(Reuters) - A closed subway entrance in Berlin in a file photo. A German mistook a subway entrance for an underground car park and her vehicle got stuck on the stairs, police said on Wednesday. (Tobias Schwarz/Reuters)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Gates, Jobs all praises for each other
AP - Legendary technology rivals Bill Gates and Steve Jobs made a rare joint appearance Wednesday and wasted no time making nice.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Chinese stocks go down
Pop here needs an ambulance. His stock portfolio plummeted 15%. The guy beside him jumped off the building.
44-year-old woman dies after power cut due to an unpaid bill
AP - A 44-year-old woman who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home because of a $122 unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Cow slaughtered at a mosque
(AFP/File) - A young Malaysian boy (L) prays with others after a cow was slaughtered at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, 31 December 2006. A Malaysian woman is claiming to have seen the names of Allah and Mohammed spelled out in the entrails of a cow she was butchering, state media reported Tuesday.(AFP/File/Teh Eng Koon)
Memorial Day
(AP) - An unidentified woman stands in front of one of the 7,861 headstones of Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, near Rome during the Memorial Day celebrations, Monday, May 28, 2007. Italian premier Romano Prodi and US ambassador to Italy Ronald Spogli gathered in Nettuno to commemorate all US armed forces who died in Italy during World War II. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)
New sanctions on Sudan
Reuters - The United States plans to announce tough new sanctions against Sudan on Tuesday before working out a resolution in the United Nations in an intensified effort to end bloodshed in Darfur.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Baghdad bomb kills 19
Russia calls for arms control
AP - Russia on Monday called for an emergency conference next month on a key Soviet-era arms control treaty that has been a source of increasing friction between Moscow and the NATO alliance.
Iran, Iraq, US hold talks
(AP) - In this image released by the Iraqi Government, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, second left, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, top centre, and Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi, fourth right, talk during security talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Baghdad Monday, May 28, 2007. (AP Photo/Iraqi Government, HO)
Granny against an attacking bear
AFP - A 73-year-old Swede fended off an attacking bear by pelting it with stones during a quiet Sunday stroll in the forest, local media reported.
Low-caste Hindus convert to Buddhism
AFP - Thousands of low-caste Hindus seeking to escape the oppression of India's rigid caste system on Sunday embraced Buddhism in a mass conversion.
Climber recounts rescue
AP - A Nepalese woman who escaped Mount Everest's "death zone" with little more than frostbite said Sunday her rescuers saved her life after finding her sick and unconscious on the world's highest mountain.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Malaysian wives wary of Chinese DH
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - The women's wing of one of Malaysia's ruling parties has urged the government to rethink a plan to recruit domestic helpers from China, arguing they could seduce local married men, state press reported Sunday.
Borat is just a joke, says Ms. Kazakhstan
AP - Miss Kazakhstan said her country is preparing its own movie in response to "Borat," the hit comedy that portrayed the Central Asian nation as bigoted and backward.
Diabetic teen and brother create comics
AP - The evil Dr. Diabetes leaps from a hospital window, crashing through the glass, determined to infect anyone in his path with the chronic, debilitating disease from which he takes his name. The imposing, green, wild-haired monster scowls, punches the air and taunts, "I will make sure that everyone on the planet feels my pain. The whole world will have diabetes."
Iran - US must change Iraq stance for talks
AFP - Iran said on Saturday that upcoming talks with the United States on Iraq could succeed only if Washington changed its policies in Iraq.
TV cam catches man with mistress
Reuters - A man who took his mistress to the beachmade the mistake of waving to a film crew on a helicopter covering Italy's bicycle race and was discovered by his wife.
Bigger than Hozilla
AP - Hogzilla is being made into a horror movie. But the sequel may be even bigger: Meet Monster Pig. An 11-year-old boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9 feet 4, from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Think hams as big as car tires.
New museum says dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark
Reuters - Like many modern museums, the newest U.S. tourist attraction includes some awesome exhibits -- roaring dinosaurs and a life-sized ship.
Venezuelans march against TV station closure
Reuters - Tens of thousands of Venezuelan protesters marched on Saturday to the Caracas headquarters of an anti-government television station, which is being forced off the air after President Hugo Chavez's administration refused to renew its broadcasting license.
No truce with Israel
AP - Hamas hardened its stance on Saturday after a new barrage of Israeli airstrikes killed five militants, saying it would not consider a truce and calling for more attacks on Israel.
Town mayor resigns
AP - The mayor of this tiny town that was all but destroyed by a tornado earlier this month has resigned, saying he needs to focus on his family and isn't the leader Greensburg needs right now.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
US, British forces battle Mehdi Army
Reuters - U.S. and British forces battled Mehdi Army fighters in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra after their leader, Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, made a rare public appearance and called on U.S. troops to get out of Iraq.
