EU
legal threat to junk food advertising
The food industry has been given a year to stop advertising
junk food to children and improve product labelling or
face possible legislation in the European Union.
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Sanctions
on North Korea by U.S. Nixed
Compiled from Kyodo, staff reports
U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon said Tuesday that economic
sanctions by Washington on North Korea could push Pyongyang
toward war.
Referring to U.S. policies, the Pennsylvania Republican
told reporters in Tokyo, "I am against economic
sanctions at this time because I'm concerned that it
would drive (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Il to do
things that might precipitate a stupid act."
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Effects
of Chinese Acquisitions
This summer marked an historical development in the commodity
arena, which can only be characterized as "guerrilla
trade war." A pre-emptive attack on North American
properties has begun. China has tendered an offer to purchase
Noranda Copper. They submitted an offer to purchase undeveloped
land in the vast energy fields of Alberta....
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Persecution
of Christians Growing in the United States
More Christians died for their faith in the twentieth
century than at any other time in history, says Christian
Solidarity International. Global reports indicate that
over 150,000 Christians were martyred last year, chiefly
outside of the United States. However, statistics are
changing: persecution of Christians is on the increase
in the United States. What's happening to bring about
this change?
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Former
Ambassador: U.N. Funds Terror - Diplomat cites documents
captured by Israeli forces
The former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations says
the global body, through several of its agencies, is funding
terrorist organizations.
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Sino-Japanese
'Cold War' Stirs New Tensions
When Nobutaka Machimura, Japan's foreign minister, asked
Israel to halt weapons sales to Japan's neighbours at
the weekend, there was little doubt which particular neighbour
he had in mind.
And when Japan's defence ministry recently drew up
contingency plans to deploy 55,000 troops in the event
of an invasion of disputed islands off southern Japan,
there was no question who the most likely invader would
be.
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Fascism
With A Smile - Part I
"As I look at America today, I am not afraid to say
that I am afraid." -Bertram Gross
No matter how much money George W. Bush allocates or
how many great things he says about America in his State
of the Union Address, the reality is that this country
is in dire straits. And as it now stands, things will
only worsen.
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Iran:
We Can Repel U.S. Attack - Iranian Defense Minister Ali
Shamkhani says Iran does not fear attack
Iran has the military might to deter attacks against it,
its defense minister said in remarks published on Tuesday,
one day after U.S. President George W. Bush said he would
not rule out military action against Iran.
Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said the Islamic
Republic, which has seen U.S. forces topple regimes
in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq in the last three
years, did not fear attack. - Reuters
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China
- Bank gets nod for trading in paper gold
The Agricultural Bank of China has become the second mainland
lender to offer trading in gold certificates to its retail
customers.
The Beijing-based lender, one of China's big-four state-owned
commercial banks, said yesterday that it received permission
from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to offer
financial instruments whose returns are based on gold
prices. - Shanghai Daily News
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90%
of Shrimp is IMPORTED! 80% is Farm-raised
A record-setting billion pounds of shrimp was imported
for seafood lovers in the United States in 2003, but most
consumers don’t realize where the popular food comes
from, said Public Citizen today as it released another
section of its Pharmed Shrimp Series. As part of its continuing
public education campaign on imported farm-raised shrimp,
the group again urged consumers to be cautious when buying
and eating shrimp.
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Israel
Army Invades Nablus
Tuesday night, Israeli soldiers supported
by at least 100 armored vehicles and jeeps invaded the
northern West Bank city of Nablus. The soldiers occupied
the rooftops of several buildings, using them as bases
for snipers. The Arabs48 news website reported that
the military invaded the city from all sides, firing
rounds of live ammunition at Palestinians in their homes.
The troops converged in Shuhada Square, in the Northern
Mountain area, and in the old city of Nablus.
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Senator
Boxer Shows Condi Rice To Be A Liar
On Jan. 18 Senator Barbara Boxer listed
fact after fact, statements by Condi Rice, that showed
she contradicted herself time and again about Al Qaeda,
about Saddam and his alleged WMD's, and his intentions--all
of which led us to war against Iraq. Boxer even went
on to show that Condi Rice, even recently, was lying
the more in contradicting statements by the CIA's own
intelligence reports, contradicting statements by President
Bush, and that her support for administration policies
was stronger than her support for the safety of our
nation. In her response to Boxer, Rice sputtered and
lied even more. She refused to respond to the facts
that Boxer pointed out, instead she kept saying that
her integrity and credibility was unquestionable; this
was clearly folly and a liars farce. Clearly, Ms. Rice
was shown to be a liar and an immoral person-not caring
about those who have been killed in this war, this war
that was clearly built on lies.
