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US, Japan, Britain urges support for global warming fund as G-8 meet

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged other Group of Eight industrialized nations Friday to back a special fund of up to US$10 billion to provide money for developing nations to fight global warming.

The threats of climate change and sharing views on soaring oil and food prices were among the topics on hand at a Group of Eight finance ministers' meeting opening Friday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appeared with his counterparts from Japan and Britain, and World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick, to encourage G-8 nations to back the fund called Climate Investment Funds.

"None of us in the world are going to solve this …

Labor leader sends warning to Daley Sew up contract talks or be embarrassed at mayors' conference

Chicago's most powerful labor leader on Monday issued a thinlyveiled warning to Mayor Daley: End the two-year-long negotiatingstalemate with unions representing 20,000 city employees or risk theembarrassment that comes with labor unrest when Chicago plays host tothe U.S. Conference of Mayors in June.

Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon turned up theheat even as he acknowledged that, after 64 bargaining sessions over24 months, negotiators are finally making progress on work-rulechanges and furlough days that Daley says he needs to save $20million a year.

"If this was normal negotiations on the outside, we would have hadthis shut down [with a strike or …

Produce oxygen-hydrogen mixtures

Tathacus Resources Ltd. (Calgary, Canada) has received the independent test data from the Alberta Research Council (ARC) regarding Xogen Power Inc.'s oxygen-hydrogen gas generation system. Tathacus owns 20% of Xogen, a private Calgary-based technology and research company. Tathacus engaged ARC recently to conduct specific tests of Xogen's proprietary technology. "The testing and the company's subsequent evaluation of the ARC results confirm that the Xogen process works to produce an oxygen-hydrogen gas mixture," said Barrie Shibley, president of Tathacus.

The ARC data were collected during two rounds of testing conducted in mid-January and …

4 animal rights activists convicted of blackmail

Four animal rights activists were convicted Tuesday of blackmailing companies that supplied an animal testing laboratory.

A jury in Winchester, southern England, convicted Gerrah Selby, Daniel Wadham, Gavin Medd-Hall and Heather Nicholson of orchestrating a campaign against suppliers of Huntingdon Life Sciences between 2001 and 2007.

They will be sentenced on Jan. 19 along with three people who earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to blackmail.

One defendant, Trevor Holmes, was acquitted.

Huntingdon Life Sciences has been a long-standing target of animal rights extremists.

The four, members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, …

The butter of Provence Tapenade captures flavors of southern France

Ask anyone who's been to Provence to describe it, and you'll getno hesitation. But be prepared to listen long. This small area in thesouth of France is one of the few places on Earth that seems to beuniversally loved and promoted.

You'll hear about the timelessness and sensual pleasures of sunand sea, about romantic visions of purple lavender fields, armfuls ofsunflowers and days filled with dazzling sun and glorious trips tothe local markets. Of the food, there seems to be nothing not to like--fragrant herbs and garlic, brilliantly colored peppers, thick honeydrizzled on fruits and breads. Remembrances of foraging for wildtruffles are spoken in hushed tones.

But of …

Cheney to lead U.S. delegation to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney will lead the Americandelegation to Saudi Arabia to pay respects after the death of KingFahd and the accession of King Abdullah.

Fahd was buried in an unmarked desert grave Tuesday in accordancewith the kingdom's austere version of Islam.

Today, …

China says foreign investment rises 14 percent in October to US$68 billion

Foreign investment in China rose 14 percent in October from a year ago to US$67.8 billion (euro46.5 billion), the government said Tuesday.

That brought total foreign investment for the first 10 months of this year to US$539.9 billion (euro370.5 billion), an 11.5 percent increase over the same period last year, the Commerce Ministry reported.

China has long been one of the world's largest recipients of foreign investment. The figure has climbed steadily despite recent …

Ducks-Red Wings Sums

Anaheim	0 0 0—0
Detroit	2 2 0—4

First Period_1, Detroit, Franzen 1 (V.Filppula, Bertuzzi), 5:11. 2, Detroit, Modano 1 (Cleary, Stuart), 5:35. Penalties_Ryan, Ana (high-sticking), 9:08.

Second Period_3, Detroit, Datsyuk 1 (Zetterberg, Rafalski), 5:29. 4, Detroit, Cleary 1 (Datsyuk), 16:55. Penalties_Sutton, Ana (roughing), 13:04; Perry, Ana, misconduct, 13:04; Salei, Det (roughing), 13:04; Holmstrom, Det, misconduct, 13:04.

Third Period_None. Penalties_Getzlaf, Ana, served by Sexton (roughing, slashing), 7:41; Perry, Ana, major (fighting), …

Opening paths of unity and exchange

Mennonite theological educators, leaders from the Americas meet for multilateral talks

From Mennonite World Conference Releases GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA

Contemporary challenges in theological education brought 45 Latin American Anabaptist/Mennonite theologians and educators together late last year to reflect on ways to unite and exchange resources.

"Anabaptist Vision for Theological Education: Opening Paths of Unity and Exchange in Facing Contemporary Challenges? a theological education consultation that intentionally focused across the Americas, took place last November.

Semilla, the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary based in Guatemala City, called together …

Serbia's President Tadic urges renewed talks on Kosovo

Serbia's President Boris Tadic is calling for renewed talks on Kosovo despite Western recognition of its statehood.

Tadic argues that Serbia will never agree to Kosovo's independence, and talks are the only way to reach a compromise.

A statement by Tadic Tuesday says, "we are in favor of continued talks under the authority of the United Nations."

Tadic …

Betty, pals facing more than just prison Bad hair day: Conviction, then date with media mob

Betty Loren-Maltese stepped out of the elevator and headedsilently for her meeting Friday with the mob, the really scary mob--the one we call the news media.

She'd faced down this group of professional hit men and women manytimes before, but this would be a first. She'd never done it as aconvicted felon.

The elevator banks are just around the corner from the lobby inthe Dirksen Federal Building, where the mob was held at bay, whichafforded the Cicero town president and her entourage a few moreseconds of cover.

Cicero Police Chief Tom Rowan, playing plainclothes security guardto the boss, was the first to round the corner.

"Sweet Jesus!" he muttered as he …

THE REVOLUTION OF EVERYDAY LIFE

99/100 THE REVOLUTION OF EVERYDAY LIFE BY RAOUL VANEIGEM, TRANSLATED BY DONALD NICHOLSON-SMITH WITH A NEW PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR OAKLAND, CA: PM PRESS. 304 PAGES. $20.

The other day at the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in Zuccotti Park, I picked up a tract produced by the group prole.info that makes a punchy, graphically illustrated case for working-class revolution: "At work, " write the anonymous authors, "we are under the control of our bosses . . . but an invisible hand imposes a work-like discipline and pointlessness on the rest of our lives as well. Life seems like a kind of show we watch from the outside, but have no control over. " This analysis owes much to the group of …

Dane Cook tries again to cook on the big screen

When Dane Cook was 3, he was attacked _ and almost killed, he says _ by a German shepherd. Beneath his hair is a zigzagging scar that became etched into his cranium after receiving nearly 80 stitches. Following the disclosure of this "fun fact," as he coyly calls it, the actor-comedian uses the opportunity to tell a joke.

"Hopefully, someday, I'll play a James Bond villain," he says. "I'll shave my head, so you can see all the ravines."

