China Charges Christian Church Leader
With Leaking State Secrets, Report Says
Police have charged an activist for China's unofficial Christian church with revealing state secrets more than a month after he was detained while investigating church demolitions, a U.S.-based church activist said Wednesday. Authorities in the eastern city of Hangzhou issued a formal arrest notice for Liu Fenggang on Tuesday, said Bob Fu, citing unidentified police sources. That step clears the way for Liu's likely indictment and trial. Authorities have not said what sort of secrets Liu was accused of revealing, according to Fu, who heads the China Aid Association, which is based in Pennsylvania. China's officially atheistic Communist authorities allow worship only in tightly controlled state churches and those who meet outside are routinely harassed and fined, and sometimes sent to labor camps.
Bush's China Curbs Seen as Poll Strategy
US officials believe a minor trade spat with China will help score points with voters, says Leon Hadar in Washington. The announcement by the Bush administration that it was considering a plan to limit Chinese textile imports indicates that the White House is now placing a higher priority on getting George Bush re-elected as president in 2004 than on advancing Sino-American relationship and maintaining the stability of the global trading system. In fact, against the backdrop of continuing unemployment in the manufacturing sector, which many in the US are blaming on alleged 'unfair' trade practices by China, President Bush and his aides have apparently decided that bashing China, even if it would ignite new Sino-American trade battles, could prove to be a relatively cost-free strategy to win support in important states that have politically powerful textile industry and labour unions.
Bush Brother Details Sex Romps in Divorce Case
HOUSTON -- Neil Bush, younger brother of President Bush, detailed lucrative business deals and admitted to engaging in sex romps with women in Asia in a deposition taken in March as part of his divorce from now ex-wife Sharon Bush. According to legal documents disclosed on Tuesday, Sharon Bush's lawyers questioned Neil Bush closely about the deals, especially a contract with Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a firm backed by Jiang Mianheng, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, that would pay him $2 million in stock over five years. Marshall Davis Brown, lawyer for Sharon Bush, expressed bewilderment at why Grace would want Bush and at such a high price since he knew little about the semiconductor business.
Commercial Pressures Help Industries
Turn Off Our Moral Tap
History has shown that the world has not always been well served by scientific research that has been driven by commercial pressures... The apparent strategy of facilitating scientific debate in order to induce apathy so that persons will not negatively affect the commercial enterprise is common and very effective. Perhaps the most senseless commercial battle where this strategy is used is within the abortion industry. The abortion industry is build upon the assertion by scientists that the aborted material is merely tissue while it is clearly a baby. The last 20 years have seen a merciless slaughter of unimaginable proportions that makes slavery seem comparably tolerable. Yet we sit comfortably in the mist of the horrific torture and death, much as the Europeans did during slavery. The Europeans justified their apathy with the scientists’ conclusions – they are only savages. Our response is similar – it is only tissue.
Adultery, Porn Charges Added
Against Army Muslim Chaplain
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Muslim chaplain accused of taking classified material from the U.S. prison for terrorist suspects in Cuba was charged Tuesday by the military with adultery and storing pornography on a government computer. The military released Army Capt. James Yee from custody and will allow him to return to duty at a base in Georgia, said Raul Duany, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command.
Germany, France to Run Up Big Deficits Too
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Germany and France pushed through a deal with their euro-zone partners yesterday allowing the European Union's economic powerhouses to sidestep fiscal rules so that they can try to spend their way out of an economic slump. For Germany and France, the EU's decision to let them run up big deficits offers a possible way out of economic stagnation. For Europe's central bank, it's a threat to the stability of the continent's infant common currency.
San Diego police to train in Israel
Four San Diego County Sheriff's Department deputies will travel to Israel on Sunday for a weeklong training seminar with that country's national police and will focus on suicide bombings, large-scale terrorist attacks and weapons of mass destruction. This will be the first time a law enforcement agency in the county has sent officers to train with Israel Police, an agency with an international reputation of having a top-notch anti-terrorism program, sheriff's Lt. Dan Papp said Tuesday.
Mushy 'Evangelical' Lip Service
over Bush's 'same god' Remark
Despite their strenuous objections, neither Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, nor Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, thinks the president's statement will cost him votes: "This president has earned a lot of wiggle room among evangelicals," said Land, according to the Post. "If he had said that Islam is on a par with Christianity, it would be a more serious case of heartburn. This is just indigestion."
At Least 17 U.S. Troops Have Committed
Suicide in Iraq; Army Seeks Answers
NEW YORK Nov -- Since April, the military says, at least 17 Americans - 15 Army soldiers and two Marines - have taken their own lives in Iraq. The true number is almost certainly higher. At least two dozen non-combat deaths, some of them possible suicides, are under investigation according to an AP review of Army casualty reports. No one in the military is saying for the record that the suicide rate among forces in Iraq is alarming.
Senate Approves Sweeping $395 Billion Medicare Bill
WASHINGTON -- The Senate gave final congressional approval Tuesday to the most sweeping changes to Medicare since its creation in 1965, including a new prescription drug benefit for 40 million older and disabled Americans. The 54-44 vote sends the bill to President Bush, who is eager to sign it into law. Supporters said the $395 billion measure, which gives private insurers a large new role in health care for seniors, was a long overdue change for the 38-year-old Medicare program. Drug coverage won't begin until 2006, although seniors next year will be able to purchase a drug discount card that officials said could reduce their pharmacy bills by 15 to 25 percent.
Where does it say in the U.S. Senate is allowed to approve tax dollars for 'Medicare' in the Constitution?
Latinos Send $30 Billion Out of US
WASHINGTON - More than 40 percent of adult Hispanic immigrants in the United States regularly send money to relatives in their native countries, a flow of funds totaling nearly $30 billion this year, a new study finds. The economic downturn that began with the short-lived recession of 2001 did not halt the flow of money, the report said; foreign-born Hispanics in the United States sent $25 billion in 2002 to relatives back home. The 2003 report said 42 percent of adult Hispanic immigrants - around 6 million people - regularly send money to their homelands.
US, Europe Condemn Iran Nuclear
Program But do Not Call for Sanctions
The United States yielded to Europe's big three -- Britain, Germany and France -- in a compromise UN draft resolution that condemns Iran's nuclear program but stops short of taking the issue to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
Muslims Mutilate Bodies of US Troops
Moments after Iraqi guerrillas killed two American troops yesterday, a crowd swarmed to the car and began pummelling the soldier's bodies with concrete blocks. Witnesses to the assault in the northern city of Mosul said the mob mutilated the blood-drenched bodies, rifled through their pockets, looted their four-wheel-drive civilian car, smashed the windows and tried to set it on fire.
Ordinance Mandating Gun Ownership Is OKd
Gueda Springs — Residents of this tiny south-central Kansas community near the Oklahoma border say an ordinance requiring some households to have firearms and ammunition is nobody's business but their own. The City Council voted 3-2 earlier this month in favor of the ordinance -- under which noncomplying residents would be fined $10 -- because council members believe it's necessary to provide protection in a town that has no local police force, marshal or money to protect its residents. "It's nobody's business but our own," Phillip Russell said.