Friday, May 25, 2007
2 dozen charged with cheating casinos
AP - Two dozen people cheated casinos in several states and Canada out of at least $3.3 million over five years by using technology and bribes to rig card games, federal prosecutors alleged in indictments unsealed Thursday.
***How about the cheating of casinos?
FDA stops imports of Chinese toothpaste
AP - The government is stopping all imports of Chinese toothpaste to test for a deadly chemical reportedly found in tubes sold elsewhere in the world.
Lebanese army gets foreign military aid
AP - Military aid began arriving Friday after the United States said it will rush supplies to the Lebanese army fighting al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp in the country's north.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Israelis arrest Hamas leaders
AP - Israeli troops in the West Bank arrested more than 30 senior Hamas members early Thursday, including a Cabinet minister, legislators and mayors pressing forward with an offensive against the Islamic militant group.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Car Bombing in Baghdad Market Kills 25
A British soldier drives an army vehicle near a fuel truck on fire in Basra Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad on Monday , May 21, 2007. Violence hit the southern city of Basra, with gunmen killing one police officer and wounding another in an attack on their patrol, police said. Police also reported that the chief of customs in Basra, Col. Khalaf al-Badran, escaped injury when a roadside bomb struck his convoy as it left the airport. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani).
Car Bombing in Baghdad Market Kills 25
BAGHDAD, IRAQ — A parked car bomb ripped through a crowded outdoor market Tuesday in southwestern Baghdad, killing 25 people despite a three-month-old security crackdown meant to reduce violence in the capital.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Dalai Lama under fire
AP - A senior Chinese official has accused the Dalai Lama of conspiring with a host of perceived enemies, from Islamic separatists to the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, to weaken Beijing's hold over his homeland in Tibet, state media reported Monday.
Cutty Sark wrecked by fire
AFP - The Cutty Sark, the world's last remaining tea clipper and a major London tourist attraction, was seriously damaged by fire Monday -- but restorers hope they can still salvage the historic ship.
Israel threatens to hit Hamas leaders
AFP - Israel threatened on Monday to hit Hamas political leaders unless rocket fire from lawless Gaza subsides, as four militants were killed in a new air raid in the impoverished territory.
Israel fires at a house in Gaza strip
Tomb of ancient Egypt courtier
Reuters - Belgian archaeologists have discovered the intact tomb of an Egyptian courtier who lived about 4,000 years ago, Egypt's culture ministry said on Sunday.
Nahr-al-Bared refugee camp
(Reuters) - Smoke rises from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, May 20, 2007. (Omar Ibrahim/Reuters)
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Venezuelans protest opposition TV channel closure
Reuters - Tens of thousands of protesters on Saturday denounced President Hugo Chavez's plans to close an opposition television channel, accusing their leader of maiming Venezuelan democracy as he forges a socialist state.
Stronger military steps
Reuters - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday threatened stronger Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip if Hamas fails to cease its rocket attacks on southern Israel.
Dubai ruler starts $10-B fund for research, education
AP - The ruler of Dubai launched a $10 billion foundation Saturday to provide scholarships and promote research in the Middle East, saying the region has neglected education despite its oil wealth.
$10 = $1Million
AP - Kristina Schneider tried to persuade a customer at the BP station where she works to buy the last ticket on a roll of the Magnificent Millions lottery game.
867-5309
AP - One-hit wonder Tommy Tutone made the phone number 867-5309 famous in the band's 1982 hit single, which uses the digits over and over in its catchy refrain.
Romanians block plans to impeach Basescu
Reuters - Romanians rejected on Saturday a move by parliament to impeach reformist President Traian Basescu in a referendum which gives the suspended president a mandate to revive his anti-corruption drive.
Wildlife violence - from people
AFP - Three wildlife rangers and four poachers were killed overnight in a firefight in a remote Kenyan district notorious for poaching activities, the Kenya Wildlife Service said Saturday.
Israel at it again
AP - Israeli airstrikes targeted Hamas for a fifth straight day Saturday, hitting a rocket squad and two workshops in Gaza, and the defense minister warned militants who attack Israel they should be "very afraid."
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Carter condemns Blair for support to Bush
AP - Britain's support for the war in Iraq was a "major tragedy" for the world, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Saturday, as he criticized Tony Blair's unwavering support for President Bush.
Viral disease sickens hundreds in China
AP - An outbreak of a viral disease common in children has sickened almost 900 people in eastern China but the outbreak has been contained, state media said Saturday.
Another 649?
AP - The Florida Lottery is refusing to pay a $500,000 prize until it can inspect the $20 scratch-off ticket, which officials said Thursday appears to be a misprint.
Handshake across divide
AP - Jewish American veteran Shep Waldman knew exactly what he would do when he came face to face with the former enemy at the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's mountain retreat.
Second shooter? New study says so.
