http://www.citytools.net This is an editing team for the CT Staff en 2008-11-21T20:26:47 2008-11-21T20:26:47 httpd:/www.citytools.net/essentials/rss_docs.html http://www.citytools.net/images/rss_logo.jpg http://www.citytools.net 182 35 citytools image http://www.citytools.net/showstory/96EFC350-B797-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ In a 2-1 decision, the court orders a more thorough environmental review of the proposed offshore oil drilling project&#39;s effect on fish and endangered bowhead whales. The Bush administration&#39;s authorization of a major new offshore oil drilling program in the Arctic Ocean was dealt a serious setback Thursday when a federal appeals court ruled the plan did not adequately consider the effect on bowhead whales and the native villagers who make their living from the frigid coastal waters.<a href="http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/nation/~3/460408838/la-na-arctic-drilling21-2008nov21,0,665797.story">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/921FC410-B797-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Secretary of Defense Robert Gates came into office wanting to close the American detention operation at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Nearly two years later, Guantanamo is still there. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said she wants to close it. Guantanamo will outlast her. Yet, to watch the post-election Democratic triumphalism, you&#39;d think that Guantanamo is as good as shuttered. President-elect Barack Obama has reiterated his campaign promise to close it, and some self-described advisers talk as though he&#39;ll wave a magic wand on Jan. 20 and a problem that has ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112003005.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112003005.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/154E08DC-B776-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ The blue-chip index closes the day at 7,552 -- its lowest since March 2003 -- as investors endure another spate of depressing economic news and anxiety over the fate of troubled U.S. automakers. The stock market plunged for a second day today, sending a broad benchmark index to an 11-year low, as investors endured another clutch of depressing economic news and anxiety over the fate of U.S. automakers. <a href="http://feeds.chicagotribune.com/~r/chicagotribune/news/~3/460143304/la-fi-markets21-2008nov21,0,7589355.story">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/35822E08-B78F-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ The Bush administration is finalizing changes to the Endangered Species Act that would ensure that federal agencies would not have to take global warming into account when assessing risks to imperiled plants and animals. The proposed rule changes, which were obtained by The Washington Post, are under review by the Office of Management and Budget and are close to being published in the Federal Register. The main purpose of the new regulations, which were first unveiled in August, is to eliminate a long-standing provision of the Endangered Species Act that requires an ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112003465.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112003465.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/FFC1058A-B786-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ AP - China has acknowledged for the first time that more than 19,000 students died in the massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province in May.<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_re_as/as_china_earthquake_students">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/0A9C7D9C-B776-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Hospitals need to be vigilant against an emerging drug-resistant bacterium, warn infection control experts.<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/health/7732860.stm">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/069A8B88-B787-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ US attorney general Michael Mukasey collapses while giving a speech and is taken to hospital, US media say.<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/americas/7741041.stm">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/E95EC8D8-B75C-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon wants Israel to allow food aid trucks into the Gaza Strip. But top Israeli officials say Palestinian militants must first stop their cross-border rocket attacks. For the second time this week, Israel today resisted a plea by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip and urged the world to condemn Palestinian rocket attacks instead.<a href="http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/world/~3/460109044/la-fg-gaza21-2008nov21,0,4556575.story">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/39BD295C-B765-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Top Senate Democrats on Thursday said they would introduce major global warming legislation early next year, saying Barack Obama&#39;s election meant a &quot;sea change&quot; in the battle against climate change.<a href="http://www.earthwire.org/redirect.cfm?did=2000374971&cid=2100017&aid=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.news.yahoo.com%2F18%2F20081120%2Ftpl-new-senate-to-get-major-global-warmi-10170b4.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/EB0C54CA-B75C-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Reuters - Oil prices dropped more than 7 percent to below $50 a barrel on Thursday as a bearish U.S. jobs report intensified concerns of a long and deep global recession and further crushed fuel demand expectations.<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081120/india_nm/india366139">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/8615614A-B754-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Reuters - U.S. health officials asked doctors on Thursday to be alert for possible cases of meningitis and other illnesses in children caused by Hib bacteria amid an ongoing vaccine shortage.<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081120/hl_nm/us_meningitis_usa_vaccine">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/C8CEF444-B743-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Judge Richard Leon rules that the Bush administration failed to show the men were plotting with Al Qaeda. The Algerian natives were arrested in 2001. A federal judge for the first time ruled today that five of the long-held prisoners at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, must be released because the Bush administration has not shown that the prisoners were involved in hostilities against the United States.<a href="http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/world/~3/459911616/la-na-guantanamo21-2008nov21,0,1312067.story">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/BC68F4CA-B743-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Federal officials urged doctors and state health agencies to be more vigilant for suspected cases of Haemophilus influenzae type B in children under age 5. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/health/21flu.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/90777EB4-B797-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ A war that once seemed likely to end in a panic of helicopters fleeing the American Embassy now seems destined to conclude as the result of a parliamentary process. A landmark status-of-forces agreement (SOFA) -- requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities by the end of June and from Iraq itself by the end of 2011 -- is headed for a final reading in the Iraqi parliament next week. The approval of the SOFA would leave a chapter of history decorated with paradoxes. President Bush -- who once called withdrawal timelines &quot;arbitrary&quot; and ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112003006.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112003006.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/F1BA01EE-B786-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ AP - Some advanced lung cancer patients already treated with chemotherapy might be able to skip some of the bad side effects of another series of chemo by taking a pill instead, a study suggests. An international study showed patients on Iressa, an expensive, newer targeted treatment, survived about as long as those on another course of chemotherapy.<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_lung_cancer_drug">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/F0096D26-B786-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, spoke to baseball owners about the nation’s economy without specifically addressing how the league would be affected. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/sports/baseball/21mlb.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/49212678-B765-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Mexican prosecutors said Thursday they are investigating a former close aide to the country&#39;s top police official as part of a probe into alleged information leaks to drug cartels.<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/780949.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/EC581C9C-B75C-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ HONOLULU (AP) -- A 24-year-old woman, on her first trip to Las Vegas, is worrying less about the nation&#39;s economy. That&#39;s because Jessica Agbunag won $2.4 million on Wednesday at a Wheel of Fortune slot machine at the California Hotel and Casino....<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_JACKPOT_WINNER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/E4A72D30-B75C-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ TOPEKA, Kan. -- A former Army cook convicted of multiple rapes and murders is set to die next month in what would be the U.S. military&#39;s first execution in nearly 50 years. The military said Thursday that former North Carolina soldier Ronald A. Gray is to be executed Dec. 10 at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. Gray was arrested in connection with four slayings and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area between April 1986 and January 1987, while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. He was convicted of murdering two women. President Bush approved ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112002409.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112002409.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/DC0692C4-B75C-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Reuters - Suicide has not declined among elderly people living in long-term care facilities as it has among community-living elders, research hints.<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081120/hl_nm/us_elder_suicide">[original story]</a>