Bank of England warns UK of economic slowdown; Pakistan detains another opposition leader, as student movement grows...

17 November :: Bank of England governor warns coming year will be hardest economically for Great Britain, with credit problems, banking tightness and housing slump contributing to general tightening of purse-strings, possible consumer slowedown as well; Bank gov. Mervyn King said it will be 2009 "before growth picks up and inflation is brought under control", according to the Guardian... IHT reporting from Lahore: "The opposition politician Imran Khan emerged from hiding Wednesday to the cheers of hundreds of students at a demonstration against General Pervez Musharraf at a university here, but he was quickly seized by hard-line students and turned over to the police, witnesses said"; Musharraf moves to contain virtually all aspects of opposition organization, leadership increasingly evident, US calls into question security rationale behind emergency rule... CSM, also reporting from Lahore: "What began last week as a protest against the arrests of academics at a university in Lahore has quickly spread across larger campuses, energizing new movements and inciting old student political groups from a near two-decade slumber. But when opposition leader Imran Khan, a perceived hero of the student movement, arrived Wednesday to address students in Lahore, members of a powerful and established Islamist student group quickly handed him over to police"... Google is offering $10 million in prize money for developers who produce the most effective software for its proposed open-platform mobile phone operating system; 'G-prize' for revolution in cellular software could herald new model of mass-market technology development... As Congress wrestles with question of telecom complicity in extralegal spying, Truthdig report revealing in terms of possible link between gov't backing of major telecom mergers, data-mining programs; report reveals that NSA in 2000, in efforts to gather new resources, maintain relevancy in post-Cold-War period, launched a "government-industry partnership for information technology infrastructure services"...

Justice re-opens probe into wiretap wrongdoing; Supreme Court suspends FL execution pending constitutionality ruling...

16 November :: The Dept. of Justice, under new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, has reopened an investigation into whether its lawyers violated the law in connection with Pres. Bush's warrantless wiretapping; the investigation had been suspended when the White Houes refused security clearance to investigators to examine evidence, which refusal has been called into question because no such request has ever been refused before... Supreme Court stops Florida execution, pending judgment on three-drug execution process which produced botched execution last December, a situation which may violate Constitutional protection against "cruel and unusual punishment"... Saudi woman to be whipped 200 times and jailed for becoming rape victim; Truthdig reports "Saudi woman has been sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail by an appeals court because she was riding in a car with a man when she was attacked and gang-raped by seven men", sentence based on law segregating unmarried men and women... In effort to mitigate holiday congestion for air traffic and prevent 'chaos' for travelers, Pres. Bush has ordered the Defense Dept. to open some of its restricted airspace for commercial "express lanes"; new FAA rules to promote efficiency may include doubling the fine to airlines to 'bump' paying passengers and officially labeling any flight route that travels 15 minutes late 70% of the time "an unfair and deceptive practice"... Global milk shortage creating pricing pressures for businesses, regions, markets; despite Hershey's raising prices to cover milk costs, its profits fell 96% over the last year; IHT reports "along with zippy cars and flat-panel TVs, milk is the mark of new money, a significant source of protein that factors into much of any affluent person's diet. Milk goes into infant formulas, chocolates, ice cream and cheese. Most baked goods contain butter, and coffee chains like Starbucks sell more milk than coffee", that meeting such demand now requires more milk that New Zealand's entire annual output...

House votes to force Iraq withdrawal; poll finds 64% of US says Bush abused powers; MRSA spreading dangerously among US population...

15 November :: US House of Representatives has passed $50 billion in Iraq war spending, conditioned on starting withdrawal in coming weeks, ending combat role for US by December 2008, before Bush leaves office; president has already begun troop-level reductions, in part under pressure from Republicans seeking reelection to Congress, but opposes Congressional mandate or fixed date for withdrawal... A poll from the American Research Group finds that 64% of all American voters believe Pres. Bush abused his powers, with 34% saying he should be removed from office for impeachable offenses, while a total of 55% —including those who don't want him impeached— say he has committed impeachable offenses under the Constitution; 64% of Republicans disagree; 70% of voters polled agreed that the vice president had abused his office, including 39% of Republicans... Drug-resistant staph bacterium MRSA has spread beyond hospital wards, now threatens healthy people in wider community, effective treatments still elusive; 60 Minutes reports "New government data estimate that about 2,000 people are dying of community-based MRSA every year. But with the deaths of five school children this year, parents are understandably frantic and want to know what causes it, and how to protect against it"... A small opposition group has filed suit against Russian pres. Vladimir Putin to prevent him from running for prime minister on grounds of "repeated violations of the law", saying his office will be used to manipulate the vote, undermine the democratic process; though Kremlin denies charges, observers inside Russia and abroad often cite Putin's authoritarian style as contrary to democracy taking root in Russia... Man killed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police in tasering incident; Polish tourist confused by lack of information about whereabouts of mother, who was told he had not arrived, became disturbed after 10 hours wait; video shows incident, observers say Taser far too dangerous to be of routine police use...

Bush vetoes bill to fund education, healthcare, jobs, signs record Pentagon budget; Congolese children persecuted as 'witches'...

