Week Ending: Saturday 14th August 2004

US bombers raid Sunni Iraqi city
Air strikes by US planes on the largely Sunni Iraqi city of Samarra have killed at least 13 people and injured 84, a hospital official in the city said. The US military said it had killed "about 50 insurgents" in strikes which began after midnight , following arms searches on the ground.

Scores die in Burundi camp raid
Gunmen have killed at least 130 people in an overnight raid on a camp for Congolese Tutsi refugees in Burundi, a UN spokesperson says. The Gatumba camp, near the border with DR Congo, provides shelter for 4,000 refugees who fled the country in June. A Burundi Hutu rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Venezuela at fever pitch before crucial vote on President
Tensions in Venezuela before tomorrow's referendum on the divisive rule of President Hugo Chavez reached fever pitch yesterday as a huge opposition rally clamoured for the end of his populist rule. The poll is the world's first recall ballot on an elected head of state. A confident Mr Chavez says his victory is "inevitable".

India carries out rare execution
man convicted of raping and killing a schoolgirl 14 years ago has been executed in India. It is the country's first execution since 1995. Dhananjoy Chatterjee, 39, was hanged at dawn at the Alipore Central Jail in Calcutta where he had spent the last 13 years in solitary confinement. Chatterjee was convicted for the 1990 rape and murder of 16-year-old Hetal Parekh, who lived in the building where he worked as a security guard.

Rebel army waits for martyrs' battle
Using their Kalashnikovs as pillows, the Mehdi Army lay in wait through the ancient alleys of Najaf, preparing for death. On the rubble of buildings already destroyed over days of fighting, Moqtada al-Sadr's guerillas sat cradling their weapons and filling the ancient lanes with chants from the Koran.

Panels dismiss Guantanamo cases
The US defence department says four detainees at the US base in Guantanamo, Cuba, have been classified as enemy combatants and would not be freed. The names and nationalities of the men have not been released. They are the first cases to be decided so far in a military review of the prisoners held on suspicion of posing a threat to the US.

It Happens in America
Prisoner abuse is not limited to Iraq. The author of American Gulag investigates U.S. immigration prisons and finds widespread mistreatment of detainees, abetted and concealed by an official code of silence.

Kidnapped UK journalist released
The British journalist kidnapped from a hotel in Basra has been handed over to UK officials in southern Iraq, following his release. James Brandon, 23, was taken to the Basra office of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and freed. His kidnappers, who had threatened to kill him on a video, had treated him well once they knew he was a journalist.

Army Turns to Private Guards
Stretched thin by troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and security needs at home, the Army has resorted to hiring private security guards to help protect dozens of American military bases. To date, more than 4,300 private security officers have been put to work at 50 Army installations in the United States.

Women kill rape suspect in court
A man standing trial for rape was killed by a group of women and children in court in the city of Nagpur in central India. Initial reports said about 14 women and several children forced their way into the courtroom and knifed the accused, Appu Yadav, to death. The attackers then escaped from the scene of the crime.

Shias call for split from Baghdad
As the health ministry said that at least 172 Iraqis had died and more than 600 had been injured since in recent fighting across southern Iraq, at least two prominent Shia figures called for the separation of some southern governorates from Baghdad.

Nader vs. the Anti-Defamation League
Ralph Nader, that master of controversy, has a new bete noire: the Anti-Defamation League. The independent presidential candidate has become embroiled in an ugly exchange with the Jewish organization, after he suggested that President Bush and Congress were "puppets" of the Israeli government.

Radical cleric 'wounded' in Najaf
The radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has been wounded in fighting in the holy city of Najaf, his aides say. Mr Sadr is reported to have suffered three separate injuries, but an aide has said his condition is stable. Officials from the interior and defence ministries have denied that the cleric was hurt in fighting overnight.

Bombs hit Spanish cities after ETA warning
Explosions hit two Spanish coastal cities after a newspaper received a warning call in the name of armed Basque separatist group ETA, and at least one person was injured, officials said. Santander and Gijon are about 130km apart on Spain's northern coast.

Dozens killed by Chinese typhoon
A powerful typhoon has struck eastern China, killing at least 63 people and injuring more than 1,800. Around 185 people are thought seriously hurt after the typhoon hit the coastal city of Wenling, Zhejiang province. Officials had evacuated 415,000 people from coastal areas of Zhejiang province to escape the storm.

French start new probe into Diana's driver
French authorities have launched a new probe into the autopsy on the chauffeur who was driving Diana, Princess of Wales, the night she died in Paris because of a challenge from his parents to the conclusion he caused the crash because he was drunk.

US helicopter crash in Okinawa
A US military helicopter has crashed in the grounds of a university on the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa. Officials said at least four crew members were injured in the accident, which occurred in the city of Ginowan. Some 20 people were reportedly in the building at the time - it is currently university summer holidays.

