UN: War crimes a daily reality in Syria
Full Article Al Jazeera
04 Jun 2013
The Syrian regime and rebel fighters are committing war crimes as the conflict reaches “new levels of brutality”, a report of the United Nations says. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said on Tuesday that military and government leaders must be held accountable for implementing a “concerted policy” of human rights violations. The UN human…
India City to Ban Lingerie Mannequins to Stop Rape
MUMBAI, India — Mannequins displaying lingerie and other skimpy clothing may soon be banned in India’s cosmopolitan city of Mumbai as an anti-rape measure. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines….
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
China Marks 24th Anniversary of Tiananmen Crackdown
China is marking the 24th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown, amid tight security in Beijing and stifling censorship on the web. Authorities every year work hard to prevent memorials and ban public discussion of the brutal military…
photo: AP / Andy Wong
Hong Kong keeps Tiananmen memories alive
It has been 24 years since the Chinese government sent in the army to end a pro-democracy demonstration in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square Ever since, the government has worked to erase the events of that day from the national consciousness….
photo: AP / Vincent Yu
Missile kills 26 as key Syria battle enters third week
A MISSILE strike near Syria‘s biggest city Aleppo killed 26 people and government warplanes pounded Qusayr, a watchdog said yesterday, as a regime offensive to retake the town entered its third week. Regime opponents also suffered a blow when one of…
photo: AP / Qusair Lens
North Korea Yongbyon reactor work ‘nearing completion’
North Korea is making “important” progress on reactivating facilities at its moth-balled Yongbyon nuclear reactor, a US think-tank says. Start-up could be one to two months away, it said, but there was uncertainty over the availability of…
photo: AP / S. S. Hecker
Kerry says time running out to revive Mideast peace
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel and the Palestinians on Monday to revive stalled peace talks, warning that the alternative was a “negative spiral of responses.” “We’re running out of time. If we do not succeed now,…
photo: AP / Jacquelyn Martin, Pool
2 U.S. troops, 9 children killed by bomb in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber targeting U.S. troops outside an Afghan government office killed nine children walking home from school and two of the Americans on Monday, the latest sign that this year’s fighting season could be one of the…
photo: AP / Rahmat Gul
Hypocrisy at the heart of Bradley Manning trial
Full Article The Hindu
03 Jun 2013
In 2009 the American ambassador to Tunisia spent the evening at the home of Mohamed Sakher el-Materi, the President’s son-in-law. By any standards the dinner was lavish — yogurt and ice cream were flown in from St. Tropez — and the home was opulent. In a cable, made public by WikiLeaks, the diplomat wrote, “The house was…
Turkey’s PM Recep Erdogan dismisses protesters as just ‘a few looters’ as thousands return to …
Turkey’s Prime Minister has rejected claims from protesters, who have taken to the streets across the country over the past two days, that he is an authoritarian leader, as thousands of people marched and reoccupied the centre of Istanbul. Protesters…
photo: AP / Burhan Ozbilici
Central Europe hit by deadly floods
Officials across central Europe issued disaster warnings and scrambled to reinforce flood defences as rivers swelled by days of heavy rain threatened to burst their banks. Several people have died or are missing in the floods in Germany, the Czech…
photo: AP / Matthias Schrader
Thousands evacuated as crews fight Calif. wildfire
REED SAXON Associated Press= LOS ANGELES (AP) — A wildfire that destroyed at least six homes, damaged 15 others and threatened hundreds more grew quickly Sunday as it triggered evacuations for nearly 3,000 people and burned dangerously close to…
photo: AP / Reed Saxon
Syrian Rebels Fight in Lebanon, Car Bomb Hits Damascus
VOA News Syrian rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad appear to have fought a rare battle inside Lebanon, exchanging fire with members of pro-Assad Lebanese group Hezbollah. Lebanese security sources said the fighting happened early Sunday near…
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
Quakes kill 1 in Taiwan, injure 33 in Philippines
A strong earthquake jolted Taiwan on Sunday, killing one person and injuring at least 18 others and causing panicked shoppers to rush out of a shaking multi-storey department store, officials said. Another earthquake jolted the southern Philippines…
photo: Creative Commons / Howard61313 at zh.wikipedia
Man Pleads Guilty to Threat to Kill Prince Harry
