South Dakota moved closer to imposing some of the strictest limits on abortion in the nation as the state Senate approved legislation that would ban the procedure except when the woman's life is in danger. The bill, designed to spark a courtroom showdown over the legality of abortion, passed 23-12 Wednesday. On Thursday, it was headed back to the House, where lawmakers already approved similar legislation. Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, a longtime abortion opponent, has said he would "look favorably" on an abortion ban if it would "save life." Under the measure, doctors in South Dakota would face up to five years in prison for performing an abortion. The only exception would be for women who need abortions to save their lives. ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 11:10:00 02-23-06 |
'Animal link' in US anthrax case |
A New York-based dancer has contracted respiratory anthrax, apparently after inhaling spores from raw animal hides used on drums. Vado Diamande is in hospital in a stable condition after collapsing during a performance in the state of Pennsylvania last week. Diomande, 44, is said to be a skilled drum tuner, and had recently travelled to Africa to collect skins. Local officials ruled out terrorism and denied any public health threat. "There is no chance of transmission occurring," Pennsylvania Health Department spokesman Troy Thompson told students at Mansfield University, where the performance took place. Five people died when several anthrax-laced letters were sent to US public figures in 2001, weeks after the 11 September attacks. The case remains unsolved. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4743606.stm
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Editor - 11:07:00 02-23-06 |
China warns Hong Kong cardinal |
China has warned Hong Kong's newly-appointed cardinal, Joseph Zen, not to get involved in politics. "We advocate that religious figures should not interfere with politics," said government spokesman Liu Jianchao. Bishop Zen, a well-known critic of China's suppression of religious and political freedoms, said he would stick to his outspoken style. "I am over 70, there are things that will be hard to change," he told reporters in Hong Kong. The cardinal-designate also said he hoped to help establish official ties between the Vatican and Beijing. China only allows its Catholics to worship in state-sanctioned churches, and bans all contact with the Vatican. But it has allowed Hong Kong's 300,000 Catholics to continue to practise their faith freely, in accordance with the high degree of autonomy promised under the territory's mini-constitution when it reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Bishop Zen was nominated a cardinal on Wed, by Pope Benedict XVI, and ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4742834.stm
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Editor - 10:59:00 02-23-06 |
Sectarian violence rips through Iraq 130 killed as Sunnis, Shiites trade accusations after mosque bombing |
More than 130 people, including dozens who joined a demonstration against sectarian violence, were killed in bloodshed across Iraq despite calls for calm on Thursday from leaders, including President Bush, fearful of civil war.A day after a suspected al-Qaida bomb destroyed a major Shiite shrine, Iraq cancelled all leave for the police and army and minority Sunni political leaders pulled out of U.S.-backed talks on forming a national unity government, accusing the ruling Shiites of fomenting dozens of attacks on Sunni mosques.Washington, which wants stability in Iraq to help it extract around 130,000 U.S. troops, has also called for restraint, reflecting international fears that the oil-exporting country of 27 million may be slipping closer to all-out sectarian war. But the main Sunni religious authority made an extraordinary public criticism of the Shiites’ most revered clerical leader, accusing him of fuelling the violence by calling for protests... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11491483/from/RSS/
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Editor - 10:05:00 02-23-06 |
Roof of mudslide school 'spotted' |
Aerial photographs are reported to have spotted what is believed to be the roof of a Philippine school swamped by a landslide, and rescue workers will undertake a risky mission to check it.Earlier Thursday, a group of rescuers was saved after getting stuck in mud while recovering a body from last Friday's mudslide that is feared to have killed more than 1,000 people, many of them children.No survivors have been found since the day of the disaster, and reports of encouraging noises from the rubble have yielded nothing. The roof of the school was seen far from what was believed to have been its original position, provincial Gov. Rosette Lerias told reporters on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. ... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/02/23/philippines.landslide/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 09:58:00 02-23-06 |
Fraud row erupts in Uganda's first multi-party poll |
Ugandans held their first multi-party election for a quarter of a century on Thursday, but the opposition accused President Yoweri Museveni's government of fraud in its bid to extend his two-decade rule. As a predictable row erupted even before all polling booths had closed, the east African nation's ruling party dismissed the complaints as coming from "bad losers." From the shores of Lake Victoria to a remote war zone in the north, long queues of Ugandans braved alternate sun and downpours to vote in an election pitching Museveni against his former physician and main rival Kizza Besigye. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1653728
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Editor - 09:53:00 02-23-06 |
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