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US Senate Rejects 5 Different Budget Plans

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 10:15 pm (UTC-5)
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As expected, the U.S. Senate Wednesday rejected five separate budget plans for 2013, including one that mirrors a budget blueprint offered by President Barack Obama. The lawmakers unanimously turned down the plan submitted by Republicans and based on the president’s budget, 99-to-zero. Mr. Obama’s Democratic Party called the vote a political stunt, saying it was […]

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Greece Appoints Caretaker PM, Sets Date for New Elections

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 8:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Greece has sworn in a senior judge as the country’s new caretaker prime minister. Council of State head Panagiotis Pikrammenos was appointed Wednesday after major political parties failed to form a coalition government following several attempts to broker a deal. The 67-year-old Mr. Pikrammenos will be tasked with organizing the country’s repeat elections scheduled for […]

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UN Experts: Iran Sending Arms to Syria, Violating Sanctions

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 8:30 pm (UTC-5)
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An expert panel monitoring United Nations sanctions on Iran says Syria continues to be the main destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban on weapons exports by Tehran. The new assessment said the panel investigated three large illegal shipments of Iranian weapons over the past year. Reuters quotes the […]

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Guinea-Bissau Names New Interim PM

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 7:20 pm (UTC-5)
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Officials in Guinea-Bissau say the head of the country’s new interim government has named a prime minister to help lead a transition following last month’s military coup. The officials said Wednesday that Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo selected former finance minister Rui Duarte Barros to be prime minister. The tiny African nation has been at an impasse […]

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Chuck Brown, ‘The Godfather of Go-Go,’ Dies at 75

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 7:20 pm (UTC-5)
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Chuck Brown, the musician known as “The Godfather of Go-Go,” has died at 75 after a bout with pneumonia. After several minor hit records, Brown created his own sound in the 1970s — a combination of funk, soul, and Latin music he called Go-Go, because he said the music goes and goes all night. The […]

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Defiant Mladic Goes on Trial at The Hague

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 7:05 pm (UTC-5)
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Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic went on trial at The Hague Wednesday, the first day in the long-awaited war crimes trial in which the defiant 70-year-old taunted the families of victims. International prosecutors have indicted Mladic on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide, committed during the early 1990s in […]

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Estranged Wife of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Found Dead

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 6:35 pm (UTC-5)
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The estranged wife of lawyer and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been found dead. An attorney says police discovered the body of 52-year-old Mary Kennedy in her home in Bedford, north of New York City. Police have released no other details. Mary Kennedy was Kennedy’s second wife. The two filed for divorce in 2010 […]

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Charles Taylor Tells Court: ‘I Sympathize with Victims of Sierra Leone Civil War’

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 5:05 pm (UTC-5)
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Former Liberian president Charles Taylor told judges at his sentencing hearing Wednesday in the Netherlands he has “deepest sympathies” for those who suffered during Sierra Leone’s brutal, decade-long civil war. But Taylor stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing or apologizing for atrocities committed by rebels he armed in exchange for so-called “blood diamonds,” mined in […]

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France Unveils New Cabinet; Half Are Women

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 4:20 pm (UTC-5)
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New French President Francois Hollande is putting the pieces in place to forge ahead with “a new path” for the European economic power. Aides announced the formation of the new French Cabinet Wednesday, one day after the Socialist politician was sworn in as president during a rain-soaked ceremony in Paris. The new assignments include former […]

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US: Mali, Guinea-Bissau Must Return to Civilian Rule

Posted May 16th, 2012 at 3:35 pm (UTC-5)
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The United States has urged military leaders in Mali and Guinea Bissau to agree to West African demands and return their countries to democratic rule following recent military coups. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said Wednesday a strong regional response by the Economic Community of West African States makes clear that “military misadventures” […]

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