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LONDON (AP) – Britain´s governing Conservatives suffered local election losses in their few London strongholds, according to results announced Friday that will pile more pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson amid ethics scandals and a worsening economic picture. Voting held Thursday for thousands of seats on more than 200 local councils decided who will oversee garbage collection and the filling of potholes, but were also an important barometer of public opinion ahead of the next national election, which must be held by 2024.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi police raided strongholds of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army in the southern city of Kut on Wednesday after the militia broke a ceasefire and clashed with security forces a day earlier. The city's police chief said at least 11 people were killed in Tuesday's gunbattles in which U.S. special forces called in air strikes after Iraqi authorities asked them for help. With U.S. forces already stretched by an upsurge in violence in Iraq since January, such ceasefire violations are a worrying development. U.S. commanders have credited the ceasefire with sharply reducing sectarian bloodshed that threatened...

Soldiers from Company B and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division negotiate their way through a wall during clearing operation Rock Reaper in Hadid, Iraq, just west of Baqubah. The Soldiers clearing the town had to negotiate their way though deep canals and over high walls to reach their objectives. Photo by Pfc. Kirby Rider, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. HADID -- A dim blue light pierced the darkness as someone yelled “one-minute out”, but the voice was drowned out by noise from the rotating blades...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese troops inched toward Islamic militant strongholds in a north Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday as mediators hinted at a possible cease-fire deal that includes the disarmament of the al-Qaida-inspired militants. Two Lebanese soldiers became the latest victims of the battle around the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli that began on May 20, security officials said. As the battle with the Fatah Islam group continued, mediators gave indications that a cease-fire deal with the militants was a possibility. According to a Palestinian Muslim cleric who has been acting as mediator, the deal...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces pushed deeper Thursday into Sunni militant strongholds in Baghdad — where cars rigged with explosives greeted their advance — while British-led teams in southern Iraq used shipping containers to block suspected weapon smuggling routes from Iran. The series of car bomb blasts, which killed at least seven civilians, touched all corners of Baghdad. But it did little to disrupt a security sweep seeking to weaken militia groups' ability to fight U.S.-allied forces — and each other — as Iraq slips further into factional bloodshed. The attacks, however, pointed to the critical struggle to...

There are three great articles at the URL. I think the last one is fittingly put first for this forum. Stop Chewing Lanna Perry 4th April 2005 Sydney Australia Chosenwarriorprincess@yahoo.com.au My precious children, My precious possessions, My precious branches, heed the word I am to speak for My heart is grieved. My heart is grieved My children, because as each of you are connected to me the One and Only true Vine, yet many of you are doing things that I am not pleased with. My precious branches, you know what I see? I see some of you chewing at...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces launched operations in three Iraqi rebel strongholds on Thursday, killing nearly two dozen insurgents in a town near the Syrian border and bombing targets in Falluja for the third straight day. Troops mounted a major offensive in Tal Afar, a suspected haven for foreign fighters about 60 miles east of the Syrian border in northern Iraq (news - web sites), and went into the tense town of Samarra north of Baghdad, as well as keeping up pressure on Falluja, west of the capital, through air strikes. The fighting in Tal Afar killed 22 insurgents and...

UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS |PH: (403) 220-3500 | FAX: (403) 282-8413 Greg Harris, Media Relations (403) 220-3506 (403) 540-7306 (cell)August 15, 2002Centuries-old African structures have never been excavated U of C-led team hopes to unlock mysteries of Cameroon’s granite strongholdsA University of Calgary archaeologist is leading the first expedition to excavate the so-called Strongholds of Cameroon, which are some of the most remarkable stone-built structures anywhere in Africa.Located in the Mandara Mountains of northern Cameroon, the strongholds range in size from small standalone structures, to complex, castle-sized fortresses with  platforms, terraces and covered passageways. The curving walls on some of the...