WASHINGTON (AP) — White House officials discussed the political ramifications of a possible default by a troubled solar energy company that received more than $500 million in federal loans.
That's according to newly released emails.
The emails show the Obama administration privately worried about the effect of a default by Solyndra Inc. on the president's re-election campaign.
One of the …
Homemade bombs killed three U.S. troops in southern and eastern Afghanistan on Friday, and a roadside bomb tore through a crowded market in the increasingly volatile north, killing three police and two civilians.
No other details about the attacks on the U.S. troops were given by NATO and the identities of those killed were not immediately released in keeping with standard procedure.
A total of 55 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan this month, including 35 Americans, according to a count by The Associated Press. July was the deadliest month for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, with 66 killed.
U.S. troops make up …
Ontario, Canada
The Ontario Biogas Systems Financial Assistance Program is a $9 million investment that will help farmers and rural businesses develop systems that produce clean energy from farm wastes. "Developing renewable energy in the agri-food and rural sectors is an important part of the government's climate change initiative," says Leona Dombrowsky, Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The program has two phases - Phase 1 funding will cover up to 70 percent of the eligible costs for a feasibility study to a maximum of $35,000; Phase 2 funding will cover up to 40 percent of eligible …
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday called his country's commitment to Afghanistan "firm and unshakable" and said members of NATO need to step up their commitment to help it continue to rebound from years of tyranny and war.
Problems in Afghanistan will be a key topic at the NATO summit early next month in Romania. NATO's force is about 43,000-strong, but commanders seek more combat troops for areas in southern Afghanistan where Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are the most active.
"America will ask our NATO allies for an even stronger commitment for the future," Cheney said, standing alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his …
A Turkish court on Friday charged 11 more military officers for allegedly plotting a 2003 coup against the Islamic-based government, increasing the number of officers jailed to 31 _ including seven admirals and four generals.
It is the largest-ever crackdown on Turkey's military, which has ousted four governments since 1960. The military has wielded strong influence on politics for decades but saw its powers dramatically curtailed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, which took steps to put the military under civilian rule.
"An impaired democracy is not the fate of this country," Erdogan told lawmakers at a televised meeting …
SUWANEE, Ga. What kind of country-and-western saga would JerryGlanville's life be if it didn't include a little pain, suffering andinjustice?
Glanville took a Houston Oilers team that was the dregs of theNFL and turned it into a wild bunch of hitters who won 28 games andwent to the playoffs the past three seasons. His reward was a ticketout of town after three ignominious losses at the end of last season,starting with a shocking 61-7 debacle in Cincinnati, where Bengalscoach Sam Wyche called Glanville a "phony" and labeled his team the"dumbest in the league."
Time for a little Hank Williams Jr., whose music comfortsGlanville when he feels down and out. But the …
LONDON (AP) — Can you be famous if no one knows your name? A new band of hackers is giving it its best shot, trumpeting its cyber-capers in an all-sirens-flashing publicity campaign.
Lulz Security has stolen mountains of personal data in a dozen different hacks, embarrassing law enforcement on both sides of the Atlantic while boasting about the stunts online.
The group, whose name draws on Internetspeak for "laughs," has about 270,000 followers on the messaging site Twitter. In an online interview via Skype with The Associated Press late Friday, one LulzSec member said the group's current hacking campaign was about attacking "the common oppressors" — which he identified as …
Federal authorities expect to file more charges in an alleged plot by an al-Qaida associate to attack New York City with homemade bombs, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Knox told a judge the charges would be contained in a new indictment against Najibullah Zazi, a Colorado airport van driver arrested earlier this year on charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.
"I think it's likely there will be additional charges," Knox said at a pretrial hearing in federal court in Brooklyn. "The investigation continues."
The prosecutor didn't specify the charges, or say whether the indictment …
ROSARIO, Argentina (AP) — Argentina, Germany and defending champion the Netherlands all won their third straight matches and took big steps Friday to reaching the semifinals of the women's field hockey World Cup.
Argentina defeated Spain 4-0 in a Pool B match led by two goals from Noel Barrionuevo.
In Pool A, Germany defeated India 4-1, with goals from Eileen Hoffmann, Maike Stockel, Alexandra Keller and Mandy Haase.
Also in Pool A, the Netherlands won 4-1 against Australia, backed by three goals from Maartje Paumen. Nicole Arrold scored for Australia.
Argentina leads Pool B with nine points, followed by England with seven and South Korea with four. In other Pool B …
A Roman Catholic bishop has been stabbed to death in southern Turkey, the state-run news agency reported.
Luigi Padovese, the pope's apostolic vicar in Anatolia, was attacked in his home in the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun, the Anatolia news agency reported. There was no immediate confirmation from the Vatican.
Private NTV television quoted police as saying the priest's driver is suspected in the killing, but it did not say if the driver had been arrested. The station said the priest died in a hospital.
The killing is the latest in a string of attacks in recent years on Christians in Turkey, where Christians make up less than 1 percent of the …
A counselor met with the five sons of Joan and John Bierdz onTuesday to assure them it's not their fault that domestic abusestalked their family.
That's what counselors tell all children who witness abuse in thehome.
"Everyone can always second-guess themselves but there's nothingthey could have done" to prevent the kind of violence that culminatedin Bierdz stabbing his wife to death and then being shot dead by apolice officer Sunday, Joan Bierdz's brother, Robert Waicekauskas,said Tuesday.
