City Officials Still At Loss To Explain Foul Odor(CBS) NEW YORK - It's the smell that's being "heard" around the country. It's seems everybody is talking about the gaseous odor that took over Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday morning.
"It smelled like leaking gas. When you turn on your stove," Shira Gordon said. "It was just a very strong odor."
Said Mayor Mike Bloomberg: "The smell is there. We don't know the source of it."
Department of Environmental Protection and Con Edison crews hav... (more) Flashback: How the U.S. Army Carried out a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway |
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Officials Now Searching For Cause Of Bird DeathsCongress Avenue is now open after being closed for nine hours after 63 dead birds were found in Downtown Austin.
A few of those birds were found alive and had awkward movements and the inability to fly.
Authorities said Monday that the birds don't pose a threat to public health.
"At this time, based on that preliminary evidence, we do not feel that there's a threat to the public health, but we do want to take every precaution necessary to ensure the p... (more)
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Iraq war could cost US over $2 trillion, says Nobel prize-winning economistThe real cost to the US of the Iraq war is likely to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion (£1.1 trillion), up to 10 times more than previously thought, according to a report written by a Nobel prize-winning economist and a Harvard budget expert.
The study, which expanded on traditional estimates by including such costs as lifetime disability and healthcare for troops injured in the conflict as well as the impact on the American economy, concluded that the US government is ... (more)
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Fair Jury Could Crack Diana Cover-Up A ludicrous attempt on behalf of the Royal family to have its own household members staff a jury looking into the death of Princess Diana has failed, opening up for the first time the possibility that a fair jury inquest could crack the cover-up behind the 1997 Paris car crash that also killed Dodi Al Fayed.
At a preliminary hearing today that will decide whether a formal inquest, a legally mandated routine procedure under British law, into Diana's death ... (more)
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US twists civilian arms to fill Fortress BaghdadAt the heart of George W. Bush’s “new way forward” – which the president is expected to announce on Wednesday and involve substantial troop reinforcements – is the plan already under way to expand the US civilian presence across Iraq and complete the world’s largest embassy in Baghdad.
Construction of what critics call “Fortress Baghdad” has led to arguments inside the State Department amid fears that the overwhelming diplomatic pres... (more)
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Diana: Time to end the cover-up LAWYERS will today argue that police interviews with Prince Charles over Princess Diana’s death must be made public.
They will say that the move to reveal details of the secret interviews by the detectives probing the car crash which killed her is vital to quash allegations of a cover-up.
The demand will be made at a preliminary hearing of the inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed.
Lawyers for Dodi’s father, Harrods chairman Moh... (more)
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Mishap In Dismantling Nuclear WarheadA watchdog group charges a nuclear warhead nearly exploded in Texas when it was being dismantled at the government's Pantex facility near Amarillo. The Project on Government Oversight says it has been told by knowledgeable experts that the warhead nearly detonated in 2005 because an unsafe amount of pressure was applied while it was being disassembled, The Austin American-Statesman reports.
The U.S. Energy Department fined the plant's operators $110,000 last month.
... (more)
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Military `surge' not enough to save Iraq, U.S. commander says BAGHDAD, Iraq - In his first wide-ranging interview, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq conceded Sunday that a military "surge" escalation would not be enough to rescue Iraq, advocating economic and political changes as well, as top Democratic lawmakers in Washington stiffened their opposition to any escalation of U.S. troop strength.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he believed that a combination of jobs, provincial elections, anti-militia legislation and stronger Iraqi security forc... (more)
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U.S. moving to refurbish its nuclear arsenalThe Bush administration is expected to announce this week a major step forward in the building of the country's first new nuclear warhead in nearly two decades. It will propose combining elements of competing designs from two weapons laboratories in an approach that some experts argue is untested and risky.
The new weapon would not add to but replace the nation's existing arsenal of aging warheads with a new generation meant to be sturdier, more reliable, safer from accidental det... (more)
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Britons to be scanned for FBI database · Anger over airport fingerprint plan
· Terror tests to start this summer
Millions of Britons who visit the United States are to have their fingerprints stored on the FBI database alongside those of criminals, in a move that has outraged civil rights groups.
The Observer has established that under new plans to combat terrorism, the US government will demand that visitors have all 10 fingers scanned when they enter the country. The information w... (more)
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'Council tax will rise each time you improve your home' Homeowners will receive higher council tax bills every time they improve their house under a Government proposal to revalue all properties once a year.
Critics said the plans are a stealth tax designed to exploit soaring house prices, and that revaluing all 21million homes in England every year could cost as much as £5billion.
Council tax is currently charged according to a band system based on the value of properties in 1990 and a house's value is only re-as... (more)
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What's A Scenic View Worth?David Bischoff lights a gas lantern in his tiny cabin and gazes out the window. Two forested peaks rise beyond a snow-strewn field of hay. It's a view that's costing him dearly.
To keep homeowners informed, property tax assessors in New Hampshire have begun to spell out how much a noteworthy view factors into their appraisals. In Mr. Bischoff's case, his cabin, outhouse and land were valued at $43,000 — but the mountain vista added $200,000 on top of that. That translated in... (more)
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CBS: U.S. Strikes Al Qaeda In Somalia(CBS/AP) A U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.
The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa, Martin reports. Those terror attacks killed more than 200 people.
The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing thousand... (more)
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Serve country till you're 55SQUADDIES could still be serving in the trenches at the age of FIFTY-FIVE under the Army’s new recruitment limit.
