Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the region Saturday night for the start of another round of shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Beirut, aiming to push a diplomatic solution for ending the war in Lebanon. Defense sources said that in view of Rice's return to Israel, it appears that for the first time since the start of the war, the "diplomatic clock" is beginning to tick faster.Rice met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Saturday night in private. She will depart for Lebanon Sunday and will decide following meetings there whether to return to Israel for more talks. The deal being put forth by Rice is for the deployment in Lebanon of an "international stabilization force" comprising 10,000 to 30,000 troops in return for Israel's withdrawal from the controversial Shaba Farms, on the western slopes of Mount Hermon. ... http://www.haaretz.com censor News |
Editor - 00:08:00 07-30-06 |
Democrats fail to win big Hispanic support |
Democrats have made only "modest gains" among Hispanics during political battles this year over immigration reform, with 41 percent of those surveyed in a Democratic poll saying the issue will not affect how they vote in November. Although the survey of 600 Spanish-speaking Hispanic voters by the New Democratic Network (NDN) showed a dramatic erosion in support for President Bush and Republicans since the immigration debate in Congress began, it found that Democrats have not made major advances with the nation's largest minority group. Democrats still "have a lot of work to do" to explain what they stand for, said a memo from the NDN's Hispanic Strategy Center. The poll's results were released July 19. Key findings in the survey showed pockets of significant support for Republicans and Mr. Bush among parts of the Hispanic community. ... http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060730-120044-3126r.htm
full News |
Editor - 00:03:00 07-30-06 |
US envoy foresees 'hard decision' |
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to meet Israeli and Lebanese leaders after returning to the region for the second time in a week. She says "there will have to be give and take" as both sides will be forced to make "hard and emotional decisions". The Hezbollah militia has dismissed Ms Rice's visit and warned of more missile attacks reaching deeper inside Israel. At least 20 casualties are reported in an Israeli air strike on a building in the southern Lebanese town of Qana. The Lebanese Shia militia's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said Ms Rice had returned to serve the interests of the US and Israel. The UN says some 600 people - about a third of them children - have been killed by Israeli action in Lebanon. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5227900.stm
full News |
Editor - 00:02:00 07-30-06 |
Audit Finds U.S. Hid Cost of Iraq Projects |
The State Department agency in charge of $1.4 billion in reconstruction money in Iraq used an accounting shell game to hide ballooning cost overruns on its projects there and knowingly withheld information on schedule delays from Congress, a federal audit released late Friday has found.The agency hid construction overruns by listing them as overhead or administrative costs, according to the audit, written by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office that reports to Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department.Called the United States Agency for International Development, or A.I.D., the agency administers foreign aid projects around the world. It has been working in Iraq on reconstruction since shortly after the 2003 invasion.... http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/fairenough/nyt341.html
full News |
Editor - 23:58:00 07-29-06 |
Rice pressing for deal to end war. Could it be because the world is getting pissed off with the Bull Shit excuses they keep mouthing? |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will press Israel and Lebanon on Sunday to strike a deal on an international force to end a 19-day-old war, after Hizbollah threatened to strike deeper into Israel. Rice, in the region for a second time in a week on a trip that puts her reputation as a mediator on the line, said she hoped for agreement on conditions for a ceasefire to be outlined in a U.N. resolution that could be tabled as early as Tuesday."I expect the discussions to be difficult, but there will have to be give and take," Rice told reporters. She will have a second day of talks with Israeli leaders on Sunday.In a further sign of intensifying diplomacy to end the war, France -- emerging as the international force's potential leader -- drew up a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would call for an immediate truce and prepare for the peace mission.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060730/ts_nm/mideast_dc
full News |
Editor - 21:54:00 07-29-06 |
Humanitarian aid piles up in Beirut without safe passage south |
Medicine, food and other humanitarian relief piled up in Beirut on Saturday, with only a trickle making it to the tens of thousands of Lebanese trapped in the war zone in the south.The help has been slowed by the difficult logistics of arranging safe passage during Israeli airstrikes, which have blasted close to the few truck convoys that have made the dangerous drive so far.No aid trucks have been hit, but artillery shells fell within hundreds of yards of convoys from the international Red Cross, United Nations and other agencies this week, officials said. Doctors Without Borders was using taxis to transport supplies because ambulances had been targeted, spokesman Sergio Cecchini said Saturday."There is always a risk when we go (to the south). We're never 100% sure that we won't be hit," said Hisham Hassan, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-29-lebanon-aid_x.htm?csp=34
full News |
Editor - 21:34:00 07-29-06 |
|
post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|