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Former US Soldier Apologizes For Iraqi Girl Rape

Angela Merkel Lingerie Ad Shocks Germany
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Dutch Parade Attacker, Dies Of Injuries »
AX May 1, 2009 at 10:54 AM
AMSTERDAM — The man who drove his car into a crowd of parade spectators and killed six people died of his injuries Friday, leaving unresolved the mystery of why he tried to attack the Dutch royal family.
The 38-year-old suspect, identified by Dutch media as Karst Tates, had been in critical condition since the attack Thursday on Queen's Day, the Dutch national holiday.

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Abu Ghraib Guards: Bush Set Us Up
Some of the twelve Abu Ghraib prison guards found guilty of abuse will appeal on the grounds that they were wrongly convicted and used as scapegoats by the Bush Administration. The guards believe that the recent CIA memos show that Bush officials set them up and then sat back while they went on trial. Their lawyers will argue that the convicted guards could never have invented such torture techniques as stress positions or waterboarding on their own and that they were officially ordered to torture prisoners.
Read it at The Times of London
Posted at 7:41 AM, May 2, 2009


*Britain Ends Combat Iraq Operations
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the end of operations on Thursday, while troops held a memorial for British service personnel who died in Iraq.

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After 341 Years, a Woman Is British Poet Laureate
By SARAH LYALL 12:58 PM ET
With the choice of Carol Ann Duffy, the post held by such poets as Dryden, Tennyson, Wordsworth and Ted Hughes went to a woman for the first time.

Carol Ann Duffy from her poem " Valentine " in her 2005 collection, "Rapture"

I gave you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Churchgoers Likely to Support Torture
This is both surprising and it isn’t: According to a new poll from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support torture. According to CNN, “More than half of people who attend services at least once a week—54 percent—said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ justified. Only 42 percent of people who ‘seldom or never’ go to services agreed.” More than six in ten white evangelical protestants said that torture is sometimes justified. Mainline Protestants were most opposed, with more than three in ten saying torture is never justified. 49 percent of all respondents said torture is sometimes or often justified, while a quarter said it never is.
Read it at CNN
Posted at 1:09 PM, May 1, 2009