疑轎車碰撞慌張換擋‧老翁誤踩油門撞咖啡店

（檳城‧北海）咖啡店飛來橫禍！

一名老翁今日（週三，7月1日）早上在倒退車子不慎與另一輛轎車發生碰撞後，疑慌張更換前進擋之際卻誤踩油門，結果整輛轎車直撞一間咖啡店內，不但撞傷了3名公眾，更嚇壞了正在忙碌的小販和顧客群。

突如其來“闖入”咖啡店的國產金龍魚轎車，在撞傷一名坐在角落享用早餐的中年男子並險撞2名女子後，再直接撞向一堆煤氣桶堆，最終才停在咖啡店的正中央。

男子小腿受重傷

這起咖啡店飛來橫禍事件，是發生在北賴才能園的金山海鮮飯店，被轎車“闖入”的咖啡店，事後一片狼藉，桌椅、碗碟及顧客吃到一半的麵條等，散佈滿地。

受傷的中年男子因小腿受重傷而被送往醫院治療；至於另兩名女顧客，急智避開而逃過一劫，蒙受輕傷。

險釀大禍老翁受驚嚇

肇禍司機馬德合（65歲，退休人士）過後心有餘悸說，事發前他剛從咖啡店用餐完畢，正準備駕駛停在咖啡店一旁的轎車離開，怎知在換擋倒退時不慎與另一輛轎車發生碰撞。

過後他準備更換前進擋把車子停住，怎知卻在慌張之下，把失控的轎車從咖啡店五腳基，直接撞入咖啡店內，險釀成大禍。

馬德合在事發後，一直站在轎車旁望著車頭前被撞毀的轎車，一時不知所措，其女兒在接獲通知後，也趕抵現場瞭解事發情況，除了慰問備受驚嚇的老父，也忙著收拾殘局。

另一輛肇禍轎車司機柯福全受詢時說，他在事發時也是剛從咖啡店用餐出來，他當時有看到老翁駕駛的轎車停靠在一旁，但卻沒有動靜，以為對方要讓他先倒退車子，沒想到當他啟動引擎後，卻與老翁的轎車發生碰撞。

他說：“我當時還猛按車笛，沒想到車尾卻已經被撞了，過後我準備下車察看，卻在轉頭時卻看到老翁連人帶車直撞入咖啡店內。”

他形容當時的驚險一幕讓他嚇得目瞪口呆。

小販險被撞心有餘悸

炒粿條小販翁亞榮目睹了事發過程，並險些被突如其來的轎車撞及，所幸他閃避得快，否則後果不堪設想。

他心有餘悸地說，他當時正在忙著炒棵條，突然背後傳來一聲“碰”聲響，起初他還以為是路上發生車禍，怎知在轉過頭時才發現一輛轎車正向咖啡店內直闖進來，嚇得他趕緊逃跑。

他指出，當時咖啡店內也有不少人在享用早餐，結果都被突如其來的事件嚇得尖叫逃跑。

翁亞榮說，所幸肇禍轎車當時是沿著一條步行通道直撞咖啡店內，所以大家都來及閃避，否則後果不堪設想。

在咖啡店旁擺檔的咖哩魚頭小販許文豪事發時還沒開檔，但其攤位還是被撞得鍋碟掉滿地，許文豪趕抵現場時，只能自嘆倒霉。

馮鎮安投資種龍珠果

前人力資源部長拿督斯里馮鎮安卸下官職1年餘，每次他出席國會會議，外表看起來兩袖清風，悠遊自在；但是他覺得自己在政途上只不過換了另1個服務的跑道，日子依然過得充實。

要瞭解經濟情況

他坦言，沒有當官的日子固然清閒許多，但由於還是人民代議士，不時需照顧馬六甲亞羅牙也的選民和為選區提供服務。

“我目前多數忙於選區的節目，每週至少到選區1次，以及參與區會組織活動；私人活動方面現在能騰出更多時間給家人，還有也投資1個種植龍珠果的小農場，每週至少去一趟。”

本身是經濟學博士的馮鎮安受訪時認為，人生最重要是在每個階段有1個目標，他近一兩個月來有個目標，就是要瞭解和明白國家過去的經濟情況，是不是已經開始好轉？

“為了更瞭解經濟狀況，我不時會去新加坡和香港瞭解股票專家的想法。”

馮鎮安說，雖然目前已沒有官職，但日子一樣忙碌，為了調適自己，他設法把時間填得滿滿，不讓自己有一刻空閒。

“我覺得忙碌是保持身體健康的方法，要健康就要有活動，我時常與朋友交流、談天，甚至還繼續與股票市場的專業人士或經紀交流，瞭解投資市場的走勢，以照顧本身的投資。”

退位看清社會現實

至於選民的問題，他說，由於他之前是內閣部長，認識許多部門的官員，處理許多問題都很方便，如教育、教師不足、學校搬遷、火災或水災問題等。

此外，不在政府部門的日子，也讓馮鎮安看清社會的現實，畢竟人不在其位。

“我其實已有心理準備，因為前首相敦馬哈迪和前馬華總會長敦林良實就是一面鏡子，這方面我可以接受，畢竟這是社會的現實，所以退位後就忙於個人事務。”

他表示，擔任部長時不僅與政治人物打交道，他還與私交保持聯絡，如大學時期的朋友、校友等，彼此交流和交換意見，尤其在經濟領域還有股票和專業投資的朋友。

他說，20多年來沒有跟家人好好吃過一頓飯，卸下官職後才有機會跟家人共享天倫；現在他每週最少1次跟家人出外吃飯相聚，偶爾也含貽弄孫，做個好爺爺。

3年19萬人申請永久居留

（吉隆坡）從2006年至2009年5月31日，移民局共接獲19萬3537名外國人申請永久居留證（紅色身份證）。至今，所有申請已獲國民登記局批准。

內政部長拿督斯里希山慕丁在國會以書面回答行動黨升旗山區國會議員劉鎮東的問題時，這麼表示。

他表示，當局並沒有上述申請者的收入資料。

吉唯一宰豬場剷平‧吉玻行動黨擬退出民聯

（吉打‧亞羅士打）出動逾百名警察及鎮暴隊警員到場，亞羅士打市政廳今日（週三，7月1日）下午下午大陣仗出動“神手”，20分鐘內剷平太子路過港宰豬場。

吉玻行動黨主席蘇建祥率州、市議員在場勸說無結果後，直接向媒體表示，正在考慮退出民聯的可能性，但拒絕表明一旦退出民聯之後，是否加入馬華、民政等國陣成員黨。

他過後宣佈吉玻行動黨將於傍晚召開緊急會議。

蘇建祥等人在現場嘗試以肉身阻擋“神手”，但被市政廳執法人員拉走。

馬華領袖包括中委蔡金泉則說，民聯執政之後不利華印選民政策頻傳，民聯華印議員應該直接退出民聯，即使不加入馬華、民政也無所謂，只要支持國陣即可馬上推翻回教黨主導的民聯政府，週三所面對的問題肯定短期內將解決。

蔡金泉說，只要4名行動黨、公正華印州議員退出民聯，不加入但支持國陣即可馬上換政府，馬上解決包括50%土著房屋固打，雙溪大年廉價屋居民被斷水電，以及週三發生的吉打惟一宰豬場被推倒的問題。

同時也在場的馬華吉打唯一州議員梁榮光，民政黨吉打州主席謝順海（也是民政吉打州內惟一州議員），則希望行動黨和公正黨華印州議員一起作出維護各族同胞利益的決定。

吉打華社不滿‧阿茲然：我已盡力了

市政廳這一行動，引起吉打華社不滿，認為這是吉打州內唯一宰豬場，沒有妥善安排地段供遷場，拆了之後業者無處宰豬等如失業，同時會導致吉打今後必須從外州入口豬肉，民眾也因此要買貴豬肉。

州務大臣拿督斯里阿茲然在主持吉打行政會議後，受詢及宰豬場命運時，直稱他已盡力，之前已要求市政廳給予一個月通融讓宰豬業者搬遷，然而目前一個月時限已滿。

他說，市政廳才是作決定和執行責任的單位，並非他在“作怪”，意味吉北區內僅剩的唯一宰豬場被拆除命運難以扭轉。

MK Danon: Boycott July 4 celebration

An MK from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's own Likud Party called Tuesday on his fellow legislators to boycott the annual American Independence Day celebration at US Ambassador James Cunningham's home.

