United States

Stories 621 - 640 | << Prev   Next >>

China Nixes Another US Navy Port Call

USS Reuben James won't dock in Hong Kong for New Year's

(Newser) - China has turned down another US Navy ship's request to make a port call in Hong Kong on New Year's Eve, bringing to three the number of vessels caught up in the dispute. The denial, announced today, accompanied China's last-minute decision last week to bar USS Kitty Hawk from visiting...

China Fires Back at US in Diplomatic Feud

Beijing blasts arms sale to Taiwan, honor for Dalai Lama

(Newser) - Tensions between the US and China took a turn for the worse today with China making clear that its refusal to let a US Navy carrier dock in Hong Kong was deliberate and not a simple "misunderstanding" as characterized by the White House. Beijing said "erroneous" US activities—...

All Eyes on OPEC for Oil Price Relief

Saudis expected to boost output as prices close in on $100

(Newser) - With oil prices poised to pass the $100 mark any day now, a pair of reports speculates that OPEC will cool the overheated market by boosting oil production, the Wall Street Journal reports. One consulting firm said OPEC, spurred by Saudi Arabia’s increased deliveries to the US, could up...

Iran, US Team to Save Cheetah
Iran, US Team to Save Cheetah

Iran, US Team to Save Cheetah

American scientists won't be allowed into Iran to help endangered Asiatic species

(Newser) - In an unlikely collaboration, the US and Iran will undertake efforts this month to save the endangered Asiatic cheetah, whose numbers could be as low as 60, Der Spiegel reports. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society will send a team to the Kavir Desert in central Iran for a cheetah-tracking...

250 Taliban Surrounded, Villagers Flee

But Afghan mission loses support of Japanese ships ordered home

(Newser) - Some 250 Taliban fighters are surrounded by coalition troops just 15 miles north of the Taliban’s old power base of Kandahar, the AP reports. Villagers fled as the insurgents took over their homes. “They’re surrounded and in big trouble,” said Kandahar police. But the coalition lost...

AIDS Came to US From Haiti Years Before It Was ID'd: Study

'Unnerving' how long it existed 'below radar'

(Newser) - The AIDS virus reached America through Haiti, not directly from Africa, and far earlier than has been suspected—the 1960's, not the early 1980's, researchers have discovered. Scientists analyzed 25-year-old blood samples and used what they know of the virus' mutations to construct a rough timeline of the progression of...

Child 'Slave' Laborers Fall Into the Gap

Kids seen making Gap garments in New Delhi sweatshop

(Newser) - Ten-year-olds were found stitching Gap apparel in a filthy New Delhi sweatshop, some without pay, in an investigation by the Guardian. The kids interviewed by the paper reported long hours of unpaid work, threats and beatings. Serial numbers on the beaded blouses they were working on were ID'd by the...

Russia Stiff Arms International Vote Monitors

Showdown looms with US & EU in bid to keep observers at a distance

(Newser) - Russia may be headed for another showdown with the US and the European Union over its proposals to severely limit the authority of international election monitors. The Kremlin wants to cut the number of observers and ban their reports from publication until after elections. The move comes just months before...

European Militants Find Training in Pakistan

Fighters wary of Iraq are groomed for terror ops on Afghan border

(Newser) - Renewed Al-Qaeda strength on the Pakistan-Afghan border is wooing European militants to train in Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fighters who are wary of Iraq—where they may have to strap on a bomb on short notice—can enjoy being groomed for missions in Pakistan. “Pakistan worries me...

Pelosi Vows to Push Turkish Genocide Vote

She ignores knocks from Turks, GOP, as Turkey fires shells into Kurdish villages

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi vows to take the Turkey-genocide vote to the floor despite renewed Turkish threats and Republican jabs, the New York Times reports. Turkey’s army chief warned today that “military relations with the United States can never be the same" if the vote passes. GOP lawmaker John Boehner...

