Sunday, 20 May 2012 r.

Greece's new leader is a low-key veteran pol

04.10.2009 18:31

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By DEMETRIS NELLAS Associated Press Writer ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Two years ago, when George Papandreou led Greece's Socialist party to its worst election result in three decades, he was widely derided as an ineffective politician. The son and grandson of Greek prime ministers, Papandreou was seen by critics as a pale shadow of his dynamic and charismatic father, Andreas Papandreou, who founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement party, or PASOK, and led it with an iron fist to three election victories from 1981-1993. Some of his friends joined his detractors in calling him "Giorgakis" _ or little George _ a likable...

Mubarak urges Israel to resume peace talks

04.10.2009 17:29

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CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Israel to resume peace talks with the Palestinians where they broke off more than a year ago, warning that the peace process "can't take another failure." Israeli-Palestinian negotiations tapered off last year and haven't resumed since last winter's war in Gaza and the election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israeli prime minister. Since then, the two sides have yet...

Ill. treasure hunt halted as possible prank

04.10.2009 17:29

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A woman's treasure hunt for buried gold coins is over. Patty Henken's quest came to a halt after learning the cryptic...

Barge crash closes part of Miss. River for 3 hours

04.10.2009 17:29

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GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) - The Coast Guard says it closed 10 miles of the Mississippi River for three hours...

How the Greek general election works

04.10.2009 15:56

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By The Associated Press (AP) - A look at how Greek voters chose their government and members of parliament in Sunday's election: VOTERS: 9,834,970 eligible voters, casting ballots at 20,828 polling stations in 56 electoral districts. Voting age is 18. Voting is compulsory but penalties for unjustified abstention have been relaxed and are generally not enforced. CANDIDATES: About 4,000 candidates ran for the...

NYC Chinatown could get 1st Chinese rep on council

04.10.2009 15:56

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By SARA KUGLER Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Chinatown is likely to get its first Chinese-American representative on the City Council, and a Taiwanese immigrant is headed for citywide office _ a dramatic change for the nation's largest city, which had no Asian-Americans in elected office just eight years ago. For the first time in its 150 years, the downtown Manhattan neighborhood, which is one of the biggest Chinese communities outside Asia, could be...

Jamie Lee Curtis, Rob Lowe, and others help launch new environmental program

04.10.2009 15:25

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Jamie Lee Curtis, Rob Lowe, and Dominic Scott Kay say it's time to get outside and enjoy America’s greatest resource: national parks. The actors are helping launch a new environmental program run by the National Park Trust (NPT) called Where’s Buddy Bison Been? 13-year-old Kay, best known...

Travolta Testifies Bahamas Medic Threatened Him

04.10.2009 14:54

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Travolta Testifies That Bahamas Medic Threatened To Claim Actor Was At Fault In Son's Death Font size Print E-mail Share 0 Comments (AP) John Travolta testified Wednesday that a Bahamas paramedic threatened to sell stories to the news media suggesting the movie star was at fault in the death of his 16-year-old son....

Devices locate kids, parents find peace of mind

04.10.2009 14:54

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By BROOKE DONALD Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - With a computer or cell phone and an electronic tracking device, you can locate a missing pet, follow the path of a stolen car, find a skier buried in an avalanche and rescue a hiker lost in the woods. So what about a child snatched by a stranger? About 800,000 children are reported missing in the U.S. each year. The vast majority are runaways, followed by parental abductions, said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. About 58,000 children are kidnapped by strangers, and 99 percent of those come home fairly quickly, often victims of sexual abuse. Then there are the approximately 115...

Waves of new fund cuts imperil US nursing homes

04.10.2009 14:54

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By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press Writer HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The nation's nursing homes are perilously close to laying off workers, cutting...

Great time for US consumers: America is on sale

04.10.2009 13:52

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NEW YORK – There has never been a better time to be a consumer. America is on sale. The Great Recession has caused massive job losses and hardship for millions, but it has also fostered a shoppers' paradise. Anyone who still has the means to spend can find unheard of deals. Prices on everything from clothes to coffee to cat food are dropping, some faster than they have in half a century. Items rarely discounted — like Tiffany engagements rings — are now. The two biggest purchases most people make — homes and new cars — are selling at steep price reductions. "This is the new normal," says Donald Keprta, president of Dominick's, a supermarket chain in the Midwest,...