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Transcript
of Remarks between Boxer and Rice
Transcript of Sen. Barbara Boxer's
remarks and Condoleezza Rice's response at Rice's confirmation
hearing as provided by Federal News Service.
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The
Use of Foreign Law in American Constitutional Interpretation:
A Revealing Colloquy Between Justices Scalia and Breyer
What bearing, if any, does foreign
law have on the proper interpretation of the American
Constitution? Speaking last week at the American University
Washington College of Law, Justice Antonin Scalia gave
a blunt answer: none.Michael Dorf examines last week's
'debate' between two justices and arrives at conclusions
that are not heartening -FindLaw
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Bush
Tells Troops ‘Much More Will Be Asked of You’
President Bush told U.S. troops on
Tuesday that "much more will be asked of you" in Iraq
and elsewhere as three days of ceremonies marking his
inauguration got off to a somber beginning.
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GPS
Spying May Prove Irresistible to the Police
GPS devices are being built into more
and more automobiles. They're embedded in millions of
cell phones. So is the cost of routing the intercepted
signal to a computer system that could maintain a database
of every location visited by every car on every day.
As long as those cars or phones are on public roads,
the users have no right to object.
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Immigration
Law Critics Target Mandates
Opponents of Arizona's new immigration
law - stymied in their initial court challenges - are
taking aim at the law's election mandates, claiming
they'll virtually eliminate voter registration drives
and place too many obstacles in front of minority voters
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Rice
targets 6 'outposts of tyranny'
Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza
Rice yesterday branded six countries, including Iran
and North Korea, as "outposts of tyranny," coining a
term reminiscent of President Bush's "axis of evil"
three years ago.Miss Rice, during her confirmation hearing
before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, vowed
to usediplomacy to address "the threats to our common
security" and to "spread freedom and democracy throughout
the globe." -Washington Times
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Health
Chief Designate Leavitt Lauded by Senators
President Bush's pick for secretary
of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, won bipartisan
praise at the opening of his confirmation hearings on
Tuesday where he provided few specifics on his vision
for the nation's health system
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Missiles
deployed for inauguration
The military has deployed anti-aircraft
missiles within range of the Capitol as part of security
enhancements for tomorrow's presidential inauguration.The
missile deployment comes even though the FBI and Homeland
Security Department concluded in a recent threat assessment
that there is no credible information showing that terrorists
have targeted inaugural events -Bill Gertz/Washington
Times
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NATIONAL
BOYCOTT PLANNED OVER ILLEGALS INVADING US
Mr. President: The taxpaying citizens
of America have reached an impasse in the quest to have
your administration fulfill its Oath of Office to protect
this country from invasion (Article IV, Section 4) over
our borders and capture/deport criminal aliens now running
amok in America. We have organized a National Consumer
Boycott which will begin February 1, 2005 -NewsWithViews
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Saudi
Arabia Dismissed As 9/11 Defendant
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, three
Saudi princes and several Saudi financial institutions
were dismissed Tuesday as defendants in six civil lawsuits
accusing them of providing support to al-Qaida before
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.Judge Richard Casey said
the president, not the courts, has the authority to
label a foreign nation a terrorist, though he said he
understood the "desire to find a legal remedy for the
horrible wrongs committed on Sept. 11, 2001."
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Citizens
Group Set to Patrol U.S.-Mexico Border
An Arizona-based citizens group is
recruiting hundreds of volunteers to patrol the border
with Mexico this spring, saying that U.S. government
has failed to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.Organizers
of the MinuteMan Project said on Tuesday that they have
signed up 200 people from 29 U.S. states to patrol a
stretch of the border in Arizona throughout April to
search for illegal aliens and were adding 20 new volunteers
a day
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North
Korea's only talking head loves the US
Meet Kim Myong-chol, perhaps North
Korea's only avid and available Westernized talking
head for one of the world's most mysterious regimes.
