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Sen. Biden's mother-in-law dies
(CNN)"Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's mother-in-law died Sunday afternoon, and the Obama campaign has canceled the Delaware senator's schedule through Tuesday, a spokesman said.
Jill Biden's mother after a long illness, said spokesman David Wade. "Other details will follow, but we appreciate everyone's respect for the family's privacy during this difficult time." (CNN)"Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden's mother-in-law died Sunday afternoon, and the Obama campaign has canceled the D... more -
German bank clinches rescue deal
A top German bank was on the brink of collapse after a 35bn euro ($48bn; £27.2bn) rescue plan collapsed.
Germany's second-largest commercial property lender, Hypo Real Estate, said a banking consortium had withdrawn their support for the deal. Correspondents say its failure will put further strain on financial institutions in other countries. The news came after EU leaders at a Paris summit refused to commit to a US-style rescue plan for banks.
Hypo Real Estate, which has large amounts of bad debt, has suffered from the credit squeeze in international markets. The bank said a consortium of German financial institutions involved in a government-led rescue plan pulled out of the negotiations after refusing to come up with nearly 35bn euros ($50bn; £28bn) for a bail-out.
The reasons why the consortium pulled out are unclear but a Hypo Real Estate spokesman said the property lender was fighting for its survival. Some analysts are saying the bank will not last more than a few days without a rescue package, so action must be taken before the markets open on Monday. Another meeting of government representatives and private bankers is expected to take place on Sunday.
(continues at link) A top German bank was on the brink of collapse after a 35bn euro ($48bn; £27.2bn) rescue plan collapsed. ... more -
Dubai aims to top its own world's tallest tower
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - With its world's tallest building nearing completion, Dubai said Sunday it is embarking on an even more ambitious skyscraper: one that will soar more than 10 American football fields.
That's about two-thirds of a mile or the height of more than three of New York's Chrysler Buildings stacked end-to-end.
Babel had nothing on this place.
"This is unbelievably groundbreaking design," Chief Executive Chris O'Donnell said during a briefing at the company's sales center, not far from the proposed site. "This still takes my breath away."
The tower, which will take more than a decade to complete, will be the centerpiece of a sprawling development state-owned builder Nakheel plans to create in the rapidly growing "New Dubai" section of the city. Foundation work has already begun, O'Donnell said.
The area is located between two of the city's artificial palm-shaped islands, which Nakheel also built. The project will include a manmade inland harbor and 40 additional towers up to 90 floors high.
About 150 elevators will carry employees and workers to the Nakheel Tower's more than 200 floors, the company said. The building will be composed of four separate towers joined at various levels and centered on an open atrium.
"It does show a lot of confidence in this environment" of worldwide credit problems and a souring global economy, said Marios Maratheftis, Standard Chartered Bank's Dubai-based regional head of research.
As part of government-run conglomerate Dubai World, Nakheel has played a major role in creating modern-day Dubai, a city that has blossomed from a tiny Persian Gulf fishing and pearling village into a major business and tourism hub in a matter of decades.
Besides the growing archipelago of man-made islands for which it is best known, Nakheel is responsible for a number of the city's malls, hotels and hundreds of apartment buildings.
The company said the new project is inspired by Islamic design and draws inspiration from sites such as the Alhambra in Spain and the harbor of Alexandria in Egypt.
"This is nothing like it in Dubai," said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Nakheel's chairman.
Perhaps not quite. But Dubai is already home to the world's tallest building, even if it remains unfinished.
That skyscraper, the Burj Dubai, or Dubai Tower in Arabic, is being built by Nakheel's chief competitor, Emaar Properties.
Emaar has kept the final height of the silvery steel-and-glass tower a closely guarded secret, saying only that it stood at a "new record height" of 2,257 feet at the start of last month. It's due to be finished next September.
The final height of Nakheel's proposed tower is likewise a secret, as is the price tag. The company would only say it will be more than a kilometer (3,281 feet) tall.
O'Donnell said he was confident that Nakheel could pay for the project despite the financial troubles roiling the world's economy.
He also brushed aside concerns by some analysts that Dubai's property market is becoming overheated and due for a potentially sharp correction.
"In Dubai, demand outstrips supply," he said. "There might be a slowdown, but there definitely won't be a crash." DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - With its world's tallest building nearing completion, Dubai said Sunday it is embarking on an even ... more -
Kimbo Slice knocked out in 14 seconds
Late replacement Seth Petruzelli stopped hyped heavyweight Kimbo Slice in just 14 seconds Saturday night, handing the former street fighter his first mixed martial arts loss.
