![WorldNow_Header_topline630.gifheader.gifwebworldnow](https://irnglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/WorldNow_Header_topline6301.gifheader1.gifwebworldnow1.gif)
![A Palestinian protester throws a Molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers, not pictured, during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. A Palestinian protester throws a Molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers, not pictured, during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Wednesday, April 3, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/22/767cc4d84a9633.jpg)
Men aged 17 and 18 killed as confrontations enter a third day following the death of a
Palestinian prisoner in an
Israeli jail Clashes flared after the death on Tuesday of Maysara Abu Hamdeya, 64, who was serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail….
photo: AP / Nasser Shiyoukhi
![A man wades through a flooded street in La Plata, in Argentina's Buenos Aires province, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. A man wades through a flooded street in La Plata, in Argentina's Buenos Aires province, Wednesday, April 3, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/3d/623b6c8780d87f.jpg)
The government in
Argentina has declared three days of national mourning after flash floods killed 54 people. One of the heaviest storms recorded moved through the province hitting both the capital,
Buenos Aires, and the city of
La Plata. At least 48…
photo: AP / Natacha Pisarenko
![A South Korean Marine stands on a K-55 self-propelled howitzer during a military exercise against possible attacks by North Korea near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. A South Korean Marine stands on a K-55 self-propelled howitzer during a military exercise against possible attacks by North Korea near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, April 3, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/ee/578d7d988a6ca8.jpg)
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
![FIn this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A bitterly divided Senate panel on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, FIn this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A bitterly divided Senate panel on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013,](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/97/be9d82e020fa26.jpg)
photo: AP / Scott Applewhite
![Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, right, accompanied by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, inspect the Honor Guards during a welcome ceremony at the Istana or presidential palace on Friday May 22, 2009 in Singapore. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, right, accompanied by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, inspect the Honor Guards during a welcome ceremony at the Istana or presidential palace on Friday May 22, 2009 in Singapore.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/c3/aa4c83a799202f.jpg)
photo: AP / Wong Maye-E
![An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister back at riot police, not seen, during clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister back at riot police, not seen, during clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/08/9cbf6eaf4cfd44.jpg)
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
![Palestinians walk past murals depicting slogans for Hamas in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on March 21, 2013. Two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip which hit the southern city of Sderot, rockets fired by militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip hit southern Israel as US President Barack Obama was visiting the Jewish state, police said. Photo by Ahmed Deeb / WN Palestinians walk past murals depicting slogans for Hamas in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on March 21, 2013. Two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip which hit the southern city of Sderot, rockets fired by militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip hit southern Israel as US President Barack Obama was visiting the Jewish state, police said. Photo by Ahmed Deeb / WN](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/d6/07235bddbbb646.jpg)
GAZA
CITY,
Gaza Strip (AP) — The
Israeli military says its warplanes have struck targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire toward southern
Israel. The air strikes early Wednesday morning were the first launched by Israel since an…
![FIn this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A bitterly divided Senate panel on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, FIn this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. A bitterly divided Senate panel on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013,](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/97/be9d82e020fa26.jpg)
photo: AP / Scott Applewhite
![Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, right, accompanied by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, inspect the Honor Guards during a welcome ceremony at the Istana or presidential palace on Friday May 22, 2009 in Singapore. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, right, accompanied by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, inspect the Honor Guards during a welcome ceremony at the Istana or presidential palace on Friday May 22, 2009 in Singapore.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/c3/aa4c83a799202f.jpg)
photo: AP / Wong Maye-E
![An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister back at riot police, not seen, during clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister back at riot police, not seen, during clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/08/9cbf6eaf4cfd44.jpg)
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
![Palestinians walk past murals depicting slogans for Hamas in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on March 21, 2013. Two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip which hit the southern city of Sderot, rockets fired by militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip hit southern Israel as US President Barack Obama was visiting the Jewish state, police said. Photo by Ahmed Deeb / WN Palestinians walk past murals depicting slogans for Hamas in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on March 21, 2013. Two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip which hit the southern city of Sderot, rockets fired by militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip hit southern Israel as US President Barack Obama was visiting the Jewish state, police said. Photo by Ahmed Deeb / WN](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/d6/07235bddbbb646.jpg)
GAZA
CITY,
Gaza Strip (AP) — The
Israeli military says its warplanes have struck targets in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire toward southern
Israel. The air strikes early Wednesday morning were the first launched by Israel since an…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
![Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic addresses the media at the end of a meeting, at the European External Action Service( EEAS) office in Brussels, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic addresses the media at the end of a meeting, at the European External Action Service( EEAS) office in Brussels, Wednesday, April 3, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/26/e4011b3da245d3.jpg)
photo: AP / Yves Logghe
![A fan of Michael Jackson cries while holding a poster with his likeness ahead of the premiere of the documentary "This Is It" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 A fan of Michael Jackson cries while holding a poster with his likeness ahead of the premiere of the documentary "This Is It" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/12/2baa102f1e2248.jpg)
Jury selection has began in a
Los Angeles civil trial that will revisit the chequered life and sudden death of superstar
Michael Jackson before a planned comeback that he had hoped would revive his tattered personal and musical reputation.
Jackson’s…
photo: AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
![In this image from television, foreign reporters and workers in protective gear are seen at North Korea's main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008. In this image from television, foreign reporters and workers in protective gear are seen at North Korea's main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/78/2c9f7801e36351.jpg)
Correction Appended SEOUL,
South Korea —
North Korea said on Tuesday that it would put all its nuclear facilities — including its operational uranium-enrichment program and its reactors mothballed or under construction — to use in expanding its…
photo: AP / APTN
![Supporters of opposition Presidential candidate Henrique Capriles hold up posters of him prior to the start of a march against violence in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 1, 2013. Supporters of opposition Presidential candidate Henrique Capriles hold up posters of him prior to the start of a march against violence in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, April 1, 2013.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/34/f732c3a5206e15.jpg)
The official election campaign to replace the late
President Hugo Chavez is getting under way in
Venezuela. The two main candidates have already been holding events in the month since Mr
Chavez died of cancer. On Monday, opposition candidate
Henrique…
photo: AP / Fernando Llano
![Hamas leader in exile Khaled Meshaal waves goodbye, alongside Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, upon his departure from the Gaza Strip in Rafah, on the border with Egypt on December 10, 2012. Meshaal tours the Gaza Strip, ending 45 years of exile from Palestinian land with a visit that underscored the Islamist group's growing confidence following a recent conflict with Israel.Photo by Ahmed Deeb / WN Hamas leader in exile Khaled Meshaal waves goodbye, alongside Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, upon his departure from the Gaza Strip in Rafah, on the border with Egypt on December 10, 2012. Meshaal tours the Gaza Strip, ending 45 years of exile from Palestinian land with a visit that underscored the Islamist group's growing confidence following a recent conflict with Israel.Photo by Ahmed Deeb / WN](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/c0/48201b2973de35.jpg)
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
![This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Revolution Against Assad's Regime which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows dead bodies on a street in Aleppo, Syria Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Revolution Against Assad's Regime which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows dead bodies on a street in Aleppo, Syria Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/4c/40328607dfa486.jpg)
March was the bloodiest month yet in
Syria’s two-year-old conflict with more than 6,
000 documented deaths, a leading anti-regime activist group said on Monday, blaming the increase on heavier shelling and more violent clashes. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who…
photo: AP / Aleppo Revolution Against Assad Regime
![Ku Klux Klan members supporting Barry Goldwater's campaign for the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention, San Francisco, California, as an African American man pushes signs back,USA. Ku Klux Klan members supporting Barry Goldwater's campaign for the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention, San Francisco, California, as an African American man pushes signs back,USA.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/80/4c25b4d80ef199.jpg)
photo: Creative Commons / Warren K. Leffler
![Muslims carry a body bag containing an unidentified victim's body to an ambulance after a fire broke out at a mosque in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Muslims carry a body bag containing an unidentified victim's body to an ambulance after a fire broke out at a mosque in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 2, 2013.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/47/93ab716593457b.jpg)
YANGON,
Myanmar (AP) —
Police in Myanmar say 13 children died when an electrical fire broke out at a mosque in the country’s largest city.
Police officer Thet Lwin said the blaze early Tuesday in
Yangon was triggered by an overheated inverter…
photo: AP / Khin Maung Win
![A Malian soldier takes cover behind a truck during exchanges of fire with jihadists in Gao, northern Mali, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A Malian soldier takes cover behind a truck during exchanges of fire with jihadists in Gao, northern Mali, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/7d/963303dc4020d2.jpg)
The Malian city of
Timbuktu is on high alert, after deadly clashes erupted there over the weekend. Malian soldiers were going house to house on Monday, searching for rebels. At least three fighters were reportedly killed.
Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall,…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
![Ind. surgeon answers call of duty in Afghanistan Ind. surgeon answers call of duty in Afghanistan](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/ce/a6453fe8bc35cf.jpg)
Life is funny this way:
Sometimes you run across a small thing that leads you to a huge life change. That happened several years ago with Dr.
Roger Shinnerl, 46, a general and vascular surgeon at
Evansville Surgical
Associates. For him, the “small…
![People pass by a branch of the bank of Cyprus in central capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, March 30, 2013. People pass by a branch of the bank of Cyprus in central capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Saturday, March 30, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/27/f96ea69c111c86.jpg)
The Russian government says it will not compensate
Russian savers who have lost money in the
Cyprus banking crisis.
Russians are believed to have billions of euros in Cypriot accounts and deposits above
100,
000 euros (£84,
300; $128,200) in the two…
photo: AP / Petros Karadjias
![Easter As A Religious Observance Easter As A Religious Observance](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/c7/c9bc76ca686694.jpg)
Easter is here and a lot of the people who are celebrating are ones who are just thrilled to have this week off so that they can rest and relax.
Sure, some deem cleaning their entire house from top to bottom as being “relaxing,” but I am not in that…
photo: WN / Marzena J.
![March set to be coldest in 51 years March set to be coldest in 51 years](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/28/34730844d70537.jpg)
As snow continues to blanket parts of the UK, it will come as no surprise to many that the last 31 days look set to be the coldest March in more than 50 years. Average temperatures between March 1 and 26 were just 2.5C (36.5F), three degrees below…
photo: WN / Marzena J.
![Computer workshops for parents slated for April Computer workshops for parents slated for April](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/29/9642051fd9a6d6.jpg)
Elizabeth Brunscheen-Cartagena isn’t surprised to see parents leave computer workshops stunned about the scope of online dangers targeting their children. She had the same reaction herself. “Every time I left the class, I thought,…
photo: WN / Marzena J.
![Children from a school close to former South African President Nelson Mandela's house sing and dance to traditional drum beat as they celebrate his birthday in Qunu, South Africa, Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Children from a school close to former South African President Nelson Mandela's house sing and dance to traditional drum beat as they celebrate his birthday in Qunu, South Africa, Wednesday, July 18, 2012.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/39/b688d4406a8bf9.jpg)
photo: AP / Schalk van Zuydam
![Popular Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, waves to is supporters as he enters Egypt's state prosecutors office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country's Islamist leader in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 31, 2013. Popular Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, waves to is supporters as he enters Egypt's state prosecutors office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country's Islamist leader in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 31, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/be/8d9176f29ff7c6.jpg)
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
![Pope Francis, greets the faithful during the Urbi and Orbi (to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the the Vatican Sunday, March 31, 2013. Pope Francis, greets the faithful during the Urbi and Orbi (to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the the Vatican Sunday, March 31, 2013.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/d7/f2cf37b46b4a81.jpg)
photo: AP / Andrew Medichini
![Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013 Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/53/bba05a772e061d.jpg)
photo: AP / Ahmad Jamshid
![Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, gestures during a news conference Friday, Dec. 17, 2010, in Nairobi, Kenya on the presidency. Odinga sharply criticized incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo for illegitimately hanging on to power and urged him to step aside. Prime Minister Raila Odinga's words carry particular weight because many observers of Kenya's 2007 presidential election believe Odinga was the rightful winner, but incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was instead declared winner, sparking months of violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in this East African nation. ( Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, gestures during a news conference Friday, Dec. 17, 2010, in Nairobi, Kenya on the presidency. Odinga sharply criticized incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo for illegitimately hanging on to power and urged him to step aside. Prime Minister Raila Odinga's words carry particular weight because many observers of Kenya's 2007 presidential election believe Odinga was the rightful winner, but incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was instead declared winner, sparking months of violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in this East African nation. (](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/82/a6d85076e3b441.jpg)
photo: AP / Sayyid Azim
SEOUL : North Korea on Saturday declared it was in a “state of war” with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict. The United States said it took the announcement “seriously”, but noted it followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an…
![Dead duck (sl1) Dead duck (sl1)](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/99/0334caa5eaa648.jpg)
Officials have already cleaned up thousands of dead pigs from a river just outside of Shangahi,
China, and now they have another problem on their hands. ABCNews.com reported on the morning of Friday, March 29, 2013, that officials are trying to…
photo: creative commons /
![In this Feb. 6, 2013 file photo, bystanders watch as a woman accused of witchcraft is burned alive in the Western Highlands provincial capital of Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea. In this Feb. 6, 2013 file photo, bystanders watch as a woman accused of witchcraft is burned alive in the Western Highlands provincial capital of Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/5c/45cb1b688b8fa9.jpg)
A woman is beaten, tortured and set on fire in a public square, in
Papua New Guinea , on Feb. 7, 2013. The woman is accused of being a witch by an angry mob, who bound, tortured and set her ablaze in view of hundreds of horrified spectators, a number…
photo: AP / Post Courier
![Inman Middle School Inman Middle School](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/fb/7891fc087506f7.jpg)
A grand jury has indicted 35 school administrators and teachers for their alleged part in the biggest standardized test cheating ring in the history of the nation.
The Associated Press reported on Friday, March 29, 2013, that
Atlanta‘s public school…
photo: Creative Commons
![Rescue workers emerge from the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao, in China's Shanxi province, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009. A gas explosion ripped through the mine early Sunday, killing at least 73 Rescue workers emerge from the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao, in China's Shanxi province, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009. A gas explosion ripped through the mine early Sunday, killing at least 73](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/7e/6f62f7dd13a216.jpg)
A huge landslide buried 83 workers at a gold mining site in western
China on Friday, setting off a frantic rescue effort, China’s state-run
Xinhua news agency reported.
The government said more than 1,
000 rescue workers had been called in to…
photo: AP / Greg Baker
![Members of the September 11th Education Trust meet in a restaurant overlooking the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 in New York. The trust is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching the lessons of 9/11 Members of the September 11th Education Trust meet in a restaurant overlooking the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 in New York. The trust is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching the lessons of 9/11](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/12/a005eeb4a27086.jpg)
A judge dismissed a lawsuit on Friday that sought to stop the display of a cross-shaped steel beam found in the
World Trade Center’s rubble, saying it could help tell the story of the terrorist attack. Connect with NYTMetro
Follow us on Twitter…
photo: AP / Mark Lennihan
![University students punch the air as they march through Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 29, 2013. University students punch the air as they march through Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 29, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/f8/12a456f48174d0.jpg)
North Korea has said it is entering a “state of war” with
South Korea in its latest escalation of rhetoric against its southern neighbour and the US. A statement carried on state media promised “stern physical actions” against…
photo: AP / Jon Chol Jin
![Fire fighters extinguish a fire at the Great Prophet Shiite mosque after a suicide car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 29, 2013. Fire fighters extinguish a fire at the Great Prophet Shiite mosque after a suicide car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 29, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/c4/62f658bd2ad362.jpg)
BAGHDAD: A series of car bombs near
Shiite mosques targeting worshippers attending weekly prayers killed at least 18 people on Friday, the latest in a spike in unrest ahead of
Iraq’s first polls since
2010. The blasts,…
![Republican Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. Republican Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/b6/6a800f8e03e165.jpg)
WASHINGTON — The unprecedented
U.S. decision to send nuclear-capable
B-2 stealth bombers to drop dummy munitions during military drills with
South Korea this week was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke a reaction from
North Korea,…
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
![Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, briefs correspondents following the Security Council consultation on the situations in the Middle East. Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, briefs correspondents following the Security Council consultation on the situations in the Middle East.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/a4/68a7c75cdd1566.jpg)
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
![Crewmembers assigned to the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force E-3A component, head toward their aircraft in preparation for a Joint Task Force exercise off the coast of Southern California. Crewmembers assigned to the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force E-3A component, head toward their aircraft in preparation for a Joint Task Force exercise off the coast of Southern California.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/29/b1bb3d67b69521.jpg)
photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Brian K. Fromal
![French President Francois Hollande, center, reviews troops, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, of the twelfth cuirassiers regiment in the military base of Olivet, near Orleans, central France, before delivering his New Year's greetings to French army forces. French President Francois Hollande, center, reviews troops, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, of the twelfth cuirassiers regiment in the military base of Olivet, near Orleans, central France, before delivering his New Year's greetings to French army forces.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/df/8152b06c05bbe9.jpg)
France will reduce the number of its troops fighting in
Mali to 1,
000 by the end of the year,
President Francois Hollande says. “We have achieved our objectives,” Mr
Hollande said in a TV interview. He said troop levels would be halved to…
photo: AP / Jacques Brinon
![Iraq's national football team, in green, in action against the Syria national football team, in red, during their international friendly soccer match at the al-Shaab stadium in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 26, 2013. Iraq's national football team, in green, in action against the Syria national football team, in red, during their international friendly soccer match at the al-Shaab stadium in Baghdad, Tuesday, March 26, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/80/706256ead1a2fe.jpg)
BAGHDAD –
Iraq‘s national soccer team played
Syria on the greenest patch of grass in
Baghdad the other night, under bright lights that mostly stayed lit, before tens of thousands of
Iraqis cheering on their own and the
Syrians, too. The…
photo: AP / Khalid Mohammed
![A board on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 11,000 after the opening bell, Monday, April 12, 2010 A board on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 11,000 after the opening bell, Monday, April 12, 2010](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/d3/d4d1251db8d4cf.jpg)
NEW YORK: The
S&P 500 set an all-time closing record Thursday in a
sign of growing confidence in the
US economy. The widely-watched, broad-based index, a bellwether of US markets and the US economy, closed at 1,
569.19, up 6.34 points, or 0.41 per…
photo: AP / Richard Drew
![Former South African President Nelson Mandela, left, sits next to his wife Graca Machel as they are driven across the field ahead of the World Cup final soccer match between the Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, July 11, 2010 Former South African President Nelson Mandela, left, sits next to his wife Graca Machel as they are driven across the field ahead of the World Cup final soccer match between the Netherlands and Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, July 11, 2010](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/1f/c3bbc985ef3988.jpg)
WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Barack Obama says he’s concerned about
Nelson Mandela‘s health, but that the anti-apartheid leader is as strong physically as he has been in leadership and character.
Obama says he’s sending his thoughts and prayers…
photo: AP / Luca Bruno
![In this file photo made June 27, 2006, reviewed by a U.S. Department of Defense official, U.S. military guards walk within Camp Delta military-run prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. In this file photo made June 27, 2006, reviewed by a U.S. Department of Defense official, U.S. military guards walk within Camp Delta military-run prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/9f/37bdb49c114503.jpg)
photo: AP / Brennan Linsley
![Chilean President Michelle Bachelet returned on Saturday to the place where she was imprisoned and tortured more than 30 years ago under military rule -- Agregó, además, que en su regreso al recinto de detención, lo encuentra transformado en Parque de la Chilean President Michelle Bachelet returned on Saturday to the place where she was imprisoned and tortured more than 30 years ago under military rule -- Agregó, además, que en su regreso al recinto de detención, lo encuentra transformado en Parque de la](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/f4/f37ac2f286c1a1.jpg)
SANTIAGO,
Chile (AP) — Former
President Michelle Bachelet says she will run again for Chile’s top office in November elections as the candidate of the country’s center-left and…
photo: Presidencia de la Republica de Chile/Alex Ibanez
![Press Conference: UN Women- The future women want Participants: Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women and Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former Prime Minister of Norway Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Climate Change. Moderator: Deborah Seward, Director, Strategic Communications Division, UN Department of Public Information Press Conference: UN Women- The future women want Participants: Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women and Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former Prime Minister of Norway Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Climate Change. Moderator: Deborah Seward, Director, Strategic Communications Division, UN Department of Public Information](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/35/584c9c7c1b6802.jpg)
The former president of
Chile,
Michelle Bachelet, has said she will run for a second mandate in the November poll. Mrs Bachelet became the first female president of Chile in
2006, serving out her term in
2010. She has spent the last three years in…
photo: UN / Maria Elisa Franco
![Bank of Cyprus Bank of Cyprus](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/55/c1805779f7887f.jpg)
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriots are expected to descend in their thousands on Thursday on banks, which reopen with tight controls imposed on transactions to prevent fleeing depositors from cleaning out the vaults in a catastrophic bank run. The east…
photo: Creative Commons
![James E. Holmes appears in Arapahoe County District Court with Public Defender Tamara Brady Monday, July 23, 2012, in Centennial, Colo. James E. Holmes appears in Arapahoe County District Court with Public Defender Tamara Brady Monday, July 23, 2012, in Centennial, Colo.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/6a/07670553bf398c.jpg)
Defence attorneys for the former graduate student accused of killing 12 people at a
Denver area movie theatre last July have offered to have him plead guilty in exchange for a life prison term, according to court documents filed today.
Public…
photo: AP / Denver Post, RJ Sangosti
![Police officers secure the perimeter, with a sealed gate into the compound and a house where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed late Monday, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Police officers secure the perimeter, with a sealed gate into the compound and a house where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed late Monday, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/b3/844f3e12f330ff.jpg)
A
NEW version of the events surrounding the killing of
Osama bin Laden sharply contradicts earlier claims by a
Navy SEAL who said he pulled the trigger.
Esquire magazine published a long interview in February with a man identified only as “the…
photo: AP / Anjum Naveed
![Alexei Navalny Alexei Navalny](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/31/7efb99845ef1b5.jpg)
MOSCOW — Since his earliest days as an opposition blogger,
Aleksei A.
