Good Morning! - Morning Headlines

[Caro]

Morning headlines brought to you by

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

Top Story

Palestinians cheer Hamas-Fatah agreement
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gazans danced in the streets, honked car horns and set off fireworks to celebrate a Hamas-Fatah power-sharing deal they hope will avert civil war.

The Illustrated Daily Scribble

The World

13 Iraqis taken, 11 killed near Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen dressed in Iraqi army uniforms swept into a village south of Baghdad early Friday, kidnapping 13 civilians and killing at least 11 of them, police said.

Iraqi official tied to militia jailed
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S.-backed Iraqi forces stormed the Health Ministry and arrested the No. 2 official Thursday, accusing him of diverting millions of dollars to the biggest Shiite militia and allowing death squads use of ambulances and government hospitals to carry out kidnappings and killings.

Saudi Arabia to aid Palestinian gov't
CAIRO, Egypt - Saudi Arabia put its credibility on the line by hosting a high-profile summit of rival Palestinian leaders. Now, with a deal reached, it wants to ensure the Palestinian government's survival and convince the U.S. there can be peace with Israel.

Israel triples security at holy site
JERUSALEM - Israeli security forces tripled their usual numbers around Jerusalem's Old City Friday morning as authorities braced for possible riots during Muslim prayers at the Holy Land's most contentious religious site.

Nuclear plans in chaos as Iran leader flounders
Iran's efforts to produce highly enriched uranium, the material used to make nuclear bombs, are in chaos and the country is still years from mastering the required technology. Iran's uranium enrichment programme has been plagued by constant technical problems, lack of access to outside technology and knowhow, and a failure to master the complex production-engineering processes involved.

U.S. to help clean Agent Orange hotspot
HANOI, Vietnam - The U.S. government will give Vietnam $400,000 toward cleaning up a former U.S. military base contaminated by Agent Orange, its biggest step yet toward resolving one of the most contentious legacies of the Vietnam War, the U.S. ambassador said Friday.

President wants 'Taiwan' on stamp
TAIPEI, Taiwan - President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday the name 'Taiwan' would soon replace 'China' on the island's stamps, a move likely to anger Beijing.

Muslim lifeguards patrol Sydney beach
SYDNEY, Australia - A team of Muslim lifeguards — including a woman dressed in a modest "burquini" — began patrols this week on a Sydney beach that was the scene of frenzied race riots between Australia's Caucasian majority and its Middle Eastern minority in late 2005.

Colombia: Gay couples may share assets
BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's top court ruled that gay couples in long-term relationships should have the same rights to shared assets as heterosexual couples.

Nigeria, Benin, Togo form economic partnership
ABUJA (AFP) - Nigeria, Benin and Togo formed a new regional body aimed at fast-tracking the integration of the economies of the three west African neighbours.

The Nation

More U.S. troops died in Iraq over past four months than in any similar period of war
WASHINGTON (AP) — More American troops were killed in combat in Iraq over the past four months — at least 334 through Jan. 31 — than in any comparable stretch since the war began, according to an Associated Press analysis of casualty records. The reason is that U.S. soldiers and Marines are fighting more battles in the streets of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and other cities. And while hostile forces are using a variety of weaponry, the top killer is the roadside bomb.

White House treads carefully on Iraq
WASHINGTON - The White House is attempting an awkward straddle as Congress debates resolutions critical of the Iraq war, determined to avoid a repudiation of President Bush yet reluctant to lobby too aggressively for fear of triggering a Republican backlash.

Pentagon says pre-war intel not illegal
WASHINGTON - A "very damning" report by the Defense Department's inspector general depicts a Pentagon that purposely manipulated intelligence in an effort to link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida in the runup to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Chertoff defends Bush's budget proposal
WASHINGTON - Members of the House Homeland Security Committee want to know why the Bush administration plans to cut grants to state and local emergency workers, firefighters, disaster training for hospital workers and upgrades to communication systems.

Coast Guard Failed to Properly Oversee Contracts, Officials Say
Even as contractors built patrol boats with buckling hulls and a large new cutter with structural flaws, a U.S. Coast Guard review gave their performance high marks last year, extended their deal for nearly four years and paid them a multimillion-dollar bonus, government investigators said.

Railroad Firms Bringing Aboard Lawmakers' Lobbyist Relatives
The railroad industry is hiring relatives of Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff members as it faces tighter federal safety legislation, employing a tactic untouched by the Democrats' new ethics proposals: lobbying by congressional family members. The new Democratic Congress is working on the first overhaul of railroad-safety laws in 13 years. Long attuned to Republican control, railroad companies are now working to keep their GOP allies but also hiring Democratic lobbyists.

