Bhutto Named Possible Killers

My previous posts about this assassination can be seen here.

Daily Mail - Bhutto email named killers weeks before assassination

Benazir Bhutto claimed three senior allies of Pakistan's president General Musharraf were out to kill her in a secret email to Foreign Secretary David Miliband written weeks before her death.

Astonishingly, one of them is a leading intelligence officer who was officially responsible for protecting Miss Bhutto from an assassination.

The second is a prominent Pakistani figure, one of whose family members was allegedly murdered by a militant group run by Miss Bhutto's brother. The third is a well-known chief minister in Pakistan who is a long-standing opponent of Miss Bhutto.

Benazir Bhutto

My last 2 posts: Benazir Bhutto is Assassinated

Benazir Bhutto Shooting Footage

Here is another video that’s in colour.

YouTube - butto suikast



Some articles:

AP - Bhutto sent Blitzer security e-mail

It was a story CNN's Wolf Blitzer hoped he'd never have to report — an e-mail sent to him through an intermediary by Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto complaining about her security. Conditions of use: only if she were killed.

Bhutto, who was assassinated on Thursday, wrote to Blitzer that if anything happened to her, "I would hold (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf responsible."

AP - Bhutto Aides Reject Government Claim

An Islamic militant group said Saturday it had no link to Benazir Bhutto's killing, dismissing government claims that its leader orchestrated the assassination.

Bhutto's aides also said they doubted militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was behind the attack on the opposition leader and accused the government of a cover-up.

The Raw Story - Police abandoned security posts before Bhutto assassination

No autopsy performed on body; docs say bullet wounds not found

Police abandoned their security posts shortly before Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination Thursday, according to a journalist present at the time, and unanswerable questions remain about the cause of her death, because an autopsy was never performed.

Benazir Bhutto Shooting Footage

Previous post: Benazir Bhutto is Assassinated

Some footage has been released.

LiveLeak - Footage Of Benazir Bhutto Shooting Released



UPDATE - December 30, 2007. 10:36pm: Another video that’s in colour can be seen in my new post.

Top 25 Censored Stories from Project Censored

Project Censored - Top 25 Censored Stories of 2008

#1 No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person”
#2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
#3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africa’s Resources
#4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements
#5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq
#6 Operation FALCON Raids
#7 Behind Blackwater Inc.
#8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India
#9 Privatization of America’s Infrastructure
#10 Vulture Funds Threaten Poor Nations’ Debt Relief
#11 The Scam of “Reconstruction” in Afghanistan
#12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops
#13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants
#14 Impunity for US War Criminals
#15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Transmitted to Future Generations on a “Second Genetic Code”
#16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11
#17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations
#18 Mexico’s Stolen Election
#19 People’s Movement Challenges Neoliberal Agenda
#20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists
#21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments
#22 North Invades Mexico
#23 Feinstein’s Conflict of Interest in Iraq
#24 Media Misquotes Threat From Iran’s President
#25 Who Will Profit from Native Energy?

Project Censored - Top 25 Censored news stories of 2007

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

More U.S. Troops to Afghanistan

Centre for Research on Globalization - US prepares to increase occupation forces in Afghanistan

The Bush administration is preparing to significantly increase US troop levels in Afghanistan in an attempt to quell growing popular hostility to the US and NATO occupying forces. It is doing so with full confidence that it will face no significant opposition from the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Benazir Bhutto is Assassinated

UPDATE - December 28, 2007. 8:03 pm: Some footage has been released. I made a new post about it, it can be seen here.

BBC - Benazir Bhutto killed in attack

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suicide attack.

Ms Bhutto - the first woman PM in an Islamic state - was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when a gunman shot her in the neck and set off a bomb.

At least 20 other people died in the attack and several more were injured.

Housing Bust

The Washington Times - Blame abounds for housing bust

This year's housing bust is shaping up to be one of historic proportions. Sales and construction have sunk to levels not seen since the 1990 savings and loan crisis, while foreclosures and price drops are the largest since the Great Depression — and expected to get worse next year.

Other related posts:

New Century Financial Has Filed For Bankruptcy

Morgan Stanley Issues U.S. Recession Alert

Cameras and License Plate Readers in New York

NY1 News - Police Move Forward With License Plate Readers, Cameras

New York City police are moving forward on a multimillion-dollar counter-terrorism initiative, installing more than a hundred license plate readers and eventually thousands of cameras in Lower Manhattan. NY1 Criminal Justice Reporter Solana Pyne takes a look at the program in the following report.

As Police officer Michael Gerbasi drives, a camera on the roof of his patrol car photographs license plates. A computer then checks a database to see, for example, if the car is stolen.

"It will notify us with an alert sound on the computer, and then actually there is a voice that speaks out and says, ‘stolen vehicle’ and it will give you a picture of the plate and a description of the vehicle,” says Gerbasi.

More than a hundred of the readers – some on cars, others in fixed places – are about to be deployed en-masse in Lower Manhattan as part of a massive $106 million counter-terrorism initiative years in the planning.

“Starting in January, we'll be putting in our license plate readers. That will be, kind of, phase one of this program,” says Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

The license plate readers are just the tip of the iceberg in what's billed as the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative.

“We're looking to put in, ultimately, a thousand cameras in public spaces, link it to 2,000 private sector cameras,” says Kelly.

All the cameras would be monitored by police at one location. Virtually anyone who walks or drives south of Canal Street could be under surveillance.

The plan also includes mobile barriers on streets the department says are key choke points into the area. They could be automatically moved into place, effectively sealing off Lower Manhattan.

“That will enable us to wall off that area in extreme situations,” says Kelly.

It's all modeled on the so-called ring of steel in London, where cameras have helped authorities find terrorism suspects. It’s a first for the US.

"This is the first time that the government and the police in particular will have the ability to track everyone moving around in a public area,” says Chris Dunn of the NYCLU.

Concerned it's an invasion of privacy, the NYCLU has issued freedom of information law requests to get more information about exactly how the program works.

“The police department should not be spending a hundred million dollars of public money to put up thousands of cameras to track New Yorkers without there being some public debate and some public oversight,” says Dunn.

Police say the only information kept long-term will be about suspected law breakers. And that the City Council already approved part of the $40 million dollars the department is using to get the program started.

A previous post: More Cameras in New York

Britain to Open UFO Files

The Telegraph - MoD to open British UFO X-files

Top-secret details about hundreds of sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects are to be released for public viewing in response to the nation's continuing fascination with the subject.

The Ministry of Defence will release a total of 160 files dating back to that time to the National Archives in Kew.

The first files will be made available in Spring 2008 and the process is expected to take three years.

My previous post about this: UK to Open UFO Archive to Public

My post about France doing the same: French UFO Archive Available On Web

More Missing Weapons in Iraq

A previous post: Missing Weapons in Iraq

A new article: The Washington Post - Audit on Iraq: U.S. weapons are missing

Pentagon auditors said they could not account for millions of dollars worth of rocket-propelled grenades, armored vehicles, ammunition and other supplies and equipment that were to be used to train and equip Iraqi security forces, because of inadequate paperwork and a lack of oversight personnel.

A report released last week by the Defense Department's inspector general looked at $5.2 billion in the Iraq Security Forces Fund, which is part of the $44.5 billion U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq.

It found that the command in charge, known as the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, couldn't provide "reasonable assurance" that the money for the Iraqi security forces was used properly and that it was protected from "waste and mismanagement."

The inspector general said the command was unable to prove that it received 12,712 of the 13,508 weapons it bought because the serial numbers were not kept when they were brought to the Abu Ghraib warehouse, and when they were sent out there wasn't adequate paperwork tracking them to a contract. The 13,508 weapons were made up of 7,002 pistols, 3,230 assault rifles, 2,389 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 887 machine guns.