The annual reception, held at the ambassador's Herzliya Pituah residence, was described by at least one lawmaker as "a see-and-be-seen event," to which politicians usually flock.

But this year, said MK Danny Danon who wrote the letter calling on other legislators to stay away from the gathering, "the majority of coalition members will not attend."

Danon said he was certain most of his fellow Likud members would be absent, as would representatives from Shas. A number of MKs from his own party, he said, already approached him in the hours after the letter was sent to tell him they would not attend.

"There is a certain air of bitterness these days - whether it was the picture of [US President Barack] Obama with his shoes up on the table while he spoke with the prime minister or the statement by [US Envoy George] Mitchell that Israeli 'doesn't stop lying' - there is a certain mood and style in Washington that makes it hard to go and celebrate," Danon explained.

The event is scheduled for Wednesday evening at eight, and Netanyahu is planning to attend. A number of Likud MKs weren't sure Tuesday whether or not their chairman would oppose or approve their decision to avoid the event.

Danon's call came hours before sources close to Defense Minister Ehud Barak revealed he had failed in his attempt to reach an agreement with the Americans regarding the future of the settlements.

"American independence is the model for western nations, including for Israel. As the Americans would rise up against any attempt of outside involvement in their internal affairs, so too will Israel ignore all types of involvement on the part of America and others," said Danon.

"The statements recently heard by representatives of the American government regarding Israel's commitment to stop building in Judea and Samaria, including natural growth, and the statements that accuse Israel of lying over the years to the White House, seriously damage Israel's honor. I call upon MKs to boycott the event at the ambassador's house, to deliver to the American administration a clear message - that the State of Israel is independent and not President Obama's pet."

In his letter, Danon argued that it was America that "was trying to call into question the State of Israel's independence."

In response, US Embassy spokesman Stuart Tuttle said, "We hope that everyone who was invited to our celebration was able to and chooses to attend.

"The Fourth of July is a time to celebrate the many links that US and Israel have, and I hope that Israelis are just as proud to help us celebrate as we are to celebrate Israeli Independence Day."

Made of Lies

It began more than six years ago with a lie, followed by another lie, and another lie, and then two more, ten more, a hundred, a thousand, an avalanche of lies from heads of state and hatchet men and well-fed media types more interested in getting the interview than in getting the facts.

It began with lies like this:

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction."

- Dick Cheney, Vice President Speech to VFW National Convention 8/26/2002

... and this:

"We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."

- Condoleezza Rice, US National Security Adviser CNN Late Edition 9/8/2002

... and this:

"We know for a fact that there are weapons there."

- Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary Press Briefing 1/9/2003

... and this:

"We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more."

- Colin Powell, Secretary of State Remarks to the UN Security Council 2/5/2003

... and this:

"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

- Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense ABC Interview 3/30/2003

It began with George W. Bush standing before both houses of Congress and an international television audience for his January 2003 State of the Union address and stating that Iraq was in possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons - which is one million pounds - of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent, 30,000 missiles to deliver the stuff, mobile biological weapons labs, al-Qaeda connections and uranium from Niger for use in a robust nuclear weapons program.

Lies. All lies. 4,321 American soldiers have died in Iraq because of those lies, 101 during this year, including Sgt. Timothy A. David of Michigan, who was killed on June 28 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Four more soldiers were killed in Iraq on Tuesday in the midst of the withdrawal. Tens of thousands of American soldiers have been shredded and maimed because of those lies. Nobody knows how many innocent Iraqis have been killed and wounded because, to this day, we don't do body counts. Estimates range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands to perhaps more than a million, depending on who you ask, all because of those lies.

Now, more than six years later, a new president and a new policy has brought about one of the most dramatic and determinative days Iraq has seen since the initial invasion and occupation. "Six years and three months after the March 2003 invasion," reported The Washington Post on Tuesday, "the United States has withdrawn its remaining combat troops from Iraq's cities, the US commander here said, and is turning over security to Iraqi police and soldiers. While more than 130,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, patrols by heavily armed soldiers in hulking vehicles have largely disappeared from Baghdad, Mosul and Iraq's other urban centers. Iraqis danced in the streets and set off fireworks overnight in impromptu celebrations of a pivotal moment in their nation's troubled history. The government staged a military parade to mark the new national holiday of 'National Sovereignty Day,' and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki made a triumphant, nationally televised address."

Triumph comes in strange packages these days. The reality of the situation in Iraq has been best described by Robert Dreyfuss in a Nation article titled "Little to Celebrate in Iraq." Dreyfuss writes:

As we pull back, we're leaving Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in charge. Increasingly, Maliki is taking on the trappings of a dictator. He's established a network of security agencies that report directly to him. He's built a countrywide patronage system to bribe and pay off tribal allies, in anticipation of 2010 elections. He's shown no compunction against using the army, the police and the secret agencies he controls to eliminate rivals. He's used divide-and-conquer tactics to outflank the Sunni-led sahwa movement, known as the Awakening or the Sons of Iraq, driving some of them back into armed resistance and others into sullen resentment or fear for their lives.

And Maliki, despite his protestations that he is a born-again "nationalist," has close ties to Iran. With Iran now revealed as a fundamentalist-run, naked military dictatorship, I expect Iran to act ruthlessly vis-a-vis Iraq, and if he wants to stay in power Maliki will pretty much have to go along.

A prominent Sunni activist from northern Iraq told me Tuesday that anyone who thinks about opposing Maliki in Iraq has to fear for his or her life. The fact remains that despite the resurgence of secular nationalism in Iraq, as evidenced by the results of provincial elections last February, Maliki sits atop a conspiratorial little party called Al Dawa, a fundamentalist Islamist grouping, and he is reliant on a small, secretive clique that surrounds him. During the February election, in order to appeal to Iraqi voters, Maliki posed as a nationalist of sorts, but in fact he is dependent on two outside powers. First, he's dependent on the United States, for despite his bravado about the US withdrawal from Iraq's cities, Maliki desperately needs American backing to remain in power, to build up his armed forces. And second, Maliki is dependent on the good will of Iran, which could topple him instantly if he crossed Tehran.

While Iraq's Shia population celebrated in the streets and Iraq's Sunni population crouched in fear, another group got right to business. "The long-awaited auction of licenses to develop Iraq's huge oil reserves began Tuesday amid unusual contentiousness," reported The New York Times on Tuesday, "as multinationals demanded far more revenue from every barrel of increased production than the authorities were willing to allow. Scores of Chinese, Russian, American and British oil executives, representing eight of the world's top 10 non-state oil companies, gathered in a hotel meeting room in the Green Zone. They listened closely on headphones to translations as bids for six oil fields and two natural gas fields were read out and then rushed into consultations."

The more things change, the more they stay the same in an Iraq torn to pieces, covered in blood, and made of lies.

by: William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t

California's Empty Wallet: Turning Crisis into Opportunity

California State Controller John Chiang has warned that without a balanced budget in place by July 1, he will begin using IOUs to pay most of the state’s bills. On June 25, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected a plan that would save the state $3 billion by cutting school spending, saying he would rather see the state issue IOUs than delay the funding problem with a piecemeal approach. The state’s total budget deficit is $24.3 billion.

Meanwhile, other funding doors are slamming closed. The Obama administration has said it will not use federal stimulus money to prop up California; and Fitch Ratings, a bond rating agency, announced that it was downgrading the credit rating of the state, which already has the lowest in the nation. Once downgraded, California’s rating is likely to fall below the minimum level legally required for most money market funds, forcing the funds to sell their California bonds. The result could be a cost of millions of additional dollars in higher interest rates for the state.

