Those involved in the discussions do take seriously the need to address concerns of law enforcement and national security.
There is also some hope that new technology developments will help to provide some solutions and at the same time helping to make users of the networks more secure in their communications.
So the individual solution of the clipper chip may fade from sight, but the questions will be with us and will remain serious for some time.
Italian astronomers have found signs of water, a necessary ingredient for life, in the atmosphere of planets orbiting distant stars.
Having water does not mean other planets will be teeming with life but if the discovery is confirmed it will fuel speculation that it could be possible.
They used a 32-meter radio telescope to search for water maser emissions, which could indicate water in a planet's atmosphere when it is bathed in the infrared light of its star.
When there are 3,000 of scorpions and they're all in your room, it's the stuff of nightmares.
hoping to break the world record for the longest stay in a room full of scorpions, she won't lose any sleep with her deadly roommates.
War fever drove U.S. oil prices to a new 19-month high as dealers factored in the growing prospect of a U.S. assault on Iraq.
jumped 61 cents to $30.45 a barrel after setting a high of $30.48.
The Miss Universe Organization, however, said the 24-year-old Russian beauty was fired the first time in the 52-year history, but the organization did not give an explanation as to why Fedorova was ousted.
Fedorova might be married to her longtime boyfriend and could be pregnant.
Markets in Asia are broadly lower, following another down day on Wall Street and a gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 189.02 to 7,683.13, hitting a four-year low.
The Nasdaq composite fell 0.23 percent to 1,182.17, hitting a new six-year low.
Tokyo's Nikkei is off 0.33 percent to 9291.03.
South Korea's Kospi is also in the red, Hong Kong is down about half a percent.
Scientific advances have made it possible for terrorists to kill millions of people with biological or chemical weapons, the World Health Organization warned.
The agency urged nations to prepare for the possibility of such strikes.
WHO's report comes as U.S. federal authorities have twice grounded crop-dusting planes amid fears that terrorists could use them following the attacks on New York and Washington.
Even though the threat is small, the potential effects are devastating.
If a small number of people in a large city were infected with a disease that took several days to show itself, they would infect many more before they even knew they were ill.
If the outbreak came in a city with a large airport, the disease could go all over the world.
The WHO report said countries needed to cooperate because an attack could easily overwhelm the resources of a single nation.
It also called for all countries to sign and enforce the U.N.’
During the Cold War, The United States and the former Soviet Union built vast germ-warfare stockpiles.
In July, the Bush administration pulled out of negotiations to enforce the biological weapons ban.
While the chances of attacks by governments exist in certain parts of the world, there is a danger of attacks by terrorist groups almost anywhere, WHO said.
A team of international researchers said they have found what could be the first proof of life beyond our planet
Although the bugs from space are similar to bacteria on Earth, the scientists said the living cells found in samples of air from the edge of the planet's atmosphere are too far away to have come from Earth.
The bacteria could have hitched a ride on a rocket or satellite into space or they really could be from another planet.
which suggests that life may have come from outer space in the form of germs or spores.
on what was recently farmland, workers weld steel for a new airport that soon will be one of the biggest in China, larger than even the ultra-modern facility in nearby Hong Kong.
The Baiyun International Airport in the booming southern Chinese province of Guangdong is scheduled to open in 2004 after an investment of US$2.36 billion, replacing Guangzhou city's older, dilapidated facility.
The new airport is expected to handle 13 million passengers a year at first, excess capacity will be idle for long.
Rescue ships swarmed the waters off the Gambian coast trying to find survivors days after a Senegalese ferry sank in a storm with 1,034 people onboard.
only 65 people survived, and more than 300 bodies had been recovered.
South Korea's headline inflation rose a provisional 0.6 percent as food prices jumped due to devastating typhoons and Thanksgiving holidays.
Weeks of typhoons and monsoon rains in South Korea, which have killed more than a hundred people and damaged crops, were blamed for an upswing in consumer prices.
linked to the growing prospect of a U.S. strike against Iraq also fanned inflation.
South Korea is the world's fourth largest oil importer and wholly depends on imports of crude.
A snack store owner has been sentenced to death for spiking a competitor's breakfast foods with rat poison, resulting in the deaths of more than 30 people in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing.
by the Nanjing No.1 Intermediate People's Court for usage of a dangerous substance, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The September 14 poisonings and resulted in the hospitalization of more than 200 others.
The tumor on her stomach had grown so large that Monica Besra appeared seven months pregnant.
When I got up at 1 in the morning, I found the big tumor had disappeared.''
Pope John Paul II's office has declared the event a miracle, clearing one of the final hurdles standing in the way of declaring the nun a saint, Italian news agencies reported.
The West is right to seek vengeance and justice for the thousands killed on Sept.
Target the guilty and their allies.
Just as importantly, we need to demonstrate with our restraint that we do not hold innocents accountable for the cruelties of history or the actions of fanatics.
“An eye for an eye,” in this case, is a prescription for blindness.
11 atrocities is smoked out of the caves of Afghanistan, the war will not be won.
The fanatical groups exist in the vacuum of Middle Eastern politics, nurtured by the rot of its illegitimate dictatorships and the heretical extremism of its mullahs and clerics.
Islam is not to blame for this, but neither is it innocent.
As Edmund Burke said, “All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
The West cannot fight this battle, for obvious reasons.
But the West cannot do what is needed:
It will always be seen as the invader, as latter-day Crusaders.
There are few signs that Islam is ready for such a struggle.
Remember, as religions go, this one is still young.
That is only 1,379 years ago.
By comparison, Christian Europe in the year 1379 was just finished with the Crusades and mired in its Dark Ages.
Ahead still was the horror of the Inquisition, the Reformation and all of its religious fanaticism, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, along with revolution and imperialism and then the mechanized murder of Naziism, Communism and Hiroshima.
Of course, the analogy between civilizations is deeply flawed.
in the best-case scenario, Islamic civilization will learn from the mistakes of the West.
Admittedly, there is not a great deal of evidence to support this hope right now.
“Secular” Muslim states exist, but usually uncomfortably and as the result of Western meddling or the colonial period.
Much of the Islamic world looks down on these states as lackeys of the West:
Turkey, for instance, or Jordan or Morocco
is allowing drivers to e-mail their excuses or explanations instead of appearing in court.
Other courts allow attorneys to file briefs online.
And many counties let offenders pay traffic fines But Yakima County is believed to be the first The county is doing it to ease court overcrowding.
defendants don't have to miss a day of work to appear before the judge.
Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has described last week's talks with North Korea as "frank" and "useful" there were no plans for any further meetings Washington would review the talks before deciding its future stance.
Chanting "no more war," an estimated 5,000 people rallied in downtown Portland, Oregon, one of a number of such protests planned across the nation.
have come too late for many Asian exporters who will still face delays of up to 10 weeks to get their products unloaded.
To make matters worse, just as the world's largest shipping line, Maersk, has stopped Chinese factories have swung back into action after a week-long holiday.
You could look at these “moderate” Islamic states, plus Egypt and Saudi Arabia and now Pakistan, and conclude that there are “moderates” in the region who will help win the longer, harder struggle to exorcise Islam’s own demons.
The problem here is obvious:
The Mubaraks and King Fahds and Gen. Musharrafs of the world are hardly representative of their populations.
Instead, they represent a small elite in each place that has a common interest with the West in “stability.”
So, in exchange for stability, the West has helped keep them in power.
Without the West, they would all fall, and as long as the West keeps them in power, it invites the rage of those abused by these regimes.
Still, stability is the ideal of rich societies.
To the western world, stability in the Middle East means cheap oil and, many assumed before Sept. 11, a quarantine of the worst forms of terror inside the region.
For the regimes running these nations, stability translates directly to wealth, power and survival.
But what does it mean to an Egyptian fisherman or a Pakistani stall trader who can't feed his family?
Stability in this case means misery, endless misery in the service of a corrupt regime supported by the far-off giant, America.
Has your child ever died of a treatable disease for lack of medicine?
Have the police ever arrested you and run 240 volts up your genitals for complaining about the government?
Is it any wonder, then, that the vast millions succumb to the heresies of Islamic extremists, who twist the Koran into a call for blood that promises a better world for Muslims who obey?
So now we wage war on terrorism, and so we should.
Only the Muslim world has the power to wage war against its own demons.
The might of the West will garner respect in the Muslim world if those responsible are dealt with swiftly.
In the longer run, however, new bin Ladens will rise to replace them if the West goes on propping up repressive Arab dictatorships.
The United States now must demand far more than that cheap oil for its friendship.
To do less would merely satisfy our need for revenge but would doom our children to a new Dark Age.
A University of Michigan anthropologist and colleagues are challenging a recent fossil discovery, the skull, hailed as the oldest human-like ever found, may not be human at all.
the skull nicknamed Toumai, found in northern Chad by an international team is not part of the human family tree.
left on the fossilized bones from its neck muscles, Toumai was a quadruped walked on four legs not two.
Described as the worst act of terrorism in Indonesia's history, a massive car bomb is believed responsible for a blast that tore through a nightclub in Bali, killing nearly 200 people most of them thought to be Australian tourists.
The death toll from the bombing stood at 187, with at least 300 people injured, many with severe burns, stretching local hospital and medical facilities to breaking point.
And there were still more than 200 people unaccounted for.
A large chunk of the hard lava and tumbled into the sea, Residents across the British Caribbean island heard the volcano rumbling an indication the dome is growing.
But scientists said now at its highest peak since the volcano began erupting in 1995
Police in this Washington-area suburb are investigating what appears to be the ninth fatal sniper attack this month, in the parking area of a Home Depot store.
The sniper has now killed nine people they had witnesses to the shooting and were on the lookout for a cream-colored Chevrolet Astro van with the left rear taillight out.
Despite a cordon thrown around the area shortly after the shooting, the van has not been found.
Saddam Hussein won another seven-year term as Iraq's president in a referendum in which he was the sole candidate, taking 100 percent of the vote, the Iraqi leader's right-hand man announced.
All 11,445,638 of the eligible voters cast ballots, said Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, but the results seemed to bear out the criticism.
Sexual activity is up.
Gas mask sales are soaring.
People are gorging themselves on candy and ice cream but also ducking for cover at the smallest noise.
The thought of driving into an underground parking garage can be chilling.
Julie, a housewife in Los Angeles, said she thought about buying gas masks for herself, her husband and her two young sons, but then decided it would be futile to try to change one's fate under such circumstances.
"Besides, I didn't want to get caught in a predicament in which the gas mask fit me but not my child or vice versa," she said.
Not surprisingly, many people throughout the country are experiencing depression, fear and sleeplessness after witnessing on television or firsthand the horrific attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
But others say that many people prone to depression are depressed now by the events.
Indeed, some experts say that many people are turning to food, shopping, movies and sex as a means of escaping and coping with fear and sadness.
Pepper Schwartz, a University of Washington sociologist, said there are many reasons people have sex during crises.
Schwartz predicted a "baby boomlet" would follow nine months after the attacks but one not nearly as big as the baby boom that followed the end of World War Two.
North Korea has revealed to the United States that it has a secret and active nuclear weapons program, only after Pyongyang was confronted with evidence that it has enough plutonium for at least two nuclear weapons, One of the officials told Reuters that North Korea's activities "have effectively nullified the 1994 Agreed Framework," an agreement under which Pyongyang promised to freeze its nuclear program.
But the officials said the administration was consulting with Congress and allies and had made no judgment about next steps in its relations with Pyongyang.
Japan's space shuttle successfully lifted off Christmas Island in the South Pacific on its first test flight, soaring for about five miles before landing with only a slight jolt, Japan's space agency announced today.
The 10-minute flight was the latest success for the country's beleaguered, cash-strapped space program.
appears to have set up networks throughout Southeast Asia and Australia.
Though the man alleged to be the group's spiritual leader, has been arrested by Indonesian authorities, intelligence officials say a threat from the group still remains.
Serge Brammertz, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, congratulated Serbian authorities for taking Karadzic into custody and called it "an important day for the victims.
"It is also an important day for international justice, because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice," Brammertz said.
He said authorities "in due course" will determine when Karadzic is to be transferred to the tribunal at The Hague.
His arrest leaves former Gen. Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military commander, as the top-ranking war crimes suspect still at large.
Former U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke blamed Karadzic for the 300,000 deaths in Bosnia, the bloodiest of the Balkan wars that accompanied the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Karadzic, a onetime psychiatrist, declared himself president of a Bosnian Serb republic when Bosnia-Herzegovina
The Bosnian Serbs, backed by the Serb-dominated Yugoslav military and paramilitary forces, quickly seized control of most of the country and laid siege to Sarajevo, the capital.
During the conflict that followed, the Serb forces launched what they called the "ethnic cleansing" of the territories under their control the forced displacement and killings of Muslims and Croats in territories under their control.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (CNN) One of five feet that have mysteriously washed up on the shores of British Columbia over the past year has been linked to a depressed man who disappeared a year ago, police said Saturday.
Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre said DNA testing helped identify the man.
The man's name was not made public at the family's request, he said.
The foot is the first to be identified by investigators, who have been working on the bizarre case since August, when two feet were found days apart about 40 miles southwest of Vancouver on islands in the Strait of Georgia.
The first foot was discovered by beachcombers on Jedidiah Island. Days later, a right foot was found inside a man's size-12 Reebok sneaker on Gabriola Island.
Two weeks ago, police said that a foot found on Valdez Island on February 8 and another foot found June 16 on Westham Island, more than 25 miles away and across a strait, belong to the same man.
Another foot was found May 22 on Kirkland Island in the Fraser River. It was laced inside a New Balance running shoe and is the only one belonging to a woman, authorities said.
A sixth discovery last month turned out to be a hoax, an animal paw stuffed inside a shoe.
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) Brenda Walsh is all grown-up and returning to Beverly Hills, 90210, this fall.
But cast members of the new CW spin-off, "90210," are speculating whether Shannen Doherty will be equally mature when she reprises her role as Walsh.
"I have heard some of the stories," "90210" star AnnaLynne McCord said of the sometimes-volatile relationship between Doherty and co-star Jennie Garth on the original series, which aired from 1990-2000.
Garth is returning to her role as Kelly Taylor, now a school guidance counselor, on "90210.
In the new series, Doherty's Walsh is now a famous theater director invited back to West Beverly Hills High School to stage a musical, CW announced Saturday at a Television Critics Association meeting in, of course, Beverly Hills.
Her guest role plays out over multiple episodes, the network said.
"If she and Jennie have it out while I'm there, OK, then, all right, so that's the story," McCord said of any possible discord during production.
"We're co-workers, we're going to be co-stars and I want to treat her (Doherty) with the respect that I would treat any other co-star," said McCord
, who played the evil Eden on FX's "Nip/Tuck.
Manchester United have told Cristiano Ronaldo there will be no new contract with a pay rise to match any offer from Real Madrid and that he must start displaying "commitment and loyalty.
But Ronaldo has again refused to commit his future to United, having spent the summer making no secret of his desire to move to Spain.
United chief executive David Gill believes that could have been a tactic to command a higher salary at Old Trafford.
Such was United's anger at Madrid's pursuit of Ronaldo that manager Sir Alex Ferguson made an unsuccessful complaint to FIFA while his Portuguese winger was at the Euro 2008 finals.
Before taking United on a tour of South Africa, Ferguson flew to Portugal last week to meet with Ronaldo for the first time since the aftermath of May's Champions League triumph.
It prompted the Scot to state his confidence that Ronaldo would stay, but the player continued to fuel talk of a transfer while vacationing in California.
"I don't know about the future, only God knows it.
I can't say any more.
(CNN) A U.S. Air Force B-52 with six crew members on board crashed off the island of Guam on Monday, an Air Force spokesman said.
Rescuers with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy were searching a point in the Pacific Ocean about 30 miles northwest of Guam, a U.S. territory, where the plane is believed to have crashed, said Capt. Joel Stark, spokesman for Andersen Air Force Base.
He had no information on whether anyone survived.
The B-52H Stratofortress was based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and was in Guam as part of a four-month rotation, Stark said.
It went down about 9:45 a.m. local time (7: 45 p.m. ET Sunday).
A B-52 from Andersen Air Force Base was scheduled to fly over crowds celebrating Liberation Day, which commemorates the U.S. capture of Guam from Japan in 1944, Stark said.
But it was unclear whether the plane that crashed was the one that had been scheduled to perform the flyover.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) Presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Iraq on Monday for talks with Iraqi officials and American military commanders in a 5-year-old war he has pledged to end, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said.
The trip to Iraq is Obama's second after a visit in 2006 and follows a Saturday stop in Afghanistan, part of a closely watched overseas trip for the Illinois senator that will include other stops in the Middle East in Europe.
Obama has said that if elected, he would order the military to end the war in Iraq and commit more troops to Afghanistan.
Accompanying Obama is Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee and an outspoken critic of the Iraq war.
"The senators have a busy day ahead of them, as they meet with senior Iraqi officials, coalition leadership and officials from the U.S. Embassy," Embassy spokesman Armand Cucciniello said.
They also plan to meet with troops from their home states and U.S. civilians working in Iraq, Cucciniello said.
16 months.
Three Germans kidnapped by Kurdish rebels in Turkey were released Sunday after more than a week in captivity.
The men are recovering at the German Embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, according to Germany's foreign minister.
"According to the circumstances they are doing well," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Sunday in Berlin. "And of course we share the happiness with the freed men and with their relatives.
It is unclear what prompted the rebels to release the hostages.
They had said they would hold them until the German government stops "its enemy-like politics" against them.
Mehmet Cetin, the governor of the city of Agri in Turkey, said that after officials check the health of the released hostages, they will be returned to Germany.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK, confirmed taking the three Germans Helmut Johann, Martin Georpe and Lars Holper Reime from Mount Agri on July 9, according to the Firat News Agency, a pro-Kurdish Web site.
"We are not the enemies of the German people, and we have not mistreated any of the hostages," the PKK said, according to Firat. "Unless the German government announces it has stopped its enemy-like politics towards PKK and the Kurds, we will not release the German citizens.
Soon after, Steinmeier issued a statement saying the government refuses to be "blackmailed.
(CNN) Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday offered his strongest public statement yet on sex abuse against minors by Roman Catholic priests, apologizing to victims and calling the abuse "evil.
The apology came during a mass in Sydney, Australia, and expands on comments the pope made during an April visit to the United States, during which he publicly acknowledged the pain the church's sex abuse scandal has caused and met privately with abuse victims.
"Indeed, I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them as their pastor that I too share in their suffering," he said Saturday at Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral.
The comments came on the pope's third day of public appearances in Australia, where he is attending World Youth Day.
Dubbed "the Catholic Woodstock," the event is believed to be the largest Christian gathering in the world and this year is believed to have attracted more
The pope said he wanted to "acknowledge the shame which we have all felt" over reports of sex abuse by clergy and said those responsible for the "evils" should be brought to justice.
He asked those attending the mass to help their bishops to end the abuse.
"It is an urgent priority to create a safer, more wholesome environment, especially for young people," he said.
In April, the 81-year-old pontiff acknowledged "the enormous pain" caused by sexual abuse of children by the
"It is vitally important that the vulnerable are always shielded from souls who would cause harm," he said then.
Benedict also met with three people who said they were childhood victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) A Pennsylvania woman has been charged in the slaying of an 18-year-old woman who was found with her uterus cut open and her fetus removed, authorities said Sunday.
Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, of Wilkinsburg was charged Sunday with criminal homicide kidnapping and unlawful restraint in connection with last week's death of Kia Johnson, Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said.
Police found Johnson's body in Curry-Demus' apartment Friday, two days after Curry-Demus arrived at a hospital with a newborn and falsely claimed that the baby was hers, authorities said.
Police have not confirmed whether the infant belonged to Johnson, whose family reported her missing last week.
Johnson's eviscerated body which police said they found after receiving calls about a foul odor coming from the apartment "was in a state of moderate decomposition," and she had been dead about two days, Medical Examiner Karl Williams said.
The woman's hands and feet were bound by duct tape, police said.
A placenta was found at the scene, Williams told reporters.
Authorities said they used dental records to confirm Johnson's identity.
Drugs were found at the apartment, and authorities are awaiting toxicology results to determine whether she was sedated, Williams said.
It's unclear whether Johnson was alive when her infant was taken, he added.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) — Cambodia has sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council to call attention to its continuing standoff with Thailand over an ancient border temple on disputed land.
The country is not asking for U.N. intervention, said Information Minister Kheu Kanharith.
Rather, the letter that Cambodia's permanent mission in New York submitted to the chairmen of the Security Council and the General Assembly is meant to draw attention to a crisis that entered its sixth day Sunday.
The two countries agreed to meet Monday to defuse tensions even as each side continued to amass more troops to the site of the Preah Vihear temple.
Both Cambodia and Thailand lay claim to the 11th century temple, which sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil but has its most accessible entrance on the Thai side.
Thailand further says that the dispute arose from the fact that the Cambodian government used a map drawn during the French occupation of Cambodia that places both the temple and the surrounding area in that country's territory.
Earlier this month, the United Nations approved Cambodia's application to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site places the U.N. says have outstanding universal value.
The decision re-ignited tensions, with some in Thailand fearing it will make it difficult for their country to lay claim to disputed land around the temple.
Opposition parties in Thailand used the issue to attack the government, which initially backed the heritage listing.
A Thai court overturned the pact, prompting the resignation of Thailand's foreign minister, Noppadon Pattama.
He had endorsed the application.
BETHLEHEM (CNN) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded Sunday that Israel cease settlement construction and promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy.
In his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories as Britain's leader, Brown repeatedly stressed that economics are key to Mideast peace and said Israel should ease travel restrictions in the West Bank that have hindered commerce.
But his strongest comments were reserved for the settlements:
"I think the whole European Union is very clear on this matter: We want to see a freeze on settlements.
it makes the compromises Israel needs to make for peace more difficult," Brown said at a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
Abbas went further in his criticism of Israel's construction in disputed east Jerusalem and the adjacent West Bank, telling Brown that Israel lacks commitment to the "principles and spirit" of Mideast peace efforts.
He singled out stepped-up construction of homes for Jews in areas of Jerusalem the Palestinians claim for their capital.
At a joint appearance after meeting Brown later in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert acknowledged that Israel disagrees with the Palestinians and Britain over the issue of settlements but added, "I am absolutely convinced, Mr. Prime Minister, that this should not stand in the way of an agreement between us and the Palestinians.
Olmert repeated his contention that agreement is "closer than ever" and said he hoped for an accord by the end of the year.
Beijing started its drastic traffic control plan Sunday in a last-minute push to clear the capital's pollution-choked skies in time for the August Olympics.
Skies were relatively clear Sunday, and traffic was light.
But the real test will come when the work week begins.
Two new subway lines and an airport rail link should also bring relief. All three lines opened Saturday, a month behind schedule.
It is unclear how the effectiveness of the plan will be gauged.
The government has not made public a specific target for emissions levels or said how it will measure air quality.
"Pea-soup air at the opening ceremony would be their worst nightmare," said Victor Cha, director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University.
Taiwanese officials say flash floods triggered by tropical storm Kalmaegi have killed 19 people in Taiwan.
The disaster relief center lists another six people as missing in its Sunday report.
The storm lashed southern Taiwan with torrential rains Friday, triggering flash floods and landslides.
The death toll was raised from 13 to 19.
The center says mudslides buried two houses that killed seven people in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan.
Typhoons and tropical storms often hit the island between July and September.
Kalmaegi, the Korean word for sea gull, was the first storm to hit Taiwan this year.
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday that United States needs to focus on Afghanistan in its battle against terrorism.
But we have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan. And I believe this has to be our central focus, the central front, on our battle against terrorism," Obama said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation.
Obama said troop levels must increase in Afghanistan.
"For at least a year now, I have called for two additional brigades, perhaps three," he told CBS. "I think it's very important that we unify command more effectively to coordinate our military activities. But military alone is not going to be enough.
Obama met Sunday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a leader the Democratic senator has criticized for not doing enough to rebuild the war-torn nation.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee met with Karzai in Kabul, the capital city, during Obama's first visit to the Asian nation.
Karzai's spokesman characterized the senator's message as pleasant.
They reassured the support of U.S. people to Afghanistan," Humayoon Hamidzada said.
Karzai met with the congressional delegation that includes Obama, and they discussed the achievements of the Afghan government as well as challenges such as terrorism, corruption and illegal drugs.
(CNN) According to a Russian proverb, God makes the priests.
Jesters come from the devil.
You won't have any trouble believing that aphorism when you see Heath Ledger's mesmerizing performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight," Christopher Nolan's hotly anticipated and often brilliantly executed follow-up to "Batman Begins.
His face caked in cracked white greasepaint, his smile a grotesque red lipstick scar, kohl rimming his eyes, the Joker is a cruel kind of clown, the kind that is only interested in the last laugh.
Ledger dominates this movie as a living presence, a live wire, dangerous and unpredictable.
Even more than Batman himself, the Joker would usually scream "camp" (and has in the TV series and other movies) but Nolan refuses to go there.
His Gotham is cement and glass, a "real" city not so different from what we might find in any contemporary action thriller. (Chicago doubles for Batman's metropolis.)
Unlike Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher, who directed previous Batman films, Nolan favors location work over studio artifice, and he seems determined to keep the computer-generated imagery within the bounds of gravity.
In "The Dark Knight" (Nolan must have been tempted to add "of the Soul" to the title), the Joker might be his shadow or his evil twin.
In some sick way, they need each other.
"You complete me," the Joker lisps to Batman, mimicking (mocking?) "Jerry Maguire."
The word is nowhere stated, but this Joker is unmistakably a terrorist he blows up hospitals, rigs bombs to commuter ferries, burns his own ill-gotten gains. That makes Batman a kind of one-man Department of Homeland Security.
However, the only legitimate alternative turns out to be a civic crusader, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
That's the movie's ultimate ideological battleground.
Unfortunately, if Dent gives the movie a classic character arc, Eckhart's disappointingly bland performance fails to nail the narcissism that must be the flip side to his zeal, making his ultimate about-face hard to accept.
Whenever the Joker and Batman are in the vicinity, the movie hums with finely tuned dread and anticipation.
But the longer it goes on (and yes, it does go on too long), Dent triangulates the equation, ultimately pulling it out of whack.
In a summer when action overwhelms intelligence (and even good sense), here's a movie that works on many levels.
It even features the single most awesome truck stunt I've ever seen.
And though Ledger's tragic death in January can't help but cast a morbid pall over the proceedings and that's saying something, given some of the film's plot points when he's on the screen the movie lights up.
A group of experts from around the world will hold a first of its kind conference Thursday on global catastrophic risks.
They will discuss what should be done to prevent these risks from becoming realities that could lead to the end of human life on Earth as we know it.
