Election monitors from the European Union say they found no irregularities in last Sunday's hotly disputed presidential election. The EU said its 80 monitors nationwide did not witness any wrongdoing. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed to launch protests after the razor-thin victory of his rival Felipe Calderon. But Mr Calderon has already begun to spell out his policies and has taken congratulatory calls from overseas leaders, including US President Bush. The final tally from the election showed that just a few thousand votes separated the two candidates. Conservative candidate Mr Calderon finished with 35.88%, against 35.31% for Mr Lopez Obrador, the candidate of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). ... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 20:13:00 07-07-06 |
Israeli forces broaden fight against Gaza gunmen |
Israeli troops backed by helicopter gunships clashed with Palestinian militants on Saturday inside Gaza near the strip's key commercial crossing, broadening an offensive aimed at freeing a soldier and halting rocket attacks. Palestinian witnesses said an Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at gunmen in the pre-dawn fighting. Several Palestinians were wounded, medics said.The clash took place on the edge of a Hamas stronghold near the Karni crossing, the first time fighting has broken out in there since Israel launched its offensive last week.At least 38 Palestinians, the majority of them militants, have been killed since the Israeli operations began, according to Palestinian medics and officials.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060708/ts_nm/mideast_dc
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Editor - 20:10:00 07-07-06 |
Enron three's UK call rejected |
Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has rejected calls for three British bankers wanted in the US over the Enron scandal to be tried in the UK. Lord Goldsmith said he saw no basis for the Serious Fraud Office to re-consider its decision to leave the case to the US authorities. David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby are accused of a fraud allegedly involving millions of pounds. The men have said they are innocent and should be tried by a UK jury. The alleged fraud involved their former employees NatWest being advised to sell part of an Enron company for less than it was worth... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5160094.stm
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Editor - 19:59:00 07-07-06 |
Navy, Environmental Groups Settle Sonar Lawsuit, Limiting When and Where Signals Can Be Used |
The Navy can use high-intensity sonar in some circumstances for Pacific warfare exercises under an agreement reached Friday with environmental groups, four days after a judge banned the sonar over concerns it could harm marine mammals. The settlement prevents the Navy from using the sonar within 25 miles of the newly established Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument during its Rim of the Pacific 2006 exercises, and also imposes a variety of methods to watch for and report the presence of marine mammals. The environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, had obtained a court order Monday temporarily barring the use of the "mid-frequency active sonar." ... http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2166839
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Editor - 19:57:00 07-07-06 |
Agent who led Bin Laden hunt criticises CIA |
The man who led America's hunt for Osama bin Laden has said the CIA was wrong to disband the only unit devoted entirely to the terrorist leader's pursuit - just at a time when al-Qaida is reasserting its influence over global jihad.Shutting down the Bin Laden unit squandered 10 years of expertise in the war on terror, said Michael Scheuer, who founded the unit in 1995 and arguably knows more about Bin Laden than any other western intelligence official. He believes the unit was dismantled because of bureaucratic jealousies within the CIA, and that the closure delivers a further setback to a pursuit that has been squeezed for resources for the past two years. "What it robs you of is a critical mass of officers who have been working on this together for a decade," he told the Guardian. "We had a breed of specialists rare in an intelligence community that prides itself on generalists. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1815728,00.html?gusrc=rss
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Editor - 19:55:00 07-07-06 |
Russia Curtails Radio Free Europe |
Authorities have dramatically curtailed the number of stations broadcasting Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America news programs, officials said Friday, sending an unsettling signal about the state of press freedoms in Russia. News of the restrictions comes amid growing criticism about the state of democracy under President Vladimir Putin and a week before Russia hosts a summit of leaders from the world's wealthiest democracies. Some European and U.S. lawmakers have called for Putin's government to be taken to task for closing down media outlets and squeezing opposition groups. Russian officials say the matter is simply one of stations' conforming with their broadcast licenses. But radio station owners said the restrictions close down an essential source of information, particularly in far-flung regions where media outlets are fewer than in Moscow and St. Petersburg. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5936874,00.html
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Editor - 12:58:00 07-07-06 |
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