2 Karzai vows to wipe out corruption, forge unity
by Waheedullah Massoud, AFP
9 mins ago
| KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed Tuesday his new government would eradicate corruption and unite the country after months of political chaos, while offering an olive branch to Taliban insurgents.
Under pressure from US President Barack Obama to wipe out corruption after a turbulent election process steeped in fraud, Karzai used his first appearance since electoral authorities declared him president to pledge a cleaner rule.
"Afghanistan's image has been tainted by corruption. Our government's image has been tainted by corruption," Karzai told a press conference flanked by vice-president Mohammad Qasim Fahim, who is widely accused of rights abuses. |
3 Warren Buffett's Berkshire to buy railroad
AFP
2 hrs 57 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - Warren Buffett unveiled Tuesday a deal to take over Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the largest rail operators in North America, calling it a huge bet on the future of the US economy.
The billionaire investor's Berkshire Hathaway holding group said it would purchase the 77.4 percent of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) that it does not currently own for 100 dollars per share in cash and stock.
The offer values the rail operator at 44 billion dollars, including 10 billion dollars in debt. Buffett will invest some 26.3 billion dollars for the new stake. |
4 Fed expected to hold rock-bottom rates
by Veronica Smith, AFP
1 hr 55 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Federal Reserve opens a two-day policy-setting meeting Tuesday expected to leave near-zero interest rates and emergency measures on hold amid signs of a fragile recovery from recession.
The Federal Open Market Committee headed by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke likely will stay its highly accommodative course to help get credit, the lifeblood of the economy, flowing as the recovery progresses in fits and starts, analysts said.
Economists and traders will be poring over the FOMC statement that accompanies the rate decision Wednesday for glimmerings into the central bank's outlook on the sustainability of the nascent recovery and the direction of monetary policy. |
5 Italy's crucifixes in classrooms 'violate rights'
AFP
Tue Nov 3, 11:29 am ET
| STRASBOURG (AFP) - Italy violates parents' right to educate their children along secular lines by displaying crucifixes in classrooms, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday.
The judgment sparked anger in Catholic Italy, with the country's education minister attacking the decision, insisting the crucifix was a "symbol of our tradition".
The Strasbourg court found that: "The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities... restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions." |
6 Robots primed for 'are you being served' role
by Ola Galal, AFP
Tue Nov 3, 10:47 am ET
| AL-AIN, United Arab Emirates (AFP) - A laboratory in the UAE has built what it says is the world's first Arabic-speaking robot which could soon go into mass production to serve as staff in shopping malls.
Ibn Sina, named after the 11th century Islamic philosopher and scientist commonly known in English as Avicenna, was designed by a team at UAE University in the city of Al-Ain, which is part of Abu Dhabi emirate.
"It is the world's first Arabic-speaking conversational humanoid robot," Nikolaos Mavridis, assistant professor of computer science at the university who led the team, told AFP in an interview. |
7 EU hikes growth forecasts, warns on jobs
AFP
Tue Nov 3, 10:45 am ET
| BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission said on Tuesday it now expected the eurozone economy to expand rather than contract in 2010 but warned that rising unemployment and public deficits would remain problems for several years.
The commission said a gradual recovery taking hold through 2011 would increase political pressure on European Union member states to reduce deficits that have soared as governments borrow massively to fund stimulus measures.
At the same time, however, rising unemployment in the core 16 nations that use the euro currency may mean governments will be hesitant to cut back spending for risk of jeopardising jobs and the broader recovery. |
8 Britain breaks up RBS, Lloyds in big bang for banking
by Roland Jackson, AFP
Tue Nov 3, 8:06 am ET
| LONDON (AFP) - Britain is to force state-rescued banks RBS and Lloyds Banking Group to sell assets in a massive shake-up of the banking sector but will support them with 30 billion pounds, the government said on Tuesday.
The government expects new banks to be born as a result of the break-ups which are the result of pressure from EU competition authorities.
The parts being separated from the parent groups add up to about 10 percent of Britain's troubled retail banking market. |
9 US envoys hold rare talks with Myanmar junta
by Hla Hla Htay, AFP
Tue Nov 3, 6:14 am ET
| YANGON (AFP) - Two top US envoys began talks with Myanmar's ruling generals Tuesday and were set to meet democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as they made the highest level visit to the military-ruled nation in 14 years.
The trip by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel is the latest move by President Barack Obama's administration to engage Myanmar's reclusive junta.
The American officials touched down in the remote administrative capital Naypyidaw on a US Air Force plane from Bangkok in neighbouring Thailand, US embassy spokesman Richard Mei said. |
10 UBS piles up losses, clients withdraw assets
AFP
Tue Nov 3, 3:52 am ET
| ZURICH (AFP) - Swiss banking giant UBS on Tuesday plunged into further losses during the third quarter as clients spooked by tax scrutiny withdrew billions of dollars of funds and assets from the bank.