Navalny has known that a prison sentence loomed as a possibility. Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter
List:…
photo: Creative Commons
![File - A teenage girl in front of a computer using the internet, India. File - A teenage girl in front of a computer using the internet, India.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/e3/5fdcc35755244d.jpg)
A squabble between a group fighting spam and a
Dutch company that hosts websites said to be sending spam has escalated into one of the largest computer attacks on the Internet, causing widespread congestion and jamming crucial infrastructure….
photo: WN / Aruna Mirasdar
![Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, center, attends the opening session of the Arab League summit in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, March 26, 2013. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, center, attends the opening session of the Arab League summit in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, March 26, 2013.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/35/40377082949dee.jpg)
Egypt President Mohammed Morsi sees parliamentary elections being held in October, state media reported on Wednesday, driving the country deeper into political turmoil. A court earlier this month already suspended elections scheduled for April. By…
photo: AP / Ghiath Mohamad
![Flanked by Secret Service agents, US President George W. Bush and First Lady, Laura Bush travel the inaugural parade route inside an armored limousine headed toward the White House after renewing the oath of office earlier in the day at the nation´ Flanked by Secret Service agents, US President George W. Bush and First Lady, Laura Bush travel the inaugural parade route inside an armored limousine headed toward the White House after renewing the oath of office earlier in the day at the nation´](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/7d/092552244daced.jpg)
WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Barack Obama on Tuesday named veteran
Secret Service agent
Julia Pierson as the agency’s first female director, signaling his desire to change the culture at the male-dominated service, which has been marred by scandal….
photo: US Navy file/JO2 Mark O´Donald
![Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon posed for a group photo with staff members of United Nations Radio to mark World Radio Day, which is observed on 13 February. Mr. Ban (right) is shown speaking to the UN’s radio journalists. At left is UN Radio Chief Executive Producer Ben Dotsei Malor. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon posed for a group photo with staff members of United Nations Radio to mark World Radio Day, which is observed on 13 February. Mr. Ban (right) is shown speaking to the UN’s radio journalists. At left is UN Radio Chief Executive Producer Ben Dotsei Malor.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/b8/50be3a5d4b705c.jpg)
EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press= UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon proposed a
U.N. peacekeeping force for
Mali with 11,200 troops working alongside a non-U.N. force that would conduct major combat and counter-terrorism operations…
photo: UN / Mark Garten
![South of Zhongli City. The city of Zhongli is mainly centered around the TRA Zhongli Station. The TRA station is the 3rd busiest station of Taiwan. In addition, there is also a Neili station stop of the TRA. South of Zhongli City. The city of Zhongli is mainly centered around the TRA Zhongli Station. The TRA station is the 3rd busiest station of Taiwan. In addition, there is also a Neili station stop of the TRA.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/6b/73f4a50fa4bda1.jpg)
TAIPEI,
Taiwan – A strong earthquake has been felt throughout Taiwan, but no casualties or damage has been reported yet.
The Central Weather Bureau says the quake Wednesday registered at magnitude
6.1. The tremor struck a rural township in Nantou…
photo: Creative Commons / Ted chou12
![Hiring freeze leads to 800 Air Force Life Cycle Management Center job vacancies Hiring freeze leads to 800 Air Force Life Cycle Management Center job vacancies](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/55/c4196eb026bdb9.jpg)
photo: DOD / Public Domain
![Over 50 killed in Afghan violence in two days Over 50 killed in Afghan violence in two days](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/0f/9ccbb9f444a6b0.jpg)
KABUL, March 26 (
Xinhua) — More than 50 people, mostly militants, have been killed in attacks and bombings across
Afghanistan since Monday morning, authorities said Tuesday. At early
Tuesday morning, five
Afghan policemen and eight militants were…
photo: U.S. Marine Corps / Public Domain
![Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrives to speak at the Iraq Inquiry in London, Monday, March 8, 2010. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrives to speak at the Iraq Inquiry in London, Monday, March 8, 2010.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/47/0d93fd39ceada3.jpg)
photo: AP / Matt Dunham
26 Mar 2013
Cyprus ordered banks to remain closed for two more days over fears of a run by customers trying to get their money out, after striking a pre-dawn bailout deal on Monday that averted the country’s imminent bankruptcy. The sudden midnight postponement of the much anticipated on Tuesday bank opening by all but the country’s two largest…
![People line up to buy Mega Millions lottery tickets at the Bluebird Liquor store in Hawthorne, Calif. on Friday, March 30, 2012. People line up to buy Mega Millions lottery tickets at the Bluebird Liquor store in Hawthorne, Calif. on Friday, March 30, 2012.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/c7/0532f75ea8a0aa.jpg)
photo: AP / Damian Dovarganes
![President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama share a dance during the Commander-In-Chief Inaugural ball at the Washington Convention Center during the 57th Presidential Inauguration Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, in Washington. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama share a dance during the Commander-In-Chief Inaugural ball at the Washington Convention Center during the 57th Presidential Inauguration Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, in Washington.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/82/1050928da54734.jpg)
photo: AP / Evan Vucci
![Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt, left, smiles as he attends his hearing in Guatemala City, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Guatemala's former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt, left, smiles as he attends his hearing in Guatemala City, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/95/75618e1b57af5b.jpg)
GUATEMALA
CITY (AP) — A group of retired soldiers and their relatives launched a campaign Monday to deny that a genocide was carried out in
Guatemala and to demand a fair trial for former dictator
Jose Efrain Rios Montt. About 24 people began…
photo: AP / Moises Castillo
![Nick D'Aloisio Nick D'Aloisio](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/54/ae98dba5b35f62.jpg)
One of
Yahoo’s newest employees is a 17-year-old high school student in Britain.
As of Monday, he is one of its richest, too. That student,
Nick D’Aloisio, a programming whiz who wasn’t even born when Yahoo was founded in
1994, sold…
photo: flickr / Calodemarchis
![Microsoft founder Bill Gates delivers a speech during the "Microsoft Research Asia 10th Anniversary Innovation Forum," Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008 in Hong Kong, China Microsoft founder Bill Gates delivers a speech during the "Microsoft Research Asia 10th Anniversary Innovation Forum," Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008 in Hong Kong, China](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/0d/c6bdb40ef68b8a.jpg)
photo: AP / Jerome Favre
![Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, July 23, 2009 in New York Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, July 23, 2009 in New York](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/19/cfcd267c2f042e.jpg)
Stocks reversed an early rise on
Wall Street Monday as traders returned to worrying about the
European economy. Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @NYTNational for breaking news and headlines. Twitter
List: Reporters and
Editors Optimism about a deal…
photo: AP / Mary Altaffer
![Israel to unblock Palestinian funds Israel to unblock Palestinian funds](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/75/3c01d1a8579fcd.jpg)
Jerusalem –
Israel is to resume the transfer of revenues it collects on behalf of the
Palestinian Authority, frozen last year in retaliation for the
Palestinians winning upgraded UN status, the premier’s office said on Monday. The decision came after…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
![Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, right, speaks with Chief Executive Officer of the European Financial Stability Facility Klaus Regling during a meeting of eurogroup finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, March 4, 2013. Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, right, speaks with Chief Executive Officer of the European Financial Stability Facility Klaus Regling during a meeting of eurogroup finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, March 4, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/0d/8bb46bb3464218.jpg)
Cyprus has struck a last-minute agreement with international lenders to save its banks from insolvency and keep it in the eurozone. The deal, though, comes at a significant cost for some. The deal, which came in the early hours of Monday after more…
photo: AP / Virginia Mayo
![A man walks among debris of buildings destroyed during ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslim in Meikhtila, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, March 25, 2013. A man walks among debris of buildings destroyed during ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslim in Meikhtila, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, March 25, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/27/ae4142596c1bb2.jpg)
AYE AYE
WIN Associated Press= YANGON,
Myanmar (AP) — Anti-Muslim mobs rampaged through three more towns in Myanmar’s predominantly
Buddhist heartland over the weekend, destroying mosques and burning dozens of homes despite government efforts to stop…
photo: AP / Khin Maung Win
![Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre) addresses a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. He is flanked by Oscar Fernandez-Taranco (left), Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs; and Abdou Salam Diallo, Committee Chair and Permanent Representative of Senegal to the UN. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre) addresses a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. He is flanked by Oscar Fernandez-Taranco (left), Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs; and Abdou Salam Diallo, Committee Chair and Permanent Representative of Senegal to the UN.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/e8/225be961822f4d.jpg)
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
![Angela Merkel with Nicos Anastasiades in 2007 at the EPP summit. Angela Merkel with Nicos Anastasiades in 2007 at the EPP summit.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/a0/39632b578ea908.jpg)
*
Deal to shut
Laiki bank, transfer insured deposits * Clinched hours before Monday deadline to seal EU bailout *
Without deal banks faced collapse, possible euro zone exit By Jan Strupczewski and Annika Breidthardt BRUSSELS, March 25 (Reuters) -…
photo: Creative Commons
![Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., sits before the committee he has served on for 28 years and led for the past four as he seeks confirmation as U.S. secretary of state, on Capitol Hill in Washington Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., sits before the committee he has served on for 28 years and led for the past four as he seeks confirmation as U.S. secretary of state, on Capitol Hill in Washington](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/37/d450f71efabb88.jpg)
VIENTIANE,
Laos — On the 100th day since the disappearance of a prominent American-educated Laotian agriculture specialist,
Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged the government here to make public the results of an investigation into…
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
![Russian exile Boris Berezovsky, a close friend of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned by Polonium 2-10, speaks to the media in a news conference in London, Wednesday, July 18, 2007. Berezovsky claims he was advised, three weeks ago Russian exile Boris Berezovsky, a close friend of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned by Polonium 2-10, speaks to the media in a news conference in London, Wednesday, July 18, 2007. Berezovsky claims he was advised, three weeks ago](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/21/009eb850cde2c1.jpg)
photo: AP/Sang Tan
![This image made from amateur video released by the Ugarit News and accessed Monday, July 30, 2012, purports to show Free Syrian Army soldiers in Anadan 16 kilometers (10 miles), from Aleppo, Syria. This image made from amateur video released by the Ugarit News and accessed Monday, July 30, 2012, purports to show Free Syrian Army soldiers in Anadan 16 kilometers (10 miles), from Aleppo, Syria.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/b6/39c19c58a21848.jpg)
Syria has been accused of conducting the research and manufacture of weapons of mass destruction. Syria admitted to having a stockpile of chemical weapons reserved for national defense against foreign countries on July 23,
2012. They restarted their…
![Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., shown after a vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America's next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Kerry, who has served on the Foreign Relations panel for 28 years and led the committee for the past four, is expected to be swiftly confirmed by the whole Senate later Tuesday. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., shown after a vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America's next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Kerry, who has served on the Foreign Relations panel for 28 years and led the committee for the past four, is expected to be swiftly confirmed by the whole Senate later Tuesday.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/fe/cb8cdf95e9f87f.jpg)
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
![Ali Abbas Hasanie and Pervez Musharraf in a Fund Raising Dinner in Montreal on October 12, 2012. Ali Abbas Hasanie and Pervez Musharraf in a Fund Raising Dinner in Montreal on October 12, 2012.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/c7/30aed298d9b10f.jpg)
photo: Ali Abbas Hasanie
![Vijay Nambiar, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special adviser on Myanmar, looks at debris of the buildings destroyed during the ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in Meikhtila, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, March 24, 2013. Vijay Nambiar, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special adviser on Myanmar, looks at debris of the buildings destroyed during the ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in Meikhtila, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, March 24, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/f1/d0d095761dbfd9.jpg)
MEIKHTILA,
Myanmar (AP) —
The United Nations‘ top envoy to Myanmar on Sunday toured a central city that was destroyed in the country’s worst explosion of Buddhist-Muslim violence this year, visiting some of the nearly 10,
000 people forced from their…
photo: AP / Khin Maung Win
![Warren Chaney (left) and Joe Weider discuss plans for the first Ms. Olympia Women's Bodybuilding Contest of 1980. Warren Chaney (left) and Joe Weider discuss plans for the first Ms. Olympia Women's Bodybuilding Contest of 1980.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/27/d7c19042d9df8a.jpg)
Joe Weider, a legendary figure in bodybuilding who helped popularise the sport worldwide and played a key role in introducing a charismatic young weightlifter named
Arnold Schwarzenegger to the world, has died aged 93. His publicist,
Charlotte…
photo: Creative Commons / Sinclairindex
![Press conference by Olli Rehn Press conference by Olli Rehn](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/4d/09fef5634ee4c3.jpg)
Cyprus has only “hard choices left” and must agree terms on Sunday for a crucial bailout for its ailing banks, the EU’s commissioner for economic affairs
Olli Rehn says. Mr Rehn said there were no longer any “optimal…
photo: EC / EC
![Nigerian police officers stand guard in the area were the military are battling gunmen in Kano, northern Nigeria, Wednesday April 18, 2007. Nigerian police officers stand guard in the area were the military are battling gunmen in Kano, northern Nigeria, Wednesday April 18, 2007.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/e1/3dc9525cbba315.jpg)
KADUNA/
KANO: Suspected Islamist gunmen have launched a series of gun and bomb attacks in a remote town along
Nigeria‘s border with
Cameroon, killing at least 25 people, police said on Saturday. The gunmen carried out four simultaneous assaults on…
photo: AP / George Osodi
![US prepares for transfer of strategic base to Afghans US prepares for transfer of strategic base to Afghans](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/e1/94aea5c0aafa82.jpg)
![Experts call for inclusion of water security as part of UN Sustainable Development Goals Experts call for inclusion of water security as part of UN Sustainable Development Goals](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/cc/cf7631ec10a445.jpg)
Tweet Washington, Mar 23 (
ANI):
Amid changing weather and water patterns worldwide and forecasts of more severe transformations to come, the
UN Security Council is being increasingly urged by experts to include water security issues on its agenda….
photo: UN / UN
![Russia refuses to help Cyprus until EU bailout is agreed Russia refuses to help Cyprus until EU bailout is agreed](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/55/e493eb5fb438ef.jpg)
Russia has sent
Cyprus ’s finance minister
home emptyhanded and said it will only consider helping the stricken island once it has sealed a bailout deal with the EU.
Michael Sarris failed in his two-day mission to
Moscow to secure a financial…
photo: EC / EC
![Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping smile during their press briefing after talks in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping smile during their press briefing after talks in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2013.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/dd/256bdd84e983da.jpg)
(
The Independent)
China’s new leader began his first overseas trip as president with a much anticipated visit to
Russia today – a symbolic trip that underlines China’s desire to ensure its energy supply while showing defiance in…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
![Pervez Musharraf - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos Pervez Musharraf - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/fa/5daefad42a77fd.jpg)
Pakistan‘s former military ruler Gen
Pervez Musharraf is finally coming
home in time to stand in elections, due in May. He left the country in late 2008 and has since been living in self-imposed exile in
London. With arrest warrants issued…
photo: Creative Commons / Remy Steinegger
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 28, 2010 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 28, 2010](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/da/f33ab026c63f56.jpg)
photo: AP / //Ronen Zvulun
![Rebels in northern Central African Republic in June 2007. The Central African Republic Bush War (2004–2007) began with the rebellion by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) in North-Eastern CAR, led by Michel Djotodia, after the current President of the Central African Republic, François Bozizé, seized power in 2003 Rebels in northern Central African Republic in June 2007. The Central African Republic Bush War (2004–2007) began with the rebellion by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) in North-Eastern CAR, led by Michel Djotodia, after the current President of the Central African Republic, François Bozizé, seized power in 2003](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/aa/aff0ff3e9acbd8.jpg)
BANGUI,
Central African Republic –
Witnesses confirmed that Central African Republic rebels took the town of
Damara, located 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the capital,
Bangui. Damara marked the “red-line” drawn by regional forces in January, when the…
![Italian marines Salvatore Girone, left, and Massimiliano Latorre, arrive at a military prosecutor's office in Rome Wednesday, March 20, 2013 Italian marines Salvatore Girone, left, and Massimiliano Latorre, arrive at a military prosecutor's office in Rome Wednesday, March 20, 2013](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/2a/95045769c144da.jpg)
Two
Italian marines accused of killing two
Indian fishermen are on their way back to
Delhi for trial, Indian officials say, as diplomatic tensions ease.
India had allowed them to travel to
Italy to vote in last month’s election. When they failed…
photo: AP / Riccardo De Luca
![President Barack Obama talks about health care reform as he announces his nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, not pictured, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2009 President Barack Obama talks about health care reform as he announces his nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, not pictured, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2009](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/da/b00a338394ed86.jpg)
photo: AP / Charles Dharapak
![Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is seen during a press conference after signing a Social Security Agreement with Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, not seen, at the Royal Palace of Godollo, in the town of Godollo, east of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is seen during a press conference after signing a Social Security Agreement with Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, not seen, at the Royal Palace of Godollo, in the town of Godollo, east of Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, June 7, 2011.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/15/52c8769015bb04.jpg)
Kevin Rudd has ruled out any return to the
Australian Labor Party leadership, as ructions continue after Thursday’s abortive ballot. In a statement, Mr Rudd said there were “no circumstances” under which he would seek the party’s…
photo: AP / Bela Szandelszky
![In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, the Eman Mosque is seen destroyed after a suicide bomber In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, the Eman Mosque is seen destroyed after a suicide bomber](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/af/963570e503345a.jpg)
Updated: March 21, 2013 8:26PM
BEIRUT — A suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in the heart of the
Syrian capital Thursday, killing a top
Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of
President Bashar Assad in one of the most stunning…
photo: AP / SANA
![French President Nicolas Sarkozy speaks during a joint news conference with President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House in Washington Tuesday, March 30, 2010 French President Nicolas Sarkozy speaks during a joint news conference with President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House in Washington Tuesday, March 30, 2010](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/28/52d84973275f2c.jpg)
photo: AP / Alex Brandon
![Britain's bishop of Durham Justin Welby speaks during a news conference following the announcement that he will become the next archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace in London, Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. Britain's bishop of Durham Justin Welby speaks during a news conference following the announcement that he will become the next archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace in London, Friday, Nov. 9, 2012.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/6a/59406b38596d0a.jpg)
CANTERBURY,
England —
Justin Welby, the 57-year old former oil executive who quit the world of high finance in 1992 to become a priest, was enthroned Thursday (March 21) as the 105th archbishop of
Canterbury and spiritual leader of the…
photo: AP / Matt Dunham
![APRA HARBOR, Guam (Aug. 21, 2011) The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) enters Apra Harbor for a scheduled port visit. APRA HARBOR, Guam (Aug. 21, 2011) The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) enters Apra Harbor for a scheduled port visit.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/7a/f0511e1ca2dbc7.jpg)
photo: AP / Petros Giannakouris
![UN votes on Sri Lanka resolution today, India likely to move amendments UN votes on Sri Lanka resolution today, India likely to move amendments](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/85/cb2242983d668b.jpg)
photo: UN / UN
![French President Francois Hollande speaks as he visits housing construction at the urban redevelopment site in Ermont-Eaubonne, near Paris, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. President Francois Hollande says he’ll discuss when France will reduce troop levels in Mali during a trip there Saturday, nearly four weeks after a French-led operation against Islamic extremists began in the vast West African nation. French President Francois Hollande speaks as he visits housing construction at the urban redevelopment site in Ermont-Eaubonne, near Paris, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. President Francois Hollande says he’ll discuss when France will reduce troop levels in Mali during a trip there Saturday, nearly four weeks after a French-led operation against Islamic extremists began in the vast West African nation.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/38/99a04931e056de.jpg)
photo: AP / Philippe Wojazer, Pool
![Marines killed in training were young, passionate about the Corps Marines killed in training were young, passionate about the Corps](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/b5/27a58196ca8720.jpg)
Pfc. Josh Martino is seen in this undated photo provided by his brother
Tony Perry. Martino, 19, a native of
Dubois, Pa., was killed along with six others by an explosion during a training exercise at
Hawthorne Army Depot in
Nevada Monday March 18,…
photo: Shane Hamann / Public Domain
![Indian Army soldier cordoned area after suspected militants attacked a Border Security Force (BSF) convoy at Nowgam Srinagar- Jammu National Highway in Srinagar, India, on Thursday. Three BSF jawans were injured in the attack. Indian Army soldier cordoned area after suspected militants attacked a Border Security Force (BSF) convoy at Nowgam Srinagar- Jammu National Highway in Srinagar, India, on Thursday. Three BSF jawans were injured in the attack.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/10/c93c2f7bfb8d1a.jpg)
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
![A Free Syrian Army soldier walks in the rubble of houses destroyed from Syrian government forces shelling, in Azaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) A Free Syrian Army soldier walks in the rubble of houses destroyed from Syrian government forces shelling, in Azaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/13/964b209d93edc7.jpg)
United Nations:
The UN has received
Syria‘s request to create a group of independent investigators to probe an alleged chemical attack in the country, according to the
UN secretary general‘s press service. “A written request has now been received…
photo: AP / Muhammed Muheisen
![Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, second left, arrives for a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron,at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh, Scotland Thursday, Feb 16, 2012. Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, second left, arrives for a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron,at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh, Scotland Thursday, Feb 16, 2012.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/99/1c9127eb5c99c6.jpg)
photo: AP / Scott Heppell
![A woman walks by the graffiti reading "Kosovo is Serbia", Thursday, May 21,2009, in Belgrade. U.S Vice President Joe Biden offered Serbia "a strong, new relationship" with the U.S. on Wednesday, along with help in its European Union membership bid, despite deep differences over independence for Kosovo. Biden, the first senior U.S. official to visit Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia last year has arrived in Kosovo to boost the new country's statehood in the face of strong opposition from Serbia. A woman walks by the graffiti reading "Kosovo is Serbia", Thursday, May 21,2009, in Belgrade. U.S Vice President Joe Biden offered Serbia "a strong, new relationship" with the U.S. on Wednesday, along with help in its European Union membership bid, despite deep differences over independence for Kosovo. Biden, the first senior U.S. official to visit Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia last year has arrived in Kosovo to boost the new country's statehood in the face of strong opposition from Serbia.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/c9/5ce5537057551a.jpg)
A spirit of optimism has emerged in EU-brokered talks between
Serbia and
Kosovo. As prospective fellow
EU member states, the two have been trying to iron out differences so they can normalize relations. Serbia and Kosovo have made significant strides…
![President Barack Obama, center, with Israeli President Shimon Perez, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, during his arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 20, 2013, President Barack Obama, center, with Israeli President Shimon Perez, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, during his arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 20, 2013,](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/54/9c2c1b8e01b77a.jpg)
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
![Warming temperatures could multiply Katrina-like hurricanes -study Warming temperatures could multiply Katrina-like hurricanes -study](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/7b/e1cc4ad143ffca.jpg)
photo: Creative Commons / Infrogmation
![Sheikh Abdel Sattar Abu Risha, founder of al-Anbar Awakening, arrives for a meeting with tribal leaders of Iraq´s Anbar province in the provincial capital of Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. They promise Sheikh Abdel Sattar Abu Risha, founder of al-Anbar Awakening, arrives for a meeting with tribal leaders of Iraq´s Anbar province in the provincial capital of Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. They promise](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/ac/2c0dc5fe0eca07.jpg)
RAMADI,
Iraq — As Rafe al-Essawi, the embattled
Sunni leader, sped south on a desert highway last week to attend the funeral of a political ally who was assassinated, his cellphone rang with a warning: Up ahead,
Iraqi soldiers, backed by two…
photo: AP
![Secret Service agents keep watch as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive in Tucson, Ariz., to attend a memorial service for victims of last Saturday's shooting rampage that killed six people and left 14 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Secret Service agents keep watch as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive in Tucson, Ariz., to attend a memorial service for victims of last Saturday's shooting rampage that killed six people and left 14 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/dd/d8c4562c05700a.jpg)
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
![Members of parliament vote against a crucial plan to seize a part of depositors' bank savings, in Nicosia, Tuesday, March 19, 2013. Members of parliament vote against a crucial plan to seize a part of depositors' bank savings, in Nicosia, Tuesday, March 19, 2013.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/65/13aea1e3f12deb.jpg)
The Cypriot parliament has overwhelmingly rejected a bailout plan demanded by international lenders that would have taxed the savings accounts of depositors at the island nation’s banks. No lawmaker voted in favor of the $13 billion rescue package…
photo: AP / Philippos Christou
![An assaultman disassembles the 9mm spotting rifle on a Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon. An assaultman disassembles the 9mm spotting rifle on a Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/ef/9d57473e73601e.jpg)
The prospects of an assault weapons ban emerging as part of any post-Newtown gun control law looks highly unlikely after
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opted not to include it in a
Democratic proposal to be offered on the
Senate floor in…
photo: Public Domain / Cpl. Chris Lyttle
![This citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network ENN, purports to show Syrian rebels gathered on their vehicle in the northern town of Kfar Nebel, in Idlib province, Syria, Tuesday, June 5, 2012. This citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network ENN, purports to show Syrian rebels gathered on their vehicle in the northern town of Kfar Nebel, in Idlib province, Syria, Tuesday, June 5, 2012.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/d9/c09b890fb80fd2.jpg)
Syrian state media accused rebels of firing a chemical weapon for the first time today in the north of the country, killing 15 people.