Such a role would probably have more bite than Cook's previous efforts on the big screen. Like as Dennis Rodman's wisecracking sidekick in the forgettable 1999 action flick "Simon Sez." Or as a slacker stockboy who falls for a big-eared cashier played by Jessica Simpson in the zany 2006 romantic comedy "Employee of the Month." And even as Jessica Alba's cursed love interest in the 2007 sex romp "Good Luck Chuck."

These days, instead of a German shepherd, it's film critics who chomp at Cook. The 36-year-old supercomedian most famous _ or infamous, depending on who you ask _ for gurgling cultural insights and sexually charged material in front of sold-out crowds has consistently been dubbed unfunny by movie critics, despite his continued success as standup comedian.

Other than a serious turn as a wannabe serial killer in the 2007 thriller "Mr. Brooks" starring Kevin Costner, Cook's attempts to sidestep from the stage to screen have been poorly received. Cook is aware of such shortcomings, referring to his filmography as a "highlight reel."

"I don't believe I watch any of my previous comedies and say, as a complete story, I'm interested in watching this from beginning, middle to end," Cook says during an interview at the Four Seasons Hotel.

That may change with his latest effort, the R-rated romantic comedy "My Best Friend's Girl," which opens Sept. 19.

"This is the one where I look at it and think there's a character and a real evolution with this guy," he says.

Cook hopes this movie will be the one to conclusively bring the cream of his comedy routine to the big screen. That doesn't mean Cook is in search of critical acclaim. He's still more interested in the opinions of his 2 million MySpace friends and counting than from the thrashing jaws of film critics.

"With '(Good Luck) Chuck' or 'Employee of the Month,' I was playing the levelheaded middle, carrying the film at the center with a lot of craziness going on around me," says Cook, looking casual in jeans and a white T-shirt. "I finally wanted an opportunity to take some of the elements of my standup and mix it together with a fun story."

In the film, Cook plays Tank Turner, an air purifier call-center supervisor by day, anti-Cupid by night. He's a suave emotional terrorist for hire by freshly dumped guys. For a fee, Tank will subject their ex-girlfriends to the worst date of their lives in hopes they go running back to their respective boyfriends. They usually do.

While this badboy role most closely resembles Cook's on-stage antics, he's quick to point out that the goofball who gleefully recounts one-night-stands in comedy clubs isn't really him. And neither is Tank. Cook says he based much of the character on his best friend, comedian Robert Kelly, as well as Johnny Cash and Brain from "Pinky and the Brain."

"I'm much more introverted and shy, contrary to popular belief," he says. "Tank is fearless and always on the cusp, taking lewd and lascivious behavior to a whole other level, but he has a heart of gold because he's ultimately doing this to give people a second chance.

Tank's game changes when he meets _ all together now _ his best friend's girl, who gnaws through Tank's bravado after a drunken tryst. The best friend is played by Jason Biggs from the "American Pie" films. Kate Hudson from "Fool's Gold" serves as the girl. Alec Baldwin also portrays Tank's lecherous father in a handful of scenes.

"I definitely like an ensemble like this more," says Cook. "I love that I got to work with Alec, Kate and Jason on this movie. These people bring a high caliber of talent to the table. I frequently get to live that writer-director-actor role as a comedian, so I crave different kinds of opportunities when I'm not doing standup."

To prepare for steamy kissing scenes with bombshell leading ladies such as Hudson, Alba and Simpson, Cook says he's developed a tradition. Before production begins, he nonchalantly asks his co-stars what's their favorite flavor of gum or mint. Hudson's pick? Lifesavers Pep-o-Mint. Stormy breath aside, such scenes still make Cook giddy.

"You tend to go back to how you felt when you were in high school," says Cook. "Even though you're professional actors, you come to those scenes wondering things like: Are you going to be mad if I kiss you? Do I put my hands on the small of your back or can I go lower? Is that too low? Can you draw a map of where I can touch you?"

After enduring "are they or aren't they?" rumors while working with Simpson, Cook is now keeping tightlipped about his love life. He won't say whether he lives alone in his recently purchased first home. Following years of renting _ and fighting eviction from his West Hollywood apartment complex in July _ he bought a house in the Hollywood Hills.

"It's got an energy," Cook says of the four-bedroom enclave. "It's got a certain feng shui. I was looking for a couple of years for the perfect spot, never thinking I would find one. I was looking for a place that I needed to live up to. I think it's going to keep me comfortable. It'll be my little Fortress of Solitude."

Whether "My Best Friend's Girl" lands on its feet or its head in movie theaters, the seemingly unstoppable Cook has no plans to completely fly away from his comedy roots. He's currently working on his fourth comedy album _ the last as part of his four-record deal with Comedy Central _ as well as plotting an accompanying comedy TV special and tour.

___

On the Net:

http://www.danecook.com

http://www.mybestfriendsgirlmovie.com

Johnny Griffin Dazzles at Showcase

Since moving to France, Johnny Griffin has celebrated manyhomecomings in this, the city of his birth. And a lot of birthdays,since his coincides with his annual engagement at the Jazz Showcase.The tenor saxophonist will turn 65 Saturday, which is also clubproprietor Joe Segal's birthday.

It has been a long time, however, since Griffin returned toChicago on a greater high. After more than a decade of neglect bydomestic labels, he has delivered two masterpieces on Antilles, "TheCat" (1991) and the new "Dance of Passion." Freshly melodic,beautifully crafted original compositions from those albums nowdominate his sets, which long relied on standards.

In other words, a master has gotten even more masterful inrounding his art. And a superb quartet has gotten even more so.

Few working bands play with greater focus, intuition or sharedpassion than the Johnny Griffin Quartet. With Michael Weissproviding a lilting angularity and cerebral depth on piano, KennyWashington brilliantly changing up on drums and recent addition PeterWashington lending a deep vitality and wit on bass, the music neverhas a chance of becoming standard - even on standards.

And with Griffin balancing his breakneck, breathtakingbrilliance with a deepened lyricism - he's never played ballads moreaffectingly - he never has a chance of losing our attention.

Hearing the band open up and vigorously nail down songs itrecorded in more expansive fashion on "Dance of Passion," whichutilized a horn section, made one wish they'd go back in the studioand cut an alternate version of the album. It's a tribute toGriffin's composing and Weiss' arranging that the material losesnothing in transition from studio to live performance - and backagain.

Building on the Monkish curlicues that introduce "You've NeverBeen There," Griffin pared down his playing to achieve a scurryingintensity before tightening and flattening his phrasing to freeingeffect. On "Take My Hand," a samba that sticks in your mind for daysafter each hearing, the leader brought the Chicago traditionpungently to bear on Stan Getz' Brazilian interpretations.

His bandmates responded with dazzling solos of their own. Theremarkable Washington provided a lesson in melodic drumming on "JustOne of Those Things" - Cole Porter's every note rode his hard-hittingrhythms. And Weiss' tall, spacious structures and gospel tinges on"The Way It Is" smartly diversified the eight-bar blues. Take note:He'll be back to lead his own quartet at the Green Mill Jazz Club May21-22.

Griffin and company will continue at the Showcase, 636 S.Michigan (312-427-4846), tonight at 8 and 10, tomorrow and Saturdayat 9 and 11 and Sunday at 4, 8 and 10 p.m.

ENDNOTES: HotHouse launches three days of intensive modernlistening tonight at 8 when the New Horizons Ensemble performs forthe National Jazz Service Organization. Tomorrow at 10:30 p.m.,trumpeter Malachi Thompson will lead his Freebop Band (which thisweek copped the $10,000 first prize in the Cognac Hennessy ChicagoJazz Search) and his Africa Brass ensemble.

