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Neanderthals were separate species, says new human family tree A wax figure representing a Neanderthal man on display at a museum. A new, simplified family tree of humanity has dealt a blow to those who contend that the enigmatic hominids known as Neanderthals intermingled with our forebears. A new, simplified family tree of humanity, published on Sunday, has dealt a blow to those who contend that the enigmatic hominids known as Neanderthals intermingled with our forebears. Neanderthals were a separate species to Homo sapiens, as anatomically modern humans are known, rather than offshoots of the same species, the new organigram...

During the Sunday NFL broadcast on NBC, NBC was lecturing us about the dangers of global warming, urging us all to "Go Green" and turn off one light to save energy. Ignoring the hypocrisy of Universal/NBC on this point, maybe we should tell NBC they should go black. Turn off the whole network. NBC will devote 150 hours of broadcasting to the topic/lecture of Global Warming. Since November is a sweeps month, perhaps we could send a message to NBC, by turning them off for 150 hours. Just think how much energy could be saved if we turned off NBC...

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram said Sunday morning that according to high-ranking Egyptian sources, an exchange deal is set to take place between Israel and Hizbullah within the next two or three weeks, Israel Radio reported. The first stage of the agreement would be the release of the two soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah last month, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the report said. The next stage, the sources said, would be Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners a day or two after the soldiers are returned. According to the newspaper, the same high-ranking Egyptian sources also said that a similar exchange would...

The kidnappers of the two Fox News journalists abducted in Gaza City on August 14 have promised to release them unharmed, Palestinian Authority officials said on Saturday night. According to the officials, the PA has managed to establish contact with the kidnappers, who promised to resolve the affair peacefully. PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he had personally received assurances from the kidnappers that the two, reporter Steve Centanni, from the US, and cameraman Olaf Wiig, from New Zealand, would be released unharmed and unconditionally. PA Interior Minister Said Siam, who is in charge of part of the PA security...

Neanderthals and Humans: Perhaps They Never Met By Robin Lloyd Special to LiveScience posted: 08 May 2006 The number of years that modern humans are thought to have overlapped with Neanderthals in Europe is shrinking fast, and some scientists now say that figure could drop to zero. Neanderthals lived in Europe and western Asia from 230,000 to 29,000 years ago, petering out soon after the arrival of modern humans from Africa. There is much debate on exactly how Neanderthals went extinct. Theories include climate change and inferior tools compared to those made by modern humans. Anthropologists also disagree on whether...

Big new reservoir of water ice suspected under Mars 13:54 16 March 2006 NewScientist.com news service Maggie McKee, Houston Mars Express, ESA MARSIS, ESA Thomas Watters, National Air and Space Museum A large and previously unknown reservoir of water ice may have been found below the surface of Mars, new radar observations suggest. Gaping canyons and river-like channels attest to the fact that large amounts of water once flowed on Mars. But today most of that water has disappeared, and finding out where it went is one of the main aims of research on the Red Planet. Scientists are using...

The ruins of the synagogue at Umm al-Umdan. (Alex Levac) The Hasmoneans were here - maybe By Ran Shapira In late 1995, not far from the city of Modi'in, whose construction had begun a short time earlier, several excavated burial caves were found. The find aroused tremendous excitement initially, mainly because on one of the ossuaries an engraved inscription was interpreted to read "Hasmonean." Had they found a burial plot belonging to the family of the Hasmoneans? When the discovery was announced, the archaeologist digging there, Shimon Riklin, explained that this was not the grave built by Simon the son...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The names of Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother and brother-in-law and other top Syrians were edited out of the final report of a U.N. investigation as helping to plot the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, U.N. diplomats said Friday. Germany prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who led the U.N. probe, told a hastily called news conference that he decided to delete the names when he learned Thursday morning the report would be made public because the Syrians had only been identified by a witness interviewed by his investigators. Since their alleged involvement had not been corroborated,...

Prosecutors crack down on Katrina fraud By Kevin Krolicki NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced a coordinated initiative to fight fraud related to Hurricane Katrina and said billions of dollars in hurricane relief funds were at risk of being wasted or stolen. The anti-fraud command center will include representatives from the FBI, tax authorities, Secret Service and state and local police. The storm-battered Gulf Coast region is preparing for an influx of federal money that could top $200 billion. "We all know why we are here," assistant FBI director Chris Swecker said at a meeting of officials...

