The British consulate in Basra will evacuate its heavily defended building in the next 24 hours over concerns for the safety of its staff. Despite a large British military presence at the headquarters in Basra Palace, a private security assessment has advised the consul general and her staff to leave the building after experiencing regular mortar attacks in the last two months. The move will be seen as a huge blow to progress in Iraq and has infuriated senior military commanders. They say it sends a message to the insurgents that they are winning the battle in pushing the British out of the southern Iraqi capital, where several British soldiers have died and dozens have been injured. The evacuation also comes halfway through Operation Sinbad, which has experienced some success in restoring control in Basra. The operation ends early next year but Basra will need massive investment by the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development to build on its successes...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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Editor - 23:24:00 10-29-06
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 Bomb at Baghdad Market Kills 31 People |
A bomb targeting poor Iraqi Shiites lining up for day jobs in Baghdad's Sadr City slum killed at least 31 people Monday and wounded more than 50 others, police said. The bomb tore through a collection of food stalls and kiosks at about 6:15 a.m., cutting down men who gather there daily hoping to be hired as laborers. Police Maj. Hashim al-Yasiri put the casualty figure at 31 killed and 51 injured. There were conflicting reports as to whether the blast was caused by a suicide bomber or a device concealed amid debris by the roadside. The overwhelmingly Shiite area is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia blamed for much of the sectarian violence rocking the city...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/30/AR2006103000056.html
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Editor - 23:03:00 10-29-06
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| Israeli barrier and settlement to leave West Bank village with nowhere to go |
From his rooftop, Mohammad Ibrahim can see from one end to the other of the narrow valley that contains the village of Wadi Fukin. Beyond houses bunched around the tall minaret of the mosque is terraced farmland, most of it covered with olive trees or planted deep in cabbage, cucumber, radish, lettuce and squash, irrigated by dozens of small reservoir pools linked to the valley's 11 ancient springs. It is this view of Wadi Fukin, a village of 1,200 Palestinians just inside the occupied West Bank, that has long attracted Israeli tourists, who hike and swim in the reservoirs. The ancient farming practices have created a "unique cultural landscape" deserving of world heritage status, says Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of Friends of the Earth Middle East. But this is no longer all Mr Ibrahim sees. On the hills to the south and east of the village is a rapidly expanding ultra-orthodox Jewish settlement built on Palestinian land seized by the Israeli government and declared "state land"...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1934737,00.html
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Editor - 21:30:00 10-29-06
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| Ottawa rules out amnesty for 200,000 illegal workers THE UNDERGROUND ECONOMY: Construction industry hit hard by decision |
Ottawa has ruled out amnesty for the estimated 200,000 undocumented workers toiling in Canada's underground economy, saying it would not be fair to those who have applied legally and are waiting in line, according to a letter obtained by The Globe and Mail.Allowing illegal workers to stay would likely "encourage more illegal immigration," noted Linda Arseneau of Citizenship and Immigration Canada's ministerial enquiries division in an Oct. 18 letter to the Universal Workers Union. "Even a small increase in the number who decide to come here and stay here illegally based on the hope of regularization would simply recreate the very problem the proposal is supposed to fix," the letter says....
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061027.AMNESTY27/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/
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Editor - 18:53:00 10-29-06
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| Pakistan says it destroyed al-Qaeda training base |
Pakistani troops, backed by missile-firing helicopters, destroyed an al-Qaeda-linked training facility in a northwestern tribal area near the Afghan border Monday, killing "many" militants, officials said.The pre-dawn attack targeted a religious school — known as a madrassa — holding 70-80 militants in a village near the town of Khar, the main town in the Bajur tribal district, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.Sultan said the facility was destroyed but it was not immediately clear how many people had been killed.The attack came two days after 5,000 pro-Taliban tribesmen held an anti-American rally in Damadola, a Bajur-area village close to the site of an alleged U.S. missile attack that killed several al-Qaeda members and civilians in January....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-10-29-pakistan-al-qaeda_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 18:45:00 10-29-06
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| Bush plans rallies in heartlands to halt election mauling · Safe states such as Texas not immune to backlash |
George Bush, sidelined from the fray in this election season, started a high energy tour of the Republican heartland at the weekend to rally party loyalists and try to beat back Democratic challenges as the mid-term campaign enters its final days.With just over a week to go, the president begins a swing through Texas, Georgia, Nevada and Montana today, hoping to shore up Republican morale at a time when the party is in serious danger of losing control of Congress. Mr Bush attended his first rally in Indiana on Saturday, rousing the faithful with a speech about tax cuts and gay marriage. Today he flies to Texas to campaign in the district dominated for a decade by Tom Delay, the former house majority leader forced to resign after a corruption scandal. Two years ago, Mr Delay carried his seat with 63% of the vote. Today, the Republican candidate, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, is struggling....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1934743,00.html
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Editor - 18:12:00 10-29-06
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