LIFE STINKS

Dennis Quaid to Meg Ryan: Shut Up Already!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:06:00 +0000

Meg Ryan’s remarks about Dennis Quaid’s infidelity made the American actor furious. His ex-wife talked about their divorce while she was endorsing "The Women."

Ms. Ryan said that her ex-husband was unfaithful to her for a long period and it was very painful to her. As a consequence, she had an affair with Australian actor Russell Crowe. Ryan’s dishing out surprised and infuriated Dennis Quaid.

"It was eight years ago, and I find it unbelievable that Meg continues publicly to rehash and rewrite the story of our relationship," the 54-year-old actor told The New York Daily News.

Ryan, who plays a scorned wife in her latest film, gave details to In Style about the period during which her marriage with Quaid turned sour and eventually ended in a divorce.

"Dennis was not faithful to me for a long time, and that was very painful,” the 46-year-old actress said.

But she did not stop there. She mentioned her divorce from Quaide to ABC's Diane Sawyer.

"I just feel like every now and then you have to fill in the gaps for people," she added.

Quaid was very upset about Ryan’s remarks and details and told The New York Daily News that she feels terrible because their son, Jack, was reminded publicly of “the turmoil and pain that every child feels in a divorce."

The actor married real estate agent Kimberly Buffington. They are now parents of twins after giving birth last November. Quaid described his current situation as great because he has a “happy, beautiful family.”

Britney Spears Still Has Legal Problems

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:03:00 +0000

Pop princess Britney Spears’ traffic accidents and paparazzi incidents of the last year or so seem a thing of the past but her past apparently still has a grasp on the present, as she is due in court for driving without a valid driver’s license in August 2007.

Among the more chaotic things Britney Spears did in 2007 were quite a few incidents involving the ever-present paparazzi and cars, with secondary characters such as an umbrella or a pap’s toes, allegedly.

It is such an episode that has Spears scheduled to appear in court next month.

Last summer, Spears was driving her car down Ventura Blvd. when she hit a parked car and left the scene. She was trying to escape from her ever present company, the hounding paparazzi.

Spears was charged at the time with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving a vehicle without a license, authorities said, as she apparently did not hold a valid California driver’s license.

Trials are not what Britney Spears envisages for the near future though, as her attorney J. Michael Flanagan filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday asking for a delay, reports the Associated Press.

Flanagan has filed petitions before concerning the misdemeanor charge, requesting that it be dismissed and Spears be allowed to pay a fine. As things stand now, she faces a criminal trial and if convicted, could face up to a year in jail.

Spears obtained a proper driver’s license soon after the incident.

Flanagan also states in Monday’s papers that since his client is currently under the conservatorship of her father, she is not able to participate in the trial in a meaningful way.

James Spears has been in control of the 26-year-old’s personal and financial affairs since February of this year.

Jackson Leaves Hospital Soon After Admission, But What’s Her Problem?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:58:00 +0000

What’s wrong with Janet Jackson? The 42-year-old singer was transported to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal on Monday, as she “got suddenly ill” during a sound check, just a few minutes before her show was due to start, according to a statement released by W&W Public Relations.

Rebecca Burns, a spokeswoman for the hospital where the star received medical treatment, explained that Janet Jackson was released only a couple of hours after being admitted. However, Rebecca Burns gave no further information upon the singer’s condition or her mysterious illness.

Janet Jackson is currently on a North American tour to promote her most recent album, “Discipline.” Nevertheless, she canceled her Montreal concert scheduled for Monday night, which would have been the star’s first appearance in the city in seven years, due to her undisclosed health problems.

In addition to this, the artist’s next shows, which were programmed to take place in Boston and Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, have also been postponed and no information was given on when they will be held.

These aren’t the first gigs the King of Pop’s sister cancels. Last Friday, Janet Jackson suspended the Detroit concert of her “Rock Witchu Tour,” citing “production constraints.”

An unnamed source told PEOPLE that the singer had frequently stated that she was suffering from exhaustion. “A 42-year-old body can’t handle what a 22-year-old body can. I can tell you that she’s definitely tired. It was probably exhaustion. She is doing back-to-back, three-hour shows, and her body isn’t the same as it used to be,” the source informed the magazine.

Back in April, she canceled an appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” citing another illness. Jermaine Dupri, the singer’s boyfriend, told MTV News at the time that the star had been “really sick.”

Which leaves us wondering: What is Janet Jackson suffering from? I sure hope we find out soon.

In the meantime, Janet Jackson is expected to resume her tour on Saturday in Greensboro, N.C.

Robbers leave loot because getaway car to small

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:59:00 +0000

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Two armed robbers hijacked a security van with $1.3 million inside but were forced to abandon more than half the cash because their small getaway car could not carry it all, Malaysian police said Tuesday.

The robbers and their compact getaway car were still at large with $524,000 following Monday's heist near Kuala Lumpur, said district police chief Shakaruddin Che Mood.

The robbers stole a small car then held up guards in the security van at a shopping mall. One robber drove the van away and the other followed in the car, Shakaruddin said.

The van was recovered nearby with nine bags containing 2.7 million ringgit $786,000 inside — evidently because they did not fit in the compact car, the police chief said.

"The bags are quite big. I consider them quite stupid. Their planning was very shortsighted," Shakaruddin said.

The five security guards in the van have been detained for questioning. Police suspect the robbery may have been an inside job, Shakaruddin said.

"This thing was done in an easy manner," he said.

