The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are to visit hurricane-hit New Orleans during their tour of America. Prince Charles and Camilla's week-long stay in the US, which begins on Tuesday, will also include visits to New York, Washington and San Francisco. The pair are expected to spend a couple of hours meeting those affected in the devastated city in Louisiana on Friday. The trip to the US will be the couple's first joint official overseas engagement since they got married. In Washington they will lunch and dine with President George W Bush and attend a youth event at the United Nations.

Wardrobe costs: In New York, they will inaugurate a new memorial garden for the British victims of the 11 September attacks. The couple will not be staying at the White House, although details of where they will stay have not been released for security reasons. As Charles and Camilla prepare to woo the US public, Clarence House dismissed claims that the duchess' wardrobe and beauty regime is being paid for by taxpayers. "All costs for the wardrobe are being met by the Prince of Wales's private income - this includes hair and make up. "All other staff are being paid for by the Prince as well," a spokeswoman said. The Foreign Office does pay for travel and accommodation for the staff. But Clarence House denied the couple were taking a 40-strong entourage with them, saying they would only be accompanied by 16 people , including a hairdresser, make-up artist and one dresser.

Queen Elizabeth I attends bomb victims' memorial

Photo: Britain's Queen Elizabeth I, and her husband Prince Philip, partly hidden, talk with unidentified relatives of victims, as they leave London's St. Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday Nov. 1, 2005, following a Service of Remembrance for the victims of the London bombings of July 7 2005. The congregation consisted mainly of those affected by the bombings, including bereaved families, friends and members of the rescue services.

LONDON- Victims of the London bombings were remembered at a church service in the capital Tuesday where candles were lit to mark each of the four bombs that exploded on Underground trains and a double-decker bus on July 7. The service in St. Paul's Cathedral -- the London landmark that survived the Second World War bombing raids -- was attended by Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister Tony Blair and London Mayor Ken Livingstone. The dignitaries joined a congregation of more than 2,000 made up mostly of relatives and friends of the dead, people who were injured in the blasts and emergency workers who were first on the scene of the devastating rush-hour strikes. The explosions killed the four suicide bombers and 52 commuters. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, delivering a sermon, said terrorist action always aims to kill indiscriminately. "It does not matter to the killers if their victims are Christian or Muslim, Hindu or Humanist; what matters is that they show that they can kill where they please," Williams told the congregation. "It really doesn't matter who you are, what you have done or not done, what you think and believe; you are still a target just by being where you are at a particular time."

Photo: Janet Wallach, soul, mind and heart of "SEEDS OF PEACE".

Ms. Wallach is currently executive vice president of Seeds of Peace, a conflict resolution program which brings together teenagers from the Middle East; India, Pakistan and Afghanistan; the Balkans; and Greece, Turkey and divided Cyprus. The organization has a year-round program that includes a summer camp in Maine, a Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem, annual conferences and an educational arm that helps Seeds alumni attend college in the U.S. Over 3,000 participants have participated in a three-week session at the camp in Maine and then returned to their regions for further workshops, meetings and conflict resolution programs.

Ms. Wallach is a Woodrow Wilson Institute Visiting Fellow and has taught at Earlham College; Longwood College; Ohio Wesleyan University; Stetson College; St. Olaph’s College; Bradford College; Susquehana College; and West Virginia Wesleyan College. As a frequent contributor to The Washington Post Magazine from 1982-1987, and as a contributor to Smithsonian Magazine and other periodicals, Janet Wallach has written cover story profiles of Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon; Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; Reza Pahlavi, heir to the throne of Iran; PLO envoy Hassan Abdul Rahman; Saudi entrepreneur Adnan Khashoggi; First Lady of Egypt Jihan Sadat; and the  British official Gertrude Bell. Janet Wallach was born in New York City and received a B.A. degree from New York University. She was married to the late John Wallach, founder and president of Seeds of Peace, and has two sons, David Allyn, and Michael Wallach.    

SEEDS OF PEACE

Photo: John Wallach.

