|
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|
|
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-
"NY
Mayor Hits Times Square Celebration Critics." ...
"New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg accused the head of a House of Representatives
panel on terrorism of lacking courage on Wednesday for shunning the traditional
Times Square New Year's eve celebration because of security worries."
-Reuters
-
-
"Ashcroft
steps aside from CIA leak probe." ... "John Ashcroft,
US attorney-general, on Tuesday stepped aside from a politically charged
investigation into the leak of the identity of an undercover Central Intelligence
Agency officer." ... "Patrick Fitzgerald, the US attorney in Chicago, will
take over the inquiry and report to James Comey, Mr Ashcroft's deputy at
the Department of Justice, which is running the investigation, and Christopher
Wray, assistant attorney-general." -By Marianne Brun-Rovet
-FT.com
-
-
"New
restrictions ban ill cattle in food supply." ...
"The Agriculture Department dramatically upgraded the country's defenses
against mad cow disease Tuesday, banning meat from all so-called downer
cows and promising to create a nationwide animal tracking system, steps
long advocated by critics." ... "These are ``very aggressive actions,''
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday, one week after the first
case of mad cow disease surfaced on U.S. soil in a Washington state Holstein
slaughtered on Dec. 9." -AP
via -StarTribune.com
20031230 Tuesday
"FedEx
to expand with $2.4bn Kinko's deal." ... "FedEx is
to acquire Kinko's, the print services chain, for $2.4bn in an effort to
expand both its US package delivery business and its ability to serve as
a "one-stop" shop for corporate customers." ... "The acquisition, expected
to close in the first quarter of 2004, takes FedEx into a new line of business
beyond shipping packages and supply chain management. Kinko's, 75 per cent-owned
by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, the New York-based private equity firm,
is best known for offering photocopying and printing services at 1,200
stores." -By Betty Liu
-FT.com
-
"Iran
quake relief effort shifts focus to plight of survivors."
... "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, and President Mohammad
Khatami yesterday visited Bam, the south-eastern city devastated by an
earthquake on Friday." ... "A spokesman for the provincial government said
that more than 21,000 bodies had been recovered and that "many, many more
people" were still buried." ... "President Khatami said the tragedy was
so deep that relief aid could not hope to meet "the demands of the victims"."
-By Mohsen Asgari and Gareth Smyth
-FT.com
-
"Iran
asks 'Why are our earthquakes so deadly?'" ... "Poor
design, primitive materials and widely ignored building codes were prime
causes of the high death rate in the Bam earthquake, Iranian officials
and foreign experts said on Tuesday." ... "In stark contrast to a tremor
of similar strength last week in California that killed just two people,
the toll in Friday's Iranian quake could reach about 50,000." ... "Iran's
building codes have been tightened after quakes in recent decades killed
tens of thousands. But officials and independent scientists say enforcement
is woefully inadequate." -By Erik Kirschbaum
-Reuters via -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
-
"FDA
Expected to Ban Herbal Weight-Loss Treatment Ephedra."
... "After years of debate, federal health officials are expected today
to announce they will act to remove the herbal weight-loss treatment Ephedra
from the marketplace, the first time the Food and Drug Administration has
moved to ban a dietary supplement, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported."
... "Ephedra, once widely taken to enhance athletic performance and as
a weight- loss aid, has been linked to heart problems and strokes and was
fingered in the death earlier this year of 23-year-old Baltimore Orioles
pitcher Steve Bechler." -Contributions by Sarah Lueck,
Anna Wilde Mathews and Stefan Fatsis -WSJ.com
-DJ via -Quicken.com
-
"Iran
quake toll may hit 50,000." ... "The death toll in
Iran's earthquake could jump to 50,000, officials say, as relief workers
plead for more aid for survivors of one of the deadliest natural disasters
of modern times." ... ""If we consider that, on average, five people lived
in each house we can say the death toll will reach 50,000," a senior Interior
Ministry official said on Tuesday, sharply raising the projected tally
from the nearly 30,000 already buried." ... "Aid agencies say around 100,000
people are homeless and are appealing for warm clothing and blankets."
