Bhutto Assassinated in Attack on Rally

RAWALPINDI, Islamabad — An attack on a political rally killed the Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto near the capital, Islamabad, Thursday. Witnesses said Ms. Bhutto was fired upon at close range before the blast, and an official from her party said Ms. Bhutto was further injured by the explosion, which was apparently caused by a suicide attacker.

Ms. Bhutto was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Rawalpindi at 6:16 p.m. after the doctors had tried to resuscitate her for thirty-five minutes. She had shrapnel injuries, the doctors said. At least a dozen more people were killed in the attack.

“At 6:16 p.m. she expired,” said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Ms. Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital where she was taken after the attack, according to The Associated Press.Hundreds of supporters had gathered at the political rally, which was being held at Liaqut Bagh, a park that is a common venue for political rallies and speeches, in Rawalpindi, the garrison city adjacent to the capital.

Amid the confusion after the explosion, the site was littered with pools of blood. Shoes and caps of party workers were lying on the asphalt, and shards of glass were strewn about the ground. Pakistani television cameras captured images of ambulances pushing through crowds of dazed and injured people at the scene of the assassination.

CNN reported that witnesses at the scene described the assassin as opening fire on Ms. Bhutto and her entourage, hitting her at least once in the neck and once in the chest, before blowing himself up.

Farah Ispahani, a party official from Ms. Bhutto’s party, said: “It is too soon to confirm the number of dead from the party’s side. Private television channels are reporting twenty dead.” Television channels were also quoting police sources as saying that at least 14 people were dead.

At the hospital where Ms. Bhutto was taken, a large number of police began to cordon off the area as angry party workers smashed windows. Many protesters shouted “Musharraf Dog”. One man was crying hysterically, saying “O my sister has been killed.” Amid the crowd, dozens of people beat their chests, and chanted slogans against Mr. Musharraf.

The attack immediately raised questions about whether parliamentary elections scheduled for January will go ahead or be postponed.

Ms. Bhutto was the target of a suicide attack in October in Karachi when she returned from exile to Pakistan. That attack, caused by two bombs exploding just seconds apart, narrowly missed Ms. Bhutto but killed scores of people, including many of her party workers. Ms. Bhutto had been warned by the government before her return to Pakistan that she faced threats to her security. She did not blame the president, Pervez Musharraf, for the Karachi attack but said extremist Islamic groups who wanted to take over the country were behind the attacks, which killed 134 people.

The attack Thursday in Rawalpindi is the latest blow to Pakistan’s treacherous political situation. It comes just days after President Pervez Musharraf lifted a state of emergency, imposed in part because of terrorist threats.

Ms. Bhutto, 54, returned from self-imposed exile to Pakistan this year to present herself as the answer to the nation’s troubles: a tribune of democracy in a state that has been under military rule for eight years, and the leader of the country’s largest opposition political party, founded by her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, one of Pakistan’s most flamboyant and democratically inclined prime ministers.

But her record in power, and the dance of veils she has deftly performed since her return -- one moment standing up to the Pakistan president, General Musharraf, then next seeming to accommodate him, and never quite revealing her actual intentions -- has stirred as much distrust as hope among Pakistanis.

A graduate of Harvard and Oxford, she brought the backing of Washington and London, where she impresses with her political lineage, her considerable charm and her persona as a female Muslim leader.

But with these accomplishments, Ms. Bhutto also brought controversy, and a legacy among Pakistanis as a polarizing figure who during her two turbulent tenures as prime minister, first from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996, often acted imperiously and impulsively.

She faced deep questions about her personal probity in public office, which led to corruption cases against her in Switzerland, Spain and Britain, as well as in Pakistan.

Ms. Bhutto saw herself as the inheritor of her father’s mantle, often spoke of how he encouraged her to study the lives of legendary female leaders ranging from Indira Gandhi to Joan of Arc.

But with these accomplishments, Ms. Bhutto also brought controversy, and a legacy among Pakistanis as a polarizing figure who during her two turbulent tenures as prime minister, first from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996, often acted imperiously and impulsively.

She faced deep questions about her personal probity in public office, which led to corruption cases against her in Switzerland, Spain and Britain, as well as in Pakistan.

Ms. Bhutto saw herself as the inheritor of her father’s mantle, often spoke of how he encouraged her to study the lives of legendary female leaders ranging from Indira Gandhi to Joan of Arc.

Following the idea of big ambition, Ms. Bhutto called herself chairperson for life of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, a seemingly odd title in an organization based on democratic ideals and one she has acknowledged quarreling over with her mother, Nusrat Bhutto, in the early 1990s.

Saturday night at the diplomatic reception, Ms. Bhutto showed how she could aggrandize. Three million people came out to greet her in Karachi on her return last month, she said, calling it Pakistan’s ”most historic” rally. In fact, crowd estimates were closer to 200,000, many of them provincial party members who had received small amounts of money to make the trip.

Such flourishes led questioning in Pakistan about the strength of her democratic ideals in practice, and a certain distrust, particularly amid signs of back-room deal-making with General Musharraf, the military ruler she opposed.

“She believes she is the chosen one, that she is the daughter of Bhutto and everything else is secondary,” said Feisal Naqvi, a corporate lawyer in Lahore who knew Ms. Bhutto.

When Ms. Bhutto was re-elected to a second term as Prime Minister, her style of government combined both the traditional and the modern, said Zafar Rathore, a senior civil servant at the time.

But her view of the role of government differed little from the classic notion in Pakistan that the state was the preserve of the ruler who dished out favors to constituents and colleagues, he recalled.

As secretary of interior, responsible for the Pakistani police force, Mr. Rathore, who is now retired, said he tried to get an appointment with Ms. Bhutto to explain the need for accountability in the force. He was always rebuffed, he said.

Finally, when he was seated next to her in a small meeting, he said to her, “I’ve been waiting to see you,” he recounted. “Instantaneously, she said: ‘I am very busy, what do you want. I’ll order it right now.’ ”

She could not understand that a civil servant might want to talk about policies, he said. Instead, he said, ”she understood that when all civil servants have access to the sovereign, they want to ask for something.”

But until her death, Ms. Bhutto ruled the party with an iron hand, jealously guarding her position, even while leading the party in absentia for nearly a decade.

Members of her party saluted her return to Pakistan, saying she was the best choice against General Musharraf. Chief among her attributes, they said, was sheer determination.

Ms. Bhutto’s marriage to Asif Ali Zardari was arranged by her mother, a fact that Ms. Bhutto has often said was easily explained, even for a modern, highly educated Pakistani woman.

To be acceptable to the Pakistani public as a politician she could not be a single woman, and what was the difference, she would ask, between such a marriage and computer dating?

Mr. Zardari is known for his love of polo and other perquisites of the good life like fine clothes, expensive restaurants, homes in Dubai and London, and an apartment in New York.