LONDON — British police say a homeless man has pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Prince Harry. The Metropolitan Police said Sunday that 30-year-old Ashraf Islam, of no fixed address, was charged May 25 with threatening kill the prince “contrary…
photo: AP / John Stillwell
Egypt: Court rules legislature illegally elected
CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court has ruled that the nation’s Islamist-dominated legislature and constitutional panel were illegally elected. Sunday’s ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court also said that the legislature must be dissolved when…
photo: AP / Ahmad Hammad
No-Fly Zones and Slippery Slopes
02 Jun 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling Americans should be forewarned that an item on President Barack Obama‘s wish list is another slippery slope. This time he wants the Pentagon to draw up a no-fly zone plan over Syria and its volatile, ongoing civil war.(1) In political terms, a slippery slope is a metaphor for accepting laws and…
Egypt: Court rules legislature illegally elected
CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian court has ruled that the nation’s Islamist-dominated legislature and constitutional panel were illegally elected. Sunday’s ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court also said that the legislature must be dissolved when…
photo: AP / Ahmad Hammad
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in helicopter scare
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a group of government officials has been forced to make an emergency landing in a mountainous region in northern Iran. No-one was…
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
Turkey assesses damage done by protests
Turkish police have arrested more than 900 people during two days of protests, the most sustained anti-government outburst for years. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said some of those arrested had since been released, others would be put on trial….
photo: AP / Thanassis Stavrakis
Hagel Warns China on Cyberattacks
01 Jun 2013
SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a two-pronged message to Beijing — holding out hope for a slowly improving military relationship with the Asian giant while issuing a stern warning on cyberattacks coming from that country. But he was met with immediate skepticism from the Chinese delegation in the audience, who questioned…
Correction: Japan-Sex Slaves story
TOKYO — In a story May 8 about the use of sex slaves during World War II, The Associated Press reported erroneously that then-Prime Minister Yohei Kono issued a 1993 statement expressing remorse for suffering caused to sexual slaves of Japanese…
More than 1,000 killed in Iraq violence in May: U.N.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – More than 1,000 people were killed in attacks in Iraq during May in the worst spike in violence since the country’s sectarian civil war five…
photo: AP / Khalid Mohammed
Brash Iran campaign stirs echoes of Ahmadinejad
BRIAN MURPHY Associated Press= TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians have seen it before: A youngish presidential candidate firing up crowds with fist-waving rants against the West, then displaying his Islamist bona fides with courtesy calls to hard-line…
photo: AP / Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Mehdi Dehghan
Istanbul protests: Turkey braces for second day of unrest
Turkey is braced for a second day of protests after clashes between police and demonstrators left dozens of people injured in Istanbul on Friday. Police have been drafted in from other provinces, parts of Istanbul are cordoned off and traffic is…
photo: AP
Death toll in Manila explosion rises to 6
MANILA, Philippines : The death toll from a powerful explosion that ripped through an upscale apartment complex in the Philippine capital has risen to six, including the crew of a passing delivery van that was hit by debris, authorities said…
photo: AP / Bullit Marquez
Huge Asteroid Cruises Past Earth
An asteroid wider than nine ocean liners sailed safely past Earth today (May 31), making its closest flyby of our planet for at least the next 200 years. Asteroid 1998 QE2, which is about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) wide, cruised within 3.6 million…
photo: NASA / NASA/JPL-Caltech
Tough Times Still Ahead for Euro Zone
By ILONA BILLINGTON And BRIAN BLACKTONE Enlarge Image Close The euro-zone economy showed further signs of deterioration as unemployment hit a fresh record and retail spending fell in the bloc’s largest economies, offering little hope the region’s…
photo: AP / Andres Kudacki
Nigeria arrests trio over ‘Hezbollah cell’
31 May 2013
Nigerian authorities have have arrested three Lebanese men in northern Nigeria on suspicion of being members of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah. Soldiers uncovered a hidden arms cache that authorities believe belonged to members of the Shia political party and armed group, the military and secret police said on Thursday….
