2 UN 'to probe alleged climate change cover-up'
AFP
Fri Dec 4, 8:47 am ET
| LONDON (AFP) - A top UN panel is to probe claims that British scientists sought to suppress data backing climate change sceptics' views, its head said on Friday ahead of the landmark Copenhagen summit.
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the claims -- which led a top expert to leave his post temporarily this week -- were serious and needed to be investigated.
Professor Phil Jones has stood aside as head of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia, after emails allegedly calling into question the scientific basis for climate change fears were posted online. |
3 7,000 troops pledged as US seeks help in Afghanistan
by Christophe Schmidt, AFP
46 mins ago
| BRUSSELS (AFP) - The United States on Friday welcomed new troop commitments from its allies to fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, warning that the battle was a crucial test for NATO.
Eight years after driving the Taliban out of power, more than 40 nations are preparing to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan up to around 150,000 over 18 months to launch a new offensive against the insurgents.
As NATO foreign ministers met to discuss the new strategy, more than 1,000 soldiers, mainly from the United States, began a major drive to clear insurgents from a key battleground in southern Afghanistan, the military said. |
4 GM and China's SAIC to launch India auto venture
AFP
Fri Dec 4, 10:44 am ET
| BEIJING (AFP) - General Motors and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp will expand their China partnership overseas starting with plans to tap India's burgeoning car market in a move analysts hailed as good for both sides.
The two companies, which dominate China, said Friday they had set up a 50-50 joint venture aimed at expanding in emerging Asian markets with an initial focus on selling small cars and mini-commercial vehicles in India.
GM and SAIC, which already have an established relationship in China, will invest a total 650 million dollars in the Indian venture to exploit the country's "rapidly growing market", GM's executive vice president said. |
5 Nepalese cabinet holds Everest meeting
by Prakash Mathema, AFP
Fri Dec 4, 3:13 am ET
| KALAPATTAR, Nepal (AFP) - Nepalese ministers equipped with oxygen tanks battled freezing temperatures for a cabinet meeting in the shadow of Mount Everest on Friday to highlight the impact of climate change on the Himalayas.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and 22 other ministers travelled by helicopter to the Kalapattar plateau, 5,262 metres (17,192 feet) up in the world's highest mountain range.
Under clear blue skies, they took part in a traditional Sherpa prayer ceremony before approving the speech to be delivered by the prime minister at a key international climate meeting in Copenhagen, state television showed. |
6 Bernanke defends record in bid for second term
By Mark Felsenthal and Pedro da Costa, Reuters
Thu Dec 3, 8:51 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, making his case for a second term, defended his record on Thursday before a skeptical Senate that criticized the central bank for failing to prevent the financial crisis.
The soft-spoken Fed chief, who is widely expected to win Senate backing, argued that the U.S. central bank's aggressive actions to combat the financial crisis had been crucial to thwarting an even more severe economic slump.
"We played a central role in efforts to quell financial turmoil," Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee. "The outcome could have been markedly worse." |
7 In Massachusetts, hopefuls clutch at Kennedy aura
By Ros Krasny, Reuters
Thu Dec 3, 6:11 pm ET
| BOSTON (Reuters) - How do you follow a legend?
Four Democratic hopefuls are vying to fill the shoes of the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, such beloved shoes that many voters can't imagine anyone filling them.
"All the candidates are trying to latch onto the mantle of Kennedy," said Thomas Whalen, political historian at Boston University. "They seem like political Pygmies trying to replace a giant." |
8 Comcast lands NBC in deal that reshapes media
By Paul Thomasch and Yinka Adegoke, Reuters
Fri Dec 4, 1:50 am ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comcast Corp struck a deal to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co, creating a media superpower that would control not just how television shows and movies are made, but how they are delivered to the home.
The deal had been discussed for months and brought to light deep divisions over the future of the media business, with some lauding Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts as a visionary and others calling it the most foolhardy acquisition since AOL bought Time Warner in 2001.
