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The victims of apparent insurgent ground fire include six American security guards, and another is killed in a bomb attack.

Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba says John B. Israel was trying to do the right thing for his adopted homeland when he signed on as a translator for U.S. Army intelligence at Abu Ghraib prison in October 2003. But he received incomplete training when he got there, fell in with an interrogator who didn't adhere to strict Army policy, and gave inconsistent answers when questioned about the abuses he may have witnessed.

Insurgents firing missiles brought down a Russian-made helicopter north of the capital Thursday, killing 11 civilians including six American bodyguards for U.S. diplomats. The chartered flight was believed to be the first civilian aircraft shot down in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago.

Testimony by John Israel, still considered classified, paints a picture of a contract intelligence translator receiving little training in military procedures before being pushed into service and who and minded his own business to the extent that he was oblivious to the abuses that were going on around him.

As more and more revelations about contract abuse in Iraq by Halliburton come out regularly, activists in Houston are working with national groups, including Democracy Rising, to highlight corporate contract abuse by Halliburton when they hold their shareholders meeting this May 18.

Aware of it or not, the B.C. provincial government is actively involved in underwriting the illegal U.S. occupation of Iraq. Pension fund investments are include stock holdings in 39 of the top 100 Pentagon contractors, including the seven largest: Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, General Dynamics, United Technologies and General Electric.

Sudan on Tuesday said its ABCO corporation -- in which Swiss company Cliveden owns 37 percent -- had begun drilling for oil in Darfur, where preliminary studies showed there were "abundant" quantities of oil. "The Sudanese people have never benefited from these (oil) discoveries," said Ahmed Hussein, the London-based spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement. "The oil must wait until a final peace deal is signed."

Appearing in federal court, David B. Chalmers Jr., head of Houston-based BayOil (USA), and his business associate Ludmil Dionissiev pleaded innocent to charges they fixed oil prices and paid illegal surcharges as part of a scheme to ingratiate themselves with Saddam Hussein's regime and thereby profit from Iraqi oil sales.

Demand for private security services are expected to skyrocket in the wake of the mounting unrest in Thailand's three southernmost provinces and the recent bombings in Hat Yai.

Today's meat packing industry relies increasingly on high-speed, treacherous disassembly lines. Perhaps that's why Tyson Foods, Inc. -- a giant in a flourishing industry -- is working to take apart a union that prioritizes safety over speed.