 Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive footage that confirms children were among the victims of a US air raid northwest of Baghdad. Local officials said that the bodies of 17 civilians, including 6 children and 8 women, had been pulled from the debris of 2 houses in al-Ishaqi. The US military had issued a statement on Fri saying that two women were among 20 suspected "al Qaeda terrorists" killed in the operation. Al Jazeera's footage showed the bodies of men, women and children wrapped in blankets after they had been pulled from the rubble. The Agence France Presse news agency said it passed its own photographs of the dead children to Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, a US military spokesman, who said: "We've checked with the troops who conducted this operation - there were no children found among the terrorists killed. "I see nothing in the photos that indicates those children were in the houses that our forces received fire from and subsequently destroyed with the air strike."...
http://english.aljazeera.net
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Editor - 21:53:00 12-09-06
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 Rumsfeld makes secret farewell trip to Iraq |
Outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a secret farewell trip to Iraq, the Pentagon confirmed on Saturday. “He’s there to express his appreciation to the troops and to thank both the troops and their families for the sacrifices they are making,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a Defense Department spokesman. Rumsfeld’s trip follows an emotional farewell Friday at the Pentagon, where the defense secretary defended his record on Iraq and Afghanistan. He said Friday that the worst day of his nearly six years as secretary of defense occurred when he learned of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse. Rumsfeld’s Pentagon appearance Friday and his trip to Iraq, where he was Saturday, were among the few public appearances he has made since President Bush announced on Nov. 8 that he was replacing the defense secretary. His last full day will be Dec. 17....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16121213/
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Editor - 20:04:00 12-09-06
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| Tax Protester Whose Case Led to Indictment Against Wesley Snipes Is Convicted of Evasion |
A man who contended that he was not required to pay income tax, and whose case led to an indictment against actor Wesley Snipes, has been convicted of tax evasion. Arthur Farnsworth, 44, from near Sellersville in Bucks County, was convicted Friday. He remains free on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced March 7. One of Farnsworth's attorneys, Peter Goldberger, said the defense argued their client did not intend to break the law and only failed to pay taxes because he believed the system was voluntary. "The issue is not whether he was right or wrong. The issue was whether he was sincere in what he believed," Goldberger said. The Farnsworth case became better known nationally on Wednesday when testimony tied it to the case against Snipes. Internal Revenue Service Special Agent James Morris testified Wednesday that agents found documents in Farnsworth's home in 2002 that led to a nationwide investigation into fraudulent trust funds. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2713839
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Editor - 20:01:00 12-09-06
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| US casts sole ‘no’ vote against proposed treaty restricting arms trade |
The United States, which is the world’s biggest exporter of arms and accounts for more than 50 per cent of all arms exports, on Wednesday became the only country in the United Nations to vote against letting work begin on a new treaty to bolster arms embargoes and prevent human rights abuses by setting uniform worldwide standards for arms deals. The vote in the 192-nation UN General Assembly was 153-1, with the United States casting the sole “no” vote. Twenty-four other nations abstained, including major arms sellers Russia and China and emerging exporters India and Pakistan. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose term of office ends on December 31, welcomed the launch of a process that could lead to a treaty regulating international trade in conventional weapons. Unregulated trade in such arms “currently contributes to conflict, crime and terrorism, and undermines international efforts for peace and development,” Annan spokeswoman Marie Okabe said....
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=34913
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Editor - 19:52:00 12-09-06
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| Clashes fuel fears of war in Horn of Africa |
Heavy clashes between Islamist militiamen and forces loyal to Somalia's government continued for a second day yesterday, as fears of an imminent war in the Horn of Africa mounted. The fighting centred around Maddoy, 25 miles south of Baidoa, the temporary capital and the only town that the weak transitional federal government controls. Witnesses who reported heavy shelling said Ethiopian troops formed part of the government contingent. While information remains sketchy - due to the dangers in Somalia even local correspondents for the international news agencies are reporting on the clashes from Mogadishu, 150 miles to the east - both sides suffered casualties, perhaps more than two dozen. The fighting appear to be the fiercest yet between militiamen allied to the Somali Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC), which controls most of south-central Somalia, and Ethiopian-backed government troops. The SCIC has been steadily approaching Baidoa in recent weeks and ...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1968563,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 19:17:00 12-09-06
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| Outback cracks under assault of the Big Dry |
Drought has plunged one of Australia's most famous outback towns to the brink of social and economic collapse. Bourke - heralded as the 'Real Gateway to the Outback' - faces oblivion. Five years of drought has left Bourke facing its worst crisis. Little wonder Australians are calling this prolonged barren spell the 'Big Dry'. The earth in this isolated corner of New South Wales, 500 miles north-west of Sydney, crunches underfoot. Every step stirs a tiny swirl of fine dust. The land is slowly dying of thirst. Some farms are the size of a small country, yet still they can't produce enough grazing for their livestock. Farmer Ben Mannix is determined to stay until the drought passes, but life is a struggle. 'You fight it,' he said. 'You work through and you pick up your pieces and on you go because breaking down or giving up isn't going to achieve anything.' The ground is cracked. Without decent rain, it's been at the mercy of temperatures that have exceeded 50C....
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1968543,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 19:09:00 12-09-06
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