Payroll numbers grow again

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. payrolls grew in October for the third straight month, the government said Friday, trouncing Wall Street expectations as the labor market accelerated its recovery from its longest slump since World War II.

Though good news for thousands of workers and for President Bush politically, many economists warned job growth was still not fully up to speed, meaning the Federal Reserve could remain on the sidelines, keeping rates low with little fear of inflation.


Unemployment fell to 6.0 from 6.1 percent in September, the Labor Department reported, while payrolls outside the farm sector rose by 126,000 jobs after rising by a revised 125,000 in September.

Economists, on average, expected an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent and payroll growth of 58,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll.

"Today's employment report is just one month's report, but it's the one we've been waiting for, providing unambiguous good news about the labor market," said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services in Boston.


posted by Frodgie at 1:20 PM

 

Third Judge Issues Abortion Law Injunction

The ruling by the San Francisco judge affects doctors who work at 900 Planned Parenthood (search) clinics nationwide. The decision and the ruling in New York hours earlier together cover a majority of the abortion providers in the United States.

And on Wednesday, a federal judge in Nebraska (search) made a similar ruling that covers four abortion doctors licensed in 13 states across the Midwest and East. The ruling came less than an hour after Bush signed the law.

posted by Frodgie at 6:50 AM

 

Lawmakers: Too Many 'Official' Languages Could Tear Country Apart

WASHINGTON — Rep. Ernest Istook (search) fears that weary English-speaking travelers may one day come to a road sign reading "Umweg! Desvio! Deviazione!" and end up taking a "Detour" down the wrong road before finding English in the mix of German, Spanish and Italian languages.

It may sound far-fetched, but several House Republicans say an executive order signed by President Clinton (search) in 2000 could pave the way for such an ill-conceived scenario. They laud efforts by Istook to start chipping away at what they say are federal mandates that could eventually tear the country apart.


posted by Frodgie at 6:48 AM

 

Meal Act Seeks Nutritional Labels for Fast Food

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (search), known for its exposés on popcorn butter and Chinese food, has joined up with members of Congress to introduce a bill requiring restaurant chains to list on their menus the calorie content of their food.

The Menu Education and Labeling Act (search), or MEAL Act, introduced in the House Wednesday by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., would apply to any restaurant chain with 20 or more locations. The end result would be menus that resemble the now familiar "nutrition facts" panel on packaged food labels. The labeling would include listing calories, saturated plus trans fat and sodium on printed menus and calories on menu boards.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is planning to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.


posted by Frodgie at 6:44 AM

 

Carmakers Dreaming of Bigger, Better Hybrid Cars

The part-fuel, part-electric autos known as hybrids are still just eking out a small niche among today's car buyers, but that isn't stopping hopeful industry giants from dreaming up new versions to sell — bigger hybrids, faster hybrids, better-equipped hybrids, even SUV hybrids.

Ford (F), General Motors (GM) and DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX)'s Chrysler unit have announced plans to unveil hybrid trucks — though Ford recently again delayed the release of its gasoline-electric Escape, this time until late summer of 2004. Ford announced plans to begin production on the vehicle in July and said it hopes to sell between 10,000 and 20,000 a year.


posted by Frodgie at 6:42 AM

 

They were not Heroic....(What a Jerk)

Jessica Lynch criticized military for exaggerating accounts of her rescue and recasting her ordeal as patriotic fable... MORE.. Asked by ABCNEWS anchor Diane Sawyer if military's portrayal of rescue bothered her, Lynch said: 'Yeah, it does. It does that they used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff. Yeah, it's wrong'... Asked how she felt about reports of her heroism: 'It hurt in a way that people would make up stories that they had no truth about. Only I would have been able to know that, because the other four people on my vehicle aren't here to tell the story. So I would have been the only one able to say, Yeah, I went down shooting. But I didn't'... Asked about claims the military exaggerated danger of the rescue mission: 'Yeah, I don't think it happened quite like that'...

posted by Frodgie at 6:41 AM

 

Six killed as U.S. helicopter crashes near Tikrit

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- All six soldiers aboard a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter were killed Friday when the aircraft went down near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, according to a 4th Infantry Division spokeswoman.

