Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, has claimed at his trial in The Hague that he was indicted for war crimes as part of a "regime change" plan by the United States to gain control of West African oil reserves. Taylor questioned the fairness of his trial by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is trying him on allegations he controlled and supported fighters who murdered and mutilated thousands of civilians during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war. "I am convicted already," he told the three international judges, in his final day of direct testimony in his own defence after 13 weeks in the witness box. The former Liberian leader, 61, has frequently hit out at Washington in sometimes venomous monologues, accusing the country of seeking to overthrow him and of hypocrisy on human rights.
Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, has claimed at his trial in The Hague that he was indicted for war crimes as part of a "regime change" plan by the United States to gain control of West African oil reserves.
Taylor questioned the fairness of his trial by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is trying him on allegations he controlled and supported fighters who murdered and mutilated thousands of civilians during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war.
"I am convicted already," he told the three international judges, in his final day of direct testimony in his own defence after 13 weeks in the witness box.
The former Liberian leader, 61, has frequently hit out at Washington in sometimes venomous monologues, accusing the country of seeking to overthrow him and of hypocrisy on human rights.
Turkey is set to announce details of a plan to end a conflict in the mainly Kurdish south-east of the country.The interior minister was to present the plan to parliament on Tuesday, but was delayed by opposition protests. The announcement is expected on Thursday. It is thought to include restoring Kurdish place names, some education in the Kurdish language, and more freedom to use Kurdish in election campaigns. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the 25-year Kurdish fight for autonomy
Turkey is set to announce details of a plan to end a conflict in the mainly Kurdish south-east of the country.
The interior minister was to present the plan to parliament on Tuesday, but was delayed by opposition protests. The announcement is expected on Thursday.
It is thought to include restoring Kurdish place names, some education in the Kurdish language, and more freedom to use Kurdish in election campaigns.
Some 40,000 people have been killed in the 25-year Kurdish fight for autonomy
Three Czech soldiers who served as part of the Nato force in Afghanistan have been suspended for wearing Nazi symbols, Czech defence officials say.Two are said to have adorned their helmets with symbols of SS divisions while serving in eastern Afghanistan. Czech Defence Minister Martin Bartak said their behaviour was "unacceptable" and suspended them immediately. The soldiers' commanding officer was also suspended pending further investigation, defence officials said.
Three Czech soldiers who served as part of the Nato force in Afghanistan have been suspended for wearing Nazi symbols, Czech defence officials say.
Two are said to have adorned their helmets with symbols of SS divisions while serving in eastern Afghanistan.
Czech Defence Minister Martin Bartak said their behaviour was "unacceptable" and suspended them immediately.
The soldiers' commanding officer was also suspended pending further investigation, defence officials said.
Saudi Arabia will continue its air strikes against Yemeni rebels until they pull back from the two countries' border, the kingdom's deputy defence minister has warned. Prince Khaled bin Sultan pledged to keep up a military offensive against the Houthi rebels on Tuesday, as he visited Saudi troops in the kingdom's southwest Jizan province, the AFP news agency reported. "We are not going to stop the bombing until the Houthis retreat tens of kilometres inside their border," he said.
Saudi Arabia will continue its air strikes against Yemeni rebels until they pull back from the two countries' border, the kingdom's deputy defence minister has warned.
Prince Khaled bin Sultan pledged to keep up a military offensive against the Houthi rebels on Tuesday, as he visited Saudi troops in the kingdom's southwest Jizan province, the AFP news agency reported.
"We are not going to stop the bombing until the Houthis retreat tens of kilometres inside their border," he said.
Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive footage showing the Taliban in Afghanistan displaying what appears to be US weapons. The fighters say they seized the arms cache from two US outposts in eastern Nuristan province.
Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive footage showing the Taliban in Afghanistan displaying what appears to be US weapons.
The fighters say they seized the arms cache from two US outposts in eastern Nuristan province.