Twins who swapped roles charged with fraud

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:55:00 +0000

ROME - An Italian woman who worked as a part-time judge as well as a lawyer was substituted by her identical twin sister in court so she would not lose out on legal fees when she had two simultaneous engagements.

The 54-year-old twins from northern Italy have now been charged with fraud and will go on trial in January, Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera, reported Friday on its website.

One of the twins, identified only as Gabriella, worked primarily as a lawyer but also as an honorary judge, a part-time, paid position that entails helping full-time judges when their case load is heavy.

When Gabriella was called to be a substitute judge she sent her sister twin Patrizia to stand in for her at an existing engagement as a defense lawyer elsewhere in the Milan area.

The problem was that sister Patrizia was not a lawyer like sister Gabriella but charged the clients anyway.

The clients discovered the sister act and are now suing both for damages. Prosecutors have charged both with fraud, the paper said.

Planes circle isle after controller overslept

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:52:00 +0000

ATHENS - Two airplanes due to land on the Greek island of Lesbos had to circle above the Aegean sea for more than half an hour because an air traffic controller overslept, police said Monday.

An Olympic Airlines aircraft, arriving from the Greek capital Athens, and a Slovakian Airlines plane made several failed attempts to contact control tower personnel.

"They were calling the tower to get directions, but no one would answer," a police official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. "The woman later said she overslept."

The airport's secondary control service assisted the pilots to land after they had circled for 40 minutes. Police said the controller, who was not named, would be suspended for a few days.

Student celebrates $12 million lottery win

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:50:00 +0000

The credit crisis and tight student budgets hold no fears for a British teenager who won 7 million pounds ($12.68 million) on the Lottery.

Ianthe Fullagar, 18, from Cumbria, northern England, said she still plans to go to university next year to study law, despite her huge win on the EuroMillions game.

Although she won't need a student loan or inflated overdraft, she said she hopes to be just like the others at college.

"I'm going to live the life of a student. I'm going to live in student digs," she told the BBC on Tuesday. "I love baked beans."

The teenager said she screamed so loudly when she checked her ticket that her dog jumped up and bit her on the bottom.

She hid her winning ticket in her bra before moving it to a jewelry box and then her gym bag while she waited for her win to be confirmed.

After receiving an over-sized check at an official ceremony, she said she plans to spend her winnings on her family and friends and a new Ford Ka.

Swiss high court strikes down Geneva smoking ban

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:47:00 +0000

GENEVA (Reuters) - Smokers in Geneva were given a reprieve on Tuesday after the top Swiss court struck down a ban on smoking in public places, in force since July 1, saying the local government had overstepped its powers.

The ban was approved by nearly 80 percent of Geneva voters last February.

But the Federal Tribunal has ruled that the local government had no legal basis to impose the ban, having failed to wait for the cantonal parliament to adopt a formal law after the referendum, the Swiss news agency ATS said.

"The Federal Court's decision will have the effect of delaying for several months the application of a decision which Genevans have clearly taken," Geneva's government said in a statement about the ruling by the Lausanne-based court.

Smokers in public buildings, bars or restaurants risked a fine of up to 1,000 Swiss francs ($908), while owners of establishments risked a fine of up to 10,000 francs for violating the ban.

Voters in eight of Switzerland's 26 cantons have approved bans on smoking in public places although not all have come into force yet. Both Zurich and Basel voted at the weekend in favor of more restrictive smoking regulations.

Somali pirates deny shootout, renew ransom demand

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:29:00 +0000

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 tanks reiterated their demands for a $20 million ransom on Tuesday and denied three of their number had died in a shootout.

A maritime group monitoring the situation had earlier said three pirates were killed in a shootout between rival gunmen on the MV Faina, seized six days ago in the most high-profile of a wave of hijackings off lawless Somalia this year.

"We want $20 million ransom from the ship and we are 53 Somalis," said Sugule, the spokesman of the pirates onboard the Ukrainian ship, which is being shadowed by U.S. navy vessels.

"I will not talk about mediators or negotiation because we are at risk. I will not name where we are particularly but we are on the coast of Somalia," he told Reuters, adding the pirates would stay on board until their demands were met.

The capture of the MV Faina has sparked controversy over the destination of its cargo and thrown a spotlight on rampant piracy in one of the world's busiest shipping areas connecting Europe to Asia and the Middle East.

The East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, monitoring the hijacking via relatives of the crew and contacts with pirates, had earlier said that factions had argued over whether to free the cargo and crew.

But the pirates denied there had been any fighting.

"There are two American warships near us but we have neither fought nor communicated with them," Sugule said
Two other pirates and a regional leader had earlier told Reuters there had been no shootout. Sugule said one of the 21 crew members had died due to illness.

The U.S. navy has said the ship, which was heading for Kenya's Mombasa port, was carrying T-72 tanks, grenade-launchers and ammunition ultimately bound for south Sudan via Kenya.

Kenya says the weaponry was for its own military.

Taking advantage of chaos on shore, where an Islamist-led insurgency has raged for nearly two years, Somali pirates have seized more than 30 ships this year and attacked many more.

RICH PIRATES

Most attacks have been in the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and north Somalia, a major global sea artery used by about 20,000 vessels a year heading to and from the Suez Canal. The pirates have also struck in the busy Indian Ocean waters off south Somalia.

With U.S. and French military bases in the area, many are unhappy with the lack of international action.

"If civil aircraft were being hijacked on a daily basis, the response of governments would be very different," top shipping trade bodies and transport unions said in a joint statement.

