In the News: Oct-31

UN panel backs call for standards in arms trade - 31 Oct 2008 at 3:05pm - UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - A UN General Assembly panel on Friday overwhelmingly backed steps to draft a treaty establishing international standards for the arms trade.

Whistle-blowers get little help if punished - 31 Oct 2008 at 11:55am - WASHINGTON -- Military whistle-blowers might want to save their breath. The Pentagon inspector general, the internal watchdog for the Defense Department, hardly ever sides with service members who complain that they were punished for reporting wrongdoing, according to a review of cases by The Associated Press.

Qaeda militant said killed in U.S. strike in Pakistan - 31 Oct 2008 at 11:41am - PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A mid-level al Qaeda leader, identified as an Iraqi, was among up to 20 people killed on Friday in a U.S. missile strike in northwest Pakistan, a Pakistani intelligence official said.

Iraq Seeking Doctors To Rebuild Health System - 31 Oct 2008 at 11:00am - The war in Iraq has driven out much of the country's intellectual capital, including engineers, administrators and doctors. The health care system has been hit particularly hard, and the Health Ministry is offering high pay and protection to help bring doctors back to local Iraqi hospitals.

Inquiry Targeted 2,000 Foreign Muslims in 2004 - 31 Oct 2008 at 7:49am - Many of the foreigners were in this country legally, and the vast majority were not charged, a new report said.

Air Force: Nuke missile silo fire went undetected - 31 Oct 2008 at 7:24am - DENVER -- A fire caused $1 million worth of damage at an unmanned underground nuclear launch site last spring, but the Air Force didn't find out about it until five days later, an Air Force official said Thursday.

Thought for the day:
If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. -George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)