Zimbabwe has banned imports of poultry and ostrich after confirming an outbreak of avian influenza, veterinary officials said on Friday. The outbreak was detected during routine checks last month at two ostrich farms in the western Matabeleland province, said Dr Stuart Hargreaves, head of the Agriculture Ministry's veterinary services unit.
Tests confirmed the presence of the H5N2 strain, regarded as less dangerous than the H5N1 variety that has ravaged chicken farms across Asia and killed at least 71 people since 2003. Neighbouring South Africa suffered a similar outbreak last year, and led to the culling of 26 400 birds at 37 farms, but Hargreaves said no culling was needed in Zimbabwe.
As cautionary measures, the two farms were quarantined and exports were suspended on November 29. The ban comes at a time of economic crisis in Zimbabwe, blamed on drought and the often violent seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to black people.
Zimbabwe has an estimated 40 000 ostriches bred in captivity for exports of low-cholesterol meat and leather used in luxury clothing items, bags and vehicle interiors. Its poultry breeders mostly export live chicks and eggs to neighboring countries.
A trip to Durban for a group of Soweto children this week was meant to be the realisation of a dream, but instead it turned into a nightmare. The trip was sponsored by American actor and comedian Chris Tucker and the US National Basketball Association (NBA).
The children had been taken to Durban for a sea-and-sun holiday by the Ithuteng Trust, which assists young people by offering them life skills and education. The trust cares for about 1 000 children some of whom have been sexually molested, orphaned or affected by HIV/Aids. Most of them have never seen the sea before. The trust is run by Jackey Maarohanye, who has been honoured for her heroic fight against woman and child abuse. In June she accepted the equivalent of R7-million from American talkshow superstar Oprah Winfrey on behalf of the trust.
On Wednesday, four were nearly raped by a gang of boys and two were stabbed â and when they turned to the police for help, the officers allegedly beat and teargassed them, and one of the children was run over by a vehicle driven by a metro police officer. Maarohanye claimed she was assaulted when she tried to explain to a policeman that the boys wanted to rape her girls.
âI screamed at them and saw one boy stab one of my girls. There were police there and some security people in yellow uniform, but they did nothing, even after I asked the police to take the girl to hospital. My pupils ran after the suspects and managed to bring one back. In the meantime one of my boys carried the girl to Addington Hospital. By the time my students came back, the police had gathered with teargas and were spraying my pupils. The police had asked the children what they knew about handing over a suspect when they were just BaSothokazi (a derogatory term for Sotho people) from Egoli,â said Maarohanye. âThey started beating them and banging their heads against walls. I told them I was the principal and my students were trying to give them the suspect, but they ignored me. A police van ran over one of my boys and broke his leg, and they left him there,â she added. The pupils vomited for hours after the teargas attack and five were hospitalised.
After failing to get any assistance at the Point police station, Maarohanye contacted KZN Premier Sâbu Ndebeleâs office, where she was referred to the head of the Department of Community Safety and Liaison, Jasmine Bacus. Bacus, who is away on business in India, managed the situation from abroad.
The acting head of Durbanâs metro police, Titus Malaza, said: âOur head of department has requested the officers who were on duty to forward statements to the investigating officer at the Independent Complaints Directorate Once the ICD investigation is done, they will advise us on the findings and we will take the necessary steps.â
A case of assault has been opened against the girlsâ attacker and against the police officer who allegedly ran over 17-year-old Phineas Botsane. Phineas said he had been very excited about the Durban trip but now âI donât want to go back there againâ.
âThe police in Durban donât like us because we are from Johannesburg and speak Sesotho and not isiZulu. They wanted to let the suspect go because he is a local guy. The worst part was when they beat our âmotherâ, who we love,â he said.
Allegations of police brutality are being investigated by the KwaZulu Natal Department of Community Safety and Liaison and the ICD.
"I went to Durban and all I got was this blood-stained T-shirt..."
#1
The acting head of Durbanâs metro police, Titus Malaza, said: âOur head of department has requested the officers who were on duty to forward statements to the investigating officer at the Independent Complaints Directorate Once the ICD investigation is done, they will advise us on the findings and we will take the necessary steps.â
"And then we will round up twice the number of usual suspects."
