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Two American soldiers, missing since an insurgent ambush at the checkpoint they were manning last Friday, were found dead just south of Bhagdad: Their bodies were recovered Tuesday. An Iraqui General confirmed to the Associated Press that the soldiers' bodies showed signs of torture, and that the men appeared to have been killed in a particularly "barbaric" way. This assertion appears to be backed up both by the fact that DNA tests were scheduled to positively identify the remains, and by the claim of responsibility made by the self-titled new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, who posted on an Islamist...

It was a memorable moment in modern American foreign policy. The smoke had hardly cleared from the 500-pound bombs that made a martyr of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. and Iraqi forces were arresting or killing hundreds of al Qaeda terrorists. President Bush was in Baghdad meeting with Iraq's first constitutionally elected prime minister and his coalition cabinet of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. A glimmer of light was finally beginning to shine from the other end of a long, dark Iraq tunnel. Meanwhile, back in the United States leading Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and John Kerry (Mass.), squinting into that...

We're winning. Yeah, the good guys. Our troops. And the Iraqi army. We're winning. We were winning big even before we nailed Zarqawi. The terrorists themselves said so. In their state-of-the-troubled-union message to themselves. According to al Qaeda in Iraq, critics of "stay the course" need to stick it where the sun don't shine: One key captured document states that "time is beginning to be of service to the American forces."

Al-Qaeda 'coming to end in Iraq' Mr Rubaie showed documents he said were found in the Zarqawi raid The killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi marks the "beginning of the end" of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country's national security adviser has said.Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said documents seized after the raid that killed Zarqawi had yielded key information about the militant group. "Now we have the upper hand," he told a news conference in Baghdad. Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, was killed last week by a US air strike near Baquba, north of Baghdad. Key records Mr Rubaie said a pocket...

Baghdad, 15 June (AKI) - The content of the laptop of the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's and his papers, retrieved from the rubble of the house he was hiding in when he was killed by US airstrikes last Wednesday, show the terror formation is "in very bad shape," and signals "the beginning of the end of its activities in Iraq," the country's national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie stated. "Now we have the upper hand," he told a news conference in Baghdad. Al-Rubaie said the US and Iraqi authorities had come into possession of an "immense...

Coming Soon- Rally in Boise, ID! Tuesday, 31 May 2006 For General Release May 31, 2006 In quick succession to San Antonio, Operation Completion will be hosting a rally on the South Steps of the Capitol in Boise, ID! With the conservative community and nearby military base, the area is naturally welcoming to Operation Completion’s mission of raising public enthusiasm for our military and the job they are doing. Idaho Coordinator Emy Bowers commented on the fast-approaching rally, stating: “This rally, with its inspiring speakers and music, will challenge people to show their support of our troops instead of...

SEATTLE - Scientists at the University of Washington are optimistic that they've made what they call meaningful progress toward learning how to repair damaged human livers with stem cells. If the experimental work continues successfully in the years to come, the technique could one day repair livers badly damaged by drug overdoses, hepatitis and alcoholism. The UW research was reported in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "I think it's a significant first step," Dr. Nelson Fausto, chairman of the university's Department of Pathology, told The Seattle Times. For the first time, a team...

In about 13 years Toyota has gone from a brainstorming session to creating and selling and teaching the world there is another way. 1993 - Toyota initiates the G21 project to develop a small car with better mileage that can be sold anywhere in the world. 1994 - Executive VP Akirhiro Wada insists the car needs to set a new standard for mileage and recommends a hybrid engine. 1995 - The Prius prototype debuts at the Tokyo motor show-- but will NOT start. Toyota responds by moving up the production deadline by one year. 1996 - Toyota's US division wins...

Will the list never end of what China has the most of, does the most of, or is growing the quickest at? The number of rooftop solar water heaters in China exceeds that of ALL the rest of the WORLD combined! It is also changing the way Chinese live their daily lives. Cell phones now allow farmers to get up-to-the-minute crop prices. Solar hot water heaters now allow those in the outer districts to take a bath more regularly. Hah! But, I guess it isn't funny if you are one of those who had to wait to take a bath...

India is by far the largest outsourcing market with a predicted 169,000 offshore call center staff by 2010-- nearly double the present number of 95,000. But call centers in Eastern Europe are expected to triple in that same amount of time from 3,700 to more than 10,000. Growth in North Africa is also expected to triple from 7,800 to over 23,000-- mostly driven by Egypt. The major concerns are the high turnover rate in India and the instability in the latter players. Still, India has to be looking west, AND while doing so, looking back over its shoulder at China....

