 An international women's rights group says guarantees given to Afghan women after the fall of the Taleban in 2001 have not translated into real change. Womankind Worldwide says millions of Afghan women and girls continue to face systematic discrimination and violence in their households and communities. The report admits that there have been some legal, civil and constitutional gains for Afghan women. But serious challenges remain and need to be addressed urgently, it states. These include challenges to women's safety, realisation of civil and political rights and status. Womankind Worldwide sent a film crew to Afghanistan to investigate the situation of women there. They found a young Afghan woman crying in hospital who said she wanted to die. She was recovering after setting fire to herself. Womankind Worldwide says there has been a dramatic rise in cases of self-immolation by Afghan women since 2003....
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 17:33:00 10-30-06
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 Iraqi Opposition Group Agrees to Join National Reconciliation Conference |
A delegation of Iraq lawmakers met with a newly formed group of Iraqi political activists in the Jordanian capital on Monday and agreed to hold a national reconciliation conference next month, a leader of the advocacy group said. The conference will take place on Nov. 15 in Baghdad under the auspices of the Iraqi prime minister, said Hassan al-Bazzaz, the secretary general of the Patriotic and National Forces Movement opposition group. The movement was formed by both Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and includes Iraqi politicians, former military officers, former leaders of Saddam's Baath party, intellectuals and tribal chiefs representing most of Iraq's ethnic and religious factions. Created in Amman in August, it is headed by prominent tribal leader Hamid al-Gaoud of Anbar province where many insurgents are based and aims at helping maintain Iraq's unity and ending the bloodshed. ...
http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/22288d35-12be-4f04-8af3-0005fd089523_sp.jpeg
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Editor - 17:24:00 10-30-06
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| Pentagon ramping up public relations offensive Agency moves to bolster image in face of mounting criticism of Iraq war |
The Pentagon is beefing up its public relations staff and starting an operation akin to a political campaign’s war room as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld faces intensifying criticism over the Iraq war and the public is increasingly disenchanted with the conflict.In a memo obtained by the Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said new teams of people will “develop messages” for the 24-hour news cycle and “correct the record.”The memo describes an operation modeled after a political campaign — such as that made famous by Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential race war room — calling for a “Rapid Response” section that quickly answers opponents’ assertions. Another branch would coordinate “surrogates.” In political campaigns, surrogates are usually high-level politicians or key interest groups who speak or travel on behalf of a candidate or an issue....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15489645/
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Editor - 17:22:00 10-30-06
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| Olmert: Israel will expand military activities in Gaza Strip |
Israel will take action to stop Palestinian arms smuggling and rocket fire in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, but he could not point to specific solutions.Olmert also said any new offensive would not result in Israel's retaking Gaza, which it left a year ago after a 38-year occupation.Olmert was speaking at a special Cabinet session to vote approval of the addition of an ultra-hawkish party to his ruling coalition, a step seen as virtually ruling out any Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives in the near future.Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, has advocated bombing Palestinian population centers and redrawing Israel's borders to exclude its Arab citizens. He becomes a deputy prime minister.In southern Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped Roberto Vila, a 34-year-old Spanish aid worker and held him for several hours, the latest in a string of abductions of journalists and other foreigners....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-10-30-israel-gaza_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 17:20:00 10-30-06
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| 2nd Marine to plead in Iraq killing |
Another Marine charged with kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man has agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges, his attorney said Monday.Thomas Watt, attorney for Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson, declined to discuss details of the agreement but confirmed that a deal has been reached and that his client is due in court next week to plead guilty to some charges.Jackson, 23, of Tracy, is the third service member to have made a plea deal in the case, in which seven Camp Pendleton-based Marines and a Navy corpsman were charged with murdering 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad.Last week, another Marine, Pfc. John Jodka III, pleaded guilty to assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The first to make a deal was Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, the Navy corpsman on patrol with the Marines. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-30-marine-iraqshooting_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 17:17:00 10-30-06
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| Federal Lawsuit Challenges Pa. City's Crackdown on Illegal Immigrants |
Advocates for immigrants sued the city of Hazleton on Monday, seeking to block an ordinance that would impose steep fines on landlords who rent to people living in the country illegally. In its lawsuit filed in federal court in Scranton, the American Civil Liberties Union said the ordinance and a companion measure set to take effect Wednesday violate the Constitution because they trample on the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration. The laws would impose heavy fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, deny business permits to companies that employ them, and require renters to register and purchase a renter's permit at City Hall. The plaintiffs which also include the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, several illegal immigrants facing eviction, landlords, and a businessman said they would also seek a federal injunction blocking the laws...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2617228
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Editor - 17:12:00 10-30-06
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