Week ending: Saturday 9th October 2004

Hostage Bigley is dead, reports say
UK diplomats are investigating reports in the Middle East that British hostage Ken Bigley is dead, the Foreign Office said today. Abu Dhabi Television reported that the militant group led by al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had killed the 62-year-old Liverpool-born engineer, who was taken hostage on September 16. The TV station quoted "informed" sources in Iraq for the report. There was no official confirmation.

FBI seizes Indymedia servers
The FBI has issued an order to hosting provider Rackspace in the US, ordering it to turn over two of the servers hosting the Independent Media Centre's websites in the UK, a statement from the group says. Rackspace has offices in the US and the UK. Independent Media Center, which is better known as Indymedia, was set up in 1999 to provide grassroots coverage of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) protests in Seattle. Rackspace complied with the FBI order, without first notifying Indymedia, and turned over Indymedia's server in the UK. This affects over 20 Indymedia sites worldwide, the group said.

Dispute as 11 die in Falluja raid
Eleven people died and 17 were wounded in a US air attack on the rebel-held city of Falluja in Iraq, said doctors. The US military said what it called a 'precision strike' targeted a hideout used by associates of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. But residents and a doctor said the raid had struck a house shortly after a wedding party. They said the groom died and his bride was injured in the raid.
Nine women and six children were also reported to be among the wounded.

Nader ties criticisms to BonesYale
At the university he called 'the source of our political problems,' independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader spoke about what he deemed to be the shortcomings of the two major presidential candidates who graduated from Yale. Concluding a tour of several Ivy League universities, Nader addressed an audience of Yalies and New Haven residents that nearly filled Battell Chapel Wednesday evening. In his speech, Nader criticized the two-party system he said allows corporations to dominate the electoral process and leads voters to choose the 'least worst' candidate.

MP questions Iraqi woman's speech
The weeping Iraqi woman who begged Labour conference delegates not to vote to withdraw British troops from the country has 'strong connections' with the CIA, Britain's most senior back bench MP claimed. Labour's Tam Dalyell, a persistent critic of the Iraqi war and Father of the House of Commons asked: 'Have we been duped yet again?' In her speech, Shanaz Rashid appealed to the conference in Brighton: 'Please, please, do not desert us in our hour of need.' Now, Mr Dalyell, MP for Linlithgow, has written to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, asking how it came about that Rashid was given centre stage at the conference when she was not even a delegate.

Web blunder boosts Bush bashers
A slip of the tongue by Dick Cheney has given a boost to anti-Bush campaigners.
During a televised debate Mr Cheney told viewers to visit factcheck.com when answering accusations by vice presidential nominee John Edwards. But rather than being the address of a project to check the facts politicians use, the site merely hosts adverts. Soon after being mentioned, it began redirecting visitors to the website of billionaire George Soros, who is very critical of the Bush administration.

Soldiers allegedly used electrical cord to help kill general
Four Fort Carson soldiers accused of killing an Iraqi general last year allegedly used an electrical cord to help kill him, according to charging documents in the case. Chief Warrant Officers Lewis E. Welshofer Jr., Jefferson L. Williams, Sgt. 1st Class William J. Sommer and Spc. Jerry L. Loper were charged with murder and dereliction of duty on Monday in the death of Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush last November. According to another document a Pentagon report - given to Congress in June - the soldiers allegedly put Mowhoush inside a sleeping bag and then bound him to prevent him from moving.

During Republican Convention, marchers treated as enemy combatants
At first the enemy is foreign, alien, incomprehensible: to post-9/11 America, a nation founded by fundamentalist Calvinists, they were Afghans, Iraqis, Muslims in general. We locked them into places like Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay and we threw away the key. Denied access to a lawyer, never charged with a crime, their names and locations hidden from family and the media, dismal treatment - including torture - was inevitable. In a classic step in the devolution from democracy to police state, we’ve run out of foreigners to bomb and imprison.

Small blast hits Indonesian Embassy in Paris
An explosion triggered by a booby-trap device in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Paris slightly injured nine people this morning, including four embassy workers, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said. A rigged package exploded at the base of a flag pole in front of the embassy. Cars in the area were damaged and windows were shattered. Most of the injured people were hurt by flying glass, the interior minister said.

Vote for Change: Battle of the bands
Bruce Springsteen, REM, Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks are touring America together. It's no ordinary gig: they hope to change the course of the US election. But is anyone out there listening? No doubt about it, the audience at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center for the opening night of the Vote for Change tour was a Bruce Springsteen crowd. The Wachovia Center is the home of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, but there weren't any penalties or power-plays in prospect tonight.

G Bissau mutineers deny coup plot
Mutinous soldiers in Guinea-Bissau, who killed the head of the armed forces, have issued their demands. They include payment of outstanding wages, an increase in pay and better living conditions in barracks. General Verissimo Correia Seabre, who led a military coup a year ago, and his colleague, were beaten to death. Talks to resolve the dispute, which former colonial power Portugal has described as an attempted coup, have continued at the navy headquarters.

