http://www.kentucky.com/267/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com World 60 Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:14:03 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614938.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614938.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:22 EST
More than 80 firefighters and 10 fire engines rushed to put out the fire at the dormitory building of Jiayuan Michael Food Co., Ltd., in the coastal city of Qingdao, said Jiang Yonglian, a spokesman for the Qingdao city government office.

"We suspect it may involve electric appliances used to keep warm during cold weather. I do not have any more details about this," Jiang said in a telephone interview.

It was unclear how many workers were in the building when the fire occurred. Jiang said the injured were being treated at a local hospital.

A report by Xinhua News Agency said Jiayuan Michael Food Co. is a China-U.S. joint venture established in 1998 that produces frozen fish. Calls to the company rang unanswered Thursday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614887.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614887.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:52 EST
That delay may help to explain why it took three days for India's security forces to overpower 10 assailants who police say killed at least 188 people and wounded more than 280.

Indecision by politicians and the delay in launching the commando force, however, don't fully account for the extent of the slaughter, which now threatens to escalate into conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, where the attacks are thought to have been planned.

"This was not the fault of any one organ of the security apparatus, but a systemic failure," said Arun Bhagat, a former chief of India's Intelligence Bureau, India's main domestic intelligence agency.

Indian officials ignored advance intelligence warnings. Police officers ran away from scenes of carnage because they lacked weapons, and their bulletproof vests were said to be defective. The Indian coast guard doesn't have night vision equipment, much less the more advanced human detection gear used by China, Japan and other countries.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614830.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614830.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:12 EST
Evidence collected in the investigation of the deadly siege points to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Yusuf Muzammil, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the details.

Lakhvi and Muzammil are believed to be top members of the outlawed Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India blames in the attacks. Muzammil is the group's chief of operations in Kashmir and other parts of India and Lakhvi its chief of operations, authorities said. The two suspects are believed to be in Pakistan, the Indian intelligence official said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Pakistan on Thursday for meetings with civilian and military leaders after visiting Indian leaders in New Delhi. She aimed to raise pressure on Pakistan's government to help get to the bottom of the terror attacks.

The U.S. wants Pakistan to do more to go after terror cells rooted in Pakistan. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen was pushing the same message in Pakistan on Wednesday, and also was to meet with officials in India during his trip.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614726.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614726.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:37 EST
While Rice was in New Delhi, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Islamabad urging Pakistani civilian and military leaders to cooperate fully in the investigation into the attacks and intensify their operations against Islamic extremist groups. He's expected to fly to New Delhi while Rice goes to Islamabad.

Indian officials have suggested that they're contemplating striking the Islamist group in Pakistan suspected of mounting the Mumbai attacks. The Bush administration is fearful that military escalation would compel Pakistan to halt its operations against al-Qaida and allied Islamic militants along its border with Afghanistan and rush its troops to its eastern border with India.

"Any response needs to be judged by its effectiveness in prevention and also by not creating other unintended consequences or difficulties," Rice said at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

However, Mukherjee warned that his government, which is facing charges of botching the response to the attacks after receiving advanced warning from the U.S., "is determined to act decisively."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614723.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614723.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:47 EST
Harper, speaking in a televised address, vowed to use "every legal means" to stop the legislative move to unseat his minority Conservative government next week and replace it with an opposition-led coalition.

The embattled Conservative leader was responding to three parties that have united against his handling of the economy, saying he has failed to deal with the global meltdown.

A cabinet minister has suggested that Harper would ask Governor General Michaelle Jean to suspend Parliament until next month - giving him needed time to develop a stimulus package.

Harper said later that he will visit the governor general Thursday to discuss the political crisis, but his statement didn't elaborate.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614697.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614697.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:57 EST
The quake hit Thursday morning off the coast of Miyagi, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Tokyo, the agency said. It struck at a depth of about six miles (10 kilometers).

The agency said there was no danger of a tsunami from the earthquake.

Masakazu Murakami, an official in charge of disaster management in Miyagi, said the quake caused no damage to utilities such as water, electricity, gas and telephone lines.

"I was in the office when the quake hit this morning. But I did not feel any tremors," Murakami said.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614698.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614698.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:07 EST
The letter, an effort led by former prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik of Norway, said Ban should make good on the Security Council's call in October 2007 for Myanmar's government to release the prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

A return trip "would illustrate for the world whether or not the Burmese military regime is serious about making changes called for by the United Nations Security Council and your good offices," the letter said.

Ban traveled to Myanmar, also known as Burma, last May after Cyclone Nargis devastated coastal areas. Setting aside political considerations, he persuaded the junta's top leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, to ease access for foreign aid workers and relief supplies.

