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MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles into an al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary in a Pakistani region the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing at least three militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strike in the North Waziristan region was the first since U.S. President Barack Obama's speech last week outlining plans to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Obama said Pakistan must not allow its territory to be used as a sanctuary for militants. "One of the missiles hit a vehicle and all three militants in it were killed," an intelligence official told Reuters...

Two-thirds of Americans expect an Islamic suicide bomb attack on American soil within six months, according to a new poll that also shows Republicans are significantly more concerned than Democrats. Fritz Wenzel of Wenzel Strategies said one of the most shocking findings of his recent polling on the subject was that 65 percent are expecting an attack within six months. "Some of the communication between Fort Hood shooter Hasan and al-Qaida figures included discussion of such attacks inside the United States, and it has been a common form of violence in the Middle East for years," he said. "Now, Americans...

A suspected US drone aircraft fired two missiles in North Waziristan on Friday, killing eight people, the second such attack this week. Eight militants were killed in a US missile strike in northwest Pakistan on Friday, officials said. The United States has carried out 45 attacks with its pilotless, missile-firing aircraft in northwest Pakistan this year as its forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have faced an intensifying Taliban insurgency.

The US has killed four Taliban fighters in just the second airstrike in Pakistan's tribal areas this month. Unmanned aircraft, likely remotely piloted Predator or Reaper drones, hit a Taliban compound in the village of Shanakhora, which lies six miles west of Miramshah in North Waziristan, with two Hellfire missiles. “It was a US drone attack which targeted a militant compound killing four militants and wounding five others,” a senior Pakistani security official in the region told AFP. “The compound was being used by Taliban militants, however it is not clear whether there were any foreign militants or high-value targets,”...

We need to do something more dramatic, more radical to attempt to get the democrats to stop this destruction of our American system of government. I propose we set up a national strike day which will also include a boycott. So, we don't go to work on that day and we also do not buy anything at all that day. We have the greatest impact we possible can on the economy that day. If we can get enough people to do this, it will really shake up Washington and our state governments as well. It is the American people who...

Okay, we are all disgusted, dispirited, angry, and not sure of what to do next. Evidently, the Tyrants in the democrat party do not care if we have Tea Party's, they mock us. They don't care if they lose some elections, they mock us. They persecute our leaders and they mock us. How can we hit back? Tea Party's are good, but they have been relatively inaffective. We are ignored or mocked. Let's consider hitting these bastards where it will really count, let's call for a national strike by the people! Not a union strike, this is an American people...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired two missiles on Thursday into North Waziristan, a major al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary in northwest Pakistan, killing two people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Gov. Luis Fortuño said Tuesday it is not time to stage another general strike, but rather for all sectors to work together to jumpstart the economy. “I don’t think this is the moment to be halting the government, or much less the economy of Puerto Rico. We have much more to gain working together and that is what I feel we should do,” Fortuño said during a press conference when asked about a warning by the Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico Coalition that another general strike was in the works. The Todo Puerto Rico por Puerto Rico Coalition on...

UNITED NATIONS – A U.N. human rights investigator warned the United States Tuesday that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law. Philip Alston said that unless the Obama administration explains the legal basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it is taking to comply with international humanitarian law which prohibits arbitrary executions, "it will increasingly be perceived as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of international law." Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, raised the issue of U.S. Predator drones in a report to the...

The death toll is US drone attack at a compound in Bajaur tribal agency has reached 27, report said. Earlier, it was reported that nearly 14 persons were killed when a US drone fired missiles on a compound in Damadolla area of the agency. The compound was located near the house of local Taliban leader Moulvi Faqeer. Unconfirmed reports from the area said that 11 foreign nationals were also among the dead.

California nurses' union has threatened a one-day strike at 34 hospitals, accusing the providers of poor swine flu preparedness. As many as 16,000 registered nurses will strike on Oct. 30 if state and federal swine flu protection recommendations aren't written into their contracts, said California Nurses Association spokesman Chuck Idelson. Nurses have complained about poor access to protective N-95 masks since a 51-year-old Sacramento nurse died in July after contracting swine flu. The gear is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for use while treating swine flu patients. The strike threat comes amid negotiations between the union...