-By Edmund Blair and Parisa Hafezi
-Reuters via -Reuters.co.uk
-
-
-
"Ridge:
U.S. tightens security for New Year's." ... "With
New Year's on the way, security efforts across the United States have been
"ramped up in an unprecedented way" through the end of the week, Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday." ... "The U.S. government will
keep the terror threat alert level at orange -- the second-highest on the
five-tiered, color-coded scale -- for the rest of the week as officials
remain concerned about airline security, Ridge said."
-CNN
-
"Parmalat
slipped past loosened laws: After U.S. scandals,
accommodation trumped regulation." ... "After the scandals that erupted
at Enron and other U.S. corporations, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley
bill in an attempt to prevent such corporate abuses. In much of Europe,
regulations have been tightened in hope of avoiding similar problems."
... "But Italy has reacted to its own business disasters in an entirely
different way. Led by Silvio Berlusconi, the nation's prime minister and
perhaps its leading business executive as well, Italy has acted to remove
criminal penalties for accounting fraud and, in the past week, has rewritten
its bankruptcy laws to accommodate the spectacular failure of Parmalat,
the giant dairy and food-processing company controlled by the Tanzi family."
-By John Tagliabue -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
-
-
"US
expands air marshal plan abroad: Foreign flights
must comply if request issued." ... "The Department of Homeland Security
announced yesterday that it will require all foreign air carriers to place
an armed guard on any flight over United States airspace if counterterrorism
officials ask them to do so." ... "The move, described as an "emergency"
rules change that is effective immediately, reflects growing concern that
the Al Qaeda terrorist network may try to exploit foreign carriers as a
gap in US air security by hijacking their planes and flying them into populated
areas or high-risk industrial sites." -By Charlie
Savage -Boston/Globe
-
-
"Prison
terms for female offenders now common in U.S.." ...
"Nowhere has there been more attention focused on that trend than in Oklahoma,
where the incarceration rate for women is more than double the national
average. The Legislature set up a task force this year to learn why. Nationally,
from 1993 through 2002, while overall crime was falling, the number of
women arrested rose 14.1 percent, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime
Report. In the same period, the number of men arrested fell 5.9 percent."
... "Some individual crimes show even more striking disparities. While
the number of men arrested on charges of aggravated assault fell 12.3 percent
in the decade, the number of women arrested on the same charge rose 24.9
percent. Drug arrests rose 34.5 percent a year for men in this period,
50 percent for women. And the number of women arrested on embezzlement
charges increased 80.5 percent, actually surpassing the number of men arrested
on the same charges, the only crime for which that is true." -By
Fox Butterfield -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
20031229 Monday
-
-
"Electronic
voting firm acknowledges hacker break-in." ... "A
Bellevue, Wash., company developing security technology for electronic
voting suffered an embarrassing hacker break-in that executives think was
tied to the rancorous debate over the safety of casting ballots online."
