"Iraqi reporter al-Zaidi's arm, ribs broken":
Security agents have broken the arm and ribs of al-Zaidi, a reporter who hurled his shoes at Bush during a press conference Sunday in Baghdad.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=78617§ionid=351020201
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Afghan police: 3 die in checkpoint clash:
Taliban fighters killed two Afghan police officers in a checkpoint attack in southern Afghanistan, police said Tuesday. One of the attackers also died.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104ap_as_afghan_violence.html
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Russia in talks with Iran over sale of anti-aircraft missiles, despite Israeli objections :
Israeli officials say Russia and Iran renewed negotiations on the purchase of the missile system several weeks ago. The sources confirmed a report that appeared in the foreign press on the matter two weeks ago.
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046920.html
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Israeli occupation troops kill member of Palestinian resistance force:
Abbas to call elction: : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he'll call general elections "very soon," signaling that he's ready for a new showdown with the Islamic militant Hamas.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/16/news/ML-Israel-Palestinians.php
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Israel sentences Hamas lawmaker to prison:
An Israeli military court has sentenced the speaker of the Palestinian parliament to 36 months in prison for belonging to the militant Islamic Hamas movement.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/16/news/ML-Israel-Hamas.php
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MK: US is Not against Gaza Attack:
Member of Knesset Yuval Shteinmintz of the Likud said that the United States government is not against Israeli military action in Gaza. He also added however that it is difficult for the government to engage in a large scale conflict with elections approaching.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/157587
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U.S. Professor denied entry into Israel and deported from Ben Gurion Airport:
Princeton Professor Emeritus of International Law Richard Falk, the United Nations Human Rights Council´s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territory, has been deported from Israel on Monday after being barred from entry at the airport
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/85022
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Feinstein gets nod to chair intelligence panel:
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been tapped as the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday, a post that would give her immense clout over U.S. intelligence agencies and the power to shape policies on wiretapping and the treatment of detainees.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/15/MNBV14OHE5.DTL
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Somali president names new premier:
Somalia's president has appointed a new prime minister, ignoring the parliament's vote in favour of keeping Nur Hassan Hussein, the current premier.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/12/2008121673914660145.html
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First the Chinese accumulated dollars, now everyone is joining the stampede:
What caused the crisis? For some, the story is simple. It's all about global imbalances.
http://tinyurl.com/6gvy27
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Banks get another bailout: Judge signs order to protect Madoff investors:
Stanton signed the order after the Securities Investor Protection Corporation asked that steps be taken to protect investors in the scheme, which has ensnared several major banks and prominent figures as victims and could result in as much as $50 billion in losses.
http://tinyurl.com/64duvb
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US consumer data shows record slump:
The fall was the second straight month of record declines in the consumer price index (CPI) and the biggest since 1947, when the Labour Department began recording the figures, it said on Tuesday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/12/20081216154853641784.html
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Best Buy 3Q profit sinks, company offers buyouts: -
Best Buy Co. Inc. offered voluntary severance packages to virtually all its 4,000 corporate employees Tuesday as the nation's largest consumer electronics chain announced its third-quarter profit skidded 77 percent.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081216/earns_best_buy.html
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Unemployment: Worse Than it Looks:
The most publicized measure of U.S. unemployment tells only part of the story
http://tinyurl.com/5w8765
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More people on S.F. streets newly homeless:
Across the country, the nose-diving economy isn't just causing home foreclosures and stock market dips, it is squeezing people, particularly families, out of their homes. The number of hungry people has also jumped.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/16/BA5N14OGCD.DTL
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Let us work towards Peace and Joy
Tom Feeley