Tuesday, 11. March 2003

Miami Vice star under investigation for money laundering
Sonny Crockett in $8bn mystery


Miami Vice star Don Johnson is being investigated by German customs after he was stopped with documents relating to money worth $8bn (€7.25bn), officials said today.

They are trying to discover the origin of the money and whether there is a case for a money laundering probe, said a spokesman for the Customs Investigations Office in Cologne said.

¬> Ireland Online ¬> itv

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Tourist falls into lava


A member of a volcano tour group was burned by hot lava early yesterday when he fell during a trek near Chain of Craters Road in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

Guy Bouneau, 55, suffered first- second- and third-degree burns to his hands, right forearm and a portion of his right thigh, police said.

¬> The Honolulu Advertiser

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Another U.S. Diplomat Resigns Over Iraq War Plans


A U.S. diplomat resigned from government service on Monday in protest of President Bush's preparations to attack Iraq, the second to do so in less than a month. John H. Brown, who joined the U.S. diplomatic corps in 1981 and served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev, Belgrade and Moscow, said in a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) made available to the media: "I cannot in good conscience support President Bush's war plans against Iraq.

"Throughout the globe the United States is becoming associated with the unjustified use of force. The president's disregard for views in other nations, borne out by his neglect of public diplomacy, is giving birth to an anti-American century," the diplomat added.

¬> Reuters

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Will GPS tech lead to 'geoslavery'?
Tracking technology gives access to dangerous power


Jerome Dobson worries that 1984 may be just around the corner. Dobson, a University of Kansas research professor and president of the American Geographical Society, is concerned that technical advances carry the potential for bringing about George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a society that destroys privacy. This new threat, says Dobson -- a respected leader in the field of geographic information technologies -- is "geoslavery."

Devices currently on the market, for example, use satellites to locate and track people anywhere on the planet.

One company sells a device that can record a vehicle's location so employers can keep track of every move their drivers make.

¬> cnn

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Black Hawk Helicopter missing in New York


Fifteen Army soldiers were missing Tuesday after the helicopter in which they were flying on a training missing lost radio contact over upstate New York, Army officials told NBC News. THE HELICOPTER, a UH-60 Blackhawk attack vehicle that often is used to insert troops into the scene of action, was lost to radio contact at Fort Drum, near Watertown, about 2 p.m. ET. Residents of the nearby town of Remsen reported hearing unusual sounds as the helicopter was passing over, NBC affiliate WSTM-TV of Syracuse reported.

¬> msnbc ¬> Fox ¬> local 6 ¬> AP
¬> El Paso Times

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Japanese man gets on Edinburgh party bus instead of airport bus


A Japanese businessman has missed his flight from Edinburgh after getting on an all-night party bus instead of an airport shuttle.

Zenko Kajiyama, 32, from Tokyo, had been intending to catch an evening flight from Edinburgh to London Heathrow for a meeting the next day.

Mr Kajiyama was at Waverley station trying to find the airport bus stop when he saw people boarding a silver coach marked Club Class. The 45-seater bus was actually booked for a mobile birthday party.

¬> Ananova

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Let slip the sea lions of war


With the military build-up in the Persian Gulf showing no sign of abating the US Navy has unveiled its secret weapon - a crack troupe of sea lions.

The specially trained mammals have been deployed to the region to protect US and British warships against attacks from underwater saboteurs and mines.

These whiskered warriors are even capable of clamping a floating marker to the legs of an intruder, alerting troops to his position, who can then move in and haul the attacker out of the water.

¬> BBC

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Leaflets dropped 10 March 2003


¬> centcom.mil

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Underwater hockey


Some people will try anything to get to an affluent Western country to start a new life - risking their lives in creaking container ships or stifling trucks.

But a group of Moldovans appears to have found a rather more elaborate means of migration - by posing as a national team in the little-known sport of women's underwater hockey.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a people-smuggler from the former Soviet republic came up with the idea of making prospective migrants look like underwater hockey players to get them visas for Canada.

¬> BBC

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An Open Letter to President Bush


Dear Mr. President,

Before the bombs begin to fall, leaving us no time for calm reflections, it seems only natural to step back and try to assess the overall picture as it develops. No, we are not joining those who seek to dissuade you from taking a military action in Iraq. On the contrary, we think that this action is long overdue, and that Iraqi people were left to suffer from the evil regime of Saddam Hussein for too long. Neither can we share the pacifist sentiments expressed recently by many millions of marchers. Our own experience under no less evil regime of the Soviet Union has taught us that freedom is one of a few things in this world worthy of fighting and dying for. And the sooner we do it the better because such regimes, as history proved time and again, leave us no option but to confront them and to destroy them for they, by their very nature, are both oppressive internally and aggressive externally.

¬> Vladimir Bukovsky and Elena Bonner

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Al-Qaida newly suspected in 8 cities


Information seized during the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, has triggered new investigations of possible al-Qaida operatives in eight U.S. cities, including New York and Detroit, U.S. officials told NBC News.

¬> msnbc

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Air Force testing big bomb; U.S.: Spy planes turned back


With events moving closer to a possible war with Iraq, here is a look at some of the latest developments around the world: ROAD TO WAR?

• MASSIVE BOMB TEST: The U.S. Air Force hopes the Tuesday test of a new 21,000-pound bomb will pave the way for its use in Iraq against critical targets on the surface and underground. The final test of the new Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- MOAB -- will for the first time include the use of the actual explosives. Two previously undisclosed tests, one in February and one March 7, were inert. The Air Force may decide to release video of the final test in hopes of placing additional pressure on the Iraqi military to realize it cannot win against the U.S. military.

¬> CNN

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