Nominations open for world’s worst in travel

Tired of the tripe being dished up by some of his contemporaries, one travel writer has launched his own bid to find the worst of the worst in the tourism industry. “There are enough carrots in this business, they need to have someone working the whip as well,” laughs Doug Lansky, the creator of “Titanic Awards,” a new online forum inviting travel-weary tourists to share their tales of the woe on the road

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Champs leader Button wins Spanish GP pole

World championship leader Jenson Button captured pole position for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix after a dramatic climax to qualifying at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. Briton Button, who has triumphed in three of the four races so far this season, took the No. 1 spot ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel with Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello third.

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In the Waterfront: The U.S. Prison for Iraq’s Worst Prisoners Prepares to Close

A distinct vibe emanates from behind the 15-ft.-high chain fences reinforced with rebar and rimmed by razor wire that encircle the so-called “Waterfront” compound at Camp Bucca. It’s different from the other compounds in this sprawling 100-acre, open-air U.S detention center close to the Kuwaiti border, the largest in Iraq, which houses a little over 10,000 of the 13,832 detainees currently in U.S custody

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Japan posts record trade deficit

Grappling with its worst economic crisis since World War II, Japan posted a record $10.1 billion trade deficit in January, the Ministry of Finance reported Wednesday. It was the fourth straight month of deficits as exports of vehicles, auto parts, electronics and semiconductors slumped.

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Abu Ghraib now a humane prison, Iraq officials say

The notorious Iraq prison once called Abu Ghraib has reopened under Iraqi government control. And the Ministry of Justice has launched a public-relations campaign to show it has changed since the days when prisoners were tortured there — first under Saddam Hussein, and later by American troops.

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