"Yet ships, which are the lifeblood of the global economy, are seemingly out of sight and out of mind."
As well as using ransom money to build new homes and take new wives, the increasingly rich pirates have bought speedboats, satellite phones and other equipment to aid their trade.

"There is a striking similarity between the actions of these unscrupulous pirates and the activity in 'blood diamonds' in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the civil wars in these countries," said U.N. envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.

"No ship, big or small, civil or military, is spared. With the seizure of the Ukrainian ship, a new line has been crossed."

U.S. analyst J. Peter Pham, of Madison University, called for a united international naval response, more attention to solving Somalia's civil conflict, and better protection equipment on board commercial vessels.

"Many have done little aside from being prepared to pay ransoms which only perpetuate the cycle of violence," he wrote in a new report on the Somali piracy phenomenon.

Tensions Rise Over Ship Hijacked Off Somalia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:43:00 +0000

NAIROBI, Kenya — Tensions increased Sunday over what to do about the arms-carrying cargo ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia, as the pirates vowed to fight to the death, a hostage died and Somali officials urged the American Navy to send in commandos.

According to a broadcast on the BBC Somali service, the pirates said that they could see an American destroyer nearby and several military aircraft tracking them, but that they were not afraid.

“They can’t catch us like goats,” said a man who said he was a spokesman for the pirates. “We will fight, and everyone here will die with us.”

The man said he was speaking on a satellite phone from the bridge of the hijacked Ukrainian ship, and to prove it, he handed the phone to another man who said he was the captain. The captain, a Ukrainian, then told the BBC that a Russian crew member had died from hypertension.

A band of pirates hijacked the ship on Thursday evening as it was heading to Kenya with a large supply of arms, including 33 T-72 battle tanks, grenade launchers and ammunition, all for the Kenyan military.

Somali officials said Sunday that the ship was anchored a few miles off the coast between Xarardheere and Hobyo, two notorious pirate dens where several other hijacked vessels have been taken. The pirates said they would not release the 20 crew members or the arms until they were paid $20 million in cash.

Somali officials said there might be no way to resolve the standoff other than storming the ship.

“A military operation has to be taken,” said Ahmed Said Aw-nur, minister of fisheries for the semiautonomous state of Puntland in northern Somalia.

“If the Islamists get the arms,” he said, referring to Islamist insurgents currently waging war on Somalia’s weak government, “they will cause problems for all of Somalia.”

American military officials said that they were closely watching the ship but that there were no plans to raid it.

“We’re deeply concerned about what’s aboard, as well as the safety of the crew,” said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain. “We’re hoping the arms don’t make it to shore.”

Lieutenant Christensen said the American destroyer Howard was following the hijacked ship from less than five miles away and communicating with it via bridge-to-bridge radio.

Pakistani and American Troops Exchange Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:48:00 +0000

WASHINGTON — Pakistani and American ground troops exchanged fire along the border with Afghanistan on Thursday, a top American military official said, ratcheting up tensions as the United States increases its attacks against militants in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas.

The clash started after the Pakistanis fired shots or flares at two American helicopters that Pakistan says had crossed its border.

The two American OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopters were not damaged and no casualties were reported.

But American and Pakistani officials agreed on little else about what happened.

American and NATO officials said that the two helicopters were flying about one mile inside Afghan airspace to protect an American and Afghan patrol on the ground when the aircraft were fired on by troops at a Pakistani military checkpoint near the Tanai district in Khost Province. The officials said small-caliber arms were used.

In response, the American ground troops shot short bursts of warning fire, which hit well shy of the checkpoint, and the Pakistanis fired back, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a spokesman for the United States Central Command.

But a spokesman for the Pakistani Army, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said Pakistani forces fired warning shots at the American aircraft after they crossed into Pakistan’s territory in the area of Saidgai, in the Ghulam Khan region of North Waziristan. “On this, the helicopters returned fire and flew back,” General Abbas said. The general’s statement did not address the account of ground fire.

Local residents said that one of the two helicopters had entered inside Pakistan territory by about a mile, while the other hovered on the Afghan side of the border.

“When our forces fired warning shots, we were a little scared of a possible retaliatory fire from the helicopters,” said one of the residents, Hajji Said Rehman Gorbaz. “But we were happy to see the helicopter flying back into Afghanistan. We were happy that our forces fired at the helicopter.”

Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, said Thursday that his nation’s military had fired only flares at the helicopters, seeming to draw a distinction with warning “shots,” which usually refers to bullets or other ordnance that could more seriously damage the helicopters.

“They are flares,” Mr. Zardari said as he sat down to meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the United Nations. He said the flares would alert the pilots that they had crossed the border, which he said is rugged and poorly marked.

Ms. Rice agreed that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was “very, very unclear.”

But the encounter drew immediate protest from Pentagon officials in Washington. “The flight path of the helicopters at no point took them over Pakistan,” a Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, told reporters.

Mr. Whitman said United States and NATO military officials were speaking to their Pakistani counterparts to determine what happened and to ensure there was no repeat, adding, “The Pakistanis have to provide us with a better understanding of why this took place.”

General Abbas, the Pakistani spokesman, said the clash had been reported to NATO headquarters in Kabul and was under investigation by Pakistani and NATO officials.

Military officials and diplomats said the episode showed there was a risk of a much more serious, and lethal, misunderstanding along the border.

Pakistani civilian leaders have denounced an incursion by American Special Operations forces into Pakistan on Sept. 3, which was authorized under orders given by President Bush in July, and the Pakistani Army has vowed to defend its border.

