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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (766353)	11/14/2007 12:57:42 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Things Get Uglier In Pakistan Ruth David, 11.14.07, 11:10 AM ET forbes.com MUMBAI - Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan was arrested Wednesday after he made a public appearance at a student rally against President Musharraf’s move to impose emergency rule. Khan, a former cricket captain for Pakistan, was spotted in Lahore for the first time after he was placed under house arrest, following emergency rule that was declared by the government on Nov. 3. He led a rally in the city where he had gone to a university and told the media that he was happy to have started “the student movement.” Thousands of students wearing black arm-bands shouted anti-Musharraf slogans as Khan was taken away. Some religious students in the university had detained Khan, enabling the police to whisk him away. The move was a setback for Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto, who Tuesday said she would scrap a proposed power-sharing agreement with Musharraf, and join forces with the opposition. Bhutto has also been placed under house arrest in Lahore. Opposition parties say police have detained around 15,000 supporters since Musharraf imposed emergency rule and clamped down on the judiciary and media. (See: “Activists Detained In Pakistan Crackdown”) He blamed a rise in militancy and judicial intervention in the government’s functioning for the move, which has been criticized by the West. The Bush Administration, which said it was reviewing aid for the region, is sending Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Pakistan this week to urge Musharraf to lift the emergency rule. Opposition lawmakers and civil society have also launched protests against the military leader’s latest move. On Wednesday, exiled prime minister Nawaz Sharif told media from Saudi Arabia that he was willing to set asides his differences with Bhutto and work with her party to restore democracy. Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan last month, but Musharraf didn’t allow him to step out the airport, instead sending the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader to Saudi Arabia. In a release on the party web site, Sharif was quoted as saying the opposition needed to unite to tackle Musharraf. “That is the need of the hour because single-handedly to fight dictatorship is going to be a difficult task.” He also offered praise for Bhutto’s initiative to cut ties with Musharraf. An alliance between Sharif’s and Bhutto’s parties and popular Islamic political outfits will also bring thousands more supporters on to the streets, intensifying pressure on the government, analysts say. Musharraf has promised to hold national elections on Jan. 9, but opposition leaders say the polls will be rigged if they are held under his rule, especially since politicians are being arrested every day. In an interview with Britain’s Sky News, the leader who came to power in a coup in Oct 1999 said he would not give up his post till political turmoil in the country ceased. “I am not a dictator, I want a democracy,” he was quoted as saying.

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (766353)	11/14/2007 2:09:14 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

FELINE FEELGOOD FACTOR: Italians Fight for the Right to Love Black Cats Black cats get a bad rap, particularly in Italy where they are popularly associated with evil. Now in an effort to disassociate these maligned felines from superstition and stop an estimated 60,000 annual cat killings, Italy is to hold its first national Black Cat Day. November 14, 2007 spiegel.de An Italian animal protection organization estimates that Italians kill 60,000 black cats every year. Black cats symbolize different things in different cultures and countries, but in Italy the black cat is all bad, all the time. Traffic is wont to stop suddenly while motorists wait for a black cat to finish crossing the road, and Italian men have been known to make the sign of the cross with one hand and cover their private parts with the other to ward off the supposed evil of a passing cat. As part of a feline image makeover, an Italian animal protection group has organized a celebration to be held Saturday in large Italian cities including Milan and Rome. The events are aimed at countering this societal prejudice and will include art exhibitions celebrating black cats, outdoor bring-your-own-black-cat gatherings and picnics, and award ceremonies for people who have protected black cats. "Our primary objective is to markedly reduce the number of animals that are kidnapped or abandoned," Lorenzo Croce, head of the Italian Association in Defense of Animals and the Environment (AIDAA), told ANSA, an Italian news agency. "However, our aim is also to create a day to fight superstitions and help relaunch the image of the beautiful black cats," he added. Croce's organization believes that each year 60,000 black cats in Italy are kidnapped, abandoned or killed "in esoteric or satanic rituals." The organization also estimates that reports of black cats -- associated with witchcraft since the Middle Ages -- being sacrificed in black magic rituals peak around Halloween. "Black cats are those most targeted by the superstitious, as well as delinquents, who delight in killing them," Croce told ANSA. jtw