... "VoteHere confirmed Monday that U.S. authorities are investigating
a break-in of its computers months ago, when someone roamed its internal
computer network. The intruder accessed internal documents and may have
copied sensitive software blueprints that the company planned eventually
to disclose publicly." -By Ted Bridis
-AP via -USATODAY
"Sick
cow's meat may have gone to 8 states." ... "Meat
from a Holstein sick with mad cow disease could have reached retail markets
in eight states and one territory, but poses no health risk, Agriculture
Department officials said yesterday." ... "Dr. Kenneth Petersen, an Agriculture
Department veterinarian, said investigators have determined that some of
the meat from the diseased dairy cow slaughtered Dec. 9 in Washington state
could have gone to Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, and Guam. Earlier, officials
had said most of the meat went to Washington and Oregon, with lesser amounts
to California and Nevada, for distribution to consumers." -By
Emily Gersema -AP
via -Boston/Globe
20031224 Wednesday
20031223 Tuesday
-
-
"S.Korea
to Send 3,000 Troops to Iraq in April." ... "South
Korea is to send 3,000 troops to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk in late
April to help reconstruction efforts, cabinet and military officials said
Tuesday." ... "South Korea's cabinet approved a motion for the dispatch
of the troops at a special session Tuesday and would now send it to parliament
for ratification, officials said." -Reuters
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
Christmas
News
"Where
Christmas trees will stay up until April: One Army
town's bittersweet celebration." ... "The past nine months have been difficult
for families of soldiers at Fort Carson, an Army post south of Colorado
Springs. About 11,000 troops were deployed from Fort Carson to Iraq in
April. Most aren't expected to return until spring." ... "In many homes,
Christmas trees will stay up through the spring, with packages underneath
for returning soldiers and their stockings full and dangling from mantles."
-By Jeremy Meyer -CSMonitor
"Applicants
Rush to Meet Deadline for Sept. 11 Fund." ... "After
a last-minute surge, 95 percent of eligible relatives of Sept. 11 victims
had applied to join the government's ambitious but much-criticized compensation
effort as the deadline neared last night." ... "Officials with the federal
Victim Compensation Fund, who worried just weeks ago that many eligible
survivors would not sign up, said applications had come in by the hundreds
as the hours to the midnight deadline wound down yesterday." ... "By day's
end, a program that had been criticized as complicated, cold-hearted and
ungenerous had achieved twin goals: offering billions of dollars in compensation
to families for their pain and economic loss and to injured victims as
well, while protecting the airlines whose planes were involved in the attacks
from potentially ruinous litigation." (1, 2)
-By David W. Chen -NYTimesvia
-Google-News
-
-
-
Christmas
News
"China
Cracks Down on Unofficial Worship: China Promotes
Christmas Commerce While Cracking Down on Unofficial Worship, Detaining
Activists." ... "The Christmas carol "Deck the Halls" blares over the speakers
of the warehouse store as the toddler lunges for a plastic Santa. His mother
grabs him by the seat of his pants and hauls him back." ... "It's a classic
Christmas shopping moment in the unlikely setting of central China though
one that is becoming more common as Chinese, few of whom are Christians,
adopt the holiday as a festive time to shop." ... "But for members of China's
unofficial Christian congregations, this is a season of fear as communist
authorities crack down on unauthorized worship, detaining activists and
bulldozing churches." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
Anthrax
News
"Judge
Halts Military's Required Anthrax Shots." ... "A
federal district judge ruled Monday that the Defense Department could not
compel members of the armed forces to be vaccinated against anthrax without
their consent." ... "The judge, Emmet G. Sullivan, issued a preliminary
injunction that prohibits Pentagon officials from "inoculating service
members without their consent."" ... "The judge found that the vaccine
in question, intended to protect military personnel against the potentially
deadly effects of inhaled anthrax, was "an investigational drug," being
used for an unapproved purpose." -By Robert Pear with
contributions by Thom Shanker -NYTimes
via -Google-News
20031222 Monday
"Earthquake
shakes central California coast; preliminary magnitude of 6.5."
... "A powerful earthquake rocked a wide swath of California on Monday,
collapsing downtown buildings in one town not far from the Hearst Castle,
causing some injuries and a widespread blackout in the remote area." ...
"The quake struck at 11:16 a.m. It was felt as a sustained but gentle rolling
motion in downtown Los Angeles. In San Francisco, it rocked the 20-story
federal courthouse, with its upper floors swaying for about 30 seconds."
-AP via -SFGate.com
"Americans
Mostly Shrug Off Terrorism Alert: Americans Mostly
Shrug Off Terror Warnings As Security Tightens Around Nation." ... "Commuters
and holiday travelers alike encountered tighter security at the nation's
airports, train stations, bridges and highways Monday, a day after the
government raised the national threat level and said attacks were possible
during the holidays." ... "Many people shrugged off the heightened alert,
but some were nervous." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
"Attacks
possible during holidays; alert level raised to Orange."