In a world where the Internet has disrupted traditional media, Comcast wants NBC Universal so it can deliver programing to audiences however they may want it -- through TV sets, personal computers or mobile devices. Not only is Comcast the largest U.S. cable distributor, it also is the leading Internet service provider to homes. |
9 Iran, Afghanistan to test Turkish-U.S. ties
By Ibon Villelabeitia, Reuters
Fri Dec 4, 3:10 am ET
| ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan may face probing questions about whether NATO member Turkey is tilting away from the West and toward Iran when he meets U.S. President Barack Obama next week.
Erdogan, whose party has Islamist roots, visits Washington at a time when Ankara's efforts to cultivate stronger ties with Tehran have raised concerns among Western allies.
The two leaders are expected to discuss Iran's nuclear program and whether Turkey can send more troops to Afghanistan to support an increase in U.S. forces Obama announced this week. |
10 Mob witness links Berlusconi to Mafia bombings
By Silvia Aloisi, Reuters
2 hrs 16 mins ago
| TURIN, Italy (Reuters) - A jailed Mafia hitman told a court on Friday that a godfather convicted of a 1993 bombing campaign had boasted to him of his links to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Berlusconi says biased courts are making false charges to bring down the 19-month-old government -- his third since 1994 -- and attack his Mediaset business empire.
Stripped of immunity from prosecution, the prime minister faced legal difficulties on two fronts on Friday, with an ally appealing against conviction on Mafia charges and an unrelated corruption case where he is accused of bribing a British lawyer. |
11 Wounded Guinea leader in Morocco after gun attack
By Saliou Samb, Reuters
1 hr 8 mins ago
| CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea junta chief Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was flown to Morocco on Friday for hospital treatment after being wounded in a gun attack by a former military aide, Moroccan authorities said.
Guinea's leadership played down the extent of Camara's injuries and denied his departure left a power vacuum in the unstable West African nation, the world's top exporter of the aluminum ore bauxite. His powerful deputy Sekouba Konate returned to the capital Conakry from a trip abroad.
But Camara's evacuation for treatment in Morocco's main military hospital raised questions about his health and political future, with many observers believing he may not return to Guinea and could be persuaded to go into exile. |
12 Suicide bombers kills scores at Pakistan mosque
By Augustine Anthony, Reuters
Fri Dec 4, 8:56 am ET
| RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a mosque and two other militants fired on worshipers near Pakistan's military headquarters after Friday prayers, killing at least 40 people, including army officials.
The mosque is frequented by military officials in the town of Rawalpindi, home to Pakistan's military establishment and only a 30-minute drive from the capital Islamabad.
The attack in what should be one of the most secure areas of Pakistan was the latest challenge by militants against the writ of the state. A local television station said people were executed in cold blood. |
13 NATO tells allies to commit to long Afghan struggle
By David Brunnstrom and Andrew Quinn, Reuters
Fri Dec 4, 4:54 am ET
| BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO warned on Friday that sending more troops to Afghanistan was no "silver bullet," saying allies should prepare for a lengthy struggle demanding even more patience and resources.
Addressing the 28 NATO foreign ministers after U.S. President Barack Obama announced 30,000 more troops for Afghanistan, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the conflict with the Taliban required a "true team effort."
"Of course there are no silver bullets, no magic solutions. It will still take more time, more commitment and more patience to reach our shared goal," he said after a one-on-one meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. |
14 Zelaya in limbo, says democracy "dead" in Honduras
By Gustavo Palencia, Reuters
Thu Dec 3, 4:55 pm ET
| TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' deposed leftist president, Manuel Zelaya, said on Thursday that democracy in the country was "dead" after lawmakers who backed his ouster in a June coup voted to block his return to power.
In a decision that disappointed Washington, Honduras' Congress resisted international pressure and voted 111-14 on Wednesday against Zelaya's reinstatement, throwing his future into question as he remains camped out inside the heavily guarded Brazilian Embassy.
