Christians targeted in Iraq attacks

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Christians targeted in Iraq attacks

At least 14 roadside bombs exploded across the city on Wednesday

A string of roadside bombs in Baghdad kills at least three people and leaves another 24 injured.

A series of bomb and mortar attacks targeting Christians have killed three people and injured 24 others in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, according to police sources.

Attackers detonated at least 14 roadside bombs in predominantly Christians areas within a two-hour period on Wednesday morning and a mortar round struck in the southern Doura district.

"These operations, which targeted Christians, came as a continuation of the [October 31] attack that targeted the Salvation church," an Iraqi interior ministry source said.

The official referred to the October 31 attack that killed more than 50 people at a Catholic cathedral in the capital.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for that attack and has threatened more violence against the Christian community.

'Christians fleeing'

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Baghdad, said Christians in Iraq have been a typical target of al-Qaeda fighters following the US-led invasion in March 2003.

"We have seen Christians fleeing Iraq between 2004 and 2006. Their numbers now are down to a third," she said.

"This is a stepped-up attack to revive the chaos that has affected the Christian community in the past."

Younadem Kana, a Christian parliamentarian, condemned the violence and blamed police and military for failing to protect Christians despite boosting security measures at churches around the capital.

"These attacks are not targeting only Christians, but also the government that has promised to protect the Christians," Kana said.

He said Wednesday's bombings exposed "grave flaws in the structure and the work of Iraq's security forces," and that attacks will continue as long as the country remains without a government that represents all Iraqis.

Tensions have been running high since the inconclusive parliamentary elections in March left Shia, Sunni and Kurdish political factions rallying support for a new government and raising fears of renewed violence.

No kidding: 10-year-old girl becomes mom, dad a minor too

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No kidding: 10-year-old girl becomes mom, dad a minor too

MADRID: A 10-year-old girl has given birth in southern Spain and authorities are evaluating whether to let her and her family retain custody of the baby, an official said on Tuesday.

The baby was born last week in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, said Micaela Navarro, who is the Andalusia region's minister of social affairs.

Navarro told reporters the father of the baby is also a minor, and both the mother and the baby were in good health. Her department declined to give further details , such as the sex of baby.

Spanish newspapers said that the mother is of Romanian origin. The daily Diario de Jerez quoted medical staffers who treated the girl as saying that they were told by her mother that giving birth at such a young age is common in their country.

The Romanian girl became pregnant before coming to Spain, according to media reports.

Medical experts warn that because young girls are still growing themselves, they are at higher risk during pregnancy.

Studies have shown that teenage girls are more likely to give birth to premature babies and their infants also have a higher chance of dying by age one.

As reported by the ministry of Equality, the 10-year-old girl has not requested assistance, so the family will take care of two children . However, community social services in Jerez will monitor the case. Social services have refused to say if a police investigation will be launched into the matter of the conception.

In Andalucia, 48 under 15's gave birth in 2008, the last year for which the National Statistics Institute (INE) provides data. Across Spain, in the same year there were 177 births from underaged mothers.

Iraqis cleared over UK troop deaths

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Iraqis cleared over UK troop deaths

Nine people, mostly Iraqi police officers, were charged with killing the British soldiers in Basra

Iraqi court rules that there is not enough evidence to prosecute two men over the murders of six British troops in 2003.

Two Iraqi men accused of participating in the mob killing of six British troops in Basra in 2003 have been acquitted by an Iraqi court. 

According to the court ruling on Sunday, the evidence against Hamza Hateer, 33, and Mussa Ismael 

al-Fartusi, 39 was not enough to prosecute them.

The six military policemen were killed when a mob of about 400 people stormed a police station in Majar Al-Kabir, southern Iraq, on June 24, 2003. The soldiers were on an assignment to train local police, following the fall of Saddam Hussein's government.

According to Abu Maryam, the village chief, four Iraqis were also killed and 17 injured in the incident.

Baleagh Hamdi Hikmat, the chief justice, dropped the charges after no witnesses were presented in Baghdad's central criminal court. All of the nine people, mostly Iraqi police officers, who were questioned by the three-judge panel said that they did not witness the killings of the Royal Military Police officers.