Speakers at the four-day event at Oxford University in Britain will talk about topics including nuclear terrorism and what to do if a large asteroid were to be on a collision course with our planet.
On the final day of the Global Catastrophic Risk Conference, experts will focus on what could be the unintended consequences of new technologies, such as superintelligent machines that, if ill-conceived, might cause the demise of Homo sapiens.
than human beings would also be very powerful," said Dr. Nick Bostrom, director of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, host of the symposium. "If we get something wrong, you could imagine the consequences would involve the extinction of the human species.
Bostrom is a philosopher and a leading thinker of transhumanism, a movement that advocates not only the study of the potential threats and promises that future technologies could pose to human life but also the ways in which emergent technologies could be used to make the very act of living better.
"We want to preserve the best of what it is to be human and maybe even amplify that," Bostrom said.
"We will begin to use science and technology not just to manage the world around us but to manage our own human biology as well," Bostrom said.
"The changes will be faster and more profound than the very, very slow changes that would occur over tens of thousands of years as a result of natural selection and biological evolution.
Bostrom declined to predict an exact time frame when this revolutionary biotechnological metamorphosis might occur. "Maybe it will take eight years or 200 years," he said. "It is very hard to predict.
From making an omelet to getting some sleep, a little change in the mercury can make a big difference
Ideal temperature:
The image of your mother-in-law making a face as she drinks your warm Merlot will haunt you for years to come.
No thermometer? Try this...
"Take whites out of the refrigerator up to 20 minutes before serving; put reds in about 20 minutes before serving," says Kevin Toomajian, a wine expert at Copia, a wine-education center in Napa, California.
Filling a vase for cut flowers
Ideal temperature:
Why should you care? "Warm water travels better up the stems, allowing the blooms to hydrate and develop properly," says Cecelia Heffernan, author of Flowers A to Z.
No thermometer? Try this...
The water should feel like bathwater.
Painting the inside of a house
Ideal temperature:
77 degrees.
At this temperature, most latex paints take only two hours to dry, which means you can move the furniture back into place sooner.
No thermometer? Try this...
If you're comfortable standing around in a tank top, you're probably close enough.
If it's not quite that warm, don't fret.
The paint will just take a bit longer to dry.
Ideal temperature:
72 to 78 degrees.
Why should you care?
Studies show productivity drops when temperatures dip below 72 degrees.
(More than 78 degrees might make you sleepy, but experts say most offices with A/C don't get that hot.)
No thermometer? Try this...
Can't turn up the thermostat?
Put a wrap on your chair seat to act as an insulator and raise your body temperature, says Alan Hedge, a professor of ergonomics at Cornell University.
Taking a bath
Ideal temperature:
Why should you care?
Hot water can break down the skin's protective barrier, which guards against pollution, germs, and bacteria.
If the water is too hot for your hand, it's too hot for the rest of you.
Our bodies adjust to high temperatures in about three minutes, but they're still bad for the skin.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Bush "a total failure" on Thursday, among the California Democrat's harshest assessments to date of the president.
God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an exclusive interview.
At the White House on Wednesday, Bush noted that there were only 26 legislative days left in the fiscal year and said Congress would need to pass a spending bill every other day to "get their fundamental job done.
"This is not a record to be proud of, and I think the American people deserve better," Bush said.
In the interview, Pelosi said the president was in no position to criticize Congress and brushed aside the criticisms as "something to talk about because he has no ideas.
But Pelosi's comments come as a new Gallup poll registers the lowest level of congressional approval among Americans in the polling organization's 30-year history of conducting that survey.
That poll showed that its approval rating had reached an anemic 14 percent, while more than 70 percent of those polled said they disapproved of the job Congress is doing.
Just over a year after Apple birthed the first iPhone, the long-awaited, next-generation iPhone 3G has arrived bearing a mildly tweaked design and a load of new features.
With access to a faster 3G wireless network, Microsoft Exchange server e-mail, and support for a staggering array of third-party software from the iPhone App Store, the new handset is the iPhone we've been waiting for.
It still lacks some basic features but when compared with what the original model was year ago, this device sets a new benchmark for the cell phone world.
With the iPhone 3G, Apple appears to have fixed some call-quality performance issues we had with the previous model in our initial tests, the volume is louder with less background buzz than before.
Music and video quality were largely unchanged, but we didn't have many complaints in that department to begin with.
We're worried about battery life some early reviews indicate that the iPhone 3G lasts only a day but we'll run full tests over the next couple of days and report our results on this page.
Price may well remain our largest concern.
New AT&T customers and most current AT&T customers can buy the iPhone 3G for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model.
Either way, you'll pay $15 more per month ($74.99 total) for a plan comparable with the original iPhone ($59 per month).
So should you buy an iPhone 3G? If you haven't bought an iPhone yet, and have been holding out for a new model, now is the time.
Hideo Nomo, who pitched a pair of no-hitters and led a rush of Japanese players to the major leagues, is finished.
Nomo announced his retirement Thursday, agent Don Nomura said.
Once known for a deceptive delivery and a devastating forkball, the 39-year-old Nomo was released by the Kansas City Royals in late April.
Nomo's 123 wins are the most in the majors by a Japanese pitcher.
He was the 1995 NL Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is one of only four pitchers to throw no-hitters in the AL and NL.
"Hideo Nomo was a trailblazer," said Hall of Famer Tom Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers in 1995.
"He represented himself and his country to the highest degree of class, dignity and character.
Out of the majors since 2005, Nomo made a comeback this year and earned a spot in the Royals bullpen.
But slowed by an injury late in spring training, Nomo had an 18.69 ERA in three relief appearances in which he gave up 10 hits, including three home runs, in 4 1/3 innings.
The first day at the world's biggest air show here in Farnborough is usually taken up by the now tedious Airbus vs. Boeing numbers game.
Monday actually started off slowly with only one big order from five-year-old Etihad Airways based in Abu Dhabi to fill the press halls as it split a massive order between Airbus and Boeing.
Now, the show can switch to where the real action is: the military.
Boeing and Airbus parent EADS are among the world's biggest defense companies.
Their never ending battle to provide the U.S. Air Force with a refueling tanker spilled over here now that the Department of Defense has to go back on the award of the contract to EADS and let Boeing try again.
EADS said again Tuesday that much of its plane is American-made and that Boeing will also source some of its parts overseas. These are global companies with global sourcing and the days of the U.S. vs. Europe are over.
Helicopters, UAV's, transport planes and this year an Israeli spy plane are parked out by the runway
The must-have apparel cotton aprons, tote bags and pouches is emblazoned with the character for "jail" inside a circle and are cut, sewn and assembled by inmates at Hakodate Juvenile Prison on the northern island of Hokkaido.
The items first went on sale in October 2006 as souvenirs for tourists and prison visitors, but didn't immediately catch on.
The line's popularity suddenly picked up last year when a government-backed corrections association began to carry the logo at its Tokyo outlet store, said Shoji Nakajima, an official at the Correctional Association for Prison Industry Cooperation.
With orders flooding in on the association's Internet shopping site, all items are currently sold out.
The popularity has been so great it is planning to register the logo designed by a prison official with the patent office, Nakajima said.
"We thought the character for 'jail' would turn people off, but that turned out to be the big appeal," Nakajima said. "Especially, young people seem to like it.
The association also sells hundreds of other items, ranging from furniture and portable shrines to tea cups and green tea, produced by more than 81,000 inmates at 70 Japanese prisons as part of compulsory prison labor.
Many inmates are assigned to unskilled labor such as assembling shopping bags and envelopes, but Nakajima said he hoped Hakodate's success can be a good lesson for other prisons to become more creative.
The Hakodate inmates don't get any bonus from the booming sales and any proceeds will be used to fund the labor program, he added.
"Our customers have said the design is cool, despite what the logo means.
They often ask where they can find them," said the bar manager Mariko Yoshida, 52.
ALWAR, India (CNN) At birth, Usha Chaumar's life story had already been written.
As a Dalit, the lowest level in India's complex caste system, she was a so-called scavenger, a person who collects the garbage, feces and urine of other higher caste people.
In the eyes of many, that would make her too disgusting to touch.
Traditionally, the age-old Hindu caste system is a social hierarchy that determines what occupation a person should pursue.
Broadly, the system has four major castes and thousands of sub-castes.
Officially, the caste system has been outlawed, but millennia of tradition have left deep dividing lines in Indian society.
In the town of Alwar in the northern state of Rajasthan, there are about 300 so-called "untouchable" women working in this profession.
India has laws against "manual scavenging," as it is called.
But the work is still around, in part because of the poor sanitation system in India.
In many parts of the country, especially in rural India, many toilets are dry bucket toilets (named for the way they are shaped) that are not hooked up to any pipes.
The waste just drops to the ground below.
Now 56 former "untouchable" women from Alwar are getting their wish.
The U.N. deemed 2008 the Year of Sanitation to bring awareness to the importance of proper sanitation.
The former "untouchables" of Alwar were invited to New York to illustrate that point and also be honored.
In New York, the spotlight shone on the women, as they strode down the runway modeling the blue saris that they now design and tailor.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) Police in the Gulf tourist hub of Dubai say they've detained 17 foreigners for allegedly displaying homosexual behavior in the city's shopping malls and other public places.
Police spokesman Zuhair Horoun says all the suspects are men who were either visiting or working in Dubai.
He says they were detained Wednesday but did not elaborate or give details about their behavior.
But the Dubai-based Gulf News reported Thursday that police detained "40 cross-dressing tourists."
The paper quotes Dubai's police chief as saying the arrests are part of a campaign against "transvestites.
Outward homosexual behavior is banned in the United Arab Emirates.
Despite its Western outlook, Dubai is a conservative Muslim city-state and like much of the Arab world remains largely hostile to homosexuality.
(CNN) Tomatoes are again safe to eat, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday, weeks after the food was blamed as a source of a salmonella outbreak in the United States and Canada.
The source of the outbreak still isn't known and 20 to 30 reports of the illness are coming in per day but the FDA said the epidemic is "waning."
The FDA hasn't determined whether tomatoes were a source of the outbreak, but it has determined that tomatoes currently in fields and stores are safe, said Dr. David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for food protection, according to The Associated Press.
Salmonella Saintpaul a rare form of the bacteria has infected more than 1,190 people in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada since April, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 370 of those people became ill on or after June 1, the CDC said.
At least 224 people have been hospitalized.
Two elderly men with pre-existing conditions died while infected with Salmonella Saintpaul, and the FDA said the infection could have contributed to their deaths.
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) It was 90 years ago Thursday that Russia's last royal family was executed but this year's anniversary comes with scientific proof ending years of speculation that some of the Romanovs managed to survive.
Medical, forensic and ballistic tests conducted in several U.S., Russian and Austrian laboratories identified bone and tooth fragments unearthed last summer as belonging to two missing children of Czar Nicholas II.
Chemically damaged and burnt remains found outside the city of Yekaterinburg in 2007 are those of Crown Prince Alexei, 13, the last emperor's only son and heir to the throne, and his sister Grand Duchess Maria, about 19, according to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.
"The remains that were found belong to Alexei and Maria. We can say that with certainty," Vladimir Solovyov, a senior investigator with the committee, told a news conference Wednesday.
Bolsheviks executed the czar's family and a few servants July 17, 1918 in the basement of a home in Yekaterinburg.
But the two children's bodies were missing for decades, leading to persistent hopes among royal supporters that one or both of them had survived.
Although the investigative committee stated the remains belong to Alexei and Maria, its report said scientists will nonetheless continue comparing DNA from the remains to that of the living Romanovs.
NEW YORK (CNN) Oil prices fell below $130 a barrel for the first time in more than a month Thursday, as a dramatic slide entered a third day along with a sharp sell-off in natural gas.
The declines accelerated amid growing concerns about the weakening U.S. economy.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped $5.31 to settle at $129.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices have fallen more than $15 in just the past three days.
Natural gas futures for August delivery fell more than 8 percent Thursday, marking their biggest one-day drop in nearly a year, according to Nathan Golz, researcher at Wachovia Securities in St. Louis.
A number of market observers say there was nothing supporting the run up in natural gas prices, which peaked in early July, and that this week's sell-off of oil has only helped speed the declines.
The immediate cause of Thursday's sharp natural gas decline was a larger-than-expected build of U.S. supplies.
by 104 billion cubic feet to more 2.31 trillion last week.
GENEVA, Switzerland (CNN) The youngest son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was arrested and charged in Switzerland for allegedly beating up two of his servants, his lawyer said Thursday.
Hannibal Gadhafi and his wife were taken into police custody on Tuesday after an incident at a luxury hotel in Geneva, lawyer Alain Berger told Swiss radio.
The couple, who face charges of bodily harm, making threats and coercion, were released on bail Thursday, he said.
Berger said Gadhafi had spent the last two evenings in detention. His pregnant wife, who came to Geneva to give birth, was transferred to a maternity unit, Berger said.
The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve reported that two of Gadhafi's domestic servants claimed Gadhafi and his wife repeatedly beat them at the President Wilson Hotel, which is just next door to the United Nations' human rights office.
The pair allegedly hit the servants with a belt and a hanger, the report said. It said a Tunisian woman was hospitalized.
Berger said Gadhafi and his wife rejected the allegations.
The 32-year-old Gadhafi has had previous run-ins with the law.
In 2005, he was convicted by a French court for striking his pregnant companion in a Paris hotel.
He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and a euro500 (US$790) fine.
WASHINGTON (CNN) Barack Obama's campaign announced Thursday that it raised $52 million last month more than double the amount rival John McCain brought in, according to campaign officials for the presumed Democratic presidential nominee.
As the money comes in for Obama, his campaign is investing in states that have traditionally been Republican strongholds.
Obama's campaign now has $72 million cash on hand, meaning that's how much they currently have to spend, campaign officials said Thursday.
The average donation to Obama in June was $68, the officials said, bringing the monthly total to more than twice the $22 million raised in May.
At that time, the Illinois senator was locked in a fierce primary battle with Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Obama was spending more time campaigning for votes and delegates than simply fundraising.
With the conclusion of the primaries in early June and Clinton's suspension of her campaign just days later, Obama's campaign cash numbers had been expected to rise in June.
McCain's campaign raised $22 million in June, its best month yet. The campaign said that combined with the Republican National Committee, it has about $95 million cash on hand.
In a fundraising e-mail to supporters, Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe acknowledged the deficit, saying "McCain and the RNC together still have a huge cash advantage, and we need your help to close the gap.
But when Obama's funds are combined with the Democratic National Committee's funds, he has $92 million, meaning he's about on par with McCain.
Obama will receive no federal money but is free to raise and spend as much as he can.
If he continues to raise large amounts, he could have an advantage over McCain when it comes to campaign cash in the crucial months of September and October.
Ronaldinho arrived at AC Milan on Wednesday to join Kaka and Alexandre Pato in an all-Brazilian attack that AC Milan are convinced will fire them back to the top level of European football.
The fee was considerably less than the $50.7m that Barcelona said Manchester City had offered, but Ronaldinho had his hearts set on Italy.
I really wanted to come to Milan. A lot of things happened and at the end I became Rossonero (red-black)," Ronaldinho told Milan's TV station as he prepared to sign a three-year deal.
"I'm happy to be here and I hope I can provide a lot of joy to Milan's fans.
"It's great to find so many Brazilians, and also so many other champions wearing the Milan jersey.
Milan finished a disappointing fifth in Serie A last season and were eliminated by Arsenal in the second round of the Champions League.
The real estate market might be slumping, but not for Donald Trump, who sold his Palm Beach mansion for $100 million, his spokeswoman said Wednesday.
"In an age of so many people getting hurt in real estate, it shows that you can still do well in real estate," Trump told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
His spokeswoman says $100 million is the most ever paid for an estate in the U.S., though there is no way to verify that claim.
Russian fertilizer billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev purchased the roughly 60,000 square-foot oceanfront home, which Trump fixed up after buying it for about $41 million in 2004.
He assigned renovations to "Apprentice" winner Kendra Todd,
who dressed it up with marble and 24-karat gold fixtures, even in the bathrooms.
The home, called Maison de L'Amitie, is spread over several buildings and includes separate coat closets and bathrooms for men and women off the main entryway for easy entertaining.
"I think it's a great sign for the area, a great sign for Palm Beach and all that Palm Beach represents," Trump said.
Britain's Treasury says a planned fuel tax increase has again been delayed because of soaring oil prices.
Treasury Secretary Alistair Darling said the postponement of the 2 pence (4 U.S. cent) per liter increase in fuel tax would help motorists "get through what is a difficult time for everyone.
Automobile Association President Edmund King said he was delighted since road users had not been looking forward to "government-inflicted pain."
Stocks got a big bounce back Wednesday as investors welcomed encouraging news from the banking and airline sectors.
Falling oil prices also helped spark a strong stock market rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 277 points to end the day more than 2.5% higher.
Wednesday's rise marked the largest one-day increase in the Dow since April 1.
The Dow rallied back after ending Tuesday at its lowest level since July 21, 2006.
The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index also added 2.5%, and the tech-laden Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 3.1%.
The rally came despite a reading showing a jump in inflation.
The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation gauge, soared 5% in the past year - the biggest annual jump in more than 17 years.
Record gas and food prices helped the index jump to levels that outpaced the average annual pay increase.
However, the market turned higher quickly after the open as traders absorbed several positive corporate results.
Investors welcomed the news as a sign of relief on pressured markets.
"The market can't go down forever," said Harry Clark, chief executive of Capital Management Group. "Investor sentiment was so negative that any news can now be taken as a positive.
WASHINGTON (CNN) The No. 1 need right now for some of the builders of the nation's next spaceship: Lots of urine.
Space program contractor Hamilton Sundstrand is seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, as part of its work on the new Orion space capsule that eventually would take astronauts to the moon, according to an internal memo posted on the Web site Nasawatch.com.
The need is voluminous: 30 liters a day, which translates into nearly 8 gallons. Even on weekends.
Designers of the Orion, which will park unoccupied in space for up to six months while astronauts work on the moon, have to solve a pressing issue of getting rid of stored urine, said John Lewis, NASA's head of life support systems for Orion.
"Urine is a mess because urine is full of solids," Lewis said. Those solids clog the venting system for dumping pee, so keeping the waste disposal system clear is "really a challenge," he said.
NASA has a long-standing tradition of collecting samples from its workers to help design better space toilets because "you can't make fake urine," Lewis said.
The Connecticut-based company building the Orion toilet needs the large volume of urine (about the daily output of 30 people) to work on urine acidity problems, said spokesman Leo Makowski.
The memo seeking daily contributions from July 21 to July 31 was not meant to go public, he said.
LONDON, England (CNN) Ronnie Wood entered a rehabilitation facility Wednesday for help with alcoholism, said a spokeswoman for the Rolling Stones guitarist.
"Following Ronnie's continued battle with alcohol he has entered a period of rehab," the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity as required by her agency. "His close family and friends say he is seeking help and look forward to his recovery.
Wood, 61, has fought a long battle with alcoholism during his rock 'n' roll career, which started in the 1960s when he played with the band The Faces.
His spokeswoman didn't release any details about the treatment he will receive or the clinic that he entered.
The craggy guitarist had seemed to be in good health in recent years.
He has developed a strong second career as an artist, selling his paintings at some of London's respected art galleries.
But he has been the focus of feverish recent newspaper reports about his resuming drinking.
(CNN) An 80-year-old man was forced to undergo emergency surgery to have his leg amputated following a hospital blunder in which the broken limb was encased too tightly in a plaster cast.
Tom Talks, from Rochdale, northwestern England, also suffered a heart attack and renal failure brought on by the shock of the operation, he told the UK's Press Association.
The plaster cast was fitted at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, near Manchester, two months ago after Talks broke his right leg when he fell whilst walking his dog.
But he said hospital staff had dismissed his complaints that the cast was too tight, telling him to "take stronger painkillers.
"The pressure in my leg was such I felt as though it was trying to burst through the skin. I was begging and pleading with them to release the plaster because I couldn't stand the pain," he told PA.
Two days after the cast was removed, Talk's doctor warned him that the leg had "died" and told him that his life was in danger forcing surgeons to amputate the leg above the knee.
Talks, who remains in hospital, opted to undergo the operation because he feared his 84-year-old wife would be unable to cope by herself and said he hoped the blunder would not be repeated.
"Obviously it was an error.
I should have had my leg attended to but because it wasn't I've lost my leg.
But anger never does anyone any good in my opinion, I'm a forward-looking person.
All I'm hoping for is this is shown up so this doesn't happen again.
As she plays marbles with her brothers and sister, Nujood is a portrait of innocence, with a shy smile and a playful nature.
But what happened evokes anger and shame.
Asked if what she went through was torture, she nods quietly.
Nujood's parents married her off in February to a man in his 30s whom she describes as old and ugly.
Her parents said they thought they were putting her in the care of her husband's family, but Nujood said he would often beat her into submission.
Nujood then turned to her family for mercy.
Nujood's parents, like so many others in Yemen, struck a social bargain when they decided to have their daughter wed.
More than half of all Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18, according to Oxfam International, a nonprofit group that fights global poverty and injustice.
"There is always a fear that the girl will do something to dishonor the family: She will run away with a guy, she will have relations with a boy.
So this is always the phobia that the families have," said Suha Bashren of Oxfam International.
Bashren calls the tradition of child brides in Yemen a national crisis. She works with young girls to protect them from early marriage, abuse and one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) Colombian President Alvaro Uribe admitted Wednesday that the symbol of the neutral Red Cross organization was used in a hostage rescue mission that freed 15 people from leftist rebels two weeks ago.
Uribe made the admission after CNN reported on unpublished photographs and videos that clearly showed a man wearing a Red Cross bib.
Wrongly using the Red Cross logo is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.
The man was a member of the Colombian military intelligence team involved in the daring rescue, Uribe said in an address carried on national TV and radio.
The president said that as the constitutional head of the armed forces, he takes full political responsibility for what he described as a slip-up.
"This officer, upon confessing his mistake to his superiors, said when the [rescue] helicopter was about to land ... he saw so many guerrillas that he went into a state of angst," Uribe said. "He feared for his life and put on the Red Cross bib over his jacket.
However, the confidential military source who showed CNN the photographs that included the man wearing the bib said they were taken moments before the mission took off.
Uribe said he was sorry for the mistake and has apologized to ICRC officials.
There will be no official sanction against the man wearing the bib, he indicated.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) Five Lebanese militants, including a convicted murderer, received heroes' welcomes Wednesday as they returned to Beirut from Israel as part of a prisoner swap.
Once in Beirut, convicted murderer Samir Kuntar who was the longest-held Lebanese prisoner in Israel told a crowd of thousands he'd continue to fight for the liberation of the Palestinian territories.
"I return today from Palestine, but believe me, I return to Lebanon only in order to return to Palestine," Kuntar said.
Kuntar convicted of killing a man and a girl in Israel in 1979 and the other four were released by Israel and crossed into southern Lebanon to cheers.
They then were flown to Beirut, where Lebanese President Michel Suleiman called them "our dear liberated heroes.
The other four are Lebanese militants captured during the Hezbollah-Israel war two years ago.
Israel on Wednesday also released the remains of 199 fighters from Lebanon.
Earlier Wednesday, Hezbollah released to Israel the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who had been abducted in 2006, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The bodies "were positively identified by representatives of the IDF Military Rabbinate, the Medical Corps and other forensic experts at the Rosh Hanikra crossing," the IDF said.
Goldwasser's will be in Nahariya and Regev's in Kryat Motzkin.
McCain received the most cheers when opened his address with praise for his rival.
By the end of his speech, which focused on education reform, the crowd was on its feet, giving McCain a respectful standing ovation.
The audience cheered McCain's promise to reform the education system and expand opportunities for minorities.
President Bush did not attend an NAACP conference until his sixth year in office because he considered it a partisan organization that worked against him.
"Don't tell him I said this, but he is an impressive fellow in many ways.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (CNN) Swedish officials say a theme park ride has collapsed in a city in western Sweden, injuring 30 people.
However, SOS Alarm rescue service spokeswoman Monica Grandin says no one has received life-threatening injuries after the Rainbow ride collapsed at the Liseberg theme park in Goteborg.
She says a total of 30 people had been taken to hospital with injuries ranging from bone fractures to shock.
Goteborg police spokeswoman Malin Sahlstrom says some people were thrown out of the ride and squeezed as the seating platform tipped to one side.
She says that 36 people were aboard the ride when it collapsed and that the National Board of Accident Investigation will start an inquiry.
The Liseberg manager on duty, Peter Andersson, said it appeared that the accident was caused by a malfunctioned ball bearing.
"As far as I know, it is a ball bearing that has slipped out of its holding," he said.
Andersson said the attraction had been through a security checkup in the spring, when no faults were discovered.
Liseberg is a popular tourist destination in Sweden and the biggest fun fair park in the Nordic region, with more than 30 rides
SHANGHAI, China (CNN) The site of the Olympic sailing competition is "basically" free of the bright-green algae bloom that recently carpeted the sea off the Chinese city of Qingdao, an official said Tuesday.
The sea-blanketing algae bloom, which officials blamed on natural causes, had disrupted practice for the more than 30 Olympic sailing teams already there.
The Chinese government had set a goal of clearing the sailing area by Tuesday.
It's hard to find the green algae, especially in the Olympics sailing site," Wang Haitao, vice president of the sailing committee for China's games organizing committee, told The Associated Press by telephone.
In an extreme effort to save the site for next month's Olympics, the Chinese government in past weeks called on thousands of soldiers, volunteers and fishing boats to help remove the algae.
While the site of the Olympic competition is clear, the cleanup continues outside the barrier of fishnets and canvas being used to keep the algae out of the competition area.
"Yesterday, we sent out 1,700 fishing boats to search for algae over the whole sea area in Qingdao, but they only got 10,000 tons ," Wang said. "Compared with days before, that's big progress.
Thirty-seven national teams are now training at the site, he said.
The Olympic Games open August 8 in Beijing, and the sailing competition off Qingdao begins the next day.
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) Young Roman Catholic pilgrims attended religious classes throughout Sydney on Wednesday morning, a quiet recovery after a Mass and pop concert thronged by more than 100,000 people the night before.
The second day of the World Youth Day celebration offered a relaxed schedule, beginning with "time for silence for reflection," according to the pilgrims' official handbook.
Afternoon events include a pilgrimage walk to the downtown St. Mary's Cathedral, barbecues at hundreds of venues around the city, and a beach party at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach featuring a rapping American priest.
Pope Benedict XVI, enjoying a final day of rest before joining the events, sent a daily text message to pilgrims' cell phones: "The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles and gives u the power boldly 2 proclaim that Christ is risen! - BXVI.
