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An independent view of the world
seen from Tokelau
The Independent New York Times
Tokelau, Saturday,
November 29,
2008 Weekend Edition, editor
- contact sumpinein@gmail.com
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200 DEAD AND MANY
INJURED IN MUMBAI ATTACK |
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MEANWHILE BANGKOK AIRPORT SIEGE
CONTINUES |
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This band
incarnates the traditional
values of Cajun music in the
USA. The Cajuns live mainly in
Louisiana and are the
descendants of Acadian exiles.
Today, the Cajuns make up a
significant portion of south
Louisiana's population, and have
exerted an enormous impact on
the state's culture. |
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Every now and
again a band comes along that redefines
a genre of music and carries it even
further...that group is Dennis
Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp. Always
leaving audiences wondering "who are
they?," and "where do they come from?,"
Dennis and CS are based in southern
Illinois and happily tell audiences "we
are from upper Louisiana." While this
may bring chuckles from many and nodding
heads from others "in the know," this is
the group that does represent "old upper
Louisiana." Dennis learned to speak
French and play French Creole music in a
southeast Missouri French Creole
community before moving to the state of
Louisiana. After returning to Illinois
from Louisiana, Dennis began a long
odyssey that eventually culminated in
the forming of Creole Stomp in 2002. And
since that time he and his band have
carried the torch of French Creole music
and culture across North America
performing a blend of music from the
state of Louisiana and old upper
Louisiana. Their unique sound and mix
of ancient and modern Mississippi River
valley musical tradition positions them
as the only band to encompass French
Creole and Folk Music from the entirety
of the old Louisiana Territory. And
although Dennis continues to play with
many of his Louisiana based friends on
occasion, you can always find him at the
helm of Creole Stomp playing
somewhere from San Diego to Boston |
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Read DEATH OF A
FINANCIER by JOHN
FRANCIS KINSELLA |
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Tom Barton, a City
mortgage broker, decides
to quit his business in
the wake of the subprime
crisis and arrives in
Kovalam, in the south of
India. In the Maharaja
Palace he finds himself
in the company of
holiday makers from the
UK, Scandinavia and
Russia. Stephen Parkly,
the CEO of a successful
City bank, and his young
wife Emma are taking a
well earned year end
break. Parkly falls
gravely ill with a
mysterious infection,
whilst back in the City,
unknown to him his
mortgage and investment
bank, West Mercian
Finance is in grave
difficulties. Ryan
Kavanagh, a doctor,
comes to Emma’s aid with
the help of Barton,
after an attempted
cover-up by the Indian
authorities, who fear
for their tourist
industry and more
especially medical
tourism, as the disease
threatens the resort
with the tourist season
in full swing. Thousands
of British tourists
enjoying the sun are
unaware of the pending
disaster, many are
equally unaware their
savings about are to be
wiped out in the West
Mercian collapse. |
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OR PRINT
VERSION
FROM
| More books by John Francis Kinsella from Vincennes Books: Borneo Pulp, The Legacy of Solomon, Offshore Islands, The Lost Forest |
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LUXURY ICONIC HOTEL
SCENES OF WARD AND CARNAGE
AS CIVILIANS DIE |
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The Taj Mahal
Palace is a
prestigious
hotel
located in the
Colaba
region of
Mumbai,
India,
next to the
Gateway of India.
Part of the
Taj Hotels,
Resorts and
Palaces,
this 105-year
old heritage
building retains
its stature as
the flagship
property of the
group. It boasts
a distinguished
list of guests
including
Mick Jagger,
Jacques Chirac,
Prince Edward,
Duke of Kent
&
Katharine,
Duchess of Kent,
Harald V of
Norway
&
Queen Sonja of
Norway,
Marianne
Faithfull,
Prince Philip,
Duke of
Edinburgh,
Charles, Prince
of Wales,
The Beatles,
Bill Clinton,
Jacqueline
Onassis
and
Elvis Presley.
