The secret's out after sixty years

The CIA has released documents which for the first time formally acknowledge its key role in the 1953 coup which ousted Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh. The documents were published on the independent National Security Archive on the 60th anniversary of the coup. They come from the CIA's internal history of Iran from the mid-1970s. "The military coup was carried out under CIA direction as an act of US foreign policy," says one excerpt. Now for some good news we don't have to wait 60 years for: Fletcher Building has brought forward the deadline for repairing 90,000 earthquake-damaged Canterbury properties by a year. New Zealand's largest construction firm expects to complete the repairs referred to it by the Earthquake Commission by December next year, rather than December 2015. So why the rush? Fletcher Building chief executive Mark Adamson said yesterday that the company had brought forward its deadline because of the discomfort Cantabrians were enduring in their leaky and damaged homes. The old timeline was for 80 per cent of repairs to be completed by December 2014 and the remainder in 2015. If they think they can get their butts in gear to meet the new deadline, then their claim has my support. But enough about that because a German woman who lost her arm in a shark attack has died, one week after she was bitten while snorkeling off Maui. 20-year-old Jana Lutteropp, who had been on life support, died yesterday (Hawaii Standard Time) at Maui Memorial Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Carol Clark said. "Jana fought hard to stay alive," said a statement from her mother and sister, which was released by Clark. "However, we are sad to say that she lost her fight today." This is why sharks don't belong on our planet. They serve no real purpose, and are only here to prey on innocent humans. They are one of the very few species that actually deserve to become extinct, and hopefully before my niece (pictured) becomes their next victim.