AIDS virus weakness detected

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

Scientists have captured an image of the AIDS virus in a biological handshake with the immune cells it attacks, and said on Wednesday they hope this can help lead to a better vaccine against the incurable disease.
They pinpointed a place on the outside of the human immunodeficiency virus that could be vulnerable to antibodies that could block it from infecting human cells.
U.S. National Institutes of Health researcher Peter Kwong said the study, published in the journal Nature, may reveal HIV's long-sought "site of vulnerability" that can be targeted with a vaccine aimed at preventing initial infection.

"Having that site and knowing that you can make antibodies against it means that a vaccine is possible," Kwong said in a telephone interview.
"It doesn't say we've gotten there. But it's taken it off the list from an impossible dream and converted it to something that is a (mere) technical barrier."
Experts agree that a vaccine is the only hope of stopping the pandemic of AIDS, which has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized in 1981. About 40 million people now live with HIV, with sub-Saharan Africa hardest hit.

But while dozens of potential vaccines are in development, only two AIDS vaccine candidates are in advanced human trials -- one made by Merck and Co. and another by Sanofi-Aventis SA.
Because the virus attacks immune system cells, it has been especially difficult to design a vaccine to fight it.
The team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH, made atomic-level images of the virus.

They revealed the structure of a protein on the surface of HIV as it looks while the protein is bound to an infection-fighting antibody. They said this protein, called gp120, seems susceptible to attack by this antibody, which is called b12 and is capable of broadly neutralizing the virus.
An antibody is an immune system protein that helps seek and destroy invaders like viruses and bacteria.
CAUTIOUS HANDSHAKE
The researchers detailed the precise interaction as the virus tries to grab and infect cells sent to protect the body.
"The first contact is like a cautious handshake, which then becomes a hearty bear hug," said Dr. Gary Nabel, an NIH vaccine expert and a co-author of the research.
The virus uses the protein gp120 to gain entry into the CD4 T-cells it infects. But the researchers also found that the antibody b12 can block this process.

The virus mutates quickly and continuously to beat the immune system's efforts to target it. It also is cloaked in such a way that it stops antibodies from blocking the proteins that HIV uses to bind to a cell and infect it.
So this is a critical area of vulnerability, Nabel said. "This is certainly one of the best leads to come along in recent years," he said.

NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said the findings are of great importance, but much more work in animal and human studies is needed, and any vaccine is years away.
"I don't think there's any one particular thing that, in and of itself, is the show-stopper. But I don't think we could really make substantial, fundamentally scientifically based progress until we got this very important information," he said.

Mahdi Army leadership lying low in Iran

LONDON (AFP)

Senior commanders in the Mahdi Army militia, led by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, have moved to neighbouring Iran to avoid being targeted by the new American security sweep in Baghdad, The Guardian has reported.
Citing an unnamed high-level Iraqi government official, the newspaper said that the militia's leadership had crossed the border to regroup and retrain.
The report comes a day after US defence officials said Sadr had likely fled to Iran ahead of the planned
crackdown on sectarian violence, a claim the cleric's supporters dismissed.

"Over the last three weeks, they (Iran) have taken away from Baghdad the first- and second-tier military leaders of the Mahdi Army," the unidentified official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying by the daily.
The Iranians' aim was to "prevent the dismantling of the infrastructure of the Shiite militias" in Baghdad.
"The strategy is to lie low until the storm passes, and then let them return and fill the vacuum," he said.
He added: "All indications are that Moqtada is in Iran, but that is not really the point.

"They (the Iranians) are calculating that the security operation will continue for a certain period of time, and that it will do serious damage to the Sunni jihadists and the insurgents," the official continued.
"While in Iran they will be able to get more training and then once the Sunnis have been pacified, they plan to return."

The Guardian also quoted Karim Al-Moussawi, who the paper identified as a senior figure in the Mahdi Army, as saying that most of the militia's leaders had gone to Iran, but of their own accord.
"Simply they were seeking sanctuary as individuals from expected targeting by the US occupying forces during the security drive in Baghdad," Moussawi told the newspaper.

Major General William Caldwell, spokesman for coalition forces in Iraq, meanwhile told media Wednesday in Baghdad: "Yes, our reporting does indicate that he (Sadr) has left Iraq and it appears he is in Iran."
"We obviously track Moqtada al-Sadr very closely but the reason why he is not in Iraq is not something I can discuss."
The US Pentagon says Sadr's Mahdi Army militia is the most dangerous single faction in the vicious sectarian war gripping Iraq, and accuses rogue elements of the force of killing hundreds of Sunni civilians.

The cleric has not been seen publicly in Iraq in recent weeks, but Nassar al-Rubaie, head of Sadr's parliamentary bloc, insisted he was "still inside Iraq and working normally" without fear of US forces.

Spain on edge as Madrid train bomb trial begins

MADRID (Reuters) -

Twenty-nine people go on trial in Spain on Thursday charged over the 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people, and triggered the fall of the government and the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
Spain has raised its terror alert to medium from low as the trial opens just weeks before the third anniversary of the March 11 bombs, the deadliest al Qaeda-related attack in Europe.

Hundreds of police will protect the Madrid courtroom where the accused -- Arabs and Spaniards -- face charges ranging from membership of a terrorist group to stealing dynamite from mines in northern Spain to sell to the bombers, often in exchange for drugs.
Of these, three are alleged to have masterminded the attack. A fourth key organiser was one of seven suspects who blew themselves up in an apartment block weeks after the bombs.
"This is the beginning -- or rather the end of the long, hard road we've been on for the last three years," said Pilar Manjon, the head of a victims association.

The bomb exploded on four packed commuter trains and as well as killing 191, injured about 2,000 people.
They not only traumatised Spain but also led to the fall of the conservative government that initially blamed Basque separatists ETA for the attack, which hit three days before general elections.
When ever more evidence pointed to Islamist militants, Spaniards turned out in force to demonstrate against the government and voted them out of power. Soon afterwards, new Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero fulfilled an election pledge to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq.

The prosecuting judge who prepared the case linked the bombs to a call by Osama bin Laden to attack countries that backed the U.S.-led war in Iraq and to an Internet essay that urged attackers to hit Spain before the elections.
An almost 100,000 page report drawn up by the state prosecutor and seen by Reuters says four men heeded the al Qaeda call and started planning the attack in 2003. They recruited others at a Madrid mosque and from common criminal circles.

One of the alleged ideologues, Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, who is charged with inciting people to carry out the attack, will be the first to take the stand in Madrid.
Ahmed, known as "Mohamed the Egyptian", has already been convicted of belonging to a terrorist group and sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court. He has been extradited to Spain for the Madrid hearings.
"It will be very difficult to prove that he had any responsibility for the attacks," said Luca D'Auria, who defended Ahmed in Italy and is part of his legal team in Madrid.

"The evidence against him was collected in Milan and there is no proof that he had any contact with the organisers, with the others accused of the attacks," D'Auria told Reuters, adding that Ahmed just knew other suspects from attending the mosque.
The hearings are expected to last until July when the three-judge panel will retire to consider the evidence. They are not expected to come out with their verdicts and sentences until October at the earliest.

U.S.: Helicopter was shot down in Iraq

KIM GAMEL,

Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Sea Knight helicopter that crashed last week northwest of Baghdad was shot down, the U.S. military said Wednesday, reversing earlier statements that it appeared to have been due to mechanical failure.
The Marine CH-46 troop transport went down northwest of Baghdad on Feb. 7, killing all seven people on board, and an al-Qaida-linked Sunni group claimed responsibility and aired a video.