How to save the world, in fifteen easy steps
Seven, 15 and 50: these are the critical numbers that could save the world from global warning, a study of measures needed to stop climate change from spinning out of control concludes. Seven billion tons of carbon dioxide have to be stopped from polluting the atmosphere each year with the help of 15 critical technologies, over 50 years.

Russian Alien Spaceship Claims Raise Eyebrows
An expedition of Russian researchers claims to have found evidence that an alien spaceship had something to do with a huge explosion over Tunguska, Siberia in 1908. Experts in asteroids and comets have long said the massive blast was caused by a space rock.

Stabbing halts Heathrow tube service
Thousands of holidaymakers were today at risk of missing their flights after the London Underground transport link to Heathrow was shut down. The line was closed following the fatal stabbing of a teenager at Hounslow West station on the Piccadilly line meaning there were no tube services to Heathrow airport as British Transport police investigated the stabbing.

Hurricane Charley slams into Cuba
Hurricane Charley has hit Cuba's southern coast after gathering strength in the Caribbean and is heading for the capital, Havana. About 200,000 people have been evacuated from parts of western Cuba, and tourists have been airlifted from the most vulnerable areas. The current projected path of the hurricane takes it on towards the American state of Florida.

Nearly million in path of storm told to leave
Forecasters imposed a tropical storm watch Thursday night on Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and authorities urged nearly 1 million Gulf Coast residents to flee as Hurricane Charley began mushrooming into a monster storm that imperiled nearly the entire state.

US governor quits over gay affair
The governor of the US state of New Jersey has announced his resignation, admitting that he had an extramarital affair with a man. "My truth is that I am a gay American," Democrat James McGreevey, 47, told a packed news conference.

Japan nuclear firm shuts plants
The Japanese company running a nuclear power plant where four workers died on Monday is to gradually close all 11 of its reactors for safety checks. Kansai Electric Power Co (Kepco) said it would start procedures immediately to take three units off line.

Renowned Kenyan author attacked
Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o and his wife were attacked in his home by armed men late on Wednesday night in the capital, Nairobi. The author is now in hospital after his attackers, demanding money, tortured him with burning cigarettes.

Drought threatens Somali nomads
A severe drought is threatening the nomadic lifestyle of 250,000 herdsmen in northern Somalia, aid agencies have warned. The Sool Plateau, the area traditionally used by the pastoralists, has been worst affected. Aid agencies say long-term environment factors are to blame, including the cutting of trees for charcoal.

Gun victim fails in weapons bid
A teenage boy paralysed 10 years ago in a gun accident has failed to buy the firm which made the firearm at auction. Brandon Maxfield had hoped to buy Bryco Arms and melt down its stock of 75,000 guns. But his final bid of $505,000 was bettered by the firm's ex-foreman.

UK journalist kidnapped in Basra
Iraqi militants have threatened to kill a British journalist kidnapped in Basra unless US forces pull out of Najaf. James Brandon, 23, a freelance reporter for the Sunday Telegraph, was kidnapped after 30 masked gunman stormed into his hotel

Tensions rise in Georgia province
Tensions are escalating in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia as leaders hold talks in Tbilisi. Georgia is evacuating women and children from the border and sending more troops to the region. At least five residents from the ethnic Georgian village of Eredvi were wounded during shooting from an Ossetian village

More Jewish settlements 'must go'
Israel's deputy prime minister has said the withdrawal of Jews from the West Bank is likely to involve more than the four settlements slated for evacuation. Ehud Olmert said Israel had no choice but to quit some areas if it was to remain a free and democratic state.

Endgame in Najaf?
The Marines have completely surrounded Najaf and cut off all the roads leading into the shrine of Imam Ali. US warplanes bombarded positions in the vast Valley of Peace cemetery again today. At one point Marines entered the house of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite leader, but of course found him gone. Al-Jazeerah's crawl is talking about continued fighting in the vicinity of the house.

BBC crew held by Israeli soldiers
hree BBC journalists were held at gunpoint for four hours by Israeli troops in the West Bank on Thursday. The television crew was accompanying a Palestinian doctor as he visited an elderly patient in the city of Nablus. The five were then held by seven Israeli soldiers who had taken over the woman's home.

Death Row Prisoner Convicted as Juvenile Exonerated After 5 Years in Jail
Ryan Matthews, 24, was released from house arrest Monday after a Louisiana court exonerated him of a 1999 murder charge. Matthews was 17 when the 1997 murder of a grocery store owner took place and has served 5 years in prison after being convicted based on questionable eye-witness testimony.