The inspector general's report follows an audit this summer by the Government Accountability Office that said the Pentagon lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005. The GAO report looked at weapons in the early part of the training and equipping program.

Gary Comerford, a spokesman for the inspector general, said there was "no way of telling" whether the Defense Department auditors looked at the same weapons as the GAO.

The inspector general's audit also looked at a random sample of equipment purchases, worth $1.1 billion. Of $643.1 million worth of contracts for armored vehicles, weapons, ammunition, communications equipment, garbage trucks and other supplies, the inspector general was able to follow a paper trail for only 12.9 percent -- or $82.9 million -- of it. For another set of purchases, worth $438.2 million, there was an audit trail for only 1 percent.

More on BAE and Tony Blair

Previous related posts:

Probe says Saudi Prince Received Secret Payments

Blair Dismisses New Investigation of Bribery Claims

BAE Faces U.S. Criminal Inquiry

A new article: BBC - Blair 'fears' on Saudi arms probe

Tony Blair raised fears about an investigation into a Saudi arms deal days before it was dropped last year, a newly-disclosed document has shown.

The then PM had said the decision to stop the probe into the BAE deal was taken because of national security and was not linked to commercial interests.

But in a letter released during a legal case, Mr Blair refers to "concern" over ongoing business negotiations.

Downing Street has refused to comment on the letter to his attorney general.

The letter from Mr Blair to Lord Goldsmith dated 8 December 2006 was released to the High Court during a case brought by two pressure groups who are challenging the legality of the decision to end investigations into BAE Systems' dealings with Saudi Arabia.

It refers "critical difficulties" that might have affected the major contract for new military aircraft

Ron Paul Breaks Fundraising Record

Huntington News - Ron Paul Surpasses Fund Raising Record Held by John Kerry

On the 234th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s supporters have set two fund raising records --- one for the Internet and a second for most raised in 24 hours.

As 24 hours approach on the West Coast, Paul supporters bested John Kerry’s fund raising record from 2004 when $5.7 million was added in 24 hours. After their “Tea Party” money bomb, Dr. Paul has $6.4 million and counting.

Change of Content

This blog has always been about news that’s important but mostly ignored by the mainstream media. I haven’t been posting much in the past 1-2 months because there just isn’t much significant stuff talked about by news agencies like Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, CNN, FOX, BBC, and others. Whenever they do talk about something significant, it’s usually filled with bullshit.

From now on, I’ll be posting news that comes from more alternative sources such as the kind of websites below:

www.alternet.org
www.theblackpacket.com
www.canadafreepress.com
www.commondreams.org
www.globalresearch.ca
www.guerrillanews.com
www.indypendent.org
www.indymedia.org
www.infowars.com
www.ipsnews.net
www.reclaimliberty.org
www.stoplying.ca
www.uruknet.info

I also added a “Links” section to this blog which can be seen on the right side. If anybody wants their website to appear in my “Links” section then leave a comment or send me an email. Redline_Chris@yahoo.com

EU Treaty is Signed

BBC - EU leaders sign landmark treaty

EU leaders have signed a treaty in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, that is expected to greatly alter the way the 27-nation body operates.

The treaty creates an EU president and a more powerful foreign policy chief.

The document, signed at a ceremony at the city's historic Jeronimos Monastery, also scraps veto powers in many policy areas.

It is a replacement for the EU constitution, which was abandoned following French and Dutch opposition.

EU leaders insist that the two texts are in no way equivalent.

But the Lisbon treaty incorporates some of the draft constitution's key reforms, and several governments face domestic pressure over the document.

In a speech before the signing, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on European leaders to use the treaty to make freedom, prosperity and solidarity an everyday reality for all European citizens.

"From this old continent, a new Europe is born," he said.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the treaty would create a more modern, efficient and democratic union.

"The world needs a stronger Europe," he said.

The leaders signed the treaty, translated into the EU's 23 official languages, using specially engraved silver fountain pens as a choir sang Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

UK signing

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown signed the treaty later in the day after missing the ceremony, citing a prior engagement in the British parliament.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband attended the signing ceremony.

The UK's opposition Conservatives accused Mr Brown of "not having the guts" to sign the treaty, which is politically controversial in Britain, in public.

Having started this year with a celebration of its 50th birthday, the EU hopes the signing of the Lisbon treaty will end the serious mid-life crisis brought about by the death of the constitution, the BBC's Oana Lungescu reports.

There will be a lot of relief, said a senior European diplomat, but also some apprehension about what happens next.

Ireland is the only country planning to hold a referendum, but most voters there seem either undecided or indifferent.

Parliaments in Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark are also expected to give a turbulent reception to the 250-page text.

However, Germany, France and Poland have pledged to be among the first to ratify it, so that the new reforms can come into force in 2009 as planned.

The treaty is a slimmed-down version of the European constitution, with a more modest name and without any reference to EU symbols such as the flag and anthem.

It is meant to ease decision-making, by scrapping national vetoes in some 50 policy areas, including sensitive ones such as police and judicial co-operation.

There will also be a foreign policy chief, controlling a big budget and thousands of diplomats and officials, and a permanent EU president appointed for up to five years.

But some already fear that instead of giving Europe a strong single voice in the world, the new posts will only generate more rivalry, our correspondent adds.

A related article: Telegraph - Giscard: EU Treaty is the constitution rewritten

Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the architect of the abandoned European Constitution, has admitted that the document has been rewritten by EU leaders in a different order just to avoid the need for referendums.

Some old related posts:

No Referendum on EU Treaty?

Blair as EU President?

Morgan Stanley Issues U.S. Recession Alert

Telegraph - Morgan Stanley issues full US recession alert

Morgan Stanley has issued a full recession alert for the US economy, warning of a sharp slowdown in business investment and a "perfect storm" for consumers as the housing slump spreads.

Iran Stops Accepting U.S. Dollars for Oil

RIA Novosti - Iran stops accepting U.S. dollars for oil

Iran has stopped selling its oil for U.S. dollars, the Iranian ISNA news agency said on Saturday, citing the country's oil minister.

"In line with a policy of selling crude oil in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, the sale of our country's oil in U.S. dollars has been completely eliminated," ISNA reported Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari as saying.

Other related posts:

China Shifts to Euros for Iran Oil

Iran Replacing Dollar

Study: Cell Phone Use Increases Tumour Risk

AFP - Israeli study says regular mobile use increases tumour risk

Regular use of mobile telephones increases the risk of developing tumours, a new scientific study by Israeli researchers and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology revealed on Friday.

An extract of the report seen by Israel's Yedoit Aharonot newspaper put the risk of developing a parotid gland tumour nearly 50 percent higher for frequent mobile phone users -- more than 22 hours a month.

The risk was still higher if users clamped the phone to the same ear, did not use hands-free devices or were in rural areas.

"Analysis restricted to regular users or to conditions that may yield higher levels of exposure (eg heavy use in rural areas) showed consistently elevated risks," said an abstract of the report in the US journal made available to AFP.

The study included 402 benign and 58 malignant incident cases of parotid gland tumour diagnosed in Israel at age 18 years or more, in 2001-2003.

The research was led by Dr Siegal Sadetzki, a cancer and radiation expert at the Chaim Sheba Medical Centre in Israel and as part of a World Health Organisation project.

The report can be seen here but a subscription is required.

A related post: Cell Phones and Cancer

Wolfowitz as Chairman of the ISAB

Newsweek - An Old Face Resurfaces

Don't ever say the Bush administration doesn't take care of its own. Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormy departure as president of the World Bank—amid allegations that he improperly awarded a raise to his girlfriend—he's in line to return to public service. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered Wolfowitz, a prime architect of the Iraq War, a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board, a prestigious State Department panel, according to two department sources who declined to be identified discussing personnel matters. The 18-member panel, which has access to highly classified intelligence, advises Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMD issues and other matters.