Military officials initially said they believed the crash was due to mechanical failure, but the military announced Wednesday that an investigation showed the crash was "the result of anti-aircraft munitions."
"Initial evidence indicated that the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter went down as a result of mechanical failure. After further investigation using all available means, the cause of the incident has been confirmed to be hostile fire," said Maj. Jeff Pool, a spokesman for the Multi National Force — West.

The statement said the pilots of an AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter escorting the Sea Knight did not witness the actual attack, but they saw the fire, descent and subsequent crash. The initial signs resembled fires that have occurred aboard CH-46s experiencing mechanical difficulties in the past, it added.
The military also said the crash site had been cleared with explosives after the remains and equipment were removed "to ensure the enemy could yield no gain from the debris."

At least seven U.S. helicopters have crashed or been forced down under hostile fire since Jan. 20. In the wake of the recent crashes, U.S. officials have said they were reviewing flight operations and tactics but maintain there is no evidence of sophisticated new weapons used in any of the latest attacks.
Wednesday's statement raised to five that were known to have been shot down. Two private security company helicopters also have crashed but the cause was unclear.
The military statement declined to comment on insurgents weapons' capabilities or tactics to counter them, citing security concerns.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of these fallen service members," Pool said. "All available resources are dedicated to eliminating the threat to our aircraft so that we can continue to provide the support our ground forces."
The Islamic State in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iraqi insurgent groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed responsibility for downing the helicopter and issued an Internet video on Feb. 9 it said was proof. The group also claimed the recent downings of two other U.S. helicopters.
The two-minute video showed a helicopter that appears to be a Sea Knight flying. An object trailing smoke is seen in the sky nearby, then the craft bursts into orange and red flames, with a spray of debris emerging from it.

Anti-American cleric flees Iraq for Iran

ANNE GEARAN,

AP Diplomatic

Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fled Iraq for Iran ahead of a security crackdown in Baghdad and the arrival of 21,500 U.S. troops sent by President Bush to quell sectarian violence, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.
Al-Sadr left his Baghdad stronghold some weeks ago, the official said, and is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S. monitoring activities, said fractures in al-Sadr's political and militia operations may be part of the reason for his departure. The move is not believed to be permanent, the official said.

Word of al-Sadr's departure coincides with an announcement that Iraq will close its borders with Iran and Syria for 72 hours as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines.
The U.S. official said it is not clear how firmly the radical Shiite cleric is controlling his organization and the associated Mahdi Army militia from exile.

"The question for us is to what extent his organization is going to participate in the political process," the official said, referring to al-Sadr's on-again, off-again relationship with the fragile democratic government in Baghdad.
Al-Sadr's departure was reported by several television networks Tuesday.
Al-Sadr's militia is widely seen as the main threat to Iraq's unity and high on the list of targets for the Baghdad security operation.

A ragtag but highly motivated militia that fought U.S. forces twice in 2004, the Mahdi Army is blamed for much of the sectarian strife shaking Iraq since a Shiite shrine was bombed by Sunni militants a year ago. U.S. officials have for months pressed Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to move against the militia, but he has so far done little to comply, largely because he does not want to lose al-Sadr's support.
Al-Sadr rose from obscurity in the aftermath of the ouster of Saddam Hussein to lead a movement of young, underprivileged Iraqis united by opposition to U.S. military presence as well as hunger for Shiite domination.
The cleric, who is in his mid-30s, is a master of street politics, and his young lieutenants can rally tens of thousands of protesters at short notice. Once wanted in the 2003 killing of a key cleric, al-Sadr gained much influence when his parliamentary bloc of 30 of 275 deputies was instrumental in al-Maliki's election.
Dismissed by older Shiite politicians as a dangerous upstart, al-Sadr set up the Mahdi Army militia in 2003. It is suspected of being behind the abduction and murder of thousands of Sunnis in what are known as death squad killings.

Two key members of al-Sadr's political and military organization were gunned down last week, the latest of as many as seven key figures in the al-Sadr organization killed or captured in the past two months.
The deaths and captures came after al-Maliki, also a Shiite, dropped his protection for the organization.
Shiite leaders insist that the Shiite militias flourished because the U.S. and its allies could not protect civilians. They say if the Sunni insurgents were crushed, the threat from Shiite hard-liners would go away.
Shiite politicians have long maintained that Sunni militants pose a greater threat to Iraq's stability. Thousands of Shiite civilians have been killed in bombings and suicide attacks carried out by al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni groups.

Thousands regularly cross the porous Iraq-Iran border, and Iran has been a popular destination for elite Shiite Iraq exiles. In Saddam's time those exiles included al-Maliki, who like other educated and politically active Shiites feared for his safety in Iraq.

Explosions tear through 2 Lebanon buses

SAM F. GHATTAS

Asssociated Press

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Explosions tore through two buses traveling on a highway Tuesday near a mountain town northeast of Beirut, and dozens of people were either killed or wounded, the country's state-run news agency said.
The news agency gave no exact figure on the number of dead. Arab media quoted Lebanese civil defense sources as saying nine were killed and at least 20 injured.
The explosions come at a time of increased sectarian tensions in Lebanon, and one day before the second anniversary of the slaying of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A mass rally had been planned for Wednesday in downtown Beirut to mark the second anniversary of the slaying.
Television footage showed at least one destroyed bus and ambulances carrying away people. Blood was pooled in several places near the bus wreckage. Troops in military uniforms and army buses also were at the scene.
The 9:15 a.m. blast occurred on a road in the village of Ein Alaq, just south of the town of Bikfaya in the province of northern Metn, some 12 miles northeast of the Lebanese capital.
The town of Ein Alaq is near Bikfaya, the ancestral home of the Gemayel family, a prominent political Christian family in Lebanon. Pierre Gemayel, a Cabinet member, was assassinated last November.
The Lebanese news agency said the explosions targeted the two buses as they traveled on a highway near the town. It had few immediate details.
Appeals for urgent blood donations were broadcast as ambulances rushed casualties to hospitals. The Voice Of Lebanon radio stations said the targeted buses were driving people to their work.

