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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council condemned sex abuse by peacekeepers for the first time on Tuesday, after hearing from the head of an inquiry into abuse that member nations had ignored the problem for years. Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein said no nation in the history of U.N. peacekeeping was blameless. That, he said, should make it easier for them to come forward and punish troops who commit abuses. He said countries had not come forward to admit what their troops had done because of "sentiments of pride mixed in with embarrassment." Abuses have been...

Chavez has US running scared over rise of Left By Jeremy McDermott, Latin America Correspondent (Filed: 29/04/2005) America is showing increasing signs of alarm at the influence of Hugo Chavez, the firebrand Leftist president of Venezuela who has eclipsed Fidel Castro as Washington's regional bogeyman. The United States, obsessed with the Middle East for the past three years, has let Latin America drift to the Left, leaving Washington with almost no allies in its own back yard. Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, yesterday visited Colombia, the last steadfast ally of the US in South America after Ecuador's Lucio Gutierrez...

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) today told tens of thousands supporters of Jewish life in Gaza to prepare for a "civil rebellion" to block the proposed evacuation of Jews from 21 Gaza communities. Organizers of the massive rally said 80,000 people came, while police, who usually minimize crowd estimates at right wing protests, said 50,000 people arrived. Earlier this week thousands of others visited Gush Katif, in southern Gaza, and thousands more stayed away because of fears of a rerun of last year's mammoth Independence Day traffic jam that choked roads leading to Gush Katif, turning them into the nation's...

Scientists Interrupt Search for the “Mayan Atlantis" in the Caribbean. Cuban Newpaper: GRANMA Mexico City, November 6, 2004 Forwarded by David Drewelow This story updates this prior story . - A group of scientists searching for a hypothetical “Mayan Atlantis" found a pyramid of 35 meters under the waters of the Caribbean, but it had to interrupt the mission due to technical problems, as reported by the Mexican newspaper Millenium, today. After 25 days of work in the sea, near the southwestern end of Cuba, the investigations deeper than 500 meters had to be abandoned due to problems with the...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Qatar and other energy-rich countries of the Persian Gulf are some of the most crime-free places on Earth and among the most friendly to U.S. interests. Even so, anti-Western feelings are on the rise, and with a Saudi crackdown on terror pushing militants into neighboring countries, observers say the Gulf states must act fast to prevent more bombings like Saturday's theater blast in Doha to halt serious damage to the region's appeal to Western tourists, residents and business. "If the Qataris can dismantle this cell quickly and prove they are effective, I don't think this...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The breast cancer rate is rising among women in Singapore and appears to be approaching that seen in Europe, researchers report. The introduction of a Westernized lifestyle and child-bearing pattern may underlie this trend, they suggest. Lead investigator Dr. Kee-Seng Chia told Reuters Health that the breast cancer incidence in Singapore will continue to increase over the next decades. "In the year 2015, one out of every 10 women is likely to develop breast cancer in her lifetime." Chia, at the National University of Singapore, and colleagues came to this conclusion after comparing data for...

Fed all but certain to raise rates another quarter-point Tuesday; how high will rates climb in 2005? December 10, 2004: 1:13 PM EST By Paul R. La Monica, CNN/Money senior writer NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - There's not much anxiety about what the Federal Reserve is going to do on Tuesday. A rate hike is a given, according to most market observers, even though December rate hikes are not all that common. "

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Spies rise up against CIA chief By Marcus Warren in New York (Filed: 15/11/2004) The CIA was in turmoil last night as supporters and critics of its new director fought a bitter and very public war of words over his efforts to overhaul America's main intelligence service. The brash management style of Porter Goss, a controversial appointment when President George W Bush picked him for the job this summer, was under unprecedented scrutiny amid reports of spies' morale sinking to its lowest point in 25 years. Many senior CIA insiders abandoned the cloak-and-dagger tactics of their craft to launch a...

Emboldened by the passage of an Arizona ballot measure that prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits, like-minded conservatives are stepping up their efforts for a similar initiative in California. "It's clear there is public support for cutting off benefits to people here illegally,' said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a group pushing a similar proposal in California. "What happened in Arizona is definitely a benefit because it keeps the issue at the forefront.' Despite the opposition of Arizona's political establishment, including business groups, churches and Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Proposition 200 prevailed 56percent to 44percent last...

VINTON - Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says John Kerry has been gaining in the polls every day since Oct. 21, and George Bush has been going down every day. "That's how God wants it to be," Harkin told a group of about 25 people at the Benton County Headquarters in Vinton on Thursday afternoon. Harkin was touring the state to stump for Kerry and Democratic legislative candidates. He appeared in Benton County on behalf of Mt. Auburn Mayor Dawn Pettengill, who is running against incumbent Republican Dell Hanson for the Iowa House District 39 seat. Harkin spent the first part...

WASHINGTON - More wealthy donors are giving $1 million or more to partisan political organizations now than before a 2002 law took effect, aimed at removing big money from federal elections. The top giver is George Soros, the billionaire financier who jump-started pro-Democratic efforts to find a way to keep spending the unlimited checks the Democratic Party can no longer collect. Soros, who has given roughly $24 million to various groups opposing President Bush (news - web sites), said he donated so much to these so-called 527s to help the Democrats compete financially with Republicans. "I have to make the...

