Obama invites world's Muslims to seek 'new beginning' 04 Jun 2009 Seeking "a new beginning" with an estimated 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, President Barack Obama on Thursday spoke more bluntly than any U.S. president before him about the chasms dividing the Middle East and the political double talk behind them.
Crowd loved Obama's 'Irabac,' even when he got it wrong 04 Jun 2009 One of the Cairo cafe questions debated in the days leading up to the speech was: Would Obama say "salaam" to the Arabic-speaking world? ...Some thought he was confident enough to use Arabic in his speech. In the end, Obama gave a "salaam" shout out to the Arabic-speaking world -- and more.
Prepared text of Obama's speech to Muslims --The prepared text U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in Egypt aimed at healing a rift with the Muslim world. 04 Jun 2009 I am honoured to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum...
Satire: FOX News: Obama Travels to Middle East to Recruit Jihadists --'The link between Barack Hussein Obama, Saddam Hussein, and Osama bin Laden is well known,' said former Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney. By R J Shulman 04 Jun 2009 FOX News has learned that the real purpose of President Obama’s trip to the Middle East and meet with Arab leaders is to learn how to recruit jihadists to do his bidding and wreak havoc in the United States. "The proof that Barack Hussein Hussein Hussein Hussein, did I say Hussein, Obama hates Christian American," said Sean Hannity, "is that he has chosen to mingle with known Islamic Koran-thumping terrorists in the Middle East before he has visited God-fearing American towns such as Jackson, Tennessee; Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and Provo, Utah." (Satire)
UN seeks to probe US attacks on civilians --Australian law professor criticized the impunity with which US soldiers, Pentagon officials, intelligence agents and private contractors commit unlawful killings 04 Jun 2009 A UN human rights expert has called on the United States for more transparency about the civilian casualties in its unmanned drone operations overseas. Philip Alston, UN's special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, expressed strong concern on the "deeply troubling" problem of preventable civilian casualties in Washington's mounting pilotless drone attacks on the territory of other states. [See: Unmanned vehicle spending in the 2010 DOD budget to reach $5.4 billion 28 May 2009.]
Afghan reporter freed from US detention 04 Jun 2009 An Afghan journalist was freed Thursday after spending two nights in US military detention with two of his brothers following their arrest during a raid against radical networks, the reporter said. Nowra Jan Baheer, who works for an Afghan media group in the eastern town of Khost, was detained with his brothers late Tuesday during a US military operation against Islamist networks.
Number of roadside bombs surge in Afghanistan 04 Jun 2009 Insurgent [and US/NATO] use of roadside bombs in Afghanistan has surged 80 percent this year, remaining the No. 1 killer of foreign troops, a NATO official said Thursday. The increase since the same period last year includes bombs that detonated or were found by troops before they could explode, said Canadian Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
Three US soldiers, poll candidate killed in Afghanistan 04 Jun 2009 Three US soldiers were killed in an attack in Afghanistan Thursday as other insurgency-linked unrest claimed the lives of five Afghan civilians, including a candidate in provincial council elections. The soldiers were attacked just north of Kabul, where US troops are operating alongside the French military.
US soldier killed in Afghanistan 04 Jun 2009 An American soldier was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb hit a U.S. military vehicle in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials said. Taliban militants are behind a relentless wave of attacks that are destabilizing Afghanistan eight years after the U.S.-led invasion.
U.S. soldier killed in grenade attack in Iraq 04 Jun 2009 An American soldier died of wounds sustained from a grenade attack in northern Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. military said. The attack occurred when 'insurgents' hurled a hand grenade on his patrol in the province of Kirkuk, a military statement said without elaboration.
Iraq: 9 Killed in Bombing at Cafe 04 Jun 2009 A bomb left in a plastic bag in a popular outdoor cafe in Baghdad exploded Wednesday evening, killing nine people, according to the Ministry of Interior. Thirty-one people were injured in the blast.
6 Texans sue over war-zone burn pits 04 Jun 2009 Six people from Texas, including some soldiers, who claim they were poisoned by toxins and emissions from burn pits at U.S. camps in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing contractors terrorists KBR and Halliburton. The suit, moved to federal court in San Antonio from state court last week, alleges the companies operated the large war-zone pits and burned waste since 2004 that included trucks, tires, plastic water bottles, medical waste, hazardous materials, animal carcasses and even human corpses.