US-Iraqi Panel to Probe Private Contractors

Private military contractors get second look following the Blackwater USA incident

(Newser) - In the wake of the shooting deaths of 10 Iraqi civilians at the hands of private security firm Blackwater last weekend, the US and Iraq are forming a joint panel to probe the war's private security contractors. Rather than conduct forensic field studies of the incident, officials say, the committee...

Bush, Congress Score Lowest Approval Yet

Poll finds 29% give president thumbs-up; 11% for legislators

(Newser) - President Bush and Congress scored record-low approval ratings in a Reuters/Zogby poll released today. Bush dipped 1% below his previous Zogby approval rating of 30%; the legislative branch scored 11% approval, down 3% in August. And a new "mood index" showed the country as more unhappy than in July,...

New Japanese PM Likely to Be Less US-Centric

Party unites around dovish elder statesman Yasuo Fukuda

(Newser) - Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is set to choose its replacement for Shinzo Abe, who resigned suddenly last week, in voting Sunday. The winner will become prime minister Tuesday. Although early prognoses hyped hawk Taro Aso as the favorite, his close association with the outgoing PM has hurt him. Victory is...

Israeli Raid on Syria Had Iran in Sights

Hush-hush attack may have targeted North Korean nukes

(Newser) - Arab governments aren’t talking too loudly about the reported Israeli bombing of Syrian territory two weeks ago.  They’re waiting to see what the fallout is, Newsweek notes, for the real intended target—Syrian sponsor Iran. The raid appears to have been a signal that Israel will act...

French Lefty Makes an Unlikely Hawk
French Lefty
Makes an Unlikely Hawk

French Lefty Makes an Unlikely Hawk

Kouchner pleases US with Iran rumblings, but he's no sure thing

(Newser) - The founder of Doctors Without Borders might seem a peculiar mouthpiece for the new law-and-order regime of Nicolas Sarkozy, but Bernard Kouchner actually fits right in with France’s more muscular foreign policy tone. The surprise choice for foreign minister,  Kouchner is an anomaly, a Socialist who supports the...

Crocker: Speed Up Iraqi Refugee Policy

Ambassador says 10,000 expats could take 2 years to admit

(Newser) - Ambassador Ryan Crocker says the US needs to get moving on admitting Iraqi refugees. In a State Department memo titled "Iraqi Refugee Processing: Can We Speed It Up?", Crocker writes that thousands of desperate Iraqis are facing bottlenecks to their resettlement, and that at the present rate it would...

Big Brother Making Strides in Technology

America's top minds are devoted to 'gait DNA' and new spy drones

(Newser) - Top researchers are developing new surveillance technology, the BBC reports - including "gait DNA" to identify a person by their walk and advanced spy drones that can fly overhead for years. The Pentagon plans to continue its tech supremacy, which includes inventing the Internet in the 1970s and satellite...

Putin Praises Zubkov, Ribs Bush
Putin Praises Zubkov,
Ribs Bush

Putin Praises Zubkov, Ribs Bush

Russian president won't try for third term—at least now

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin heaped praise upon Viktor Zubkov, the obscure bureaucrat he appointed this week as Russia's new prime minister, at a meeting with foreign journalists yesterday, the Guardian reports. The choice of Zubkov as PM over other highly ranked favorites for the post has created suspicion that he may want...

These Streets Are Paved in Gold
These Streets Are Paved in Gold

These Streets Are Paved in Gold

Forbes publishes list of most expensive US city blocks

(Newser) - Forbes has compiled a list of the most expensive real estate blocks in 10 major cities.  It teamed up with date provider Reply! to compile an index of the 'billionaire rows' of the US. In New York, the block between Fifth Avenue, Madison, 69th and 70th Sts. takes the...

US Freeing Iraqi Detainees for Ramadan

50-80 Sunnis and Shiites will be released each day of holy month

(Newser) - As Ramadan began, the US military today began freeing some of its 23,000 Iraqi detainees—between 50 and 80 will be released each day of Islam's holy month, Reuters reports. Military brass stress that Sunnis and Shiites alike will be considered for release. "This will be a completely...

Stories 621 - 640 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser