| World News  | Obama will have to avoid Carter trap
Gulf News
It is rarely a good sign when you begin to re-live your childhood. Of late, I have found myself drifting back to the 1970s with disturbing frequency. Once again, the British newspapers are full of headlines about rising oil prices, inflation and trade-union militancy. A terrorist threat hangs over London. The England team has failed to qualify for a major football tournament. All it needs is some power cuts and the return of glam rock - and I...
photo: AP / Jae C. Hong
|  | Obama and family spend Fourth of July in Montana
Houston Chronicle
TOOLS BUTTE, Mont. - It was a family Fourth of July for Democrat Barack Obama as his wife, daughters, sister and other relatives helped him make an Independence Day play for this reliably conservative state. Obama paid tribute to a nation in which the son of a single mother could rise to such heights. "I know that there is no other country out there where I could be standing before you as somebody who could potentially be president of the United...
photo: AP / Jae C. Hong
|  | Disavow Tibet liberty, China tells Dalai Lama
Denver Post
By Anita Chang The Associated PressArticle Last Updated: 07/04/2008 12:15:28 AM MDT BEIJING — China insists the Dalai Lama prove he doesn't support Tibetan independence or disruption of the Beijing Olympics, telling two envoys for the spiritual leader that such "positive actions" are needed before further talks, a state news agency said Thursday. The demand made by a top Chinese official in two days of meetings indicated no change in...
photo: WN / Yeshe Choesang
|  | Tibetans attempt to storm Nepal's Chinese Embassy
CNN
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Hundreds of Tibetans protesting Chinese control of their homeland tried to storm the Chinese Embassy visa office in the Nepalese capital on Friday, police said. A few managed to reach the gates of the fortified complex in Katmandu but police detained them, along with about 300 other protesters who had been held back from the gates by a line of security officers, police official Ramesh Thapa said....
photo: AP / Binod Joshi
|  | EU shrugs off biofuels complaints
San Diego
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union will ignore critics who accuse it of helping to boost food prices by embracing a binding target for the use of biofuels, officials said Friday. The European Commission is sticking to its proposal that biofuels account for at least 10 percent of energy used by the EU's huge transportation sector by 2020, because voluntary targets have failed miserably so far, EU spokesman Michael Mann said. "If you don't have...
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
|  | Poland rejects U.S. missile shield offer
Canada Dot Com
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland spurned as insufficient on Friday a U.S. offer to boost its air defenses in return for basing anti-missile interceptors on its soil but said it remained open to talks with Washington. The decision by Poland, a staunch NATO ally, is a setback for the Bush administration drive to counter perceived threats from what Washington calls "rogue states," particularly Iran. "We have not reached a satisfactory result on the issue...
photo: AP / Charles Dharapak
|  | Bush welcomes new US citizens on 4th of July
Syracuse
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - President Bush invoked the memory of Thomas Jefferson Friday in welcoming new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony at Monticello, saying "I'll be proud to call you a fellow American." On his final Fourth of July as president, Bush told an audience at the home of the Declaration of Independence's author that he was honored to be present for the naturalization. Shouts from protestes were heard...
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
| Business News  | Are precious metals prices boosting funds?
Globe and Mail
Post the first comment Back to the blog WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? Whether bullion or precious metals stock funds are shining the brightest so far this year. With gold futures surging to a 10-week week high of $946.50 (U.S.) an ounce in New York this week before easing off, it's time to check out the precious metals sector. August gold yesterday closed at $933.60, down from a record high of $1,034 an ounce in March. But some market observers...
photo: WN / Fatma Ceylan
|  | EU report sees biofuel giving 3.4 pct of 2020 needs
The Guardian
(Adds lawmaker quotes) By Pete Harrison PARIS, July 4 (Reuters) - The European Union may get barely one-third of its target for biofuels in transport fuels from home-produced sources by 2020, requiring massive imports to meet the goal, a draft European Environment Agency report said. The EU plans to source 10 percent of transport fuels from renewable sources by 2020, with the bulk of that seen coming from biofuels. Critics say the target will...
