Ethiopian and government troops are in control of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after nine days of battles, the prime minister says. Ali Mohamed Ghedi said the worst of the fighting against Islamists and clan gunmen was now over. Columns of tanks were deployed and reinforcements sent to Mogadishu from other parts of Somalia. Earlier, a BBC correspondent in the city said the battles were the heaviest in recent days, spreading to new areas. United Nations humanitarian relief co-ordinator John Holmes has described the situation in Somalia as critical. He said up to 400,000 people had fled Mogadishu but aid was reaching just 60,000. A doctor who runs one of Mogadishu's hospitals estimates that two-thirds of the city's one million residents had left. Some 300 people have been killed in the recent clashes, after 1,000 deaths last month, local human rights group say. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 07:43:00 04-26-07 |
6 Dead As Storms Strike Texas Community |
Six people were killed when severe storms struck a small community near the Mexican border Tuesday, a local official said. Eagle Pass Fire Chief Roy Delacruz said at least six people died in the storms. Officials had not confirmed reports of a possible tornado. The storms struck unincorporated areas of Maverick County known as Loma Linda and Chula Vista, Delacruz said. More than 200 emergency responders, including National Guard units attached to the Border Patrol, were conducting search and rescue efforts, he said. Their door-to-door checks were halted late Tuesday as another series of dangerous storms swept the area. The six fatalities were reportedly in one residence, Delacruz said. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6584919,00.html
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Editor - 07:41:00 04-26-07 |
Attacks increase in Ivory Coast |
There has been a sharp increase in attacks on civilians since a five year old buffer zone dividing Ivory Coast was taken down, an aid group says. UN and French soldiers who patrolled the zone began withdrawing last week after a peace deal between the president and former rebel leader. Rebel leader Guillaume Soro is now prime minister under the agreement. Medecins San Frontieres (MSF) says there are now almost daily attacks around the western town of Bangolo. The region has been the site of several human rights abuses in recent years. Bangolo is part of what has been termed the triangle of death. It is not far from the border with Liberia and used to be in the confidence zone. Before the buffer zone was removed, UN and French peacekeepers were unable to stop human rights abuses there.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6594787.stm
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Editor - 07:38:00 04-26-07 |
Ethiopia rescue attempt warning |
An Ethiopian separatist movement has warned the government that any attempt to rescue the seven Chinese civilians it is holding could put them in danger. The Ethiopian government said it will send a mission to free the Chinese. The Ogaden National Liberation Front attacked a Chinese oil installation in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday in which nine Chinese and 65 Ethiopians died. The ONLF said the seven were being well cared for and would be handed over to the Red Cross at the first opportunity. It is "a very delicate operation, because Ogaden is a battle zone," said ONLF spokesman Abdirahman Mahdi. China has strongly condemned the rebel attack against its interests. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6595339.stm
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Editor - 07:35:00 04-26-07 |
UK widens probe into nuclear plant autopsy tests |
Britain widened an investigation on Thursday into the collection of human body parts for scientific tests at nuclear plants, after authorities said more sites may have been involved than initially disclosed.The government launched a probe last week after discovering that tissue was taken from the bodies of former workers at a state-owned nuclear plant who died between 1962 and 1991. Unions representing nuclear industry workers said as many as 70 people who worked at the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in northern England and other nuclear facilities may have had bones, organs or other tissue removed for tests. The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) said it had found evidence that tests on autopsy tissue samples had also been carried out at Britain's Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, in southern England, "at least until the early 1980s." ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3083115
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Editor - 07:34:00 04-26-07 |
Hawking set to fly in space |
The sight of Stephen Hawking, scientist and best-selling author, bouncing about weightless in space is about to become a reality later today.Renowned theoretical physicist and author of A Brief History of Time, the 65-year-old physicist will be the first person with a disability to fly on one of the flights offered by Zero Gravity a space tourism company, based in Florida.The firm offers stomach-churning, sometimes vomit-inducing, flights for £1,875, although Professor Hawking has been offered the flight for free. A similar plane, nicknamed the "vomit comet", is used by the American space agency Nasa to train astronauts.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,,2065949,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 07:32:00 04-26-07 |
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post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
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