This one a 6.1 magnitude during early morning hours. Things are going from bad to worse over there and they can certainly use all the help they can get.
If you haven't donated a few dollars to help the people of Haiti, please consider giving what you can to your entity of choice that's collecting for the disaster relief effort. If you're not sure who to donate to, please consider Pan American Relief, the disaster relief arm of the Pan American Development Foundation, an excellent organization that does exceptional work in the region, including Cuba, and which we have worked with before. You can also donate to Pan American Relief via telephone: 1 (877) 572-4484.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Not the Big 12 opener Kansas had envisioned
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Six years ago when Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins came calling, coach Bonnie Henrickson couldn't pass up the opportunity he offered. He wanted her to start a Jayhawks renaissance.
Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley dropped in 43 points Saturday to help stun No. 5 Baylor 78-65.
Perkins, who'd overseen the rise of UConn as a national championship program in women's basketball, saw an opportunity for big things in Lawrence, Kan. While at UConn, he'd admired the success of Henrickson at Virginia Tech. So when longtime KU coach Marian Washington retired during the 2004 season, Perkins knew right away where he'd look for her successor.
We bring up the history because, on this frigid Saturday in the Midwest, Henrickson might just wish she were still in Blacksburg, Va. She watched her Jayhawks play about as badly as a team with talent can play, falling to Kansas State 59-35.
It wasn't the only upset on the Big 12's opening day: Oklahoma State ended No. 5 Baylor's 13-game winning streak with a 78-65 victory behind 43 points from senior guard Andrea Riley.
She has become known for such offensive pyrotechnics, and Saturday she made a statement that Big 12 favorite Baylor and freshman sensation Brittney Griner are not unconquerable.
KU's Big 12 player of the year candidate, Danielle McCray, hoped to open conference season in similar dominant style. Instead, she and her Kansas teammates got dominated.
That the Jayhawks had their beaks handed to them by their in-state rivals -- it was K-State's 17th win in the last 18 meetings with KU -- was bad enough for Henrickson. That KU, which was picked to finish tied for second with Texas in the Big 12, looked so atrociously awful in the loss made it worse. No. 20 Texas, meanwhile, also lost its league opener, 91-70 to 10th-ranked Texas A&M.
The Jayhawks missed their first 11 shots from the field. But when they'd rallied to trail by just two points at halftime, it seemed they were about to get it in gear. Instead, the entire engine fell out of the car in the second half for KU.
After the break, the Jayhawks missed their first 14 shots. It was as if the rim at KU's end had turned into the polar ice cap, with shots clanking and bouncing away. When, that is, the Jayhawks actually got off shots. They also turned it over a lot, too.
By the time freshman Monica Engelman made the Jayhawks' first basket of the second half, K-State had a 25-point lead and the purple crowd at Bramlage Coliseum wasn't even going really berserk. And not because K-State's fans don't love beating KU, mind you, because that's what these folks live for.
There is a Jayhawks billboard alongside Interstate 70 between Topeka and Manhattan, and I always wonder why KU bothers with this particular spot. It's just a little too close to Manhattan for K-Staters to allow it to go unmolested. Something Wildcat-related is usually spray-painted over it; this year, it's the acronym "EMAW."
(That stands for the K-State slogan, "Every Man a Wildcat!" which, obviously, goes back to the days when there wasn't women's athletics at K-State. Now it probably should be EPAW -- Every Person a Wildcat! -- or maybe EHAW -- Every Human a Wildcat! -- but we won't hold our breath waiting for that change.)
Anyway, of course the Wildcats fans love beating the Jayhawks more than anybody else, but … in this case, I think the K-Staters were stunned it was happening so easily. They'd come out in single-digit temperatures to cheer on a gritty group of just nine players, led by seniors Ashley Sweat and Kari Kincaid, trying to hang with the favored Jayhawks. They weren't expecting to almost feel sorry for KU for playing so badly.
K-State lost three starters off last season's team; one of them, Atlanta Dream point guard Shalee Lehning, was just named an assistant coach at K-State this past week. So Sweat and Kincaid are playing with three freshmen, three sophomores and one junior.
