IRIN News Baghdad specialists and citizens have hit out against the US strategy of building walls around Sunni districts that are surrounded by Shia areas. They say such barriers would worsen the lives of thousands of Iraqis and would increase violence. "When they build barriers, automatically they are assuming the existence of religious and ethnic differences in Iraq, reinforcing the fighting groups’ beliefs," Jassem al-Rheiri, a sociology professor at ...

Over the years, Wal-Mart has acquired a growing crowd of critics. The retail behemoth is regularly the target of unfavorable billboards, newspaper ads and at least one critical documentary. So it’s hardly surprising that the Bentonville, Ark., company would try to protect itself from damaging leaks and disruptions during shareholder meetings. As the company points out, taking such steps is only prudent. It should be noted that Wal-Mart’s low prices deliver real benefits to ...

Attempt to oust legal expert heading European corruption investigation David Leigh and Rob Evans Tuesday April 24, 2007 The Guardian The UK is covertly trying to oust the head of the world's main anti-bribery watchdog to prevent criticism of ministers and Britain's biggest arms company, BAE, the Guardian has learned.The effort to remove Mark Pieth comes as his organisation has stepped up its investigation into the British government's ...

Susie Mesure The low prices enjoyed by shoppers at British supermarkets are paid for by poor wages, job insecurity and a denial of basic human rights for workers in some of the world's poorest countries, a report has concluded. The growing power of big supermarkets is the driving force behind a mode of doing business that is made possible by exploiting workers, particularly women, in developing countries, the report ...

The evidence of British abuse and killing of Iraqi civilians is part of an iceberg of disgrace which demands a public inquiry Phil Shiner Monday April 23, 2007 The Guardian Images of the battered, bloodied, bruised face of Baha Mousa, tortured to death while in detention with British troops under the Iraq occupation, should have shocked the nation when they appeared last week. Instead, most media outlets chose ...

Boris Yeltsin, the first president of Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, has died aged 76, the Kremlin has announced. Yeltsin died of heart failure on Monday in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow, Russian news agencies reported. He had a long ...

DER Führer Adolf Hitler ist tot. These six words, announcing the death of the Nazi leader, should have brought the Second World War to an end in November 1943. The sentence was part of a press release drafted by disaffected German officers who hatched an audacious plot to kill Hitler and then use a secret army to seize control of key sites before suing for peace with the Allies. The full story ...

Plans to add a hormone which suppresses hunger to baby formula food is unlikely to work say experts. University of Buckingham researchers are looking at adding leptin to formula milk to curb future over-eating. But experts said the work ...

Inhabitants of a tiny place which served as a crucial base for British forces during the Falklands conflict say the UK government promised them a new regime, but changed its mind after 9/11. Could pressure from the United States have prompted the U-turn? Elizabeth Mistry investigates ...

Germany believes Paul Wolfowitz's position as head of the World Bank has become unsustainable, a German minister has told the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) ...

Testimony May Be Used Against 7 Other Marines Facing Charges In Killing Of 24 Iraqi Civilians   (AP) Military prosecutors have granted immunity to at least seven Marines connected to an attack that killed 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, the deadliest criminal case against U.S. troops in the Iraq war. Orders granting the immunity ensure any testimony ...

KIM GAMEL The United Nations will not include Iraqi civilian casualty figures in its next human rights report, a spokesman said Friday, omitting what many had viewed as a rare, reliable indicator of suffering in Iraq. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq had been releasing bimonthly reports assessing the human rights situation and providing death and injury tolls. The last report was issued in late January, and U.N. officials in Baghdad had ...

Megan Scully CongressDaily Pentagon lawyers abruptly blocked mid-level active-duty military officers from speaking Thursday during a closed-door House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee briefing about their personal experiences working with Iraqi security forces. The Pentagon's last-minute refusal to allow the officers' presentations surprised panel members and congressional aides, who are in the middle of an investigation into the effort to train and organize Iraqi forces. Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman ...

It's not known why contractor took gun to work MARK CARREAU and RUTH RENDON Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle A NASA contract ...

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States believe the coalition effort was a mistake, according to a poll by TNS released by the Washington Post and ABC News. 66 per cent of respondents think the war with Iraq was not worth fighting. The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,315 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more ...