Callous rich to blame for poverty

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Callous wealthy nations are indifferent to the plight of the poor as they pursue selfish policies which enrich the few at the expense of the many, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday.

"These billions of poor people are increasingly becoming impatient because every year they hear us adopt declaration after declaration and yet nothing practical is done to assuage the hunger pains that keep them awake at night," he told the United Nations General Assembly.

But Mbeki said poverty was increasing "during an era of unprecedented wealth accumulation and technological advances" and pointed the finger at rich nations, who he said insisted on an unequal relationship with the poor.

Ted Turner says Iraq war among history's 'dumbest'

NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. invasion of Iraq was among the "dumbest moves of all time" that ranks with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the German invasion of Russia, billionaire philanthropist Ted Turner said on Tuesday.

"It will go down in history, it is already being seen in history, as one of the dumbest moves that was ever made by anybody. A couple of others that come to mind were the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the German invasion of Russia," Turner told the forum.

"It literally broke my heart. You don't start wars just because you don't like somebody. ... I wouldn't even start a war with Rupert Murdoch," Turner said, referring to his onetime cable network rival.

Often contrarian, Turner called it a "joke" that Bush demanded that Iran abandon any ambitions for nuclear weapons while at the same time hoping to ban all such bombs.

"They're a sovereign state," Turner said of Iran. "We have 28,000. Why can't they have 10? We don't say anything about Israel -- they've got 100 of them approximately -- or India or Pakistan or Russia. And really, nobody should have them.

"They aren't usable by any sane person."

POWER TO THE WOMEN

One way to reduce such dangers in the world would be to leave women in charge, said the former husband of Jane Fonda.

"Men should be barred from public office for 100 years in every part of the world. ... It would be a much kinder, gentler, more intelligently run world. The men have had millions of years where we've been running things. We've screwed it up hopelessly. Let's give it to the women."

Hurricanes Gordon, Helene poised to strike Atlantic islands


This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image shows Hurricane Gordon churning over the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Gordon was speeding toward the Azores Islands, while Helene, a powerful Category Three hurricane, could swipe the Bermudas later this week, the US National Hurricane Center said.(AFP/NOAA)

MIAMI (AFP) - Hurricane Gordon was speeding toward the Azores Islands, while Helene, a powerful Category Three hurricane, could swipe the Bermudas later this week, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Packing maximum sustained winds near 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour, Gordon, a Category Two hurricane in the five-category Saffir-Simpson scale, was located 1140 kilometers (710 miles) west of the Azores, at 0600 GMT, the Miami-based center said.

It was moving eastward at a brisk 44 kilometers (28 miles) per hour.

"A hurricane warning is in effect for all of the Azores Islands," the center said.

"Although some slow weakening is possible during the next 24 hours, Gordon is still expected to be a hurricane as it passes near or across the Azores Islanes" by late Tuesday or early Wednesday, it added.

"Large and dangerous battering waves along with storm surges of one to three feet (30-90 centimeters) are possible," the center warned, adding that the hurricane was expected to dump from five to 10 centimeters (two to four inches) of rain over the islands, and up to 15 centimeters (six inches) over higher terrain.

Meanwhile, Helene, the eighth named storm and fourth hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic season, was about 1,590 kilometers (990 miles) east-southeast of Bermuda at 0300 GMT, the center said.

The hurricane was packing winds of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, with higher gusts and "conditions appear favorable for strengthening during the next 24 hours," the center said.

The forecast puts Helena some 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of Bermuda by Thursday or Friday, with a 10 to 20 percent possibility the islands will be buffeted by tropical storm force winds.

Helene was a Category Three hurricane in the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Annan paints grim picture to assembly

"The events of the last 10 years have not resolved, but sharpened, the three great challenges I spoke of — an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law," Annan said. "As a result, we face a world whose divisions threaten the very notion of an international community, upon which this institution stands."

Bush to engage skeptical U.N. on Mideast

Bush also planned to address the issue of Sudan, where three years of fighting in the African nation's Darfur region has killed more than 200,000 people. The president was scheduled to announce that Andrew Natsios, the former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, will become Bush's special envoy for Sudan to help end the fighting.

Bush was speaking in the same cavernous room where four years and one week ago he made another plea for action in the Middle East. On that day, Bush said Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of deadly chemical and biological agents that the United Nations must confront.

He was wrong, but still forged ahead with war against Iraq without the support of many other nations. And he is still trying to rebuild credibility with the body, experts say.

"The sense outside of the U.S. is that the United States is responsible for many of the failures in Iraq, first by going in mostly alone and then by incompetent administration," said Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"The problem with the way he's talked about democracy in the Middle East is not that people see it as undesirable," Alterman said, "it's that people see it as naive. He needs to persuade cynical people that not only is he sincere, but it's achievable, and here's what they need to do to make it so."

Weeks-old wildfire still burns near LA

OJAI, Calif. - Erratic winds pushed a stubborn, two-week-old wildfire toward a rural community in the Los Padres National Forest, threatening about 170 people living in scattered ranch homes near the northern edge of the blaze.

