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| Monday, July 28, 2003 | (No comments posted.)
OF NATIONAL INTEREST
MCI under investigation for claiming long-distance calls as local ones
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors are delving into nearly a decade of alleged misconduct by MCI to determine if the telephone company defrauded competitors by disguising long-distance calls as local ones, lawyers and others familiar with the probe say.
The investigation involves MCI's alleged avoidance of charges it is supposed to pay local phone companies.
The allegations surfaced in the past eight to 10 weeks when a former MCI employee called the FBI and disclosed a company project known as "Canadian Gateway," said two lawyers familiar with the events.
In this arrangement, MCI phone traffic is allegedly routed north of the U.S. border and then dumped onto the network of AT&T.
The whistle-blower also contacted Verizon and informed that company of an alleged MCI practice dating to the mid-1990s called "Project Invader," said the lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The whistle-blower was said to know of six to nine companies that MCI had teamed up with in the alleged scheme. One of the lawyers said MCI made "scores" of such arrangements with small companies, many of them predating MCI's merger with scandal-plagued WorldCom.
Poll: Support for shuttle, space exploration steady despite accidents
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two-thirds of Americans say the space shuttle should continue to fly despite two disastrous accidents, but enthusiasm for putting civilians aboard is declining, an Associated Press poll finds.
A higher number, nearly three-fourths, said they think the space program is a good investment, according to the poll conducted for the AP by ICR/International Communications Research of Media, Pa.
Enthusiasm for the program of space exploration was greater among younger adults, those with more education and those with higher incomes. Whites were more likely than blacks and men were more likely than women to think the shuttle should continue to fly.
The strong support continues even after the fiery disintegration of Columbia in February and the grounding of the remaining shuttles during an investigation into the cause of the accident that killed the crew of seven astronauts.
Israel's Sharon arrives in Washington to meet with President Bush
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bearing a package of goodwill offerings toward the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepared for talks with President Bush aimed at finding an elusive peace.
Just hours before Sharon's arrival Sunday in Washington, the Israeli Cabinet approved the release of Islamic militants from prison and tore down some troublesome West Bank roadblocks in what were seen as an attempt to counter Palestinian charges of Israeli recalcitrance in peacemaking.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas presented a list of complaints against the Israelis in a meeting Friday with Bush, ahead of Sharon's Tuesday visit to the White House.
Abbas cited Israel's refusal to free thousands of Palestinian prisoners. He also called for a halt to construction work on settlements in the West Bank and to a wall separating the West Bank from Israel.
AROUND THE GLOBE
U.S. says 'noose is tightening' around Saddam; forces raid safehouses
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Saying that "the noose is tightening" around Saddam Hussein and his top aides, U.S. forces raided safehouses in Baghdad and northern Tikrit and said the deposed dictator is unable to mount a resistance because he's too busy "trying to save his own skin."
Iraqi contractors hired by the 101st Airborne Division, meanwhile, began Monday to demolish the house in northern Mosul where Saddam's sons Odai and Qusai were killed in a firefight with U.S. troops.
At least twice in the past week, American soldiers have raided houses where they believed they may have missed Saddam by less than 24 hours -- once in the northern city of Mosul, and once at a farmhouse near Tikrit, Saddam's hometown and power base.
Also Monday, witnesses said at least three U.S. soldiers were injured in an attack on their convoy in central Baghdad.
Philippine president orders investigation into failed military mutiny
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A day after facing down a military mutiny, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday vowed to punish the plotters and ordered an investigation into the causes of the uprising that shook her presidency.
In a state of the nation address, Arroyo assured the country that she remains in control and promised to get to the root of the conspiracy in which 296 soldiers and officers seized a shopping complex for 19 hours before giving up without a short fired.
Hours before, police arrested a key supporter of Joseph Estrada, the disgraced ex-president Arroyo replaced after his ouster by popular protest in 2001.
Police said Ramon Cardenas, a member of Estrada's Cabinet, owns a house near Manila where officers found assault rifles, ammunition and red arm bands similar to those used by the mutinous soldiers in taking over complex in downtown Manila.
U.S. ambassador urges rebels to pull out of Liberia's bloodied capital
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- Shells slamming into tin-roof homes killed at least 16 civilians in Liberia's war-battered capital and the U.S. Ambassador appealed to rebels to lift their bloody eight-day siege of Monrovia to allow food and aid into the city.
Rebels and government forces on Sunday battled at key crossings leading toward President Charles Taylor's downtown stronghold, with the insurgents showing no signs of slackening their drive.
The insurgents overnight bypassed one of three embattled spans, Stockton Bridge, leading from the rebel-held island port to mainland Monrovia, government field officers told The Associated Press.
After a night of combat, the rebels were in what had been a government-controlled suburb around the bridge -- claiming to be in control.
The rebels are pressing a two-month campaign to take Monrovia, a cut-off, bloodied, disease-ridden and hungry city of at least 1.3 million residents and refugees. Their goal is to drive out Taylor, a former warlord behind nearly 14 years of ruinous conflict in the once prosperous West African nation.
Korean War veterans on both sides of border mark 1953 armistice
PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) -- Old soldiers gathering on the border where the Korean War ended 50 years ago remembered the snow and heat of the battlefields, sobbed at the memories of buddies lost and celebrated the prosperity of modern South Korea.
But their pride was tempered by tension over the communist North's nuclear programs.
More than 1,200 veterans, some in wheelchairs and many holding hands of spouses and children, gathered out of the rain Sunday in a tent in the southern half of Panmunjom, the truce village in the Demilitarized Zone, to mark the 50th anniversary of the armistice ending the war.
More than 5 million people died, were wounded or went missing during the fighting.
ODDS AND ENDS
Bare bikers hold first rally
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- The threat of scrapes and bruises, not to mention sunburn, didn't stop the fledgling North American Nude Bikers club from holding its first rally this weekend.
Events at the Rock Haven Lodge Family Nudist Park in southeast Rutherford County included a barbecue, live music, bike games and a poker run -- where bikers vie for the best hand by drawing cards at stops along the way. They don't actually ride naked. Mostly.
"You've got to be real careful or you're liable to get something burnt or hurt," club Vice President Allen "Anchor" Turner said. Turner, 46, came up with the idea for the group last November.
Participants said the values of trust, respect and freedom are common to both nudists and bikers.
"It's all about living a freer lifestyle," said Turner, who has been a biker for 15 years and a nudist for five.
When not astride their choppers, the bikers mixed with the rest of Rock Haven's members and visitors by swimming in the pool, playing volleyball and soaking up the sun.
Turner said he wanted to dispel the myth that the nudist culture was perverse.
"This is a family park," he said; anyone perpetrating lewd shenanigans in public areas is immediately booted out.
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