A U.S.-brokered deal between Zelaya and de facto leaders who took power after the coup left it up to Congress to decide if he could finish out the last few weeks of his presidency before his term ends in January. |
15 Obama aides pressed on Afghan graft, al Qaeda
By Adam Entous and Phil Stewart, Reuters
Thu Dec 3, 6:58 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers told President Barack Obama's top advisers on Thursday not enough was being done to combat corruption in Afghanistan, singling out allegations against the Afghan president's brother, whom Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged was a problem.
In a second day of congressional hearings on Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to stem a resurgent Taliban, lawmakers also raised doubts about whether the administration was focused on the larger threat posed by al Qaeda militants across the border in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Gates said the scourge of corruption in Afghanistan was costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars, and he suggested it was now more lucrative to skim off the top of U.S. and international aid contracts than to trade in opium. He vowed not to work with corruption-tainted Afghan officials. |
16 US Marines launch offensive in Afghanistan
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 9 mins ago
| KABUL - U.S. Marines swooped down behind Taliban lines in helicopters and Osprey aircraft Friday in the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced an American troop surge.
About 1,000 Marines and 150 Afghan troops were taking part in "Operation Cobra's Anger" in a bid to disrupt Taliban supply and communications lines in the Now Zad Valley of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, the scene of heavy fighting last summer, according to Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier.
Hundreds of troops from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and the Marine reconnaissance unit Task Force Raider dropped by helicopters and MV-22 Osprey aircraft in the northern end of the valley while a second, larger Marine force pushed northward from the main Marine base in the town of Now Zad, Pelletier said. |
17 Suicide attackers kill 36 at Pakistan mosque
By ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 23 mins ago
| RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Militants stormed a mosque near Pakistan's army headquarters, killing at least 36 worshippers, including six military officers, during Friday prayers as they sprayed gunfire and threw grenades before blowing themselves up, officials said.
It was the latest in a wave of strikes by suspected Islamist insurgents that has killed more than 400 people in Pakistan since October.
The rampage in a heavily fortified area in the garrison city of Rawalpindi also brought the war home to the military brass as insurgents persist with brazen attacks despite several army offensives against them in northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan. |
18 Houston mayor jumps into Texas governor's race
By MICHAEL GRACZYK and JAY ROOT, Associated Press Writer
33 mins ago
| HOUSTON - Houston Mayor Bill White abandoned his campaign for U.S. Senate on Friday in favor of a run for Texas governor.
The Democrat immediately becomes his party's strongest candidate with $4 million in his Senate campaign fund that he can transfer to a governor's race fund. White, a wealthy attorney, chipped in more than $1 million himself.
"I'll be a Governor who challenges Texans to lead, not leave, the United States," White said in a statement, wasting no time in swiping at Gov. Rick Perry's comments earlier this year that Texas could secede from the Union. |
19 Drugmakers, FDA move to curb painkiller abuse
By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Business Writer
1 hr 11 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - Pharmaceutical executives laid out plans Friday to prevent the misuse of prescription painkillers, under pressure from regulators trying to stop hundreds of fatal overdoses each year.
But Food and Drug Administration officials said industry's proposals were short on specifics and that more work is needed before any measures are put in place.
Johnson & Johnson, King Pharmaceuticals and other drugmakers proposed using patient medication guides, letters to doctors and additional physician training to curb inappropriate use and prescribing of painkillers. |
20 Senate moderates hold key to health care's fate
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer
2 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - The fate of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is in the hands of a dozen or so political moderates in the Senate. What makes it unpredictable is that they don't agree on two critical issues - abortion and whether to allow the government to sell insurance in competition with private insurers.
Floor debate continued Friday, and it was hard to see how Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., puts together 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster and get a final bill off the floor. On abortion coverage and a government health insurance plan, the moderates were lining up in different places. Reid has 60 senators in the Democratic caucus, and nary a vote to spare.
The Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Richard Durbin of Illinois, was unfazed. |
21 Nepal holds highest Cabinet meeting at Mt. Everest
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 4, 9:32 am ET
| SYANGBOCHE, Nepal - Nepal's top politicians strapped on oxygen tanks Friday and held a Cabinet meeting amid Mount Everest's frigid, thin air to highlight the danger global warming poses to glaciers, ahead of next week's international climate change talks.
The government billed the stunt as the world's highest Cabinet meeting. The ministers, wearing yellow oxygen masks and purple sashes reading, "Save the Himalayas," sat at folding tables set up on a plateau with the snow-capped peak of Everest behind them.
They posed for pictures, signed a commitment to tighten environmental regulations and expand the nation's protected areas - and then quickly flew away. |
22 Somalia blames al-Qaida, Somali group for bombing
By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 4, 9:45 am ET
| MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Somali government on Friday blamed al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants for a suicide bombing that killed 22 people in the capital, as government officials buried three Cabinet ministers killed in the attack.
The bombing Thursday ripped through a university graduation ceremony at an upscale hotel in Mogadishu, killing medical students, doctors, journalists and three government ministers.
Somalia's most powerful Islamic militant group said it was not responsible for the attack, but government officials said al-Shabab denied responsibility only because so many Somalis had been angered by the bombing. |
23 At least 7,000 fresh NATO troops to bolster war
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
4 mins ago
| BRUSSELS - NATO allies will bolster the American troop surge in Afghanistan by sending at least 7,000 soldiers of their own, officials said Friday in pledges that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described as crucial to turning the tide in the stalemated war.
The promised increase came as U.S. Marines and Afghan troops launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced a 30,000-troop American increase. The Marines and Afghan forces struck Taliban communications and supply lines Friday in an insurgent stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
In yet another war development, U.S. officials said the Obama administration may expand missile strikes on al-Qaida and the Taliban inside Pakistan and will focus on training Pakistan's forces in a border area where militants have been aiding the Afghan insurgency. |
24 Sarah Palin's fans push for 2012 presidential run
By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS and BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writers
1 hr 7 mins ago
| FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Lynn Giese calls Sarah Palin the best thing that's happened to the U.S. in a long time, and the 57-year-old housewife says she'd work tirelessly for the former Alaska governor were she to run for president in 2012.
"I'd do anything, go anywhere," said Giese, of Bokoshe, Okla., while waiting in line at a Sam's Club in Fayetteville where Palin signed copies of "Going Rogue," her best-selling memoir.
She'd also have support from Kayla Hogue, a 20-year old student who came to the same event sporting a button melding a photo of Palin and Ronald Reagan. And Bob Rutz, 78, first in line at Palin's book signing a day earlier in Springfield, Mo., who said, "I'm hoping she'll be drafted (to run)." |
25 Slim win for mayor shows battered black electorate
By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 20 mins ago
| ATLANTA - When the final votes are counted, it's likely the black political machine that integrated Atlanta's City Hall - and kept it that way for four decades - will have pulled through one more time to deliver a fifth consecutive black mayor.
Barely.
Unofficial results in this week's mayoral runoff show voters elected former state Sen. Kasim Reed over white councilwoman Mary Norwood by a mere 715 votes, with a recount inevitable. |
26 Ex-gov't official convicted in WTC cleanup case
By JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 36 mins ago
| NEW YORK - A former government official once lauded as a Sept. 11 hero was convicted Friday of taking bribes to let an asbestos-cleanup company overcharge for work on the World Trade Center cleanup.
A Manhattan jury convicted Mark Jakubek, a former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey field operations manager, and a former colleague of charges including enterprise corruption, the state's version of racketeering.
Jakubek, 50, and ex-colleague Anthony Fontanetta, 61, face mandatory prison terms of at least a year after being convicted in the first trial from the five-year-old indictment. Ten other people have pleaded guilty. |
27 Beloved panda born at National Zoo headed to China
By BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 49 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - A young giant panda who became a major draw after his birth at Washington's National Zoo will leave for China early next year for breeding.