Nearly 250,000 people registered for World Youth Day, more than half from overseas.
The scale of the event was revealed when pilgrims arrived in droves and gathered along a waterfront Tuesday near the landmark Sydney Harbor Bridge for a twilight Mass, beginning with a procession of groups from 168 countries waving their national flags.£®
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — Two hundred thousand boats sat idle in Japan, as fishermen across the nation took to the streets on Tuesday to protest skyrocketing fuel prices.
The strike the first ever by the country's fishermen hopes to convince the government that without its intervention, rising fuel costs will kill the fishermen's businesses.
Across Japan's fishing ports, fishermen simultaneously blew their whistles in a symbol of solidarity, and operations ground to a halt.
Thousands of others rallied in downtown Tokyo, marching in circles around the fisheries ministry and chanting, "We're dying," through bullhorns.
They want the government to provide subsidies to make up for the price hike.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) Lawmakers in Nepal will vote Saturday to pick the country's first president since it became a republic.
The country's newly elected Constituent Assembly abolished a 239-year monarchy following elections in April.
But with no one party winning a majority of the seats, it is unclear who may become president.
But a president will swear in whoever is picked as the new prime minister.
The three main political parties continued to negotiate over whom to name president.
The Nepali Congress wants outgoing prime minister and party president Girija Prasad Koirala for the position.
The Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) wants its leader.
But the Maoists which won the largest number of seats but fell short of a majority do not favor either of the two men. They want a non-political figure as president.
The housing finance crisis and spiraling energy costs will remain a drag on the U.S. economy for the rest of the year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers in a gloomy presentation about the economic outlook.
"The economy continues to face numerous difficulties, including ongoing strains in financial markets, declining house prices, a softening labor market, and rising prices of oil, food, and some other commodities," Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee early Tuesday.
The nation's top central banker warned "many financial markets and institutions remain under considerable stress, in part because the outlook for the economy, and thus for credit quality, remains uncertain.
The Senate panel was meeting to hear from Bernanke about the economy and to consider the crisis at mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as growing fears about bank failures.
Shares of Fannie and Freddie on Tuesday continued the recent slide that has prompted the Treasury Department and Fed to step in and offer support.
Shares of Fannie (FNM, Fortune 500) plunged 27% on Tuesday, leaving them 64% lower this month.
Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500) shares tumbled 26%, leaving them down 68% in July.
Both have lost more than 80% of their value since the start of the year.
The Italian club said Ronaldinho would arrive in Milan on Wednesday to get a medical exam and sign a contract through June 30, 2011.
Barcelona said that AC Milan will pay $33.4 million for Ronaldinho and another $6.3 million if it clinches a place in next season's Champions League.
The transfer amount was considerably less than the $50.7 million Barcelona said Premier League Manchester City had offered.
"(If) he can get back to being the player he was, perhaps we could have a rethink," Guardiola said last month.
Ronaldinho scored 91 goals in 200 appearances in his five seasons at the Camp Nou, and helped lead Barcelona to consecutive Spanish league titles in 2005 and 2006, and the Champions League trophy in 2006.
At Milan, he will join fellow Brazilians Kaka and Alexandre Pato.
JERUSALEM (CNN) Israel is getting ready to carry out a long-awaited prisoner swap with Hezbollah after the Israeli Cabinet gave final approval for the exchange on Tuesday.
The transfer is expected at the Rosh Hanikra crossing in the western Galilee on Wednesday, and as of Tuesday night, the area will be declared a closed military zone, the Israel Defenses Forces said.
The Cabinet approved the deal in a 22-to-3 vote.
First Class Ehud Goldwasser and Staff Sgt. Eldad Regev, sparked the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah two years ago.
Israeli authorities will confirm the identities of Goldwasser and Regev before concluding its part of the deal.
Hezbollah plans a "welcome home" ceremony for Kuntar and the four other prisoners later in the day.
Part of the swap agreement was a report from the Lebanese militia Hezbollah to Israel on the status of long-missing Israeli flier Ron Arad.
Although Israel's Cabinet approved the outline of the prisoner swap two weeks ago, it waited until it could review report on Arad issued by Hezbollah before granting final approval for the prisoner exchange.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) Oil prices plummeted by the second-largest margin on record Tuesday as investors feared a further decline in U.S. demand after hearing comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Light, sweet crude fell $6.44 to settle at $138.74 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The drop in oil was the largest single-day slide in dollar terms since Jan. 17, 1991, when oil fell by $10.56.
On that day, President George H.W. Bush withdrew oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ahead of the first Gulf War.
But in 1991, oil was trading at just $32 a barrel, so the more than $10 slide in dollar terms represented a record 33% drop.
Oil fell 4.4% Tuesday, which does not even crack the top 100 price declines in percentage terms.
On Tuesday morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that high energy prices have helped to limit the purchasing power of U.S. households.
High energy costs will remain a drag on the U.S. economy for the rest of the year, Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday.
That could result in businesses pushing a greater percentage of their high fuel and commodity costs through to consumers, he warned.
Immediately following Bernanke's speech, prices dropped more than $9, sinking below $136 a barrel, before recovering some. "There's more demand destruction than people first perceived," said Neal Dingman, senior energy analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co.
(CNN) Sen. Barack Obama called the war in Iraq a "dangerous distraction" Tuesday and said more emphasis must be placed on the battle in Afghanistan.
"As should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. [John] McCain, the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was," Obama said in what his campaign called a major policy address on Iraq, Afghanistan and national security.
Obama said that part of his new strategy will be "taking the fight to al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Shortly after Obama's speech, McCain attacked the Illinois senator's opposition to the surge policy in Iraq and highlighted his own proposal for victory in Afghanistan.
"Sen. Obama is departing soon on a trip abroad that will include a fact-finding mission to Iraq and Afghanistan. And I note that he is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to Gen. [David] Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time," McCain said.
then you present a new strategy."
Obama said that on his first day in office he would give the military a new mission: ending the war in Iraq.
Pointing to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's recent call for a timetable, Obama said "now is the time for a responsible redeployment of our combat troops that pushes Iraq's leaders toward a political solution, rebuilds our military, and refocuses on Afghanistan and our broader security interests."
Obama said he planned to remove combat brigades from Iraq by the summer of 2010. He also said he would send at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan.
Obama's speech, given at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, comes one day after he detailed his plan for Iraq in a New York Times opinion piece.
Sources familiar with Obama's plans said the candidate will travel to the war-torn country this month with two Senate colleagues, Republican Chuck Hagel and Democrat Jack Reed.
NEW YORK (CNN) Apple Inc. said Monday it has sold 1 million iPhones in the three days following the release of the latest model on Friday.
"IPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement.
But the launch was plagued by software problems.
All the new iPhones had to connect to Apple's servers for activation, which quickly overloaded them. Lines of customers built in stores as employees were unable to get the phones working.
Additionally, new software was released for the old iPhone, which required reactivation of those phones.
Reports of activation problems subsided over the weekend, as the servers apparently recovered, and buyers were able to activate their phones through their home computers.
The company has set a goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
LONDON, England (CNN) The wife of a UK man who reappeared five years after he was believed drowned has been accused of defrauding insurance companies and lying to her own sons, UK news agencies report.
Anne Darwin, 56, appearing at Teesside Crown Court in northern England Monday, denied nine charges of laundering money and six charges of deception, the UK's Press Association reported.
Her husband John, a former prison officer and teacher, reappeared at a police station in central London in late 2007 five years after he was thought to have drowned off the coast of north-east England.
A coroner declared John Darwin dead in 2003, 13 months after his disappearance.
A strong earthquake struck Monday near some Greek islands close to the Turkish coast, according to the U.S. Geological Service.
The quake had a magnitude of 6.4, the service said.
It struck about 40 miles southwest of the Dodecanese Islands, a series of Greek islands in the Mediterranean Sea that is closer to the Turkish coast than to the Greek mainland.
The quake happened at 6:26 a.m. local time.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
MUNICH, Germany (CNN) Police say two competitors died of hypothermia and lack of oxygen during an endurance race up Germany's highest mountain.
Police and prosecutors say they have opened an investigation.
Both men collapsed shortly before arriving at the end of the race Sunday up the Zugspitze mountain on the German-Austrian border, some 2,900 meters (9,500 feet) above sea level.
Police say German and Austrian rescue teams were unable to revive the two racers and both died as a result of hypothermia and lack of oxygen.
Police say that six more people who showed signs of exhaustion and hypothermia were taken to hospitals. None are in critical condition.
The 14.6-kilometer (9.1-mile) race started in Ehrwald, Austria.
Without a hometown star to cheer for in the Home Run Derby, fans at Yankee Stadium adopted Josh Hamilton.
He certainly gave them an extraordinary show.
The Texas Rangers slugger hit a record 28 homers in the first round before getting beaten out by Minnesota's Justin Morneau in the finals Monday night.
Morneau topped a tired Hamilton 5-3 in the last round, giving him the derby title.
But the night belonged to Hamilton, a first-time All-Star who put on a dazzling power display worthy of The House That Ruth Built.
"The whole stadium, the way people responded, higher and higher you can't beat it," he said. "Them chanting my name and getting louder, it makes you more focused.
Back from eight trips to rehab for drug and alcohol addiction that derailed his career, Hamilton broke Bobby Abreu's mark for one round.
Abreu hit 24 home runs in the first round in 2005 at Detroit's Comerica Park.
"Obviously, the dream, I didn't know how many I would hit," Hamilton said in a TV interview after his huge first-round performance.
"I just feel blessed to have played here.
Asian stock markets fell sharply Tuesday, as investor confidence in the U.S. financial system eroded even further despite a government-backed plan to help beleaguered mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Every major index was in the red by midday, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropping 3.2 percent and Taiwan's benchmark losing nearly 4 percent at one point.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index shed 2 percent to 12,750.10.
While losses spread across most sectors, banks were hit particularly hard as investors worried that trouble in the U.S. financial markets would spillover to Asia.
Japanese traders, for instance, were rattled by a local business newspaper report that the country's top three banks hold a combined 4.7 trillion yen ($44 billion) in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt.
Those two government-chartered companies received a boost Sunday when the U.S. central bank and Treasury Department promised to step in with short-term funding and other aid, should mortgage losses mount.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Monday his country will step up sanctions on Zimbabwe's government and will call on the European Union to do the same.
The move comes after China and Russia used their veto power Friday to block a U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, and 11 senior members of his government.
At a news conference Monday, Brown called the vetoes "difficult to justify" and "unfortunate," adding that "the vast majority of the people in the world want to see action against the Zimbabwe regime.
"We will now ourselves step up our sanctions," he said. "We will ask the European Union, at its meeting in a few days' time, to add a number of names" and corporate entities to its sanctions list, Brown said.
"I have this morning asked the treasury to work with the Financial Action Task Force to track the wealth and the assets that are owned by members of the Mugabe regime which we know are held in different continents" including Asia, Africa, and Europe, he said, "so that we are in a position to take tougher action against them at a later date.
Brown also vowed to return to the United Nations with a new resolution "if mediation does not succeed" in Zimbabwe.
The United States pushed the resolution last week after Mugabe ignored the Security Council's appeal to postpone a presidential runoff election.
particularly subprime loans made to borrowers with weak credit.
The agency made several substantial revisions to the proposed regulations it unveiled in December.
Many of the changes acknowledge consumer advocates¡¯ concerns that the rules still contained too many loopholes that would have allowed shady lending practices to continue.
But the Fed also made some concessions to industry executives, who feared increasing oversight would lead to less lending.
The new rules will apply to all mortgage lenders, not just those supervised and examined by the Fed.
However, board members said they will continue to work on further oversight of the mortgage industry.
FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell said the agency will spend $400 million over the next three years installing ¡°runway status lights¡± at 20 of the nation¡¯s busiest airports, including JFK.
The lights are embedded in the concrete, but act like traffic lights, letting pilots know when runways are clear.
The lights cut runway incursions at Dallas 70 percent during a two-and-a-half year test period, Sturgell said.
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) — Five people died in a gunfight between police and a band of robbers who held up a casino in the Westlands Suburb of Nairobi Monday morning, police said.
The dead included at least one casino employee caught in the crossfire, according to Nairobi police spokesman Charles Owino.
One of the robbery suspects escaped, Owino said.
The casino was attached to a Holiday Inn, he said.
(CNN) — Barack Obama¡¯s campaign has sharply criticized The New Yorker magazine over the publication¡¯s latest cover illustration that appears to portray the Illinois senator and his wife, Michelle, as terrorist enemies of the United States.
Specifically, the cover, published Sunday, shows Obama in the Oval Office dressed in traditional Muslim attire and Michelle with an ¡°Afro¡± hairstyle carrying a machine gun. An American flag can also be seen burning in the fire place and a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.
¡°The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama¡¯s right-wing critics have tried to create,¡± Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. ¡°But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.
(CNN) — Eighty-six people jailed in connection with an alleged coup plot in Turkey were indicted Monday, Istanbul City Chief Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin told reporters at a televised news conference.
Among the suspects are retired military officials, journalists, politicians, businessmen and others.
The suspects are alleged to be part of a ¡°terrorist¡± group called Ergenekon whose goal is to topple the country¡¯s government.
Since June 2007 police have been arresting and jailing people accused of being part of Ergenekon.
the effort there has been harassment of journalists, and news reports have said many people are being held without charge.
The Chinese government, which will be taking tough security measures when the Olympics begin in 3 1/2 weeks, issued another reminder Monday about fan behavior and what not to bring into Olympic sites.
Zhang Zhenliang, a Beijing organizing committee official, said Monday the rules were aimed at "maintaining an orderly, civilized and peaceful environment at competition venues.
Zhang ran off a list of restricted articles, which he said was similar to other Olympics. The difference with these Olympics is the repeated emphasis on order, security and decorum for the Chinese.
Banned items include guns, ammunition, crossbows, daggers, fireworks, flammable materials, corrosive chemicals and radioactive materials.
musical instruments, oversized carry-on bags, suitcases, handbags, flags of countries and regions not participating either in the Beijing Olympic Games or Paralympic Games, flags over 6.6 feet (two meters) in length or 3.3 feet (one meter) in height, banners, leaflets, posters and unauthorized professional videotaping equipment.
Also restricted are knives, bats, long-handled umbrellas, long poles, animals (except for guide dogs), vehicles (except for strollers and wheelchairs), loudspeakers, radios, laser devices or wireless devices.
no smoking, no crossing over guardrails, no use of umbrellas or standing up for a long period of time in the seating area, and no flash photography.
Nearly 80 people have been detained in recent days in a campaign that reveals a clash of customs in this traditional Muslim city-state that attracts thousands of Western partygoers.
The campaign against indecency on the beach was sparked after police detained a British man and a woman who were allegedly discovered having sex on one of Dubai's sprawling shores earlier this month.
Over the past two weeks, police have detained a total of 79 people for "disturbing families enjoying the beach" with their behavior, Zuhair Haroun, a spokesman for Dubai's Criminal Investigation Department, said Monday.
As a result, Dubai has embarked on a public awareness campaign to remind Western tourists and foreign residents that the city may have flashy hotels and glitzy skyscrapers but it also is located in a Muslim country with traditionally conservative values.
Police have installed watchtowers and dispatched undercover officers to patrol the beaches, which also will be lit up at night to curb "inappropriate behavior. "
Authorities are "taking action in response to numerous complaints" filed by people who visit the city's beaches, Rafia said. Complaints have ranged from families "offended by displays of nudity" to women sunbathers who say groups of men stare at them while at the beach.
Alcohol is freely available in hotel bars and restaurants in this regional businesses and entertainment hub.
Thousands of European and Asian expatriates live and work in Dubai, where native Emiratis make up only about 20 percent of its estimated 1.2 million residents.
But "I am not sure if I can kiss her or touch her in public" because of the new campaign, he added.
WASHINGTON (CNN) President Bush lifted an executive order banning offshore oil drilling on Monday and urged Congress to follow suit.
Citing the high prices Americans are paying at the pump, Bush said from the White House Rose Garden that allowing offshore oil drilling is "one of the most important steps we can take" to reduce that burden.
However, the move is largely symbolic as there is also a federal law banning offshore drilling.
"This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U.S. Congress," Bush said.
Bush has been pushing Congress to repeal the law passed in 1981.
"There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a Rose Garden statement last month.
"In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil, and that means we need to increase supply here at home," Bush said, adding that there is no more pressing issue for many Americans than gas prices.
Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, signed the executive order in 1990 banning offshore drilling.
Sen. Barack Obama wants to keep the ban in place.
Experts say offshore oil drilling would not have an immediate impact on oil prices because oil exploration takes years.
Jamaica's Usain Bolt underlined his superb pre-Olympic form by recording the fastest 200 meters of the year at an international meeting in Athens on Sunday.
"I feel sure I will be very strong at the Games.
In the men's 110m hurdles, world record holder Dayron Robles set another meeting record by winning in 13.04 seconds.
"Getting the Olympic gold medal is the most important thing to me, because it's something you can only do every four years," the Cuban said.
The people love him in China and he's a good person.
Robles ran a 12.87 last month, bettering Liu's previous mark of 12.89.
Russia has reacted angrily to comments made by U.S. and British officials who criticized Moscow's veto of U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Officials in the United States and Britain were quick to exclaim their surprise over Friday's veto by Russia and China on sanctions.
The U.S.-led sanctions were aimed at punishing Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe's deadly crackdown on the opposition Move for Democratic Change during and after the presidential election.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement Saturday said the criticism "places a question mark over the worthiness of Russia as a G-8 partner," The Associated Press reported.
It added that the possibility of U.N. sanctions on Zimbabwe was excluded at a recent G-8 summit in Japan.
Russia said it believed the sanctions would set a precedent for U.N. meddling, AP reported.
The sanctions would have been imposed on Mugabe and 11 senior members of his government.
The measure received nine votes the minimum for it to pass. However, two of the five negative votes were from Russia and China, who as permanent members of the Security Council have veto power.
An Australian woman often described as the world¡¯s oldest blogger has died at the age of 108 after posting a final message about her ailing health but how she sang ¡°a happy song, as I do every day.
¡± Olive Riley died Saturday at a nursing home in New South Wales, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported.
since February 2007. On the site, The Life of Riley, and in a series of videos post on YouTube, Riley mused on her day-to-day life.
She also recounted living through two world wars and raising three children on her own while working as a cook and a bar maid.
It appears the board of directors at Anheuser-Busch will soon agree to a buyout offer from a Belgian brewer.
InBev's original offer of $46 billion made on June 11th was rejected as too low.
The deal is widely opposed by Missouri politicians, who worry it would create a near-monopoly in the American beer market, and hurt the state's economy.
Anheuser-Busch employs about 6,000 workers in St. Louis.
FRANKFORT, Kentucky (CNN) The pastor of a Kentucky church that handles snakes in religious rites was among 10 people arrested by wildlife officers in a crackdown on the venomous snake trade.
More than 100 snakes, many of them deadly, were confiscated in the undercover sting after Thursday's arrests, said Col. Bob Milligan, director of law enforcement for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
Most were taken from the Middlesboro home of Gregory James Coots, including 42 copperheads, 11 timber rattlesnakes, three cottonmouth water moccasins, a western diamondback rattlesnake, two cobras and a puff adder.
Handling snakes is practiced in a handful of fundamentalist churches across Appalachia, based on the interpretation of Bible verses saying true believers can take up serpents without being harmed
. The practice is illegal in most states, including Kentucky.
Coots, 36, is pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, where a Tennessee woman died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service in 1995.
Her husband died three years later when he was bitten by a snake in northeastern Alabama.
Coots was charged Thursday with buying, selling and possessing illegal reptiles.
NICE, France (CNN) Brad Pitt was emotional but calm, Angelina Jolie laughed and chatted.
The world's most famous celebrity couple were joined in emotion during the birth of their twins a boy and a girl and all "are doing marvelously well," the doctor who delivered the babies in a seaside hospital on the French Riviera said Sunday.
The newborns Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, born one minute apart Saturday evening are the ultimate million-dollar babies, with experts estimating their first photos will fetch a fortune.
For now, mother, father and newborns are resting out of the public eye on the fifth floor of the Lenval hospital, behind blue mirrored windows that provide sweeping views of Nice's sun-drenched beaches, but that are specially treated to deflect the prying lenses of paparazzi.
Jolie's obstetrician, Dr. Michel Sussmann, said the 44-year-old Pitt was at Jolie's side during the delivery, looking on as the doctor performed a Caesarean section to deliver Knox, weighing in at 2.28 kilograms (5.03 pounds) and Vivienne, who weighed 2.27 kilogram (5 pounds).
Sussmann said the Caesarean was moved forward from its originally planned date "for medical reasons" so the babies could be born "in the best conditions."
NHA TRANG, Vietnam (CNN) Miss Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe 2008 on Monday in a contest marked by the spectacle of Miss USA falling down during the evening gown competition for the second year in a row.
An elated Dayana Mendoza received the crown from her predecessor, Riyo Mori of Japan, and then prepared to meet a gaggle of reporters.
Miss Venezuela, 22, was once kidnapped in her homeland and says the experience taught her to remain poised under pressure.
Tension got under the skin of Crystle Stewart of Texas, the second Miss USA in a row to fall down during the Miss Universe pageant.
She tripped on the train of her bejeweled evening gown as she made her entrance.
During the 2007 Miss Universe contest in Mexico City, Miss USA Rachel Smith also tumbled during the evening gown competition and became an unintended star on You Tube, where the video was shown over and over again.
Like Smith, Stewart quickly stood up after her fall and continued on as if nothing had happened.
Miss Mexico, Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Colombia and Miss Venezuela. Rounding out the final five was Miss Russia.
Miss Colombia finished second behind Mendoza.
Miss Thailand won the prize for best national costume and Miss El Salvador was chosen by her peers as Miss Congeniality.
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) North Korea rejected a proposal to resume stalled reconciliation talks with South Korea, while Seoul denounced the communist regime Sunday for the shooting death of a tourist that heightened tension between the divided nations.
North Korea's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said in a commentary that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's proposal to restart bilateral talks was not even worth considering.
It called Lee's proposal a "deceitful" tactic to avoid taking responsibility for strained ties.
The snub was another sign of strained relations between the Koreas, which intensified after a North Korean soldier fatally shot a South Korean tourist Friday at a northern mountain resort.
South Korea has criticized the North for killing an innocent civilian, demanding that investigators from the South be allowed to probe the case.
The South Korean government suspended tours to the resort pending an inquiry.
However, the North has refused to cooperate in any investigation, saying the 53-year-old housewife ignored a soldier's warning and tried to flee.
The North's tourism authorities demanded South Korea apologize for halting tours.
France's president said Saturday that Syria and Lebanon will open embassies in each other's countries for the first time.
But Syria's leader cautioned there was still work to be done before that could happen.
Syria and Lebanon have not had full-fledged embassies in each other's countries since Lebanon became independent in 1943 and Syria in 1945.
Syria dominated Lebanon for almost three decades until 2005, keeping tens of thousands of troops stationed in its smaller neighbor.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said last month that establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon would be possible if a national unity Cabinet were formed in Beirut between the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the opposition led by Syrian ally Hezbollah.
The unity government was formed Friday after weeks of haggling.
"President Bashar al-Assad's will to open diplomatic representation in Lebanon is historic progress," Sarkozy told reporters at a news conference after he met Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman separately. But Assad was more cautious on the opening of embassies, saying both countries must "define the steps to take to arrive at this stage.
"Naturally, there are a certain number of legal questions to be resolved on the Syrian side.
"We want an exchange of ambassadors and diplomatic relations with Syria," he said before meeting Sarkozy.
He told reporters not to speak of normalizing ties between Lebanon and Syria because "they are completely normal.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) — About 200 officers at a police camp in western Nepal have taken eight of their superiors hostage, demanding better treatment and better food in the barracks, Nepalese officials.
By Sunday, authorities called in other policemen who cordoned off the area while negotiations continued.
¡°We have not received any official communication from the protesting police officers, but yesterday they read out 31 demands on a loudspeaker to the public,¡± home ministry spokesman Mod Raj Dotel told CNN on Sunday.
Among the officers¡¯ demands are better food in the barracks and better treatment by senior officers, he said.
PARIS, France (CNN) — As he prepared to attend a summit for the Union for the Mediterranean Sunday in Paris, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that a peace agreement with the Palestinians had never been so close as it was now.
¡°I think we have never been as close to the possibility of reaching an agreement as we are today,¡± Olmert said, in a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
¡°I think we are coming to a moment at which the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel¡± will undertake serious issues ¡°that will take us finally to a point at which we have never been before ,¡± Olmert added.
A crowd of about 2,000 people, some chanting ¡°Down, down, USA,¡± greeted the president with rousing cheers when he appeared on his way into the council of ministers meeting.
Monday, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court may seek an arrest warrant for al-Bashir, charging him with genocide for a five-year campaign of violence in the country¡¯s Darfur region, the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations told CNN Friday.
The warrant from Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo would make al-Bashir the first sitting president to be indicted by the ICC for genocide.
California lender IndyMac will reopen Monday as a ¡°strong and safe institution¡± under federal management after its weekend takeover by banking regulators, the firm¡¯s new CEO pledged Sunday.
¡°Our objective is to preserve the bank¡¯s value and return it to the private sector, which we plan to do in the upcoming months,¡± Bovenzi said at a news conference.
The company, now renamed IndyMac Federal Bank, was once one of the nation¡¯s largest home lenders.
But the federal Office of Thrift Supervision moved to seize its assets Friday afternoon following a two-week run on the bank, during which customers withdrew more than $1.3 billion.
(CNN) The liberal environmentalist Green Party nominated former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as its presidential candidate Saturday.
She lost to a primary challenger in her suburban Atlanta district in 2002 after she suggested during a radio interview that members of the Bush administration stood to profit from the war that followed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Two years later, she made a successful comeback with a low-key campaign in which she largely avoided controversy.
McKinney held off three other rivals to win the party¡¯s nomination during its convention in Chicago.
She picked journalist and activist Rosa Clemente as her running mate.
SHANGHAI, China (CNN) It all started with a farmer, a photo and a claim a sighting of a rare tiger in the local woods, curled up and staring right at the camera.
In the nine months since the first of Zhou's photos was released and posted online, it ignited debate on issues that bedevil a rapidly modernizing China faked goods, greed and officials' lies.
The tiger story began when Zhou, a 54-year-old farmer and hunter, heard that a person could win more than 1 million yuan (about US$146,000) for finding an endangered South China tiger in the wild, where it hadn't been seen in more than 20 years, according to state media accounts.
Last October, he emerged from the woods in Shaanxi with his claim of a tiger sighting, plus dozens of digital photos.
Officials in Shaanxi embraced his claim, awarding him 20,000 yuan (about US$2,920) and praise at a press conference little more than a week later.