Rebels quickly denied the report and accused regime forces of firing the weapon. Neither of the accusations could…
![United States President Barack Obama and Taoiseach Enda Kenny from Ireland during a meeting in the Oval Office on the morning of 20 March 2012. United States President Barack Obama and Taoiseach Enda Kenny from Ireland during a meeting in the Oval Office on the morning of 20 March 2012.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/15/21ca7ab7591b1c.jpg)
photo: Public Domain / Pete Souza
![Enrique Pena Nieto speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. Pena Nieto says he'll mount a "real fight" against production and trafficking of marijuana, despite its legalization in two U.S. states. Enrique Pena Nieto speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. Pena Nieto says he'll mount a "real fight" against production and trafficking of marijuana, despite its legalization in two U.S. states.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/0a/cf5fb7736fb7bd.jpg)
photo: AP / Dario Lopez-Mills
![Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the High Court in London Monday, May 28, 2012 after he gave evidence to the Leveson media inquiry. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the High Court in London Monday, May 28, 2012 after he gave evidence to the Leveson media inquiry.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/16/d4660386a7b766.jpg)
Iraqis would have rebelled against
Saddam Hussein if there had been no invasion and it would have been “a lot worse than
Syria“,
Tony Blair has said. Iraqis previously “rose up in large numbers and were killed in very large…
photo: AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
![Second computer glitch shuts down NASA Mars rover Second computer glitch shuts down NASA Mars rover](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/87/ee602e16b67f0e.jpg)
The
Mars rover Curiosity has had a second computer glitch, extending an unplanned work break for the
NASA robot that discovered the first life-friendly chemistry beyond
Earth, scientists said on Monday.
Engineers had hoped to resume Curiosity…
photo: Creative Commons / NASA Goddard Space Flight Cente
![A woman stands at the scene of a bomb explosion in Kaduna, Nigeria, Monday, April 9, 2012. The weekend explosion killed at least 38 people and the target for the blast seems unclear as people from all sections of society were caught in the explosion. A woman stands at the scene of a bomb explosion in Kaduna, Nigeria, Monday, April 9, 2012. The weekend explosion killed at least 38 people and the target for the blast seems unclear as people from all sections of society were caught in the explosion.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/e7/94ae627b09f090.jpg)
By SALISU RABIU,
Associated Press KANO,
Nigeria (AP) — A medic says at least 16 people were killed in an explosion that hit a bus station in
Kano in northern Nigeria. The medic, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
![In this Nov. 19, 2008 file photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a Guantanamo detainee glances up while resting on a foam pad inside a fenced-in outdoor exercise area at the Camp 6 high-security detention facility on the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In this Nov. 19, 2008 file photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a Guantanamo detainee glances up while resting on a foam pad inside a fenced-in outdoor exercise area at the Camp 6 high-security detention facility on the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/cc/ff1a0ee722842d.jpg)
photo: AP / Brennan Linsley
![UN chief urges approval of arms trade treaty UN chief urges approval of arms trade treaty](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/48/1afdafac159e13.jpg)
UN secretary-general
Ban Ki-moon has urged the world’s nations to agree on a strong international treaty to regulate the multi-billion-dollar global arms trade in the next two weeks, saying it will save lives and make it more difficult for…
![Free Syrian Army fighters ride a motorbike to approach Syrian Army tanks in Idlib, north Syria, Sunday, March 11, 2012. Free Syrian Army fighters ride a motorbike to approach Syrian Army tanks in Idlib, north Syria, Sunday, March 11, 2012.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/23/de19027c50d829.jpg)
As
Syria‘s uprising enters its third year, the prospect of a protracted and painful war is concentrating minds in many places. In
European capitals, a debate is growing over whether to lift an EU embargo to allow military support to
Syrian…
photo: AP / Rodrigo Abd
![Cuttlefish, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Australia Cuttlefish, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Australia](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/90/29d7087427fcbe.jpg)
photo: Creative Commons / Leonard Low
![President of Myanmar Thein Sein, right, meets with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Monday, March 18, 2013. President of Myanmar Thein Sein, right, meets with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Monday, March 18, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/4b/c50cec6effe423.jpg)
photo: AP / Alan Porritt
![Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta meets with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan December 14, 2011. Secretary Panetta stated that the U.S. is committed to working with the Afghan government to produce a free and independent country. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta meets with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan December 14, 2011. Secretary Panetta stated that the U.S. is committed to working with the Afghan government to produce a free and independent country.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/56/93f91d6202bd86.jpg)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been critical of several aspects of
Nato‘s mission in his country – but his recent stinging rebuke, followed by a series of decisive moves, is unprecedented, both in terms of frequency and harshness.
Within one…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![A Chinese paramilitary officer gives instructions to recruits on the use of their weapons in Shanghai, China, Monday, Jan, 8, 2007. A Chinese paramilitary officer gives instructions to recruits on the use of their weapons in Shanghai, China, Monday, Jan, 8, 2007.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/c9/786806b766913c.jpg)
China has become the world’s fifth-largest arms exporter, a respected Sweden-based think tank said on Monday, its highest ranking since the cold war, with
Pakistan the main recipient.
China’s volume of weapons exports between 2008 and last year rose…
photo: AP / EyePress
![Rafael Nadal poses with histrophy, after defeating Tomas Berdych in the men's singles final on the Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Sunday, July 4, 2010 Rafael Nadal poses with histrophy, after defeating Tomas Berdych in the men's singles final on the Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Sunday, July 4, 2010](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/7b/3160c71a043eb2.jpg)
photo: AP / Alastair Grant
![In this citizen journalism image provided by Shaam News Network SNN, taken on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, smoke leaps the air from purported forces shelling in Homs, Syria. In this citizen journalism image provided by Shaam News Network SNN, taken on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, smoke leaps the air from purported forces shelling in Homs, Syria.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/af/fd9b190ea8c0b8.jpg)
AMMAN (Reuters) –
Syrian rebels on Sunday seized a Syrian military intelligence compound in the southern Hauran Plain near the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights, stepping up attacks in the strategic region which stretches to the outskirts of the capital…
![Oceanside chamber honors military heroes Oceanside chamber honors military heroes](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/37/18f41a13592699.jpg)
photo: US Army / Teddy Wade
![Indian paramilitary troops patrol on deserted street during a curfew In Srinagar, India, 14, March 2013. A 22-year-old youth was killed on Wednesday when CRPF personnel allegedly opened fire . Indian paramilitary troops patrol on deserted street during a curfew In Srinagar, India, 14, March 2013. A 22-year-old youth was killed on Wednesday when CRPF personnel allegedly opened fire .](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/2b/f7e2d5ce5b8cda.jpg)
Srinagar, March 17: Lack of significant employment opportunities among the youth of
Jammu and Kashmir is fuelling their sense of alienation and compounds their mistrust and anger against the government and
New Delhi. As per
Census 2001, 71 percent of…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
![Federal Minister for Interior, Senator A. Rehman Malik called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at PM House, Islamabad on January 30, 2013. Federal Minister for Interior, Senator A. Rehman Malik called on Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at PM House, Islamabad on January 30, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/29/c1e9bf6c4165fc.jpg)
Zeenews
Bureau Islamabad:
The government of
Pakistan has accomplished an unprecedented fete by pulling off the first complete 5 year-term in its political history. It is for the first time ever since
1947, when Pakistan was born as a result of…
photo: Press Information Dept. of Pakistan
![For millions who served in the last decade, scars are lifelong For millions who served in the last decade, scars are lifelong](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/8d/6f44fdb4bb0c99.jpg)
WASHINGTON –
Ten years after the
United States went to war in
Iraq, one of the most common numbers associated with the conflict is the tally of
Americans killed: nearly 4,
500. Add in the twin war in
Afghanistan, and the tally goes to more than 6,600….
photo: Tammy K. Hineline / Public Domain
![German Chancellor Angela Merkel, second right, speaks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, center, during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, March 15, 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, second right, speaks with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, center, during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, March 15, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/8a/28b87c8e73f6f4.jpg)
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has said a big bailout – which has provoked mass public anger – was needed to avoid a “disorderly bankruptcy”. The 10bn-euro ($13bn; £9bn) deal agreed by the EU was “a painful but controlled…
photo: AP / Geert Vanden Wijnga
![Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar is welcomed at the International Labour Conference, Palais des Nations. Thursday 14 June 2012. Photo by Violaine Martin Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar is welcomed at the International Labour Conference, Palais des Nations. Thursday 14 June 2012. Photo by Violaine Martin](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/a9/aa5fd1b8e7cd07.jpg)
The woman who was once the world’s most famous political prisoner is now wearing the less glamorous mantle of a mere politician.
Aung San Suu Kyi‘s re-election last weekend as chair of the party she helped found 35 years ago was one of the…
photo: UN / Violaine Martin
![Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, arrives for a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron,at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh, Scotland Thursday, Feb 16, 2012. A row between the British government in London and the Scottish National Party (SNP) has escalated sharply after British Prime Minister David Cameron outlined a plan to bring forward the referendum, which the SNP oppose as they want more time to rally support for a break from the United Kingdom. Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, arrives for a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron,at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh, Scotland Thursday, Feb 16, 2012. A row between the British government in London and the Scottish National Party (SNP) has escalated sharply after British Prime Minister David Cameron outlined a plan to bring forward the referendum, which the SNP oppose as they want more time to rally support for a break from the United Kingdom.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/f9/864cc78c7c0a13.jpg)
![US to Bolster Missile Defenses in Face of North Korea Threat US to Bolster Missile Defenses in Face of North Korea Threat](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/67/410e6076d690f4.jpg)
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![US to boost missile defenses US to boost missile defenses](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/e6/1b251d424937bf.jpg)
photo: DOD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![HERAT, Afghanistan--The two members of a Spanish Army CH-47 Chinook Helicopter crew take in the view of western Afghanistan during an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission, Sept. 27, 2008. HERAT, Afghanistan--The two members of a Spanish Army CH-47 Chinook Helicopter crew take in the view of western Afghanistan during an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission, Sept. 27, 2008.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/fc/f2c34634e14e14.jpg)
Madrid:
The Spanish mission in
Afghanistan began its withdrawal from Qala-i-Naw to its main base in
Herat with the moving of equipment, vehicles and personnel. “Bringing forward the date originally planned, the
Spanish contingent in…
photo: Creative Commons / ISAF Headquarters Public Affairs Office
![Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley testifies before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on "Tracking the Money: Preventing Waste, Fraud and Abuse of Recovery Act Funding" on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, July 8, 2009, in Washington. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley testifies before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on "Tracking the Money: Preventing Waste, Fraud and Abuse of Recovery Act Funding" on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, July 8, 2009, in Washington.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/71/46fc1c2da5f309.jpg)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. ?
Maryland lawmakers approved a measure abolishing the death penalty on Friday and sent the bill to Gov.
Martin O’Malley, who has long supported banning capital punishment.
The House of Delegates voted 82-56 for legislation already…
photo: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta
![In this photo made available by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis delivers his speech as he meets the Cardinals for the first time after his election, at the Vatican, Friday, March 15, 2013. In this photo made available by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis delivers his speech as he meets the Cardinals for the first time after his election, at the Vatican, Friday, March 15, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/df/f73e907f4fd01a.jpg)
NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press= VATICAN
CITY (AP) — The honeymoon that
Pope Francis has enjoyed since his remarkable election hit a bump Friday, with the Vatican lashing out at what it called a defamatory and “anti-clerical left-wing” media…
photo: AP / L’Osservatore Romano
![Pakistanis and American citizens hold banners and chant slogans against drone attacks in Pakistani tribal belt, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. Pakistanis and American citizens hold banners and chant slogans against drone attacks in Pakistani tribal belt, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 5, 2012.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/64/1a4cbcfb58249b.jpg)
The United States has violated
Pakistan’s sovereignty and destroyed tribal structures with unmanned aerial drone strikes in its counterterrorism near the
Afghan border, a UN human rights investigator has said. “As a matter of international law, the…
photo: AP / Muhammed Muheisen
![George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/e9/3695bd9302fa6d.jpg)
![People evacuate an injured man after a bomb attack that struck the local headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. People evacuate an injured man after a bomb attack that struck the local headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/af/fba52557910e55.jpg)
At least 116,
000 Iraqi civilians and more than 4,800 coalition troops died in
Iraq between the outbreak of war in
2003 and the US withdrawal in
2011, researchers estimated on Friday. Its involvement in Iraq has so far cost the
United States $810…
photo: AP / Emad Matti
![An Indian Center Reserve Police Force stands guard on deserted street during a Second day curfew in Srinagar, India, on March 15, 2013. The curfew was imposed following the killing of a 22-year old local resident alleged Firing by Central Reserve Police Force. An Indian Center Reserve Police Force stands guard on deserted street during a Second day curfew in Srinagar, India, on March 15, 2013. The curfew was imposed following the killing of a 22-year old local resident alleged Firing by Central Reserve Police Force.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/e3/94af8fde3352c1.jpg)
Police in
Indian-administered Kashmir say they have arrested a man in connection with Wednesday’s gun and grenade attack in
Srinagar in which five security personnel were killed.
Media reports, quoting police sources, say the man was a resident…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
![JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Communications for Samsung Electronics, presents the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 during the Samsung Unpacked event at Radio City Music Hall, Thursday, March 14, 2013 in New York. JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Communications for Samsung Electronics, presents the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 during the Samsung Unpacked event at Radio City Music Hall, Thursday, March 14, 2013 in New York.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/b1/40add67d3a5150.jpg)
Hordes of journalists descended on
Radio City Music Hall for a somewhat chaotic Broadway-themed event, eager to see the company’s fourth-generation phone.
Kicking off the launch, Samsung
President J.K. Shin described the new phone “a life companion…
photo: AP / Jason DeCrow
![Iranian woman Marzieh Masaebi watches a TV video showing US President Barack Obama's new video message addressed to the Iranian people, and broadcast from the Tapesh Farsi-language satellite TV beamed in from the United States, at her home in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 20, 2009. Obama released the video to coincide with the major Iranian festival of Nowruz, a 12-day holiday that marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year in Iran. Iran authorities played down Obama's video message saying it welcomed the overtures while warning that decades of mistrust can't easily be erased. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Iranian woman Marzieh Masaebi watches a TV video showing US President Barack Obama's new video message addressed to the Iranian people, and broadcast from the Tapesh Farsi-language satellite TV beamed in from the United States, at her home in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 20, 2009. Obama released the video to coincide with the major Iranian festival of Nowruz, a 12-day holiday that marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year in Iran. Iran authorities played down Obama's video message saying it welcomed the overtures while warning that decades of mistrust can't easily be erased. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/51/103bcb2c1401a1.jpg)
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
![Chinese Vice Premier LI Keqiang, right, and LIu Yunshan, left, Director of Chinese Communist Party's Propaganda Department, clap while Zhou Yongkang, center, member of Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Commitee, is introduced during a conference to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Communist Youth League at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, May 4, 2012. Chinese Vice Premier LI Keqiang, right, and LIu Yunshan, left, Director of Chinese Communist Party's Propaganda Department, clap while Zhou Yongkang, center, member of Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Commitee, is introduced during a conference to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Communist Youth League at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, May 4, 2012.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/f6/f4cfb6fec283c3.jpg)
China‘s leaders have named
Li Keqiang as premier, placing him at the helm of the world’s second-largest economy. Mr Li, who already holds the number two spot in the
Communist Party, takes over from
Wen Jiabao. Mr Li was elected for a…
photo: AP / Alexander F. Yuan
![Kurdish members of the FSA are seen on a tank stolen from the Syrian Army in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Wednesday, Dec 12, 2012. Kurdish members of the FSA are seen on a tank stolen from the Syrian Army in Fafeen village, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Wednesday, Dec 12, 2012.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/8c/f785b17146b008.jpg)
As
Syrians mark the second anniversary of the start of the nation’s unrest, the EU is set to discuss lifting its arms embargo to allow supplying rebels. The leaders of
France and Britain will try to push other
EU members to agree to the move at…
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
![In this picture taken on Sunday, June 24, 2012, a Syrian rebel, holds his automatic rifle at a street of Saraqeb town, in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. In this picture taken on Sunday, June 24, 2012, a Syrian rebel, holds his automatic rifle at a street of Saraqeb town, in the northern province of Idlib, Syria.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/67/616023e6ec18c2.jpg)
HEESH,
Syria — The Islamic fighters peered through rifle scopes and machine-gun sights at the remains of a
Syrian military convoy disabled on the highway several hundred yards away. They were peppering
President Bashar al-Assad’s soldiers…
photo: AP / Fadi Zaidan
![Syrian children, who fled their home with their families in Hama due to government airstrikes, stand next to their tent at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Syrian children, who fled their home with their families in Hama due to government airstrikes, stand next to their tent at a camp for displaced Syrians in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/7b/340c1b045a170a.jpg)
BEIRUT (AP) —
A U.N. official says the number of registered
Syrian refugees has jumped by more than 10 percent in just one week as part of an escalating exodus.
Last week,…
photo: AP / Muhammed Muheisen
![Indian police officers carry the coffins of fallen comrades, who were killed March 13 in an ambush, following a ceremony in Srinagar on March 14, 2013. Pakistan has strongly rejected an accusation from India that militants who killed five paramilitary police in Indian Kashmir came from across the de facto border. The militants, disguised as cricketers, killed five paramilitary police in an ambush March 13 in the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir. Indian police officers carry the coffins of fallen comrades, who were killed March 13 in an ambush, following a ceremony in Srinagar on March 14, 2013. Pakistan has strongly rejected an accusation from India that militants who killed five paramilitary police in Indian Kashmir came from across the de facto border. The militants, disguised as cricketers, killed five paramilitary police in an ambush March 13 in the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/22/245cd8cb901531.jpg)
SRINAGAR,
India (AP) — A curfew has been imposed in most of
Indian-controlled Kashmir after a militant attack left five paramilitary troops dead and a civilian was killed by…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
![In this Sunday April 22, 2012 photo, a Syrian rebel aims his gun at Khalidiyeh neighborhood in Homs province, central Syria. In this Sunday April 22, 2012 photo, a Syrian rebel aims his gun at Khalidiyeh neighborhood in Homs province, central Syria.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/ce/38891f725abb23.jpg)
photo: AP
![In this Dec. 12, 2008 photo, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, left, shakes hands with Buenos Aires' Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio in Lujan, Argentina. Bergoglio, who chose the name of Pope Francis, was chosen as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on March 13, 2013. In this Dec. 12, 2008 photo, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, left, shakes hands with Buenos Aires' Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio in Lujan, Argentina. Bergoglio, who chose the name of Pope Francis, was chosen as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on March 13, 2013.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/8e/55fcc44600884c.jpg)
photo: AP / DyN
![Venezuela's acting President Nicolas Maduro speaks at the opening of the Ninth International Book Fair of Venezuela (Filven) which pays tribute to late President Hugo Chavez at the Teresa Carreno theater in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Venezuela's acting President Nicolas Maduro speaks at the opening of the Ninth International Book Fair of Venezuela (Filven) which pays tribute to late President Hugo Chavez at the Teresa Carreno theater in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 13, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/96/739f670ac235d8.jpg)
FABIOLA SANCHEZ
Associated Press= CARACAS,
Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting president says security forces have detected a plot to assassinate the country’s opposition…
photo: AP / Ariana Cubillos
![Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, center, stands up in the dock as judges come into the courtroom for a hearing Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detentio Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, center, stands up in the dock as judges come into the courtroom for a hearing Monday, June 30, 2008, at the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ieng Sary appeared before Cambodia's genocide tribunal Monday to press for his release from pretrial detentio](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/5f/6254819a05663a.jpg)
Zeenews
Bureau Phnom Penh:
Khmer Rouge co-founder
Ieng Sary, who was on trial for the killings of an estimated 1.7 million people during the brutal movement in
Cambodia in
1970s, died on Thursday morning at the age of 87. Sary was Khmer Rouge’s most…
photo: AP / Prin Samnang, POOL
![Israelis wait for transportation under election campaign billboards of Israeli Prime Minister and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Israel's Labor party candidate Shelly Yachimovichin, in the central Israeli city of Ramat gan, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. Israelis wait for transportation under election campaign billboards of Israeli Prime Minister and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Israel's Labor party candidate Shelly Yachimovichin, in the central Israeli city of Ramat gan, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/14/5a48c542162394.jpg)
A compromise has been reached towards a final coalition deal in
Israel after the newly formed centrist
Yesh Atid party reportedly agreed to give up demands for the interior ministry, local media have reported.
The new coalition government,…
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, of Argentina is Pope Francis I
March 14, 2013 2:58am
![Pilgrims cheer election of new pope at St. Peters Square](http://images.gmanews.tv/v3/webpics/v3/2013/03/320_2013_03_14_02_35_57.JPG)
Pilgrims cheer election of new pope at St. Peter’s Square. Faithful cheer as white smoke rises from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, indicating a new pope has been elected at the Vatican, March 13, 2013. White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out on Wednesday, signaling that Roman Catholic cardinals had ended their conclave and elected a pope to succeed Benedict XVI. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito
VATICAN CITY – Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, and said he would take the name Francis I.
Pope Francis, 76, appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica just over an hour after white smoke poured from a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel to signal he had been chosen to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
The choice of Bergoglio was announced by French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran with the Latin words “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam” (“I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope”
Francis becomes the 266th pontiff in the Church’s 2,000-year history at a time of great crisis and difficulty. Although a conservative he is seen as a reformer and was not among the small group of frontrunners identified before the election.
![Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner addresses the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Thursday, June 14, 2012 at United Nations headquarters. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner addresses the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, Thursday, June 14, 2012 at United Nations headquarters.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/7b/bb9bd161e6f3f6.jpg)
WASHINGTON — The death of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez leaves a void for the left in
Latin America that most analysts say is unlikely to be filled soon. His death could also eventually affect communist
Cuba, which has benefitted from cheap…
photo: AP / Mary Altaffer
![Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone celebrates a mass for the opening of the Vatican judicial year, at the Vatican, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone celebrates a mass for the opening of the Vatican judicial year, at the Vatican, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/ad/000c690670d852.jpg)
photo: AP / Pier Paolo Cito
![21 people, including seven foreign troops, killed in a single day in Afghanistan 21 people, including seven foreign troops, killed in a single day in Afghanistan](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/09/5861d29468ee0e.jpg)
At least 21 people, including seven foreign troops, were killed on Monday in one of the deadliest days so far this year in
Afghanistan, officials said in
Kabul on Tuesday. Five
NATO soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash, while a land mine and…
photo: DOD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/94/11031f75fa6e8c.jpg)
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
![In this Tuesday, April 24, 2012 photo, Sudanese workers inspect burnt out oil pipes at the oil-rich border town of Heglig, Sudan. In this Tuesday, April 24, 2012 photo, Sudanese workers inspect burnt out oil pipes at the oil-rich border town of Heglig, Sudan.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/c8/4f0c3c3b0a07f3.jpg)
South Sudan and
Sudan have agreed to resume pumping oil after a bitter dispute over fees which saw production shut down more than a year ago.