The bank said in a statement that its net loss for the three months ending September 30 reached 564 million francs (373 million euros, 552 million dollars), largely hit by credit charges.
The flagship of Switzerland's banking industry also failed to stem an outflow of funds. |
11 Virginia, New Jersey races may test Obama's clout
By Steve Holland, Reuters
Tue Nov 3, 11:19 am ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans seeking a comeback from recent losses may pick up the governor's seats in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday in campaigns that tested the limits of U.S. President Barack Obama's influence.
Democrats were bracing for the unhappy possibility they could go down to defeat not just in those two states but in a congressional district in upstate New York where a conservative candidate was leading.
The election outcome could give some clues as to the national mood a year after Obama was elected president and a year before 2010 congressional elections that will represent the first clear referendum on Obama's time in office. |
12 Afghan leader Karzai vows inclusive government
By Sayed Salahuddin and Hamid Shalizi, Reuters
2 hrs 4 mins ago
| KABUL (Reuters) - Re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed on Tuesday to form an inclusive government after stern warnings from Western supporters he would have to work harder to root out corruption.
Afghan election officials on Monday canceled a needless presidential run-off vote after Karzai's rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew citing serious concerns about the election.
The outcome leaves Washington and other Western supporters to work with a partner whose legitimacy has been questioned, while Karzai himself faces a newly strengthened opposition. |
13 Buffett buying Burlington rail in his biggest deal
By Nick Zieminski, Reuters
31 mins ago
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc will pay $26 billion to buy out Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp in a bet that the nation's largest rail company is poised to benefit from a recovering U.S. economy.
The deal announced Tuesday, Buffett's biggest-ever acquisition, also represents a bet on coal and new interest in a storied but highly cyclical American industry that has tried to reinvent itself by emphasizing its ability to move goods cheaply and efficiently.
The deal was priced at a premium of 31.5 percent over BNSF's closing stock price on Monday and values the railroad at $34 billion, or 18 times estimated 2010 earnings. BNSF shares jumped 28 percent in afternoon trading; other U.S. and Canadian rail shares also rose. |
14 Pregnant women should get flu shot as winter bites: WHO
By Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters
2 hrs 41 mins ago
| GENEVA (Reuters) - Pregnant women and other people at high risk should be vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu virus as the cold weather begins to bite in the northern hemisphere, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
It voiced concern that some vulnerable people are shying away from the pandemic vaccine, which the WHO stressed had not caused any unusual side effects in hundreds of thousands of people to have received it worldwide so far.
"Certainly the fact that the vaccine isn't being used by those who would have access to it and who would be in priority risk groups is of concern, yes," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told a news briefing. |
15 Iranian police warn opposition over November 4 rallies
By Parisa Hafezi, Reuters
Tue Nov 3, 7:56 am ET
| TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police warned the opposition on Tuesday to avoid using the 30th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran to revive protests against the clerical establishment, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have urged their supporters to take to the streets on November 4, when rallies mark the seizure of the U.S. embassy after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution by radical students who took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
To prevent a repeat of the mass street protests that erupted after Iran's disputed presidential election in June, officials said security forces would confront any "illegal" gatherings. |
16 J&J to slash 7,000 to 8,000 jobs
By Ransdell Pierson, Reuters
55 mins ago
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson plans to cut up to 7 percent of its workforce in order to generate cost savings needed to finance increasingly costly drug research and to weather future challenges, the diversified healthcare company said on Tuesday.
J&J said the planned restructuring will eliminate 7,000 to 8,000 jobs and generate annualized cost savings of $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion by 2011, with $800 million to $900 million expected to be achieved in 2010.
"This is what we need to do to right-size the company to make sure we have the resources to invest" for long-term sustainable growth of the company, Chief Executive Officer William Weldon told analysts on a conference call, referring to J&J's "rich portfolio" of products in development. |
17 Czechs' Klaus signs EU treaty, enters force December 1
By Jana Mlcochova, Reuters
2 hrs 33 mins ago
| PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed the EU's Lisbon Treaty on Tuesday, removing the last barrier to the bloc's plan to overhaul its institutions and win a bigger role on the world stage.
Klaus was the last EU leader to ratify the treaty and his signature means the bloc of nearly half a billion people can now focus on picking its first president and a more powerful foreign representative to speak for it on global affairs.
The treaty, with roots in the failed European Constitution rejected by voters in two member states in 2005, is aimed at making the European Union more flexible and a stronger player on the world scene, to match the rise of emerging powers like China. |
18 G20 to seek progress on world growth scheme
By Sumeet Desai, Reuters
Tue Nov 3, 7:25 am ET
| LONDON (Reuters) - Group of 20 financial leaders will seek to firm up a plan to rebalance the world economy when they meet this week, looking to beat out how to set national policy goals and make sure everyone keeps to them, officials said on Monday.
