Ports Deal to Get Broader Security Review

Ports Deal to Get Broader Security Review (TED BRIDIS, Associated Press)

The Bush administration will conduct a highly unusual second review of potential security risks in a business deal it previously approved for a United Arab Emirates-based company to take over significant operations at six leading U.S. ports. The new, 45-day investigation is aimed at averting an impending political showdown as Congress returned to Washington on Monday from a weeklong break.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who helped negotiate the plan, quickly recommended that lawmakers wait for the outcome before acting on legislation to delay or block the deal. Frist, R-Tenn., said he expects oversight hearings to continue this week.

In six pages of legal documents sent Sunday to the White House, Dubai-based DP World offered to submit to a second, broader investigation of its plans to run shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. The Treasury Department, which governs the U.S. review panel, said it would accept DP World’s extraordinary offer once the company formally filed its request for one. It said the same government panel will reconsider the deal that it earlier had agreed unanimously posed no national security concerns.

Some senators, led by Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said they still intend to introduce legislation Monday to block the deal pending a 45-day review and to require congressional approval before DP World can conduct business in the United States. Under existing law, Congress effectively has no role considering deals.

Still, the administration’s announcement means the White House likely won’t face a broader revolt this week by fellow Republicans. A united GOP can assert that its leaders — in Congress and at the White House — have taken additional steps to protect national security.

DP World’s offer was highly unusual. The secretive U.S. committee that considers security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry has conducted such full-blown investigations only about two dozen times among the more than 1,500 international deals it has reviewed. The company said that during the renewed scrutiny, or until May 1, a London-based executive who is a British citizen would have authority over DP World’s U.S. operations. It pledged that Dubai executives would not control or influence company business in the U.S., but said it was entitled to all profits during the period. It also said it will appoint an American to be its chief security officer in the United States. “We hope that voluntarily agreeing to further scrutiny demonstrates our commitment to our long-standing relationship with the United States,” said Edward H. Bilkey, the company’s chief operating officer.

Egypt Announces Discovery of Ramses II Statues

Egypt announces discovery of Ramses II statues (Reuters)

Statues weighing up to five tonnes and thought to be of one of ancient Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, Ramses II, have been found northeast of Cairo, Egypt’s Supreme Antiquities Council said in a statement on Sunday.

Ramses II ruled Egypt from 1304 to 1237 BC, and presided over an era of great military expansion, erecting statues and temples to himself all over Egypt. He is traditionally believed to be the pharaoh mentioned in the biblical story of Moses.

“Many parts of red granite statues were found, the most important of which had features close to Ramses II … The statue needs some restoration and weighs between four and five tonnes,” the statement quoted the Council’s Zahi Hawass as saying.

A royal head weighing two to three tonnes and a seated 5.1 meter (16.7 foot) statue were also found, with cartouches, or royal name signs, of Ramses II on the side of the seated statue.

The discoveries were made at a sun temple northeast of Cairo in ancient Heliopolis, a region known in ancient times for sun worship and where the Council says a calendar based on the solar year was invented.

Sunnis Said Ready to End Boycott of Talks

Sunnis Said Ready to End Boycott of Talks (QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press)

Sunni Arabs are ready to end their boycott of talks to form a new government if rival Shiites return mosques seized in last week’s sectarian attacks and meet other unspecified demands, a top Sunni figure said Monday.

[...]

The Sunnis walked out of the talks Thursday after the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra triggered a wave of reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques in Baghdad, Basra and elsewhere. The walkout threatened U.S. plans to establish a unity government capable of luring Sunnis away from the insurgency so U.S. and other international troops can begin heading home.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, whose Iraqi Accordance Front spearheaded the Sunni boycott, said the Sunnis have not decided to return to the talks but are “intent on participating” in a new government. “The situation is tense and within the next two days, we expect the situation to improve and then we will have talks,” he told The Associated Press. “We haven’t ended our suspension completely but we are on the way to end it.”