Danish military chief resigns amid book scandal

04.10.2009 13:52

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COPENHAGEN (AP) - Denmark's military chief of staff said Sunday he will resign to restore the public's confidence in the country's defense, an apparent reference to a scandal surrounding a book disclosing Danish military...

Venezuela to outlaw violent video games, toys

04.10.2009 13:52

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By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER Associated Press Writer CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Shouts of "Kill him! Kill him!" ring out as the preteens train their virtual assault rifles on the last remaining terrorist and spray him with bullets. Blood splatters. The enemy collapses. And they cheerfully wrap up another game of "Counter-Strike." The most popular video games among kids often imitate life outside this Internet cafe in San Augustin _ one of the many crime-ridden slums in Venezuela's capital, where residents say too many of the young players easily trade joysticks for guns. In a bid to curb that trend, Venezuela's National Assembly is on track to prohibit violent video games and toys. The proposed...

Trial to begin in Idaho girl's hypothermia death

04.10.2009 13:52

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BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Eleven-year-old Sage Aragon and her older brother set out in the snow on Christmas Day, hiking along a frigid, desolate...

44 tons of rotting meat stink up South Dakota town

04.10.2009 13:52

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By CARSON WALKER Associated Press Writer BRIDGEWATER, S.D. (AP) - Behind the freezer doors at a meat plant mysteriously abandoned by its owner, the 44 tons of bison meat managed to hold its own for months, masked by the brutal chill of two South Dakota winters. Once the power was cut and spring thaw arrived, nature took over. And enough rotting meat to fill a high school gym did exactly what you'd expect: It stank. It stank at the bank. It smelled at the law office. It reeked at the cafe. Even the jewelry store wasn't immune. Everyone in this tiny town could smell it, everywhere they went. A putrid odor so downright nasty the cleaners sent to mop up the gooey mess of liquefied meat _ topped...

Great time for US consumers: America is on sale

04.10.2009 13:21

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NEW YORK (AP) -- There has never been a better time to be a consumer. America is on sale. The Great Recession has caused massive job losses and hardship for millions, but it has also fostered a shoppers' paradise. Anyone who still has the means to spend can find unheard of deals. Prices on everything from clothes to coffee to cat food are dropping, some faster than they have in half a century. Items rarely discounted - like Tiffany engagements rings - are now. The two biggest purchases most people make - homes and new cars - are selling at steep price reductions. "This is the new normal," says Donald Keprta, president of Dominick's, a supermarket chain in the Midwest, which just cut prices...

Venezuela To Outlaw Violent Video Games, Toys

04.10.2009 13:21

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Chavez Allies To Ban Violent Video Games In Bid To Curb Venezuela's Soaring Crime Rate Font size Print E-mail Share 0 Comments Photo (AP) Photo...

Traditions fade as China settles nomads in towns

04.10.2009 12:50

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By HENRY SANDERSON Associated Press Writer GENHE CITY, China (AP) - Herding reindeer and hunting bears and boars in the forests on Siberia's fringe was Gu Gejun's life. Now his rifle has been confiscated, and the only reindeer he herds are in an urban tourist park. China has moved most of the small Ewenki ethnic group from the steppe to the city, giving its members better access to medical services, education and jobs but, inevitably, changing their traditions. They are among more than 700,000 nomadic herders _ mostly Tibetans, Mongols and Kazaks in western China _ the government has resettled since 2000. About 60 Ewenki families live here in a Finnish-designed gated community of spacious...

Belgium, Honolulu bishop celebrate 'leper priest'

04.10.2009 12:50

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By ROBERT WIELAARD Associated Press Writer TREMELO, Belgium (AP) - Belgian royals and government officials joined the bishop of Honolulu at a Mass on Sunday to celebrate a 19th-century local hero, a week before he will become a saint for his work with lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. The Mass began an overcast autumn day of celebrations and fireworks that lured 20,000 people to this town of 14,000,...

Rio's biggest carnivale

04.10.2009 11:17

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WHAT was so extraordinary about the decision of the International Olympic Committee to award the 2016 Olympics to South America for the first time was not that Rio de Janeiro came out on top but that it won so convincingly. Everyone had expected that thepresence of Barack and Michelle Obama in Copenhagen would tilt the voting towards Chicago. Obama's global popularity was anticipated to be a significant advantage, particularly when it was combined with fact that the US, whose television and sponsors produce the majority of the revenue for the IOC, has not hosted the Olympics since Atlanta in 1996. However, Obama was upstaged by the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose speech...

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