Man who froze had history of late utility payments

Marvin Schur may have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the World War II veteran was chronically late in paying his utility bills during the two years before he froze to death last month at age 93 in his home in Bay City, Michigan, after his power was cut off.

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Court: Chinese at Guantanamo can’t be freed in U.S.

A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that 17 native Chinese Muslims in military custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, cannot be released into the United States. The three-judge panel concluded by a 2-1 vote there is no legal or constitutional authority for the detainees to be immediately freed, even though they are unlawfully detained and no country is willing to accept them

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California’s Big Race to Succeed Schwarzenegger

Ever since gold miners first scraped their fortunes out of the hills of northern California, America’s most populous state has been a land of titanic dreams. These days, though, it’s a place with even bigger problems. Its $42 billion budget deficit would make an out-of-control Hollywood director blush — and bankrupt a small nation

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Saudi activist: Female minister ‘first step’ but more needed

The appointment of a woman to Saudi Arabia’s influential council of ministers is a "first step" for women’s rights in the country, but it’s unclear if she will have any real power, an outspoken advocate said Sunday. “It is something really great, and we are very proud of our king that he took this decision,” said Wajeha al-Huwaider, a prominent Saudi activist and writer

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Zimbabwe accuses new minister of terrorism

Roy Bennett, the former Zimbabwean opposition activist who was arrested Friday shortly before he was due to become a Cabinet minister, has been charged with conspiracy to commit banditry, sabotage and terrorism, his lawyer told CNN. The Movement for Democratic Change nominated Bennett to be deputy minister of agriculture in a national unity government with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, which has ruled the country since independence in 1980. Bennett was arrested on Friday while on his way to South Africa, where he has been living for three years

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5 high-ranking Kurds leave Iraqi president’s party

The second-highest ranking official in Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s political party resigned Saturday, along with four other high-ranking Kurdish politicians, officials said. Khosrat Rasul, the vice president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, resigned, along with four other members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), according to Kurdish lawmakers

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Australian bushfire survivor films aftermath of deadly firestorm

Through a smoky haze, flames continue to dance around the remains of a house, a shed and the blackened trunks of trees on remarkable video footage filmed moments after a firestorm swept through the rural Victorian town of Kinglake, Australia. Resident Brad Price is holding the camera, providing a slightly breathless commentary of the destruction of his home and town as smoke clogs his throat and blurs his vision. “Everything’s gone

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