| World News  | Myanmar junta dismisses Suu Kyi victory -
Yahoo Daily News
34 minutes ago YANGON, Myanmar - The overwhelming election victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's party in 1990 has been nullified by the approval of a military-backed constitution and her National League for Democracy party should prepare for a new vote in 2010, Myanmar's state-run newspaper said Sunday. Myanmar's ruling junta said the passing of its constitution in a May referendum — widely dismissed by critics as unfair —...
photo: AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa
|  | G-8 summit draws grab-bag of activists, causes
Philadelphia Daily News
JOSEPH COLEMAN The Associated Press RUSUTSU, Japan - Battling maternal mortality, demanding clean water and urging the destruction of capitalism might not seem to have much in common , unless you're at a summit of the world's top industrialized nations. The Group of Eight annual meetings draw a hodgepodge of activists and causes from around the world, all in hopes of some media exposure and possibly some action by the world's richest and most...
photo: AP / Shizuo Kambayashi
|  | Treasury tsar called to account
The Guardian
After steering the economy through a year of disasters, the Chancellor of the Exchequer - sold as a 'safe pair of hands' - has yet to convince the public, the City and the banks of that. But they love him at the Treasury En route to Bristol recently, Alistair Darling was due to give a phone interview to a local radio station from the train, but his officials had booked him a seat in a 'quiet zone'. Some cabinet ministers might have boomed their...
photo: AP / Sang Tan, Pool
|  | Bill Clinton rips Mugabe in Aspen
Denver Post
By Troy Hooper Special to The Denver PostArticle Last Updated: 07/05/2008 10:09:19 PM MDT ASPEN — Former President Bill Clinton called for Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe to step down immediately or form a power-sharing arrangement with his chief opponent. The former presidentcalled Mugabe "a puppet of the military establishment" and singled out a Washington Post story that exposed coercion, intimidation, beatings and profession killings...
photo: AP / Sara D. Davis
|  | Shrine fire triggers fresh protests in Kashmir
Dawn
SRINAGAR, July 5: Thousands of protesters clashed with police in occupied Kashmirs main city on Saturday over allegations that government forces set fire to a shrine, officials said. Residents alleged that the popular Srinagar shrine, Jenab Sahib, was set on fire by police and the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force. There was a loud sound that was followed by a fire in the shrine, said Sabzar...
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
|  | The Angel watching over global finance
The Guardian
Corruption, the credit crunch, protectionism, tax havens ... they're all on OECD chief Gurria's agenda. By Nick Mathiason and Heather Stewart Angel Gurria, head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the world's foremost economic and policy forum, is undoubtedly suave. He is a member of the only club in Mexico that plays cricket (Reformer Athletic Club. Patrons: The Queen and Prince Philip). 'It's just across the street...
photo: UN / Mark Garten
|  | Tehran threatens to close Hormuz
Dawn
TEHRAN, July 5: Irans military chiefs warned on Saturday that the Islamic republic would shut down the Strait of Hormuz vital for oil exports and use blitzkrieg tactics in the Gulf if it came under attack. All the countries should know that if Irans interests in the region are ignored, it is natural that we will not allow others to use it (the strait),said army chief General...
photo: U.S. Navy /
|  | Argentina lawmakers approve farm export tax hike
The Guardian
(Updates with farmers' reaction, details) By Walter Bianchi BUENOS AIRES, July 5 (Reuters) - Argentina's lower house of Congress narrowly approved a bill on Saturday backing a controversial rise in soy export taxes that President Cristina Fernandez imposed in March over stiff opposition from farmers. The bill, which still needs Senate approval, passed 129 to 122 in the lower house after 19 hours of debate. Hoping to defuse a...
photo: AP / German Pomar/Telam
|  | Venus Williams Defeats Sister Serena, Taking Fifth Wimbledon Title
Fox News
WIMBLEDON, England - Tennis star Venus Williams won her fifth Wimbledon singles title Saturday, beating younger sister Serena 7-5, 6-4. Venus and Serena Williams faced off in the women's Wimbledon final, their first Grand Slam championship match in five years. Between them, four-time champion Venus and two-time winner Serena have won six of the last eight Wimbledon titles. Click here for photos. It was the third time the Williams sisters met for...