The South, which seceded from the rest of Sudan in
2011, will begin oil production again by 24 March, under…
photo: AP / Abd Raouf
![In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is welcomed by military personnel at a military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyang’s drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures. In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is welcomed by military personnel at a military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyang’s drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/7a/2e5c4a6d0e7e23.jpg)
photo: AP / KCNA via KNS
![File - North Korean soldiers observe through binoculars on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone. File - North Korean soldiers observe through binoculars on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/a3/18425b1cacc6de.jpg)
The US has imposed sanctions on
North Korea‘s primary foreign exchange bank and four individuals, amid heightened tensions over its nuclear ambitions. The move followed a UN vote last week to expand sanctions on
Pyongyang after its February…
photo: US Army / Edward N. Johnson
![British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/94/11031f75fa6e8c.jpg)
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
![In this Tuesday, April 24, 2012 photo, Sudanese workers inspect burnt out oil pipes at the oil-rich border town of Heglig, Sudan. In this Tuesday, April 24, 2012 photo, Sudanese workers inspect burnt out oil pipes at the oil-rich border town of Heglig, Sudan.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/c8/4f0c3c3b0a07f3.jpg)
South Sudan and
Sudan have agreed to resume pumping oil after a bitter dispute over fees which saw production shut down more than a year ago.
The South, which seceded from the rest of Sudan in
2011, will begin oil production again by 24 March, under…
photo: AP / Abd Raouf
![In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is welcomed by military personnel at a military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyang’s drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures. In this March 7, 2013 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed March 8, 2013 by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is welcomed by military personnel at a military unit on Jangjae islet, located in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of North Korea's border with South Korea. Seven years of U.N. sanctions against North Korea have done nothing to derail Pyongyang’s drive for a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. They may have even bolstered the Kim family by giving their propaganda maestros ammunition to whip up anti-U.S. sentiment and direct attention away from government failures.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/7a/2e5c4a6d0e7e23.jpg)
photo: AP / KCNA via KNS
![File - North Korean soldiers observe through binoculars on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone. File - North Korean soldiers observe through binoculars on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/a3/18425b1cacc6de.jpg)
The US has imposed sanctions on
North Korea‘s primary foreign exchange bank and four individuals, amid heightened tensions over its nuclear ambitions. The move followed a UN vote last week to expand sanctions on
Pyongyang after its February…
photo: US Army / Edward N. Johnson
![Bangladeshi opposition activists shout slogans after they burn a street vendor's cart as they clash with police during their protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, March 11, 2013. Bangladeshi opposition activists shout slogans after they burn a street vendor's cart as they clash with police during their protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, March 11, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/b1/ff89eb68279609.jpg)
DHAKA,
Bangladesh (AP) —
Police in Bangladesh’s capital have clashed with opposition protesters enforcing a daylong general strike across the country.
Witnesses and news reports say…
photo: AP / A.M. Ahad
![Cronkhite Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Cronkhite Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/d8/5a4909f024e568.jpg)
March 11, 2013 — Updated
2323 GMT (0723
HKT) On Monday, the school apologized for the way it handled a secret search of the e-mail accounts of resident deans. (
CNN) — A cheating scandal at
Harvard College just got bigger, and this time the focus is…
photo: Public Domain / Daderot
![The Cool War in cyberspace The Cool War in cyberspace](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/be/af9641d6f163c5.jpg)
We are now in the midst of what could be called the
Cool War. This successor to the
Cold War shares the trait that it does not involve hot conflict on the battlefield, but is different in the nature and expectations surrounding the sub-rosa thrusts…
![An Iraqi prisoner is seen at al-Muthanna prison in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, May 2, 2010. An Iraqi prisoner is seen at al-Muthanna prison in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, May 2, 2010.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/35/9a6c1bd59203b7.jpg)
photo: AP / Karim Kadim
![Dominique Ellison, left, and Rickie Bowling, of Warren, bring stuffed animals to a memorial in honor of their friends who died in a car crash on Park Ave. in Warren, Ohio on Sunday, March 10, 2013. Dominique Ellison, left, and Rickie Bowling, of Warren, bring stuffed animals to a memorial in honor of their friends who died in a car crash on Park Ave. in Warren, Ohio on Sunday, March 10, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/47/340f8d03643184.jpg)
WARREN,
Ohio – A speeding sport utility vehicle taken without permission and carrying eight teenagers crashed into a guardrail
Sunday morning and flipped over into a swampy pond in northeast Ohio, killing five boys and the young woman driving, the…
photo: AP / Scott R. Galvin
![A deck crew member checks an EA-6B Prowlers on the USS George Washington during joint military drills in South Korea's East Sea on Sunday, July 25, 2010. A deck crew member checks an EA-6B Prowlers on the USS George Washington during joint military drills in South Korea's East Sea on Sunday, July 25, 2010.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/ce/4148875610ef74.jpg)
South Korean and
US troops have launched a joint military exercise as
North Korea, which has slammed the drill and threatened both countries with nuclear attack, severed its hotline with
Seoul. The start of the two-week annual “
Key Resolve” exercise…
photo: AP / Yonhap, Lee Jung-hoon
![South Korean marines patrol on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a frequent unofficial envoy to North Korea, has called for the North to show maximum restraint to planned South Korean military drills and hopes the U.N. Security Council will deliver the same message in its emergency meeting. South Korean marines patrol on Yeonpyeong island, South Korea, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a frequent unofficial envoy to North Korea, has called for the North to show maximum restraint to planned South Korean military drills and hopes the U.N. Security Council will deliver the same message in its emergency meeting.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/bf/d0bd951c73a93d.jpg)
SEOUL,
South Korea — As their country prospered,
South Koreans largely shrugged off the constant threat of a
North Korean attack. But breakthroughs in the
North’s missile and nuclear programs and fiery threats of war have heightened fears…
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
![President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shaking hands before meeting on the sidelines of 12th ECO summit at Baku, Azerbaijan on October 16, 2012 President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shaking hands before meeting on the sidelines of 12th ECO summit at Baku, Azerbaijan on October 16, 2012](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/8a/6a12f8a7f8c7f3.jpg)
photo: Press Information Dept. of Pakistan
![Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamat-i-Islami listen to their leaders during a rally to condemn U.S. drone attacks on alleged militants and Talibans hideouts in Pakistani border areas along Afghanistan, in Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, April 24, 2009. Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamat-i-Islami listen to their leaders during a rally to condemn U.S. drone attacks on alleged militants and Talibans hideouts in Pakistani border areas along Afghanistan, in Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, April 24, 2009.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/04/f962f746ae0f08.jpg)
PESHAWAR,
Pakistan — Two people suspected of being militants were killed
Sunday morning in the volatile
North Waziristan tribal region by what
Pakistani and Taliban officials said was a drone strike. If confirmed, the attack could be the first…
photo: AP / Mohammad Sajjad
![A man reads a local newspapers with the headline 'We've killed 7 foreign hostages' on a street in Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, March. 10, 2013. The United Kingdom's military says its warplanes recently spotted in Nigeria's capital city were there to move soldiers to aid the French intervention in Mali, not to rescue kidnapped foreign hostages. The Ministry of Defense said Sunday that the planes had ferried Nigerian troops and equipment to Bamako, Mali. An Islamic extremist group in Nigeria called Ansa A man reads a local newspapers with the headline 'We've killed 7 foreign hostages' on a street in Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, March. 10, 2013. The United Kingdom's military says its warplanes recently spotted in Nigeria's capital city were there to move soldiers to aid the French intervention in Mali, not to rescue kidnapped foreign hostages. The Ministry of Defense said Sunday that the planes had ferried Nigerian troops and equipment to Bamako, Mali. An Islamic extremist group in Nigeria called Ansa](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/f5/fb55fd5578e7bd.jpg)
RADICAL Islamic fighters killed seven foreign hostages in
Nigeria,
European diplomats have said, making it the worst such kidnapping violence in decades for a country beset by extremist guerrilla attacks. Nigeria’s police, military, domestic spy…
![An Egyptian protester runs with a teargas canister during clashes with riot police in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013. An Egyptian protester runs with a teargas canister during clashes with riot police in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 9, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/95/c81b8482c7d60a.jpg)
photo: AP / Nasser Nasser
![Kenya's President-Elect Uhuru Kenyatta waves to supporters after leaving the National Election Center where final election results were announced declaring he would be the country's next president, in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, March 9, 2013. Kenya's President-Elect Uhuru Kenyatta waves to supporters after leaving the National Election Center where final election results were announced declaring he would be the country's next president, in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, March 9, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/89/39cd70b0bc45ec.jpg)
“
Uhuru [Kenyatta] has won the presidency. It’s done. Let’s move on.” The son of
Kenya‘s first independence leader may not have secured
Francis Odera’s vote but, like so many other
Kenyans, this middle-aged
Nairobi…
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
![Hamid Karzai in 2006 Hamid Karzai in 2006](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/45/f0e041cefee7ab.jpg)
photo: Public Domain / Paul Morse
![Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi looks at a photo during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition entitled "Aung San Suu Kyi, The Burmese Way to Democracy" at Institute of French in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 17, 2012. Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi looks at a photo during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition entitled "Aung San Suu Kyi, The Burmese Way to Democracy" at Institute of French in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, May 17, 2012.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/b1/458aa3002fbe6b.jpg)
photo: AP / Khin Maung Win
![More Guard soldiers dying of car crashes, suicide than combat More Guard soldiers dying of car crashes, suicide than combat](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/13/40b270c92c5fa1.jpg)
Since the wars in
Iraq and
Afghanistan began, roughly twice as many
Texas Army National Guard soldiers have died of suicide as in combat, an American-Statesman investigation has found.
Records on the Guard soldiers’ cause of death also identified…
photo: US Army / Jon Heinrich
![Taliban develop more complex attack methods Taliban develop more complex attack methods](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/4e/a59a4762a97837.jpg)
As the new US defence secretary prepares to discuss the withdrawal of troops from
Afghanistan, there are fears that the Taliban have developed more sophisticated forms of attack.
Wardak province is seen as the most vulnerable, and in…
photo: US Navy / Matthew Stroup
![Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez cheer after polling stations closed and before any results were made available in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012. Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez cheer after polling stations closed and before any results were made available in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/1e/3089041a9db5f4.jpg)
CARACAS:
Venezuela announced on Saturday that it will hold a presidential election to succeed late leader
Hugo Chavez on April 14 after his political heir took office in a move the opposition rejects.
The national electoral council set the…
![Pakistani Shiite Muslims sit next to the bodies of their relatives awaiting burial, who were killed in Thursday's deadly bombings, during a protest in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013. Pakistani Shiite Muslims sit next to the bodies of their relatives awaiting burial, who were killed in Thursday's deadly bombings, during a protest in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/cc/a62c17f9ed8284.jpg)
photo: AP / Arshad Butt
![In his first press briefing as Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel talks about the the onset of the sequester and the grave impact it will have on national security and the readiness of the military at the Pentagon, Feb. 28, 2013. After taking initial questions from the press, Hagel introduced Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter who provided reporters with more details about the impending steep cuts. In his first press briefing as Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel talks about the the onset of the sequester and the grave impact it will have on national security and the readiness of the military at the Pentagon, Feb. 28, 2013. After taking initial questions from the press, Hagel introduced Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter who provided reporters with more details about the impending steep cuts.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/0c/870eef56ed4982.jpg)
photo: US DoD / Glenn Fawcett
![Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at a theatre for a ceremony where she will receive the Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience award in Dublin, Ireland, Monday, June 18, 2012. Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at a theatre for a ceremony where she will receive the Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience award in Dublin, Ireland, Monday, June 18, 2012.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/80/51e2a74740dc4a.jpg)
YANGON,
Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi is calling on her party to rise above petty differences as they elect new leadership for the…
photo: AP / Alastair Grant
![Nairobi showing Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Times Tower and Nairobi City Hall. Nairobi showing Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Times Tower and Nairobi City Hall.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/8b/bf752ce99ee358.jpg)
NAIROBI (Reuters) –
Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of
Kenya‘s founding president, won the presidential election with a slim margin of 50.03 percent of votes cast, provisional figures showed, just enough to avoid a run-off after a race that has divided the…
photo: Creative Commons / Arthur Buliva
![Nicolas Maduro takes the presidential oath from National Assembly's President Disodado Cabello during a swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 8, 2013. Nicolas Maduro takes the presidential oath from National Assembly's President Disodado Cabello during a swearing-in ceremony at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 8, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/38/4938e8c7a4bfcc.jpg)
Nicolas Maduro was sworn in Friday as
Venezuela’s acting president, using the occasion to make blistering attacks on the
U.S. as well as the political opposition, which objected that the ceremony violated the country’s constitution.
Late President…
photo: AP / Fernando Llano
![United States Senate candidate Rand Paul arriving at the Bowling Green Regional Airport on the final day of campaigning, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, along with his family and a campaign staffer. United States Senate candidate Rand Paul arriving at the Bowling Green Regional Airport on the final day of campaigning, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, along with his family and a campaign staffer.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/f6/bad8d16f757414.jpg)
photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore
![In this Dec. 12, 2012 photo released by Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's Unha-3 rocket lifts off from the Sohae launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. The satellite that North Korea launched on board the long-range rocket is orbiting normally, South Korea said on Thursday. In this Dec. 12, 2012 photo released by Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's Unha-3 rocket lifts off from the Sohae launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. The satellite that North Korea launched on board the long-range rocket is orbiting normally, South Korea said on Thursday.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/19/ecba84421f757f.jpg)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is warning of future nuclear and rocket efforts that it says are warranted because of new U.N. sanctions over its third nuclear test.
![In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Cuba's President Raul Castro salutes as he stands next to the coffin containing the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez during his wake at a military academy where his body will lie in state until his funeral in in state in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, March 7, 2013. In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Cuba's President Raul Castro salutes as he stands next to the coffin containing the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez during his wake at a military academy where his body will lie in state until his funeral in in state in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, March 7, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/77/e103075de12113.jpg)
CARACAS (Reuters) – At least two dozen heads of state were due to attend
Hugo Chavez‘s funeral on Friday during an outpouring of grief for the charismatic but divisive Venezuelan leader who changed the face of politics in
South America.
Chavez died…
photo: AP / Miraflores Press Office
![North Koreans attend a rally in support of a statement given on Tuesday by a spokesman for the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army vowing to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War as well as boasting of the North's ownership of "lighter and smaller nukes" and its ability to execute "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula, at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday, March 7, 2013. North Koreans attend a rally in support of a statement given on Tuesday by a spokesman for the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army vowing to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War as well as boasting of the North's ownership of "lighter and smaller nukes" and its ability to execute "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula, at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday, March 7, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/58/626d08f5124dca.jpg)
photo: AP / Jon Chol Jin
![An electoral worker at the call center of the the National Tallying Center reads a newspaper with a headline referring to problems in the vote counting and tallying process, in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 6, 2013. An electoral worker at the call center of the the National Tallying Center reads a newspaper with a headline referring to problems in the vote counting and tallying process, in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, March 6, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/d8/c7b716b5f19b50.jpg)
WILLIAM WALLIS and KATRINA MANSON in
Nairobi Kenya’s national electoral commission pressed ahead with tallying results despite calls for a halt to the count and accusations of rigging by supporters of one of the presidential frontrunners. The…
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
![Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stands prior to leaving the Mehrabad airport en rout to Venezuela to attend Hugo Chavez's funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 7, 2013. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stands prior to leaving the Mehrabad airport en rout to Venezuela to attend Hugo Chavez's funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 7, 2013.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/44/113515fc05465b.jpg)
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
![Vitaly I. Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting that unanimously condemned the claim by the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it had conducted a nuc Vitaly I. Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting that unanimously condemned the claim by the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it had conducted a nuc](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/2e/7e15d433ff2316.jpg)
photo: UN /Eskinder Debebe
![Kalonzo Musyoka, center, Kenya's current Vice President and running mate of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, gestures as he leaves after speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, March 7, 2013. Kalonzo Musyoka, center, Kenya's current Vice President and running mate of presidential candidate Raila Odinga, gestures as he leaves after speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, March 7, 2013.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/01/9dcba5d3213254.jpg)
Nairobi –
The running mate of one of the two front-runners in
Kenya‘s presidential vote said on Thursday the ballot count lacked integrity and should stop, comments that could inflame what has so far been a largely peaceful election. The remarks by…
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
![Filipino Muslims are joined by other protesters as they shout slogans during a rally near the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines Wednesday, March 6, 2013, to protest the military assault by Malaysian forces on nearly 200 Filipinos occupying a Borneo coastal village. Filipino Muslims are joined by other protesters as they shout slogans during a rally near the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines Wednesday, March 6, 2013, to protest the military assault by Malaysian forces on nearly 200 Filipinos occupying a Borneo coastal village.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/04/e809ef58a22970.jpg)
KUALA LUMPUR,
Malaysia (AP) —
Malaysian security forces gunned down 31
Filipino intruders in Borneo on Thursday, the highest number of casualties in a single day since nearly 200 members of a
Philippine…
![In this citizen journalism image acquired by the AP, Syrian refugees are seen inside Syria, near the Turkish border, Monday, June 13, 2011. In this citizen journalism image acquired by the AP, Syrian refugees are seen inside Syria, near the Turkish border, Monday, June 13, 2011.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/dd/f81e7f36ce88b6.jpg)
The number of
Syrian refugees who have fled the conflict has reached one million, the UN has said.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of refugees crossing into neighbouring countries had jumped since the beginning of the year. Half…
photo: AP
![Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, centers, gestures as he delivers a speech in front of an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during a ceremony honoring Chavez in Managua, Nicaragua, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, centers, gestures as he delivers a speech in front of an image of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during a ceremony honoring Chavez in Managua, Nicaragua, Tuesday, March 5, 2013.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/37/c6cc187e230f2f.jpg)
photo: AP / Esteban Felix
![Unveiling and Presentation of Aakash-2 Tablet Computer to the United Nations, on the occasion of India's Presidency of the UN Security Council- Welcoming remarks by H.E. Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to United Nations; - Address by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon;- Presentation of memento to Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO Data wind by UN Secretary-General;- Presentation about Aakash-2 by Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO Data wind Unveiling and Presentation of Aakash-2 Tablet Computer to the United Nations, on the occasion of India's Presidency of the UN Security Council- Welcoming remarks by H.E. Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to United Nations; - Address by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon;- Presentation of memento to Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO Data wind by UN Secretary-General;- Presentation about Aakash-2 by Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO Data wind](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/d5/b885a799bc17b5.jpg)
photo: UN / Mark Garten
![File - In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a motorized division of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) takes part in a military exercise in central China's Henan Province, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006. File - In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a motorized division of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) takes part in a military exercise in central China's Henan Province, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2006.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/b5/e065f0eba58cc2.jpg)
photo: AP / Xinhua, Li Gang
![File - Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed listens to questions from reporters at his residence in Male, Maldives, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. File - Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed listens to questions from reporters at his residence in Male, Maldives, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/2f/cfeb3f8a787364.jpg)
![Egyptian protesters set a government building on fire during clashes with police, unseen, in Port Said, Egypt, Monday, March 4, 2013. Egyptian protesters set a government building on fire during clashes with police, unseen, in Port Said, Egypt, Monday, March 4, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/b3/d2b1524737d15f.jpg)
photo: AP / Ahmed Ramadan
![Kenyan Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta waves to queuing voters after casting his vote, accompanied by his wife Margaret Wanjiru Gakuo, below right, at the Mutomo primary school near Gatundu, north of Nairobi, in Kenya Monday, March 4, 2013. Kenyan Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta waves to queuing voters after casting his vote, accompanied by his wife Margaret Wanjiru Gakuo, below right, at the Mutomo primary school near Gatundu, north of Nairobi, in Kenya Monday, March 4, 2013.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/c9/e11ecd75727b87.jpg)
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
![In this photo released by Kenya's Presidential Press Service, Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, left, meets opposition leader Raila Odinga at his Harambee House office, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008. In this photo released by Kenya's Presidential Press Service, Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, left, meets opposition leader Raila Odinga at his Harambee House office, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/f2/3c519f5bb1cf5a.jpg)
photo: AP Photo / Presidential Press Services, HO
![Security Council Meeting: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Security Council Meeting: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/e1/d00ecad114e1f7.jpg)
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
![Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the national police headquarters in Jerusalem Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the national police headquarters in Jerusalem](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/a0/13ac66c70f17bf.jpg)
photo: AP / Gali Tibbon, Pool
![United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Defense Phillip Hammond joins Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta for a working breakfast at the Pentagon July 18, 2012. (DoD Photo By Glenn Fawcett) (Released) United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Defense Phillip Hammond joins Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta for a working breakfast at the Pentagon July 18, 2012. (DoD Photo By Glenn Fawcett) (Released)](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/71/a47ec85cd672d8.jpg)
The defence secretary is to announce details of where the
British Army will be based in the UK as its withdrawal from
Germany gathers pace.