He cited “some conditions” that must be met first, chief among them the return of mosques still occupied by Shiite militants in Baghdad and Salman Pak. Al-Dulaimi did not mention the other demands, but some Sunni politicians have insisted on replacing Shiite police with Sunni soldiers in heavily Sunni areas.

[...]

The city was otherwise generally peaceful Monday — the first day without extended curfews or a ban on private vehicles since the crisis erupted, pushing the nation to the brink of civil war.

Iraqi Sunni Bloc to Rejoin Talks on Government (EDWARD WONG, New York Times)

Leaders of the main Sunni Arab political bloc have decided to return to suspended talks over the formation of a new government, the top Sunni negotiator said Sunday. The step could help defuse the sectarian tensions that threatened to spiral into open civil war last week after the bombing of a Shiite shrine and the killings of Sunnis in reprisal.

That bloodletting has amounted to the worst sectarian violence since the American invasion nearly three years ago, and the possibility of Iraqis killing one another on an even greater scale appears to have helped drive Sunni Arab politicians back to moderation, after they angrily withdrew from negotiations last Thursday.

The Bush administration has pegged its hopes for dampening the Sunni-led insurgency, and withdrawing some of the 130,000 American troops here, to Sunni Arab participation in the political process.

While the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Consensus Front, has not publicly announced its decision and could still reverse course, Iraqi officials say the talks may resume as early as this week, depending on the level of tension in the streets.

Sectarian violence appeared to be ebbing across Iraq on Sunday, with more people venturing outside for the first time in days. Nonetheless, Shiite militiamen retained control of some Sunni mosques they had raided, and scattered mayhem left at least 14 people dead, including three American soldiers. At least 227 people have been killed since the shrine bombing.

The young spiritual leader of the Shiite militiamen, Moktada al-Sadr, made his first appearance in Iraq since the paroxysm of violence. He arrived in the southern port city of Basra from a trip to Iran, and, in a rare public speech, called for unity between Shiites and Sunnis while demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces. Blaming the American military for the recent violence, he told Iraqis to “cut off the head of the snake.” Thousands of followers, some waving Kalashnikov rifles, cheered in the streets.

The return to talks of the Sunni Arab bloc would be a crucial step in keeping on track the formation of a permanent government, which was mired in troubled negotiations even before the attack last Wednesday. The Sunni negotiator, Mahmoud al-Mashhadany, said Sunni politicians now recognize the need to form a widely inclusive government as quickly as possible to succeed the current interim government, dominated by religious Shiites and Kurds. “We’ve canceled our withdrawal from the talks,” Mr. Mashhadany said in a telephone interview. “We should hurry up and form a national unity government, to change this hopeless government. In the new government, everyone will handle responsibility.”

The Bush administration has been pressuring the majority Shiites and the Kurds to allow significant Sunni Arab representation in the coming four-year government, in hopes of politically engaging the Sunni-led insurgency. The Sunni Arabs are severely underrepresented in the current government because they boycotted elections in January 2005.

The mediation efforts of the American ambassador here, Zalmay Khalilzad, were dealt a serious blow last Thursday, when the leaders of the Iraqi Consensus Front, which is religiously conservative, said they were boycotting talks on forming a government out of anger at the sectarian violence, organized mostly by Mr. Sadr’s militiamen after the bombing of the golden-domed Askariya Shrine in Samarra.

The Sunni Arabs presented a list of demands to the Shiite-dominated government, including repairing the damaged mosques and honoring the memory of Sunnis who were killed. On Saturday night, at an emergency meeting of political leaders, the Iraqi prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, said the demands were valid.

Mr. Mashhadany said Sunday that the Sunni Arabs would remain vigilant for any broken promises from the Shiites. “We don’t need words on paper,” he said. “We need them to implement these changes.” But he generally struck a conciliatory tone, saying “there’s a desire to accelerate the formation of the cabinet” and adding, “This is from the leadership of all the groups — the Sunnis, the Shia and the Kurds.”