What to do? Perhaps California could take a lesson from the island state of Guernsey, located in the English Channel off the French Coast, which faced similar funding problems in the 19^th century. Toby Birch, an asset manager who hails from there, tells the story in Gold News:

“As weary troops returned from a protracted foreign war [the Napoleonic Wars ending in 1815], they encountered a land racked with debt, high prices and a crumbling infrastructure, whose flood defenses were about to be overwhelmed . . . . While 1815 brought an end to the conflict on the battlefront, . . . severe austerity ensued on the home front. The application of the Gold Standard meant that loans issued over many years were then recalled to balance the ratio of money to precious metals. This led to economic gridlock as labor and materials were abundant, but much-needed projects could not be funded for want of cash.

“This led to a period of so-called ‘poverty amongst plenty’. . . . The situation seemed insoluble; existing borrowing costs were consuming 80% of the island’s revenues. What was already an unsustainable debt burden would need to be doubled to fund the two most essential infrastructure projects. This was when a committee of States members was formed . . . . The committee realized that if the Guernsey States issued their own notes to fund the project, rather than borrowing from an English bank, there would be no interest to pay. This would lead to substantial savings. Because as anyone with a mortgage should understand, the debtor ends up paying at least double the amount borrowed over the long-term.”

To prevent an unwanted inflation of the money supply, the Guernsey States issued the notes with a date due, and on that date the bearer was paid in gold. The money came from rents on the finished infrastructure, supplemented with a tax on liquor. Birch goes on:

“The end result of the Guernsey Experiment was spectacular – new roads, sea defenses and public buildings were established, fostering widespread trade and prosperity. Full employment was achieved, no deficits resulted and prices were stable, all without a penny paid in interest. What started as a trial led to a string of construction projects, which still stand and function to this day. Money was used in its purest form: as a convenient mechanism for oiling the wheels of commerce and development.”

Like Guernsey, California is facing “poverty amidst plenty.” The state has the eighth largest economy in the world, larger than Russia’s, Brazil’s, Canada’s and India’s. It has the resources, labor, and technical expertise to make just about anything its citizens put their minds to. The only thing lacking is the money to do it. But money is merely a medium of exchange, a means of getting suppliers, laborers and customers together so that they can produce and exchange products.

As has been explained elsewhere, today money is simply credit. All of our money except coins is created by banks when they make loans. The current crisis stems from a credit freeze that began on Wall Street in the fall of 2007, when banks were required to revalue their assets due to a change in accounting rules, from “mark to fantasy” to “mark to market.” Banks that were previously considered in good shape, with plenty of capital for making loans, suddenly came up short. Lending fell off, and so did the available money supply.

Just understanding the problem is enough to see the solution. If a private bank can create credit on its books, so can the mighty state of California. It merely needs to form its own bank. Under the “fractional reserve” lending system, banks are allowed to extend credit – or create money as loans – in a sum equal to many times their deposit base. Congressman Jerry Voorhis, writing in 1973, explained it like this:

“[F]or every $1 or $1.50 which people – or the government – deposit in a bank, the banking system can create out of thin air and by the stroke of a pen some $10 of checkbook money or demand deposits. It can lend all that $10 into circulation at interest just so long as it has the $1 or a little more in reserve to back it up.”

The 10 percent reserve requirement is now largely obsolete, in part because banks have figured out how to get around it. What chiefly limits bank lending today is the 8 percent capital requirement imposed by the Bank for International Settlements, the head of the private global central banking system in Basel, Switzerland. With an 8 percent capital requirement, a state with its own bank could fan its revenues into 12.5 times their face value in loans (100 ÷ 8 = 12.5). And since the state would actually own the bank, it would not have to worry about shareholders or profits. It could lend to creditworthy borrowers at very low interest, perhaps limited only to a service charge covering its costs; and on loans the bank made to the state, the state would ultimately get the interest, making the loans essentially interest-free.

Precedent for this approach is to be found in North Dakota, one of only three states currently able to meet its budget. North Dakota is not only solvent but now boasts the largest surplus it has ever had. The Bank of North Dakota, the only state-owned bank in the nation, was established by the legislature in 1919 to free farmers and small businessmen from the clutches of out-of-state bankers and railroad men. By law, the state must deposit all its funds in the bank, and the state guarantees its deposits. The bank’s surplus profits are returned to the state’s coffers. The bank operates as a bankers’ bank, partnering with private banks to loan money to farmers, real estate developers, schools and small businesses. It makes 1% loans to startup farms, has a thriving student loan business, and purchases municipal bonds from public institutions.

Looking at California’s budget figures, projected state revenues for 2009 are $128 billion. At a reserve requirement of 10%, if California deposited all $128 billion in its own state-owned bank, it could issue $1.28 trillion in loans, far more than it would need to cover its $23 billion budget shortfall. To lend itself the money to cover the shortfall, it would need only $2.3 billion in

deposits and about $2 billion in capital (assuming an 8% capital requirement). What Sheldon Emry wrote of nations is equally true of states:

“It is as ridiculous for a nation to say to its citizens, ‘You must consume less because we are short of money,’ as it would be for an airline to say, ‘Our planes are flying, but we cannot take you because we are short of tickets.’”

As a card-carrying member of the banking elite, California could create all the credit it needs to fund its operations, with money to spare.

Ellen Brown is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Ellen Brown

2 dead, 60 injured in Honduras anti-coup protests

TEGUCIGALPA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from protests against the interim Honduran government installed after a military coup increased to two on Monday after a protestor died in hospital.

The man, a union member, died of injuries sustained in protests against Roberto Micheletti, who was appointed president hours after President Manuel Zelaya was seized at his residence by hooded and heavily armed troops and whisked to Costa Rica.

The man had been protesting the change of bosses in state-run Honduras Telecommunications Corp made by Micheletti.

Sixty people were injured and one died in clashes between Honduran troops and Zelaya's supporters outside the Palace of Government, local television channel Canal 51 reported earlier.

A few minutes earlier, Juan Barahona, who leads the United Workers Federation, told Xinhua by telephone that soldiers had opened fire on demonstrators outside the Palace of Government.

"When we were dispersed, I saw several people with bullet wounds," Barahona said. "Two ambulances arrived but so far I don't know if there are deaths."

Local media had reported shooting and tear gas used at the scene, as two helicopters flew over the area.

Hundreds of protesters, their faces covered in red masks, blocked the roads around the presidential residency with iron boards and stones. They waved the national flag, chanting slogans calling the army "betrayers that have toppled the nation."

Shots were heard in the early hours of Monday morning outside the Palace of Government. The president of the Committee for the Defense of Honduran Human Rights said that 27 people had been arrested.

The interim government has tightened control over foreign reporters, and several of them have been arrested.

Micheletti said on Monday that six new cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez Colindre, Finance Minister Gabriella Nunez and Defense Minister Lionel Sevilla, have been sworn in.

Micheletti was appointed interim president by the nation's legislature on Sunday afternoon, in a session that began with the reading of a resignation letter, reportedly from Zelaya but denounced as fake by the president himself.

World Bank to lend $50 million to Pakistan for irrigation

KARACHI: The World Bank will lend $50 million to Pakistan to improve water resource management and boost agricultural productivity in the southeastern province of Sindh, the bank said in a statement received on Wednesday.

‘Irrigation and drainage are critically important to Sindh's irrigated agriculture, which is the backbone of the economy,’ said Yusupha Crookes, the bank's director for Pakistan.

About half of Sindh's 35 million people live in rural areas, and they rely on agriculture for nearly 60 per cent of their income, according to the World Bank.

The project is meant to improve the efficiency, reliability and equity of distribution of irrigation water, the bank said, adding that around 3,000 watercourses will be upgraded.

It did not say when the 35-year loan would be disbursed.

Last week, the Asian Development Bank said it would lend $500 million to Pakistan to promote its economic stability and help fund a safety-net programme for the poor.

