World News joined 5

[OMEN]

SPITZER QUITS: Embattled New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has resigned following a report from the New York Times he was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has resigned amid a scandal over a $US1,000-an-hour prostitute, cutting short a career built on pugnacious investigations of Wall Street crimes.
Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will replace him on Monday, Spitzer said.

"I am resigning from the office of governor. At Lt. Gov. Paterson's request, the resignation will be effective Monday, March 17," Spitzer announced.

Spitzer, a Democrat, had faced intense pressure to resign and impeachment threats from Republicans since the New York Times reported on Monday that he was caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute.

Spitzer, 48 and married with three children, is a former New York state chief prosecutor who rose to prominence by investigating financial crime with a vigour that earned him the nickname Sheriff of Wall Street.

He also broke up prostitution rings as attorney general.

Spitzer had apologised to his family and the public on Monday for what he called a "private matter," but gave no details of what he was apologising for and then shuttered himself in his New York City apartment for two days.

Some 70 per cent of New York voters wanted Spitzer to quit, according to a WNBC/Marist poll conducted on Tuesday.

Spitzer, who attracted wide publicity but also resentment on Wall Street with his pursuit of financial crimes while he was the state's attorney general, became governor with nearly 70 per cent of the vote in November 2006 on pledges to clean up state politics.

The Times, citing unnamed law enforcement officials, reported on Monday that Spitzer was the man identified as "Client 9" in a federal affidavit revealing details from an investigation into a prostitution ring.

Client 9 arranged to meet with "Kristen," a prostitute who charged $US1,000 an hour, on February 13 in a Washington hotel and paid her $US4,300, the court document said.

The complaint unveiled last week charged four people with running a prostitution ring dubbed The Emperors Club.

It was not known if Spitzer would face any charges stemming from the case

.

Reuters

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the read.

[5be92]

have you guys seen a picture of the girl he paid? she's one hot lady...woooo!!

[OMEN]

The Samoan-born baby called Miracle is recovering from more life-improving surgery in the United States - this time to her face.

Six-month-old Miracletina Nanai, who was born with severe deformities, has survived her second operation.

Eight days ago Miami Hospital surgeons removed a fluid sac from her back, caused by spina bifida.

Surgery on her face was not scheduled till the end of the month, but she recovered after five days in intensive care and doctors agreed to bring her surgery forward.

Her parents and supporters gathered in the hospital chapel to sing songs and pray during the five-hour surgery.

Last night Miracle was recovering from surgery on her lip, cleft palate, eyes, and an amniotic band on her leg.

The baby and her parents were refused visas to enter New Zealand because of an unfavourable medical assessment, but Miami surgeons John Ragheb and S Anthony Wolfe offered their services free.

The family is expected to be in the United States for six months.

The Dominion Post

[OMEN]

Shops have been set on fire in violence in Tibet's capital of Lhasa, witnesses said, as the region was hit by a fresh wave of rare street protests.

Chinese rule in remote, Buddhist Tibet has become a focus for critics ahead of the Beijing Olympics, with global marches this week to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Communist rule spilling into Tibet itself.

Hundreds of people had again taken to Lhasa's streets in defiance of Chinese authorities and despite a heavy police presence and reports of a lockdown on monasteries, sources with knowledge of the region said.

"The police are everywhere," said one cafe owner reached by phone in Lhasa. "There are big problems."

A report from China's Xinhua news agency cited witnesses as saying a number of shops were burnt and nearby businesses closed.

On Friday, 300 to 400 residents and monks demonstrated in Lhasa, a source cited a witness as saying, capping a week of daily protests led by the Buddhist clergy, an echo of the anti-government protests that rocked neighbour Myanmar last year.

"Some are angry and some are scared. The security forces are checking houses to see if any monks are hiding," said the source, who is in touch with Tibetan residents.

Hundreds of monks from the Labrang monastery in the northwestern province of Gansu also led a march through the town of Xiahe, the Free Tibet Campaign said, citing sources in Dharamsala, home to Tibet's government-in-exile.

More than 10 monks had been arrested and tanks were patrolling the square near the Potala Palace, the person said, referring to one of the architectural wonders of the world once the winter residence of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

"It's very chaotic. I haven't heard any shots fired, but all the police have come out," said one Lhasa resident.

"The monks and nuns have been marching and protesting," the woman said, adding residents were afraid to go out.

"Now it's very chaotic outside," another resident said. "People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared."

A businesswoman surnamed Xia said: "It's martial law. . .There are People's Armed Police out, and they've been fighting the lamas."

Martial law could not be confirmed and China's State Council Information Office declined to comment, referring only to remarks made on Thursday by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said the protesters were "seeking to spark social turmoil".

RESTIVE

This week's shows of defiance are precisely what the Chinese government has been trying to avoid as it seeks to secure a stable environment for the Olympics, which open on August 8.

The region has been periodically restive since Chinese troops invaded in 1950. Nine years later, the Dalai Lama staged a failed uprising against Chinese rule and fled into exile in India.

China imposed martial law in Tibet in 1989, the same year as the Tiananmen Square protests were crushed in Beijing, to quell anti-Chinese demonstrations, when President Hu Jintao was the Communist Party boss in the region.

On Monday, 500 monks from the Drepung monastery marched in Lhasa. That was followed by action from monks at the Lhasa-area Sera and Ganden monasteries. Security personnel fired tear gas on at least one of the demonstrations, reports said.

The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said authorities had sealed off all three monasteries, citing tourism operators.

"There is an intensified atmosphere of fear and tension in Tibet's capital," the group said in a statement.

The US-government-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported monks from Sera were on a hunger strike, demanding withdrawal of Chinese paramilitary forces from the monastery compound and the release of monks detained earlier this week.

Two monks from Drepung were in critical condition after attempting suicide by slitting their wrists, RFA said.

The number of Tibetans detained could not be confirmed, but the watchdog groups said they expected government reprisals.

Reuters

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the read.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for this.

[JohnCenaFan28]

A top al-Qaeda figure suspected of having close ties to Osama Bin Laden has been taken to the US-run Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Pentagon says.

The man, named as Muhammad Rahim, helped arrange Bin Laden's escape from his Tora Bora hideout in Afghanistan in 2001, US officials say.

He was transferred to the Pentagon from CIA custody, a Pentagon spokesman said.

It is not yet clear when or where the CIA captured him, or how long he has been in US custody.

'Most trusted'

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Rahim was a close associate of Bin Laden and had ties to al-Qaeda groups throughout the Middle East.

"He is one of [Osama Bin Laden's] most trusted facilitators and procurement specialists," Mr Whitman said.

"He helped prepare Tora Bora as a hideout for Osama Bin Laden. He assisted al-Qaeda's exodus from the area in late 2001."

US forces are believed to have come closest to trapping Bin Laden in a complex of caves in the mountainous Tora Bora region near the Pakistani border.

The hunt for him began following the 11 September, 2001, terror attacks on the US by al-Qaeda operatives.

BBC News

[wedge]

While it's always great to hear this, it is starting to lose its meaning. We seem to capture a "top" guy every few months, but we never seem closer to getting Bin Laden or making substantial progress it the WOT.

[wedge]

Glad to see he's manned up and accepted the blame and did the right thing by stepping down. "Kristin" is pretty good looking. Kind of hard to miss her pictures, she's been shown half naked all over the media.