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(IsraelNN.com) A Nigerian group threatened to break off negotiations for the release of kidnapped Israeli businessman on Thursday night, using the excuse that Israel National News had referred to its members as "terrorists" in a story published earlier Thursday. The group, the "Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta" (MEND), denied responsibility for kidnapping the 60-year-old Israeli businessman who was working in Nigeria but offered assistance in negotiations for his release. According to a report in Reuters, MEND, which is comprised of indigenous gunmen, said Thursday evening that the Israeli hostage "has been located and seems to be a...

An unidentified Chinese man has been threatening to jump from the seventh floor of the Senate Hart Office Building's inner atrium since around 5:45 p.m., according to U.S. Capitol Police. Police negotiators are conversing with the man through a Chinese translator and are attempting to coax him off of the shallow ledge on the outside of the glass wall overlooking the office building’s atrium. “We don’t know very much right now,” said Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer. “We don’t know what his issue is or what office he visited. The police are trying to calm the situation and see...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened Sunday to send Afghan troops across the border to fight militants in Pakistan, a forceful warning to insurgents and the Pakistani government that his country is fed up with cross-border attacks. Karzai said Afghanistan has the right to self defense, and because militants cross over from Pakistan "to come and kill Afghan and kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to do the same." Speaking at a Sunday news conference, Karzai warned Pakistan-based Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud that Afghan forces would target him on his home turf. Mehsud is suspected...

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his veto power to eliminate the obscure Electricity Oversight Board, he put at risk $3 billion in state funds – money due the state from settlements with power merchants who victimized California during the electricity crisis. The governor’s 2007 action removing the EOB also means oversight over the state’s electricity grid is likely to be placed under the control of the PUC, which would entail a significant expansion of the authority of the Public Utilities Commission. This maneuvering comes amid an intensifying power clash between the Legislature and the Public Utilities Commission, led by president...

WELLINGTON, Utah - Along Utah's Nine Mile Canyon lies what some call the longest art gallery in the world — thousands of prehistoric rock carvings and paintings of bighorn sheep and other wildlife, hunters wielding spears, and warriors engaged in hand-to-hand combat. But now, a dramatic increase in natural gas drilling is proposed on the plateau above the canyon, and preservationists fear trucks will kick up dust that will cover over the images. And they worry that one possible solution — a chemical dust suppressant — could make things worse by corroding the rock. "They're irreplaceable," said Steve Tanner, a...

JERUSALEM - The scandal enveloping Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could force him from power and throw Israel's fractious political system into turmoil. If Olmert exits and his government falls, polls indicate that hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party are well-positioned to take power. That would likely have serious implications for the government's efforts to negotiate peace deals with the Palestinians and with Syria. On Wednesday, one of Olmert's key coalition partners, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, said Olmert had to step aside, and he threatened to topple the coalition and go to new elections if he doesn't. Barak's ultimatum left...

NEW YORK - A $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit over YouTube's ability to keep copyrighted material off its popular video-sharing site threatens how hundreds of millions of people exchange all kinds of information on the Internet, owner Google Inc. said. The company's lawyers made the claim in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan as Google responded to Viacom Inc.'s latest lawsuit alleging that the Internet has led to "an explosion of copyright infringement" by YouTube and others. The back-and-forth between the companies has intensified since Viacom brought its lawsuit last year, saying it was owed damages for the...

In a grilling of oil executives by a House panel yesterday, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., threatened to nationalize the industry if it didn't do something about the rising prices at the pump. A report by Fox News, captured in a clip posted on YouTube.com, showed Waters challenging the president of Shell Oil, John Hofmeister, to guarantee the prices consumers pay will go down if the oil companies are allowed to drill wherever they want off of U.S. shores.

Sister Cristina Angelini has been called the heart and soul of Shreveport's Renzi Center, an early child development center run by the Catholic church. But the federal government might be getting ready to tear that heart out. In a country where there are millions of illegal aliens -- and a shortage of Catholic sisters -- the feds are threatening to make her leave and return to her native Italy. Exactly why, the government couldn't tell KTBS News today. It might be a bureaucratic mixup. Sister Cristina got a letter from the government last week, telling her she must leave the...