Gunman kills 5 in Utah shopping mall

JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY

A man with a shotgun fired randomly in a historic shopping mall Monday night, killing five people and injuring several others before he was killed, police said.
Hours later, police still were searching stores for shocked shoppers and employees who were hunkered down awaiting a safe escort from the Trolley Square mall.
"We have six fatalities and multiple victims at hospitals," police Detective Robin Snyder said. "They were found throughout the mall. I don't know male or female or ages."
At least four people were hospitalized, three in critical condition and one in serious condition, hospital spokesmen said. Two of the critically injured were a 16-year-old man and a 50-year-old man, a spokesman said.
Authorities offered few details about the shootings but said the gunman entered the mall about 6:45 p.m. MST.
The two-story mall, southeast of downtown, is a refurbished trolley barn built in 1908, with a series of winding hallways, brick floors, wrought-iron balconies and about 80 stores, including high-end retailers such as Williams-Sonoma and restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe.
Matt Lund, whose wife manages a clothing store, said he saw a woman's body face-down at the entrance to Pottery Barn Kids. He locked himself and four others inside a storage room for about 40 minutes, isolated but still able to hear the violence.
"We heard them say, 'Police! Drop your weapon!' Then we heard shotgun fire. Then there was a barrage of gunfire," Lund, 44, said. "It was hard to believe."
Marie Smith, 23, had the day off from Bath & Body Works but stopped there during an errand and saw the gunman shoot a woman in front of the store.
"He was ahead of her, standing still. I don't think she saw that he had a gun," said Smith, who dashed to a bathroom and locked the door.
Outside the mall, streets were blocked as police swarmed the two-block scene. Dozens of people lingered on the sidewalk, many wrapped in blankets, as they talked about what they had seen inside.
Antique store owner Barrett Dodds, 29, said he saw a man in a trenchcoat exchanging gunfire with a police officer outside a card store. The gunman, he said, was backed into a children's clothing store.
"I saw the cops go in the store. I saw the shooter go down," said Dodds, who watched from the second floor.
Barb McKeown, 60, of Washington, D.C., was in another antique shop when two frantic women ran in and reported gunshots.
"Then we heard shot after shot after shot — loud, loud, loud," said McKeown, saying she heard about 20. She and three other people hid under a staircase until it was safe to leave.
Many employees and shoppers — "a lot of scared people" — were still inside the mall hours after the shootings, waiting to leave, Snyder said.
"This is a huge area to cover," she said.
An off-duty officer from Ogden was in the mall and involved in the shooting, said Ogden police Sgt. Blaine Clifford, who declined to release the officer's name. The officer was not injured, Clifford said.

Australian PM faces storm over criticism of US candidate

SYDNEY

(AFP)

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has found himself at the centre of a political storm after criticising US presidential hopeful Barack Obama over his plans to pull troops from
Iraq'

The conservative leader earned a stinging rebuke from the popular Democratic senator and other US politicians, and faced a censure motion by the opposition in his own parliament.
Howard, a close ally of US
President George W. Bush' sparked the dispute on Sunday when he said Obama's plan to get US troops out of Iraq by March 31 next year would seal a US defeat and be welcomed as a victory by terrorists.

"If I were running Al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats," Howard told commercial television.

The Democratic Party's bright new hope reacted sharply to Howard's comments, scornfully suggesting that if the Australian leader was so keen on the Iraq war he should send in more troops.
"We have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is (ready) to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.

"Otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," Obama, 45, told reporters.
The 67-year-old Howard, who has been in power for nearly 11 years, fired back on Monday, saying the Australian deployment was a "very significant and appropriate contribution" given the country's population of just 20 million.

"I think the most interesting thing about (Obama's comments) is that it didn't really address the substance of the issue," Howard told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
But during question time in parliament later, Howard was given a rough ride by the new Labor Party opposition leader Kevin Rudd, who said his comments had endangered the future of Australia's alliance with the US.

Rudd charged that Howard had accused the Democratic Party in the US of being "the terrorists' party of choice."
Pointing out that the Democrats control the US Congress and could win the White House next year, Rudd described Howard's comments as "a grave mistake" and called on him to withdraw them.

When Howard refused, Rudd moved a motion to censure the prime minister, launching a major attack on his Iraq policy as "the greatest single foreign policy and national security disaster this country has seen since Vietnam."
Howard's Liberal-National coalition has a strong majority in parliament and the motion was defeated by 82 votes to 60, but not before the veteran leader was made to look unusually uncomfortable and defensive.

"I was not generically attacking the Democrats, but the last time I checked, Senator Obama was a member of the Democratic Party of the United States," he said.
"I don't apologise for criticising Senator Obama's observation because I thought what he said was wrong.

"If America is defeated in Iraq, the consequences for the West will be catastrophic."
Howard's discomfort was worsened by reports in local media that his remarks had been dismissed by Democrats in the US as "bizarre" and that even some Republican senators had criticised him for interfering in US domestic affairs.

The grilling in parliament also came just hours after the latest opinion poll showed that Rudd has overtaken Howard as the preferred prime minister.

Rudd has breathed new life into the left-of-centre opposition since he was installed in December as Labor's candidate to face off against Howard in elections due by the end of the year.
Howard will be standing for his fifth term.

Portugal fails to overturn abortion law

JOANA MATEUS,

Associated Press

Portugal's prime minister said he will enact more liberal abortion laws in the conservative Roman Catholic country even though his proposal to relax restrictions failed to win complete endorsement in a referendum.

With nearly all the votes counted, almost 60 percent of voters approved the referendum allowing women to opt for abortions up to the 10th week of pregnancy, while slightly more than 40 percent opposed it.
However, under Portuguese law more than 50 percent of the country's 8.9 million registered voters must participate in a referendum to make the ballot valid. The turnout Sunday was 44 percent.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates, leader of the center-left Socialist Party, said he would stick to his pre-ballot pledge to change the law through parliament where his party holds an overwhelming majority.

"Portugal will now tackle abortion in the same way as most other developed European countries," Socrates said. Women seeking an abortion will first go through counseling "so that the decision is a considered one, not taken out of desperation," he said.
It could still be some time, however, before the law is changed. A bill would have to be voted on first in parliament and then go to the president for approval. It would come into force only when the new legislation is published in the public records — a procedure that usually takes several months.

Under current law, the procedure is allowed only in cases of rape, fetal malformation or if a mother's health is in danger, and only in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
In most other EU nations, abortion is permitted within much broader limits. Women can ask for abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy in Britain and up to the 12th week in Germany, France and Italy.

Church officials made no immediate comment on the referendum.
Luis Marques Mendes, leader of the main opposition Social Democratic Party, said he would not stand in the way of granting broader abortion rights despite his opposition during the referendum campaign.

"Even though the (referendum) result is not binding, we believe it should be democratically respected," he said.
It was the second time in less than 10 years that a referendum on the deeply divisive issue failed to draw enough voters in Portugal. In 1998, a majority of voters rejected a similar proposal; the referendum was declared void because of a low turnout, and Portugal's policy remained unchanged.

Socrates, whose party took power in a landslide victory almost two years ago after he promised broad reforms and national modernization, described Portugal's current law as "backward."
Joao Paulo Malta, an anti-abortion activist, said the low turnout showed the majority had not spoken clearly and that voters remain divided.
One voter, Carlos Sousa, 56, condemned the existing legislation Sunday: "It's a bad law, not suited to our society."

But Maria Candida Duarte, 72, said she wanted to keep the strict policies in place.
"It's imperative to maintain our position. A child has a right to life — from conception," she said.
The current law merely drives abortion underground, Socrates said. Women seeking to terminate their pregnancies travel to EU countries where it is legal, especially to private clinics across the border in Spain where abortion is permitted on psychological grounds, or resort to shady, back-alley clinics at home.
Abortion rights activists say about 10,000 women are hospitalized every year with complications arising from botched, illegal abortions.

Jakarta cleans up after flood, thousands ill

Mita Valina Liem
JAKARTA (Reuters)

Garbage trucks were out in force on Jakarta's streets on Monday for a huge clean-up of the city after a devastating flood, while nearly 200,000 people were suffering from flood-related illnesses.
The vast majority of the ill were not hospitalized, the health ministry's crisis center chief told Reuters.

"Most of the displaced suffer from diarrhea, dengue, severe respiratory problems. The number of out-patients is 190,000 and in-patients is 510," Rustam Pakaya said.
Fears lingered that disease could spread as people stay in cramped emergency shelters or move back into houses often lacking clean water, plumbing and power.
However, emergency medical posts have been halved because most of the displaced have returned home."

