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Aug 12 2009

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19:21:04 –
Australia says not informed of China Rio arrests
Reuters
0%
1.5
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's government has not been informed of China's arrest of four employees of miner Rio Tinto on suspicion of commercial spying and taking bribes, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Australian national Stern Hu and three Chinese employees of the Anglo-Australian company are suspected of "using improper means to obtain commercial secrets about our country's steel businesses," the official Xinhua newsagency said, citing prosecutors in Shanghai. (Reporting by Rob Taylor) ...

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21:30:12 –
Diamondbacks 6, Mets 2
Associated Press
0%
0
New York @ Arizona @ab r h bi @ ab r h biSullivn cf 4 0 2 0 S.Drew ss 5 1 1 0LCastill 2b 3 0 0 0 Oeltjen lf 4 2 4 0Tatis 3b 4 1 1 0 GParra cf 4 1 1 2DnMrp 1b 4 0 0 0 Rynlds 3b 5 0 0 0Francr rf 4 1 2 1 Monter c 3 2 1 1Reed lf 3 0 1 0 RRorts 2b 3 0 1 1Cora ss 4 0 1 1 Tracy 1b 3 0 1 0Schndr c 4 0 1 0 ARomr rf 3 0 2 2LHrndz p 1 0 0 0 Scherzr p 3 0 0 0Pagan ph 1 0 0 0 JGutrrz p 0 0 0 0Reddng p 0 0 0 0 Ryal ph 1 0 0 0Sheffild ph 1 0 0 0 EVasqz p 0 0 0 0Felicin p 0 0 0 0Stokes p 0 0 0 0DWrght ph 1 0 0 0Totals @ 34 2 8 2 Totals @ 34 6 11 6New York 010 100 000-2Arizona ...

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21:30:13 –
13 killed in Papua New Guinea plane crash
Associated Press
60%
3.78
SYDNEY (AP) -- All 13 people on board a chartered plane that crashed en route to a tourist region of Papua New Guinea are dead, Australia's prime minister said Wednesday. Papua New Guinea officials informed Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith that no survivors were found in the wreckage, which had been discovered in the rugged Kokoda region earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told parliament. The plane, carrying 11 passengers and two crew, vanished Tuesday morning in bad weather on approach to an airport nestled in the Kokoda region. Nine Australians, one Japanese and three Papua New Guineans were on board. Two of the Australians killed in the crash were a father and a daughter, Rudd said. "There is a horrible tragedy involved when families send off their loved ones for what they expect to be the experience of a lifetime, only for it to turn into a tragedy such as this," Rudd said. The twin-engine plane left the capital of Port Moresby en route to an airport near the...

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21:30:13 –
Angels 6, Rays 0
Associated Press
0%
0
Tampa Bay @ Los Angeles @ab r h bi @ ab r h biBartlett ss 4 0 0 0 Figgins 3b 4 0 1 1Crwfrd lf 4 0 0 0 MIzturs ss 1 0 0 0Longori 3b 3 0 1 0 EAyar ss 1 0 0 0Zobrist rf 3 0 0 0 BAreu rf 4 0 0 0C.Pena 1b 2 0 0 0 Guerrr dh 4 0 2 0Burrell dh 3 0 0 0 JRiver lf 4 1 1 0WAyar 2b 2 0 0 0 KMorls 1b 4 2 2 0Zaun c 3 0 2 0 HKndrc 2b 4 1 1 0BUpton cf 3 0 0 0 JMaths c 3 1 2 3Willits cf 3 1 1 2Totals @ 27 0 3 0 Totals @ 32 6 10 6Tampa Bay 000 000 000-0Los Angeles 000 033 00x-6E-Crawford (3). DP-Tampa Bay 2, Los Angeles 3. LOB-Tampa Bay 2, Los Angeles 4. 2B-Zaun (12), J.Mathis (4).IP H R ER BB SOTampa BayPrice L,5-5 6 8 6 5 0 4Shouse ...

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21:30:14 –
Angels' Santana shuts down Rays with 3-hitter
Associated Press
0%
2.2
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Ervin Santana pitched a sterling three-hitter for his first home win of the season, and Jeff Mathis hit a three-run double off the left-field wall in the Los Angeles Angels' 6-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. Reggie Willits' two-run single in the fifth broke open a scoreless game for the Angels, who boosted their AL West lead over Texas to five games with their 18th win in 25 outings since the All-Star break. A dominant start by Santana (5-6) was a welcome surprise for the Angels, whose rotation has been awfully shaky beyond ace John Lackey and Jered Weaver. Santana has missed 52 games during two stints on the disabled list this season, and has rarely resembled last season's 16 game-winner even when healthy. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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21:30:14 –
China accuses US of protectionism in tire case
Associated Press
88.89%
4.14
BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese trade official said Wednesday that a U.S. complaint about China's tire exports smacks of protectionism and appealed to Washington to avoid taking steps that might harm relations. The government of President Barack Obama is deciding what action to take after the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled in June that increased imports of Chinese tires were harming American tire producers. "I believe the case is neither supported by facts nor does it have valid legal grounds," a deputy commerce minister, Fu Ziying, said at a news conference. "It is against basic WTO principles and looks like trade protectionism," Fu said. "We hope the U.S. government will refrain from taking action, for the long-term healthy and stable development of U.S.-Chinese relations." In addition to tires, Washington has launched a series of investigations into whether Chinese exporters were dumping goods including wooden bedroom furniture, honey, candles, gift boxes, industrial chemic...

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21:30:15 –
Tabloid book publisher Michael Viner dies
Associated Press
0%
5.25
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Michael Viner (VEE'-nuhr), who helped popularize audio books and published a line of tabloid tell-all books that included O.J. Simpson trial figure Faye Resnick and disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has died. He was 65. Viner died of cancer Saturday at his home, his assistant at Phoenix Books in Beverly Hills, Kimberly Miletta, said Tuesday. Viner was head of Dove Entertainment Inc., which produced audio versions of everything from business guides to Bibles and rose to prominence with Resnick's book, "Nicole Brown Simpson: The Diary of a Life Interrupted." In 2005, Viner founded Phoenix Books and stayed on after it was sold in 2007. Phoenix's current list includes a book about Bernard Madoff, a Larry Flynt autobiography and "a historical and personal perspective" of prostitution by Kiss singer Gene Simmons. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ...

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21:30:15 –
Ohlendorf leads Pirates over Rockies, 7-3
Associated Press
14.78%
1
DENVER (AP) -- Ross Ohlendorf pitched solidly into the seventh inning, Andrew McCutchen stole three bases and scored three runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 7-3 on Tuesday night to end an eight-game losing streak. Troy Tulowitzki, who had five hits, seven RBIs and hit for the cycle Monday night, homered in his first at-bat Tuesday, and Carlos Gonzalez also homered for the Rockies. Todd Helton tripled and singled to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. Ohlendorf (10-8) gave up three runs on six hits, walked two and struck out three in six-plus innings. Jhoulys Chacin, making the first major league start, struggled with his command. Chacin (0-1) gave up one hit but allowed five runs and walked six in 2 2-3 innings. Chacin's control issues and sloppy fielding by Colorado allowed the Pirates to take the early lead. In the second inning, Ryan Doumit doubled, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch that rolled only a few feet from home plate. Af...

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21:30:15 –
Judge rules against RealNetworks DVD copy software
Associated Press
27.03%
2.67
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge has barred RealNetworks Inc. from selling a device that allows consumers to copy DVDs to their computer hard drives, pending a full trial. Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp. and Universal Studios, among others, filed suit against Seattle-based RealNetworks in 2008, saying its RealDVD device is an illegal pirating tool. The Hollywood studios contend that RealDVD would keep consumers from paying retail for movies on DVD that could be rented cheaply, copied and returned. RealNetworks has said its product legally meets growing consumer demand to convert their DVDs to digital form for convenient storage and viewing. RealNetworks lawyers have argued that RealDVD is equipped with piracy protections that limit a DVD owner to making a single copy. They also said the device provides consumers with a legitimate way to back up copies of movies legally purchased. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled in favor of the movie studios in granting...

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21:30:16 –
Wreck of capsized ferry found in Tonga
Associated Press
32.14%
4.11
NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) -- Tongan police say searchers have located the wreck of a ferry a week after it capsized and left 93 people missing and feared dead. Commander Chris Kelley says the Princess Ashika was found Wednesday by an unmanned search device in about 360 feet (110 meters) of water near the spot where it foundered a week earlier about 85 miles (140 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Nuku'alofa. Kelley says there is no more information immediately available. Two people are confirmed dead in the sinking and officials have said there is little hope for the 93 still missing. The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the tiny South Pacific nation. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) - Tonga's minister of transport resigned Tuesday, six days after a state-owned ferry sank, leaving 93 people missing in one of the South Pacific nation's biggest tragedies. Minister Paul Karalus announced his...

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21:30:18 –
Pirates 7, Rockies 3
Associated Press
0%
4
Pittsburgh @ Colorado @ab r h bi @ ab r h biMcCtch cf 3 3 1 0 S.Smith lf 5 0 2 1Milledg lf 5 0 1 1 CGnzlz cf 3 1 1 1GJones rf 4 1 2 1 Helton 1b 4 0 2 0Doumit c 4 1 2 0 Tlwtzk ss 4 1 1 1Pearce 1b 4 1 0 0 Hawpe rf 3 0 0 0DlwYn 2b 5 1 2 2 Stewart 3b 4 0 1 0AnLRc 3b 3 0 1 0 Barmes 2b 3 1 0 0Cedeno ss 3 0 2 1 Iannett c 4 0 2 0Ohlndrf p 4 0 0 0 Chacin p 0 0 0 0Ascanio p 0 0 0 0 Fogg p 1 0 0 0JChavz p 0 0 0 0 Splrghs ph 1 0 0 0Moss ph 1 0 0 0 Beimel p 0 0 0 0Meek p 0 0 0 0 Daley p 0 0 0 0Hanrhn p 0 0 0 0 GAtkns ph 1 0 0 0Totals @ 36 7 11 5 Totals @ 33 3 9 3Pittsburgh ...

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21:30:19 –
Officials see rise in militia groups across US
Associated Press
73.77%
6.19
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends. The stress of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a black president are among the causes for the recent rise, the report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says. Conspiracy theories about a secret Mexican plan to reclaim the Southwest are also growing amid the public debate about illegal immigration. Bart McEntire, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told SPLC researchers that this is the most growth he's seen in more than a decade. "All it's lacking is a spark," McEntire said in the report. It's reminiscent of what was seen in the 1990s - right-wing militias, people ideologically against paying taxes and so-called "sovereign citizens" are popping up in large numbers, according to the report to be released Wednesday. The SPLC is a nonprofit civil...

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21:30:20 –
No loitering rule applies to police in Mexico
Associated Press
0%
4.29
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) -- Police in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey have been told not to sit in parked patrol cars observing traffic, because officials suspect they could be spying for criminal gangs or drug cartels. The measure marks a new low for Monterrey's municipal police. In recent years they have been banned from using cell phones while on duty and at times had their weapons confiscated because of concerns some officers may be acting as lookouts for gangs. Monterrey officers will have to keep their patrol cars moving under rules announced Tuesday by state Public Safety Secretary Aldo Fasci. Local police officers in several cities have been detained for allegedly protecting drug cartels or warning them about federal police or army raids. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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21:30:20 –
Police: Hard to know Taiwan village mudslide toll
Associated Press
60.98%
5.75
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Police said Wednesday that there is no way to know for sure how many people remain buried in the catastrophic mudslide that struck a remote mountain village in Taiwan over the weekend when a typhoon lashed the region. Survivors fear that hundreds are dead in the southern village of Shiao Lin, and Cishan police chief Lee Chin-lung said efforts to pluck survivors from the village were continuing for a fourth day. The doomed community of Shiao Lin and its densely foliated surroundings were buried under tons of mud Sunday morning after torrential rain spawned by Typhoon Morakot unleashed the heaviest flooding Taiwan has seen in 50 years. Morakot, which means "emerald" in the Thai language, struck the Philippines, Taiwan and China and left at least 93 people dead, most of them in Taiwan. It dumped as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain on the island before moving on to China, where authorities evacuated 1.5 million people and some 10,000 homes were destroyed. S...

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21:30:21 –
Fed likely to leave rates at lows to aid recovery
Associated Press
44.68%
3.59
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Signs are growing that an economic recovery may finally be taking shape, but with dangers still lurking about, Federal Reserve policymakers are all but certain to leave a key interest rate at record lows to make sure any nascent turnaround gains traction. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are slated to wrap up a two-day meeting on Wednesday afternoon, where they will take fresh stock of the nation's economic and financial conditions. So far, barometers suggest the worst recession since World War II is ending, and that the economy has started to grow again - or will soon. With the economy turning a corner, the Fed also will weigh whether consumer lending programs intended to ease the recession and stem the financial crisis should be extended. "I think the Fed will show a bit more confidence in the staying power of the coming economic recovery and indicate that everything is on track," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. Still, the F...

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21:30:22 –
Today in History - Aug. 12
Associated Press
69.32%
5.85
Today is Wednesday, Aug. 12, the 224th day of 2009. There are 141 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 12, 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500, first opened. On this date: In 1859, poet and English professor Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote the words to "America the Beautiful," was born in Falmouth, Mass. In 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. In 1898, fighting in the Spanish-American War came to an end. In 1944, during World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England. In 1953, the Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb. In 1960, the first balloon satellite - the Echo 1 - was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral. In 1962, one day after launching Andrian Nikolayev into orbit, t...

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22:21:04 –
Respect Myanmar sovereignty, China says after trial
Reuters
43.08%
4.57
BEIJING (Reuters) - The world should respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty following the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months in detention, China said on Wednesday, suggesting Beijing would not back U.N. action against the country. A court in Yangon handed down the sentence to the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner on Tuesday for violating an internal security law. Western nations pressed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a statement condemning the sentence, but other countries, including veto-wielding members Russia and China, stalled for time. The verdict drew criticism from leaders around the world. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown called it "monstrous." French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was "brutal and unjust." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu repeated a call for all sides in Myanmar to talk to each other, but requested non-interference from the outside world. "As a neighbor of Myanmar'...

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22:30:12 –
US Marines storm Taliban-held town in Afghanistan
Associated Press
67.57%
6.52
DAHANEH, Afghanistan (AP) -- Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed into a strategic Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday, battling to gain control of the area ahead of next week's presidential elections. Associated Press journalists traveling with the first wave said Marines were met with small arms, mortar and rocket propelled grenade fire as they flew in helicopters over Taliban lines and dropped into the town. Fighting was still under way hours later, with U.S. Marine Harrier jets streaking overhead and dropping flares in a show of force. Other Marines met heavy resistance as they fought to seize control of the mountains surrounding Dahaneh in the southern province of Helmand. Another convoy of Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire. It was the first time NATO troops had entered Dahaneh, which has been under Taliban control for years. Casualty figures were unavailable due to security restrictions. ...

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22:30:14 –
Dodgers 9, Giants 1
Associated Press
0%
0
Los Angeles @ San Francisco @ab r h bi @ ab r h biFurcal ss 4 1 1 0 Velez 2b 3 0 0 1RMartn c 4 1 0 0 Winn rf 4 0 0 0Ethier rf 5 2 3 2 Sandovl 3b 4 0 1 0MRmrz lf 3 2 2 3 BMolin c 3 0 0 0Pierre lf 0 0 0 0 Howry p 0 0 0 0Blake 3b 4 1 0 0 Affeldt p 0 0 0 0Loney 1b 4 1 2 1 Uribe ph 1 0 0 0Kemp cf 5 1 1 3 Garko 1b 4 0 1 0JCastro 2b 4 0 1 0 Rownd cf 3 0 0 0Wolf p 4 0 1 0 FLewis lf 2 1 0 0JMcDnl p 0 0 0 0 Renteri ss 3 0 2 0JMrtnz p 0 0 0 0MValdz p 0 0 0 0Aurilia ph 1 0 0 0Meddrs p 0 0 0 0Whitsd c 1 0 0 0Totals @ 37 9 11 9 Totals @ 29 1 4 1Los Angeles 000 040 500-9San Francisco ...

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22:30:15 –
Oeltjen has four more hits, leads D'Backs to win
Associated Press
24.73%
2.63
PHOENIX (AP) -- Trent Oeltjen extended his remarkable big league debut with four more hits, falling a homer shy of the cycle, and Alex Romero had two hits and two RBIs in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 6-2 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night. Oeltjen has 12 hits in his first 24 at-bats since his contract was purchased from Triple-A Reno to replace injured Justin Upton on Aug. 6. He has hit safely in all five of his major league games. Oeltjen also made a stellar catch in center field. Oeltjen, a native of Sydney, Australia, singled and scored in a three-run third inning capped by Romero's two-run single. He tripled and scored in the fourth for a 5-2 Arizona lead. Right-hander Max Scherzer (7-6) gave up two runs in 6 2-3 innings for his first victory in three career outings against the Mets. Scherzer struck out eight and did not issue a walk for the third time in his 29 major league starts while winning for the second time since June 23. New York has lost 10 of 13 after a fiv...

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22:30:15 –
Charges presented in Peru's deadly Amazon clash
Associated Press
59.35%
6.05
LIMA, Peru (AP) -- A Peruvian government prosecutor presented homicide charges against two police generals and 15 other officers for a June government crackdown at an Amazon highway blockade manned by Indians protesting development on their ancestral lands. The criminal charges, which must be ratified by a judge, are the first to implicate police in violence that left at least 33 dead, including 23 police. Public prosecutor Luz Rojas told The Associated Press she presented the charges Friday as outgoing state attorney of Utcubamba province - where the violence ocurred. Amnesty International and other human rights groups previously called the Peruvian government's investigation imbalanced because police had not been implicated. Prosecutors filed homicide charges against 61 civilians two weeks after the June 5 outbreak of violence. The new charges were presented against Peru's special operations police chief Gen. Luis Muguruza, regional police chief Gen. Javier Uribe and 15 officers ...

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22:30:16 –
Oil hovers above $69 amid weak crude demand
Associated Press
31.95%
2.6
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices hovered above $69 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after the U.S. and OPEC said global crude consumption will slump this year as economies struggle to emerge from recession. Benchmark crude for September delivery was unchanged at $69.45 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract fell $1.15 to settle at $69.45. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration on Tuesday said global crude demand will likely fall by 1.71 million barrels this year, more than its previous forecast of a drop of 1.56 million barrels. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it expects consumption to slide by 1.65 million barrels a day this year, before rising next year. Investors have mostly shrugged off dismal demand numbers in recent months, focusing instead on signs the global economy may recover by the end of the year. "The current fundamentals don't really support the price, but the ...

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22:30:17 –
White Sox 3, Mariners 1
Associated Press
0%
0
Chicago @ Seattle @ab r h bi @ ab r h biPdsdnk cf-lf 5 0 1 0 ISuzuki rf 4 0 1 0Bckhm 3b 3 0 1 0 FGtrrz cf 4 0 1 0Dye rf 3 0 0 0 JoLopz 2b 4 0 1 0Thome dh 4 0 1 0 MSwny dh 4 0 0 0Konerk 1b 4 0 0 0 Beltre 3b 4 1 2 0Przyns c 2 0 0 0 Branyn 1b 4 0 2 1Wise pr-cf 0 1 0 0 JaWlsn ss 2 0 0 0Quentin lf 4 1 1 0 Johjim c 3 0 0 0RCastr c 0 0 0 0 MSndrs lf 3 0 1 0AlRmrz ss 3 1 1 3Getz 2b 1 0 0 0Totals @ 29 3 5 3 Totals @ 32 1 8 1Chicago 000 000 003-3Seattle 000 100 000-1DP-Chicago 1, Seattle 3. LOB-Chicago 8, Seattle 5. 2B-F.Gutierrez (15), Beltre (21). HR-Al.Ramirez (13). SB-Podsednik (18).IP H R ER BB SOChicagoDanks W,10-8 8 7 1 1 ...

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22:30:18 –
Chinese police detain supporters of quake critic
Associated Press
82.93%
4.59
BEIJING (AP) -- A high-profile Chinese government critic said he and 11 others were being detained in a hotel Wednesday by police to prevent them from attending the trial of an activist who investigated the deaths of schoolchildren in last year's earthquake. Avant-garde artist Ai Weiwei said police in the southwestern city of Chengdu also roughed up him and one of the other supporters who had traveled to the city to attend the trial of Tan Zuoren, an activist charged with subversion. The charges Tan faces appear to be linked to his quake investigation as well as essays he wrote about the 1989 student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square that ended in a deadly military crackdown. Beijing routinely uses the charge of subversion to imprison dissidents for years. Tan was scheduled to go on trial at the Chengdu Intermediate Court Wednesday morning but it was not clear if the trial had started. A duty officer at the court refused to answer questions and Tan's lawyer's mobile phone was ...

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23:30:12 –
Marine arrested after Highway Patrol shooting
Associated Press
0%
7.1
EL CAJON, Calif. (AP) -- Police say a 19-year-old Marine has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at two California Highway Patrol officers near San Diego. El Cajon police say they detained Pvt. Edward Michael Forney at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station on Monday and booked him into jail in San Diego on Tuesday. Police say Forney was a passenger in a car driven by 23-year-old Charles Neal early Sunday when officers attempted to pull over the driver on suspicion of drunken driving. Police say the driver sped away. They say the passenger then fired shots at officers and officers returned fire. Police say the car was abandoned blocks away and the occupants fled. No officers were hurt. Police say Neal remains at large. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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23:30:13 –
Schoeneweis on DL because of depression
Associated Press
64.81%
2.5
PHOENIX (AP) -- Scott Schoeneweis has been placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Arizona Diamondbacks because of depression, less than three months after his wife was found dead at their home. The 35-year-old left-hander spent three weeks on the bereavement list after his wife, Gabrielle, was found dead on May 20 in the master bedroom of couple's home in the Phoenix area. Since returning on June 9, Schoeneweis has given up 15 earned runs in nine innings. He is 1-2 with an 8.24 ERA in 38 games this season. "Obviously this has been an incredibly difficult year," Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes said. "He's done everything he could to deal with a tragedy and to keep playing. At this point, we felt it was a bit overwhelming. He needed a break from it. "Hopefully he can return to pitch at some point this season. We felt it was necessary and appropriate to do at this time," said Byrnes, who added there is no timetable for a return. "We'll first address real-life issues. We'll see ...

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23:30:15 –
Asian markets fall, tracking Wall Street decline
Associated Press
36.51%
2.89
SHANGHAI (AP) -- Asian markets fell back Wednesday on renewed jitters over the economic outlook after Wall Street overnight suffered its biggest loss in five weeks. Analysts said the early selloffs in many markets were to be expected following Tuesday's healthy gains after the release of positive Chinese economic data. "The correction is partly to yesterday's surge, when investors seemed to overreact to China's economic figures," said Castor Pang, an analyst at Sun Hung Kai Financial in Hong Kong. But he viewed the drop as temporary given the signs that the global economy may be recovering. "After a little correction, investors will buy back in," he said. European and U.S. stock markets fell Tuesday as the Federal Reserve started its two-day policy meeting that may provide a fresh assessment of how the world's largest economy is faring. The U.S. central bank is expected to hold interest rates steady at near zero when it ends its meeting Wednesday. Asia's biggest benchmark, Tokyo's ...

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00:00:16 –
Shiites in Iraq Show Restraint as Sunnis Keep Attacking
NY Times
53.88%
5.06
BAGHDAD — Shiite clerics and politicians have been successfully urging their followers not to retaliate against a fierce campaign of sectarian bombings, in which Shiites have accounted for most of the 566 Iraqis killed since American troops pulled out of Iraq’s cities on June 30. RelatedTimes Topics: Shiite Muslims Enlarge This ImageAli al-Saadi/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIn one of many recent attacks on Shiites, a bomb hit a mosque in the Shaab district of Baghdad on July 31, killing 41 people. “Let them kill us,” said Sheik Khudair al-Allawi, the imam of a mosque bombed recently. “It’s a waste of their time. The sectarian card is an old card and no one is going to play it anymore. We know what they want, and we’ll just be patient. But they will all go to hell.” The patience of the Shiites today is in extraordinary contrast to Iraq’s recent past. With a demographic majority of 60 percent and ...

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00:00:20 –
Two Chechen Aid Workers Are Killed
NY Times
65.33%
5.23
MOSCOW — The leader of a charity that helped children who had been physically and emotionally scarred by the conflict in Chechnya was abducted and killed along with her husband, officials said Tuesday, underscoring the worsening human rights situation there. RelatedTimes Topics: Chechnya The charity, Save the Generation, worked for several years with Unicef and Western aid organizations to provide prosthetic limbs, surgical operations and counseling for victims of the strife in Chechnya, a region of southern Russia where an Islamic insurgency has raged for years.The leader of the group, Zarema Sadulayeva, and her husband, Alik Djabrailov, were seized Monday afternoon from their office in Grozny, the Chechen capital, by men, some dressed in black uniforms and some in civilian clothes, Russian officials said.Their bodies, with gunshot wounds, were discovered early Tuesday in the trunk of their car in Grozny, officials said. Both were said to be in their 30s.Killin...

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00:00:23 –
Israel Is Wary of Calm Days That May End in Turmoil
NY Times
54.92%
4.48
JERUSALEM — Rocket fire from Gaza has markedly declined. The Lebanese border is quiet. Terrorist attacks from the West Bank are rare. The national airport processed a record number of travelers in the first week of August. The currency is so strong that the central bank has bought billions of dollars to keep the exchange rate down. RelatedTimes Topics: Israel Enlarge This ImageRina Castelnuovo for The New York TimesShlomi Belfand, 50, enjoyed a swim near the border with Gaza. Israeli vacationers have returned here as rocket attacks have declined. Israel is flourishing this summer, and one might imagine its people and leaders to be breathing a sigh of relief after nearly a decade of violence and unease. That, however, is far from the case. On every front, Israel is worried that it is living a false calm that could explode at any moment. Its airwaves and public discourse are filled with menace and concern.“This is a deceptive quiet,” said ...

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00:00:27 –
Chαvez Loyalists Push to Close the Golf Courses
NY Times
46.18%
3.56
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez’s political movement has found a new target: golf. RelatedTimes Topics: Venezuela | Hugo Chavez Fernando Llano/Associated PressPresident Hugo Chávez says some golf courses could be better used for the poor. After a brief tirade against the sport by the president on national television last month, pro-Chávez officials have moved in recent weeks to shut down two of the country’s best-known golf courses, in Maracay, a city of military garrisons near here, and in the coastal city of Caraballeda.“Let’s leave this clear,” Mr. Chávez said during a live broadcast of his Sunday television program. “Golf is a bourgeois sport,” he said, repeating the word “bourgeois” as if he were swallowing castor oil. Then he went on, mocking the use of golf carts as a practice illustrating the sport’s laziness. The government’s broad nationalizat...

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00:00:30 –
Bombs Kill 9 Civilians in Afghanistan
NY Times
0%
7.09
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Roadside bombs killed nine civilians on Tuesday, officials said, as the numbers of foreign and Afghan soldiers killed continued to rise just ahead of presidential elections that the Taliban have vowed to disrupt. NATO said three Americans had died in separate “hostile fire” episodes over the last several days, but did not disclose the exact locations of the attacks. The first died of wounds from an attack that occurred Saturday, another died Sunday and the third died Monday, a NATO statement said.A Polish soldier was also found dead on Tuesday, and two Afghan soldiers were reported killed. The civilians were killed when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in the Zhari district, in southern Afghanistan, said Daud Farhad, a doctor at Mirwais hospital in Kandahar. Five other civilians were wounded when their vehicle hit a bomb in the Dand district of southern Afghanistan, said Naziq Khan, a local official....

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00:00:33 –
U.S. Missile Kills at Least 10 in Pakistan Tribal Area
NY Times
86.09%
6
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An American missile hit the Mehsud tribal region of South Waziristan on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people in the same area where the leader of the Pakistani Taliban was apparently killed in a drone attack last week, Pakistani security officials said. The missile struck near the town of Kani Gurram, one of the largest in the area, which is home to the Pakistani Taliban movement. American and Pakistani security officials say they believe the leader of the movement, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a drone strike by the C.I.A. last Wednesday. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.Details of the strike on Tuesday were unclear. Reuters reported that the missile had apparently hit a house that was being used by the Taliban, but it was not clear if the attack killed any Taliban commanders. Many of them have reportedly gathered in the area in order to choose Mr. Mehsud’s successor. More deat...

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00:00:36 –
LACOSTE JOURNAL; It Takes a Wealthy Man to Raise a French Village
NY Times
30.87%
2.83
LACOSTE, France — The Marquis de Sade once lived here in this hotbed of Protestantism, a stunning town built of café-au-lait-colored stone, holding the heights across the Luberon River valley from the proud Catholic spires of Bonnieux. He was jailed and institutionalized after the residents of the town objected to his sexual and political views; his castle here was sacked in 1789. Enlarge This ImageFranco Zecchin for the New York TimesPierre Cardin says he owns 42 buildings in Lacoste, and he has no patience with the locals who think he is destroying the town. Enlarge This ImageFranco Zecchin for The New York TimesThe castle of the Marquis de Sade, owned by Mr. Cardin, towers above Lacoste, a village built of cafe-au-lait-colored stone. The New York TimesLacoste has nothing to do with tennis and crocodile shirts. Pierre Cardin, 87, seems an odd inheritor. But after he bought the ruins of the castle nine years ago and then es...

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00:00:39 –
Former Nazi Officer Convicted of Murdering Italian Civilians
NY Times
67.42%
6.72
BERLIN — A court in Munich on Tuesday sentenced a 90-year-old former Nazi officer to life in prison for murdering Italian civilians in retaliation for the killing of two Nazi soldiers. In what may have been one of Germany’s last Nazi trials, the former officer, Josef Scheungraber, was convicted on 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. He had denied allegations that he ordered the killings in June 1944 in Falzano di Cortona, near the Tuscan town of Arezzo, when he was a 25-year-old army lieutenant in command of a company of engineers. The trial began last September after the presiding judge, Manfred Götz, said Mr. Scheungraber was fit to stand trial. Prosecutors said that after Italian partisans had killed two German soldiers, Mr. Scheungraber commanded his soldiers to shoot three Italian men and one woman. The prosecutors said he then ordered 11 more civilians herded into a barn that was then blown up. Mr. Scheungraber’s defense team sai...

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00:00:42 –
Article Points to Risk of Seizure of Pakistani Nuclear Materials
NY Times
74.23%
5.56
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Pakistan’s nuclear facilities have come under attack from the Taliban and other groups, and there is a “genuine” risk that militants could seize weapons or bomb-making material, an article published in a West Point research group’s newsletter said. The Combating Terrorism Center, which is housed at the United States Military Academy at West Point, published the article in the July edition of its Sentinel newsletter, copies of which were distributed widely on Tuesday.The Pentagon, seeking to bolster Pakistan’s government in its fight against Al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban forces, expressed satisfaction with security at the facilities.Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are “comfortable with the security measures the Pakistani government, the Pakistani military have in place to ensure that their nuclear arsenal is safeguarded,” a Pentagon spokesman, Geoff ...

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00:00:45 –
Musharraf Faces Arrest on Return to Pakistan
NY Times
40.37%
3.38
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Islamabad police officials said Tuesday that they had registered a criminal case against former President Pervez Musharraf for detaining Supreme Court judges after he imposed emergency rule in 2007, raising the prospect of his arrest if he returns to the country. RelatedTimes Topics: Pervez Musharraf | Pakistan “If he comes back to Pakistan, we will arrest him and present him before the court,” Hakim Khan, an Islamabad police official, said, referring to Mr. Musharraf. The charge is, however, one for which he could post bail, he added.Mr. Musharraf resigned last year after facing the threat of impeachment and is currently living in London. Political analysts said Mr. Musharraf might be bracing for a long exile.A Supreme Court decision last month declared the emergency rule he imposed in late 2007 illegal and unconstitutional. During that time, Mr. Musharraf removed the Supreme Court chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, ...

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00:00:48 –
Kuwait Arrests 6 in Plot to Hit a U.S. Base
NY Times
70.31%
6.33
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Kuwaiti authorities said Tuesday that they had arrested six jihadists who were planning to attack the main United States military base in the country and other sites. The six men, all Kuwaitis, gave “full confessions” about their plans to attack Camp Arifjan, a sprawling American logistics and supply base in the desert south of Kuwait City, along with Kuwaiti security agencies and other targets, according to a statement released by Kuwait’s Interior Ministry. The men were a “terrorist network” under the influence of Al Qaeda, the statement said. The ministry did not provide further details. But the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai, citing a “security source,” said the men had confessed to buying a truck and filling it with chemicals and gas cylinders, with the intention of ramming it into Camp Arifjan. The Kuwaiti authorities had been tracking the men for some time, the newspaper said. One of the six was believed to hav...

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00:00:51 –
Clinton Presents Plan to Fight Sexual Violence in Congo
NY Times
49.32%
5.33
GOMA, Congo — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face to face with the consequences of the brutality in eastern Congo on Tuesday afternoon when she met a Congolese woman who had been gang-raped while she was eight months pregnant. Enlarge This ImagePool photo by Roberto SchmidtSecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton with patients and staff members of a clinic in Goma, Congo, on Tuesday. MultimediaInteractive MapHillary Rodham Clinton in Africa mm.DI = true; mm.LI = true; mm.AH = "Back Story With The Times's Jeffrey Gettleman"; mm.AS = ""; mm.AD = "490"; mm.AU = "http://graphics7.nytimes.com/podcasts/2009/08/10/10backstory-gettleman.mp3"; mm.IU = ""; writePlayer(); The fetus died, Mrs. Clinton said, the woman was gravely injured and since there was no hospital nearby, villagers stuffed the woman’s wound with grass to keep her from bleeding to death.“I’ve been in a lot of very difficult and...

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00:00:54 –
Fatah Party Election Brings in a New Generation
NY Times
52.34%
4
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian nationalist party, elected a mostly new leadership committee, ushering in a younger generation and ousting some prominent veterans, according to preliminary results released here on Tuesday. RelatedTimes Topics: Al Fatah The new leaders are considered more pragmatic than their predecessors and grew up locally, in contrast to the exile-dominated leadership they are replacing. But many are familiar names who have already played active roles in Palestinian society and the peace process, and their election to the committee is not expected to bring about significant changes in Fatah policies. Nevertheless, party leaders said they hoped the democratic process would lift Fatah’s popularity, strengthen the party in its dealings with Israel and increase its leverage in reconciliation talks with its main rival, the Islamic group Hamas. Fourteen of the 18 people elected to the Fatah Central Committee have neve...

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00:00:57 –
Burmese Activist Receives New Term of House Arrest
NY Times
48.22%
3.83
BANGKOK — A court in Myanmar sentenced the pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months of additional house arrest on Tuesday, ensuring that she would remain in detention, with limited communications, through a parliamentary election that is scheduled for next year. RelatedTimes Topics: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi The sentencing stoked the anger the world has shown over the continued detention of a woman who has become an international symbol of nonviolent resistance. President Obama said the sentence violated “universal principles of human rights,” and rights groups and foreign governments called Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction “reprehensible,” “brutal” and “monstrous,” and repeated their demand for her immediate release, as well as the release of an estimated 2,100 other political prisoners. Playing up a moment of suspense, the court first sentenced Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, to three years of ha...

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00:01:00 –
Thailand Blocks Extradition of an Arms Dealing Suspect
NY Times
75.81%
5.33
BANGKOK — A Thai court stunned American officials here on Tuesday by rejecting the extradition of Viktor Bout, a Russian businessman who is accused of global arms trafficking. Enlarge This ImageChaiwat Subprasom/ReutersViktor Bout was escorted from a courthouse in Bangkok on Tuesday after a judge refused a request that he be extradited to face arms trafficking charges in the United States. RelatedThe Lede: 'Merchant of Death' or Tango Lover? (March 19, 2009) NYT_VideoPlayerStart( { playerType : "article", videoId : "1247463940770" } ); The United States says Mr. Bout agreed to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to agents posing as Colombian rebels intending to kill American pilots patrolling in the drug war. A three-judge panel said that the case did not fall under Thailand’s extradition treaty with the United States for two main reasons. One, the country recognizes the rebels — the...

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00:01:03 –
Typhoon Survivors Are Found as Search Continues in Taiwan
NY Times
49.08%
5.56
CHISHAN, Taiwan — As the rain tapered off and the sun briefly appeared, helicopters resumed their search on Wednesday morning for scores of people believed missing in landslides and flooding that hit these rugged mountains of southern Taiwan last weekend. MultimediaPhotographsDeadly Typhoons in Asia Enlarge This ImageAgence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe streets of Cangnan, in China's Zhejiang province, remained flooded on Tuesday. More Photos » NYT_VideoPlayerStart( { playerType : "article", videoId : "1247463938671" } ); Army officials said 470 people had been airlifted out of the affected area, and another 400 were spotted by rescuers as they waited for help in fields and on mountaintops in three villages, including 200 from Hsiao-lin, an isolated farming community that was home to more than 1,000 residents.Typhoon Morakot killed at least 85 people as it lumbered across the Pac...

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00:01:06 –
Britain: $65 Million in Jewelry Stolen
NY Times
0%
5.71
Robbers stole $65 million worth of jewelry and watches from an exclusive jewelry store in what was revealed Tuesday to be one of the biggest diamond robberies in British history. Scotland Yard said two men wearing suits walked into Graff jewelers on New Bond Street last Thursday and stole 43 items, including diamond earrings, necklaces, rings and watches. As they left the store, they briefly took a staff member hostage and fired two shots as they made their getaway. No one was injured, Scotland Yard said....

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00:01:09 –
WORLD BRIEFING | MIDDLE EAST; Yemen: Offensive Against Shiite Rebels
NY Times
0%
6.2
Yemeni troops and fighter aircraft launched a broad offensive against Shiite rebels in the north on Tuesday, rebels and tribal officials said, and the government said it would strike with an “iron fist.” Government forces fired missiles at the headquarters of the rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in Saada Province, and other positions held by rebels also came under attack. The offensive began a day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh said renewed fighting in the north showed the rebels had no intention of sticking to a government peace plan....

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00:01:11 –
WORLD BRIEFING | MIDDLE EAST; United Nations: Secretary General Congratulates...
NY Times
0%
1.5
The United Nations said Tuesday that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had congratulated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, whose contested re-election set off violent protests across the country. A United Nations spokeswoman, Marie Okabe, said that the letter was not an endorsement of Mr. Ahmadinejad, but “takes advantage of the occasion of the inauguration to express the hope that Iran and the United Nations will continue to cooperate closely in addressing regional and global issues.” Many Western leaders withheld the customary congratulations because the election was widely viewed as rigged....

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00:01:14 –
Afghanistan: Marines Mount Assault
NY Times
0%
6.29
The Marines have mounted a helicopter assault to seize the Taliban-held town of Dahaneh in the south and are fighting to gain control of the area before next week’s presidential elections. The assault began before dawn Wednesday, with Marines entering the town as others battled militants in the surrounding mountains. Associated Press reporters traveling with the first wave say the Marines were met with small arms, mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Fighting is still under way hours later, with Marine Harrier jets streaking over the town and dropping flares in a show of force....

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00:01:16 –
Moscow Signals Widening Rift With Ukraine
NY Times
43.92%
4.53
MOSCOW — The Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, assailed his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday, blaming him for anti-Russian policies that he said had brought relations between the countries to “unprecedented lows.” In a letter to Ukraine’s president, Viktor A. Yushchenko, posted on the Kremlin Web site on Tuesday, Mr. Medvedev announced that Russia would not send its new ambassador to Ukraine as planned, “given the anti-Russian course of the Ukrainian leadership.” Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, Volodymyr Khandogiy, said at a news conference in Kiev that the Foreign Ministry was disappointed by Mr. Medvedev’s decision to put off the arrival of Russia’s ambassador, the Interfax news agency reported. Relations between Russia and Ukraine have ranged from turbulent to openly antagonistic since Mr. Yushchenko took power in 2005 after a bloodless uprising known as the Orange Revolution, ousting a political clan backed by Mosc...