Top brass have raised the top age for recruits by seven years to 33 to counter their desperate shortage of personnel.
The last time the limit was that high was during the last days of the British Empire 59 years ago in the aftermath of World War Two.
Amazingly it means soldiers who join up on a normal 22-year engagement could be figh... (more)
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A Mortgage? Give Us Your Fingerprints HOME seekers will soon have to show their FINGERPRINTS to take out a mortgage.
Banks and building societies will introduce the measure for first-time buyers to clamp down on identity fraud.
The shock move comes as the Government prepares plans to introduce its controversial ID cards.
Home Secretary John Reid asked lenders what checks they would like for granting a mortgage.
They want fingerprint and facial biometrics - which will be in... (more)
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Gates Foundation invests heavily in sub-prime lendersSeattle — WHEN the cold call came from Ameriquest Mortgage Co., a top lender, Jeff and Cheryl Busby were intrigued.
They had been wanting to renovate the garage of their small bungalow, a stone's throw from picturesque Green Lake. The agent, they said, promised that refinancing would give them $20,000 in cash, yet lower the monthly payments.
The agent was a smooth talker, and the Busbys were not concerned that he didn't offer them a chance to study the documen... (more)
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The Gates cash that keeps people healthy but makes them sickJUSTICE ETA, 14 months old, held out his tiny thumb. An ink spot certified that he had been immunised against polio and measles, thanks to a vaccination drive in Ebocha, Nigeria, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
But polio is not the only threat Justice faces; he has suffered from respiratory ailments since birth. Many people blame this on the flames and smoke that rise 100 metres over a nearby oil plant. The plant is owned by the Italian petroleum giant Eni, whose... (more)
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Make an arrest, get a T-shirtLowering crime is a full-time job.
It's a task that takes everyone from the patrolman stopping drunk drivers to the detective tracking fugitives. But sometimes that work goes unnoticed, Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow said Friday.
The chief hopes to encourage those good deeds through a new reward program.
"The most valuable resource I have is the men and women wearing a blue uniform," he said. "Every day and night, there are ... (more)
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Troops at Girit outpost: We were ordered to shoot to killSoldiers and officers at the Girit outpost in the Gaza Strip claim to have received orders that at night, they were always to shoot to kill - even though this violated the official rules of engagement in Gaza, according to a High Court of Justice ruling that ordered the army to open an investigation into the issue.
The decision, issued in response to a petition by the family of Iman al-Hams, a 13-year-old girl who was killed by soldiers at the outpost in October 2004, was handed d... (more)
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Dallas Based Food Chain To Accept Mexican PesosStarting Monday, patrons of the Dallas-based Pizza Patrón chain, which caters heavily to Latinos, will be able to purchase American pizzas with Mexican pesos.
Restaurant experts and economists said they knew of no other food chain with locations so far from the Mexican border offering such a service.
"We're trying to reach out to our core customer," Antonio Swad, president of Pizza Patrón Inc., said Friday.
"We know they come back [from ... (more)
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City Hall pushed to buy $1.5m system to track gunshots Boston city councilors, law enforcement officials, and community leaders are pressing City Hall to come up with $1.5 million to buy a promising acoustic gunshot-detection system.
The sensor system could blanket a 5.6-square-mile swath of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods -- the source of 80 to 85 percent of calls citywide reporting shots fired -- and give officers a jump on arresting suspects, improve police response time to 911 calls, and possibly reduce firearm violence, ... (more)
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UK Government Manipulating 9/11 Petition Data? It appears the British Government are removing names and web sites from an on line petition calling for further investigation into the events of 9/11, posted on Tony Blair’s’ web site.
The petition http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/9-11-Truth is attracting attention from 9/11 skeptics in the UK and currently contains 289 signatures.
A member of RINF signed t... (more)
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Death in HadithaU.S. Marines gunned down five unarmed Iraqis who stumbled onto the scene of a 2005 roadside bombing in Haditha, Iraq, according to eyewitness accounts that are part of a lengthy investigative report obtained by The Washington Post.
Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, the squad's leader, shot the men one by one after Marines ordered them out of a white taxi in the moments following the explosion, which killed one Marine and injured two others, witnesses told investigators. Another Marine... (more)
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Iraqi Girl tells of US Attack in Haditha Ten-year-old Iman Walid witnessed the killing of seven members of her family in an attack by American marines last November. The interview with Iman was filmed exclusively for ITV News by Ali Hamdani,our Iraqi video diarist.
... (more)
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Feds pushing for Internet recordsMINNEAPOLIS — The federal government wants your Internet provider to keep track of every Web site you visit.
For more than a year, the U.S. Justice Department has been in discussions with Internet companies and privacy rights advocates, trying to come up with a plan that would make it easier for investigators to check records of Web traffic.
The idea is to help law enforcement track down child pornographers. But some see it as another step toward total surveil... (more)
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Rumsfeld Filled His Pockets with Pyongyang's Nuclear LootIt's a well-known fact--oft detailed in this column--that the boys in the Bush Regime swing both ways. We speak, of course, of their proclivity--their apparently uncontrollable craving--for stuffing their trousers with loot from both sides of whatever war or military crisis is going at the moment.
That's why it came as no surprise to read last week that just before he joined the Regime's crusade against evildoers everywhere (especially rogue states that pursue the development of t... (more)
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Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on IranISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.
Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.
The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a for... (more)
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