From an
historical and
architectural
point of view,
The Taj Mahal
Palace and the
Tower are two
distinct
buildings, built
at different
times and in
different
architectural
designs. The
"Tower" refers
to the Taj
Intercontinental.
On November 26,
2008 the hotel
was damaged in a
series of
attacks in the
southern part of
Mumbai. The roof
of the hotel was
destroyed by
fire in the
hours after the
attack. |
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Mumbai gunmen
'included
Britons' |
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Claims that
Britons were
among the
attackers in
Mumbai were
being
investigated by
the Foreign
Office. As Indian
troops cleared
the last
terrorists from
buildings across
Mumbai, UK
authorities were
following up
reports on local
news channel
NDTV that the
terrorists
included
"British
citizens of
Pakistani
origin". The claim was
made as Gordon
Brown called for
improved
international
action against
terrorism
following the
Mumbai attacks. He said that
as far as the
Government was
aware, there
were no British
hostages still
being held in
the Indian
financial
capital. And he said
ministers were
determined to do
what they could
to help the
Indian
authorities
dealing with the
attacks. "It is clear
that we have got
to help the
Indian
government deal
with this
terrorist
incident and we
have sent people
from the
Metropolitan
Police to help,"
he told Sky
News. "This is an
atrocious
outbreak of
violence planned
in advance and I
think we have
got to look at
how
international
action against
terrorism can be
improved over
the next period
of time." Mr Brown said
he would be
discussing the
attacks with
Indian prime
minister
Manmohan Singh
following claims
by the Indian
government that
the attackers
came from
outside the
country. "There is so
much information
still to be
discovered and
made available.
I have heard
what Prime
Minister Singh
has said and
I'll talk to him
about it," Mr
Brown said. "But
obviously when
you have
terrorists
operating in one
country, they
may be getting
support from
another country
or coming from
another country,
and it is very
important that
we strengthen
the co-operation
between India
and Britain in
dealing with
these instances
of terrorist
attacks." |
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TEHRAN: An
Iranian man has been
sentenced to be blinded
under Islamic laws in
retribution for blinding
a woman by throwing acid
on her face for
rejecting his marriage
proposal, press reports
said on Thursday.
A Tehran criminal court
on Wednesday issued the
ruling against the
jilted suitor identified
as Majid, 27, who
confessed to throwing
acid on Ameneh Bahrami's
face four years ago,
Kargozaran newspaper
said.
Despite years of
treatment in Spain,
Bahrami has lost sight
in both eyes and still
bears serious injuries
to the face and body,
the report said.
The newspaper did not
say whether the convict
would appeal against the
ruling that he also be
blinded by acid.
Under the Sharia-based
law practised in the
Islamic republic, those
convicted of causing
intentional physical
injury are punishable by
"qisas", or the
eye-for-an-eye Islamic
penalty.
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AIR NEW ZEALAND
AIRBUS CRASH |
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A
plane with seven people
aboard crashed into the
Mediterranean Sea on
Thursday, a French
regional government
official told CNN. The Airbus A320 Air
New Zealand jet was on a
training flight when the
crash occurred about 5
p.m. (4p.m. GMT), said
the official at the
Maritime Prefecture in
Toulon, France. There were no
immediate reports of
survivors, but rescue
efforts involving French
navy vessels and a
helicopter had been
launched. Floating debris had
been located, the
official said. The test flight took
off from Perpignan in
southern France, the
official said. A
civilian vessel saw the
crash take place off the
coast near Perpignan.
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Anxiety Rises for US
Farmers as Crop Prices
Fall |
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RABBI AND WIFE KILLED |
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The
worldwide leaders of the Chabad
Lubavitch movement in New York
mourned the deaths of Rabbi
Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife,
Rivka, discovered Friday after
Indian commandos took control of
the movement's centre in Mumbai.
