UPI International Intelligence articles from October 2005

UPI International Intelligence archives from October 2005

Commentary: Talking Turkey.
October 3, 2005... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- It will be an exercise in diplomatic futility and hypocrisy, choreographed to remain on stage, kabuki-like, for 10 years, with a cast of hundreds of diplomats and Eurocrats (EU's...

Where the smart money is going.
October 3, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- American Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the author of that cruelly precise distinction between Old Europe and the New, would feel himself vindicated by the latest World Investment...

Palestinian factions seek understanding.
October 3, 2005... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- An argument between two people at an ATM in Gaza Sunday, deteriorated into a battle between Palestinian policemen and Hamas militants. What exactly happened is disputed. ...

Outside View: From Toronto.
October 3, 2005... Byline: BOUTHAINA SHAABAN TORONTO, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Rain was washing down the windscreen, while my hostess worried her way through the slow traffic towards the lecture hall. Next to her, I was contemplating the type of audience that will be...

Policy Watch: Putin's Quest for Asia.
October 3, 2005... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Increasingly at odds with the United States and even the European Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been seeking allies in Asia, where governments seem less concerned about his...

Politics & Policies: Turkey rejects 'no'.
October 3, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Talks are due to open this Monday in Luxembourg over Turkey's admission into the European Union. For Turkey this will be a major stepping-stone on what has now been a long and tumultuous...

Analysis: Bumper harvest.
October 3, 2005... Byline: LEIGH BALDWIN WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The war against opium production in Afghanistan is failing. Despite concerted effort by Britain, the United States and the Afghan government to reduce poppy cultivation, benign weather has...

Palestinian gunmen storm parliament.
October 3, 2005... GAZA, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Palestinian police stormed parliament building in Gaza Monday to protest the killing of an officer who died fighting with Hamas militants. Witnesses said 50 masked gunmen which they mistook for militants broke into...

India-US sign treaty against terror.
October 3, 2005... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- In a move to give impetus to bilateral relations India and the United States Monday signed a treaty in criminal matters including terrorism. "Union Home Secretary Vijay Kumar Duggal and...

Analysis: China a techno-fascist country?
October 3, 2005... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Upcoming laws on electronic information content are blurring the boundaries between understanding China as an authoritarian or totalitarian type of government. Pockets of Chinese...

Analysis: EU gets cold Turkey.
October 3, 2005... Byline: GARETH HARDING BRUSSELS, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Europeans do not like to admit they are xenophobic, but much of the resistance to starting EU membership talks with Turkey has less to do with geopolitics and more to do with good, old...

Kazakh oil may be bigger than Kuwait.
October 3, 2005... Byline: MARTIN SIEFF WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Kazakhstan's president says his country in a few years will be a bigger oil exporter than Kuwait and a major asset to U.S. global interests. President Nursultan Nazarbayev's speech to...

French unrest tests PM.
October 3, 2005... PARIS, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Two events underscore the fact that Dominique de Villepin's fleeting honeymoon is over, and that the time has come for him to prove whether he has the right stuff to lead the government, and possibly the country. The...

Outside View: Bush and the China Challenge.
October 3, 2005... Byline: PETER MORICI COLLEGE PARK, Md., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese efforts to leverage its economic clout into broader diplomatic influence are upsetting the Bush administration. In a nutshell,...

UPI Energy Watch.
October 3, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Top officials inaugurate Sakhalin-1 project ExxonMobil's $12-plus billion Sakhalin-1 came online Oct. 1. Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko, Indian Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar...

Koreas mingle in North's mountain.
October 3, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE MOUNT KUMGANG, North Korea, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Xu Baokang, a reporter of the Chinese People's Daily, has traveled to this mountain resort on North Korea's southeast coast several times during he was dispatched as a...

N.Korea covered by slogans.
October 3, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE MOUNT KUMGANG, North Korea, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A visit to North Korea's Mount Kumgang or Diamond, gives South Korean visitors a rare view at the fabled valley in the peninsula's most scenic mountain on the east coast....

Outside View: Why Turkey and why now?
October 3, 2005... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- More than any other time in the past few decades, Turkey can play a pivotal role in advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and become a major political and economic force in the...

U.S. and Oman reach free-trade deal.
October 3, 2005... Byline: DONNA BORAK WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The Bush administration announced Monday successful conclusion of a free-trade agreement with Oman that will eliminate all trade barriers between the two countries. "What we signed today...

Boat people beset Malta.
October 3, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Boat people wash ashore on the coast of the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta in an almost nightly occurrence. This desperate flotsam, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, will most likely...

Review of the Arab press.
October 4, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Oct. 4: Al-Hayat Tuesday quoted Saad Hariri as saying Syrian forces left his country without allowing Lebanon to rebuild its security services. Hariri, the son of slain former Prime...

