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From the mid-1800s on, hundreds of thousands of African elephants were slaughtered for their ivory. Their valuable ivory tusks, some weighing as much as 200 pounds each, were collected and the rest of the elephant was left to rot in the sun or for scavengers to feast on. The ivory was used for many things such as piano keys, to ladies combs to various ornate pieces of carved artwork. In some areas of Africa, elephants were hunted to extinction prompting many countries to pass laws on the import and sale of ivory from elephants. In 1975, the Convention on the...

(Reuters) - The New Orleans Police Department too often uses excessive force, conducts illegal stops and arrests, and has a pattern of discriminating on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation, the Department of Justice said in a report on Thursday. "For too long, the Department has been largely indifferent to widespread violations of law and policy by its officers," according to the report by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The report outlined problems with training, recruiting, supervision and interrogation practices. DOJ said that the police department encourages under-investigating violence against women. It also found that officers used...

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday hailed reductions in violence in Iraq and said he believed Iraqis would resolve the impasse in their attempts to form a coalition government. "The trend lines have been steadily declining violence. Even after we left the cities, what you've seen is lower and lower levels of violence," Obama said in an interview with NBC News. "The Iraqi security forces are functioning, at least as well, if not better, than any of us had anticipated." Obama will deliver a nationally televised speech on Tuesday that will highlight what administration officials say is his fulfillment...

CNN’s Carol Costello again omitted the liberal source of a statistic she touted during a report on Wednesday’s American Morning, that 91% of talk radio is apparently conservative. Costello also pushed the left-wing aim of localism in radio programming, playing three sound bites in favor of the proposal, versus two against it.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2007 – There is encouraging evidence of political reconciliation in Iraq despite legislative stalls on key issues, including oil revenue sharing, the top U.S. military commander there said here today. (Video) Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today that an oil revenue-sharing law has been proposed in Iraq’s Council of Representatives, but no legislation that governs the disbursement of the country’s lucrative resource has been passed. “But Iraq is actually sharing oil revenue. … In fact, (it is) very similar to what is likely to happen...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2007 – Indiana National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Michael S. McAllister is so impressed with the support provided by his employer, Con-way Inc., that he recommended that it receive a prestigious Defense Department award. Con-way Inc. is among 15 businesses and organizations selected to receive this year’s Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. McAllister nominated the company for the annual award, which honors businesses and organizations that provide exemplary support for their employees in the Guard or reserves. McAllister is a coordinator at Con-way Freight’s trucking hub in Plainfield, Ind., located near Indianapolis. The Ann Arbor,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2007 – Nevada Air National Guard commander Brig. Gen. Robert V. Fitch said he couldn’t perform his military job -- sometimes requiring weeks of overseas travel -- without the superb support he receives from his civilian employer, Sierra Pacific Resources. The company is among 15 businesses and organizations selected to receive this year’s Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. Fitch nominated Sierra Pacific Resources for the annual award, which honors businesses and organizations that provide exemplary support for employees in the National Guard or reserves. When not performing Air Guard duty Fitch lives and works...

DNA indicates that Chinese tiger farm tiger meat was served at a restaurant. Enviros are worried that if tiger farms are allowed to sell tiger meat, parts, hides, etc. that poachers will kill wild tigers

BOSTON - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is defending his opposition to gay marriage by citing the Scriptures. The former Massachusetts governor, who in his 1994 Senate bid pledged to be a more effective champion for gay causes than his Democratic rival, discussed gay marriage in an interview set to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes." "This isn't just some temporary convenience here on Earth, but we're people that are designed to live together as male and female and we're gonna have families," he tells interviewer Mike Wallace, according to an excerpt CBS released Friday. "And that, there's a great...

The following morning, the police came to collect him, and he asked them what kind of place this was. Why was everything made of concrete? 'But don't you know where you are monsieur?' they asked. C'est la Zone, c'est la Zone!' La Zone is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traded quips with the host one moment and criticized U.S. foreign policy the next during an appearance Wednesday on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" that had the governor's opponents crying foul because his Democratic rival wasn't included. When asked by Leno about TV campaign ads attempting to link Schwarzenegger to President Bush, the star of the "Terminator" films mocked the notion. "To link me to George Bush is like linking me to an Oscar," said the governor, who has never won — or even been nominated for — acting's most prestigious award. On...

