Heather Mallick has maintained she quit in a huff over principle when she ended her business relationship with the Globe and Mail on Dec. 1, 2005.

eFrank.ca has reposted some of its correspondence between Mallick and "Daphne Merkin" (a real New York writer, but that fact was initially unbeknownst to Frank in its sting correspondence with Mallick)  from those heady times between October and mid-November 2005 (sorry, it's paywalled).

From the BBC:

The Central Asian state of Turkmenistan has adopted a new constitution that supporters say will promote multi-party politics and the market economy.

The measure was passed unanimously by the People's Council, a group of 2,500 tribal elders and local lawmakers. ...

The energy-rich former Soviet nation has hinted it wants stronger ties with the West and to open up to investment. ...

However, exiles and observers said the measures were superficial, leaving President (Kerbanguly) Berdymukhamedov free to rule by decree.

From the BBC:

An appeals court in Egypt has ordered newspaper editor Ibrahim Issa to be jailed for two months for publishing rumours about the president's health.

The ruling reduces the sentence of the editor of al-Dustour from the six months imposed at his earlier trial.

Mr Issa said the verdicts were unjustified, and showed that Egypt was inhibiting freedom of expression.

The government says the false rumours about the health of Hosni Mubarak damaged Egypt's economy.

From the BBC:

A spokesman for the Taleban in Pakistan has denied media reports that leading militant Baitullah Mehsud has died of an illness.

The spokesman, Maulvi Umar, told the BBC that Mr Mehsud was "fit and well".

Television channels reported that Mr Mehsud, who leads an alliance of pro-Taleban groups, died on Tuesday night.

Mr Mehsud is accused of masterminding the killing of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He denied involvement in the attack.

From AP via Yahoo News:

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin repeatedly failed to cite a newspaper or magazine when asked what she had read regularly before John McCain picked her as his running mate, saying only that she had read "most of them."