After a one-day investigation, the government cleared three policemen Tuesday of rape allegations brought by a married Sunni woman a move that drew charges of a cover-up from Sunni leaders. The government said a medical examination showed the 20-year-old woman "had not been subjected to any sexual attack whatsoever" and that three warrants had been issued against her for unspecified charges. The statement gave no other details on the investigation but accused "certain parties" a thinly veiled reference to Sunni politicians of fabricating the allegation to discredit a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad. The government also said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "ordered that the honorable officers accused be rewarded." ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 23:26:00 02-20-07
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 NATO split in Afghanistan |
Cracks are emerging within NATO in Afghanistan, after Canada last week criticised some allies for not pulling their weight. A bruising report by the Canadian Senate said all the fighting was being left to just a handful of countries while others focussed exclusively on reconstruction. The report also urgently calls for more troops in the south of the country, a demand that in the past days has been repeated by Bush. But so far that call has not been heeded, despite predictions that the Taliban is preparing for a major spring offensive against NATO troops. These are anxious days for NATO troops. Reports are streaming out of Afghanistan that the Taliban is growing fast & is preparing a violent assault on foreign troops in the Spring. Some 37,000 NATO troops are currently posted in the country, but many are engaged in reconstruction work in the North, far removed from heavy fighting in the South. Military operations have so far been largely down to the British, Canadian, Dutch & US troops...
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/nat070220
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Editor - 21:53:00 02-20-07
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| The New Somalia: A Grimly Familiar Rerun |
Fierce mortar attacks killed at least 15 civilians in Somalia on Tuesday, and for a country that had seemed on the verge of ending 16 years of chaotic violence this is the new status quo. Nearly every day, government forces and insurgents shell each other across Mogadishu’s already dilapidated neighborhoods, scattering bodies and any remaining traces of hope. Gun prices are soaring and more clans are joining the underground, while an outbreak of cholera sweeps the countryside. “To tell you the truth, I’m pretty worried,” said Mohammed Ali Mahdi, a top clan elder. When the government came to Mogadishu, “I felt we were going the right way. Unfortunately, that’s not the case anymore and soon it’s going to be too late.” It is hard to believe, but Somalia is actually becoming a more violent and chaotic place. That is not how it was supposed to be. Nearly two months ago, an internationally-supported transitional government ousted the ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/world/africa/21somaliaq.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin
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Editor - 21:45:00 02-20-07
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| Taliban fighters ambush Canadian convoy |
A Canadian convoy was ambushed twice late Sunday by Taliban fighters armed with rocket propelled grenades and small arms, a Canadian military official said. The resulting firefights saw one Afghan National Police officer and a civilian mistakenly gunned down by soldiers. The initial attack happened in the vicinity of the governor's palace as the battle group convoy was moving between bases, said Maj. Dale MacEachern, a spokesman for the Canadian Forces. As rockets and automatic weapons fire slammed into the RG-31 Nyala patrol vehicles and Coyote armoured cars, the soldiers returned fire and stepped on it to get out of the area. A few kilometres away, one of the damaged vehicles broke down, the troops were forced to set up a security cordon and MacEachern said that's when insurgents attacked again....
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/183268
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Editor - 21:39:00 02-20-07
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| Zogby Poll: Most Say Bloggers, Citizen Reporters to Play Vital Role in Journalism's Future |
Online survey finds general public, media conference attendees agree that traditional news outlets could do a better job. A majority of Americans (55%) in an online survey said bloggers are important to the future of American journalism and 74% said citizen journalism will play a vital role, a new WE Media/Zogby Interactive poll shows. Most respondents (53%) also said the rise of free Internet-based media pose the greatest opportunity to the future of professional journalism and three in four (76%) said the Internet has had a positive impact on the overall quality of journalism. The survey results were released by Pollster John Zogby as part of a conference of media industry insiders hosted by the University of Miami. In the national survey of adults, 72% said they were dissatisfied with the quality of American journalism today. A majority of conference–goers who were polled on the subject agreed – 55% said they were dissatisfied, and 61% said they believed traditional journalism ...
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1247
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Editor - 21:29:00 02-20-07
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| North Dakota Child Support Enforcement Turns To Debtors Prison |
Yesterday the Fargo Forum had an article which featured the director of North Dakota’s child support agency bragging about a “fundamental shift” in the attitude of his agency. New technology and an attitude shift have changed the way the state’s Child Support Enforcement program operates, said Mike Schwindt, its director. There’s a realization on the part of some people that it’s their obligation, their children, and they’re more willing to work with us to make sure that obligation is met, Schwindt said. At the same time, there’s been a fundamental shift within the child support program. The program collected a record $108 million in payments in 2006. Its overall performance is ranked second in the nation. You gotta love how they brag about all the child support they collect. As though that were a positive thing. A figure that should be increased instead of decreased. So what does this shift entail? Putting you in prison if you don’t pay your child support....
http://www.kxmb.com/getARticle.asp?ArticleId=96890
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Editor - 21:25:00 02-20-07
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