An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed four Palestinians, including a top Islamic Jihad militant, on Saturday, prompting calls of revenge by the armed group to continue targeting Israel in rocket attacks. The missile strike occurred hours after Palestinian General Intelligence chief Tareq Abu Rajab was brought to Israel to treat wounds sustained in an explosion in an elevator at his Gaza Strip headquarters. His ally President Mahmoud Abbas called the blast, which killed one of Abu Rajab's aides and wounded 10 people, an assassination bid.If confirmed as a targeted attack, it would mark the highest-profile internal assassination attempt in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and could worsen enflamed tensions between loyalists of Abbas's Fatah group and Hamas supporters... http://news.yahoo.com censor News |
Editor - 12:55:00 05-20-06 |
Few make tax return donation for 9/11 memorial |
Fewer than 15,000 of the millions of New Yorkers who filed tax returns this year checked off a box to make a donation to the World Trade Center Memorial fund, state officials said.The program raised $150,085, according to the Department of Taxation and Finance.The state allows taxpayers to make contributions to as many as seven charitable organizations on their tax forms. More than $420,000 was raised for breast cancer research and treatment while a wildlife fund raised nearly $353,000."We are slightly disappointed by the results," WTC Memorial Foundation President Gretchen Dykstra told the New York Daily News for a story in Saturday editions.Voluntary tax donations are only one way the foundation is raising money to build the World Trade Center memorial, a September 11 museum and two other cultural buildings at ground zero.... http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/20/tax.donation.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us
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Editor - 12:53:00 05-20-06 |
Fighting in Afghanistan kills 12 Afghans, U.S. soldier |
Taliban fighters ambushed an Afghan army convoy Sat, setting of a gunbattle that killed 4 soldiers and 15 militants. Clashes elsewhere killed another 15 people, including 2 French troops and a U.S. soldier. 6 American soldiers were wounded in the latest bloodshed, just days after a 24-hour storm of violence across Afghanistan killed some 120 people. The fighting some of the heaviest since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001 raised fears for the future of Afghanistan's fledgling democracy. The fiercest clashes erupted late Fri in Helmand province, the country's main opium poppy growing region, where drug profits are believed to fund the insurgency. Six militants, an Afghan soldier and one civilian were killed, said Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, the head of the Afghan military's southern region. On Sat morning in Helmand, rebels ambushed the large army convoy, leading to the shootout, an army commander said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-05-20-soldier-killed_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 12:48:00 05-20-06 |
Palestinian views on financial crisis |
International funding for the Palestinian Authority was abruptly halted after a Hamas-led government came to power. Israel has withheld payments of Palestinian tax revenues collected for the PA. The European Union and the United States both stopped direct aid for the PA, promising to restore it if Hamas agreed to renounce violence and recognise Israel. The BBC News website asked six Palestinians to describe how life had changed since the financial squeeze began. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4995264.stm
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Editor - 10:19:00 05-20-06 |
Three Gorges dam wall completed |
China has completed construction of the main wall of the Three Gorges Dam - the world's largest hydro-electric project. The controversial dam in central Hubei province will not be fully operational until 2009, once all its generators are installed. China says it will provide electricity for its booming economy and help control flooding on the Yangtze River. Critics say more a million people were moved from the area, and the reservoir behind the dam is already polluted. On Saturday, builders poured the last amount of concrete to complete the construction of the 185m (607ft) high, 2,309m (1.4 mile) long wall. A senior Chinese official said the event marked a "landmark progress" in the dam's construction, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5000092.stm
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Editor - 10:12:00 05-20-06 |
Egypt's Mubarak Calls for Global Nuclear Weapons Ban. |
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged world leaders to work for an international ban on nuclear weapons as the United Nations demands that Iran desists from producing uranium. World leaders ``must deal with the challenge posed by weapons of mass destruction, and in particular nuclear weapons, without double standards or selectivity,'' The U.S. accuses Iran of using its nuclear research as cover for the development of atomic bombs. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists the program is aimed at producing electricity. China and Russia oppose a United Nations Security Council threat to impose sanctions on Iran if it doesn't give up its nuclear ambitions. France, the U.K. and U.S. -- the other three permanent members of the council -- want to hold open the possibility of punishments if Iran doesn't cooperate. I think only one country has ever given up Nukes, that was Canada... http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a5NLVCIxLnHM&refer=home
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Editor - 10:08:00 05-20-06 |
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