July 31st, 2010
09:57 PM ET
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Chavez deploys troops near Colombia, reviews 'war plans'

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has deployed troops to areas near the Colombian border and says he is reviewing plans for a potential war as tension between the two nations rises.

"Three nights ago I told the vice president. It makes me sad, I confess, that I'm reviewing war plans," he said during a phone interview on the state-run VTV network.

Special forces are moving to 10 districts near the Colombian border to be prepared in case Colombian President Alvaro Uribe issues an invasion order before he leaves office August 7, Chavez said Friday.

Colombia and Venezuela are at odds over accusations that leftist rebels have found refuge in Venezuela.

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Filed under: Colombia • Venezuela • World
July 31st, 2010
08:35 PM ET
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Soldier in WikiLeaks scandal held in solitary confinement

The Army private charged with leaking an airstrike video and downloading documents remained in solitary confinement Saturday.

Military officials told CNN that Pfc. Bradley Manning is also the prime suspect in the latest leak of documents to the WikiLeaks website.

Manning arrived at 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the Quantico detention facility and was given a physical exam and medical screenings, according to Lt. Col. Rob Manning (not related) of the Military District of Washington.

While in custody the suspect is being observed in accordance with normal operating procedures, according to a military spokesman.

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Filed under: Military • National security • WikiLeaks
July 31st, 2010
07:29 PM ET
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Kanye West anoints his first follow on Twitter

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Rapper Kanye West, who some are saying has the funniest Twitter feed of all time, has been on the popular social networking site for all of four days and amassed more than 345,000 followers.

With celebrities and big brands, that kind of stuff usually happens. In April 2009, CNN and actor Ashton Kutcher battled to see which Twitter account would top 1 million followers the fastest.

What doesn't happen is when a celebrity who is following no one picks you as the sole person he or she is following.

For West, that person is an obscure Twitter account assigned to Steven Holmes of Coventry, England, aka ste_101.

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Filed under: Twitter
July 31st, 2010
05:27 PM ET
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3 convicted murderers on loose after prison break

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[Update 9:27 p.m.] Arizona authorities are hunting for three convicted murderers who may well be out of state or on their way to Mexico, a corrections official said Saturday.

The Arizona Department of Corrections and the Flagstaff police said on
Saturday that the three disappeared from a medium-security facility near Kingman by cutting a hole in a fence. They are considered to be armed and dangerous.

The escaped inmates were discovered missing after a 9 p.m. count in prison.

The three missing prisoners are: Tracy Province, a 42-year-old white man who is 6 feet, 1 inches tall and weighs 184 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes; Daniel Renwick, a 36-year-old white man who is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes and John McClusky, a 45-year-old white man who is 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Police said the convicts are with a woman who helped them escape.

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Filed under: Arizona • Crime • Justice
July 31st, 2010
06:42 AM ET
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800 dead in Pakistan flooding

A car is swamped and a house collapsed in Pakistan's Nowshera district.

The death toll from flooding caused by monsoon rains in Pakistan has risen to at least 800, the information ministry in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said.

Many of the victims died when floodwaters swept away hundreds of mud houses in parts of Swat Valley and the districts of Shangla and Tank, according to Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a provincial minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Rushing water also has washed away thousands of acres of crops and dozens of government buildings, local businesses and schools, Bilour said.

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Filed under: Pakistan • Weather • World