German Spy Chief Says Bin Laden Is Alive
Germany's intelligence chief said Thursday he believes that Osama bin Laden is alive and continues to exert influence in his al-Qaida terror network. 'All indications are that he is alive,' August Hanning, head of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, said at a news conference. German intelligence officials believe, as they have for some time, that bin Laden is living in the Afghan-Pakistani border area, Hanning said. He did not specify which side of the border. 'We continue to see traces of his activity. He tries to organize, to motivate' his followers, Hanning said. He did not elaborate.

France rejects Iraqi oil claims
The French government yesterday angrily rejected accusations by the US-led Iraq Survey Group that its politicians and companies profited from Saddam Hussein's oil revenues. A prominent Russian party leader also dismissed similar claims, as did the British MP George Galloway. With US-French relations still strained from the Iraq war, the French foreign ministry issued a tart statement expressing surprise that the ISG had made accusations against companies and individuals 'without having taken the trouble to verify the information in advance with the in dividuals and companies concerned, nor indeed with the authorities in their countries'.

Geldof 'diplomacy' eclipses UK promise of troops for Africa
Tony Blair's launch of an initiative for British humanitarian intervention in Africa yesterday was overshadowed by his outspoken companion, Bob Geldof, who accused an EU aid official of 'talking out of his arse'. Mr Blair had announced that1,500 British soldiers would be committed to a 10,000-strong European force of 'rapidly deployable' battle groups.

Israel greater nuclear threat than Iran: Israeli whistleblower Vanunu
Israel is a greater nuclear threat than Iran, Mordechai Vanunu, who was freed in April after 18 years in an Israeli prison for revealing the country's nuclear program, told Swedish Radio. 'We can say to Israel that if you're blaming Iran, let's go make Israel and Iran both open their facilities and be nuclear free zones. I think Iran (and) Iraq accept this but Israel is still not ready to accept this policy,' Vanunu said in an interview on Swedish public radio. Iran has been faced with stinging criticism for its atomic program, which it claims is purely peaceful, but which the United States and Israel in particular fear conceals efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Hewitt is first minister to say sorry
A Cabinet minister apologised yesterday for failings in the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq. The Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said she was speaking on behalf of Tony Blair and the Cabinet. Ms Hewitt was the first senior member of the Government to make a direct apology in relation to the war. Mr Blair has said that he could apologise about the information gathered on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction, but has stopped short of actually doing so.

Gorbachev Calls for 'New World Order'
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader who helped end the Cold War at President Ronald Reagan's prodding, is calling for a 'new world order' based on strong adherence to international law. Gorbachev made the comments Tuesday in a speech to the 91st annual Insurance Leadership Forum - the same conference at which Ambassador L. Paul Bremer made his widely reported remarks about troop levels being too low in Iraq. In his speech, Gorbachev reportedly said the development of nuclear weapons in other nations threatens to undermine the disarmament progress made by the U.S. and Russia.

Navy to tow stricken submarine as fury grows in Canada
Damaged and powerless, the Canadian submarine which has been stranded in the North Atlantic for three days after a fire was to be towed back to a British port today. Although the rough weather abated enough last night for Royal Navy ships to attempt the difficult feat of attaching towing cables to HMCS Chicoutimi, a political storm was brewing in Canada over the purchase - dogged by troubles - of the submarine and three others from the Ministry of Defence. Britain could face a multimillion-pound claim for compensation.

At Least Two Rockets Hit Central Baghdad Hotel
At least two rockets slammed into the Sheraton hotel in central Baghdad on Thursday, damaging the building and causing a fire nearby, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Immediately after the attack, U.S. and Iraqi forces opened fire in the direction from where the rockets were believed to have been launched, lighting up the sky with tracer bullets. A palm tree at the front entrance to the Sheraton was on fire. A resident of the hotel said one rocket had hit a first-floor room and a second exploded moments later.

Explosions rock Red Sea resorts
Three explosions at Egyptian resorts near the border with Israel have killed at least 21 people, although some reports speak of a higher death toll. The main blast happened at the Hilton hotel in Taba on the Sinai peninsula, a resort popular with Israelis. Israeli officials say a vehicle loaded with explosives blew up after ramming the hotel, killing 19 people. The other blasts hit backpacker beaches near the resort of Nuweiba 60km (38 miles) further south, killing two.

'No entry' for Blair in top UK hotel
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was reportedly denied entry into one of London's best restaurants because of his support to the Iraq war. According to the New York Post , Rose Gray, the co-owner of the River Cafi, reportedly personally declined a table request for Blair. Gray, however, has denied the reports. 'We're pretty anti-war here, but we don't have much of a huge alternative to Tony Blair in this country. If he did try and book a table, we'd probably say yes'.

