The America's Intelligence Wire articles from January 2007

The America's Intelligence Wire archives from January 2007

Belarus and Russia's Gazprom settle gas-pricing dispute.
January 1, 2007... (From CBS Marketwatch (Pulses)) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Belarus agreed to pay OAO Gazprom higher prices for Russian natural gas, averting a situation where Russian exports to Western Europe might have been disrupted, The Wall Street...

Wal-Mart's December same-store sales up more than forecast.
January 1, 2007... (From CBS Marketwatch (Pulses)) TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Ark., the world's largest retailer, reported that December same-store sales rebounded and rose 1.6% from the year-earlier month, exceeding its...

Pilots Search for Motorists in Colorado.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads in Colorado on Sunday, searching for stranded travelers after a powerful winter storm piled drifts up to 10 feet high across much of the Plains....

Revelers Worldwide Celebrate a New Year.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ROD McGUIRK Wind-swept revelers gathered around London's Big Ben to watch the fireworks, and thousands of Japanese climbed Mount Fuji and other peaks to watch the first sunrise of the New Year. But the Thai...

Bush Mulls Plan As U.S. Toll Hits 3,000.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ROD McGUIRK American deaths in the Iraq war reached the sobering milestone of 3,000 on Sunday even as the Bush administration sought to overhaul its strategy for an unpopular conflict that shows little sign of...

Americans Honor Ford in Capitol Rotunda.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ANN SANNER Ordinary Americans paid their respects to Gerald R. Ford on Sunday, walking slowly by his flag-covered casket in the Capitol and remembering how the 38th president likely sacrificed his career by...

Bomb a Setback for Spain Peace Process.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: DANIEL WOOLLS A weekend car bombing in Madrid shattered a nine-month-old cease-fire with Basque separatists and left Spain's prime minister groping for a way to salvage the nascent peace process. Less than...

Time to Reflect As Iraq Toll Hits 3,000.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ALLEN G. BREED Perhaps no place illustrates the toll of the Iraq war more vividly than Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. In this "garden of stone," in ruler-straight rows, rest one-tenth of the Iraq...

Pilots Search for Stranded Drivers.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads in Colorado on Sunday, searching for stranded travelers after a powerful winter storm piled drifts up to 10 feet high across much of the Plains....

Pilots Search for Motorists in Colorado.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads in Colorado on Sunday, searching for stranded travelers after a powerful winter storm piled drifts up to 10 feet high across much of the Plains....

U.S. Toll in Iraq Lower Than Past Wars.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JEFF DONN A four-figure number hovers 50 feet over a busy Philadelphia street, visible in an office window. It changes maybe once or twice a day like the cost of something. A janitor once stopped, just to...

Poll: Americans Predict Attacks in 2007.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: DARLENE SUPERVILLE Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster. These are among Americans' grim predictions for the United States in 2007. Only a minority of...

6 Wounded in Chicago Party Shooting.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: DARLENE SUPERVILLE Two masked gunman burst into a party and opened fire early Sunday, wounding six men, police said. About 100 people were attending the party in a house on the city's South Side when the...

Fireworks Worldwide Ring in the New Year.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: D'ARCY DORAN The world welcomed 2007 with skyrockets and rock concerts but in some corners of the globe, the New Year was marked by saber-rattling and bombings. Fireworks exploded over Sydney's Harbor...

Irritating, Worn-Out Words of '06 Banned.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: SVEN GUSTAFSON If the media's habit of combining celebrity names didn't cause word watchers enough heartburn in 2006, the past year had plenty of other words and phrases that language purists wish had "gone...

Americans Honor Ford's Public Service.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ANN SANNER Ordinary Americans paid their respects to Gerald R. Ford on Sunday, walking slowly by his flag-covered casket in the Capitol and remembering how the 38th president likely sacrificed his career by...

Romania and Bulgaria Newest EU Members.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ALISON MUTLER Blue and gold EU flags fluttered across Bucharest and fireworks thundered through the sky at midnight in Romania and Bulgaria as the two former Communist Eastern bloc nations loudly and joyously...