6 Texans sue KBR, Halliburton over burn pits --Plaintiffs say the burning waste released toxins that harmed at least 10,000 people. 04 Jun 2009 Soldiers are among six Texans suing Houston-based KBR and Halliburton over burn pits at U.S. camps in Iraq and Afghanistan. The suit filed in a San Antonio federal court alleges the military contractors burned everything from trucks and tires to human corpses in the large war-zone pits.
Lawmakers refuse Guantanamo closure money 04 Jun 2009 In another blow to President Barack Obama's plans to close the Guantanamo prison, US lawmakers denied a request for extra funds and transferring of detainees. The House Appropriations subcommittee, tasked with funding the Justice Department and other agencies, threw out a request for USD 60m to help the department shutter the prison on the US naval base in southern Cuba. [See: US Pledges Additional $200 Million in Aid to Pakistan 03 Jun 2009.]
Investigation finds U.S. military hardware easy to buy, ship 04 Jun 2009 Military hardware that can be used in nuclear devices and ground fighting can be easily purchased In the United States and shipped overseas, a government investigation revealed Thursday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) watchdog agency set up fake companies to obtain military and dual use items -- which have both military and commercial use -- in the United States and ship them overseas, according to a report made public at a House subcommittee hearing.
Terrorist Attack Simulated At Minot AFB --Two-day anti-terrorism exercise helps area military crews and emergency personnel 'better prepare' 03 Jun 2009 Individuals like Colonel James Gallagher (Minot AFB) spring into action... Gallagher is commander of the 5th Mission Support Group at the Minot Air Force Base, and today, he was also in command of the Emergency Operations Center for the exercise. While continuous updates arrived, the National Guard's 81st Civil Support Team and several other emergency crews gathered in Minot to tackle the source of the problem.
El Salvador to investigate assassination plot claims 03 Jun 2009 El Salvador is investigating claims by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that an assassination plot prevented him from visiting the Central American nation... Chavez canceled going to the inauguration of leftist President Mauricio Funes on Monday because he said Venezuelan intelligence services had "very precise information" that a former CIA operative and Cuban militant, Luis Posada Carriles, was conspiring with U.S. intelligence agencies to launch rockets at his plane.
Mystery deepens over missing Air France jet --'Suddenly, we saw in the distance a strong and intense flash of white light, which followed a descending and vertical trajectory and which broke up in six seconds.' 04 Jun 2009 Conflicting clues to the cause of the loss of an Air France jet and the 228 people on board emerged on Thursday, deepening the mystery as the hunt for evidence intensified. A Spanish pilot flying in the same area as the Rio-Paris flight when it plunged into the Atlantic spoke of an "intense flash", while a Brazilian minister appeared to rule out a mid-air explosion. The co-pilot and a passenger on the Air Comet flight from Lima to Lisbon also saw the light, it said, adding that a written report has been sent on to Air France, Airbus and the Spanish civil aviation authority.
Air France bomb threat four days before jet crashed 04 Jun 2009 Air France received a bomb threat four days before Flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, it was revealed yesterday. An anonymous caller made the threat to a plane heading from South America to Paris - just like the doomed jet. And the theory that Flight AF 447 could have been downed by a bomb was reinforced last night as it emerged wreckage from the Air France jet has been found spread over 55 miles of the Atlantic.
Flight AF 447: Victims Include Those Who Flocked to Brazil for Business, and a Royal 02 Jun 2009 The biographies of passengers aboard the disappeared Air France airliner likely will serve as a tragic testament to Brazil's rising importance in global business. Although Brazilian and French authorities have yet to release a detailed passenger manifest, the list is expected to read like a roster of European and Brazilian blue-chip companies, whose executives regularly packed the business- and first-class sections of the trans-Atlantic flight. [The US gov't/CIA has and will take down an entire aircraft just to kill one person (i.e., Paul Wellstone, Mike Connell). Sorry, I'm only reiterating what everyone already knows. --LRP]
US judge rejects lawsuits in wiretapping cases 03 Jun 2009 A US federal judge dismissed dozens of lawsuits against telecom companies that participated in a wiretapping program without court authorization during the presidency [sic] of George W. Bush. San Francisco-based US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the companies had immunity from liability under the FISA Amendments Act (FISAAA), which the US Congress adopted in 2008.