Take them out, dude: pilots toast hit on Iraqi 'civilians'
The Pentagon said yesterday it was investigating cockpit video footage that shows American pilots attacking and killing a group of apparently unarmed Iraqi civilians. The 30-second clip shows the pilot targeting the group of people in a street in the city of Fallujah and asking his mission controllers whether he should 'take them out'. He is told to do so and, shortly afterwards, the footage shows a huge explosion where the people were. A second voice can be heard on the clip saying: 'Oh, dude.'

Iraq Survey Group to concede defeat in search for WMD
The Iraq Survey Group is expected to report today that it has found no evidence of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in post-war Iraq. Charles Duelfer, the chief UN arms inspector in Iraq, is due to present the findings in a 1,500-page report to Congress. He is expected to conclude that Iraq had neither weapons of mass destruction, nor significant WMD production programmes at the time of the invasion. However, he will assert that Saddam Hussein had plans to produce weapons once UN sanctions were lifted, according to US officials.

Saddam worse than thought - Straw
A key report on Saddam Hussein's WMDs shows that he posed a more serious threat than previously imagined, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said. It was now no surprise the Iraq Survey Group had found no weapons of mass destruction in the country, he said. But Mr Straw, speaking in Baghdad, said 'the threat from Saddam Hussein in terms of his intentions' was 'even starker than we have seen before'. Saddam would have built up his WMDs had he been left in power, Mr Straw added.

Bigley given Irish passport in move to sway captors
The Irish government issued a passport to Iraq hostage Ken Bigley in the hope that the country's long history of conflict with Britain might sway those holding him. The government planned to scan a copy of the passport for screening on the Arab television network al-Jazeera last night. Mr Bigley went to Iraq on a British passport but is entitled to Irish citizenship because his mother, Elizabeth, was born in Ireland.

Plutonium ship arrives at French port
The first of two ships carrying weapons-grade plutonium from the US docked in France early this morning, Greenpeace said today. The British-registered Pacific Pintail, said to be carrying enough plutonium to make 40 nuclear bombs, reached the port of Cherbourg after more than a fortnight at sea. Campaigners on board the environmental group's own ship MV Esperanza are waiting off Cherbourg for a second vessel, Pacific Teal, to arrive. Greenpeace spokeswoman Louise Edge said the group had been told that only Pacific Pintail was carrying the nuclear cargo.

You Can't Bomb Beliefs
My first run-in with Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army came on March 31 in Baghdad. The US occupation chief, Paul Bremer, had just sent armed men to shut down the young cleric's newspaper, Al Hawza, claiming that its articles comparing Bremer to Saddam Hussein incited violence against Americans. Sadr responded by calling for his supporters to protest outside the gates of the Green Zone, demanding Al Hawza's reopening.

Moore in 'noodles for votes' row
Republicans are calling for film-maker Michael Moore to be prosecuted for offering prizes of noodles and underwear to encourage voting. The Michigan Republican Party accuses the director of bribery on his speaking tour to encourage students to vote. Although Moore attacked President George Bush in his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, his speeches do not tell people what party to vote for.

Running mates clash over Iraq
The race for the White House turned aggressively personal last night in a vice-presidential debate that saw some of the campaign's sharpest exchanges so far as the candidates addressed Saddam Hussein's alleged links to terrorism. Fighting to win back ground lost to the Democrats following last Thursday's head-to-head between George Bush and John Kerry, vice-president Dick Cheney refused to back down from his highly controversial position that Saddam and al-Qaida had extensive connections. The Iraq war had been 'exactly the right thing to do', he insisted, because of an 'established Iraqi track record with terror'.

Appointment in Samarra
The U.S. has a lot of work to do if it's going to take back Iraqi cities held by insurgents. The job began last week, as 3,000 U.S. and 2,000 Iraqi troops stormed Samarra. In September talks with tribal groups there helped the U.S. begin to seat a city council. But the accord broke down, and the city slipped into rebel control. Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware reports from Samarra, which is a tune-up battle for tougher strongholds like Fallujah.

Rumour of Bush earpiece floats around Net
The crux of the rumor centers around a part of the debate where President Bush says, “let me finish,' though neither Senator Kerry or moderator Jim Lehrer have moved to interrupt him. The video file can be seen here. Viewers also note the numerous pauses during Bush’s answers, though some also note that Bush regularly uses dramatic pauses as part of his replies. The final element of the rumor surrounds an alleged wire in the back of the president’s suit jacket, see photograph.

French PM hits out at hostage bid fiasco
French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has denied allegations his government secretly endorsed a failed attempt by maverick congressional deputy Didier Julia to free two journalists held in Iraq. And Mr Raffarin told a congressional debate that Mr Julia's bid derailed France's official negotiations with the Iraqi kidnappers at a crucial moment. Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro and Christian Chesnot of Radio France International have been held captive for 47 days since their abduction on August 20.