State wildlife officials have told city planners that an approved development slated to be built on Bakersfield's northeast bluffs threatens an endangered cactus. The California Department of Fish and Game says a planned housing subdivision known as The Canyons would wipe out about 100 Bakersfield cactus plants, a species found only around the city. The agency said the cactus could not recover from the loss. If the project goes forward, the agency has threatened to void a 1994 agreement with the city allowing developers to destroy some endangered species in exchange for fees to conserve habitat elsewhere.

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets. Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez's government. A British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets. "If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we're going...

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi warned on Tuesday that he would turn his back on Africa if the continent's leaders again reject his proposals for closer unity at a summit in Addis Ababa later this week. "If unity is not achieved, then Libya will turn its back on Africa and reorient its foreign policy in other directions -- Euro-Mediterrannean or Arabo-Mediterranean," he told a news conference on the eve of his departure for Thursday's African Union summit. Kadhafi said Libya was also prepared to move its investments in African countries, which he said totalled more than five billion...

WASHINGTON - A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday. The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials. "Numerous satellites over the years have come...

LONDON - Climate change is warming Britain's waters, eroding its coastline, harming its marine wildlife and increasing the likelihood of devastating storms and floods, the government said in a report published Wednesday. The "Marine Climate Change Impacts" report, drawn up by coalition of government bodies and researchers, said 2006 was the warmest year ever recorded for Britain's waters, and seven of the 10 warmest years have been in the last decade. Milder sea temperatures have already adversely affected plankton — small water-going micro-organisms that form the foundation of the ocean's ecosystem. In the North Sea, the population of the previously...

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he will cut oil sales to the United States if the American government interferes in Sunday's referendum aimed at allowing him to run for reelection indefinitely. Chavez told supports at a rally that the state oil company will halt sales to the United States on Monday if Washington interferes with the vote on the proposed constitutional reform. The Venezuelan leader and Cuba ally also said he had ordered the military to protect oil fields and refineries in case of political violence. The reform would also give him direct control...

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that Democrats won't approve more money for the Iraq war this year unless President Bush agrees to begin bringing troops home. By the end of the week, the House and Senate planned to vote on a $50 billion measure for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill would require Bush to initiate troop withdrawals immediately with the goal of ending combat by December 2008. If Bush vetoes the bill, "then the president won't get his $50 billion," Reid, D-Nev., told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2007 – The regime in Iran actively supports terrorism and is directly involved in efforts to disrupt U.S. and allied efforts to stabilize Iraq, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said during a speech yesterday. The Quds Force, a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, is trying to establish a terrorist organization within Iraq that’s dedicated to destabilizing the Iraqi government, Cheney told members of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy at a gathering in Leesburg, Va. “Operating largely in the shadows, Iran attempts to hide its hands through the use of militants who target and...

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Last Updated: 6:00pm BST 07/08/2007 The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation. Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced...

GHAZNI, Afghanistan - The Taliban will keep kidnapping foreigners in Afghanistan, a purported spokesman for the group said Monday, adding that the Afghan and U.S. presidents were responsible for the fate of 21 South Korean hostages. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said the lives of the hostages rest in the hands of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Bush, who are holding two days of talks at Camp David, Md. "Karzai and Bush will have responsibility for whatever happens to the hostages," Ahmadi said. An Afghan doctor who runs a private clinic said he had...

CAIRO, Egypt - An American member of al-Qaida threatened foreign diplomats and embassies across the Islamic world in a new video Sunday, saying they would targeted as "spy dens." The 1 hour, 17 minute video also featured a computer-animated recreation of a March 2006 suicide attack that killed U.S. diplomat David Foy in Karachi, Pakistan, and testimony from a man who claimed to be the bomber. "We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centers from which you plotted your...