Bester News

Democratic sources tell CNN that President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton had a "serious discussion" Thursday to gauge Clinton's interest in the post of Secretary of State, if she were offered it. Obama reportedly asked Clinton whether she's interested in the post.

• added by: current89
• comments: 28
• topics : { News and Politics, Election 2008 }

The space shuttle Endeavour left today (Friday) to join the international space station in ... well ... space. It carries with it 7 astronauts, on a 15 day mission to make the living space bigger; room for 6 instead of the current 3. It's going to be quite the party up there.

• added by: Swiyyah
• comments: 9
• topics : { Earth and Science, Endeavor }

A manhunt is under way in western Germany for a convicted drug dealer who escaped by mailing himself out of jail. The 42-year-old Turkish citizen - who was serving a seven-year sentence - had been making stationery with other prisoners destined for the shops. At the end of his shift, the inmate climbed into a cardboard box and was taken out of prison by express courier. His whereabouts are still unknown. The chief warden of the jail told the BBC this was an embarrassing incident. The prison authorities in Willich, near Duesseldorf, said the man, who was tall and broad-shouldered, had hidden in a box that was about 150cm by 120cm.

• added by: bedeboop
• comments: 19
• topics : { Prisoners, Germany }

Why don't Israel just suffocate everyone they don't like. Get it over with, Kill em all! This is repulsive, disgusting and a shame on the human race to not do anything about this slow genocide and defiance of International law and human rights. No fuel (paid for by foreign donors) has been allowed into Gaza for its power station, no food has been allowed in for the United Nations' aid distribution centres on which most Gazans rely. No journalists are being allowed into Gaza to cover the story. what are they trying to hide...it dowsn't take a genius to know. (more at link above) and...... Not even donated food from several organizations like the UN, ... The UK-based aid agency Oxfam has warned of catastrophe for Gaza and nearby areas of Israel if a truce agreed last June is not maintained. Oxfam called on world leaders to do everything they could to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and urged Israel to resume supplies without delay. see the rest here... Blockaded Gaza 'faces disaster' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7729886.stm Moreover, Israel will not do anything to protect these people from violent jewish settlers. Only when they are caught via video and broadcast will they do something about it, and then its th minimum or no punishment. The Israeli military has said it will try by court martial a number of soldiers in connection with the abuse of a blindfolded Palestinian man. The video, broadcast by Israeli TV after being posted on YouTube, shows the man kneeling near a barrier being forced to repeat crude Hebrew phrases. The military has condemned the behaviour, which it says goes against its core values and high standards. Palestinians say contact with troops lead to insults and sometimes violence. Notice they did not do anything UNTIL it was broadcast! See here on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7729378.stm Its as visable as black and white...the world needs to act now, or Israel will have its wish and there will not be a Palestinian living to tell the story.

• added by: WorldPeaceTV
• comments: 73
• topics : { Culture, World Peace }

The whaling fleet is scheduled to put to sea in a matter of days and has set a target of 850 minke whales and 50 fin whales, according to Shigeki Takaya, a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture's Far Seas Fisheries Division. Last year, Tokyo announced that it would also take 50 humpbacks for the first time since the sixties, provoking outrage from anti-whaling nations. That plan was dropped and plans to hunt the species this year have again been cancelled. "We received a lot of pressure from around the world, but particularly Australia and New Zealand, so we will not be catching humpbacks as part of the research programme," said Mr. Takaya. Japan exploits a loophole in the rules of the International Whaling Commission that permits "lethal research." Critics say Tokyo's programme is little more than disguised commercial whaling as the meat ends up in supermarkets and restaurants in Japan. Mr. Takuya would not reveal the exact date when the whaling fleet will put to sea out of concerns for the safety of their crews. The radical environmental group Sea Shepherd disrupted last year's hunt and has been widely criticised for threatening the safety of the whalers. On one occasion, environmentalists hurled packages of rancid butter onto the deck of the Nisshin Maru; the Japanese retaliated with flash grenades. This year, Sea Shepherd has unveiled a new weapon the war against the whalers, with Hollywood mermaid Daryl Hannah - star of the 1984 film "Splash" - scheduled to be aboard the group's flagship, the MV Steve Irwin.

