In the News: Apr-01

Israel's new foreign minister dismisses Annapolis - 1 Apr 2009 at 1:58pm - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's new foreign minister angered Palestinians and raised the prospect of tension with Washington by saying Wednesday that Israel was not bound by a deal to start negotiations on establishing a Palestinian state.

Harper 'deeply troubled' by Afghan move to limit women's rights - 1 Apr 2009 at 1:52pm - Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday that Canada remains committed to its mission in Afghanistan, but he voiced strong concerns about new Afghan legislation that would limit women's rights in that country.

US replaces Blackwater for some Iraq security - 1 Apr 2009 at 1:16pm - WASHINGTON -- The State Department said Wednesday it has signed the Virginia-based private security firm Triple Canopy to take over protecting U.S. diplomats on the ground in Iraq from Blackwater Worldwide, now known as Xe.

Toronto police arrest at least 100 in major raid targeting guns, gangs - 1 Apr 2009 at 9:23am - Police arrested at least 100 people early Wednesday morning in a large-scale raid linked to guns and gangs investigations across the Greater Toronto Area.

No forensic match for ammo in Blackwater shooting - 1 Apr 2009 at 8:44am - FBI scientists were unable to match bullets from a deadly 2007 shooting in Iraq to guns carried by guards for U.S. government ...

General: Afghan-Pakistan insurgents get stronger - 1 Apr 2009 at 8:52am - WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. general in the Mideast says the Taliban and other insurgents are growing ever stronger in Afghanistan. General David Petraeus is promising the U.S. military will fight "relentlessly and aggressively" to foil the extremists there and in neighboring Pakistan.

Taliban say U.S. reconciliation offer "lunatic" - 1 Apr 2009 at 8:22am - KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents rejected on Wednesday a U.S. offer of "honorable reconciliation" as a "lunatic idea" and said the withdrawal of foreign troops was the only way to end the war in Afghanistan.

Monthly U.S. death toll in Iraq lowest since beginning of war - 1 Apr 2009 at 7:51am - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The number of U.S. troops killed by hostile action in Iraq fell in March to the lowest level since the 2003 invasion, but total civilian deaths remained above January's low point.

Thought for the day:
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. -Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)