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Karl Rove named as source of Plame leak Karl Rove, U.S. President George W. Bush's chief political advisor, was one of two sources behind the leaking of the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, according to a TIME Magazine reporter's notes. Live 8 concerts to "End Poverty Now" taking place around the world Massive music concerts are taking place around the planet under the Live 8 banner in an effort to put pressure on the leaders of the eight richest countries in the world to end global poverty. Multiple deaths as Congolese government cracks down on pro-democracy protests Thousands of protesters are marching through the streets of Kinshasa demanding that the government resign over delayed elections. They were met by security forces who shot in the air and threw tear-gas grenades.

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New denunciations of Brazilian deputy and evidence make things difficult for Lula

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the 12th Foro de São Paulo, in Brazil. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/ABr.

São Paulo, Brazil – On June 30, in Brazil, deputy Roberto Jefferson testified to deputies and senators of a Commission that is investigating the alleged Post Office Service scandal. Jefferson's testimony along with new evidence supporting his testimony are putting the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a difficult situation.

Roberto Jefferson's testimony ran from 4 p.m. to close to 2 a.m. (local time). The deputy further explained the alleged corruption scheme involving the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT).

The testimony of Jefferson was at times very tense, and sometimes discussions between Jefferson and deputies of the Workers Party become heated. In one instance, a Workers' Party deputy attacked Jefferson's credibility, calling him a liar on the basis that he supported the former Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello, who suffered impeachment for corruption related to Treasurer Paulo Cesar Farias, who worked on Collor's campaign. Jefferson answered: "PC Farias is a chick when you see the corruption in PT", and accused the former governor of Rio Grande do Sul Olivio Dutra (Olivio Dutra is the minister of Lula at the present time) of involvement with the "Jogo do Bicho" (illegal gambling).

According to Jefferson, the President of the Worker's Party José Genuino, former Minister José Dirceu, Secretary-General Sílvio Pereira, and Treasurer Delúbio Soares, head a widespread national corruption scheme which involves the Workers Party, members of the Government, the Brazilian Agency of Intelligence, and both government and private enterprises. Jefferson said the President was unaware of this scheme. Some members of parliament from the opposition see this claim as strange.

During his last testimony, Jefferson said that entrepreneur Marcos Valério was responsible for finacing the payment of deputies of the alleged Votes-for-cash scandal. This week, investigations by the police showed that Marcos Valério withdrew, in cash, large sums of money from Rural Bank. According to Jefferson, this money was used to pay deputies. Valério said that he used the money to buy cattle and that farmers don't like to receive cheques, just "real money". His explanation was considered suspect and his former secretary said she does not know of any farms owned by Valerio.

Marcos Valério is part-owner of SMPB and DNA. Documents from the Agrarian Reform Institute (INCRA) showed that Valério's enterprises owned 10 big farms. According to an article published by the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo on July 1, at least two of these farms do not exist. The Brazilian Federal Police said that there is evidence sufficient to indict Valério. The accusations against Valério are tax evasion and money laundering.

According to Internal Revenue Service, Marcos Valério's fortune was R$ 230,000 (97,676.27 USD - Live mid-market rates as of July 3, 2005, 12:47:43 UTC.) in 1997 and R$ 14,000,000 (5,945,511.97 USD) in 2004, a growth of 6086%. The enterprises of Valério, SMPB and DNA, have contracts with five Ministeries and eight big public enterprises, including the Post Office Service.

Before his testimony to the Comission, Jefferson said that Furnas, an energy company in Brazil, was involved in a corruption scheme. According to Jefferson, money from the enterprise was moved to the Workers' Party of Minas Gerais, to the treasurer Delúbio Soares, to be used to buy deputies. Furnas denied. Its directors resigned due to Jefferson's accusations against the company.

On July 2, newspapers reported that according to Brazilian Central Bank's documents, in February 17, 2004, the Workers' Party borrowed R$ 2.4 millions (1,019,230.62 USD) from Marcos Valério. In addition, the documents named José Genoíno (the President of the Workers' Party) and Delúbio Soares (the treasurer). After initially denying that the magazine had taken out this loan, the President of the Workers' Party acknowledged it to journalists on Saturday, July 2.

Delúbio Soares cried during his speech last week and said that the accusations are not true and that the "right" is trying to impeach President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on false charges.