If children who witness abuse have healthy family support and goodrole models later, they are not doomed to re-enact the brutalitythey saw, say counselors and researchers …
Francois Matt Damon
Nelson Mandela Morgan Freeman
Tony Jason Tshabalala
Springbok coach Louis Minnaar
Francois' father Patrick Lyster
Mary Leleti Khumalo
Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by Anthony Peckham, based on the book by John Carlin. Running time: 134 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for brief strong language). Opening today at local theaters.
Morgan Freeman has been linked to one biopic of Nelson Mandela or another for at least 10 years. Strange that the only one to be made centers on the South African rugby team. The posters for Clint Eastwood's "Invictus" feature Matt Damon in the foreground, with Freeman looming behind him in shadowy nobility. I can imagine the marketing meetings during which it was lamented that few Americans care much about about Mandela and that Matt Damon appeals to a younger demographic.
Screw 'em, is what I would have contributed. The achievement of Nelson Mandela is one of the few shining moments in recent history. Here is a man who was released after 24 years of breaking rocks in prison and sleeping on the floor to assume leadership of the nation that jailed him. His personal forgiveness of white South Africa was the beacon that illuminated that nation's Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, one of the very few examples in history of people who really had much to forgive, and forgave it. Let us not forget that both black and white had reasons to grieve, and reasons to forgive, and that in many cases they were facing the actual murderers of their loved ones.
Compared to that, what really does it matter that an underdog Springbok team, all white with one exception, won the World Cup in rugby in the first year of Mandela's rule? I understand that in a nation where all the races are unusually obsessed by sport, the World Cup was an electrifying moment when the pariah state stood redeemed before the world -- even if soccer is the black man's game there, and rugby is the white's. It was important in the way the Beijing Olympics were important to China.
Clint Eastwood, I believe, understood all of these things and also sought to make a film he believed he could make, in an area where he felt a visceral connection. Eastwood is too old and too accomplished to have an interest in making a film only for money. He would have probably read the screenplays for the previous Mandela projects. They all had one thing in common: They didn't get made. It was universally agreed that Morgan Freeman was the right actor (Mandela and he met and got along famously), but the story, financing and deal never came together. Eastwood made the film that did get made.
It is a very good film. It has moments evoking great emotion, as when the black and white members of the presidential security detail (hard-line ANC activists and Afrikaner cops) agree with excruciating difficulty to serve together. And when Damon's character -- Francois Pienaar, as the team captain -- is shown the cell where Mandela was held for those long years on Robben Island. My wife, Chaz, and I were taken to the island early one morning by Ahmed Kathrada, one of Mandela's fellow prisoners, and yes, the movie shows his very cell, with the thin blankets on the floor. You regard that cell and you think, here a great man waited in faith for his rendezvous with history.
The World Cup was a famous victory. The Springboks faced a New Zealand team so dominant it had crushed every opponent -- Japan by around 90 points, which in rugby is a lot. South Africa won in overtime. About that team name: The South African national teams have been called the Springboks since time immemorial (New Zealand is known as the All Blacks). A springbok is on the tail of every South African Airlines airplane. It's the national logo. Would Mandela change the name to one less associated with the apartheid regime? He would not. Join me in a thought experiment. An African American is elected mayor of Boston. He is accepted, grudgingly in some circles. How would it go over if he changed the name of the Red Sox?
Freeman does a splendid job of evoking the man Nelson Mandela, who is as much a secular saint as Gandhi (who led his first campaign in Durban, South Africa). He shows him as genial, confident, calming -- over what was clearly a core of tempered steel. The focus is on his early time in office. I believe there may be one scene with a woman representing Winnie Mandela, but the dialogue is vague. Damon is effective at playing the captain, Francois Pienaar, an Afrikaner, child of racist parents, transformed by his contact with "the greatest man I've ever met." Clint Eastwood, a master director, orchestrates all of these notes and has us loving Mandela, proud of Francois and cheering for the plucky Springboks. A great entertainment. Not, as I said, the Mandela biopic I would have expected.
Color Photo: ... while Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) cheers them on in "Invictus." Color Photo: Francois (Matt Damon, center) leads his team to victory... Photo: Rugby champ Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon, center) plays with neighborhood children in "Invictus."
Investors digested more downbeat economic news Friday and cashed in some of their gains from the previous session's big rally. Hints from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that another interest rate cut might be possible appeared to have little effect on trading.
Some retrenchment was to be expected after such a big advance, in which the Dow Jones industrials rallied more than 550 points. But there was also plenty of discouraging news for investors to focus on, including comments from Bernanke that the markets remain under "severe strain" and a sobering report on October retail sales.
The Fed chief said during a speech in Frankfurt, Germany, that he would work closely with other central banks to try to alleviate the global financial crisis and left open the door to a fresh interest rate cut. The Fed is scheduled to meet Dec. 16 at its last regularly scheduled meeting this year.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales plunged by the largest amount on record in October as consumers cut back on spending in the wake of the financial crisis. Retail sales fell by 2.8 percent last month, surpassing the old mark of a 2.65 percent drop in November 2001 in the wake of the terrorist attacks that year.
The market got more disappointing consumer news from retailers Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and JCPenney Co. Both warned that profits will come in below Wall Street's already lowered projections as retailers head into a holiday shopping season that could be among the slowest on record.
The great fear on the Street is that Americans' reluctance to spend will extend what is already a serious economic downturn. A stream of negative consumer news sent stocks tumbling earlier in the week.