KU and K-State had one common opponent during nonconference play: Creighton. KU beat the Bluejays by 21 points, K-State lost to them by nine. Nobody -- and I mean nobody -- expected K-State to clobber Kansas on Saturday.
Now, was the idea of a Wildcats victory totally far out? No, because as stated, they've dominated the series the past eight years, and KU has seemed to freak out a lot coming here. But even those who thought coach Deb Patterson's bunch might win figured it would have to be a squeaker that went down to the wire. Not a complete blowout by the Wildcats.
Afterward, the Jayhawks had no explanation for what happened. They said they weren't sick. They said a disappointing road loss at New Mexico State last Sunday wasn't hanging with them.
For her part, Henrickson sounded as though she had no idea what was wrong with her team. She expressed disappointment with seniors McCray (10 points, 3-of-14 shooting) and Sade Morris (zero points, zero rebounds, 0-of-4 shooting) for not providing leadership the way that Sweat (24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists) did for K-State.
"She's a tough kid -- that's the poise you want in your seniors," Henrickson said of Sweat, adding she told her seniors, "'You've left me speechless probably for the first time in my career. I don't know what to say. That you two could be that bad … how can we help you? What do you need from us?' They don't know what to say. They're great kids; they don't intend to come in and do this."
The Jayhawks lost their Big 12 opener at Kansas State by 33 points last year. So McCray and Morris finish their careers having never won in Manhattan. KU hasn't been victorious here since 2001, and the Jayhawks haven't made the NCAA tournament since 2000.
It's not as if the Jayhawks' hopes of returning to the Big Dance went down the drain Saturday -- it was just the first conference game, after all. But it was a game most people expected them to win, and by a comfortable margin.
"We've got to be resilient, we've got two days to get ready and find a way to beat Oklahoma State," Henrickson said of the Jayhawks' game Tuesday (ESPNU, noon ET). "You have to let it go, and not let it drag you down."
But losing big to K-State and next having to face a red-hot Riley? Definitely not the way the Jayhawks wanted to begin Big 12 play.
Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley dropped in 43 points Saturday to help stun No. 5 Baylor 78-65.
Perkins, who'd overseen the rise of UConn as a national championship program in women's basketball, saw an opportunity for big things in Lawrence, Kan. While at UConn, he'd admired the success of Henrickson at Virginia Tech. So when longtime KU coach Marian Washington retired during the 2004 season, Perkins knew right away where he'd look for her successor.
We bring up the history because, on this frigid Saturday in the Midwest, Henrickson might just wish she were still in Blacksburg, Va. She watched her Jayhawks play about as badly as a team with talent can play, falling to Kansas State 59-35.
It wasn't the only upset on the Big 12's opening day: Oklahoma State ended No. 5 Baylor's 13-game winning streak with a 78-65 victory behind 43 points from senior guard Andrea Riley.
She has become known for such offensive pyrotechnics, and Saturday she made a statement that Big 12 favorite Baylor and freshman sensation Brittney Griner are not unconquerable.
KU's Big 12 player of the year candidate, Danielle McCray, hoped to open conference season in similar dominant style. Instead, she and her Kansas teammates got dominated.
That the Jayhawks had their beaks handed to them by their in-state rivals -- it was K-State's 17th win in the last 18 meetings with KU -- was bad enough for Henrickson. That KU, which was picked to finish tied for second with Texas in the Big 12, looked so atrociously awful in the loss made it worse. No. 20 Texas, meanwhile, also lost its league opener, 91-70 to 10th-ranked Texas A&M.
The Jayhawks missed their first 11 shots from the field. But when they'd rallied to trail by just two points at halftime, it seemed they were about to get it in gear. Instead, the entire engine fell out of the car in the second half for KU.
After the break, the Jayhawks missed their first 14 shots. It was as if the rim at KU's end had turned into the polar ice cap, with shots clanking and bouncing away. When, that is, the Jayhawks actually got off shots. They also turned it over a lot, too.
By the time freshman Monica Engelman made the Jayhawks' first basket of the second half, K-State had a 25-point lead and the purple crowd at Bramlage Coliseum wasn't even going really berserk. And not because K-State's fans don't love beating KU, mind you, because that's what these folks live for.
