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Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein urged his people on Saturday to ignore a U.S. plot to topple him, saying the threat was nothing new. It was Saddam's first reaction to last week's Washington Post report, which said U.S. President George W. Bush had signed an order earlier this year allowing the CIA to conduct covert operations to oust Saddam. "Do not give any weight to such a report," Saddam told a group of senior ruling Ba'ath Party members. "This subject isn't new as it is more than thirty years old," he said, accusing the United States of plotting to topple the...

United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has developed a reputation for carrying a heavy stick. But U.S. diplomats in New Delhi had no idea just how heavy until he arrived in the Subcontinent in early June to try to broker a truce between feuding India and Pakistan. The embassy had planned to house the former U.S. Navy Seal, who sports a 53-inch chest, into New Delhi's Sheraton Hotel. But a diplomat says they found out the lodging was woefully in short supply of a commodity dear to Armitage's heart: weights. Scrambling, the embassy's staff found an adequate weight...

PARIS, June 21 Even before the fires were extinguished at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon ( news - web sites), conspiracy theories began flooding the Internet. A few quickly spilled out of Web sites and were widely circulated by e-mail before fading into oblivion. One, however, has taken on a life of its own in France. It was turned into a book that has become the publishing sensation of the spring.In the book, "L'Effroyable Imposture," or "The Horrifying Fraud," Thierry Meyssan challenges the entire official version of the Sept. 11 attacks. He claims the Pentagon was not hit...

Israel and India have been closely cooperating for several years in military defense, particularly in technological areas associated with conventional weapons and unmanned air vehicles. India is now exploiting some of the defense technology and know-how acquired through this relationship in its deepening conflict with Pakistan. Sources reveal that India also intends to use its access to images from sophisticated Israeli spy satellites to ensure it will prevail in any hostilities with its regional rival. The thriving Indo-Israeli defense-research relationship has become particularly sensitive in light of the emergence of India and Pakistan as unstable nuclear powers. Five years ago,...

INTERVIEW: JOHN GANTZ As the world looks to Asia's information-technology market for growth, Asians are best positioned to prosper JUST UNDER HALF OF the $450 billion American companies are expected to spend on information technology this year will pay for services, says John Gantz, chief research officer and senior vice-president at computer-research firm IDC. The United States' services segment--from computer training to customer-relationship management--grew about 8% last year even as hardware sales shrank about 10%. Gantz spoke with Tokyo correspondent David Kruger about what Asian economies, until now mostly hardware producers, need to do to make it in services: WHAT...

Nine months after the attacks of 11 September, leading American political cartoonists say they are under intense pressure to conform to a patriotic stereotype and not criticise the actions of Mr Bush and his "war on terror". Those who refuse to bend to such pressure face having their work rejected, being fired or even publicly humiliated by the President's press secretary. Last month the veteran TV anchor Dan Rather sparked controversy.......

BURLEY — Playing catch-up can be tricky in politics. And in many ways, that´s what the Democrats are doing at their state convention in Burley this weekend. They´re trying to regain some ground in the heavily Republican Legislature. Trying to inch up in the polls on the top Republican candidates. Trying to find a way to reach the people in a state that has largely turned them away. One of their first steps: Changing perceptions. And that means tackling some tough issues in the party´s platform. They plan to change the word “preservation” to “conservation” in one party plank. They...

One of the endearing qualities of Americans is the desire to be liked. Citizens of past great powers sought to be respected and feared. Americans will go a long way to earn the affection of individuals, as well as of nations. From dropping food parcels for the people who harbor our enemies to the endless hours of public discussion trying to understand those who are sworn to kill us, the effort is unending. A typical example was presented by Thomas L. Friedman in The New York Times (Dec. 9), listing a lengthy roster of steps to make us “the best...

A United States business survey showed a clear trend of investment toward China and away from Southeast Asia--partly because of corruption and protectionism. [The other 85% portion is because China has never been ‘online’ before, and they are pinning their hopes on China actually being open to their services or products. It doesn’t mean they are abandoning SE Asia, or that they have ever made money in China. They are getting into place ‘just in case’. Instead of 5 Asian offices, they might have 8 of them, and instead of the extra 3 gong to SE Asia, they are going...

The lighhearted Disney cartoon 'Lilo and Stitch' has beaten Tom Cruise and Steven Spielburgs anti 2nd Amendment 'Minority Report' in preliminary box office estimate this weekend.This may be a major sea change in Hollywood since the Dream Works film was expected to pull many times the box office of the family film this summer

World's Oldest Boat Found in Desert The piece of ancient boat on the left bears parallel reed impressions, and a row of small holes, perhaps from pegs. The slab on the right sports barnacles, showing that the slabs had been immersed in sea water for a number of months before they were put into storage. By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News normalize font   |   increase font June 17 — The world's oldest known boat, built 7,000 years ago out of tarry, bitumen-covered slabs, has been found in an unlikely place: the Kuwaiti desert. If the assessment of British and...

