The U.S. military has been holding an Iraqi photographer working for The Associated Press since April, and the agency asked Sunday that he either be charged or released. Bilal Hussein, 35, was taken into U.S. military custody on April 12 in the Iraqi city of Ramadi and has been held since then without charge, AP said. “Bilal Hussein has been held in violation of Iraqi law and in disregard to the Geneva Conventions. He must be charged under the Iraqi system or released immediately,” said Tom Curley, AP president and chief executive. AP said its own examination “had produced no evidence that Hussein had done anything to justify holding him” and that it was making its request public because all other efforts had failed to secure his release. Hussein is one of a number of Iraqi journalists detained by U.S forces without charge since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com censor News |
Editor - 09:22:00 09-17-06 |
China and India 'boosting Africa' |
China and India's growing trade and investment in Africa holds great potential for African economic growth, a World Bank report has said. The study found that, led by China and India, Asia now gets 27% of Africa's exports, triple the amount in 1990. At the same time, Asian exports to Africa are now growing 18% per year, faster than any other global region. The study says both China, India and African nations must improve their trade reforms to help boost this trend. 'Best interests' Entitled Africa's Silk Road: China and India's New Economic Front, the report recommends the elimination of China's and India's tariffs on African exports. Written by World Bank Africa Region Economic Advisor Harry Broadman, the study further calls for Africa to reform its economies to better "unleash competitive market forces, strengthen its basic market institutions, and improve governance". ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5350764.stm
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Editor - 09:19:00 09-17-06 |
Japan Can't Get Enough Treasuries; Sees Fed Controlling Prices |
Suddenly, the Japanese can't get enough government securities. Kokusai Asset Management Co., which runs the world's second-biggest bond mutual fund, Daiwa Asset Management Co. and Fuji Investment Management Co. are increasing holdings of U.S. government securities, expecting the 11-week rally in Treasuries to continue. ``There will be more money flowing to the U.S. because yields have peaked,'' said Masataka Horii, who helps run Kokusai's $46 billion Global Sovereign Open fund in Tokyo. Horii, 40, last month boosted Treasury investments to 27 percent of his assets from 25 percent. Global Sovereign is second in size only to Bill Gross's Total Return Fund at Pacific Investment Management Co. ... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awboIY8A_blE&refer=worldwide_news
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Editor - 09:17:00 09-17-06 |
German far-right eyes poll gains |
People in two German states are voting for new parliaments, with predictions suggesting gains for the far-right and a setback for Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Social Democrats are favoured over Ms Merkel's Christian Democrats in the city-state of Berlin. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the far-right National Democratic Party could go over the 5% threshold and enter the parliament. Two states in former communist eastern Germany already have far-right MPs. The NPD's support is partly explained by its hard anti-immigrant stance in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which has soaring unemployment. Ms Merkel, who became the country's first woman chancellor less than a year ago, would want to do well in the state, in which her home constituency lies. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5349696.stm
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Editor - 09:15:00 09-17-06 |
W.House says deal possible on CIA interrogations |
The White House, facing a Senate Republican revolt over CIA treatment of terrorist suspects, said on Sunday that a compromise can be reached over legislation needed to continue its interrogation program. The White House wants Congress to pass a law that would allow the CIA to use tough questioning methods which it says have protected the country from attack but which critics say are tantamount to torture. A Senate committee rebelled against Bush on Thursday, passing a bill giving foreign terrorist suspects broader rights that backers say would repair a U.S. image damaged by harsh treatment of detainees. The rift between Bush and senior senators from his own party comes less than two months before November congressional elections in which Republicans are trying to convince voters that national security is their strong suit... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060917/pl_nm/security_usa_dc
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Editor - 09:12:00 09-17-06 |
Many dead in northern Iraq blasts |
At least 23 people have been killed and 65 injured in a series of bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber blew up a truck killing 18 people close to offices of Kurdish political parties and a police station. Hours later, a joint US-Iraqi security patrol was targeted in an attack which left three civilians dead. Two further roadside bomb attacks were reported, as well as a suicide car bomb attack at an Iraqi army checkpoint. At least one person was killed in another blast that targeted the house of a local tribal leader. In Baghdad, officials said 24 bodies were found. Most of the victims had been shot dead in apparent sectarian attacks. Several of the corpses showed signs of torture, officials said. About 180 bodies have been found in the city in the last five days. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5353394.stm
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Editor - 09:10:00 09-17-06 |
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