<query id="0">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091017/ap_on_sp_so_ne/soc_euro_rdp_3]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Man U beats Bolton to go to top of Premier League]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Manchester United beat Bolton 2-1 to return to the top of the Premier League on Saturday after Chelsea tossed away the lead and lost 2-1 at Aston Villa . Liverpool lost 1-0 at Sunderland on a freak fifth-minute goal by Darren Bent , whose shot deflected off a fan's beach ball that drifted onto the field. It was Liverpool's fourth defeat in nine games. A fifth-minute own-goal by Bolton defender Zat Knight and Antonio Valencia's first United goal put the defending champions on their way to a seventh victory. Matthew Taylor replied late for Wanderers at Old Trafford to make it difficult for the Red Devils in the last 10 minutes. Aston Villa rallied past Chelsea on headed goals from Richard Dunne and James Collins. After Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel blundered to let in a 30-yard shot from Didier Drogba in the 15th minute, Dunne tied it with a diving header in the 32nd and Collins scored his first goal in four years in the 52nd. United has 22 points from nine games. Chelsea, in first place entering Saturday, has 21 points after nine games. This was Chelsea's second straight road loss in the league after a 3-1 defeat at Wigan three weeks ago. Tottenham won 2-1 at last-place Portsmouth and is third with 19 points. Fourth-place Arsenal has 18 points from eight games after beating Birmingham 3-1. Villa has 16 points from eight games. ___ MADRID (AP) — Barcelona held on for a 0-0 draw against Valencia while Real Madrid bounced back from its first defeat of the season in beating Valladolid 4-2 to close the gap on the Spanish leader. Barcelona, which was denied a record seventh straight win to start the season, has 19 points for a one-point lead over its Spanish capital rival. Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez , playing in his record 711th game for the club, scored twice early, while Marcelo and substitute Gonzalo Higuain also found the net before 79,000 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium , as Cristiano Ronaldo missed a second straight game because of an ankle injury Valladolid got goals from Nauzet Aleman and Marcus Garcia. ___ MILAN, Italy (AP) — Inter Milan won 5-0 at Genoa to open a three-point lead at the top of the Italian league. Esteban Cambiasso , Mario Balotelli and Dejan Stankovic scored in the first half, with Patrick Viera and Maicon padding the lead in the second. Inter has 19 points, followed by Sampdoria with 16, though Sampdoria plays Lazio on Sunday. Juventus and Fiorentina have 15 points each, though Juventus has a better goal difference . Genoa remains in fifth with 13. Juventus tied Fiorentina 1-1. Brazil's Amauri scored for Juventus in the 19th minute, 13 minutes after Juan Vargas scored for Fiorentina. ___ FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen remained in first place in the Bundesliga after a lackluster scoreless draw at second-place Hamburg. The result left both teams on 21 points from nine games, with Leverkusen one goal ahead of Hamburg. Bayern Munich struggled before winning 2-1 at Freiburg in the Bundesliga to snap a three-game winless streak. ___ PARIS (AP) — Lyon lost 2-0 to Sochaux for its first defeat this season but stayed in first place in the French league. Promoted Montpellier beat 10-man Saint-Etienne 2-1 to join Lyon at 20 points. Defending champion Bordeaux lost 1-0 to Auxerre to drop to third with 19 points. Sochaux scorer Jacques Faty dedicated his goal to United States forward Charlie Davies , who was seriously injured in a car crash last week. Davies, who joined Sochaux in the summer from Swedish club Hammarby, is likely to miss the remainder of the season. "We definitely wanted to win for our player who is in the United States and is suffering a lot," Sochaux coach Francis Gillot told Canal Plus television. "We did it for him." ___ GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Sasa Papac scored in the 83rd minute, sending the unbeaten Rangers to a 2-1 victory at St. Johnstone and into first place in the Scottish Premier League . Celtic slipped to second place, a point behind, after a 0-0 draw at home to Motherwell. ___ AMSTERDAM (AP) — Veteran forward Blaise Nkufo scored in stoppage time for FC Twente to beat defending champion AZ Alkmaar 3-2 and stay on top of the Dutch league. Twente leads the standings with 26 points, two more than PSV Eindhoven . Ajax has 23. AZ was sixth with 15.]]></content>
</query>
<query id="1">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_on_re_as/as_kazakhstan_soyuz_landing_5]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Russian spacecraft with circus tycoon lands safely]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[The Russian Soyuz capsule carrying Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte and two other space travelers landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sunday, ending the entertainment tycoon's mirthful space odyssey. Laliberte, who wore a bulbous clown nose during his stay aboard the International Space Station , was extracted from the cramped Soyuz capsule Sunday morning following its landing in the steppes of northern Kazakhstan. After the landing, he was carried from the capsule wearing the round red nose. Laliberte returned with Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and NASA astronaut Michael Barratt , re-entering the Earth's atmosphere several hours after their capsule left the International Space Station. Valery Lyndin, spokesman for Russian mission control , said the capsule drifted by parachute to Earth at 10:32 a.m. local time. Russian television showed pictures of Padalka sitting outside the spacecraft, scorched by the searing heat of re-entry, eating an apple and drinking tea as ground crew extracted the other space travelers from the capsule. All of the world's apple trees are descended from those that first grew in Kazakhstan . Laliberte emerged later, wearing his red clown nose as he reclined in a chair set up near the Soyuz capsule. Returning astronauts must rest after Soyuz landings in order to reacclimate to the Earth's gravity . In another tradition, a Russian Orthodox priest was present for the landing. Later, the space travelers were taken to an orange medical tent, Russian TV showed. Vitaly Davydov , deputy chief of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency , said all three of the space travelers were in good health "and even better spirits," the Interfax news agency reported. The three Soyuz crew members were expected to return by air to the cosmonaut training facility at Star City near Moscow shortly after 1:30 p.m. local time (0930GMT) Sunday. While in space, Laliberte hosted an Oct. 9 global Web broadcast to promote his One Drop Foundation 's crusade to preserve the world's water resources. Former U.S. vice president Al Gore, U2 and Shakira were among the entertainers and activists who participated in the broadcast back on Earth, with participants appearing in 14 cities on five continents. Laliberte paid US$35 million (euro23.7 million) for his 10-day visit to the orbiting laboratory, becoming Canada's first space tourist. The 50-year-old entrepreneur, born in Quebec, worked as an accordionist, stilt-walker and fire-breather before founding Cirque du Soleil in 1984, and is popularly known as the first clown in space. Both Padalka and Barratt spent six months aboard the space station. A six-member crew remain aboard.]]></content>
</query>
<query id="2">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091013/ap_on_en_ot/eu_germany_frankfurt_book_fair_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[China special guest at Frankfurt book fair]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair worked for 15 years to secure China as the guest of honor at their five-day showcase of global trends and best sellers. Yet even before the event opens to industry delegates Wednesday, the guests have proven awkward. Organizers are steeling themselves for lively discussions and the possibility of protests at the fair, which boasts some 6,900 exhibitors from more than 100 countries. In September , members of the Chinese delegation walked out of a pre-book fair symposium after two authors they had insisted not attend showed up anyway. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised to take up the issue of censorship with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping , with whom she officially inaugurates the fair later Tuesday. "I will make it clear in my talks with those responsible in China that freedom of opinion is not a threat, but a chance," Merkel said in her weekly video podcast. The 61-year-old book fair remains the leading trading point for licensing everything from films to video games. It also is increasingly a place to showcase upcoming trends in electronic publishing and other new media forms — books for mobile phones are among one of the strongest emerging trends. Yet China's appearance this year is expected to generate the most buzz, given censorship in China. The September spat erupted when dissident writers Dai Qing and Bei Ling attended the symposium, despite a Chinese attempt to block them. "I hope that this can be a beginning of a cultural dialogue," book fair director Juergen Boos recently told reporters. "Especially for Germans, this is important. We have seen the impact of discussion; that when you speak with one another, you can tear down walls." Some 500 events will feature themes surrounding China, roughly half of them sponsored by the Chinese culture ministry and the other half by the book fair organizers — an attempt to include critical voices as well as those backed by the Chinese government . "This is not the Olympics ," Boos said, in reference to last year's highly controlled event in Beijing . "It cannot be controlled." Still, Boos believes there has been a relaxation in China and hopes that the fair's Chinese participants will see the point that discussion is not only possible but often beneficial. "The role of the book fair is not to be political, it is to listen to other cultures," said Boos. "We provide a stage, a platform for discussion." This year invitations have also been extended to many non-governmental organizations , including PEN International and human rights groups representing minorities such as China's Muslim Uighurs and Tibetans . ___ On the Net: http://www.bookfair.com]]></content>
