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/ 8 November 2007
A cold virus used to make an experimental HIV vaccine that was discontinued in September somehow may have caused volunteers to be more susceptible to Aids, the vaccine’s developers said on Wednesday. Researchers were doubly dismayed when it appeared that those who had been vaccinated were more likely to become infected.
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/ 5 November 2007
Fear and mistrust gripped Wall Street on Monday after Citigroup’s CEO quit in the wake of mounting credit losses and an influential money manager called the subprime mortgage market a ”-trillion problem”. US stocks followed European shares lower, while safe-haven bonds rallied and even the downtrodden dollar ticked up.
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/ 5 November 2007
The United States space shuttle Discovery successfully undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) early on Monday to begin a journey back to Earth, space officials said. After saying goodbye and closing the hatches, Discovery crew members smoothly sailed away from the ISS at 10.30am GMT.
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/ 5 November 2007
If the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) save the mountain gorilla, might the gorilla return the favour? That is the hope of environmental activists, who realise that wildlife conservation and tourism could be the key to survival for people as well as animals in a part of Africa where conflict has been the norm.
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/ 1 November 2007
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets Israeli and Palestinian leaders this weekend to craft a joint document ahead of a peace conference but she has intentionally set expectations low. US officials expect Rice’s visit will result in a document filled with principles to kick off negotiations on a Palestinian state.
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/ 1 November 2007
United States astronomers have discovered the biggest black hole orbiting a star 1,8-million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia, with a record-setting mass of 24 to 33 times that of our Sun, Nasa said on Tuesday. The massive newcomer beats the previous stellar-mass black hole discovered on October 17 in the M33 galaxy that has 16 times the mass of our Sun.
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/ 31 October 2007
Major powers plan to meet in London this week to discuss new sanctions on Iran amid a spat between Washington and the United Nations over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, United States officials said on Tuesday. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech on Tuesday that Iran would not retreat in the dispute.
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/ 30 October 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy showed flashes of temper and abruptly terminated a television interview aimed at introducing him to United States audiences. In the interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, Sarkozy sparred with the correspondent, called his press secretary an imbecile, said he was too busy to make time for a ”stupid” interview.
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/ 30 October 2007
United States State Department investigators looking into the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad last month offered immunity deals to Blackwater security guards. The investigators from the agency’s investigative arm did not, however, have the authority to offer such immunity grants.
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/ 25 October 2007
Ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran, the United States on Thursday designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a proliferater of weapons of mass destruction and its elite Qods force a supporter of terrorism. In total, Washington slapped sanctions on more than 20 Iranian companies, major banks and individuals as well as the Defence Ministry.
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/ 24 October 2007
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice singled out Iran on Wednesday as ”perhaps the single greatest challenge” to US security, but stressed that diplomacy was the preferred way to end its nuclear drive. President George Bush last week warned that a nuclear-armed Iran evoked the threat of ”World War III”.
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/ 23 October 2007
The United States is considering air strikes against Kurdish PKK rebels operating in northern Iraq in an attempt to head off a Turkish incursion, the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday. US President George Bush told Turkish President Abdullah Gul that US officials were seriously looking into options beyond diplomacy.
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/ 22 October 2007
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Rodrigo Rato, warned on Monday there are risks of an "abrupt fall" in the dollar, linked to a loss of confidence in dollar assets. "There are risks that an abrupt fall in the dollar could either be triggered by, or itself trigger, a loss of confidence in dollar assets," Rato told the IMF board of governors.
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/ 21 October 2007
A month after the United States Supreme Court agreed to wade into the lethal injection debate, executions are effectively on hold across the nation as courts and politicians sit tight. On September 25, the country’s highest court agreed to examine whether lethal injections are ”cruel and unusual” punishment.
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/ 18 October 2007
President George Bush gave the Dalai Lama one of the highest United States honours on Wednesday and called on China to open talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader whom Beijing reviles as a separatist. The Dalai Lama, accepting the Congressional Gold Medal from Bush and leaders of Congress, told a packed audience in the US Capitol that he had ”no hidden agenda”.