Wolfowitz, now a visiting scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, will replace former senator Fred Thompson, who quit over the summer to run for president. Although officials declined to say how Rice came to choose him, Wolfowitz began his government career in the 1970s in the State Department as an arms-control expert; he forged a relationship with Rice during the 2000 presidential campaign, when they both served as top foreign-policy advisers to the then candidate Bush. But his selection has raised more than a few eyebrows within State because he'll be providing advice on some of the same issues that critics say the administration got spectacularly wrong when Wolfowitz was pushing the case for the Iraq War at the Pentagon. (One of the department sources called the appointment "amazing.") At least Wolfowitz, who did not return calls seeking comment, will have like-minded company: other panel members include Robert Joseph, the former National Security Council official in charge of Iraq WMD intelligence, and ex-CIA director James Woolsey, both strong allies during the Iraq debate.

The sources said Wolfowitz has already accepted Rice's offer to fill the part-time position, though it won't be announced until the completion of a standard check for conflicts of interest. But he won't have to worry about any complaints from pesky Democrats. The position doesn't require Senate confirmation. "We think he is well suited and will do an excellent job," said one senior official.

1kg of Radioactive Material Seized

Reuters - Slovaks seize 1 kg of radioactive material

Slovak and Hungarian police seized a kilo (2.2 lbs) of radioactive material and arrested three people in a joint operation on Wednesday, a spokesman said.

Slovak police spokesman Martin Korch said the material was being examined and did not confirm a report carried by the Slovak news agency SITA that it was enriched uranium.

"This one kilogram should have been sold for one million U.S. dollars," spokesman Martin Korch said.

The spokesman said the police raid took place along the eastern part of the two central European countries' common frontier, near their borders with Ukraine.

"Three people have been taken into custody, two in Slovakia one in Hungary," he said. "Further information will be provided tomorrow."

Uranium enrichment can yield either fuel for nuclear power stations, or be used for nuclear warheads.

Anti-torture Activist Banned from YouTube

UPDATE - December 28, 2007. 6:44 pm: I noticed today that his account has been restored by YouTube. It can be seen at: http://youtube.com/user/waelabbas

Reuters - YouTube stops account of anti-torture activist

The video-sharing website YouTube has suspended the account of a prominent Egyptian anti-torture activist who posted videos of what he said was brutal behaviour by some Egyptian policemen, the activist said.

Wael Abbas said close to 100 images he had sent to YouTube were no longer accessible, including clips depicting purported police brutality, voting irregularities and anti-government demonstrations.

YouTube, owned by search engine giant Google, did not respond to a written request for comment. A message on Abbas's YouTube user page, http://youtube.com/user/waelabbas, read: "This account is suspended."

"They closed it (the account) and they sent me an email saying that it will be suspended because there were lots of complaints about the content, especially the content of torture," Abbas told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Abbas, who won an international journalism award for his work this year, said that of the images he had posted to YouTube, 12 or 13 depicted violence in Egyptian police stations.

Abbas was a key player last year in distributing a clip of an Egyptian bus driver, his hands bound, being sodomised with a stick by a police officer - imagery that sparked an uproar in a country where rights groups say torture is commonplace.

That tape prompted an investigation that led to a rare conviction of two policemen, who were sentenced to three years in prison for torture. Egypt says it opposes torture and prosecutes police against whom it has evidence of misconduct.

YouTube regulations state that "graphic or gratuitous violence" is not allowed and warn users not to post such videos. Repeat violators of YouTube guidelines may have their accounts terminated, according to rules posted on the site.

Rights activists said by shutting down Abbas's account, YouTube was closing a significant portal for information on human rights abuses in Egypt just as Cairo was escalating a crackdown on opposition and independent journalists.

The internet has emerged in Egypt as a major forum for critics of the Egyptian government.

"The goal is not showing the violence, it is showing police brutality. If his goal was just to focus on violence without any goal, that is a problem. But Wael is showing police brutality in Egypt," said Gamal Eid, head of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.

This year, for the first time, an Egyptian court convicted and jailed a blogger over his internet writings.

A string of court rulings since September has seen at least 12 Egyptian journalists ordered jailed on charges from defaming President Hosni Mubarak to misquoting the minister of justice.

Elijah Zarwan, a prominent blogger and activist in Egypt, said he thought it was unlikely that YouTube had come under official Egyptian pressure, and was more likely reacting to the graphic nature of the videos.

"I suspect they are doing it not under pressure from the Egyptian government but rather because it made American viewers squeamish," he said. "But to shut them down because some people might find the truth disturbing is unconscionable."

Taser Death Video

My previous post: Witness Disputes RCMP Version of Airport Taser Death, RCMP Won't Show Video

The video has been released.

Google Video - Polish Man Tasered to Death by RCMP at Vancouver Airport

Homeless Veterans

AP - Study: 1 out of 4 homeless are veterans

Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

Terrorist Watch List

USA Today - Terror watch list swells to more than 755,000

The government's terrorist watch list has swelled to more than 755,000 names, according to a new government report that has raised worries about the list's effectiveness.

The size of the list, typically used to check people entering the country through land border crossings, airports and sea ports, has been growing by 200,000 names a year since 2004. Some lawmakers, security experts and civil rights advocates warn that it will become useless if it includes too many people.

USA Today - 15,000 want off the U.S. terror watch list

More than 15,000 people have appealed to the government since February to have their names removed from the terrorist watch list that delayed their travel at U.S. airports and border crossings, the Homeland Security Department says.

John Anderson of Minneapolis, who turned 6 on July 4, is among those who have been inconvenienced.

Pakistan Turned into Police State

Reuters - Musharraf tries to stifle outcry over emergency rule

Police detained hundreds of Pakistani opposition figures and lawyers on Sunday as military ruler President Pervez Musharraf tried to stifle the outcry over his imposition of a state of emergency.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said national elections, due in January, might be rescheduled because of General Musharraf's decision on Saturday to announce emergency rule, which was condemned by the United States and other Western allies.

BBC - Musharraf targets key opponents

Pakistani opposition leaders and activists have been detained in the wake of President Pervez Musharraf's decision to declare emergency rule.

The acting head of the party of exiled former PM Nawaz Sharif was arrested, senior lawyers have been detained and the country's chief justice sacked.

BBC - Musharraf takes on Pakistan's judges

The proclamation of emergency in Pakistan has made one big difference. All the nearly 30 TV news channels have gone off the air. And with them has gone all the cacophony about the political, judicial and military crisis in the country.

Pakistan's military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, suspended the constitution and proclaimed emergency rule in a televised address on Saturday evening.

Soon afterwards, TV cable operators said they were asked by the government to stop beaming all local and foreign news channels, except the official Pakistan Television Corp (PTV).

Meanwhile, resentment is brewing among the judges of the higher judiciary. More than 60 judges, out of a total of 97, have declined to take oath under the new Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).

Their homes have been placed under strict security, presumably to prevent them from going to the courts on Monday, as some of them plan to do.

In a hurriedly-called sitting on Saturday evening, seven Supreme Court judges issued an order barring the government from proclaiming emergency rule, and advising the state functionaries not to carry out emergency orders, if issued.

AP - Pakistani police detain 500 activists

Police and soldiers emboldened by state of emergency powers swept up hundreds of activists and opposition members on Sunday, dragged away protesters shouting "Shame on you!", and turned government buildings into barbed-wire compounds.

Witness Disputes RCMP Version of Airport Taser Death, RCMP Won't Show Video

UPDATE - November 15, 2007. 6:15 pm: The video has been released. It can be seen in my new post by clicking here.

CanWest - Witness disputes RCMP version of airport taser death

The young man who filmed the final minutes of 40-year-old Robert Dziekanski's life has given a disturbing account of what he believes was a preventable Taser death.