In the past several days, Iraqi officials have put aside the negotiations to deal immediately with the sectarian violence. If the streets remain calm on Monday, they say, that could prompt leaders to restart the talks. The Iraqi government announced that on Monday it would lift an extraordinary day curfew it had imposed on Baghdad since Friday. “We’re not yet talking about forming the government,” said Sheik Jalaladeen al-Sagheir, a senior Shiite politician. “We want to make sure the air is clear first.”

In the past several days, American diplomats have conferred with Iraqi leaders to try to bring all the parties together. The Americans approached several Iraqi officials, particularly Sunni Arabs, requesting their presence at the emergency meeting called by Mr. Jaafari on Saturday night. “We strongly felt Sunni Arabs had to be there and accept the invitation,” one diplomat said.

At the meeting, dozens of politicians formed an advisory council to look into reducing the sectarian tensions. All sides still have major concerns: Some Sunni Arab leaders, for instance, are demanding that the Shiite-dominated police, accused of running death squads and torture chambers, release Sunnis who were arrested during the wave of violence.

In the Battle for Baghdad, U.S. Turns War on Insurgents

In the Battle for Baghdad, U.S. Turns War on Insurgents (Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post, p. A01)

Interviews with U.S. soldiers — from top generals to front-line grunts in Tall Afar, Mosul, Ramadi, Balad and throughout Baghdad — as well as briefings at the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, reveal a markedly different war from that seen in 2003 and 2004, or even last year.

Current U.S. military commanders say they have come to understand that they are fighting within a political context, which means the results must first be judged politically. The pace and shape of the war also have changed, with U.S. forces trying to exercise tactical patience and shift responsibilities to Iraqi forces, even as they worry that the American public’s patience may be dwindling.

The war also has changed geographically. Over the last three years, it has developed a pattern of moving around the country, from Fallujah to Najaf to Mosul and Samarra and back to Fallujah. Last summer and fall it was focused in Tall Afar, in the northwest, and in the upper Euphrates, in the remote western part of Anbar province near Syria.

This year the war seems to hinge on the battle for Baghdad. Inside the capital, that promises to be primarily a political fight over the makeup of the future government of Iraq — and whether it can prevent a civil war, a threat that appeared much more likely this week with the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra and retaliatory attacks on Sunni mosques and clerics.

U.S. officials don’t talk much about the prospects of civil war. It is unclear what role the United States would play if such a war broke out, but military strategists said American forces would be used to try to minimize violence but not to actually intervene between warring groups.

[...]

The war here has gone through three distinct phases, each with its own feel and style of operation.

The first period, from May 2003 to July 2004, was characterized by drift and wishful thinking, military insiders say, with top U.S. officials at first refusing to recognize they were facing an insurgency and then committing a series of policy and tactical blunders that appear to have enflamed opposition to the U.S. occupation.

The second phase began in the summer of 2004, when Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. replaced Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez as the top U.S. commander in Iraq and developed — for the first time — a U.S. campaign plan. That plan, which looked forward from August 2004 to December 2005, gave U.S. operations a new coherence, directing a series of actions intended to clear the way for Iraqi voters to establish a new government.

Now, after parliamentary elections held in December, the U.S. effort has entered a third stage. The current emphasis is on reducing the U.S. role in the war, putting Iraq army and police forces in the forefront as much as possible — but not so fast that it breaks them, as it did in April 2004, when a battalion ordered to Fallujah mutinied. Eventually, Casey said, the hope is that U.S. forces will be able to focus on foreign fighters, while Iraqi security forces take on the native insurgency. But that hasn’t happened yet. The hardest fighting, especially in rural areas, still is being done by U.S. troops.

Several aspects make this third phase different from the war of a year or two ago:

The U.S. effort now is characterized by a more careful, purposeful style that extends even to how Humvees are driven in the streets. For years, “the standard was to haul ass,” noted Lt. Col. Gian P. Gentile, commander of the 8th Squadron of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, which is based near a bomb-infested highway south of Baghdad. Now his convoy drivers are ordered to move at 15 mph. “I’m a firm believer in slow, deliberate movement,” he said. “You can observe better, if there’s IEDs [improvised explosive devices] on the road.” It also is less disruptive to Iraqis and sends a message of calm control, he noted.

