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/ 13 February 2007
The visit this week of Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to the United States has elements of a homecoming as she defends her government’s development policies before a three-day World Bank gathering of international experts and delegates from at least 20 countries.
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/ 12 February 2007
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied on Monday that Iran is supplying sophisticated weapons to Iraqi militants and said peace would return to Iraq only when United States and other foreign forces leave. ”The US administration and [US President George] Bush are used to accusing others,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with US television network ABC.
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/ 12 February 2007
Springbok coach Paul Treu’s hopes of winning the San Diego Sevens were demolished by a controversial refereeing call at Petco Park in San Diego on Sunday. The Springboks had fought a titanic tussle with world champions Fiji, forcing the game into extra time after the teams were deadlocked 21-all at the end of full time when referee Matt Stanish’s mistake cost them a place in the semifinals.
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/ 12 February 2007
The Dixie Chicks, who stirred up a hornet’s nest with a jibe at United States President George Bush, won all five Grammys for which they were nominated on Sunday. The victory marked a stunning validation for the female country music trio from Texas, almost four years after their dream run as the darlings of Nashville came to an abrupt end.
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/ 10 February 2007
Democrat Barack Obama launched his 2008 White House run on Saturday with a pledge to end the war in Iraq and bridge the partisan divide that has blocked political progress on issues from energy to healthcare. Obama (45) is a rising party star who would be the first black US president if elected.
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/ 9 February 2007
Anna Nicole Smith, the small-town Texas girl turned Playboy Playmate who fought all the way to the United States Supreme Court over her billionaire husband’s estate, died suddenly on Thursday at the age of 39. Smith, a voluptuous platinum blonde who grew up idolising the late screen legend Marilyn Monroe, was pronounced dead at a Hollywood, Florida, hospital.
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/ 8 February 2007
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday she is cautiously optimistic that it may be possible to begin carrying out a September 2005 agreement on ending North Korea’s nuclear programs. ”I am cautiously optimistic that we may be able to begin, again, to implement the joint statement of 2005,” Rice told a congressional panel.
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/ 8 February 2007
No extra United States combat troops will be stationed in Africa as a result of plans to create a US military command for the continent. The headquarters will have a strong focus on helping African nations train their security forces and will include more US government civilians than other regional command centres.
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/ 7 February 2007
The biggest sexual discrimination case in United States history advanced against Wal-Mart on Tuesday when a top court ruled that more than a million women could join a suit charging bias in pay and promotions. The plaintiffs estimate they could win billions of dollars in lost pay and damages.
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/ 7 February 2007
Frankie Laine, the full-voiced singer who became one of the most popular entertainers of the 1950s with such hits as I Believe, Jezebel and the theme to the TV Western Rawhide, died on Tuesday at 93. Laine died of a heart attack after hip-replacement surgery at the Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego.
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/ 7 February 2007
The United States Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than -billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the US gave control back to Iraqis. The money came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the United Nations-run oil-for-food programme and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.
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/ 7 February 2007
Astronaut Lisa Nowak’s attack on a rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut sent shockwaves on Tuesday through a tightly-knit Nasa community accustomed to its crewmembers showing the ”right stuff,” and not getting involved in love triangles. Johnson Space Centre director Michael Coats said in a statement the space agency was ”deeply saddened by this tragic event”.
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/ 7 February 2007
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates addressed thousands of computer-security specialists gathered at a San Francisco conference on Tuesday, calling for a "powerful paradigm" to thwart online crime. "People want more flexibility and anywhere access with multiple devices," Gates told a crowd of RSA Conference 2007 attendees.
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/ 7 February 2007
Apple’s Steve Jobs posted an open message to record studios on Tuesday, asking them to abolish security software that prevents music bought online from playing on different types of MP3 players. Apple would embrace eliminating technology that prevents songs downloaded from its iTunes music store from being played on iPod rivals, he said.
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/ 7 February 2007
Chubby Checker removes his overcoat, bends his knees slightly and slowly swivels his hips. The big guy is getting into it, lightly snapping his fingers, pointing his toes. ”The twist is putting out a cigarette with both feet, coming out of the shower, wiping off your bottom with a towel to the beat of the music,” he explains.
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/ 6 February 2007
President George Bush has approved a Pentagon plan to create a new military command for operations in Africa to coordinate action and counter potential threats from the continent, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. ”This command will enable us to have a more effective and integrated approach than the current arrangement,” Gates told a congressional panel.