"We can confirm all six onboard are dead," Maj. Josslyn Aberle said.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

The Black Hawk went down at about 9:20 a.m. (1:20 a.m. ET) and a second Black Hawk -- traveling with the chopper -- did not notice any hostile fire before the aircraft's hard landing, she said.

posted by Frodgie at 6:40 AM

 

N.Korea envoy says has nuclear deterrent

LONDON (Reuters) - North Korea's envoy in Britain says Pyongyang has a nuclear deterrent that is ready to use and powerful enough to deter any U.S. attack.

Ambassador Ri Yong Ho told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that North Korea would only use its capability in self-defence. Asked if North Korea had a nuclear bomb, he said: "What we are saying is, a nuclear deterrent capability."

North Korea has long hinted that it had a nuclear bomb. It said last month it was prepared to demonstrate the existence of its nuclear deterrent "when an appropriate time comes".

But Thursday's comments appear to be the first time it has explicitly stated that it has a nuclear weapon ready to use.

The ambassador said the deterrent was made with plutonium, most of which was recently reprocessed, and was now ready to use should the United States attack.

The latest crisis in North Korea-U.S. relations erupted in October 2002 when U.S. officials said Pyongyang was pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme that violated its international commitments.


posted by Frodgie at 2:48 PM

 

Al Qaeda Suspects Blow Selves Up in Mecca

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Two suspected militants blew themselves up Thursday in the holy city of Mecca when security forces attempted to arrest them, a security official said.

The official said the two likely belonged to a terror cell that had clashed with Saudi police in Mecca on Monday. That cell has been linked to Al Qaeda, the terrorist network blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and for a string of suicide bombings in the Saudi capital in May.

Earlier Thursday, Saudi police engaged in a firefight with suspected terrorists in the capital, Riyadh, leaving one suspect dead and eight policemen wounded, an Interior Ministry official said.

Several militants were captured after the Riyadh shootout, a police officer on the scene told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Several more militants escaped in cars, a neighbor said.

The latest clashes come during one of the most sacred periods for Muslims, the month of Ramadan (search). Muslims believe their holy book, the Quran, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad during a Ramadan 1,400 years ago.

posted by Frodgie at 2:28 PM

 

No Comparison
Iraq is not like Vietnam

I am officially sick of the constant claims of reporters and politicians that Iraq is becoming a rerun of the Vietnam "quagmire." These people don't know what they are talking about. They remind me of the old adage that it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. The fact is that there is little similarity between Iraq and Vietnam. Indeed, there is little comparison between the real Vietnam War and the facile description of it that we get from critics of the Iraq operation.

Some time ago in a piece for NRO, I stated that I could think of no instance in which guerillas alone had ever prevailed in a war. Of course, they can harass Coalition troops with mortar attacks, they can inflict casualties in ambushes or by mining roads, and they can even shoot down a helicopter on occasion. But these things don't win a war, unless they break the will of the stronger power.

For the most part, guerillas contribute to real success by serving as an auxiliary to a "force in being," a conventional military formation that concentrates the mind of the enemy. After all, the term "guerrilla" was first used to describe the Spanish partisans who, in conjunction with a British force, harried Napoleon's army during operations in Spain in 1810. The guerrillas were effective only because the French had to focus on Wellington's army. Because they always had to contend with the British main force, they could not organize their forces in such a way as to pursue and kill the guerrillas. That is essentially what the Viet Cong guerrillas did in Vietnam, as well.


posted by Frodgie at 10:20 AM

 

North Korea Says It Will Block Equipment Transfer

Pyongyang (search), however, did not revoke its earlier promise to return to six-nation talks aimed at resolving a standoff over its nuclear weapons program -- a scenario some U.S. allies had feared when they agreed to halt work on the North Korean reactor project.

The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (search), a U.S.-led consortium based in New York, has been building two light-water reactors in Kumho, a remote village on North Korea's northeast coast, as part of a 1994 "agreed framework" deal between Washington and Pyongyang.

Halting the project looked inevitable by Thursday, however, as all four members of KEDO's executive board favored suspending the Kumho project for at least one year.

Washington led the initiative, suggesting that KEDO kill its project because North Korea has flouted the 1994 accord by running a secret nuclear weapons program.


posted by Frodgie at 10:18 AM

 

Administration Follows Hill Approach to Syria

The Syria Accountability Act (search) was being debated in the Senate on Wednesday evening, though passage was widely expected since 76 senators co-sponsored the bill.

The House passed an identical bill, 398-4, in October after the administration had beaten around the bush for months deciding whether to endorse it.

