| World News  | Unsolicited advice for Bush on Iran
Asia Times
By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON - Two of Washington's most prominent foreign policy graybeards praised Saturday's direct participation in multinational talks with Iran by a senior US diplomat, but called on the administration of President George W Bush to drop his demands that Tehran freeze its uranium enrichment program as a precondition for broader negotiations. Retired General Brent Scowcroft, who served as national security adviser under Republican...
photo: USAF file / SSgt Charity Barrett
|  | Mali peace process on track
News24
Bamako - After recent flare ups and clashes between the Malian army and Tuareg rebels in Northern Mali the peace process was revived this week in what is seen as a spectacular return of mediator Algeria. On Monday, Bamako and Tuareg nomad rebels fighting for more autonomy signed an agreement in Algiers that gives the opposing sides until August 15 to put their promises into action. They have committed to end attacks, to free Tuareg prisoners and...
photo: public domain / Sergio Pessolano
|  | Towards Hun Sen's Cambodia
Asia Times
By Craig Guthrie PHNOM PENH - Even though Cambodia goes to the polls Sunday for the country's fourth general election since Vietnamese occupation ended in 1989, Prime Minister Hun Sen can comfortably escape the chaotic campaign noise in his heavily guarded, villa-studded compound in suburban Phnom Penh and light up a well-earned 555 cigarette - his smoke of choice since his soldiering days. The one-eyed, chain-smoking "Strongman of Cambodia"...
photo: AP / Heng Sinith
|  | Hazaras stage Kabul demonstration
BBC News
Thousands of ethnic Hazaras have demonstrated in the Afghan capital, Kabul, calling on the government to do more to protect their land. They want the government to stop nomadic tribesmen from grazing livestock on land the Hazaras claim. A large number of police were deployed to keep...
photo: AP / Musadeq Sadeq
|  | Indian vote clears way for US nuclear deal
The Associated Press
NEW DELHI (AP) -- India's government survived a hotly contested confidence vote Tuesday, clearing the way for it to finalize a landmark nuclear energy deal with the United States. The vote capped a week of intense politicking that saw the government rename an airport for a lawmaker's father, promise a high-level job to another, and - rival politicians allege - hand out millions of dollars to many others in an effort to survive. Most observers...
photo: AP / Manish Swarup
|  | Spanish police dismantle ETA's 'most active' cell
Turkish Press
Spanish Civil Guard officers take away Arkaitz Goikoetxea, suspected leader of a Basque separatist group ETA cell, in the northern Spanish Basque city of Bilbao. Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Spanish police have dismantled the most active cell of the armed Basque separatist group ETA with the detention of nine suspected members of the group. (AFP) Spanish police dismantled Tuesday the most active cell of the armed Basque...
photo: AP / Alvaro Barriento
|  | Rice in Singapore for N.Korea talks
Reuters
Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:11am ET | | SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Singapore on Tuesday for six-party talks over North Korea's weapons program that China said would push forward the process of denuclearization....
photo: AP / Lawrence Jackson
| Business News  | ConocoPhillips 2Q profit soars
Philadelphia Daily News
JOHN PORRETTO The Associated Press HOUSTON - Record crude prices helped oil giant ConocoPhillips' second-quarter profit climb 13 percent from adjusted results a year ago, beginning what is expected to be a string of robust earnings announcements from major oil companies. The Houston-based company said Wednesday net income rose to $5.44 billion, or $3.50 a share, for the April-June period, from $301 million, or 18 cents a share, in the year-ago...
photo: AP Photo / Pat Sullivan
|  | EU bars DHL aid
The Boston Globe
BRUSSELS, Belgium—European Union regulators on Wednesday forbade Germany to give loan guarantees of up to 500 million euros ($796 million) to express delivery company DHL to help shield it from problems setting up a...
photo: Creative Commons / YSSYguy
|  | Hungry Europeans push McDonald's profit to US$1.2B
Canada Dot Com
McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant company, posted a US$1.19-billion profit in the second quarter, spurred by European sales of hamburgers and chicken sandwiches. Net income of US$1.04 a share compared with a loss of US$711.7 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier on costs to sell McDonald's Latin American restaurants. The earnings beat the average estimate of analysts. Revenue rose to US$6.08-billion from US$5.84-billion, the Oak...
