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Rep. Pelosi Reminds the Left that She's on its Side WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is working hard to make sure that the fiery liberal wing of the Democratic Party remembers that she is one of them. She is also going out of her way to reassure opponents of the war that she is on their side. Her efforts are taking place in... Read more |
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US Image Plunges in Global Survey WASHINGTON - The United States' image is plummeting in many corners of the globe, but China and other large powers are falling from favor as well, according to a global survey released on Wednesday. The 47-country survey also found global warming and other environmental problems are seen as the top... Read more |
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Around the Globe, Farmers Losing Ground WASHINGTON - In 1938, Walter Lowdermilk, a senior official in the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traveled abroad to look at lands that had been cultivated for thousands of years, seeking to learn how these older civilisations had coped with soil erosion. He found... Read more |
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Blair's Middle East Role Tainted by Associations with Bush, Say Critics JERUSALEM - As Gordon Brown, at last, inherited 10 Downing Street, Tony Blair yesterday took the first step towards life as an ex-prime minister and an international diplomat. Mr Blair overcame Russia's reservations to be made Middle East envoy working on behalf of the US, Russia, the UN and the EU... Read more |
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Bush Won't Supply Subpoenaed Documents President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers' demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors. Bush's attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed... Read more |
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Saudi Prince Bandar Bribery Case Crosses the Atlantic WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating allegations of bribery by the British defense contractor BAE Systems to Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, a high-ranking member of the Saudi royal family with wide contacts and relations here. The news brings a high-profile investigation initially... Read more |
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Going Backwards: US Jail, Prison Popluation Has Biggest Rise in 6 Years WASHINGTON - The United States, which has the most prisoners of any country in the world, last year recorded the largest increase in the number of people in prisons and jails since 2000, the Justice Department reported on Wednesday. It said the nation's prison and jail populations increased by more... Read more |
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Pakistanis Baffled by US Support for Their Military Regime SLAMABAD, Pakistan - Abdul Rashid Ghazi, a senior cleric at Lal Masjid - the Red mosque - has called openly for jihad against American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's met Osama bin Laden and says he agrees with the al Qaida leader's worldview. He also says that many of the 10,000 Pakistani... Read more |
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White House, Cheney's Office, Subpoenaed WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's office Wednesday for documents relating to President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program. Also named in subpoenas signed by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D- Vt., were the Justice... Read more |
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US: Bush Suffers More Defections on Iraq WASHINGTON - In a potentially significant setback to U.S. President George W. Bush's efforts to sustain Republican support for his "surge" in Iraq, three key senators this week have called on the White House to revise U.S. strategy there before September. The defections, which were set off by a... Read more |
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Out-of-Afghanistan Rumblings on The Hill When they won control of Congress in November, Democrats pressed their case to withdraw troops from Iraq and refocus on Afghanistan, but some are growing impatient with U.S. operations in Afghanistan as well. A few congressional Democrats go so far as suggesting that the Pentagon should pull out of... Read more |
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FBI Whistleblower Describes Government Muscle Tactics A whistleblower who lost her job and was gagged by the Bush administration after revealing careerism, corruption and widespread incompetence at the FBI detailed her difficult search for justice to an audience on Monday at the American Library Association's annual conference. Sibel Edmonds, hired by... Read more |
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First-Ever US Social Forum Begins SAN FRANCISCO - Thousands of social activists from across the United States are descending on Atlanta, Georgia this week.They aren't coming to protest. Instead, they're traveling to meet each other, share stories, and develop a unified vision of how the United States should be run. "It's an... Read more |
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New Poll Finds That Young Americans Are Leaning Left Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage, according to a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll. The poll also found that they are more likely to say... Read more |
