Robert Mugabe Threatens Violence If He Loses Election

President Robert Mugabe said Friday that his supporters are ready to fight if the opposition wins an upcoming presidential runoff election, hardening the rhetoric of a campaign that already has seen widespread violence against government opponents.

"I'm even prepared to join the fight," the 84-year-old Mugabe told a conference of his party's youth wing.

Mugabe said the veterans of the war of independence in 1980 had approached him after the first round of voting in March and threatened to take up arms again if opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai wins the June 27 runoff.

Tsvangirai finished first in a field of four in the first round but failed to win the majority needed to avoid a runoff.

"We can't allow the British to dominate us through their puppets," said Mugabe, returning to a campaign theme of portraying Tsvangirai as a pawn of Western powers, a charge the opposition denies. "A vote for the (opposition) is a vote for the British to have once again not just a foothold but real power."

A High Court judge, meanwhile, ordered police to bring No. 2 opposition leader Tendai Biti to court Saturday and explain why he should not be immediately released, according to opposition lawyer Selby Hwacha.

Biti was arrested Thursday upon returning to Zimbabwe from neighboring South Africa. The United States was among the governments that said the arrest of the top aide to Tsvangirai only deepened concerns the runoff would not be free and fair.

Since picking up Biti at the airport Thursday, police have refused to say where he was being held or when they might bring him to court. They have said he faces a charge of treason, which can carry the death penalty.

Tsvangirai, speaking on the campaign trail Friday, called the charge Biti faces "frivolous."

"Tendai has not committed any crime, he has not committed any offense to warrant the arrest," the candidate said.

The party said Tsvangirai himself was released overnight after being detained by police.

Tsvangirai was stopped twice by police as he tried to campaign Thursday, according to the party, which said he was held for about two hours the first time and late into the night the second time before being released. Such incidents have become common as Tsvangirai attempts to reach out to voters, and the opposition says 66 of its supporters have been killed.

In 2004, Tsvangirai was acquitted after a treason trial that lasted more than a year.

Botswana, a fellow member of the Southern African Development Community, was the first neighbor to condemn Biti's arrest. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned the Zimbabwean ambassador to express its concern.

"Botswana is alarmed by these arrests and detentions as they disrupt electoral activities of key players and intimidate the electorate thus undermining the process of holding a free, fair and democratic election," said Clifford Maribe, ministry spokesman.

It was unusually strong language from a fellow African government. Zimbabwe's neighbors, particularly regional power South Africa, have for the most part refused to confront Mugabe.

The arrest of Biti and police harassment of Tsvangirai are the latest examples of efforts by Mugabe's government to defeat the opposition. The harassment has included using security forces to confiscate a large U.S. food donation and giving it to Mugabe supporters in a country where many people are poor.

The United States, long a sharp critic of Mugabe, said Thursday that whatever pressure the neighbors had so far brought to bear had been ineffective. It called for immediate action by the U.N. Security Council.

News emerged that a 20-ton shipment of U.S.-donated grain, beans and oil being sent to a school in eastern Zimbabwe was hijacked by security forces and then passed out to Mugabe backers at a rally last week.

In Washington, officials said the United States, which now holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, would try to raise the Zimbabwe issue next week.

U.S. Ambassador James McGee said Friday the clampdown on aid work has left some people surviving on less than one meal a day.

"The situation right now is bad and it's continuing to get worse," McGee told reporters in a conference call from Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. "If this continues much beyond the elections, it will be disastrous for Zimbabwe."

Aid group World Vision, which has projects across the country, appealed to the government Friday to allow delivery of basic humanitarian assistance by reversing the suspension.

"As a child-focused organization, we are particularly concerned for the close to 400,000 children we would have assisted this month through school-feeding and our ongoing development work," said Wilfred Mlay, vice president for Africa for World Vision. "We hold grave concerns for the 1.6 million orphans and vulnerable children across the country who will now not receive critical assistance from humanitarian agencies operating in the country."

World Vision said the suspension was keeping more than 30 groups from delivering food and other aid. It said up to 4 million people are in need of aid.

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Plane Crash Kills 6, Including Ex-legislator In Ohio

Six people, including a former state legislator who was flying the plane, are dead in the crash of an airplane into a residential neighborhood on the west side of Fremont, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

A single-engine plane crash killed six people, including a prominent former state legislator who was the pilot, Sunday afternoon near Fremont Airport, authorities said.

Killed in the 1 p.m. crash were Gene Damschroder, Sr., 86, of Fremont; Bill Ansted, 62, of Lindsey; Allison Ansted, 23, of Lindsey; Daniel Gerwin, 31, of Gibsonburg; Emily Gerwin, 4, of Gibsonburg, and Matt Clearman, 25, of Maumee.

According to troopers at the Ohio Highway Patrol post in Fremont, the Cessna 68 crashed shortly after take-off into a residential area east of the airport, killing all on board. No structures were struck and no one on the ground was injured.

Rex Damschroder virtually grew up flying; his father, Gene Damschroder, owns Fremont Airport."There was an airplane parked in a hangar right through my bedroom wall," the younger Mr. Damschroder said.
Rex Damschroder, a son who followed his footsteps into the Ohio legislature, said Mr. Damschroder was hosting a Lions’ Club pancake breakfast at the airport and taking people up for airplane rides during that event. Rex Damschroder said he was not there when the plane crashed.

"One of the witnesses told me he heard the engine sputter, but that was about it," the younger Mr. Damschroder said.

Gene Damschroder, whose flying days dated back to military experience during World War II, had bought the Cessna 68 new 40 years ago and maintained it meticulously.

"He had a long flying career. He was a highly experienced pilot," Rex Damschroder said. "It was an accident — a misfortune. He’s been flying since he was 20. Flying was his life."

Federal Aviation Administration representatives were on the scene and the National Transportation Safety Board dispatched investigators, the highway patrol said.

FAA records show that Mr. Damschroder was licensed to fly both single and multi-engine aircraft over land or sea and was certified to fly by instruments. He also was a certified flight instructor and airframe and engine mechanic.

NTSB investigations of fatal plane crashes typically take a year or more to complete and involve inquiry into multiple aspects of a flight, including the pilot, the airplane, and the weather.

There were no storms in the Fremont area at the time of the crash, but weather was hot and breezy. Hot weather reduces airplanes’ aerodynamic lift, so they can’t fly with as much weight as they might under cooler conditions, but Rex Damschroder said he doubted his father’s plane was overloaded.

The plane crashed within a mile of the east end of Fremont Airport’s runway in an open field surrounded by houses. It clipped a tree on its way down.

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Amazon To Charge Sales Tax With Effect From June 1

One of the great things about shopping on sites like Amazon has been not having to pay a dime in taxes (or shipping, if you've spent enough). Since the dawn of Web commerce, the rule was that as long as a retailer didn't have a physical presence in the shopper's state, the company didn't collect a sales tax.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Starting June 1, Amazon will charge a sales tax to shoppers who live in New York, even though the retailer maintains no physical operations in the Empire State.

Why the crackdown? With the economy in the tank, the State of New York was getting desperate to fill its budget gap. So it expanded its rules about what constitutes a business presence in the state. Amazon lets other sites earn commissions by linking to products on its pages as part of a program called Amazon Associates. And because some of those sites are based in New York, the state considers the Seattle-based retailer fair game.

Amazon, for its part, has filed suit in the New York Supreme Court arguing the law is unconstitutional. The company says these third-party sites shouldn't be counted as agents of Amazon in New York because they're totally independent from the retailer. Instead, they act merely as advertisers who are compensated with commissions. Also in its complaint, Amazon points out there are hundreds of thousands of associates in the program, and the company can't always determine whether these sites are actually run by New Yorkers.

Some online shoppers in New York may be howling over this new law but technically they shouldn't feel a difference. In truth, all purchases on Amazon have always been subject to taxes. Until now, only four states required Amazon itself to collect the tax: Washington (where Amazon's HQ is), North Dakota (the site of customer relations operations), Kentucky and Kansas (those last two contain large Amazon distribution centers). In other states, shoppers are supposed to keep track of their untaxed out-of-state purchases and report them in their state income tax returns every year. Needless to say, this doesn't always happen.

The state doesn't pursue people for failing to report their tax-free online shopping, or at least that's not enough to alarm the authorities. "The sales tax itself isn't going to raise enough concern to prosecute anybody," says Tom Bergin, spokesman for the New York Department of Taxation and Finance. "Now, if there were other red flags involved with that tax return, then we'd look at everything."

Starting in the 2003 tax year, the state of New York added a new line on its income tax forms specifically for untaxed out-of-state purchases, and last year, the state collected $45.2 million in sales taxes that way. But states know they stand a better chance of getting all the money they're due if they require retailers to collect it, and in the case of New York, the state expects to get as much as an extra $47 million a year from Amazon and others.

The state of Texas, applying some more conventional legal reasoning, is looking closer at an Amazon distribution center in Irving that could quality as sufficient physical presence in the state to pick up some extra money. But with the economy continuing to slow, other states will surely be watching what happens in New York. If the courts uphold New York's line of thinking, the rest of the Union could be headed in this direction.

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Australia Finally Pulls Troop Out of Iraq

Five years and three months after the coalition invasion began, Australia's combat role in Iraq is over.