The testimony of Jefferson is at the center of discussions in Brazil. According to the PMDB leader, Senator Ney Suassuna, the denunciations are "nitroglycerine which are thrown into the arteries of the Republic every minute". Leader of the PSDB, Arthur Virgílio Neto, said that the government lives in darkness. Senator Peter Simon (PMDB-RS) appealed to President Lula to do an ethical turn-around, and respect the imperatives of morality and seriousness in government. According to Simon: "Today society is still saying that president Lula is a man of good. However, shortly, nobody is going to say that anymore".

On July 1, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the celebration of the 15th Anniversary of the Foro de São Paulo, in São Paulo. At 7:30 p.m. the forum was opened and, according to the Workers' Party, the participants expressed support for the goverment of President Lula. Lula spoke during the encounter with the semblance of a tired and worried man affected by the crisis.

It is expected that the government will began a Ministerial reformulation next week.

This article contains first-hand journalism by a Wikinews Reporter.

Stewart battles rain to win Pepsi 400 at Daytona

Veteran NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart dominated the Pepsi 400 night race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida early Sunday morning, winning his first ever race at a restrictor plate track.

A rain delay halted the cars from hitting the track until around 0230 UTC time Sunday, with United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as the grand marshal. Green flag racing started around lap 10, with Stewart on the pole position.

Lap 34 gave way to the first caution of the night when the #6 car, driven by Mark Martin, swerved to attempt to avoid an accident. The car first skimmed the side of the barrier coming off Turn 4, then later raced into lower ground, causing a multi-car pileup and sending the race into a caution.

The next caution came at lap 64, when a small piece of debris was cleaned up on the track. Just four laps later, Kyle Petty in the #45 car blew a tire and sent the race into another caution. On the next green lap another four laps later, Michael Waltrip and the #15 car lost an engine. On the same lap, 2003 Pepsi 400 winner Greg Biffle in the #16 car lost a tire. Another caution was issued.

On Lap 145, another multi-car crash happened off turn four, heading to the start/finish line. The race was finally restarted at lap 151, with Stewart leading all remaining laps.

Instead of usually celebrating on the infield between pit lane and the track, Stewart chose to climb a flag pole near the start/finish line to celebrate his victory. Fireworks, a tradition of the Pepsi 400, sounded at the end of the race and continued for more than 20 minutes after the race's finish.

This article contains first-hand journalism by a Wikinews Reporter.

U.S. retains control of Internet root servers

The United States decided on Friday to indefinitely retain control the 13 root servers that direct all Internet traffic to the right locations. This decision drew concern from foreign officials who would rather see an international group such as ICANN oversee the control of the servers.

David Gross, a U.S. ambassador and the coordinator for international communications and information policies of the US State Department, insists that the announcement was not related to U.N. discussions. He also said other countries should see the move as positive because "uncertainty is not something that we think is in the United States' interest or the world's interest."

This decision reverses a statement made by the United States in 1998 in which they said would hand power over to ICANN after meeting a number of set conditions. A spokesman said that the declaration was in response to growing security threats and global communications and to the fact that commerce is becoming more reliant on the Internet.

"There have been strong opinions that essentially allowing the United States alone to check this process is not right given the nature of the Internet today," said Masahiko Fujimoto of the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, whom also said the decision is likely to alienate many in the international community. A worst-case scenario could see countries refusing to accept U.S. control of the root servers leading to a separate set of networks.

This means that people typing the same URL in different locations could see an entirely different website in their browsers. This announcement came several weeks before a U.N. panel releases a report on Internet governance which addresses issues including control of root servers.

Radioactive leakage at Swedish nuclear waste store

Radioactive water is leaking from the nuclear waste store in Forsmark, Sweden. The content of radioactive caesium in sampled water is ten times the normal value. Statens strålskyddsinstitut (SSI, the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority) believes that the leakage originates from waste barrels that have corroded, since the radiactive water is leaking out from the waste disposal area of the Forsmark power plant. The radiation is, however, still within the allowed limits according to SSI. The waste is low and intermediate level waste. No high level waste has been reported. A new roof is to be constructed for the chamber containing the barrels.

Karl Rove named as source of Plame leak

Karl Rove, president George W. Bush's chief political advisor

Reporter's notes subpoenaed by the U.S. District Court in Washington reveal United States President George W. Bush's chief political advisor Karl Rove as one of the two sources behind the leaking of the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. The notes are those of TIME magazine White House correspondent Matt Cooper. They were released by Norman Pearlstine, editor-in-chief of TIME Inc., by order of the court, in ruling that, in the case of leaking the identity of CIA agents, reporters must reveal the identity of their sources.

Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, claimed the night before that the notes would reveal Karl Rove was the source behind the leaking of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

A lawyer for Rove acknowledged that Rove had communicated with Cooper shortly before Plame's identity was leaked, but denied any wrongdoing on the part of his client, saying that "Rove absolutely did not identify Valerie Plame."

The court's ruling was based on the clause in Constitutional law summarized popularly with the phrase "Crying fire in a crowded theater": that when the degree to which the speech puts the safety of others at risk outweighs the degree to which it benefits others, so does their right to safety and security outweigh one's right to free expression.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the reporters' appeal of the case.

Knowingly revealing the identity of an undercover CIA official is a crime.

TIME magazine announced Thursday they would identify the White House leak from reporter Matthew Cooper's notes. The decision by TIME came after a federal judge in Washington gave the magazine and The New York Times 48 hours to comply with a months long order to provide information on the sources of press leaks. Judith Miller of The New York Times, along with Cooper at TIME, face jail time for their refusal to name anonymous sources. The steadfast refusal by Cooper and Miller to personally identify their sources may lead to an 18 month jail sentence.

The case against Cooper stemmed from a July 6, 2003 Op-Ed piece published by the Times, where Joseph C. Wilson IV disputed the assertion made by President Bush in his State of the Union Address that Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium from Niger.

A week later Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife, was identified as a CIA operative in a news story written by Robert D. Novak, a conservative pundit. The news blew Plame's cover, and the information was obtained by two anonymous White House sources. The leak to the press was thought by some to be retaliation for her husband's Op-Ed story. Wilson blamed Rove for the leak, saying in an Aug. 21, 2003 public panel, "At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. And trust me, when I use that name, I measure my words."

Cooper wrote and had published stories about the issue at TIME. Miller did research, but did not write a story. The reporter Novak who broke the story, remained silent on the case until Wednesday, and said on CNN's Inside Politics that, "They're not going to jail because of me."

Journalist usually protect the wish of anonymity by their sources to retain a vital channel of information by whistle-blowers and others with controversial information. The tension between the press and the U.S. Federal judiciary highlights what Rick Rodriquez, executive director of the American Association of Newspaper Editors, calls "the need to have a discussion around the federal shield law." A "shield" statute could grant confidentiality between reporters and anonymous sources similarly to the right granted in attorney-client privilege.

The decision by his employer TIME to reveal a source may spare veteran reporter Cooper time behind bars. His employer is in possession of his notes and is therefore has knowledge of the source. In the case of Miller, The New York Times claims it has no such reporting notes.

From the standpoint of how the case may be seen globally, Frank Smyth of the Committee to Protect Journalists said this of the current administration's position on freedom of the press: "[President Bush] has raised the need for greater press freedom in Russia, the Middle East, and Asia, but the message from U.S. prosecutors and courts is being heard more clearly in repressive corners of the world."

Grandfather and grandson die after dinghy capsizes off North Wales coast

A grandfather and his grandson have died off the coast of North Wales, UK, after their sailing dinghy was overwhelmed and capsized in rough seas. They were with a party of four who had been angling from a 4.6 m boat.

At 4pm local time on Saturday the Holyhead Coastguard received an emergency call from the Star Reader saying they had found a capsized dinghy adrift three and a half miles north of Puffin Island, off the east coast of the Isle of Anglesey.

A third vessel, the Sara Jane, also attended the scene to allow a first aider on board to render assistance.

A RAF search and rescue helicopter was scrambled and the Beaumaris lifeboat launched to effect a rescue effort. Two people were found clinging to the boat but two more had been washed away. A rapid search recovered both of them.

The rescue helicopter lowered its winchman onto the dinghy to begin CPR on the nine year old boy before he was winched onboard. He was flown to nearby Bangor Hospital, but later died.

The Beaumaris lifeboat raced the grandfather - also suffering serious hypothermia - ashore to a waiting ambulance, but he too died shortly afterwards. The lifeboat also carried an uninjured member of the party ashore, while the helicopter returned to rescue a second young boy.

The father and a twelve year old boy survived. All had been wearing life jackets, but the sea was running at 1.5 m waves in a 45 km/h wind at the time.

It is believed the two dead had been in the water for at least three hours before they were recovered, and died from the effects of hypothermia.

Today in History
1054 - Chinese astronomers observed a supernova in the Crab Nebula.

1187 - Saladin defeated Guy of Lusignan at the Battle of Hattin.

1776 - The Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies approved a Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1802 - At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opened.

1976 - Operation Yonatan: Israeli commandos raided Entebbe International Airport in Uganda to free hostages taken by PLO and RAF militants.

July 04 is Independence Day in the United States

Quote of the Day

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." ~ The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

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