 Bush has used his weekly radio address to launch a strong defence of his administration's domestic surveillance programme. It follows claims the phone records of tens of millions of Americans are being collected by a US intelligence agency. Mr Bush stressed that all intelligence activities he authorised were "lawful" and "strictly target" al-Qaeda. "The privacy of all Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities," he insisted. "The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval. We are not trawling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans." Mr Bush has not confirmed or denied a report in the USA Today newspaper that the country's three biggest phone companies have been handing over call records to the National Security Agency (NSA) since 2001. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 09:40:00 05-13-06
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 Red alert for Indonesia volcano |
Thousands of people living on the slopes of Mount Merapi in Indonesia are being taken to safety, because of fears the volcano may be about to erupt. Old people, women and children have been taken to emergency shelters, after officials monitoring the volcano raised the threat status to the highest level. The volcano has been rumbling for weeks but is becoming more volatile. Streams of lava have been flowing down one side of the mountain, which is also spewing out hot volcanic ash and smoke. However some villagers have refused to move because they do not want to leave their crops and livestock. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4767805.stm
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Editor - 09:31:00 05-13-06
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| Administration cites state secrets in bid to derail spy lawsuit |
As lawmakers demand answers about warrantless electronic eavesdropping on Americans, the Bush administration says its secretive program's constitutionality cannot be challenged. The government is taking that position in seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit filed in federal court here against AT&T Inc. over its alleged involvement in the surveillance program adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The federal government is invoking the "state secrets privilege" in arguing that the lawsuit must be thrown out because it threatens to divulge information that is deemed critical to national security. Administration cites state secrets in bid to derail spy lawsuit. Legal experts suggest it's possible for the judge to rule on whether the president possesses wartime powers to authorize warrantless eavesdropping in the United States without disclosing any classified or sensitive material. To claim Wartime Powers Congress would have to Formally Declare War, and they have not...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/05/12/state/n121546D74.DTL
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Editor - 23:21:00 05-12-06
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| Clashes erupt between two Iraqi army units |
Clashes erupted Friday between two Iraqi army units following a roadside bombing north of the capital, and Iraqi police said a Shiite solder was killed in an exchange of fire with a Kurdish unit.The U.S. military and Iraqi police provided differing accounts of the incident, which began with a roadside bombing near Duluiyah, about 45 miles north of Baghdad.The Americans said one soldier from the Iraqi army's 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 4th Division was killed and 12 were wounded in the attack.But Iraqi police 1st Lt. Ali Ibrahim said four were killed and three others wounded. He identified the soldiers as Kurdish but did not specify their unit.According to both accounts, the wounded were rushed to the U.S. military hospital in Balad. Police said that when the Kurdish soldiers drove up to the hospital, they began firing weapons to clear the way, and one Iraqi Shiite civilian was killed....
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/14566370.htm
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Editor - 23:07:00 05-12-06
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| Verizon: No unfettered access for govt |
Verizon Communications said on Friday it does not and will not provide any government agency unfettered access to customer records, responding to a report that it was one of three U.S. telephone companies that had given access to data on millions of consumers. USA Today reported on Thursday that the National Security Agency (NSA) was secretly amassing phone records from the country's three biggest phone companies to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist plots.The report prompted both Democrats and Republicans to demand explanations amid brewing concern over personal privacy rights. A Senate panel plans to ask the phone companies for information on the matter."Verizon does not, and will not, provide any government agency unfettered access to our customer records or provide information to the government under circumstances that would allow a fishing expedition," the company said on Friday....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060512/ts_nm/security_usa_verizon_dc
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Editor - 18:54:00 05-12-06
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| Morales and Chávez talk tough in Vienna |
Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales, the presidents of Venezuela and Bolivia who are leading Latin America's radical turn to the left, angrily faced down EU leaders at a trade summit in Vienna today. The two leaders, both advocates of close national control of their enormous oil and gas resources, were the most controversial of the representatives of 58 Latin American and European nations attending today's meeting, where the EU sought reassurances about Señor Morales's intention to re-nationalise the Bolivian oil and gas industry and Señor Chavez's opposition to market reforms. They lived up to their billing, saying free trade and "neoliberal" economic policies undertaken over the last 20 years in Latin America had done little to lift millions of Bolivians and Venezuelans out of poverty. "Neoliberalism has begun its decline and has come to an end," Señor Chavez told reporters at the summit. "Now a new era has begun in Latin America. ...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2177681,00.html
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Editor - 18:28:00 05-12-06
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