6 Wounded in Chicago Party Shooting.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ALISON MUTLER Two masked gunmen burst into a party and opened fire early Sunday, wounding six men, police said. About 100 people were attending the party in a house on the city's South Side when the gunmen...

Low-Cost Laptop Could Transform Learning.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: BRIAN BERGSTEIN Forget windows, folders and boxes that pop up with text. When students in Thailand, Libya and other developing countries get their $150 computers from the One Laptop Per Child project in 2007,...

Stream of Visitors Pays Respects to Ford.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ANN SANNER Ordinary Americans paid their respects to Gerald R. Ford on Sunday, walking slowly by his flag-covered casket in the Capitol and remembering how the 38th president likely sacrificed his career by...

Military Nurse Recalls Softer Saddam.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: ANN SANNER A military nurse who cared for Saddam Hussein in jail said the deposed dictator saved bread crusts to feed birds and seldom complained to his captors, except when he had legitimate gripes. ...

World Fetes 2007 With Parties, Fireworks.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: D'ARCY DORAN The world welcomed 2007 with skyrockets and rock concerts but in some corners of the globe, the New Year was marked by saber-rattling and bombings. Fireworks exploded over Sydney's Harbor...

Planes Seek Stranded Drivers in Colorado.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads in Colorado on Sunday, searching for stranded travelers after a powerful winter storm piled drifts up to 10 feet high across much of the Plains....

Bolts at Center of Big Dig Collapse Case.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: DENISE LAVOIE The legacy of the most expensive highway project in U.S. history is being defined not by the underground leaks that plagued it or the quintupling of its price tag to more than $14.6 billion. ...

Revelers Gather in Times Square for 2007.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: COLLEEN LONG Hundreds of thousands of revelers from all over the world flooded Times Square on Sunday to ring in the New Year at the city's massive holiday party. Partygoers poured into the area before...

Revelers Pack Times Square to Greet '07.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: COLLEEN LONG Hundreds of thousands of revelers from all over the world flooded Times Square on Sunday to ring in the New Year at the city's massive holiday party. Partygoers poured into the area before...

Fla. Father Dies Hours After Son's Birth.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: COLLEEN LONG A man celebrating the birth of his son was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting after showing off pictures of the newborn at a friend's house. Glendon Bennett, 27, was shot Friday night...

Pilots Search for Stranded Drivers.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads in Colorado on Sunday, searching for stranded travelers after a powerful winter storm piled drifts up to 10 feet high across much of the Plains....

Planes Seek Stranded Drivers in Colorado.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads in Colorado on Sunday, searching for stranded travelers after a powerful winter storm piled drifts up to 10 feet high across much of the Plains....

Small Plane Crashes in N.C. Yard, 4 Die.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A small plane crashed into a yard Sunday morning, killing four people aboard and embedding its engine into a house, authorities said. No injuries to people on the ground were reported. The...

Small Plane Crashes in N.C. Yard; 4 Dead.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE A small plane crashed into a yard Sunday morning, killing four people aboard and embedding its engine into a house, authorities said. No injuries to people on the ground were reported. The...

Revelers in Times Square Celebrate 2007.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: COLLEEN LONG Hundreds of thousands of revelers from all over the world flooded Times Square on Sunday to ring in the New Year at the city's massive holiday party. Partygoers poured into the area before...

Thousands in Times Square Ring in 2007.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: COLLEEN LONG Hundreds of thousands of revelers from all over the world flooded Times Square on Sunday to ring in the New Year at the city's massive holiday party. Partygoers poured into the area before...

NY's New Governor Sworn in at Midnight.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: MARC HUMBERT Democrat Eliot Spitzer, vowing to "replace delay and diversion with energy and purpose," was sworn in as New York's 54th governor during a private ceremony at midnight Sunday at the governor's...

Fla. Man Dies 12 Hours After Son's Birth.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: MARC HUMBERT A man celebrating the birth of his son was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting after showing off pictures of the newborn at a friend's house. Glendon Bennett, 27, was shot Friday night...

Mich. Church Prepares for Ford's Funeral.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JAMES PRICHARD The Rev. Nixon McMillan started hearing the jokes soon after becoming interim rector of Grace Episcopal Church, where a funeral will be held for former President Gerald R. Ford. "As I...