Paul Pritchard, 25, was on his way home to Victoria when he happened to witness an RCMP officer Taser Dziekanski to death in the arrivals section of Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 13.

Pritchard, an English teacher in China, says he was waiting in the arrivals lobby when he noticed Dziekanski acting strangely as he paced back and forth. After watching for a few minutes, he decided to use his cellphone camera to film Dziekanski.

While others in the waiting area called for security, it took some 25 to 30 minutes before security and police arrived, recalled Pritchard.

But upon their arrival, it was clear that the police had decided to use a Taser gun before they even got near Dziekanski, said Pritchard.

"I heard 'Can I or should I Taser him?' before they even got to Mr. Dziekanski," says Pritchard. "Right away they Tasered him."

Three police officers then struggled to handcuff Dziekanski, who by now was on the floor. Dziekanski was unconscious about a minute later, said Pritchard.

Police immediately called "Code Red" and medics arrived about five to eight minutes later - a time period that Pritchard believes was too long.

Pritchard said that in the 25 minutes prior to security and RCMP officers arriving on scene, at least five people - including women - went up to Dziekanski to offer help.

Although he was clearly distressed and behaving strangely "none of us felt threatened at any time. We weren't scared, women were going right up to him," said Pritchard.

Pritchard's account is in stark contrast to that given by the RCMP, who said Dziekanski had been behaving violently and erratically in the international arrivals area and they were unable to calm him.

Pritchard had turned over his video footage to police on the understanding it would be returned to him within 48 hours.

But police have since changed their minds, saying the release of Pritchard's footage may taint other witness testimony.

Investigators told Pritchard it could be a year to two years before he gets the footage back.

Now Pritchard is suing the Mounties to get the video back in a bid to show the public what actually happened and put to rest the questions surrounding Dziekanski's death.

"I'm watching all these interviews and all these press conferences and there's all this guesswork. . . But there's a clear image of what happened - why are they hiding it?" said Pritchard at a Victoria news conference.

Pritchard's lawyer, Paul Pearson, will be arguing in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday for the return of the video footage.

"The police have not cited any legal authority for holding onto the footage," said Pearson. "They've been generally stating that it's an investigation. . .To us, that is not a legal reason."

Pearson added that when police seize personal items, they typically write a report to the justice.

"Those, as I understand it, have not been followed," said Pearson. "Effectively, they are people who are holding onto my client's property."

Dziekanski, who spoke no English, flew to Vancouver Oct. 13 to immigrate to Canada and join his mother in Kamloops, B.C.

The Taser death at Vancouver Airport has caused international repercussions - Poland's embassy in Ottawa has sent a diplomatic note to Canada expressing concern over the death.

Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, was too distraught to comment publicly on Thursday.

"She buried her only son yesterday," said a friend. "She's devastated, absolutely devastated."

Karen Hughes Quits

Reuters - State Department's image guru Karen Hughes quits

The U.S. State Department's public diplomacy chief and image guru Karen Hughes, one of the last survivors of President George W. Bush's original inner circle, said on Wednesday she would quit and return to Texas.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Hughes would step down in mid-December but the former television reporter would remain a consultant for the State Department.

Call for Surveillance Cameras in Terror Suspect’s Home

AP - Canadian officials call for surveillance cameras to be placed in terror suspect's home

Canadian officials took the unprecedented step of asking a judge to install closed-circuit video cameras inside a terrorism suspect's home.

Government lawyer Donald MacIntosh said Monday that he hopes the Federal Court will approve the heightened surveillance for Mahmoud Jaballah, an Egyptian asylum-seeker who Canadian officials have accused of being a "communications link" in al-Qaeda's 1998 African embassy bombings.

MacIntosh said he knows of no jurisdiction that has tried installing closed-circuit cameras in a suspect's home, but he intends to submit a formal argument before a hearing next month.

Jaballah, who already lives under extremely strict house arrest, has never been charged with a criminal offense but spent nearly all of 1997 to 2007 in a Canadian jail. Attempts to deport him to Egypt, a country known to torture fundamentalists, failed on humanitarian grounds.

He is being held under Canada's controversial "security certificate" system, which allows the government to detain and deport foreign-born terrorist suspects without charging them or providing them with evidence of their allegations. Aspects of the certificate system were ruled unconstitutional by Canada's Supreme Court in February.

Jaballah recently agreed to live under extraordinary surveillance, in return for being let out of jail in April.

Past measures have included having suspects submit to being followed by federal agents during their few weekly excursions, having their calls monitored, staying away from computers and having video cameras installed outside the home. Never before has any Canadian prisoner on bail been known to have had to countenance cameras inside their house.

Prosecutors in the Jaballah case argued last week in court that surveillance in his home is critical for reasons of national security.

Lawyers acting for Jaballah are resisting added surveillance and fighting for increased liberties.

The Federal Court is currently weighing a motion for Jaballah, a former principal at a Toronto Islamic school, to be let out of his Toronto home to teach school lessons to Muslim children. He currently lives at home with his wife and five children.

It’s insane how a person in this country can be detained for such a ridiculous amount of time and have basic freedoms taken away without ever being convicted and in this case, without even being charged.

Drug Firms Bribing Doctors

The Guardian - Drug firms try to bribe doctors with cars

Multinational drug companies are targeting doctors in developing countries with dinners and lavish gifts, such as air conditioners, washing machines and down-payments on cars, as incentives to prescribe their drugs, a report reveals today.

The report from Consumers International (CI) says that self-regulation by the multinational drug giants has failed, citing drug adverts by companies such as Glaxo-SmithKline, Wyeth, Novartis and Pfizer that would be considered misleading in Europe, as well as the heavy promotion by all companies of products to doctors.

Here is a related post: Bristol-Myers Squibb to Pay $515 Million for Doctor Kickback Scheme

Water Shortage

AP - Many states seen facing water shortages

An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn't have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York's reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year. Across America, the picture is critically clear — the nation's freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst.

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.

Photographer Was Told Diana Was to Announce Engagement or Pregnancy

Daily Express - GET TO RITZ FAST...DIANA ANNOUNCING PREGNANCY

PAPARAZZI photographers had been told to expect Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed to announce their engagement or a pregnancy on the night they died, the inquest heard yesterday.

Thierry Orban, a photo-reporter with the Sygma photo agency, told the police his duty chief editor Guillaume Vall­abreque had phoned him at home between 9pm and 9.30pm to ask him to go the Ritz Hotel specifically because news was expected.

“He told me that there was a rumour of an announcement that Diana was getting married or having a baby and he asked me to go to the Ritz to take a few photos of Diana with Dodi Al Fayed,” he said in a statement read to the jury.

Mr Orban, however, said he initially refused because he was having dinner at home with friends.

He was called again at around 11pm by his colleague Jacques Langevin, who asked him to take over from him outside the Ritz, but he again refused.

Around two hours later, he was told there had been a crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel. He went there and found Mr Langevin and other paparazzi near the wreckage of Diana and Dodi’s Mercedes.

He said he stayed at the scene until a police van carrying a group of photographers and an ambulance taking the stricken Princess to hospital left the tunnel.

Mr Orban, 52, followed the ambulance, taking a photograph when it stopped just a short distance from the Pitie Salpetriere Hospital, where Diana eventually died.

“The ambulance stopped, the driver got out and got into the back. That was when I took the only photograph of the ambulance, which in any case was blurry,” he said.

“It was rocking as if they were doing a cardiac massage.”

“Then the ambulance carried on to the Pitie Salpetriere Hospital. From there, I turned back.”

The inquest jury also heard parts of a statement made by hire car chauffeur Eric Li-Falandry, who was driving past the tunnel shortly after the crash and stopped to help.