SEEDS OF PEACE began with a toast made over a glass of champagne.  John and Janet Wallach were attending a small reception in Washington D.C. honoring Israel’s then Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres.  The Wallachs had co-authored 3 books about the Middle East, and were highly respected in Washington circles.  It was at that dinner that John Wallach spontaneously proposed that he would start a camp in the United States where teenagers from conflicting areas could work and play together.  Most importantly, they could get to know each other as human beings and not “the enemy.”  Also present at the party were the Egyptian Ambassador and the PLO Envoy.  Wallach asked them, along with Peres, to go back to their governments and ask for teenagers from their communities to attend the camp. His reasoning was that the only way to effect a change is by working with young people who were not yet entrenched in hatred:  “If you can change their thinking, you can change their behavior.”  A camp setting would give them the opportunity to form friendships and develop trust and respect for one another.  The brilliant thought behind that was when these teenagers became adults, they would become leaders and effect a positive change in the world. It’s one thing to propose a toast under the heady influence of sparkling champagne.  It’s quite another to fulfill the promise.  Wallach first had to overcome a number of obstacles.  There was getting the governments to approve of sending representatives.  He then had to raise the money to run the program and find a qualified staff.  Importantly, he needed a summer camp that would donate their facilities to try this experiment.  He found it at Camp Powhatan in Otisfield, Maine, where his son had been a camper. 

Photo: Her royal Majesty, Queen Noor of Jordan.

Six months later, in August, 1993, 46 Israeli, Egyptian, and Palestinian teenage boys arrived at the newly created International Camp in Maine, ready to participate in this grand experiment.  They spent three weeks in workshops, addressing their feelings, getting to know one another, and coming away with a greater understanding of their similarities rather than their differences.  Along the way, they also picked up leadership skills.     Seeds of Peace members were present at the signing of the Oslo Accords.  Can you imagine how exciting it must have been for these teens to attend such an historic event?  (photo of U.S. President Bill Clinton with Seeds teenagers behind him)

Photo: Seeds members at Center for Coexistence.

Each successive year, the camp has expanded, including teenagers from more countries.  Girls now attend.  400 boys and girls attended the 2005 summer camp.  The End of Polarity (seeing unity, rather than separateness), is one of the Keys in my book, The Seven Keys to Live a Masterful Life.  In that chapter, I quote a Jordanian girl who attended Seeds of Peace:  “In order to understand your enemy, you have to go to war with yourself.”  Seeing how we are all one sometimes requires that kind of radical thinking.  There’s a Seeds of Peace Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem which operates year round, offering programs for continuing discussion between graduates and opportunities for community service.  The educational outreach projects allow graduates to teach what they learned at Seed of Peace to others.  (Seeds members at Center for Coexistence).

Photo: President Bill Clinton with Seeds of Peace members standing behind him.

The Seed of Peace comprehensive training program has become an international model.  They’re now working with teenagers from other areas of conflict.  2001 saw the beginning of its South Asia program with Indian and Pakistani youth.  Since 1993, over 3,000 teens from 25 nations have graduated from Seeds of Peace.  A reunion of 130 Seed graduates gathered at last summer’s camp and set up a formal Alumni Association.  When John Wallach passed away in 2002, he was replaced by Aaron Miller as President of the organization.   Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had this to say about Miller:  “Although my colleagues and I at the Department of State will miss him greatly, the work he will be involved in is vital to Arab-Israeli peacemaking."  As Executive Vice President of Seeds of Peace, Janet Wallach (photo of Janet Wallach) continues to lead the way in fulfilling her husband’s mission and dream.  She oversees the activities of the New York office and is involved in fund raising.  But what she’s most passionate about are the young people themselves.  “There has been a large investment in each Seeds participant.  They are our hope for the future,” Janet explains.  “We want to make sure they stay connected to the values they learned at Seeds of Peace.”  Their 32 member Board of Directors and 5 Advisory Board members includes George H.W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, Her Majesty Queen Noor, Shimon Peres and Sa'eb Erekat. (photo of Queen Noor) (photo of Israel Shimon Peres, book ended by two Seeds of Peace girls). The extensive media coverage for Seeds of Peace includes being featured on 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC, Nightline, The Today Show, and in numerous newspapers and magazines.  A new documentary film called Seeds has already garnered several prizes.

Photo: President George W. Bush outlines a $7.1-billion strategy to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak.

