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7/12/2006 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFPN) -- With a knock on his door late one evening, 1st Lt. Kevin Lombardo's entire life changed. "One of my sergeants stood outside my trailer door clutching a note. My heart skipped a beat. He said I needed to call home now, something was wrong," the lieutenant said. "When I heard the sound of my wife Billie's voice, I knew it was serious." While deployed to Iraq, Lieutenant Lombardo, an operations officer for the 21st Security Forces Squadron, learned his 3-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, were being rushed to the...

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Four months before crucial congressional elections, Vice President Dick Cheney saw his first stock-car race on Saturday and hoped to fire up traditionally conservative " NASCAR dads" to turn out and vote. After Air Force Two buzzed the crowd, sweeping as low as 1,000 feet over the racetrack, Cheney's black SUV took a lap around the Daytona speedway at a sedate 65 mph (105 kph). Infield spectators perched atop behemoth recreational vehicles waved American flags and banners proclaiming devotion to their favorite drivers and the beer companies that sponsor them. "On Independence Day, we're reminded...

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2006 – President Bush kept his promise to a wounded soldier yesterday, jogging around the White House running track alongside Army Staff Sgt. Christian Bagge, who ran with his new prosthetic running legs. Army Staff Sgt. Christian Bagge, who lost both legs in Iraq last year when an improvised explosive device hit his Humvee, runs with President Bush on the South Lawn of the White House, June 27. Photo by William D. Moss  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The president and Bagge, who sported his PT uniform with "Army" emblazoned across his chest, hit the...

ALGONA, Iowa - While much of the world fumes over escalating fuel prices, a small company in north central Iowa is quietly hoping to make gasoline obsolete as an engine fuel. Research at the Hydrogen Engine Center Inc. is done in an early 1900s red brick armory at the Kossuth County fairgrounds. There, a clean six-cylinder engine that looks like it could have been pulled from a Ford pickup has been running for 110 hours, not quite half the 300 hours it must continuously run for certification. The company, led by a retired Ford Motor Co. engineer, hopes to meet...

ALBANY - GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Weld is sailing into uncharted waters in New York Republican politics: He's making a major run to line up the backing of the tiny Libertarian Party. Weld confirmed to the Daily News last night that he would "definitely be interested" in winning the Libertarian line "'Libertarian' is not a bad word in my lexicon," he said, noting one of his favorite expressions is: "I want the government out of your pocketbook and out of your bedroom." Asked about the party's opposition to the war on drugs, Weld said he'd back medical marijuana, but added,...

Federal action might not affect La Center project, senator says SEATTLE U.S. Sen. John McCain said Tuesday he is looking to change federal law regulating Indian gambling, but he has not and will not take a position on the Cowlitz Tribe's proposed casino near La Center. McCain, R-Ariz., came to Seattle to stump for Mike McGavick, the leading Republican to challenge U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., this November. Advertisement McCain, as chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, is a key player in the national debate over the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the landmark 1988 law that has allowed Indian...

U.S. Army Capt. James Watt, an occupational therapist, (right) helps Senior Airman Dan Acosta through some prosthetic arm warm-up drills Feb. 23 in the amputee rehabilitation clinic at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. U.S. Air Force photo by Steve White U.S. Air ForceSenior Airman Dan Acosta Airman Recovers from Bomb Blast, Hopes to Continue to Serve By Michael Briggs 12th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, March 1, 2006 — He stirs every few minutes as he sits talking in the living room of his base housing unit. He doesn't show it with...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran showed few signs on Tuesday that it was ready to strike a deal with Russia that would allay suspicions it is seeking nuclear weapons and stave off Western pressure for possible U.N. sanctions. After two days of talks in Moscow, Russian and Iranian negotiators said they planned more discussions this week on a Russian proposal to enrich uranium for Iran, seen as a way to ensure Tehran cannot divert nuclear fuel into bomb-making. But the two sides appeared far apart, with Iran's foreign minister ruling out any return to a moratorium on uranium enrichment, which Russia...

Royal Navy hopes Argentine visit will break the ice By Oliver Balch in Buenos Aires (Filed: 26/01/2006) A Royal Navy ship has anchored in an Argentine port for the first time since the Falklands conflict. During the goodwill visit to Ushuaia, more than 2,000 miles south of the capital Buenos Aires, by the icebreaker Endurance, British and Argentine officers were joined by veterans as they laid wreaths at a monument honouring those who fell on both sides in the fighting 24 years ago. But the presence of Endurance was not universally popular. A resident held a placard that read: "Murdering...

