Musical Innerlube: Bill Bruford - Hell's Bells

"Sheikh Osama Bin Laden is in good health"

From Zawahri says bin Laden in good health :

 

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was well and reports speculating about his sickness were false, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri said in a recording on Wednesday.

"Sheikh Osama bin Laden is in good health," Zawahri, who is also a doctor, said in response to questions compiled by Islamist Web sites. "The ill-intentioned always try to circulate false reports about him being sick."

Zawahri, who, like Saudi-born bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan, also denounced the United Nations and vowed to attack Jews both within and outside Israel.

"The United Nations is an enemy of Islam and Muslims," he said. "It has legalised the creation of the state of Israel and its seizure of Muslims' land ... it has legalised the crusader presence in Afghanistan ... and Iraq," he said in a 104-minute audio recording posted on the Internet.

He defended attacks on U.N. offices in an apparent reference to twin bomb attacks on U.N. buildings in Algiers which killed 41 people in December and the 2003 bombing of a U.N. building in Baghdad which killed 22.

Zawahri also called for attacks on Jews. "We promise our Muslim brothers that we will do our utmost to strike Jews in Israel and abroad with help and guidance from God."

Al Qaeda will turn to fight Israel after "winning" the war in Iraq against U.S.-led and government forces, he said, adding that the United states had begun to collapse.

"The myth of unipolar world is over. The (Sept. 11, 2001) strikes on New York and Washington are identifying marks of this collapse, but empires do not collapse in a minute and could take decades. The collapse of the Soviet Union is the closest example."

The Egyptian militant also reiterated al Qaeda calls to Muslims to topple Western-allied governments and to attack Western and Israeli interests in Muslim countries.

Porsche goes to court over congestion charge

The introduction of the higher London congestion charge could leave Porsche nursing tens of millions of pounds in lost sales, the sports car maker said yesterday as it stepped up its attempt to have the higher tax overturned.

 

Porsche and other claimants, including London businesses and residents, yesterday formally launched a High Court challenge to London Mayor Ken Livingstone's plan to hike the congestion charge in the capital from £8 to £25 for gas-guzzling vehicles.

 

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Israel to hold 'routine' nationwide emergency drill

From CNN :

Israel's plan to test its nationwide emergency response this week "is only a drill" and has nothing to do with "exaggerated" reports of heightened tensions with Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday.

"I would like to make it unequivocally clear that this is a routine drill," Olmert said before the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting.

"The State of Israel is not intent on any violent confrontation in the north. On the contrary, we have said more than once that we have an interest in holding peace negotiations with Syria," he said. "They know exactly what our expectations are. I can also say that we know what their expectations are; if these conditions will bear fruit, then this is what we are intent on and nothing else."

The drill will include a minute and a half-long siren that will sound across Israel at 10 a.m. Tuesday (3 a.m. ET) except in the southern town of Sderot, a frequent target of rocket attacks launched by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

At the same time, Israeli television will show a message from the Israeli military as well as instructional videos on how to seek shelter during an alert. During that time, Israeli schools and government offices will practice entering protected spaces.

On Tuesday, the country will begin practicing its response to a variety of attacks, including rocket strikes and incidents involving chemical and biological agents.

Hopkins health site restores 'abortion' as search term

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has restored the word "abortion" as an acceptable search term on a reproductive health Web site that's funded by the government.

The restriction on searches about abortion drew criticism from some health advocates and librarians who called it censorship.

After learning that the word "abortion" was being ignored by the site's search engine, the dean of the Bloomberg school ordered it restored. Doctor Michael Klag says he'll be asking questions about why the decision was made to limit searches.

The site, known as POPLINE, is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

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