Audio massage by "Bin Laden"

An audio message (about 10 minutes long) released by Osama Bin Laden on an Islamist website two days ago.

Bin Laden has avoided capture since

the 2001 attacks on the US

The message, entitled "a statement to the American people", was about 10 minutes long and was accompanied by a still image of Bin Laden but no video. 

In the message, a voice tells the US president that he is "powerless" to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The message comes just two days after the US marked the eighth anniversary of the 11 September attacks on America. 

'No real change'

In the recording, the voice discusses what motivated the al-Qaeda network to launch the 11 September attacks. He explaining that they were, in part, fuelled by US support for Israel. 

"The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby," the voice in the tape says. 

"The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine." 

The voice believed to be Bin Laden also speaks of how the conflict between al-Qaeda and the US may end. 

"If you stop the war, then fine. Otherwise we will have no choice but to continue our war of attrition on every front [...] If you choose safety and stopping wars, as opinion polls show you do, then we are ready to respond to this," it says. 

In the message, the al-Qaeda leader accuses the new president of failing to fundamentally change foreign policy because of his decision to retain key figures from the previous administration, including Defence Secretary Robert Gates. 

"If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups," he says. 

Bin Laden is thought to be hiding in mountainous terrain on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. 

In his last known message, in June, Bin Laden had said that US President Barack Obama had planted the seeds of "revenge and hatred" towards the US in the Muslim world.

Staph bacteria found at West Coast beaches

for the first time the Dangerous staph bacteria have been found at five public beaches along the coast of Washington. Scientists and specialists think that this is not the only one state  with this problem.

Reuters – An employee displays a bacteria strain inside a

petri dish containing agar jelly for bacterial culture

The germ causes nasty skin infections as well as pneumonia and other life-threatening problems. It spreads mostly through human contact. Little is known about environmental sources that also may harbor the germ.

Finding it at the beach suggests one place that people may be picking it up, said Marilyn Roberts, a microbiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

"We don't know the risk" for any individual going to a beach, she said. "But the fact that we found these organisms suggests that the level is much higher than we had thought."

She presented results Saturday at an American Society for Microbiology conference in California. Last year, her team reported finding a different type of bacteria, enterococci, at five West Coast beaches. And earlier this year, University of Miami researchers reported finding staph bacteria in four out of 10 ocean water samples collected by hundreds of bathers at a South Florida beach.

Many communities also commonly restrict bathing at beaches because of contamination with fecal bacteria.

In the new study, researchers tested 10 beaches in Washington along the West Coast and in Puget Sound from February to September 2008. Staph bacteria were found at nine of them, including five with MRSA. The strains resembled the highly resistant ones usually seen in hospitals, rather than the milder strains acquired in community settings, Roberts said.

No staph was found in samples from two beaches in southern California.

People should not avoid beaches or be afraid to enjoy them, scientists say.

Needle attacks in China

In China's far western region the needle attacks appeared to spread. The authorities arrested nine new suspects in three cities, officials said Friday.

Chinese paramilitary police patrol through the center of

the city in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, Monday

The suspects were recently detained in the Xinjiang region cities of Hotan, Altay, and Kashgar in connection with alleged attacks involving hypodermic needles, a press officer at the Xinjiang government press center in the provincial capital Urumqi said Friday. He declined to give his name as is customary or provide more details.

Since last week, more than 500 people in Urumqi have reported attacks, though only about 100 showed evidence of being pricked. The bizarre stabbings led to mass demonstrations by tens thousands of Han Chinese earlier this month against what they said was a government that can't guarantee their safety.

The needle assaults have aggravated tensions in the restive western region of Xinjiang where ethnic riots in July left nearly 200 dead. The violence exposed the long-term rifts between Muslim Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking ethnic minority group, and the Han Chinese, who are the majority group in China.

A staffer surnamed Li at the propaganda department of the Communist Party in Kashgar confirmed that people had reported cases but said none showed any evidence of a syringe attack.

"As of now, according to the diagnoses, we haven't confirmed any syringe attacks yet. Most of them only felt some sudden pain when they were walking in the crowd, and some of them felt they'd been tapped on the body. But the doctors and medical examiners did not find any signs of a hypodermic attack on their bodies," he said.

The official China Daily reported out of 19 reported attacks in the three cities, only six were confirmed.

Calls to the city governments in Kashgar, Altay and Hotan were not answered Friday.

Reports of the needle attacks emerged several weeks ago though the size and scale remain unclear. None of the reported victims have suffered from illness, poisoning or other effects. Officials and state media have repeatedly blamed the attacks on separatists bent on destroying ethnic unity.

Rioting in early July by the minority Muslim Uighurs, followed by revenge attacks by Han Chinese, was the worst ethnic unrest in China in more than a decade.

On Friday, two well-known bloggers published accounts of at least two Uighurs being beaten, one of them fatally, last week by Han Chinese, and called on state-run media to provide more balanced reporting of the events.

On his Web site, economist and professor Ilham Tohti — who was detained earlier this year for writing about the reasons behind the ethnic strife in Xinjiang — posted a report on the Sept. 3 beating of local journalist Kaynam Jappar by six or seven Han Chinese men near his home in Urumqi.

In addition, Tibetan writer and blogger Woeser posted on her Web site an account of the beating death of Uighur singer Mirzat Alim, 43, on Sept 2., after being attacked by an armed group near his home.

Calls to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau rang unanswered. It was impossible to confirm either attack independently.

Top Taliban leader arrested with four militants

In north-west Pakistan One of  Taliban leaders  has been arrested with four other militants, officials say.

Muslim Khan was articulate and skilled in handling the media

Mmuslim Khan was a key spokesman for the Taliban in the Swat valley as well as one of the most senior militant commanders in the region. 

The army recently staged an offensive in Swat, which it declared a success. 

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says this is a milestone for the army's operation there. 

One of the chief criticisms of the operation had been that it had failed to net the top Taliban leadership, our correspondent says. These are the first significant arrests.

The whereabouts and fate of the Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, are unknown. 

After reports that Maulana Fazlullah was close to death earlier this year having being seriously wounded, it was Muslim Khan that contacted the BBC to say the Taliban chief was "alive and healthy". 

Muslim Khan is one of the most recognised faces of the Taliban in the Swat valley. 

He frequently spoke to journalists on behalf of Maulana Fazlullah. He was articulate and skilled in handling the media, our correspondent says. 

The widely travelled Muslim Khan speaks English fairly well and also gave interviews in Arabic. 

He spent two years as a seaman with a British shipping company in the 1970s and lived in the US in the late 1990s, where he worked as a house painter.

The latest fighting in the Swat valley began in April when Pakistani Taliban forces expanded their operations into districts only 96km (60 miles) from the capital. 

Under the terms of a peace deal, militants were expected to disarm in exchange for the implementation of Sharia law throughout the Malakand division, which includes Swat valley.

The army accused the Taliban of reneging on the deal. As the fighting intensified some two million people were displaced. 

Although many have returned, there is still unrest and bloodshed in the troubled district. Fighting is still reportedly continuing in isolated pockets. 

And in recent weeks, more than 200 corpses have been found across the valley. 


The killings have been carried out execution-style and the bodies are believed to be of suspected Taliban militants. 

Security forces have strenuously denied carrying out extrajudicial killings as part of their anti-Taliban offensive. They claim local residents are behind the attacks. 

While this remains unconfirmed, local residents have formed tribal militias to take on militants in what correspondents say is a new development for the region. 

In early September, members of a local tribal militia killed three suspected insurgents. 

The army has been encouraging the voluntary tribal fighting forces, which exist in other parts of north-west Pakistan.

