Weekend News Update

I'm going to try a new system. Rather than repeating the news over a million little posts every night, I'll try putting the most interesting ones in a single post, with another one for commentary. This might simplify things a bit.

Poor sanitation seen killing 5,000 children a day

LONDON (Reuters) - Five thousand children die every day globally because they do not have access to clean toilets, health experts said on Tuesday.

Iraq forces could control all provinces this year: U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraq's army and police could be ready to take over security in all 18 provinces by the end of this year as the U.S. military moves toward a less prominent role in the country, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Russia warns of nuclear defence

Russia's military chief says Moscow is ready to defend itself preventively and with nuclear weapons.

Canada removes U.S., Israel from torture watchlist

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured.

Bush wants $150 billion plan to lift economy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush called on Congress on Friday to give the U.S. economy a "shot in the arm" with an election-year package of temporary tax cuts and other measures worth up to $150 billion.

Close contest could make Edwards kingmaker

Wrinkles in Dem party rules could put strong third-place finisher in driver's seat at convention time.

CIA links al Qaeda, allies to Bhutto attack: paper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA blames al Qaeda and allies of a Pakistani tribal leader for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, CIA Director Michael Hayden said in a Washington Post interview published on Friday.

Pakistan authorities arrest two over Bhutto plot

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security agents have arrested a youth who said he had been trained as a suicide bomber to kill opposition leader Benazir Bhutto had other militants failed to kill her, in the first arrests in the case, a security official said.

Pakistan child abuse 'growing'

Children in Pakistan are increasingly exposed to abuse, kidnapping and violence, a new report says.

The Construction Site Called Saudi Arabia

In a massive city of steel at the edge of the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia is trying to move beyond oil to become an industrial power.

Romney says stimulus proposal would rescue economy

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said on Saturday his $233.4 billion U.S. economic stimulus plan would rescue an economy on the "tipping point" of recession.

Duncan Hunter drops out of '08 race

Blog: The California congressman drops out after his poor showing in the Nevada caucuses.

Carbon revenues can aid climate fight-Barroso

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Commission wants European Union states to spend on clean energy technologies a fifth of the billions of euros they raise from selling emissions permits to high-polluting industry, its chief said on Monday.

Russia's Medvedev says too hard-up to own a car

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's likely future president, Dmitry Medvedev, does not have a car of his own and the only family transport is his wife's nine-year-old Volkswagen Golf, an official income declaration showed on Monday.

Afghan strife keeps children home

Fear of violence keeps 300,000 children in southern Afghanistan from school, President Karzai says.

Pentagon Weighs Top Iraq General as Chief of NATO

Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt, reporting for The New York Times, write: "The Pentagon is considering Gen. David H. Petraeus for the top NATO command later this year, a move that would give the general, the top American commander in Iraq, a high-level post during the next administration but that has raised concerns about the practice of rotating war commanders."

Abu Dhabi plots hydrogen future

The government of Abu Dhabi pledges $15bn to renewable energy development, including a major hydrogen plant.

EPA Asserts Executive Privilege In CA Emissions Case

Brad Eleven writes "The AP reports that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has invoked executive privilege to justify withholding information in its response to a lawsuit. The state of California is challenging the agency's decision to block their attempt to curb the emissions from new cars and trucks. In response, the EPA has delivered documents requested by the Freedom of Information Act for the discovery phase of the lawsuit — but the documents are heavily redacted. That is, the agency has revealed that it did spend many hours meeting to discuss the issue, but refuses to divulge the details or the outcomes of the meetings. Among the examples cited, 16 pages of a 43-page Powerpoint presentation are completely blank except for the page titles. An EPA spokesperson used language similar to other recent claims of executive privilege, citing 'the chilling effect that would occur if agency employees believed their frank and honest opinions and analysis expressed as part of assessing California's waiver request were to be disclosed in a broad setting.'"

Bill Clinton jabs playing well with voters

Every time Bill Clinton lashes out at Barack Obama and the media, Hillary Clinton wins a primary.

Pakistan troops clash with fighters

Military says up to 90 fighters dead in two separate battles in South Waziristan.

Japan PM launches green policies

Yasuo Fukuda says he will designated 10 eco-cities as part of a bid to make Japan a low-carbon society.

Quote of the Day

from Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

"I could promise you this. This president will never use Ronald Reagan as an example."
-- John Edwards, quoted by NBC News, responding to Sen. Barack Obama praise of Ronald Reagan in a recent interview.

EU to set Finland 38 pct renewables goal: report

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The European Commission will ask Finland to increase its renewable energy output by around a third to 38 percent in draft proposals to be unveiled next week, Finnish public broadcaster YLE said on Saturday.

Robots Learn To Lie

Garlicnation writes "Gizmodo reports that robots that have the ability to learn and can communicate information to their peers have learned to lie. 'Three colonies of bots in the 50th generation learned to signal to other robots in the group when then found food or poison. But the fourth colony included lying cheats that signaled food when they found poison and then calmly rolled over to the real food while other robots went to their battery-death.'"

Europe’s Ethics Panel Says Cloning Harms Animals

Just days after being told that milk and meat from cloned livestock were safe for human consumption, Europeans were warned that cloning causes suffering to the animals.

Niger releases French reporters

Two French TV journalists are released on bail from prison in Niger and will return to their home country, France says.