News in brief
November 6th, 2003
Bombs kill three, wound five in Iraq
MOSUL, Iraq - Insurgents attacked three American military
convoys in this northern city with rocket-propelled grenades and
roadside bombs yesterday, killing three Iraqi civilians and
wounding five Americans, the U.S. military and hospital officials
said.
The attacks occurred in a city long considered relatively safe
for U.S. troops, compared to Baghdad and the cities and towns in
the “Sunni Triangle” to the south.
Elsewhere, paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division captured
two former Iraqi army generals in Fallujah, the military said. The
generals were not identified, but the military said they were
suspected of financing and organizing anti-coalition fighters in
the volatile city west of Baghdad.
Guerrillas near Fallujah shot down a U.S. Army Chinook
helicopter on Sunday, killing 15 soldiers in the bloodiest single
strike against American forces since the war began March 20.
No American soldiers were reported killed yesterday by hostile
fire. But one 1st Armored Division soldier died of wounds from a
“non-hostile gunshot” at a checkpoint in Baghdad, the
military said.
Israel loosens West Bank travel restrictions
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israel’s Defense Ministry announced
yesterday it is easing travel restrictions in the West Bank in an
effort to strengthen Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, who
remains stuck in a power struggle with Yasser Arafat.
But Palestinians said the changes were largely cosmetic and
brought no real relief.
Defense officials said easing the lockdown was a gesture to
Qureia, who is trying to form a new Cabinet, but remains at odds
with Arafat over control of the Palestinian security forces.
The officials said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz also wants to
show progress to U.S. officials when he heads to Washington next
week.
The move comes a week after Israel’s top soldier said the
tough policy was counterproductive and was increasing Palestinian
hatred toward Israel. Because he is known as a hard-liner, the
comments by the army chief, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, have resonated
with the public and may have influenced Mofaz.
Israel has maintained the restrictions, enforced for the past
three years, are necessary to keep out Palestinian attackers.
North Korean plant halts construction
SEOUL, South Korea - The United States and its key allies agreed
yesterday to suspend construction of two nuclear power plants in
North Korea, saying that the energy-starved communist state
won’t get them unless it gives up its nuclear weapons
program.
The move seems likely to kill the $4.6 billion power plants
project, because the Bush administration opposes it and officials
from the United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union
have agreed that a unanimous decision would be needed to resume
construction.
The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, a
U.S.-based consortium, has been building two light-water reactors
as part of the 1994 accord between Washington and Pyongyang in
which North Korea promised to freeze and eventually dismantle its
suspected nuclear weapons development.
Al-Qaida activity on the rise in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia - In lawless Mogadishu, where U.S. officials
fear al-Qaida members are plotting their next attack, the word is
out: catch a terrorist, collect rewards as high as $5 million.
At least four al-Qaida terrorist suspects are in Somalia, Kenyan
officials and U.N. experts say, and Americans are trying to capture
them in a country without an effective central government for more
than a decade, officials and gunmen told The Associated Press.
U.S. agents are working through proxies and have recruited a
network of informants who keep an eye out for suspected terrorists,
according to a Western security official and several prominent
Somalis, all speaking on condition of anonymity.
Reagan supporters fight against CBS
NEW YORK - In protesting “The Reagans,” the
miniseries that CBS decided to pull this week, supporters of the
former president were defending not just a man, or a politician,
but his principles.
“This was a left-wing smear of one of the nation’s
most beloved presidents and CBS got caught,” says Brent
Bozell, founder of the conservative Media Research Center, which
had asked advertisers to consider boycotting the film.
All modern presidents have their advocates, but Ronald
Reagan’s legacy is guarded with an intensity not seen among
supporters of Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford.
For many, Reagan personifies the conservative movement.
— Compiled from Daily wire reports.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 26 May 2012 21:48:58 -0400