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Al
Qaeda claims breaking the back of US in Iraq Ayman
al-Zawahri, an Egyptian militant believed to be hiding in Afghanistan
or Pakistan, said yesterday that U.S. and British forces had bogged
down in Iraq and ''have achieved nothing but loss, disaster and
misfortune.'' An American soldier was killed in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said, making April the deadliest month for American forces in Iraq this year. The latest American death, which occurred Thursday evening, brought the number of U.S. troops who have died this month in Iraq to at least 69. Although that figure is well below some of the bloodiest months of the Iraq conflict, it marks a sharp increase over March, when 31 American service members were killed. January's death toll stood at 62 and February's at 55. In December 2005, 68 Americans died. Reasons
behind the rising U.S. deaths were unclear, and U.S. military officials
have cautioned not to interpret cyclical changes as the beginning
of a trend. Some U.S. officers have suggested the increase could
be due to better weather this month, making it easier for insurgents
to launch attacks. In a briefing Thursday, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters sectarian attacks in the Baghdad area had fallen by 60 percent last week, diminishing fears of civil war. That
could also indicate militants were shifting their attacks on U.S.
and Iraqi forces, their traditional targets throughout the three-year
insurgency. The 16-minute video by al-Zawahri, posted today on an Islamic militant Web forum, also came within the same week as an audiotape by al-Qaeda's top leader Osama bin Laden. Al-Zawahri said that al-Qaeda in Iraq ''alone has carried out 800 martyrdom operations (suicide attacks) in three years, besides the sacrifices of the other mujahedeen, and this is what has broken the back of America in Iraq.'' The video was first obtained by IntelCenter, a U.S. contractor that provides counterterrorism intelligence services to the U.S. government. A U.S. counterterrorism official said it was part of al-Qaeda's ongoing propaganda blitz to demonstrate the terror group remained relevant. Pakistan
test-fires long-range missile But
Pakistan is concerned over recent U.S. promises of hi-tech aid for
rival India, fearing it could help New Delhi build its defence capability. Iran:
Compromise only if UN drops case But Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, said Iran would not yield to U.N. demands that it abandon uranium enrichment, and criticised Friday's report by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. ElBaradei said U.N. checks in Iran had been hampered and Tehran had rebuffed requests to stop making nuclear fuel. “The report was not completely satisfactory for us and we believe that the report could have been done better than that,” Saeedi told state television. However, Saeedi insisted Iran would be able to answer ElBaradei's concerns about the access granted to U.N. inspectors if Tehran's nuclear dossier were dropped by the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions. “If the case returns to the agency again, we will begin the section that concerns the Additional Protocol,” he said. “The enrichment will continue. But ... we will continue implementing the Additional Protocol as a voluntary measure.” The Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty allows short-notice inspections of nuclear facilities. “If they change their decision and choose the wise path, and the case returns to the IAEA, we believe we can solve all the issues mentioned in ElBaradei's eight-page report very quickly,” he said. Vatican
calls for boycott of 'Da Vinci Code' movie Speaking at a colloquium in Rome, Angelo Amato, secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which the pope presided over until assuming the papacy last year, denounced what he called errors, calumnies and insults against the Roman Catholic Church in the book by US novelist Dan Brown. "If
such calumnies, insults and errors had involved the Koran or the
Shoah they would have rightly provoked a worldwide outcry,"
the prelate said. "But when they involve the Church and Christians,
they remain unscathed." "Christians should be more sensitive in rejecting gratuitous lies and defamation," said Amato, citing as an example the boycott by American Catholics of "The Last Temptation of Christ," a 1988 movie directed by Martin Scorsese. "The Da Vinci Code" is to open the Cannes film festival on May 17, two days before its worldwide release. US
charges ex-Abu Ghraib officer He is the highest ranking officer to face criminal charges over events at the prison. Ten lower-ranking soldiers have already been convicted for abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib from 2003 to 2004. Two officers more senior than Lt-Col Jordan have been disciplined by the army over the scandal, but neither faced criminal charges. The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says the new development could throw some light on how the situation actually arose. Lt-Col Jordan was in charge of the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Centre at the prison during the second half of 2003. A document released by the military detailed 12 counts relating to the seven separate charges. It says Lt-Col Jordan maltreated prisoners by subjecting them "to forced nudity and intimidation by military working dogs". It also accuses him of dereliction of duty in failing to train and supervise soldiers to meet military requirements on interrogation, which "resulted in the abuse of Iraqi detainees". Other
