News Chowder » World

Romanian revelers dance in bear furs in traditional New Year’s ritual

NECN - Arts & Entertainment — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:55:10 +0000

(NECN/AP TV: Comanesti, Romania) - People in the streets of a central Romanian town performed the traditional New Year's bear dance on Wednesday.

Adults and children wearing bear furs and folkloristic costumes paraded in the streets of Comanesti, about 186 miles north of the Romanian capital Bucharest.

They were dancing, playing musical instruments and singing as part of an old traditional ritual performed at the end of each year.

Annual Muslim pilgrimage raises concerns about H1N1

NECN - Health — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:46:34 +0000

(NECN/ABC News: Mecca, Saudi Arabia) - The annual Muslim ritual known as the "Hajj" is drawing millions of the faithful to Saudi Arabia. It is said to be the largest gathering of human beings on the planet and that is a problem in this year of the swine flu.

In the Holy City of Mecca, officials are expecting 2.5 million pilgrims from 160 countries to perform the Hajj this year. It is one of the five pillars of Islam in which all able bodied Muslims have to perform the Hajj at some point in their lives. It is meant to test you; your faith in God.

Obama trumpets Asia trip as boost to US economy

NECN - Nation — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:42:06 +0000

(NECN/AP/ABC News) - President Barack Obama is touting his recent Asian trip as a way to drum up thousands of jobs back home.

In his radio and Internet address, Obama says "Asia is a region where we now buy more goods and do more trade with than any other place in the world." He says that commerce "supports millions of jobs back home."

The president pitched his trip as a way to reintroduce the U.S. to those trading partners, including China.

Obama says if the United States can increase exports to the

Obama trumpets Asia trip as boost to US economy

NECN - Nation — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:42:06 +0000

(NECN/AP/ABC News) - President Barack Obama is touting his recent Asian trip as a way to drum up thousands of jobs back home.

The president pitched his trip as a way to reintroduce the U.S. to those trading partners, including China.

Obama says if the United States can increase exports to the

Obama trumpets Asia trip as boost to US economy

NECN - Nation — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:42:06 +0000

(NECN/AP/ABC News) - President Barack Obama is touting his recent Asian trip as a way to drum up thousands of jobs back home.

The president pitched his trip as a way to reintroduce the U.S. to those trading partners, including China.

Obama says if the United States can increase exports to the

10 day trip for President ends with visit to China

NECN - Politics — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:08:33 +0000

(NECN/ABC) - President Obama is winding down his 10-day trip to Asia with a visit to China.

Mr. Obama and the Chinese President are meeting to discuss a wide range of issues.

President Obama says the U.S. Government is committed to a strategy of spending less and saving more.

Speaking in Beijing alongside China's president, Obama says China has helped the U.S. pull out of the recession.

The United States' budget deficit is soaring to a yearly record of 1.42 trillion and China is the No. 1 lender to Washington.

ABC News reporter Yunji de Nies reports.

President takes questions during town hall meeting in China

NECN - Politics — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:29:40 +0000

(NECN/ABC) - President Obama is taking the American ideal of individual freedom to a Chinese audience Monday morning.

On his first ever trip to China, President Obama took questions during a town hall meeting with students.

President Barack Obama says there are very few global challenges that can be solved unless the U.S. and China cooperate.

ABC News reporter Ann Compton is traveling with the President and reports from Shanghai

Japan 3Q GDP grows 4.8 percent at annual pace

NECN - Business — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:39:25 +0000

TOKYO (AP) - Japan says its economy expanded at an annualized pace of 4.8 percent in the July-September period, posting growth for the second straight quarter.

The result announced Monday represents the biggest climb for the world's second biggest economy since 2007.

Japan's gross domestic product rose 1.2 percent from the previous three-month period. If that rate were maintained for a full year, the economy would grow 4.8 percent.

Obama, Medvedev work toward nuclear arms reduction agreement

NECN - Politics — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:41:22 +0000

(NECN/APTN: Singapore) - President Barack Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev behind closed doors on Sunday, discussing nuclear issues and Afghanistan.