Hagel to broach topic of cyberthreats with Chinese
LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press= ABOARD A U.S. AIRCRAFT (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will meet with members of a Chinese delegation this weekend and likely talk about ongoing cyberthreats amid new reports that China used computer-based…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Myanmar Muslims find shelter in Buddhist monastery
TODD PITMAN Associated Press= LASHIO, Myanmar (AP) — More than 1,000 Muslims who fled Myanmar’s latest bout of sectarian violence huddled in a Buddhist monastery guarded by army soldiers as calm returned to this northeastern city, though burnt out…
photo: AP / Gemunu Amarasinghe
France, Germany propose full-time eurozone chief
BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhuanet) — French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have met in Paris in a bid to set aside differences and find common ground on Europe’s struggling economy. The two leaders have…
photo: AP / Jacques Brinon
Khmer Rouge leaders say sorry for atrocities
Former Cambodian head of state Khieu Samphan apologises directly to individuals who lost relatives in 1975-79 genocide Khieu Samphan at the genocide tribunal in 2011. Photograph: AP Former leaders of Cambodia‘s Khmer Rouge being tried by a UN-backed…
photo: AP / Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Iraq violence: Baghdad bomb attacks leave 25 dead
May 30: A series of bombs battered Shi’ite and Sunni Muslim neighborhoods across Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people in the worst wave of sectarian violence since civil war five years ago. The bloodletting reflects increasing conflict…
photo: AP / Khalid Mohammed
Bhutan readies for first stage of key elections
Full Article BBC News
31 May 2013
Voters in Bhutan are taking part in elections on Friday to determine which two out of four parties will go on to participate in the second and decisive stage of the vote on 13 July. The winner of the July vote will form the government and the runner-up will become the opposition. The election is the second to be held in Bhutan since the country…
Ricin letters sent to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg linked to gun control campaign
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and a lobbyist working on his gun control campaign received threatening letters that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin. Police said Wednesday that one of the letters was received on Friday and was…
photo: Creative Commons / David Shankbone
Boston Marathon: Man Shot By FBI ‘Unarmed’
The man fatally shot by an FBI agent during questioning about his ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was unarmed, according to reports. Ibragim Todashev, a 27-year-old Chechen immigrant, had been questioned for hours on May 22 in…
photo: AP / Nati Harnik
UN mulls ethics of ‘killer robots’
Full Article BBC News
30 May 2013
So-called killer robots are due to be discussed at the UN Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva. A report presented to the meeting will call for a moratorium on their use while the ethical questions they raise are debated….
