In the News May 27, 2008

11 States now have gas selling for over $4 gallon.
Retail gas prices hit record highs for the 20th day in a row, according to AAA's Web site .The nationwide average for a gallon of regular unleaded rose to $3.937, up slightly from $3.936 the previous day.The climb in gas prices, which have steadily risen over the past three weeks, comes amid the start of the summer driving season, which unofficially kicked off over the past weekend.
And, we are driving less...

The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded.

Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less -- that's 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT's Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it "the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history."

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Aid workers and peacekeepers are sexually abusing young children in war zones and disaster zones but their actions are largely going unpunished. This is according to a Save the Children report.

"Children as young as six are trading sex with aid workers and peacekeepers in exchange for food, money, soap and, in very few cases, luxury items such as mobile phones,"

It also highlighted instances of rape, verbal sexual abuse, child pornography, prostitution and trafficking of youngsters, many of whom are poor, displaced or orphaned by conflict.

The group said the scale of abuse was "significant". Its findings were based on work with hundreds of youngsters from Ivory Coast, southern Sudan and Haiti, said the charity's chief executive Jasmine Whitbread.

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AP Photo:

Director and actor Sydney Pollack dies at 73. Pollack was diagnosed with cancer about nine months ago. Sydney Pollack is known directing films such as "Out of Africa," "Tootsie," and "Absence of Malice," not only for his Academy Award-winning direction, but also for his acting talents.
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Ghost in a bottle for sale.
A company in the US is selling what they say are ghosts in a bottle. Ghostbusters capture the ghosts and the company then bottles them and sells them.

According to the company's website,

each Ghost is captured from a reported haunted establishment, (house, hotel, ship, cemetery, etc), by Ghost Hunters.

We seal the ghost in it's own bottle. The bottle is sealed for your protection.

No maintenance required; except occasional dusting.

You may release the Ghost at your own discretion and at your own risk.

The Ghost in the Bottle is contained mysteriously and is therefore sealed with wax shortly after the Ghost is caught. The bottle is sealed for your protection. It comes with very important information . We supply the Ghost, you supply the name. Individual Ghost experiences may vary as "Each Ghost is Unique"!