 Gunmen have attacked the health ministry in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, sparking heavy gun battles with guards. About 30 gunmen are trying to take over the building, Iraqi TV reported. Reports said they were believed to be Sunni Muslim insurgents. Shia militias were suspected of a mass kidnapping of education ministry staff last week. Separately, at least 10 people were killed in a series of bombings, including 3 car bombs in the Shia area of Sadr City, officials said. One car exploded in the Jamila food market, a regular target of mainly Sunni Muslim, anti-US insurgents. Eyewitnesses quoted by AP said burned bodies and human flesh littered the ground. Deputy Minister Hakim Zamili told reporters by telephone that that gunmen were in positions outside the health ministry building in the Bab al-Muadham area and were opening fire. "Terrorists are attacking the building with mortars, machinegun fire and we can even see snipers. Any employee who leaves the building will be killed," ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 08:20:00 11-23-06
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 Thousands attend Beirut funeral |
The funeral of murdered anti-Syrian politician Pierre Gemayel has taken place in Lebanon, with tens of thousands of people paying tribute. Crowds carrying flags and chanting anti-Syrian slogans converged in central Beirut, turning the funeral into an impassioned political rally. Security was tight, given Lebanon's current state of high tension. Many Lebanese accuse Syria of involvement in Mr Gemayel's death, but Damascus rejects the claims. The United Nations Security Council has agreed to a request from Lebanon to help investigate the murder. The industry minister and Maronite Christian politician was shot in his car in a Christian area of Beirut on Tuesday. He was the fifth anti-Syrian Lebanese politician to be killed in two years, and his murder has intensified an acute political crisis in Lebanon. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6175508.stm
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Editor - 08:15:00 11-23-06
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| White House denies Cheney is visiting Iraq TV reports had reported VP was celebrating Thanksgiving with troops |
The White House denied Iraqi television reports that Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Thursday. David Almacy, a White House spokesman in Washington, said Cheney was not in Iraq and that his only currently planned travel to the region is the previously announced trip he will make to Saudi Arabia on Friday to meet the next day with King Abdullah to discuss developments in the Middle East, including Iraq. State-run Iraqiya TV and the private Al-Arabiya TV station reported that Cheney had arrived in the Iraqi capital on Thursday morning, apparently to visit American troops for the Thanksgiving holiday. But U.S. Embassy and U.S. military officials in Baghdad couldn’t confirm that, and it became clear later that the reports were erroneous....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15863222/
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Editor - 08:13:00 11-23-06
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| Archbishop ushers in détente with Vatican |
Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, today acknowledged there were "serious obstacles" to closer ties between Catholics and Anglicans, when they met in Rome. The leaders of the two churches signed a joint statement after 25 minutes of private talks, saying they were committing themselves to continuing dialogue. The two men then prayed together in a chapel in the Apostolic palace and later had lunch. Their meeting marked the 40th anniversary of landmark efforts to improve relations between the two churches, which went their separate ways during the reign of King Henry VIII. "Our long journey together makes it necessary to acknowledge publicly the challenge represented by new developments which, beside being divisive for Anglicans, present serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress," the two leaders said in their declaration....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,1955418,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 08:10:00 11-23-06
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| Israel presses Gaza attacks, kills 5 Palestinians |
Israeli forces backed by tanks and aircraft killed five Palestinians including three gunmen in Gaza on Thursday in raids aimed at curbing an upsurge in militant rocket strikes on the Jewish state.The operations came a day after the government decided to press on with attacks but not order a massive assault. On the Palestinian political front, sources from the ruling Hamas Islamist movement said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had met President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah in the Gaza Strip, a sign that unity government negotiations were back on track. Hamas sources described the meeting as "positive" but did not elaborate. A senior Fatah official declined to comment on the meeting but said the two men would hold more discussions on Thursday evening to try to bridge differences. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2675463
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Editor - 08:08:00 11-23-06
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| 145 Die and 238 Are Hurt in Suicide Bombings in Deadliest Attack of Iraq War |
In the deadliest attack since the beginning of the Iraq war, suspected Sunni-Arab militants used three suicide car bombs and two mortar rounds on the capital's Shiite Sadr City slum to kill at least 145 people and wound 238 on Thursday, police said. The Shiites responded almost immediately, firing 10 mortar rounds at the Abu Hanifa Sunni mosque as Azamiya, killing one person and wounding seven people in their attack on the holiest Sunni shrine in Baghdad. Beginning at 3:10 p.m., the three car bomb attackers blew up their vehicles one after another, at 15 minute intervals, hitting Jamila market, al-Hay market and al-Shahidein Square in Sadr City. At about the same time, mortar rounds struck al-Shahidein Square and Mudhaffar Square, police said. As the fiery explosions sent up huge plumes of black smoke up over northeastern Baghdad, and left streets covered with burning bodies and blood, angry residents and armed Shiite militiamen flooded the streets, ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2675745
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Editor - 08:07:00 11-23-06
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