He told the police he approached the car and saw people tending to the front seat passenger, bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones – now known as Trevor Rees – and a woman passenger in the back, although he did not realise at the time that the woman was Princess Diana

Mr Li-Falandry, 47, described the moment Diana opened her eyes.

“I looked in the back of the car and saw a woman sitting on the floor with her back against the rear right-hand door as someone attended to her,” he said.

“I noticed her open her eyes. I said to myself that she was alive and therefore went on to the driver.

“I saw his white hand and knew that he was dead. I could not see his face.

“As I was about to help the person tending to the woman, I noticed the police arrive. Not wanting to hinder the emergency services and, upset by what I had just seen, I decided to return to my vehicle. It was only later, on listening to the radio, that I found out that it was the Princess.”

A British solicitor told crash investigators he saw two cars he believed were fleeing the area around the Alma tunnel at high speed about the time of the crash.

Extracts from statements made by Gary Hunter, now dead, were read to the jury yesterday.

He said he saw a small black car followed by a larger white car travel beneath his hotel window.

British police officers suggested the two cars could have had nothing to do with the crash because, if they had emerged from the tunnel and followed the proper traffic signals, they would have had to travel one-and-a-half miles, to get to the position where Mr Hunter saw them, in around one minute.

However, Michael Mansfield QC, for Dodi’s father Mohamed Al Fayed, asked whether the Scotland Yard team working for former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens had investigated if the cars could have come from the slip road beside the tunnel.

The court was told the Scotland Yard team, which spent £3.69million of taxpayers’ money investigating conspiracy theories around the crash, had not. The police agreed to look into it yesterday.

The inquest continues.

Other posts about the inquest can be seen here.

Witness at Diana Inquest: I Saw a Flash

Daily Express - ANOTHER WITNESS: I SAW BLINDING FLASHES

AN American businessman who was in a taxi overtaken by Princess Diana’s Mercedes described last night seeing a “significant flash of light” a second before the crash.

Brian Anderson said he saw the Mercedes being pursued by at least three motorcycles a few hundred yards before it reached the Alma tunnel.

And then suddenly, after they disappeared from view, there was a “pretty significant flash of light”. He said the light appeared to come from towards the front and left of his car – perhaps from boats on the River Seine – as it sped along the riverside expressway.

“I saw the flash of light, which again didn’t strike me at the time because it’s where the illumination of the boats takes place, but a pretty significant flash of light,” he said.

Asked whether it had come from the boats on the Seine, he replied: “Yes, it came from that vicinity.”

A second later, he heard what sounded like an explosion. Describing the sequence, he said: “Flash. Explosion. Audio noise. It was a very large noise that sounded like an explosion. There was a half second between them.”

Mr Anderson, 53, who was giving evidence by video link from California, told the inquest his car stopped between 40 and 100 yards from the tunnel entrance.

“We came to a rapid stop and I saw an object passing in front of us and into the right side of the tunnel. It was the black Mercedes,” he said.

Seconds earlier, he had seen the Mercedes driving rapidly in the left lane of the carriageway down the expressway with three motorbikes just behind. In a statement to police, he said: “The bikes were in a cluster, like a swarm, around the Mercedes.” One of the motorcycles had two riders and the others had just one, he told the hearing.

Driving past the wreckage, Mr Anderson said he thought he saw one of the motorbikes parked in front of the mangled Mercedes.

On Monday, Francois Levistre told the hearing he had seen a bright flash of light in the tunnel.

Mr Anderson was interviewed by Scotland Yard officers between 2004 and 2006. He said he had also given an interview to French police but they claimed they had never spoken to him.

Ian Burnett, QC, for the coroner, said that Mr Anderson had given differing accounts of what he saw in five interviews with US media organisations in 10 years. He had not previously mentioned seeing a bright flash of light from the river and he had described seeing only two motorcycles.

Asked why his accounts varied, Mr Anderson, an international management consultant, said that thinking about what he had seen over the years had triggered further memories.

Other posts about the inquest can be seen here.

Iran Wins Neighbors' Pledge Not to Help U.S. Attack

Bloomberg - Iran Wins Neighbors' Pledge Not to Help U.S. Attack

Iran, facing U.S. pressure over its nuclear program, secured a pledge from Russia and the other three nations that surround the Caspian Sea not to allow America or its allies to launch an attack on it from their soil.

The presidents of Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed a joint declaration in Tehran today to prohibit third countries from using their territory for attacks on one another "under any circumstances.''

Secret Cremations Hide Burma Killings

The Sunday Times - Secret cremations hide Burma killings

THE Burmese army has burnt an undetermined number of bodies at a crematorium sealed off by armed guards northeast of Rangoon over the past seven days, ensuring that the exact death toll in the recent pro-democracy protests will never be known.

Other related posts can be seen here.

Diana Crash Witness Statements

Daily Mail - Diana witness had to swerve to avoid slow moving 'light-coloured' car seconds before the crash

A driver has told how he was forced to avoid a 'light-coloured' car driving 'extremely slowly' into the Alma tunnel just seconds before the crash which claimed Princess Diana's life.

David Laurent claimed the car, possibly a Fiat Uno, was travelling at little more than 18mph, forcing him to pull at speed into another lane.The limit in the underpass is 31mph.

Other posts about the inquest can be seen here.

Richard Tomlinson to Make Statements at Diana Inquest

Daily Express - DRIVER 'MET MI6 SPY' ON CRASH NIGHT

Renegade spy Richard Tomlinson will tell the Princess Diana inquest that he believes Ritz hotel security chief Henri Paul met an MI6 handler on the night she died.

Today we also reveal a French spy chief allegedly seen chatting to Paul on the night of the crash is refusing to give evidence at the inquest.

Mr Tomlinson, a former MI6 officer once jailed for leaking Government secrets, will make sensational claims via a videolink from his bolthole in France to the inquest in London.

He is refusing to return to Britain to give evidence in person because he fears he will be arrested and jailed. Cambridge-educated Mr Tomlinson, 40, will give evidence supporting the claim by Harrods tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed that there was an Establishment plot to kill Diana to stop her marrying his son, Dodi, a Muslim.

Private testimony that Mr Tomlinson gave earlier caused ructions within MI6, leading to him being closely monitored by the British security services. Mr Tomlinson told the French examining magistrate Herve Stephan that a Frenchman working in the security department at the Paris Ritz was on MI6’s books.

He added: “I cannot claim that I remember from reading this file that the name of the person was Henri Paul but I have no doubt with the benefit of hindsight that it was he.”

In 2001 he claimed: “Henri Paul, who was the driver at the time of the accident, was an MI6 informer and, rather interestingly, he was missing for about half an hour before the accident.

“No one knows where he was and then when he was killed he was found with a very high alcohol level in his blood and a very substantial amount of money in his pocket.

“Now putting those three pieces of circumstantial evidence together, I suspect that shortly prior to his death he was in a meeting with his MI6 handler.

“I think that MI6 should hand over his personal file as a witness statement because clearly in an inquest into his death, knowing where he was for that missing half hour, who he was with and how much alcohol he had drunk are very important factors.

“What I am saying is that there is important information in MI6 files and I think that they should be handed over to the judge in charge of the inquest.”

Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Express from his home in France, Mr Tomlinson said he will reveal discussions he had within MI6 in May 1992 with a colleague about an assassination plot.

The Sunday Express has been given the identity of the MI6 man he spoke to but we are not publishing his name on the grounds that his security may be compromised.

Mr Tomlinson said: “I was having a serious discussion with a colleague on developing and targeting operations in the Balkans. These were known as P/40s. He handed me a Y-file, identified as most restricted by the yellow stripe on the front. Inside was a document, two typed pages long, with a small yellow card attached to signify it was an accountable account rather than a draft proposal.

“Accountable meant it was in a ready to act state. It was entitled ‘The Need to Assassinate President Milosevic of Serbia’. I distributed it to senior MI6 officers.