At the peak of the flooding -- caused by more than a week of rains in Jakarta and surrounding areas, which eased off last Friday -- officials reported over 400,000 people were displaced.
By Monday the figure had fallen to under 59,000 in Jakarta proper, the national agency for disaster management said.
Jakarta has nine million people within its city limits and another five million in the immediate area.

The flood killed 48 people within the city and 46 in adjacent West Java and Banten provinces.
Survivors face the monumental task of clearing their homes of debris and mud left behind by the receding water. In some neighborhoods the mud was as much as two meters deep.
"Jakarta has dispatched 150 garbage trucks to remove debris, mud, and garbage from the flooded areas. Nine-thousand personnel from the army and the police department have been deployed to help clear the areas," said Suprawoto, spokesman of the national agency for disaster management.

"What we need is disinfectant, shovels, spades, hoes, school needs -- uniforms, books and so forth -- (and) wheelbarrows because garbage trucks cannot pass into small alleys," he added.
The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) warned of the danger rotting dead animals posed for spreading disease.

"The most dangerous waste is actually organic like animal carcasses because they could become places where flies hatch and communicable diseases go through," said Arifin Muhammad Hadi, head of disaster management at PMI's headquarters.
Although relatively dry weather over the last few days has improved conditions in flooded areas, Indonesia's rainy season has several weeks to run and could bring fresh downpours.
Officials and green groups have blamed excessive construction in Jakarta's water catchment areas for making the floods worse, while a deputy environment minister told Reuters last week that climate change contributed to the problem.

Above low-lying seaside Jakarta are foothills that have lost much of their vegetative cover to construction of weekend homes and golf courses, making it harder for the ground to retain water from the deluges common in the rainy season.
Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono played down concerns over long-term crop damage and said the country should be able to lift its key 2007 rice output target by up to 3 million tonnes.
"We are more concerned with the affect of drought which may cause a potential drop in output," the minister told reporters.

Some economists and government officials have warned of an inflationary spike from the flooding, which also hit some retail and manufacturing operations.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told reporters regional governments in Jakarta and its satellite cities were still counting the cost of the damage.

Indonesia's rupiah currency has held firm against the dollar, while at mid-morning on Monday the Jakarta Stock Exchange's key index was down less than 0.2 percent.

Libby believes NBC News could clear him

MATT APUZZO,

Associated Press

Attorneys for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby believe that NBC News holds a key to clearing him of perjury and obstruction charges in the CIA leak case.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, wants a federal judge to let his lawyers question Andrea Mitchell, NBC's foreign affairs correspondent, about when she learned that the wife of an outspoken Bush administration critic worked for the CIA.
Libby is charged with lying and obstructing the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. Prosecutors rested their case Thursday and Libby is set to begin calling witnesses Monday.

A key dispute in the case involves Mitchell's NBC colleague, Tim Russert. Libby says Russert told him in July 2003 that "all the reporters know" Plame worked for the CIA. Russert said that never happened because he didn't know who Plame was at the time.
Prosecutors say Libby concocted the Russert story to shield him from prosecution for discussing information he had learned through official government channels.

Libby's attorneys want to show that Russert had heard that Plame worked at the CIA. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer has already testified that he told NBC reporter David Gregory about her. If Libby can show that Mitchell knew, too, they think they can persuade jurors to believe Libby's account of the Russert conversation.

Plame was outed in a July 2003 syndicated column. Three months later, Mitchell said in a television interview that she had known Plame worked for the CIA before the column.
"It was widely known among those of us who cover the intelligence community," Mitchell said.
Mitchell has since recanted those comments and has said she can't explain them.
Though the comments seem to bolster Libby's case, it's unclear whether his attorneys will be allowed to play them for jurors. Attorneys are not normally allowed to present hearsay evidence or call witnesses simply to do so.

Mitchell is challenging a subpoena to testify in the case. A federal judge said he will hear arguments on the issue Monday.
In addition to Mitchell, attorneys have said several other journalists are expected to testify this week: New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson, Newsweek assistant managing editor Evan Thomas, and Bob Woodward, Walter Pincus and Glenn Kessler from the Washington Post.

Gates vows cooperation with Pakistan

LOLITA C. BALDOR,

Associated Press

Pentagon chief Robert Gates vowed Monday that the United States will not neglect Pakistan and will work with the government of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to combat the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.

After meeting with Musharraf for about an hour at one of Musharaff's homes in Islamabad, Gates told reporters the two had discussed how Pakistan and the United States can work together on a spring offensive against the Taliban.

Gates also said he hopes to play a constructive role in improving the relationship between Musharaff and the Afghan government.
He reiterated other U.S. officials' remarks that the United States neglected Pakistan for 20 years, contributing to a rise of terrorism in the region and the strengthening of al-Qaida in Afghanistan where the terrorist group was harbored by the Taliban.
"We won't make that mistake again," Gates aid.

Before leaving Munich, where he attended a regional security conference, Gates responded Sunday to Russian President Vladimir Putin's assault on U.S. foreign policy by saying "one Cold War is enough" and that he would go to Moscow to try to reduce tensions. Gates also sought more allied help in Afghanistan.

He delivered his first speech as Pentagon chief at a security conference in Germany and then flew to Pakistan to discuss fears of a renewed spring offensive by Taliban fighters in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan, a close U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism, has faced charges that the Taliban militia stage attacks from Pakistan against Afghan government troops and NATO- and U.S.-led coalition troops.

Gates' rebuke of the Russian president relied on humor and some pointed jabs.
"As an old Cold Warrior, one of yesterday's speeches almost filled me with nostalgia for a less complex time. Almost," Gates said. Then, as the audience chuckled, the defense secretary said he has accepted Putin's invitation to visit Russia.

"We all face many common problems and challenges that must be addressed in partnership with other countries, including Russia," said Gates. "One Cold War was quite enough."
In his speech Saturday, Putin blamed U.S. foreign policy for inciting other countries to seek nuclear weapons to defend themselves from an "almost uncontained use of military force."
The Russian leader said "unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem, they have become a hotbed of further conflicts" and that "one state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way."

Gates also made an urgent call for NATO allies to live up to their promises to supply military and economic aid for Afghanistan.

"It is vitally important that the success Afghanistan has achieved not be allowed to slip away through neglect or lack of political will or resolve," Gates said. Failure to muster a strong military effort combined with economic development and a counternarcotics plan "would be a mark of shame," he said. Gates also said that prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other mistakes have damaged America's reputation. It will take work, he said, to prove that the U.S. still is a force for good in the world.

While he did not mention the war in Iraq, Gates told officials at the security conference that Washington must do a better job of explaining its policies and actions.
For the past century, he said, most people believed that "while we might from time to time do something stupid, that we were a force for good in the world."
Many continue to believe that, Gates said. But, he added, "I think we also have made some mistakes and have not presented our case as well as we might in many instances. I think we have to work on that." The bulk of his speech was devoted to the future of the NATO alliance and the need to work together to defend against threats.

Gates also sketched out the challenges ahead, from Iran's nuclear ambitions and the situation in the Middle East to China's recent anti-satellite tests and Russia's arms sales.
Just eight weeks on the job, Gates used the conference and a NATO gathering this past week to debut on the international stage and meet privately with some of his counterparts.

In other comments, he said the Bush administration would like to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, but there are some terrorists there who should never be let free. Gates also said detainee trials there will be conducted in the open and with adequate defense for the prisoners.

The first public test of Gates' diplomatic skills came at a venue that at times was dominated by his more bombastic Pentagon predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld.
So as Gates neared the end of his remarks, he made a deliberate move to separate himself from Rumsfeld.