Punishing Winter Storm Moves Into Plains.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: JON SARCHE The powerful winter storm that punished Colorado barreled into the Plains states, burying roads with drifting snow and snapping power lines that fed electricity to thousands. At least 12 deaths...

Ban Ki-Moon Takes the Reins of U.N.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Online) Byline: EDITH M. LEDERER South Korean diplomat Ban Ki-moon became the United Nations' eighth secretary-general on New Year's Day as the organization faced a tough array of global issues _ from escalating violence in...

WORLD SPORTS at 0000 GMT.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: EDITH M. LEDERER SOCCER: TRANSFER STATION: For once, Chelsea not certain to spend in January transfer window LONDON _ With the monthlong transfer window opening at midnight Sunday, the outcome of...

AP News Pronunciation Guide.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: EDITH M. LEDERER F John Fabrizi -- fuh-BREE'-zee Fajr (Hezbollah missile) -- FAH'-zher Fallujah -- fuh-LOO'-juh Falun Gong -- FAH'-luhn goong Steve Farese -- fah-REES' Iyman...

AP News Pronunciation Guide.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: EDITH M. LEDERER N Nabatiyeh -- nah-bah-TEE'-yuh Nabilone -- NAB'-ih-lohn Joseph Nacchio -- NAH'-chee-oh Javid Naghani -- jah-VEED' neh-GAH'-nee Ray Nagin -- NAY'-gin Nahariya...

Belarus signs gas contract with Russia's Gazprom, averting shut-off.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JIM HEINTZ Belarus and Russia's natural gas monopoly signed a five-year contract for gas supplies early Monday, just hours before Russia had threatened to cut off supplies in a price dispute. Under...

Bombs stun Bangkok on New Year's Eve; 2 dead, 34 wounded.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DENIS D. GRAY A series of coordinated bomb attacks stunned the Thai capital as it prepared to ring in 2007, killing two people and canceling festivities for thousands of revelers. Investigators spent New...

In Turkey, questioning Ataturk lands liberal academic in trouble.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: SUZAN FRASER When Atilla Yayla, a professor of political science, questioned the legacy of the revered founder of modern Turkey, nationalists called him a traitor and his university suspended him. He could...

Hamas official cites progress toward prisoner deal, Israel easing checkpoints.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MARK LAVIE Progress has been made toward a deal to trade Palestinian prisoners for a captured Israeli soldier, according to a Hamas spokesman and media reports, but both sides said no agreement is near....

Fighting erupts outside last Islamic stronghold in Somalia.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: NASTEEX DAHIR FARAH Fighting erupted on the outskirts of a militant Islamic movement's last remaining stronghold, where Somalia's prime minister said three al-Qaida suspects wanted in the 1998 bombings of...

AP Interview: Former warlord calls government control of Somali capital an illusion.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY Mohamed Qanyare Afrah was once among the handful of warlords who ruled this city. For more than 10 years, he had thousands of militiamen under his control, keeping an iron grip on the...

Michigan university banishes worn-out words, phrases of 2006 such as 'gone missing'.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: SVEN GUSTAFSON If the media's habit of combining celebrity names didn't cause word watchers enough heartburn in 2006, the past year had plenty of other words and phrases that language purists wish had...

U.S. Navy identifies two of the sailors swept from submarine off British coast.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: SVEN GUSTAFSON The U.S. Navy has released the names of two sailors who days earlier were swept off the deck of an American submarine. Senior Chief Thomas E. Higgins, 45, of Paducah, Kentucky, and Petty...

U.S. Navy identifies two sailors killed after being swept from submarine off British coast.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: SVEN GUSTAFSON The U.S. Navy has released the names of two sailors who days earlier were swept off the deck of an American submarine. Senior Chief Thomas E. Higgins, 45, of Paducah, Kentucky, and Petty...

Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ALISON MUTLER Blue-and-gold EU flags fluttered and fireworks thundered in Romania and Bulgaria at midnight, as the two Balkan nations became the latest countries to join the European Union. "It was...