He was minister of investment in Ms. Bhutto’s second government. And it was from that perch that he made many of the deals that haunted Ms. Bhutto, and himself, in the courts.

There were accusations that the couple had illegally taken $1.5 billion from the state. It is a figure that Ms. Bhutto has vigorously contested.

Indeed, one of Ms. Bhutto’s main objectives in seeking to return to power was to restore the reputation of her husband, who was jailed for eight years in Pakistan, said Abdullah Riar, a former senator in the Pakistani Parliament and a former colleague of Ms. Bhutto’s.

“She told me, ‘Time will prove he is the Nelson Mandela of Pakistan,’ ” Mr. Riar said.

New York Times


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Jamie Lynn Spears' Pregnancy: Is It Legal?

The announced pregnancy of Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16-year-old sister of Britney Spears and the star of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101," opens up a wide range of complicated legal questions. Given Spears' status as a minor, what does that mean for longtime boyfriend Casey Aldridge, whom Spears reportedly met while attending church services? Depending on a number of factors, it could mean jail time for Aldridge — who, depending on the source, is either 17, 18, or 19 — but only if Spears' family decides to press charges, which, judging by the public statements made by press time, appears unlikely.

(At press time, MTV News was unable to confirm Aldridge's age definitively: Many reports — including that of OK! magazine, which broke the story — say he's 18, some say 19, his MySpace page says 17.)

Ultimately, the first question for investigators would be the "venue," or the state in which the baby was conceived. Without that information, no criminal proceedings can be initiated. According to the penal codes of the three states where Aldridge and Spears, who turned 16 in April, were most likely to have conceived the child — California, where "Zoey 101" is taped; Louisiana, where Spears lives when the show is between seasons, and where she has said she intends to raise her child; and Mississippi, where Aldridge resides — Aldridge's paternity could potentially give rise to criminal charges.

According to the FBI's definition, statutory rape is characterized as non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is younger than the statutory age of consent in each respective state. The actual ages for these laws vary greatly from state-to-state, as do the punishments for the alleged offenders. Many states do not use the term "statutory rape," simply calling it "rape" or "unlawful sexual penetration," among a variety of other titles. One such state is Mississippi, where the crime is called "having carnal knowledge of a child."

MTV News consulted three legal experts — Father Lawrence Moore, associate dean of academic affairs for Loyola University's College of Law in New Orleans; University of Mississippi School of Law professor Philip Broadhead; and Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office — who noted that these laws apply to any type of sexual contact. Dating someone without sexual contact cannot be considered a form of statutory rape, and is almost never illegal in any state. All states have an "age of consent," or the age at which a person can legally consent to sexual activity and can then no longer be a victim of statutory rape.

Some states will make exceptions when the older person is also young or of a similar age, or if they marry the minor before the act of sexual intercourse or before being charged with the offense. These laws presume coercion, because a minor is legally incapable of giving consent to a sexual act.

In some states, criminal proceedings against an offender cannot be initiated unless the offended person's family presses charges. Assuming the couple are in good standing, Aldridge is probably in the clear. However, several online reports have crept up in the wake of Spears' announcement Tuesday night, claiming the couple's relationship was over; they cite Aldridge's alleged MySpace page, the headline of which reads "Me and Jamie Are Over :(." If the couple have indeed split up and the parting was less than amicable, Spears and her parents could file a formal complaint, which would set the legal wheels in motion.

In Louisiana, the age of consensual sexual intercourse is 17. The state's statutory-rape law goes into effect if the offender is 19 or older and has had sexual relations with a minor between ages 12 and 17; such offenses are considered felony crimes.

There's also a misdemeanor version of the law, which states that if the offender is between ages 17 and 19, and has sexual relations with a person who is between ages 15 and 17 with the difference in both participants' ages being at least two years, the offender could be charged with misdemeanor carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Those convicted face up to 10 years behind bars, with or without hard labor.

The New York Post quoted Deputy Sheriff Jimmy Travis of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, where the Spears family lives as saying that the couple broke no state laws if the child was conceived in Louisiana.

"From my preliminary investigation, she is 16 and he is 18," he said. "If, in fact, it happened in the state of Louisiana, that does not violate any criminal statutes." However, if Aldridge was 19 at the time of conception, there could be a case.

In Mississippi, the age of consent is 16 and the sentence for carnal knowledge of a minor is up to five years in jail, in addition to a $5,000 fine. This offense is committed when a person who is 17 or older engages in sexual intercourse with a minor who is at least 14 but under age 16; however, if the victim is less than 36 months younger than the offender, then no crime has been committed.

According to University of Mississippi School of Law professor Philip Broadhead, the state amended the sexual battery and rape statutes six years ago, raising the age of consent from 14 to 16.

"There are exceptions to the law," he said. "For instance, a 17-year-old has sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend — they put age ranges into the statute to lessen the penalties and in some cases do away with the penalties altogether. The bottom line is, the Mississippi legislature raised the age of consent to 16. [However,] if a 16-year-old girl has a 19-year-old partner, that's statutory rape — absolutely.

"The venue would be important as to what specific law applies, of course, but proving that would be difficult, because [Spears may not] cooperate and he has a right to remain silent," he continued. "Jurisdiction and venue are the first things you need to answer. If you can't, there's no going forward."

California's penal code is comparatively simple. It puts the age of consent at 18, and defines unlawful sexual intercourse as "an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the perpetrator, if the person is a minor." The crime is a misdemeanor if the offender is less than three years older or three years older than the victim; someone more than three years older could be charged with a felony.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, said a person is considered an adult in California when they turn 18. She wouldn't speculate as to Aldridge's criminal culpability, reiterating what Broadhead said about the site of the alleged offense.

"It doesn't make any difference if [Spears] works [in California], it's where the sex occurred," she said. "I don't know where the child was conceived and I'm not sure what the circumstances are. The law is clear."

Source : MTV

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Indian couple held guilty of 'slavery'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A wealthy New York couple were found guilty on Monday of forced labor charges after being accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves in a dramatic verdict that resulted in the wife fainting.

Indian-born Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, were convicted of charges including forced labor, harboring illegal residents and conspiracy in what prosecutors dubbed a "case of modern-day slavery."

Varsha Sabhnani and one of the couple's daughters fainted after a jury in federal court in Central Islip, New York, found them guilty of 12 counts, a court official said. They each face up to 40 years in prison.

The judge ordered the jury to return Tuesday so each juror could be individually polled to confirm the verdict. Both Varsha Sabhnani and her daughter were taken to hospital for treatment.

Prosecutors said the couple, both U.S. citizens, brought two women, identified only as Samirah, 51, and Enung, 47, to the United States from Indonesia with promises to pay $200 a month for housekeeping duties.

But instead the women testified that their passports were confiscated and for years they were subjected to beatings with brooms, hot water scaldings and being forced to eat hot chili peppers in addition to carrying out household duties.

Defense lawyers had argued both women made up the story and were delusional.

