Bush, Musharraf, Karzai

“By supporting moderate leaders such as President Abbas, the United States can help Israelis and Palestinians build a more hopeful future and achieve the peace we all want in the Holy Land,” he said.
He described Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai as two leaders who are “working to defeat the forces of terrorism and extremism,” and said he plans to meet with both of them together at the White House September 27.
An audio link to the president’s remarks is available on the White House Web site. CONTINUED Back To James News

Phillips, made his first court appearances

CARROLL, N.Y. — A former fugitive suspected of fatally shooting a state trooper and wounding two others made his first court appearances Saturday, a day after surrendering following a five-month manhunt.

Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, who once threatened to "splatter pig meat all over Chautauqua County" in upstate New York, in a reference to police officers, was charged in Chemung County with eight counts, including attempted aggravated murder, first-degree attempted murder and second-degree attempted murder, all in connection with the shooting of a state trooper in June.

Phillips, 44, did not enter a plea.

Dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, the exhausted and unshaven suspect either looked at the floor or closed his eyes during the 12-minute arraignment. He was shackled at the ankles, with his wrists handcuffed, and was flanked by armed guards.

Phillips, a career thief who has spent 20 of the past 23 years in state prison, surrendered Friday night after five months on the run without firing a shot. The arrest capped New York state's largest manhunt after a frantic day that included troopers firing at Phillips as he hid in woods.

Federal prosecutor Terrance Flynn said he did not know when Phillips would be transferred to Chemung County, near the Pennsylvania line, where trooper Sean Brown was wounded on June 10. Back To James News

Blair may get you arrested

In the guise of fighting terrorism and maintaining public order, Tony Blair's Government has quietly and systematically taken power from Parliament and the British people. The author charts a nine-year assault on civil liberties that reveals the danger of trading freedom for security - and must have Churchill spinning in his grave
In the shadow of Winston Churchill's statue opposite the House of Commons, a rather odd ritual has developed on Sunday afternoons. A small group of people - mostly young and dressed outlandishly - hold a tea party on the grass of Parliament Square. A woman looking very much like Mary Poppins passes plates of frosted cakes and cookies, while other members of the party flourish blank placards or, as they did on the afternoon I was there, attempt a game of cricket.
Sometimes the police move in and arrest the picnickers, but on this occasion the officers stood at a distance, presumably consulting on the question of whether this was a demonstration or a non-demonstration. It is all rather silly and yet in Blair's Britain there is a kind of nobility in the amateurishness and persistence of the gesture. This collection of oddballs, looking for all the world as if they had stepped out of the Michelangelo Antonioni film Blow-Up, are challenging a new law which says that no one may demonstrate within a kilometre, or a little more than half a mile, of Parliament Square if they have not first acquired written permission from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. This effectively places the entire centre of British government, Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, off-limits to the protesters and marchers who have traditionally brought their grievances to those in power without ever having to ask a policeman's permission. Blair may get you arrested Back To James News

The Iron Lady

imagine Condoleezza Rice, recently voted on to Vanity Fair 's Best-Dressed List, with any unnecessary, distracting, feminine flounce; nor Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton or Barbara Walters. Theirs is strictly the no-frills approach: sleek, sophisticated and savvy. Likewise, Baroness Thatcher: not for just her political acumen was she called the Iron Lady. In her early years in office she often softened the shar
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Condoleezza Rice for President?

Vice President Dick Cheney , left, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , right, stand in the Oval Office during a meeting between President...

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Hillary May Pull Out

US pop superstar Janet Jackson is seen here promoting her new album at a press conference in Chicago, Illinois in August 2006. Jackson ho

President Bush Updates

Bush Updates Terror Plan as Extremists Shift Tactics (Update1)Bloomberg - 26 minutes agoPresident George W. Bush issued a third report today updating the US strategy for combating terrorism, citing the evolving nature of extremists who are more independent in expanding networks of violence.America not yet safe from terrorism, says White House Ireland OnlineWhite House claims progress in war against terror but US not yet ... USA TodayWIS - Guardian Unlimited - WTOV9.com - ABC Newsall 172 news articles Photo Crocodile Hunter Videos Back To James News

Iraq Sun al-Saeedi

Iraqi officials say the arrest of the number two commander of al-Qaida in Iraq has dealt a severe blow to the terrorist organization, and bodes well for the country's future.
Iraqi officials say high-ranking al-Qaida operative Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi was taken into custody north of Baghdad late last week, along with several aides and followers.
Speaking on CNN's Late Edition program, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih noted that Saeedi's capture follows another major defeat for al-Qaida in Iraq: the killing of the group's onetime leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in an air strike earlier this year.
"It comes in the wake of the killing of al-Zarqawi," said Barham Salih. "Intelligence work by both Iraqi forces and the multi-national forces have dealt a very severe blow to al-Qaida's organization in Iraq. It is also significant because this man [Saeedi] is believed to have been responsible for the attacks on the shrines in Samarra, which led to the sectarian violence that we have seen."
Salih added that no one should doubt the determination of Iraq's new government to confront and defeat terrorists. But the deputy prime minister was quick to add that the battle against terrorism is far from over in his country.
"I do not want to be complacent," he said. "Al-Qaida represents a serious threat, remains a serious threat, and we have to be very vigilant in the way we deal with these threats."
Salih acknowledged Iraq has been battered by a surge in sectarian violence, but described the debate over whether civil war has broken out in Iraq as "academic." He said, despite horrific suffering, most Iraqis are determined to persevere, and build a better future.
"This society has been battered, day in and day out, with car bombs," continued Iraq's deputy prime minister. "Despite all that, and despite these sectarian killings that we have seen, the bulk of society, the mainstream leadership, has stayed away form the conflict, and is still searching for way to overcome our differences, and fight the terrorists. This has not been easy."
The deputy prime minister echoed recent assertions by other Iraqi officials that the country's security forces are approaching a level of readiness and capability that will allow them to take over from coalition forces. Salih said Iraqi troops will have assumed full security responsibilities in seven or eight provinces by year's end.
President Bush has vowed to keep U.S. forces in Iraq for as long as is necessary to safeguard the country's fledgling democracy. Have your say on this story Back To James News