Yousaf Raza Gilani, Pakistan’s prime minister, told reporters on Wednesday, “We will not tolerate any act against our sovereignty and integrity in the name of the war against terrorism.”

The United States says its goal is to stop attacks on troops in Afghanistan by Al Qaeda and by Taliban militants based in Pakistan.

The latest clash on Thursday comes after a week of claims by Pakistani intelligence officials that American helicopters had strayed across the border, and that an American remotely piloted surveillance aircraft had crashed, apparently because of a mechanical failure, in Pakistani territory.

American officials denied these claims, saying they were being manufactured by Pakistani officials in response to rising anti-American sentiment in Pakistan after the increased American activities in the border area.

TERROR SUSPECTS CAUGHT IN GERMANY

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:26:00 +0000

German police say they boarded a Dutch airliner at the Cologne airport early Friday and arrested two men suspected of planning to carry out terrorist attacks.

Authorities identified the suspects as a 23-year-old Somali and a 24-year-old German citizen of Somali origin.

A police spokesman said notes indicating that the men were ready to die in a holy war had been found in their apartments and that they had been under police surveillance for several months.

However, police authorities say they do not think the men intended to hijack the Amsterdam-bound KLM plane.

A KLM spokesman says all the passengers had to exit the plane to be matched with their luggage.

The plane eventually flew to Amsterdam without any further incidents.

Carlos Vela salutes Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's faith in youth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Carlos Vela is a young man dedicated to his peers. When, in 2005, the young Arsenal striker helped the Mexican team win the Fifa U-17 World Championship by winning the tournament’s Golden Boot, he carried the trophy to his father, as a birthday present, before dedicating his goalscoring prize to him.
And, following the World Cup success, he insisted that as part of agreeing to join Chivas de Guadalajara, the Vela family be relocated, from the storm-affected Cancun.

Since leaving Mexico and developing his skills in Spain with Celta Vigo, Salamanca and Osasuna, Vela is back at Arsenal, who paid £2.5 million to Chivas, and, on Wednesday night, confirmed his potential with hat-trick for an Arsenal side with an average age of 19, against Sheffield United in the Carling Cup.

The dedication to his seniors was on display again, with Vela saluting Arsene Wenger, the man who has shown unquestionable faith in Arsenal’s youngsters.

"The reputation of Arsene Wenger was the main thing that brought me here to Arsenal. He is very well known for this,” said Vela.

"He has given me a lot of advice, but mainly it's been to keep working hard and to take the opportunities when they come and when they come you have to take them. That's the advice that he has given me.

"We are very close as a group of players. We have a strong friendship - it's almost like we are a family. You can see that from the way in which the team is playing.

"The manager has a great reputation for working with young players and that was shown against Sheffield United,” added Vela. “He puts faith in young people and it's great that the oldest player was the ‘keeper at 23-years-old.

"All of the players looked as if they have a great future but you never know. Some will make it but we know that others won't.

"But you have to work hard as a player to get into the team and to then help the team to win the championship.”

Vela is not the youngest Young Gun to score a hat-trick. That honour belongs to John Radford, who was 17 years and 315 days when he claimed three goals against Wolves in 1965.

And alongside the Mexican were five young Brits, with a further four on the bench. Not since 2003, in the FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United, have Arsenal fielded as many Brits in a starting line ip.

But Vela was the star of the show and hiss hat-trick was a joy on the eye, particularly the second goal, when he flicked the ball over a defender before finishing with style.

“I have thought about doing that quite a few times before but I never dared try it”, he said. “Before now, I have only tried it in training and now I've tried it in a match I scored so it was brilliant for me. The manager encourages you to try that sort of thing and he wants you to express yourself and lets you do that so it really helps you as a player."

FIVE YOUNG BRITS

AARON RAMSEY. AGE 17.
Talented rugby player and 800m runner, this Welsh-speaking central midfielder and Under-21 international born in Caerphilly, was signed from Cardiff in the summer after rejecting interest from Manchester United and Everton. Left-footed.

JACK WILSHERE. AGE 16.
Stevenage-born left-footed midfielder likened by some with Liam Brady. England youth international and Arsenal’s youngest League debutant, at Blackburn, aged 16 years and 256 days.

KIERAN GIBBS. AGE 18.
Another left-footer who can play at left-back or midfield. Born in Lambeth, London, and originally with Wimbledon until their academy disbanded in 2004. Under-19 international who spent a spell at Norwich last season.

GAVIN HOYTE. AGE 18.
Essex-born right-footed central defender or right-back and younger brother of former team-mate Justin, now at Middlesbrough. England Under-17 international and former captain of Arsenal’s Under-18s.

MARK RANDALL. AGE 18.
A solid central midfielder or winger, predominantly left-footed, born in Milton Keynes, who featured in Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial and loaned to Burnley last term , returning a stronger player.

AND IN RESERVE...

HENRI LANSBURY (17) - Enfield-born, Herts-based midfielder described by Alan Smith as having “huge potential”.
JAY EMMANUEL-THOMAS (17) - London-born midfielder.
ABU OGOGO (18) - born in Epsom and formerly with Wimbledon.
JAY SIMPSON (19) - London-born striker with an imposing frame.

Obama up nine on McCain in new poll

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:26:00 +0000

CLEARWATER, Florida (AFP) — Barack Obama capitalized on financial turmoil and surged to a nine point lead in a new national poll which Wednesday revealed new signs that the crisis was hurting his foe John McCain.