GOP Advisers Press Boehner to Be More Aggressive
House Republican advisers, antsy with the go-slow approach by leaders like Minority Leader John Boehner, are urging that the GOP instead follow the pattern of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has aggressively moved on several fronts, including the war in Iraq, taxes, and stem cell research.
So how do House Republicans become more aggressive? They mount a childish campaign of lies against “Queen” Pelosi. See below. —Caro

House GOP blast Pelosi for plane request
WASHINGTON - For most of the past five weeks, House Republicans could do little else but watch as majority Democrats passed major legislation without giving them a chance to propose changes or offer alternatives. So when they finally got a chance Thursday to air pent-up frustrations over how Democrats were running things, the Republicans decided to make some noise — and how. They aimed high, all the way to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

DEMOCRATS SET THEIR SIGHTS ON IRAQ CONTRACTS
In questioning just how many taxpayer dollars have been wasted on bloated contracts to fight the war in Iraq, members of a congressional oversight committee refuted the notion Wednesday that this week's hearings on private contracting had anything to do with partisan politics. And yet political contributions from defense contractors point to a clear party divide, the Center for Responsive Politics has found.

Senate panel reacts to attorney firings
WASHINGTON - A Senate panel advanced a bill Thursday to curb the Justice Department's power to replace federal prosecutors after seven forced resignations sparked accusations of political favoritism.

Senate approves Casey for Army top post
WASHINGTON - The Senate handily confirmed Gen. George Casey as the next Army chief of staff Thursday in a roll call vote that some lawmakers used to dramatize their anger over his direction of the war in Iraq.

2008 White House Derby: The Field So Far
The following are breakdowns of the current and potential candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations in 2008.

Richardson: U.S. must lead by example
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson said Thursday the United States must lead the way on global struggles by reducing its nuclear weapons, closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and dramatically cutting energy use.

Supporters push Gore to run in 2008
CONCORD, N.H. - Veterans of Al Gore's past are quietly assembling a campaign to draft the former vice president into the 2008 presidential race — despite his repeated statements that he's not running.

Economy & Business

Dow closes lower on weak housing data
NEW YORK - Wall Street pulled back Thursday after new signs of weakness in the housing market prompted investors to look past a rebound in major retailers' sales figures.

U.S. jobless claims rise, wholesale inventories drop
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose slightly last week, but wholesalers trimmed inventories in December, setting the stage for future growth, data on Thursday showed.

ID theft tops complaints
For the seventh straight year, identity theft tops list of consumer complaints -- by a wide margin.

Bush's uncle profits from options scheme
WASHINGTON - One of President Bush's uncles, William H.T. Bush, was among directors of a defense contractor who reaped $6 million from what federal regulators say was an illegal scheme by two executives to manipulate the timing of stock option grants, documents show.

Media

Do You Congoo? Premium News Service Launches
The news search and premium content service Congoo.com has just launched in beta. Apparently, the name is derived from the words "content" and "glue." As a long-term fan of Google News alerts and Yahoo News alerts (which I don't find quite as valuable), I'm intrigued by Congoo's business model and premise. The site offers custom "news briefings," but the twist is that it includes material from more than 300 sources of premium and subscription sites.
This is one of the ideas I recommended almost two years ago (fully fleshed out last summer). Someday someone is going to recognize that I have some good ideas, and join me in getting together the wherewithal to develop some of them. Instead, I watch others make millions. —Caro

"The shortcomings of Iraq coverage weren't an aberration"
Veteran newsman Gilbert Cranberg proposes "an independent and thorough inquiry of pre-war press coverage." One question he'd like answered: "Why did the Times' Thomas E. Friedman and other foreign affairs specialists, who should have known better, join the 'let’s-go-to-war' chorus?"

Rusty Democrats Unable to Pin Anything on Bremer
While other outlets treated seriously a House Oversight Committee's questioning of Iraq proconsul Paul Bremer over $8–12 billion in Iraqi funds that vanished without a trace under his command, the Post ran a news item questioning Democrats' emphasis on the "rather obscure point," and Milbank's column deriding the whole session.

MSNBC anchor promised to talk about Pelosi plane story "all day long"*
MSNBC News Live host Chris Jansing asserted on February 8, without evidence, that the Republican accusation that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) requested a much larger military aircraft to fly her between her home district and Washington, D.C., than prior Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) had used, "is something that will resonate with the American people" and promised that the network would "talk about this all day long." Less than 35 minutes later, NBC News correspondent Mike Viqueira reported that the "recommendation to Pelosi is that she have a plane that can get her to San Francisco nonstop," but that there is "no evidence" Pelosi had actually requested a "757" or a "C-32" as Republicans have reportedly alleged.

