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A deadly pandemic with mysterious origins: It might sound like a modern headline, but scientists have spent centuries debating the source of the Black Death that devastated the medieval world. Not anymore, according to researchers who say they have pinpointed the source of the plague to a region of Kyrgyzstan, after analyzing DNA from remains at an ancient burial site. "We managed to actually put to rest all those centuries-old controversies about the origins of the Black Death," said Philip Slavin, a historian and part of the team whose work was published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The Black Death...

The AP reports on the message from the mullahs that landed in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan province: “Iran has claimed responsibility for a missile barrage that struck early Sunday near a sprawling U.S. consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, saying it was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard….Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said on its website that it launched the attack against an Israeli ‘strategic center of conspiracy’ in Irbil.” MENA’s Simon Rushton has more here and Israel National News adds this: “A senior US official confirmed to Fox News...

The actor brings his campaign for social change to London and talks getting ready for a political battle It's two days since Super Tuesday, that milestone in the US presidential primary calendar and the point at which candidates truly emerge from the party fray. And everyone -- of course -- is talking about Donald Trump. "Here's a guy who's obviously Mussolini," says the actor and Hollywood A-lister Richard Gere, who's in London to raise awareness of homelessness with a new film called Time Out of Mind. He's been on the road for the past week -- to Dublin and Glasgow,...

Newser) – Richard Gere is splitting with his wife of 11 years, sources tell Page Six. Gere, 64, and Carey Lowell, 52, are reportedly separated and planning to divorce; they haven't been photographed together since last year, and Page Six last fall reported that Gere had been spotted flirting with another woman. One source says the couple drifted apart because Gere, a Buddhist, likes "quiet" and "solitude" while Lowell enjoys "being ... in the limelight." Another says they've "been spending time apart for quite some time." They were together for seven years before marrying, and they have a son together...

Is Shep Smith losing weight or what? He sure looks gaunt.

Actor and activist Richard Gere told CNSNews.com on Capitol Hill that President Barack Obama has done an "extraordinary job" in office and will probably go down as one of America's "great presidents." Gere was on Capitol Hill to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about religious freedom and human rights in Asia. After his testimony, CNSNews.com asked Gere, "Has President Obama, in your mind, been tough enough on China regarding human rights?" Gere said, “No, no, he [Obama] has a ways to go. I think he’s finding his way of how forceful to be. I know what his own...

The brilliant Statesman and Hollywood actor, Richard Gere, while appearing as an expert witness before Congress, states his opinion of the "Ones" performance.Caution, Gerbil Alert!

<p>There's a rat at the White House, and we're not talking about a politician.</p> <p>A small, furry rodent was caught on camera scurrying near the Presidential podium just before a scheduled press conference on the state of the nation's economy by President Obama.</p>

In what may be one of the most shocking stories of the year, a man in China died after having an eel inserted into his rectum. Doctors who treated the victim in the Sichuan Province, did not know how the man met his demise until they performed an autopsy and discovered an Asian swamp eel up his backside.

Link only - Frank angry at banks over bailout plans

In the out-of-competition "The Hunting Party" directed by Richard Shepard, Richard Gere plays a discredited journalist who tries to track down Bosnian Serb fugitive Radovan Karadzic, indicted for war crimes at the UN tribunal in The Hague. Gere said he went looking for the former Bosnian Serb political leader in real life to prepare for the film. "I was mostly interested in seeing the look in people's eyes when I asked them if it was possible to speak to Karadzic," he said. "And what I saw behind their eyes was, 'Yes, it's possible, but I would probably have my children...

Actors Richard Gere and Charlize Theron joined in on a bash, but this time it had nothing to do with a party; instead it had to do with bashing the President of the United States and the war in Iraq. While at the Venice Film Festival, both actors openly criticized the Bush administration. "How did we elect Bush twice?" Gere asked rhetorically while promoting his new film, "The Hunting Party." In the film, Gere plays a reporter determined to track down Radovan Karadizic, who has been hiding for more than a decade and is charged with genocide and crimes against...

JAIPUR, India (Reuters) - An Indian court ordered the arrest of Hollywood star Richard Gere on Thursday for kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS campaign event this month saying it was an obscene act committed in public.

NEW DELHI — A court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Thursday, saying their kiss at a public function "transgressed all limits of vulgarity," media reports said. Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection offended local sensibilities, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Gupta earlier viewed television footage of the event, which he called "highly sexually erotic," saying the pair violated India's strict public obscenity laws. Gere and Shetty "transgressed all...

A Pacifica woman was arrested Sunday on suspicion of a hate crime for allegedly throwing fruit and vegetables at a gay couple while riding in a van, police said Monday. Tiffany Adler, 20, who works at a grocery store, was a passenger in a van in Pacifica on Sunday when she spotted a gay couple who frequent the store, according to police. As the van drove by around 7:50 p.m. on the 500 block of Esplanade Drive, she allegedly rolled down the window and threw apples and vegetables at them, police said. Later, the van turned around and approached the...

INNSBRUCK, Austria — It wasn't "Snakes on a Plane," but an Austrian Airlines jet made an unscheduled stop as a precaution Friday after a passenger sneaked a hamster aboard and the rodent escaped.

Actor questions why war crimes suspects still at large September 20, 2006 12:27 PM SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina-Richard Gere said Wednesday he hopes a film he is making in Bosnia about a pair of journalists hunting a war crimes suspect will raise questions about why those wanted for the Balkans' worst wartime atrocities remain at large. The film, "Spring Break in Bosnia," is being shot in Bosnia and Croatia. Gere and Terrence Howard play reporters searching for a fictional war criminal who bears a close resemblance to one of the Balkans' last top suspects, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. Karadzic and...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP)- Richard Gere donned a pair of glittering gold dancing pumps to earn his pudding pot and crown Friday as Harvard's Hasty Pudding man of the year. In a nod to his role as a flashy lawyer in "Chicago" _ and to the resignation this week of Harvard President Lawrence Summers _ Gere sang a parody to the tune of "Razzle Dazzle": "I could become a permanent resident, I could become your next president." He also had to win the heart of a student costumed as a dragon, and put a blond wig and a white bra decorated...

I was in Europe this month to receive an award from the Geuzen Resistance 1940-1945 Foundation on behalf of the International Campaign for Tibet. The Geuzen Medal honors the memory of Dutch resistance heroes who fought the Nazis by recognizing those today who resist repression, discrimination and racism, and the Campaign was recognized for promoting human rights and self-determination in Tibet through nonviolent means. It was a very proud moment for those of us who care deeply about Tibet and the brave Tibetan people--and certainly for me as the Campaign's chairman. The cause of Tibet is now at a critical...