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Supreme Court will hear a pump-station dispute, with implications for biggest US environmental restoration project. By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor EVERGLADES HOLIDAY PARK, FLA. – A four-foot alligator basks in the bright sunshine on the steep bank of a canal, as five plump cormorants leisurely digest their lunch while perched on a string of orange floats. Aside from the steady din of a nearby flood-control pump and the man-made configuration of the waterway, the scene appears a slice of idyllic Florida. monitortalk Weigh in on issues of the day in our forums. E-mail this...

<p>Taking on critics in Congress who say America needs a bigger Army, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday the military is under strain but he is not yet convinced a permanent expansion is in the best interests of the Pentagon or taxpayers.</p>

CLEVELAND - A prominent Islamic clergyman was arrested Tuesday on an indictment alleging he concealed links to groups that committed terrorist attacks against Jews when he applied for U.S. citizenship a decade ago, officials said. Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damrah, who leads the Islamic Center of Cleveland, Ohio's largest mosque, is accused of withholding information on his membership or affiliation with several groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, U.S. Attorney Gregory White said. White said the indictment did not allege that Damrah, a Palestinian, committed any terrorist activities. The indictment did not specify what type of support Damrah may have provided...

China Likely to Alter Property Rights Law AP 1 minute ago By JOE McDONALD, Associated Press Writer BEIJING - China is changing its constitution to protect private property rights for the first time since the 1949 communist revolution — a key step in making capitalism its economy's driving force. A constitutional amendment endorsed by the Communist Party went before legislators on Monday and their approval seemed certain. Party leaders who control the legislature already say private property is essential to advancing economic reforms that have let millions of Chinese lift themselves out of poverty. Party leaders also sent the National...

Shrouded in Ice Famed mountaineer Reinhold Messner's latest book raises more questions than it answers by Tom Vannah - December 11, 2003 COURTESY OF THE MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS Feature On the subject of Reinhold Messner's first really audacious climb, there are a few things we know for sure. We know, for example, that Messner's objective in June 1970 was to climb to the top of Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain, one of the most isolated and dangerous places on earth. Though not as well known to the general public as other peaks in the Himalayas, Nanga Parbat in Pakistan...

<p>The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a toll on the Army, but the soldiers who are due home next spring are fit to return to a war zone if called upon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday.</p>

<p>Only two of the U.S. Army's 10 active-duty divisions will be at full strength for any new conflict next year as battle-weary soldiers return from Iraq, military officials say.</p> <p>The four Army divisions currently serving in Iraq will need about six months to rest, retrain and repair equipment when they return from Iraq early next year. With three divisions set to rotate into Iraq and another into Afghanistan as replacements, about 80 percent of the Army's fighting strength will be either on the mend or on duty fighting terror and stabilizing the two countries.</p>

The resignation on 1 December of Boeing's top honcho Phil Condit has been pegged to a number of issues, including improprieties connected with military procurement and a downturn in deliveries at the company's Commercial Airplanes Group. Punters have suggested that Condit's resignation may have been triggered by the sacking of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Michael Sears. Sears was fired for discussing the prospect of employment at Boeing with a top Pentagon procurement officer, Darleen Druyun, who was working on a massive government procurement for which Boeing was bidding. Druyun subsequently joined Boeing. She also found the wind/got the royal order...

No military unit pushed farther and faster into Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom than the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. In just 21 days, through raging sandstorms and nearly continuous combat, the division charged 400 miles from Kuwait to Baghdad. It was a remarkable achievement for the storied division, known as the "Rock of the Marne" since World War I for its steadfast determination in battle as units around it retreated. But ongoing problems in resupplying the division in Iraq last spring with essentials such as fuel and ammunition continually threatened the operation, according to a report recently issued by division...

He said he was able to call up the document in its Adobe Acrobat format and, using software that allows editing of PDF documents, then highlighted the blacked out editing bars and deleted them. The original, unedited text then appeared.