Locusts 'heading to North Africa'
Swarms of crop-devouring desert locusts are on the move and are likely to reach North Africa soon, the UN says. Dense swarms of the insects have flown to Libya, and are heading for Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Up to four million hectares of land are estimated to be infested by locusts in countries across West Africa. The swarms are moving north as their food in the semi-desert Sahel area runs out at the end of the rainy season.

McCain National ID 'secretly' passed Senate
Sen. John McCain's amendment 3807 to the 9/11 Commission bill S 2845 was quietly passed late Friday afternoon by 'unanmous consent' after much of the Senate had already left for the weekend. This despite a promised debate on the amendment. The version of 3807 passed is very similar to Title VI of the McCain Lieberman bill S 2774, with slight changes that may (or may not) hamper the ability of the Homeland Secretary to throw up checkpoints on highways. The process for standardizing state driver's licenses into a de facto National ID card is still in place; with additional provisions for a rulemaking process.

House Bill Morphs 9/11 Advice 
As the full Senate and House prepare to vote on competing versions of the 9/11 Commission recommendations this week, most eyes are on how the government's intelligence services will be revamped. But civil liberties advocates, immigration groups and some 9/11 Commission members are criticizing provisions in the House bill that they say go far beyond the commission's recommendations.

Explosion 'targets Karzai's ally'
An explosion in the northern Afghan city of Feyzabad was aimed at President Hamid Karzai's running mate, Afghan officials say. At least one person died in the explosion. However, Mr Karzai's vice-presidential candidate, Ahmed Zia Massood, was not injured. The incident came as Mr Karzai held his final rally in the capital, Kabul. No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack although the Taleban and al-Qaeda have vowed to disrupt the presidential elections.

U.S. Faces Complex Insurgency in Iraq
The U.S. military is fighting the most complex guerrilla war in its history, with 140,000 American soldiers trained for conventional warfare flailing against a thicket of insurgent groups with competing aims and no supreme leader. The three dozen or so guerrilla bands agree on little beyond forcing the Americans out of Iraq. In other U.S. wars, the enemy was clear. In Vietnam, a visible leader - Ho Chi Minh - led a single army fighting to unify the country under socialism. But in Iraq, the disorganized insurgency has no single commander, no political wing and no dominant group.

Bremer Criticizes Troop Levels
The former U.S. official who governed Iraq after the invasion said yesterday that the United States made two major mistakes: not deploying enough troops in Iraq and then not containing the violence and looting immediately after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, administrator for the U.S.-led occupation government until the handover of political power on June 28, said he still supports the decision to intervene in Iraq but said a lack of adequate forces hampered the occupation and efforts to end the looting early on.

New photos: Shots fired into Knox Bush/Cheney headquarters
The headquarters are located at 4618 Kingston Pike, between Nouveau Classics and Lenny's submarine sandwich shop in the same shopping plaza as Long's Drugstore. According to Knoxville Police Department (KPD) officers on the scene Tuesday, it is believed that the two separate shots were fired from a car sometime between 6:30 am and 7:15 am. One shot shattered the glass in the front door and the other cracked the glass in another of the front doors. Bush-Cheney volunteer campaign coordinator Suzanne Dewar says she originally planned to be in the office early Tuesday morning.

Not such a bargain. One-owner sub in emergency callout
With due pomp and ceremony the Royal Navy handed over the submarine HMS Upholder to the Canadians at the weekend. The vessel was renamed HMCS Chicoutimi - after the city on the edge of Quebec's vast northern wilds - and the maple leaf flag was hoisted. Then after its final preparations, it began to chug towards Nova Scotia. The vessel, one of four diesel submarines purchased from the Ministry of Defence did not look quite such good value. And it seemed to have little prospect of being in Canadian waters any time soon.

Police arrest five Eta suspects
Police in northern Spain today arrested five suspected members of the Basque separatist group Eta as they awaited orders to stage an attack, the interior ministry said. The four men and one woman were seized in raids in San Sebastian and Irun, both in the Basque country, and in Pamplona in neighbouring Navarra. An interior ministry official said the arrests were made possible by information from a Spanish truck driver seized on Sunday in northern Spain as part of a cross-border operation that also resulted in the capture in south-west France of 20 Eta suspects.

BAE chief linked to slush fund
The chief operating officer of giant arms firm BAE, Steven Mogford, is today named in a BBC programme as the man behind the company's 'slush fund', which made £60m of corrupt payments to Saudi officials, including providing prostitutes, Rolls-Royces and Californian holidays. Mr Mogford, aged 48, is also accused on tonight's Money Programme of giving orders to suppress an internal investigation into the slush fund. Mr Mogford's signed authority appears on BAE's files authorising huge corrupt payments with the words 'OK to pay'. The Guardian is publishing these documents on its website today. They directly implicate one of the arms firm's most senior executives in a spreading scandal.

