Tanzanians to name albino
killers The Obama
administration is not interested
in escalating a dispute between
the United States and
Switzerland over bank secrecy
laws, Switzerland's top Justice
official said on Monday after
meeting with her counterparts
from the U.S. Justice
Department.
| The News Crawler | |
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| Last Update: 03/03/2009 |
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Yesterdays Edition
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| Headlines | |
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Secret anti-terror Bush memos made public by Obama
.....Nine
Legal Opinions That Claimed Exceptional Search-And-Seizure Powers
...READ
THE MEMOS
Pentagon Spent $1 Million for Two Washers Worth 38 Cents listed numerous appalling examples of wasteful payments to defense contractors, mostly dealing with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. US may end deferred tax on foreign income could mean that large outsourcing customers such as GE and Citibank might have to pay certain taxes on their income from international markets |
US clinic in designer baby row A Los Angeles clinic courts
controversy by offering would-be parents the chance to select traits
like the eye, skin and hair color of their offspring. Supreme Court won't review "Agent Orange" lawsuits The Supreme Court let stand on Monday the dismissal of lawsuits by Vietnamese nationals and U.S. military veterans against Dow Chemical Co, Monsanto Co and other chemical makers over the use of the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. CIA destroyed 92 interrogation tapes far more than has previously been acknowledged. |
| Connecticut | |
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Bills call for ban on plastic additive A number of legislators and
environmentalists are pushing bills in the General Assembly that would
ban a plastic substance found in many baby bottles, food containers and
metal can liners. Connecticut accepts Obama stimulus money Gov. M. Jodi Rell officially accepted the state stabilization funding included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in a letter Friday to the Executive Office of President Barack Obama. |
Madoff victims plead for strict state standards Some Connecticut victims of the Bernard Madoff financial scandal urged state lawmakers Friday to enact stronger state standards for investment managers, including a required test, to help prevent future illegal schemes. |
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United States |
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US may end deferred tax on foreign income could mean that large
outsourcing customers such as GE and Citibank might have to pay
certain taxes on their income from international markets A one-stop source for credit card comparisons Bookmarks Comparing credit cards lowcards.com If you're shopping for a credit card, it's nice to have some choices. Lowcards.com has more than 1,000 of them. Supreme Court won't review "Agent Orange" lawsuits The Supreme Court let stand on Monday the dismissal of lawsuits by Vietnamese nationals and U.S. military veterans against Dow Chemical Co, Monsanto Co and other chemical makers over the use of the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Study paints rare portrait of Muslim-Americans Muslims in America have a much more positive outlook on life than their counterparts in most predominantly Muslim countries and some other Western societies, according to a poll released Monday. Afghan immigrant pleads not guilty to perjury (AP) The brother-in-law of an Osama bin Laden bodyguard pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges that he lied in denying ties to terrorist groups on his U.S. citizenship and passport applications |
Cop pleads not
guilty to assault of jailed 15-year-old girl Some states picking economy over environment regs The call for economic stimulus is having an unintended side effect in places like Montana, where environmental protections are on the verge of being repealed in the name of jobs. Violence Increases in Arizona Due to Mexico Drug War Home invasion and kidnappings are on the rise in Arizona. State authorities pin the blame on Mexican organized crime. Farmers worry as parts of Texas are driest in US ‘Tidal wave’ of homeless students hits schools With insufficient federal funding and budgets that are severely strained, many schools are struggling to meet their legal responsibility to educate homeless students, msnbc.com's Kari Huus reports. Pimco advising U.S. government on BofA: report Pacific Investment Management has been hired to advise the U.S. government on the value of $118 billion of assets guaranteed in the bailout of Bank of America Corp , Bloomberg said, citing two people with knowledge of the decision. Fewer kids have high lead levels than 20 years ago Prince quits as CEO of Blackwater-turned-Xe Thousands of Youth Descend on D.C. to Demand New Climate Change Policy Defying a major blizzard, students plan to take the Capitol by storm, with more than 2,500 ready to be arrested. CIA destroyed 92 interrogation tapes far more than has previously been acknowledged. |
| Madoffed | |
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Madoff moved $164 mln from UK firm to US -receiver Accused swindler
Bernard Madoff moved $164 million from his firm in Britain to New York