There is a Jayhawks billboard alongside Interstate 70 between Topeka and Manhattan, and I always wonder why KU bothers with this particular spot. It's just a little too close to Manhattan for K-Staters to allow it to go unmolested. Something Wildcat-related is usually spray-painted over it; this year, it's the acronym "EMAW."
(That stands for the K-State slogan, "Every Man a Wildcat!" which, obviously, goes back to the days when there wasn't women's athletics at K-State. Now it probably should be EPAW -- Every Person a Wildcat! -- or maybe EHAW -- Every Human a Wildcat! -- but we won't hold our breath waiting for that change.)
Anyway, of course the Wildcats fans love beating the Jayhawks more than anybody else, but … in this case, I think the K-Staters were stunned it was happening so easily. They'd come out in single-digit temperatures to cheer on a gritty group of just nine players, led by seniors Ashley Sweat and Kari Kincaid, trying to hang with the favored Jayhawks. They weren't expecting to almost feel sorry for KU for playing so badly.
K-State lost three starters off last season's team; one of them, Atlanta Dream point guard Shalee Lehning, was just named an assistant coach at K-State this past week. So Sweat and Kincaid are playing with three freshmen, three sophomores and one junior.
KU and K-State had one common opponent during nonconference play: Creighton. KU beat the Bluejays by 21 points, K-State lost to them by nine. Nobody -- and I mean nobody -- expected K-State to clobber Kansas on Saturday.
Now, was the idea of a Wildcats victory totally far out? No, because as stated, they've dominated the series the past eight years, and KU has seemed to freak out a lot coming here. But even those who thought coach Deb Patterson's bunch might win figured it would have to be a squeaker that went down to the wire. Not a complete blowout by the Wildcats.
Afterward, the Jayhawks had no explanation for what happened. They said they weren't sick. They said a disappointing road loss at New Mexico State last Sunday wasn't hanging with them.
For her part, Henrickson sounded as though she had no idea what was wrong with her team. She expressed disappointment with seniors McCray (10 points, 3-of-14 shooting) and Sade Morris (zero points, zero rebounds, 0-of-4 shooting) for not providing leadership the way that Sweat (24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists) did for K-State.
"She's a tough kid -- that's the poise you want in your seniors," Henrickson said of Sweat, adding she told her seniors, "'You've left me speechless probably for the first time in my career. I don't know what to say. That you two could be that bad … how can we help you? What do you need from us?' They don't know what to say. They're great kids; they don't intend to come in and do this."
The Jayhawks lost their Big 12 opener at Kansas State by 33 points last year. So McCray and Morris finish their careers having never won in Manhattan. KU hasn't been victorious here since 2001, and the Jayhawks haven't made the NCAA tournament since 2000.
It's not as if the Jayhawks' hopes of returning to the Big Dance went down the drain Saturday -- it was just the first conference game, after all. But it was a game most people expected them to win, and by a comfortable margin.
"We've got to be resilient, we've got two days to get ready and find a way to beat Oklahoma State," Henrickson said of the Jayhawks' game Tuesday (ESPNU, noon ET). "You have to let it go, and not let it drag you down."
But losing big to K-State and next having to face a red-hot Riley? Definitely not the way the Jayhawks wanted to begin Big 12 play.
The Buried Life List
The Buried Life follows four young men who fix up a bus and drive it across America. Ben Nemtin is the leader, Dave Lingwood as the funny guy, Duncan Penn as the problem solver, and Jonnie Penn as the brains.
The four travel to Beverly Hills for episode one. Their mission is to crash a party at the Playboy mansion. The Buried Life team gets help from people they meet on the road to help them accomplish their goals.
The Buried Life is different from other reality television in that the four shoot, produce and edit the show themselves. The series isn’t faux reality like Big Brother, filming in a specially constructed house on a studio lot. An objective with TheBuried Life is to keep it real.
The four travel to Beverly Hills for episode one. Their mission is to crash a party at the Playboy mansion. The Buried Life team gets help from people they meet on the road to help them accomplish their goals.
