Chavez Frias: Venezuela and China advance in strategic economic allianceSpeaking to Chinese businessmen and diplomats visiting Venezuela for trade talks, President Hugo Chavez Frias has stated that he wishes to share strategic reserves with China through bilateral oil agreements.
The President says the main gateway of cooperation between the two countries will be based on agricultural production and he has confirmed that Venezuela is ready to subscribe to a special fund to finance agricultural development products between the two countries.
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Chinese less keen to hold US dollarsChinese households have become more reluctant to hold US dollar deposits, the central bank found in a survey published earlier this week, less than two months after the yuan was revalued.
Fewer people deposited dollars in the three months to the end of August and more people withdrew them, the survey found.
Among 20,000 households surveyed in 50 cities in mid to late August, 6.9 percent had withdrawn or deposited foreign currency in the previous three months, down f... (more)
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Little Progress In FBI Probe of Anthrax Attacks: Internal Report Compiled As Agents Hope for a BreakFour years after the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, one of the most exhaustive investigations in FBI history has yielded no arrests and is showing signs of growing cold as officials have sharply reduced the number of agents on the case.
FBI agents and postal inspectors have pursued leads on four continents, conducted more than 8,000 interviews and carried out dozens of searches of houses, laboratories and other locations. They traveled to Afghanistan twice in the past 16 months to f... (more)
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21 detainees treated in Guantanamo hunger strikeSan Juan, Puerto Rico -- Three other detainees have been hospitalized after refusing meals at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, bringing to 21 the number being treated from a hunger strike that involves a quarter of the camp's prisoners, an official said Wednesday.
All 21 detainees are being tube-fed through their noses, up from 13 a day ago, said Sgt. Justin Behrens, a spokesman at Guantanamo. The military has said it views a hunger strike as a form of suicide and will tak... (more)
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U.S. says Venezuela no longer ally in war on drugs: Bush stops short of cutting aid to the nation because money helps fund democracy effortsWASHINGTON - President Bush has taken Venezuela off his list of allies in the war on drugs, saying that President Hugo Chavez spurned anti-drug cooperation with U.S. officials and fired its effective law enforcement officers.
But the White House waived the cuts in U.S. foreign aid usually attached to the "decertification" so that it can continue to support pro-democracy groups in Venezuela that oppose the leftist Chavez.
Bush's decision is expected to sharply exacer... (more)
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Detective story that linked £1m Pinochet cash to Britain's biggest arms company· US investigators find 100 accounts linked to general
· Secret payments listed to alleged front companies
David Leigh, Jonathan Franklin in Santiago and Rob Evans
Thursday September 15, 2005
The Guardian
Augusto Pinochet, the 89-year-old former strongman of Chile and alleged torturer and murderer, has frequently slipped his pursuers, pleading ill health or relying on protectors at home in the Chilean military. But now an unexpecte... (more)
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U.S. Agenda on Iran Lacking Key SupportUNITED NATIONS, Sept. 15 -- Despite an intense lobbying effort at the most senior levels, the Bush administration failed to persuade three key countries Thursday to back the United States in pressuring Iran to give up sensitive aspects of its nuclear energy program, diplomats and officials said.
Russia, China and India either publicly or privately turned down U.S. requests to help report Iran's case next week to the U.N. Security Council, which has the authority to impose economic... (more)
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US consumer confidence plunges to 10 year lowHurricane Katrina delivered a serious blow to US consumer confidence, sending it to its lowest level for a decade in September, according to figures released on Friday.
The University of Michigan’s widely-watched initial sentiment index for September slumped from 76.9 from 89.1 last month - more than economists had expected. The worst deterioration came in the longer-term measures, with the index for the one-year outlook dropping 37 points.
Expectations about ... (more)
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California bans school junk foodGovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation to ban some junk foods from California high schools, in an effort to stem child obesity.
"We are going to terminate obesity in California once and for all," the former bodybuilder and actor said.
The new laws extend to high schools a ban on soft drinks already in place at primary schools.
New limits on fat and sugar content have also been set for vending-machine snacks and food sold in school store... (more)
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The Danish government provides prostitutes for the disabledThe Danish government is under attack for paying for its disabled citizens to have sex with prostitutes.
The official 'Sex, irrespective of disability' campaign pays sex workers to provide sex once a month for disabled people.
The legal guidelines advise: "It could be of great importance that the carer speaks to the prostitute together with the person in their care, to help them express their wishes."
But opposition parties have attacked the regulatio... (more)
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Right-Wing Talking Points on Katrina SpeechThink Progress obtained the following talking points on President Bush’s primetime speech on Katrina tonight that were distributed to right-wing pundits. The text is as follows:
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President Katrina Speech Talkers:
* America and the Gulf Coast are recovering from one of the greatest natural disasters this country has ever faced.
* Tonight President Bush will talk about how there is some optimism that we can see as we move ... (more)
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Who Are The 75,000 Body Bags For? Questions mount over Hurricane Katrina's death count. Estimates are now well below 10,000 with the death toll currently standing at 648 for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. So, why did the Bush Administration order 75,000 body bags?
