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World Headlines
Afghanistan

Bill Moyers Plays LBJ Tapes, Draws Similarities With Obama And Afghanistan War

Bill Moyers considers a President's decision to escalate troop levels in a military conflict. Through LBJ's taped phone conversations and his own remembrances, Bill Moyers looks at Johnson's deliberations as he stepped up America's role in Vietnam.

Afghanistan: Pay for it or charge it?.... Top Dem to Obama: 'There Ain't Going to Be Money for Nothing if We Pour It All Into Afghanistan'

How the US army protects its trucks – by paying the Taliban

Senate report: Bin Laden was 'within our grasp' Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of U.S. troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force, a Senate report says

Face down the militarists and get out of Afghanistan. No strings attached

Kandahar gov. survives assassination attempt

Warlords are back in power

Terror training camps smaller, harder to target

U.S. Still Running Secret Prison In Afghanistan

U.S. gives millions as Afghans target poppies The U.S. on Monday agreed to hand out millions of dollars in development aid to provinces in Afghanistan that have eliminated or reduced the production of opium poppies

U.S. envoy objects to troop increase The U.S. envoy in Afghanistan, a former general who once commanded troops in the country, has objected to plans to send tens of thousands of forces to the country, a U.S. official says.

Dutch troops' method in Afghanistan gains new prominence The soldiers from the Netherlands deployed in Oruzgan province have been focusing more on development work and civilian protection and less focus on fighting.

Iraq

Prominent member of Awakening movement arrested in Iraq Paramilitary leader Mustafa Kamal Shibeeb, a Sunni who hopes to become a lawmaker, had escaped arrest with the help of U.S. and Iraqi forces. An Interior Ministry unit detains him on murder charges.

Al Qaida In Iraq Regaining Strength, Launching Effort To Cripple Iraq Government

Bush administration was 'running out of steam' before 9/11, Iraq inquiry told

US to drop shooting case against Blackwater guard The Justice Department intends to drop manslaughter and weapons charges against one of the Blackwater Worldwide security guards involved in a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting, prosecutors said in court documents Friday.

U.S. In Contact With Iraqi Ba'thist Officials

Ex-UK Envoy: US Focused On Iraq Hours After 9/11

Leaked documents reveal No 10 cover-up over Iraq invasion Military commanders are expected to tell the inquiry into the Iraq war, which opens on Tuesday, that the invasion was ill-conceived and that preparations were sabotaged by Tony Blair's government's attempts to mislead the public.

Pakistan

Blackwater's Secret War In Pakistan At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found.\

ISI helped Taliban leader escape to safety Fearing that Taliban supremo Mullah Omar might be targetted by US drones, Pakistan's ISI has helped him to flee from the border town of Quetta to the mega port city of Karachi, where he has established a new Shura council.

CIA offers bounties to Pakistan's ISI? The CIA provides hundreds of millions dollars to Pakistan's spy service, including payments for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a US newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials and former officials. The CIA's financial support accounts for as much as one-third of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency's budget, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.

CIA says it gets its money's worth from Pakistani spy agency The CIA has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan's intelligence service since the Sept. 11 attacks, accounting for as much as one-third of the foreign spy agency's annual budget, current and former U.S. officials say.

Middle East

Hizbullah’s Weapons Are More Advanced Than Those On The Iranian Weapons Ship

Hamas Officials: We Are Allied With Iran – But Only To Oppose U.S.

Israel announces 10-month West Bank settlement freeze

3 Yemeni Officials, Along With Guards, Killed in Ambush The ambush was the deadliest attack on government officials in years in Yemen, where Al Qaeda has declared a goal of overthrowing the Yemeni state.Iran To Saudi Arabia: Battles In Yemen Will Spill Over Into Your Territory

Saudi Arabia Sinks Two Ships Off Its Coast The Saudi army announced today that it had sunk two suspicious ships that were approaching its border and ignoring demands to stop to be investigated.

Student stuns Iran by criticizing supreme leader An unassuming college math student has become an unlikely hero to many in Iran for daring to criticize the country's most powerful man to his face.

Iran Censured Over Nuclear Program by U.N. Watchdog

Dissidents Mass in Tehran to Subvert an Anti-U.S. Rally Protesters in Tehran tried to turn a government rally into a protest against the election.

Europe

Poland agrees rules for hosting U.S. armed forces

Chechnya says helicopter attack kills 20 rebels

Germany drops probe linked to Litvinenko case German prosecutors said Friday they have dropped an investigation of a Russian businessman who had been suspected of transporting a radioactive substance used in the fatal poisoning of a former Russian agent in London in 2006.