Samirah was found by authorities in May wandering the streets dressed only in pants and a towel after escaping from the couple's home in Muttontown, New York, where they ran a multimillion dollar perfume business.

She was treated at a local hospital for injuries to her ears, face, arms, neck, chest and back that she told authorities were caused by torture inflicted by Varsha Sabhnani.
Enung was found by authorities in the home hiding in a closet. Both women were forced to sleep on mats and had to steal food to get enough to eat, prosecutors said.



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Eleven U.N. staff among dead in Algeria bombs: U.N.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Eleven U.N. employees are believed to have been among those killed when car bombs hit U.N. and other buildings in Algiers on Tuesday and more U.N. staff were still unaccounted for, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

At least 26 people were killed when suspected al Qaeda militants detonated twin car bombs in Algeria's capital, in one of the bloodiest attacks since civil strife in the 1990s.

An official tally put the death toll at 26, while a Health Ministry source said 67 people were killed. Algeria's state radio, monitored by the BBC in London, said the dead included three Asian nationals, a Dane and one Senegalese.

"We are now putting the U.N. death toll at 11," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. Earlier she said, "A number of staff still remain unaccounted for and the situation, as you know, remains fluid."

A U.N. statement said one of the two blasts destroyed the offices of the U.N. Development Program, or UNDP, and severely damaged the offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, in the Algerian capital.

The Geneva-based commissioner, Antonio Guterres, said in a BBC television interview he had "no doubt that the U.N. was targeted". He said the blast occurred in a street separating the main U.N. office from UNHCR's compound.

The attack brought back memories of a bomb that destroyed the U.N. office in Baghdad in 2003 and killed 22 people, including mission chief Sergio Vieira deMello.

Jean Fabre, head of UNDP's Geneva office, earlier told Reuters that many of the U.N. missing were from the UNDP building, which also housed other U.N. agencies including the World Food Program and International Labor Organization.

A UNHCR spokesman said a driver employed by the agency had died.

"The situation on the ground is very confusing," Okabe said earlier. "They (U.N. staff) are trying to locate people in hospitals. They're digging through the rubble." One person had been pulled alive from the rubble, she said.

Okabe said the United Nations had 19 permanent and 21 temporary international staff and 115 local staff in Algeria.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, attending a climate change conference in Indonesia, said in a statement: "Words cannot express my sense of shock, outrage and anger at the terrorist attack on the United Nations mission in Algiers today.

"This was an abject cowardly strike against civilian officials serving humanity's highest ideals under the U.N. banner -- base, indecent and unjustifiable by even the most barbarous political standard."

A statement by the 15-nation Security Council also condemned "in the strongest terms ... this heinous act of terrorism" and called on all states to cooperate with Algeria to bring the perpetrators and their backers to justice.

Algeria blamed the bombs on the north African arm of Al Qaeda.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Mark Trevelyan in London and Claudia Parsons at the United Nations, editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Romney Addresses Religious Beliefs During Key Speech

Standing before a crowd of several hundred and a television audience of millions, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that in a nation with religious freedom, his Mormon faith should not be the sole reason keeping him from the presidency.

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, addressed the public's concerns with his faith in what political observers labeled the most important speech of his political career on Thursday at the George Bush Presidential Library.

With many family members and former President George H.W. Bush present, Romney said the public should question the faith of its leaders in a religious nation, but it should not be the only factor when electing them.

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom," Romney said. "Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religious endure together, or perish alone."

As the first Mormon running for president, many in the public have expressed concerns with his faith, as some tenets of Mormon are considered to be outside the mainstream. An aide to Romney told reporters prior to the speech that the candidate understood the address was necessary, even before he started his campaign.

"Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions," Romney said. "Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin."

The basis of Mormonism, he said, is the same as other Christian faiths -- but, like every other Christian faith, differences exist. "There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked: What do I believe about Jesus Christ?" he said. "I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind."

Because of his beliefs, Romney said, he has an understanding about why religious freedom, while maintaining faith, is crucial.

"Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the almighty, has a friend and ally in me," he said. "And so it is for hundreds of millions of our countrymen: we do not insist on a single strain of religion -- rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith."

The speech alluded to a similar speech made by the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1960 election. Sen. John F. Kennedy, D-Mass., was a Catholic and many voters thought that his faith would create an allegiance to the pope. On Sept. 12, 1960, he spoke to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, where he attempted to dispel the notion that the Vatican would steward his administration.

"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute -- where no Catholic prelate would tell the president [should he be Catholic] how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote -- where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference -- and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who elect him," Kennedy said.

In this election, Romney said, he is in the position Kennedy was in; trying to explain that he's running as an American, not as a member of a specific faith.

"Almost 50 years ago, another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for president, not a Catholic running for president," he said. "Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion."

Romney's speech came less than a month before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, where he was a longtime front-runner. He has lost his lead however, to Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist preacher. In Iowa, Huckabee has 26 percent support to Romney's 25 percent, according to the latest Zogby polls.

In addition, a study conducted by Vanderbilt University showed that bias against Mormons in the U.S. is higher than blacks and women. Researchers found the bias was even stronger among evangelical Christians.

"Depending upon how the speech is designed, it could stir latent bias by activating certain interests of the voting public," said John Greer, distinguished professor of political science at Vanderbilt, who led the survey. "However, those who are biased against Mormons are not necessary hardened in their positions."

Responding to the criticisms of his faith, Romney said his faith is important to him -- not to his political leadership -- and voters should not cast their ballot for or against him just because of that.

"A person should not be elected because of his faith nor rejected because of his faith," he said.

© 2007 The Battalion via U-WIRE

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Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

OPEC said today that it was leaving its production levels unchanged for the moment, signaling that it was more concerned with slowing economic growth than with high oil prices.

The oil cartel rejected calls from oil consumers, including the United States, to increase output to drive down prices. Saudi Arabia had initially said the group would consider increasing production by 500,000 barrels a day but backed down in the face of opposition from other OPEC members after oil prices fell last week.

With oil prices still around $90 a barrel, today’s decision suggests that producers have significantly increased their minimal target price for oil. Analysts now believe that OPEC’s new floor to be around $70 to $80 a barrel.

Given the volatility in oil markets, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would meet again in February to review its decision and fine-tune its supply levels.

OPEC repeated its long-held view that there was no shortage of oil on the market and that global crude inventories, which are held by oil companies and refineries around the world, were at a comfortable level. OPEC said the reason prices have risen to nearly $100 a barrel in recent weeks had nothing to do with supply and demand but was instead the result of trading activities by commodity investors and hedge funds, and geopolitical instability.

“We have enough stocks in the market,” Abdalla Salem el-Badri, OPEC’s secretary-general, told reporters in Abu Dhabi, where the organization was meeting. “There is no reason for the price of oil to go to $100 a barrel.”

Still, oil prices rose after the meeting as some traders had anticipated an increase in production. Crude oil for January delivery gained as much as $2.07, or 2.3 percent, to $90.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have risen 44 percent in the past year. Last month, they reached a high of $99.29 a barrel.