... "The head of the Department of Homeland Security on Monday urged people
to "just go about your business" despite the decision to raise the national
terror-attack warning to its second-highest level." ... "After briefing
President Bush on Monday, Ridge reiterated to reporters that the intelligence
community considered the new threat "the most significant threat" to the
country since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." ... ""The information
we have indicates that extremists abroad are anticipating near-term attacks
that they believe will either rival or exceed" the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks,
Ridge had said in announcing the upgraded alert status on Sunday."
-AP via -USATODAY
-
-
"Last
Lord
of the Rings film sets a box office record."
... "The final instalment of the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
sold $246m worth of tickets worldwide between Wednesday and yesterday,
the highest total takings over the first five days of any motion picture."
... "The strong box office performance of The Return of the King
provides a welcome boost for Time Warner, the media conglomerate that owns
New Line Cinema, the film's distributor, and raises hopes that it could
become only the second film after Titanic to gross more than $1bn during
its run." -By Simon London
-FT.com
-
-
"'Rings'
Shows Trend Toward Global Premieres." ... "From Singapore
to Stockholm to New York to Mexico City, fans lined up this weekend to
see the final cinematic episode of the J. R. R. Tolkien trilogy, "The
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," part of a growing global
moviegoing phenomenon." ... "By opening in 28 countries in its first five
days, "The Return of the King," made by New Line Cinema, raked in $246
million — an astonishing sum, nearly a quarter of a billion dollars — from
fans eager to revisit the world of hobbits and orcs." -By
Sharon Waxman -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
-
"U.N.
Nuclear Watchdog Agency Head to Travel to Libya:
ElBaradei Will 'Kick Start a Process of Verification'." ... "Mohamed ElBaradei,
director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told a press
briefing in Vienna that he would lead an IAEA team to Libya to "kick start
a process of verification" of Libya's arms program, wire services reported."
... "After years of denying the existence of a nuclear weapons program,
Libya acknowledged last week that it had a program to develop nuclear and
other unconventional weapons. In a surprise announcement, Libyan leader
Moammar Gaddafi said he will abandon unconventional weapons, freeze his
nuclear program and allow international inspectors to test his word." -By
Fred Barbash -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
"[UK]
Intelligence officers had role in [Libya] deal."
... "MI6 officers and senior Foreign Office officials held a series of
secret
meetings with Colonel Gadafy's closest advisers before agreement with Libya
was announced by Tony Blair and - soon afterwards - by George Bush on Friday."
... "A key meeting took place at the Travellers Club in Pall Mall, a traditional
haunt of the intelligence community, last Tuesday. It was attended by William
Ehrman, director general of defence and intelligence at the FO, David Landsman,
head of the FO's counter-proliferation department, and two MI6 officers."
-By Richard Norton-Taylor
-Guardian.co.uk
20031221 Sunday
-
-
"Libya
to allow snap arms inspections." ... "Libya has agreed
to allow snap U.N. nuclear arms inspections, just a day after declaring
it was giving up plans to build an atomic bomb, a Western diplomat says."
... "Libya, widely praised for announcing on Friday that it was ditching
efforts to build the bomb and other banned weapons, told the head of the
U.N. nuclear watchdog on Saturday that it was ready to sign up to inspections,
the diplomat told Reuters." -By Louis Charbonneau
-Reuters via -Reuters.co.uk
-
-
"Nation's
Threat Level Rising to Orange: Government Raising
National Threat Warning From Yellow to Orange, Federal Official Says."