John Allen Muhammad Receives Death Sentence
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A jury decided Monday that John Allen Muhammad should be executed for masterminding the sniper attacks that terrorized the Washington area for three weeks last fall. As the verdict was read, Muhammad maintained the same unflinching demeanor he has shown through most of the trial. The jury's recommendation is not final. Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. can reduce the punishment to life in prison without parole when Muhammad is formally sentenced, but Virginia judges rarely take such action.
Ruling on Red-Light Cameras Upheld
A three-judge panel agreed Friday that San Diego city officials violated state law when they allowed a private company to operate a red-light camera program without sufficient oversight. The judges, from the appellate division of the San Diego Superior Court, unanimously affirmed a trial judge's ruling two years ago that the city gave Lockheed Martin IMS of Washington, D.C., too much authority over the city's first red-light camera program.
Wussies in GOP benefit Bush
The next presidential election is too late for Pat Buchanan and too soon for Roy Moore. This aspect of the campaign hasn't attracted any headlines, but it's the single biggest strategic advantage George W. Bush has going into 2004... Had Bush faced [GOP] challengers, the danger for him wouldn't have been getting mauled in his party's primaries as much as moving so far to neutralize the challenge that it would have hurt him in the general election.
'Mother of All Bombs' rocks Florida
Three obviously was the charm. After two reschedulings, Eglin Air Force Base officials on Friday successfully tested the largest conventional bomb in the U.S. military's inventory. Shortly before 1:30 p.m., and 46 seconds after the bomb glided from a MC-130E Combat Talon I, a white ball of smoke could be seen billowing from the base about 10 miles northeast of Navarre Beach. During the next few seconds, the smoke from the (21,700-pound satellite-guided GBU-43/B) with 18,700 pounds of high explosives rolled higher and wider and eventually took the shape of a mushroom cloud similar to that of a nuclear explosion. The plume is estimated to have reached 10,000 feet and could be seen all the way to Pensacola, nearly 30 miles away. Seconds later, a "kaboom" could be heard as the shock wave rolled over Navarre Beach and rumbled across the Gulf of Mexico for several more seconds.
More Troops Called Up, Reserve, Guard Units
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered an additional 15,000 Reserve and National Guard troops Wednesday to prepare for the possibility of yearlong duty in Iraq or Kuwait, rounding out a plan to rotate U.S. forces in the region by next spring. Combined with alert warnings and deployment orders approved two weeks ago, Rumsfeld's decision brings to 58,000 the total number of Reserve and National Guard troops who have been alerted for possible service in the Persian Gulf region early next year.
Muslim Roadside Bomb Kills
One US Soldier, Two Wounded
BAGHDAD - One US soldier was killed and two wounded Thursday when a military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near the western Iraqi town of Ramadi, a US military spokesman said. An improvised explosive device of the sort favoured by anti-US insurgents blew up as the convoy passed by east of the town between 2:30 and 3:30 pm (1130 GMT and 1230 GMT), the spokesman said. "There was one killed in action and two wounded."
Bush Goes Home Amid Last
Spate With British Protesters
LONDON -- Last spate of daily protests against US President George W. Bush visit to Britain drew about 500 people upon his arrival at British Prime Minister Tony Blair's constituency Friday, a few hours before his flight back to the US, police said. The police said it cost them one million pounds (1.67 million US dollars) for the few hours of security operation in Sedgefield, northeastern England, with some 1,300 police on duty to protect the American president.
Car Bombs Target Cooperative Iraqi Chiefs
RAMADI, Iraq - Insurgents set off two deadly car bombs in Iraq, one targeting leaders of one of Iraq's largest tribes and the other exploding outside the offices of a Kurdish political party, amid a U.S. military campaign aimed at thwarting armed resistance. The blasts, one late Wednesday and the other yesterday morning, left seven people dead. No one claimed responsibility in either blast. The bomb yesterday outside the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan also killed an apparent suicide bomber.
Sniper Jury Leaves For Weekend Without Sentence
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The jury that convicted John Muhammad on two counts of capital murder and other charges related to the D.C.-area sniper spree was unable to decide on a sentence for the 45-year-old Army veteran on Friday and was released until Monday. After four hours of deliberations, the panel of seven women and five men failed to reach any decision. They were supposed to recess for the weekend at 1 p.m. EST, and just before that they sent the judge two questions.
U.S. House Approves Bush Nuclear Weapons Funds
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday gave President George W. Bush much of the money he wanted to study new types of nuclear weapons as Republican leaders worked toward a deal that will let them wrap up the rest of Congress' unfinished budget work this week. The House voted 387-36 to pass the funds as part of a $27.3 billion spending bill for energy and water programs in 2004. It now goes to the Senate and then to Bush to be signed into law.
At Least Four Killed by Car Bombs in Iraq
KIRKUK, Iraq -- A suicide car bomber has killed at least four people in an attack near the offices of a leading Kurdish party in northern Iraq, hours after two others were killed in a car bombing west of Baghdad. The bombings near the Kirkuk offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) -- whose leader is currently head of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council -- and a U.S.-backed local council appeared to target the American-led occupation. In Kirkuk, about 250 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad, a huge explosion threw up a cloud of black smoke, shaking buildings across town. The blast flattened a wall around the green-painted headquarters of the PUK and shattered windows at a nearby primary school, wounding several children.
Bush Hints That U.S. Might Not Reduce Troops in Iraq
LONDON -- President Bush said today that he was open to rethinking the Pentagon's plan to reduce the size of the United States military force in Iraq next year. Asked at a news conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair how it was possible for the United States and Britain to start bringing troops home next year when the security situation in Iraq is so unsettled, Mr. Bush challenged the premise of the question and said he would rely on his military commanders to judge how many troops were needed to deal with conditions on the ground. "I said that we're going to bring our troops home starting next year?" Mr. Bush replied, in a tone that conveyed that he was committing himself to no such thing.
Bush Wants US to Back EU Cybercrime Treaty
[GLOBALIST] President GW Bush has asked the US Senate to ratify the first international cybercrime treaty. In a letter to the Senate on Monday, Bush called the Council of Europe's controversial treaty "an effective tool in the global effort to combat computer-related crime" and "the only multilateral treaty to address the problems of computer-related crime and electronic evidence gathering".
$280 Billion Spending Bill
Still Stuck On Overtime Pay
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers negotiating a vast end-of-session spending bill are defying the Bush administration over television station ownership limits, but remain gridlocked over whether to challenge the White House over overtime pay rules. With little fanfare, House-Senate bargainers decided Wednesday to include a provision that would block the Federal Communications Commission from allowing companies to own stations watched by 45 percent of viewers. That would leave the current limit of 35 percent in effect.
