Saddam Hussein personally signed documents ordering the killing of 148 Shia villagers in Dujail, handwriting experts have concluded. He and seven co-accused face charges for their alleged role in the killings after an assassination attempt in 1982. Prosecutors have presented thousands of documents to the court to try to prove a paper trail exists linking the former Iraqi leader directly to the killings. Defence lawyers have insisted the signatures are a forgery. They have also contested the impartiality of the handwriting experts, who they say are linked to Iraq's current interior ministry. The BBC's James Reynolds in Baghdad said the experts' decision was a very significant moment for the prosecution. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 09:57:00 04-19-06 |
Militias force thousands of Iraqis to flee |
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have abandoned their homes and moved into makeshift housing in the last few weeks because of death threats from organized Sunni and Shi'ite militias and gangs, the president of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society said yesterday. "Some [militia] members come with leaflets and envelopes with blood-stained bullets and tell them to leave," Said Hakki said in a telephone interview from Baghdad. "These numbers are rising and rising at an alarming rate." Caught up in a surge of brutal sectarian killings since an attack on a Shi'ite shrine in February, these families are now living in tent camps, schools and mosques scattered around Baghdad, Iraq's southern and western provinces, and along the Jordanian border. "We now have camps all over 14 provinces," Mr. Hakki said. Major concentrations are in the cities of Samarra, Fallujah, Basra, Najaf, and various Baghdad neighborhoods including Sadr City. ... http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060419-120257-8528r.htm
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Editor - 09:54:00 04-19-06 |
City doubles the number of '10ft cops' to help rein in criminals |
THE New York police department calls them the “10ft cops” and says that they can do the work of ten patrolmen. In an age of increasingly high-tech policing, the trusty police horse is making a comeback in New York City. Even as the NYPD deploys 500 state-of-the-art surveillance cameras across the city, the police commissioner has ordered that the number of four-legged officers on the force must be almost doubled. The Mounted Unit, which has 85 horses, will be expanded to 160 animals over the next three years to help to keep the crime rate in New York at its four-decade low. “There’s a reason we call them the 10ft cop,” Ray Kelly, the police commissioner, told The New York Times. “You can see them from blocks away, they’re great at crowd control and they’re probably the most photographed piece of equipment we have. I’m a huge fan.” ... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2140832,00.html
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Editor - 09:51:00 04-19-06 |
Italy's high court to rule on poll |
Italy's supreme court is expected to announce the official results of last week's closely contested general election on Wednesday.The court is expected to confirm provisional results showing that center-left leader Romano Prodi narrowly won the April 9-10 ballot, ousting Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after five years in power.Berlusconi has refused to concede defeat, alleging widespread irregularities and saying he hoped checks on disputed ballots would overturn the provisional results.Court sources told Reuters that a statement would be released after 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Wednesday.... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/04/19/italy.election/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 09:47:00 04-19-06 |
New blow for Microsoft in EU row |
Microsoft has lost the latest round of its battle against sanctions in Europe. A US judge quashed the firm's demands that rival Novell hand over documents it presented to the European Commission for use in an anti-trust case. The judge in the case said he had turned down the request as Microsoft was trying to "circumvent and undermine" European law. Microsoft is fighting a European Union (EU) ruling that could trigger fines of up to 2m euros ($2.4m; £1.4m) a day. The latest ruling by Boston district court judge Mark Wolf comes a week before Microsoft faces the EU's second highest court to appeal against a 2004 ruling that it had abused its dominant market position. "Enforcing Microsoft's ... subpoena to Novell would circumvent and undermine the law of the European Community concerning how a litigant may obtain third-party documents," judge Wolf said in his 12-page decision. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4919990.stm
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Editor - 09:44:00 04-19-06 |
Middle-aged 'still enjoying sex'. This is only news to the young |
Contrary to popular belief, middle-aged and older people enjoy sex, and will do so into their 80s, research suggests. A study of 30,000 people aged 40 to 80 in 29 countries also found couples with greater equality in western Europe were more likely to enjoy their sex lives. Highest satisfaction levels were reported in Austria and Spain and the lowest in the more male-dominated societies of the Middle East and Asia. The study is due to appear in journal the Archives of Sexual Behaviour. Study author and professor of sociology at the University of Chicago said people aged 40 to 80 actually "engaged in a significant amount of sex". He suggested this may well be a surprise to their children. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4922220.stm
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Editor - 09:40:00 04-19-06 |
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