... "The government is raising the national threat warning from yellow,
the midpoint on its five-color scale, to orange, a federal official said
Sunday." ... "The warning was prompted in part by a raised level of ominous
intercepted communications that has not quieted for months. The significance
of the sustained level of intelligence "chatter" is unclear, the officials
said." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
"120,000
in S.F. lose power after substation fire: First attempt
to restore some electricity falters." ... "Pacific Gas & Electric was
struggling to restore electricity in San Francisco late Saturday after
a fire at a major utility substation caused a massive power outage and
left 120,000 residential and business customers in the dark." -By
John Woolfolk -MercuryNews-BayArea
20031220 Saturday
20031219 Friday
-
-
-
"Justice
Department endorses congressional redistricting by Texas Republicans."
... "The U.S. Department of Justice approved a Republican-backed congressional
redistricting map Friday, disappointing Democrats who staged two legislative
boycotts over redistricting and have sued over the new plan." ... "A federal
court panel considering legal challenges to the new map also gave Republicans
a victory Friday, ruling that that mid-decade redistricting is permissible
under state law." -By April Castro
-AP via -SFGate.com
-
-
-
Brazil
"UN
wants access to Brazil atomic enrichment plant."
... "The U.N. nuclear watchdog is negotiating with the Brazilian government
to ensure that a new uranium enrichment facility due to begin operating
next year is properly safeguarded, the agency said on Friday. Several Western
diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Brazil was not considered
a problem state and there were no concerns that it was developing nuclear
weapons." ... "Brazil, which has the world's six-largest uranium reserves
and the most sophisticated nuclear programme in Latin America, has said
the new plant will begin enriching uranium next year to produce fuel for
its atomic power plants." -By Louis Charbonneau
-Reuters -AlertNet.org/Newsdesk
-
-
Sniper
"Malvo
found guilty of capital murder." ... "Lee Malvo was
convicted Thursday of two counts of capital murder in the sniper attacks
that killed 10 people and terrorized the Washington, D.C., area just more
than a year ago." ... "Malvo was charged in the killing of Linda Franklin,
47, who was shot Oct. 14, 2002, in a Home Depot parking lot in Falls Church,
Va. In the first charge, the jury had to find that Malvo killed Franklin
and at least one other person within the past three years. Malvo also was
charged under Virginia's new anti-terrorism law, which makes killing while
committing a terrorist act a capital offense." -By
Laura Parker -USATODAY
-
-
-
-
-
Microsoft
News
"Microsoft
faces new antitrust battle." ... "A new front in
the Microsoft antitrust wars was opened on Thursday as rival software maker
RealNetworks accused the company of illegally trying to monopolise the
market for digital media software and said it would seek damages of more
than $1bn." -By Richard Waters and Scott Morrison
-FT.com
20031218 Thursday
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- "Iraq
Debt Relief Backing Rises, Hard Work Remains." ...
"The Paris Club of creditor states can agree a debt relief deal for Iraq
quickly but the agreement can be signed only when the country has an internationally
recognized leadership, the Paris Club's president said on Thursday." ...
"Increasing hopes that a deal will be reached, Britain said during a European
tour by U.S. special envoy James Baker that it backed the idea of a substantial
reduction in debts estimated at $120 billion." ... "The British comment
echoed similar political pledges made this week by France, Germany and
Italy after talks with Baker, who was visiting Britain and Russia on Thursday."
(1, 2)
-By Brian Love -Reuters
-
- "Schwarzenegger
to Declare Money Emergency: Calif. Gov. Schwarzenegger
to Declare Financial Emergency, Bypass Legislature to Help Cities." ...