U.S. commanders spend their time differently. Where they once devoted much of their efforts to Iraqi politics and infrastructure, they now focus more on training and supporting the Iraqi police and army. “I spent the last month talking to ISF [Iraqi security force] commanders,” noted Gentile, who holds a doctorate in American history from Stanford. “Two years ago I would have spent all my time talking to sheiks.”

Real progress is being made in training Iraqi forces, especially its army, according to every U.S. officer asked about the issue. One of the surprises, they say, has been that an Iraqi soldier, even one who is overweight and undertrained, is more effective standing on an Iraqi street corner than the most disciplined U.S. Army Ranger. “They get intelligence we would never get,” noted Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East. “They sense the environment in a way that we never could.”

[...]

The biggest difference in Baghdad from two or three years ago is the nearly total absence of U.S. troops on its streets. In a major gamble, the city largely has been turned over to Iraqi police and army troops. If those Iraqi forces falter, leaving a vacuum, U.S. pressure elsewhere could push the insurgency into the capital. “I think they’re going to go to Baghdad” next, worried Morgan. But other U.S. officers argued that such a move is unlikely because it is more difficult to intimidate a city of 5 million than a rural village.

The streets of the capital already feel as unsafe as at any time since the 2003 invasion. As one U.S. major put it, Baghdad now resembles a pure Hobbesian state where all are at war against all others and any security is self-provided.

Army Reserve Capt. A. Heather Coyne, an outspoken former White House counterterrorism official, said, “There is a total lack of security in the streets, partly because of the insurgents, partly because of criminals, and partly because the security forces can be dangerous to Iraqi citizens too.” When this reporter was permitted to review an in-depth classified intelligence summary of recent “significant acts” occurring in the capital, it appeared surprisingly incomplete, generally listing only two sorts of events: anything that affected U.S. troops, and the killing of Iraqis. Other actions affecting Iraqis — kidnappings, rapes, robberies, bombs that don’t kill anyone, and a variety of forms of intimidation — don’t appear to be on the U.S. military’s radar screen. As one soldier put it, that’s all “background noise.”

Pooch Poo to Power San Francisco

Pooch Poo to Power San Francisco (Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News)

San Francisco is hoping to convert its dog dung into energy that may be able to power everything from an electricity-generating turbine to a home stove, according to Norcal Waste Systems Inc., which oversees garbage collection, recycling and disposal for San Francisco and several other Northern California cities.

San Francisco is believed to be the first U.S. city to explore the energy potential of dog feces. A pilot test program may begin within the next few months. “The city of San Francisco has a goal of 75-percent landfill diversion by 2010 and zero waste to landfill by 2020,” said Robert Reed, Norcal’s spokesman. “According to a recent waste characterization study, 3.8 percent of garbage from residential collections was animal feces — mostly from dogs and cats, although other animals could have been represented.”

Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but the city’s estimated 240,000 cats and dogs leave calling cards of their own. Norcal has decided to focus on dog doo because it is easier to collect, since dog owners frequent certain parks and could dispose of their pets’ waste in controlled receptacles.

Future of the Internet Highway Debated

Future of the Internet Highway Debated (By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer)

On the Internet, the traffic cops are blind — they don’t look at the data they’re directing, and they don’t give preferential treatment.

That’s something operators of the Internet highway, the major U.S. phone companies, want to change by effectively adding a toll lane: They want to be able to give priority treatment to those who pay to get through faster.

Naturally, consumer advocates and the Web companies that would be paying the toll are calling it highway robbery.

“Allowing broadband carriers to control what people see and do online would fundamentally undermine the principles that have made the Internet such a success,” Vinton Cerf told a Senate committee recently. Cerf, who played a key role in building the Internet, is now the “Chief Internet Evangelist” at Google Inc.