Judge halts suits over NSA wiretapping 03 Jun 2009 A federal judge in San Francisco has tossed out a slew of lawsuits filed against AT&T and other telecommunications companies alleged to have illegally opened their networks to the National Security Agency. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on Wednesday ruled that, thanks to a 2008 federal law retroactively immunizing those companies, approximately 46 lawsuits brought by civil liberties groups and class action lawyers will be dismissed.
DOJ rejects Georgia voter verification requirements 03 Jun 2009 The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected Georgia's system of voter citizenship verification by way of a Social Security and driver's license database. In a letter released Monday, Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King told Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker that the proposed changes are discriminatory.
As swine flu wanes, U.S. preparing for second wave 04 Jun 2009 The outbreak of the new H1N1 flu virus has begun to wane with the start of summer in North America, and U.S. health officials said on Thursday they are looking to lessons learned as they prepare for its return in the autumn. There are now 11,468 probable and confirmed cases of the new H1N1 swine flu in the United States, Dr Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers and Disease Control and Prevention told reporters in a telephone briefing.
Australia swine flu count soars near 900: official 03 Jun 2009 Australia's swine flu tally rocketed by more than a third on Thursday to nearly 900 as officials scrambled to contain the rapidly spreading virus. The latest official figures revealed 876 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) influenza in the world's fourth most affected country -- up from 633 a day earlier and single figures just a fortnight ago. Other Australian states ordered children returning from flu hotspot Victoria to be quarantined, earning the wrath of Melbourne officials.
Further jump in swine flu cases 04 Jun 2009 Scotland has 31 new confirmed cases of swine flu, bringing the total number to 119, the Scottish Government has said. None of the new cases are travel-related, and 21 are in the NHS Highland area, which covers Dunoon.
Mega barf alert! Chicken injected with beef waste sold in UK 04 Jun 2009 Cafes and restaurants across Britain have been selling chicken secretly injected with beef and pork waste, The Independent can reveal today. In a hi-tech fraud run by firms in three EU states, food manufacturers are making bulking agents out of porcine and bovine gristle and bones that help inflate chicken breasts, so that they fetch a higher price.
Medical bills play a role in 62% of bankruptcies, study says 04 Jun 2009 President Obama's push for healthcare reforms gets a boost today from a new study by Harvard University researchers that shows a sizable increase over six years in bankruptcies caused in part by ever-higher medical expenses. The study found that medical bills, plus related problems such as lost wages for the ill and their caregivers, contributed to 62% of all bankruptcies filed in 2007. On the campaign trail last year and in the White House this year, Obama had cited an earlier study by the same authors showing that such expenses played a part in 55% of bankruptcies in 2001.
Baucus Rules Out Single-Payer Plan 03 Jun 2009 Sen. Max Baucus ('D'-Mont.) told advocates for a single national health plan today that it was a mistake not to include their views in recent hearings on health care reform, but said the process was too far along to address the issue now, according to activists who participated in the meeting. Single-payer advocates have complained for months that they have been left out of the Washington debate over how to change the nation's health care system, leading to 13 arrests during a noisy protest at one of Baucus's hearings last month.
Wall Street, Obama administration conspire to block financial regulation --'Geithner headed the New York Federal Reserve Bank and played a key role in the Bush administration's bank bailout program before being named to his present post by Obama.' By Barry Grey 04 June 2009 In the guise of enhanced regulation, the Obama administration is working with major Wall Street banks to sanction a continuation of the speculative practices that precipitated the financial meltdown and deepest economic slump since the Great Depression. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has, according to a detailed exposé published May 1 by the New York Times, adopted a proposal drawn up by a group of big Wall Street firms for new regulations on the lucrative trade in derivatives such as credit default swaps.
White House Delivers Trove of Sotomayor Documents 04 Jun 2009 The White House delivered an extensive collection of documents, opinions and financial disclosures this afternoon on Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, bragging that it was delivering the information to the Senate Judiciary Committee faster than any nominee had in recent history.