The Buried Life is different from other reality television in that the four shoot, produce and edit the show themselves. The series isn’t faux reality like Big Brother, filming in a specially constructed house on a studio lot. An objective with TheBuried Life is to keep it real.
My Life as Liz
My Life as Liz is the newest drama from MTV . This show explores high school life through the eyes of Liz Lee, a precocious, sometimes sarcastic, always witty teenage girl trapped in a conservative Texas town. Here's a summary:
“My Life as Liz” explores high school life through the eyes of Liz Lee, a precocious, sometimes sarcastic, always witty teenage girl trapped in a conservative Texas town. Ever the outsider, the series explores Liz’s attempt to make the best of her senior year by carving out a place of her own among her more “normal” peers. While Liz’s off-kilter outlook and impeccable comedic timing make her journey of self-discovery an often humorous one — her openness and honesty allow viewers to bear witness to the truest and most tender moments of being ateenage girl
“My Life as Liz” explores high school life through the eyes of Liz Lee, a precocious, sometimes sarcastic, always witty teenage girl trapped in a conservative Texas town. Ever the outsider, the series explores Liz’s attempt to make the best of her senior year by carving out a place of her own among her more “normal” peers. While Liz’s off-kilter outlook and impeccable comedic timing make her journey of self-discovery an often humorous one — her openness and honesty allow viewers to bear witness to the truest and most tender moments of being ateenage girl
A new approach to China
Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident--albeit a significant one--was something quite different.
First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.
Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.
Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers.
We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this Report to Congress (PDF) by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (see p. 163-), as well as a related analysis (PDF) prepared for the Commission, Nart Villeneuve's blog and this presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.
We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. In the last two decades, China's economic reform programs and its citizens' entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.
We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that "we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China."
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.
First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses--including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors--have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.
Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.
Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users' computers.
We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this Report to Congress (PDF) by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (see p. 163-), as well as a related analysis (PDF) prepared for the Commission, Nart Villeneuve's blog and this presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.
We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. In the last two decades, China's economic reform programs and its citizens' entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.
We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that "we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China."
These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.
The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.
IPL auction 2010: live
Find out who has signed for who as the Indian Premier League franchises look to invest in the world's best one-day talent.
0730: Graeme Swann failed to attract a single bidder at the Indian Premier League auction on Tuesday morning sending a clear message that the limited availability of England’s players has put off potential buyers.
But there was good news for Eoin Morgan. England’s Irish one-day batsman joins Kevin Pietersen at Bangalore Royal Challengers on a $220,000 contract, only $1.3m lower than his England colleague.
Morgan, unlike Swann, is only a member of the England one-day squad in Bangladesh and is therefore available for almost the entire IPL.
Swann, the England off-spinner, was priced at the highest level and was named in the first pool of players to be sold, normally reserved for the highest profile cricketers, but his name was greeted with silence in the auction room at the New Trident Hotel.
The fact Swann had an incredible 2009 in Test cricket, which saw him reach number three in the world rankings for bowlers, made no difference with IPL sources confirming that his limited availability ruled him out.
Due to England’s tour to Bangladesh Swann would have only have been able to play in the final three weeks of the IPL.
Instead the franchises spent their cash on West Indian allrounder Kieron Pollard and New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who were both sold for the maximum value of $750,000 after a controversial closed tie-break round.
Franchises were only able to bid a maximum of $750,000 but if more than one side pledged the maximum price for a player then a sealed bid secured their signing.
Mumbai Indians outbid Chennai, Bangalore and Calcutta to sign Pollard, who can play in the entire IPL. Calcutta then entered another tie-break but this time were successful in beating Deccan to Bond, who at 34 and recently retired from Test cricket, has a very lucrative final payday.
Bond was barred from the first two IPL tournaments because of his links to the rebel Indian Cricket League.
Wayne Parnell, South Africa’s 20 year-old left arm fast bowler, was bought for $610,000 by Delhi
A frantic final 24 hours in the run up tot eh auction saw Ricky Ponting bought out of his contract by the Calcutta Knight Riders due to his lack of availability.
