Ban Urges Countries to Press on Political Deal at Climate Summit
Recent News
New York: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging countries to seize the opportunity presented by next month´s climate change conference in Copenhagen to clinch a political agreement that will help chart the way forward on a new legally binding pact to combat global warming.
"Opportunity is knock...
At 11:15 p.m. Eastern Time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the historic passage of a health care bill revamping the health care system and bringing about the reforms promised by President Obama during the November 2008 election.
The vote was 220 to 215 with one Republican, Representative C...
$1 billion minimum required annually to reach children still at risk.
WASHINGTON, DC | GENEVA -- Reversing a downward trend, immunization rates are now at their highest ever and vaccine development worldwide is booming, according to a new assessment released today by the World Health Organizati...
Barely nine months into office, President Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize, substantially boosting his prestige and standing in the United States and internationally.
The Nobel Committee said the President won the award for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diploma...
More than 400 of the nation's most respected health care leaders issued a joint Open Letter to Congress declaring that the health care system is in crisis and is unsustainable and calling on Congress to act now on meaningful reforms. They state that Congress has a moral and ethical obligation to imp...
Speaking to a joint session of Congress last night, President Obama gave a clear, inspiring and unusually detailed explanation of our nation´s health care crisis and his plan to address it.
The President outlined the two key goals of health care reform: safety and security for those already insu...
Stay in school and take personal responsibility are two messages President Barack Obama delivered to U.S. school children.
Obama's speech to the nation's school children Tuesday encouraged them to do the best they can.
"(At) the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most...
The number of people hit by deadly floods across West Africa has now topped 600,000, and the heavy rains have also destroyed crops and infrastructure in a region already hard hit by poverty, the United Nations humanitarian arm reported today.
The rains that began in June have claimed nearly 160 l...
GENEVA -- Monitoring of outbreaks from different parts of the world provides sufficient information to make some tentative conclusions about how the influenza pandemic might evolve in the coming months.
WHO is advising countries in the northern hemisphere to prepare for a second wave of pandemic ...
A strong earthquake struck Indonesia Wednesday, killing at least 13 people, injuring 18 others and damaging several older buildings, witnesses said.
The earthquake, centered about 150 miles from Jakarta, initially was categorized at 7.4 magnitude before being downgraded to 7 by geological official...
By William M. Welch
LOS ANGELES -- Two firefighters died in a wildfire Sunday in the San Gabriel Mountains that threatened more than 10,000 homes and the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory.
Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Mike Bryant said the two firefighters died in the Angeles Nationa...
Praise for the long political career of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., began coming in early Wednesday as word of his death was reported.
The Kennedy family released a brief statement announcing the death and thanking those who cared for the senator in his last months.
"He loved this count...
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told assembled bankers and policymakers in Wyoming Friday to expect the U.S. economy to grow soon.
"Fears of financial collapse have receded substantially," Bernanke said at the Fed's annual retreat in Jackson Hole.
"After contracting sharply over the...
A tropical storm warning was issued Sunday for Florida and Alabama as a tropical depression organized off the Gulf Coast, meteorologists said.
The depression, on the brink of becoming Tropical Storm Claudette, was located about 125 miles south-southeast of Apalachicola and moving toward the Florid...
By Karen Jeffrey, Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
HYANNIS -- Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 88, an internationally acclaimed advocate for people with physical and development disabilities, died early this morning at Cape Cod Hospital, according to a statement from the family.
Born into the privilege...
Former Democratic President achieves diplomatic coup.
By Matt Williams
Two American reporters were freed from North Korea's notorious labour camps after former President Bill Clinton flew in for talks. Clinton met Kim Jong-il yesterday during a surprise visit to the secretive Asian state.
...
Inspectors General fault Bush-Era surveillance tactics for questionable effectiveness and circumvention of legal safeguards.
Top federal investigators from the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, CIA, Directorate of National Intelligence, and the National Security Agency issued a detai...
AVE MARIAH FOR MICHAEL; STARS FLOCK TO MEMORIAL AS 17,000 FANS FIND OUT OF THEY'VE GOT A TICKET
By Keith McLeod
Mariah Carey will sing the Jackson Five's classic I'll Be There as Tinseltown pays tribute to the King of Pop today.