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00:01:19 –
Germany: At Least 136 Were Killed at the Berlin Wall, Researchers Find
NY Times
0%
5.75
At least 136 people were killed at the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989, researchers leading the first detailed study into the killings said Tuesday. The four-year study, by the Berlin Wall Memorial and the Center of Historical Research in Potsdam, found that most of the victims were young men ages 16 to 30. German news media have estimated the number of people killed at 1,347....

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00:01:22 –
WORLD BRIEFING | MIDDLE EAST; Israel: Offering Help From Above
NY Times
0%
3.33
Dozens of rabbis and kabbalah mystics armed with ceremonial trumpets took to the skies over Israel to battle the H1N1 swine flu virus, Israeli news media reported Tuesday. About 50 Jewish holy men chanted prayers and blew ritual rams’ horns known as shofars in an aircraft circling over the country in the hope of stopping the spread of the virus, some of them told the newspaper Yediot Aharonot. “The aim of the flight was to stop the pandemic so people will stop dying from it,” said Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri....

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00:01:24 –
Niger: Opposition Leader Arrested
NY Times
0%
3
An opposition leader was arrested Tuesday for protesting a new Constitution, and was imprisoned despite a court order that he be freed, his organization said. Marou Amadou, leader of the United Front for the Protection of Democracy, was arrested for calling for protests against the adoption of a new Constitution that extended President Mamadou Tandja’s term in office by three years and allowed him to run for re-election indefinitely....

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00:01:27 –
Indonesia: Terrorism Suspect Not Killed in a Shootout, Forensic Tests Confirm
NY Times
0%
5.2
Forensic tests have confirmed that the man killed in a shootout on Saturday was not Noordin Muhammad Top, the most wanted terrorism suspect in Southeast Asia, Indonesian police said Wednesday. They identified the man as Ibrohim, who had worked as a florist in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, where several people were killed in a blast in July. Mr. Noordin was thought to have masterminded the bombing, together with a nearly simultaneous blast at the JW Marriott hotel....

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00:01:30 –
WORLD BRIEFING | MIDDLE EAST; Iran: French Embassy Staff Member Freed
NY Times
0%
2.5
A French Embassy staff member, Nazak Afshar, on trial for charges related to post-election protests in Iran, has been released from the Tehran prison where she was being held, the French presidency said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement also called for the release of a French woman, Clotilde Reiss, a teacher who was still being held on spying charges. The government spokesman, Luc Chatel, said that he saw some hope for “a rapid solution” to free Ms. Reiss, 24, who has been held since July 1....

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00:01:32 –
Somalia: 6 Hostages Are Released
NY Times
0%
1.25
Four European aid workers and two Kenyan pilots were freed Tuesday after being held hostage for nine months in Somalia. Gunmen kidnapped the six — including two French citizens, a Bulgarian and a Belgian — on Nov. 5 at an airstrip in Dhusamareb, in central Somalia. The aid workers had hired the pilots in an effort to flee the city, said their aid group, Action Against Hunger. No ransom was paid, said a representative for the group. The identity and aims of the kidnappers remained unclear....

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00:01:35 –
13 Killed in Papua New Guinea Plane Crash
NY Times
64.75%
3.78
SYDNEY (AP) -- All 13 people on board a chartered plane that crashed en route to a tourist region of Papua New Guinea are dead, Australia's prime minister said Wednesday.Papua New Guinea officials informed Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith that no survivors were found in the wreckage, which had been discovered in the rugged Kokoda region earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told parliament.The plane, carrying 11 passengers and two crew, vanished Tuesday morning in bad weather on approach to an airport nestled in the Kokoda region. Nine Australians, one Japanese and three Papua New Guineans were on board. Two of the Australians killed in the crash were a father and a daughter, Rudd said.''There is a horrible tragedy involved when families send off their loved ones for what they expect to be the experience of a lifetime, only for it to turn into a tragedy such as this,'' Rudd said.The twin-engine plane left the capital of Port Moresby en route to an airport near the Pacif...

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00:01:38 –
Wreck of Capsized Ferry Found in Tonga
NY Times
45.89%
3.33
NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) -- Searchers located the wreck Wednesday of a ferry that capsized off Tonga a week earlier and found no immediate signs of the 93 people on board who are still missing and presumed dead.The Princess Ashika flipped over and sank Aug. 5 in a tragedy that has reverberated throughout the tiny South Pacific kingdom and triggered accusations that the government allowed the ferry to operate despite it being unseaworthy.Tongan Police Commander Chris Kelley said the hulk was found Wednesday by an unmanned search device in about 360 feet (110 meters) of water near where the ferry foundered about 54 miles (86 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Nuku'alofa.Navy divers from New Zealand and Australia who are assisting the search are not able to go that deep, meaning a search inside the hull for bodies or clues to the disaster will likely have to wait for additional equipment.''It is important to realize that nobody on board could still be alive,'' Kelley told reporters.Two p...

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00:01:40 –
US Marines Storm Taliban-Held Town in Afghanistan
NY Times
69.64%
6.52
DAHANEH, Afghanistan (AP) -- Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed into a strategic Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday, battling to gain control of the area ahead of next week's presidential elections.Associated Press journalists traveling with the first wave said Marines were met with small arms, mortar and rocket propelled grenade fire as they flew in helicopters over Taliban lines and dropped into the town. Fighting was still under way hours later, with U.S. Marine Harrier jets streaking overhead and dropping flares in a show of force.Other Marines met heavy resistance as they fought to seize control of the mountains surrounding Dahaneh in the southern province of Helmand. Another convoy of Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire.It was the first time NATO troops had entered Dahaneh, which has been under Taliban control for years. Casualty figures were unavailable due to security restrictions.U.S., NA...

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00:01:43 –
Police: Hard to Know Taiwan Village Mudslide Toll
NY Times
63.09%
5.75
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Police said Wednesday that there is no way to know for sure how many people remain buried in the catastrophic mudslide that struck a remote mountain village in Taiwan over the weekend when a typhoon lashed the region.Survivors fear that hundreds are dead in the southern village of Shiao Lin, and Cishan police chief Lee Chin-lung said efforts to pluck survivors from the village were continuing for a fourth day.The doomed community of Shiao Lin and its densely foliated surroundings were buried under tons of mud Sunday morning after torrential rain spawned by Typhoon Morakot unleashed the heaviest flooding Taiwan has seen in 50 years.Morakot, which means ''emerald'' in the Thai language, struck the Philippines, Taiwan and China and left at least 93 people dead, most of them in Taiwan. It dumped as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain on the island before moving on to China, where authorities evacuated 1.5 million people and some 10,000 homes were destroyed.Shiao L...

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00:01:45 –
Two AP Journalists Wounded in Afghanistan Bombing
NY Times
100%
6.11
KABUL (AP) -- A roadside bombing has wounded two Associated Press journalists embedded with the U.S. military in southern Afghanistan.Photographer Emilio Morenatti and AP Television News videographer Andi Jatmiko were traveling with the military when their vehicle was struck by the bomb Tuesday.Both were immediately taken to a military hospital in Kandahar. Jatmiko suffered leg injuries and two broken ribs. Morenatti, badly wounded in the leg, underwent an operation that resulted in the loss of his foot.Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, is an award-winning photographer based in Islamabad who has worked for the AP in Afghanistan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 2009 by Pictures of the Year International.Jatmiko, 44, of Indonesia, has reported for the AP from throughout Asia for more than 10 years.AP President Tom Curley said their injuries reflected ''the risks that journalists like Emilio and Andi encounter every day as they staff the...

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00:01:48 –
Indonesia Says Lead Militant Not Killed
NY Times
65.29%
6.21
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A suspect shot dead in Indonesia last weekend was not Islamic militant Noordin Mohammad Top and he is still at large, police said on Wednesday, dashing hopes for a breakthrough in a hunt for the mastermind of a string of attacks.Top is believed to have planned last month's near-simultaneous suicide attacks on Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine people and wounded 53.The police were at first confident that Top had been killed during an 18-hour siege at a remote farmhouse in Central Java. However, they said on Wednesday that forensic tests now showed they had killed an accomplice, not Top.Media reports quoting police sources said Top probably fled a few hours before the anti-terrorism unit raided the house.National police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said the authorities believed Top was still in Indonesia and expected him to keep on trying to launch attacks. "The assumption is that he will keep on doing so," he told reporters.Top, who formed ...

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00:01:51 –
Rescuers Find 700 Alive After Taiwan Mudslide
NY Times
50.28%
4.56
CISHAN, Taiwan (Reuters) - About 700 people from the remote mountains of southern Taiwan have been found alive overnight after it was feared they may have been buried by mudslides, but many are still missing, an official said.Typhoon Morakot, which ravaged Taiwan over the weekend, has killed 63 people across the island. Over the past week more than 100 people have been killed in Asia due to Morakot and tropical storm Etau.In Kaohsiung county in Taiwan's south, hundreds of survivors from several villages made it to higher ground before walls of mud and rock submerged their homes, said Hu Jui-chou, an army official involved in the rescue effort."I'll have to say I feel pretty good to be alive," said Lin Dong-wen, 45, a villager from Namahsia, sitting in front of a pile of medicine after he was rescued earlier in the day."If I had been left there any longer, I wouldn't have made it. I saw the mudslide coming, which was really huge, and I passed out. When I woke up, there was mud all over ...

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00:01:54 –
Blow For Indonesia as Militant Top Eludes Police
NY Times
65.29%
6.21
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A suspect shot dead in Indonesia last weekend was not Islamic militant Noordin Mohammad Top and he is still at large, police said on Wednesday, dashing hopes for a breakthrough in a hunt for the mastermind of a string of attacks.Top is believed to have planned last month's near-simultaneous suicide attacks on Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine people and wounded 53.The police were at first confident that Top had been killed during an 18-hour siege at a remote farmhouse in Central Java. However, they said on Wednesday that forensic tests now showed they had killed an accomplice, not Top.Media reports quoting police sources said Top probably fled a few hours before the anti-terrorism unit raided the house.National police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said the authorities believed Top was still in Indonesia and expected him to keep on trying to launch attacks. "The assumption is that he will keep on doing so," he told reporters.Top, who formed ...

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00:01:56 –
U.S. Marines Stage Afghan Helicopter Assault
NY Times
90.19%
5.65
KABUL (Reuters) - Four hundred U.S. marines staged a helicopter assault in the mountains of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, part of efforts to secure Taliban-held areas, eight days before a presidential election.The 10,000-strong U.S. Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) in Helmand is the biggest element of a wave of reinforcements sent this year by President Barack Obama in an effort to turn the tide in an eight-year-old war commanders have described as stalemated.The 400 Marines, accompanied by 100 Afghan soldiers, staged Operation Eastern Resolve II in Nawzad, a district in the north-eastern part of the province, the MEB said in a statement. Operations on that scale take place in Afghanistan regularly."Our mission is to support the Independent Election Commission and Afghan national security forces. They are the ones in charge of these elections. Our job is to make sure they have the security to do their job," MEB commander Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said...

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00:01:59 –
No Loitering Rule Applies to Police in Mexico
NY Times
0%
4.29
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) -- Police in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey have been told not to sit in parked patrol cars observing traffic, because officials suspect they could be spying for criminal gangs or drug cartels.The measure marks a new low for Monterrey's municipal police. In recent years they have been banned from using cell phones while on duty and at times had their weapons confiscated because of concerns some officers may be acting as lookouts for gangs.Monterrey officers will have to keep their patrol cars moving under rules announced Tuesday by state Public Safety Secretary Aldo Fasci.Local police officers in several cities have been detained for allegedly protecting drug cartels or warning them about federal police or army raids....

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00:02:01 –
Chinese Police Detain Supporters of Quake Critic
NY Times
65.31%
4.75
BEIJING (AP) -- A high-profile Chinese government critic said he and 11 others were detained by police in a hotel Wednesday to prevent them from attending the trial of an activist who investigated the deaths of schoolchildren in last year's earthquake.Avant-garde artist Ai Weiwei said police in the southwestern city of Chengdu also roughed up him and one of the other supporters who had traveled to the city to try to attend the trial of Tan Zuoren, an activist charged with subversion.The charges Tan faces appear to be linked to his quake investigation as well as essays he wrote about the 1989 student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square that ended in a deadly military crackdown. Beijing routinely uses the charge of subversion to imprison dissidents for years.Tan, 55, denied all charges during Wednesday's trial at the Chengdu Intermediate Court, which concluded at midday after about three hours with no immediate ruling, his lawyer Pu Zhiqiang said.Following the 7.9-magnitude earthquake...

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00:02:04 –
Charges Presented in Peru's Deadly Amazon Clash
NY Times
61.35%
6.05
LIMA, Peru (AP) -- A Peruvian government prosecutor presented homicide charges against two police generals and 15 other officers for a June government crackdown at an Amazon highway blockade manned by Indians protesting development on their ancestral lands.The criminal charges, which must be ratified by a judge, are the first to implicate police in violence that left at least 33 dead, including 23 police.Public prosecutor Luz Rojas told The Associated Press she presented the charges Friday as outgoing state attorney of Utcubamba province -- where the violence ocurred.Amnesty International and other human rights groups previously called the Peruvian government's investigation imbalanced because police had not been implicated. Prosecutors filed homicide charges against 61 civilians two weeks after the June 5 outbreak of violence.The new charges were presented against Peru's special operations police chief Gen. Luis Muguruza, regional police chief Gen. Javier Uribe and 15 officers in the ...

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00:02:09 –
No Survivors From PNG Plane Crash
NY Times
28.71%
3
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Rescuers have reached the wreckage of a passenger aircraft that crashed in Papua New Guinea and found no survivors among the 13 passengers and crew, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Wednesday.The Airlines PNG De Havilland Twin Otter 300 with 11 passengers and two crew went missing over thickly forested mountains on Tuesday during a flight from the capital Port Moresby to the tourist destination of Kokoda."Papua New Guinea officials on the ground at the crash site have concluded that there were no survivors from the crash," Rudd told Australia's parliament.Two helicopters began searching for the aircraft, which had nine Australians, one Japanese and three Papuans on board, in the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges earlier on Wednesday after poor weather in the area cleared.Aviation is hazardous in Papua New Guinea due to rugged, high mountains covered in thick jungle and rapidly changing weather conditions.Airlines PNG, listed on the PNG stock exchange, operates...

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00:02:12 –
Taliban Kill Police Chief In Northern Afghanistan
NY Times
100%
6.61
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban fighters stormed a district police headquarters in once-quiet northern Afghanistan overnight, killing the police chief and two of his men, an official said, as violence spreads into once safe areas.The attack, which led to a four-hour gunbattle into the early hours of Wednesday in Kunduz, is the latest in a wave of rising violence a week before an August 20 election which militants have vowed to disrupt.The attackers struck with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades under cover of darkness, said Sheikh Saduddin, administrator of the Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province.The province, north of the Hindu Kush mountains and far from the southern war zone, has been largely quiet since Taliban militants were driven from power in 2001, but has seen escalating attacks in recent months.This week the overall commander of NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan said militants were advancing from their traditional bastions in the south and east into...

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00:02:15 –
Six Foreigners Killed In Somalia's Puntland
NY Times
0%
6.64
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Six foreigners, said to be from Pakistan, were killed by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, witnesses said.Two other people were wounded in the attack at a mosque in Galkayo, residents said, adding that the foreigners came from Pakistan on Tuesday and were dressed as Islamist preachers."Masked gunmen opened fire in the mosque, killing six foreigners and injured two others," resident Sheikh Abdiqadir Ali told Reuters.A local elder told Reuters that security forces were at the scene of the attack."Puntland forces have reached the mosque to carry away the dead bodies," the elder Mohamed Hussein told Reuters by phone from Galkayo. "These foreigners, mostly Pakistanis, were 25 in number and arrived from Pakistan yesterday."Residents said the killings may have been motivated by suspicions that the foreigners had links to al Qaeda.Lawless Somalia is viewed by the international community as a potential breeding ground for al Qae...

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00:02:18 –
Myanmar Sentence Draws Criticism
NY Times
32.62%
4.44
PARIS — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined a chorus of predominantly Western voices condemning the sentencing of Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on Tuesday, demanding her release and saying that, without a change in its human rights practices, Myanmar’s scheduled elections next year would be illegitimate. RelatedActivist in Myanmar Is Convicted (August 12, 2009)Times Topics: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi “She should not have been tried, and she should not have been convicted,” Mrs. Clinton told reporters in Goma, Congo, where she is on an African tour. “We continue to call for her release.” “We also call for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners, including the American, John Yettaw,” she said, referring to a 53-year-old man who swam across a lake in central Yangon, Myanmar’s main city, last May and spent two nights in Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s villa. The e...

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00:02:21 –
Second Japanese Earthquake in Days Injures 100
NY Times
33.76%
6.25
TOKYO — A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 struck central Japan early Tuesday morning, injuring more than 100 people, setting off a tsunami warning and swaying buildings 90 miles away in Tokyo. The quake struck at 5:07 a.m. Tuesday off the coast of Shizuoka prefecture, 90 miles southwest of Tokyo, and was centered about 14 miles underground, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.The agency immediately issued a tsunami warning for parts of Japan’s Pacific coast. Small waves of around 16 inches reached Omaezaki and other coastal towns in Shizuoka before the warning was lifted about two hours later.The quake was the second strong tremor to strike Japan in as many days.Late Sunday, an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.9 struck further off the Pacific coast, jolting a swath of central and eastern Japan. But neither appeared related to a powerful quake that experts say is due for the Tokai region, centered on Shizuoka, which could also damage Tokyo.Seismologists have...

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00:02:24 –
LETTER FROM EUROPE; Russia Is Still Getting Away With Murder
NY Times
44.89%
5.72
Russia is still getting away with murder. On Tuesday, two more bodies of human rights workers were found in the southern republic of Chechnya, this time in the trunk of a car.This comes less than a month after the shocking death of Natalya Estemirova, a 50-year-old human-rights campaigner whose body was dumped by the side of a road. She had been shot several times — at least once in the head, which is the signature for the killers who have been methodically eliminating critics and rivals of Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of Chechnya. Once again, Mr. Kadyrov, who is just 32, has mocked both his accusers and the victims. “Why should Kadyrov kill a woman who was useful to no one?” he scoffed when asked by Radio Free Europe about allegations that he was responsible for Ms. Estemirova’s death. “She was devoid of honor, merit and conscience.” Even more chilling was the silence that fell across a Grozny street at 8:30 on the morning of July 15 ...

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00:10:13 –
Hundreds stranded in typhoon-hit Taiwan
CNN
37.51%
3.88
(CNN) -- Hundreds of people were stranded on Wednesday in villages dotting Taiwan's mountainous regions after Typhoon Morakot unleashed its fury over the weekend and caused the worst flooding in a half-century. ...

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00:10:15 –
Pipe-wielding inmates wrecked prison, footage shows
CNN
64.22%
5.43
(CNN) -- Hundreds of inmates using pipes and shanks as weapons trashed a California prison, burning a courtyard, ripping beds to shreds and tearing bathroom sinks from walls, a new video of the weekend riot's aftermath shows. Flames leap from a housing unit at a prison in Chino, California, on Saturday night. Video shot by CNN affiliate KABC gave the first glimpse of the damage to the California Institution for Men in Chino from a riot that authorities said was ignited by racial tensions. "This certainly is probably the worst that we've seen, especially adding the extensive damage t...

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00:20:28 –
Vote count for Fatah parliament set to begin
Reuters
29.93%
3.5
By Mustafa Abu Ganiyeh BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - The vote count for the parliament of the secular Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was set to begin on Wednesday after long delays, an election official said. Final results of the complicated election process for the body known as the Revolutionary Council, could take two days and a recount was possible, the official added, after some 700 candidates vied for 80 places available in the 128-seat body. Abbas emerged strengthened from Tuesday's vote for Fatah's 23-seat executive body, the Central Committee, as some 2,300 delegates chose 18 younger members and unseated many of the "old guard" of the late Yasser Arafat, Fatah's founder. Abbas, 74, gambled by calling the first congress of his fractious movement in 20 years. Analysts said the younger executive will rejuvenate Fatah and consolidate his position as its leader. Senior Fatah members believe the faction is now...

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00:30:12 –
Gov't asking why airline passengers were stranded
Associated Press
31.36%
2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The overnight stranding of 47 airline passengers on an airport tarmac in Minnesota has grabbed the attention of the Obama administration and Congress. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the department's general counsel is investigating whether any laws were violated during the incident, which began last Friday when Continental Express Flight 2816 left Houston at 9:23 p.m. It didn't arrive at its destination in Minneapolis until after 11 a.m. Saturday. In between, the small airliner spent nearly seven hours sitting on a tarmac in Rochester, where it had been diverted because of thunderstorms, before passengers were allowed to go inside an airport terminal. Two and a half hours after disembarking, passengers reboarded the same plane and were flown to Minneapolis. Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration lawyers are combing through aviation and consumer regulations looking for possible violations. "While we don't yet have all the facts, th...

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00:30:14 –
Testimony puts Rove at center of Justice firings
Associated Press
28.65%
4.3
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, N.M., didn't see enough evidence when asked to prosecute some voter fraud cases in his state. In Washington, however, then-White House political adviser Karl Rove was getting a different message and acting on it. Transcripts of closed-door congressional testimony indicate that Rove played a central role in the ouster of David Iglesias, who was one of nine federal prosecutors fired in a series of politically tinged dismissals in 2006. Harriet Miers, then White House counsel, said in testimony June 15 to House Judiciary Committee investigators that Rove was "very agitated" over Iglesias "and wanted something done about it." The committee released more than 5,400 pages of White House and Republican National Committee e-mails, along with transcripts of closed-door testimony by Miers and Rove. Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said the documents reveal that White House political officials were deeply involved in the firing of ...

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00:30:15 –
3 Russian biathletes suspended for doping at WCup
Associated Press
26.55%
3.33
MOSCOW (AP) -- The International Biathlon Union has suspended three Russian biathletes for two years each after finding them guilty of anti-doping rule violations. Albina Akhatova, Yekaterina Iourieva and Dmitri Yaroshenko tested positive for the banned substance rEPO during a World Cup event last December in Ostersund, Sweden. The ruling was handed down by an independent anti-doping panel consisting of international experts in judicial and medical anti-doping matters, the IBU said in a statement published on its Web site on Tuesday. Follow-up tests confirmed the positive results and the athletes were barred from the biathlon world championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Feb. 13-22. The panel's decision means that all three biathletes are ruled out of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and under new International Olympic Committee rules, will not be eligible for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The bans were dated from Dec. 3, 2008, for Yaroshenko, Dec. 4 for Iourieva...

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00:30:17 –
Obama looks West, to the Web in health care fight
Associated Press
33.5%
3.2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is turning his eyes West and hitting the Web as he steps up his counteroffensive against critics of a proposed health care overhaul. Obama assailed "wild misrepresentations" of his health care plan Tuesday during a town hall-style meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., taking on the role of fact-checker-in-chief for his top domestic priority. It's a strategy he will employ at two more town halls this week in Montana and Colorado, and on the White House Web site. To that end, the Obama-aligned Democratic National Committee is running health care overhaul ads nationally on cable channels and in spots the president will visit, joining a chorus of ads that has become a cacophony over a problem that has vexed Washington for decades. On the other side, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was joining the fray Wednesday, beginning to air 30-second spots in about 20 states criticizing the Democratic proposal to offer optional government health coverage, according to...

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00:30:19 –
Police: Hard to know death toll in Taiwan mudslide
Associated Press
60.98%
5.75
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Police said Wednesday that there is no way to know for sure how many people remain buried in the catastrophic mudslide that struck a remote mountain village in Taiwan over the weekend when a typhoon lashed the region. Survivors fear that hundreds are dead in the southern village of Shiao Lin, and Cishan police chief Lee Chin-lung said efforts to pluck survivors from the village were continuing for a fourth day. The doomed community of Shiao Lin and its densely foliated surroundings were buried under tons of mud Sunday morning after torrential rain spawned by Typhoon Morakot unleashed the heaviest flooding Taiwan has seen in 50 years. Morakot, which means "emerald" in the Thai language, struck the Philippines, Taiwan and China and left at least 93 people dead, most of them in Taiwan. It dumped as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain on the island before moving on to China, where authorities evacuated 1.5 million people and some 10,000 homes were destroyed. S...

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00:30:20 –
Analysis: Health care debate a long-running story
Associated Press
36.66%
3.44
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- President Barack Obama's campaign for a health care overhaul is an intense installment in a long-running story, dating to Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. It did not go well nearly a century ago. Roosevelt made national health insurance an issue in his last, losing campaign for the White House, and successive efforts to get it enacted have lost, too. The basic issue, affordable health care for all Americans, has not changed. But possible solutions have not evolved either, in part because new proposals seldom build on old ones. Obama's broad, leave-the-details-to-Congress proposal has little in common with the 1,300-page measure President Bill Clinton couldn't even get to a vote in a Democratic Senate in 1993. The Obama strategy was designed to avoid mistakes Clinton made in confronting Congress with a massive bill written in the White House under the management of Hillary Rodham Clinton and essentially telling the House and Senate to take it or leave it. Clinto...

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00:30:23 –
Obama to award 16 with highest civilian honor
Associated Press
69.15%
4.38
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will recognize the accomplishments of actors, activists and athletes on Wednesday when he awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 16 people. Film star Sidney Poitier, civil rights icon the Rev. Joseph Lowery and tennis legend Billie Jean King are among those set to receive the medal, the nation's highest civilian honor. Other recipients include Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who has been battling brain cancer, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Obama, awarding his first presidential medals, also will make posthumous awards to former Republican Rep. Jack Kemp of New York, the quarterback-turned-politician who died in May, and gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978. The recipients have diverse backgrounds and achievements in fields ranging from sports and art to science and medicine to politics and public policy. The White House has said t...

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00:30:24 –
Israel struggles with African refugee dilemma
Associated Press
44.86%
5.29
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Five years after a mounted militia stormed his village, torching houses and killing his relatives, Ibrahim Saad el-Din, a refugee from Sudan's Darfur region, gazed at remnants of another slaughter: hundreds of shoes worn by Jews killed in Poland's Majdanek death camp during the Holocaust. Saad el-Din was among a dozen African refugees brought by an Israeli advocacy group to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial last week, hoping to spur public sympathy for their plight by invoking the Jewish people's own history fleeing death and persecution. Over 16,000 asylum seekers have poured into Israel in recent years, most from Africa, posing a unique dilemma for the Jewish state. Israel is proud of its heritage as a refuge that took in hundreds of thousands of Jews who survived the Nazi genocide. But it's conflicted over refugees from elsewhere. Israel's many wars with its Arab neighbors have left it distrustful of outsiders, while some fear accepting non-Jews could thre...

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00:30:25 –
In downturn, cities grow fresh food where they can
Associated Press
50.42%
3
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Near a San Francisco freeway choked with commuters, Jason Mark shows off rows of strawberries, cucumbers and loquat trees. "It's time to water," he says, checking on green beans growing like vines on stakes. Mark helps manage Alemany Farm, a volunteer-run garden that's an example of what the San Francisco mayor wants implemented all over the city: community gardens on vacant and underutilized city-owned lots. Alemany Farm is on the forefront of a renewed interest in urban farming nationwide, from Michelle Obama's garden on the White House south lawn to the proliferation of backyard chicken coops in New York City. "I do think there is something like a movement afoot," said Mark, 34, who chronicles environmental trends in the Earth Island Journal and can rattle off the names of urban farms from Milwaukee to Philadelphia. In the grittiest, grimiest, most unlikely neighborhoods, in cities including Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami, volunteer farmers are growing food...

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00:30:27 –
Loved ones get Buffalo crash victims' belongings
Associated Press
48.25%
3.5
CLARENCE, N.Y. (AP) -- A small scrap of T-shirt, about six inches square, smoky gray-brown. A black sock, missing the heel. They were all that remained of the clothes Darren Tolsma was wearing when he died on Continental Connection Flight 3407. His wife, Robin, wanted them back. Jennifer West hopes she'll see her husband, Ernie's, wedding band again. A tattered slice of his black leather wallet made it home, along with the four, somehow perfectly intact photos of their toddler daughter, Summer Tyme, he'd tucked inside. Employees of a disaster recovery company recently delivered some victims' personal effects. But Ernie's gold-trimmed platinum ring and other items - his watch, the BlackBerry his wife called endlessly the night of the crash - have yet to make it home. They're among thousands of items that escaped the flames when Flight 3407 crashed into a house six months ago, killing all 49 people on board and a man in the house. It crashed just two miles from the Wests' suburban Bu...

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00:30:29 –
Hudson crash helicopter pilot flew tourists, VIPs
Associated Press
45.68%
3.14
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The helicopter pilot killed in last weekend's mid-air collision above the Hudson River routinely flew tourists and VIPs around the Manhattan skyline. But those who knew Jeremy Clarke said the 32-year-old from New Zealand was more likely to talk about his wedding plans or about recently becoming a U.S. citizen than the celebrities and public figures who often sat beside him in the cockpit. Some took notice of him, though. "He seemed like a very nice guy and a great pilot," said five-time Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, who recognized Clarke as the pilot who flew her and her 3-year-old daughter on a sightseeing tour of Manhattan two days before Clarke's helicopter collided with a small plane over the Hudson River. Five Italian tourists were aboard Clarke's helicopter when it crashed Saturday. Two men and a boy from a Pennsylvania family were in a single-engine Piper when the aircraft collided and plummeted to the water below the congested flyway. All nine people di...

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01:00:32 –
Police: Hard to Know Death Toll in Taiwan Mudslide
NY Times
63.09%
5.75
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Police said Wednesday that there is no way to know for sure how many people remain buried in the catastrophic mudslide that struck a remote mountain village in Taiwan over the weekend when a typhoon lashed the region.Survivors fear that hundreds are dead in the southern village of Shiao Lin, and Cishan police chief Lee Chin-lung said efforts to pluck survivors from the village were continuing for a fourth day.The doomed community of Shiao Lin and its densely foliated surroundings were buried under tons of mud Sunday morning after torrential rain spawned by Typhoon Morakot unleashed the heaviest flooding Taiwan has seen in 50 years.Morakot, which means ''emerald'' in the Thai language, struck the Philippines, Taiwan and China and left at least 93 people dead, most of them in Taiwan. It dumped as much as 80 inches (two meters) of rain on the island before moving on to China, where authorities evacuated 1.5 million people and some 10,000 homes were destroyed.Shiao L...

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01:00:38 –
China Shuts Factory After Lead Poisons Children
NY Times
71.2%
4.27
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has closed a factory in its northwest which is suspected of causing lead poisoning in more than 300 children, state media said on Wednesday.China's pollution and lax product safety standards have long been a source of tension and unrest, particularly when parents or residents of pollution hotspots -- dubbed "cancer villages" because of high rates of the disease -- feel their worries are being ignored.The sick children all live near the Changqing industrial park in Shaanxi province and parents have pointed at a lead and zinc smelting plant inside. The Changqing county government was supposed to help relocate villagers living close by in 2006, but the plan is running behind schedule."We live only 200 metres from the smelting firm. Lead pollution is certain," Xinhua news agency quoted villager Sun Yagang, whose 2-year-old son suffered from lead poisoning, as saying.The report said the smelter, producing lead, zinc and coke, opened in 2006 and accounted for 17 per...

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01:00:41 –
China Urges World to Respect Myanmar's Sovereignty
NY Times
49%
3.88
YANGON (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday the world should respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty after sending Aung San Suu Kyi back into detention, a ruling that triggered Western outrage but only a measured response from its neighbours.China, one of the few nations that stands by Myanmar's military junta, called for continued dialogue but urged non-interference from the outside world, suggesting Beijing would not back any United Nations action against the country.Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was sentenced to three years for violating an internal security law, but the junta said immediately after Tuesday's verdict it would halve the sentence and allow her to serve the time at her Yangon home.The verdict drew sharp criticism from leaders around the world. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called it "monstrous." French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was "brutal and unjust," and the European Union said it was preparing sanctions against the regime.Western nations pressed the U.N. ...

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01:00:46 –
Khmer Rouge Official Asks for Harsh Punishment
NY Times
96.1%
5.31
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- The chief of the Khmer Rouge's main torture center, being tried by a U.N.-backed tribunal on genocide charges, asked the Cambodian people Wednesday to give him ''the harshest punishment.''The statement from Kaing Guek Eav, who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, came as a widow wept before the court, demanding justice for the death of her husband and four children during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.''I accept the regret, the sorrow and the suffering of the million Cambodian people who lost their husbands and wives,'' the defendant told the tribunal. ''I would like the Cambodian people to condemn me to the harshest punishment.''Kaing Guek Eav -- better known as Duch -- is being tried by the genocide tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch's command and later killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.Duch (pronounced DOIK) became an evangel...

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01:00:50 –
Kuwait Qaeda Group Planned Refinery Attack: Report
NY Times
80.29%
5.09
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Members of an al Qaeda-linked group arrested in Kuwait planned to attack the OPEC member's Shuaiba oil refinery, a daily newspaper reported on Wednesday.The group was targeting the 200,000 barrels per day refinery and the state security building, as well as a U.S. army camp, daily newspaper al-Anbaa reported, citing unidentified sources it said were familiar with the investigation.The attacks were planned to take place in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, it added. Ramadan is due to begin later in August.Kuwait said on Tuesday it had foiled a plan by a six-member Qaeda-linked cell to bomb the Arifjan U.S. army camp and "important facilities," but gave no further details on the other potential targets.Members of the group, led by a surgeon at one of the Gulf Arab state's hospitals, had confessed to planning attacks aimed at pressuring the U.S. to withdraw troops from Kuwait, the paper added.Kuwait, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, was the launch pad for the 20...

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01:00:54 –
Israel Struggles With African Refugee Dilemma
NY Times
45.8%
5.29
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Five years after a mounted militia stormed his village, torching houses and killing his relatives, Ibrahim Saad el-Din, a refugee from Sudan's Darfur region, gazed at remnants of another slaughter: hundreds of shoes worn by Jews killed in Poland's Majdanek death camp during the Holocaust.Saad el-Din was among a dozen African refugees brought by an Israeli advocacy group to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial last week, hoping to spur public sympathy for their plight by invoking the Jewish people's own history fleeing death and persecution.Over 16,000 asylum seekers have poured into Israel in recent years, most from Africa, posing a unique dilemma for the Jewish state.Israel is proud of its heritage as a refuge that took in hundreds of thousands of Jews who survived the Nazi genocide. But it's conflicted over refugees from elsewhere. Israel's many wars with its Arab neighbors have left it distrustful of outsiders, while some fear accepting non-Jews could threaten th...

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01:10:12 –
Wreck of Papua New Guinea plane found
CNN
41.96%
3.17
(CNN) -- All 13 people aboard a small plane that crashed in Papua New Guinea were killed, the airline said Wednesday. The twin-engine plane took off Tuesday from the capital, Port Moresby, for a 27-minute flight to Kokoda, a popular destination for tourists who want to hike a mountainous trail by the same name. The plane was carrying two "highly experienced" Papua New Guinean pilots and 11 passengers -- nine Australians, a Japanese and a Papua New Guinean, according to Airlines PNG. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight as it flew through thickly forested mountains Tuesday morning. The next day, wreckage of the Twin Otter turboprop was spotted at an altitude of 5,500 feet (1,676 meters) in the mountains -- with no survivors, Airlines PNG said. Authorities could not immediately say what had caused the crash. The plane had recently been fitted with new navigation equipment, and the pilots were familiar with the route, "having both flown in Papua New Guinea...

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01:10:13 –
Made-for-mobile comics: The future of pulp?
CNN
21.78%
3.17
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Are comics made to be read on cell phones, Kindles and iPods the new pulp of pop culture? ...

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01:30:15 –
Clinton presses Nigeria on corruption, violence
Associated Press
0%
5.4
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the Nigerian capital pressing the government of Africa's most populous nation to curb widespread corruption and enact democratic reforms. Clinton is meeting Wednesday with Nigerian officials to urge the major oil-producing nation, known as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa, to do more to tackle graft. She'll also meet religious leaders to discuss recent violence, sparked by the killing of the head of an Islamist sect, that left more than 700 people dead in the mainly Muslim north. Nigeria is the fifth country Clinton has visited so far on a seven-nation tour of Africa aimed at promoting development and good governance. She will travel next to Liberia and Cape Verde. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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01:30:17 –
Ramirez, Kemp homer as Dodgers rough up Giants 9-1
Associated Press
29.47%
2.86
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Manny Ramirez shrugged off his big night and quickly turned his attention elsewhere: Tim Lincecum. The Dodgers slugger plopped down in a chair to watch film of the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, who pitches Wednesday for the San Francisco Giants. Manny has Los Angeles back on track and looking for a sweep of the archrivals - and the Dodgers will have to find a way to deal with Lincecum to do so. Ramirez hit a towering two-run homer and also doubled in a run after two earlier intentional walks and the Dodgers routed the Giants 9-1 on Tuesday night. The walks, the boos - Ramirez is unfazed. "I don't have control over that. I'm going to play my game," he said. And he's certainly doing his part to give Los Angeles some separation in the division race, that after the club lost three straight to Atlanta over the weekend. "When you play 162 games, things like this are going to happen. We're fine," Ramirez said. "We've still got two months to go, so it doesn't mat...

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01:30:18 –
Lowell comes off bench to lead Red Sox past Tigers
Associated Press
26.76%
3.5
BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Red Sox may have found a solution to their surplus of corner infielders - for a while, anyway. Kevin Youkilis was ejected and faces a suspension for charging the mound after getting hit by a pitch and throwing his helmet at Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello on Tuesday night. That would give more playing time to Mike Lowell, who pinch ran for Youkilis and hit two homers to lead the Red Sox to a 7-5 victory over Detroit. "I'm sure something will happen," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Youk's a real good player and his versatility makes him even better for us. But we have guys, we should be able to do this." Lowell hit a solo homer in the third to break a 3-3 tie, then added a two-run shot in the fifth to make it 6-3. He also scored on Jason Bay's three-run homer after entering the game as a pinch-runner when Youkilis and Detroit starter Rick Porcello were ejected for sparking the second-inning melee. "The important thing was: we answered back right away," ...

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01:30:19 –
No joke, Cink hears plenty of cheers at Hazeltine
Associated Press
45.28%
2.89
CHASKA, Minn. (AP) -- The cheers for Tiger and Phil are a given, and Padraig Harrington gets his share of love. Follow Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim or Camilo Villegas around a golf course, and there'll be plenty of shoutouts for them, too. Stewart Cink? Not so much. "I'm usually the under-the-radar guy in the group," Cink said. "I never hear `Go Stewart!' - unless someone chuckles after it." Nobody's laughing now. Cink has become quite the popular guy since last month's win at the British Open, also known as the Tournament Tom Watson Almost Won. After being all but ignored in regulation at Turnberry, Cink got plenty of airtime last weekend at Bridgestone, where he finished in a tie for sixth. And despite it only being Tuesday, he had a decent-sized gallery for his practice round at the PGA Championship. "The fan support has been probably the most surprising," Cink said. "There's a lot of comments from the crowd, a lot of support, a lot of congrats and it's just a really good feeling....

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01:30:20 –
Chester Pitts, Kris Brown are last original Texans
Associated Press
54.79%
2.88
HOUSTON (AP) -- They've outlasted a head coach, a handful of assistants and dozens of teammates, including 2002 top overall pick David Carr. Chester Pitts and Kris Brown are the only players who've been with the Texans since their inception. The pair has survived the struggles and growing pains of being part of an expansion team. Now they hope Houston's eighth season will be the one in which the team finally moves into the playoffs. "I believe it in my heart that this is by far the best chance we've had of all the years that we've been here to make it," Pitts said. "This will definitely be the year where it's the biggest disappointment if it doesn't happen." Pitts, an offensive guard, and Brown, the team's kicker, have played in every one of Houston's 112 games. Pitts was drafted in the second-round in 2002 and has missed just seven plays in his career. They both count Houston's win against the Cowboys in the inaugural game in 2002 as a high point in their careers. Another favorite...