0730: Graeme Swann failed to attract a single bidder at the Indian Premier League auction on Tuesday morning sending a clear message that the limited availability of England’s players has put off potential buyers.
But there was good news for Eoin Morgan. England’s Irish one-day batsman joins Kevin Pietersen at Bangalore Royal Challengers on a $220,000 contract, only $1.3m lower than his England colleague.
Morgan, unlike Swann, is only a member of the England one-day squad in Bangladesh and is therefore available for almost the entire IPL.
Swann, the England off-spinner, was priced at the highest level and was named in the first pool of players to be sold, normally reserved for the highest profile cricketers, but his name was greeted with silence in the auction room at the New Trident Hotel.
The fact Swann had an incredible 2009 in Test cricket, which saw him reach number three in the world rankings for bowlers, made no difference with IPL sources confirming that his limited availability ruled him out.
Due to England’s tour to Bangladesh Swann would have only have been able to play in the final three weeks of the IPL.
Instead the franchises spent their cash on West Indian allrounder Kieron Pollard and New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who were both sold for the maximum value of $750,000 after a controversial closed tie-break round.
Franchises were only able to bid a maximum of $750,000 but if more than one side pledged the maximum price for a player then a sealed bid secured their signing.
Mumbai Indians outbid Chennai, Bangalore and Calcutta to sign Pollard, who can play in the entire IPL. Calcutta then entered another tie-break but this time were successful in beating Deccan to Bond, who at 34 and recently retired from Test cricket, has a very lucrative final payday.
Bond was barred from the first two IPL tournaments because of his links to the rebel Indian Cricket League.
Wayne Parnell, South Africa’s 20 year-old left arm fast bowler, was bought for $610,000 by Delhi
A frantic final 24 hours in the run up tot eh auction saw Ricky Ponting bought out of his contract by the Calcutta Knight Riders due to his lack of availability.
Taliban stage bold attack in heart of Kabul
KABUL — A team of militants launched a spectacular assault at the heart of the Afghan government Monday, with two men detonating suicide bombs and the rest fighting to the death only 50 yards from the gates of the presidential palace.
The attack paralyzed the city for hours, as hundreds of Afghan commandos converged and opened fire.
The battle unfolded in Pashtunistan Square, a traffic circle where the palace of President Hamid Karzai, the Ministry of Justice and the Central Bank, the target of the attack, are located.
As the gunbattle raged, another suicide bomber, this one driving an ambulance, struck a traffic circle a half-mile away, sending a second mass of bystanders fleeing. Afghan officials said three soldiers and two civilians — including a child — were killed, and at least 71 were wounded.
The assault was the latest audacious operation by insurgents meant to shatter the calm of the Afghan capital.
The Taliban are a mostly rural phenomenon in a mostly rural country; the overwhelming majority of U.S. troops are deployed in small outposts in the countryside.
On most days, the war does not reach the urban centers.
But increasingly the Taliban are bringing the fight into the cities, further demoralizing Afghans and lending to the impression that virtually no part of the country is safe.
The effect of Monday's attack seemed primarily psychological, designed to strike fear into the usually quiet precincts of downtown Kabul — and to drive home the ease with which insurgents could strike the U.S.-backed government here.
In that way, the assault succeeded without question. Five hours after the attack began, gunfire was still echoing through the downtown as commandos searched for holdouts in a nearby office building.
The Faroshga market, one of the city's most popular shopping malls and where some militants holed up, lay in ruins, belching black smoke.
The seven militants who carried out the attack died; five were gunned down and two killed themselves.
The streets of Kabul emptied. Merchants closed their shops, and Afghans ran from their offices.
Even guards assigned to Karzai came to join the fighting; it was that close.
"All of a sudden three men came in wrapped in shawls — and then they pulled them off and we could see their guns and grenades," said an Afghan man who witnessed the attack and who had been in the market.
"They told us to get out, and then they went to the roof and started firing."
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Reached by telephone, a spokesman said the group had sent 20 suicide bombers for the operation. That was an exaggeration.
The attack began at 9:30 a.m., when the streets of downtown Kabul were jammed with traffic.
