Yesterday we spoke of the slow, drip, drip, drip of the Chinese water torture. It was the calm before the storm.

The "inevitable" has finally happened, the attack that has been expected against London has occurred. Were you surprised?

After all they have been setting us up for this since September 11, 2001, with the PR machine going into overdrive since Blair jumped into Bush's lap the summer prior to the invasion of Iraq. And who are they going to pin it on? Our favourite CIA asset, Osama bin Laden...

London has feared a devastating terrorist “spectacular” since 191 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured in the Madrid bombings in March last year.

Today’s series of multiple attacks across the capital – on the first full day of the G8 summit – bear all the hallmarks of al-Qaida’s style of terrorism.

Like previous strikes, including the September 11 attacks in the US, there were almost simultaneous blasts. And like Madrid, they came on a clearly significant day.

In the Spanish city, terrorists planted 10 bombs on four packed commuter trains just days before the Spanish elections, which ousted the right-wing government that backed the invasion of Iraq.

Al-Qaida-linked militants claimed responsibility.

A video found near a Madrid mosque after the attack claimed it was revenge for sending 1,300 troops to Iraq.

Terrorism expert Professor Eric Moonman told Sky News: "It's where the normal public go day-to-day that is always an attraction for the terrorist mind.

“It’s a twisted mind and that’s why we’re finding that the heart of London is almost closed down.

“The bus is a public vehicle and this is what was found in Madrid and what the Israelis have to live with because they know it produces the most terrible and terrifying of pictures and it makes a story.

“We haven’t been up to the mark on this... nevertheless, this isn’t the moment to apportion blame.

“But there is a massive job to be done, confidence has to be restored and then we have to start to think about where they are coming from.

“The unfortunate thing is because of what is going on Scotland some of the twisted minds of the terrorists will all want to claim credit for this action.

“There will be a lot of people who will want to say we did it.”

The expert added: “The fact is, you can do any crime if you really want to.

“It is a bloody sight and it’s one I think will probably continue, that’s why the authorities are determined to keep people out of London because I don’t think we have seen the end of it today.

“It is still early morning and the co-ordination they’ve used is to wreck the day. It is quite conceivable they haven’t finished yet.

LONDON (AFP) - Britain's most senior police officer reiterated that London has been targeted by terrorists, and that "massive resources" are being deployed to head off an attack.

"London has been the target of unsuccessful terrorist attacks and a lot have been disrupted," Sir John Stevens, who is expected to retire later this year as the chief of London's Metropolitan Police, told BBC radio.

"We can't disclose to the people what we are doing covertly and even overtly," he explained.

But he added: "We, and the security services MI5 and MI6, are working incredibly hard, and there are massive resources that we're using (to ensure) that no one breaks through in a successful attack."

Besides day-to-day policing in the greater London area, the Metropolitan Police also takes the lead in investigating terrorist activity throughout Britain.

Stevens revealed last March, in the wake of the Madrid train bombings, that "we have actually stopped terrorist attacks happening in London," but gave no details.

Mayor Ken Livingstone added that it would be "miraculous" if the British capital escaped attack.

The last known terrorist incident in London was a car bombing outside a pub in August 2001 blamed on the Real IRA, a Northern Ireland group opposed to peace efforts in the British-ruled province. [...]

Tony Blair has said terrorists will not succeed in destroying "our values and our way of life" after blasts hit London's transport network.

The prime minister said it was reasonably clear the blasts were a terrorist attack designed to coincide with the G8 summit in Gleneagles.

He said he was flying back to London to hear reports from police and emergency services face-to-face.

But the G8 summit would continue in his absence, he said in a TV address.

"It is particularly barbaric this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa" Tony Blair

Mr Blair said it was "reasonably clear" terrorists were behind the blasts.

"It is important that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world," he said.

"Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world."

Mr Blair said all the G8 leaders wanted the meeting to continue in his absence so "that we should continue to discuss the issues that we are discussing and reach the conclusions that we were going to reach".

"Each of the countries around that table have some experience of the effects of terrorism and all the leaders ... share our complete resolution to defeat this terrorism," he continued.

"It is particularly barbaric this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long term problems of climate change and the environment.

"Just as it's reasonably clear this is a series of terrorist attacks, it's also reasonably clear, that it is designed and meant to coincide with the G8."

BBC political editor Andrew Marr said Mr Blair was clearly extremely upset when he gave his reaction to the blasts.

I watched the BBC main evening news yesterday of Blair's press conference in Japan on the death of Dr. Kelly. Blair fielded a number of questions from reporters on the alleged suicide of the former government arms advisor. He seemed to be handling the situation quite well, but it was obvious that he was completely unprepared for what was to be the final question of the briefing.

"Mr. Blair", the reporter asked, "do you have blood on your hands?"

The only way to describe the effect on Blair was that his face 'crumpled', it was as though something collapsed inside him. He stood silent and motionless for a few seconds and then abruptly called the session to a close, excusing himself without answering the question.

It seemed as if the pressure of lying continually and on such a massive scale, momentarily got a little too much for Tony, and he cracked. Not to worry though, he will surely be patched up and bristling again for his next outing.

I received the following E mail from a Scottish journalist who works from a mainstream paper. I know his identity but he asked it not to be revealed. Suffice to say I have verified his name. It is up to the reader to discern whether the following information is accurate but it fits in with related information previously featured on this website. The E mail is edited for clarity.

==========================

I'm a reader from Glasgow, Scotland in the United Kingdom. I'm a journalist and stand-up comedian and heard some bits and pieces from a BBC reporter who was on Tony Blair's far-east tour plane following Kelly's death.

A conversation was overheard by this BBC reporter between Tony Blair and his press secretary Alistair Campbell. The conversation was heard folowing the press conference when Blair was asked if he had Dr Kelly's blood on his hands and Blair froze and didn't answer.

Campbell, a notorious ranter was heard to say: "What the fuck was that, you know the line on this, what were you doing, why didn't you answer." Blair's response was inaudible and Campbell was then heard to say: "This is what you wanted, you asked for this so play the game Tony." Since then Blair continually trotted out the line about waiting for the Inquiry before commenting.

Normally in the UK Public Inquiries take months and months before they start but this one was pushed through quickly because Tony Blair is apparantly on the verge of cracking. Campbell needs to get this over and done with ASAP and then have Chancellor Gordon Brown installed as Prime Minister before the end of the Year and give him plenty of time to get the people on his side before the 2005 elections.

Secondly a contact of mine, a former MI6 spook, was speaking about the circumstances of Kelly's death. He said he's been taught how to "make anything look like anything" and said that there must have been some kind of struggle at the scene of Kelly's death. He said it was sloppy work that Kelly's body was found with enough pills for an overdose but hadn't ingested them, he said that should have been removed from the scene under normal procedure. He added "You can slit someone's wrists and make it look like suicide easily but it's a lot harder to make someone swallow tablets." He also said the heart monitor pads found on Kelly's chest were "simply there to make sure he was dead." He also said those should have been removed and suspects the agents involved were disturbed by someone in the process of the killing.

I just thought some of this shit might have been interesting to yourselves. I'm happy to contribute occasional pieces of information every now and then but I'd rather you didn't publish my name along with anything I send you.

All the best.

ML20

GLENEAGLES, Scotland (CNN) -- Flanked by the somber leaders of the world's largest industrial nations at the G8 summit in Scotland, British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned what he said were likely terrorist attacks in London.

"We condemn utterly these barbaric attacks. We send our profound condolences to the victims and their families.

"All of our countries have suffered from the impact of terrorism. Those responsible have no respect for human life. We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation, but all nations and on civilized people everywhere.