#2
I toured South Africa in 1975. The occasional pass-law arrest that I witnessed, couldn't be compared to the rampant black-on-black violence that I saw and read about.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila is dealing with local authorities concerning the arrest of nearly 150 Chinese businessmen in a shopping mall, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The Philippines immigration officials arrested 102 Chinese businessmen on Wednesday afternoon and another 40 on Thursday, a local Chinese-language newspaper reported. Sources with the Foreign Ministry confirmed the report, saying negotiations are going on, but gave no further details.
Among the business people arrested on Wednesday, 49 are women and 53 men. The oldest is 86, who said he had just arrived in Manila on the previous day with valid documents and air ticket. A witness said about 30 immigration officials took part in the operation. Two young women were reportedly handcuffed and had some bruises on their bodies, and another young man was half stripped and did not wear shoes. The young man tried to escape but was captured. Another two claimed that they were just students of a local university and were detained when shopping in the mall.
The Philippine immigration authorities said that those detainees violated immigration regulations, which stipulate that foreigners are not allowed to carry out retailing business. The arrested Chinese were also accused of working with tourism visas. The immigration officials said they had received many complaints from Philippine businessmen, who said their Chinese counterparts were engaged in unfair competition.
#1
And to think, if the US government actually arrested foreigners for working without a visa, what a stink it would raise. Imagine, a country actually enforcing its own laws.
#2
As with everything in Asia there is more to this story. The chinese are generally good at bribes and payoffs while the Phils take them wiithout a blush. I wonder what happened and what the real reason for the raid is. There is a giant mall in China town there that sells gold and other jewels.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/17/2005 10:44 Comments ||
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A former computer programmer was fined 500,000 yen Friday for posting a fabricated news article with a false Kyodo News credit on a pseudo Yahoo Japan News website, which said Chinese warplanes had invaded Japanese airspace over Okinawa.
The Tokyo Summary Court issued a summary order to Takahiro Yamamoto, 30, who lives in the city of Nagasaki, to pay the fine after prosecutors filed a summary indictment against him earlier in the day for violating the Copyright Law. He immediately paid the fine, according to investigative sources.
PRIME Minister John Howard has made a passionate defence of religion at Christmas and urged shopping centres to restore nativity scenes.
He said he had contempt for arguments that Christianity should be downplayed in case it offended people of other faiths or non-believers. Mr Howard said it was not tolerant to "bland out" religious symbols of Christmas.
"You don't demonstrate tolerance towards minorities by apologising for your heritage," he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"I hope some department stores have the courage to bring back nativity scenes.
"When I was a kid you'd go in and see the Christmas tree and Santa Claus, but there'd also be nativity scenes in department stores.
"They seem to have disappeared and you hear, 'Oh, we don't want to offend anybody'."
"Actually you're offending a lot of people who think it's a great pity they've disappeared. Even if they're not especially religious themselves, they like the association.
"It's part of the culture and the history and the nature of this country."
He did not believe most Muslims and Jews resented the emphasis on Christmas.
"They respect the fact that it's a Christian day. You don't win tolerant brownie points by pretending to be something you're not," he said before Sydney's recent race riots.
"I just think it's silly and it's patronising towards minorities and it's offensive to our cultural history."
Melbourne's Christmas decorations were boosted after criticism of last year's low-key approach last year.
wtoWorld Trade Organisation members were on Friday making an eleventh hour effort to rescue the Doha trade round, as the European Union faced near-total isolation in the 149-member body over its refusal to agree to a date for ending agricultural export subsidies.
In an attempt to avert the threat of breakdown at this weekâs six-day ministerial meeting, which ends on Sunday, Pascal Lamy, WTO director-general, called an all-night negotiating session aimed at hammering out a draft declaration that would narrow wide rifts between governments.
Mr Lamy acted after about 90 poor nations, many normally loyal to the EU, joined the Group of 20 developing-country agriculture exporters, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to demand that the six-day meeting set 2010 as the deadline for ending export subsidies. The US, although not part of the informal coalition, also backs the demand.
However, the EU refused to budge. It insisted it would agree to a deadline only if the US pledged to reform its export credits and food aid programmes, and Australia, Canada and New Zealand agreed to dismantle agricultural state trading monopolies. Brussels says the schemes distort trade by subsidising exports.
Peter Mandelson, trade commissioner, accused the EUâs opponents of losing sight of the Doha roundâs strategic objectives by concentrating on agriculture at the expense of other issues, such as liberalisation of goods and services.