Is this tax trap waiting for you? By William Neikirk Tribune senior correspondent Sun Aug 21, 9:40 AM ET The AMT is coming after you. Congress passed the AMT, or alternative minimum tax, in 1969 to crack down on 155 super-rich people who had escaped paying taxes. But in the next few years, it will ensnare millions in the middle class and perhaps roil the nation's politics. This year nearly 4 million taxpayers are being hit by the AMT, but that number will soar to 20.5 million taxpayers next year and 51.3 million, or 45 percent of all taxpayers, by...

Scientists are taking a new look at an old and controversial idea: that ancient Polynesians sailed to Southern California a millennium before Christopher Columbus landed on the East Coast. Key new evidence comes from two directions. The first involves revised carbon-dating of an ancient ceremonial headdress used by Southern California's Chumash Indians. The second involves research by two California scientists who suggest that a Chumash word for "sewn-plank canoe" is derived from a Polynesian word for the wood used to construct the same boat.

Koreans protest possible job cuts at U.S. bases By T.D. Flack and Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Saturday, May 14, 2005 T.D. Flack / S&S South Koreans riot police watch South Koreans who work on U.S. military bases in the Seoul area stage a protest Thursday near Yongsan Garrison. Seth Robson / S&S South Korean base workers protest near Uijongbu train station on Thursday. T.D. Flack / S&S South Koreans who work on U.S. military bases gather near Yongsan Garrison to protest U.S. Forces Korea's announcement that it might cut up to 1,000 jobs. T.D. Flack / S&S...

<p>WASHINGTON — Just a few weeks into the new congressional session, many are beginning to wonder aloud: "What's up with Barbara Boxer?"</p> <p>The first week of the session, the California Democrat led the Senate challenge over certifying the Ohio presidential vote, citing irregularities.</p>

Warm Weather Causing Allergies Provided by: The Associated Press Last Modified: 1/6/2005 4:52:05 PM ATLANTA (AP) -- The recent unusual warm spell in the South has brought people out in shorts and tee-shirts in January. It’s also brought about another warm-weather phenomenon -— allergies. Atlanta doctors and pharmacists are reporting an upsurge in sniffles, sneezes and coughs. This year, they’re from allergies, not winter colds. Pharmacists have been faced with restocking shelves with allergy medicines such as Claritin. Even herbal remedies have been hot sellers off the shelves. Doctor Keith Phillips, of Emory University, says it’s mold — not pollen...

Will 2005 be better than 2004? Yes No About The Same

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. forces on Thursday said they believe they have found the main Fallujah headquarters of the terrorist group headed by Al Qaeda-linked Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.Meanwhile, a group attacked U.S. Marines and Iraqi government forces from a house inside the terror hotbed city on Thursday, killing one Marine and one Iraqi soldier, a U.S. military official said. One Marine and one Iraqi soldier also were wounded.U.S. and Iraqi forces also arrested 104 suspected guerrillas in an insurgent neighborhood in central Baghdad, including nine who are believed to have fled Fallujah, Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Khadim said. Most were...

Post-McGreevey power struggle roils Dems Sunday, August 15, 2004 Friday the 13th of August 2004, New Jersey woke up as the first state in the history of the United States to be led by an openly gay governor. It will be weeks before the aftershocks subside from Gov. James E. McGreevey's admission that he is a "gay American" who had committed adultery with a man he hired for a $110,000-a-year state job. The assumption then was McGreevey would resign on Nov. 15, with state Senate President Richard Codey, D-West Orange, serving as acting governor until January 2006. Two days later,...

In the July 19 issue of "Newsweek" Michael Isikoff writes: "American counterterrorism officials, citing what they call 'alarming' intelligence about a possible Qaeda strike inside the United States this fall, are reviewing a proposal that could allow for the postponement of the November presidential election in the event of such an attack."(1) That report was surprising enough that even Senator John Kerry interrupted his foolishness on the campaign trail to go get himself updated with a national security briefing he hadn't taken time for in previous weeks. As Isikoff reported: "The prospect that Al Qaeda might seek to disrupt the...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that prospects for reaching an agreement on providing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants are gloomy. "It could take longer than anyone expected," he said in an interview in his Capitol office. "It could also, you know, be impossible. We don't know, but we move forward in a positive way, in an optimistic way." That was one of the revelations coming from a rare set of interviews the governor gave to newspaper reporters Tuesday. He said the interviews with individual reporters or small groups of them throughout the afternoon were an effort to improve...