Maria, who had a hit with the haunting ballad in 1992, is o...
Protesters hit the streets of Tehran again Tuesday to express anger over election results they say were manipulated to keep Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power.
The government has begun cracking down harder on the demonstrations that have turned deadly, while reaction from world leaders remains subdued, ...
By Marie McCullough, The Philadelphia Inquirer
The tobacco-control movement celebrated another milestone yesterday as the U.S. Senate easily passed a bill giving the government unprecedented power over the making and marketing of tobacco products.
Supporters say the law will enable the Food ...
By PAUL KANE; JOBY WARRICK
FORMER US vice-president Dick Cheney personally oversaw at least four briefings with senior members of Congress about controversial interrogation programmes, part of a secretive and forceful defence he mounted throughout 2005 in an effort to maintain support for the hars...
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has nominated federal judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York for the U.S. Supreme Court positioning the longtime federal jurist to become the first Hispanic member of the nation's high court.
Sotomayor, a former federal prosecutor who first was appointed to the fed...
North Korea claimed Monday it had "successfully" conducted a nuclear test, its second since October 2006, to "bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the testing comes in the wake of the Communist country's warning last month about its nuclear pla...
Poor weather conditions prevented the the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis from landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said Friday.
The landing was rescheduled for Saturday.
Two landings were waved off at the center because weather conditions wouldn't permit a safe landing, the space agen...
Los Angeles - Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, sank six free throws in the final 30.5 seconds and came up with the game-sealing rebound in the final seconds, as the Lakers rallied to beat Denver, 105-103, in the opener of the Western Conference finals.
Bryant had 18 of his points in the fourth quarte...
By Tom Troy, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame University gave a thunderous welcome during Sunday's graduation ceremony to President Obama and cheered him throughout the program despite stark differences on abortion that prompted protests on the Catholic campus.
Mr. Obama w...
Pope Benedict XVI, in Israel on his Middle East tour, called for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would lead to a homeland for both sides.
The pontiff said, "I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstandin...
By Bangor Daily News, Maine
AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday signed a gay marriage bill passed just hours before by the Maine Legislature.
Baldacci made his announcement within an hour of the Maine Senate giving its final approval to LD 1020. The Senate voted 21-13 in favor o...
Washington – During a debate on hate crimes legislation taking place last week in the well of the United States House of Representatives, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) claimed that Matthew Shepard's murder and torture were "a hoax."
While Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard looked on from above in the H...
By DENIS STAUNTON
US SUPREME court justice David Souter is set to retire this summer, offering President Barack Obama his first opportunity to shape the court after almost a decade of conservative government.
Mr Obama yesterday declined to comment on Mr Souter's decision, which had yet to be m...
By ADAM THOMSON
Governments and health authorities worldwide went on the alert over the weekend for a possible influenza pandemic as the death toll from a new strain of swine flu in Mexico reached 81.
Janet Napolitano, US homeland security secretary, yesterday declared a "public health emergen...
By Sandy Bauers and John Shiffman, The Philadelphia Inquirer
WASHINGTON -- In a landmark move that countered eight years of inaction by the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency determined yesterday that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare because they contribu...
By Rachel Stassen-Berger, Pioneer Press
Democrat Al Franken won last year's U.S. Senate race, three judges decided Monday.
The decision comes after a tough and testy two-year campaign, a two-month statewide hand recount and a detailed seven-week trial.
In the cool spring evening Monday, F...
Pope Benedict XVI began the Easter Vigil late Saturday at St. Peter's in Rome, celebrating the mass that opens the holiest day of the Christian calendar.
The service began in darkness, the BBC reported. After Benedict lit a candle to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he was joined by thousand...
Vote to override Governor's veto makes Vermont first state to recognize marriage for lesbian and gay couples through legislative process. Vermont becomes the fourth state to recognize gay marriage.
Momentum in favor of same-sex marriages increases following similar victory for marriage equality ...
By Rod Boshart, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
In a precedent-setting ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court Friday upheld a lower court decision legalizing same-sex marriages in Iowa.