Russian S300 anti-aircraft missiles ‘delivered to Syria’
Syria has already received the first shipment of an advanced Russian air defence system, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is reported to have said in a Lebanese TV interview. Russia vowed to go ahead with sending the weapons soon after an EU…
photo: Creative Commons / Xabier Eskisabel
Tokyo Shares Down Sharply
By DANIEL INMAN And WEI-ZHE TAN Tokyo stocks suffered another brutal loss Thursday as investor skepticism mounted about the power of this year’s rally. Weighed by a sharply lower dollar, the Nikkei Stock Average dropped 5.2% to end at 13,589.03, its…
photo: AP / Koji Sasahara
Boko Haram denies losing Nigeria battle
The Boko Haram armed group has claimed that a military offensive launched against it by the Nigerian military is failing. “My fellow brethren from all over the world I assure you that we are strong, hale and hearty since they launched this assault on…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Buddhist mobs spread fear among Myanmar’s Muslims
TODD PITMAN Associated Press= LASHIO, Myanmar (AP) — It was a terrifying sight: hundreds of angry, armed men on motorcycles advancing up a dusty street with no one to stop them. Shouting at the top of their lungs, clutching machetes and iron pipes…
photo: AP / Gemunu Amarasinghe
As Glaciers Melt, Alpine Mountains Lose Their Glue, Threatening Swiss Village
![Alphorn Festival in Grindelwald area. Grindelwald has a population (as of 31 December 2011) of 3,796.[1] As of 2007, 15.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.](http://cdn5.wn.com/vp/i/d6/221c31117918e6.jpg "Alphorn Festival in Grindelwald area. Grindelwald has a population (as of 31 December 2011) of 3,796.[1] As of 2007, 15.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals.")
GRINDELWALD, Switzerland — Marco Bomio recalls that bright Sunday morning in June 2006 as if it were yesterday. Mr. Bomio, 59, the principal of a local middle school and an avid mountain guide, attended a religious service on a high mountain meadow…
photo: Creative Commons / Cristo Vlahos
Assad’s forces score victory in Syria fight
Shells fire from Syria regularly strike the Lebanese northeastern town of Hermel, a predominantly Shiite town. Photo: AP Tripoli, Lebanon: As the United Nations human rights body voted to condemn Syria’s use of foreign fighters in its deadly attacks…
photo: AP / Rodrigo Abd
U.S. drone kills Pakistan Taliban No 2 : security officials
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A U.S. drone strike killed the No. 2 of the Pakistani Taliban in the North Waziristan region on Wednesday, three security officials said, in what would be a major blow to the militancy. The drone strike killed seven…
The Iraq War is Not Over for the Iraqi People
29 May 2013
In 1946, the at Nuremberg stated the following, in language that was introduced by Judge Robert Jackson, the lead American prosecutor of Axis war criminals: To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the…
UK admits extended detention of Afghans at Camp Bastion
British forces are detaining 80 to 90 Afghan nationals in a holding…
photo: USMC / Lance Cpl. Gene Allen Ainsworth III
Mosque, orphanage burned in new Myanmar violence
Sectarian violence has spread to a new region of Myanmar, with a rampaging mob torching a mosque and a Muslim orphanage in a northeastern town after rumors spread that a Muslim man had set fire to a Buddhist woman, authorities said Wednesday. There…
photo: AP / Daily Eleven Media
McCain makes surprise trip to visit Syrian rebels
SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of Syria‘s opposition forces got a chance to make their case for increased U.S. support directly with Sen. John McCain when he slipped into that country for a surprise visit. McCain, R-Ariz.,…
photo: AP / John McCain via Twitter
Royal Caribbean cruise cancelled in Bahamas after fire
A fire has broken out aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, forcing more than 2,200 passengers to end their trip early. The Grandeur of the Seas had left Baltimore on Friday and was en route to CocoCay in the Bahamas when fire broke out in the…
photo: Creative Commons / Leonard.inc
Australia: China spy agency hack claims ‘will not hit ties’
Foreign Minister Bob Carr says a report alleging Chinese hackers stole plans for Australia‘s new intelligence hub will not hit ties with Beijing. On Monday the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported blueprints setting out the…
photo: UN / UN
Obama Plans 3 Nominations for Key Court
WASHINGTON — President Obama will soon accelerate his efforts to put a lasting imprint on the country’s judiciary by simultaneously nominating three judges to an important federal court, a move that is certain to unleash fierce Republican opposition…
photo: AP / Alex Brandon
EU Ends Arms Embargo On Syrian Rebels
Posted: May 27, 2013 The European Union lifted the arms embargo on Syrian rebels after they were unable to gain agreement on what to do. The EU decision means that member states will be able to send weapons to the outgunned rebels beginning a few…