The withdrawal of 550 troops, from a mission that resulted in no combat casualties, fulfils an election promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to bring the soldiers home this year.

A flag-lowering ceremony overnight at the Tallil air base, 300 kilometres south of Baghdad, marked the moment Australia handed over its operational role to the Americans.

The soldiers coming home are from Overwatch Battle Group (West) 4, which has been providing security for Iraqi forces in the south, and helping with reconstruction and aid work.

About 1000 troops will remain in the region on naval ships, C130 Hercules, P3C Orions, at coalition HQ and the security detachment for the Australian embassy in Baghdad.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said last night that the conclusion of the two missions at Tallil marked the completion of Australia's combat role in Iraq.

"Our soldiers have worked tirelessly to ensure that local people in southern Iraq have the best possible chance to move on from their suffering under Saddam's regime and, as a Government, we are extremely proud of their service," he said.

The withdrawal of the Australians leaves the US with only two other major coalition partners in Iraq - Britain, which has about 4000 soldiers in Basra, and Georgia which has about 2000 deployed in other provinces.

The lowering of the flag overnight closes one chapter in an acrimonious debate that followed Australia's decision to join the invasion in March 2003, a commitment that has cost the country $3 billion.

This includes about $500 million spent on reconstruction and forgiven debt.

Successive Labor leaders pledged to withdraw forces, including Mark Latham's controversial "troops home by Christmas" vow in early 2004, while former prime minister John Howard argued that premature withdrawal from Iraq would boost terrorism.

But in line with Labor's election pledge, the 516 troops from the Overwatch Battle Group and the 60-person Australian Army training team will start returning home over the next fortnight after a six-month deployment.

In recent weeks, the soldiers carried out joint patrols to introduce incoming coalition forces to the area and to local Iraqi leaders.

Not everyone is pleased the Australian troops are leaving.

"We are against … American forces in the area because they are using weapons while the Australians didn't do anything harmful against the people all the time they were in the province," said teacher Hassan Mohsin, 32.

"I think the return of the Americans to the city will cause many problems. They will make many arrests," said shopkeeper Abdullah Muzhir.

More than 3500 Australian troops have served in the two southern provinces, Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar, since Australia took on an oversight role in April 2005, helping train up to 30,000 Iraqi police and security staff. The provinces were among the first to be handed over for control by the new Iraqi security forces, with foreign troops playing a support role.

Australian forces have survived the five-year engagement without a combat death, although 27 troops were wounded, six of them in southern Iraq.

Three Australian casualties during the conflict were a result of mishaps or clashes under foreign command.

SAS Warrant Officer David Nary was killed in a training exercise in Kuwait; Private Jake Kovco died mishandling his weapon in barracks in Baghdad; and Paul Pardoel was serving with the British when his RAF transport plane was shot down in 2005.

Australia's allies have been circumspect about Australia's withdrawal plan, with American leaders saying they accepted it was an election pledge.

On a visit to Canberra last week, British Defence Secretary Des Browne said the Australians would be withdrawing at the right time, declaring Iraq was "in an advanced stage of its own independence in terms of providing its own security".

Mr Browne said that Britain was grateful to Australia and its troops for their "magnificent" contribution in Iraq.

In April, US ambassador to Australia Robert McCallum said Washington harboured no hard feelings over the Federal Government's decision to withdraw Australia's troops.

Australia Defence Association spokesman Neil James said the move would have occurred whether Labor or the Coalition had been elected last year, although Mr Howard as leader might have left a training team behind.

Mr James said the withdrawal would help relieve the overstretched defence force, cutting the proportion of its infantry and cavalry deployed overseas from about half to a little under one-third.

A look at the jouney to and fro Iraq reveals:

January 10, 2003
Prime minister John Howard announces Australia's initial forward deployment will include two naval frigates, an amphibious transport ship and 150 SAS troops.

March 20, 2003
Australia joins the "coalition of the willing". The US-led forces invade after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ignores a US deadline to leave. Howard tells the nation that "the Government has decided to commit Australian forces to action to disarm Iraq because we believe it is right, it is lawful and it's in Australia's national interest".

May 1, 2003
US President George Bush declares victory in the "Battle of Iraq".

December 2003 Saddam is captured.

March 2004
Opposition leader Mark Latham pledges to bring Australia's 850 troops in Iraq home by Christmas if elected prime minister, making the future of the troops an election issue.

October 9, 2004
Howard government re-elected.

January 30, 2005
First free elections in 50 years held in Iraq.

February 22, 2005 Australia decides to commit 450 additional troops.

April 2006
Private Jacob Kovco dies in the Baghdad barracks when his fi rearm discharges. December 30, 2006 Saddam is executed.

February 2007
Howard announces he will send up to 70 more Australian troops to Iraq despite growing public and political opposition to the war. New opposition leader Kevin Rudd opposes sending any more troops to Iraq and repeats that a Labor government would pull all 520 Australian combat troops out of the country if elected.

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Massive Inferno Engulf Universal Studios

About 100 firefighters are working with the studio's own crew to fight the blaze and ensure it doesn't spread to nearby brush, he said. TV images show helicopters dropping water on the blaze.

A Los Angeles fire official said the fire started burning around 4:44am local time on a lot at Universal Studios.

Los Angeles fire Capt. Frank Reynoso says the blaze was reported just before dawn on a sound stage on a back lot. There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Reynoso says filming could have been going on at the time and that there has been at least one explosion.

He said the fire was contained to the back lot, and that firefighters were working to ensure the flames didn't spread to nearby brush. Helicopters were dropping water onto the burning structures.

Losses identified at this stage includes the King Kong exhibits.

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13-Year-Old Indian Won America's Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee

Sameer Mishra a 13-year-old Indian from West Lafayette, Indiana, was finally all business when he aced "guerdon" — a word that appropriately means "something that one has earned or gained" — to win the 81st version of America's Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee Friday night.

After watching his sister try three times to win the Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee, Sameer Mishra put himself on a mission. "I told my mom I was going to do the bee," Sameer said. "And if I was going to do it, I was going to win it one day. And I guess it happened."

Did it ever. With the sister coaching him, Sameer augmented his spelling talent with a sense of humor that often kept the Grand Hyatt Ballroom audience laughing.

"I'm not used to people laughing at my jokes — except for my sister," Sameer said.

Appearing in the bee for the fourth time and a top 20 finisher the last two years, Sameer clenched both fists and put his hands to his face after spelling the winning word. He won a tense duel over first-time participant Sidharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who finally stumbled on "prosopopoeia," a word describing a type of figure of speech.

Sameer was a crowd favorite throughout the tournament. When told one of his words in the semifinals was a dessert, he deadpanned: "That sounds good right now." He rolled his eyes and muttered "wonderful" when told that one of his words had five different language roots. He once asked "Are you sure there are no alternate pronunciations?" and later uttered "That's a relief" after initially mishearing the word "numnah" (a type of sheepskin pad).

And what did he have to say while hoisting the heavy trophy? "I'm really, really weak."

Sameer, who won more than $40,000 in cash and prizes, likes playing the violin and the video game "Guitar Hero" and hopes one day to be a neurosurgeon. He tried to watch the movie "Ratatouille" during the long wait before the finals but found he "couldn't really relax that much." His sister, Shruti, cried after her brother's victory on a day in which she received her own big news: She was accepted to Princeton.

"A big day for the family," said Sameer's father, Krishna Mishra, who moved to the United States from central India and teaches microbiology.

Sameer also became the first speller to win the title after misspelling his on-stage word in the preliminary round. He flubbed "sudation," yet managed to remain in the competition on the strength of a high score in the written test.

"When I missed that word in the preliminaries, I was really shocked and I was really sad," Sameer said. "I thought my chances were gone."

Third place went to Tia Thomas, 13, from Coarsegold, Calif., who was eliminated on "opificer" (a skilled or artistic worker) when she started the word with an "e" instead of an "o." Tia was one of the favorites, appearing in her fifth and final bee after an eighth-place finish a year ago.

"It was so frustrating. I was like, 'I know all these other words,'" Tia said. "This year has been awesome, but it's real disappointing."

The finals were aired live in prime time on ABC, and it appeared for a while that the broadcast could run late into the night. Twenty-four of the first 25 words were spelled correctly, with the dictionary-familiar competitors breezing through words such as "brankursine," "cryptarithm," and "empyrean" with barely a hitch.

Rose Sloan was so familiar with "alcarraza" (a type of jug) that the 13-year-old from River Forest, Ill., couldn't stop laughing in glee when pronouncer Jacques Bailly uttered it. She was later eliminated on "sheitel" (a wig worn by Jewish women).

It was somewhat surprising who didn't make the finals. There were no Canadians — and no Matthew Evans.

Matthew, also a favorite to win in his fifth and final appearance, was stunningly eliminated during the semifinal round Friday when he misspelled "secernent," a word dealing with secretion and one that somehow eluded him as he studied his personal 30,000-word list. He ended it with "-ant."

The 13-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., stayed in the comfort room for more than a half-hour, and his eyes were still red when he emerged.

"It's disappointing," said Matthew, choking back tears. "I know a lot of people were rooting for me."

All seven representatives from Canada were vanquished in a span of about 20-minutes in the first semifinal round. No Canadian has ever won the bee, but the country always fields a strong contingent. Nate Gartke of Alberta was last year's runner-up.