Zoo officials announced Friday that Tai Shan (pronounced "ty shawn") will be leaving the Smithsonian Institution park as soon as January or February.
Panda mother Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) and father Tian Tian (tee-YEN tee-YEN) are on a 10-year, $10 million loan to the zoo until December 2010. |
28 'Doughnut hole' unites seniors wary of health bill
By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 4, 10:32 am ET
| MIAMI - Lawmakers have wooed seniors skeptical of the health care overhaul by emphasizing the plan would close the "doughnut hole" - a gap in Medicare drug coverage that can cost thousands of dollars a year.
But getting support for the entire overhaul from this powerful voting bloc has been difficult, despite Democrats' repeated mentions of the issue in town hall meetings, interviews and congressional hearings.
Janet Cohen, 75, would like to see the doughnut hole closed, but like many, she still is uncertain about the health bills. |
29 Pro-violence abolitionist John Brown studied in NY
By CHRIS CAROLA, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 4, 6:17 am ET
| LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - John Brown, the 19th-century abolitionist who advocated armed violence, is drawing a diverse crowd this week to study how his fight against slavery continues to play in America.
A former Vietnam-era radical, a victim of human trafficking and an award-winning author are joining academics, activists and a descendant of the anti-slavery leader for a two-day symposium. The event commemorates the sesquicentennial of Brown's 1859 burial at his former Adirondack homestead just outside this tourist village in northern New York.
Organizers say the symposium, on Friday and Saturday, will examine the impact of Brown's fight against slavery on America then and how it reverberates today. Speakers include Bernardine Dohrn, one of the best-known leaders of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground; Maria Suarez, a Mexican immigrant who was virtually enslaved by a Southern California man after being lured to work for him in 1976; Russell Banks, author of the fictional Brown biography "Cloudsplitter"; and Alice Keesey Mecoy, a Brown descendant. |
30 IRS sells SD Indian tribe's land to settle debt
By CHET BROKAW, Associated Press Writer
Thu Dec 3, 6:14 pm ET
| PIERRE, S.D. - The Internal Revenue Service on Thursday auctioned off a large swath of land owned by an impoverished Indian tribe to help pay off more than $3 million in back taxes, penalties and interest - a sale the tribe says is illegal under federal laws protecting Indian land.
The 7,100 acres, or 11 square miles, of Crow Creek Sioux tribal land in central South Dakota ranch sold for almost $2.6 million, less than the $4.6 million it was appraised at, said IRS spokeswoman Carrie Resch. She did not say who bought the land.
The tribe filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District court in Pierre seeking to block the sale. Judge Roberto A. Lange declined their request but promised to schedule a trial to hear the tribe's arguments. |
31 Supreme Court hears arguments in Florida beach property case
By Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor
Wed Dec 2, 4:00 am ET
| Washington - A lawyer for waterfront landowners encountered both skepticism and support at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday while urging the justices to wade into a long-running dispute over the effect of erosion-control efforts on seaside property rights in Florida.
At issue in the hour-long oral argument was whether a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court had so significantly changed the substance of Florida property law as to amount to a public taking of private property without payment of just compensation.
Tallahassee lawyer D. Kent Safriet told the justices that Florida's highest court "redefined" the essence of littoral property rights in the state. The court, he said, ruled for the first time that owners of waterfront property enjoy no constitutionally protected right to have their waterfront property actually be in contact with water. |
32 Will US regulators balk at Comcast-NBC deal?
By Mark Guarino, The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Dec 3, 4:00 am ET
| Chicago - The merger of cable giant Comcast with entertainment leader NBC Universal is expected to take nine months to a year for regulatory approval. But already it is raising antitrust concerns about how it will affect the public interest.
A report by the Free Press, a think tank that tracks media reform, says the deal would give Comcast too much control over the market, which would mean unregulated rate hikes for consumers.