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01:30:21 –
Stokley, not Marshall, stars in new Denver offense
Associated Press
26.01%
2.3
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- Sure enough, a flashy receiver named Brandon with a knack for making tough catches and evading tacklers is turning heads at the Denver Broncos' training camp. But the man making new quarterback Kyle Orton feel right at home is Brandon Stokley, not Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall. While Marshall makes all his news off the field - he's asked for a raise and a trade and skipped offseason workouts in protest of his contract and medical treatment - Stokley has established himself as Orton's top target. Day after day they hook up for big plays, Stokley hauling in tough passes over the middle one minute and touch passes in the end zone the next. "We really worked hard this offseason to get on the same page and when we came out to training camp we were kind of a step ahead of everybody else," Stokley said. "And I think it's showing that we put in a lot of work in this offseason." Unlike Marshall, who worked out on his own in Florida after recovering from hip surgery ra...

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01:30:22 –
Dan Mullen brings new offense to Mississippi State
Associated Press
37.2%
2.77
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- Tyson Lee smiles when he's asked to describe the difference between new Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen's spread offense and other schemes Lee's led before. The quarterback loves to talk about this new offense. Loves to play it even more. "Options, you know what I mean?" Lee asks. "More options." There are four or five receivers out there for the quarterback lined up in the shotgun with a back on either side - sometimes both. With all that space out there, it's easy to see the mismatch, and make the defense pay. Mullen helped the Florida Gators win two national titles as an assistant using that offense. Lee hopes to use it to wipe away memories of a lackluster 4-8 season that ended with an embarrassing 45-0 loss to rival Mississippi and the forced resignation of coach Sylvester Croom. The Bulldogs are picked to finish last in the Southeastern Conference, but Lee, Mullen and a re-energized fan base expecting miracles are confident there will be a little ...

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01:30:23 –
Crimson Tide players hoping for better finish
Associated Press
45.91%
1.75
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- When the nation last saw Alabama, the Crimson Tide's season was ending in disastrous fashion. Then the team lost three All-Americans, an All-Southeastern Conference tailback and a quarterback who left with just about every school passing record. Coach Nick Saban even had to dismiss a starting linebacker from the team during the offseason. Poor Alabama? Guess again. Expectations have only ratcheted higher for the Tide after last season's surprising ascension into the national championship mix, thanks to a loaded defense and stars like receiver Julio Jones, nose guard Terrence Cody and linebacker Rolando McClain. Forget sneaking up on anybody like last year's team. The USA Today coaches poll has Alabama No. 5 going into the season opener with Virginia Tech at Atlanta on Sept. 5. "We know the bull's-eye is on our back," McClain said. "We don't really mind. We're just going to continue to do what we've been doing. Coach Saban's not going to let us do less." Eve...

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01:30:25 –
AD Barnhart hoping Wildcats finish what they start
Associated Press
48%
3.33
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- The signs are simple in design, plain and to the point. They sit above the nameplate on nearly every door inside the Joe Craft Center, a message from Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart that being good simply isn't good enough anymore. The monikers - white with black block numbers - read "15x15x15." "It's simply a reminder to our staff that by the year 2015 we want to have a top 15 program nationally on the whole and we want to have won 15 championships in one way, shape or form," Barnhart said. "That would double the pace at which we've won championships in this department the last seven years." The push, which officially started last fall, got off to a slow start. Only the school's rifle program won a conference title en route to a runner-up finish in the NCAA championships. Trying to get 14 titles in the next seven years when you compete in the Southeastern Conference isn't easy. Still, after seven years on the job, Barnhart knows it's time to start ...

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01:30:26 –
US hoping to make history with first win in Mexico
Associated Press
45.53%
3.29
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Javier Aguirre says his Mexico squad can expect a full-strength United States lineup when the Americans attempt to make history Wednesday with a first-ever win south of the border. A few American players arriving Tuesday at Mexico City's airport heard the chants from Mexican fans: "cinco, cinco, cinco" meaning "five, five, five." The good-natured gibes referred to Mexico's 5-0 victory over the U.S. just over two weeks ago in the Gold Cup final. Aguirre is cautioning there'll be no repeat in Wednesday's crucial World Cup qualifier at the 105,000-seat Estadio Azteca. The U.S. is likely to field 11 different players from the "B" team it used at Giants Stadium. "They'll use players, all new players," Aguirre said Tuesday. "We may field a similar team, but to score five goals - in quick succession like we did - is very improbable." The United States has never won in Mexico, playing 23 times and losing 22 with a lone 0-0 draw in a 1997 qualifier. Mexico also holds a l...

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01:30:29 –
Inquiry blames captain's errors for 1941 tragedy
Associated Press
57.97%
5.86
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- A military inquiry on Wednesday blamed a navy captain's "errors of judgment" for one of Australia's worst maritime tragedies, in which 645 crew were lost when a cruiser was sunk by a German raider during World War II. The loss of the HMAS Sydney in a fierce battle with the smaller HSK Kormoran, a converted freighter, off the west Australian coast on Nov. 19, 1941, stunned Australia. The mystery captured imaginations for generations, prompting numerous searches and countless theories to explain the total absence of Australian survivors. The Australian defense chief who ordered the inquiry after the wreckage of the Sydney was found last year along with vital new evidence of its final battle said its report answered important questions about the circumstances of the tragedy. "For a long time, our nation has struggled to understand how our greatest maritime disaster occurred," Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said in a statement. The inquiry report accepted ...

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01:30:30 –
Factory closes after 300 kids sickened in China
Associated Press
100%
3
BEIJING (AP) -- Authorities in northern China have shut down a smelter after it was found to have caused lead poisoning that sickened more than 300 children, state media reported on Wednesday. The move appeared to be a rare victory for health advocates in China, where pollution concerns are often ignored and those who raise complaints face harassment. Families who lived near the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in Shaanxi province began bringing in sick children to hospitals and clinics in July and blamed the factory, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. An investigation showed that lead from the factory had leaked into the soil, air and water source for 425 families residing near the factory in the town of Changqing, the report said. Local officials say they plan to relocate all 581 households living with 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the factory within the next two years, the report said. Calls to local government authorities rang unanswered Wednesday. Factory accidents and ...

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02:00:33 –
Inquiry Blames Captain's Errors for 1941 Tragedy
NY Times
60.74%
5.86
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- A military inquiry on Wednesday blamed a navy captain's ''errors of judgment'' for one of Australia's worst maritime tragedies, in which 645 crew were lost when a cruiser was sunk by a German raider during World War II.The loss of the HMAS Sydney in a fierce battle with the smaller HSK Kormoran, a converted freighter, off the west Australian coast on Nov. 19, 1941, stunned Australia. The mystery captured imaginations for generations, prompting numerous searches and countless theories to explain the total absence of Australian survivors.The Australian defense chief who ordered the inquiry after the wreckage of the Sydney was found last year along with vital new evidence of its final battle said its report answered important questions about the circumstances of the tragedy.''For a long time, our nation has struggled to understand how our greatest maritime disaster occurred,'' Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said in a statement.The inquiry report accepted the ...

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02:00:36 –
Russian Republic's Minister Shot to Death
NY Times
100%
6.73
NAZRAN, Russia (AP) -- The construction minister in Russia's violence-plagued Ingushetia was shot to death in his office Wednesday, the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on top officials in the restive republic.Ruslan Amerkhanov was shot by two men who entered his office in the republic's capital Magas, one armed with an assault rifle and the other with a pistol, said Ingush Interior Ministry spokeswoman Madina Khadziyeva. The minister's assistant was wounded in the shooting, she said.The assailants fled in a waiting car.Ingush Security Council secretary Alexei Vorobyov said investigators believe the killing could be related to recent audits of construction projects that turned up building violations and misuse of funds.Ingushetia, which borders war-battered Chechnya, in recent months has seen near-daily attacks on police or police operations against fighters variously believed to be militants inspired by Chechnya's separatists or connected with criminal clans.In June, Ingush ...

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02:00:41 –
Two Foreign Journalists Hurt In Afghan Blast
NY Times
92.74%
6.26
KABUL (Reuters) - Two foreign journalists embedded with the U.S. military in Afghanistan were wounded by a roadside bomb, the Associated Press said on Wednesday.The agency said photographer Emilio Morenatti and TV videographer Andi Jatmiko were traveling with the military when their vehicle was struck by the bomb near Kandahar.Dozens of journalists have descended on Afghanistan to cover the country's presidential elections on August 20 and at a time when foreign and Afghan troops have launched a major assault against the Taliban.Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, based in Islamabad, Pakistan, suffered a wound to the leg that resulted in him losing a foot. Jatmiko, 44, from Indonesia, suffered leg and rib injuries in their bomb blast.AP President Tom Curley said the injuries reflected "the risks that journalists like Emilio and Andi encounter every day as they staff the front lines of the most dangerous spots of the world."Eighteen journalists were killed in Afghanistan between 1992 and 2008, m...

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02:00:47 –
Factory Closes After 300 Kids Sickened in China
NY Times
100%
3
BEIJING (AP) -- Authorities in northern China have shut down a smelter after it was found to have caused lead poisoning that sickened more than 300 children, state media reported on Wednesday.The move appeared to be a rare victory for health advocates in China, where pollution concerns are often ignored and those who raise complaints face harassment.Families who lived near the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co. in Shaanxi province began bringing in sick children to hospitals and clinics in July and blamed the factory, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.An investigation showed that lead from the factory had leaked into the soil, air and water source for 425 families residing near the factory in the town of Changqing, the report said.Local officials say they plan to relocate all 581 households living with 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the factory within the next two years, the report said.Calls to local government authorities rang unanswered Wednesday.Factory accidents and chemical l...

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02:10:12 –
Explainer: The Geneva Conventions at 60
CNN
74.8%
5.21
London, England (CNN) -- There have been efforts to regulate the treatment of civilians and combatants in war since the beginning of recorded history. Lebanon, 2007. A man returns to his ruined home in Aita Esh-Shaab village, close to the Israeli border The Chinese warrior Sun Tzu suggested specific restrictions on military conduct in the sixth century BC, whilst the Dutch theorist Hugo Grotius appealed for the protection of civilians when he wrote "On the Law of War and Peace" in 1625. Even as weapons and tactics evolved, agreements on the rules of war continued to be defined ...

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02:10:13 –
Geneva Conventions 'still relevant but better compliance needed'
CNN
32.72%
5.41
LONDON, England (CNN) -- As the defenders of a besieged Bosnian town prepared to retreat, the prisoners of war held captive in the local jail feared the worst. An ICRC aid vehicle in Colombia in 1998. The ICRC says the conventions make its work in war zones possible.more photos » var CNN_ArticleChanger =...

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02:10:15 –
Somali kidnappers free aid workers
CNN
100%
3.25
(CNN) -- Four aid workers and two pilots held captive in Somalia for nine months were released Tuesday. A car believed to carrying the former hostages leaves Nairobi's airport after their plane arrived from Somalia. The workers from French aid group Action Against Hunger were in good health, the organization said. "ACF wishes to thank the Somali communities and the authorities of the expatriates' countries of origin for their infallible support, as well as the hostages' families for the confidence they entrusted in us," the group said in a sta...

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02:20:23 –
Two foreign journalists wounded in Afghan blast
Reuters
0%
6.17
KABUL (Reuters) - Two foreign journalists embedded with the U.S. military in Afghanistan were wounded by a roadside bomb, the Associated Press said on Wednesday. The agency said photographer Emilio Morenatti and TV videographer Andi Jatmiko were traveling with the military when their vehicle was struck by the bomb near Kandahar. Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, based in Islamabad, Pakistan, suffered a wound to the leg that resulted in him losing a foot. Jatmiko, 44, from Indonesia, suffered leg and rib injuries. AP President Tom Curley said their injuries reflected "the risks that journalists like Emilio and Andi encounter every day as they staff the front lines of the most dangerous spots of the world." Eighteen journalists were killed in Afghanistan between 1992 and 2008, making it the 11th most dangerous country in the world for media workers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Dozens of journalists have descended on Afgha...

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02:20:25 –
Pakistani preachers shot dead in Somalia's Puntland
Reuters
90.67%
5.41
By Abdi Guled MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Masked gunmen killed seven Pakistani preachers at a mosque in Somalia's Puntland region on Wednesday, residents and local officials said. Western security agencies say Somalia is a haven for insurgents plotting attacks in the region and beyond. Puntland is a base for pirates targeting the Gulf of Aden, but has been more peaceful than the south of the failed Horn of Africa state. Residents said the attack took place after early morning prayers at the mosque in Galkayo in the semi-autonomous region, and was aimed at a group of 25 sheikhs who arrived on Tuesday. "Six Pakistanis died on the spot while another Pakistani died from his injuries in the hospital. These men are Islamist preachers from Karachi, Pakistan," Hussein Abdullahi, chairman of Galkayo, told Reuters by telephone. "Puntland forces have now surrounded the area around the mosque to protect the other sheikhs." Somalia has been torn by civil...

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02:30:13 –
Slovakia mourns 20 killed in coal mine blast, fire
Associated Press
0%
6
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) -- Slovakia is observing a day of mourning for 20 fatal victims of a fire and explosion in a coal mine, one of the worst accidents in the country's history. Rescue officials have recovered 18 bodies from the Handlova mine in central Slovakia and say they are certain that the two missing miners are also dead. Flags are flying at half-staff across the country Wednesday, and radio and television stations have canceled broadcasts of any entertainment programs. The explosion, caused by gases released in the fire, trapped the miners in a shaft about 330 meters (1,100 feet) below the surface Monday. The victims were nine miners who initially battled the blaze and 11 reinforcements sent as the fire grew. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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02:30:14 –
Asia stocks down on China data doubts, Wall Street
Associated Press
33.33%
2.6
SHANGHAI (AP) -- Asian markets tumbled Wednesday with Chinese shares falling nearly 5 percent on renewed jitters over the economic outlook after Wall Street suffered its biggest loss in five weeks. European markets were mixed. Analysts said the sell-off, particularly in China, was partly a correction of Tuesday's rally when markets overreacted to data showing Beijing's massive stimulus spending was adding momentum to the world's third-biggest economy. After sifting the slew of figures, investors decided the signs of improving growth weren't as impressive as hoped for. "The momentum of the economic recovery is not very good, because it's not as fast as expected," said Huang Xiangbin, an analyst for Cinda Securities in Beijing. "Not so much private investment is following the government investment." U.S. stock markets fell Tuesday as the Federal Reserve started a two-day policy meeting that may provide a fresh assessment of how the world's largest economy is faring. The U.S. central ...

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02:30:16 –
Iran speaker denies prisoner rape allegations
Associated Press
0%
4.67
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's state media say the parliament speaker is denying allegations that protesters detained after the disputed presidential election were raped by their jailers. Ali Larijani told an open session of parliament Wednesday that a parliamentary investigation found no truth in the rape allegations. The rape allegations arose from allegations made by defeated pro-reform presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi. He said he has received reports from former military commanders and other senior officials that male and female prisoners were savagely raped by their jailers to the point of physical and mental damage. The speed of the investigation and the quick denial is being seen as an effort by hard-liners to discredit the allegations made by reformist opponents. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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02:30:17 –
Golf, rugby favorites for entry in 2016 Olympics
Associated Press
41.71%
2
LONDON (AP) -- The prospect of Tiger Woods competing for an Olympic gold medal may be moving closer to becoming reality. Golf, along with rugby sevens, look to be the favorites among the sports being considered Thursday for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Games by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC executive board will select two sports from a proposed list of seven, which also includes baseball, softball, squash, karate and roller sports. The 15-member board will submit two sports for ratification in a vote of the full 106-member IOC assembly in Copenhagen in October. "It will be a long and difficult discussion," IOC board member Gerhard Heiberg told The Associated Press. "I think there will be different opinions. We hope to be able to make a unanimous decision, but it will be hard to find a common denominator." Leaders of the seven sports made presentations to the IOC board in June in Lausanne, Switzerland, and have continued to lobby extensively. A report by the IOC progr...

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02:30:19 –
Tropical depressions swirl in Atlantic, Pacific
Associated Press
0%
2.67
MIAMI (AP) -- A tropical depression in the Atlantic has yet to strengthen but forecasters say it could become a tropical storm in the next few days. Its maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph and it's centered about 535 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast. The depression is moving west near 12 mph. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, another tropical depression remains poorly organized with maximum sustained winds near 30 mph. Little change in strength is forecast for the next two days. That depression is centered about 1,510 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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02:30:20 –
Australian inquiry blames captain for 1941 tragedy
Associated Press
57.97%
5.86
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- A military inquiry on Wednesday blamed a navy captain's "errors of judgment" for one of Australia's worst maritime tragedies, in which 645 crew were lost when a cruiser was sunk by a German raider during World War II. The loss of the HMAS Sydney in a fierce battle with the smaller HSK Kormoran, a converted freighter, off the west Australian coast on Nov. 19, 1941, stunned Australia. The mystery captured imaginations for generations, prompting numerous searches and countless theories to explain the total absence of Australian survivors. The Australian defense chief who ordered the inquiry after the wreckage of the Sydney was found last year along with vital new evidence of its final battle said its report answered important questions about the circumstances of the tragedy. "For a long time, our nation has struggled to understand how our greatest maritime disaster occurred," Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said in a statement. The inquiry report accepted ...

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02:30:20 –
Lee Chong Wei, Zhou Mi advance at badminton worlds
Associated Press
0%
0.5
HYDERABAD, India (AP) -- Men's top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia moved into the round of 16 at the badminton world championships with a 21-11, 21-14 win over Nigeria's Ola Fagbemi on Wednesday. Lee, the world's No.1-ranked player and silver medalist at last year's Olympics, set up a third-round clash with Vietnam's Tien Minh Nguyen, who ousted France's Brice Leverdez 21-14, 21-16. In other men's singles matches early in Wednesday's play, third-seeded Dane Peter Gade advanced with a 21-11, 21-12 victory over Japan's Sho Sasaki and Indonesian sixth-seeded Sony Dwi Kuncoro also moved on with a 21-12, 21-13 defeat of Poland's Przemyslaw Wacha. The women's No.1 seed Zhou Mi of Hong Kong also advanced, defeating New Zealand's Michelle Chan Ky. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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02:30:21 –
5 foreign Islamic preachers killed in Somalia
Associated Press
0%
7.2
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Witnesses say three gunmen have stormed a mosque in an eastern Somali town and have killed five foreign preachers. Ismail Mohamud Hassan says the gunmen stormed a mosque in Galkayo on Wednesday and forced six Pakistani preachers and a Somali man out of the Tawfiq Mosque before shooting them. He says five of the Pakistanis were killed and the other Pakistani and the Somali injured. Another witness Abdullahi Ali Nur backs up the account. Officials at the Pakistan High Commission in neighboring Kenya, which is also responsible for tracking Somali affairs, were unavailable for comment. It is not clear who is behind Wednesday's killing. Somalia has not an effective government for 18 years. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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02:30:22 –
Khmer Rouge official wants 'harshest punishment'
Associated Press
83.55%
5.31
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- The former chief of the Khmer Rouge's main torture center, being tried by a U.N.-backed tribunal on genocide charges, asked the Cambodian people Wednesday to give him "the harshest punishment." The statement from Kaing Guek Eav, who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, came as a widow wept before the court, demanding justice for the death of her husband and four children during the communist regime's reign of terror. "I accept the regret, the sorrow and the suffering of the million Cambodian people who lost their husbands and wives," the defendant told the tribunal. "I would like the Cambodian people to condemn me to the harshest punishment." Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - is being tried for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under his command and later killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived. Duch (pronounced DOIK) later became an evangelical Chr...

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02:30:23 –
Investigators maintain focus on Jackson doc
Associated Press
41.24%
6.5
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Investigators in the Michael Jackson case continue to sharpen their focus on the personal physician who was with him when he died. Dr. Conrad Murray has emerged as the central figure in the ongoing probe into Jackson's June 25 death. And on Tuesday, local police and federal drug agents searched a Las Vegas pharmacy and uncovered evidence showing Murray legally purchased a potent anesthetic from the business, according to a law enforcement official who requested anonymity because the probe is ongoing. Murray told investigators he administered the anesthetic propofol and multiple sedatives to Jackson in his rented Beverly Hills mansion in the hours before he died, the official told The Associated Press. Propofol is normally used to render patients unconscious for medical procedures and only is supposed to be administered by anesthesia professionals in medical settings. While it is extremely strong, propofol is not a controlled substance so investigators are looking ...

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02:30:23 –
Oil drops to near $69 amid weak crude demand
Associated Press
31.45%
2.6
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices dropped to near $69 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after the U.S. and OPEC said global crude consumption will slump this year as economies struggle to emerge from recession. Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 34 cents to $69.11 a barrel by late afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract fell $1.15 to settle at $69.45. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration on Tuesday said global crude demand will likely fall by 1.71 million barrels this year, more than its previous forecast of a drop of 1.56 million barrels. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it expects consumption to slide by 1.65 million barrels a day this year, before rising next year. Investors have mostly shrugged off dismal demand numbers in recent months, focusing instead on signs the global economy may recover by the end of the year. "The current fundamentals don't really support the p...

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02:30:24 –
Myanmar's Suu Kyi begins house arrest amid outrage
Associated Press
29.53%
3.36
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi awoke at her lakeside home Wednesday to begin serving the first full day of her latest house arrest, following her globally condemned conviction that lawyers said they would promptly appeal. Only China - Myanmar's top trading partner and key ally - asked the world to respect the decision. "The international community should fully respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement Wednesday. He said China hopes Myanmar can "gradually realize stability, democracy and development." Suu Kyi, a 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was convicted Tuesday by a Myanmar court of violating her previous house arrest by allowing an uninvited American who swam to her home to stay for two days. She has already spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest - but Tuesday marked her first conviction. Suu Kyi now begins 18 more months in detention behind a new barbed-wire fence that...

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03:00:34 –
5 Foreign Islamic Preachers Killed in Somalia
NY Times
89.29%
6.5
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Masked gunmen killed five foreign Islamic preachers Wednesday outside a mosque in Somalia, witnesses said. The preachers are believed to be Pakistanis.Six gunmen with assault rifles and pistols stormed Tawfiq Mosque in Galkayo, 470 miles (750 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, and forced six Pakistani preachers and a Somali man outside, said Ismail Mohamud Hassan, who was in the mosque at the time. The gunmen then opened fire on the men, he said.''Five of them died on the spot while two others were injured -- one Pakistani and a Somali,'' Hassan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.Abdullahi Ali Nur, another witness who was in the mosque, said the foreigners on Tuesday told worshippers that they were Pakistani. It is not clear who is behind Wednesday's killing. Somali militiamen rarely target religious preachers, known as Tabliq, who freely move around the overwhelmingly Muslim country.Galkayo is a key town in central Somalia, whic...

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03:00:40 –
Gunmen Fire on US Miner Freeport Bus in Indonesia
NY Times
0%
7.19
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Gunmen fired on a bus that had just dropped off employees working for U.S. company Freeport at the world's biggest gold mine Wednesday, a spokesman said.No one was hurt in the attack in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province, Mindo Pangaribuan said.Police previously arrested nine suspects, all facing charges of premeditated murder and illegal weapons possession, for a spate of ambushes near the mine that have left three dead since July 8.Among those killed were an Australian employee and a security guard working for the company, which has been regularly targeted by arson and roadside bombs since production began in the 1970s.Papua, a remote and underdeveloped region, is home to an low-level insurgency seeking independence from the government thousands of miles (kilometers) away in the capital, Jakarta. It is unclear if the rebels, who have been implicated in attacks in the past, were involved in the latest shootings.Two Freeport employees were among those det...

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03:00:42 –
Blow For Indonesia as Lead Militant Eludes Police
NY Times
66.47%
5.73
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A suspect shot dead in Indonesia last weekend was not Islamic militant Noordin Mohammad Top and he is still at large, police said on Wednesday, dashing hopes for a breakthrough in a hunt for the mastermind of a string of attacks.The man killed in the raid was identified as Ibrohim, who worked as a florist in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta and is suspected to be the inside man on the suicide bombings at two luxury hotels in Jakarta last month."We checked samples with (Ibrohim's) family in Cilimus and it's a 100 percent match," Eddy Saparwoko, head of Indonesia's Disaster Victim Identification unit, told a news conference. Cilimus is a district in Cirebon in West Java.Top is believed to have planned last month's near-simultaneous on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine people and wounded 53.The police were at first confident that Top had been killed during an 18-hour siege at a remote farmhouse in Central Java. However, they said on Wednesday ...

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03:00:48 –
Mumbai Attack Justice High Priority For Obama
NY Times
69.61%
5.6
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Ensuring justice in last November's Mumbai attack is a "high priority" for President Obama and the United States will keep pressing Pakistan for action against its planners, a top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.The comments by Timothy Roemer, the new U.S. ambassador to India, are the strongest remark from the United States in recent months as India complains of slow progress by Pakistan in punishing those behind the attack.India blames Pakistan-based militants for the raid that killed 166 people and renewed tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals.New Delhi said it was halting a 2004 peace process until Pakistan closed down "terrorist networks" on its soil."The al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba ... we have a common enemy with India. And we are pressing Pakistan hard on the Mumbai suspects," said Roemer, who served on the commission to investigate the September 11 attacks on the United States."So this is a high priority for the president (Obama) ...

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03:00:52 –
Marines Assault Taliban Town in Afghanistan
NY Times
69.64%
6.52
DAHANEH, Afghanistan (AP) -- Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed into a strategic Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday, battling to gain control of the area ahead of next week's presidential elections.Associated Press journalists traveling with the first wave said Marines were met with small arms, mortar and rocket propelled grenade fire as they flew in helicopters over Taliban lines and dropped into the town. Fighting was still under way hours later, with U.S. Marine Harrier jets streaking overhead and dropping flares in a show of force.Other Marines met heavy resistance as they fought to seize control of the mountains surrounding Dahaneh in the southern province of Helmand. Another convoy of Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire.It was the first time NATO troops had entered Dahaneh, which has been under Taliban control for years. Casualty figures were unavailable due to security restrictions.U.S., NA...

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03:00:55 –
Khmer Rouge Official Wants 'Harshest Punishment'
NY Times
88.64%
5.31
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- The former chief of the Khmer Rouge's main torture center, being tried by a U.N.-backed tribunal on genocide charges, asked the Cambodian people Wednesday to give him ''the harshest punishment.''The statement from Kaing Guek Eav, who headed the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, came as a widow wept before the court, demanding justice for the death of her husband and four children during the communist regime's reign of terror.''I accept the regret, the sorrow and the suffering of the million Cambodian people who lost their husbands and wives,'' the defendant told the tribunal. ''I would like the Cambodian people to condemn me to the harshest punishment.''Kaing Guek Eav -- better known as Duch -- is being tried for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under his command and later killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.Duch (pronounced DOIK) later became an evangelical Chr...

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03:10:13 –
Myanmar: Suu Kyi to appeal her sentence
CNN
50.63%
3.9
YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the American man who swam to her home will appeal their sentences to the country's high court, their respective lawyers said Wednesday. A Myanmar protester sprays grafitti on the wall of the Myanmar embassy in New Delhi Wednesday. A day earlier, Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 more months of house arrest. Her lawyer, Nyan Win, said the Nobel laureate has asked that he file an appeal. He said he was awaiting government approval to visit her at her home to discuss the matter further. The lawyer for John William Yettaw s...

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03:20:22 –
Ukraine aide says Medvedev charge aimed at nation
Reuters
60.15%
4.25
KIEV (Reuters) - Accusations made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that Kiev carries out anti-Russian policies were aimed at Ukraine and not just President Viktor Yushchenko, his senior aide said on Wednesday. Medvedev on Tuesday warned energy security in the region was at risk due to Yushchenko's policies toward Russia, in comments interpreted by Ukrainian analysts as a sign of Moscow's intrusion in a presidential election race next year. "The young leadership of Russia is turning into a hostage of old imperial complexes, which constantly needs to cherish the idea of a foreign enemy and substitute equal dialogue with all neighboring states with a language of threats and insults," Yushchenko's chief of staff, Vera Ulyanchenko, said. "The aggressive tone in the statements made by the Russian leader concerns not just Viktor Andriyivich Yushchenko and his policies, but our entire state and nation," she said in a statement on their party's Web site....

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03:20:23 –
Iran speaker says vote detainees not been raped: TV
Reuters
66.95%
6.5
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's speaker of parliament on Wednesday rejected as "baseless" an opposition leader's accusation that some moderates had been raped in jails after their detention in unrest following the June election. "Based on parliament's investigations, detainees have not been raped or sexually abused in Iran's Kahrizak and Evin prisons. Such claims are totally baseless," Iran's state television quoted Ali Larijani as saying. Defeated moderate candidate Mehdi Karoubi said Sunday some protesters, both men and women, had been raped in prison. Many of the post-election detainees were held in south Tehran's Kahrizak prison, built to house people breaching vice laws. At least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as reports of abuse in jail spread. Last month Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of the "sub-standard" detention center at Kahrizak. Iranian authorities have acknowledged some protester...

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03:30:16 –
Witnesses: 5 Pakistani preachers killed in Somalia
Associated Press
81.5%
6.46
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Masked gunmen killed five Pakistani preachers Wednesday outside a mosque in Somalia following morning prayers, witnesses said. Six gunmen with assault rifles and pistols stormed Tawfiq Mosque in Galkayo and forced six Pakistani preachers and a Somali man outside, said Ismail Mohamud Hassan, who was in the mosque at the time. The gunmen then opened fire, he said. "Five of them died on the spot while two others were injured - one Pakistani and a Somali," Hassan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Galkayo, 470 miles (750 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu. Abdullahi Ali Nur, another witness, said the foreigners told worshippers Tuesday that they were Pakistani. It was not clear who was behind Wednesday's killing in this overwhelmingly Muslim country. Somali militiamen rarely target religious preachers, known as Tabliq. Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 199...

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03:30:17 –
AP Interview: NATO commander sees Afghan victory
Associated Press
0%
5.38
MONS, Belgium (AP) -- NATO's supreme commander says the alliance ultimately will win the escalating war in Afghanistan, but will face more "bad days" along the way. U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis says Wednesday he doesn't know whether the alliance will request troop reinforcements. European allies are increasingly reluctant to commit more soldiers to the eight-year fight against the resurgent Taliban. Stavridis says he is awaiting recommendations later this month from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan. Stavridis, the first Navy admiral to oversee NATO forces, is part of the new military and political team assembled by President Barack Obama to conduct the war. The group includes Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's new civilian chief. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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03:30:18 –
States cut aid to college students as demand booms
Associated Press
32.14%
2.65
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Struggling with budget shortfalls that reach into the billions, several states nationwide are making deep cuts in college financial aid programs, including those that provide a vital source of cash for students who most need the money. At least a dozen states are reducing award sizes, eliminating grants and tightening eligibility guidelines because of a lack of money. At the same time, the number of students seeking aid is rising sharply as more people seek a college education and need help paying the tuition bill because they or their parents lost jobs and savings during the recession. Many of the affected programs are need-based grants that provide money that complements financial aid offered by schools and the federal government. Without that cash, some students may be forced to drop out, transfer to cheaper schools or simply have less money available for rent and groceries. Experts fear others will take on too much debt or spend even more time working as t...

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03:30:21 –
Yeung may take over Birmingham after new approach
Associated Press
45.8%
3.33
LONDON (AP) -- Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung could be on the verge of taking over Birmingham after his investment company again approached the Premier League club. Birmingham said Wednesday that the approach from Grandtop International Holdings Ltd. "may or may not lead to an offer for the entire issued share capital." Grandtop already owns a 29.9 percent stake in the club but Yeung's previous efforts to buy the club two years ago foundered over concerns about the funding of the deal. "As shareholders will be aware, previous approaches did not proceed and the issue of the funding of any possible offer will be a major factor in determining how the company responds to the approach," Birmingham said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. "A further announcement updating shareholders will be made when appropriate." Yeung initially tried to buy the central England team in November 2007, and manager Steve Bruce quit when the businessman refused to sanction the contract that th...

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03:30:22 –
1,000 Taiwanese found alive after Typhoon Morakot
Associated Press
0%
4.14
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan's military says it has found nearly 1,000 people alive in the area around three remote villages devastated by Typhoon Morakot, which pummeled the island over the weekend. Most of the survivors were found Tuesday, but relief operations spokesman Major General Hu Jui-chou said a few dozen more were spotted Wednesday in Shiao Lin, the tiny community destroyed by a catastrophic mudslide. Army helicopters were ferrying survivors to safety in Cishan, a town in the southern county of Kaohsiung that is the focal point of relief operations. Hu told reporters 500 had been found Min Tzu, 200 from Chin He, and 270 from Shiao Lin. However, heavy rains were wreaking havoc on their operations and by early afternoon only a few dozen flights had arrived. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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03:30:22 –
Jury deliberating in Ga. terrorism trial
Associated Press
0%
5.5
ATLANTA (AP) -- Jurors are set to resume deliberating the fate of a 23-year-old man charged with aiding terrorist groups. Ehsanul Islam Sadequee (EH'-suh-nool sah-DEE'-kee) is charged with sending homemade videos of Washington landmarks to overseas terrorists. Prosecutors also say he journeyed to Bangladesh to pursue "violent jihad." Sadequee, who is representing himself, told jurors he never helped terrorists. He said the video he shot was "amateurish and useless" and added: "I was not then, and am not now, a terrorist." Jurors deliberated for about three hours on Tuesday and are set to return Wednesday morning. Sadequee faces up to 60 years in prison. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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03:30:23 –
Obama holds reception for new justice Sotomayor
Associated Press
0%
4
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The newest addition to the Supreme Court pays her nominator a visit Wednesday. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are to host a reception this morning for freshly minted Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic to sit on the high court. Sotomayor was sworn in over the weekend. She was a federal judge for 17 years before Obama nominated her in May to replace retiring Justice David Souter. Later Wednesday, Obama will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to 16 people, including actors, athletes and activists. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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03:30:24 –
Schipper breaks 100 butterfly shortcourse record
Associated Press
0%
0.5
HOBART, Australia (AP) -- Jessicah Schipper has set a shortcourse world record for the women's 100-meter butterfly at the Australian championships. The 22-year-old Schipper was timed in 55.68 seconds Wednesday, beating the mark of 55.74 which fellow Australian Libby Trickett set last year. It was the fourth world record set at the national shortcourse titles: Trickett broke her own record in the 100 freestyle, Christian Sprenger broke the mark in the 200 breaststroke and Emily Seebohm set a record in the 100 individual medley. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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03:30:25 –
Swine flu cases climb among US soldiers in Iraq
Associated Press
0%
6.33
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The Iraqi health ministry says the number of American troops in Iraq diagnosed with swine flu has climbed to 67. The figures were released Wednesday by the health ministry during an update on preparations being taken by Iraq to control the spread of the potentially deadly virus. The deputy health minister says the U.S. military has been giving the government weekly updates about the number of cases. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. Dr. Amer al-Khuzai also says 23 Iraqis and six foreigners have been diagnosed with the virus. Iraq earlier this week reported its first swine flu fatality with the death of 21-year-old woman in the southern city of Najaf. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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03:30:26 –
IAAF still awaiting Jamaican doping information
Associated Press
41.1%
1.5
BERLIN (AP) -- The world athletics federation is still awaiting information on a ruling that cleared five Jamaican athletes of doping and a decision on their participation in the world championships is likely to come close to Saturday's opening. "We are following the matter. We are not saying anything today," IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss said at the federation's congress on Wednesday. The IAAF would have liked to have dealt with the issue well ahead of their biennial championships and has been sharply critical of the way the Jamaicans have addressed the situation and the lack of urgency with which it has been transmitting information. "It is an amazing situation we are facing," said IAAF council member Helmut Digel. Jamaica's Anti-Doping Commission said Monday it will appeal a ruling that had cleared five Jamaicans after a disciplinary panel appointed by the island's sports minister found there wasn't enough evidence to prove substance abuse. The runners had previously been ...

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03:30:27 –
Maine's windkeepers: From ship masts to windmills
Associated Press
22.64%
2.64
TOWNSHIP 8, RANGE 3, Maine (AP) -- Silent surroundings almost tease the ears as clouds skitter across the top of this eastern corner of Maine. The wind, barely audible, swishes through beech and fir trees crowding the hills of a region area so remote it's part of the state's Unorganized Territory. Along the rounded ridge of Stetson Mountain, wisps of wind gain a whoosh-whoosh cadence as they push into motion mammoth blades at the tops of towers reaching hundreds of feet into the air. Those same winds help turn on the lights, run TVs and power washers, dryers and ovens in thousands of homes all over New England. They also help to heat the water for Andy Doak's shower before he heads out for work just after dawn on a cool summer morning. On the job, Doak ambles up the ladder inside a windmill, inspecting electrical components, structural bolts and other fittings on one of First Wind's 38 towers. For an outsider, it's a daunting and arduous climb, one that brings to mind a sailor's cl...

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04:00:36 –
Top Court Rejects Indonesian Electoral Fraud Claim
NY Times
0%
2.33
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Indonesia's Constitutional Court has unanimously rejected claims of electoral fraud filed by the losers of last month's presidential poll.Presiding Judge Mohammad Mahfud said Wednesday the nine justices found ''no massive violation in the registration of eligible voters.''President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was re-elected July 8 with 61 percent of the popular vote -- more than twice that of his closest rival. Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri was second with 27 percent followed by outgoing Vice President Jusuf Kalla with 12 percent.The lawsuit asserted that 28 million names were incorrectly included in the voting list, which would have been just enough to force a runoff vote. But the court ruled that no proof was presented to support the allegation....

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04:00:43 –
Diplomacy Urged In North Korea Nuke Row
NY Times
56.89%
3.38
GENEVA (Reuters) - The international community should deal with any efforts by Iran and North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons through peaceful diplomatic means, China said on Wednesday.China believes the world should work towards a global treaty banning the use of weapons in outer space and aim for a complete ban on nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said."It is important to resolve proliferation issues through political and diplomatic means and eradicate the root causes of nuclear weapon proliferation," he said in a speech to the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.Yang said Beijing was ready to work with others to promote the denuclearisation of the divided Korean peninsula and settle Iran's nuclear issue "with a view to safeguarding the international non-proliferation regime and maintaining regional peace and stability."The International Atomic Energy Agency has failed to get Iran to allow broader surveillance of its uranium enrichment plant to ensure no m...

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04:00:47 –
Russia Joins Search For Cargo Ship Last Seen In Channel
NY Times
51.12%
4
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian warships have joined the search for a cargo ship with a Russian crew which went missing two weeks ago off the coast of Portugal, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Wednesday.The Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, Arctic Sea, failed to arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4 as planned and the last communication with it occurred on July 28."Under the orders of President Dmitry Medvedev all Russian navy ships in the Atlantic have been sent to join the search for the Arctic Sea," Tass quoted the Navy commander, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, as saying."These ships include corvette Ladny and submarines," Vysotsky added. Tass said up to five Russian warships may take part in the operation.The Arctic Sea, carrying timber, was boarded on July 24 off the Swedish coast and searched by attackers posing as policemen, who tied up the crew for 12 hours before leaving, media reports at the time stated.British media reports suggested the ship may have been seized by pirates...

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04:10:13 –
Fears fuel emotional health care protests
CNN
29.88%
3.07
(CNN) -- Beyond the noise of raucous crowds and angry protesters who have turned town hall meetings into shouting matches is genuine concern from ordinary citizens who are afraid that President Obama's health care proposals would only make things harder for them. The battle over health care reform has energized people on both sides of the debate. "The reason that we see these protests and people asking tough questions at town hall meetings is because they feel like the president is going to take something away from them. That motivates people. That gets them out," said Michael ...

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04:10:14 –
Piracy fears as cargo ship vanishes off England
CNN
24.9%
3.67
LONDON, England (CNN) -- A Russian-crewed cargo ship has vanished after being involved in what appears to be an unprecedented pirate incident in European waters. The Arctic Sea, carrying a 6,500-tonne cargo of timber from Finland to Algeria, was last heard of two weeks ago when it passed through the English Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Mark Clark of the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the ship crewed by 15 Russians made radio contact on July 28, but reported nothing untoward. He said the agency was belatedly asked by Interpol on August 3 to look out for the Arctic Sea because it has been involved in a hijacking incident off the coast of Sweden on July 24. The ship, which embarked from Jakobstad in Finland, had been due to arrive un Bejaia in northern Algeria on August 4. While piracy levels have recently increased off the coast of East Africa, incidents in European waters are unheard of, according to UK maritime experts. "Attacks on ships are ext...

