World News Digest

White House: Deficit Will Hit Record $427B

2005-01-25T20:44:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House will project that this year's federal deficit will hit $427 billion, a senior administration official said Tuesday, a record amount partly...

Iraq Forces Arrest Top al-Qaida Lieutenant

2005-01-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An al-Qaida lieutenant in custody in Iraq has confessed to masterminding most of the car bombings in Baghdad, including the bloody 2003 assault on the...

Monster Snowstorm Hits Midwest, Northeast

2005-01-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of airline flights were canceled Saturday and fleets of road plows were warmed up as a paralyzing snowstorm barreled out of the Midwest and spread across the Northeast with a potential for up to 20 inches of snow driven by 50 mph wind.

Bush Turns Focus to Daunting 2nd Term

2005-01-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

President Bush turned from inaugural pageantry to a daunting second-term agenda Friday while his administration scrambled to explain his newly declared goal of ending tyranny around the world.

From NewsMax.

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Bush Set to Open Ambitious Second Term

2005-01-21T06:31:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, head bowed in prayer, on Friday opens an ambitious second term in which he boldly promises to reshape Social Security and spark democracy...

Jan. 18, 2005, in Houston. The Pacers won 87-74

2005-01-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

January 18, 2005
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming (11) of China blocks a shot by Indiana Pacers Jonathan Bender (24) in the first half Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005, in Houston. The Pacers won 87-74. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

I’m selling you on eBay

2005-01-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

“I’m selling you on eBay.” (Husband talking to his wife.)

ID: 120399, Published in The New Yorker January 17, 2005

“Surprise! It’s my birthday.” (Woman, carrying shopping bags, talking to her husband.)

ID: 120407, Published in The New Yorker January 17, 2005

Israel to Step Up Anti-Terrorism Efforts

2005-01-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday said he has ordered Israeli forces to intensify efforts to stop Palestinian attacks, adding that the military would act without restrictions until Palestinian leaders take action against militants themselves.

U.S. Forces Conduct Raids in Mosul

2005-01-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

Jan 16, 8:56 AM (ET)

By JASON KEYSER

(AP) U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry soldiers search cars around an auto repair shop in Mosul,...
Iraq Oil - Iraq Revenue Watch monitors Iraq oil, rebuilding funds, contracts

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. forces carried out a series of raids in Iraq's troubled northern city of Mosul, the military said Sunday, as American and Iraqi authorities scramble to prepare for elections there in the face of mass resignations of polling staff and police.

2005-01-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

Phoenix Suns' Joe Johnson, right, and Washington Wizards' Jared Jeffries, left, hit the court as they go for the ball during the first quarter Saturday, Jan. 15, 2005, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

-From ESPN

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LeBron James quickly develops into Kobe Bryant's chief rival

2005-01-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

Posted: Thursday January 13, 2005 12:56PM; Updated: Thursday January 13, 2005 10:34PM

Thursday night in Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant gets a chance to redeem himself -- if that's the correct term -- in a marquee matchup. This time it isn't against a mortal enemy, as it was on Christmas Day when Shaquille O'Neal came to town and the Miami center escaped with a 104-102 win. It's against Cleveland's LeBron James, who, down the road, will no doubt turn out to be much more of a basketball rival than O'Neal, against whom most of Bryant's future battles will be verbal and psychological.

At first blush, might seem a bit premature to declare them equals in any way, shape or form: Bryant has three championship rings, and so far, James only has some nice high school hardware. But you know and I know that the quantum leap James' game has taken this season has lifted him, at age 20, among the NBA's elite, where Bryant has resided the last several seasons.

Consider this: Only two players in the last 25 years have averaged more than 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a single season. Their names are Larry Bird (in 1986-87) and Michael Jordan (in '88-89). Both Bryant and James are close to those numbers right now. As primary ball-handlers, something that San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett are not, Bryant and James stand alone in terms of versatility.

So for this week's five-pack, let's take a look at how Kobe and 'Bronnie compare in five areas.