Russian train crash kills 25, attack suspected At least 25 people were killed and 87 more injured when a Russian express train came off the rails late on Friday in what the national railway company said could have been a bomb attack.Home-Made Bomb Caused Train Crash That Killed Dozens In Russia

German banker admits transferring money from rich to help poorer clients

Asia

Sri Lanka to release 136,000 Tamil war refugees

At least 30 killed in 'gruesome massacre of civilians' in the Philippines......Philippine Official Says Victims Were Sexually Mutilated

Africa

Somali Judge Who Jailed Pirates, Insurgents Killed Gunmen have killed a top Somali judge who had sentenced many pirates and human traffickers to long jail terms, the security minister for northern Somalia said Thursday. Mohamed Said Samatar said three men were arrested Thursday over the killing of High Court Judge Mohamed Abdi Aware.

Judge tosses Rwandan genocide conviction A U.N. appeals court overturns the conviction of the former Rwandan president's brother-in-law, who had been sentenced to 20 years for organizing a massacre that left about 1,000 dead during the 1994 genocide.

The Americas

Brazil: 'Gringos' must pay to stop Amazon razing Brazil's president said Thursday that "gringos" should pay Amazon nations to prevent deforestation, insisting rich Western nations have caused much more past environmental destruction than the loggers and farmers who cut and burn trees in the world's largest tropical rain forest.

Chile uses dictator-era law in Indian clashes Mapuche Indians have so rattled Chile by seizing forests, burning buses and attacking police that the government is turning to dictatorship-era measures to quell the violence

Chile: Any U.S. missile, radar deal under $665 million Chile's government said on Thursday any eventual purchase of U.S. missiles and radar equipment will be "infinitely lower" than a possible $665 million purchase the Pentagon has disclosed.

Canada high court rules for Wal-Mart in union case The Supreme Court of Canada said Friday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was entitled to close a store in Quebec in 2005, seven months after workers voted to become the first Walmart store in North America to unionize.

Honduras vote to sideline president, enshrine coup

U.S. Groups That Supported Coups in Haiti and Venezuela Will Observe Elections in Honduras

Haiti bans prominent party from 2010 election

Suspected Colombian paramilitary leader Magaly Moreno captured in Venezuela

US Headlines

Judge Gives Debt-Ridden Couple a House

Court Rules Private Land Can Be Seized for NBA Arena

Jury acquits ex-Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were found not guilty of fraud, a decision that could make government prosecutors less likely to bring criminal charges against Wall Street executives for their role in the financial crisis.

U.S. businessman sentenced in Azerbaijan oil case American businessman and co-founder of upscale handbag maker Dooney & Bourke was sentenced on Tuesday to just over a year in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States in an Azerbaijan oil venture bribery case.

Shocking rise of 'new slavery' in America In the Midwestern heartland, police are encountering a new social evil: trafficking, often involving women and children who are forced to work as prostitutes or unpaid labour; and the outcomes can be brutal.

Hate crimes against blacks, religious groups rise...FBI: Sharp increase in anti-gay hate crimes

570,000 9/11 pager messages released

Microsoft, News Corp. said to be weighing Web pact

U.S. journalist grilled at Canada border crossing U.S. journalist Amy Goodman said she was stopped at a Canadian border crossing south of Vancouver on Wednesday and questioned for 90 minutes by authorities concerned she was coming to Canada to speak against the Olympics.

Microsoft, News Corp. said to be weighing Web pact

US charges firms defrauded deaf phone fund

Many parents inaccurately claim college tax credit  More than 314,000 taxpayers made inaccurate claims for a popular tax credit that helps pay college expenses, getting $532 million they weren't entitled to receive, a government report said Thursday.

Pittsburgh OKs $50K 'middle finger' settlement Pittsburgh City Council has tentatively approved paying $50,000 to settle a free speech lawsuit filed by a man cited for giving a city police officer the middle finger.

Men held after 9/11 get $1.26 million Five immigrant men who were detained in roundups in New York and eventually deported following the Sept. 11 attacks have reached a $1.26 million settlement with the U.S. government.

Troops' post-deployment questionnaires missing  Congressional investigators said Thursday that tens of thousands of questionnaires aimed at measuring the mental and physical health of returning combat troops can't be found.

Immigration Officials to Audit 1,000 More Companies Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the move was part of the administration’s plan to penalize companies that hire illegal immigrants.

Taint of Corruption Is No Barrier to U.S. Visa The U.S. is open for Teodoro Nguema Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s ruler, despite evidence of corruption.