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
| Business News  | Apple's iPhone could find Asia tough to crack
Inquirer
HONG KONG--Mancy Li wants to get her hands on Apple's newest version of the iPhone, but she won't bother to queue up in Hong Kong when it is released in Asia this week. "I want to get one because it is trendy. It has a touch screen, it looks pretty and it's made by Apple," the 22-year-old visual arts student says. But she's prepared to wait and see what happens to the price of running the new version of the phone, which Apple hopes will become as...
photo: creative commons photo / juanpg
|  | Hamburger history is well done
Knox News
NONFICTION: The Hamburger: A History by Josh Ozersky (Yale University Press. 147 Pages. $22) Writing an ode to a single foodstuff is a road studded with pitfalls. If you go too granular, your narrative is derailed by obscurity. If you're too generalist, you sink into a morass of cliche. Which is why, with the hamburger - and there is no more quintessentially American foodstuff - a deft hand is needed to straddle the narrative strands of cultural,...
photo: WN / Renzelle Mae Abasolo
|  | Satisfying the Chinese sweet tooth no easy task
Canada Dot Com
Award-winning French dessert chef Hugues Pouget has his work cut out for him as he tries to turn the Chinese into chocoholics. "In Europe, we have centuries of history about chocolate. Here, there's none," said Pouget, a 31-year-old champion of the France Des Desserts competition, who started teaching Chinese chefs how to make gourmet chocolate in May. "But Chinese people like to learn Western styles. They especially love chocolate with peanuts,...
photo: WN
|  | Wal-Mart to sell locally grown produce in stores nationwide
San Fransisco Chronicle
(07-06) 04:00 PDT Little Rock, Ark. -- Wal-Mart stores in Arizona now stock Grand Canyon sweet onions while aisles in New York display state-grown eggplant, as the world's largest retailer says it has become the nation's largest buyer of locally grown fruits and vegetables. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to purchase and sell $400 million worth of produce grown by local farmers within its state stores this year, an effort the company says will only...
photo: AP Photo / Ron Heflin
|  | Spilled milk in redesigned jug frustrating some consumers
Ohio
NORTH CANTON: A simple change in the design of the gallon milk jug, adopted by Wal-Mart and Costco, seems made for the times. The jugs are cheaper to ship and better for the environment, the milk is fresher when it arrives in stores, and it costs consumers less. What's not to like? Plenty, as it turns out. The jugs have no real spout, and their unorthodox shape makes consumers feel like novices at the simple task of pouring a glass of milk. ''I...
photo: WN
|  | On day care, Google makes a rare fumble
International Herald Tribune
Two months ago, Google held a series of secret focus groups with employees who have children in Google's day care facilities. The purpose was to gauge their reaction to the company's plan to raise the amount it charged for in-house day care by 75 percent. Parents who had been paying $1,425 a month for infant care would see their costs rise to nearly $2,500 - well above the market rate. For parents with toddlers and preschoolers, who were charged...
photo: WN / Silvino Lopez
|  | Cinema owners to black out big players
The Times Of India
6 Jul 2008, 0348 hrs IST,TNN VIJAYAWADA/HYDERABAD: Pushed to the dark by the big players in the booming entertainment industry, film exhibitors or theatre owners have decided to fight back. In a meeting here on Saturday, the Andhra region of the Film Exhibitors Council, an umbrella organization of owners of 3,500 theatres across the state, resolved that no theatre would be leased from October 1 to any of...
photo: WN / Aruna Mirasdar
|  | Prospects dim for G8 climate change deal
The Guardian
(Recasts throughout with fresh comments) By Linda Sieg and Chisa Fujioka TOYAKO, Japan, July 6 (Reuters) - Prospects that the G8 would reach a meaningful agreement to fight global warming at their annual summit dimmed on Sunday as leaders began arriving in northern Japan with a raft of global problems on their minds. Climate change is high on the agenda of the July 7-9 summit of rich nations at a luxury hotel in Toyako, Hokkaido, and of a Major...
photo: WN / Renzelle Mae Abasolo
| Entertainment News  | Are Wii having fun yet?
The Roanoke Times
JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times To Matt Cooper's dismay, his wife, Nicole, celebrates after beating his high score in Table Tilt, a Nintendo Wii Fit game, at their Roanoke home. "You almost begin to crave it," says Nicole Cooper. "It's exercise, but it's a game!" Associated Press An example of Wii Fit on screen shows a "Mii" (a user's on-screen character) performing aerobic exercises. Nicole Cooper -- a wife, mother and student -- bought the Wii...
photo: creative commons /
|  | Try something new this summer
Knox News
One certainty in the modern era of wine-making is that there is always something new to try. With that spirit of innovation abounding this summer, I put together a collection of six wines that are relatively new to the market. From a summertime rose to an interesting red cuvee, there's something new for everyone and something to fit most occasions. One of America's favorite foods is pizza. My beer-drinking buddy believes there's a good reason for...