Scoring
Bryant is the more prolific scorer, averaging more than four more points per game more than James. But he also takes more shots and is averaging almost 10 points fewer than James in field-goal percentage. That is a significant difference, even though Bryant insisted, after his 42 points fell short in that Christmas Day game, that "my teammates actually approached me and asked me to be more offensive-minded." If he gets any more offensive-minded he's going to need treatment for bursitis, being second only to Allen Iverson in field goals attempted.

But, look, if I need one guy to buy me some nylon, it's still Bryant. At this point he's more capable of exploding on any given night than James.

All-around offense
The stats won't help you much; both of them do everything. "He has to rebound, he has to pass and he has to score," said Orlando guard Steve Francis of Bryant. "Hopefully his body will last throughout the season." The same can be said of James.

But despite Bryant's edge as a scorer, I see James as a better all-around offensive player. He commits considerably fewer turnovers than Bryant (3.28 per game compared to Kobe's 4.66) and, if you want to argue that Bryant has his hands on the ball more often, then also consider that James gets more assists per game.

Defense
In each of his last five seasons, Bryant has been named either first- or second-team all-league on defense. With his cobra-like quickness, he has been compared, legitimately, to Michael Jordan.

But James, in just his second season, has already become one of the canniest passing-lane readers in the NBA, accounting for his 2.34 steals per game (Bryant's average is 1.34). Cleveland coach Paul Silas has already compared James to four great thieves of the past -- Jordan, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton and Maurice Cheeks. "And once he gets it," says Silas, "you can cancel Christmas because he's going to dunk the basketball."

Further, at 6-foot-8 and a rock-solid 240 pounds, James can bang with power forwards, which Bryant cannot do.

Still, if Bryant is given the challenge of stopping someone -- point guard, shooting guard or small forward -- he'll do it better than anyone since Jordan.

Big-game play
Bryant has been in about, oh, 50 stomach-roiling showdowns in his nine NBA seasons -- James has yet to play past April -- but some have hinted that Kobe's game-winning mystique has evaporated of late. Even before Bryant's last-second miss against the Heat on Christmas, he had missed three other buzzer-beaters that would've either won a game, sent one into overtime or given the Lakers a more comfortable margin of victory. Does he need Shaq to hit big shots?

In a word, no. Shaq never did draw much attention in those climactic situations because of the fact that he would've been fouled and sent to the free-throw line, the place where Superman most keenly feels the effects of Kryptonite. A player's ability to win games is directly related to his willingness to take big shots, and, in this respect, Bryant's cojones are as large as anyone's since Jordan.

James, to this point, has been content to find the open man in clutch situations, as he did on Tuesday night against the Charlotte Bobcats when, with the score tied and time running out, he passed up the chance to go one-on-one and zipped a crosscourt pass to a wide-open Jeff McInnis. (McInnis missed but the Cavs won in overtime anyway.) His time will surely come, but for now Bryant still carries a longer history of clutch performances. Remember that the Lakers would've been swept by the Pistons in the '04 Finals if not for Kobe's buzzer-beater.

Intangibles/Future
This seems like a setup slam-dunk, right? Time for some more Kobe-bashing? But keep in mind that Bryant's teammates have never -- repeat, never -- said they wouldn't want to go to war with this guy. Then, too, there's plenty of time for LeBron to make some Kobe-esque missteps, either on or off the court,

But the way James has adjusted to the pressure and worked on his game -- Garnett calls him "The Gift" because of how well he's "handled everything thrown at him" -- indicates that he'll be OK. He works hard, his teammates love him and, unlike Bryant, he doesn't act as if he's the sun around which all else revolves. On the court he is third in the league in a category known as "efficiency," determined by a complicated formula that adds up positive stats and subtracts things like turnovers. (Bryant is ninth.) Is there anyone, right now, who, looking at the big picture, wouldn't take James over Bryant?

