Topic: NEWS english - on December 18, 2003 at 5:38:02 PM CET
2003 Dishonest Reporting "Award"
Our third annual recognition of the most skewed and biased coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
2003: It was the year of the road map, the year of the hudna. Abu Mazen and Abu Ala, war in Iraq, targeted strikes in Gaza, the security fence. Destruction of Maxim in Haifa, Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem, the horrific "Children's Attack" on bus #2. The year that brought us an Israeli in space, Der Stuermer in the UK, the homicide donkey, child guinea pigs, and Rachel Corrie.
IGNOBLE AWARD WINNER: REUTERS DISHONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 11:06:10 PM CET
Bhutan Tome Named World's Largest Book
A 133-pound tome about the Asian country of Bhutan that uses enough paper to cover a football field and a gallon of ink has been declared the world's largest published book.
Author Michael Hawley, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it's not a book to curl up with at bedtime - ``unless you plan to sleep on it.''
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 10:58:05 PM CET
What, no onions?
Highway closed after crash spills 16 tons of liver
Route 11 was closed for almost six hours Sunday after a tractor-trailer jackknifed, spilling roughly 32,000 pounds of liver onto the highway and a business parking lot.
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 10:47:40 PM CET
Bored students' 130m euro spree
Three German teenagers are facing fraud charges after trying to spend 130m euros ($160m; £91m) of someone else's money on an internet shopping spree.
The three told police in the central German town of Weilburg that they had started the scam simply because they were bored.
Using a school computer, they hacked into an online auction user's account.
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 10:41:43 PM CET
Fax - the technology that refuses to die
Ever tried to phone a company and dialled the fax number by mistake, receiving an ear-splitting screech as a result?
It's an easy slip-up to make, because phone and fax numbers are usually printed next to each other in the most prominent position on corporate stationary, business cards, adverts and websites.
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 10:33:31 PM CET
Germans Are Too Grumpy?
Germans should lighten up, according to their president who says he is fed up with seeing his compatriots looking grumpy and grim-faced.
"Germans sometimes leave a general impression of being broody," President Johannes Rau said on Friday in a briefing with the Foreign Press Association. He said the looks on their faces at times makes him think they're suffering indigestion.
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 4:12:04 PM CET
Findin' thar dang cat thieve
Mice stolen in laboratory break-in
More than 400 mice have been stolen by burglars who broke into a Hampshire pharmaceutical testing laboratory.
¬> bbc
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 8:23:50 AM CET
Uranium bug has power potential
US scientists have decoded and analysed the genome of a bacterium which could help clear up radioactive waste and possibly even generate electricity.
The Geobacter species has genes that allow it to convert uranium and other radionuclides dissolved in water to solid compounds that can be extracted.
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 7:40:53 AM CET
Sheep painted to deter 'panther'
A farmer has painted zebra-style stripes on her sheep to camouflage them after rumours of a black panther on the loose.
Charlotte Brayley, from Ayrshire, spray-painted her flock through cardboard stencils after reading about the recent sightings.
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 7:10:10 AM CET
Europe-Africa rail tunnel agreed
Spain and Morocco say they have agreed to build a 39-kilometre rail tunnel beneath the Mediterranean Sea, to link Europe and Africa.
The Spanish Development Ministry said two adjacent tunnels will run beneath the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco.
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 15, 2003 at 7:01:04 AM CET
Movie Star Whale Keiko Dies of Pneumonia
For kids, Keiko the killer whale was the charming hero of "Free Willy." For biologists, he was the focus of fierce debate on whether captive animals could be returned to the wild. Keiko, who died of pneumonia this week, never strayed far from humans, keeping company with them in a Norwegian fjord to the end.
¬> ap ¬> customwire.ap.org ¬> guardian.co.uk
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Topic: NEWS english - on December 11, 2003 at 7:32:06 PM CET
Van Gogh Found at Flea Market to Sell for Millions
A painting of field workers by Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, bought at a flea market 12 years ago for 1,500 euros ($1,800), is expected to fetch up to three million euros ($3.6 million) at an auction in France Saturday.
Organizers of the sale in the small town of Portets in southwestern France are bracing for a flood of visitors.
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