On the night that Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, 21-year-old Mohammed el Gharani was sitting in a segregation cell in Guantanamo Bay's high security Echo Block. He remembers the excitement among his fellow prisoners at the prospect of an Obama presidency. "Everyone was very hopeful; people were saying he was going to change things, that he would close the prison," Gharani, who was released in June, says. "Even the guards were telling us that if he won, things would improve for us." They were to be disappointed. A year after Obama's election win, Al Jazeera has learnt that despite the new president's pledge to close the prison and improve the conditions of detainees held by the US military, prisoners believe that their treatment has deteriorated on his watch
On the night that Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, 21-year-old Mohammed el Gharani was sitting in a segregation cell in Guantanamo Bay's high security Echo Block.
He remembers the excitement among his fellow prisoners at the prospect of an Obama presidency. "Everyone was very hopeful; people were saying he was going to change things, that he would close the prison," Gharani, who was released in June, says.
"Even the guards were telling us that if he won, things would improve for us."
They were to be disappointed. A year after Obama's election win, Al Jazeera has learnt that despite the new president's pledge to close the prison and improve the conditions of detainees held by the US military, prisoners believe that their treatment has deteriorated on his watch
Iraq is attempting what must rate as the biggest PR challenge since Nicolas Sarkozy ordered French media to convince the world he's actually six inches taller - that of enticing western tourists to sample the delights of the sun-kissed land astride the Tigris. This unenviable task has fallen to Hammoud al-Yaqoubi, chairman of Iraq's tourism board, who described security as a "minor problem" and insisted to the Times that a group of intrepid Russians recently enjoyed a ten-day trip "in which none suffered injury".
Iraq is attempting what must rate as the biggest PR challenge since Nicolas Sarkozy ordered French media to convince the world he's actually six inches taller - that of enticing western tourists to sample the delights of the sun-kissed land astride the Tigris.
This unenviable task has fallen to Hammoud al-Yaqoubi, chairman of Iraq's tourism board, who described security as a "minor problem" and insisted to the Times that a group of intrepid Russians recently enjoyed a ten-day trip "in which none suffered injury".
Iraq launches tourism drive
With these kind of headlines I don't need to read the SacBee comics page. Hilarious. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
La destrucción causada por las inundaciones en Tabasco abarcan el 100 por ciento de su territorio, aseguró el gobernador de Tabasco, Andrés Granier, por lo que llamó a las autoridades federales a entregar ayuda suficiente.
Google translation:
The destruction caused by floods in Tabasco cover 100 percent of its territory, said Tabasco Governor Andres Granier, so called [on] federal authorities to deliver adequate aid.
This is a major disaster in a country that doesn't need any more major disasters.
The sole House Republican to vote in favor of the health care legislation, Representative Anh Cao of Louisiana, said in an interview Tuesday that he had been getting some "pretty nasty responses."
WASHINGTON - Finger-pointing erupted between federal agencies Tuesday over Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan. Government officials said a Defense Department terrorism investigator looked into Hasan's contacts with a radical imam months ago, but a military official denied prior knowledge of the Army psychiatrist's contacts with any Muslim extremists. The two government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case on the record, said the Washington-based joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI was notified of communications between Hasan and a radical imam overseas, and the information was turned over to a Defense Criminal Investigative Service employee assigned to the task force. The communications were gathered by investigators beginning in December 2008 and continuing into early this year. .... The disclosure came as questions swirled about whether opportunities were missed to head off the massacre in which 13 died and 29 were wounded last Thursday -- a familiar, early stage in the investigation of headline-grabbing crimes when public officials involved in a case often speak anonymously as they try to shift any blame to rivals in other agencies. .... The FBI has launched its own internal review of how it handled the early information about Hasan. Military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies also are defending themselves against tough questions about what each of them knew about Hasan before he allegedly opened fire in a crowded room at the huge military base in Texas.
The two government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case on the record, said the Washington-based joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI was notified of communications between Hasan and a radical imam overseas, and the information was turned over to a Defense Criminal Investigative Service employee assigned to the task force. The communications were gathered by investigators beginning in December 2008 and continuing into early this year.
....
The disclosure came as questions swirled about whether opportunities were missed to head off the massacre in which 13 died and 29 were wounded last Thursday -- a familiar, early stage in the investigation of headline-grabbing crimes when public officials involved in a case often speak anonymously as they try to shift any blame to rivals in other agencies.
The FBI has launched its own internal review of how it handled the early information about Hasan. Military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies also are defending themselves against tough questions about what each of them knew about Hasan before he allegedly opened fire in a crowded room at the huge military base in Texas.