</query>
<query id="3">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nobel_peace_obama_14]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Nobel jury speaks out in defense of Obama prize]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[One judge noted with surprise that President Barack Obama "didn't look particularly happy" at being named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate . Another marveled at how critics could be so patronizing. In a rare public defense of a process normally shrouded in secrecy, four of the Nobel jury's five judges spoke out Tuesday about a selection they said was both merited and unanimous. To those who say a Nobel is too much too soon in Obama's young presidency, "We simply disagree ... He got the prize for what he has done," committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland told The Associated Press by telephone from Strasbourg, France, where he was attending meetings of the Council of Europe . Jagland singled out Obama's efforts to heal the divide between the West and the Muslim world and scale down a Bush-era proposal for an anti-missile shield in Europe. "All these things have contributed to — I wouldn't say a safer world — but a world with less tension," he said. For nine-year Nobel committee veteran Inger-Marie Ytterhorn , Obama's demeanor spoke volumes when he first acknowledged the award during a news conference Friday on the lawn of the White House Rose Garden . "I looked at his face when he was on TV and confirmed that he would receive the prize and would come to Norway, and he didn't look particularly happy," she told the AP by telephone. "Obama has a lot of problems internally in the United States and they seem to be increasing. Unemployment, health care reform : They are a problem for him," she said. She acknowledged there was a risk the prize might backfire on Obama by raising expectations even higher and giving ammunition to his critics. "It might hamper him," Ytterhorn said, because it could distract from domestic issues . Still, she added: "Whenever we award the peace prize, there is normally a big debate about it" so the Obama controversy was not unexpected. It was unusual, however, for the Nobel jury to speak out so candidly about their selection. Even the most seasoned Nobel watchers were surprised by Obama's Nobel — they hadn't expected the U.S. president, who took office barely two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline, to be seriously considered until at least next year. Jagland said that was never an issue for the Nobel committee, which followed the guidelines set forth by Alfred Nobel , the Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite who established the prize in his 1895 will. "Alfred Nobel wrote that the prize should go to the person who has contributed most to the development of peace in the previous year," Jagland said. "Who has done more for that than Barack Obama ?" Aagot Valle, a left-wing Norwegian politician who joined the Nobel panel this year, also dismissed suggestions that Obama was undeserving of the honor. "Don't you think that comments like that patronize Obama? Where do these people come from?" Valle said from the coastal city of Bergen. "Well, of course, all arguments have to be considered seriously. I'm not afraid of a debate on the Peace Prize decision. That's fine." World leaders have reacted positively to Obama's Nobel in most cases, the committee said, with much of the criticism coming from the media and Obama's political rivals. "I take note of it. My response is only the judgment of the committee, which was unanimous," Jagland said. In announcing the award Friday, the committee, whose members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, applauded the change in global mood brought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation. They also praised his pledges to reduce the world stock of nuclear arms, ease U.S. conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen the U.S. role in combating climate change. The White House declined comment on the Nobel judge's latest statements. However, Obama expressed surprise and humility at Friday's news conference , saying the prize should be considered not a "recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations." Nobel Peace Prize selections have often been surrounded by fierce debate. Controversial awards include the 1994 prize shared by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli leaders Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin for Mideast peace efforts, as well as the joint prize to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho for a 1973 cease-fire agreement. The Vietnam War continued for two more years. So the Nobel jury "expected that there would be a discussion" about Obama's award, said Kaci Kullman Five, a former Conservative Party parliamentarian and longtime Nobel committee member. Valle said the criticism shouldn't overshadow important issues raised by Obama's Nobel. "Of course I expected disagreement and debate on ... giving him the prize," she said. "But what I want now is that we seriously raise a discussion regarding nuclear disarmament ." ___ Ritter reported from Stockholm.]]></content>
</query>
<query id="4">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_new_orleans_5]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[President Obama makes first trip to New Orleans]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[President Barack Obama , who accused former President George W. Bush of leading a government "that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns," is hearing directly from New Orleans residents who have struggled to rebuild their city since the 2005 hurricane season . Obama arrives in New Orleans Thursday on his first presidential trip to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast . About 1,600 people were killed in Louisiana and Mississippi by Hurricane Katrina , which caused $40 billion in damages and displaced 1 million people from their homes. The storm was a natural disaster that turned into a political one for Bush. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was widely criticized for a slow response. And local officials have complained that the Bush administration often stubbornly refused to pay for work that should have qualified for federal aid. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal , a Republican, has credited Obama's team with bringing a more practical and flexible approach to the reconstruction process. "There's a sense of momentum and a desire to get things done," he said in August. When Obama became president, FEMA said there were more than 120 Louisiana reconstruction projects stalled in federal-state disputes. Since January, 76 of those have been resolved. While it's Obama's first trip to New Orleans , it's the administration's 18th trip to the city. And administration officials have made 35 trips to the Gulf Coast since March. By the time Obama took office, the federal government had committed more than $126 billion to rebuilding Gulf Coast communities affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In the past nine months, the administration says more than $1.4 billion in additional federal aid has gone toward repairing and rebuilding Louisiana and $160 million more to Mississippi. But the impact from Katrina is still visible in places like New Orleans . Across from a school Obama planned to visit, firefighters work out of a trailer and a storm-shuttered community center awaits demolition. Some residents have criticized Obama for the brevity of his trip — he's expected to be in the city just a few hours — and those in Mississippi, which took a direct hit from Katrina, were miffed the president left them out of his visit altogether. "I'm greatly disappointed he's not coming to Mississippi," said Tommy Longo, mayor of Waveland, Miss., a town where almost every standing structure was destroyed or damaged. "There was no city hit harder than Waveland." White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said Obama is committed to Mississippi's recovery as well. "From transitioning people out of temporary disaster housing to rebuilding schools, roads and bridges , the Obama administration has invested critical resources in Mississippi's rebuilding and recovery efforts and has worked to change the game on the ground for residents," he said. ___ Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in New Orleans contributed to this report.]]></content>
</query>
<query id="5">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ne/car_f1_massa_alonso_2]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Alonso downplays Massa's comments on crash]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Fernando Alonso downplayed comments made by future Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa , who accused him of knowing Nelson Piquet Jr . was going to deliberately crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help him win the race. "I think first of all I don't know if its true or not, maybe there was a misunderstanding with the media or with Felipe," Alonso said on Thursday. "I think later he said a different thing. It's not very important for me. It's not to worry." Massa told local media on Wednesday that "without a doubt" Alonso knew of Renault's plan to have Piquet Jr. crash. He later backtracked and issued a statement on Ferrari's Web site saying what he said was "the outcome of a hunch" and not "based on any concrete evidence." Alonso said FIA cleared him of any wrongdoing and "there is no doubt" he had nothing to do with the incident. Massa, out for the season as he recovers from a serious crash at the Hungarian GP in July, has long complained of the incident involving Piquet Jr. in Singapore. The Brazilian driver said before this week that he believed Alonso was aware his Renault teammate was going to crash to bring out the safety car and help him win. Massa had said "there is no way" Alonso didn't know Piquet Jr. was going to crash to benefit him, and that FIA should strip Alonso of the win. Alonso said the comments will not damage the drivers' relationship at Ferrari next year. "I think it still will be great," Alonso said. "We will be a very strong team next year." The Spaniard said he plans to talk to Massa, but not about the Singapore scandal. "If we have a talk it will be more about his recovery, about his experience in Ferrari," Alonso said. "I need to learn and take this experience to adapt myself a little bit quicker. We are working only with one goal for next year, which is to put Ferrari back on top in Formula One ." Ferrari signed two-time champion Alonso to a three-year deal beginning next season. He will replace Kimi Raikkonen . "What is certain is that this episode will not mar in any way the relationship I'll have with Fernando when we will be teammates," Massa said. "Obviously, I'm very disappointed about what transpired last year in Singapore," he said. "I have already said several times what I thought about it and now it's time to close that chapter and to look to the future." Piquet Jr. also was cleared by a FIA investigation but Renault team principal Flavio Briatore received an indefinite ban and chief engineer Pat Symonds got a five-year sanction for their roles in the deliberate crash.]]></content>
