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Nine killed, 90 wounded in Hamas-Fatah clashes in Gaza

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:44:25 GMT

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Nine killed, 90 wounded in Hamas-Fatah clashes in Gaza

Nine Palestinians were killed - including members of Hamas's security forces - and more than 90 were wounded in fighting that erupted Saturday between Hamas and Fatah members in Gaza City.

The clashes began when hundreds of Hamas policemen raided homes belonging to the Hilles clan in the city's Shajayieh neighborhood in a bid to arrest suspects in the bombing that killed five Hamas men nine days ago.

Hamas has accused members of the clan, which has long been affiliated with Fatah, of being behind the explosion, which also killed a seven-year-old girl.

Toward Saturday night, more than 180 clan members approached the border fence with Israel near the Nahal Oz fuel crossing, laid down their weapons and asked soldiers to allow them to cross over. Military sources said the group was allowed into Israel out of "humanitarian concerns" that they would be slaughtered by Hamas.

FOOD RIOTS IN EGYPT

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:05:07 GMT

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Clip Source: www.jpost.com

Global Agenda: The food chain

The chain begins in the American Midwest, where the corn grows high as an elephant's eye... in a good year. This ain't no good year, this is shapin' up to be a mighty bad year. "Heavy rains in the US Midwest have flooded farmland and cut yields," Bloomberg reported on June 12. "US corn production may drop by 10% from last year and inventories may decline to a 13-year low before the harvest next year, the US Dept. of Agriculture said June 10."

For many people in Israel, an election result in which Shas gets as many or more seats than, say, Labor, and/or the entire national-religious right, would be a national disaster. But people of a more balanced disposition should look past that and watch out for what would be a truly horrendous outcome developing from the global food crisis: the intensification of food riots in Egypt, to the point where they endanger the current regime and open the way to a possible seizure of power by the Muslim Brotherhood.

TEENAGE ACTOR STABBEB TO DETH

Mon, 26 May 2008 19:06:52 GMT

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Clip Source: www.canada.com

Tributes pour in for stabbed teenage actor

Published: Sunday, May 25, 2008

LONDON (Reuters) - Tributes poured in on Sunday for a teenage actor who was stabbed to death during a fight outside a pub that left three other men with serious knife wounds.

Robert Knox, 18, was fatally wounded during the "large disturbance" outside the Metro Bar on Station Road, Sidcup, Kent, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Friends and relatives left bunches of flowers outside the bar, and a stream of messages were posted on social networking Web site Facebook and the International Movie Database Web site.

Three of his friends also sustained serious injuries in the incident: a 21-year-old was stabbed in the neck, a 16-year-old in the chest and a third man, aged in his late teens or early 20s, sustained stab wounds to his hand.

The 21-year-old is still receiving hospital treatment, while the other two have been discharged.

Kouchner invited to visit Gaza by Hamas

Sat, 24 May 2008 15:32:35 GMT

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Clip Source: www.haaretz.com

Kouchner invited to visit Gaza

Meanwhile, the Hamas government ruling the Gaza Strip called on Kouchner to visit the territory to learn about the suffering of its people.

Taher al-Nounou, a spokesman for the government, said the invitation "was motivated by France's moral stance which was reflected throughout Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's remarks."

Al-Nounou added that the Hamas government "welcomes an active French role for ending the current divisions among the Palestinians," referring to the standoff between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

cofounder of Google Larry page in Washington to secure television airwaves

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:36:49 GMT

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Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) co-founder Larry Page was in Washington on Thursday to promote the company's proposal for a new generation of wireless devices to operate on soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves.

"I think it will make a huge difference to everybody," Page said during a morning appearance at a Washington think tank.

Page highlighted the benefits of making more spectrum available, while downplaying opposition from broadcasters, and makers and users of wireless microphones, who fear the wireless devices would cause interference.

Page said making more spectrum available would benefit computer users, giving them Internet connections with greater range and speed.

He said it would also benefit Google itself.

