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Belarus partisans said they blew up a Russian A-50 surveillance military aircraft The two Belarusians who carried out operation had used drones, it was claimed Belarusian partisans and members of the country's exiled opposition said they damaged Vladimir Putin's A-50U surveillance military aircraft in a secret mission. Two participants had used drones and had already left the country, claimed Franak Viacorka, a close adviser of opposition figurehead Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Front and central parts of the AWACS Beriev A-50U aircraft as well as the radar antenna were damaged from two explosions at the Machulishchy air base near Minsk, Belarusian anti-government organisation...

President Obama will be "re-elected overwhelmingly," Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) confidently predicted today. Appeaing on Imus in the Morning, Dodd rejected a comparison between Obama and Jimmy Carter and said Obama will be more politically successful. "No, no, no. You're wrong on that," Dodd told Imus of the Carter comparison. "That's a mark we'll put it down. This man will be reelected and reelected overwhelmingly." Meanwhile, speaking of his own decision not to run for re-election, Dodd said he would not run even if he was 100% sure he would win. Dodd recounted making the decision as he visited Ted...

ATLANTA (AP) -- The National Endowment for the Humanities withdrew its name from a fellowship given to historian Michael Bellesiles, author of a disputed, prize-winning book about guns in America. Bellesiles was given a $30,000 NEH-funded fellowship by the Newberry Library to write a second book about guns. His first, ``Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture,'' has been criticized by other scholars who have accused Bellesiles of ideological bias, selective scholarship and misleading statements. The Chicago-based Newberry Library erred in awarding the fellowship in February 2001, NEH officials said this week. ``They failed to weigh and consider...