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to declare a financial emergency and
bypass the Legislature to provide millions of dollars due cities and counties,
administration sources said." ... "To make up for $4 billion lost when
he cut the unpopular car tax, the governor will make a $40 million payment
to local governments to keep them from closing facilities and laying off
police officers and fire fighters, aides said Wednesday, speaking on condition
of anonymity." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
"Iran
to sign nuclear treaty." ... "Iran has said that
it will sign a treaty today giving the UN's nuclear watchdog the right
to conduct snap nuclear inspections within its borders, a gesture one Western
diplomat described as "long overdue"." ... "Iran's promise to sign the
1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a global pact aimed at reducing
the spread of nuclear arsenals, comes after increasing international concerns
that it is trying to produce nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied
this." -Guardian.co.uk
-
-
"France
to Ban Religious Symbols from Schools." ... "French
President Jacques Chirac has voiced support for a law which would ban the
wearing of Muslim headscarves, Christian crosses and other religious symbols
in public schools." ... "Chirac's announcement came in response to a report
published last week by a government commission, which proposed the ban
of religious symbols in the country's state-run schools. "In all conscience,
I consider that the wearing of dress or symbols which conspicuously show
religious affiliation should be banned in schools," Chirac said." ... "The
decision comes after months of debate on the role of religion in French
society and the difficulties the nation has encountered in the integration
of its five million-strong Muslim population."
-DW-World.de/english
20031217 Wednesday
-
-
-
-
Christmas
News
"Christmas
boxes bring Afghan mob scene." ... "Attempts by Canadians
to hand out almost 2,000 Christmas gift boxes to impoverished Afghan children
Wednesday turned into a melee as some of their parents beat back the young
people trying to reach the presents and soldiers had to stop them." ...
"A Canadian Forces truck was quickly surrounded by hundreds of children
as it arrived at a hillside camp in Kabul, where internally displaced people
(IDPs, as they are known by the military) live destitute lives in makeshift
housing." -GlobeAndMail
-
-
-
-
Consumer
News
"Calpers
files lawsuit against NYSE." ... "The largest U.S.
public pension fund is taking the unprecedented step of suing the New York
Stock Exchange, alleging the embattled exchange condoned fraudulent practices
by specialist trading firms that cost investors at least $155-million (U.S.)."
... "The California Public Employees Retirement System (Calpers), which
has assets of $148-billion (U.S.), filed the suit in U.S. court yesterday,
and is asking other investors to join it in a class action." -By
Shawn McCarthy -GlobeAndMail
-
-
"Groups
Around the Nation Re-enact the Wright Brothers' First Flight."
... "One hundred years ago, a telegram arrived in Dayton, Ohio, at the
home of the Rev. Milton Wright." ... ""Success four flights thursday [sic]
morning all against twenty one mile wind," it began. "longest 57 seconds
inform Press home Christmas." It was signed with the misspelled name of
Orville Wright." ... "It makes history's first airplane flight sound almost
easy — as if the Wright Flyer had leapt into the air. But in fact, the
Wrights crept forward. The first flight was only 120 feet, and the plane
broke several struts when it landed." -By Ned Potter
-ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
ELECTION
2004
"As
rivals sense a weak spot, Dean defends his stance on Iraq:
Kerry, Lieberman sharpen attacks." ... "Democrats trailing Howard Dean
in the presidential race said yesterday his statement that America is not
made safer by the capture of Saddam Hussein raises questions about his
political and national security judgment. The former Vermont governor responded
by casting himself as the victim of unjustified attacks and said such criticism
risks alienating the voters their party needs to win the White House in
2004." -By Glen Johnson
-Boston/Globe
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
"EU
Agrees to Share Airline Passenger Data." ... "The
European Union has agreed to share information about its airline passengers
with the United States, in a deal announced yesterday that ends year-long
negotiations over a new U.S. law intended to fight terrorism." ... "International
airlines will turn over data about their U.S.-bound passengers, such as
a traveler's name, e-mail address, telephone number and credit card number
to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection
unit." -By Sara Kehaulani Goo
-WashingtonPost
-
-
"US
Airways pilots union wants CEO, CFO out." ... "Pilots
union leaders at US Airways on Tuesday called for the removal of airline
CEO David Siegel and Chief Financial Officer Neal Cohen. Management's "failed
business strategies," not high labor costs, are behind the airline's continued
losses since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, union leaders
charged." -By Daniel Reed
-USATODAY
-
-
-
"Explosion
in Baghdad Kills at Least 10: Truck Loaded With Explosives
Rams Into a Small Bus in Baghdad, Killing at Least 10 People." ... "A truck
loaded with explosives rammed into a small bus near a police station Wednesday,
killing at least 10 Iraqis, an Iraqi deputy minister said. He blamed the
attack on Saddam Hussein loyalists angry over the former dictator's capture."