Mired in recession, Pakistan is being kept afloat by a $7.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). — Reuters

UN votes for restoration of Honduras’ president

TEGUCIGALPA: Honduras' ousted president won overwhelming international support Tuesday as he planned a high-profile return to his chaotic country. The politicians who sent soldiers to fly him into exile in his pajamas said he will be arrested for treason if he tries.

The showdown was building to a climax as the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador signed on to accompany President Manuel Zelaya and other figures on a flight to Honduras on Thursday.

Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi said Zelaya would be seized "as soon as he sets foot on Honduran soil" and face 20 years in prison on charges that also include abuse of authority.

"I'm going back to calm people down. I'm going to try to open a dialogue and put things in order," Zelaya said at the United Nations. "When I'm back, people are going to say ... `commander, we're at your service' and the army will have to correct itself. There's no other possibility."

The U.N. General Assembly voted by acclamation to demand Zelaya's immediate restoration, and the Organization of American States was meeting to consider suspending Honduras for straying from democracy.

With no international support but a significant following at home, the new Honduran leadership called thousands of flag-waving people into a downtown plaza. Soldiers fenced off the area around the presidential palace, where security forces used tear gas and water cannons Monday against Zelaya supporters, injuring and arresting dozens.

The interim president named by Congress, Roberto Micheletti, said Zelaya could be arrested for violating the constitution if he returns. He also said he would not resign no matter how intense the international pressure on Honduras becomes.

"No. I was appointed by Congress, which represents the Honduran people. Nobody can make me resign unless I break the laws of the country," Micheletti said in an interview with media at the presidential palace.

Zelaya — whose elected term ends in 2010 — had defied the Supreme Court and called a referendum on constitutional change that opponents worried would lead to Zelaya prolonging his presidency.

After Losing Honduras, Ousted Leader Wins International Support

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Manuel Zelaya was close to slipping into Honduran history books as a former president with ideas as large as his signature Stetson hat, but nowhere near enough political consensus to remake his troubled country.

Then came his forced removal from office Sunday, which has catapulted the lame duck leader to a level of international prominence he almost certainly would not have achieved otherwise and turned him into a symbol — an undeserved one, his many critics insist — of a president whose democratic mandate was denied him.

On Tuesday, Mr. Zelaya’s newfound relevance took him to one of the world’s biggest stages, at the lectern of the United Nations General Assembly, where he portrayed himself as the victim of a vicious, power-hungry elite that refused to share power with his country’s many poor.

“A crime has been committed, a crime against humanity, a crime which we all reject,” he said. “Whenever brute force prevails over reason, humankind returns to its primeval state, to the era of the garrote, where everything is reduced to force.”

A one-page resolution — sponsored by countries often at loggerheads, including the United States and Venezuela — passed by acclamation after sustained applause in the 192-member body. It condemned Mr. Zelaya’s removal as a coup and demanded his “immediate and unconditional restoration” as president.

Next, Mr. Zelaya was on to the Organization of American States in Washington and a meeting at the State Department with an assistant secretary of state.

Back home, though, the country is sharply divided over his removal — and his record. Thousands of his opponents turned out on Tuesday to denounce him as a dictator who had been illegally scheming to subvert the Constitution by ending the one-term limit for presidents.

The day before, Mr. Zelaya’s backers praised him as a president for the working class, intending to increase their wages as well as their political power. He had spoken of building a new Honduras, with crime and corruption in check and a better standard of living for the masses, though his administration fell well short of delivering that.

The bitter standoff over Mr. Zelaya is expected to reach a head Thursday, when he has vowed to return to Honduras to retake the presidency that was stripped from him after soldiers raided his home before dawn Sunday and shuttled him on the presidential plane to Costa Rica.

A meeting of the Organization of American States continued into Wednesday morning as officials worked on a resolution to conduct a diplomatic effort to restore Mr. Zelaya to office. On the sidelines hopes were voiced that he would delay his return to allow time for such an initiative.

During a news conference at the United Nations, Mr. Zelaya said that a number of other leaders had offered to escort him home, including Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, a Nicaraguan who is the president of the General Assembly; President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina; President Rafael Correa of Ecuador; and José Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization of American States.

The interim president named by the Honduran Congress, Roberto Micheletti, has threatened Mr. Zelaya with arrest if he returns, saying he had illegally defied the Supreme Court in pushing for a referendum on changing the Constitution. Alberto Rubí, the attorney general, said Tuesday that the charges included treason and abuse of authority.

The newly installed foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, went further in a television interview, accusing Mr. Zelaya of permitting drug traffickers to use Honduras as a base to smuggle cocaine from South America to the United States, an accusation that aides to Mr. Zelaya called a tall tale intended to smear him.

Dismissing the notion that Mr. Zelaya’s removal was a coup, Mr. Micheletti appeared before Tuesday’s rally to say that elections would go ahead in November and that a new president would take office in January, when Mr. Zelaya would have been forced to step down. “We will hand over the presidential sash to whomever the people choose,” he said.

A top Zelaya aide, Enrique Flores Lanza, said Mr. Zelaya’s return would put the army on the spot, forcing soldiers either to allow the man recognized by the world’s governments as the rightful president of Honduras to return or to arrest him.

Whatever they decide, Mr. Flores said, there will be huge crowds at the airport to welcome Mr. Zelaya. Mr. Flores spoke from an abandoned house in the Honduran capital, where he agreed to meet after a series of clandestine phone calls, steps he said were necessary because he was on the run to avoid arrest.

Another minister in Mr. Zelaya’s government was similarly in hiding, although he said Mr. Micheletti himself had called him on his cellphone to say nobody was pursuing him. Until he received that in writing, the minister said, he will lie low.

Much remains in dispute in Honduras. Mr. Zelaya, who took office in 2006, has moved steadily to the left during his presidency, railing increasingly against the country’s elite, who he says have opposed his politics of inclusion.

Critics accuse Mr. Zelaya, who comes from a well-off family of landowners, of blatant populism and of doling out cash to try to solidify a shaky political base.

“I’m O.K. with increasing the minimum wage, but he did it by more than 50 percent from one day to the next, and businesses have had to cut the payroll because of that sudden jump,” said Fernando Castillo, a real estate developer who attended the anti-Zelaya protest on Tuesday. “He ended up hurting the poor.”

Mr. Zelaya has spent much of his presidency holding the sort of rural chat sessions with constituents that President Hugo Chávez has made popular in Venezuela. It is Mr. Zelaya’s close relationship with Mr. Chávez that has caused alarm among wealthy and middle-class Hondurans.

“He mutated,” said Juan Ferrera, who served in a previous government with Mr. Zelaya. “He became someone else.”

Mr. Zelaya’s public support was sagging, and there was debate over whether he would have won his planned referendum, even if Congress and the courts had allowed it. But his opponents chose to act first, a decision some experts saw as a miscalculation.

“Had they let it play out, it would have been easy to stop him,” said John Carey, a specialist on Latin American politics at Dartmouth University. “He seems to have triggered the only thing that could have saved him.”

Neil MacFarquhar, Helene Cooper and Ginger Thompson contributed reporting.

Honduras Gets Ultimatum From American Nations

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Mr. Zelaya speaking Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly, where he found support

WASHINGTON — After an extended closed-door session that lasted close to dawn, the Organization of American States on Wednesday gave Honduras three days to restore the ousted Manuel Zelaya as president, or face suspension from the group, pitting the region unanimously against an interim leader who has said that only force would unseat him.

At an impromptu press conference outside the meeting room, the organization’s secretary general, Jose Miguel Insulza, called Mr. Zelaya’s overthrow an “old-fashioned coup,” adding that “We need to show clearly that military coups will not be accepted. We thought we were in an era when military coups were no longer possible in this hemisphere.”

Diplomats said they had rarely seen the O.A.S. unite so solidly behind a common cause, and that it was the first time the group had invoked its so-called Democratic Charter since it was adopted in 2001 as a clean break with the region’s history of authoritarian rule. The charter calls on the O.A.S. to take emergency diplomatic efforts aimed at restoring a legitimately elected government, and provides for a nation to be suspended if those efforts fail.