Thousands flee India flood fear
Five thousand people in northern India have been evacuated as fears grow that a lake in Tibet may overflow and flood the state, officials say. Residents of nearly 60 villages living along the banks of the Sutlej river in Himachal Pradesh have moved to higher areas, they say. India says the situation is serious as water is now overflowing from a dam on Tibet's Parechu lake.

The Color of Mayhem, in a Wave of 'Urban' Games
The screen crackles with criminality as a gang of urban predators itch for a kill. The scene erupts into automatic-weapons fire in a drive-by nightmare of screaming car engines, senseless death and destruction set to a thumping rap soundtrack.
The action is not part of a new film, but of a video game in development - the latest permutation of Grand Theft Auto.

Rich 'hijack' stakeholder market
Stakeholder pensions launched to help low paid workers save have become a "tax dodge", according to the TUC. The union body has analysed Inland Revenue figures for contributions to the pensions since their 2001 launch. It found the average saving in an employee's stakeholder plan was £720 a year, including employer contributions.

An unqualified success at the CIA?
President Bush has said that Rep. Porter Goss is "the right man" to lead the CIA - but as of five months ago, the nominee didn't think he was even qualified to work there. The Florida Republican told filmmaker Michael Moore in March, "It is true I was a case officer, clandestine services officer, and yes, I do understand the core mission of the business. But I couldn't get a job with the CIA today. I am not qualified."

Heat waves set to become 'brutal'
Heat waves in the 21st Century will be more intense, more frequent and longer lasting, US experts report in the journal Science. Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) used climate modelling to predict geographic patterns of future heat waves.

Pentagon moves over Halliburton
Pentagon auditors have criticised US firm Halliburton over its accounting of $1.8bn (£0.98bn) it charged the US government for work in Iraq and Kuwait. The company's accounting system has been disputed by Pentagon auditors for the past 18 months.

Terrified and hiding in the forest, the lost boys who saw the Janjaweed
The looted and deserted village had at least 100 huts, and it was a while before we saw the young boy, his face peeping out from a hole in the ground. Ishmael, Ahmed and Idris, brothers aged seven, nine and 10, had got lost when their family, along with the rest of the community, fled four days ago at the news of an impending Janjaweed attack.

New CIA head had breakfast with ISI chief on September 11th
Porter Goss was having a breakfast meeting in Washington with the then ISI chief Mahmoud Ahmad at the exact instant the 9/11 hijackers flew their planes into the World Trade Center. Ahmad was a Taliban supporter who was subsequently removed from his job when he continued to bat for the outlaw regime post 9/11.

Beheaded man 'not CIA'
A US official denied that a CIA agent had been beheaded in Iraq, as claimed by an Islamic website that broadcast a video purporting to show the decapitation. "The man depicted in the video is not a CIA official," the official told AFP, on condition of anonymity. "No CIA official is missing," the official said, adding that the Central Intelligence Agency knows the whereabouts of everyone on its payroll.

Political Deception: The Missing Link behind 9-11
On the morning of September 11, Pakistan's Chief Spy General Mahmoud Ahmad, the alleged “money-man” behind the 9-11 hijackers, was at a breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill hosted by Senator Bob Graham and Rep. Porter Goss, the chairmen of the Senate and House Intelligence committees.

US moves to crush Shia uprising
Fighting has intensified in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf as US marines vowed to defeat a week-long uprising by supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr. Tanks backed by helicopter gunships moved to seal off the Imam Ali Shrine in the centre of the city on Thursday. US aircraft and artillery pounded a nearby cemetery where militiamen have taken up positions in recent days.

Evidence gained by torture allowed by British judges
The use of torture to obtain evidence against suspected terrorists was endorsed by a Court of Appeal ruling that has brought Britain into conflict with international human rights campaigners.Two of the country's senior judges granted the Home Secretary the right to hold terror suspects on the basis of intelligence from tortured prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other US detention camps.

Cemetery Fight Haunts Some U.S. Soldiers
Bats flapped out of crypts, startling soldiers creeping through the cemetery with guns up. Graves opened beneath their combat boots. And an old enemy displayed a new professionalism, darting in clearly practiced moves between tombstone and mausoleum to stalk the Americans from above ground and below.

9/11 suspect 'not aware of plot'
The man on trial in Germany charged with helping the 11 September plotters "knew nothing about the plan", al-Qaeda suspects in US custody have said. Extracts of interviews with key suspects, including Ramzi Binalshibh, were read out at the retrial of Moroccan Mounir al-Motassadek. The US had earlier said it would not allow suspects to testify in Hamburg.

U.S. Forces, Close to Attack in Najaf, Decide to Hold Off
After spending today preparing for a major attack against insurgents loyal to the rebel Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, American forces called off the assault, at least for now. Officers here said the delay had resulted from a need to extend planning and said the attack could still be carried out at any time.