Sources from the group of rich and developing nations said that talks were unlikely to deal formally with the charged issue of exchange rates, a major focus of interest for financial markets at the meeting in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Leaders of the group agreed at a summit in Pittsburgh in September to come up with policy outlines to ensure a healthier, more sustainable pattern of growth that would head off a recurrence of the last year's economic turmoil. |
19 Karzai promises reform - but without specifics
By HEIDI VOGT and AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writers
Tue Nov 3, 11:52 am ET
| KABUL - Afghanistan's president welcomed his new term - achieved after his main opponent withdrew from a runoff election - by reaching out to opponents Tuesday and promising to banish the corruption that has undermined his administration.
Hamid Karzai did not spell out how he would institute reforms or mention whether he is willing to make concessions to his opponents.
Karzai spoke a day after being declared victor of an election so marred by fraud that it took two and a half months, and intense international pressure, to resolve. His main opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, said when he dropped out of the planned runoff that he was withdrawing because it could not be free or fair. |
20 Races an early test of Obama influence
By LIZ "Sprinkles" SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer
1 hr 33 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's political influence a year after his election is being tested as voters cast ballots in Virginia and New Jersey, two states he's worked hard to keep in Democratic hands. A handful of congressional and mayoral races and a same-sex union initative also are among the featured face-offs this Election Day.
Obama has sought to ensure that Democrats not only win the governor's races but also pick up a GOP-held congressional seat in upstate New York. In doing so, Obama raised the stakes of a low-enthusiasm off-year election season - and risked political embarrassment if any lost.
All three could. |
21 Buses, subways halted by Philly transit strike
By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 58 mins ago
| PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia transit system's largest union went on strike early Tuesday, stalling the city's bus, subway and trolley operations a day after the World Series shifted to New York and forcing thousands of commuters to find other ways to get to work.
The sudden strike by Transport Workers Union Local 234 took many riders by surprise and all but crippled a transit system that averages more than 928,000 trips each weekday. The union represents more than 5,000 drivers, operators and mechanics of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
"We don't deserve to wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning to find out if there's a strike," said Jeffrey Chandler, 49, who had to call a friend for a ride to SEPTA's regional rail line so he could get to his job as a hotel room attendant. |
22 Merkel calls for strong deal on climate change
By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 40 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by exhorting the world in a speech to Congress on Tuesday to "tear down the walls of today" and reach a deal to combat global warming.
Frequently interrupted by robust applause, Merkel reiterated her country's commitment to fostering security in Afghanistan and also said that a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran "is not acceptable."
In the first address by a German chancellor to Congress since Konrad Adenauer in 1957, Merkel put special emphasis on the need for a global agreement on climate change - one she said she hoped could be forged at an international conference next month in Copenhagen.
I understand this was not so popular among Republican lawmakers in attendance. |
23 GM posts 1st monthly sales gain in almost 2 years
Associated Press
30 mins ago
| DETROIT - GM reported its first monthly gain in U.S. sales in almost two years while Toyota and Ford also improved, a sign the auto industry it starting to crawl back from a yearlong slump.
Demand for new cars and crossovers in October fueled better results for General Motors Co. and Detroit rival Ford Motor Co. GM's sales rose 4 percent from October 2008, while Ford notched a 3-percent gain. Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp said its sales edged up less than a percent. Less rosy news came from Chrysler Group LLC, whose sales fell 30 percent, though they improved from September.
Automakers had said October would be a test of how strong the market was without any effect of the government's Cash for Clunkers program. The industry staggered through a tough September, hurt by the collapse of demand following the clunker rebates that fueled a sales surge over the summer. |
24 Buffett's Berkshire buying Burlington Northern RR
By SAMANTHA BOMKAMP, AP Transportation Writer
7 mins ago
| NEW YORK - Warren Buffett has made bets on railroads before, but now he's all in. The billionaire investor's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Tuesday agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., making a $34 billion bet on the future of the U.S. economy.
Burlington Northern, the nation's second-largest railroad, is the biggest hauler of food products like corn, and coal for electricity, making it an indicator of the country's economic health. The railroad also ships a large amount of consumer goods - including items imported from Asia - from big Western ports like Los Angeles and Seattle.
Analysts say Buffett is planting both feet in an industry that is poised to grow as the economy gets back on solid ground. It would be the biggest acquisition ever for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. |
25 Bad NFL tackling? It's because they don't practice
By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer
25 mins ago
| Frank Gore runs right up the gut of the Indianapolis defense. Defensive back Jerraud Powers delivers a big body-blow, but Gore just bounces off and keeps on running, one of two broken tackles on the way to a 64-yard San Francisco touchdown.