"Seven up, seven down," said Pam Penny of Ancaster, Ontario, whose daughter, 10-year-old Veronica, was eliminated on the French-rooted word "etagere." "Very disappointing. Especially for Canadians to go down on French words."

Among the spectators was 94-year-old Frank Neuhauser, the winner of the first national bee in 1925. Asked to spell his winning word from 83 years ago, Neuhauser rattled off the letters to "gladiolus" as if he were racing through his ABCs.

"It's an easy word," said Neuhauser, who attracted a long line of teen and preteen autograph-seekers. "Nobody could miss it, but the second (-place) girl did."

Neuhauser's prize was $500 in $20 gold pieces. He also was feted with a parade through his hometown of Louisville, Ky.

"It was a lot easier back then," Neuhauser told the audience. "There were only eight competitors instead of 288. I'd never make it now."

The 288 spellers that entered this year's bee was a record. Forty-five of them made it past the preliminary and quarterfinal rounds Thursday to compete on Friday.

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At Least 100 Nigerians Dead In Oil Pipeline Explosion

At least 100 people were killed and scores injured when fuel from a pipeline ruptured by a bulldozer caught fire and exploded today in a village near Nigeria's biggest city of Lagos, the Red Cross said.

The fireball engulfed homes and schools at Ijegun village in the Lagos district of Alimosho, and many of the dead, who included schoolchildren, were killed in the ensuing stampede as people fled in panic from the flames.

"About 100 people have so far been confirmed dead from the fire. We have so far rescued more than 20 people with injuries and taken them to hospital for treatment," a Red Cross official at the scene said.

The disaster was the latest in a series of pipeline explosions or blazes caused by damage or theft which have killed more than 1200 people since 2000 in Nigeria, the world's eighth largest oil exporter and Africa's top producer.

The pipeline rupture at Ijegun, a village about 50 kilometres from the centre of the sprawling coastal city of Lagos, occurred during work to build a road. A bulldozer moving earth struck the pipeline buried beneath the surface.

"I was returning home when I suddenly saw sparks of fire from where the grader (earthmover) was working," local resident John Egbowon said.

The fuel leaking from the broken pipe caught fire and exploded, sending people fleeing in panic.

"It was like hell was raining down on us, then everybody started running in different directions," Mr Egbowon said.

At least 15 homes were burned. More than 20 charred vehicles caught in the fire were visible afterwards in the street, as firefighters and volunteers tried to douse the flames with sand and water after the explosion.

Witnesses said that even after the main explosion, the ground around the fire was so hot that shoes melted.

Abandoned in panic, discarded school bags and sandals littered the compound of one school whose pupils had fled. A group of women wailed in grief nearby.

A network of oil and fuel pipelines criss-cross parts of Nigeria and explosions and fires that kill many are frequent.

In the creeks of the Niger Delta, the country's main oil producing zone, the pipelines are also the target of sabotage attacks by local militants seeking greater control over oil revenues and more development for their impoverished region.

Previous accidental pipeline blasts in Nigeria have been caused by vandals who drilled holes in the feeder lines, used to distribute mainly imported fuel, in order to steal petrol for sale on the black market.

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Florida Bush Fire Prompts Evacuations and Closed Roads.

Barely 24 hours after Bill Uszenski places 144 flags at the graves of deceased members of the Florida Fire Department, bush fires has shut down roads in central Florida and forced evacuations, authorities said.

A portion of Interstate 95 in Brevard County was shut down because of heavy smoke from a blaze near Malabar, the Orlando Sentinel reported on its Web site.

In another part of the county, a fire forced residents out of about 100 to 200 homes near Cocoa, said Brevard County Fire and Rescue spokesman Orlando Dominguez.

That fire was larger than 100 acres, Dominguez said.

Between 500 to 600 acres burned in Voulsia County, causing additional road closures and another evacuation, Florida Division of Forestry spokesman Timber Weller said.

Weller said he was not sure how many residents of the neighborhood, which is located near Daytona Beach, were forced to leave their homes. He said 20-mph winds and dry conditions made the fire especially challenging for crews.

"Control is extremely difficult and there's basically several small subdivisions in the area and fires burning, in some cases, very close to the homes," Weller said.

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Burmese Junta's Attitude Results In Mass Infanticide

A generation of children could be wiped out if help does not quickly get through to the cyclone-stricken villages of Burma, according to international officials frustrated by the military junta's obstruction of Western aid workers.

Desperate survivors of Cyclone Nargis poured out of the Irrawaddy Delta yesterday in search of food, water and medicine as calls mounted for the West to ignore the junta and stage a Berlin airlift-style operation to parachute aid to the 1.5million people hardest hit by the May 3 category-three storm.

The UN has appealed for $US187million in aid, even though it is still not confident the food, water, medicines, bedding and utensils flown in will make it to those most in need because of the junta's reluctance to allow international relief workers into the country.

Australia dramatically increased its aid contribution to the victims yesterday, pledging an extra $22 million to take its total offer to $25 million.

As calls grew for the UN to unilaterally organise a relief operation, charities warned that epidemics of "apocalyptic proportions" could be caused by delays in delivering supplies of fresh water and medicines.

Amid the chaos, the generals held a referendum on a new constitution on Saturday in all but 24 of the hardest-hit districts - a vote to legitimise and perpetuate their grip on power.

Latest estimates suggest that up to 116,000 people died when a tidal surge swept across the delta from ocean water whipped up by Nargis.

Of 1.7 million left homeless or in distress, many hundreds of thousands are children who are most vulnerable to waterborne diseases.

Reports of dysentery have already emerged, and there are fears of a measles epidemic.

Although some aid is reaching Burma, the junta has refused to let it be distributed by foreigners.

The generals, led by strongman Than Shwe, more used to cracking down on unarmed pro-democracy marchers than organising relief for their own people, insist on using their poorly equipped army to conduct a grossly mismanaged operation.

"We are very worried about a second disaster," said Greg Beck of the International Rescue Committee.

"We've had some early indications that cholera is breaking out ... also dengue fever and malaria. These are treatable, and we could contain them easily if we were able to get access."

Dysentery was reported to be taking a grip in parts of the delta, and World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello and other aid specialists voiced fears that outbreaks of the disease were on the approaches to Rangoon.

Mr Costello warned of a disaster of "apocalyptic proportions" if water, food, shelter and medical care for the estimated 1.5 million people hardest-hit by the storm were blocked.

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How Much More Will Rev. Jeremiah Wright Destroy Barack Obama's Presidential Bid

MASSIMO CALABRESI

Voters have been running from Barack Obama since the Jeremiah Wright scandal erupted. A Zogby poll conducted this week in Indiana ahead of its key primary next Tuesday found that 21% of likely Democratic primary voters said they were less likely to vote for Obama as a result of his former pastor's statements. But why, exactly, are these and other voters fleeing? The answer could make the difference in Obama's chances to win the nomination and to pull out election victory in November. And it could tell us something about the state of racial politics in America.

There is a very small subset of voters who are sympathetic to Wright's expressions of respect for Louis Farakhan, his condemnation of America's 60-year bipartisan approach to Israel and his suspicions about U.S. involvement in the creation of the AIDS virus. The vast majority thinks his views on those issues are at least wrong, if not outright offensive. But what conclusion do those voters draw about Obama as a result? Do they imagine that Obama believes the same things? Or do they think Obama disagrees with them, but question his credibility because of his belated disavowal of the preacher who holds them?

Obama can marshal a lot of evidence to show he doesn't believe what Wright believes: his personal history, his professional life, his voting record all show he has fairly mainstream if somewhat liberal views on U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

But Wright's inflammatory statements in the past week forced Obama to make a renunciation that undermined the credibility of his well-received Philadelphia speech on race, in which he explained why he listened to Wright's speeches to begin with. "The difficulty people would have is precisely that: if he has been going to that church for a long time how could he not know?" says Scott Keeter of the Pew Research Center. The question now for Obama is which is worse — people thinking you agree with Wright, or people not believing your high-minded explanations for associating with him.

A Rasmussen poll out Friday tries to peel back some of these issues, and the answers are not particularly heartening for Obama. In a survey of 800 likely voters, Rasmussen finds that 58% think Obama has denounced Wright because it's politically convenient, while 30% say he did so because he was outraged (13% say they're not sure). Only 33% say they think Obama was surprised by Wright's views, while 52% say they think he was not.

Just as troubling for Obama, a majority of people associate his views with those of Wright: despite his denials, 56% said that it was somewhat or very likely that Obama shares some of Wright's views, while 35% said it was not very or not at all likely (8% were unsure). The survey shows a racial divide in the response: 55% of whites think Obama shares some of Wright's views, versus 47% of blacks and 74% of those identifying themselves as "other."

Associating Obama with Wright's radical views raises the specter of racial stereotyping. Those who impute to Obama radical views about AIDS, Israel or black nationalism are knowingly discounting his stated positions and making assumptions that may be influenced by his race. Just how much of that is going on is hard to measure. But if there's a racial component to voters' abandonment of Obama in the wake of the Wright affair, it's safe to say those voters aren't coming back.

Wounds caused by damaged credibility, of course, are also hard to heal. "The problem with credibility," says Pew's Keeter, "Is that people think of it as a fundamental character trait. Some measure of lack of honesty is damaging because it leads to a broader generalization."

