Malawi govt slams Madonna

Malawi has issued a scathing critique of pop diva Madonna, accusing her of exaggerating her contributions to the southern African country and demanding special treatment during her tour there last week. A spokesman for the pop star denied the accusations and suggested they were prompted by the recent removal of the president’s sister as head of Madonna’s humanitarian organization there

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Smoking Will Kill 1 Billion People

One billion people will die from tobacco-related causes by the end of the century if current consumption trends continue, according to a global report released Thursday by the World Health Organization . At a press conference held in midtown Manhattan, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose charitable organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies, contributed $2 million to conduct the study, joined top WHO officials to present the findings

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Post-HMO Health Care: Are Accountable Care Organizations the Answer?

“Remember the 1990s” retrospective lists always include Nirvana, Monica Lewinsky and Wayne’s World, but leave out another major product that defined American life in the ’90s: the health maintenance organization, or HMO — that nefarious health-insurance plan that seemed expressly designed to prevent you from seeing the doctor of your choice or receiving the treatments recommended by doctors, all under the guise of lowering costs and “improving” medical care.

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A Pakistani Journalist Vanishes: Is the I.S.I. Involved?

Fears are growing for the safety of a well-known Pakistani journalist who has been missing for 39 hours now and, according to an international advocacy group, is believed to be in the custody of the Pakistan’s controversial Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence . Human Rights Watch declared that Saleem Shahzad, a reporter working for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online and Adnkronos International, the Italian news agency, could be subject to mistreatment and even torture while in custody.

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After Strauss-Kahn: Who’s Next to Head the IMF?

Even before Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced from New York’s Riker’s Island prison on Wednesday that he was stepping down as head of the International Monetary Fund , world powers were already jostling over who could replace him. Indeed, since Strauss-Kahn’s arrest last Saturday on charges of attempted rape, European officials have been swift to argue that Europe should maintain the hold it has had on the IMF’s top job ever since the Washington D.C.-based organization was created in 1945

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Italy Braces for Mafia War After Threats to Prosecutors

In southern Italy, the Mafia wars are heating up. On Monday, Italy will deploy an expected 80 soldiers into the city of Reggio Calabria, on the toe of Italy’s boot, to provide security for anti-Mafia prosecutors who have been repeatedly threatened by the powerful ‘Ndrangheta criminal organization.

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