 Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez has denied US claims that his country would be a disruptive influence if elected to the UN Security Council. A US diplomatic note obtained by the BBC says Caracas would use the Council for "ideological grandstanding". The Bush administration has said it prefers Guatemala for the seat but denies putting pressure on other Latin American nations to vote its way. Five non-permanent Security Council seats become vacant later this year. The campaign for a seat on the Council highlights the strained ties between the US and Venezuela. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 17:28:00 06-22-06
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 Coalition Forces Preparing to Leave Region of Southern Iraq by End of July |
Coalition forces will pull out of a relatively peaceful, West Virginia-sized region in southern Iraq by the end of July, a British officer said Thursday the first transfer of an entire province to Iraqi security forces. However, the international troops will maintain a presence nearby and be prepared to help the Iraqis if needed in Muthanna province, a predominantly Shiite area of 550,000 people bordering Najaf, Basra and Saudi Arabia. U.S. Brig. Gen. Rudy Wright said the transition would be closely watched. "Everybody is in great anticipation that this will continue on," he said at a joint news conference with provincial leaders. "This is the first of many steps within Iraq, and it's not about the coalition it's about Iraq." ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2108916
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Editor - 17:11:00 06-22-06
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| Officials: U.S. didn’t find WMDs, despite claims Comments are response to claims by GOP senators |
Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday they have no evidence that Iraq produced chemical weapons after the 1991 Gulf War, despite recent reports from media outlets and Republican lawmakers. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan on Wednesday pointed to a newly declassified report that says coalition forces have found 500 munitions in Iraq that contained degraded sarin or mustard nerve agents.They cited the report in an attempt to counter criticism by Democrats who say the decision to go to war was a mistake. But defense officials said Thursday that the weapons were not considered likely to be dangerous because of their age, which they determined to be pre-1991. Pentagon officials told NBC News that the munitions are the same kind of ordnance the U.S. military has been gathering in Iraq for the past several years, and "not the WMD we were looking for when we went in this time."...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13480264/
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Editor - 17:09:00 06-22-06
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| Federal officials conducting terrorism investigation in Miami |
Federal officials were conducting a terrorism-related investigation Thursday, but declined to release further details, including if any arrests were made. Local television was reporting that the FBI was raiding a warehouse. "There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment. A search warrant and other documents were sealed, Kolko said. South Florida has been linked to several terrorism investigations in the past. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta. Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the country, is charged in Miami with being part of a North American terror support cell to al-Qaeda and other violent Islamic extremist organizations. He has been in federal custody since 2002 and is scheduled for trial in September. ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-22-terrorism-investigation_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 17:07:00 06-22-06
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| In Afghanistan, Taliban isn’t the only enemy U.S. troops tread through 110-degree deserts with little food or water |
By night, the troops brace for Taliban mortar attacks. By day, they carry heavy gear and weapons over rocky ledges in scorching heat, stopping only to rehydrate, sometimes with the help of intravenous drips.Life with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment in southern Afghanistan is a battle not only against a stealthy and stubborn enemy but against some of the earth’s harshest natural elements.“I am hungry, thirsty and dirty. Welcome to my world,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gonzalo Lassally, 31, of Deltona, Fla. Lassally is among the scores of U.S. soldiers dug into a sun-bleached peak as part of Operation Mountain Thrust. It is the largest offensive against the Taliban since the government of that radical Islamic group was ousted nearly five years ago....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13490210/
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Editor - 17:04:00 06-22-06
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| Italian chosen as Pope's deputy |
Pope Benedict XVI has chosen a close former colleague to become his new Vatican secretary of state. Italian cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 71, will replace fellow Italian Angelo Sodano as the Pope's number two. Cardinal Bertone, currently archbishop of Genoa, has long been a trusted collaborator of Benedict. They used to work in the same Vatican department. It is the second senior appointment made by the Pope from among his closest former departmental colleagues. Last year, the Pope chose an American cardinal, William Levada, to take over his own former Vatican job. The Vatican secretary of state is the Pope's official deputy, but has no powers to make declarations relating to faith and dogma - he is simply the Vatican's senior administrator. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5106282.stm
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Editor - 11:39:00 06-22-06
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