Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was today found guilty on four out of five counts of perjury and obstruction. Libby was on trial for a cover-up linked to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and faces up to 30 years in jail.He was accused of lying to investigators and a grand jury inquiring into whether White House officials leaked the name of a CIA operative married to a Bush administration critic. In a statement outside the Washington DC courtroom, his lawyers maintained his innocence and said they would apply for a retrial and, if that was turned down, appeal the verdict.Lead prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said he derived no satisfaction from the verdict. "It's sad we had a situation where a high level official, in the office of the vice president, obstructed justice and lied under oath," he told reporters.... http://www.guardian.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 08:49:00 03-06-07 |
British soldier killed in Afghanistan offensive |
A Royal Marine was killed in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today as Nato launched its biggest offensive since the war began in 2001.The soldier was serving with 42 Commando, in the Kajaki area of the troubled Helmand province, when his unit came under fire. An MoD spokesman said the marine - the 51st British soldier to be killed while on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 - had been taking part in a planned operation."The Royal Marine was killed when his unit came under fire during a deliberate clearance operation in the Kajaki area," the MoD said. He was not named. British troops have been fighting Taliban forces in Kajaki, northern Helmand, to enable repair work on a hydroelectric dam, which supplies close to 2 million Afghans with electricity.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2027615,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 08:46:00 03-06-07 |
Afghanistan: A job half done |
In December 2001, a new future for Afghanistan was mapped out at an international conference in Bonn, beginning with an interim government to replace the Taleban. This week we look at how much has changed since then. Five years ago, on a cold winter's day in Kabul, news broke that a new Afghan leader had been chosen thousands of miles away in the German city of Bonn. I reached for a satellite telephone to call Hamid Karzai, still battling against Taleban forces in their last redoubt in the south. "Am I the new chairman?" he shouted on a crackling line. On a morning when he had come under fire from misguided American aircraft, Hamid Karzai still had not been told officially. "That's nice," was his unassuming reply. Afghans have, in some ways, made an impressive journey since a hastily assembled group of Afghans and foreign envoys forged what became known as the Bonn process. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6205220.stm
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Editor - 08:43:00 03-06-07 |
Australian terror suspects appear in court |
A group of Muslim men accused of planning Australia's biggest terrorist plot stockpiled chemicals similar to those used in the London July 7 bombings, a court heard today.The allegations were made at the start of a pre-trial hearing in Penrith local court in western Sydney, where the nine were formally indicted. They are accused of making a pact to launch a terrorist attack because they believed Islam was under attack, prosecuting lawyers said. The nine face one charge each of conspiring between June 2004 and November 2005 in preparation for a terrorist act. In court today, none of the suspects, who face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted, entered a plea.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,2027808,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 08:40:00 03-06-07 |
Scores of Shiite pilgrims killed in suicide attack Bombings reported in Iraqi city of Hillah; 237 injured in blast, police say |
Two suicide bombers killed at least 90 Shiites making a pilgrimage south of Baghdad ahead of a weekend holiday, police said Tuesday. The pilgrims came under attack as they streamed south, mostly on foot, toward a shrine in Karbala. Two bombers exploded themselves in a crowd of pilgrims in Hillah, about 60 miles south of the capital. The coordinated attack happened on a main street in Hillah, said Capt. Muthana Khalid. Police said 237 pilgrims were wounded in total, according to Reuters. The attacks are likely to increase sectarian tensions between majority Shiites and Sunni Arabs that have threatened to plunge the country into all-out civil war. Separately, U.S. officials said nine American soldiers died in explosions north of Baghdad on Monday the deadliest single day for U.S. troops in Iraq in nearly a month. Six soldiers died when a bomb exploded near their vehicles during a combat operation in Salahuddin province, the military said. Another three soldiers died ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17477526/
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Editor - 08:38:00 03-06-07 |
Attorney: Astronaut collected steamy e-mails before kidnapping charge |
NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak's bizarre 900-mile road trip to confront a romantic rival may have been sparked when she uncovered steamy e-mails sent to her boyfriend by the other woman, documents released Monday showed. Nowak had collected more than a dozen e-mails sent to her one-time boyfriend, space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, including one he received during his shuttle mission, according to the documents, released late Monday by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office. "First urge will be to rip your clothes off," Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman wrote to Oefelein while he was aboard shuttle Discovery in December. "But honestly, love, I want you to totally and thoroughly enjoy your hero's homecoming."... http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-06-astronaut-nowak_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 08:32:00 03-06-07 |
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