Newser Story Index from September, 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.
Jaycee Likely to Testify Against Garridos
CBS News
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Sep 24, 2009 1:37 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Jaycee Lee Dugard will likely testify against the couple who held her captive for 18 years, says her family’s lawyer. “Jaycee will, in all likelihood, be a witness for the prosecution,” he told CBS’ Early Show . “She’s aware of that and understands that. That day is a long ways away, so she’s got a lot of...
Downtrodden Detroit Can Rise Again, Green
Time
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Sep 24, 2009 1:20 PM CDT
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The Detroit of Daniel Okrent’s childhood is gone. The “elm-lined streets” of the “City of Homeowners”—“the place that America once knew as the Arsenal of Democracy”—have become “the urban equivalent of a boxer's mouth, more gaps than teeth.” A devastating combination of racial tension...
Netanyahu Blasts UN for Ahmadinejad Speech
Fox News
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Sep 24, 2009 1:11 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t hold back today when he took the stage at the United Nations. The Israeli PM went on a tirade, berating the UN for allowing Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak. “Have you no shame? Have you no decency?” he demanded, after recounting the horrors of the genocide. “What a disgrace. What a mockery...
Obesity Growing as Cancer Risk for Women
Associated Press
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Sep 24, 2009 1:00 PM CDT
(AP) -
Being fat could become the leading cause of cancer in women in Western countries in the coming years, say European researchers. Being overweight or obese accounts for up to 8% of cancers in Europe. That figure is poised to increase substantially as the obesity epidemic continues, and as major causes of cancer, such as smoking, drop. Colorectal cancer,...
Hey, Kennedys! 'Enough With the Entitlement'
Boston Herald
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Sep 24, 2009 12:46 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Ted Kennedy’s seat “is not a Kennedy seat anymore.” His wife could have run. Or his nephew Joe. They chose not to. So why did Massachusetts' governor bow to the wishes of a now-defunct dynasty when choosing a replacement for the late senator? “Enough, finally, with the entitlement,” Boston Herald columnist Margery Eagan...
'Obama Effect' Cleaning Up Rap
CNN
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Sep 24, 2009 12:34 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Thanks to President Obama, today’s rap focuses less on drugs, bling, and violence, and the “conscious rapper” is on the rise—at least according to Common. “I don't find as much gangsta talk,” the rapper/actor tells CNN. “You see the whole chain-shining-and-rim era is gone. That's like super-played out. Just...
Claws Back Out on SATC Set
OK!
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Sep 24, 2009 12:17 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Catfight alert: Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall are still feuding, making life miserable for everyone on the set of the second Sex and the City movie. “While the cast is all smiles on the outside, the level of dislike is unbelievable,” an insider tells Star. “No one is having a good time on this shoot.” The actresses,...
Zelaya: Israeli Mercenaries Trying to Kill, Irradiate Me
Miami Herald
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Sep 24, 2009 12:03 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Manuel Zelaya says “Israeli mercenaries” are planning to assassinate him, and in the meantime are torturing him by pumping toxic gases and high-frequency radiation into the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. “We are being threatened with death,” he tells the Miami Herald, but “I prefer to march on my feet than to live...
Obama-Led Security Council OKs Nuke Resolution
Washington Post
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Sep 24, 2009 11:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The UN Security Council today adopted a US-drafted resolution that outlines much of President Obama’s plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The president’s attendance at the meeting of heads of state—just the fifth in UN history—underscores the centrality of the issue for his administration. Though the measure passed unanimously,...
Glenn Beck Boils a Frog * * No, Not Really
Huffington Post
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Sep 24, 2009 11:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Did Glenn Beck boil a widdle bitty frog on national television? It sure looked that way for a second, especially in a video bouncing around the blogosphere today. After explaining the adage that a frog will jump out if you throw it into boiling water, the Fox host appears to take a small jumping frog and toss it into a not-so-proverbial pot of boiling...
Kick in the Butt: Soft Toilet Paper Battle Gets Messy
Washington Post
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Sep 24, 2009 11:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The environmental campaign against soft toilet paper is heating up, as manufacturers keep pushing the fluff factor—"Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective," the Washington Post notes—and environmentalists want the industry to go all recycled. The softer rolls US consumers prefer...
Swayze Book: Grey Was Annoying on Set of Dancing
New York Daily News
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Sep 24, 2009 11:17 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The chemistry between Patrick Swayze and Dirty Dancing co-star Jennifer Grey was definitely on-screen-only. Grey was the cause of “a few moments of friction” on set because of her tendency to be “particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her,” Swayze wrote in his memoir, out next week. “Other...