The fire has scorched more than 125 square miles, or 80,111 acres, of chaparral and timber since it was ignited Labor Day by someone burning debris in the forest, 75 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It was 15 percent contained late Monday, said Bruce Emmens, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

The fire doubled in size over the weekend, fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds. But a cool, moist ocean breeze slowed the fire and put communities that were still several miles away out of immediate danger.

U.N. official: Bush, Iranian leader will avoid each other

NEW YORK (CNN) -- As President Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, a top U.N. official said the two men likely will do their best to steer clear of each other.

Bush is scheduled to address the annual conference at U.N. headquarters with Ahmadinejad in attendance. Ahmadinejad is an acerbic critic of U.S. foreign policy who has previously challenged Bush to a debate.

"I'm sure both will have minders working hard to keep them apart," said U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown. "So probably, the great clash of the titans, the rumble of the jungle -- whatever you want to call it -- is not going to happen."

Hawks attack more than 100 people in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Residents of crime-plagued Rio de Janeiro have a new kind of predator to worry about — hawks. A pair of hawks have attacked more than 100 residents of the upscale Ipanema beach district over the past year, scratching peoples heads and faces, doormen working at buildings in the area said Monday.

"People leave the building carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from the attacks," said Luis Honorato, a doorman in a building near where the hawks have built a nest. "At first, they think that someone is throwing something, like a can, onto their heads from the floors above."

Honorato said that one day he saw five attacks in 20 minutes.

"Every time I leave the building I keep waving my hands over my head," said Mario Roxo, a 75-year-old chauffeur who had his head badly scratched by a hawk.

Hungary PM: Our darkest night

BUDAPEST, Hungary (CNN) -- Riots in the wake of a leaked recording of Hungary's prime minister admitting officials lied about the economy were "the longest and darkest night" for the country since the end of communism in 1989, the embattled leader has said.

Ferenc Gyurcsany told a news conference on Tuesday that the unrest at the Budapest headquarters of Hungarian state television took police by surprise.

Gyurcsany vowed to use all means possible to re-establish order after protesters clashed with police and stormed the headquarters of Hungarian state television, MTV, leaving 150 people injured, including 102 police officers.

Hurricane Gordon churns toward Azores

MIAMI - A hurricane warning was issued for the Azores as Hurricane Gordon moved rapidly toward the sparsely populated group of islands Tuesday, while Hurricane Helene remained a large Category 3 storm but was expected to miss Bermuda, forecasters said.

The islands off the Atlantic coast of Africa should feel the effects of Gordon by Tuesday night, said Dan Brown, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Two to 4 inches of rain were expected, with higher terrain possibly getting 6 inches.

As of 8 a.m. EDT, Gordon was centered about 525 miles west of Terceira in the Azores and moving east near 28 mph. This motion was expected to continue throughout the next day.

The Category 2 hurricane had maximum sustained winds near 100 mph and was expected to slowly weaken by Wednesday, although it could still have tropical storm force winds.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Helene had top sustained winds near 115 mph with strengthening expected over the next day, forecasters said.

Muslims say pope's apology not good enough

Ilnur Cevik, editor-in-chief of The New Anatolian newspaper, said in a commentary that the pope must reach out to Muslims before visiting.

“How can the pope make amends and convince the masses with religious sensitivities in Turkey that he is not an enemy of Islam and that he wants to forge an atmosphere of coexistence?” Cevik wrote. “If he fails to do this, it will be very hard for the Turkish people to give him a warm welcome.”

In Turkey, the pope’s remarks strengthened the widespread view that he is hostile to the country’s campaign for membership in the European Union.

Mudflow forces Indonesians to camp on highway

SIDOARJO, Indonesia, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Indonesian villagers have taken over a major highway after being driven out of their homes by a torrent of muddy water from an oil well, authorities said on Tuesday.

Mats, furniture, motorcycles and other rescued belongings now occupy a stretch of the road in East Java province after the villagers became the latest victims of the foul-smelling mud, which has been flowing out of an exploratory oil well since May.

"Since Sunday, they have blocked the toll road with tyres and we cannot do anything about it," said Bachriansyah, chief operator of the Surabaya-Gempol tollroad, a 45-km (27-mile) highway which has a three-mile section slicing through the mud-affected area. Surabaya is the capital of East Java.

The mudflow has swamped an area larger than Monaco in East Java's Sidoarjo region since May and more than 10,000 people have been displaced.

At least four villages have been submerged in the disaster, which has highlighted the country's chequered environmental record in exploiting resources.

Polio fears grow in north India

India's health minister has called a meeting of officials from states which have recorded new polio cases.
A total of 297 cases of the disease, which usually attacks children under five years, have been reported this year.

Particularly worrying has been the case of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh where 269 cases of the disease have been recorded.

Last year, only 66 cases of polio were recorded in India.

A highly infectious disease, polio affects the nervous system and can result in paralysis.

It is transmitted through contaminated food and drinking water, contact with faeces from an infected person or contaminated swimming pool water.