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Cartoon Furor Met With Muted Response In Sweden
Swedish artist Lars Vilks has lived with a $100,000 bounty on his head since 2007 for a drawing he made depicting the Prophet Muhammad. But unlike the angry protest that erupted in 2005 after similar cartoons were published in Denmark, Swedes have remained largely silent on the controversy.
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Haiti Quake 'Orphans' Reunited With Parents
All of the 33 children that U.S. missionaries tried to take out of Haiti after the deadly January earthquake have been returned to their parents. But at least one mother says that she would consider giving up her children for a better life elsewhere than subject them to the desperate living conditions in Haiti.
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Israel Works To Mend U.S. Ties
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered some new confidence-building measures to the Palestinians in hopes of spurring the resumption of peace talks and ending a diplomatic flap with the U.S. Israeli media reports say it includes the release of some Palestinian prisoners and the removal of some checkpoints in the occupied West Bank.
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Israeli Envoy On U.S. Relations
Israel's recent announcement that it will build new homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood sparked one of the worst diplomatic disputes in recent memory between the U.S. and Israel. Over the past few days, the two sides have begun to mend fences. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called a phone conversation with Israel's prime minister productive. Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, offers his insight.
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Swiss Gruyere Crowned Top Cheese
The Gruyere from cheesemaker Cedric Fragniere in Kirchberg, Switzerland, was crowned best cheese at the World Championship Cheese Contest. John Jaeggi, the cheese industry and applications program coordinator for the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, discusses what makes a top cheese.
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In Changing China, Being 'Suicided' Or 'Harmonized'
It's become fashionable in China to use the passive voice when authorities have done something you don't like. Being "harmonized" is now a common expression that means you've been censored. The play on words by the Chinese is a darkly humorous poke at their situation.
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Dutch Denounce U.S. General's Comments On Gays
Retired Gen. John Sheehan claimed that Dutch military leaders had called the presence of gay soldiers "part of the problem" that allowed Serb forces to overrun the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia in 1995 and kill 8,000 Muslims. He was speaking before a Senate committee in opposition to a proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the U.S. military.
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Diplomats Urge Israel, Palestinians To Resume Talks
The "Quartet" of peacemakers from the U.S., Russia, the European Union and special representative Tony Blair call for negotiations with a goal of reaching a final settlement that would create an independent Palestinian state within 24 months.
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Tehran Halts Travel By Poet Called 'Lioness Of Iran'
Simin Behbahani, Iran's most prominent poet, was about to board a flight to Paris when police seized her passport. Behbahani, 82 and nearly blind, has not been charged with any crime. Many fear her treatment may signal a rise in repressive tactics by Iran's government.
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Exploring The Taliban's Complex, Shadowy Finances
Western nations have long criticized Afghanistan's failure to curtail opium production, a main source of income for the Taliban. But counterterrorism officials say the problem is far more complex than just drug money, including diverted charity payments and "protection money" from convoys seeking to resupply U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
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Chicago Man Admits Scouting For Mumbai Attack
David Coleman Headley admitted in a signed plea agreement that he made surveillance videos and conducted other intelligence gathering for the 2008 attack, which left 166 dead. He could have been sentenced to death if convicted of the most serious charges, but under the deal he will not be executed as long as he continues to cooperate with prosecutors.
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Clinton, Russians Clash Over Iran Nuclear Plant
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Iran's new Russian-built nuclear reactor will begin operating this summer, even as the United States called for Russia to delay the startup. Clinton, in Moscow on an official trip, urged Russia not to start up the plant until Tehran proves that it's not developing atomic weapons.
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Rains, Flooding Threaten Haiti's Most Vulnerable
In Haiti, heavy rains are expected to begin soon, and aid groups and the government are in a race against time to move hundreds of thousands of tent-camp residents who could be at particular risk. Yet the process of relocating the quake victims has been extremely slow.
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Cleric Calls On American Muslims To Reject U.S.
U.S.-born radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki released an audio message in which he calls on American Muslims to question their loyalty to the U.S. government "that is leading the war on Islam." Officials say it is the first time Awlaki has combined his propaganda efforts with a call to action.
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Fake TV Game Show 'Tortures' Man, Shocks France
In a documentary disguised as a game show, participants gave what they thought were electric shocks to a rival contestant when he got a question wrong. They were urged on by an attractive host and an audience chanting, "Punishment! Punishment!" The show reveals how people will set aside their values and obey sadistic orders in the face of authority.
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