photo: Creative Commons / Chatham House
Britain: EU Ends Arms Embargo On Syrian Rebels
28 May 2013
BRUSSELS — The European Union said its member states within days will be able to send weapons to help Syria‘s outgunned rebels, seeking to pressure President Bashar Assad‘s regime ahead of planned peace talks mediated by the United States and Russia. Though no EU country has any such plans now to send arms, British Foreign Secretary William Hague…
McCain makes surprise trip to visit Syrian rebels
SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of Syria‘s opposition forces got a chance to make their case for increased U.S. support directly with Sen. John McCain when he slipped into that country for a surprise visit. McCain, R-Ariz.,…
photo: AP / John McCain via Twitter
Royal Caribbean cruise cancelled in Bahamas after fire
A fire has broken out aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, forcing more than 2,200 passengers to end their trip early. The Grandeur of the Seas had left Baltimore on Friday and was en route to CocoCay in the Bahamas when fire broke out in the…
photo: Creative Commons / Leonard.inc
Australia: China spy agency hack claims ‘will not hit ties’
Foreign Minister Bob Carr says a report alleging Chinese hackers stole plans for Australia‘s new intelligence hub will not hit ties with Beijing. On Monday the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported blueprints setting out the…
photo: UN / UN
Obama Plans 3 Nominations for Key Court
WASHINGTON — President Obama will soon accelerate his efforts to put a lasting imprint on the country’s judiciary by simultaneously nominating three judges to an important federal court, a move that is certain to unleash fierce Republican opposition…
photo: AP / Alex Brandon
EU Ends Arms Embargo On Syrian Rebels
Posted: May 27, 2013 The European Union lifted the arms embargo on Syrian rebels after they were unable to gain agreement on what to do. The EU decision means that member states will be able to send weapons to the outgunned rebels beginning a few…
photo: Creative Commons / Chatham House
Suu Kyi slams 2-child limit for Muslims in Myanmar
AYE AYE WIN Associated Press= YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Islamic leaders expressed dismay over decisions by authorities in western Myanmar to restore a two-child limit on Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does…
photo: AP / Khin Maung Win
Chevron and Venezuela sign $2 billion loan deal
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Chevron Corp. has agreed to lend $2 billion to a joint venture with Venezuela’s state oil company in an effort to boost production in an oil field in western Zulia state. Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez signed the…
photo: AP / Ismael Francisco, Prensa Latina
Li, Merkel vow to settle trade dispute
27 May 2013
China and Germany have voiced opposition to trade protectionism, promising to settle the disputes on solar power and mobile telecommunication equipment through dialogue. In a joint statement issued on Sunday during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang‘s visit to Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Li called for all parties to strictly abide by the rules…
Sri Lanka investigating monk’s self-immolation
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s government is investigating media who covered the death of a Buddhist monk who set himself on fire to protest the slaughter of cattle. The Media Ministry website says the monk could have been saved had media…
photo: AP / Eranga Jayawardena
Barack Obama visits Oklahoma tornado victims
MOORE, OKLAHOMA: President Barack Obama visited tornado-devastated Moore, Oklahoma, consoling people staggered by the loss of life and property and promising that the government will be behind them “every step of the way.” The extraordinarily…
photo: AP / The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry, Pool
Obama visits tornado-ravaged Oklahoma
Washington, May 26: US President Barack Obama Sunday called on Americans to help rebuild the tornado-ravaged Oklahoma City area during a visit to places hit by a deadly twister last week. The president caught a glimpse of the damage from the air…
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
World powers struggle to reach agreement on Syria
In a conflict which worsens by the week, this is a week when critical decisions on the next steps in Syria must be made. On Monday, meetings of foreign ministers in Brussels and Paris could pave the way for more weapons to be supplied to the…
photo: AP / Edlib News Network ENN
Throwing Money at Nukes
The United States has about 180 B61 gravity nuclear bombs based in Europe. They are the detritus of the cold war, tactical weapons deployed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey to protect NATO allies from the once-feared Soviet…
photo: Creative Commons / Georgewilliamherbert
Arab League chief urges Hezbollah to stop fighting in Syria
