so far no link
BY WILLIAM SHERMAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Thursday, November 27th 2008, 1:46 PM
Maharahstra Times/AP
Suspected terrorists are seen in Mumbai.
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Scenes of panic, despair from Mumbai
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Western intelligence agencies are trying to identify just who is behind the Mumbai terror attacks and the specific motivation for the bloody assaults.
For now, all intelligence agencies have is a the name of a group - Deccan Mujahideen - that is claiming credit for the attacks.
The word Deccan means South in Hindi and refers to the Deccan Plateau. which encompasses three states in the South of India.
Mujahideen means "strugglers" in Arabic, but is also the word used by militant groups referring to fighters, members, and terrorists. The Deccan group sent emails to Indian media outlets claiming responsibility.
Beyond that, it appears the terrorists, men nearly all in their early 20s, speak both Hindi and Urdu, respectively the national languages of India and Pakistan.
Indian and British officials are not ruling out a link between the Mumbai attackers and Al Qaeda, but the assault is not typical of the group, which generally favors suicide bombings.
In this case, the Mumbai attackers, armed with grenades, assault rifles, and other weaponry, attacked in highly organized combat groups with no apparent suicides.
A highly unusual feature of the Mumbai assault is that the terrorists came in the from the sea, apparently using a freighter to get close to the Mumbai shore. Then the terrorists used small, high-speed boats for their landing.
The freighter apparently came to the Indian coast from Karachi Pakistan, according to an Indian Navy spokesman and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed "external forces" for the attack.
The freighter was identified as by MV Alpha.
India is predominantly Hindu while the vast majority of Pakistanis are Muslim and the enmity between the two countries dates back fifty years with their founding and independence granted by England
Pakistan's Port and Shipping Minister Nabil Gabol said Indian authorities had not asked him for information about MV Alpha's port of origin.
He said that Indian references to Karachi as the ship's base was a "false allegation."
Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar condemned the attack.
"We should not be blamed like in the past," he warned.
"This will destroy all the goodwill we created together after years of bitterness," he told The Associated Press
"I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents."
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Friday, November 28, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Barack Obama introduces economic team
President elect Barack Obama introduces his new economic team: (From l.) Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina Romer, and NEC director Larry Summers.
CHICAGO - With the economy in crisis, President-elect Barack Obama pledged Monday to honor the commitments the outgoing Bush administration has made to rescue financial markets and urged the new, incoming Congress to pass a major stimulus package "right away" to restore growth and create jobs.
"Most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year," Obama said at a somber news conference 57 days before he takes the oath of office.
He declined to say how big a spending package he wants to revive the economy, but he said, "It's going to be costly." Some Democratic lawmakers are speculating about a two-year measure as large as $700 billion.
The president-elect introduced the top economic advisers for his new administration, beginning with New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner to be his treasury secretary. Geithner, 47, is a veteran of financial crises at home and overseas and has worked closely with the Bush administration in recent months.
Obama chose Lawrence Summers as director of his National Economic Council. Summers was treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton
Obama said his newly minted economic team offered "sound judgment and fresh thinking" at a time of economic peril.
"The economy is likely to get worse before it gets better," he said in a downbeat forecast, delivered as Americans head into the year-end holiday season.
At the same time, he expressed confidence the nation would weather the crisis "because we've done it before."
The president-elect was mildly critical of the Big Three automakers, saying he was surprised they did not have a better-thought-out plan for their future before asking Congress to approve $25 billion in emergency loans.
He said once he sees a plan, he expects "we're going to be able to shape a rescue."
Obama also announced two other members of his economic team in the making. He named Christina Romer as chair of his Council of Economic Advisers, and Melody Barnes as director of his White House Domestic Policy Council.
CHICAGO - With the economy in crisis, President-elect Barack Obama pledged Monday to honor the commitments the outgoing Bush administration has made to rescue financial markets and urged the new, incoming Congress to pass a major stimulus package "right away" to restore growth and create jobs.
"Most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year," Obama said at a somber news conference 57 days before he takes the oath of office.
He declined to say how big a spending package he wants to revive the economy, but he said, "It's going to be costly." Some Democratic lawmakers are speculating about a two-year measure as large as $700 billion.
