Iranian envoy: CIA involved in Neda’s shooting?

The United States may have been behind the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old Iranian woman whose fatal videotaped shooting Saturday made her a symbol of opposition to the June 12 presidential election results, the country’s ambassador to Mexico said Thursday. “This death of Neda is very suspicious,” Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri said

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Anger boils in Mexico over 46 deaths at day care center

Anger is growing in Mexico over a fire at a government-run day care center that claimed its 46th child this weekend. Parents of the dead children and their supporters have held two noisy rallies in Hermosillo, the city in northwestern Mexico where the fire broke out June 5. They blame the government for laxity in enforcing safety regulations, for conducting a weak investigation and for failing to punish anyone in the 10 days since the fatal blaze

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In Africa, the Death of a Big Man Is Reminder of Continent’s Worst Excesses

As Gabon begins a month of mourning and condolences pour in for President Omar Bongo, the world’s longest serving President, who died on Monday at 73 in his 42nd year in power, it’s worth remembering that Bongo was precisely the kind of leader Gabon, and Africa, could have done without. Gabon has a tiny population and vast oil reserves, and after four decades of exporting hundreds of billions of dollars of crude, the biggest testament to the corruption and ineptitude of Bongo’s rule is that he somehow contrived not to turn his country into an African Kuwait. A third of all Gabonese still live on less than $2 a day, and as the oil fields begin to dry up, Bongo’s subjects are facing up to the reality that he sacrificed the country’s future to fund his own fantastically opulent lifestyle.

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Cancer death rate dropped nearly 20 percent in 15 years

The death rate due to cancer has declined in the United States in recent years, largely due to better prevention and treatment. In fact, 650,000 lives were spared from cancer between 1990 to 2005, according to new statistics from the American Cancer Society. During the 15-year period, the cancer death rate among men dropped by 19.2 percent, mainly due to decreases in lung, prostate, and colon cancer deaths

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Tamil rebels acknowledge leader is dead

Tamil Tiger rebels acknowledged the death of their leader Sunday, nearly a week after the Sri Lankan government said it had recovered the body of Velupillai Prabhakaran and declared victory in the country’s 25-year civil war with the rebels. Prabhakaran “attained martyrdom fighting the military oppression of the Sri Lankan state” on May 17, according to Tamilnet.com, a rebel Web site, citing the group’s international affairs spokesman. On Tuesday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory against the Tamil Tigers.

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Mother sentenced in Britain’s ‘Baby P’ case as outcry continues

A British woman and her boyfriend were sentenced to prison Friday in the violent death of the woman’s 17-month-old son, who came to be known as "Baby P" in a case that sparked a furor in Britain. Sentencing the mother to a minimum of five years in prison for her role in her toddler’s horrific death, Judge Stephen Kramer called the woman “manipulative and self-centered.” She and her boyfriend, both of whom cannot be identified for legal reasons, were found guilty of causing the death of the child

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