And Saturday at 8:30 p.m., the Gregg Bendian Project performs atHotHouse, 1565 N. Milwaukee (312-235-2334). Percussion- ist/composerBendian will be joined by German bassist Johannes Weidenmueller andreed player Randy McKean.

Pop-jazz tenor saxophonist Kirk Whalum performs tonight at 8 inthe Dragon Room of the China Club, 616 W. Fulton (312-466-0400).

Russian ruble crisis costs the Kremlin billions

Only a few months ago, the Kremlin was talking about pricing its oil in rubles and making the ruble a regional reserve currency, giving it a status closer to that of the euro and the dollar.

But that was before Russian tanks rolled into Georgia, the Russian stock market crashed and the price of oil fell by half.

The ruble has declined steadily since the Aug. 7 start of the five-day war with Georgia, losing some 10 percent to 12 percent of its value against the dollar. Without intervention by the central bank, which began in early September, it might have fallen further, faster.

Anton Struchenevsky, an economist at Troika Dialog investment bank, said Monday the Central Bank was spending $600 million a day to buy rubles and support the currency's exchange rate, for a total of $20 billion in less than two months. Other experts put the cost of defending the ruble as high as $50 billion.

While Russia has more than half a trillion dollars in foreign exchange reserves, Struchenevsky said: "This cannot last forever."

Some analysts think the Central Bank is trying to engineer a soft landing for the ruble _ letting exchange rates fall to strengthen Russian industry by raising the costs of competitors' imported goods. The aim would be to let the ruble slide gradually to avoid causing panic.

Andrei Illarionov, a former Kremlin adviser and now a government critic, told reporters Monday that "the Central Bank, to safeguard itself, made a decision to start a devaluation, a soft devaluation of the ruble."

Allowing the ruble to fall too quickly would contradict the Kremlin's official line, which is that the Russian economy remains healthy, vibrant and largely insulated from the impact of any global recession. The currency's strength and stability had until recently been a proud symbol of the country's rise from the ashes of its 1998 economic crisis.

Governments can either set an official exchange rate, sometimes based on another currency, or let their currencies float _ let the international currency trading market set the rates.

Russia's Central Bank pegs the ruble to a so-called "basket" of the dollar and the euro, allowing it to float only within a narrow range. The aim is to avoid the economic shock of sudden swings in the currency's value.

A decision to abandon the peg and float the ruble "would doom the banking sector," said Nataliya Orlova, chief economist at Alfa Bank. "There is a nervous mood in the air, but if the ruble loses state support, there will be panic. People would be withdrawing rubles from their deposits and converting them into dollars."

Yegor Gaidar, an economist and former prime minister, last week praised the government's efforts to support the ruble. "This is a smart decision," he said. "We absolutely do not need panic on the currency market."

Until this summer, the ruble had been gaining for several years on the back of higher prices for Russian commodities, especially oil and gas. The ruble strengthened to 23.14 against the dollar in July, its highest level in 9 years.

But the currency's fortunes have reversed dramatically in the past three months. It hit a 20-month low Friday, trading at 26.4 rubles to the dollar. On Monday, it ticked up a hair to 26.3.

Meanwhile, some of Moscow's sidewalk currency exchanges over the weekend were selling dollars for more than 28 rubles _ the result, apparently, of whispers that the Kremlin was about to let the ruble float against international currencies.

The Central Bank reassured markets it would continue to support the Russian currency, and introduced measures Monday to limit traders who used currency swaps to profit from the ruble's decline.

Oil prices also rose modestly Monday, further strengthening the ruble.

Some analysts say Russia's economy remains relatively healthy and the currency should show more resilience, but many Russians remember the 1998 currency collapse.

"The ruble has been steadily growing in the past few years on capital inflows, but a large part of people and businesses still have no faith in the ruble," said Evgeny Nadorshin, chief economist at Trust Investment Bank.

A rapid devaluation would not just undermine faith in the currency; it could cause political problems for the Kremlin as well. Many Russian regard the 1990s, a crippling period of poverty and turmoil, as a time of political and economic humiliation.

But Russia was in a much weaker economic position 10 years ago, and no one expects a replay.

Even if the government decided to let the ruble float, Struchenevsky said, there would be no repeat of 1998, when the value of the ruble dropped fourfold and inflation surged to 80 percent.

Besides helping domestic manufacturers, he added, it would allow the government to adopt more flexible economic policies.

________

Associated Press writers Lynn Berry and Steve Gutterman contributed to this report.

EPA could send water to Pa. town with bad wells

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has promised to deliver water to a northeastern Pennsylvania village where a natural gas driller has been accused of tainting homeowners' wells with methane and possibly hazardous chemicals, residents said Friday.

Homeowners in Dimock Township have been without a reliable supply of clean water since Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., the Houston-based drilling firm blamed for polluting their aquifer, stopped making daily deliveries more than a month ago.

Three Dimock residents said the EPA told them Friday that it's hiring a private contractor to deliver water to their homes, about 20 miles south of the New York state line. The EPA said Friday that no decision had been made.

The EPA told residents only a month ago their water was fine, then backtracked as more sampling data came in that the agency said merited further investigation.

Cabot won permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to stop daily deliveries of bulk and bottled water on Nov. 30. Since then, anti-drilling groups have been paying to have water delivered to about a dozen households. But the deliveries are sporadic and, with winter setting in, residents say they can't continue indefinitely.

"We're ecstatic that we're at least getting our water back, that we'll have a safe source of water," said Dimock resident Julie Sautner, who said an EPA official called Friday to tell her about the water deliveries. "We've been left like a bunch of chickens scratching around for water. We shouldn't have to live like this."

Residents were furious when the EPA told them in late November that sampling data reviewed by the agency did not show that their well water posed an "immediate health threat." EPA officials returned to Dimock last week to reopen the probe and said they may begin their own sampling of residents' water.

Another resident, Scott Ely, said his family ran out of water Friday. He said he was evaluating next steps with his wife when the EPA called.

"They said they are definitely bringing us water," Ely said.

Ely said he was surprised by the move, considering that EPA officials who visited his house last week said then that "they couldn't come out and bring water to us unless there was an immediate danger to our health."

A third resident, Jean Carter, got a similar call Friday.

The EPA official told Carter that "she realized that some people were going to be out of water, and she wanted to know if we needed water, that they were going to be making deliveries in the next couple of days to help out with the situation," Carter said.

At the request of the EPA, federal public health researchers began a separate probe in Dimock last month. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is "conducting a public health evaluation of the available Dimock private well data, to identify potential health threats to community members still using their private well water," spokeswoman Vivi Abrams said via email this week.

Cabot has denied responsibility for the contamination and asserts Cabot's water meets federal drinking-water standards. Spokesman George Stark said that the EPA informed the company it is meeting with Dimock residents but that Cabot had not been told the agency plans to deliver water to them.

Residents blame the pollution on a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which water, sand and chemicals are blasted deep underground to extract natural gas from shale rock. The use of fracking has led to dramatic gains in U.S. natural gas production over the past few years, but environmentalists question its safety.

A focus of gas drilling companies has been the Marcellus Shale, a massive formation underlying New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Pennsylvania has been the center of activity, with thousands of wells drilled in the past three or four years.

Last month, the EPA for the first time suggested a link between fracking and groundwater pollution, after studying a gas field in Pavillion, Wyo. Industry officials rebutted the EPA's draft report on Pavillion and say fracking has been used safely for decades.