African hopes ride on Norway camels By Lars Bevanger BBC News, Oslo Camels have no problem surviving Norway's cold winters A small community in wintry Norway wants to help a group of East African refugees back to work by importing a flock of camels. The local refugee council says it will allow refugees with nomadic background to use their camel-farming skills while also securing an alternative income for local agriculture. But how do camels adapt to Arctic conditions in the far north of Europe? Igor, a five year-old Bactrian camel, is living proof his particular breed of camel has no...

Tests dash hopes of rapid production of bird flu vaccine 17:43 16 December 2005 NewScientist.com news service Debora MacKenzie The results of first large-scale trials of a low-dose vaccine against H5N1 bird flu have been announced – and they are unexpectedly disappointing. Scientists had hoped that very low doses of vaccine virus would make humans immune if injected along with an immune-stimulating chemical called an adjuvant. But on Thursday, French vaccine company Sanofi pasteur announced that in tests on 300 people in France, they did not. “The prospects for adequate global supplies of an effective pandemic vaccine of any kind...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 8, 2005 – Iraqi and coalition officials have great hopes for the success of Dec. 15 national elections, officials here said on background today. Senior American officials said the elections are another important step in the evolution of Iraq from a country beat down by 30 years of tyranny to a functioning democracy. The elections are another opportunity for the Iraqi people to separate themselves from the terrorists who continue to try to intimidate Iraqis. The Iraqi people understand that al Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorist groups have only an incidental interest in the country, officials said....

WASHINGTON - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says he wants this weekend's gathering on the National Mall to be the start of a long-range movement to empower minorities, not just a one-day event. Dubbed the Millions More Movement, Saturday's event marks the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March. "We're tired of begging others to do for us what we have the capacity to pool our resources — intellectually and financially — to do for ourselves," Farrakhan said Thursday at the National Press Club. "We will make demands from our government, but we know those demands will fall on...

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers build a new air traffic control tower, and plans other improvements to help economic recovery, and increase employment . MOSUL, Iraq, Sept. 13, 2005 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is working hard to assist Ninawa Province in becoming a major commercial center in northern Iraq. The USACE is providing quality assurance oversight as a Turkish contractor, EMTA Construction Co., builds a new air traffic control tower at Mosul Airport, on Forward Operating Base Diamondback, Iraq. "With an improvement in commerce, there will be significant alternatives to joining the insurgency, which should lead...

With bone-cracking brutality, the waves of baton-wielding police seemed to confirm what the already demoralised Iranian reform movement had been dreading: the dawn of a new era of political repression. Several hundred pro-reformists had gathered outside Tehran University to demand the release of a jailed dissident journalist, Akbar Ganji, who is in the fifth week of a hunger strike, when they were confronted by massed ranks of officers. In the melee, large numbers of demonstrators, including several women, were hurt. Among the injured were a former reformist MP, Mousavi Khoeini, who had a broken rib after being hit with an...

LONDON - The British government said Monday it hoped to pass a new anti-terrorism law by December that would counter the influence of extremist clerics and make it an offense to receive terror training. The law comes after the government reached an agreement with Britain's main opposition parties on how to respond to the London bombings. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said there were "no main outstanding issues of difference" between the parties, and that lawmakers would debate the new legislation when Parliament returns from summer recess in October. If passed, the legislation will outlaw "indirect incitement" of terrorism, including praising...

SACRAMENTO – Staring at potential payouts in the billions of dollars, the U.S. oil industry is maneuvering to escape responsibility for cleaning up after MTBE, the now-banned toxic gasoline additive that has seeped into drinking water across the country. If the campaign is successful, critics say taxpayers will be forced to pick up the unpaid bill. Oil producers have attached so much importance to immunity from liability that the issue has taken a place right alongside opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and tax breaks as Congress crafts a broad new energy policy. The House has already approved legislation sponsored...

French poll a blow to hopes for European constitution By David Rennie in Brussels (Filed: 19/03/2005) Europe's political establishment was sent reeling yesterday by the first opinion poll to suggest that French voters will reject the draft European constitution and deal the treaty a fatal blow. According to the CSA institute poll, 51 per cent of the French would vote against the constitution and 49 per cent for. Chancellor Schröder with President Chirac The poll marked a 14-point slump for the Yes camp since the last survey three weeks ago. A rejection from France would plunge the European Union into...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - President Hosni Mubarak expressed hope Saturday that Iraq's elections will be held on schedule but said all Iraqis need to participate to avoid further violence in the war-ravaged state. However, Mubarak, this country's sole ruler since 1981, sidestepped questions on whether he would support constitutional changes to loosen his own grip on power. His comments, made during an unprecedented telephone call to a popular talk show, come at a time of great political change in the Middle East, with Palestinian presidential polls on Sunday, Iraqi elections on Jan. 30 and a referendum on the Egyptian presidency...

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