Arrests of illegal immigrants along border drop 25% Arrests of illegal immigrants along the California-Mexico border declined 25% this year as a weak economy and bolstered enforcement efforts appear to be discouraging treks north, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Tuesday.

U.S.: Chinese Drywall, Corrosion Linked(Plumbing, Wiring, Appliances, Health)

Military superiority fading, analyst says The era of American military dominance, or "Pax Americana," is dwindling as the nation loses its position far atop the global marketplace, a congressional military analyst said Wednesday. The new dynamic - in which the U.S. remains a world force, but does not hold the pre-eminent position it attained after World War II - is the result of global financial centers shifting to Asia

Drywall investigation expands into US products A federal probe of tainted Chinese drywall has broadened because a small number of homeowners are reporting that American-made drywall is causing some of the same problems: a sickening, sulfurous stench and corroded pipes and wiring.

Army lacks guidelines to deal with jihadists in ranks

Economy

Is There Such a Thing as Agro-Imperialism? Fearing food shortages, investors from wealthy countries are snapping up land in poor countries to grow food there. Is this development or exploitation?

Wall Street tumbles on Dubai fears U.S. markets fell sharply Friday following news that Dubai World, a government-investment company, is having trouble paying roughly $60 billion in debt.

Executives Kept Wealth as Firms Failed, Study Says

'Superfusion' by Zachary Karabell In February, when President Obama signed a $787-billion stimulus bill, there was little question where the money would come from. The U.S. Treasury would print up bonds, and the Chinese government would buy a large share of them. After all, if the U.S. economy was to ever really tank, China's $1-trillion investment in U.S. debt would tank too. And who then would be left to buy a third of China's exports

Paul Krugman: Don't Expect A Recovery Soon

Power for U.S. From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons Fuel from dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones, generates about 10 percent of America’s electricity

China holds U.S. geologist in secret location

D.A. will prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries -- even if L.A. does not ban sales Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said today he will prosecute dispensaries that sell medical marijuana even if the Los Angeles City Council adopts an ordinance that does not ban such sales.

EPA proposes sulfur dioxide limits for first time since 1971 The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its crackdown on coal pollution with a new plan to cut sulfur dioxide — a move that would clean up the air for millions of Americans and bring some relief to people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases.

Politics

Tobacco firms exploit loophole to save millions With a simple marketing twist, tobacco companies are avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars a year in taxes by exploiting a loophole in President Barack Obama's child health law.

U.S. going after just big Swiss accounts If your secret Swiss bank account did not contain too much money or generate too much income, you can breathe easier: A landmark deal between the United States and Switzerland to expose U.S. tax dodgers does not call for the Swiss to blow your cover.

CIA's 'magic tricks' manual on sale Cold War-era 'Manual of Trickery and Deception' on sale now.

Fraud in gov't contracts for disabled vets

NSA Helping Microsoft With Windows 7 Security The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve security measures for its new Windows 7 operating system, a senior NSA official said on Tuesday.

Cancer of fraud" permeates U.S. healthcare system It's a crime so profitable that even dead people are in on the act.

Congress often blocks Medicare changes that would cut costs

Secretive front group battles health bill A secretive group called Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare  is working to  to shape public and congressional opinion about health reform while keeping details about its sponsors under wraps.

Dean: There's No Real Insurance Reform In Health Care Bills

Wall Street Journal Supports Break-Up Of Big Banks...Support grows to limit the size of financial institutions

Audit The Fed Effort Wins Support From An Unusual Coalition Watt's amendment, which could see a House vote today, is a direct attack against a separate measure by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). That measure, known as the "Audit the Fed" bill, has been gaining momentum in Congress for months.

Release of secret reports delayed-Spy agencies foil Obama plan for transparency

Barack Obama accused of 'renting out' top ambassador roles Diplomats' anger over President Obama's appointment of dozens of wealthy campaign backers to top overseas jobs

U.S. yuan critics urge Obama keep campaign promise U.S. critics of China's currency policy said on Wednesday they were skeptical of a hint from Beijing that it could soon let its yuan rise against the dollar again after an 18-month hiatus.

Obama Administration Will Not Sign Land Mine Ban

Nixing of Panthers complaint starts probe Two senior House Republicans want the Justice Department to make public any reports or statements given to internal investigators by the career department lawyers who brought a civil complaint against the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) that later was dismissed by President Obama's political appointees. Black Panthers denounce 'new' Panthers   But the original Black Panther Party, which famously advocated black power and preached self-defense through confrontation in the 1960s and 1970s, is not happy with the new upstart.