In reporting on White House's defense of Pelosi, AP, SF Chronicle articles ignored RNC hit piece
On February 8, an Associated Press article and a San Francisco Chronicle article reported, in the words of the AP, that "he White House on Thursday defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi against Republican criticism that her desire to fly in an Air Force transport plane is an extravagance," without noting that the Republican National Committee (RNC) had nearly simultaneously issued a press release attacking Pelosi.

Moran disavowed "hatred" spewed by Coulter and Limbaugh -- what about the rest of ABC?
In a February 7 ABCNews.com weblog post, Nightline co-host Terry Moran followed up on his earlier post on the controversy surrounding two bloggers hired by John Edwards' presidential campaign by asserting that one of Edwards' bloggers had expressed "pure hatred" on her blog, and added, "There are plenty of examples of this tactic across the airwaves." After citing Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh as examples of those who spew "hate speech," Moran wrote that "we expect our leaders to disavow hate." But the network Moran works for has given Limbaugh and Coulter platforms on its own news programs. Also, ABC's Good Morning America hired conservative talk show host Glenn Beck as a "regular commentator" despite his inflammatory comments regarding Muslims, Arabs, Mexicans, and other minorities.

Bloggers Upstage the Mainstream Press Yet Again
When Time Washington bureau chief Jay Carney posted on his magazine's new blog that George W. Bush's last State of the Union speech was analogous to Bill Clinton's 1995 address because, like Bush, "Clinton was in free fall.... His approval ratings were mired in the 30s," it took only moments for an anonymous commenter to correct him. (Clinton's approval rating at the time was actually 47 percent.) At which point popular blogger Atrios notified his readers, who "descended on the Time blog like locusts—and...tabulated several more boneheaded errors"—leaving Perlstein to wonder: Why was it, again, that we were supposed to defer to the authority of newsweeklies (and the mainstream press) in the first place?...

Fox Business Channel expected to launch in late 2007
Rupert Murdoch mentions an early fall debut, while News Corp. COO Peter Chernin says only that it will launch "in the latter part of the calendar year." "But there's no question that a Fox Business Channel is coming," write Georg Szalai and Paul J. Gough.

Google And News Corp Make A Deal On Murdoch's Home Turf
How one deal for data mining reveals the intricate web of connections between media megacorporations.

Poland says Big Media portray web journos as squabbling hens
David Poland, who is profiled in the latest Los Angeles Magazine, says he's disappointed by "the endless spin of Traditional Media, trying to turn Internet media into a bunch of squabbling hens, pecking each other mindlessly in the barnyard." He writes: "The LA Mag piece seems to live in the 'ridicule' realm, as have regular attacks by the Los Angeles Times, launched by columnists who see themselves as 'old school' from the Times' failing stand-alone Oscar product, The Envelope."

Mobile Ads: Next Internet Gold Rush?
Money talks. That's why mobile phone advertising has become such an irresistible topic.

Technology & Science

Gore: Nations Must Take Lead in Warming
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Emerging economies such as China are justified in holding back on fighting greenhouse gas emissions until richer polluters like the United States do more to solve the problem, former Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday.

Scientists to vie for $25M climate prize
LONDON - British tycoon Sir Richard Branson on Friday announced a $25 million prize for the first scientist to come up with a way to extract greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

'Doomsday vault' to resist global warming effects
OSLO (AFP) - An Arctic "doomsday vault" aimed at providing mankind with food in case of a global catastrophe will be designed to sustain the effects of climate change, the project's builders said as they unveiled the architectural plans.

Open Source Mobile Phone On The Way
Orange/France Telecom's research and development lab in Beijing is supporting efforts behind the GPE Palmtop Environment.

Sun and Microsoft Battle Over Open Document Formats
There are new movements in the ongoing battle over document formats this week, with Microsoft facing new challenges and Sun Microsystems possibly facing new opportunities.

Engineer: GPS shoes make people findable
MIAMI - Isaac Daniel calls the tiny Global Positioning System chip he's embedded into a line of sneakers "peace of mind." He wishes his 8-year-old son had been wearing them when he got a call from his school in 2002 saying the boy was missing.

Museum combines DNA, fossils to show human ancestry
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The traditional museum showpieces of human evolution, Lucy and Peking Man, are being nudged aside at the famed American Museum of Natural History by a newcomer that appears to be an empty test tube.

Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet discovered
ROME - They died young and, by the looks of it, in love. Two 5,000-year-old skeletons found locked in an embrace near the city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale "Romeo and Juliet" have sparked theories the remains of a far more ancient love story have been found.

Who Watches The Watchers In Surveillance Society?
Combining motion detection technology with the learning features of game software, new systems can detect people loitering or leaving a package.

For women, nothing's like the smell of men's sweat
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For women, apparently there's nothing like the smell of a man's sweat.

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