The president-elect introduced the top economic advisers for his new administration, beginning with New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner to be his treasury secretary. Geithner, 47, is a veteran of financial crises at home and overseas and has worked closely with the Bush administration in recent months.
Obama chose Lawrence Summers as director of his National Economic Council. Summers was treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton
Obama said his newly minted economic team offered "sound judgment and fresh thinking" at a time of economic peril.
"The economy is likely to get worse before it gets better," he said in a downbeat forecast, delivered as Americans head into the year-end holiday season.
At the same time, he expressed confidence the nation would weather the crisis "because we've done it before."
The president-elect was mildly critical of the Big Three automakers, saying he was surprised they did not have a better-thought-out plan for their future before asking Congress to approve $25 billion in emergency loans.
He said once he sees a plan, he expects "we're going to be able to shape a rescue."
Obama also announced two other members of his economic team in the making. He named Christina Romer as chair of his Council of Economic Advisers, and Melody Barnes as director of his White House Domestic Policy Council.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Al Sharpton got $500G in illegal cash during White House run, audit says
Al Sharpton got $500G in illegal cash during White House run, audit says
By Celeste Katz and William Hammond DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Friday, November 14th 2008, 8:20 PM
Giancarli for News
The Rev. Al Sharpton was found to have received $500,000 in illegal campaign contributions by a Federal Election Commission audit.
The Rev. Al Sharpton raked in $500,000 in illegal campaign contributions during his 2004 White House run, a Federal Election Commission audit found.
The audit focused on Sharpton's use of his American Express card to pay for campaign activity and the apparent use of money from his nonprofit National Action Network to underwrite political expenses.
The FEC audit found Sharpton owes the U.S. Treasury nearly $487,000 in "prohibited" contributions and collected $10,500 in donations above legal limits.
The commission also said the campaign "materially misstated" its financial activity, including not figuring in $100,000 Sharpton received in federal campaign matching funds. Officials said he didn't qualify for matching funds because he didn't abide by campaign rules.
Sharpton, who plans to appeal the FEC ruling, said Friday he was entitled to continue his work as a preacher and National Action Network president while campaigning.
PREVIOUSLY: SHARPTON - NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL MUST TAKE ON SEAN BELL CASE
"If I was a senator or a congressman, and I operated between Washington and my home district and went on foreign trips, they would say, 'You're doing your job.' But ... if I travel for the National Action Network ... they're charging that to the campaign," Sharpton said. "Why is it a different rule for me?"
He called the charges against him nebulous.
"There's no smoking gun. It doesn't make sense," he said.
By Celeste Katz and William Hammond DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Friday, November 14th 2008, 8:20 PM
Giancarli for News
The Rev. Al Sharpton was found to have received $500,000 in illegal campaign contributions by a Federal Election Commission audit.
The Rev. Al Sharpton raked in $500,000 in illegal campaign contributions during his 2004 White House run, a Federal Election Commission audit found.
The audit focused on Sharpton's use of his American Express card to pay for campaign activity and the apparent use of money from his nonprofit National Action Network to underwrite political expenses.
The FEC audit found Sharpton owes the U.S. Treasury nearly $487,000 in "prohibited" contributions and collected $10,500 in donations above legal limits.
The commission also said the campaign "materially misstated" its financial activity, including not figuring in $100,000 Sharpton received in federal campaign matching funds. Officials said he didn't qualify for matching funds because he didn't abide by campaign rules.
Sharpton, who plans to appeal the FEC ruling, said Friday he was entitled to continue his work as a preacher and National Action Network president while campaigning.
PREVIOUSLY: SHARPTON - NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL MUST TAKE ON SEAN BELL CASE
"If I was a senator or a congressman, and I operated between Washington and my home district and went on foreign trips, they would say, 'You're doing your job.' But ... if I travel for the National Action Network ... they're charging that to the campaign," Sharpton said. "Why is it a different rule for me?"
He called the charges against him nebulous.
"There's no smoking gun. It doesn't make sense," he said.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Miriam Makeba, South African singer known Mama Africa, dies
Miriam Makeba, South African singer known Mama Africa, dies
By DAVID HINCKLEY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, November 10th 2008, 5:11 PM
Hermann/Getty
International music star Miriam Makeba during her last performance in Castelvolturno, near Naples on November 9, 2008.
