Newser Story Index from October, 2009
Welcome to the Newser Story Index. Here you find stories written by Newser writers and editors, assembled with supporting photos and videos from the files of the news story.
Why This Hot Rod Is Greener Than a Prius
Slate
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Oct 29, 2009 6:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
So, conventional wisdom tells us, if you want to help the environment, ditch those dreams of a hot-rod, get a hybrid, and commute knowing you’ve done your part to save the environment. Nonsense, writes Joe Eaton , who did precisely the opposite. “Giving up your Prius and putting a hot rod in the garage may be the best thing you can do...
Pakistan Finds Passports Linked to 9/11
Associated Press
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Oct 29, 2009 6:16 PM CDT
(AP) -
Pakistani soldiers battling their way into a Taliban stronghold along the Afghan border have seized passports that may be linked to 9/11 suspects. One is a German document belonging to a man named Said Bahaji, believed to be a member of the Hamburg cell that conceived the attacks. The passport indicates he arrived in Karachi on Sept. 4, 2001.
Americans Skip Bar, Buy Booze at Grocery Store
ABC News
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Oct 29, 2009 5:27 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Recession-strapped Americans are hitting the bar less and less, but they’re not giving up drinking: sales of beer and wine at grocery and convenience stores have ballooned, prompting many shops to start offering alcohol. Between September 2008 and last month, the number of stores selling beer shot up by 2,600—even though the overall number...
Iowans Recoil at Prospect of Paying for Palin
Politico
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Oct 29, 2009 4:57 PM CDT
(Newser) -
An Iowa conservative group’s plan to lure Sarah Palin with a $100,000 speaking fee has annoyed fellow right-wingers. This is Iowa, after all, and most political contenders are happy to come for free. One GOP consultant in the state sees the move by the Iowa Family Policy Center as yet another example of Palin breaking the mold. "She's a...
Bad Driving Is in the Genes
LiveScience
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Oct 29, 2009 4:37 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Certain people—perhaps up to 30% of the population—may be fated by their genetic makeup to be bad drivers, a new study suggests. Researchers tested a small group of people on a driving simulator and found that subjects with a particular gene variant weren't so hot at keeping up with the course’s twists and turns.
Facebook Love Letter Triggers Teacher Fight
Fox Atlanta
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Oct 29, 2009 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Two female middle school teachers face misdemeanor charges after getting into a profanity-laden brawl in front of students. The fight was the result of a love triangle between them and a male teacher at the Georgia school, police tell Fox 5 News , and began after one of the women found a love letter sent to the other on Facebook.
No Motive Yet in LA Synagogue Shootings
Associated Press
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Oct 29, 2009 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) -
LAPD officers are still searching for the gunman who shot two men on their way to a prayer service at a North Hollywood synagogue this morning. The gunman approached one of the victims in the underground parking lot of the synagogue, and "without any words" shot both him and a nearby man in the leg. Details are scarce, and officials have...
Pelosi Plan Finds Foes on Left, Right
National Review
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Oct 29, 2009 3:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Some early takes from the left and right on Nancy Pelosi's health care bill: Tevi Troy, National Review: This will offend states, employers, budget hawks, insurers, even liberals who don't think it's "robust" enough. "The Pelosi approach is an impressive demonstration of coalition building—if you’re trying to build a...
The Biggest Restaurant No-Nos
New York Times
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Oct 29, 2009 3:30 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The seafood restaurant Bruce Buschel is building will have excellent service—or else. Some staff members, he acknowledges, "will no doubt protest some or most of what follows," but he's the boss, and he presents 50 rules in his New York Times blog. A tasting menu: "Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others...
Dow Rises 200 on GDP
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 29, 2009 3:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The report of bigger-than-expected 3.5% growth in GDP spurred a really in stocks today, reversing a week of poor results, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow gained 200 points to close at 9,963. The Nasdaq added 38 points, closing at 2,098. The S&P 500 rose 23 points, settling at 1,066.
