| Top Stories |
| Marines establish positions in Afghan assault |
AFP - US Marines have established bridgeheads in Taliban strongholds after suffering the first fatality of their massive offensive against Afghanistan's hardline Islamist militia.
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| Honduras interim government says open to early election |
Reuters - Honduras' interim government said on Thursday it was open to holding early elections to resolve the impasse over ousted President Manuel Zelaya, as the Organization of American States readied a mission to Honduras to push for his reinstatement.
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| Jackson ex-wife shows interest in custody of kids |
AP - The future of Michael Jackson's children was thrown into question Thursday when his ex-wife emerged and won a delay in a custody hearing while she decides whether she wants to raise her two offspring.
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| Honduras interim government says open to early election |
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' interim government said on Thursday it was open to holding early elections to resolve the impasse over ousted President Manuel Zelaya, as the Organization of American States readied a mission to Honduras to push for his reinstatement.
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| Interim Honduras government says open to early election |
Reuters - An interim government set up after a military coup in Honduras said on Thursday it would be open to bringing forward a November general election to resolve a crisis over the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.
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| California turns to "IOUs" amid budget impasse |
Reuters - As California marked its second day of a new fiscal year without a budget agreement, the state government moved ahead on Thursday to issue billions of dollars in "IOUs" in order to avoid a cash crisis.
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| Un-bee-lievable: Bee swarm delays Astros' 7-2 win |
AP - Talk about adding a late-inning buzz to a ballgame. The Houston Astros — who once had the "Killer Bs" — beat the San Diego Padres 7-2 on Thursday, but only after waiting out a 52-minute delay in the top of the ninth inning caused when a swarm of bees took over part of left field at Petco Park.
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| Domestic |
| Mich. soldier in Iraq sworn in as lawyer by video |
AP - Army Reserve Maj. Miles Gengler didn't hesitate as he repeated the oath during his swearing-in as an attorney. His words just had to travel more than 6,000 miles from Baghdad's Green Zone to Michigan to be heard.
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| Lawyer: Rowe deciding whether to seek custody |
AP - LOS ANGELES — An attorney says Deborah Rowe has not reached a final decision on whether to seek custody of the two children she had with Michael Jackson.
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| NASA astronaut takes Twitter to space en Espanol |
AP - NASA has tweeted in space, but now one of its astronauts is breaking a new space Twitter barrier. He'll tweet from space in Spanish and English.
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| Bush to visit small Okla. town for 4th of July |
AP - When the middle-of-nowhere town of Woodward invited George W. Bush to its Fourth of July celebration, no one really expected the former president to accept. But he did.
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| Text of SC 1st lady Jenny Sanford's statement |
AP - South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford issued the following statement Thursday, breaking two days of silence that followed her husband's latest revelations to The Associated Press about his extramarital affair, including his statement that his Argentine mistress was his "soul mate":
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| RI town boasts USA's longest-running July 4th fest |
AP - In July 1785, the citizens of this waterfront town assembled to heap praise on their newly minted nation and to thank God for helping them survive a fierce assault by the British during the Revolutionary War.
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| CDC: US swine flu cases rise to nearly 34,000 |
AP - The number of U.S. swine flu cases has reached nearly 34,000, and deaths have risen 34 percent in the past week to 170, federal health officials reported Thursday.
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| Politics |
| Obama sure of rebound despite job loss figures |
AFP - President Barack Obama said he was confident the US economy would recover, despite new data showing unemployment at a 26-year-high of 9.5 percent, which dampened hopes of a quick rebound.
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| Capitol Hell: Worst states to govern |
Politico - Serving as chief executive can be an unenviable task -- especially in these five states.
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| Documents describe chaos of Gitmo's early months |
AP - Newly released Defense Department documents and memos about the first years of operation of the jail at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, portray a chaotic and sometimes violent operation that its own commanders described as dysfunctional.
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| SC senator defends ouster of Honduran president |
AP - South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is defending the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and says the rule of law is working in Honduras.
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| Did hacker threaten Sanford and lover over affair? |
McClatchy Newspapers - RIO DE JANEIRO — A television anchor who's the only journalist known to have spoken with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's Argentine lover since news of their affair broke last week said the couple received an e-mail threat from the person who hacked into her Hotmail account.
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| Obama's housing rescue expands: 6 things to know |
U.S. News & World Report - In a move that suggests its initial rescue plan was insufficient, the Obama administration yesterday announced plans to widen the eligibility parameters of a key housing initiative. The change would allow borrowers with mortgages valued at 125 percent of their home's worth to refinance into more affordable loans. Previously, only borrowers with so-called loan-to-value ratios of 105 percent or less could do so. The mortgage refinancing program is part of the president's two-pronged plan to pull the nation out of its worst housing slump since the Great Depression. ...
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| Rare copy of Declaration of Independence found |
AP - British researchers have announced the discovery of a rare original copy of America's Declaration of Independence — just in time for the Fourth of July.
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| Technology |
| "Asteroids" lands at Universal |
Reuters - Universal Pictures has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game "Asteroids."
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| Conviction reversed in web hoax that led to suicide |
AFP - A woman who was convicted of computer fraud in an Internet hoax that led to the suicide of 13-year-old girl was tentatively acquitted Thursday by a federal judge.
