Domine, exaudi nos

International Space Station
Shuttle Launches on 16-Day Mission
New York Times - 4 hours ago
Chris O’Meara/AP The shuttle Endeavour lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The shuttle carries a crew of seven astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station.


Pakistan
2 suicide attacks kill dozens in Pakistan
International Herald Tribune - 28 minutes ago
AP LAHORE, Pakistan: Blasts set off by suicide bombers ripped through a seven-story police headquarters in Lahore and a nearby advertising agency Tuesday, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 200.

Date set for Pakistan parliament
BBC News - 2 hours ago
Pakistan's newly-elected parliament will meet for the first time on 17 March, President Pervez Musharraf is quoted by state-run TV as saying.
Pakistan's Progress Wall Street Journal
Musharraf summons Pakistan parliament on March 17 AFP

Iraq
Eight US Soldiers Die in Iraq Attacks
Washington Post - 2 hours ago
By Joshua Partlow BAGHDAD, March 11 -- Eight US soldiers died in separate attacks here and in the eastern province of Diyala on Monday, the deadliest day for US troops in more than two months.
Bomb Hits Bus in Iraq, Killing 16 The Associated Press

Israel - Palestine
Mid-East press sceptical of Gaza ceasefire
BBC News - 56 minutes ago
Both Hamas and Israel are denying that an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal has been made in the Gaza Strip - but both have insisted that if the other side stops fighting, so will they.
Militants Launch Rocket at Israeli City The Associated Press
Israel reportedly 'agrees to 30 days of quiet' with Hamas Jerusalem Post


US Says Israel Housing Move Unhelpful
The Associated Press - 16 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration, which is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to the Middle East for talks on peace and oil prices, on Monday chided Israel for its plan to expand Jewish housing in disputed Jerusalem.

Oh, frack! Satan's role model sent to the Middle East
Bush Sending Cheney to Mideast Voice of America
Cheney To Visit Middle East Amid Talk of Israeli-Hamas Pact New York Sun

China - Tibet
Indian Tibetans 'defy march ban'
BBC News - 1 hour ago
Leaders of Tibetan refugees in India say they are defying a ban preventing them from marching to Tibet in protest over China hosting the Olympics.
China Detains Tibetan Protesters in Lhasa Voice of America
China arrests protesting monks Aljazeera.net

Croatia - Serbia - the Hague
Croat Generals on Trial for War Crimes
The Associated Press - 35 minutes ago
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Three generals regarded as national heroes in Croatia went on trial Tuesday, accused of orchestrating the killing of at least 150 Serbs in a 1995 military campaign that unleashed widespread murder and pillage.
Croats in Hague war crimes trial BBC News
Gotovina War Crimes Trial Opens Voice of America

Gulf War Vets
Chemical exposure cited in Gulf War vets' ailments
San Diego Union Tribune - 1 hour ago
By Cheryl Clark SAN DIEGO - A class of chemicals that includes nerve agents, pesticides and a drug to counter nerve gas may be causing the chronic fatigue, severe muscle pain and other illnesses that about 250000 Persian Gulf War veterans are ...
Gulf War syndrome's chemical-origin theory upheld Los Angeles Times
Gulf War Illness Strongly Linked to Chemical Exposure Washington Post

United Kingdom
Plans for US-style 'national pledge' in schools sparks row
Times Online - 3 hours ago
Proposals for schoolchildren to take part in American-style pledges alongside the British flag to help combat a decline in national identity were criticised as divisive and unnecessary today.
'Good citizens' to get tax cuts under Lord Goldsmith's plans Telegraph.co.uk
Pupils could take allegiance oath to the Queen Reuters UK

More severe gales to sweep Britain overnight
Reuters UK - 33 minutes ago
LONDON (Reuters) - Winds gusting up to 80 mph are expected to sweep across the country late on Tuesday and into early Wednesday, a day after a storm brought down trees and power lines in southern England and Wales.

New York
Little sympathy for NY governor
BBC News - 58 minutes ago
Eliot Spitzer, the New York State governor hit by allegations that he used prostitution service, can draw little comfort from US newspapers and blogs.
Callgirl shame for New York Governor The Age
Rigorous prosecutor who busted prostitution ring hoist with his ... Sydney Morning Herald

Latin America
Fiscal Colombia no investigara rebelde que mató a jefe de FARC por ...
Terra España - hace 12 horas
El fiscal general de Colombia, Mario Iguarán, anunció hoy que en principio su despacho no investigará por homicidio a un rebelde de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) que mató al cabecilla de esa guerrilla, 'Iván Ríos', ...
Polémica por recompensar al guerrillero que mató a un líder de FARC AFP
Rebelde de las FARC espera recompensa $us 2,6 millones Los Tiempos

Tanzani - The Comoros - African Union
La Tanzanie contribue à la force de l'UA aux Comores
Jeune Afrique - Publié depuis 1 heure
La Tanzanie a contribué d'ici 24 heures à la force de l'Union africaine (UA) qui sera déployée aux Comores, une île de l'Océan Indien, rapporte mardi le quotidien tanzanien This Day, citant le ministre des Affaires étrangères Bernard Membe. ...
Naufrage d'un ravitailleur: le pompage du gazole impossible ... Le Monde
Comores : chronique d’un débarquement annoncé sur l’île d’Anjouan Afrik.com

The flood waters are rising and the people, your people, God, are threatened. The river, even rising, is beautiful in the evening light, so beautiful that it seems blasphemous, smug, self-satisfied in all the indifference of its rising. God, you must listen! Come back to us and free us from the waters that hem us in, powerful, superb, cruel and indifferent. Free your people from the waters of oppression and hatred, slavery and destruction, and lead them to high land.
--from Prayers for Our Times, ed. by John Cumming and Paul Burns

--the BB