in the weeks before he was arrested
Madoffs Seek To Keep Nearly $70 Million Bernard Madoff and his wife claim they are entitled to keep a $7 million Manhattan apartment and an additional $62 million in assets. Court papers say Madoff claims the apartment and the cash are unrelated to a $50 billion fraud Madoff has been accused of carrying out. |
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Science |
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Mars had 'recent' running water Mars appears to have had running water on its surface about one million years ago, according to new evidence. |
US clinic in designer baby row A Los Angeles clinic courts controversy by offering would-be parents the chance to select traits like the eye, skin and hair colour of their offspring. |
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Security Issues |
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TSA flooded with opposition to corporate-jets proposal Private pilots and business groups are assailing an effort to impose the first security rules on corporate jets, Problem with the anthrax killer The anthrax in the anthrax letters does not match the anthrax in the alleged dead anthrax doctor‘s flask Study: 1 in 31 U.S. adults in prison system The number of offenders on parole and probation across the United States has surged past 5 million, complicating the challenges for fiscally ailing states, according to a new report. |
Concerns arise over fast-track deportation program Federal
authorities are increasingly deporting illegal immigrants through a
fast-track program that bypasses court hearings, an effort by the
federal government to save money, reduce backlogs and clear detention
beds. Pentagon Spent $1 Million for Two Washers Worth 38 Cents listed numerous appalling examples of wasteful payments to defense contractors, mostly dealing with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama might target Lockheed Martin's F-22 for defense cuts President Barack Obama may have Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor fighter jet in his sights as a prime target for cutting big-dollar defense programs |
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Politics |
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Click
here to see where your money is being spent Recovery.gov is a
website that lets you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going. Senator's secret ties to drugmakers exposed A charity founded by a senior Republican lawmaker who was a key ally to the pharmaceutical industry received more than $170,000 in 2007 from drugmakers, far in excess of campaign finance rules had the money been donated to him directly, leaked documents show. Congress renews push to regulate cigarettes With support from a president who's been trying to kick the habit himself, lawmakers renewed their efforts Monday to require government regulation of cigarettes |
Round Four: AIG To Get $30 Billion More In Bailout Funds....Already
Received $150 Billion... Expected To Post $60 Billion Loss PACs: $416 million to federal election Special-interest spigot remained wide open for Congress in 2008. Put It On My Tab? You Will Have to Pay Nearly $1,400 for AIG |
| Obama | |
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Obama proposes changes to student loan industry But the government
has said it intends to use private contractors to process students loans
even if the loans all come directly from the US Treasury Secret anti-terror Bush memos made public by Obama .....Nine Legal Opinions That Claimed Exceptional Search-And-Seizure Powers ...READ THE MEMOS U.S. government condemns "waterboarding" as torture U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ruled out the use of "waterboarding" as an interrogation technique for terrorism suspects on Monday, calling it a form of torture that the Obama administration could never condone. |
Will Taxpayers Try to Skirt the $250K Limit? Obama's new tax plan
has some wondering how they can avoid paying higher taxes. (If any do I
think we should revoke their citizenship and send them to jail)
The Bogus 'Class Warfare' Attack on Obama In truth, class warfare is
what the Reagan Era gave us: thirty years of tax breaks for the wealthy
at the expense of the common weal. U.S. won't escalate banking dispute: Swiss official The Obama administration is not interested in escalating a dispute between the United States and Switzerland over bank secrecy laws, Switzerland's top Justice official said on Monday after meeting with her counterparts from the U.S. Justice Department. |
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Economy |
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Down They Go: World Stock Markets Tumble....Global
stocks hit 6-year low, dollar surges Dow Index Drops Below 7,000 for First Time Since '97 in Global Stock Rout |
Unexpected Rise in Consumer Spending After falling for a record six consecutive months, spending rose in January on purchases of food and other nondurable items. But the increase is expected to be fleeting. |
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Iraq |
Map of Iraq |
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Iraqi Court Acquits Tariq Aziz Mr. Aziz, who served as Iraq’s
foreign minister during the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and as Mr.