The expressions of unity outside the meeting rooms, however, masked disagreements playing out behind closed doors. There was disagreement over whether Mr. Zelaya should go ahead with his plans to travel to Honduras on Thursday, despite threats by the interim government to order him arrested if he set foot in the country. Those plans were postponed early on Wednesday, when Mr. Zelaya agreed to wait at least three days before heading back to Honduras.

There was also discussion over how to proceed with suspension if diplomatic efforts failed – with some countries wanting an immediate suspension and others wanting to convene another meeting first. And there were calls by Venezuela and Nicaragua for the United States to impose tough economic sanctions.

The United States, which provides millions of dollars in aid to Honduras and maintains a military base there is the only country in the region that has not withdrawn its ambassador from Honduras. France and Spain have also recalled their ambassadors.

"There is a lot of concern about hurting the people of Honduras any more than they have already been hurt," said a senior administration official, referring to American reluctance impose sanctions. "There’s enough trouble and poverty in Honduras already."

Mr. Zelaya arrived late Tuesday to address the O.A.S. to solidify support for his return to Honduras, which he was forced by the army to leave on Sunday. Earlier that day, Mr. Zelaya addressed the United Nations General Assembly, which swiftly passed a resolution denouncing the military coup and demanding his immediate return to office.

As international condemnation builds, Roberto Micheletti, the interim leader of Honduras appointed by the Congress after Mr. Zelaya’s removal, has grown more defiant.

Mr. Zelaya “has already committed crimes against the Constitution and the law,” Mr. Micheletti told The Associated Press in an interview late Tuesday. “He can no longer return to the presidency of the republic unless a president from another Latin American country comes and imposes him using guns.”

The remarks set the stage for a showdown with the region, with Mr. Micheletti saying he would send a delegation to Washington today – though diplomats at the O.A.S. said none of them would agree to meet with the group -- while the O.A.S. prepared to send a delegation to Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.

The standoff, which began early Sunday when the army seized the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa and compelled Mr. Zelaya to board a plane to Costa Rica, continued to build through the early hours of Wednesday, when the O.A.S. condemned his ouster in the strongest of terms.

In a sharply worded resolution, concluded after marathon talks that continued until early Wednesday morning, the organization called the coup an “unconstitutional alteration of the democratic order.” The envoys demanded Mr. Zelaya’s immediate and safe return to power, and issued the ultimatum to Honduras that it would be suspended from the organization if Mr. Zelaya was not returned to power.

The organization “condemns vehemently the coup d’état staged against the constitutionally established government of Honduras, and the arbitrary detention and expulsion from the country of the constitutional president, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales,” the resolution said.

Mr. Zelaya was ousted amid a confrontation over his bid to rewrite the constitution so that he could run for a second term, a move Mr. Micheletti has said was a bald ploy to hold on to power.

“No one can make me resign if I do not violate the laws of the country,” he said in the A.P. interview. “If there is any invasion against our country, 7.5 million Hondurans will be ready to defend our territory and our laws and our homeland and our government.”

“If he comes back, he will be arrested,” said Mr. Micheletti in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Paìs published on Wednesday.

“He is facing charges. He has exceeded the constitution and called an illegal referendum.”

Alberto Rubí, the Honduran attorney general, said Tuesday that the charges included treason and abuse of authority.

The new foreign minister, Enrique Ortez, went further in a television interview, accusing Mr. Zelaya of permitting drug traffickers to use Honduras as a base to smuggle cocaine from South America to the United States, an accusation that aides to Mr. Zelaya called a tall tale intended to smear him.

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday said that while President Obama has condemned the coup, there were no plans to recall the American ambassador.

The United States said it saw no acceptable solution to Mr. Zelaya’s ouster other than returning him to power. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that the Washington was still reviewing whether to cut off aid to Honduras as a result of the crisis.

Sharon Otterman contributed reporting from New York, and Marc Lacey from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

L.A. County tax rate to jump half-cent starting today

Shopping will get a little more expensive in Los Angeles County starting today.

The county's sales tax rate will jump by a half-cent beginning today, thanks to voters' approval in November of Measure R, which is expected to generate an estimated $40 billion for transportation and transit projects across the region.

With the Measure R tax hike, the county's sales tax rate will rise to 9.75 percent.

Among the projects expected to be funded by the tax is the so-called ``subway to the sea,'' a $200 million extension of the Metro Green Line to connect it to Los Angeles International Airport; a host of street resurfacing and repair projects; freeway improvements and bus service enhancements.

劉曉波影響了中國 美眾議員籲中國予以釋放

（中央社台北1日電）多位美國眾議員最近提案，呼籲中國政府釋放異議人士劉曉波。決議案說，劉曉波與他所聯署的「08憲章」已對中國社會產生影響。

「美國之音」中文網報導，決議案由民主黨愛荷華州聯邦眾議員明尼克 (Rep. Walt Minnick)提出，獲得眾議院共和黨政策委員會主席麥科特爾 (Rep.ThaddeusMcCotter)聯署。

決議案說，2008年12月10日，劉曉波帶領發動聲明，呼籲中國共產黨放棄專政並推行民主。隨後劉曉波就被拘捕，並遭監禁至今。

劉曉波是08憲章的最早簽署人之一。08憲章支持中國進行民主政治改革、尊重人權。美國國會參議院之前也曾經提出決議案支持08憲章。

對此，中國外交部表示，中國反對任何國家干涉內政。在人權問題上，中國政府所做的努力和奮鬥目標非常清楚。中國已經加入25項國際人權公約，並與近20個國家和地區舉行人權對話。

這項旨在表達國會立場的決議案還指出，劉曉波已對中國體制帶來有意義的影響，並且鼓舞幾百萬人要求政府進行改革。

這項沒有法律拘束力的決議案還呼籲北京政府釋放劉曉波，開始朝真正的民主邁進。

決議案的聯署人麥科特爾說，「我們對中國共產黨政府傳達一個明確的訊息，那就是：人民將獲得真正自由。」

報導說，美國國會「湯姆‧蘭托斯人權委員會」民主黨共同主席、眾議員麥戈文（Rep. James McGovern）曾在聽證會中，呼籲北京政府釋放劉曉波。

在超過半年的拘禁後，劉曉波日前被北京當局以「煽動顛覆國家政權」罪名逮捕，引起大陸海內外廣泛關注。

香港明報引述北京消息人士表示，依中國政治慣例，劉曉波既遭當局以顛覆罪正式逮捕，無罪釋放的可能已不存在。

但消息人士透露，一些同情劉曉波的人正在遊說中國當局，給予劉曉波緩刑，藉此在對內阻嚇與對外消弭國際壓力上取得平衡。

新加坡零售店面租金 全球排名18

（中央社記者康世人新加坡 1日專電）雖然新加坡店面租金有微幅下跌，但根據房地產諮詢公司世邦魏理士（CB Richard Ellis）今天的報告顯示，新加坡在全球最昂貴零售店面租金排行榜上升一名，排第18名。

報告指出，全球的零售店面租金在金融危機降低消費者信心並減少支出影響下，呈現下滑趨勢。

不過，這份報告說，新加坡今年第一季最昂貴的零售店面租金，平均仍達到每年每平方英尺408美元。

報告認為，觀光客最多的新加坡烏節路一帶黃金地段零售店面租金，漲勢可能放緩。同時，市場對現有零售店面的需求穩定，一些將要完工的商場店面出租率也相當高。

報告指出，全球各地，仍以美國紐約的零售店面租金最為昂貴，排名第一，平均每年每平方英尺的租金達1800美元。不過，紐約的零售店面租金，已經在今年第一季下滑10%。

報告說，香港的零售店面租金僅次於紐約，排名全球第二昂貴，最昂貴的零售店面租金平均每年每平方英尺要價975美元。

全球零售店面租金最昂貴的城市，緊追在紐約、香港之後的，依序是莫斯科（每年每平方英尺790美元）、巴黎（776美元）和東京（771美元）。

新加坡私宅價格連續4季下滑

（中央社記者康世人新加坡 1日專電）新加坡市區重建局今天發表的報告顯示，今年第二季的私人房地產價格連續第四個季度下滑。但是，建屋發展局的報告顯示，組屋（國民住宅）轉售價格在第二季反彈上揚。