Christie to Corzine: 'Man Up and Say I’m Fat'
Politico
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Oct 29, 2009 3:01 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Chris Christie slammed Jon Corzine’s for hinting at his weight in campaign ads and comments, saying the incumbent governor should “man up” and call him fat directly. Corzine has run ads showing Christie’s belly in slow-mo, and, when asked whether he thought his opponent was fat earlier this month, responded: “Am I bald?”...
Jon, Octomom to Get $1M for Reality Dating Show
New York Daily News
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Oct 29, 2009 2:37 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Jon Gosselin and “Octomom” Nadya Suleman were just being coy when they denied they’ve signed on to a one-off reality show: Both are interested and stand to make upward of $1M for the program. Jon - Kate = Jon + Octomom is being shopped as a 2-hour special to air on Super Bowl Sunday. Cameras will reportedly follow them on a date....
Shot Fired at Dobbs' Home
Star-Ledger
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Oct 29, 2009 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A gun was fired at CNN commentator Lou Dobbs’ home while his wife and chauffeur talked outside earlier this month, New Jersey state police said today. Dobbs said the shot came after “weeks and weeks” of threatening phone calls—which he had not reported to police because of their frequency. A bullet, which police said was probably...
Facebook Gives Death a Makeover
Time
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Oct 29, 2009 2:08 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Facebook has responded to yet another qualm arising from its revamp last week. This one was actually sort of serious: Users were inundated with suggestions that they “reconnect” with friends who—though their Facebook pages were still active—had in reality shuffled off this mortal coil. “Would that I could,” one miffed...
Bad News: Chris Brown's New Song Is Good
Slate
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Oct 29, 2009 1:56 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Chris Brown may be a reprehensible guy, but unfortunately, he can still sing. With the ink barely dry on his guilty plea, Brown released the lead single on his upcoming album last month, and it’s actually good, Jonah Weiner is sad to report. The instrumentals from Swizz Beatz lay a tight, two-note guitar riff onto what sounds like a “cyborg...
Save Money: Join Cult of the Somewhat Delayed
Wired
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Oct 29, 2009 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Times are tough, and there's only one sure way to save money in the modern world: Live 2 years in the past. So says Lore Sjoberg, who's starting his very own Cult of the Somewhat Delayed. "If you subsist entirely on 2-year-old entertainment, and the corresponding 2-year-old technology used to power it, you’re cutting your fun budget in half,...
The Strange Story of Jack Kerouac's Estate
Telegraph (UK)
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Oct 29, 2009 1:30 PM CDT
(Newser) -
When Jack Kerouac died, wallowing in alcohol and obscurity, the bank estimated his estate’s value at $1. He left everything to his mother, and when she died, she left it to Kerouac’s third wife, Stella Sampas—or so everyone believed. Recently a Florida court ruled Gabrielle Kerouac's will a forgery. But thanks to an earlier summary...
Wandering Manatee Safe in Fla.
WNBC-TV
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Oct 29, 2009 1:12 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Ilya, a 10-foot, 1,100-pound manatee spotted in Connecticut waters 2 weeks ago, is safely recuperating at a Florida aquarium before being released back into the wild. Ilya was rescued 2 days ago wallowing in the warm discharge of a New Jersey oil refinery, but neither that nor his prolonged exposure to cold northern temperatures appears...
Canadian Insider Trading Scheme Ends in Suicide
Reuters
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Oct 29, 2009 12:59 PM CDT
(Newser) -
When Stanko Grmovsek pled guilty to criminal charges stemming from his insider trading activity on Tuesday, it ended a paperback-worthy tale of friendship and deceit, Reuters reports in an in-depth look at the biggest insider trading scheme in Canadian history. A day before his plea, Grmovsek’s co-conspirator and best friend, Gil Cornblum,...