Baltimore's Ray Rice catches a screen pass and is surrounded by four Cincinnati would-be tacklers - emphasis on "would-be." Rice's right hand touches the ground, but he keeps running right through the Bengals for a 48-yard score.
With the game on the line, Brandon Marshall outmaneuvers Ken Hamlin, Terence Newman and a few other Cowboys for a winning Denver touchdown in Dallas. |
26 Africans boycott meetings at UN climate talks
By ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press Writer
51 mins ago
| BARCELONA, Spain - African countries ended a boycott of meetings at U.N. climate negotiations on Tuesday, after winning promises for more in-depth talks on how much rich nations need to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Due to the Africans' demands, most of the rest of this week's talks in Barcelona will be devoted to discussing carbon-cutting pledges rather than other issues including carbon offsets and action by developing countries, said John Ash, chairman of the negotiations on emissions.
The Africans, supported by about 70 other developing countries, said industrial nations were making weak commitments to stave off dramatic temperature rises while Africa was being devastated by droughts and floods blamed on global warming. |
27 Madoff's longtime auditor pleads guilty to fraud
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 12 mins ago
| NEW YORK - Bernard Madoff's longtime auditor pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges Tuesday, saying he failed to do his job to verify the disgraced money manager's financial records but did not know Madoff was running history's biggest Ponzi scheme.
David Friehling, 49, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, apologizing to the thousands of victims who lost billions of dollars while he audited Madoff's financial records between 1991 and 2008. The plea was part of a cooperation deal with prosecutors.
"In what was the biggest mistake of my life, I put my trust with Bernard Madoff," Friehling told Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein. |
28 New vaccine offers hope in Africa's malaria battle
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 10:19 am ET
| SIAYA, Kenya - A mother watched with dread as a nurse inserted a tube in her baby's head. Blood streamed into the anemic 4-month-old who already has malaria, the mosquito-borne disease that kills a million African children every year.
"Malaria is one of the deadliest sicknesses for children," the nurse said - words that sent the young mother into a crumpled heap on the bed beside her wide-eyed baby boy, wrapped in a blue-and-yellow floral blanket.
There is new hope, however, in this verdant area where President Barack Obama's relatives live. A vaccine that appears to be able to prevent the disease in about 50 percent of children, is now undergoing the final stage of testing. |
29 Waxman: Decisions threaten progress on steroids
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER and HOWARD FENDRICH, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 3 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - A key lawmaker said Tuesday that recent court decisions blocking suspensions of two NFL players threaten to undermine progress made in reducing performance-enhancing drug use among athletes at all levels.
"If these rulings prevail, they could wreak havoc with policies designed to curb performance-enhancing drug use in professional sports," Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said at a subcommittee hearing. "In fact, if the rulings are taken to their logical conclusion, players on one team could be allowed to use drugs that would subject players on another team to suspensions and fines."
"In short," he added, "these new legal interpretations could render the NFL and Major League Baseball drug testing programs unenforceable, loophole-ridden, and unacceptably weak and ineffective." |
30 Karadzic attends UN war crimes court for 1st time
By MIKE CORDER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 10:41 am ET
| THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Radovan Karadzic appeared at his U.N. war crimes trial on Tuesday for the first time since it began last week, claiming his "fundamental rights have been violated" by judges who started without him.
The former Bosnian Serb leader, accused of masterminding Serb atrocities throughout the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, had boycotted the first three days of the trial. On Tuesday, Karadzic, who is defending himself, again insisted that he needed more time to prepare.
"I do not want to boycott these proceedings, but I cannot take part in something that has been bad from the start and where my fundamental rights have been violated," Karadzic said. |
31 Half of US kids will get food stamps, study says
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
Mon Nov 2, 9:32 pm ET
| CHICAGO - Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say.
The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.
"Your neighbor may be using some of these programs but it's not the kind of thing people want to talk about," Rank said. |
32 Obama warns Afghan president: Time for new chapter
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 2, 9:32 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama greeted Hamid Karzai's election victory with as much admonishment as praise on Monday, pointedly advising America's partner in war he must make more serious efforts to end corruption in Afghanistan's government and prepare his nation to ultimately defend itself.
"I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter," Obama said in describing his phone call to the Afghan president. When Karzai offered back assurances, Obama said he told him that "the proof is not going to be in words. It's going to be in deeds."
Obama's message of stern solidarity came as he considers sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops into the war zone in Karzai's country. |
33 Yanks' mound meetings slow Series, give MLB pause
By BEN WALKER, AP Baseball Writer
Mon Nov 2, 5:46 pm ET
| PHILADELPHIA - All those meetings on the mound called by catcher Jorge Posada and the New York Yankees are giving Major League Baseball pause, too. Posada and pals visited pitcher CC Sabathia eight times - in a single inning - on Sunday night, grinding Game 4 of the World Series to a standstill. Agitated Phillies fans booed each trip.
