The Bush administration has strongly urged Palestinian leaders not to permit any Hamas members into the Palestinian cabinet, but yesterday's better-than-expected electoral showing by a group labeled a terrorist organization by the United States greatly complicates the administration's diplomacy in the region, U.S. officials said yesterday.Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, appears to have ridden a wave of popular disgust at the perceived corruption and incompetence of the ruling Fatah Party. Exit polls indicate Fatah will have only a slim edge over Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council, giving Hamas a strong claim to a role in the government.Fatah in theory may still be able to form a government that excludes Hamas -- formally the Islamic Resistance Movement -- but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed hope that by bringing Hamas into the political process, it will become a partner in seeking a peace accord with Israel....
http://www.washingtonpost.com
censor News |
Editor - 23:18:00 01-25-06
|
 The War on Sedition “Anglosphere” allies crack down on speech in the name of fighting terror. |
If Australian Prime Minister John Howard gets his way, citizens down under will soon face seven years in prison if they are convicted of “sedition.” That’s not entirely new—sedition laws have been on the country’s books for at least 40 years—but the proposed legislation more than doubles the penalty. It also expands the definition of criminal speech to include “assist[ing], by any means whatever, an organisation or country…at war with the Commonwealth, whether or not the existence of a state of war has been declared.”What comprises such “assistance,” and how on earth do you know when an organization is at “war with the Commonwealth” in the absence of a declaration to that effect? The answers are not clear, even after one very heated month of public debate and outcry....
http://www.reason.com/0602/co.mw.the.shtml
full News |
Editor - 23:07:00 01-25-06
|
| French police take 2 years to uncover time of death |
French police who spent two years trying to identify a woman who was murdered by a blow to the head were relieved to discover the reason their efforts were failing: the woman died half a millennium ago.The skeleton of a woman in her 30s was found during an exceptionally low tide in December 2003 near the seaside Brittany town of Plouezoc'h. A long gash in the skull convinced investigators she was killed with a hatchet or other sharp implement.Police ploughed through missing persons' files to no avail. A theory that the woman was the wife of a Normandy doctor who disappeared with his family in a famous 1999 case was dismissed after DNA tests....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2006-01-25-francemurder_x.htm?csp=34
full News |
Editor - 20:24:00 01-25-06
|
| Rumsfeld disputes readiness study Defense secretary says military nowhere near 'breaking'. That said from the comfort and safety of his armchair |
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday disputed a Pentagon-commissioned study that warns the Army needs more troops for Iraq and Afghanistan, telling reporters the service is nowhere close to its breaking point.The study by Andrew Krepinevich, a military analyst and former Army officer, found that the Army's manpower needs for those conflicts "clearly exceed those available for the mission.""The forces called for proved insufficient to execute effectively stability operations of the type envisioned by the U.S. military," the study said. "A clear sign of this was the willingness of the U.S. command in Iraq to cede responsibilities for stability operations in several key cities to forces hostile to the interim government."Rumsfeld said he has not read the study but took issue with its conclusions....
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/25/military.studies/index.html?section=cnn_world
full News |
Editor - 20:18:00 01-25-06
|
| Pentagon to Shift Navy Forces to Counter Rising China |
The Pentagon has directed the Navy to assume a ``greater presence'' in the western Pacific by adding at least one aircraft carrier and five nuclear submarines over the next decade, according to a draft of the Pentagon's review of strategy and forces. The increase will put half the Navy's aircraft carriers and 60 percent of its submarine fleet in the Pacific and is largely driven by the Pentagon's concern over China's increased military might, according to a congressional defense analyst. ``They recognize they may be challenged from a modernized Chinese maritime military force,'' said Ronald O'Rourke, the chief naval analyst for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, who's written extensively on the subject. ``It's intended to send a signal of their concern.'' ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=amz4s6xSvaP0&refer=home
full News |
Editor - 20:11:00 01-25-06
|
| Mexico Says Drug Smugglers in Military Garb, Not Soldiers, Confronted Texas Lawmen at Border |
The men dressed in military garb who crossed the border and confronted Texas law officers this week were drug smugglers, not Mexican soldiers, officials said Wednesday, illustrating Mexico's thorny problem with criminals who masquerade as security forces. Photos of what appeared to be Mexican troops in U.S. territory during the incident Monday shocked many Americans, although Mexico quickly denied its military was involved. But to most Mexicans it just offered further proof that drug traffickers run rampant around the border area in military-style vehicles, wearing uniforms and, in some cases, using military firepower....
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1541183&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
full News |
Editor - 20:08:00 01-25-06
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