The two leaders have agreed to further sanctions against Iran should it fail to meet international nuclear obligations.

"We believe that the United States and Russia will continue to urge Iran to the path that leads them to meeting its international obligations," President Obama said.

Much on tap for Obama’s China visit

NECN - Politics — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:07:14 +0000

(NECN/ABC) - In a driving rain, President Obama arrived for his first visit to China. It was nearly midnight and he quickly disappeared into a sea of umbrellas to be greeted by local mayors. For this is not Beijing, the capital. This is Shanghai, the bustling, very westernized city where sky scrapers and booming trade are considered hallmarks of the new China, and that's exactly why President Obama chose to start his official events here.

Intel to remain open on Sabbath in Jerusalem

NECN - Business — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:31:10 +0000

JERUSALEM (AP) - Intel says it has no plans to close a factory in Jerusalem on Saturdays, despite violent protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews who accuse the chip maker of desecrating the Jewish Sabbath.

Intel spokesman Kobi Bachar says the factory has operated on Saturdays for more than 20 years and it will continue to do so.

About 1,500 protesters demonstrated outside the factory on Saturday. Bachar says the protests were sparked by the opening of a new facility at the site.

Ultra-Orthodox activists often protest businesses that open on

President Obama in Singapore for important meeting

NECN - Politics — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:09:51 +0000

(NECN/ABC) - President Obama is in Singapore for the Asian Pacific economic cooperation's summit.

His first one as president and after posing for the traditional class photo in native garb.

He got to work talking about economic and trade issues, but even though he's at this APEC summit the most important meeting he had was not with an Asian leader and had nothing to do with economics.

President Obama presents broad agenda as Asia trip begins

NECN - Politics — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:00:08 +0000

(NECN/ABC News) - He may be thousands of miles from home, but that did not deter President Obama from addressing issues that directly effect American foreign policy and its future.

Saturday morning, Pres. Obama delivered remarks in Tokyo's Suntory Hall before a scheduled visit to U.S. embassy employees and families.

Taking the stage at a cavernous Tokyo concert hall, President Obama called himself the first "Pacific" American president.

He was born in Hawaii, spent years as a child in Indonesia, and claimed that has shaped his vision of the world.

Obama: Japan is model for peaceful nuclear production

NECN - Politics — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:11:46 +0000

(NECN: Tokyo, Japan) - President Barack Obama says Japan is a model of success that comes when a nation develops technology solely for peaceful production.

"Japan serves as an example to the world that true peace and power can be achieved by taking this path," Obama said. "For decades Japan has enjoyed the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy while rejecting nuclear arms development."

Speaking in Tokyo, the president said the United States must redouble its efforts to reduce the threats from nuclear weapons.

Obama: Many factors in pending Afghan troop decision

NECN - Politics — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:28:48 +0000

(NECN: Tokyo, Japan) - President Barack Obama said that a decision would come soon on Afghanistan, saying he did not want the next move to be seen as an "open-ended commitment."

On Afghanistan, Mr. Obama said he was not waiting for any new information. Rather, he said, he wants to be sure he strikes the right balance before committing more U.S. troops and billions of dollars to the 8-year-old conflict.

0.4 percent growth pulls Eurozone out of recession

NECN - Business — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:10:11 +0000

LONDON (AP) - Official figures show that the 16-country euro area has joined the United States and Japan out of recession after the bloc's economy grew by 0.4 percent in the third quarter.

However, the rise in output reported Friday was not as big as most economists had been predicting, as growth in the eurozone's major economies, such as Germany and France, fell short of expectations.

Not all the eurozone is out of recession, though. Figures Thursday showed Spain's economy contracted again in the third quarter.