In the run-up to the Iraq war, Rumsfeld sharply criticized nations opposed to the conflict — specifically France and Germany — and referred to them as part of "Old Europe."
Without mentioning Rumsfeld's name, Gates said some people have tried to divide the allies along lines such as East and West, North and South.

"I'm even told that some have even spoken in terms of 'old' Europe versus 'new,'" Gates said. "All of these characterizations belong in the past."
In Pakistan, Gates planned talks with the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf and other top officials on cooperation in counterterrorism and efforts by Pakistan to stop militants from moving across the border with Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani government official said Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have the authority to speak formally about Gates' visit.

Pakistan denies the charges that the Taliban are staging attacks from inside Pakistan and says it has deployed some 80,000 troops along its rugged border with Afghanistan to track down militants.
Pakistan's border regions along Afghanistan long have been suspected to be the hiding places for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
American forces in eastern Afghanistan have launched artillery rounds into Pakistan to strike Taliban fighters who attack remote U.S. outposts, the commander of U.S. forces in the region told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Musharraf acknowledged recently that his outgunned Pakistani frontier guards have allowed insurgents to cross the border and said the army soon would fence parts of the border to stem the problem.
The Pentagon has plans to extend its recent buildup of several thousand combat troops in Afghanistan, initially announced as lasting until late spring, well into next year, a senior U.S. military official said last week.
That move would keep U.S. troop levels at between 26,000 and 27,000 until at least the spring of 2008.

Autopsy scheduled for Anna Nicole Smith

HOLLYWOOD,

Florida (CNN)

An autopsy will be conducted on Friday to help determine the cause of Anna Nicole Smith's death, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office.

Smith died Thursday at a South Florida hospital after being discovered unconscious in her hotel room. The reality TV star, Playboy Playmate and former Guess model was 39.
Her death came less than five months after the birth of her daughter and the death of her 20-year-old son. (Watch Smith's improbable journey through life ) One of two men involved in a paternity dispute over Smith's daughter is seeking a DNA sample, and a hearing is set for Friday morning.

Smith checked into the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on Monday with her lawyer and boyfriend, Howard K. Stern.
Smith's private nurse called hotel workers at 1:38 p.m. and security officials went to the room, Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said.

Before rescue workers arrived, Smith's bodyguard performed CPR on her, Tiger said. She was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where she was pronounced dead at 2:49 p.m. (Watch chief describe the rescue effort ) Late Thursday, police told CNN the hotel room where Smith was found had been cleared. Police carried bags of evidence out of the building.

Smith's attorney, Ron Rale, told reporters Smith had been suffering from flu-like symptoms for the last couple of days. (Watch what might have led to Smith's death )
"We are saddened and heartbroken by my sister's death. No matter what our differences have been over the years, Anna was still our blood and she will be missed terribly," Smith's sister, Donna Hogan, said in a statement Thursday.

"She was a woman who was determined to get out of her small town in Texas and make a name for herself."
Hogan went on to say that the death of Smith's son last year "left her deeply saddened, a sadness she hid from everyone." Dannielynn Hope "is now without a mother," Hogan wrote.
Last September, Smith gave birth to Dannielynn Hope in the Bahamas. Her son, Daniel, was found dead in his mother's hospital room.

A life of celebrity and tribulations

LONDON

Smith was known as much for her sometimes-turbulent life off-camera as she was for her show-business endeavors. (Smith rose to fame after dropping out of school).

The former topless dancer in Houston, Texas, made her first appearance in Playboy in 1992, was named Playmate of the Year in 1993, and appeared in Guess jeans ads and movies.
In 2002, Smith launched a reality television program, "The Anna Nicole Show," on the E! Entertainment network. At one point, it was the network's highest-rated program.

She shocked many in 1994 by marrying 89-year-old Texas oil magnate Howard Marshall II, who had an estate valued at $1.6 billion. He died the next year, and until her death Smith waged a legal battle over the inheritance that included a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

"It's way too early for me to even guess what's going to happen in terms of other claims on behalf of the child," said Rusty Hardin, a Houston attorney who represents the Marshall family.
Earlier this week, Smith was included in a class-action lawsuit against a company, TrimSpa, for which she had worked as a spokesperson.

TrimSpa makes a product it claims leads to substantial weight loss. The lawsuit alleges the marketing of the product, TrimSpa X32, was false or misleading.

Smith also was embroiled in a dispute over the paternity of Dannielynn Hope.
Larry Birkhead, an entertainment reporter and photographer who has claimed to be Dannielynn's father, will be filing an emergency order to obtain DNA samples to determine paternity, his attorney, Debra Opri, told CNN.

Smith and Stern have both said that Stern is Dannielynn's father. Stern has said the couple planned to marry, but it was unclear whether they had.
Rale said he would be in court to oppose the DNA order. A hearing is set for 8:30 a.m.
"On the instructions of the experts, we had to move in for a DNA order tomorrow morning, and we're going in for that," Opri said.

On news of Smith's death, Opri said Birkhead was "inconsolable ... he has lost the mother of his child and he has lost a woman he loved very much."

Reid's heckler held in terror probe

Reid's heckler held in terror probe

LONDON

The radical Muslim who barracked the Home Secretary John Reid last year was arrested over a speech in which he allegedly praised the July 7 bombers.

Abu Izzadeen, a 31-year-old Islamic convert, was held on Thursday morning in an east London street by officers from Scotland Yard's counter terrorism unit.

He was arrested for allegedly encouraging terrorism - which is now an offence following new anti-terror legislation last year.

The allegations are understood to relate to a speech he gave in Birmingham last year ahead of the first anniversary of the July 7 London bombings.

In the speech, at the council-owned Small Heath Youth and Community Centre in Birmingham, Izzadeen reportedly praised the 7/7 bombers and mocked the victims of terrorism. Clips of the speech were broadcast on the internet.

Izzadeen, who was born Trevor Brooks into a Christian-Jamaican family in Hackney, has already been investigated for controversial comments he made in a BBC Newsnight interview about the July 7 attacks.

Muslim leaders expressed outrage over his arrest and asked why it had come now, more than seven months after the Birmingham speech.
The outspoken Islamic figure Anjem Choudhury claimed Muslims in Britain were now the subject of a ""witch hunt" by the authorities.

Izzadeen hit the headlines in September last year when he heckled John Reid as he addressed a 30-strong group of Muslims in Leyton, east London.

He accused Mr Reid of being "an enemy of Islam" and a "tyrant" after the Home Secretary called for Muslim parents to look out for the signs of brain-washing in their children in the fight against terrorism. His arrest today is not related to that incident.

Police charge five under terrorism laws

Police charge five under terrorism laws

LONDON

Five men are due to appear in court on Friday charged under anti-terrorism laws after a series of police raids in Birmingham last week, police said.

Detectives arrested nine men on January 31 in what a defence source said was an investigation into a suspected plot to kidnap and possibly kill a British Muslim soldier.
Three men have been released, while another man is still being held for questioning."Five men from Birmingham have been charged overnight with offences under the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006," police said in a joint statement with the Crown Prosecution Service. No immediate details of the charges were available.

Police said they would hold a joint news conference with the prosecution service at 9:00 a.m. to give details of the charges against the men, aged 29, 30, 31, 36 and 43. The names and nationalities of the men have not been released.

Britain has been on its second highest alert level since four British Muslims killed 52 people on London's transport system in July 2005 in Western Europe's first Islamist suicide bombings.
In London, police said a Muslim man was due to appear in court on Friday charged with encouraging terrorism.