Obama's approach to the problem appears to be to empahsize his mainstream views and shore up his credibility through other associations. Endorsements from people like former Hillary Clinton supporter and onetime Democratic chairman Joe Andrew "can help you stop the damage from this kind of affair," says Keeter. Maybe. But at least repairing damaged credibility is possible; healing the country's racial divide is a lot more difficult.

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Morgan Tsvangirai or Robert Mugabe, Run-off Election Will Tell Who

More than a month after Zimbabwe went to the polls, electoral authorities on Friday finally announced a result in the presidential race: a do-over. The Zimbabwe Election Commission said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had won 47.9% of the vote to President Robert Mugabe's 43.2%. That means that, officially, no candidate has won an outright victory of more than 50%, a scenario which, under Zimbabwean electoral law, mandates a second round run-off within three weeks. "Since no candidate has received the majority of the valid vote cast... a second election shall be held on a date to be advised by the commission," chief elections officer Lovemore Sekeramayi told reporters in Harare.

The admission that Mugabe did not win the March 29 poll is not, as some have suggested, a landmark concession on the part of the regime that has ruled Zimbabwe for 28 years. Rather, it signals Mugabe's intention to hold onto power. Reacting to the result, Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which says its own calculations show its leader won more than 50%, angrily rejected the result. MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti claimed at a press conference in South Africa that the vote count had been rigged. "Morgan Tsvangirai is the president of the republic of Zimbabwe to the extent that he won the highest number of votes," he added. "Morgan Tsvangirai has to be declared the president of Zimbabwe."

The election commission is appointed by Mugabe's Zanu-PF regime and its independence has therefore been suspect. The rationale behind the regime's month-long wait before releasing the result and, then, its announcement of another round seems simple: delay and re-group. Mugabe's regime indicated a few days after the poll that it knew Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe. (The state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Mugabe had failed to win re-election and predicted a second round run-off.) Meanwhile, the Election Commission announced that the MDC had won a majority in parliament and a few days ago confirmed that result after a recount.

The regime could hardly have been surprised that it lost the vote — Zimbabwe is a country with 80% unemployoment, 100,000% inflation and life expectancy in the mid 30s. But with a month to come to terms with that idea, it had time to gather its forces for a counterattack.

How does it plan to do that? Since the election, militias claiming loyalty to the regime have fanned out across the country, intimidating, beating and even killing opposition supporters. The MDC says around 20 of its members have died, a number impossible to verify because foreign journalists continue to be banned from entering Zimbabwe. But neither side disputes that hundreds of opposition activists have been arrested, nor that the seizure of farms belonging to opposition supporters has resumed, nor that several foreign journalists have been arrested and deported. This nationwide campaign of repression seems aimed at coercing support for Mugabe, and providing him with a sufficient electoral boost to win a run-off.

Such disdain for the democratic process begs a question: why bother with elections at all? Other African tyrannies have dispensed with the awkward trial of popular votes altogether, and ruled as unapologetic autocracies. So why the need for a veneer of respectability, however thin, in Zimbabwe? The answer lies in the psychology of Mugabe and his fellow liberation leaders, many of whom came from a background of elite academia. Mugabe himself has seven degrees, most of them earned during the 11 years he spent in prison when the country was called Rhodesia.

Though their regimes may be thuggish, these men are not thugs themselves. They are intellectuals and, as firm believers that their various opponents are merely puppets of the same imperial enemy they have always faced, it is intellectually crucial that they beat their former colonial masters at their own game. Western democracy, as they see it, is hollow. Western governments that were democratically elected at home pursued autocratic colonialism abroad. Even after the end of the age of imperialism, neo-imperialists funneled support to compliant dictators around the world, and relentlessly attempted to fix the rules of the global economy in their favor. According to this view, employing a little election tinkering here and a little intimidation there is merely playing by rules set by the West.

Whatever the merits of that argument, it is unlikely that Mugabe's regime will make the same mistake twice. One longtime resident of the capital of Harare warned in an e-mail a few days ago that Zimbabwe's opposition is in danger of losing its best chance at making a change. "What I find most frightening is that already the opposition and elements of the international community are subsiding back into apathy," he wrote. "I am hearing people saying, 'Well, you know, he'll get away with it this time, but he won't last forever, and there'll be another chance in five years.' There won't be. If he doesn't go, there will not be another chance. There will not be another election in five years time unless Zanu-PF is the only party contesting. There will be no MDC — everyone who opposes Zanu-PF will be in jail or in exile. There is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity. This month. Perhaps next. After that, the country will be stolen from us for good."

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Vito J. Fossella, NY Congressman Charged With DWI

A Republican congressman representing New York City was arrested early Thursday outside Washington and charged with driving while intoxicated, police said.

Vito J. Fossella, who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, was arrested some time between midnight and 2 a.m., said Lt. Ray Hazel, spokesman for the Alexandria Police Department.

He was charged with driving while intoxicated as a first offense, Hazel said, which under Virginia law requires a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher.

In a statement Thursday, Fossella apologized for his conduct.

"Last night I made an error in judgment," Fossella said. "As a parent, I know that taking even one drink of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of a car is wrong. I apologize to my family and the constituents of the 13th Congressional District for embarrassing them, as well as myself."

Hazel said he could provide no further details on the arrest, including Fossella's exact blood-alcohol level or where in the city he was arrested.

Fossella, 43, is the lone Republican member of the New York City congressional delegation.

He faced a surprisingly strong re-election challenge in 2006 and is bracing for a similar fight this year. His candidacy has drawn the support from national Republican leadership in recent weeks, including Vice President Dick Cheney.

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Robert Mugabe Imprisons Babies and Children To Suppress Opposition

Christina Lamb & John Makura

Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, sinks to new depths in his campaign to force the opposition into exile before an expected run-off in presidential elections.

Twenty-four babies and 40 children under the age of six were among the 250 people rounded up in a raid on Friday, according to Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Yesterday they were crammed into cells in Southerton police station in central Harare.

“This is ruthlessness of the worst kind. How can you incarcerate children whose mothers have fled their homes hoping to give their children refuge?” asked an emotional Chamisa yesterday. “In Mugabe’s Zimbabwe even children are not spared the terror that befalls their parents.”

The families were rounded up from MDC headquarters, where they had sought refuge from violence in the countryside.

Thought to be directed by top military officers, Operation Where Did You Put Your Cross? has prompted thousands to flee. They are trying to escape the so-called war veterans, who are attacking people and burning down hundreds of houses for voting “incorrectly” in last month’s elections.

“What we’re seeing is an undeclared civil war,” said Chamisa. “It’s genocide. This situation is out of control, it’s now beyond the capacity of the MDC alone. It requires the region, the continent, the international community to act.”

Four weeks after the elections, official results have still not been released for presidential polls widely thought to have been won by Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader.

Simultaneous parliamentary elections saw the ruling Zanu-PF party lose its 28-year-long majority. The election commission is engaged in the recount of 23 constituencies after regime claims that they had been rigged by the opposition. None of the results has been overturned in the 14 so far announced. Even if the remaining nine were to go to Zanu-PF it still would not have won a majority.

While some Zimbabweans see a glimmer of hope in this, Mugabe has remained defiant in the face of international condemnation. Most expect the regime to announce that no candidate won a majority in the presidential election and to order a run-off next month which Mugabe will ensure that he wins.

“The only game in town is a run-off,” said George Sibotshiwe, Tsvangirai’s spokesman. “The recount was just to buy them time to smash people’s heads in, so when they go for a run-off nobody will even be thinking of voting.”

The regime’s strategy is to ensure that by the time of the run-off, Mugabe would have a clean sweep in rural areas, where 70% of Zimbabweans live. A police officer admitted yesterday that he had been instructed not to interfere with war veterans as they carry out their campaign of terror.

At the same time the opposition leadership has been driven into hiding or abroad. Tsvangirai fled Zimbabwe two weeks ago after he was charged with treason for “conspiring with the British to oust Mugabe”.

“I am unable to return home for fear of my life,” he wrote in The Washington Post last week.

On the ground the party’s network of district officials is being decimated. Tichanzii Gandanga, the MDC election agent for Harare province, can barely walk after he was beaten and left for dead.

Four men arrived at his offices in central Harare at about 6pm on Wednesday. “They told me I knew my crimes and so I had to confess,” said Gandanga. “They blindfolded me, bundled me into a truck, then drove for a long distance, beating me on the head, on the back, everywhere. They played loud music so that no one could hear my cries. I don’t know how I survived.”

As he was being beaten, Gandanga was questioned about the whereabouts of Tsvangirai. Eventually he was dumped in the bush. He managed to crawl to a main road where he was picked up and taken to the head of a nearby village.

For two days Gandanga was nursed by villagers. Eventually he got word to his relatives who moved him to a private hospital.

Ten people have been killed so far, according to the MDC, including a five-year-old boy who was burnt to death in a hut. The first victim on April 12 was Tapiwa Mubwanda, 54, the organising secretary for the MDC for Hurungwe East.

According to his widow they were on their way back to their village when they saw a group of Zanu-PF youth militia. While she fled into the bush with their children, her husband and his elder brother were beaten with rocks. “They said, ‘You voted for the MDC, now we want to do this in order to teach you to vote. You wasted your vote by voting for Tsvangirai. He will never be the president of Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe will remain, so we want to teach you to vote’.”