At Least 27 Killed, 400 Hurt as
Bank and Consulate Are Bombed
ISTANBUL -- Two explosions rocked Istanbul today, one at the British consulate and the other at the British international bank HSBC, killing 27 people and wounding more than 400, Turkish government officials said. International news agencies and the Turkish private television station NTV reported that the British Consul General, Roger Short, was among those killed in the attack. The reports quoted the religious affairs official of the consulate, Ian Sherwood. "In today's attacks, there were again trucks loaded with explosives and it's highly likely that both were suicide attacks," the Turkish foreign minister, Abdulkadir Aksu, said.
Bad Radar Prompts White House Evacuation
WASHINGTON -- Air Force fighter jets were scrambled and the White House was briefly evacuated on Thursday after birds or possibly disturbances in the atmosphere tripped radar that keeps watch on restricted air space around the complex. "It's a false radar target," said William Shumann, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. "When the NORAD fighters got to the location of the alleged violation, they found nothing." The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, is the command center for the defense of U.S. and Canadian airspace.
Massachusetts Governor Vows Constitutional
Amendment to Preserve Marriage Institution
In its 4-3 decision, the Supreme Judicial Court gave the Legislature 180 days to rewrite the state's marriage laws for the benefit of gay couples. Gov. Mitt Romney and other state lawmakers vowed to push for the constitutional amendment. Following similar court rulings, Hawaii and Alaska "made these kind of constitutional amendments, and I think we have to do the same thing to preserve the institution," Romney said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show. An amendment could go before voters in Massachusetts as early as 2006 if it won approval by the end of the 2003-2004 legislative session. (Lev.20:13)
U.S. to Test 'Mother of All Bombs' on Florida
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military plans this week to conduct its final developmental test on the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in its arsenal, a weapon so big it is dubbed the "mother of all bombs," the Air Force said on Tuesday. The Air Force plans to detonate a 21,700-pound satellite-guided GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, on Thursday at Eglin Air Force Base in the panhandle of northwestern Florida, said Jake Swinson, a spokesman for the Air Armament Center at the base.
Report: Democrats Targeted For Soft Money
WASHINGTON, Nov. -- Top Republicans are aggressively questioning the legality of a host of newly created Democratic soft money organizations, reports The Hill newspaper. This has caused alarm among lobbyists and Democratic lawmakers, who accuse the GOP of having launched a partisan witch hunt. The Democrats are angry that Republicans have asked six Democratic fundraising groups to testify before the House Administration Committee.
New Interest Groups At-A-Glance
Among new groups that can collect soft money -- contributions from corporations, unions in any size and unlimited donations from any source.
NIH Launches First Human Trial of Ebola Vaccine
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Tuesday announced the start of the first human trial of a vaccine for Ebola virus infection, a currently untreatable disease that kills most of its victims. The vaccine, a version of which protected monkeys from the virus in a previous trial, will be tested for safety and for its effects on the immune system, according to a news release from the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). A volunteer at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., received the first injection in the trial. The announcement of the trial comes a day after the World Health Organization reported 11 cases of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the Congo.
The Fallacy Of Vaccination
By John Pitcairn / Anti-Vaccination League of America
Vaccination is the putting of an impure thing into the blood - a virus or poison -- often resulting in serious evil effects. In vogue for more than one hundred years, it has been received by most persons without question. Yet the time is passing when people will accept a medical dogma on blind faith; they now demand to know something about the practices to which they are called on to submit. And most insistent of all should be the demand to know something of a practice which, like vaccination, involves the risk of disease and of possible death.
Litmus Test For Presidential Power
A panel of federal judges waded into the question of whether the president has the power alone to declare a U.S. citizen an enemy combatant, an issue the Bush administration considers vital in its war on terror. Three judges from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals suggested Monday that President Bush needs Congressional authorization to indefinitely hold 33-year-old Jose Padilla, accused in a dirty bomb plot and designated an enemy combatant.
Taliban Says It Killed UN Woman
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan -- Taliban guerrillas claimed responsibility Tuesday for the weekend killing of a French aid worker that has prompted the U.N. refugee agency to withdraw staff from the south and east of Afghanistan. The attack Sunday that killed 29-year-old U.N. refugee agency official Bettina Goislard raised pressure on the international community to send peacekeeping troops to provinces where resurgent Islamic militants and warlords hold sway.
U.S. and Europe at odds over Iran
VIENNA -- Europe and the United States are at odds over how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme, as Israel's intelligence chief says it poses a threat to the very survival of the Jewish state. The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in Brussels that Iran had been honest so far over its nuclear programme and he hoped it would not be reported to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
Muhammad Seeks to Avoid Death Sentence
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Was John Allen Muhammad a man who tenderly looked after his children while they lived in a shelter, or a callous killer who deserves to die for masterminding the Washington-area sniper shootings? Those are the two sides of Muhammad that lawyers on opposing sides are presenting during the sentencing phase of his trial as prosecutors try to win a death sentence and defense lawyers strive to avoid one.
Text of Schwarzenegger's Address
The following is the text of Arnold Schwarzennger's speech after he took the oath of office on the steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento.
Childbearing Age Ex-Soldierette Who Refused Anthrax
Vaccine Asks Appeals Court To Revive Lawsuit
DENVER -- The Army violated a soldier's constitutional rights when it discharged her for refusing to take the anthrax vaccine, her lawyer told an appeals court on Monday. Jemekia Barber accepted an administrative discharge rather than face court-martial in May 1999, but her military-appointed lawyer failed to tell her of some critical options for her defense. Because her military lawyer didn't tell her all her options, she should be allowed to pursue her federal lawsuit arguing that mandatory anthrax vaccinations for soldiers heading into danger zones are unconstitutional for women of childbearing age.
Polio Vaccine May Spawn Disease
A new report fuels fears that mutated vaccine might seed new bouts of polio, even after the disease is stamped out. The common oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains a live virus that can mutate into a disease-causing form and spread. Public-health officials woke up to the danger posed by the live polio vaccine in 2000. An outbreak in the Dominican Republic and Haiti was traced back to the vaccine, followed by similar incidents in the Philippines, Egypt and Madagascar.
Vaccination Liberation
Vaccination Liberation is a national association dedicated to providing information on vaccinations not often made available to the public so that one can make an informed choice.
Iraq Pipeline Bombed Despite New U.S. Protection
BAGHDAD -- Saboteurs have set an oil pipeline in northern Iraq on fire as a new U.S.-led force was deployed to protect the area's infrastructure, witnesses said Monday. Residents of Burjwari, a village near the Baiji refinery, said a bomb was placed overnight along a northern pipeline section carrying oil. Reuters television footage showed the pipeline on fire.
Rumsfeld Assures S.Korea on U.S. Troop Overhaul
SEOUL -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld assured South Korean leaders Monday that plans to reposition U.S. forces in this country would not diminish the American ability or commitment to deter communist North Korea. Rumsfeld and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-kil endorsed plans to reposition the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in the South, and urged North Korea to scrap its nuclear arms program and to stop making and selling weapons of mass destruction.
