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CRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush seized on a foiled London airline bomb plot to hammer unnamed critics he accused of having all but forgotten the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Weighed down by the unpopular war in Iraq, Bush and his aides have tried to shift the national political debate from that conflict to the broader and more popular global war on terrorism ahead of November 7 congressional elections. The London conspiracy is "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us...

Israel gives army a free hand as Lebanon seeks withdrawal By Patrick Bishop (Filed: 08/08/2006) Diplomatic efforts to stop the war in Lebanon failed to slow the bloodshed yesterday as at least 32 civilians were killed in Israeli air raids. Air raids on a crowded area of Beirut that had so far escaped the violence killed at least eight people Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said no limits had been placed on the army's actions and leaflets warned Lebanese living south of the Litani river not to remain outdoors after 10pm. Targets in south and east Lebanon were bombed...

City Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr. said a recent push to force the Cradle of Liberty Boy Scouts Council to denounce the national organization's antigay policy had nothing to do with his own homosexuality. "My own sexuality, my own sexual orientation, has never been hidden and never played into my decision," Diaz said in an interview yesterday with The Inquirer. "It has, perhaps, made me more sensitive to the issues." Diaz said he sent another letter yesterday morning seeking a meeting with William T. Dwyer III, council chief executive officer and president. Diaz, the city's first openly gay solicitor and...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian officials often say that places with the greatest troubles offer their country the best opportunities. Iranian influence in Iraq has surged since the U.S.-led invasion three years ago. Its reach into Afghanistan continues to grow. And now, the war in Lebanon could make Iran an even more important player in the Islamic world even as its militant Shiite Arab client, Hezbollah, gets pounded by Israel. "Iran sees itself more than just the moral father of Hezbollah. Iran seeks to become a major force across the region as a counterbalance to America and Israel," said Ahmad Bakhshaiesh,...

SACRAMENTO — Hoping to resurrect an idea voters rejected in last year's special election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to offer lawmakers a deal: He'll support an easing of term limits if they'll agree to change the way California draws voting districts. Schwarzenegger said in an interview Thursday he does not believe term limits have improved Sacramento's political culture. Allowing legislators to stay in office longer would be worthwhile, he said, if it induced them to put a proposal on the ballot that would strip them of the power to carve political boundaries. The governor reasons that lawmakers may not want...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday plans to ask the federal government to prohibit roads on 4.4 million acres of national forest land in California, with limited exceptions for thinning trees to reduce fire danger. The goal is to protect areas of the forests that currently are not accessible by roads, Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman said Tuesday. Schwarzenegger is acting under a regulation adopted last year by the Bush administration. That regulation replaced a Clinton-era rule prohibiting road-building on nearly a third of national forest land. Clinton passed the road-building ban eight days before he left office in January 2001....

A group of U.S. Army soldiers pulls security on a recently trash-, barrier- and debris-choked street, July 5, 2006, during the final stage of cleaning Baghdad’s Karada Peninsula, part of the citywide Operation Baghdad is Beautiful. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Rodney Foliente Operation Seeks to Help Clean Up Baghdad Soldiers, Iraqis take part in a joint operation aimed at helping to restore and improve Baghdad. By U.S. Army Spc. Rodney Foliente 4th Infantry Division BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 5, 2006 -- Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers, in coordination with local Iraqi governments, continue their efforts in Operation Baghdad is...

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea hinted Wednesday that it would halt any plans to test a long-range missile if the U.S. agreed to direct talks, as a former South Korean president scrapped plans to visit the North because of its apparent moves toward a launch. Tensions in the region have soared following intelligence reports that the North has fueled a ballistic missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory. The U.S. and Japan have said they could consider sanctions against the impoverished country if it goes ahead. On Wednesday, a spokesman for former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung cited the...

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leaving open the possibility of backing Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for re-election, despite an impassioned appeal from her GOP rival, former state Sen. Dick Mountjoy. Schwarzenegger surprised his Republican backers shortly after the primary when he said he would have no problem endorsing a Democrat for office this year. "If I like someone, absolutely,'' he said at a June 8 campaign stop in Antioch. While the governor didn't name any names, Steve Schmidt, his campaign manager, wasn't quite so circumspect. "Like most Californians, (Schwarzenegger) thinks Dianne Feinstein is a great senator,'' Schmidt said. While Schwarzenegger...

FORT HUACHUCA — Hospitalized soldiers are generally focused on getting well. Many of the soldiers wounded in action in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan know their careers in Army green will be over after they go through painful rehabilitation or additional surgeries. But the Wounded Warriors, as the Army calls them, don’t know their military value does not end with a disability discharge. On Friday, a team from Fort Huachuca went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on a recruiting mission. They sought soldiers interested in working as civilians on post. It was the first job...

