'Unnerving' how long it existed 'below radar'
Los Angeles Times Oct 30, 07 4:12 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The AIDS virus reached America through Haiti, not directly from Africa, and far earlier than has been suspected—the 1960's, not the early 1980's, researchers have discovered. Scientists analyzed 25-year-old blood samples and used what they know of the virus' mutations to construct a rough timeline of the progression of the disease, according to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
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Kids seen making
Gap garments in New Delhi sweatshop
Guardian (UK) Oct 28, 07 5:14 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ten-year-olds were found stitching Gap apparel in a filthy New Delhi sweatshop, some without pay, in an investigation by the Guardian . The kids interviewed by the paper reported long hours of unpaid work, threats and beatings. Serial numbers on the beaded blouses they were working on were ID'd by the Gap, which pulled the items from shelves and launched a probe, the Guardian reports.
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Showdown looms with US & EU in bid to keep observers at a distance
New York Times Oct 25, 07 5:11 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Russia may be headed for another showdown with the US and the European Union over its proposals to severely limit the authority of international election monitors. The Kremlin wants to cut the number of observers and ban their reports from publication until after elections. The move comes just months before the country’s parliamentary and presidential contests, the New York Times reports.
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Fighters wary of Iraq are groomed for terror ops on Afghan border
Los Angeles Times Oct 14, 07 6:38 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Renewed Al-Qaeda strength on the Pakistan-Afghan border is wooing European militants to train in Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fighters who are wary of Iraq—where they may have to strap on a bomb on short notice—can enjoy being groomed for missions in Pakistan. “Pakistan worries me more than Iraq,” says a Belgian official, because militants “have time to be trained as operatives.”
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She ignores knocks from Turks, GOP, as Turkey fires shells into Kurdish villages
New York Times Oct 14, 07 6:13 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Nancy Pelosi vows to take the Turkey-genocide vote to the floor despite renewed Turkish threats and Republican jabs, the New York Times reports. Turkey’s army chief warned today that “military relations with the United States can never be the same" if the vote passes. GOP lawmaker John Boehner called it “the most irresponsible thing I've seen Congress do this year," AFP reports.
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Private military contractors get second look following the Blackwater USA incident
CNN Sep 19, 07 8:03 PM CDT
(Newser)
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In the wake of the shooting deaths of 10 Iraqi civilians at the hands of private security firm Blackwater last weekend, the US and Iraq are forming a joint panel to probe the war's private security contractors. Rather than conduct forensic field studies of the incident, officials say, the committee will look at the "safety and security involving the operations of these contractors."
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Poll finds 29% give president thumbs-up; 11% for legislators
Reuters Sep 19, 07 7:12 PM CDT
(Newser)
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President Bush and Congress scored record-low approval ratings in a Reuters/Zogby poll released today. Bush dipped 1% below his previous Zogby approval rating of 30%; the legislative branch scored 11% approval, down 3% in August. And a new "mood index" showed the country as more unhappy than in July, with 62% saying the US is on the wrong track.
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Party unites around dovish elder statesman Yasuo Fukuda
Star (Malaysia) Sep 19, 07 9:30 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is set to choose its replacement for Shinzo Abe, who resigned suddenly last week, in voting Sunday. The winner will become prime minister Tuesday. Although early prognoses hyped hawk Taro Aso as the favorite, his close association with the outgoing PM has hurt him. Victory is almost assured for his opponent, the 71-year-old chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda.
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Hush-hush attack may have targeted North Korean nukes
Newsweek Sep 17, 07 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Arab governments aren’t talking too loudly about the reported Israeli bombing of Syrian territory two weeks ago. They’re waiting to see what the fallout is, Newsweek notes, for the real intended target—Syrian sponsor Iran. The raid appears to have been a signal that Israel will act against Tehran with or without Western support, Newsweek sleuths conclude, and may even have been an attack on imported North Korean nuclear technology.
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Kouchner pleases US with Iran rumblings,
but he's no sure thing
CNN Sep 17, 07 4:52 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The founder of Doctors Without Borders might seem a peculiar mouthpiece for the new law-and-order regime of Nicolas Sarkozy, but Bernard Kouchner actually fits right in with France’s more muscular foreign policy tone. The surprise choice for foreign minister, Kouchner is an anomaly, a Socialist who supports the Iraq war, CNN reports in a profile of the man Boutros Boutros-Ghali once called "an unguided missile."
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Ambassador says 10,000 expats could take 2 years to admit
Washington Post Sep 17, 07 10:41 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Ambassador Ryan Crocker says the US needs to get moving on admitting Iraqi refugees. In a State Department memo titled "Iraqi Refugee Processing: Can We Speed It Up?", Crocker writes that thousands of desperate Iraqis are facing bottlenecks to their resettlement, and that at the present rate it would take two years to admit the 10,000 refugees referred to the US by the United Nations.
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