In the News: Aug-27

Judge fears secret hearings over Guantanamo Bay - 27 Aug 2008 at 2:55pm - WASHINGTON -- A federal judge overseeing cases against dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees said Wednesday that he fears the public - and the detainees themselves - will be locked out of the courtroom when evidence in the case is scrutinized for the first time.

Iraq official: Baghdad to build giant Ferris wheel - 27 Aug 2008 at 1:53pm - Iraq is calling on companies to submit designs to build a giant Ferris wheel in Baghdad — the latest in a string of lavish proposals painting the capital as a leisure friendly city. The Ferris wheel, dubbed the Baghdad Eye, will soar more than 650 feet over the city and feature air-conditioned compartments that would each carry up to 30 passengers, Adel al-Ardawi, a media official with Baghdad's municipality, said Wednesday.

Does Iraq have sufficient military might to defend a giant ferris wheel?

Arctic sea ice melts to second worst on record - 27 Aug 2008 at 11:35am - WASHINGTON -- New satellite measurements show that crucial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its second lowest level on record.

U.S. soldiers say they executed Iraqis on riverbank: report - 27 Aug 2008 at 10:25am - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. soldiers killed four handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots on the bank of a Baghdad canal last year, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Top Marine sees shift to Afghanistan - 27 Aug 2008 at 2:22pm - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. Marine officer on Wednesday said he could reduce his 25,000-strong force in the former al Qaeda stronghold of Iraq's Anbar province to reinforce military operations against a growing Taliban threat in Afghanistan.

Gitmo detainee's case back in court - 27 Aug 2008 at 10:01am - Lawyers for a Guantanamo Bay detainee appeared in court Wednesday to demand secret documents that could prove their client was tortured — information that could stall his trial at the U.S. prison camp. Judges have ordered the government to disclose documents pertaining to Binyam Mohamed's detention, but gave the Foreign Office a week to decide whether they would comply with the order or appeal it. The British government has argued that the release of the documents could compromise national security.

Iraq says U.S. sought troop presence to 2015 - 27 Aug 2008 at 9:37am - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States asked Iraq for permission to maintain a troop presence there to 2015, but U.S. and Iraqi negotiators agreed to limit their authorization to 2011, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said.

Thought for the day:
There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it. -Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784)