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ORIGINAL: Level

Distant space collision meant doom for dinosaurs
By Will DunhamWed Sep 5, 3:36 PM ET

A collision 160 million years ago of two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter sent many big rock chunks hurtling toward Earth, including the one that zapped the dinosaurs, scientists said on Wednesday.

Their research offered an explanation for the cause of one of the most momentous events in the history of life on Earth -- a six-mile-wide (10-km-wide) meteorite striking Mexico's Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070905/sc_nm/asteroid_dinosaurs_dc;_ylt=Ap6mXd485KQQXP3v4bVDDQWs0NUE

Sources: B-52 mistakenly carried nukes
Wed Sep 5, 10:13 AM ET

A B-52 bomber was mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads during a flight from North Dakota to Louisiana, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The bomber carried advanced cruise missiles as part of a Defense Department program to retire 400 of the missiles, the Military Times said, quoting three officers who spoke on condition they remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070905/ap_on_re_us/bomber_warheads;_ylt=Ass0wKQupB7sZj9E9fbXO.Os0NUE

Reports: Pavarotti's condition worsens
1 hour, 39 minutes ago

Luciano Pavarotti's health has deteriorated and the tenor was in very serious condition, suffering kidney problems and losing consciousness, a local Italian TV station reported Wednesday.

Television station E' TV Antenna-1 in Modena reported that the 71-year-old tenor, who has pancreatic cancer, had lost consciousness and was suffering from kidney problems at the Modena home where he has been recovering following a hospital stay.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070905/ap_on_en_mu/pavarotti;_ylt=AlFvfT.GGMTGuec6ytxcVW.s0NUE

Doctor describes Benoit brain injury
By HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 25 minutes ago.

Pro wrestler Chris Benoit suffered head trauma from his years in the ring that could help explain why he killed his wife, son and himself, a doctor who studied his brain said Wednesday.

The analysis by doctors affiliated with the Sports Legacy Institute suggests that repeated concussions could have contributed to the killings at Benoit's suburban Atlanta home, though there was no way to know for sure.

"Whether it is the sole factor, I believe, is speculation, and I will not go there," said Dr. Robert Cantu, a member of the Waltham, Mass.-based institute, which researches the long-term effects of concussions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070905/ap_on_re_us/wrestler_dead;_ylt=An1VNjGrm7Hkv7qrlSzgoYys0NUE

Germans arrest 3 in alleged terror plot
By DAVID MCHUGH, Associated Press WriterWed Sep 5, 4:35 PM ET

Three militants from an Islamic group linked to al-Qaida were planning "imminent" bomb attacks against Americans in Germany when an elite anti-terrorist unit raided their small-town hideout after months of intense surveillance, officials said Wednesday.

The men — two German converts to Islam and a Turkish citizen who prosecutors said shared a "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" — allegedly obtained military-style detonators and enough chemicals to make bombs more powerful than those that killed 191 commuters in Madrid in 2004 and 52 in London in 2005.

Frankfurt International Airport and the nearby U.S. Ramstein Air Base reportedly were the suspects' primary targets.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070905/ap_on_re_eu/germany_terror;_ylt=AgS6yRPT17V3XaaewfQnDnes0NUE

Israel Weighs a War in Gaza
By TIM MCGIRK/JERUSALEM1 hour, 43 minutes ago

As children in the southern Israeli town of Sderot toddled back to class after summer vacation on Monday, a Palestinian rocket exploded near a gaily painted kindergarten. None of the kids were hurt by the blast, but as one mother who rushed to the kindergarten says, "I found all the children terrified and in tears." They were treated for shock.

On Back to School day, seven rockets fired from the nearby Palestinian enclave of Gaza landed in Sderot, narrowly missing toddlers entering a kindergarten. The Palestinian militants routinely fire rockets from Gaza, but this time those responsible claimed to be retaliating for Israel killing three Palestinian children, who had been gathering fruit and playing hide and seek, the previous week. (The Israeli army had apologized for the three deaths.)

Palestinian rocket fire into Israel from Gaza has continued incessantly since 2003, and Israeli military planners and politicians know that it's only a matter of time before one of the crude homemade rockets hits a school or a supermarket, killing many Israelis.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with his security cabinet to figure out the terrible equation of how hard Israel should strike back against Gaza when one of these home-made rockets brings death to Sderot. The collateral damage could include President George W. Bush's proposed Middle East peace summit in November, since a major Israeli strike against Gaza would inevitably prompt a stay-away by the moderate Arab states on whose support Washington is counting - Egypt, Jordan and possibly Saudi Arabia.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20070905/wl_time/israelweighsawaringaza;_ylt=Au2mfpmLYtWl_DzWC2Rm8M.s0NUE