In the News: Apr-29

Ex Guantanamo prosecutor says terror trials were rushed - 29 Apr 2008 at 12:42pm - A former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, testified on Monday that the Pentagon rushed to bring some of the accused terrorists to trial so that the process would be under way before President Bush leaves office.

Judge orders federal government to decide polar bear listing - 29 Apr 2008 at 10:48am - ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A federal judge has ordered the Interior Department to decide within 16 days whether polar bears should be listed as a threatened species because of global warming.

Drone attacks hit high in Iraq - 29 Apr 2008 at 10:22am - WASHINGTON — U.S. commanders in Iraq have ordered an unprecedented number of airstrikes by unmanned airplanes in April to kill insurgents in urban combat and to limit their ability to launch rockets at American forces, military records show. The 11 attacks by Predators — nearly double the previous high for one month — were conducted as the Pentagon has intensified efforts to increase the use of drones, which play an increasingly vital role for gathering intelligence and launching attacks in Iraq. Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates prodded the Air Force to do more to rush drones to the war zone.

BP, Shell profits soar on sky-high oil prices - 29 Apr 2008 at 8:29am - LONDON (AFP) - British energy giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell revealed Tuesday that their combined first-quarter net profits surged to almost 17 billion dollars (11 billion euros) thanks to record high oil prices.

Family of Canadian stranded by no-fly list to make public appeal - 29 Apr 2008 at 8:14am - The family of a Montreal man stranded in Sudan for five years because he's on a no-fly list will make a public plea to the Canadian government Tuesday to help bring him home.

Bill in Fla. Lets Schools Teach Evolution Alternatives - 29 Apr 2008 at 8:42am - Florida's legislature is working out the details of a bill that would either allow or require science teachers to present students with alternatives to the theory of evolution. It could signal a new opening in the perennial battle over evolution in public schools. Proponents say it's a matter of "academic freedom."

Thought for the day:
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. -Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)