"I don't see it as concern as [to] whether consumers will pay for [content] or if it's free, but [rather] how much will it cost," says Ben Scott, policy director for the Free Press. "When you have that kind of market power, you can raise rates above what competition will normally produce in the free market." |
33 Massacre at Pakistan mosque shows Taliban strength
By ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press Writer
8 mins ago
| RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - A Taliban suicide squad targeted Pakistani military officers and their families praying at a mosque Friday close to army headquarters in a gruesome display of the militants' ability to strike at the center of power in this U.S.-allied, nuclear-armed nation.
The barrage of bombs and bullets left 37 people dead, including seven senior officers and 17 children.
The deaths of so many top brass inside a heavily fortified area a few miles from the capital was a major coup for the Pakistani insurgents, who are under pressure as the army pushes an offensive against their stronghold of South Waziristan along the Afghan border. |
34 Iran cracks down on dissent in universities
By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 24 mins ago
| BEIRUT - As they gear up for a major anti-government protest Monday, Iranian students are besieged by a clampdown in the universities, with a wave of arrests and expulsions. At the same time, authorities are intensifying enforcement of Islamic morals on women's dress and men's hair length as a way to punish political dissent.
They say authorities have cracked down at campuses nationwide to prevent the demonstrations from becoming widespread and that students recruited by the pro-government Basij militiamen are on the watch, informing on classmates suspected of being pro-opposition "troublemakers."
On Thursday police warned of a tough response, especially if demonstrators try to move outside campuses into the streets. "Any gathering or ceremony outside the designated places will be considered illegal and police will take necessary steps," a statement said. |
35 Ex-Files: British military ends its UFO hot line
By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press Writer
40 mins ago
| LONDON - The truth - and the UFOs - may be out there, but nobody in the British military is listening anymore.
Britain's Ministry of Defense has quietly shut down its UFO hot line as a cost-cutting measure and will no longer investigate any sightings. Veterans of such investigations more worthy of "The X-Files" say it will end work on one of the biggest mysteries of all time.
No longer will Britons who think they've seen flying saucers be able to enlist the services of Her Majesty's armed forces. |
36 Guinea's wounded president flown to Morocco
By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 4, 11:24 am ET
| CONAKRY, Guinea - Guinea's president has been flown to Morocco for medical treatment after he was shot during an assassination attempt nearly a year after he seized power in a coup, a government official said Friday.
Indicating the possible severity of his wounds, President Moussa "Dadis" Camara left the West African country, which he had never dared do since taking power. He had nearly left on multiple occasions, only to cancel at the last minute because of fears of a counter-coup, leaving private jets idling at the airport.
Communication Minister Idrissa Cherif declined to elaborate on Camara's wounds, saying only that they were not life-threatening and that Camara would undergo further tests in Morocco. Camara had breakfast with his closest aides and is "walking and talking and doing fine," Cherif said. |
37 Iraqi counterterror chief falls to his prey
By LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 4, 11:33 am ET
| BAGHDAD - He compared al-Qaida in Iraq to wolves, urging that the terrorist group be crushed since he believed its members would never reject violence. But the wolves got to the Iraqi counterterrorism officer first.
Ahmed Subhi al-Fahal's death in a suicide bombing in Tikrit could embolden al-Qaida loyalists to try to make a return to the area around Saddam Hussein's hometown where he held sway. On Friday, within hours of his killing, dozens of Web sites affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq were already celebrating the death of their longtime nemesis.
The attack also stood as a reminder that Iraqi security officials who work closely with American forces remain a prime target for insurgents even as overall violence in Iraq fades. |
38 Analysis: 'Not Iraq:' one surge doesn't fit all
By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer
Fri Dec 4, 7:17 am ET
| BAGHDAD - America's military "surge" in Afghanistan shares the same goal as the first one in Iraq nearly three years ago: to stem runaway violence. But the comparisons quickly fade from there.
The U.S. reinforcements that poured into the Baghdad region in early 2007 had clearer objectives, better-trained local forces as allies and an established supply network to keep them moving. What awaits the 30,000 additional soldiers in Afghanistan is much more a work in progress.