Time to Recognize State Terror
The world is dividing into two hostile camps: Islam and 'us.' That is the unerring message from Western governments, press, radio and television. For Islam, read terrorists. It is reminiscent of the cold war, when the world was divided between 'Reds' and us, and even a strategy of annihilation was permissible in our defense. We now know, or we ought to know, that so much of that was a charade; released official files make clear the Soviet threat was for public consumption only.

Karzai braves rally outside Kabul
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has attended his only campaign rally outside the capital, Kabul, just four days before landmark elections. He flew to Ghazni, 100km south of Kabul to address a crowd of at least 5,000. Two other leading presidential candidates also held rallies - Yunus Qanuni in Kabul and General Abdul Rashid Dostum in Mazar-e-Sharif. There was massive security for Mr Karzai - violence by the Taleban has hampered campaigning in many areas.

Paradise cleansed
The story of Diego Garcia is shocking, almost incredible. A British colony lying midway between Africa and Asia in the Indian Ocean, the island is one of 64 unique coral islands that form the Chagos Archipelago, a phenomenon of natural beauty, and once of peace. Newsreaders refer to it in passing: 'American B-52 and Stealth bombers last night took off from the uninhabited British island of Diego Garcia to bomb Iraq (or Afghanistan).' It is the word 'uninhabited' that turns the key on the horror of what was done there. In the 1970s, the Ministry of Defence in London produced this epic lie: 'There is nothing in our files about a population and an evacuation.'

Da Vinci Code bestseller is plagiarism, authors claim
The Jesus conspiracy novel has earned £140 million, but now two academic writers say that their historical work preceded it by 20 years. It is the biggest-selling adult fiction book of all time and has earned its author a reputed £140 million with its plot about a global conspiracy to suppress Christ's marriage. The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 12 million copies and has been translated into 42 languages. But now two writers are suing its publishers, claiming that it was copied from their bestseller that first appeared more than 20 years ago.

The Explosion of the 9-11 Truth Movement - U.S. Media's Dirty Little Secret
A mass movement and a mountain of disturbing evidence has been growing beneath the radar of U.S. media. The U.S. media (including alternative media) has done an extraordinarily superhuman job of 'hearing' 'seeing' and 'speaking no evil.' However many researchers, ordinary citizens, and journalists began to smell something rotten . . . not in Denmark . . . but rather, right here in the good ol' US of A.

Iran 'increases missile range'
Iran now has missiles with a range of 2,000km (1,250 miles), former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani has said. Mr Rafsanjani's comments came in a speech to the Aerospace Research Institute in Tehran, and were reported by the Iranian news agency. Correspondents say this is a substantial addition to the previously announced range of Iranian missiles. It puts Israel and US bases in the Middle East in range, although Iran says it would only act in self-defence.

Rumsfeld: Iraq/al-Qaida remarks 'misunderstood'
The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, today attempted to distance himself from his earlier comments that there were no links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. In a statement issued several hours after he had told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that 'to my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two', Mr Rumsfeld claimed he had been 'misunderstood'. 'I have acknowledged since September 2002 that there were ties between al-Qaida and Iraq,' the statement said. 'This assessment was based upon points provided to me by [the] then CIA director George Tenet to describe the CIA's understanding of the al-Qaida Iraq relationship.'

Rumsfeld questions Saddam-Bin Laden link
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has cast doubt on whether there was ever a relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. The alleged link was one of the justifications used by President George W Bush for the invasion of Iraq. Mr Rumsfeld was asked by a New York audience about connections between Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. 'To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two,' he said.

Dear Mike, Iraq sucks
Civilian contractors are fleecing taxpayers; US troops don't have proper equipment; and supposedly liberated Iraqis hate them. After the release of Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore received a flood of letters and emails from disillusioned and angry American soldiers serving in Iraq. Extracts from 'Will They Ever Trust Us Again? Letters from the Warzone to Michael Moore' by Michael Moore

Oil prices surge to record high
Continued production problems in the US Gulf of Mexico, following Hurricane Ivan, have seen oil prices climb to a record high of more than $50 a barrel. Nearly 29%, or about 480,000 barrels a day (b/d), of oil output remains shut in, three weeks after the hurricane. It follows uncertainty about production in Nigeria and comes when world output is already at near full capacity. US light crude reached $50.49 a barrel, two cents more than the previous high reached last week.

Comic Relief condemned over Burma link
One of Britain's best-known charities was today condemned for entering into a partnership with a firm linked to the military dictatorship in Burma. Human rights organisation the Burma Campaign UK slammed Comic Relief, the charity behind Red Nose Day, after it emerged the charity would be working on the event with delivery company DHL, which is in a joint venture with the Burmese government.
Burma Campaign UK director John Jackson said: 'We are appalled that Comic Relief have entered into this partnership. Red Nose Day will be Red Face Day for Comic Relief if they partner with a company funding Burma's military dictatorship.'