CARLSBAD, Calif. - Republicans seized on Democrat Francine Busby's comments that sounded like encouragement for illegal immigrants to help her campaign as the GOP sought an edge in the final hours of a surprisingly close House race. Immigration looms large in the runoff election Tuesday in the San Diego-area district some 30 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Busby's remarks, and her subsequent explanation that she misspoke, has drawn much of the attention in the race's last days. Speaking to a largely Hispanic audience last Thursday, Busby faced a Spanish-speaking questioner who said he wanted to help her campaign but lacked...

Expedition seeks clues to lost Bronze Age culture By Richard C. Lewis Thu Jun 1, 4:11 PM ETReuters Photo: Deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard speaks at the National Geographic Society in an undated file photo.... PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (Reuters) - An underwater explorer who found the Titanic and a team of international scientists will soon survey waters off the Greek island of Crete for clues to a once-powerful Bronze Age-era civilization. The expedition about 75 miles northwest of Crete aims to learn more about the Minoans, who flourished during the Bronze Age, and seeks to better understand seafaring four millennia ago,...

Iranian group seeks British suicide bombers Robert Tait in Tehran and Ewen MacAskill Wednesday April 19, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Relations between the west and the hardline Iranian regime are set to worsen after a Tehran-based group claimed yesterday it was trying to recruit Iranians and other Muslims in Britain to carry out suicide bombings against Israel. The Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign, which claims to be independent but has the backing of the regime, said it is targeting potential recruits in Britain because of the relative ease with which UK passport-holders can enter...

WASHINGTON - The Senate's top Democrat asked Majority Leader Bill Frist on Wednesday to return to work on immigration legislation immediately after the Senate completes a bill with more money for military operations in Iraq and hurricane relief. Congress is on a two-week recess and the Senate is scheduled to consider the war spending bill when it returns April 25. Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a letter to Frist that the need for an immigration bill was highlighted by rallies across the nation this week protesting a House bill that would subject illegal immigrants to prosecution as...

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2006 – A grassroots group in Chicago hopes to help create a better system of support for servicemembers returning from the global war on terrorism. America Supports You member group Wounded Heroes Foundation Inc. is finding ways to smooth bureaucratic issues for wounded troops. Here, Anna Sherony, the group's co-founder, poses with Marine 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal at the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., Jan. 1, 2005. Kasal was wounded in Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "Why should a family that has given so much already...

ROME - Italy's foreign minister will ask the government to grant asylum to an Afghan man who had faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, who was among the first to speak out on the man's behalf, will ask for the permission at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the ministry statement said in a statement Tuesday. Abdul Rahman, 41, was released from prison late Monday, a day after the court dismissed the case under pressure from the Bush administration. He quickly dropped out of sight, as Muslim clerics in his country continued to...

U.S. and Iraqi Army soldiers secure seized weapons and ammunition. Iraqi Security Forces, in conjunction with units from the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy, kicked off Operation Northern Lights March 22 to capture suspected terrorists in the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Maj. Robert Krenzel Joint Operation Seeks to Disrupt Insurgents Operation Northern Lights seeks to disrupt anti-Iraqi forcesin the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad. By 1st Brigade Combat Team,10th Mountain Division BAGHDAD, March 24, 2006 — Iraqi army and Coalition Forces, approximately 1,400 personnel, kicked off Operation Northern Lights...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to reconsider her decision to toss out half of the government's case against confessed terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. They acknowledged that altering the judge's ruling is their only hope of salvaging the death-penalty case. In a motion filed with U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, prosecutors said the aviation security evidence she barred because a government lawyer coached the witnesses "goes to the very core of our theory of the case." At the very least, the prosecutors argued they should be allowed to present a newly designated aviation security witness who had no contact...

Hamas seeks support from Saudis Hamas is on a fundraising tour across the Middle East A delegation of Hamas leaders has arrived in Riyadh in a bid to win Saudi financial and political support for the Palestinian government it is forming. It is Hamas's first official visit since 1998 and the five-strong delegation is led by Khaled Meshaal, one of the group's exiled leaders. Saudi Arabia has been one of the biggest financial backers of the Palestinian Authority. It has rejected US calls to isolate Hamas because of its attacks on Israel. "Hamas appreciates the Saudi position that always supported...

3/3/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Air Force wants a new refueler aircraft, something commercially available now, which can be modified to replace the existing KC-135 Stratotanker fleet. That testimony came from Air Force leaders associated with the tanker replacement program, Feb. 28 in front of the House Armed Services Committee subcommittee on projection forces. Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, the military deputy for Air Force acquisition, told congressional members that his first choice would be to replace the service's fleet of aging KC-135s with a new airplane. "It should be a new aircraft, a commercial derivative, and I think we...