SALEM, Ore. - Accusations of dirty tricks are rare in Oregon politics, but Ralph Nader (news - web sites)'s presidential campaign has sparked charges and countercharges between his campaign and backers of Democratic nominee John Kerry (news - web sites). Union officials who support Kerry accused Nader's backers this week of engaging in widespread fraud and forgery in gathering signatures to place Nader on the Nov. 2 ballot in this battleground state. Nader's supporters countered that Democrats and their union allies are resorting to "gangster" tactics by bullying and intimidating signature-gatherers in hopes of thwarting Nader's petition drive. Nader, a...

Although U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's double-digit lead has dipped slightly, Republican challenger Bill Jones has failed to make a significant impression on voters after five months of campaigning for the Nov. 2 election, according to a new statewide Field Poll. Half of likely voters said they have no opinion of former Secretary of State Jones, despite his recent appearances with Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The Democratic senator leads Jones among likely voters by 50 percent to 33 percent, according to the survey. Seventeen percent said they support another candidate or were undecided. "The reason Boxer...

Warsaw. (Interfax-Europe) - Poland's gross domestic product grew by a faster-than-expected 6.9% in the first quarter of 2004, quickening from 2.3% in the same period of 2003 and 4.7% in the fourth quarter, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) said Monday. Domestic demand grew at a much faster rate in the first quarter, increasing by 5.7% against 2.6% the previous quarter. "The figures show some sign of movement in investment, but the major part of the growth came on growth of inventories, which were probably made by trade for April and May in anticipation of EU accession and high turnover," BOS...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Corn syrup and other refined foods may be much to blame for the huge increase in type-2 diabetes in the United States over the past few decades, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. A study of nearly 100 years of data on what Americans eat show a huge increase in processed carbohydrates, especially corn syrup, and a large drop in the amount of fiber from whole grains, fruits and vegetables. It parallels a spike in the number of cases of type-2 diabetes, caused by the body's increasing inability to properly metabolize sugars. "We are seeing this big jump...

Tensions rise over cave trip farce MoD scotches wild theories claiming it told Mexico about expedition Mark Townsend Sunday March 28, 2004 The Observer (UK) Diplomatic tensions over six Britons being held in Mexico after being rescued from flooded underground caves increased last night when it emerged Ministry of Defence officials had told Mexican authorities of the cavers' precise plans over a month ago. The Observer has also learnt that the potholers, freed from a cave beneath the Mexican jungle on Friday after being trapped for eight days, had explored the same caves two years ago. The men were arrested...

Iran Quake Kills 4,000, Toll Expected to Rise By Parisa Hafezi BAM, Iran (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck the ancient Silk Road city of Bam in southeastern Iran on Friday, killing at least 4,000 people and injuring some 30,000 others, state television said. "This is only an initial statistic," the television said, indicating the death toll was expected to rise further. Iranian television said about 70 per cent of the buildings in the historic city, a popular tourist destination 600 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran, had collapsed in the earthquake which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. Reuters...

<p>LOS ANGELES — Bombings, arson and vandalism, all in the name of the environment, are on the rise.</p> <p>Called "eco-terrorism," the actions are carried out by ecological and animal-rights extremists, creating sharp divisions among more moderate groups and sparking debates about if and when activism goes too far.</p>

Zimbabwe faces food riots after massive rise in price of maize By Angus Shaw in Harare 12 July 2003 Zimbabwe braced itself for an increase of at least a 500 per cent in the price of maize meal yesterday after the government appeared to abandon its price freeze. In 1998 a 25 per cent rise in maize meal - the staple diet for Zimbabweans - sparked food riots and led the government to impose price controls backed by subsidies. Milling company and food store executives said the price would rise from Z$100 (7p) a kilogram to Z$630. The state-run Grain...

The fountains of lightning that rise in the sky By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 26/06/2003) Huge discharges of lightning that flash from the tops of thunderclouds for distances of 40 miles or more, have been observed for the first time on Earth. The dramatic discovery of a new class of lightning adds to a collection of strange atmospheric electrics, with evocative names such as blue jets, sprites and elves, that have been documented by scientists in the past few years. Though there have been anecdotal reports by pilots of blobs, jets and other unusual effects for decades, scientists have...

Emergency measures stepped up as virus deaths rise By Leyla Linton 04 April 2003 Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada reported more deaths yesterday from a flu-like virus, which has infected more than 2,000 people and killed 80 around the world. Nearly all the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) infections in Singapore have been traced to one woman who caught the virus at a hotel in Hong Kong. Lim Hng Kiang, the Singapore Health Minister, described Esther Mok, who is still in hospital, as one of several "super infectors" of the disease. Her infection triggered a chain reaction that left 45...

Terrorist training camps operated by Hezbollah continue to flourish in a remote and lawless area along the shared borders of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, according to law-enforcement officials and a recent report by anti-terrorism authorities. Known as the "tri-border region," the area is flanked by the freewheeling cities of Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, Foz do Iguazu in Brazil and Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, where terrorists meet for what the sources said were high-level sessions to discuss future attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets in North and South America. Since the September 11 attacks on America, anti-terrorism investigators worldwide have...