Feds move to seize 4 mosques, tower linked to Iran

NECN - Nation — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:26:41 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) - Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of

UA pilot charged with being over alcohol limit

NECN - Nation — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:20:48 +0000

LONDON (AP) - A United Airlines pilot who was pulled from his trans-Atlantic flight to Chicago shortly before takeoff has been charged with having too much alcohol in his system, British police said Tuesday.

Scotland Yard said that 51-year-old Erwin Vermont Washington, of Lakewood, Colorado, was arrested after officers were called to United Airlines Flight 949, which was already full of passengers and due to leave London's Heathrow Airport just after noon on Monday.

BAA, Heathrow's operator, said the plane had been due to leave

Iraqi Cabinet approves Exxon Mobil-Shell oil deal

NECN - Business — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:43:15 +0000

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's prime minister says his Cabinet has approved a deal with a consortium led by U.S.-based Exxon Mobil to develop a prized oil field in the country's south.

The Exxon Mobil-Royal Dutch Shell group will develop the 8.6 billion West Qurna 1 field and received $1.90 per barrel produced. It plans to boost production from 280,000 barrels per day to 2.325 million barrels within seven years.

The Oil Ministry is expected to finalize the 20-year service deal soon.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also said Tuesday that his

US to send envoy to NKorea for nuclear talks

NECN - Politics — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:02:15 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is planning to send a special envoy to North Korea for talks on nuclear matters.

Two administration officials said Monday evening that the decision to accept a months-old North Korea offer for direct talks is to be publicly announced as early as Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The administration's hope is that its special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, can persuade the North to return to stalled international nuclear disarmament negotiations. Bosworth's talks will be the

Iraq passes law allowing January elections

NECN - Politics — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:59:09 +0000

(NECN: Washington, D.C.) - At the White House on Sunday, President Barack Obama praised Iraq for their passage of a new law that will allow for national elections early next year.

"Iraq has known many challenges, and in the past several weeks we've seen that there are still those who would kill innocent men, women and children to deny the Iraqi people the future they deserve," Obama said. "Today's step forward is another reminder that these enemies of the Iraqi people will fail."

Trial tests for new Malaria vaccine being held in Kenya

NECN - Health — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:48:34 +0000

(NECN/ABC) - Malaria kills nearly a million people each year, and most of them are children living in sub-Saharan Africa.

But as ABC News Digital Reporter Dana Hughes reports from Saiya, Kenya there is a new vaccine that is being hailed as a major breakthrough for children under 5 years old.

Results won't be published until next year.

Then it will have to be approved by regulators in Europe and Africa.

But the real challenge, say medical experts, will be making sure that the distribution of the vaccine reaches those who need it the most.

Brandeis hosts forum on Gaza violence

NECN - New England — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:42:46 +0000

(NECN: Scot Yount, Waltham, Mass.) - Two months ago, the government of Israel rejected a U.N. report that accused the Israeli military of war crimes.

The investigation centered on the war Israel launched against the terror group Hamas last winter.

Thursday at Brandeis University the head of the U.N. fact finding mission and a former ambassador to Israel went head to head on the issue.

British-Chinese consortium signs Iraq oil deal

NECN - Business — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:34:56 +0000

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq has finalized a deal with a British-Chinese consortium to develop the country's largest oil field, a key step in its effort to revamp its dilapidated oil sector.

BP and CNPC were the only companies to be awarded a contract during the OPEC member's June licensing round - the country's first such auction in over 30 years. The deal, completed Tuesday, covers the Rumaila field, a 17.8 billion-barrel field in southern Iraq.

The consortium wants to almost triple Rumaila's current output to 2.85 million barrels per day in seven years, up from 1 million

Obama to Karzai: Time to write new chapter

NECN - Politics — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:05:20 +0000

(NECN: Washington, D.C.) - President Barack Obama said on Monday that he congratulated Afghan president Hamid Karzai on winning the recent elections, which were widely believed to be fraudulent.

Challenger Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the planned runoff election, citing the belief that those, too, would prove fraudulent.