That means the tiger has been found again after more than 20 years," the China Daily newspaper quoted Shaanxi Forestry Administration Bureau Deputy Director Zhu Julong as saying.
The glow didn't last.
China's online community almost immediately suspected a fake.
The tiger was too shiny, they said. And no matter where it was snapped among the trees, its position never changed.
When someone came up with an old poster with a photo that looked strikingly like the tiger and posted it online, the public called for an official investigation.
But Shaanxi officials stuck to their story.
Finally, under increasing pressure, the Shaanxi officials confirmed the photos as a hoax this week.
It produced a blast hundreds of times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb, was seen hundreds of miles away and narrowly missed obliterating an entire city but 100 years to the week after the mysterious explosion in Siberia, no one is any closer to understanding what caused it.
Despite countless investigations, the so-called Tunguska Event remains one of the 20th century's greatest enigmas seized upon by mystics, UFO enthusiasts and scientists as evidence of angry gods, extraterrestrial life or the impending threat of a cosmic collision.
But says Stanislav Krivyakov, who has spent the past 35 years investigating the Siberian blast, despite intense interest in the event which has featured in several episodes of "The X-Files" no conclusive evidence has been found to support any theory.
"There are many people who build their hypotheses based on scanty information," he told CNN.
"But there are many aspects to the phenomenon that don't fit any standards or analogies. In everything about it we find something complicated, problematic, vague.
It's truly out of the ordinary.
The first expedition to try to find the "Tunguska meteorite" did not take place until the late 1920s when a crater was drained resulting in the discovery of nothing more cosmic than an old tree stump.
After World War II, searches resumed, but again proved fruitless.
And even though the effects of the blast wave that destroyed 80 million trees are still visible today, "meteoreticians," as some theorists are know, have found no point of impact to support their claim.
NBC is using the Olympics as a "billion-dollar research lab" to get a sense of how people are using different media platforms to experience the Beijing Games that begin August 8.
Besides giving advertisers a clearer picture of how much consumers are paying attention to the games, NBC hopes its research provides a comprehensive picture of how people are supplementing TV viewership with tools such as video streaming, video on demand and mobile phones, said Alan Wurtzel, the company's research chief.
"The billion-dollar lab is an extraordinary research opportunity," he said.
NBC has scheduled 3,600 hours of Olympics programming on its main network, along with Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo. That's the equivalent of eight days of programming packed into each day.
In addition, the company is planning to make 2,200 hours of streaming video available on NBCOlympics.com.
Consumers may also get video on demand via their computer and Olympics content through their mobile phones.
NBC relies on Nielsen Media Research for a count of how many people are watching the Olympics on their TVs at home, but there is no existing research tool that pulls together all the different types of exposure, Wurtzel said.
BARCELONA You're pretty safe walking anywhere in the main tourist areas, but be wary of strangers who are a little too friendly, says a police spokeswoman who was not authorized to give her name.
If someone asks how you like Barcelona or tries to hug you, hold on to your valuables tightly:
Pickpockets use techniques like these to throw people off guard.
The police department has a special unit that roams crowded areas like La Rambla disguised as tourists, right down to the maps and cameras, to watch for thieves in action.
CANCÚ
N The vendors selling jewelry on the beach will say just about anything to get you to buy their merchandise.
Police say you should be skeptical of their claims.
Jewelry sellers often tell tourists that their wares are made of real silver and then quote prices starting at around $20, says Veró nica Fajardo, a spokeswoman for the Cancú n police.
But she points out that the jewelry is almost always made from cheap metal that will turn yellow or lose its sheen within weeks.
"Tourists from the U.S. and Canada are always looking for a bargain," Fajardo says. "They might get a cheaper price [on the beach], but the jewelry is definitely not of the highest quality.
LAS VEGAS If your cab ride from the airport to the Strip takes more than 20 minutes, you've probably been the victim of a "long haul," in which the driver chooses a circuitous route to jack up the fare, says police officer José
Montoya. The state taxi authority says reports of long hauling are on the rise.
Police urge anyone who believes he's been taken for a ride to file a complaint at taxi.state.nv.us.
LONDON Always take the city's old-fashioned black cabs, which are licensed by the city, rather than the so-called "minicabs" that sometimes wait outside theaters, restaurants and bars at night, says Scotland Yard spokesman Alan Crockford.
In 2006, an average of 10 women a month were assaulted by the drivers of minicabs, according to the most recent data available from the London Metropolitan Police.
Minicabs belonging to a car service are licensed, but even those cars are only legally permitted to pick up passengers who have called to make a reservation they can't stop for people on the street.
MONTREAL Police commander Alain Simoneau says the theft of stereos, laptops, iPods and GPS devices from unlocked cars is a huge problem.
Cars in Old Montreal are often targeted, and Simoneau says you should put your belongings in the trunk when you park there.
Police officers have begun placing pamphlets on car windshields and in restaurants in the area as a reminder for tourists to lock up. Not doing so could even cost you money.
Leaving your doors unlocked is against the law in the province of Quebec and punishable by a fine of at least $30.
The new iPhone model went on sale in the Asia-Pacific region Friday, making its debut in Japan amid swirling smoke after a 30-second countdown chanted by hundreds of people lined up, some for days, snaking around the block.
The celebration at Japanese carrier Softbank Corp.'s store, which included a digital clock display ticking away over the entrance, was part of a global rollout in 22 nations of the 3G, or third-generation, wireless connecting Apple Inc.'s much-hyped cell phone, an upgrade of the model that went on sale last year in the United States and several other nations.
Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were the other Asia-Pacific locations getting the new phone.
In Tokyo, Taichiro Nakamura, a 28-year-old filmmaker, who was all smiles as he showed off his brand new iPhone, said the first thing he did was call his girlfriend.
"I'm so happy," he said, adding that he had the iPod Touch portable music player and decided he wanted the iPhone, too.
By Friday, the line that had been growing for days had reached about 1,000 people.
Exactly how many iPhones will be available is uncertain, fueling the hype about the Apple gadget that boasts a cool-factor reputation.
"This is the year that the cell phone becomes an Internet-connecting machine," Softbank President Masayoshi Son told the crowd at the countdown ceremony. "Today is that day that will make it real, and it's a historic day.
LONDON, England (CNN) Cristiano Ronaldo should be allowed to leave European champions Manchester United for Real Madrid if he wants, says FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
Questioned about the protracted wrangle over the 23-year-old's future, Blatter told Sky News that the practice of binding players to lengthy contracts amounts to "modern slavery".
Ronaldo himself later agreed with Blatter's assessment of his transfer standoff with Manchester United.
United have vowed not to sell their star winger to Real Madrid, but Ronaldo has spoken of his desire to join the Spanish champions although he is yet to submit a transfer request.
Ronaldo also added that he will be sidelined for 10 or 12 weeks while he recovers from Monday's surgery on his right ankle.
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Hurricane Bertha, weakened once again to a Category 1 storm, was causing large swells and high surf on Bermuda beaches Thursday, although it was too early to say how the hurricane might affect the island, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm¡¯s maximum sustained winds had decreased slightly throughout the day to about 85 mph (140 km/h) with higher gusts, forecasters said.
In an effort to garner a large chunk of the white, working-class vote, Sen. John McCain once again brought up Sen. Barack Obama's "bitter" comment.
Speaking to a closed fundraiser in San Francisco, California, in early April, Obama said decades of lost jobs and unfulfilled promises from Washington have left some Pennsylvanians "bitter" and clinging "to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
McCain, campaigning in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, told reporters that his campaign is "going to go into the small towns in the state of Pennsylvania. And we're going to tell them that we don't agree when Sen. Obama said that they cling to guns and religion because they're bitter about the economy.
The "bitter" controversy erupted less than two weeks before Pennsylvania's presidential primary.
At the time, Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted Obama as "elitist"
Clinton,Obama's primary opponent at the time, called him on April 13 an "elitist, out of touch and frankly, patronizing."
A day later she said "People don't need a president who looks down on them.
Obama countered Clinton's attacks saying she "knows better" than to attack him as elitist and out of touch.
"This is the same person who took money from financial folks on Wall Street and then voted for a bankruptcy bill that makes it harder for folks right here in Pennsylvania to get a fair shake," Obama said on April 14. "Who do you think is out of touch?"
McCain is winning white, non-college voters by 13 points 53 percent to Obama's 40 percent according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. Poll taken June 26-29. The poll had a sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points.
McCain also told reporters Wednesday that his campaign is going to tell these voters that "we love them and we appreciate them and that they're the heartland of America.
Turkish police have detained four people in connection with Wednesday's "terrorist" attack outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, the interior minister said Thursday.
Gunmen opened fire from a car at a police checkpoint at the outer entrance of the consulate, authorities said.
Three Turkish police officers and three assailants were killed in the shootout.
Police are still looking for the driver of the white car in which the attackers were travelling, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said.
The four detained are suspected of providing assistance to the attackers, he said.
The three assailants killed in the attack were all Turkish, and Atalay said the identity of the fourth suspect who is being sought has not been established.
The attack happened at a police booth about 25 meters (75 feet) from the consulate's entrance, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"The Turkish National Police really were the first line of defense here," McCormack said. "They acted with extraordinary courage in repelling this attack.
"Our countries will continue to stand firmly together to confront the threat of terrorism as we have done in the past," McCormack said.
French energy giant Total considers it too risky to invest in Iran, its CEO said in an interview published Thursday that puts into question major western involvement in developing Iranian gas reserves.
"Today we would be taking too much political risk to invest in Iran because people will say, 'Total will do anything for money,"' Christophe de Margerie was quoted by the Financial Times as saying.
Total had been expected to help develop a huge liquefied natural gas project linked to Iran's South Pars gas field with Malaysia's Petronas.
On Wednesday, Iran test-fired long- and medium-range missiles during war games to show it could retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack.
De Margerie did not say in the report that Total would totally pull out of Iran.
He expressed frustration at U.S. pressure on European energy investors in the countries.
NEW YORK (CNN) Ethan Hawke has married girlfriend Ryan Shawhughes, the actor's publicist said Thursday.
The couple, who are expecting a baby, were married last month in New York City, Mara Buxbaum said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
"No further details are available," Buxbaum said.
Hawke, 37, has two children from his marriage to Uma Thurman.
His screen credits include "Training Day," "Dead Poets Society," "Great Expectations" and "Before Sunset."
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) At least three people were killed and 21 wounded Thursday when a fire at a Soviet-era military base in Uzbekistan spread to an ammunition depot, setting off a series of explosions, officials said.
Soldiers evacuated residents in the town of Kagan as they tried to contain the fire, said Uzbekistan government spokesman Bakhtiyar Khasanov.
The blasts and fire destroyed a helicopter base, a hospital, a railway station and about 20 houses, the independent Ferghana news agency said.
An official from Uzbekistan's Emergency Situations Ministry later denied that report, The Associated Press said.
The country's official television and news agencies did not report the blasts for more than 12 hours after the fire first broke out late Wednesday, according to the AP.
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -Fifteen Africans died while trying to reach Spain's southern coast in a small, overcrowded boat, Spanish officials told CNN on Thursday.
Rescue teams located the craft late Wednesday off the coast of Almeria province and helped it ashore.
Aboard were 33 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and a dead woman.
They told authorities that 14 others, including nine young children, had died en route and were dropped overboard, officials told CNN.
The survivors included men, women and a months-old baby.
It was the second incident in a week involving African migrants.
Authorities said a ship overturned off the coast of Motril, killing 14 people 23 others were rescued.
Spain is the preferred route to Europe for many Africans.
The number of attempted crossings usually increases during the summer months when the seas are calmer, Paco Gil, government spokesman in Seville told CNN.
A second baby has died at a Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital where more than a dozen infants in a neo-natal intensive care unit received overdoses of the blood thinner heparin, a lawyer for the baby¡¯s family told CNN Thursday.
The infant girl, Kay Lynn, died Wednesday afternoon, the second child in a set of twins from the Garcia family, said attorney Bob Patterson.
The first twin, Keith, died earlier in the week, he said.
Heparin is an anticoagulant often used to clean the IVs of patients and prevent blood clots from forming in the lines.
The Garcia babies, who were premature, were ill, and heparin may not have caused their deaths.
LONDON, England (CNN) — Britain¡¯s Ministry of Defense announced Thursday that it has admitted liability and has agreed to pay nearly $5.6 million (2.8 million pounds) to the families of an Iraqi civilian who died in British custody and eight other men who were mistreated.
The family of Baha Musa and the eight men mistreated will share the money, according to the law firm handling the case.
¡°The settlement was accompanied by an apology from the Ministry of Defence,¡± according to the MOD statement.
A examination after he died in Basra showed that Musa suffered asphyxiation and had more than 90 injuries in his body.
(CNN) — Two of five feet that have washed up on the shores of British Columbia are from the same person, but authorities said Tuesday they are a long way from solving the mystery of where they came from.
The office also determined that a right foot found on May 22 belongs to a female.
But authorities still don't know whom they belong to or how they have come to wash up on shores near Vancouver, British Columbia, in the past 12 months.
LONDON, England (CNN) — Four people have been arrested in connection with the stabbing deaths of two French students last week, Metropolitan Police said Thursday.
Daniel Sonnex, 23, was arrested at a south London address Thursday evening in the killings of Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23. On Wednesday, Scotland Yard said another man, Nigel Farmer, 33, was charged with murder and arson in connection with their deaths.
In addition, a 35-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were arrested Wednesday in connection with the investigation, police said. They remained in custody Thursday at a south London police station, according to Metropolitan Police. Neither was identified.
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) — Pakistan¡¯s foreign minister on Thursday asked that a United Nations commission be appointed to investigate the December death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the request during a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who ¡°responded positively to the issue,¡± according to a statement from the United Nations.
The statement said that the two reached ¡°broad understanding¡± on several issues, including funding, composition of the commission and unhindered access to resources, but added that the secretary-general indicated further discussions with Pakistan and other U.N. members would be needed before the commission could be set to work.
Bhutto was killed Dec. 27 in Rawalpindi, south of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, while she was standing in an armored moving car rallying supporters for parliamentary elections.
Her head was above the roof and unprotected at the time of the attack.
BEIJING, China (CNN) China says it has destroyed five terrorist groups in a mainly Muslim autonomous region on suspicion of plotting to attack the Olympic Games, which start in less than a month.
Authorities have arrested 82 suspected terrorists in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the past six months, according to state-run media quoting Chen Zhuangwei, head of the Public Security Bureau in the regional capital of Urumqi.
Asked about the report, a Human Rights Watch analyst raised concerns that China may be using the Olympics as an excuse to crack down on ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
"It's clear that the police are simply adding cases of people who they think are engaging in activities that are critical of Chinese rule," Nicholas Bequelin told CNN.
(CNN) — The European Union will not draft a new treaty after Irish voters rejected the existing one last month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday.
said he plans to visit Ireland this month to discuss a solution.
He said the European Union ¡°cannot push our Irish friends¡± into accepting the treaty, but that a resolution must be found before EU parliamentary elections next year.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Iran launched only one missile on Thursday, not a full new round of tests, a senior U.S. military source tells CNN, citing the latest U.S. intelligence assessments.
Iranian media reported that Tehran fired a series of missiles on Thursday in a second day of long-range missile testing.
The United States believes that Iran fired seven short- to medium-range missiles on Wednesday, as it claimed, according to the source.
But one missile failed to launch Wednesday and the Iranians fired it the next day, U.S. intelligence suggests.
The initial assessment is based on radar and satellite data, the source said.
It is possible that Iran tested short-range missiles on Thursday, but the data do not support Iranian media reports of long-range tests, the source added.
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) — Presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama hasn¡¯t even set foot on European soil in the campaign.
about what he might do in Germany have ruffled feathers in the German government.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has voiced great skepticism about whether it¡¯s appropriate for Obama to speak at the Brandenburg Gate if he travels to Berlin.
Merkel spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters Wednesday that it¡¯s inappropriate for candidates to campaign in Germany — let alone at a historical landmark so full of symbolism.
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan was at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987 when he made famous remarks to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
¡°He should opt for another place. People have suggested the (town hall) where Kennedy spoke, which is less of a symbolic place, ironically. ¡±
BEIJING, China (CNN) — Six-nation talks on North Korea¡¯s nuclear program are scheduled to resume Thursday afternoon in Beijing, ending a nine-month hiatus.
The discussions are expected to focus on Pyongyang¡¯s recent nuclear declaration that was submitted to China late last month and how to verify the information included in it.
The talks resume after several perceived positive developments in efforts to dismantle Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear program.
North Korea destroyed a water cooling tower in late June at a facility where officials now acknowledge they extracted plutonium to build nuclear weapons.
The destruction of the highly visible symbol of North Korea¡¯s long-secret nuclear program came just a day after the country released details of its program.
NEW YORK (CNN) Weeks after giving birth to daughter Maddie Briann, Jamie Lynn Spears is showing off the newborn, sharing memories of a "perfect" delivery and longing to be a Southern soccer mom.
Spears and fiance Casey Aldridge welcomed Maddie at a hospital in McComb, Mississippi, on June 19.
The younger sister of Britney Spears poses with her on the cover of OK!
and reportedly was to receive a large payday for exclusive pictures of the baby.
The photos were taken at the pair's Louisiana home.
The magazine does not comment on the terms of its deals with celebrities.
In an interview with OK!
I was very blessed.
Jamie Lynn said watching Aldridge, a pipe-layer from Liberty, Mississippi, hold Maddie for the first time "was the coolest thing. ... He was so happy, and that made me the happiest person alive.
Jamie Lynn's immediate family including big sister Britney where there for the birth, though Aldridge was the only one allowed in the delivery room.
Everybody flew in to celebrate.
"You never remember how little they are, and then you hold them. I purred like a kitten, and I remember saying, 'Jamie Lynn, she's so beautiful.
Jamie Lynn thinks Maddie takes after daddy.
Alex Rodriguez's decision to opt out of his contract last October cost him $200,000 in All-Star bonuses from the New York Yankees this year.
Rodriguez's old deal, which he agreed to with Texas before the 2001 season, contained provisions that earned him $100,000 bonus for making the AL All-Star team and another $100,000 for receiving the most fan votes in his league.
His agent, Scott Boras, informed the Yankees during Game 4 of Boston's World Series sweep that A-Rod was terminating his $252 million, 10-year agreement.
Then in December, Rodriguez signed a record $275 million, 10-year contract with New York, a deal that allows him to make up to $305 million if he reaches milestone achievements.
The Yankees do not give contracts with provisions that contain bonuses for All-Star selection or awards such as MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger.
Still, even without the bonuses, Rodriguez has a major league-high $27 million salary this year.
Toronto pitcher Roy Halladay earned the biggest All-Star bonus, $125,000, followed by Cleveland pitcher Cliff Lee at $100,000.
A total of 42 of 63 players selected earned $1.92 million in bonuses, down from $2.13 for the initial picks last year.
Halladay, who has a $10 million salary, wasn't aware of the bonus, saying he leaves things like that to his agent.
"The fun part is being part of the team. That's what's exciting and fun for me, fun for my family," Halladay said.
The shootout outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul which left six people dead was an "obvious act of terrorism," the U.S. ambassador to Turkey says.
Speaking to reporters in the Turkish capital of Ankara, Ross Wilson said he had asked Turkey to implement additional security measures after gunmen Wednesday pulled up in a car and opened fire at a police security checkpoint at the consulate entrance.
"I'm not in a position to speculate on who this is or why they have carried out this action," Wilson said. "But any time there is an attack on diplomatic establishment...
"Our countries will stand together to confront this as we have confronted some other problems in the past," he added.
Three police officers and three assailants were killed in the shootout near the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, the city's governor said.
Two other police officers were wounded in the attack.
Gunmen pulled up in a white car and opened fire at a police security checkpoint at the outer entrance of the consulate, Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler told reporters at the scene.
Police fired back, resulting in a three- to five-minute gun battle, Ivan Watson, a journalist with National Public Radio reporting from the scene, told CNN.
People waiting to obtain visas inside the heavily fortified building were not hurt.
The outer entrance is more than 30m (100ft) from the main building which sits atop a hilltop.
Air New Zealand says it has frozen the salaries of senior executives, cut out bonus payments and is reviewing "nonessential" activities to cut staff numbers, as it battles soaring fuel costs and sliding passenger demand for seats.
Fyfe said he and senior management will be the first to feel the squeeze with their salaries frozen for a year.
Other managers will earn less through the loss of short-term incentive bonuses.
Air New Zealand has 20 top executives in New Zealand who earn more than 250,000 New Zealand dollars (US$189,000) a year.
HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) A comic-book character popular in Mexico for generations has run into a cultural barrier at the border, where Americans see him as a racist caricature.
For more than 60 years Mexicans have followed the adventures of "Memin Pinguin."
But the dark-skinned Memin's exaggerated features in "Memin for President" came as a shock to Houston, Texas, Wal-Mart shopper Shawnedria McGinty.
McGinty and Houston community activist Quannel X want the comic books removed from the stores.
"This is absolutely insensitive toward race, in particular the African-American culture, and also people of color," Quannel X said. "This is poking fun at the physical features of an entire people.
But Mexican readers who grew up following the shenanigans of Memin say critics need to look beyond the cover and understand the stories.
"They will bring a smile to their face because we're so fond of that character," said Javier Salas, a Spanish-language talk show host on Chicago radio station WRTO. "We respect him, we love him.
Memin is a poor Cuban-Mexican kid with bug eyes, thick lips and protruding ears.
The mischievous and caring boy helps his mother by selling newspapers and shining shoes.
Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said the retailer has instructed stores to remove the books from shelves and discontinue sales.
"We received the customer complaint regarding the book, which we knew was based on a popular cartoon character in Mexico. We looked into it further, and we decided to no longer distribute the book and are in the process of removing the books from the stores.
NEW YORK (CNN) For the third time in recent weeks, a man climbed up the side of the 52-story New York Times building in New York early Wednesday.
The man was first spotted around 1:20 a.m., police said.
By 2:10 a.m., he had made it to the 11th floor, where he unfurled a banner that read "Bin Laden's Plan.
" It featured a picture of Osama bin Laden holding President George W. Bush from puppet strings.
"We are trying to ascertain how he got up the building," said New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis.
The climber remained on a ledge on the 11th floor for about two hours, police said.
In June, two men climbed to the top of the building. Both were subsequently taken into police custody.
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — A mother and her 6-month-old girl escaped unhurt after she calmed down a knife-wielding robber with a glass of iced tea and a chat, Tokyo police said Wednesday.
The housewife handed the man about $100 (10,000 yen), ran outside, and called for help.
LONDON, England (CNN) A British woman assaulted by a serial rapist has won the right to sue the attacker who became a millionaire by winning the lottery while in prison.
A judge ruled Tuesday that the 78-year-old victim, known only as Mrs. A, can seek punitive damages from Iorworth Hoare for an attempted rape in 1989.
7 million about $12.8 million at the time when he bought a winning lottery ticket in 2004 while spending a few hours outside prison under supervision.
He received his money when he was released in 2005, after serving 16 years of a life sentence for attacking Mrs. A.
A sought to sue Hoare when she learned about his winnings. But she was initially told the time limit for compensation claims had run out, with such claims allowed only up to six years after a crime.
A did not sue Hoare immediately after the attack because the convict did not have funds that would make a financial claim worthwhile.
The malfunction affected radar screens for air traffic controllers, said Lillian Cassin, a spokeswoman for the Irish Aviation Authority.
The controllers were still able to see the ¡°blips¡± that represent aircraft, she said, but they could not see the labels next to the blips which give vital information about the aircraft.
¡°When this problem was occurring the blips were still available on the radar screens, so the screens weren¡¯t going blank or anything, but the label was gone,¡± Cassin said.
A California man was gored in the abdomen and a Greek man suffered facial injuries on the third day of the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, a hospital doctor told Spanish state television Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Californian was taken to a hospital and was ¡°stable and conscious,¡± said the doctor, Ignacio Yurss, medical director of Hospital de Navarra.
The 20-year-old Greek man was injured in the nose, Yurss said.
The latest injuries bring to 20 the number of runners who have been hurt in the first three days of the running.
From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
The United States plans to formally ask Colombia on Wednesday to extradite the two to the United States, the Colombian government said in statement.
The two are among 11 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who face federal charges in the United States of hostage taking and supporting a foreign terrorist organization.
They were detained in a mission that freed three defense contractors —
as well as Ingrid Betancourt, a prominent Colombian politician, and 11 Colombian police officers and soldiers.
TOYAKO, Japan (CNN) — Leaders of the world¡¯s major economies pledged to combat climate change Wednesday, but they did not set specific targets.
The pledge came a day after the leaders of the Group of Eight nations called for establishing the goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 2050.
¡°Conscious of our leadership role in meeting such challenges, we, the leaders of the world¡¯s major economies ¡¦ commit to combat climate change in accordance with our common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,¡± the leaders said in a statement.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Authorities in Iraq said 21 decomposed bodies were found buried Wednesday at an Anbar province school, and family members have identified some of them as people who were kidnapped two years ago by al Qaeda in Iraq militants.
An Iraqi Interior Ministry official told CNN the bodies were found in the Adala neighborhood of central Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad.
(CNN) — Police in western China shot and killed five people in a group that was planning a ¡°holy war¡± against Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China, police told China¡¯s Xinhua news agency Wednesday.
The five were among 15 who were cornered in a police raid in Xinjiang province, the agency said.
The 15 were Uygurs, a Sunni Muslim ethnic minority who live in an autonomous region in Xinjiang, police told Xinhua.
Police had been searching for three men in the group after they were suspected to have stabbed a Han woman and seriously wounded her at a beauty salon in May, the agency said.
When police surrounded the men¡¯s apartment Tuesday, they found 15 men and women wielding knives and shouting ¡°sacrifice for Allah,¡± a police spokesman told Xinhua.
The exercises come a month after Israel conducted a military drill in the eastern Mediterranean involving dozens of warplanes and aerial tanks.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton team up again Wednesday in the Democratic bid for the White House, but not all of Clinton¡¯s supporters from her presidential campaign are jumping on the Obama bandwagon, despite her calls for unity.
But for some of Clinton¡¯s top supporters, it¡¯s going to take more than just encouragement from the former first lady to get them to open their wallets and hearts to the senator from Illinois.
Some of Clinton¡¯s fundraisers are pressuring the Obama campaign to support her policy positions —
WASHINGTON (CNN) — John McCain and George Bush have a lot in common, but these two Republicans have also had some high profile differences, and McCain¡¯s presidential campaign is more than willing to point them out.
From climate change to his first calls for a surge of U.S. troops into Iraq, McCain has not always seen eye to eye with President Bush or, for that matter, other GOP leaders on issues of policy for the better part of the past decade.
His open defiance of the Republican establishment has helped to bolster his image as a ¡°maverick¡± lawmaker willing to shun party loyalty and obedience for personal principle.
And seeing that this election is likely to be won by the candidate who
successfully attracts the most support of uncommitted independents, expect to hear more about the McCain and Bush differences in the coming months.
Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo had surgery Monday on his right ankle and looks set to miss the start of the new Premier League campaign.
The Portuguese star admitted after last month's European Championship finals that he had been playing in pain for the last three months.
Ronaldo arrived at the hospital Sunday night.
He is expected to leave the Academic Medical Center on Tuesday, hospital spokesman Johan Kortenray said.
"The initial indications are that the procedure was successful," United confirmed in a statement.
"Cristiano will begin his convalescence under the direction of club medical staff and an estimation of his return to full fitness will be possible following review by the specialist in one month.
Ronaldo scored 42 goals for United last season, inspiring them to triumphs in the Premier League title race and also the Champions League final against Chelsea.
But at Euro 2008, Ronaldo's Portugal were ousted in the quarterfinals.
The surgery comes amid speculation of a possible move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Madrid president Ramon Calderon said Sunday he is ready to begin transfer talks, but is not confident about signing the winger even if Manchester United consents.
The price of light sweet crude for August delivery tumbled $5.33 to settle at $136.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It was the lowest level in nearly two weeks, and followed a drop of $3.92 Monday.
At a summit of Muslim nations in Malaysia on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said he believed the United States and Israel have been using propaganda and psychology against Iran, but that he did not see war in the future, the Associated Press reported.
A strengthening dollar also helped pull down oil prices.
"People have been using oil as a hedge against systemic risk in the economy," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst with Alaron Trading in Chicago.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will attend the opening of the Beijing Olympics next month, his office said Wednesday, putting an end to his threat to boycott the event over China's treatment of Tibet.
"The chief of state stressed the Olympic values of peace, friendship and brotherhood, and wished great success to the Beijing Olympic Games," the statement said, adding that Sarkozy "confirmed his intention" to attend the August 8 ceremony.
China's violent crackdown on Tibet after riots and protests there in March.
The Dalai Lama is expected to visit France in August.
The French president has said in the past that it is "possible" he might meet with the visiting Tibetan leader, though China disapproves of such contacts.
Wednesday's statement made no mention of the Dalai Lama or the talks between his envoys and the Chinese.
It said Sarkozy consulted his European Union partners about his decision to attend the ceremony, and he will represent both France and the 27-nation EU there.
France currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Police say at least 46 people were killed when a truck carrying farmers plunged 650 feet (200 meters) into a ravine in Bolivia's southern Andes.
Julio Sepcel says about 60 people were aboard the truck when it went off a cliff Tuesday about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the city of Potosi.
Sepcel says that 11 people were injured. The 46 dead included five children.
Police declined to give a cause for the crash, but witnesses told local media the truck was speeding before the crash.
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) Nearly 400 Berlin taxis brought city traffic to a halt Tuesday as they drove through the city in a protest over high fuel prices.
Taxi firms say higher prices are costing them between $314 and $393 per taxi a month.
The firms, which are subject to regional government regulation, want to be able to charge more per fare an extra $.79 for journeys costing less than $15.70, and an extra $1.57 for journeys costing more.
Police said 380 taxis took part in Tuesday's protest, which began at Berlin's Olympic stadium and finished more than two hours later at the city hall.
Authorities closed main roads through the city to allow the beige Mercedes taxis to pass through, snarling traffic for commuters.
(CNN) Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is putting his clout behind renewable energy sources like wind power.
The legendary entrepreneur and philanthropist on Tuesday unveiled a new energy plan he says will decrease the United States' dependency on foreign oil by more than one-third and help shift American energy production toward renewable natural resources.
"The Pickens Plan" calls for investing in domestic renewable resources such as wind, and switching from oil to natural gas as a transportation fuel.
In a news conference outlining his proposal, Pickens said his impetus for the plan is the country's dangerous reliance on foreign oil.
"Our dependence on imported oil is killing our economy. It is the single biggest problem facing America today," he said.
Pickens said Tuesday that if the United States takes advantage of the so-called "wind corridor," stretching from the Canadian border to West Texas, energy from wind turbines built there could supply 20 percent or more of the nation's power.
NEW YORK (CNN) Madonna has recruited Britney Spears for a virtual appearance on her upcoming tour.
"There is footage being shot of Britney some time this week in conjunction with Madonna's upcoming (Sticky & Sweet) tour," Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press.
Rosenberg denied reports that Spears, 26, is shooting a music video.
Madonna guest starred in a music video for Spears' single "Me Against the Music" in 2003.
The singers stirred up controversy that year with an open-mouth kiss at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Madonna, 49, will kick off her tour August 23 in Cardiff, Wales, and wind through European destinations including London and Paris before jumping to the U.S. in October.
She'll wrap it up November 30 in Mexico City.
(CNN) Ask an adult what makes a children's book appealing, and she might talk about the colorful artwork, the clever storytelling or the lessons imparted.
Ask a child what makes a children's book appealing, and she might say, "It is weird and happy!
Obviously, children and adults have different ideas about what makes a good children's book.
Children can be the biggest boosters of children's books, asking to read them (or have them read) dozens of times.
Or they can be the cruelest critics, dismissing them to go play with toys or turning the book into a crayon-covered, ripped-page toy in its own right.
So, as CNN.com has done in the past, we decided to ask some children what they think of some recent children's book releases.
Among the books they review: "See How They Run," a primer on the electoral process by Susan E. Goodman and Elwood H. Smith;
"Rosa," a biography of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks by poet Nikki Giovanni;
"Otto's Orange Day," a fanciful tale of a world turned orange by Frank Cammuso and Jay Lynch;
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) The EU's top farm official is begging German farmers to stop mailing her milk.
Farmers have bombarded Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel with some 10,000 liters of milk to show their anger over an EU proposal to increase milk quotas that may cause prices to fall, her spokesman Michael Mann said Tuesday.
Most of the milk sent by regular mail and addressed to Fischer Boel had spoiled in transit, and some of the cartons had burst open, he said.
"We are conscious of their concerns, but we don't think it's a good idea and they should send it to a good cause.
Fischer Boel pleaded with farmers in a message on her blog Monday to stop sending milk, saying she was happy to talk to them directly to find a solution to their grievances.
"If you would like to keep on sending milk, I can suggest that it would be better put to a good use in your local area," she said.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — A Pakistani man is charged with killing his 25-year-old daughter because she wanted out of an arranged marriage, police said.
Chaudhry Rashid, 54, of Jonesboro, an Atlanta suburb, appeared in court Tuesday afternoon to face murder charges in the death of Sandeela Kanwal.
¡°The victim was not interested in marrying, nor remaining married to her husband,¡± the police report said, citing information authorities received from Rashid¡¯s wife.
¡°This was causing a great deal of friction between the victim and her father,¡± so much so that the two had not spoken in two months, the report said.
ROME, Italy (CNN) — The Vatican said Tuesday it regrets the decision by the Church of England¡¯s governing body to allow the ordination of women as bishops.
The move by the Anglican Church¡¯s General Synod ¡°is a rift to the apostolic tradition¡± of ordaining only men as bishops, the Vatican said in a statement, adding that it is another obstacle to reconciliation between Anglicans and Roman Catholics.
The General Synod passed a resolution Monday night allowing women to become bishops, despite objections of traditionalists who argued that Jesus only wanted men in leadership positions.
Some traditionalists have threatened to abandon the Anglican Church for the Roman Catholic Church if women become bishops.
(CNN) — A strong earthquake hit southern Peru early Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The magnitude 6.0 quake was centered about 448 miles (721 km) southeast of the capital, Lima, and roughly 150 miles from the borders of Bolivia and Chile.
The quake struck about 35 miles from Arequipa, the capital of the Arequipa region and the country¡¯s second most populous city, with nearly 1 million residents.
(CNN) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Tuesday ordered the makers of fluoroquinolone drugs — a class of antibiotics —
to add a boxed warning to the drugs¡¯ prescription information cautioning patients that the drugs can cause tendon rupture and tendinitis.
Fluoroquinolone drugs include Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox, Noroxin and Floxin.
Teenagers and ¡®tweens endure significant levels of different types of abuse in dating relationships —
particularly among those who become sexually active at a young age —
The survey, conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, found that 69 percent of teens who had sex by age 14 reported that they had experienced some type of abuse in a relationship, with slightly more than one-third saying they had been physically abused.
About 10 percent of the teenagers surveyed said they had had sex by age 14, while 20 percent said they had sex between the ages of 15 and 16.
One in five 13 or 14-year-olds in relationships say they know friends and peers who have been ¡°struck in anger¡± by a boyfriend or girlfriend.
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — Russia¡¯s Foreign Ministry Tuesday threatened a ¡°military-technological¡± response if the United States deploys a strategic missile defense system in former Soviet-bloc nations near Russia¡¯s borders.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a deal with Prague to place radars for the planned system inside the borders of the Czech Republic.
The United States is also seeking a deal with Warsaw to place interceptor missiles in Poland as part of the system.
Russia vigorously opposes the system, saying the missiles would be a threat to its own security.
¡°There is no doubt that the approachment of elements of the U.S. strategic arsenal to the Russian territory could be used to weaken the potential of our deterrent,¡± the ministry said in a written statement. ¡°It is clear that in this situation the Russian side would have to resort to adequate measures to compensate for the threats to its national security. But this would not be our choice. ¡±
TOYAKO, Japan (CNN) — The leaders of the Group of Eight nations expressed ¡°serious concern¡± Tuesday about Iran¡¯s nuclear program, and urged the Mideast nation to obey United Nations resolutions on the issue.
¡°We express our serious concern at the proliferation risks posed by Iran¡¯s nuclear program and Iran¡¯s continued failure to meet its international obligations,¡± the G8 nations said in a report on issues discussed at their summit in Japan.
Although Iran repeatedly argues that it nuclear program has peaceful goals, some other countries remain unconvinced. The Bush administration and other members of the U.N. Security Council —
Britain, France, China and Russia, along with Germany — have offered Iran a set of political and economic incentives in exchange for suspending its uranium enrichment program. The council has also imposed sanctions on Iran.
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) — Six-nation talks on North Korea¡¯s nuclear program will resume this week in Beijing, South Korea¡¯s chief nuclear envoy said Tuesday, according to the Yonhap news agency.
¡°Important issues will be discussed,¡± said envoy Kim Sook, ¡°including the appraisal of the declaration and the establishment of a verification mechanism.
North Korea declared details of its nuclear program last month.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The fight for Hispanic voters takes center stage Tuesday as John McCain and Barack Obama both speak separately in Washington to the League of United Latin American Citizens.
It¡¯s the second of three major Hispanic and Latino organizations the two presidential candidates are addressing this summer and another sign of how important this key voting bloc is in the race for the White House.
Is it acceptable to serve edamame to a dinner guest who's a pescatarian?
Should you pour prosecco or soju for the winner of the Texas Hold 'em game you're planning near the infinity pool?
And what's that wing nut in the corner saying about dirty bombs and nasty Noroviruses?
Before your next party, go ahead and consult the latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, which now includes edamame (immature green soybeans), pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish) and about 100 other newly added words that have taken root in the American lexicon.
The wordsmiths at the Springfield, Massachusetts-based dictionary publisher say they picked the new entries after monitoring their use over years.
"As soon as we see the word used without explanation or translation or gloss, we consider it a naturalized citizen of the English language," said Peter Sokolowski, an editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster.
"If somebody is using it to convey a specific idea and that idea is successfully conveyed in that word, it's ready to go in the dictionary.
Many of the new entries reflect the nation's growing interest in the culinary arts, including prosecco (a sparkling Italian wine) and soju (a Korean vodka distilled from rice).
Others define new technology or products, such as infinity pool an outdoor pool with an edge designed to make water appear to flow into the horizon.
Others reflect current events and much-discussed news topics, including dirty bomb (a conventional bomb that releases radioactive material) and Norovirus (small, round single-stranded RNA viruses, such as the Norwalk Virus).
It comes from an old Scottish ballad in which the lyric "laid him on the green" has been confused over time with "Lady Mondegreen.
Remove Yahoo's board and Microsoft might be interested in a deal again, the software giant and Carl Icahn said Monday.
In a letter to Yahoo shareholders, Icahn said he's had several conversations with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that "have lasted as long as an hour."
Icahn's takeaway, according to his open letter, is that an acquisition of Yahoo is too financially risky for Microsoft given the poor performance of Yahoo's board.
According to Icahn, Microsoft's fear is that if it committed to buy the search business or the whole company, Yahoo's board and top executives would continue to "mismanage the company" for the nine months or so it would take for the deal to pass regulatory review.
In a reply Monday, Yahoo said it would welcome an immediate offer for the entire company.
Icahn is eager to remove Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and his team, which Microsoft has identified as impediments to successful merger negotiations.
In a follow up to Icahn's letter, Microsoft released its own statement Monday saying it sees no hope for a deal with the current board, but "would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo.
President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged Tuesday to keep working together on common problems, but progress appeared slow on reaching a consensus on climate change as the Group of Eight major economies tackled that and other knotty global issues.
Merkel expressed optimism as the two leaders met with reporters after a one-on-one meeting before Tuesday's summit session.
She cited "a very interesting exchange of view, very intensive exchange of view."
Merkel also said she hoped that international trade negotiators could make progress on restarting long-stalled trade liberalization talks "over the next few weeks to come.
Bush was more terse after the meeting, not mentioning global warming but telling reporters:
"We talked about a lot of common problems, and a lot of common opportunities.
We talked about the G-8.
We talked about the need to work continue to work together on Iran.
He told Merkel he valued her friendship and advice and called her "a constructive force for good.
The two met just before G-8 members plunged into a discussion about the major problems on the agenda:
The summit partners appeared close to a deal for using international food reserves to help the poorest countries cope with soaring grain prices.
But divisions remains on climate change that pitted older, more established economies like those in the Group of Eight with fast rising economies like China and India.
Beyond the climate-change standoff, Bush's proposal to base a missile defense system in Eastern Europe was rebuffed on Monday by Russia's new president, Dimitry Medvedev.
And Bush failed to achieve a consensus among African leaders on sanctions against the government of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe to protest his widely condemned re-election last month after his opposition-party rival dropped out, fearful for his life.
"You know I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe," Bush told reporters after a Monday meeting with African leaders who were invited to meet with summit partners.
"I'm extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labeled a sham election.
NEW YORK (CNN) When Scott Hoover bought a $5 scratch-off ticket in Virginia called "Beginner's Luck" last summer, he carefully studied the odds.
Even though he figured his chances of winning were a long shot, he felt the odds were reasonable.
Hoover, a business professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, wasn't surprised when his tickets didn't bring him the $75,000 grand prize, but he was shocked to learn the top prize had been awarded before he bought the ticket.
"I felt duped into buying these things," Hoover said.
He discovered the Virginia State Lottery was continuing to sell tickets for games in which the top prizes were no longer available.
Public records showed that someone had already won the top prize one month before Hoover played.
He is now suing the state of Virginia for breach of contract.
"It's one thing to say it's a long shot to win the $75,000, but it's another thing to say you have no shot to win it," said John Fishwick, Hoover's attorney.
Through a request filed under the Freedom of Information Act, Fishwick's firm was able to obtain records that showed the Virginia State Lottery sold $85 million in tickets for which no top prize was available.
Fishwick says the state should pay $85 million in damages.
Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia State Lottery, said the state's games are fair and the top prize money is actually a small percentage of the money given out to lottery players.
Most of the players win through the second, third or fourth-place prizes, she said.
Otto would not comment on the lawsuit, but said she stands by the integrity of the games in Virginia and looks forward to vigorously defending them.
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) South Korea will cut back its regular military exercises as part of a government campaign to save energy amid surging global oil prices, the Defense Ministry said Monday.
The ministry plans to reduce its oil consumption by 14 percent this year by scaling back the number of exercises involving army tanks, navy ships and air force planes, and reducing their length, it said in a statement.
It said it will offset the reduced training hours with computer-simulated drills.
The ministry measures which take effect Tuesday are part of a broader government campaign to save energy.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said officials at more than 800 public institutions will be obligated to take public transportation every other day instead of driving their cars to work beginning July 15.
Resource-poor South Korea imports virtually all of its oil and has been intensifying what it calls energy diplomacy to secure stable supplies amid rising prices.
It pays to go in a small south Indian town.
The remote town of Musiri in the Tamil Nadu state has hit upon a unique idea to teach its residents proper hygiene:
pay them money each time they use the toilet.
Users can make up to $0.14 (6 rupees) a month to relieve themselves in a specially constructed toilet. Not a princely sum, but it¡¯s extra cash flow that low-income residents can make just for answering nature¡¯s call.
The government-backed program serves two purpose:
It encourages people to discard age-old practices of urinating and defecating in the open, leading to diseases. And the waste product goes into research to test their effectiveness as fertilizers.
¡°We¡¯re motivating people to know the value of their urine,¡± said Marathi Subburaman, who came up with the novel idea. ¡°The urine that is collected goes into fields for paddy crops, and of course the feces becomes good compost in a matter of months. ¡±
(CNN) — A vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer is coming under fresh scrutiny amid thousands of complaints linking it to a range of health problems.
Gardasil has been the subject of 7,802 ¡°adverse event¡± reports from the time the Food and Drug Administration approved its use two years ago to April, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The vaccine¡¯s manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc., says it has distributed more than 26 million Gardasil vaccines worldwide, including nearly 16 million in the United States.
It estimates that eight million girls and women have received the vaccine in the United States since June 2006.
The company said in a statement that an adverse ¡°event report does not mean that a causal relationship between an event and vaccination has been established —
(CNN) — The wife of Yankee¡¯s baseball star Alex Rodriguez filed for divorce Monday morning in Miami-Dade County Family Court.
The divorce filing said the marriage is ¡°irretrievably broken because of the husband¡¯s extra-marital affairs and other marital misconduct.
¡°Alex has emotionally abandoned his wife and children and has left her with no choice but to divorce him,¡± the petition said.
JERUSALEM (CNN) — Israel has signed a U.N.-brokered deal with Hezbollah under which it plans to release prisoners in exchange for two kidnapped Israeli soldiers, the Israeli prime minister¡¯s office said Monday.
But there are still several hurdles that must be overcome before the agreement is implemented.
Israel has yet to receive a final report from the Lebanese militant group on Ron Arad, an Israeli airman who has been missing since he was forced to eject from his plane over Lebanon in October 1986.
Once it receives that report, the statement said, Israel will set up a timetable for the prisoner release.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried and failed just before leaving for Europe on Monday to seal a deal to place missiles in Poland, the State Department said.
She met with her Polish counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski, at the State Department.
But even with her personal intervention, Rice left for Europe without a key piece of the U.S. plan to put missiles on that continent to protect against ¡°rogue states¡± such as Iran, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Rice will be in Prague Tuesday to sign a treaty with the Czech government to allow the radar for the missile system to be placed there.
And it is still possible that she could extend her European schedule and add a trip to Poland if negotiations in the next couple of days produce a Polish government agreement to put the missiles on its soil, McCormack told reporters at his regular midday briefing.
The United States secretly shipped out of Iraq more than 500 tons of low-grade uranium dating back to the Saddam Hussein era, the Pentagon said Monday.
The U.S. military spent $70 million ensuring the safe transportation of 550 metric tons of the uranium from Iraq to Canada, said Pentagon spokesman Brian Whitman.
The shipment, which until recently was kept secret, involved a U.S. truck convoy, 37 cargo flights out of Baghdad to a transitional location, and then a transoceanic voyage on board a U.S.-government-owned ship designed to carry troops to a war zone, he said.
(CNN) – AirTran Airways will cut 480 jobs this fall to offset the cost of rising fuel prices, the company said Monday.
Effective September 6, AirTran will eliminate 180 pilot jobs and 300 flight attendant positions, a spokesman told CNN.
The airline expects the layoffs to save $16 million annually.
AirTran is offering a voluntary early exit program for employees with at least five years of service.
Eligible employees will receive six to 12 months of medical and dental benefits and six to 12 months of flight privileges.
AirTran employs about 8,900 people, including 1,450 pilots and 2,000 flight attendants.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) — One of three American hostages freed last week from Colombian rebels blasted the leftist group publicly, saying, ¡°You guys are terrorists. ¡±
Northrop Grumman contractors who were kidnapped when their plane crashed in the Colombian jungle in February 2003 — made statements Monday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
"They say they want equality; they say they just want to make Colombia a better place," Gonsalves said. "That's all a lie ... to justify their criminal activity.
Hurricane Bertha strengthened to a Category 3 storm Monday afternoon, but slowed in pace hours after becoming the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of 5 p.m., Bertha was 730 miles (1,247 km) east of the northern Leeward Islands and was moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph —
or Category 3 — hurricane. A Category 3 has wind speeds of 111 to 130 mph.
There is a very small chance that Bertha will make landfall in the United States. Bermuda could be affected by the hurricane this weekend.
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) — South Korean President Lee Myung-bak named three new cabinet ministers Monday in the continuing fallout from his controversial policy to renew U.S. beef imports, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The cabinet reshuffle puts new ministers in charge of agriculture, welfare and education affairs, a presidential spokesman said, according to Yonhap.
In a similar move, Lee replaced seven top aides last month.
The changes follow weekend demonstrations that brought tens of thousands of South Koreans to the streets of the capital to protest the government¡¯s decision to import what they say is unsafe U.S. beef.
President Bush gave a positive but cautious assessment of Russia¡¯s new president, Dmitry Medvedev.
The two met for their first time as world leaders on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Japan.
Asked by a reporter what he thought of Medvedev, President Bush called him ¡°a smart guy. ¡±
Appearing with Putin at a news conference in Slovenia, President Bush famously said he had looked Putin in the eye and ¡°was able to get a sense of his soul. ¡±
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI (CNN) — Barack Obama¡¯s plane made an unscheduled but safe landing in St. Louis Monday after ¡°an emergency slide located in the tail cone of the plane deployed in flight,¡± according to the airline that owns the chartered plane.
Midwest Airlines released a statement saying that while ¡°there was never an issue as to the safety of the flight, as a precautionary measure, we decided to divert the plane.
Obama had been en route from Chicago, Illinois, to a campaign appearance in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He delivered his speech by telephone from St. Louis to about 200 people in Charlotte.
A car bomb went off on a crowded street near the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 28 people and wounding more than 100, officials said.
"We heard an explosion, then the dust and glass hit our faces," a resident near the scene of the blast said. "After that we saw that people were dead and lying everywhere."
Another 141 people were injured, said Dr. Abdullah Fahim of the Afghan health ministry.
Ninety were admitted to hospitals, some of them children.
At least two of the dead were embassy security guards, said defense ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi. The casualty figures do not include the suicide bomber.
The embassy is in the center of Kabul across from the Interior Ministry and close to several other government buildings.
Dozens of people line up every morning outside the embassy gates to apply for visas to India.
A man who answered the phone at the Indian embassy abruptly hung up, saying, "We are not fine. All communications have been cut off.
Rafael Nadal has won his first Wimbledon men's singles title after holding off a stunning fightback from five-times champion Roger Federer to secure a dramatic victory in an epic rain-affected five-set final.
The second seed's four hour, 48 minute triumph means he becomes only the third man in the Open era after Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg to win at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year.
As well as becoming the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon since Manolo Santana in 1966, Nadal also avenges his defeats to Federer in the last two finals and puts an end to the Swiss star's grass-court run of 65 consecutive wins.
I never thought I could win and to do so is a dream," he added.
Federer admitted he had been beaten by the better man on the day.
"It is a pity I did not win but I will be back next year.
Tropical Storm Bertha is approaching warmer waters and is likely to strengthen during the coming days.
At 11 a.m. ET Sunday, Bertha was centered about 1,185 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.
Forecasters say Bertha is expected to strengthen during the next few days and could become the Atlantic season's first hurricane.
The storm is moving toward the west at about 21 mph.
It's still too early to say if or where Bertha will hit land.
The first named storm this year, Arthur, formed in the Atlantic the day before the season officially started June 1 and soaked the Yucatan Peninsula.
killed at least 21 miners, state-run media reported Sunday.
Seven miners escaped on foot and four others were rescued after Saturday¡¯s collapse at a mine in Shanxi province, the China News Agency reported.
Officials continue investigating the incident at the state-run mine in the south suburb of Datong, the news agency said.
The accident followed a similar mine disaster on Wednesday that killed 18 miners in neighboring Shaanxi province.
Ten miners survived the collapse at the state-owned Huisen Liangshuijing Coal Mine, about 375 miles (600 km) north of the provincial capital, Xi¡¯an.
ROME, Italy (CNN) A fake priest was caught trying to hear confessions in St. Peter's Basilica and was tried by a Vatican tribunal, a Vatican judge said in an interview published Saturday.
Judge Gianluigi Marrone, who is a member of the court system of the independent Vatican city-state, said the man was wearing clerical garb and carried documents alleging that he was a priest.
"Some time ago I had to deal with an unusual case a fake priest," Marrone told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.
"He was caught by surprise in the basilica while he was trying to take his place in a confessional. He was wearing clerical garb, but the expert eye of our [basilica] personnel didn't need much to sense something strange in his behavior," Marrone said without elaborating.
The man was stopped and his documents checked, and even though he had what appeared to be legitimate documents, including a Vatican pass, personnel were still suspicious, the judge recalled.
Checking with Italian authorities about the documents "unmasked him," Marrone said, adding that the man had passed himself off as a priest in Italy.
Marrone didn't say when the incident happened, what the tribunal's verdict was or if the man received punishment.
South Ossetia said shootings Thursday night in the regional capital of Tskhinvali and surrounding areas killed two people and wounded 11 in what a South Ossetian government spokeswoman called a Georgian ¡°military provocation,¡± according to a report on Russia¡¯s state Interfax news agency.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expressed its ¡ °serious concern¡± about the incident.
It was a dog fight, but world record holder and defending champion, Joey ¡°Jaws¡± Chestnut, claimed his second consecutive hot dog-eating title Friday in a never-seen-before tie-breaker at Nathan¡¯s Famous Fourth of July contest on Coney Island.
Chestnut, who hails from San Jose, California, beat rival Takeru ¡°The Tsunami¡± Kobayashi, from Japan, in a ¡°dog off¡± in which the two contestants battled to see who could finish five hot dogs first.
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) — A man raced into Berlin¡¯s Madame Tussauds wax museum Saturday and ripped the head off a waxwork of Adolf Hitler, police said.
Police said the 41-year-old entered the exhibit shortly after the museum doors opened at 10 a.m. and ¡°made for the Hitler figure,¡± scuffling with a guard assigned to protect it and the manager before tearing the head off the life-size statue.
The man was arrested and is now in custody, Berlin police spokeswoman Uwe Kozelnik said.
Under questioning, the man explained he wanted to protest the figure being included in the museum.
Saturday was the opening day of the Berlin branch of the famous Madame Tussauds wax museum.
News reports ahead of the opening mentioned controversy surrounding the Hitler figure, which depicted the late German leader sitting at his desk in his bunker during his last days.
Iran¡¯s government spokesman on Saturday reiterated its right to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes, a state-run news agency reported.
Gholam-Hossein Elham made the remark to reporters a day after Iran delivered a response to a world powers proposal that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment in exchange for economic and other incentives, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
World leaders, such as those from the West, the U.N. Security Council and Israel, have been suspicious that Iran is using its nuclear program to develop weaponry.
Iran has consistently disputed that and said it plans to use nuclear power for energy.
(CNN) — The nose cone of a Northwest Airlines planes caved in during a flight Sunday from Detroit, Michigan, to Tampa, Florida, without compromising the safety of the 182 passengers on board, the company said.
The damage to the plane occurred during the flight, but didn¡¯t affect Flight 478¡¯s scheduled 2:30 p.m. landing in Tampa, Florida, said Northwest spokeswoman Kristin Baur.
Baur, who called the damage a ¡°minor maintenance issue¡± and a ¡°very rare occurrence¡± said the cause of the incident was under investigation.
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) — Tens of thousands of South Koreans were demonstrating Saturday on the streets of the capital to protest the government¡¯s decision to import what they say is unsafe U.S. beef.
South Korean police estimate that the crowd in Seoul is about 50,000.
No clashes were reported between the protesters and riot police, although ongoing protests have at times turned violent.
South Koreans have protested regularly since April when the government announced it would resume importing beef from the United States after a five-year ban.
That ban was instituted over a case of mad cow disease in the United States in 2003.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Starting Monday, FDA inspectors will expand the salmonella search beyond tomatoes to include cilantro, jalapeñ o and serrano peppers, scallions and onions.
¡°If (the sample) tests negative, it¡¯s open to release¡± into the marketplace, David Acheson, FDA¡¯s associate commissioner for food protection, told CNN on Saturday. ¡°The amount of testing is unlikely to have a significant impact to the flow of products into the U.S.¡±
SANTA BARBARA, California (CNN) — Authorities arrested a 48-year-old homeowner for setting backfires without permission as firefighters continue to battle two of California¡¯s most threatening wildfires.
The man was arrested for setting backfires around his home near the Big Sur area, Cliff Williams of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Saturday night.
A backfire is a fire started to check an advancing fire by creating a burn area.
The fire can also get out of control and injure other residents, he said.
The homeowner, who did not have any firefighting experience, was arrested for setting backfires in the area without permission and for disobeying an order by a firefighter, Williams said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) —
In a written statement, al-Maliki said UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan promised to ¡°put out these debts,¡± appoint an ambassador to Baghdad, and ¡°help Iraq building the holy shrines that were targeted by the terrorists.
The announcement came after al-Maliki and the sheikh met Sunday, the first day of a two-day official visit.
Al-Maliki was accompanied by the Iraqi ministers of Interior, Commerce and Industry.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — A suicide attacker apparently targeting police trying to secure a protest rally killed 16 people on Sunday in Islamabad, police said.
Twelve Pakistani police officers and four civilians were killed, police said. Another 53 people were wounded.
The suicide bomber detonated near a police station at the outermost security perimeter of a protection cordon set up by the government for Sunday¡¯s rally, according to Islamabad police Inspector General Asghar Gardezi.
The rally was organized outside Islamabad¡¯s Red Mosque to protest the government¡¯s deadly raid and siege of the mosque last July.
TOYAKO, Japan (CNN) — President Bush defended his decision to attend next month¡¯s Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, China, saying to do otherwise ¡°would be an affront to the Chinese people, which would make it more difficult to be able to speak more frankly with the Chinese leadership.
Japan¡¯s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, at a joint news conference with President Bush Sunday, also announced that he would attend the opening ceremony despite concerns about human rights in China that prompted some other world leaders to boycott the event.
Bush and Fukuda took questions from reporters Sunday ahead of the start of the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations being hosted by Japan this week.
President Bush assured Japan that the issue of North Korea¡¯s past kidnappings of Japanese citizens will not be ignored by the United States.
He told Fukuda that he was ¡°fully aware of the sensitivity of the issue in your country¡± and that ¡°the United States will not abandon you on this issue.
President Bush said North Korea¡¯s recent destruction of a water cooling tower at its now-defunct nuclear facility and its declaration outlining its plutonium program are positive steps, but there are ¡°more to be taken. ¡±
¡°I am surprised at how ¡¦ the press ¡¦ I¡¯m not trying to dump on you guys, but I¡¯m surprised at how finely calibrated every single word was measured,¡± he said.
(CNN) Toney Dixon's fascination with dead bodies goes back to her childhood, when she would sneak around her uncle's funeral home and watch him prepare bodies.
"But instead of being taken aback and terrified, I wanted to know more.
Years later, Dixon's curiosity drew her and her twin sister, Erlyene Toney-Alvarez, to Body Worlds, an exhibit that shows preserved human specimens bisected and stripped of skin.
"It's like standing in the mirror and seeing yourself in a totally new way," said Dixon, the younger twin.
The twins were so impressed that they signed up on the spot to donate their earthly remains to the exhibit.
With their signatures, the women joined a group of people who believe that having their bodies dissected, preserved and displayed will serve a greater purpose than burial or cremation.
Body Worlds' donor program boasts about 800 people in North America and 8,600 worldwide.
"I thought, since I like to think outside the box, this would be a really good way to preserve our bodies instead of the typical funeral," Toney-Alvarez said.
"It's also something I can go to my death feeling good about, like I made a contribution to humankind.
Individual Americans have had the right to bequeath their bodies to science since 1965, when the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act established the human body as property.
With that law, a donor's wishes superseded those of the next of kin.
But academics in the field of gross anatomy attribute recent increases in body donations to relaxed social mores, according to an article published by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Then, in 1993, controversial German anatomist Gunther von Hagens emerged with an alternative.
Von Hagens, a self-styled iconoclast who earned the moniker Dr. Frankenstein in Europe for performing a public dissection, invented plastination in the 1970s.
In 1993, von Hagens founded the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany, a research center that performs plastination and manages the Body Worlds exhibits.
The Institute produces specimens for Body Worlds exhibits and academic institutions that pay anywhere from $200 to $60,000 for them.
Von Hagens says he relies on donors not only as a source of specimens, but also as representations of Body Worlds' philosophy.
an exhibition to teach the next generation," von Hagens said in a recent telephone interview.
The donors meet periodically at conferences, where they catch up with each other and with von Hagens.
Recently, the sisters attended a donor conference in Los Angeles, California, with their mother, Irma Henry, who signed on in 1997.
Marc Rohner donated his leg to Body Worlds because he wanted others to learn from it.
"What you see in a picture or on "CSI" does not do justice to what the real human body looks like or how it functions," said Rohner, whose leg was amputated in 2006 to remove a malignant giant cell tumor.
"By having a three-dimensional leg or black lung in front of you, you have areas of focus and details you can't see in a photo.
With his donation, Rohner, a pathologist's assistant in Columbus, Ohio, became the first living person to give a body part to the Institute.
Church groups in Europe have repeatedly denounced the shows as disrespectful, and skeptics around the world continue to question whether the Body Worlds specimens really are from legitimate sources.
But Toney-Alvarez says she will visit Body Worlds, even if her mother and sister are on display.
The memories are in the heart and in the mind," she said.
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) U.S. government scientists are launching a five-year project aimed at safeguarding the world's chocolate supply by dissecting the genome of the cocoa bean.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture team based in Miami, funded with more than $10 million from candy company Mars Inc., will analyze the more than 400 million parts of the cocoa genome, a process that could help battle crippling crop diseases and even lead to better-tasting chocolate.
Fungal diseases cost cocoa farmers an estimated $700 million annually.
The analysis will not only identify what traits make cacao trees susceptible, but it will allow scientists and candymakers to better understand every aspect of cocoa, from its ability to sustain drought to the way it tastes.
"Once we have the whole genome, they'll be able to go in and look at all the genes they're interested in," said Ray Schnell, a research geneticist with the USDA, referring to candymakers. "They'll all be interested in flavor genes.
The project's backers say the work stands to be a boon to farmers, largely in Africa, who produce about 70 percent of the world's cocoa.
By determining which breeds of cacao trees are most appropriate for a specific locale and most able to fend off disease and drought, farmers could increase crop yields.
Ajay Royyuro, who leads the Computational Biology Center at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, New York, said the cocoa genome project capitalizes on advances from examining the far more complicated human genome. An IBM team will participate in the cocoa efforts.
"The genome revolution is underway and there is a way in which that revolution can be leveraged to have an economic impact," Royyuro said.
Though the project is funded by Mars the maker of M&Ms and Snickers its findings will be made public, even to its competitors.
Mars says there will be more information to examine than any one company could ever do alone, and that the main reasons for cracking the genome are to combat cocoa pests and disease.
SIEBEN LINDEN, Germany (CNN) Straw and clay are the building materials of choice for a few dozen ecologically minded people in the eastern German village of Sieben Linden.
A continent away, the Chinese government plans to transform a rural area of 100,000 people into a city of 400,000 that would run largely on renewable energy.
From the simplest methods to the most technologically advanced, the strategies employed around the world to be more environmentally friendly and reduce reliance on fossil fuels are as varied as the people that inhabit the planet.
One city garnering international attention is Freiburg, in southern Germany.
Its use of solar panels and other forms of renewable energy draws tourists interested in taking green ideas to their hometowns.
Solar-Fabrik, a producer of solar panels, has a sun-powered factory in Freiburg.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) In New Orleans, cocktails are serious business.
What better town for a temple to the tasty history of the American libation?
But the Museum of the American Cocktail opening in July will focus on the rich history of sophisticated drinks that have been served since Thomas Jefferson was president.
Cocktails originally defined as any mixture of bitters, spirits and sugar were an early fixture in this French port city.
Besides easy access to sugar, a European sensibility allowed a drinking culture to flourish when it foundered elsewhere in the South's Bible Belt.
The museum is located near the French Quarter and features a collection of rare spirits, books and Prohibition-era literature.
There will be vintage cocktail shakers, glassware, tools, gadgets and other cocktail memorabilia.
"And New Orleans is the ultimate fit a city that loves celebration and history.
NEW YORK (CNN) A new study suggests that attitude rather than availability may be the key reason why more Americans don't have high-speed Internet access.
The findings from the Pew Internet and American Life Project challenge the argument that broadband providers need to more aggressively roll out supply to meet demand.
Thirty-five percent say they're still on dial-up because broadband prices are too high, while another 19 percent say nothing would persuade them to upgrade. The remainder have other reasons or do not know.
"It's going to have to be a process of getting people more engaged with information technology and demonstrating to people it's worth it for them to make the investment of time and money. "
Nonetheless, the Pew study does support concerns that rural Americans have more trouble getting faster Internet connections, which bring greater opportunities to work from home or log into classes at distant universities.
Twenty-four percent of rural dial-up users say they would get broadband if it becomes available, compared with 11 percent for suburbanites and 3 percent for city dwellers.
Vint Cerf, one of the Internet's key inventors and an advocate for the idea that the government should be more active in expanding broadband, suspects that many more dial-up users would be interested in going high-speed if they had a better idea of what they're missing.
He pointed out that broadband access is available from only one provider in many areas, keeping prices high and speeds low.
"Some residential users may not see a need for higher speeds because they don't know about or don't have ability to use high speeds," Cerf said.
By contrast, only 10 percent of Americans now have dial-up access.
Despite the increase in overall broadband adoption, though, growth has been flat among blacks and poorer Americans.
Of the Americans with no Internet access at all, about a third say they have no interest in logging on, even at dial-up speeds.
Pew's telephone study of 2,251 U.S. adults, including 1,553 Internet users, was conducted April 8 to May 11 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
(CNN) Demons, ghouls and buckets of blood:
This month, we've picked our top 10 most spine-tingling moments.
From Hitchcock to Cronenberg, our choices have left us sleepless and shivering with fear.
1. "Ring" (Hideo Nakata, 1998)
In the hideous Sadako all ragged, black fingernails and terrible eyes behind curtain of hair Nakata has created a unique horror creature.
You will never look at your TV the same way again.
2. "The Thing" (John Carpenter, 1982)
Horror-maestro John Carpenter ramps up the paranoia in a remote polar research station.
When the scientists take in a cute lost dog, how could they possibly know it is a shape-shifting alien?
3. "The Orphanage" (Juan Antonio Bayona, 2007)
n disappears, director Bayona cranks up the jitters for mother Laura.
4. "Misery" (Rob Reiner,1990)
5. "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1979)
In the ensuing palava, his chest starts bulging and an alien parasite bursts out of his chest in a spray of blood.
6. "The Birds" (Alfred Hitchcock,1963)
The true horror of the animals' capabilities becomes clear when Mitch's mother visits a friend and finds he has been pecked to death by a swarm of the homicidal birds.
7. "The Fly" (David Cronenberg,1986)
Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) begins a mysterious transformation after a fly infiltrates his experimental teleportation device and their DNA is merged.
He may be losing his innate humanity but he is still human enough to realize it.
8. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (Tobe Hooper,1974)
This low budget shocker is the template for a million "college kids get into trouble in Hicksville" movies.
Oblivious to the gruesome deaths of their three friends, Sally and her disabled brother Franklin traipse through the undergrowth to their inevitable doom.
9. "Don't Look Now" (Nicolas Roeg ,1973)
A young couple, Laura (Julie Christie) and John (Donald Sutherland) Baxter move to Venice after the drowning of their daughter.
Things get supernatural when they meet a pair of sisters, one of whom is blind and psychic.
John starts seeing a small figure in a bright red raincoat down the side streets of Venice the same raincoat his daughter was wearing when she died.
The film is quite poetic at times and like many great horror moments the ending is completely unexpected.
10. "Event Horizon" (Paul W. S. Anderson, 1997)
In this high-concept sci-fi horror, the Event Horizon spaceship travels through a wormhole into another dimension hell and returns haunted.
Dismissing privacy concerns, a federal judge overseeing a $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube has ordered the popular online video-sharing service to disclose who watches which video clips and when.
U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton authorized full access to the YouTube logs after Viacom Inc. and other copyright holders argued that they needed the data to show whether their copyright-protected videos are more heavily watched than amateur clips.
The data would not be publicly released but disclosed only to the plaintiffs, and it would include less specific identifiers than a user's real name or e-mail address.
Lawyers for Google Inc., which owns YouTube, said producing 12 terabytes of data equivalent to the text of roughly 12 million books would be expensive, time-consuming and a threat to users' privacy.
The database includes information on when each video gets played, which can be used to determine how often a clip is viewed.
NEW YORK (CNN) — A rare and original manuscript of one of America¡¯s most patriotic songs has been discovered after a shopper browsing through a New York City flea market bought a framed picture of a flower for $10, then found the song tucked behind the picture, the manuscript¡¯s owner told CNN Thursday.
The handwritten manuscript of ¡°My Country, ¡®Tis of Thee,¡± written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831, could be worth tens of thousands of dollars, said the owner, art collector Keya Morgan Morgan.
He said he bought it from the flea market shopper who has asked not to be identified.
The song, originally titled ¡°America,¡± was intended to be played in schools to inspire and teach children and was first played in public on July 4, 1832, in the First Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, Morgan said.
Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte could be called to testify in Roger Clemens' federal defamation suit against Brian McNamee as part of the trainer's attempt to dismiss the case.
Clemens contends McNamee defamed him when the trainer, who worked for both pitchers, told Pettitte in 1999 or 2000 that Clemens had used HGH and in 2003 or 2004 that Clemens had used steroids.
McNamee repeated many of his accusations against Clemens to baseball investigator George Mitchell and again this year to a congressional committee.
Clemens sued McNamee in January.
"It was conscious avoidance on Clemens' part not to understand Pettitte and McNamee were talking about him, and therefor the statute of limitations started to run much earlier than the congressional period," Richard Emery, one of McNamee's lawyers, said Thursday.
The first regular charter flights between China's mainland and Taiwan began Friday in a sign of warming relations between Beijing and Taipei.
The flight took off at 6:31 a.m. from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province in southern China, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, and it arrived in Taiwan at 8:10 am. after a 1,124-km (700-mile) journey.
Previously, the only chartered flights across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait took place during major holidays.
They will now run on weekends from Friday through Monday.
About 760 mainland Chinese plan to make the trip this weekend, but that number is expected to increase to 3,000 by mid-July.
Chinese and Taiwanese officials agreed last month to set up permanent offices in each other's territories, in the first formal talks between the two sides in almost a decade.
Cross-straits talks between the two delegations began in 1993.
After that, the dialogue was delayed for five years over cross-strait tensions.
Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, has rejected the push for independence.
Although Ma opposes unification with China, he campaigned on promises of seeking closer ties to the mainland, particularly seeking for Taiwan some of the benefits of China's robust economy.
Oil prices briefly soared to a new high near $146 a barrel Thursday, extending the previous day's record-shattering rally before easing somewhat as the dollar gained ground against the euro.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery added 80 cents to $144.37 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Earlier in the session, it rose as high as $145.85 a barrel, topping a trading record set the previous day.
Oil prices settled at $143.57 Wednesday, up $2.60 above the previous high.
They continued climbing overnight, propelled by a report of lower crude stockpiles in the United States, lingering concerns about conflict with Iran and comments by Saudi Arabia's oil minister suggesting his country would not boost production.
Prices backed off, however, after the European Central Bank did not signal more rate increases.
MEMMINGEN, Germany (CNN) A baby boy removed from his parents' custody after they offered to sell him on eBay for just a euro $1.59 as a joke is back at home, a prosecutor said Thursday.
"The child has been returned to his parents," prosecutor Johannes Kreuzpointer said.
The parents maintained that the posting was just a joke gone awry.
"Offering my nearly new baby for sale, as it has gotten too loud. It is a male baby, nearly 28 inches long and can be used either in a baby carrier or a stroller," read the original eBay ad that ran on May 24.
As of 11 a.m. ET Thursday, the center of the storm was about 190 miles (310 km) south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, the Miami-based NHC said in an advisory.
Bertha was moving west-northwest at near 14 mph (22 km/hr), away from the islands.
Its maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 km/hr) with higher gusts, with some strengthening is forecast during the next day or two.
(CNN) Virgin Media stepped up its campaign to combat music piracy Thursday, when it issued letters to around 800 customers warning them against downloading illegal music files via file-sharing sites.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the body which represents British record companies, confirmed the move in an interview with the BBC.
BPI teamed up with Virgin Media in June to launch an "education campaign" to stop customers illegally downloading music.
As part of the campaign, customers whose accounts have been used to distribute music in breach of copyright will receive two "informative" letters one from the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and one from the BPI.
According to the BPI, the letters include advice on "how to prevent account misuse," "avoid the risk of legal action," and warn customers that peer to peer networks carry "increased threats from viruses and spyware.
"We want people to enjoy music online without infringing the rights of musicians and music companies. This campaign is about helping our customers understand how they can do this.
FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia (CNN) — After three years of excavation, archeologists have confirmed the discovery of the site of George Washington¡¯s boyhood home near the banks of the Rappahannock River in northeast Virginia.
Digging into the red clay of Ferry Farm, a former plantation in Fredericksburg, has unearthed the footprint of the home of the nation¡¯s first president when he was a young boy, the George Washington Foundation announced Wednesday.
The foundation believes the Washington family moved to the site in 1738 when George was just six years old.
Washington lived there until 1754 when, at the age of 20, he moved to his plantation, Mount Vernon.
NEW YORK (CNN) — New Yorkers will be treated to the nation¡¯s largest Independence Day fireworks display on Friday, hosted by the department store Macy¡¯s.
More than 3 million people are expected to watch the New York City event, according to a statement from Macy¡¯s.
The 32nd annual fireworks spectacular, titled ¡°America Dances,¡± will begin at 9:25 p.m. ET and features a choreographed musical score provided by the New York Pops under the direction of Rob Fisher.
Six barges in the East River will be used to set off more than 35,000 pyrotechnic shells during the 30-minute display, Macy¡¯s said.
Pop princess Kylie Minogue mingled with true royalty Thursday when she went to Buckingham Palace to receive an award from Prince Charles.
The 40-year-old singer, wearing a white dress with multi-colored sequined stars, smiled as the prince gave her an OBE, or Order of the British Empire, for her services to music.
Though little known in the United States, Minogue is an international superstar widely recognized around the world.
She has sold more than 60 million records worldwide in a music career spanning 20 years.
She holds the record for the most-played female artist on UK radio in the past 20 years, according to her Web site.
Her dance record ¡°Spinning Around,¡± released in 2000, debuted at No. 1 in both Britain and Australia and made Minogue one of only two artists — the other being Madonna — to have a No. 1 song in the 80s, 90s, and 00s, according to her Web site.
LONDON, England (CNN) — Two French students who were found stabbed to death in a burned-out London apartment were the victims of a ¡°frenzied, brutal, horrific attack,¡± police said Wednesday, as they appealed for information about the case.
¡°The extent of the injuries are horrific,¡± Duthie told a news conference.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — American Airlines plans to cut nearly 7,000 full-time employees, or 8 percent of its total staff, by the end of 2008, the company announced Thursday.
AMR Corp., owner of carriers American Airlines and American Eagle, will eliminate about 6,800 of its 85,000 workers, spokesman Tim Smith told CNNMoney.com.
The news follows the airline¡¯s Wednesday report that it may cut up to 900 flight attendant jobs, or 5 percent of its 18,000 active flight attendants roster.
The company blames rising fuel costs for the cuts.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) — Indonesian police have arrested 12 suspected militants who were planning to attack an area frequented by tourists, authorities said Thursday.
The arrests foiled a plot to bomb a cafe in Bukittinggi, a city in West Sumatra that¡¯s popular with tourists, said police spokesman Abubakar Nathaprawira.
Authorities also seized a large cache of explosives, including bomb-making materials and guns, Nathaprawira said.
The bombs that were being constructed were highly sophisticated, police sources said.
(CNN) — Calm returned to the Mongolian capital Thursday as the country awaited official results from the weekend¡¯s parliamentary election.
The election commission is expected to release final results Thursday or early Friday, Bat Dileg Chulunbaatah of the foreign affairs ministry told CNN.
The capital city of Ulaanbaatar was in the second day of a four-day state of emergency Thursday after thousands of protesters, alleging election
President Bush will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8, the White House announced Thursday.
Some world leaders, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, have said they will not attend the opening ceremony in Beijing in response to human rights abuses in China.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also said she will not attend the ceremony, but Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany¡¯s foreign minister, said when he announced her decision that it was not meant as a political protest.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country will host the next summer Olympics, also will not attend the opening ceremony but plans to be at the closing ceremony.
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) — Freed Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt tearfully embraced her children on Thursday for the first time in more than six years, a day after being rescued from leftist rebels who kept her captive in the jungles of Colombia.
they are so beautiful,¡± Betancourt told reporters as she stood between her children, daughter Melanie Delloye and son Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt, who are now young adults.
The former Colombian presidential candidate met her children on the steps of their plane, which had just arrived at a Colombian airport from France.
The three tearfully clung together, hugging and kissing before they disappeared inside the plane.
(CNN) — The White House said Thursday that neither it nor the State Department gave Sen. John McCain advance word of a rescue mission in Colombia while he was in the country.
McCain was told of the raid the night before by Colombia¡¯s president and defense minister, but his visit had nothing to do with it, he said Wednesday night.
McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, was in Colombia on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a three-day Latin American swing.
British hopes at Wimbledon were finally extinguished on Wednesday as home favorite Andy Murray was overpowered 6-3 6-2 6-4 by a rampant Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the men's singles.
The 12th-seeded Scot still looked jaded from Monday's epic comeback against Richard Gasquet but there was no doubting his opponent's brilliance as the Spaniard wrapped up a straight sets victory to reach the semifinals for a third successive year.
The second-seeded Spaniard will now face either Germany's Rainer Schuettler or Arnaud Clement of France for a place in Sunday's final.
Four-time French Open winner Nadal, the runner-up to Roger Federer for the last two years, comfortably defeated the 21-year-old Briton for the fourth time in four meetings as Murray's Center Court party fizzled out.
played probably my best match against a difficult opponent," said Nadal who sent down only 10 unforced errors.
"I was very aggressive on my forehand and backhand and had a lot of power. But I was surprised to win in straight sets and I'm happy to be in the semifinals.
Murray had reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time after coming from two sets down to knock out French eighth seed Gasquet in a gruelling four-hour match on Monday.
The United States and Poland have reached a tentative deal to place part of a ballistic missile defense system on its territory, a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
Poland's political establishment still has to sign off on the deal and determine the next steps, the official said.
The agreement came after several days of negotiations and less than a week before a planned visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The Bush administration has long pushed to base missile interceptors in Poland.
The interceptor rockets would be linked to an air-defense radar system in the Czech Republic, where officials agreed in April to take part in the system.
The interceptors in the Czech Republic could identify and shoot down missiles fired by Iran at Europe or the United States.
Russia fervently opposes basing the interceptors right across its border and says the system's real target would be Russian missiles, according to Time magazine.
The Czech Republic and Poland are former Soviet satellites, now members of the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
The United States has said the system is intended to defend Europe from a possible missile attack from the Middle East.
There was no immediate response from Moscow about the deal.
But Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried said the United States has taken to heart Polish concerns over more U.S. cooperation with Russia and NATO on the missile defense shield.
The United States has also agreed to help Poland modernize its military, which it requested as a condition of its support for housing the missile defense system.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $2.60 to settle at a record $143.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil rose nearly $2 in the last half-hour of Wednesday's session, as traders boosted their positions in anticipation of more bad news ahead of the long holiday weekend.
"With traders taking off for the holiday weekend, everyone's going long," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Alaron Trading. "Thursday's job numbers are expected to be ugly, the dollar is weak, so if you're going into the weekend, why would you want to be short on oil with bad news?
The United States may soon put forward a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would slap U.N. sanctions on Zimbabwe's long-time president, Robert Mugabe, and 11 senior members of his government.
The sanctions would impose a travel ban on Mugabe and the others, would freeze many of their assets, and would impose an international arms embargo on the regime.
The push for U.N. sanctions comes after Mugabe ignored the Security Council's appeal to postpone last week's presidential runoff election in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe was sworn in for another term as Zimbabwe's president after Friday's presidential runoff.
