Will the US Develop a Death Ray?

A band of pre-eminent scientists and war-fighters has concluded that the nation’s military might isn’t powerful enough for the 21st Century; and so the National Research Council , an independent, congressionally-chartered body charged with assessing scientific issues, is urging the Pentagon and Congress to get cracking on developing a weapon capable of hitting any target in the world within an hour of being launched.

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Tariq Aziz, ‘Chemical Ali’ sentenced by Iraq court

The top court in Iraq sentenced two of Saddam Hussein’s half-brothers to death Wednesday for crimes against humanity. The court also sentenced former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and a former senior official known as “Chemical Ali” — Ali Hassan al-Majeed — to 15 years in custody for crimes against humanity, an official with the Iraq High Tribunal told CNN. The men were sentenced for their roles in the 1992 execution of 42 merchants.

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‘Chemical Ali’ sentenced to death a third time

An Iraqi court on Monday sentenced to death a former Iraqi general known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in putting down a uprising in Baghdad a decade ago, Iraqi state TV reported. It is the third death sentence for Ali Hasan al-Majeed, a cousin of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator.

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5 high-ranking Kurds leave Iraqi president’s party

The second-highest ranking official in Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s political party resigned Saturday, along with four other high-ranking Kurdish politicians, officials said. Khosrat Rasul, the vice president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, resigned, along with four other members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), according to Kurdish lawmakers

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France’s Sarkozy in Iraq to rebuild ties

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a surprise visit to Baghdad Tuesday on a trip seen as aimed at raising his country’s stake in Iraqi reconstruction and easing frictions with Washington over the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. Sarkozy, the first French president to visit the country, met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during the brief trip ahead of a tour of Gulf states. The French leader described his visit as a vanguard of French economic involvement in rebuilding Iraq and an attempt to strengthen European ties

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