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04:10:16 –
In L.A. when Michael Jackson dies
CNN
34.8%
4.6
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- My City_My Life producer Laura McGeary writes a diary about her experiences on the road. In this first part the L.A. shoot is caught up in one of the biggest news stories of the year. Last night I flew in from New York, our photojournalist Darren from London and Wolfgang from Sydney -- hopefully no one will suffer from jet lag. Michael Jackson arrives at UCLA Medical Center in los Angeles. The My C...

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04:10:17 –
'In the kitchen Wolfgang comes alive'
CNN
24.1%
1.56
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- My City_My Life producer Laura McGeary writes a diary about her experiences on the road. In this second part she gets to watch master chef Wolfgang Puck in action in the kitchen. Late Friday morning, we meet Wolfgang Puck and his assistant Maggie at the famous Spago restaurant to plot out our plans for the next few days of taping. In the background the kitchen staff is prepping for the busy lunch schedule. Puck says L.A. has perfect weather, "fabulous light and very little rain"more photos » Wolfgang has many good ideas that we add to our already packed schedule including a trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) because he loves modern art and al...

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04:20:28 –
Amnesty urges Iran to allow observers into trials
Reuters
59.6%
4
LONDON (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday urged Iran to allow international observers to monitor trials of more than 100 people accused of involvement in protests following June's presidential election. "The trial now going on in Tehran appears to be nothing but a "show trial' through which the supreme leader and those around him seek to de-legitimize recent mass and largely peaceful protests and convince a very skeptical world that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected fairly for a second term as president," said Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan. "It is vital, therefore, that there is an international presence to observe the proceedings at this trial and uphold the rights of the defendants, and I urge the Iranian authorities to allow this," she added in a statement. Amnesty said compelling evidence of torture had been exposed by Mehdi Karoubi, a moderate candidate who ran against Ahmadinejad in June's election. Many...

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04:20:29 –
Kuwait foils plan to attack refinery, official says
Reuters
56.66%
4.4
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Detained members of an al Qaeda-linked group planned to attack Kuwait's Shuaiba oil refinery during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a security official said on Wednesday. Kuwait, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, said on Tuesday it had foiled a plan by a six-member al Qaeda-linked network to bomb the Arifjan U.S. Army camp, the state security building, and "important facilities," but gave no further details on the other potential targets. "The group planned to attack Shuaiba during Ramadan," the security official told Reuters. Ramadan, a lunar month, is due to begin around August 22. The aging 200,000 barrels per day Shuaiba plant is the smallest of the OPEC member's three refineries, which have a combined capacity of around 930,000 bpd. Members of the cell, led by a surgeon at one of the U.S.-allied Gulf state's hospitals, had confessed to planning attacks aimed at pressuring the United States to remove Kuwait-based tr...

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04:20:31 –
China urges diplomacy in Iran, North Korea nuke rows
Reuters
56.4%
3.38
By Jonathan Lynn GENEVA (Reuters) - The international community should deal with any efforts by Iran and North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons through peaceful diplomatic means, China said on Wednesday. China believes the world should work toward a global treaty banning the use of weapons in outer space and aim for a complete ban on nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said. "It is important to resolve proliferation issues through political and diplomatic means and eradicate the root causes of nuclear weapon proliferation," he said in a speech to the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Yang said Beijing was ready to work with others to promote the denuclearization of the divided Korean peninsula and settle Iran's nuclear issue "with a view to safeguarding the international non-proliferation regime and maintaining regional peace and stability." The International Atomic Energy Agency has failed to get Iran to allow br...

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04:30:12 –
In debate, Japan PM urges voters to stay course
Associated Press
29.07%
4
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's prime minister urged voters Wednesday to stick with his long-ruling party in this month's elections because it has produced results while the opposition, which is surging in popularity, has not proven it can carry through with its promises. The first debate between Prime Minister Taro Aso and opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama showed Aso, whose party is an underdog in the Aug. 30 parliamentary elections, on the defensive. "They promise spending and programs that will cost money, but they do not explain how to pay for these things," Aso said of Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan. "This is irresponsible." Aso's Liberal Democratic Party has governed for virtually all of the past 55 years, but the elections for the lower house of parliament are the most hotly contested Japan has seen in decades. Aso's party is widely forecast to lose its control of the chamber and thus give up its hold on choosing who becomes the next prime minister. "These elections are about a c...

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04:30:13 –
Forest Laboratories, AstraZeneca sign partnership
Associated Press
0%
2.33
NEW YORK (AP) -- Forest Laboratories Inc. and AstraZeneca said Wednesday they are collaborating to develop and sell a next-generation treatment for antibiotic-resistant, or Staph, infections and hospital-acquired pneumonia. The deal involves markets outside of Canada, the U.S., and Japan for ceftaroline , which is now in late-stage development. The drug candidate is Forest Laboratories' new version of cephalosporin. The antibiotic-resistant conditions called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, have become a difficult problem for hospitals. AstraZeneca will pay Forest Laboratories an undisclosed signing fee, sales-related royalties and payments for reaching certain sales milestones. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca will assume responsibility for the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of ceftaroline in the licensed territory. Both companies will collaborate on future development activities. New York-based ...

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04:30:13 –
Taiwan military: 1,000 found alive after typhoon
Associated Press
58.91%
5.6
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Rescuers have found nearly 1,000 people alive in the area around three remote villages devastated by Typhoon Morakot, which pummeled the island over the weekend, Taiwan's military said Wednesday. Most of the survivors were found Tuesday, but relief operations spokesman Major General Hu Jui-chou said a few dozen more were spotted Wednesday in Shiao Lin, the tiny community destroyed by a catastrophic mudslide early Sunday morning. Hu told reporters 500 survivors had been found in Min Tzu, 200 from Chin He, and 270 from Shiao Lin. Army helicopters were ferrying survivors to safety in Cishan, the hardscrabble town in the southern county of Kaohsiung that is serving as a focal point for relief operations. However, heavy rains were wreaking havoc with rescue operations and by early afternoon only a few dozen flights had arrived at the makeshift landing zone on the ground of Cishan Junior High School. That compared to more than 100 on Tuesday. Morakot, which means "...

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04:30:14 –
Excerpts from Jane Austen monster mash-ups
Associated Press
42.11%
4.33
Excerpts from the new breed of supernatural Jane Austen spinoffs: --- "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" - "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. Never was this truth more plain than during the recent attack at Netherfield Park, in which a household of 18 was slaughtered and consumed by a horde of the living dead." --- "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" - "Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her. He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger of falling in love, and were it not for his considerable skill in the deadly arts, that he should be in danger of being bested by hers - for never had he seen a lady more gifted in the ways of vanquishing the undead." --- "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" - "The family of Dashwood had been settled in Sussex since before the Alteration, when the waters of the world grew cold and hateful to the...

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04:30:14 –
Specter: Protesters not representative of America
Associated Press
0%
2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Arlen Specter says he thinks people who have been angrily disrupting town hall meetings on health care reform are not necessarily representative of America, but have a right to be heard. Specter, who heard harsh jeers and taunts at a meeting in Lebanon, Pa., said Wednesday he also believes there "is a mood of anger in America with so many people unemployed, with so much bickering in Washington." The veteran senator, who recently left the Republican Party and became a Democrat, said he respects the right of opponents to be organized but said they should not be allowed to disrupt others who wish to speak. Specter said on CBS's "The Early Show," that he believes "they're vocal. I don't think they're representative." © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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04:30:14 –
Fidelity: Workers again putting more into 401(k)s
Associated Press
48.98%
2.56
BOSTON (AP) -- Workers are again embracing 401(k) plans after the market meltdown and ongoing recession left many unable or unwilling to set aside some of their paychecks for retirement, according to the nation's largest workplace savings plan provider. In the second quarter, more participants in Fidelity Investments' defined contribution plans raised the amount they set aside rather than decreased the percentage of pay they put into their savings. In a study to be released Wednesday, the Boston-based company said it's the first time that's happened in a year. In each of the previous three quarters, the percentage of Fidelity's 11.2 million plan participants cutting their contributions topped 6 percent, exceeding the number who increased the amount going into their 401(k)s. But in the three months ended June 30, 4.7 percent boosted their contributions, with just 3 percent decreasing it. The vast majority left their rates untouched in all those periods. Investors who managed to sock...

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04:30:15 –
Jane Austen meets zombies in monster mash-up
Associated Press
39.96%
3.37
LONDON (AP) -- It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Jane Austen novel in possession of added gore will be a surefire best-seller. That's the conclusion reached by publishers since the success of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," an unlikely literary sensation created by adding dollops of "ultraviolent zombie mayhem" to Austen's classic love story. "Zombies" - billed as 85 percent Austen's original text and 15 percent brand-new blood and guts - has become a best-seller since it was published earlier this year, with 750,000 copies in print. There's a movie in the works. And it has spawned a monster - or, more accurately, a slew of literary monster mash-ups. Next month, "Zombies" publisher Quirk Books is releasing "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters," which adds giant lobsters and rampaging octopi to Austen's love story. Out this week from another publisher is "Mr. Darcy, Vampyre," a supernatural sequel which portrays the aloof hero of "Pride and Prejudice" as an undead ...

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04:30:16 –
McDonagh's `A Behanding in Spokane' set for B'way
Associated Press
0%
0.5
NEW YORK (AP) -- Martin McDonagh has another play headed for Broadway. Producer Robert Fox says McDonagh's black comedy, "A Behanding in Spokane," will premiere March 4, 2010. John Crowley will direct, and casting will be announced. The plot concerns, among other things, a man searching for his missing hand. McDonagh is the author of such Tony-nominated plays as "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," "The Lonesome West" and "The Pillowman." © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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04:30:16 –
Stock futures little changed before Fed decision
Associated Press
19.51%
2
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock futures are little changed Wednesday ahead of a key Federal Reserve Board meeting, and a day after the market posted its biggest losses in five weeks. Overseas, Asian markets fell amid fresh worries about the speed of economic recovery in China, while European markets were modestly higher. Investors have put a summer rally on hold as they search for fresh signs the economy is strengthening and pulling out of its recession. The latest assessment on how the economy is faring will come from the Fed, which wraps up a two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon. It is widely expected that the central bank will hold its key interest rate at a historic low near zero percent. With rates unlikely to change, investors will be looking to see what the Fed says about the economy in its statement that accompanies the rate decision. Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 17, or 0.2 percent, to 9,233. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.30, or 0....

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04:30:17 –
China warns of 'arms race in outer space'
Associated Press
98.21%
4.09
GENEVA (AP) -- China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called Wednesday for international diplomacy to avert an "arms race in outer space." Space should be reserved for peaceful purposes, Yang told the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. "Outer space is now facing the looming danger of weaponization," he said. "Credible and effective multilateral measures must be taken to forestall the weaponization and arms race in outer space." China and Russia have been vocal advocates of a global treaty against space-based weapons and argue for this to be included in future Conference of Disarmament negotiations. The United States has dismissed the criticism as designed to block its plans for a missile interceptor system - while leaving untouched Chinese and Russian ground-based missiles that can fire into space. "Countries should neither develop missile defense systems that undermine global strategic stability nor deploy weapons in outer space," Yang said. He added that China welcomed ...

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04:30:17 –
Wreck of capsized ferry found in Tonga; 93 missing
Associated Press
36.47%
3.92
NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) -- Searchers located the wreck Wednesday of a ferry that capsized off Tonga a week earlier and found no immediate signs of the 93 people on board who are still missing and presumed dead. The Princess Ashika flipped over and sank Aug. 5 in a tragedy that has reverberated throughout the tiny South Pacific kingdom and triggered accusations that the government allowed the ferry to operate despite not being seaworthy. Tongan Police Commander Chris Kelley said the hulk was found Wednesday by an unmanned search device in about 360 feet (110 meters) of water near where the ferry foundered about 55 miles (85 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Nuku'alofa. Navy divers from New Zealand and Australia assisting in the search are not able to go that deep, meaning a search inside the hull for bodies or clues to the disaster will likely have to wait for additional equipment. "It is important to realize that nobody on board could still be alive," Kelley told reporters. Two ...

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04:30:18 –
Toll Bros. reports increase in signed contracts
Associated Press
0%
1.67
HORSHAM, Pa. (AP) -- Toll Brothers Inc. said 3 percent more homebuyers signed contracts in its fiscal third quarter, the first annual increase in four years. The luxury homebuilder said Wednesday it sold 792 homes, generating $461.3 million in revenue for the three months ended July 31. Revenue was down 42 percent from the same period last year because home prices are declining and Toll has fewer communities around the country. Compared to the second quarter, signed contracts soared 44 percent and only 9 percent of buyers backed out - the lowest cancellation rate in three years. "Although some of our markets are still stuck in the mud, many are improving," Robert Toll, the company's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. He also noted that buyers are increasingly confident. Toll Brothers will release final quarterly results on Aug. 27, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect a loss of 32 cents a share on revenue of $377.1 million. --- On the Net: Toll Brothers: http://www.t...

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04:30:19 –
Funding stalls putting Guard soldiers on border
Associated Press
38.25%
4.94
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A proposed government plan to use National Guard troops to help stem Mexican drug violence along the southern border is stymied by disagreements over who will pay for the soldiers and how they would be used. Ordered by President Barack Obama in June to help secure the border with Mexico, the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security drafted a $225 million program to temporarily deploy 1,500 Guard troops to supplement U.S. Border Patrol agents. The two agencies are wrangling over how to structure the deployment, but the primary sticking point is the money, according to senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The funding stalemate lingers even after Obama renewed his commitment to Mexican officials on Monday to reinforce the border and to help Mexico battle the drug cartels. Fierce battles between Mexican law enforcement and the cartels have left as many as 11,000 people dead and fueled concerns abou...

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04:30:19 –
Conference set in UBS tax evasion case
Associated Press
0%
0
MIAMI (AP) -- Swiss and U.S. negotiators will update a judge on the progress of a settlement in an attempt by the U.S. government to obtain names of suspected American tax evaders from Swiss banking giant UBS AG. Lawyers plan a telephone conference call Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold. The Swiss and U.S. governments previously announced an agreement in principle on major issues. They had hoped to present a final deal at a hearing last week, but resolving the details has taken longer. The U.S. wants the names of about 52,000 American clients believed to be hiding nearly $15 billion in secret accounts. UBS and the Swiss government have resisted, arguing that doing so would violate Swiss banking confidentiality laws. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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04:30:19 –
Yemen bombs Shiite rebels stronghold near Saudi
Associated Press
0%
5.25
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Shiite rebels and local officials say Yemeni forces, using artillery and aircraft, bombed several rebel strongholds in a province bordering Saudi Arabia in a major escalation of the conflict. A health ministry official in Saada province says 12 people have been killed. The health ministry official and other local officials in Saada spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam says government forces targeted numerous areas throughout the northern province. He says there were many casualties, but did not have specific information. The five-year-old rebellion in Saada province pits Shiite Muslims against a Sunni-led government. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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04:30:21 –
IAAF brings in new false-start rule beginning 2010
Associated Press
28.3%
1.67
BERLIN (AP) -- The world governing body of athletics changed its false-start rule Wednesday to exclude any runner who jumps the gun beginning next year. Currently, only the second runner to commit a false start in any race is expelled regardless of who caused the first one. Under the new rule, any offender will be immediately disqualified. The rule was backed by the IAAF's executive council, and its president Lamine Diack said 2010 was the ideal time to introduce the change since there are no major competitions scheduled. The world championships, which starts Saturday, will still use the old rule. "We need to change it next year because everyone will have ample time to change by the time of Daegu," Diack said, referring to the South Korean city where the next worlds will be held in 2011. Jorge Salcedo, the head of the technical commission of the IAAF, said the current system favored cheaters who deliberately committed a first false start to put their opponents on edge. "There are a...

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05:00:33 –
Wreck of Capsized Ferry Found in Tonga; 93 Missing
NY Times
37.63%
3.92
NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) -- Searchers located the wreck Wednesday of a ferry that capsized off Tonga a week earlier and found no immediate signs of the 93 people on board who are still missing and presumed dead.The Princess Ashika flipped over and sank Aug. 5 in a tragedy that has reverberated throughout the tiny South Pacific kingdom and triggered accusations that the government allowed the ferry to operate despite not being seaworthy.Tongan Police Commander Chris Kelley said the hulk was found Wednesday by an unmanned search device in about 360 feet (110 meters) of water near where the ferry foundered about 55 miles (85 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Nuku'alofa.Navy divers from New Zealand and Australia assisting in the search are not able to go that deep, meaning a search inside the hull for bodies or clues to the disaster will likely have to wait for additional equipment.''It is important to realize that nobody on board could still be alive,'' Kelley told reporters.Two people,...

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05:00:39 –
Yemen Bombs Shiite Rebels Stronghold Near Saudi
NY Times
0%
5.25
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Shiite rebels and local officials say Yemeni forces, using artillery and aircraft, bombed several rebel strongholds in a province bordering Saudi Arabia in a major escalation of the conflict.A health ministry official in Saada province says 12 people have been killed.The health ministry official and other local officials in Saada spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam says government forces targeted numerous areas throughout the northern province. He says there were many casualties, but did not have specific information.The five-year-old rebellion in Saada province pits Shiite Muslims against a Sunni-led government....

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05:00:42 –
China Warns of 'Arms Race in Outer Space'
NY Times
100%
4.09
GENEVA (AP) -- China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called Wednesday for international diplomacy to avert an ''arms race in outer space.''Space should be reserved for peaceful purposes, Yang told the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.''Outer space is now facing the looming danger of weaponization,'' he said. ''Credible and effective multilateral measures must be taken to forestall the weaponization and arms race in outer space.''China and Russia have been vocal advocates of a global treaty against space-based weapons and argue for this to be included in future Conference of Disarmament negotiations.The United States has dismissed the criticism as designed to block its plans for a missile interceptor system -- while leaving untouched Chinese and Russian ground-based missiles that can fire into space.''Countries should neither develop missile defense systems that undermine global strategic stability nor deploy weapons in outer space,'' Yang said.He added that China welcomed m...

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05:00:49 –
Iran Speaker Says Vote Detainees Not Been Raped: TV
NY Times
50.96%
5.69
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's speaker of parliament on Wednesday rejected as "baseless" an opposition leader's accusation that moderates had been raped in jail following their detention in unrest linked to a disputed June presidential poll."Based on parliament's investigations, detainees have not been raped or sexually abused in Iran's Kahrizak and Evin prisons. Such claims are totally baseless," Iran's state television quoted Ali Larijani as saying.Defeated moderate candidate Mehdi Karoubi said on Sunday some protesters, both men and women, had been raped in prison.Many of the post-election detainees were held in south Tehran's Kahrizak prison, built to house people breaching vice laws. At least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as reports of abuse in jail spread.The abuse allegations, rejected also by Tehran's police chief, have created a rift among hardline politicians, many of whom backed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election, followed by the worst u...

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05:10:12 –
Why Rob Thomas avoids the spotlight
CNN
25.16%
2.67
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Rob Thomas is a busy guy -- so busy, he apparently hasn't had much time to check in with his Matchbox Twenty bandmates. Rob Thomas prefers to focus on the "musician" side of his career, rather than "celebrity." We only know this because we ran into guitarist Paul Doucette at the BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills several weeks ago, where he was picking up a plaque for songwriter of the year. "We're interviewing Rob about his solo album," I told him. "Hey," Doucette exclaimed. "Tell that guy to call me, would you? I didn't even kno...

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05:10:14 –
iReporters summer at Martha's Vineyard
CNN
0%
0
...

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05:10:15 –
Are travel agents making a comeback?
CNN
23.19%
1.77
(CNN) -- If you've booked travel online, you may have been there. Nancy Cutter, a travel agent in Charlotte, North Carolina, discusses vacation options with a client. Online travel sites flooded with overwhelming options, all claiming the best deals. Extra fees nestled into the fine print amid blaring advertisements. Pounding 16 digits into the telephone after you've booked the wrong flight before finally getting a human voice. A few weeks ago, Darin Kaplan, a tech-savvy 27-year-old California restaurant manager, clicked his mouse hundreds of times, surfing the vast choices offered by ...

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05:10:17 –
Muslim women uncover myths about the hijab
CNN
28.81%
2.47
(CNN) -- Rowaida Abdelaziz doesn't want your pity. Hekmati says she voluntarily wears the head scarf and it helped liberate her from some teenage angst: Does my hair look good? Am I cute enough? Should I lose weight? var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2009/US/08/12/generation.islam.h...

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05:10:21 –
Commentary: Danger in your pill bottle
CNN
64.32%
4.25
CENTER CITY, Minnesota (CNN) -- Prescribed opioids -- pain medication -- have become the fastest-growing addiction problem in the United States. They are second to marijuana as the most commonly used illicit substances. Vicodin and OxyContin lead the way among our youth; the 2008 "Monitoring the Future Study" by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 9.7 percent of high school seniors have misused Vicodin and 4.7 percent OxyContin. There is a naïve consensus that these are safe medications because they are prescribed by physicians. However, they are extremely reinforcing, highly addictive and in the same class of drugs as heroin. Opioid prescriptions have skyrocketed since the mid '90s and with this we have seen dramatic increases in illicit diversion of the drugs, addiction treatment admissions, emergency room visits for opioid overdoses and deaths. Historically, pain has been inadequately treated by physicians, so there is good reason for the increased medi...

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05:20:28 –
Israeli paper says strike on Iran could delay bomb
Reuters
93.53%
5.08
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A major Israeli newspaper ran a front-page story on Wednesday quoting an unidentified "senior defense official" as saying Israel believed a military strike could disrupt what it says is an Iranian nuclear arms program. Under a photograph of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sitting the previous day in the cockpit of an F-15I long-range fighter-bomber, mass-selling Maariv quoted the official as saying Israel could carry out such a strike without U.S. approval but time was running out for it to be effective. Neither the official nor the paper made any comment on the likelihood of Netanyahu ordering such an operation, speculation over which remains a major risk factor in investors' assessments of the Middle East region and in energy markets globally. Israel rejects Tehran's assurances it is developing only civilian nuclear facilities and refuses to rule out armed force to stop its Islamist enemy acquiring atomic weaponry t...

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05:20:30 –
Q+A: Who will hold the power in post-election Myanmar?
Reuters
48.78%
3.68
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is almost certain to play no part in Myanmar's multi-party elections next year after being confined to house detention for 18 months for breaking a security law. Critics believe Myanmar's military rulers used the trial to prevent her from campaigning ahead of the elections, which are the first since 1990, when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won in a landslide but never allowed to rule. The government says the election will be the final stage of its seven-step democratic "road map". WHY IS MYANMAR HOLDING ELECTIONS? Sanctions have crippled the country's economy and he regime's refusal to carry out reforms, release political prisoners and halt human rights abuses have made it an international pariah that the West refuses to do business with. Analysts say Myanmar wants to be a part of the international community and boost trade, but the generals know they will have to r...

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05:30:11 –
Jackson tribute in Vienna set for Sept. 26
Associated Press
0%
5.25
VIENNA (AP) -- Organizers of what's being billed as a global tribute to Michael Jackson in Vienna say the event will be held on Sept. 26. World Awards Media GmbH, the event promoter, says Jackson's brother Jermaine is expected to announce the lineup for the concert within two weeks. Officials in the Austrian capital said Wednesday they are thrilled to host the three-hour event. Organizers say it will feature about 10 major entertainers who will perform 15 to 20 of Jackson's hits on a crown-shaped stage outside Vienna's Schoenbrunn Palace. Jackson died in Los Angeles on June 25. Jermaine Jackson says Vienna was chosen as the venue because his brother "loved castles." © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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05:30:12 –
Macy's profit falls in 2Q; company raises outlook
Associated Press
0%
1
NEW YORK (AP) -- Macy's Inc. posted a second-quarter profit and beat analyst expectations even as the department store chain's results were weighed down by costs for consolidations and store closings. The chain says it is boosting its outlook as it benefits from the cost-cutting. Macy's earned $7 million, or 2 cents per share. That compares with profit of $73 million, or 17 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding charges, profit came in at 20 cents per share, beating analysts' projections of 15 cents. Revenue was $5.16 billion, down almost 10 percent. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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05:30:12 –
Hornbeck Offshore Services offering notes
Associated Press
0%
1.33
COVINGTON, La. (AP) -- Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc., which provides supply vessels for the petroleum industry, said Wednesday it plans to offer about $200 million in senior notes due 2017. The company said it will use proceeds to repay debt under its revolving credit facility, which may be reborrowed. Remaining proceeds could be used for general corporate purposes. Hornbeck is also a short-haul transporter of petroleum products through its coastwise fleet of ocean-going tugs and tank barges primarily in the northeastern U.S. and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. It owns more than 80 vessels primarily serving the energy industry. Shares of Hornbeck closed at $21.31 on Tuesday. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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05:30:13 –
1,000 survivors found after Taiwan typhoon
Associated Press
62.69%
5.67
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Rescuers have found nearly 1,000 people alive in the area around three remote villages devastated by Typhoon Morakot, which pummeled the island over the weekend, Taiwan's military said Wednesday. Hundreds more are missing and feared dead in Kaohsiung county, which bore the brunt of the storm, though the official death toll stood at 63, and authorities could only confirm 61 missing. While other areas of the country were hit hard, rescuers were focusing their efforts on Kaohsiung, believing most of those unaccounted for could be trapped there. But continuing heavy rains were wreaking havoc on their efforts. On Wednesday, only a few dozen army helicopters were able to ferry survivors to safety in Cishan, where a makeshift landing zone was set on at a school. The day before 300 people who escaped mudslides and still looked dazed were plucked from Shiao Lin village and its surroundings. Since that rescue, another 270 people have been spotted near the village, whic...

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05:30:13 –
Specter: Protests not 'representative of America'
Associated Press
20.51%
3
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Arlen Specter said Wednesday he thinks people who have been angrily disrupting town hall meetings on overhauling the health care system are "not necessarily representative of America," but should be heard. "It's more than health care," said Specter, 79, who earlier this year left the Republican Party and became a Democrat. "I think there is a mood in America of anger with so many people unemployed, with so much bickering in Washington ... with the fear of losing their health care. It all boils over." Specter and Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, appeared on a nationally broadcast news show Wednesday, a day after town hall meetings they hosted erupted in the same kind of catcalls, jeers and shouting that has characterized many such forums in recent weeks. "There were a couple of tough moments," McCaskill said of her experience, "but it lasted two hours and there were thousands of people there." Jeers and taunts drowned out both Specter and McCaskill...

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05:30:14 –
Myanmar's Suu Kyi says conviction 'totally unfair'
Associated Press
34.63%
3.83
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called the verdict returning her to house arrest "totally unfair," but remains cheerful and alert, her lawyer said Wednesday. Four of her lawyers were allowed to visit the Nobel Peace Prize laureate at her lakeside home for an hour to discuss an appeal of her conviction Tuesday on charges of violating the terms of her previous house arrest. A Myanmar court found Suu Kyi, 64, guilty of sheltering an uninvited American visitor. Her sentence of three years in prison with hard labor was reduced to 18 months of house arrest by order of the head of the country's ruling military junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said the conviction was totally unfair and the court's assessment of the case was not just," lawyer Nyan Win said. "Daw" is a term of respect for older women. Her defense had contended that it was the responsibility of the police guarding her house to keep out intruders. The conviction, though exp...

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05:30:15 –
Cartel lieutenant targeted for talking to feds
Associated Press
45.23%
6.43
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- After his Juarez cartel boss was arrested in Mexico last year, Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana left town - taking refuge in a high-end El Paso neighborhood. He tried to hide and cut ties with his one-time colleagues in Ciudad Juarez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso. And he started talking to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials about the drug gang's activities. But his past caught up to him, and El Paso police say he was shot to death on May 15 on a quiet cul-de-sac, for being an informant, in a shooting orchestrated by a fellow midlevel cartel official and ICE informant. El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said Gonzalez's sudden disappearance from Mexico, in the wake of the arrest of cartel lieutenant Pedro "El Tigre" (The Tiger) Aranas Sanchez and a raid on a cartel warehouse in Mexico, raised questions among cartel leaders. Gonzalez quickly became a target, Allen said. "(Rodriguez) was told to find him in the U.S.," Allen said Tuesday. After...

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05:30:15 –
IMAX expects $50 million from stock offering
Associated Press
0%
1.67
NEW YORK (AP) -- IMAX Corp., maker of large-screen movie-theater technology, said Tuesday it expects gross proceeds of about $50 million from its public offering of just under 5.9 million common shares. The company offered the shares at $8.50 apiece. It said it will use proceeds to repay and refinance debt. The transaction is expected to close around Monday. Roth Capital Partners LLC, the sole underwriter, received a 30-day option to buy an additional 882,353 common shares to cover any overallotments. IMAX has about 43.7 million shares of stock outstanding. Its shares closed at $9.05 on Monday, the day before it announced pricing for the offer. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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05:30:16 –
Yemeni government counters a Shiite rebellion
Associated Press
70.42%
5.7
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni government forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shiite rebels near the border with Saudi Arabia in an escalation of the five-year-old conflict, rebels and local officials said Wednesday. The government offensive, which is believed to have started late Tuesday and continued Wednesday, followed reports Tuesday of rebels seizing more control of the northern Saada province from government forces. A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to respond to the rebels "with an iron-fist." A health ministry official in Saada said so far 12 people have been killed in the fighting, and 51 injured. Local officials and a rebel spokesman said hundreds of people have fled the bombing and clashes which took place in numerous areas of Saada province. Local and health ministry officials in Saada spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The rebellion in northern Saada province, whi...

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05:30:16 –
Iraqi PM to visit Syria for security talks
Associated Press
85.77%
5.64
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's prime minister will travel to Syria next week for talks on security, a spokesman said Wednesday, apparently annoyed that the United States was sending its own delegation to discuss the issue. The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that a mostly military team would go to Syria this week for talks on the infiltration of foreign fighters into Iraq and other Mideast issues. But Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki planned his own trip next week to discuss the problem as his country faces a new round of bombings that have raised fears of a resurgence of sectarian violence, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. "It is not the duty of the American delegation to negotiate on behalf of Iraq," al-Dabbagh said. "Security is an internal Iraqi affair and it is the Iraqi government that will directly negotiate on security with Syria next week," he said, without specifying a day. The comment was the latest indication of emerging strains in the relationship between the I...

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05:30:17 –
Rescuers try to reach Spanish climber in Pakistan
Associated Press
46.05%
4.57
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Rescuers raced Wednesday to reach a Spanish climber stranded for days with a broken leg and arm at 20,000 feet (6,300 meters) on a particularly treacherous Pakistani mountain, the expedition's outfitter said. Oscar Perez has been stuck on Latok I since he fell last week while trying an unprecedented climb up the north face, tour operator Naiknam Kareem said. "For the last five, six days, we've had no contact with him," he said. Perez had enough provisions for several days, but his injuries make it impossible to estimate how long he can survive, he added. "If someone is without injury, they can survive up to six, seven days if they have enough food and clothing. With injuries, I cannot say how long," Kareem said. Climbing partner Alvaro Novellon was also injured but managed to make it down to seek help, Kareem said. Fellow mountaineers have flown in from at least three countries to attempt a rescue, with a Pakistani military helicopter dropping six climbers Wednesd...

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05:30:17 –
Swastika painted outside Ga. congressman's office
Associated Press
50.56%
3.89
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI and police were investigating after a swastika was painted outside Rep. David Scott's district office in Georgia, an act the suburban Atlanta Democrat said reflects an increasingly hateful and racist debate over health care and should remind people to tone down their rhetoric. Scott's staff arrived at his Smyrna, Ga., office Tuesday morning to find the Nazi graffiti emblazoned on a sign bearing the lawmaker's name. The vandalism occurred roughly a week after Scott was involved in a confrontational argument over health care at a community meeting. Scott said his office immediately notified authorities, including the U.S. Capitol Police, who have warned lawmakers about potential threats stemming from the increasingly emotional debate over health care reform. An FBI spokesman said the bureau is investigating along with Capitol Police and the Smyrna Police Department. The congressman's office is located in a bank building and Scott said he was optimistic that...

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05:30:18 –
IAAF: Jamaica asks to withdraw runners from worlds
Associated Press
0%
1.75
BERLIN (AP) -- IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss says Jamaica has asked to withdraw Asafa Powell, a former 100-meter world-record holder, and several teammates from the entry list for the world championships. Weiss says the request was made Wednesday but didn't disclose a reason. The Jamaican athletics federation has been in a dispute with several athletes over a training camp for the worlds. Team manager Ian Forbes has previously identified the others as 100 Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser, 400 hurdles Olympic gold medalist Melaine Walker, hurdler Brigitte Foster-Hylton and sprinter Shericka Williams. The request could be rescinded because the final entry list has to be with organizers 48 hours before the opening event. The worlds start Saturday. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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05:30:18 –
Pakistan officials: Militant clashes kill about 70
Associated Press
86.81%
6.52
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) -- Two intelligence officials and a militant commander say clashes between rival militant groups in northwestern Pakistan have killed about 70 fighters. The officials say the clashes broke out on Wednesday in Jandola between fighters loyal to Pakistan's Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and those of Turkistan Bitani, a militant commander allied with the government. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Bitani told the AP that a total of about 60 to 70 fighters had died, and that the clashes broke out when his group was attacked by Mehsud's group. There was no way to independently confirm the death toll, as the fighting was taking place in a remote area that is off-limits to journalists. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. ISLAMABAD (AP) - A military spokesman denied a recent report that militants have attacked Pakistan's n...

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05:30:18 –
Australian inquiry blames captain for WWII tragedy
Associated Press
57.97%
5.86
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- A military inquiry on Wednesday blamed a navy captain's "errors of judgment" for one of Australia's worst maritime tragedies, in which 645 crew were lost when a cruiser was sunk by a German raider during World War II. The loss of the HMAS Sydney in a fierce battle with the smaller HSK Kormoran, a converted freighter, off the west Australian coast on Nov. 19, 1941, stunned Australia. The mystery captured imaginations for generations, prompting numerous searches and countless theories to explain the total absence of Australian survivors. The Australian defense chief who ordered the inquiry after the wreckage of the Sydney was found last year along with vital new evidence of its final battle said its report answered important questions about the circumstances of the tragedy. "For a long time, our nation has struggled to understand how our greatest maritime disaster occurred," Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said in a statement. The inquiry report accepted ...

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05:30:19 –
Sara Lee posts $14 million loss in fiscal 4Q
Associated Press
0%
1.67
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (AP) -- Sara Lee says it posted a smaller fiscal fourth-quarter loss as impairment charges declined from a year ago. Unfavorable exchange rates still dampened revenue for the food maker. The maker of Sara Lee breads, Jimmy Dean sausages and other foods said Tuesday that it posted a loss of $14 million, or a loss of 2 cents per share, compared with a bigger loss of $672 million, or 95 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding impairment charges of $207 million at its Spanish bakery business and $61 million in other charges, earnings per share were 29 cents. Revenue declined 10 percent to $3.16 billion. Analysts, who usually exclude one-time items, expected the Downers Grove, Ill.-based company to earn 24 cents per share. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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05:30:20 –
TV's 'Guiding Light' shoots final scenes in NJ
Associated Press
0%
4
PEAPACK-GLADSTONE, N.J. (AP) -- The cast and crew of "Guiding Light" - TV's longest-running soap opera - have finished shooting their final scenes in a northern New Jersey town. Afterward, they gathered at Peapack Reformed Church for a service to remember the show. The church has served as the site for weddings and funerals in "Guiding Light's" fictional town of Springfield. The Rev. Kathryn Henry recalled that the show's title referred to a lamp put in a church window by the fictional Rev. Rutledge to welcome parishioners seeking guidance. CBS has canceled the program after a 72-year run that predates television. "Guiding Light" will air its last episode on Sept. 18. Yvonna Wright, who plays Mel Boudreau Bauer, says Tuesday's service offered some closure. --- Information from: Courier News, http://www.mycentraljersey.com © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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05:30:20 –
Hillenbrand 3Q profit dips on lower demand
Associated Press
0%
2.6
BATESVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- Hillenbrand Inc., which provides funeral products and services, said Wednesday its fiscal third-quarter profit fell slightly on lower burial demand and a weak flu and pneumonia season. The company earned $25.4 million, or 41 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30, down from profit of $26.7 million, or 42 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue fell 3.8 percent to $158.7 million from $165 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 41 cents per share. Hillenbrand owns the Batesville Casket Co. The company reaffirmed its full-year outlook, but said financial results would likely be closer to the low end of its forecast. The company still expects profit between $1.57 and $1.70 per share on revenue between $650 million and $670 million. Analysts expect profit of about $1.66 per share. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed....

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05:30:20 –
Nestle posts 2.7 pct fall in H1 net profit
Associated Press
40.97%
2.27
GENEVA (AP) -- Nestle SA, the world's biggest food and drink maker, reported Wednesday a 2.7 percent fall in first-half net profit as the recession hurt consumer demand and divestments and a stronger Swiss franc weighed on sales. The maker of popular brands such as Nescafe, Perrier, Jenny Craig and Haagen Dazs said it earned 5.1 billion Swiss francs ($4.7 billion) in the first six months of the year, down slightly from 5.2 billion francs in the same period last year. The result bettered market expectations, although some analysts noted the company had dropped its full-year growth target. Shares fell 3.2 percent to 42.70 francs ($39.42) in early Zurich trading. Chief Executive Paul Bulcke said he was pleased that Nestle "delivered a combination of growth and increased profitability in the first half of the year, and this in a very challenging business environment." Nestle reports sales each quarter, but earnings only on the half-year and full-year. The Swiss company said sales throu...

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05:30:22 –
Investigators maintain focus on Jackson doctor
Associated Press
41.24%
6.5
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Investigators in the Michael Jackson case continue to sharpen their focus on the personal physician who was with him when he died. Dr. Conrad Murray has emerged as the central figure in the ongoing probe into Jackson's June 25 death. And on Tuesday, local police and federal drug agents searched a Las Vegas pharmacy and uncovered evidence showing Murray legally purchased a potent anesthetic from the business, according to a law enforcement official who requested anonymity because the probe is ongoing. Murray told investigators he administered the anesthetic propofol and multiple sedatives to Jackson in his rented Beverly Hills mansion in the hours before he died, the official told The Associated Press. Propofol is normally used to render patients unconscious for medical procedures and only is supposed to be administered by anesthesia professionals in medical settings. While it is extremely strong, propofol is not a controlled substance so investigators are looking ...

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06:00:35 –
Militant Clashes Kill at Least 70 in NW Pakistan
NY Times
100%
7
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) -- Clashes between fighters loyal to Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and a rival pro-government group in northwestern Pakistan's tribal belt have killed at least 70 fighters, two intelligence officials and a militant commander said Wednesday.The fighting broke out in the Jandola area, just outside Mehsud's stronghold in South Waziristan, between Mehsud's group and that of Turkistan Bitani, a tribal warlord allied with the government, the intelligence officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.In telephone calls to The Associated Press, Bitani put the total casualty figure at 90 fighters, and said more than 40 houses were destroyed. He claimed the fighting broke out when Mehsud's militants attacked.There was no way to independently confirm the death toll, as the fighting was taking place in a remote area that is off-limits to journalists.The fighting comes one week after a U.S. missile strik...

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06:00:44 –
Yemeni Government Counters a Shiite Rebellion
NY Times
73.26%
5.7
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni government forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shiite rebels near the border with Saudi Arabia in an escalation of the five-year-old conflict, rebels and local officials said Wednesday.The government offensive, which is believed to have started late Tuesday and continued Wednesday, followed reports Tuesday of rebels seizing more control of the northern Saada province from government forces. A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to respond to the rebels ''with an iron-fist.''A health ministry official in Saada said so far 12 people have been killed in the fighting, and 51 injured. Local officials and a rebel spokesman said hundreds of people have fled the bombing and clashes which took place in numerous areas of Saada province.Local and health ministry officials in Saada spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.The rebellion in northern Saada province, which bor...

