Bill Gates: Don’t cut aid due to recession

Billionaire Bill Gates has urged industrialized nations to honor aid pledges to developing nations despite the recession. ONE, the advocacy group backed by Gates and rock musicians Bob Geldof Bono released a report Thursday attacking several Group of Eight nations for meeting financial aid goals, set in 2005, to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The report said that Italy, host to the next G8 summit, has “performed especially poorly” in its share of aid spending and that France has fallen behind on its commitment.

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Prison mug shot reveals the true Phil Spector

California corrections officials released a startling new prison mug shot of Grammy-winning music legend Phil Spector, convicted last month of second-degree murder and serving 19 years to life in prison. Spector, 69, is being held at North Kern State Prison, where he is being evaluated before receiving a permanent prison assignment, corrections spokesman Gordon Hinkle said. The process could take up to 70 days

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Visiting Gadhafi stokes protests in Rome

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi arrived in Rome Wednesday for a historic — and controversial — first visit to the capital of Italy, Libya’s former colonial master. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi greeted the former pariah at Rome’s Ciampino airport, with tight security in the city. Gadhafi met President Giorgio Napolitano Wednesday, afterwards declaring: “Today’s Italy is not the same one of the past.

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High court rejects lawsuit over gays in military law

A former Army captain who was dismissed under a federal law dealing with gays and lesbians in the military lost his appeal Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court. James Pietrangelo and 11 other veterans had sued the government over the “don’t ask/ don’t tell” law passed in 1993

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Man Utd net reported $131M sponsorship

Manchester United have netted a sponsorship deal with American insurance giants Aon Corporation that will reportedly earn the Premier League champions a staggering $131 million over four years. That would send United to the top of football’s sponsorship income league ahead of the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Chelsea

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Rwandan to face genocide charges in Finland

Finnish prosecutors will file genocide charges against a Rwandan man in the killings of 15 people during Rwanda’s ethnic cleansing bloodbath in 1994, authorities said Monday. GM will file a bankruptcy petition at 8 am ET (12 pm GMT), paving the way for a de facto government takeover, according to a source with direct knowledge of the bankruptcy proceedings

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