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Bamboo is one of the most useful plants on earth. It is used all over the world for food, building materials, medicine, musical instruments, paper, clothing and transportation. In India, it can also predict upcoming famine. India is now working on an emergency plan to deal with a famine that is expected to occur two years from now when vast forests of bamboo burst into flower.

Some species of bamboo flower only every 40 to 50 years. These periods of flowering can lead to the destruction of basic crops and cause widespread famine in areas of India where bamboo grows heavily.
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The Iraqi military has been placed on alert around Baghdad and in northern and southern Iraq. This includes the operation of anti-aircraft batteries and the opening of weapons storehouses. Iraq has obtained at least 200 tank transporters from Russia and has plans to import up to 1,300 such vehicles in an effort to compensate for a lack of spare parts for tanks and armored personnel carriers, due to the U.S. boycott.
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Genetically engineered canola has become an uncontrollable weed just months after Monsanto and other manufacturers of genetically engineered seeds claimed that this would not happen. And because the plant was engineered to resist herbicides, it?s tough to kill. ?The GM canola has, in fact, spread much more rapidly than we thought it would,? says Martin Entz, a plant scientist at the University of Manitoba. ?It’s absolutely impossible to control.?

Scientists suspect that the plants spread through cattle manure. After the seeds traveled through the animals? digestive tracts, they were deposited on the soil, where they germinated.
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Three former workers at a power plant in suburban San Diego owned by Duke Energy told a hearing in the State Legislature that the plant?s managers shut down production units in order to drive up electricity prices. They said they were asked to throw out new parts that could have been used for maintenance, did not complete necessary maintenance and ran a more expensive emergency turbine than was necessary. ?In my opinion, there was price manipulation,? said Glenn Johnson, one of the workers who testified.
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