CAPITOL HILL - The incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives says Democrats will push for creation of a new bipartisan committee to oversee how money is spent on and by the U.S. intelligence community.
Most of what Representative Pelosi outlined she had previously said in the days following the November election, regarding what Democrats call […]

NEW YORK — Nation’s Most Conservative Appeals Court Affirms Fraud Claims Against Bank Of America, Aetna, Other Financial Giants
– Companies That Lie About Their Slave Trading History ‘Guilty Of Fraud,’ Says Chicago Appeals Court
A federal appeals court today upheld fraud claims against major US banks, insurers and transportation companies who concealed their slave trading histories […]

WASHINGTON  – A man skilled in the operation of commercial wireless Internet networks was sentenced today for intentionally bringing down wireless Internet services across the region of Vernal, Utah, the Justice Department announced today.
Ryan Fisher, 24, of Vernal, was sentenced to 24 months in prison to be followed by 36 months of supervised release for […]

PORTLAND, OR — A Beaverton, Ore., man, Joshua Kistler, has pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement in Portland, Ore., to a charge of producing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut. Sentencing was set by U.S. District Court Judge Ancer J. Haggerty for Feb. 26, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. Kistler had been […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The U.S. State Department’s top diplomat for Africa says al-Qaida figures are now running the Islamic Courts movement which controls most of Somalia. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer says U.S. diplomats are working to try to prevent the conflict in Somalia from becoming a broader war in the […]

BAGHDAD - A senior U.S. senator visiting Baghdad is calling for more American troops to help stem sectarian violence in Iraq.  
U.S. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican with presidential ambitions in 2008, told reporters in Baghdad’s Green Zone that such violence is the reason more American troops are needed in the capital and the restive […]

WASHINGTON - While President Bush prepares his new strategy on Iraq, public-opinion polls indicate Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the chances for success there.
Several recent polls paint a grim picture of how Americans view the war in Iraq.
One survey by the Washington Post and ABC News found that 52 percent of those asked […]

UNITED NATIONS - Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea has been sworn in as the eighth U.N. secretary-general of the United Nations.
The grand U.N. General Assembly Hall witnessed one of those momentous occasions that takes place only about once a decade. It was a passing of the torch from the seventh secretary-general, the Ghanaian, Kofi Annan, […]

WASHINGTON - The Syrian ambassador to Washington says his country is interested in talks about stabilizing Iraq, but not if the United States dictates the terms.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Ambassador Imad Moustapha called the Iraq Study group report a semi-official admission of what he called “astounding failure of U.S. policies […]

JERUSALEM - Israel’s High Court has approved construction of a controversial section of the separation barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The Israeli Supreme Court gave the green light for construction of the separation barrier in northeast Jerusalem, rejecting an appeal by Arab residents of the area.  The case was held up in the courts […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President George Bush is wrapping up a series of meetings aimed at finding what he says will be a new way forward in Iraq.
President Bush met with senior defense officials in the last publicly-scheduled consultation on Iraq before he and his national security team decide on the new way forward.
“I will […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush has urged Syria to “immediately free all political prisoners” and stop what he called “efforts to undermine Lebanese sovereignty.”Mr. Bush said in a statement Wednesday that he is troubled by reports some ailing political prisoners in Syria are denied health care, while others are held with violent criminals.
The president also accused […]

WASHINGTON — Important U.S. assistance programs for Israel are set to be reauthorized and extended as a result of legislation authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and passed by Congress over the weekend.
“Israel is one of our greatest friends and staunchest allies in the War on Terror. These important aid programs support Israel’s stability […]

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST MinistriesMOSUL, IRAQ (ANS) – An unidentified Islamic group has placed flyers at the Student Union at Mosul University which contained messages directed at Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) students and were placed in areas where Assyrian students congregate.
An unidentified Islamic group has placed flyers at the Student Union […]

WASHINGTON - Fifteen years after finding sanctuary in Zimbabwe, deposed Ethiopian leader Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam has been convicted by an Ethiopian court on charges of genocide.  Mengistu fled Ethiopia in 1991, and Zimabwe President Robert Mugabe is not expected to provide extradition of the former Marxist ruler.  Long-time Ethiopia watcher, author, and American attorney […]

WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal, has resigned from his post and has left Washington.Prince Turki reportedly made the announcement to his staff in Washington on Monday, citing personal reasons.
The prince held the post for a year-and-a-half, succeeding Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who left for personal reasons after 22 […]

WASHINGTON - Both major U.S. political parties are trying to draw lessons from the recent elections in which Democrats won majorities in both houses of Congress after 12 years of Republican control. 
While Democrats have much to cheer from the November elections, Republicans are engaged in sober reflection about what went wrong. Karlyn Bowman is a […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush has put off the announcement of changes in his Iraq policy until sometime in early 2007.The president had been expected to deliver a major speech before the end of December laying out a revised strategy for Iraq.
But now he has decided to give the review and recommendation process a bit more […]

LOS ANGELES - Child prostitutes are escaping life on the streets with help from a Los Angeles charity called Children of the Night. 
It all started with a research project by Lois Lee, who was pursuing her doctorate in sociology. She studied police reports on prostitution arrests, and monitored court cases. “And in those court cases, […]

PRAGUE (RFE/RL) — A two-day conference that includes an examination of whether or not the Holocaust ever took place began today in Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki addressed the participants, saying that Iran intends neither to confirm nor deny the Holocaust.
 
Drawing an implicit comparison with Western countries in which denying the Holocaust is a crime, […]

UNITED NATIONS - Sponsors of an Iran sanctions resolution in the U.N. Security Council say the measure could be approved by the end of the year.
European powers Germany, France and Britain Monday presented a new draft of their proposal to penalize Iran for its suspect nuclear activities. The measure was discussed during a closed-door Security […]

LOS ANGELES - A two-day conference in Iran that is calling into question the Nazi Holocaust has sparked outrage among Holocaust survivors.
The conference in Tehran, being held Monday and Tuesday, is exploring the question of whether the Holocaust really happened.
In Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, elderly Jewish immigrants responded by sharing their personal stories […]

WASHINGTON - The American space shuttle Discovery has docked with the International Space Station, beginning a week-long mission of major renovations to the orbiting laboratory.
Crews from the U.S. space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station are preparing for Tuesday’s space walk, the first of three for the current mission.
Astronauts will begin the installation of […]

UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has used his farewell address to caution the United States against sacrificing its ideals in the battle against terrorism.
The secretary-general symbolically traveled to the Truman Presidential Museum and Library in Independence, Missouri, to make his final major speech in office.
Addressing a crowd that included politicians and academics, he […]

SEOUL - Stalled talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs will resume this month. They are expected to be brief, and many experts are skeptical about whether they will make any serious progress towards ending Pyongyang’s nuclear programs.
South Korean authorities expressed support Monday, for the scheduled resumption of talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
South Korean […]