WASHINGTON, DC- President George W. Bush outlined a $7.1-billion US strategy Tuesday to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak, saying he wanted to stockpile enough vaccine to protect 20 million Americans against the current strain of bird flu. The president also said the United States must approve liability protection for the makers of lifesaving vaccines. He said the number of American vaccine manufacturers has plummeted because the industry has been hit with a flood of lawsuits. Bush said no one knows when or where a deadly strain of flu will strike but "at some point we are likely to face another pandemic." The president, in a speech at the National Institutes of Health, said the United States must be prepared to detect outbreaks anywhere in the world, stockpile vaccines and antiviral drugs and be ready to respond at the federal, state and local levels in the event a pandemic reaches the United States. Bush mentioned the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in 2003 as a small scale preview of what a flu pandemic could be like. "When an infected doctor carried the (SARS) virus out of China, it spread to Vietnam, Singapore and Canada within a month," Bush said. "Before long, the SARS virus had spread to nearly 30 countries on six continents. It infected more than 8,000 people and killed nearly 800." "One elderly woman brought the virus from Hong Kong to Toronto, where it quickly spread to her son and then daughters." Several other carriers arrived, he said, and eventually "hundreds of Canadians fell ill with SARS and dozens died." "By one estimate the SARS outbreak cost the Asia-Pacific region about $40 billion. The airline industry was hit particularly hard with air travel to Asia dropping 45 per cent in the year after the outbreak." "All this was caused by a limited outbreak of a virus that infected thousands and lasted about six months." A pandemic, if it occurs, would be far worse, affecting millions and lasting a few years, Bush said. He outlined a strategy that would cost $7.1 billion including: -$1.2 billion for the U.S. government to buy enough doses of the vaccine against the current strain of bird flu to protect 20 million Americans. The administration wants to have sufficient vaccine for frontline emergency personnel and at-risk populations, including military personnel; -$1 billion to stockpile more antiviral drugs that lessen the severity of the flu symptoms; -$2.8 billion to speed the development of vaccines as new strains emerge, a process that now takes months. The goal is to have the manufacturing capability by 2010 to brew enough vaccine for every American within six months' of a pandemic's start; -$583 million for states and local governments to prepare emergency plans to respond to an outbreak. Bush said a pandemic flu would be far more serious than the seasonal flu that makes hundreds of thousands of people sick every year and sends people to their doctors for a flu shot. Unlike seasonal flu, pandemic flu can kill people who are young and healthy as well as those who are frail and sick, he said.

In asking Congress for money to buy vaccine, Bush said the vaccine "would not be a perfect match to the pandemic flu because the pandemic strain would probably differ somewhat from the avian flu virus it grew from. But a vaccine against the current avian flu virus would likely offer some protection against a pandemic strain and possibly save many lives in the first critical months of an outbreak." He also said the United States was increasing stockpiles of antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu and Relenza. Such drugs cannot prevent people from catching the flu, but they can reduce the severity of the illness when taken within 48 hours of getting sick, he said. "At this moment there is no pandemic influenza in the United States or the world, but if history is our guide there's reason to be concerned," Bush said. "In the last century, our country and the world have been hit by three influenza pandemics, and viruses from birds contributed to all of them." He pointed out that the 1918 pandemic killed over a half million Americans and more than 20 million people across the globe. "One-third of the U.S. population was infected, and life expectancy in our country was reduced by 13 years." "The 1918 pandemic was followed by pandemics in 1957 and 1968, which killed tens of thousands of Americans and millions across the world," Bush said. Bird flu has been documented in Asia and has spread to Europe but has not reached the United States, the president said. "Our country has been given fair warning of this danger to our homeland and time to prepare," he said. Bush said the cornerstone of his strategy was to develop new technologies to produce new vaccines quickly. "If a pandemic strikes, our country must have a surge capacity in place that will allow us to bring a new vaccine online quickly and manufacture enough to immunize every American against the pandemic strain," Bush said. The principal goal of Bush's plan, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said, "is the capacity for every American to have a vaccine in the case of a pandemic, no matter what the virus is." Pandemics strike when the easy-to-mutate influenza virus shifts to a strain that people have never experienced before, something that has happened three times in the last century. While it is impossible to say when the next super-flu will strike, concern is growing that the bird flu strain known as H5N1 could trigger one if it mutates to start spreading easily among people. Since 2003, at least 62 people in Southeast Asia have died from H5N1; most of them regularly handled poultry. - Laurain Neegard

Charles, Camilla begin weeklong U.S. tour; British media predict indifference

Photo: Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall arrive at the British Memorial Garden in New York's Hanover Square.

