WASHINGTON — Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he was not involved in any discussions about the impending dismissals of U.S. attorneys. On Friday night, however, the Justice Department revealed Gonzales’ participation in a Nov. 27 meeting where such plans were discussed. The firings of eight prosecutors has since led to a political firestorm and calls for his ouster. At that meeting, the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials discussed a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Gonzales’ aides said late Friday. There, Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was drafted by his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week. Another Justice aide closely involved in the dismissals, White House liaison Monica Goodling, has also taken a leave of absence, two officials said. The five-step plan approved by Gonzales involved notifying Republican home-state senators of the impending dismissals, preparing for potential political upheaval, naming replacements and submitting them to the Senate for confirmation. Six of the eight prosecutors who were ultimately ordered to resign are named in the plan. The department released more than 280 documents Friday night, including e-mails, […]
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia has barred entry to a Washington-based Israeli journalist traveling with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on his current Middle East tour, the United Nations said today. Mr. Ban is going to Riyadh on Tuesday for two days of the summit meeting of the League of Arab States. Orly Azoulay, the Washington bureau chief of Yediot Aharonot, was unable to obtain a visa to Saudi Arabia despite assurances the Saudi mission in New York gave the United Nations last week, said Michéle Montas, Mr. Ban’s spokeswoman. Ms. Montas said that both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia initially refused to grant Ms. Azoulay a visa, but that Lebanon had dropped its objections last week and given her the needed stamp. Ms. Azoulay, 53, an Israeli-born dual citizen of France and Israel, sought the visa on her French passport. She said she had traveled during the past two years to Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan and had gone to Saudi Arabia in 2000 with correspondents covering then-Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. When the Saudi consulate in New York returned the passports of the 11 news reporters and broadcasters to United Nations headquarters on Friday […]
DALLAS — When diet and exercise fail to lower cholesterol in children with high-risk lipid abnormalities, statins should be first-line drug therapy, declared the American Heart Association in a new scientific statement. Brian W. McCrindle, M.D., M.P.H., who chaired the AHA committee that wrote the statement, published online in Circulation, Journal of the American Heart Association, said guidelines issued a decade ago by the National Cholesterol Education Program don’t address the use of statins in children. In the intervening years several trials in children with familial hypercholesterolemia have shown the use of statins had similar safety and effectiveness as in adults, said Dr. McCrindle, a pediatrician at the University of Toronto and a cardiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children there. Currently, lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin and atorvastatin have pediatric labeling from the FDA on the basis of clinical trials performed in children with familial hypercholesterolemia. The AHA said there is now definitive evidence that the atherosclerotic disease process begins in childhood, and the rate of progression is greatly increased by lipid abnormalities and their severity. But ‘if you lower cholesterol in these kids, you can improve the function of their arteries and reverse early atherosclerotic […]
HAMMERFEST, Norway — Barren and uninhabited, Hans Island is very hard to find on a map. Yet these days the Frisbee-shaped rock in the Arctic is much in demand — so much so that Canada and Denmark have both staked their claim to it with flags and warships. The reason: an international race for oil, fish, diamonds and shipping routes, accelerated by the impact of global warming on Earth’s frozen north. The latest report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the ice cap is warming faster than the rest of the planet and ice is receding, partly due to greenhouse gases. It’s a catastrophic scenario for the Arctic ecosystem, for polar bears and other wildlife, and for Inuit populations whose ancient cultures depend on frozen waters. But some see a lucrative silver lining of riches waiting to be snatched from the deep, and the prospect of timesaving sea lanes that could transform the shipping industry the way the Suez Canal did in the 19th century. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic has as much as 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas. Russia reportedly sees the potential of minerals in […]
China’s Hu heads to Russia urgently seeking fuel Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:03 AM ET By Emma Graham-Harrison BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Hu Jintao goes to Moscow on Monday, confidently offering trade deals with an economy roaring back home, but urgently seeking oil, gas and assurance as the two countries eye each other’s resurgent power. Hu’s three-day state visit to Russia will be his third as president, showing how seriously Beijing is courting its neighbor and President Vladimir Putin. Above all, Russia has the energy supplies China needs to fuel its growth. ‘At present, Chinese-Russian relations are developing vigorously and have reached unprecedented levels,’ Hu told Russian journalists ahead of his visit. He is expected to unveil business deals worth over $4 billion, Chinese officials said. China is the world’s number two oil consumer, and Russia the second-largest exporter. But their potential partnership has been hobbled by both nations’ desire to keep a grip on the strategic energy sector and maximize their oil majors’ profits. Previous plans for key crude and gas pipelines have languished after initial agreements were trumpeted by both sides, underscoring the brittleness of the two countries’ friendship. ‘Chinese-Russian […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