photo: Creative Commons / Beatrice Murch
|  | Farmers threaten legal action over badger culling
The Independent
Farmers tonight threatened legal action if the Government decides not to allow a cull of badgers to tackle tuberculosis in cattle. National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall said reports that Environment Secretary Hilary Benn was not going to authorise a cull would be "nothing short of a disaster" if true. Mr Kendall said a failure to cull badgers, which can infect cattle with TB, would have a devastating impact on farmers and rural...
photo: GFDL Photo / Jonathunder
|  | Oil prices fall after record highs
Turkish Press
A motorist holding a fuel pump at a petrol station. Oil prices fell on profit-taking, a day after surging to record highs on the back of a weak dollar and concerns over tight supplies (AFP/File) Oil prices fell Friday on profit-taking, a day after surging to record highs on the back of a weak dollar and concerns over tight supplies, traders said. Brent North Sea oil for August delivery slid 80 cents to 145.80 dollars a barrel in electronic deals....
photo: WN / deniseyong
|  | NZ farm costs follow global trend up
TVNZ
Jul 4, 2008 12:53 PM In the last year sheep and beef on-farm costs in New Zealand have increased almost 10%, mirroring global increases in the sector...
photo: creative commons /
| Entertainment News  | Peta offers Stone a brain scan
News24
Los Angeles - Sharon Stone has been offered a free brain scan. Animal rights group Peta are determined to discover why Sharon "demonstrates a lack of empathy" towards animals by wearing fur, and so have written her a letter telling her they would be willing to pay for the scientific scan. The letter reads: "Scientific studies suggest that the prefrontal regions of the brains of people who lack empathy might be underdeveloped. "Here's our offer -...
photo: Creative Commons
|  | My colourful life in black and white
NZ Herald
Author and actress Marjane Satrapi. Photo / AP Persepolis draws a vivid portrait of the life of its Iranian creator, writes Helen Barlow Given the advances in 3D animation - whether from Hollywood giants DreamWorks or Pixar - it seems strange that such a fuss should be made of a 2D animated black-and-white French film called Persepolis. Once you've seen it you realise why. It's because the seemingly simple visual style delivers a lot of heart as...
photo: AP
|  | Italy warns of decay at Pompeii site
Penn Live
7/4/2008, 11:40 a.m. EDT> The Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italy's government began a process Friday to help combat decay at the Pompeii archaeological site, officials said. The government granted Pompeii emergency status, which will allow authorities to appoint a special commissioner to oversee the site's...
photo: Public Domain Photo
|  | Likable Will Smith shines in 'Hancock'
Syracuse
ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST Will Smith has been waxing serious in his past few films, but in "Hancock" the star has returned to the cool guy most of his fans prefer. He's cool and not so cool in the first few minutes. Sure, this superhero can soar into the stratosphere and save a man from a train wreck, but he's also arrogant, a drunk and pinches women's butts. Putting Hancock in jail isn't the answer. He also does not respond to anger management...
photo: Creative Commons
|  | Ravings, rants, quirks and quibbles
San Diego
'GRACE' NOTE Julianne Moore delivers a savage performance as the heir to a plastics fortune who develops a disturbing, decadent relationship with her son in the disquieting "Savage Grace" (). Based on a true story about, among other things, mother-son incest, there are shocking, look-away-from-the-screen scenes, but "Savage Grace" is not totally prurient. These are, after all, real people, fascinating, pathetic. It's the tale of Barbara Daly,...
photo: AP
|  | Lily Allen: Li-Lo silver lining
The Guardian
Is Lily Allen stuck on the naughty step with Lindsay Lohan? Rumours are flying that Allen is working with the American actress, singer and bad-girl on a song for her upcoming album. The follow-up to 2006's Alright, Still is tentatively titled Stuck On...
photo: Creative Commons / Fuzzy Gerdes
|  | Heath Ledger's Joker is the height of screen villainy
Inquirer
MANILA, PhilippinesWhen Jack Nicholson played The Joker in a Batman movie years ago, he chose to go the 'cartoon character' route, focusing more on the arch villain's clownish, fake-jolly exterior, and only occasionally hinting at his rancidly evil core. This year, it's the late Heath Ledger's turn to give the colorful character a spin around the movie reel in 'The Dark Knight,' and he opts to play it as rancid and cynical as heck. The clown...