MLB vice president of umpiring Mike Port said frequent mound meetings by all teams would likely be discussed by baseball officials this offseason.
"It would fall under the province of pace of game," Port said before the Yankees beat Philadelphia 7-4 to take a 3-1 Series lead. |
34 Program will monitor Md. doctors' hand-washing
By BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press Writer
3 mins ago
| CLARKSVILLE, Md. - Be sure to wash up, Maryland doctors and nurses. You're being watched.
State officials said Tuesday they're creating teams of staff members at hospitals around the state to secretly monitor their colleagues' hand-washing habits as part of a first-of-its-kind program. The monitors will contribute to a systemwide report on hand-washing, using $100,000 in federal stimulus money.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said individuals who are lax on scrubbing up won't be penalized. Rather, the idea is to gather information about which hospital staffs need to do a better job and raise awareness about the importance of keeping hands clean while dealing with patients |
35 Buying into a Christmas without presents
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 9:59 am ET
| WASHINGTON - I'm not a Scrooge, really. I embrace almost all of Christmas. Except for one time-honored tradition that brings so much stress and expense that eliminating it has made the holiday even more magical.
Join me - and others who are signing on in times of tight budgets - in the wonderful simplicity of a Christmas without presents.
If 2009 taught us anything, isn't it that we can live with less and actually maybe even live better that way? |
36 $25 or under gifts that say 'I thought about you'
By LISA A. FLAM, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 9:58 am ET
| NEW YORK - This gift-giving season, $25 and under is the place to be.
The economy is slowly recovering, yet consumers remain nervous, leading retailers to offer more items for $25 or less, experts say.
"A few years ago there was no price barrier for most retailers and most consumers," said Kathy Deane, president of the New York-based retail consultancy Tobe. "Now consumers are looking for value. This is the year of $25 and under gifts." |
37 Ease holiday stress: Shop around the calendar
By STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 9:57 am ET
| SILVER SPRING, Md. - Early morning Dec. 26, I will stumble into the cold, hair tangled, bathrobe askew and eyes half shut. I will drag in the heavy newspaper, and over a steaming cup of coffee, begin to attack the pages with scissors.
Out comes the "extra savings" coupon for the department store.
Snip goes that clearance notice for wool scarves and leather gloves. |
38 Economy forces changes in holiday office parties
By CAROLE FELDMAN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 9:56 am ET
| At O'Keefe Communications, employees will celebrate the holidays this year as they did last, with a potluck in the office rather than dinner at a nice restaurant.
"We have a lot of people in our office that like to cook and swap recipes and it worked out nicely," said Catie O'Keefe, president of the Washington-based media and event production company. "It was a good change of pace. I think it was so well received that we'll do it again this year."
Last year, at the height of the recession, many companies scaled back or canceled holiday parties altogether. Others donated to charities that money that would have been spent on parties. This year, even with signs the economy may be improving, many businesses still are reluctant to throw big holiday blowouts, especially after rounds of layoffs and pay freezes. |
39 Vt. slaughterhouse closed for inhumane treatment
By DAVE GRAM, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 4:21 am ET
| MONTPELIER, Vt. - A Vermont slaughterhouse ordered closed Friday after video showed calves kicked, shocked and cut while conscious had its operating license suspended three times earlier this year for similar conduct.
U.S. Department of Agriculture records show Bushway Packing Inc. of Grand Isle was shut down for a day in May, again in June and again in July after an inspector cited it for inhumane treatment of animals.
The revelation came Monday as the Humane Society of the United States released more video footage taken with a hidden camera this summer. The video shows days-old male calves culled from dairy herds being dragged, kicked, repeatedly shocked with electric prods and apparently cut while still conscious. |
40 Report: Gay couples similar to straight spouses
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 2, 9:17 pm ET
| SAN FRANCISCO - Same-sex couples who identify as married are similar to straight spouses in terms of age and income, and nearly one-third of them are raising children, according to Census data released Monday that provides a demographic snapshot of gay families in America.
The study released by a think tank based at UCLA also found that Utah and Wyoming were among the states with the highest percentages of gay spouses in 2008, despite being heavily conservative states with no laws providing legal recognition of gay relationships.
The data from the annual American Community Survey showed that nearly 150,000 same-sex couples in the U.S., or more than one in four, referred to one another as "husband" or "wife," although UCLA researchers estimate that no more than 32,000 of the couples were legally married. |
41 Fire strikes historic Vt. general store - again
By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 2, 6:18 pm ET
| PUTNEY, Vt. - When a fire destroyed the beloved, centuries-old Putney General Store 18 months ago, some people here cried.
The creaky wooden building where locals arrived for coffee, hardware and gossip, and where tourists ducked in to buy maple syrup by the gallon meant that much to them.