UK plans banking shakeup, to sell 100s of branches

NECN - Business — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:37:12 +0000

LONDON (AP) - A government official says that the Royal Bank of Scotland, Northern Rock, and Lloyds Banking Group are to sell off around 700 branches in the next five years or so.

The official told The Associated Press that the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Lloyds Banking Group PLC and Northern Rock were in negotiations with British and European officials over how many of their assets they would have to sell off after they were bailed out by British taxpayers in the wake of the credit crunch.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the moves

Clinton talks up Obama policies in Pakistan

NECN - Politics — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:09:08 +0000

(NECN) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says President Obama's Pakistan policy is vastly different than his predecessor.

Clinton told a group of students in Pakistan that President Obama's approach to the country is a "night and day" comparison with President Bush.

She also announced a new effort from the United State to help push education in Pakistan.

AP sources: Obama eyes smaller Afghan troop option

NECN - Politics — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:41:55 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is considering sending large numbers of additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan next year but fewer than his war commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, prefers, U.S. officials said.

Such a narrowed military mission would escalate American forces to accomplish the commander's broadest goals, protecting Afghan cities and key infrastructure. But the option's scaled-down troop numbers likely would cut back on McChrystal's ambitious objectives, amounting to what one official described as "McChrystal Light."

Kerry: Empowering, transferring responsibility to Afghans is ‘the whole ball game’

NECN - New England — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:26:16 +0000

(NECN: Washington) - Massachusetts Senator John Kerry spoke this afternoon before The Council on Foreign Relations. The topic: Afghanistan.

"We all know why we invaded Afghanistan. It was not a mistake to go in," said Kerry.

"Because of the gross mishandling of this war by past civilian leadership, there are no great options for its handling today," said Kerry.

"The costs of failure are very real," said Kerry.

Military pilot from North Attleboro, Mass. killed in Afghanistan

NECN - New England — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:45:21 +0000

(NECN: North Attleboro, Mass.) - A veteran's agent confirms that military pilot Kyle R. Van De Giesen of North Attleboro, Massachusetts, was one of 14 people killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Van De Giesen was flying one of the helicopters that crashed.

In addition to the troops, three Drug Enforcement Administration agents were killed.

The deaths come as President Obama prepares to meet his national security team today for a sixth full-scale conference on the future of the war.

George Mitchell on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

NECN - Politics — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:43:13 +0000

(NECN: Marnie MacLean, Waterville, Maine) - One of President Barack Obama's special envoys to the Middle East is in New England this weekend. As he prepares to brief the president on progress overseas, George Mitchell is at home in Maine.

Mitchell, a former U.S. Senator, was instrumental in brokering a peace deal in Northern Ireland in 1999. Now, Obama has asked him to do the same for the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

He now spends much of his time in the Middle East, but for Mitchell, Maine will always be home.

Mitchell was greeted warmly by a large crowd

Neki weakens to tropical storm

NECN - Nation — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:15:13 +0000

HONOLULU (AP) - Neki has weakened to a tropical storm as it spins far out in the central Pacific.

Neki was once a powerful hurricane, but its top winds have dropped to near 75 mph. Additional weakening is expected.

The hurricane is centered about 400 miles west of Lihue, Hawaii, and moving north-northeast near 7 mph.

The storm isn't expected to threaten Hawaii, but a tropical storm warning has been issued for part of a marine conservation area northwest of the islands.

Hundreds arrested in U.S. drug raids

NECN - Nation — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:07:45 +0000

(NECN: Washington) - More than 300 suspects have been arrested in a series of drug raids across the country that law enforcement officials say is the largest single strike at a Mexican drug cartel operating in the United States.

The arrests are aimed at the U.S. operations of the La Familia cartel.

Over the past two days, more than 3,000 federal agents and police officers carried out arrests in more than a dozen states, as part of a long-running anti-drug operation that has netted nearly 1,200 arrests over almost four years.

VT man involved in Afghan election had warned of fraud

NECN - New England — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

(NECN: Anya Huneke, Townshend, VT) - Plans for a run-off presidential election are now underway in Afghanistan, after an international audit committee found evidence of widespread fraud in the august 20th elections.