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/ 6 February 2007
A shortage of African peacekeepers probably means that nations of the continent will not be able to provide enough troops to meet the United Nations target for deployment in Darfur. Cameron Hume, who heads the United States diplomatic mission in Sudan, said the African Union probably could deploy no more than 10 000 peacekeepers at any one time.
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/ 5 February 2007
President George Bush on Monday proposed more than -billion in new spending for the United States military — much of it for the Iraq war — in a budget that would curb domestic programmes from health to education. Bush also warned that even more spending for Iraq could be needed, as he unveiled a ,9-trillion budget certain to stoke anger among Democrats.
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/ 4 February 2007
One was a successful corporate lawyer, another a Mercedes-driving businesswoman and a third a navy officer who steered battleships. They are among a growing number of women in their 20s and 30s across the United States who have shed high-powered jobs, career ambitions and boyfriends for a nun’s veil and a life devoted to the church.
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/ 3 February 2007
A Chewbacca impersonator was arrested after being accused of head-butting a Hollywood tour guide who warned the furry brown Wookiee about harassing two Japanese tourists, police said on Saturday. ”Nobody tells this Wookiee what to do,” ”Chewie” from the Star Wars movies said before slamming his head into the guide’s forehead.
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/ 3 February 2007
The Bush administration played down the United States contribution to world climate change on Friday and called for a ”global discussion” after a United Nations report blamed humans for much of the warming over the past 50 years. ”We are a small contributor when you look at the rest of the world,” US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said of greenhouse gas emissions.
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/ 2 February 2007
United States intelligence has concluded key elements of Iraq’s violence could be described as a ”civil war,” a term Bush administration officials have been reluctant to use until now, a new report said on Friday. The report also suggested President George Bush’s new strategy for controlling Iraqi violence must show progress within 12 to 18 months or risk further deterioration.
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/ 2 February 2007
An outbreak of a contagious rash called herpes gladiatorum among Minnesota high school wrestlers led the state to suspend matches and halt contact practices, authorities said on Wednesday. The Minnesota State High School League acted after 24 wrestlers from 10 schools contracted the rash.
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/ 1 February 2007
It’s hard to imagine a sequel to a movie like Oscar-nominated crime drama The Departed, which ends in such a spasm of violence that hardly any of the lead characters are left alive. But almost anything is possible in Hollywood when enough money is at stake.
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/ 1 February 2007
Computer hackers are off and running trying to find vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system, putting to test the software maker’s claim that it is the most secure Windows program to date. The new version of Windows became available to consumers on Tuesday.
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/ 1 February 2007
An advertising campaign for a late-night animated series went seriously wrong on Wednesday when police in Boston mistook the ads for explosive devices and shut down half the city. The discovery of five suspect devices sent authorities into a tailspin, closing off major roads, suspending rail services and river transport and causing major disruption in the city as police investigated.
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/ 1 February 2007
A television network’s marketing campaign went badly awry on Wednesday, causing a day-long security scare in Boston. Apologising for Boston’s biggest security alert since the September 11 attacks, Turner Broadcasting said it had placed electronic devices to promote an animated cartoon.
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/ 1 February 2007
Michael Dell on Wednesday resumed command of the United States computer company he founded in 1984, taking back control of the struggling firm from a successor he anointed. Dell’s return to the chief-executive position at the company that bears his name caused its stock to rise more than 4% in after-hours trading.
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/ 1 February 2007
While Microsoft trumpeted Vista worldwide on Tuesday, the internet abounded with postings from people unimpressed or downright disappointed with the new operating system. Headlines on web logs and news websites included "Think whisper, not bang" and "Why you don’t need Vista now".
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/ 31 January 2007
Sidney Sheldon, an Oscar-winning Hollywood screenwriter who went on to become one of the world’s most prolific novelists, died in California on January 30 at the age of 89, a publicist said. Sheldon died of complications from pneumonia at the Eisenhower Medical Centre in Rancho Mirage, near his Palm Springs home.
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/ 31 January 2007
A Sea Launch rocket carrying a commercial communications satellite blew up during its launch from an oceangoing platform in the equatorial Pacific on Tuesday. The Boeing-built NSS-8 satellite was intended for the Netherlands-based SES New Skies.
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/ 31 January 2007
Pete Sampras, who won a record 14 Grand Slam singles titles, will play his first senior tennis event in Boston next May and might compete in other Champions Series events, the tour announced on Tuesday. The 35-year-old legend will play in the Champions Cup, and joins a one-year-old circuit for top names aged 30 and over.