The unanimous landmark decision is expected to carry national implications as Iowa becomes the first Midwest state...
By Erica Werner, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The House is poised to thrust tobacco companies under government control after years of attempts in legislatures and the courts to tame one of the country's signature industries.
"We cannot and we must not wait a moment longer to protect our...
By Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press
BONN, Germany - From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt and beyond, the world switched off the lights Saturday for Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments for 60 minutes to high...
By Ben Feller, Associated Press
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- President Barack Obama consigned the Iraq war to history Friday, declaring he will end combat operations within 18 months and open a new era of diplomacy in the Middle East.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our comb...
Chinese President Hu Jintao met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing Saturday amid calls for closer ties between the nations, officials said.
Hu and Clinton said the need to deepen and develop ties between China and the United States is becoming ever more important, Xinhua, the ...
Top Headlines
A tearful Oprah Winfrey Friday confirmed she will end her long-running television talk show in 2011, saying the time to quit "feels right."
Nov. 20--WASHINGTON -- The Senate is poised to approve on Saturday the start of a historic debate over health care legislation aimed at making coverage easier, less expensive to obtain and harder to lose.
Nov. 20--Mario Andrette McNeill could receive the death penalty if he is convicted of raping and killing 5-year-old Shaniya Davis.
Nov. 20--Saying she made her decision after "much prayer," Oprah Winfrey told viewers this morning she is ending her show next year because "it's time to leave."
A hearing for former NBA star Jayson Williams concerning the death a limo driver has been indefinitely postponed, the office of a New Jersey judge says.
WASHINGTON _ Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of three moderate Democratic senators wavering on whether to allow debate on health care legislation to proceed, said Friday that he would vote to move the bill forward.
Nov. 20--The man accused of raping and killing 5-year-old Shaniya Davis is scheduled to appear in court at 2:15 p.m. today.
Oprah Winfrey, who announced Friday that she will end her daytime talk show when her contract expires in the fall of 2011, isn't likely to be absent from the air for long. She's starting a cable network in partnership with Discovery, and the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will make its debut in January 2011.
A test for cervical cancer is needed less frequently than previously recommended, regardless of a woman's age, a doctors' group says.
All charges were withdrawn Friday against a 59-year-old man in Wales who strangled his wife in his sleep because of a rare behavioral state, a judge said.
The following editorial appeared in the Dallas Morning News on Friday, Nov. 20:
THE Oprah Winfrey Show, a broadcast that grew over two decades into a daytime television powerhouse and the foundation of a multibillion-dollar media empire, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, Winfrey's production company said.
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor rumored to be interested in running for governor, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate, a former aide says.
RORY McIlroy got his second round at the Dubai World Championship off to a great start this morning with birdies at the opening two holes.
A MAN who strangled his wife during a nightmare in the belief he was attacking an intruder walked free from court today after the case against him was withdrawn.
Business
Nov. 20--Soaring demand for gold from savers desperate to take advantage of the record bullion price forced the Royal Mint to more than quadruple production of gold coins in the third quarter of the year.
Nov. 20--It's not every day that someone tries to pawn a handful of teeth.
CALGARY, Nov. 20 /CNW/ - Kallisto Energy Corp. (TSX Venture: KEC) (formerly Arrow Energy Ltd. - AOF) ("Kallisto" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has filed its Q3 2009 financial statements and accompanying Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the period ended September 30, 2009.
TSX Venture Exchange Symbol "CUL"
TSX Symbol: MSP.A
VANCOUVER, Nov. 20 /CNW/ - Trading resumes in:
Nov 19 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia is ready to buy gold from the State Precious Metals and Gemstones Repository (Gokhran) before the end of this year, CB First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev told reporters.
NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kohlberg Capital Corporation (Nasdaq:KCAP) (the "Company") announces that the Company received a letter on November 17, 2009 from the NASDAQ Stock Market notifying it that the Company is no longer in compliance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5250(c)(1), Obligation to File Periodic Financial Reports, because it did not timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
J-Pacific Gold Inc. (the "Company" or "J-Pacific") (TSX VENTURE: JPN) announced today that is has appointed John P. Thompson, M.Sc., P.Eng., as the Company's Chief Operating Officer.