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Planet of The Slums: UN Warns Urban Populations Set To Double The combined forces of population growth and urbanization are creating a planet of slums, where the urban population will have doubled by 2030, according to a report released by the United Nations today. The shanty towns that choke the cities of Africa and Asia are experiencing unstoppable growth,... Read more |
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CIA Releases Key 1970s Files, Including Spying on Journos WASHINGTON -- The CIA released hundreds of pages of internal reports Tuesday on agency misconduct that triggered a scandal in the mid-1970s over domestic spying. The documents detail assassination plots against foreign leaders like Fidel Castro, the testing of mind- and behavior-altering drugs like... Read more |
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U.S. Conference of Mayors Takes a Stand: Out of Iraq! LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors endorsed a resolution Monday calling for the Bush administration to begin planning for the swift withdrawal of troops from Iraq. A chaotic debate on the motion echoed political divisions across the country. Fresno, Calif., Mayor Alan Autry resigned from... Read more |
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Blair as Peace Envoy Would Be 'Disaster for Palestinians' GAZA CITY - It is unlikely that Tony Blair will get a warm welcome in Gaza City or anywhere in the Palestinian territories if he is confirmed as the Quartet's new Middle East peace envoy. In recent years, Mr Blair and by association Britain have become perceived as supporters of the US and Israel... Read more |
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US Cotton Subsidies Cost W. Africa Millions: Report NEW YORK - More than 1 million children in West Africa would not go to bed hungry if Washington stopped providing subsidies to America's cotton growers, according to a study released Thursday by an influential development organization. Researchers affiliated with Oxfam International say their... Read more |
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US Muslims Face Isolation, Radical Threat: Study CHICAGO - Muslim Americans must meld into U.S. society before suspicion and mistrust lingering since the attacks on New York and Washington isolates them and sparks radicalism in their ranks, a study said on Tuesday. "There is an urgent national need for Muslims and non-Muslims to work together to... Read more |
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Cheney May Meet his Match in Democratic Rep. Emanuel WASHINGTON - For six years, Vice President Dick Cheney had his way with a compliant Republican-led Congress while dismissing Democrats as nuisances. Perhaps the most famous example of the Cheney approach came when a Democratic senator tried to make small talk after earlier criticizing the veep... Read more |
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Africa United in Rejecting US Request for Military HQ WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's plan to create a US military command based in Africa have hit a wall of hostility from governments in the region reluctant to associate themselves with the Bush administration's "war on terror" and fearful of American intervention. A US delegation led by Ryan Henry,... Read more |
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Owl's 'Critical Habitat' May Be Reduced For the first time since coming under federal protection 15 years ago, the northern spotted owls' forest haven may be in jeopardy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to decrease the owls' "critical habitat" by 1.5 million acres, or 22%. The birds were listed as threatened under the... Read more |
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Ex-Governor Says He Was Target of Republican Plot MONTGOMERY, ALA. - As Don Siegelman, the former Democratic governor of Alabama, goes before a federal judge today to fight a recommended 30-year prison sentence, he's telling anyone who'll listen that his prosecution was engineered by White House strategist Karl Rove. It may be a long shot as a... Read more |
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New Scrutiny as Immigrants Die in Custody Sandra M. Kenley was returning home from her native Barbados in 2005 when she was swept into the United States' fastest-growing form of incarceration, immigration detention. Seven weeks later, Ms. Kenley died in a rural Virginia jail, where she had complained of not receiving medicine for high... Read more |
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Student Loses Ruling Over "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" WASHINGTON - A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Monday curtailed free-speech rights for students, ruling against a teenager who unfurled a banner saying "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" because the message could be interpreted as promoting drug use. In its first major decision on student free-speech rights in... Read more |
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Court OKs Special-Interest "Issue Ads" Close to Elections WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court loosened restrictions today on corporate- and union-funded television ads that air close to elections, weakening a key provision of a landmark campaign finance law. The court, split 5-4, upheld an appeals court ruling that an anti-abortion group should have been... Read more |
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Rich Nations Blamed for Global Warming SINGAPORE - Developed countries are hypocritical for criticizing China's greenhouse gas emissions while using the country's cheap labor to power industries that pollute, Asian business and government leaders said Monday. "This is green imperialism," Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Malaysia's deputy finance... Read more |