Abu Izzadeen, 31, from east London, shot to prominence last year when he was seen by millions on television heckling Home Secretary John Reid at a public meeting.

He was arrested on Thursday by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command

SwissRe sells London 'gherkin' for 600 million pounds

LONDON (AFP) -

The reinsurer SwissRe says it is selling its landmark London office block, popularly known as the "gherkin," to a German real estate firm for 600 million pounds.
The price, the equivalent of 910 million euros or 1.17 billion dollars, will make it Britain's most expensive office block.

The twisting 41-storey skyscraper ends in a curved point, and its suggestive shape protruding above the London skyline has given rise to various nicknames such as "The Erotic Gherkin" and "The Towering Innuendo."

The block at 30 St Mary Axe in The City financial district is being sold to an affiliate of IVG Immobilien, SwissRe said the transaction is due to be completed this month.
Zurich-based SwissRe, one of the world's largest reinsurers, will stay on as principal tenant in the Norman Foster-designed building which first opened in late 2003.
"Swiss Re is very proud to have built what has become a popular landmark in the City of London," said chief executive Jacques Aigrain.

"It is an innovative working space, with sound environmental considerations at the heart of its design. In IVG Immobilien AG we have found a future owner who will maintain and preserve the superior quality of this outstanding property," Aigrain said.
SwissRe had first announced last September that it was mulling the sale of parts or the whole property.

Body parts found in Acapulco as killings continue

ACAPULCO,

Mexico (Reuters) -

A man's chopped up body was discovered in the Mexican city of Acapulco dumped in plastic garbage bags, police said on Sunday, in the latest grisly killing to mar the once glamorous Pacific resort.

Acapulco, famed for its cliff divers and sweeping bay, has been hit by a brutal war between rival drug gangs who have staged shootouts in broad daylight near tourist areas. It was not clear if the latest slaying was drug-related.

"It's one body, of a male," a police official said by telephone, but declined to give further details.
A Reuters photographer in Acapulco said the body parts were discovered on a patch of wasteland on Saturday afternoon after a dog tore open the black plastic bags.
Separately, emergency services in Acapulco said on Sunday that two Canadian tourists were in the hospital after being shot in the legs by unknown gunmen who fired at them as they drove by them on the main seafront avenue on Saturday evening.
Neither was seriously injured, and no further details were available of the gunmen, a spokeswoman said.

There were 190 drug gang-related deaths in Mexico in January, only a handful less than a year ago, despite an army crackdown on feuding cartels ordered by new President Felipe Calderon.
The Acapulco killing came nine months after the decapitated heads of two policemen were dumped on the wall of a government building in the city in a warning to authorities from drug hitmen.

Mexican media quoted Public Security Minister Genaro Garcia on Sunday as saying he would add 8,000 highly trained police to a new division dedicated to fighting drug crime.
Faced with a surge in drug violence that saw more than 2,000 gang-related killings across Mexico last year, Calderon moved swiftly after taking office on December 1 to send out troops to hunt down cartels.

Thousands of soldiers, working with federal and state police, are manning road blocks in the states of Michoacan, Baja California, Nuevo Leon and Guerrero, home to Acapulco.
Four major traffickers have been extradited to the United States to face trial there.
Acapulco has lost much of its 1950s glamour but remains popular with U.S. students during spring break. No tourists have been killed in the Acapulco violence.

25 dead in Indonesia flood; 340,000 flee

JAKARTA, Indonesia -

ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer

Horse-drawn carts rescued residents from flood-stricken districts in the Indonesian capital on Monday after flooding burst riverbanks, killing at least 25 people and forcing some 340,000 to flee from their homes in recent days.

Clearer skies brought some relief on Monday, and witnesses said floodwaters were receding in several areas while levels at key rivers were dropping.
However, large areas remained submerged under waist-high waters and officials warned that rain to the south, which causes rivers that flow into Jakarta to swell, might result in more flooding later in the day.

"We expect residents to stay alert because water may rise again and very fast," said Sihar Simanjuntak, an official monitoring the many rivers that crisscross this city of 12 million people.
People living in one upscale area hired carts and horses to pull them to safety.
"The government is awful," said Augustina Rusli, who for five days was trapped on the second floor of her house with her 10-month old baby, expecting the floods to be short-lived. "We have a neighbor who is sick with cancer but no one has come to rescue her."
Jakarta's heavily criticized governor said he could not be held responsible for the worst floods to hit the city in living memory, saying they were a "natural phenomenon" that occur every five years.
"There is no point in throwing abuse around," Governor Sutiyoso, who goes by one name, told el-Shinta radio station. "I was up until 3 a.m. this morning trying to handle the refugees."
Incessant rain that starting falling Thursday on Jakarta and the hills south of the city triggered the floods. Tens of thousands of homes, school and hospitals — in poor and wealthy districts alike — were inundated.

Authorities estimated that between 40 percent and 70 percent of the city, which spans an area of 412 square miles — about the size of San Antonio, Texas — had been inundated.
Indonesia's meteorological agency has forecast rain for the next two weeks.
The government has dispatched medical teams on rubber rafts into the worst-hit districts amid fears that disease may spread among residents living in squalid conditions with limited access to clean drinking water.

As of Monday, 25 people had died, mostly by drowning or electrocution, officials said.
Dr. Rustam Pakaya, from the Health Ministry's crisis center, said nearly 340,000 people had been made homeless, many of whom are staying with friends or family or at mosques and government buildings.
"We fear that diarrhea and dysentery may break out, as well as illnesses spread by rats," Pakaya said. "People must be careful not to drink dirty water."
Jakarta regularly floods, though not on this scale. Dozens of slum areas near rivers are washed out each year. Residents either refuse or are too poor to vacate the districts.
Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands, where millions live in mountainous areas or near fertile plains.

NHS complaints show safety fears

NHS complaints show safety fears

Almost a quarter of people who have their NHS complaint reviewed have serious concerns about patient safety, the health watchdog has said.

Around 100,000 complaints are made against the NHS every year, with roughly 8,000 sent for review if a patient is dissatisfied with the outcome.

A Healthcare Commission report says 22% of those complaints were about safety, such as falls or children being given the wrong jabs.

Others were about poor care of dying relatives, bereaved families being treated in an abrasive way, and patients being discharged at "inappropriate times of the day or night".
Poor quality meals, inadequate nursing care and dirty wards were also on the list of complaints.
The Commission said many concerns focused on the "basic elements of healthcare". One in 10 (11%) of the complaints to do with children were over problems with immunisations.

Meanwhile, most complaints about the death of a patient involved relatives being given contradictory or confusing information by staff.

The report said: "Relatives sometimes felt that they were unprepared for the death of a patient or had no time to arrange for family members to be present."

Incomplete case notes meant the Commission had problems investigating some complaints.
Around 7% of all complaints to the Commission were about the standard of nursing care. A quarter of those were about nutrition, including patients being given inappropriate food, having a food tray placed too far away, and a lack of assistance with eating.

Bush to put economic progress on agenda

BEN FELLER,

Associated Press Writer

President Bush chose Wall Street as the stage to bring his economic message out from the shadows of the Iraq war.

In a speech Wednesday in New York City, Bush was expected to tout optimistic economic trends, part of a strategy this week to put pocketbook issues in the forefront of attention — if only briefly.

Bush is also likely to challenge corporate leaders to show responsibility, particularly in the area of executive pay. That's a nod to Americans who have grown disgusted with stories of enormous salaries and other perks for CEOs.