The government set out its plan to withdraw the army from Germany in the…
photo: US DoD / Glenn Fawcett
![File - Sailors assigned to Navy Expeditionary Guard Battalion escort a detainee at Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre. File - Sailors assigned to Navy Expeditionary Guard Battalion escort a detainee at Guantanamo Bay Detention Centre.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/7a/1ebf2b35fcf46f.jpg)
![British Foreign Minister William Hague address the media during a news conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, Wednesday, July 27, 2011. British Foreign Minister William Hague address the media during a news conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, Wednesday, July 27, 2011.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/9a/d660e31b4f526c.jpg)
The
Foreign Secretary William Hague today arrived in
Mali for talks with military commanders and local politicians, just weeks after a
French force routed Islamist rebels from strongholds in the north of the country. Mr
Hague was due to meet the…
photo: AP / Kerim Okten, Pool
![NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai after their joint press point NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai after their joint press point](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/a9/ed7b3bebe36044.jpg)
photo: NATO
![U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, 2nd left, attends a coffee ceremony with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, 2nd right, on arrival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, March 3, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, 2nd left, attends a coffee ceremony with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, 2nd right, on arrival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, March 3, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/f0/77f157c9229dfa.jpg)
photo: AP / Jacquelyn Martin
![An elderly lady walks with a cane to cast her vote in the Mutumo primary school near Gatundu, north of Nairobi, in Kenya Monday, March 4, 2013. An elderly lady walks with a cane to cast her vote in the Mutumo primary school near Gatundu, north of Nairobi, in Kenya Monday, March 4, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/29/2f24fefec54bca.jpg)
RODNEY MUHUMUZA
Associated Press= NAIROBI,
Kenya (AP) —
Multiple attacks against security forces in Kenya on Monday killed at least 12 people as
Kenyans waited in long lines to cast ballots five years after more than 1,
000 people died in…
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
![After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Germans civilians were sometimes forced to tour concentration camps and in some cases to exhume mass graves of Nazi victims. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, Germans civilians were sometimes forced to tour concentration camps and in some cases to exhume mass graves of Nazi victims.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/17/f50d6c45346c4a.jpg)
New research has discovered the Nazis created more than six times the number of concentration camps as previously thought and may have killed or imprisoned up to 20 million people. Some 42,
500 Nazi ghettos and camps have been catalogued by…
photo: Creative Commons / Makthorpe
![FILE - This Feb. 10, 2013, file photo shows French soldiers securing the evacuation of foreigners during exchanges of fire with jihadists in Gao, northern Mali. FILE - This Feb. 10, 2013, file photo shows French soldiers securing the evacuation of foreigners during exchanges of fire with jihadists in Gao, northern Mali.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/59/0eb0a5a17927a6.jpg)
PARIS (AP) — A
French soldier has been killed in combat in
Mali, the third to die in the military campaign to retake the north of the
African country from…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
![Press conference by Olli Rehn Press conference by Olli Rehn](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/97/d52858f9907142.jpg)
BERLIN (Reuters) – EU Economic and
Monetary Affairs
Commissioner Olli Rehn warned on Sunday against a Cypriot exit from the euro zone and said all countries in the single currency bloc were systemically important. “
Even if you come from a big EU…
03 Mar 2013
MOKHTAR Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Islamist who masterminded a brazen attack on an Algerian gasfield, was branded “the Uncatchable” but the desert fox has now reportedly been killed in northern Mali. Chad said its troops killed the al-Qa’ida veteran yesterday during an operation in the Ifogha mountains, where French-led forces have been…
![In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 photo released by the Egyptian Presidency, President Mohammed Morsi speaks to supporters outside the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 photo released by the Egyptian Presidency, President Mohammed Morsi speaks to supporters outside the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/85/afeb50a2fce1c9.jpg)
photo: AP / Egyptian Presidency
![Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, Myanmar holds special discussion with Burmese Staff Association Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, Myanmar holds special discussion with Burmese Staff Association](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/eb/441171c2c752b7.jpg)
AYE AYE
WIN Associated Press= YANGON,
Myanmar (AP) — In another
sign of political reform and reconciliation in Myanmar, the country’s biggest party led by opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi will hold its first-ever congress in the country’s former…
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
![A car stands in flames after activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) set it on fire during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, March 2, 2013. A car stands in flames after activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) set it on fire during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, March 2, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/55/616214707de280.jpg)
photo: AP
![Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, centre, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, left, and Vice President Kilonzo Musyoka centre right, gesture, as they arrive for the campaign to launch the Constitution Referendum, at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, May 15, 2010. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, centre, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, left, and Vice President Kilonzo Musyoka centre right, gesture, as they arrive for the campaign to launch the Constitution Referendum, at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, May 15, 2010.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/9e/21ab572c754428.jpg)
Nairobi –
Kenya‘s top two presidential candidates held their final rallies before large and raucous crowds on Saturday, a day of political attacks and denials following published comments attributed to the prime minister that election violence could…
photo: AP / Sayyid Azim
Associated Press | March 1, 2013 | Updated: March 1, 2013 9:44pm Comments (0) E-mail Print Tweet Page 1 of 1 WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed an order authorizing the government to begin cutting $85 billion from federal accounts, officially enacting across-the-board reductions that he opposed but failed to avert. Obama acted Friday,…
![Venezuelan embassy workers hold up a framed image of Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez during the monthly Catholic service devoted to the sick at the Church of Our Lady of Regla, in Regla, across the bay from Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. Venezuelan embassy workers hold up a framed image of Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez during the monthly Catholic service devoted to the sick at the Church of Our Lady of Regla, in Regla, across the bay from Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/ac/c7f9e4fd900a54.jpg)
CARACAS,
Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government has revealed for the first time that
President Hugo Chavez has been receiving chemotherapy as he “continues his battle for…
photo: AP / Ramon Espinosa
![A Women Farmer on the paddy Field outskrit of Kolkata in Eastern India City A Women Farmer on the paddy Field outskrit of Kolkata in Eastern India City](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/f2/033bc8627ece39.jpg)
New Delhi, Mar 2: The 3.6 percent growth rate achieved by the farm sector during the 11th
Plan with overflowing granaries, sizable increase in farm export and encouraging estimates of
Rabi crops made the finance minister “complacent” towards the…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
![Skin Cancer Skin Cancer](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/aa/17bccf41b7f321.jpg)
A deadly form of skin cancer is able to fend off the body’s immune system, UK researchers have found.
Analysis of tumour and blood samples shows that melanoma knocks out the body’s best immune defence. A potential test could work out which…
photo: Creative Commons / wipeoutpdr
![Barack Obama signs emergency declaration for Arkansas 1-28-09 Barack Obama signs emergency declaration for Arkansas 1-28-09](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/93/a33d77d11d940b.jpg)
WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Barack Obama has signed an order authorizing the government to begin cutting $85 billion from federal accounts, officially enacting…
photo: Public Domain / Pete Souza
![Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, left, speaks to the media at the airport in Pyongyang, before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, left, speaks to the media at the airport in Pyongyang, before he leaves North Korea Friday, March 1, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/3c/97d237c42a6e5b.jpg)
photo: AP / Kim Kwang Hyon
![An Israeli Soldier shoots rubber bullets towards Palestinian protesters, not pictured, during a demonstration supporting prisoners in Israeli jails outside the Ofer military prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. An Israeli Soldier shoots rubber bullets towards Palestinian protesters, not pictured, during a demonstration supporting prisoners in Israeli jails outside the Ofer military prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/05/a9aa8f96ba59cf.jpg)
Following a series of social media scandals, a few days ago
Israeli military commanders were told to stop recruits uploading videos and pictures “not appropriate to the spirit of the
IDF“. Two soldiers were also sent to military prison for…
photo: AP / Majdi Mohammed
![Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta talks with United kingdom's Minister of Defense Philip A. Hammond prior to the start of the NATO Ministers of Defense meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 21, 2013. (DoD Photo By Glenn Fawcett) (Released) Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta talks with United kingdom's Minister of Defense Philip A. Hammond prior to the start of the NATO Ministers of Defense meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 21, 2013. (DoD Photo By Glenn Fawcett) (Released)](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/43/7e6f0e4beb3317.jpg)
Further big cuts in defence spending would lead to the loss of the UK’s armed forces capability,
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned. Speaking ahead of the chancellor’s upcoming spending review, he said the military was already…
01 Mar 2013
Venezuela‘s vice president has said that President Hugo Chavez is fighting for his life while he continues to undergo treatment more than two months after his latest cancer surgery. Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on television on Thursday that Chavez “is battling there for his health, for his life, and we’re accompanying him.” The vice…
![A Women Farmer collect the Vgetable on the paddy Field outskrit of Kolkata in Eastern India City A Women Farmer collect the Vgetable on the paddy Field outskrit of Kolkata in Eastern India City](http://cdn2.wn.com/ph/img/59/ec/cebde897b14abe713de01f8caf4d-small.jpg)
NEW DELHI:
Wild bees, butterflies, flies, beetles and other wild insects play a key role in pollination and hence in food production, a new study
of 41 crops in 600 fields across the world shows. Declining populations of these insects is irreparably…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
![Activists of Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami attack a security vehicle during a strike called by the party in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Activists of Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami attack a security vehicle during a strike called by the party in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/ph/img/6c/06/39edfcaebbf153098a95508dd36d-small.jpg)
At least 42 have died in rioting sparked by a death sentence given to an Islamic political party leader convicted of crimes linked to
Bangladesh‘s
1971 independence war, police said Friday. Top Jamaat-e-Islami leader
Delwar Hossain Sayedee was…
photo: AP
![An F-35C Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft returns from a flutter envelope expansion flight. An F-35C Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft returns from a flutter envelope expansion flight.](http://cdn3.wn.com/ph/img/5b/1d/d982de13cbdc34c4601e1d09aa1e-small.jpg)
The Pentagon has said it will resume flights on its
F-35 fighter jets, after the whole fleet was grounded last week.
Tests showed that a cracked turbine blade found on a plane prompted the suspension, was a “unique” problem and not a design…
photo: US Navy / U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin by Phaedra Loftis
![All Nippon Airways' Chief Executive Officier and President Shinichiro Ito speaks during a press conference at the company's office in Tokyo Friday, March 1, 2013. All Nippon Airways' Chief Executive Officier and President Shinichiro Ito speaks during a press conference at the company's office in Tokyo Friday, March 1, 2013.](http://cdn2.wn.com/ph/img/a8/33/c2d394e2fdc16a48169bd4972675-small.jpg)
ELAINE KURTENBACH AP
Business Writer=
TOKYO (AP) — The president of
All Nippon Airlines, Boeing’s biggest single customer for its troubled
787 Dreamliner, said Friday that he believes the
U.S. manufacturer has made progress in resolving problems with…
photo: AP / Junji Kurokawa
![People evacuate a victim at the scene of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Three parked car bombs exploded Tuesday morning simultaneously in the city of Kirkuk, home to a combustible mix of Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Turkomen who all claim rights to the city, killing and wounding scores of people, police said. People evacuate a victim at the scene of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Three parked car bombs exploded Tuesday morning simultaneously in the city of Kirkuk, home to a combustible mix of Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Turkomen who all claim rights to the city, killing and wounding scores of people, police said.](http://cdn2.wn.com/ph/img/16/d8/61e17b81dfa79b327576a76d4cb2-small.jpg)
Baghdad: A series of bombings struck Baghdad and towns south of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 22 and wounding dozens in areas that are
home to mostly Muslim
Shi’ites, the latest evidence of rising sectarian discord in
Iraq. The…
photo: AP / Emad Matti
![North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/ph/img/e5/9d/1b406cbfff403a64b69aa4631e51-small.jpg)
photo: AP / Jason Mojica
![Ivory Coast incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo looks up during his swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010. Ivory Coast incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo looks up during his swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010.](http://cdn9.wn.com/ph/img/12/a8/7caeed8400200f98362010ee6417-small.jpg)
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
28 Feb 2013
MEXICO CITY — He may have just taken on the toughest job in Cuba. Rivals at home will try to take him down. Enemies abroad will discredit him. Almost anyone with an interest in Cuba — including American spies and Cuban intelligence officers — will dig through his public and private lives, rummaging for secrets or clues about his…
![In this image taken from video as Pope Benedict XVI deliveres his final greetings to the assembly of cardinals at the Vatican Thursday Feb. 28, 2013, In this image taken from video as Pope Benedict XVI deliveres his final greetings to the assembly of cardinals at the Vatican Thursday Feb. 28, 2013,](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/ad/d0/951e26f2293fca31941270571f3f-small.jpg)
Pope Benedict XVI has promised “unconditional reverence and obedience” to his successor in his final greetings to cardinals in the Vatican before retiring. 560 315 TelegraphPlayer_9899773 11:56AM
GMT 28 Feb 2013 Pope Benedict XVI’s last day – watch…
photo: AP / Vatican TV
![Kashmiri lawyers shout pro-freedom slogans during a protest in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 27 February 2013. Members of the Kashmir High Court Bar Association took to the streets in wake protest call given by separatist alliance seeking return of body of Afzal Guru. Guru was hanged on 09 February 2013 for an attack on the country's parliament in 2001. Kashmiri lawyers shout pro-freedom slogans during a protest in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 27 February 2013. Members of the Kashmir High Court Bar Association took to the streets in wake protest call given by separatist alliance seeking return of body of Afzal Guru. Guru was hanged on 09 February 2013 for an attack on the country's parliament in 2001.](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/5b/bd/199f2f1093dc4b462edc9cce73ac-small.jpg)
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
![CORRECTS TO CLARIFY THAT THE NATIONAL REVOLUTION FRONT IS MALAYSIAN-BASED - Thailand's National Security Council Secretary General Paradorn Pattanathabutr, left, and Malaysian-based National Revolution Front chief Hassan Taib, right, exchange signed documents as Malaysia's National Security Council Secretary Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab witnesses during the signing ceremony of the general consensus document to launch a dialogue process for peace in the border provinces of southern Thailand, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. CORRECTS TO CLARIFY THAT THE NATIONAL REVOLUTION FRONT IS MALAYSIAN-BASED - Thailand's National Security Council Secretary General Paradorn Pattanathabutr, left, and Malaysian-based National Revolution Front chief Hassan Taib, right, exchange signed documents as Malaysia's National Security Council Secretary Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab witnesses during the signing ceremony of the general consensus document to launch a dialogue process for peace in the border provinces of southern Thailand, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013.](http://cdn3.wn.com/ph/img/05/30/9a83e543e2ff52bbba58c378ac50-small.jpg)
Deal signed in
Malaysia raises prospect of end to bloody insurgency that has claimed 5,
000 lives since
2004 In this
2006 file photograph a
Thai soldier guards the body of a teacher murdered during the separatist insurgency in
Thailand‘s south….
photo: AP / Lai Seng Sin
![France's President Francois Hollande delivers a speech on the situation in Mali at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. French forces began backing Malian soldiers Friday in their fight against radical Islamists, drawing the former colonial power into a military operation to oust the al-Qaida-linked militants nine months after they seized control of northern Mali. French President Francois Hollande said that the operation would last "as long as necessary" and said it was aimed notably at protecting the 6,000 French citizens in Mali. Kidnappers currently hold seven French hostages in the country. France's President Francois Hollande delivers a speech on the situation in Mali at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. French forces began backing Malian soldiers Friday in their fight against radical Islamists, drawing the former colonial power into a military operation to oust the al-Qaida-linked militants nine months after they seized control of northern Mali. French President Francois Hollande said that the operation would last "as long as necessary" and said it was aimed notably at protecting the 6,000 French citizens in Mali. Kidnappers currently hold seven French hostages in the country.](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/9e/61/979e074f026851aa445657fdc370-small.jpg)
photo: AP / Philippe Wojazer, Pool
![File - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia, addresses the plenary session of the UN Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. File - Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia, addresses the plenary session of the UN Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.](http://cdn3.wn.com/ph/img/25/b7/a39d6a081f2f63cd0bb6476ea4db-small.jpg)
South Korea could become
Indonesia’s closest economic and political partner as the engine of global economic growth shifts to
Asia, analysts say. As the two countries celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, experts are…
photo: UN / Guilherme Costa
![Former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier waves to supporters from the balcony of a rented guest house where he is staying in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday Jan. 21, 2011. Former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier waves to supporters from the balcony of a rented guest house where he is staying in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday Jan. 21, 2011.](http://cdn3.wn.com/ph/img/1d/ba/c7454b83424e77ee155bc746ef54-small.jpg)
PORT-AU-PRINCE — On a desolate street in this recovering capital, supporters of former
Haitian President Jean-Claude “
Baby Doc” Duvalier lamented his possible fate as the former dictator prepares to come face-to-face with his troubling…
photo: AP / Ramon Espinosa
![In this rendering provided by Blue Star Line, the Titanic II is shown cruising at sea. In this rendering provided by Blue Star Line, the Titanic II is shown cruising at sea.](http://cdn9.wn.com/ph/img/75/50/684f33870ec65952163dd8c8bc46-small.jpg)
NEW YORK –
Australian mining entrepreneur
Clive Palmer on Tuesday unveiled blueprints for
Titanic II, a modern replica of the doomed ocean liner, although he stopped short of calling the vessel unsinkable. Australian billionaire Clive Palmer speaks…
![From left: Ma Zaoxu, assistant minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Hans-Dieter Lucas, political director of the Foreign Ministry of Germany and Sergey Ryabkov, deputy foreign minister of Russia listen during talks on Iran's nuclear program in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. From left: Ma Zaoxu, assistant minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Hans-Dieter Lucas, political director of the Foreign Ministry of Germany and Sergey Ryabkov, deputy foreign minister of Russia listen during talks on Iran's nuclear program in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/8f/a0/949d6c196d81c7b96d4ed70657dd-small.jpg)
Talks in
Kazakhstan between world powers and
Iran over its controversial nuclear programme have concluded.
Details of the outcome have not been released, although Reuters quoted Iranian TV as saying it was agreed that experts would meet for technical…
photo: AP / Ilyas Omarov
![U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/ph/img/32/d3/034b8f26b74d63c74076f09b3cfe-small.jpg)
photo: AP / dpa,Maurizio Gambarini
![CIA Director-nominee Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennan, second from left, shakes hands with the president's choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, second from right, as the president, center, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, where he made to announcement. At left is Acting CIA Director Michael Morell, at right is current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. CIA Director-nominee Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennan, second from left, shakes hands with the president's choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, second from right, as the president, center, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, where he made to announcement. At left is Acting CIA Director Michael Morell, at right is current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.](http://cdn6.wn.com/ph/img/28/c8/0ab4bdc409b581382c98ff576e9c-small.jpg)
WASHINGTON —
Chuck Hagel, who won two
Purple Hearts in the
Vietnam War, survived the turbulent battle over his nomination to lead the
Pentagon, where he will confront two new challenges: potentially dramatic budget cuts and tensions with…
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
![President Barack Obama shakes hands with choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, center, after announcing Hagel's nomination President Barack Obama shakes hands with choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, center, after announcing Hagel's nomination](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/35/b5/f3d01a2b0e259362cda9f15677ba-small.jpg)
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
![Pope Benedict XVI waves during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 7, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI waves during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 7, 2012.](http://cdn8.wn.com/ph/img/05/50/fa56dc65bbcfa221a0d0c1fc3601-small.jpg)
The Pope will hold a final general audience in front of thousands of pilgrims in
St Peter‘s
Square on Wednesday, the eve of his resignation. Papal audiences are normally held inside a Vatican hall in the winter. But such is the level of interest…
photo: AP / Alessandra Tarantino
![Mexico´s President Felipe Calderon delivers a speech during the presentation of a new bill to protect victims of violence in Mexico City, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. Mexico´s President Felipe Calderon delivers a speech during the presentation of a new bill to protect victims of violence in Mexico City, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.](http://cdn8.wn.com/ph/img/4b/5c/c56f5496643cf7c733fe86e4a8cb-small.jpg)
MEXICO CITY — The number of people who went missing in
Mexico during the six years of former
President Felipe Calderon’s administration stands at 26,121, government officials said Tuesday, a figure that would rank among the worst episodes…
photo: AP / Christian Palma
![Roy Antoine, 64, of Brooklyn, holds a sign in a support of Trayvon Martin before a candlelight vigil in Union Square to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of the Florida teenager by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman in Florida, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in New York. Roy Antoine, 64, of Brooklyn, holds a sign in a support of Trayvon Martin before a candlelight vigil in Union Square to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of the Florida teenager by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman in Florida, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in New York.](http://cdn0.wn.com/ph/img/a3/c1/2fbe85d26de21871f475cd730648-small.jpg)
SANFORD,
Florida/
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Demonstrators symbolically wearing hoodies gathered in
New York and Florida on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon
Martin, reviving a national discussion on gun…
Scientists have found proof of a sunken continent in the Indian Ocean. According to a study published in Nature Geoscience, the continent “was separated from Madagascar and fragmented into a ribbon-like configuration by a series of mid-ocean ridge jumps during the opening of the Mascarene ocean basin.”
Its name is not Atlantis, though. According to the team’s investigation, it existed between India and Madagascar before it was lost to the ocean “between 83.5 and 61 million years ago.”
The researchers came to this conclusion after finding zircons “more than 1,971 million years old” on the beach of Mauritius:
The zircons were assimilated from ancient fragments of continental lithosphere beneath Mauritius, and were brought to the surface by plume-related lavas.
They used this information and plate tectonic reconstruction to map the continent, which was a slice of land that they called Mauritia. According to the scientists, Mauritius and the Mascarene Plateau “may overlie [this] Precambrian microcontinent,” located 6.2 miles under the surface. [Nature Geoscience via BBC News]
26 Feb 2013
The result was widely feared and predicted – that no party or coalition would be able to govern the country. Italy faces a period of political deadlock. The headlines cry “ungovernable” and “paralysis”. The leader of the centre-left, Pier Luigi Bersani, said: “It is clear to everyone that this is a very delicate situation…
![A victim of a ballon accident is seen in a body bag lying on a dirt road near the scene of a crash outside al-Dhabaa village just west of the city of Luxor, 510 kilometers (320 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 A victim of a ballon accident is seen in a body bag lying on a dirt road near the scene of a crash outside al-Dhabaa village just west of the city of Luxor, 510 kilometers (320 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013](http://cdn9.wn.com/ph/img/99/19/9a5f999a0ee040e9cad31eafca81-small.jpg)
CAIRO (Reuters) – A hot air balloon crashed near the
Egyptian town of
Luxor at dawn on Tuesday after a mid-air gas explosion, killing 19
Asian and
European tourists, a local industry official and the state news agency said. Ahmed
Aboud, a spokesman…
photo: AP / Hagag Salama
![President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his speech during the Annual Presidential Forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the Centennial Ballroom, The Manila Hotel, One Rizal Park in Manila City on Wednesday (October 17, 2012). FOCAP is one of the country?s most prestigious and respected media organization. It was founded in 1974 to safeguard press freedom during the Martial Law years under then, President Ferdinand Marcos. It consists of international agencies, publications, radio and TV networks. The forum is a traditional annual event where the President discusses key policies and answers questions on foreign affairs, politics, the economy and social issues from the foreign media. President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his speech during the Annual Presidential Forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the Centennial Ballroom, The Manila Hotel, One Rizal Park in Manila City on Wednesday (October 17, 2012). FOCAP is one of the country?s most prestigious and respected media organization. It was founded in 1974 to safeguard press freedom during the Martial Law years under then, President Ferdinand Marcos. It consists of international agencies, publications, radio and TV networks. The forum is a traditional annual event where the President discusses key policies and answers questions on foreign affairs, politics, the economy and social issues from the foreign media.](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/e0/ac/2316c82ec6751204af93e4862722-small.jpg)
photo: Malacañang Photo Bureau / Rey Baniquet/PCOO
![File - Photograph of the grave of Alexander Litvinenko, Highgate Cemetery, London, United Kingdom. File - Photograph of the grave of Alexander Litvinenko, Highgate Cemetery, London, United Kingdom.](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/42/54/6a62a8722a4fda0270ea46fc5c9c-small.jpg)
A coroner is to hear an application by the government to keep some information secret at the forthcoming inquest into the death of
Alexander Litvinenko. The former
Russian security service officer was poisoned by radioactive polonium in
London in…
photo: Public Domain
![President Bush, second from right, meets with congressional leaders during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008, in Washington to discuss the proposed bailout of the financial industry. Seated from left are Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Minority Leader Sen. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid President Bush, second from right, meets with congressional leaders during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008, in Washington to discuss the proposed bailout of the financial industry. Seated from left are Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Minority Leader Sen. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/a9/78/c4adbc39082d2fafe5b6c7c35fc5-small.jpg)
WASHINGTON — Dozens of prominent
Republicans — including top advisers to former
President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of
Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional…
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
![Surprise! Janet Jackson married Al Mana last year Surprise! Janet Jackson married Al Mana last year](http://cdn8.wn.com/ph/img/3b/ca/d71989034986e336298a62eeb651-small.jpg)
Janet Jackson knows how to keep a secret: The singer has been married since last year. A representative…
photo: WN / Aaron Gilbert
![View of the majestic Mount Everest from the Rongbuk valley, close to base camp and the terminus of the Rongbuk glacier at 5,200m. View of the majestic Mount Everest from the Rongbuk valley, close to base camp and the terminus of the Rongbuk glacier at 5,200m.](http://cdn7.wn.com/ph/img/bb/63/03106a756ae0fdd8f3fbb928303e-small.jpg)
KATMANDU,
Nepal — Nepalese mountaineer Chhurim has entered the record book by scaling
Mount Everest twice in the same climbing season. In fact, she did so a week apart. Nepal’s
Tourism Minister Posta Bahadur
Bogati handed over the…
photo: Public Domain
![Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, and his wife, Queen Farah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, and his wife, Queen Farah](http://cdn9.wn.com/ph/img/4b/ed/4c2ab3f655e06082b7341fd90017-small.jpg)
Oscar for
Argo was not entirely what one would expect. While it was predictable that
Iranian government and its official media would attack the movie, many monarchists and those who support
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late
Shah, also bashed the film…
photo: Public Domain / MSgt.
![Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem, right, speak during their meeting, in Moscow on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem, right, speak during their meeting, in Moscow on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013.](http://cdn7.wn.com/ph/img/94/fd/9a46dea60f79f6a12ad5a9270b74-small.jpg)
photo: AP / Ivan Sekretarev
![Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai speaks at the top of a meeting as he thanks Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta for the support the U.S. has provided his country as he is welcomed to the Pentagon Jan. 10, 2013. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai speaks at the top of a meeting as he thanks Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta for the support the U.S. has provided his country as he is welcomed to the Pentagon Jan. 10, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/ph/img/ec/0d/82814996a4948aef5b251a9c582d-small.jpg)
Afghanistan‘s president on Sunday ordered all
U.S. special forces to leave a strategically important eastern province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans. The decision seems…
photo: US DoD / Glenn Fawcett
![Secretary of State John Kerry waves as he exits U.S. Air Force Boeing 757 upon arrival for visit to London, United Kingdom, 24 February, 2013. Secretary of State John Kerry waves as he exits U.S. Air Force Boeing 757 upon arrival for visit to London, United Kingdom, 24 February, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/ph/img/e5/32/356d8dfb58caf86b667f4d5e069d-small.jpg)
John Kerry is due to meet the UK’s prime minister and foreign secretary in
London, as part of his first trip abroad as US secretary of state. It is the first stop on his tour, which will take in
Europe‘s main capitals, and
Turkey and the…
photo: US DoS
![Park Geun-hye, head of the ruling Saenuri Party's interim governing body, speaks during a press conference on the outcome of Wednesday's parliamentary elections at the party's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 12, 2012. Park Geun-hye, head of the ruling Saenuri Party's interim governing body, speaks during a press conference on the outcome of Wednesday's parliamentary elections at the party's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 12, 2012.](http://cdn4.wn.com/ph/img/4d/ed/f99e4d5b7ea294af509fccf1157b-small.jpg)
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
![Sarpanch shot dead by suspected militant in Jammu and Kashmir Sarpanch shot dead by suspected militant in Jammu and Kashmir](http://cdn5.wn.com/ph/img/02/a1/25c0674d9ff52c19a76c719e9279-small.jpg)
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
![Democrats push sequester, refuse alternative cuts Democrats push sequester, refuse alternative cuts](http://cdn7.wn.com/ph/img/27/66/6e8f6657ad1c2919b369a8d755ad-small.jpg)
With just a few more days before March 1, it appears that across-the-board spending cuts once called “devastating” by
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta are going to be a reality. I am disappointed but not entirely surprised by this outcome. This is…
photo: US DoD / Glenn Fawcett
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling “No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.” -President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, 2013 As of late, I have grown very fond and reflective of the workers at McDonalds. Since I do not have the internet in my apartment, I usually go there every Sunday where I drink coffee…
Latest World News
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KABUL, Feb. 24 (
Xinhua) —
Afghan security forces shot dead two would-be suicide bombers on
Sunday morning, thus foiling a terror attack in Shirpoor area, a diplomatic enclave in capital
Kabul, police said. “Two militants were killed inside an…
photo: US Army / Benjamin Tuck
VICTOR L. SIMPSON
Associated Press=
ROME (AP) — Will
Italy stay the course with painful economic reform? Or fall back into the old habit of profligacy and inertia? These are the stakes as Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and…
photo: AP / Luca Bruno
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Trade has been a constant source of friction between the
U.S. and
Europe, with fights over everything from hormone-laden beef to subsidized airplanes. Now, leaders on both sides of the
Atlantic want to put the contentiousness aside and negotiate a…
photo: EC / EC
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Greece is planning to hold talks with representatives from the troika, who will be in
Athens on Monday for the latest review of the country’s fiscal adjustments program, on the idea of offering…
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Britain suffered its first ever sovereign ratings downgrade from a major agency last night when
Moody‘s stripped the country of its coveted top-notch triple-A rating, dealing a major blow to finance minister
George Osborne. Moody’s said weak…
photo: AP / Matt Dunham
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photo: AP / Junji Kurokawa
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Pretoria –
Oscar Pistorius was on Friday released from custody after being granted bail, but the conditions thereof severely restrict his movement. Pistorius thanked Magistrate
Desmond Nair, and walked out of the Pretoria
Magistrate’s Court C, nine…
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
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photo: US DoD / Glenn Fawcett
![Turkey tightens noose on army influence in politics Turkey tightens noose on army influence in politics](http://cdn1.wn.com/ph/img/d5/c3/5e65aaa62daccfac8ba93bc70c27-small.jpg)
ANKARA –
Turkey‘s new constitution will reduce the political influence of the once-powerful military in order to steer the EU-hopeful country more on the path of democracy, a parliamentary source said Friday. The army, considered the self-appointed…
22 Feb 2013
Oscar Pistorius appears at the Magistrate Court in Pretoria on day four of his bail hearing. Photo: AFP The lead lawyer prosecuting Oscar Pistorius on murder charges has told a Pretoria bail hearing the sprinter knows a long spell in jail is ‘‘almost guaranteed’’ and is a flight risk. ‘‘He hasn’t said so,…
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DES MOINES,
Iowa –
A major snow storm that shuttered airports in
Missouri, stranded truckers in
Illinois and buried parts of
Kansas in knee-deep powder was promising a messy and possibly dangerous commute Friday morning as it crawled northeast.
Wind…
photo: AP / Jeff Roberson
![](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/c9/4a3de8d3805c8c.jpg)
The United States invaded
Afghanistan over eleven years ago.
Men and women who were seven and eight years old are now enlisting in the military. Some of them will end up walking the streets and trails of that faraway land before their enlistments are…
photo: US Army / Shane Hamann
![An official of India's National Investigation Agency collects evidence from the debris at one of the two bomb blast sites, in Hyderabad, India, early Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. An official of India's National Investigation Agency collects evidence from the debris at one of the two bomb blast sites, in Hyderabad, India, early Friday, Feb. 22, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/e3/02fe69a8175283.jpg)
OMER FAROOQ
Associated Press= HYDERABAD,
India (AP) —
A day after two bicycle bombs killed 14 people and wounded more than
100, investigators into India’s worst bombing in more than a year searched Friday for possible links to anger over the…
photo: AP / Aijaz Rahi
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photo: AP / Rodrigo Abd
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Arizona slaying suspect questioned by prosecutor 22 minutes ago UN to hold special session in 2014 on population 22 minutes ago
911 calls reveal fear, anger during
Calif. rampage 26 minutes ago Thousands donated to aid…
photo: WN / Agnieszka Dziubi?ska
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BRUSSELS –
Senior NATO officials say the alliance is strongly considering a proposal to continue funding an
Afghan security force of 352,
000 troops through 2018, as part of an effort to maintain security and help convince
Afghanistan that
America and…
photo: US Army / Jon Heinrich
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NEW DELHI: At least 12 people were killed and 57 injured in two near simultaneous blasts in
Hyderabad and the death toll could go up,
home minister Sushilkumar…
photo: AP
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A strike called by
India‘s trade unions over the government’s economic reforms has entered its second day.
Security is tight in
Noida, a
Delhi suburb where angry workers attacked factories and set ablaze 25 vehicles, including a fire truck,…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
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NEW YORK (AP) — Sony unveiled its next-generation gaming system, PlayStation 4, at an event in
New York, saying the console will be part of a new ecosystem focused on hardware, software and “the fastest, most powerful gaming network.” “Our long-term…
photo: AP / Frank Franklin
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A tanker.
Photo: Reuters LAGOS: Armed pirates who stormed an oil service ship off
Nigeria have kidnapped six foreigners and demanded a $US1.3 million ($
1.26 million) ransom for their release, the police and military say. “Three of those abducted are…
photo: AP / George Osodi,
![French gendarmerie officers serving in EULEX are seen on the Jarinje check-point on the border between Serbia and Kosovo, in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008. The European Union's most ambitious police mission to date will take over the policing of Kosovo from the United Nations, after months of delay and protests on both sides of the ethnic divide. The force, known as EULEX, will have over 2,000 police and justice workers monitoring and advising Kosovo's authorities on tackling corruption and organized cr French gendarmerie officers serving in EULEX are seen on the Jarinje check-point on the border between Serbia and Kosovo, in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008. The European Union's most ambitious police mission to date will take over the policing of Kosovo from the United Nations, after months of delay and protests on both sides of the ethnic divide. The force, known as EULEX, will have over 2,000 police and justice workers monitoring and advising Kosovo's authorities on tackling corruption and organized cr](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/a3/a1a6f16f92a2d9.jpg)
YAOUNDE:
French special forces have arrived in northern
Cameroon to help locate a French family who were kidnapped on Tuesday and moved to
Nigeria, a local governor said on Wednesday. The abduction of three adults and four children highlights the…
photo: AP / Zvek
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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) ? The
101st Airborne Division is headed to
Afghanistan for the third time in five years, but the division?s commanding general,
Maj. Gen. James McConville, says his forces have to be more adaptive and agile as they set the…
photo: US Navy / Josh Ives
![Bulgaria's new President Rosen Plevneliev, right, who assumed office Sunday, smiles next to Bulgaria's PM Boiko Borissov, left, after their first work meeting in Sofia, on Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012. Bulgaria's new President Rosen Plevneliev, right, who assumed office Sunday, smiles next to Bulgaria's PM Boiko Borissov, left, after their first work meeting in Sofia, on Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/bc/17211180f9c01f.jpg)
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko
Borissov offered to step down after anti-government protests sparked street violence four months before parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place. The premier, who has been in office since 2009, told the…
photo: AP / Valentina Petrova
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When the armored car set off for the
Brussels airport carrying $50 million worth of precious stones from
Antwerp‘s diamond district, eight gunmen knew all about it. One of the biggest diamond heists in recent memory was about to go down. The thieves…
photo: Creative Commons / Rafaël Delaedt
20 Feb 2013
Bulgaria‘s government resigned from office after nationwide protests against high electricity prices, joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov had tried to calm protests by sacking his finance minister, pledging to cut power prices and punish foreign-owned companies…
![Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, right, meets Tunisian Prime Minister Hamad Jebali, at the presidential palace of Tunisia, Carthage Palace, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tunis, Tunisia. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, right, meets Tunisian Prime Minister Hamad Jebali, at the presidential palace of Tunisia, Carthage Palace, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Tunis, Tunisia.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/bc/8889ebaa5d4c4c.jpg)
BOUAZZA
BEN BOUAZZA
Associated Press=
TUNIS,
Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s prime minister announced his resignation Tuesday following a failed effort to form a technocratic government to see the country out of its political crisis. The resignation is…
photo: AP / Hassene Dridi
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GENEVA (Reuters) – The rebel-held north of
Syria remains largely out of reach to aid operations, even though they have been stepped up elsewhere in the country torn by civil war,
U.N. humanitarian chief
Valerie Amos said on Tuesday. “We are watching…
photo: UN / Jean-Marc Ferré
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19 Feb 2013
South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius arrived early for a bail hearing at a Pretoria courthouse on Tuesday, after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last week. By News Wires (text) Double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius has arrived early at a courthouse in South Africa’s capital for a bail hearing in…
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photo: AP Photo / Misha Japaridze
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European Union foreign ministers on Monday stopped short of meeting Britain’s demand to lift an arms embargo on
Syria but agreed to allow “non-lethal” aid and “technical assistance” to flow to the opposition. “We would’ve gone further, some were…
photo: EC / EC
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BRUSSELS —
Less than a year after it triggered international condemnation by seizing power in a coup, the Malian military will start receiving advice from
European experts on how to maintain control of its vast territory. On Monday, the European…
photo: EC / EC
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photo: EC / EC
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KABUL,
Afghanistan — An
Afghan soldier-turned-insurgent who was feted by the Taliban for killing a
Fort Carson soldier during an insider attack in eastern Afghanistan last year has been killed in a raid, the
U.S.-led international coalition…
photo: DOD / Public Domain
![A man waves the Indian national flag in front of the Taj Mahal hotel, one of the targets of last months terror attacks in Mumbai, India, Friday, Dec. 26, 2008. Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks A man waves the Indian national flag in front of the Taj Mahal hotel, one of the targets of last months terror attacks in Mumbai, India, Friday, Dec. 26, 2008. Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/c9/0c3e83f9d40e3a.jpg)
photo: AP / Rajanish Kakade
![COALITION TO COMPLY WITH PLAN TO RESTRICT AIRSTRIKES COALITION TO COMPLY WITH PLAN TO RESTRICT AIRSTRIKES](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/a9/976b49d2790cd0.jpg)
18 Feb 2013
Zeenews Bureau Quito: Ecuadoreans on Sunday re-elected Rafael Correa as their President for another four years by casting more than 50 percent of vote in his favour. The 49 year old leftist leader, who has won the confidence of Ecuador’s lower classes by his so called “citizen’s revolution” cruised to his third term victory on Sunday as he won 56.9…
![Cameras are seen above a sign at the BBC Television Centre, in London Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. Cameras are seen above a sign at the BBC Television Centre, in London Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/1b/47c4156a59d6dc.jpg)
LONDON (AP) —
BBC reporters have walked off the job for
24 hours to protest job cuts at the broadcaster. Reporters mounted picket lines outside of the
BBC’s central
London studios. Programs went on, but many shows were disrupted Monday….
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth
![Australian teammates celebrate running out New Zealand's Kate Pulford during their Women's World Cup cricket match at the North Sydney Oval in Sydney Australian teammates celebrate running out New Zealand's Kate Pulford during their Women's World Cup cricket match at the North Sydney Oval in Sydney](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/c3/386b9a25484ec1.jpg)
photo: AP / Rick Rycroft
![Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, speaks next to his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias, unseen, during a news conference and after their meeting, in Athens, on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. Sarkisian is in Greece on a two-days official visit. Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, speaks next to his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias, unseen, during a news conference and after their meeting, in Athens, on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. Sarkisian is in Greece on a two-days official visit.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/ee/6c1a7ec2d43af8.jpg)
Armenians are set to vote in a presidential election, with the incumbent
Serge Sarkisian expected to win a second five-year term in office. The vote has been condemned as not presenting voters with any real choice, with observers saying Mr…
photo: AP / Petros Giannakouris
![Right-wing presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades waves to his supporters during a rally in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. Right-wing presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades waves to his supporters during a rally in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/e9/7ce2cfbab93476.jpg)
NICOSIA,
Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus will hold a presidential runoff election next week after no candidate won an outright majority in the first round of voting on Sunday. Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news…
photo: AP / Petros Karadjias
![Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, fourth from left, and his wife Anne Malherbe, third from left, arrive to the funeral service of Juan Pablo Bolanos, a student killed during the Thursday police revolt, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, fourth from left, and his wife Anne Malherbe, third from left, arrive to the funeral service of Juan Pablo Bolanos, a student killed during the Thursday police revolt, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/eb/e14712fdcc2dbb.jpg)
Voters were on the way yesterday to handing a third term to
President Rafael Correa, an economist who has raised living standards for the lower classes and widened their social safety net while being widely criticised as intolerant of dissent….
photo: AP / Dolores Ochoa
![Kosovo women walk in the main square decorated with flags for the anniversary of Kosovo's independence in capital Pristina on Monday, Feb. 16, 2009. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008. Although it gained swift recognition from the United States and key European powers including Britain, France, Germany and Italy only 22 of the EU's 27 member states have endorsed Kosovo women walk in the main square decorated with flags for the anniversary of Kosovo's independence in capital Pristina on Monday, Feb. 16, 2009. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008. Although it gained swift recognition from the United States and key European powers including Britain, France, Germany and Italy only 22 of the EU's 27 member states have endorsed](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/de/ddadd40d843a07.jpg)
Ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo celebrated the fifth anniversary of their declaration of independence from
Serbia with a
parade of police and armed forces in the main square of the capital Sunday.
It’s the first time such forces have been used in a parade…
photo: AP / Visar Kryeziu
![Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman talks during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle, not seen, in Jerusalem. Israel's Justice Ministry filed an indictment of former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman in a Jerusalem court on Sunday, charging him with breach of trust and fraud in a case that could hurt his political future. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman talks during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle, not seen, in Jerusalem. Israel's Justice Ministry filed an indictment of former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman in a Jerusalem court on Sunday, charging him with breach of trust and fraud in a case that could hurt his political future.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/37/aba46cbad8492b.jpg)
photo: AP / Tara Todras-Whitehill
![A man and a woman vote in the Presidential election in southern port city of Limassol, Cyprus, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. A man and a woman vote in the Presidential election in southern port city of Limassol, Cyprus, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/be/9e9dd557e58f81.jpg)
NICOSIA,
Cyprus — Cypriots are voting Sunday for a new president who must tackle a financial crisis that has forced the country to seek international rescue money to stay solvent.
The change in leadership comes at a crucial juncture for Cyprus…
photo: AP / Petros Karadjias
![Local residents survey a damaged market caused by Saturday's bombing in Quetta, Pakistan on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. Local residents survey a damaged market caused by Saturday's bombing in Quetta, Pakistan on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/03/e5fd3864634f05.jpg)
ABDUL SATTAR
Associated Press= QUETTA,
Pakistan (AP) —
Angry residents on Sunday demanded government protection from an onslaught of attacks against
Shiite Muslims, a day after 81 people were killed in a massive bombing that a local official said was…
photo: AP / Arshad Butt
![Lakhdar Brahimi, Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria, answers media questions after consultations at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. Lakhdar Brahimi, Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria, answers media questions after consultations at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/b3/536316105f5555.jpg)
CAIRO (Reuters) –
International mediator
Lakhdar Brahimi called on Sunday for talks between the
Syrian opposition and an “acceptable delegation” from the
Damascus government on a political solution to the country’s 23-month-old civil war….
photo: AP / Richard Drew
![Afghan leader says he’ll ban airstrike requests Afghan leader says he’ll ban airstrike requests](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/0f/c0aad328f274d4.jpg)
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN:
Angry over civilian deaths,
President Hamid Karzai announced plans Saturday to ban
Afghan security forces from requesting international airstrikes on residential areas. If he issues the decree as promised, the move would pose a…
photo: US Army / Michael J. MacLeod
![An Italian flag on a window in Rome, Italy An Italian flag on a window in Rome, Italy](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/b2/397834aec9afdb.jpg)
A 4.8-magnitude quake hit central
Italy today, shaking apartment buildings in the centre of
Rome and spooking citizens in the region of Abruzzo,…
photo: WN / Guillaume Poulet-Mathis
![A propaganda poster with Kim Il-sung's official portrait A propaganda poster with Kim Il-sung's official portrait](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/f1/f1553435a56062.jpg)
YANJI
CITY,
China — Beds shook and teacups clattered in this town bordering
North Korea, less than
100 miles from the site where the
North said it detonated a nuclear test that exploded midmorning in the midst of
Chinese New Year festivities….
photo: Creative Commons / Yeowatzup
![Afghan troops banned from requesting NATO strikes Afghan troops banned from requesting NATO strikes](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/0f/cccc4f33f79b0f.jpg)
Afghan forces will be banned from requesting
NATO air strikes “under any conditions”,
President Hamid Karzai told a
Kabul military academy on Saturday. The move comes days after 10 civilians died in a joint NATO-Afghan raid on a Taliban…
photo: US Army / Zach Holden
![Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol during a curfew in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 15 February 2013. Authorities have imposed strict restrictions to stop separatist march in protest against the hanging of Afzal Guru. Guru was hanged 09 February 2013 for an attack on the country's parliament in 2001, which killed nine people. Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol during a curfew in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 15 February 2013. Authorities have imposed strict restrictions to stop separatist march in protest against the hanging of Afzal Guru. Guru was hanged 09 February 2013 for an attack on the country's parliament in 2001, which killed nine people.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/0f/5535e427e09e41.jpg)
A strict curfew across
Indian-administered Kashmir that was imposed after the secret execution of a Kashmiri man has been lifted, police say.
Police officer Ashok Prasad said on Saturday that authorities had also restored mobile internet and cable…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
![Right-wing opposition leader and presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades crossing a street to campaign office in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. Right-wing opposition leader and presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades crossing a street to campaign office in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, Feb. 15, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/2e/aa34c4e2dcf749.jpg)
Some Cypriots are calling it mission impossible – the task of digging the small
Mediterranean island of
Cyprus out of debt. However difficult the task is, the new president, who will be elected by the end of this month at the latest, will have to…
photo: AP / Petros Karadjias
![facebook - popular social networking site on Internet facebook - popular social networking site on Internet](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/93/5a77bc2ab9c827.jpg)
(Reuters) –
Facebook Inc said on Friday it had been the target of an unidentified hacker group, but it found no evidence that user data was compromised. “
Last month, Facebook security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated…
photo: WN / Geeta
![John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, is seen during the Global Market Forecast, at the Airbus Factory in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010. John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, is seen during the Global Market Forecast, at the Airbus Factory in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/70/42652f443e67bf.jpg)
Airbus said it will revert to traditional battery technology for its new
A350 wide-body aircraft instead of the lithium-ion power source that grounded Boeing’s competing
787 Dreamliner after malfunctions.
The change is being made to protect the…
photo: AP / Manuel Blondeau
![People who participate in the release operation of two police officers and a soldier, hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, are surrounded by media members as they ride an International Red Cross vehicle at a rural area of Miranda, some 210 miles southwest of Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb.14, 2013. People who participate in the release operation of two police officers and a soldier, hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, are surrounded by media members as they ride an International Red Cross vehicle at a rural area of Miranda, some 210 miles southwest of Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Feb.14, 2013.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/85/296cc09e5f0337.jpg)
photo: AP / Juan B. Diaz
![Thousands of supporters raise a poster of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi as they celebrate in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak 18 months ago, in Cairo late Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012. Thousands of supporters raise a poster of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi as they celebrate in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak 18 months ago, in Cairo late Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/fa/fad53cc7723a13.jpg)
Thousands have rallied in
Cairo to show support for
Egypt‘s
President Mohammed Morsi, who has been locked in a deep dispute with the largely secular opposition. Protesters packed a square outside
Cairo University on Friday, chanting slogans…
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
![Two unidentified Rwandan Hutu rebels, left, that were captured during a joint military operation by the Congolese army and U.N. are seen some 70km from the town of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, Oct. 31, 2005. Two unidentified Rwandan Hutu rebels, left, that were captured during a joint military operation by the Congolese army and U.N. are seen some 70km from the town of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, Oct. 31, 2005.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/64/80ceac5bbc3ae3.jpg)
15 Feb 2013
A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia‘s Ural Mountains today morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 400 people, many of them hurt by broken glass. “There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to…
![SOMALIA, Kismayo: In a handout photograph taken 05 October and released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team 06 October, Somali women look on from a roof-top as a soldier of the Kenyan Contingent serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) stands guard on a street in the centre of the southern Somali port city of Kismayo adjacent to the old police station while a combat engineering team inspects the surrounding area following reports of a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) left behind by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group Al Shabaab. The last bastion of the once feared Al Shabaab, Kismayo fell after troops of the SNA and the pro-government Ras Kimboni Brigade supported by Kenyan AMISOM forces entered the port city on 02 October following a two month operation across southern Somalia which saw the liberation of villages and centres along a distance of 120km from Afmadow to Kismayo. AU-UN IST PHOTO / STUART PRICE. SOMALIA, Kismayo: In a handout photograph taken 05 October and released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team 06 October, Somali women look on from a roof-top as a soldier of the Kenyan Contingent serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) stands guard on a street in the centre of the southern Somali port city of Kismayo adjacent to the old police station while a combat engineering team inspects the surrounding area following reports of a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) left behind by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group Al Shabaab. The last bastion of the once feared Al Shabaab, Kismayo fell after troops of the SNA and the pro-government Ras Kimboni Brigade supported by Kenyan AMISOM forces entered the port city on 02 October following a two month operation across southern Somalia which saw the liberation of villages and centres along a distance of 120km from Afmadow to Kismayo. AU-UN IST PHOTO / STUART PRICE.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/39/eecb816f650be0.jpg)
Somalia‘s al-Shabab fighters have claimed to have executed a captured
Kenyan soldier and repeated threats to kill five other hostages, the group said.