This very unofficial diplomat is a short, graying, gregarious
man of 60 who lives in Japan, talks non-stop and rapid-fire
and prefers the United States to Japan, where he now
lives -Jeremy Kirk/Asia Times
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Babushkas
Versus Putin
In January 2005, few anticipate genuine
revolution--or even a change in government. But, in
one of the most interesting developments in Russia since
1998, when disgruntled coal miners went on strike and
blocked railway tracks in protest of unpaid wages, thousands
of pensioners are demonstrating across the country--protesting
the abolition of a wide range of social benefits -The
Nation
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Gonzales
Backs U.S. Assault Weapons Ban
Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales
told the Senate on Tuesday that he supports extending
the expired federal assault weapons ban.Gonzales also
said he wants Congress to reauthorize the Patriot Act
this year, despite complaints that it is too intrusive
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Kerik
to Attend Bush Inauguration
Immigration problems with a former
nanny may have sunk his nomination to become the next
secretary of the Homeland Security Department, but it
won't stop Bernard Kerik from attending President Bush's
inauguration
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Russia's
communists mount campaign to oust government
Russia's Communist Party mounted a
campaign to oust the government in a direct challenge
to President Vladimir Putin following weeks of nationwide
protests sparked by drastic cuts in social welfare benefits
-Turkish Press
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2004
was deadliest year for media
Governments around the world should
do more to protect journalists, an international umbrella
group for the profession claimed yesterday as it unveiled
figures showing that 2004 was the most dangerous year
on record -Guardian UK
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China
Resolute on Tiananmen
The Chinese government on Tuesday firmly
defended its decision 15 years ago to order a military
assault on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen
Square and oust the Communist Party leader who objected,
turning down appeals to reassess the crackdown and rehabilitate
Zhao Ziyang a day after his death -Washington Post
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U.S.
Citizen Pleads Guilty in Oil-For-Food Scam
An Iraqi-American illegally acted as
an agent for Iraq under Saddam Hussein and received
millions of dollars worth of oil from the country's
U.N. oil-for-food program, U.S. court documents showed
on Tuesday.Samir Vincent, 64, a naturalized American
citizen, pleaded guilty to four charges as part of a
plea deal with the government, which is investigating
whether U.S. laws were violated in the $64 billion oil-for-food
program
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U.S.
Warns Iran Over Missiles, Punishes Chinese Firms
The Bush administration expressed concern
on Tuesday about Iran's pursuit of longer-range ballistic
missiles and imposed sanctions on Chinese companies
it accused of helping Tehran in those efforts.The economic
sanctions -- which the Chinese government denounced
as unjustified -- were part of a broader campaign by
the Bush administration to keep Iran from obtaining
nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. Iran
denies its nuclear facilities are to be used to make
weapons
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Guest
Worker Plan in Doubt
Even as President Bush stresses his
commitment to reworking the nation's immigration laws,
some key supporters on the issue say it is so politically
divisive that they doubt he can achieve his goal, given
the administration's ambitious agenda.Some conservative
Republicans have denounced the plan as a form of amnesty,
and say it would encourage illegal immigration. But
Bush has said he would deal with the problem of illegal
immigrants in a humane way. And he has linked the plan
to national security -LA Times
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Secretary
of State Nominee Rice Faces Second Day of Confirmation
Hearings
In Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Wednesday is to hold a second day of confirmation
hearings for Secretary of State designate Condoleezza
Rice. Ms. Rice faced tough questions from Democrats
about the Bush administration's Iraq policy on Tuesday,
as correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill
-VOA
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Russia's
New Energy Monolith
Shortly before Christmas, the Russian
government held a tax auction to sell off shares in
the mammoth Yukos oil giant. Moscow claimed that the
corporation owed $28 billion in unpaid taxes. The company's
former owner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has been jailed
and faces trial on fraud and tax evasion charges. Some
observers contend that the jailing of Khodorkovsky —
often referred to as the "Russian Bill Gates" — and
the break-up of his company is official retaliation
against the politically ambitious young tycoon.
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U.N.
Chief Warns of ‘MegaDisaster’
The UN's disaster chief has outlined
a 10-year plan of investment to avert a natural disaster
that could be 100 times worse than the Asian tsunami.
Jan Egeland proposed diverting 10% of what is currently
spent on emergency relief to tackle disaster prevention.
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Palestinian
'Population Bomb' A Lie
A bombshell study to be presented in
Israel tomorrow proves the current Palestinian population
has been overstated by as much as 1.5 million, and debunks
the widely accepted notion that Palestinians threaten
Israel by demographic trends, one of the main foundations
for the U.S. and Israel's support of a Palestinian state
and for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal
plan, the leaders of the study told WorldNetDaily.
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Saddam
Henchman: Iran Funding Resistance
The man who led Saddam Hussein's "Army
of Muhammad" during 2004 has confessed that Iran is
the primary source of funding for his jihadists battling
U.S. forces in Iraq. Col. Muayed Al-Nasseri made the
comments on a taped interrogation that was broadcast
on an Iraqi television station operating from the United
Arab Emirates, Al-Fayhaa TV. The tape was translated
by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI-TV.
A video clip of the interrogation is available on MEMRI's
website.
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Man
Threatens to Blow Up Van Near White House
Police on Tuesday surrounded a van
one block from the White House after the driver threatened
to blow it up, but the FBI linked the incident to a
domestic dispute, not terrorism.
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