"We will not allow violence to change our societies or our values, nor will we allow it to stop the work of this summit. We will continue our deliberations in the interest of a better world.

"Here at the summit, the world's leaders are striving to combat world poverty and save and improve human life.

"The perpetrators of today's attacks are intent on destroying human life. The terrorists will not succeed. Today's bombings will not weaken in any way our resolve to uphold the most deeply held principles of our societies and to defeat those who impose their fanaticism and extremism on all of us.

"We shall prevail and they shall not." [...]

The British daily Financial Times disclosed on Tuesday that the British defense office has prepared a plan to withdraw a great part of its forces from Iraq.

The paper explained that the plan states a plan to implement the first phase of the withdrawal next Autumn by handing over security arrangements to the Iraqi forces in two of the governorates of the south where some 8000 British soldiers are deployed.

However, a spokesman for the British defense office said that the British forces will continue to remain in Iraq, as far as this is necessary.

JERUSALEM - British police told the Israeli Embassy in London minutes before Thursday's explosions that they had received warnings of possible terror attacks in the city, a senior Israeli official said.

Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had planned to attend an economic conference in a hotel over the subway stop where one of the blasts occurred, and the warning prompted him to stay in his hotel room instead, government officials said.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said he wasn't aware of any Israeli casualties.

Just before the blasts, Scotland Yard called the security officer at the Israeli Embassy to say they had received warnings of possible attacks, the official said. He did not say whether British police made any link to the economic conference.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the nature of his position.

The Israeli Embassy was in a state of emergency after the explosions in London, with no one allowed to enter or leave, said the Israeli ambassador to London, Zvi Hefet.

All phone lines to the embassy were down, said Danny Biran, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official.

The ministry set up a situation room to deal with hundreds of phone calls from concerned relatives. Thousands of Israelis are living in London or visiting the city at this time, Biran said.

Amir Gilad, a Netanyahu aide, told Israel Radio that Netanyahu's entourage was receiving updates all morning from British security officials, and "we have also asked to change our plans."

Netanyahu had been scheduled to stay in London until Sunday, but that could change, Gilad said.

JERUSALEM — Israel was not warned about possible terror attacks in London before a series of blasts ripped through the city, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Thursday.

A Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had said earlier that British police warned the Israeli Embassy in London of possible terror attacks minutes before the first explosion.

"There was no early information about terrorist attacks," Shalom told Israel Army Radio later. "After the first explosion an order was given that no one move until things become clear. "

Israel was holding an economic conference in a hotel over the London subway stop where one of the blasts occurred. Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to attend the conference, but "after the first explosion our finance minister received a request not to go anywhere," Shalom said.

He said he wasn't aware of any Israeli casualties.

The Israeli Embassy was in a state of emergency after the explosions in London, with no one allowed to enter or leave, said the Israeli ambassador to London, Zvi Hefet.

All phone lines to the embassy were down, said Danny Biran, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official.

The ministry set up a situation room to deal with hundreds of phone calls from concerned relatives. Thousands of Israelis are living in London or visiting the city at this time, Biran said.

Amir Gilad, a Netanyahu aide, told Israel Radio that Netanyahu's entourage was receiving updates all morning from British security officials, and "we have also asked to change our plans."

Netanyahu had been scheduled to stay in London until Sunday, but that could change, Gilad said.

Odigo, the instant messaging service, says that two of its workers received messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11 predicting the attack would happen, and the company has been cooperating with Israeli and American law enforcement, including the FBI, in trying to find the original sender of the message predicting the attack.

Micha Macover, CEO of the company, said the two workers received the messages and immediately after the terror attack informed the company's management, which immediately contacted the Israeli security services, which brought in the FBI.

"I have no idea why the message was sent to these two workers, who don't know the sender. It may just have been someone who was joking and turned out they accidentally got it right. And I don't know if our information was useful in any of the arrests the FBI has made," said Macover. Odigo is a U.S.-based company whose headquarters are in New York, with offices in Herzliya.

As an instant messaging service, Odigo users are not limited to sending messages only to people on their "buddy" list, as is the case with ICQ, the other well-known Israeli instant messaging application.

Odigo usually zealously protects the privacy of its registered users, said Macover, but in this case the company took the initiative to provide the law enforcement services with the originating Internet Presence address of the message, so the FBI could track down the Internet Service Provider, and the actual sender of the original message.

The British daily "The Independent" on Thursday unveiled important information on spying attempts made by the Israeli Mossad and operations targeting the destruction of Israeli embassies abroad.

In an article published on Thursday and quoted by the BBC, the paper added that the person who is accused of being behind the bombing of the Israeli embassy in London in 1994, Rida Maghribi, was an agent recruited by the Mossad and was assigned by Israeli foreign intelligence for that purpose.

The paper added that behind such an act, Israel was seeking to distort the image of the Palestinians in Britain and the western countries. However, this new Mossad scandal unveiled by the British paper is added to several similar scandals dogging the Mossad in Switzerland, Cyprus and Germany involving spying against the interests of these countries and on Lebanese and Palestinian resistance forces.

The British newspaper The Mail on Sunday reports (2 November) that the British intelligence service MI5 was warned in advance of the devastating 1994 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in London, yet it took no action, failing even to tip off the police or the Israeli government.

The warning, a written report from a highly trusted source, was sent for assessment to a desk officer in MI5's international terrorism section. After she failed to act on the report, it was later found buried in the filing cupboard of another officer, reports the Mail, leading to speculation of a bungled coverup. Neither officer was disciplined and MI5 management failed to institute procedures to prevent the recurrence of such an incident.

Responding to the revelations, Israel's ambassador to Britain Moshe Raviv said, "This story is completely new to me. The Embassy had passed on to the Foreign Office general warnings based on information from Jerusalem. These warnings had been sent to a number of our embassies and as a consequence we had asked the Foreign Office to step up security and vigilance at the Embassy in London. If this information is correct, it is amazing that greater efforts were not made to prevent the attacks."

Shabtai Shevet, head of Israel's Mossad in 1994, called the development a setback in the fight against international terrorism. "Had a similar piece of information concerning a British office or institution been known to us we would not have hesitated to pass it to them," he said.

The embassy bombing in July 1994, just 24 hours after Jordan's King Hussein shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the White House, was one of the worst terrorist bombings London has seen. A 50-pound (22 kg) car bomb injured 13 and almost destroyed the embassy. Later that night a second bomb injured six people at the London offices of Britain's main Jewish charities and pro-Israel institutions.

Credit for the attacks was claimed by a previously unknown group, the Palestinian Resistance Jaffa Group Palestine. Two Palestinians were later convicted for the attacks. The presiding judge said it was only "Providence" that more people were not seriously injured or killed.

The revelations were published after the lifting of a two-month-old gagging order by the British government. British Home Secretary Jack Straw allowed publication, adding, "It is not the case that such information as the Security Service had in its possession would have enabled it to prevent the Israeli bombing from happening."

Amnesty International is concerned that Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh, convicted in connection with the 1994 Israeli embassy bombing, have been denied the right to a fair trial and that their convictions are unsafe.

On 1 November 2001, the Court of Appeal denied all grounds of the appeal against conviction and sentencing by Samar Alami, a Lebanese-Palestinian, and Jawad Botmeh, a Palestinian, both of whom are UK residents. They had been sentenced in 1996 to 20 years' imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions in 1994 at the Israeli Embassy and Balfour House in London. Bombs exploded at these locations in July 1994; no one was killed as a result.

Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh have consistently maintained their innocence of the charges. There was no direct evidence connecting either of them to the attacks and both had alibis. The appeal was based on the grounds that the convictions were unsafe, including due to the failure of the prosecution to disclose evidence to the defence, and on the length of the sentences.