âThere is no reconciliation yet and no clear basis for negotiation. Between the lines, the emerging direction of the meeting is very worrying,â he said. âIn the main trade areas of discussion, the level of ambition is going backwards.â
Other ministers accused the EU of intransigence and challenged it to produce evidence that food aid and trading monopolies distorted trade. Mark Vaile, Australiaâs trade minister, said the EUâs offer to reduce farm tariffs was also unacceptably low.
The EUâs 25 members backed Mr Mandelsonâs tough stand, after what participants said were tense discussions. Southern European governments, led by France, were said to favour a continued hard line, while Britain and the Nordic countries were anxious not rule out eventual options for compromise.
#1
Since agricultural subsidies are near and dear to the French govt heart (now there is an oxy-moroon for ya), they will not back down on the subsidies without a fight. Popcorn, anyone?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/17/2005 11:05 Comments ||
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#2
Mr Lamy acted after about 90 poor nations, many normally loyal to the EU, joined the Group of 20 developing-country agriculture exporters, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to demand that the six-day meeting set 2010 as the deadline for ending export subsidies. The US, although not part of the informal coalition, also backs the demand.
#3
"... only if the US pledged to reform its export credits and food aid programmes."
This seems to say that the EU will only buy food from the poor if the US lets Pakistani earthquake victims starve. I would consider that point of view to be morally confused.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/17/2005 12:46 Comments ||
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French authorities deliberately suppressed information about the spread of radioactive fallout from the May 1986 Chernobyl disaster over France, according to details of an experts' report leaked Thursday.
Two independent physicists say in the report that the state-run Central Service for Protection against Radioactive Rays (SCPRI) knew of high levels of contamination in Corsica and southeastern France but kept the details under wraps.
The study was commissioned by magistrate Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy, who since 2001 has been examining allegations that the atomic cloud from Chernobyl caused a surge in cases of thyroid cancer in parts of France.
This week Bertella-Geffroy handed over the report -- originally completed in March -- to civil plaintiffs in the case, who passed details to AFP.
"Now we have proof that there was a breakdown in the system. So now the judicial case will succeed -- I can't see how it can do otherwise," said Chantal Hoir, president of the French Association of Victims of Thyroid Cancer.
The report states that the SCPRI issued imprecise maps that concealed the high levels of fallout in certain areas, according to sources who saw the document. It also states that with full information health authorities could have taken targeted steps to reduce the exposure of vulnerable people such as children and pregnant mothers.
It was the first time an independent study gave substance to long-standing accusations from anti-nuclear groups that the French government deliberately played down the risk posed by the nuclear cloud.
"There was a veritable campaign of lies instigated by the state in order to protect the image of the French nuclear industry," said the campaigning organisation Sortir du Nucleaire (Get Out of Nuclear Power), welcoming details of the report. "As in other European countries, people should have been told not to eat fresh vegetables and milk products, which absorb most radioactivity, or to let their children play in sand-pits and so on," it said.
Earlier this year anti-nuclear campaigners demanded that SCPRI's director at the time of the disaster, Pierre Pellerin, be placed under judicial investigation in the case.
However scientific opinion remains deeply divided, with several renowned physicists sending an open letter to President Jacques Chirac in June commending Pellerin for not giving way to panic in his handling of the crisis.
In April, France's high court of appeal confirmed a conviction for libel against leading Green party deputy Noël MamÚre, who wrongfully accused Pellerin of claiming that the Chernobyl nuclear cloud stopped at the French border. Doctors also question the supposed link between Chernobyl and the rise in thyroid cancer, a trend which began in the mid-1970s.
2 issues here: the govt suppressing info and the irrational panic
RUSSIAâS ORTHODOX Church has backed the Vaticanâs position on homosexuals in seminaries, and accused Protestant denominations of âsuccumbing to secular valuesâ over the issue.
âHomosexuality was called a sin in Holy Scripture â thereâs no possibility of any other interpretation,â said Fr Igor Vyzhanov, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchateâs Commission for Inter-Christian Dialogue. âThere are certain differences in how we handle candidates for priesthood, since celibacy is obligatory for Catholics whereas Orthodox can marry if they donât aspire to hierarchical posts. But thereâs total agreement between both Churches as concerns candidatesâ homosexual tendencies.â
The priest was speaking a fortnight after an instruction by the Vaticanâs Congregation for Catholic Education reaffirmed the Catholic Churchâs âprofound respectâ for homosexuals, but said Catholic seminaries should not admit students for ordination who âpractise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called âgay cultureââ.