• added by: jefftego
• comments: 31
• topics : { Japan, Endangered Species }

Dr. Michael Mithoefer is at the forefront of a controversial field of study. He is leading a pilot study into using MDMA -- the pure form of the illegal drug ecstasy -- to treat depression and post traumatic stress disorder. "Originally, MDMA (ecstasy) was used for everything from couples therapy to managing pain in terminally ill cancer patients. Dr. Alexander Shulgin was the pioneer in that field, staring in the 50's. Check him out. He's a very interesting character. Remember, just because it feels good and f*cks you up, doesn't mean it has to be illegal. Anything that will help our troops when they return from this stupid war, I'm all for."- Bansheewail

• added by: bansheewail
• comments: 57
• topics : { War on Drugs, News }

A VIP jury chose two winners among 45 finalists from 26 countries. sloggi awarded Melanie Nunes Fronckowiak, 20, Brazil, and Saiba Bombote, 27, France, the title "Most Beautiful Bottom in the World", a modelling contract for the next international sloggi campaign, EUR 15,000 prize money, plus some exclusive insurance for their precious derrieres. Why does Brazil always do so well in these competitions?

• added by: Danobi
• comments: 62
• topics : { Bums, Funny }

U.S. intelligence agencies believe Osama bin Laden is isolated from al Qaeda and spending much of his energy merely surviving, the head of the CIA said on Thursday. CIA Director Michael Hayden said hunting down bin Laden remains his agency's priority. "He is putting a lot of energy into his own survival -- a lot of energy into his own security," Hayden said in a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington. "In fact, he appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he nominally heads," he said. In recent weeks, there have been several U.S. missile strikes by unmanned drones around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The United States maintains that Taliban and al Qaeda forces operate with relative impunity in tribal areas along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan and use those areas as staging grounds to attack U.S. forces and their allies inside Afghanistan.

• added by: BuddyP
• comments: 62
• topics : { Osama bin Laden, News }

Thousands of New York commuters on Wednesday morning were handed copies of a newspaper that looked a lot like The New York Times, with a main headline blaring ?IRAQ WAR ENDS.? Articles described a nation turned hard left: nationalized oil companies, a ?maximum wage? law, the enactment of national health insurance, President Bush indicted for treason and evangelical churches providing sanctuary for Iraqi refugees. Even a skeptical reader might take a minute to notice that the date on the paper was July 4, 2009. The 14-page spoof is richly detailed, with layouts and typefaces similar to the genuine article, and ads that look realistic at first glance. An e-mail message to the news media announced the hoax, calling it ?an elaborate operation six months in the planning? but did not say who was behind it. The statement said that 1.2 million copies were printed, more than the weekday circulation nationwide for real issues of The Times. That number is suspect, if only because of the printing costs that would be involved. * * * * * I am reminded of that TV series in which the next day's newspaper is delivered daily a day early to a young man who must then try to prevent accidents, crimes, etc., announced in the paper. Would that this spoof paper reflect what will actually happen in eight months' time...

• added by: Vierotchka
• comments: 34
• topics : { News and Politics, Random }

BEIJING ? A noxious cocktail of soot, smog and toxic chemicals is blotting out the sun, fouling the lungs of millions of people and altering weather patterns in large parts of Asia, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations. The byproduct of automobiles, slash-and-burn agriculture, wood-burning stoves and coal-fired power plants, these plumes of carbon dust rise over southern Africa, the Amazon basin and North America. But they are most pronounced in Asia, where so-called atmospheric brown clouds are dramatically reducing sunlight in many Chinese cities and leading to decreased crop yields in swaths of rural India, say a team of more than a dozen scientists who have been studying the problem since 2002. But the scientists who worked on the report said the blanket of haze might be mitigating the worst effects of greenhouse gases, by absorbing solar heat or reflecting it away from the earth. Greenhouse gases, by contrast, tend to trap the warmth of the sun and lead to a rise in ocean temperatures. ?All of this points to an even greater and urgent need to take on emissions across the planet,? said Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, in Beijing, which the report identified as one of the world?s most polluted cities, and where the report was released. ?The imperative to act has never been clearer.? End of Excerpt

• added by: current89
• comments: 40
• topics : { United Nations, News and Politics }