報告說，新加坡核心中央區的私宅價格，今年第二季比上季下滑6.6%，其他中央區的私宅價格則下滑6.3%；中央區外的私宅價格，下滑2.6%。

雖然私宅價格下跌，但今年第二季的政府組屋（國民住宅）價格，則出現回彈。

建屋發展局的報告顯示，今年第二季的組屋轉售價格上漲了1.2%，扭轉了第一季下滑0.8%的跌勢。報告說，若與去年同期相較，組屋轉售價格今年第二季也上漲了6%。

香港‧慶回歸12週年辦多場活動‧或50萬人遊行

（香港）香港週三（7月1日）紀念主權回歸12週年，政府與民間團體分頭舉辦多場遊行。

由泛民主派民間人權陣線下午發起的七一遊行，預料將有數萬名民眾響應上街遊行。

主辦單位希望今年也能有50萬人上街，再現2003年七一大遊行的盛況。

問題與2003年時相似

民主派的職工盟秘書長李卓人接受法新社訪問時說：“今年的問題與2003年時很像。”

他說：“人民雖然還不至於要特首下台，但他們對政府沒有能力帶領他們走出經濟低谷及政治危機，感到十分沮喪。”

民主黨主席何俊仁則表示，他希望在這個一年一度的大遊行中能見到更多年輕的面孔參加。去年的七一遊行有4萬7000人參加。

他說：“很多大學生因找不到工作，無所事事。遊行是他們宣泄不滿的一個管道。”

公務員工會也要嗆聲

數個公務員工會今年也將首度參加遊行，他們不滿政府凍結薪酬，及把他們的工作外包給外人。

此外，也有多個新聞界團體參與遊行，促請北京當局，釋放內地異見人士劉曉波。

香港政府當天也大事慶祝主權回歸12週年。由多個團體合辦的慶祝回歸巡遊，上午在大球場舉行集會及匯演，吸引數以萬人參加。

香港特首曾蔭權在主持升旗禮後，也參加慶回歸12週年祝酒會，曾蔭權致詞時指出，過去一年充滿挑戰，但有信心港人能迎難而上。

網民“反泛民遊行”

在慶祝回歸巡遊起步後不久，也有大約50名網民發起進行“反泛民遊行”，這些人指泛民只懂反對，沒有建設。他們由灣仔遊行往中環，要求維護社會和諧。

在當天舉行遊行的還包括“捍衛人格尊嚴協會”及“雷曼苦主大聯盟”。

新加坡‧今年經濟衰退更嚴重‧工人薪水料再減

（新加坡）新加坡人力部週二（6月30日）發表《2008年新加坡工資報告》指出，今年新加坡工人的工資可能進一步減少，主要原因是經濟衰退更嚴重。

工資報告指出，新加坡工人去年的薪金增長幅度減小，花紅也少了。

以下是工資報告的內容要點︰

●加薪減少︰工人去年的工資增加了4.2%，但增幅比2007年的5.9%來得少。

●更少公司加薪︰去年只有59%的私人公司給員工加薪，2007年是67%。但減薪的公司，卻從前年的7.9%增至去年的15%。

●藍領工人最慘︰一般工人薪金增幅最小，去年只有3.2%，2007年是5.4%。高級主管去年的薪金增長4.8%，前年是6.1%。

●花紅︰除酒店與餐館、資訊與通訊、金融服務、行政及支援服務行業外，去年各公司發出的花紅也減少。

●特別紅包︰去年，有80%的公司沒有聽取“全國工資理事會”的建議，發給工人一筆一次過的“紅包”，協助工人減輕通貨膨脹的影響。

Taiwan Opens to Mainland Investors

TAIPEI -- Taiwan opened its doors Tuesday to investment by mainland Chinese companies in 100 sectors, from retail to restaurants to manufacturing of cars and personal computers, a major step forward for improved ties between the longtime rivals.

Chinese businesses have been lining up to expand in Taiwan since a month ago, when Taipei introduced regulations that will bring the first Chinese investment allowed on the island in 60 years. Taiwan began accepting applications Tuesday.

The opening is part of an effort by President Ma Ying-jeou, who took office in May last year promising to look for common ground with China. His government announced the planned investment opening in July.

Chinese investment is still excluded from Taiwan's most economically vital industries, the manufacturing of semiconductors and LCD displays, and those sensitive to national security, such as telecommunications. But the opening trend could help reshape the island's economy and increase integration with the mainland.

The government is also hoping improved relations with China will attract investors from other nations, who have largely focused on the mainland market.

"We hope the policy would attract Chinese investors and eventually foreign investors," said John Deng, vice minister of the ministry of economic affairs, at a news conference announcing the opening.

For years, investment across the Taiwan Strait has been one-way. Taiwan estimates the island's companies have poured more than $77 billion into China since the early 1990s, and the real number could be two-to-three times that, including unregistered investments.

But Taiwan has long barred mainland companies from investing here, a legacy of the civil war that divided the two sides in 1949, and of fear in the island that China could use its economic heft to dominate Taiwan.

Bloomberg News/Landov

Residential and commercial buildings rise out of Taiwan's skyline.

Since President Ma took office, and as Taiwan's export-heavy economy has struggled with the effects of the global recession, Taipei and Beijing have held a series of high-profile meetings to expand economic ties and transportation, including the first regular commercial air traffic and shipping links.

Taiwan seeks to sign a trade agreement with China slashing remaining tariffs and other trade barriers by the end of this year.

The result of these efforts has been a steady stream of tourists and, more recently, the first visits by groups of Chinese executives seeking investment opportunities.

Impediments remain. The first major Chinese investment deal, an April agreement by state-owned wireless carrier China Mobile Ltd. to pay about $527 million for 12% of Taiwan's Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., has yet to be approved by Taipei, and is unlikely to pass. Telecom services are conspicuously absent from the sectors now officially open for investment.

For investors in newly opened sectors, the application process could be difficult. The Ministry of Economic Affairs will hold a cross-agency review of applications monthly, and applications might be rejected when advanced technologies are involved.

Many people in Taiwan fear China could use its economic might to influence the island politically. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party said it will to push for a referendum on the trade deal with the mainland. "Taiwan is losing its economic autonomy and is likely to become another Hong Kong," said Chiu Tai-san, a former legislator with the Democratic Progressive Party and previous vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, which overseas Taiwan's China policy. Hong Kong, a former British colony, reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 and has increasingly found prosperity as a service and logistics center for the Chinese economy.

But foreign businesses -- whose investment in Taiwan has been declining in recent years -- are welcoming the trend. Normalization "is upgrading Taiwan's economic strategic position," says Jerry Fong, an official with the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei.

One focal point of Chinese investment has been the Taipei 101 office tower, which when it opened five years ago was the world's tallest building. Built to be an icon of Taiwan's progress, the 509-meter jade-color tower was largely a white elephant, with almost half of its office space empty. Now representatives from major Chinese companies such as Lenovo Group Ltd., Sinosteel Corp., and Tiens Group Co. occupy the high-profile address. The building is now 80% occupied.

Anticipation of more Chinese renters has helped lift average rental rates in the area around Taipei 101 by 5% to 10%, says King Chiao, president of Hsin-Yuan Business Rehouse Co., a Taipei office brokerage.

The tower's shopping areas are now busy with shoppers from across mainland China. In the first six months of this year, the number of visitors to Taipei 101's observation deck rose 30% from a year earlier, almost all because of Chinese tourists, says Michael Liu, a spokesman for the building.

Beijing has been eager to use its economic clout to woo the island's population. China claims Taiwan as part of its rightful territory and aims to eventually bring it under Chinese control. Chinese President Hu Jintao has publicly encouraged Chinese enterprises to invest in Taiwan.