Probe hours away from Saturn moon touchdown

2005-01-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

By Michael Coren
CNN
Thursday, January 13, 2005 Posted: 2:12 PM EST (1912 GMT)

CNN) -- The Huygens probe will plunge through the orange clouds of Saturn's moon Titan Friday, offering scientists their first glimpse of the mysterious moon.

"It's going to be the most exotic place we've ever seen," said Candice Hansen, a scientist for the Cassini-Huygens mission. "We've never landed on the surface of an icy satellite. We know from our pictures that there are very different kinds of geological processes."

If all goes well, the saucer-shaped Huygens will enter the thick atmosphere of Titan Friday at about 5:13 a.m. (ET). The data should start trickling in about five hours later.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is an unprecedented $3.3-billion effort between NASA, the European Space Agency and Italy's space program to study Saturn and its 33 known moons. The two vehicles were launched together from Florida in 1997.

"The mission is to explore the entire Saturnian system in considerably greater detail than we have ever been able to do before: the atmosphere, the internal structure, the satellites, the rings, the magnetosphere," said Cassini program manager Bob Mitchell at NASA.

The Huygens probe, about the size of a Volkswagen-Beetle, has been spinning silently toward Titan since it detached from the Cassini spacecraft on December 24. Cassini will remain in orbit around Saturn until at least July 2008.

"[The Cassini-Huygens mission] will probably help answer some of the big questions that NASA has in general about origins and where we came from and where life came from," said Mitchell.

Titan's atmosphere, a murky mix of nitrogen, methane and argon, resembles Earth's before life began more than 3.8 billion years ago. Scientists think the moon may shed light on how life evolved on Earth.

Finding living organisms, however, is a remote possibility. "It is not out of the question, but it is certainly not the first place I would look," said Hansen. "It's really very cold." A lack of sunlight has put Titan into a deep-freeze. Temperatures hover around -292 F (-180 C) making liquid water scarce and hindering chemical reactions needed for organic life.

New discoveries
The mysteries of Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, have always enticed researchers. Scientists are perplexed why Saturn, a gas-giant composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, releases more energy than it absorbs from faint sunlight. Titan is also the only moon in the solar system to retain a substantial atmosphere, one even thicker than Earth's.

The 703-pound, battery-powered probe will parachute through Titan's clouds of methane and nitrogen for two and a half hours sampling gases and capturing panoramic pictures. Soon afterward, Huygens will reach the surface. However, its landing site is still a matter of conjecture. Scientists say it could be solid, slushy or even a liquid sea of ethane and hydrocarbons.

"Those are the kinds of things that we have theories about, but we really don't have data," said Hansen.

Huygens is expected to hit the upper atmosphere 789 miles (1,270 km) above the moon at a speed of about 13,700 mph (22,000 km/h). A series of three parachutes will slow the craft to just 15 mph (24 km/h). The chutes and special insulation will protect Huygens from temperature swings and violent air currents. Strong winds -- in excess of 311 mph (500 km/h) --will buffet the craft, at times dragging Huygens sideways after its parachute is deployed.

Sensors will deduce wind speed, atmospheric pressure and the conductivity of Titan's air. Methane clouds and possibly hydrocarbon rain can be analyzed by an onboard gas chromatograph. A microphone will listen for thunder.

Three rotating cameras will snap panoramic views of the moon capturing up to 1,100 images. A radar altimeter will map Titan's topography and a special lamp will illuminate the probe's landing spot to help determine the surface composition.

Engineers say they are confident that Huygens and its suite of six sensitive instruments will survive the descent.

"From an engineering standpoint, I'm very confident in a positive outcome," said Shaun Standley, an ESA systems engineer for Huygens at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. "We've been over this again and again for the last three years fine-tuning this."

As the largest and most sophisticated interplanetary vehicle ever launched, according to NASA, Cassini-Huygens has performed well on its 2.2-billion mile (3.5 billion km) journey.

Cassini crossed Saturn's rings without mishap in June 2004 and produced the most revealing photos yet of the rings and massive gas-giant. A problem with the design of an antennae on Cassini almost scrapped Huygens' mission, but engineers altered the spacecrafts' flight plans to resolve the transmission problem.

