The Science of Romance: Why We Love

The last time you had sex, there was arguably not a thought in your head. O.K., if it was very familiar sex with a very familiar partner, the kind that–truth be told–you probably have most of the time, your mind may have wandered off to such decidedly nonerotic matters as balancing your checkbook or planning your week.

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Dutch firm weighs settlement in Ivory Coast toxic waste case

A global commodities trading company says it is considering a settlement to legal claims that it is responsible for the deaths of 15 people and thousands of illnesses after 500 tons of toxic waste were dumped in the African nation of Ivory Coast. The Dutch company Trafigura said studies by 20 experts it has hired conclude that the chemicals did not harm anyone

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Clerics join Iran’s anti-government protests

A photo showing Iranian clerics prominently participating in an anti-government protest speaks volumes about the new face of Iran’s opposition movement. In a blatant act of defiance, a group of Mullahs took to the streets of Tehran, to protest election results that returned incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power

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Gates: Nuclear-armed N. Korea not acceptable

The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday at an international conference. “We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in the region — or on us,” said Gates, speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore

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Speed camera boss is caught speeding

A speed camera boss had a taste of his own medicine on Wednesday when he was banned from the road for driving at more than 100 mph (165 km/h) on a 70mph highway. Tom Riall, a chief executive of Serco, which supplies many of Britain’s traffic enforcement cameras, was caught by a police patrol car in Newmarket, in the eastern English county of Suffolk. Riall was recorded driving at 102.92 mph in a blue Volvo car, Sudbury Magistrates Court heard.

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Deport radical cleric Abu Qatada, orders UK court

The UK’s highest court Wednesday ordered that the man known as Osama bin Laden’s spiritual ambassador to Europe be deported to Jordan, despite claims that he faces torture, local media have reported. The court also ordered that two Algerians, known only as “RB” and “U,” be deported to Algeria. Radical cleric Abu Qatada, also known as Omar Othman, has been engaged in a long-running campaign to remain in the UK since he arrived 16 years ago.

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