Experts say the Bush administration is eager to guarantee that Syria not aid terrorists, but with the complicated political geography of the Middle East in mind, was looking for a less formal method of persuasion and inducements.

"The administration would have preferred to control the timing of sanctions so as to maximize the leverage of them," said Heritage Foundation (search) Middle East expert Jim Phillips, adding that Congress' action appears to punish Syria for past actions rather than encourage future good behavior.


posted by Frodgie at 10:10 AM

 

Rangel Calls for Rumsfeld Resignation

Referring to a memo leaked last month in which Rumsfeld asked his four top aides several ponderous questions about gauging the success in the war on terror, Rep. Charles Rangel (search) of New York said Rumsfeld doesn't have the strategy for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq nor a clue whether efforts in Iraq have been successful or not.

"The whole idea of having a leaked report that says that there is no game plan, he doesn't know whether he's winning or losing, that he's asking questions outside of the box — he's not supposed to be asking questions, he's supposed to be giving answers to those questions. Our men and women that are dying every day are entitled to a game plan," Rangel told Fox News' Neil Cavuto.

"We owe it to the troops to have some type of plan and he's the guy that's responsible for this, he ought to come up with a plan or resign."

On Sunday, Rumsfeld appeared on a "Fox News Sunday" and spoke in specific detail about U.S. postwar planning and what has been achieved in Iraq.


posted by Frodgie at 10:08 AM

 

Dean to let supporters decide whether to abandon public financing

(CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean will let his campaign supporters decide whether he should forgo public financing to better match President Bush's hefty war chest.

In a message posted on his Web site Tuesday, the former Vermont governor said his campaign will contact some 600,000 supporters this week, most by e-mail, asking them to vote on whether he should opt in or out of the public financing system. The results will be announced on Saturday.

Dean said federal limits will cap spending for his primary campaign at $45 million, leaving his campaign with "no way to defend ourselves" against Bush between the end of the primary season and the Democratic convention in July.


posted by Frodgie at 9:59 AM

 

Johnny Cash wins three CMA awards

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- Johnny Cash won the Country Music Association's album of the year, single of the year and video of the year awards Wednesday -- capturing his first CMA awards since 1969 and tying Alan Jackson for most wins during the night.

Cash, who died September 12 at age 71 of complications from diabetes, was nominated for four awards and won all but one: vocal event of the year.

"It's amazing my father had such a life that he could expose himself and still never lose his dignity and his charm," said Cash's son John Carter Cash, who accepted the awards with Cash's daughter, Kathy Cash.


posted by Frodgie at 9:58 AM

 

American Muslims Told to Leave Major U.S. Cities..."If we leave them alone, they will leave us alone"-Liberal (Clowns)

An Al Qaeda (search) Web site is running a warning issued to Muslims to leave Washington D.C., New York City and Los Angeles because of implied imminent terrorist attacks, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Titled "A Warning to Muslims in America," the directive was issued by the previously unknown "Islamic Bayan Movement" and first ran on the Global Islamic Media Web site on Monday, according to MEMRI, which translated the communiqué.

It has since been published on the Al Qaeda-run site Al Faroq (search), a MEMRI release said. The Global Islamic Media site has published several messages from Jihad groups around the world in recent months.

As of Tuesday, there had been no increase in the Pentagon's yellow terror alert status. Yellow represents an "elevated" status on the five-point chart.

"Our Muslim brothers in America, we ask you to immediately leave the following cities: Washington, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles," reads the communiqué, which frequently quotes the Quran.


posted by Frodgie at 8:50 AM

 

Crewmate: Ferry Pilot Lied About Passing Out

NEW YORK — A mate aboard the ill-fated Staten Island Ferry (search) that smashed into a pier last month told investigators that the boat's pilot was "standing erect during the entire incident" and never slumped over the controls, city officials said yesterday.

City Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo (search) said Robert Rush told probers that he alone was in the wheelhouse with the pilot, Assistant Captain Richard Smith (search), "and that nothing unusual transpired in the approximately 90 seconds before the crash."

Rush's statement contradicts the story Smith told cops shortly after the crash: that he slumped over the wheel before the crash because he hadn't taken his blood-pressure medication.

