Archive for the ‘Iraq’’ Category
Hot Docs: Iraq Can’t Spend Its Oil Money, Raising the Retirement Age, and More
Posted August 6, 2008
on:Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq. A new Government Accountability Office report looks at Iraq’s spending patterns and its windfall oil revenues. The agency notes that Iraq’s government has run massive budget surpluses over the past two years and outlines some difficulties local officials have faced in trying to spend these funds on capital improvements.
Actuaries Advocate Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age. The American Academy of Actuaries recommends an immediate increase in the retirement age to help alleviate strain on the Social Security system. The professional organization attributes the crunch to an increase in longevity over the past several decades.
Screening for Prostate Cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts convened under government auspices, issued new recommendations about who should be screened for prostate cancer. The new advice discourages screening for men over 75.
Kids’ Meals: Obesity on the Menu. The Center for Science in the Public Interest evaluates the nutritional content of children’s menus at 25 popular fast food and restaurant chains, finding, unsurprisingly, that many choices are high in calories, fat, and sodium.
One Year Progress Report: the Department’s Comprehensive National Security Oversight Initiative.
Hot Docs: Iraq Can’t Spend Its Oil Money, Raising the Retirement Age, and More
Posted August 6, 2008
on:Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq. A new Government Accountability Office report looks at Iraq’s spending patterns and its windfall oil revenues. The agency notes that Iraq’s government has run massive budget surpluses over the past two years and outlines some difficulties local officials have faced in trying to spend these funds on capital improvements.
Actuaries Advocate Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age. The American Academy of Actuaries recommends an immediate increase in the retirement age to help alleviate strain on the Social Security system. The professional organization attributes the crunch to an increase in longevity over the past several decades.
Screening for Prostate Cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts convened under government auspices, issued new recommendations about who should be screened for prostate cancer. The new advice discourages screening for men over 75.
Kids’ Meals: Obesity on the Menu. The Center for Science in the Public Interest evaluates the nutritional content of children’s menus at 25 popular fast food and restaurant chains, finding, unsurprisingly, that many choices are high in calories, fat, and sodium.
One Year Progress Report: the Department’s Comprehensive National Security Oversight Initiative.
Attacks mark Baghdad anniversary
Posted April 9, 2008
on:- In: American | anniversary | Attacks | Baghdad | children | Iraq' | Petraeus
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At least six people have been killed in mortar attacks in Baghdad on the fifth anniversary of the city’s capture by American forces. The attacks, in the Sadr City district of the city, came as the capital observed a vehicle curfew. Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr had called for a mass anti-American rally, but cancelled it amid security concerns. It is five years since US troops pulled down a large statue of the late Saddam Hussein in the city centre. Witnesses and officials told the BBC that one mortar exploded at a funeral wake, killing one person and wounding unknown others. A second mortar landed on a building, killing five. Baghdad’s Green Zone, which houses diplomatic missions and much of Iraq’s government, also came under mortar fire but there are no reports of injuries. Cars and motorcycles have been banned from the streets until midnight (2100 GMT), the Iraqi government said. People have been mostly staying at home, reports say. Clashes overnight in Sadr City between Iraqi and US forces and militiamen loyal to the cleric left at least 12 people dead, medical workers said. Fragile truce Moqtada Sadr had said that a one-million-strong protest was planned to mark the anniversary, but he called it off, saying he feared there could be bloodshed.
He also threatened to suspend a truce – credited with helping curb violence levels in Iraq since last year – by his powerful Mehdi Army militia. “If necessary the ceasefire will be lifted in order to implement our aims, ideology, religion, principles, nationhood,” a statement said. On Monday, Iraq’s prime minister threatened to exclude the radical Shia cleric’s movement from politics unless he disbanded the Mehdi Army. In recent weeks, Moqtada Sadr’s followers have clashed with Iraqi government troops and US forces in southern Iraq and Baghdad, as the government tried to crack down on militias. On Tuesday, the top US military leader in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, told US Congress that any progress recently made in Iraq were “fragile and is reversible”. He recommended a suspension of US troop withdrawals after July to protect security gains made during the Iraq “surge”, which saw an increase in US forces. After the planned “drawdown” of about 20,000 troops, there should be a 45-day “period of consolidation and evaluation”, Gen Petraeus said. |
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