A man wearing a suicide belt approached the gates of the Central Bank, which regulates the flow of currency in the country, and tried to push past the guards.
The guards shot him, but not before the bomber managed to detonate his explosives in the street.
The other militants, who were apparently intending to follow the suicide bomber into the bank, took cover in the Faroshga market, a five-story building next door.
They expelled the shoppers and shopkeepers, ran to the higher floors and began shooting.
Other fighters slipped into the Ministry of Justice and the Ariana theater, the police said, but a survey of both sites revealed no evidence of that.
Within minutes, hundreds of Afghan commandos, soldiers and police officers surrounded Pashtunistan Square and attacked. Some of the Afghan fighters were part of specially formed anti-terrorism squads.
Monday's battle was notable for the absence of U.S. soldiers. A small group of commandos from New Zealand were the only Western soldiers on the scene.
Bullets flew in every direction, thousands of them. The militants, holed up on the upper floors of the market, fired and fought as their building exploded and burned.
A blast sounded, and then another — the sounds of heavy guns firing inside.
The attack paralyzed the city for hours, as hundreds of Afghan commandos converged and opened fire.
The battle unfolded in Pashtunistan Square, a traffic circle where the palace of President Hamid Karzai, the Ministry of Justice and the Central Bank, the target of the attack, are located.
As the gunbattle raged, another suicide bomber, this one driving an ambulance, struck a traffic circle a half-mile away, sending a second mass of bystanders fleeing. Afghan officials said three soldiers and two civilians — including a child — were killed, and at least 71 were wounded.
The assault was the latest audacious operation by insurgents meant to shatter the calm of the Afghan capital.
The Taliban are a mostly rural phenomenon in a mostly rural country; the overwhelming majority of U.S. troops are deployed in small outposts in the countryside.
On most days, the war does not reach the urban centers.
But increasingly the Taliban are bringing the fight into the cities, further demoralizing Afghans and lending to the impression that virtually no part of the country is safe.
The effect of Monday's attack seemed primarily psychological, designed to strike fear into the usually quiet precincts of downtown Kabul — and to drive home the ease with which insurgents could strike the U.S.-backed government here.
In that way, the assault succeeded without question. Five hours after the attack began, gunfire was still echoing through the downtown as commandos searched for holdouts in a nearby office building.
The Faroshga market, one of the city's most popular shopping malls and where some militants holed up, lay in ruins, belching black smoke.
The seven militants who carried out the attack died; five were gunned down and two killed themselves.
The streets of Kabul emptied. Merchants closed their shops, and Afghans ran from their offices.
Even guards assigned to Karzai came to join the fighting; it was that close.
"All of a sudden three men came in wrapped in shawls — and then they pulled them off and we could see their guns and grenades," said an Afghan man who witnessed the attack and who had been in the market.
"They told us to get out, and then they went to the roof and started firing."
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Reached by telephone, a spokesman said the group had sent 20 suicide bombers for the operation. That was an exaggeration.
The attack began at 9:30 a.m., when the streets of downtown Kabul were jammed with traffic.
A man wearing a suicide belt approached the gates of the Central Bank, which regulates the flow of currency in the country, and tried to push past the guards.
The guards shot him, but not before the bomber managed to detonate his explosives in the street.
The other militants, who were apparently intending to follow the suicide bomber into the bank, took cover in the Faroshga market, a five-story building next door.
They expelled the shoppers and shopkeepers, ran to the higher floors and began shooting.
Other fighters slipped into the Ministry of Justice and the Ariana theater, the police said, but a survey of both sites revealed no evidence of that.
Within minutes, hundreds of Afghan commandos, soldiers and police officers surrounded Pashtunistan Square and attacked. Some of the Afghan fighters were part of specially formed anti-terrorism squads.
Monday's battle was notable for the absence of U.S. soldiers. A small group of commandos from New Zealand were the only Western soldiers on the scene.
Bullets flew in every direction, thousands of them. The militants, holed up on the upper floors of the market, fired and fought as their building exploded and burned.
A blast sounded, and then another — the sounds of heavy guns firing inside.
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