Markets slipped on Wednesday.
Nov 19 (Interfax) - Tajikistan may soon call a tender for the rights to the Shakhbas gold field, with an estimated 75 tonnes of gold, said the press office of Emomaly Rakhmon, the country's president, who chaired a meeting in the gold industry on November 18.
Octopus Investments is overhauling its product literature in response to the FSA's structured product review findings.
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws.
TORONTO, Nov. 20 /CNW/ - Middlefield Group, on behalf of Pathfinder Convertible Debenture Fund ("Pathfinder" or the "Fund"), is pleased to announce that the Fund has completed its initial public offering of 5,900,000 combined units at a price of $12.00 per combined unit for gross proceeds of $70,800,000.
GC China Turbine, a manufacturer of two blade wind turbines, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Yancheng regional government of Jiangsu province with the intent to develop a local manufacturing base to build large utility scale turbines for offshore and coastal use in the area.
NEW YORK - Medidata Solutions Inc., a maker of software and services for clinical development of drugs and medical devices, said Friday it plans a public offering of 4.5 million shares of its common stock.
HATBORO, Pa. Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- InfoLogix, Inc. (Nasdaq: IFLG), a leading technology provider of enterprise mobility solutions for the healthcare and commercial industries, today announced that the Company, including its subsidiaries, have completed a restructuring transaction with its senior lender, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. ("Hercules"), pursuant to which a portion of the Company's outstanding debt with Hercules Technology I, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hercules ("HTI"), was converted into equity in the Company, the remaining outstanding debt with Hercules was otherwise restructured, the Company issued warrants to purchase equity in the Company to HTI, and certain other debt and earnout obligations with other parties were restructured.
Sports
RICHMOND, Texas - Sophie Gustafson moved within two shots of leader Lorena Ochoa at the LPGA Tour Championship on Friday before second-round play was suspended because of bad weather.
Lorena Ochoa, without hitting a single shot, maintained her lead Friday at the LPGA Tour Championship -- the circuit's last event of the season.
Nov. 20--Some of North Carolina's top amateur soccer players will be in Charlotte this weekend for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the annual N.C. Adult State Cup.
Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Galaxy are gearing up to enter their Major League Soccer record sixth MLS Cup final, while Real Salt Lake will be entering its first when the two teams square off at Qwest Field in Seattle on Sunday.
RENTON, Wash. _ Cornerback Josh Wilson ascended to a starting cornerback spot without much of an announcement.
Nov. 20--With four days off, pleasant weather and plenty of flexible sports families, the Thanksgiving meal at grandma's has been replaced by coolers and turkey sandwiches in the minivan.
RICHMOND, Texas - Lorena Ochoa shot a 66 on Thursday and has a one-shot lead over Reilley Rankin after the first round of the LPGA's season-ending Tour Championship.
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - The home-ice advantage for the U.S. skeleton team vanished for the second straight week in World Cup competition and Canada and Germany took advantage in the snowless Adirondack Mountains.
Nov. 20--SEATTLE -- Landon Donovan received a nice addition to his already spectacular year Thursday, when the Galaxy star was named MVP of Major League Soccer for the first time in his career.
Nov. 20--Every expansion team is expected to struggle during its inaugural season.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce is out indefinitely after an MRI exam on Friday surprisingly revealed a bulging disk in his neck.
Nov. 20--Minnesota Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield is listed as doubtful on today's injury report for Sunday's game against Seattle.
Although Florida remains unbeaten, Tim Tebow continues to generate questions about whether he is a future NFL quarterback.
Jeremy Lin has heard every Asian stereotype and joke, and that's just from his teammates.
Nov. 20--LAS CRUCES -- Ross Conner remembered his welcome-to-college moment.
Antoine Winfield said he made significant progress in practice this week, but the Vikings' cornerback was listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against Seattle because of a right foot injury.
Orchard Park, NY (Sports Network) - The Buffalo Bills placed linebacker Keith Ellison on injured reserve Friday.