There was also disquieting news from the tech sector. Sun Microsystems Inc. said it will cut up to 6,000 workers, or about 18 percent of global staff, as part of a massive restructuring plan. And handset maker Nokia Corp. warned the global economic slowdown will weigh on sales next year.
In midmorning trading, the Dow shed 142.73, or 1.62 percent, to 8,692.52.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 18.96, or 2.08 percent, to 892.33, and the Nasdaq composite index stumbled 42.30, or 2.65 percent, to 1,554.40.
On Thursday, the Dow's surge was the third-largest single-session point gain on record, following the 889-point rise on Oct. 28 and the 936-point surge on Oct. 13. The rally came after three days of selling that wiped out about $1 trillion in shareholder value.
Wall Street's violent swings in recent weeks are part of the market's ongoing "bottoming" process, analysts say, in which the market retests multiyear lows hit last month. The market is expected to remain volatile for some time _ as evidenced by past recoveries from a bear market.
Some analysts said investors were positioning themselves ahead of a meeting of Group of 20 international leaders in Washington this weekend. The meeting could bring decisions on how to help the troubled global financial system.
Government bond prices rose as investors looked for safety. The three-month Treasury bill's yield fell to 0.15 percent from 0.20 percent late Thursday, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.75 percent from 3.85 percent late Thursday. Lower yields indicate higher demand.
Meanwhile, the price of a barrel of light, sweet crude fell 89 cents to $57.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil, which has dropped to the lowest levels since January 2007, has been falling for the same reason as stocks _ the fear of a deep global recession.
In corporate news, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. will be in focus as Senate Democrats pressed ahead with plans to vote next week on a $25 billion emergency loan plan. The bailout, which still faces strong GOP opposition, could come before Congress on Monday.
Citigroup Inc. is cutting at least 10,000 jobs in its investment bank and other areas globally, The Wall Street Journal said Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
HAMPTON, Ga. - A two-tire stop for Jimmie Johnson paid off with a victory Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, turning the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship into a virtual dead heat between the reigning champion and teammate Jeff Gordon.
Johnson and Gordon, who came into the Pep Boys Auto 500 separated by 53 points, both struggled during most of the race before winding up first and seventh, leaving four-time champion Gordon with a nine-point lead with three remaining.
With all the leaders concerned about running out of gas, rookie Johnny Sauter's blown tire brought out the 11th of a track record 12 caution flags on the 318th of a scheduled 325 laps on the 1.5-mile oval.
Denny Hamlin, who had been running sixth, was the only leader who stayed on track, taking the lead. The others pitted and Johnson jumped from fifth to second as crew chief Chad Knaus made a late decision to change only two tires.
The race restarted on lap 323, but Hamlin ran out of gas on the restart and cars began dodging everywhere to try to miss him and each other. Martin Truex Jr., who had one of the best cars all day, wound up slamming into the rear of Hamlin and the caution waved again.
That left Johnson, who barely dodged Hamlin's slow car, in the lead, with Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. right behind and set up a two-lap overtime.
The race resumed on lap 328 and, before the leaders got through the first turn, something snapped in the rear of Earnhardt's car, sending him spinning into the wall. He collected Jamie McMurray, who had been running fifth, and the race ended under yellow with Johnson picking up his eighth win of the season and second in a row.
"Today wasn't the best day for our car," said Johnson, who swept both Atlanta races this season. "Circumstances at the end really worked out for us. When I left pit road and there were five or six cars behind us, I knew the two tires had probably paid off."
Gordon, who saw his lead almost disappear, said the pressure is on even more heading into next Sunday's race at Texas.
"I feel like we've got the team and the equipment to do it, but those guys are tough and they're showing it every weekend. All I'm focusing right now is trying not to have the bad day and, for a while, it looked like today was going to be the bad day.
"We struggled there for a while and, to come back and finish seventh, it was a great day, even though Jimmie won."
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a woman to 38 months in prison for her role in selling the U.S. military counterfeit electronic circuits from China and Hong Kong.
The Justice Department said the case against Stephanie McCloskey of Clearwater, Fla., was the first federal prosecution involving trafficking of counterfeit integrated circuits.
The government said McCloskey, an administrator at VisionTech Components LLC, conspired with the company's late owner to advertise name-brand, trademark-protected integrated circuits and sell hundreds of thousands of them to the U.S. Navy, defense contractors and others. The Justice Department says that in a three-year span, McCloskey and others generated $15.8 million in receipts from the sales of the counterfeit circuits.
Integrated circuits control the flow of electricity in items ranging from consumer electronics to spacecraft and weapons systems.
NEW YORK - Carlos Delgado hammered the ball all over the field in his playoff debut. David Wright also delivered, and the pitching-depleted New York Mets looked like October regulars during their first postseason game since 2000.
Minus two top starters, the Mets capitalized on a wild baserunning blunder by Los Angeles and a perfectly respectable performance from emergency replacement John Maine in a 6-5 victory Wednesday over the Dodgers.
Billy Wagner closed Game 1 of this NL series for his first postseason save, fanning Nomar Garciaparra with a runner on second for the final out.
"A lot of guys have been waiting for this time in their life, and I think everybody stepped up today," said 34-year-old catcher Paul Lo Duca, another newcomer to the playoffs.
Playing in the first postseason game of his 14-year career, Delgado had four hits, a mammoth homer and the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning.
Wright drove in three runs, helping the Mets jump ahead in the best-of-five series.