The people of USA rmember the misserable hijacked plane attacks of 11 September 2001 & held the Eighth anniversary of this attack in USA.

Traditional ceremonies and a national day of service will remember the victims of the attacks

Nearly 3,000 people died when the four planes crashed in New York, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field. 

President Barack Obama will speak at the Pentagon site and Americans have been encouraged to contribute to a national day of service. 

US soldiers in Afghanistan completed a 9.11km (5.5 mile) run to mark the day.

Traditional ceremonies including moments of silence and the reading of the names of the victims will take place at the sites of the attacks. 

President Obama will join defence secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon, where 184 people died, to meet members of victims' families and lay a wreath.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president would "speak about what the day means and the sacrifices of thousands, not just at the Pentagon, but in Pennsylvania and certainly and most obviously in New York". 

On Thursday, Mr Obama issued a statement urging Americans to take part in community service while also vowing to "apprehend all those who perpetrated these heinous crimes, seek justice for those who were killed, and defend against all threats to our national security". 

Vice-President Joe Biden will attend the New York ceremony. 

There will be four moments of silence there - one each for the times the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and for the collapse of the buildings. 

Volunteers who helped in the aftermath of the attacks will join family members in reading the more than 2,700 names of the victims. 

The BBC's Matthew Price in New York says the Ground Zero area remains a building site, despite plans for a memorial, a museum and five new skyscrapers.

Ground Zero is still a building site eight years after the attacks

Delays caused by political arguments and financial and legal disputes have left huge question marks over the entire project, he says. 

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will speak at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 

The names of the 40 passengers and crew will be read to mark the time of the crash - 1003. 

In a break with tradition, the anniversary has also been designated a national day of service. 

Americans have been encouraged to contribut their labour and time in memory of the victims. 

Conservation projects, aid packages for serving soldiers and the simple offering of work for free are among the undertakings made by members of the public. 

However, some commentators and members of victims' families have expressed concern that the remembrance may lose its primary focus. 

Debra Burlingame, whose brother died at the Pentagon, told Associated Press news agency: "I greatly fear at some point we'll transition to turning it into Earth Day where we go and plant trees and the remembrance part will become smaller." 

About 1,000 US troops in Afghanistan marked the anniversary with a 9.11km run at the main Bagram base in Kabul. Two other bases also took part. 

The 9/11 attacks sparked the US-led invasion in October 2001 to oust the Taliban and tackle al-Qaeda leaders living in Afghanistan. 

A formal commemoration service will take place later to coincide with the time of the New York attacks.

Good news about swine flu

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius,

second from right, speaks as Mayo Clinic Vaccine

Australian and U.S. researchers said Thursday, One dose of the new swine flu vaccine can protect adults and can spark protection within 10 days of the shot. So its a good news in the flu fight world.

Australian shot maker CSL Ltd. published results of a study that found between 75 percent and 96 percent of vaccinated people should be protected with one dose — the same degree of effectiveness as the regular winter flu shot. That's remarkable considering scientists thought it would take two doses.U.S. data to be released Friday confirm those findings, and show the protection starts rapidly, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health told The Associated Press.

"This is quite good news," Fauci said.

The dose question has an important ramification: It means people will have to line up for influenza vaccinations twice this year instead of three times — once for the regular winter flu shot and a second time to be inoculated against swine flu, what doctors call the 2009 H1N1 strain.

Thursday's swine flu vaccine reports center on adults; studies in children aren't finished yet.

But scientists had feared that people of all ages would need two shots about a month apart because the new H1N1 strain is so genetically different from normally circulating flu strains that most of the population has little if any immunity.

Some one told to Obama 'You lie'

When president 'Barack Obama' said he had never proposed providing coverage to illegal immigrants, some one shouted, 'You lie'.

Though President Obama has formally accepted the apology of Joe "You lie!" Wilson, the fallout from the emotional outburst continues to ripple across the nation, even raising doubts about the Republican congressman's political future.

Ninety minutes after Obama finished his address, the South Carolina representative—who yelled out "You lie!" after the president said he had never proposed providing coverage to illegal immigrants—issued a statement explaining he "let my emotions get the best of me." According to the congressman's office, Wilson also made a personal phone call to the White House in hopes of apologizing to Obama himself, but instead had to express his apologies to gatekeeper Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Northerners need 'piece of the action'

PM says federal, territorial politicians must ensure residents benefit from economic activity, riches

Future generations of northern residents must have a "piece of the action" in the economic future of their territories – including a share of the potential resource riches, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.

During a visit to this remote fishing hamlet on Baffin Island, Harper lamented the fact that people in the North are being shut out.

The Prime Minister conceded that the federal and territorial governments must do a better job to ensure local residents share in the work and wealth created by economic activity.

"There's no point pointing fingers but there are big challenges in the workforce, in education, in some of the housing challenges that are all part of this picture," Harper said.

He said federal and territorial politicians must do "everything we can" to make sure local residents "are a principal beneficiary of the economic activity."

"Otherwise, opportunity will have passed the territory by. That would be a great tragedy. ... Too much of that is happening now."

Earlier this week, Harper said economic development is key to solving some of the region's most pressing social woes, especially since 65 per cent of Nunavut's population is under the age of 25. 

But local leaders say the true prosperity of the region lies in the outcome of negotiations with Ottawa over power-sharing and the question of who reaps the royalties from resource riches.


Harper said Ottawa is keen to share power with the territories as it does now with the provinces, a move that would see Nunavut take on more responsibility but also stand to collect on the resources.

"Devolution is the clear position of the Government of Canada. This is what we want to see happen in the future," Harper said.

"We are in favour of power-sharing between provinces and federal government. We want to see the same thing, the same rights for the territories."

Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said Ottawa has appointed a negotiator to work with Nunavut and the territory's land claim corporation on how "devolution" should proceed.

"He'll make recommendations to me and to cabinet on how that devolution should proceed," said Strahl.

Harper highlighted the economic theme with two announcements yesterday, calling it "more tangible indication of the growing importance of the North to Canada's future."

He started the day by announcing $25 million earmarked for construction of a harbour in Pangnirtung. Ottawa had initially allocated $8 million for the harbour last year. An additional $17 million was announced in the budget in January.

Later, he flew to Yellowknife to join with Eva Aariak, the premier of Nunavut, Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie and Floyd Roland, premier of the Northwest Territories, to promise extra help for northern job-seekers.

Under deals signed yesterday, the federal government will spend $36.5 million in the three territories on skills and development training.

Harper's week-long trip to the North wraps up today with an announcement in the Yukon focused on the environment. 

Yesterday, he rebutted critics who say Ottawa's Arctic agenda is too slow or too focused on the military.

"In every trip I've been here we've emphasized not just military but also the actions we're taking on economic, social, environment, development and on governance," said Harper.

"The Opposition, when they were in office, did none of these things. We are doing all of these things and doing them without precedent."

And he said Ottawa's investments in the North "vastly exceed" spending in southern Canada on a per capita basis.

Strike rebate cheque not a sure thing

Unlike in Windsor, councillors here don't favour returning money saved during walkout to residents

Toronto expects to reap savings from the 39-day civic workers' strike, but residents hoping for a rebate cheque in the mail are likely to be disappointed.

Toronto city council, unlike Windsor politicians facing a similar question, may hold on to the windfall and apply it to next year's budget, lowering the expected spike in property taxes and garbage fees.

The final tally of strike savings may not be known until October.

Council's budget committee is expected to tackle the tricky issue of what to do with the savings on Sept. 18, with a third option being to simply provide a credit on tax or garbage bills. 

