 By night, the troops brace for Taliban mortar attacks. By day, they carry heavy gear and weapons over rocky ledges in scorching heat, stopping only to rehydrate, sometimes with the help of intravenous drips.Life with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment in southern Afghanistan is a battle not only against a stealthy and stubborn enemy but against some of the earth’s harshest natural elements.“I am hungry, thirsty and dirty. Welcome to my world,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gonzalo Lassally, 31, of Deltona, Fla. Lassally is among the scores of U.S. soldiers dug into a sun-bleached peak as part of Operation Mountain Thrust. It is the largest offensive against the Taliban since the government of that radical Islamic group was ousted nearly five years ago....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com
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Editor - 17:04:00 06-22-06
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 Italian chosen as Pope's deputy |
Pope Benedict XVI has chosen a close former colleague to become his new Vatican secretary of state. Italian cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 71, will replace fellow Italian Angelo Sodano as the Pope's number two. Cardinal Bertone, currently archbishop of Genoa, has long been a trusted collaborator of Benedict. They used to work in the same Vatican department. It is the second senior appointment made by the Pope from among his closest former departmental colleagues. Last year, the Pope chose an American cardinal, William Levada, to take over his own former Vatican job. The Vatican secretary of state is the Pope's official deputy, but has no powers to make declarations relating to faith and dogma - he is simply the Vatican's senior administrator. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5106282.stm
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Editor - 11:39:00 06-22-06
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| US seeks Somali Islamists' help |
The United States has asked the Islamic group that controls the Somali capital to hand over three men accused of links to the 1998 US embassy bombings. Senior US diplomat Jendayi Frazer said the alleged "terrorists" were from the Comoros Islands, Kenya and Sudan. Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts has repeatedly denied accusations that it is harbouring foreign Islamic fighters. The call comes as the Islamic courts are holding talks with Somalia's interim government in Sudan. Correspondents say the request is a u-turn for the United States, which is widely believed to have backed an alliance of warlords, which was defeated by the Islamic courts in Mogadishu earlier this month. Ms Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said there were many "foreign terrorists" in Somalia but the three most wanted by the US were: ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5104798.stm
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Editor - 11:35:00 06-22-06
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| Quake fears for south California |
The southern part of the San Andreas fault is overdue for a large earthquake, according to a study in the journal Nature. This end of the fault has not experienced a major rupture for at least 250 years and is now primed for a release of the built-up tension. The study by geophysicist Yuri Fialko provides the most precise measurements yet of this accumulated stress. But scientists cannot predict when another quake is likely to strike. The San Andreas fault runs for roughly 1287km (800 miles) through western and southern California in the US. It marks the meeting point of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. The southern segment begins near the Salton Sea and runs northward before bending to the west where it meets the San Bernardino Mountains. Los Angeles is the biggest city located near this part of the fault. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5105478.stm
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Editor - 11:34:00 06-22-06
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| Scientists urge evolution lessons |
The world's top scientists have joined forces to call for "evidence-based" teaching of evolution in schools. A statement signed by 67 national science academies says evidence on the origins of life is being "concealed, denied, or confused" in some classes. It lists key facts on evolution that "scientific evidence has never contradicted". These include the formation of Earth 4.5 billion years ago, and the onset of life at least 2.5 billion years ago. "We know of schools in various parts of the world where the children are told that the Earth is about 8,000 years old," said Yves Quere, co-chair of the Inter Academy Panel on International Issues, the global network of science academies. "So in this statement we say you cannot teach this to children, it is wrong."...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5098608.stm
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Editor - 11:14:00 06-22-06
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| Iraqis Rescue Hostages; 5 U.S. Troops Die |
Iraqi police stormed a farm north of Baghdad early Thursday and freed at least 17 people who were snatched a day earlier in a mass kidnapping of 64 workers and family members at the end of a factory shift.The U.S. military Thursday reported four Marines and a soldier were killed in operations south and west of Baghdad, and an explosion of sectarian and revenge killings in Iraq's third largest city over the past three days claimed 24 lives.Nine days into a security crackdown in Baghdad, meanwhile, insurgent and sectarian bloodletting was muted, with no major violent incidents reported by midday.A bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded near a popular market in central Baghdad's Alawi district, killing two people and injuring 25 others....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/22/ap/world/mainD8IDB6NO6.shtml
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Editor - 10:54:00 06-22-06
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