"I was very excited," Delgado said. "I had butterflies in my stomach the first couple innings. I was saying, `Whoa, what is going on here?' But I was able to kind of control my emotions and just go out and play."
Game 2 is Thursday night, with rookie left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo on the mound for the wild-card Dodgers against 290-game winner Tom Glavine. Kuo pitched six shutout innings at Shea Stadium on Sept. 8 for his only major league win.
"We haven't quit all season long, especially these last couple months," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said. "We'll keep coming at you."
The Mets started a rookie of their own in the opener after Orlando Hernandez tore a muscle in his right calf while jogging in the outfield Tuesday. He is expected to miss the entire postseason.
Already without injured ace Pedro Martinez, New York scrambled Tuesday night to find a healthy, rested starter and picked Maine, an afterthought in the offseason trade that sent Kris Benson to Baltimore for reliever Jorge Julio.
The 25-year-old Maine went 6-5 with a 3.60 ERA for the NL East champions, who tied the crosstown Yankees for the best record in baseball at 97-65.
Yet he probably would have been left out of the playoff rotation altogether if Martinez hadn't gone down.
"My nerves I think were worse in the second inning than they were in the first," Maine said. "It wasn't too bad."
Lifted with a 2-1 lead in the fifth, Maine got a break on a bizarre play when the Dodgers had two runners cut down at home plate in the second.
With two on and none out, rookie Russell Martin hit an opposite-field drive off the base of the right-field wall. But Jeff Kent hesitated at second base, apparently thinking the ball might be caught, and got an extremely late jump.
That left J.D. Drew, who was on first, practically running up Kent's back as coach Rich Donnelly waved one - or both - around third. A quick, accurate relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Lo Duca nailed Kent, who attempted a headfirst dive into the plate.
"If I hold him, we've got two guys at third base," Donnelly said. "I was hoping they'd throw the ball away. I didn't really want to send Jeff. J.D. was right behind him, and I thought, one's going to be out and one's going to be safe."
Drew was left in no-man's land, trapped about halfway between third and home. Yet Lo Duca, who got spun around on the play at the plate, didn't realize that at first as he struggled to his feet.
With Lo Duca unaware for a moment, Drew tried to sneak his way in. But the catcher turned his head, suddenly noticed Drew bearing down on him and applied a second tag as Drew also tried a headfirst dive.
"We've been in L.A. all season long. We know about traffic jams. We certainly had one again right there," Little said. "That's a trick play we work on in spring training."
It was the kind of sequence you often see in a Hollywood movie, but rarely on a major league field.
"We got two for the price of one," Valentin said.
Marlon Anderson followed with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead, but that was all the Dodgers got after running themselves out of a potentially big inning.
Aaron Heilman worked a perfect eighth for New York, which plans to rely heavily on its deep bullpen all series. Wagner allowed an RBI double to pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez in the ninth before striking out Garciaparra.
"We needed this game, as far as momentum goes," Wright said. "We have a team full of igniters. When a couple of these guys get going, it rubs off."
With the score tied at 4, Little brought starter Brad Penny out of the bullpen in the seventh. Penny, bothered by a bad back and 3-10 lifetime against the Mets with a 6.16 ERA, walked two of his first three batters.
Delgado put the Mets ahead with an opposite-field single, then gave a huge fist pump after rounding first.
"I was pretty fired up," he said.
Delgado had played the most games of any active player without reaching the postseason. He also was No. 1 on the active home run list without a playoff appearance.
"It's nice to see him finally get an opportunity on this stage and come through," Randolph said.
Wright's bloop double made it 6-4.
The Dodgers tied it at 4-all with three runs in the seventh against reliever Guillermo Mota.
Anderson got the rally going with a bunt single, and a throwing error by second baseman Valentin helped Los Angeles. Rafael Furcal's RBI single made it 4-2, and Garciaparra's two-out, two-run double tied it.
Delgado's fourth-inning drive landed on top of an elevated camera stand behind the center-field fence and was estimated at 470 feet. Cliff Floyd, hobbled by a score Achilles' heel, added his first postseason homer later in the inning for a 2-1 Mets lead.
Wright hit a two-run double off starter Derek Lowe in the sixth to make it 4-1, and gave an enthusiastic fist pump of his own.
Notes:@ Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax watched the game from a box with Mets owner Fred Wilpon. The two were high school teammates growing up in Brooklyn.
Rescue workers pulled 12 bodies from out of the rubble of a 12-story building which collapsed the day before in Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, the city police chief said Tuesday.
Three people were rescued while 15 more are feared dead, Maj. Gen. Abdel-Meguid Selim told The Associated Press.
"We are in a race against time," he said. "We hope to get as many victims alive as possible," he added.
Rescue workers from Cairo and other nearby provinces with sniffing dogs were deployed to the site of the incident.
The government reported on Monday, the day of the event, that only three people had been killed.
The local government had previously ordered the building, located in the Loran suburb, to be demolished down or renovated as it was built without authorization, according to the state-run Middle East News Agency.
Selim however cautioned that it was too early to tell what caused the building to collapse. "We have to wait and see what the investigation reveals."
Buildings regularly collapse in Egypt, either as a result of deterioration with time or shoddy construction that fails to meet standards and regulations. Also, some owners tend to illegally add on more stories to buildings destabilizing the structure.
IN A RADICAL departure from its predecessor's practice, the Bush administration has been gung-ho about imposing proliferation sanctions, levying penalties against foreign companies and individuals 34 times in 2002 and 21 times so far this year.