1 Killed, 71 Hurt in Blasts at Bars
BOGOTA - One woman was killed and 71 other people -- including three Americans -- were injured Saturday night after grenades were tossed at two trendy Bogotá bars popular among U.S. military personnel, police said. The first attack occurred at about 10:30 p.m. at the popular Bogotá Beer Company, a brewery in the city's hip Zona Rosa entertainment district. Moments later, another grenade was hurled at the nearby Palos de Moguer, a bar-restaurant also known as a regular haunt for U.S. Embassy personnel and contractors working on a $2 billion anti-drug program here known as Plan Colombia.
U.S. Is Citing WW II Case
The government says there is a legal precedent for holding Jose Padilla in military detention - the case of eight Nazi saboteurs who landed on an Amagansett beach during World War II. In the landmark case, named for one of the Nazi spies, Richard Quirin, the saboteurs were eventually captured, tried and convicted in a military court. All were sentenced to death, though only six were executed.
Risk of Attack Will Remain
LONDON -- The state visit by President Bush has triggered the biggest anti-terrorist operation to defend a single human being ever seen in the capital. Preparations range from the shifting of concrete blocks to bombers, helicopter gunships and limousines with the armour of small battle tanks. While the US secret services and intelligence agencies are focused on the possibility of an attack on the President, the biggest worry for their British colleagues is that the terrorist will use him as a diversion, and attack elsewhere.
French Helicopter Maker Taps U.S City for Plant
American Eurocopter LLC is expanding its presence in the U.S. with the construction of a new helicopter manufacturing facility in Columbus, Miss., at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The company is the American subsidiary of France-based Eurocopter. Its customers include the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs, the FBI, emergency medical services and other government agencies. The company also has several customers in Memphis, including Memphis Hospital Wing.
U.S. Has No Quick Exit Strategy for Iraq
WASHINGTON - U.S. occupiers may begin transferring power back to the Iraqi people at any time, but the speeded-up change in authority doesn't mean American troops will leave the country any sooner, Bush administration officials say. With the U.S. death toll in Iraq approaching 400 and some polls showing increasing criticism of Bush's handling of post-war Iraq, the administration's aim is to accelerate steps toward an Iraqi takeover and an end to the U.S. occupation. "It does not mean we would physically leave the country any sooner," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told troops Thursday in Guam.
U.S. Gunship Kill 7 Muslims
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen killed a U.S. civilian contractor and injured another north of Baghdad, while an Apache helicopter killed seven people suspected of preparing a rocket attack on a U.S. base near Tikrit, the military said Friday.
Muslim Women Making Political Gains
Thursday marked two years since the fall of the Taliban, who used an extreme interpretation of Islam to force women and girls to stay home and wear the all-encompassing burqa. Two years on, such limitations have been loosened, but have hardly fallen away. The concept of having women vote at women-only elections was intended to get around the obvious difficulties women would otherwise face in being elected to the loya jirga. The constitutional assembly, which will convene Dec. 10, is meant to define what Afghanistan's future government and system of justice will look like, providing an important barometer of true regime change.
Experimental AIDS Vaccine Fails Major Test
An experimental AIDS vaccine tested in Thailand on some 2,500 drug users has failed, the biotechnology company VaxGen Inc. said. The poor results, announced Wednesday, were widely expected after the Brisbane, California-based company announced in February that a much larger experiment testing its vaccine in North America also had failed to prevent AIDS infections.
Deliberations Begin in Muhammad Trial
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Jurors began deciding Friday whether sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad shaped his teenage protege into an expert killer or if there isn't enough evidence to prove he directed the Washington area sniper spree last fall. The panel of seven women and five men filed out of the courtroom at 9:05 a.m. to begin deliberations in Muhammad's capital murder trial.
Bush Seeks Political Money in Florida
WASHINGTON Nov. — Between raising money for a campaign already estimated to have more than $100 million, President Bush is speaking out on how to help the elderly pay for prescription drugs, a hot political topic in a state important to his re-election.
White House, 9-11 Panel OK Documents Deal
WASHINGTON - The independent commission on the Sept. 11 attacks says it has reached an agreement with the White House that will allow the review of classified intelligence documents previously withheld. The 10-member panel will designate a subcommittee that will examine the most sensitive documents and report back, commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste said Wednesday. Bush said last month that the dispute concerned "the presidential daily brief," a classified written intelligence report he gets each morning.
One Sniper Murder Case May Go to Jury Today
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The murder trial of sniper suspect John Muhammad, accused of being behind a series of deadly shootings that gripped the Washington, D.C., are last year, could go to the jury Thursday, even as opening statements were expected in the trial of his teen-age companion. Lawyers for Muhammad, a 42-year-old Gulf War veteran, took just three hours and five witnesses to present their defense on Wednesday, compared with more than 130 witnesses and three weeks of evidence offered by prosecutors. Closing statements were set for Thursday, with jury deliberations to follow.
Malvo Trial Over Before It Starts?
Anything can happen in a murder trial — ask body hacker Robert Durst and his Galveston jury — but don't expect the unexpected in the trial of young sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo. As his trial begins in earnest, the young man is about as doomed as any capital defendant ever could be going into a trial. Malvo has only two things going for him: his baby face and the sheer implausibility of the notion that a young man would or could be more evil than his mentor.
Gay Sex-Assault Hazing Cases
to Remain in Juvenile Court
BELLMORE, N.Y. -- The families of three boys allegedly sexually assaulted in a high school football hazing incident are shocked and angry after a Pennsylvania judge decided that the three teenagers accused of the assaults will be treated as juveniles, ABCNEWS' New York affiliate WABC reported. The suspects are accused of torturing and sodomizing three junior varsity players several times over a period of days during a preseason training camp at Preston Park, Pa. They will probably not face prison time if convicted.
FTC Settles With Mortgage Loan Firm for $40 Million
The Federal Trade Commission announced today a $40 million settlement with Fairbanks Capital Corp., a major mortgage loan servicing company that the FTC alleged systematically piled fraudulent fees on clients, many of whom were wrongfully forced into foreclosure and bankruptcy. Texas ranks sixth among the states in the percentage of loans under control of the Utah-based company. The company has about 24,000 of its 500,000 loans in the state.
Fortune 500 Firm Accused of Requiring Unpaid Overtime
LOS ANGELES - A lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses a Fortune 500 information technology company of forcing thousands of employees to work unpaid overtime. Past overtime lawsuits have focused on service industry employees and targeted such giants as Wal-Mart and Taco Bell. But plaintiffs' attorney James Finberg said he believes the suit against El Segundo-based Computer Sciences Corporation is the first of its kind in the computer industry. That could not be immediately verified.
"Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" (Jeremiah 5:9; Jer.6:15; Isa.1:15; Isa.5:20-24; Prov.28:9; I Cor.5:9)
Bomb Attacks in Iraq Kill Two U.S. Soldiers
TIKRIT, Iraq -- Two U.S. soldiers were killed and four wounded in two separate bomb attacks in Iraq on Tuesday, the American military said on Wednesday. "A 4th Infantry Division soldier was killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) which detonated under the vehicle he was traveling in," spokeswoman Major Josslyn Aberle said. A military statement said a bomb attack in Baghdad earlier on Tuesday fatally injured a 1st Armored Division soldier and wounded two. He died of his wounds around 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Tuesday, five hours after the attack.