When she crept out of hiding her husband was dead.

Another MDC activist, Manyika Kashiri, 55, of Chigumbu village in Uzumba, had his foot smashed by an axe when militias stormed into his shack at midnight on Tuesday. Kashiri woke after a bang at his door and rocks smashing against his windows. When he emerged, he was hit with a log by one of the militias and another tried to chop off his right foot with an axe in front of his grandchildren, one of whom was just four.

“We’re seeing a major increase in government-sponsored violence,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“The ruling party has been sending its allies after people it thinks voted for the opposition. Now anyone seen as opposing Mugabe is in danger.”

One activist, a 25-year-old fitter in hiding in Bulawayo, told The Sunday Times how he and two colleagues had been picked up by intelligence officers and forced to eat a poster of Tsvangirai. “You like him so much, now eat him,” they told him.

“Every day that passes, hope is seeping away,” said an aid worker in Zimbabwe. “This could very easily end up being yet another stolen election.”

Zimbabwe’s churches said yesterday that they had opened up their premises to victims of the violence.

Church leaders worldwide have declared today to be a day of prayer for Zimbabwe. “The current climate of political intimidation, violence, vote-rigging and delay has left the presidential election process without credibility,” read a statement from two senior Anglican archbishops, Rowan Williams and John Sentamu. “Now the people of Zimbabwe are left even more vulnerable to conflict heaped upon poverty and the threat of national disintegration.”

International pressure has continued. The top US envoy for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state, has declared Tsvangirai the clear winner of the presidential vote.

Tsvangirai has spent the past two weeks travelling round Africa trying to drum up support to pressure Mugabe to step down. After the weak response from Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, focus has shifted to the African Union (AU). Its chairman Jikaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania, has privately said that he would be willing to consider convening a summit on Zimbabwe.

Britain is hoping to get the United Nations involved and has managed to put Zimbabwe on the agenda of the UN security council this week. Proposals include an arms embargo and sending a UN envoy to Harare “with a tough message”.

At the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo on Friday, Mugabe was defiant. “When the West, led by the British, shamelessly continue to denounce our country, what is our crime?” he asked. “We are simply defending our hard-won national sovereignty.”

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US Marines Deployed To Afghanistan To Boost NATO Coalition

JASON STRAZIUSO,

U.S. Marines are crossing the sands of southern Afghanistan for the first time in years, providing a boost to a NATO coalition that is growing but still short on manpower.

They hope to retake the 10 percent of Afghanistan the Taliban holds.

Some of the Marines that make up the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit helped to tame a thriving insurgency in western Iraq. The newly arrived forces hope to move into regions of Afghanistan now controlled by the Taliban.

The troops are working alongside British forces in Helmand province — the world's largest opium-poppy region and site of the fiercest Taliban resistance over the last two years. The director of U.S. intelligence has said the Taliban controls 10 percent of Afghanistan — much of that in Helmand.

"Our mission is to come here and essentially set the conditions, make Afghanistan a better place, provide some security, allow for the expansion of governance in those same areas," said Col. Peter Petronzio, the unit's commander.

Thirteen of the 19 Marines in the platoon of 1st Lt. Adam Lynch, 27, served in 2006 and 2007 in Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province in western Iraq. The vast region was once al-Qaida in Iraq's stronghold before the militants were pushed out in early 2007.

Lynch expects the Marines, who arrived last month on a seven-month deployment, will help calm Helmand as well.

"If you flood a city with Marines, it's going to quiet down," Lynch said in between sets of push-ups on Helmand province's sandy ground. "We know for seven months we're not here to occupy, we're just here to set conditions for whoever comes in after us."

Taliban fighters have largely shunned head-on battles since losing hundreds of fighters in the Panjwayi region of Kandahar province in fall 2006, and it's not clear that Taliban fighters will stay to face the Marines in regions they operate.

Lynch, a mobile assault commander, said he doesn't care if the militants flee: "Just get the Taliban out of here, that's the biggest thing."

Western countries, including the U.S. and other NATO nations, have been sending more troops to Afghanistan as violence has escalated.

More than 8,000 people, mainly militants, were killed in insurgency-related violence in 2007, the U.N. says.

The number of suicide attacks spiked in 2007, with the Taliban launching more than 140 suicide missions, the highest number since 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The U.S. now has 32,500 troops in the country — the most since the 2001 invasion. In late 2006, Afghanistan had 40,000 international troops. Today, that number is almost 70,000.

But Western officials have warned in recent months that the international mission could fail. Washington has lobbied for NATO nations to provide more troops in Afghanistan, and in particular to add forces in the southern and eastern areas which have seen most of the recent fighting against the resurgent Taliban.

The Marines' presence in southern Afghanistan is a clear sign that neither Britain nor Canada — which operates in nearby Kandahar province — have enough troops to control the region. But commanders and troops say the countries are working well together.

British Capt. Alex West helped deliver supplies to a remote and dusty firebase in Helmand province about a week ago.

"We spent the last operations borrowing kit (gear) off you, so it's about time you borrow stuff from us," said West, 29, of Colchester, England. "All of us have been in operations where the American have helped us, so we're happy to help."

The Marines are known as the theater task force, meaning they fall under the direct control of U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, the commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan. McNeill can move the Marines to whatever flashpoint he wants. Most other U.S. troops are stationed at permanent bases in the east.

The Marines have been moving supplies and forces through Helmand by ground convoys the last several weeks, a draining and dangerous task. Some convoys have taken more than 20 hours to complete, and two Marines were killed by a roadside bomb April 15.

Lt. Col. Ricky Brown, the commander of the logistics battalion, gave a pep talk to a supply convoy last week, hinting at operations to come.

"You all are gonna move down there so the BLT (battalion landing team) can go in there and kick some Taliban butt," he said.

They have also been given directions to steer clear of the region's poppy fields so they don't risk alienating local farmers who rely on the cash crop for their income.

Counter-insurgency doctrine calls for forces to first clear a region of militants, hold that region and then build up government institutions and businesses. But the Marines are in the country for only seven months, meaning they don't have time to hold and build regions. But it's not clear if there are enough other NATO troops to hold areas, either.

"We are the clear piece," said Clinton. "There are others who will do the holding and building. We're clearing and doing some holding."

While riding in a 47-vehicle convoy through the sands of Helmand province this past week, 1st Lt. Dan Brown said the terrain reminded him of other missions.

"If you didn't know any better you'd think you were in Anbar right now," he said, referring to western Iraq.

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Wesley Snipes To Begin His 3 Year Jail Sentence Soon

Actor Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to three years in prison for willfully failing to file US income tax returns for the years 1999 to 2001.

Reuters reports that the 'Blade' star was convicted in February on three misdemeanor counts.

US District Judge William Terrell Hodges gave Snipes the maximum sentence, saying that it was important to create a deterrent against tax defiance.

The actor told the judge: "I am very sorry for my mistakes and errors. This will never happen again."

Prosecutors said that Snipes had earned over $38m since 1999 but had not paid any taxes or filed returns for the years 1999 to 2007 prior to last Thursday.

Snipes legal team tried to give the judge three envelopes with cheques totaling $5m but the judge and prosecutor said they could not accept the payments and they were collected by an Internal Revenue Service agent during the recess.

Prosecutors described the attempt to give the judge cheques as a "grandstanding move".

In a statement, Snipes described himself as an "idealist, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritual-seeking artist" and said he epitomized the colloquialism "mo' money, mo' problems".

The judge told Snipes that he would be contacted by prison officials about when his sentence would begin.

Snipes plans to appeal but prosecutors intend to oppose any request to allow him to stay out of prison while the appeal is pending.

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Illinois Earthquake Measures 5.4

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.4 struck southern Illinois early Friday, and was felt throughout the Chicago and Indiana area.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck with an epicenter about six miles from downstate West Salem, at 4:36:57 a.m.

Police scanner traffic also indicated that it was felt throughout the city and across the northern Illinois.

Other reports shows that the earthquake was felt as far north as Kokomo, Rochester and Warsaw in Indiana, as well as in Evansville and Indianapolis. It shook tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis.

Reports also shows that there have been several calls to 911.

The New Madrid Fault is the largest center for seismic activity in the area. It was not immediately returned if the New Madrid Fault was origin of the earthquake.


Earthquake Details

Magnitude 5.4

Date-Time

* Friday, April 18, 2008 at 09:36:57 UTC
* Friday, April 18, 2008 at 04:36:57 AM at epicenter

Location 38.501°N, 87.898°W
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region ILLINOIS

Distances
* 10 km (6 miles) ESE (103°) from West Salem, IL
* 10 km (6 miles) NE (55°) from Bone Gap, IL
* 13 km (8 miles) N (4°) from Bellmont, IL
* 39 km (24 miles) WSW (239°) from Vincennes, IN
* 66 km (41 miles) NNW (333°) from Evansville, IN
* 204 km (127 miles) E (93°) from St. Louis, MO

Location Uncertainty Error estimate not available
Parameters NST=021, Nph=021, Dmin=263.2 km, Rmss=1.07 sec, Gp=119°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=1

Source

* West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA/NWS

Event ID at00851141

* This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

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A Few Things To Know About John McCain And Cindy McCain

Jennifer O'Shea & Bobbie L. Kyle

10 Things You Didn't Know About John McCain

1. John Sidney McCain III was born in the Panama Canal Zone on Aug. 29, 1936.

2. The McCains are a prominent military family. His father and grandfather were the first father-son admiral pair in U.S. naval history. John McCain Jr. commanded Pacific forces during the Vietnam War, while John McCain Sr. was commander of aircraft carriers during World War II. The guided missile destroyer John S. McCain is named in their honor. Today, two of McCain's sons are continuing the tradition—his youngest son, Jimmy, is a marine, while another son, Jack, is a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy.

