 New footage of Briton Norman Kember and three other Westerners held hostage in Iraq has been aired on Arab TV. Mr Kember, 74, of Pinner, north London, was seized with two Canadians and an American on 26 November and was last seen in a video seven weeks ago. The new video, aired on al-Jazeera TV, includes a message from the group, which calls itself the Swords of Truth, demanding all Iraqi prisoners be freed. It says the four hostages will be killed if its demands are not met. The tape shows the four hostages standing against a wall and is dated 21 January. The men appear to be speaking to the camera but their words are not audible. Mr Kember's fellow captives are Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and American Tom Fox, 54. Al-Jazeera said it had aired the whole of the recording, which was about 55 seconds long. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 10:07:00 01-28-06
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 Hamas rejects donor 'blackmail' |
A senior Hamas leader has rejected demands that the Islamic militant group must renounce violence to prevent aid cuts for the Palestinian Authority. Ismail Haniya, who headed Hamas' election list, said they would not give in to "blackmail" by foreign donors. President George W Bush warned US aid, worth $400m (£225m), could be cut following Hamas' surprise poll win. In fresh unrest, gunmen from the former ruling party Fatah climbed on to the Palestinian parliament and fired shots. Hamas won 76 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian assembly and has the backing of a further four independent MPs. Following the victory, the main donors to the Palestinian Authority, which has always been heavily reliant on international cash, said they were reviewing their funding position. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4657528.stm
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Editor - 10:00:00 01-28-06
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| After four years, Enron's Lay and Skilling to face jury |
Four years after the dramatic demise of Enron Corp., former chiefs Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling will enter a federal courtroom in Houston on Monday to face charges linking them to one of the biggest business disasters in U.S. history. The case against Lay, 63, and Skilling, 52, hinges on whether the two executives, who once enthralled Wall Street by creating a company that became the nation's seventh largest, were aware of Enron's financial shell game that pumped up earnings while hiding billions of dollars in debt. The Enron Task Force, a special unit created by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate wrongdoing at the Houston-based company, will parade several former Enron executives who have struck plea agreements in front of jurors to try to tie Lay and Skilling to criminal acts of fraud and conspiracy. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1552066
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Editor - 09:36:00 01-28-06
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| Pharmacists sue over birth control policy |
Four pharmacists who refused to sign a pledge promising to dispense the morning-after birth-control pill sued Walgreen drugstores Friday, alleging they were illegally fired. The lawsuits accuse Walgreen Co. of violating the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act. The pharmacists were being represented by the American Center for Law and Justice, a public-interest group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson. A new state rule requires pharmacies that sell federally approved contraceptives to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control "without delay" if they have the medication in stock. The rule is being challenged in federal court. In response to the rule, Deerfield-based Walgreen asked pharmacists to pledge in writing that they would fill prescriptions for contraceptives such as the morning-after pill. If all religious beliefs are allowed to rule what is sold in any store we would have little choice of available products. Don’t go down that road...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-28-walgreen-pill-policy_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 09:30:00 01-28-06
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| Bush Seeks Vote on Alito, Criticizes Democrats' Partisanship |
Bush called on Congress to hold a confirmation vote on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr., and lashed out at Democrats for their handling of the judge's nomination. ``The Senate has a constitutional responsibility to hold an up-or-down vote on Judge Alito's nomination,'' Republican Bush said in his weekly radio address. U.S. Senate Republican leaders say they have enough support to end a debate on Alito and confirm him next week. Some Democrats, led by Massachusetts Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry, are staging a last-ditch filibuster, a parliamentary tactic that allows unlimited debate, to try to derail his confirmation. ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aL2J6e1K4448&refer=home
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Editor - 09:17:00 01-28-06
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| USDA would allow poultry imports from China. Suddenly we need to import Poultry??? Isn’t the Bird Flu spreading fast enough that we need to help it? |
The Agriculture Department is seeking to allow shipments of poultry processed in China, where thousands of birds and several people have died from bird flu. The United States does not accept live poultry imports from countries where the virulent bird flu strain is present, and it would not under the proposed policy. Instead, the department would allow China to process poultry slaughtered in the United States or other countries from which the United States accepts poultry. Critics are urging the department to drop the proposal, fearing that it might affect consumers' perception of how safe it is to eat chicken. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Friday the United States can't afford to take chances. He acknowledged there are safeguards in the plan but said the department has a poor record on inspections. ...
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060128/1032658.asp
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Editor - 09:14:00 01-28-06
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