charges include wrongful interference with an investigation and
making false official statements to investigators probing the abuse
allegations. The issue of Abu Ghraib came to light in April 2004 after images emerged of US troops abusing prisoners. The footage included naked prisoners placed in humiliating positions and detainees cowering from aggressive dogs. The
BBC's Jonathan Beale says while human rights groups have welcomed
the decision to prosecute a senior officer, they see this as just
a first step. Southeast
Asian terror chief Noordin escapes capture in pre-dawn raid Police recovered guns, ammunition, a computer and several boxes believed to contain explosives, Sutanto said. Authorities started staking out the location in Binangun, a village in Central Java, three months ago, ''but when they launched their raid at around 3 a.m., he was gone,'' police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam told el-Shinta radio. Residents told el-Shinta they heard a fierce hour-long gun and grenade battle and that helicopters were flying overhead. Roads leading to the house were blocked off and ambulances kept on standby. Black-clad anti-terror forces, hunkered behind shields, fired machine guns and blasted grenades before moving in on a one-story building where the men were hiding. A single, barefooted suspect was led from the scene, his hands cuffed behind his back. Sutanto said those killed were Abdul Hadi, also known as Bambang, and Jabir, alleged key players in several attacks in Indonesia in recent years which left dozens dead. ''The slain terrorists were the main perpetrators in several terrorist acts. They have bomb making capabilities,'' he said. ''In the safe house we found handmade bombs and documents.'' Gen. Sutanto said Jabir assembled the bombs used in deadly attacks in Jakarta at the Australian Embassy in 2004 and the J.W. Marriott hotel in 2003. Abdul Hadi was a recruiter of suicide bombing candidates, he said. Police arrested two suspects, identified only as Solahudin and Mustafirin, who took part in a failed attempt to attack a Jakarta shopping mall in 2001. ''Mustafirin told police that Noordin was not in the house, that he separated from him in the town of Temanggung in December,'' Sutanto said. Abdul Hadi and Jabir, both alleged explosives experts, also are accused of participating in a failed assassination attempt against former President Megawati Sukarnoputri in 2003. ''Jabir,
who was wanted for the Australian Embassy bombing and was hardcore,
had been close to Noordin Top for years and apparently had been
travelling with him,'' said Ken Conboy, a Jakarta-based security
consultant. ''They are running out of places to go. The only places they are going is the heart of radicalism, in Central Java and sometimes East Java,'' he said by phone from Jakarta. Dylan's
classics lead off post-Katrina Jazz Fest Other big names like New Orleans' own Dr. John as well as Ani DiFranco and local jazz, blues and gospel groups shifted the two-weekend festival into gear at a racetrack on the north side of town that was underwater eight months ago. After the hurricane, which killed 1,300 people along the U.S. Gulf Coast and devastated much of New Orleans, organizers worried the festival would have to be scaled back or cancelled. Even now, the city's population is less than half of what it was before the hurricane and flooding it triggered. The city's pre-Katrina population was about 470,000. “With Dylan, and to have this happen again means everything to us,” Julie Becker, a native New Orleanian, said while waiting for an encore from the folk-rock pioneer and his band in the blazing afternoon sun. “It is what this city is about, it's what carries the city, it's the soul of the city,” said Becker, 42. More than 4,000 musicians are slated to perform at this year's Jazz Fest, which runs through Sunday, then continues the following weekend. On tap are Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, the Dave Matthews Band, and New Orleans luminaries like Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, and the Meters. Organizers did not have attendance figures for the first day, but said numbers were easily in the tens of thousands and on par with other years, despite limitations on numbers of visitors to the city by a tourist trade still recovering from the Aug. 29 storm. The festival has been compressed, but only slightly, with 12 stages being reduced to 10. An event official said this week that advance ticket sales were about 75 percent of previous years before the first day. Judge's
own Da Vinci code cracked The
message read: "Smithy Code Jackie Fisher who are you Dreadnought."