Boat migrants find agony at sea 55 fleeing Dominicans die amid hunger, thirst and desperation

NAGUA, Dominican Republic -- Migrants who survived on a smallwooden boat for nearly two weeks described on Wednesday how theywatched passengers attack a woman for her breast milk and how othersdied from dehydration on a journey that left 55 dead.

Some on the trip simply began to lose their minds after food andwater ran out, a survivor said.

"A lot of people just jumped off," said Faustina Santana, one of39 migrants who survived the journey. Eight of the 55 victims diedshortly after their rescue.

The migrants' 30-foot boat was found by fishermen on Tuesday onlyabout 30 miles from where it departed the village of El Limon on July29. The Dominican Republic migrants had set out for wealthier PuertoRico in search of work or a better life.

Doctors were treating the 31 survivors Wednesday.

The boat had almost reached the Puerto Rican island of Desecheotwo days after it left the northern coast of the Dominican Republicwhen its engine failed. The captain abandoned ship and neverreturned.

Passengers had paid about $450 each for the trip.

By the third day, all water and food had run out. They shared acoconut they found on the water.

Many people -- mostly older men -- began dying on the fifth day,the same day some of the men began demanding that women, even thosewho were not lactating, provide breast milk.

Two lactating women offered their breast milk to passengers. Onewho refused was thrown overboard by male passengers, Santana said,although some survivors said the woman was pushed overboard after shedied.

The survivors interviewed by the Associated Press said there wereno children aboard the boat.

There's been a huge influx of Dominican Republic migrants toPuerto Rico in the past year as inflation in their Caribbean homelandhas topped 30 percent, unemployment has reached 16 percent andblackouts plague the nation.

AP

Condit not afraid of his bad publicity California lawmaker says character will lead him to victory in primary

WASHINGTON--Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.) says voters in hisdistrict will decide his future based on his record, not tabloidaccounts about his relationship with a young federal intern or the"cheap-shot comments" of his colleagues.

Condit acknowledged Tuesday in an interview with the AssociatedPress that character will be an issue in his bid for an eighth term.

"I've been married 34 years. I don't drink, don't smoke, don'tparty," Condit said. "I have received thousands of letters frompeople who understand that the media has trampled on my civilliberties and privacy and has tried to lynch me in the press. It'sjust nonsense, but it's damaging when people can do that."

He said he counted 7,000 negative articles about him in recentmonths.

Condit, 53, has been under close scrutiny because of hisrelationship with Chandra Levy, a 24-year-old constituent whodisappeared in Washington more than seven months ago. During thethird of four interviews with police, Condit acknowledged an affairwith Levy, a police source says.

Condit has said repeatedly he had nothing to do with Levy'sdisappearance. Police have said they do not consider him a suspect,but have expressed consternation he wasn't more cooperative earlier.

Condit said his character can withstand a tough examination. Herepeatedly called press coverage of him unfair and rejectedallegations that he lives a bachelor's life in Washington, portrayinghimself as a strong family man when home in Ceres, Calif., where hiswife lives.

Several Democrats have lined up to run against Condit in the Marchprimary, including state Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, a one-timeCondit aide and political protege.

Condit said he will campaign on his support for agriculture, whichdrives his central California district's economy, and his work tokeep the area from being overshadowed in Washington by the concernsof Los Angeles and San Francisco.

He said he was not worried that the criticism of prominentDemocrats, including California Gov. Gray Davis and House MinorityLeader Richard Gephardt, would affect his constituents.

"You can get 15 minutes of TV time if you make a comment aboutGary Condit," he said. "The voters of the 18th Congressional Districtwill decide. Cheap-shot comments aren't going to make that decision."

Davis and Gephardt spoke out after Condit's interview in Augustwith ABC's Connie Chung, in which he acknowledged only that he andLevy had a "close relationship."

Condit conceded the interview--the leading edge of a publicrelations strategy to rehabilitate his image--went poorly.

Despite the torrent of negative publicity, Condit said he wantsthe Levy case to stay in public view. "Until she's found, the subjectshould not go away," he said. "But if you want to make it into atabloid ... scandal, then I'm not a participant." AP

Wild sign Bouchard to $20.4 million contract

After trying to trade him earlier this summer, the Minnesota Wild avoided a salary arbitration hearing with Pierre-Marc Bouchard by re-signing the right wing to a five-year, $20.4 million contract.

The deal was finalized late Friday. General manager Doug Risebrough said Saturday he considers the 24-year-old Bouchard still in the developmental stage of his career. His 221 points over five seasons rank second on the club's all-time list behind Marian Gaborik.

Minnesota's first-round draft pick in 2002, eighth overall, Bouchard made the team at age 18. Last season he tallied a franchise-best 50 assists to go with 13 goals, after scoring 20 times during the 2006-07 season.

Bouchard was one year away from unrestricted free agency, so he could have waited to see what the market for him would be next summer. But after signing a series of one-year deals, Bouchard was ready to hedge his bet and take the safer route. The Wild's original offer was for four years, but the two sides were able to agree on five.

"At the end of the day, the players want long term and more security," Risebrough said, adding: "He wanted to be here. When players are one year away, they can kind of give you the body language that they don't want to be here. In Butch's case, I was convinced that he wanted to be here."

Listed generously at 5-foot-10 and 172 pounds, Bouchard _ a native of Quebec _ is one of the smallest players in the NHL. He has some slick passing skills and nifty spin moves to compensate for that, but his production on the second line has been up and down over the years and his size can be a limitation.

The Wild have given out long-term contracts to the other three players _ Gaborik, Mikko Koivu and Brent Burns _ drafted in the first round over their first four years of existence. Until now, Bouchard was still waiting for his. Risebrough said last month that he wanted to sign him to a multiyear deal, but he made clear he wouldn't pay too much to do it.

Losing Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra, two of their top scorers, through free agency made retaining Bouchard more important. The Wild signed Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen and Owen Nolan to bolster the front lines, but none is considered a 25-goal scorer at this stage of their careers. The Wild have long believed Bouchard has had the potential for that.

Risebrough said he promised Bouchard that he won't trade him in the first two years of the contract.

Up next on the Wild's agenda is a new contract for Gaborik, who has one year left on his current deal. If they can't come to an agreement on an extension, Gaborik might find himself the subject of trade talks.

Organizing making a comeback in Hub

Before Khalida Smalls began working as an organizer at Alternatives for Communities and Environment in 1997, she didn't know what community organizing was.

"I'd never heard of, seen or spoken with a community organizer," she said.

Now coordinator of the Transit Riders Union, Smalls is one of dozens of community organizers in Boston working on social justice issues. And the issues go far beyond fighting fare increases.

"Members of the Transit Riders Union have issues that go way beyond transportation," Smalls said. "If we're working on housing issues or rent control, we work with other groups that are working on the same things."

So it was that when activists in Chinatown were fighting developers seeking to build a large, multistory condo complex in Chinatown last year, Smalls and other activists from Lower Roxbury, Dorchester and Jamaica Plain were on hand to man the picket lines, demanding more affordable housing for the neighborhood.

The Chinatown rally illustrated two emerging trends in social justice: the increased presence of community organizers and an increased tendency among organizers to work on issues outside of their core area.

While community organizers were a common feature of Boston's civic life in the 1960s when activists like Byron Rushing, Chuck Turner and Mel King brought South End and Roxbury residents together to fight issues ranging from garbage collection to community control of public land.