Today’s decision means OPEC remains concerned about a potential slowdown in economic activity that could pare the demand for oil and push prices down. It also signals that the oil cartel does not want to see oil prices fall back to $50 a barrel, as they did in January, nor does it want prices at $100 a barrel.

Since 2000, OPEC’s policy has been to fine-tune its supplies to track closely with oil demand but without allowing oil companies and refiners to build too many oil inventories. That policy of careful management has helped the cartel raise prices since the oil collapse of the late 1990s.

Over the last year, OPEC has pared down its production in a bid to push down the level of commercial oil stocks held in developed nations. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s top producer, in particular was concerned about higher-than-average oil stock levels and helped engineer a pair of production cuts totaling 1.7 million barrels a day.

While OPEC’s real production only dropped by about 1 million barrels a day after the cuts, the strategy succeeded in forcing refiners to draw on their inventories. Between October 2006 and October 2007, the total oil and product stocks in the United States, Europe and Japan fell by 138 million barrels, according to Lawrence Goldstein, an economist at the Energy Policy Research Foundation.

But the strategy also contributed to a sharp spike in oil prices, which went from $50 a barrel in January to nearly $100 a barrel last month. OPEC tried to correct its aim in September by increasing supplies by 500,000 barrels a day, but the new supplies had only a limited effect on prices.

“They have fully achieved their objective,” Mr. Goldstein said. “In fact they have more than succeeded. The current levels are making them uncomfortable.”

The jump in prices seemed to frustrate oil producers, who have been trying to toe a delicate line in recent months.

OPEC is not insensitive to higher oil prices, which can lead to lower demand for oil. But the group was facing a difficult decision today given fears that the American economy might be slowing down. In that context, adding more oil in the market might have pushed down prices far below the group’s comfort level.

Last week, oil prices had dropped more than 10 percent, their steepest weekly decline in more than two years.

As a group, OPEC’s 13 members account for 40 percent of the world’s daily oil exports, making them the only producers capable of raising their output in a meaningful manner. Together, they now have about 2.5 million barrels a day of spare capacity, according to analyst estimates, mostly in Saudi Arabia.

The group’s final statement expressed OPEC’s concerns with market speculation that has driven up prices. Specifically, it blamed “a heavy influx of financial funds into commodities and speculative activity in the markets” for contributing to higher volatility.

The effect of speculation on commodity prices is also becoming a concern in the United States. A powerful Congressional committee said today that it would be holding hearings on that topic next week in Washington.

The group said that given the need for “extreme vigilance” in managing the oil market in coming months, it would meet again on Feb. 1, ahead of a scheduled meeting in early March.

In addition to the discussion about winter supplies, today’s OPEC meeting also tended to some housekeeping matters. The group’s two newest members — Angola and Ecuador — were each assigned a production quota to regulate their production in the future. The quotas are 1.9 million barrels and 520,000 barrels a day, respectively.

Angola currently pumps around 1.8 million barrels a day and plans to lift its output to 2 million barrels a day next year 2008. Ecuador produces about 500,000 barrels a day.

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Rodney King's Been Shot!

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Rodney King, whose videotaped police beating in 1991 led to deadly rioting when the officers involved were acquitted, was shot on a street corner, but his wounds were not life-threatening, police said.

King, 42, was shot two or three times from a distance by birdshot fired from a shotgun. He then bicycled about 1 1/2 miles back to his home in neighboring Rialto and called police. King was hit in the face, arms, back and torso, police said.

Authorities said when they arrived at the home, King and others appeared drunk and were largely uncooperative in providing information about the shooting.

King was taken to a hospital. His condition on Thursday was not immediately known.

The shooting may have involved a domestic dispute, San Bernardino police Lieutenant Scott Paterson said.

King, who is black, was videotaped being beaten by white Los Angeles police officers after he was stopped for speeding in 1991. Four officers were acquitted of most criminal charges in 1992, triggering rioting in Los Angeles and neighboring cities that left 55 people dead and caused $1 billion in property damage.

King sued the city over the beating and obtained a $3.8 million settlement.

However, he continued to have run-ins with the law. In 2004, he was ordered to spend 120 days in jail and ordered into treatment after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of the drug PCP after he lost control of his SUV in 2003 and slammed into a power pole in Rialto.

Rialto and San Bernardino are about 55 miles east of Los Angeles.

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Wife surprises Hulk Hogan

Linda Hogan has filed for divorce from her wrestler husband, Hulk Hogan, The St. Petersburg Times reported. Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, told the newspaper he had no idea his wife had filed for divorce. He was informed by a reporter that Pinellas County court records showed the paperwork was submitted Tuesday.

"Thank you for the great information," he told the reporter. The couple star in the VH1 reality-TV series "Hogan Knows Best," with their two children. Recent episodes show the couple attending marital counseling.


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FDA Seizes Discontinued Cosmetic

It is being reported that federal officials have seized more than 12,682 applicator tubes of a discontinued cosmetic called Age Intervention Eyelash, which they state can cause vision problems in some people.

California-based Jan Marini Skin Research Inc distributed the product and have stated that they feel that they are being unfairly targeted by the FDA.

The product contains bimatoprost, which is an ingredient found in another drug to help control eye pressure.

FDA officials have stated the Age Intervention Eyelash product is an unapproved drug because Jan Marini Skin Research promoted it as something that increases eyelash growth.

The FDA states that patients taking the drug may be at an increased risk of optic nerve damage "because the extra dose of bimatoprost may decrease the prescription drug's effectiveness,"

"We have been unfairly singled out," said Jan Marini, the company's president. "Other companies use the same ingredient and we're not aware of any action that has been taken against them."

The FDA is urging dermatologists, consumers and aestheticians who have the product to throw it away and definitely not use it.

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Georgia governor leads prayer for rain

ATLANTA -- Bowing his head outside the Georgia Capitol on Tuesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue cut a newly repentant figure as he publicly prayed for rain to end the region's historic drought.

"Oh father, we acknowledge our wastefulness," Perdue said. "But we're doing better. And I thought it was time to acknowledge that to the creator, the provider of water and land, and to tell him that we will do better."

Hundreds of Georgians -- ministers and lawmakers, landscapers and office workers -- gathered in downtown Atlanta for the prayer vigil. Some held bibles and crucifixes. Many swayed and linked arms as a choir sang "What a Mighty God We Serve" and "Amazing Grace."

As Perdue described it, "We have come together, very simply, for one reason and one reason only: To very reverently and respectfully pray up a storm."

"It's got to be worth a shot," said David Mais, 34, an Atlanta resident who is worried his carpet cleaning business could suffer from the drought. "I do think we need to do a lot more, but hopefully prayer will unite us."

As metropolitan Atlanta's water supplies drain to record lows, many across the Southeast have criticized Perdue and other Georgia officials for failing to introduce more stringent conservation measures.