The rate at which the Bush administration is imposing sanctions is three times greater than that of the Clinton administration, which averaged eight sanctions per year, according to June congressional testimony by Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton.
The change has less to do with changes in the underlying U.S. laws authorizing sanctions than a change in philosophy. Of the laws cited in the administration's sanctions announcements, with the notable exception of the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, most were also in effect during much of the Clinton administration's two terms.
Top Bush administration officials are confident that imposing sanctions can change the cost/benefit analysis of potential proliferators and deter future proliferation. The administration repeatedly warns that countries can do business with the United States or with rogue regimes and terrorists, but not both. But skeptics, including some former top Clinton administration officials, contend that, although the threat of sanctions can be a useful lever to try and change behavior, actually imposing sanctions can have limited utility and be merely symbolic.
The Bush Administration and Sanctions
The driving force behind the policy shift is Bolton, a former senior vice president of the conservative American Enterprise Institute who advocates an in-your-face approach to dealing with rogue regimes. The undersecretary has pushed the State Department to impose sanctions to the fullest extent and has discouraged using legal provisions that allow the president to waive sanctions out of concern for broader national security interests.
In the past, and still to some degree today, various U.S. government entities have been reluctant to impose sanctions because they are generally acknowledged to be a double-edged sword. The State Department, which puts a premium on fostering good relations with foreign governments, has concerns about imposing sanctions for fear of upsetting other capitals, while the intelligence community is cautious about potentially exposing U.S. sources and methods critical to tracking proliferation. Backed by U.S. businesses worried about losing trade opportunities, the Commerce Department has generally opposed sanctions.
The Bush administration is proud of its aggressive sanctions style. Bolton noted in June that "for the first time, the State Department is reviewing every known transfer to Iran" to identify items that could aid Tehran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction or missiles.
Since taking office, the Bush administration has imposed sanctions on a total of 32 foreign entities-a term for both companies and individuals. The United States has penalized 18 of those entities multiple times since January 2001. A North Korean firm, Changgwang Sinyong Corporation, ranks as the top sanctions recipient with seven, the latest publicly announced July 25.
Chinese entities appear most frequently on the sanctioned roster. Of the 32 entities, 19 are Chinese. Indian and Moldovan entities are the next most numerous at three apiece. Two Armenian, two Pakistani, one Iranian, one Jordanian, and the Changgwang Sinyong Corporation account for the others. No entities from Russia, which is frequently cited in U.S. intelligence reports as a proliferation source, have been publicly penalized.
U.S. proliferation sanctions generally prohibit the charged entity from signing contracts, receiving aid, or importing arms and dual-use goods from the U.S. government for two years. Sometimes, the penalties can be imposed for longer periods, such as the July 30 announcement that the China Precision Machinery Import/Export Corporation would be sanctioned indefinitely.
Washington may also authorize stiffer sanctions barring commercial imports and exports with the United States. Earlier this year, the United States slapped such sanctions on the Chinese firm China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO), which is expected to lose about $160 million annually while the sanctions are in force.
But NORINCO is an exception. Many of the sanctioned entities do not trade with the United States or receive U.S. assistance. For these reasons, sanction critics assert that sanctions are often ineffectual and provide more psychological satisfaction than practical results.
Bush administration officials disagree. They claim that, even though the United States might do little business with sanctioned entities, the aim is to shame governments to better regulate their trade and brand proliferators as bad actors to discourage any business with them and to serve as warnings to others. Moreover, the officials argue that there has to be some penalty for proliferation to show that the United States is serious about stopping it.
Although administration officials say their sanctions are starting to have an impact, they would not cite specific examples. A senior State Department official interviewed August 25 said that it would take some time before results become evident but also remarked that this administration's high number of sanctions point to the failure of its predecessor's approach. This administration is "trying to see what happens when you impose sanctions and leave them in place," the official stated.
The Clinton Approach
The Clinton administration preferred a more diplomatic approach. It often issued demarches-formal diplomatic notes-to notify foreign governments of activities by its entities that Washington wanted stopped. Sanctions were viewed as an option if demarches and diplomacy did not prove fruitful.
A current State Department official interviewed August 1 described the demarche approach as flawed because demarches reveal more information than sanctions announcements. Proliferators, according to the official, used demarches to better hide their dangerous dealings.
Noting that the intelligence community must approve all demarches, John Holum, Bolton's predecessor in the Clinton administration, defended demarches August 22. He explained that foreign governments would not know what behavior the United States wanted changed without some details. Holum further stated that the U.S. objective was to change future behavior, not merely to punish offenders.
Bush administration officials say they still use demarches but more selectively than before. Washington might send demarches, rather than immediately applying sanctions, to governments that Washington considers close allies or that have demonstrated histories of responding to or acting upon past demarches.
China Under Scrutiny
No one country better reflects the two administrations' contrasting styles than China. Between May 21, 1997, and the end of the Clinton administration, no new sanctions were imposed on Chinese entities.
During that period, the Clinton administration's China policy was often at the center of a political firestorm over the direction of U.S.-Chinese relations. The Clinton administration was trying to negotiate China's accession to the World Trade Organization against strong opposition from diverse quarters, including those who objected to Beijing's human rights record and others who saw China as a growing threat to U.S. security. This latter constituency was bolstered by high-profile charges of Chinese nuclear espionage and illegal U.S. business assistance to China's missile programs.
