WASHINGTON - President Bush is in Tanzania where he has announced a new initiative to fight malaria. The program aims to provide insecticide-treated bed nets to every Tanzanian child under five.
The president and Mrs. Bush toured Meru District Hospital in northern Tanzania where they gave pregnant women insecticide-treated bed nets to protect them and their […]

ROME - Celebrations are being held in Kosovo after the parliament declared independence from Serbia. But Serbia and Russia reacted immediately to what they consider an illegal act backed by the international community. 
People danced in the streets of Pristina, fired guns into the air and waved red and black Albanian flags in jubilation at the […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush says opposition Democrats are putting the nation at risk by failing to pass a new wiretapping law so the government can monitor suspected terrorist communications without a court warrant. Democrats say there is no additional threat as surveillance orders under the law expiring Saturday are valid for another year.
President Bush says […]

DAKAR - Chad’s President Idriss Deby has imposed a state of emergency in his country, following a failed rebel attack on the capital earlier this month. Activists say he is taking advantage of the situation to tighten his grip on power. Concerns also remain over opposition leaders who were detained during the unrest. 
In a speech […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States is contacting governments around the world about its plans to try to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite, expected otherwise to plunge to earth early next month. Officials say the aim is to prevent potential harm to people on the ground from toxic fuel aboard the spacecraft.
State Department officials […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush has embarked on a five-nation trip to Africa to promote democratic reform and economic advancement, and to review progress made in fighting disease.
For years, critics of U.S. foreign policy under President Bush have complained that the United States has focused on Iraq and Afghanistan to the virtual exclusion of the […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush will leave Washington Friday to begin a five-nation tour of Africa.
On Thursday, Mr. Bush said he might delay his departure as he pressured Congress to renew an expiring domestic surveillance program.
But the White House said Friday the president and Mrs. Bush will leave Washington late in the afternoon and arrive in […]

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department says it is planning to shoot down a defunct U.S. spy satellite before it is expected to hit the Earth in early March, because of potential danger to human beings from its unburned rocket fuel.
Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffries told reporters at the Pentagon the decision to intercept the […]

BEIRUT - A massive crowd of at least several-hundred-thousand Lebanese gathered in central Beirut to mark the third anniversary of the explosion that killed the country’s much-loved former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.  His assassination sparked anti-Syrian protests that led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. 
It was a somber day to mark a somber […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - The United States Thursday expressed alarm over Hezbollah threats against Israel in the wake of the assassination in Damascus of Hezbollah commander and reputed terrorist mastermind Imad Mughniyeh. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nazrallah says the Lebanese militant group is ready for “open war” against Israel, which it blames for Mughniyeh’s death. 
State Department officials […]

WASHINGTON - The leader of the Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah says he is ready for “open war” on Israel, following the assassination of a top Hezbollah commander wanted for deadly attacks against Western and Israeli targets.
Hassan Nasrallah made his remarks in a fiery speech broadcast Thursday to thousands of Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. […]

JERUSALEM - Israel put its embassies on high alert and advised Jewish institutions around the world to be on guard against possible attacks, following the assassination of a senior Hezbollah leader Tuesday in Damascus.
Israeli officials say they had nothing to do with the bombing that killed Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, but they are taking no […]

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA (ANS) – Evangelist Dr. Billy Graham, 89, is today listed in fair condition following an elective medical procedure to update the valve for a shunt which was implanted in 2000 to regulate pressure within his brain.
The procedure, called an aproximal shunt revision, took 28 minutes and […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has defied a veto threat from President Bush and approved legislation that would prohibit intelligence agencies from using extreme interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. The measure was included in a bill to authorize intelligence programs and spending for the current budget year.Two months after the House of Representatives approved the bill, […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush has signed legislation designed to give the U.S. economy a boost.  The stimulus package includes tax rebates and incentives for business investment.
The president signed the measure at a White House ceremony attended by lawmakers from both major political parties who helped get the bill through Congress in record time.
“A lot […]

MIAMI - Venezuela says it has halted oil sales to U.S.-based ExxonMobil as part of a legal dispute over compensation for the firm’s assets in the country. Venezuela also has criticized U.S. officials for allegedly backing ExxonMobil against the socialist government.  
State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela said it “paralyzed” exports to Exxon and cut all […]

JERUSALEM - Officials in Israel say they are not responsible for the bombing that killed Imad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah leader involved in terrorist attacks against Israel and the West for three decades.  Israeli officials say Mughniyeh was responsible for some of the worst attacks ever carried out against Israel and Jews around the world.  
Israeli […]

WASHINGTON - Venezuela’s state-run oil company has announced it is cutting crude sales to ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, because of Exxon’s efforts to seize Venezuelan assets.Petroleos de Venezuela said in a statement Tuesday its move is retaliation for what it calls ExxonMobil’s economic harassment.
ExxonMobil has not yet responded to Venezuela’s decision.
British and Dutch […]

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood writers have voted to end a three-month strike that crippled film and television production. Hollywood is breathing a sigh of relief after the worst labor dispute in decades.
The writers walked off the job November 5. Tuesday, Patric Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America West, said they will end the […]

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made a historic apology to the country’s Aboriginal people for past mistreatment. Mr. Rudd said past policies of assimilation under which indigenous children were taken from their families were a ’stain on the nation’s soul’.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has apologized to the ‘Stolen Generations’.
These were Aboriginal […]

CAPITOL HILL - The U.S. Senate Tuesday voted to renew a controversial surveillance law set to expire at the end of the week. Lawmakers left intact a provision to shield telephone companies from lawsuits for their role in the Bush administration’s wiretap program, despite opposition from many Democrats.
The Senate voted to extend a law which […]

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says his government still believes Iran is using its nuclear program to develop “non-conventional weapons.”Mr. Olmert addressed reporters Tuesday in Berlin after a second day of talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about Iran’s nuclear program and the Middle East peace process.
He said he would not rule out […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush marked African-American History Month in the United States with a ceremony at the White House, where he spoke of the need to purge the country of symbols of intolerance.
For many African-Americans, a rope tied into a noose is a frightening symbol of bigotry and hatred.
It reminds them of a time when […]

WASHINGTON - Tests on several plastic baby bottles have found they emit “very significant” levels of a chemical linked to deadly illnesses in laboratory animals. That is according to a new report released by American and Canadian environmental health groups. 
The study found 95 percent of all baby bottles on the market are made with bisphenol […]

GENEVA - Russia is warning of a new arms race if a treaty banning the deployment of weapons in outer space is not achieved.  Russia and China have jointly presented a draft treaty to the U.N. Conference on Disarmament that would prohibit the deployment of weapons in space and the threat or use of force […]