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US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...

MICHAEL EISNER OF WALT DISNEY may be the most reviled and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway the most admired CEOs in American business this year. But whose company produces better returns on shareholder equity? Last spring, Eisner was removed as Disney's chairman of the board when more than 40% of shareholders voted against his re-election to the board. Meanwhile, shareholders re-elected Buffett to Berkshire Hathaway's board of directors as the financial press reported details of his comments to an audience convinced of his financial wizardry and panoramic vision for the future. But whose company has been producing better returns on...

SAF Blasts Proposed San Francisco Handgun Ban: 'We Beat That In 1982' 12/16/2004 5:07:00 PM To: State Desk Contact: Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation, 425-454-7012 BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Calling it an "ill-considered return visit of anti-gun bigotry," the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today blasted plans to put a handgun ban on the November 2005 ballot in San Francisco, Calif. reminding proponents of the measure that such a ban was declared illegal when first tried in 1982. "This issue was decided by the California courts more than 22 years ago, and the gun ban extremists...

Elders 'beat children at mosques' By Nick Britten (Filed: 12/11/2004) Police and child protection officials have launched an investigation into allegations of child abuse at two mosques in the West Midlands. Around 40 schoolchildren are to be interviewed over claims that they have been subjected to violence and punishment by elders at the mosques, which are on adjoining roads. The investigation was sparked last month when the mother of an eight-year-old boy complained to the police that a mullah [teacher] had slapped her son on the back and made him lie face down before putting his right foot on the...

PHILADELPHIA – President George W. Bush defeated Sen. John Kerry for three fundamental reasons: He had a more resonant message. He was a more effective candidate. His team was better at getting out the vote. The Democrats, as is their wont, will spend their winter of discontent wondering what went wrong and playing the blame game. And there will be plenty to spread around. Kerry and his strategists will take much of the party heat for failing to knock off a president saddled with an unpopular war and a fitful economy. But a baseball analogy is relevant here: When fans...

LONDON (Reuters) - Huw Lobb made history when he became the first man to win Britain's annual man vs. horse marathon. The previous 24 runnings around the 35-km course raced over countryside and moorland round the small mid-Wales town of Llanwrtyd Wells had all been won by a horse. But South Londoner Lobb, 27, a regular marathon runner, broke through Saturday to triumph in two hours, five minutes and 19 seconds and pick up the $45,500 winner's check. The first horse home in 2:07:36 was Kay Bee Jay, ridden by Zoe White. Two years ago a runner came within a...

Japanese growth set to beat US Japanese consumers are key to an ongoing recovery Japan's economic growth forecasts have been revised upwards as the recovery gathers steam. Bulging demand has pushed estimates to 6.1% for the full year, up from the previous estimate of 5.6%. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 1.5%, in real terms, in the first quarter up from the previous estimate of 1.4%. Japan is the world's second biggest economy and now looks set to outstrip US growth of 4.4% annualised for the same period of January-March. It is welcome news for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, attending the...

Washington - His face stares out at voters this week from the covers of both Time and Newsweek as well as television screens in early primary states - and even the president's home turf. "Has anyone really stood up against George Bush and his policies?" asks Howard Dean in a spot running on three local stations in Austin, Texas, where Bush sat as governor for six years before moving to the White House. "Don't you think it's time somebody did?" Dean, the former Vermont governor, has transformed himself from longshot to serious contender for next year's Democratic presidential nomination by...

Introduction: A poll conducted in the Palestinian Authority by a Palestinian public opinion company shows that a majority of Palestinians are of the opinion that a husband may prevent his wife from working, that a woman should strive to devote herself to her husband and that a husband is entitled to beat his wife if he thinks that she "hurt his manhood". Nearly half the Palestinians believe that neither law enforcement nor social welfare agencies' intervention in husbands' violence towards the wife is warranted, while at the same time a the majority calls for tough punitive legislation for violence towards...

'The confessions were illegal and were obtained by coercion': Sampson tortured before confessing to bomb attacks, defence documents allege Bill Sampson, the Canadian man sentenced to die in Saudi Arabia for allegedly planting two car bombs, was forced to confess after police hung him upside down, kept him awake for more than a week and threatened to harm his family, court documents say. Police in Saudi Arabia also slapped and punched Mr. Sampson while he was bound in chains, even promising to free him if he confessed "to the bombings in a manner dictated by the investigator," the documents allege....

On Wednesday, U.S. General James L. Jones, Commandant of the Marine Corps, a member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the incoming Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, told the Washington Times it would be "foolish" to invade Iraq using the same techniques employed to liberate Afghanistan. Many media outlets cited the news as evidence that resistance to an attack on Iraq is increasing among Pentagon staff. That is an incorrect interpretation: The General's comments are part of an ongoing debate over the way the United States will fight future wars -- including the one that may soon be...

GALVESTON -- A Houston man accused of beating a police officer unconscious in a convenience store was wounded by police gunfire after a short car chase early Wednesday, authorities said. Daniel Joseph Lawniczak, 49, of the 12000 block of Wessex, was in fair condition in a Galveston hospital after being struck by at least four police bullets, said Galveston police Capt. Kenneth Mack. Lawniczak was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and other charges were pending, Mack said. The shooting occurred after an unprovoked attack on Port of Galveston police officer Richard Garcia shortly after midnight, witnesses told...