"The UN mission for Iraq said Iraqi authorities had failed to guarantee the basic rights of about 3,000 people they had detained in the operations" and "four million Iraqis were at risk because of lack of food." According to the UN, "34,452 civilians were killed and more than 36,000 wounded in 2006" in Iraq. The report's key findings are:
- 3,000 people arrested since launch of Baghdad security plan in mid-February
- 37,000 people detained in Iraqi and US prisons, many without charge or trial
- 200 academics killed since 2003 and 12,000 doctors have fled the country
- 54% of Iraqi live on less than a US dollar a day
- 69% unemployment rate in Iraq
The European Parliament called on World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to resign.
Alberto Gonzales is still Attorney General and Republican senators up for re-election in 2008 are nervously sweating:
- "I don't think the attorney general has served the country or the president particularly well," Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said.
- "I think there is a huge credibility issue at the Justice Department," Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) said, "I continue, even after his (Alberto Gonzales') testimony, to have grave doubts."
- "I think the attorney general is on a tightrope and he and the president need to make a decision before very long," Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said.
"The House Judiciary Committee voted today to grant immunity to Monica Goodling, a former top aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, to force her to testify in the inquiry into the dismissals of eight United States Attorneys. The vote was 32 to 6, easily surpassing the two-thirds necessary to confer immunity on a witness. The committee then authorized a subpoena against Ms. Goodling by voice vote..."
The House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to testify about her personal knowledge of the Niger forgeries that were part the Bush Administration's 2003 Iraq invasion reasons. The Committee also voted to authorize a subpoena for RNC Chairman Mike Duncan and RNC email over concerns the White House has been using RNC email to conduct government business.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean warned Florida not to move its presidential primary before February 5, 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 13,000 for the first time. "But appearances can be deceiving, and there may be more reason to worry rather than rejoice about Wall Street's latest accomplishment."
An Argentinian court has cancelled 1990 presidential pardons granted to General Jorge Videla and Admiral Eduardo Massera. The court ruled that pardons for human rights violations were unconstitutional. "The former president and navy chief could now be sent back to prison." On Monday, an Argentinian court ruled that General Reynaldo Bignone, the last de facto president of Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship, "must stand trial on charges he kidnapped children born to parents killed during the country's 'Dirty War'."
The Canadian government defended its actions regarding Afghan detainees, insisting its ministers did not block access to a document warning of detainee abuse in 2006. The opposition is calling for the resignation of Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor "and insist the transfer of detainees into Afghan hands must stop until their safety can be ensured."
"Nigeria's opposition parties have asked the parliament to annul last weekend's presidential poll and set up an interim administration to take over government."
The Ethiopian government is attempting to rescue seven Chinese oil workers that were kidnapped by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) in a raid that killed 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese oil workers in the remote Somali region.
Defense Secretary Traveling salesman Robert Gates finished up his 'missile defense shield' sales trip with a call on German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.
Russia buried Boris Yeltsin. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton were among those representing the United States at Yeltsin's funeral.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced a $4 billion plan to improve education in Brazil.
European wind power companies are investing in the United States and "challenging both the U.S. market leaders and any environmental opposition to building giant turbines."
"We're like the Saudi Arabia of wind, and we just haven't had the big exploration boom yet," said Michael Peck, a spokesman for Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA, a Spanish company that makes wind turbines in Pennsylvania and develops wind farms around the country.
American firms are having trouble competing due to "on-again, off-again tax credits". Europe has provided much more stable incentives to develop wind power:
"We could have had our own homegrown wind-power companies competing for these new wind farm developments and manufacturing (plants) had we had the right policies in place," said Ron Pernick, a principal with research firm Clean Edge Inc.
"By creating 'nano-filaments' within light absorbing plastic, similar to the veins in tree leaves," Wake Forest University scientists have developed flexible, plastic solar cells with a record breaking efficieny of more than 6 percent. (Traditional rigid solar panels are about 12 percent efficient.)
"Singapore has decided not to wait for sea levels to rise... and has contacted experts from the Netherlands for help with dike construction as it prepares for the effects of climate change."
By the numbers: Bush has 634 days left in power. 3324 U.S. deaths in Iraq. Over $420,300,000,000 spent on the war in Iraq.