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Meeting Seeks to Find Plan for Darfur PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged swift international action Monday toward speeding up deployment of troops in Darfur, as key world players met to try to consolidate efforts and resources for the ravaged Sudanese region. Sudan was not invited to the one-day Paris conference, organized... Read more |
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Audubon Warns of Decline in Some Bird Populations WASHINGTON - Some of the nation's most common birds are disappearing at alarming rates. While loss of such habitat as fringe forests, grasslands and wetlands is believed to be the culprit, there are mounting concerns that global warming could be starting to take a toll. Over the past 40 years,... Read more |
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IRAQ: Women Resist Return to Sectarian Laws WASHINGTON - As Iraq struggles to define its future, there is one important group that has been largely left out of the process: women. But they are refusing to be left behind. With little international support or media attention, a network of more than 150 women's organisations across Iraq is... Read more |
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Canada's Bishops Veto Synod on Gay Blessings WINNIPEG, Canada - Canadian Anglicans failed by the narrowest of margins last night to agree to allow their churches to bless the committed relationships of same-sex couples. In a tense vote after nearly two days of debate at the church's synod in Winnipeg, lay and clergy members voted in favour of... Read more |
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Black Recruits' Totals Down a Third Since '01 WASHINGTON -- The number of blacks joining the military has plunged by more than one-third since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began. Other job prospects are soaring and relatives of potential recruits increasingly are discouraging them from joining the armed services. According to Pentagon data... Read more |
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Vigil Raises 'Voices Against Terror' WASHINGTON - The mock prison cell, the barking dog belonging to another protester, people asking names and ages. Sister Dianna Ortiz said yesterday that the sights and sounds during a 24-hour vigil and protest at Lafayette Square against torture took her "back to that place" and time -- Guatemala... Read more |
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Immigration Bill Ignites Grassroots Fire ROSSLYN, VA. - When Kim Wade pulled up in front of the Jackson, Miss., offices of Republican Sen. Trent Lott, a crowd was already waiting. They were students, professionals and homemakers, all members of the immigration-restriction advocacy group NumbersUSA. And they were all there to blast Lott... Read more |
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Neo-cons Spinning Hearts and Minds WASHINGTON - As the George W. Bush administration struggles through its last two years in office, it appears that the agenda of neoconservative ideologues has finally lost its appeal among strategic parts of the U.S. foreign policy apparatus. But as their influence has waned at the Pentagon and... Read more |
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Cheney Eclipsed Debate on Terror suspects WASHINGTON -- Just past the Oval Office, in the private dining room overlooking the South Lawn, Vice President Dick Cheney joined President Bush at a round parquet table they shared once a week. Cheney brought a four-page text, written in strict secrecy by his lawyer. He carried it back out with... Read more |
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Rev. Jesse Jackson Arrested During Anti-Gun Protest CHICAGO - Two of the city's best-known activists wound up in police custody Saturday after a protest against gun violence outside a suburban gun store. Revs. Jesse Jackson and Michael Pfleger, a South Side priest, were arrested about 1:30 p.m. for trespassing outside Chuck's Gun Shop in south... Read more |
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Vets: Military is Attacking Free Speech Protesters in uniform could be downgraded, lose their benefits Read more |
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Sweden: Going Green VAXJO, Sweden - In the cool forest region of southern Sweden, the city of Vaxjo has turned off the heating oil, even on the darkest, snowbound days of winter. Coal, too, is gone and next on the fossil fuel hit list is petrol. In the underground car park of the local government offices there are no... Read more |
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Nominee for a Top Justice Dept. Post Withdraws WASHINGTON, June 22 - The Bush administration's nominee to be the Justice Department's third-highest official withdrew his name from consideration on Friday in advance of a scheduled confirmation hearing on Tuesday. The official, William W. Mercer, who has held the job of associate attorney general... Read more |
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Darfur Conflict Heralds Era of Wars Triggered by Climate Change, UN Report Warns The conflict in Darfur has been driven by climate change and environmental degradation, which threaten to trigger a succession of new wars across Africa unless more is done to contain the damage, according to a UN report published yesterday. "Darfur ... holds grim lessons for other countries at... Read more |
