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The U.S. recession is likely to end later in 2009, ushering in a "frustratingly slow" recovery marked by continued high unemployment, a top Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday. Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Fed, looked for inflation to stay low for several years, and hinted that the central bank should be in no hurry to raise interest rates even once growth turns positive. "I am not optimistic that the economy will spring back to normal anytime soon," Yellen told the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. The U.S. jobless rate is likely to rise from its...

Last night, the Northwest Baptist Church, in Toledo, OH, held a rally celebrating the right to keep and bear arms, and spreading the message that the exercise of that right is in no way incompatible with Christian values. The rally will point to numerous biblical references claiming Jesus Christ would support second amendment rights. "We're just informing our folks you got to be able to protect yourself and what does the Bible have to say about it. We know our constitution. But this is the final authority here above our Constitution is the word of God," said Reverend Andrew Edwards...

When Congress gets back from its 4th of July, an important Subcommittee will make a decision that could impact taxpayer funded-abortions for years to come. The Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, headed by Rep. José Serrano (D-NY), will vote on whether or not to include legislation that would permit government-funded abortions in the District of Columbia as long as they were paid for by local taxes and not federal funds. President Obama is directly responsible for the change, as wording in the “Dornan Amendment” was altered through a direct budget recommendation that came from his office. The Dornan...

An exchange of gunfire between a security guard and an alleged robber at the Mars Super Market on Maiden Choice Lane and Westland Boulevard, in Arbutus, Sunday evening left the alleged robber with several gunshot wounds, according to Baltimore County police. It also left the store, at the Maiden Choice Shopping Center in the 1000 block of Maiden Choice Lane, without some of its front windows — which were boarded up Monday morning. Neither the guard nor any customers in the store were injured, police said. At 6:52 p.m. June 21, Jamison Harvey Johnson, 40, entered the store and “announced...

A defense attorney for a University of Tennessee student accused of accessing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account during last year's presidential campaign wants to poll potential jurors in writing and in advance of trial. Attorney Wade Davies on Tuesday sought U.S. Magistrate Judge Clifford Shirley's approval of the use of a juror questionnaire to ferret out candidates' prejudices in what he contends is a case mired in polarizing politics. "This is a case that not only has received an extensive degree of local and national publicity, but it's also a case that people feel really strongly about one...

California's lawmakers failed to agree on a balanced budget by the start of its new fiscal year Wednesday morning, clearing the way to suspend payments owed to the state's vendors and local agencies, who instead will get "IOU" notes promising payment. The notes will mark the first time in 17 years the most populous U.S. state's government will have to resort to the unusual and dramatic measure. Democrats who control the legislature could not convince Republicans late Tuesday night to back their plans to tackle a $24.3 billion budget shortfall or a stopgap effort to ward off the IOUs. The...

he surrealism of celebrity pop culture erupts when a major celebrity dies. The sudden, mysterious death of Michael Jackson caused a near-total eclipse of the real news. The cable-news channels blurred into 24-7 wailing walls for the so-called "King of Pop." Television ratings surged with a big ka-ching. So much for the "news" business. On Friday, for example, just 24 hours after the death news broke, anchors like NBC's Brian Williams fit the "news" of Congress, the recession and Iran into a neat thimble of snippets so they could devote most of the newscast to continued mourning of the man...

IN HIS WEEKLY address on Saturday, President Obama saluted the House of Representatives for passing Waxman-Markey, the gargantuan energy-rationing bill that would amount to the largest tax increase in the nation’s history. It would do so by making virtually everything that depends on energy - which is virtually everything - more expensive. The president doesn’t describe the legislation in those terms now, but he made no bones about it last year. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in January 2008, he calmly explained how cap-and-trade - the carbon-dioxide rationing scheme that is at the heart of Waxman-Markey -...

Air New Zealand is getting down to the bare essentials with a new in-flight safety video that features flight attendants wearing just body paint. It's aimed at making passengers pay attention to the often-overlooked airline safety videos shown at the start of each flight. "We wanted to find a way to deliver these important pre-flight messages to our domestic travelers in a way that was genuine, engaging and fun," said Air New Zealand marketing manager Steve Bayliss. The safety video was launched Monday on Air New Zealand's Boeing 737 domestic flights (and could expand to other routes). It follows the...

Michael Jackson accidentally killed himself while trying to become sick enough to cancel upcoming concerts, a prominent author claims. Author Gerald Posner, who also writes for The Daily Beast, claims that a top member of the pop singer’s entourage told him that Jackson wanted to cancel several shows without having to pay out his touring company.

