Looking ahead to Iran's presidential election in 2009, the big question is what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's chances are of re-election. There are no extensive polls in Iran, but recent developments do provide some sense of the public mood.
A 95-year-old Croatian man suspected of war crimes during World War II says his conscience is clear. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 11:13 am
The number of people killed in flooding this week following torrential rain in east and north-east India rises above 50. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 11:07 am
EU leaders meeting in Brussels are set to admit that the Czechs, as well as the Irish, may not ratify the Lisbon Treaty. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 11:04 am
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza loses his fight against extradition from the UK to the US over terror-related charges. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:54 am
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Gaza residents savoured a first weekend of calm after months of bloodshed in the impoverished Palestinian enclave as a tenuous truce with Israel entered its second day on Friday. Source: AFP - Wire stories | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:45 am
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak replaces several top aides, following public outcry over a beef import deal. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:40 am
South Sudan begins a campaign to collect weapons accumulated by civilians during the two-decade civil war. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:38 am
English as an official language has gained momentum as proponents keep going to the ballot box with measures that discourage bilingual ballots, notices and documents.Thirty states now have laws specifying that official government communications be in English, says U.S. English, a group that promotes the laws. Source: Digg | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:38 am
Soap dispensers are filled with blood colored soap and when you wash your hands . . . it creates an image as though you are washing blood off your hands! A fun idea for Halloween or a Clue theme party! Source: Digg | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:37 am
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States and its allies of plotting to assassinate him during a visit to neighboring Iraq in March, state radio reported on Friday.
Zimbabwe's opposition MDC considers withdrawing from the 27 June presidential run-off, a party source tells the BBC. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:34 am
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian inflation hit its highest level in 13 years, accelerating to over 11 percent after a fuel price hike, according to data Friday that piled pressure on the government as general elections loom. Source: AFP - Wire stories | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:34 am
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A French-US satellite, which will provide the most accurate monitoring ever of rising sea levels and track the effects of climate change, was launched into orbit Friday from a California base. Source: AFP - Wire stories | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:31 am
A rocket is fired by an Israeli student at a Palestinian village in the West Bank, Israeli security officials say. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:27 am
Humphrey Hawksley reports from Bosnia on transforming the country from a land of genocidal conflict to a modern European nation. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:24 am
US officials investigate an apparent pregnancy pact at a school that has resulted in 17 teenagers expecting babies. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:24 am
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is considering whether to pull out of the June 27 presidential run-off election amid fears it will be a charade, a spokesman said on Friday.
The dollar fell against the euro Friday as new data showed German producer price inflation accelerating and investors awaited speeches by top European Central Bank officials. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 10:18 am
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber on foot attacked a foreign military convoy in southern Afghanistan on Friday killing one soldier, an Afghan interpreter and five civilians, police and the U.S. military said.
LONDON (Reuters) - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri lost a court battle on Friday to block his extradition from Britain to the United States where he faces terrorism-related charges.
AP - Several thousand protesters pushed through a heavy police cordon around Thailand's seat of government Friday, vowing to peacefully besiege the compound until the prime minister resigns.
Reuters - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri
lost a court battle on Friday to block his extradition from
Britain to the United States where he faces terrorism-related
charges.
Steve Carell stepped out of "The Office" to join the fight against cancer at a benefit that featured a screening of his new movie, "Get Smart." Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:44 am
AFP - A suicide attack on a military convoy killed a US-led soldier and 11 Afghans in southern Afghanistan Friday, a day after a huge operation to drive Taliban rebels from a key stronghold.
Reuters - The Czech Republic posed a new danger
on Friday to the European Union's troubled reform treaty,
threatening to block a joint call at an EU summit for continued
ratification despite Ireland's "No" vote, diplomats said.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Czech Republic posed a new danger on Friday to the European Union's troubled reform treaty, threatening to block a joint call at an EU summit for continued ratification despite Ireland's "No" vote, diplomats said.
Japanese stocks fell Friday on renewed worries over the health of the U.S. financial sector and its impact on the economy at home. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:38 am
KANDAHAR (AFP) - A suicide attack on a military convoy killed a US-led soldier and 11 Afghans in southern Afghanistan Friday, a day after a huge operation to drive Taliban rebels from a key stronghold. Source: AFP - Wire stories | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:35 am
AP - Barack Obama faced two critical questions: where to play and how to pay. To answer both, the Democrat reversed course to become the first candidate to reject $85 million in public money for the general election.