Possibly related news:
AP headline, 10 Nov 2009: NY school gunman upset over GI treatment
Upset by the treatment of U.S. military personnel, a 42-year-old father of an Army veteran sneaked a disassembled shotgun into a middle school just after classes began Tuesday, put it together in a bathroom, then held the principal hostage for more than two hours before surrendering without firing a shot, police said.... Craft, wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt with an image of a pirate ship on the back at his arraignment, told a judge he was depressed and needed psychiatric care.... Craft has two sons who had attended the school, but school officials said neither was currently enrolled.
Craft, wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt with an image of a pirate ship on the back at his arraignment, told a judge he was depressed and needed psychiatric care....
Craft has two sons who had attended the school, but school officials said neither was currently enrolled.
The US government has rejected a report that Washington has a team ready to secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal due to fears that the country is unstable. Ian Kelly, a state department spokesman, dismissed the report by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker which said that the US has a special force in place that would move to secure Pakistan's nuclear weaponry in the event of a crisis. "The US has no intention of seizing Pakistani nuclear weapons or material - we see Pakistan as a key ally in our common effort to fight violent extremists and to foster regional stability," Kelly said.
The US government has rejected a report that Washington has a team ready to secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal due to fears that the country is unstable.
Ian Kelly, a state department spokesman, dismissed the report by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker which said that the US has a special force in place that would move to secure Pakistan's nuclear weaponry in the event of a crisis.
"The US has no intention of seizing Pakistani nuclear weapons or material - we see Pakistan as a key ally in our common effort to fight violent extremists and to foster regional stability," Kelly said.
The Maldives, which is at the forefront of a campaign to get the international community to act on a looming global warming crisis, has a more immediate problem on hand. A rising tide of religious extremism is driving this tropical paradise of a low-lying string of islands down the road to a new conservatism. What is more, the spread of militant Islam in the country and the appeal of a radical strain of Islam are drawing Maldivian youth into global jihadi groups. "Hundreds of Maldivians" have been recruited by the Taliban and are fighting in Pakistan, Maldivian President Mohammed Nasheed told the CNN-IBN news channel during his recent visit to India.
The military base deal signed last month gives the United States access to seven Colombian military bases to carry out drug trafficking operations.Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday lambasted the agreement and told his people and armed forces to "prepare for war."Colombia immediately issued a statement denying any hostile intentions towards any of its neighbors and threatened to bring the matter before the United Nations and Organization of American States.
The military base deal signed last month gives the United States access to seven Colombian military bases to carry out drug trafficking operations.
Leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday lambasted the agreement and told his people and armed forces to "prepare for war."
Colombia immediately issued a statement denying any hostile intentions towards any of its neighbors and threatened to bring the matter before the United Nations and Organization of American States.
At least 30 people were killed and 70 others injured in a suicide car bomb explosion at congested Farooq e Azam Chowk in Charsadda district on Tuesday afternoon, police said. Dr. Manzoorullah of district headquarters hospital said that six more victims of the blast succumbed to their injuries on late Tuesday evening. The condition of several injured is stated to be critical. The dead also include women and children. The Chief Minister NWFP Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has ordered probe of the deadly blast, he added.District Police Officer Charsadda Riaz Khan told APP that apparently a suicide bomber in an explosive packed car blasted himself minutes after he passed through the Farooq e Azam Chowk on Tangi road. He rejected news reports about any security lapse.Eyewitnesses said DPO Charsadda was believed to be target of the terrorists, who narrowly escaped. Nine critical injured were brought to Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar for treatment.
Twelve people, including an anti-Taliban mayor, were killed by a suicide bomber today in a crowded market in Pakistan.More than 30 others were injured in the blast close to the volatile city of Peshawar.A purported Taliban commander claimed responsibility for the bombing.
More than 30 others were injured in the blast close to the volatile city of Peshawar.
A purported Taliban commander claimed responsibility for the bombing.
A robot jew may not harm humanity Israel, or, by inaction, allow humanity Israel to come to harm
The authors have said that the publication proves that they are in a free country, and not in Tsarist Russia (as we all now the latter would never have published anything like this....how do they come up with these analogies?) .
