If Chavez initiates talks, Obama would likely agree, Gibbs says

President Obama doesn’t have a one-on-one meeting scheduled with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but if Chavez were to initiate a conversation, Obama would likely go along with it, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. Obama on Friday travels to Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas, a meeting of leaders from North and South America

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China: Economic growth falls to 6.1 percent

China’s economy grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, down from 6.8 percent last quarter and from 10.6 percent year-on-year, state media reported on Thursday. It is the slowest rate of growth for the Asian nation in nearly a decade, Xinhua reported. The economic data was announced at a news conference by Ma Jiantang, director of the National Bureau of Statistics.

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With anti-addiction pill, ‘no urge, no craving’

A no-frills bar called Goober’s, just north of Providence, Rhode Island, is probably the last place you’d expect to find a debate over cutting-edge addiction therapy. But this is where Walter Kent, a retired mechanic, spends his Fridays. He helps in the kitchen and hangs out in the bar, catching up with old friends

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Couple pulled over during high speed sex romp

An amorous motorist faces a fine and a driving ban after he was caught having sex with his girlfriend while speeding on a highway, Norwegian media reported Tuesday. New findings show that the streams of information provided by social networking sites are too fast for the brain’s “moral compass” to process and could harm young people’s emotional development. Before the brain can fully digest the anguish and suffering of a story, it is being bombarded by the next news bulletin or the latest Twitter update, according to a University of Southern California study

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GM recalling 1.5 million cars over fire fears

The possibility of engine fires has prompted General Motors to recall nearly 1.5 million passenger sedans manufactured between 1997 and 2003, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Monday. The recall covers certain mid- and full-size passenger sedans under GM’s Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac brands.

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Passenger helps land turboprop plane after pilot dies

It’s a nightmarish scenario straight out of the movies: A passenger is forced to land a plane after its pilot becomes incapacitated. But it became a reality for a passenger on board a plane over Florida on Sunday, and for the air traffic controllers who helped him land safely in what the National Air Traffic Controllers’ Association called “an Easter miracle.” The incident began about 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

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Cows With Gas: India’s Contribution to Global Warming

Indolent cows languidly chewing their cud while befuddled motorists honk and maneuver their vehicles around them are images as stereotypically Indian as saffron-clad holy men and the Taj Mahal. Now, however, India’s ubiquitous cows — of which there are 283 million, more than anywhere else in the world — have assumed a more menacing role as they become part of the climate change debate.

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North Korean leader gives brother-in-law top job

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has added his brother-in-law to a military board in a move analysts say paves the way for an heir, according to South Korea’s state-sponsored Yonhap news agency. The addition of his kin to the powerful National Defense Commission also solidifies his standing, Yonhap said. Kim was reappointed Thursday as chairman of the military board in his first major public appearance since a reported stroke in August.

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U.S. not lined up to defeat al Qaeda, top official warns

The nation’s chief counterterrorism official says despite a "seriously diminished" threat to the homeland, the U.S. government is still not properly organized to support the "team" effort needed to defeat al Qaeda. Mike Leiter, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the government has made vast improvements since the terrorist attacks of Sept

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