Politics

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** FILE ** Sen. Kay R. Hagan, North Carolina Democrat, is pictured after taking part in a re-enactment of the ceremonial Senate swearing-in on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Former French President Jacques Chirac has been ordered to stand trial on embezzlement charges stemming from his tenure as mayor of Paris. (Associated Press)

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"Alberta Oil Sands #6," taken at Fort McMurray, Alberta, in 2007, is from the part of the show that features places where oil is extracted, refined, distributed and consumed.

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** FILE ** Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) wields his old gavel as he talks about the issue of health care, during a press conference regarding H-232, the Affordable Health Care Act, on the west steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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** FILE ** A test of the Navy's Aegis missile-defense system in the middle of the Pacific off Hawaii. (MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY)

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Steve Largent (J.M. Eddins Jr./The Washington Times)

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** FILE ** Jean Lyndon-Rodgers (left), president of GE Aviation, and Mark Rhodes, senior vice president of Rolls- Royce, stand near the F-136 jet engine in Evendale, Ohio, in October 2009. The alternative engine is "unnecessary" and may harm the Joint Strike Fighter program, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said then.

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Cardinal William Levada of the United States is the Vatican's chief doctrinal official. (Associated Press)

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Rush Limbaugh (Associated Press) ** FILE **

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** FILE ** Najibullah Zazi, who hatched a plot to use backpack bombs in the New York subway, was contacted by a confidant of Osama bin Laden's, according to intelligence officials. (AP Photo, File)

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**FILE** Chinese army trucks carrying new long-range and cruise missiles are shown off during China's 60th anniversary celebration in October 2009. (Associated Press)

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Joseph Silverman / The Washington Times File. Washington Redskins punter Hunter Smith against the Tampa Buccaneers.

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**FILE** Various aircrafts from the Chinese People's Liberation Army airforce perform a fly pass during the National Day parade in Beijing on Oct. 1, 2009. (AFP/Getty Images)

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** FILE ** The closing of the detention facility at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was one of President Obama's chief campaign pledges. (AP Photo)

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** FILE ** This 2009 file photograph, originally released by Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency, purports to show the launch of a Shahab-3 medium-range missile at an undisclosed location in Iran. (Associated Press)

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An Amtrak Metroliner is bound for Washington, D.C. Amtrak currently prohibits guns anywhere on its trains. Associated press

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** FILE ** Washington Mystics Matee Ajavon, Monique Currie, Chasity Melvin. (File photo by Joseph Silverman/The Washington Times

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Associated press photographs Syrian military intelligence appears to be providing assistance to the U.N. special tribunal investigating the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri to shield Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (above) from blame.