Perdue, who wore a green suit and brown cowboy boots, seemed to acknowledge that the drought afflicting Georgia was a man-made, as well as natural, problem. Georgians, he said, had not done "all we could do in conservation."

While many hoped that a miracle could end the drought, repentance was a recurring theme.

"We've been so busy industrializing that we've forgotten how to spiritualize," Gil Watson, senior minister at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta, told the crowd. "We've been so busy with our economy and what we can have and what we can possess that we've forgotten that you possess it all. Great God, this is your land. We till it for you. We are entrepreneurs for you, dear God."

Gary Tacon, a businessman who had traveled from New York for the prayer vigil to promote a product called the Wataire Atmospheric Water Generator, was moved. His product creates pure, filtered drinking water from moisture in the air.

"The governor sounded good," he said, pausing briefly from handing out leaflets to congregation members. "I don't put a lot of store in prayer, but if it helps to unify, that's great. People need to be informed."

More than a few people who attended seemed skeptical that prayer would end the drought.

Lance Warner, 22, a history student at Georgia State University, smirked as members of the crowd stretched their arms to the heavens and cried "Amen!" and "Hallelujah!"

"You couldn't make this up," he said. "You can't make up for years of water mismanagement with a prayer session. It's lunacy!"

About a block way, more than 20 protesters -- some carrying placards saying "All hail Sonny Perdue" and "Is it raining yet?" -- joined a rally organized by the Atlanta Freethought Society. The vigil, they said, violated the principle of separation of church and state.

"The governor is exceeding his constitutional authority," said Ed Buckner, an atheist and treasurer of the group. "He has no right to set up prayer services on behalf of the people of Georgia, particularly not on the grounds of the state Capitol."

As the state's drought has intensified, Perdue, a Baptist, has repeatedly urged Georgians to pray for rain. In June, he prayed for rain in Macon as part of the Georgia Farm Bureau's day of prayer for agriculture.

Perdue is not the first Georgia governor to pray for an end to drought. In 1986, Gov. Joe Frank Harris joined hundreds of worshipers at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta to pray for rain.

More than 20 years later, however, a significant number of Georgians appear to be uncomfortable with such prayers. Throughout the day, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's blog filled with recriminations from readers who said Perdue should plan, rather than pray.

"God is not an ATM machine you can go to and get whatever you need whenever you ask for it," said one reader. "Stop developing, seed the clouds, think of some other useful solution." Another said: "I'm praying for a new GOVERNOR!!!!!"

Gil Rogers, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said he worried that hoping for miracles could detract from more practical efforts to conserve water.

"We shouldn't look at it as 'Once the rains come we'll be fine,' " he said. "We'd all like to see rain, but this doesn't get us any closer to sustaining water management in Georgia."

But Rogers could find one point of agreement with Perdue.

"If he's saying that Georgians are wasteful, we certainly agree," he said. "I hope he is truly sorry we've been so wasteful. . . . If you look at the way Georgia is growing -- paving over 50 acres a day in the Atlanta area, choking out streams and cutting down forests, we've got a long way to go."





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Sex Diseases Still Rising; Chlamydia Is Leader

Results of a new study find that in the United States, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis cases are on the rise.

2006 was the second year in a row that saw an increase in all 3 of the leading sexually transmitted diseases, a fact that worries health professionals a great deal.

The CDC study found that chlamydia cases in 2006 topped the 1 million mark, the most cases to be reported since statistics were kept by the CDC starting in 1984.

Compared to 2005, the rate of positive gonorrhea cases rose by 5.5 percent.

Cases of syphilis jumped 13.8 percent from 2005 to 2006, also a sharp increase in cases.

"This is a hidden epidemic," said Dr. Stuart Berman, who helps tracks STDs for the CDC.

"Most people are not aware of how many STDs are out there, the risks that they run and the need for getting regular testing for some of these and treatment -- and having their partners treated. We'd like to see these rates going down."

"The honest truth is that we're on the early part of the learning curve with populations in which traditional approaches to prevention aren't working as effectively," said John Douglas, CDC's director of STD prevention, in a telephone call with reporters.

"When you see that almost half of these infections are among young people, that tells you we have to do a much better job of sex education in public schools," said Bill Stackhouse, director of the Institute for Gay Men's Health in New York, in a telephone interview today.

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Jennifer Lopez confirms pregnancy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After weeks of speculation, singer-actress Jennifer Lopez has confirmed that she is pregnant, People magazine reported on Thursday.

"Marc and I are expecting a baby," the 38-year-old performer told a concert audience in Miami on Wednesday night during the last stop on her joint North American tour with her husband, vocalist Marc Anthony.

After the announcement, Anthony shrugged his shoulders, caressed his wife's stomach, then leaned over and kissed her belly.

"I didn't know she was going to talk," he told the crowd.

The Miami show marked the last stop of Lopez's first concert tour.

"This is a special time in our lives," said New York-born Lopez, who has sold 17 million records worldwide and released six albums. "And we waited until the last show to tell you."

Lopez, who has been married three times, tied the knot with 39-year-old Anthony in 2004.

Fans of the singer started sending notes of congratulations to the star.

"Thanks for sharing with us your personal life. Congratulations!," wrote Glenda Santiago on Lopez's page on social networking site Facebook.

Source : Reuters/Nielsen

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Pakistan's Bhutto Under House Arrest, 5,000 Supporters Rounded Up.

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest today, and police rounded up 5,000 of her supporters who were planning to hold a protest rally. Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan who just returned to the country from nearly a decade in exile, called for the rally to protest President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule.

"The government has been paralyzed," Bhutto shouted to supporters across a barbed-wire barricade erected by police, The Associated Press reported.

A Pakistani government spokesman announced later today that Bhutto would be released from house arrest by Saturday, the AP reported.

That announcement came just as President Bush called for Bhutto and her supporters to be freed and again for the end of emergency rule.

It is "crucial for Pakistan's future that moderate political forces work together to bring Pakistan back on the path to democracy," the White House said in a statement.

Later after she was unable to leave her house, ABC News reached her by phone "We told the police they should either give us an arrest warrant or allow us to proceed." Bhutto said on "Good Morning America."

"How often can Gen. Musharraf bring the entire public [to a] standstill to stop a single public meeting? I plead with the international community not to be taken in, for him to retire as army chief, for him to hold elections and to restore the constitution."

ABC' Martha Raddatz was outside Bhutto's house when supporters tried to drive Bhutto out of her compound, but said riot police quickly moved in.

Two buses blocked Bhutto's car while she shouted over a megaphone to be released. Bhutto had hoped to go rally with her supporters.

"Do not raise hands on women. You are Muslims. This is un-Islamic," she shouted.

In front of Bhutto's compound throughout the day, supporters would come usually one by one. And one by one they were arrested, Raddatz reported.

The city of Rawalpindie, where the rally was to take place, was in lockdown and there were only sporadic clashes.

