 An Australian wheat exporter has admitted paying money to Saddam Hussein's former regime in Iraq in violation of United Nations sanctions. An inquiry into claims that the former Australian Wheat Board paid bribes for contracts released a statement in which the board apologised for its actions. The board said it was "truly sorry" and regretted any damage it had caused. Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been among officials questioned by the inquiry, which will report in June. The draft statement was submitted to the inquiry in March but only made public on Thursday. In it, the wheat board's former managing director Andrew Lindberg, acknowledges that money was paid to the former Iraqi regime in contravention of UN sanctions. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 10:15:00 05-18-06
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 Senate backs Mexico border fence |
The US Senate has approved the construction of fencing along the southern border with Mexico. The move forms part of an immigration bill being discussed by senators, who also backed a plan to allow illegal migrants a chance at citizenship. Hundreds of campaigners gathered in Washington to lobby senators. Correspondents say the Senate vote largely follows the outlines of President Bush's speech on Monday, in which he proposed immigration reforms. Mr Bush sought to appease both conservatives and pro-immigrant campaigners, proposing the creation of a "path to citizenship" for illegal incomers, along with steps to bolster border security. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4992328.stm
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Editor - 10:12:00 05-18-06
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| At least 23 killed as Iraq awaits new Cabinet 4 Americans, interpreter killed in Baghdad blast; police chief targeted |
As Iraqis awaited the final formation of their new national unity government, at least 19 Iraqis and four U.S. soldiers were killed and a police chief narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in attacks in the country’s two largest cities Thursday.The four U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. At least 2,454 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Bombers also destroyed a small Sunni shrine near the volatile city of Baqouba in an apparent reprisal attack less than a week after similar bombings heavily damaged six Shiite shrines in a mixed area where tensions are running high. No one was injured in any of the attacks. ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12835075/from/RSS/
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Editor - 10:08:00 05-18-06
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| Bush May Seek North Korea Peace Treaty to Restart Nuclear Talks |
The Bush administration is considering opening direct talks with North Korea on a peace treaty as a new approach to persuading that nation to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons, a U.S. official said. Advisers to President George W. Bush have recommended that the administration begin the peace talks on condition that separate six-party negotiations on the nuclear issue resume, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Those negotiations, currently stalled, involve North Korea, China, Russia, the U.S., Japan and South Korea. The U.S., concerned about nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran, called today in Geneva for a new international treaty to outlaw production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for weapons purposes. The proposed treaty wouldn't affect current stocks of fuel for nuclear reactors. ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aYIfyil8e5Wg&refer=home
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Editor - 10:03:00 05-18-06
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| 100 dead in Afghan attacks |
More than 100 people were killed today in some of the fiercest violence to erupt in Afghanistan in more than four years.Foreign troops were involved in multiple skirmishes with Taliban fighters, two suicide car bombs were detonated and rebels launched a substantial assault on a small village in the south of the country. The fatalities included up to 87 Taliban fighters and suicide bombers, 15 Afghan police, a US civilian, an Afghan civilian and a Canadian soldier, officials said. The battles were concentrated in the south and follow months of increasing attacks in the region. An assault by hundreds of fighters on a small southern town was one of the largest attacks by militants since 2001 and marked another escalation in the campaign against Afghanistan's US-backed president, Hamid Karzai. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1778098,00.html?gusrc=rss
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Editor - 09:59:00 05-18-06
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| Ark. Mayor Out on Bond After Sex-for-Water Charge |
An affidavit supporting charges against Waldron's mayor — accused of soliciting two women for sex after they fell behind on their water bills — says the two women wore recording devices during encounters with the mayor. Mayor Troy Anderson, 72, was released on a signature bond Wednesday in an appearance before Judge Donald Goodner, who said Anderson was not a flight risk, according to the Scott County Circuit Clerk's Office. Goodner set an arraignment for July 6.Anderson did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday and Wednesday.He is charged with two felony counts of abuse of public trust and four misdemeanor counts of patronizing a prostitute....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196037,00.html
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Editor - 09:56:00 05-18-06
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