... "The explosion occurred before dawn in al-Bayaa, a poor district in
southwest Baghdad, police said. Two cars nearby were destroyed. U.S. soldiers
and Iraqi police secured the area after the explosion."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
20031216 Tuesday
-
-
-
-
"Coalition
fears confirmed as blasts kill eight." ... "Iraqi
insurgents confirmed US and British government fears that the arrest of
Saddam could galvanise them by mounting two attacks yesterday on police
stations, killing eight and injuring 22." ... "The fatal explosion occurred
at Husseiniya, north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber sped through a fence
protecting a police station in a four-wheel drive packed with explosives.
It hit another car and detonated after guards opened fire. Six policemen
were killed, as well as the driver; about 20 people were wounded." -By
Ewen MacAskill and Richard Norton-Taylor -Guardian.co.uk
-
-
-
ELECTION
2004
"Court
to enter fray over energy-policy task force: Supreme
Court will hear case alleging that industry leaders played a key role that
must be disclosed." ... "The US Supreme Court delivered a victory to the
White House Monday by agreeing to enter the long-running dispute over whether
Vice President Dick Cheney must publicly disclose details about the Bush
administration's energy policy task force." ... "The Supreme Court's decision
to take up the case is important for both political and constitutional
reasons. Even if a majority of justices rule against the White House, the
Supreme Court action could help the administration keep the task force
information under wraps for several more months and perhaps until after
the 2004 election, analysts say." -By Warren Richey
-CSMonitor
-
-
ELECTION
2004
"Senator
Breaux Won't Seek Re-election." ... "John B. Breaux,
a moderate Democratic senator and one of the few bipartisan dealmakers
left in Congress, announced Monday that he would not run for re-election
next year, becoming the fifth Southern Democrat to abandon the Senate."
... "Mr. Breaux, who has represented Louisiana in Congress for 31 years,
was often the senator Democrats and Republicans turned to when they needed
to cut through partisan gridlock and broker compromises, as Mr. Breaux
did on the recent Medicare legislation. His departure is seen not only
as a crippling blow to Democratic efforts to regain control of the Senate
but also as a setback to across-the-aisle cooperation, which is increasingly
rare these days." -By Jeffrey Gettleman -NYTimes
via -Google-News
20031215 Monday
-
-
-
-
-
Execution
News
"Analysis:
Putting Saddam on trial: The Iraqi Governing Council
intends to put Saddam Hussein on trial by an Iraqi court." ... "It is determined
to resist calls for an international tribunal. Saddam Hussein could face
the death penalty. It has been suspended by the occupation authorities
but could be reinstated by an Iraqi government." ... "That in itself would
be controversial. Britain, as a coalition partner, objects to execution
on principle. But Iraqis may want it." ... "The British Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw said that Iraqis would "express a strong preference" for a trial
in Iraq. International law, he said, also called for a domestic trial in
such cases if possible." ... "The United States is firmly behind the Iraqi
desire to try Saddam Hussein themselves" -By Paul
Reynolds -BBC/News
-
-
-
"A
tip, high-tech surveillance and a GI with a shovel nab Saddam."
... "Perhaps a mile from his nearest palace, Saddam spent his final minutes
of freedom in an underground chamber of hard-packed dirt, just wide enough
to permit a man to recline. After decades as self-proclaimed heir to the
iconic 12th-century warrior known in the West as Saladin, Saddam surrendered
meekly without a shot from the pistol he clutched in his lap." ... "The
clues that led to Saddam's capture emerged three weeks ago, officials said,
when intelligence analysts and Special Operations forces shifted the focus
of their hunt from Saddam's innermost circle to the more distant relatives
and tribal allies who they suspected had been sheltering the deposed president."