Hussein’s deputy prime minister during the American invasion in 2003,
was acquitted of culpability in a brutal crackdown against Shiite
protesters that followed the assassination of a revered cleric, Grand
Ayatollah Mohammed al-Sadr in 1999. Talabani: Iraq prohibits groups such as Iran's Mujahedin - Summary Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday told Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani that Iraq prohibits the presence of foreign militants and terrorist organizations such as the People's Mujahedin of Iran Americans Work With Iraqis To Close Prison Camps U.S. commanders say they're releasing as many as 50 detainees a day, with plans to turn the hardest-core of extremists over to a revamped Iraqi prison system. The prison camps once held as many as 26,000 inmates, most of them accused of involvement in terrorism or sectarian violence. |
Iraq
plans census to map ethnic divisions (Reuters)
Iraqi Shiites Protest Voting Results, Allege Fraud Iraq's orphans battle to outgrow abuse Iraq 'success' hailed by US, UK Gates says 'significant military success' in Iraq while British commander claims democracy rooted in country Iraq seeks foreign money to help increase oil output Monday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 22 Wounded Search on for (25) W.Va. Troops in Possible Exposure (to toxic chemical in Iraq) |
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Middle East |
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Hezbollah refutes Le Monde's report
The latter
assumes that Hezbollah members were caught while they were taking
pictures of the headquarters of the Special Court in The Hague.
Iran says activities of US journalist 'illegal' Iran's Foreign Ministry says a journalist who was recently detained in Iran was engaged in "illegal" activities because she continued working in the country after the government revoked her press credentials in 2006 U.S. offers $300 million to Gaza, rest to Abbas U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will pledge $900 million for the Palestinians at a donors' conference in Egypt, but only a third of that is earmarked for Gaza, a U.S. official said on Sunday. Russian intelligence behind Chechen killings’ The killings of a number of Chechens in İstanbul over the past several months could be the work of Russian intelligence units, sources have said.Iran sentences Kurdish activist to death – agency The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan [PJAK] is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK], a militant grou Iran Media Report US May Free Two Iranians In Iraq Syrian Authorities Arrest 26 Kurds For 10-Minute Silence Syrian security forces arrested, on February 28, 26 Kurdish citizens who stood for 10 minutes of silence to protest against the law limiting purchases and sales of land in the border region, where many Kurds live |
Clinton says no US funds will go to Hamas Tony Blair urges Israel to lift economic blockade of Gaza Iran asks Interpol to arrest top Israeli officials Iran asks Interpol to arrest top Israeli officials 'Ministry plans to enlarge settlements' Peace Now report claims new gov't may approve construction of 73,000 apartments in West Bank Iran calls U.S. nuclear bomb statement "propaganda" Iran on Monday dismissed as propaganda a statement by the U.S. military chief of staff that Tehran was believed to have enough nuclear material to make a bomb. Turkey to donate 50 million USD additional assistance to Gaza Plan to raze Arab neighborhood hit The Palestinian Authority is protesting an Israeli plan to raze an Arab neighborhood just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, warning it could spark violence and doom any prospects to renew peace talks. Fake Feb. 28 sheik was paid by Ergenekon general Israel demolishes two Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem Avigdor Lieberman wants to make Israel as ethnically Jewish as possible Avigdor Lieberman wants to make Israel as ethnically Jewish as possible, even if that results in a loss of territory |
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Afghanistan |
Map of Afghanistan |
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NATO warns on security if Afghans vote early NATO warned on Monday
that an early presidential election in Afghanistan would have
implications for security and said it would be in a better position to
protect the poll if it were held in August. Canada PM says West won't beat Afghan insurgency Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Western forces alone won't defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, and that the U.S. must have a viable exit plan before asking other countries to do more there. Afghan children not killed by Canadian bomb: probe A blast that killed three Afghan children last week was unlikely to have been caused by ordinance left by Canadian forces after a firing test, as locals alleged NATO may ask China for support in Afghanistan NATO may ask China to provide support for the war effort in Afghanistan, including possibly opening a supply link for alliance forces, a senior U.S. official said Monday. |
Afghan commission to set poll date Election commission president he
will not be swayed by Karzai or any other candidate.Is
Karzai Trying to Steal an Election? Afghan, NATO probe says civilians killed in firefight (AFP) A joint inquiry by the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan and Afghan authorities has concluded that eight civilians were killed during a recent battle with insurgents in the south. Suicide Blast Kills Civilians in Nangarhar Security developments in Afghanistan, March 2 Red Cross warns of more Afghan civilian casualties under US plans Taliban Kills Religious Scholar & Four Security Guards in Kandahar |