Analysis: Austrians hold up Turks 2nd time.
October 4, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The Austrians have now managed to stop the Turks from entering Europe twice: Once at the gates of Vienna in 1683, and the second time at the gates of Luxembourg on Oct. 3, 2005. Talks...

Germany: Coalition forming not in sight.
October 4, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- A day after Germans thought Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had opened the door to swift coalition forming, Social Democratic party head Franz Muentefering slammed it shut again....

Blasts unlikely to affect SAARC meeting.
October 4, 2005... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation should not be put off again because of a fear of serial bomb blasts across Bangladesh and threats by Islamic militants that...

Eye on Europe: Embracing Turkey, EU style.
October 4, 2005... Byline: GARETH HARDING BRUSSELS, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- It may have been messy, over 40 years in the making and in the teeth of widespread public skepticism, but the decision to open membership talks with Turkey Monday is one of the boldest and...

Outside View:Double act in U.S., Australia.
October 4, 2005... Byline: JOHN ELSEGOOD PERTH, Australia, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- While American liberals and conservatives both agonize over President George W. Bush's latest Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, 59, to determine whether she will tip the balance...

Islamic free trade area urged.
October 4, 2005... Byline: United Press International WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Muslim countries have agreed to start building an Islamic free trade area in a bid to boost their economic development. At a 3-day World Islamic Economic Forum which has...

Analysis: Anger on French streets.
October 4, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- It was a day for anger and workers' grievances, but the atmosphere at the Place de la Republique in northern Paris Tuesday afternoon was festive. Waves of chattering demonstrators poured...

Can Chinese societies be civil societies?
October 4, 2005... Byline: KATHLEEN HWANG HONG KONG, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- China is a long way from establishing a civil society and Taiwan, though considerably ahead of the mainland, also has a long way to go, media experts said Tuesday. Among...

UPI Energy Watch.
October 4, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Most firms ill-equipped to respond to terrorism While most companies are unprepared to respond to emergencies wrought by terrorism, some Fairfield County firms say they are comfortable with their plans. ...

Clarke: I'm the 'big beast' to beat Brown.
October 4, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE BLACKPOOL, England, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Conservative leadership hopeful Ken Clarke has told party delegates he is the man who can take on Tony Blair's anointed successor Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown at the...

Analysis: Sharon, Abbas, had not bad year.
October 5, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- By coincidence Israelis and Palestinians are this week observing the holiest days of the year at the same time. Jewish people began celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the New Year -- 5766 in the...

Review of the Arab press.
October 5, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Oct. 5: The Jordan Times Wednesday welcomed a European Union decision to start negotiations with Turkey for a full EU membership as a "breakthrough for both Turkey and Europe." The...

Analysis: Samsung at risks of losing sheen.
October 5, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Samsung Group, South Korea's biggest industrial conglomerate, is enjoying glittering global image as a technology giant in overseas markets, backed by its booming mobile handsets and chip...

Analysis: German media in a crisis?
October 5, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Looming conglomerates, police raids at magazines and a questionable pre-election coverage: Is Germany's media landscape in a crisis? Schroeder -- once termed the "media...

Walker's World - The West's big threat.
October 5, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- In the grim scenario that opens this dramatic, hard-hitting and important book, the growing demographic and political influence of Europe's Islamic minorities leads the continent's Muslim...

Judge profiles new terrorist generation.
October 5, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- France's top antiterrorist judge has painted a chilling picture of a new generation of Islamists terrorists in the country. They are younger and more malleable. They include women and...

UPI Energy Watch.
October 5, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Energy Dept. launches conservation plan The Department of Energy is looking to initiate an energy conservation plan to deal with public fears about soaring energy costs, spurred by hurricanes Katrina and...

Iraqis slam new constitution.
October 5, 2005... Byline: LEIGH BALDWIN WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- As Iraqis prepare for a referendum on a new constitution, doubts of the document's viability surfaced. "This constitution could be the straw that broke the camel's back and leads to...

Tory hopeful pledges new European vision.
October 5, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE BLACKPOOL, England, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Conservative leadership hopeful Liam Fox called Wednesday for a "bold new vision for Europe," positing himself as a rightwing candidate who would build a competitive Britain...

Davis: I'll restore Tories' core values.
October 5, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE BLACKPOOL, England, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Conservative leadership favorite David Davis has laid out his stall as a right-wing candidate that would take the party back to its traditional principles of Britishness and...

Politics & Policies: Madame president?
October 6, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- "Commander-in-Chief," ABC's new political drama starring Geena Davis as the first female president in American history is the ideal show to address the nation's political daydreaming. At...

