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Energy crisis threatens U.S. survival, Gore says

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The United States should be making all of its electricity with renewable and carbon-free energy in 10 years, former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday.

The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk, Gore said.

In a speech at Washington’s Constitution Hall, Gore touched on an array of the nation’s current woes, saying the economic, environmental and national security crises are all related.

I don’t remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously, Gore said.

To begin to fix all the problems, Gore said, the answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels.

Gore called on the country to produce all of its electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources in 10 years, a goal he compared to President Kennedy’s challenge for the country to put a man on the moon in the 1960s.

Gore chastised those who have proposed opening new areas for oil drilling as a solution to U.S. energy problems.

It is only a truly dysfunctional system that would buy into the perverse logic that the short-term answer to high gasoline prices is drilling for more oil 10 years from now, Gore said.

New demand from places like China means oil supplies won’t be able to meet increasing demand, Gore said.

The way to bring gas prices down is to end our dependence on oil and use the renewable sources that can give us the equivalent of $1 a gallon gasoline, the former vice president and Nobel laureate said. Read Gore’s full speech

After losing the presidential election to then-Texas Gov. George Bush in 2000, Gore returned to the nation’s political main stage with An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film detailing global warming’s effects on the planet, in 2006. The widely acclaimed film went on to win an Academy Award for best documentary in 2007.

In the movie, Gore explains how the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have grown exponentially in the last few decades and how that has lead to changes in the Earth’s climate, such as shrinking polar ice caps and an increase in the number of hurricanes and other violent storms.

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Grain-export tax defeat a setback for Argentine leader

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s Senate rejected a controversial grain-export tax package early Thursday, dealing a blow to the government on a key issue that has led to nationwide farm strikes and regional food shortages.

Lawmakers voted against the government-backed bill 37-36 following 17 hours of debate. Voting was tied until Vice President Julio Cobos — who is also leader of the Senate — broke the deadlock with a deciding ballot.

I think today is the most difficult day of my life, Cobos said. They tell me I must go along with the government for institutional reasons, but my heart tells me otherwise. May history judge me, my vote is not for, it’s against.

Cobos already had expressed concern about the motives behind tying the tax to the value of grain on the international markets.

President Cristina Fernandez decreed a more than 10 percent sliding-scale increase in export taxes on soy and other grains in March in a bid to trap farm products on the Argentine market and drive down prices.

Cobo’s vote could unleash a political crisis in the government. The vice president belongs to the Radical Civic Union party that traditionally has opposed the Peronist party headed by Fernandez.

The proposed measure led to a major confrontation between the government and the agricultural sector, one of the most powerful economic blocs in Argentina.

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Pope lauds apology to Aborigines

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI praised the Australian government Thursday for its courageous’ apology to the country’s indigenous Aborigines for past injustices, saying it offered hope to all the world’s disadvantaged peoples.

The remarks came as the pope began a busy day of public appearances for the Roman Catholic church’s youth festival, which has drawn more than 200,000 pilgrims to Sydney from across the world.

At an official welcoming ceremony, Benedict said Australia’s original inhabitants were an essential part of the country’s cultural landscape and cited their plight since the first British convict settlers arrived 220 years ago.

Thanks to the Australian government’s courageous decision to acknowledge the injustices committed against the indigenous peoples in the past, concrete steps are now being taken to achieve reconciliation based on mutual respect, Benedict said.

It was right to try to raise Aborigines out of poverty and raise their health and education standards to the equal of other Australians, he said.

In February, new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized to Aborigines as one of his first official acts after being elected to power. He has made closing a gap between indigenous people and other Australians a priority of his government.

Aborigines are an often-marginalized minority of about 450,000 in a population of 21 million. They are the country’s poorest group, with the highest rates of unemployment, illiteracy, incarceration and alcohol abuse, and a life expectancy 17 years shorter than other Australians.

In 2001, John Paul II issued a formal apology to the indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands for injustices perpetrated by Catholic missionaries.

In his remarks, Benedict also praised Australia for contributing to peacekeeping operations and touched on the problem of global warming — an issue he has signaled he wants Catholics to think more about.

With many thousands of young people visiting Australia at this time, it is appropriate to reflect upon he kind of world we are handing to the future generations, Benedict, who has been dubbed the green pope by some observers.

The 81-year-old pontiff emerged Thursday from three days of seclusion — a short holiday to help him recover from the more than 20-hour trip from Rome — to join World Youth Day. The six-day event is designed to inspire a new generation of Catholics. Watch Australian PM Kevin Rudd greet the pope upon his arrival

He ended the respite with a visit Wednesday from some of Australia’s exotic animals. Wildlife officers from the city zoo brought a red-necked wallaby, a spiny echidna, a blue-tongued lizard and other beasts to the retreat after the pope expressed interest in seeing some Australian animals. Vatican-released video showed a smiling Benedict stroking a koala and scratching it behind the ear as it was held by a ranger.