However one of those questioned said he saw one defendant taking the weapon of one of the dead soldiers.

"He [the man accused of taking the weapon] could have been charged theft," Jane Arraf, a journalist in the Iraqi city Irbil, told Al Jazeera. But the case was not "tried in a way that would satisfy a lot of the families" of dead soldiers, Arraf said.

Mohsen Hammadi, the former police chief of the station where the British officers had become trapped , said in his testimony: "When people started to gather around us we tried to run away through a rear window at the station. But the British soldiers refused, saying they had no orders to withdraw. After the attacks intensified I got out through the window and ran home. When I left they (British soldiers) were still alive. I didn't see the two accused and don't have any information about their participation in the crime."

Other witnesses

Similar testimonies were given by other witnesses who said that villagers were angry with the police officers for using dogs during searches, which are considered unclean by Muslims.

Eight Iraqis had been arrested earlier this year in connection with the killings, but charges were dropped against all but two men.

Dima Naaman, spokeswoman for the British embassy in Baghdad, confirmed that the embassy was aware of the men's acquittal but declined further comment.

The father of Simon Miller, one of the killed military policemen, said he was "devastated" by the ruling.

John Miller, 59, from northeast England, said: "My son was let down so badly in life, now he has been let down so badly in death. I'm devastated, I just can't believe it."

Hussein Ali, defence lawyer, said that Fartusi would be freed but Hateer still faced a charge of stealing a British army rifle.

At least 179 British soldiers were killed in Iraq from March 2003 until British forces formally handed over control of their last outposts to the Iraqi military.

Politics of the Nobel Peace prize

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Politics of the Nobel Peace prize

The Peace prize is among the world's most prestigious awards, but it is also one of the most controversial.

he Nobel Peace prize is one of the world's most prestigious awards, but it is also one of the most contentious.

Liu Ziubao, the Chinese activist, is the latest winner, a decision that has infuriated Beijing. China's is not the only critical voice: Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has also entered the debate, expressing solidarity with the Chinese government.

The Peace prize was set up with clear goals: the award would be given to those who "have done the most for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and promotion of peace congresses".

But critics say that not all past winners have met this criteria.

In 1973 Henry Kissinger won the award, for his work on the Vietnam peace accords. It later emerged he was responsible for a secret bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese army. 

In 1994, Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin jointly won the award for their efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. But peace remains elusive in the region. 

And, most recently, just nine months into his presidency, Barack Obama was awarded the coveted prize. Yet US drone strikes on Pakistan territory have increased under his presidency, the US still has a military presence in Iraq and is actively engaged in war in Afghanistan.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan explores the different faces of the Nobel Peace prize.

Economy loses 95K jobs due to government layoffs, By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

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Economy loses 95K jobs due to government layoffs, By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