The vote was widely derided by international leaders as a "sham" because his only opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, had withdrawn from the race citing widespread violence, intimidation, and vote-rigging.
The draft U.N. resolution expresses "deep concern at the gross irregularities during the June 27 presidential election, the violence and intimidation perpetrated in the run-up to the election that made impossible the holding of free and fair elections, and the creation of an environment that did not permit international election observers to operate freely before the June 27 vote.
The United Kingdom has been a harsh critic of Mugabe and is a chief backer of the U.S. push for sanctions.
John Sawers, the British ambassador to the United Nations, has called the situation in Zimbabwe dire.
"We need to make clear that the views of the Zimbabwean people as expressed in the last elections that was reasonably free and fair, the one of the 29th of March, needs to be respected," Sawers said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday said Mugabe "has blood on his hands" after the violence leading up to last week's election and should step down.
Tsvangirai on Wednesday rejected an African Union decision to keep South Africa's president alone in charge of efforts to resolve Zimbabwe's political crisis, news services reported.
Speaking to reporters at his home in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, Tsvangirai said his group would not participate in talks about forming a governing accord with Mugabe's government unless an additional mediator was appointed, The Associated Press reported.
RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) Prospective and current graduate business students who used a Web site to cheat on entrance examinations over the past five years could have their scores thrown out.
The exam's publisher, the Graduate Management Admission Council, is tracking down users of Scoretop.com after winning a lawsuit to shut down the site and seize a computer hard drive containing payment information and user identifications.
Scoretop sold VIP access for $30 a month, giving users previews to current questions on the latest Graduate Management Admission Test.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema also ordered site operator Lei Shi to pay $2.35 million plus legal costs in a June 20 ruling in the copyright infringement lawsuit.
About 6,000 GMAT scores from when the Web site started in 2003 to the present are in question, GMAC spokeswoman Judy Phair said Wednesday.
It's unclear how many test-takers are involved, because they can take the test several times a year.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CNN) A New Zealand man has put his soul up for auction to the highest bidder, noting that is "a merry old soul" rather than a "funk soul brother" but that he would "would like to think there is a bit of funk in there somewhere.
Walter Scott, 24, put his soul up for sale on New Zealand Internet auction site TradeMe, and so far has received more than 100 expressions of interest.
The auction closes at 12:00 p.m. Thursday local time (0000 Thursday GMT), and bids so far had reached US$189 (NZ$$250).
Advice from a lawyer was that the winning bidder would not be entitled to anything but Scott's soul and would not be able to own or control him in any way, he said.
Scott said the successful bidder will receive a framed deed of "soul ownership."
LONDON, England (CNN) — Britain¡¯s Prince William, currently serving in the Royal Navy, helped make a major drug bust last weekend when he spotted a speedboat found to be carrying one ton of cocaine in the Atlantic Ocean, Britain¡¯s Ministry of Defense said Wednesday.
William, 26, was one of the crewmembers aboard a helicopter attached to the frigate HMS Iron Duke who spotted the ocean-going speedboat hundreds of miles northeast of Barbados, the defense ministry said
The 50-foot-long power boat raised suspicions because it was a small vessel far out to sea and resembled a ¡°go-fast¡± boat commonly used for drug smuggling, the ministry said.
The boat¡¯s location suggested it was en route to Europe or North Africa, it said.
Iran Wednesday hinted at a possible increase in its production of crude oil to stabilize prices as they hovered above $140 a barrel.
Speaking as he prepared to deliver a briefing on his country¡¯s oil industry at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, Gholam Hossein Nozari dismissed the possibility of prices moving to $170 or even $200 a barrel.
Asked what Iran would do to control prices, he replied ¡°By the supply, the market.
Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer, with a current official allocation of 4.1 million barrels a day.
Saudi Arabia is the largest producer in the oil producers' cartel, with an allocation of 9.1 million barrels a day, but has announced it is hiking production to 9.7 million.
(CNN) — A mining company has found what may be the largest gold deposit ever found in Britain or Ireland, the company¡¯s chairman said Tuesday.
Drill samples indicate more than 1 million ounces of gold may lie below what is now rolling Irish countryside, said Richard Conroy, the chairman of Dublin, Ireland-based Conroy Diamonds and Gold.
With the price of gold near historic highs, the find could be worth as much as $300 million on the market, Conroy told CNN.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Denmark is the happiest country in the world while politically unstable Zimbabwe ranks at the bottom, according to a U.S. government-funded study released this week.
ranked 16th among 97 countries in the World Values Survey.
The survey, paid for the U.S. National Science Foundation, found that happiness coincided with greater economic growth, democracy, and social tolerance.
By that measure, Denmark tops the list.
Puerto Rico, Colombia, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada and Austria.
JERUSALEM (CNN) — Israeli authorities said a ¡°terrorist¡± rammed a bulldozer into a bus and several other vehicles in Jerusalem Wednesday, killing at least three people and wounding more than 30 others.
The rampage lasted about four to five minutes before a police officer climbed up the side of the swerving bulldozer and fatally shot the driver —
a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem with a criminal record, police said.
Law enforcement officials said they are treating the incident on Jaffa Road in western Jerusalem as a ¡°terrorist incident,¡± not an accident.
The attacker was the normal operator of the vehicle, they said. The motive for the attack is still under investigation.
(CNN) — President Nambaryn Enkhbayar of Mongolia has declared a state of emergency in the capital after a post-election political rally descended into violence.
More than 100 people were hurt and at least 500 were detained, according to the Mongolian news agency, Montsame.
When U.S. officials talked in the past of the need for North Korea to declare the full extent of its nuclear program, everyone from President Bush on down said it must be ¡°complete¡± and ¡°verifiable.
¡°We expect a complete and accurate declaration from North Korea,¡± Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said on more than one occasion.
But since Pyongyang last week released details of its program, U.S. officials aren¡¯t using the word ¡°complete¡± any longer.
¡°We think that this declaration is verifiable,¡± State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday. He declined to say whether it was ¡°complete.
(CNN) — Colombian troops freed 15 hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans, from leftist rebels Wednesday in an elaborate ruse without a shot being fired, government officials said.
Dressed in a camouflage vest and hat and appearing healthy after being held hostage for more than six years in the jungle, Betancourt stepped onto the tarmac from a Colombian military jet in Bogota and hugged her mother and husband with a broad smile on her face.
The now 46-year-old former senator said she was told early Wednesday morning that she and the other hostages were to be transferred to another location, where their detention was to continue.
But the men her captors handed her over to turned out to be Colombian troops who had tricked the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia commanders have held hundreds of hostages in the jungle for years.
Once she and her companions were aboard a helicopter, she said, the chief of operation told them, ¡°We are the national army and you are all free.
¡± She called the operation ¡°a miracle¡± and ¡°a moment of pride¡± in Colombia.
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) — Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, discussed free trade, illegal drugs and better relations Tuesday night with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
McCain met with Uribe after arriving in Colombia on the first leg of a three-day trip to Latin America —
a trip that highlights policy differences on trade between him and his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.
¡°Free trade is an important issue, not only for Colombia, but, I believe, for the economy of the world and ¡¦ for the U.S. economy,¡± McCain said Tuesday at a news conference with Uribe.
Democrats in Congress have blocked the deal, citing the intimidation and killing of Colombian labor activists by right-wing paramilitary troops.
McCain supports the agreement.
Obama opposes it, saying in April that President Bush was ¡°absolutely wrong¡± to support the deal on the grounds that the Colombian government is suspected of ¡°potentially having supported violence against unions, against labor, against opposition. ¡±
Zheng Jie became the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament Tuesday, beating Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 5-7 6-1 at Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old Zheng is also the first female wild-card entrant to ever reach the semifinals at the All England Club and second at any Grand Slam.
"I never think I can (reach) the semifinal," said Zheng, who is playing at Wimbledon for only the third time and will next face two-time champion Serena Williams.
Other central banks in countries have followed suit, cutting rates in a coordinated effort to get credit flowing again.
But Wall Street has bounced around in early trading as investigators questioned whether the action is enough to head off a global recession.
Stocks initially plunged, adding to this week's loss of 875 points in the Dow, the industrials then moved to the positive territory and are now back down again;
Industrials off about 100 points after 90 minutes of trading, another bumpy ride.
There is hope, though, at least for this London resident, who's happy to see the British government partially nationalize major banks, to build depositors' confidence in them.
“I think I feel more confident now that they've done what they done this morning than I have been the last week or so.”
What's in it for you?
“If you have a variable rate credit card why, you might benefit if the rate stays low for long enough, and if you have a variable rate mortgage tied to the right kinds of market indicators, why, you might get some benefit there, too…”
Other central banks in countries have followed suit, cutting rates in a coordinated effort to get credit flowing again.
˝After several days of hiatus, Taliban militants and Korean officials are set to resume talks on the fate of the remaining 19 Korean hostages, who are about to complete their sixth week of captivity in war-torn Afghanistan.
The armed militants kidnapped 23 church volunteers while they were returning from the volatile Kandahar Province in the south to the central capital of Kabul on July 19.
Zabeehullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told The Korea Times that the militants were ready for the next phase of talks to amicably resolve the issue.
However, he said, their demands will remain the same and the Korean side should assure them that they will not stick to their stance of being unable to put pressure on the Afghan government.
The militants are demanding the release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for the safe release of the hostages.
However, Kabul, apparently under pressure from the Bush administration, says a prisoner swap with the Taliban would embolden the militants and encourage more kidnappings in the country, which is already grappling with security problems.
Mujahid denied that there had been any mediation by the Saudi Arabian government, however, he said they would not reject any such move for a peaceful resolution of the problem.
He said they had not come to any settlement with Korean officials when asked about a report carried by a local news agency, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), that an agreement had been reached.
The spokesman said their leadership had ordered them to initiate a fresh round of talks with the Korean delegation provided the latter comes out with some solid proposals for a solution.
``It is no use if the other side has nothing new to offer to the Taliban during the talks,´´ said Mujahid.
The second round of face-to-face talks ended without any progress almost two weeks ago.
As a result of the first round, the two sides achieved the release of two female hostages who were reportedly sick.˝
Some say Caroline Kennedy is using her name and the family's political power to gain Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate Seat.
As we hear from our Diane Kepley, Kennedy says she thinks she has a lot to offer to New York State:
“In an interview with the Associated Press, Caroline Kennedy goes on the record about her bid for the Senate, and acknowledges people will expect more of her because of who she is…”
“I've come into this thinking, 'I have to work twice as hard as anybody else.'
“Kennedy says her background as a lawyer, a mother and an advocate for education should be considered because the choice is not just about who she is.”
“It's really about who's gonna do the best job here for New York.”
The giant snowman mysteriously appeared again this year in Billy Powers' front yard in an east Anchorage neighborhood.
Last year, the city issued Powers a cease and desist order against Snowzilla.
“It's really about who's gonna do the best job here for New York.”
A Long Island elementary school renames itself in honor of the incoming president.
“As of Thursday night, what was Ludlum Elementary in Hempstead, New York, is now the Barack Obama Elementary School.
School Superintendent Joseph Lar ia says, it was the pupils, most of whom are black or Hispanic, who asked for the name change.”
“The African American and Latino children believe that their dreams now can become real, and Barack Obama symbolizes a very positive role model.”
Laria says no one objected to the new name.
Hempstead is about 25 miles east of New York City.
The kids got especially interested in the Election when the final presidential debate was held there.
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas:
Connolly are in the car with President and Mrs.
We can't see who has been hit, if anybody's been hit, but apparently something is wrong here, something is terribly wrong.”
KBOX reporter Ron Jenkins describing the chaos shortly after Kennedy had been shot.
Laria says no one objected to the new name.
The foreign ministers of South Korea and the United States pressed North Korea Wednesday to meet its earlier pledge to disclose a full list of its nuclear programs, echoing patience is wearing thin over the delay of denuclearization.
``Time and patience are running out,´´ Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Yu Myung-hwan told a news conference with U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, D.C.
``But I completely agree with (Minister Yu) that we´ve been at this for quite a long time.´´ North Korea missed a Dec.
31 deadline to declare a complete list of its nuclear programs and activities, including an alleged uranium enrichment program, under a nuclear deal signed early last year with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
The Korea Times reports the government on Sunday welcomed the U.N.
Security Council's resolution adopted unanimously to sanction North Korea for its nuclear test on Oct.
But the governing Uri Party still underlined the importance of inter-Korean economic projects.
The government reaction came hours after the 15-member Security Council approved the resolution that ruled out military measures, but decided to inspect cargo going to and from North Korea to prevent trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Branding the North's nuclear test a ”clear threat to international peace and security, ” the Security Council passed the resolution under the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7 that authorizes all U.N. member states to implement sanctioning measures.
But the governing Uri Party still underlined the importance of inter-Korean economic projects.
US soul legend Ike Turner, who died last month at the age of 76, was killed by a cocaine overdose, California coroners have established.
“We are listing that he abused cocaine and that´s what resulted in the cocaine toxicity,” said an official at the San Diego County medical examiner´s office.
Turner´s daughter Mia said she was shocked by the report.
The former husband of Tina Turner died at his home near San Diego on December 12th.
Rising to fame in the 1960s, the musician is best remembered for his musical partnership with Tina.
Their stormy marriage, in which he constantly abused her, overshadowed his considerable achievements in popular music.
“We are listing that he abused cocaine and that´s what resulted in the cocaine toxicity,” said an official at the San Diego County medical examiner´s office.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas' exiled political chief have failed to agree on forming a national unity government during talks in Syria.
However they said progress had been made and that talks on the issue would resume within two weeks.
Abbas and Khaled Meshaal said although differences remained they would be resolved through dialogue. The talks came amid a power struggle between their factions in Gaza, in which dozens of people have died.
Abbas has threatened to call fresh elections unless a deal on forming a national unity government is reached.
Following three hours of talks, Abbas and Meshaal said efforts to form a national unity government had “covered a great distance” and negotiations would resume within two weeks.
The two men repeated their call for an end to the internal fighting which has left more than 30 Palestinians dead.
Small tsunami waves have hit northern Japan, according to the country's meteorological agency (JMA).
It said a 40cm wave hit Nemuro port in Hokkaido island.
Another one of 20cm was recorded.
The JMA initially expected a tsunami of at least two meters high after an 8.1 magnitude earthquake shook the Kuril Islands, north of Japan.
Tsunami warnings for the area and for Russia's Pacific coast were later called off.
The space shuttle Endeavor docks this afternoon with the International Space Station.
In the shuttle's cargo bay, materials and equipment for another kitchen, bath and two sleeping quarters for the Space station.
“This mission is going to turn the station from a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom home into a 5-bedroom, 2-bathroom home for six.”
President Elect Barack Obama sent a letter to the people of Illinois, as he readies to take over the White House.
He wrote that he offers, in his words, the people of my beloved home a very affectionate thanks.
The Democratic leader recalls his time community organizing on Chicago's South Side, and his service in the State's Senate.
Police say the man was injured during a brawl, at the 6th Annual Urban Music Awards.
In the shuttle's cargo bay, materials and equipment for another kitchen, bath and two sleeping quarters for the Space station.
The US has said it welcomes the killing of a top Hezbollah commander implicated in numerous bomb attacks and a wave of hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980s.
A US state department spokesman said the world would be a “better place” without Imad Mughniyeh, whom he called a ”mass murderer and a terrorist”.
But Sean McCormack said he did not know who was responsible for the car bombing overnight in Damascus that killed him.
Hezbollah and Iran have blamed Israel, but it has denied any involvement.
The Syrian government also condemned the ”cowardly terrorist act” and said investigations were still underway to find the perpetrators.
Mughniyeh, in his late 40s, had been variously described as special operations or intelligence chief of Hezbollah´s secretive military wing, the Islamic Resistance.
Correspondents say his death will be a significant blow to Hezbollah, which battled Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war, with help from its Iranian and Syrian backers.
1, following suit of SK Telecom and adding pressure on KTF in the three-way rate-cutting competition.
Chris Brown pleaded not guilty Monday to threatening and assaulting his girlfriend, fellow music star Rihanna.
A lawyer for Rihanna said the singer was hoping a plea deal could be reached before the case goes to trial.
19-year-old Brown was charged in March by Los Angeles County prosecutors with felony assault and making criminal threats.
That's according to a producer who worked with the actress.
Her doctor also said on Monday that Fawcett is recovering after a medical procedure in Germany, and is "not on death's door."
They said she's expected to leave the hospital in a few days.
Country star Toby Keith is angry with Ethan Hawke.
He claims the actor alluded to him in an article about a singer who had an argument with Kris Kristofferson back in 2003.
Although Hawke never named Keith, he's still cross about the story and says the reported row never happened.
This is Hilary Fox with AP ShowBiz Minute.
A lawyer for Rihanna said the singer was hoping a plea deal could be reached before the case goes to trial.
That's according to a producer who worked with the actress.
Her doctor also said on Monday that Fawcett is recovering after a medical procedure in Germany, and is "not on death's door."
Although Hawke never named Keith, he's still cross about the story and says the reported row never happened.
Former CIA directors George Tenet and Porter Goss will be asked to testify in a probe of the spy agency´s destruction of interrogation videotapes of suspected terrorists, top lawmakers said on Wednesday.
The Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee and the panel´s top Republican described Tenet and Goss as key figures in the expanding congressional investigation into a possible Bush administration cover-up of harsh techniques widely condemned as torture.
CIA Director Michael Hayden, who testified before the House panel a day after appearing before its Senate counterpart, reiterated that he had limited knowledge about the matter and said the agency could have kept Congress better informed about its activities.
South Korea has a better opportunity to make it to the Round-of-16 than in any previous World Cup.
In Friday's drawing ceremony held in Leipzig, Germany, Korea was drawn in the less tough Group G alongside France, Switzerland and Togo for the German World Cup.
The South Korean squad, surprise semifinalist at the previous World Cup, will meet African debutants Togo in Frankfurt on June 13 in its opening match, before playing France in Leipzig on June 18 and Switzerland in Hanover on June 22.
The group is characterized as one of the most comfortable, along with Group D in which Mexico, Portugal, Iran and Angola will compete.
The Swiss, ranked 38th by the FIFA, are regarded as the weakest among European countries.
˝Supporters of Burma´s military junta have broken up protests against the doubling of fuel prices.
About 200 people marched in Rangoon in the rare demonstration, but dispersed after a number were bundled into cars and driven away.
A similar protest was held on Sunday, the largest such rally in a decade.
The junta arrested at least 13 activists before Wednesday´s protest, including some of the nation´s most prominent dissidents.
The latest protest took place on the northern outskirts of Rangoon.
The demonstrators, most of them women, were cheered by onlookers as they marched in defiance of the junta´s strict controls on protests.
Their path was blocked by supporters of the junta and plain-clothed officers, witnesses said, and the rally dispersed as up to 10 demonstrators were bundled into cars and driven off.
Last week´s fuel price rises left many people struggling to find the money to travel to work.˝
˝Supporters of Burma´s military junta have broken up protests against the doubling of fuel prices.
Mike Gracia, The Associated Press with AP NewsMinute.
The man who gunned down 13 people in an immigrant center last week apparently wrote a letter to a television station in upstate New York.
In it, Jiverly Wong claimed police had been harassing him for years, even touching him in his sleep.
Authorities searching for a man and his 8-year-old daughter in the waters off Miami believe they have found the bodies of both.
Traces of salmonella have been found in the California pistachio processing plant that was behind the nationwide recall.
The plant temporarily shut down last week.
Singer Chris Brown has pleaded not guilty to charges that he threatened and beat his then-girlfriend Rihanna back in February.
If convicted, Brown could be sentenced to probation or nearly five years in prison.
The South Korean won yesterday declined sharply to briefly touch 935 to the dollar before closing at 933.4 as foreign investors bought dollars to transfer profits made from the sale of Korean stocks.
The 4.5 won drop yesterday was the sixth straight trading day of declines and took the currency’s losses to 1.7 percent for the week.
John Grayken, chairman of Lone Star Funds, apologized yesterday to Koreans and the Korean government for the furor over its activities here and pledged to donate to charity 100 billion won ($105 million) after its sale of Korea Exchange Bank.
˝The Korea Times reports that Korea seems to be losing its charm as a tourist destination as the strong currency hits the inbound travel market hard.
For the past five years, the won has gained by more than 40 percent _ one of the highest in the world.
Riding high on the strong won, a record high 14 million Koreans are expected to go overseas this year but the 2007 target of attracting 7 million inbound travelers may not be realized.
Korea ranks eighth in the world in the number of outbound travelers after Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, France, Japan and Spain.
Korean outbound travelers have spent $8.4 billion more than foreign inbound tourists last year.
The gap is expected to widen this year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
The recent strong won has kept many foreign tourists away from Korea and is encouraging locals to go overseas, especially to Japan.
Seoul´s prices for accommodations are one of the highest in the world.
According to the 2007 Corporate Travel Index by Business Travel News, an American businessman needs to pay $396 to stay in Seoul for one day including hotel fees, food and other expenses such as taxi fares.˝
The gap is expected to widen this year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO).
A Korean music industry group said yesterday it filed a criminal lawsuit against Korean Air, the nation's largest airline, for offering songs to its customers in an unauthorized manner.
In the lawsuit, the Korean Association of Phonogram Producers asked prosecutors in Seoul to punish Korean Air for allegedly using the unauthorized MP3 music files illegally in its passenger planes and airport lounges.
Korean Air was also accused of having ignored the industry group's requests since 2004 to stop providing the music files.
""Our suit is designed to raise an alarm over illegal music usage by major transportation companies,"" said Yoo Jae-jin, an official with the group's legal department team.
In the lawsuit, the Korean Association of Phonogram Producers asked prosecutors in Seoul to punish Korean Air for allegedly using the unauthorized MP3 music files illegally in its passenger planes and airport lounges.
At least six people have died in an attack by Taliban fighters on a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
A big blast, which the Taliban say was caused by a bomber detonating his explosive jacket, shook the Serena hotel and was followed by shooting.
The dead include a Norwegian journalist and a US citizen as well as a number of security guards.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gah Store was among guests who took refuge in a cellar.
The Norwegian reporter, Carsten Thomassen, who 39, worked for the Oslo newspaper, Dagbladet.
US state department officials in Washington confirmed an American had been killed, adding that they were withholding the victim´s identity until family had been informed.
A big blast, which the Taliban say was caused by a bomber detonating his explosive jacket, shook the Serena hotel and was followed by shooting.
Mobin Abdurajak, said to be a senior leader in the Abu Sayyaf group, was wanted for the abduction in 2000 of 21 people from a Malaysian resort.
Regional officials said he died in a shootout when marines swooped on his hideout in the island of Tawi-Tawi.
The United States had offered $20,000 (?
Mobin Abdurajak was a brother-in-law of Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani, who was killed in a clash with Philippine troops last year.
South Korea is preparing a contingency plan to ban North Korean ships from plying the South’s territorial waters if they are contaminated by radiation from a nuclear test it conducted on Monday the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said yesterday.
It added that it was consulting with the Ministry of Unification on the plan.
It is speculated that this preparatory step is being taken ahead of planned U.N. sanctions or a U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) operation aimed at interdicting Pyongyang’s suspected transport of banned materials through sea lanes.
Since August 2005 when the two Koreas signed marine agreements, 77 North Korean ships have passed through the South’s territorial waters for 124 times.
Most of the North’s ships loaded with oil or cement are moving from the Northeast coast to the Northwest coast via waters surrounding Cheju Island, according to the Korea Coast Guard. North Korean ships are still passing through our waters, ” a coast guard official said.
Should the Ministry of Unification approve the plan, North Korean ships will be denied access to the routes they currently use.
Since August 2005 when the two Koreas signed marine agreements, 77 North Korean ships have passed through the South’s territorial waters for 124 times.
Almost half of juniors surveyed, who will get their first voting rights in the 2007 presidential election, said in a recent poll that South Korea should side with North Korea if Washington attacks nuclear facilities in the North without Seoul's consent.
16-19, nearly 48 percent of respondents said that if the U.S. attacked nuclear facilities in North Korea, Seoul should act on Pyongyang's behalf and demand Washington stop the attack.
But 40.7 percent of them said Seoul should keep a neutral stance in the event of such attacks, while 11.6 percent said South Korea needs to act in concert with the United States.
A political expert in Seoul said that the poll results should not be interpreted as meaning young South Koreans are anti-American.
Almost half of juniors surveyed, who will get their first voting rights in the 2007 presidential election, said in a recent poll that South Korea should side with North Korea if Washington attacks nuclear facilities in the North without Seoul's consent.
Riots in Pakistan spurred by the publication in Europe of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad spilled over to a South Korean transportation company in Peshawar on Wednesday.
Protesters burned 17 buses belonging to Sammi Daewoo, injuring four company employees.
A Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said yesterday that the Korean embassy has asked the Pakistani government to provide additional security for South Korean companies there.
He said Pakistani officials believed the attacks on the company were not targeted ones, but were incidental to a wider rampage by incensed Muslims, who attacked other foreign companies and Pakistani government facilities.
The only four Korean expatriates with the company in Pakistan have offices in Lahore, several hundred kilometers from Peshawar.
The loss to the company was estimated at 5 billion won ($5 million).
A company official said that insurance will cover most of the losses, but that operations would be curtailed for an indefinite period of time.
A Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said yesterday that the Korean embassy has asked the Pakistani government to provide additional security for South Korean companies there.
Seoul National University began appointing a committee yesterday to investigate possible misconduct in stem cell research carried out by its world renowned professor Hwang Woo-suk.
The school said the panel will initially look into data used by Hwang - images and DNA fingerprints of stem cells - in response to suspicions from some scientists that they were fabricated.
The Korea Herald reports Crude oil rose to a record above $86 a barrel because of concern Turkey may attack Kurdish militants in Iraq and disrupt shipments.
Oil has gained $3 this week as the Turkish prime minister asked lawmakers to approve military action against rebels in Iraq, holder of the world´s third-largest oil reserves.
Declines in the dollar and the U.S equities prompted some investors to shift into oil and other commodities.
A second round of elections in Thailand has been boycotted by opposition parties and voters, deepening the political crisis in the country.
The latest poll needed to be held after a low turnout in the main 2 April elections meant not all 500 seats in the lower house were filled.
But more elections may now have to be held after voters stayed away again.
Organizers of the boycott are accusing the governing Thai Rak Thai Party of corruption and abuse of power.
Despite winning the 2 April elections, Thaksin Shinawatra stepped down as prime minister after large public protests against his leadership.
But he said he would stay in parliament and continue to lead his party.
A second round of elections in Thailand has been boycotted by opposition parties and voters, deepening the political crisis in the country.
BBC reports from communist China say a man has been shot dead after taking 10 Australian tourists hostage.