AFP - A new analysis of remaining bullet fragments from the 1963 assassination of US president John F. Kennedy suggests a second shooter may have been involved in the plot.
Chicago mob informant pleads guilty
AP - The star witness in the government's case against a dozen alleged Chicago mob figures pleaded guilty Friday to taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 murders.
Italian university bars Holocaust denier
AP - An Italian university closed one of its campuses for the day Friday to prevent a planned lecture by a retired French professor who denies gas chambers were used in Nazi concentration camps.
Uneasy calm
Reuters - An uneasy calm prevailed in India's southern city of Hyderabad on Saturday as thousands of police patrolled the streets, a day after a bomb blast in a historic mosque and subsequent clashes killed at least 14.
Coronet Head 20 Dollar Double Eagle Coin
Can't fire me.
Reuters - Donald Trump, whose low-rated reality show "The Apprentice" was left off the new prime-time schedule unveiled this week by NBC, says the network can't fire him -- he quits.
Israeli planes pummeled Hamas targets
AP - Israeli warplanes pummeled Hamas targets Friday in a stepped-up campaign against militants firing rockets into southern Israel, while Palestinian factions battled with automatic weapons and grenades at a Gaza university.
What the...?
Reuters - Last year, Chilean-born artist MarcoEvaristti mixed fat removed from his body by liposuction withground beef to make meatballs, which he fried in olive oil anddisplayed in a public gallery.
Stealing - bit by bit
AP - A plating company employee with a gambling habit stole some $450,000 worth of his employer's silver — bit by bit over several years, police said. Jadyn Earl John Sessing, 31, of Farmington, is charged with seven counts of felony theft in Ramsey County District Court.
Cave near Chicago full of Ancient Wonders
LiveScience.com - North America's oldest conifer tree and some ancient scorpion parts are among the fossil treasures found in a newly discovered cave in Illinois. The new discovery also unearthed fossils of plants that may be new to science and revealed evidence of prehistoric forest fires. Scientists date the specimens to nearly 315 million years ago, according to initial findings presented last month at the regional meeting of the Geological Society of America in Lawrence, Kan. ...
Friday, May 18, 2007
Mom drives son to rob jewelry store
Reuters - A 36-year-old German mother-of-five drove her son to a jewelry store he wanted to rob because she was afraid he may come to some harm, Bild newspaper reported Wednesday.
Cuba to spend $185Million for tourism
AP - Cuba says it will spend about $185 million to upgrade more than 200 resorts, golf courses, marinas and other facilities in a bid to reverse a dip in tourism to the island.
Thief rejoiced too early
AP - A thief rejoiced too early and was caught red-handed while counting his loot not far from the place where he had snatched a woman's handbag.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
India seeks higher-value outsourcing work
Reuters - In an office in the southern port city of Chennai, Indian analysts pore over stock market data for a London-based fund company, searching for investment opportunities.
400 million people live in minefields
Reuters - Some 400 million people around the world live and work in what are effectively minefields, at daily risk of death or maiming by cluster bombs, according to a report issued on Wednesday.
A first for France
AFP - Welsh-born Penelope Fillon has become the first British-born wife of a French Prime Minister after her husband was appointed to lead the government on Thursday.
Motorcyclist led 150mph chase
AP - Police said a motorcyclist led them on an interstate highway chase at speeds of up to 150 mph and left them in the dust. But they had the cycle's license number and cited Ryan Lewis, 19, of Eugene after going to his home and finding the motorcycle hidden behind his house.
Hilton's jail term to be just 23 days
AP - Paris Hilton will serve about half of her 45-day jail sentence and will be separated from the general inmate population, authorities said Wednesday.
John Adams on dollar coin
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
They're going to put the Queen to court?
AP - Queen Elizabeth II should be approached to clarify a conversation she allegedly had about the death of Princess Diana, lawyers at a preliminary inquest hearing said Tuesday.
***Why not?
Greenpeace rebuilds Noah's ark
Bank sells house with the corpse of owner
Reuters - A Spanish bank repossessed a house and put it up for auction complete with the mummified body of theformer owner who had missed her mortgage payments, newspaper ElPais reported on Wednesday.
Hitchhiker steals car, dies in crash
Reuters - A Canadian hitchhiker, who stole an elderly man's car after he offered her a ride, died a few minutes later when she lost control of the vehicle and crashed into trees, police said.
Baby issued gun permit
AP - Bubba Ludwig can't walk, talk or open the refrigerator door — but he does have his very own Illinois gun permit.
41 Iraqis Killed in New Violence
A parked car bomb exploded near a market in a Shiite enclave northeast of the capital, killing at least 32 people and wounding 50, police said Wednesday. Hospital officials and wounded victims said chlorine gas may have been used in the attack, but police denied that.