CAIRO (Reuters) – Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby on Sunday urged Lebanon‘s Shi’ite militant Hezbollah to stop fighting alongside government forces in Syria‘s civil war, after two rockets hit a Shi’ite Muslim district of Beirut. Sunday’s rocket…
photo: AP / Seth Weni
Colombia, Rebels Reach Land Reform Agreement
The government of Colombia and the country’s largest rebel group, FARC, have agreed on land reform, after more than six months of…
photo: AP / Fernando Vergara
African Union celebrates 50th anniversary
Full Article South China Morning Post
26 May 2013
China was thanked yesterday for its massive wave of investment across Africa as the continent’s leaders opened extravagant celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the African Union. Africa’s leaders were gathering in the AU’s modern, Chinese-built headquarters in the Ethiopian capital to mark the founding of an organisation that helped liberate…
14 killed in new anti-terror Philippine offensive
JIM GOMEZ Associated Press= MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 14 Philippine marines and Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in a clash in a new U.S.-backed offensive aimed at rescuing six foreign and Filipino hostages and stopping the al-Qaida-linked…
photo: AP / Nickee Butlangan
France police hunt for man who stabbed soldier in Paris
French police are hunting a man who attacked a soldier on patrol with two colleagues in the La Defense business district of Paris on Saturday evening. Private First Class Cedric Cordier was approached from behind and stabbed in the neck with a…
photo: AP / Remy de la Mauviniere
Kerry urges Abbas to resume peace talks with Israel: source
> • John Kerry is urging Abbas to resume direct peace talks with Israel, a Palestinian source said. • The source added that Kerry and Abbas will meet again in Jordan on Sunday to get Israel’s response. • The U.S. has also appointed two aides to Kerry…
photo: AP / Alex Brandon
Interpol Rebuffs Russia on Its Hunt for a Kremlin Critic
MOSCOW — Interpol has rejected a Russian request for a worldwide police hunt for William F. Browder, a British investment banker and a Kremlin nemesis who has made no secret of his whereabouts or of his battle against the government of President…
photo: Creative Commons / World Economic Forum
Niger president says attackers came from Libya
NIAMEY, Mali (AP) — Niger‘s president says suicide bombers who carried out simultaneous attacks on a military installation and a French-run uranium mine came from southern Libya. President Mahamadou Issoufou told reporters Saturday the death toll now…
photo: AP
Uniformed soldier stabbed in Paris
PARIS: A French soldier patrolling a business neighbourhood west of Paris was stabbed in the neck on Saturday by a man who quickly fled the scene and is being sought by police, President…
photo: AP / Remy de la Mauviniere
At least five killed as Guinea protests escalate
CONAKRY (Reuters) – At least five people were killed on Saturday when security forces in Guinea opened fire on protesters in opposition strongholds in the capital, medical sources and witnesses said. The violence brings to 11 the number of people…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Stockholm in relative calm after five nights of rioting
25 May 2013
LONDON — The streets of Stockholm were quieter late Friday after five consecutive nights of rioting that rocked the Swedish capital and shook the Scandinavian country’s self-image as a tolerant, liberal place. Since Sunday, sections of northwest and south Stockholm have been lighted up with the glow of fires started by rock-throwing rioters,…
Guatemala’s ex-president extradited to US
Guatemala has extradited ex-president Alfonso Portillo to the United States to face charges of laundering $70m. Portillo was put on a plane on Friday under the escort of US agents. “Hasta luego (see you later), people of Guatemala,” Portillo,…
photo: AP / Moises Castillo
France to begin first stage of Mali military withdrawal
France is set to begin the first major stage of its military withdrawal from Mali, four months after sending troops to push Islamist rebels out the north. A convoy of 80 lorries will leave a French base outside the capital, Bamako, and drive south to…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Chinese premier criticizes EU move on trade measures
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang criticized the European Union over its plans to investigate alleged anti-competitive behavior by Chinese mobile telecom equipment makers and to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China,…
photo: AP / Keystone, Peter Klaunzer
Stockholm calmer but violence spreads outside Swedish capital
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A nearly week-long spate of rioting spread outside Stockholm on Friday but authorities said police reinforcements sent to the Swedish capital had reduced the violence there, even though dozens of youths set cars and a recycling…
photo: Creative Commons / Telefonkiosk
Who, what, why: How safe are US road bridges?
