A ship laden with toxic substances is due to arrive in northeast England for recycling Sunday, ending an odyssey that has seen it turned away from at least three other countries. The French Navy spent years looking for a site that would decommission the former aircraft carrier Clemenceau, now known simply as the Q790. The ship contains asbestos, which can cause cancer. Greenpeace activists boarded the ship off the coast of Egypt in 2006 to prevent it being sent to ...

Two U.S. soldiers and three Afghans were killed while the soldiers were trying to disable a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, a local journalist at the scene told CNN. The U.S. military said it is trying to gather more details about the incident. The soldiers were part of a convoy of coalition soldiers accompanying Gulab Mangal, the governor of Helmand province, to a village where he intended to talk to residents about alternatives to opium farming. The convoy ...

Polish authorities in Pakistan say they are monitoring local reports that Taliban militants have executed a kidnapped Polish engineer. Piotr Stancza was kidnapped September 28 from the city of Attock in Punjab province. Stancza had been based there for a Polish survey company searching for natural gas. Local reports and TV station Dawn News reported Stancza's execution Saturday. Polish Embassy spokesman Peter Adams said his offices were aware of local media reports but were waiting to hear officially from Pakistani ...

Ending weeks of speculation, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami announced Sunday that he will run against the hardline incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to Iranian media reports. "I declare that I will stand for the next elections," Khatami told reporters on Sunday, according to Iran's state-run news agency, IRNA. Khatami, a leading reformist, had indicated for weeks that he intended to run in the June elections. Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency also reported that Khatami formally declared his candidacy on ...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned Pope Benedict XVI Sunday over a Holocaust denier whom the pope welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church last month. Neither side seems to have shifted its position over Bishop Richard Williamson, who, shortly before the pope lifted his excommunication, denied the Nazis had systematically murdered six million Jews during World War II. "It was a very constructive conversation," the German government and Vatican said in a joint statement about the call. Merkel and the ...

At least 108 people have been killed in Australian wildfires that the country's public broadcaster Sunday called the worst in the nation's history. Kendra Jackson, leading senior constable of Australia's Victoria state police, told CNN the latest death toll Sunday. The number of dead is now far higher than the toll of 75 in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. Close to 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of land have burned. Thousands of weary firefighters spent Sunday fighting a losing battle ...

NEW YORK DOLLS Putting Finishing Touches On New Album Recordings NEW YORK DOLLS are reportedly putting the finishing touches on the recordings for their new album with legendary producer Todd Rundgren and are scheduled to begin mixing next week. The CD, which is being tracked at Rundgren's studio on the island of Kauai, marks the first time the two have collaborated in 36 years since Rundgren originally produced the NEW YORK DOLLS' eponymous debut album, "New York Dolls". Rundgren was reunited ...

Portfolio Diet is Compatible with Recession A series of University of Toronto research studies have shown that sticking to something called the “portfolio diet” (no, it’s not a Vanguard thing) can lower cholesterol, potentially keeping people off cholesterol-lowering perscription drugs. It’s also very recession-friendly. Is it a coincidence that a diet that keeps people off meat and perscription drugs also happens to coincide with tough financial times? Research-wise, it probably is. But if you look at the contents of the diet, you ...

Book Review - America's Cheapest Family The Economides family has gained national notoriety for living on what many would consider meager means. They have appeared on national television and in magazines to describe just how they do it. In this book, Steve presents the lessons they have learned from their own experiences and from the counseling they have provided to other couples in their church. Finding Your Frugal Comfort Level Each chapter is organized around one area of your financial picture, such as ...

Valentine's Day Dating Advice from the Matchmaking Guru Valentine's Day Dating Advice from the Matchmaking Guru Gloria MacDonald, guru, liaison expert and founder of the advantage, Perfect Partners, how to make the most of a first date this Valentine's Day. Gloria MacDonald a lot nearby dating and affairs. Before she launched her dating ceremony, Perfect Partners, the matchmaking guru, bond expert and universal chatterer skilled the trials and tribulations of as a 40+ woman. She is proud to ...