Two weeks on the job, the new head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday he does not favor building a huge wall along the Mexican border. "I don't support, I don't believe the administration supports a wall," Commissioner W. Ralph Basham said in Tucson, where he met with patrol officials and agents before embarking on a tour across the Arizona desert. Asked about proposals in Senate- and House-approved immigration measures to build security walls 380 or 700 miles long, respectively, Basham said, "It doesn't make sense, it's not practical." As Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano put it, "You build a 50-foot wall, somebody will find a 51-foot ladder," he said. Fencing, including so-called smart fencing with imbedded sensors, vehicle barriers and lighting will be part of the infrastructure improvements needed, Basham said. But a layered approach that mixes technology and air operations for observation and responding to illegal crossings will be necessary to control the border... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 12:50:00 06-20-06 |
Israelis fire on car carrying suspected militants in Gaza; 2 children killed, nine people wounded |
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car in this Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday, killing two children and wounding nine other people, the military and hospital officials said.The Israeli military said the car was carrying militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a group affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.Witnesses said the people in the car jumped out before the blast on a narrow street in the Jebaliya camp in northern Gaza.Among the nine wounded were four children, said Dr. Jumma Fatah of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. He said a 5-year-old boy, Mohammed Roka, and a 7-year-old girl were killed. The dead girl's name was not immediately known.The front of the car was badly damaged, but the back was intact. Hundreds of angry Palestinians gathered around the vehicle, shouting slogans.... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/20/ap/world/mainD8IC37TO0.shtml
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Editor - 12:27:00 06-20-06 |
Immigration fix may not pass by election. They say they don’t know what voters want? Are they all deaf? |
House leaders cast doubt yesterday on the possibility of passing immigration reform legislation this year and said, in an unusual move, that they will hold hearings across the country to gauge voter concern on the topic. "I'm not putting any timeline on this thing, but I think we need to get this thing done right," House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois told reporters yesterday. Immigration legislation has been stalled for nearly a month over deep opposition by House Republicans to the Senate's proposal, which provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal aliens now in the US The House last year approved a bill to secure the border without dealing with the current illegal alien population or the "guest worker" program Bush wants. Mr. Hastert has instructed Homeland Security Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin and other chairmen who oversee immigration-related legislation to hold field hearings to determine exactly what voters want... http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060620-020910-7931r.htm
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Editor - 12:15:00 06-20-06 |
School Bus Videotape Shows Boy Being Attacked While Driver Continues Route Without Stopping |
In a June 19 story about the beating of a 10-year-old boy on a school bus, The Associated Press reported erroneously the date of the attack. It was May 12, not earlier this month. NEW BALTIMORE, Mich. (AP) Videotape shows a 10-year-old boy being repeatedly punched by two others on a school bus while the driver continued her route without stopping, the child's father said Monday. The videotape from a camera on the bus shows two boys taunting and teasing Chester Gala on their way home from New Baltimore Middle School, 30 miles north of Detroit, on May 12. The tape was shown Monday on NBC's "Today." After finger pointing and shoving, one of the boys stood up and punched Chester repeatedly. Despite the altercation, the driver continued her route without stopping, the boy's father, Eric Gala, said on "Today." ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2098469
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Editor - 12:08:00 06-20-06 |
Iraqis 'plotted to kill Allawi' |
The trial has opened in Stuttgart, Germany, of three Iraqi men accused of plotting to kill then Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi on a trip there in 2004. Prosecutors say the men are members of the radical Ansar al-Islam group with links to al-Qaeda. Police say they intercepted a phone call between the men agreeing to carry out the attack when Mr Allawi appeared at a business forum in central Berlin. The men face a maximum jail term of 10 years if found guilty. Ata Abdoulaziz Rashid, 32, Mazen Ali Hussein, 24, and Rafik Mohamad Yousef, 31, are charged with conspiracy and membership of Ansar al-Islam. Their case is being heard in a high-security court specially designed for trials of Germany's militant Red Army Faction in the 1970s. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5097850.stm
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Editor - 11:31:00 06-20-06 |
SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH THE UN'S SHASHI THAROOR "To Change the World, We Must Change too." |
Shashi Tharoor, 50, is a critically acclaimed author and the head of public relations for the United Nations. He is now a candidate to succeed UN Secretary General Kofi Annan when his term ends in December. In an interview, Tharoor discusses his chances of becoming the next chief of the international body and the steps he will take to reform the UN if he is appointed.SPIEGEL: There is widespread agreement that the successor to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who retires in December, should be Asian. India has now nominated you as its candidate, but there are also competitors from Sri Lanka, South Korea and Thailand.... http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,422474,00.html
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Editor - 11:28:00 06-20-06 |
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