In the 1980s, however, many of those activists moved away from organizing to politics or to assume leadership positions in the community-based organizations that were founded in the '70s. And many organizations themselves similarly moved away from their mission of community organizing.

"In the end they became service providers," said Boston Foundation Director of Grantmaking, Angel Bermudez. "Many CDCs became dependent on development fees."

In the '90s, that process began to reverse as community activists became more acutely aware of the lack of organizing in the city.

The Boston Foundation, which had began funding organizing initiatives in 1987, launched a more aggressive program to fund community organization in 1993.

At the same time, CDCs themselves began to reverse the trend as the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations initiated its Ricanne Hadrian Initiative on Organizing, a program that funneled funding for organizing to individual CDCs.

The RHICO program, which kicked off in 1998, is aimed at incorporating resident empowerment into the core mission of participating CDCs.

"Basically, if you're trying to build any kind of movement, or any kind of power, at the heart of it are the people who live in the community," says Nancy Marks, director of organizing at MACDC. "Many CDCs have learned that they can produce more housing and win more victories with organizing."

Under the RHICO model, organizers at CDCs call the residents of the neighborhoods they serve "leaders." The residents' concerns drive the organizing efforts and, by extension, the CDCs' agendas.

"The goal of organizing in general is knowing who's at the table and making sure everyone's voice is heard," Marks says.

While affordable housing is the number one issue in Lawrence, board member Florencia Otero says the Lawrence CDC is also working on educational issues. With 33 percent of the predominantly Latino population under the age of 18, after school programs, tutoring and college preparatory programs are a priority.

"All the programs are created with the community," she said. "And that way we identify where the greatest need is."

Marks notes that not all CDCs have embraced the organizing-driven model of community development.

"Some CDCs tend to play more of an insider's game," she said. "But putting 50 units of housing in your community doesn't necessarily create leaders in the community who are invested in the community."

Because CDCs and other community-based organizations depend on city and state funding, many are hesitant to challenge city officials on issues of concern to their constituencies, according to Horace Small, who heads the Union of Minority Neighborhoods.

"In some organizations you have directors who are nervous about empowerment," he said. "Some organizers just attend meetings and report back to the executive director. Some function like planners. Some get down and dirty and really do organizing."

Smalls, who hosts regular trainings for community organizers, says organizing has become more sophisticated in recent years.

"Organizing has gone from organizing people on the issues that effect them to organizing and helping people understand the power they have, to `let's form a coalition,'" he said. "Organizing is nothing more than relationship-building."

Organizers have assembled coalitions on everything from affordable housing to education. For the last two years the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation has organized a get-out-the-vote effort in conjunction with the Hyde Square Task Force and City Life/Vida Urbana.

Marks says the broader focus adopted by organizers ultimately empowers the people they serve.

"CDCs need for their leaders to feel that they're part of something bigger and to understand the issues and know what the solutions are state-wide," she said.

Photograph (Community organizers)

No risk, big reward for L.T.; Chargers 23, Titans 17: Tomlinson makes FG moot, caps rally with TD run in OT

LaDainian Tomlinson wanted to eliminate all the risks of trying afield goal in overtime.

So he took the ball, cut to his left and outran everyone on a 16-yard touchdown run with 7:29 left in overtime, finishing off theChargers' rally from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat theTennessee Titans 23-17 on Sunday.

"Anything can happen with a field goal," Tomlinson said.

The Chargers (8-5) won their third game in a row and seventh innine games but didn't clinch their second consecutive AFC West titlebecause Denver beat Kansas City.

"To come in here and get a win is really, really big for ourguys," Chargers coach Norv Turner said. "And then the way we did it,I think the key for our football team today was we fought hard."

The Chargers won a physical game in which linebacker ShawneMerriman got two sacks early in the first half, then spent the restof the day sidelined by an injured left knee. Tight end AntonioGates hurt his back and returned to catch the game-tying touchdown.

Philip Rivers, intercepted twice, hurt his left knee in the firsthalf and returned to finish the game wearing a brace.

"He went out there and gave us everything he had," Merriman said."He wasn't 100 percent. You could see it. He was limping around allthe time, but he still went out and fought for us."

Rivers, the Alabama native with lots of family and friends in thestands, had 37 yards passing through three quarters. He led therally by throwing two touchdown passes in the final 7:29 -- the lastwith nine seconds left.

"He kept getting up," said Titans defensive end Kyle VandenBosch, who had three of five sacks for Tennessee (7-6). "He stayedafter it."

SOUND OFF

LAST WEEK'S QUESTION

Should Pennsylvania phase out defined-benefit pension plans for state workers and shift to a defined-contribution plan, such as the 401(k)? Why or why not?

NO

21 percent

YES

79 percent

HOW YOU SAID IT:

YES: "The taxpayers can no longer pay a guaranteed rate of return at retirement. Every large company has been converting their pension plans to 401(k) plans for years. It is time for government to do the same."

-Jeff Bruening,

York County

YES: "This would limit the state's future liability and reduce ourstate income tax if it was handled correctly. We should limit what is contributed and offer only matching funds, requiring state workers to contribute to their own retirement saving. This is the type of plan that most businesses offer."

- Charles Auman,

York County

YES: "State government needs to acknowledge what private industry has recognized for some time. The trend in private industry for some time has been to move away from defined-benefit plans, primarily driven by economic necessity and sound financial management. Just as private industry cannot continue to carry large, unfunded, open-ended pension liabilities in an era of economic volatility, intense international competition and eroding profit margins, state government will find it increasingly difficult to fund defined-contribution pension liabilities in an era of declining government spending, voter resistance to tax increases, and essential government services consuming ever greater shares of the state budget."

-Russell G. Kulp,

Cumberland County

YES: "Individuals, including government employees, should be given the opportunity to be responsible for their own retirement-plan options, which would include a contribution from the employer and personal contributions.The risk to the taxpayers under a defined-benefit plan is becoming an undue burden. The future unfunded liability will become a significant drag on the ability of the public sector to provide services in the future. Under a pay-as-you-go plan (defined contribution), the public sector knows each year what its cost is, and the promised unknown future costs are eliminated."

-Dave Gerber,

York County

YES: "Yes, as that is what most, if not all, the private sector does if there is any at all. Definitely, if it lessens my tax burden."

-Gary Toy,

Cumberland County

YES: "I think that the contribution system is a fair representation of the average of the working classes of taxpayers in PA from the private sector. State employees should not benefit any better than the average taxpayer on a retirement system. Who is funding their system? Taxpayers."

-Wayne Waggoner,

Adams County

NO: "This was tried and shown to only end up costing more. 401(k) programs don't provide as stable of a retirement future. Instead of finding ways to dismantle a secure retirement for public employees, we need to find a way to get this benefit back into the hands of more private employees."

-Gene Robison,

York County

NO: "While I would normally say yes to this question, the biggest problem I foresee is that most state workers have not saved enough, on their own, to expect that they can easily phase in to this new discipline."

-Jim Williams,

Lancaster County

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

Should the state encourage mergers of small, rural municipalities? Why or why not?

To respond, visit www.centralpennbusiness.com. The poll question is on the bottom right-hand corner.

What's your opinion?

We encourage readers to write letters. Please keep them to fewer than 400 words. Please sign your name and include a telephone number. List your borough, township or city. We reserve the right to edit letters.