Bomb at Italian Base in Iraq Kills 24
NASIRIYAH, Iraq - A suicide bomber drove a tanker truck into the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police in this southern city on Wednesday, exploding the vehicle in a ball of flame and killing at least 24 people, most of them Italians. Witnesses in said the driver got past the gate guards after a car ran a roadblock, distracting the sentries. It was the deadliest attack suffered by non-American coalition forces since the occupation began in April, and the first in this relatively quiet Shiite Muslim city.
Two ex-Justice Dept. Leaders Urge
Another Look at the USA Patriot Act
PHILADELPHIA -- Two former high-ranking Justice Department officials said that while they stand by the White House response to the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, it might be time for an independent commission to discuss the ramifications of the USA Patriot Act, which critics contend infringes on civil liberties. The call for a bipartisan commission came from former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson and Michael Chertoff, former assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division, who is now a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.
Behind the Deception
President Bush’s reversal from unilateralism to multilateralism was entirely predictable. He is merely following the internationalist principles that guide his administration.
Recall Stirs Wide Drive for Change
SACRAMENTO -- The successful gubernatorial recall has generated a government reform boomlet in California, though it’s far from clear how far it will go. Advocates are pushing ballot initiatives to overhaul the way legislative district boundaries are drawn, re-institute an open primary and provide public financing of campaigns.
Arrested Workers File RICO Suit Against Wal-Mart
NEWARK, N.J. - Workers recently arrested in federal raids filed a racketeering lawsuit accusing Wal-Mart of conspiring with contractors in a criminal enterprise that violated the rights of immigrants who cleaned its stores. The federal court lawsuit seeks class-action status for perhaps thousands of immigrants, legal and illegal, hired by the contractors to clean the stores of the world's largest retailer, said a lawyer for the plaintiffs, James L. Linsey.
Smurfit-Stone to Pay $92.5 Million
to Settle Price-Fixing Charges
CHICAGO -- Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. said it expects to pay $92.5 million to settle class-action charges that it was part of a conspiracy to fix containerboard prices between 1993 and 1995.
Smurfit-Stone said the settlement includes money to cover both Stone Container Corp. and Jefferson Smurfit Corp., which merged in 1998. The company, which said exact amounts still must be determined, expects to pay about $56.5 million for Stone Container and about $36 million for Jefferson Smurfit.
Mr. President: We Are a Republic, Not a Democracy!
One wonders about Bush’s capabilities as president when all through his speech he referred to our nation as a democracy. It has never been a democracy. It was never intended to be a democracy. It has always been a republic.
Veterans Compare Iraq With Vietnam
AUBURN, Maine -- Maurice Ayotte fought in the Vietnam War. To him, the war in Iraq these days is looking all too much like Vietnam decades ago. Ayotte, 51, isn't happy that the count of American casualties continues to mount, that weapons of mass destruction haven't been found in Iraq or that Saddam Hussein hasn't been captured. If Ayotte had his way, he'd bring U.S. troops home ''in a heartbeat. We shouldn't be there anymore than we should have been in 'Nam,'' he said at American Legion Post 153.
U.S. Holds Conferences on New Iraq Contracts
WASHINGTON - Anxious to appear fair in doling out nearly $20 billion in work in Iraq, the U.S.-led authority there is holding conferences in Washington and London next week for prospective contractors. President Bush signed an $87.5 billion spending package for Iraq last week, and nearly $20 billion of that will go to reconstruction work, most of which will be done by private contractors. The contracting process in Iraq has been severely criticized, both abroad for giving much of the prime business only to U.S. firms and in Congress where allegations have been flying about cronyism and favoritism in handing out work.
Communist Defense Minister
From Vietnam Meets Rumsfeld
WASHINGTON -- In a visit heavy with symbolism, the defense minister of a Vietnam united under Communism came to the Pentagon and State Department on Monday for the first time. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld greeted his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Van Tra, on the Pentagon steps, and the two held a working lunch. They discussed "ways to promote security cooperation between the two countries and to build on successes in de-mining, disaster relief, search and rescue and medical assistance," according to a Pentagon statement.
Twenty-Six House Democrats Push to Fire Rumsfeld
WASHINGTON -- A group of more than two dozen House of Representatives Democrats on Monday said they had introduced a resolution urging President Bush to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "This resolution would make official what so many members of Congress already believe -- that the soldiers in Iraq and America's foreign policy would be helped greatly if Donald Rumsfeld would leave," Rep. Charles Rangel of New York said in a statement.
Excerpt: Lynch Fought to Save Leg From Amputation
Jessica Lynch fought having her left leg amputated by screaming and turning her head as an Iraqi nurse tried to cover her face with a mask in the operating room of Saddam General Hospital, according to excerpts from a book about her wartime ordeal.
The Gauntlet is Thrown
The Church Must Oppose the Sin of Women at War
Vision Forum Ministries
Vision Forum Ministries presents a forum of scholars, theologians, and journalists in opposition to the idea that a free people can survive while sending mothers and daughters to war.
Peer Urges Gulf Vaccinations Inquiry
The case for a public inquiry into the health effects on British troops of vaccinations for the 1991 Gulf War was "compelling", according to a Labour peer. Lord Morris, a political adviser to the Royal British Legion, said he would use a House of Lords debate to push the war veteran charity's campaign for a full investigation.
Latest Anthrax Scare Brings Call
for Better Bioterror Technology
The Postal Service reacted appropriately in response to an anthrax scare last week at a mail facility in Washington, but the incident illustrates the need for better bioterrorism technology, federal officials said Monday.
Professor on Trial in Missing Plague Case
LUBBOCK, Texas — A professor who reported vials of deadly plague missing from his university lab admitted he had accidentally destroyed the samples, but only after he was told that was what investigators believed, an FBI agent testified Monday. Dr. Thomas Butler faces 69 felony charges in connection with the incident. His report that disgruntled employees at Texas Tech or terrorists could have taken the missing vials caused a bioterrorism scare and sent federal agents on a frantic search. FBI agent Miles Burden testified Monday "the disgruntled employee might indeed be Butler."
Judge Limits Talks On Dioxin Between Dow, Residents
SAGINAW, Mich. - A judge has set limits on how much Dow Chemical Co. attorneys can talk with residents along the Tittabawassee River, where high levels of dioxin have been found. "Dow can meet with the residents as long as they don't harass them," Saginaw County Chief Circuit Judge Leopold P. Borrello told The Saginaw News on Monday.
Public Deserves Shield From
Telemarketers, Court Told
TULSA, Okla. -- The public's frustration with telemarketers and its right to privacy justifies the national do-not-call list, government lawyers argued before a federal appeals court on Monday. Telemarketers, however, told the three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the list inhibits competition and violates their right to free speech by barring calls from businesses but not charities.