Amnesty International is concerned that Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh have been denied their right to a fair trial because they have been denied full disclosure -- both during and after the trial -- of all information, including intelligence information, that may have been relevant to the investigation of the bombings. Some of this evidence had been subject to Public Interest Immunity certificates, thus blocking its disclosure. Crucial questions remain unanswered concerning the role of the various intelligence services, the actions of the Israeli embassy including in the investigation, and the nature of the initial police investigation.

This case highlights some of the dangers of use of Public Interest Immunity certificates to block disclosure of evidence and raises questions about the accountability of the intelligence services.

One of the grounds of appeal was based on statements made by former MI5 agent, David Shayler, that the security services had received a warning before the bombing that an attack on the Israeli embassy was being planned. David Shayler alleged that this information had not been acted upon. Amnesty International was concerned that the appeal court proceeded, in October 2000, with a closed hearing in the absence of the defence team. (Although the judges were willing to include the leading defence barrister in the hearing, the defence solicitor would have been excluded and the barrister would have had to give an undertaking not to disclose information to the accused.) During the closed hearing the prosecution presented to the court documents which had not previously been disclosed to the accused or their lawyers.

After the hearing the judges ordered the disclosure of only one piece of evidence. This consisted of a handwritten note outlining information received by the intelligence services before the bombings that a terrorist organization, unconnected to Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh, was seeking information about the location and defences of the Israeli Embassy in London for a possible bombing attack. The note added that related intelligence after the bombings indicated that this particular organization had not carried out the bombing. The note also explained that this information had not been disclosed to the trial judge by MI5 and Special Branch because of at least six instances of ''human error'' and ''oversight''.

Amnesty International has monitored, since 1995, the arrests and remand hearings of a number of persons in connection with the bombing attacks; the conditions in which some of the detainees were held on remand; the prosecution and trial in 1996 of four people, in which two people were acquitted; and the appeal hearings of Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh in October 2000 and October 2001.

PARIS - France on Thursday raised its anti-terror alert to red, the second-highest rating, after a series of explosions rocked London, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced.

Security was especially tight around the British embassy in Paris, as well as in the French capital's underground system, Paris area airports and rail stations, especially for passengers travelling to Britain.

French President Jacques Chirac, who was in Scotland for the Group of Eight summit, told British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he had France's "total solidarity" following the fatal blasts, which Blair called "terrorist attacks".

"The president of the Republic told the British prime minister
of his horror at the tragic events in London and expressed his sad condolences," a spokesman for Chirac said.

"He told him of the total solidarity of France and of the French people."

After an emergency meeting with his key cabinet ministers and telephone talks with Chirac, Villepin said: "This is a drama for Great Britain, for all of Europe, which was already struck in Madrid in March 2004."

The red level of France's Vigipirate security plan calls for random checks in trains, patrols on high-speed trains including Eurostar trains heading to London and airspace restrictions over certain sensitive areas.

It is the second of four levels -- scarlet, red, orange and yellow.

The French state-owned railway SNCF advised passengers not to travel to London in the wake of the blasts, urging them to postpone their departures even though trains were running on or close to schedule.

The SNCF said all passengers holding unused tickets for Thursday would be reimbursed or able to travel on a different day.

Both houses of the French parliament -- the lower-house National Assembly and the Senate -- suspended their sessions in solidarity with the British people.

The blasts came as G8 leaders met in Scotland, and just one day after London was chosen over Paris to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who returned to France on Thursday from Singapore where he went to defend the city's bid to host the Olympic Games, told reporters: "Right now, we are all Londoners."

NEW YORK - Oil prices hit a record above $61 a barrel on Wednesday as a storm looming in the wake of Tropical Storm Cindy compounded worries over U.S. refiners' ability to boost pre-winter fuel supplies.

U.S. crude jumped as high as $61.35 per barrel, the highest price for oil futures since they began trading in 1983. It later settled at $61.28 per barrel, up $1.69, or nearly 3 percent, on the day. London Brent settled up $1.56 to $59.85 a barrel after hitting a record $60.

Tropical Storm Cindy slowed into a depression on Wednesday but not before knocking out transmission lines in Louisiana, briefly shutting refinery units and leading to minor production cuts at five refineries in the state.

Oil traders also eyed Tropical Storm Dennis as it headed toward Jamaica. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Dennis could intensify into a hurricane later in the day and hit oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend.

"The hurricane threat has certainly raised people's fears of refiners struggling to produce enough products, particularly at a time when demand for gasoline is high," said Daniel Hynes, resource analyst at ANZ Institutional Banking.

In June, U.S. distillates demand averaged 5.7 percent more than the same period last year and gasoline demand was 2 percent higher.

And hedge fund investors are betting peak Northern Hemisphere winter demand later this year will stretch fuel supplies. Heating oil and diesel supplies are at the lower half of the average range for the time of year.

"As oil grows ever more expensive, it seems that only a visible weakening of the global economy, with tangible evidence that demand for oil products is slowing, would convince market participants to sell," said Morgan Stanley in a research note.

When Dennis formed it was the earliest date on record for four named tropical storms to have formed in the Atlantic basin, NHC said, underscoring predictions that the 2005 hurricane season could be unusually active.

The U.S. federal Minerals Management Service said on Wednesday companies shut in more than 13 percent of daily Gulf of Mexico oil output as they evacuated workers.

Fears about Dennis also drove gasoline and heating oil futures to record highs on Wednesday.

U.S. CRUDE SUPPLIES

In what could be preventing oil from running ever higher, crude supplies in the United States, the world's largest consumer, are near 6-year highs. Crude stocks were forecast to have fallen by mere 1.1 million barrels last week, while distillates and gasoline supplies were forecast to have risen slightly, a Reuters survey found on Wednesday. The government is slated to release its supply report on Thursday. [...]

Crude oil prices briefly surpassed $62 a barrel Thursday for the first time before turning sharply lower, amid heightened market uncertainty following a string of fatal explosions in the British capital.

Nearly simultaneous blasts rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour, causing at least two deaths and injuring at least nine riders, police said. They were concerned it was a coordinated attack.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.88 to $59.40 a barrel in electronic trading by midday in Europe. The contract had earlier hit new high of $62.10 a barrel on Thursday, a day after closing at a record settlement price of $61.28 a barrel on the Nymex, where oil has been traded since 1983. [...]

"The market is very concerned at the moment, but it's too early to draw any conclusions as we are in the middle of events and no one seems to have a clear idea of what exactly is going on," said Frederic Lasserre, head of commodities research with Paris-based SG Securities.

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks slid on Thursday after a series of fatal blasts ripped through London's transport network, stoking security worries among investors.

Breadth was negative, with decliners outpacing advancers by a 4-to-1 ratio on both Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of airline companies and insurers were particularly hit hard, while stocks of security-related companies rose sharply.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 52.79 points, or 0.51 percent, at 10,217.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 7.07 points, or 0.59 percent, at 1,187.87. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 10.85 points, or 0.52 percent, at 2,057.80.

In what the NYSE called heavier-than-normal volume, 240 million shares traded in the first half hour. [...]

NEW YORK - Gold futures in New York climbed on Thursday morning after four explosions ripped through London at morning rush hour, killing dozens of people and wounding scores.

Gold for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division stood $2.10 higher at $426.60 an ounce at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).

"We're absolutely seeing safe-haven buying in the gold and silver today. I think it's going to be pretty choppy the rest of the day," a New York floor broker said. [...]

The Federal Department of Homeland Security released gas in Grand Central Terminal last month in a secret study of how dangerous chemicals might flow through the landmark in a terrorist attack.

