Whatever Happened to Muqtada al-Sadr?

Sunni parliamentarian Salim al-Jubouri took Muqtada al-Sadr’s recent appearance in Turkey as a good sign. Sadr surfaced in Ankara ostensibly to discuss the situation in Iraq with top Turkish leaders, including President President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey is a predominantly Sunni country, Jubouri noted, and maybe the militant Shi’ite warlord was making a show of nascent sectarian reconciliation.

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Thousands flee as wildfire rages

A wind-whipped wildfire raged on Thursday evening, scorching more than 2,700 acres in California, forcing more than 12,000 Santa Barbara County residents to evacuate, and damaged or destroyed at least 75 homes. The fire, which started Tuesday, had engulfed mansions in the coastal community’s foothills.

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Name your poison: ‘Snake wine’ seized at airport

Everyone has heard of the worm at the bottom of the bottle, but what customs officials in Miami found kicked that up a few notches. United States Customs and Border Protection officers conducting a routine inspection on Wednesday seized a cobra and other poisonous snakes in a bottle believed to be “snake wine.” Customs officials said the snakes, mixed in a glass container containing some form of alcohol, were inside an express mail package from Thailand. Jose Castellano, a spokesman for U.S

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13,000 flee as California mansions go up in flames

A wind-fanned wildfire spread across 500 acres in Santa Barbara County, California, early Thursday, forcing 13,000 residents to evacuate and destroying at least 20 homes. The fire, strengthened by high temperatures and low humidity, engulfed mansions in the coastal community’s foothills

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Laotian, UK officials discuss fate of jailed pregnant woman

The fate of a pregnant British woman jailed in Laos will be discussed at a meeting Thursday in London between top officials from the two countries. Officials at the meeting are expected to sign a prisoner transfer agreement that would allow Samantha Orobator to serve out a sentence in Britain, if she is convicted at her forthcoming trial, according to an official Laotian source who spoke to CNN

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Envoy, medic visit pregnant woman in Laos jail

A British diplomat and a doctor have been able to visit a pregnant British woman being held in a Laos jail, a spokesman for the British Embassy in Bangkok said Wednesday. A British vice-consul was allowed to see Samantha Orobator in jail on Tuesday, the spokesman told CNN.

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Image shows what missing tot Madeleine McCann may look like

The parents of missing English toddler Madeleine McCann on Friday unveiled a digitally enhanced picture showing what she might look like today if she is still alive. Madeleine was 3 years old when she disappeared during a family vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 4, 2007. Portuguese police closed the case last July without a resolution

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Driver holds on as hijacked semi leads police on chase

A hijacked tractor-trailer, its driver clinging to the outside, led police on a wild chase Tuesday on Interstate 75 just south of Atlanta, Georgia, officials said. When the chase was over, the truck driver was safe and the hijacking suspect was in custody. Aerial footage of the chase showed truck driver Torrey Lang, 32, seated behind his truck’s cab and holding on as it hurtled down Interstate 75 with Georgia State Patrol in pursuit, and the suspected hijacker behind the wheel

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