Meanwhile a Vermont man deeply involved in the elections says he had been warning of the fraud all along, and is now out of a job because of it.

Watching the events unfold in Afghanistan over the past week has been part frustrating, part vindicating for Peter Galbraith.

Kerry praised for persuading Karzai to accept a run-off

NECN - Politics — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:39:29 +0000

(NECN: Alison King) - Just hours after returning from a trip to Afghanistan, John Kerry arrived at the White House today for an early afternoon meeting with President Barack Obama. The Massachusetts Senator, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, played a key role this past week, in persuading President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff vote after a fraud-plagued presidential election.

Kerry told the president that he should wait until that election is over before making his decision whether more U.S. troops should go to Afghanistan.

Guantanamo detainees may be headed for Amherst, Mass.

NECN - New England — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:14:29 +0000

(NECN: Josh Brogadir, Amherst, Mass.) - Town leaders in Amherst, Massachusetts, have endorsed an offer to make the college town a possible resettlement home for two detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison. The resettlement resolution was approved by select board members in a 2-1 vote. Tonight, there is mixed reaction from those who call Amherst home.

The vote was 2 to 1 with two board members absent.

Having these detainees come to live here may be a longshot, but supporters say it's worth the effort.

Obama welcomes Karzai’s decision on vote

NECN - Politics — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:09:47 +0000

(NECN: RD Sahl) - There is a date for a runoff in Afghanistan's disputed presidential election, and President Barack Obama is crediting Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, among others, for making it happen.

The president calls the runoff a positive step, but is not indicating how it might affect his decision on sending more troops to the region.

"This is a reflection of a commitment to the rule of law and an insistence that the Afghan people's will should be done."

Obama renews vow to have U.S. troops out of Iraq by August 2010

NECN - Nation — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:44:22 +0000

(NECN: Washington) - President Barack Obama met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the White House today.

Obama renewed his vow to have all U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by next August, while nudging al-Maliki to see that his parliament quickly passes a critical election law essential to a nationwide vote in January.

Without an election law, the vote could be delayed, snarling American plans to begin significantly scaling back U.S. troop presence after the national referendum.

"We didn't just talk about military and security issues," the

Kerry to help untangle Afghanistan’s disputed elections

NECN - Politics — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:32:45 +0000

(NECN: Josh Brogadir) - A U.N.-backed fraud panel threw out hundreds of thousands of votes for President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan's disputed election. The move sets the stage for a runoff election.

A United Nations-backed fraud panel threw out hundreds of thousands of votes for President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan's disputed election.

The move sets the stage for a runoff election.

Physicist exchanged e-mails with al-Qaida contact

NECN - Sci-Tech — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:38:46 +0000

PARIS (AP) - A judicial official says a French physicist arrested last week while working at the world's largest atom smasher has acknowledged to investigators that he corresponded over the Internet with a contact in North Africa's al-Qaida branch.

The official says the e-mails vaguely discussed plans for terror attacks but that nothing concrete was planned. The official spoke Sunday on condition that his name not be used because the investigation is ongoing.

The 32-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin was one of more

Hiroshima, Nagasaki to bid for 2020 Olympics

NECN - Sports — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:18:44 +0000

TOKYO (AP) - Hiroshima and Nagasaki - site of atomic bombings in World War II - are teaming up to make a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics that will emphasize world peace.

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue announced on Sunday that they will form a joint bid committee. The mayors are founding members of the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, which advocates for a global ban on nuclear arms.

The announcement comes a little more than a week after Tokyo lost its bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Tokyo organizers have not

Cirque du Soleil founder ends space odyssey

NECN - Sci-Tech — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:21:08 +0000

(NECN/NASA) - The Russian Soyuz capsule carrying Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte and two other space travelers landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sunday, ending the entertainment tycoon's mirthful space odyssey.

