Taiwan A 'Sovereign Nation': RumsfeldU.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called Taiwan a "sovereign nation" Tuesday and added that it was Taiwan's choice whether or not to buy a $15 billion weaponry package on offer from the Bush administration.
Rumsfeld added that whatever Taipei decided it would not alter the U.S. legal obligations to assist Taiwan in the event of an attack by mainland China. Rumsfeld also commented that he did not think that the maritime components of the current joint "Peaceful Mission-2005... (more)
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New Study Finds Babies Cry in the Womb – "Even the Bottom Lip Quivers"A new study has revealed that unborn babies cry within the womb. Ultrasound videos taken of infants within the womb revealed 28-week-old babies crying in response to a noise stimulus.
Scientists played a 90-decibel noise to the unborn child, roughly the equivalent of a tummy rumbling, and recorded the effect the noise had via ultrasound. “It was strikingly like an infant crying,” said New Zealand pediatrician Ed Mitchell, who contributed to the US study, according to N... (more)
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NSF Preps New, Improved InternetThe National Science Foundation is backing a major initiative that could lead to a completely new internet architecture, with built-in security measures and support for ubiquitous sensors and wireless communications devices, among other things.
The Global Environment for Networking Investigations, or GENI, will include a research grant program to fund new architectures and an experimental facility, which has not yet been planned in detail.
The little-noticed initia... (more)
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Gov.'s Trip to State Fair Gets a Muted ResponseWith giddy fans and autograph hounds careening toward him, Arnold Schwarzenegger's surprise visit to the State Fair during the 2003 recall campaign was so unrestrained he appeared to have upended California politics.
Those were the early days of politician Schwarzenegger. He traveled back to the State Fair on Friday as a governor with a record and questions about his fundraising, a power blackout in Los Angeles and months of sliding poll numbers.
"It seems like eve... (more)
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Russia to use Israel's methods to fight against terrorismRussia can launch preemptive strikes on terrorist bases in any part of the world
What steps should be taken to quickly unite the nation against the escalation of international terrorism? First of all, society should strengthen its resolve, wipe off the tears and make a sound assessment of the situation the way the Americans did following the September 11th attacks.
No steps of the government will be effective without massive public support. The enemy should be made ... (more)
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British Family threatening legal action because their son's body was returned minus a kidney.In a tale that sounds like a lurid tabloid headline, the British family of Christopher Rochester, killed in an accidental fall from an apartment balcony in Rhodes last year, is threatening legal action against Greece because their son's body was returned minus a kidney.
The Chester-Le-Street Advertiser, the newspaper in Rochester's home town in England, reports that Rochester was in Rhodes with his brother Keith, a disc jockey at the popular resort town of Faliraki. He was working... (more)
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Where is Peace?War is promoted. Anti-war responds.
-Anti-war protests. War counters.
-Somewhere in the middle is the truth.
-Peace.
-Freedom to make a choice.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman sits in confinement at Ft. Lewis, Washington. His crime? Making a choice. He chose Peace.
It’s not about one side winning and the other side losing. Not to Sgt. Benderman. It’s about having knowledge. We all have the right to know the truth about our options, and t... (more)
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Chinese media resisting party controlA rare protest by Chinese journalists at a leading national newspaper offers a window into the intensifying severity of information control in China and the sometimes sophisticated resistance to it by Chinese journalists.
A frank 19-page letter by Li Datong, a senior editor at China Youth Daily, details a struggle between the news staff and senior party officials over policies that the journalists say would encourage propaganda. The paper has been seen as a progressive organ withi... (more)
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US heading for house price crash, Greenspan tells buyersWALL STREET shuddered yesterday after Alan Greenspan, the United States’ central banker, warned American homebuyers that they risk a crash if they continue to drive property prices higher.
He said that the US house-price spiral had become an economic imbalance, threatening stability like the country’s trade gap or its budget deficit.
In a pre-retirement speech to fellow central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Mr Greenspan said that people were investin... (more)
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Daley Questioned By U.S. Attorney's OfficeWith corruption swirling around City Hall, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was questioned Friday by the U.S. Attorney's office in a two-hour session about the scandals in his office.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports that local historians say Daley may be the first Chicago mayor ever to face this kind of questioning here at City Hall. Certainly no mayor dating back to his father was grilled by the feds -- and that covers a half-century.
After the questioning,... (more)
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CIA, Military Men Agree with Pat RobertsonWhile televangelist Pat Robertson has apologized for suggesting that Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez be assassinated, a former military man and an ex-CIA operative have stepped forward to say that his concerns about Chavez aren't exactly unwarranted.
"Chavez is a dangerous guy," retired Col. David Hunt told Bill Bennett's "Morning in America" fill-in host Steve Malzberg on Wednesday. "We helped to elect the son of a gun [and] after 9/11 you don't get to threaten us."