He told Russiaâs Interfax newsagency Orthodox leaders were âastonishedâ at attempts by Protestant communities âto revise Biblical teachingsâ, believing it reflected their âdependence on influence from secular currents devoid of all moral foundationsâ.
âHomosexuals should be viewed as people suffering from a serious illness,â said Fr Vyzhanov, who handles the Russian Churchâs ties with Catholics. âIf laypeople are forbidden to engage in homosexual acts, so much more should priesthood candidates and Church people seek not political correctness, but a firm foundation for their faith in life.â
The comments came as another Russian Orthodox leader repeated his call for a âCatholic-Orthodox Allianceâ to negotiate with European institutions and other faiths on behalf of âtraditional Christianityâ.
âThe main themes would be social, ethical and bioethical questions and family policy,â Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, the Churchâs representative to the European Union, told an inter-Church conference in Vienna. âBut the group could also work out a code of behaviour for Catholics in predominantly Orthodox countries and for Orthodox in Catholic countries. In this way, it could contribute to overcoming the problem of proselytism.â
Catholic-Orthodox ties have long been tense in Russia and Eastern Europe over Orthodox complaints of Catholic proselytism, as well as over the revival of Greek or Eastern Catholic churches, who combine the eastern liturgy with loyalty to Rome and are known pejoratively as âUniatesâ by Orthodox leaders.
An International Commission for Catholic-Orthodox Theological Dialogue met again this week in Rome, five years after breaking down over the issue of âUniatismâ at its last session in Baltimore, in the United States.
Bishop Hilarion said he believed Catholic Bishopsâ Conferences should âunite their effortsâ with Orthodox Churches to stem Europeâs ârapid de-Christianisationâ and prevent the continent from losing its âcenturies-old Christian identityâ.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Big defeat for Blair and Brown, though they will probably spin their way out of it. By the time it starts biting in Britain they will be out of power.
Jack Anderson, the crusading journalist who tackled powerful figures like J. Edgar Hoover and won a Pulitzer prize for his reporting on the Nixon administration, died on Saturday at age 83. "Punchin' Chunks" is old slang referring to shoveling coal in the boiler room. If you get my drift.
Bush Administration looking at India-specific legislation for exemption, the first such for a particular country
With India working on an outline of its plan to separate civilian and military nuclear facilities ahead of the JWG meeting next week in Washington, the Bush Administration has indicated it favours an India-specific legislation making a one-time exemption as the best way to take the nuclear deal forward.
In case it goes through, it will be the first time that US would make a positive exception in nuclear matters for a particular country. Such an exemption would have to be approved by both chambers of the US Congress.
The progress on this front, however, will depend on New Delhiâs preparation in planning the separation of its civilian and military nuclear facilities. For this, the outline of the roadmap for separation is critical to this round of negotiations if India wants to sign a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement when US President George Bush visits New Delhi sometime in February-end or early March.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who leaves on December 20 for the JWG meeting with US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, will be accompanied by two experts from the Atomic Energy Commission.
India will make it clear to the US that it cannot be expected to adopt comprehensive safeguards like what applies to non-nuclear weapon states. Sources pointed out that the deal with the US is not about Indiaâs strategic weapons programme but on furthering civilian nuclear cooperation.
So, the parameters that India hopes to reach an understanding on are:
⢠India will adopt safeguards to the extent it assures no diversion of what is imported for its civilian nuclear programme to military programme
⢠No future programmes that are still taking shape can be brought under safeguards now
⢠India canât sign safeguards deal applying to non-nuclear weapons states.
Despite the roadblocks that still have to be cleared, the hope is that New Delhi will be able to present a credible plan which will help the Bush Administration build the case that the agreement with India will further non-proliferation objectives.
Given where India stood in 1998 when the UNSC Resolution following Pokhran II asked member states to prevent supply of equipment, material and technology in the nuclear field, there is now reversal and India is keen on not losing the momentum by delaying matters. Besides this, the two sides will review plans for Bushâs visit including the satellite launch agreement that will allow India to launch American satellites. A draft on the technical elements of the agreement has already been passed to India while a draft of the commercial aspects is still awaited.
