Roxanne Saberi and How Journalism Works in Iran

Over the past four years, the media has come to see Iran once again in black and white, and almost exclusively through the antics of its bombastic President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. To some degree, Ahmadinejad has invited the oversimplification of Iran with blunt verbal strikes at the West calculated to dominate headlines

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GM expected to file for bankruptcy Monday

General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker and for decades an icon of American manufacturing, stood on the brink of a bankruptcy filing and a de facto government takeover on Monday. A bankruptcy petition will be filed at 8 a.m., according to a source with direct knowledge of the bankruptcy proceedings. President Barack Obama will address the nation shortly before noon on Monday to explain the rationale for the filing, and his hopes that this is the best route for a turnaround, two officials close to the situation told CNN.

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Do-It-Yourself Anti-Overdose Kits: Do They Help?

If there’s anything more empowering than bringing someone back to life, Dan Bigg wouldn’t know. He has personally resuscitated five people who were unconscious from drug overdoses, and the organization he co-founded in 1991, Chicago Recovery Alliance, has helped save hundreds of others from accidental drug-related death. The organization’s strategy is a simple one: Help people help themselves

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A Brief History of Multiple Births

Cecile Dionne learned to say the word “doctor” before she did the word “mother.” As one of the Dionne girls — the first set of quintuplets to survive infancy, born 75 years ago May 28 — Cecile spent her first nine years under medical care in “Quintland,” a hospital that essentially doubled as a government-run theme park. Born in Ontario to a pair of devout Catholics , the Dionne quintuplets were an immediate media sensation, a Depression-era precursor to today’s Octomoms and Jon and Kates. Two months premature, weighing about two pounds each, Cecile, Annette, Yvonne, Marie, and Emilie were quickly made wards of the state by authorities who feared that their father would exploit them for his own financial benefit

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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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Be aware of hidden household hazards

The death of boxing champion Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter after a treadmill accident highlights the issue of hidden dangers in the home. While most parents know enough about covering outlets and keeping poisonous household cleaning products locked away from the reach of their small children, most homes still have less obvious safety hazards that can have disastrous results for curious tots.

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Analysis: Has North Korea reached a ‘tipping point’?

When North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised tough consequences for North Korea’s actions but said the door was still open for negotiations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said pretty much the same thing last month when North Korea lobbed a long-range rocket, prompting fears that it could hit Japan or even Hawaii. The broken record was replayed this week when President Obama called for “stronger international pressure” after North Korea turned pyrotechnics into an extreme sport, with an apparent nuclear test followed by a series of missile launches

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New York City reports 2nd swine-flu-related death

A second New York City resident has died after contracting swine flu, the city’s Health Department reported Sunday. The victim was a woman in her 50s who had underlying health conditions, said Jessica Scaparotti, a Health Department spokeswoman. The news came a week after the city’s first reported fatality from the H1N1 virus.

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