U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 3,000.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ALISON MUTLER American deaths in the Iraq war reached the sobering milestone of 3,000 even as the Bush administration sought to overhaul its strategy for an unpopular conflict that shows little sign of...

Bomb blast at Madrid airport takes its toll for both government and Basque militants.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DANIEL WOOLLS Take your pick of the players in Spain's Basque conflict and just about everybody comes out losing from a thunderous car-bomb blast that has snuffed the best hopes in years for an end to the...

Though lower than past wars', U.S. troop death rate in Iraq seen as high, polls show.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JEFF DONN A four-figure number hovers 50 feet (15 meters) over a busy Philadelphia street, visible in an office window. It changes maybe once or twice a day like the cost of something. A janitor once...

At grim milestone for U.S. deaths in Iraq war, a time to reflect.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ALLEN G. BREED Perhaps no place illustrates the toll of the Iraq war more vividly than Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. In this "garden of stone," in ruler-straight rows, rest one-tenth of the...

2007 is the year Hong Kong celebrates 10th anniversary of handover to China.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DIKKY SINN As Hong Kong prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule in 2007, the former British colony grapples with several problems that have bedeviled its relationship with...

Hundreds still missing as rescuers scour coast after Indonesian ferry accident.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: IRWAN FIRDAUS Rescue boats scoured the sea close to where an Indonesian ferry sank during a violent storm, picking up scores of exhausted survivors from choppy waters, but at least 400 more remained...

AP News Pronunciation Guide.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: IRWAN FIRDAUS A Abakan -- ah-bah-KAHN' Feroz Abbasi -- feh-ROOZ' ah-BAH'-see Abul Abbas -- AH'-bool ah-BAHS' Mahmoud Abbas -- mahk-MOOD' ah-BAHS' Mahmoud Abdel-Baset -- mah-MOOD'...

From Sydney to Bucharest, fireworks welcome New Year.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: D'ARCY DORAN Fireworks exploded over Sydney's Harbor Bridge as a million onlookers celebrated the New Year. In London, hundreds of thousands of revelers cheered as Big Ben rang in 2007, but the Thai...

China's president: Key for 2007 is to spread growing wealth more fairly.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: SCOTT McDONALD China's President Hu Jintao said that it will be vital in 2007 for his government to spread the country's growing wealth among its have-nots, in a New Year's speech that also toned down the...

At public viewing, chance to honor a president and the political sacrifice he made for the United States.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ANN SANNER Ordinary Americans paid their respects to Gerald R. Ford, walking slowly by his flag-covered casket in the Capitol and remembering how the 38th U.S. president likely sacrificed his career by...

'Babel' actor Garcia Bernal embraces his Mexican roots, says heritage liberates him.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ANN SANNER "Babel" actor Gael Garcia Bernal embraces his Mexican identity, saying it has a liberating effect on his expanding career. "I feel completely free to be whatever," he told the Los Angeles...

Hong Kong bans smoking in restaurants, karaoke lounges, parks, beaches.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DIKKY SINN Hong Kong will become a mostly smoke-free city starting Monday, when a ban on lighting up inside restaurants, workplaces, schools, karaoke lounges and public areas comes into force. Even...

Fans line Rose Parade route for 'Star Wars' tribute.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ANA BEATRIZ CHOLO Spectators staked out front-row seats Sunday for a trip to a galaxy far, far away, as the Rose Parade prepared to present an otherworldly tribute to "Star Wars." Monday's 118th...

US military statistics in Iraq.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MONIKA MATHUR A closer look at US military statistics in Iraq: _Number who died since major combat ended April 30, 2003: 2,861 _Percent who died since major combat ended: 95 percent _Months...

NKorea marks New Year with calls for efforts to strengthen defense capabilities.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: KWANG-TAE KIM North Korea issued a New Year's message on Monday by calling for a stronger defense and celebrating its nuclear capability. The message also urged the North's 1.1 million-strong...

Brazil's Silva to renew commitment to poor in inauguration for second term.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: VIVIAN SEQUERA Brazil's first working-class president is pledging to use his second term to help the nation's poor with jobs, saying he is committed to boosting an economy hamstrung by high interest rates...

