The Art of Going Your Way
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Obama Seeks to Expand US Arms Exports
by Maggie Bridgeman
WASHINGTON - The United States is currently the world biggest weapons supplier - holding 30 per cent of the market - but the Obama administration has begun modifying export control regulations in hopes of enlarging the U.S. market share, according to U.S. officials.
President Barack Obama already has taken the first steps by tucking new language into the Iran sanctions bill signed in early July. His aides are now compiling the "munitions list," which regulates the sale of military items.
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Dozens Arrested in Protests of AZ Immigration Law
by Bob Christie
PHOENIX - Opponents of Arizona's immigration crackdown went ahead with protests Thursday despite a judge's ruling that delayed enforcement of most the law, and dozens of people in Phoenix were arrested after peacefully confronting officers in riot gear.
Gov. Jan Brewer called U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton's Wednesday's decision halting the law "a bump in the road," and her spokesman said they'd appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco later Thursday.
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U.S. and Major Powers Urged to Join Cluster Munitions Pact
by Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA - Activists called on the United States and other major powers on Thursday to join a global treaty banning cluster munitions that goes into force on August 1.
Dropped from aircraft or fired from artillery or rockets, the weapons scatter bomblets over a wide area, but have limited military impact today as they were designed to attack tanks on an open battlefield, an increasingly rare scenario, they said.
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Are Our Oceans Dying? Phytoplankton has Declined Terrifying 40% in 60 Years
Microscopic marine algae which form the basis of the ocean food chain are dying at a terrifying rate, scientists said today.
Phytoplankton, described as the 'fuel' on which marine ecosystems run, are experiencing declines of about 1 per cent of the average total a year.
According to the researchers from Dalhousie University in Canada the annual falls translate to a 40 per cent drop in phytoplankton since 1950.
The research into phytoplankton comes as a separate report today offered evidence that the world has been warming for the past 30 years.
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White House Pushes for Warrantless Access to Internet Records
by Muriel Kane
The White House has asked Congress to make it possible for the FBI to demand that Internet service providers turn over customers' records in cases involving terrorism or other intelligence issues without first obtaining a court order.
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As Desert Deaths Soar, a Morgue Grows Crowded
by James C. McKinley Jr.
TUCSON - Dr. Bruce Parks unzips a white body bag on a steel gurney and gingerly lifts out a human skull and mandible, turning them over in his hands and examining the few teeth still in their sockets.
The body bag, coated with dust, also contains a broken pelvis, a femur and a few smaller bones found in the desert in June, along with a pair of white sneakers.
"These are people who are probably not going to be identified," said Dr. Parks, the chief medical examiner for Pima County. There are eight other body bags crowded on the gurney.
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Congress Reforms Cocaine Convictions
by Alex Spillius in Washington
The US House of Representatives approved a bill reducing the disparities between mandatory crack and powder cocaine sentences, which will now be sent for President Barack Obama's signature.
During his presidential campaign, Mr Obama said that the wide gap in sentencing "cannot be justified and should be eliminated".
More than eight in 10 of those convicted for crack offences in 1987 are black, according to Senator Pat Leahy, a top supporter of the bill when it passed earlier in the Senate.
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Michigan Oil Spill Estimated by EPA at 1 Million-Plus Gallons
by Tim Martin
Federal officials now estimate that more than 1 million gallons of oil may have spilled into the Kalamazoo River through Battle Creek, and the governor is sharply criticizing clean-up efforts as "wholly inadequate."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the update Wednesday night, shortly after Gov. Jennifer Granholm lambasted attempts to contain the oil flowing down the riiver. She warned of a "tragedy of historic proportions" if the oil reaches Lake Michigan, which is still at least 80 miles downstream from where oil has been seen.
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Global Warming Pushes 2010 Temperatures to Record Highs
by Juliette Jowit
Global temperatures in the first half of the year were the hottest since records began more than a century ago, according to two of the world's leading climate research centers.
Scientists have also released what they described as the "best evidence yet" of rising long-term temperatures. The report is the first to collate 11 different indicators – from air and sea temperatures to melting ice – each one based on between three and seven data sets, dating back to between 1850 and the 1970s.
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UN Declares Water, Sanitation as Human Rights
by Bradley Bouzane
Access to clean water and sanitation was declared a human right Wednesday after a vote aimed at helping the world's neediest, passed unanimously at the United Nations.