"If we have 10 percent better connectivity in the U.S., we get 10 percent more revenue in the U.S., and those are big numbers for us," Page said. Continued...

Québec attempts to deal with separation of church and state and freedom of rights

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:24:48 GMT

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Clip Source: www.nationalpost.com

L. Ian Macdonald, National Post

Published: Friday, May 23, 2008

And in the spirit of separating church and state, they recommend that judges and police officers not be permitted to wear religious garb or symbols.

In the same spirit, Bouchard and Taylor recommend that "the crucifix must be removed" from the wall behind the Speaker's chair in the National Assembly. The Charest government wasted no time in declaring this had no chance of happening, as it quickly introduced a resolution in the legislature affirming its "attachment to our religious and historic heritage represented by the crucifix." Towns like Herouxville will have to decide for themselves whether to follow the commission's recommendation to cease the practice of prayer before council meetings.

"We do not believe the crucifix in the National Assembly, and the prayers that precede municipal council meetings," they write, "have their place in a secular state."

youtube refuses to pull all terrorist videos citing freedom of speech

Thu, 22 May 2008 17:17:01 GMT

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Clip Source: www.pcmag.com

Lieberman Wants All Terrorist Videos Pulled from YouTube

by Chloe Albanesius

Former Democratic vice presidential candidate and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman criticized Google this week for not removing all YouTube videos produced by Islamic terrorist organizations.

Earlier this week, Lieberman sent a letter to Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt requesting that it "immediately remove content produced by Islamist terrorist organizations from YouTube."

"Many of the videos produced by one of the production arms of al-Qaeda show attacks on U.S. forces in which American soldiers are injured and, in some cases, killed," Lieberman wrote.

Google, which bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion, responded by removing 80 videos from the video site that depicted gratuitous violence, which is a violation of YouTube's community guidelines. However, the Internet company declined to remove all videos featuring terrorist organization material, citing free speech.

kidnapping of political aide in Québec Canada

Sat, 17 May 2008 19:17:26 GMT

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Clip Source: www.canada.com

SQ suspect Quebec minister's aide abducted

Mother of two vanishes from home in Rivière Ouelle

PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette

Police officers combed a small town in the Lower St. Lawrence region yesterday to investigate the suspected kidnapping of Nancy Michaud, an assistant to Quebec Natural Resources Minister Claude Béchard.

Michaud, 37, the mother of two young children, was reported missing early yesterday.

Sûreté du Québec investigators are convinced she was kidnapped and believe her life is in danger.

Britain's X-Files released

Sat, 17 May 2008 11:14:15 GMT

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Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

The Big Question: What do Britain's 'X Files' tell us, and why have they been released now?

By Michael Savage

Thursday, 15 May 2008

Why are we asking this now?

Do aliens exist? Have we been visited by extra-terrestrials? Has anyone really seen a spaceship? They are questions most of us have asked ourselves at some point, but previously classified reports made public by the Ministry of Defence reveal that a startling number of people in Britain believe they already know the truth. Eight files have been released containing hundreds of alleged sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) between 1978 and 1987. Among the thousands of pages of testimony are close encounters that range from the deranged to the intriguing.

The MoD handed the reports, already dubbed the UK "X Files", to the National Archives after receiving a barrage of Freedom of Information requests for its documents referring to UFOs.

bombing in India unknown attackers

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:13:32 GMT

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Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Curfew imposed after India blasts

A curfew has been imposed in the old city in Jaipur in western India after a series of bomb blasts killed 63 and left about 200 wounded.

The bombs went off near historic monuments in the crowded old city on Tuesday evening.

The head of state police said it was a terrorist attack. Police have detained a number of people for questioning.

Jaipur, in Rajasthan, is a popular tourist destination about 260km (160 miles) from the Indian capital, Delhi.