Petruzelli, 28, had been slated to fight on the undercard against Aaron Rosa at the Bank Atlantic Center. But he was bumped up to the heavyweight main event of the EliteXC "CBS Saturday Night Fights" card when the athletic commission sidelined Ken Shamrock. The UFC Hall of Famer needed six stitches over his left eye after an old cut reopened when he was bumping heads warming up earlier in the day. Late replacement Seth Petruzelli stopped hyped heavyweight Kimbo Slice in just 14 seconds Saturday night, handing the former street fi... more -
UK government will spy on every call and e-mail
Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telephone records of everyone in Britain. GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre, has already been given up to £1 billion to finance the first stage of the project.
Hundreds of clandestine probes will be installed to monitor customers live on two of the country’s biggest internet and mobile phone providers - thought to be BT and Vodafone. BT has nearly 5m internet customers.
Ministers are braced for a backlash similar to the one caused by their ID cards programme. Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: “Any suggestion of the government using existing powers to intercept communications data without public discussion is going to sound extremely sinister.”
MI5 currently conducts limited e-mail and website intercepts which are approved under specific warrants by the home secretary.
Further details of the new plan will be unveiled next month in the Queen’s speech.
The Home Office stressed no formal decision had been taken but sources said officials had made clear that ministers had agreed “in principle” to the programme.
Officials claim live monitoring is necessary to fight terrorism and crime. However, critics question whether such a vast system can be kept secure. A total of 57 billion text messages were sent in the UK last year - 1,800 every second. Ministers are considering spending up to £12 billion on a database to monitor and store the internet browsing habits, e-mail and telep... more -
Afghan war cannot be won
Commander of the British 16th Air Assault Brigade Mark Carleton-Smith admits that the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) is unable to “achieve a decisive victory”. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr. Carleton-Smith warned the British society against over expectations in terms of the successful outcome of the ISAF campaign. The British ISAF contingent is comprised of 7800 men. Commander of the British 16th Air Assault Brigade Mark Carleton-Smith admits that the International Security Assistance Force in Afgha... more
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Guidelines expand FBI's surveillance powers
Justice Department officials released new guidelines yesterday that empower FBI agents to use intrusive techniques to gather intelligence within the United States, alarming civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers who worry that they invite privacy violations and other abuses.
The new road map allows investigators to recruit informants, employ physical surveillance and conduct interviews in which agents disguise their identities in an effort to assess national security threats. FBI agents could pursue each of those steps without any single fact indicating a person has ties to a terrorist organization.
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said the guidelines are necessary to fulfill the FBI's core mission to predict threats and respond even before an attack takes place. The ground rules will help the bureau become "a more flexible and adept collector of intelligence," as independent commissions urged after the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, Mukasey said in a statement yesterday.
The guidelines, which harmonize five different road maps dating back more than a generation, take effect Dec. 1. That is two months later than initially planned, and authorities said the delay was a concession to privacy advocates and Arab American groups who expressed concern that their members could be subject to racial or ethnic profiling.
Justice Department leaders rewrote a key section of the guidelines concerning agents' infiltration of groups and attendance at demonstrations. Under the new language, agents would be able to investigate the likelihood of violence stemming from a planned demonstration for as many as 30 days, with renewals subject to supervisory approval.
Congressional staff members said the revisions were superficial, and the American Civil Liberties Union immediately condemned the road map. Critics had asked Justice Department leaders to wait until a new president takes office, an approach that administration officials rejected.
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's Washington legislative office, said: "Since, under these guidelines, a generalized 'threat' is enough to begin an investigation, the FBI will be given carte blanche to begin surveillance without factual evidence. . . . These guidelines will lead to political witch hunts and more unwarranted investigations of political enemies and peace groups."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said the grant of new authority to FBI agents flies in the face of recent history, including overreaching and sloppy record-keeping by agents who demanded too much secret information from telephone companies and Internet service providers as part of national security investigations.
Bush administration officials assert that the overhaul is merely a common-sense change that would give FBI agents who pursue national security leads the same power as agents who investigate criminal offenses.