Beijing has sent a series of business delegations to the island in the past month, signing deals with a nominal value of $68 billion -- although it's unclear how much of that will be realized. Prominent Chinese restaurant chains, including Quanjude Co. and Guobuli Group, have been gearing up to open Taiwan branches, according to the companies. Mainland restaurant chains have the green light to apply to invest in Taiwan.

Some other changes are under way. The number of Chinese tourists surpassed 300,000 in the first four months of this year, compared to 320,000 for the whole of 2008, According to Taiwan's Tourism Bureau. The influx has been helpful at a time when Taiwan's economy, battered by weak demand for its high-tech exports, has posted contractions for two consecutive quarters.

The prospect of more Chinese investment and signs of improvement in the global economy have driven Taiwan's benchmark stock index up 40% so far this year. Shares in hotel companies like Formosa International Hotels Corp., a five-star chain, have led the rally.

Economists say that substantial economic benefits might take a while to show, but over the longer term the impact on Taiwan could be significant. "The structure [of] investment spending will change from being highly geared to the volatile export sector to investment in the domestic sector," said Sharmila Whelan, an economist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

North Korean Ship Reverses Course

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials said Tuesday that a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back toward the north where it came from, after being tracked for more than a week by American Navy vessels on suspicion of carrying illegal weapons.

Associated Press

In this Oct. 18, 2006 photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) is shown underway in the Pacific Ocean. The American destroyer was tailing the North Korean ship Kang Nam.

The move keeps the U.S. and the rest of the international community guessing: Where is the Kang Nam going? Does its cargo include materials banned by a new U.N. anti-proliferation resolution?

The ship left a North Korean port of Nampo on June 17 and is the first vessel monitored under U.N. sanctions that ban the regime from selling arms and nuclear-related material.

The Navy has been watching it -- at times following it from a distance. It traveled south and southwest for more than a week; then, on Sunday, it turned around and headed back north, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.

Nearly two weeks after the ship left North Korea, officials said Tuesday they still don't know where it is going. But it was 250 miles south of Hong Kong on Tuesday, one official said.

Though acknowledging all along that the Kang Nam's destination was unclear, some officials said last week that it could be going to Myanmar and that it was unclear whether it could reach there without stopping in another port to refuel.

The U.N. resolution allows the international community to ask for permission to board and search any suspect ship on the seas. If permission for inspection is refused, authorities can ask for an inspection in whichever nation where the ship pulls into port.

North Korea has said it would consider any interception of its ships a declaration of war.

Two officials had said earlier in the day Tuesday that the Kang Nam had been moving very slowly in recent days, something that could signal it was trying to conserve fuel.

They said they didn't know what the turnaround of the ship means, nor what prompted it.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said Sunday that Washington was "following the progress of that ship very closely," but she would not say whether the U.S. would confront the Kang Nam.

The sailing of the vessel -- and efforts to track it -- set up the first test of a new U.N. Security Council resolution that authorizes member states to inspect North Korean vessels. The sanctions are punishment for an underground nuclear test the North carried out in May in defiance of past resolutions.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Obama administration imposed financial sanctions on a company in Iran that is accused of involvement in North Korea's missile proliferation network.

In the latest move to keep pressure on Pyongyang and its nuclear ambitions, the Treasury Department moved against Hong Kong Electronics, a company located in Kish Island, Iran. The action means that any bank accounts or other financial assets found in the United States belonging to the company must be frozen. Americans also are prohibited from doing business with the firm.

Chinese Delay Plan for Censor Software

BEIJING -- China's government delayed its controversial requirement that manufacturers include Web-filtering software in all new personal computers sold in the country -- an 11th-hour move that shows the challenges Beijing faces in its wide-ranging efforts to rein in the Internet.

Associated Press

The government's apparent retreat, one day before the rule was to kick in, follows intense criticism of the software plan at home and abroad since it was first reported online June 7 by The Wall Street Journal.

China's official Xinhua news agency late Tuesday quoted a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesman as saying that some PC makers had said they had too little time to prepare for the Wednesday deadline. "Based on this factual situation, postponing of pre-installation is allowed," the spokesman said.

The report didn't say how long the delay could last, and officials couldn't be reached for comment.

The Xinhua report made clear that the government isn't explicitly abandoning the filtering software, which is called Green Dam-Youth Escort. "We will encourage PC makers who have already pre-installed the software to actively expand the market," the spokesman said in the Xinhua report, adding the government is "adhering to our path" and plans to continue providing the software free online in schools and Internet cafes. "As for how to do pre-installation on other PCs, MIIT will further solicit opinions from various sides, perfect the plan, improve our methods, and complete the relevant work," the spokesman said.

The delay provides relief for global PC companies. They had feared that implementing the rules would leave them open to legal liability and charges of abetting censorship -- especially with so little time to test the software. But they were also reluctant to openly defy the government, as China is the second-biggest PC market by unit sales after the U.S., and also home to much of the world's PC production.

In China, "green" is a term used for online content free from pornography and other illicit material. The government said the software was intended to block children from viewing online pornography and other "harmful content."

Isaac Mao, a fellow at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, said the delay showed that the Green Dam plan "has lost legitimacy" and that the government wouldn't be able to enforce it. "Of course, the face-saving way is to say 'postpone,'" he said, but Internet users "are declaring their victory."

Tuesday's announcement follows complaints from the U.S., the European Union and other governments, as well as from global PC makers and Internet users in China and abroad. Some critics said the plan appeared to be aimed at extending the government's massive Internet censorship into people's homes and offices, and others worried it could expose PCs to hackers or cause technical problems. Researchers who studied the software found evidence that it blocked a range of content including sites covering sensitive political issues.

The ministry spokesman on Tuesday repeated the government's position that the software is designed only to block "poisonous content" from young people, and said that it "definitely has no capability for collecting users' information or monitoring their Internet behavior."

Obama administration officials said they welcomed the delay. "We understand that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is delaying the implementation of the Green Dam software requirement. The United States welcomes the opportunity to engage with the relevant Chinese authorities on our concerns regarding the software," a U.S. Trade Representative spokeswoman said in a statement.

The U.S. government applied pressure on the Chinese government to reconsider the mandate in recent days, with agencies including the office of the Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce actively lobbying on behalf of PC makers, according to people familiar with the talks.

It wasn't clear whether the companies would have been able to meet the requirements by the deadline. "I honestly don't know what would have happened" if the mandate wasn't delayed, said Dean Garfield, president of the Information Technology Industry Council, a trade group that was one of 22 business groups that sent a letter to Premier Wen Jiabao last week urging that the plan be reconsidered.

Computer makers and the U.S. government were concerned not only about the deadline, but about the nature of the mandate. The computer industry supports giving parents the ability to block access to offensive content, but is opposed to any requirement that specifies a particular company's product, Mr. Garfield said.

The delay hasn't made the issue go away, said Mark Bohannon, general counsel and senior vice president of public policy for the Software and Information Industry Association, another trade group tracking the effort.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Hewlett-Packard Co. which is No. 1 in global PC shipments and revenue, said it is working with the Information Technology Industry Council "to seek additional information, clarify open questions and monitor developments on this matter." In a statement, Dell Inc. didn't address the delay explicitly, but said, "We respect the Chinese government's stated goal of protecting children by filtering access to pornography through the Internet. We'll continue to advise customers worldwide about widely available Web-filtering software that has been thoroughly tested and we know performs well on Dell computers."

Taiwan's Acer Inc., the world's No. 3 PC seller, and China's Lenovo Group Ltd., No. 4, had both said that they planned to comply with the Green Dam rule. Sony Corp. had begun selling laptops installed with Green Dam, according to resellers of Sony's Vaio computers in Beijing and Shanghai. One salesman in Shanghai said many customers complained about having the software on their computers. Sony's headquarters didn't respond to requests for comment.

Chinese officials plainly failed to anticipate the intense backlash against their plans, which grew out of efforts in recent years to use similar filtering software on school PCs. Local media have carried heavy criticism of the plan, prompting repeated government attempts to defend its decision.

