CAIRO, Egypt – Al Qaeda in Iraq announced in a Web statement posted Monday that a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer was appointed the group’s new leader to succeed the slain Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The name was not immediately known. The name al-Muhajer, Arabic for “immigrant,” suggested he was not …
Read More »North Korea Preparing Test for Missile With Potential to Hit U.S.
WASHINGTON – North Korea is accelerating preparations for testing a missile that has the potential to strike the United States, a U.S. government official said Friday. A test of the Taepodong-2 long-range missile may be imminent, the official said. The official agreed to speak but only on the condition of …
Read More »The Next Move on Health Care Reform
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Senate failed to advance small business health plan legislation last month, but other bills are brewing on Capitol Hill that aim to expand choice and affordability in the health insurance marketplace. Various proposals have been introduced to expand and improve access to Health Savings Accounts …
Read More »Tree House Living Isn't Just for Your Little Brother Anymore
Bad: You need a place to live in New York. Really Bad: You aren’t exactly hemorrhaging money. Scary Bad: You’re willing to live in a tree house. New York sculptor Adam Doherty found out just how willing city-dwellers are to go out on a limb for a place to hang …
Read More »World Cup Gets Global Audience in New York
NEW YORK – Three times a day, seven days a week, somewhere in New York, one of the city’s myriad ethnic communities dances gleefully on the tables while another writhes in collective anguish. The United States as a whole may be largely indifferent to the passions of the World Cup, …
Read More »Matt Damon's Wife Gives Birth to a Baby Girl
LOS ANGELES – Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana Bozan, are the parents of a baby girl, Isabella, their first child, the actor’s publicist said Monday. “Mother and baby — everyone — is wonderful, fine,” publicist Jennifer Allen said. The baby was born Sunday in a Miami hospital, Allen said. …
Read More »Bush Dismisses Complaints About Troop Level Decisions
WASHINGTON – Recommendations from U.S. generals and the new Iraqi government will determine how many U.S. troops will remain in Iraq, President Bush said Monday, casting aside reports that sharp troop reductions are in the works ahead of November’s midterm election. Gen. George Casey, head of Multinational Force in Iraq, …
Read More »Heart Surgery May Lead to Depression
DALLAS – As many as half of all people hospitalized for surgery or other procedures to treat blocked heart arteries develop depression, according to a report in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association. Doctors believe the depression is brought on by the mental stress of facing serious illness, or …
Read More »Nepal Rebels Agree to Join Government
KATMANDU, Nepal – Nepal will form a new interim government that will include communist rebels, who have waged a decade-long insurgency that has killed 13,000 people in this Himalayan nation, the rebel leader said Friday after meeting with the prime minister. The interim government will be formed within a month, …
Read More »Germany Hoping for Quick Reply From Iran on Nuclear Incentives
BERLIN – Germany said Friday it hopes Iran will respond soon to incentives to halt its nuclear program, suggesting that the Islamic republic’s foreign minister could set a date at weekend talks in Berlin. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country would take until mid-August to respond to the …
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