3. In high school, he was a wrestler. His nickname was "McNasty." Later in life, he was nicknamed "the white tornado" because of his prematurely white hair.

4. After high school, McCain was accepted to the United States Naval Academy, though he was not a strong student. He was often disciplined for misbehavior and ultimately graduated near the bottom–790th out of 795–of the class of 1958. In 2005, he returned to the school to speak to a political science class, saying he was pleased to be back at the "old school where [I] did so well."

5. In 1967, McCain volunteered to serve in Vietnam as a naval aviator. On his 23rd bombing mission, he ejected from his plane after it was hit by a missile. He was captured by the North Vietnamese, who would not treat his injuries until they learned who his father was. Later, the North Vietnamese offered to release him early as a strategic measure, but McCain declined since there were others due to be released first. McCain was tortured for this refusal and ultimately was held as a POW for 5 1/2 years.

6. His 1999 autobiography, Faith of My Fathers, tells about his early life and capture in Vietnam. The book was made into a television movie in 2005. Actor Shawn Hatosy played the young McCain, though the senator once joked that Danny DeVito should have been cast instead.

7. As a senator, McCain is a well-known foe of pork-barrel spending. To deter his colleagues from trying to add such government spending to bills, McCain once had a staff member, Mark "the Ferret" Buse, whose full-time job was to monitor any such attempts.

8. He hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live in 2002, poking fun at politics by appearing on a mock edition of Meet the Press and impersonating John Ashcroft.

9. McCain frequently has toys in his office–including a figure of Theodore Roosevelt holding a teddy bear. Roosevelt is one of his heroes for combining conservative politics with reform.

10. His favorite book is For Whom the Bell Tolls. He also enjoys chocolate ice cream and pizza with pepperoni and onions.


10 Things You Didn't Know About Cindy McCain

1. Cindy Hensley, a Phoenix native, is the only child of James and Marguerite Hensley.

2. She attended Central High School and went on to receive a master's degree in special education from the University of Southern California.

3. Cindy met John McCain in 1979, while she was on vacation with her parents in Hawaii.

4. There is an 18-year age difference between Cindy and John, but they both lied about their ages when they met. John said he was younger than 42, and Cindy said she was older than 24. They didn't realize this until they went to apply for a marriage license a year after they met.

5. Cindy and John were married in Phoenix in 1980.

6. She was very close to her parents, who at one time lived across the street from the McCains.

7. They have four children: two daughters and two sons. The McCains adopted their youngest child, Bridget, in 1991 from an orphanage in Bangladesh.

8. Cindy is chairwoman of a business her father started in 1955. Hensley & Co. is one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the United States.

9. She is involved in many charities, including Operation Smile and American Voluntary Medical Team, which she founded.

10. She is a big fan of NASCAR.

Jennifer O'Shea & Bobbie L. Kyle are staff of the U.S. News library

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Fidel Castro Officially Resigns as Cuban President

The ailing Cuban leader, Fidel Castro has announced he will not return to the presidency in a letter published by official Communist Party paper, Granma.

"I neither will aspire to nor will I accept - I repeat - I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief," wrote Mr Castro, who had been in power for almost 50 years.

Mr Castro handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery, and has not been seen in public since.

The 81-year-old has ruled Cuba since leading a communist revolution in 1959.

In December, Mr Castro indicated that he could possibly step down in favour of a younger generation.

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CBS Broadcast Grammy Award 2008 Today

CBS will broadcast the 50th Grammy Awards live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 10. But what will be the outcome?

Here's a rundown of the top categories:

Album of the Year
• Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters
• These Days, Vince Gill
• River: The Joni Letters, Herbie Hancock
• Graduation, Kanye West
• Back to Black, Amy Winehouse

Record of the Year
• "Irreplaceable," Beyoncé
• "The Pretender," Foo Fighters
• "Umbrella," Rihanna (featuring Jay-Z)
• "What Goes Around . . . Comes Around," Justin Timberlake
• "Rehab," Amy Winehouse

Song of the Year
• "Before He Cheats," John Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)
• "Hey There Delilah," Tom Higgenson, songwriters (Plain White T's)
• "Like A Star," Corinne Bailey Rae, songwriter (Corinne Bailey Rae)
• "Rehab," Amy Winehouse
• "Umbrella," Shawn Carter, Kuk Harrell, Terius "Dream" Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z)

Best New Artist
• Feist
• Ledisi
• Paramore
• Taylor Swift
• Amy Winehouse

Pop Vocal Album
• Lost Highway, Bon Jovi
• The Reminder, Feist
• It Won't Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5
• Memory Almost Full, Paul McCartney
• Back To Black, Amy Winehouse

Rap Album
• Finding Forever, Common
• Kingdom Come, Jay-Z
• Hip Hop Is Dead, Nas
• T.I. vs T.I.P., T.I.
• Graduation, Kanye West

Rock Album
• Daughtry, Daughtry
• Revival, John Fogerty
• Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters
• Magic, Bruce Springsteen
• Sky Blue Sky, Wilco

Country Album
• Long Trip Alone, Dierks Bentley
• These Days, Vince Gill
• Let It Go, Tim McGraw
• 5th Gear, Brad Paisley
• It Just Comes Natural, George Strait

Contemporary R&B Album
• Konvicted, Akon
• Just Like You, Keyshia Cole
• Fantasia, Fantasia
• East Side Story, Emily King
• Because Of You, Ne-Yo

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Authorities Crack Down On School Girls For Child Prostitution

Ryann Connell
Japanese authorities finally appear to be taking steps to crack down on the widespread proliferation of child cheesecake, according to Weekly Playboy.

Just a few years ago, pictures of scantily clad high school girls would have created outrage, but it has now become common to see magazines, billboards and all sorts of other media plastered with images of G-string-clad girls in their pre-teens.

But a series of police raids late last year on producers of a photo shoot DVD starring a schoolgirl appear to have changed the situation.

"The girl's swimsuit was deliberately made to be see-through, it was so tight-fitting you could make out the shape of her genitalia and she'd been posed in such risqu? positions that the Metropolitan Police Department decided to arrest the maker for breaking the law banning child pornography even though the girl hadn't actually exposed her bust or between her legs," a reporter from a sports newspaper tells Weekly Playboy.

The arrest was the first time somebody had been picked up for breaking the Child Pornography Law without proliferating images featuring nudity. Eventually, though, the charge had to be downgraded to a violation of the Child Welfare Law, but the effect of the arrest reached far.

"Ever since the arrest, makers of products featuring teens in erotic poses have been in a state of panic. If material is judged to be overly obscene, people can be arrested for breaking the Child Pornography Law, even if the model is dressed in a swimsuit," says an employee of a medium-sized DVD manufacturer producing material featuring models under 15 years old. "DVD shops and wholesalers are now on their guard and have stopped taking materials featuring models under 15, even if the product looks like being a surefire seller."

Furi Nakamura, a journalist who specializes in covering the under-15 market, says there is a definite mood of self-restraint spreading among purveyors of photo collections and DVDs using child cheesecake.

"Situations are going to become crucial," the under-15 expert tells Weekly Playboy. "By that, I mean the situations where models are presented. Say, for example, a young model is decked out in an extremely skimpy bikini, the maker won't get in trouble if the photos are taken in an appropriate situation, like a pool or the beach. It's when you get the young models lying around on a bed, making provocative poses and stuff, that you're going to have the real problems -- even if they're wearing standard school-issue swimsuits, which aren't revealing at all. The key is going to be how natural producers will be able to make their images appear."

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Japanese Authorities To Clampdown On Matchmaking Sites

Operators of online matchmaking sites will soon be legally obligated to register with public safety authorities and immediately remove any posts that could incite juvenile crime.

National Police Agency officials are drafting changes to the law regulating matchmaking sites that will allow them to keep tighter control over the sites for lonely hearts that have often been used as fronts for such illegal activities as prostitution.

Crimefighters hope to have their proposed revisions put before the Diet by March.

NPA officials say the existing law regulating matchmaking sites contains no way for them to be able to determine who is actually running them and they are dependent on cooperation from providers and server operators to try and obtain that information. Cops say there are many cases where they are unable to pinpoint site operators operating illegally and that allows them to go unpunished.

The NPA wants to counter that by requiring all online matchmaking sites to register with prefectural public safety commissions or be punished for not doing so. The NPA will draw up a list of requirements operators will be expected to meet and ban members of organized crime gangs or those with criminal records from involvement in the business.

To combat juvenile crime, site operators will be required to remove any posts that may lead to illegal activity. Under the current law, deletions are left in the hands of operators, but the NPA wants to make it mandatory for site operators to immediately wipe out any posts making references to children.