Nontoxic "tracer gases" were released into the terminal between June 26-30, as scientists from four national laboratories observed, including physicists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

"If there was some kind of emergency - smoke or who knows what - released in Grand Central Terminal, we want to know how it's going to move around and how best to evacuate it," Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said. "Everybody knows that some kind of biological, chemical or radiological threat is something we have to plan for, and this is part of that planning."

The colorless, odorless gas was released at different times to determine, among other things, how the movement of people through the landmark building would affect the path of potentially harmful substances. [...]

Officials have long tagged Grand Central as a potential target because of its prominence as a landmark and the number of people who use it.

Police in March revealed that a simplistic drawing of Grand Central was found on the computer of a suspected Madrid train bomber, but officials described it as an amateur sketch and said they didn't believe it was part of a plan to launch an attack.

WASHINGTON - There were nearly 3,200 terrorist attacks worldwide last year, a federal counterterrorism center said Tuesday, using a broader definition that increased fivefold the number of attacks the agency had been counting.

The National Counterterrorism Center's interim director, John Brennan, called a new database that was to go online Wednesday "the most comprehensive U.S. effort to date to track terrorist incidents worldwide."

But he cautioned that comparing the new tally to previous ones was comparing apples to oranges.

In 2004, the counterterrorism center says, there were 3,192 terror attacks worldwide with 28,433 people wounded or killed.

In government numbers made public in April, using a more stringent definition of terrorism, the State Department and the counterterrorism center had tallied 651 significant international terror attacks with more than 9,000 victims.

Iraq leads the list with the greatest number of terror attacks, 866, according to the new database. In April, using the different definition, Iraq was said to have had 201.

Brennan said the shift was primarily the result of new, broader criteria for what constitutes a terror attack. An increase in analysts working on the project also contributed to the higher numbers, he added.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is holding five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

They were captured separately and don't appear to have ties to one another, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He declined to identify them, citing a Pentagon policy that prohibits identification of detainees.

Three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans; another is an Iranian-American; the fifth is a Jordanian-American, Whitman said. The three Iraqi-Americans were captured in April, May and June, officials said. The Iranian-American was captured May 17, one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the cases.

One of the Iraqi-Americans allegedly had knowledge of planning for an attack, and another was possibly involved in a kidnapping, Whitman said. The third was "engaged in suspicious activity," he said, declining to be more specific.

Comment: More "detainees" who will most likely be imprisoned for life - or shipped off to Egypt to be tortured and killed - for being "evildoers" in the eyes of the Bush Reich. Let this be a lesson to all of our American readers: Don't engage in suspicious activity. What exactly constitutes "suspicious activity"? Ask your pro-Bush neighbors and law enforcement officials, since they will be the ones who decide using the new-and-improved broadened definition of "terrorism".

Whitman said the Iranian-American was captured with several dozen washing machine timers in his car - items that can be used as components in bombs.

In Los Angeles, relatives identified him as Cyrus Kar, 44, a
U.S. Navy veteran who lives in that city. He was in Iraq to film scenes for a documentary on King Cyrus the Great, founder of Persia, when he was arrested at a checkpoint in Baghdad in mid-May, his family said. They also said he has been cleared of wrongdoing and there is no legal authority for his detention.

They said he called them on May 24 and said he had been detained because of a misunderstanding involving a taxi driver who had been driving Kar and his cameraman around Baghdad. Kar was born in
Iran but came to the United States when he was a child, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.

The Jordanian-American was captured in a raid late last year and is suspected of high-level ties to Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist and leading al-Qaida ally in Iraq. Officials announced his capture in March.

Comment: Isn't it strange how most of the suspected terrorists who are arrested by the US always have "high-level ties" to the likes of Zarqawi or Bin Laden?? Do any of America's prisoners in the war on terror NOT have high-level ties to "al-Qaeda's" leaders?

All five are in custody at one of the three U.S.-run prisons in Iraq -
Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca or Camp Cropper, Whitman said, declining to provide their precise location. The International Committee of the Red Cross has had access to all five prisoners, Whitman said.

A panel of three U.S. officers rules on whether each prisoner is properly held; that has already taken place for the Jordanian-American. Whitman did not say whether the three Iraqi-Americans or the Iranian-American have been through this process.

Comment: Well, at least they've been given a fair trial...

Beyond that, their capture presents a complex legal issue for the U.S. government. Whitman said it is not certain whether they will be turned over to the Justice Department for investigation or to the new Iraqi legal system, which has handled the prosecution of other foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight the U.S.-led occupation and new Iraqi government.

The closest parallel to their situation may be the two American citizens were captured opposing U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Two Taliban foot soldiers, John Walker Lindh and Yaser Esam Hamdi, held U.S. citizenship when they were captured in late 2001.

Lindh, a California native now in his early 20s, pleaded guilty in civilian court to supplying services to the Taliban government and carrying explosives for them. He received a 20-year prison sentence in 2002 and has since sought to have it reduced.

Hamdi was born in Louisiana and grew up in Saudi Arabia. He was held by the U.S. government for three years before being released to his family in Saudi Arabia in October 2004. He gave up his American citizenship as a condition of his release.

Whitman, however, said their cases do not necessarily set a precedent for the handling of the five Americans captured in Iraq because Afghanistan had no functioning government at the time of Lindh's and Hamdi's capture.

The military is holding about 420 non-Iraqis in Iraq, out of more than 10,000 in custody, officials said. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government has held more than 70,000 people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

It's the happy snappy rhythm of jackboots on parade. Our brown-shirted fair-haired boys of jingoism singing the festive celebratory songs, the sadistic serenade --

Oh glorious torture
Gloriously heinous torture
Down in Guantanamo Bay
And say
Have you seen how the wired detainees dance?
They call it foot loose with the juice.
Dance jihadi dance!

Torture for the unfortunate souls that got themselves locked up. Locked up because, they dared oppose our invading. They're, you know, Muslims, those vile and nasty evil doers! We only ever torture the evil doers. If they weren't the evil doers, well then, they wouldn't be locked up in detention now, would they?

Perpetuity, yes that was what the A.G. said. Perpetuity gives us the right to do as we see fit. They are evil doers and it is perfectly acceptable to torture and detain evil doers. Especially if they are those jihadi evil doers. You know, Muslim Islamist terrorists that mean us no good. Our glorious leader says so. Dick says so. They are our gloriously elected leaders and our government could never make a mistake, so make no mistake, the jihadis are ours to detain, to torture, to execute if that is what our glorious leader wants. It's the mandate of democracy.

It's the happy snappy rhythm of jackbooted democracy on parade. Our fair-haired brown-shirted boys in xenophobic celebration. See how their leather belts shine like the rising sun. It's just glorious.

Torture glorious torture that keeps our homeland free. Detention keeps our homeland safe. Liberty knows no excess when it comes to the homeland's defense. Democracy knows no excess when the torture is on someone else. Especially when the someone else is jihadi! Remember, they are Islamist terrorists who mean us no good at all. Excess in the defense of detentions is no vice. Torture for the Homeland. Detentions for the Homeland. Who cares!

The detainees are not like us. The detainees are, you know, those Muslim kind. They mean us no good. They have never meant us any good at all. If those kind were like our kind, well then, they would just give us their oil. You know it and I know it and our glorious leader knows it. Excess on the jihadis is no vice at all. Excess is the patriotic thing to do. Unquestioning patriotic excess in the defense of democracy on parade. If we don't bring the fires of liberation and freedom to those Muslims, then who will? Bringing the glorious fires of democracy to the jihadis is our destiny!

Glorious shock and awe democracy. It is our divine destiny to rain the fires of freedom, liberation, and democracy all over the jihadis. Laser-guided precision democracy. So when the jihadis oppose us, we can arrest and detain them. The torture is just icing on a freedom cake.