The government's effort to control the Internet -- including sophisticated network software, government monitors, and sometimes harsh punishment for breaking rules -- does keep out much information, and occasionally helps the government ferret out dissent.

But the Internet has enabled levels of individual expression and discussion that are unprecedented in Communist China. Users who want access to blocked content usually easily find ways to circumvent the system.

Indeed, the Green Dam plan appears to have widened public interest in China in questions about government intrusiveness and censorship. Rebecca MacKinnon, a journalism professor at the University of Hong Kong who studies the Chinese Internet, said that searches for the term fan qiang, or "climbing over the wall" -- shorthand for circumventing China's "Great Firewall" -- soared after news of Green Dam became public in early June.

—Bai Lin, Kersten Zhang, Ben Worthen and Amy Schatz contributed to this article.

bar the U.S.,

Many With Insurance Still Bankrupted by Health Crises

Health insurance is supposed to offer protection — both medically and financially. But as it turns out, an estimated three-quarters of people who are pushed into personal bankruptcy by medical problems actually had insurance when they got sick or were injured.

Erich Schlegel for The New York Times

Claire and Larry Yurdin filed for bankruptcy when his insurance didn’t cover his medical bills.

And so, even as Washington tries to cover the tens of millions of Americans without medical insurance, many health policy experts say simply giving everyone an insurance card will not be enough to fix what is wrong with the system.

Too many other people already have coverage so meager that a medical crisis means financial calamity.

One of them is Lawrence Yurdin, a 64-year-old computer security specialist. Although the brochure on his Aetna policy seemed to indicate it covered up to $150,000 a year in hospital care, the fine print excluded nearly all of the treatment he received at an Austin, Tex., hospital.

He and his wife, Claire, filed for bankruptcy last December, as his unpaid medical bills approached $200,000.

In the House and Senate, lawmakers are grappling with the details of legislation that would set minimum standards for insurance coverage and place caps on out-of-pocket expenses. And fear of the high price tag could prompt lawmakers to settle for less than comprehensive coverage for some Americans.

But patient advocates argue it is crucial for the final legislation to guarantee a base level of coverage, if people like Mr. Yurdin are to be protected from financial ruin. They also call for a new layer of federal rules to correct the current state-by-state regulatory patchwork that allows some insurance companies to sell relatively worthless policies.

“Underinsurance is the great hidden risk of the American health care system,” said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor who has analyzed medical bankruptcies. “People do not realize they are one diagnosis away from financial collapse.”

Last week, a former Cigna executive warned at a Senate hearing on health insurance that lawmakers should be careful about the role they gave private insurers in any new system, saying the companies were too prone to “confuse their customers and dump the sick.”

“The number of uninsured people has increased as more have fallen victim to deceptive marketing practices and bought what essentially is fake insurance,” Wendell Potter, the former Cigna executive, testified.

Mr. Yurdin learned the hard way.

At St. David’s Medical Center in Austin, where he went for two separate heart procedures last year, the hospital’s admitting office looked at Mr. Yurdin’s coverage and talked to Aetna. St. David’s estimated that his share of the payments would be only a few thousand dollars per procedure.

Erich Schlegel for The New York Times

Larry and Claire Yurdin. His heart procedures ended up costing far more than his limited-benefit insurance plan covered.

He and the hospital say they were surprised to eventually learn that the $150,000 hospital coverage in the Aetna policy was mainly for room and board. Coverage was capped at $10,000 for “other hospital services,” which turned out to include nearly all routine hospital care — the expenses incurred in the operating room, for example, and the cost of any medication he received.

In other words, Aetna would have paid for Mr. Yurdin to stay in the hospital for more than five months — as long as he did not need an operation or any lab tests or drugs while he was there.

Aetna contends that it repeatedly informed Mr. Yurdin and the hospital of the restrictions in policy, which is known in the industry as a limited-benefit plan.

The company says such policies offer value by covering some hospital expenses, like surgeons’ fees or a stay in the intensive care unit. Aetna also says all of its policyholders receive significant discounts on the overall cost of hospital care. But Aetna also acknowledges that a limited-benefit plan was inappropriate in Mr. Yurdin’s case because his age and condition — an irregular heartbeat — made him likely to require more comprehensive coverage.

“Limited benefits aren’t right for everyone, and it clearly wasn’t right for Mr. Yurdin,” said Cynthia B. Michener, an Aetna spokeswoman.

Charles E. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is taking a lead on health legislation, says Congress needs to make “meaningful” insurance coverage more affordable and accessible. But “until that happens,” he said, “any presentation of limited-benefit plans ought to be completely straightforward, and not misleading in any way.”

新加坡‧網上盛傳‧機場掃描儀能照出裸體

（新加坡）網上盛傳，世界多個機場採用最新的“全身掃描儀器”，竟然照出乘客赤裸的身體！

網民聲稱，這個掃描儀器能夠顯示出乘客的裸體。（圖：星洲日報）

網民luckyman在網上論壇表示，最近，許多國際機場開始啟用，屬於尖端科技的“全身掃描儀器”。這種高科技的掃描儀器，可以照出乘客的裸體圖像，似乎侵犯了乘客的隱私。

這名網民聲稱，為了保護乘客隱私，機器會模糊乘客的膚色和面貌，但是乘客赤裸的身體會明顯出現在儀器上。

新加坡民航局受詢時表示，樟宜機場並沒有使用這種掃描儀器。

據瞭解，這台掃描儀已經被全世界的40家機場採用！

這名網民所說，這台掃描儀器最初是在2007年11月，在美國的亞利桑那州使用。

每台機器的價值高達17萬美元（約馬幣64萬6000令吉），同時還具備了金屬探測功能。

這台機器的優點是︰

●快速（只需15至30秒，便能掃描全身）

●方便（不需要保安人員搜身）

●安全（採用毫米波探測技術，輻射不會傷害人體）

中國‧胡錦濤：高度重視‧中共積極推進黨內民主

（中國‧北京）中共中央總書記胡錦濤週2強調，積極推進黨內民主。

今日（週三，7月1日）是中國共產黨成立88週年，在前一天下午，中共中央政治局就積極推進黨內民主建設問題，進行第14次集體學習，由胡錦濤主持。

胡錦濤在會議上說，在新的歷史條件下，我們必須高度重視和積極推進黨內民主建設，最大限度凝聚全黨智慧和力量，最大限度激發全黨創造活力，最大限度鞏固黨的團結統一。

胡錦濤還強調要堅持科學執政、民主執政、依法執政。

中共中央組織部發佈最新黨內統計數據顯示，截至2008年底，中國共產黨黨員總數為7593萬1000名，是1949年新中國成立時的17倍，而共產黨的基層組織則有371萬8000個。

針對胡錦濤的談話，中國社科院哲學所研究員徐友漁在接受英國廣播公司（BBC）中文網採訪時指出，胡錦濤強調推進黨內民主，顯示目前中共黨內要求民主的呼聲越來越強烈。

新加坡‧拿四方帽開玩笑遭網民炮轟‧男扮性感女拍另類畢業照

（新加坡）男生惡搞，扮性感女，大拍另類寫真畢業照！

一名男生頭戴四方帽，身穿露肩黑色性感裝，男扮女裝，擺出引人遐想的姿態，拍攝畢業照，照片曝光後，遭網民炮轟譴責。

一名網友Bert在網上看了這些“另類”寫真畢業照，感覺惡心，質疑這名男子是否是考試壓力太大，做出如此荒唐事，竟拿聖潔的畢業四方帽來開玩笑。

根據網上的照片，男生頭戴四方帽，穿得十分清涼，露出肩背，熱褲拉得很低，還露出內褲來，蹲在地上“回眸一笑”，試圖擺出撩人姿態。

在另一張照片中，男生手握一把扇子，整個人趴在梯級上，袒胸露背，讓人看了感覺倒胃口。

畢業照在網上傳開後，也引起網民炮轟譴責，紛紛表示照片十分惡心，非常低俗，認為不應該拿聖潔的畢業四方帽來惡搞。