With regard to nonproliferation issues, Holum said the Clinton administration committed itself to improving the Chinese government's export controls through intensive talks rather than punishing Chinese entities with sanctions and risking a decline in Chinese cooperation. Although the United States did not sanction any Chinese entities, it did suspend the right of U.S. companies to launch satellites on Chinese rockets. The Clinton administration talks led to a November 2000 Chinese commitment not to export missiles or related technologies capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
The Bush administration has taken the opposite tack. Beginning June 26, 2001, it has sanctioned Chinese entities 37 times. Paula DeSurter, assistant secretary of state for verification and compliance, said July 24 that Chinese "entities are involved in too many sensitive transfers for the problem merely to be one of imperfect enforcement."
Robert Einhorn, former assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation in the Clinton administration, said in July that the current administration does not always explain to China why its entities are being sanctioned and what Beijing can do to avoid future penalties. "The frequent imposition of sanctions, moreover, has diluted their value as a means of influencing Chinese behavior," he added.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Liu Jieyi, a top Chinese arms control official, echoed Einhorn, claiming that Washington does not inform China what its entities are doing wrong. Liu speculated that Chinese firms are being punished for simply exporting to Iran.
Bush administration officials argue otherwise. They claim troublesome trade from China continues, despite Beijing's unveiling last year of new rules regulating missile and dual-use chemical and biological exports. "In dealing with the issue of China and nonproliferation, we have our work cut out for us," DeSutter said. -Wade Boese
Leahy tells Sotomayor he thinks she's effectively answering 'your critics and naysayers'
Property sellers would have to pay a whopping 15-fold increase inCook County's tax on real estate sales under a proposal County BoardPresident John Stroger plans to ram through next week.
The tax increase would cost the seller of a $100,000 home anextra $700.
Stroger said Friday he intends to seek quick approval of theincrease at Tuesday's County Board meeting so he can head offexpected state legislation that would make it more difficult toincrease the tax.County officials acknowledged they have no definite plans on howthey will use the additional $75 million to $90 million the taxincrease is projected to generate next year.The move is highly unusual because it comes just three weeksafter the county approved a $2.2 billion balanced budget that alreadyincludes $43 million in assorted tax increases.Effective Jan. 1, the county's real estate transfer tax wouldincrease to $7.50 per $1,000 of sales price from the current 50 centsper $1,000.Darcy Dougherty, chief executive officer of the ChicagoAssociation of Realtors, said that Stroger's preemptive gambit isunconscionable, and the size of the increase excessive."This is a big detriment to property ownership," Dougherty said,noting that it comes on top of the state's real estate transfer taxand individual transfer taxes levied by 49 municipalities in CookCounty. Chicago already charges real estate buyers a transfer fee of$7.50 per $1,000.Home sellers did not welcome the idea.Chick Hall of Northbrook, whose family will be selling theirhome next month and buying another in the village, was angered."I'm not happy," he said. "It's pretty outrageous that theywould do it without customary notification. People are making theirdecisions on whether to close in December or January without all thefacts," said Hall, a baker who has two teens living at home.County officials said they were left with no choice because ofthe expectation that the Legislature will require home rulegovernments, such as Cook County, to hold a referendum before theycould increase the transfer tax. That measure, sought by theIllinois Association of Realtors, was approved by the House last weekand is expected to clear the Senate when it returns for a two-daysession Jan. 6.Andrea Brands, a spokeswoman for Stroger, said he decided toincrease the tax "in preparation for 1998," when the county isexpected to have additional budget difficulties.By raising the transfer tax now, the county hopes to avoidincreasing its sales tax for 1998, an option that was expected to bestrongly considered, Brands said."The transfer tax was probably the most palatable and theeasiest to implement," she said. "It's not something anyone wantedto do."Brands said the county might reserve the money collected in thecoming year so that it will be available for the following year, orit might choose to pay off some short-term borrowing.Commissioner Richard Siebel, a Republican, said Stroger shouldimmediately reduce the county's property tax levy by an amount equalto the transfer tax revenue. Brands said some property tax abatementis possible.Another Republican commissioner, Carl Hansen, questioned thelegality of enacting a tax increase that would generate more revenuethan what the county said it needs for the current budget year.But Stroger announced that he has near-unanimous support amongDemocrats, who constitute a majority on the board.Mary Schaefer, communications director for the IllinoisAssociation of Realtors, said the planned Cook County increase is"symptomatic of the entire problem" with transfer taxes and how theyare enacted.Schaefer said the legislation would "allow taxpayers to have asay" in the imposition of a transfer tax."We have found that many buyers and sellers don't know of theexistence of these taxes until they go to buy or sell," she said.Gary Summers, a broker at ReMax Professional in Bolingbrook,said, "It's the same old crap. Government has become terriblyconfiscatory." However, he added, "I don't think people buy or sellbased on the fact that there is, or is not, a transfer tax."Summers noted that Bolingbrook's municipal transfer tax rate of$7.50 per $1,000 is among the highest in the state.In Barrington, which is divided between Lake and Cook counties,Mary Larson of ERA Bell & Snell real estate agreed with Summers."I don't think (an increase) will affect selling or buying.It'll just come as a shock at closing," she said.Contributing: Ernest Tucker
When Hiram Johnson championed an initiative system for California nearly a century ago, he sold it as a grassroots way to "arm the people to protect themselves."
California's 23rd governor foresaw citizen campaigns putting propositions on the ballot when the Legislature failed to address a pressing need.