New law bans genetic discrimination

G.O.P. Considers ‘Purity’ Resolution for Candidates Republican leaders are circulating a resolution listing 10 positions Republican candidates should support to demonstrate that they “espouse conservative principles and public policies”

Science

A Blast at Last at Huge Particle Collider The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most expensive science experiment, produced its first collisions Monday

Mom: Son in coma heard everything for 23 years

Academic Researchers’ Conflicts of Interest Go Unreported A report found that universities often do not disclose faculty members’ conflicts of interest in government-financed studies.

Connecticut

 

Sex offenders slip through cracks in system

State Officials: Carlyle Group Promised High Ethical Standard The state Department of Transportation took “very seriously” the roles played in two public pension fund scandals in Connecticut and New York

State's Unemployment Fund Goes Broke

Connecticut Governor Wants Non-Discriminatory Public Funding

Makeover for Conn. highway rest areas

New Haven man dies after shot to head

Rell unveils plan to erase budget defic

Exonerated city police officer back on duty  A police officer who was exonerated on criminal charges that he groped two women at a bar while on duty is back to work on the force

Group scores lawmakers on environmental votes Most area lawmakers received high marks for their environmental voting records this year from the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters.

Hiring Freeze for North Branford

United States  
Military divorces edge up as war takes its toll

Greed

Goldman Sachs, Buffett to help small businesses Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is teaming with billionaire investor Warren Buffett to invest $500 million to provide thousands of small business owners across America with college scholarships and boost their access to capital.

Security Issues

Military Recruiting: The Kids Aren't All Right Three in four Americans youths are ineligible to serve in the military, and now 91 retired senior military commanders have launched "Mission: Readiness" to address the problem

Army may separate short-term soldiers Soldiers who chose not to re-enlist or extend when their units are getting ready to deploy downrange will be getting out of the Army a little earlier than they planned, according to Army guidance released this week

Military superiority fading, analyst says The era of American military dominance, or "Pax Americana," is dwindling as the nation loses its position far atop the global marketplace

Ida soaks Gulf Coast, disrupts energy output

Pentagon eyes crash analysis on 1,300 satellites The U.S. military on Tuesday said it met its goal of conducting collision analysis on 800 maneuverable satellites in September, and expects to be able to track 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end.

Radiation leak investigated at Three Mile Island

Ex-OSHA official says agency let employers underreport injuries

FBI adds two to "Most Wanted Terrorists" list A suspect in the bombing of the USS Cole and a man wanted in connection with the bombing of a 1982 Pan Am flight have been added to the U.S. government's list of "Most Wanted Terrorists," the FBI said on Tuesday.

TSA is secretly watching you Covert officers at 161 U.S. airports, including LAX, look for suspicious behaviors. The program has led to arrests on charges of drug trafficking, among others.

Toyota to replace 4M gas pedals that could jam

U.S. offers $5 million reward for 'Bomb Man' The U.S. State Department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for a Palestinian bomb maker suspected of targeting commercial airliners and aiding the Iraq insurgency.

Legislation To Boost FDA's Authority Over Food Moves Ahead

United pilot charged with being over alcohol limit

Civil Rights

U.S. Civil Rights Commission Investigates College Admission Bias The government is examining whether colleges discriminate against female applicants.

NRA wants adoption agencies to drop gun ownership questions The National Rifle Association is pushing legislation to ban adoption agencies from asking potential parents if they have guns and ammunition in the home.

Wal-Mart launches probe into labor abuse allegations

Adam Lambert furor spreads to gay community "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert on Wednesday admitted he got carried away during his racy American Music Awards performance, as furor over his singing and dancing stoked a wider controversy in the U.S. gay community.

Media

Glenn Beck: ‘Yapping’ Palin belongs in the kitchen

Google Offers Peek at Operating System, a Potential Challenge to Windows Computers using Chrome, which uses “cloud computing,” will not arrive for a year, but it is already seen as a potential challenger to Microsoft.

Notebook PCs fail more often than you'd like According to a new study of portable PC reliability, there's a 1-in-5 chance that the notebook you bought today will suffer a hardware malfunction in three years.

Police/Prison

'Insecurity Cameras' To Track All Of Town's Traffic The town council in Tiburon, Calif., voted to spend $200,000 to install security cameras to screen every car that comes into the affluent, low-crime town. But some say the recordings could open the town up to lawsuits or be used against the residents themselves.

