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MARIETTA — A Marietta woman who was accused of sending threatening packages to lawmakers was shot and killed after attacking a Cobb Police officer Christmas morning, police said. Using a knife and a handgun, Jameela Cecila Barnette, 53, assaulted an officer from the department’s Precinct 3 who had knocked on her apartment door after responding to an alarm, Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said. Despite receiving injuries to his arm, Pierce said the officer, who is not being identified at this time, fired his service weapon to stop the assault. The officer was treated and released at the scene,...

Police in central London are on the alert today amid fears of more violence between anti-Islam protesters and Muslims. Hundreds of supporters of the right-wing English Defence League are expected to descend on Trafalgar Square today. Tensions were simmering yesterday after a Cabinet minister raised fears of a return to 1930s fascism, comparing modern right-wing groups to Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts. Communities Secretary John Denham's comments came as he announced a drive to prevent white working class people being 'exploited' by extremists. He singled out protests being organised by the English Defence League, some of which have turned violent over recent...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2006 – The idea that progress and violence co-exist in Iraq is fast becoming a mantra for officials both in Baghdad and here. Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, made this statement earlier this month during a visit here, and he stressed it again today in a Baghdad news conference. The idea is that people should not obsess on the violence to the exclusion of the progress the Iraqis are making. The security forces are a case in point, according to State Department and Multinational Force Iraq officials in Baghdad. The Iraqi...

Coalition forces rebuild mosque, provide medical care to villagers. WASHINGTON, July 23, 2006 — Coalition forces continue to aid and develop Afghanistan, even as they fight back terrorist extremists who are determined to stop progress, U.S. military officials reported today. Aid and reconstruction efforts include a rebuilt mosque in the Paktya province and medical and humanitarian aid to hundreds of Afghan villagers in the Kandahar province, said Combined Forces Command spokesman Army Col. Thomas Collins. " Coalition forces are not now and will not ever be dissuaded from their mission of building a free, secure, and independent Afghanistan. " Maj....

Mexican President Vicente Fox arrived in California Thursday amid intense debate over immigration and as the U.S. Senate approved sweeping reforms that include tighter border security and a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. Fox was to address a joint session of the state Legislature and meet privately with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, their first meeting since the movie star became governor. On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said he would stress Mexico's responsibility for illegal immigration in his meeting with Fox. "Mexico is our friend," Schwarzenegger said at a Capitol news conference. "I am going to have an open discussion with...

China admits to 'deep-seated conflicts' amid economic boom By Richard Spencer in Beijing (Filed: 06/03/2006) China's prime minister gave a surprisingly gloomy assessment of the state of the country's booming economy and fast-changing society in his annual speech to parliament yesterday. In the face of near-euphoria among governments and businesses in the western world about the pace of its growth, Wen Jiabao said long-term economic health was at risk while society faced "deep-seated conflicts". Wen Jiabao delivers the annual ‘work report’ yesterday For years, Communist leaders have worried about the growing wealth gap between the expanding cities of the east...

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Jan. 12, 2006 – A two-and-a-half-hour session yesterday morning raised thorny legal issues in the military commissions proceeding against an accused al Qaeda propagandist held at the U.S. detention facility here. The first such hearing here in over a year resulted in the defendant boycotting the proceedings and an ethical dilemma for the assigned military defense attorney. Yesterday's hearing highlighted the extent of refusal by defendant Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul to cooperate. When presiding officer Army Col. Peter E. Brownback III gave him an opportunity to speak, Bahlul launched into a lengthy speech...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2005 – Reports from Iraq's national parliamentary elections today indicate voter turnout was higher than the numbers seen for the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, military officials here said today. The outcome of the election will determine the first full-term government since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Iraqi security forces and Task Force Baghdad soldiers maintained security at hundreds of polling sites in and around the city as residents began lining up well before the 7 a.m. opening for the historic national elections. About 225,000 Iraqi security forces kept the city safe - 85,000 more than were in...

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Miffed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will snub George W. Bush when the US president begins a visit to California amid a clash over fundraising for their Republican Party. The movie-star state governor, a moderate in Bush's conservative party, late Wednesday expressed irritation that the president apparently ignored his plea to delay the fundraising trip and said he would not take the time to meet Bush. The cash clash brings to the surface long-standing tensions between the two men as Schwarzenegger moves to raise crucial funds for himself ahead of a special election next month on which he...

MANILA (AP) - About 500 Muslim rebels have withdrawn from two Mindanao strongholds to let government forces launch an offensive against another Muslim group -- the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, a rebel spokesman said Sunday. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas, nearly 300 of whom were armed, withdrew from Talayan and Guindolongan Thursday to allow the jungle offensive to go ahead and avoid accidental clashes with government troops, rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said. The guerrillas plan to return to their camps Monday unless the military asks for an extension, Kabalu said.

The Race to PrescribeDrug for African Americans may debut amid debate Ben Harder Most modern medical research into race or ethnicity focuses on the disturbingly long list of health disparities among different groups. For example, compared with whites, blacks are 30 percent more likely to die of heart disease at any given age and 40 percent more likely to die of a stroke. Overall, blacks have an average life expectancy that's 5 years shorter than that of whites. Identifying such inequalities is one step toward helping each population get appropriate medical care. Sometimes, that requires making the same tests and...

SPRINGFIELD - Senate Democrats on the Executive Committee hastily approved four gun-control measures Wednesday amid partisan rancor. Another Senate panel already had rejected much of the legislation, and some Republican senators repeatedly expressed disapproval at the work-around tactic. Senate Bills 1330, 1331 and 1332 were approved Wednesday even though the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected identical legislation earlier this session. Two of the Judiciary Committee's six Democrats are from downstate - Sens. James Clayborne of Belleville and Bill Haine of Alton - and both tend to vote against gun-control legislation. On the other hand, seven of the Executive Committee's eight Democrats...

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Carnage amid Najaf peace mission It was unclear who carried out the Kufa attacks Top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani has begun a peace mission to the Iraqi city of Najaf, hours after attacks in nearby Kufa left at least 74 dead. About 315 people apparently obeying the ayatollah's call to march on Najaf were also hurt, the health ministry said. The main Kufa mosque was hit by mortar shells and gunfire was also reported. Ayatollah Sistani's representatives have contacted representatives of militants in Najaf who have been in a three-week standoff with US-led forces. On Wednesday he had returned...

<p>One million form letters are making their way to Republican-voting households across California, seeking money and signatures in support of a recall campaign against Gov. Gray Davis.</p> <p>While Republicans want to project a unified front against the second-term Democrat, however, the politics behind this letter-writing campaign is eroding their sense of unity.</p>

Amid Worldwide Skepticism, Cheney Again Slams Iraq Thu Aug 29, 4:57 PM ET By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday hammered home the U.S. case for pre-emptive action against Iraq, brushing off a groundswell of unease among European allies, Muslim states and broader world public opinion. Cheney used a gathering of Korean War veterans to repeat an earlier indictment of Saddam Hussein , charging the Iraqi leader with acquiring weapons of mass destruction and posing a "mortal threat" to the United States. He also downplayed concerns, laid out by some senior members of his...