 A suicide car bomber apparently targeting a senior city official struck an Iraqi military checkpoint Thur in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, killing at least 8 people, officials said. The blast came a day after the U.S. military said stopping car bombings had become the main focus of a major security sweep to halt the sectarian violence in the capital. Karradah, a major commercial district, has been hit by bombings several times in recent months, including a suicide car bombing on Jan. 25 that killed 30 people. In the city of Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, a bomb in a parked car exploded as a bus packed with workers passed by, killing at least 4 and wounding 24, police said. A U.S. soldier was killed Wed in fighting in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said. A Marine assigned to Multi National Force-West also died the same day in Anbar in a non-combat-related incident that is under investigation, the military said separately....
http://www.foxnews.com
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Editor - 08:47:00 03-15-07
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 Witness emerges in probe of groom's shooting |
A possible last-minute witness emerged as the city anxiously awaited word from a grand jury weighing the case of five police officers who unleashed a 50-bullet barrage that killed an unarmed man on his wedding day, authorities said.The grand jurors reconvened Thursday after going home late Wednesday without having decided whether any officers should be indicted.The Queens district attorney's office said a man came forward Wednesday to say he witnessed the shooting and had information about it, office spokesman Kevin Ryan said. It was unclear whether the grand jury would seek information from the person.The killing of Sean Bell, 23, and the wounding of his bachelor party guests Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield on November 25 raised questions about police tactics and prompted vigils and protests by civil rights activists....
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/03/15/nypd.shooting.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us
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Editor - 08:44:00 03-15-07
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| Banana firm fined for paying off Colombian paramilitaries |
A major US-based banana producer is to pay a fine of nearly £13m after admitting it made protection payments to a right-wing Colombian paramilitary group implicated in human rights abuses and cocaine smuggling. In a deal with the US justice department, announced last night, Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International pleaded guilty to one charge of conducting business with a terrorist group, agreeing to a fine of $25m. The settlement resolves a lengthy justice department investigation into the company's financial dealings with both right-wing paramilitaries and leftist rebels in Colombia. Prosecutors alleged that Chiquita paid around £900,000 between 1997 and 2004 to the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, known as the AUC, in exchange for protection for its workers following threats by the group....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2034737,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 08:43:00 03-15-07
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| Four dead after Greenwich Village shootout |
A gunman wearing a fake beard shot a waiter 15 times at a pizzeria Wednesday night and then killed two unarmed volunteer police officers during a chase, according to New York City police.The man was later shot to death by police in a gunbattle in the city's Greenwich Village.Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the shootings "devastating."Police said it began when David Gavin, 32, walked into DeMarco's Pizzeria on West Houston Street, at MacDougal Street, around 9 p.m.Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said according to witnesses, Gavin appeared to be wearing a beard as a disguise.DeMarco employee Alfredo Romaro, 35, offered him a menu. When Romaro turned to leave, Gavin shot him in the back 15 times, Kelly said....
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/15/nyc.shootout/index.html?eref=rss_us
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Editor - 08:41:00 03-15-07
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| Australian army imposter gatecrashed security meetings |
An Australian truck driver and convicted armed robber attended top-level military security meetings after posing as an army officer, it was reported today. Peter Bennett began what the Age newspaper described as his "self-appointed military career" in September 2005. The 54-year-old wore formal military dress - including decorations for supposed service in Vietnam and elsewhere - to gatecrash a formal dinner at an air force base in Melbourne. There, he met senior figures including the head of Australia's air force, Air Vice Marshal Geoffrey Shepherd. The Age pictured Bennett, who has pleaded guilty to impersonating a public official, dressed in a white jacket, bow tie and red cummerbund as he posed for a photograph with Mr Shepherd. After managing to obtain an Australian defence forces identity card, he attended a series of meetings of Operation Acolyte, which planned security for last year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,2034720,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 08:40:00 03-15-07
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| AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Qwest Vie for $20 Billion U.S. Program |
AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and competing phone companies will find out this month whether they can bid for the biggest U.S. government communications contract ever or get shut out of most federal work for a decade. Carriers must win the right to bid on projects valued at more than $20 billion over 10 years, for work ranging from Internet-based telephone and video services to data-network security upgrades. As many as 135 agencies will pick providers from the list, limiting work for companies that are left out. ``This is high-stakes procurement,'' said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president at FedSources, a McLean, Virginia-based research group that tracks government contracts. ``It could be quite a hurt for some of these teams if they were to not win.'' ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=arT_VB43qrEU&refer=exclusive
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Editor - 08:37:00 03-15-07
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