A rocket carrying a U.S.-French ocean-monitoring satellite lifted off early Friday from the central California coast. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:33 am
Tourists gaped at six stunning wedding dresses displayed at Ripley's Believe It or Not! in New York's Times Square. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:30 am
In a 1981 outbreak, the salmonella was in the marijuana. When a marijuana smoker rolled a cigarette, his hands became contaminated, and when he put the cigarette in his mouth his lips became contaminated. Then a touch or a kiss or any sort of contact could spread the infection. Source: Digg | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:23 am
A California-based computer scientist, a philosophy professor and a molecular biologist will each receive $460,000 after being selected Friday as winners of this year's Kyoto Prizes for achievement in the arts and sciences. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:19 am
The world's developed countries should take the lead in the battle against global warming and push for halving global emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, a group of business leaders said Friday. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:16 am
Out on a lawn at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with joggers and traffic passing nearby, Spencer Ahrens is demonstrating what looks like either the future of solar power – or perhaps a death ray. Source: Digg | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:15 am
Everybody has one--even rats and pigeons, to say nothing of people. The ability to grasp small numbers and map them onto a number line in the brain is an evolutionary birthright of ours. Arithmetic, of course, is another matter. Source: Digg | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:15 am
AP - For the second time in 15 years, Keith Aubuchon found himself packing his belongings and evacuating his home to escape a "100-year" flood of the Mississippi River.
Israeli security officials said Friday that students from a far-right Jewish theological seminary at a West Bank settlement recently built a crude rocket and fired it at a nearby Palestinian village, although it failed to reach its target. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:09 am
Transgender youth in New York's juvenile detention centers are now allowed to wear whatever uniform they choose, be called by whatever name they want and ask for special housing under a new anti-discrimination policy drawing praise from advocacy groups. Source: Newsvine - Get Smarter Here | 20 Jun 2008 | 9:01 am
ESA's Jules Verne ATV has been used for the first time to transfer in one step 811kg of refuelling propellant to the International Space Station while the two vehicles orbited Earth at 28 000km/h. With this premiere for Europe, Jules Verne becomes the first western spaceship to succeed in refuelling another space infrastructure in orbit. Source: Digg | 20 Jun 2008 | 8:46 am
AFP - EU leaders have agreed to postpone till October a decision on the bloc's Lisbon Treaty, rejected by Irish voters and further threatened by a eurosceptic Czech president, according to a draft deal Friday.
BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU leaders have agreed to postpone till October a decision on the bloc's Lisbon Treaty, rejected by Irish voters and further threatened by a eurosceptic Czech president, according to a draft deal Friday. Source: AFP - Wire stories | 20 Jun 2008 | 8:41 am
Reuters - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is considering pulling out of the June 27
presidential run-off election, a spokesman for his Movement for
Democratic Change said on Friday.
Having been assigned to Causeway and Friend streets Tuesday night at the Celtics' clinching of the NBA championship, I once again witnessed the level of utter stupidity...
Former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Shannen Doherty has listed her Malibu, Calif., home for sale, reportedly priced at $4.4 million.
The Los Angeles Times said...
WASHINGTON - Former Sens. John Edwards and Sam Nunn are on a list of potential running mates for Democrat Barack Obama, a congresswoman said yesterday, one day after she met...
AP - Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl Thursday morning at a south Mississippi hospital, according to a friend of the Spears family. The friend, who asked not to be identified because the family had not yet announced the baby's birth, told The Associated Press that the baby was named Maddie Briann and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
AP - Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while recently digging a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic, the mission's principal investigator said Thursday.
Columbus Center developer Arthur Winn, stymied in his plans to build an $800 million air-rights project in the South End, is now turning his attention to Mission Hill.
...
It took nerve. And a lot of talent. Lucky for the audience, Amanda Palmer's got plenty of both.
The Boston Pops' EdgeFest got a little edgier last night as...
BEIJING - China raised prices for fuel by as much as 18 percent today in a move intended to cool the nation's surging energy consumption.
Demand for the energy needed...
The European Union has agreed to lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, but imposed tough conditions on the communist island to maintain sanction-free relations, officials say.
