On:

Astronomers have found the most Earth-like planet they’ve ever seen outside our solar system. It should even have water running on its surface.

The planet orbits a star which is 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra. BBC News quotes astronomer Stephane Udry as saying, “We have estimated that the mean temperature of this ‘super-Earth’ lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid. Moreover, its radius should be only 1.5 times the Earth’s radius, and models predict that the planet should be either rocky?like our Earth?or covered with oceans.”

Astronomer Xavier Delfosse adds, “Liquid water is critical to life as we know it.” He thinks this planet may become a target for future space explorations.
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On:

The announcement made today that the US Office of Special Council is investigating White House political activities is catastrophic for the Bush Administration and is widely believed on Capitol Hill to be the beginning of the end for George W. Bush.

If this investigation is conducted honestly, which will be to reveal that Karl Rove and others violated federal law by making political presentations to federal employees prior to the 2006 elections, it could lead to a White House meltdown on a scale not seen since the collapse of the Nixon Administration.
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On:

Why did the top newspapers in the US fail to challenge the Bush administration’s claims about the need to invade Iraq in order to prevent terrorism, which we now know was based on untruths?

Journalism professor Susan D. Moellar thinks our newspapers are STILL failing us. She studied coverage of terrorism and the war in some of our biggest national dailies, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times and the Boston Globe, from Sept. 11, 2001 through 2007, and says, “Too many journalists from the most important newspapers in the country are still validating President Bush’s combination of different types of terrorism into a single category of threat.
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On:

We recently reported on a mysterious ghost yacht that was discovered off the coast of Australia. Their laptop was still charging, their clothes were neatly folded, there was food on the table, and now authorities believe that the three sailors missing from the Australian “ghost yacht” may have been kidnapped.

Except for a mysteriously shredded sail, there was no evidence of foul play, and no indication that they ran into bad weather. All of the boat’s life vests remain aboard, and it had not suffered any damage or taken on any water. When it was found, the engine was still running and the GPS device on board indicated that it had been drifting since the day it left Airlie Beach in eastern Australia.
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