“There were detailed discussions and the consensus was that a stun device could be used to dazzle the driver’s gaze of Milosevic’s car as it passed through the Geneva tunnel, forcing him to crash.”

Milosevic was to attend an international conference on the former Yugoslavia.

Mr Tomlinson added: “What later struck me about the deaths of Diana and Dodi was that the claims how they had died mimicked what was in the document on how to assassinate Milosevic.

“I will testify that the Y-file document shows Henri Paul could have been blinded as he drove through the Paris underpass by a high-powered flashlight.

“The Y-file proves this was a technique which, at the time of Diana and Dodi’s deaths, was consistent with MI6 methods.”

The inquest into the death of Diana and Dodi has seen CCTV footage of the couple in and around the Ritz Hotel in Paris on the night of August 30, 1997.

But the inquest has been told there were gaps in the movements of Henri Paul, the hotel’s acting head of security. He left the hotel between 7pm and 10pm, thinking his duties were over, but returned when Diana and Mr Fayed unexpectedly returned to the hotel for a meal.

Where Mr Paul went during those crucial three hours has never been fully explained. There is also a period when he went missing for eight and a half minutes from 10.22pm when he was not picked up on any CCTV cameras.

The investigation into the crash carried out by former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Stevens decided that Mr Tomlinson was unreliable and that he had embellished his accounts.

Scotland Yard detectives working for Lord Stevens carried out detailed investigations at MI6. They discovered that an MI6 officer, codenamed Fish, did write a proposal in 1993 to assassinate an extremist Balkans leader, but it was not Milosevic, and senior officers in the service said the man was acting alone and the plan would not have been sanctioned.

Mr Tomlinson said: “The two Stevens’ detectives said in their own inquiries at MI6 that it became very clear that what I had told them, and which they had confirmed in the MI6 files, would have an important influence on how the Stevens inquiry finally reported.

“There is no doubt at all there was a major intelligence presence in events leading up to the death of Princess Diana and Dodi.”

New Zealand born Mr Tomlinson joined MI6 as agent D/813317 in 1991. He worked as a “targeting officer”, serving in the Balkans and Moscow. Later he served in the East European Controllerate, one of the most important departments in the Secret Intelligence Service. It gave him access to the highly restricted Y-files.

He was sacked in 1995 and was jailed for a year in December 1997 for breaching the Official Secrets Act, a sentence which has left him with bitter memories.

He says he does not know why he was sacked, but admits he was depressed when he finished working in Bosnia because of the dreadful sights he witnessed. Last March the Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would not be prosecuting Mr Tomlinson for offences under the Official Secrets Act.

The then Attorney General Lord Goldsmith decided it would not be in the public interest to continue legal action against him.

It was alleged that Mr Tomlinson had committed blackmail offences by threatening to make more disclosures because Scotland Yard would not return computers seized from him.

Other posts about the inquest can be seen here.

Terror Charges for Owning a Book

BBC - Boy in court on terror charges

A British teenager who is accused of possessing material for terrorist purposes has appeared in court.

The 17-year-old, who was arrested in the Dewsbury area of West Yorkshire on Monday, was given bail after a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

It is alleged he had a copy of the "Anarchists' Cookbook", containing instructions on how to make home-made explosives.

His next court hearing has been set for 25 October.

The teenager faces two charges under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The first charge relates to the possession of material for terrorist purposes in October last year.

The second relates to the collection or possession of information useful in the preparation of an act of terrorism.

He stood in the dock wearing a baggy, blue hooded top and only spoke to confirm his name and date of birth.

After the 40-minute hearing, the teenager was released on bail under several conditions.

A second 17-year-old who is facing similar charges has already been remanded in custody and will also appear at the Crown Court on 25 October.

The Anarchist Cookbook

Bombshock archives

National Guard Troops Denied Benefits

NBC - National Guard Troops Denied Benefits After Longest Deployment Of Iraq War

When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.

1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.

"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."

Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.

Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.

"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.

That money would help him pay for his master's degree in public administration. It would help Anderson's fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, pay for a degree in law enforcement.

"I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home," Hobot said.

Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730. Now, six of Minnesota's members of the House of Representatives have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into it -- So have Senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman.

Klobuchar said the GI money "shouldn't be tied up in red tape," and Coleman said it's "simply irresponsible to deny education benefits to those soldiers who just completed the longest tour of duty of any unit in Iraq."

Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home.

"I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved."

The Army did not respond questions Tuesday afternoon.

Senators Klobuchar and Coleman released a joint statement saying the Army secretary, Pete Geren, is looking into this personally, and they say Geren asked a review board to expedite its review so the matter could be solved by next semester.

Minnesota National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Olson said the soldiers are "victims of a significant injustice."

Princess Diana Inquest

Yorkshire Post - Prince Philip 'told MI6 to murder Diana and lover'

SENSATIONAL claims that Princess Diana was murdered on the instructions of the Duke of Edinburgh after she expressed fears of an attempt on her life dominated the opening of the inquest into her death yesterday.

The jury heard allegations that Prince Philip was at the heart of a conspiracy to murder Diana and her lover, Dodi Fayed, after ordering MI6 to prepare a report on them for the Royal Family. The car crash that killed them both in Paris on August 31, 1997 was then engineered, the jury heard.

The claim of murder by Dodi's father, Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed, was at the heart of coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker's opening statement to the jury at the inquest at the High Court in London yesterday.

And the jury was told how Diana had expressed fears that she would be the victim of an arranged accident if, as she believed, the Queen abdicated and Prince Charles succeeded to the throne, saying that would create a need to "get rid of her, via some accident in her car such as prepared brake failure".

The judge told the jury of six women and five men that many had come to believe something "sinister" may lie behind the crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in which Diana, 36, and 42-year-old Dodi were killed with their driver, Henri Paul.

He added that Mr al-Fayed also believes MI6 had been commissioned to write a special report on his family to be presented to the Royal Family.

The judge said: "It is his belief that a decision was taken at that time to kill Diana and Dodi. He places Prince Philip at the heart of the conspiracy, you will have to listen carefully to the witnesses you hear to see whether there is any evidence to support this assertion."

Mr al-Fayed believes that Diana was carrying Dodi's child and that they would have announced their engagement on September 1 that year, the day after the crash, but the Royal Family "could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be stepfather to the future King of England".

He is convinced that Henri Paul was in the pay of MI6 and French secret services, and the crash was caused by a combination of a collision with a mystery white Fiat Uno and a blinding flash from a stun gun deliberately fired. Two official inquiries concluded that Paul had been drinking and lost control of the car whilst driving too fast. But the inquest heard that Diana had written a note to her ex-butler, Paul Burrell, saying Prince Charles wanted her dead so he could marry their nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke. Diana also claimed Ms Legge-Bourke had undergone an abortion.

The jury was told of a note written by one of Diana's lawyers, Lord Mishcon, following a meeting at Kensington Palace in October 1995.

In the note, Lord Mishcon said: "Her Royal Highness said that she had been informed by reliable sources whom she did not wish to reveal ... that (a) The Queen would be abdicating in April and the Prince of Wales would then assume the throne and (b) efforts would be made if not to get rid of her (be it by some accident in her car such as prepared brake failure or whatever) between now and then."

Lord Justice Scott Baker also said Mr al-Fayed had claimed Diana had told him she believed her life was in danger.

He said: "Mohamed al-Fayed says during the summer holiday she often told him she would be murdered by the Royal Family.

"She would go up in a helicopter and never come down alive."

He went on: "It is clear that there are many members of the public who are concerned that something sinister may have caused the collision in which Diana and two others died.

"One of the purposes of the inquest is to investigate the incident thoroughly so that the public suspicion is either dispelled or substantiated."