Now, they're crying again. |
42 Afghanistan election: Karzai win spurs plans to improve governance
By Ben Arnoldy, The Christian Science Monitor
Mon Nov 2, 4:00 am ET
| New Delhi - The Afghan elections have officially ended, and President Hamid Karzai will hold on to his office for five more years, the election commission declared Monday after rival Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the race.
The fraud-ridden saga has diminished the stature of both Mr. Karzai and the international community in Kabul, and the result brings no mandate but instead raises further proposals for forcing more government accountability.
The talk among Afghan and Western experts ranges from preparing immediately for next year's Parliamentary elections, to rewriting the constitution, to scrapping elections altogether in favor of an "enlightened dictatorship." |
43 Supreme Court declines to hear civil-rights era KKK case
By Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor
Mon Nov 2, 4:00 am ET
| Washington - The US Supreme Court has declined to decide whether the federal statute of limitations bars the prosecution of a former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member accused of kidnapping and murdering two black teens in 1964.
James Ford Seale was tried, convicted, and sentenced to three life prison terms in 2007. His lawyers challenged the prosecution on grounds that a five-year statute of limitations for kidnapping had long since passed.
By declining to take up the case, the high court's action leaves in place a decision by Mr. Seale's trial judge allowing his prosecution to go forward and upholding his conviction and life sentences. But the issue remains unresolved in future cases. |
44 European court: No crucifixes in Italian schools
By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 20 mins ago
| ROME - The Vatican on Tuesday denounced a ruling by the European court of human rights that said the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and education freedoms.
In a decision that could force a review of the use of religious symbols in government-run schools across Europe, the court ordered Italy to pay a euro5,000 ($7,390) fine to a mother in northern Italy who fought for eight years to have crucifixes removed from her children's public school classrooms. The Italian government said it would appeal.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the crucifix was a fundamental sign of the importance of religious values in Italian history and culture and was a symbol of unity and welcoming for all of humanity - not one of exclusion. |
45 British coup-plotter freed in Equatorial Guinea
By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 11:59 am ET
| JOHANNESBURG - Equatorial Guinea freed a British coup-plotter and four South African mercenaries Tuesday after a presidential pardon for their foreign-bankrolled conspiracy to overthrow the government and take over the country's oil riches.
In a spectacular trial last year, Simon Mann testified that U.S. and European governments knew of the plan in advance and welcomed it as did international oil companies operating in the Central African nation, which is the continent's No. 3 oil producer.
His testimony also implicated the son of former British Premier Margaret Thatcher as chief bankroller, which Mark Thatcher denied. |
46 African kings, queens, chiefs to honor Mandela
By DONNA BRYSON, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 12:22 pm ET
| JOHANNESBURG - Dancers clad in animal skins opened a royal ceremony Tuesday, a nod to tradition for the forward-thinking kings, queens and chiefs who jetted in to Johannesburg from across Africa to launch an institute they hope will expand their roles on the continent
The two dozen leaders from Morocco to Swaziland describe their new Institute of African Royalty as part think-tank on democracy and development, part lobby group to polish their image. They say their model is anti-apartheid icon and former President Nelson Mandela, and plan to honor the man referred to during Tuesday's proceedings as "Prince Mandela" at a gala ceremony in Pretoria, the capital, later this week.
Sello Hatang, a spokesman for the anti-apartheid icon's office, said Mandela "feels honored to be respected by the traditional leadership." |
47 Over 17,000 species threatened by extinction
By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 8:38 am ET
| GENEVA - A rare Panamanian tree frog, a rodent from Madagascar and two lizards found only in the Philippines are among over 17,000 species threatened with extinction, a leading environmental group said Tuesday.
The Rabb's fringe-limbed tree frog, only discovered four years ago, is one of 1,895 amphibian species that could soon disappear from the wild because of deforestation and infection, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said.
The Switzerland-based group surveyed 47,677 animals and plants for this year's "Red List" of endangered species, determining that 17,291 of them are at risk of extinction. |
48 20 years after, Berlin Wall gets facelift
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 3, 9:21 am ET
| BERLIN - Stroke by stroke, Gerhard Kriedner applied pink acrylic paint with a small brush on a 14-yard stretch of the Berlin Wall, recreating the mural he first painted months after the Berlin Wall came down on Nov. 9, 1989.
Kriedner and 90 artists from around the world have gathered again to repaint their original creations on the concrete slabs, bringing new life to images that have been eroded by the elements over the last two decades, on the longest remaining length of the wall that once split Germany's capital.
"This is a very emotional thing for me," Kriedner, 69, said, adding that he escaped from communist East Germany to the West himself as a young man. "The Berlin Wall stands for the total lack of freedom we had at the time." |
49 World markets stung by banking worries
By CARLO PIOVANO, AP Business Writer
Tue Nov 3, 11:59 am ET
| LONDON - World stock markets mostly fell Tuesday amid renewed concerns about the banking sector after Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland got more government help and Switzerland's UBS AG booked another massive charge.