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/ 17 October 2007
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday slashed its 2008 global economic forecast, warning that turbulence stemming from a crisis in the United States housing sector could crimp growth worldwide. The world economy is expected to expand 4,8% next year after a 5,2% pace projected for 2007, the IMF said.
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/ 17 October 2007
The United States local food movement has gone mainstream, with a boost from environmentalists who reckon that eating what grows nearby cuts down on global warming. But do food miles — the distance edibles travel from farm to plate — give an accurate gauge of environmental impact?
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/ 17 October 2007
President George Bush hosted the Dalai Lama on Tuesday despite China’s warning that US plans to honour the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader could damage relations between Beijing and Washington. Beijing has bitterly denounced plans for the Dalai Lama to receive the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday.
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/ 14 October 2007
The new heads at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) face the tough task of restoring credibility to the powerful financial bodies that hold an annual summit this month, analysts say. Negotiations are under way to reform the distribution of votes among the IMF’s 185 members.
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/ 13 October 2007
The United States fears that attacks in Darfur and an impasse in implementation of a peace agreement in southern Sudan threaten peace efforts throughout the embattled North African country. The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement accused the central government on Thursday of failing to abide by the peace agreement.
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/ 12 October 2007
The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Democrat Al Gore and the United Nations climate panel on Friday intensified pressure on the former United States vice-president to launch a late bid for the presidency, but advisers said he is showing no signs of interest in the 2008 race.
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/ 11 October 2007
An injured survivor and relatives of three Iraqis killed in Baghdad on September 16 when employees of private security company Blackwater USA opened fire on civilians sued the firm in a United States court on Thursday. The Centre for Constitutional Rights said it filed the suit charging that Blackwater and its affiliates violated US law in committing ”extrajudicial killings and war crimes”.
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/ 11 October 2007
He sleeps on a bench, but he is king of chess during the day at Washington’s Dupont Circle, where he dazzles beginners and masters alike with his winning moves on the park’s stone chessboards. Tom Murphy (49) makes what little money he has from teaching his prodigious knowledge of the game to passersby for a few dollars.
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/ 11 October 2007
World Bank president Robert Zoellick said Wednesday that globalisation must be ”inclusive and sustainable” if it is to help combat crushing poverty around the world. In a speech at the National Press Club, Zoellick said the World Bank should seek to foster such goals while guarding environmental protections.
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/ 10 October 2007
Shoddy construction work, safety lapses, kickbacks, internal disputes and ballooning costs — the new United States embassy complex in Baghdad is mired in a deluge of problems, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the frontline of fire from lawmakers.
United States sprinter Marion Jones handed over her five medals from the 2000 Olympic Games to an official of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) on Monday. Once the world’s fastest woman, Jones was hailed as the queen of the Sydney Games, where she won three gold medals, including the 100m, as well as two bronze medals.
President George Bush said on Friday that the United States does not use torture during interrogations, amid renewed debate about his administration’s methods in the war on terror. ”This government does not torture people. We stick to US law and our international obligations,” Bush said.
Women who want to become pregnant, are pregnant or breast-feeding should eat at least 12 ounces of fatty fish such as tuna every week to help themselves and their babies. Fish including mackerel, sardines, light tuna and salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids — components of fat known to help brain development.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan on Wednesday urged the United States to be more patient as his country fights extremists in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Khan acknowledged his country suffered an ”image problem” but said there needed to be a greater understanding of the enormous challenges.
With a series of small beeps from a spiky globe 50 years ago, the world shrank and humanity’s view of Earth and the cosmos expanded. Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, was launched by the Soviets and circled the globe on October 4 1957. The Space Age was born. And what followed were changes to everyday life that people now take for granted.
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/ 28 September 2007
United States President George Bush on Friday called for a ”strong and transparent” way for nations to measure progress on fighting climate change, but said each country should set its own approach. In a speech to a US-sponsored conference of major emitting countries, Bush also called for the creation of a global fund to promote clean technology.
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/ 27 September 2007
The United States-sponsored meeting of major emitting countries is aimed at supporting and accelerating the United Nations process on climate change, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted on Thursday. Sceptics have expressed concern that the climate meeting might be an attempt to circumvent the UN process.