 Helicopters dropped emergency food aid Thursday for victims of Mozambique's floods as officials warned that close to 300,000 people could be affected if the crisis drags into next month.Heavy rains in central parts of the southern African nation have driven more than 86,000 people from their homes to higher ground, with most now living as refugees in makeshift centers throughout the Zambezi Valley.Mozambique officials said another 200,000 could be displaced by next month if waters continue to rise through the height of the annual rainy season."We expect some 285,000 people to be affected. The water levels are rising while the number of people -- both the affected and those in accommodation centers -- is increasing," said Paulo Zucula, director of National Disaster Management, the country's relief agency....
http://www.cnn.com
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Editor - 16:12:00 02-15-07
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 Poachers making a killing in West's oil, gas fields |
Intense drilling for natural gas and oil in the Rocky Mountain West is triggering a rise in the illegal killing of elk, deer and other "trophy" game because new roads make remote areas accessible in winter, wildlife managers report.Parts of Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico are flooded with crews working thousands of well sites and drill rigs. The result: more people among wildlife herds."The road densities in these areas have quadrupled. And they keep them plowed in winter," says Dave Hays, a warden in southwestern Wyoming for the state Game and Fish Department. "They see all these big game right there, in places where maybe you never see anybody for 30 miles, and they think, 'Why not?' "...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-15-drilling-poaching_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 16:03:00 02-15-07
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| Iran’s stealth force Accused of backing Iraqi militias, elite Quds corps deeply enmeshed in Iraq |
Iran’s secretive Quds Force, accused by the United States of arming Iraqi militants with deadly bomb-making material, has built up an extensive network in the war-torn country, recruiting Iraqis and supporting not only Shiite militias but also Shiites allied with Washington. Still unclear, however, is how closely Iran’s top leadership is directing the Quds Force’s operations — and whether Iran has intended for its help to Shiite militias to be turned against U.S. forces. Iran likely does not want a direct confrontation with American troops in Iraq but is backing militiamen to ensure Shiites win any future civil war with Iraqi Sunnis after the Americans leave, several experts said Thursday. The Quds Force’s role underlines how deeply enmeshed Iran is in its neighbor — and how the U.S. could face resistance even from its allies in Iraq if it tries to uproot Iran’s influence in the country....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17175714/
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Editor - 16:02:00 02-15-07
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| Radical Shia cleric 'is in Iran' |
Radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is currently in Iran, an adviser to the Iraqi prime minister has said. Sami al-Askari said the cleric would be back soon and had not fled the country in response to the new US-Iraqi security plan for Baghdad. There have been conflicting reports about Mr Sadr's whereabouts - the US said he left for Iran last month but his aides said he was still in Iraq. The cleric's Mehdi Army is one of the key forces in Baghdad The US military has identified the Mehdi Army as one of the biggest threats to law and order in the capital. However, Mr Sadr has vowed not to interfere with the new government crackdown on militias. His bloc holds about a quarter of the parliamentary seats of the ruling Shia Alliance of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6364193.stm
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Editor - 15:59:00 02-15-07
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| Hamas chief quits to set up unity government U.S. reportedly may shun any coalition that doesn’t recognize Israel |
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally asked Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Thursday to form a new unity government and urged him to respect peace accords signed with Israel. Haniyeh accepted the task of drawing up a new cabinet at a joint news conference in Gaza aimed at launching a government that Palestinians hope will end factional fighting and overcome a paralysing Western aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority. “Mr. Ismail Haniyeh, we designate you to form the Palestinian government,” Abbas told Haniyeh, standing at his side, after Haniyeh formally resigned his post as prime minister in a procedural move to permit the launch of the coalition cabinet. Haniyeh has up to five weeks to form a government. He remains caretaker prime minister until a new cabinet is formed. Abbas told Haniyeh “I invite you to respect” past Palestinian agreements with the Jewish state, in language that echoed the wording of an agreement reached last week in talks hosted ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17171171/
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Editor - 15:57:00 02-15-07
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| Global leaders reach climate deal |
A meeting in Washington of global political leaders has reached a new agreement on tackling climate change. Delegates agreed that developing countries will have to face targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions as well as rich countries. The informal meeting also agreed that a global market should be formed to cap and trade carbon dioxide emissions. The non-binding declaration is seen as vital in influencing a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, correspondents say. The forum's closing statement said man-made climate change was now "beyond doubt". "Climate change is a global issue and there is an obligation on us all to take action, in line with our capabilities and historic responsibilities," said the statement from the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (Globe). ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6364663.stm
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Editor - 15:55:00 02-15-07
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