photo: WN / rina
|  | AT&T profit rises on wireless growth
San Diego
NEW YORK - Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc posted Wednesday a higher quarterly profit as stronger-than-expected growth in wireless subscribers compensated for shrinking traditional landlines. The results pushed AT&T shares up 2.5 percent, though analysts said they remained worried about the fall in home phone lines and also pointed to weaker-than-expected growth in high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter. "The...
photo: creative commons /
| Entertainment News  | Richards-Sheen custody battle returns to court
MSNBC
Sheen’s laywer calls the changes to the agreement ‘nothing meaningful Nick Ut / AP> LOS ANGELES - Denise Richards went to court Monday seeking changes to a custody arrangement with ex-husband Charlie Sheen — but didn’t get everything she wanted. Richards and her attorney brought a video to Los Angeles Superior Court...
photo: AP /
|  | The really Wilde show: Matthew Bourne takes on Dorian Gray
The Independent
"I'm actually quite scared of Dorian Gray," says Matthew Bourne, whose new dance-theatre version of Oscar Wilde's masterpiece is tipped as the hot ticket at this year's Edinburgh International Festival. Surely it's not the adaptation that worries him? Bourne's ability successfully to marry dance and story-telling has worked to quirky perfection in such classics as his male Swan Lake, sweet-toothed Nutcracker! and his magical, sharp-edged Edward...
photo: AP
|  | Film explores tensions after 2005 London bombings -
Yahoo Daily News
By Mike Collett-White 1 hour, 26 minutes ago LONDON (Reuters) - A film inspired by the 2005 London suicide bombings that killed 52 people explores the mistrust they stoked between communities and how Islamist radicals threatened to drown out the voice of moderate Muslims. "Shoot on Sight," starring Greta Scacchi, is set in the capital just after the July 7 bombings and follows the story of a Muslim police officer thrust into the...
photo: AP
|  | Pop Tarts: Lauren Conrad's Clothing Collection: How Much Does She Really Design?
Fox News
LOS ANGELES - Lauren Conrad and Victoria Beckham now have something to bond over - they were both stripped from the sales floor of Hollywood's hottest boutique. Earlier this year, Kitson owner Fraser Ross announced that he was dropping Vic's dVb style collection due to lackluster sales and her refusal to make a promotional appearance. Now Conrad's collection has suffered a similar fate with the recent announcement that her lack of involvement has...
photo: AP
|  | Fictional tale sheds light on dog abuse
The Columbus Dispatch
In these dog days of summer, it seems appropriate to talk about a dog book. And with the pit bulls saved from football star Michael Vick's dogfighting operation, what better breed to take center stage than this blend of bulldog and terrier? Such is the star of Dog Lost (Scholastic, $16.99, 208 pages, ages 9...
photo: WN / Renzelle Mae Abasolo
|  | Peek-a-boo into Kats’ birthday bash
The Times Of India
Sallu and mom, you'll drive me nuts It may have well been a week since hottie Katrina Kaif celebrated her 24th birthday in Mumbai. But that hasn’t reduced the intensity with which the media is once again flashing lights on...
photo: AP Photo
|  | Jade Goody's ex boyfriend Jack Tweed faces jail after golf club attack
The Daily Mail
Jade Goody's ex boyfriend could be jailed after being convicted of attacking a 16-year-old boy with a golf club. Jack Tweed, 21, of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, and his friend James Mattock, 29, of Ongar, Essex, were today found guilty of assaulting Daniel Steele, now 18, in Ongar in December 2006. A judge adjourned sentencing until September 1 following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court. Tweed, who has appeared in Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother,...
photo: gfdl photo / Ebyabe
|  | Berliners get a crash course in glittery celebrity culture
International Herald Tribune
: Aside from Romy Schneider hanging out naked on the Riviera and an aged Marlene Dietrich hiding her face from a nosy photographer on an airplane, the most prominent German in a hugely diverting paparazzi show at the Helmut Newton Foundation here through mid-November is Albert Einstein. He's now surrounded by the Sean Penns and Brigitte Bardots of the world, looking as out of place as he must have felt when he arrived in New Jersey in 1933. In a...