Committee members who typically back Mayor David Miller don't support mailing out rebates.

"Issuing a government cheque can be a costly exercise," said Councillor Joe Mihevc. "It's not just the stamps and the envelopes, it's also the processing."

Miller said a big problem with rebates is determining how to distribute the money fairly.

"It's difficult to figure out the equity, because why should the TD Bank get a tax break when it's the poorest people in this city – who are predominantly tenants – who didn't get the services for their children?" Miller told the Star's Vanessa Lu last week.

Budget chief Shelley Carroll declined to comment on the issue.

Councillor Gord Perks said he wants to avoid sending out cheques and then promptly approving big hikes in property taxes and solid waste fees.

"If we were to give a rebate, we'd spend a whole bunch of money mailing everybody a cheque just so we could tax it back next year," Perks said. "It doesn't make much sense."

While cautioning that no discussions have yet been held, Perks said he thinks the most prudent strategy would be to treat the windfall as a surplus and plug the money into the 2010 city budget.

It's not unusual at the end of the year for various city departments and agencies to have money left over in their budgets. For example, the 2009 operating budget received $74 million of monies unspent at the end of 2008.

The strike savings could be considered part of that surplus, said Councillor Adrian Heaps.

Speaking hypothetically, instead of having to raise residential taxes by 4 per cent in 2010, the hike could be limited to 3 per cent by using strike savings, he said.

"If there was $20 million saved during the strike, that represents a 1 per cent property tax hike. Let's say if property taxes were slated to go up 4 per cent, then maybe they need only go up 3 per cent because we saved a substantial amount during the strike."

Such a strategy doesn't sit well with Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis, whose municipality will also decide next month how to return money it saved during its strike to citizens. 

Francis said Windsor saved about $20 million, but incurred revenue losses and overtime expenses, and the final tally is still being worked out. He emphasized that from day one he has supported returning the savings directly to the voters in some fashion.

"We were being accused of forcing workers out on strike because we wanted to save money to close our budget gap," he said. "So we immediately communicated that any net savings from the strike would be returned to the residents."

Anything less would sow cynicism among voters, he said.

"I don't want the strike savings to be subsidizing the 2010 budget in any way because to do that would then lend credibility to the argument that the strike was just to help us balance the books.

"I think we should be able to balance our books and deliver a zero per cent tax increase without the need for strike savings," he added. "I would rather people get the savings directly."

Toronto residents deserve similar treatment, said Councillor Doug Holyday.

"I'd like to see a credit given so people can actually see that they've received a reduction," he said. "If it goes into the surplus, it's harder for people to see it. And I think it's in the interest of all that they do see it."

But Holyday was also leery of going the rebate cheque route.

"By the time you process it and mail it out, probably a good part of the savings would get eaten up. There's no sense wasting money to give money back. You've got to be able to do it in an efficient way."

Border alert for TV-show fugitive

Canadian officials join hunt for Calgary native charged after mutilated body of ex-wife found

California prosecutors have charged a former reality-TV contestant with the murder of his ex-wife, whose body was found mutilated and stuffed naked into a suitcase, and Canadian authorities are searching for him after signs he may have illegally slipped north across the border.

One count of murder with malice aforethought was filed against 32-year-old Ryan Jenkins yesterday in the death of former model Jasmine Fiore, 28.

Police in Buena Park, Calif., revealed Fiore's teeth and fingers were removed before her body was found in a trash bin last weekend.

Chief Insp. Thomas Hession of the local U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force said at a news conference yesterday that officers would not rest until Jenkins is arrested.

"There will be no stone left unturned. We will look under every rock for him," he said.

"He needs to understand that he's now officially wanted – that we don't stop looking for him."

Fiore's family members sobbed and hugged each other as police revealed the gruesome details of her death. 

Border officials and police agencies across Canada were on the lookout for Jenkins after U.S. officials suggested he likely fled more than 1,600 kilometres from southern California to sneak across the border.

Federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said reports that Jenkins had crossed the border were unconfirmed, but police were watching for him.

"The Canadian Border Services Agency does work very closely with law enforcement partners both here in Canada and across the border (and) they are well aware of the particular case," he said.

"I know that at a local level here and at a provincial level across Canada, police forces are on the lookout with the potential that he might be in this country."

Jenkins was a contestant on the VH1 reality-TV show Megan Wants a Millionaire before marrying Fiore. Her death, followed by his disappearance, has sparked a media frenzy, with gossip website TMZ.com publishing a saccharine love note allegedly between the couple and minute-by-minute updates of the investigation.

Buena Park's police chief, Tom Monson, said police received word Wednesday that Jenkins could have made his way to Canada. His car and an empty boat trailer were found at a marina in Blaine, Wash., south of Vancouver.

A boat belonging to Jenkins was found at Point Roberts, U.S. territory just south of Vancouver that is at the tip of a peninsula and can only be reached by land from Canada, said Monson.

"It is now our belief that he has crossed the border on foot," he said. "We are currently working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in our attempts to locate him."

Police warned that Jenkins may be armed with a handgun and should be considered dangerous.

Vancouver radio station CKNW reported that Jenkins's mother lives in Vancouver. Quoting a family friend, the station reported she went to meet her son in Seattle on Wednesday, saying it was a family emergency.

The station also reported that Jenkins's mother refused to comment yesterday.


Fiore was last seen alive with Jenkins at a poker game in San Diego. Jenkins cut off contact with police after reporting her missing Saturday night to the Los Angeles County sheriff's department. It's still not clear how she died, although a preliminary coroner's report indicated she was strangled.

Fiore's mother has said that in March, after taping for the VH1 series finished, Jenkins met Fiore in a Las Vegas casino and the two were married soon after. But Lisa Lepore said "they had a big blowout" in May and Fiore had the marriage annulled.

Court records show Jenkins was charged in June in Clark County, Nev., with a misdemeanour count of "battery constituting domestic violence" on accusations that he hit Fiore in the arm. He is scheduled for a Dec. 18 non-jury trial.

Jenkins, variously described as an architect, real estate developer and investment banker, appeared in three episodes of the TV series about a woman seeking to land a wealthy bachelor by putting suitors through their paces, such as designing a marketing campaign for her pet chihuahua.

Focus swine flu fight on kids, researchers say

As Canadian health officials grapple with plans to combat a potential swine flu outbreak this fall, a major new study suggests a can't-miss strategy to prevent its spread: Make sure the (school) kids are all right.

In a paper published today in the journal Science, U.S. researchers say mass inoculations of elementary and high school students – and their parents – would knock out key breeding grounds for any form of flu.

And cooling these cauldrons of communicable disease would prevent many of those most imperilled by flu – the very young and elderly – from catching it in the first place.

It's an idea that intrigues one of Canada's top influenza experts, who will likely offer it as an option at a Health Canada meeting next week to hammer out a strategy for the H1N1 flu.

"What I find interesting about this (paper) is that they're really focusing on the fact that young kids are the incubators of this," says Dr. Michael Gardam, head of infections disease control at Ontario's Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.

"I like to call (kids) viral culture media on legs. That is their purpose in life, to get infected with things."

Gardam says kids, in turn, infect their parents, who take the viruses to workplaces, stores, theatres and old age homes. 

Therefore, priority targeting of these two groups for flu vaccinations is the best way to keep major outbreaks at bay, the paper's lead author says.

"We were expecting more delicate results – that in this situation you should do this, and in this situation you should do that," says Jan Medlock, a mathematician at South Carolina's Clemson University.

But no matter the quality or amount of vaccine you have, or the type of flu you're dealing with, the school strategy would work best to halt the spread and save lives, Medlock says.