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06:00:48 –
Hundreds Still Missing From Taiwan Mudslide
NY Times
61.47%
4.46
CISHAN, Taiwan (Reuters) - Hundreds of people were still missing on Wednesday in remote villages in southern Taiwan and disaster officials said they were uncertain how many might have been killed by mudslides triggered by Typhoon Morakot.Morakot, which ravaged Taiwan over the weekend, has killed about 70 people across the island and caused farm-related losses of more than T$9 billion ($275 million). More than 100 people have been killed in Asia due to Morakot and tropical storm Etau.But several hundred villagers initially listed as missing were found alive in areas where roads were washed out and access was limited to helicopters. The government dispatched special forces with satellite phones to the hardest hit areas."We are anxious to do our best to get the trapped people out," said Hu Jui-chou, an army official involved in the rescue effort. "Hopes are getting slimmer as the days go by."Hu said it was unclear how many people were buried and feared dead in villages in southern Taiwan....

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06:00:57 –
Congo Arrests Rwandan Genocide Suspect
NY Times
97.83%
5.5
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested a man accused of planning the massacre of at least 2,000 Rwandan Tutsis during the 1994 genocide, a government official said on Wednesday.Gregoire Ndahimana was arrested by Congolese soldiers on Sunday during U.N.-backed operations to stamp out Hutu rebel group the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) in violence ravaged eastern border province North Kivu."He was discovered by our units operating in North Kivu ... He was hiding among the FDLR," Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende said.Ndahimana was a local administrator in the Rwandan town of Kivumu during Rwanda's genocide, in which around 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during 100 days in 1994.According to his indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), he is responsible for the deaths of at least 2,000 Tutsis, most of whom were killed when Hutus bulldozed the church where they were b...

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06:10:12 –
14 dead in Pakistan in suspected drone strike
CNN
81.3%
6.6
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (CNN) -- Eight Taliban militants were among 14 people who died in a missile strike Tuesday along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said Wednesday. The attack, believed to be a strike by an unmanned U.S. drone, took place in South Waziristan, which is part of Pakistan's tribal region, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Local officials said Tuesday that 10 Taliban militants were killed and three were wounded. But Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said eight Taliban militants and six locals were killed. Tariq said two missiles struck a house used as a jihadi center in Kani Kurram. On Tuesday, a Pakistani intelligence official said an unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at a militant camp in the mountain town of Kanniguram. Don't Miss Pakistani Taliban chief alive according to...

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06:10:14 –
Troops move to secure southern Afghanistan before vote
CNN
91.14%
5.67
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have moved into southern Afghanistan to protect citizens during upcoming elections, military officials said. ...

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06:10:16 –
Old 97's frontman stays in touch with oddball side
CNN
43.75%
3.14
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Rhett Miller, the Old 97's frontman, can be hard to get a fix on. Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller says that his solo albums keep him from going nuts. He's a rock 'n' roll musician, yet soft-spoken and mild-mannered. He's 38 years old, but looks 23. He once cut his hair really short in an attempt to make himself less attractive, but now wears his mane long and shaggy. And then there are his Twitter entries, which have a wit all their own. For example: "Sometimes, sitting in a hot tub, I pretend that I'm in the kitchen of some giant who's making Rhett soup. And I jus...

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06:30:11 –
US, Swiss cement deal on secret UBS bank accounts
Associated Press
0%
0
MIAMI (AP) -- Lawyers for the U.S. government and Swiss banking giant UBS AG say they have an agreement in a case involving secret Swiss bank accounts. The U.S. government had sought the names of some 52,000 Americans believed to be hiding nearly $15 billion in secret accounts. The deal was announced Wednesday during a telephone conference with a judge that lasted only long enough for lawyers to say that an agreement had been reached. No details were announced. The Swiss and U.S. governments previously announced an agreement in principle on major issues. They had hoped to present a final deal at a hearing last week, but resolving the details has taken longer. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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06:30:12 –
Delta, US Airways swapping slots
Associated Press
0%
4
ATLANTA (AP) -- Delta Air Lines and US Airways are swapping takeoff and landing slots at airports in New York and Washington, amid similar moves by AirTran Airways and Continental Airlines. A Delta executive says in a memo to employees Wednesday that Delta will exchange some of its flying rights at Washington's Reagan National Airport for US Airways' rights at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The transition will add 11 gates to Delta's LaGuardia operations. AirTran, meanwhile, plans to stop flying to and from Newark, N.J., and will give its takeoff and landing slots there to Continental Airlines in exchange for Continental slots at LaGuardia and National airports, where AirTran faces increased competition from Southwest Airlines. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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06:30:12 –
Leaf tobacco producer Alliance One offering notes
Associated Press
0%
1.67
MORRISVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Leaf tobacco producer Alliance One International Inc. said Wednesday that it plans an offering of $75 million senior notes due 2016. The company said it plans to use the proceeds to pay off borrowings under some short-term seasonal credit lines from foreign financing sources that mature over the next two to ten months. The notes are part of the same series as some outstanding senior notes due 2016 that were issued on July 2. There will be $645 million outstanding notes in the series once the offering closes. Alliance One International buys, processes, stores and sells leaf tobacco to cigarette manufacturers and other consumer tobacco products in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia. Its shares closed at $3.86 Tuesday. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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06:30:13 –
Redbox sues 20th Century Fox in DVD dispute
Associated Press
0%
3.33
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. (AP) -- Redbox, the DVD rental kiosk company, says it is suing 20th Century Fox over the movie studio's attempts to keep its new releases out of the Redbox vending machines for a month after they go on sale. Redbox's service has divided movie studios, with General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures joining News Corp.'s Fox in a bid to preserve more lucrative DVD retail sales before Redbox's $1-per-night rentals become available. A federal judge in Delaware is set to rule soon on a similar suit by Redbox against Universal. Redbox has stocked its kiosks by buying new titles directly from retailers. Separately, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. signed an agreement to supply Redbox on Tuesday. Redbox is a subsidiary of Bellevue, Wash.-based Coinstar Inc. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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06:30:14 –
China formally arrests 4 Rio Tinto employees
Associated Press
33.96%
3.7
SHANGHAI (AP) -- China formally arrested four employees of Anglo-American mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. for infringing trade secrets and bribery, but stopped short of laying politically explosive espionage charges in a case that has strained ties with key trading partner Australia. Investigations showed the four, including Stern Hu, an Australian citizen who headed Rio Tinto's iron ore business in China, obtained commercial secrets about China's steel and iron industries through "improper means" and were involved in bribery, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday. Rio Tinto and the Australian government appealed to Beijing to allow Hu legal representation and to handle the case in a transparent way. "Rio Tinto will strongly support its employees in defending these allegations," Sam Walsh, the company's iron ore chief executive, said in a written statement. "From all the information available to us, we continue to believe that our employees have acted properly and ethicall...

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06:30:15 –
General Growth lenders lose bid in bankruptcy case
Associated Press
40.98%
3.6
CHICAGO (AP) -- Shopping mall operator General Growth Properties Inc. said Tuesday night that a bankruptcy judge has denied a motion by a group of lenders to keep a handful of its subsidiaries out of bankruptcy. The lenders, led by ING Clarion Capital Loan Services, had argued that some of the company's shopping centers, including the Tucson Mall in Arizona and the Stonestown Mall in San Francisco, were financially stable and did not need to seek Chapter 11 protection. The creditors claimed General Growth had "swept" the properties into bankruptcy to benefit from their slightly better financial condition. "We are pleased with the court's decision and we look forward to moving ahead with the restructuring of the company," said Adam Metz, CEO of General Growth Properties, in a statement. General Growth, the second largest shopping mall owner in the U.S., expanded aggressively at the height of the real estate boom. In 2004, it acquired Rouse Co., gaining such retail gems as Faneuil Ha...

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06:30:16 –
Putin pedges massive military spending in Abkhazia
Associated Press
0%
5.75
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the country will spend at least 15 billion rubles ($470 million) next year to build Russian military bases in Abkhazia and tighten the separatist Georgian region's borders. Putin's pledge in an interview with Abkhazian media comes on Wednesday's anniversary of the cease-fire in last year's war with Georgia in which Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke from Georgian control. Russia subsequently recognized both regions as independent, a move either denounced or ignored by almost all other countries. Putin's pledge on military spending underlines Russia's firm intention to keep the regions from being reintegrated with Georgia. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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06:30:17 –
June trade deficit rises to $27B, imports increase
Associated Press
55.46%
3.06
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. trade deficit edged up slightly in June as imports rose for the first time in 11 months, another sign that the worst recession since World War II is beginning to loosen its grip on the economy. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the deficit rose 4 percent to $27 billion, from May's $26 billion. The May imbalance had been the lowest deficit in nearly a decade. The bigger June deficit reflected an increase in imports for the first time in nearly a year, an indication that demand in the U.S. is starting to revive. In a good sign for American producers, exports rose for the second straight month. That could be a signal global demand also is starting to rebound. Imports of goods and services climbed 2.3 percent to $152.8 billion. A 23.8 percent jump in petroleum to $21.5 billion led the increase. That was the largest amount this year, reflecting higher volume and rising oil prices. Imports of other products also rose, led by autos, computers and civi...

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06:30:17 –
Schumacher 'really sad' about canceling comeback
Associated Press
0%
4.4
GENEVA (AP) -- Michael Schumacher says deciding to cancel his much-anticipated Formula One comeback was a "really sad moment." He had wanted to help the Ferrari team by replacing injured driver Felipe Massa but was unable to do so because of lingering injuries from a motorcycle crash six months ago. Schumacher said Wednesday that test-driving an F1 car at the Mugello track in Italy last week showed he wasn't up to a comeback. Schumacher's doctor, Johannes Peil, says the German's most serious injury was at the base of his skull but he was otherwise fit. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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06:30:17 –
Clinton presses Nigeria on graft
Associated Press
61.35%
4.55
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday urged oil-rich Nigeria to embrace broad political reform and ease tensions that have led to sectarian violence and disrupted energy production in the Niger Delta. In the Nigerian capital of Abuja on the fifth stop in a seven-nation tour Africa, Clinton said that action on those fronts was needed to protect the country's status as the continent's largest oil producer and largest recipient of direct U.S. investment. "It is critical for the people of Nigeria, first and foremost, but indeed for the United States that Nigeria succeeds in fulfilling its promise," Clinton told a news conference after meeting Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe. "We strongly support and encourage the government of Nigeria's efforts to increase transparency, reduce corruption (and) provide support for democratic processes in preparation for the 2011 elections," she said. U.S. officials regard Nigeria, Africa's most populou...

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06:30:18 –
Kia Motors says 2nd quarter profit soars
Associated Press
15.81%
1.5
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Wednesday that second-quarter net profit quadrupled amid higher sales as the company benefited from weakness in the local currency. Kia Motors earned 347.1 billion won (US$279 million) in the three months ending June 30, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company posted net profit of 86 billion won a year earlier. Sales during the quarter rose 11.5 percent to 4.68 trillion won from 4.19 trillion won a year earlier, Kia said. In a statement, Kia said that weakness in the South Korean won against the dollar helped boost sales revenue during the first two quarters of this year. A weaker won can boost profits earned abroad when repatriated and can make South Korean products cheaper in overseas markets. Kia sold 74 percent of its vehicles overseas during the first six months of 2009 based on figures provided by the company. Shares in Kia, which released earnings results about one hour aft...

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06:30:19 –
Jamaica asks IAAF to withdraw athletes from worlds
Associated Press
51.45%
2.88
BERLIN (AP) -- The Jamaican team asked track's governing body to withdraw six athletes, including former 100-meter world-record holder Asafa Powell and two Olympic gold medalists, from the world championships entry list Wednesday in an apparent dispute over training camp attendance. IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss said the request was made early Wednesday but didn't disclose a reason. The Jamaican athletics federation has been in a dispute with several athletes over a training camp for worlds. The other athletes are 100 Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser, 400 hurdles Olympic gold medalist Melaine Walker, hurdler Brigitte Foster-Hylton, sprinter Shericka Williams and 400 runner Kaliese Spence. The request could be rescinded because the final entry list has to be with organizers 48 hours before the opening event. The worlds start Saturday in Berlin, and the withdrawals will only become official at midday Thursday. Jamaican officials attending the IAAF congress declined to immedia...

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07:00:40 –
Putin Pedges Massive Military Spending in Abkhazia
NY Times
0%
5.75
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the country will spend at least 15 billion rubles ($470 million) next year to build Russian military bases in Abkhazia and tighten the separatist Georgian region's borders.Putin's pledge in an interview with Abkhazian media comes on Wednesday's anniversary of the cease-fire in last year's war with Georgia in which Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke from Georgian control.Russia subsequently recognized both regions as independent, a move either denounced or ignored by almost all other countries. Putin's pledge on military spending underlines Russia's firm intention to keep the regions from being reintegrated with Georgia....

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07:00:47 –
Russian Warships Join Hunt For Missing Cargo Ship
NY Times
31.14%
5
MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - Russian warships joined an international search on Wednesday for a 4,000 tonne cargo ship that mysteriously disappeared off the coast of France two weeks ago, leading to speculation it may have been hijacked.The Maltese-flagged bulk carrier, Arctic Sea, with a 15-strong Russian crew, failed to arrive at the Algerian port of Bejaia on August 4 as planned and the last communication with it occurred on July 28."Under the orders of President Dmitry Medvedev all Russian navy ships in the Atlantic have been sent to join the search for the Arctic Sea," news agency Itar Tass quoted Navy commander, Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, as saying.Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the Arctic Sea last made radio contact with maritime officials on July 28 before entering the Dover Strait between Britain and France.The Malta Maritime Authority said it received reports it was boarded by men posing as police in Swedish waters on July 24, days before it entered the Dover Stra...

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07:10:12 –
Obama to present 16 with Presidential Medal of Freedom
CNN
60.52%
3.5
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A pioneer, a preacher, an activist and an athlete are among 16 people who President Obama will honor Wednesday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the nation's highest civilian honor. Tennis star Billie Jean King is being honored as a champion of equality. ...

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07:10:15 –
Two journalists wounded in Afghanistan
CNN
100%
5.81
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two journalists working for Associated Press were wounded when they were struck by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the news agency reported Wednesday. Emilio Morenatti, a photographer, and Andi Jatmiko, a cameraman, were traveling with the U.S. military in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday when their vehicle was hit by the bomb, the AP reported. They were immediately taken to a military hospital in Kandahar. Morenatti was badly wounded in the leg and his foot was amputated; Jatmiko suffered leg wounds and two broken ribs, the AP said. Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, is based in Islamabad and has worked for the AP in Afghanistan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 2009 by Pictures of the Year International. Jatmiko, 44, from Indonesia, has reported for the AP from throughout Asia for more than 10 years. ...

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07:10:16 –
How can I ease peripheral neuropathy pain?
CNN
0%
0
...

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07:10:17 –
Mapping the world, one street at a time
CNN
20.81%
1.89
(CNN) -- Between GPS devices on your car's dashboard and digital maps of almost any locale in the world on your smartphone or laptop, it's hard to get lost these days. Each orange Tele Atlas mapping van has six cameras, two side-sweeping lasers and a GPS on its roof. var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChange...

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07:10:19 –
Beating Badwater, the hardest ultramarathon in the world
CNN
34.51%
3.64
DEATH VALLEY, California (CNN) -- Today, you get a call from a friend. They need a favor. ...

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07:20:31 –
India monsoon woes mount, industrial growth cheers
Reuters
43.39%
3.45
By Ratnajyoti Dutta and Manoj Kumar NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's monsoon rainfall deficit has widened further, increasing the risk of crop damage, but its impact on the country's economy was offset by high growth in June industrial output due to buoyant consumer demand. The shortfall in rains increased by one percentage point from the previous day to 29 percent on August 10, with rains in the soybean-growing central region weakening, government sources said on Wednesday, raising the prospect of higher imports by the world's top edible oil buyer. The deficit in the soybean-growing region of central India widened by 1 percentage point to 20 percent, while rainfall deficiency in cane-producing northwestern India remained unchanged at 42 percent. In sharp contrast to the gloom in the farm sector India's June industrial output expanded 7.8 percent, its fastest pace in 16 months, beating forecasts by a wide margin as higher salaries of government ...

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07:20:32 –
Putin visits Abkhazia, vows Russian defense
Reuters
38.22%
4.44
By Gleb Bryanski SUKHUMI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the breakaway region of Abkhazia on Wednesday, pledging half a billion dollars to strengthen the defenses of the Moscow-backed rebel enclave. Russia recognized Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent states last year after Russian troops repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five day war which ended on August 12, 2008. Tensions have been rising along the de facto borders between the regions and Georgia proper, raising concerns that another conflict could be easily sparked. "With today's Georgian leadership, you cannot rule anything out," Putin said in an interview with Abkhaz reporters when asked if there would be a repeat of last year's war. Putin, who arrived by helicopter in the local capital Sukhumi, said Russia would spend 15-16 billion roubles ($500 million) in 2010 on strengthenin...

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07:20:34 –
Shifting allegiances underscore Afghan poll risks
Reuters
48.78%
3.13
By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - A group of Turkmen elders, upset they couldn't get an audience with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, announced on Wednesday they were switching support to his main challenger in August 20 election. The change of allegiance underscores the tightrope that politicians in Afghanistan must tread when dealing with a dozen different ethnic groups scattered over 34 provinces. Some 36 candidates are running for president in next week's election, which comes against a backdrop of rising violence and bloody clashes between Taliban insurgents and government forces backed up by more than 100,000 foreign troops. Afghans frequently vote along ethnic lines and Karzai is expected to win the race on the back of support from his fellow majority Pashtuns. But if he doesn't win more than 50 percent in the first round he likely faces a run-off against his main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, and the vo...

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07:20:34 –
Gunmen kidnap campaign workers in Afghanistan
Reuters
0%
5
KABUL (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen abducted three people on Wednesday campaigning for a leading candidate in Afghanistan's presidential election, with the vote just eight days away. They were campaigning in northwest Badghis province for former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah, who is running second to incumbent President Hamid Karzai in the August 20 poll. Abdullah's representative complained the government had not provided them with security. "We informed the government about our trip ... but we got none," said Abdul Ghafar Jalali, a press officer for Abdullah's campaign office in Badghis. "We hold the government responsible," he said. Badghis deputy governor Abdul Ghani Saberi confirmed the abduction but said Abdullah's campaign office had not asked for protection. Last month the Afghan government said it had struck a ceasefire with insurgents in some districts of Badghis to allow people to vote. Violence in Afghanista...

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07:20:36 –
Witnesses held as China quake activist trial starts
Reuters
81.37%
4.42
BEIJING (Reuters) - A famous Chinese artist was roughed up and reporters and witnesses detained on Wednesday, the first day of the trial of a Chinese activist who investigated the death toll from last year's devastating Sichuan earthquake. Tan Zuoren is formally accused of defaming the Communist Party in emailed comments about 1989's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Tiananmen square. His trial in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, adjourned without a verdict on Wednesday, said his lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang. Tan's supporters and Amnesty International say he was detained because he planned to issue an independent report on the collapse of school buildings during the Sichuan earthquake, in which more than 80,000 people died. Contemporary artist Ai Weiwei, who traveled to Chengdu to testify, said he and 10 other volunteers were woken by police entering their hotel rooms before dawn on Wednesday, beaten up and prevented from leaving un...

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07:30:12 –
Iran suggests jailed French woman may make bail
Associated Press
62.7%
5.4
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A semi-official Iranian news agency is quoting a top prosecutor as suggesting that a French academic accused of spying in a mass trial could be released on bail. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Tehran Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi Wednesday as saying that even if an agreement is reached to release Clotilde Reiss on bail, she will not be allowed to leave Iran. The official IRNA quoted an "informed political source" as saying that the French Embassy in Tehran sent a note to the judiciary agreeing to deposit a bail in order to win Reiss's freedom. France is urging Iran to drop charges against Reiss and Nazak Afshar, a local staff member of the French Embassy in Tehran. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A key pro-reform political party blamed Iran's president and interior minister Wednesday for the abuse and death of protesters detained after the disputed presidential ele...

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07:30:12 –
Romanian movie opens 15th Sarajevo Film Festival
Associated Press
54.71%
4.67
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -- The 15th Sarajevo Film Festival kicks off Wednesday evening, bringing such Hollywood celebrities as Gillian Anderson and Mickey Rourke to an event born in a sandbag-protected basement during the Bosnian war. The Balkan region's most important film event now draws more than 100,000 people each year, a long way from its humble beginnings in a city roamed by snipers and blasted by mortar shells. This year's festival includes 232 films from 53 countries to be screened over nine days. It opens with "Tales from the Golden Age" a film by five Romanian directors, including Cristian Mungiu, whose abortion drama "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The film is made up five short stories dealing with the late communist period in Romania under the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. The festival will welcome regional and international stars including "X-Files" actress Anderson, and Rourke, whose comeback film "The Wrestler," for which he rece...

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07:30:13 –
Specter faces more questions on health care in Pa.
Associated Press
22.28%
3
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Sen. Arlen Specter faced more jeers and taunts during another town hall meeting that turned into a vocal debate about health care reform. More than 400 people packed into a Penn State University ballroom Wednesday morning. Opponents occasionally drowned out the Republican-turned-Democrat. Specter encountered a similar response at events Tuesday. Among the most common questions was whether the senator would sign up for a single-payer option if passed by Congress in health care legislation. Specter said he thinks a single-payer option ought to be on the table, but has little support in Congress. Earlier Wednesday, Specter said he thinks people angrily disrupting town halls are "not necessarily representative of America," but should be heard. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Arlen Specter said Wednesday he thinks people who have been angrily disrupting town hall meeti...

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07:30:13 –
NBC signs deal to air more live US gymnastics
Associated Press
32.09%
1.83
DALLAS (AP) -- USA Gymnastics signed a deal Wednesday to air its biggest events on NBC and cable partner Universal Sports through 2012. The agreement, combined with domestic and international contracts NBC has with swimming, skating, track and skiing, gives the networks the lion's share of the coverage of U.S. teams in five key Olympic sports at a time when the U.S. Olympic Committee is trying to start its own channel. "This makes sense to us for a lot of reasons," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "It's the natural partner for us and I think the natural partner for the Olympic movement." NBC has televised every Summer Olympics since 1988 and every Winter Olympics since 2002. USOC officials have heaped praise on NBC for its coverage and support but the relationship hit a snag last month when the USOC partnered with Comcast to form a new network that is expected to go to air after the Vancouver Olympics. The Comcast deal came about after negotiations with NBC and Universal ...

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07:30:14 –
Stocks jump ahead of Fed decision
Associated Press
19.57%
2.4
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors seized on a buying opportunity Wednesday, picking up bargain stocks after a big pullback. Stocks rose in light trading Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement. Major stock market indicators jumped 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which rose 100 points, reversing their big plunge on Tuesday. U.S. investors have been eager for more signs that the economy is strengthening and pulling out of recession. The latest assessment of the economy will come from the Fed, which ends a two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon with its rate decision and economic statement. "Everything still starts and stops with the Fed," said Larry Rosenthal, president at Financial Planning Services in Manassas, Va. It is widely expected that the central bank will hold the federal funds rate near zero. What investors are uncertain about it how the Fed will size up the economy - whether it sees further signs of strengthening that w...

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07:30:14 –
Santorum to visit Iowa to discuss GOP future
Associated Press
0%
2.43
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, the blunt-talking conservative who once was the No. 3 Senate Republican, will make appearances this fall in the early caucus state of Iowa. Santorum's scheduled to give a speech Oct. 1 at the University of Dubuque about the future of the Republican Party, John Brabender, his longtime political adviser, said Wednesday. Brabender said he's also attending a luncheon in Des Moines with an anti-abortion group. Brabender played down speculation that Santorum has presidential aspirations and said it's not necessarily the first step of a presidential run. "Rick Santorum certainly feels he has a lot to contribute to the party and feels that now is a good time particularly for conservatives to be willing to stand up and talk about some things," Brabender said. Santorum, 51, handily lost his seat to Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in 2006 as part of the anti-war and anti-incumbent tide. He works as a Fox News contributor and writes a column fo...

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07:30:15 –
Honeywell sells $185M of helicopter equipment
Associated Press
0%
3.78
PHOENIX (AP) -- Honeywell International Inc. said Wednesday it sold Britain's defense ministry helicopter equipment valued at $185 million to retrofit their fleet of Chinook helicopters used in Afghanistan. The defense ministry will purchase the Honeywell 55-L-714A engine and spares. The upgraded engine increases power by 17 percent, increases intervals between maintenance work and reduces fuel consumption by nearly 5 percent, Honeywell said. The Chinook is a heavy-lift transport helicopter that primarily moves troops, artillery, ammunition, fuel, water and equipment on the battlefield. Its also used for medical evacuation, disaster relief and search and rescue. The defense ministry will acquire the new helicopter engines in the next five years. Honeywell shares rose 53 cents to $35.95 in morning trading. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:15 –
Woman in head-to-toe swim suit denied pool entry
Associated Press
0%
4.4
PARIS (AP) -- French officials say a Muslim woman wearing a head-to-toe swimsuit has been denied access to a public swimming pool in a town southeast of Paris. Emerainville Mayor Alain Kelyor said Wednesday the 35-year-old woman was not allowed to swim in the pool wearing a so-called "burquini" covering her body from head to toe. Officials say the outfit is unhygienic and potentially harmful to other swimmers. The woman, a convert to Islam, has complained to police that the ban is discriminatory. The incident adds to controversy over the wearing of the head-to-toe burqa or other full-body coverings warn by some Muslim fundamentalists. President Nicolas Sarkozy wants them banned. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:16 –
Bondholders oppose Trump plan to retake casinos
Associated Press
0%
2.33
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Bondholders are challenging a plan to allow Donald Trump to retake control of his Atlantic City casino empire. They say the arrangement benefits only two people: one is the real estate tycoon and reality TV star and the other is the owner of Dallas based-Beal Bank. Bondholders would get nothing under the plan approved by Trump Entertainment Resorts. They want a judge to let them buy the company out of bankruptcy for more than Trump had offered. They also want to complete the on-again, off-again sale of Trump Marina Hotel Casino. The bondholders are offering $175 million for the three casinos, and would complete the sale of Trump Marina for another $75 million. Trump and Beal Bank offered $100 million. A judge must decide who will get the company. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:17 –
Yemeni government counters Shiite rebellion
Associated Press
66.23%
6.28
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni government forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shiite rebels near the border with Saudi Arabia killing dozens in an escalation of the five-year-old conflict, rebels and local officials said Wednesday. The government offensive, which is believed to have started late Tuesday and continued Wednesday, followed reports of rebels seizing more control of the northern Saada province from government forces. A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to respond to the rebels "with an iron-fist." Government and rebel sources gave conflicting reports about an air strike Wednesday that killed at least 15 people in the area of Haydan in southwestern Saada province, which has been the scene of heavy bombardment. A local government official said the 20 killed were rebels, while the rebel spokesman maintained 15 civilians killed in an open air market by the air strike. In addition to the latest strike, a Health Ministry off...

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07:30:17 –
Satirical party campaigns to rebuild Berlin Wall
Associated Press
30.12%
4
BERLIN (AP) -- A satirical political party that calls for rebuilding the Berlin Wall has launched a campaign fronting a chancellor candidate chosen at a casting call to add pizzaz and humor to Germany's largely predictable parliamentary election. Called simply The Party, the group is so small - in 2004 they won only 0.4 percent of the vote - it has been barred from appearing on the Sept. 27 ballot. But that hasn't stopped it from campaigning. Party leader Martin Sonneborn, former editor of German satirical magazine Titanik, says the idea of resurrecting the old barrier that once divided the German capital has "won great favor in both the East and the West." "We've hit upon a basic human need - the need to fence oneself off," Sonneborn told The Associated Press on Tuesday, taping a poster over an ad for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, who leads the polls by a wide margin. Resurrecting the wall, Sonneborn claims, would create some 80,000 jobs, which would help ...

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07:30:19 –
Median home price rise from 1st quarter to 2nd
Associated Press
0%
0.5
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A real estate group says U.S. home prices posted a gain in the second quarter, another sign that the ailing housing market is finally coming to life. The National Association of Realtors says the median sales price in the quarter was $174,100, up 4 percent from the first quarter, but still almost 16 percent below a year ago. Prices, however, were still down from a year ago in 129 out of 155 metropolitan areas the group tracks. Total sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million, from 4.58 million in the first quarter, but were still about 3 percent below a year ago. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:19 –
Solar maker ReneSola posts 2Q loss
Associated Press
0%
1.67
JIASHAN, China (AP) -- Chinese solar maker ReneSola Ltd. on Wednesday posted a second-quarter loss as revenue fell 52 percent from a year ago. ReneSola said it lost $3.6 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a profit of $23.3 million, or 19 cents a share, last year. Revenue for the period ended June 30 fell to $82.6 million from $173 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 6 cents a share on revenue of $90.2 million. ReneSola shares fell 2 cents to $5.63 in morning trading. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:20 –
Ousted Honduran leader asks for more US help
Associated Press
0%
2.33
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya says the United States could help restore him to power by putting more economic pressure on the Central American country's interim administration. Zelaya says the U.S. has firmly supported him. But he says that President Barack Obama's administration could amp up steps on the economic front. Zelaya did not offer specifics Wednesday during an interview with the state-run TV Brasil. The U.S. is Honduras' biggest trade partner and its largest source of direct foreign investment. Obama's government has already suspended $18 million in development aid. Zelaya is in Brazil to meet with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He says he has been pleased with Brazil's support to restore him to power. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:21 –
Dish Network to launch $1B debt offering
Associated Press
0%
1.67
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- Satellite-TV services provider Dish Network Corp. said Wednesday its subsidiary plans to launch a $1 billion debt offering. The subsidiary, Dish DBS, will use the proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, the company said. Dish Network said Monday that its second-quarter profit slid 81 percent on TiVo Inc. litigation costs and rising expenses, but the nation's second largest satellite TV provider managed to add subscribers and maintain revenue. The company's low-cost provider approach has been weakened by competitors' aggressive promotional pricing. Signal theft and other types of fraud have also hurt the company, it said. Earlier this month, DirecTV Group Inc., the nation's largest satellite TV operator, also reported a drop in profit as higher customer-acquisition costs offset revenue growth. Shares of Dish Network are up 67 percent for the year and fell 1 cent to $18.52 in Wednesday morning trading. © 2009 The Associated Press. All r...

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07:30:21 –
Oil steady below $70 amid weak crude demand
Associated Press
27.94%
3.43
VIENNA (AP) -- Oil prices lingered below $70 a barrel Wednesday after several organizations said global demand for crude would improve only gradually as economies struggle to emerge from recession. Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 12 cents to $69.57 a barrel by afternoon European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract fell $1.15 to settle at $69.45. Of the organizations forecasting the size of the world's appetite for crude, the International Energy Agency provided the most bullish figures. It raised its figures for this year and next on Wednesday based on an expected increased in oil consumption in China despite weakening demand in Europe and North America. The Paris-based agency added 70,000 barrels a day to its 2010 forecast of global oil demand. The new prediction of 85.3 million barrels a day is a 1.6 percent increase over this year. In its closely watched monthly survey, the IEA also increased its 2009 forecast by 190,000...

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07:30:23 –
A look at the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro
Associated Press
0%
0.5
2010 Chevrolet Camaro LT Coupe BASE PRICE: $22,245 for LS; $23,880 for LT. AS TESTED: $29,445. TYPE: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive, four-passenger, sport coupe. ENGINE: 3.6-liter, double overhead cam, direct injection V-6 with VVT. MILEAGE: 18 mpg (city), 29 mpg (highway). TOP SPEED: NA. LENGTH: 190.4 inches. WHEELBASE: 112.3 inches. CURB WEIGHT: 3,719 pounds. BUILT AT: Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. OPTIONS: RS package (includes 20-inch, upgraded, painted aluminum wheels, rear spoiler, unique tail lamps, high intensity discharge headlights) $1,750; six-speed automatic transmission $995; power sunroof $900; convenience and connectivity package (includes Bluetooth for phone, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob) $655; 20-inch wheels $470. DESTINATION CHARGE: $795. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:23 –
2010 Chevrolet Camaro not just a throwback
Associated Press
19.29%
3.22
Hope you're not tired of retro-styled cars just yet because one of the best just arrived in showrooms. The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro is a visual rendition of the 1969 Camaro but with a sinister flair provided by bulging fenders and large wheels. A windshield and side windows give passengers the feel of being behind gun slits in a military vehicle. The new Camaro is substantial, too. The base car, with V-6 and manual transmission, weighs nearly 3,800 pounds, which is akin to a Chevy Colorado Crew Cab pickup truck. At 75.5 inches wide, the Camaro is wider than many sport utility vehicles. And with 304 horsepower in the base model, it offers much more power than base versions of the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger. Unfortunately, though, the new Camaro received only four out of five stars for driver and front passenger protection in federal government frontal crash testing and only four stars for driver protection in side crash testing. Major competitors - the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challen...

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07:30:24 –
Jury deliberating again in Ga. terror video trial
Associated Press
0%
5.5
ATLANTA (AP) -- Jurors are deliberating for the second day to decide the fate of a 23-year-old man charged with aiding terror groups abroad. Ehsanul Islam Sadequee (EH'-suh-nool sah-DEE'-kee) is charged with sending homemade videos of Washington landmarks to overseas terrorists. Prosecutors also say he journeyed to Bangladesh to pursue "violent jihad." Sadequee is representing himself. He told jurors he never helped terrorists. He said the video he shot was "amateurish and useless" and added: "I was not then, and am not now, a terrorist." Jurors deliberated for about three hours on Tuesday and returned Wednesday morning. Sadequee faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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07:30:24 –
Falling fish shatters Ohio driver's windshield
Associated Press
0%
2.4
MARBLEHEAD, Ohio (AP) -- A woman in Ohio is telling a fish story about one that got away - from a bird, and damaged her car. Authorities in northwest Ohio say the fish - a Lake Erie freshwater drum, known as a sheepshead - smashed a car windshield Tuesday when an eagle dropped its catch from a height of about 40 feet. Leighann Niles says the impact felt like a brick hitting her Toyota's windshield. The woman from the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid was vacationing along the lake in Marblehead. Niles says she had thought herself lucky to escape damage in another animal encounter shortly before the fishy one. She says a truck hit a small bird, which struck her back passenger door and startled her 5-year-old daughter. --- Information from: Sandusky Register, http://www.sanduskyregister.com/cgi-bin/liveique.acgi$schfrontpage?frontpage © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about o...

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08:00:36 –
Iran Suggests Jailed French Woman May Make Bail
NY Times
64.94%
5.4
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A semi-official Iranian news agency is quoting a top prosecutor as suggesting that a French academic accused of spying in a mass trial could be released on bail.The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Tehran Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi Wednesday as saying that even if an agreement is reached to release Clotilde Reiss on bail, she will not be allowed to leave Iran.The official IRNA quoted an ''informed political source'' as saying that the French Embassy in Tehran sent a note to the judiciary agreeing to deposit a bail in order to win Reiss's freedom.France is urging Iran to drop charges against Reiss and Nazak Afshar, a local staff member of the French Embassy in Tehran.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A key pro-reform political party blamed Iran's president and interior minister Wednesday for the abuse and death of protesters detained after the disputed presidential election ...

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08:00:39 –
Explosion, Gunfire at Pakistan Checkpoint Kill 2
NY Times
0%
6.5
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) -- Police in the western Pakistani city of Quetta say a bomb and gunfire attack has targeted a paramilitary checkpoint, killing at least two passers-by and wounding four people, including a police officer.Senior police officer Mohammad Suleman said a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded Wednesday near a Frontier Corps checkpoint in central Quetta, followed by gunmen on another motorcycle opening fire.Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan, where ethnic Baluch militants have been waging a low-level insurgency in the impoverished but oil-rich province for decades.Suleman said Baluch separatists were suspected of having carried out the attack....

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08:00:45 –
Australian Inquiry Blames Captain for WWII Tragedy
NY Times
60.74%
5.86
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- A military inquiry on Wednesday blamed a navy captain's ''errors of judgment'' for one of Australia's worst maritime tragedies, in which 645 crew were lost when a cruiser was sunk by a German raider during World War II.The loss of the HMAS Sydney in a fierce battle with the smaller HSK Kormoran, a converted freighter, off the west Australian coast on Nov. 19, 1941, stunned Australia. The mystery captured imaginations for generations, prompting numerous searches and countless theories to explain the total absence of Australian survivors.The Australian defense chief who ordered the inquiry after the wreckage of the Sydney was found last year along with vital new evidence of its final battle said its report answered important questions about the circumstances of the tragedy.''For a long time, our nation has struggled to understand how our greatest maritime disaster occurred,'' Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston said in a statement.The inquiry report accepted the ...

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08:00:48 –
Russian Republic Minister Shot to Death
NY Times
100%
6.73
NAZRAN, Russia (AP) -- The construction minister in Russia's violence-plagued Ingushetia was shot to death in his office Wednesday, the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on top officials in the restive republic.Ruslan Amerkhanov was shot by two men who entered his office in the republic's capital Magas, one armed with an assault rifle and the other with a pistol, said Ingush Interior Ministry spokeswoman Madina Khadziyeva. The minister's assistant was wounded in the shooting, she said.The assailants fled in a waiting car.Ingush Security Council secretary Alexei Vorobyov said investigators believe the killing could be related to recent audits of construction projects that turned up building violations and misuse of funds.Ingushetia, which borders war-battered Chechnya, in recent months has seen near-daily attacks on police or police operations against fighters variously believed to be militants inspired by Chechnya's separatists or connected with criminal clans.In June, Ingush ...

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08:00:53 –
Yemeni Government Counters Shiite Rebellion
NY Times
68.21%
6.28
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni government forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shiite rebels near the border with Saudi Arabia killing dozens in an escalation of the five-year-old conflict, rebels and local officials said Wednesday.The government offensive, which is believed to have started late Tuesday and continued Wednesday, followed reports of rebels seizing more control of the northern Saada province from government forces. A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to respond to the rebels ''with an iron-fist.''Government and rebel sources gave conflicting reports about an air strike Wednesday that killed at least 15 people in the area of Haydan in southwestern Saada province, which has been the scene of heavy bombardment.A local government official said the 20 killed were rebels, while the rebel spokesman maintained 15 civilians killed in an open air market by the air strike.In addition to the latest strike, a Health Ministry official ...

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08:10:14 –
Make sure your resume is in HD
CNN
0%
0
...

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08:10:15 –
World population projected to reach 7 billion next year
CNN
71.43%
2.64
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The world's population is forecast to hit 7 billion next year, the vast majority of its growth coming in developing and, in many cases, the poorest nations, a report released Wednesday said. Riders cram into a train last month in New Delhi, India. India's population is expected to be 1.7 billion by 2050. A staggering 97 percent of global growth over the next 40 years will happen in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Population Reference Bureau's 2009 World Population Data Sheet. "The great bulk of today's 1.2 billion youth -- nearly 9...

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08:10:17 –
Congressman: Hate mail, Nazi graffiti follow health care protests
CNN
48.78%
4.8
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Georgia congressman said Wednesday he's received death threats and found Nazi graffiti outside his office in the aftermath of heated protests about health care reform. Rep. David Scott's staff found a swastika on a sign outside his district office in Georgia. David Scott, a Democrat from north-central Georgia, told CNN he has received several offensive faxes and letters, including some with death threats and racial abuse. Scott is black. His district includes part of metro Atlanta. The congressman showed CNN a cartoon of Barack Obama, depicting the president a...

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08:10:22 –
How 6 people accidentally found a fortune
CNN
0%
0
...