The Democratic Senator, prepping in Florida for his first presidential debate with Republican McCain on Friday, also opened a 53 percent to 39 percent gap over McCain on who voters trust most to handle the economy in the ABC News/Washington Post survey.

The McCain campaign however rejected the poll as an outlier which failed to capture relative levels of party identification in what other recent polls have portrayed as a tight race ahead of the November 4 election.

The poll came as both candidates pick through the political minefield sown by the 700 billion dollar Bush administration bailout package for staggering Wall Street and growing pessimism in the heartland about the economy.

The poll finds Obama leading among likely voters by 52 percent to 43 percent. Just two weeks ago, before the crisis really took hold, he had a slim two point lead with the race a statistical dead-heat.

While the lead is wider than in other polls, it does share findings of several recent surveys that the economy and the Wall Street meltdown are having a direct impact on the election.

Only nine percent of those surveyed agreed that US economy was in good or excellent shape, the first time since 1992 that number has been in the single digits, the Post said.

Just 14 percent said the country is moving in the right direction -- the lowest figure since 1973.

Asked who they trust more to handle the economy, 53 percent chose Obama and 39 percent, McCain.

In a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll also published Wednesday, 48 percent of respondents said Obama could do a better job handling the financial crisis, and 35 percent said McCain could.

McCain's veteran pollster Bill McInturff dismissed the Post poll as a rogue reading that failed to capture relative levels of party identification among voters, which he said matched other polls suggesting a much tighter race.

"It's just easy to say, politely, that this one poll is an unusual outlier that does not represent where this campaign is nor where it's headed in the next day or two before we get to the first debate," he said on a conference call.

A National Public Radio poll meanwhile gave McCain the edge, putting him up two points on Obama in 14 battleground states, where Obama had led by three points in August.

In a Rasmussen daily tracking poll on Wednesday, Obama led McCain by just two points 49 percent to 47 percent. In Tuesday's Gallup Daily poll the Democrat led by 47 percent to 44 percent.

McCain made his latest attempt to recapture the initiative on the economy on Wednesday, meeting with his team of high-powered economic advisors to discuss the 700 billion dollar proposed Wall Street bailout.

He refused to say whether he would back the plan, which is running into increasing opposition in Congress, contradicting comments by the Senate's top Democrat Harry Reid.

McCain was asked by reporters about comments in which Senate Majority leader Reid said he had received "good news" that the Arizona senator was committed to supporting the bailout.

"I did not say that," said McCain, who has warned the oversight provisions in the package are insufficient and spoken out against the notion of rewarding disgraced Wall Street tycoons with taxpayer handouts.

The Hill newspaper, which covers Congress, quoted Reid as saying late Tuesday that McCain would back the package, which is running into trouble on both sides of the political aisle on Capitol Hill.

"I got some good news in the last hour or so -- it appears that Senator McCain is going to come out for this," Reid was quoted as saying.

Abdul Subhan Qureshi, known as India's bin Laden, named as bombing suspect

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:25:00 +0000

Judging by Abdul Subhan Qureshi’s early CV he should be a poster boy of the new India: educated at a church school, he studied electronics and software before joining a high-tech firm in Bombay in 1996.

Instead, this is the man now being described as India’s Osama bin Laden.

Police today named Mr Qureshi, 36, as the main suspect in the multiple bombings that killed at least 24 people in popular shopping areas in Delhi on Saturday.

They also suspect that he was behind a similar attack that killed 61 in the city of Jaipur in May, and two others that killed 45 people in Bangalore and Ahmedabad in July.

And they believe that he is the one who has hacked into wireless Internet networks and used the alias “al-Arbi” to sign e-mails claiming responsibility for the attacks on behalf of a group called the Indian Mujahideen.

He also uses the aliases Tauqir Bilal and Qasim and has become adept at changing his appearance, according to police and Intelligence Bureau officers.

Investigators still believe that the Indian Mujahideen is a front for the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which has been blamed for many other attacks.

What is new is the suggestion that Mr Qureshi masterminded the recent bombings, rather than the Pakistani or Bangladeshi radicals previously thought to be behind SIMI.

“Finding Qureshi … could prove key to preventing the next big terror bombings. But the threat will not end with his arrest,” Praveen Swami, an expert on Islamic extremism in India, wrote in a profile of Mr Qureshi.

“Investigations of other SIMI-linked terror cells have thrown up evidence which suggests Qureshi trained several hundred recent recruits … at camps held across India from 2007 onwards.”

Mr Qureshi’s alleged role is all the more troubling as he does not fit the conventional profile of Islamic extremists in India: unlike many of its 151 million Muslims, he had education and economic opportunities.

His parents came from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh – India’s poorest and most populous – but migrated to Bombay and sent him to Antonio De Souza High School, a church-run institution catering to all major religions.

He graduated from there in 1988, earned a diploma in industrial electronics in 1995 and a specialised software maintenance qualification in 1996 before joining a computer firm later that year.

After handling several major projects, he moved to a larger computer company.

In March 2001, however, he quit suddenly, saying in a letter: “I wish to inform you that I have decided to devote one complete year to pursue religious and spiritual matters.” Police now believe that Mr Qureshi joined SIMI as early as 1998 and helped to organise its conferences in 1999 and 2001 before going underground after the group was banned later that year.

They are unclear about what he did over the next seven years, but say that SIMI members arrested after the May and July bombings have told them that he masterminded the attacks and sent the e-mails.

Police also say that Mr Qureshi was in Delhi between August 23 and 25, but the e-mail about Saturday’s blasts appears to have been sent from a wireless network in Bombay, where the Anti-Terror Squad is now searching for him.