Bill Sank Hillary's VP Chances: Plouffe
USA Today
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Oct 29, 2009 12:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Obama campaign seriously considered Hillary Clinton for vice president, but ultimately the perception that her husband was "too big a complication" combined with bad memories from the primary campaign to sink her chances. Barack Obama “said if his central criterion measured who could be the best VP, she had to be included in that...
Let's Hope Baucus Doesn't 'Gum Up' Climate Bill
Mother Jones
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Oct 29, 2009 12:25 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Now that his committee is done with health care reform, Max Baucus has time to turn his attention to the climate bill. As a member of Barbara Boxer's environmental panel, "his ability to gum up the works is significant," writes Kate Sheppard . Essentially, he may do to the climate bill what he did to the health care bill—hold it up,...
We Might Need Google Neutrality, Too
Ars Technica
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Oct 29, 2009 12:04 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Net neutrality is back in the headlines, but it might not be as important as its champions might hope. Essentially, the net neutrality fight is over price discrimination—the ISPs want to charge extra fees to big companies that could afford to pay them, explains Ars Technica . Companies of all sorts practice price discrimination, and it works...
Say Goodbye to $600 Jeans
New York Times
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Oct 29, 2009 11:53 AM CDT
(Newser) -
If you couldn't afford a pair of "premium jeans" last year, maybe you can now. Though the basic components of jeans haven't changed in decades, prices skyrocketed early in the decade—but thanks to the recession, designer denim that might have gone for more than $300 two years ago is now priced in the $200 range. "It was all just...
Gap Narrows, But Macs Still Beat PCs
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 29, 2009 11:37 AM CDT
(Newser) -
With Windows 7 and Mac’s Snow Leopard operating systems both available, it’s time for Walter S. Mossberg to drop some science on the arduous task of picking a computer. Things aren’t too different this time around: Macs are still more expensive, though “prices on Windows PCs are creeping upward.” And Apple’s...
7th Severed Foot Hits Canadian Shores
Vancouver Sun
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Oct 29, 2009 11:26 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Another foot has washed up on a British Columbia beach, bringing the total to seven over the last two years. The right foot, inside a running shoe like some of the others, was separated from the body through a “natural process,” police officials tell the Vancouver Sun . Officials will analyze it in the hopes of identifying...
Men Prefer 'Normal' Weight Women
BBC
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Oct 29, 2009 11:08 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Celebrity culture and body image issues aside, women of “normal” weight are by far the most attractive to the opposite sex. College-age men asked to rate headshots of their counterparts judged women in the normal weight range more attractive. “This sends a strong message to all the girls out there who believe you have to be underweight...
Hollywood Contracts Cover Entire Universe
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 29, 2009 11:01 AM CDT
(Newser) -
If someone on Mars wants to broadcast America’s Got Talent , they’ll have to go through NBC first. Contestants on the show sign away the rights to their performances “in all media, throughout the universe,” and similar intergalactic language peppers most entertainment industry contracts. “I think they’re just lazy...
Sex Rehab for Steve Phillips? Oh, Please!
New York Post
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Oct 29, 2009 10:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Steve Phillips and his fellow celebrity sex addicts prove "all that's required to claim that a man's transgression is really a disease over which he is powerless is a large bank account, a small degree of fame, a clueless wife. And a straight face," writes Andrea Peyser in the New York Post . And the punishment is more like a prize: "Residential...
Levi Going 'Full Johnson' for Playgirl
TMZ
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Oct 29, 2009 10:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
As if it's not fantastic enough that Levi Johnston is taking it all off for his upcoming Playgirl shoot, his ever-poetic manager confirmed it with the following statement: "Everything's gonna hang out. We're talking full johnson." The shoot just happens to fall on the same day Sarah Palin goes on Oprah —Nov. 16—and a website...
Drug Czar Needs to Look Beyond Worthless Laws
Washington Post
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Oct 29, 2009 10:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
In a chat with new czar Gil Kerlikowske, George Will notes that the war on drugs, as it has been waged, is an utter failure. Harsh drug laws have done nothing to reduce drug-taking, he writes, and incarcerating drug users is looking more and more wasteful to strapped states. “Not many people think the drug war is a success,” Kerlikowske...