Ex-Chinese leader may be on train involved in collision - HK rights centre 399 ¦r 2009 ¦~ 6 ¤ë 29 ¤é 16:07 BBC Monitoring Newsfile BBCMNF ­^¤å (c) 2009 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation. Text of report by Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy on 29 June [Report: "Train Collision in Hunan's Chenzhou; Jiang Zemin May Be on Board"] As this centre has learned, at 0240 this morning [1840 gmt 28 June], train number K9017 going from Changsha to Shenzhen...

The granary at Assiros Toumba in Greece burnt to the ground around 1300 BC, during the Bronze Age, together with large quantities of grain stored in clay bins and jars. It was a large facility and the fire was 'undoubtedly a catastrophic accident for the people whose grain was stored there,' says Professor Glynis Jones, an archaeologist from the University of Sheffield. The reasons for the fire are unknown - it could have been accidental or may have happened in the aftermath of an earthquake, Jones suggests. But there is no solid evidence to support either theory... The exact proportion...

The nomination by President Obama of 2nd Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court is more than alarming to an innocent man who was convicted of murder and spent 16 years in prison before being cleared and released. Jeff Deskovic, whose pursuit of freedom has been chronicled by the New York Times and others, told WND that the last six of those years are directly attributable to decisions endorsed by Sotomayor. "I'm very alarmed," he said. "The rest of my life, as a result of my ordeal, is dedicated to preventing this from happening to other people."...

The castle was founded by William de Londres in the early 12th Century and is considered one of the finest in the area. The first major archaeological dig to take place at a medieval castle near Swansea is underway. Experts and volunteers are hoping to uncover artefacts along with clues as the original layout... They will be on site digging and examining trenches for three weeks... The dig is focusing on an area outside the west tower where archaeologists are looking for an outer wall and a ditch. They are also examining the knoll after a geophysical survey commissioned by...

Foreign archaeologists involved in excavation work to explore the Indus Valley Civilisation in Pakistan have left the country due to the war-like situation. The experts from the US, Europe and UK uncovered the mysteries of the Indus Valley Civilisation for the world during their research spanning decades. The teams, consisting of senior professors Dr Richard H Meadow, Professor JM Kenoyer, Dr Jean-Francois Jarrige and late Prof George F Dales, had conducted extensive research in different parts of Pakistan. A majority of the areas that were a part of the Indus Valley Civilisation became Pakistan after the partition of the sub-continent...

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. -- A black bear that wandered into a Highlands Ranch neighborhood has been tranquilized and moved to the foothills. A resident on Ramshead Court heard dogs barking about 9 a.m. Friday, so he glanced out the window and thought that a big tree branch had broken, reported KMGH-TV in Denver. "Then I started focusing and saw a big bear claw. And then I called neighbors and told them to get their dogs in and their kids because we have a lot of kids in the cul-de-sac," Rod Michotte said. "I heard the panic in his voice. I...

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President Obama for two days to toughen his language on Iran before he did so, and then was surprised when he condemned Iran's crackdown on demonstrators last week, the Washington Times reported administration officials as saying. At his June 23 news conference, Obama said he was "appalled and outraged" by Iranian behavior and "strongly condemned" the violence against anti-government demonstrators. Up until then, Obama and other administration officials had taken a softer line, expressing "deep concern" about the situation and calling on Iran to "respect the dignity of its own people." Behind the...

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- The long-range rocket North Korea launched in April could be converted into a ballistic missile capable of striking half of the continental U.S., two American physicists have concluded in a joint study. North Korea launched on April 5 what it claims was a rocket designed to carry a satellite into orbit. The U.S. and its allies say nothing entered orbit, calling the "Unha-2" rocket a disguised ballistic missile capable of flying over 6,700km. South Korean and U.S. officials have refrained from elaborating on the capabilities of the rocket, while media reports said the rocket flew...

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In the past decade, American commentary on Russia has been sharply divided between "idealists," who deplore the rise of neo-authoritarianism under Vladimir Putin and urge a tough stance toward the Kremlin, and "realists," who argue that U.S. policy should emphasize practical cooperation rather than democratic ideals which ignore the specifics of Russian culture. This debate has acquired new urgency as the Obama administration seeks to craft its Russia policy and prepares for Barack Obama's trip to Moscow July 5. The realist approach is advocated in two reports presented as expert recommendations to Obama, from the Century Foundation and from the...