The Cover-up of the Ron Brown Death
The mysterious death of Bill Clinton's Commerce Secretary Ron Brown has long aroused suspicion among those who are aware of the unscrupulousness of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and their cohorts.

Iraq 'ended nuclear aims in 1991'
The head of Iraq's nuclear programme under Saddam Hussein has said Iraq destroyed its nuclear weapons programme in 1991 and never restarted it. Jafar Dhia Jafar told the BBC sanctions and inspections worked in stopping the reconstitution of the programme. He also said Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programmes were destroyed after the first Gulf War and never reactivated.

Global Oil Demand Expected to Exceed Forecasts
Global oil demand is expected to be higher in 2004 and 2005 than initially forecast, increasing pressure on oil producers to boost their output at a time when rising oil prices may hurt a recovering world economy, according to a report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Disease outbreak at Darfur camp
UN medical experts in the western Sudanese region of Darfur have expressed concern over an outbreak of Hepatitis E which has killed 22 people. A doctor working for the UN Population Fund, Henia Dakkak, told the BBC the disease was spreading quickly because of poor sanitation in the camps.

Uncommon Buffalo and the Buffalo Commons
Most Americans know that the American bison, commonly called the buffalo, was almost extinct by 1900, the victim of slaughter and expanding white settlement. In the past 20 years or so, the term "Buffalo Commons" has become a popular catchphrase that usually refers to another disaster: the death of the small towns of the High Plains.

Jakarta clears officer of killings
The head of Indonesia's special forces has been cleared of gross human rights violations over the 1984 killings of a crowd of Muslim activists. Maj Gen Sriyanto Muntrasan was accused of telling soldiers to shoot into a crowd of demonstrators near Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port.But a court in Jakarta ruled the incident was a "spontaneous clash", and therefore not a human rights violation.

Unknown underwater animal found in Atlantic Ocean
Norwegian scientists from the Bergen-based Institute of Marine Research returned from a two-month expedition to study the underwater mountain chain in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists reported the discovery of an unknown creature, which was found living at the depth of two kilometers

Arrests for all offences proposed
Police in England and Wales could be given powers to arrest people for minor offences such as graffiti or dropping litter, under new government plans. A Home Office consultation paper out on Thursday also proposes to make it easier to search suspects' premises.

Chad seeks help to tackle locusts
Chad has appealed for international aid after locust swarms, which hatched in north-west Africa, reached the country. Foreign Minister Nagoum Yamassoum said Chad lacked the pesticides and equipment to fight the infestation. He said resources had already been stretched by nearly 200,000 refugees from western Sudan and the population now faced the threat of famine.

UN slams Mid-East peace failure
A senior UN official says the Israelis and Palestinians have both failed to protect civilians or make progress towards reforms under the roadmap. Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast said Palestinian reform continued to be slow and mostly cosmetic.

More British Muslims intercepted on way to join Mehdi army in Najaf
More British Muslims have been stopped by the security services from going to Iraq to join the Mehdi Army to fight US forces in Najaf, a Conservative MP said. Patrick Mercer, the opposition spokesman on homeland security, said two men from London who had joined the militia of Muqtada Sadr were terrorists and were committing treason.

US hails Afghan election progress
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the enthusiasm of the Afghan people for elections shows they are determined to make democracy work. Mr Rumsfeld, on a one-day trip to the country, said in Kabul that the Afghan people were winning their battle to rebuild the nation.

Nepal army offensive continues
A Nepalese army offensive against Maoist rebels has entered its third day, but there are no reports of any casualties. The soldiers are targeting two villages in Accham, some 600km (375 miles) from the capital, Kathmandu.

Israeli troops raze Rafah houses
Israeli troops have destroyed buildings in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza that the army said were used by Palestinian militants as cover for attacks. Army bulldozers were sent in to demolish the buildings, which Israeli officials said were abandoned. Residents also reported that missiles were fired from a military helicopter during the overnight operation.

Turkish rail collision kills six
Two passenger trains have collided in Turkey, killing at least six people and injuring about 70 others in the third major rail accident in a month. The trains crashed into each other head-on near the village of Tavsancil in the north-west province of Kocaeli.

Japan quizzes N Korea on missing
Japanese and North Korean officials have held talks in Beijing on 10 missing Japanese nationals Pyongyang is suspected of having kidnapped. Pyongyang previously said eight of the 10 were dead, and two never entered North Korea, but Tokyo is sceptical.

Dominican migrants perish at sea
About 50 migrants from the Dominican Republic have died of dehydration and exposure trying to reach the US territory of Puerto Rico by boat. Survivors have been giving horrific accounts of their ordeal at sea. The boat's engine failed during the journey and the wooden boat drifted at sea for nearly two weeks.