Cardozo, flanked by city Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall, dropped the bombshell during a break in a three-hour congressional hearing at the College of Staten Island. Smith and Captain Michael Gansas (search), who would have been the star witnesses, were no-shows - leaving empty chairs where they should have been sitting.


posted by Frodgie at 8:47 AM

 

FBI has new 9/11 hijacking suspect

WASHINGTON — The FBI has identified an al-Qaeda operative who agents believe tried as late as August 2001 to join the 9/11 terrorist plot as the "20th hijacker," a top federal law enforcement official said Tuesday.
"We are fairly confident we know who No. 20 is," said the official, who is involved in the 9/11 probe and asked not to be identified. The official said the unidentified al-Qaeda operative got into the USA but "had to leave" the country shortly before 19 hijackers carried out the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people. The official would not say why the operative left, whether he is alive or whether he is in U.S. custody.

A top Justice Department official confirmed that FBI agents believe they have identified the 20th hijacker. Both officials said the FBI does not believe the would-be terrorist was accused al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui or Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, an alleged 9/11 paymaster who tried to get into the USA at least four times before the attacks.


posted by Frodgie at 8:44 AM

 

Bush Handing Abortion Opponents a Victory

The president's signature represents an end to a legislative crusade that began when Republicans captured the House in 1995. Former President Clinton twice vetoed similar bills, arguing that they lacked an exception to protect the health of the mother.

But for abortion rights advocates, the current president's action simply moves the fight over a procedure opponents call partial birth abortion from Congress to the courts.

The bill Bush has said he was pleased to usher into law Wednesday forbids an abortion, generally performed in the second or third trimester, in which a fetus is partially delivered before being killed, usually by having its skull punctured.

Aware of its backing among the religious conservatives that make up a key portion of his base of political support, the president called the bill "very important legislation that will end an abhorrent practice and continue to build a culture of life in America" when it gained final congressional approval late last month.


posted by Frodgie at 8:42 AM

 

Ferry crew member: Pilot was at helm...So was he drunk or stoned?

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The pilot of the Staten Island ferry that crashed into a pier last month, killing 10 people and injuring many others, was standing at the helm at the time of the accident, according to testimony at a congressional hearing Tuesday.

Crew member Robert Rush told the House Transportation Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Affairs that assistant captain Richard Smith, 55, was standing behind the controls and "never saw him slump over the wheel," according to details provided by New York City Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall.

"He said that he stood erect the entire time at the helm of the ship," Weinshall said. "He was sitting in the [position] they call the settee, which is behind Captain Smith, and he specified that Captain Smith was at the helm of the ship and did not slump over. He could not tell whether he lost consciousness because Captain Smith's back was to him."


posted by Frodgie at 8:41 AM

 

Democrats lose Kentucky, Mississippi governorships

(CNN) -- The Democratic Party's electoral woes in the South continued Tuesday, as Republicans captured Kentucky's governorship for the first time in more than three decades and Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove became the fifth Democratic incumbent to fall in the past year.

Republican Haley Barbour, a Washington lobbyist and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, won the Mississippi governorship in a tight race with Musgrove.

"We Republicans have a wonderful team and we believe in team work," Barbour said in his victory speech. "Being part of that team will help Mississippi for the next four years."


posted by Frodgie at 8:40 AM

 

Nigeria clerics condemn gay bishop

LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Nigerian Anglican Church officials reacted with dismay on Monday to the consecration of an openly gay bishop in the United States, but stopped short of saying their church would break away over the issue.

The Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson was consecrated on Sunday as a bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, an action condemned as "heresy" by conservative opponents.

"The Church in Nigeria does not like this at all," said an Anglican Church official in Lagos. An official statement is due to be released later on Monday.

Another Anglican source said the Church of Nigeria would protest against the consecration but was unlikely to announce a separation from the U.S. branch of the global Anglican church.


posted by Frodgie at 9:15 AM

 

‘Something’ felled an M1A1 Abrams tank in Iraq – but what?
Mystery behind Aug. 28 incident puzzles Army officials

Shortly before dawn on Aug. 28, an M1A1 Abrams tank on routine patrol in Baghdad “was hit by something” that crippled the 69-ton behemoth.
Army officials still are puzzling over what that “something” was.

According to an unclassified Army report, the mystery projectile punched through the vehicle’s skirt and drilled a pencil-sized hole through the hull. The hole was so small that “my little finger will not go into it,” the report’s author noted.

The “something” continued into the crew compartment, where it passed through the gunner’s seatback, grazed the kidney area of the gunner’s flak jacket and finally came to rest after boring a hole 1½ to 2 inches deep in the hull on the far side of the tank.