Mom Thinks LiLo's Dying, Too
New York Daily News
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Oct 29, 2009 10:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Michael Lohan is going to tell you the cold hard truth—ad nauseum and whether you like it or not. After appearances on Maury Povich and Access Hollywood in the past week, he's set to appear on Entertainment Tonight Monday, sources tell the New York Daily News , to air taped phone conversations and voicemails of ex-wife Dina to prove...
Pelosi Presents $900B Health Care Bill
Associated Press
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Oct 29, 2009 10:27 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Nancy Pelosi showed off the House’s sweeping health care reform bill today, boasting that it was a historic step toward providing quality health care for nearly all Americans. The bill, which officials say will cost roughly $900 billion over 10 years, would cover 96% of the country, requiring nearly everyone to buy health insurance by 2013. Individuals...
Anti-Semitism Got Polanski
The Atlantic
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Oct 29, 2009 10:06 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Gore Vidal isn't afraid to say what he really thinks about the Roman Polanski fiasco. "I really don’t give a fuck. Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she’s been taken advantage of?" he tells the Atlantic in a wide-ranging interview, adding that the real story is getting twisted, and...
Dems, Health Care Need to Enter the iPhone Age
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 29, 2009 9:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
We live in the age of the iPhone, a world in which you can take your pick of 100,000 apps—and "Democrats are pushing the biggest, fattest, one-size-fits all legislation since 1965," writes Daniel Henninger for the Wall Street Journal . It's not what you'd hope for from our hipster-in-chief. "But the Obama health care bill, and...
2nd Doc Hooked Up With Anna
E! Online
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Oct 29, 2009 9:37 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Just in case anyone thought the Anna Nicole Smith hearing couldn't get any kinkier: It can, and it did. An investigator testified yesterday that Smith physician Sandeep Kapoor—who is facing charges along with psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich and lawyer Howard K. Stern—had a less-than-professional relationship with Smith, "making out"...
Octomom for Halloween: Preggo Nun
Daily Mail (UK)
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Oct 29, 2009 9:19 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Even if you're one of those people that never gets scared, this Halloween costume should do the trick: Octomom Nadya Suleman dressed herself as a pregnant (scary) nun (scarier) and turned her babies into accessories—tiny devils (horrifying). View the truly disturbing photos by Splash in the Daily Mail —no word, though, on why the family...
Barack and Michelle: The First Romantics
New York Times
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Oct 29, 2009 9:03 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Like no other couple before them, Barack and Michelle Obama have made their romance a central feature of his presidency—even his inauguration night seemed like a wedding, the new first lady dressed in white, the couple dancing to a love song. Their marriage is the subject of a 7,500-word piece by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor , who explored...
San Fran Is Best US Vacation Destination
San Jose Mercury News
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Oct 29, 2009 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
San Francisco has topped this year’s Conde Nast Traveler list of American cities to visit. The city by the bay edged out Charleston , SC , at No. 2. Metropolises New York and Chicago made a strong showing as well, at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. The list is based on a survey of 25,000 readers, notes the San Jose...
Hailey: Jon Has 'Mantrums'
People
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Oct 29, 2009 8:46 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Wondering when Hailey Glassman would start oversharing about her relationship with Jon Gosselin? The time has come. On an interview airing on tonight's—and tomorrow's— Insider , Jon's galpal accuses him of emotional abuse. "He has 'mantrums,'" she says. "I cry and say, 'Why are you so mean to me?'" She also calls him...
Swine Flu Crisis Is Fake —Just Like AIDS in Africa
Gawker
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Oct 29, 2009 8:37 AM CDT
(Newser) -
What do H1N1 and HIV have in common? They’re both money-making schemes! At least according to Rush Limbaugh, who yesterday took a fairly reasonable critique of swine flu hysteria off the rails and into crazy town, by saying it was being purposely hyped “for many of the same reasons that AIDS was—and still is—hyped in Africa.”