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08:10:24 –
Man arrested over $65M jewelry heist
CNN
69.11%
5.63
LONDON, England (CNN) -- London police have arrested a man in connection with a brazen daylight robbery of a jewelry store last week, they announced Wednesday. Security camera footage shows images of the men wanted by police. The 50-year-old man was arrested on Monday, police revealed. Some $65 million in merchandise was stolen in the August 6 robbery. On Tuesday police released surveillance camera photos of two men sought for questioning over the heist as well as images of some of the rings, bracelets, necklaces and watches taken from Graff Jewellers on central London's New Bond Street...

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08:20:40 –
Afghan vote: high noon for Karzai and Obama
Reuters
62.75%
4.42
By Peter Graff - Analysis KABUL (Reuters) - When Afghans defy Taliban threats of bloodshed to stage an election on August 20, their charming but care-worn president Hamid Karzai will not be the only leader with his future on the line. Thousands of miles away, Barack Obama, who has wagered U.S. foreign policy on a rapid and overwhelming military escalation in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban, has almost as much at stake. Whoever wins, holding a successful election with a result that Afghans accept is crucial not just for Afghanistan, but also for Obama's revamped strategy to defeat the insurgents, the biggest foreign policy gamble of his own young U.S. presidency. Karzai is still favorite to win, either with a first-round majority or in a run-off six weeks later, but he no longer wears the air of certain triumph he carried into Afghanistan's euphoric first democratic election five years ago. This time, he faces two stronger foes -- one...

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08:20:41 –
Iran arrests members of Sunni rebel group: agency
Reuters
96.55%
7.29
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Wednesday it had arrested four members of Jundollah, a Sunni rebel group which Tehran has blamed for bombings and "terrorist" activities in the past, the student news agency ISNA reported. Jundollah (God's soldiers) claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a Shi'ite mosque in Zahedan, capital of the volatile southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, in late May which killed 25 people. Iran, which is predominantly Shi'ite, has linked Jundollah to the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network. ISNA quoted an intelligence ministry statement as saying the four Jundollah members were arrested in Sistan-Baluchestan. "Four terrorists ... linked to the Rigi group have been arrested ... the group had plans to carry out bombings in several places in Iran," the statement said. "A large amount of explosives and weaponry was found in the hiding place of these terrorists." Iran hanged 13 members of the group in Jul...

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08:20:42 –
Sri Lanka's spies in war to crush rebel remnants
Reuters
48.89%
6.18
By Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's capture of a van packed with explosives by Tamil Tiger rebels gave a glimpse into the intelligence war the government is waging against the remnant operatives of a group finally defeated on the battlefield in May. The military on Wednesday said a tipoff from a captured rebel led it to recover the van filled with 20 5-kg claymore antipersonnel mines in the northeastern city of Mannar, and arrest three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) operatives. "Still there are isolated LTTE cadres operating. They may be getting instructions from overseas operatives and sympathizers," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. LTTE operatives overseas may be keen to carry out a suicide attack to re-energize supporters demoralized since the military won a 25-year war in May and killed nearly all of the LTTE's top ranks including founder-leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran. "Despite the leaders...

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08:20:43 –
Kuwait foils Qaeda plan to attack oil refinery
Reuters
59.37%
4.69
By Eman Goma KUWAIT (Reuters) - Detained members of an al Qaeda-linked group planned to attack Kuwait's Shuaiba oil refinery during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, a security official said on Wednesday. Kuwait, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, said on Tuesday it had foiled a plan by the six-member al Qaeda-linked network to bomb the U.S. Army camp of Arifjan, state security headquarters, and "important facilities," but gave no further details on the other potential targets. "The group planned to attack Shuaiba during Ramadan," the security official told Reuters. Ramadan is due to begin around August 22. The aging 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) Shuaiba plant is the smallest of the OPEC member's three refineries, which have a combined capacity of around 930,000 bpd. Al Qaeda, hard hit by government forces across the Arabian Peninsula, appears to be trying to regroup around it Yemeni wing, which announced plans earlier this year to wid...

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08:30:12 –
Man held in fatal California toll bridge shootings
Associated Press
52.98%
6.38
RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) -- Police say they've arrested a man suspected of gunning down two people at a San Francisco Bay-area toll bridge. California Highway Patrol officers arrested 46-year-old Nathaniel Burris at about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday in Placer County, about 120 miles northeast of the shooting. Authorities say he was sleeping in an airport shuttle van, but drove off after CHP officers approached and surrendered after a chase. He's suspected of being the driver who opened fire with a shotgun Tuesday, killing a toll booth collector and someone in a truck nearby. The toll booth collector was Burris' girlfriend, 51-year-old Deborah Ross. The other victim was 58-year-old Ersie Everett. Authorities say they don't know the nature of the relationship between the victims. --- Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) - Police say t...

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08:30:13 –
Analyst cuts some Pinnacle Entertainment estimates
Associated Press
27.4%
1.67
NEW YORK (AP) -- A JPMorgan analyst lowered some of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.'s earnings estimates Wednesday following the casino operator's recent senior notes offering. On Monday Las Vegas-based Pinnacle closed a private offering of $450 million senior notes due 2017. The casino operator also announced that it bought about $125.5 million of its senior subordinated notes due 2013 submitted before an early tender expired. Pinnacle said at the time that it used part of the proceeds from its senior notes offering to finance the purchase of the subordinated notes. Joseph Greff reduced Pinnacle's third-quarter profit estimate to 5 cents per share from 6 cents per share and trimmed his full-year forecast to 20 cents per share from 24 cents per share. For 2010, the analyst cut his estimate to 4 cents per share from 16 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predict third-quarter net income of 5 cents per share and full-year profit of 12 cents per share. They expect earnin...

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08:30:13 –
McGraw, Black Eyed Peas to perform at NFL opener
Associated Press
0%
0.67
NEW YORK (AP) -- Tim McGraw and the Black Eyed Peas are scheduled to perform before the NFL season opener. The NFL announced the musical artists Wednesday for the game between the Super Bowl champion Steelers and the Tennessee Titans in Pittsburgh on Thursday, Sept. 10. McGraw and Black Eyed Peas, both three-time Grammy winners, will hold a free concert open to the public at Point State Park. Natasha Bedingfield, Keith Urban and Usher performed before last year's opener in New York. EA Sports sponsors the event. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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08:30:13 –
International Paper buys back $567.5M in notes
Associated Press
0%
2
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- International Paper Co. on Wednesday said its offer to buy back $1 billion worth of notes has been accepted by almost 57 percent of their holders. The top producer of cardboard box parts in North America said its tender offer, which expired on Tuesday night, was accepted by the holders of $567.5 million worth of the notes. The company had offered to buy back all of the notes, which were 7.4 percent notes due in 2014. The company paid $1,100 per $1,000 in principal on the notes. It paid for the repurchase with new 7.5 percent, 12-year notes. International Paper shares rose 90 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $20.25 in morning trading. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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08:30:14 –
ACLU: NC Activist can warn students about military
Associated Press
59.85%
3.92
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A rural North Carolina school district with a proud military tradition has surrendered to a Quaker peace activist's request for access to high school students so she can warn them about joining the military, attorneys said Wednesday. For years, Sally Ferrell had been asking permission to talk to students about alternatives to joining the military. The Wilkes County School Board had denied her access, even though military recruiters are typically allowed in school, and the superintendent had called her activities unpatriotic. The American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that Ferrell's plight was a matter of free speech, said attorneys reached a settlement this week with school officials granting the group, North Carolina Peace Action, the same opportunities as military recruiters. Ferrell said in a statement she looks forward to providing job-related information. She has previously touted AmeriCorps and other alternatives to the military. In part, the agree...

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08:30:15 –
Filipino troops kill 20 Muslim extremists in raids
Associated Press
100%
6.48
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Hundreds of soldiers launched an assault on two jungle encampments of al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least 20 gunmen and seizing bombs that had been set to explode, military officials said. The simultaneous, pre-dawn attacks on two Abu Sayyaf encampments in hilly Silangkum and Baguindan villages on Basilan Island sparked fierce fighting that continued late in the day. The number of troop casualties was not known, Philippine navy Rear Admiral Alex Pama said. About 500 army troops, marines and police special commandos targeted Abu Sayyaf chieftains Khair Mundus and Furuji Indama, but it was not immediately clear if they were among the dead, said Pama, who helped oversee the assault. Military officials have blamed the two for past bombings and kidnappings. All the dead were recovered by troops in Baguindan. Soldiers and marines may find more slain militants when they scour Silangkum on Thursday, said regional ...

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08:30:15 –
Obama, Sotomayor note her ascendancy to high court
Associated Press
85.86%
1.88
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama rejoiced Wednesday in the ascendancy of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, saying her achievement will be an inspiration for generations. "When Justice Sotomayor put her hand on that Bible and took that oath ... we came yet another step to the more perfect union that we all seek," Obama told a White House reception for Sotomayor. The ceremony was packed with family and friends of Sotomayor, who has become the first Hispanic and third woman on the high court bench. Lawmakers, issue advocates, Hispanic community leaders and others who helped shepherd her confirmation through the Senate came to watch as she appeared with the president for remarks. "While this is Justice Sotomayor's achievement, the result of her ability and determination," Obama said, "this moment is not just about her. It's about every child who will grow up thinking to him- or herself, `If Sonia Sotomayor can make it, then maybe I can too.' " Following Obama at the lecter...

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08:30:17 –
Pro-reform party blames Iran's president for abuse
Associated Press
60.42%
5.4
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A key pro-reform political party blamed Iran's president and interior minister Wednesday for the abuse and death of protesters detained after the disputed presidential election at a facility the group likened to Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison. Reformists have seized on the mistreatment of detainees at Kahrizak prison as a way to keep pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who they claim stole the June 12 election through massive fraud. Influential conservatives have also criticized the abuse at Kahrizak and the three deaths known to have taken place there. Senior police and judiciary officials have tried to calm public outrage by acknowledging that some detainees were abused in prison and calling for those responsible to be punished. The Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organization said Wednesday that Ahmadinejad and Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli were to blame for the "crimes committed at Abu Ghraib Kahrizak." "These two people are responsible for all ...

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08:30:17 –
Ship passes through Channel and then disappears
Associated Press
33.03%
4
LONDON (AP) -- First the ship reported it had been attacked in waters off Sweden. Then it sailed with no apparent problems through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. And then it disappeared. The Arctic Sea, a Maltese-flagged cargo ship, was supposed to make port in Algeria with its cargo of timber on Aug. 4. More than a week later, there's no sign of the ship or its Russian crew. Piracy has exploded off the coast of lawless Somalia - but could this be an almost unheard of case of sea banditry in European waters? "If this is a criminal act, it appears to be following a new business model," Marine intelligence expert Graeme Gibbon-Brooks told Sky News on Wednesday. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the country's defense minister on Wednesday to take "all necessary measures" to find the missing cargo ship and, if necessary, to free its crew, the Kremlin said. Wives and other relatives of the crew members issued an appeal to the Russian government to carry out a full-sc...

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08:30:18 –
Janus says tender offer expires, raises offer cap
Associated Press
0%
1.5
DENVER (AP) -- Janus Capital Group Inc. on Wednesday said its offer to repurchase outstanding notes has expired and it has raised the repurchase amount after a better-than-expected response from investors. The asset manager said investors tendered $182.8 million of its 5.875 percent notes due 2011, $179.1 million of its 6.25 percent notes due 2012 and $81.4 million of its 6.7 percent notes due 2017. That brings the total amount tendered to $443.3 million. The company originally offered to repurchase $437 million aggregate principal amount. It raised the cap Thursday to $444 million. Shares of Janus rose 81 cents to 6 percent in morning trading. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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08:30:18 –
Report: NASA can't keep up with killer asteroids
Associated Press
42.86%
3.92
WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA is charged with seeking out nearly all the asteroids that threaten Earth but doesn't have the money to do the job, a federal report says. That's because even though Congress assigned the space agency this mission four years ago, it never gave NASA money to build the necessary telescopes, the new National Academy of Sciences report says. Specifically, NASA has been ordered to spot 90 percent of the potentially deadly rocks hurtling through space by 2020. Even so, NASA says it's completed about one-third of its assignment with its current telescope system. NASA estimates that there are about 20,000 asteroids and comets in our solar system that are potential threats to Earth. They are larger than 460 feet in diameter - slightly smaller than the Superdome in New Orleans. So far, scientists know where about 6,000 of these objects are. Rocks between 460 feet and 3,280 feet in diameter can devastate an entire region but not the entire globe, said Lindley Johnson, N...

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08:30:20 –
WTO win could open China's door to US companies
Associated Press
0%
2
GENEVA (AP) -- The United States has defeated China in a blockbuster ruling at the World Trade Organization that could provide massive market opportunities for American makers of everything from CDs and DVDs to music downloads and books. The verdict Wednesday finds definitively against China for forcing America media producers to route their business in China through Chinese state-owned companies. It could also set a larger precedent for others, such as U.S. automakers claiming to be hampered by cumbersome Chinese distribution rules. The WTO victory is the first for the Obama administration and comes as it is being pressed to be tough on trade rules with China, whom many Democrats in the U.S. Congress blame for America's soaring trade deficits and lost manufacturing jobs. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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08:30:21 –
American Dairy to raise $63M from selling shares
Associated Press
0%
1.67
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- American Dairy Inc., which makes and distributes infant formula, said Wednesday that private investment firm Sequoia Capital will pay $63 million for 2.1 million of its common shares. The purchase price includes $47 million in cash and the conversion of a $16 million bridge loan American Dairy received from Sequoia last month. The agreement also allows Sequoia to nominate someone to American Dairy's board and provides for additional shares to be issued to the private investment firm if some 2009 and 2010 earnings goals are not reached. Sequoia can also require a buyback of stock if certain events occur. The private placement is targeted to close on Aug. 27. In addition to infant formula, American Dairy makes and distributes milk powder, soybean, rice and walnut products in China. Shares of Beijing-based American Dairy gained $1.69, or 6.1 percent, to $29.48 in morning trading. Over the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $6.40 to $44. © 2009 The A...

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08:30:22 –
FBI expert testifies at Mumbai terror attack trial
Associated Press
64.71%
6.18
MUMBAI, India (AP) -- The gunmen who laid siege to the Indian city of Mumbai carried GPS devices and a satellite phone that shows they traveled from Pakistan to India, an FBI expert testified Wednesday at the trial of the lone surviving suspect. Police recovered the devices during their investigation of the November attack, which killed 166 people. One GPS device was found on the fishing boat the ten gunmen hijacked and used to sail to Mumbai. Another was recovered from the Jewish center Nariman House and two more from the Taj Mahal hotel, sites of two gunbattles, according to an investigation report. The data showed that the devices had traveled from a spot off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan, to Mumbai, the electronics expect from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said. The expert appeared anonymously per a court order. It also indicated that they had been used around Karachi, Mumbai and Rawalpindi, a city in northern Pakistan where the accused Ajmal Kasab has said he first...

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08:30:23 –
Progressive posts 40 percent income gain for July
Associated Press
27.3%
2.5
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio (AP) -- Auto-insurance provider Progressive Corp. said Tuesday its July income jumped 40 percent, as it reversed investment losses and settled certain cases for less than it had set aside to cover them. The company said net income rose to $114.9 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with $81.8 million, or 12 cents per share, in July 2008. Net premiums written slipped 1 percent to $1.37 billion, from $1.38 billion in the same month last year. Net premiums earned, or the portion of premiums an insurance company earns when polices expire, edged up to $1.33 billion, from $1.31 billion last year. Progressive said it saw a $37.3 million benefit from claims that settled for less than it had set aside to cover them in the past year. It posted $25.8 million in net realized gains on securities, or investments, compared with a loss of $16.1 million in July 2008. The company's combined ratio improved to 91 from 92.8. Combined ratio measures the sum of an insurance com...

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08:30:24 –
Sotomayor grateful to nation for unlikely rise
Associated Press
0%
2.22
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court's newest member and first Hispanic, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, has spoken emotionally about her ascension to the high court. Sotomayor addressed a White House audience Wednesday celebrating her swearing-in over the weekend. She mentioned her modest background and her gratitude to the country for rising so far. She said that it is "our nation's faith in a more perfect union that allows a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx to stand here now." That line earned her huge applause and a standing ovation from the audience of family, friends, Hispanic community leaders, lawmakers, fellow Supreme Court justices and others. Sotomayor said she was struck "by the wonder of my own life and the life we in America are so privileged to lead." © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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08:30:25 –
Home sales rise from 1st quarter to 2nd
Associated Press
40.65%
2.8
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. home sales grew in the second quarter in 39 states, another sign that the ailing housing market is finally coming to life. Total quarterly sales rose 3.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million, from 4.58 million in the first quarter, but were still about 3 percent below a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Sales posted quarterly gains of 20 percent or more in Idaho, Hawaii, New York, Wisconsin and Nebraska. But Alaska, Wyoming, California, Colorado and Michigan dropped by at least 6 percent. Prices, however, were still down from a year ago in 129 out of 155 metropolitan areas the group tracks. The median sales price in the quarter was $174,100, almost 16 percent below a year ago. The biggest drop, of nearly 53 percent, was in Fort Myers, Fla. Prices also fell 35 percent or more in Phoenix, Riverside, Calif. and Las Vegas. The biggest price gain, of nearly 31 percent, was in Davenport, Iowa, followed by Cumber...

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08:30:25 –
80 dogs seized in Ind. raids linked to fighting
Associated Press
0%
5.57
PAOLI, Ind. (AP) -- Authorities have seized about 80 pit bulls during raids at two southern Indiana sites suspected of breeding and training dogs for illegal fighting. State police say dog carcasses and dog fighting paraphernalia were also seized when the Indiana Gaming Commission and other agencies executed search warrants Tuesday in Orange County. Adam Parascandola of the Humane Society of the United States says many dogs had scars and marks consistent with fighting. Thirty-nine-year-old Brian E. Denny of French Lick was arrested on a preliminary charge of possession of animals for the purpose of animal fighting contests and an outstanding warrant for battery. He was released on bond. A phone number listed as Denny's was disconnected and he could not immediately be reached for comment. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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09:00:39 –
FBI Expert Testifies at Mumbai Terror Attack Trial
NY Times
69.18%
6.18
MUMBAI, India (AP) -- The gunmen who laid siege to the Indian city of Mumbai carried GPS devices and a satellite phone that shows they traveled from Pakistan to India, an FBI expert testified Wednesday at the trial of the lone surviving suspect.Police recovered the devices during their investigation of the November attack, which killed 166 people. One GPS device was found on the fishing boat the ten gunmen hijacked and used to sail to Mumbai. Another was recovered from the Jewish center Nariman House and two more from the Taj Mahal hotel, sites of two gunbattles, according to an investigation report.The data showed that the devices had traveled from a spot off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan, to Mumbai, the electronics expect from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said. The expert appeared anonymously per a court order.It also indicated that they had been used around Karachi, Mumbai and Rawalpindi, a city in northern Pakistan where the accused Ajmal Kasab has said he first came i...

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09:00:42 –
Syria Plays Mediator in Iran-France Tensions
NY Times
48%
4.4
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syria's assistance to France in winning the release of an embassy employee on trial in Tehran signaled to the West that Damascus wants to help defuse tensions over Iran's postelection turmoil, analysts said Wednesday.France on Tuesday specifically thanked Syria, Iran's closest Arab ally, among countries that had ''provided their support'' to help free Nazak Afshar, a French-Iranian citizen who is a defendant in a mass trial of pro-reform opposition supporters accused of trying to mount a ''soft'' revolution in Iran. An Iranian news agency reported Wednesday that French academic Clotilde Reiss, also on trial, could be released soon on bail.Afshar's release was ''a joint Iranian and Syria message'' to the West about readiness to improve ties, said Edmond Saab, executive editor of An-Nahar newspaper in Lebanon, where developments in Syria are closely watched.''It also points to the possibility that Syria, by virtue of its strong ties with Iran, can mediate between Iran and ...

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09:10:13 –
'Hard Knocks' follows challenged NFL team
CNN
39.67%
3.41
GEORGETOWN, Kentucky (CNN) -- It's morning at Georgetown College in Kentucky. An irresistible force of men in white jerseys smashes into an immovable object of men in black ones. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer sizes up the situation on "Hard Knocks." The Cincinnati Bengals training camp is under way, and cameras are there to capture the action for HBO's five-part fly-on-the-wall documentary series, "Hard Knocks." It's reality TV, NFL-style. The show takes an in-depth look at a professional football team's summer training camp and chronicles players' battle...

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09:10:15 –
Atlanta 'Housewives' star: We were not evicted
CNN
0%
0
...

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09:10:18 –
Police: Teen tried to swap child porn for car
CNN
40.63%
4.33
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish police have arrested an 18-year-old for allegedly trying to sell nude photographs of his 11-year-old sister in exchange for a car, police told CNN on Wednesday. The teenager did not get the car, but he did post several nude photographs of his sister online as a sample of what he could offer to the potential buyer, a 25-year-old man who has also been arrested, a police inspector said. "Both suspects testified that they had discussed exchanging the nude photographs of the girl for a car," said the inspector, who declined to be identified by name. The teenager, arrested Friday in the northern city of Pamplona, his hometown, is no longer living with his younger sister, the inspector said. The case began last year in the nearby city of Santander when a woman told police that her young daughter -- not the 11-year-old -- had been tricked into posting nude photographs of herself online, said a Spanish national police statement issued in Pamplona on Wedn...

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09:30:11 –
Jamaica changes mind on Powell, teammates
Associated Press
51.28%
2.3
BERLIN (AP) -- Jamaica withdrew its request to ban sprint star Asafa Powell and several teammates from the track world championships Wednesday, just hours after saying they would be kicked off the team. IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss said the world governing body put pressure on the Jamaican federation to change its mind because the exclusion of the six prominent athletes would reflect badly on the championship. The Jamaican federation has been in a dispute with the athletes after they missed a mandatory training camp for worlds last week. "We asked Jamaica to reconsider in the interest of sport," Weiss said. The championships begin Saturday with a program that includes the opening heat of the 100 meters, where Powell is a medal contender behind fellow Jamaican and Olympic champion Usain Bolt and defending world champion Tyson Gay. "We are all relieved to have that news," said Paul Doyle, the manager of five of the athletes. "It was all very unnecessary." The decision ended a ...

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09:30:12 –
Starwood Property Trust shares dip in debut trade
Associated Press
22.22%
1
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Starwood Property Trust Inc. declined on their first day of trading Wednesday even as the broader markets edged up. The company's initial public offering of 40.5 million common shares priced at $20 per share. The stock fell 24 cents to $19.76 in midday trading. Starwood Property Trust of Greenwich, Conn., focuses on managing and investing in commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. Starwood expects to raise about $830 million in proceeds - assuming the overallotment option is not exercised - which it plans to use to originate, finance and invest in commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank Securities and Citi are the joint book-running managers for the offering. Barclays Capital, Wells Fargo Securities, Calyon Securities Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Piper Jaffray and Scotia Capital are acting as co-managers. The underwrite...

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09:30:12 –
General: Afghan airmen preparing to fight
Associated Press
0%
4.22
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Afghan pilots-in-training soon will begin using force to join the fight in their country. U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Walter Givhan said the 2,700 airmen currently in the Afghan Army Air Corps already are involved in combat operations like medical evacuations and transporting troops. Graham said Wednesday that they'll soon start to take on fighter escort and self-defense roles as they continue to train for full attack missions. He did not give a timeline of exactly when that would happen. Givhan said the Afghan troops also will abide by rules put in place earlier this year that restrict U.S. troops from launching air attacks without first taking specific steps to minimize civilian casualties. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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09:30:13 –
Public wake for Eunice Kennedy Shriver scheduled
Associated Press
0%
5.83
HYANNIS, Mass. (AP) -- A public wake for Eunice Kennedy Shriver has been scheduled for a Cape Cod church. A family spokesman says the wake will be held Thursday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in the Centerville section of Barnstable, not far from the family's Hyannis Port compound. Family members gathered privately on Tuesday night. The family did not immediately announce plans for a funeral service. Shriver, the sister of President John F. Kennedy and Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, died Tuesday morning at Cape Cod Hospital at age 88. Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics and fundamentally changed the way Americans thought of and treated the mentally disabled, had suffered a series of strokes in recent years. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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09:30:13 –
Muslim woman barred from Paris pool for `burquini'
Associated Press
31.75%
3.57
PARIS (AP) -- A Muslim woman who tried to go swimming in a head-to-toe "burquini" has been banned from her local pool in the latest tussle between religious practices and secular authority in France. Officials on Wednesday insisted they banned the woman's use of the Islam-friendly swimsuit because of France's unusually strict hygiene standards in pools - not because of official hostility to wearing overtly Muslim garb. Under the policy, swimmers are prevented from wearing any street-compatible or baggy clothing, such as Bermuda shorts, in favor of figure-hugging suits. The woman, a 35-year-old convert to Islam identified only as Carole, complained of religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in her burquini in the Paris suburb of Emerainville. She was quoted as telling the daily Le Parisien newspaper that she had bought the burquini after deciding "it would allow me the pleasure of bathing without showing too much of myself, as Islam recommends." "For me this is nothing ...

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09:30:14 –
A day of battle between US Marines and Taliban
Associated Press
87.19%
6.81
A look at the first day of "Eastern Resolve 2," a Marine operation designed to break the monthslong stalemate in the Taliban-held town of Dahaneh, 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of Naw Zad, a major city in the southern province of Helmand. Some 400 Marines from Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, and 100 Afghan soldiers are taking part. Three Associated Press journalists are embedded with the unit. --- 1 a.m.: The main part of the Marine company and its Afghan counterparts head by ground convoy from their forward operating base in Naw Zad about 5 miles south to Dahaneh. 2:15 a.m.: A platoon of Marines marches out of the Naw Zad base to a landing zone, where three CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters pick them up. To preserve the element of surprise, the troops are flown in a long, circular route 5 miles to the south. 2:45 a.m.: The helicopter-borne Marines and a team of AP journalists are dropped behind Taliban lines in the town of Dahaneh. 3:15 a.m.: The Marines set off large explosions...

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09:30:15 –
Facing more heated questions, Specter tries humor
Associated Press
36.12%
3.13
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Sen. Arlen Specter, facing more jeers and taunts during another town hall meeting Wednesday, sought to defuse tensions about health care reform debate with a few jokes. Discussing people who had also come to Tuesday's forum in Lewisburg, Specter said, "I consider it a compliment that you want to come back." At one point, he even jokingly booed himself as a way of poking fun at the reaction he has been getting. Specter, who once finished second in a Washington celebrity stand-up comedy contest, told reporters afterward the change in disposition was intentional. "I was able to find a few lighter moments ... to ease up on some of the pressure," he said. "I don't want to overdo it. I don't want to make that anything is funny or trivial." More than 400 people packed into a Penn State University ballroom Wednesday morning, with hundreds more outside after being turned away from the filled-to-capacity room. As in previous stops, opponents occasionally drowned ou...

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09:30:15 –
Yemen steps up offensive against Shiite rebels
Associated Press
66.38%
6.17
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- Government forces bombed Shiite rebels in northern Yemen Wednesday, killing dozens and escalating a conflict along the Saudi border that could further destabilize the U.S.-allied country as it faces a resurgent threat from al-Qaida. The offensive, which started late Tuesday, followed claims by local officials and rebels that they had seized more of northern Saada province from government troops. A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to crush the rebels "with an iron-fist." A rebel spokesman said 15 civilians died in an airstrike Wednesday on an outdoor market near the town of Haydan in Saada. A local government official said 20 rebels were killed. The discrepancy in the toll could not immediately be reconciled. A local Health Ministry official said 12 others died in fighting across Saada and 51 were injured. Local officials and the rebels said hundreds have fled the clashes. The officials in Saada spoke on condition o...

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09:30:16 –
Activist who left water sentenced for littering
Associated Press
0%
2.75
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A judge has ordered an Arizona man to pick up trash for 300 hours after he was caught leaving jugs of water in the desert for illegal immigrants crossing over from Mexico. Walt Staton is a member of the group No More Deaths. He was cited for leaving the jugs in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. A federal jury in June convicted him of littering. Staton also was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation, and he's banned from the refuge for a year. He could have been sentenced to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine. Federal prosecutors had requested a $5,000 fine. Members of No More Deaths and other supporters applauded Staton as he left the federal courthouse. --- Information from: KVOA-TV, http://www.kvoa.com/ © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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09:30:16 –
NSM CEO's fiscal 2009 compensation valued at $3.9M
Associated Press
29.85%
3
NEW YORK (AP) -- The CEO of National Semiconductor Corp. saw the value of his compensation package decline 36 percent in fiscal 2009, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing. Brian L. Halla, who also serves as chairman, received total compensation valued at about $3.9 million, according to the AP calculation. This is down from $6 million in fiscal 2008. Halla's base salary totaled $838,658, down 5 percent from a year earlier, according to a proxy statement the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. He received no performance-based cash bonus during the fiscal year, which ended in May. It was a challenging time for the company and for the chip industry in general, as businesses and customers cut back spending on technology products. Faced with a steep sales decline amid the economic downturn, National Semi announced in March it was cutting 1,725 jobs, or about a quarter of its work force. Halla's perks t...

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09:30:18 –
Sara Lee narrows 4Q loss; shares fall on outlook
Associated Press
32.43%
2.83
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Sara Lee Corp. narrowed its loss in the fiscal fourth-quarter but gave a weak outlook for the year, sending shares of the food maker plunging in trading Wednesday. The maker of Sara Lee breads, Jimmy Dean sausages and other foods saw its revenue shrink by 10 percent to $3.16 billion, as growth in its North American business was offset by the negative impact of currency exchange on its international business. Sara Lee reported a loss of $14 million, or a loss of 2 cents per share, compared with a bigger loss of $672 million, or 95 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding impairment charges of $207 million at its Spanish bakery business and $61 million in other charges, earnings per share were 29 cents. Analysts, who usually exclude one-time items, expected the Downers Grove, Ill.-based company to earn 24 cents per share and revenue of $3.27 billion. The news sent shares of Sara Lee down 84 cents, or nearly 8 percent, to $9.96 by midday trading. It was by far the...

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09:30:18 –
London police make arrest in jewelry heist
Associated Press
75.95%
5.5
LONDON (AP) -- Police said Wednesday they have arrested a suspect in connection with a daring daytime heist that netted $65 million worth of jewelry from a prominent London diamond merchant last week. Police said the 50-year-old man, who was subsequently released on bail, is not one of two dapper dressers captured in security camera footage released by Scotland Yard on Tuesday. The footage showed two men in smart suits being let into Graff Diamonds flagship store, where police say they produced guns, briefly took a member of staff hostage and escaped in a series of getaway cars across central London. Police believe at least two others helped the pair escape. No one was hurt in the robbery, one of the biggest in British history. British authorities seldom release suspects' names until they are charged. Amateur video shot outside the store appeared to capture the men's escape and screaming shoppers as a warning shot is fired into the ground. Police said the men made off with dozens o...

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09:30:19 –
Atlanta jury convicts man of aiding terror groups
Associated Press
35.48%
4.09
ATLANTA (AP) -- A 23-year-old man was convicted Wednesday of aiding terrorist groups by sending videotapes of U.S. landmarks overseas, after a federal jury rejected his arguments that his chatter about jihad was "empty talk." The Atlanta jury found Ehsanul Islam Sadequee guilty of all four charges he faced after about five hours of deliberations that began Tuesday afternoon. Sadequee could face up to 60 years in prison, according to prosecutors. In June, a judge convicted Sadequee's friend, Syed Haris Ahmed, of one count of conspiracy to provide material to support terrorism in the U.S. and abroad. Prosecutors said the pair took a series of videos of the Pentagon and the Capitol and that Sadequee later sent them to suspected terrorists overseas. Sadequee, who represented himself at trial, dismissed his discussions about jihad as "empty talk" and said he never followed through on any of his boasts. "We were immature young guys who had imaginations running wild," Sadequee told jurors...

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09:30:20 –
China opens trial of earthquake critic
Associated Press
73.55%
4.12
BEIJING (AP) -- The subversion trial of a Chinese activist who had investigated the deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in a massive earthquake opened on Tuesday, as police detained and threatened the man's supporters. Tan Zuoren's trial comes amid growing reports of detentions and trials of dissidents and activist lawyers in an apparent crackdown to stifle dissent ahead of the sensitive 60th anniversary of the Communist state's founding on Oct. 1. Tan's trial comes one week after hearings opened in the trial of Huang Qi, a prominent dissident who had criticized the government's response to last year's earthquake in Sichuan province and is accused of revealing state secrets. Separately, Xu Zhiyong, a legal activist who has tackled some of China's most politically sensitive cases, was detained last week. Tan's subversion charges are believed linked to his quake investigation as well as essays he wrote about the 1989 student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square that ended in a de...

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09:30:21 –
Service held for Italian victims of NYC air crash
Associated Press
0%
3.57
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Roman Catholic prayer service is being held in Manhattan for five Italian victims of the air collision over the Hudson River. Family members and friends of the victims attended the service at Campbell's Funeral Home on Wednesday. Five black hearses were lined up by the funeral home to take the bodies to Kennedy Airport to be flown home to Italy. The five tourists were from northern Italy, near Bologna (buh-LOHN'-yuh). They included a father and his teenage son, and another family of three - a husband and wife and their teenage son. A total of nine people died in the collision between a helicopter and a small plane Saturday. Authorities are still searching the Hudson River for additional pieces of wreckage. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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09:30:22 –
Postal Service planning discounts for big mailers
Associated Press
34.84%
2.8
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Looking for ways to boost business, the Postal Service is planning to offer discounts to some of its best customers. Companies that mailed at least 500,000 first-class letters, cards or large envelopes between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 in each of the last two years will be eligible for the lower prices, according to papers filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission. Under the plan, the Postal Service would establish a base amount of mail for companies that apply for the discounts, and they would be eligible for 20 percent discounts on mailings over that level in the October-December period. The agency estimated that the program would bring in an additional $43 million, between new mail and mailings that move up from standard to first-class service. Between the recession and the switch of millions of mail pieces from the post office to the Internet, the Postal Service is anticipating finishing this year $6 billion in the red, despite a rate increase, reduction in staff ...

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09:30:22 –
Rain hampers hunt for Taiwan typhoon survivors
Associated Press
51.72%
5.57
CISHAN, Taiwan (AP) -- Hundreds of survivors from Typhoon Morakot were stranded in mudslide-ravaged villages in southern Taiwan on Wednesday as heavy rains hampered helicopter rescues and the hunt for many more feared buried beneath rubble. The military reported that it had traced some 1,000 villagers from the worst-hit village of Shiao Lin and two other stricken communities in the past two days. So far at least 300 of them have been airlifted to safety, said spokesman for relief operations Col. Chang Kuo-bin. Hundreds more - nobody is sure how many - are still feared missing. The official death toll in Taiwan stands at 63, and authorities could only confirm 61 missing. Eight more are confirmed to have died in China. Chang said the army on Wednesday found more than 500 more survivors sheltering in an elementary school in the Bao Lai area, which also lies in the largely rural southern county of Kaohsiung. He said they plan airlift them out on Thursday. On Wednesday, bad weather mean...

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09:30:22 –
Man held in California toll bridge shooting
Associated Press
100%
5.29
RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) -- A man suspected of gunning down his girlfriend and another person at the entrance to a busy San Francisco Bay toll bridge was arrested after an overnight manhunt, police said Wednesday. California Highway Patrol officers arrested Nathaniel Burris, 46, around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday in Placer County, about 120 miles northeast of the shooting at the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge toll plaza. Authorities said Burris was sleeping in an airport shuttle van, but drove off after CHP officers approached and surrendered after a short chase. Burris was booked into Placer County Jail on two counts of murder. He's suspected of being the driver who opened fire with a shotgun around 6 p.m. Tuesday, killing his girlfriend, Deborah Ross, who was a 51-year-old California Department of Transportation toll booth collector, and 58-year-old Ersie Charles Everett, who was sitting in his truck in the toll plaza parking lot. Ross and Burris shared a house in Richmond, and neighbors said t...

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09:30:23 –
Oil rises as American imports jump
Associated Press
22.26%
2
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose Wednesday as the government reported that Americans were regaining their appetite for imported goods and a European energy watchdog said demand for crude this year may not be as weak as once thought. Benchmark crude for September delivery climbed $1.38 to $70.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent prices added 80 cents to $73.26 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Prices jumped in morning trading after the government said the U.S. trade deficit increased slightly in June. The Commerce Department reported that imports rose for the first time in 11 months - another indication that the recession may be fading. The reports from both sides of the Atlantic were enough to offset news that crude supplies continue to grow. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said oil placed into storage rose for the third straight week. Gas prices are certainly much lower than they were last year, but the bulging supplies of crude haven't ...

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10:00:40 –
Putin Pledges Economic, Military Aid to Abkhazia
NY Times
43.22%
4.36
SUKHUMI, Georgia (AP) -- Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia on Wednesday, vowing to provide economic and military aid and shrugging off Georgian protests.Putin's visit came on the anniversary of the cease-fire in last year's war with Georgia, during which Russian troops and separatist forces ousted Georgian forces from the territory of Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia.The Georgian Foreign Ministry strongly protested Putin's trip as ''yet another attempt to destabilize the situation and escalate the tension in the Caucasus region.''After the war, Russia recognized both regions as independent, a move either denounced or ignored by almost all other countries. Putin said Wednesday that Russia wouldn't change its mind.''The situation has changed radically, and there will be no return to the past,'' he said.Putin urged Russian businesses to invest in Abkhazia, adding that ''those who are still waiting will ...

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10:00:45 –
Italy Village Bangs Pots to Protest Silenced Bells
NY Times
0%
1.67
ROME (AP) -- Which is nicer to have echoing through a small Italian village -- the chiming of bells or the banging of pots?The church bells in Mezzema, a village near La Spezia, northern Italy, were silenced earlier this month by the local parish priest. A tourist, it seems, had complained about the early morning gonging.Some residents, though, were not happy. A dozen of them protested by banging pots and lids in the street.Anna Daneri, who led the protest, said that early Wednesday morning, after a few pot-banging protest sessions, the church bells started chiming again. They ring every morning at 7 a.m. and a few more times throughout the day.Daneri said the sound of the bells ''keeps the elderly company,'' and is a tradition of the centuries-old village....

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10:10:12 –
FBI agent testifies in Mumbai terror trial
CNN
63.32%
6.08
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- An FBI agent Wednesday testified in the Mumbai terror trial, Indian prosecutors said. The officer, whose identity has not been revealed, testified via videolink, chief public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told CNN. The agent told Mumbai's prison court that his investigation of the data from the global positioning systems seized after the attacks showed the gunmen traveled down to the Indian financial hub from Pakistan's port city of Karachi. Nikam said he would be examining two more FBI agents in the next two days through video conferencing. Two other U.S. nationals will also testify in person after that, he said. The defendant, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, stunned the court in late July when he changed his plea and confessed to taking part in the attack that killed more than 160 people in India's financial capital. Prosecutors said Kasab's guilty plea was an attempt to deflect attention from his alleged handlers in Pakistan. Kasab is a Pakistani national. Nikam told the c...

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10:10:15 –
Georgia man convicted on terror-related charges
CNN
0%
4.67
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A jury convicted a man on terrorism-related charges Wednesday after a trial in Atlanta. Ehsanul Islam Sadequee was found guilty on several charges, said Patrick Crosby, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta. In June, a federal judge convicted Sadequee's accused co-conspirator, Syed Haris Ahmed, of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism in the United States and abroad. Ahmed was then a student at Georgia Tech. Don't Miss Ex-Georgia Tech student convicted on terror charge FBI Special Agent Mark Richards testified during Ahmed's trial that Ahmed and Sadequee traveled to Canada in March 2005 to meet with three other men they met online. During that meeting, Ahmed said that they "should attack oil storage facilities and ref...

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10:10:17 –
Vincent Cassel: Playing France's tough guys
CNN
48.02%
2.95
(CNN) -- Ever since his blistering debut as an angry, disenfranchised ghetto kid in "La Haine", Vincent Cassel has gained a reputation for giving the kind of performances it's hard to ignore. ...

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10:10:18 –
Judd Apatow: Hollywood's King of Comedy
CNN
48.34%
3.5
(CNN) -- Judd Apatow is the man behind many of the most successful comic movies of recent years. Apatow's latest comedy "Funny People" pairs Adam Sandler (left) with Seth Rogen (right). var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2009/SHOWBIZ/08/12/apatow.profile/im...