As it passed through the interior, it hit enough critical components to knock the tank out of action. That made the tank one of only two Abrams disabled by enemy fire during the Iraq war and one of only a handful of “mobility kills” since they first rumbled onto the scene 20 years ago. The other Abrams knocked out this year in Iraq was hit by an RPG-7, a rocket-propelled grenade.


posted by Frodgie at 9:14 AM

 

A War in the Dark

THE AMERICANS are learning the universal language of insult. They catch on now when Iraqis in the seething Sunni Triangle flash them a backhanded V sign, which conveys roughly the same message as an extended middle finger back in the States. When Americans wish to demonstrate their contempt to the locals, they point to the soles of their feet, deeply offensive to Iraqis.
What the Americans still don’t know is who, exactly, they’re fighting. Last week, after four suicide-bombing attacks in the heart of Baghdad left more then 30 people dead, Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, deputy commander of the First Armored Division, told reporters that the attacks were the work of “foreign fighters.” Yet just 24 hours earlier his division commander, Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, told a news conference that he had not seen “any infusion of foreign fighters in Baghdad.” On Sunday, the hidden enemy struck again. At least 15 U.S. troops were killed and some 21 injured when a U.S. Chinook helicopter was shot down in Western Iraq. It was the deadliest single strike against American soldiers since the start of the war.
posted by Frodgie at 9:10 AM

 

Deadly Attacks Continue as Troops Search for Missiles

BAGHDAD, Iraq — As U.S. troops continue to scour Iraq for anti-aircraft missiles following Sunday's deadly helicopter ambush that killed 16 troops, fresh attacks on coalition forces in Baghdad (search) and Tikrit (search) killed two American soldiers, U.S. military officials said Tuesday.

Two other soldiers from the 1st Armored Division (search) were wounded during the Baghdad roadside bombing Tuesday, while the Tikrit attack left one other soldier wounded.

The deaths brought the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq in November to 23, most in the weekend crash of a transport helicopter shot down Sunday west of Baghdad.

The roadside bombing in the capital followed a brief mortar barrage in which at least three projectiles detonated about 9:15 p.m. Monday in central Baghdad, causing no damage or casualties, U.S. officials said.


posted by Frodgie at 9:05 AM

 

Bush to meet with firefighters in charred California

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- The hotly contested California recall election is over. Fires that ravaged southern California are all but surrounded. Enter President Bush, who is touring scorched parts of the state he lost in 2000 but has hopes of winning next year.

Both Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and Republican governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger will join Bush on Tuesday as he surveys the charred region on foot and by air. Bush also will meet with area firefighters, who battled flames that swept across more than 743,000 acres, caused more than 20 deaths and destroyed more than 3,570 homes.


posted by Frodgie at 9:03 AM

 

Blast leaves U.S. soldier dead

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier with the Army's 1st Armored Division was killed Tuesday morning and another was wounded after an improvised explosive device exploded in the Baghdad area, a coalition official said.

The incident occurred about 10:10 a.m. (2:10 a.m. ET). No other details were immediately known.

With the latest death, 382 U.S. troops have died during the war with Iraq, 256 under hostile circumstances.

In an earlier incident, three rockets or mortar rounds exploded Monday night in the highly secure "Green Zone" of the Iraqi capital that houses the U.S.-led coalition's headquarters, a coalition spokesman said.

The explosions came a day after a U.S. Army transport helicopter crashed in a suspected missile strike, killing 16 soldiers and wounding 20 others.

posted by Frodgie at 9:02 AM

 

Bloody Weekend

From President Bush’s address at the Pentagon memorial service, October 11, 2001:

"I pledge to you that America will never relent on this war against terror. (Applause.) There will be times of swift, dramatic action. There will be times of steady, quiet progress. Over time, with patience, and precision, the terrorists will be pursued. They will be isolated, surrounded, cornered, until there is no place to run, or hide, or rest.

"As military and civilian personnel in the Pentagon, you are an important part of the struggle we have entered. You know the risks of your calling, and you have willingly accepted them. You believe in our country, and our country believes in you.

"Within sight of this building is Arlington Cemetery, the final resting place of many thousands who died for our country over the generations. Enemies of America have now added to these graves, and they wish to add more. Unlike our enemies, we value every life, and we mourn every loss.