And law enforcers also want some way to improve age verification methods. Currently, most sites only ask users whether they are over 18 and allow them access if they say they are, making it easy for minors to use the sites if they lie. Police are hoping to make matchmaking sites a member's only business accessible through payment by credit card - which can't be issued to under 18s - or some other form of identification, such as a driver's license.

Crime connected to online matchmaking sites has declined since the law regulating the business came into effect in 2003, but there was an increase of 92 people to 1,153 cases in 2006 which prompted police to feel the existing regulations still aren't sufficient.

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Heath Ledger's Australian Doctors May Be Investigated

Heath Ledger's Australian doctors may be investigated if any of the prescription drugs that led to his death were prescribed in his homeland, it has emerged.

The news comes after a US newspaper columnist sparked controversy by describing Heath Ledger as "reckless and greedy" and "selfish".

The DEA has subpoenaed Ledger's autopsy results from the New York Medical Examiner's Office and is attempting to find out why the actor was in possession of five different types of powerful prescription drugs.

New York police, who are also assisting the DEA with its investigation, have said some of the prescription drugs were prescribed in Europe.

Ledger spent two weeks with his family in Perth just weeks before his January 22 death in Manhattan from an accidental overdose, which has been blamed on the mix of powerful drugs in his system.

Washington DC-based DEA spokesman Michael Sanders said if evidence led to Australia, DEA officers would follow it up.

"We have 86 offices in 62 countries," Sanders said.

"If it leads to a country, we can conduct an investigation there.

"It could be in Australia, England, Rome or wherever."

The DEA's Australian office is in Canberra.

The DEA is charged with enforcing drug laws in the US and is interested in why Ledger had prescribed drugs for two powerful pain killers and three anti-anxiety drugs.

A sixth drug, doxylamine, commonly found in over-the-counter cough medicines, was detected in Ledger's blood.

Drug experts say no "reasonable doctor" would ever prescribe such a combination of medications.
The DEA will determine if one doctor prescribed the five drugs or whether Ledger went "doctor shopping".

"The DEA tries to look into any suspicious death involving the overdose of any pharmaceutical medications," Sanders said.

"We investigate to find out if the drugs were obtained in some type of illegal fashion or distributed illegally or if the individual who died did what we call doctor shopping, where they would go from one doctor to the other and not tell the doctors they had prescriptions for other pills."

The DEA has conducted raids on doctors' offices in other investigations, including doctors linked to celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, who died in Florida a year ago from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

"Unfortunately with Anna Nicole Smith, it was the same thing as Mr Ledger," Sanders said.

"It was a combination of different types of pharmaceutical medications."

Prescription drug abuse has become a serious public issue in the US.

Last weekend's Super Bowl TV telecast, during which companies paid $US2.7 million for a 30 second ad, featured a commercial highlighting the dangers of teenagers stealing their parents' prescription medicine.

"Teens are getting the medications out of their parents' medicine cabinets and taking them to parties and mixing them up," said Sanders.

"What the public doesn't understand, and this is the message we are trying to get out, is because you may have an ailment and take a medication you can't mix it with another medication.

"As we have seen with Mr Ledger's case, if you start mixing several medications together, especially oxycodone, hydrocodone and sleeping aids, it becomes fatal."

The prescription drugs found in Ledger's body were: oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam.

Meanwhile, Andrea Peyser, in her column in today's New York Post, wrote she was disgusted the Australian actor chose to "self-destruct" with prescription drugs and paid little regard for his daughter, Matilda, ex-fiancee Michelle Williams and his parents.

"He threw it away, as gamely as if he had put a gun to his mouth and pulled the trigger.

"He was reckless and greedy.

"He was fundamentally selfish.

"Now his daughter will grow up never knowing the man she worshiped from birth; his parents must bury a son they cherished."

Just when Ledger will be buried remains a mystery.

His family is expected to hold a private funeral in Perth in the next few days, but has pleaded for privacy.

Ledger's former girlfriend Gemma Ward yesterday flew into Perth to join the actor's family and friends.

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Bridgend, The South Wales Axis Of Suicide

Caroline Davies
Bridgend, the south Wales town thrust into the spotlight after 13 of its young people killed themselves in the past year, is part of a Welsh valleys axis with higher than average levels of suicide, particularly among young men, it has emerged.

Statistics show that Merthyr Tydfil and the Rhondda, Cynon and Taff valleys are also battling with a problem that has, so far, defeated experts. And as police review the spate of recent deaths in Bridgend, The Observer can reveal that far from being an isolated pocket, the rash of suicides has been a concern in the area for some time.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 20 people - the vast majority of them young men - took their lives in the Bridgend area in 2006, while Merthyr Tydfil had 10 suicides and the Rhondda, Cynon and Taff 18. The latest available figures show that the combined area has 9.3 suicides per 100,000 people per year, compared with 8.3 for the rest of Wales.

As detectives look at possible links between the 13 deaths, the most recent being that of a 17-year-old girl, Natasha Randall, found hanged at her home in Blaengarw 10 days ago, a special task force of local agencies, including the police, is questioning speculation that the deaths may be linked to internet social networking sites.

The area falls under the jurisdiction of Bridgend and Glamorgan Valleys coroner Philip Walters. He said: 'I think people are looking for something that isn't there. As far as I can see there is no internet link. But, bear in mind I have concluded only four of the 13 inquests. There are nine still outstanding where I am waiting for toxicology reports.

'The thing that bothers me most about all of these suicides is that you look at each one as an individual, and you cannot get to the bottom of why. The vast majority are men under 30,' he said. 'I really do think we need a national suicide strategy.'

Walters has been so concerned about the increasing number that last year he issued a statement admitting that it was 'quite a high percentage and it seems to be higher in the south Wales valleys than in other parts of Wales'.

Bridgend's Labour MP, Madeleine Moon, said: 'I've been concerned about this for four years. I don't think it can be laid at the door of social deprivation. In all honesty Bridgend is not socially deprived. Perhaps one of the problems is young people need to raise their levels of aspiration.

'I've got two towns and lots of villages. They are very close communities in which everyone knows everyone else. People don't like to move 500 yards to the next village because their whole identity is around the village their families grew up in.

'But there is a downside. I was speaking to a group of girls recently and they were saying it could be claustrophobic. Everything that happens to you, everyone else knows about it, so it can be harder to deal with. You feel much more exposed. So, if you have a relationship break-up it's the gossip of the village. If something happens in your life, everyone knows about it. So there is pressure there.

'I don't know that the internet sites have had any major impact on what's been happening. What concerns me much more is that you have got a situation where all of these suicides have affected lots of young people. They know about them. And young people communicate differently, with texting and emails. That is not how you deal with emotional problems. I think many young people are not used to communicating emotions, actually talking one-to-one about them.'

Dr Jonathan Scourfield, senior lecturer at Cardiff University's school for social sciences, who has conducted research relating to suicides in Wales, said: 'Most suicides are complex. I think cultural and social beliefs are very influential factors. By that I mean if a relationship breaks down, or there is loss of employment, or terrible debts, suicide only becomes an appropriate response because it makes social sense. They have probably heard of other cases where people have killed themselves in those circumstances, so they think "well, that's what you do".

'That's where the copycat theory does have relevance - not that young people are goading each other on via websites - but in a broader sense. The more stories that appear about young people having killed themselves in your area, the more it might appear to you to be a reasonable response to a particular kind of crisis. It's about the culture of suicide.'

A police spokesman said: 'To date there is no evidence of a suicide pact and that theory did not come from the police. At this stage, we have not established any link that is common to all.'

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Bill Clinton Faces Sharp Scrutiny For Role In Hillary's Campaign

Bill Clinton's role in his wife's presidential campaign faced sharp scrutiny today, after it seemed to backfire as Barack Obama romped to a huge win in South Carolina.

Hillary Clinton was forced into a staunch defence of her husband after yesterday's lopsided vote, and admitted he probably went too far in castigating the Illinois Democrat and the media in a bare knuckle state campaign.

The ex-president's finger-wagging revived a question at the core of the Clinton candidacy - how to leverage his popularity with Democrats, while ensuring he does not morph into a sideshow.

His fiery showing in South Carolina garnered a crop of tabloid headlines in his wife's home state of New York, as front-pages blared "Wild Bill" "Shoot from the lip Bill Clinton, "Calm Down" and "Bigmouth of the South".

But Senator Clinton's camp dismissed reports the ex-president will step back from the campaign frontlines, even as critics argue he may have offered ammunition for her rivals, and hurt his wife's credibility as a leader in her own right.

"President Clinton is an enormous asset and incredibly popular in the Democratic Party," said Jay Carson, a Clinton spokesman, adding the former president would continue to forcefully make the case.

Senator Clinton has dismissed suggestions of a co-presidency, by saying she would send the ex-leader off on global goodwill missions, in a role his Scottish friends have dubbed 'first laddie'".

"It is my candidacy, I am the one asking the people of America to support me. I believe I stand on my own merits," Senator Clinton said in Tennessee yesterday.

But Bill Clinton's red faced anger in South Carolina, has rivals suggesting he would be a meddlesome power behind the throne in a Clinton restoration carrying all the baggage of his turbulent presidency.

"I frankly can't wait because the idea of Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is something I can't imagine - the American people can't imagine," said Mitt Romney, a leading Republican candidate last week.