Civil liberties activists yesterday raised anew questions about the expanded role of the FBI in collecting an array of foreign intelligence within U.S. borders, absent evidence of a crime. For instance, the guidelines allow FBI agents to conduct interviews and monitor the movement of people who may possess useful information on subjects of general interest to American policymakers, such as a foreign government's oil exports. Justice Department officials released new guidelines yesterday that empower FBI agents to use intrusive techniques to gather intellige... more -
Non-profit offers $100k reward for info tying Rove to election rigging
A non-profit organization has offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who can supply information tying Republican strategist Karl Rove and computer expert Michael Connell to illegally manipulated elections, according to a Friday press release.
The group is called Velvet Revolution and is looking for evidence of criminal activity and Connell's relationship with Rove.
Citing testimony from another technology expert named Stephen Spoonamore, Velvet Revolution accuses the Republican Party of rigging elections for years by using Connell to exploit electronic voting systems.
Spoonamore filed an affidavit warning that the coming presidential election will be stolen by the GOP unless it is exposed. A colleague of Connell, Spoonamore gives evidence explaining Connell's involvement with past election rigging.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Nonprofit_offers_100k_rew... A non-profit organization has offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who can supply information tying Republican strategist Karl Rove and... more -
Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil
A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.
Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.
The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.
The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair.
Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd. A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye. ... more -
Deceased Israeli astronaut's diary goes on display in Jerusalem
The diary of an Israeli astronaut who lost his life in the space shuttle Columbia's crash in 2003 fell to earth and landed in a place called Palestine.
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"Pages from an Israeli astronaut's diary that survived the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia and a 37-mile fall to earth are going on display this weekend for the first time in Jerusalem.
The diary belonged to Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut and one of seven crew members killed when Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering the atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. Part of the restored diary will be displayed at the Israel Museum beginning Sunday.
A little over two months after the shuttle explosion, NASA searchers found 37 pages from Ramon's diary, wet and crumpled, in a field just outside the U.S. town of Palestine, Texas.
"It's almost a miracle that it survived — it's incredible," Zalmona said. There is "no rational explanation" for how it was recovered when most of the shuttle was not, he said."
You can check out more under the link. The diary of an Israeli astronaut who lost his life in the space shuttle Columbia's crash in 2003 fell to earth and landed in a p... more -
Yoga banned from public schools?
"Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Martha Duchscherer and Spanish teacher Kerry Perretta also were developing a districtwide program. But those plans were halted after parents and others in the community complained students were being indoctrinated in Hindu rites." "Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Mart... more
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Somalia: Four pirate attacks in 24 hours
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- There have been four failed pirate attacks in the last 24 hours off the lawless Somali coast despite the presence of six American warships guarding a hijacked ship full of weapons, a U.S. Navy spokeswoman said Saturday.
The U.S. Navy released this observance photo of the MV Faina, which is loaded with weapons and tanks.
Navy Cmdr. Jane Campbell, from the 5th Fleet in Bahrain, says three attacks were averted because crew members escaped at high speed.
Another attack was foiled because the pirates were badly prepared: The ladder they had brought to climb on to the ship was too short.
The Navy says three of the attacks were in the heavily patrolled corridor within the Gulf of Aden. The location of another was not precisely known but was somewhere off the Somali coast.
Last week's attack on a Ukrainian ship laden with 33 Soviet-designed tanks and weapons has focused international attention on piracy in Somalia. American officials have expressed fears the weapons onboard the MV Faina could fall into the hands of Somalia's al Qaeda-linked Islamic insurgency. Watch Russian warships move to confront pirates »
Eight European countries have offered to help form an anti-piracy force. On Friday, Russia called for greater efforts to protect the Gulf of Aden waters, one of the world's most important shipping lanes. There have been nearly 70 pirate attacks this year and some 26 ships successfully hijacked. MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- There have been four failed pirate attacks in the last 24 hours off the lawless Somali coast despite the pr... more -
Police express "disgust" at crowd encouraging Shaun Dykes to jump
Trained police negotiators were trying to talk 17-year-old Shaun Dykes into coming down from the side of a multi storey car park in Kilburn, the scene soon attracted a crowd who began to watch and even film the event.
Mike Creedon, Derbyshire's Police Constable, expressed his anger at members of the crowd who encouraged Shaun to jump.
"It disgusts me to think of their motivation and their lack of compassion towards a fellow human being obviously in distress"
The police spent three hours negotiating with Shaun before it ended in tragedy as he fell to his death. The people who encouraged Shaun to jump were not arrested. Trained police negotiators were trying to talk 17-year-old Shaun Dykes into coming down from the side of a multi storey car park in Ki... more -
Art or porn?