Uncertainty about a raft of key economic announcements later this week, culminating in Friday's crucial U.S. payrolls report, kept a lid on sentiment, too, though the $34 billion takeover of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. helped ease the selling pressure.
In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 60.00 points, or 1.2 percent, at 5,044.50 while Germany's DAX fell 66.36 points, or 1.2 percent, to 5,364.46. The CAC-40 in France was 49.62 points, or 1.4 percent, lower at 3,589.84. |
50 U.S. delegation in Myanmar for rare talks with junta
By Aung Hla Tun, Reuters
8 mins ago
| YANGON (Reuters) - A delegation of senior U.S. officials, pursuing a new dialogue, met with Myanmar's military rulers on Tuesday in the highest-level talks with the reclusive junta in 14 years.
The move by President Barack Obama's administration to engage the junta appeared focused on pushing for free and fair elections next year, although analysts said the rapprochement was as much about geopolitics and the growing regional influence of China.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell led the U.S. delegation meeting the junta in its new capital, Naypyidaw, before traveling to Yangon for talks with detained Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party. |
51 EU to choose leaders after reform treaty ratified
By Timothy Heritage, Reuters
Tue Nov 3, 2:00 pm ET
| BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will quickly appoint its first long-term president and a powerful foreign policy chief after ratifying a treaty on Tuesday to give the 27-country bloc more influence on the world stage.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed the treaty after his country's constitutional court threw out a legal challenge, ending eight years of wrangling that held up reforms to make the EU function better.
"President Klaus' decision marks an important and historic step for all of Europe," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. |
52 Karadzic says needs more time for genocide defense
By Aaron Gray-Block, Reuters
Tue Nov 3, 11:59 am ET
| THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appeared in court on Tuesday for the first time since his trial for genocide started but said he would take no further part unless he had more time to prepare his defense.
Karadzic, acting as his own attorney, boycotted the start of proceedings last week before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he faces 11 war crimes charges, including two of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Karadzic, who has denied all charges, was the leader of the Serb Republic that sought to carve its own state from Bosnia during the break up of Yugoslavia in Europe's worst conflict since World War Two. |
53 Italy, Vatican in uproar over court crucifix ruling
By Philip Pullella, Reuters
2 hrs 53 mins ago
| ROME (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that crucifixes should be removed from Italian classrooms, prompting Vatican anger and sparking uproar in Italy, where such icons are embedded in the national psyche.
"The ruling of the European court was received in the Vatican with shock and sadness," said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, adding that it was "wrong and myopic" to try to exclude a symbol of charity from education.
The ruling by the court in Strasbourg, which Italy said it would appeal, said crucifixes on school walls -- a common sight that is part of every Italian's life -- could disturb children who were not Christians. |
54 Honduran lawmakers put off vote, want court opinion
By Mario Naranjo and Fiona Ortiz, Reuters
43 mins ago
| TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran lawmakers on Tuesday put off a vote on whether to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya and asked the Supreme Court for its view, bucking outside pressure to quickly end a four-month political crisis.
Their inaction leaves a de facto government in place and risks losing international support ahead of a November 29 presidential election -- along with hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to the poor coffee-producing nation.
A board of 13 top lawmakers met and decided not to call a special session of Congress, currently in recess, until they receive nonbinding opinions from the Supreme Court and the attorney general. |
55 Moscow could have started WW3 over Berlin Wall: Gorbachev
By Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters
Tue Nov 3, 12:06 pm ET
| MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin could have started World War Three in 1989 had it used troops to crush the demonstrations that preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said on Tuesday.
Gorbachev is hailed in the West for ignoring hardliners who advised him to guarantee the Soviet Union's future by crushing a growing wave of dissent in Eastern Bloc countries which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.
When asked by a reporter why he did not use force to halt the demonstrations, Gorbachev said it would have sparked a catastrophic set of events and even a world war. |
56 Merkel urges climate action in historic US speech
by Peter Wuetherich, AFP
2 hrs 11 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a historic address to the US Congress Tuesday to issue a heartfelt plea on climate change, likening the problem to a second Berlin Wall.
Merkel said next month's high-stakes climate summit in Copenhagen hinged on strong US and European commitments and urged leaders to tear down the barrier she said was preventing them from preserving our life and our world.
"I'm convinced, just as we found the strength in the 20th century to bring about the fall of a wall made of concrete and barbed wire, we shall now show that necessary strength to overcome the walls of the 21st century." |
57 Uproar in Italy after Euro court rejects school crucifixes
AFP
2 hrs 19 mins ago
| STRASBOURG (AFP) - The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that Italy violates educational and religious freedoms by displaying crucifixes in classrooms, prompting anger in the fiercely Catholic country.