The study used mathematical modelling from surveys and two prior influenza pandemics, 1918 and 1957, to determine optimal vaccination ages, he says.

Looking at death and infection rates, years of life lost and economic costs, Medlock found that inoculating children aged 5 to 19 (largely students) and adults aged 30 to 39 (key parenting years) would stop the spread most effectively and with the fewest number of shots.

Most flu vaccine campaigns have instead focused mainly on toddlers and older people.

MP says minister was told June 12 about Mohamud

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon knew as early as June 12 that Suaad Hagi Mohamud was in trouble in Kenya, the woman's member of Parliament says.

"I went over to Cannon and to Deepak Obhrai (Cannon's parliamentary secretary for consular affairs)," Toronto Liberal MP Joe Volpe said yesterday, recalling the House of Commons encounter.

Six days later, Volpe put the alarming facts of the case to Cannon in writing, with copies to Obhrai and the Canadian High Commission in Kenya.

In the letter, obtained by the Star, Volpe told how his constituent, on a visit, stood accused of not looking like her Canadian passport photo. The woman's Toronto friends could not reach Canadian officials to vouch for her. The Canadians passed the woman to the Kenyans for prosecution as an "imposter."

Marked "urgent," Volpe's letter asked: 

If the arrested woman is an "imposter," where is the real Suaad Hagi Mohamud, the Toronto mother of a 12-year-old boy waiting for her to come home?

Are the foreign affairs department and RCMP looking for her?

Is she safe?

Over four weeks, with the House no longer sitting, Volpe persisted with 20 emails, faxes and phone calls to Cannon and Obhrai.

In mid-July, when the file moved to the Canada Border Services Agency, Volpe started calling Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he hadn't known about the trouble. 

"When we became aware of the case last week," he said, "we asked our officials in various departments to give us some information."

Yesterday Volpe said: "I can't believe the Prime Minister didn't know about this. If he didn't, he should have the heads of two of his senior ministers on a platter."

Mohamud is to give a news conference today to say she is seeking compensation. DNA tests proved her identity and she returned home Saturday after 86 days in limbo. 

The file's transfer to Canada Border services around July 17 would have alerted the Prime Minister's Office, Volpe said.

"It means the chief of staff in the communications branch of the PMO knows the file has gone from one minister to another.

"Put yourself in the shoes of the Prime Minister: People immediately below you have carriage of this file... they don't tell you this is happening?" 

A spokesperson for both Cannon and Obhrai refused comment yesterday on whether either minister might have informed the Prime Minister's Office of the case.

Condo buyers may have to line up again

A new highrise will soar at 1 Bloor, considered one of Toronto's most prestigious addresses. But it looks like former buyers of the condominium project will have to get back in line if they still want a home in the blue-chip neighbourhood.

Toronto-based Great Gulf Group of Companies confirmed to the Toronto Star yesterday it had purchased the stalled condo development from Kazakhstan-based Bazis International.

The new owner of the site at the corner of Bloor and Yonge streets says it intends to build a high-rise development that will include retail and housing. 

"We are working very diligently to see what is appropriate for that corner, which we envision to be some kind of mixed-use development," said Jerry Patava, president and CEO of the company. 

"Right now we are looking at what we can do, although it's too early to determine what exactly will be there."

An affiliate company of Great Gulf purchased the property from Bazis with a closing in September, Patava said. 

Bazis, the original developer, had sold purchasers plans for a striking tower design that was supposed to be the tallest in the city.

Great Gulf's Patava said his company would likely be in touch with condo buyers to see if they are still interested in living at 1 Bloor.

"Right now it's a blank slate," he said. "We have no contractual obligation to the former buyers. But obviously they thought this was a great place to live.

"It's one of the most attractive corners in Canada."

Purchasers will receive their deposit money back, Bazis International said in a statement. About 500 purchasers put down $70 million in deposits for their units. Realtors who sold the units and the company have been flooded with calls from worried buyers.

"Bazis International wishes to assure all purchasers at One Bloor that their deposit money placed for a condominium suite is in the vendor's solicitor's trust account and earning interest," the statement said.

Great Gulf Group builds homes, shopping malls and office towers throughout North America. It owns the Taboo resort in Muskoka and its Great Gulf Homes subsidiary is one of the top five residential builders in the GTA by volume. 

The company also knows the luxury market in Toronto, having built the nearby 18 Yorkville condo complex. 

The privately held company was formed in 1975 by publicity shy brothers Elly and Norman Reisman. Their brother Sam, CEO of investment bank Rose Corp., was the driving force behind the Filmport movie complex in Toronto before selling his ownership stake earlier this year.

The sale of 1 Bloor signals the end of an at-times contentious relationship between Bazis and buyers who wanted to know whether they would ever see their units built.

Hundreds of buyers lined up for weeks to own a unit in 2007. Some realtors hired students to stand in line for them. Units sold for from $500,000 and up; the penthouse was reportedly sold for $25 million to a Hong Kong businessman.

Bazis's problems started due to the vicious credit crunch that began last fall with the bankruptcy of New York investment bank Lehman Bros., the financial muscle behind the deal.

Bazis developer Michael Gold had stopped payments on a $46 million loan in December. When the loan continued to be in default, a consortium of lenders tried to place the project in receivership.

The group offered $50.5 million to Gold. But he ended up selling the property to Great Gulf for a sum believed to be substantially higher.

Is Michelle Obama showing too much skin?

Michelle Obama has firmly established her sartorial right to bare arms. But baring thighs may be another matter.

Photographs of the first lady descending the steps of Air Force One in shorts have the media in a sweat. Some are saying Michelle Obama, on her way to the Grand Canyon for a family vacation, may have revealed too much skin.

Obama is no stranger to public scrutiny over her fashion choices, such as exposing her bare arms or wearing expensive sneakers to a soup kitchen. When Huffington Post style editor Anya Strzemien saw Obama's shorts, she knew there would be interest.

"I thought the fact that she wore shorts was newsworthy because she's the first first lady to wear shorts on Air Force One," said Strzemien. 

She posted a poll online for readers to weigh in: Most were in favour of the outfit, but others thought the shorts were inappropriate or too short.

NBC's Today hosted a poll with similar results. A whopping 300,000 people responded to the vote and the blog post received the most comments of any item this year, said senior producer Dee Dee Thomas.

What does this show?

"That people love talking about Michelle Obama," Thomas said. "She's pushing the envelope on how we see the first lady."

And it's clear the media love talking about Michelle Obama, too. Many news outlets rallied to the first lady's defence, noting that she was on vacation over the weekend, in sweltering desert heat.

"What should she have worn to the Grand Canyon? A tweed pantsuit? A ball gown? What do you wear on your summer vacation?" asked Elizabeth Snead of the Los Angeles Times.

Others wondered from whom, exactly, the media was defending the first lady.

"Everyone is up in arms – if by `everyone,' you mean no one, or rather a large, shadowy group of no ones," Kate Dailey wrote for Newsweek. "August is a slow news month, and covering people who are actually shocked and outraged about health care can only fill so many minutes in the Twitterfied news cycle."

There were critics online, of course. 

"Why not wear linen pants ... more tasteful," wrote Charlie Smith of Montgomery, Ala., on the Today site. "She may have been on vacation ... but she should respect the Office of the President and the U.S.A."

But it was clear most responses were firmly in favour of the shorts.

"First Lady Michelle Obama looks great in her shorts and it shouldn't even be a newsworthy issue ... Leave her alone," wrote Joann Begonja of North Bellmore, N.Y.