Jim Iyke goes naked!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:22:00 +0000

It is not only in movies that Nigerian actors pull stunts. Sometimes, they pull them in really life especially when the issue of love is concern.

Jim Iyke recently proved that to be true when he walked stark naked in the lobby of a five-star hotel in broad daylight just to prove to his Cuban-Jamaican American girlfriend as he usually refers to her that he loves her and he would do anything reasonable and unreasonable to show how much he loves her.

His girlfriend, who has a thing or two to do with running an agency that supplies topnotch beauties for video of hip hop stars in America, underestimated Jim’s love and dared him to walk naked in broad daylight to prove the undying love he has always been professing in one of the European countries they had both gone for holiday.

A very impeccable source, who is close to the UNIPORT graduate, told us now that the actor gave the request some thought and after a while sneaked out on his girlfriend and took off to the lobby downstairs via the lift. It was while in the lift that he undressed and stepped out naked as soon as the lift hit the ground floor. His plan was to call his babe as soon as he hit the floor.

But for the intervention of the eagle-eyed security operatives of the five-star hotel who had seen the actor undressing in the lift and deem his action offensive, the ‘birthday suit’ of our dear Jim would have been for public display. The security operatives laid siege on the lift as soon as the door swung open and covered the black dude with a blanket so as not to offend their esteemed customers. They decided to take him to the police station after discovering that he was mentally stable, for trying to offend the sensibilities of other hotel users.

Despite facing an impending state sanction, Jim still managed to play his chronic lover boy by making a request on the police who had been called to the scene that his lover be alerted so that she would know he was about to be crucified as it were for her.

It was a teary-eyed and awe-struck lover girl that came to the scene after being informed of what happened. The police later got explanation from the lover girl that Jim got involved in the shameful drama to prove his undying love for her. Not swayed by the love angle introduced to the scenario, the policemen took Jim to the station and it took the intervention and guarantee of a lawyer that Jim would not constitute a nuisance to the public anymore before he was allowed to go home. On getting back to the hotel, he checked out of the hotel with his lover and headed straight for the airport where the two love birds returned to the United States.

Jim confirmed the story when we ran into him shortly before he traveled to America, and reiterated the fact that he has finally found love. But he declined to mention the name of the country in order not to affect his future business dealings.

He went as far as saying “as a man, I would stand up for my girl and defend her if need be.” Remember he confessed to ‘whipping the ass of a Lagos based radio DJ for harassing his girlfriend who was in Nigeria recently in a club’ in an interview with a soft-sell magazine not too long ago. For daring to pull a stunt with a situation that almost led him to jail, who says our actors don’t have location hangover?

Meanwhile, the actor who is presently out of the country, is planning a duet with hip hop artiste, Faze of the Kolomental fame. The plan to hit the studio was in top gear before he traveled. He, however, promised to be around for Faze album release, which is scheduled for sometimes later this month.

BUSH COMMENDS GHANA

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:16:00 +0000

The US President, Mr George Walker Bush, on Monday accorded President J.A. Kufuor a warm welcome to the White House, saying Ghana was showing Africa that democracy was not a challenge to be feared but a sure path to prosperity and peace.

At an impressive ceremony to usher President Kufuor and his wife, Madam Theresa, to the White House in Washington, President Bush said, "Ghana and America stand as one in our work to promote free elections.

Ghana is now in the middle of a lively election season, marked by spirited debate and close-fought contests - which sounds kind of familiar."

"Whatever the outcome, Ghana is showing Africa that democracy is not a challenge to be feared but a sure path to prosperity and peace," he noted.
"President Kufuor, your country is a model of entrepreneurship and democracy and peace on the continent of Africa," President Bush added.
President Kufuor is in the United States for a three-day State visit at the invitation of the US government.

He is one of the few world leaders to have been invited by the US President for a State visit on two occasions during his tenure.

Highlights of the visit include a state arrival ceremony, a press briefing, a State Dinner to be hosted by President Bush and his wife Laura and a host of meetings with American politicians and business leaders.

The visit is intended to deepen Ghana-US relations and partnership, as well as strengthen the commitment of the two countries to promote peace and prosperity in Africa and the rest of the world.

President Bush extolled the leadership of President Kufuor and Ghana's democratic credentials, saying, "Ghana's leaders are governing justly, fighting corruption and investing in their people. And America is proud to support these efforts through our Millennium Challenge Compact. Together, we work with Ghana to improve agriculture and infrastructure, support development in Ghana's rural areas and bring prosperity to Ghana's people."

The US President examined other areas where Ghana and the US had worked together to promote trade and development in the two countries.

''We have worked to promote free trade as a powerful engine of prosperity for both our countries. Last year, trade between Ghana and the US was valued at more than $600 million - an increase of more than 55 per cent since President Kufuor and I took office," he said.

On illiteracy and ignorance, President Bush said "through the Africa Education Initiative, Ghana and the US have partnered to provide thousands of scholarships for girls. We've trained teachers. And across that important country schools are being renovated, textbooks are being distributed and Ghana's children are looking toward a brighter future".

In addition to providing educational opportunities, the US President said Ghana and the US were also working together to free people from disease.

Furthermore, President Bush said Ghana and America were standing together to promote peace in parts of the world.

"Ghana is a vital partner in our efforts to resolve the crisis in Darfur. Ghana has more than 3,000 peacekeepers serving around the world - from Liberia and the Congo to llisovo and Kosovo and Georgia," he said.