Iran Offers US Meeting With Nuke Experts
Washington Post
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Sep 24, 2009 11:05 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he’d be willing to let Iran’s nuclear scientists meet with experts from the US and other world powers in an effort to alleviate suspicions about the country’s nuclear program. Iran also intends to attempt to buy uranium from the US during international negotiations next week. It would be used "for medicinal...
Taliban Widens Afghan Attacks From Pakistan Base
New York Times
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Sep 24, 2009 10:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Afghan Taliban leadership operating out of Pakistan has surprised the US military by countering its offensive in southern Afghanistan with a shrewd expansion into the north and west of the country. “They’ve outmaneuvered us time and time again,” an intelligence official tells the New York Times . “The Taliban is...
Grey's Stars in Baby Battle
New York Post
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Sep 24, 2009 10:40 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Wondering why Ellen Pompeo didn’t announce the arrival of her daughter—who was born last Tuesday—until yesterday? Perhaps it’s because her Grey’s Anatomy co-star Katherine Heigl chose last Tuesday to make the adoption of her own daughter public. "It was very curious timing,” a source tells the New York Post....
GOP Raises More Cash Than Dems in Aug.
USA Today
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Sep 24, 2009 10:27 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Republican campaign committees got a big fundraising bump in August, pulling in $1.7 million more than Democrats, despite being the minority party. “Republicans have been able to tap into some of the anger against Democrats in power and translate that into fundraising,” one analyst tells USA Today . “There are a lot of Republicans...
Zazi Charged With Plotting Bomb Attacks in US
Associated Press
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Sep 24, 2009 10:12 AM CDT
(AP) -
Terror suspect Najibullah Zazi has been indicted on a charge of trying to detonate bombs in the United States. The new charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction was filed today in New York. Authorities plan to transfer him to federal court there to face the new charge after he appears in court in Denver on a count of lying to terrorism...
Amanda Loosens Lips on Kissing Megan
GQ
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Sep 24, 2009 10:06 AM CDT
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Not surprisingly, a portion of Amanda Seyfried’s recent GQ interview was devoted to her overly-hyped kiss with Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body . “There may be one trailer where it’s literally two full minutes of us making out,” she says. “A lot of people in the world want to make out with Megan Fox, and she’s...
Ex-DNC Chair Kirk to Replace Kennedy
Boston Globe
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Sep 24, 2009 9:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Deval Patrick has chosen former Democratic Party national chairman Paul Kirk to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate, giving Barack Obama the 60th vote he needs to pass health care reform. The 71-year-old Kirk is a former Kennedy staffer, and was such close friends with the senator that he served as master of ceremonies at his memorial service. He’s...
Jon's Floozies Approaching His Number of Kids
Perez Hilton
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Sep 24, 2009 9:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
It’s as if the Jon Gosselin paramours are trying to one-up each other. The latest—yes, shockingly, there is another—says she had a threesome with the “sex-crazed” reality dad while he was partying in Sin City. But if you think this means his other galpals are shutting up, think again. In Touch spoke to them all in a...
Premiums Likely to Soar Under Obamacare
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 24, 2009 9:27 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Current health care legislation would require every American to buy health insurance, but would do little or nothing to control the skyrocketing premiums they’d have to pay, the LA Times reports. Versions of the bill try to address the problem indirectly—with a public option in the House bill and nonprofit co-ops in Baucus’s Senate...
Obama Scores on Nuclear Proliferation at UN
New York Times
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Sep 24, 2009 9:11 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama scored two significant victories at the UN yesterday, cajoling Dmitry Medvedev into saying he would get behind tougher nuclear sanctions against Iran, and convincing both Russia and China to support a resolution strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Publicly the administration wouldn’t acknowledge any quid-pro-quo, but...
Think Clinton's Impeachment Was Messy? Wait for Obama's
Huffington Post
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Sep 24, 2009 8:56 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The GOP will try and impeach President Obama on some ridiculous charge if they're ever able to get Congress back, and it's not going to be pretty, writes Bob Cesca for the Huffington Post. Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh will come up with a reason for impeachment and a way to sell it, which won't be hard—the party has already had 100 members of Congress...
For Buffett, Best Suits Are Made in China
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 24, 2009 8:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
One is America's most famous capitalist, the other leads China's Communist Party. But Warren Buffett and Hu Jintao have something in common—they both get their suits from Trands, an obscure northern Chinese menswear company not open to the public. Buffett, who recently recorded a promotional video for Trands' owners, tells the Wall Street Journal...
Gadhafi Rant: Not All Nonsense
Financial Times (UK)
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Sep 24, 2009 8:36 AM CDT
(Newser) -
His swine flu conspiracy theories and who-shot-JFK musings may have got the headlines, but Moammar Gadhafi actually made a few good points during his 96-minute monologue at the UN General Assembly, blogs Gideon Rachman. The Libyan colonel is totally right that the Security Council is outdated and doesn't represent the world well, and he accurately...