As Davood Moradian, senior adviser to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cautioned: "Afghanistan is not Iraq. Therefore, we have to be very careful about that." |
39 Sudanese who deny Darfur crimes may be charged: ICC
By Louis Charbonneau, Reuters
Fri Dec 4, 12:31 pm ET
| UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sudanese officials who deny and deceive the world about crimes committed in Sudan's western Darfur region might face criminal charges, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Friday.
In March, the Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on suspicion of war crimes such as orchestrating mass killings and deportations in Darfur, a remote region of Sudan roughly the size of France.
"(Bashir) used the state apparatus not only to commit massive crimes but also to dissimulate them, and therefore facilitate their continuation," ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the U.N. Security Council. |
40 US, Russia uphold 'spirit' of expiring nuclear pact
by Alexander Osipovich, AFP
Fri Dec 4, 12:21 pm ET
| MOSCOW (AFP) - Washington and Moscow pledged Friday to uphold the "spirit" of the START nuclear arms treaty and to seek a new agreement as soon as possible, hours before the landmark 1991 pact was to expire.
US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said in a joint statement they would keep pushing for nuclear disarmament, despite failing to cut a last-minute deal by the treaty's December 5 expiration date.
"We express our commitment, as a matter of principle, to continue to work together in the spirit of the START Treaty following its expiration, as well as our firm intention to ensure that a new treaty on strategic arms enter into force at the earliest possible date," the statement said. |
41 What does Obama's Afghan timeline mean? Depends who's asking
By Jonathan S. Landay and Saeed Shah, McClatchy Newspapers
Thu Dec 3, 7:22 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is giving different explanations of its July 2011 deadline for the start of an Afghanistan troop withdrawal, assuring foreign officials that it applies only to the 30,000 to 35,000 additional U.S. troops that President Barack Obama is sending next year, but suggesting to Congress that it covers all U.S. forces.
The conflicting versions suggest that the administration is trying to reassure U.S. allies in the region and elsewhere that the U.S. won't cut and run, while telling a concerned American public, Congress and Democratic Party that it has an exit strategy.
State Department official Vikram Singh said the U.S. would start redeploying its forces in July 2011 "based on conditions on the ground." He insisted that the administration isn't making a distinction between the forces that are already in Afghanistan and the ones that are coming. |
42 At least 36 killed in attack on Pakistani mosque
By Saeed Shah, McClatchy Newspapers
Fri Dec 4, 10:33 am ET
| RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Islamic extremists killed at least 36 people Friday, including senior army officers and their children, as they gathered for prayers at a mosque for soldiers in Rawalpindi, the home of Pakistan's military headquarters.
Five active-duty officers died in the small-arms, grenade and suicide bomb attack - Maj. Gen. Bilal Umar , the director general of the army's armored corps; a brigadier; two lieutenant colonels; and a major - the military said in a statement. Gen. Mohammad Yusuf , a former vice chief of the military, was among the 75 people who were wounded.
At least 11 of the 17 children who died were the sons of army officers, including the son of a major general and the sons of two brigadiers. The fathers of three senior officers, including the father of a major general, also were killed. |
43 Russia and Georgia Wage War with Films and Documentaries
By SIMON SHUSTER / MOSCOW, Time Magazine
Fri Dec 4, 3:00 am ET
| More than a year after Russia and Georgia clashed in a short but brutal war, the two countries are continuing their dispute on the movie screen. Russian filmmakers have already released a slick documentary as well as a romantic feature that depicts Georgia as a genocidal aggressor. Now, the Georgian government is supporting Renny Harlin, the Hollywood director who made Die Hard 2, for its own take on the conflict, complete with Andy Garcia as the embattled Georgian President standing up to Russian tanks. |
| From Yahoo News U.S. News |
44 Pawlenty, other aspirants travel for foreign cred
By MARTIGA LOHN, Associated Press Writer
38 mins ago
| ST. PAUL, Minn. - Gov. Tim Pawlenty can't see Russia from his house.