'It's crazy to think that I've gone from being a normal kid to all of a sudden being at a premiere of my own movie, and paparazzi actually know my name!'
The green hulk in Boston Harbor known as the Tobin Bridge is getting a $1 million early warning system to detect structural failures in the millions of tons of steel and concrete...
The city's 28th killing of the year happened last night on Cummins Highway when a 21-year-old man was shot in the head, police said.
It was one of four shootings...
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Eight-cylinder luxury cars will rumble along Jeddah's highways guzzling cheap Saudi gasoline as energy powers hold emergency talks in the Red Sea port this weekend to brake the free-wheeling rise in oil prices.
State police tracked down two women whose IDs were found on a violent sex offender - and both were safe and sound.
Police found photo identifications of two women - one...
Chef Dominique Valadier once worked in the glamorous world of French Riviera restaurants. Now he is making his gourmet meals, with all local ingredients, for public school children.
HANNIBAL, Missouri (Reuters) - Volunteers worked on Friday to fortify levees strained by the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years as the swollen Mississippi River moved toward an expected weekend crest after causing huge losses.
The day after Afghan and NATO forces say they easily chased Taliban militants away from Kandahar City, killing 56 of them, a suicide blast in neighboring Helmand province, aimed at NATO forces, has killed 10 Afghan civilians.
Afghan and NATO troops backed by warplanes drove Taliban militants from villages within striking distance of southern Afghanistan's main city, killing 56 of them, Afghan officials said.
Scientists have spotted what they say must be ice in a trench dug by the Phoenix Mars Lander, US media are reporting today.
This would be a hugely significant discovery because traces of water would be indicative of the presence... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 20 Jun 2008 | 5:20 am
BEIJING (AFP) - China sharply raised domestic energy prices across the board on Friday, as authorities shifted policy in the face of complaints that price controls were causing turmoil on global oil markets. Source: AFP - Wire stories | 20 Jun 2008 | 5:07 am
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A military defense lawyer urged a Guantanamo judge to help restore America's reputation by dropping attempted murder charges against an Afghan prisoner who was subjected to 14 consecutive days of sleep deprivation.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials say Israel carried out a large military exercise this month that appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, The New York Times reported on Friday.
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Thursday demanded an end to persistent sexual violence during armed conflict, calling it a war crime and a component of genocide. Source: AFP - Wire stories | 20 Jun 2008 | 1:35 am
After decades of denial, China says it took a U.S. prisoner of war from Korea and buried him in a Chinese cemetery. Chinese officials said he died after becoming "mentally ill."
Democrat Barack Obama will be the first candidate of either party ever to turn down public money for a presidential campaign. He's counting on Internet-driven strategies for raising cash. And that's changing the landscape for 2008 and beyond.
A 60 Minutes and ProPublica investigation finds the government's broadcasts to the Arab world woefully mismanaged and poorly supervised despite complaints from Congress. Sunday, June 22, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. telephone companies that took part in President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program could be shielded from billions of dollars in lawsuits under a electronic spy bill finalized on Thursday by congressional and White House negotiators.
The FBI on Thursday indicted two former hedge fund managers at Bear Stearns on charges that they concealed problems that eventually led to the collapse of the funds — helping to trigger the broader credit crisis. Here, a look at the case against them.
HENDERSONVILLE - The former Tennessee home of Johnny Cash's parents is on sale for $1.4 million - and that includes a gold record from "The Man in Black."
Johnny Cash's brother Tommy says Ray and Carrie Cash relocated there from... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 10:50 pm
BRUSSELS - The European Union agreed on Thursday to scrap its sanctions against Cuba, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.
"Cuban sanctions will be lifted," she told reporters after foreign ministers... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 10:47 pm
Iraq is close to signing oil service deals with several major Western oil companies in an effort to boost its output capacity, the country's oil ministry said.
The Supreme Court has ruled even if a criminal defendant is mentally competent to stand trial, he might not have the right to act as his own lawyer. The court ruled in the case of an Indianapolis man with schizophrenia who was convicted of attempted murder.
Even a small improvement in gas guzzlers saves more gas than a big improvement in already fuel-efficient cars. If cars were rated in gallons per mile instead of the other way around, people might get a better idea of how to save gas.
