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AR RAMADI, Iraq (Nov. 17, 2005) -- In a dusty outpost 40 km. from the Iranian border, the future of Iraq is being built from the ground up. Home to approximately 8,000 Iraqi Army (IA) soldiers and about 150 coalition trainers, the An Numaniyah training base is where many Iraqi soldiers, also known as “Jundi,” get their first taste of life in the army. Although a far cry from Parris Island, the Iraqi equivalent to boot camp offers local men the opportunity to help secure the country as it continues to bolster its ranks against the ongoing insurgency. Despite the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide, has been a quiet yet powerful force in shaping the Bush administration's policies and helped build the case for the Iraq invasion. Libby, indicted on Friday on charges of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice, has a scholar's demeanor and is known among colleagues for his analytical approach honed during years of work as an attorney. Toiling long hours in his office in the building next to the West Wing of the White House, Libby steeps himself in subjects like counterterrorism, bioweapons defense and energy. But the...

BURLINGAME, Calif. - The city of Burlingame has paid $1,600 to obscure a design at the newly opened Pershing Park playground that a resident felt resembled the Star of David. The park was closed on Thursday of last week while a contractor filled in a pattern in the playground's surface that consisted of six yellow stars laid out in the shape of the Star of David. Residents had complained it was disrespectful for children to step on the design. The pattern was changed to an arch shape that more closely resembles a sun. The original contractor made a mistake in...

Last Updated: Friday, 3 June, 2005, 10:33 GMT 11:33 UK   Curvier women 'will live longer'   Catherine Zeta Jones is famed for her healthy figure Curvy women are more likely to live longer than their slimmer counterparts, researchers have found.Institute of Preventative Medicine in Copenhagen researchers found those with wider hips also appeared to be protected against heart conditions. Women with a hip measurement smaller than 40 inches, or a size 14 would not have this protection, they said. The researchers say hip fat contains a beneficial natural anti-inflammatory. Narrow hips 'detrimental'They said this anti-inflammatory, called adiponectin, prevents...

Earliest states possibly in shape 5,000 years ago www.chinaview.cn 2005-05-11 15:56:15 JINAN, May 11 (Xinhuanet) - Dozens of prehistoric states might have been developing in eastern China as early as 5,000 years ago,thousands of years before the birth of the first textually attested state that existed in Xia Dynasty (2100 B.C.-1600 B.C.), said a Sino-US archaeological research team. The presumption was based on a decade-long regional survey and excavation in Rizhao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province. Archaeologists with the team are almost sure they have identified the ruins of a prehistoric state dating back between 3,000 B.C....

Tomb's hexagonal shape supports theories Yomiuri Shimbun The mausoleum in Marukoyama in Asukamura, Nara Prefecture, is hexagonal, giving support to theories that have suggested the tomb belonged to a high-ranking prince, according to the municipal board of education. The mausoleum is the first hexagonal tomb to be found in the Asuka area, where there are many tombs of Imperial and aristocratic family members that date back to the late sixth and early seventh centuries, when Empress Suiko (554-628) ruled the region. Mausoleums were built in various shapes, but only a few hexagonal chambers have been discovered in the nation. Emperors,...

Guantanamo detainees 'in good shape' June 16 2004 at 03:57PM Riyadh - Saudi officials visited the 124 Saudi detainees at the United States naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and ascertained that they are generally in good shape, the interior ministry said Wednesday. "The Saudi security team charged with following up the conditions of Saudi detainees in Guantanamo visited them there to check on their situation, help bring about their release and ensure they are in touch with their families," a ministry official said, quoted by the state SPA news agency. "The team met all 124 Saudi detainees and found...

The Republican Party has a new attitude that is taking form in the addition of the new Young Republicans Club. Young minds that have been brainwashed by Hollywood, TV, music and politicians have to be rescued, and shown the Road to Hope within the Republican Party. I am currently in the process of forming a board so that we can strategically target people, between the ages of 18-40, and enlighten them that the GOP is not the party that the American Left portrays it, such as snobs and bigots, but an affiliation that is open to people of all races...

Thought y'all might get a hoot out of this one. It's a true story about the time Gen Wes Clarks armoured car was stolen. I was a Staff Sgt assigned to Allied Forces Northern Command Europe (AFNORTH) in Brunssum, Holland, from 96 to 2000. One day one of the sgt's I worked with brought in a pice of paper telling us to be on the lookout for Gen Wes Clarks armoured car. I thought it was just a bad joke until I read about it in the Stars and Stripes a day or two later. I can't remember all the...

The earth: Now it's all going pear-shaped American scientists say the earth has suddenly become fatter round the middle in the last four years. Like a pumpkin, the planet is a little bit wider around the equator than a perfect sphere would be. For 19 years its waistline shrank, but since 1998 it has been expanding, according to a study in the journal Science. Christopher Cox and Benjamin Chao noticed the bizarre phenomenon after studying space-based observations from the past 25 years. They found that a measurement of the Earth's width called J2, which excludes tidal effects, has generally been...