Raising the amount of vitamin D in the blood appears to help some people — at least those deficient in the vitamin — reduce their risk of heart disease by about 30%, researchers announced Monday. The findings, though preliminary, support further investigation of the interplay between vitamin D and heart health.
Vitamin D linked to lower [...]

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To the casual observer, people on the streets of Beirut show no fear of war. But talk to many Lebanese today, and you’ll soon find war is very much on their minds.
Neither side wants to be guilty of starting the next war, but people in Lebanon say tension is now so high the smallest [...]

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Even though the U.S. financial systemnearly experienced a total meltdown in late 2008, the truth is that most Americans simply have no idea what is happening to the U.S. economy. Most people seem to think that the nasty little recession that we have just been through is almost over and that we will be [...]

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Nevertheless, if people who borrowed money could not pay it back, China might need to scramble to raise cash to keep its banks above water. In that case, it might sell a chunk of its $2.2 trillion in U.S. debt — which would likely drive up interest rates in the U.S.
How so? Such selling [...]

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The Chinese government has moved to calm huge public anger over the widespread seizure of property, an issue that has driven three people to set themselves on fire in as many months.
A large proportion of China’s estimated 100,000 or so public protests each year are driven by rage over compulsory evictions. Over the past decade, [...]

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A dangerous storm is brewing over the Pacific, as America and the People’s Republic of China enter what may be their tensest decade since President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972.
The latest flash is the running fight over Internet freedom, with Google this month withdrawing from China in protest against government censorship. Secretary of [...]

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In short: China still lags far behind the US, both economically and militarily — the latter, too, an oft-overlooked point. It may not always be thus, but the US will remain the world’s lone superpower throughout our new century.
“China is still in kindergarten compared to the US,” says Charles Freeman, chair in China studies at [...]

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According to Olga Kryshtanovs­kaya, a University of Moscow sociologist who monitors elite groups, the siloviki – literally “strong guys” – hit their apogee in 2007, when they accounted for two out of every three members of the president’s administration. But following the accession to the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, they are this year down to [...]

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The economy appears to be looking up but could fall right back into another recession just like in 1937. The biggest concern is that the Bush tax cuts will expire in 2011, and we can look forward to the biggest tax increase in history. If you wanted to ensure another recession then letting the [...]

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Citizens in three countries foresee a U.S.-backed military intervention in Iran in the next decade, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 58 per cent of respondents in Britain, 56 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of Americans regard this as a likely possibility.
In addition, a sizeable proportion of people in [...]

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