Horrorcore Rap Killings Shock Sleepy Va. Town
Washington Post
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Sep 24, 2009 8:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Farmville is a sleepy Virginia town of 7,000, hardly the kind of place you’d expect a Californian “horrorcore” rapper to brutally bludgeon four people to death, Yet that's exactly what 20-year-old Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III, aka “Syko Sam,” is suspected of doing. “I mean, things like this don’t happen...
Nintendo Cuts Wii to $200 in Price War With Sony
Times (UK)
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Sep 24, 2009 8:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Nintendo is slashing the price of its Wii console by 20% worldwide, bringing the US price to $200—a cut announced just as Sony was beginning its presentation at the annual Tokyo Game Show. The prices of Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox were both dropped to $300 lately as the video game market endures its worst period in years. Nintendo's...
Michelle Phillips: Incest a Lie
Hollywood Reporter
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Sep 24, 2009 8:06 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Mackenzie Phillips’ other stepmom is none too happy with her claim of an incestuous relationship with dad. Michelle Phillips, John’s ex-wife and bandmate, says Mackenzie told her about the affair in 1997—"then she called me back and said, ‘You know I’m joking.’ I said it wasn’t funny. Mackenzie has a lot...
Michelle, First Ladies to Swing By Pa. Farm, Museum
Associated Press
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Sep 24, 2009 7:57 AM CDT
(AP) -
In her first outing as an international hostess, Michelle Obama is welcoming the spouses of world leaders to Pittsburgh today with a program covering some of her own interests: art and architecture, arts education, sustainable farming, and locally grown food. The first lady and her guests will have dinner tonight at a working farm owned by Teresa Heinz...
DWTS Offers Swayze Tribute
E! Online
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Sep 24, 2009 7:28 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Patrick Swayze’s life—and moves—were celebrated by six of the pros on last night’s Dancing With the Stars . Swayze’s own “She’s Like the Wind” started off the medley, followed by “Unchained Melody” from Ghost and, of course, “Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing for the grand...
Vaccine Cuts HIV Infection Rate by 1/3
New York Times
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Sep 24, 2009 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A new vaccine tested in Thailand has protected a significant minority of subjects against HIV infection—marking the first time a vaccine has shown even partial success against the virus that causes AIDS. The 16,000-volunteer study, undertaken by the US Army, the Thai health ministry, and two drug companies, found that a combination...
NY Dems Asked White House to Intervene on Paterson
Politico
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Sep 24, 2009 6:56 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama urged New York Gov. David Paterson not to run in next year's election only after members of Congress, nervous about the party's prospects with Paterson at the top of the ticket, lobbied Rahm Emanuel for help. The 2010 election features not only a race for governor but also the first statewide test for Kirsten Gillibrand, whom Paterson...
EPA Sues North Face Over 'Anti-Bacteria' Boots
Associated Press
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Sep 24, 2009 6:40 AM CDT
(Newser) -
North Face may be kicked with a fine of up to $1 million for claiming its shoes have the power to kill fungus and bacteria. The EPA filed a lawsuit against the outdoor clothing company's parent firm yesterday, alleging that the operation violated federal law by advertising that its specially treated footbeds prevent disease-causing germs.
NYPD Yanks Top Cop From Terror Unit
New York Times
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Sep 24, 2009 6:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A top official from one of the NYPD's two counterterror units has been replaced after his unit disrupted a federal terror probe by inadvertently alerting the prime suspect to the investigation. Paul Ciorra of the Intelligence Division—which sometimes competes with the city's Counterterrorism Bureau and clashes with federal partners—has...
US to Engage Burmese Junta
BBC
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Sep 24, 2009 6:09 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The US will directly engage with Burma's military leadership in addition to its current sanctions, Hillary Clinton said yesterday. The secretary of State acknowledged that sanctions alone had failed to change "the lack of democracy in Burma and the authorities’ abysmal record on human rights," and it was time for a strategy change.
Mondale: Obama Enemies Show Racist 'Edge'
Politico
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Sep 24, 2009 5:34 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Jimmy Carter isn't the only grand old man of the Democratic Party to see racism in the opposition to Barack Obama's agenda. Walter Mondale, Carter's VP and the subject of a new documentary, said last night that "Having lived through those years, when civil rights was such a bitter issue, I know that some of that must still be around." The...
Is Incest Always Rape?
Salon
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Sep 24, 2009 5:13 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Actress Mackenzie Phillips has already raised the "Stockholm syndrome" regarding 10 years of sex with her rock icon dad, leaving many to wonder if incest can ever be consensual. The blogosphere appears unanimous that John Phillips' sex with a blacked-out Mackenzie was rape since she was unable to consent—which was the case the first...
