| World News  | Report: Money fears might have led to bridge collapse
CNN
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- Transportation officials' concerns that fixing or replacing a Minneapolis bridge would be a "budget buster" may have led to bad maintenance decisions before its deadly collapse in August, a report released Wednesday concluded. The report, commissioned by the Legislature, also criticized the Minnesota Department of Transportation for bridge inspections that were mishandled or not acted upon over the years, even when...
photo: White House/Chris Greenberg
|  | Olmert proposes naval blockade on Iran
International Herald Tribune
: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed in talks with a U.S. congressional leader that a naval blockade be imposed on Iran to try to curb its nuclear program, an Israeli newspaper reported on Wednesday. The Haaretz daily quoted Olmert as telling Nancy Pelosi that "the present economic sanctions have exhausted themselves" and the international community needed to take more drastic steps to stop Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear...
photo: creative commons/jonklinger /
|  | Berlusconi in Naples: Clean-up Job
Time Magazine
Many a king has marched into Naples. German-born monarchs sailed in from Sicily. Bourbon conquerors came over from Spain. Napoleon's brother and brother-in-law landed in their royal vestments too. And now, , the exquisitely attired and democratically elected incarnation of modern Italian royalty swept into this troubled coastal city, bringing his can-do Milanese attitude and a small army of cabinet ministers. But these days, conquering Naples is...
photo: AP / Salvatore Laporta
|  | Obama arrives in Florida hoping to win over Hispanics and Jews
NZ Herald
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) delivers a speech to supporters during a town hall meeting in Kissimmee, Florida. Photo / Reuters Your Views Who should be the next US President - John McCain or Barack Obama? Inching towards the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidential election, a beaming Barack Obama ignited rolling chants of "Yes we can" in a packed Tampa arena yesterday at the start of a three-day visit to Florida n a state that is...
photo: AP / Phil Coale
|  | Saakashvili claims Georgia victory
TVNZ
May 22, 2008 11:18 AM President Mikheil Saakashvili has claimed victory in Georgia's parliamentary election but the opposition said the authorities had rigged the vote. No official results have yet been published but an independent exit poll showed Saakashvili's party had won about 63% of the votes in the Wednesday election with the main opposition bloc taking about 14 to 16%. The opposition, which claimed victory in the election ten minutes...
photo: AP / Sergey Ponomarev
|  | Petraeus: Troops in Iraq help blunt Iran threat
Fresno Bee
WASHINGTON (AP) Army Gen. David Petraeus, who is to assume control of U.S. forces in the Middle East, says that a continued U.S. presence in Iraq is more likely to blunt, rather than inflame, Iran's growing influence in the region. In a 46-page question-and-answer document submitted in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Petraeus says the U.S. must work on developing more leverage - primarily diplomatic or economic - to pressure...
photo: U.S. Army / Sgt. Zachary Mott
|  | US central bank signals end to interest rate cuts
The Australian
THE US Federal Reserve appeared to shut the door to the possibility of further interest rate cuts, saying in April meeting minutes that the last rate cut was a "close call," and that many officials think future reductions are unlikely even if the economy contracts. Officials also said that while the chances that the economy might be "severely disrupted" had lessened, risks remain skewed to the downside from "bleak" housing and weak labour...
photo: AP / Charles Rex Arbogast
| Business News  | Honda to raise spending on hybrids
Taipei Times
Honda Motor said yesterday it would spend US$1.5 billion on two new plants in Japan as it steps up production of fuel-efficient cars, including a new low-cost hybrid scheduled to be launched early next year. Japan's second-largest automaker will build a plant making fuel efficient engines next year and a new manufacturing plant in 2010, Honda Motor president Takeo Fukui told a press...
photo: Public Domain Photo / Ifcar
|  | Bush vetoes farm bill; override expected
Business Journal
> Farm bill passes with $170 million for salmon industry [Portland] The federal farm bill that passed Thursday was vetoed Wednesday by President Bush. The measure passed with a 318-106 vote in the House and an 81-15 vote in the Senate, meaning it has the two-thirds approval needed to override the presidential veto. The $300 billion bill allots money for Oregon fisheries affected by the salmon crisis as well as for Oregon's fruit and vegetable...
photo: NATO
|  | Safety plan for Iskandar
The Star
JOHOR BARU: Iskandar Malaysia will launch a security blueprint in three months. The Integrated Security Framework will be launched following an on-going study to evaluate the security system within the Iskandar project. The framework will compare security...
photo: WN
|  | Father's Day treat at Nando's
The Star
FROM the time Nando's first landed in Malaysia in 1998, it has gone on to become a household name in the fast-food industry. "Now, we would like to focus on our customers as we believe in giving back and reaching out to the consumers," said Nando's Chickenland (M) Sdn Bhd director Chung Lynn...
