With yet another top official fired for alleged corruption, leaders of China's ruling Communist Party warned Monday they are a long way from stamping out the rampant graft that has caused widespread public anger and undermined the party's standing. The notice came a day after state media said a senior official in the booming eastern province of Shandong was removed for misconduct, an ouster that follows high-profile firings of party bosses in Beijing and Shanghai earlier in the year. Xinhua News Agency said Monday that the ruling party's powerful Politburo has warned all party members that "the phenomenon of corruption is still quite serious." It said the Politburo meeting, presided over by Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also general secretary of the party's Central Committee, "pledged to continue the major task of fighting corruption and achieving clean governance." ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 09:28:00 12-25-06 |
Germany suspends Sri Lankan aid |
A German minister has said the country has frozen aid to Sri Lanka because of the continuing violence between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. The Minister for Overseas Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, said the aid was not reaching those it was intended for - the victims of the 2004 tsunami. The government and the rebels have not declared an end to a 2002 ceasefire, but unofficially they are now at war. More than 3,000 people have died in the conflict in 2006, the government says. More than 65,000 lives have been lost since 1972. The rebels want independence for the 2.5 million-strong minority Tamil community in the north and east of the country. Talks in Geneva in October between the two sides ended in deadlock, and correspondents say that the fighting looks set to continue. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6208517.stm
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Editor - 09:26:00 12-25-06 |
UK forces kill 7, blow up Iraqi police HQ |
British forces killed seven gunmen and blew up the headquarters of the police serious crimes unit in southern Basra on Monday in a raid to rescue prisoners who were about to be killed, the British military said.Calling the police station a center of "criminal enterprise" and a symbol of oppression for the city's residents, the military said the building was demolished with explosives after a pre-dawn assault by around 1,000 troops backed by tanks. Many of its 127 prisoners, all suspected criminals, were found crowded into a small cell, living in "appalling conditions," the military said. A number had crushed feet or hands and gunshot wounds to the knee, apparent signs of torture. British military spokesman Captain Tane Dunlop said the unit had been taking the law into its own hands. "Crimes unit? That's pretty much what it does, rather than prevent," he told Reuters. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2750292
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Editor - 09:22:00 12-25-06 |
No Holiday For Death In Iraq Three More Americans Reported Killed; Car Bombings Claim More Than A Dozen Iraqis |
Three more American troops have died in western Iraq and Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday. One Marine and one soldier assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died Sunday from combat wounds sustained in Iraq's western Anbar province, a statement said. CBS News' Pete Gow (audio) reports Anbar has always been a dangerous place for Americans. Another soldier died Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military vehicle in southern Baghdad, another statement said. Two other soldiers were wounded in the incident, it said. The troops' names were withheld pending notification of their families. In other developments: A car bomb that exploded next to an open-air market in Baghdad killed nine civilians and wounded 11. It hit an area of a mostly Shiite district in the capital's east that often attracts crowds of shoppers as well as laborers looking for work. In another part of eastern Baghdad, a suicide bomber exploded in a minibus, killing three ... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/25/iraq/main2294680.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2294680
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Editor - 09:20:00 12-25-06 |
Ethiopia attacks Somalia airports |
Ethiopian jets have bombed two airports in Somalia in a widening operation against an Islamic militia group. Jets hit the international airport in the capital, Mogadishu, and another at Balidogle, in the south of the country. The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) has been fighting Somalia's weak interim government and its Ethiopian backers. Ethiopia's prime minister has said his country is "at war" with the Islamists, and the Red Cross has urged all parties to protect civilians from harm. Thousands of Somalis have fled the escalating violence, and the Red Cross says the fighting is straining an already weak support system in the country. Red Cross official Pedram Yazdi told the BBC that the organisation was treating 445 people injured during the fighting, including combatants and civilians. Aircraft are taking some two tonnes of supplies into Somalia from Kenya each day in an effort to keep hospitals adequately supplied, he said. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6208549.stm
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Editor - 09:17:00 12-25-06 |
San Francisco area feels 3rd small quake in 4 days |
A third small earthquake in four days rattled the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.The temblor that struck at 9:21 a.m. had a preliminary magnitude of 3.5 and a depth of about 6.1 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The epicenter was about 2 miles from Berkeley and 3 miles from Emeryville, across the bay from San Francisco.Residents throughout the Bay Area reported feeling the jolt, but police said there were no reports of injuries.The latest earthquake was similar in magnitude and location to those that struck Wednesday and Friday.They erupted along the Hayward Fault, which geologists believe is due for a quake in the potentially lethal 6.7 to 7.0 range.... http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/24/quakes.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us
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Editor - 09:14:00 12-25-06 |
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