Teen Sniper Suspect Subpoenas Muhammad
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Lawyers for sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo have subpoenaed fellow suspect John Allen Muhammad in a quest to show the older man brainwashed Malvo into participating in last year's deadly Washington-area shootings. Malvo attorney Craig Cooley said Monday after the first day of jury selection for Malvo's trial that he had not yet received a response from Muhammad's attorneys.
U.S. Warplanes Renew Bombing of Iraq Targets
BAGHDAD -- U.S. warplanes bombed targets in Iraq on Sunday in air strikes that resumed last week for the first time in more than six months after the shooting down of three U.S. helicopters. The renewed air strikes came as Iraq's interim foreign minister promised that local leaders would meet a December deadline for setting out a path toward self-rule.
Red Cross pulling out of Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The international Red Cross is closing its offices in Baghdad and Basra temporarily because of "extremely dangerous" conditions in Iraq, the organization said. "We decided that in view of an extremely dangerous and volatile situation that we would have to temporarily close our offices in Baghdad and Basra," Florian Westphal, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said.
Talk of a Draft Grows Despite
Denials by White House
WASHINGTON -- The United States' uneven record in Iraq has kindled a small but persistent push to reinstitute the military draft, a politically charged idea that hasn't been seriously considered since the end of the Vietnam War. Yet despite denials from the White House that a draft is under consideration, and despite the obvious political fallout of such a move during an election campaign, talk of a draft has heated up in recent days.
Lynch: Army ‘Used Me’
Palestine, W.Va. - Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch accused the military of using her capture and dramatic nighttime rescue to sway public support for the war in Iraq. Dramatic video of U.S. commandos whisking the former Army supply clerk from a Nasiriyah hospital to a waiting chopper April 1 helped cement Lynch's image as a hero. But the private told ABC's Diane Sawyer there was no reason for her rescue to be filmed.
The Gauntlet is Thrown
The Church Must Oppose the Sin of Women at War
Vision Forum Ministries
Vision Forum Ministries presents a forum of scholars, theologians, and journalists in opposition to the idea that a free people can survive while sending mothers and daughters to war.
USAID Awards $90 Million
to Fight Poverty in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD -- USAID has recently awarded 10 new grants totaling $90 million to help Pakistan fight poverty and bring positive changes in other areas of the society. In health, two new grants will help increase birth-spacing by offering parents a greater range of contraceptive choices and better information, particularly in the rural areas, said a news release of US Embassy.
Sniper Suspect Malvo set for Trial
CHESAPEAKE, Virginia -- Jury selection begins Monday for 18-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo, one of two suspects in the sniper spree that terrorized the Washington area last year. Ten people died and three were wounded over three weeks.
The Gauntlet is Thrown
The Church Must Oppose the Sin of Women at War
Vision Forum Ministries
Vision Forum Ministries presents a forum of scholars, theologians, and journalists in opposition to the idea that a free people can survive while sending mothers and daughters to war.
Bush Signs Record $87.5B for Iraq Occupation
WASHINGTON -- Despite initial assurances about keeping costs down, President Bush signed a law on Thursday that will provide $87.5 billion to try to turn around the Iraq occupation after months of bloodshed. Despite polls showing more than half of Americans opposed the White House's $87 billion request, Bush insisted, "The American people accept these responsibilities now, in our time, so that we will not face far greater dangers in the future. With this act of Congress, no enemy or friend can doubt that America has the resources and the will to see this war through to victory," he said.
Muslims Kill Six U.S. Soldiers in Rocket
Propelled Attack on Black Hawk Helicopter
TIKRIT, Iraq - An Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed Friday into a riverbank near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing six U.S. soldiers, the military said. It probably was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, several officers said. Two Americans also were killed in separate attacks Thursday and Friday in the northern city of Mosul, raising concerns that the insurgency was spreading north. The deaths brought the toll among U.S. soldiers to 31 killed in the first week of November — the Americans' deadliest week since the fall of Baghdad in April.
Muslims Ambush U.S. Convoy Killing One Soldier,
Poland Suffer First Muslim Related Combat Death
Arab Mujahideen firing AK-47’s and RPG’s attacked a American convoy in the Iraqi city of Mosul, killing one soldier and wounding six others as attacks in the city begin to escalate. In a separate attack, a roadside bomb planted near a hotel in the city wounded three US soldiers, Sergeant Kelly Tyler of the 101st Airborne Division told Reuters. In south-central Iraq, where Poland has contributed 2,400 troops to the U.S.-led occupation and took command of forces in the region in September, a Polish officer was killed in an ambush as he rode in a convoy near Al Mussaib, about 35 miles south of Baghdad. He was returning to his base after attending a graduation ceremony for members of the new Civil Defense Corps, which will help guard public buildings and carry out patrols.
2 U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq Attacks;
Pole Is Also Killed
An American soldier was killed by a land mine early today on the Iraq-Syria border, a part of Iraq where attacks have been far less frequent than in areas like the so-called Sunni Triangle close to Baghdad. Another United States soldier was killed and two were wounded at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday night Iraqi time in an ambush of a patrol in Mahmudiya, a city about 40 miles south of the Iraqi capital, military officials said today. In addition, a Polish soldier died today after being shot by unknown assailants near Mussayib, south of Baghdad. He was his country's first fatality since Poland took command of a multinational force running one of four stabilization zones in the country.
Troops' Remains From Vietnam Era Buried
ARLINGTON, Va. - More than three decades after Army Warrant Officer Paul Black's helicopter was shot down by the Viet Cong, his remains were buried with those of three wartime comrades Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery. About 50 mourners gathered under a drizzling rain with their hands over their hearts as a horse-drawn caisson carried the flag-draped casket. It contained the recently identified remains of Black, along with those from three other men who were on the Huey helicopter with him when it crashed and burned in Cambodia on March, 1, 1971.
U.S. Air Force Muslim Translator
Faces Court-Martial
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Air Force translator who served at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba will face a court-martial on charges of espionage and aiding the enemy but will not be sentenced to death if convicted, the Air Force said on Friday. Al Halabi is being held at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in a broad investigation of possible espionage at the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where the United States has jailed more than 600 suspected al Qaeda and other guerrillas in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism.
Japs Rethink Military's Role
YOKOSUKA, Japan -- Time seems to have stood still at this base that was once home to the Imperial Japanese Navy: Black submarines flying the rising sun flag huddle in the morning mist, while sailors clamber over their gray-hulled warships. But outside the gates, Japan is rethinking decades-old attitudes about its military and the commitment to pacifism on which this nation rebuilt itself from the ashes of World War II. Reflecting the anxieties of a country concerned it can no longer take its security for granted. ``People in this country feel a lot less secure than back when the Soviet Union was supposed to be the enemy,'' Suzuki said.
Anthrax Scare Shuts 11 Washington Postal Buildings
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Postal Service shut down 11 postal facilities in the Washington area late on Thursday after preliminary tests indicated possible anthrax at a U.S. Navy mail handling center, officials said. The Navy closed the automated mail handling operation at its naval air station in Washington on Thursday to run additional tests after sensors detected traces of a substance that could be anthrax, a Navy spokeswoman said.