The president concedes that bitterness over the nearly four-year-old war in Iraq has overshadowed economic news of the day.

"People are working and wages are up," he said in an interview Tuesday with ABC News. "But we're in a time of war. And it's — war's unsettling. War's negative. And I understand that."
In an unusual approach for the White House, Bush said little about the economy in his State of the Union address last week, betting that the topic could get a bigger spotlight on its own. His New York appearance comes a day after his economic speech at a manufacturing plant in Peoria, Ill., where he promoted free trade and tax cuts.

For a symbolic sign of the resilience of the economy, the president chose to speak at the venerable Federal Hall on Wall Street.
In the original building on this site, American government took root — George Washington took his oath of office there, and the Congress and Supreme Court made their home there. The current hall, which dates to 1842, is now a museum that helped provide emergency shelter when terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, just a few blocks away.
Shortly after that attack on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush went to Federal Hall to assure business leaders that the economy would bounce back and grow. He returns on Wednesday to tout the recovery and keep pushing his agenda.

Bush is expected to call for changes in enforcement of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed in response to a wave of corporate accounting scandals. The administration is heeding concerns from companies that the law, which tightens controls on financial reporting, has gone too far and is imposing unreasonable costs.

Just before Bush's visit, the White House said it would keep funding health programs for sick ground zero workers, enough to keep the effort alive at least through 2007. Still, sick Sept. 11 workers planned a rally timed to his visit.

The public's optimism about the economy has grown since the end of the year, reflected in rising approval of Bush's handling of that economy — now at 43 percent in AP-Ipsos polling. Optimism about the economy was as high as it's been in the last year — a reflection of lower gas prices, rising wages, strong jobs reports and steady interest rates.

The economy lost momentum in the late summer, growing at a lackluster 2 percent pace, mostly reflecting fallout from the housing slump. Even with the loss of economic altitude, though, the jobs climate has been sturdy. The nation's unemployment rate is at 4.5 percent, a historically low figure. Inflation, meanwhile, has calmed down, helped out by lower energy prices.
The Bush administration contends it hasn't gotten much credit for a solid economy considering what the nation has dealt with — terrorist attacks, corporate accounting scandals, the launch of the war and Hurricane Katrina.

Democrats respond that Bush is giving a misleadingly rosy picture.
"President Bush can deliver all the economic pep talks he wants, but the fact remains that his failed leadership has led to the worst job recovery on record, stagnating household incomes, a rise in poverty and record deficits," said Stacie Paxton, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee.

Since Bush took office in 2001, the country has seen one in five manufacturing jobs disappear, a total of 2.96 million lost jobs. The U.S. trade deficit is expected to climb to a fifth consecutive record when final 2006 figures are totaled next month.

Bush is also seeking to assure the business community of his opposition to tax increases.
Some conservatives have been grown jittery that Bush may bend on taxes, particularly on Social Security, as part of a potential compromise with the new Democratic majority in Congress. The White House has delicately sought to end speculation about any tax increase while showing enough flexibility to get Democrats to negotiate about entitlements.

In his ABC interview, Bush was blunt in a warning to Democrats: "I've got a veto that will prevent them from raising taxes."

Concern for Nigerian press as polls loom

Concern for Nigerian press as polls loom

ABUJA (Reuters)

Britain expressed concern on Tuesday over press freedom in Nigeria ahead of April's landmark elections, citing the detention of four newspaper editors and the unsolved killing of a well-known journalist in Lagos.

The State Security Services (SSS) detained two editors from Leadership newspaper and two from the Abuja Inquirer on January 9 and 10 over political articles. They were freed within days but are still under investigation by the SSS."We are concerned at the recent actions taken against journalists of Leadership and the Abuja Inquirer," said Britain's High Commissioner to Nigeria Richard Gozney.

"Journalists should be free to cover the elections without intimidation, full stop," he said, addressing a meeting between the Independent National Electoral Commission and journalists.
Nigerians are due to elect their president, state governors and MPs in April elections that should mark the first democratic transition from one civilian government to another since independence from Britain in 1960.

Gozney also expressed concern over the December 22 killing of Godwin Agbroko, a well-known journalist and the head of the editorial board of This Day newspaper. Agbroko was shot in his car in Lagos in circumstances that have not been clarified.
Days later, part of the office building of This Day in Lagos burnt down in a fire that has also not been explained.

"We are very concerned at the tragedies that have hit This Day and we hope that ... there will be a full investigation whose results will be made public," Gozney said.
Press freedom has improved in Nigeria since it returned to civilian rule in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous military dictatorship, and newspapers frequently publish articles critical of government.

But the SSS, which answers to the presidency, is listed as a "predator of press freedom" by campaign group Reporters Without Borders. It occasionally arrests journalists, including two who were charged with sedition last year over a story saying the president's new jet was second-hand.

Bombs kill 36 in Iraq on Shiite holy day

Bombs kill 36 in Iraq on Shiite holy day

BAGHDAD, Iraq -

Assailants struck Shiite worshippers in three Iraqi cities Tuesday, killing at least 36 people in bombings and ambushes during the climax of ceremonies marking Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite calendar. Police, meanwhile, questioned hundreds of suspects rounded up after a fierce weekend battle aimed at preventing even deadlier attacks.

Stocks drop as economic worries offset eBay's gain

Emily Chasan

Stocks fell on Thursday as weak home sales data renewed worries about the strength of the U.S. economy, offsetting optimism about strong earnings reports from companies, such as eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY - news).
The Dow industrials closed at a record high on Wednesday, buoyed by optimism about stronger-than-expected earnings.
But a report on Thursday showed sales of previously owned U.S. homes took their biggest tumble in 17 years in December and emphasized expectations that a weaker economy will slow corporate profit growth.
"Questions remain as to what comes next for the economy," said Joseph Battipaglia, chief investment officer for Ryan, Beck & Co. in Philadelphia. "Corporate profits are coming in well, but they are certainly at a more contained pace than we've seen heretofore and the housing numbers were not good, which perpetuates the idea that there is weakness in the consumer side of the equation."
The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) was down 48.31 points, or 0.38 percent, at 12,573.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - news) was down 7.68 points, or 0.53 percent, at 1,432.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC - news) was down 16.59 points, or 0.67 percent, at 2,449.69.
Pressuring the Dow, shares of American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG - news) fell 1.4 percent to $68.92 after the world's largest insurer said it wants to buy the outstanding 38.1 percent of 21st Century Insurance Group (NYSE:TW - news) that it doesn't already own.
Shares of 21st Century surged 26.9 percent to $21.05 and ranked as the NYSE's biggest percentage gainer.
Shares of eBay jumped 8.3 percent to $32.49 on Nasdaq, a day after the online marketplace reported earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations.
St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ - news) shares advanced 4.5 percent to $41.45 on the NYSE after the maker of artificial heart valves and implantable defibrillators said quarterly net earnings rose from a year ago.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp.(NYSE:XOM - news) were the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 as crude oil for March delivery fell 72 cents to $54.65 a barrel. Exxon Mobil's shares dropped 1.2 percent at $73.99 and also dragged on the Dow.

Suicide car bomber kills 26 in Baghdad

QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA,

Associated Press Writer

A suicide car bomber struck a mostly Shiite neighborhood Thursday in central Baghdad, killing 26 people, hours after the prime minister promised the coming U.S.- Iraq security sweep in the capital would pursue militants wherever they were hiding.