"Yet we're not afraid. Our cause is just, and worthy of sacrifice. Our nation is strong of heart, firm of purpose. Inspired by all the courage that has come before, we will meet our moment and we will prevail."


posted by Frodgie at 9:15 AM

 

Teen surfing star loses arm in shark attack

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) — The water was clear and there was no indication of danger when a 13-year-old surfing star went out on the waves with her best friend and her friend's father. But while Bethany Hamilton was lying on her board off Kauai's North Shore, a shark bit once and then disappeared, taking off her left arm just below the shoulder.

posted by Frodgie at 9:13 AM

 

Touch-Screen Voting Could Present Problem for Floridians...Tards

"There's no paper trail," said Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., "And there's no assurance that what you put into the machines actually happens."

Following the Florida recount (search) in the 2000 presidential election, voter confidence was at a record low, elections officials nationwide scrambled to locate weaknesses in the system and lawmakers ponied up hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to buy tens of thousands of touch-screen voting machines (search).

Touch-screen machines record votes on computer hard drives — no receipt, no paper record and critics say, no way to detect election fraud.

"Without a hard copy to go back and verify so that the average person can actually feel comfortable you are risking any confidence in elections. And that is the central activity of democracy," said political activist Sam Fields.


posted by Frodgie at 9:11 AM

 

Post-Taliban Afghanistan Unveils Draft Constitution

The constitution, which aims to unite the diverse Afghan people under democratic principles with an Islamic core -- must still be debated at a constitutional grand council, or loya jirga (search), next month. Ratification of the document will set the stage for nationwide elections scheduled for next June.

A red-bound copy of the long-awaited draft was handed to former King Mohammad Zaher Shah, President Hamid Karzai (search) and Lakhdar Brahimi, special envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, during a ceremony at Kabul's Presidential Palace.

"I hope this will be acceptable for the people and will direct people toward peace, security and democracy," said the king.

The draft constitution gives the country the official name, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, a sign of the government's desire to bring the country together under Islam. However, the hardline Islamic law practiced by the Taliban (search) is not expected to be a part of the new constitution.


posted by Frodgie at 9:10 AM

 

Episcopal Church consecrates openly gay bishop

DURHAM, New Hampshire (CNN) -- After months of bitter infighting, the Episcopal Church consecrated Rev. Gene Robinson Sunday as bishop of the New Hampshire Diocese -- the first openly gay man to reach that level in the church hierarchy and in the Anglican community worldwide.

"You cannot imagine what an honor it is for you to have called me," Robinson preached afterward, on the verge of crying. But he also noted that many people in the church were in "great pain" because of his promotion.

posted by Frodgie at 9:09 AM

 

U.S. vows to finish job in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. officials, responding to the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Iraq since President Bush declared the end of major combat on May 1, are vowing to finish the job and beat back insurgents.

The high cost of that effort was made clear Sunday as 16 soldiers died when a U.S. Army transport helicopter went down west of Baghdad. Twenty soldiers were injured.

Col. William Darley, a U.S. military spokesman, said witnesses reported seeing missile trails when the twin-engine CH-47 Chinook went down but that the official cause had not been determined.


posted by Frodgie at 9:08 AM

 

U.S. helicopter crash kills 15 in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. military transport helicopter crashed Sunday near Fallujah, Iraq, killing 15 U.S. troops and wounding 21 others, the U.S. military said.

Spokesman Col. William Darley said witnesses reported that the CH-47 Chinook had been hit by a missile, but he said the cause has not been determined.

Three other attacks also occurred Sunday in which at least one U.S. soldier died. It was the deadliest day in Iraq for U.S. forces since March.

The attacks came as coalition forces were on alert for a threatened "day of resistance" by anti-coalition guerrillas following a warning from the U.S. Consulate Office in Baghdad.


posted by Frodgie at 10:15 AM

 

Coroner: Drug-induced abortion led to teen's death

LIVERMORE, Calif. (AP) - The Alameda County Coroner's Office has confirmed that a therapeutic drug-induced abortion led to the death of an 18-year-old Livermore woman who died Sept. 17.
According to the autopsy report released Friday, Holly Patterson died of septic shock caused by endomyometritis, an inflammation of the uterus. The report says that endomyometritis was caused by a drug-induced abortion.

Endomyometritris is an infection of the womb that more typically is a complication of a cesarean section and septic shock is an often fatal collapse of blood pressure caused by infection.

Although Patterson died just days after initiating an abortion with the drug RU-486, the controversial abortion medication was not specifically mentioned in the teen's Cause of Death report.


posted by Frodgie at 10:14 AM