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10:10:20 –
Think you deleted your cookies? Think again
CNN
0%
0
...

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10:10:22 –
Madrid train bomb suspect moved to Spain
CNN
100%
6.92
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Moroccan man wanted for links to the Madrid train bombings in 2004 was brought to Spain from France on Wednesday, a Spanish police statement said. A photograph showing Moroccan-born suspect Said Rehou. The suspect, Said Rehou, 27, born in Casablanca, Morocco, allegedly held indoctrination sessions for Islamic militants at his former Madrid home, the statement said. "Various individuals who participated in those meetings later were implicated directly or indirectly in the Casablanca attacks of 2003 and the March 11, 2004, attacks in Madrid," the statemen...

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10:20:38 –
Mousavi website says Iran needs "deep change"
Reuters
0%
4.5
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Wednesday that the condition of the country's prisons showed that Iran needed a "deep change," his website reported. "What happens in Iran's prisons these days clearly shows the necessity of a deep change in the country," the Ghalamnews quoted Mousavi as saying. "Could America harm Iran ... as much as these events in prisons have damaged the (1979 Islamic) revolution and the country?" he asked. Mousavi wrote on his website on Sunday he had been told by senior officials that some young men and women detained in jail after post-election protests had been raped. Iran's police chief had previously acknowledged that some detainees had been tortured. ...

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10:20:39 –
Kenya says Scottish gems expert killed in dispute
Reuters
57.69%
6.25
By Celestine Achieng MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A Kenyan mob armed with clubs, spears and bows and arrows killed a prominent Scottish gemstone expert during a dispute over mining in a national park, police in the east African country said on Wednesday. Campbell Bridges, a 71-year-old internationally-renowned geologist and gemmologist, died late on Tuesday near the town of Voi in southern Kenya, where he owned several gemstone mines. John Ole Shampiro, commanding officer of the local Taita Police Division, said Bridges was attacked by a mob of about 20 people armed with crude weapons as he drove his pick-up truck. "According to witnesses, a group of about 20 people ... used a knife to stab the deceased. We believe, according to our investigations, that his death was a result of a mining dispute involving the deceased and the locals," he told Reuters. Shampiro said Bridges' son Bruce and four Kenyan employees were with him in the vehicle, but ...

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10:20:42 –
India flu toll rises, warns against hoarding drug
Reuters
56.34%
4.25
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India cracked down on price gouging and hoarding of face masks and flu drugs Wednesday as the toll from H1N1 flu climbed to 17. In Mumbai, India's financial hub, schools and colleges were closed for a week after a mobile phone poll of residents and cinema halls shut for three days. The Bollywood film industry also put off big releases and canceled shoots. The health ministry asked India's states to set up more screening centres and prod private hospitals to help cope with large numbers of people demanding tests, said Vineet Choudhary, joint secretary of health. India, he said, had an ample stockpile of flu drug Tamiflu, and was importing more supplies and testing kits. But he warned against hoarders and blackmarketeers. "Retail sale of Tamiflu is not allowed," he told reporters. "This is a public health emergency, a crisis in the country, and we expect that citizens will cooperate with the government. Shortages of masks an...

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10:30:12 –
Murkowski: No need to lie about health care bill
Associated Press
69.4%
3.09
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- In a swipe at former Gov. Sarah Palin, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says portions of the Democrats' health care bills "are bad enough that we don't need to be making things up." Murkowski, a Republican like Palin, told an audience in Anchorage on Tuesday that critics of health care reform are not helping the debate by throwing out false claims. Palin, who ousted Murkowski's father in the 2006 Republican primary, has said the legislation includes "death panels" that could deny care for the elderly and people with Down syndrome. "It does us no good to incite fear in people by saying that there's these end-of-life provisions, these death panels," Murkowski told a crowd of about 130 at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center. "Quite honestly, I'm so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn't (in the bill). There is no reason to gin up fear in the American public by saying things that are not included in the bill." Murkowski said the nation's healt...

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10:30:12 –
Iran opposition leader calls for 'deep change'
Associated Press
55.12%
2.43
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's top opposition leader called on Wednesday for a "deep change" in the country, in one of the most forceful calls to date for a major reform of the country's political system. Mir Hossein Mousavi said on his Web site that the abuses the opposition say took place in the country's prisons following anti-government demonstrations indicate the need for a major overhaul. "What is happening in prisons today clearly shows the need for a deep change in the country," he said, while scoffing at official attempts to portray the demonstrations over alleged election fraud in the June 12 presidential contests as the work of foreign powers. "The biggest lies are to attribute the natural demand of the people for change to foreigners," Mousavi said. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his supporters have used every occasion, including a mass trial of detainees, to depict the protesters as tools of foreign powers. Mousavi said security forces and pro-governme...

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10:30:13 –
Sears to offer toys in 20 stores
Associated Press
48.61%
3.57
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP) -- Sears Holdings Corp., the retail chain lead by chairman and hedge fund financier Eddie Lampert, said Wednesday it will begin to offer toys in 20 of its Sears stores starting Saturday. In-store toy shops will offer brands including Mattel's Fisher Price, Hasbro, LeapFrog, Spin Master's Bakugan and VTech toys, the company said. It will also offer specialty toy brands including Schylling, Thomas Wooden Railway, Gund Plush and My First Annabelle Madame Alexander. Sears will also carry exclusive brands such as My First Craftsman, My First Kenmore and Just Kidz. Toys will also be available online and stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and other locations. Toy retailers have faced a rocky road in the recession, with both KB Toys and FAO Schwarz filing for bankruptcy protection. KB Toys liquidated and FAO Schwarz was acquired by Toys R Us. Sears will enter the fray that also includes discounters such as Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc...

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10:30:14 –
Bodies of Italians killed in air crash going home
Associated Press
69.5%
4.44
NEW YORK (AP) -- Five Italian tourists killed in an air collision over the Hudson River are being flown home to Italy. The victims were taken in five hearses to Kennedy Airport in New York City on Wednesday for a flight to Bologna (buh-LOHN'-yuh), Italy. Earlier, relatives and friends of the victims attended a private prayer service at Campbell's Funeral Home in Manhattan. The five tourists were from northern Italy, near Bologna. They included a father and his teenage son, and another family of three - a husband and wife and their teenage son. Nine people died in the collision between a helicopter and a small plane Saturday. Divers removed about 20 small pieces of helicopter wreckage over the weekend. They returned to the crash site Wednesday to search for more debris. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. NEW YORK (AP) - New York police say divers in the Hudson River have removed about 20 small pieces of helicopter wr...

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10:30:14 –
AP Source: Hornets trade Butler for 2nd-round pick
Associated Press
0%
3
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The Hornets have agreed to trade starting shooting guard Rasual Butler to the Los Angeles Clippers for a future second-round draft choice. A person with direct knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press of the deal on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been announced. The move will save the Hornets about $3.9 million. The move opens opportunities for competition at the spot between 2007 first-round pick Julian Wright, veteran Morris Peterson and rookie Marcus Thornton, a former LSU star who the Hornets acquired through a trade with Miami during the second round of the draft. Butler averaged 11.2 points per game last season. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:15 –
Venezuela assembly rubber-stamps socialist changes
Associated Press
32.06%
2.69
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's congress is often criticized for ignoring the business of the country as legislators don Arab keffiyehs to taunt Israel or gaze at photos of topless women - supposedly in the name of breast cancer research. In reality, the National Assembly has become a key force in cementing President Hugo Chavez's socialist agenda, potentially changing Venezuela for decades to come. The opposition holds none of the 167 seats, though a dozen lawmakers have broken ties with Chavez over what they call his growing authoritarianism and often vote against him. So far this year, legislators have cleared the way for the government to seize more private property and oil companies, stripped power from opposition elected officials and approved the redrawing of voting districts that could favor the ruling party. Protesters took to the streets this week over the latest legislative proposal to revamp the public education curriculum around "Bolivarian principles." The oppo...

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10:30:16 –
Pitino scandal had roots in restaurant tryst
Associated Press
53.59%
3.29
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The woman accused of trying to extort Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino approached him in a restaurant six years ago, and the two had sex later that night, the coach told police. Two weeks after they met, the married father of five gave her $3,000 after she said she needed an abortion and didn't have health insurance. Pitino told police he had been drinking at the restaurant and had consensual sex with Karen Sypher in August 2003 at a table near the bar. The police report said the 56-year-old coach denied Sypher's allegations that he raped her after the restaurant closed and at another time somewhere else. The university's president expressed surprise at new details in the scandal surrounding the coach, whose contract includes dishonesty and "moral depravity" as grounds for firing. The coach met Sypher when she approached him and asked him call her sons with words of encouragement, and the coach obliged, he said. Later that night, the upscale res...

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10:30:17 –
Petroleum Development prices shares at $12
Associated Press
0%
3.25
DENVER (AP) -- Oil and gas company Petroleum Development Corp. said Wednesday that it has priced its offering of nearly 3.8 million shares of common stock at $12 per share. The offering is expected to close on Monday. The company also has awarded the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 562,500 shares. The company said it intends to use the proceeds to repay debt. Petroleum Development shares were down 1 cent to $13.41 in trading Wednesday afternoon. The shares have traded between $9.39 and $65.74 over the past year. Petroleum Development's operations are focused in the Rocky Mountains. It also has operations in the Appalachian Basin and Michigan. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:17 –
Gheorghiu withdraws from start of new Met `Carmen'
Associated Press
0%
0
NEW YORK (AP) -- Soprano Angela Gheorghiu (Gee-ORG'-gee-you) has pulled out of the first six performances of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Bizet's "Carmen," which opens New Year's Eve. The Richard Eyre (AIR') staging was designed around Gheorghiu (Gee-ORG'-gee-you), making an unusual foray into a role written for mezzo-sopranos, and her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna (A-la-NYA'). The Met says Gheorghiu (Gee-ORG'-gee-you) withdrew for "personal reasons" from performances through Jan. 21, including the Jan. 16 matinee set for simulcast to theaters around the world, but will sing "Carmen" on April 28 and May 1. Gheorghiu (Gee-ORG'-gee-you) will be replaced in the six performances by mezzo Elina (e-LI'-na) Garanca (Ga-RAN'-cha). © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:18 –
Basic Energy shares higher on rig count
Associated Press
37.04%
1.75
MIDLAND, Texas (AP) -- Shares of Basic Energy Services climbed Wednesday after the company, which services oil and gas wells, reported that its well servicing rig count remained unchanged during July and that demand showed modest, yet steady, improvement in its oil producing markets. Basic Energy stock was up 31 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $7.15 in trading Wednesday afternoon. The shares have traded between $5.30 and $29.75 over the past year. Basic Energy reported after the close of the stock market Wednesday that its well servicing rig count remained flat at 414 in July. Well serving rig hours for the month totaled 40,200, producing a rig utilization rate of 38 percent. The utilization rate was down from 39 percent in June ad 77 percent in July 2008. Drilling rig days for the month totaled 126, producing a rig utilization of 45 percent. Rig utilization was 41 percent in June and 86 percent in July 2008. The company said the well servicing utilization rate was down because of the Ju...

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10:30:19 –
2 AP journalists wounded in Afghanistan bombing
Associated Press
83.03%
5.7
KABUL (AP) -- A bombing has wounded two Associated Press journalists embedded with the U.S. military in southern Afghanistan. Photographer Emilio Morenatti and AP Television News videographer Andi Jatmiko were traveling with a unit of the 5th Stryker Brigade of Fort Lewis, Wash., when their vehicle ran over a bomb planted in the open desert terrain, the military said. Both men were immediately taken to a military hospital in Kandahar. Jatmiko suffered leg injuries and two broken ribs. Morenatti, badly wounded in the leg, underwent an operation that resulted in the loss of his foot. The attack took place in open country 15 miles north of the town of Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border, and 120 miles southeast of Dahaneh, a Taliban-held town where helicopter-borne U.S. Marines launched an operation before dawn Wednesday to uproot the militants. Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, is an award-winning photographer based in Islamabad who has worked for the AP in Afghanistan, Israel and the Pal...

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10:30:19 –
Report: Mom whose sons drowned was asleep at wheel
Associated Press
50.74%
3.17
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The mother of three young children who drowned after she drove her car into a manmade lake in central Arkansas told police she fell asleep behind the wheel before the crash, waking only after feeling water surge into her car, court documents show. Amber Turley, 26, told officers she tried to pull her three sons out of Brewer Lake during an early morning thunderstorm but lost sight of them. Officers found the boys, limp and not breathing, after the diaper of her 2-year-old son floated to the surface, according to a police report. The boys - Aaron, 8, Alex, 7, and Anthony, 2 - were pronounced dead at a hospital. Turley faces three counts of felony endangerment of a child in the April 19 crash. Toxicology reports from the state Crime Laboratory show a blood sample collected from Turley after the crash tested positive for marijuana and benzodiazepines, a class of drugs that include sleeping and anxiety pills. Turley also had a blood-alcohol level of .05, the c...

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10:30:20 –
Ringing phones: a sign of small business recovery
Associated Press
33.42%
3.54
NEW YORK (AP) -- At one small company, the phone is ringing more often, while another is getting business again from retailers who canceled orders last year. And at an inn, reservations are coming in for the busy season. These are some of the signs of a turnaround that small businesses are starting to see. As economic reports look brighter and the stock market rebounds, some owners are finding that customers and clients are willing to do business again. At Juniper Hill Inn in Windsor, Vt., "people are starting to call in daily," owner Robert Dean said. The 16-room inn was busy at the end of last year, but Dean was also getting fewer advance bookings. His customers generally weren't affected by the economy, but they were uncertain and therefore thinking, "we need to hold back a bit." They're still cautious. October is the busiest time of the year for innkeepers in Vermont and normally Juniper Hill Inn is 85 percent booked by early August. This year, it was 40 percent booked. But, De...

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10:30:21 –
Colonial: No 2Q report due to irregularities
Associated Press
29.2%
3.25
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Colonial Bancgroup has advised the Securities and Exchange Commission it will not be able to file a second-quarter financial report because of alleged accounting irregularities now being investigated. The Alabama Banking Department also confirmed Tuesday that its board held a private meeting with Colonial officials on Monday. Agency and bank officials declined to comment, but the meeting, previously set for Wednesday, was to ask for Colonial's consent to make the FDIC receiver for the bank if and when the state banking superintendent deems it necessary. Montgomery-based Colonial said in its filing Tuesday that because of the alleged accounting irregularities, it does not know how much money it lost in the second quarter or how much it has now. "The Company has been informed that the alleged accounting irregularities relate to more than one year's audited financial statements and regulatory financial reporting, and the Company's Board of Directors and Audit ...

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10:30:22 –
Pioneering Italian climber Cassin dead at 100
Associated Press
81.76%
3.92
ROME (AP) -- Riccardo Cassin, a mountaineering pioneer credited with 100 first ascents from the Himalayas to Alaska, is dead at the age of 100. Cassin died Aug. 6 at his home in Piani Resinelli, a hamlet north of Milan at the foot of the Alps, his climbing equipment company said. The cause of death was not announced. "He has left us a wealth of values, dreams and climbs that will continue to guide us," said a statement from the company, Cassin Srl. "His rope is still tied to us and continues to drive us." Italian media remembered Cassin as a man who helped to transform mountaineering from a romantic 19th century challenge into a highly technical sport. He was born into poverty on Jan. 2, 1909, in the northeast village of San Vito al Tagliamento. His father died in a Canadian mining accident when Riccardo was still a toddler. As a young man, Cassin began work as a blacksmith in the town of Lecco on Lake Como. Sunday outings with friends in the nearby mountains sparked his love for c...

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10:30:23 –
Legg Mason completes equity unit exchange offer
Associated Press
0%
1.67
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Asset manager Legg Mason Inc. said Wednesday it completed an offer to exchange "equity units" for stock, with about 91 percent of units tendered. Legg Mason said 20.9 million units were tendered. They will be exchanged for 0.8881 shares and $6.25 in cash each, for a total of 18.6 million share and $131 million in cash. The offer expired after midnight Wednesday. On July 15, the company had 23 million units outstanding, and offered to exchange up to 95 percent of them for cash and stock. The move was intended to reduce Legg Mason's debt and interest expense. Slightly less than 2.1 million units will remain outstanding. In afternoon trading, Legg Mason shares rose 97 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $27.76. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:23 –
Neil Diamond brings his show to DVD, network TV
Associated Press
56.91%
1.57
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Neil Diamond is so excited about his two latest projects, it's like he has twins on the way. They're due Friday, when Diamond's concert DVD, "Hot August Night/NYC," lands in Walmart stores and a companion hourlong TV special airs on CBS. "Basically I feel like an expectant father and I'm just nervously sitting around the waiting room hoping that the baby is healthy and happy," the 68-year-old entertainer said in an interview Tuesday. The DVD, filmed during his performance at Madison Square Garden last summer, features more than two dozen songs, including classics such as "Sweet Caroline" and "Love on the Rocks." Diamond said he wanted to make a concert film for years and "just never got to it." He finally decided to shoot a show in his native New York City. "There's something special when you play your hometown," he said. "It makes me regret that I haven't filmed previous tours, but I'm glad we got this one." The television special, airing at 8 p.m., includes ex...

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10:30:24 –
Obama to talk about military at VFW on Monday
Associated Press
0%
4.8
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House says President Barack Obama will address the nation's largest organization of combat veterans next week. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Wednesday that Obama would speak to the Veterans of Foreign War convention on Monday in Phoenix. Gibbs says Obama will discuss the United States' responsibilities to maintain the world's finest military. Gibbs also says Obama will speak about the nation's responsibility to the men and women of the armed services when they return home from combat. Presidents typically address the convention. Obama spoke to the group last year as a presidential candidate. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:24 –
Chicago TV judge to hear 5-legged puppy case
Associated Press
0%
4
CHICAGO (AP) -- The case of a puppy that used to have five legs and was saved from a Coney Island animal show is going before a court TV judge in Chicago. Plaintiff John Strong operates a New York animal show that features disfigured animals. He's suing the dog's original owner, Calvin Owensby, for $4,000. Strong says Owensby reneged on an agreement to sell him the animal for $3,000. Owensby says they didn't sign a contract. Owensby sold the Chihuahua-terrier mix to a North Carolina woman who wanted to keep the pooch out of the animal show. She's had the dog's fifth leg removed. Former New York district attorney Jeanine Pirro's show is being taped Wednesday. It will air on Sept. 21. Strong says if he wins the case, he plans to fight in court to reclaim the dog. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:26 –
Pakistani clerics slain in Somalia
Associated Press
59.26%
7.05
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Masked gunmen stormed a mosque Wednesday in western Somalia, killing at least five Pakistani Muslim clerics in a country already bloodied by an Islamic insurgency and where al-Qaida is believed to be gaining a foothold. Authorities tried to find out who carried out the execution-style murders, and why. The victims belonged to the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told The Associated Press in Islamabad. Some extremists, including shoe bomber Richard Reid, have been linked to the group but Tablighi Jamaat is believed to be apolitical and nonviolent. Some of its members travel the world, preaching to fellow Muslims. "They have almost a rule of not discussing politics. They prefer to avoid it," said Ghaffar Hussain of Quilliam Foundation, a London-based think tank. "Their stance is quite conservative, quite puritanical. But they themselves are not ... extremist." Police surrounded the mosque after the...

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10:30:26 –
Victim of Pa. gym shooting remembered at funeral
Associated Press
0%
6.57
FRANKLIN, Pa. (AP) -- The funeral for a victim of a shooting rampage at a Pittsburgh-area health club began at the same time the state Senate was observing a moment of silence for the three women killed in the shootings. State Sen. Mary Jo White addressed about 400 mourners in Franklin who gathered Wednesday for the funeral of 37-year-old Jody Billingsley. Funerals for the other two victims, 46-year-old Heidi Overmier and 49-year-old Elizabeth Gannon, were on Saturday. All three women were killed and nine others wounded Aug. 4 at the L.A. Fitness club in Collier Township by gunman George Sodini, who then killed himself. White presented Billingsley's parents with a copy of the Senate resolution for a moment of silence honoring the victims at 11 a.m. Wednesday, the time the funeral began. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:27 –
German convicted of Nazi crimes slams verdict
Associated Press
100%
5.13
BERLIN (AP) -- A 90-year-old former German army officer convicted of Nazi-era war crimes said Wednesday that the verdict against him was a "swindle." Josef Scheungraber said in a television interview in his native Bavaria that he was innocent and would appeal the verdict. "They cannot lock me up because this whole nonsense is invented and made up," he said, according to a copy of the interview provided to The Associted Press. "Now they've got to start from the beginning again." The Munich state court convicted Scheungraber on 10 counts of murder and one of attempted murder on Tuesday, sentencing him to life in prison. He will remain free until his appeals are exhausted. Scheungraber was a 25-year-old Wehrmacht lieutenant during the June 1944 killings in Falzano di Cortona, near the Tuscan town of Arezzo. The court ruled that, after partisans had killed two German soldiers, Scheungraber ordered 11 civilians to be herded into a barn that was then blown up. One teenage boy survived th...

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10:30:27 –
Plane crashes in woods near NJ airport; 2 injured
Associated Press
0%
4
SUSSEX, N.J. (AP) -- A small plane has crashed nose down in a stream after taking off from a northern New Jersey airport, injuring the two men on board. The plane ended up in a heavily wooded area just east of Sussex County Airport. The plane's pilot and owner, 61-year-old John Murray of Rockaway Township, and his passenger, 57-year-old Bill Fischer of Vernon, were taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital. The extent of their injuries is not yet known. The Federal Aviation Administration says the single-engine Cessna 150 crashed on takeoff. The report of the plane going down came in just after 8:15 a.m. The accident is under investigation. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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10:30:28 –
Microsoft to put Office programs on Nokia phones
Associated Press
0%
3
SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft is working with Nokia to put Office software and other programs on smart phones. The companies say people will be able to read, edit and create new Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote programs on Nokia smart phones, which run an operating system called Symbian that competes with Microsoft Corp.'s own Windows Mobile. Nokia phones will also work with Microsoft's Unified Communications system, which brings together Internet-based phones, instant messaging, e-mail and online conferencing for a company's employees. The companies say Nokia smart phones with Microsoft communication software will start shipping next year, and Office programs will come later. Finland-based Nokia is the world's largest cell phone maker, though Apple's iPhone, Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Palm Inc.'s Pre have been getting much of the attention in the U.S. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redist...

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10:30:29 –
Sentencing postponed in HP phone record scandal
Associated Press
0%
4
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Sentencing has been postponed for a private investigator who helped Hewlett-Packard Co. unearth private telephone records of board members and journalists. Bryan Wagner is the last remaining defendant from the spying scandal that erupted in 2006 and engulfed one of technology's most storied companies. He pleaded guilty 2 1/2 years ago to identity theft and conspiracy. His punishment had been scheduled for Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. But now, a hearing will take place next week to determine a new sentencing date. Wagner's the lowest-ranking member of the plot to find the source of boardroom leaks to the press. He admitted tricking phone companies into coughing up confidential billing logs. He claimed he didn't know the records he was gathering were for HP. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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11:00:35 –
2 AP Journalists Wounded in Afghanistan Bombing
NY Times
86.47%
5.7
KABUL (AP) -- A bombing has wounded two Associated Press journalists embedded with the U.S. military in southern Afghanistan.Photographer Emilio Morenatti and AP Television News videographer Andi Jatmiko were traveling with a unit of the 5th Stryker Brigade of Fort Lewis, Wash., when their vehicle ran over a bomb planted in the open desert terrain, the military said.Both men were immediately taken to a military hospital in Kandahar. Jatmiko suffered leg injuries and two broken ribs. Morenatti, badly wounded in the leg, underwent an operation that resulted in the loss of his foot.The attack took place in open country 15 miles north of the town of Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border, and 120 miles southeast of Dahaneh, a Taliban-held town where helicopter-borne U.S. Marines launched an operation before dawn Wednesday to uproot the militants.Morenatti, 40, a Spaniard, is an award-winning photographer based in Islamabad who has worked for the AP in Afghanistan, Israel and the Palestinian...

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11:00:46 –
Pioneering Italian Climber Cassin Dead at 100
NY Times
87.84%
3.92
ROME (AP) -- Riccardo Cassin, a mountaineering pioneer credited with 100 first ascents from the Himalayas to Alaska, is dead at the age of 100.Cassin died Aug. 6 at his home in Piani Resinelli, a hamlet north of Milan at the foot of the Alps, his climbing equipment company said. The cause of death was not announced.''He has left us a wealth of values, dreams and climbs that will continue to guide us,'' said a statement from the company, Cassin Srl. ''His rope is still tied to us and continues to drive us.''Italian media remembered Cassin as a man who helped to transform mountaineering from a romantic 19th century challenge into a highly technical sport.He was born into poverty on Jan. 2, 1909, in the northeast village of San Vito al Tagliamento. His father died in a Canadian mining accident when Riccardo was still a toddler.As a young man, Cassin began work as a blacksmith in the town of Lecco on Lake Como. Sunday outings with friends in the nearby mountains sparked his love for climbi...

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11:10:14 –
Republican senator hears health care concerns back home
CNN
29.63%
4.13
(CNN) -- Now it's the Republicans' turn to face the health care debate back home. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley held the first of four town meetings in his home state Wednesday. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley held the first of four town hall meetings in his home state Wednesday, welcoming what he called a much larger crowd than the usual political gathering. "We're here at a time when I sense that people are scared for our country, and that's why we're having big turnouts," he said to a mostly conservative audience of about 200 people. The outdoor gathering in Winterset, Iowa, erupted...

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11:10:15 –
Al Qaeda could seek 'foothold' in Nigeria, Clinton warns during trip
CNN
59.5%
3.92
ABUJA, Nigeria (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday visited Nigeria and warned it could be a target for al Qaeda. Nigeria is the fifth stop in Hillary Clinton's visit to Africa, to be followed by Liberia and Cape Verde. The country has been racked by violence between Christians and Muslims, with hundreds having died in riots over the past several years. "Al Qaeda has a presence in Northern Africa," Clinton said. "There is not doubt in our minds that al Qaeda and like organizations that are part of the syndicate of terror would seek a foothold anywhere the...

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11:10:18 –
Economy hits historically black colleges hard
CNN
41.93%
2.2
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Zakiya Williams had found a perfect fit at Spelman College. But when the tough economy hit the sophomore and her family hard, she packed her bags, ready to drop out. Zakiya Williams is among the students at historically black colleges and universities affected by the recession. "I was not able to get loans, nor were my parents," she said. "It became really difficult because I felt all my avenues were exhausted." It's a familiar story at colleges across the country, especially at historically black colleges and universities where, in some case...

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11:20:43 –
Russian paper halts Chechnya coverage after killings
Reuters
100%
5.56
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's opposition Novaya Gazeta newspaper said on Wednesday it would pull its journalists out of Chechnya after a human rights activist and her husband were killed as part of a string of killings there. In October 2006, the same paper's investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, known for her scathing criticism of pro-Moscow Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the Kremlin, was shot dead near her apartment in central Moscow. In the latest killings in the troubled Muslim republic, Zarema Sadulayeva, the kidnapped head of a children's charity, and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov were found murdered in the boot of a car in Chechnya on Tuesday. The attack came a month after leading Chechen rights activist Natalia Estemirova was kidnapped and murdered by unknown assailants, triggering international outrage. "Do these massacres mean that a coordinated campaign to destroy human rights advocates has been launched in Chechnya?" Novaya G...

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11:20:44 –
U.N. says violence, hunger threatens south Sudanese
Reuters
88.89%
5.67
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The lives of at least 40 percent of southern Sudanese are at risk because of escalating tribal fighting, food shortages and a cash-starved regional government, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday. "Southern Sudan is facing an almost unmanageable set of problems. We just can't keep up," Lise Grande, the U.N. Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Southern Sudan said. A semi-autonomous southern government was set up in 2005 as part of a north-south peace deal that ended one of Africa's longest-running wars over ideology and religion. The south was left devastated and drastically underdeveloped. Grande called the situation in the south a "humanitarian perfect storm," according to a U.N. transcript of her remarks to a news conference in Khartoum. "At least 40 percent of the population (are) at real risk," she said. She did not give figures, but according to a census of carried out before next year's elections, ...

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11:20:45 –
Battle with rebels kills and wounds scores in Yemen
Reuters
100%
5.5
SANAA (Reuters) - Fighting between Yemeni troops backed by fighter aircraft and Shi'ite rebels has killed and wounded dozens in the north of the poor Arab country, local officials and rebels said on Wednesday. Local officials said fierce clashes continued across the mountainous northern province of Saada, a day after troops launched a major offensive and the government said it would strike with an "iron fist." Rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi's supporters said in a statement that 15 of their fighters had been killed and dozens wounded. The official news agency Saba said local officials announced a state of emergency in Saada province, a stronghold of Houthi's backers who belong to the Zaydi branch of Shi'ite Islam. The agency gave no casualty figures for government forces. Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries, has been battling a Shi'ite Muslim rebellion, a wave of al Qaeda attacks and rising secessionist sentiment in the south. ...

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11:20:46 –
Pakistan, seen stalling, says wants nukes banned
Reuters
43.12%
3.62
By Robert Evans GENEVA (Reuters) - Pakistan, accused by some powers of blocking progress in the world's top disarmament forum, insisted Wednesday that it wants an end to nuclear weaponry and is playing an active role to bring this about. But in a statement issued in Islamabad, it argued that "the legitimate security interests of all states" had to be protected in any move toward new talks in the long-stalled Conference on Disarmament, under U.N. auspices, in Geneva. Pakistan "subscribes to the goals of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation... and has always played an active and constructive role in the Conference," the Pakistan Online News Service (www.pakistanviews.worldpress.com) cited a foreign ministry spokesman as saying. Like its neighbor and rival India, Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998 even though it is not one of the official nuclear powers, and diplomats believe its maneuvers at the disarmament conference aim to preserve...

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11:20:47 –
Putin pledges to defend Abkhazia, Georgia fumes
Reuters
53.57%
5.13
By Gleb Bryanski SUKHUMI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged half a billion dollars to defend the breakaway region of Abkhazia on Wednesday during a surprise visit which Georgia said escalated tensions in the Caucasus. Putin's tour of the enclave underscores Moscow's increased foothold in the rebel regions since Russian troops repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war which ended on August 12, 2008. Tensions have been rising along the de facto borders between the regions and Georgia proper, raising concerns that another conflict could be sparked easily. "With today's Georgian leadership, you cannot rule anything out," Putin said in an interview with Abkhaz reporters when asked if there would be a repeat of last year's war. Georgia said Putin's trip was a direct challenge that would escalate tensions in the Caucasus, a key route for oil and gas flows from the Caspian Sea. ...

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11:30:11 –
Best Buy $9.99 TV offer was too good to be true
Associated Press
27.4%
2.25
NEW YORK (AP) -- Few if any of the deals retailers have offered online during the recession have been as good as Best Buy Inc.'s sale price of $9.99 on a $1,800 52-inch TV, but it is turning out too good to be true. The electronics retailer said Wednesday that it will not honor the $9.99 price posted Wednesday morning for the 52-inch Samsung flat-screen TV. By early afternoon, it was listed at $1,799.99, almost half off the original $3,399.99 price. Bloggers and Twitterers lit up the Internet with posts about the offer, some insisting Best Buy must honor it, others making jokes. Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minn., said it has corrected an online pricing error and will not honor the incorrect price. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. NEW YORK (AP) - Few if any of the deals retailers have offered online during the recession have been as good as Best Buy Inc.'s sale price of $9.99 on a $1,800 52-inch TV, but it is tur...

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11:30:11 –
Federal deficit higher in July, $1.27T this year
Associated Press
32.05%
4.6
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal deficit climbed higher into record territory in July, hitting $1.27 trillion with two months remaining in the budget year. The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the July deficit totaled $180.7 billion, slightly more than the $177.5 billion economists had expected. The Obama administration is projecting that when the current budget year ends on Sept. 30, the imbalance will total $1.84 trillion, more than four times last year's record-high. Massive amounts of government spending to combat the recession and stabilize the U.S. financial system have pushed the deficit higher. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with depleted government tax revenues, also are major factors. The July deficit reflected government spending of $332.2 billion, a record amount for any month and up from outlays of $263.3 billion in July 2008. Of that increase, about $25 billion reflected the fact that Aug. 1 was a Saturday this year, requiring many government ben...

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11:30:12 –
Stocks hold gains as Fed ups view of economy
Associated Press
20.83%
3
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are holding on to sharp gains after the Federal Reserve said economic activity is "leveling out." The assessment issued by the central bank was modestly more upbeat than in June, when the Fed said the economy was shrinking at a slower pace. However, the Fed signaled it would soon end its program to buy Treasury securities. The program was started to help the credit markets right themselves after the crisis that paralyzed them last fall. The Fed statement follows a two-day meeting on interest rates, which were left unchanged. The Dow Jones industrials are up 127 at 9,368. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 12 at 1,006 and the Nasdaq composite index is up 31 at 2,000. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. NEW YORK (AP) - Investors seized on a buying opportunity Wednesday, picking up bargain stocks after a big pullback. Stocks jumped in light trading Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Re...

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11:30:13 –
On the Call: Macy's CFO Karen Hoguet
Associated Press
30.08%
2.5
NEW YORK (AP) -- Like many department store operators, Macy's Inc. has been hit hard by the recession as consumers focus on food and other necessities. The Cincinnati-based department store operator has shored up its profit with a series of cost-cutting moves, including paring its work force, cutting capital spending and consolidating regional divisions. Another area where Macy's is starting to reap benefits is its initiative to tailor merchandise to regional markets, begun last year and accelerated early this year. On a conference call with investors on Tuesday, CFO Karen Hoguet called the feedback on the company's localization effort "absolutely terrific" and said sales associates feeling empowered by it are generating a wealth of ideas. QUESTION: Can you give us examples of the exciting feedback that you've gotten from the field that might have influenced decisions centrally? ANSWER: One example that I've heard about recently related to women's shoes in size 11, which was the re...

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11:30:13 –
Fed signals vote of confidence in economy
Associated Press
26.4%
1.75
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve delivered a vote of confidence in the recovery on Wednesday, declaring that economic activity is "leveling out." The central bank also signaled that it would end one of its programs aimed at propping up the economy, and kept a key lending rate at a record low. The Fed said it would gradually slow the pace of its program to buy $300 billion worth of Treasury securities so that it will shut down at the end of October, versus September. It has bought $253 billion worth of Treasury securities so far. The program is aimed at lowering rates on mortgages and other consumer debt, a move to spur Americans to spend more. But its effectiveness has been questioned by some on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill who worry that the program makes it look like the Fed is printing money to pay for Uncle Sam's exploding deficits. With the economy on the mend, the Fed held a key banking lending rate at a record low near zero and again pledged to keep it there for "an...

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11:30:15 –
Interior Dept.: Calif water a national priority
Associated Press
0%
2.86
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Top Obama administration officials say fixing California's ongoing water crisis is a national priority, akin to restoring Florida's Everglades or the Chesapeake Bay on the East Coast. Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes says the administration plans to host a meeting in Washington next month designed to spur solutions. Hayes made the announcement while in Sacramento Wednesday to discuss federal efforts to free up water for irrigation and drinking water supplies as the state experiences its third year of drought. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will hold a similar meeting in September about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The large freshwater estuary supplies drinking water to two-thirds of Californians and serves as one of the most important wildlife habitats on the West Coast. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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11:30:15 –
Judge rules in Palin e-mail case
Associated Press
0%
1.5
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A judge has ruled that the Alaska governor's office can use private e-mail accounts to conduct state business, as former Gov. Sarah Palin sometimes did. Superior Court Judge Jack W. Smith said in his ruling Wednesday that there is no provision in Alaska state law that prohibits the use of private e-mail accounts when conducting state business. The case stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Anchorage resident Andree McLeod. McLeod contended such use of private e-mails denies citizens the right to inspect public records. State lawyers argued that McLeod misinterpreted current state law. And if the practice is to be changed, lawyers said it was up to Alaska lawmakers do it. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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11:30:15 –
Russia pledges economic, military aid to Abkhazia
Associated Press
47.95%
4.47
SUKHUMI, Georgia (AP) -- Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia on Wednesday, promising to provide nearly $500 million in military aid and shrugging off Georgian protests. Putin's visit came on the anniversary of the cease-fire in last year's war with Georgia, during which Russian troops and separatist forces ousted Georgian forces from the territory of Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian province, South Ossetia. The Georgian Foreign Ministry strongly protested Putin's trip as "yet another attempt to destabilize the situation and escalate the tension in the Caucasus region." After the war, Russia recognized both regions as independent, a move either denounced or ignored by all other countries except Nicaragua. Putin said Wednesday that Russia wouldn't change its mind. "The situation has changed radically, and there will be no return to the past," he said. Putin urged Russian businesses to invest in Abkhazia, adding that other n...

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11:30:16 –
Plan for Guard troops on border stalls over money
Associated Press
36.02%
4.94
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A government plan to use National Guard troops to help stem Mexican drug violence along the southern border is stymied by disagreements over who will pay for the soldiers and how they would be used. Ordered by President Barack Obama in June to help secure the border with Mexico, the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department drafted a $225 million plan to deploy temporarily 1,500 Guard troops to supplement Border Patrol agents. The two agencies are wrangling over how to structure the deployment, but the primary sticking point is the money, according to senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The funding stalemate lingers even after Obama renewed his commitment to Mexican officials on Monday to reinforce the border and to help Mexico battle the drug cartels. Fierce battles between Mexican law enforcement and the cartels have left as many as 11,000 people dead and fueled concerns about violence spill...

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11:30:19 –
Clippers get Butler from New Orleans
Associated Press
0%
4
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Clippers have acquired shooting guard Rasual Butler and cash from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2016. Butler had the most productive season of his seven-year career in 2008-09, averaging 11.2 points and 3.3 rebounds while playing in all 82 games for the Hornets, who made the playoffs. He shot 40 percent from the floor and 37 percent from 3-point range to match his career averages. "We believe he is another piece who will help us get back to being a competitive playoff team," Clippers coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy said. The move will save the Hornets about $3.9 million while opening opportunities for competition at guard between 2007 first-round pick Julian Wright, veteran Morris Peterson and rookie Marcus Thornton, a former LSU star who the Hornets acquired through a trade with Miami during the second round of the draft. Butler played three seasons in Miami before being traded to the Hornets in 200...

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11:30:19 –
Nominees announced for Thurber Prize
Associated Press
0%
0.5
NEW YORK (AP) -- New Yorker contributor Ian Frazier and best-selling essayist Sloane Crosley are among the finalists for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Prize organizers say Frazier was cited for his book on parenting "Lamentations of the Father," and Crosley for her popular essay collection about the 20-something life, "I Was Told There'd Be Cake." The other contenders announced Wednesday were Don Lee's novel "Wrack and Ruin" and Laurie Notaro's nonfiction "The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death." The $5,000 prize, founded in 1997 (Frazier won that year for "Coyote vs. Acme") will be announced in October. It is named for the late author-humorist James Thurber. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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11:30:20 –
Dozens die in militant battle in NW Pakistan
Associated Press
93.02%
6.59
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) -- Fierce clashes between Taliban fighters and those loyal to a pro-government warlord killed at least 70 people Wednesday, intelligence officials said, a week after a CIA drone reportedly killed the top Taliban leader in Pakistan. The clashes pitched Taliban militants against followers of tribal warlord Turkistan Bitani on the fringes of the South Waziristan border region, where U.S. and Pakistani officials believe Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud died in a missile strike last Wednesday. Pakistan's army sent helicopter gunships as reinforcements to pound about 300 Taliban fighters attacking Bitani's mountain stronghold, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. The fighting raged for five hours, with militants using rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft guns against Bitani's village of Sura Ghar, the officials said, adding that wireless intercepts from the area showed at least 70 peo...