Victims not allowed to speak at Texas religious conference
Several people who say they were sexually abused as children by nuns won't be allowed to address a national gathering of sisters. The Maryland-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious will hold its annual convention August 19th through the 22nd in Fort Worth.

Saudi Arabia to open up oil taps
Saudi Arabia is ready to pump as many as 1.3 million extra barrels a day (b/d) of oil to cool runaway prices, the country's oil minister has said. Ali Naimi said the country had pumped 9.3 million b/d over the past three months, but output would be raised to meet any extra demand.

Ancient remedy 'shrinks cancer'
An ancient native American treatment for cancer has been shown to have a beneficial effect despite scepticism from the medical establishment. Chaparral, an evergreen desert shrub, has long been used by native Americans to treat cancer, colds, wounds, bronchitis, warts, and ringworm.

Bomb explosion hits Iraqi market
At least four Iraqis were killed and 10 more were injured when a bomb was detonated at a market in a village north of Baghdad, officials say. The blast happened at about 1100 local time (0700 GMT) in Khan Bani Saad, 40km (25 miles) from the capital. Details remain sketchy but health officials say paramedics are still treating wounded at the scene.

UN accuses Sudan of bombing Darfur
The United Nations says the Sudanese government has carried out fresh bombing raids on rebels in the province of Darfur using helicopter gunships. Refugees are also coming under attack in southern Darfur from the pro-government Janjaweed militia, it said. The lobby group Human Rights Watch has also accused Sudan of breaking pledges to rein in the militias.

CIA Plots Chavez Overthrow in Chile
The US Central Intelligence Agency is set to put a contingency plan in motion in the (likely) event that President Hugo Chavez Frias wins next weekend's Recall Referendum. The Madrid newspaper says that the White House strategy is to avoid a regional expansion of the President Hugo Chavez Frias 'Bolivarian Revolution'.

The Writing on the Latrine Walls
The Project for the New American Century, or PNAC for short, is just another right-wing think tank, really. One cannot swing one's dead cat by the tail in Washington D.C. without smacking some prehensile gnome, pained by the sunlight, scuttling back to its right-wing think tank cubicle. These organizations are all over the place. What makes PNAC different from all the others?

US hospitals move closer to under the skin ID chips
VeriChip, the company that makes radio frequency identification tags for humans, has moved one step closer to getting its technology into hospitals. The Federal Drug Administration issued a ruling that essentially begins a final review process that will determine whether hospitals can use RFID systems from the Palm Beach based company to identify patients or permit staff to access medical records.

Study: Uninsured Patients Flood U.S. Emergency Rooms
Patients lacking health insurance are flooding U.S. emergency rooms, many seeking routine care that they should get elsewhere. The report by The National Association of Community Health Centers finds that in 2002 there were 110.2 million visits to hospital emergency departments, up from 89.8 million in 1998. During this time, many hospital emergency rooms closed and there were 15 percent fewer than in 1998.

How did Iraq fall? A double agent fooled Saddam
The secret behind the fall of Iraq has been revealed. The former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was tricked into fatally bungling the defence of his country through a double agent called April Fool. Thus, while US armored columns raced to Baghdad from southern Iraq, Saddam kept many of his best divisions to fight expected US attacks from the north and west, which is not what happened.

'Army coup foiled' in Mauritania
Mauritania has foiled a plot to overthrow the country's president, its defence minister has said. Between 20 and 30 members of the army are reported to have been arrested for the alleged coup attempt. Defence Minister Baba Ould Sidi said the plotters were "the very same people who led the aborted putsch in June last year".

Beatings in Baghdad
Responding to reports of prisoner abuse at the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, Oregon Army National Guardsmen disarmed Iraqi policemen and gave first aid to detainees. They were later ordered to stand down, handing the prisoners back over to the Iraqi officials. Many of the prisoners had fresh welts and bruises. Soldiers also found metal rods, rubber hoses, unknown chemicals and exposed electrical wires that appeared to have been used to torture the prisoners.

Cemetery attack shocks France
France is reeling from the shock of yet another display of anti-Semitism after vandals desecrated a Jewish cemetery in Lyon on Monday night. Fifty-six graves and a war memorial dedicated to Jews who died during the Second World War were daubed with swastikas and misspelled slogans glorifying Adolf Hitler and urging resistance to "the Islamist invasion".

Bush's choice for new CIA head ran spy rings in Central America, Europe
A Republican congressman selected by President George W. Bush to run the CIA worked as an agency officer overseeing spies in Central America and Western Europe during the 1960s until a mysterious infection forced his retirement from the world of cloak and dagger.