Also in Peshawar Friday a suicide bomber struck at the home of the Pakistani minister for political affairs, Amir Muqam. Four people were killed, but Muqam was not hurt, according to the AP.

There have been waves of bombings in recent months targeting Pakistani officials, which have been blamed on Islamic militants. It was for this reason Musharraf said he was declaring martial law earlier this week.

But while Musharraf is going after his opposition, ABC News visited an area just 150 miles from where the Taliban is taking over.

The Swat Valley, once a popular tourist site, now has Taliban fighters wielding weapons, closing schools and taking over police stations.

People have fled from here by the hundreds of thousands, fearing the entire valley will fall to the Taliban. Still many local citizens told ABC News that Musharraf seems more worried about Bhutto than the extremists.

Bhutto, for her part, said she is determined to get out of her compound before day's end.

ABC's Martha Raddatz and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Oil leaps to record over $93 on Mexico, dollar

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil leapt to a record high for a third day on Monday, surpassing $93 as Mexico briefly halted one-fifth of its production and the dollar struck new lows.

U.S. crude, which hit a high of $93.20 a barrel earlier, was up $1.02 cents at $92.88 by 8:07 a.m. EST. London Brent, which hit a record high $90, was up 89 cents at $89.58.

Oil prices have soared by more than a third since mid-August as a stand-off between Turkey and Kurdish rebels, dollar weakness, easing interest rates and winter supply fears attracted a fresh wave of investment capital.

Prices rose on Monday after Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said it was shutting about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil output due to bad weather in the Gulf of Mexico.

A spokesman said Pemex should be able to resume output immediately once the cold weather passed in two days. Mexico's three main export terminals were shut on Sunday.

The dollar hit another record low against a basket of currencies on expectations the Federal Reserve will trim interest rates this week and possibly again this year.

Central banks have poured billions of dollars into financial markets to ease a liquidity crisis. Much of that money has found its way into energy, commodities and emerging markets.

Gains in oil accelerated amid unusually heavy trade of 16,000 lots on the U.S. front-month contract, with some traders pointing to short-covering by options players or technical stop levels around the $93 a barrel mark.

"In our view, implied volatility in crude oil options looks attractive... In addition, crude oil volume also looks attractive relative to volume in other asset classes," Merrill Lynch analysts wrote in a research note.

POLITICAL TENSIONS

OPEC has shrugged off calls from importer nations to raise output, saying politics and speculation -- not a supply shortfall -- are to blame.

"I haven't any signal that there is any shortage of crude... I believe a big portion of the oil price today is related to geopolitics and fear factors, and we cannot solve it," Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters in Doha.

"Sometimes there is a shortage of oil products but not of crude. This is because of limitations of refinery (capacity). Consumers and producers should invest more in refining. We don't have a magic stick to solve this."

The possibility of a large-scale Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to root out Kurdish rebels is also keeping the oil market on edge. The tension has sparked worries of a broader conflict in the oil-rich Middle East.

Turkey's foreign minister Ali Babacan, speaking on Sunday after talks aimed at averting a Turkish incursion into Iraq, said diplomatic and military operations could both be used.

"There remain concerns that oil market conditions are tightening and geopolitical tensions are also continuing to add a premium to oil prices," said David Moore, a commodities analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

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Calif. fires force nearly 1M from homes

SAN DIEGO — As a dozen fires raged along the coast of Southern California Tuesday for a third day, San Diego County took the brunt of the wind-whipped fury that forced the evacuation of more than 350,000 houses, encompassing nearly 950,000 people based on average household size, including 10,000 evacuees huddled in QualComm stadium.

Fire has burned across nearly 600 square miles, killing two people, destroying more than 1,300 homes and prompting one of the biggest evacuations in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes.

Krista Flynn, of Rancho Bernardo, who was holed up at QualComm stadium, home of the NFL's San Diego Chargers, said she fled Monday morning with her dog, Emma, when the evacuation order came.

"Somebody came and pounded on my door and said we had to get out. My neighbors said everybody's leaving," she said.

Like thousands of others, Flynn was anxiously watching TVs mounted around the stadium to get the latest news.

"It's scary," she said. You don't know where you're going to go if it (her home) is not there when you get back."

On Tuesday, President Bush declared a federal emergency for seven counties to speed disaster-relief efforts. He also sent Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FEMA Administrator David Paulison to Southern California to get a first-hand view of the disaster.

"All of us across this nation are concerned for the families who have lost their homes and the many families who have been evacuated from their homes," Bush said. "We send the help of the federal government."

The fires that broke out up and down the Southern California coast came in all sizes, from the 150-acre "Grass Valley Fire" in San Bernardino county to the 54,000-acre "Ranch Fire" fire west of Los Angeles.

In the Lake Arrowhead area east of Los Angeles, which was hard hit by fire four years ago, flames destroyed at least 160 homes. Another 100 homes were destroyed in the nearby mountain community of Running Springs.

But San Diego County was hardest hit Tuesday, as five separates wildfires raged in the north, in the central regions and along the Mexican border.

The area also claimed one of the two deaths from the wildfires: Thomas Varshock, 52, of Tecate, a town on the U.S. side of the border southeast of San Diego. His body was found Sunday afternoon, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said. The other victim was an unidentified civilian who died of burns in a fire in Santa Clarita, in northern Los Angeles County, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jay Nichols.

In San Diego County, public schools were closed, as were campuses at the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University.

The flames raced so quickly through the county that many residents were caught with little time to flee. Many rushed to QualComm stadium. Others sought refuge at fairgrounds, schools and community centers.

At QualComm stadium, more than 10,000 people slept on cots and in tents erected in the corridors and outside in the parking lot around the stadium.

Maura Kizzek came with her husband and two teen-age daughters early Tuesday when they saw television news reports that fire was moving toward their home in La Mesa.

"We just got scared. We haven't lived here very long. We don't know very many people and we don't know our way out of the city," she said.

Kizzek said her family moved to the area recently from Boston.

"We're used to snowstorms and tornadoes, but nothing like this. It's terrifying," she said.

Mark Saldana, 52, of El Cajon said his home was fine. After checking on his grown children, he headed to the stadium to volunteer. He was put to work translating for Spanish-speaking evacuees and distributing food.

"It's an unfortunate situation," he said. "If it's going to burn, it's going to burn. And you can't do anything about it. So I might as well be here and help."

The Creswells, a family of four from Ramona, which was evacuated Sunday evening, were resting around their pickup and small cargo trailer where they had plenty of food and were planning a spaghetti dinner.

Susie Creswell said she had complained for years about her husband Greg's Boy Scout camping trailer, but was glad to have it on hand when the evacuation order came.

"He's an Eagle Scout so he's always prepared," she said. "I'll never complain about this trailer again."

Creswell said the family also had fled a wildfire in 2003."We were much calmer this time," she said.

