Summer Jobs Make a Comeback, Thanks to the Stimulus

Thomas Hollister Singleton wants a car. Specifically a Dodge Challenger, black. And while it will be several years before Singleton will be able to get behind the wheel of a vehicle — he’s only 14 years old — he is hoping to start saving up with the money he makes this summer working in his first job: helping to clean and maintain classrooms at his school in Strayhorn, Miss

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Woman illegally downloads 24 songs, fined to tune of $1.9 million

A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each — a total of $1.9 million — for 24 songs. Jammie Thomas-Rasset’s case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said. Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at fine, noting that the price tag on the songs she downloaded was 99 cents

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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi turns 64 in prison

Myanmar pro-democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi turned 64 in prison Friday, while a judge considers when to hear her appeal to allow more witnesses at her subversion trial. Suu Kyi, under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, had been expected to be freed by the military junta last month, until the new subversion charge was filed. Thousands of supporters left birthday messages of 64 words or less for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on a Web site created for the occasion.

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As Congress Starts Writing Health Reform, Kennedy’s Absence is Felt

It’s been a decade and a half since anyone in Congress has attempted to put together a major overhaul of the health care system, and no one on Capitol Hill or the White House these days is under any illusions that it will come easy. But as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday becomes the first to begin the process of formally drafting a bill — one that members will call the Affordable Health Choices Act — it’s already clear that the task will be that much tougher because of the absence of the committee’s, and the issue’s, driving force

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What Iraqis Think About Iran’s Election Turmoil

Iraq and Iran have rarely had the luxury of ignoring each other; in the 1980s, the two fought a bitter eight-year war, and more recently, since the U.S. toppling of Saddam Hussein, Iran has taken an active — and some would argue malign — interest in its neighbor to the west.

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Solo yachtswoman on food cravings and sleep deprivation

British solo round-the-world sailor Dee Caffari happily admits that you need to be a little bit ‘mad’ to take on long-distance sailing. And she should know: Caffari became the first woman to sail single-handedly around the world in both directions after completing the solo round-the-world race, Vendee Globe, earlier this year. “People say you must be mad — and there probably is an element of truth in that,” the 36 year-old told CNN.

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