In the News: Sep-04

Britain must disclose Iraq intelligence memos - 4 Sep 2008 at 12:50pm - LONDON (AP) — Britain's Information Commissioner ruled Thursday that the government must publish memos and e-mails related to a 2002 intelligence dossier on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction. Richard Thomas said written comments made by officials on early drafts of the Joint Intelligence Committee document should be disclosed. Campaigners allege that the dossier's central claim — that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes — was inserted into a final draft on the advice of press advisers seeking to bolster the content of the document, rather than by intelligence staff. They hope the e-mails and memos ordered released under freedom of information laws will reveal the extent to which the dossier was redrafted.

Judge: New money design should accommodate blind - 4 Sep 2008 at 12:33pm - WASHINGTON -- When the next generations of $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills roll off the presses, there should be some way for blind people to tell them apart, a federal judge said Thursday.

Bush mulling US troop levels in Iraq - 4 Sep 2008 at 12:01pm - WASHINGTON -- The White House says President Bush, having received recommendations about U.S. troops levels in Iraq, is weighing when to resume a troop withdrawal and at what pace.

2 U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad - 4 Sep 2008 at 11:36am - BAGHDAD (AP) — A roadside bomb killed two American soldiers Thursday in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said. They were the first combat deaths in the capital in a week. A U.S. statement said the soldiers were on patrol in the mostly Shiite area of the city when the blast occurred shortly after noon. The victims' names with withheld until their families could be notified.

IRAQ-JORDAN: Government planes to facilitate repatriation - September 04, 2008 3:27:00 PM - AMMAN, 4 September 2008 (IRIN) - Iraqi officials plan to hire private airplanes to bring home migrants from Jordan, where they have been living since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Security in Iraq remains in dispute, with officials in Baghdad insisting it is safe to return as they make arrangements to welcome hundreds of people from neighbouring countries. But UN organisations remain sceptical.

Thought for the day:
A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure. -Segal's Law