Fighting spreads across Shia Iraq
Fighting has spread beyond the Shia Iraqi holy city of Najaf where US forces have been battling insurgents for the past week. Clashes in Baghdad, Amara, Kut and other towns left at least 30 dead and 219 wounded on Tuesday alone, the Iraqi health ministry said. The figures do not include Najaf, the stronghold of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and his Mehdi Army militants.

Kerry: Still Would Have Approved Force for Iraq
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said on Monday he would have voted for the congressional resolution authorizing force against Iraq even if he had known then no weapons of mass destruction would be found.

Crippled by a rogue shot, boy bids to buy up gunsmith's entire stock
A Californian teenager who was paralysed in a shooting accident a decade ago is hoping to buy the gun manufacturer's entire inventory this week and turn it into a sculpture embodying his hope that cheap, unsafe weapons can be kept off the market for good.

Plame Leak Case Could End in Supreme Court Standoff
The recent pressure on reporters to reveal sources in the Valerie Plame investigation could end in a U.S Supreme Court standoff, according to two leading First Amendment attorneys, one of whom fears several leading Washington reporters could wind up in jail before it's over.

Groups claim Istanbul bomb blasts
Separate Kurdish and Islamist groups say they were behind a series of bombs that killed two people in Istanbul. Eleven people were injured in the attacks in the Turkish city early on Tuesday morning. A previously unknown Kurdish group - the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons - said it planted the bombs. But a group linked to al-Qaeda also claimed the attacks, calling them the first of a "wave of operations" across Europe, and saying worse was to come.

Bush Nominates Congressman to Replace Tenet as C.I.A. Director
President Bush today nominated Representative Porter J. Goss, the longtime chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to head the Central Intelligence Agency at a moment of heated debate about both the agency's shortcomings and how to execute the broadest reform of American intelligence operations in more than half a century.

From London to Iraq - the latest recruits to the Mahdi army
The two young men sitting cross-legged in a small room off the courtyard of the Imam Ali shrine looked like any of the fighters around them. Their beards were short and neat, their feet bare and their dress the simple dishdasha, the Arab robe. They were deferential to their militia commander and spoke idealistically of defeating the military might of America in Iraq's holy city of Najaf.

Gaza camp hit by Israeli missile
Fourteen Palestinians have been injured, four of them critically, in an Israeli air strike on southern Gaza, Palestinian security sources say. They said a helicopter fired a missile at a group of people in a street, injuring fighters and civilians. The helicopter gunship attack came during an incursion into the densely populated Khan Yunis refugee camp.

Rapist wins £7m on lottery
A rapist serving life in prison has scooped £7 million on the National Lottery. Iorworth Hoare, 52, was on temporary release staying at a Middlesbrough bail hostel when his numbers came up in last Saturday's Lotto Extra draw. According to the Sun newspaper, Hoare began a series of sex attacks while he was still in his 20s and was sentenced to a total of 18 years between 1973 and 1987.

Iraq sabotage fear deepens oil crisis
The price of crude on futures markets rose to record levels in both London and New York last night after the threat of sabotage by rebels forced Iraq to shut down production in its southern oilfields. Fears of prolonged disruption to supply led to a fresh wave of speculative buying in markets already rattled by the prospect of dearer energy, prompting a slowdown in the global economy.

Occupation HQ attacked in Baghdad
Rocket-propelled grenades and mortars have hit the headquarters of US-led occupation forces in Baghdad. Reporting from the eastern al-Rustamiya district, Aljazeera sources said the attack on Tuesday was carried out at the same time as a similar raid on the Ministry of Culture. Another bomb targeted a US convoy travelling in a street next to the Palestine and Sheraton hotels.

Blunkett faces revolt over terror powers
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, faces a cabinet backlash over his plans to overhaul anti-terrorism laws aimed at deterring an attack in Britain. A powerful coalition of ministers opposes the renewal of emergency powers to detain foreign terrorist suspects without charge. They also warn that measures designed to combat domestic terrorism could backfire because they cause resentment among a generation of young Muslims.

International team to monitor presidential election
Observers will be part of OSCE's human rights office. A team of international observers will monitor the presidential election in November, according to the U.S. State Department. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was invited to monitor the election by the State Department. The observers will come from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.

Iraq issues warrants for Chalabis
An Iraqi judge says he has issued two arrest warrants for former Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi and his nephew, Salem. Ahmed Chalabi is wanted on counterfeiting charges, Judge Zuhair al-Maliki said. He said Salem Chalabi, the head of the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein, is sought on suspicion of murder.

9/11 retrial denied key witness
The US says it will not allow its al-Qaeda suspects to testify at the retrial of a man charged with helping to plot the 11 September 2001 attacks. The decision was announced as Moroccan Mounir al-Motassadek appeared in court in Hamburg, Germany. The stance is seen as a major blow for the prosecutors.