The Gauntlet is Thrown
The Church Must Oppose the Sin of Women at War
Vision Forum Ministries
Vision Forum Ministries presents a forum of scholars, theologians, and journalists in opposition to the idea that a free people can survive while sending mothers and daughters to war.
2 GIs Killed in Separate Muslim Attacks
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two American soldiers were killed near Baghdad and along the Syrian border, the U.S. military said Thursday. One soldier from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was killed about 8 a.m. Thursday when his truck hit a land mine near the Husaybah border crossing point with Syria 195 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military said. A paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division was killed and two others wounded when their patrol came under rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire near Mahmudiyah, 15 miles south of Baghdad, about 8 p.m. Wednesday, the military said.
6,000 Sailors Come Home From Persian Gulf
CORONADO, Calif. -- With "California Dreamin'" blasting from the speakers, thousands of sailors streamed from the USS Nimitz on Wednesday and waved to their loved ones after an eight-month deployment to the Persian Gulf. The Nimitz became the last aircraft carrier sent home from Iraq when it pulled into port in the San Diego Bay. The 6,000 sailors were met with embraces and tears of joy as they saw their friends and family members for the first time in months.
Bush Speech Focuses on Democracy Gains
WASHINGTON - Questioning past U.S. policy in the Middle East, President Bush is arguing that supporting undemocratic governments in the name of regional stability has produced only "frustration and pent-up emotions" there. In a speech to the National Endowment for Democracy on Thursday, Bush was to champion democratic gains around the globe but focus especially on the still-roiled Middle East, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.
FTC Cites Concern Over Pop-Up Ads in Windows
WASHINGTON -- U.S. regulators on Wednesday voiced concerns about a feature in Microsoft Windows that could subject Windows users to unwanted "pop-up" ads. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it had scheduled a press conference on Thursday "to address consumer concerns" about a little-used feature of Windows called "Messenger Service." The FTC cited problems with "widespread exploitation" of Messenger Service. The Windows feature is unrelated to popular instant messaging software. It's designed instead to allow computer network administrators to send messages to others on their network. The agency declined to elaborate, but Messenger Service has been the subject of security concerns of late because purveyors of unsolicited e-mail, or "spam," discovered they could use it to send messages to personal computers that are connected to the Internet.
HealthSouth Prosecutor Martin
Adds Scrushy to Indictment List
U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who oversaw the indictment yesterday of HealthSouth Corp.'s fired chief executive Richard Scrushy, has secured more guilty pleas in her investigation of the company than any U.S. attorney probing an accounting fraud since the collapse of Enron Corp. Martin, 48, got 14 convictions since March in a $2.7 billion fraud and alleged yesterday that Scrushy ran a scheme to inflate company stock. Her work reflects the approach of the Justice Department's Corporate Fraud Task Force, which Attorney General John Ashcroft set up last year to probe financial crimes at Enron, WorldCom Inc. and other companies.
U.S. Expands Vaccine Deal With GenVec
Gaithersburg-based GenVec, working on vaccines for AIDS and SARS, says the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institutes of Health has expanded a multiyear contract for vaccine research. The contract, first signed in December 2001, increases the total three year funding from $10 million to $16 million. GenVec is overseeing the production and manufacturing of vaccine candidates for clinical trials conducted by NIH.
Muslims Strike U.S. Compound in Mosul
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces in the northern city of Mosul came under attack Wednesday as insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a military compound and a bomb exploded near a convoy in the center of the city. An Iraqi teenager was killed in the blast near Mosul's city hall, hospital sources said. Two others were slightly injured. No U.S. casualties were reported in that incident or an early morning attack on a barracks by insurgents using rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S. military said.
Second Bold Attack in Two Nights on U.S. in Baghdad
BAGHDAD -- Insurgents fired at least three mortars or rockets at the heart of the U.S.-led administration in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding four people in the second brazen attack on the compound in as many nights. The explosions shook the city, with the concussion felt by reporters at a hotel on the opposite side of the river Tigris.
FCC Acts to Limit Digital TV Piracy
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators say broadcasters may embed an electronic marker in high-quality digital television shows to make it harder to copy and distribute the programs over the Internet. In approving a "broadcast flag" Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) said it was concerned that broadcasters would shift programs from over-the-air free television to pay channels such as Home Box Office if they could not protect programs from illegal copying and widespread distribution.
Linda Tripp Gets $595,000 from U.S. in Privacy Suit
The U.S. government will pay over half a million dollars to Linda Tripp, a central figure in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as part of a settlement of lawsuits that accused U.S. officials of violating her privacy, court documents showed on Monday. Tripp's secretly taped conversations with Lewinsky fueled the sex scandal that almost brought down former President Bill Clinton. Tripp transferred to a job at the Pentagon from the White House after news of her tape recordings became public. Tripp sued the Defense Department and the U.S. government for privacy violations, including a charge that officials leaked information that she was interviewing for a job at a lower rank and salary than her old job.
Reagan Miniseries to Air on Showtime
NEW YORK - Anybody who wants to see the television miniseries "The Reagans" will now have to pay for it. After taking "The Reagans" off its schedule in the face of political pressure, CBS said Tuesday it would license the film to Showtime, a corporate cousin and pay cable network with about one-fifth of CBS' audience.
FBI says Patriot Act used in
Vegas strip club corruption probe
LAS VEGAS – The FBI used the USA Patriot Act to obtain financial information about key figures in a political corruption probe centered on striptease club owner Michael Galardi, an agent said. Investigators used a section of the Patriot Act to get subpoenas for financial documents, said Special Agent Jim Stern, a spokesman for the Las Vegas FBI office. "It was used appropriately by the FBI and was clearly within the legal parameters of the statute," Stern said.
Groundbreaking IBM Cancer Trial Begins
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- IBM Corp. lied to employees about the hazards of working with carcinogenic chemicals that caused them to develop rare forms of cancer, a lawyer for two ex-workers alleged Tuesday in a groundbreaking case against Big Blue. Richard Alexander, who represents cancer survivors Jim Moore and Alida Hernandez, said in his opening statement that top toxicologists and oncologists, as well as IBM managers and an IBM whistleblower from France, will testify that the high-tech giant misled workers and concealed an extensive mortality database.
Major Windows Changes Not Sought - Judge
WASHINGTON -- An appeals judge appeared to deal a blow to challengers of Microsoft's antitrust settlement on Tuesday, agreeing that the court had never required the software giant to make some of the major changes competitors sought on the Windows operating system. During arguments on the challenge by Massachusetts and two computer industry groups, Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg said an earlier ruling by the court did not mean that Microsoft had to be held liable for commingling features like the Internet Explorer browser with Windows.