... (more)
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Officer's complaint about shooting inquiry rejectedA firearms officer who complained about the investigation into the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes has had his complaint rejected, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said last night.
The officer took offence to comments made by the commission's deputy chairman, John Wadham, last week, when he disclosed that Sir Ian Blair had resisted the setting up of the inquiry. He said the fledgling commission had won an "important victory" for its independence in overcoming the Me... (more)
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Patriot Act blocks details of complaint against FBIA member of the American Library Association has sued the Justice Department to challenge an FBI demand for records, but the USA Patriot Act prohibits the plaintiff from publicly disclosing its identity or other details of the dispute, according to court documents released Thursday.
The lawsuit comes as Congress prepares to enter final negotiations about renewal of the Patriot Act counterterrorism law, which was overwhelmingly approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But parts ... (more)
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Officers issued Tasers at Cabarrus County high schoolsConcord police officers assigned to city high schools will be armed with Tasers when school starts today.
Concord Police Chief Merl Hamilton told the Cabarrus County School Board of his decision on Thursday during its work session.
School resource officers at Jay M. Robinson, Central Cabarrus and Concord high schools will be issued the weapons today.
Resource officers at those schools were given Tasers stun guns at the end of April as part of a trial ... (more)
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Consumers will foot bill for Net spooksISPs: Proposed legislation could require providers to monitor any Internet communications
Internet providers such as Bell Sympatico and Rogers say consumers might have to foot the bill for the cost of implementing the federal government's controversial new proposals for police interception of Internet communications.
Last week, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler unveiled plans to present a legislative package to cabinet this fall that would require Internet servi... (more)
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China to allow torture expert to visit China has agreed to allow a fact-finding mission by a top UN official mandated with investigating allegations of torture, the UN human rights agency said.
Manfred Nowak, the UN Human Rights Commission's special investigator on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, will visit China from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 to meet with government officials and get a firsthand look at Chinese detention centers.
"There are all kinds of allegations rangin... (more)
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Critics raise alarm over 'exclusive' new terror lawsA cross-party coalition today warned the government that its forthcoming anti-terrorism legislation risks criminalising or excluding people who have already condemned terrorist attacks.
A joint statement, arguing for a "broad consensus" and the involvement of all communities in the fight against terrorism, attracted over 30 signatories. These included the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone; the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Mark Oaten; religious groups, trade unions, comm... (more)
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Rights Group Blasts Russian Prison System, Compares It to GulagRussian non-governmental movement For Human Rights compares the current prison system to the infamous gulags of the Soviet Union, Radio Liberty reported on Friday. The rights group is calling for new legislation allowing public oversight of detention facilities. The activists are also calling for the dismissal of the country’s top prison official.
For Human Rights says its report is based on the monitoring of prisons in some 40 out of Russia’s 89 regions.
... (more)
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Schools block peace groupPaul Waters-Smith, 17, said military recruiters call students sissies and say things like "It's time to be a man" to try to get them to enlist.
On top of the harassment, recruiters target the weak and "promise things that will never happen," the Pine View High School senior said.
Waters-Smith was one of nearly 20 people who urged the Manatee County School Board on Monday night to let groups on campus to counter the messages of the recruiters.
"We are ... (more)
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Smile! On New York rails, it's candid cameraNew York City is putting the "public" into public transit in a big way.
The city's transit authority has awarded a $212 million contract to a group headed by defense contractor Lockheed Martin to install a network of 1,000 state-of-the art surveillance cameras and 3,000 motion sensors in its subway stations and commuter rail stations. These will be in addition to an existing network of 5,700 older-technology cameras.
The new network, according to The New York Times,... (more)
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Robotic spy-planes use shape-shifting wingsSmall robotic spy-planes have been developed that use shape-shifting wings to switch from being stable gliders to ultra-manoeuvrable fliers.
The articulated wings – with a span of 60 centimetres – were inspired by the way seagulls alter their wing-shape during flight, says Rick Lind, an aerospace engineer at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, US.
The robot plane, or drone, has a joint halfway along the leading edge of both its wings. Actuators at... (more)
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Spread of bird flu virus is a 'national emergency'Veterinary experts from across Europe are meeting today to develop a strategy to stop the spread of a deadly strain of avian flu, which one British scientist has declared a national emergency.
Scientists from the other 24 member states are expected to dismiss the drastic measure adopted by the Dutch of locking up all free-range poultry, instead demanding increased surveillance of migratory birds and insisting on extra vigilance among farmers.
The EU's response to th... (more)
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The United States gave Iran its first nuclear reactorMuch of the argument over the intentions of Iran's nuclear program revolves around a single proposition that goes like this. Given that Iran has huge oil and gas reserves, it has no need for nuclear power for domestic energy needs and thus its nuclear program will be used for nuclear weapons.
Like much so-called conventional wisdom, is this is a highly misleading and debatable cliche?
Certainly, the fact that a state is pursuing a nuclear program per se, even if it ... (more)
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