Pronouncing on a case brought by an Italian mother, the court found that the right of parents to educate their children according to their own beliefs was being breached.
Displaying crucifixes also violated childrens' right to freedom of religion, the court said. |
58 Obama popularity tested in off-year polls
by Sebastian Smith, AFP
1 hr 26 mins ago
| NEW YORK (AFP) - The Republican opposition hoped to draw blood Tuesday in three off-year elections seen as testing US President Barack Obama's popularity 12 months after his Democratic party swept to power.
Gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia and an intriguing battle for a New York congressional seat will not change the power balance in Washington, where the Democrats have a hefty majority.
But with midterm elections across the country next year, the three contests were being scrutinized for signs of Obama's resilience in the face of bruising debates on the economy, health care reform, and Afghanistan. |
59 E.Guinea pardons mercenaries behind coup plot
AFP
Tue Nov 3, 11:39 am ET
| MALABO (AFP) - Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday pardoned and freed British mercenary Simon Mann, South African Nick du Toit and three others who were jailed for a foiled coup plot in the West African nation in 2004.
"The amnesty is total. They are free," said Communications Minister Jeronimo Osa Osa Ekoro, who is also government spokesman. "They have already left prison and they have 24 hours to leave Guinea for the destination of their choice."
The small, oil-rich country's national radio earlier said Mann, Du Toit and three others had been granted amnesties by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled over Equatorial Guinea since 1979. |
60 Sheikh Khalifa re-elected UAE president
AFP
Tue Nov 3, 5:52 am ET
| ABU DHABI (AFP) - Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan was re-elected president of the United Arab Emirates for a second five-year term on Tuesday, the official news agency WAM announced.
The Supreme Federal Council, made up of the rulers of the seven emirates in the UAE, selected Sheikh Khalifa, 61.
He first rose to the presidency as oil-rich Abu Dhabi's ruler in 2004 on the death of his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who founded the Gulf state in 1971. |
61 Challenger's pullout leaves Afghan government of dubious legitimacy
By Hal Bernton and Hashim Shukoor, McClatchy Newspapers
Sun Nov 1, 5:35 pm ET
| KABUL, Afghanistan -- As he announced his withdrawal from the presidential runoff Sunday, Abdullah Abdullah refused to concede that his rival, President Hamid Karzai , could be the legitimate winner of Afghanistan's marathon election.
Instead, Abdullah, a former foreign minister, ended his quest for the presidency with more attacks on Karzai appointees whom he charged had helped facilitate fraud in the Aug. 20 election, and were setting the stage for more fraud in the Nov. 7 runoff.
Standing under a poster with the English words, "No government without elections can be `standable' and lawful," he put the blame on Karzai. "My requests were for a transparent election, and they could been carried out in a single hour if Karzai had the intention," Abdullah said. |
62 Afghan election commission declares Karzai the winner
By Hal Bernton and Hashim Shukoor, McClatchy Newspapers
Mon Nov 2, 10:58 am ET
| KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai was vested with another five years in office Monday as an Afghan election commission canceled next Saturday's runoff and declared the incumbent the winner by virtue of the votes he gained in the first-round election in August.
The commission's action came a day after Karzai's challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah , announced that he wouldn't participate in the runoff because of concerns about vote fraud in the second round.
In announcing their decision, commissioners said that the Afghan Constitution called for two candidates to be in the runoff, and those conditions no longer could be met. They also cited concerns about the costs and security risks of trying to hold a wartime election that would be void of all meaning with only one candidate still in the race. |
63 U.S. drafts 'Compact' to bolster new Afghan government
By Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers
Mon Nov 2, 7:47 pm ET
| WASHINGTON - The Obama administration has been quietly working with U.S. allies and Afghan officials on a package of reforms and anti-corruption measures that it hopes will boost popular support for President Hamid Karzai and erase the doubts about his legitimacy raised by his fraud-marred re-election.
The success of the so-called "Afghanistan Compact" will hinge on Karzai's willingness to take bold actions, such as cracking down on official corruption, replacing ineffective ministers and surrendering some power to local authorities, which in the past he's resisted or failed to undertake.
"As long as the population views its government as weak or predatory, the Taliban's 'alternative' style of delivering security and some form of justice will continue to have traction," says a U.S. government document that outlines part of the proposed Compact and was obtained by McClatchy . |
64 Tehran Braces for a New Political Showdown
By ROBIN WRIGHT, Time Magazine
Mon Nov 2, 10:30 am ET
| A new showdown looms in Iran this week, as the regime and its intrepid opposition gear up for what may be their biggest street confrontation since the protests that followed the disputed June 12 presidential election. The latest face-off is scheduled for Wednesday, when Iran commemorates the 30th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover by radical students. In an ironic twist, however, instead of the traditional festival of America-bashing, students across the country are being summoned to mark the event with a protest against their own government. |
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