No-one ever said the work of freedom, liberation, and democracy would be easy. And no-one ever said the work could be so enjoyable! Torture can be a savory dish to be relished, and detention can be the appetizer for so many bigger and better atrocities.

One can almost hear the happy snappy rhythms of jackboots on democratic parade. Divine destinies and liberate the undemocratic world. So many jihadis to detain and then torture, and so little time.

Early in the morning you can hear the happy crackling voltage, its jihadis twitching in convulsions and they can't even scream.

Gloriously divine destination democracy!

Oh, glorious, preemptive war. Gloriously bringing liberation, freedom, and democracy to the ungodly parts of the world.

Isn't that the way it was meant to be? Isn't that what America wanted? Our glorious leader says that is exactly the way it is meant to be. Dick says the same thing. It's unanimous!

Yes, one can almost hear the happy snappy rhythms of jackbooted democracy as it marches liberation all over what was left of Afghanistan. There wasn't much standing anyway. Afghanistan, landlocked and poorer than just about any other nation. So, who cares? What a glorious liberation. Not much fight left in the Afghan jihadis now. Not much fight and not much life. Precision democratic munitions will do that to a people. Blown into wee tiny liberated pieces.

Oh glorious napalm fires of freedom.

One can hear the happy snappy rhythms of jackbooted democracy as it marches its way up Saddam Hussein's neck. A running start to free the Iraqi people who have been languishing in the evil clutches of weapons of mass destruction. Oh glorious preemptive war. Liberation and freedom from those imminent 45-minute threats. Our brown-shirted fair-haired boys are singing songs in praise of collateral damage. A small price to pay for liberation, freedom, and the fires of democracy.

Early in the morning, you can hear the happy snappy rhythms of shock and awe raining destruction. Oh glorious democratic destruction and the blessed rain of napalm liberation. Depleted uranium freedom and the dead sing praises to their liberation from life.

Yes, that is what America wanted. Those that are not with us are destined to be liberated from being against us. Isn't that what our glorious leader said? Yes, that is exactly what he said. Dick said that, Sleazy said that, the General Lying Powell said that, and the presidential puppy Tony said that. "You are either with us or you are against us." Glorious myopic xenophobic ignorance on jingoistic jackbooted parade. Everyone now, sing the glorious songs of liberated torture. Sing the glorious songs of freedom to detain in perpetuity.

Liberation, freedom, and democracy on a protracted death march to glorious empire. The fulfillment of Karl Rove's dream of Reich. So, it's a Reich march to glorious liberated freedom. Well, of course it is, our glorious leader says so.

Wasn't it worth the price? Well, America, wasn't it worth the sacrifice? Those are your children buried in the ground. Wasn't it worth their precious young lives to bring our glorious leader's dream of empire and democracy on parade to fruition?

By the by, our glorious leader lied to you, and you ate it up like fried chicken at a Sunday barbeque. Doesn't it taste like liberation? Doesn't it taste like freedom? Doesn't it taste just a wee tiny bit bitter even with that democratic flavoring?

Don't you just feel safer? Don't you just sleep better at night knowing that our glorious leader detained a whole lot of folk by lying? Don't you feel just warm and democratically snuggly knowing that torture is used in your name on folk that did not one thing to you?

Do you wonder about all those innocent men, women, and children that are dead at the hands of our glorious leader? You should, you know. Yes, you should. That growing knot in the pit of your stomach, can you feel it yet? That is what is called personal responsibility. That is what is known as culpability. That is what is known as Third Reich syndrome.

The German people remained silent in the face of Adolph Hitler's crimes... just like the American people, for the most part, are silent in the face of the crimes against humanity committed by George Bush. They're war crimes and as long as Bush remains on that American throne of empire, the American people are responsible.

"ICH" - - I once edited and wrote the introduction to William Graham Sumner's sadly forgotten book, The Conquest of the United States by Spain and Other Essays (Regnery/Gateway). Sumner was an irascible and biting Social Darwinist and classical nineteenth century supporter of laissez faire. What attracted me to him was not his economics but his utter contempt for American imperialism during the Spanish American War and its subsequent invasion of the Philippines, which left 4,000 American volunteers and perhaps 250,000 Filipinos dead. Despite the backing of a jingoist and cowed press, politicians who believed they had God's ear, and a large majority of Americans, Sumner the eternal skeptic wasn't convinced. Unlike the cheerleaders for war, he recognized what lay ahead. The rest of the century, he accurately predicted, would bring a "frightful effusion of blood in revolution and war."

Sound familiar?

Since then, the world's addiction to war and violence has never abated. Nor has America's. Big and small and proxy wars, attacks on militarily powerful states such as the Dominican Republic, Grenada and Panama, plus interventions in the Caribbean and Central America, to name but a few, have occurred in nearly every decade. All of which seems to reflect Randolph Bourne's famous, all-too prescient remark that, "War is the health of the state." (Of course you can always pacify the population with patriotic and reverent ceremonies honoring the heroic troops who died in battle – always, the rationale goes – in the cause of "freedom.")

During Vietnam –and later, before the Iraq War – we antiwar dissidents finally began mass protesting, marching, contacting politicians, writing, constructing placards and posters, praying, carrying out acts of civil disobedience and marching but to no avail. At least not yet.

My own humble proposal to put an end to war and terrorism everywhere is somewhat different, namely that the International Criminal Court in The Hague be empowered to investigate, indict and try every high-level – and only high-level – governmental leaders whose policies have led to the murder of civilians. The court should be granted the muscle to deal with all those unaccountable politicians including those whose nations have not joined the ICC. In that event, the guilty leaders will never again be allowed to travel to a signatory nation without risk of arrest.

Had such a court had the power, scores of notorious African, Central and Latin American presidents and generals would now be behind bars, as would past, present and future caudillos, generalissimos, presidentes, commissars, führers, duces, Great Leaders, presidents, vice-presidents and assorted zealots. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon would have been hauled into court and tried for their responsibility in causing millions of deaths in Southeast Asia. The court would have had the power to call to the dock Saddam Hussein and any American and British leader who lied so Iraq might be invaded.

This accountability, this threat to punish guilty heads of state, this permanent black cloud would forever strip them of honor and memory and with hope, dissuade future leaders from murdering in the name of one ideology or another and then justifying the resulting savagery with groupthink, excessive flag waving, religious fanaticism and the demonization of "enemies."

Moreover, we could institute special worldwide celebrations for the naysayers and whistleblowers that refuse to go along with the murderous plots afoot in their countries. John Kenneth Galbraith and George Ball are rightly remembered for saying "no" to JFK and LBJ. Who now cares to honor Dean Rusk, Walt Rostow and McGeorge Bundy? I would also have a curriculum devised to teach the young everywhere the virtues of tolerance.

It's a dream, I know, but the alternative is a 21st Century even worse than the one Sumner envisioned.

Murray Polner [ Buber@optonline.net ] co-authored Disarmed and Dangerous, a biography of Daniel and Philip Berrigan and wrote No Victory Parades: The Return of the Vietnam Veteran. A version of this article appeared in the July-August issue of Fellowship magazine.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Wednesday assailed critics of potential Supreme Court nominee Alberto Gonzales, from the political right as well as the left. The Senate's top Democrat said the attorney general was qualified but wouldn't necessarily get "an easy way through" confirmation.

Even before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her plans to retire, some conservatives had begun warning Bush about selecting Gonzales, the former White House counsel, objecting to his record on abortion and affirmative action.

Liberals, meanwhile, have expressed reservations about Gonzales' decisions on detainee treatment, death penalty cases and executive privilege.

At a news conference during his European trip, Bush defended Gonzales, a friend since the president's time as Texas governor.