The pair, who had been the
movement's chief emissaries in
India, were last heard from
Wednesday, shortly after heavily
armed gunmen stormed Chabad's
Nariman House facility next door
to a popular cafe that was among
10 targeted in this week's
attacks. "We're going to miss
him very dearly - he was a very
special person, he and his wife
were very special people," said
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice
chairman of Chabad's educational
arm. His voice broke as he spoke
to reporters at the Lubavitch
headquarters in Brooklyn's Crown
Heights neighbourhood. Indian
troops who cleared the Chabad
building after rappelling onto
the roof from helicopters found
the bodies of two suspected
terrorists and three other
people whose identities were not
immediately released.
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MAN TRAMPLED TO DEATH AT WAL-MART |
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The throng of
Wal-Mart shoppers had been building
all night, filling sidewalks and
stretching across a vast parking lot at
the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream,
N.Y. At 3:30 a.m., the Nassau County
police had to be called in for crowd
control, and an officer with a bullhorn
pleaded for order.
Tension grew as the 5 a.m. opening
neared. Someone taped up a crude poster:
“Blitz Line Starts Here.” By 4:55, with no police officers in
sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had
become a rabble, and could be held back
no longer. Fists banged and shoulders
pressed on the sliding-glass double
doors, which bowed in with the weight of
the assault. Six to 10 workers inside
tried to push back, but it was hopeless.
Suddenly, witnesses and the police
said, the doors shattered, and the
shrieking mob surged through in a blind
rush for holiday bargains. One worker,
Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back
onto the black linoleum tiles and
trampled in the stampede that streamed
over and around him. Others who had
stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to
hold the doors were also hurled back and
run over, witnesses said. Some workers who saw what was
happening fought their way through the
surge to get to Mr. Damour, but he had
been fatally injured, the police said.
Emergency workers tried to revive Mr.
Damour, a temporary worker hired for the
holiday season, at the scene, but he was
pronounced dead an hour later at
Franklin Hospital Medical Center in
Valley Stream. Four other people, including a
28-year-old woman who was described as
eight months pregnant, were treated at
the hospital for minor injuries. |
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ROYAL
BANK OF SCOTLAND |
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Yesterday's acquisition of 58
per cent of Royal Bank of
Scotland, puts British
Prime Minister in a league of
his own. Mr Brown is making a
financial wager (with taxpayers'
money) on a scale that would
have George Soros and Crispin
Odey whimpering for a quieter
life. Gordon Brown doesn't look
like a hedge fund manager. He
isn't seen breakfasting at The
Wolseley. He isn't seen
hobnobbing at Nobu. He doesn't
dress in Chinos and open-neck
shirt and burble on about the
beauty of absolute returns. But
the Prime Minister is rapidly
emerging as the grandest and
boldest of all financial market
gamblers.
