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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan went before thousands of employees in a rare staff meeting Tuesday to defend the United Nations against what he called "relentless" attacks, and told them they should feel proud to work for the world body. The meeting was billed as a chance for Annan to spell out his plans to reform the United Nations and address staff concerns at a time when the organization is enduring fierce criticism over a host of scandals, from allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food program in Iraq to sex abuse by peacekeepers and claims of harassment...

Researchers find rare letters from fifth century Gaza Strip Mon Jan 24, 3:48 PM ET Mideast - AFP GENEVA (AFP) - Swiss researchers have uncovered a rare exchange of letters written in ancient Greek during the fifth century in what is now the Gaza Strip , the University of Fribourg said. The discovery offers proof of a rich intellectual society in a region that is better known today for a bitter and bloody standoff between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, said one of the researchers, Professor Jacques Schamp. Located amid mounds of manuscripts stored at the Marciana National Library in...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's expected appearance before an obscure legislative committee next week presents a rare spectacle in a state Capitol where few statewide elected officials have ever found themselves so engulfed in controversy. While many lawmakers have endured scandals and some seen the insides of prison walls, Shelley has few precedents as he prepares to testify before a committee that has traditionally concerned itself with auditing humdrum issues such as grazing fees and Medi-Cal overpayments. Though the 14-member Joint Legislative Audit Committee is also making headlines with its probe of cost overruns on the Bay...

What happened to the rare tribes? SANJAY DUTTA & CHANDRIKA MAGO TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2004 11:19:06 PM NEW DELHI: An enormous anthropological disaster is in the making. The killer tsunami is feared to have wiped out entire tribes — already threatened by their precariously small numbers — perhaps rendering them extinct and snapping the slender tie with a lost generation. Officials involved in rescue operations are pessimistic, but still keeping their fingers crossed for the Sentinelese and Nicobarese, the two tribes seen as bearing the brunt of the killer wave. The bigger fear is for the Sentinelese, anthropologically the most...

Rare artifacts shed new light on Spanish outpost in Panhandle By BILL KACZORPublished Sunday, July 11, 2004 Associated Press Writer SANTA ROSA ISLAND, Fla. A flood of rare artifacts and the rotted remains of wooden buildings offer surprising insights into life at a Spanish presidio, or military outpost, that vanished under the shifting sands of this barrier island 250 years ago. University of West Florida archaeologists and students, aided by public volunteers, last year recovered more than 40,000 artifacts, and they are digging up more this summer. What they've found shows Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa was more than a...

Look out for rare space spectacle June 06 2004 at 04:12PM Hamburg - Tuesday's transit of Venus in front of the sun will be only the sixth such event observed by humans, and astronomers say nobody alive today has seen the phenomenon, which is barely noticeable because it only imperceptibly reduces visible sunlight. Past transits in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882 were monitored from Earth. Slight differences in the start and finish time were used to roughly calculate the distance of the sun from the Earth. The transit will be visible from all parts of Earth where the sun...

If that stupid little hoe can't find other ways to get money off that farm, then SHE'S stupid :) Don't diss on PETA just because they're right, ok? ok. I'm a student at UCLA and a PETA member!

Experts hail rare find of medieval logboat Well-preserved remains may reveal secrets of ancient environment A thousand years ago it split asunder and could no longer be used to work the marshy waterways of East Yorkshire.Alexandra Wood But rather than let it go to waste forever, workers built part of the medieval logboat into the side of the trackway over the soft ground – and there it remained until a few days ago. Archaeologists discovered the stern of a boat, made out of a single hollowed oak trunk, while construction work was being carried out at Welham Bridge on the...

Syrian Authorities Break Up Rare Protest Monday March 8, 2004 11:46 PM By ZEINA KARAM Associated Press Writer DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - In a capital awash with Syrian flags, posters supporting President Bashar Assad and pamphlets declaring his party's achievements on its 41st anniversary, a paper banner raised Monday urging freedom for political prisoners did not fit in. Syrian authorities quickly tore it up, broke up the rare demonstration and arrested the small group of activists - who knew that was the most likely outcome of their call for change. A U.S. diplomat observing the demonstration was also briefly detained,...