Couric's Halloween Costume: Aaden Gosselin
Extra
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Oct 29, 2009 8:32 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Kate Gosselin inspired this year's hottest Halloween wig, but Katie Couric is taking a different Gosselin-themed route for her costume: dressing up as sextuplet Aaden. "I met Kate and she seems very nice," Couric tells Extra . "And I told her I was gonna be Aaden, and she said, 'You have to make sure you wear the glasses at the end...
Farthest-Ever Star Blast From Ancient Cosmos
National Geographic
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Oct 29, 2009 8:09 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Astronomers have detected a cosmic object more distant than any ever seen: a gamma ray burst about 13 billion light-years from Earth. The massive, luminous burst occurred about 600 million years after the Big Bang—that is, when the universe was 4% of its current age—and only lasted for about 12 seconds. Scientists say the ancient burst...
Economy Grows in Q3, Signals End of Recession
Associated Press
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Oct 29, 2009 7:55 AM CDT
(AP) -
The economy grew at a 3.5% pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes. The Commerce Department's report today delivered the strongest signal yet that the economy entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery and that the worst recession since the 1930s has ended.
Pelosi to Unveil Bill With Weaker Public Option
Politico
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Oct 29, 2009 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Nancy Pelosi will unveil her long-awaited version of the health care reform bill today, but it won’t include the top item on liberals’ wish list: a public option with rates tied to Medicare. Instead, the bill contains a weaker version of the government-run plan that would let doctors negotiate their rates. Pelosi concluded she didn’t...
In Congress, 535 New GM Boardmembers
Wall Street Journal
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Oct 29, 2009 7:02 AM CDT
(Newser) -
GM might not have realized when it took $58 billion in bailout money that it would now be beholden to members of Congress, who have been acting like 535 new board members as they angle for their constituents' (and their own) interests. Dems and Republicans alike have pressured companies to keep unprofitable factories open, and several have persuaded...
Clinton: Pakistan Has to Fight
Associated Press
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Oct 29, 2009 6:57 AM CDT
(AP) -
Hillary Clinton said today that Pakistan had little choice but to take a more aggressive approach, starting last summer, in combating the Taliban and other extremists that threaten to destabilize the country. In a lively give-and-take with students at the Government College of Lahore, Clinton said inaction by the government would have amounted to ceding...
Grayson Weeps on House Floor
Roll Call
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Oct 29, 2009 6:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Alan Grayson continued with his penchant for the dramatic yesterday, shedding copious tears on the House floor as he read letters from families of people who died because they didn't have health insurance. “For god's sake, I look forward to a time when we have finally done our jobs,” the Florida congressman concluded, pushing his peers...
Obama Looks for Local Allies in Afghanistan
Washington Post
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Oct 29, 2009 6:53 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama has requested detailed, province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan’s local and tribal leaders, hoping to find more effective partners than the country’s weak and corrupt central government. The administration has concluded that no surge in troops will be able to eradicate the Taliban as a political force, but they believe...
US Secretly Speeds Pakistan Military Aid
New York Times
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Oct 29, 2009 6:42 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Pakistani government keeps insisting that the US has little to no role in its offensive in Taliban-controlled border regions—but out of sight, Washington has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars worth of arms and equipment to the country's forces this year. President Obama himself intervened at one point to speed 10 helicopters to Pakistan...
Ahmadinejad Backs Nuke Deal—in Some Form
Associated Press
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Oct 29, 2009 6:36 AM CDT
(AP) -
Iran will not give up its nuclear program but is ready to cooperate with the West, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech today. It's Western powers that have moved, he said in a speech on state television, “from confrontation to interaction” with Iran on the nuclear issue so that “ground has been paved for nuclear cooperation.”...