Video: BART cop breaks window with suspect's head, arm

Man sought after 5 shot in Florida

Ky. census worker killed himself, police say

FBI warned about suspect in Kan. doctor death More than a month before an abortion doctor was killed, the FBI received a letter warning that the man now charged in the case "would do physical harm" to  Dr. George Tiller or any other provider,  the agency says.

POLICE: GUNMAN KILLS 4 COPS  IN COFFEE SHOP AMBUSH

Courts

American Sues F.B.I., Saying He Was Detained in Africa Amir Meshal said he was detained and mistreated in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia in 2007 with the approval of the United States.

FBI files fresh evidence against Rana US prosecutors have sought 58 days extension from November 19 to file indictment against Tahawwur Rana, accused of being part of a LeT terror plot in India, saying the FBI needs more time to diligently examine fresh evidence unearthed against him in recent raids.

U.S. Supreme Court debates whether mutual funds' fees are too high The U.S. Supreme Court debated Monday whether the fees charged by mutual funds were too high, and if so, whether investors should be allowed to sue the boards that approved them.

Smoker Wins $300M Judgment Against Philip Morris

Judge: TSA violated Rastafarian screener's rights The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says the rights of a Rastafarian baggage screener at Boston's Logan International Airport were violated when he was threatened with firing unless he cut his hair.

Drug War

Support Growing for Pot Legalization

Program to help truckers attracts drug smugglers

 Bush aide urges weapons ban to slow Mexican drug war The former head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection called Monday for the U.S. to reinstitute the ban on assault weapons and take other measures to rein in the war between Mexico and its drug cartels, saying the violence has the potential to bring down legitimate rule in that country.

Science History Resources
Mom Says Marijuana Saved Her Autistic Son's Life (VIDEO)

New CDC numbers confirm that swine flu targets the young

IBM computer simulates cat’s cerebral cortex

U.S. sees rise in secondary infections after flu U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they are seeing a worrying pattern of serious bacterial infections in swine flu patients, mostly among younger adults not normally vulnerable to them.

Permanent Arctic Ice Vanishing - Satellite Images Misled Shocked Scientists

Priceless JFK, Bush photos dumped in TX

No Longer a Civil Rights Footnote Claudette Colvin, who resisted unfair treatment on an Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks, lived an unheralded life until a recent book highlighted her story

Apology for kids sent from Britain to colonies

Politics  Political Resources
Kennedy says RI bishop banned him from Communion

SC Gov Faces 37 Charges He Broke State Ethics Laws

Eric Cantor Hosts Job Fair Fueled By The Stimulus He Opposed

Blue-collar U.S. town elects Muslim mayor Residents of Granite Falls, Wash., are suspicious of any newcomers, let alone a Muslim native of Pakistan who moved here to open a bar. That didn't stop them from electing him mayor

U.S. Unlikely to Use the Ethanol Congress Ordered When Congress mandated refiners blend more ethanol into gas, demand was growing. Then the recession hit.

Senate

Senate ethics panel admonishes Burris The Illinois senator, appointed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill President Obama's seat, gave 'incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information,' the panel says.

Webb bails on cap-and-trade The Virginia senator is the latest moderate Dem to raise significant concerns with the climate bill.

House

Hardball: Kucinich - 'More Jobs, Less War'

House panel backs audits of Federal Reserve

Obama

Secret Service: officers didn't verify crashers The head of the Secret Service says his agency failed to verify whether a Virginia couple was on the guest list when they crashed a White House state dinner.

Poll: More Americans Attribute Biblical Passage to Obama Than to Bible

Liberals prefer a lighter-skinned Obama When given a choice between a photo of a lighter-skinned version of Barack Obama versus a darker-skinned version, most voters who consider themselves Democrats last year selected the lighter version.

Another Obama nominee faces tax troubles President Barack Obama's choice for a top job with the Treasury Department was late paying real estate taxes, making a total of five presidential nominees who have run into similar troubles.

Treasury/Federal Reserve/Bailouts/SEC/IRS

FDIC fund falls into red, Bair urges lending

SEC probes derivatives in insider trading cases U.S. regulators are increasingly looking beyond stocks in their insider trading investigations to examine derivatives and credit default swaps, a top Securities and Exchange Commission official said.

Fed asks U.S. banks to submit TARP repayment plans The U.S. Federal Reserve this month asked banks that were part of its "stress tests" to submit plans to repay government money, if they have not already repaid it, a person familiar with the situation said on Tuesday

Treasury, Fed delay Internet gambling ban 6 months

Stimulus

U.S. bill would overhaul annual phone fund U.S. lawmakers said on Friday they introduced a measure aimed at overhauling an annual fund intended to ensure nationwide telephone service in high-cost, rural areas by including money for high-speed Internet use.