Nurses Plan Strike Over Swine Flu Conditions At Hospitals October 19, 2009 More than 16,000 registered nurses are locked in a contract dispute with officials at 37 Catholic hospitals statewide and plan to strike Oct. 30 out of concern that the hospitals’ lax safety standards put them at risk of catching H1N1 flu. The California Nurses Assn., which is in bargaining talks with San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West hospitals, announced the strike this morning. Local hospitals expected to be affected include California Hospital Medical Center, St. Vincent Medical Center, Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, St. Mary Medical Center in...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – A US drone missile attack on a suspected militant hideout in a remote tribal area in northwest Pakistan early Thursday killed at least four people, security officials said. The pre-dawn strike targeted the suspected militant compound in Dandey Darpa Khel in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, a security official said. "It was a drone strike and initial reports said at least three people were killed and several wounded," the official said, requesting anonymity. A senior security official later said four people were killed and six wounded. A third security official said two missiles...

1700 employees of Wagon Pars Company in Arak have gone on a hunger strike to protest the company's failure to pay their wages and pension. ILNA's Kar news agency reports that this is the ninth protest organized by the employees this year. The workers have announced that if their demands are not met, they will block the highway entrance to the City of Arak. Mohammad Reza Madahi, deputy chief of the company's Islamic Workers Association announced: " 75 days of unpaid wages and retiree pensions and benefits" were the cause of the protests in the past six months. Wagon Pars...

A missile fired from a US drone aircraft Tuesday killed five suspected Taliban in a strike on a militant hideout in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal belt, security officials said. "A missile from a US drone fired on a compound of local Taliban commander Irfan Mehsud killed five militants and injured six," said a security official in the area. A local administrative official confirmed the incident and toll. The attack occurred in the lawless tribal region of South Waziristan, a Taliban bolthole where Washington says Islamist fighters are hiding out and planning attacks on Western troops stationed in neighbouring Afghanistan.

An unmanned US strike aircraft fired missiles at the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network in Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal area of North Waziristan. Three people were killed in the attack, which took place near a madrassa run by Jalaluddin Haqqani, the patriarch of the notorious Haqqani family, Reuters reported. The exact location of the strike has not been identified at this time, and no senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed. The Haqqanis run the Manba Ulom madrassa in the town of Danda Darpa Khel just outside of Miramshah in North Waziristan. The US has conducted several strikes on...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – A US drone missile attack Monday killed four militants in a remote Pakistani tribal town bordering Afghanistan, officials said. The missile targeted a militant vehicle in Toori Khel village in North Waziristan region, they said. "Four militants were killed," a local government official said, requesting anonymity. He added the number of wounded was not immediately known.

Workers at the Stella D'oro cookie factory in the Bronx were still in shock Thursday as the news sunk in that the business had been sold and was moving to Ohio. They wondered how they'd pay their rents and mortgages, how they'd find another job in today's recession and what they'd do without health insurance. "My family is going to suffer," said Evelyn Rivera, a packer at the plant for the past two years. "This is so sad. The company has been here for more than 70 years." Machine operator Juan Torres, 51, said he doesn't know if he'll have...

Two senior al Qaeda leaders are among those thought to have been killed in the Sept. 8 Predator strike in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Ilyas Kashmiri and Mustafa al Jaziri may have been killed during the strike in the village of Machi Khel near Mir Ali. Unmanned US strike aircraft are reported to have hit a car and a madrassa in the attack, The News reported. Initially five Uzbeks from the Islamic Jihad Group were thought to have been killed, but the report was revised to two Arab al Qaeda members, three Punjabi jihadis, and two or...

MIAMI — Flying a Boeing 727 around the world might sound like a dream. But pilots for a Florida air cargo company claim their job is a nightmare that includes no sick pay, shrinking wages and no place to use the bathroom on flights but a plastic bag. Sixty-two pilots and flight engineers for Fort Lauderdale-based Amerijet International Inc. went on strike on Aug. 27. Among their demands is flushable toilets on board. Their union has been trying to negotiate a new contract the past five years. Its Florida workers say they're suffering. On the picket line in heavy rain...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suspected U.S. drone fired missiles into a hideout of Taliban militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on Monday, killing five militants, intelligence officials and residents said. The attack took place near Mir Ali town, a major sanctuary for militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal lands on the Afghan border. "The militants have cordoned off the area and no one is allowed to go to the site of the attack," a resident, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters by telephone. An intelligence official said a fortress-like house...

