China has assured U.S. officials during a recent series of high-level meetings that it will stay out of political and military affairs in Latin America, Africa and other resource-rich regions with significant Chinese investments. The talks, which included a session in Beijing last month, are focused on parts of the world such as Sudan and Venezuela, where China has expanded its influence by investing billions of dollars in oil production, aid and infrastructure development. "They tell us that they are not interested in political or military adventures," Thomas A. Shannon Jr., assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, told The Wash Times. Mr. Shannon visited China last month as part of a "strategic dialogue" between the two countries led by Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick. "Given the importance of the U.S. market to China, they don't want to create a political confrontation in the region that could lead to restrictions on their access to the market of ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com
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Editor - 11:36:00 05-22-06
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 Ehud Olmert Faces Low Expectations for His First Trip to U.S. As Israeli Prime Minister |
Deflated Israeli expectations and expressions of U.S. goodwill are expected to be the hallmarks of Ehud Olmert's first visit to Washington this week as Israel's prime minister. Olmert was to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday and with President Bush the following day. The Israeli leader would like endorsement of his ambitious plan to draw his nation's final borders with the Palestinians within two years by pulling tens of thousands of Israeli settlers out of large chunks of the West Bank. But Bush has been cool to the idea. He is occupied with Iraq and maintaining international pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear program. "I don't expect anything formal, but the two of them obviously are going to be talking about ways to keep moving forward" with the peace process, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday of Olmert's visit with Bush. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1990321
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Editor - 11:09:00 05-22-06
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| Supreme court won't decide lethal injection challenge |
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to decide whether a chemical cocktail used to execute convicted murderers violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, clearing the way for the practice to continue. The justices refused to hear the appeal by a Tennessee death row inmate who said one of the drugs may inflict inhumane pain and that 30 states, including his own, have banned using it for the euthanasia of animals.The high court at the end of April heard arguments in a similar case from Florida on whether death row inmates can bring a last-minute challenge to the lethal injection method under a federal civil rights law. A decision in that, narrower, Florida case is expected by the end of June.The court rejected the Tennessee appeal without comment....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060522/ts_nm/court_execution_dc
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Editor - 11:01:00 05-22-06
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| Iraqis to control security 'by end of year'. Any bets? |
The new Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, today said Iraqis could be in control of security by the end of the year in all of the country apart from Baghdad and Anbar province.Mr Maliki, appearing at a news conference with Tony Blair, who is visiting Baghdad, indicated that he expected the Iraqi government to begin taking over control of some of the more peaceful provinces from the multinational forces from next month. Mr Blair declined to set out a precise timetable for the return of British troops, but said that the UK wanted to move as fast on the issue as was possible, without jeopardising security. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1780434,00.html?gusrc=rss
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Editor - 10:56:00 05-22-06
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| Powerful telescope set for Chile |
A large telescope that will scan the entire visible sky every three nights is to be built on a mountain in Chile. The 8.4m (28ft) Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will be 50 times as powerful as other survey telescopes. The observatory will be able to produce colour movies of objects that change or move on rapid timescales. It will join the existing Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, on Cerro Pachon, an 2,640m (8,800ft) mountain peak in northern Chile. The LSST should be under construction by 2009 with a planned completion date in 2012. LSST project manager Donald Sweeney said the LSST will be able to map the visible sky rapidly and continuously, providing a new way to observe the Universe. The observations will focus on astronomy and fundamental physics, including studies in dark energy and dark matter to understand why the universe is expanding. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5004294.stm
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Editor - 10:43:00 05-22-06
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| Ghana trades in presidential jet |
The government of Ghana says it has sold off a controversial presidential jet, bought for former President Jerry Rawlings in 1999. The $5m raised for the Gulf Stream G111 will be used as a down payment on four Chinese jets for the military and a flight simulator, the government says. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5004366.stm
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Editor - 10:37:00 05-22-06
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