But 97 years after Californians voted to allow themselves to put measures on the ballot, Johnson's experiment in direct democracy has changed dramatically.
He certainly could not have envisioned the multimillion-dollar campaigns for several measures on California's Nov. 4 ballot, some of which critics say will benefit their wealthy sponsors at the expense of California taxpayers.
Paid petition circulators, not armies of volunteers, typically gather initiative signatures these days. Corporations, wealthy individuals, labor unions, Indian tribes and other monied interests frequently spend millions to battle over the proposals.
The Center for Governmental Studies, a Los Angeles think tank, reported in May that there had not been a successful initiative signature-gathering drive conducted almost exclusively by volunteers in California since 1982.
This year, volunteers collected most of the signatures to put Proposition 2 on the ballot, said spokeswoman Robin Swanson. The measure, one of 12 statewide propositions on California's ballot, would set enclosure standards for farm animals.
Former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg, a Los Angeles Democrat who formed a commission in 2000 to consider ways to reform the initiative process, said the system has been undermined by big-money campaigns.
"The whole thinking behind the initiative was it comes from the people, not the few people that have a checkbook," he said.
To its critics, one proposition on the ballot this year could be the perfect example of the flawed initiative process.
Proposition 10 was placed on the ballot by oilman T. Boone Pickens, a Texas billionaire, whose natural gas company stands to gain financially if it's approved.
The proposal would set up a rebate program for alternative-fuel vehicles and authorize the state to borrow $5 billion to fund it _ at a time when the state is struggling with multibillion dollar budget deficits.
Half the money would be used to provide rebates of up to $50,000 to consumers who buy vehicles that run on natural gas and other non-petroleum fuels. Critics say that would mostly benefit companies that have large vehicle fleets, not average consumers.
There also would be $340 million to fund rebates for buying fuel-saving vehicles such as the Toyota Prius and money for research and development of alternative energy technologies.
"This is going to do a lot to help consumers in California who want to buy cars that run on something other than gasoline," said Marty Wilson, a consultant to the Yes-on-10 campaign. He also said Proposition 10 would help clean the air and reduce the state's dependence on foreign oil.
But opponents suggest the measure is mainly about promoting natural gas-powered vehicles and enriching one firm: Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a Seal Beach company started by Pickens.
Clean Energy, which bills itself as the "largest provider of natural gas for transportation in North America," has given more than 80 percent of the $22.5 million raised so far to pass the proposal. Two other natural gas companies have contributed most of the rest.
"This is the most naked money grab that I have ever seen in terms of using the ballot, using the voters to advance a business proposition," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California.
Proposition 10 isn't the only California ballot measure that's attracting million-dollar donations this year. Nearly half of the more than $175 million raised so far for November initiative campaigns has come from individuals, corporations or groups that gave at least $1 million.
Several studies over the years have recommended changes in the initiative system, but bills to alter it tend to die in committee or on the governor's desk.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation in 2006 that would have prohibited initiative campaigns from paying petition circulators on a per-signature basis, a step the bill's supporters said would remove an incentive for circulators to mislead potential signers.
Schwarzenegger also rejected a bill in 2005 that would have required initiative petitions to disclose if they were being circulated by volunteers or paid workers and to list the five biggest contributors to the initiative campaign.
Schwarzenegger said both measures would have made it harder to qualify initiatives, something he opposes.
The Center for Governmental Studies' report earlier this year recommended 17 changes, including giving initiative proponents up to a year to gather signatures, a step it said would aid volunteer campaigns. Currently, the limit is 150 days.
It also suggested trying to impose a $100,000 limit on donations to initiative campaigns, although that could run afoul of a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that shot down a $250 donation limit adopted by the city of Berkeley.
Having a lot of money won't guarantee approval, but sometimes the public sees only one side of an initiative debate _ "the side that has the money," said Robert Stern, the center's president.
"Bottom line, money talks," he said. "At some point, it really does corrupt the system."
Zimbabwe declared a national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health care system, and state media reported Thursday the government is seeking more international help to pay for food and drugs to combat the crisis.
The failure of the southern African nation's health care system is one of the most devastating effects of the country's overall economic collapse.
Facing the highest inflation in the world, Zimbabweans are struggling just to eat and find clean drinking water. The United Nations says cholera has killed more than 500 people across the country since August because of a lack of water treatment and broken sewage pipes.
Still, residents are getting little help from the government, which has been paralyzed since disputed March elections as President Robert Mugabe and the opposition wrangle over a power-sharing deal.
"Our central hospitals are literally not functioning," Minister of Health David Parirenyatwa said Wednesday at a meeting of government and international aid officials, according to The state-run Herald newspaper.
International aid agencies and donors must step up their response, Matthew Cochrane, regional spokesman for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
"This is about supporting the people of Zimbabwe," Cochrane said, adding that aid should include water treatment plants and more medical staff.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, long among Mugabe's sharpest critics, agreed that Zimbabwe was facing a national emergency and nations must step in to help.
"Mugabe's failed state is no longer willing or capable of protecting its people," Brown said in a statement Thursday. "The international community's differences with Mugabe will not prevent us doing so _ we are increasing our development aid, and calling on others to follow."
Britain has offered 3 million pounds ($4.4 million) and set aside a further 7 million ($10.25 million) in relief aid for Zimbabwe to provide medicine, fund basic health services and help prevent more cholera outbreaks.