Just as the U.N. General Assembly is due to meet later this month to consider what to do about Iran's insistence on enriching uranium as part of its nuclear development program, Tehran has announced that it is open to further discussions on the issue, but it will not be pressured to meet any September deadline. "No one can impose sanctions on Iran anymore," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a recent press conference. "The Iranian nation favors interaction and dialogue but will not surrender to pressure," according to Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – A US missile strike from a drone aircraft Thursday killed at least eight Taliban militants in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said. The strike was followed hours later by a suicide attack in the northwestern tribal region of Khyber that officials said killed 21 policemen. The US strike "targeted a Taliban compound in Kaniguram village of South Waziristan, killing eight militants and wounding six others," a senior security official told AFP. Another official confirmed the casualties and said that the US drone fired two missiles, but added it was not immediately...

WANA: At least eight people were killed and various others injured in a US surveillance plane attack in South Waziristan Agency’s area of Kani Goram, Geo News reported said Thursday. According to Geo News correspondent, at least three missiles were fired at a house in SWA’s Kani Goram, killing eight people and injuring various others. It merits mentioning here Kani Goram is a beautiful area where people used to go for picnic. Ladha is situated nearby, where TTP Chief Baitullah Mehsud were killed in a similar drone attack in Zangra village. The residents of Kani Goram shifted to Tank and...

ISLAMABAD – A suspected missile attack early Friday destroyed a militant hideout in northwest Pakistan, killing at least seven people, two intelligence officials said. The officials said some people also were wounded when the two missiles hit a compound in the village of Dande Darpa Khel, near Miran Shah in troubled tribal region of North Waziristan. ... The area is also believed to be frequented by associates of an Afghan Taliban leader, Siraj Haqqani, whose network is powerful in eastern Afghanistan.

A wave of anger over a threatened BART strike, averted hours before a Monday walkout, carried a sobering message to employee unions and politicians: In hard economic times, voters in the liberal Bay Area can run out of patience over the demands of organized labor. The palpable outrage at the 900 rank-and-file members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 - expressed in Internet forums and on SFGate.com, The Chronicle's Web site - helped settle the impasse after politicians, other unions and political leaders pushed for a last-minute deal. But the politics of the BART settlement present a challenge for...

OAKLAND -- The BART contract dispute was resolved this evening, averting a threatened transit strike that would have crippled Monday morning's commute. The two sides announced that they had reached a tentative contract agreement less than six hours before train operators and station agents had planned to walk out and shut down the regional commuter rail system. "It's the greatest thing for the Bay Area. It's what everybody wanted," said James Fang, vice president of BART's Board of Directors. The deal was brokered after intense negotiations at the bargaining table and heavy lobbying by Bay Area elected officials and outside...

Workers at the Stella D'Oro plant in the Bronx rallied Saturday to fight for their jobs. They say the owners' decision to close the factory this fall is a clear case of union-busting. Stella D'Oro workers say the decision to close the factory, after eight decades, is a blatant case of retaliation for a strike they had waged for ten months, and the thought that all 138 union jobs could be eliminated is a shock to them.

At least ten people have been killed in what appeared to be a US missile strike here in South Waziristan agency, report said on Tuesday. The missile fired by a US drone hit a suspected hideout used by the local militants in Kani Karam area, a foreign news agency claims.

Reports from Pakistan say one of the country's most-wanted Taliban leaders is dead — killed by a rocket attack from a U.S. drone. If confirmed, the death of Baitullah Mehsud could be a significant blow to the Islamist militants linked under his umbrella group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. "There's every indication that it is true," says Daniel Markey, an expert on South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. "And it could be quite significant." Markey says Mehsud was "above all, the face of the Pakistani Taliban, which was becoming a more serious collective organization, one that U.S. officials saw as being...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – There is a strong likelihood that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters. "We suspect he was killed in the missile strike," Malik said on Friday. "We have some information, but we don't have material evidence to confirm it." The United States has placed a $5 million reward on the head of Mehsud, an ally of al Qaeda widely regarded in Pakistan as Public Enemy No. 1. A U.S. defense official, speaking anonymously in Washington, said he...