Unlike the hurricane evacuees stranded in the New Orleans Superdome during hurricane Katrina, the federal government moved swiftly to provide blankets, cots food and water to the first wave of evacuees at QualComm stadium.

"We are well ahead of the requirements and we will be able to make sure that all shelters have sufficient material," said a FEMA spokesman in Washington.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the federal response "a test of whether FEMA has gotten its act together post-Katrina."

Chertoff and Paulison, flying in from Washington, planned to stop first at the stadium.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who also visited the facility Tuesday, pledged to do all that he could to help the firefighting effort and those who lost their homes.

"I will be relentless all the way through this," the governor said.

Schwarzenegger ordered 800 National Guard troops off the U.S.-Mexican border to help firefighters. All San Diego police officers and detectives were ordered to help move people to safety and handle other fire-related emergencies.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said that 274,000 homes had been ordered evacuated on Monday.

At dawn on Tuesday, 3,800 additional homes were ordered evacuated in Wildcat Canyon and Multh Valley, and another 1,800 in North Jamul and Indian Springs.

"It was nuclear winter. It was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world," Mitch Mendler, a San Diego firefighter, said as he and his crew stopped at a shopping center parking lot to refill their water truck from a hydrant near a restaurant. "I lost count" of how many homes burned.

The fires have exploding and shooting embers in all directions, preventing crews from forming traditional fire lines and severely limiting aerial bombardment, fire officials said.

"Lifesaving is our priority. Getting people out from in front of the fire — those have been our priorities," said Capt. Don Camp, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The firestorms have come during one of the driest years on record: From Los Angeles to San Diego, the region has received less than one-third of its normal rainfall.

The combination of season, climate and weather conditions driving this week's infernos is unique to Southern California, says Tim Brown, a fire climate and ecosystem specialist.

"This is, indeed, with the Santa Ana (winds), exclusively a Southern California pattern," said Brown, a research professor at the University of Nevada's Desert Research Institute in Reno.

"This is the kind of fire that has the potential to get much worse," said Don Windeler, director of model management for Risk Management Solutions, which gauges and manages disaster potential.

Source : US Today

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Fish: Healthy to Eat During Pregnancy?

Fish and seafood can be beneficial to infant brain development during pregnancy, despite fears of mercury and its effect on an infant’s nervous system, Reuters reports.

Fish and seafood include omega-3 fatty acids, known to aid brain development of an infant, a benefit that outweighs the concern of mercury contamination. Mercury contamination can harm the nervous system of fetuses, according to experts.

Click here to read the Reuters story

The nutrients in fish and seafood can also help with motor skill development in children and prevent postpartum depression in mothers, said experts, who recommended a minimum of 12 ounces per week. Options include salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel and seafood like shrimp, lobster and clams.

This amount contradicts prior warnings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that pregnant women should not consume more than 12 ounces of fish and seafood per week.

Source : The Fox News

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Fish: Healthy to Eat During Pregnancy?

Fish and seafood can be beneficial to infant brain development during pregnancy, despite fears of mercury and its effect on an infant’s nervous system, Reuters reports.

Fish and seafood include omega-3 fatty acids, known to aid brain development of an infant, a benefit that outweighs the concern of mercury contamination. Mercury contamination can harm the nervous system of fetuses, according to experts.

Click here to read the Reuters story

The nutrients in fish and seafood can also help with motor skill development in children and prevent postpartum depression in mothers, said experts, who recommended a minimum of 12 ounces per week. Options include salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel and seafood like shrimp, lobster and clams.

This amount contradicts prior warnings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that pregnant women should not consume more than 12 ounces of fish and seafood per week.

Source : The Fox News

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Myanmar Junta Threatened by U.S. With Possible UN Arms Embargo

By Bill Varner

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will seek United Nations sanctions against Myanmar, possibly including an arms embargo, unless the nation's military regime ends its crackdown against protesters and releases political prisoners, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said.

Khalilzad made the threat after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his envoy to Myanmar said they've opened the way for talks between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

``A window of opportunity has opened, and it is vital that the government of Myanmar responds positively,'' Ban told the UN Security Council today, before envoy Ibrahim Gambari reported on his trip this week to the Southeast Asian nation. Ban said he urged Suu Kyi and military leader General Than Shwe to meet ``as soon as possible.''

International condemnation of Myanmar's military regime has intensified since it deployed soldiers on Sept. 26 to crush the protests. Security forces clubbed and shot at demonstrators, raided monasteries and arrested Buddhist monks. At least 30 people were killed and 1,400 others arrested, according to the Australian government.

UN envoy Gambari met with Suu Kyi, then with Shwe, and then with Suu Kyi again. He returned to New York yesterday and briefed Ban on the talks.

Than Shwe subsequently said he was willing to meet with Suu Kyi if she stops calling for international sanctions against Myanmar and urging the population to confront the junta.

Gambari told the Security Council he was ``cautiously encouraged'' by the junta's willingness to meet with Suu Kyi, provided certain conditions were met. ``The sooner such a meeting can take place, the better, as it is a first and necessary step to overcome the high level of mistrust between them,'' Gambari said.

Suu Kyi

Suu Kyi, 62, has spent almost 12 years in detention since the junta rejected the results of parliamentary elections in 1990 won by her National League for Democracy.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner will consider Than Shwe's offer ``in a positive light,'' Agence France-Presse cited NLD spokesman Nyan Win as saying from the former capital, Yangon.

Khalilzad told the Security Council that while the potential for talks between Shwe and Suu Kyi was encouraging, the conditions set by the junta were ``unrealistic.''

The U.S. demands that the junta end the crackdown on protesters, lift curfews, remove troops from around monasteries and release all political prisoners, Khalilzad said.

The top U.S. envoy to Myanmar met earlier today with Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint in the capital, Naypitaw, the U.S. mission to the UN said. Shari Villarosa, the acting ambassador to Myanmar, received word yesterday that the junta wanted to hold the talks.

`Meaningful Dialogue'

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington that Villarosa would deliver the message that the regime ``needs to start meaningful dialogue with all the democratic opposition groups'' and ``stop the violent crackdown.''

Ban called the government's use of force ``abhorrent and unacceptable'' and said all political prisoners should be immediately released.

It was ``too early to measure the impact of Mr. Gambari's visit, or to label it a success or a failure,'' Ban said.

The UN has demanded the military regime reveal how many people were killed last week during the crackdown on the biggest anti-government protests in almost 20 years.

Gambari said it ``remains unclear'' how responsive the Myanmar leadership will be to messages from the U.S. and UN.

British Ambassador John Sawers said he would ask the Security Council to adopt a formal statement demanding an end to use of force against protesters and release of Suu Kyi and other detainees, and urging movement toward ``national reconciliation.''

Source : TheBloomberg

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Google Stock Approaches $600 as Web Ad Spending Soars

By Ari Levy

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. shares may surpass $600 for the first time as investors bet the world's most popular Internet search engine will capture more sales from companies shifting advertising spending to the Web.