On the Internet, information is carried in “packets,” small chunks of data. An e-mail might be divided into several packets and travel different routes to the destination, much like cars have multiple ways of getting somewhere. The packets may arrive out of order, a few even late, but data can be reassembled to reconstitute the e-mail.

This design grew out of the military’s desire for a network that was both simple and reliable. And as the Internet became more widely available, this equal treatment of traffic was part of what made it attractive; individuals, startups and big corporations were on the same footing.

Now, however, the Internet is being used for things the engineers of the 1960s and 70s couldn’t have envisioned, like video, telephone calls and Internet games.

It doesn’t matter if an e-mail gets where it’s going half a second late, but a half-second’s delay in a phone call is annoying, and a half-second’s delay in a fast-moving game can mean a missed shot.

Thus, the telecommunications companies want to be able to provide “tiered service,” guaranteeing that, for a price, some packets will get to their destination on time.

The carriers are under “tremendous pressure” from customers to provide more reliable service, said Shawn White, director of external operations at Keynote Systems Inc., which tracks the performance of Web sites and the Internet.

Brief delays, for instance, could result in stuttering video, unacceptable to advertisers, White notes.

Whether they tier their service or not, telecommunications companies need to expand capacity. To do so costs money, and the telecoms argue that Internet users will have to pay, one way or another. They say it’s preferable that the money come from those who need and are willing to pay for better service, rather than spreading the cost out over all users.

“We do have to recover the cost for building the new capacity out there that the content providers are expecting us to provide,” said Jim Cicconi, AT&T Inc.’s senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs.

AT&T already provides connections between offices of the same company, or between government offices, using AT&T’s own lines rather than the public Internet. This allows AT&T to guarantee a certain quality level.

By prioritizing packets, AT&T could extend that service to the connection between a Web site and a surfer at home.

Bolton Blasts ‘Sex and Corruption’ at U.N.

Bolton Blasts ‘Sex and Corruption’ at U.N. (PAUL BURKHARDT, Associated Press Writer)

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Saturday that the world body is hobbled “by bad management, by sex and corruption” and a lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions.

John Bolton also criticized the U.N.’s budget, noting that two-thirds of members pay only 20 percent of the cost.

“We find an organization that is deeply troubled by bad management, by sex and corruption and by a growing lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions that are given to them,” Bolton told an audience at a Columbia Law School symposium held by the Federalist Society, a conservative law organization.

Bolton, a longtime critic of the U.N., has been leading U.S. efforts to reform the United Nations after the oil-for-food scandal and sex scandals involving U.N. peacekeepers.

The oil-for-food program, established in 1996 with Iraq’s economy crippled by sanctions, allowed Saddam Hussein to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods meant for his people.

An inquiry by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker found that Saddam sold oil to foreign countries in hopes of getting their support for lifting U.N. sanctions, and enriched himself by $1.8 billion through a kickback scheme. Companies and politicians essentially paid him for the right to do business, circumventing the U.N. program.

Don Knotts Dies at 81

by Leopold Stotch

From Stephen Taylor comes some sad news:

Don Knotts, TV’s Lovable Nerd, Dies at 81 (AP)

Don Knotts, who kept generations of TV audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show” and would-be swinger landlord Ralph Furley on “Three’s Company,” has died. He was 81.

Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at a Los Angeles hospital, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs his two signature shows.

Griffith, who remained close friends with Knotts, said he had a brilliant comedic mind and wrote some of the show’s best scenes.
“Don was a small man … but everything else about him was large: his mind, his expressions,” Griffith told The Associated Press on Saturday. “Don was special. There’s nobody like him. “I loved him very much,” Griffith added. “We had a long and wonderful life together.”

[...]

The West Virginia-born actor’s half-century career included seven TV series and more than 25 films, but it was the Griffith show that brought him TV immortality and five Emmys.

The show ran from 1960-68, and was in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings each season, including a No. 1 ranking its final year. It is one of only three series in TV history to bow out at the top: The others are “I Love Lucy” and “Seinfeld.” The 249 episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and have spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.