Do you want to embarass a Japanese? Ask him to sing Japan's national anthem. It is indeed a real sleeper. It is old - no problem with that - but it is also outdated. Its title is Kimigayo. The words can be translated something like - "May you reign for a 1000 happy years Rule on lord/friend/lover till the pebbles by age grow and unite to great rocks with moss all over its strong sides." Doesn't that give you goose bumps? Problem is - it became somewhat of a nationalistic and militaristic anthem, and the lord came to represent the...

I admit, I wasn't overly impressed with Yamanaka Shunji's various designs until I read the specs on this one. It is an eight-wheeled vehicle that he and Chiba Institute of Technology's Furuta Takayuki designed. Nissan also pitched in to see how robotics and automobile technology can get along. The vehicle can make a 360-degree circle, move diagonally, and - get this - even climb stairs. I am guilty, too. I have often accused the Japanese of not being very creative. They are amazing at copying and approving on previous designs -- and then mass-producing them while maintaining quality. But my...

My wife has a good friend who has been looking for a job. She is Chinese... my wife and the friend who is looking for a job. Her friend is a CPA and is looking for an accountant position. There is a job shortage for Chinese accountants - make that a HUGE job shortage - in Beijing. The big four - www.pricewaterhousecoopers.com, www.deloitte.com, www.kpmg.com, and www.ernstandyoung.com - are all hiring. And they desperately need accountants in China. The giant state-owned enterprises need international accounting expertise as they prepare to adopt new accouting procedures that will help them gain investor confidence....

The US Chamber of Commerce is on a tour of the US called China Business 2006 Initiative. The purpose of the tour is to encourage exchanges between the little guys. They want to pair up US business executives, legal experts, government officials, academics who have on-the-ground experience in China with local business owners, and community officials who might benefit from opportunities in the Chinese market. For example - China is the third largest buyer of products in Kansas! And the fifth largest buyer of Missouri exports. West Coasters are not the only ones who can do business with China. And...

What can keep Russia from growing? 1. Soviet-era bureaucracy 2. Outdated industry 3. Poor investment climate 4. Retailing is booming, but other businesses lag. 5. Millions of Russians are at risk of being left behind. What will keep Russia growing? 1. Russia will depend on its oil revenues for the forseeable future. Question: Will oil revenues generate enough income that can be equitably distributed to the point that it will overcome the barriers to growth? What do you think?

Yahoo is planning to pony up $60 million to buy a 10% share in South Korea's No 2. online retailer GMarket. South Korea has one of Asia's fastest growing e-commerce industries. Yahoo will buy its steak, I mean, stake from the venture capital firm Oak Investment Partners. It seems Oak Investment is the only significant outside institutional investor in GMarket...in other words, Yahoo had to go through them to get their foot in the door. Yahoo's COO, Dan Rosenweigg, said, "GMarket's strength in e-commerce complements the strong offerings we already provide in the Korean market across communications, content, and search...

www.motorola.com and www.nokia.com are going head-to-head in the southern city of Madras, India. But, Nokia is throwing the bigger punches. Nokia announced plans to build a $150-million plant near Madras. Motorola countered with a plan to invest $100 million in a plant of its own. Where do these companies get all of this money? $150 mill, $100 mil, and yesterday Yahoo put up $60 mil to invest in South Korea. Could someone please drop a million near me, or invest in me? India is one of the fastest growing handset markets. Gee, I wonder what country is number one. Nokia...

I read that it used to cost about $70 on average for a computer geek to walk from cubicle to cubicle to install the needed software on individual PCs at different work stations. Now, IBM has 200 people in Toronto running a software installation factory for clients worldwide. Packages are delivered over the Internet to machines at 20 cents per PC. Whoa! Big difference! Giants in the PC market don't have the luxury of making gradual changes in the way they do things anymore. Indian companies have rewritten the rules of competition - because Indians can do it cheaper and...

"Universal Pen" creator Wang Jiang is a product of Microsoft's Research Lab in Beijing. Wang was a reluctant convert to the MS lab. He had to give up his position as a professor of psychology at Zhejiang University. In the end he developed the handwriting software used in Microsoft Tablet PCs; it can instantly take writing from a piece of paper and put it on a computer screen.... My dad used to say my writing looked like Chinese to him...but when I went to China, the Chinese couldn't read it either. Is it really possible a PC could read what...

Jack Welch gives his reasons why a company should go to China... 1. China has a vast market 2. China has low-cost manufacturing 3. China has increasingly strong technical talent. 4. Companies that 'make it' in China leap into another competitive league, leaving their competitors behind. and why a company should not... 1. China is littered with companies that went to China...just to go to China. 2. The China-or-bust mantra was invoked on them in B-school. 3. Because everyone is going.... How about your company? Should it go to China? Why? Why not? What do you think?