Iceman's bones lead scientists to his home turf By Lucy Beaumont November 1, 2003 Printer friendly version Print this article Email to a friend Email to a friend The Iceman lived and died in a small area of northern Italy, scientists have deduced from analysis of his tooth enamel and bone samples. The home turf of a man who died 5200 years ago has been located by a team of scientists, including Australians, who analysed his teeth, bones and intestines. Examination of the famed "Iceman", whose frozen remains were found in a glacier on the Italian-Austrian border in 1991, has...

<p>It troubles the conscience, in fact, that 43.6 million Americans are uninsured by the latest government estimate. That huge number, more than 15 percent of us, conjures up nightmares. Are millions going to emergency wards and doctors' offices and being turned away? In scattered cases, this undoubtedly happens.</p>

After the success of the “Hello Mr President” project at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, people will once again be able to send messages to world leaders. This time, “Helloworld” will transmit texts at December's World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. RELATED ITEMS Story “Magic mountain” relays messages to leaders in Davos Story Messages pour in for world leaders in Davos Two years ago, anyone with internet access or a mobile phone could tell political and business leaders gathered at the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos what they thought of their policies. The interactive “Hello...

<p>The nation's 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team has begun to take shape in Alaska, with soldiers arriving at Fort Wainwright and Fort Richardson this fall and winter, and a fleet of new eight-wheeled Stryker vehicles expected over the next 15 months.</p>

The hit list taking shape today may be the biggest ever. Former Sen. Alan Dixon, D-Ill., wishes he had said no in 1994 when then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn, D-Ga., called and asked him to oversee the 1995 round of military base closings. Instead, Dixon agreed to take the job as a favor to his former colleague and led what turned out to be the military’s most recent and largest round of shutdowns. “It’s not a fun job. It’s a bad job. I wouldn’t do it again for anything,” says Dixon, adding that one senator who he had...

Ive gone from Lorain County to Lake County looking for the best deal on gas, and I found a nice price last week in Portage County. I get tips from bargain-hunting friends who think they know the system and the best day to gas up. They'll drive on fumes waiting for a price cut they expect, like gamblers convinced that the slot machine will pay off. As they explain it, the price of gas is somehow connected to weekends, holidays, world events and various world markets. I can't figure it out. From Our Advertiser Bank faster, better, with more power....

One of the nation's most prominent Muslim activists was indicted yesterday on money laundering and fraud charges hours after authorities unsealed an affidavit alleging that for years he helped fund al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Click here! Abdurahman Alamoudi, whose efforts gave Muslim Americans unparalleled access to the White House and Congress, was not formally charged with supporting terrorism. Instead, the 18-count indictment accused Alamoudi of the less serious offenses of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Libya, designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the State Department, and attempting to hide its origin and purpose from U.S....

ARLINGTON -- In February, we told you the strange tale of two obese bears seized at the Canadian border after a man tried to smuggle pot into the country by hiding it in their trailer and den. Corky and Pumpkin have each shed more than 100 pounds on a diet of fruit, nuts, berries and fish at the Sarvey Wildlife Center outside Arlington, an animal-rescue organization that has been caring for them. Next week, the svelte bears will leave for the Wild Animal Orphanage in Texas, which has agreed to give them a permanent home with other wild and exotic...

In an effort to improve its corporate reputation, adware company Gator has launched a legal offensive to divorce its name from the hated term "spyware" - and so far its strategy is paying off. In response to a libel lawsuit, an antispyware company has settled with Gator and pulled Web pages critical of the company, its practices and its software. And other spyware foes are getting the message. "There is this feeling out there that they won the lawsuit, and people are starting to get scared," said one employee of a spyware-removal company, who asked not to be named. "We...

By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent WASHINGTON Oct 23 (Reuters) - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz , an architect of the U.S. "war on terrorism," left on Thursday on his second trip in four months to Iraq as Washington struggles to stabilize and rebuild the occupied country. Wolfowitz, the top civilian deputy to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and an intellectual force behind the U.S. war against Saddam Hussein, last visited Iraq in July, four months after the U.S.-led invasion. An aide told Reuters he planned to return quarterly to keep a focus on the Bush administration's single biggest foreign policy challenge,...