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Lab having dinner

The three Irish citizens who the Dubai authorities allege helped to assassinate a Hamas official do not exist, according to Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs. The Irish government says the trio of alleged passport-holders identified on Monday in Dubai as Gail Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron do not appear in Ireland's records of legitimate passport-holders. "We are unable to identify any of those three individuals as being genuine Irish citizens. Ireland has issued no passports in those names," the department said in a statement to The Associated Press. -snip-

The United Nations' expert panel on climate change based claims about ice disappearing from the world's mountain tops on a student's dissertation and an article in a mountaineering magazine

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Border Patrol agents say a U.S. citizen claimed to be in the country illegally, possibly hoping to be deported instead of having to face an attempted murder charge in Southern California.

LONDON — A British medical journal has published findings saying a mistress of 16th-century French King Henry II may have died from consuming too much drinkable gold. When French experts dug up the remains of Diane de Poitiers last year, they found high levels of gold in her hair. -snip-

BANGOR, Maine — Author Stephen King and his wife are donating money so 150 soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard can come home for the holidays. King and his wife, Tabitha, who live in Bangor, are paying $13,000 toward the cost of two bus trips so that members of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit can travel from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Maine for Christmas. The soldiers left Maine last week for training at Camp Atterbury. They are scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in January -snip-

In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inadvertently posted online its airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) inadvertently posted online its entire airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. The most sensitive parts of the 93-page Standard Operating Procedures were apparently redacted in a way that computer savvy individuals easily overcame. -snip-

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - Prince William County Police say they have one man in custody on the Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge campus after shots were fired in a classroom. The campus was placed on emergency lockdown, but no injuries were reported. According to investigators, they were notified around 2:40 p.m. Tuesday of a student who was armed with a gun on the campus. Officers responded to the scene, and the college was put on lockdown. A Prince William County Police spokesperson says the gunman, who is a male student, went into a classroom and pointed a gun at a female...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HASSANABAD, Afghanistan -- In the middle of a foot patrol Saturday through what may be the most dangerous part of the most dangerous province in Afghanistan for U.S. troops, Staff Sgt. John Nickerson peered through the scope of his assault rifle at a group of Afghan men who were rolling a wheelbarrow toward him. Suddenly, he had to switch gears to the gentler form of counterinsurgency. "Hold," Nickerson said into his hand-held radio, lowering his gun. "We've got some men with a kid in a wheelbarrow trying to get our attention. Where's Doc at?" In the barrow...

An alleged plot to send anti-aircraft missiles and guns to Syria or Iran was thwarted after a key figure was arrested in Philadelphia, the FBI said in documents released Monday. -snip- He was after missiles that could "take down an F-16," the affidavit says. Little did Tarraf know, he was requesting the weapons from an undercover agent, according to documents. The affidavit alleges that Tarraf paid a $20,000 cash deposit to the agent in July for machine guns and shoulder-fired Stinger missiles, MyFoxPhilly.com reported. The documents say Tarraf's dealings with the undercover officer date back to June 2007. -snip-

RICHMOND, Va. - With his state under an emergency declaration because of heavy rain and floods Thursday, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine was in Arkansas for a Democratic fundraiser. Kaine is chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He appeared Thursday with Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe at a closed $250-per-ticket luncheon at a home in Little Rock. -snip-

MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee Army reservist's military identification earned him some street cred Tuesday, when he says four men who mugged him at gunpoint returned his belongings and thanked him for his service after finding the ID. The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student said he was walking home from work about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday when he was pulled into an alley and told to lay face down and with a gun to his neck. Four men took his wallet, $16, keys, his cell phone and even a PowerBar wrapper from his pants pockets, he said. But the hostile tone quickly...

A 10-ton fishing boat has been sunk by gigantic jellyfish off eastern Japan. -snip- The crew of the fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler, according to the Mainichi newspaper. The local Coast Guard office reported that the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident.

Is there no depth MSNBC's Chris Matthews won't sink to? Judging from a truly disgraceful comment he made on Thursday's "Hardball," the answer has got to be a resounding "NO!" -snip-

1899 A Message to Garcia By Elbert Hubbard In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain & the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba- no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly. What to do! Some one said to the President, "There’s a fellow by the name of Rowan will find...

Parents of Woodbrook Elementary students have been alerted that a child had died from complications in the hospital. Nine-year-old Carson Raymond was in the third grade. Raymond began feeling sick a week ago and his family suspected the H1N1 virus. He lost his battle with the flu Saturday at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Raymond had a pre-existing condition that made him susceptible to the flu. He was hospitalized more than two years ago from Influenza B, the most common flu strand. His family says the doctors at UVA worked tirelessly to try and save Raymond. They say the...

13-Year-Old's Testimony Tells Story Behind Polanski's Guilty Plea to Unlawful Sexual Intercourse In the more than 30 years since director Roman Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl and then fled the country before he was sentenced, he has continued to make movies and even won an Academy Award. -snip- ABC News obtained transcripts of Geimer's 1977 grand jury testimony, which resulted in six charges against Polanski. -snip-

GAZA, Israel — Exclusive: The release of a tape showing that captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is alive is the first stage of a broader deal being negotiated with Israel on the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, the senior Hamas leader in Gaza said Wednesday. Dr. Mahmoud Zahar also said that Hamas is close to reconciling its differences with the rival Fatah movement in the West Bank. -snip- He had just returned from informing the Red Cross that Hamas had provided a "proof of life tape" to an unnamed German negotiator through whom Hamas has been negotiating indirectly with Israel....

As the White House and Senate Democrats move toward Sen. Max Baucus' compromise on health care, there is a growing sense among Democrats that the political power of conservatism remains much stronger than some observers believed after Barack Obama's victory in November 2008. The White House has sent strong signals that the president is willing to abandon key components of the legislation that liberals have demanded, such as the public option, and to work with Baucus, whose proposal is far less ambitious than what other Democrats, including the president, have been pushing for. -snip-

The scandal surrounding the left-wing activist organization ACORN has spread to New York, with employees at its Brooklyn office caught on video helping supposed ladies of the night get loans for their dream houses of ill repute. Rather than reminding the women that prostitution is dangerous and illegal and advising them to change their careers, counselors at the social-services group shockingly offer suggestions on how they can launder their earnings. -snip-