Iraq Accounting is Still a Muddle

Iraq accounting is still a muddle:

A newly formed consulting firm hired to account for more than $7.3 billion in Iraqi reconstruction money did not deliver a database that could help investigators track waste and fraud, a recent report found.

The result: Two years after uncovering one major fraud case, auditors still haven't determined whether there was more graft in the spending of Iraqi oil proceeds.

British envoy meets Palestinian PM Haniyeh of Hamas:

Britain held on Thursday its first talks with a leader of the Islamist Hamas group, sending an envoy to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to discuss efforts to free a BBC journalist abducted in Gaza.

House Speaker Pelosi visits Saudi Arabia:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continued her Mideast tour Thursday, a day after coming under sharp attack from the Bush administration for meeting with Syria's leader.

4 British soldiers killed in Iraq:

Four British soldiers and a Kuwaiti interpreter were killed Thursday in an ambush in southern Iraq, the British military said.

Ukraine president, parliament face off amid deepening crisis:

Ukraine's political crisis deepened Thursday as President Viktor Yushchenko vowed to stand firm on his decision to hold early elections and parliament accused him of destabilizing the country.

Obama campaign take of $25M gets attention:

If money talks in presidential politics, Sen. Barack Obama has 25 million reasons why skeptical Democrats should start to listen.

House Dems Offer Plan to Ban Use of 'Global War on Terror':

Republican leader criticizes House Democrat-backed plan to ban the use of 'global War on Terror' phrase in legislation for defense appropriations.

U.K. Troops Arrive Home From Iran:

Fifteen British sailors and Marines - captured by Iran on March 23rd and released in what Iran called an Easter gift - landed safely in London. Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed their return but called for continued international pressure on Tehran.

Native-born Americans flee cities:

Without immigrants pouring into the nation's big metro areas, places such as New York, Los Angeles and Boston would be shrinking as native-born Americans move farther out.Many smaller areas, including Battle Creek, Mich.

Bush presses missile defense:

The Bush administration has begun to step up its efforts to build a controversial missile defense system in eastern Europe, launching a public push in recent weeks to counter bitter opposition in Russia and to overcome fears of a new arms...

Bush Aide Refuses Private Interview:

A senior Justice Department aide refused to submit to a private interview with the House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating the dismissal of eight United States attorneys. The aide, Monica Goodling, on leave from her job as senior counsel to...

Scandals Rock Juvenile System:

Joseph Galloway is days away from walking out of a Texas juvenile detention center where he has been held for years beyond his original sentence -- and where at age 15, he said, he endured sexual assaults by a corrections officer and a...

Personal data at risk in lost IRS laptops:

At least 490 IRS computers have been stolen or lost since 2003 in security breaches that potentially jeopardized the personal information of more than 2,000 taxpayers, a government audit reported Wednesday.

The computers were lost in 387 incidents, most of which were not reported to the IRS computer security office as required, according to the report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.