Getty
By the time this picture taken on May 13, 1964, Makeba was exiled by the South African government for her anti-apartheid comments.
Miriam Makeba, the exiled South African singer who said her greatest triumph was to finally sing her way back home, died Sunday after collapsing on stage at a concert in Italy. She was 76.
Her friend Nelson Mandela led tributes to her Monday.
"She was South Africa's first lady of song," said Mandela, "and so richly deserved the title of 'Mama Africa.' She was a mother to our struggle and to the young nation of ours."
Makeba sang for more than 50 years, mixing sultry love ballads with sharp-edged songs of freedom. Her biggest mainstream hits were upbeat African-rooted songs that included, "Pata Pata" and "The Click Song."
She became a symbol of the South African liberation movement while spending more than three decades in enforced exile from the country where she was born in 1932.
South Africa refused to let her return in 1960, after she had left the country for a singing tour and spoken out against apartheid. After she repeated that criticism at the United Nations in 1963, the South African government also banned her music.
Makeba lived in New York for 10 years and recalled in a 2000 interview that, "I always enjoy coming back.… I have many friends there."
Among those friends were Harry Belafonte, with whom she often recorded and performed. They won a Grammy in 1965 for a live album of songs protesting apartheid.
But Makeba fell out of favor with some of her sympathizers when she married Black Panther leader Kwame Toure (Stokeley Carmichael) in 1968 and the couple moved to Guinea. She also spent time in Europe before finally returning to South Africa in the 1990s when Mandela was released from prison and apartheid began to collapse.
Makeba's final album, "Homeland," recorded in South Africa and released in 2000, celebrated her return to her home country.
"It's a record that says I am happy to be home," Makeba said then. "I always knew one day we would win, although I did not know if it would come in my lifetime. I'm so glad that it did."
Makeba noted that she was 60 when she cast her first vote in a free election, and said her passion in these later years was to advance peace and prosperity across the African continent.
"When I grew up, there was [apartheid] South Africa and Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo" she said. "Now we are more free, but there is so much poverty and suffering. We need medical supplies for people who are dying. We need food for people who are hungry.
"We also need to stop the wars. I personally would like to see no more wars in Africa. My people need to stop fighting each other. But to stop the wars, we also need to look at who is supplying the arms for those who fight. Those are the ones we need to stop."
Email-davidradiotv2000@yahoo.com
By DAVID HINCKLEY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, November 10th 2008, 5:11 PM
Hermann/Getty
International music star Miriam Makeba during her last performance in Castelvolturno, near Naples on November 9, 2008.
Getty
By the time this picture taken on May 13, 1964, Makeba was exiled by the South African government for her anti-apartheid comments.
Miriam Makeba, the exiled South African singer who said her greatest triumph was to finally sing her way back home, died Sunday after collapsing on stage at a concert in Italy. She was 76.
Her friend Nelson Mandela led tributes to her Monday.
"She was South Africa's first lady of song," said Mandela, "and so richly deserved the title of 'Mama Africa.' She was a mother to our struggle and to the young nation of ours."
Makeba sang for more than 50 years, mixing sultry love ballads with sharp-edged songs of freedom. Her biggest mainstream hits were upbeat African-rooted songs that included, "Pata Pata" and "The Click Song."
She became a symbol of the South African liberation movement while spending more than three decades in enforced exile from the country where she was born in 1932.
South Africa refused to let her return in 1960, after she had left the country for a singing tour and spoken out against apartheid. After she repeated that criticism at the United Nations in 1963, the South African government also banned her music.
Makeba lived in New York for 10 years and recalled in a 2000 interview that, "I always enjoy coming back.… I have many friends there."
Among those friends were Harry Belafonte, with whom she often recorded and performed. They won a Grammy in 1965 for a live album of songs protesting apartheid.
But Makeba fell out of favor with some of her sympathizers when she married Black Panther leader Kwame Toure (Stokeley Carmichael) in 1968 and the couple moved to Guinea. She also spent time in Europe before finally returning to South Africa in the 1990s when Mandela was released from prison and apartheid began to collapse.
Makeba's final album, "Homeland," recorded in South Africa and released in 2000, celebrated her return to her home country.
"It's a record that says I am happy to be home," Makeba said then. "I always knew one day we would win, although I did not know if it would come in my lifetime. I'm so glad that it did."