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INDIAN NAVY DESTROYS THAI FISHING TRAWLER |
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The alleged pirate ship that was blasted
out of the water by the Indian Navy in
the Gulf of Aden last week was actually
a legitimate Thai fishing trawler that
had been seized by pirates earlier in
the day, the boat's owner
said Wednesday. The hijacking of the
Ekawat Nava 5 far out at sea; its
apparent and immediate conversion to a
"mother ship" for the pirates; the
gunfight that led to its fiery night
time
sinking; and the harrowing tale of a
lone surviving crewman illustrate the
dangers and the legal undertow that
surround many of the recent hijackings
in East African waters. The Ekawat Nava 5, with a crew of 16,
was hijacked on the morning of Nov. 18,
according to Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, the
managing director of Sirichai Fisheries,
which owns the boat. The boat had a GPS tracking device on
board, Wicharn said by telephone from
Bangkok. The company immediately
reported the hijacking and the boat's
location to the International Maritime
Bureau in Kuala Lumpur, the
clearinghouse for reports of piracy. The bureau broadcast the news of the
hijacking to various ports, other ships
in the area and the coalition of navies
that helps maintain a maritime security
corridor in the gulf. |
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THE WRONG PLACE AT
WRONG TIME |
 
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A British
shipping tycoon
and yacht owner died after being
gunned down by
terrorists in a
Mumbai hotel
today. Andreas
Liveras, a 73
year-old
entrepreneur
spoke of his
terror on his
mobile phone, as
he and other
guests were
locked in the
basement of the
five-star Taj
hotel while
gunmen ran amok
and bombs
exploded. Mumbai's St
George's
Hospital told
the Standard
that Mr Liveras
had suffered
several gunshot
wounds and was
pronounced dead
on arrival. A hospital
administrator
said: "We can
confirm a
British national
Andreas Liveras,
aged in his 70s,
was brought in
by ambulance. He
had been shot
multiple times,
causing heavy
bleeding and
fatal injuries
to his major
organs. Doctors
pronounced him
dead on
arrival." "The matter
has been
referred to the
police and the
British High
Commission." Before his
death, the
self-made
millionaire, who
emigrated to
Britain from
Cyprus in 1963
told the BBC
that he was with
over a '1000
people living on
their nerves." He said he
visited the Taj
Palace Hotel
last night for a
curry after
hearing that the
hotel served the
best food in
Mumbai. "I think it's
got the best
restaurant here.
But as soon as
we sat at the
table we heard
the machine gun
fire outside in
the corridor." "We hid
ourselves under
the table and
then they
switched all the
lights off. But
the machine guns
kept going, and
they took us
into the
kitchen, and
from there into
a basement,
before we came
up into a salon
where we are
now. "There must
be more than
1,000 people
here. There are
residents and
tourists and
locals. We are
not hiding, we
are locked in
here - nobody
tells us
anything, the
doors are locked
and we are
inside. "Hotel staff
are helping us a
lot providing
water and
sandwiches - but
nobody is eating
really, people
are frightened.
"At this
moment it's very
quiet. The last
bomb exploded
about 45 minutes
ago and it shook
the hotel up.
Nobody comes in
this room and
nobody goes out,
and we don't
really know.
"All we know is
the bombs are
next door and
the hotel is
shaking every
time a bomb goes
off. Everybody
is just living
on their
nerves." |
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Credit crunch
hits the art
market |
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The global
financial
meltdown has
struck the art
market, with a
Francis Bacon
self-portrait
with an estimate
of $40m failing
to sell at a
disappointing
auction in New
York last night.
Almost a third
of 75
contemporary
artworks that
went under the
hammer at
Christie's in
Rockefeller
Plaza did not
find buyers at
the
contemporary art
auction. Among
the rejects was
Bacon's Study
for
Self-Portrait,
which was billed
as the highlight
of the sale and
which Christie's
had estimated
would sell for
around $40m
(£27m). |
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SCENES OF BLACK FRIDAY STAMPEDE
AFTER US CELEBRATION OF
THANKSGIVING |
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UNCLE
SAM RULES THE WAVES |
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The nuclear powered
aircraft carrier George Washington is the crown jewel of the
U.S. Seventh Fleet, a huge armada of 60 to 70
ships, 200 to 300 aircraft and 20,000 sailors
and Marines. Most are, like the GW, based just
south of Tokyo. One of the primary missions of
the floating airbase is to "sanitize" the seas
around it, using active and passive sonar,
helicopters and an array of secret gadgetry. |
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Since food prices began to rise
100 million more people have been pushed into poverty,
according to the World Bank, with as many as two billion
on the verge of disaster. Almost half the world's
population, let's remember, live on less than $2.50 per
day. Millions die annually of hunger and starvation, and
more than a billion do not have access to fresh water. |
With the world financial crisis
these numbers are poised to rise dramatically with
population growth, dwindling natural resources and
higher consumer prices across all goods and services. So
as the stock market tumbles and the world economy
falters, it's important to remember that it's more than
financial losses we are talking about, it's the loss of
life. |
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