photo: WN/Patricia
|  | KLIA celebrates 10th anniversary
The Star
ABOUT 1,000 people, comprising the KL International Airport (KLIA) community took part in a telematch held in conjunction with the airport's 10th anniversary Participants from...
photo: WN/Patricia
|  | PSP goes blue for Madden
Gamespot
In the past week, Nintendo has binged on new color reveals for its popular portable the Nintendo DS. On Friday, the hardware maker said the first seen as part of a Nintendogs bundle last year would become...
photo: WN / mina
|  | Arcelor-Mittal buys Macarthur Coal stake
The Star
PERTH: Arcelor-Mittal, the worlds top steel maker, has entered talks about a transaction with Australias Macarthur Coal after paying US$604mil for a near 15% stake in the firm, sending the coal miners shares to a record high. Soaring coal prices, driven by tight supply and voracious demand from fast industrialising China and India have put Australias mining...
photo: AP Photo / Robert Meyers
| Entertainment News  | Dubai Dolphinarium opens in Creekside Park
Gulf News
Dubai: The Dh33 million Dubai Dolphinarium officially opened in Creekside Park on Wednesday. The centre houses three trained bottle-nose dolphins and four seals, which perform tricks and 'dances' for an audience capacity of 1,250. The two-year project has been established by Dubai Government and...
photo: WN/Hend Fawzi
|  | Amy Winehouse to perform at Glastonbury music fest
Philadelphia Daily News
The Associated Press LONDON - Amy Winehouse will perform at this summer's Glastonbury Festival. She will play the festival's main Pyramid Stage on June 28, just before headliner Jay-Z, it was announced Wednesday. Organizers said the late addition of Winehouse to the lineup wasn't the result of issues in the singer's turbulent personal life. Winehouse, 24, was arrested and questioned by police earlier this month about video footage that appeared...
photo: creative commons
|  | Indian film-makers going global
BBC News
Indian film-makers are spreading their wings and going global. Several major Indian directors - Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Jahnu Barua, Sudhir Mishra and Pan Nalin, among others - are in Cannes to firm up plans for films targeted at the global market. This is against the backdrop of strategic partnerships linking frontline Bollywood players like Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE) and Eros International with stars and studios in Hollywood. Chopra, whose...
photo: film poster
| Health News  | Cowen apologises over use of expletive in D�il
Irish Times
Kilian Doyle and Charlie Taylor A spokesman for Brian Cowen has denied the Taoiseach was referring to Fine Gael when he used an expletive in an aside to T�naiste Mary Coughlan following angry scenes in the D�il this morning. Mr Cowen clashed with Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny over the health service during Leaders' Questions and later with Labour's Eamon Gilmore, who criticised the Government over rising prices for consumers. As the chamber rose....
photo: AP / Yves Logghe
|  | Essential meal
The Star
A SURVEY carried out by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in collaboration with Nestle Malaysia some years ago revealed an alarming finding. Of the 12,000 Malaysian primary schoolchildren surveyed, 30% said they skipped breakfast. This is bad news in view of the importance of breakfast. Let's see what a good breakfast can do for your child. Feed the brain: After a long overnight fast, your child needs a good breakfast to replenish his blood glucose,...
photo: Creative Commons / Bing Ramos
|  | FAA bans anti-smoking drug Chantix
USA Today
Updated | Comment | Recommend | | | By Rita Rubin, USA TODAY The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday removed the smoking cessation drug Chantix from the list of medications considered safe for pilots and air-traffic controllers after a new study linked the medication to mental confusion and other problems that could put passengers at risk. FAA spokesman Les Dorr said the agency took that step after reviewing the...
photo: WN / Janice Sabnal
|  | Quitting smoking is contagious, says study
The Times
Smoking may be addictive but quitting is contagious, according to a provocative study of why people give up the weed. The act of quitting passes through a social network like an outbreak of flu. Husbands are likely to pass it on to their wives, or vice versa, workers to colleagues, brothers to sisters, friends to friends. But neighbours seldom catch it over the garden fence. Mere proximity is not enough. You have to know somebody...
photo: publicdomainphoto
|  | For smokers, quitting is tied to social circles
International Herald Tribune
For years, smokers have been exhorted to take the initiative and quit - use a nicotine patch, chew nicotine gum, take a prescription medication that can help, call a help line, just say no. But a new study finds that stopping is seldom an individual decision. Smokers tend to quit in groups, the study finds, which means smoking cessation programs should work best if they focus on groups rather than individuals. It also means that a people may help...
photo: WN / Janice Sabnal
|  | Drinking water may harm babies
TVNZ
May 22, 2008 10:33 AM Babies younger than six months old should never be given water to drink, physicians at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore remind parents. Consuming too much water can put babies at risk of a potentially life-threatening condition known as water intoxication. "Even when they're very tiny, they have an...