Analysis: Big news from N. Korea?
October 6, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- North Korea watchers in Seoul are paying close attention to possible breaking news from the communist nation over the weekend or early next week. Government officials and analysts in South...

Analysis: Training Iraqi army a slow process.
October 6, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The Bush administration's Iraq exit strategy is that the coming elections will produce a democratic government, and that a sizeable portion of Iraq's security forces reaches Level One,...

Review of the Arab press.
October 6, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Oct. 6: Al-Ghad commented Thursday Arabs were partly to blame for the growing Iranian influence in Iraq. Independent Jordanian paper said while Arab fears on such an Iranian...

Heated energy debate in Germany.
October 6, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- An electrifying battle is brewing in Germany, and that can be taken quite literally: Earlier this week, Germany's two largest energy providers, RWE and E.on, announced they...

Interview: EU Liberal chief Graham Watson.
October 6, 2005... Byline: GARETH HARDING BRUSSELS, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Graham Watson is the leader of the Liberal grouping in the European Parliament, the EU assembly's third-largest political force. In the run up to a summit of EU leaders in London later this...

Walker's World: A new flatbed moment.
October 6, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The Bush Presidency is in crisis, with lame duck status looming fast, and needs another flatbed moment. But the President's speech on the West on terrorism and the prospects in Iraq did not...

Analysis: If in doubt, bash Brussels.
October 6, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- France appears to be leading a contradictory policy when it comes to economic liberalization: Even as the center-right government pushes through unpopular reforms at home, French President...

Blair warns Iran on Iraq bombings.
October 6, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has issued a stark warning to Iran not to interfere with Iraqi affairs, after the British ambassador to Iraq accused the Islamic republic of supplying...

UPI Energy Watch.
October 6, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Chinese firms ink major deals with counterparts Major Chinese oil firms are enhancing ties with foreign counterparts as they look to meet China's soaring energy demands by boosting gas exploration projects....

Israeli judges outlaw army practice.
October 6, 2005... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Israel's High Court of Justice Thursday outlawed the army's practice of sending Palestinians to houses in which suspected militants were hiding in order to warn people there to get...

Analysis: What's the status of Kosovo?
October 7, 2005... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999 yet legally remains a province of Serbia-Montenegro, to the chagrin of the ethnic-Albanian majority. However, a report on...

Politics & Policies:Syria frets UN verdict.
October 7, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Lebanon and Syria are awaiting -- somewhat with apprehension -- the release of a report by Detlev Mehlis, the U.N.'s German investigator who is looking into the assassination of former...

Analysis: Who gets what in Germany?
October 7, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- While both German parties vowed to leak no information about the leadership summit that will extend over the weekend, political speculation is ripe in and outside Berlin. Who...

Analysis: India's no to Kashmir formulas.
October 7, 2005... Byline: KUSHAL JEENA NEW DELHI, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- India cannot afford to accept Pakistan's suggestion of joint control over the strife-torn northern Himalayan State of Jammu and Kashmir as it would amount to New Delhi loosing overwhelming...

Indian PM says no compromise on terrorism.
October 7, 2005... NEW DELHI, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there was no question of any compromise with terrorists in the country. He said there was a need to have competent, just, accountable and humane police forces. Singh...

Analysis: Venezuela's economic war.
October 7, 2005... Byline: KRISHNADEV CALAMUR WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Two key economic decisions by the government of Venezuela's populist president, Hugo Chavez, could be signs of an impending economic war against the United States, which is...

Reconciling religous misconceptions.
October 7, 2005... Byline: RACHEL OSWALD AND LEIGH BALDWIN WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Relations between Muslims and Americans are a growing concern for Americans, a recent survey revealed. A study released in September by the non-partisan group Public...

UPI Energy Watch.
October 7, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Mexican crude shipments temporarily suspended Pemex oil shipments to the United States were temporarily suspended after hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Stan in the Gulf, a Pemex official told local media. ...

Outside View: Bali not linked to Iraq.
October 7, 2005... Byline: JOHN ELSEGOOD PERTH, Australia, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- "Muslims who don't hate America sin. What I mean by America is George Bush's regime. There is no belief if one doesn't hate America." These are the words of "holy man" Abu Bakar...

Israeli, PA offcials prepare summit.
October 7, 2005... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials Friday agreed to resume meetings of several joint committees and to get together, themselves, at least one more time to prepare a long...

Analysis: Hu charts China's 5-year future.
October 7, 2005... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- China's government and Communist Party elite will gather Saturday to finalize the blueprint for the country's policy direction during the next five years. The fifth plenum of the 16th...

Outside View: Clinton's global initiative.
October 7, 2005... Byline: JAMES J. ZOGBY WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Bill Clinton was a great president, who appears to be on the path to becoming a great ex-president. Despite personal foibles for which he paid dearly during his eight years in office,...

