EU adopts anti-terror strategy
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- European Union justice ministers have adopted a new counter-terrorism strategy that includes potential terror recruitment concerns, it was announced Thursday.
Also approved was an action plan aimed at combating terrorist recruiting and radicalization, Gijs de Vries, the EU's top anti-terrorism coordinator said.
The ministers, meeting in Brussels, backed a British proposal set forth after the July London bombings. It centers on four key themes: prevention of recruitment to terrorist groups, protection of citizens and essential infrastructure, prosecution of terrorists and a response to minimize the consequences of a terrorist attack.
De Vries said the objective of the strategy was to prevent terrorist attacks, especially in protecting delicate infrastructure such as transport systems, the EU Observer reported, and suggested a special body in every member state be established to deal only with counter-terrorism.
Swedish Minister Tomas Bodstrom sought to calm concerns that some parts of the action plan pointed fingers at Muslims as a group, as possible terrorists.
Mexicans denounce U.S. border fence
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Mexican lawmakers have lambasted the Bush administration's plans to erect more border fences and use other devices aimed at curtailing illegal immigration.
"We are profoundly disheartened by the (U.S.) position of solving the migration problem through walls, infrared rays, cameras and unmanned aircraft," said Roberto Pedraza Martinez of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, El Universal reported Thursday.
Earlier this week, U.S. President George W. Bush said he was working to step up border enforcement and the deportations of illegal immigrants.
At the same time, Bush defended the guest worker program that allows Mexicans to remain in the country on temporary work visas.
About 1 million Mexicans are arrested every year trying to enter the United States illegally.
Murtha calls U.S. Army 'broken, worn out'
LATROBE, Pa., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., says the war in Iraq has left the U.S. Army "broken, worn out" and "living hand-to-mouth."
Speaking in Latrobe, Pa., Wednesday, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Defense said troops in Iraq are "barely getting by," and won't be able to meet future military threats to the country, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
Murtha said the Pennsylvania National Guard is "stretched so thin" that it won't be able to deploy fully equipped units to Iraq until next year because of equipment shortages and a lack of training for soldiers.
He said it will cost $50 billion to upgrade military equipment because of the war, but the government has begun reducing future equipment purchases to save money.
On Nov. 17, Murtha, a 37-year veteran who fought in Korea and Vietnam, called for an immediate troop withdrawal, touching off a political firestorm in Congress.
Clinton: Tsunami relief effort improving
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Former President Bill Clinton, touring Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged region, says coordination among various relief agencies is improving following criticism.
Clinton, in his role as U.N. special envoy for tsunami recovery, visited the Aceh province almost a year after the disaster struck to survey the progress of the reconstruction effort, reports The New York Times. There had been criticism about the lack of information-sharing and cooperation among private aid groups, donors and the government.
Since then, the Indonesian government has established the Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency as an umbrella organization that monitors every project. Clinton said the agency head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto has significantly improved coordination among aid organizations and operated an open relief effort despite Indonesia's history of secrecy and corruption at all levels of government.
About 170,000 people were killed or are missing, and 500,000 others were left homeless after the tsunami struck Aceh on Dec. 26, 2004.
Bush authorizes Rosa Parks statue
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush signed legislation Thursday authorizing a statue of Rosa Parks in the National Statuary Hall in Washington.
"By placing her statue in the heart of the nation's Capitol, we commemorate her work for a more perfect union and we commit ourselves to continue to struggle for justice for every American," Bush said during a ceremony at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Parks ignited the spark that fused the civil rights fight when on Dec. 1, 1955, she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., bus and was arrested. A resulting yearlong bus boycott was a major factor in leading to the eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act.
Parks died Oct. 24 at age 92.
"By refusing to give in, Rosa Parks showed that one candle can light the darkness," Bush said. "By refusing to give in, Rosa Parks helped inspire a nationwide effort for equal justice under the law."
