Bush, bruised by months of setbacks, enters the new year hoping to win congressional battles over tax cuts and immigration, get rebellious Republicans back in step and nurture a new democracy in Iraq — the make-or-break issue of his legacy.Expect the president to bring in 2006 the same way he ended the old: Trumpeting good economic news and talking, reassuringly, about Iraq where excitement over a historic ballot has been tempered by growing disenchantment with the war and a death toll of U.S. troops that tops 2,160.The war in Iraq and sluggish diplomatic efforts to deter the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea will continue to dominate foreign policy for the president, who plans a trip early in the new year to India. ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com
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Editor - 11:15:00 12-26-05
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 China says has developed better bird flu vaccine |
China has developed a more efficient bird flu vaccine which can also protect its massive poultry population against another deadly disease, state media said Monday.The vaccine, developed by the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, is the world's first live vaccine against bird flu and Newcastle disease, the China Daily said, quoting the ministry of agriculture.In addition to being injected, the new vaccine can be administered orally, nasally or by spraying, the ministry's chief veterinary officer Jia Youling was quoted as saying.Currently China uses a vaccine that must be injected."The mass-application techniques can not only significantly reduce labor costs but also increase immunity among fowls," Jia said....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-12-26-china-flu-vaccine_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 11:10:00 12-26-05
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| Iraqis want us out, says US general |
THE top US military commander admitted Sunday that Iraqis wanted US and other foreign troops to leave the country "as soon as possible", and said US troop levels in Iraq were now being re-assessed on a monthly basis.The admission by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marine General Peter Pace followed a decision by the Pentagon to reduce its presence in Iraq by two army brigades, which amounts to about 7000 soldiers. "Understandably, Iraqis themselves would prefer to have coalition forces leave their country as soon as possible," General Pace said in a Christmas Day interview on the Fox News Sunday show. "They don't want us to leave tomorrow, but they do want us to leave as soon as possible." Some US foreign policy experts have expressed concern that a new Iraqi government emerging from the December 15 parliamentary elections could ask American and other coalition troops to leave, but officials have dismissed that forecast as unrealistic. ...
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17663960%5E1702,00.html
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Editor - 10:58:00 12-26-05
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| Fatah allowed to merge Palestinian poll lists |
Palestinian election authorities cleared the way on Monday for the ruling Fatah movement to merge rival lists of candidates for a January parliamentary ballot and end a damaging split.Rivals in President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling movement had at first presented two candidate lists, then decided they wanted to merge them into one as a way to counter a challenge from surging Islamist rival Hamas. The ruling of the electoral court was needed because the official deadline for registering candidates was December 14. After an appeal, the court said it would reopen registration for a further six hours. It was not immediately clear when the six hours would begin....
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1443279
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Editor - 10:43:00 12-26-05
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| Bitter Debate Expected Over Bid to Deny 'Bithright Citizenship' to Children of Illegal Immigrants |
A proposal to change long-standing federal policy and deny citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants on U.S. soil ran aground this month in Congress, but it is sure to resurface kindling bitter debate even if it fails to become law. At issue is "birthright citizenship" provided for since the Constitution's 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Section 1 of that amendment, drafted with freed slaves in mind, says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." Some conservatives in Congress, as well as advocacy groups seeking to crack down on illegal immigration, say the amendment has been misapplied over the years, that it was never intended to grant citizenship automatically to babies of illegal immigrants. Thus they contend that federal legislation, rather than a difficult-to-achieve constitutional amendment, would be sufficient to end birthright citizenship. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1443296
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Editor - 10:40:00 12-26-05
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| 'No mistakes' says Beslan report |
Russian prosecutors investigating last year's Beslan school siege say no mistakes were made by the authorities during the crisis in North Ossetia. Relatives of more than 300 people who died in the siege accuse the security services of incompetence. They say as many deaths should be blamed on police as on the hostage-takers. An earlier report by the local parliamentary commission did find the security services had been incompetent. The prosecutors' report, released on Monday, will probably infuriate relatives of those who died in Beslan - but it does not come as a surprise. Ever since September 2004, when more than 300 people were killed during the storming of the besieged school, people in Beslan demanded that the authorities be called to account. The prosecutors' view of events is very different to the findings of the local parliamentary commission. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4561052.stm
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Editor - 10:37:00 12-26-05
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