The United States is imposing a ban on arms sales to Venezuela because of what it claims is a lack of support by President Hugo Chavez's leftist government for counterterrorism efforts, the State Department said Monday. For nearly a year, there has been a nearly total lack of cooperation with anti-terrorism, Darla Jordan, a State Department spokeswoman, said. As a result, U.S. sales and licensing for the export of defense articles and services to Venezuela, including the transfer of defense items, will not be permitted, she said. Venezuela is ax major supplier of oil to the United States but relations between Chavez and the Bush administration have sharply deteriorated. Chavez has called Bush a ``terrorist,'' and denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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Editor - 12:42:00 05-15-06
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 Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You're Calling |
A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources."It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.ABC News does not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.One former official was asked to sign a document stating he was not a confidential source for New York Times reporter James Risen. ...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/federal_source_.html
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Editor - 12:38:00 05-15-06
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| African Union pressures Darfur rebels |
The African Union increased pressure on Sudan's holdout rebels to sign a deal ending Darfur's three-year civil war and appealed Monday for a stronger peacekeeping force to monitor it.The European Union also urged the holdouts to go along with the deal already signed by the government and the main rebel group. The holdouts had been given until Monday to sign.AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said the 53-nation bloc will push for a U.N. travel ban and asset freeze targeting those who try to undermine the Darfur peace process and commit human rights violations in the vast, arid region.Abdel Wahid Nur, leader of a splinter faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement, and Khalil Ibrahim of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement have resisted international pressure to join the peace agreement signed May 5....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-05-15-darfur_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 12:35:00 05-15-06
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| New England Floods Force Evacuations, Rain Continues |
Record-setting rainfall in New England forced rivers out of their banks and people out of their homes today as governors in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine declared states of emergency. Record flooding is possible on several rivers in northeast Massachusetts and south central New Hampshire, and the National Weather Service has posted a flood warning for much of the two states and parts of southern Maine, according to its Web site. Parts of northeastern Massachusetts from Gloucester to Peabody received between 12 to 15 inches of rain and may get up to four inches more in the next 24 hours, said Charlie Foley, National Weather Service meteorologist in Taunton, Massachusetts said. Boston recorded 3.77 inches of rain yesterday, breaking the May 14 record. ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aAU4ECYdXwyw&refer=home
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Editor - 12:33:00 05-15-06
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| Landmark Nepal king plans delayed |
Political parties in Nepal have postponed landmark plans to curtail the powers of King Gyanendra, including taking away his control of the army. MPs had been due to discuss the issue on Monday but will now do so later this week, the government says. The proclamation is expected to override the 1990 constitution, which handed most power to parliament but kept the monarchy involved in politics. Meanwhile, royalist ex-ministers are being blamed for a budget shortfall. Addressing the newly-recalled parliament, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said increased palace and security spending were responsible for the shortfall of more than $100m in the current financial year. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4771795.stm
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Editor - 12:32:00 05-15-06
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| 2 U.S. Soldiers Killed In Downing Of Chopper |
Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter south of Baghdad and killed two soldiers, the U.S. military said Monday. Their deaths, along with those of three other soldiers and two Marines, brought the weekend toll to seven U.S. service members.The helicopter attack occurred Sunday during fighting in Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of the Iraqi capital, the military said in a brief statement.It was the second helicopter shot down in the past six weeks over that area, known as the "Triangle of Death" because of the large number of insurgent attacks. An Apache helicopter went down there on April 1.The two U.S. Marines died Sunday during unspecified "enemy action" in Anbar Province, the area of western Iraq that is the heart of the Sunni-led insurgency, the U.S. command said. Two U.S. Army soldiers also died Sunday in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. ...
http://www.nbc30.com/news/9214930/detail.html
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Editor - 12:28:00 05-15-06
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