Referring to the strong bonds of friendship between the US and Ghana, President Bush said the confidence which was expressed by the then US President Eisenhower at the time of Ghana's independence that the two countries would stand as one in safeguarding the bonds of friendship between them was well-placed.

"Half a century later, we see that President Eisenhower's confidence was well placed. Today, Ghana and America are still bound by our love for liberty and we stand as one in our efforts to safeguard that freedom," President Bush said.

"Mr President, I congratulate you on the progress Ghana has made under your strong leadership. And on behalf of the American people, Laura and I are honoured to welcome you and Mrs Kufuor to the United States. May God bless you, and may God continue to bless our great nations," he stated.

Responding, President Kufuor recalled the visit of President Bush and his wife to Ghana in February 2008 and said it had been significant in lifting the already cordial ties between the two countries to an even higher level.

Expressing appreciation to the US government for the assistance given to Ghana so far, President Kufuor said the US government's continued support for Ghana's development efforts was exemplified in many aspects of its national life.

Specific acts of US assistance, he said, included the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) which had enabled Ghanaian businesses to export duty-free and quota-free, 6,400 commodities to the US market; the Africa Growth Competitiveness Initiative (AGCl) which had supported Ghana's capacity development in international trade.

Others, he said, were the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), by which the US government had granted Ghana $547 million to modernize and commercialise agriculture, and the African Education Initiative (AEI), which Mrs Bush was sponsoring by donating books and other educational resources to promote literacy among the youth of the country.

President Kufuor expressed the hope that Ghana-US partnership would be strengthened in the years ahead and that it would be augmented by increased US private sector involvement in the economy of Ghana, including the emerging oil sector.

Source: Daily Graphic

Upsurge of violence in Niger Delta

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:03:00 +0000

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Sept 16 - Five gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped a British expatriate in the oil hub Port Harcourt, and militants launched attacks on two oil installations in the Niger Delta, security sources said on Tuesday.

In the heaviest fighting in two years, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil pipeline and Chevron-operated oilfield late Monday and early Tuesday morning. But a military spokesman dismissed Mend’s claims, saying there were no security breaches.

The hostage, a former employee of the petrochemicals firm Indo Rama, was seized late on Monday, the sources said. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in the Niger Delta, the heart of the country’s oil sector, since early 2006. Almost all have been released unharmed.

The oil market, focusing on the impact of the credit crisis on the global economy, has largely ignored the escalation in violence in the world’s eighth largest oil exporter. Prices on Tuesday traded at a seven-month low near $92 a barrel.

Militant group Mend - which has been responsible for attacks that have cut a fifth of the Opec member’s output since early 2006 - said ”A major crude oil pipeline ... belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company was destroyed with high explosives. The pipeline was located at Degema in Rivers state.

A security source said the militant group also attacked Chevron’s Idama oilfield, but were repelled by security forces. ”As a precaution, the company has evacuated its offshore personnel,” the source said.

Shell and Chevron officials were not immediately available for comment.

Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for the military task force in Rivers state, said there were no successful militant attacks in the state since early Monday.

”No facility, national asset or military location was attacked in our area of responsibility,” Musa said. ”The situation is being closely monitored and is under control.”

Some security sources in the oil industry estimate more than 100 people may have been killed by the clashes, which have spread to at least seven villages in Rivers state.

The military says militants have incurred ”heavy losses,” but have declined to elaborate. Mend says at least 29 people, most of them soldiers, have died.

Militants have bombed pipelines, platforms, gas plants and oilfields, shutting up to 115,000 barrels per day of oil production in the last four days, government officials said.

The violence has prompted Shell to reduce the number of employees at some of its Nigerian oilfields. An industry source said nearly 100 staff have been evacuated.

END OF MERRILL LYNCH

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:37:00 +0000

It’s the end of an era for Merrill Lynch, the brokerage firm that brought Wall Street to Main Street.
Merrill, which has lost more than $45 billion on its mortgage investments, agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for $50.3 billion in stock, according to people briefed on the negotiations.

It is a remarkable fall from grace for the 94-year-old Merrill, whose corporate logo — a bull — has long symbolized the fundamental optimism of Wall Street. After a frantic weekend of talks between Wall Street executives and federal officials over the fate of the teetering Lehman Brothers, fear spread on Sunday that Merrill, staggered by losses, might also falter. The merger would combine Bank of America’s banking and lending strength with Merrill Lynch’s wealth management expertise.

“It is an enormous shock,” said Steve Fraser, a Wall Street historian and author of “Wall Street: America’s Dream Palace.”

“Merrill was a kind of bedrock institution whose stability and longevity was taken for granted and was reassuring to people,” Mr. Fraser said. “Even in these very highly erratic and speculative marketplaces like we’ve been living through, you didn’t think Merrill would be vulnerable.”

The sale, if completed, would open a new chapter for Merrill, which was founded in 1914 and promoted the idea that anyone, not just the rich, should invest in markets. Merrill’s brokers would be combined with Bank of America’s smaller group of wealth advisers into an entity called Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, these people said. Customers with brokerage accounts at Merrill are unlikely to be financially affected.

Merrill, the nation’s largest brokerage firm, was one of the earliest Wall Street firms to go public, in 1971. Its executives, traditionally former stockbrokers, have long been viewed as spokespeople for the entire industry. After the crash of 1987, for instance, Merrill’s chief executive appeared on a television commercial and used one of the company’s long-time slogans, saying: “Merrill Lynch is still bullish on America.”