US states race to register voters
US election officials in four swing states are reporting record numbers of new voters for next month's presidential election. Monday was the deadline for voter registration in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Florida, and extra staff have been used to process applications. Twelve other states also have a deadline on Monday. Others fall closer to election day itself. The two candidates are running neck and neck and urging supporters to turn out. In the largest marginal state, Florida, registration is said to be up 20%. In Ohio - which polls suggest is one of the closest states - nearly 250,000 people have signed up.

50,000 trapped by Israeli assault on Gaza
Israeli forces have demolished the homes of hundreds of Palestinians, bulldozed swaths of agricultural land and destroyed infrastructure in their bloodiest assault on the Gaza Strip in years. More than 70 people have died in Operation Days of Penitence, launched in northern Gaza six days ago after a Hamas rocket attack killed two Israeli children. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that the dead included 31 civilians. Nineteen were under 18.

Peru leader shocks with TV tirade
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo is facing a backlash after TV audiences heard him harangue and insult a presenter in a live telephone call. Opposition politicians and the press voiced shock at the outburst, which was prompted by a critical broadcast. Mr Toledo accused presenter Carlos Espa of cowardice and 'gutter' journalism for airing footage apparently proving allegations of electoral malpractice. Recent opinion polls suggest Mr Toledo is South America's least-liked leader.

'Deadly' ladybird spotted in UK
A ladybird which has caused 'catastrophic' damage to other insect species in the US is on the loose in Britain, an expert said today. Harmonia axyridis - also known as the Harlequin ladybird or multi-coloured ladybug - poses a 'deadly threat' to butterflies, lacewings and many other ladybirds, Dr Michael Majerus, of Cambridge University's genetics department, said. The Harlequin, an Asian species, was introduced into North America 25 years ago to fight aphids. Since then, it has spread to Europe and was last month seen in the garden of a pub in Sible Hedingham, Essex.

Mbeki slammed in rape race row
A high-profile South African anti-rape campaigner has hit back at President Thabo Mbeki after being called racist. 'The president clearly has a problem with... sex and sexuality,' said Charlene Smith, who wrote of her rape ordeal for BBC News Online in 1999. At the weekend, Mr Mbeki said she, and other journalists, saw black people as 'barbaric savages'. He was angry about criticism of figures which showed a drop in levels of violent crime such as rape and murder.

Living, Breathing Gonzo Journalism
In these uncertain times when dissent is quashed at every turn, there are the few who are daring enough to stand up to it all. Whistleblowers including political aficionado Richard Clarke to Ambassador Joseph Wilson have risked their livelihood to deliver the truth to the people. Filmmaker and author Michael Moore, who has now catapulted himself to household name status with Fahrenheit 9/11, continues to put himself out on the line every day to counter Karl Rove’s spin machine.

UN seeks access to Italy migrants
The UN has asked for access to migrants landing illegally in Italy as Rome presses ahead with the mass expulsions by air that began at the weekend. The UN's refugee agency said it wanted to ensure genuine refugees were not expelled along with illegal migrants arriving by sea from North Africa. It acted after more than 600 arrived on the island of Lampedusa in one night.

Post-Invasion Chaos Blamed for Drug Surge
Afghanistan's opium poppy crop this year is set to break all records, surging past the peak levels reported under the Taliban regime, top American and international counter-narcotics officials said. At the same time, U.N. and U.S. officials are increasingly worried by signs of a nascent drug trade developing in Iraq, where smugglers are taking advantage of the continuing chaos and unguarded borders.

The Israeli NWO tips their hand
Masonic Order designs symbology in Israeli Supreme Court Building.
This report shows many pictures indicating the Illuminati-established proof that there is a plot by those we refer to as the New World Order to Show in architectural design of the New Israeli Supreme Court Building designed and paid for by the Rothchilds, a presence of Free Masonry and the Illuminati in Israel.

E-mail scam plays on US elections
People are being warned about a scam e-mail which uses the US presidential poll to con them out of their money. A junk e-mail invites people to dial a premium rate number to express their support for President George W Bush or rival John Kerry. E-mail filtering firm BlackSpider estimates that almost a quarter of a million are being sent out every day. In the past, net fraudsters have tried to use the 9/11 attacks and the tragedy in Beslan to get money.

US says corner turned in Iraq
US military commanders and Baghdad politicians are claiming the corner has been turned in Iraq's anti-insurgency conflict, following a weekend offensive to destroy rebel forces in the central city of Samarra, 100km north of the capital. As the hostage crisis continues to evolve, with fresh demands, another videotaped execution and deepening fears for long-held Western captives, the political stakes in the campaign to pacify Iraq mount ever higher.