Health Insurance

Baby boomers may face high disability rates

$29,000 for 5 minutes in the ER raises health care questions

Hawaii Opting Out Of Health Care Overhaul Hawaii wants out of the national health care overhaul because it already has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the country, thanks to its 35-year-old employer mandate system. Hawaii's congressional delegation inserted language into both House and Senate health care bills that provides explicit protection for the landmark Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act of 1974. It's apparently the only state looking for such an exemption from major health care overhaul.

House OKs $210 billion to help out doctors The Democrat-controlled House voted Thursday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors

Medicare And Medicaid Dominate 'Improper Payments' By Feds

Blue Cross in hot water over North Carolina letter campaign Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is under investigation for possible violations of the law in a letter and robo-call campaign it launched to oppose health care reform.

Defense Spending

Afghanistan: Pay for it or charge it?

NSA Helping Microsoft With Windows 7 Security The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve security measures for its new Windows 7 operating system, a senior NSA official said on Tuesday.

Contractor Appeals Conviction in Earmark Case A defense contractor convicted of skimming money from projects funded by Congressional earmarks is appealing his conviction by arguing that his actions were approved as part of an effort by the military to skirt the regular appropriations process.

Russia, U.S. likely to miss deadline on arms pact

GITMO/Bahgram/CIA-Blacksites

Judges could free detainees in U.S.

Lawyer: 9/11 defendants want platform for views

Algeria acquits two former Guantanamo Bay detainees

National intelligence director to evaluate CIA missions Sensitive CIA operations overseas will face new scrutiny from the nation's intelligence director under a plan approved by the White House and outlined in a memo to the espionage workforce last week.

Budget and Taxes

IRS files $79,000 tax lien against Schwarzenegger [Updated]

Federal Subsidies Keep Small-Town Airports Flying

DOJ

DOJ: Pay ACORN for contracts The Justice Department rules that the federal gov. can honor some existing contracts to fund ACORN.

Baraknaphobia

Beck plans 'Obama-hating' marches on 9/11, MLK speech dates

 Economy Click for Economic Statistics Financial Crisis for Beginners 
AIG posts 2nd consecutive quarterly profit

The world still can learn from Keynesian economics

Is Congress Creating Another Housing Bubble?

Continuing Unemployment Is Predicted by Fed Chief

SEIU's Stern to lead Goldman protest Targeting investment bank’s D.C. offices, protesters will demand the end of 'the too Big to Fail Doctrine.'

It's Time to Open the Fuel Market to Methanol Here's a fact that is worthy of lawmakers' attention: Methanol is currently selling internationally, without any subsidy, for $1 per gallon

Iraq  Map of Iraq
Iraqi President Paid Secret Visit To Iran

Two Hizbullah Operatives Arrested in Iraq

Barzani: Kurdish initiative must include PKK Senior Iraqi Kurdish leader Nechirvan Barzani called on Turkey to include the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization in its efforts to resolve the decades-old Kurdish issue, saying otherwise the initiative will not be successful, during a speech on local Kurdish TV on Thursday.

Iraq sentences militia leader to death An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced the Sunni leader of a government-allied paramilitary group to death for murder and kidnapping in a case that highlighted tensions over the treatment of former insurgents who turned against al-Qaida.

'Iraq's newly-approved electoral law to face veto'

Dispute over law means delay likely for Iraq elections

Iraqi elections in jeopardy as Sunni VP vetoes key law

Assailants massacre Sunni men, youths in Iraq's Abu Ghraib

Falluja's babies: The difficulties of pinning the blame War's effects on health can be much harder to identify than death and horrendous physical injuries. The US department of veterans affairs recently accepted that Vietnam war veterans may have developed B cell leukaemias, Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease as a result of exposure to a blend of herbicides known as Agent Orange, a defoliating agent sprayed by US warplanes to deprive their enemies of cover.

Middle East Map of the Middle East
Iran <Click for video and history>

Chinese Firm To Build Refineries In Iran

Former vice president of Iran sentenced over election protests Mohammad Ali Abtahi faces six years in jail after being accused of fomenting unrest after disputed June election in Iran

Iran launches war games to protect nuclear sites

IAEA chief: Iran investigation at 'dead end' The outgoing head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday his probe of Iran's nuclear program is at "a dead end" and that trust in Tehran's credibility is shrinking after its belated revelation that it was secretly building a nuclear facility.