Four large Western oil companies are close to securing no-bid oil contracts in Iraq. If the deals are confirmed, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP would return to operations in Iraq for the first time in 36 years. Melissa Block talks to New York Times journalist Andrew Kramer.
Iraqi government forces moved into the southern city of Amara early Thursday. The city had been under the sway of Shiite militias. But most militia commanders appear to have fled Amara before Thursday's operation.
House and Senate negotiators have a deal on a domestic eavesdropping bill that updates the Protect American Act and repairs holes in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The deal does not grant retroactive immunity.
The world's population will reach 7 billion in 2012, even as the global community struggles to satisfy its appetite for natural resources, according to a new government projection.
LOS ANGELES - Ahead of a big fundraising event next week, many Hollywood power players are rallying behind Barack Obama in his bid for US president, pledging money and starpower after lending early support to his one-time rival Hillary... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 8:51 pm
Numerous levees have already failed to hold back floodwaters in parts of the Midwest this week. The federal government says many more are likely to be topped. Engineering experts agree the nation's levee system needs a second look. Adriene Hill of Chicago Public Radio reports.
WASHINGTON - Some US lawmakers are trying to pass legislation to remove former South African President Nelson Mandela from a US list of terrorists by his 90th birthday next month, officials said on Thursday.
South African Ambassador... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 8:47 pm
Prosecutors wrapped up their investigation into the slaying of a British student, paving the way for possible indictments of her American roommate and two other suspects.
IOWA - Sandbagging operations continued at a frantic pace in Illinois and Missouri as residents and officials battled to contain the Mississippi River after flooding that has resulted so far in 24 deaths and thousands of evacuations... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 8:00 pm
Cook Islands Deputy Prime Minister Terepai Maoate says eight chiefs seeking to dissolve Parliament and seize control of the country risk being charged with treason.
The chiefs yesterday met Mr Maoate to discuss their actions, which... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 8:00 pm
MADRID- Spanish farmers marched, Israeli truckers slowed rush-hour traffic and Nepali students stoned cars on Thursday, all angry at rising fuel prices and inflation that they say are crippling their economies.
Protests by truckers,... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 7:55 pm
HARARE - Zimbabwe's run-off presidential election on June 27 is very unlikely to be free and fair, African nations said, and the United States called for a tougher international response to worsening pre-poll violence.
Zimbabwe's... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 7:50 pm
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States of plotting to kidnap and assassinate him during a visit this year to Iraq, state media reported.
One person is dead after a crash on Alfriston Road, Papakura around 6.10 am.
Police said initial reports indicated a car was on fire and people were trapped.
Fire units which were first on the scene had confirmed one person... Source: New Zealand Herald - World | 19 Jun 2008 | 7:30 pm
AP - Several thousand protesters pushed through a heavy police cordon around Thailand's seat of government Friday, vowing to peacefully besiege the compound until the prime minister resigns.
Reuters - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri
lost a court battle on Friday to block his extradition from
Britain to the United States where he faces terrorism-related
charges.
AFP - A suicide attack on a military convoy killed a US-led soldier and 11 Afghans in southern Afghanistan Friday, a day after a huge operation to drive Taliban rebels from a key stronghold.
Reuters - The Czech Republic posed a new danger
on Friday to the European Union's troubled reform treaty,
threatening to block a joint call at an EU summit for continued
ratification despite Ireland's "No" vote, diplomats said.
AP - Barack Obama faced two critical questions: where to play and how to pay. To answer both, the Democrat reversed course to become the first candidate to reject $85 million in public money for the general election.
AP - For the second time in 15 years, Keith Aubuchon found himself packing his belongings and evacuating his home to escape a "100-year" flood of the Mississippi River.
AFP - EU leaders have agreed to postpone till October a decision on the bloc's Lisbon Treaty, rejected by Irish voters and further threatened by a eurosceptic Czech president, according to a draft deal Friday.
Reuters - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is considering pulling out of the June 27
presidential run-off election, a spokesman for his Movement for
Democratic Change said on Friday.
AP - Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl Thursday morning at a south Mississippi hospital, according to a friend of the Spears family. The friend, who asked not to be identified because the family had not yet announced the baby's birth, told The Associated Press that the baby was named Maddie Briann and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
AP - Scientists believe NASA's Phoenix Mars lander exposed bits of ice while recently digging a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic, the mission's principal investigator said Thursday.