Coming action to be ‘crushing offensive’ HERB KEINON and ARIEH O’SULLIVAN Jun. 23, 2002 Deporting the families of West Bank suicide bombers to the Gaza Strip, destroying their homes, and expelling Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Tanzim leaders are among the ideas expected to be discussed at today's weekly cabinet meeting. Regional Cooperation Minister Roni Milo is expected to suggest that the government declare an emergency situation to create the legal base for deportations and home demolitions. "The war against terror necessitates enabling the legal system to make the changes necessary to succeed in this war," he said. "We have...

Scientist mix spiders with goats 23jun02 LONDON: As comic book hero Spider-Man fills cinemas with his webby adventures, prepare to meet an equally astonishing creation - Spidergoat. Scientists have combined the DNA from a goat and spider to create an animal which produces silk that is five times stronger than steel. The fibre, derived from the goats' milk, harnesses the huge strength of silk spun by spiders. The breakthrough could be worth millions because the silkmilk fibre can be used to make body armour which is far tougher than normal bullet-proof vests – while weighing little more than a...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada answered the call on Friday and proclaimed that Alexander Graham Bell is the inventor of the telephone, no matter what the U.S. Congress says.According to North American history books, Bell, who emigrated to Canada from Scotland, developed the idea for the device at his family's homestead in Brantford, Ontario. He received a U.S. patent in 1876.Canadian lawmakers rose to Bell's defense after the U.S. Congress passed a resolution saying credit actually belongs to Antonio Meucci, who immigrated to the United States from Italy.Meucci filed notice of an impending invention in 1871 with U.S. authorities but was...

SPCA in a flap over chicken race22 June 2002 An Albany businessman's plans for a chicken flying contest for charity may be scrapped, after ruffling the feathers of the SPCA. Paul Snowdon wants to hold the competition in "chicken country", Albany's Kell Park. The competition would involve placing hens on an elevated perch, with the winner flying the furthest, Mr Snowdon says. But the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says the contest could "exploit" chickens. SPCA Auckland chief executive Bob Kerridge says hens could be abused by people who go "too far". "We are always concerned about...

Moussaoui's Mother Defends Son By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer June 22, 2002, 4:11 PM EDT WASHINGTON -- The mother of accused Sept. 11 accomplice Zacarias Moussaoui says her son grew up loving American movies and clothes, and only turned bitter against the United States after being jailed last summer. "For me, he's not a killer, because he promised me that he didn't do anything," Aicha el-Wafi told CNN's "Larry King Live." Moussaoui, who declared in an Alexandria, Va., courtroom in April that he was praying for the destruction of the United States, has suffered during his incarceration, his mother...

April 11, 2002 Top Ten Civil Liberties Abuses of the Income Tax by Chris EdwardsChris Edwards is director of fiscal policy studies at the Cato Institute.Any tax system creates a threat to individual liberty because "the power to tax involves the power to destroy," as Chief Justice John Marshall observed.[1] But the federal income tax and its enforcement harm civil liberties much more than necessary to raise needed funds for the government. Certainly, the IRS performs poorly and too easily abuses the rights of citizens. But ultimately Congress is to blame for creating an excessively complex and high-rate tax system....

WASHINGTON - The U.S. dismissed Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's comments to Ha'aretz that he now accepts the proposal of former U.S. president Bill Clinton for a permanent status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Sources in the administration said it is perfectly clear this plan is no longer on the agenda and so there is no significance to such a statement. State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that the U.S. "welcomes any remarks that tend to promote a [positive] environment and look forward to peacemaking. We welcome especially calls to end violence and terror." The sources said the administration...

May 14, 2002, 8:45 a.m.The Saudi’s Con GameWhat “special relationship”?By Jerry Taylor audi Crown Prince Abdullah's recent visit to the Bush ranch and the leaked Saudi threat of turning the oil weapon against America prompted politicians and pundits to worry about whether our "special relationship" with the House of Saud could survive the ongoing violence in the Middle East and about the catastrophic consequences that might accrue if it didn't. This "special relationship," however, is a self-serving fiction that has governed American foreign policy for far too long. In short, the Saudi regime has pursued a policy of economic...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Six girls in state custody were unsupervised at night and partied with adult men at the hotel where they lived while awaiting foster care, according to a police report. The girls, ages 11 to 15, were removed from the Marriott Residence Inn on June 3, when hotel workers called police. The girls had lived at the hotel since May 13. The Department of Children & Families is investigating, district administrator David May told The Palm Beach Post. May said the girls were supervised by Maxim Healthcare Services, a Columbia, Md.-based company hired to find...