14 November :: Pres. Bush has vetoed a spending bill for education, healthcare and job training, while signing record Pentagon budget; IHT reports "President George W. Bush vetoed a major spending measure on Tuesday that would have funded education, health care and job training programs, saying it contained too many special projects, even as he signed a $459 billion bill to increase the Pentagon's non-war funding"... Orphaned, abandoned children in DR Congo, Angola, commonly condemned as 'witches', in some cases beaten or drowned as punishment... The New York Times reported yesterday that "Judith Regan, the former book publisher, says in a lawsuit filed today protesting her dismissal by the News Corporation, the media conglomerate, that a senior executive there encouraged her to lie to federal investigators about her past affair with Bernard B. Kerik after he had been nominated to become homeland security secretary in late 2004"; the suit also alleges the incident was part of a campaign by News Corporation to support Rudolpoh Giuliani's run for the presidency... Federal judge has ordered White House not to discard or destroy any record of electronic communications, pending several lawsuits seeking information about messages that have disappeared from a 2 1/2 year period; the judge rejected the White House argument that the order was unnecessary, as per its record-keeping assurances...

Congress report says Iraq, Afghan wars have cost $1.5 trillion to date; Bhutto barricaded in home, calls for Musharraf ouster...

13 November :: New report by Congressional Joint Economic Committee says wars in Iraq, Afghanistan have already cost taxpayers $1.5 trillion over last 6 years, including long-term cost rises related to oil, veterans' healthcare, borrowing... Bhutto again under house arrest, calls for Musharraf to resign office, form interim "coalition of interests" to govern in run-up to elections; some 4,000 police have barricaded Bhutto's home in Lahore, using concrete, barbed wire and wet-sand barriers; reports say Musharraf forces have jailed over 7,000 opposition activists, British Commonwealth yesterday gave regime 10 days to lift martial law... Two Spanish cartoonists for El Jueves magazine face judgment for "damaging the prestige of the crown"; originally, prosecutors sought 3 years jailtime for cartoon mocking crown prince... Citing evidence Afghan authorities have been torturing detainees, Amnesty Int'l has called for suspension of all prisoner transfers from NATO-controlled ISAF operation to Afghan authorities; Afghan gov't acknowledges police continue to engage in persistent abuse, Pres. Karzai has called on police to cease use of torture as recently as last week... Food prices in China have risen by over 17% in October alone, while pork, the staple Chinese meat, rose by 55% in just one month, with 11-year high inflation across economy, creating concern of political unrest as poor Chinese run out of money to pay for basic food items; many poor Chinese already pay more than 1/3 of their income for food alone, wealth gap growing to historic records, undermining Communist party's claim to economic legitimacy... EU parliament votes to impose emissions caps on airlines, includes int'l flights; IHT reports "The measures, approved by the European Parliament, are fiercely opposed by the United States and the airline industry, which could cost companies billions of dollars and lead to sharp price rises for passengers. On the opposing side, some environmental groups criticized the proposed measure, which still must be approved by individual EU states, as far too timid"...

Mukasey takes helm as AG; 4,000-year-old temple found in Peru; IPCC expected to push binding emissions cuts...

12 November :: Judge Mukasey was sworn in Friday as US attorney general, after key senators said they were re-assured by his promises not to endorse any interrogation practices beyond the law... "A 4,000-year-old temple filled with murals has been unearthed on the northern coast of Peru, making it one of the oldest finds in the Americas, a leading archaeologist said on Saturday" according to Reuters news service... IPCC meeting in Valencia, Spain, gathers representatives and scientists from 140 countries "to draft a report that could increase pressure on countries like the United States and China to make binding cuts in greenhouse gas emissions"; meeting comes just weeks before Bali conference expected to begin draft for replacement to Kyoto Protocol... Texas legislature caught violating rules, multiple members franticly voting multiple times for absent colleagues; rules already propose penalties, new law would make such abuse criminal offense... Oil spill spreads across San Francisco Bay as weather condiditons make containment, clean-up hazardous, unpredictable; state officials continue to call for probe into lax response in early stage of spill... At least 7 were killed, 80 injured in Gaza demonstration when gunfire broke out, allegedly between supporters of rival Fatah, Hamas factions; Hamas said to be planning crackdown on Fatah after deaths...

Germany, US agree to push for diplomatic solution in Iran; Pakistan gov't says elections should be held by 9 January, chief justice still detained...

11 November :: German chancellor Angela Merkel and US pres. George W. Bush have declared their mutual intention to press for a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear ambitions; both leaders say they believe diplomacy and economic measures can be effective in persuading the Islamic republic to abandon its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons capability; speculation of a US-backed strike on Iran had grown dramatically after Israel launched a missile strike on an alleged nuclear research facility in Syria, in September... Pakistan leader says parliamentary elections should be held by 9 January 2008, in effort to demonstrate allegiance to democratic process, as extended state of emergency continues to draw criticism; deposed chief justice remains under security forces arrest, unable to meet with opposition, associates... UK gov't refuses seriously injured soldiers who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan permission to participate in veterans Remembrance Day parade, saying serving soldiers do not technically qualify as veterans, despite 1,500 civilians marching with veterans last year, officials saying this year's ceremonies are focused on those who have served in 'recent conflicts'; critics say gov't is 'ashamed' of badly wounded young soldiers, prefers they be hidden from view...