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Israeli ground troops completely encircled Gaza City on Sunday, and the Israel Defense Forces conducted a wide-scale attack on Hamas’s infrastructure both above and below ground in the evening, said Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. “There is now a northern Gaza and a southern Gaza,” he said, explaining Israeli ground troops have reached the Mediterranean coast south of Gaza City. “We are attacking with great force,” he said, adding that the attack was a combined air, ground and naval assault in order to “create pressure that will dismantle Hamas.” Hagari said the IDF is still keeping an open...

In accordance with section 506A(a)(3)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)(B)), I am providing advance notification of my intent to terminate the designation of the Central African Republic, the Gabonese Republic (Gabon), Niger, and the Republic of Uganda (Uganda) as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). I am taking this step because I have determined that the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda do not meet the eligibility requirements of section 104 of the AGOA. Specifically, the Government of the Central African Republic has engaged in gross violations...

Israel ordered its state-run electricity company to halt supply to the Gaza Strip on Saturday after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, the energy minister said. “I have signed an order instructing (Israel) Electric Company to stop the electricity supply to Gaza,” Energy Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

Hundreds of farmers who rely on the water from the irrigation district that channels water along the Rio Grande in central New Mexico face a second straight year of early cutoffs. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District board voted Friday to end deliveries for irrigation a month early because of low water availability. The Oct. 1 shutoff means winter crops like those grown by Travis Harris just north of Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge about 90 miles (144 kilometers) south of Albuquerque are at risk. “This is my livelihood,” Harris told the Albuquerque Journal. “This is how I live...

Forced to reckon with a worsening drought, California’s water regulators are preparing to forbid thousands of farmers from tapping into the state’s major rivers and streams.It’s an extraordinary step — and one that regulators didn’t take during the last drought, which was considered one of the worst on record.The State Water Resources Control Board on Friday released an “emergency curtailment” order that would cut thousands off from rivers and streams in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river watersheds. The five-person board still has to vote on the order Aug. 3, and it would take effect about two weeks later.Eileen Sobeck,...

A Lafourche Parish man was arrested on a DWI charge early Saturday (May 19), after deputies saw him swerving into and out of traffic on a riding lawnmower, according to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office. Brian Cheramie, 59, admitted to drinking several beers before riding the lawnmower along La. 3162 in his hometown of Cut Off in South Lafourche, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Deputies noticed Cheramie about 12:15 a.m. Saturday, as he was driving the lawnmower along the shoulder of the highway--and swerved into the westbound lane of traffic and then back onto the shoulder.

*Trump's older brother Freddy died an alcoholic at the age of 43 in 1981 When Trump family patriarch Fred Sr. died in 1999, *Freddy's children were cut out of the will Donald helped draft *Donald admitted he reneged on a pledge to pay the medical bills for the medical care of the sick infant when the Freddy's children sued *Claimed Donald and his siblings had influenced their late grandfather to leave them out of his will Donald Trump has admitted cutting off medical treatment to his nephew’s sick baby after he allegedly had his alcoholic brother’s children cut out of...

The United States will cut off aid to Egypt in the wake of the July coup against President Mohammed Morsi and the turmoil that has followed, a U.S. official told CNN on Tuesday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the full suspension has been prompted by an “accumulation of events,” including recent violence against protesters, dozens of whom were killed over the weekend. The suspension will formally take effect in the coming days, the official said. …

WASHINGTON – The House on Thursday voted to end federal funding to National Public Radio. Republican supporters said it made good fiscal sense, and Democratic opponents called it an ideological attack that would deprive local stations of access to programs such as "Car Talk" and "All Things Considered." The bill, passed 228-192 along mainly partisan lines, would bar federal funding of NPR and prohibit local public stations from using federal money to pay NPR dues and buy its programs. The prospects of support in the Democratic-controlled Senate are slim. Seven Republicans broke ranks to vote against the bill.

I was having a conversation with a friend and the topic came up about that MSGT in New Mexico winning the lottery. I remember hearing that the military had a wealth cut off point for service members, but I cannot remember what it is, or if it existed. I didnt need to worry about that since I was a poor guy in the Army.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, said that the world should get used to high oil prices. "The world should forget about cheap oil ... it won't happen," Chavez told a news conference in the Indian capital on Saturday, saying that the new price range for oil would remain between 40 dollars and 50 dollars. "That is the new band for oil," said Chavez, whose country is the only South American member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Chavez, on the second day of a visit to India...

As we've written earlier, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is obsessed with assassination plots, and this weekend he's come up with some new ones. On his Sunday talk show, called, "Hello, President!" he claimed the U.S. is planning to kill him, in a stream of bravado and anger. This time he seems to have gone off the deep end. Australia's News.com.au has the details from his show here: "If they kill me, there will be a really guilty party on this planet whose name is the president of the United States, George Bush," Mr Chavez said ... "If these perverse plans...

VOLUME 83 / NUMBER 9 / THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2005 | Caracas - General Accountability Office preparing study on reliability. The US is currently reviewing Venezuela’s position as a leading oil provider following damage to its reputation as a reliable supplier during the presidency of Hugo Chavez, according to documents obtained by Platts. Sen. Richard Lugar (Republican-Indiana), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, has ordered the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to prepare a study on all aspects of the Venezuelan oil industry and the impact any supply interruption may have on the US. He also called for alternative oil...

"The NYSE cut-off is a dramatic step that puts the individual companies that bankroll Jackson on the spot. It is a lot harder for the Verizons and PepsiCos to argue that there's nothing wrong with supporting Jackson's groups. We plan to intensify our campaign against these companies and several others."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday suspended military assistance to nearly 50 countries, including Colombia and six nations seeking NATO membership, because they have supported the International Criminal Court and failed to exempt Americans from possible prosecution. As the deadline passed for governments to sign exemption agreements or face the suspension of military aid, President Bush issued waivers for 22 countries. But the 22 countries did not include Colombia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Colombia, where the government is fighting leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers, has been one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid...

Pensioner forced to chop off rotting finger due to surgery delay August 16 2002 A New Zealand pensioner chopped off one of his rotting, gangrenous fingers with a pair of scissors because he could no longer stand the pain after waiting 20 months for surgery, it was reported yesterday. The plight of Ted Matthews, from Timaru in the South Island, made headline television news, with gruesome footage shown of his hand with one blackened finger and thumb still dangling and two middle fingers gone. The story drew the attention of Health Minister Annette King, who has asked health officials to...

Monday, 8 July, 2002, 12:53 GMT 13:53 UK Malaysian state passes Islamic law A state government in Malaysia has approved a bill to bring in Islamic criminal laws, including death by stoning for adultery and cutting off hands and feet for theft. The bill on hudud law - the Islamic penal code - was proposed by the government of Terengganu, a rural state in the north-east run by Islamic party PAS. Although our penalties are harsh and terrifying, we must realise that these offences and sins... are truly evil and despicable Abdul Hadi Awang, Terengganu's chief minister The bill...