NEW YORK- Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, paid tribute to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks Tuesday as they began a weeklong tour of the United States - a trip the British press predicted would cause little excitement among Americans. After arriving in New York City on a private chartered jet, the couple travelled by limousine to Ground Zero for a tour of the site. The couple then went to nearby Hanover Square to unveil a memorial park to the 67 Britons who died when the hijacked jets slammed into the World Trade Center. They walked around to greet some of the several hundred well-wishers and onlookers who gathered behind barricades at the square. Camilla seemed relaxed, smiling broadly as she accepted a bouquet of flowers from a small girl. The Duchess of Cornwall, who has been trying to project a more glamorous image, wore a dark rose Italian wool crepe jacket and dress with velvet chiffon trim. Speaking at reception for relatives of the British Sept. 11 victims and supporters of the memorial garden project, Prince Charles said he and his wife had been "profoundly moved" by their trip to Ground Zero, "not just the scale of the outrage but the deeply distressing individual stories of heroism and of loss."

Photo: In this Nov. 9, 1985, file photo released by the Ronald Reagan Library, actor John Travolta dances with Diana, Princess of Wales, at a White House dinner in Washington. Aides hope Prince Charles' first official tour of the U.S. since 1994 won't be eclipsed by memories of the 1985 visit.

"Our hearts go out to you today as they did on that dreadful today," said Charles, who met privately with families before the unveiling ceremony. Referring to the July 7 bombings of London's transit system that killed 52 people along with the four suicide attackers, he said "both our nations have been united by grief and strengthened by the support we have given each other." The tour, which is designed to celebrate ties between Britain and America and promote Charles's environmentalist causes, is the first official overseas trip for the 56-year-old heir to the throne and his wife since they married in April. British media, however, predicted the couple would fail to capture the attention of Americans in the same way as Charles's 1985 official visit when a radiant Diana, the late Princess of Wales, danced with actor John Travolta at a White House dinner. Papers in London took note of a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll, which found 59 per cent of Americans surveyed saying they were "not at all interested" in the visit, 22 per cent were "not too interested," 13 per cent were "somewhat interested" and six per cent were "very interested." Gallup said the survey had a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. At Hanover Square - named for King George I of Hanover - a cadre of law enforcement officers stood near a line of police barricades and hundreds of people gathered, many holding banners and cameras, eager to take snapshots or perhaps shake hands with the royal couple. "I've been following this man since I was in grade school in Minnesota. I wrote papers about him," Thomas Rex Campbell, a writer who grew up in White Bear Lake, Minn., said of Prince Charles. "I very much admire him for his breadth of vision on the world. He's interested in everything from farming to classical architecture. He's the best-educated Prince of Wales ever."

The memorial garden, which is to be completed next summer, is designed as a green corner of Britain in Manhattan, with topiary trees, boxwood hedges and a sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor. Later Tuesday, Charles and Camilla were to attend a reception at the Museum of Modern Art that Charles's office said was a chance for the couple "to meet a good cross-section of interesting and influential New Yorkers." Guests invited to enjoy champagne and organic canapes with the couple included Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg, Sting, former mayor Rudolph Giuliani and actress Kim Cattral. During their visit, Charles and Camilla also were to meet with hurricane victims in New Orleans, homeless people in San Francisco and President George W. Bush at the White House. The Guardian newspaper said Tuesday that the royal couple was determined to win over an American public that appeared to have "absolutely no interest in the eight-day royal visit." The Daily Mirror's New York correspondent also wrote that most Americans had no idea who Camilla was. The paper said its reporter showed a picture of the duchess to passers-by in Times Square, but many guessed that it was Nancy Reagan, Madonna, Queen Elizabeth or the late romantic novelist Barbara Cartland. The prince's office says the trip is intended to recognize "the importance of the relationship between the two countries and their common bonds and shared traditions." It is also part of a careful palace plan to win acceptance for the duchess, long reviled in the British press as the woman who broke up a royal romance. "There were three of us in that marriage," Diana told a television reporter in 1995. Charles and Diana divorced in 1996; Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris the following year. -Jim Lonless