Now, Huygens is on its own.

Controllers can only that hope years of preparation will pay off. "[Huygens] is on its way, we can't contact it," said Standley. "We can't make any changes of anything that is on board. [It's] just waiting for the right moment."

Fallout from WMD search failure

2005-01-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

By Nick Childs
BBC Pentagon correspondent

The White House has now officially acknowledged what the Washington Post first reported and what many probably assumed was the case anyway - the US search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is over, at least in any meaningful sense. More...

Thailand's secret survivors

2005-01-12T22:35:00.000-08:00

By Tony Cheng
BBC News, Khao Lak

Soe, a 24-year-old Burmese migrant worker, looks as if he has just stepped out of the beach resort in Khao Lak where he used to work. More...

Aceh rebels urge ceasefire talks

2005-01-12T22:32:00.000-08:00

Rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province call on Jakarta to join them in a truce to allow effective tsunami relief. More...

Office siege ends in India

2005-01-10T18:08:00.001-08:00

SRINAGAR, India — Indian security forces killed the last rebel holed up inside a government office Saturday, ending a two-day battle.

Eight persons died in the siege, during which guerrillas took over the building and set it on fire with dozens of employees inside. An unidentified person who called himself the spokesman for the Pakistan-based Al-Mansoorain militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a Saturday telephone call to a local news agency.

- From news service reports

Nuclear stance reiterated

2005-01-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Saturday it was willing to abandon its nuclear weapons programs, but it demanded a change in American policy.

The statement, which echoed the North's earlier stance, appeared to be timed for a visit by Rep. Tom Lantos of California, ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. It came a day after U.S. officials said that one of Washington's harshest critics of North Korea, Undersecretary of State John Bolton, will resign his post.

Warning issued to Sudan

2005-01-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

NAIROBI, Kenya — U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell declined to say Saturday whether Sudan was still carrying out ethnic genocide in Darfur.

But he warned that the Sudanese government could face U.N. penalties if the violence in the region continues. Powell also said that a hard-won agreement to end the fighting between Sudan's government and southern rebels could provide momentum for settling the conflict in Darfur, which is in the west.

Judge held in car bombing

2005-01-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan authorities have arrested a judge in connection with the car bombing of a U.S. security firm that killed at least 10 persons.

A senior official alleged that the attack was ordered by an Iraqi member of al-Qaida. Naqibullah, a 65-year-old preliminary court judge, who like many Afghans goes by one name, was detained about two weeks ago after two men accused of organizing the bombing told investigators they had stayed at the judge's house in Kabul, said Gen. Abdul Fatah, a senior Afghan prosecutor.

Embargo concerns pontiff

2005-01-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II on Saturday reiterated concern about the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, while encouraging openness on the communist-run island.

The pope met Saturday with Cuba's new ambassador to the Vatican, Raul Roa Kouri. His remarks were provided in a statement. The pontiff made a historic visit to Cuba in 1998, issuing strong calls for more freedoms, including freedom of expression.

Fingerprint system planned

2005-01-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

TOKYO — To expedite re-entry procedures for traveling Japanese, the Justice Ministry will introduce cards with fingerprint data and an express immigration-control system that will identify travelers by their fingerprints.

Cards with integrated circuits will be issued only to those who wish to carry them. Cardholders will be allowed to move straight through turnstiles at international airports in Japan, bypassing passport checks. The ministry plans to begin trials of the system in April and aims to introduce it in fiscal 2006.

World News Digest

2005-01-10T16:44:00.000-08:00

World News Digest

World War II bomb defused

2005-01-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

BERLIN — About 5,000 residents of a Berlin suburb were evacuated Saturday while explosives experts defused a 550-pound American bomb dropped in the last months of World War II.

The bomb was found during excavation at a hospital. Nearly 500 patients were brought to a gymnasium for about six hours while experts defused the bomb. Other residents waited in schools and other gymnasiums.

— From news service reports