An Iranian naval patrol seized 15 British marines and sailors who had boarded a vessel suspected of smuggling cars off the coast of Iraq, military officials said. The British government immediately demanded the safe return of its troops and summoned Tehran's London ambassador to explain the incident. The Royal Marines and ordinary naval officers were believed to have been apprehended by up to six ships from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy who claimed they had violated Iranian waters. British naval officials said the sailors, using small boarding craft, had completed an inspection of a merchant vessel in Iraqi waters when the Iranians arrived. Commodore Nick Lambert, commander of the HMS Cornwall -- the frigate from which the British patrol had been deployed -- said the incident did not involve fighting or use of weapons.... http://www.cnn.com censor News |
Editor - 08:11:00 03-23-07 |
Zimbabwe's Mugabe says will survive Western attack |
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe vowed on Friday he would survive a Western onslaught to dislodge him from power, saying he still enjoyed majority support in his ruling party.Mugabe, who critics blame for plunging the southern African country into political and economic crisis, described himself as a battle hardened man, saying the West had always criticized him from his years as a guerrilla leader fighting white rule. "You think if I said I am 83 years you can push me," Mugabe said to applause from supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party at a meeting in Harare. "It's solid 83 years of the struggle, of experience, of resilience and I know the tactics (to survive)," said Mugabe. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2976039
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Editor - 08:06:00 03-23-07 |
Iraq war deadline bill to pass House: Democrats |
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have secured enough votes to pass legislation setting a September 1, 2008, deadline for withdrawing American troops from Iraq, lawmakers said on Friday. A House vote was expected later on Friday on a bill that would provide about $100 billion to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. Attached to the bill are provisions mandating the troop withdrawal and conditions to ensure troops being sent into war in the meantime are properly trained and equipped.House Democrats were pushing the legislation despite warnings from the White House that President George W. Bush would veto it."The votes are very solid" in favor of imposing the deadline on the war, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record), a Missouri Democrat, told Reuters after leaving a meeting of House Democrats.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070323/pl_nm/iraq_usa_congress_dc
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Editor - 08:05:00 03-23-07 |
Navy Prepares for Aircraft Carrier USS Kennedy to be Decommissioned |
Sailors hung flags and banners and cleaned and removed equipment as they prepared the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy for its last hurrah Friday. "Big John" is being decommissioned after nearly 40 years of service. "It's going to be bittersweet," said Lt. Cmdr. Vince U. Webster, the ship's administrative officer. "Happy that a lot of sailors on board will have closure so they can move on to their next career, but sad because this great warship will never be under way again." The Kennedy launched aircraft into hot spots around the globe during its service, including both Iraq wars. At 1,050 feet long, it carried a crew of about 4,600 and 70 combat aircraft. Webster, born a month before President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, served two tours on the carrier and asked to come back for the final chapter in the Kennedy's legacy. The ship was christened in May 1967 by Kennedy's then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and entered Navy service the next year.... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260622,00.html
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Editor - 08:03:00 03-23-07 |
Ex-official to plead guilty in Abramoff probe |
The former No. 2 official in the U.S. Interior Department has agreed to plead guilty to lying to Congress about his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, officials familiar with the case said on Friday.J. Steven Griles is the highest-ranking Bush administration official to face charges in the wide-ranging scandal, which helped Democrats win control of the U.S. Congress last year. He was deputy secretary of the interior from 2001 to 2005. Griles faces one count of obstructing Congress for lying to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee as it examined the influence of disgraced former Republican lobbyist Abramoff's influence within the Interior Department. The charge carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison. But under the plea deal, prosecutors have agreed to recommend to the judge that Griles get a 10-month sentence, of which at least five months can be served in home confinement, a law enforcement official said. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2976035
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Editor - 08:01:00 03-23-07 |
Japanese Ship Returns to Port With Catch of 508 Whales, Despite Having Hunt Cut Short |
A Japanese whaling ship returned to port from Antarctica Friday with a catch of 508 whales, despite having its annual hunt cut short by a deadly fire. The Nisshin Maru's hunt had triggered a high-seas showdown with environmental groups even before the fire, and Greenpeace issued a fresh condemnation of Japan's whaling program, calling for the damaged ship to be retired. Tokyo says its whaling provides crucial data for the International Whaling Commission on populations and feeding habits of whales in Antarctic seas. The hunts are allowed by the commission, but environmental groups have long condemned the hunts as a pretext for keeping alive commercial whaling, which was banned in 1986. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2976044
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Editor - 07:59:00 03-23-07 |
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