"Get a grip folks – these aren't `Daisy Duke' shorts," echoed John Johnson of Dover, Ohio, referring to the skimpy legwear worn by a character in The Dukes of Hazzard. 

Michelle Obama's office had no comment on the matter.

Thomas, the TV producer, said she wasn't surprised by public support for the outfit. "I would be surprised to hear of any woman in her 40s who has not worn shorts," she said.

Mary Tomer, founder of the New York-based blog Mrs-O.org, which chronicles Obama's style, said the brouhaha is media-created.

"From what I can tell, most people are wondering how this became major news," Tomer said. "Who doesn't wear shorts while hiking in the Grand Canyon in mid-August with your family?"

Mandi Norwood, author of Michelle Style: Celebrating the First Lady of Fashion, said Obama can't be expected to appear down to earth but still always dress in pencil skirts and designer shoes. "This is a very practical statement by a very practical person."

Norwood said the shorts weren't particularly flattering, but the controversy about them is a "ridiculous style storm."

Still, don't expect it to go away. 

"We draw conclusions from what she wears because that's all we have to go on," Norwood said. "But also, it's fun."

Rivals band to fight Google books

Three technology heavyweights are joining a coalition to fight Google's attempt to create what could be the world's largest virtual library.

Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo will sign up to the Open Book Alliance being spearheaded by the Internet Archive. 

They oppose a legal settlement that could make Google the main source for many online works. 

"Google is trying to monopolise the library system," the Internet Archive's founder Brewster Kahle told BBC News. 

"If this deal goes ahead, they're making a real shot at being 'the' library and the only library." 

Back in 2008, the search giant reached an agreement with publishers and authors to settle two lawsuits that charged the company with copyright infringement for the unauthorised scanning of books. 

In that settlement, Google agreed to pay $125m (£76m) to create a Book Rights Registry, where authors and publishers can register works and receive compensation. Authors and publishers would get 70% from the sale of these books with Google keeping the remaining 30%. 

Google would also be given the right to digitise orphan works. These are works whose rights-holders are unknown, and are believed to make up an estimated 50-70% of books published after 1923. 

Comments on the deal have to be lodged by September 4th. In early October, a judge in the Southern district of New York will consider whether or not to approve the class-action suit. 

In a separate development, the US Department of Justice is conducting an anti-trust investigation into the impact of the agreement.

Limited release for Jackson film

A Michael Jackson film built around rehearsal footage shot before his death will be released in a limited two-week run worldwide, Sony Pictures has said.

The distributor added it had brought forward the release date of This Is It by two days, anticipating huge demand. 

The film, directed by Kenny Ortega - the choreographer of Jackson's planned shows at London's O2 arena - offers a behind-the-scenes look at preparations. 

This Is It will be released in cinemas on 28 October. 

"This film is Michael's gift to his fans," Ortega said. 

It would give them a "very private, exclusive look" into the world of a "creative genius", he added. 

"For the first time ever, fans will see Michael as they have never seen him before, this great artist at work. 

"It is raw, emotional, moving and powerful footage that captures his interactions with the This Is It collaborators that he had personally assembled for this once-in-a-lifetime project."

Ontario storms leave widespread power outages

Power remains out in several communities throughout southern Ontario as officials prepare to assess the devastation left by violent thunderstorms and suspected tornadoes that tracked across the province.

More than 21,000 Hydro One customers in southern Ontario remained without power on Friday morning. No estimate was provided on when the power would be restored.

Hydro One estimates suggest that at the peak of the outage period following Thursday's storm, 69,000 customers were reported to be without power.

Meanwhile, "significant progress" has been made in restoring power in the Toronto area, Toronto Hydro said in a news release issued early Friday, but multiple outages are still being reported.

The outages in the city are expected to last "well into Friday," said the release.

"Emergency crews and forestry staff will continue to work around the clock to restore power to customers as quickly as possible," the release said.

Power is being restored to areas with the largest concentration of outages first.

No estimate of the number of people who lost power or of the number of customers still without power was provided.

Putin Pledges $1Bln in Support for Alrosa

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday pledged $1 billion in state support for diamond miner Alrosa this year to help it ride out a steep global decline in demand for gemstones. 

"The overall level of support for the sector should total 30 billion 35 billion rubles [$950 million to $1.1 billion] this year," Putin told a meeting of senior officials after visiting Alrosa's giant Mir diamond mine in eastern Siberia. 

"This is difficult to do given the financial-economic crisis, but we shall do it," Putin said. 

The state support, which will include more state purchases of gems, is likely to help state-controlled diamond miner Alrosa service about $3.6 billion in outstanding debt. 

Two sources who declined to be identified said the $1 billion would be used by the State Precious Metals and Gems Repository, known as Gokhran, to buy diamonds from Alrosa. 

Alrosa, the main rival to De Beers, produces one-quarter of the world's rough diamonds and is one of the main sources of income for the Sakha republic, home to 950,000 people. 

"We understand that this sector, which gives serious revenues to the federal budget and regional budget, is in a difficult situation and needs support because of the global market situation," Putin said. 

"To support the sector, the state has agreed to increase state purchases of diamonds significantly." 

Putin said Gokhran's purchases had risen to 14.5 billion rubles from 3.7 billion rubles. Alrosa was seeking to sell Gokhran another $3 billion worth of gems during 2009 and 2010 to earn enough to service its outstanding debt. 

"The support given by the state will allow Alrosa to fulfill its obligations and to finance its investment program," a spokesman for the diamond maker said. Putin gave no details about state purchases planned for 2010. 

Diamond producers across the globe have been badly hit by weak demand. The world's largest producer, De Beers, which is 45 percent-owned by mining group Anglo American, has said demand should pick up in the second half. 

Alrosa president Fyodor Andreyev said Friday that he expected diamond demand would recover by 2011 as long as there was no second wave of the financial crisis. 

Putin also ordered officials to work out a way to give a state guarantee to Alrosa to help it restructure its debts to domestic and foreign creditors. 

Diamond sales make up 30 percent of the local government's revenue in Sakha, also known as Yakutia, which covers an area about one-third the size of the United States. 

Alrosa, which traces its history to the diamond mines set up there in the Soviet Union in the 1950s, employs 15,000 people and produces 97 percent of Russia's rough diamonds. 

"In recent years, $17.5 billion of diamonds have been found here [in Mirny] and about $80 billion in the republic as a whole, but when you work out how much has actually been invested here in the republic, in its infrastructure, the figures are really not very significant," Putin said. 

"The problems come from this and have been mounting for decades," Putin said. 

Alrosa sells more than half its polished diamonds in the U.S. market. Other major buyers of Alrosa's diamonds are located in Belgium, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Triumphal Return of Lockerbie Bomber Criticized

British and Scottish officials joined the United States on Friday in criticizing the way Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, was welcomed home in Tripoli as a hero late Thursday after the Scottish government ordered his release from prison on compassionate grounds.

President Barack Obama himself had strongly opposed the Scottish decision to free Mr. Megrahi on the grounds that he was dying of prostate cancer and had only months to live. Less than three hours after the decision was announced, Mr. Megrahi was on his way home aboard a jet sent from Tripoli.

His release drew outrage from the families of some of those who died when a bomb smuggled on board Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, killing 259 people on board and 11 on the ground. Of the dead, 189 were Americans.

News reports Friday said Mr. Megrahi would meet in person with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader who has long sought the convict’s freedom and who is preparing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the military coup that overthrew King Idris and brought him to power on Sept. 1, 1969. Western officials said they feared Col. Qaddafi would parade Mr. Megrahi at those celebrations as the emblem of a diplomatic triumph.

Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister, criticized Mr. Megrahi’s hero’s welcome in Tripoli, during which hundreds of young Libyans waved Scottish flags, saying on Friday that he did not believe it was “appropriate.” 

And David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, said Libya’s handling of Mr. Megrahi’s return home would “be very significant in the way the world sees Libya’s re-entry into the civilized community of nations” after its earlier years as a pariah state. 

Mr. Miliband also took issue with the way Mr. Megrahi was welcomed. “The sight of a mass murder getting a hero’s welcome in Tripoli is deeply disturbing especially for the 270 families and also for anyone who has got an ounce of humanity in them,” he said.

Karadzic to blame self-interest of west for Yugoslav break-up

Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, will seek to put western powers on trial for the break-up of the former Yugoslavia as he prepares to defend himself against charges of war crimes and genocide.

Mr Karadzic's inquiries about the late cold war period could become fodder to delay one of the most anticipated trials to emerge from the 1992-1995 war that left about 100,000 dead.

The trial, at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, is expected to begin in weeks after the presiding judge said yesterday the case was ready to proceed.

Mr Karadzic will conduct his own defence, like Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian and Yugoslav president who died while on trial three years ago.

He declined to say how he would characterise the July 1995 massacre at Srebrenica - already deemed genocide by the tribunal - or the three-and-a-half year siege of Sarajevo by his forces.

Ethnic Serbs initially fought to stay in Yugoslavia, where they formed the largest group. Muslims and Croats in the crippled federation's most ethnically mixed republic had voted for secession in 1992, knowing Bosnia-Herzegovina would win quick recognition from leading EU member states and the US.

"The break-up . . . was not in the interest of the people of Yugoslavia, but it was in the interest of certain western powers . . . after the death of Tito," Mr Karadzic said, referring to the long-time communist ruler who died in 1981.

While he expressed regret about the Bosnian war, Mr Karadzic did not acknowledge personal culpability. Instead, he said, Bosnian Muslim leaders should have respected the deal hammered out by EU officials just before fighting broke out, dividing the country internally into three separate "national" units.

Mr Karadzic's views echo those of the Serb-controlled entity's prime minister, Milorad Dodik - a former western favourite who has tangled with the EU and US diplomats holding postwar supervisory powers.

"High representatives . . . have managed to alter the letter and spirit of the Dayton agreement by decree," Mr Karadzic said.

"However, I am optimistic that positive changes can be made once democracy, rather than dictatorship, is allowed to return to Bosnia."

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Ex-UBS banker and Swiss lawyer face tax charges

The US yesterday indicted a former senior UBS banker and a Swiss lawyer for allegedly helping wealthy US citizens hide their assets in secret accounts, as Washington broadened its crackdown on offshore tax evasion.

The charges come a day after the US signed a historic deal with Switzerland giving it access to the names of 4,450 US clients holding offshore accounts at UBS, the country's biggest bank, and signalled its intent to pursue tax evaders as well as anyone who might be helping them.

Yesterday's indictment alleges Hansruedi Schumacher, a former UBS banker who ran the bank's offshore business in the US, helped clients set up sham companies and use other deceptive methods to fool US authorities. Matthias Rickenbach, a Swiss lawyer, was also charged with providing legal advice for the scheme.

In one case, the two allegedly convinced a client to transfer her mother's assets to an account in the name of Mr Schumacher's father. Upon the father's death, the money could be repatriated to the US as inheritance from a foreign citizen to the client's children, nieces and nephews, the indictment claimed.

The two also allegedly helped clients obtain offshore credit cards; falsified bank documents to make it look as if their US clients' assets belonged to Swiss citizens and hand-delivered cash to their clients when they travelled to the US.

The indictment also alleged clients were encouraged to transfer assets from UBS to Neue Zuercher Bank, a smaller Swiss bank - where Mr Schumacher later worked - because the latter would come under less US scrutiny.

NZB, Mr Schumacher and Mr Rickenbach could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday.

More than 150 criminal cases involving UBS clients are under way in the US but that number is set to jump.

Anger at Lockerbie bomber welcome

Relatives of those who died in the bombing of a US plane over Lockerbie voiced anger as the man convicted of the attack was welcomed home in Libya.

Crowds in Tripoli greeted Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, after he was freed from prison on compassionate grounds. 

The son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi called his release a courageous step by Scotland and Britain. 

But there was angry reaction from families of those killed in the bombing and from US President Barack Obama. 

Most of the 270 people who died when Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie in 1988 were Americans. 

Mr Obama said Megrahi's release, eight years into his life sentence, was "a mistake". 

He said his administration had told the Libyan government that Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, should not receive a hero's welcome and should be placed under house arrest. 

Hundreds of people, nonetheless, turned out to meet Megrahi's plane as it landed in Tripoli, many waving flags. 

Megrahi, who had changed from tracksuit he wore to leave Greenock prison in Scotland into a dark suit, was met by Col Gaddafi's son. 

"I would like to thank the Scottish government for its courageous decision and understanding of a special human situation," Seif al-Islam Gaddafi was quoted as saying. 

There was a considerable amount of new evidence to show that he was innocent, he is reported to have added. 

Megrahi was then taken to his family home where his wife, Aisha, said she was "overjoyed". 

"It is a great moment, which we have been waiting for for nine years," she said. "The house is full to bursting, everyone who loves Abdelbaset is with us."

Death toll in Siberian dam disaster rises to 23

The official death toll from an accident five days ago at a Russia's largest hydropower plant reached 23 on Friday, with another 52 people still missing, rescuers said on Thursday.

The search for the missing people at the plant on the Yenisei River in south Siberia's Khakasia Republic is continuing, and water is being continually pumped out of the turbine room which was flooded early on Monday morning after an explosion, but the chances of finding anyone else alive are now believed to be very low.

Monday's shutdown of the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant, built in 1978, has caused a severe energy shortfall in the region, forcing local factories to turn to temporary supplies. The accident destroyed three and badly damaged another two out of a total of 10 power-generating units at the plant.

The blast also released a large slick of insulating oil from the plant's transformers, threatening the river's fish.

RusHydro, the plant's owner, has said the damage could take up to two years to repair, and Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko estimated the cost could run to at least 40 billion rubles ($1.2 billion).

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit the Khakasia Republic on Friday to inspect the rescue operation at the plant and assess the situation with power supplies in the region.

Russian clubs winless on Europa League travels

Russia's three representatives in the Europa League returned from their first-leg playoff travels without a win between them, but with their chances of progress to the group stages intact.

Zenit St. Petersburg, winners of the 2007/2008 UEFA Cup, lost 4-3 to Nacional in Portugal in one of the night's best games. After going two down by the 37th minute, Igor Semshov pulled one back just before the break. Nacional quickly restored their two-goal lead, but another goal from Semshov kept Zenit in the tie.

A 73rd minute goal looked to have given Nacional a two-goal cushion for the second leg before substitute Fatih Tekke popped up to score Zenit's third deep into injury time.

Amkar, in London to face Fulham at Craven Cottage, conceded a goal in the 4th minute, Andrew Johnson scoring from close in. Clint Dempsy put the Londoners two up with a second-half strike and a well-taken Bobby Zamora goal with 15 minutes left made it 3-0. However, Amkar kept themselves in the tie with a volley by substitute Vitaly Grishin in the 77th minute to make it 3-1.

Dynamo Moscow held Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia to a 0-0 draw and were unlucky to have had a penalty appeal turned down in the first half.

The second leg ties take place on August 27.

River search resumes for missing boy

A search resumed today in the North for a teenage boy feared drowned in a flooded river as he tried to rescue a dog.