Neither could former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, of course, but her suggestion that Russia's proximity to her home state made for foreign policy chops was spoofed endlessly during the 2008 campaign. The Minnesota Republican won't be such an easy target - he's a globe-trotter whose trade missions, troop visits and stops at exclusive international conferences have taken him to Baghdad, Bangalore, Beijing and points beyond.
As such, Tiny Fey won't be able to poke fun at his passport on "Saturday Night Live" should he run for the White House. But with the 2012 Iowa caucuses still some two years away, Pawlenty is quick to dismisses the suggestion that his overseas travel - his latest trade mission departs Saturday for Brazil and Chile - has been meant to serve anything but Minnesota's interests. |
45 Catholic sisters challenge Vatican investigation
By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer
8 mins ago
| Leaders of a significant number of the nation's Roman Catholic sisters are challenging aspects of a Vatican investigation of their communities, declining to answer questions they say are ambiguous, inappropriate and out of step with the probe's stated purpose.
The heads of three large congregations of sisters said in interviews with The Associated Press they did not fully answer a questionnaire that was due in late November - potentially leaving large holes in a three-year study of more than 340 orders with 59,000 members.
The investigation, called an apostolic visitation, was announced as an exploration of the quality of life of Catholic sisters whose ranks are in steep decline. |
46 U.S. hospitals turn to GE for surgical cuts
By Scott Malone, Reuters
Fri Dec 4, 8:32 am ET
| MARLTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - Virtua Health, a suburban Philadelphia hospital chain, had a problem. Scheduled caesarean sections were running behind schedule -- from one to two hours on a good day to as much as eight to 10 when things really got backed up.
Why such delays on a routine procedure that was planned ahead of time? The answer is one that would mystify a manager in most of corporate America -- every staffer needed in the operating room had a different understanding of when he or she was expected to show up for a 7:30 a.m. operation.
"The nurse who was bringing the patient thought that if it was a 7:30 C-section, they went to the operating room at 7:30. Anesthesia thought it meant when they came into the hospital, the physician thought it was when they actually cut the skin," explained Terry Ricca, vice president of ambulatory services at Virtua and a veteran of its labor and delivery staff. |
47 US business leaders counter critics on climate
by Shaun Tandon, AFP
Thu Dec 3, 9:16 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers have rolled out business leaders who back action on climate change, hoping to counter criticism that a deal at this month's Copenhagen summit would hit the wobbly US economy.
Four days before the high-stakes climate meeting opens in the Danish capital, President Barack Obama and his allies are trying to show US commitment to a global deal even though key legislation has yet to clear Congress.
Democratic Senator John Kerry invited executives of major companies to the US Capitol to provide ammunition for his and Obama's argument that US restrictions on carbon emissions blamed for global warming would generate a new green economy. |
48 Bernanke admits mistakes, urges Fed independence
by Rob Lever, AFP
Thu Dec 3, 8:59 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has admitted "mistakes" leading up to the economic crisis but argued the central bank's independence should not be limited in financial system reforms.
Bernanke defended his record at a stormy Senate Banking Committee hearing on his confirmation for a second term as chairman, and stressed the need for reforms to avert future crises without compromising the Fed's independence on monetary policy.
"There were mistakes made all around," Bernanke said when asked if he would change what the Fed had done ahead of the near-meltdown of the financial system. |
49 Congress Waters Down Health Care Reform Provisions
By KAREN TUMULTY, Time Magazine
Fri Dec 4, 12:25 pm ET
| Pretty much everyone agrees that the health care legislation now making its way through both houses of Congress would do some things well. It would cover almost all of the roughly 33 million legal residents of this country who now lack health insurance. And a vast expansion of Medicaid, coupled with billions of dollars in subsidies to help low- and middle-income Americans buy insurance, would help ensure that most people end up spending less on their health bills, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congress's independent scorekeepers. |
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March on Washington