... "The U.S. military and the CIA had formed a task force devoted exclusively
to finding Saddam and his top allies. Called Task Force 121, it is an interagency
team of CIA paramilitaries and "black," or unacknowledged, Special Operations
forces." -By Barton Gellman and Dana Priest with contributions
from Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Bradley Graham -WashingtonPost
via -SeattleTimes.NWsource
20031214 Sunday
-
-
"Car
bomb at police station in Iraq kills at least 17, police say."
... "A suspected suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside an Iraqi
police station Sunday near Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding
33 others, hours before the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture, the
U.S. military said." ... "The car bombing in Khaldiyah, 50 miles west of
Baghdad, killed police officers, city workers and civilian bystanders,
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeff Swisher said." -By Sameer
N. Yacoub -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
-
"Saddam
Captured Hiding in Hole Near Tikrit." ... "U.S. troops
captured Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit in
a major coup for Washington's beleaguered occupying force in Iraq." ...
"Grubby, bearded and "very disorientated," the 66-year-old fallen dictator
was dug out by troops from a cramped hiding pit during a raid on a farm
in Ad-Dawr village late Saturday, U.S. Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno told a news
conference in Tikrit." (1, 2,
3)
-By Joseph Logan -Reuters
20031212 Friday
-
"Martin
takes over reins as 21st Prime Minister." ... "Paul
Martin became Canada's 21st Prime Minister on Friday, ending his quest
for the top job in the federal government and promising sweeping changes
to the way the country is governed." ... "It was the final step in his
journey to become prime minister after his election as Liberal Leader last
month." ... "Mr. Martin ran for the Liberal leadership in 1990 and lost
to former prime minister Jean Chretien. Mr. Martin officially took office
Friday from Mr. Chretien, who resigned earlier in the day." -By
Allison Dunfield -GlobeAndMail
-
-
-
-
GENETICS
"DNA
meets Death Row: Testing guilt and the system." ...
"Inside a walk-in freezer in a Richmond, Calif., laboratory sits a tiny
vial that holds one-fifth of one drop of a 20-year-old sperm sample. It
is forensic DNA evidence extracted from the body of a brutally murdered
young bride, evidence that no one is permitted by law to touch, evidence
that-if tested-could determine whether an innocent man was executed in
Virginia 11 years ago." ... "Since DNA “fingerprinting” began to revolutionize
criminal forensics in the late 1980s with precise identifications, it has
freed more than 130 convicts, 12 of whom have walked off death row. But
in other cases, prosecutors have successfully blocked the testing of DNA
before an execution and then fought posthumous tests just as vigorously."
-By Lois Romano with contributions by researchers
Lucy Shackelford and Alice Crites -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
-
-
"Bush:
Halliburton Must Pay for Overcharge: Bush Says U.S.
Expects Halliburton to Repay Money if Company Overcharged for Gasoline
in Iraq." ... "President Bush said Friday that Vice President Dick Cheney's
former company should repay the government if it overcharged for gasoline
delivered in Iraq under a controversial prewar contract." ... "Pentagon
auditors say the company charged up to $61 million too much for delivering
gasoline to Iraqi citizens under a no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq's dilapidated
oil industry. Halliburton denies overcharging."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
20031211 Thursday
-
-
-
-
"Prosecutors
get delay in case against ex-chaplain." ... "The
criminal proceedings against Captain James Yee, the former Muslim chaplain
at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, charged with mishandling classified data,
fell into confusion and stalled as prosecutors asked for extra time to
determine whether documents found in Yee's luggage when he was leaving
the base were, in fact, classified." ... "The hearing was postponed Tuesday
until Jan. 19 to give the prosecutors time to review the documents that
set off a major investigation into whether Yee was a spy, a contention
from which the government has since distanced itself." -By
Neil A. Lewis -NYTimes
via -