Waking the Left Up to Skull and Bones
The world is still here, so I can continue to wonder about how my friends, who once agonized about having to vote for John Kerry, and are now happy about voting for him. I think when you have the need to be on the winning side against Bush; you can even convince yourself that you really like him. Kerry supported the war in Iraq, along with NAFTA, GATT, the WTO, the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and so on and so forth. Kerry is called a liberal as Clinton was, but really he follows the Democratic Leadership Council line. That line was once called Republican. It will be a heavy price to pay when John Kerry’s version of ‘anybody but Bush’ turns out to be surprisingly close to the original.

Blow to UKIP as key backer withdraws support
The UK Independence Party suffered a major setback last night when its biggest financial backer withdrew his support. Paul Sykes, a Yorkshire businessman, said he was taking the step as a result of the party's plans to stand against the Tories in every constituency at the next election and its rejection of calls not to challenge Eurosceptic MPs. Mr Sykes said that he opposed what he perceived as UKIP's attempts to 'kill' the Conservatives at the next election. He expressed support for Tory policies on Europe.

Australians hold anti-war rallies
Thousands of demonstrators have marched in cities across Australia in protest at the country's role in Iraq - less than a week before a general election. The future of around 850 Australian troops in the Gulf has become an important issue in the campaign. The nationwide call for Australia to pull its forces out of the Gulf has been noisy and passionate. It has been heard at rallies from Melbourne to Brisbane and from Sydney to Perth. The target of the demonstrators' anger is the conservative government of John Howard.

Guantanamo has 'failed to prevent terror attacks'
Prisoner interrogations at Guantánamo Bay, the controversial US military detention centre where guards have been accused of brutality and torture, have not prevented a single terrorist attack, according to a senior Pentagon intelligence officer who worked at the heart of the US war on terror. Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Christino, who retired last June after 20 years in military intelligence, says that President George W Bush and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have 'wildly exaggerated' their intelligence value.

At large, material to make 15,000 nuclear bombs
Enough weapons-grade plutonium to make more than 15,000 nuclear bombs will be vulnerable to hijack by terrorists and rogue states as the result of a disarmament initiative. An unprecedented shipment of 300lb of the material from the United States was last night heading towards the French port of Cherbourg on two British ships. The shipment is the first instalment of 68 tons of plutonium from US and Russian weapons stockpiles to be put on to the world's roads and seas at a time when terrorists are actively seeking the material.

Powell Regrets Iraq Weapons Claim for War  
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday he regrets the Bush administration claimed that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in its argument for war, but he believes the world is better off without Saddam Hussein. Following a speech to the Atlanta Press Club, Powell defended the bulk of his presentation to the United Nations in February 2003 in which he made the case for war in Iraq. 'The only thing where we got it wrong and where our presentation did not hold up was the actual stockpiles,' Powell said. 'We've seen nothing to suggest that he had actual stockpiles. That was not right.'

How Cheney's firm routed $132m to Nigeria via Tottenham lawyer
A lawyer, based in offices in a run-down part of north London, worked with three British executives from the US construction group Halliburton to pay at least $132m (£73m) in 'unjustified' fees to contacts in Nigeria. These payments, many of which occurred when Halliburton was being run by Dick Cheney, now the American Vice-President, helped a consortium including the US group to win a $12bn contract to build a gas terminal at Bonny Island in Nigeria.

New evidence in Fujimori scandal
Peru's former leader Alberto Fujimori has millions of dollars in his bank accounts - far more than he could have earned, an investigation has found. Mr Fujimori, who fled to Japan in 2000 amid a huge corruption scandal which ended his rule, denies any wrongdoing. But a Supreme Court judge says the money is a potential proof that he stole large sums of public money. Peru has already demanded his extradition to try him for ordering the killing of 25 people by an army squad.

Three in Court on Terror Charges
Three men will appear in court today charged under the Terrorism Act.
The men were arrested following information from the News of the World which claimed it had uncovered a plot to buy radioactive material for a dirty bomb. Roque Flaviano Fernandes, 43, of De Havilland Road, Edgware, Dominic Agnello Martins, 44, of Ducros Drive, Stanmore, both north-west London and Abdurahman Ranyare, 52, of Milling Road, Edgware, will appear at Horseferry Road Magistrates’ Court charged under Section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Streets of despair
On the day her life changed, when she was 13 years old, Majlinda was on the way to help her aunt with the ironing of clothes in preparation for her cousin's wedding in their village in northern Albania. She was a little short of reaching the house when three strange men stopped her. They grabbed her, bundled her into a car, blindfolded, bound and gagged her; she was then driven to the southern town of Gjirokastra. Not until the men and Majlinda had crossed the border with Greece and reached Corinth was she told: 'Now you are going to work.'

Locusts invade Mauritania capital
A giant swarm of locusts has invaded the capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott, in north-western Africa. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that the locust plague is still in its early stages and is set to worsen in the coming weeks. Locusts have already ravaged much of Mauritania's crops and pasture land. The air crackles with the flutter of their wings and trees rustle with their incessant munching. 'We are fed up with these locusts', said one Mauritanian.