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Karzai Angry Over West's Tactics Nato and US-led troops are failing to co-ordinate with their Afghan allies and thereby causing civilian deaths, President Hamid Karzai has said. He criticised his Western allies' "extreme" use of force and said they should act as his government asked. "Innocent people are becoming victims of... Read more |
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Bush Claims Oversight Exemption Too WASHINGTON - The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information. An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 - amending an... Read more |
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Officer Criticizes Military Tribunals WASHINGTON - An Army reserve officer who served on a military panel at Guantanamo Bay that determined whether a detainee should be held indefinitely as an "enemy combatant" has said the process is deeply flawed, relying on vague evidence prepared by poorly trained personnel, and is subject to undue... Read more |
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US Vote Could Close 'School of the Americas' SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to take what advocates are calling a historic vote this week to close the largest U.S. military training ground for soldiers from Central and South America. The vote comes on the initiative of Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), who has... Read more |
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Indonesia: Mud Volcano Sullies Top Investment Firms WASHINGTON - Environmental campaigners are urging several heavyweight investment firms, including Credit Suisse, Barclays, Fortis Group and Merrill Lynch, to shoulder some responsibility for a catastrophic mud volcano on the Indonesian island of Java that resulted from a gas project the firms... Read more |
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Senate Adopts an Energy Bill Raising Mileage for Cars WASHINGTON, June 21 - The Senate passed a broad energy bill late Thursday that would, among other things, require the first big increase in fuel mileage requirements for passenger cars in more than two decades. The vote, 65 to 27, was a major defeat for car manufacturers, which had fought for a... Read more |
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With Iraq Play, Students Act on Beliefs WILTON, Conn. - She could not look at her principal. The words coming out of his mouth infuriated her. There would be no play about the war in Iraq, he told the drama class at Wilton High School: The topic was too controversial, too complicated. Sitting in the front row of the campus theater on a... Read more |
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Nuclear Watchdog Might Not Cope in Atomic Crisis The head of the world's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has warned that the organization is so under-funded that it would have difficulty responding to a nuclear accident. In an unusual and angry appeal, Mohamed ElBaradei also claimed that the IAEA no longer had reliable... Read more |
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Guantanamo 'a Source of Frustration' for White House WASHINGTON-Momentum to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, long a stain on America's international reputation, appears to be building among the most senior members of George W. Bush's inner circle. The White House issued a statement last night denying a decision on closing the internment camp on... Read more |
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Michael Moore's 'Sicko' Leaves Top Democrats Ill at Ease WASHINGTON - With the release of Michael Moore's "Sicko," a movie once again is adding sizzle to an issue that's a high priority for liberal politicians - this time comprehensive health insurance for all. But unlike Al Gore's film on global warming, which helped rally support on an equally... Read more |
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Cheney Power Grab: Says White House Rules Don't Apply to Him Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to... Read more |
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Nader Ponders Run, Calls Clinton 'Coward' Ralph Nader says he is seriously considering running for president in 2008 because he foresees another Tweedledum-Tweedledee election that offers little real choice to voters. "You know the two parties are still converging -- they don't even debate the military budget anymore," Nader said in a 30-... Read more |
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US-IRAN: New Arms Claim Reveals Cheney-Military Rift WASHINGTON - In a development that underlines the tensions between the anti-Iran agenda of the George W. Bush administration and the preoccupation of its military command in Afghanistan with militant Sunni activism, a State Department official publicly accused Iran for the first time of arming the... Read more |
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High Court Has Been Good For Business A dozen rulings in the last year have been a boon to corporations by making it harder to sue them or limiting lawsuit damages. Read more |
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Inmates' Words: The Poems of Guantanamo The publication of an anthology of works, composed on paper cups by detainees, provides a harrowing insight into the torments and fading hopes of prisoners. Read more |
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Renewable Revolution Is Here, Says UN Report Report sees energy mix turning greener sooner; 'Great news' but 'still peanuts', says Greenpeace Read more |
