idential race with many c———

idential race with many c———

Syria and Lebanon will open embassies in each other’s countries, French president says

PARIS (AP) — France’s president affirmed Saturday that Syria and Lebanon will open embassies in each other’s countries. However, Syria’s leader was more cautious.

Syria and Lebanon have not had full-fledged embassies in each other’s countries since Lebanon became independent in 1943 and Syria in 1945.

Blame game: President, Democrats bicker over who’s to blame for skyrocketing energy prices

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Saturday tried to pin the blame on Congress for soaring energy prices and said lawmakers need to lift long-standing restrictions on drilling for oil in pristine lands and offshore tracts believed to hold huge reserves of fuel.

“It’s time for members of Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing our citizens,” the president said. “Every extra dollar that American families spend because of high gas prices is one less dollar they can use to put food on the table or send a child to college. The American people deserve better.”

With gasoline prices above $4 a gallon, Bush and his Republican allies think Americans are less reluctant to allow drilling offshore and in an Alaska wildlife refuge that environmentalists have fought successfully for decades to protect. Local leaders in Iraq fault Baghdad government for lack of economic, political reform

COMBAT OUTPOST RADWANIYAH, Iraq (AP) — In the rural outskirts of Baghdad, where the war seems distant in Iraq’s new period of relative calm, a prominent Sunni tribal chief makes no bones about what is lacking in the drive to turn security improvements into lasting economic and political reform.

“Up to now we have seen nothing from the government,” Sheik Ayad al-Jabouri, wearing traditional headdress and robe, said with more than a hint of disdain for the Shiite-dominated leadership in the capital.

Rio Grande river defenders plan to raise voice, paddles against border fence in South Texas

MISSION, Texas (AP) — The federal government’s border fence plans in South Texas have been attacked by property owners, wildlife advocates and land conservationists. The next wave of opponents could come from the water — and they’re carrying paddles.

Kayakers and canoeists will descend on the lower Rio Grande for events this fall aimed at raising the river’s profile as a recreation hub and at drawing attention to the impact the border fence could have by blocking access to the river.

The Rio Grande forms Texas’ 1,255-mile border with Mexico from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico. But most of the river, with the notable exception of Big Bend National Park, is forgotten by the state’s tens of thousands of recreational paddlers. Those who do use the river share the water with Border Patrol agents patrolling in bulletproof vests and with smugglers of drugs and people.