Ban received the letter and spoke with Bondevik on Wednesday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614654.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614654.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:42 EST
But even fatherhood appears to be eluding the Galapagos tortoise, estimated to be between 75 and 80 years old and believed to be the last living member of the Geochelone abigdoni species.

Galapagos National Park officials announced Wednesday that eight eggs laid by the giant tortoise's two female companions are infertile.

The disappointing news came 130 days after conservationists placed the eggs in an artificial incubator - the first time any of George's mates had produced eggs after 36 years of attempts by park rangers.

The most recent prospective mothers have accompanied George in captivity since 1993 but did not begin mating with him until late 2006. They belong to the Geochelone becki species of giant tortoise, believed to be the closest existing phenotype to that of Lonesome George. Between them, the females laid 13 eggs on Santa Cruz island in July.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614594.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614594.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:42 EST
But he'll have to piece the notes back together if he wants to make any money from the find.

Graham Hill found an estimated 10,000 pounds in 10 and 20 pound notes inside a wastebasket in Lincoln's town center. But the notes appear to have been sliced into small pieces using scissors.

Detective Constable Nick Cobb said Wednesday that an extensive investigation hadn't turned up any evidence the money was stolen and that Hill was free to claim his find.

Britain's central bank says Hill might be able to turn his chopped-up currency into cash if he can put the bills back together again.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614585.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614585.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:52 EST
Yemen's Interior Ministry has not released any details on what caused the accident, but says strong winds pushed the bodies on to beaches Tuesday and Wednesday near the town of al-Qasha'a. It says 184 more Somalis involved in the accident managed to swim ashore.

Hundreds of Africans die every year trying to reach Yemen, with many drowning or being attacked by pirates in the dangerous waters separating Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/613724.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/613724.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:41 EST
NAIROBI, Kenya . The luxury American cruise ship steaming across the Gulf of Aden with hundreds of well-heeled tourists just might have been too much for Somali pirates to resist.

But the six bandits, riding in two skiffs and firing rifle shots at the gleaming ship, were outrun in minutes when the captain of M/S Nautica gunned the engine and sped away, a spokesman for the company said Tuesday.

Still, the implications had the pirates hijacked the ship added a new dimension to the piracy scourge, as NATO foreign ministers groped for solutions at a meeting in Brussels and the United Nations extended an international piracy-fighting mandate for another year.

The potential for huge ransom payments from the families of hundreds of rich tourists could encourage similar attempts, especially after the successful capture of a Ukrainian cargo ship laden with tanks and a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million in crude. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/613714.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/613714.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:41 EST
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan . India demanded Tuesday that Islamabad hand over 20 fugitives it says have taken refuge in Pakistan, in an escalation of the confrontation between the two countries in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Those sought for terrorist acts include India's most wanted man, Mumbai underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Also on the list is Masood Azhar, leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, one of the most violent Islamic militant groups in Pakistan. India said that the list would test Pakistan's pledge of co-operation that followed the attacks.

The list of people sought by India is understood to also include Tiger Memon, Ibrahim's right-hand man, and Yusuf Muzammil, a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group that Indian authorities say carried out the assault on Mumbai. Some reports name Muzammil as the mastermind of the attack.

However, the list went well beyond those sought in connection with the Mumbai attack, and some Pakistan analysts charged that India is taking advantage of the crisis to press unrelated grievances. India produced mostly the same names for extradition by India in 2002 after a similar crisis between the two countries erupted. Pakistan handed over no one at the time. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/613713.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/613713.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:41 EST
MUMBAI, India . The gunmen who attacked Mumbai set out by boat from the Pakistani port of Karachi, then hijacked an Indian fishing trawler that carried them toward this financial capital on their suicide mission, a top police official said Tuesday.

As evidence of the militants' links to Pakistan mounted, Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Ghafoor said ex-Pakistani army officers trained the group . some for up to 18 months . and denied reports that the men had been planning to escape the city.

"It appears that it was a suicide attack," Ghafoor said, providing no other details about when the gunmen left Karachi, or when they hijacked the trawler.

The revelations came as a senior U.S. official said India received a warning from the United States that militants were plotting a waterborne assault on Mumbai. The Bush administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of intelligence information, would not elaborate on the timing or details of the U.S. warning. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/612540.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/612540.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:34 EST
MUMBAI, India . India demanded Monday that Pakistan take "strong action" against those behind the deadly Mumbai attacks, and Washington pressured Islamabad to cooperate with the investigation.

The only known surviving attacker told police that his group had trained for months in camps operated by a banned Pakistani militant group, learning close-combat techniques, explosives training and other tactics for its three-day siege.

Soldiers removed the remaining bodies from the shattered Taj Mahal hotel, where the standoff finally ended Saturday morning, with at least 172 people dead and 239 wounded, although the number of casualties has fluctuated. The army had already cleared other siege sites, including the five-star Oberoi hotel and the Mumbai headquarters of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group.