Makeba noted that she was 60 when she cast her first vote in a free election, and said her passion in these later years was to advance peace and prosperity across the African continent.
"When I grew up, there was [apartheid] South Africa and Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo" she said. "Now we are more free, but there is so much poverty and suffering. We need medical supplies for people who are dying. We need food for people who are hungry.
"We also need to stop the wars. I personally would like to see no more wars in Africa. My people need to stop fighting each other. But to stop the wars, we also need to look at who is supplying the arms for those who fight. Those are the ones we need to stop."
Email-davidradiotv2000@yahoo.com
Monday, November 03, 2008
Japan's Obama town set to party for U.S. namesake
Japan's Obama town set to party for U.S. namesake
1 hr 10 mins ago
Reuters – A statue of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is unveiled at Obama, 400km (250 …
Play Video Video: ShowBiz Minute: Hudson; HSM 3; Phoenix AP
OBAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Dancing, singing and playing the guitar, residents in the sleepy Japanese fishing port of Obama are readying to party for Barack Obama before Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.
Around 50 men, women and children wearing "I Love Obama" T-shirts practiced hula dancing over the weekend for the Honolulu-born Democratic candidate, hoping he will win the vote and one day visit the town as U.S. President.
"I'm 85 percent confident that Obama will win," said hotel owner Seiji Fujiwara, who heads a group backing Obama in hopes that the town, with a population of 32,000, can share his fame and attract more visitors. "I think he'll be alright."
Shops in the town have been selling everything from T-shirts, fish burgers and steamed cakes to chopsticks bearing Obama's name.
"We've been dancing for Mr. Obama for more than six months," said Yuko Shirayama of the local "Obama Girls" hula dancing group, created to cheer on Obama. "So I hope he wins."
Her group traveled to Hawaii to celebrate Obama's victory over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic nomination for U.S. president earlier this year and the dancers hope to go to Obama's inauguration ceremony if he wins.
"If Mr. Obama becomes president and gets a chance to visit Japan, we would like him to visit our city," Mayor Kouji Matsuzaki told Reuters.
Obama has drawn popularity not only in the town sharing his name, but also across the rest of Japan.
In a survey of 3,500 readers by the Asahi Shimbun daily, 73 percent said they would choose Obama if they could vote, while only 7 percent said they would pick Republican rival John McCain.
The town's residents will hold their breath as they watch the election results together on television, but they plan to dance and party regardless of the outcome.
(Reporting by Toshi Maeda; Editing by Alex Richardson)
1 hr 10 mins ago
Reuters – A statue of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is unveiled at Obama, 400km (250 …
Play Video Video: ShowBiz Minute: Hudson; HSM 3; Phoenix AP
OBAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Dancing, singing and playing the guitar, residents in the sleepy Japanese fishing port of Obama are readying to party for Barack Obama before Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.
Around 50 men, women and children wearing "I Love Obama" T-shirts practiced hula dancing over the weekend for the Honolulu-born Democratic candidate, hoping he will win the vote and one day visit the town as U.S. President.
"I'm 85 percent confident that Obama will win," said hotel owner Seiji Fujiwara, who heads a group backing Obama in hopes that the town, with a population of 32,000, can share his fame and attract more visitors. "I think he'll be alright."
Shops in the town have been selling everything from T-shirts, fish burgers and steamed cakes to chopsticks bearing Obama's name.
"We've been dancing for Mr. Obama for more than six months," said Yuko Shirayama of the local "Obama Girls" hula dancing group, created to cheer on Obama. "So I hope he wins."
Her group traveled to Hawaii to celebrate Obama's victory over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic nomination for U.S. president earlier this year and the dancers hope to go to Obama's inauguration ceremony if he wins.
"If Mr. Obama becomes president and gets a chance to visit Japan, we would like him to visit our city," Mayor Kouji Matsuzaki told Reuters.
Obama has drawn popularity not only in the town sharing his name, but also across the rest of Japan.
In a survey of 3,500 readers by the Asahi Shimbun daily, 73 percent said they would choose Obama if they could vote, while only 7 percent said they would pick Republican rival John McCain.
The town's residents will hold their breath as they watch the election results together on television, but they plan to dance and party regardless of the outcome.
(Reporting by Toshi Maeda; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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