"I don't like it when a friend gets criticized. I'm loyal to my friends," Bush told reporters in Copenhagen, Denmark. "All of a sudden this fellow, who is a good public servant and a really fine person, is under fire. And so, do I like it? No, I don't like it, at all."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, a frequent critic of the president, said Gonzales had the credentials to sit on the court, but he indicated confirmation might not be smooth.

The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Gonzales as attorney general, 60-36, despite complaints from Democrats that he had had a role in establishing White House policies that led to the abuse of prisoners in the terrorism fight. He would be the first Hispanic justice on the high court.

"Alberto Gonzales is qualified. He's attorney general of the United States and a former Texas judge. But having said that he's qualified, I don't know if he'd have an easy way through," Reid said in Las Vegas.

Some of the harshest criticism of Gonzales has come from the right, not from Democrats, and Reid chided conservatives for that. "I think it's too bad the president has to respond in Denmark about statements from the far right," he said.

Bush urged senators to ignore the heated rhetoric from both sides and engage in a civil discussion during confirmation hearings on whomever he nominates to replace O'Connor, who often was the crucial swing vote on the closely divided court.

The Republican president's choice could shape the court for years to come -- a fact not lost on liberal and conservative groups gearing up multimillion-dollar campaigns to support or oppose the nominee.

"I hope the United States Senate conducts themselves in a way that brings dignity to the process, and that the senators don't listen to the special interest groups, particularly those on the extremes that are trying to exploit this opportunity for not only their -- what they may think is right, but also for their own fundraising capabilities," Bush said.

Comment: That's rich coming from a man who has done more to sell out the US to psychopathic corporations than any other politician in recent memory, has campaigned for president twice with funding from those same corporations, and has done what he thought was right despite those pesky "irrelevant" international laws and disagreement from the American public.

During his trans-Atlantic flight Tuesday, Bush went over dossiers of more than a half dozen prospective nominees. He said he wanted a new justice in place when the court's term begins in October.

Moving forward on the process, the president asked former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, to help shepherd his nominee through the Senate. Thompson, 62, an actor on the NBC television series "Law & Order," retired from the Senate in 2002.

Reflecting the politically charged atmosphere, that decision drew criticism from the Democratic National Committee, which said "blurring the line between fact and fiction is nothing new for our Republican colleagues" and a solid nominee wouldn't need the help of an "actor and high-paid lobbyist."

At his news conference, Bush reiterated his campaign pledge that there would be no litmus test on issues such as abortion for his nominee.

"I'll pick people who, one, can do the job, people who are honest, people who are bright, and people who will strictly interpret the Constitution and not use the bench to legislate from," he said. [...]

Washington - The jailing on Wednesday of a New York Times reporter for contempt marked a dark day for press freedom, a perversion of justice and sent a chilling message, according to editors and media watchdogs.

Judith Miller was sent to prison for refusing to name the source who published the name of a CIA agent in a case which morphed into a historic showdown between the courts and the press.

A second journalist, Time's Matthew Cooper, also initially refused to testify, but his source dramatically released him from his confidentiality pledge to allow him to testify to a federal probe into the case.

"It is tragic that, in pursuit of offences real or imagined, a federal prosecutor sees fit to imprison a journalist who is simply doing her job and adhering to the basic ethical principles of her profession," said Rick Dunham, president of Washington's National Press Club.

"It is a sad perversion of justice to send Judith Miller to jail for protecting a confidential source in a case where no crime has yet been alleged and no story was ever written by Ms Miller."

Miller researched the case but did not actually write an article on it.

Reporters Without Borders said the judgement was a "dark day for freedom of the press in the United States and around the world."

"This unprecedented sentence against a journalist who was merely exercising her professional prerogative is a serious violation of international law, a dangerous precedent, and the United States has sent a very bad signal to the rest of the world." [...]

Bush rides without training wheels for the first time with a Secret Service agent in tow.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland - US President George W. Bush, out for a spin on his bicycle at the Group of Eight summit venue, collided with a policeman and had to be treated for scratches on his hands and arms, a spokesman said.

Bush was going at a pretty high speed on the presidential bicycle when he collided with an officer guarding the Gleneagles golf resort, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

The US leader, who had been riding for about an hour, skidded on the paved surface and suffered scrapes to his hands and arms, the spokesman said, according to a pool report.

He was treated and bandaged by the White House physician, the spokesman said, according to a pool report.

It was the second time during his presidency that Bush had a bike accident -- last year he fell off his mountain bike at his ranch in Texas, suffering slightly more serious injuries.

The president was mostly concerned about the police officer, who was taken to a local hospital as a precaution with a possible ankle injury, McClellan said.

"A police officer sustained a very minor ankle injury within the Gleneagles Hotel complex," said a spokeswoman for Tayside police, tasked with guarding the leaders of the G8 nations. She declined further comment.

The president spent some time with the officer and had asked the White House physician, Richard Tubb, to monitor his condition at the hospital, Bush's spokesman said.

Bush would likely call the officer later, McClellan said.

The president, who had been riding with a Secret Service agent, was fine, he said. But the bicycle suffered some damage and Bush had to return to the hotel in a car, which had been trailing them.

The US leader later appeared unhurt when he joined a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at the Gleneagles Hotel for the leaders of the G8 nations, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

McClellan declined to speculate about who was at fault in the bicycle accident.

In May 2004 Bush tumbled from his bike during a ride on his ranch in Crawford, Texas, scraping his chin, upper lip, both knees, his right hand and his nose.

A spokesman at the time blamed loose topsoil for the spill, but also suggested that Bush had been riding hard, noting the president is "a fitness enthusiast" and adding that "he wasn't poking along, whistling show tunes."

Bush previously fell off a Segway -- a motorized, two-wheel vehicle -- while visiting his parents in Kennebunkport, Maine, in June 2003 and suffered scrapes to his face when he fainted and fell after choking on a pretzel at the White House in January 2002.

Iraq's defence minister, on a landmark visit to Iran, called for reconciliation between the two neighbours and former arch-foes and pledged not to allow Iraqi soil to be used for attacks against the Islamic republic.

"We have come here to turn a painful page and to open another," Saadun al-Dulaimi said Thursday at a press conference with Iranian counterpart Ali Shamkhani.

"I have come to Iran to ask forgiveness for what Saddam Hussein has done," he said, referring to Saddam's attack on Iran in 1980 that sparked a bitter eight-year war and led to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Dulaimi pledged that the two sides would begin military and anti-terrorist cooperation, but nevertheless asserted it was too soon for US and other foriegn troops to pull out of his country.

Iran is concerned about the US military presence on its borders and has repeatedly called for their withdrawal, but Dulaimi asserted that "given the present situation, if foreign forces leave Iraq there will be nothing but chaos and more trouble."

"Iraq will not be a source of insecurity and instability for any of its neighbors. Nobody can use its soil to attack Iraq's neighbors," Dulaimi insisted, in response to Iranian concerns over a possible American attack.

Comment: Except the US, of course... It's difficult to see how Dulaimi's comments offered any comfort to Iranian leaders.

Tensions between Iran and the US are high over Washington's claims the clerical regime here is seeking to arm itself with nuclear weapons. Tehran has also been accused of backing Iraqi insurgents and Palestinian militants.

Shamkhani announced the formation of joint committees for military cooperation, the fight against terrorism, clearing minefields and investigating the missing soldiers from the 1980-1988 between Iran and Saddam's Iraq.

The military committee is aimed at "equipping the Iraqi army ... to create an independent and self-sufficient Iraqi army", he said.

The Iraqi minister pledged that the United States could not oppose the cooperation between the two countries: "We are going to cooperate and no one can stop this cooperation".

