Border

Political analysts in Baku are debating the reasons for an unannounced late September trip to Azerbaijan by Central Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Michael Hayden. US diplomats remain tight-lipped about the visit. Many local experts, however, contend that Hayden’s talks with Azerbaijani leaders likely concerned Iran, Azerbaijan’s neighbor to the south.

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military is walling off at least 10 of Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods and using biometric technology to track some of their residents, creating what officers call "gated communities" in an attempt to carve out oases of safety in this war-ravaged city.

OTTAWA (AP) -- Promoting prosperity topped the agenda at a gathering of U.S., Canadian and Mexican Cabinet leaders Friday, but immigration and the threat of terrorism also were key topics at the gathering.

Nine foreign and security ministers from the North American nations met in Ottawa, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership talks were a lead-up to a meeting of the countries' leaders this August in Canada.

In a story that should have rang alarm bells in very newsroom across the nation, armed Mexican entered the United States and attacked unarmed National Guard troops working at a border patrol post near the US-Mexican border. The troops had to retreat to safety. Not surprisingly, the news story received scant coverage by the mainstream news media and hardly a mention on the Fox News Channel. It's a story that should outrage all Americans including President George W. Bush. Unfortunately, President Bush and his Administration did not even comment on this vicious attack on unarmed US troops as well as the unbridled assault on American sovereignty. During a press conference held on Friday afternoon by Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, there was not one word about this unprovoked attack on soldiers.

Mexico is sitting pretty in the event of the formation of a North American Union (NAU). Its Third World status would be wiped off the slate in the NAU. That's because the United States of America has already absorbed millions of Mexicans and millions more keep pouring over the border.

McALLEN, Texas -- Inter National Bank President Carlos Garza has spent recent weeks just over the border in Mexico, hopping from city to city to promote services that allow seamless, cross-border banking. Garza's customers can write checks, get a mortgage and deposit or withdraw money at branches or ATMs on either side of the border. And they can easily transfer funds from the United States to relatives in Mexico, eliminating a need for costly money-wiring services.