James Elliott (14) was swept away in the River Bush in the village of Stranocum near Dervock, north Antrim.

His police officer father and another teenage boy were rescued after they also got into trouble in the water.

Emergency services which called off a search last night because of the fading light were returning this morning, but believe there is little hope of finding the boy alive.

Mervyn Storey, a north Antrim Democratic Unionist Party member of the Northern Ireland Assembly said: “Everybody is hoping for a rescue, but its become more and more like a recovery operation.”

James, a pupil at Dalriada High School, and a keen soccer player, had been with his father and a friend walking dogs along the river bank. It seems he went into the water to try to retrieve one of the dogs which got into difficulties.

It is the second time in just weeks that the school has been hit by tragedy. Last month Sharon McCracken (17) an A-level student, was killed in a car crash.

Council of UN Security praises Afghanistan elections

The UN Security Council on Friday congratulated Afghanistan on holding presidential and provincial elections despite a series of terrorist acts throughout the country.

"The members of the Security Council welcome the holding of the presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan," the council's statement said. It also congratulated "the people of Afghanistan on their participation."

Incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai said more than 70 militant attacks occurred in almost half of the country's provinces during presidential elections on Thursday.

Tolo television reported that many polling stations were closed in the north-central province of Baghlan due to heavy fighting that killed 22 Taliban insurgents and injured another 20. Three security officers were also killed in the fighting.

UN Security General Ban Ki-moon also praised the polls, saying in a statement on Thursday that, "By exercising their constitutional right to vote, the Afghan people have demonstrated again their desire for stability and development in their country."

Washington also congratulated Afghanistan on holding the elections, the second presidential polls since a U.S.-led force ousted the Taliban in 2001.

The results of the polls will be known in early September. If none of the 30 presidential candidates secures 50% of the vote, a run-off will be held in October.

 

A comedian for chancellor? Why not, Germans think

BERLIN – He sports a pot belly, scruffy mustache and ugly glasses, and likes to burp on live TV, yet 18 percent of German voters would be willing to vote for him in next month's national election.

What could they be thinking?

Horst Schlaemmer, the alter ego of German comedian Hape Kerkeling, has taken the country by storm, generating a media buzz that rivals that of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, her challenger in the Sept. 27 elections.

The comedian's press conference announcing his spoof bid was carried live on two networks. He was given a king's welcome by the city of Grevenbroich, the fictitious Schlaemmer's real home town about 25 miles northwest of Cologne. Even the genuine mayor, Axel Pruemm, was on hand.

In a plodding campaign that has lacked divisive issues, Kerkeling's campaigning focuses not so much on civic duty as on drumming up publicity for the film "Horst Schlaemmer — I'm a Candidate," which opened Thursday.

Germans are complaining that this year's race for the chancellery is one of the most boring ever. But Schlaemmer's Ruhr Valley accent and ready wit have brought comic relief to a campaign in which Merkel and Steinmeier — neither of them a riveting speaker — have offered little to set the pulse racing.

"He is ridiculing the politicians' election promises, which is an accurate parody of the real election campaign," Michael Spreng, who was an adviser to a conservative candidate in Germany's 2002 election, told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper this week.

Kerkeling, 44, is one of Germany's most popular impersonators: He once posed as the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix at a German presidential reception. And when he opened his campaign this month, he offered interviews in his role as Schlaemmer.

Schlaemmer's campaign platform? Every German should receive a guaranteed salary of euro2,500 ($3,500), starting a month from the day of birth right up until the day of death.

Other planks include eliminating smoking bans, making visits to the tanning salon free, and including cosmetic surgery in the country's health care regime.

He's even pledged to ditch Germany's famed eagle emblem in favor of a bunny.

Kerkeling's film is reminiscent of the work of British comedian Sascha Baron Cohen as "Borat" or "Bruno." Kerkeling's mockumentary tells the story of Schlaemmer, an unhappy deputy editor of a daily paper in Grevenbroich, a nondescript city once famed for coal mining but notorious now for high unemployment.

In the film, Schlaemmer wakes up one morning and decides to run for chancellor, twisting President Barack Obama's campaign slogan, "Yes, we can," into "What the others can't do ... so can I."

Schlaemmer's promises may sound silly, but real campaign pledges by Steinmeier to create 4 million jobs over the next decade, or the opposition Left Party's pledge of "wealth for everyone," strike most Germans as no less implausible.

Schlaemmer's act works so well that 18 percent of Germans said they would vote for his party if he did indeed run for chancellor next month. The poll was conducted by Forsa agency, which surveyed 1,000 people last week. It did not give a margin of error.

In the film, Schlaemmer gets less than 0.4 percent of the vote in the film. But, like a real politician he promises, "I will try it again in four years."

Outgoing IAEA chief has tough choice on Iran

VIENNA – For close to a year, diplomats say, a report on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons experiments has been sitting in a drawer of a U.N. nuclear monitoring agency, with access limited to only a few top officials.

The question is whether the document — a summary of all the International Atomic Energy Agency knows about Iran's nuclear program — will be made public when agency publishes its latest report on Iran within two weeks.

As that date approaches IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is faced with the tough choice of publishing all his agency findings about Iran's alleged arms programs, or leaving the decision to his successor later this year.

The existence of a secret IAEA summary of what the agency knows based on its investigations and U.S. and other intelligence was confirmed to The Associated Press over the past few days by three senior western diplomats from nations accredited to the IAEA, as well as a senior international official who follows the Iran nuclear issue.

What's more, the information concerning allegations that Iran actively pursued research into developing nuclear warheads and the way to deliver them has been available since September, the diplomats say.

Since then, the U.S. and its allies have pushed the agency to circulate the summary among the IAEA's 35 board member nations of what it knew and its conclusions about the allegations, said the diplomats, who demanded anonymity for discussing confidential issues.

But although even some of his senior aides favor publication, ElBaradei has balked, they said. The agency chief has been keen to avoid moves that could harden already massive Iranian intransigence on cooperating with his agency on probing the allegations and on other issues — and of pushing the U.S. or Israel closer to a possible military strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities.

IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire said Thursday the agency would not comment.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning IAEA chief may possibly already be focusing on his legacy as his 12-year tenure winds down.

A restricted draft resolution shared with the AP and prepared by his agency for a 35-nation board meeting starting Sept. 7 pays "tribute" to Elbaradei and lauds the "significant contribution" he has made to the work of the agency and "the cause of international peace and security during his distinguished and successful tenure as Director General."

The draft calls for him to be named "Director General Emeritus" — an honor also accorded to his immediate predecessors.

His last day is Nov. 30. And as that date draws closer ElBaradei has repeated calls for talks on and with Iran instead of tough talk — gaining praise from the developing world but enforcing the view among his Western critics that he often oversteps his agency's mandate as purely technical organization with no political message.

He also has sharp words for his critics: "As to how we write our reports, that's our business," he told a June session of the board.

Washington unsuccessfully lobbied in 2005 to block ElBaradei's reappointment because his statements on Iraq and Iran were peppered with barely disguised criticisms of U.S. policy. The West has also viewed some statements on Israel and Gaza as overtly political, even while they were praised by Arab nations and their backers.

Elbaradei's reports on Iran have become more critical after months of continued Iranian stonewalling of IAEA efforts to monitor and investigate Iran's nuclear programs.

Still, Western delegations say they do not go far enough in faulting Tehran for withholding information and continuing to expand uranium enrichment, which can create both nuclear fuel and the fissile material for warheads.