Along that line, other things don’t add up. For instance, why did FEMA contact a crematorium in the local area; how could people identify their loved ones if only ashes remain? Why did FEMA rebuff efforts of volunteer morticians? Why did the... (more)
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U.S. law professor proposes assassinating more suspected terrorists 09/12/05 "Post Gazette" -- -- In June, about 100 people gathered at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, to hear a lecture by John Yoo on "fighting the new terrorism." Mr. Yoo recommended an unusual idea: assassinating more suspected terrorists.
A law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, he said his proposal would require "a change in the way we think about the executive order banning assassination, which has been with us sin... (more)
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Nuke 'em if ya got 'emThe Bush administration's Orwellian doctrine of pre-emptive military attack as a justifiable form of self-defense has spawned a proposal from the Pentagon to incorporate nuclear weapons among the nation's "defensive" options.
In other words, in for a dime, in for a dollar. If you're going to strike first anyway to prevent an enemy from using weapons of mass destruction against America or its allies, why not blast 'em with the Big One and be done with it?
Here's why:... (more)
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America Has Fallen to a Jacobin CoupThe most important casualties of September 11 are respect for truth and American liberty. Propaganda has replaced deliberation based on objective assessment of fact. The resurrection of the Star Chamber has made moot the legal protections of liberty.
The US invasion of Iraq was based on the deliberate suppression of fact. The invasion was not the result of mistake... (more)
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China to be world's top exporter by 2010 The OECD predicts that China's economy could overtake those of all but three of its 30 members in size and topple the US as the world's biggest exporter in five years.
It said that the ranking for 2010 would be measured in current prices and exchange rates, adding that China could by then account for 10pc of global trade in goods and services. In its first economic survey of China, the OECD lauds the country's massive expansion over the past two decades, which has seen gross dome... (more)
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Gold hits $463 as mining stocks rallySAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rallied afresh Friday to close out the week with a $10.30 gain, as continued inflation worry combined with buoyant demand to push the price of the precious metal to fresh highs for 2005.
A turn higher in the U.S. dollar briefly blunted gold's advance, although only marginally. The greenback's gains stemmed from U.S. data that showed foreign capital inflows rising in July. See Currencies.
Gold for December delivery closed u... (more)
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Antiwar protesters face federal conspiracy charges By CLAIRE SCHAEFFER-DUFFY
The U.S. federal government is prosecuting four Catholic peace activists from Ithaca, N.Y., after a state court jury refused to convict them last year for their antiwar protest at a local U.S. military recruiting station. The federal charges made against the activists include “conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States,” a crime punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
“The fede... (more)
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Chipping away at our freedomHas anybody else been wondering what former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson has been up to since he left his position as U.S. secretary of health and human services earlier this year? It turns out he assumed a position as a director of VeriChip Corp., a division of Florida-based Applied Digital and a leading developer of human implanted microchip technology, also known as radio-frequency identification.
Such devices have been used for years to help identify pets that are lost or oth... (more)
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Canada official: Torture can be toleratedOTTAWA, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A Canadian official, during a hearing about a Canadian citizen deported to Syria, said the country will cooperate with other nations that practice torture.
The Globe and Mail reports Canadian Security Intelligence Service lawyer Barbara McIsaac said that the government will work on anti-terrorism cases with governments that practice torture if it will save lives.
She was speaking at a commission hearing looking into Maher Arar's allegations... (more)
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Terror detention plans outlined: Home Secretary Charles Clarke has backed calls for police to be able to hold terror suspects for up to three months without chargeSuspects can currently be held for just two weeks. Critics say the proposed extension amounts to internment.
Mr Clarke has published full details of proposed new anti-terror laws against indirect incitement and "glorification" of terrorism and preparing attacks.
He wants cross-party consensus to get the laws through Parliament quickly.
But already the opposition parties say they have problems with parts of the plans.
Ministers said aft... (more)
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Passport To The Biometric EraSHOPPERS in the Capital have been given the chance to try out futuristic technology soon to be introduced in new passports.
A roadshow hosted by the Passport Office to allow the public to test biometric technology visited the Gyle Centre yesterday.
Scores of passers-by stopped to chat with Home Office Minister Andy Burnham and have their details added to a temporary database, to be deleted after the roadshow leaves Edinburgh.
The new ePassports, which... (more)
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Wiretap mosques, Romney suggestsWASHINGTON -- Governor Mitt Romney raised the prospect of wiretapping mosques and conducting surveillance of foreign students in Massachusetts, as he issued a broad call yesterday for the federal government to devote far more money and attention to domestic intelligence gathering.
In remarks that caused alarm among civil libertarians and advocates for immigrants rights, Romney said in a speech to the Heritage Foundation that the United States needs to radically rethink how it guar... (more)
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Photos show North Korea working on nuclear reactorNEW satellite photos have shown for the first time that North Korea has resumed some work on a nuclear reactor that could enable the communist state to vastly increase stocks of weapons-grade plutonium.
The photos, obtained by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, also appear to confirm reports that the North has restocked a smaller plutonium-producing reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. The new images came to light as six-country talks to end... (more)
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