Last December, John A. Thain, Merrill’s chairman and chief executive, was brought in to try to salvage the troubled company. It remains unclear how many Merrill employees will be hired by Bank of America.

Since the credit crisis first flared more than a year ago, Merrill has been among the most wounded. Under its previous chief executive, E. Stanley O’Neal, Merrill moved aggressively into the mortgage market and became one of the top issuers of investment vehicles linked to subprime mortgages and other risky forms of debt. Mr. O’Neal was forced out last fall after the tumult in the mortgage market began.

Since then, the investment bank has taken more than $45 billion in write-downs, a figure that is two times more than all the profit Merrill made in the two and a half years before the credit crisis. The charges have pushed Merrill Lynch deep into the red and forced the company to lay off 4,000 workers. Merrill has raised more than $15 billion in additional capital to strengthen its financial position but has struggled to regain investors’ confidence.

Employees reached Sunday night reacted with dismay and said they would consider leaving after Bank of America took over. Many said they were saddened that Merrill, which has long prided itself on its independence, would now become part of a larger commercial bank.

“A hundred guys flew this firm into a mountain,” said a broker who works for Merrill in California and asked to remain anonymous because he did not have permission to speak with reporters. “It’s really sad. Now we’re going to be a bank like every one else.”

Many employees hoped that Mr. Thain would turn the company around. A former Goldman Sachs executive, Mr. Thain is known as Mr. Fix-It because he pushed the New York Stock Exchange into the modern era as its chief executive over the last two years.

Mr. Thain undertook seven major transactions this summer in hopes of bolstering Merrill. Among the transactions were a sale of Merrill’s $4.4 billion stake in Bloomberg, the financial news and data service. Merrill also raised $9.8 billion of common equity and shed $31 billion of its risky mortgage investments for pennies on the dollar.

Explaining his decisions in an interview in July, Mr. Thain pointed to employee morale and said Merrill needed to move beyond its past.

“We have over 60,000 people working every day,” Mr. Thain said. “All the efforts of these people were overwhelmed by the write-downs in the mortgage-related assets.”

Merrill Lynch has been through tough times before. As the stock market soared in the 1920s, Charles E. Merrill, one of the company’s founders, worried about speculation and advised his clients that they should “take advantage of present high prices and put your financial house in order.” After the stock market crash of 1929, Merrill survived in large part by spinning off its retail brokerage business and focusing on investment banking. The company later reunited.

Many Americans remained skeptical of Wall Street even into the 1950s, and Merrill Lynch used its marketing and local branches to try to build a better reputation for the industry. At the same time it began expanding into Europe. In the 1990s, Merrill was the first financial services company to surpass $1 trillion in client assets under management, according to the company’s Web site.

The new, combined group, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, would be run by Robert J. McCann, the head of Merrill’s global wealth management business. Gregory J. Fleming, president of Merrill Lynch, will become president of the combined bank’s corporate and investment bank, while Thomas K. Montag, who started at Merrill Lynch in August, will be head of all risk, trading and institutional sales, the people briefed on the negotiations said.

Merrill’s top executives had long believed the company would survive the turmoil in the markets, but changed their minds this weekend. Some observers said they may have been wise to do so.

“Almost all of these institutions are worth a lot more while they’re still operating and before they get caught in a financial hurricane,” said James A. Wilcox, a professor at the Haas School of Business at University of California in Berkeley and a former chief economist at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

As recently as last Wednesday, Mr. Thain was still out selling the Merrill story. He met with worried employees financial advisers in Minneapolis as part of a series of town halls he has been holding to answer employee questions. Mr. Thain reassured them about the company’s capital base, dwindling level of worrisome assets, and the value of Merrill Lynch’s businesses, according to someone who attended.

And he told them that the pain looked like it would end by 2009

New Delhi bombings

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:37:00 +0000

Police hunt militants after New Delhi market attacks
INDIAN police have begun hunting down Moslem militants behind co-ordinated bomb attacks against busy shopping areas in the nation's capital that left 20 dead and close to 100 injured.

Editorial

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:35:00 +0000

The Technical Committee on Niger Delta
THE sudden flurry of activities in government circles in response to the dangerously worsening Niger Delta problem is a very welcome development. First was the announcement of a 40-person Technical Committee set up by the Federal Government to, in the words of the Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan, 'ferret out' all and every report ever produced on the Niger Delta, 'examine them as thoroughly as it can and make suggestions for government's necessary and urgent attention'.

BID FOR BONDS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:34:00 +0000

Why govt bids for fresh $500m bond, by Babalola
From Mathias Okwe, Abuja
WHAT may have inspired the Federal Government last week to secure fresh foreign credit through the floatation of a $500 million bond at the London Stock Exchange could be likened to its passion to drive the private partnership policy.

MILITANTS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:32:00 +0000

JTF, MEND disagree over attack on Chevron's facility
From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt
THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday attacked a Chevron platform at Soku and Kula in Rivers State in retaliation for the aerial and marine hits on its bases around Elom-Tombia on Saturday by the military.

PLANE MISHAP

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:29:00 +0000

92 die in Russian, Australian air mishaps
ANOTHER Boeing 737 crashed yesterday in Russia killing all 88 passengers, and crew on board. It was the second crash of that plane type in a month in the former Soviet Union.

ZIMBABWE POLITICS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:28:00 +0000

Zimbabwe rivals agree on new cabinet, to sign deal today
AFTER months of ruinous stand-off between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition, Zimbabwe's leaders are today set to sign a historic deal to divide power among political rivals.