Iran arrests members of Sunni rebel group Iran has arrested seven members of Jundollah, a Sunni rebel group it has accused of carrying out bombings and terrorist activities, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Wednesday.

Iran gives go-ahead to build 10 new nuclear plants

Iran Earmarks $20 Million to Support Militants

Iran moves to silence opposition with internet crime unit

Other

Dubai's Request For Debt 'Standstill' A New Jolt For Fragile Economy

US Air Force official expects UAE role to continue A senior U.S. Air Force official said Monday he expects the force's involvement in the United Arab Emirates to continue and potentially expand.

Israel

Gaza charity offers cash for Israeli soldiers Gaza charity headed by the interior minister of the militant Hamas group on Wednesday offered $1.4 million to any Arab citizen of Israel who abducts a soldier.

Abbas confirms Palestinian vote to be postponed

In the Israeli military, gays serve openly, women can let their hair down and everyone is on a first-name basis

Yemen

Attempt To Assassinate Yemen Chief Rabbi Thwarted

Yemen's capital running out of water

Turkey

Turkey considers fate of detained Iran Raelian leader

Soul-Searching in Turkey After a Gay Man Is Killed Ahmet Yildiz was shot last year outside his apartment in Istanbul, in what may have been the first “honor killing” of a gay man to gain public attention.

Will Turkey benefit from Ergenekon? Is the Ergenekon affair helping to demilitarise Turkish politics? Or is the country's post-Islamist government using it to advance its own authority at the expense of the military?

Afghanistan   Map of Afghanistan
Marines in Afghanistan hear a plea: Don't leave too soon

Obama Says He Intends to ‘Finish the Job’ in Afghanistan

16 Afghans killed in suicide attack

U.S. Is Seeking 10,000 Troops From Its Allies for Afghan War

Taliban on motorcycles prove no match for U.S. helicopters

To defang Taliban, some look to private schools The schoolhouse is so tiny that dozens of pupils have to sit outdoors. They're lucky if their teachers have more than a basic education. And the chanting of math equations and Quranic verses gets so loud that the children have a hard time hearing themselves.

Policeman who killed British troops 'is back with Taliban'

Last message of TA soldier shot in Afghanistan: 'Still waiting for new body armour'

News Analysis: Russian Deal on Afghan Supply Route Not Done Yet The difficulty in establishing a supply corridor for the Afghan war over Russian airspace is the latest hurdle in establishing cooperation with the U.S.

Bomb-makers being targeted by coalition forces in an increasingly prolific IED war The Afghan insurgency, at one point dormant if not defeated, is now the strongest it has been since the start of the war, and the Taliban and other insurgents have honed a proficiency in improvised explosive devices that is keeping coalition and Afghan forces off balance — with deadly results.

Don't leave us, an Afghan radio programmer tells U.S. audiences In Masood Farivar's life, the absurdly improbable has often come to look like the preordained. Once a teenage jihadi who went to the caves of Tora Bora to fight the Soviets, he also attracted the attention of a mentor, who paved the Afghan youth's way to Harvard.

German Minister Resigns Over Afghan Airstrike

Do we need to occupy an entire country for 100 bad guys? -Robert Greenwald...

WH: US out of Afghan. by 2017Pakistani PM Gilani warns Obama troop surge could backfire.

U.K. PM sees 5,000 new NATO Afghan troops

Taliban reopen northern Afghan front

Afghanistan Using Persuasion and Jobs to Disarm Taliban

U.S. donates 20 aircrafts to Afghanistan The United States, as part of its efforts to boost the capacity of the fledgling Afghanistan Air Force, pledged on Sunday to donate 20 aircrafts and of these two C-27 have been handed to Afghanistan. The remaining 18 more aircrafts would be handed over to Afghanistan within the next two years.

Fifteen Afghan politicians under investigation over alleged corruption

Pakistan Map of Pakistan
Pakistan suicide bomber kills 19 at Peshawar courthouse The attack on the Peshawar courthouse is the 10th bombing in the city in six weeks as Taliban militants retaliate for a Pakistani military offensive in South Waziristan

India, Iran discuss Pak, pipeline Has the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline got a new lease of life? It seems so after Iran's foreign minister, Manoucher Mottaki called on the Prime Minister in Delhi on Monday. This is the first high-level visit from Tehran since the UPA and president Ahmedinijad came back to power this summer.

US missile strike kills eight in Pakistan

US probes Pak national linked to Headley US investigators have zeroed in on a Pakistani national suspected to be a key link between Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana - allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks - and LeT handlers like Zaki-ur Lakhvi. The Pakistani national, whose identity has been kept secret, is believed to have been in Pakistan at the time of November attacks in Mumbai.