photo: Creative Commons
|  | Wizard Rock: Bands are devoted to Harry Potter's universe
Omaha World-Herald
POTOSI, Mo. (AP) - Jen Leffler first escaped into the world of Harry Potter as an adolescent in suburban Chicago. A decade later, the love affair continues. Only now, it means taking road trips to concerts across the country. Inspired by the characters and story lines from J.K. Rowling's intricate fantasy world, hundreds of bands devoted to the Potter experience have formed in recent years. The genre has its own name (wizard rock) and fashion...
photo: AP/Anthony Harvey
|  | Clean your windows and blinds faster
The Roanoke Times
Let's face it -- cleaning your blinds and windows is no fun. So the Good Housekeeping Research Institute has come up with "speed-cleaning" time-saving tricks to get the jobs done faster. De-grime the blinds Window slats are dust magnets, and you don't want all of that grime to fall onto your windows. You can give aluminum or vinyl blinds a bath -- first check that it's safe to submerge them, or follow these easy (enough) Good Housekeeping steps:...
photo: US DoD
|  | (Semi-) talented by association?
Canada Dot Com
The ink is still wet on the reports about Lindsay Lohan having a Dull Normal half-sister, age 13, and already the young lady in question is making her bid to escape Dull Normalcy. You saw the story last week: Men are pigs, and Michael Lohan more than most, and about 14 years ago Mike, though married, got together with one Kristi Kaufmann. Now this kid Ashley Kaufmann says she's Lilo's half- sister. The blood tests aren't even back yet, but...
photo: AP
|  | Nicole Kidman wants James Galway playing while she gives birth
Belfast Telegraph
Film star Nicole Kidman could make it a smooth and easy delivery if she gives birth listening to Sir James Galway playing The Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninov. Who says so? None other than the First Knight of the Flute himself who is aware that the actor hopes to be listening to one of his tracks when the moment for her to give birth arrives. "If Nicole really wants to listen to a piece of mine at the vital moment then I would recommend a track of...
photo: AP /
|  | Guess who's a country hit? Jessica Simpson
Buffalo News
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - When Jessica Simpson announced plans to go country after her last pop album flopped, there was a collective eye roll in Nashville. To some skeptics, it appeared to be a calculated move to follow in the footsteps of other pop stars who have found success by crossing over to country radio. After lackluster album sales, acting disappointments and bad press over her high-profile romances, Simpson certainly needed a boost. But "Come...
photo: public domain
| Health News  | Helping lead people out of the food desert
San Fransisco Chronicle
(07-06) 04:00 PDT Albany, N.Y. -- For years, Mel Williams rarely ate fruit and vegetables - unless it came out of a can. Fresh produce was too expensive or too far away until the state-funded Veggie Mobile started bringing the fruits and vegetables to him at a lower price. "I'm a diabetic and I have problems with my heart," the 66-year-old said. "The canned stuff has so much sodium in it. So now with the fresh fruit, it's less sugar and...
photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba
|  | Review of vitamin D guidelines urged
San Fransisco Chronicle
(07-06) 04:00 PDT Washington -- A flurry of research indicating that vitamin D may have a dizzying array of health benefits has reignited an intense debate over whether federal guidelines for the "sunshine vitamin" are outdated, leaving millions unnecessarily vulnerable to cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other ailments. The studies have produced evidence that low levels of vitamin D make men more likely to have heart attacks, breast and colon...
photo: Public Domain File
|  | Palm oil production hurts orangutans, helps humans
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Plantations destroy apes’ habitat, but product is used by consumers and boosts economies Lipstick, lotion, potato chips, cookies, margarine and ice cream — it’s easy to find a product that contains palm oil. By one estimate, one out of 10 products found in the grocery store contains palm oil — sometimes listed on labels as “retinyl palmitate” or “partially hydrogenated palm kernel.” Use of the cheap vegetable oil from the African oil palm tree...
photo: creative commons /
|  | Holding on to life
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A baby orangutan’s tale of hardship mirrors his species’ struggle for survival in its native habitat Planes belonging to Terry and Mary Kohler have carried lots of unusual cargo over the years. Whooping cranes, trumpeter swan eggs, piping plover eggs. People, too. Gerald Ford, Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev all had flown courtesy of the wealthy Sheboygan entrepreneurs, whose relatives founded the Kohler plumbing empire. No real surprise,...
photo: creative commons /
|  | Hog farms source of debate in North Carolina
Reflector
Annie Hardy used to enjoy spending time with her family outside their Grimesland home. Now the experience can make her nauseous. Hardy is among thousands who live near a hog farm in North Carolina. Located mostly in the eastern portion of the state, the farms have been a source of debate for years as some claim the smell and potential environmental and health risks concern them.Brock Letchworth/The Daily Reflector A hog FARM utilizing the...
photo: WN
|  | A tomato by any other name?