The claim of the al-Qaeda-linked group on Friday could not be verified. “While…
photo: UN / STUART PRICE
![U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ian Blackstone (right) radios in his unit´s status while searching a school during a morning raid in the Tameem district of Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 3, 2006. The soldiers are assigned to Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Re U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ian Blackstone (right) radios in his unit´s status while searching a school during a morning raid in the Tameem district of Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 3, 2006. The soldiers are assigned to Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Re](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/63/236788a18cc38f.jpg)
photo: DoD /Jeremy T. Lock
![A Group of Woman on the way to holy bath at Gangasagar Island, some 150 kms south of Kolkata, on the occasion of Makarsankranti festival in Kolkata on Sunday, 13 January 2013. Some three hundred thousand Hindu pilgrims gathered at the Gangasagar Mela (Fair) to take a dip in the Ocean at the confluence of the River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, a holy day of the Hindu calendar considered to be of great religious significance in Hindu mythology, Eastern India A Group of Woman on the way to holy bath at Gangasagar Island, some 150 kms south of Kolkata, on the occasion of Makarsankranti festival in Kolkata on Sunday, 13 January 2013. Some three hundred thousand Hindu pilgrims gathered at the Gangasagar Mela (Fair) to take a dip in the Ocean at the confluence of the River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, a holy day of the Hindu calendar considered to be of great religious significance in Hindu mythology, Eastern India](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/2f/1aca0a92635408.jpg)
Security has been tightened for another peak day at
India‘s
Kumbh Mela festival, days after a stampede killed 36 pilgrims at a railway station.
Millions of
Hindu ascetics and pilgrims are taking a dip at
Sangam, the confluence of the
Ganges and…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
![XIV. Paralympische Sommerspiele, Leichtathletik, Maenner, 200 Meter, Finale T44, Sonntag (02.09.12), Olympiastadion, London, Grossbritannien: Oscar Pistorius (Suedafrika, r.) steht nach dem Lauf neben David Behre im Zielbereich. XIV. Paralympische Sommerspiele, Leichtathletik, Maenner, 200 Meter, Finale T44, Sonntag (02.09.12), Olympiastadion, London, Grossbritannien: Oscar Pistorius (Suedafrika, r.) steht nach dem Lauf neben David Behre im Zielbereich.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/d2/0692c681f79c34.jpg)
photo: AP / Sebastian Widmann
![Coup leader Amadou Haya Sanogo, center, stands with Mali's parliamentary head Dioncounda Traore, right, at junta headquarters in Kati, outside Bamako, Mali Monday, April 9, 2012. Coup leader Amadou Haya Sanogo, center, stands with Mali's parliamentary head Dioncounda Traore, right, at junta headquarters in Kati, outside Bamako, Mali Monday, April 9, 2012.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/d9/dbb2630e1d18ea.jpg)
BAMAKO (Reuters) –
Mali will hold a presidential election on July 7, a key step aimed at stabilizing the country following the French-led military intervention that has ousted Islamist rebels from the main northern towns, the government said on…
photo: AP / Harouna Traore
![In this June 10, 1993 file photo, Joaquin Guzman Loera, alias "El Chapo Guzman" is shown to the press after his arrest at the high security prison of Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City. In this June 10, 1993 file photo, Joaquin Guzman Loera, alias "El Chapo Guzman" is shown to the press after his arrest at the high security prison of Almoloya de Juarez, on the outskirts of Mexico City.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/d0/eaa481e0208632.jpg)
photo: AP / Damian Dovarganes
![In this Tuesday, April 24, 2012 file photo, fighters from Islamist group Ansar Dine stand guard during a hostage handover, in the desert outside Timbuktu, Mali. In this Tuesday, April 24, 2012 file photo, fighters from Islamist group Ansar Dine stand guard during a hostage handover, in the desert outside Timbuktu, Mali.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/43/74c7413d30d20c.jpg)
In their hurry to flee last month, al Qaeda fighters left behind a crucial document: Tucked under a pile of papers and trash is a confidential letter, spelling out the terror network’s strategy for conquering northern
Mali and reflecting internal…
photo: AP
14 Feb 2013
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![Singapore Flyer lights up during night time. Singapore Flyer lights up during night time.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/df/4d85f1ce79d62d.jpg)
photo: WN / RTayco
![Abbasiyyin Stadium Tishreen Park is by far the largest park in Damascus. It is home to the yearly held Damascus Flower Show. Other parks include Aljahiz, Al sibbki, Altijara and Alwahda. Abbasiyyin Stadium Tishreen Park is by far the largest park in Damascus. It is home to the yearly held Damascus Flower Show. Other parks include Aljahiz, Al sibbki, Altijara and Alwahda.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/0c/ef838c8cc5bf00.jpg)
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – MiG warplanes roar low overhead to strike rebels fighting to oust
President Bashar al-Assad on the fringes of
Damascus, while artillery batteries pound the insurgents from hills overlooking a city divided between all-out war and…
photo: Creative Commons / Aziz
![Pope Benedict XVI arrives for his weekly general audience at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday Feb. 13, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI arrives for his weekly general audience at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday Feb. 13, 2013.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/25/b6b6b77bcae333.jpg)
Pope Benedict XVI has thanked the public for their “love and prayers”, as he makes his first public appearance since announcing his resignation.
The Pope was cheered by crowds as he entered and began speaking, at a…
photo: AP / Alessandra Tarantino
![Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet with Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith and Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr during the Australia/U.S. ministerial in Perth, Australia, Nov 14, 2012. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet with Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith and Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr during the Australia/U.S. ministerial in Perth, Australia, Nov 14, 2012.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/0d/632cc5fe6e26cc.jpg)
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![Pope Benedict XVI holds up the ostensory as he celebrates a New Year's Eve vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI holds up the ostensory as he celebrates a New Year's Eve vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/06/932a64cde876ed.jpg)
Pope Benedict XVI had a secret operation three months ago to replace the batteries in his pacemaker but this did not influence his decision to resign, the Vatican has said. “It was a routine operation. He already had a pacemaker. This had nothing…
photo: AP / Gregorio Borgia
![President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J., Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J., Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/e9/2e5eebb4b6b19c.jpg)
WASHINGTON –
President Barack Obama on Tuesday called
North Korea‘s latest nuclear test a “highly provocative act” that threatens
U.S. security and international peace. “The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants…
photo: AP / Susan Walsh
![Coca-Cola soft drinks - Soda - Beverage Coca-Cola soft drinks - Soda - Beverage](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/41/847867aadf29ca.jpg)
Drinking large quantities of Coca-Cola was a “substantial factor” in the death of 30-year-old woman in
New Zealand, a coroner has said.
Natasha Harris, who died three years ago after a cardiac arrest, drank up to 10 litres of the fizzy…
photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba
![In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebels listen to their trainer on how to use a rocket propelled grenade in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria. In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebels listen to their trainer on how to use a rocket propelled grenade in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/99/49651f0e2369fe.jpg)
Syrian activists say rebels opposed to
President Bashar al-Assad have captured a military air base in northern
Syria, a day after seizing control of the country&aposs largest hydro-electric dam. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights…
photo: AP / Muhammed Muheisen
![A South Korean official explains seismic waves of North Korea's nuclear test which were measured in South Korea, at the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. A South Korean official explains seismic waves of North Korea's nuclear test which were measured in South Korea, at the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/92/62c145c3d986f2.jpg)
NORTH
Korea sparked worldwide condemnation today after defying the UN and detonating a miniaturised nuclear device last night. The hermit communist nation confirmed it had successfully conducted its THIRD nuclear test – which caused a 4.9-strength…
photo: AP / Yonhap, Lee Ji-eun
![A sign of Barclays Bank is seen at a branch in the City of London, Friday, April 30, 2010. A sign of Barclays Bank is seen at a branch in the City of London, Friday, April 30, 2010.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/3a/b1e8cc70f6942e.jpg)
Barclays has announced 3,700 job cuts amid plans to cut £1.7bn in costs and improve standards. Of these job losses, 1,800 will be in its corporate and investment bank and 1,900 will be in
European retail and business banking….
photo: AP / Sang Tan
![Coca-Cola soft drinks - Soda - Beverage Coca-Cola soft drinks - Soda - Beverage](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/41/847867aadf29ca.jpg)
Drinking large quantities of Coca-Cola was a “substantial factor” in the death of 30-year-old woman in
New Zealand, a coroner has said.
Natasha Harris, who died three years ago after a cardiac arrest, drank up to 10 litres of the fizzy…
photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba
![In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebels listen to their trainer on how to use a rocket propelled grenade in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria. In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebels listen to their trainer on how to use a rocket propelled grenade in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/99/49651f0e2369fe.jpg)
Syrian activists say rebels opposed to
President Bashar al-Assad have captured a military air base in northern
Syria, a day after seizing control of the country&aposs largest hydro-electric dam. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights…
photo: AP / Muhammed Muheisen
![A South Korean official explains seismic waves of North Korea's nuclear test which were measured in South Korea, at the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. A South Korean official explains seismic waves of North Korea's nuclear test which were measured in South Korea, at the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/92/62c145c3d986f2.jpg)
NORTH
Korea sparked worldwide condemnation today after defying the UN and detonating a miniaturised nuclear device last night. The hermit communist nation confirmed it had successfully conducted its THIRD nuclear test – which caused a 4.9-strength…
photo: AP / Yonhap, Lee Ji-eun
![In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI delivers his message at the end of a meeting of Vatican cardinals, at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI delivers his message at the end of a meeting of Vatican cardinals, at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/80/46704f5f9c8364.jpg)
VATICAN
CITY — In a move that took the world by surprise,
Pope Benedict XVI announced on Monday (Feb. 11) that he will become the first pope in 600 years to resign, with plans to step down on Feb. 28. “After having repeatedly examined my…
photo: AP / L’Osservatore Romano
![Gen. Joseph Dunford takes command in Afghanistan Gen. Joseph Dunford takes command in Afghanistan](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/3c/42f95ca22e5580.jpg)
photo: US DoD / D. Myles Cullen
![Pakistan to have role in lasting Afghan solution, says ex-US general Pakistan to have role in lasting Afghan solution, says ex-US general](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/99/fae1b14c6561fb.jpg)
photo: US DoD / D. Myles Cullen
![Nigeria's Emmanuel Emenike holds the trophy after they defeated Burkina Faso in the final to win the African Cup of Nations at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. Nigeria's Emmanuel Emenike holds the trophy after they defeated Burkina Faso in the final to win the African Cup of Nations at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/7a/666f96c663cb62.jpg)
photo: AP / Armando Franca
![Footwear of Hindu devotees lie on the ground after a stampede on the banks of the River Ganges in Haridwar, 500 kilometers (300 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. Footwear of Hindu devotees lie on the ground after a stampede on the banks of the River Ganges in Haridwar, 500 kilometers (300 miles) southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/e7/7c747393395843.jpg)
Allahabad – At least 18 people were killed in a stampede in the
Indian city of Allahabad on Sunday as Hindus returned from a river dip at the world’s largest religious festival. An overcrowded railway station footbridge buckled and a railing…
photo: AP
![Workers place a tarp on a fence in front of the statue of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno before removing it Sunday July 22, 2012 in State College, Pa. Workers place a tarp on a fence in front of the statue of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno before removing it Sunday July 22, 2012 in State College, Pa.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/af/3f80f274291735.jpg)
photo: AP / John Beale
![Fireworks usher in Year of the Snake Fireworks usher in Year of the Snake](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/0d/db38750b432122.jpg)
photo: WN / Periasamy
![Sino-India water issue: Bilateral mechanism proposed Sino-India water issue: Bilateral mechanism proposed](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/bb/8c656e0360832a.jpg)
New Delhi:
Water is emerging as a new possible irritant between
China and India, which has proposed a bilateral mechanism to deal with it. In a significant move,
India is pressing
China to have either a water commission or a inter-governmental…
photo: WN / Agnieszka Dziubi?ska
![Economy to be focus of Obama's address Economy to be focus of Obama's address](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/f1/4f1762b3709050.jpg)
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![Ice forming on the limbs of trees in Pocahontas, Illinois, USA during a winter storm on February 1, 2011. Ice forming on the limbs of trees in Pocahontas, Illinois, USA during a winter storm on February 1, 2011.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/04/a7213af31a7cb7.jpg)
A record-breaking blizzard packing hurricane-force winds hammered the northeastern
United States on Saturday, cutting power to 700,
000 homes and businesses, shutting down travel and leaving at least five people dead. The mammoth storm that stretched…
photo: WN / Janice Sabnal
![Hamish McRae: Europe has to play to its many strengths Hamish McRae: Europe has to play to its many strengths](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/8c/0b84220ee6c35a.jpg)
What can
Europeans – and let’s just accept that Britons are Europeans – do that others cannot do just as well or better? This, surely, a much more important question than the row over the
European budget, the machinations by the
European Central Bank…
![In this Oct. 24, 2007 file photo, a woman looks at oversized versions of the new Venezuelan currency, coined the 'Strong Bolivar' in Caracas, Venezuela. In this Oct. 24, 2007 file photo, a woman looks at oversized versions of the new Venezuelan currency, coined the 'Strong Bolivar' in Caracas, Venezuela.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/3c/a7d920cd1bf7d1.jpg)
Venezuela has cut the value of its currency against the
US dollar by 32%, in an effort to boost its economy. The widely expected measure ramps up the official exchange rate of the bolivar from 4.3 to
6.3 per US dollar. It was announced after…
photo: AP / Howard Yanes
![President Barack Obama looks to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as he announces Kerry's nomination for the next secretary of state in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in Washington. President Barack Obama looks to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as he announces Kerry's nomination for the next secretary of state in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in Washington.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/a2/f3fc8d8ca9447a.jpg)
Finally, a glimmer of hope is shining from the end of the tunnel of distrust, intimidation and threats. After 33 years of wild accusations, hostile attitudes, belligerent posturing, terrorism and war planning, relations between the
United States and…
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
![Environment Minister John Baird presented, with the aid of a video screen at a news conference in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 19, 2007 a scenario of what it would take to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, suggesting that prices would soar while thousands of j Environment Minister John Baird presented, with the aid of a video screen at a news conference in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 19, 2007 a scenario of what it would take to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, suggesting that prices would soar while thousands of j](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/65/9baa23bf53262e.jpg)
…
photo: AP/CP, Fred Chartrand
![South Korean rapper PSY, who sings the popular "Gangnam Style" song, talks with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, right, during their meeting at Google Korea headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. South Korean rapper PSY, who sings the popular "Gangnam Style" song, talks with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, right, during their meeting at Google Korea headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/6c/6de40f5d280034.jpg)
photo: AP / Yonhap
![Pedestrians make their way in a slushy snowfall along Broadway in the Manhattan borough of New York as a second blizzard in less than a week blanket the city Thursday Feb. 25, 2010. Pedestrians make their way in a slushy snowfall along Broadway in the Manhattan borough of New York as a second blizzard in less than a week blanket the city Thursday Feb. 25, 2010.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/0b/7a2511999fb81e.jpg)
NEW YORK — It was a “routine blizzard” that was bearing down on them, not a superstorm, but
New Yorkers couldn’t help but think about
Sandy in the face of a snow-laden Nor’easter. “I think it might even be…
photo: AP / Bebeto Matthews
![Pakistani children sit around a picture of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot last Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, as they pray for her recovery during a candlelight vigil in Hyderabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012. Pakistani children sit around a picture of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot last Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, as they pray for her recovery during a candlelight vigil in Hyderabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/31/2405e0d711815a.jpg)
photo: AP / Pervez Masih
![The Carnival King, right, also known as Rei Momo, celebrates with two female dancers at the official beginning of the 2001 Rio Carnival after recieving the key to the city from local authorities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 23, 2001. (sa0) The Carnival King, right, also known as Rei Momo, celebrates with two female dancers at the official beginning of the 2001 Rio Carnival after recieving the key to the city from local authorities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 23, 2001. (sa0)](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/89/1fa40cf6d1ba9e.jpg)
08 Feb 2013
TUNIS: Tunisia faces a general strike Friday, with tens of thousands expected to take to the streets after the murder this week of a leftist opposition leader that sparked violent clashes with police. The General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) called the strike to coincide with the funeral of Chokri Belaid, a lawyer and vocal critic of the ruling…
![Military personnel search for bodies after a Zambia Postal Service bus collided with a truck near the town of Chifamba about 100 Kilometers (60 Miles) north of Lusaka, Zambia, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. Military personnel search for bodies after a Zambia Postal Service bus collided with a truck near the town of Chifamba about 100 Kilometers (60 Miles) north of Lusaka, Zambia, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/e0/7e808b07b298a1.jpg)
I can confirm that 53 people have died in the accident The bus carrying 73 passengers hurtled into an oncoming truck, leaving bloodied bodies and wreckage on a main road north of
Lusaka. “I can confirm that 53 people have died in the…
photo: AP / Salim Dawood
![Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet with Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith and Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr during the Australia/U.S. ministerial in Perth, Australia, Nov 14, 2012. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meet with Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith and Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr during the Australia/U.S. ministerial in Perth, Australia, Nov 14, 2012.](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/99/447a95f8fe27d9.jpg)
The US defence secretary has acknowledged for the first time that he supports arming
Syrian rebels. In testimony to
Congress,
Leon Panetta said he still supported the supply of weapons to rebels fighting forces loyal to
Syrian President Bashar…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour, President of the Republic of Yemen addresses the general debate of the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly. Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour, President of the Republic of Yemen addresses the general debate of the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/41/eb812f87386c69.jpg)
Yemen‘s president has called on
Iran to stop backing armed groups in his country after coastguards seized a ship carrying missiles and rockets.
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi‘s message came amid speculation the weapons originated in the Iran….
photo: UN / Jennifer S Altman
![A candlelit vigil being held in Mcleod Ganj town of Dharamshala, India, on Thursday evening, April 19, 2012, to pay respect and prayers to the two young Tibetans who died on April 19th in their self-immolations in Tibet to China's rule and repressions. A candlelit vigil being held in Mcleod Ganj town of Dharamshala, India, on Thursday evening, April 19, 2012, to pay respect and prayers to the two young Tibetans who died on April 19th in their self-immolations in Tibet to China's rule and repressions.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/e8/e540615a8f1fbf.jpg)
CLIFFORD COONAN, in
Beijing Chinese authorities have detained 70 people as part of a widening crackdown on a wave of self-immolations in
Tibetan areas, and launched a high-profile propaganda campaign to discourage the protests. Since
February 2009,…
photo: WN / Yeshe Choesang
![Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi gestures during a news conference at Rome's Chigi Palace premier office, Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi gestures during a news conference at Rome's Chigi Palace premier office, Wednesday, March 24, 2010](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/82/016328fc57bc09.jpg)
ITALY‘S
Silvio Berlusconi showed off his famous stage skills at a lively election rally in
Rome, where star-struck supporters spoke admiringly of the scandal-tainted former leader. Hundreds of fans young and old packed a concert hall for the…
photo: AP / Riccardo De Luca
![Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, seen during his meeting on the Olympics 2014 preparations in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, seen during his meeting on the Olympics 2014 preparations in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/19/f9a01e223136de.jpg)
photo: AP / RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Pool
![brown rat - common rat - Hanover rat - Norway rat - Norwegian rat - wharf rat - rodent brown rat - common rat - Hanover rat - Norway rat - Norwegian rat - wharf rat - rodent](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/7a/822950e3c08086.jpg)
Humankind’s common ancestor with other mammals may have been an animal the size of a rat that weighed no more than half a pound, had a long furry tail and lived on insects. Enlarge This
Image Carl Buell An artist’s rendering of a placental…
photo: Creative Commons
07 Feb 2013
Tunisia‘s Islamist Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has announced that the country’s government would be dissolved and a national unity cabinet formed amid fierce protests following the assassination of a prominent secular opposition leader. By FRANCE 24 (text) Tunisia’s prime minister has pledged to form a government of technocrats and to…
Latest World News
![Torn and defaced election posters of candidates who ran as a parliamentary candidates in September's poll, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010. Torn and defaced election posters of candidates who ran as a parliamentary candidates in September's poll, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/90/34a8c9025e7d7d.jpg)
By Inge Fryklund All
Afghan elections to date have been bankrolled – and largely organized – by international donors. In advance of 2014, Afghans and donors alike need to decide what to do to stage a credible presidential election and what can…
![Singur Village School Childrens with a raincoat on the raniday ,who gave up his land reacts to the verdict of Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2012 in Singur, India. In a major setback to West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court Friday struck down the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, as unconstitutional and void. The division bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Mrinal Kanti Chaudhuri set aside the single bench judgment of the court Singur Village School Childrens with a raincoat on the raniday ,who gave up his land reacts to the verdict of Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2012 in Singur, India. In a major setback to West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court Friday struck down the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, as unconstitutional and void. The division bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Mrinal Kanti Chaudhuri set aside the single bench judgment of the court](http://cdn6.wn.com/vp/i/97/771d2c052d716f.jpg)
Child victims of sexual abuse in
India are often mistreated and humiliated by police, says the US-based
Human Rights Watch (
HRW) in a new report.
Government systems to deal with the issue of abuse are inadequate, it says. The report says sexual abuse…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
![“Money” forces Pentagon to one carrier in Persian Gulf “Money” forces Pentagon to one carrier in Persian Gulf](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/db/15e9d347c01f21.jpg)
The U.S. is reducing its naval presence in the
Persian Gulf to just one aircraft carrier to reduce costs, a military official confirms to the
E-Ring. “
Money,” was the one-word answer from the official, when asked for the reason behind the
Pentagon’s…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
![In this file photo taken, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 file photo, Nigeria secret service officers stand guard, during a court hearing in Lagos, Nigeria. In this file photo taken, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 file photo, Nigeria secret service officers stand guard, during a court hearing in Lagos, Nigeria.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/8d/d1f3630ade259e.jpg)
BENIN
CITY, NIGERIA — The
Nigerian government is cracking down on
Internet scam artists who take millions of dollars monthly from foreign victims. The latest police sweep saw 20 people arrested last week. In the southern city of
Benin where the raid…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
![Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures, prior to addressing a mass rally in the southern village of Qana, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures, prior to addressing a mass rally in the southern village of Qana, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/97/8e663c8b4cbaf1.jpg)
Iran‘s president on Wednesday offered to help rescue
Egypt‘s failing economy with a “big credit line,” another
sign of improving relations between two regional powers after a freeze of more than three decades.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the proposal…
photo: AP / Hassan Ammar
![A protester carries a Tunisian flag during a sit-in in support of the Tunisian people organized by the committee for solidarity with the people's uprising in Tunisia and Lebanon, in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. A protester carries a Tunisian flag during a sit-in in support of the Tunisian people organized by the committee for solidarity with the people's uprising in Tunisia and Lebanon, in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/a1/769cb5aef176ac.jpg)
TUNIS (Reuters) – A Tunisian opposition politician was shot dead on Wednesday, sending protesters onto the streets of cities nationwide two years after the uprisings that swept
Tunisia‘s president from power and inflamed the
Arab world.