Google, which began trading at $85 in 2004, has the sixth- highest stock price in the U.S. and has surged 27 percent this year. The shares rose $1.84 to $584.39 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market and earlier reached $596.81.

The search engine has taken users from Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp., pushing sales growth to at least 70 percent in each of the past three years. Google plans to lure more Web surfers and advertisers through the YouTube video site, bought last year, and has introduced software to sell mobile ads.

``Google is still dominating,'' Piper Jaffray & Co. Web analysts including Gene Munster said in an Oct. 1 report.

Munster, in Minneapolis, rates the stock ``outperform'' and estimates it will reach $660 within a year as Google parlays its lead in search into other areas of online advertising next year.

The Web advertising market in the U.S. will grow 29 percent this year to $21.7 billion and then more than double by 2011, according to EMarketer Inc. Ads linked to search results will account for about 40 percent of that, the New York-based researcher estimates.

The company bolstered its search engine in May by adding links to YouTube videos, images, book excerpts and news. Microsoft and Yahoo have followed in the past week with their own upgrades. Google also is counting on its $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick Inc., its largest, to gain sales in the display ad market. The deal still requires regulatory approval.

Google's Gains

Google's share of the Internet search market increased to 56.5 percent in August from 55.2 percent the previous month, according to Reston, Virginia-based researcher ComScore Inc. Yahoo fell to 23.3 percent and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft dropped to 11.3 percent from 12.3 percent.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had the two highest priced stocks in the U.S., with the Class A shares trading at $119,799. The others above $600 are Seaboard Corp., a pork processor and cargo shipper, CME Group Inc., operator of the world's biggest futures market, and Washington Post Co.

In its 2004 IPO, the biggest ever for an Internet company, Google dodged U.S. investment banks and sold shares directly to investors. The so-called Dutch auction allowed smaller firms to bid for shares, giving the bigger ones less control over the sale.

Sharing the Wealth

Google's advance has made billionaires out of co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who started the company as Stanford University graduate students in 1998. Page, 34, and Brin, 34, each have shares valued at more than $18 billion. Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt owns over $5 billion in stock.

The company has a stock market value of more than $180 billion, the third largest among U.S. technology companies, behind software maker Microsoft and Cisco Systems Inc., the biggest maker of computer networking equipment.

While 33 of 36 analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying the shares, the price forecasts suggest more skepticism. Of the 28 analysts with estimates, 20 have predictions below $625 for the next 12 months.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Levy in San Francisco at alevy5@bloomberg.net

Source : Bloombreg

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NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Begins Trek to Asteroid Belt

A NASA probe blasted into space early Thursday, kicking off an unprecedented mission to explore the two largest asteroids in the solar system.

Riding atop a Delta 2 rocket, NASA's Dawn spacecraft launched toward the asteroids Vesta and Ceres at 7:34 a.m. EDT (1134 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"In my view, we're going to be visiting some of the last unexplored worlds in the solar system," said Marc Rayman, Dawn director of system engineering at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

Dawn's eight-year mission will carry the 2,685-pound (1,212-kilogram) probe across three billion miles (4.9 billion kilometers) on NASA's first sortie deep into the asteroid belt, a ring of space rocks that circles the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

By visiting the bright, rocky asteroid Vesta and the large, icy Ceres, researchers hope Dawn will shed new light on the formation of planets and solar system's early evolution.

Aside from a wayward ship, which delayed today's launch by 14 minutes when it encroached into the Atlantis Ocean splashdown zone for segments of Dawn's rocket, the liftoff went as planned, NASA launch director Omar Baez said.

Long journey ahead

Dawn is expected to rendezvous and orbit the 330-mile (530-kilometer) wide Vesta between August 2011 and May 2012, then move on to Texas-sized Ceres by February 2015. With its spherical shape and 585-mile (942-kilometer) diameter, Ceres is so large it is also considered a dwarf planet.

"It will be the first mission to journey to, and orbit around, two celestial bodies, and the first to visit a dwarf planet," said Dawn program manager Jim Adams, at NASA's Washington, D.C. headquarters, of the asteroid-bound flight.

Dawn carries an optical camera, gamma ray and neutron detector and a mapping spectrometer to study Vesta and Ceres. Some of those tools will get a trial run during a planned Mars flyby in 2009, researchers said.

To power those instruments, the spacecraft is also equipped with the most powerful solar arrays ever launched into deep space.

With a wingspan of nearly 65 feet (almost 20 meters), or about the distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate on a baseball field, the arrays will generate more than 10 kilowatts near Earth, though that output will decrease as the spacecraft moves further from the Sun.

NASA officials set Dawn's mission cost at $357.5 million excluding the cost of its Delta 2 rocket, according to a September update. In a July briefing, Dawn researchers said the asteroid-bound flight could cost a total of $449 million and incur an extra $25 million in overhead due to launch delays.

Attempts to launch the mission in July were thwarted first by poor weather and rocket glitches, then by difficulties arranging ship and aircraft tracking equipment in time for liftoff. NASA also canceled the mission outright in March 2006, only to reinstate the expedition a few weeks later.

"It has been quite an emotional rollercoaster," Chris Russell, Dawn's principal investigator at the University of California, Los Angeles, said of the mission. "And part of the emotional rollercoaster is the gratitude that we have for all of the people that defended Dawn in those times."

An asteroid trek on ion power

Built by Virginia-based Orbital Sciences, the Dawn spacecraft has been touted as the Prius of space probes because of the uncanny fuel efficiency of its three-engine ion drive.

Dawn carries 937 pounds (425 kilograms) of Xenon gas, to which it gives an electric charge to create ions that are then catapulted out of its engines at nearly 90,000 miles per hour (144,840 kph). Over time, the ion push builds up, and allows Dawn to change its flight path to first rendezvous, then orbit, multiple targets like Vesta and Ceres without requiring massive amounts of conventional rocket fuel.

"The first time I ever heard of ion propulsion was in a 'Star Trek' episode," said Rayman, adding that such engines are also touted to propel the TIE fighters – or Twin Ion Engine - of "Star Wars" fame. "Dawn does the TIE fighter one better because it has three ion engines."

While it will take Dawn four days to go from zero to 60 miles per hour (96 kph), the probe will gradually pick up speed as it fires its ion drive nonstop for the next six years, NASA has said, adding that the mission is the agency's first operational science expedition powered by ion propulsion.

"That would make it the longest powered flight in space history," said Keyur Patel, NASA's Dawn project manager at JPL, just before liftoff.

Each of the three ion engines weighs about 20 pounds (nine kilograms) and is about the size of a basketball.

"From such a little engine you can get this blue beam of rocket exhaust that shoots out at 89,000 miles per hour," Patel said before launch day. "It is a remarkable system."

NASA will hold a post-launch briefing on Dawn's asteroid-bound mission at 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on NASA TV

Source : The Space

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