Iraqis Condemn Prime Minister After Falluja Raid
After the latest U.S. air strike on Falluja, enraged residents clasped wounded children and challenged Iraq's prime minister to visit the town to see how bombs were hitting civilians, not 'terrorists.' 'Is this a terrorist? Is this a terrorist? Iyad Allawi come and show us the terrorists,' screamed a man as he fixed a bandage on the head of a small boy in his arms.

The Pentagon neocons who brought you the war in Iraq have a new target
Shortly after 9/11, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith began coordinating Pentagon planning for an invasion of Iraq. The challenge facing Feith, the No. 3 civilian in the Defense Department, was to establish a policy rationale for the attack. At the same time, Feith’s ideological cohorts in the Pentagon began planning to take the administration’s “global war on terrorism,' not only to Baghdad, but also to Damascus and Tehran.

Warning over US volcano eruption
Mount St Helens volcano in Washington state is likely to erupt again very soon, scientists have warned. The threat level has been raised to 'volcano alert' - the highest eruption risk level indicating there is a risk to life and property in the area. Hundreds of visitors were evacuated from the Johnston Ridge Observatory, five miles (8km) away. The volcano erupted on Friday for the first time since 1986. In 1980, a much stronger eruption killed 57 people.

BBC governor under fire for Iraq contracts
The BBC chief who played a pivotal role in how the corporation covered the Iraq war and the David Kelly affair, stands to profit out of a firm with lucrative military contracts in Iraq. Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, a BBC governor, emerged as one of the main figures in the feud between the BBC and the government in the fallout of the Hutton inquiry into the death of weapons scientist Dr David Kelly, being blamed personally by former-director general Greg Dyke for his sacking.

Fresh blasts hit north-east India
Fresh explosions in the troubled north-eastern region of India have left four people dead, a day after a series of bomb and gun attacks killed 56. The four victims all died in an explosion in Babubil, one of a series of blasts across western Assam. Police have blamed the attacks on a separatist group, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. It is18 years since it began fighting for an independent homeland for the Bodo people in Assam. Church congregations in Assam and the neighbouring state of Nagaland are holding services in memory of those killed in the violence.

Al-Qaida tape urges Muslims to attack U.S. and its allies
An audiotape that surfaced Friday, purportedly by al-Qaida's second-in-command, urged Muslim youths to carry out pre-emptive strikes against the United States and its allies. The tape, aired by Al-Jazeera television, identified the speaker as Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian-born confidant of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's. After a technical analysis, a U.S. intelligence official said authorities were able to determine with 'high confidence' that the voice was that of al-Zawahri.

Eta suspects arrested in France
French security forces have arrested 20 people suspected of being members of the outlawed Basque separatist group, Eta. Most were Spaniards living in the Basque region of south-western France. A cache of weapons was also seized while one person was arrested in Spain in connection with the operation. Improved French and Spanish ties since the 11 September attacks have led to several high-profile Eta arrests.

Police examine 'swap detainees for Bigley' offer
British police are investigating a claim that Ken Bigley, the British engineer held for more than two weeks by a militant Islamic group in Iraq, will be freed if the UK government releases around a dozen high-profile detainees. The statement, purporting to come from the Tawhid and Jihad group, which has been holding Bigley for 17 days, was posted on the internet last week. It claims that Bigley, 62, will be released if around a dozen foreign Islamic militants held in Belmarsh high-security prison in south-east London are freed.

US attacks Falluja 'arms store'
US forces have carried out another air strike on the rebellious Iraqi city of Falluja, the third in 24 hours. They bombed a building which they said was being used by insurgents as a weapons store. The attack is said to have happened as up to 15 suspected militants were moving ammunition and weapons, probably killing most of those present. Elsewhere, the city of Samarra is now largely under the control of US and Iraqi forces after days of fighting.

Sharon vows to end rocket strikes
Israel's prime minister has said a military operation in Gaza will continue for as long as is necessary to prevent Palestinian rocket attacks. Ariel Sharon said his country's forces would increase their area of control in northern Gaza. The operation began after a Palestinian rocket killed two children in the Israeli border town of Sderot. Over the four days, at least 50 Palestinians, some of them civilians, have been killed. Three Israelis - one a civilian - have been killed during the current incursion, which has seen Israeli troops backed by armoured vehicles and aircraft push 9km inside Palestinian territory.

Like 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' Except Bush Is the Hero
The Republicans finally have Hollywood's answer to Michael Moore: 'Celsius 41.11 - The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die,' a documentary made in six weeks that is billed as 'The Truth Behind the Lies of Fahrenheit 9/11!' After its premiere in Georgetown on Tuesday night, there seemed to be two prevailing sentiments among the solidly Republican crowd of 300. One was that the film is a lot more thoughtful and accurate than 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' The other was that it is not going to gross $100 million.