</query>
<query id="6">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091018/sp_nm/us_baseball_playoffs_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Yankees edge error-prone Angels in marathon]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[The New York Yankees capitalized on a wild throw in the 13th inning to overcome a mistake-prone Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Saturday and open a 2-0 lead in their American League Championship Series . One night after the Angels made three errors to help New York win the series opener, Los Angeles self-destructed again. Second baseman Maicer Izturis darted to his left to snare a Melky Cabrera blast with men on first and second and one out, but his throw to second got past shortstop Erick Aybar and allowed Jerry Hairston Jr to score the winning run. Hairston had led off the 13th with a pinch-hit single to center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Gardner . Reliever Ervin Santana intentionally walked Robinson Cano to set up a force and bring Cabrera to the plate. Alex Rodriguez had earlier given New York a second life with a solo homer in the 11th off closer Brian Fuentes to tie the game 3-3 after Los Angeles took the lead in the top half of the inning and looked poised to tie the best-of-seven set. "It was a great game to manage," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi , who used eight pitchers and nearly every player on his roster in the five-hour 10-minute game played in a cold wind with rain falling late in the game. "I'm wiped out right now." The error by Izturis was as much a mental mistake as a physical one, since he had a much easier play to register an out at first base and the only baserunner that mattered was Hairston, who was already ensured third base. "I think he was trying to make a little too much of that play," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "You're not going to turn two (make a double-play). "You just want to get an out there. Izzy just tried to do too much." A-ROD'S RESCUE The Angels , who had rallied from a 2-0 deficit with a pair of fifth-inning runs, looked likely to level the series when Chone Figgins snapped an 0-for-18 postseason drought with a run-scoring single in the 11th for a 3-2 Los Angeles lead. But Rodriguez, who saved the Yanks in the second game of the division series sweep against Minnesota with a two-run, game-tying homer in the ninth, did it again by lining an 0-2 pitch over the fence in right off Fuentes. "I'm just trying to stay in the moment and really enjoy the moment," Rodriguez, baseball's highest paid player, said about his postseason heroics after years of criticism that he failed to deliver in the biggest games. "I know I had a blast out there today." Both teams squandered chances to score in the late innings, and Los Angeles stranded 16 men on base. Los Angeles clean-up hitter Guerrero, who struck out with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, grounded out in the top of the 13th with men on second and third and two outs. Derek Jeter homered in the third inning to put himself alone in third place on the postseason home run list with 19. The Angels tied it 2-2 in the fifth. Aybar singled home Izturis, who had led off the fifth with a double, for the visitors' first run. A hit batsman, a walk and a wild pitch by Yankee starter A.J. Burnett allowed Aybar to cross home plate. The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game Three on Monday, with Jered Weaver expected to start for the Angels against New York left-hander Andy Pettitte . (Editing by John O'Brien)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="7">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091011/sp_nm/us_golf_presidents_foursomes_2]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[United States tightens grip on Presidents Cup]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[A ruthless Tiger Woods and an inspired Steve Stricker tamed Japan's Ryo Ishikawa and South Korea ' s Yang Yong-eun 4&2 in fourballs on Saturday as the United States tightened their grip on the Presidents Cup . A long, gruelling day at a chilly and overcast Harding Park ended with the U.S. and Internationals splitting the afternoon's five fourball matches but the home team will take a commanding 12- to 9- lead into Sunday's singles. The U.S., winners of five-of-seven Presidents Cups, need only five points from the 12 singles matches on Sunday to clinch victory, leaving Greg Norman's men with a daunting uphill climb. No team has come from behind on the final day to lift the Presidents Cup. With Woods doing the heavy lifting in the morning foursomes, Stricker stepped forward in the fourball, dropping seven birdies as the pair roared into a six-up lead. Woods and Stricker looked ready to complete a quick afternoon's work until the Asians dug in their heels, winning three straight holes from the 13th before finally conceding defeat on the 16th green. With their victory, Woods and Stricker stretched their record to an unblemished 4-0, marking the first time the world number one has won four matches at a Presidents Cup. Canadian Mike Weir and South African Ernie Els picked up the first point of the afternoon session, crushing Justin Leonard and Zach Johnson 5&3 to trim the U.S. lead to 10-8. Els had laid the foundation for the victory when he holed out from a greenside bunker at the 11th then drained a 25-foot birdie putt at the 12th to give the duo a four-up lead. The Internationals' fight back continued to pick up steam when Australian duo Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby saw off British Open champion Stewart Cink and U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover 2&1 to further cut into the American advantage. But the tide turned when Jim Furyk and Anthony Kim scored a two-up decision over Argentine Angel Cabrera and Australian Adam Scott before Woods and Stricker's victory. Phil Mickelson and Sean O'Hair never led against Fiji's Vijay Singh and South African Tim Clark but fought back from two down on the back nine to earn a half. (Editing by Tony Jimenez and Greg Stutchbury)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="8">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091012/pl_nm/us_afghanistan_clinton_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Clinton says Afghanistan's Karzai needs to change]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[President Hamid Karzai needs to do more to ensure stability in his country if he is declared the victor of a disputed election, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday. Clinton, interviewed by BBC radio during a visit to Europe , was asked if she was proud to stand alongside Karzai as Afghanistan's president. Clinton said Karzai had been "very helpful on many fronts" but made it clear that the United States, which has 68,000 troops in the country, expected more from him. "We are very clear that if this election results in his being re-elected, there must be a new relationship between him and the people of Afghanistan , and between his government and governments like yours and mine which are supporting the efforts in Afghanistan to stabilize and secure the country," Clinton said. "It is a more complex picture than sometimes emerges from snapshot views. But clearly we expect more, we're going to be working toward more," she added. A final result from the first round of Afghanistan's August 20 presidential election is expected this week after being held up by an investigation into fraud. Clinton said America's goal in the region was still "to achieve the goal of disrupting, dismantling and defeating al-Qaeda and its extremist allies" but that it was now adopting "a much more careful analysis of who actually is allied with al-Qaeda." "Not everyone who calls himself a Taliban is necessarily a threat to the UK or to the United States... There well may be a number of people who currently are considered Taliban who are there because frankly they get paid to fight or because they see no alternative." (Editing by Janet Lawrence)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="9">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091014/sp_nm/us_tennis_shanghai_2]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Nadal through in Shanghai, Del Potro retires]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Top seed Rafa Nadal marched into the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters with a thoroughly entertaining 6-2 6-7 6-4 victory over American James Blake on Wednesday. U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro , however, joined the growing casualty list at the $3.24-million tournament, retiring because of a wrist injury while 7-5 2-1 down to Austrian Jurgen Melzer . World number two Nadal beat Blake in three sets on his way to the semi-finals in Beijing last week and on Wednesday needed more than two hours to get past the man he rates as having one of the best returns in the game. After Nadal raced away with the first set, the pair contested two absorbing sets filled with high-quality winners before Nadal, with Blake serving to take the match into a decisive tiebreak, unleashed a sizzling forehand to clinch victory. "It's been a difficult year for me, so every victory is really important for me," said the Spaniard. "I thought I deserved to win the match because most of the time I think I played better than James." Nadal has not reached a final since the Madrid Masters in May and will continue his comeback from knee and abdominal injuries against compatriot Tommy Robredo on Thursday. "If I continue like this, with this motivation...I'm going to come back to playing my best tennis," he added. Third seed Del Potro followed American fourth seed Andy Roddick in departing the tournament early through injury. "I had this injury in Miami this year and I don't want to risk for the end of the season," said the 21-year-old Argentine. "I'm a little sorry. It's a big tournament here in Shanghai, very important for me, but if I want to have a good finish this season, I have to recover." SEASON'S LENGTH With world number one Roger Federer and number three Andy Murray skipping the tournament because of fatigue and a wrist injury respectively, Del Potro's departure is certain to intensify the debate over the length of the men's season. "It's difficult to play 11 months at a high level but we know they are working on that, so we hope that there will be a good change for the future," said the world number five. In-form second seed Novak Djokovic picked up where he left off in the final of the China Open on Sunday, notching up his 15th win in his last 17 matches with a straightforward 6-3 6-1 victory over Italian qualifier Fabio Fognini . The Serbian, who won the final Masters Cup title here last year, has lost only to Federer in his last three tournaments, in the Cincinnati Masters final and the U.S. Open semi-finals. Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France took exactly an hour to dismiss Chinese wild card Zeng Shaoxuan 6-3 6-3 and set up a third-round clash with Swedish ninth seed Robin Soderling . Croatian Ivan Ljubicic proved it was possible to play at the top level after 30, despite the grueling schedule, by upsetting Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-6. Eighth seed Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils , the 11th seed, ensured France would have three players in the third round when they beat Viktor Troicki and Lleyton Hewitt respectively. (Editing by Clare Fallon)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="10">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091015/people_nm/us_jackson_11]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Michael Jackson film scores sellouts galore before opening]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Advance sales for "This Is It" look set to make the concert movie starring the late Michael Jackson into one of the hottest tickets of the year. Two weeks ahead of its opening, the singer's concert movie "This Is It" has generated more than 1,600 sold out U.S. show times and is the top seller this week at two major online ticket outlets. That puts "This Is It" in the same territory as next month's highly anticipated "Twilight" sequel "New Moon" and other films that have generated high pre-release sales. "The pre-sales activity all over the world has been nothing short of extraordinary," Steve Elzer, a spokesman for Sony Corp-owned Columbia Pictures , the studio behind the film, told Reuters. "But exhibitors have really met the demand by adding screens, and tickets are available for anyone who would want to see it, anytime," Elzer said. "This Is It" is composed of footage of the "Thriller" singer rehearsing for a series of London comeback concerts just before his unexpected June 25 death, at age 50, from an overdose of powerful medication. The studio has said the 112-minute movie will have a limited two-week engagement around the world, starting October 28. Online ticket seller Fandango.com reported that it has sold out more than 1,000 showtimes in the United States for "This Is It" on its site alone. Competing outlet MovieTickets.com said it has generated more than 600 sold out showtimes. "This Is It" has generated the second highest pre-sales figures of the year for Fandango , just behind forthcoming vampire romance "New Moon," which saw tickets go on sale a month before advance tickets for "This Is It" became available. Both Fandango and MovieTickets, the two top U.S. online ticket sellers, said "This Is It" is on-pace to become their top concert movie ever. For now, the 2008 film "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" is the biggest concert movie ever for the online ticket sellers. It made more than $70.6 million at worldwide box offices but played in fewer than 700 U.S. theaters. Sony Pictures, which paid $60 million for the footage of Jackson in the film, is aiming to outpace the "Hannah Montana" movie, as "This Is It" is expected to play on about 3,500 screens in the U.S. and Canada alone. Aside from that, Sony plans to ship more than 8,500 prints of the film to exhibitors in 75 countries, for a near simultaneous worldwide release of the film. Sony said last month that international sales for "This Is It" have been particularly strong in Japan and Britain. Jackson was scheduled to play 50 shows in London starting last July 13. Concert promoter AEG Live was involved in the deal to sell its rehearsal footage to Columbia for the movie, which also benefits Jackson's estate and his family. (Editing by Jill Serjeant and Bill Trott)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="11">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091016/people_nm/us_bonjovi_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Bon Jovi teams up with NBC]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Bon Jovi has a new album and a new gig -- artist in residence with U.S. television network NBC, its affiliated cable TV networks , and all its news, information and digital brands. In a deal unveiled by NBC Universal on Thursday, the veteran rock band will perform on NBC's "Today" show on four Wednesdays in November, and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi will be a guest on cable channel Bravo's "Inside the Actor's Studio," as well as the subject of a character showcase on the company's USA network . The band's music, and its new studio album "The Circle" which launches on Nov 12, will also be featured heavily throughout NBC Universal's network and cable programing. The unusual deal gives NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co, exclusive access to the band and its music during the first month of the album's launch, while giving Bon Jovi the opportunity to reach a diverse audience. NBC is currently lagging at the bottom among the four leading U.S. TV networks amid falling audiences for all network programing in recent years. The Grammy-award winning New Jersey band has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide in its two decade career and was one of the top five touring acts worldwide in 2008. But album sales have also fallen sharply over the past 10 years due to digital downloads, piracy and the recession. "The Circle", the band's 11th studio album , will be released on Island Records , a unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group . Vivendi has a 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="12">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090802/wl_nm/us_iraq_2]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[CORRECTED: Iraqi PM, Kurd president meet over land, oil feud]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani held a rare meeting on Sunday but agreed only to further talks to solve a row over land and oil seen as the greatest threat to Iraqi security. The encounter was believed to be the first between them for many months, during which time Barzani has accused Maliki of acting like a tyrant and sidelining Iraq's Kurdish minority. Maliki's Arab-led government has called oil deals the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has made independently with foreign firms illegal, and disputes KRG claims to territories it wants included in its largely autonomous northern enclave. "Differences of opinion are very normal because we are building a state on the ruins of ( Saddam Hussein 's) dictatorship ... I think we largely agree, and if there are disputes, they are small," Maliki, seated one seat away from Barzani, told reporters. There have been tense standoffs between Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers and Iraqi security forces on the borders of disputed territories. Washington, whose troops have intervened several times, has pushed for Kurd-Arab peace before its troops withdraw by 2012. Dressed in his trademark red turban and baggy Kurdish trousers, Barzani said a high-level Kurdish delegation would visit Baghdad to "solve problems." It was not clear if he would he lead the group, but Maliki said he hoped so. Apart from the formation of a joint Kurd-Arab committee to look at disputes, no concrete measures were announced. At the heart of the problem is the fate of oil-producing Kirkuk, which Kurds consider their ancestral home and want to include within the borders of their Kurdish region, but the province's Arabs and Turkmen fear Kurdish hegemony. Maliki's meeting with Barzani came on the heels of the results of last week's Kurdish parliamentary and presidential elections, which reconfirmed Barzani as president. Hardline and fiery statements on Kurdish claims to disputed land characterised electioneering, and though Barzani's public rhetoric since has not softened, there is hope it might. "There was flexibility and it will continue," he said. BLOOD AND TREASURE Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates met Maliki and Barzani on a two-day visit to Iraq , in which he told them time was running out for the U.S. presence in Iraq and that all sides had sacrificed too much in blood and treasure to see security gains lost to political differences, an aide said. The U.S. military believes the dispute between Kurds and Arabs is the number one driver of instability in the country, since the sectarian warfare that raged in Iraq in 2006 and 2007 has ebbed. Violence has fallen sharply in the last 18 months, but insurgents are still capable of conducting major attacks. A car bomb in a market killed six people on Sunday in the western Anbar province , the latest in a string of attacks in the former Sunni Arab insurgent heartland. The blast came two days after a string of bombings at Baghdad Shi'ite mosques killed 31. Anbar, Iraq's largest province, had been relatively quiet for months after tribal leaders in 2006 turned on al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist militants who had dominated the region. Maliki is due to remain in Kurdistan at least another day and visit the town of Halabja, the site of the gassing-to-death of about 5,000 Kurds by Saddam Hussein 's forces in March 1988. Saddam's government ruthlessly crushed Kurdish dissent and packed Kirkuk with Arabs to bolster his influence there. An Iraqi court sentenced former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz on Sunday to seven years in jail for his role in the forced displacement of Kurds from oil-prosperous northeastern Iraq, which includes Kirkuk , during Saddam's rule. Lawyers said the term would be added to a previous sentence of 15 years for his role in the killing of traders for breaking state price controls in 1992. (Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim; Writing by Mohammed Abbas and Tim Cocks: Editing by Michael Roddy)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="13">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090802/us_nm/us_swimming_world_2]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Phelps bags fifth gold to confirm supremacy]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Michael Phelps conquered Rome with a fifth gold medal in the men's 4x100 metros medley relay on Sunday when the American team closed an extraordinary world championships with a 43rd world record. Phelps, who arrived underprepared after taking six months off following his record eight golds at last year's Beijing Olympics , ended up with the biggest collection of wins over the week's competition to confirm his supremacy of men's swimming. "I think it's not how you start, it is how you finish," the 24-year-old told reporters having lost the 200 freestyle on Tuesday before adding 100 and 200 butterfly golds to two freestyle relay victories. The United States blasted through the open air pool in three minutes 27.28 to obliterate their previous world record of 3:29.34 set when winning gold in Beijing. New polyurethane swimsuits have been partly responsible for the record amount of records at the championships but they will be banned from January after criticism about how easy it has been for times to be smashed. The next long-course worlds in Shanghai in 2011 will struggle to match Rome with future textile-only suits not expected to give swimmers an advantage. Germany's Britta Steffen broke one of the four world records of Sunday's closing session to seal the women's 50 freestyle gold having credited her suit for Friday's victory in the 100 with another record. NOISY CROWD Russia's Yuliya Efimova surged to a world record of 30.09 in the 50 breaststroke final to turn the tables on Rebecca Soni of the U.S. Soni had beaten the Russian into second place in the 100 final on Tuesday. Britain's Liam Tancock earlier carried on where he left off in Saturday's semis by shattering the world record again to steal the glory in the men's 50 backstroke. "That was pretty perfect, I am very pleased as I was amongst class opponents tonight," the twice bronze medalist in the event told reporters. "It may sound strange but there are still a few things I think I can improve on, however, I have another world record and now I am the world champion." The noisy crowd at the Foro Italico really took to the quick sprints and the red line showing world record pace on the giant screens made them even more exciting during the championships. One fan was especially delighted to catch Ryan Lochte's swimcap after the jubilant American had hurled it into the stands following his victory in the 400 individual medley. Lochte, who broke Phelps' 200 medley world record on Thursday with his compatriot not competing, led an American one-two with Scott Tyler Clary beating third-placed Hungarian Laszlo Cseh. Tunisia's sporting hero Oussama Mellouli was too tired for a big celebration after adding world championship gold to his Olympic 1,500 freestyle title after outlasting Canada's Ryan Cochrane in the epic race. Australian Stephanie Rice , another Olympic champion with a big reputation, has had a competition to forget and could only finish third behind 400 individual medley winner Katinka Hosszu of Hungary despite qualifying quickest. (Additional reporting by Paul Virgo; Editing by Nigel Hunt)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="14">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090803/wl_nm/us_iran_approval_4]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Iran leader approves Ahmadinejad presidency]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed the second term presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday after a disputed election that plunged Iran into its worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution . The results, which leading reformists and moderate defeated candidates Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi said were rigged to ensure victory for the hardline Ahmadinejad, led to violent protests and deep schisms within Iran's clerical and political elite. Leading opposition figures and two former presidents, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami , who backed Mousavi in the vote, were not at the ceremony although they had attended such events in the past, Iranian media reported. "The official ceremony was held and Supreme Leader ( Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ) approved Mr Ahmadinejad's presidency," al-Alam state television said. Ahmadinejad will be sworn in by parliament on Wednesday. He then faces the hard task of forming a cabinet that will be acceptable to the mostly conservative parliament, which may object if he names only members of his inner circle. Parliament has in the past rejected some of Ahmadinejad's cabinet choices. Mousavi and Karoubi say the next government will be illegitimate. Khamenei has endorsed the June 12 election result and demanded an end to the protests at which more than 20 people have been killed. Iranian officials deny any fraud in the election, in which Ahmadinejad was declared to have won 63 percent of 40 million votes cast, against 34 percent for Mousavi. Part of Iran's influential Shi'ite clerical establishment has also signaled misgivings over the aftermath of the poll, which has touched off the country's worst internal upheaval since the 1979 revolution. ROUGH RIDE Without Khamenei's support, any cabinet list could get a very rough ride as many lawmakers have been critical of Ahmadinejad since the vote. The power struggle can only hamper the leadership's ability to tackle the Islamic Republic's economic problems, as well as the struggle over its nuclear program, which Iran says is only peaceful, but which the West suspects is aimed at bomb-making. In an apparent effort to deter street protests , Iran on Saturday put 100 protesters, including several senior moderate figures, on trial. They face a range of charges, including acting against national security, which is punishable by death. Rights groups say hundreds of people, including senior pro-reform politicians, journalists and lawyers, have been detained since the election. The mass trial of reformists has no precedent in revolutionary Iran's 30-year history. The trial resumes on Thursday. Leading reformers, including Khatami, have rejected what they say is a show trial and said some defendants had made confessions under duress. Many of the defendants have spent weeks in jail without access to lawyers, Mousavi said on Sunday. He said the trial was "an awkward preparation" for the start of Ahmadinejad's new term. Even some hardliners have criticized the trial and the official portrayal of the protesters as people determined to overthrow Iran's system of government. Some defendants, including Khatami's vice-president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, told the court that they were wrong to have said the vote was fraudulent. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Samia Nakhoul)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="15">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090803/lf_nm_life/us_britain_arcticmonkeys_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Arctic Monkeys to release new single through Oxfam]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Arctic Monkeys will release their new single "Crying Lightning" through Oxfam shops, with proceeds going to help the charity's work around the world, Oxfam said on Tuesday. The limited-edition 7," the first single from their new album "Humbug," goes on sale at Oxfam's 700 charity shops on August 17. It marks the first time Oxfam shops have sold a new release single for 25 years. The 'Crying Lightning' 7" features a cover of the Nick Cave classic " Red Right Hand " as a B-side. Each single will cost 2.99 pounds ($5.01) and come with a download code allowing fans to get an MP3 version of the songs for free. Domino Records and Arctic Monkeys urged fans to bring any unwanted albums or singles to their local Oxfam shop when they pick up a copy of their single. Oxfam shops sell around 6 million pounds ($10 million) worth of music each year, enough to fund its projects in Indonesia for a year, buy 187,000 emergency shelters, or provide safe water for 8 million people. Oxfam has also been involved in music festivals such as Glastonbury and Live8 as well as its own festival Oxjam, which has featured more than 36,000 musicians including Jarvis Cocker , Fatboy Slim and Hot Chip . "Humbug" goes on sale on August 24 and Arctic Monkeys are set to headline the Reading and Leeds festivals on August 28 and 29. There will also be a 10" release, available in record stores, featuring B-sides 'Red Right Hand' and a new original song 'I Haven't Got My Strange'. (Reporting by Alex Wainwright; Editing by Paul Casciato)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="16">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090803/pl_nm/us_africa_usa_clinton_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Clinton sets off for 7-nation Africa trip]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left Monday for a seven-nation trip to Africa , pressing for more anti-corruption efforts but seeking to boost trade as China's influence rises on the continent. Her trip comes less than a month after President Barack Obama visited Ghana and told African leaders that Western aid must be matched by good governance and greater attempts to end war, disease and corruption. U.S. officials said Clinton's 11-day visit was intended to reinforce that message but also aimed at showing that the Obama administration sees Africa as a foreign policy priority despite other challenges, including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . "The administration is committed to Africa. The administration is capable of handling multiple foreign policy issues at one time," said Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs , Johnnie Carson, who is traveling with Clinton to Africa, her longest trip since becoming top U.S. diplomat. Clinton's first stop is Kenya , birthplace of Obama's father, where she will attend an annual trade meeting established by a U.S. program that allows countries in sub-Saharan Africa to export more than 6,400 goods to the United States without paying duties. The United States is looking at ways to boost trade with the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which currently accounts for little more than 1 percent of total U.S. exports and about only 3 percent of U.S. imports. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in an op-ed published in Kenyan newspapers Monday that Africans should follow the lead from Asian developing countries which had diversified their economies in order to boost trade. "We need to find new and more effective ways to promote African competitiveness," said Kirk, who will also be in Kenya for the trade meeting. SOMALI MEETING U.S. efforts to boost trade and investment links with Africa come as China has displaced many western countries as the major investor on the continent, pumping in billions of dollars to secure access to African commodities it needs for its industries. While in Kenya, Clinton also plans to meet Somalia's president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed , and will pledge further U.S. financial aid to help bolster his shaky transitional government and continue supplying arms and ammunition to his forces. "We think that the support for Sheikh Sharif and his government offers an opportunity to be able to restore some stability, fight against the Somali Islamic extremists ," Carson told reporters before leaving Washington. Clinton is also likely to have harsh words for Eritrea for its meddling in Somalia where it is accused of backing extremist groups . Susan Rice , the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, warned last week that Eritrea faced sanctions unless its behavior changed very soon. Another highlight of Clinton's trip will be stops in the continent's leading oil producers -- Angola and Nigeria -- as well as Liberia , which like Angola is recovering from a long conflict. The top U.S. diplomat will also visit South Africa , another strategic priority for Washington and where Clinton wants to bolster ties that were strained under the Bush administration . In the eastern part of war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, Clinton plans to visit a camp for displaced persons, where she will highlight rape and other violence against women , an issue she has promised to crusade against in her new job. The final overnight stop on August 13 will be Cape Verde , a nation the United States sees as an example of good governance for the rest of Africa and which U.S. officials seldom include on their Africa itineraries, except as a refueling stop. (Reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by Sandra Maler)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="17">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090806/pl_nm/us_usa_sotomayor_2]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Support grows for U.S. high court nominee Sotomayor]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Two more Republicans broke ranks on Wednesday and backed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor , who seemed virtually certain of winning Senate approval as the first Hispanic on the highest U.S. court. A vote by the 100-member and Democratic-led Senate was expected as early as Thursday, with the swearing-in shortly afterward. Republican Senators Judd Gregg and Kit Bond announced their support during a second day of debate in the Senate on President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee. Their support raised to eight the number of Republican senators who have said they plan to vote for the 55-year-old federal appeals court judge out of a total of 40 Republicans in the Senate. "Her views and decisions, although strongly stated, are certainly not out of the mainstream of American jurisprudence or political thought," Gregg said. "I will be proud for her, the community she represents and the ' American Dream ' she shows possible," said Bond. Sotomayor rose from poverty to be educated at the finest U.S. universities and went on to a distinguished law career. A federal judge for the past 17 years, she would be the first Hispanic and only the third woman ever on the Supreme Court , established in 1789. Based on private head counts and public declarations, Senate aides predicted Sotomayor would win approval comfortably, with between 60 and 70 votes. She would replace David Souter , who retired from the high court this year, but is not expected to change the balance on the bench. Souter sided with the liberal wing of the court, which in recent years has often issued 5-4 ruling in favor of conservatives. Sotomayor is viewed by supporters as a moderate who rules strictly by the law. Critics see her as a liberal who allows personal feelings to influence her decisions. (Editing by Chris Wilson)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="18">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/pl_nm/us_korea_north_8]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Bill Clinton makes surprise visit to North Korea]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea on Tuesday to try to win the release of two jailed U.S. journalists, a move some analysts said could mark the isolated state's return to dialogue over nuclear weapons. Clinton's trip follows months of military provocations by the impoverished North which has turned its back on negotiations with regional powers, including the United States and China, to convince it to give up ambitions to build an atomic arsenal. North Korea's KCNA news agency said the country's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, was among those greeting Clinton -- whose administration was reported to have considered bombing the North's Yongbyon atomic plant in the early 1990s. "As soon as he arrives, he will be entering negotiations with the North for the release of the female journalists," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a source as saying. The two U.S. journalists -- Euna Lee and Laura Ling , of U.S. media outlet Current TV co-founded by Clinton's vice president Al Gore -- were arrested on the North Korea-China border in March, accused of illegal entry and being "bent on slander". Last month, a North Korean court sentenced them each to 12 years hard labor for what it called grave crimes. Many analysts predicted that Pyongyang would use the journalists as leverage to drag concessions out of the U.S. administration which led pressure for U.N. sanctions on the North for its nuclear test in May. "There is the possibility of a dramatic turnaround by North Korea that could lead to a new phase of negotiations," said Yun Duk-min of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul. But latest trade data suggests that the North may be resorting increasingly to barter trade to make it more difficult for the international community to pressure Pyongyang through sanctions. It is the second time a former U.S. president has headed to the communist state to try to defuse a crisis. Former president Jimmy Carter flew there in 1994 when tensions were running high, again over the North's nuclear weapons program . "While the mission is in progress, we will have no comment," a senior U.S. official traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. "Our interest here is the successful completion of the mission and the safe return of the journalists." Hillary Clinton , on her way to Kenya for a trade conference, incurred the fury of Pyongyang 's leaders last month by likening them to unruly children demanding attention, adding that they did not deserve it. "SENDING THE WRONG SIGNALS" However, one analyst said that was exactly what the former president's visit was doing -- rewarding "bad behavior". It comes at a time of mounting speculation over succession in Asia's only communist dynasty with a number of reports suggesting that an increasingly frail-looking Kim Jong-il , 67, has settled on his third son to take over. "It's just what they (North Korea's leaders) need," said B.R. Myers, an expert on the North's state ideology at the South's Dongseo University . It allows the government to show to a domestic audience, facing deepening poverty, that the nuclear weapons program is making the outside world take it more seriously and the visit will be certain to be portrayed as tribute by the United States. And it will confirm to North Korea that its bad behavior will continue to be rewarded, Myers said. "It sends all the wrong signals." Bill Clinton , while in office, had sought to improve ties with the North, exchanging high-level envoys near the end of his term that fueled expectations that Washington and Pyongyang would end decades of hostility and normalize ties. His Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, visited Pyongyang in 2000 and held talks with the North's supreme leader, Kim Jong-il. The rapid improvement in ties was short lived as George W. Bush became U.S. president and declared the North part of an " axis of evil " along with Iran and Iraq. (Additional reporting by Lucy Hornby in Beijing and Sue Pleming en route to Kenya; Editing by Nick Macfie)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="19">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/hl_nm/us_kefir_diarrhea_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Kefir won't stop diarrhea in many kids]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[If you give your kids kefir to prevent the diarrhea they often get when they take antibiotics, here's some news for you: if your kids are otherwise healthy, it probably won't help, according to a new study. Up to 35 percent of children who take antibiotics develop diarrhea, according to Dr. Daniel J. Merenstein at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC and colleagues, who performed the study. Sometimes the diarrhea is so severe that the children can't finish taking the medication. Many sources report that kefir helps prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Kefir, a cultured dairy beverage that's a bit like drinkable yogurt, is rich with probiotics -- bacteria present naturally in the body and sometimes added to food or dietary supplements to boost immune function. While antibiotics cause diarrhea by disturbing helpful bacteria that live in the intestines, kefir supposedly helps prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea by stabilizing intestinal populations of healthy bacteria - or so it's been suggested. Merenstein told Reuters Health that his team's specialty is uncovering the truth behind promises of health benefits attributed to popular products. This time, they studied Probugs, a kefir product for children sold in supermarkets across the U.S. (The study was funded by Lifeway Foods , which manufactures Probugs. On its website, Lifeway claims that its kefir is "far more probiotic than yogurt, with 10 live cultures that work in your body to help build immunity, improve digestion, fight off disease, and so much more.") The researchers tested Probugs in a carefully controlled study that involved 125 children between the ages of 1 and 5 whose doctors had prescribed antibiotics for various reasons. For 10 days, while the children were taking the antibiotics, they also drank the kefir - but for half the children, the kefir had been heated in advance to kill off the probiotics. No one - not the children, their parents, or the doctors and nurses involved in the study - knew which children were drinking the real kefir and which were drinking the inactivated substitute. Overall, "there were no differences in the rates of diarrhea" between the two groups, the investigators report in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine . Furthermore, the real kefir did not provide any benefit in terms of stomach pain , vomiting, fever, irritability, lethargy, missed school days, or a variety of other factors. The study did yield "some intriguing data" that may yet "hold promise for kefir's role in antibiotic-associated diarrhea," the researchers said. In children between the ages of 3 and 5, for example, Probugs did help prevent diarrhea, with more percent more diarrhea among the children who drank the fake product. Also, boys who drank the fake product had 25 percent more diarrhea than boys who drank the real kefir. There was no such difference in girls, however. Finally, the Probugs kefir did a better job at preventing diarrhea in the subset of children whose health was poorer to begin with. "Our theory is that kefir may not have helped healthy children (in our study) that much because the extra immune system boost provided by the drink may not (have been) necessary" for them, Merenstein said in a prepared statement. "We had a really healthy patient population" overall, Merenstein told Reuters Health, adding that in less affluent regions where children's health is poor, kefir might provide a much more substantial benefit in preventing diarrhea. So if it's not preventing diarrhea in healthy kids to any significant extent, does drinking kefir actually confer any benefit for them at all, or would they be just as well off drinking milk? "That is an interesting question," Merenstein said. "Kefir, like most yogurts, is a very healthy snack that provides protein, calcium and vitamin D." "But," he added, "so does milk....I would say that kefir is a healthy alternative for kids that won't drink milk, or a very healthy snack." "It may not prevent diarrhea in kids on antibiotics," he concluded, "but further studies need to be conducted." SOURCE: Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, August 2009.]]></content>
</query>
<query id="20">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/media_nm/us_trumpentertainment_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Donald Trump to return to Atlantic City casinos]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Real estate tycoon Donald Trump and an affiliate of Bank of Nevada will buy Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc for $100 million, the bankrupt casino operator said, sending its shares up more than 79 percent. Donald Trump and Bank of Nevada's BNAC affiliate will emerge as owners of the privately held company, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in February. The deal still needs approval from the bankruptcy court, Trump Entertainment said in a statement late on Monday. "We want to invest a lot of money in the company," Donald Trump said in an interview on CNBC. "We're starting off with a $100 million, and it could be well above that as time goes by." Trump, the casino operator's founder and one-time chairman, resigned in February when bondholders demanded a Chapter 11 filing after the company missed a $53.1 million bond interest payment. The billionaire said the company had borne his name, but not performed to his standards. Under the reorganization plan, Trump Entertainment received an eight-year extension on the maturity period of about $486 million in debt, to December 2020, according to a Tuesday securities filing. The interest rate on the debt was also reduced. Holders of that debt are expected to see a 94 percent recovery on their investment. The company said there would be no recovery for holders of its 8.5 percent senior secured notes due 2015. Holders of those notes were due $1.25 billion. Holders of unsecured claims and equity will also see no return on their investment. The plan has the approval of Trump Entertainment's management and board, the company said. "My daughter Ivanka and I will work tirelessly to make this company great again," Donald Trump said in a statement. "As I have done in the past, we will make Atlantic City hot once more." TRUMP MARINA DEAL IN FOCUS News of the deal comes a time of great distress for the casino industry in Atlantic City, New Jersey , where the company has three properties: the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina . In the filing, the company said its financial advisor , Lazard , pinned the value of its three Atlantic City casinos at $428 million to $488 million. A deal to sell the Trump Marina property to Coastal Marina LLC collapsed in early June ID:nN02460994 . Lazard valued that property at about $24 million. Since the deal failed, Coastal submitted "nonbinding indications of interest" in the property on two separate occasions, Trump Entertainment said in the filing. Neither proposal was acceptable, the company said, adding that it continued "to explore with Coastal their interest in pursuing a purchase of the Marina property." Gaming revenues in the city are in their third year of decline amid increasing competition and reduced consumer spending , according to data compiled by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission . "When you look at the debt of some of the casino companies, they have no choice but to totally restructure their debt," Trump told CNBC. Trump Entertainment shares were up 11 cents, or 79.3 percent, at 26 cents in morning pink sheet trading. (Reporting by Santosh Nadgir in Bangalore and Deepa Seetharaman in New York ; Editing by Valerie Lee and Lisa Von Ahn)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="21">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090805/lf_nm_life/us_medal_spielberg_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Steven Spielberg awarded medal as champion of freedom]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is to be awarded the 2009 Liberty Medal for being a champion of freedom with "his artistic and personal commitment to the preservation of human rights." The National Constitution Center, which presents the Liberty Medal each year, said Spielberg had informed and inspired millions of people to better understand the call of liberty through his films in which humanity triumphs over tyranny. His films that deal with issues like the Holocaust , slavery, and war include " The Color Purple ," " Schindler's List ," " Amistad " and " Saving Private Ryan ." "Spielberg has also dedicated himself to gathering and archiving the testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust, ensuring future generations will never forget the tragedy of liberty lost," the center said in a statement on Tuesday. The center's president, Linda Johnson, said Spielberg had shown through his work in film and philanthropy that everyone had the power to make a difference. "It's truly humbling to be added to the distinguished list of past recipients, a group of men and women whom I admire deeply for their commitment to educating the world about the importance of freedom and the blessings of liberty," Spielberg said in a statement. After filming "Schindler's List" in 1993, which was based on the true story of a man who risked his life to save 1,100 people from the Holocaust, Spielberg established the Shoah Foundation to chronicle and preserve video and oral histories of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. The collection is now the largest archive of its kind in the world with 52,000 videos and 105,000 hours of testimony in 32 languages, representing 56 countries. The foundation now intends to collect testimony from the survivors and witnesses of other genocides and is currently in the process of gathering personal histories from survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Last year the Liberty Medal, which was established in 1988, was presented to former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev for his role in ending the Cold War . Other recipients of the annual award include Nelson Mandela , Bono, Shimon Peres , Jimmy Carter , Kofi Annan and Leh Valensa. Spielberg, 62, who has won three Academy awards , will be presented with the medal by former U.S. President Bill Clinton on October 8 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. (Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Sugita Katyal)]]></content>
