Powerful Quake in Western China Kills Thousands
A powerful earthquake struck Western China on Monday, toppling thousands of homes, factories and offices, trapping students in schools, and killing at least 10,000 people, the country’s worst natural disaster in three decades.
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The owners of The New York Post and The Daily News lost out to Cablevision in the battle for Newsday, the Long Island daily, on Monday, but the tabloid war may be far from over. Either paper could still strike a deal to share operations with Newsday, according to bankers and analysts.
McCain Asserts Greenhouse Gas Emissions Must Be Capped
Sen. John McCain sought to distance himself from President Bush on Monday as he called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to combat climate change.
Junior Coalition Partner Leaves Pakistan’s Fragile New Cabinet
In an early sign of instability in the new government in Pakistan, the junior partner in the coalition said Monday that it was withdrawing from the Cabinet over the government’s failure to reinstate the Supreme Court judges dismissed by President Pervez Musharraf.
Conflicts for Supreme Court Justices Halt Appeal in Apartheid Case
Financial and personal conflicts of interest affecting four Supreme Court justices left the court without a quorum last week and unable to decide whether to hear an appeal brought by more than 50 companies that did business in apartheid-era South Africa.
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The Dalai Lama said Monday that formal talks between his envoys and their Chinese counterparts were expected to resume in June, even as Chinese officials kept up their public denunciations of the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Russian Parliament Overwhelmingly Approves Putin As Prime Minister
Russia’s Parliament overwhelmingly confirmed Vladimir V. Putin as prime minister on Thursday, completing his managed departure from the presidency in a manner that left him the country’s dominant politician, with a firm grip on power.
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The general manager and possibly other senior staff at the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, where nine miners died last August, hid information from federal officials that could have prevented the disaster and should face criminal charges, the chairman of a House investigation said Thursday.
Obama Returns to Capitol and Tries to Rally Democrats
Sen. Barack Obama began trying to rally the Democratic Party around him on Thursday. He struck a tougher tone against Sen. John McCain, saying McCain was “losing his bearings” in his pursuit of the presidency.
Myanmar’s Biggest City Still Paralyzed, Days After Storm
Five days after the powerful cyclone struck, this city, Myanmar’s commercial capital and until Saturday a verdant oasis of wide avenues, was far from back to normal on Thursday.
North Korea Opens Documents On Its Nuclear Programs
North Korea has turned over to the United States 18,000 pages of documents related to its plutonium program dating from 1990, in an effort to resolve remaining differences in a pending agreement meant to begin the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Bush administration officials said Thursday.
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A team of climbers on a mission from China carried the Olympic torch to the summit of Mt. Everest on Thursday, fulfilling a long-held goal of Chinese government to have the Olympic flame lit atop the world’s highest mountain.
Volcano Eruption in South America
Volcanic eruptions are natural phenomena ever present in the Earth’s history, although not in our minds most of the time. However, they are critical to the history and evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere of the Earth before life had a similar composition to modern volcanic outgassing (mainly CO2, water and nitrogen), and all the water present in the oceans as well as most of the atmosphere is thought to have a volcanic origin. Volcanoes can influence climate in shorter time scales by injecting reflective sulfate aerosols and can also modify the chemical composition of the stratosphere influencing ozone depletion. The most spectacular case of volcanic eruption during the past century was the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, that is believed to have cooled the planet by about 0.5 C, an amount similar in magnitude to the accumulated trend in warming during the last 100 years.
Tensions Rise in Lebanon As Telecom Network is Shut Down
The decision by the Lebanese government to shut down a private telephone network operated by the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah was an act of war and Hezbollah would defend itself, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said Thursday.
Death Toll in Myanmar Storm Could Exceed 10,000
Myanmar struggled Monday to recover from a cyclone that killed more than 3,900 people and perhaps as many as 10,000, while its military leaders proceeded with a constitutional referendum on Saturday that would cement their grip on power.
Kuwaitis, Seeing a Slowing Economy, Question Democracy
In a vast, high-ceilinged tent, Ali al-Rashed sounded an anguished note as he delivered the first speech of his campaign for Parliament.
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For decades, this gambling center seemed nearly immune to the economic swings of the rest of the country. But these days, the city built on excess is seeing a troubling sign: moderation.
State Legislatures Face Increasing Pressure Over High Fuel Taxes
Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida has been fighting to cut 10 cents from the state’s gasoline tax for two weeks in July. Lawmakers in Missouri, New York and Texas have also proposed a summer break from state gas taxes, while candidates for governor in Indiana and North Carolina are sparring over relief ideas of their own.
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Microsoft and Yahoo were pushed to the brink of a multibillion-dollar marriage and then to a sudden break-up this weekend by the same player.
Concerns Arise That Mortgage Financing Agencies Are at Risk
As home prices continue their free fall and banks shy away from lending, Washington officials have increasingly relied on two giant mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — to keep the housing market afloat.