ADDRESS: Editor, Central Penn Business Journal, 101 N. Second St., Second Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101

FAX: 909-0538 PHONE: 236-4300

E-MAIL: editorial@journalpub.com

Obama heads into Puerto Rico primary with nomination within reach

Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigned for victory Sunday in Puerto Rico's presidential primary, albeit a hollow one as Barack Obama's advisers confidently predicted he would have the Democratic presidential nomination in hand as early as this week.

The vote in the island territory follows a Saturday decision by a Democratic National Committee panel to give each Michigan and Florida delegate a half vote at the party's national convention. The compromise did no harm to Obama's near lock on the nomination, but infuriated Clinton supporters.

The deal by the party's Rules Committee left Obama 64 delegates short of the 2,118 now needed for the nomination. Sunday's election here and the final primaries Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota _ with a total of 86 delegates at stake _ will narrow the gap. Obama could attract enough superdelegates _ top party officials and lawmakers free to vote for any candidate _ to secure the nomination this week.

"If not Tuesday, I think it will be fairly soon," Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said on national television Sunday.

Gibbs also did not rule out the possibility that Obama will seat the Michigan and Florida delegations at full strength if he is the nominee.

"I think any nominee may make some decisions at some point regarding those delegations," he said on ABC television's "This Week."

Obama's confidence was reflected in his decision to campaign on Monday in Michigan, a key battleground state. He planned to mark the end of the primary season at a Tuesday night rally in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, the same arena where John McCain will officially become the Republican nominee at the party's convention beginning Sept. 1.

Clinton's fading hopes were dealt a crushing blow by the party Rules and Bylaws Committee's decision resolving the dispute over seating the Michigan and Florida delegations, which threatened to undercut party unity going into the November general election against McCain.

The New York senator had pressed hard to have Michigan and Florida's 368 delegates fully counted after the states were stripped of their convention votes for violating party rules by holding their primaries too early. Clinton won both primaries after all the candidates agreed not to campaign in either state. Nearly 2.3 million Democratic primary votes were cast in the two states.

Clinton's campaign objected to the compromise on Michigan's delegates because it gave the former first lady four fewer delegates than aides had maintained she was entitled to, prompting new threats to take the fight to the August convention. She trails Obama by more than 170 delegates in the overall count.

"She will be consulting with people and she will be making the decision later on," said Clinton adviser Harold Ickes, a member of the committee that voted Saturday. He hinted that the 2,118 delegates needed for the nomination may grow.

"But in our view, the final number for the nomination will not be fixed until Michigan is ultimately resolved, but that will depend on what Mrs. Clinton decides to do," Ickes said on CNN's "Late Edition."

The sticking point in the debate over the two states was Michigan, where Obama's name was not on the primary ballot. Clinton prevailed over "uncommitted," but Obama's allies claimed the large majority of those votes were cast by his supporters.

Clinton's camp insisted the Illinois senator should not get any pledged delegates in Michigan since he chose not to put his name on the ballot. Obama's team insisted the only fair solution was to split the pledged delegates in half between the two campaigns, with 64 each.

The committee agreed on a compromise offered by the Michigan Democratic Party that would split the difference, allowing Clinton to take 69 delegates and Obama 59. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention in Denver this August, according to the deal.

As voting got under way Sunday in Puerto Rico, some polling places in the capital of San Juan were busy soon after they opened while others were idle. More than 20 schools serving as polling sites opened late because janitors were protesting late-arriving paychecks, the Department of Education said.

In a fierce and prolonged Democratic presidential battle, Puerto Rico stood as the former first lady's best chance for one last primary victory, but offered her no chance of overcoming Obama's delegate lead.

She, former President Bill Clinton and their daughter Chelsea have spent a combined 15 days in the commonwealth hoping to keep her relevant in the contest. On Sunday, Clintono got an early start, chatting up customers, posing for photos and signing posters during a visit to Kasalta Bakery in San Juan.

Puerto Rico will send more delegates to the party's national convention than some smaller U.S. states, but does not vote in the general presidential election.

Over the past few weeks, Obama has largely ignored Clinton to focus on McCain and the November elections. While hammering the Arizona senator as offering nothing more than an extension of President George W. Bush's unpopular policies, he struggled to move past controversies stirred by some supporters.

The first-term Illinois senator resigned from his church in Chicago in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and more recent fiery remarks at the Trinity United Church of Christ by another minister.

Comments by Wright blaming U.S. policies for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks had inflamed racial tensions and posed an unwanted problem for Obama as he was on the verge of making history as the first black Democratic presidential nominee.

"This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," Obama said Saturday at a news conference in South Dakota after campaign officials released a letter of resignation sent to the church the day before.

Obama said weeks ago that he disagreed with Wright but initially portrayed him as a family member he could not disown. The preacher had officiated at Obama's wedding and been his spiritual mentor for some 20 years. But as more comments emerged, Obama denounced the remarks as "divisive and destructive" and worked to distance himself from the preacher.

More recently, racially charged remarks from the same pulpit by another pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, kept the controversy alive and proved the latest thorn in the side of Obama.

Obama made it clear he was not happy with the comments _ in which Pfleger pretended he was Clinton crying over "a black man stealing my show."

Pfleger issued an apology, saying he was sorry if his comments offended Clinton or anyone else, but the controversy persisted.

Saturday's party meeting did strengthen one of Clinton's key arguments for staying in the race amid mounting pressure to get out. In seating the Michigan and Florida delegates, party leaders tacitly acknowledged her popular vote dominance in those states.

Clinton's campaign now says she has won the most votes since the primaries and caucuses began in January, a debatable claim for a number of reasons, including the fact that she ran virtually unopposed in Michigan and vote totals from several caucus states cannot be calculated.

Her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, was quick to point that out during his appearance on ABC.

"Well clearly, it ultimately comes down to the delegates. But I think it's very important to note that Hillary Clinton will have received more votes than anyone ever running for president on either side in primary battle," said McAuliffe, who was with Clinton in Puerto Rico.

While polls show her ahead, island officials don't expect an exceptionally large turnout. That means Clinton might not get the huge influx of popular votes she is counting on.

McAuliffe said Clinton would not consider leaving the race until someone gets 2,118 delegates.

"We think we are going to get that number. But we're going to make our argument right up until someone has that number," he said.

Heading into Sunday's primary, Obama had 2,054 delegates overall, in the latest AP tally. Clinton had 1,877.5.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

Buying on the cheap ; As stock prices crumble, M&A activity begins to pick up. Investment bankers say several cash-rich corporates are on the hunt for companies in high-growth sectors, but whose stocks have taken a battering.

Last fortnight, as the BSE dipped below the 13,000 mark (at thetime of writing it had recovered and was closer to 14,000), analystsat broking firms were frantically scurrying for the next biginvestment idea. One theme that emerged on The Street was stocks inthe thick of M & A (mergers & acquisition) action morespecifically those that are seen to be sitting ducks for a sell-out. The focus on such target companies has, no doubt, beentriggered by the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories (to Daiichi of Japan)and Spice Communications (to Idea Cellular from the Aditya Birlagroup). Another stock that's all abuzz is Zandu Pharmaceuticals,which the Kolkatabased Emami group has been attempting to gaincontrol of.

Investment bankers say several cash-rich corporates are on thehunt for companies in high-growth sectors, but whose stocks havetaken a battering. We are looking for real estate companies thathave approvals for township projects, reveals a top official of acompany that has interests in infrastructure development, and whichhas already made a string of acquisitions recently.

From an acquirer's point of view it is a good time to buycompanies, says Ajay Parmar, Head of Research, InstitutionalEquity, at Emkay Global Financial Services. Another interesting ideathat could gain currency is open offers by multinational companies. When the market price is substantially lower than the fair value ofa company, promoters of such companies try to increase their stakeby making an open offer, explains Arun Kejriwal, Director, KrisResearch. Kejriwal expects the parents of many MNCs to takeadvantage of low stock prices to increase their stake. Recently, theGerman parent of BASF India made an open offer to acquire 22.3 percent stake at Rs 274 a share, a substantial premium to the marketprice in May, when the offer was made. Later, it increased the offerprice to Rs 300.

Virendra Verma

Nationals' Wang earns win, gets first hit

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chien-Ming Wang did nearly everything right in the final game of his comeback season.

Wang pitched six effective innings and drove in a run with his first career hit, leading the Washington Nationals to a 4-1 victory over the scuffling Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

Making his 11th start since returning from a two-year layoff following shoulder surgery, Wang (4-3) allowed one run and four hits, struck out four and walked none. He lowered his ERA to 4.04.

"I wish I still can pitch a couple more games this season," Wang said through a translator. "Because with each outing I get, I feel my shoulder's stronger and then my breaking ball is coming back."

Wang had a couple of shaky outings when he first returned in July, but the right-hander is 4-1 with a 3.71 ERA in his last nine starts. He has 16 strikeouts and no walks over his last four outings.

"It was just a remarkable season," Washington manager Davey Johnson said. "He got better every time out."

Wang's performance sent the Braves to their 16th loss in their last 26 games. Atlanta is now two games ahead of St. Louis for the NL wild card with four games left.

"When we beat the Braves, it's a good feeling. We want to fight for something," said Danny Espinosa, who hit a two-run single in the fourth for Washington. "If we keep them out of the playoffs, we'll keep them out of the playoffs. No hard feelings."

Freddie Freeman hit a leadoff homer in the fifth for Atlanta, tying Espinosa for the lead among NL rookies at 21.

The Braves intentionally walked Ivan Rodriguez to bring Wang to the plate with two outs and two on in the fourth inning. Wang's RBI single off Brandon Beachy (7-3) went down the left-field line and capped a three-run fourth that put the Nationals ahead 4-0. He had been 0 for 32 at the plate in his career.

"I was kind of lucky," Wang said.

Chris Marrero also had an RBI single in the second for Washington, which has won six of seven.

Wang also got help from his defense. The best play came at the end of the third inning, when center fielder Rick Ankiel made a running catch at the warning track with his back to the infield on a fly ball by Michael Bourn.

Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his 41st save.

Rodriguez started at catcher for the first time since July 4. The 39-year-old missed nearly two months with an oblique strain before returning in early September. He went 1 for 2 with a single, and also threw out two runners trying to steal.

The second caught stealing ended Atlanta's only late offensive opportunity. Atlanta put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth. Bourn, who leads the majors with 58 stolen bases, tried to steal second but was cut down. Martin Prado then flied out.

Johnson called Rodriguez's throw "the play of the game."

"I was surprised by it, to be honest with you," Rodriguez said. "I didn't think he was going to go in that situation. The good thing is I was ready."

Wang's contract with Washington is up after this season. Johnson made no secret of the fact he'd like the team to re-sign the righty.

"If I'm here, he can have my salary," Johnson said.

NOTES: Johnson said Rodriguez would also start the team's final game Wednesday in Florida. ... Atlanta LHP Mike Minor (5-2) will start in the final game of the three-game series against Nationals LHP Ross Detwiler (3-5).

Plane carrying 16 missing in Indonesia

JAKARTA - A plane carrying 16 people disappeared over easternIndonesia on Sunday, an airline official said.

The Twin Otter plane was on a commercial flight over the remotePapua region when it lost contact with ground officials, said Capt.Nikmatullah, the director of operations of airline MerpatiNusantara.

Heavy rains head toward cyclone-devastated Myanmar

Heavy rains and another potentially powerful storm headed toward Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta on Wednesday. The U.N. warned that inadequate relief efforts could lead to a second wave of deaths among the estimated 2 million survivors. The International Red Cross said in a new estimate that the death toll already may be between 68,833 and 127,990.

The Red Cross says it arrived at the number by adding figures gathered in affected areas by other aid groups and organizations and extrapolating the total.

The Myanmar junta says Cyclone Nargis left at least 34,273 dead and 27,838 missing. U.N. agencies and other groups have been able to reach only 270,000 people so far.

The country's junta told visiting Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, however, that it is in control of the relief operations and doesn't need foreign experts.

Samak visited a government relief center in Yangon and told reporters after returning to Bangkok that the junta has given him the "guarantee" that there are no disease outbreaks and no starvation among the cyclone survivors.

"They have their own team to cope with the situation," Samak said, citing Myanmar Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein. "From what I have seen I am impressed with their management."

International agencies say bottlenecks, poor logistics, limited infrastructure and the military government's refusal to allow foreign aid workers have left most of the delta's survivors living in miserable conditions without food or clean water. The government's efforts have been criticized as woefully slow.

Rain has been has been pounding the cyclone-hit area all week, and more is expected in the coming days, compounding the already difficult task of moving supplies over ruined roads. It also poses significant health risks to survivors of the May 3 cyclone.

"The weather will exacerbate humanitarian conditions for the homeless, many of whom are living under an open sky," said Elizabeth Griffin, a director of Catholic Relief Services from Baltimore. "Thankfully, no serious outbreaks of bacterial, water or mosquito borne diseases have been reported, but this could change in the next two to three weeks."

The U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said there is a good chance that "a significant tropical cyclone" will form within the next 24 hours and head across the Irrawaddy delta area.

But other forecasters were unwilling to make such a prediction.

Dr. Thawat Sutharacha of Thailand's Public Health Ministry said Wednesday the junta has given permission to a Thai medical team to go to the cyclone-hit delta.

The government separately announced that it will allow 160 relief workers from neighboring countries _ India, China, Bangladesh, and Thailand _ to come to Myanmar, but it is not clear if they include the Thai medics or whether they will be allowed to travel to the delta.

"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.

"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate and we do not want to see a second wave of death as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.

The news of a possible second cyclone was not broadcast by Myanmar's state-controlled media. But Yangon residents picked up the news on foreign broadcasts and on the Internet.

"I prayed to the Lord Buddha, 'please save us from another cyclone. Not just me but all of Myanmar,'" said Min Min, a rickshaw driver, whose house was destroyed in Cyclone Nargis. Min Min, his wife and three children now live on their wrecked premises under plastic sheets.

Soldiers have barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in the hardest-hit areas, but gave access to an International Red Cross representative who returned to Yangon on Tuesday.

Bridget Gardner, the agency's country head, described tremendous devastation but also selflessness, as survivors joined in the rescue efforts.

"People who have come here having lost their homes in rural areas have volunteered to work as first aiders. They are humanitarian heroes," said Gardner.

Gardner's team visited five locations in the Irrawaddy delta. In one of them, they saw 10,000 people living without shelter as rain tumbled from the sky.

"The town of Labutta is unrecognizable. I have been here before and now, with the extent of the damage and the crowds of displaced people, it's a different place," Gardner was quoted as saying in a statement by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Some survivors of Cyclone Nargis were reportedly getting poor-quality or spoiled food, rather than nutrition-rich biscuits sent by international donors, adding to suspicions that the junta may be misappropriating foreign aid.

The military, which has ruled since 1962, has taken control of most supplies sent by other countries, including the United States, which began its third day of aid delivery Wednesday as five more giant C-130 transport planes loaded with emergency supplies headed to Myanmar.

Lt. Col. Douglas Powell, a spokesman for what has been dubbed operation Caring Relief, said a total of 197,080 pounds of provisions have been sent into Myanmar on the eight U.S. military flights that have been cleared to go.

Most of the provisions have been blankets, mosquito nets, plastic sheets and water.

In Washington, the State Department renewed U.S. appeals for the junta to allow in outside disaster relief experts and more assistance.

"We want to see the regime do more to allow the outside world to be able to help people in need in that country," deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. "This is not a political issue, this really is simply a humanitarian issue."

Myanmar has agreed to attend an emergency meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers next week to discuss problems in getting foreign aid into the country, Asian diplomats said Wednesday.

Diplomats from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar, are to hold the meeting Monday in Singapore, said two Manila-based Southeast Asian diplomats knowledgeable about preparations for the gathering.

Singapore, which currently heads the ASEAN bloc, organized the meeting after getting a nod from Myanmar, which has committed to sending its foreign minister, according to one of the diplomats. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

____

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.

Chelsea closes in on Premier League title

Chelsea can open up a four-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League title race by beating Bolton on Tuesday.

United's 0-0 draw at Blackburn on Sunday gave Chelsea more good news after the Blues reached the FA Cup final by beating Aston Villa 3-0 Saturday.

The match against Bolton is one of the five remaining league games for Chelsea, which last won the title in 2006.

Chelsea captain John Terry says that "we have let the lead in the league slip once and we are determined not to let it slip again."

Arsenal is only three points behind Chelsea. The Gunners play Wednesday at Tottenham, which lost to Portsmouth 2-0 in extra time Sunday in the FA Cup semifinals.

Pakistani leader accepts Jewish invitation to speak about moderate Islam

EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
08-23-2005
Dateline: UNITED NATIONS
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has accepted an invitation from a leading Jewish organization to speak about his campaign to promote moderate Islam among Muslims around the world, the Council for World Jewry said.

Musharraf urged Muslims in a June 2003 speech to move forward in politically trying times with a strategy of "enlightened moderation" and has been advocating the policy ever since as the best way for Muslims and non-Muslims to counter extremism and terrorism.

Council chairman Jack Rosen said Musharraf's speech next month would be unique because it would mark the first time a Muslim leader with international stature stands up and publicly calls for moderation in the Muslim world not only at an event for Americans but at an event sponsored by the Jewish community.

"He's going to be speaking to a constituency that's been demonized by many extremists in the Muslim world," Rosen said in an interview Monday.

Rosen said he and two colleagues from the council, which is part of the American Jewish Congress, were invited to meet Musharraf in Islamabad in May. During their talk, they discussed Muslim extremism, terrorism and the need for reconciliation.

Out of that meeting came an invitation for Musharraf to speak to the American and Jewish communities on his call for "enlightened moderation" and the changes needed in the Muslim world and the West to achieve it, Rosen said.

Musharraf recently accepted and the Council for World Jewry is organizing an event which will take place in New York soon after a U.N. summit in New York that Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited world leaders to attend from Sept. 14-16, he said.

In a 2004 speech to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents 57 predominantly Muslim countries, Musharraf said his strategy of "enlightened moderation" had two prongs.

One requires the Muslim world to shun militancy and extremism and promote socio-economic progress to achieve its "emancipation" and the other requires the West, especially the United States, to resolve all political disputes in which Muslims are engaged "with justice" and to assist in economic and social improvements in deprived Muslim countries, Musharraf said.

"This doctrine is a refreshing doctrine compared to what we've been hearing for the last 10 years from the Islamic world," said David Twersky, who accompanied Rosen to Islamabad.

"He doesn't blame everything on the West. He takes a lot of responsibility," Twersky said. "For example, he says most Muslims being killed in the world today are being killed by other Muslims."

Phil Baum, the third council member on the trip, said it has been very difficult to find moderate Muslim leaders to speak out publicly. He noted that U.S. President George W. Bush had recently assigned one of his closest colleagues, Karen Hughes, to work on this issue in her new job at the State Department.

"What we would hope to do is spark other moderate community leaders in joining him (Musharraf) in speaking out against extremism and terrorism, something that's been very difficult to find in the last few years," Baum said in an interview.

Twersky said what Musharraf is trying to do "is more than pushing the envelope."

"He is really trying to change the rules of the game," Twersky said. "Right now, those rules keep various parts of the world population from communicating with each other. He is trying to change those rules, and he is doing it in a very dramatic fashion by accepting the invitation to the September event."

Copyright 2005, AP News All Rights Reserved
Pakistani leader accepts Jewish invitation to speak about moderate IslamEDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
08-23-2005
Dateline: UNITED NATIONS
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has accepted an invitation from a leading Jewish organization to speak about his campaign to promote moderate Islam among Muslims around the world, the Council for World Jewry said.

Musharraf urged Muslims in a June 2003 speech to move forward in politically trying times with a strategy of "enlightened moderation" and has been advocating the policy ever since as the best way for Muslims and non-Muslims to counter extremism and terrorism.

Council chairman Jack Rosen said Musharraf's speech next month would be unique because it would mark the first time a Muslim leader with international stature stands up and publicly calls for moderation in the Muslim world not only at an event for Americans but at an event sponsored by the Jewish community.

"He's going to be speaking to a constituency that's been demonized by many extremists in the Muslim world," Rosen said in an interview Monday.

Rosen said he and two colleagues from the council, which is part of the American Jewish Congress, were invited to meet Musharraf in Islamabad in May. During their talk, they discussed Muslim extremism, terrorism and the need for reconciliation.

Out of that meeting came an invitation for Musharraf to speak to the American and Jewish communities on his call for "enlightened moderation" and the changes needed in the Muslim world and the West to achieve it, Rosen said.

Musharraf recently accepted and the Council for World Jewry is organizing an event which will take place in New York soon after a U.N. summit in New York that Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited world leaders to attend from Sept. 14-16, he said.

In a 2004 speech to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents 57 predominantly Muslim countries, Musharraf said his strategy of "enlightened moderation" had two prongs.

One requires the Muslim world to shun militancy and extremism and promote socio-economic progress to achieve its "emancipation" and the other requires the West, especially the United States, to resolve all political disputes in which Muslims are engaged "with justice" and to assist in economic and social improvements in deprived Muslim countries, Musharraf said.

"This doctrine is a refreshing doctrine compared to what we've been hearing for the last 10 years from the Islamic world," said David Twersky, who accompanied Rosen to Islamabad.

"He doesn't blame everything on the West. He takes a lot of responsibility," Twersky said. "For example, he says most Muslims being killed in the world today are being killed by other Muslims."

Phil Baum, the third council member on the trip, said it has been very difficult to find moderate Muslim leaders to speak out publicly. He noted that U.S. President George W. Bush had recently assigned one of his closest colleagues, Karen Hughes, to work on this issue in her new job at the State Department.

"What we would hope to do is spark other moderate community leaders in joining him (Musharraf) in speaking out against extremism and terrorism, something that's been very difficult to find in the last few years," Baum said in an interview.

Twersky said what Musharraf is trying to do "is more than pushing the envelope."

"He is really trying to change the rules of the game," Twersky said. "Right now, those rules keep various parts of the world population from communicating with each other. He is trying to change those rules, and he is doing it in a very dramatic fashion by accepting the invitation to the September event."

Copyright 2005, AP News All Rights Reserved

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