The two ministers, however, agreed that more sensitive issues such as a peace treaty and war reparations were far from being resolved. The United Nations resolution that ended 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war did not provide for reparations.

"We have come to our Iranian brothers to ask them for help and we have not yet started on the more sensitive issues," the Iraqi minister said about the massive reparations -- up to 100 billion dollars -- claimed by Iran.

"Our Iranian brothers have promised us a billion dollar aid as a loan," he added.

About a peace pact, the Iranian defence minister said "it is still too soon, that will be the final step in cooperation".

The two ministers also discussed the continued presence in Iraq of Iran's main armed opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen, which Saddam supported in its cross-border raids on Iran.

"The Mujahedeen can stay in Iraq if they act like political refugees but they will have no place if they act against Iran," Dulaimi said.

Shamkhani said the Mujahedeen would be on the agenda of the anti-terrorism committee.

Tehran and Baghdad resumed diplomatic relations in September 2004, and Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi paid an historic visit to Iraq in May this year.

Dulaimi arrived in Tehran on Tuesday night for a three-day visit.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari is also scheduled to visit Iran in the coming days.

RAMALLAH, July 7 (Xinhuanet) -- A 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead Thursday by Israeli troops as they stormed the Balata refugee camp near the city of Nablus in the West Bank, Palestinian medics said.

Mohamed al-Missimi, 17, was killed after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers, said the medics at a hospital in Nablus.

They added that another two Palestinian teens, 18 and 16 years old respectively, were also injured with one of them in critical conditions.

The two had been admitted to hospital, said the medics.

According to Palestinian witnesses, an Israeli army force stormed on Thursday morning the Balata refugee camp, where dozens of teens threw stones at the Israeli soldiers who fired back at them.

In the meantime, Israel Radio reported that soldiers clashed with Palestinians in the refugee camp, where militants opened fire at them, adding that one of the militants was shot and killed.

But local Palestinian residents said the killed was a 17-year-old teen and was not holding a gun.

BEIJING, July 7 -- A survey reveals about half of Beijing residents interviewed, 44.5%, are unclear of the July 7 Incident, which marked the beginning of the 8-year war against Japanese invasion, reported the Beijing Evening News on Wednesday.

And 15% of the respondents do not even have a clue of what is meant by July 7 Incident, also known as the Lugouqiao incident by the name of the place where the fighting occurred.

Conducted by Beijing Evening News and a Beijing poll center, 1,000 people in Beijing were interviewed through the telephone prior to the 68th anniversary of the anti-Japanese invasion war (1937-1945). When asked "which year did July 7 incident happen in," only 57% of them were able to answer correctly -- July 7, 1937. The rest were unsure, including 7% said "I don't know."

Most of the interviewees got the right answer for the question, "Which war was July 7 incident related to." Some 85% of them knew -- Chinese army was attacked by the Japanese invading troops near Lugouqiao Bridge and the Chinese army fought back, marking the start of the 8-year war. Yet, 15% of them got it wrong. [...]

An outbreak of bird flu (search) among migratory waterfowl in China suggests the disease — which could trigger a dangerous flu among people — may be poised to spread to India, Australia, New Zealand and eventually Europe, scientists warn.

If the migrating birds carry the H5N1 flu virus (search) beyond its current stronghold in southeast Asia, it could devastate poultry farms and raise the risk of a deadly flu pandemic in people, experts said.

"They're going to spread this ... thing further and further across central Asia and Europe and who knows where," said Robert G. Webster of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., an author of a report released online Wednesday by the journal Nature.

Another report, released by the journal Science, said the finding of the H5N1 infection in migrant birds at Qinghai Lake in western China "indicates that this virus has the potential to be a global threat."

The reports echo concerns voiced last week by the World Health Organization, which urged China to step up its testing of wild geese and gulls. A WHO official estimated that the flu had killed more than 5,000 wild birds in western China.

The outbreak was first detected about two months ago in bar-headed geese at China's remote saltwater lake, which is a key breeding location for migratory birds that overwinter in southeast Asia, Tibet and India. The virus has hit that species the hardest, but also infected d brown-headed gulls and great black-headed gulls.

The H5N1 virus has been entrenched in poultry in southeast Asia since 2003, and variants of it infect people who come in contact with sick chickens. Webster said the Qinghai Lake virus is genetically different from the one that has been infecting people in Vietnam, but it is a "first cousin ... not far away at all." That implies it has the potential for infecting people, probably by way of domestic chickens or ducks, he said.

If a bird flu virus infects a person who also carries a human flu virus, the result could be a hybrid bug that passes easily from person to person. "That's the spark that sets off the forest fire of a global pandemic, and that's what everyone is worried about," said flu expert Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University.

The flu outbreak in migratory birds at Qinghai Lake "makes us ever more anxious this event could occur" because it suggests the virus could become more widespread, said Schaffner, who was not involved in the new studies.

Both studies discuss the genetic makeup of virus samples from Qinghai Lake and raise concerns about the potential for spreading through migratory birds. The Science report comes from George F. Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing with colleagues there and elsewhere in China. In lab experiments, they found the virus killed chickens and mice.

The Nature report is presented by Yi Guan of the University of Hong Kong with Chinese colleagues and Webster, who's affiliated with the Joint Influenza Research Center at Shantou University Medical College in Shantou, China.

Webster called the outbreak "a disaster for poultry industries.... Poultry-raising strategies may have to be changed. Vaccines may have to be considered on a wider scale."

He said countries that have invested heavily in clearing the virus from poultry are at risk, presumably even in Europe at some point because of overlapping migratory paths of wild birds.

"If this virus is really in wild migrating birds, and you've cleaned up your country and your domestic poultry industry," he said, "it's going to come back."

Richard Slemons of Ohio State University, who is studying flu in wild birds, said the Qinghai Lake die-off needs to be investigated. But "is this the prelude to something big and disastrous?" he asked. "We don't know."

BEIJING, July 7 -- Searing temperatures across booming China have driven up energy demand, exposed an over-reliance on coal and are taking a toll on industry, Xinhua news agency said.

Power shortages this summer should be "much more serious" than last year -- when China faced its worst energy crunch in two decades -- a source from the State Electricity Dispatching Center were quoted as saying.

"Many experts attribute the power shortage to the skyrocketing economy, especially high-power-consuming industries," Xinhua said in an overnight report.

China's unbalanced energy structure was also to blame, because excessive reliance on thermal power meant coal shortages could "immediately lead to a terrible power generation breakdown," Xinhua said.

China has poured billions of dollars into expanding its power transmission and generation capacity, but the national power system is forecast to struggle to meet demand until 2006-2007.

Generators nationwide are expected to crank out 25 to 30 gigawatts less power than consumers want to use this summer with no end to the crippling heatwave in sight.

Temperatures were expected to stay above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) across most of China over the next few days, especially in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which saw its hottest day in 70 years on Sunday when the mercury hit 39 C (102 F), Xinhua said.

The heat had forced the suspension of construction projects in many cities and caused water shortages, fires and traffic accidents, it said.

On Monday, almost 100 people in Shanghai were poisoned when toxic ammonia burst from a steel container that exploded after baking for hours under the sun.

SANTIAGO, July 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The Santiago Court of Appeals Wednesday removed the immunity from criminal prosecution of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, 89, in regards to the Operation Colombo case involving the disappearance of 119 persons.

The Santiago court decided by a count of eleven votes against ten to remove the immunity of the former ruler of Chile.

The Santiago Court of Appeals listened for over an hour to the claims of the plaintiff and the defense before the vote.

Hernan Quezada, one of the lawyers representing the families ofthe 119 victims, expressed his satisfaction over the court decision, saying that "we're pleased with the ruling."