WASHINGTON — A wave of government layoffs in September outpaced weak hiring in the private sector, pushing down the nation's payrolls by a net total of 95,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The jobless rate has now topped 9.5 percent for 14 straight months, the longest stretch since the 1930s.
The report is the final one before the November elections, which means members of Congress will face voters next month who are frustrated with an economy that is still struggling to create jobs.
The figure that may matter most is 18,000 — the number of positions lost after subtracting the 77,000 temporary census jobs that ended in September. That marks the first loss for that grouping since last December, according to economists at Nomura Securities.
Another troubling sign is a sharp rise in people working part time who would prefer full-time work. Their ranks have increased by nearly 1 million since July and total 9.5 million, the most on records dating from 1955.
When adding that to the 14.8 million unemployed and the 2.5 million who have stopped looking for work, there are a startling 26.8 million Americans who are "underemployed." That's 17.1 percent of Americans who want to work.
Government job losses led the declines in September. A net total of 159,000 public-sector jobs were eliminated. Local governments cut 76,000 jobs last month, most of them teachers. That's the largest cut by local governments in 28 years. States cut 7,000 jobs. The rest were census jobs.
The private sector is not compensating for those losses. Companies added only 64,000 jobs. That's the fifth straight month of weak private hiring. And it's roughly half the pace needed simply to keep up with population growth and hold down the jobless rate.
"The labor market remains far too weak to raise confidence among consumers, lift spending and in turn spur businesses to step up hiring," Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist at Moody's Analytics, wrote in a note to clients.
The local government job losses reflect the toll the recession is taking on state and local government budgets. Falling home values are just beginning to push down local governments' property tax revenues. Most state and local governments are required to balance their budgets, which means drops in revenue are forcing cuts in services.
Local officials say more cuts are coming. The National League of Cities projects that local governments will cut 480,000 jobs this year and next. More jobs will be lost among private companies that do business with cities.
The weak job market makes it more likely that the Federal Reserve will take additional steps to boost the economy. Most economists expect the Fed to decide at its meeting next month to buy government debt in an effort to lower interest rates and spur more borrowing.
That expectation enabled investors to take the jobs report in stride. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 29 points in midday trading. Other indexes were mixed.
Even areas of the economy that were strong earlier this year are weakening.
Manufacturers cut 6,000 jobs, the second straight month of losses. The sector drove job growth after the recession ended, adding 134,000 positions in the first five months of 2010. But factory employment has been flat since then.
Construction firms cut another 21,000 jobs, hampered by weakness in commercial real estate development. Information services lost 5,000 positions.
Some sectors showed job gains. For example, the health care industry added 32,000 jobs.
But most of the new jobs don't necessarily pay well. The leisure and hospitality sector added 38,000 jobs — many in bars and restaurants. Retailers added 5,700. Temporary help services hired nearly 17,000 workers.
Anemic job growth is also holding down wages. Average hourly earnings rose by just a penny in September and are up only 1.7 percent in the past year.
Employers, faced with slow sales and a weak economy, see little reason to ramp up hiring. The economy expanded at a feeble 1.7 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. Most analysts think the economy will fare little better for the rest of this year.
Since the recession ended in June 2009, the economy has grown 3 percent, according to economists at Deutsche Bank. That's less than half the average 6.5 percent pace in postwar recoveries.
The department said the economy shed 15,000 more jobs in July and August than previously estimated.
The government also issued a preliminary estimate of its annual revision to the jobs data. The revision is made after examining unemployment insurance tax records. The department said the revision is likely to show the economy lost 366,000 more jobs that it previously thought in the 12 months ending in March 2010.

Pakistan criticizes drone strikes, By the CNN Wire Staff

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Pakistan criticizes drone strikes,  By the CNN Wire Staff

A file photograph of a 'Predator' drone similar to the type used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan criticized the increase in suspected U.S. drone attacks Thursday, saying they undermine Pakistan's efforts to win over the people in the country's tribal region, where most of the strikes take place.
"We believe, strongly believe, that these drone attacks are counter-productive and not serving the larger strategic interests, especially in the context of our efforts to win hearts and minds which is part and parcel of winning, part and parcel of our strategy against militants and terrorist," Abdul Basit, foreign ministry spokesman said.
In the latest strike, a suspected U.S. drone attack killed two alleged militants in Pakistan's tribal region Thursday, intelligence officials told CNN.
Two intelligence officials said two missiles hit a suspected militant vehicle in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, one of seven districts in Pakistan's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The intelligence officials asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
One U.S. official said recently that the CIA has stepped up missile strikes in Pakistan, and the uptick in drone attacks is based on precise intelligence.
The United States does not officially comment on suspected drone strikes. But it is the only country operating in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones -- which are controlled remotely.
September has seen more attacks than any other month since the unmanned aerial strikes began.
The majority of the strikes this year have hit targets in North Waziristan.
While suspected militants have been killed, the strikes have also caused some civilian casualties.
The civilian death toll has angered Pakistanis, less than a tenth of whom support the strikes, said Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst.
According to a count kept by New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank of which Bergen is a fellow, the drones program in Pakistan has reportedly killed more than 1,000 people since 2004.