He said there would be a "vigorous and searching" investigation of the evidence to find the truth.

Lord Justice Scott Baker told the jury: "Most, if not all, of you will remember where you were when you heard about the subsequent death of the Princess of Wales.

"None of you would for a moment have thought that over 10 years later you might be in a jury investigating the events related to that tragic August night."

The inquest is set to continue for up to six months.

Other related posts:

6000 Page Diana Legal Dossier Disappears

Diana Inquest Coroner Steps Down

Spy Banned From Diana Inquest

Diana Inquest Will Be Heard By Jury

$850 Billion Debt Increase

My previous post: $850 Billion Debt Increase?

It has been approved.

The Miami Herald - U.S. $10 trillion in the red

For the fifth time since 2001, Congress is raising the debt limit, increasing it by $850 billion to $9.815 trillion. The Senate approved the plan on a 53-42 vote Thursday. That's $9,815,000,000,000.00.

Thousands Killed in Burma?

The Daily Mail - Burma: Thousands dead in massacre of the monks dumped in the jungle (UPDATE - October 12, 2007. 6:45 pm: This article originally appeared in the Daily Mail at this link. I see that it has been totally rewritten. What the article was originally about is pretty much buried in nonsense about some suits having a meeting that won’t solve anything and propaganda like "Normalcy has now returned in Myanmar," Foreign Minister Nyan Win told the UN General Assembly in New York, adding that security forces acted with restraint for a month but had to "take action to restore the situation." The original article still appears on the London Lite website, it can be seen here.)

Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed.

The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand."

Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand.

My previous posts about what is going on can be seen here.

John Bolton: Attack Iran

The Jerusalem Post - Bolton: Attack Iran, 'remove' its leader

Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told Tory delegates in Britain Sunday that efforts by the UK and the EU to negotiate with Iran had failed and that he saw no alternative to a pre-emptive strike on suspected nuclear facilities in the country.

Bolton said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was "pushing out" and "is not receiving adequate push-back" from the West.
"I don't think the use of military force is an attractive option, but I would tell you I don't know what the alternative is.

"Because life is about choices, I think we have to consider the use of military force. I think we have to look at a limited strike against their nuclear facilities."

He added that any strike should be followed by an attempt to remove the "source of the problem", Ahmadinejad.

"If we were to strike Iran it should be accompanied by an effort at regime change ... The US once had the capability to engineer the clandestine overthrow of governments. I wish we could get it back," he said.

Bolton said that the fact that only partial intelligence about Iran's nuclear activity existed should not be used as an excuse not to act.

"Intelligence can be wrong in more than one direction... Responding after they (nuclear devices) are used is unacceptable."
Bolton also said the UN was "fundamentally irrelevant".

The former envoy criticized Britain's "softly softly" approach to Iran's imprisonment of 15 British sailors in April.

They were released after Ahmadinejad announced he was making a "gift" to the British people. "They [Iran] got no response from the UK or the US. If you were the Iranian leader, what conclusion do you draw?"

Give this guy a gun and put him on the first plane there.

Here is another guy that can join him:

The Sunday Times - Neocon 'godfather' Norman Podhoretz tells Bush: bomb Iran

ONE of the founding fathers of neoconservatism has privately urged President George W Bush to bomb Iran rather than allow it to acquire nuclear weapons.

Norman Podhoretz, an intellectual guru of the neoconservative movement who has joined Rudolph Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign as a senior foreign policy adviser, held an unpublicised meeting with Bush late last spring at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.

The encounter reveals the enduring influence of the neoconservatives at the highest reaches of the White House, despite some high-profile casualties in the past year.

Karl Rove, who was still serving in the White House as Bush’s deputy chief of staff, took notes. But the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, was not logged on the president’s schedule.

“I urged Bush to take action against the Iranian nuclear facilities and explained why I thought there was no alternative,” said Podhoretz, 77, in an interview with The Sunday Times.

Bristol-Myers Squibb to Pay $515 Million for Doctor Kickback Scheme

The Boston Globe - Bristol-Myers Squibb to pay $515 million for doctor kickback scheme

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and its subsidiary, Apothecon, have agreed to pay more than $515 million to settle a broad array of federal and state civil allegations involving their drug marketing and pricing practices, US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said today.

The government alleged that from 2000 to mid-2003, BMS paid illegal remuneration to physicians and other healthcare providers to get them to promote BMS drugs. The payments were in the form of consulting fees and other programs, some of which involved travel to luxurious resorts.

The prosecutors also said that from 2002 through 2005 BMC promoted the sale and use of Abilify, an atypical antipsychotic drug, for pediatric use and to treat dementia-related psychosis, both of which were "off-label'' uses. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug to treat adult psychiatric disorders but not for use in children, teenagers, or for dementia-related illnesses.

Doctors are allowed to prescribe drugs "off-label,'' but companies are not allowed to promote drugs for those uses.

Sullivan said his office is not bringing criminal charges and that the company cooperated with the investigation, which was prompted by information from whistleblowers.

In a statement posted on its website, the company said the settlement agreement will not affect the company's ongoing business with any customers, including the government.

"Bristol-Myers Squibb is pleased to have resolved these matters from the past and is proud of its commitment to conduct business with the highest standards of integrity in its mission to extend and enhance human life,'' the company said.

Internet and Cell Phone Access Cut Off in Myanmar

CNET - Amid political protests, Net shut off in Burma

As Burma's military government attempts to suppress the largest pro-democracy protests by Buddhist monks and civilians in decades, there are numerous reports on Friday that it has also cut off its citizens' Internet access and cell phone lines.

Burma--officially the Union of Myanmar--is already labeled by watchdog groups as one of the most restrictive locales in the world when it comes to blocking Internet content. But like in China and other censorship-happy countries, dissidents have come up with technological work-arounds such as proxies that connect them directly to computers outside the prohibitive country.

Now there are widespread reports that public Internet cafes have been shut down, most of the country's cell phone lines have been disconnected, and the remaining Internet access has made uploading photos and video of scenes on the ground a snail-like process. Some groups are exploring buying expensive but less easily restricted satellite phones to continue their dispatches, according to a Friday report in The Wall Street Journal.

Some news agencies have reported being told that the Internet connection has been brought down by a damaged undersea cable, but diplomats and citizens said they suspect the government is involved. The shutdown apparently did nothing to keep at least 10,000 protesters from assembling Friday.

My other posts about what is going on over there can be seen here.

More Deaths in Myanmar

Post from yesterday: Deaths Reported in Myanmar Protests

BBC - Nine killed in Burmese crackdown

Nine people have been killed during Thursday's crackdown on anti-government protesters in Burma's main city of Rangoon, state media say.

The dead included eight protesters and a Japanese man, identified as a video journalist working for APF News - with 11 demonstrators and 31 soldiers hurt.

Ordered to Kill an Iraqi Civilian

AP - Ordered to kill unarmed Iraqi, U.S. soldier testifies

A U.S. soldier cried today as he told a court martial that his staff sergeant ordered him to shoot an unarmed Iraqi. He said the sergeant then laughed and told the trooper to finish the job as the dying man convulsed on the ground.

The military reported, meanwhile, that it had opened an investigation into the deaths of five women and four children this week in a village where American forces had carried out ground and air assaults.

Prosecutors claim the first case involved the killing of an Iraqi man with a 9-mm pistol, placing an AK-47 rifle by his body to make it seem as though he was armed, and failing to ensure humane treatment of a detainee, the victim.

Deaths Reported in Myanmar Protests

My post from yesterday: Myanmar Imposes Curfew, Bans Assembly

The Sydney Morning Herald - Burma clashes kill three

At least three monks were killed in clashes with Burma's security forces who cracked down on anti-government protests in Rangoon, two officials told AFP.