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| Preview: Facebook's Upcoming New iPhone App |
PC World - The folks at Facebook don't seem to be taking much downtime this summer. After announcing a revamped approach to user privacy control this week, the Facebook team is now preparing to launch a new and improved Facebook application for the iPhone.
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| Will iPhones Get Tactile Feedback, Fingerprint ID? |
PC World - It’s always fun to speculate about what Apple has up its sleeve, and one way to get the rumors flying is to uncover Cupertino’s latest patent applications. MacRumors has done just that, and the paperwork shows Apple has its eye on some intriguing technologies that may find their way into future iPhones and iPods.
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| Mac News Briefs: BenVista releases PhotoZoom Pro 3 photo enlarger |
Macworld.com - BenVista has released the latest version its photo enlargement sofware, PhotoZoom Pro 3.
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| Hybrid Cellular Satellite Will Boost Rural Coverage |
NewsFactor - European space transportation provider Arianespace launched its largest satellite ever on Wednesday on behalf of TerreStar Networks -- a Virginia-based company that intends to inaugurate a hybrid satellite/cellular service in the United States and Canada later this year.
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| Broadband industry group say U.S. rules go too far |
Reuters - U.S. government guidelines to spend $4 billion to expand broadband access to underserved areas across the United States may go beyond current laws, a broadband industry group, said on Thursday.
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| International |
| FTSE 100 shares fall sharply |
AFP - Stocks in London ended the session sharply down Thursday on the back of dire unemployment figures released in the US and in the eurozone, where the rate hit a 10-year-high.
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| Spain's spy chief resigns under fire |
AP - Spain's intelligence chief resigned Thursday amid allegations he used government money to go on hunting and fishing trips and had staffers remodel his house.
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| ECB keeps interest rate at 1 pct |
AP - The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1 percent as it waits to see whether a massive infusion of credit into the banking system will help the euro zone's struggling economy.
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| Euro zone unemployment hits 10-year high in May |
AP - Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro spiked to a 10-year high in May, reinforcing concerns any recovery will take time with so many people out of work.
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| ECB expected to keep interest rate at 1 percent |
AP - The European Central Bank is expected to keep its key interest rate steady at 1 percent when it meets Thursday as it waits to see whether a massive infusion of credit into the banking system will help Europe's struggling economy.
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| Sweden kicks off EU presidency in institutional fog |
AFP - Sweden kicked off its six-month European Union presidency Wednesday amid fears the bloc's unresolved institutional woes may overshadow its priorities of tackling climate change and the economic crisis.
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| GM, Ford suspend Russia production |
AP - U.S. car giants General Motors and Ford suspended operations on their production lines in Russia Wednesday as the deepening economic crisis squeezes Russian consumers' demand for new cars.
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| Science |
| Space ambitions |
US moonwalker Buzz Aldrin looks to new frontiers
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| The Strange Ingredients in Fireworks |
LiveScience.com - Fireworks for the 4th of July are all about light, color and sound.
But inside, there are some bizarre ingredients, from aluminum to
Vaseline and even the stuff of rat poison.
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| Video gaga |
Surveillance camera footage sheds light on baby babble
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| Final moments |
How Air France debris gives clues to jet's break-up
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| Details of Snowfall on Mars Explained |
SPACE.com - The planet
Mars conjures images of red rocks and arid, dusty plains, but as NASA's Phoenix
Mars Lander showed last year, it snows on Mars.
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| Spain backtracks on nuclear power phase-out |
AFP - Spain's government said Thursday it would allow the country's oldest nuclear reactor to operate beyond its intended 40-year lifespan, reversing a policy of gradually phasing out nuclear power.
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| Tamiflu-resistant swine flu patient found in Japan: govt |
AFP - A genetic mutation of swine flu that is resistant to the anti-viral Tamiflu has been discovered in Japan, the first such case in the country, the health ministry said.
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| Popular |
| SO MUCH FOR WISE LATINAS |
Ann Coulter - With the Supreme Court's decision in Ricci v. DeStefano this week, we can now report that Sonia Sotomayor is even crazier than Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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| Will Obama violate the spirit of the Fourth? |
The Christian Science Monitor - Soon after taking up his White House tasks, the idealistic Barack Obama of the 2008 campaign got mugged by the reality of being America's commander in chief.
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| Donovan issues ultimatum to Galaxy over Beckham |
AFP - Landon Donovan has issued the Los Angeles Galaxy an ultimatum -- have English superstar David Beckham clean up his act or risk the departure of Donovan, the club's all-time top active scorer.
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| White House close to deal with hospitals on cost cuts |
McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — The hospital industry is close to a deal with the White House and congressional Democrats in which the industry would agree to federal funding cuts of $150 billion to $170 billion over the next decade to help pay for a health system overhaul, according to people familiar with the talks.
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| SC gov's wife may be able to forgive affair |
AP - South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford says she may be able to forgive her husband's much-publicized affair with an Argentine woman, but true reconciliation will take more time.
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| Air New Zealand staff bare all to get flyers' attention |
Reuters - Air New Zealand has hit on a novel way to make sure even the most jaded flyers keep their eyes glued on its flight safety briefing.
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| WaPo cancels lobbyist event |
Politico - Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper?s own reporters and editors.
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