Woman: Saddam guards buried people alive
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Prison guards under Saddam Hussein used to bury detainees alive and watch women as they bathed, occasionally shooting over their heads, a former female prisoner testified Monday in the genocide trial of the ex-president. Speaking in Kurdish through an Arabic interpreter, the 31-year-old witness recalled what she saw as a 13-year-old girl who was detained during Saddam's offensive against the Kurds in the late 1980s.
Phelps 6th American to win Nobel in 2006
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- American Edmund S. Phelps won the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday for explaining the relationship between inflation and unemployment, work that has had a profound impact on macroeconomic policy. The 73-year-old Columbia University professor challenged prevailing views in the 1960s by developing a new economic model that has helped corporate and government leaders balance inflation and unemployment in decision-making.
Google in talks to acquire YouTube for $1.6 billion
SAN FRANCISCO -- Internet search leader Google Inc. is in talks to acquire the popular online video site YouTube Inc. for about $1.6 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter. Mountain View-based Google and San Mateo-based YouTube are still at a sensitive stage in the discussion, the newspaper reported on its Web site. Analysts said a Google acquisition of YouTube would make sense for both companies if the reported talks lead to a deal, especially considering Google's $10 billion in cash on hand.\nAirbus CEO resigns, successor named
PARIS -- Airbus chief executive Christian Streiff resigned Monday after a little more than three months as head of the troubled European plane maker and parent company EADS named one of its own co-CEOs to replace him. European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. said in a statement Louis Gallois will succeed Streiff in the top job at Airbus while continuing in his current role as joint head of the Franco-German defense group.
Gunmen Assassinate Brother of Iraq VP
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The brother of Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president was assassinated Monday by gunmen who broke into his home, the third of the politician's four siblings to be slain this year. Sunnis blamed Shiite militias and demanded a crackdown to stop the capital's raging sectarian violence.
Baker Panel Preparing Iraq Alternatives
WASHINGTON -- James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state with a long-standing reputation of service to Republican presidents, and the Bush family in particular, has joined a list of prominent Republicans raising questions about the administration's Iraq policy. Co-chairman of a bipartisan commission studying what to do next in the war torn country, Baker said his panel is preparing to recommend that President George W. Bush consider options other than his "stay-the-course" strategy in Iraq.