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Documentary: Law gives Military Access to Student Data WASHINGTON - It began as a class assignment for Alexia Welch and Sarah Ybarra: Make a five-minute video news story about advertising in public schools. But the Lawrence, Kan., teenagers' project snowballed into a 25-minute documentary on how the federal No Child Left Behind law to improve education... Read more |
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EU Urged Not to Give Up Poverty Fight UNITED NATIONS - When European leaders gather in Belgium this week, they might not be so pleased to see thousands of those who protested during the G8 Summit in Germany chasing them too on the streets of Brussels and asking the same old question: Why don't you match your words with deeds to fight... Read more |
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Justice Dept. Opts Out of Whistle-Blower Suits WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has opted out of at least 10 whistle-blower lawsuits alleging fraud and corruption in government reconstruction and security contracts in Iraq, and has spent years investigating additional fraud cases but has yet to try to recover any money. A congressional... Read more |
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China Passes US as World's Biggest CO2 Emitter China has overtaken the US as the biggest producer of carbon dioxide, a development that will increase anxiety about its role in driving man-made global warming and will add to pressure on the world's politicians to reach an agreement on climate change that includes the Chinese economy. China's... Read more |
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As Glaciers Melt and Rivers Dry Up, Coal-Fired Power Stations Multiply BEIJING - On a bad day - which can be hundreds in a year - the ancient city of Linfen in the northern province of Shanxi is environmental hell. Named by the World Bank last year as having the worst air quality on Earth, its 3.5 million people more often than not choke on coal dust; its soil and its... Read more |
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'Just Security': US as Global Partner, Not Global Boss WASHINGTON - Insisting that U.S. foreign policy of the past six years has clearly failed, a left-leaning Washington think tank is calling for the adoption of a comprehensive new approach to international relations called "Just Security" in which the U.S. would act "as a global partner, not a global... Read more |
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Missing White House e-Mails May Have Violated Law, Panel Says WASHINGTON - Presidential adviser Karl Rove sent more than 140,000 e-mails through the Republican National Committee's computer system, circumventing a federal law intended to guarantee the preservation of presidential records, House of Representatives investigators have concluded. While 88 White... Read more |
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Dems Push for Voter Suppression Probe WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats urged the Justice Department on Monday to investigate whether one of its former prosecutors led attempts to suppress Florida voter turnout during the 2004 presidential election. The request by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode... Read more |
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Gay-Rights Groups Buoyed by Recent Gains NEW YORK - The latest twists in the gay marriage debate create an oddly divided America, with only its Northeast corner and Pacific Coast recognizing same-sex unions. But gay-rights leaders are encouraged by progress on other parts of their agenda across the nation's heartland. Three more states -... Read more |
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Bush and Rumsfeld 'Knew about Abu Ghraib' The two-star Army General who led the first military investigation into human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has bluntly questioned the integrity of former US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, suggesting he misled the US Congress by downplaying his own prior knowledge of what had... Read more |
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Justice Official Accused of Blocking Suits into Alleged Violations WASHINGTON - A former Justice Department political appointee blocked career lawyers from filing at least three lawsuits charging local and county governments with violating the voting rights of African-Americans and other minorities, seven former senior department employees charged Monday. Hans von... Read more |
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Protesters' Hunger Strikes Stir Worry on Campuses BOSTON - At Harvard, they consumed only Gatorade and water for nine days. At the University of Vermont, they subsisted for five days on orange juice, herbal tea, and sea salt. At the University of California, some lived off a potion of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. This is not the... Read more |
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US Agencies Disobey 6 Laws that President Challenged WASHINGTON -- Federal officials have disobeyed at least six new laws that President Bush challenged in his signing statements, a government study disclosed yesterday. The report provides the first evidence that the government may have acted on claims by Bush that he can set aside laws under his... Read more |
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At 90, an Environmentalist From the '70s Still Has Hope Before Al Gore became synonymous with global warming, Barry Commoner was warning the public about the delicate condition of planet Earth. Long associated with the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems at Queens College, Dr. Commoner has for decades been agitating to restore ecological balance... Read more |