In a statement, Mr Justice Smith said: "The message reveals a significant, but now overlooked event that occurred virtually 100 years to the day of the start of the trial." "I hate crosswords and do not do Sudoku as I do not have the patience," he said. He added that the preparation of the code took 40 minutes, with its insertion in the text taking the same length of time. Mr Justice Smith said a typographical error had been added deliberately to "create further confusion". The Da Vinci Code, which has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, features a number of codes the heroes of the book must crack to solve the mystery. Mr
Justice Smith had earlier said he intended it as "a matter
of fun". The judge had told The Guardian and The Times that the code was based on the ancient Fibonacci number sequence, which is used by the heroes in Brown's novel. In March, Mr Justice Smith presided over a High Court case brought by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claimed Dan Brown plagiarised their own historical book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. But Mr Justice Smith ruled Mr Brown did not substantially copy Mr Baigent and Mr Leigh's work, saying it did not have a central theme in the way its authors suggested. -BBC Poor
nations block UN management reforms The decision, which came after days of bitter debate, was only likely to widen the deep rifts between wealthy and impoverished nations over the fate of Annan's demand for a management overhaul that would streamline U.N. operations, cut jobs and give him more budget authority. The vote also raises the threat that the United States might withhold its dues to the U.N. after June, when member states will convene to review how much progress has been made toward Annan's reform proposals, unveiled in March. A resolution proposed by the Group of 77 and China _ which includes more than 130 countries _ essentially puts off some of Annan's crucial reforms. It passed by a vote of 107 to 48, with three abstentions. Those nations stressed that they were committed to U.N. reform but that Annan's proposals violated the U.N. charter by leaving power in the hands of a few. Thousands
of Kyrgyz opposition supporters rally in capital against president's
1-year rule Several
dozen police patrolled the rally near the president and government's
headquarters. Some wore helmets and were armed with truncheons.
The protest, organized by opposition parties and civic groups, is
aimed at pressing Bakiyev to follow through with promised political
reforms and fight crime and corruption. They also want the resignation
of two top security officials and the chief prosecutor who they
accuse of corruption and failing to tackle crime. Kulov said that the opposition's demands would be looked into, ''however, it's not possible to change everything overnight.'' The impoverished Central Asian nation of five million people has been unstable since last year's March 24 uprising that brought down former Soviet-era leader Askar Akayev, who was accused of authoritarianism and corruption. Bakiyev has fallen out with his former anti-Akayev allies and faces criticism for the deteriorating public security situation as crime figures become increasingly influential. He is also blamed for failing to improve the country's economy. In the past year, Kyrgyzstan has seen a string of high-profile murders, prison riots and battles for lucrative businesses. ''We want constitutional reforms and the rule of law!'' Omurbek Tekebayev, opposition lawmaker and one of the protest leaders, told the cheering crowd on the Ala Too square. ''We want to tell the president and prime minister that people demand a new life: reforms and fight against corruption!'' said Tekebayev, who resigned as parliamentary speaker in February after saying Bakiyev should ''go hang himself'' in response to his criticism of lawmakers. Bakiyev issued a stern warning Wednesday, vowing to use force against protesters if they attempted to seize government headquarters. The U.S. Embassy has expressed concern about rumors of potential violence during the rally and urged both sides to refrain from violence. The rally ended after two hours, when protesters decided to give the government a month to meet their demands. Gulnara Zhainakova, 47, who was holding a small flag saying ''We are for reforms,'' said she joined the rally to protest corruption and crime. ''I'm not happy with our president. He is not keeping his promises,'' she said. Before his election as president last June, Bakiyev pledged to amend the constitution to curtail presidential powers and give more authority to Parliament and the government. He later signalled that he wanted to put off the reform until 2009. Jury
awards Calif. woman spanked at work $500,000 Janet Orlando, 53, said she was embarrassed, permanently scarred and mentally anguished by the sales-building exercises and fraternity-like atmosphere at Alarm One Inc., which included paddling if an employee was late for a sales meeting. Sales people at the home security company's Fresno office, which has since closed, developed the unorthodox practices themselves. “Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal,” said Orlando's attorney Nicholas “Butch” Wagner. “The most compelling evidence is that they made a middle-aged woman go in front of mostly male co-workers between the ages of 18 and 24, bend over, put her hands on the wall and spanked her with a metal sign.” The swatting occurred in 2003 and stopped as soon as executives at company headquarters in Anaheim, California, received a complaint, Alarm One Chief Operating Officer Patrick Smith said. Two original plaintiffs who sued over the practice settled out of court, defense attorney K. Poncho Baker said. |
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