In the News: Jul-01

Federal judge temporarily blocks new Cuban travel law - 1 Jul 2008 at 2:50pm - A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a new Florida law that would have imposed a stiff bond and other restrictions ...

New Iraq report: 15 of 18 benchmarks satisfactory - 1 Jul 2008 at 1:30pm - WASHINGTON -- No matter who is elected president in November, his foreign policy team will have to deal with one of the most frustrating realities in Iraq: the slow pace with which the government in Baghdad operates.

U.S. criticizes report Israel likely to attack Iran - 1 Jul 2008 at 12:05pm - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Tuesday criticized reported comments by a senior U.S. defense official who said there was an increasing likelihood Israel would attack Iran over its nuclear program.

Iraq: Hospital officials say truck bomb injures 15 - 1 Jul 2008 at 11:38am - Hospital officials say a truck bomb has wounded at least 15 people near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Last U.S. "surge" brigade begins leaving Iraq - 1 Jul 2008 at 9:46am - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military has begun withdrawing from Iraq the last of the five additional combat brigades that were deployed to the country in 2007, a U.S. military spokesman said on Tuesday.

Militants kill 7 in eastern Iraq - 1 Jul 2008 at 9:42am - Militants killed seven people in a series of attacks Tuesday in Iraq's eastern Diyala province, and a local official said government ...

Obama to expand Bush's faith based programs - 1 Jul 2008 at 9:29am - Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans to expand President ...

U.S. Poised To Handoff Anbar To Iraqis - 1 Jul 2008 at 8:24am - Anbar is Iraq's largest province and was considered the most dangerous until a year ago. It's the 10th province to be handed back to the Iraqi government. Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the commander of Multinational Forces-West in Iraq, talks about the handover of security operations to Iraqi control.

Iraq Sunni bloc on verge of rejoining government - 1 Jul 2008 at 7:52am - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc is close to rejoining the Shi'ite-led government, officials said on Tuesday, a move that would amount to a long-awaited political breakthrough.

Oil prices shoot above $142 after OPEC comments - 1 Jul 2008 at 7:15am - LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices jumped beyond 142 dollars a barrel on Tuesday after the president of OPEC said there was uncertainty surrounding future investment in facilities to boost crude output.