UN John Bolton

By Peter Heinlein United Nations01 September 2006
The United States is formally asking the UN Security Council to place Burma on its permanent agenda as a threat to international peace and security.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton Friday submitted a formal request to have Burma included on the Security Council agenda.
Twice before in the past year, Bolton has brought the Council's attention to Burma's human rights violation and internal repression. But each time, efforts to have the issue placed on the Council's permanent agenda have been rebuffed by opposition from Russia, China, and other Asian countries.
This time, Bolton is confident he has sufficient support to force a formal vote on the matter.
"We obviously feel at this point that we will prevail and that Burma will be added, "he said. "It's possible that we would lose. There's no question about that. This is a political matter, but we think it's important that now states declare where they stand on the question."
The United States has been a vocal critic of Burma, and has attempted to pressure the military junta in Rangoon to release detained political leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 61. The Nobel peace laureate has been held at her Rangoon home since May, 2003, and has spent more than 10 of the last 17 years in detention.
Bolton told reporters Friday he has no firm plans for a Security Council resolution on Burma. But he said a strong case can be made that the country constitutes a threat to regional peace and security.
"Looking at the Burmese government's involvement in international drug trafficking, the refugee flows out of Burma and in the region that it's activities have caused, it's violations of human rights, and the consequences that have had international implications, and a range of other activities, including some of its military policies. So all of those are there. We think it's time to formally put it on the agenda, and that's why we're proceeding," he added.
President Bush last month signed a law renewing economic sanctions against the Burmese government for three more years. Washington halted investments to Burma in 1997, and banned financial transactions and imports in 2003.
International human rights groups have repeatedly called on the Security Council to act in response to Burma's deteriorating rights conditions. The United Nations operates a resettlement program for thousands of ethnic Karen in eastern Burma who have fled the country's military dictatorship. Back To James News

News Hurricane John

Dangerous John Coming Closer to Mexico.
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico - Hurricane John lashed tourist resorts with heavy winds and rain Wednesday as the dangerous storm marched up Mexico's Pacific coast, and forecasters predicted its center would brush close to land before nicking the tip of Baja California and heading out to sea. Multiple Photos Forecasters warned the Category 4 hurricane could dump up to a foot of rain along parts of Mexico's southern coast, causing landslides or flooding. The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 135 mph and stronger gusts capable of ripping roofs off buildings and causing storm surges of up to 18 feet above normal.John was not expected to affect the United States _ cooler Pacific waters tend to diminish the storms before they reach California. But a hurricane warning covered a more than 300-mile stretch of the Mexican coastline from the port city of Lazaro Cardenas north to Cabo Corrientes, the southwestern tip of the bay that holds Puerto Vallarta.The government also issued a hurricane watch for portions of the southern Baja Peninsula, from La Paz south on the east coast and from Sante Fe south on the west coast, an area which includes the resort city of Cabo San Lucas.So far, the most damaging winds have remained offshore, and only tropical storm-force winds have hit the coast.In Puerto Vallarta, skies were clear and tourists relaxed on the beach. But officials postponed the arrival of a Carnival cruise chip and prohibited customary tours of the bay.
William Rousseau, a tourist from Oregon vacationing with his family in Puerto Vallarta, said hotel officials had warned about John, "but we're calm because they say it's not going to hit this city.""We're continuing to enjoy the city," he said. "They just asked us not to go into the ocean or on any bay tours."Other tourists could be seen strolling through the streets visiting craft shops and eating in restaurants.The area south of Lazaro Cardenas to Acapulco was under a tropical storm warning. Tropical storm-force winds were lashing Lazaro Cardenas and the resort of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo.
Although the center of John was forecast to remain just offshore, hurricane-force winds were likely to begin raking beaches near Puerto Vallarta late Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The storm was then expected to nick Los Cabos at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula on Friday before heading out to sea.The Mexican army and emergency services were on alert all along the coast. The civil protection agency for the state of Jalisco, which includes Puerto Vallarta, announced it would ask 8,000 residents living in risk-prone coastal areas to evacuate voluntarily to 900 temporary shelters. Those who refused would be moved by police officers, the government agency Notimex reported.Mexican forecasters predicted up to 10 inches of rain on the coast and "torrential downpours" in the Jalisco state capital of Guadalajara, Notimex said. Public schools were canceled in Acapulco and surrounding communities.In the resort cities of Ixtapa and Zijuatanejo, about three hours up the coast from Acapulco, authorities closed the port to small ocean craft and set up temporary shelters. Some students decided to leave school early before any potential flooding.Light rain fell in Ixtapa, where the five-star Emporio Hotel received only minor warnings of rising tides. Receptionist David Gonzalez said none of the hotel's 92 guests had said they would leave early.Pedro Ochoa, reception clerk at the four-star Posada Real Ixtapa Hotel, said neither staff nor guests were making any special preparations for the storm because "we were advised that it was headed elsewhere."The center of the hurricane in late afternoon was about 130 miles south of the resort of Manzanillo, and was moving to the northwest at close to 14 mph.Meanwhile, a second weather system, Tropical Storm Kristy, formed in the Pacific far off the Mexican coast early Wednesday, but was forecast to move farther out to sea with no threat to land, the Hurricane Center said. Kristy had maximum sustained winds of 58 mph and was moving northwest at about 6 mph. Back To James News