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Millions of Desperate Iraqis Stream into Syria DAMASCUS, Syria - Nobody used the word "crisis" when the first wave of Iraqis fled the war and settled here. Most came with deep savings accounts and connections to well-placed Damascus businessmen. The word didn't crop up when a second wave ushered in the Christians, whose clergy organized them... Read more |
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Iraq Now Ranked Second Among World's Failed States WASHINGTON - Iraq has emerged as the world's second most unstable country, behind Sudan, more than four years after President George W. Bush ordered the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, according to a survey released on Monday. The 2007 Failed States Index, produced by Foreign Policy... Read more |
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Newly Empowered Democrats Draw Wrath of Voters WASHINGTON - The new Democratic-led Congress is drawing the ire of voters upset with its failure to quickly deliver on a promise to end the Iraq war.This is reflected in polls that show Congress -- plagued by partisan bickering mostly about the war -- at one of its lowest approval ratings in a... Read more |
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Global Warming to Multiply World's Refugee Burden BEIRUT - If rising sea levels force the people of the Maldive Islands to seek new homes, who will look after them in a world already turning warier of refugees? The daunting prospect of mass population movements set off by climate change and environmental disasters poses an imminent new challenge... Read more |
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Seven Afghan Children Killed in Strike on 'Al-Qaeda Hideout' Seven children were killed in an air strike on an Afghan religious school being used as an alleged Al-Qaeda safe house, the US-led coalition said Monday, raising fresh concerns over civilian casualties. The coalition said it had no idea children were in the compound in Paktika province, which it... Read more |
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Italian Judge Suspends CIA Trial MILAN, Italy (AP) -- An Italian judge on Monday suspended the first trial involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program until the country's highest court can rule on the case. The Italian government has asked the Constitutional Court to throw out the indictments against the 26 American... Read more |
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Democrats Press Plan to Channel Billions in Oil Subsidies to Renewable Fuels WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are seeking a major reversal of energy tax policies that would take billions of dollars in tax breaks and other benefits from the oil industry to underwrite renewable fuels. The tax increases would reverse incentives passed as recently as three years ago to increase... Read more |
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Israel Plans Attack on Gaza ISRAEL's new defence minister Ehud Barak is planning an attack on Gaza within weeks to crush the Hamas militants who have seized power there. According to senior Israeli military sources, the plan calls for 20,000 troops to destroy much of Hamas's military capability in days. The raid would be... Read more |
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The General's Report How Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, became one of its casualties. Read more |
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Wonder of Nature Under Threat from Illegal Logging One of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles is under threat because environmental projects to protect the monarch butterfly are failing, a leading expert has warned. The flight of clouds consisting of millions of the orange and black butterflies migrating thousands of miles across North America... Read more |
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UN declares Gandhi's Birthday as Day of Non-Violence NEW DELHI: The UN will observe Mahatma Gandhi's birthday as the International Day of Non-Violence every year, it said in a statement yesterday. The UN called upon all member nations and individuals to commemorate October 2 in "an appropriate manner and to disseminate the message of non-violence."... Read more |
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Gulf Arabs Won't be Base for Attack on Iran: Saudi RIYADH - Gulf Arab countries will not be used as a launch pad for any military attack on Iran, a powerful Saudi royal was quoted as saying on Sunday. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said Iran had no interest in striking its oil-producing Arab neighbors if it comes under attack... Read more |
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Private US Security Companies Involved in Iraqi Hostilities US private security companies are getting increasingly involved in military action in Iraq, fighting insurgents, enduring attacks and taking hundreds of casualties that have been sometimes concealed, The Washington Post reported Saturday. Citing unnamed US and Iraqi officials and company... Read more |
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Iran Strategy Stirs Debate at White House WASHINGTON - A year after President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a new strategy toward Iran, a behind-the-scenes debate has broken out within the administration over whether the approach has any hope of reining in Iran's nuclear program, according to senior administration... Read more |