India's financial hub returned to normal Monday to some degree, with parents dropping their children off at school and shopkeepers opening for the first time since the attacks, which Indian authorities blamed on the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/612538.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/612538.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:34 EST http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/611454.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/611454.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:42 EST
LONDON . As World AIDS Day is marked on Monday, some experts are growing more outspoken in complaining that AIDS is eating up funding at the expense of more pressing health needs.

They argue that the world has entered a post-AIDS era in which the disease's spread has largely been curbed in much of the world, Africa excepted.

"AIDS is a terrible humanitarian tragedy, but it's just one of many terrible humanitarian tragedies," said Jeremy Shiffman, who studies health spending at Syracuse University.

Roger England of Health Systems Workshop, a think tank based in the Caribbean island of Grenada, goes further. He argues that UNAIDS, the U.N. agency leading the fight against the disease, has outlived its purpose and should be disbanded. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/611437.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/611437.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:42 EST
MUMBAI, India . India's top law enforcement official resigned Sunday, bowing to growing criticism that the attackers in a 60-hour terrorist siege of Mumbai appeared better trained, better coordinated and better armed than police.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as authorities were removing bodies from the bullet and grenade scarred Taj Mahal hotel. The official death toll from the attack, which ended Saturday, dropped to 174 from 195, but the number has been fluctuating.

As more details of the response to the attack emerged, a picture formed of woefully unprepared security forces.

In the first wave of the attacks, two young gunmen armed with assault rifles blithely ignored more than 60 police officers patrolling the city's main train station and sprayed bullets into the crowd. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/611430.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/611430.html Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:42 EST
ISLAMABAD . Pakistan has warned that it will divert troops fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida on its western border with Afghanistan to its eastern frontier with India, as tensions over the terror attacks in Mumbai push India and Pakistan toward military confrontation.

Washington may be forced to mediate as Indian officials declared that their country was being put on a virtual war footing. President George W. Bush on Sunday dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to New Delhi, where she will arrive Wednesday after other meetings.

Indian officials have squarely blamed Pakistan while its media have reported detailed but unconfirmed accounts from unnamed security officials that last week's assault on the commercial capital Mumbai was planned and launched from Pakistan.

The only gunman captured after the attacks said he belonged to a Pakistani militant group with links to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a senior police officer said Sunday. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/610742.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/610742.html Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:55 EST
CAIRO, Egypt . OPEC held off announcing new oil output cuts Saturday, but its alarm over falling demand and a slumping economy potentially laid the groundwork for a big reduction when it meets again in a few weeks.

Chakib Khelil of Algeria, the group's president, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ministers noted "with concern the continued deterioration of the global economic situation and its impact on oil demand."

The ministers, he said in a statement, agreed to "take any additional action ... to balance oil supply and demand, and achieve market stability" at their Dec. 17 meeting in Oran, Algeria.

Saturday's meeting in Cairo convened about a month after the group decided to pull 1.5 million barrels of oil per day from the market. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/610741.html http://www.kentucky.com/267/story/610741.html Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:55 EST
BAGHDAD . Influential religious leaders across Iraq are voicing reservations about a U.S.-Iraq security agreement under which Americans will remain in the country for three more years.

Their comments filtered in Saturday as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of multinational forces in Iraq, to plan for the treaty's implementation.

The pact, which cleared Iraq's parliament Thursday and sets a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, entails some major changes in authority between U.S. and Iraqi officials.

It requires the Americans to consult with Iraq before conducting military operations, paves the way for the release of some 16,000 detainees in U.S. custody and calls for the United States to turn over the International Zone in central Baghdad to the Iraqis. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/615044.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/615044.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:22 EST
Jesus Martin Huerta is one of the highest ranking government officials killed in drug-fueled violence sweeping Ciudad Juarez.

The attorney general's office says two gunmen opened fire on Huerta's car while it was stopped at an intersection. A woman behind the wheel who also worked for the attorney general's office was also killed.

Police named no suspects in Wednesday's attack.

But drug gangs have increasingly targeted police and federal officials as they resist a national crackdown.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614969.html http://www.kentucky.com/524/story/614969.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:47 EST
The airport sieges, which were lifted Wednesday, had stranded more than 300,000 travelers while an unknown number have been trying to fly into Thailand from around the world.

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport will be "open for full services including check-in and immigration" at 11:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) Friday, airport chief Serirat Prasutanont said in a statement.

It is now up to the airlines to resume operations from Suvarnabhumi, which was shut after anti-government protesters swarmed the facility Nov. 25.

Thai officials have been scrambling to get the airport functional to mark the birthday Friday of the revered constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej.]]>