Bloodbath as all-out war erupts
Hundreds have been killed in the latest round of brutal fighting that threatens to plunge Iraq back into all-out war. Coalition forces battled militias loyal to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, with up to 400 militants killed in one city alone. The uprising in the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, resulted in the highest single-day death toll among anti-coalition fighters since the end of the war.

American's bogus beheading video dupes international media
An American computer expert duped international media on Saturday into believing Islamist kidnappers had executed a hostage in Iraq by staging his own mock beheading on the internet. Benjamin Vanderford, 22, said he posted the 55-second clip on an online file-sharing network in May to draw attention to his campaign for a seat on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors.

Loathed by the rich: Why Hugo Chávez is heading for a stunning victory
To the dismay of opposition groups in Venezuela, and to the surprise of international observers gathering in Caracas, President Hugo Chávez is about to secure a stunning victory on August 15, in a referendum designed to lead to his overthrow. Chávez has become the leader of the emerging opposition in Latin America to the neo-liberal hegemony of the United States.

UK troops on high alert in Basra
British troops are on high alert in the Iraqi city of Basra after one soldier was killed and others injured in clashes with militiamen. Rising tension erupted into gun battles on Monday with fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada Sadr roaming the streets. The Ministry of Defence has named the dead soldier as Private Lee Martin O'Callaghan, of 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales Royal Regiment.

The Story About Israel TV News Won't Tell
ince the Palestinians began their armed uprising against Israel's military occupation three years and eight months ago, British television and radio's reporting of it has been, in the main, dishonest-in concept, approach and execution.

Parent fury at new super vaccine for 8-week-olds
The government was last night facing a furious backlash from parents and doctors over controversial plans to introduce a new five-in-one vaccine for babies. Campaigners warned that the new jab, which is set to replace existing separate vaccines as early as next month, faces an MMR-style boycott from many parents fearful of the effect it might have on their children.

Iraq reimposes death penalty
Iraq's government reluctantly reinstated the death penalty for crimes including murder, kidnapping and drug running, saying the move was a necessity and would last until stability was restored. Minister of State Adnan al-Janabi said the measure was effective immediately, but there was confusion about whether it could be applied retroactively, casting doubt on whether Saddam Hussein could be put to death if found guilty of crimes.

Agency Curbs War Critic Author
A senior official of the Central Intelligence Agency who has written a best-selling book critical of the Bush administration's handling of the war on terror has been ordered to sharply curtail his interviews with news organizations in connection with the book.

Bad summer air may hit more U.S. cities
The number of summer days when air quality fails federal health standards could nearly double by mid-century for people living in 15 eastern U.S. cities, medical experts said in a study.

US 'dismayed' at E Timor tribunal
The US has said it is "profoundly disappointed" that the convictions of four men over the violence in East Timor in 1999 have been overturned. Indonesia announced last week that a court had cleared the security officials of gross rights violations. The US State Department said Jakarta's prosecutions process "was seriously flawed and lacked credibility."

Bush Zones Go National
Imagine how proud the Founders would be of the interpretation of their revolutionary work. The Democrats, always willing to learn useful tricks from the opposition, created their own "free-speech zone" when they gathered in Los Angeles that year for their convention.

Prozac Found in Britain's Drinking Water
Traces of the anti-depressant Prozac have been found in Britain's drinking water supply, setting off alarm bells with environmentalists concerned about potentially toxic effects.A report by the government's environment watchdog found Prozac was building up in river systems and groundwater used for drinking supplies

US Military Bracing for Recruitment Headaches
The US Army, its numbers seriously depleted by deployments in Iraq, foresees recruiting problems in the coming year and is offering big cash incentives to induce young people to sign up. The Army recruitment wing, based in Fort Knox, Kentucky, foresees deploying hundreds of extra recruiters throughout the country.

Fabricating Terror
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge came barnstorming out with a blizzard of warnings about looming terror attacks against targets in New York, New Jersey and Washington DC. Our nifty color-coded alert system was raised to Orange, or High. Headlines from coast to coast blared the bad news, and the stock market began Monday by giving itself a sound beating.

Abu Ghraib lawyers want Cheney on stand
Hearing for England adjourns indefinitely. The fifth day of military hearings for Pfc. Lynndie England on charges connected to the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad included a defense request for Vice President Dick Cheney to appear as a witness.

Tasmania's governor 'forced out'
Richard Butler, a former UN arms inspector in Iraq, has claimed a smear campaign led him to resign as governor of the Australian state of Tasmania. Mr Butler said the "malicious" campaign would have "damaged the good name of Tasmania" if he had stayed in office.