PESHAWAR - At least three persons including wife and brother of Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud were killed and several others injured when US drone missiles hit a house in Zangara, in Sara-rogha tehsil of Ladha, S Waziristan.Four missiles hit the house of Ikramuddin, father-in-law of Baitullah Mehsud. As per local residents, wife and brother of Baitullah Mehsud were among the killed persons. They also said that Baitullah was seen in the house on Tuesday last.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A missile believed to have been fired by a U.S. drone struck the house of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud's father-in-law Wednesday, killing at least one woman and two militants, a security official and a relative said. U.S. missile attacks on Mehsud territory in the South Waziristan tribal region have become more frequent in the past month and Pakistan has also bombarded the militant stronghold with air raids and medium range artillery. Mehsud's whereabouts were not known at the time the time of the attack, which occurred shortly before 1.00 a.m. (1900 GMT Tuesday) on the...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's largest state employees' union voted on Saturday to approve a strike authorization measure to protest furloughs of state workers and pressure state officials to ratify its labor contract.</p>

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's largest state employees' union voted on Saturday to approve a strike authorization measure to protest furloughs of state workers and pressure state officials to ratify its labor contract. A spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1000 said a strike was not imminent but that the vote authorized union officers to initiate certain job actions, including a strike if necessary.</p>

California public union OKs strike authorization Sat Aug 1, 2009 7:55pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's largest state employees' union voted on Saturday to approve a strike authorization measure to protest furloughs of state workers and pressure state officials to ratify its labor contract. A spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1000 said a strike was not imminent but that the vote authorized union officers to initiate certain job actions, including a strike if necessary. The SEIU represents about 95,000 state employees, including clerical workers and teachers. The group's labor contract with the state expired last year, SEIU...

California's largest state employee union has voted to allow job actions including a strike, officials said Saturday. A spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1000 said no strike is imminent. Union leaders will meet in the coming week to decide what steps to take, spokesman Jim Zamora said The union announced that 74 percent of its membership approved the strike authorization in votes counted Saturday. President Yvonne Walker said the overwhelming support shows employees are outraged at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to unilaterally furlough state workers three days each month. The three furlough days effectively reduce pay by about...

BART and its labor unions continued to bargain into the night Thursday as the transit agency's Board of Directors threatened to impose working terms and conditions if agreements were not reached by midnight. "Our goal is to get it settled tonight so that everyone can breathe easier and not worry about work stoppages," Board President Tom Blalock said after the board's 90-minute meeting with BART's chief negotiator. Blalock said that if agreements were not reached by midnight, the BART board would schedule a special meeting for Saturday morning to consider unilaterally imposing terms and conditions in lieu of a contract....

The Energy and Commerce Committee will resume its markup of healthcare legislation Wednesday afternoon under a deal between Blue Dogs and House leaders, but there will be no floor vote on the legislation before August. Delaying a vote until August was a key demand of the Blue Dogs, along with reducing the cost of the bill by $100 billion and allowing states to create health "co-ops" that would compete with the government-run "public option" and private insurers.

The strike ballots may come back "yes," but history says "no." With a Friday deadline looming, members of California's largest state employee union have been voting on whether to give their leaders permission to call a strike. And another union that represents California's correctional officers may soon send strike-authorization ballots to its members. No state employee union has ever called a general strike, and it's unclear what would happen if one did. Government officials say that a walkout by Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which has mailed strike-authorization ballots to 95,000 state employees, would violate labor agreements and that...

<p>TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Hundreds of workers have gone on strike at a western Indiana factory after union officials said members overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer.</p> <p>Strikers started a picket line Wednesday outside the Bemis Co. plant in Terre Haute that mostly makes packaging for the food industry.</p>

ISLAMABAD: A missile, believed to have been fired by a US drone aircraft, hit a house in North Waziristan and killed five suspected Taliban militants, intelligence officials said on Friday. ‘The missile strike took place in Bahadur Kaley village, 30 kilometres south of Miranshah. One missile was fired from the US drone, which targeted a Taliban stronghold,’ one security official told AFP. Resident Ahmad Raza told AFP he heard a loud bang and that Taliban in the area are saying five of their colleagues are dead. ‘The missile strike took place in Bahadur Kaley village, 30 kilometres (19 miles) south...