I have almost no recollection of The Andy Griffith Show, so Knotts to me will be remembered as the flamboyant would-be stud from Three’s Company. Mr. Furley’s leisure suits and jokes about Jack Tripper’s faux homosexuality were hilarious, and that show stands as an interesting snapshot of a strange era in American sociopolitical culture.

Update James Joyner: Sad news, indeed. I’m older than Stotch but even I didn’t watch Don Knotts play Barney Fife when the show was on. Indeed, he played the character from 1960-1965, before I was born. Still, I have probably seen every episode numerous times in the intervening years.

I have often said that “The Andy Griffith Show” was the best television show of any genre ever made. My wife, growing up as she did in New England, did not have the cultural advantages that I did and had never seen the show. We are currently rectifying that situation and watching every episode, in order, on DVD via Netflix.

Knotts won an Emmy as Best Supporting Actor each of the five years he played Barney Fife. If there was ever a better sitcom character over a sustained period, I haven’t seen it. Andy Griffith, already a well-established comedic actor and stand-up comic when the show began, quickly realized that Knotts was stealing the show. Rather than try to grab the best lines for himself, he became the straight man and let Knotts have even more camera time. The result is the best five year run of any sitcom, ever. The three subsequent seasons, all in color rather than the black and white of the Knotts era, were fine but nowhere near as good.

Here’s a much more recent photo of Griffith and Knotts, taken for the “TV Land Awards,” 7 March 2004:

Wikipedia provides a concise career summary:

After being a regular performer in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow from 1953 to 1955, he gained additional exposure in 1956 on Steve Allen’s variety show, appearing in Allen’s mock “Man in the Street” interviews, always as a man obviously very nervous about being on camera.

Knotts’s portrayal of Deputy Barney Fife on the American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show earned him five Emmy Awards. After leaving the series in 1965, Knotts starred in a series of film comedies: The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) and The Love God? (1969).

In the late 1960s and early ’70s, he served as the spokesman for Dodge trucks and was featured prominently in a series of print ads and dealer brochures.

In the 1970s, Knotts and Tim Conway starred together in a series of slapstick movies, including the 1975 Disney film The Apple Dumpling Gang, and its 1979 sequel, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again.

Knotts returned to series television in the late 1970s, appearing as landlord Ralph Furley on Three’s Company, after Audra Lindley and Norman Fell left the show to star in a short-lived spinoff series (”The Ropers”). Knotts remained on the show from 1979 until it ended in 1984. In 1986, he reunited with Andy Griffith in the 1986 made for television movie Return to Mayberry, where he reprised his role as “Barney Fife”. From 1989 to 1992, Knotts again co-starred with Grittith, playing a recurring role as pesky neighbor Les Calhoun on Matlock.

In 1998, Knotts made a cameo as the mysterious TV repairman in Pleasantville, and seven years later performed as the voice of Mayor Turkey Lurkey in Chicken Little (2005) (his first Disney movie since 1979).

My understanding is that Griffith and Knotts met when they starred in the 1955 Broadway hit “No Time for Sergeants.” They reprised their roles in the 1958 film of the same name. If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to do so. Like most films about the military, the basic training (or, technically, in this case Air Force recruit induction center) sequence was much better than the rest of the picture. Still, when you see Griffith’s terrific comedic performance as Will Stockdale and then realize that Don Knotts stole his own show away from him two years later, you really appreciate Knotts’ unique talent.

Update 2: Mac Stansbury and Barney’s Hometown have more.

Crosspost from OTB

________

Related:

Andy Griffith Donates Collection to Carolina
MIGHT-AS-WELL-SEE TV
ART CARNEY, R.I.P.
MAYBERRY HORROR

Philippines President Declares Emergency

Philippines President Declares Emergency

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency Friday, saying she had quashed a coup plot, and the military confined troops to their camps to keep them from joining growing protests against her rule.

Clashes erupted as riot police used water cannons to disperse about 5,000 protesters defying a ban on rallying at a shrine to the 1986 uprising that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Police used truncheons and shields to roust a stone-throwing group trying to gather for a second protest. Several people were arrested; others were bloodied.