Israeli aircraft fires on Gaza
AP - An Israeli helicopter fired at least three missiles into the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on Wednesday, killing at least four people, Palestinian officials said.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Empress of the North
(AP) - The Empress of the North cruise ship, right, is shown in the Auke Bay, north of Juneau, Alaska, Monday, May 14, 2007, after running aground on a reef in Icy Strait southwest of the Alaskan capital . The ship at left is an unidentified good Samaritan boat offering help as the listing Empress rounds Point Retreat, the north end of Admiralty Island. The Coast Guard successfully facilitated the evacuation of all of the 200-plus passengers from the ship after it ran aground early Monday about 15 miles southwest of Juneau. The Coast Guard said it was not clear why the cruise ship ran aground. (AP Photo/Juneau Empire, Brian Wallace)
Foreign observers denounce military harassment
MANILA, Philippines -- Foreign observers to the Philippines’ mid-term elections have criticized troops for allegedly “overstepping their authority” in at least two military checkpoints in the province of Cebu.
China troubled by plan of Japan to change constitution
Reuters - China expressed concern on Tuesday at Japan's plans to rewrite its pacifist constitution, saying it was a cause for misgiving for Asian countries which suffered Japanese invasion and occupation.
Giuliani's lobbying firm may pose ethical entanglements
AP - As a partner in a law and lobbying firm, Rudy Giuliani has profited from his firm's work representing corporate clients before virtually every Cabinet department, exposing himself to a wide range of potential ethical entanglements.
Worst Career Moves
We're not saying that famous people regularly do stupid things, but:well, we don't know how to finish that sentence.
Mailed in S.Africa: poisonous snakes
Reuters - South African environmental inspectors discovered 10 poisonous snakes smuggled in videocassette cases when they searched a suspicious package at a post office, officials said on Monday.
Teen hurt after whacking bullets with hammer
AP - A teenager who put bullets in a vise and whacked them with a hammer to empty the brass shell casings was wounded in the abdomen by approximately the 100th bullet he hit, according to Warren County deputies.
***I knew this would happen as a child. My father taught us how to fire a bullet without a gun. Never tried it though.
Thank God for the helmet
AP - A delivery truck ran over a cyclist's head, leaving him only with a concussion and a mangled helmet. Ryan Lipscomb, 26, was shaken up, especially after he saw the condition of his helmet.
Robber leaves his wallet and lots of ID
AP - A man accused of robbing a fast-food restaurant left lots of clues to his identity, police said. He dropped his wallet, which contained a photo identification card, his Social Security card and birth certificate, according to police.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Yahoo to give away hybrid taxis
Yahoo is donating a fleet of hybrid taxi cabs to the town that wins its "Greenest City in America" challenge. (CNNMoney.com)
Empty nets
Reuters - The old adage 'there are plenty more fish in the sea' no longer rings true for Malaysian fisherman Shafie Said.
Chelsea Clinton
(AP) - Chelsea Clinton listens to her mother Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., speak during a fundraiser for her presidential campaign in New York April 23, 2007 file photo. Chelsea Clinton, for many, a curly-haired 12-year-old with braces and a shy smile, is now is a 27-year-old single woman working in the financial sector in New York City who is deciding what role to play in her mother's campaign. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Pakistan virtually shut down by strike
Reuters - A Pakistani opposition strike virtually shut down Karachi and other major cities on Monday after nearly 40 people were killed and about 150 wounded in Pakistan's worst political street violence in two decades.
Anti-illegal immigrant law in Texas
AP - Voters in this Dallas suburb became the first in the nation Saturday to prohibit landlords from renting to most illegal immigrants.
Israel prepares for Jerusalem Day
Everything is in place for gala celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the moment many Israelis see as their most glorious — the dramatic unification of Jerusalem under their control in the 1967 Middle East war.
China - no infant deaths
AFP - Chinese authorities have denied reports that at least 26 children have died from a mysterious illness in eastern China as local media Monday accused the government of covering up an epidemic.
Opening of Nazi archive
AP - As the Third Reich headed to defeat in World War II, the Germans burned millions of records to cover up history's worst genocide. But the fraction that survived was enough to make up the largest Nazi archive in existence.
Bulgarians pray for medics release
AP - The spiritual leader of Bulgaria's Orthodox Christians on Saturday called for a "just verdict" in the case of six medics sentenced to death in Libya for allegedly infecting about 400 children with HIV.
Truce after 4 die in Gaza violence
Reuters - Egyptian mediators brokered a truce deal between rival factions in Gaza on Sunday in a bid to end the deadliest outbreak of factional fighting that killed four Palestinians and wounded a dozen.
3 soldiers captured?
(AFP/Illustration) - An alliance of Al-Qaeda-led militant groups claims to have captured three US soldiers in a deadly ambush south of Baghdad.(AFP/Illustration)