WASHINGTON - Officials in the federal agency that oversees American Indian trust assets had an improper social relationship with an accounting firm and pressured subordinates to give the firm preferential treatment, a government investigation found. Senior managers in the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians based in Albuquerque, N.M., golfed, drank and partied with the executives of the New Mexico accounting firm Chavarria, Dunne & Lamey, which won $6.6 million in contract work over eight years, according to the report by the Interior Department's inspector general. The investigation, first reported this week by U.S. News & World Report,...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2006 – President Bush welcomed a new commandant to the Coast Guard here today, and officially recognized the service as a whole for its contributions during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Incoming Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen told the audience at his change of command ceremony May 25 that his service's "challenge is to attack each day, each task, with a purpose grounded in who we are, what we have been, and what we must become." The ceremony took place at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2006 – The intelligence community has a far more complicated job now, during the global war on terror, than ever before, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday on the "Brian and the Judge Show" on Fox News Radio. Rumsfeld told interviewers Brian Kilmeade and Andrew Napolitano that threats faced in the 21st century pose tremendous challenges for intelligence professionals. Gone are the days when the United States faced a superpower enemy and tracked big armies, navies and air forces around the world. "We're worried about non-state actors getting their hands on & increasingly lethal weapons (and)...

DJIBOUTI, April 24, 2006 – The complexity of operations in the Horn of Africa boggles the mind. A person may be tempted to throw his hands up and decide that conditions are too dire, the people are too many, the politics are too tangled to make any changes in the region. But that person would be wrong, said Navy Rear Adm. Richard Hunt, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. Hunt leads a small command dedicated to improving lives in the region so the people do not embrace extremist ideologies or shelter terrorists. The command includes Djibouti -...

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2006 – As Iraqi forces assume more responsibility for security duties, they're receiving backup and other kinds of support from the U.S. military, a senior Defense Department spokesman said here today. "U.S. military forces remain in supporting roles with the ability to offer a surge capability to Iraqi security forces," Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters. U.S. forces in Iraq also provide logistical support to fledgling Iraqi security forces, Whitman said. Whitman agreed with Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey's assessment during a briefing from Iraq earlier today that Iraqi forces are rapidly moving toward taking over border- control...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17, 2006 – Noting "incredible" strides for democracy in Afghanistan and pointing out continued progress in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today told a National Press Club audience here that U.S. efforts in those countries are bearing fruit. "The progress in Afghanistan has been incredible," Marine Gen. Peter Pace said. "They now have not only a freely elected president, but a parliament as well. They are going about the business of building their own country in a way that makes you proud." The chairman said he travels to Afghanistan about every six months, and...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2006 – President Bush cited the Defense Department's development of the Internet during a speech yesterday as an example of the ingenuity he hopes to promote through his American Competitiveness Agenda to ensure the United States maintains its leadership role in the world. Speaking to workers at the 3M corporate headquarters in Maplewood, Minn., the president used DoD's investment in the research and development that ultimately led to the Internet as a model for the innovation he hopes to spark nationwide. "I don't know if people realize this, but the Internet began as a Defense Department project...

DAVOS, Switzerland - FBI director Robert Mueller said Thursday the United States now acts on intelligence from any place in the world to fight terrorism but has not sacrificed individuals' rights to privacy in that effort. However, during an interview with The Associated Press, Mueller would not discuss renditions, the practice of covertly moving imprisoned terrorist suspects between countries outside normal legal processes. He also would not elaborate on the National Security Agency's listening without a warrant to telephone calls in the United States that Bush administration officials believe involve al-Qaida terrorists. Lawmakers from both parties have questioned whether it...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2006 – As progress continues in Iraq, U.S. forces are "going to put a great deal of focus on the police issue," a senior U.S. general in Iraq told reporters here today. "The Iraqi army has made enormous progress in 2005," Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commanding general of Multinational Corps Iraq and the 18th Airborne Corps, said from Baghdad during a satellite news conference at the Pentagon. Iraqi police forces will get more training and mentoring from U.S. experts this year, Vines said, noting he's very optimistic for Iraq's future in light of the successful...