However, Pablo Rodriguez, Pinochet's lawyer, said that the decision was not based on evidence.

The Operation Colombo became public in 1975, when Pinochet's regime announced that the bodies of 119 members of the Leftist Revolutionary Movement (MIR) had been found in Argentina and Brazil, allegedly killed in a dispute among members of the guerrilla organization.

The elderly general took power in a bloody coup in 1973 and ruled the country for 17 years.

An official report said 3,197 people died or disappeared under Pinochet's military rule.

The Supreme Court has stripped Pinochet of immunity in two human rights cases, but the cases have been delayed due to health problems.

A lifeguard in Santa Barbara, Calif., is recovering Wednesday after being attacked by a sea lion in the waters off El Capitan State Beach.

Officials said Jim West was bitten three times Monday while he swam about 50 yards offshore. West needed about 30 stitches after the attack.

"He's lucky," witness Eric Gatti said. "He was lucky to be alive. If he wasn't swimming, and he wasn't a lifeguard, he might have been cut up more."

Beachgoers have now been warned to steer clear of sea lions.

"What are the chances of that happening again?" beach visitor Holly Hopkins said. "I mean you never hear about that happening. Sharks, yeah, but not sea lions."

Authorities say there have only been about 10 sea lions attacks on humans along the West Coast in the last century.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The nation's biggest power generator broke clean air rules by failing to cut emissions at plants in four states that foul the air in the Northeast and harm health, a federal lawyer argued Wednesday.

The case against Columbus-based American Electric Power is the biggest among several filed in the waning days of the Clinton administration against utilities in the Midwest and South.

The government and eight states say AEP broke the law when it made major modifications to nine coal-burning plants without installing equipment that would have cut pollution drastically.

The absence of the equipment means the plants continue to spew sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and soot that cause acid rain, smog and haze downwind from Ohio. The government says the pollutants lead to severe respiratory problems, including asthma and bronchitis.

"The plaintiffs expect to establish that AEP's conduct has resulted in environmental harm," government attorney Leslie Bellas said in opening statements.

AEP and the utilities have argued that work done on the plants was routine maintenance, which doesn't trigger the requirements for expensive pollution controls.

AEP might be required to pay billions of dollars for pollution controls and millions of dollars in penalties if the judge decides it violated the Clean Air Act. [...]

An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale hit the eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula (the Russian Far East) Thursday.

Shocks of the earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Kamchatka Strait separating the peninsula from the Kuril Islands, were recorded at 3.17 a.m. local time (6.17 a.m. Moscow time or 2.17 GMT), the local seismological service said.

The earthquake epicenter was 40 meters under the seabed. There were no reports of any casualties.

Another earthquake with a 4.9 magnitude occurred in the same area nine hours before. Aftershocks measuring 2 on the Richter scale were fixed in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the regional center.

The epicenters of the two earthquakes were some 300 kilometers far from each other.

The dynamic of UFO sighting events following Xalapa's incident took a new course last week with yet another mass sighting of a UFO fleet over Mexico City, an event that caused considerable commotion and many reports from witnesses, even during a daily tv show broadcast.

The information and details of this new incident was released by journalist/researcher Jaime Maussan during the radio show 'Los Grandes Misterios' last Sunday July 3, 2005 as part of the continuous coverage of the UFO incidents that followed Xalapa's event.

Thursday, June 30, the morning was clear in Mexico City. A strong rain during early hours left a clean sky in this populated city and the visibility conditions were exceptional.

At 10:00 AM Pedro Avila, skywatcher and director of The Vigilantes skywatch group received a call from colleague Enriquer Vallarino telling that an employee alerted him of a UFO sighting outside their office on Cuahutemoc street near the Medical Center.

Out on the street, a number of people were already excitedly pointing to the sky. What they saw was another 'cluster' sighting...this time about FORTY UFOs flying at the same altitude.

At the same time, the Jaime Maussan Research Center began receiving several calls from different parts of the city. Witnesses were reporting an unusual phenomena in the sky that was attracting the attention of scores of people who were watching many shining UFOs fliying together and appearing as a 'fleet.'

Once alerted, Pedro Avila made several calls to his research team and colleagues like Maria Montcerrat Romero, Salvador Guerrero, etc. to advise them of a UFO fleet sighting taking place and to try to get video of the event. A few minutes, later Avila received calls from other sources giving the news of the UFO sighting from different parts of the city.

According to Pedro Avila interviewed on radio by Jaime Maussan, it took just a few minutes to receive confirmation from his Vigilantes colleagues. The sighting was taking place and they were videotaping the numerous objects who looked metallic, sphere shaped and shinning in the sun.

Almost 40 objects were counted, moving in harmony according to the classic patterns of the many other UFO 'fleets' seen over Mexico in recent years. There was a single, larger object noticed above the main formation which was described as having a yellowish color, a feature similar to the Guadalajara sighting.

Some minutes later Jaime Maussan received a report from Alfredo Adame, popular tv host from a daily show by TELEVISA saying that many people were calling the tv show reporting a huge UFO sighting taking place over the city. Alfredo Adame was interviewing researcher Rodolfo Garrido on live broadcast when the people called reporting the unusual phenomena in the sky urging them to go outside and record the event.

People at the airport's control tower were asked if their radar screens were detecting the objects but they declined to make any statements.

By this time, Pedro Avila at The Vigilantes Research Center got already confirmation of at least three videos taken by Maria Montcerrat Romero from Tlalnepantla, Salvador Guerrero from Agricola Oriental and another witness from Coacalco in an extraordinary coordination of skywatch work to document the incident.

The images were carefully analyzed and the 'balloon' explanation was quickly discarded because of the patterns flown by the whole mass of UFOs, and it's synchronyzed flight path - a classic feature of a UFO flotilla. Pedro Avila made an analysis of a zoomed frame of one object and confirmed it had no cord attached and its shape was not that of a common balloon.

THE PEOPLE'S AWARENESS

On Sunday July 3, Jaime Maussan made a national call on television for eyewitnessesto come forward and share their sightings from that morning of June 30, and for those who may have videotaped the UFO flotilla over the city.The response was remarkable, and Jaime received calls and emails from many actual witnesses to this massive sighting.

The next day, Maussan received an important testimonial and video from Mr. David Olazcoaga from Ecatepec, Edo. de Mexico who along with his young son Jesus Alfonso witnessed the UFO fleet.

Mr. Olazcoaga managed to capture on video the moment when the UFO formation moved slowly with the moon behind, a beautiful image. His son Jesus is heard on the tape asking him: "Are they going to attack us?"

A sharp increase in the activity of Mount Shiveluch, the northernmost volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula (the Russian Far East), has been registered.

After a three-month-long eruption that produced gas and ash plumes and debris avalanches, Shiveluch has started erupting two-five kilometer ash columns, said Alexei Ozerov, a senior researcher at the Far-Eastern Volcanology and Seismology Institute.

Shiveluch is producing pyroclastic flows (avalanches of gas, ash and magma debris) with temperatures reaching about 800 degrees Celsius, and 100km ash plumes, the researcher said.

Seismic control of the volcano is currently impossible because a 20km lava flow destroyed the Shiveluch seismological station in February.

The western part of the volcano's dome collapsed during the last eruption on February 27 and Shiveluch lost 200 meters. An ash cloud spread more than 700km westward affecting the peninsula and a part of the Okhotsk Sea. In March, the volcano was less active, but the February eruption may be repeated in 2005.

Shiveluch (3,283 meters), one of Kamchatka's 28 active volcanoes, poses no threat to people but ash clouds and plumes may present difficulties to vessels and aircraft.