Laliberte, who wore a bulbous clown nose during his stay aboard the International Space Station, was extracted from the tiny Soyuz capsule on Sunday morning following its landing in the steppes of northern Kazakhstan.

World reaction mixed to Obama’s Peace Prize

NECN - Politics — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:31:03 +0000

(NECN: Brian Burnell, Hartford, Conn.) - The announcement that President Barack Obama is the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize was greeted with an audible gasp. But the chairman of the Nobel committee said even this early in his presidency Mr. Obama has earned it.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given his people hope for a better future," Nobel Committee Chair Thorbjorn Jagland said.

Among those surprised by the decision was the president himself.

Obama donating Nobel prize money

NECN - Politics — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:12:19 +0000

(NECN: Washington, D.C.) - President Barack Obama plans to donate the $1.4 million cash prize awarded to him as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Friday that it was likely multiple charities would benefit from the president's donation. The decision on which charities will receive portions of the money, according to Gibbs, has yet to be made.

Mr. Obama seemed somewhat reluctant to accept the award on Friday morning after the announcement was made, but he chose to do so on behalf of the influence America has in the world.

Murder trial begins in scuba death

NECN - New England — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:49:46 +0000

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (AP) - A prosecutor opened the trial of a Rhode Island man on Wednesday by accusing him of killing his wife while scuba diving in the British Virgin Islands to pursue a romance with another woman.

The deputy director of prosecutions in this British territory, Terrence Williams, said that David Swain knew a divorce would ruin him financially and he believed money from his wife's life insurance policy would help him win over his love interest.

"That dive was for this new woman," Williams told the nine-person jury.

Remains of six soldiers return to U.S.

NECN - Nation — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:00:59 +0000

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) - The remains of six soldiers killed in Afghanistan are back on U.S. soil.

About 50 family members watched as a half dozen flag-draped transfer cases were removed from a military cargo plane Tuesday morning on a crisp fall morning under sunny skies at Dover Air Force Base, the quiet ceremony punctuated only by the sound of one child's cry.

The six Army personnel were identified by the military as Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk of South Portland, Maine; Spec. Michael P. Scusa of Villas, N.J.; Spec. Christopher T. Griffin of Kincheloe, Mich.;

White House: Don’t have option to leave Afghanistan

NECN - Nation — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:17:02 +0000

(NECN: Washington) - White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said this afternoon that President Barack Obama is not considering a strategy for Afghanistan that would withdraw U.S. troops from the country.

"I don't think we have the option to leave. That's quite clear," Gibbs said.

The debate over whether to send as many as 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan is a major element of a strategy overhaul that senior administration policy advisers will consider this week as they gather for top-level meetings on the evolving direction of the war.

French couple finds message in a bottle

NECN - New England — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:31:40 +0000

(NECN) - Each year on her birthday, Ann Hernandez and her boyfriend, Alan Tomaska, would settle on the rocky shore of Thacher Island and uncork a bottle of champagne in a toast to the day. When the bottle was empty and the tide going out, Hernandez would tuck a handwritten message inside and Tomaska would hurl the bottle over the rocks and into the crashing surf.

Con man Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt nabbed in Vermont

NECN - New England — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:21:03 +0000

(NECN) - A Colombian wanted in several countries on suspicion of stealing from wealthy hotel guests has been arrested in Vermont. Police say Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt is a con man with at least 10 aliases, who used his good looks and gift of gab to steal.

He even escaped from a prison outside London in 2005, after persuading authorities to let him go to a dental appointment without a guard.

Click here to read more from the Times Online.

President urges Tehran to open site to international inspectors

NECN - Politics — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:21:14 +0000

(NECN) - President Obama is not letting up on Iran.

Iran is due to meet with international negotiators next week and in his Weekly Address, the President says the Islamic republic must take action to demonstrate its peaceful intentions following the discovery of a covert nuclear facility

The following video is from Whitehouse.gov and YouTube

The President's weekly address: This week, I joined leaders from around the world at the United Nations and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh.