Senate wiretap bill to grant retroactive telecom immunity; Blackwater accused to taking Iraqi military aircraft...

20 October :: US Senate crafts 'compromise' wiretapping bill that grants telecoms immunity from prosecution for illegally handing customer information to NSA; deal was made after intel. committee chair Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV), obtained the secret documents debating, justifying and authorizing the warrantless wiretapping program which spied on American citizens; White House has said it will not allow House intel. committee or House or Senate judiciary committees to see the documents —which may technically illustrate a conspiracy to violate US law— unless immunity is granted retroactively to telecoms... Unnamed Iraqi official reportedly told Congress Blackwater tried to take two Iraqi military aircraft out of Iraq, then refused to return them, US Congressman Henry Waxman is demanding answers, has ordered the company to turn over "a sweeping amount of information about Blackwater's business, including its contracts with the federal government, profits made since the company was founded a decade ago, Prince's personal earnings since 2001, and details about the payments to the families of Iraqis killed by Blackwater personnel", according to IHT... 8 reported killed in bombing of Makati shopping mall, in Manila, Philippines; Pres. Arroyo said police and military were on "highest alert", she was putting 2,000 more security personnel on duty to raise preparedness, warned "those who seek to destabilize our government not to exploit this incident for their selfish political motives"... French pres. Sarkozy and UK PM Brown say they would back Tony Blair as first to fill the new office of EU president, if the new treaty is ratified by all 27 member states; the office would come into being in 2009 and would have a base term of 30 months, with a possible extension to 5 years; EU presidency currently rotates among member states every 6 months, held by top elected official... US House fails to override presidential veto of children's healthcare funding...

Mukasey refuses to denounce torture in interrogations, despite Supreme Court ruling; Bhutto says Zia agents seek her death; crude hits $90/barrel...

19 October :: US att. gen. nominee Mukasey has told Senate panel he believes so-called 'unlawful combatants' are not entitled to Geneva Conventions protections, a view contravened by existing law and jurisprudence; US Supreme Court has already ruled the Conventions govern US treatment of prisoners, not which prisoners enjoy protections; HRW reports "In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the US Supreme Court held that the humane treatment obligations of Common Article 3 apply to 'enemy combatants' in United States custody. The Bush administration has since responded by issuing an executive order requiring the CIA to comply with Common Article 3 in its interrogation of detainees"; 'waterboarding' specifically has not only been prosecuted by the US military for over 100 years as illegal, but the Judge Advocates General of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines agreed in August 2006 it violates US law; Mukasey did, however, testify that "It is not constitutional for the United States to engage in torture in any form, be it waterboarding or anything else" and that "It's barred by the Fifth, the Fourteenth, and the Eighth Amendments"... Bhutto says agents of fmr dictator General Zia are behind bombing attempt on her life yesterday, are fomenting "extremism and fanaticism" to destabilize Pakistan; Interior Ministry says it believes Taliban, Al-Qaeda militants were responsible; Bhutto had been warned before her return of a plot involving military agents, one Taliban commander had threatened to send suicide bombers to kill her... Bloomberg reports "Crude oil for November delivery rose to $90.07 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since trading began in 1983"; 4 days of record-high prices have been driven by speculation about Fed rates, fears of Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, falling dollar value... Google mobile phone project aimed at freeing up software, service options across wireless spectrum; 'gPhone' would use open-source software, likely be free added value, financed by Google advertising links... Swiss conservative party draws int'l scrutiny as its campaign painting immigrants as black sheep to be kicked out of the country is considered racist, in run-up to elections... French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy has split from his wife, after 11 years and just a few months in office; press reports suggest Cecilia Sarkozy did not vote in the close election which brought her husband to power... Kenyan elephants can distinguish scents, appearance of Masai warrior/hunters from local farmers, who are usually not a threat; evidence suggests more intimate integration of large mammal into human element in their environment...

Bhutto returns to Pakistan; '2nd Earth' found 20 light yrs from ours; Putin calls Iraq war 'pointless', urges 'time out' on Iran...

18 October :: Ex-PM Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan, is greeted by hundreds of thousands of supporters in Karachi, having traveled from across the nation, Bhutto has been in talks with Musharraf to form 'national unity' gov't, stave off ascent of radical clerics; two bombs ripped through massive crowd marching with Bhutto through Karachi, reportedly "just feet in front of" her vehicle, killing at least 115 of her supporters, injuring more than 150... April report from the Guardian newspaper listed among October's most read: 'second Earth' found, 20 light years away from our Earth, "Measurements of the planet's celestial path suggest it is 1½ times the size of our home planet, and orbits close to its sun, with a year of just 13 days. The planet's orbit brings it 14 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun. But Gliese 581 burns at only 3,000C, half the temperature of our own sun, making conditions on the planet comfortable for life, with average ground temperatures estimated at 0 to 40C"; US, Russia have announced plans to establish permanent colonies on Moon, with even Mars requiring a 4-year journey... Russian pres. Vladimir Putin has said the US war in Iraq is a "pointless" war against the Iraqi people; he also answered questions about fmr US Sec. of State Albright's assertion that Siberia is too vast and has too many natural resources to belong to one country, calling it "political erotica" that may satisfy individual curiosity, but has no role in policy-making; Iran's state news agency has reported Putin's reason for traveling to Tehran was to personally propose a 'time out' on the nuclear question, with Iran stopping enrichment, while the UN puts off imposing sanctions... Drug-resistant MRSA 'superbug' confirmed in Staph infections across 7 states in the US, with infections suspected in 4 more states...

Atlanta's main source of drinking water may be dry within 4 months; UK housing market may be heading for crash...

17 October :: Lake Lanier, Atlanta's main water source, might be dry within four months, according to one worst-case projection; drought across the US southeast has reached the most severe warning level... Guardian reports "Britain risks the prospect of a US-style crash in its house prices as the credit crunch in the financial markets takes its toll of a heavily over-valued property market, the International Monetary Fund warned today"; the IMF report warned the UK's housing market is severely overpriced, more even than the US market inflated by unsustainable 'sub-prime' mortgage loans... Turkey's Parliament grants Erdogan authority to launch military raids into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq; the PM said no actions is pending, but observers say with no US or Iraqi action against Kurdish rebels, raids will occur... Hamas confounds US, Israeli plans to gain momentum for peace push with Fatah, by expressing support for peace talks with Israel; both Israel, US, view Hamas as terrorist group, moderating statements may pave way to long-term process, but Hamas inclusion may make starting talks next month less attractive to many in Israel... Clinton campaign returns $1.3 million in donations, out of "abundance of caution", including over $800,000 with potential ties to disgraced political fundraiser Norman Hsu, who allegedly coerced investors into making political donations; there is no known connection between Mr. Hsu and the Clinton campaign, but an FEC spokesman said one reason for returning donations would be that the money received is found to be "illegal"...

1st 'baby-boomer' starts collecting Social Security; Hillary's foreign policy expected to "Use both hard and soft power"...

16 October :: 1st official 'baby-boomer' begins collecting Social Security; as many as 80 million Americans from her generation will eventually collect the government pension payments... NY Times 'The Caucus' blog reports Hillary Clinton's foreign policy would "Use both hard power and soft power; talk to your enemies and strengthen alliances with your friends; deal with systemic destabilizing issues such as poverty and disease; elevate pragmatism over ideology; use international institutions such as the United Nations as tools for progress; make the military a part of comprehensive solutions, not as the solution itself; and encourage the spread of “our values” and the rule of law"; she had said in previous debates she would hesitate to engage in direct talks with hostile states... Critics complain actions like her vote to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard a foreign "terrorist organization" makes her too hawkish, moreso even than many in current administration, could risk intensified hostilities with Iran... Putin in Iran says Caspian nations should agree "that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state"; declaration comes amid mounting tensions between Iran and western powers —namely France and US—, which suspect it is illegally developing nuclear weapons... China's Communist party has said it is "furious" at the US awarding the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal; Tibet's party boss is quoted as saying "If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world"; China has withdrawn from a planned meeting to discuss UN policy regarding Iran, as a matter of protest against the US award; Liu Jianchao, speaking for China's foreign ministry, has said the award would have "extremely serious impact" on US-China relations... Fmr US pres. Bill Clinton's Climate Initiative (CCI) is partnering with the City of Paris to overhaul energy consumption of 600 schools to make them more environmentally sustainable; the program will retrofit schools to reduce their consumption of greenhouse gases; Paris' new Climate Strategy aims to bring emissions, energy consumption to 30% below 2004 levels city-wide by the year 2020...

Vacancies in US executive at worrying high; US House to debate Armenian genocide; China's Communist party congress opens...

15 October :: Unfilled vacancies in top-level executive-branch positions in US gov't startlingly common, leaving multi-billion-dollar agencies without leadership; interim appointees can serve for up to 210 days with full authority, while approval of nominees runs through Senate, 462 days remain in Bush term as of today; IHT quotes Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), ranking Republican on the judiciary committee, as saying "In the long history of the country, I don't think the Justice Department has been in such disarray", citing unconfirmed openings throughout the top ranks; observers speculate raft of vacancies reflects belief next admin. will be led by Democrat, meaning less 'job security' for able Republicans if named now; 3 Cabinet posts remain unfilled... Pelosi has announced she will bring the resolution on the 1915 Armenian genocide, at the hands of Ottoman Turks, to the full House for debate and passage; Turkey's top general has warned passage would permanently damage the strategic alliance with the US... China's Communist party congress opened today in Beijing; NYT reports Pres. Hu "promised to address social fissures, a degraded environment and rampant corruption during his second term as China’s top leader, but he all but ruled out more than cosmetic political reform"... Sir Menzies 'Ming' Campbell has resigned as leader of UK Liberal Democrat party, the nation's 3rd largest, after mounting criticism in party, press, that his leadership was not strong enough to represent a serious opposition... US, EU talk of barring all new investment in Burma, in effort to completely isolate junta, a move that goes far beyond the current sanctions regime...

UN reports US maternal death rate 4x European avg; US life expectancy rises to record 77.9 years for 2005...

14 October :: UN report shows rate of women dying during or just after childbirth in US on par with Belarus, Serbia, ten times worse than world's safest, Ireland; a UN statement on the joint UN-World Bank report said "Among the ten top-ranked European and other industrialized countries, where women are guaranteed good-quality health and family planning services that minimize their lifetime risk, fewer than one in 16,400 will die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth", childbirth in US being 4 times more dangerous for women than European avg, US 41st among 171 nations studied... US Centers for Disease Control has released data showing "that a child born in the United States in 2005 can expect to live 77.9 years, up from 77.8 in 2004 and continuing a rise dating back decades. U.S. life expectancy was 75.8 years in 1995 and 69.6 years in 1955", according to ENN; infant mortality reportedly increased in 2005, and US ranks 42nd in world for life expectancy... Reuters reports "Iran jailed a prominent pro-reform journalist and rights activist, Emadeddin Baghi, on Sunday for acting against national security, a close friend said"; Baghi is accused of publishing classified information, has previously been jailed for "insulting Islamic sanctity" and criticizing the Islamic state; his book on the chain killings of intellectuals by gov't agents have been banned in Iran... Interfax has reported Russian special services have been warned of a plot to assassinate Russian pres. Putin during an upcoming visit to Teheran; Iran says no such plot exists and rumor is attempt to sour Iran-Russian relations; report suggests "a number of groups of suicide bombers" involved; Putin 1st Russian head of state to visit Iran since Soviet dictator Stalin in 1943... In effort to steer regional business culture away from dangerous practices involving conflicts of interest and bribery, banned under its corporate charter, Merck has instituted an ethics center in Dubai; after 7 years and $3 million of Merck backing, it was given independence and is now the Dubai Ethics Research Center, part of Dubai's effort to become a "regional medical center"; Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship found it "had clearly impressed a cross-section of government, military and business thought leaders on the importance of codifying and enforcing 'workplace ethics'"...