Britain took its case to free its 15 sailors and marines held by Iran to the United Nations on Thursday, asking the Security Council to support a statement that would "deplore" Tehran's action and demand their immediate release. But Security Council diplomats said the brief press statement circulated by Britain's U.N. Mission is likely to face problems from Russia and others because it says the Britons were "operating in Iraqi waters" a point that Iran contests. The British move came as Iran rolled back on its promise to release the sole female British sailor among the captives, who were seized last week. The Iranian military chief, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said that because of the "wrong behavior" of the British government, "the release of a female British soldier has been suspended," the semiofficial Iranian news agency Mehr reported. ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 08:55:00 03-29-07 |
Senate approves '08 goal to bring troops home |
The Senate on Thursday defied President George W. Bush by passing a war-funding bill setting a goal of withdrawing all American combat soldiers from Iraq within a year.By a vote of 51-47, the Senate approved the bill Bush has vowed to veto. It would require the president to begin a troop withdrawal within four months and try to complete it by March 31, 2008. The initiative was attached to a $121.7 billion bill that mostly funds wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2991894
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Editor - 08:53:00 03-29-07 |
Russia poses Cold War-scale intel threat: official |
Russian efforts to obtain secrets on U.S. political and military decision-making have reached levels not seen since the Cold War, the top U.S. counterintelligence official said on Thursday.Joel Brenner, the Bush administration's National Counterintelligence Executive, said a new intensive assault by Moscow is intent on gaining insights into "the upper echelon of U.S. decision-making" rather than stealing secrets about sensitive U.S. technology. "The Russians are back to Cold War levels in their efforts against the United States," he said in a speech to the American Bar Association. Brenner, whose job is to oversee counterintelligence strategy and policy for U.S. intelligence czar Mike McConnell, did not provide details about suspected Russian intelligence operations in the United States. Sensitive counterintelligence activities are classified. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2991897
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Editor - 08:52:00 03-29-07 |
Revenge killings by Iraq police spotlight militias |
Iraq's Sunni vice president urged the government on Thursday to do more to purge security forces of militias after a group of Shi'ite police shot scores of men in reprisal killings in a northern town this week.Hours after truck bombs killed 85 people on Tuesday in a Shi'ite area of Tal Afar, up to 70 Sunni Arab men were shot dead in a town which only a year ago was held up by President Bush as an example of progress toward peace. The governor of Nineveh province, which includes the town of Tal Afar, said policemen who took part in the reprisal shootings were arrested but then freed again to prevent unrest. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, has ordered an inquiry into the involvement of police in the killings. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2991807
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Editor - 08:50:00 03-29-07 |
Missing Washington Kids Spotted in Montana McDonald's With New Appearances |
Two young Washington state children abducted by their dad who has been described as having mental problems were captured by surveillance cameras at a fast-food restaurant in Missoula, Mont., according to the FBI.The video showed four-year-old Remi Baugher and her two-year-old brother, Lars, playing in an indoor jungle gym at a McDonald's Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. The footage showed the children with shorter, darker hair than when they disappeared. Remi is dressed to look like a boy. The man with them, believed to be their father, had several days' growth of beard.Federal agents also told KPAX that an unnamed woman seen in the surveillance video with the children is an "acquaintance" who is no longer traveling with the three. FBI agents said she is no longer in Missoula, and they are continuing their investigation ... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262340,00.html
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Editor - 08:49:00 03-29-07 |
Africa leaders mull Zimbabwe amid new rights charges |
African leaders sought to hammer out a fresh approach to Zimbabwe's crisis on Thursday as President Robert Mugabe's government was hit with new charges of widespread human rights abuses.Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the host of a special Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, said he was confident Zimbabwe's neighbors could resolve an impasse which has spurred sharp Western demands for action. But Mugabe's spokesman struck a defiant note, saying the veteran leader would tell the West to "go hang" as long as it tried to interfere in Zimbabwe's affairs. Adding to a lengthening list of accusations against Mugabe's government, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said police were targeting ordinary Zimbabweans suspected of backing the opposition, doling out savage beatings to keep the 83-year-old leader's opponents at bay. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2991810
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Editor - 08:15:00 03-29-07 |
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