After his official welcome from dignitaries including Rudd at Government House in Sydney, Benedict was driven across the city’s landmark Harbour Bridge to kneel in prayer at a chapel devoted to Mary MacKillop. Many Catholics here hope she will be named as Australia’s first saint during the pope’s visit because of her work caring for children during the last century.

Benedict will get a traditional welcome from Aboriginal elders at a waterfront park later Thursday, and will then take a boat ride past the Sydney’s Opera house to a former cargo wharf where he will deliver the first of several addresses to a huge crowd of pilgrims. He will then make a slow procession through downtown in the popemobile — a trip that has virtually shut down parts of the city.

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Malaysia’s Anwar released on bail

(CNN) — Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been released on bail after he was arrested Wednesday for questioning about a sodomy case, Malaysia’s home affairs minister told CNN.

The arrest, which the U.S. State Department said raises serious questions and concerns, is the second time Anwar, one of Asia’s best-known opposition leaders, has been incarcerated on charges including sodomy and comes after a coalition he led gained seats in the country’s parliamentary elections.

Investigators arrested Anwar about 12:55 p.m. (12:55 a.m. ET) Wednesday as he returned from Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur, said his personal lawyer, Siva Rasah.

Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar told CNN that Anwar was released at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

A 23-year-old male aide has accused Anwar, 60, of sodomizing him at a luxury apartment in June. Anwar has said the allegations are meant to tamp down his political gains.

Sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by 20 years in prison in the majority-Muslim country.

A loose coalition of opposition parties — with Anwar at the helm — won 82 of 222 parliamentary seats in elections in March. It was only the second time in the country’s history that the ruling party failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed to amend Malaysia’s constitution.

Anwar spent six years in prison after being convicted on corruption charges in 1999 and on sodomy charges involving his wife’s former driver in 2000. Malaysia’s highest court overturned the sodomy conviction and ordered him released from prison in 2004.

He left prison in a wheelchair due to injuries he blamed on a 1998 beating by Malaysia’s then-police chief.

International observers, including the State department, expressed concern about Wednesday’s arrest.

We believe the detention today of prominent Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim raises serious questions and concerns, said department spokesman Sean McCormack in a written statement. We urge Malaysian authorities to resolve this matter in a manner that builds confidence in the impartial rule of law in Malaysia.

Albar, the Malaysian minister, said politics played no role in the arrest.

Anwar is not above the law; everyone is within the law, Albar said to CNN in a telephone interview. We will look at it purely as a case of criminality that the government needs to investigate.

He cited opposition gains in the March elections and Anwar’s relatively short stay before he was freed on bail as evidence Malaysia’s government is not out to get the politician. He said police took two weeks to investigate the charges against him before an arrest was made.

We went slowly, knowing the international community is observing us on this — knowing his popularity on the international level, Albar said. To be fair, you must give the complainant the chance that he’s being heard. It is the right of a citizen. It is the police’s duty to investigate.

found here.

Malaysia’s Anwar released on bail

(CNN) — Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been released on bail after he was arrested Wednesday for questioning about a sodomy case, Malaysia’s home affairs minister told CNN.

The arrest, which the U.S. State Department said raises serious questions and concerns, is the second time Anwar, one of Asia’s best-known opposition leaders, has been incarcerated on charges including sodomy and comes after a coalition he led gained seats in the country’s parliamentary elections.

Investigators arrested Anwar about 12:55 p.m. (12:55 a.m. ET) Wednesday as he returned from Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur, said his personal lawyer, Siva Rasah.

Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar told CNN that Anwar was released at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

A 23-year-old male aide has accused Anwar, 60, of sodomizing him at a luxury apartment in June. Anwar has said the allegations are meant to tamp down his political gains.

Sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by 20 years in prison in the majority-Muslim country.

A loose coalition of opposition parties — with Anwar at the helm — won 82 of 222 parliamentary seats in elections in March. It was only the second time in the country’s history that the ruling party failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed to amend Malaysia’s constitution.

Anwar spent six years in prison after being convicted on corruption charges in 1999 and on sodomy charges involving his wife’s former driver in 2000. Malaysia’s highest court overturned the sodomy conviction and ordered him released from prison in 2004.

He left prison in a wheelchair due to injuries he blamed on a 1998 beating by Malaysia’s then-police chief.

International observers, including the State department, expressed concern about Wednesday’s arrest.

We believe the detention today of prominent Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim raises serious questions and concerns, said department spokesman Sean McCormack in a written statement. We urge Malaysian authorities to resolve this matter in a manner that builds confidence in the impartial rule of law in Malaysia.

Albar, the Malaysian minister, said politics played no role in the arrest.

Anwar is not above the law; everyone is within the law, Albar said to CNN in a telephone interview. We will look at it purely as a case of criminality that the government needs to investigate.

He cited opposition gains in the March elections and Anwar’s relatively short stay before he was freed on bail as evidence Malaysia’s government is not out to get the politician. He said police took two weeks to investigate the charges against him before an arrest was made.

We went slowly, knowing the international community is observing us on this — knowing his popularity on the international level, Albar said. To be fair, you must give the complainant the chance that he’s being heard. It is the right of a citizen. It is the police’s duty to investigate.

found here.