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11:30:21 –
MOUNTAIN OF DEBT: Social Security crisis looms
Associated Press
41.58%
3.42
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Congress agonizes over health care, an even more daunting and dangerous challenge is bearing down: how to shore up Social Security to keep it from burying the nation ever deeper in debt. What to do about mushrooming government payments as millions of baby boomers retire? How about a giant federal Ponzi scheme? That might work for a while. But wait. That's pretty much the current system. Social Security takes contributions from today's workers and uses them to pay the old-age benefits that were promised to retirees. But there are serious concerns how long that can last. President Barack Obama has said he'll tackle Social Security and related "entitlement" programs when the health care overhaul is resolved. But the anger and intensity of that debate could complicate his effort. Failure on health care could make it harder, if not impossible, for Obama to successfully tackle overhauling Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The raucous health care debate is "a b...

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11:30:22 –
Lawyer: Pitino paid for insurance, not abortion
Associated Press
47.82%
3.29
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Rick Pitino's attorney says the coach gave $3,000 to a woman accused of trying to extort him so that she could buy health insurance. The Louisville basketball coach has told police that he had sex with Karen Cunagin Sypher and she later told him she was going to have an abortion and did not have medical insurance. Lawyer Steve Pence told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Pitino believed the money was for insurance, not for an abortion. Pence said Pitino asked Sypher how much the insurance would cost and she told him $3,000. The woman was later charged with trying to extort $10 million from the coach. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The woman accused of trying to extort Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino approached him in a restaurant six years ago, and the two had sex later that night, the coach told police. Two weeks after they met, the married fathe...

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11:30:22 –
Yankees keep close watch on Chamberlain's innings
Associated Press
41.2%
4.09
NEW YORK (AP) -- Joba Chamberlain's next start will be on seven days' rest as the New York Yankees try to limit his work in his first full season in the rotation. Chamberlain pitched only 88 1-3 innings in the minors before he joined the Yankees in August 2007. He entered this season with 124 1-3 innings in the majors and can match that total for this season with just eight outs in his next start. "We're just trying to be smart about it," manager Joe Girardi said. "We're not trying to overwork him his first time in a rotation for the whole year. There are instances where players have thrown 200 innings that weren't accustomed to that and have had struggles after. "There's a history that has been studied by our people and this is what we feel is best." Girardi said Chamberlain will start next Wednesday at Oakland. Newly acquired Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre will start this weekend against Seattle, with the day depending on what New York needs out of its bullpen over the next couple ...

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11:30:23 –
Fine costs insurer more than the price of a burger
Associated Press
0%
1.5
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- The commercials promise health insurance for the price of a hamburger or a pack of cigarettes. New York officials beg to differ. The administration of Gov. David Paterson got American Medical and Life Insurance Co. to halt its nationwide TV and Internet advertising as part of a settlement announced Wednesday and has slapped it with a $700,000 fine. Officials accuse it of leaving patients with huge bills after selling policies that failed to cover what they promise in the ads and through telemarketing. The state is also prohibiting the company from selling its partial coverage policies in New York. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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11:30:24 –
Pending Fed decision, weak auction hurt Treasurys
Associated Press
24.54%
2.38
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors fled Treasurys Wednesday, worried the Federal Reserve might stop buying government debt. A fairly weak auction of $23 billion in 10-year notes put more pressure on Treasurys, sending a clear signal that investors are waiting to see what the Fed has to say at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting Wednesday afternoon before making any big moves. "Results indicate there is not really a lot of demand to take a big position in front of the Fed decision," said Chris Bury, managing director and co-head rates trading and sales at Jefferies & Co. "It has the potential to move the market significantly in one direction or another." The Fed has committed to buying $300 billion of Treasurys this year to help offset the overwhelming amount of debt being sold to fund the government's economic stimulus programs. Currently, the Fed is close to reaching its $300 billion target, Bury said, and investors are worried that the central bank won't extend the program. Invest...

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11:30:26 –
Iran reformists seize on prisoner abuses
Associated Press
50.57%
4.65
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's top opposition leader said Wednesday that the abuse and death of protesters detained after the disputed presidential elections shows the need for "deep change" in the country, in the most sweeping call for reform of the system to date. Reformists have seized on the mistreatment of detainees at Kahrizak prison as a way to keep pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who they claim stole the June 12 election through massive fraud. "What is happening in prisons today clearly shows the need for a deep change in the country," said Mir Hossein Mousavi on his Web site. Influential conservatives have also criticized the abuse at Kahrizak and the three deaths known to have taken place there. Senior police and judiciary officials have tried to calm public outrage by acknowledging that some detainees were abused in prison and calling for those responsible to be punished. The reformist Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organization weighed in Wednesday and said that ...

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11:30:26 –
NC activist can coax students away from military
Associated Press
68.49%
4.4
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A rural North Carolina school district with a proud military tradition is allowing a Quaker peace activist a chance to coax high school students away from careers in the armed forces, attorneys said Wednesday. For years, Sally Ferrell had been asking permission to warn students about joining the military. The Wilkes County School Board had denied her access, even though military recruiters are typically allowed in school, and school leaders had called her activities unpatriotic. Superintendent Stephen Laws said the district and the American Civil Liberties Union reached an agreement that bars recruiters from presenting political views or attacking other occupations. He disputed the suggestion that Ferrell had not been granted equal access, arguing she was banned from schools because her criticism of the armed forces violated district policy. The ACLU had argued Ferrell and her group, North Carolina Peace Action, were denied free speech. Under the agreement, sh...

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11:30:27 –
White House criticizes swastika outside Ga. office
Associated Press
0%
3.6
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House says anyone who painted a swastika on a sign outside the office of a congressman recently involved in a heated argument over health care should be ashamed. Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs says no issue being debated should or could be compared to the Holocaust. Some 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Gibbs calls the spray painting of Nazi graffiti outside Democratic Rep. David Scott's office in Smyrna, Ga., "ridiculous." Gibbs says it's a sign that the national debate over President Barack Obama's health care plan has gotten "completely out of hand." The swastika was found Tuesday - about a week after Scott got into an argument about health care at a community meeting. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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11:30:28 –
Hartford will refund $48M in workers' comp profit
Associated Press
0%
2
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Insurer Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said Wednesday it will refund $48.2 million to Florida residents with workers compensation policies because of excess profits. The company said its workers compensation underwriting profits from 2004 through 2006 exceeded the maximum allowable profits for insurers under Florida law. In afternoon trading, Hartford shares rose $1.42, or 7.8 percent, to $19.62. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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11:30:28 –
Kidnap victim in Miss. beats alleged sex attacker
Associated Press
42.21%
5.38
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Police had been watching Vincent Goff for years, convinced he was the masked man who sexually assaulted couples at gunpoint on the Mississippi coast. But before investigators closed in, they say Goff picked the wrong victim and was beaten nearly to death with his own rifle. Goff, a 37-year-old unemployed Biloxi man with a wife and two stepsons, was being held Wednesday in the Harrison County Jail after spending five days in a hospital recovering from severe head wounds. Little is known about Goff's background or the unidentified man who beat him so hard that the wood stock of the rifle broke. But authorities say Goff's arrest caps a terrorizing series of attacks that began on the sandy banks of the Biloxi River in 2006. Goff allegedly approached a man and woman last Thursday afternoon on an isolated logging road in Harrison County and forced them into the woods with a rifle, Sheriff's Maj. Ron Pullen said Wednesday. They were forced to strip off their clothes...

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11:30:29 –
Review: Password management eases with Net storage
Associated Press
32.98%
2.76
NEW YORK (AP) -- Do you use your kids' names? Your pet's? Your favorite color? We all use some dumb passwords that are too easy to guess. Worse, we use the same ones for lots of Web sites. So if one site gets compromised, or an employee there is dishonest, someone could start trying out that password on other sites where you have accounts, like Amazon or PayPal, and you've got trouble. Browsers help out a bit by offering to remember your passwords, but that does little good if you are on a different computer or want to try a different browser. The rescue comes from password-management programs. A couple of them have recently taken a big step forward in ease of use, by storing your login information online so that you can access them from multiple computers. Online storage does raise some questions about security, but it also makes these little-known programs worth another look. I've used one called Roboform for more than four years. Like a browser, it stores passwords on your compu...

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11:30:30 –
US, Swiss keep deal on secret accounts under wraps
Associated Press
29.06%
3.75
MIAMI (AP) -- The Swiss and U.S. governments announced a deal Wednesday to settle American demands for the identities of suspected tax dodgers, despite Switzerland's vaunted bank secrecy. But they kept all details under wraps, including how many of the 52,000 names sought by the IRS from banking giant UBS AG will be revealed. Depending on the scale of the deal, it could be a new blow to Switzerland's reputation as a safe place to hide assets from the tax man back home. Switzerland has long been under pressure from European neighbors and the U.S. to open its bank records for foreign tax authorities. The IRS case against UBS has been partly credited with pushing the Swiss government to agree in March to comply with tax investigation rules from the 30-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. UBS earlier this year named about 300 American clients in a separate case. William Sharp, a Florida tax lawyer who represents American UBS clients, said he expects the agreeme...

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11:30:31 –
Report: Pequot Capital gets Wells notices
Associated Press
36.7%
3.25
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing its investigation of possible insider trading involving hedge fund Pequot Capital Management and its founder Arthur Samberg, according to a letter to investors obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The SEC has been examining whether Pequot traded Microsoft Corp. shares on confidential information provided by a former employee of the computer company who was later hired by Pequot. The SEC sent Wells notices to Samberg and the firm about six weeks ago indicating it is prepared to bring charges, according to the Journal report Wednesday. A Wells notice is a warning that the SEC could bring civil charges. The Westport, Conn.-based investment firm has denied any wrongdoing, but the paper said Samberg's letter, sent to investors Monday, explains that the Wells notices and any resulting enforcement action are "without merit." According to the letter obtained by the Journal, Pequot will "defend the matter vigorousl...

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11:30:31 –
Atlantic City wants $20M a year to promote itself
Associated Press
42.25%
4.58
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Many Americans know that "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." That's because the nation's largest gambling market spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to promote itself. But Atlantic City, the nation's second-largest gambling market, has no such luck. It has a racy slogan - "Always Turned On" - but not the money to spread it far and wide. Struggling with the worst recession in their 31-year history and trying to hold off competitors springing up all around them, Atlantic City's 11 casinos want to spend $20 million a year to promote the oceanfront resort. They would like New Jersey's cash-strapped state government to help, saying it would be an investment that would repay itself through increased tax revenues and contributions to statewide projects. A spokesman for Gov. Jon Corzine's office had no immediate comment, but the state just went through a wrenching budget crisis of its own, passing a $29 billion spending plan that is $4 billion l...

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11:30:32 –
Ship disappears after sail through English Channel
Associated Press
33.03%
4
LONDON (AP) -- First the ship reported it had been attacked in waters off Sweden. Then it sailed with no apparent problems through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. And then it disappeared. The Arctic Sea, a Maltese-flagged cargo ship, was supposed to make port in Algeria with its cargo of timber on Aug. 4. More than a week later, there's no sign of the ship or its Russian crew. Piracy has exploded off the coast of lawless Somalia - but could this be an almost unheard of case of sea banditry in European waters? "If this is a criminal act, it appears to be following a new business model," Marine intelligence expert Graeme Gibbon-Brooks told Sky News on Wednesday. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the country's defense minister on Wednesday to take "all necessary measures" to find the missing cargo ship and, if necessary, to free its crew, the Kremlin said. Wives and other relatives of the crew members issued an appeal to the Russian government to carry out a full-sc...

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11:30:36 –
Sector Snap: Toll Bros. sales goose homebuilders
Associated Press
22.66%
2.25
NEW YORK (AP) -- Homebuilder stocks joined the market rally Wednesday after luxury builder Toll Brothers Inc. posted its first annual increase in signed contracts in four years. The company said new home contracts for the fiscal third quarter rose 3 percent from the prior year, and 44 percent from the fiscal second quarter. The company was even able to scale back some of the incentives it's been offering buyers to spur sales. Among the bright spots in the report was Toll Brother's lowest cancellation rate in three years - 9 percent. Leading the sector higher, Toll Brothers shares gained $2.63, or 12.9 percent, to $23.12, with volume more than twice normal in afternoon trading. "We believe the key question is whether this marks a turning point for TOL and/or the broader industry or just a nice spike that may not portend a sharply rising trend," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Michael Widner wrote, using the company's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol. He noted that while the spike is be...

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11:30:37 –
Protesters plan rally at Obama visit
Associated Press
0%
2.33
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Protesters plan a big rally Friday when President Barack Obama brings his town hall tour to Montana, putting a conservative suburb of Bozeman at the center of the issue for one day. Obama is scheduled to focus on a provision that would prevent insurance companies from dropping or limiting insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill. A national group running a campaign against congressional efforts expects as many as 500 people at its rally outside of the Belgrade airport where Obama will be talking. On the other side of the spectrum, advocates for a government-run health care system who have been protesting U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' opposition to their ideas are hoping to get inside the arena to ask Obama questions. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:10:12 –
Commentary: Beating the homeless is cruel, not cool
CNN
60.29%
4.62
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Over the last two calendar years, more Americans in the United States were killed in a little-noticed spate of unprovoked attacks than were killed by terrorists, in large commercial jet crashes or in racial hate crimes. Since 1999, more than 240 vulnerable homeless Americans have been stabbed, beaten, drowned, shot or burned to death in a revolting display of one of the last socially tolerated prejudices, this one based on class. Despite being prime targets of prejudice and violence, particularly in today's youth subculture, the homeless are routinely excluded from lessons related to tolerance, as well as from official data collection and hate-crime penalty enhancement laws. A newly released report from the National Coalition for the Homeless documented 27 unprovoked, apparently bias-related homicides by attackers in the United States last year, down one from the previous year and the second-highest number of killings since 2001. After bottoming mi...

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12:10:15 –
Expert not surprised by focus on Jackson doctor
CNN
26.38%
6.64
(CNN) -- Police raided a Las Vegas, Nevada, pharmaceutical supply store Tuesday as part of their investigation of Michael Jackson's death. A pharmac...

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12:10:16 –
Typhoon survivors find sanctuary in school
CNN
75.12%
2.94
NEI PU, Taiwan (CNN) -- In the foothills of the Central Mountain chain in southern Taiwan, a rescue helicopter lowers itself onto an athletic field in the town of Nei Pu. ...

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12:10:18 –
Economic uptick plays key role in health care debate
CNN
61.68%
3.38
(CNN) -- President Obama built his push for a sweeping overhaul of the health care system on the premise that reform is essential for economic recovery. President Obama has said overhauling health care is a key part of economic recovery. But with some economists saying the recession shows signs of ending, will that weaken Obama's argument? "If the economy is picking up, then more people are going to get jobs and more people are going to have health insurance, and so they are going to be less concerned with health care reform because they will figure, 'I'm taken care of,' " said...

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12:30:12 –
Army Corps finds World War I chemical, halts dig
Associated Press
0%
3
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is halting its search for World War I-era chemical weapons in a Washington, D.C., neighborhood after workers found an open glass flask containing traces of the chemical agent mustard. The discovery was made last week at a vacant home behind American University, where chemical weapons were developed and tested during World War I. Army Corps project manager Dan Noble says the mustard agent was uncovered two feet below ground. Air monitors didn't detect any traces. Eight workers underwent precautionary tests but didn't show symptoms. During World War I, mustard gas was used to cause blisters, temporary blindness, breathing problems and vomiting and could be fatal in high doses. Noble says safety procedures will be reviewed before the excavation continues. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:30:13 –
Stocks extend gains as Fed ups view of economy
Associated Press
17.5%
2.29
NEW YORK (AP) -- A more upbeat Federal Reserve reassured investors that they've been making the right bets. Stocks extended their sharp gains Wednesday after the Fed, ending a two-day policy meeting, issued a more optimistic view of the economy and said it appears to be "leveling out." That was a change from the central bank's June assessment that the economy was shrinking at a slower pace. Major stock market indicators surged about 2 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which gained 175 points to reverse a sharp slide Tuesday. Stocks fluctuated as they often do after a Fed announcement. The Fed's statement, which followed its decision to leave interest rates unchanged at record low levels, gave investors the more positive take on the economy that they had hoped for. Stocks have rallied sharply in the past four weeks on expectations that the economy is emerging from recession. The Fed also said it would slow the pace of its program to buy $300 billion worth of Treas...

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12:30:21 –
Specter: Health reform critics not representative
Associated Press
36.75%
4.58
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Sen. Arlen Specter heard a fresh chorus of taunts Wednesday from opponents of health care reform and said they were "not necessarily representative of America" but should be heard. Critics lobbed a barrage of now-familiar verbal jabs at the Republican-turned-Democrat during a more-than-90-minute session at a Penn State University conference center. Some opponents said the overhaul that could cost billions of dollars was unwise at a time when the economy was in recession. Others accused Specter of failing to do homework in trying to rush through legislation. Speaking on CBS' "Early Show" before the meeting, Specter said he was "impressed with the fact that people have been very well prepared." Many have come to meetings with copies of the legislation and have cited specific provisions in their arguments. In State College, some people read lengthy statements before posing a question. One woman handed Specter a copy of the Constitution. A few questioners pra...

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12:30:22 –
Oil rises as US imports jump, China buys crude
Associated Press
17.61%
2.2
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose Wednesday as the market reacted favorably to signs of an increase in future demand in China and a further loosening of the recession's grip in the U.S. That trumped data showing a continued slump in the nation's appetite for oil. Benchmark crude for September delivery climbed 71 cents to settle at $70.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent prices added 43 cents to settle at $72.89 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Prices jumped in morning trading after the government said the U.S. trade deficit increased slightly in June. The Commerce Department reported that imports rose for the first time in 11 months. The International Energy Agency, based in Paris, said demand for crude this year may not be as weak as once thought, largely because of China. The reports from both sides of the Atlantic were enough to offset news that crude supplies continue to grow in the U.S. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said oil place...

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12:30:23 –
Macy's boosts profit outlook but remains cautious
Associated Press
32.52%
3.25
NEW YORK (AP) -- Department store operator Macy's Inc. boosted its annual profit outlook after posting second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations. It benefited from streamlining its operations and remains cautious about consumer spending in coming months. Here are details on Macy's second quarter: PROFITS: Macy's earned $7 million, or 2 cents per share, in the quarter ended Aug. 1, compared with $73 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring charges related to consolidations and to an initiative to regionalize merchandising, the company earned 20 cents per share, exceeding Wall Street estimates. SALES: Revenue was $5.16 billion, down almost 10 percent from a year ago and slightly below analysts' forecasts of $5.18 billion. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, were down 9.5 percent in July from a year earlier. WINNERS AND LOSERS: Macy's said the weakest parts of its second-quarter business were furniture, mattresses ...

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12:30:24 –
Ching, Davies start at forward for US
Associated Press
0%
3.8
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Brian Ching and Charlie Davies have been given starts at forward for the United States in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico. Steve Cherundolo returned at right back Wednesday after missing the first five qualifiers of the year because of a hip injury, and Carlos Bocanegra played left back, as he did in June's Confederations Cup. Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit were the central defenders, in front of goalkeeper Tim Howard. Ricardo Clark, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan started in the midfield. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:30:25 –
Activists, actors, athletics honored by Obama
Associated Press
0%
3.88
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is presenting the nation's highest civilian honor to 16 actors, athletes, activists, scientists and humanitarians. Among those receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony Wednesday are film star Sidney Poitier, civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery and tennis legend Billie Jean King. Others being honored are retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is getting the medal, too, but the Massachusetts Democrat is not at the White House due to his fight against brain cancer. Posthumous awards are going to former Republican Rep. Jack Kemp of New York and gay rights activist Harvey Milk. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:30:26 –
Ex-Kmart CEO wants to overturn verdict in SEC case
Associated Press
28.1%
3.33
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- With millions of dollars at stake, lawyers for the former head of Kmart Corp. urged a judge Wednesday to throw out a verdict in a civil trial that centered on what investors should have been told before a bankruptcy filing in 2002. A jury said in June that Charles Conaway misled Wall Street about the retailer's health. As a result, the Securities and Exchange Commission wants to wrest $22.5 million from the former CEO. But any financial penalty won't be settled until U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Pepe handles post-trial objections from Conaway's legal team. Among the key arguments: His lawyers claim the verdict was tainted by bad jury instructions. In a court filing, attorney Hille Sheppard said the instructions misstated the law and made it too easy for jurors to find Conaway liable in a highly technical case pressed by the SEC. "It would have been a very different trial," Sheppard told the judge Wednesday. The trial centered on a conference call with analy...

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12:30:27 –
Computer Sciences receives $50M Air Force contract
Associated Press
0%
2.25
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) -- Information technology company Computer Sciences Corp. said Wednesday it received a $50 million Air Force contract for technical support, development testing and training. CSC will provide technical and support services, including information assurance, development testing, configuration management and training for the command and control system of the Air Force's air mobility command. The Falls Church, Va., company received the contract during its fourth quarter ended April 3. The contract has a one-year base period and three one-year options. The total four-year value is $50 million. CSC shares rose $1.09 to $50.06 in afternoon trading. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:30:28 –
70-ton column is largest installed at WTC tower
Associated Press
0%
4
NEW YORK (AP) -- Builders of the tallest office tower under construction at ground zero have set a 70-ton piece of steel into place - the largest column installed yet at the building. Three more columns are set to go up Thursday, and 24 by the fall at One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower. The 1,776-foot-tall skyscraper is the largest of five planned to replace the trade center after the 9/11 attacks. Each steel column - made at a factory in Luxembourg - is about 60 feet long. The columns at the bottom of the tower's foundation are about 35 feet long. The new columns will bring the building's steel skeleton several stories above street level. The building is set to be finished in 2013. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:30:31 –
Interior Dept.: Calif. water a national priority
Associated Press
82.19%
2.92
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California's ongoing water crisis is a major national priority, akin to restoring Florida's Everglades or the Chesapeake Bay on the East Coast, a top Obama administration official said Wednesday. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar intends to hold a public meeting in Washington next month to discuss plans to save the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the freshwater estuary that supplies drinking water to two-thirds of Californians and is one of the most important wildlife habitats on the West Coast, Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said. Hayes was in Sacramento to update farmers, city dwellers and environmentalists about federal efforts to free up water for crops and fisheries as the state hobbles through its third year of drought. "California's delta is as important a national resource as the Everglades, or the Great Lakes, or the Chesapeake Bay," Hayes said. "Not only is it a crucial ecosystem that is in peril, but more than 20 million Americans in the most...

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12:30:31 –
Common theme for protesters: No to big government
Associated Press
28.81%
2.75
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Nancy Snyder says she kept quiet when abortion was legalized and prayer in schools was eliminated. Not this time. "They did it for prayer, they did it for abortion, and they're not going to do it for our health care," the 70-year-old nurse from Philipsburg, Pa., said Wednesday as she and her husband Robert, 74, a retired coal miner, waited in a long, snaking line for Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter's town hall meeting. "We're not standing back this time," Snyder said. Instead, the Snyders and many Americans like them are adding their voices to a populist backlash evident in the taunts, jeers and rants at lawmakers' health care forums around the country in the past week and a half. The contentious sessions highlight the difficulty for President Barack Obama and the Democrats as they push for a comprehensive remaking of the nation's health care system. Many of those raising their voices and fists at the town halls have never been politically active. Their fru...

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12:30:32 –
ICF Resources wins energy-efficiency contracts
Associated Press
0%
3.4
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) -- ICF Resources Inc. said Wednesday that it received two, three-year contracts valued at $34 million to develop and implement energy- efficiency programs for residential and small business customers for two private U.S.-based utilities. The company said it will design incentive programs and retrofit packages for existing homes and identify strategies for saving energy. It also will help develop incentives and provide marketing support through retailers to encourage consumers to buy lighting, appliances, electronics and other equipment that are more energy efficient. It did not identify the utilities that awarded the contracts. Shares of ICF Resources' parent, ICF International Inc., advanced $1.12, or 4.4 percent, to $26.38 in afternoon trading. The shares have traded between $15.51 and $28.75 over the past 52 weeks. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more abou...

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12:30:34 –
Justice Sonia Sotomayor celebrated at White House
Associated Press
60.8%
2.68
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama threw a big White House party Wednesday to celebrate Sonia Sotomayor as the Supreme Court's first Latino justice - and to publicly savor the victory sure to earn him points with politically potent Hispanics. The event - televised remarks from Obama and Sotomayor followed by a private reception for a few hundred supporters - was packed with Sotomayor's family and friends, lawmakers, issue advocates, Hispanic community leaders and two of her fellow Supreme Court justices. The jubilance of those who helped shepherd her confirmation through the Senate gave the event a pep-rally feel amid the stately grandeur of the East Room. The Supreme Court is a separate branch of government that frequently rules on cases critical to the administration in power. Still, because presidents make the nominations - and because Supreme Court confirmations have become taxing, politically hard-fought affairs - it is common for the White House to stage celebrations o...

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12:30:35 –
Amaranth settles energy manipulation complaint
Associated Press
23.12%
2.25
NEW YORK (AP) -- Collapsed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC will pay $7.5 million to settle a federal complaint that at least one of its traders tried to manipulate natural gas prices. Not included in the settlement was Brian Hunter, once the head of trading at Amaranth, which folded after losing some $6 billion on bad bets in the natural gas markets in 2006. A complaint filed in 2007 by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission claimed that the Greenwich, Conn., company tried manipulate the price for natural gas futures on Feb. 24, 2006 and April 26, 2006. The commission also said Amaranth officials lied to the Nymex in an attempt to cover up their alleged scheme. In addition to the CFTC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission signed off on the settlement, though the two agencies had differing accounts of what Hunter allegedly did. Another Amaranth trader, Matthew Donohoe, appears to be included in the settlement announced Wednesday. As oil and gas prices surged last year, t...

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12:30:36 –
Lawmaker health insurance costs at a glance
Associated Press
67.63%
3.14
Lawmakers in many states enjoy free or heavily subsidized health insurance paid for by tax dollars, even as the recession claims the jobs and health benefits of millions of workers who elected them. The disparity is creating a backlash in some states to cut back lawmakers' health benefits. Here is a look at those benefits at a glance. States that pay the full cost of health insurance for lawmakers: Delaware Florida Kentucky Minnesota Mississippi North Carolina North Dakota Rhode Island Texas Maine Oregon Montana States where lawmakers cannot get state-sponsored health insurance as part of their jobs: New Mexico South Dakota Wyoming States where lawmakers must pay the full cost of their health insurance plan: Alabama Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire Vermont West Virginia States where the cost of health insurance is split between lawmakers and taxpayers: Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts...

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12:30:38 –
Fed more hopeful on economy; holds record low rate
Associated Press
35.04%
3.15
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve delivered a vote of confidence in the economy Wednesday, saying it would slow the pace of an emergency rescue program as the recession appears to be ending. The central bank also held a key banking lending rate at a record low near zero and again pledged to keep it there for "an extended period." In an upgraded assessment, the Fed said the economic barometers since its last meeting in late June suggest that "economic activity is leveling out." Conditions in financial markets also "have improved further." The Fed said it would gradually slow the pace of its program to buy $300 billion worth of Treasury securities so that it will shut down at the end of October, a month later than previously scheduled. It has bought $253 billion of the securities so far. The program is aimed at lowering rates on mortgages and other consumer debt, a move to spur Americans to spend more. But its effectiveness has been questioned by some on Wall Street and on Capit...

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12:30:39 –
CA gay rights group: Wait for 2012 to attack ban
Associated Press
37.63%
4.07
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California gay rights groups are at odds over when to ask voters to repeal the state's same-sex marriage ban, with one of the largest organizations saying Wednesday it would wait until 2012 and another announcing it would shoot for 2010. Activists have been divided for months over when to go back to the polls after voters approved Proposition 8 last fall. Some are concerned that support and interest will wane by 2012, while others worry that next year is too soon to launch another expensive fight. One of the largest and most influential groups, Equality California, said Wednesday that holding off gives organizers more time to raise money and canvass voters. The group said turnout in a presidential election year will be higher than in next year's gubernatorial race and include more young people who tend to favor gay marriage. "Emotionally, we all want to win marriage back as quickly as possible," said Marc Solomon, Equality California's marriage director. "We r...

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12:30:39 –
Freed reporter: Spread word of others incarcerated
Associated Press
0%
3.5
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- One of the two TV reporters held in North Korea for 4 1/2 months hopes her story will lead to more public awareness of the plight of journalists incarcerated while reporting from hostile countries. In a brief letter released Wednesday, Laura Ling of Los Angeles says it was the groundswell of support for her and her colleague Euna Lee that not only freed them but kept her spirits up during her imprisonment. She and Lee were released last week after months of public lobbying and a visit to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il by former President Bill Clinton. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:30:40 –
Pharmacy groups mull options in lawsuit
Associated Press
0%
4.25
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- Two trade groups challenging a reduction in Medicaid reimbursements to Delaware pharmacies are weighing their options. A federal judge on Wednesday gave the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association two weeks to decide how to proceed in their lawsuit. The groups sued the state in June over a two-percent reduction in reimbursement rates. The lawsuit was filed after Walgreen Co. said its 66 stores serving Delaware patients would drop out of the Medicaid program. But Walgreen reached an agreement with the state this week, saying it will remain in the Medicaid program and is dropping out of the lawsuit. Attorneys for the trade groups said they need time to review Walgreen's settlement with the state. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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12:30:41 –
Movers roundup: VeriSign, Basic Energy Services
Associated Press
54.55%
3.5
Among the stock activity stories for Wednesday, Aug. 12, from AP Financial News: NEW YORK (AP) - VeriSign Inc. shares gained modestly, helped by a report from Credit Suisse casting doubt on fears that the company's Internet domain business could be hurt by a pending lawsuit. MIDLAND, Texas (AP) - Shares of Basic Energy Services climbed after the company, which services oil and gas wells, reported that its well servicing rig count remained unchanged during July and that demand showed modest, yet steady, improvement in its oil producing markets. NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Salesforce.com Inc. advanced after a pair of analysts touted the sales management software maker, and one upgraded the company. NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Seattle Genetics Inc. jumped after the company said it is publicly offering $118.2 million in common stock, while a Deutsche Bank-North America analyst initiated positive coverage on the development-stage biotechnology company. NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Cardiome Pharmac...

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12:30:42 –
French pool bars Muslim woman for 'burquini' suit
Associated Press
35.26%
3.29
PARIS (AP) -- A Muslim woman garbed in a head-to-toe swimsuit - dubbed a "burquini" - may have opened a new chapter in France's tussle between religious practices and its stern secular code. Officials insisted Wednesday they banned the woman's use of the Islam-friendly suit at a local pool because of France's pool hygiene standards - not out of hostility to overtly Muslim garb. Under the policy, swimmers are not allowed in pools with baggy clothing, including surfer-style shorts. Only figure-hugging suits are permitted. Nonetheless the woman, a 35-year-old convert to Islam identified only as Carole, complained of religious discrimination after trying to go swimming in a "burquini," a full-body swimsuit, in the town of Emerainville, southeast of Paris. She was quoted as telling the daily Le Parisien newspaper that she had bought the burquini after deciding "it would allow me the pleasure of bathing without showing too much of myself, as Islam recommends." "For me this is nothing but...

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12:30:44 –
NY fines health insurer for 'misleading' TV ads
Associated Press
29.2%
2.83
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- A health insurer whose TV commercials promised "peace of mind" for just $5 a day must stop running the national ads and pay a fine of $700,000 after New York officials accused it of leaving patients only with huge hospital bills. The American Medical and Life Insurance Co., advertising through an intermediary called Cinergy, marketed health insurance as a lower cost option for the uninsured and underinsured. It was pitched as costing just $5 a day, or the cost of a hamburger or pack of cigarettes. In one ad, the narrator said the insurance is available "regardless of any pre-existing conditions," while the print on the screen stated "most pre-existing conditions accepted" and the fine print stated there is a six-month waiting period. Acting Insurance Superintendent Kermitt J. Brooks said Wednesday that the cases uncovered in New York's two-year investigation included a Rochester woman who had $419 a month charged to her credit card for the insurance, only to ha...

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12:30:44 –
ConAgra CEO received $10.1 million pay package
Associated Press
35.59%
3
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The chief executive of ConAgra Foods Inc. received a nearly 27 percent boost in compensation in 2009 in a package worth $10.1 million, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures filed with regulators. Most of it came in stock options and restricted stock that haven't vested. The increase for CEO Gary Rodkin came after he received a 41 percent pay cut in 2008. Revenue rose 5 percent this year as the company benefited from its focus on packaged food products and consumers eating more at home because of the recession. According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Rodkin received salary worth a little more than $1 million, on par with last year, and $1.1 million in incentive compensation, lower than the $1.8 million he received last year. Rodkin's pay package included restricted stock and options in fiscal 2009 that were valued by the company at $7.8 million the day they were granted. The options, valued at $1.4 million, h...

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12:30:47 –
Garmin shares fall after downbeat Goldman note
Associated Press
48.31%
2.4
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Garmin Ltd. fell Wednesday, after Goldman Sachs predicted weakness in the market for personal navigation devices. Garmin faces rising competition from more sophisticated cell phones that can mimic the Global Positioning System technology the company markets. Goldman analyst Thomas Lee said slowing demand could translate into worse-than-expected results for the Cayman Islands-based company in the fourth quarter and next year. In a note to investors, he added the stock - already rated "Sell" - to his Americas Conviction Sell List. Along with fresh competition, Garmin risks cannibalizing its personal navigation business with its own line of smart phones, Lee said. He added that the "market is overestimating the sustainability of the company's strong" second-quarter margins. Last week, Garmin topped Wall Street forecasts, notching adjusted earnings of 83 cents per share for the second quarter. That came in well above the average forecast from analysts, who pr...

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12:30:47 –
Jakarta hotel florist plotted deadly bombings
Associated Press
69.53%
4.85
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- When bomb blasts tore through two luxury hotels in Indonesia's capital where Andi Suhandi worked as a florist, he tried to phone a colleague to make sure he was safe. There was no answer. Flower arranger Ibrohim Muharram went missing after the twin suicide attacks at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17 that killed seven people and wounded more than 50 others. Within days it emerged he had resigned his job the morning of the bombings. Police on Wednesday disclosed that Ibrohim - Suhandi's roommate and friend of three years, whom he described as a "polite" man who used to give flowers to their neighbors on Valentine's Day - had smuggled in the explosives used in the bombings. He allegedly orchestrated the attacks with Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorism suspect, Noordin Muhammad Top. Indonesian counterterrorism forces thought they killed Noordin during a 16-hour siege last weekend, but DNA results released Wednesday yielded an embarrassi...

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12:30:49 –
MTG Gaming completes notes offering, repays debt
Associated Press
0%
2.5
CHESTER, W.Va. (AP) -- Horse racing track and casino operator MTG Gaming Group Inc. said Wednesday it completed a $250 million notes offering and used the proceeds to purchase $130 million in outstanding debt. Last month, MTG Gaming priced the 12.625 percent senior secured notes due 2014, at 95.248 percent of the principal amount. The company said it used the proceeds from the sale to purchase $130 million in outstanding 9.75 percent senior notes due 2010, to repay all amounts outstanding under an existing senior secured credit facility and to pay consent fees in connection with the previously announced 9 percent senior subordinated notes due 2012. MTR Gaming Group owns and operates Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester, W.Va.; Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie, Pa.; and Scioto Downs in Columbus, Ohio. The company's shares fell 14 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $3.61 in afternoon trading. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be pub...

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13:20:44 –
Russia hostage to its imperial past: Ukraine
Reuters
49.91%
4.5
By Sabina Zawadzki KIEV (Reuters) - Russian leaders are stuck in an imperial past and seem to relish bullying and threatening their neighbors, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday, responding to a tirade from Moscow the previous day. Relations between Russian and Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, have deteriorated steadily since Kiev's Orange Revolution brought pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko to power in 2004. Russia has twice cut off gas supplies through Ukraine to Europe amid disputes over payments and contracts. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev lashed out on Tuesday at Yushchenko for "anti-Russian" policies and said he wanted to see a leader in Ukraine who was easier for Moscow to deal with. Analysts saw his comments as an attempt to influence Ukraine's presidential election, due in January. Yushchenko, who is seeking re-election but is unlikely to win, has yet to comment on Medvedev's outburst. But his chief of staff Ve...

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13:20:46 –
World Bank pledges more help for ambitious Rwanda
Reuters
72.37%
3.55
By Lesley Wroughton KIGALI (Reuters) - World Bank President Robert Zoellick pledged on Wednesday to boost development aid to Rwanda to help the rebuild the country ripped apart by genocide. The tiny landlocked east African state is reviving its economy with spending on tourism, agriculture and mining after 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed over a 100-day period in 1994. Reforms and new programs have turned the nation around in the 15 intervening years. "On issue after issue, this is a country on the move," Zoellick told reporters after talks with the government, including a lengthy meeting with President Paul Kagame. "It's a country that also brings great momentum." Zoellick said the World Bank wanted to bolster the areas of infrastructure, farming and private sector development. After several years of strong growth, Rwanda has been hit hard by the collapse in global trade and commodity pric...

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13:20:47 –
Iran says Frenchwoman cannot leave if freed on bail
Reuters
49.63%
3.3
TEHRAN (Reuters) - France has agreed to provide bail for Clotilde Reiss, a French teaching assistant tried in Iran on spying charges but she will not be allowed to leave the country, Iranian news agencies said on Wednesday. "The French embassy in Tehran has conveyed an official letter to Iran's Foreign Ministry agreeing to provide bail and written guarantees for the release of Clotilde Reiss," an unnamed government official told the official IRNA agency. French government spokesman Luc Chatel said France was doing everything it could to free Reiss and was prepared to stand bail. "The French government has indicated that it was ready for the moment to pay this bail for Clotilde Reiss," he told i-tele television. "The government's aim is to obtain her final release," he said. Reiss, 24, was arrested on spying charges on July 1 as she prepared to return home after five months spent working as a teaching assistant at the University of Isfa...

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13:30:12 –
Microsofties' side project seeks new Office ideas
Associated Press
0%
3
SEATTLE (AP) -- Have a gripe about Office? A couple of guys at Microsoft Corp. want to hear it directly. "Make Office Better" is an unofficial project launched by an Office product planner and a Windows software tester at Microsoft. Individuals submit ideas and weigh in on whether they like the ideas submitted by others. Topics that resonate most with the crowd should get the most "me, too" votes and rise to the top. It's similar to the approach taken by the news aggregator site digg.com and the IdeaStorm product-suggestion site run by PC maker Dell Inc. After a few weeks online, Make Office Better has racked up about 750 ideas, but only about 150 of them got 10 votes or more. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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13:30:12 –
State official chides Venezuelan on golf comments
Associated Press
63.6%
4.33
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department spokesman, a once-a-week golfer, teed off Wednesday on President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela for criticizing the gentleman's game as a "bourgeois sport." Describing himself as the department's "self-appointed ambassador-at-large for golf," P.J. Crowley swung hard at the leftist leader who last month said rich people who want to play golf at the public course in Maracay, Venezuela, can build another one on the city's outskirts. The government should take over some public courses in urban areas to make room for housing, Chavez said on television. "It isn't justified that in the middle of a city there's a golf course, with so much land lacking for buildings for the people," Chavez said. Crowley, who describes himself as a seasoned golfer with a low handicap of 8, launched the daily press briefing at the department to protest the "unwarranted attack" by Chavez on the game. "The suggestion that golf, a truly global sport, is bourgeois is a mulligan,"...

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13:30:13 –
LA judge denies AP motion in Mongol biker case
Associated Press
0%
4.29
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge has denied a motion by The Associated Press to unseal all plea agreements in a case where dozens of Mongol motorcycle gang members were indicted. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper says she agreed with the news outlet that some of the plea agreements should be made public. However, she was concerned about the safety of the defendants and their families, given the nature of the charges. Cooper said Tuesday that six of the 25 agreements filed so far remain sealed. One of those belongs to former Mongol national president Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, who pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in January. Seventy-nine defendants were charged in the case, accused of drug trafficking, murder and other offenses. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our...

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13:30:13 –
Meltdown 101: How will executive pay curbs work?
Associated Press
43.01%
3.11