"According to the information that we received, at least three monks were killed,'' one Burmese official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

One monk was killed when a gun went off as he tried to wrestle the weapon away from a soldier, while two others were beaten to death, the official said.

His account was confirmed by a second official, who said the toll was based on official reports of incidents that took place around the Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma's holiest site and a key rallying point for the monks.

There are also reports that over 100 people have been injured.

The Australian - 100,000 march against Burmese junta

MORE than 100,000 Buddhist monks and supporters marched in Rangoon yesterday, piling the pressure on Burma's ruling military junta and adding to fears the "Saffron Revolution" would end in a bloody crackdown.

Internet Censorship in Australia

CNET - Australia pushes further Web censorship

A bill introduced this week by Australia's Parliament would give the Australian federal police the power to control which sites can and cannot be viewed by Australian Web surfers.

Introduced on Thursday, the bill--titled the Communications Legislation Amendment (Crime or Terrorism Related Internet Content) Bill 2007--would empower the federal police to alter the "blacklist" of sites that are currently prohibited by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The list currently includes pornography and "offensive material." However, under the amendment, federal police would be able to add other sites to the list, including content that the AFP Commissioner "has reason to believe...is crime- or terrorism-related content."

The definition of material that may be liable for censorship includes Internet content that "encourages, incites or induces," "facilitate(s)" or "has, or is likely to have, the effect of facilitating" a crime.

An older post: Australia Censors Books and Films

Myanmar Imposes Curfew, Bans Assembly

AP - Myanmar imposes curfew, bans assembly

Myanmar's military leaders imposed a nighttime curfew and banned gatherings of more than five people Tuesday after 35,000 Buddhist monks and their supporters defied the junta's warnings and staged another day of anti-government protests.

The country's hard-line military rulers have not used force so far to stop the biggest anti-government demonstrations in nearly two decades, led by the monks. But soldiers in full battle gear were deployed Tuesday in the country's largest city, setting the stage for a showdown with a determined pro-democracy protest movement.

2 Italians Missing in Afghanistan

AP - Italian troops missing in Afghanistan

Two Italian military personnel were believed to have been kidnapped in western Afghanistan, and police Sunday said they were searching for the pair and their two Afghan staff.

The Italian Defense Ministry said that the two Italians had made no contact for several hours, that their families had been notified, and that an investigation was underway.

"We believe they have been kidnapped together with two Afghans," the ministry said in Rome. "The personnel were carrying out liaison activities with local civilian authorities. Searches are underway."

Blackwater back to Operating in Iraq

My last post about Blackwater: Blackwater Loses License to Operate in Iraq

AFP - Blackwater back on the streets of Baghdad

Despite opposition from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, US security company Blackwater was back on the streets of Baghdad on Friday, four days after being grounded over a fatal shooting incident.

AP - Feds Target Blackwater in Weapons Probe

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday.

Canadian Dollar at Parity with U.S. Dollar

1 U.S. dollar = 1.00085 Canadian dollars

http://www.xe.com

Bush, Congress Approval Rating at Record Low

Reuters - Bush, Congress at record low ratings: Reuters poll

President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress registered record-low approval ratings in a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday, and a new monthly index measuring the mood of Americans dipped slightly on deepening worries about the economy.

Only 29 percent of Americans gave Bush a positive grade for his job performance, below his worst Zogby poll mark of 30 percent in March. A paltry 11 percent rated Congress positively, beating the previous low of 14 percent in July.

Blackwater Loses License to Operate in Iraq

RTE - US security firm Blackwater banned from Iraq

US security contractor Blackwater has been banned from operating in Iraq after eight civilians were killed in Baghdad yesterday.

Blackwater offers personal security to US officials working in Iraq and is one of the better known firms involved in what critics call the privatisation of the war in Iraq.

Yesterday, a US diplomatic convoy came under fire in the Iraqi capital's western al-Yarmukh neighbourhood.

Blackwater members accompanying the convoy returned fire, leaving nine people dead, one of whom was an Iraqi police officer.

All of the other fatalities were civilian bystanders.

Iraqi Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf confirmed that a mortar had landed close to the convoy and said the US firm had 'opened fire randomly at citizens'.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has strongly condemned the company's actions and denounced what he called the criminal response of the US contractors.

And today Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani issued an order to cancel Blackwater's licence and prohibit the company from operating anywhere in Iraq.

Mr Bolani also confirmed that a criminal investigation had been launched following the incident.

A US embassy official only said that security vehicles of the 'Department of State' were involved in an incident near al-Nissur Square.

Blackwater representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Thousands of private security contractors, many of them US and European, have worked in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Following a number of similar incidents in recent years, foreign private security firms have been accused of operating outside the law with little or no accountability either to the Iraqi government or US military forces.

Bush Picks Michael Mukasey for Attorney General

AP - Bush picks ex-judge for attorney general

Former federal judge Michael Mukasey, a tough-on-terrorism jurist with an independent streak, was tapped by President Bush on Monday to take over as attorney general and lead a Justice Department accused of being too close to White House politics.

Mukasey, the former chief U.S. district judge in the Manhattan courthouse just blocks from ground zero, will likely face a relatively smooth confirmation by a Democratic-led Senate that has demanded new Justice Department leadership for months. He replaces Alberto Gonzales, a Texan who announced his departure three weeks ago amid investigations that began with the firing of U.S. attorneys and mushroomed into doubts about his credibility.

Censorship at the Emmys

The Envelope - The Emmys censored Sally Field!

Producers of Sunday's Emmy telecast bleeped drama actress winner Sally Field in the midst of a controversial acceptance speech attacking U.S. involvement in Iraq.

"If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn't be any god -" she said when the sound went dead and the camera suddenly turned away from the stage so viewers would be distracted. Chopped off were the words "goddamn wars in the first place." (The phrase was not censored in the Canadian telecast.)

Alan Greenspan: Iraq War was Mostly for Oil

The Sunday Times - Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil

AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies.

However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.

Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East.

Britain and America have always insisted the war had nothing to do with oil. Bush said the aim was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and end Saddam’s support for terrorism.

The Baghdad Wall

AFP - Baghdad neighbours protest over dividing wall

Hundreds of Shiites and Sunnis marched on Wednesday in protest at the building by US troops of a tall concrete wall separating their northwest Baghdad neighbourhoods, an AFP photographer said.

The protesters complained that the wall would promote sectarianism and demanded its removal.

Residents said that US forces last week began building the two-kilometre (1.25 mile) wall along the border of the mainly Shiite al-Shuala and adjoining Sunni-majority al-Ghazaliyah neighbourhoods without consulting them.

Since early this year, US and Iraqi forces have been erecting walls around or between some Baghdad neighbourhoods in what their commanders call a "concrete caterpillar" designed to protect residents from sectarian violence.

$850 Billion Debt Increase?

Reuters - Senate panel okays $850 billion debt increase

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday approved an $850 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority to $9.815 trillion in order to avoid a default as the government nears its credit limit of $8.965 trillion.

The committee approved the bill on a voice vote and it clears the way for the full Senate to take action most likely by early October. As of last Friday, the federal debt stood at $8.923 trillion and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been urging Congress to act quickly to avoid unnerving financial markets that are already jittery over rising mortgage foreclosures.

The amount approved by the finance panel would allow the government to continue borrowing into 2009, well after next year's presidential and congressional elections. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat expressed concern that the debt issue could "become a political football" during next year's campaigns.

"The increase of $850 billion would be the third largest debt limit increase in U.S. history," Baucus said.

The U.S. House of Representatives already approved the credit increase when it passed the 2008 budget blueprint earlier this year.

It will be the fifth increase in the U.S. credit limit since President George W. Bush took office in 2001 when the U.S. debt stood at $5.6 trillion.

An older article about debt in the U.S.: USA Today - Taxpayers on the hook for $59 trillion