Hiker’s family finds hope in Ahmadinejad remarks

Family members of one of the three hikers detained in Iran are heartened and hopeful over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s willingness to ask jurists to handle the case in a timely manner and weigh “maximum leniency” for their release. “We are encouraged by the recent statements of the president that he wants to deal with this matter expeditiously,” said Alex Fattal, brother of hiker Josh Fattal

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Reports: Tax authorities swoop for Maradona’s earrings

Football legend Diego Maradona had his earrings seized by Italian authorities Friday to help pay off his back taxes, according to media reports. The current coach of Argentina’s national team was staying at a clinic in northern Italy in a bid to lose weight when finance police swooped, Reuters.com reported

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Russian ships to visit Venezuela; naval exercises possible

Russia announced Monday it might hold joint military maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean, and the United States said it is scrapping a once ballyhooed deal with Moscow on nuclear technology. A stream of videos posted on social networking Web sites depicted scenes of chaos — the sound of gunshots and helicopters whirring overhead and graphic images of wounded men and women being carried away.

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Reports: Serbian authorities hang wanted posters for Mladic

Serbian authorities have put up wanted posters for war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic at police stations across the country in their search for the highest-ranking figure from the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict to remain at large, according to Serbian media reports. Mladic faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the killing of almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica in July 1995.

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Obama is asked to focus on Darfur

Human rights groups are asking President-elect Barack Obama to pay early attention to the crisis in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, where government forces have waged a bloody war against militias that some international critics have characterized as genocide. “We’ve seen the military surge in Iraq.

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How can I get my brother help for depression?

Here is a question my extended family has that I’m sure many families have today: Do you have any suggestions on how to get someone to go for help with depression? Authorities will use ground-penetrating radar equipment on Friday to examine the area, and “we will eventually be digging in that location,” said Hayward police Lt

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English lessons for India’s rickshaw drivers

Indian tourism authorities will be holding English classes for auto-rickshaw drivers in New Delhi as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. More than 40,000 natural gas-fueled auto-rickshaws, or motorized three-wheeled taxis, run on the Indian capital’s dilapidated roads, according to the city government statistics

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