So, the Clintons, who have always operated as a formidable political tag-team, must walk a delicate line.

"The question is, is this campaign about Hillary or Billary?" said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University, Iowa.

"If it is going to be Billary, it is going to be tough for them to pull off."

The South Carolina primary could be interpreted as a stunning rebuke to Bill Clinton, as African-American voters went overwhelmingly for Senator Obama, despite entreaties from the man once dubbed 'the first black president'.

Some exit polling also suggested Bill Clinton's attacks on Senator Obama's record may have pushed wavering voters towards her rival.

"I was for Hillary, until Bill started to get involved against Obama," said Beth Rickenbacker, from Orangeburg, South Carolina, a one-time Clinton backer who switched in the dying hours of the primary campaign.

As the Democratic race goes nationwide, risks loom for the Clintons should they launch a full bore attack which could succeed, but be seen to snuff out the inspirational promise of her rival.

Such a tack could boost Senator Obama's campaign rationale, that the Clintons are emblematic of a discredited style of partisanship which has poisoned politics.

Clinton aides are seething that Senator Obama is ripping the legacy of the only Democrat to win two White House terms since World War II, and branded him less transformational than Republican icon Ronald Reagan.

"President Clinton challenged conventional wisdom in every conceivable way, and I think that was an indelible part of the presidency," said top Clinton aide Mark Penn.

Senator Obama must also be careful, analysts said, as he criticises a presidency which many working class Democrats - who have yet to warm to him - still remember fondly.

"It is going to be especially difficult and tough to do, running against the Clinton era," said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire.

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Heath Ledger Didn't Mind Dying After Daughter's Birth

Heath Ledger recently said he felt good about dying, now that he was a parent, because he was alive in his daughter Matilda.

But at the same time, the Australian actor, who died in New York today, said he wanted to be around for the rest of the two-year-old's life.

Asked about being a parent he said: "I guess you're forced into kind of respecting yourself more, you learn more about yourself through your child, I guess," he told WJW FOX in Cleveland, Ohio.

"You also look at death differently. It's like a catch 22. I feel good about dying now because I feel like I'm alive in her.

"But at the same time, you don't want to die because you want to be around for the rest of her life."

Ledger said fatherhood gave his performances a greater depth

The 28-year-old actor was often seen pushing Matilda around New York in a pram.

Ledger was intensely private but soon after the birth of his child with American actor Michelle Williams, with whom he later split, he told of the joys of parenting.

"It's going great," he said soon after Matilda's birth in October 2005.

"It's exhausting, but its a pleasure waking up to your daughter. My duties in life are that I wake up, cook breakfast, clean the dishes, prepare lunch, clean those dishes, go to the market, get fresh produce, cook dinner, clean those dishes and then sleep if I can," he said when Matilda was just four weeks old.

"And I love it. I actually adore it."

Matilda's birth was widely seen by many to have mellowed the actor.

And he said he was very good at switching off after leaving the set and focusing on his family.
"I kind of save the living for the time between action and cut," Ledger said.

"I'm pretty good at dropping a character once it's over for the day. Certainly once the film is over, I throw it all away. Your life is what matters."

In November last year, Ledger told Chicago's Sun-Times newspaper that he saw acting as a kind of therapy.

"I'm lucky in a sense because I have a job where I get to scream and cry," he said.

"I get to purge myself in ways that don't really affect me personally. When the director yells cut, I just walk out the door and I'm back into my regular life."

He said fatherhood gave his acting a new depth.

"It definitely changes the person that you are. I think your personal evolution runs hand in hand with your professional evolution.

"So fatherhood has changed me as an artist because I feel things on a deeper level. I think my performances will grow simultaneously."

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A Moroccan diplomat's Son Turned Al Qaeda Propagandalist Convicted In Britain

A computer nerd from Shepherd's Bush became al Qaeda's top internet agent, it can be revealed today.

Younes Tsouli, 23, an IT student at a London college, used his top-floor flat in W12 to help Islamist extremists wage a propaganda war against the West.

Under the name Irhabi 007 — combining the James Bond reference with the Arabic for terrorist — he worked with al Qaeda leaders in Iraq and came up with a way to convert often gruesome videos into a form that could be put onto the Web.

Videos he posted included messages from Osama bin Laden and images of the kidnapping and murder of hostages in Iraq such as American Nick Berg.

His capture led to the arrest of several Islamic terrorists around the world, including 17 men in Canada and two in the US.

Associates linked to Tsouli in the UK have also now been detained. His 10-year jail sentence was increased to 16 years last month.

At first intelligence operatives who came across his activities dismissed him as a joke. It was only when anti-terrorist detectives began trawling through files on his computer after his arrest that they realised his true significance.

When he was seized, forensic science officers found that Tsouli had been creating a website called YOUBOMBIT.

At his trial at Woolwich crown court a jury heard how the Met trawled through a “hugely gigantic'' amount of material — computers, CDs and memory sticks — to bring Tsouli and two other men to justice.

Detectives found literature urging Muslims to take up the fight against other religions. It was the first time anyone in Britain had been prosecuted for inciting terrorist murder purely based on the internet, the court heard.

Tsouli, who set up and ran several sites over the summer of 2005, was described as the most prominent of the three on trial. The other two were also jailed. One intelligence source said: “In a network structure, if you get the right guy the whole thing goes down.”

Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, the head of the Met's counterterrorism operations, said: “It was the first virtual conspiracy to murder that we have seen.”

Tsouli arrived in London in 2001 with his father, a Moroccan diplomat. He studied IT at a college in central London and was quickly radicalised by images of the war in Iraq posted on the internet.

By 2003 he had already begun posting his own material including a manual on computer hacking and a year later had moved on to publishing extremist images and al Qaeda propaganda on the web.

It is claimed al Qaeda leaders in Iraq spotted Tsouli's work and took the decision to recruit him, using his expertise to post their own extremist videos to a wider audience.

In 2005, Tsouli became administrator for the web forum al-Ansat, used by 4,500 extremists to communicate with each other, sharing such practical information as how to make explosives and how to get to Iraq to become a suicide bomber.

But the enterprise had become so huge, it began to attract the attention of cyber-trackers who monitor the internet for extremists, leading to Tsouli's arrest.

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French President, Nicolas Sarkozy Has A Monkey's Face On His Knees

Nicolas Sarkozy, 52, began dating Bruni, 40, just one month after his divorce from Cecilia following a 12-year marriage and his election last May as France's new president. But what is on his knees?

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EVEREST Conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary Dies At 88.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced the news today, saying the death of New Zealand's greatest hero was a profound loss.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only ‘knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," Miss Clark said.

Sir Ed's health had been in decline since April when he suffered a fall while in Nepal.

Sir Ed was the first man to climb Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.


They never repeated the feat and in an interview with Reuters in early 2007, Sir Ed said the pair had discussed the possibility of climbing Everest again, but he felt there was little virtue in climbing it many times.

Sir Ed is survived by his wife Lady June Hillary and two children Peter and Sarah.

Legend

Miss Clark said the legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist would be deeply mourned.

His Everest ascent brought him worldwide fame which he used to support development for the Sherpa people of the Himalayas.

"Sir Ed was not one to bask idly in celebrity. He drew on his international prestige to highlight issues and values which he held dear. His enduring commitment to and respect for the Sherpa people reflects the best of what we as New Zealanders can contribute, from our small developed nation helping another less privileged one," Miss Clark said.

He established the Himalayan Trust in the early 1960s and worked tirelessly until his death to raise funds and build schools and hospitals in the mountains.

Over 40 years, Sir Ed raised funds to build 30 schools, two hospitals, many medical clinics and a number of bridges.

"The legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary will live on. His exploits continue to inspire new generations of New Zealanders, as they have for more than half a century already," Miss Clark said.

Early days

Sir Ed's early days were spent in south Auckland and his first encounter with a mountain was as a 16-year-old on a school trip to Mount Ruapehu in the central North Island.

By his own admission, Sir Ed was a great reader and dreamer, with a gift for understatement.

From the summit of Everest, Norgay and the former beekeeper and World War II Catalina flying boat navigator were catapulted to stardom; their climb was hailed as a Coronation Day present for the Queen.

But it was the 15 minutes they spent on the mountaintop that was to shape the rest of their lives.

Always the adventurer, Sir Ed again skated on thin ice when he led a fleet of farm tractors across the Antarctic. They kept going, all the way to the South Pole, after Sir Ed defied the orders of expedition head, Sir Vivian Fuchs.

But there was more to come for the boy from Tuakau - he led a jetboat expedition up the Ganges River from the sea to the mountains.

But the adventures were to take a toll on the Hillary family - Sir Ed's first wife Louise and daughter Belinda were killed in a plane crash in Kathmandu in 1975.

This was while the family was deeply involved in charity work in Nepal.

Sir Ed, accompanied by his second wife June, the widow of climber Peter Mulgrew, who died in the Erebus air crash in Antarctica, returned to Nepal for the 50th anniversary of the conquest of Everest.

On that occasion he was treated like a God, and given Nepalese citizenship.

But New Zealanders, and the rest of the world, will remember him as the man who, literally, stood on top of the world.

He left a message for them all – “I think we have to become peaceful people. Do good jobs, but be rather peaceful about it.”

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