Australian-led peacekeeping troops in East Timor have taken control of a town where a rebel former army officer and his men have been under siege. The soldiers, backed by helicopters and armoured vehicles, entered the town of Same, 50km (30 miles) south of the capital Dili, under cover of darkness. Four of the rebel force are reported to have been killed but their leader, Major Alfredo Reinado, escaped. East Timor's president agreed the raid after Maj Reinado refused to negotiate. The Timorese authorities are pursuing Maj Reinado for his role in clashes with government forces last May. He was jailed over his role in the unrest, but escaped in a mass breakout from a Dili prison last August. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 13:09:00 03-04-07 |
Austin protest targets toll road 'tyranny' |
A protest against toll roads highlighted a rally on the Capitol steps Friday, but the Texas Independence Day holiday put folks in the mood to raise hell about other grievances as well. Many also complained about a national animal identification tag. Some grumbled about the state's loss of control of its borders. A few warned about the coming "North American Union." And some excoriated the United Nations for wanting "to take your gun," exhorting anyone within earshot to "get us out of the U.N." The "liberty or death" chant of a thousand or more protesters marching up Congress Avenue to the Capitol conveyed a decidedly serious intent on an otherwise sunny Friday afternoon. Famed blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughan elevated those feelings midway through the rally when the spotlight fell on him, and both he and audience connected with such lyrics as "I got the blues about tyranny" ... "Don't want no shackles on me" and "Down with Big Brother." Much of the crowd quickly joined him.... http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA030307.07A.Anti-toll_rally.365def9.html
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Editor - 12:48:00 03-04-07 |
Afghan Journalists Say U.S. Soldiers Deleted Photos, Video After Bomb Attack and Shootings |
Afghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack & shooting in eastern Afghanistan Sun said US troops deleted their photos & video & warned them not to publish or air any images of US troops or a car where 3 Afghans were shot to death. Afghan witnesses & gunshot victims said US forces fired on civilians in cars & on foot along at least a 6-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the military convoy. The US military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack. The US military & Afghan officials said 8 Afghans died & 34 were wounded in the violence. One US soldier was also injured. A freelance photographer working for The AP & a cameraman working for AP TV News said a US. soldier deleted their photos & video showing a 4-wheel drive vehicle in which 3 people were shot to death about 100 yards from the suicide bombing. The AP plans to lodge a protest with the American military. National Security excuse. ... http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2922669
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Editor - 12:23:00 03-04-07 |
U.S. forces extend Baghdad push to militia haven |
More than 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops met no resistance on Sunday when they searched homes for illegal weapons and carried out patrols in a Shi'ite militia bastion in Baghdad.The operations in Sadr City, stronghold of the Mehdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, could test Iraqi and U.S. determination to enforce a security crackdown regarded as a last attempt to stop Iraq sliding into all-out sectarian civil war. "Deliberate clearing operations have begun in Sadr City," said U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver. More raids will follow in the coming days, he said. A U.S. military statement said 600 American and 550 Iraqi security forces backed by American Stryker armored vehicles took part in the operation. It said no one was detained nor any weapons caches found. There was no violence. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2922649
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Editor - 12:12:00 03-04-07 |
China to boost military spending |
China's military spending, a point of contention with the United States, will jump 17.8 percent this year, the spokesman for the National People's Congress said Sunday.Jiang Enzhu said at a news conference on the eve of the annual meeting of China's legislature that military spending would hit 350.92 billion yuan ($44.94 billion) in 2007 -- an increase of 52.99 billion yuan ($6.84 billion) over last year.Jiang said most of the money would be spent on boosting wages and living allowances for members of the 2.5 million-strong People's Liberation Army, and on upgrading armaments.He did not give further details.Experts believe the true military budget could be several times what the government has said it is, since spending has risen by double digits annually in recent years.... http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/03/04/china.military.ap/index.html?eref=rss_world
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Editor - 08:37:00 03-04-07 |
Wounded Afghans say U.S. forces fired on civilians after suicide bomb |
US. Marines fleeing a militant ambush Sun opened fire on civlian cars and pedestrians on a busy highway in eastern Afghanistan, wounded Afghans said. Up to 16 people were killed and 34 wounded in the violence, officials said.A suicide attacker detonated an explosives-filled minivan as the American convoy approached, then militant gunmen fired on the troops inside the vehicles, who returned fire, the US military said. As the Americans sped away, they treated every car and person along the highway as a potential attacker, said Mohammad Khan Katawazi, the district chief of Shinwar. But Maj. William Mitchell, a US military spokesman, said those killed and injured may have been shot by the militants. More than a half dozen Afghans recuperating from bullet wounds told The A P that the US forces fired indiscriminately along at least a six-mile stretch of one of eastern Afghanistan's busiest highways a route often filled not only with cars and trucks but Afghans on foot and bicycles.... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-04-afghans-civilians_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 08:17:00 03-04-07 |
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