photo: AP /
| Health News  | Study Raises Fear Of TB In Immigrants
CBS News
Tuberculosis cases continue to fall in the United States, but some immigrants have disturbingly high rates of the disease, according to a study released Tuesday that called for more aggressive action. TB rates were highest among residents from lower Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. Most drug-resistant TB cases also were from foreign-born residents, the study noted. The researchers called for wider testing, including efforts to seek out latent...
photo: US DoD
|  | Health Canada issues recall for children's toys
Canada Dot Com
OTTAWA - Health Canada issued recall notices Tuesday for three different children's toys made in China. One of the toys, Disney Makit & Bakit Charm Bracelets, is being recalled because the bracelet clasps contain high levels of lead. About 235 units of the Disney Fairies set, and about 160 units of the Disney Princess set, were sold at Michaels craft stores between July 2007 and April 2008. A plush toy in the shape of a white dog was also...
photo: WN / hend
|  | Birth weight 'sets future health'
BBC News
Blood vessel changes linked to poor health later in life can be spotted within a few years in boys born small, say scientists. Eight-year-olds who were smaller at birth were more likely to have "vascular resistance", reported the European Heart Journal. The Southampton University team said this could contribute to high blood pressure decades later. However, no such problem was seen in low birth weight girls. Previous work has linked birth size to...
photo: GFDL / felipepuntocl
|  | Health Tip: Bottled or Tap?
Healthfinder
Common pollutants are riskier for some this article to news version (HealthDay News) -- Depending on where you live, the water that comes from your tap can be just as safe as bottled water. But in some people, common pollutants found in tap water can...
photo: WN / rina
|  | 8 TIPS FOR SURVIVING A HOSPITAL STAY
Philadelphia Daily News
By MARTINE EHRENCLOU HOSPITAL care is becoming hazardous to the patient's health. Considering nearly a quarter of a million deaths in hospitals nationwide were found to be preventable (see the Fifth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, 2008), it's no wonder. However, there is something everyone can do immediately to improve the chances of surviving a hospital stay. There must always be someone - a family member or good...
photo: Jamal Penjweny
|  | Health chiefs call for ban on alcohol happy hours and extra-large glasses
The Times
Pubs and clubs will be forced to tackle Britain's so-called "booze culture" with bans on happy hours, discount drinks and extra-large glasses of wine under government plans. A report published yesterday by the Department of Health sets out tougher regulations to curb excessive drinking amid evidence of alleged widespread abuse of the voluntary code. Councils should have powers to ban periods when drinks are sold cheaply, force supermarkets to...
photo: WN / Rubielyn Bunag
|  | Fresh onion juice works on burns
Buffalo News
Q. While I was working at a restaurant, one of our chefs was burned badly by a fryer. I happened to be in the kitchen when it happened, and the manager screamed, "Get me a fresh onion out of the walk-in refrigerator." I didn't ask questions; I just got it. He asked me to cut it in half and give it to him, which I did. He squeezed the fresh onion juice on the chef's burn. What was amazing was not only that it calmed the awful pain, but also...
photo: WN / fa0
|  | S.Africa experts hope drugs can curb HIV infection -
Yahoo Daily News
29 minutes ago CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Researchers in South Africa are investigating whether taking AIDS drugs daily will prevent infections among gay and bisexual men, in the latest effort to combat the epidemic. In a study launched on Tuesday, researchers want to find out whether antiretroviral drugs normally used by people already carrying the HIV virus could protect...
photo: UNICEF
| Politics News  | Change your astrologer, PM to Advani
The Times Of India
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh focused on enlisting the merits of the nuclear deal and the numerous challenges that lay before him, including tackling inflation. In his reply to the debate on the motion of trust — which he could not deliver following the Opposition ruckus and hence was tabled in the House — Mr Singh did not miss the opportunity to respond sharply to BJP...
photo: PIB
|  | Somnath: Once Marxist voice, now Speaker without a party
The Times Of India
23 Jul 2008, 2043 hrs IST,IANS NEW DELHI: His was the stentorian voice that effectively projected the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) view in Parliament - and outside - for four decades. On Wednesday, just two days before Somnath Chatterjee's 79th birthday that link snapped when one of India's most skilful parliamentarians and now Speaker of the lower House of Parliament was expelled from...
photo: PIB
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