Pakistan charges seven over Mumbai attacks

North&South Asia Map of Asia
Over 100 icebergs drifting to N.Zealand: official More than 100, and possibly hundreds, of Antarctic icebergs are floating towards New Zealand in a rare event which has prompted a shipping warning, officials said on Monday

Philippine Government Blamed for Creating 'Monster' to Battle Insurgents In the aftermath of an election-related massacre, a Filipino journalist said that the Philippine government has "created a monster" by arming clan-based militias to combat Muslim rebels in the country's southern provinces.

Mt. Kilimanjaro Ice Cap Continues Rapid Retreat

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Could Get 40 Years Prosecutors in the genocide trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief demanded a 40-year jail sentence Wednesday for Kaing Guek Eav. They say he is responsible for snuffing out innocent lives and spreading terror across Cambodia. Victims of the Khmer Rouge regime called the requested sentence unacceptable.

Maoists blow up rail track, train derails

Report: Unofficial Jails For Chinese Who Complain

U.S. man wanted for ecoterror sentenced in China An American man wanted for ecoterrorism attacks in the western United States has been sentenced to three years in a Chinese prison ... wanted for ecoterror sentenced in China

Okinawa police question U.S. sergeant suspected in fatal hit-and-run

China executes two for milk scandal Official news agency says death sentences carried out on pair who added industrial chemical to infant formula

Europe Map of Europe
400-pound car bomb fails to detonate in Belfast

Carbon storage? Not under my house! The residents of a Dutch town are not against pumping tons of carbon dioxide into the ground to fight global warming. They just don't want it to be the ground below their homes.

Report Says Irish Bishops and Police Hid Abuse

Russian says troops kill 20 militants in Chechnya

 
Antiracists and far-right youths battle in Moscow A simmering confrontation between far-right youths and ant-racist activists has erupted into Moscow's streets after the fatal shooting of an anti-racist activist known as the Bonebreaker.
Extremists recruiting in British jails Two of Britain's most high-profile Muslim extremists have been given free rein to recruit fellow inmates in prison and are spreading propaganda from behind bars, a think-tank  says

Medvedev Says ‘Backwardness’ Undermines Party President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia warned leaders of his party that they must learn to win elections honestly if it is to survive.

Spain: Teen Masturbation Sex Ed Workshops Spark Outrage Spain is in an uproar over Extremadura's decision to host seminars promoting "sexual self-exploration" among teenagers. The display of sex toys

'Cruel, illegal, immoral': Human Rights Watch condemns UK's role in torture

Africa

Map of Africa
Guinea-Bissau: Cocaine's traffic hub The unstable nation, along with other West African countries, makes an ideal stop for cartels smuggling drugs from South America to Europe.

Somalia: Pirates Attack Oil Tanker

Dozens dead in Ugandan rebel attack in CAR: sources

Ethiopian court convicts 26 in alleged coup plot

Pirates attack the U.S. Maersk Alabama again

Somali pirates striking farther out to sea

Pirates free 36, claim $3 million ransom

Top Hutu militia leaders arrested in Germany Two top leaders of a mostly ethnic Hutu militia were arrested in Germany Wednesday on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity in Congo .

Islamic militants boosting role in drug trade

The Americas Map of North  America and South America
Trial Begins for a Former President of Argentina Reynaldo Bignone, a retired general, is accused of responsibility for many cases of torture and other rights violations in the late 1970s.

Mexican city fires 25 percent of traffic police Mexico's third-largest city has fired almost a quarter of its traffic police for failing tests designed to detect corruption and ineptitude.

Bolivia: Lake Titicaca at dangerously low levels Evaporation blamed on global warming has reduced Lake Titicaca, one of the world's highest navigable lakes, to its lowest level since 1949, authorities said Thursday

Court convicts ex-general in Colombia massacre A Colombian court has convicted a retired army general of murder and sentenced him to 40 years in prison for his role in a notorious 1997 massacre by far-right militias.

Venezuela's Chavez has praise for 'bad guys' 'Carlos the Jackal' was a revolutionary, says Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He also has kind words for Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Cuba to help dry Venezuela zap clouds Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he will join Cuban scientists on flights to "bomb clouds" to create rain amid a severe drought.

Power in Paraguay and Brazil Fails...Blackouts Plague Energy-Rich Venezuela

Venezuela's Chavez calls Israel "murderous" U.S. arm

Tens of thousands of homes flooded in Mexico