Rare coin find stuns historians A man with a metal detector has unearthed a Roman bronze coin so rare it bears the face of a mystery emperor who "ruled" Britain for a matter of days. Brian Malin, from Oxfordshire, found it in a field in the county. It bears the face of Emperor Domitianus and is only the second coin ever found which bears the image of the self-proclaimed ruler of Britain and France in 271AD. A similar coin was found in France 100 years ago but until now its uniqueness had meant both Emperor Domitianus and the coin were...

A chilling reminder of our superstitious past has been unearthed from a rural farmhouse. The "witch bottle" was discovered buried in old foundations in the Lincolnshire village of Navenby. Containing bent pins, human hair and perhaps urine, the bottles were supposed to protect a household against evil spells. Dated to about 1830, it is evidence the fear of dark forces persisted far longer than previously thought. Discovered by accident during building work, the artefact initially sat unrecognised in a cupboard. Jo Butler, the house's owner, described what they found. She said: "The builder was breaking up foundations with a pick...

BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM PETER ADVISORY NUMBER 1 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 10 AM EST TUE DEC 09 2003 ...AND YET ANOTHER TROPICAL STORM... SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE GALE CENTER IN THE FAR EASTERN ATLANTIC HAS ACQUIRED TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND IS NOW TROPICAL STORM PETER...THE 16TH NAMED STORM OF THE 2003 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON. OFFICIAL RECORDS INDICATE THAT THE LAST TIME THERE WERE TWO TROPICAL CYCLONES OF AT LEAST TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH IN DECEMBER WAS 1887. AT 10 AM EST...1500Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM PETER WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 20.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE 37.0 WEST OR ABOUT 800 MILES...1290 KM...WEST-NORTHWEST...

Very Rare American Coin Found in Britain Thursday October 9, 2003 2:16 AM LONDON (AP) - A 351-year-old coin, one of the first ever minted in colonial America, has been found in Britain, an auction house said Wednesday. The rare New England silver sixpence turned up when relatives of a deceased British man were rummaging through his belongings. They sent it to an expert for identification. ``It just came through the post in an unregistered envelope but when I opened it I recognized the sixpence straight away and my heart leapt. It is exceedingly rare and a very exciting find,''...

Back when this thread was started, no one ever posted a link to download the entire video so we could watch it, not just view the screenshots http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/977346/posts does anyone have the full video, I have SCOURED the internet looking for this, the closest I could find was this: But its password protected. Please HELP! http://www.nytimages.com/wieck_preview_page_NYT2003090648062 but i'm not even sure if this is the video or just photos, I want the video, why isn't this all over the internet?

July 24, 2003The California Recall election will present serious-minded candidates with a rare opportunity: a chance to openly and honestly discuss the challenges that face California. What we’re much more likely to get, unfortunately, is the familiar pap from the same tedious political hacks that we have grown so tired of. Based on what I have heard in my summer travels up and down the state, no one is too keen on supporting Richard Riordan, Bill Simon or even Dianne Feinstein. Voters, if forced, may in spirit of the recall cast a tepid vote for one of them. But it...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 18 The Car, the Hole, and the Peekskill Meteorite Credit & Copyright: Pierre Thomas (LST), ENS Lyon Explanation: The Peekskill meteor of 1992 was captured on 16 independent videos and then struck a car. Documented as brighter than the full Moon, the spectacular fireball crossed parts of several US states during its 40 seconds of glory before landing in Peekskill, New York. The resulting meteorite, pictured here,...

Here we go folks. Our anonymous FR bennifactor has kicked in $870 to get our Medford / Central Point Bulletin Board up! Imagine it....some dirty little green watermelon driving north after a long hard day filled with protesting and what's that up ahead? Why it's a Bulleting Board that reads...Sound good. Well what if that BB stayed there right up until ELECTION DAY? That would be even better.This is a golden opportunity!

Russian Vagrant Eats Zoo's Rare Bird MOSCOW -- A 50-year-old tramp has been arrested in the western Siberian city of Novosibirsk on suspicion of eating a rare Japanese bird belonging to the local zoo, Ria Novosti reported Monday. The bird, a male Japanese crane worth around seven thousand dollars, disappeared last week shortly after it was transferred with its mate to a summer cage, local authorities told the news agency. The homeless man is accused of breaking into the cage and stealing the Japanese crane, with its distinctive white body and red head, one of only 200 such birds...