Iran dismisses the weapons programs allegations as groundless and ElBaradei himself has said there is no "concrete evidence" that Iran was engaged in such work — even while suggesting two months ago that Tehran wants to have the capability to build such arms.

But a senior diplomat who regularly talks with leading agency experts told the AP last year that the experts viewed much of the intelligence forwarded by the U.S and other nations on alleged secret Iranian nuclear arms work as "compelling."

The June IAEA report said nearly 5,000 centrifuges were now enriching at Natanz — about 1,000 more than at the time of the last agency report, issued in February — with more than 2,000 others ready to start enriching. 

Most experts estimate that the more than 1,000 kilograms — 2,200 pounds — of low-enriched uranium Iran had accumulated by February was enough to produce enough weapons-grade material through further enrichment for one nuclear weapon. 

And as Iran expands its operations at Natanz, its potential capacity to produce highly enriched uranium is also growing. 

Iran's stonewalling of the agency on increased monitoring has raised agency concerns that its experts might not be able to make sure that some of the enriched material produced at Natanz is not diverted for potential weapons use. 

"We will be looking to see how strongly Elbaradei expresses these concerns" in the next report, said one of the diplomats from a Western delegation.

Afghan women on the campaign trail

Kabul, Afghanistan – When Farzana Barekzai and her small band of female campaigners knock at the home of Ahmadin Pahlawan, he greets them and points to a poster of President Hamid Karzai above the door to assure them: His vote isn't changing.

Mr. Pahlawan didn't need convincing from the Karzai canvassers on a previous visit either, recalls Ms. Barekzai. Instead, the man with orange-dyed hair called the women of the house together and said, "You are going to vote for Karzai and these women will tell you why."

It's not uncommon for the male head of household to dictate a woman's vote – but neither is it universal.

"Not all families were like this. There were some families where women influenced husbands," says Barekzai. Besides, once in the voting booth, "it's only herself and her God."

Women's roles in the upcoming national elections highlight some of the gains – and many of the remaining challenges – facing Afghan women as the country has moved toward democracy.

"We have seen advancements in women's rights ... but what was agreed to and committed to has not been done," says Massouda Jalal, a former Minister of Women's Affairs. "A fundamental change has not happened in the national lives of women."

Did looser Baghdad security prompt deadly bombings?

BAGHDAD — The deadly bombings Wednesday in Baghdad near two key government ministries raise questions about whether U.S. and Iraqi officials have moved too quickly to dismantle many of the security steps that brought about a dramatic drop in bloodshed in the Iraqi capital in the last two years.

Neither American officials in Washington nor Iraqi officials in Baghdad seemed willing to entertain bringing U.S. troops back into the city, however, even as violence has risen over the last two months.

Iraqi politicians, who are vying for January's scheduled parliamentary elections, want to exert their independence from the Americans. At the Pentagon , commanders are looking for ways to shift resources from former President George W. Bush's war toward Afghanistan , which President Barack Obama this week called "fundamental to the defense of our people."

Within hours of Wednesday's attacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki said in a statement that the government would reassess the security situation. However, Iraqi politicians also assured their fellow citizens that the U.S. forces that withdrew from Iraqi cities June 30 as part of the status of forces agreement between the nations wouldn't be coming back, despite the attacks.

Hadi al Ameri , who's a leading member of parliament on security and defense issues, said the attacks "have nothing to do with the USA . There is an error in our plan and there is an error in our leadership, and this is something only we can put to rest. Obviously, today has shown that lifting the concrete barriers from the streets was a hasty decision."

Added Ammar Tuma , another member of parliament: "This has nothing to do with the Americans. This is an Iraqi affair. Iraqis are doing this. Iraqis must learn to defend themselves. Let us keep the Americans out of this."

At the Pentagon , military officials stressed that the attacks in front of the Foreign and Finance ministries wouldn't change their plans to pull out all U.S. combat troops by the end of 2011. Privately, they said, the attacks worsened fears among some military commanders that the handover is happening too quickly.

"We are all waiting to see whether the Iraqis will ask us back into the cities," said a senior military officer at the Pentagon who spoke only on the condition of anonymity in order to talk candidly. "But everyone here is focused on Afghanistan ," which holds its presidential elections Thursday.

Indeed, the administration asserted Wednesday that the spectacular attacks besieging Iraq aren't a driving issue in its debate over withdrawing forces. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the number of attacks was at or near an all-time low. The number of casualties each of those attacks generates continues to rise, however, as insurgents use bigger bombs in front of easier targets, McClatchy statistics show.

As Americans troops pulled back in June, Baghdad officials began taking down concrete barriers from some of Baghdad's busiest thoroughfares.

Bab al Muatham Square , for example, where passengers who are looking for buses to Syria or Iran line up, no longer is surrounded by blast walls. Much of Tahir Square , a popular shopping destination for secondhand goods, also used to be fortified with blast walls, except for small slits for customers to come through; most of the area is now open.

With fewer barriers to get around, attackers are planning more deliberate strikes.

Instead of aiming at an security loophole in a crowded market, attackers are choosing political targets, often in areas in which Maliki ordered blast walls to come down. The attackers Wednesday detonated a truck bomb in front of the Foreign Ministry , where a checkpoint sat just weeks earlier.

That explosion killed at least 60 people and wounded more than 300, many of whom were working in the building. Another 35 were killed and 228 wounded in the attack in front of the Finance Ministry .

Twenty people also were wounded in four smaller attacks Wednesday across Baghdad ; two of them were from homemade bombs, while the other two were mortars.

The number of casualties from attacks started rising shortly after U.S. forces drew down from urban centers. It began in the north as tensions grew between the Kurds and the Arabs.

"The security situation on the ground is always something that is a consideration in terms of force levels in Iraq , and other theaters, for that matter. But I don't believe that the ebbing and flowing of attacks is a determinant in terms of whether or not to accelerate or decelerate the drawdown of U.S. forces," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said last week about the attacks in Mosul .

Wednesday's attacks shattered public perception on the streets of Baghdad that the rampant violence of two years ago is finally behind them. 

Yasir Mohammed , a 38-year-old accountant from Baghdad's northern Adhamiya neighborhood, where some of the blast walls have been lifted, said the violence was shifting from being ethnically motivated to politically driven. The violence, he said, shows that the various political blocs can't reach an agreement and that Baghdad's recent sense of security was misguided. 

"I believe that the decision to lift the concrete barriers was a hasty one," Mohammed said. "Maliki has tried to provide security, but he is not going about it the right way or by the right principles. The concrete barriers do not protect us, the system does — or should."

Persistence helps NZ diver find lost wedding ring

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealand man who promised his wife he would find his wedding ring after it fell into the capital's murky harbor has succeeded — 16 months later.

Ecologist Aleki Taumoepeau was checking Wellington harbor for invasive plant species in March last year when the ring went into 10 feet of water.

"It flew off into the air and everyone on the boat was looking at it and said it was like a scene from 'Lord of the Rings' in slow motion," Rachel Taumoepeau was quoted as saying in Thursday's Dominion Post newspaper.

He tossed an anchor overboard to mark the spot and pledged to Rachel, his wife of three months, that he would find it.

She offered to buy a replacement. "I just said 'No, I'll find it,'" he said.

An initial search three months after the loss failed, but Taumoepeau was determined. He returned again recently for another dive, risking chill midwinter temperatures.

"I was getting cold and tired, so I said to God, it would be really good to find the ring about now," he said.

He spotted the anchor — with the ring lying just inches away.

"I couldn't believe that I could see the ring so perfectly," he said. "The whole top surface of the ring was glowing" in the normally murky waters.

Friends have taken to calling Taumoepeau "Lord of the Ring."