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<query id="22">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090805/tv_nm/us_abdul_2]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Paula Abdul quits "American Idol," giving no reason]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[Paula Abdul has decided to quit the top-rated U.S. television show " American Idol ," ending weeks of speculation about her future as a judge on the popular singing contest. Making her announcement on her Twitter feed on Tuesday, Abdul said "with sadness in my heart," she had decided not to return to "Idol" which is due to start auditions for its ninth season within days. She did not give any reason. Abdul, 47, a singer/dancer turned TV personality, has been a mainstay of the show since it was launched in 2002 and quickly became an audience juggernaut for News Corp's Fox network, growing into an estimated $1 billion-plus brand. "I'll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon," said Abdul, who was known for finding something positive in almost every performance. "What I want to say most, is how much I appreciate the undying support and enormous love that you have showered upon me." Fox and the show's producers FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment said they were "saddened" that Abdul would not be returning to the show as she had been "an important part of the 'American Idol' family over the last eight seasons." "While Paula will not be continuing with us, she's a tremendous talent and we wish her the best," they said in a joint statement, also giving no reason for her departure. Abdul's future with the show had been unclear since the eighth season ended in May with speculation rising as producers locked in new contracts with some of the other key players. "Idol" producers renewed host Ryan Seacrest's contract last month for three years for a reported $15 million -- triple his previous salary -- with the new season to go to air in January 2010. This week the show's producers announced songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi , who was brought in this year as the fourth judge alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson to boost sliding viewership, would be back on the panel. But the producers had said nothing about Abdul, whose talent manager said in July that she was upset about not having received a new proposal and might leave the show. Reports speculated that she was seeking a hefty pay raise while other reports suggested she was unhappy with the way she was being treated. Cowell, the often-acerbic British judge, has cast doubt on his own future with the show after his contract expires in May 2010 after repeated comments that he was getting bored with it. Jackson's contract also expires in 2010 but he has not publicly indicated his wishes. Despite sliding viewership, "American Idol" is still America's most watched TV show, drawing an average 26.3 million viewers to each episode in the last season that ended in May. "American Idol" is seen in more than 100 countries and is a joint production between 19 Entertainment , a unit of CKX Inc, and FremantleMedia , a unit of British-based RTL Group, which is controlled by media giant Bertelsmann AG. (Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Vicki Allen)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="23">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090805/wl_nm/us_philippines_aquino_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Filipinos bid goodbye to revered ex-leader Aquino]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[More than 100,000 mourners braving heavy rain thronged central Manila on Wednesday to honor former president Corazon Aquino , heroine of the Philippines' 1986 people power movement , who died last week of cancer. Masses in Aquino's memory were celebrated in Catholic churches throughout the country, with 1,000 officials, diplomats and business figures attending the largest in Manila's 400-year-old cathedral. Aquino's youngest daughter, Kristina Bernadette Yap, a film and television star more popularly known as Kris Aquino , thanked those attending. "The last words Mom expressed to each of us were 'Take care of each other,'" she said. "I know that those words weren't meant just for our family, but for all of us as a nation. In the way that all of you have been thanking us for sharing Mom with you, our Mom never failed to thank each of us." Aquino is to be buried next to her husband, Benigno, whose assassination in 1983 catapulted her to the national stage. Three years later, over a million people poured into the streets to support troops who were backed by Aquino and had revolted against dictator Ferdinand Marcos . Marcos and his family fled into exile and Aquino held the presidency until 1992. Among those paying respects to Aquino was East Timor leader Jose Ramos-Horta. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came straight to the cathedral from the airport on her return from a visit to the United States. TWO-KM PROCESSION In the cathedral grounds, mourners clad in yellow -- the color associated with Aquino and the 1986 revolution -- watched a live broadcast of the Mass on two giant screens. Police said a procession extending over two km (one mile) -- more than 100,000 people -- later filed slowly behind Aquino's cortege as it wound its way to the cemetery. Posh and humble vehicles alike bore a strip of yellow ribbon tied to a door handle or rear-view mirror. Those in the procession chanted "Cory! Cory!" and flashed the "L" hand sign, Aquino's trademark during the revolution. White doves were released. Many of those present were too young to have experienced the fairytale revolution which propelled Aquino to power. "I only knew Cory from my history class in school and from my parents who were at the revolution. I came here to show my gratitude to her," Andrea Corpuz, 16, said while standing outside the cathedral with a group of friends. On Tuesday, Marcos's son, Ferdinand Jr., and daughter, Imee , joined the wake. Their mother, Imelda Marcos , has also expressed her sorrow at Aquino's death. World leaders , including the Pope, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sent messages of sympathy. The government has announced a 10-day period of mourning, financial markets were closed and a public holiday was declared on Wednesday. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ron Popeski)]]></content>
</query>
<query id="24">
	<url><![CDATA[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090805/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_fatah_1]]></url>
	<title><![CDATA[Old guard "hijacks" Fatah congress, say reformers]]></title>
	<content><![CDATA[The first congress in 20 years of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah has been "hijacked" by an older generation, reformers said, threatening to blunt their efforts to rejuvenate the movement. Younger members, seeking a more transparent Fatah ahead of elections due in early 2010, said on Wednesday that the "old guard" had packed the congress with delegates loyal to them in a bid to maintain the status quo. "The Central Committee is trying to hijack the congress by imposing what they want," Mansour al-Sadi, one of the younger Fatah members seeking more power, said on the second day of the gathering in the West Bank city of Bethlehem . The meeting, which was initially due to run for three days but is likely to be extended, is the first convention that 44-year-old Fatah has held on Palestinian soil after long years of exile. The last one was in Tunis in 1989. Fatah's former leader, the late Yasser Arafat , usually found reasons to postpone the party congress. His successor Abbas, in his opening speech, said it was "a miracle" that it was now taking place at all. While many delegates said simply managing to get Fatah members to agree to hold the congress was enough of an achievement in itself, the younger guard was unimpressed. "We have been demanding to hold this congress for many years but this is not the congress that we dreamt of," said Qaddoura Fares, an advocate of modernization. REVIVAL IN DOUBT Abbas and Fatah, locked in rivalry with Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip , are the Western-backed interlocutors who would sign a peace deal with Israel , if one could be negotiated. Washington is to launch a fresh peace plan in the coming weeks and anything that can be done to reinforce the authority and burnish the democratic credentials of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank would be welcome. Fatah's leadership has been heavily criticized for corruption, complacency and lack of transparency. Reformists saw the congress as an opportunity for a re-launch. But on Wednesday, they said the "old guard" had added some 700 names to an initial list of 1,550 delegates, in what looked like a bid to pack the congress with likeminded people. "They illegally keep adding new members. No one knows the actual numbers," said Sadi. Abbas on Tuesday stressed that peace with Israel and establishment of a Palestinian state were Fatah's priorities, although "resistance" remained an option. He did not say what "resistance" entailed but he said it did not mean terrorism. The group's political program is up for discussion, but its founding charter is not. That document calls for the destruction of Israel -- an apparent anachronism since Fatah has endorsed the 2003 Oslo Accords in which the Palestinian leadership recognized Israel's right to exist. Some delegates also wanted the congress to hold to account those responsible for weakening Fatah to the point where it lost the trust of the Palestinian people at a 2006 parliamentary election won by Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip a year later. But it seemed this would not happen. Instead, the main event will be the election of 18 members of the Central Committee and 120 of the Revolutionary Council -- Soviet-sounding institutions redolent of the movement's birth during the Cold War. The aim is to give more say to a younger generation that grew up fighting Israeli occupation in the West Bank and to curb the dominance of older leaders who lived many years in exile. A vote will determine the extent of the change. Some 80 Fatah members are running for the Central Committee and hundreds want seats on the Revolutionary Council. "The congress is over," said delegate Jamil Tarifi, on the second morning of the convention. "The main point is that they will elect members and that's the end of the story." (Writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by Robin Pomeroy) (For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to http://blogs.reuters.com/axismundi)]]></content>
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