Although the motion passed with 124 countries voting in favour of the resolution drafted by Bolivia, Canada was among the 41 nations to abstain on the issue.
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US Judge Blocks Key Parts of Arizona Immigration Law
PHOENIX - A U.S. judge on Wednesday blocked key parts of Arizona's tough new immigration law, granting the Obama administration's request for an injunction on grounds that immigration matters are the federal government's responsibility.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton agreed to an injunction on provisions including one that required a police officer to determine the immigration status of a person detained or arrested if the officer believes the person is not in the country legally.
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Floods Trap 30,000 in China's Northeast
BEIJING - More than 30,000 people are thought to be trapped by floodwaters in a town in northeast China, state media said Wednesday, as torrential rain that has killed over 300 in two weeks continues.
China is struggling with its worst flooding in a decade that has left 1,405 dead or missing since the beginning of the year and caused at least 26 billion dollars in damage, and authorities have warned of more to come.
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'Sacrificed Its Soul at the Altar of Capitalism': The US Town That Outsourced Everything
by Guy Adams
MAYWOOD, California -- When two uniformed police officers approached Hector Hernandez as he arrived at the City of Maywood's official Fourth of July celebrations, he feared the worst. The stocky 22-year-old - whose neck tattoo of a Playboy bunny indicates membership of one of the area's notorious Latino street gangs - hasn't exactly relished his previous interactions with the local forces of law and order. Imagine Hector's surprise, then, when the uniformed men held out an outstretched hand, smiled and asked how he was doing.
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US Hunts Afghan War Files Leaker
The US Defense department has launched an investigation to identify who leaked tens of thousands of classified documents on the war in Afghanistan to a whistleblower website.
Officials said on Monday that whoever handed over the about 91,000 documents to Wikileaks appeared to have security clearance and access to sensitive documents.
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Republicans Thwart New Campaign Finance Disclosure Rules As DISCLOSE Act Fails Procedural Vote in Senate
by Michael Beckel
Senate Republicans today blocked legislation calling for new disclosure rules for campaign advertisements.
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Pipeline Leaks, Over 800,000 Gallons of Oil Spew in Michigan
by Barbara Wieland Environmental experts say it's too soon to know the full extent of the damage caused by this week's spill of an estimated 819,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River watershed in Calhoun County. However, one thing is clear: The area's environment will feel the effects of the spill for years to come.
Already, dead fish have washed ashore on the banks of the Kalamazoo River near Battle Creek, and waterfowl such as Canada geese have been spotted coated with oil.
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House Votes to Fund Obama's War Surge
by Jim Abrams
WASHINGTON - Months behind schedule and stripped of money for domestic stimulus programs, legislation to fund the troop surge in Afghanistan was sent to President Barack Obama on Tuesday after disgruntled Democrats failed to block it.
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New Oil Leak Reported as Barge Crashes Into Oil Well in Gulf of Mexico
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana - The US Coast Guard dispatched emergency teams Tuesday after a boat crashed into an oil well off the coast of New Orleans, reportedly sending crude spewing some 20 feet into the air.
The wellhead, located about 65 miles (104 kilometers) south of New Orleans, was ruptured when it was struck by a dredge barge being pulled by a tug.
The Coast Guard said it could not immediately confirm reports that a giant fountain of oil was now spewing from the damaged wellhead, which was situated only six feet (1.8 meters) below the surface of the sea.
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Ahmadinejad Says Expects US to Attack MidEast Soon
by Robin Pomeroy
TEHRAN - Iran expects the United States to launch a military strike on "at least two countries" in the Middle East in the next three months, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state-run Press TV.
In an interview recorded on Monday, Ahmadinejad did not specify whether he thought Iran itself would be attacked nor did he say what intelligence led him to expect such a move.
The United States and Israel have refused to rule out military action against Iran's nuclear program which they fear could lead to it making a bomb, something Iran denies.
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War Bill Could Be Stopped Today With 144 Votes
by Ryan Grim
Antiwar Democrats have a rare opportunity to knock down a war funding bill, just days after Wikileaks released more than 90,000 documents confirming their worst fears about the direction of the conflict.
The House is bringing the bill up under a suspension of the rules, which require a two-thirds vote. Only 144 votes would be needed to to stop the war funding. The vote is expected to occur mid-afternoon.
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