Forensic…
photo: AP / Grace Kassab
February 6, 2013
CIA operating drone base in Saudi Arabia, US media reveal
Drones reportedly carry out strikes without Yemeni government permission
The US Central Intelligence Agency has been operating a secret airbase for unmanned drones in Saudi Arabia for the past two years.
![An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister back at riot police, not seen, during clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister back at riot police, not seen, during clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/08/9cbf6eaf4cfd44.jpg)
CAIRO — As hundreds fled the advancing armored cars of riot police officers, Mohamed Mokbel ran forward. Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter
List: Reporters and
Editors A…
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
![Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks in the House of Commonns in this image taken from TV Monday Sept. 5, 2011. Cameron said a national inquiry into anti-terrorism policy will examine allegations about the cozy ties between U.K. intelligence and Moammar Gadhafi's regime. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks in the House of Commonns in this image taken from TV Monday Sept. 5, 2011. Cameron said a national inquiry into anti-terrorism policy will examine allegations about the cozy ties between U.K. intelligence and Moammar Gadhafi's regime.](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/cd/2c9c752b916019.jpg)
David Cameron got his way but saw his party torn in half as gay marriage legislation cleared its first hurdle in the
Commons.
The Prime Minister hailed a “step forward for our country” after the
House backed the proposals by a big margin of 400 to…
photo: AP / Parliamentary Recording Unit, via APTN
![A Predator drone unmanned aerial vehicle takes off on a U.S. Customs Border Patrol mission from Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Thursday, Oct. 25, 20 A Predator drone unmanned aerial vehicle takes off on a U.S. Customs Border Patrol mission from Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Thursday, Oct. 25, 20](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/9f/13f01ad0ad4ae9.jpg)
WASHINGTON — Civil and human rights advocates Tuesday denounced a leaked
Obama administration “white paper” that sets out the legal justification for killing
U.S. citizens suspected of being members of al Qaida, an issue certain to arise…
photo: AP / Ross D. Franklin
![Main Street, Honiara, population 49,107 (1999 census), 78,190 (2009 estimate), is the capital of the Solomon Islands and of Guadalcanal Province, although it is a separately administered town. Main Street, Honiara, population 49,107 (1999 census), 78,190 (2009 estimate), is the capital of the Solomon Islands and of Guadalcanal Province, although it is a separately administered town.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/4a/7271cad9a4c1fa.jpg)
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An earthquake measuring
6.3 magnitude struck southeast of the
Solomon Islands on Wednesday, the
U.S. Geological Survey reported. The shallow quake was only
15 km (nine miles) deep and the epicenter was 330 km…
photo: Creative Commons
![Beach at Acapulco, Mexico Beach at Acapulco, Mexico](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/d2/ff38aee4b341d2.jpg)
ACAPULCO,
Mexico: Six
Spanish tourists were raped by a gang of armed, masked men in the
Mexican resort of
Acapulco, the latest chapter of violence that has tarnished the once-glamorous
Pacific coast resort. The vicious, hours-long attack…
photo: Creative Commons / Gmasterman
![In this photo released by Taiwan's Central News Agency, a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat, front, comes in close proximity with a Taiwan Coast Guard patrol boat near the disputed islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. In this photo released by Taiwan's Central News Agency, a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat, front, comes in close proximity with a Taiwan Coast Guard patrol boat near the disputed islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/93/a8a2e5996665ea.jpg)
photo: AP / Central News Agency
![President Barack Obama answers a reporter's question as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, May 18, 2009 President Barack Obama answers a reporter's question as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, May 18, 2009](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/b5/bc561887a615e3.jpg)
Feb 5.2013
Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib has urged President Bashar al-Assad to respond to his offer of peace talks. Mr Khatib, recently elected head of the Syrian National Coalition, called on Mr Assad to give his vice-president the task of opening negotiations. He said the aim would be to help the Syrian regime stand down peacefully, to spare…
![In this image released by the Egyptian Presidency, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, right, pose for photographers in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. In this image released by the Egyptian Presidency, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, and Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, right, pose for photographers in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/3e/e8437b92907151.jpg)
CAIRO—
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in
Cairo on Tuesday for the first visit by an Iranian leader in more than three decades, marking a historic departure from years of frigid ties between the two regional heavyweights.
Egypt‘s Islamist…
photo: AP / Egyptian Presidency
![Mexican army soldiers salute during a ceremony to mark the Day of the Army at a military base in Tula, Mexico, Monday Feb. 19, 2007. During the event, President Felipe Calderon announced a 46 percent salary increase for the soldiers, who are becoming inc Mexican army soldiers salute during a ceremony to mark the Day of the Army at a military base in Tula, Mexico, Monday Feb. 19, 2007. During the event, President Felipe Calderon announced a 46 percent salary increase for the soldiers, who are becoming inc](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/65/e768d397049f4d.jpg)
photo: AP /Gregory Bull
![Interior The No. 2857 bus which Rosa Parks was riding on before she was arrested (a GM transit bus, serial number 1132).She was sitting in the 2nd row from the front, all the way to the right window (looking from the back Interior The No. 2857 bus which Rosa Parks was riding on before she was arrested (a GM transit bus, serial number 1132).She was sitting in the 2nd row from the front, all the way to the right window (looking from the back](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/3c/bdb6ae6c14a911.jpg)
photo: Creative Commons / Sdrtirs
![This picture released by Cubadebate on its website early Monday Oct. 22, 2012 shows Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Habana, Cuba, Sunday Oct. 21, 2012. This picture released by Cubadebate on its website early Monday Oct. 22, 2012 shows Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Habana, Cuba, Sunday Oct. 21, 2012.](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/46/5af10e7fa597c0.jpg)
photo: AP / Alex Castro, Cubadebate
![Afghan President Hamid Karzai addresses the media. Afghan President Hamid Karzai addresses the media.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/e8/933a88af579d41.jpg)
KABUL,
Afghanistan —
The Afghan peace effort is floundering, fraught with mistrust and confusion among key players even though the hard-line Taliban militants show signs of softening and their reclusive, one-eyed leader made a surprise offer to…
photo: AP / Mustafa Quraishi
![An official game ball for the NFL football Super Bowl XLVII at Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in Ada, Ohio, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. An official game ball for the NFL football Super Bowl XLVII at Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in Ada, Ohio, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/97/d6879d3c1b83e9.jpg)
I’ve always prided myself as a
Clark Kent-type of reporter. Mild-mannered, strait-laced, tending to avoid risk. But that’s all out the window when you go to
Super Bowl weekend in
Las Vegas. It’s my third day here, having just…
photo: AP / Rick Osentoski
![President Barack Obama, right standing, points at Andre Wupperman, far left, during an unschedule stop at Gator's Dockside, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. When Obama was told that Andrew was born in Hawaii, he jokingly ask for his birth certificate. President Barack Obama, right standing, points at Andre Wupperman, far left, during an unschedule stop at Gator's Dockside, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. When Obama was told that Andrew was born in Hawaii, he jokingly ask for his birth certificate.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/de/212549f83c07f1.jpg)
WASHINGTON —
President Barack Obama said Sunday that gays should be allowed in the
Boy Scouts and women should be allowed in military combat roles, weighing in on two storied
American institutions facing proposals to end long-held exclusions….
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
![Pakistani men hold pictures of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot last Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, during a candlelight vigil in Karachi, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012. Pakistani men hold pictures of 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot last Tuesday by the Taliban for speaking out in support of education for women, during a candlelight vigil in Karachi, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/2b/2217afea40aea7.jpg)
British doctors treating a
Pakistani teenager who was gravely wounded by the Taliban last year say she has has undergone two successful operations and is making good progress in her…
photo: AP / Shakil Adil
![Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, sits with Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the President's residence in Jerusalem Friday, Feb.20, 2009. Netanyahu of the hawkish Likud Party has received formal permission from Israel's ceremonial president to put together the country's next government. At a ceremony at President Shimon Peres' residence, Netanyahu urged Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the governing Kadima Party and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of the Labor Party to join his governmen Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, sits with Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the President's residence in Jerusalem Friday, Feb.20, 2009. Netanyahu of the hawkish Likud Party has received formal permission from Israel's ceremonial president to put together the country's next government. At a ceremony at President Shimon Peres' residence, Netanyahu urged Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the governing Kadima Party and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of the Labor Party to join his governmen](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/2b/12592a6dc8382d.jpg)
photo: AP / Dan Balilty
![South Africa fans react as their team is knocked out of the African Cup of Nations tournament after losing to Mali on penalties in their quarterfinal soccer match, at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. South Africa fans react as their team is knocked out of the African Cup of Nations tournament after losing to Mali on penalties in their quarterfinal soccer match, at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/0a/5a7f5fa0312ac1.jpg)
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
![Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaks during a media conference at an EU Summit in Brussels on Friday, March 2, 2012. Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaks during a media conference at an EU Summit in Brussels on Friday, March 2, 2012.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/08/8e2452856f509f.jpg)
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoydenied allegations of tax evasion and fraud after documents published in El Pais newspaper detailing a secret web of unofficial payments involving top party officers, including
Rajoy, unleashed a political storm in…
photo: AP / Thierry Charlier
03 Feb 2013
At least 33 people were killed on Sunday after a suicide bomber and two gunmen attacked a police headquarters in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, official sources said, the third major attack in the region in several weeks. By News Wires (text) A suicide bomber driving a car and gunmen disguised in police uniforms killed at least 33 people in the…
photo: US Navy / MCS2 Matthew D. Leistikow
![Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, sits with Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the President's residence in Jerusalem Friday, Feb.20, 2009. Netanyahu of the hawkish Likud Party has received formal permission from Israel's ceremonial president to put together the country's next government. At a ceremony at President Shimon Peres' residence, Netanyahu urged Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the governing Kadima Party and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of the Labor Party to join his governmen Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, sits with Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the President's residence in Jerusalem Friday, Feb.20, 2009. Netanyahu of the hawkish Likud Party has received formal permission from Israel's ceremonial president to put together the country's next government. At a ceremony at President Shimon Peres' residence, Netanyahu urged Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the governing Kadima Party and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of the Labor Party to join his governmen](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/2b/12592a6dc8382d.jpg)
photo: AP / Dan Balilty
![South Africa fans react as their team is knocked out of the African Cup of Nations tournament after losing to Mali on penalties in their quarterfinal soccer match, at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. South Africa fans react as their team is knocked out of the African Cup of Nations tournament after losing to Mali on penalties in their quarterfinal soccer match, at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013.](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/0a/5a7f5fa0312ac1.jpg)
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
![Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaks during a media conference at an EU Summit in Brussels on Friday, March 2, 2012. Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaks during a media conference at an EU Summit in Brussels on Friday, March 2, 2012.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/08/8e2452856f509f.jpg)
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoydenied allegations of tax evasion and fraud after documents published in El Pais newspaper detailing a secret web of unofficial payments involving top party officers, including
Rajoy, unleashed a political storm in…
photo: AP / Thierry Charlier
![Front line of PASTT at Gay Pride at Paris in France, June 2005. In the 1980s there was a major cultural shift in the Stonewall Riot commemorations. The previous loosely organized, grassroots marches and parades were taken over by more organized and less radical elements of the gay community. Front line of PASTT at Gay Pride at Paris in France, June 2005. In the 1980s there was a major cultural shift in the Stonewall Riot commemorations. The previous loosely organized, grassroots marches and parades were taken over by more organized and less radical elements of the gay community.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/49/177c342aba3f14.jpg)
PARIS (AP) —
France‘s
National Assembly has approved a key article of a controversial bill that would legalize gay marriage. The measure, approved by a 249-to-97 vote Saturday, would drop the legal requirement that a marriage in France must be…
photo: Creative Commons / Kenji-Baptiste OIKAWA
![A radiation detection device sits as new evacuees arrive for screening at an evacuee center for leaked radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facilities, Monday, March 21, 2011, in Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Despite living in such proximity to the Fukushima nuclear facility, evacuees at the shelter had never had an emergency drill to prepare them for a nuclear disaster. A radiation detection device sits as new evacuees arrive for screening at an evacuee center for leaked radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facilities, Monday, March 21, 2011, in Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Despite living in such proximity to the Fukushima nuclear facility, evacuees at the shelter had never had an emergency drill to prepare them for a nuclear disaster.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/a1/0c7bd4a11b9aeb.jpg)
A powerful
6.9 magnitude earthquake struck northern
Japan on Saturday, causing strong tremors across
Hokkaido island but no damage to several nuclear facilities in the region, officials said. The quake, which was preceded by an early warning…
photo: AP / Wally Santana
Egyptians work to reclaim a Tahrir tainted by sexual assault
Tahrir square has become a terrifying place for women as sexual assault becomes more common and violent. Fed up, civilians are making it their job to prevent it and rescue women from attacks.
February 2, 2013
Egyptian protesters chant antigovernment slogans during a rally in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Friday. Tahrir square has become a terrifying place for women as sexual assault becomes more common and violent.
![Hillary Clinton bids farewell as secretary of state Hillary Clinton bids farewell as secretary of state](http://cdn9.wn.com/vp/i/e6/238f6cca1fe495.jpg)
photo: AP / Robert F. Bukaty
![An Egyptian protestor holds a national flag during clashes with the security forces near the interior ministry in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. An Egyptian protestor holds a national flag during clashes with the security forces near the interior ministry in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/30/76b10f4c255dda.jpg)
2 February 2013, 1:03
Egypt: Protester Killed
Amid Fresh Clashes
Tweet One person has been killed and dozens injured during clashes between police and protesters in the
Egyptian capital of
Cairo. Egypt’s health ministry said a 23-year-old man died…
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
![Great Santa Cruz Island. Numerous landmarks in Zamboanga include Fort Pilar, Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Pasonanca Park, Paseo del Mar, Pettit Barracks, and Zamboanga Golf and Country Club. Great Santa Cruz Island. Numerous landmarks in Zamboanga include Fort Pilar, Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Pasonanca Park, Paseo del Mar, Pettit Barracks, and Zamboanga Golf and Country Club.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/82/2649f3192e7822.jpg)
photo: Creative Commons
![paris metro station Stalingrad paris metro station Stalingrad](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/5c/736fdd7184290e.jpg)
photo: WN / guillaume
![Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, meets with Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the State Department on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012 in Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, meets with Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the State Department on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012 in Washington.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/5f/7265e91e4bf8ca.jpg)
photo: AP / Evan Vucci
![Nigerian police officers stand guard in an area were the military are battling with gunmen in Kano, northern Nigeria, Wednesday April 18, 2007. Nigerian police officers stand guard in an area were the military are battling with gunmen in Kano, northern Nigeria, Wednesday April 18, 2007.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/ec/3ad3c70cfa4aef.jpg)
MAIDUGURI,
Nigeria (AP) —
Nigerian soldiers attacked training camps for suspected members of the radical Islamic sect
Boko Haram deep in a game reserve in the nation’s restive northeast, a raid that left at least 18 people dead, a military spokesman…
TURKEY
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive at the entrance of the US embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara, killing at least two people, police said on Friday.
![Bollywood actor Salman Khan speaks to the media at an event for the music release of his forthcoming Hindi language film "Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa" in Bombay, India, late Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004. Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa is a love story. Bollywood actor Salman Khan speaks to the media at an event for the music release of his forthcoming Hindi language film "Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa" in Bombay, India, late Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004. Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa is a love story.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/82/a5429b61106b7a.jpg)
An
Indian court has ruled that Bollywood superstar
Salman Khan will be charged with culpable homicide for a hit-and-run incident
10 years ago. If convicted of the charge, the actor could face up to 10 years in prison. In
September 2002,
Khan…
photo: AP / Rajesh Nirgude
![The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh with the US President, Mr. Barack Obama, at a Bilateral Meeting, on the sidelines of the 9th ASEAN-India Summit and the 6th East Asia Summit, in Bali, Indonesia on November 18, 2011. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh with the US President, Mr. Barack Obama, at a Bilateral Meeting, on the sidelines of the 9th ASEAN-India Summit and the 6th East Asia Summit, in Bali, Indonesia on November 18, 2011.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/26/ddeb24f07635cd.jpg)
January 31:
Barack Obama is looking to further strengthen Indo-American ties in his second term as the
President of US, the
White House said on Thursday. “
India is an incredibly important country in the world, not just the region. And the (US)…
photo: PIB of India
![A soldier stands guard outside the Pemex headquarters after an explosion in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. A soldier stands guard outside the Pemex headquarters after an explosion in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/65/c356ea48716fb2.jpg)
MEXICO CITY — An explosion ripped through the high-rise headquarters of
Mexico’s state oil company Friday, killing at least 14 people, according to a government minister, and injuring more than
100. The explosion shook the iconic 54-story…
photo: AP / Eduardo Verdugo
![An anti-government protester waves an Egyptian flag as stands on a pole in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 4, 2011. An anti-government protester waves an Egyptian flag as stands on a pole in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 4, 2011.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/d0/2708c571ce95db.jpg)
World Briefs
Egypt talks
Cairo, Jan. 31 (Reuters): Egypt’s feuding politicians renounced violence today after being summoned by the country’s influential
Muslim scholar to talks to end the unrest since
President Mohamed Mursi took…
photo: AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
![Falkland Islands . Falkland Islands .](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/2f/5c7edaa2f16db7.jpg)
BUENOS
AIRES (Reuters) –
Argentina on Thursday rejected an invitation from Britain to a meeting that would include representatives of the government of the
Falkland Islands, further hardening the diplomatic stalemate over the
South Atlantic…
![In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro, center, addresses the nation on live television flanked by Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, left, and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Maduro said that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez will face a "complex and hard" process after undergoing his fourth cancer-related operation in Cuba on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Chavez named Maduro as his chosen political heir. In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro, center, addresses the nation on live television flanked by Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, left, and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Maduro said that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez will face a "complex and hard" process after undergoing his fourth cancer-related operation in Cuba on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Chavez named Maduro as his chosen political heir.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/ed/234771051c5376.jpg)
photo: AP / Miraflores Press Office, Efrain Gonzalez
![Printer Belinda Affat poses for photographs with a copy of the Wall Street Journal Printer Belinda Affat poses for photographs with a copy of the Wall Street Journal](http://cdn3.wn.com/vp/i/35/85c73947e457cb.jpg)
photo: AP / Matt Dunham
![A trader watches a video wall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Jan. 3, 2011. Stocks started 2011 with a lift Monday thanks to better news on the economy. A trader watches a video wall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Jan. 3, 2011. Stocks started 2011 with a lift Monday thanks to better news on the economy.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/8a/28014b5d000d66.jpg)
NEW YORK, Jan
. 30 (
Xinhua) —
U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday, as the
Federal Reserve released a bit more pessimistic statement after the
U.S. economy shrunk unexpectedly in the fourth quarter. The main stock indices accelerated to drop after…
photo: AP / Richard Drew
![Der Praesident von Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, traegt sich am Freitag (20.04.12) in Schloss Bellevue in Berlin in das Gaestebuch von Schloss Bellevue ein. Gauck traf sich mit Jonathan zu einem Gespraech Der Praesident von Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, traegt sich am Freitag (20.04.12) in Schloss Bellevue in Berlin in das Gaestebuch von Schloss Bellevue ein. Gauck traf sich mit Jonathan zu einem Gespraech](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/30/c04d567bec2aea.jpg)
An adviser to
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is denying accusations that the government squandered about $ 67 billion. Doyin Okupe, senior special adviser for public affairs, says the accusations are malicious and without merit.
Nigeria’s…
photo: AP / Maja Hitij/dapd
![Locals collect oil from an oil polluted stream in Oshie near Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Tuesday, Oct. 31 2006. Locals collect oil from an oil polluted stream in Oshie near Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Tuesday, Oct. 31 2006.](http://cdn0.wn.com/vp/i/3a/a2628dca04cab8.jpg)
A
Dutch court rejected a bid by
Nigerian farmers to hold
Shell responsible for oil damage to their villages, in a case that environmental groups had hoped would set a precedent for global corporate responsibility.
Instead,
The Hague district court…
photo: AP / George Osodi
![Members of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party sit under the portrait of Suu Kyi before the party's central committee meeting at the party's headquarters Monday, March Members of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party sit under the portrait of Suu Kyi before the party's central committee meeting at the party's headquarters Monday, March](http://cdn2.wn.com/vp/i/7c/373260d235d34c.jpg)
YANGON,
Myanmar — Myanmar’s nearly 2-year-old reformist government has abolished a ban on public gatherings of more than five people that was ordered in
1988 on the day a military junta took power after crushing nationwide pro-democracy…
photo: AP / Photo/Khin Maung Win
![Bashar and Asma al-Assad, President and first-wife of Syria. Bashar and Asma al-Assad, President and first-wife of Syria.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/49/694d106543288b.jpg)
photo: Creative Commons / FunkMonk
![President Barack Obama talks about health care reform as he announces his nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, not pictured, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2009 President Barack Obama talks about health care reform as he announces his nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, not pictured, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2009](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/da/b00a338394ed86.jpg)
photo: AP / Charles Dharapak
![Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng arrives at Washington Square Village on the campus of New York University, Saturday, May 19, 2012, in New York. Blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng arrives at Washington Square Village on the campus of New York University, Saturday, May 19, 2012, in New York.](http://cdn4.wn.com/vp/i/d0/e432db42e29164.jpg)
photo: AP / Henny Ray Abrams
![Egyptian riot police officers secure a square to prevent any anti-government activists to gather, in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011. Egyptian riot police officers secure a square to prevent any anti-government activists to gather, in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011.](http://cdn7.wn.com/vp/i/7f/53457eff6960ea.jpg)
…
![This Monday, July 16, 2012 photo shows the Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Yahoo is hiring longtime Google executive Marissa Mayer to be its next CEO, the fifth in five years as the company struggles to rebound from financial malaise and internal turmoil. This Monday, July 16, 2012 photo shows the Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Yahoo is hiring longtime Google executive Marissa Mayer to be its next CEO, the fifth in five years as the company struggles to rebound from financial malaise and internal turmoil.](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/cd/f88a427c1d4372.jpg)
SAN FRANCISCO:
Yahoo! shares bounced in after-hours trading Monday as the struggling
Internet pioneer topped
Wall Street expectations despite a slip in quarterly profit. Yahoo! reported profit of $272 million, an eight percent drop from a year…
photo: AP / Paul Sakuma
![Residents clear away the mud from their flooded home in Brisbane, Australia, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighborhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge. Residents clear away the mud from their flooded home in Brisbane, Australia, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Parts of Brisbane reopened as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighborhoods recede, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge.](http://cdn8.wn.com/vp/i/10/3393a13376c02a.jpg)
BRISBANE,
Australia (AP) — Thousands of
Australians huddled in shelters Tuesday as torrential rains flooded cities and towns in the northeast, killing four people and prompting around 1,
000 helicopter evacuations. With floodwaters expected to peak in…
Scientists Find Lost Continent In the Indian Ocean