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Telesur: Building a TV Station and a Platform for Leftists AT the headquarters here of Telesur, the regional Spanish-language network financed largely by Venezuela's government, an anchor reads a bulletin describing a meeting of landless peasants in Brazil. Producers receive a report from Bolivia on a meeting of Andean leaders. On a talk show,... Read more |
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Bush Faces Crises from Palestine to Pakistan WASHINGTON - Four years after the emergence of the first signs of a serious insurgency in Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush finds himself beset with major crises stretching from Palestine to Pakistan.With U.S.-backed Fatah forces routed by Hamas in Gaza this week, Bush's five-year-old vision of a... Read more |
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'Iraq Summer' hopes to isolate President Bush WASHINGTON - A coalition of anti-Iraq war groups is targeting 40 GOP lawmakers around the country in a grassroots effort modeled on the "Freedom Summer" civil rights campaign and the more recent initiative against privatizing Social Security. Aiming to use political pressure as an agent to separate... Read more |
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New White House Adviser Spins Revolving Door Again Watchdog groups say ties between a new White House aide and his former lobbying clients, including foreign governments, cast doubt on his ability to serve the American public. The White House announced yesterday it had tapped Ed Gillespie, a high-powered GOP operative and lobbyist, to serve as... Read more |
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Protestors Spring Big Hoax on Oil Expo Audience CALGARY, Alberta - By the time candles supposedly made from remains of a deceased ExxonMobil janitor named Reggie Watts were handed out, an audience of oil and gas professionals attending a keynote luncheon at Calgary's Gas and Oil Exposition realized they'd been had. A man named "S.K. Wolff,"... Read more |
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Right of Gays to Marry Set for Years to Come BOSTON - The Legislature, in a vote as swift as it was historic, reaffirmed the state's first-in-the-nation same-sex marriage ruling yesterday, unequivocally protecting the rights of gays and lesbians to wed in Massachusetts until at least 2012. The vote followed 3 1/2 years of fierce arguments,... Read more |
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Delay Denied, Libby Is Seen as Weeks From Prison WASHINGTON - I. Lewis Libby Jr., once one of the most powerful men in government, was escorted by federal marshals out a side door in a federal courtroom here Thursday for processing after a judge issued a final ruling that he would have to begin serving his 30-month prison sentence shortly, even... Read more |
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Hamas Declares Victory RAMALLAH - The Palestinian quest for an independent state was on the verge of collapse last night after Hamas militants took control of the Gaza Strip, banishing and executing their Fatah rivals and declaring Islamic rule on Israel's doorstep. Fourteen years after the Oslo accords opened up the... Read more |
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Capitalize on Disasters to Make Peace, Say Researchers SAN FRANCISCO - A globally minded think tank is calling on governments and disaster relief organizations to work for peace when disaster strikes in conflict zones. "If traditional diplomacy is unable to end a conflict then we have to look at different ways," said Michael Renner, a senior researcher... Read more |
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Arrowsic 'End War' Vote Wins Handily ARROWSIC - As Arrowsic goes . . . To the best of their knowledge, the residents of this town of less than 500 became the first in the state to take a formal stand against the war in Iraq. At Wednesday night's annual town meeting, Arrowsic residents voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution that... Read more |
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Ex-Justice Dept. Lawyer Can't Recall His Role in Controversial Policies WASHINGTON - Another former Justice Department lawyer went before Congress on Wednesday with few answers for his Democratic interrogators and a spotty memory. Hans von Spakovsky, who's seeking a full six-year term on the Federal Election Commission, deflected questions about whether he undermined... Read more |
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FBI Audit Finds Widespread Abuse in Data Collection WASHINGTON - An internal FBI audit has found the agency violated rules more than 1,000 times while collecting data on domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions in recent years, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The number of violations uncovered by the audit was far greater... Read more |
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Bush Plunges to New Low in Poll US President George W. Bush's approval rating plunged to a new low of 29 percent in the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the Journal reported Thursday. With the public disenchanted by his Iraq strategy, and in the wake of a White House defeat on a landmark immigration bill, Bush hit his lowest... Read more |
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A New General for God's Army? OAKLAND, Calif. - In recent appearances on two U.S. cable news networks, he was slinging and zinging -- the well-rehearsed pitchman for the Biblical "End Times" was dead certain that "Iran is going to have to be attacked" before 2008. He also claimed that during a recent visit to Iraq, he was told... Read more |