The incident began when the man hijacked a bus carrying the tourists and their translator in the central city of Xian.
He later released them but was killed by police when negotiations for his surrender failed.
Details are scarce, but correspondents say this type of incident is extremely rare in China.
Xian is one of China´s most popular tourist destinations, with its main attraction being the Terracotta Army, a collection of ancient life-size figures.
The ordeal for the tourists began just before 10am (0200 GMT), when the hijacker, armed with explosives, boarded the tourist bus near the historic square in Xian.
Nine of the hostages were quickly released, but a 48-year-old woman from New South Wales was held longer, according to Janaline Oh, a spokeswoman for the Australian Embassy in Beijing.
He later released them but was killed by police when negotiations for his surrender failed.
NASA´s Dawn space probe has begun an eight-year journey to the Solar System´s asteroid belt.
The US spacecraft, which will visit the small worlds of Ceres and Vesta, blasted-off at 1134 GMT (from the Cape Canaveral Airforce base.
The probe´s journey of nearly five billion kilometers will hopefully help scientists decipher how the Solar System formed.
The asteroids are thought to be the leftovers after the planets were made.
Dawn will reach Vesta in 2011 before going on to visit Ceres in 2015.
Ceres is almost spherical and is thought to harbour a layer of water ice some 60 to 120km (40 to 80 miles) thick beneath its hard surface.
At a meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) last year, Ceres was elevated in status from merely the biggest body in the asteroid belt to a “dwarf planet” - the same designation as now held by Pluto.
Among those to brave the TV cameras at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, are Rudi Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Lesser-known candidates are hoping to raise their profile ahead of the primary elections early next year.
The event comes a week after eight Democratic presidential hopefuls held their first debate in South Carolina.
The Republican debate will be broadcast on cable channel MSNBC.
It is being co-hosted by Washington-based blog site politico.com, which has invited questions to be put to the candidates.
The debate will be the first opportunity for many potential voters to compare all the declared Republican candidates as they give their views.
The issue of the Iraq war is expected to dominate, with the contenders - notably Senator McCain - likely to be questioned over their support for President George W Bush’s strategy in Iraq.
Other issues on the agenda are likely to include health care, the US fight against terrorism and the environment.
Among those to brave the TV cameras at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, are Rudi Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
The BBC reports Roh's government is accused by its opponents of being incompetent and divisive in its running of the economy and of foreign affairs.
The government has irritated the United States with what is seen as an indulgent policy towards North Korea, despite the North's claim to be developing nuclear weapons.
The GNP has also gained public sympathy as a result of a knife attack by an unemployed ex-convict on party leader Park Geun-hye during election campaigning 10 days ago.
She received an 11-cm long (four-inch) cut to her cheek which required 60 stitches.
President Roh is prevented by law from seeking re-election.
The GNP has been pushing for a tougher line on aid to the North and for improved relations with the US.
Preparations for six-party talks on North Korea will get a kick start today when chief negotiators from South Korea, the United States and Japan meet in Hanoi, Vietnam.
South Korea's Chun Yung-woo, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill and Japan's Kenichiro Sasae will evaluate North Korea's intentions in returning to the nuclear negotiations and discuss how to implement the Joint Statement signed in September 2005.
Hanoi is hosting the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Chun said in a radio interview yesterday that it would be possible to restart the six-party talks by mid-December.
The captain of South Korean ships released after over five months in captivity said Sunday some of his crew members were suffering from physical pain and are still in a state of fear.
He said U.S. naval forces are aboard the vessels and searching for explosives and other munitions.
Mavuno 1 and Mavuno 2, owned by South Korea´s Daechang Fishing company, were taken hostage by pirates off Somalia on May 15 with 24 crew members from South Korea, China, Indonesia, India and Vietnam aboard.
All of them were confirmed to be safe.
Negotiations for their release were hampered by ransom demands and reports of heavy beatings by their Muslim captors.
The captain of South Korean ships released after over five months in captivity said Sunday some of his crew members were suffering from physical pain and are still in a state of fear.
Violence again today in Baghdad:
“ A suicide bomber struck police as they were lined up at the entrance of the main police academy in Baghdad.
The bomber detonated his explosives near a side entrance of the academy.
The academy is located in a mainly Shiite area.”
Thirty two people killed, another 60 or so wounded in the attack.
Police and soldiers looking for whoever opened fire on British troops at a barracks outside Belfast, Northern Ireland, last night.
Two of the soldiers were killed in the attack.
Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland's First Secretary, tells Sky News people do not want to go back to the time of“ The Troubles:
”“ I think we've had a glimpse of what it used to be like in Northern Ireland.
I believe there will be a determination across political parties and across religious denominations that we should not go back.”
“ A suicide bomber struck police as they were lined up at the entrance of the main police academy in Baghdad.
The bomber detonated his explosives near a side entrance of the academy.
Two of the soldiers were killed in the attack.
Nouri Maliki told Reuters news agency there was ""a limit to the acceptable excuses"" for civilian casualties.
Observers say the incident could deal a more serious blow to US standing than the Abu Ghraib scandal.
According to initial US military reports, 15 civilians and eight insurgents died after a bomb killed a marine in Haditha, a militant stronghold in Anbar Province.
The Dalai Lama has been made an honorary citizen of Paris, as anti-French protests continue in communist China.
Paris city council voted to bestow the symbolic title on the Tibetan spiritual leader, whom Mayor Bertrand Delanoe called ""a champion of peace"".
The move was opposed by the party of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been trying to ease tense ties with Beijing.
Chinese protesters have been picketing French supermarket Carrefour, accusing it of supporting the Dalai Lama.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting unrest in Tibet - claims he has denied.
Chinese officials are launching a two-month ""patriotic education"" in Tibet, in which Communist Party officials and local people will gather to denounce the spiritual leader.
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, insists he has no political role and played no part in the protests by Tibetan Buddhist monks that erupted into rioting in the main city Lhasa last month.
But he condemned the Chinese crackdown that followed, and accused Beijing of committing ""cultural genocide"" in Tibet.
Paris city council voted to bestow the symbolic title on the Tibetan spiritual leader, whom Mayor Bertrand Delanoe called ""a champion of peace"".
The move was opposed by the party of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been trying to ease tense ties with Beijing.
Iran will not bow to outside pressure to abandon its nuclear technology, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
""We have obtained the technology for producing nuclear fuel... no-one can take it away from our nation,"" he said.
Iran will not bow to outside pressure to abandon its nuclear technology, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
Europe is set to send a probe to Venus, the first mission to our nearest planetary neighbor in a decade.
Venus Express will launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0333 GMT on Wednesday.
The robotic craft will orbit the planet for about 500 Earth days to study its atmosphere, which has experienced runaway greenhouse warming.
Scientists hope the mission will shed further light on the mechanisms of climate change on our own world.
Venus is almost identical in size to Earth, and is thought to have a similar composition.
The robotic craft will orbit the planet for about 500 Earth days to study its atmosphere, which has experienced runaway greenhouse warming.
He's the President Elect but he's also dad-and Barack Obama is playing that role in a new interview.
The AP's Rita Foley is live in the newsroom to tell us about it.
“But what happens when your well-mannered, kind, fun-loving, smart little girls move to the White House?”
“The thing we'll be guarding against most is any kind of attitude on their part, as a consequence of living in the White House.”
When it comes to her weight, Oprah Winfrey has always been straightforward.
The talk show queen continues her honesty, telling O Magazine she has packed on 40 pounds the past couple of years and now weighs 200.
“What do you think of your kids?”
“The thing we'll be guarding against most is any kind of attitude on their part, as a consequence of living in the White House.”
˝Taliban militants holding 21 Korean hostages in Afghanistan made a new demand Tuesday for the Afghan government to release two male Taliban prisoners in return for freeing of two sick female hostages.
Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, the purported Taliban spokesman, said in an interview with The Korea Times, ``The Taliban are ready to make a prisoners-sick hostages swap.´´ Ahmadi said the two female hostages were those he had earlier said were seriously ill and might die without proper medical assistance.
The demand came amid criticism among Muslims who learned that some of the female hostages are suffering from dehydration and intestinal disorders.
Ahmadi said the Taliban received only a small quantity of medical supplies sent by a group of Afghan doctors.
Meanwhile, he flatly denied a report that the militants proposed an exchange of female hostages for woman Taliban prisoners… boasting ``The Taliban do not have female members in our ranks.´´ The remaining Korean captives are 18 women and three men, mostly in their 20s and 30s who went to Afghanistan on July 13 to offer volunteer services.˝
˝Taliban militants holding 21 Korean hostages in Afghanistan made a new demand Tuesday for the Afghan government to release two male Taliban prisoners in return for freeing of two sick female hostages.
A group of religious organizations threatened to shut down their mission schools yesterday unless the National Assembly rewrites the controversial private school law, which they say hurts the autonomy of school foundations.
About 40 leaders of the Christian Council of Korea and Catholic education foundations visited the National Assembly and pressed the need to amend the private school law, which stipulates the boards of school foundations should be opened up to outsiders.
“If the National Assembly doesn't revise the private school law concerning boards of schools in the current session, we will close down the schools,” the group read in a declaration.
Along with the CCK, which represents 73 secondary schools nationwide, the National Council of Churches in Korea, said they plan to visit Cheong Wa Dae today to deliver their own stern opposition to the private school regulations.
˝Lee Myung-bak, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), has been accused of making remarks defaming women.
Civic groups and lawmakers of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) criticized Lee for his ``inappropriate´´ joking on prostitution in his recent meeting with some managing editors of the media.
Some journalists who attended the dinner meeting said Lee, citing experiences of his former boss during his work at a company, said bad-looking girls are better than pretty girls when being massaged overseas, an Internet newspaper said.
According to the report, Lee made the remark, while talking about the “skills of life.”
´´ Citing the case allegedly involving some high school students´ gaining access to a brothel on an overseas school trip, Kim did not rule out the possibility of ``a politician´´ legalizing teenagers´ buying sex.
A political civic group based in Daejeon urged Lee to apologize to women for his controversial remarks.
``The seriousness lies in the fact that Lee´s remarks are based on his habitual view tolerating sexual discrimination,” it said.˝
Civic groups and lawmakers of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) criticized Lee for his ``inappropriate´´ joking on prostitution in his recent meeting with some managing editors of the media.
The land is valued at 3.6 billion won.
A government body Wednesday decided to confiscate land owned by the descendants of pro-Japan collaborators during the colonial period (1910-.
For the first time in 58 years, the government has taken the first steps to clear away the colonial-era legacy.
But the seizure invited immediate protest from those affected.
They threatened to file suits for the infringement of private property ownership.
These descendants can file an administrative suit within 90 days after they are notified of the confiscation.
The presidential body, the Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators’ Property, announced that the government will seize 254,906 square meters of land owned by the offspring of the nine key post holders who amassed wealth through cooperation with Japan during its colonial rule.
The land is valued at 3.6 billion won.
The confiscation has been made possible following the National Assembly’s enactment of a special law in December 2005.
Hwang Woo-suk's stem cell research team yesterday reaffirmed that its research activities will not be affected by Gerald P. Schatten's announcement to stop working with it.
Hwang Woo-suk's stem cell research team yesterday reaffirmed that its research activities will not be affected by Gerald P. Schatten's announcement to stop working with it.
Schatten, director of the Pittsburgh Development Center and a medical school professor, said in a statement released last week that he was ending the 20-month collaboration with Hwang's team because he is convinced that Hwang had engaged in ethical breaches and lied to him about them.
Time for US to show true character:
But history Professor Leo Ribuffo of George Washington University says it was Abraham Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address that set the standard: “ The greatest call for national reconciliation you can imagine as the Civil War is clearly coming to a close, uh, and it's probably the greatest inaugural address ever given.”
Now that a US Airways jet is out of the Hudson River in New York, investigator want to look more closely at the cockpit, the still-attached right engine, and the interior of the cabin.
The National Transportation Safety Board says the black-box flight recorders captured thumping sounds, the sudden loss of engine power, and the pilot's May Day call.
But history Professor Leo Ribuffo of George Washington University says it was Abraham Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address that set the standard:
“ The greatest call for national reconciliation you can imagine as the Civil War is clearly coming to a close, uh, and it's probably the greatest inaugural address ever given.”
Now that a US Airways jet is out of the Hudson River in New York, investigator want to look more closely at the cockpit, the still-attached right engine, and the interior of the cabin.
The Korea times quots president-elect Lee Myung-bak as saying he would stand firm on overhauling English education, although there is some criticism of the plan.
Lee also said he would assess Cabinet members and Cheong Wa Dae secretaries every six months.
At a two-day workshop of his aides in Seoul Saturday, Lee stressed that a short-sighted, vested interest-oriented view should not hold back the long-term national goal of an English-friendly Korea.
He made the remark as criticism mounts over his overzealous plan for the wider use of English, which he believes is key to sharpening competitiveness of Korea and Koreans.
Lee said that government officials sometimes need to be tough to push through their ideas if needed.
In other political news, the Joong Ang Ilbo reports that using strong words in an agitated voice, President Roh Moo-hyun yesterday took aim at his critics and said his previous appointment of Goh Kun as prime minister was “a failure.”
Roh had harsh words for the former mayor of Seoul, who is now considered a possible candidate for president.
”I appointed Goh Kun as prime minister, hoping that he would be the bridge between me and the senior leaders.
However, it turned out that I and my administration were isolated.”
Discussing criticism that his administration had taken too soft of a stance against North Korea's weapons tests, Roh said, ”We all know for sure that the missiles are not coming at us.”
I beg you,” he said in an address before the National Unification Advisory Council.
The president addressed a variety of topics, including South Korea's role in the six-party talks, wartime control, the country's independence and even his sanity.
Following the North Korean nuclear test yesterday, Japan could expedite its move to rearmament, officials and analysts said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday Japan will accelerate its move to develop a missile defense system in response to North Korea's nuclear provocations.
Abe emphasized Tokyo will further enhance security cooperation with Washington, pledging “stern measures” against Pyongyang.
Abe has repeatedly emphasized his ambitions to amend the constitution, which strictly limits Japan's use of military force.
The Japanese government is seeking an expanded role in the international arena and sufficient military capabilities for the purpose under strengthened ties with the United States.
South Korean experts claim that Japan is exploiting its reinforced alliance with the United States as a chance to foster its military buildup.
Following the North Korean nuclear test yesterday, Japan could expedite its move to rearmament, officials and analysts said.
Seoul National University will start construction on Friday of a $25 billion state-of-the-art medical bioengineering laboratory for stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk on its Kwanak campus, south of Seoul.
The Ministry of Science and Technology will shoulder the entire 25 billion won construction and facilities cost for the lab, dubbed the ``Hwang Woo-suk Research Center.’
Attendees at the ceremony to be held at 11 a.m., include Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, Seoul Metropolitan City Mayor Lee Myung-bak and Seoul National University President Chung Un-chan.
The Ministry of Science and Technology will shoulder the entire 25 billion won construction and facilities cost for the lab, dubbed the ``Hwang Woo-suk Research Center.’
’ The cutting-edge research facility, which will be completed by October 2006, will house research facilities for primate studies, stem cell research, animal cloning, and cell transplant and molecular biology research projects.
The government and the ruling party decided yesterday to pass a bill to delegate autonomy to Jeju Island.
The proposed law allows Jeju Island to gain full self-governance of its regional affairs from as early as next July, exercising nearly all administrative authorities independent of the central government.
The decision was made with Minister of Home Affairs and Administration Oh Young-kyo and Won Hye-young, policy director of the ruling party attending the meeting.
The special law, proposed by the Roh Moo-hyun government under its plan to make Jeju an international city, will delegate the Jeju provincial government the independent authority over about 350 kinds of policy areas.
Those include managing its own police force, education, taxation, public servants, government structure and bond issuance.
The decision was made with Minister of Home Affairs and Administration Oh Young-kyo and Won Hye-young, policy director of the ruling party attending the meeting.
ee Myung-bak, the former Seoul mayor who is running for the presidency, is currently the likeliest contender to win the Grand National Party’s nomination for the election in November.
A series of recent public polls gave Lee overwhelming support, close to 50 percent in some cases.
One concern for Lee, however, is that he may not have the firm support of party members who will be voting in the party primary.
Park Geun-hye, Lee’s formidable rival, was the former chairwoman of the party, and it is widely understood that she has greater support than Lee among party members.
One concern for Lee, however, is that he may not have the firm support of party members who will be voting in the party primary.
Last-minute negotiations between the pilots’ union and the management failed on the 25th day of the strike, pushing the government to intervene in the dispute to prevent the strike from inflicting more damage to the export industry and inconveniencing passengers during the peak summer holiday season.
This is the third time the Ministry of Labor has invoked emergency arbitration.
and the second was in 1999 at the Korea Shipbuilding Corp.
Four in a row isn't as rare as four of a kind, but traders are excited about the stock market opening up on the Dow again today:
” That's analyst David Buick in London, where stocks also have been putting together back-to-back gains.
World markets are embracing encouraging news from banks and other companies; but Buick warns he thinks this is:
“… is a relief rally, and great to see, but it's far too early to say whether it's the bottom of the market.
” More slightly good news:
The US trade deficit plunged nearly 10% from December to January, but the government reports that's only because the recession drove down American demand for oil and other imported goods.
The US needs to move more exports for the overall economy to improve.
Right now, the Dow is up 14 points.
Finance ministers from 20 nations are meeting outside London to come up with a fix for the global economic crisis.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick is warning them that this could be a very dangerous year.
He says stimulating, without pressing on to reform the economy, would be just a sugar high.
Four in a row isn't as rare as four of a kind, but traders are excited about the stock market opening up on the Dow again today:
World markets are embracing encouraging news from banks and other companies;
The US trade deficit plunged nearly 10% from December to January, but the government reports that's only because the recession drove down American demand for oil and other imported goods.
˝UN nuclear inspectors have arrived in Pyongyang, for talks on the closure of North Korea´s main nuclear reactor.
Pyongyang agreed to shut the Yongbyon plant under a deal reached in February.
The head of the team, Olli Heinonen, said he was optimistic about the trip, but admitted he was unclear whether he would be allowed to visit Yongbyon.
South Korea has said it will resume food aid to the impoverished North, now that a dispute over frozen North Korean funds has finally been solved.
The deliveries of rice to the country, which is still struggling with food shortages, are due to start on 30 June.˝
Pyongyang agreed to shut the Yongbyon plant under a deal reached in February.
Inter-Korean trade has surpassed $1 billion for the first time as a result of the Gaeseong industrial complex in the North's border town.
According to the Korea International Trade Association, inter-Korean trade surged 57.7 percent from a year ago to $978.6 million in the January-November period.
A total of 15 South Korean companies currently operate the complex.
Inter-Korean trade has surpassed $1 billion for the first time as a result of the Gaeseong industrial complex in the North's border town.
North Korea protested recent Bush administration financial sanctions against its companies, raising another barrier to progress at the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, diplomatic sources here in Seoul said yesterday.
Pyongyang also complained about the U.S. assertion that North Korea has been making counterfeit U.S. currency and circulating it through a Chinese bank in Macao.
After the announcement, Banco Delta Asia cut off its dealings with the North.
An official in Seoul, however, played down the incident, saying flatly that North Korea would not leave the talks.
Another official in Seoul, however, said it was too early to tell whether the complaints were just another piece of brinksmanship or a serious threat to the talks.
Former Korean Ambassador to Washington Hong Seok-hyun returned to Seoul.
Former President Kim Dae-jung Tuesday officially accepted an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to visit Pyongyang.
Senior North Korean officials visiting Seoul for the joint 60th Aug.
15 Liberation Day celebrations made the invitation during a courtesy call on the former president, who has been in a Seoul hospital with pneumonia-like symptoms since last Wednesday.
Senior North Korean officials visiting Seoul for the joint 60th Aug.
Barack Obama has won the Democratic primary in Virginia, according to US media projections based on exit polls.
That result would be a blow to Hillary Clinton, who stood her best chance in Virginia.
Polls remain open in Maryland but have closed in Washington DC.
Senator Clinton is looking ahead to primaries in Ohio and Texas on 4 March in the hope of reversing her fortunes.
In the Republican race, Mike Huckabee is neck-and-neck with front-runner John McCain, based on partial results.
McCain, who has many more delegates overall, went into the vote keen to bolster his front-runner position after losing to Huckabee in Kansas and Louisiana on Saturday.
Correspondents say the Arizona senator still has some work to do to unite his party, amid continuing criticisms from leading party members who have questioned his conservative credentials.
Huckabee has been under pressure to stand aside for the sake of party unity, but has so far said he has no intention of pulling out.
New York´s Philharmonic Orchestra will make an historic trip to North Korea in February.
New York´s Philharmonic Orchestra will make an historic trip to North Korea in February.
Orchestra president Zarin Mehta said it would play in the capital Pyongyang on February 26.
The reclusive communist country´s ministry of culture sent an invitation to the orchestra in August.
This is the first US cultural visit to North Korea, and it is being seen as a breakthrough in the countries´ tense relationship.
The BBC reports a military helicopter has crashed, killing seven people on board.
The crash occurred at about 0140 on Wednesday in Gyeonggi province near Seoul, a defense ministry official told news agency AP.
The accident happened as the helicopter was returning after delivering a medical patient to a military hospital.
Two pilots, two medical officers and three soldiers died, the official said.
An investigation has been launched.
˝It was among the wildest of days on Wall Street.
The market plunged at the opening bell, falling 340 points at the lowest ebb of the season.
But late in the day with only minutes to go before the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrials crossed into positive territory.
The numbers again reversed, with the Dow losing 16 points on the day.
An infusion of billions of dollars into the money supply by the Fed buoyed financial stocks, which rescued the market from another big slide.
Crude oil lost more than two dollars a barrel, closing at 71 dollars
US pressed Burmese government to release Ms.
Aides of former President Kim Dae-jung, including officials of the minority opposition Democratic Party , have suggested President Roh Moo-hyun was behind last week's announcement by the spy agency.
The National Intelligence Service claimed in the speech that its illegal eavesdropping operations continued under the Kim administration, dealing a blow to the former president, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been praised for his decades-long efforts for democracy and human rights.
Choi added that he is worried about the former president as he will have to see many of his former aides get summoned by prosecutors.
``The incumbent government is putting former officials of the Kim administration, who did their best for the nation’s reform, to shame.’
Seoul and Washington have agreed that the South's financial contribution to the stationing costs of the U.S. military on the peninsula will be 680.4 billion won ($680 million) this year, down 8.9 percent compared to 2004, according to a South Korean government official.
Seoul and Washington have agreed that the South's financial contribution to the stationing costs of the U.S. military on the peninsula will be 680.4 billion won ($680 million) this year, down 8.9 percent compared to 2004, according to a South Korean government official.
Both Seoul and Washington have been at odds over the duration of the ""Special Measures Agreement"" and overall costs.
Seoul wanted a one-year deal, but the United States wanted a multi-year accord as long as five years.
Police have detected the largest-ever school gang in Seoul.
The UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, has ended his latest visit to the country without meeting military leader Than Shwe.He did meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but requests for talks with top generals were denied.
Gambari has been pressing Burma´s authorities for political reforms, but with little apparent progress.
Burma has rejected his call for independent observers to monitor a referendum on the new constitution.
It also refused to consider changing the constitution to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to take part in proposed elections.
A U.S. soldier who allegedly raped a woman in her late 60s in Seoul dropped his appeal, meaning his four-year jail sentence will stand, a Seoul court said yesterday.
23-year-old Private Geronimo Ramirez, began serving his prison term early last month, when he was convicted of beating and raping the 66-year-old Korean woman in a residential area of western Seoul.
The commissioner said that they are also Koreans and they need to be guaranteed all human rights protections.
˝The nation´s top policymaker said Wednesday that the government will seek ways of further promoting human rights of foreigners, including migrant workers and multiracial couples and their children.
Ahn Kyong-whan, chief commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission said the commission has decided to put more focus on foreigners in Korea this year.
In an interview with The Korea Times, he stressed that all humans are equal in every way and that they have every right to be treated equally regardless of their skin color or nationality.
The former law professor of Seoul National University said that Korea is facing diversity in races.
Statistics show that one out of every eight marriages in Korea last year was multiracial, and the welfare of foreign spouses living in Korea has become an important issue.
The commissioner said that they are also Koreans and they need to be guaranteed all human rights protections.
The organization will start with educating them about Korean culture as well as their rights as Koreans.˝
Internet users are being urged to stand up for online freedoms by backing a new campaign launched by human rights group Amnesty International.
Amnesty is celebrating 45 years of activism by highlighting governments using the net to suppress dissent.
The campaign will highlight abuses of rights the net is used for, and push for the release of those jailed for speaking out online.
It will also name hi-tech firms aiding governments that limit online protests.
Called Irrepressible.info, the campaign will revolve around a website with the same name.
While the human rights group has run separate campaigns about web repression and the jailing of net dissidents before now, Irrepressible.info will bring them all together.
It aims to throw light on the many different ways that the freedom to use the net is limited by governments.
Amnesty is celebrating 45 years of activism by highlighting governments using the net to suppress dissent.
The campaign will highlight abuses of rights the net is used for, and push for the release of those jailed for speaking out online.
Barack Obama talks about jobs at a rally this hour in Dayton, Ohio.
John McCain and Sarah Palin worked a crowd in a couple of hours, at another battleground state, Wisconsin.
The National Rifle Association is backing McCain for president, saying he's cast more than 60 Senate votes in support of the 2nd Amendment.
Could be some surprised people who show up and learn they're not registered to vote on Election Day?
“The New York Times reports tens of thousands of eligible voters have been removed from rolls or blocked from registering to vote in at least six swing states.
According to the report, some of those states are improperly using social security data to verify registration applications from new voters.”
It's the Phillies and Dodgers at the opening of the National League championship series tonight at Philadelphia.
The ALCS gets underway tomorrow night at Tampa Bay.
According to the report, some of those states are improperly using social security data to verify registration applications from new voters.”
What is Paulson's Bailout Strategy?
Other legal changes will help those aiming to invest in overseas property through investment funds.
In a significant policy change, the government is considering relaxing its laws on overseas homebuying for investment purposes, it said.
The Finance Ministry said it recently formed a team of professionals to evaluate the current regulations on overseas investment and implement any necessary changes.
The Korea Herald reports part of these changes will involve easing the rules for individuals wanting to purchase real estate abroad.
Other legal changes will help those aiming to invest in overseas property through investment funds.
Foreign minister Ban warned North Korea for its attitude for current nuclear issues with the U.S.
Japan's derailed commuter train accident has killed at least 69 people.
Communist Chinese police have detained a prominent human rights activist and AIDS campaigner who has fought several high-profile cases.