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In the shadows of the elevated tracks toward the end of the No. 3 line in East New York, Brooklyn, with an April chill still in the air, Denniston and Marlene Wilks gently pulled clusters of slender green shoots from the earth, revealing a blush of tiny red shallots at the base. “Dennis used to keep [...]

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A Guantanamo war court judge threatened on Thursday to halt the case of a Canadian terrorism suspect captured at age 15 if the U.S. government fails to turn over records of his detention. The judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, ordered prosecutors to give a classified daily prison-camp log to [...]

Just before dusk on the central plain of northern Punjab state, Naresh Kumar, 22, crouches under a huge drill and sprinkles mustard oil, turmeric, raw sugar and various confections inside a 10-inch circle traced in rich soil. Hands clasped and head bowed, he offers a short prayer to a Sufi saint and asks for a bountiful [...]

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s new government is trying to convince the United States that unilateral strikes against al Qaeda militants on its territory could be “counter-productive”, the country’s foreign minister said on Friday. Pakistan is a staunch partner in the U.S.-led war against the al Qaeda and Taliban, but there is widespread public opposition to this campaign, [...]

WASHINGTON, May 8 (OneWorld) - More than 800 development and human rights activists are gathering here this week, developing and calling on Congress to implement new strategies to tackle world poverty and hunger. The InterAction Forum represents a “growing momentum among U.S.-based NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) working internationally, congressional offices, executive agencies, and a number of [...]

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces, after more than of 40 days of intense fighting, on Thursday told residents to evacuate their homes in the northeast Shiite slum of Sadr City and to move to temporary shelters on two soccer fields. The military’s call indicated the possibility of stepped-up military operations and came as Iraqi security forces [...]

WASHINGTON - The number of soldiers forced to remain in the Army involuntarily under the military’s controversial “stop-loss” program has risen sharply since the Pentagon extended combat tours last year, officials said Thursday. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was briefed about the program by Army officials who said that thousands of new stop-loss orders were issued [...]

MIAMI - Life-size human silhouettes cut from orange cardboard direct passersby at busy Bayfront Park to the latest effort by human rights groups to get the Guantanamo prison for terrorism suspects shut down. A replica of a maximum-security Camp 5 cell from the detention site at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay is at the [...]

NEW YORK - As U.S. television networks continue their silence about their use of retired military officers to ’sell’ progress in Iraq, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on the Defence Department Inspector General to investigate the Pentagon-sponsored public relations effort. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, and 40 others members of Congress, [...]

There was something interesting missing from Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner’s introductory remarks to journalists at his regular news briefing in Baghdad on Wednesday: the word “Iran,” or any form of it. It was especially striking as Bergner, the U.S. military spokesman here, announced the extraordinary list of weapons and munitions that have been uncovered in [...]

WASHINGTON - The general manager and possibly other senior staff at the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, where nine miners died last August, hid information from federal officials that could have prevented the disaster and should face criminal charges, the chairman of a House investigation said yesterday. The chairman, Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, [...]

The CIA must let a judge view a 2002 memo purportedly including waterboarding among interrogation methods to be used on prisoners in U.S. custody so he can decide whether it should be made public, the judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein issued the order after he had earlier said the 18-page memo did [...]

Leila Fadel, of McClatchy Newspapers: "Iraqi security forces, after more than 40 days of intense fighting, on Thursday told residents to evacuate their homes in the northeast Shiite slum of Sadr City and to move to temporary shelters on two soccer fields. The military's call indicated the possibility of stepped-up military operations and came as Iraqi security forces raided a radio station run by backers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr. In the southern port city of Basra, militants launched rockets that struck a coalition base, killing two contractors and injuring four civilians and four coalition soldiers."

Sari Gelzer, of Truthout: "The significant numbers of returning service members and veterans who are in need of mental health care have recently been put into the spotlight by a RAND Corporation report, which found approximately 300,000 men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. However, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr. Judith Broder did not need to hear statistics four years ago to realize the wars being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan were going to have a profound psychological impact on returning troops."

The Associated Press: "Shiite opposition gunmen seized control of several Beirut neighborhoods from Sunni foes loyal to the US-backed government on Friday as sectarian clashes reminiscent of Lebanon's bloody 15-year civil war raged in the capital. At least 11 people have been killed and more than 20 wounded in three days of street battles and gunfights, security officials said."

Aung Hla Tun, of Reuters: "The United Nations estimated 1.5 million people have been 'severely affected' by the cyclone that swept through Myanmar, as the United States expressed outrage with the country's junta over delays in allowing in aid." Also, Andrew Buncombe, of The Independent UK: "Despite the obvious suffering, massive devastation and pressing need for urgent action, the Burmese authorities were continuing to insist yesterday that everything was under control. On the front page of the New Light of Myanmar - a state-run government publication - was a picture of the Prime Minister, Thein Sein, handing over 20 television sets and 10 DVD players as part of the 'relief' operation. This, in a region where there has been no electricity since the 130mph storm struck."

Scott Martelle and Bob Drogin, of The Los Angeles Times: "As talk swirled this morning over when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton should end her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, her campaign chairman predicted the party would have a presumptive nominee in June and, if it's not Clinton, she would campaign for Sen. Barack Obama. The comments by Terry McAuliffe seemed aimed at persuading superdelegates and Democratic Party leaders that Clinton would not hurt party unity by pressing her campaign through the final June 3 primaries in Montana and South Dakota."

Daniel W. Reilly, of The Politico: "Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) issued a stern rebuke to a group of fellow House Democrats on Thursday, saying that the behavior of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition was 'absolutely shameful,' after the group revolted on Wednesday over the cost of veterans' educations benefits in a war funding measure, delaying consideration of the $183 billion supplemental spending bill. 'It is absolutely shameful that members of the Blue Dog coalition would vote to take this country into Iraq on false intelligence and lies, repeatedly vote to fund the disastrous military occupation of that country, but choose to turn their backs on the brave members of our armed forces by refusing to support an expansion of education benefits for them when they come home,' Hinchey said in a statement."

Michael Luo, of The New York Times: "For months, the White House and Senate Republicans have been content to let a political impasse over vacancies at the Federal Election Commission persist, sidelining the regulatory agency in the throes of a heated presidential campaign. But on Tuesday, President Bush suddenly announced three new nominees to the commission. He also backed away from Republicans' insistence that the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official who faces vigorous opposition from Democrats, be voted upon with other nominees to the commission."