The Times Of India
5 Jul 2008, 2353 hrs IST,REUTERS Food safety experts agreed for the first time on the qualities defining a tomato, in a first step toward an international code on preventing fruit and vegetable contamination. Tomatoes are currently the focus of an investigation by US health officials who are looking for the cause of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 922 people in at least 40 states. World Health...
photo: WN / Rubielyn Bunag
|  | New bug is deadlier and faster
The Times Of India
5 Jul 2008, 2355 hrs IST,AFP A new strain of West Nile virus is spreading better and earlier across the United States, and may thrive in hot American summers, researchers said on Thursday. The virus infected an estimated 175,000 people last year, the US Centers for Disease...
photo: USDA /
|  | Living by Ethiopia's sewage canal
BBC News
Sanitation in Ethiopia's capital city leaves a lot to be desired - and it is the poor who are most vulnerable as a result. In a small shack made of iron sheets and pieces of clothing in the slums of Addis Ababa live the Alemu family - Abiy, Marasit Bishaw, and the couple's three-year-old son and 25-day-old baby daughter Yanit. And just a few metres from their one-room home is a mass of sewage and garbage, mixed with the carcasses of dead chickens...
photo: Public domain
|  | Tap water is both safe and handy, Metro says
Canada Dot Com
Metro Vancouver hopes to get the taps flowing this fall with an aggressive campaign to encourage people to drink water from the tap rather than the bottle. The campaign, which will run under the banner "nature's health drink -- always on tap," is expected to coincide with the opening of the region's new filtration water system later this year, and boost the number of Metro residents drinking tap water by 20 per cent by 2010. The push will...
photo: WN / Janice Sabnal
| Politics News  | Taiwan denies plan to restore China unification council -
Yahoo Daily News
27 minutes ago TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan officials Sunday dismissed a report that President Ma Ying-jeou plans to reinstate a council which recommended policies on reunification with China, despite a recent thaw in cross-strait relations. The National Unification Council, set up in 1990 by the Kuomintang government, was scrapped in 2006 by then president Chen Shui-bian of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party....
photo: AP/Wally Santana
|  | Dion slams Alberta and the Tories
Canada Dot Com
CALGARY -- Liberal Leader Stephane Dion threw down the gauntlet yesterday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta's premier on climate change, insisting Alberta's reputation has been tarnished by the Tory governments' laggard environmental policies. Dion delivered an impassioned 25-minute speech to a few hundred Liberal supporters yesterday at the Calgary Zoo, where he laid out his Green Shift carbon tax plan -- which would slap a levy on...
photo: Creative Commons /
|  | G8 leaders face series of crises
BBC News
Rising food and oil costs, an uncertain global economy, climate change and Zimbabwe's political crisis face the G8 leaders who are gathering in Japan. The summit is being held at a secluded resort on the northern island of Hokkaido guarded by some 20,000 police. Protesters have been gathering ahead of the three-day forum starting on Monday. A US official said the gathering was likely to "strongly condemn" Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe over a...
photo: (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) /
|  | McCain works on delivery ahead of election
Houston Chronicle
TOOLS RESOURCES LAS VEGAS - While unveiling his energy plan here recently, Sen. John McCain was performing relatively smoothly. He managed to limit the mechanical hand chops and weirdly timed smiles that can often punctuate his speeches. He delivered his lines with an ease that suggested a momentary peace with his longtime nemesis, the teleprompter. (He relied on a belt-and-suspenders approach, with text scrolling down screens to his left and...
photo: AP / Jeff Chiu
|  | Iranian FM: New atmosphere created in Iran's nuclear activities
Turkish Press
Kuala Lumpur- Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday that a new atmosphere in Iran's nuclear activities has been created. Mottaki made the remarks in an interview with Malaysian satellite TV channel Astro on Saturday. The Iranian foreign minister is in Kuala Lumpur to attend the 11th foreign ministers meeting of the Eight Developing Countries (D8). Peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities is not something new and dated...
photo: AP Photo / Michel Euler
|  | KARACHI: PPP lashes out at nazims remarks
Dawn
By Shamim-ur-Rahman KARACHI, July 5: The Pakistan Peoples Party has taken serious exception to the uncalled for remarks of the Karachi nazim against the party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leadership at a dinner for President Pervez Musharraf on Friday night, asking the Muttahida Qaumi Movement leadership to ensure that such elements within its ranks are not allowed to derail the democratic process. Addressing a hurriedly-called news...
photo: AP / K M Chaudary
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