photo: AP / Domenico Stinellis
|  | La Moss smoulders in new Parisian photo shoot
The Daily Mail
Kate Moss proved she still has a certain je ne sais quoi in a new photo shoot set in Paris. The 33-year-old teams up with emerging French actor Gaspard Ulliel, who is ten years her junior, in the latest campaign for luxury label Longchamp. The supermodel was named the face of the brand in 2005, just months her front page drug scandal threatened to ruin her career. French twist: Kate Moss stars in a new campaign for luxury label Longchamp...
photo: (AP Photo/Sang Tan)pshop
| Health News  | Salmonella case in Canada linked to tomatoes
Canada Dot Com
OTTAWA - A Canadian has tested positive for salmonella after a U.S. health alert was issued following an outbreak in April of salmonella poisoning from tomatoes south of the border. Public Health Agency of Canada officials said Friday that a 33-year-old man from Ontario had travelled to the U.S. and was found to have the same strain of salmonella that infected hundreds of Americans. "We still have little details and we are working with the...
photo: WN / Rubielyn Bunag
|  | Climate change may worsen health woes
Canada Dot Com
GENEVA -- Climate change stands to exacerbate health crises in many countries already strained by inadequate hospitals, too few medical staff and uneven access to drugs, the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said that new patterns of global rainfall, droughts and storms could accelerate the spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever in some regions, creating serious problems for poor...
photo: WN / Rubielyn Bunag
|  | Asia shows way to fight dengue as global spread looms
Canada Dot Com
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Clarissa Poon was one of an estimated 50 million people who contracted mosquito-borne dengue fever last year. She spent an agonizing week on a drip in a Bangkok hospital as she battled the potentially deadly disease. "There was not a single moment when I wasn't aching everywhere, dizzy and nauseous. I was so weak I couldn't even stand," said Poon, who caught the illness during a family holiday at a beach resort in Thailand....
photo: AP photo /
|  | Why Macmillan refused to tell us smoking was harmful
The Daily Mail
Harold macmillan: A pipe man Harold Macmillan claimed smoking was no more dangerous than 'crossing a street' and argued against issuing a Government health warning, Cabinet papers released yesterday reveal. The then Chancellor, a keen pipe and cigar smoker, had another reason for ignoring evidence of a link between cigarettes and lung cancer - he was afraid of losing tax revenue. There was already growing concern that smoking caused the disease...
photo: WN / janice
|  | Ghana gets tough on 'brain drain'
BBC News
If you want to train in Ghana as a nurse and then disappear in search of greener pastures abroad, you better have deep pockets. That is the message from the government as it attempts to stem the so called "brain drain" of health workers. Nurses face a fine if they want to work abroad before serving in a Ghanaian hospital for five years. "We have looked at the cost of training a nurse and if you default for the whole five years then you will be...
photo: Ghana Photos
| Politics News  | India coalition in shake-up over N-deal
The News International
Saturday, July 05, 2008 NEW DELHI: India's coalition government underwent a major shake-up on Friday with the dominant Congress party pushing on with a controversial nuclear deal with the US and ditching left-wing allies. After discussing what politicians described as the "modalities" of a divorce from the Congress-led government because of the pact, a four-party bloc of Communist and leftist parties gave the government days to clarify its...
photo: PIB
|  | Gordon Brown hopes to rise above his troubles on global tour
The Times
Gordon Brown will strive to put his domestic problems behind him when he embarks tomorrow on a 30,000-mile epic journey that he hopes will portray him as a statesman, world diplomat and defender of British interests. For much of the next three weeks, as his party battles it out with the SNP in another critical by-election, the Prime Minister will be out of the country attending summits, visiting trouble spots and representing Britain at the...
photo: WN
|  | Obama remarks on Iraq prompts flip-flop charge
CNN
(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain's campaign again called Sen. Barack Obama a flip-flopper after the Democratic candidate held a do-over news conference to clarify his remarks on the Iraq war. Obama on Thursday denied any suggestion that he's shying away from his proposed 16-month phased withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq, calling it "pure speculation" and adding that his "position has not changed."...
photo: AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast
|  | Former Republican N.C. Sen. Jesse Helms dies at 86
Fresno Bee
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86. Helms died at 1:15 a.m., said the Jesse Helms Center at Wingate University in North Carolina. The center's president, John Dodd, said in a statement that funeral arrangements were pending. "He...
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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