Her speech last week used "fight" four times and "strike" just once, but that was enough to spark reports that Yvonne Walker, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000, had called for a strike vote. She didn't, but the speech did mark a new and tougher stance by the local – and a perilous turn for the state's biggest public employee union. "This week the Local 1000 council voted unanimously to authorize concerted actions up to and including a strike, if necessary," Walker said in the speech webcast to SEIU members last Thursday. Catch that? "Union actions up to...

At least 40 people have been killed in a suspected US missile strike in north-west Pakistan, local officials say. They told the BBC three suspected US drones had fired missiles at militants near Ladha in South Waziristan. It is the third strike in two days, after 19 reportedly died in attacks earlier on Wednesday and on Tuesday. Separately the Pakistani army said a Taliban leader in Swat valley, Maulana Fazlullah, has been wounded, but there has been no independent confirmation. Army spokesman, Major-General Athar Abbas, told reporters: "We have credible information that Maulana Fazlullah has been injured... But it is...

Seven people have died in a second missile strike by a suspected US drone in as many days in north-west Pakistan, officials and residents say. At least three to four missiles hit a suspected training camp for militants in South Waziristan early on Wednesday, witnesses said. At least 12 militants were killed in a similar attack in the area on Tuesday. The attacks are targeting a stronghold of Pakistan's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, in South Waziristan. US officials believe Mr Mehsud is providing both the Taliban and al-Qaeda with a refuge in the region. They have placed a $5m...

At least 12 militants have died in a missile strike by a suspected US drone in north-west Pakistan, intelligence officials and residents say. The attack targeted a stronghold of Pakistan's top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border. The missiles flattened a compound in the Zangarha area, officials said. There have been dozens of such strikes since last August, killing hundreds of militants and civilians. Most strikes have taken place in the tribal regions of North and South Waziristan. Local officials told the BBC Urdu service's Dilawar Khan that a suspected US drone had fired two...

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) – A U.S. drone aircraft fired missiles on Friday into Pakistan's South Waziristan region, killing 10 militants, officials said, ahead of an expected Pakistani military offensive in the area. The United States, facing a growing Afghan insurgency, began stepping up drone attacks on militant strongholds in lawless enclaves on the Pakistani side of the border a year ago despite Pakistani complaints. Three missiles were fired at militant hideouts in an area near the Afghan border controlled by Pakistani Taliban leader and al Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud, killing 10 militants and wounding seven, two intelligence agency officials said....

ISLAMABAD: A suspected US drone attack killed 11 people in the South Waziristan tribal region, intelligence officials said on Friday. The two officials say the attack struck a suspected training facility of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mehsud early Friday in the villages of Montoi in South Waziristan. A suspected militant hide-out in Kokat Khel was also hit. ‘The missiles hit an office of Mufti Noor Wali who was once in charge of training militants for suicide attacks,’ an intelligence official said. He had no word on casualties but a resident of the region said 11 militants had been killed. The...

Time to flex your muscle America! The Administration is claiming that because you elected them to office last November, you gave them permission to act outside the parameters of the U.S. Constitution! Each and every time a reporter asks why Mr. Obama is pushing for the Nationalization of the private auto-industry, private health care, our private banks, private energy through “Cap and Tax” that most Americans do not support and his reply is” “the people wanted changed and elected me President!” America, let’s send President Barack Obama and the rest of his Administration a very loud, clear and impressive message,...

The US carried out its second Predator airstrike inside South Waziristan today. Unmanned Predator aircraft killed more than 65 Taliban fighters in a follow-on attack near the headquarters for Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The Predator strike aircraft fired three Hellfire missiles as Taliban fighters gathered for a funeral of Khog Wali, a leader in Baitullah's army in South Waziristan who was among six Taliban fighters killed in the first US airstrike earlier today. Commander Sangeen, a Taliban commander from Afghanistan, was reported to be among those killed in the strike at the funeral. Predators are said to have fired...