One Canuck's Radio Weblog

  Saturday, 20 March 2004

.< 11:44:13 PM >
Guantánamo Detainees Deliver Intelligence Gains

Prisoners at the detention center have provided a steady stream of valuable intelligence, including detailed information on Al Qaeda. [New York Times: International] 'The sweeping assertions about the value of the detention center at Guantánamo respond to criticism of the operation, in the United States and abroad. Released detainees have also made allegations of mistreatment.

Apparently in an effort to counter the criticism, officials offered to talk in far greater detail than before about their interrogation techniques and what they say are important intelligence harvests from the detainees.'

< 11:40:31 PM >

Harper wins Conservative leadership
Stephen Harper won a first-ballot victory Sunday to become the first leader of the Conservative Party of Canada – a win he said marks "the beginning of the end" for Paul Martin's Liberal government. F U L L S T O R Y
[CBC News]

< 11:39:48 PM >

The former Dutch queen, Juliana, dies at the age of 94 after a prolonged period of ill health. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

< 11:38:41 PM >

Harrison McCain, a Canadian billionaire whose family-owned business began in a cow pasture in New Brunswick, died Thursday night. [New York Times: International]

< 11:27:45 PM >

Marking the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, demonstrators marched through Midtown Manhattan and scores of cities from Alaska to Australia on Saturday. [New York Times: International] 'Fred D'Amato walked through the crowd holding a photo of his son, Christopher, 24, who was sent to Iraq last April with the Army Reserves. Mr. D'Amato, himself a Vietnam veteran, was showing everyone he met another photo - of a sign he had placed on his front lawn in Mount Pocono, Pa. The sign read: "Support Our Troops - Impeach Bush."'

< 11:26:59 PM >

The Department of Defense has identified 575 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war. It confirmed the death of the following Americans on Friday:. [New York Times: International]

< 11:20:17 PM >

Oaxaca, one of Mexico's most heavily Indian states, has been a hotbed of political disputes, guerrilla raids and drug production.

In 1996, a band of rebels of the Popular Revolutionary Army, or EPR, demanding sweeping political reforms, killed nine police and three civilians in a raid on police and military installations in the resort of Huatulco.

Murat "had affected many interests, and gone after many rural strongmen" during his term, Velasco said.

.< 11:13:35 PM >
Mexican first lady defies president over ambitions
Mexico's outspoken first lady, who rejects the submissive role of women in this macho nation, is having differences with her husband over her career goals.

Marta Sahagun, whom admirers compare with Hillary Clinton and detractors with Lady Macbeth, Monday openly challenged her husband's recent assertion she will not run for president in 2006, saying she had not yet made up her mind