Things aren't going as well in Iraq as they used to be. First on Friday, a suicide bomber killed himself and two bystanders in Riyadh. Then on Sunday Shia Iraqis supporting the Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr and American forces clashed over the control of public buildings in Sadr City, causing the deaths of seven American soldiers. In Najaf, 20 Sadr supporters were killed and over 100 injured in clashes with Spanish troops. Three American soldiers were killed around Baghdad and four died in the western Anbar province in hostile actions as well. A warrant has been issued for al-Sadr, leading experts to speculate whether these actions will lead to a possible civil war when power is handed back over to the Iraqis. To make matters worse, the cleric has publicly stated that he is willing to die resisting any attempts to capture him. The United States is said to be seriously contemplating sending reinforcements to quell the current situation. The Christian Science monitor runs down the current situation.
Collaborating what Richard Clarke testified at the 9/11 commission, a former British ambassador to Washington has come out detailing how George Bush mentioned to Tony Blair his intention to oust Saddam Hussein from power only 9 days after 9/11. Tony Blair apparently warned Bush to keep his focus on Afghanistan, but the President noted that they would come back to Iraq after the war in Afghanistan was complete. Colin Powell has also come out saying that the data on Iraq's WMD's was not solid before the American's invaded. Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has stated that the war in Iraq has left the country worse off than when Saddam Hussein was in power.
Three suspected terrorists and a policeman were killed after the suspected terrorists detonated explosives during a police raid on their dwelling. Among the dead was the suspected ringleader of the Madrid bombings, Serhane ben Abdelmajid Fakhet. The Christian Science Monitor takes us through the steps that led the Spanish authorities to this point. Other enforcement operations were successful, as three letter bombs were intercepted destined for media outlets, a bag of explosives was discovered under a high-speed rail track using explosives that match those used in Madrid and two more suspects were arrested in connection with those bombings. French officials have arrested 13 terrorist suspects in relation to suicide bomb attacks in Morocco and found what they believe to be an arms factory for the Basque separatist group ETA. Thieves have stolen 600kg of dynamite and 5000 detonators in Norway, raising fears of a future terrorist attack.
Recent success by Israel in thwarting suicide bombers has caused former Palestinian rivals to join together against Israel using the best resources from every group. The United States has warned Israel against assassinating Yasser Arafat.
Also:
- Astronomers are delighted with the discovery of mini-galaxies, the theoretical building block of larger galaxies.
- Scientists are divided over whether building a Moon base for Mars exploration is a good idea or not.
- The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft has taken the sharpest color picture to date of Saturn.
- NASA's Gravity Probe B is scheduled to be sent up into orbit April 17th with a mission to test components of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
- Stronger trade winds are pushing the planet into a faster spin, putting our calendar out by one day in the last 100 years.
- A third volcano has been discovered in Mount Fuji.
- Archeologists have unearthed a full frontal portrait of an Egyptian pharaoh, the first ancient Egyptian portrait found that wasn't in profile.
- If you're in Brazil anytime soon, be careful to watch out for the vampire bats.
- According to recent studies, size does matter.
- Why leaping ahead has its problems.
- A double surgery for obese people may significantly aid their health.
- Scientists are studying what makes chimps and humans so different despite have such similar genomes.
- The Dead Sea might not have been so dead at one point, as an oil exploration company finds fossil fuels 363 meters down.
- Sony is talking about having multiple versions of the PS3.
- A half-meter tall robot has conducted Beethoven's 5th symphony in Japan.
- Kerry may be Catholic, but not as Catholic as some in the Church would like.
- 308 000 jobs were created in the United States in the last month, beating most analyst's expectations.
- George Bush's credibility might have taken some blows in the last few weeks, but the Economist notes that voters have yet to show their concern.
- American Progress has put together an article showing how Bush's attacks against Kerry as a 'flip-flopper' might be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
- A former Richard Nixon aide has stated that Bush's administration is worse than Nixon's when it comes to secrecy, deception and political cynicism.
- Canadians are now the only nationality allowed to enter the United States without being fingerprinted.
- China is getting upset about a proposed sale of radars to Taiwan from the United States.
- A member of the group that conducted the Bali bombings that killed 202 people has confessed that orders for the attack came from Osama bin Laden.
- Rwanda's official census has found that 937 000 people were killed in the 1994 genocide.
- The Economist details the Cyprus peace plan and recent history of the divided island, plus an article on the EU's carbon trading plan.
- After a Jewish school was firebombed in Montreal, Prime Minister Paul Martin came out to declare that this type of action was not part of his Canada.
- Avid file-swappers are due to be heading to Canada as a judge rules their activity to be legal.
- Quebec has just wed their first same-sex couple.
- 150 copies of the Holy Book of the Sikhs have been flown from Punjab to Toronto to be met by Prime Minister Paul Martin and members of Canada's Sikh community.
- Ontario unions are kicking off a large protest of Ontario's public-private hospitals.
- The Pope used his Palm Sunday sermon to call upon young people to choose faith over fashion.
- 3000 local Christians and pilgrims marched in Jerusalem in what is thought to be the path that Jesus took when he entered the city.
- Fans of Nirvana are marking the 10th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death.
- Bill Gates step aside, the founder of IKEA is now the world's richest person.
- Slate asks whether newspapers should show graphic images of war.
- Wal-Mart may have overbilled up to 800 000 customers using credit and debt cards.
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