HealthSouth's Founder Indicted in Scandal
WASHINGTON/BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Former HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Richard Scrushy was indicted on Tuesday on 85 criminal counts for a scheme that added $2.7 billion in fictitious income to the health-care company he founded, U.S. officials said. Scrushy, 51, the latest top executive to face criminal charges in a series of recent corporate scandals, surrendered at the FBI (news - web sites) office and appeared in court in Birmingham, Alabama. His lawyer said he would plead not guilty. The charges included conspiracy to commit fraud, filing false financial statements, money laundering and securities and wire fraud while he headed up the Birmingham-based operator of rehabilitation and outpatient surgery centers.
Bush to Meet Firefighters, Schwarzenegger
CRAWFORD, Texas -- The hotly contested California recall election is over. Fires that ravaged southern California are all but surrounded. Enter President Bush, who on Tuesday is touring scorched parts of the state he lost in 2000 but has hopes of winning next year. Bush left his Texas ranch early Tuesday morning, dressed for his tour of the California fire damage in cowboy boots, slacks and an open-necked shirt. Both Democrat Gov. Gray Davis and Republican governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger will join Bush as he surveys the charred region on foot and by air.
U.S. Soldier Killed in Baghdad Bombing
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi insurgents killed an American soldier in a roadside bombing in Baghdad on Tuesday, and Spain said it was withdrawing much of its diplomatic staff from Iraq for security reasons, the third coalition country to do so in the past two weeks amid mounting violence. In Baghdad, the roadside bombing killed one soldier and wounded two others, all from the 1st Armored Division, the U.S. command said. Another soldier was killed Monday and one other wounded when their vehicle struck a land mine in Tikrit. The deaths brought the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq in November to 23, most in the weekend crash of a transport helicopter shot down Sunday west of Baghdad.
Iraq Attack Hits Heart of U.S. Hometowns
FORT CARSON, Colo. -- A missile attack on a helicopter that killed 16 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, including four from this hard-hit post, has spread anger and sadness throughout the communities where the soldiers had established strong roots. Fort Carson has lost 25 soldiers in Iraq, its heaviest combat casualty toll since Vietnam.
Taliban Use American Uniforms
In Effective New War Tactic
In the outskirts of the capital city of Kabul, twelve Coalition soldiers have been killed due to an effective new war tactic being employed with the Taliban. The Taliban are wore American and coalition uniforms in this attack, which allowed them to get deep inside the coalition close camp. Some Taliban were martyred in the attack however the number is unknown at this time. After the attack, the Afghans soldiers expressed concern over this new tactic.
Court Won't Clarify Free-Speech Protection
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court disappointed news organizations Monday by refusing to clarify free-speech protections for journalists sued after they criticize people or products. Justices declined to stop a lawsuit against the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine over the negative road test ratings it gave the Suzuki Samurai because of potential rollovers. Consumers Union, which reports on the safety of products like child safety seats and lawn mowers, argued that a lower court ruling in its case will silence reporters who have information about dangerous products but fear costly lawsuits.
CBS May Not Show Reagan Miniseries
NEW YORK - Under pressure from Republicans and conservative groups, CBS may not air its miniseries "The Reagans," an unflattering portrait of the former president and his wife, Nancy, according to published reports Tuesday.
Afghan Draft Constitution Seeks to Unite Nation
KABUL -- Afghanistan's draft constitution, unveiled on Monday nearly two years after the end of the Taliban regime, envisages a strong president elected directly by the people and seeks to unite a war-torn nation under the banner of Islam. The document, delayed by two months due to political wrangling over its content and logistical difficulties, paves the way for elections in mid-2004,which President Hamid Karzai is expected to contest and widely picked to win.
A War in the Dark
It’s hard to know your enemy when you don’t speak his language. In Iraq, when guerrillas place an IED (improvised explosive device) by the side of the road, they sometimes write a warning on the street—in Arabic. The locals understand to steer clear; the Americans drive right into the trap. “Everyone knows about it except us,” grouses Lt. Julio Tirado of the 124th Infantry Regiment, Florida National Guard, patrolling warily in the town of Ramadi.
ACLU Backs Islamic Group's Request
JACKSONVILLE - The American Civil Liberties Union joined an Islamic group in urging an investigation of two incidents in which about 20 Muslim students allegedly were removed from a Duval County school bus and not allowed to board another. ACLU officials said Saturday they were backing the Council on American-Islamic Relations' request. They allege that two different First Student bus drivers singled out Muslim students Wednesday and again Friday.
Woman Charged in Bush Security Breach
JACKSON, Miss. - A woman whose car rammed into the side of an arena where President Bush had just delivered a speech faces state assault charges, although no federal charges were expected, authorities said.
Chief David Mitchell, spokesman for the DeSoto County sheriff's department, said Betina Mixon was charged Sunday with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. Federal officials said Mixon, 29, of Horn Lake, had no intention of harming the president and no federal charges were pending against her. Authorities said they expect her to be arraigned on the state charges Monday or Tuesday.
Senate Faults White House Over Iraq Documents
WASHINGTON -- The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee singled out the White House for failing to meet a noon EST deadline on Friday to turn over documents about intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction used to justify the U.S. invasion.
But Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas said the CIA and State Department had provided a "good faith response" and the committee expected to receive "a quantity of documents" from both agencies by the end of the day. "The White House has not met today's deadline. I am hopeful that the White House will recognize the importance of the committee's efforts and comply as soon as possible," Roberts said in a statement.
D.C. Sniper Jurors Weep At Chilling Evidence
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Jurors wept Thursday as they listened to a recording of the wails and sobs of sniper victim Linda Franklin's husband making the emergency call reporting his wife's shooting. "I'm at the Home Depot on Route 50," William Franklin screamed into a cell phone. The former Marine testified that he had been sprayed with his wife's blood, turned and saw her lying on the pavement. His words on the tape melted into loud cries. "She's shot in the head. Oh, my God."
Last Sniper Shooting Survivor Testifies
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A fingerprint expert with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, took the stand on Friday and talked about a ransom note that was found near the restaurant where sniper survivor Jeffrey Hopper was shot. Authorities have said the sniper suspects demanded a $10 million ransom to end the shootings.
Judge OKs $1.4 Billion Wall St Settlement
NEW YORK -- A U.S. judge on Friday approved a $1.4 billion settlement between financial regulators and 10 Wall Street firms accused of misleading investors with biased stock research. Judge William Pauley's approval finalizes a pact reached in April and makes official changes that affect research on thousands of U.S. stocks.
Parties Study Data to Target Voters
WASHINGTON - Mindful of the importance of turnout next year, the Democrat and Republican parties are collecting detailed information to help figure out which doors to knock on. Now, thanks to the Internet, the parties can easily find out from voters what they're interested in, provide them with voter registration information and deploy them as volunteers in massive get-out-the-vote efforts. E-mail and Web sites allow them to communicate with supporters instantly and at little cost. The GOP committee calls its e-activist effort the "Team Leader" program, and gives those who sign up more than 30 different teams to choose. Some are based on race or ethnicity, such as the African American, American Indian or Lebanese American teams. Others represent religious affiliations, professions and interests, such as the Catholic, Evangelical, High-tech, or Home Schoolers.