Pilots search for stranded motorists in snowed-covered Colorado as winter storm moves east.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JON SARCHE A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads in Colorado searching for stranded travelers after a powerful winter storm piled drifts up to 10 feet (3 meters) high across much of the...

A whiff of corruption mars Chile's squeaky-clean self-image.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: EDUARDO GALLARDO When it comes to corruption in government, Chileans pride themselves on being different from their Latin American neighbors _ a nation where the average citizen would not so much as bribe...

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson says Saddam hanging will worsen violence in Iraq.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: KAREN MATTHEWS The execution of Saddam Hussein will not make the United States safer and will only increase the violence in Iraq, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday. "Killing him intensifies the...

As 2006 ends, at least 3,000 U.S. forces dead, Saddam buried.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: STEVEN R. HURST The U.S. military announced the deaths of two soldiers, raising the number of Americans who have died in the Iraq war to at least 3,000, a somber milestone in the 46-month-old conflict. ...

Cowboys drop second straight, head into NFL playoffs in slump.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: STEVEN R. HURST The Dallas Cowboys lost for the third time in four games on Sunday, falling 39-31 to the Detroit Lions to head into the National Football League playoffs as the top wild-card but with their...

AP Poll: Americans see plenty of gloom to go with the doom in 2007.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DARLENE SUPERVILLE Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster. These are among Americans' grim predictions for the United States in 2007. Only a minority...

E. coli outbreaks have industry, government increasing safety efforts.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: LINDA A. JOHNSON In light of food poisoning outbreaks involving spinach and lettuce, the U.S. government and the produce industry are scrambling to make leafy greens safer before the spring planting...

Tom Petty insists he's not retiring.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: LINDA A. JOHNSON Looks like Tom Petty won't back down after all. The veteran rocker says he's not retiring, despite a Rolling Stone article in July that suggested otherwise. Petty said 2006 was...

Gunmen wound 6 in shooting at party on Chicago's South Side.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DENIS D. GRAY Two masked gunmen burst into a party and opened fire, wounding six men, police said. About 100 people were attending the party early Sunday in a house on the city's South Side when the...

Military nurse who cared for Saddam in jail says former dictator fed birds, seldom complained.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ANN SANNER A military nurse who cared for Saddam Hussein in jail said the deposed dictator saved bread crusts to feed birds and seldom complained to his captors, except when he had legitimate gripes. ...

Report: Three top budget carriers planning alliance for long-haul flights.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ANN SANNER Three of the world's best known budget airlines, including Richard Branson's Virgin, will form a Malaysia-based alliance to fly long-distance routes for cut-rate fares, a news report said...

China's ICBC says will buy Indonesian Bank.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ANN SANNER The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which had the largest-ever IPO in October, said Monday it had agreed to acquire the small Bank Halim of Indonesia in its first such overseas...

NKorea marks New Year with calls for efforts to strengthen defense capabilities.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: KWANG-TAE KIM North Korea issued a New Year's message on Monday by calling for a stronger defense and celebrating its nuclear capability. The message also urged the North's 1.1 million-strong...

Opener Langer to retire after Ashes series.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JOHN PYE The exodus of Australian cricket veterans continued Monday, with opening batsman Justin Langer confirming he will join bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in test retirement after the last Ashes...

South Korea's Ban Ki-moon takes the reins of the United Nations with tough agenda.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: EDITH M. LEDERER South Korean diplomat Ban Ki-moon takes the reins of the United Nations on New Year's Day as the world body's eighth secretary-general with a tough array of global issues to confront _...

New U.N. chief appoints Indian diplomat as cabinet chief and Haitian journalist as spokesperson.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: EDITH M. LEDERER Incoming U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed veteran Indian diplomat Vijay Nambiar as his chief of staff and award-winning Haitian journalist Michele Montas as his spokesperson....

Bombs stun Bangkok on New Year's Eve; 2 dead, 34 wounded.
January 1, 2007... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DENIS D. GRAY A series of coordinated bomb attacks stunned the Thai capital as it prepared to ring on New Year's Eve, killing two people and canceling festivities for thousands of revelers. Investigators...