Gunmen and bombers claimed at least 69 lives in Iraq on Sunday, even as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki repeated the assertions of Iraqi and U.S. leaders that violence was easing from a wartime high set earlier this summer.While U.S. and Iraqi forces have deployed additional troops in Baghdad to deal with the surge of sectarian violence, the deadliest of the attacks Sunday occurred outside the capital, in cities to the north.The attention of Iraqi and U.S. officials since this spring has been focused on the rivalry between Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims in Baghdad. Sunday's violence, however, highlighted the country's many other dangers since the war began: rising crime and growing tensions among Iraq's other faiths and peoples.... http://www.washingtonpost.com censor News |
Editor - 23:05:00 08-27-06 |
Israeli strike kills 4 Gaza Hamas police: medics |
An Israeli air strike killed four members of the Hamas-led security force during ongoing clashes in the Gaza Strip on Monday, medics and witnesses said. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the report, but said she knew of only three people targeted saying two of the men were apparently killed by gunfire from ground troops and a third was hit by a missile fired from the air. "IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip identified three armed gunmen advancing toward their position. The forces opened fire, killing two of the gunmen, the third gunman was targeted from the air," she said. The new reported deaths in Gaza City's Shijaia district, an Islamist militant stronghold that troops entered on Saturday, have raised the death toll there to eight following four others, including two militants, who died there on Sunday. Three were killed in the fighting and a fourth person died of wounds later. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2364018
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Editor - 23:04:00 08-27-06 |
'Defense demands could set standard of living back 20 years' |
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson are to meet this morning to discuss defense establishment budgetary demands through 2010. Defense officials are seeking NIS 30 billion, mostly in fiscal 2007 and 2008, for resupplying, reacquiring weapons systems damaged during the war and preparing for the next war based on the lessons of recent hostilities, including developing new arms. The defense establishment is working under the assumption the Israel Defense Forces needs to be prepared quickly. However, according to a senior defense establishment official, cabinet compliance to the demand would subjugate the entire civilian establishment to military demands and constitute a mortal blow to civil budgets, including infrastructure and education. ... http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/755023.html
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Editor - 22:21:00 08-27-06 |
Lost in the Fog: Israel Kidnaps Journalists Too |
Make no mistake, the Middle East is no home to free press, but the hypocrisy is clear. When American journalists are kidnapped by Arabs-whether in Iraq or Gaza-it is headline material. Some have been killed while others (primarily in Gaza) are released in hours. When Arab journalists are kidnapped (it is kidnapping when they are 'detained' for six months) by Israel, nobody in the Western world notices. Though you'd hope it doesn't need to be said, free press should be for everyone. Even more dangerous than the lack of a free press is the illusion of a free press. Nobody expects controlled news coming from China to be reliable as nobody believes they have a free press. Israel is different. By intimidating and imprisoning journalists Israel is restricting access to the truth, effectively shaping reality. This creates a unique climate with an illusion of truth that is willingly ignored by the media. The information is there right in front of them, but they refuse to report it. Why?... http://questionthemark.org/2006/08/27/lost-in-the-fog-israel-kidnaps-journalists-too.aspx
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Editor - 21:48:00 08-27-06 |
British soldier shot dead in Afghanistan · Serviceman dies in clash with Helmand insurgents |
A British soldier has been shot dead during clashes with insurgents in southern Afghanistan, it emerged yesterday.Details of the latest fatality came as the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Royal Military police are investigating six serious shooting incidents involving British troops in the country.The double blow points to the mounting pressure faced by troops amid an upsurge in fighting as Afghanistan goes through one of its bloodiest periods since the fall of the Taliban five years ago. The soldier, who died in the unstable Helmand province yesterday at about 5am local time, became the eighth British serviceman to die in the country this month.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1859694,00.html
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Editor - 21:02:00 08-27-06 |
Pope prepares to embrace theory of intelligent design |
Philosophers, scientists and other intellectuals close to Pope Benedict will gather at his summer palace outside Rome this week for intensive discussions that could herald a fundamental shift in the Vatican's view of evolution.There have been growing signs the Pope is considering aligning his church more closely with the theory of "intelligent design" taught in some US states. Advocates of the theory argue that some features of the universe and nature are so complex that they must have been designed by a higher intelligence. Critics say it is a disguise for creationism. A prominent anti-evolutionist and Roman Catholic scientist, Dominique Tassot, told the US National Catholic Reporter that this week's meeting was "to give a broader extension to the debate. Even if [the Pope] knows where he wants to go, and I believe he does, it will take time. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1859614,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 20:33:00 08-27-06 |
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post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
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