photo: WN / Sweet Radoc
|  | Friends quit smoking? You probably will too
The Miami Herald
LOS ANGELES -- The urge to smoke is contagious, but quitting apparently is, too. A team of researchers who showed that obesity can spread person-to-person has found a similar pattern with smoking cessation: A smoker is more likely to kick the habit if a spouse, friend, co-worker or sibling did. What's more, smokers tend to quit in groups and those who don't stop puffing increasingly find themselves pushed to the edge of their social circles, the...
photo: WN/Theresa Poongan
|  | Bush Signs Anti-Discrimination Bill
CBS News
President Bush on Wednesday signed legislation to protect people from losing their jobs or health insurance when genetic testing reveals they are susceptible to costly diseases. Broadly embraced in Congress, the anti-discrimination measure aims to ensure that advances in DNA testing won't end up being used against people. The new law forbids employers and insurance companies from denying employment, promotions or health coverage to people when...
photo: White House / Eric Draper
|  | Tobacco display ban plan unveiled
BBC News
Plans to ban the open display of cigarettes in shops have been announced by the Scottish Government. Public Health Minister Shona Robison said giving them "pride of place" on shelves did not fit with the drive to tackle smoking-related illness. It is two years since Scotland led the UK in banning smoking in public places, and six months since the legal age for buying cigarettes was raised to 18. Pro-smoking campaigners said the plans would not...
photo: WN / Renzelle Mae Abasolo
| Politics News  | Dalai Lama urges support for Olympics
The Independent
It was 11.30am this morning, and the Dalai Lama had just finished telling journalists in a tightly packed Palace of Westminster hall that he appreciated the Prime Minister's "genuine concern" for Tibet, when a loud and insistent chiming began "Is it a fire?" he asked the Labour MP, Chris Mullin, sitting next to him. The exiled Tibetan leader was sitting under two screens which had earlier carried the message: "threat levels remain at severe." In...
photo: WN / Yeshe Choesang
|  | MyGovernment portal wins Global ICT Award
The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's MyGovernment portal beat about 70 others around the world to take the top prize in its category in the 2008 Global ICT Awards. The portal (www.gov.my) links more than 900 public sector websites at federal, state and local levels, as well as delivers...
photo: WN / nurkamiah
|  | U.S. voices tepid support for Israel-Syria talks
International Herald Tribune
: The United States voiced tepid support on Wednesday for indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria, a stance that analysts said reflected U.S. doubts about the chances of success. U.S. officials said they would welcome a peace agreement between the two countries, which have been technically at war since Israel declared independence 60 years ago. But they made clear their focus would be on the Israeli-Palestinian track. Israel and Syria said...
photo: White House / Chris Greenberg
|  | Senate near deal to advance Iraq funding
Examiner
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Senate leaders in both parties are close to agreement on a plan to advance $165 billion to fund Pentagon operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until the new administration takes over next year. The tentative plan would give great leverage to chamber Republicans and would probably doom billions of dollars in domestic programs, including 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits for the jobless, and funding to heating...
photo: U.S. Army / Spc. Charles W. Gill
|  | John Howard was afraid to take on core backers, says PM Kevin Rudd
The Australian
KEVIN Rudd yesterday issued a scathing critique of John Howard, accusing him of lacking the courage to upset his own conservative political base when big decisions were needed in the national interest. In his first post-election appraisal of his predecessor, the Prime Minister described the Howard prime ministership as "a decade of squandered opportunity". And he said the former prime minister's pet reforms during his 11 years in office, the GST...
photo: AP / Rick Rycroft
|  | Faactbox: McCain, Obama on health care and retirement
San Diego
- The U.S. presidential election in November looks increasingly like a face-off between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Obama, an Illinois senator, is less than 100 delegates shy of capturing the Democratic nomination after his showing in the latest primary elections, and McCain, an Arizona senator, is the presumptive Republican nominee. Health care has ranked among the top issues with U.S. voters in this election cycle, and the...
photo: AP Photo / Charles Dharapak
|  | Muck and menace in Maliki's Iraq
Asia Times
By Sami Moubayed DAMASCUS - Nuri al-Maliki celebrated the second anniversary of his assumption of power as prime minister of Iraq, on May 20. Curious, I went through a multitude of Iraqi dailies - trying hard - to find one good thing happening in Iraq, to give credit to the prime minister. Of all the newspapers I went through, I found only two pieces of good news. One was that the Iraqi government is planning, under his orders, to tear down a...
photo: USMC file / SSgt. T.G. Kessler
|  | U.N. urges more relief
San Diego
YANGON, Myanmar - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Myanmar to focus on saving lives, not on politics, after the military government on Wednesday shunned a U.S. proposal for naval ships to deliver aid to cyclone survivors. The U.N. says up to 2.5 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis face hunger, homelessness and potential outbreaks of deadly diseases. "We must do our utmost for the people of Myanmar" Ban told reporters after arriving in...
photo: AP Photo / David Karp
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