gunfire" with rioters who are demanding an end to petrol
shortages.  The local temp has also been 120 F.  Protesters say they
are only a few miles from one of biggest oilfields on the planet but
can't get fuel for the MV's.  100 days on from the US-led
"liberation", it isn't better.  Locals have been stoning petrol
tankers and Brit soldiers.  Brit solders opened fire during one riot,
apparently into the air.  But several were injured and 1 killed.  It's
not clear who shot them.  Elsewhere, a Nepalese civilian working under
contract was shot dead by persons unknown.  Brit cmdrs say smugglers
are shipping oil out of Iraq while the people suffer.

Brit troops captured their first oil smuggler in the Gulf yesterday.

Nr Tikrit, 2 US soldiers have been injured in a bomb attack.  Local
people are complaining there about power shortages.

Israel has fired retaliatory missiles into Lebanon after Hezbollah
shelled a town in N Israel.  The Hezbollah shells killed a teen boy
and injured 4 adults in the border village of Shlomi.  Israeli jet
fighters attacked Hezbollah positions with missiles.  The casualties
in that attack aren't clear.  Hezbollah denies they were attacking the
village, saying they fired only anti-aircraft guns at Israeli jets
flying over Lebanon.  The Hezbollah attack was the 2nd in 2 days after
a period of relative calm.  Israel is now seeking a special session of
the UNSC.

The AUS fed govt has reportedly failed to deliver any of the 20 top
defence projects it promised to deliver shortly after it was
re-elected.

The FBI has warned of suicide bombing attacks in Brit.  Brit police
have been sent to Israel for training on how to spot suicide bombers.
Brit police have been told to shoot to kill anyone suspected of being
a bomber.

The Vic health system is being blamed for the deaths of 16 people last
FY over errors in medical procedures.

The new GG is to be sworn in today.  He's the first AUS-born GG with a
full-time military career.  He will announce bravery decorations later today.

The fed govt is resuming sitting today.  The govt is expected to be
questioned over its intel ahead of the Jakarta attack.

Jakarta. Accused leader of Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Baqr Bashir, has sent
a message from jail saying supporters should fight to protect the
faith without fearing they will be labelled terrorists.  Meanwhile,
Indon police have revealed the dead terrorist found at the scene of
last wk's Jakarta blast was a student of Bashir, as were several of
the Bali bombers.

5 people have been treated for burns after a tram exploded in Moscow.

Polls in the US show Arnold Schwarzenegger is the frontrunner in the
race for Cal governor.

The heat-wave continues in Brit, with quite a few sites, notably
Heathrow Airport, seeing 37.9 C -- 100 F -- yesterday.  The heat-wave
has lasted over 1 wk.  Lightning and thunderstorms have injured
several people.  In Portugal, 15 people have died in forest fires and
400,000 acres of woodland have been destroyed.  In S Italy wild fires
are threatening 1000s of acres.  Pope JP2 has led prayers for rain.
He said the hot weather was a "worrying emergency".  People must take
some responsibility of the droughts that are threatening much of
humanity, said the Pope.

As typhoon Etau heads out of Japan it leaves 8 people dead and 85 injured.

Liberian Pres Taylor is expected to resign today.

Brit Prince Wm has apparently speared an antelope in Kenya,
upsetting animal rights groups in the UK.

An Air France pilot has been released on bail after he joked he had a
bomb in his shoe.

An Iraqi has been shot dead in an ambush.  He was delivering mail to
the UN building in Basra.  Earlier, 1 Iraqi was civilian shot dead,
apparently by Brit troops.

Midday.
The PM says he won't proceed with plans to reform the AUS Senate
unless there is bi-partisan support for the idea.  Such reform would
require a referendum, and referenda have never passed unless all
political parties pushed for a "Yes" vote.  The Opp'n has indicated
its condition for support would be to enshrining fixed 4-y terms for
both houses, something Mr Howard in the past has refused to accept.

The prev 100 F record has fallen in Brit.  The mercury has now hit
38.1 -- the hottest day since 1875.  Scientists say 4 out of the 5
hottest y in Brit have been in the past 10 y.  Nitwits say the rise in
temps are "best correlated with particles from the sun".

Brit officials in Basra say smugglers and supporters of Saddam are
responsible for continuing violence.  They say saboteurs have cut off
the city from the power grid.  Local temps have reached 50 C.  So
there are no fridge or air conditioners operating.  The Brits have
appealed for calm through local TV channels, but no-one was watching.
The Brits were distributing fuel today, following complaints of fuel
shortages.  But their trucks were stoned.  The Brits had prided
themselves on how well they were handling the population of Basra.
Much of the country's infrastructure remains in ruins, 100 days after
falling under Coal'n responsibility.

The Liberian capital is tense ahead of the expected departure of Pres
Taylor.  4/5 of the country is in rebel hands.  In a TV address, Pres
Taylor says he's being forced into exile under US pressure.  He said
the US was using food as a weapon against Liberians.  He said he could
no longer see Liberians suffer, so he was standing down.  1000s of
Taylor supporters have gathered outside his HQ in Monrovia.  He had
promised to stand down on Aug 11.

Canberra. New economic numbers are out today.  The RBA says today that
credit has jumped 20% over the y-to-date.  The next-biggest increase
in credit growth has been in Spain.  The US has recorded only 10%.
"Credit growth exceeds any reasonable benchmark by a large margin",
says the RBA report.  Easy credit is fuelling price rises in the
property market, says the C bank.  Banks are lending against the home
for other expenditure.  The longer this goes on the bugger the hurt
when the bubble bursts, says the bank.  It warns credit levels could
become a risk to the economy if the same pattern continues for much
longer.  A cut in int rates is not on the agenda at this point.  The
RBA also points to improvements in the US outlook.

AMP shares have been as high as $4.62 in early trade.  The company
will reveal its business plan in the UK later this m.  AMP has told
investors profits will be broadly in line with expectations.

The ASIC is looking at charging a trader notorious for unsolicited
offers for shares at well below their market price.  After a prev
stoush with the regulators, the one-man operation was directed to put
the true market value of any shares it was offering to buy on its
letters.  But the latest offer to be directed at usually elderly
investors, for "One Steel" shares, has raised new concerns.  The offer
is ostensibly near the present market value for the shares, but the
fine print says payments will be made over a period of 15 y -- putting
the real value of the offer at less than 1/2 the share price.  ASIC
today said it's considering laying charges.
}}

========================================

(*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S?  A small group of dedicated
sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from
support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention
us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers!

All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek.

*** Please stand by for further orders from The Leader ***