RECENT BOMB ATTACKS

August 2007: Bombs in open-air auditorium and restaurant in Hyderabad kill more than 40

May 2007: Bomb in historic Hyderabad mosque kills 14

February 2007: Twin blasts on train travelling from Delhi to Pakistan kills at least 66 people near Panipat

July 2006: More than 160 killed by seven bombs on train network in Mumbai

March 2006: Bombs at Hindu temple and railway station in Varanasi kill 15

October 2005: Three blasts in Delhi kill 62

In pictures: After the bombings

Papers see pattern to blasts

Deaths at Calgary Zoo

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:58:44 GMT

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Clip Source: www.cbc.ca

Stingray deaths reach 35 as Calgary Zoo investigates

Last Updated: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 | 4:47 PM ET

The health of the remaining nine stingrays has improved.

One of the Calgary Zoo's remaining stingrays died Tuesday as officials continued their investigation into the sudden deaths of three-quarters of the ray exhibit over the weekend.

The latest ray death brought the total to 35. The remaining eight rays were being held in an oxygenated tank under constant medical supervision. Officials said their health was improving, but it was too early to say when and if they would be put back on display.

Zoo spokeswoman Laurie Herron told the Canadian Press that two of the rays have started to eat again.

'It's going to take us several weeks before we have any answer, and unfortunately, it may be a situation where we never get an answer.'—Doug Whiteside, zoo veterinarian

China takes the torch to the top of the world just to prove whom controls Tibet

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:25:18 GMT

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Clip Source: ap.google.com

Specially designed Olympic torch lit on top of Mount Everest

By ANITA CHANG – 2 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — The Olympic flame reached the top of the world Thursday. Live television footage showed a Chinese mountaineering team holding up a specially designed torch along with Chinese and Olympic flags Thursday on the top of Mount Everest.

"One World, One Dream," team captain Nyima Cering yelled as the torch was lit on the final icy incline leading to the peak, repeating the slogan for the Beijing Olympics. "We have lit the torch on top of the world," another climber said.

	Photo 1 of 4

In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, Norbu Zhamdu, left, lights the Olympic torch of the first torchbearer Gegyi with a kindling at the top of the Mount Everest, reaching the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak of the world's tallest mountain Thursday, May 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Ngawang Chagxi)

helped save the bees in your own backyard

Sun, 04 May 2008 21:14:21 GMT

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Clip Source: origin.sltrib.com

Help the bees

    Be especially careful of pesticides. Generally:
    - If they kill other insects, they may kill bees.
    - Cover ponds, bird baths, pools and puddles before spraying.
    - Spray very early or very late in the day.
    - Liquid pesticides are much less harmful.
    - Pesticide dusts are harmful. Bees collect them and feed them to larvae.
    - Don't spray blooming plants.
    - Weed flowers are as beneficial to a bee as a cultivated flower.
    - Notify beekeepers within 5 miles before you spray.

- Read labels carefully or if in doubt, visit http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2161.html

Source: Danielle Downey, bee inspector, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

beekeepers lobby for help in England

Sun, 04 May 2008 21:05:52 GMT

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Clip Source: www.dailypost.co.uk

No more strawberries and cream?

May 2 2008 By Andrew Forgrave, Rural Affairs Editor

BEEKEEPERS have begun lobbying politicians to prevent an “economic and ecological disaster” if honeybee numbers keep falling.

The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) says bees are critical to the UK’s food supply, contributing £165m-a-year to the agricultural economy.

It is calling on the government to spend £8m on bee health research over five years to combat the threat of Colony Collapse Disorder, currently devastating bee colonies in America.

Last month Westminster and Cardiff began consulting on proposals to protect honey bees in England and Wales.

But the BBKA said there were “substantial shortcomings and omissions” in the proposed 10-year strategy.

BBKA president Tim Lovett said: “Does the government want the nation to go without honey on their toast or not have home-grown strawberries to go with cream?”

Natalie Portman gets Peed on in public

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:13:06 GMT

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Clip Source: www.dickism.com

Natalie Portman, “was the unfortunate victim of a surprise soaking as she dropped by a downtown dog run. While she was getting a pup’s-eye view of the surroundings from ground level, another stroller’s frisky pet raised its hind leg, relieved itself right on her shoes and then ambled on its way.”