How Georger W. Bush changed America
The President and his merry men are fond of repeating the mantra, “September 11th has changed everything.” In the last three years this cardinal belief has shaped President Bush’s reconstituted vision of the world and of the United States and his mission at this time in history. It has also determined every policy initiative that has come out of the White House in the last three years.

Gold and how it is manipulated
The government manipulated gold so that a dollar was still a dollar, that being 100 cents and each cent containing 11 pennyweights of copper, but the gold amount dropped by 53 percent while the dollar remained the same.. So the people were robbed of over half the value of gold that they had saved when they sold, traded or whatever.

Lethal blasts rattle Turkish city
Bombs have exploded at two small hotels and a gas plant in the Turkish city of Istanbul, killing two people and injuring at least nine. Two men, an Iranian and a Turk, died at the Pars Hotel in the Laleli district and the injured include Chinese, Dutch, Ukrainian and Turkmen citizens.The Pars received a warning by phone but had only 10 minutes to react.

The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Theodore Roosevelt, that most virile of presidents, insisted that, "To announce that there should be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American people."

US calls for evacuation of Najaf
US troops are asking civilians to leave parts of Najaf, raising fears of a new assault on the holy Iraqi city. Clashes are raging for the sixth day running between forces loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and foreign troops. Announcements in Arabic warn residents near the front lines that there is no truce and asks them to evacuate.

Why Bush could be a fan of terror
America won't turn against its President this November, not as long as al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden stay on the front pages. The fattest factor in America's election year hasn't flamed, or even singed, yet. But another hot week of orange alerts, white knuckles and scarlet blushes begins to pose the inevitable awful problem. Who exactly will Osama bin Laden be voting for this November? Is he (whisper it gently) a closet Republican?

Japan nuclear firm investigated
The Japanese company running a nuclear power plant where four employees died is being investigated on suspicion of negligence. Kansai Electric Power admitted it was told last year that a cooling pipe which burst was a safety threat. The pipe was not checked again because it was not expected to corrode so quickly, and it had not been thoroughly checked since 1976, the company said.

Chalabi a Strategist Amid Frequent Setbacks
Former exile politician, now a wanted man, has proved resilient and skilled in finding allies. An arrest warrant for Ahmad Chalabi is the latest turn in the unlikely saga of a figure who is skilled at winning support from those in power.

A Prison State, If Not a Police State
The US has a unique distinction: It is the world's greatest prison state. The US, "the land of the free," has the biggest prison population in the world and the highest rate of prisoners per capita of all countries - including countries that President Bush believes need liberating by US armed forces.

Foreign hostages released in Iraq
Four lorry drivers held hostage in Iraq - two Jordanians and two Lebanese - are reported to have been released. The son of Jordanian Fayez Saad al-Udwan said his father had called to say he and Mohammad Ahmed Salama al-Manaya'a were free. It is thought they were the last Jordanian hostages held in Iraq.

Iraq on a knife-edge
The new Iraq was on a knife-edge last night as violence and political instability confronted the regime of Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister. In Basra, a British soldier was killed and several others were wounded. Army Land Rovers were set on fire in clashes with militia loyal to the Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr, leaving the militia in control of the city's main road junctions.

Redefined Criminal Behavior
Government has taken it upon itself to redefine criminal behavior to include as criminal, behavior in which no crime is actually committed! You say, "No way, no how! Our government is just looking after us best they can!"

Mass grave found in Bosnia mine
A mass grave believed to contain hundreds of bodies of people killed during the Bosnian war has been found in a coal mine near the town of Foca. Forensic experts say there could be as many as 350 bodies in the waste dump at the site, in the village of Miljevina. The remains are thought to be those of Muslims who disappeared from a Bosnian Serb detention camp in Foca in 1992.

Back Home, Disabled Vets Fight Injuries, Red Tape
Army And VA Can't Keep Up With Numbers Of Badly Wounded Soldiers And Their Families Awaiting Benefits. The yellow ribbons are faded and fraying outside the neatly appointed house where Jay Briseno lies tethered to a respirator, his nearly motionless, 21-year-old body a shrunken shadow of the young man who last year went marching off to war.

Nature 'mankind's gravest threat'
Giant tsunamis, super volcanoes and earthquakes could pose a greater threat than terrorism, scientists claim. Global Geophysical Events, or "Gee Gee's", as they are nick-named, are not being taken seriously enough, they say. The global community needs to monitor these risks, and develop strategies to cope in the face of a catastrophe.

Biographer claims tape shows Nixon prolonged war
Three months before the 1972 presidential election, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger huddled together in the Oval Office to discuss when and how to get out of Vietnam. Despite a massive bombing campaign during the spring and summer in the north, the Republican president had concluded that U.S.-backed "South Vietnam probably can never even survive anyway."