The European Commission is providing more than $12 million for drugs and clean water and the International Red Cross shipped in more supplies Wednesday to fight the cholera outbreak.
The Herald said the government declared the state of emergency at Wednesday's meeting, and appealed for money to pay for food, drugs, hospital equipment and salaries for doctors and nurses.
Walter Mzembi, the deputy water minister, said his ministry has only enough chemicals to treat water nationally for 12 more weeks.
High levels of cholera are common in the region, but Cochrane said it was hitting a population already weakened by hunger and poverty. The death toll could be much higher than the official figures, he added, because many deaths in rural areas were not being recorded at medical facilities.
Increasing numbers of Zimbabweans are also seeking cholera treatment in neighboring South Africa.
Besides shortages of food and other basics, even cash is scarce.
A new 100 million Zimbabwean dollar note went into circulation Thursday in an attempt to ease the cash crunch, and the daily withdrawal limit was increased to ZW$100 million a week _ enough to buy just over 10 gallons (40 liters) of clean water.
The new bills and withdrawal limits sparked long lines at banks on Thursday.
| 9Braves 5, Padres 3 | |||
| SAN DIEGO @ ATLANTA @ | |||
| ab r h bi @ab r h bi | |||
| Giles rf 5 2 4 0 KJhnsn 2b 4 0 1 0 | |||
| Iguchi 2b 5 1 2 1 YEsbar ss 4 1 2 0 | |||
| AdGzlz 1b 5 0 1 2 CJones 3b 2 1 1 2 | |||
| Kzmnff 3b 4 0 1 0 Tixeira 1b 4 0 0 0 | |||
| Edmnd cf 4 0 0 0 McCan c 3 0 0 0 | |||
| Greene ss 4 0 0 0 Frncur rf 4 1 1 0 | |||
| McAnlt lf 4 0 1 0 Kotsay cf 4 2 2 2 | |||
| Bard c 3 0 1 0 GBlnco lf 4 0 1 1 | |||
| CYoung p 2 0 0 0 Jrrjens p 2 0 1 0 | |||
| JHuber ph 1 0 0 0 Norton ph 1 0 0 0 | |||
| KCmrn p 0 0 0 0 Ohman p 0 0 0 0 | |||
| Rusch p 0 0 0 0 Boyer p 0 0 0 0 | |||
| TClark ph 1 0 1 0 Acosta p 0 0 0 0 | |||
| Ring p 0 0 0 0 | |||
| JBnnett p 0 0 0 0 | |||
| Totals @ 38 3 11 3 Totals @32 5 9 5 | |||
| San Diego 100 000 200_3 | |||
| Atlanta 022 100 00x_5 | |||
| DP_San Diego 1. LOB_San Diego 10, Atlanta 6. 2B_Giles (8), AdGonzalez (7), Francoeur (12), GBlanco (4). 3B_Iguchi (1). HR_CJones (10), Kotsay (3). SB_YEscobar (2). | |||
| IP H R ER BB SO | |||
| San Diego @ | |||
| CYoung L,2-3 5 9 5 5 2 4 | |||
| KCameron 0 0 0 0 0 0 | |||
| Rusch 3 0 0 0 1 0 | |||
| Atlanta @ | |||
| Jurrjens W,4-2 6 7 1 1 1 8 | |||
| Ohman 1 2 2 2 0 1 | |||
| Boyer 1 0 0 0 0 2 | |||
| Acosta 1-3 2 0 0 0 0 | |||
| Ring 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 | |||
| JBennett S,1 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 | |||
| HBP_by Jurrjens (Kouzmanoff). Balk_CYoung. | |||
| Umpires_Home, Wally Bell | First, Brian Knight | Second, Paul Schrieber | Third, Laz Diaz. |
| T_2:42. A_21,657 (49,743). |
Padraig Harrington admits he would have found it impossible torecover if he had blown his chance of Open glory on an extraordinaryfinal day at Carnoustie.
Harrington led by a shot with one to play only to twice find theBarry Burn on the 72nd hole and run up a double bogey six.
That left Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia needing to par thesame hole to win, but the 27-year-old took a bogey five andHarrington won the subsequent four-hole play-off by a shot to claimhis first major title.
The 35-year-old Dubliner is only the second Irishman after FredDaly in 1947 to lift the Claret Jug.
"I never let myself think I had blown The Open," Harrington said.
"If I had lost I would have struggled to come back out and be aprofessional golfer.
"It meant that much to me.
"It would have been incredibly hard to take.
"If I'd lost I don't know what I'd think about playing golf again.
"But the 18th is the toughest finishing hole in golf.
"There's trouble everywhere you look. I knew it was going to betough for Sergio to make par. He did hit a lovely putt and I thoughthe had holed it."
Instead it caught the edge of the hole and stayed out, andHarrington made the most of his reprieve.
"It's going to take a long time for it to settle in. There was somuch going through my mind, some of it was genuine shock I had wonthe Open Championship," he added.
"It's going to mean a lot for Irish golf.
"We celebrate all our sporting achievements, we're a great countryfor anyone who does well. I'm very proud of the support I get athome.
"Far more people have more belief in me than I have in myself.
"It's important that I go and try to win another major rather thanfeeling this was the pinnacle."
"I'm going to celebrate but I've got other goals now to move onwith.
"I'm certainly going to enjoy this one for the future.
"Forever actually."
Harrington won the Irish PGA in a play-off last week and alsobecame the first home winner of the Irish Open in 25 years in a play-off in May.