Ideas will be exchanged on new areas that can explored during Bushâs visit besides examining ways to carry forward what had been agreed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singhâs visit in July.
Posted by: john ||
12/17/2005 18:50 ||
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LAHORE: A Pakistan International Airlines plane mistakenly landed at Pakistan Air Force’s Faisal base in Karachi on Friday, reported Geo news channel. Oopsie! The plane was later rerouted to Jinnah international terminal, added the channel. A PIA spokesperson told BBC Urdu that the Boeing 737 had been purchased on a lease and a Turkish pilot was flying the plane. The spokesperson said the PIA plane came from Dubai and it safely landed at PAF Faisal base around 12:45pm, reported BBC quoting Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) administration as saying that the plane landed at the air force base by mistake. PIA administration said the plane crew had been suspended and an investigation was underway to ascertain the cause of the incident. Let me guess, they weren't keeping track of where they were. No GPS?
#2
Someone pointed out that several ISI protected members of the Indian mafia live and travel between the UAE and Pakistan.
The terrorist / mafia don Dawood Ibrahim had complete freedom to move - anytime India located him and asked the UAE to detain him, Pak pressure forced the UAE to back off.
Post 9-11, the UAE cannot play this game any longer. It can tell India where to get off but not the USA.
All airports in Pakistan have US agents and equipment (linked to databases in the US) monitoring the passengers so travel from the UAE is now very dangerous.
The diversion to the PAF airbase may have been to let someone very important off, unseen by the US.
Posted by: john ||
12/17/2005 19:01 Comments ||
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The 140 US Sailors of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74 Friday returned to their homeport in Gulfport, Mississippi, after completing their relief operation in the destroyed capital of Pakistan-administrated Kashmir. NMCB 74 is returning after successfully completing their seven-week humanitarian mission in Pakistan. They are being replaced by NMCB 4, a contingent of 40 Seabees from Port Hueneme, California.
At the request of the Pakistani government, NMCB 74 deployed on October 27, 2005, to provide additional engineering and construction capability in the city of Muzaffarabad. During the past seven weeks, they have assisted in reconstruction projects around the city to include removing more than 32,539 cubic yards of debris equal to 1,627 dump truck loads from seven school sites. Additionally, the Seabees built community centers, housing shelters, field kitchens, sanitation facilities, four new school structures and assisted the Pakistan Military and local homeowners in rebuilding 40 shelters.
#2
Not to be snarky, they're builders, just what's needed in Gulfport area right now.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/17/2005 8:23 Comments ||
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#3
where's that dry ironic Spemble humor? I'd rather the Seabees do their fine work at home in Gulfport, TYVM
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/17/2005 10:58 Comments ||
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#4
There goes Justin Raimondo's sailor fantasy, right down the drain. Just when he thought he could hitch a ride to Paki-wacie-land, the Seabees pull up stakes.
Don't worry though, he's got a new product line out just in time for the Holidays:
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Zimbabwe has banned imports of poultry and ostrich after confirming an outbreak of avian influenza, veterinary officials said on Friday. The outbreak was detected during routine checks last month at two ostrich farms in the western Matabeleland province, said Dr Stuart Hargreaves, head of the Agriculture Ministry's veterinary services unit.
A trip to Durban for a group of Soweto children this week was meant to be the realisation of a dream, but instead it turned into a nightmare. The trip was sponsored by American actor and comedian Chris Tucker and the US National Basketball Association (NBA).
A former computer programmer was fined 500,000 yen Friday for posting a fabricated news article with a false Kyodo News credit on a pseudo Yahoo Japan News website, which said Chinese warplanes had invaded Japanese airspace over Okinawa.
RUSSIAâS ORTHODOX Church has backed the Vaticanâs position on homosexuals in seminaries, and accused Protestant denominations of âsuccumbing to secular valuesâ over the issue. 
The 140 US Sailors of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74 Friday returned to their homeport in Gulfport, Mississippi, after completing their relief operation in the destroyed capital of Pakistan-administrated Kashmir. NMCB 74 is returning after successfully completing their seven-week humanitarian mission in Pakistan. They are being replaced by NMCB 4, a contingent of 40 Seabees from Port Hueneme, California.
