I’ve known no war
And if I ever do I won’t know for sure
Who’ll be fighting whom
A.P.’s Death Toll for Iraq War Reaches 4,000
BAGHDAD (AP) — A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, the military said, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000. The grim milestone came on a day when at least 61 people were killed across the country.Rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone, underscoring the fragile security situation and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups despite an overall lull in violence.
The attacks on the Green Zone probably stemmed from rising tensions between rival Shiite groups and were the most sustained assault in months against the nerve center of the U.S. mission.
Wa, war her papa go to war.
He gonna fight but he don’t know what for.
Wa, war her papa go to war.
Her mama say one day he’s gonna come back from far away.
USA
Patients’ Data on Stolen Laptop
Identity Fraud Not Likely, NIH Says
A government laptop computer containing sensitive medical information on 2,500 patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health study was stolen in February, potentially exposing seven years’ worth of clinical trial data, including names, medical diagnoses and details of the patients’ heart scans. The information was not encrypted, in violation of the government’s data-security policy.NIH officials made no public comment about the theft and did not send letters notifying the affected patients of the breach until last Thursday — almost a month later. They said they hesitated because of concerns that they would provoke undue alarm.
When Barry Became Barack
It didn’t happen overnight. But in college, the young Barry took to being called by his formal name. What this evolution tells us about him.
Barry Obama decided that he didn’t like his nickname. A few of his friends at Occidental College had already begun to call him Barack (his formal name), and he’d come to prefer that. The way his half sister, Maya, remembers it, Obama returned home at Christmas in 1980, and there he told his mother and grandparents: no more Barry. Obama recalls it slightly differently, but in the same basic time frame. He believes he told his mom he wanted to be called Barack when she visited him in New York the following summer. By both accounts, it seemed that the elder relatives were reluctannt to embrace the change. Maya recalls that Obama’s maternal grandparents, who had played a big role in raising him, continued long after that to call him by an affectionate nickname, “Bar.” “Not just them, but my mom, too,” says Obama.
Europe
Fears of summer bombings as Eta steps up attacks
· Security services say resorts may be targeted
· Move designed to pressure Zapatero for peace deal
Spanish security services fear the Basque separatist group Eta is planning a summer campaign of violence which could include attacks on tourist resorts popular with Britons.Concerns were raised after the assassination of a former politician and the car bombing of a police station over the past fortnight, suggesting Eta is stepping up its attacks.
Despite the arrest of key members which has badly depleted Eta, security forces say Eta appears determined to continue killing to pressure the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to broker a peace deal.
Protest fear as Greeks set Games in motion
Greece has tightened security around the birthplace of the Olympics for today’s lighting of the torch for the Beijing Games, fearful that pro-Tibet activists might disrupt the ceremony.Usually, concerns about the 30-minute ritual in Ancient Olympia extend no further than whether the clouds will lift for long enough to allow the actresses, playing the role of white-gowned high priestesses, to use the sun’s rays to light the flame.
But this year, the Greek authorities fear the recent deadly clashes in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, may energise protesters, and they will deploy 1,000 police officers around the ancient ruins of the Temple of Hera.
Latin America
Peruvian leaders cry foul as Chávez exports healthcare
· 400,000 Latin Americans take up free surgery offer
· Humanitarian schemes are political front, says Lima
The plane door opened and the elderly visitors, all visually impaired and in some cases blind, shuffled out slowly and carefully into Venezuela.Disease, age and poverty had stolen their eyesight but now they were in the land of Hugo Chávez and that was about to change. A scheme called Misión Milagro – Mission Miracle – had flown them here from Peru for free surgery which would transform their lives.
A portrait of Venezuela’s president gazed down from the airport terminal. “It is thanks to Chávez we are here,” beamed Rosario Vilcavilca, 88, a peasant farmer in a traditional highland skirt.
Ecuadorean death report confirmed
Colombia has confirmed that an Ecuadorean was killed when its troops attacked a rebel camp inside the neighbouring state three weeks ago.
Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said his body was taken to Colombia after the raid along with that of top leftist Colombian rebel Raul Reyes.Ecuador’s president earlier warned of diplomatic tension if an Ecuadorean was proven to have died in the attack.
There was no immediate reaction from Rafael Correa’s office.
He had said that Ecuador would not forgive the killing of Franklin Aisalia, whose family reported his death in the raid.
Asia
China accuses Dalai Lama of being a terrorist
Far from heeding international calls for dialogue with the Dalai Lama, China has accused Tibet’s exiled god-king of colluding with Muslim terrorists to destabilise the country before the Olympic Games.
State-run newspapers have issued prominent leading articles that are part of a campaign to portray the Dalai Lama as the mastermind of the deadly riots that have rippled through Tibet and ethnic Tibetan communities.
In Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, yesterday local TV issued the No 7 list of those most wanted in connection with the riots on March 10 in which Chinese officials say 22 people were killed, including a baby boy burnt to death in a garage and one paramilitary police officer.
Young commuter bloggers snatch Japan’s literary laurels
Steamy confessional novels written on mobile phones top bestseller lists
Like many mothers and daughters, Makiko and Midoriko don’t always get on. Makiko, a hostess on the cusp of middle age, is worn out from single-handedly raising her teenage girl. Midoriko lives in fear that she will end up like her exhausted mum, and communicates only in writing. Guilt and resentment curdle their lives as Makiko ponders the move she thinks will restart her life: breast implants.Such is the plot of Japan’s newest literary sensation, Breasts and Eggs, originally written as a blog by Mieko Kawakami in the choppy vernacular of Japan’s freewheeling western city Osaka.
Middle East
Hamas and Fatah agree to hold talks
The rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah yesterday signed up to a Yemeni-brokered deal to negotiate a reconciliation, but hours after the signing an apparent dispute broke out over just what was included in the agreement.Hostilities between the two groups boiled over last June when Hamas seized control of Gaza, routing forces loyal to the Palestinian President and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas, in a week of deadly street battles.
Endemol exec sent to Dubai jail after police find ‘speck of dirt’
A speck of dirt invisible to the human eye was all it took to land Cat Le Huy in a Dubai jail.Officials at Dubai airport claimed they had found 0.03 grams of hashish in the Endemol television executive’s bag after he had travelled to the United Arab Emirates to visit a friend last month. They accused him of possession – which would have led to a mandatory four-year prison sentence had he been convicted. After he spent six weeks in Dubai’s jails protesting his innocence, prosecutors dropped the case this month.
Africa
Funeral costs rise as Zimbabwe elections loom for Robert Mugabe
Hilton Takundwa died an old man in his own bed — the only part of this tale that is not a tragedy. On Easter morning his wife Winfildah got up to make the breakfast and Hilton to pray. “Leave me a while so I can speak to my God,” he told her.Then he got up from his knees and lay back down on his bed. “Now I must rest a while.”
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BREAKING: China’s Leaders Pen Joint-Venture Deal with The Onion.
Mu . . .
To bad President Bush doesn’t understand this or care to.
It is to weep.