Supermodel Lily Cole appears in this month's Playboy, but is it tasteful?
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OJ Simpson found guilty on all counts
The jury has reached a verdict in OJ Simpson's armed robbery and kidnapping trial in Las Vegas, Nevada, a defense lawyer and a court official said Friday.
Simpson was found Guilty on all counts.
The jury reached the verdict 13 years to the day OJ Simpson was acquitted of two murders.
Simpson arrived at the Clark County Justice Center at around 10:50pm (1:50am Saturday ET). The verdicts were expected to be read once all of the lawyers and defendants arrived in the courtroom.
The jury of nine men and three women, none of them African-American, began deliberations Friday after hearing from 22 witnesses over 12 days of testimony. Chief among the witnesses were seven of the nine people inside Room 1203 of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino for the September 13, 2007 confrontation.
The evidence included testimony from the two dealers, four co-defendants who cut plea deals and cooperated with prosecutors and hours of often-profane, crackling, secretly recorded audiotapes.
Prosecutors alleged that the men, led by Simpson, burst into the room, flashed a gun and threatened memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Al Beardsley.
The men then filled two pillowcases with Simpson trinkets, signed Pete Rose baseballs and Joe Montana lithographs. Simpson's defense attorneys maintained their client was merely trying to retrieve personal photographs and other mementos that belonged to him. The jury has reached a verdict in OJ Simpson's armed robbery and kidnapping trial in Las Vegas, Nevada, a defense lawyer and a co... more -
Norovirus epidemic besieges Georgetown, US
Over 150 afflicted ... and it's getting crazy over there. Gasto-intestinal madness has struck. Even intercollegiate sporting events were cancelled because of this outbreak. That's how serious this is. Wow ...
Students should get in the habit of washing their dishes and washing their hands more often. Over 150 afflicted ... and it's getting crazy over there. Gasto-intestinal madness has struck. Even intercollegiate sporting ev... more -
New teenage sex law 'will make criminals of young girls'
New plans to reform the laws governing teenage sex in Scotland could "criminalise" young teenage girls for having intercourse, MSPs have been told. The bill confirms it is an offence for children between 13 and 15 to have sex – and this applies to girls as well as boys.
Professor Kathleen Marshall said that the proposal, which could see girls facing prosecution for consensual sex in the same way as boys, should be abandoned until its likely consequences can be studied. She warned that the move could have a range of unintended consequences – including criminalising young girls and discouraging them from seeking medical advice.
The government decision ignores a previous report by the Scottish Law Commission which recommended consensual sex between older children should not be a criminal offence, and should instead be grounds for referral to a children's reporter on welfare grounds, effectively decriminalising sex between youngsters over 13.
A Scottish Government policy document published with the bill said: "We have adopted this approach as we believe that the way in which the law currently acts to criminalise only boys (where the activity is consensual and both are of similar age) is discriminatory." New plans to reform the laws governing teenage sex in Scotland could "criminalise" young teenage girls for having intercours... more -
Criminal mastermind uses Craigslist to orchestrate heist
A man successfully stole bags of money from an armored truck. The crook wore a yellow vest, safety goggles, a blue shirt, and a respirator mask during the robbery. Using a Craigslist posting, he was able to get a dozen unsuspecting people to come dressed the same way. This diversionary tactic allowed him to evade police.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10057472-36.html A man successfully stole bags of money from an armored truck. The crook wore a yellow vest, safety goggles, a blue shirt, and a respir... more -
Bailout bill is law
President Bush signed the bailout bill into law shortly after the House passed the revised version of $700 billion plan in a vote of 263 to 171. intended to bolster the ailing U.S. financial system. The House rejected the original bill on Monday, sending stocks tumbling around the world. President Bush signed the bailout bill into law shortly after the House passed the revised version of $700 billion plan in a vote of 2... more
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Apple stocks plummet after false iReport on Steve Jobs heart attack
Citizen journalism FAIL. Apparently a CNN iReporter said Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER this morning after suffering a serious heart attack. That report was then categorically denied by Apple and the story removed from CNN, but not before Apples stocks dove off a cliff. Stocks have since rebounded, but the SEC is going to investigate what this iReporter was thinking. Citizen journalism FAIL. Apparently a CNN iReporter said Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER this morning after suffering a serious heart ... more
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