 The Israeli government came under increased pressure today with the publication of a newspaper poll showing that for the first time a majority want Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign over perceived failings in his handling of the war with Hizbullah.A poll in the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper showed 63% want Mr Olmert to go. The defence minister, Amir Peretz, appears even more vulnerable with 74% calling for his resignation, while 54% want the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, to resign as well.The poll reflects growing disillusionment within Israeli society about the 34-day conflict with Hizbullah and the fact that the country emerged without any clear victory over the Lebanese militia. The two Israeli soldiers whose capture triggered the conflict are still not free. The war claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people in Lebanon, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers....
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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Editor - 10:06:00 08-25-06
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 Fire destroys St Petersburg cathedral domes |
A fire gutted a 19th century cathedral in the heart of Russia's second city on Friday, destroying its famous azure domes which attract thousands of tourists every year. As flames leapt from the main dome of the Troitsky (Trinity) Cathedral -- one of the largest wooden domes in Europe -- passers-by helped to rescue priceless artifacts from its renowned art and religious icon collection. "The fire services don't have long enough ladders to reach the top of the dome. They have been aiming their water guns at the middle section," Reuters photographer Alexander Demyanchuk said by telephone from outside the cathedral. The cathedral had been covered by wooden scaffolding during reconstruction work when the fire started. "The main dome has been destroyed but we could not stop the fire because it was so high and now other domes are in flames," a spokesman for Russia's emergencies ministry told Interfax news agency...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060825/ts_nm/russia_fire_dc
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Editor - 10:04:00 08-25-06
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| South Korea, China agree to cooperate on preventing possible North Korea nuclear test |
South Korea and China have agreed to cooperate to prevent a possible nuclear test by North Korea amid increasing reports citing suspicious activity in the communist nation, Seoul's presidential security adviser said Friday. A nuclear test by the communist North would be "a grave situation of a different level from missile launches," Song Min-soon said after returning from a two-day trip to China, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. "South Korea and China have agreed to continue cooperation not to let that situation occur," Song was quoted as saying. He did not elaborate on how the two countries would cooperate. South Korea and China, along with Japan, Russia and the United States, have tried to convince the North to abandon its nuclear program at six-party negotiations that have been on hold since November...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/25/ap/world/mainD8JNH7280.shtml
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Editor - 10:02:00 08-25-06
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| State Dept. Official Faces Bribe Charge |
A State Department official accepted free flights to Las Vegas with exotic dancers, expensive meals, hotel rooms in New York and other bribes to speed up the visa process for a jewelry company, federal prosecutors said Friday. Michael John O'Keefe, the deputy nonimmigrant visa chief at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, was indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges Friday. Sunil Agrawal, the chief executive of New York-based STS Jewels, was also charged. Agrawal sent O'Keefe the names of employees who needed visas to work for her company, prosecutors said, and O'Keefe scheduled them outside the normal visa process. O'Keefe did his best to make sure he conducted the interviews and awarded 21 visas to STS employees, according to an indictment unsealed Friday. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6038040,00.html
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Editor - 10:00:00 08-25-06
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| Ryanair to sue government for £3m |
Ryanair is to sue the UK government for £3.3m for losses it says it incurred because of tighter aviation security. Ryanair gave the government a one-week deadline to normalise the procedures introduced following the foiling of an alleged plot to bomb airliners. Passengers are limited to taking one small piece of hand luggage, and are being subjected to frequent searches. Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary called the measures "a shambles". The government said the airline had no legal grounds. Dublin-based Ryanair said it would give the proceeds to charity. "It is a shambles and a cock-up and we are giving terrorists and extremists a victory," Mr O'Leary said. "The government has, two weeks after the events of 10 August, still failed to get UK security back to normal." ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5285102.stm
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Editor - 09:58:00 08-25-06
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| U.S. tanks shell Iraqi mosque after attack: military |
U.S. tanks shelled a mosque in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi on Friday after coming under rocket-propelled grenade and machinegun fire from the building, the U.S. military said. A doctor at Ramadi hospital told Reuters three people had been killed and 22 wounded by the U.S. fire, which the U.S. military said was provoked by a "complex attack" that also included hand grenades and improvised explosives. "Coalition forces returned fire in self defense, using escalation of force procedures, and finally fired several main gun rounds from M1 tanks into the mosque in order to defeat the attackers," the military said in a statement. The mosque suffered serious structural damage to the dome and minaret, it said, adding that one soldier had been slightly hurt in the attack. U.S. forces generally refrain from damaging religious buildings but say they will attack them if fired upon. They accuse militants from both Sunni and Shi'ite factions of using mosques for military purposes...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2356639
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Editor - 09:53:00 08-25-06
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