Israeli security forces shot and killed a leader of the militant Hamas group in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, the army and Palestinian witnesses said. The man was wanted by Israel and was killed in an exchange of fire with paramilitary border police who entered the city with armored vehicles and surrounded the building he was in, the army said. Palestinian witnesses identified him as Zayed Musa, a local leader of Hamas's Izzadin al-Qassem militia....
http://quote.bloomberg.com
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Editor - 08:07:00 12-21-05
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 US doubts Bin Laden is in command |
The US Defence Secretary says he doubts Osama Bin Laden is in a position to command al-Qaeda's world operations. Donald Rumsfeld told journalists en route to Pakistan that Bin Laden could be hiding somewhere on the Afghan-Pakistan border. "I suspect...if he's alive and functioning, that he's probably spending a major fraction of his time trying to avoid getting caught." He said the search for the Saudi-born militant would continue. "I think it is interesting that we haven't heard from him for close to a year," Mr Rumsfeld said. "I have trouble believing he is able to operate sufficiently to be in a position of major command over a worldwide al-Qaeda operation, but I could be wrong". Last week, US ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker said he thought al-Qaeda was in serious trouble. US officials have long argued that the war on terrorism has disrupted communications between the main al-Qaeda leadership and the rest of its scattered members. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4547934.stm
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Editor - 08:05:00 12-21-05
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| Victors hail US evolution ruling |
A US court decision to ban the teaching of "intelligent design" has been hailed by anti-creationism campaigners. A federal judge ruled in favour of 11 parents in Dover, Pennsylvania, who argued that Darwinian evolution must be taught as fact in biology lessons. School administrators had argued that life on Earth was too complex to have evolved on its own. Intelligent design activists criticised the ruling, saying it would marginalise beliefs based on religion. For those fighting the policy of the Dover school board, the judicial ruling offered a boost to the separation of church and state. A majority of US states have seen some form of challenge to the pre-eminence of Darwinian evolution theory in the curriculum of publicly-funded schools since 2001. "We have a federal judge ruling that intelligent design is in fact non-science and that it is religion," said Rob Boston of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4547734.stm
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Editor - 07:59:00 12-21-05
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| Rumsfeld in surprise Afghan visit Karzai: 'We are assured of continuing U.S. support' |
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday said a planned reduction of U.S. troops in his country did not concern him.Karzai's comments came during a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan."We are assured of the continuing U.S. support," Karzai said. "I don't think it will have an impact on the situation on the ground."Earlier, Rumsfeld said he had authorized a reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from 19,000 to 16,000, largely because of an increase in NATO troops there.Asked whether the United States operates secret prisons in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld replied, "Not to my knowledge."...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/12/21/afghan.rumsfeld/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 07:47:00 12-21-05
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| Colombian Rebels Free 29 Police Officers Taken Hostage During Attack on Jungle Village |
Colombian rebels on Tuesday released all 29 police officers they had taken hostage during a weekend attack on a remote jungle village, the government said. A statement from President Alvaro Uribe's office credited the hostages' release to pressure from government forces who searched on foot and from helicopters and river boats since the Saturday attack in San Marino, 170 miles west of Bogota. The attack was one of the largest in years by Colombia's rebels. Some 500 guerrillas spent six hours battling 57 police officers in San Marino before retreating into the jungle with captives as army reinforcements began to arrive. Eight officers were killed during the pre-dawn assault and a dozen people were injured, including four civilians. Troops found the officers Tuesday in generally good condition in a remote area of Choco, police said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1427356&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
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Editor - 22:40:00 12-20-05
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| Aviation laws demand attention to age factor |
Few airlines fly a fleet of planes as old as Chalk's Ocean Airways. The small Florida carrier uses Grumman Mallard G-73s, an antiquated seaplane with a World War II-era design. But the age of the planes, some of which date back nearly 60 years, shouldn't by itself be a safety hazard, according to accident investigators. "If the maintenance is robust and properly followed, aircraft have a virtually infinite life," says John Cox, a former airline pilot who now works as an aviation safety consultant.One of Chalk's distinctive seaplanes crashed Monday shortly after it took off from Miami, plunging from the sky in a plume of fire and smoke. The right wing apparently came off in flight and the jet fuel on board ignited....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-20-aging-planes_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 22:38:00 12-20-05
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