Former President Corazon Aquino and about 5,000 people were later allowed to march peacefully to a memorial to her late husband Benigno, whose assassination in 1983 sparked massive protests that led to the revolt against Marcos. Riot police later moved in to clear out marchers who had lingered after dark and ignored a deadline to disperse.

Amid a massive security clampdown, the military barricaded its camps to keep troops from joining the demonstrations and detained an army general allegedly involved in the takeover plot. The military has played major roles in two popular revolts and has a recent history of restiveness.

While she vowed she was in control, Arroyo clearly was worried about losing her grip on events as her opponents tried to hijack the anniversary activities. Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye told reporters that commemorations have been canceled and that the military was ordered “to prevent and suppress lawless violence.”

Japan’s Princess Kiko Pregnant, Hoping for Boy

Royal pregnancy raises male heir hopes in Japan (Reuters)

Japan formally announced that the wife of Emperor Akihito’s second son is pregnant with her third child on Friday, raising hopes a male heir to the Chrysanthemum throne may be born for the first time in four decades. Princess Kiko is three months pregnant and in good health, the Imperial Household Agency said in a statement. The agency also urged media to exercise “good sense and restraint” in reporting about the princess, who will turn 40 on September 11 and is due to give birth that same month.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also welcomed the news. “Three months is a crucial period. I hope she eats well so she can give birth to a healthy baby,” he told reporters.

Initial news of the pregnancy, which came out earlier this month, has halted plans to revise a 1947 law to give women equal rights to inherit the throne, a change which has been seen by many experts as necessary to avoid a succession crisis. Current law limits the imperial succession to males who are descended from an emperor through the paternal line, but experts have said it is difficult to maintain the system given that a system of royal concubines no longer exists.

Opinion polls have shown a majority of the public supports letting women ascend the throne and pass it on to their children, although many also feel there is no need to rush through the legal revisions now that Kiko is pregnant.

ABC Cameraman Leaves Hospital

ABC Cameraman Leaves Hospital (AP)

ABC cameraman Doug Vogt, injured with anchorman Bob Woodruff in an Iraqi roadside bombing on Jan. 29, has checked out of Bethesda Medical Center, ABC News said Thursday. Vogt and his wife, Vivian, are on their way home to France, where he will undergo further treatment. In a statement, ABC News President David Westin described the couple as being “in good spirits and looking forward to getting back to their children.”

The more seriously hurt Woodruff, recovering from head wounds and other injuries at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., is being slowly brought out of sedation, Westin said. “Despite the fact that he continues to be mildly sedated, Bob has been out of bed in a chair and his physical strength continues to impress his entire team,” Westin said. “We’ve come some distance, but we still have a long way to go.” Westin added that “in another sign of Bob’s moving along his path to recovery,” his doctors have said that in the next few weeks he might move to facilities near his home in the New York area.

White House Cites Katrina Response Failures

White House Cites Katrina Response Failures” (Lara Jakes Jordan, AP)

The White House cited failures by the Homeland Security Department and other agencies in planning, communications and leadership in a report on Hurricane Katrina Thursday and proposed a broad reworking of how the government would respond to the next catastrophe.

The 228-page report by White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend urges changes in 11 key areas — mainly in better disaster relief coordination among federal agencies — before the next hurricane season begins June 1. The White House study took a softer approach than a scathing House report issued last week, focusing on proposals to fix problems without singling out any individuals for blame.

“We will learn from the lessons of the past to better protect the American people,” President Bush said Thursday at the end of a Cabinet meeting where the report was released. “I wasn’t satisfied with the federal response,” Bush said.

Shrine Bombing Brings Deadly Reprisals

Shrine Bombing Brings Deadly Reprisals (AP-YahooNews)

Insurgents detonated bombs inside one of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines Wednesday, destroying its golden dome and triggering more than 90 reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques. The president warned that extremists were pushing the country toward civil war, as many Shiites lashed out at the United States as partly to blame.