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Pakistan |
Map of Pakistan |
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Minister promises girls' education in NW Pakistan
Pakistan ISI top boss met Osama aide: TV report All terrorist networks have safe haven in Pakistan: Gates All major terrorist networks have a safe haven in Pakistan to operate creating a big "problem" to the US war against terror, defence secretary Robert Gates has said. Musharraf calls for US-Taliban talks Pakistan's former president says the US must engage in talks with Taliban instead of increasing the number of its troops in Afghanistan |
Pakistan sets up 'mobile courts' Pakistan's president establishes
mobile courts that can deliver quick justice "on the doorstep" in remote
areas, officials say. Zardari seeking change in military leadership resident Asif Zardari has decided to appoint his favorite Army Generals to become a powerful President of the country. Taliban rivals unite to fight US troop surge Three rival Pakistani Taliban groups have agreed to form a united front against international forces in Afghanistan in a move likely to intensify the insurgency just as thousands of extra US soldiers begin pouring into the country as part of Barack Obama's surge plan. |
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Asia |
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FBI first probed LeT soon after 9/11 attack
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Hail Bangladesh's Efforts In Tackling ... Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Monday lauded the Bangladesh government's efforts in tackling the crisis Bangladesh Mutiny West 'uses Tibet to attack China' China publishes a white paper praising its rule in Tibet and accusing the West of trying to inflame tensions there. |
Morgan Stanley’s Chinese Land Scandal In a S.E.C. filing, the bank said it had fired an executive in its China real estate division after uncovering evidence that he might have bribed foreign officials.Morgan Stanley Bribery Scandal Threatens Deals In China |
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Europe |
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"Milošević's intelligence chief was CIA man"Slobodan Milošević's
head of intelligence service known as DB, was in fact employed by the
CIA for eight years Moscow blasts OSCE comments on Politkovskaya trial "The Politkovskaya verdict tops the long history of the inability by Russia's authorities to provide safety to embattled journalists. This amounts to practical impunity for the murder and physical assault of those covering corruption and human rights issues." Growing Economic Crisis Threatens the Idea of One Europe An emergency meeting of European leaders raised the very worries it was intended to calm: that the crisis threatens to split Europe into rival campsPKK Terrorists Embraced by Greece Become Trouble Greece gave a great support to the PKK terrorism during the 1980s and 1990s. Abdullah Ocalan was captured in Greece's Kenya Embassy |
Putin's party leads Russian polls Opposition complains of violations
as United Russia appears set for gains in local polls. Chechnya leader tells why 'loose' women deserved to die BAE lobbyist held on money-laundering charges An Austrian count and lobbyist for the British arms company BAE has been arrested, making him the first of the company's global network of confidential agents to be held in custody in five years of bribery investigations by international authorities. Pope rescinds promotion of 'Katrina' pastor Pope Benedict XVI on Monday formally rescinded the promotion of an ultraconservative priest who came under fire for suggesting that God punished New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. Basque nationalists lose majority Socialists hope to form first non-nationalist government with smaller parties. |
| Africa | |
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Guinea-Bissau army chief killed Explosions and
gunfire heard hours after bomb kills commander at army
headquarters.
A look at Guinea-Bissau's history of instability Guinea-Bissau, a tiny country in West Africa, has had a long history of instability and numerous attempted coups since independence from Portugal in 1974. For 23 of the past 29 years, the country was ruled by President Joao Bernardo Vieira. |
Official: 57 killed in clashes in southern Sudan Clashes
between militia and local government troops in a southern Sudan
town killed at least 57 people and wounded nearly 100 US Navy hands over 9 suspected pirates to Somalia (AP) Guinea-Bissau assassinations: Is Colombia's drug trade behind them? The murder of the president and the Army chief on Monday raises questions about the nature of the instability in this African nation. Guinea-Bissau president killed Soldiers assassinate president Vieira hours after bomb kills army chief. |
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The Americas |
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Mexican drug cartel threatens to kill Guatemalan president Stanford scandal puts Venezuela's banking system at risk TIMELINE - Key events in US war on drugs in Latin America Closing Guantánamo's jail won't eliminate America's blot on Cuban soil Castro also voiced this opinion in the Russian press prior to his recent state visit, and the idea has been embraced by his brother Fidel Castro, who recently called for Obama to return Guantánamo to Cuba, arguing that the base was a violation of Cuban sovereignty. |
Bolivia Ready to Fight Drug Trafficking The Bolivian government
ratified Sunday its decision to fight drug trafficking without US
support Meltdown response: Ecuador erects trade barriers |