Spain reflects more assertive judiciary.
October 7, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH BRYANT PARIS, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The decision by Spain's highest Constitution Court this week that it can judge human rights abuses committed elsewhere in the world -- and not necessarily involving Spanish citizens -- sends...

Outside View: A different path after 9/11.
October 7, 2005... Byline: MONA ELTAHAWY CAIRO, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Osama bin Laden did the Muslim world a favor. Yes, I am serious. And no, I am not a Muslim militant who is celebrating an imagined victory against Dar al-Harb. Bin Laden and his terrorist...

Walker's World: The Nobel Curse.
October 7, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- One must hope for the best, but it is hard not to fear the worst for the cause of controlling nuclear weapons now that the International Atomic Energy Agency has fallen under the curse that...

Analysis: An open race for the Tory future.
October 7, 2005... Byline: HANNAH K. STRANGE LONDON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- As Michael Howard steps down as leader of the British Conservative Party Friday, the race to succeed him has taken on a far different shape to that of just five days ago. When party...

Analysis: IAEA, Nobel and the U.N.
October 7, 2005... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The United Nations Friday celebrated awarding of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize to its nuclear watchdog agency, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief,...

Asian quake may claim more than 2,000.
October 8, 2005... NEW DELHI, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- At least 1,700 people were killed and many more injured in a massive earthquake that hit northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan Saturday morning. The Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Vijay Bakaya told United...

Quake toll climbs as Musharraf seeks help.
October 9, 2005... Byline: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf warned Sunday the nation was facing "difficulties" in the aftermath of a devastating quake that struck a day earlier and called...

Analysis: 'Worst disaster in 100 years'.
October 9, 2005... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Seismic experts believe Saturday's devastating earthquake in Pakistan was caused by the same mechanism that created last December's tsunami, according to reports published in Pakistan's...

Analysis: Bishops propose priests wed.
October 10, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI's first synod of bishops was supposed to focus on the Eucharist, the sacrament at the core of the Roman Catholic faith in which a priest transforms bread and wine into...

Outsode View: Secularism vs religion.
October 10, 2005... Byline: YOUSSEF M. IBRAHIM NEW YORK, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Bc-outsideview-ibrahim Outsode View: Secularism vs religion I know that it is almost sacrilegious in the Arab and Muslim world to raise the issue of separation of mosque and...

Walker's World: Lame ducks and after.
October 10, 2005... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- We are entering an unusual era of mass change looming among heads of government the world over, concentrated in the leading industrialized countries that make up the G-8. This means that...

Policy Watch: Moscow's multipolar mirage.
October 10, 2005... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- One of Russia's leading geopolitical thinkers, Aleksandr Dugin, outlined his vision of a "multipolar" world in a speech in Washington, D.C. on October 5. Dugin advocates the creation of a...

Review of the Arab press.
October 10, 2005... AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Oct. 10: Jordan's al-Rai Monday quoted King Abdullah as saying he planned to visit Muslim Asian countries to talk to leaders on joining what he said was his "campaign to support" Islam....

Analysis: N.Korea marks Party birthday.
October 10, 2005... Byline: JONG-HEON LEE SEOUL, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- North Korea did not announce any major polices or its next leader on the founding anniversary of its ruling communist party on Monday, betraying widespread outside expectations. The...

Merkel named first woman chancellor.
October 10, 2005... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- German Conservative leader Angela Merkel announced Monday that an agreement was reached with political rivals to form a "grand coalition" making her Germany's first female...

Gas subsidies drain Iraqi economy.
October 10, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The pernicious problem of cheap gasoline subsidies increasingly draining significant revenue from the Iraqi economy can be dealt with only in one way: time. Iraq's former Oil...

Management stressed in Hu's five year plan.
October 10, 2005... Byline: EDWARD LANFRANCO BEIJING, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Everyone interested in understanding the trajectory of a "rising China" is paying close attention to the outcome of the critical gathering now underway in Beijing. The fifth plenary...

UPI Energy Watch.
October 10, 2005... Byline: ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU Kazakhstan to join U.S.-backed oil pipeline Experts from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan prepared a framework agreement whereby Astana would join the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project. "At the level...

Corridors of Power: The case for Turkey.
October 10, 2005... Byline: ROLAND FLAMINI WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- When the European Union decided to accept an application for membership from Turkey in August 2005, the Turkish delegation in Brussels hosted an impromptu celebration and broke out -- the...

Analysis: U.N. and South Asia quake relief.
October 10, 2005... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The initial response from the United Nations to the South Asia Earthquake Saturday came early and was a simple statement from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but it set in motion a...