Freed U.S. journalists suspect they were ‘lured into a trap’

The two U.S. journalists released from North Korea last month after five months in captivity said "the psychological wounds of imprisonment are slow to heal." In a column posted on the Los Angeles Times Web site Tuesday night, Laura Ling and Euna Lee also said they were seized by North Korean soldiers on Chinese soil. They raised suspicions about their guide and wondered if they had been “lured into a trap.” “We didn’t spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret,” they said

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Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province struggles to build tourism

Thursday is "Chinese night" at the Hotel Silk Road in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province. (CNN) — Thursday is “Chinese night” at the Hotel Silk Road in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province. Hungry guests sip cans of Coke and nonalcoholic beer and pick at a buffet that includes General Tsao’s chicken, egg drop soup and slices of sweet green melon grown in nearby fields.

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On Obama’s Mexico Agenda: Stopping the Guns from El Norte

The camcorder shakes as it films the thud of thick .50 caliber bullets ripping through a steel plate target in the heat of the Arizona desert. Panning across the jagged rocks and cacti, the camera then focuses on the shooter: a smiling Mexican sitting down on the dust as he uses both hands to fire the huge state-of-the-art weapon that can tear through tank armor

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One rescued after helicopter, plane collide over Hudson River

One person was rescued from the Hudson River on Saturday after a tour helicopter collided with a small plane, the Coast Guard said. A helicopter believed to have six people on board collided with a plane over the river between Lower Manhattan and Hoboken, New Jersey, New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne told CNN

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London marks three years until Olympics

Three years from Monday, the eyes of the world will be on London for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. The city is celebrating the three-year mark by showcasing the event’s centerpiece — the under-construction Olympic Park — and highlighting the progress made on everything from building work to transportation to getting sponsorship money

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‘No Saint’? Berlusconi’s New Ploy to Win Over Italy’s Catholics, and the Vatican

“I’m no saint.” Pronounced with a grin at a Wednesday groundbreaking ceremony, Silvio Berlusconi’s one-liner-of-the-week was a masterstroke of political damage control, all’italiano. At least for now

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Body found in Grand Canyon park believed to be missing hiker

Search teams combing the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona found a body on Saturday believed to be that of a missing 20-year-old hiker, the National Park Service said. Bryce Gillies, a student at Northern Arizona University, left last Saturday for his backpacking trip through the Deer Creek-Thunder River area of the park, and said he would return on Monday.

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Survivor still haunted by 1971 air crash

Juliane Koepcke is not someone you’d expect to attract attention. Plainly dressed and wearing prescription glasses, Koepcke sits behind her desk at the Zoological Center in Munich, Germany, where she’s a librarian. Yet this unassuming middle aged woman has one of the most exciting and unbelievable stories of tragedy and survival to tell.

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