As the gold dome of the 1,200-year-old Askariya shrine lay in ruins, leaders on both sides called for calm: But the string of back-and-forth attacks seemed to push the country closer to all-out civil war than at any point in the three years since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein. “We are facing a major conspiracy that is targeting Iraq’s unity,” said President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. “We should all stand hand in hand to prevent the danger of a civil war.”

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq also warned it was a “critical moment for Iraq” and called the bombings a deliberate attempt to create sectarian tension. They promised the U.S. would contribute to the shrine’s reconstruction. “This attack is a crime against humanity,” Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey Jr., said in a joint statement.

In one ominous sign of how Shiites may react, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric and the country’s vice president hinted that local armed militias might play a bigger role in security in future, if the government can’t protect such holy shrines. Both Sunnis and the United States fear the rise of such militias, which Sunnis view as little more than death squads. American commanders believe they undercut U.S. efforts to create a professional Iraqi army and police force — a key step toward the eventual drawdown of U.S. forces.

Some Shiite political leaders already were angry with the United States because it has urged them to form a unity government in which nonsectarian figures control the army and police. Khalilzad warned earlier this week — in a statement clearly targeted toward Shiite hardliners — that America would not continue to support institutions run by sectarian groups with links to armed militias.

NYC Officials Report Anthrax Inhalation

NYC Officials Report Anthrax Inhalation (AP-YahooNews)

A New York City man has been hospitalized with a case of anthrax that a federal law enforcement official said may have been contracted from animal skins during a visit to Africa. The infection appeared to be accidental, and authorities did not believe it was related to terrorism, the official said. The man traveled recently to the west coast of Africa and became ill shortly after his return, said a federal law enforcement official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear how the man came into contact with the deadly substance, but aides to Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was related to his job as a drummer and that federal and city officials traced the exposure to New York City after the man became ill in Pennsylvania.

GOP Governors Threaten to Block Port Deal

GOP Governors Threaten to Block Port Deal (AP - YahooNews)

Two Republican governors are threatening legal action to block an Arab company from taking over operations in major U.S. ports and some GOP lawmakers say the deal should be closely examined. In the uneasy climate after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration decision to allow the transaction is threatening to develop a major political headache for the White House.

New York Gov. George Pataki and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich on Monday voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been running six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates. The British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., runs major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia.

Both governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states because of the DP World takeover. “Ensuring the security of New York’s port operations is paramount and I am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam by Dubai Ports World,” Pataki said in a news release. “I have directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to explore all legal options that may be available to them.” Ehrlich, concerned about security at the Port of Baltimore, said Monday he was “very troubled” that Maryland officials got no advance notice before the Bush administration approved the Arab company’s takeover of the operations at the six ports. “We needed to know before this was a done deal, given the state of where we are concerning security,” Ehrlich told reporters in the State House rotunda in Annapolis.

[...]

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey said Monday that he and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of port operations to foreign governments.

[...]

The Bush administration got support Monday from former President Carter, a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration. “My presumption is, and my belief is, that the president and his secretary of state and the Defense Department and others have adequately cleared the Dubai government organization to manage these ports,” Carter told CNN. “I don’t think there’s any particular threat to our security.”

Welcome to OTB News

Welcome to the first of the Outside the Beltway sideblogs, OTB News. Here, you’ll find links to and excerpts from interesting news stories from around the Web, ranging from the mainstream press to the blogs. It’s a collection of stories that I don’t have time or inclination to comment on but nonetheless find noteworthy.

As the archive grows, I hope this will be a repository for information that would otherwise have evaporated into the ether. Over time, it will provide a way to, informally at least, compare how different sources treat the same information.

In the near future, I hope to add additional authors who will cover regional “beats” to provide more content. That will only happen, though, if I find people whose news judgment I trust. There’s already plenty of undifferentiated links to news content. My intent is to include only the truly noteworthy: Events that shape history or things sufficiently unusual or amusing to interest a great number of people.