U.N. Halts Shipments After Myanmar Aid Seized
The U.N. said it is halting further aid flights to cyclone-stricken Myanmar, after the country's military leadership seized supplies destined for the estimated 1.5 million people affected by the storm. "The food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated," WFP spokesman Paul Risley said. |
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House Approves Homeowner-Rescue Legislation
The U.S. House passed a huge homeowner rescue package Thursday to provide cheaper, government-backed mortgages to a half-million debt-ridden borrowers. |
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Cyber Attacks in China Target Activists, Journalists
While protests related to Tibet and the Olympics have fizzled out on the streets, conflict continues in cyberspace. Recently, Tibetan advocacy groups and China-based foreign journalists have been hit by a wave of sophisticated computer attacks that steal data, cripple Web sites and even monitor what computer users type on their computers. |
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Utah, Ariz. Prosecutors Vow Not to Raid Polygamists
The attorneys general of Utah and Arizona say they won't do what Texas did. They won't raid polygamist groups in their states, even though the polygamists targeted in Texas last month are based on the Utah-Arizona border. The officials spoke at a town meeting on polygamy Thursday night in Utah. |
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China's Underground Submarine Base Scrutinized
An underground nuclear submarine base on China's Hainan Island is drawing scrutiny from the United States and India. According to satellite imagery on the Web sites of Jane's Intelligence Review and the Federation of American Scientists, the base has a sea entrance wide enough to allow submarines to enter the underground facilities. The photograph reveals what appears to be a ballistic missile submarine moored to one of the piers outside. |
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France Plans Lucrative Champagne Expansion
A century-old law restricted champagne production to 370 villages in northeastern France, but with demand now outstripping supply, the official body that determines wine laws is admitting 40 more communities — a lucrative move for those joining the exclusive club of champagne producers. |
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Parents Reject Venezuelan President's Curriculum
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is on a crusade to develop young people loyal to his leftist ideas by reforming the educational system. The government wants to install a new curriculum that celebrates socialism. But the plan has generated a formidable opposition made up of irate parents. |
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Water-Cooled Supercomputer Set to Study Climate
IBM has designed a supercomputer that is water-cooled. It's the first one in the United States, and it is destined for scientists working on models of how climate is likely to change regional weather patterns — one of the most demanding problems in the climate science world. |
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