Vatican Plans Major Overhaul of Secretive Bank
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 24, 2009 4:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Vatican bank—so secretive it makes Swiss bankers seem chatty—is getting a major revamp as part of Pope Benedict XVI's campaign for transparency. Italian economist Ettori Tedeschi has been appointed the new chief executive—replacing someone who's been in the post 20 years—and the bank's supervisory board has been reconstituted....
Cops Seize Mafia Don's 'Croc Weapon'
BBC
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Sep 24, 2009 4:20 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Italian police have confiscated a crocodile they suspect was used by a Mafia boss to persuade people to cough up protection money. The gangster invited extortion victims to his home and threatened to set the crocodile on them if they didn't pay up, investigators say. He has has been charged with illegal animal possession. The croc has been sent to...
Bolton: Obama's UN Address Naive, 'Post-American'
National Review
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Sep 24, 2009 3:52 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama's address to the United Nations yesterday was long on uniting nations and short on looking out for American interests, complains Bush administration UN representative John Bolton. The "Wilsonian" address was "a post-American speech by our first post-American president," and was "very revealing of Obama’s...
'Save the Boob' Ads Turn Heads, Spark Complaints
ABC News
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Sep 24, 2009 3:31 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Just because breast cancer is serious, does that mean PSAs have to be? "Save the boob" is the tag line on one irreverent video in a campaign for breast cancer awareness that's drawing fans—and furious complaints. Designers of the public service announcements aim to grab the attention younger women, and encourage them to do breast...
Obama Dodges Sitdown With Brown for Chat in UN Kitchen
Guardian (UK)
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Sep 24, 2009 3:01 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Brit papers are buzzing about President Obama's snub of visiting Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who asked for a meeting five times. Brown—keen to boost his profile as an international statesman as his poll numbers flatline in Britain—had to settle for a 15-minute "walk and talk" with Obama in the UN kitchens yesterday. The spurned...
Record Stash of Ancient Gold Found In Farmer's Field
BBC
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Sep 24, 2009 2:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The biggest stash of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver ever found has been unearthed in a farmer's field in Staffordshire, England, by an amateur treasure hunter using a metal detector. The hoard, estimated to date back to the 7th century, includes weapons, helmets, and gold coins. Archaeologists are stunned both by the size—some 1,500 pieces—and...
Hazing 'Slut List' Rattles NJ High School
ABC News
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Sep 24, 2009 2:15 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Parents and administrators are trying to crush a rite-of-passage "slut list" targeting freshmen in a top academically ranked New Jersey High School. The hazing isn't being perpetrated by adolescent boys, but by senior girls, who write and circulate degrading comments about the incoming 13-year-old girls at Milburn High. And they also...
Rove: You're Boring Us, Obama
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 24, 2009 1:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
If President Obama wants opponents to buy his health care plan he'll have to come with a better plan instead of trying to bore them into submission by repeating details of the one he's got, writes Karl Rove. With his recent round of TV appearances, "Obama made a classic mistake of politicians on a downward-bending arc," writes the former...
Closing Spruced-Up Gitmo Would Be a Waste
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 24, 2009 1:23 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Money is being poured into improving the quality of life for Guantanamo detainees just as the government works toward closing the detention center, writes a puzzled Judith Miller after a tour. Recreation facilities and classrooms are being expanded, and inmates have access to satellite TV. Prisoners are given a choice of six halal meals daily—including...
Lily Allen Rode Piracy to Fame, But Now It's Not OK?
Techdirt
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Sep 23, 2009 10:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Singer Lily Allen has caused a stir with recent rants against music piracy (and a blog where she posts opinions from like-minded creative pals), but when she was trying to make it, she was guilty of just that offense. Allen included tracks from Jay-Z, Jefferson Airplane and others on mixtapes (still available, by the way) with her own songs, Michael...
'Fed' Written on Chest of Hanged Ky. Census Worker
Associated Press
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Sep 23, 2009 9:26 PM CDT
(AP) -
A US Census worker found hanged from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law-enforcement official said today, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment. The official did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word on Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old...
Russia Shifts on Iran, But Why Remains Unclear
The Atlantic
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Sep 23, 2009 8:43 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Has the US finally convinced Russia that reining in Iran is in both countries’ common interest? Or are indications today that Russia could support sanctions on the rogue nuclear program part of a quid-pro-quo arrangement that President Obama launched last week by shelving the Eastern European missile shield? Marc Ambinder says he isn’t...
Craft Find Traces of Water on Moon
Space.com
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Sep 23, 2009 8:00 PM CDT
(Newser) -
There is indeed some water on the moon, with three different spacecraft seemingly putting to rest the scientific school of thought that the orb is bone-dry. Friday’s issue of the journal Science cites “unambiguous evidence” of either water (two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen) or hydroxyl (one of each)—and though it’s...