The blast occurred shortly after two rockets slammed into the heavily fortified Green Zone. Two hours later, a second huge explosion rocked the area.
Police said they had blown up a second car bomb that had been disabled before its second suicide bomber could detonate it.

A massive plume of black smoke rose into the air on the east bank of the Tigris River and heavy gunfire rang out in the aftermath of the explosions.
The suicide bomber struck in the central neighborhood of Karradah, the second to hit the area in three days. At least three policemen were among the 26 dead from the latest bombing and 54 people were wounded, police and hospital officials said.

Angry Shiite residents took to the streets chanting, "We want the Sunnis out!" There is a small Christian and Sunni population in that section of the city.
The blast destroyed three minivans, 11 cars and dozens of shops, as well as the neighborhood's post office, according to a resident.

It struck shortly after the explosions in the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. and British embassies and Iraqi government offices. The public address system inside the compound could be heard warning in English that people should take cover because "this is not a drill."
The U.S. military said initial reports indicated that at least two rockets struck the Green Zone. U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor told The Associated Press that there were no deaths and the situation was under control, adding: "The embassy is functioning normally."

Karradah has been the site of several bombings, including one on Tuesday that killed four people and wounded seven.

Ambulances raced from the scene, at least one with the back door still open and bodies stacked in the back, according to AP Television News video.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told lawmakers that the coming U.S-Iraqi security sweep in Baghdad would not be the last battle against militants, and he said the insurgents would not be safe anywhere in the country.

Al-Maliki did not reveal the details of the plan, which he has dubbed "Operation Imposing Law," or say when it would begin.

But he promised to go after those behind Baghdad's rampant violence no matter where they tried to hide, although he promised to ensure the human rights of innocent Iraqis.

"We are full of hope. We have no other choice but to use force and any place where we receive fire will not be safe even if it is a school, a mosque, a political party office or home," he said. "There will be no safe place in Iraq for terrorists."

On Wednesday, U.S. and Iraqi troops battled Sunni insurgents holed up in high-rise buildings on Haifa Street in the heart of Baghdad, with snipers on roofs taking aim at gunmen in open windows as Apache attack helicopters hovered overhead.

The Defense Ministry said 30 militants were killed and 27 captured Wednesday.
The military reported separately that an American soldier was killed Wednesday in clashes near the city's center, but officials declined to give more specifics or say if it was connected to the Haifa Street fighting. Two U.S. Marines also were reported killed Tuesday in combat in Anbar province, the military said.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the latest joint raid was aimed at clearing the area, which sits just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone, of "terrorists and outlaws." He promised such operations would continue as U.S. and Iraqi troops prepare for a broader security crackdown to stanch the sectarian bloodletting that has turned Baghdad into a battlefield.
But the operation drew condemnation from a Sunni group that said it was further proof that the Shiite-led government was targeting the minority sect.

The hard-line Association of Muslim Scholars called the Haifa Street crackdown "a campaign of genocide" against Sunnis and said several buildings had been damaged and people killed. It said it had not determined the exact number of casualties.

President Bush has committed 21,500 extra troops in a surge he hopes will succeed where other efforts have failed in quelling the sectarian violence.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite, also has placed high hopes on the operation and promised it will target Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents equally.

Past attempts by U.S. forces and Iraqis to secure the capital have failed, and many critics said it was because al-Maliki had intervened to prevent the crackdowns from going after members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia that is run by one of his political backers, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The militia force is believed responsible for much of the recent sectarian killing in Baghdad and central Iraq. Its forces and death squads have deeply infiltrated Iraqi security forces.
The crackdown "aims to disarm all groups and only leave weapons in the hands of the government," al-Maliki said. "This plan will not be the last. The battle between us and terrorists is open and continuous."

Meanwhile, the mayor of Baghdad's Sadr City said he reached agreement with political and religious groups to keep weapons off the streets of the heavily populated Shiite militia stronghold and has presented the deal to U.S. and Iraqi government officials in an apparent attempt to avoid a crackdown on the area.

Rahim al-Darraji said Iraqi troops will be in charge of security in the sprawling district in eastern Baghdad. His comments come amid fears that Sadr City, the main headquarters of the Mahdi Army militia, could be a major target in the planned crackdown.

Al-Maliki said five committees will be set up to work in conjunction with the military as it and U.S. troops conduct the security plan to deal with political, media, public services, economic and community outreach aspects.
He said Baghdad would be divided into nine sectors and Iraqi troops would be in the lead, backed by American forces.

The last of five additional U.S. brigades to help with the security sweep are scheduled to arrive in the Iraqi capital in May. The first, a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, arrived last week.
In other violence, a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in one of Baghdad's busiest market areas, killing at least five people and wounding 20, police said.

The blast hit the Shorja market district about 11 a.m., said police, who gave the casualty toll. The market is a major point for wholesalers to sell food, clothing and house products.
A bomb also struck a market in the religiously mixed area of Baiyaa in western Baghdad at 10:45 a.m., killing one civilian and wounding seven, police said.

Both areas have been the targets of bombings previously as insurgents seek busy commercial targets to maximize the casualties.

In northern Iraq, gunmen killed Hussein Abdul Aziz Ahmed, a member of the local council in Gayyara, about 20 miles south of Mosul, as he was driving to work, police said

Ford posts record loss of $12.7B in 2006

TOM KRISHER,

AP Business Writer

Ford Motor Co. lost $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter amid slumping sales and huge restructuring costs, pushing the fabled automaker's deficit for the year to $12.7 billion, the largest in its 103-year history.
The annual loss reported Thursday surpassed its previous record for a year of $7.39 billion set in 1992. It earned $1.44 billion in 2005.
The Dearborn-based company expects continued losses for this year. It expects to burn up $10 billion in cash on automotive operations through 2009 and spend another $7 billion to invest in new products.
Excluding special items, Ford lost $1.50 per share in all of 2006, worse than Wall Street predicted. Fourteen analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of $1.35 per share for the year, excluding special items.
Ford said that special items associated with restructuring costs totaled $9.9 billion for the year as the company continues efforts to shrink itself to match reduced demand for its cars and trucks.

Microwave experiments cause sponge disasters

Reuters

Reports about a study that found microwave ovens can be used to sterilize kitchen sponges sent people hurrying to test the idea this week -- with sometimes disastrous results.
A team at the University of Florida found that two minutes in the microwave at full power could kill a range of bacteria, viruses and parasites on kitchen sponges.
They described how they soaked the sponges in wastewater and then zapped them. But several experimenters evidently left out the crucial step of wetting the sponge.
"Just wanted you to know that your article on microwaving sponges and scrubbers aroused my interest. However, when I put my sponge/scrubber into the microwave, it caught fire, smoked up the house, ruined my microwave, and pissed me off," one correspondent wrote in an e-mail to Reuters.
"First, the sponge is worthless afterwards so you have to throw it out instead of using it. And second your entire house stinks like a burning tire for several hours, even with windows/doors open," complained another.
Aaron Hoover, a press officer at the University of Florida, said several other news organizations received similar complaints, although no one had complained directly to the university.
"We figured, 'wow, we better let people know right away that the sponge should be wet,"' Hoover said in a telephone interview.
The university issued the following advisory: "To guard against the risk of fire, people who wish to sterilize their sponges at home must ensure the sponge is completely wet. Two minutes of microwaving is sufficient for most sterilization. Sponges should also have no metallic content. Last, people should be careful when removing the sponge from the microwave as it will be hot."