Officers wept, families traced the steps of fallen relatives & church bells tolled across northern France on Sat to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, one of history's worst bloodbaths. Prince Charles called the W W I battle "a most profound shock" for Britain, & "an unutterable hell." Ceremonies around the world honored the soldiers of some 20 nationalities who died & those who survived the British-led push against German forces. 4 months of vicious trench warfare ravaged the gentle hills of the Somme region & left more than 1.2 million on both sides dead, wounded or held prisoner. The battle has nearly receded from living memory, but its legacy remains. Monuments from simple markers to major museums in the wheat fields & towns of the Somme serve as a reminder of how the Great War changed Europe forever, & how young European unity is. Britain feels the battle's scars most deeply. July 1, 1916, was the deadliest day the British army ever saw, leaving 20,000 victims... http://www.usatoday.com censor News |
Editor - 02:50:00 07-02-06 |
Voters set to choose Mexico's next leader |
Mexico will decide whether to join the growing leftist camp in Latin America or stick with a free-market path in a presidential election on Sunday that is balanced on a knife-edge.In a country crucial to U.S. interests in border security, trade and immigration, polls show an extremely close race between leftist anti-poverty crusader and former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and conservative Felipe Calderon, a former energy minister from the ruling party.Lopez Obrador, 52, leads opinion polls by about only 2 percentage points after almost six months of bruising campaigning that split a country still finding its feet with full democracy after seven decades of one-party rule ended in 2000.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13665915/
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Editor - 02:43:00 07-02-06 |
Blast kills 66 in Baghdad Shiite district |
A huge car bomb exploded Sat at a bustling outdoor market in a Shiite district of Baghdad, killing at least 66 people & injuring about 100. It was the deadliest attack since the new national unity government took office 6 weeks ago and one of the biggest this year. Shortly before the midmorning blast, gunmen seized a female Sunni legislator at a checkpoint in a Shiite area of the capital. Both attacks represented a major challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's vow to curb sectarian violence that threatens to plunge Iraq into civil war. In an audio recording posted on the Internet, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden endorsed the successor to the slain leader of his network in Iraq and warned the country's Shiites against collaborating with the Americans in the fight against Sunni insurgents. The comments threatened to sharpen the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis even as al-Maliki and his American allies struggled to heal the breach between the country's major religious communities... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-07-01-iraq-violence_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 02:40:00 07-02-06 |
New car bomb shakes Baghdad |
A car bomb exploded near a police station in a central Baghdad neighborhood Sunday, wounding at least 13 people, Baghdad Emergency Police said.The attack took place at 8 a.m. (12 a.m. EDT) in the capital's Karrada section.On Saturday, a car bomb exploded in a busy Sadr City marketplace, killing 62 people and wounding 114 others. Saturday's blast destroyed food and clothing stalls and set vehicles on fire, The Associated Press reported.Ambulances carried the many victims to hospitals, where AP said men were cradling crying babies as doctors sought to treat them. ... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/02/iraq.main/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 02:34:00 07-02-06 |
Two British soldiers killed in Afghan attack |
Two British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in an attack on their base in the south of the country, the latest clash in the bloodiest phase of violence since the militants were ousted in 2001.The two were killed in the volatile Sangin district of Helmand province, where more than 3,000 British troops are based. "We can confirm that two British soldiers … were killed in action in Sangin yesterday when their base came under small-arms and RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) attack," a spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defense in London said on Sunday. Five British soldiers have been killed since UK forces were deployed to Helmand in recent months. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2144749
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Editor - 02:17:00 07-02-06 |
Israel strike hits Palestinian PM's office |
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at the Palestinian prime minister's office early Sunday, just hours after a Palestinian official said the soldier whose abduction sent Israeli troops into Gaza is alive and in stable condition.A Hamas militant was killed in another Israeli airstrike.Palestinians witnesses said two missiles fired by attack helicopters hit the Gaza City office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas early Sunday, slightly injuring a bystander and setting the empty building on fire.Inspecting his burning office, Haniyeh called the attack senseless."They have targeted a symbol for the Palestinian people," he said.The Israeli military confirmed the attack and said it would "employ all means at its disposal ... to secure the safe return" of 19-year-old soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit who was abducted by Palestinian militants on Sunday.... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-01-gaza-attack_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 02:11:00 07-02-06 |
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