The Delta NewsWire

File Under: Top Stories

Here are 5 of the many top stories of the day, compiled into one nice little capsule of a list for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

The Aftermath of the Hurricanes

Rita now has a death toll of 7. Five of the dead, a family, were apparently overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator they were using. The clean-up continues today, as rescuers continue to go into flooded neighborhoods. The remains of Rita have moved north, and will not be moving south. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has allowed residents to return to Algiers, a neighborhood that was largely unscathed by the storm. Workers are still continuing to plug the breaches in the levees. Once those are plugged, the water can be pumped out in a week. (read)

Rabid Protesting Has Its Price

Cindy Sheehan, who is not a friend of TDI, was arrested today in Washington, DC. Sheehan and several other protestors sat down on a sidewalk outside of the White House. The police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move. Well, as the saying goes, it's three strikes and you're out! (read)

Justice, Kind of

Spain's High Court jailed an al-Qaeda leader for 27 years on Monday, saying that he conspired with the 9/11 plotters, but cleared him and two others of killing 2,973 people in multi-city attacks. (read)

The Middle-East Becomes Muddier (again)

Israel is pressing foward with it's Gaza offensive, hitting targets around Gaza City, Rafah, and Khan Younis. They knocked out power to eastern Gaza city, and damaged several buildings, but no injuries were reported. Israel's targets include an access road leading to a rocket-launching site, weapons-manufacturing factories and storage facilities used by various terrorist groups. The leader of Hamas says that he is committed to the cease-fire, and is asking their military groups to stop attacking. After an airstrike killed Islamic Jihad's top leader in Gaza, that group says that "there is no talk of truce, there is only room for talk of war." (read)

Taking the Arsenal Out of the Army

"We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA's arsenal." That from Canadian general John de Chastelain, who has been leading efforts since 1997 to disarm the Irish Republican Army. He says that they no longer have ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns, explosives, or any other device. Their entire arsenal is "permanently inaccessible or permanently unusable." The IRA put out a statement, agreeing with de Chastelain's statement. Though there are no guarantees in life, TDI remains optimistic. Armies have been disarmed in the past. I won't pretend that it can't happen in Ireland. Let's all hope that this is for real! (read)