A four-lane highway bridge in Washington state has collapsed after being struck by a lorry, six years after 13 people were killed when another bridge fell. So how safe are bridges in the US? Repairs to the collapsed Skagit River bridge will cost an…
photo: AP / Elaine Thompson
Can Nawaz Sharif walk the military tightrope?
Nawaz Sharif knows better than anyone how powerful Pakistan‘s military are. He was toppled by them in 1999. So who is really going to be running the country now that he will be prime minister? In Pakistan’s politically savvy drawing-rooms…
photo: AP / K.M. Chaudary
Britain to Consider New Security Powers After Attack on Soldier
LONDON — A government minister said Friday that the police and the security services would face inquiries into their previous handling of two men accused of hacking a British soldier to death on a busy London street two days ago. British security…
photo: AP / Akira Suemori
President Barack Obama defends drone strikes – but moves to rein them in
24 May 2013
President Barack Obama combined a vigorous defence of his controversial use of drones with a no less impassioned demand for the closure of the notorious prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which he called “a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law.” In a sweeping public reassessment of the evolving threat facing the US, Mr…
BOJ Kuroda Vows to Calm JGBs, Guide Recovery
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Friday expressed confidence the central bank can stem bond market volatility with flexible market operations and engineer a steady recovery in the world’s third-largest economy. Kuroda said the central bank’s…
photo: AP / Shizuo Kambayashi
Chinese media: North Korea envoy offers talks
BEIJING (AP) — A North Korean envoy, on the second day of his fence-mending visit to ally China, heeded Beijing‘s wishes by offering to renew nuclear disarmament talks, Chinese state media said. The accounts depicted Thursday’s meeting between North…
photo: AP
Cameron: Britain won’t succumb to terror
LONDON — Prime Minister vowed Thursday that his nation would not succumb to fear and promised a vigorous investigation into the brutal slaying of a British soldier by alleged Islamic extremists on a London street. The killing appeared to be the…
photo: AP / Alastair Grant
John Kerry reaches out in effort to restart Middle East peace talks
United States secretary of state John Kerry is pushing ahead with efforts to resume Middle East peace talks despite no signs of a diplomatic breakthrough. Yesterday he met Israeli and Palestinian leaders separately. It is his fourth trip to the…
photo: AP / Jim Young
Obama’s drone policy at a glance
President Barack Obama defended the United States‘ use of drone attacks as an important part of the U.S. counterterrorism policy on Thursday but signed new presidential policy guidelines to spell out for Congress and the public the standards that the…
photo: AP / Gerald Herbert
Obama Lifts Ban on Guantanamo Transfers to Yemen
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is lifting his self-imposed ban on transferring Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen, where a leadership upheaval has improved the country’s security but not eliminated the terrorist organization trying to recruit…
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
New Trayvon Martin Case Evidence: Defense Team Releases Photos, Texts Of Teen Had On His Phone
ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman’s defense attorneys on Thursday released photos and text messages from 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s cellphone ahead of a hearing that will determine whether they can be used at Zimmerman’s murder trial. Zimmerman is…
photo: AP / John Minchillo
IMF chief Lagarde faces inquiry over tycoon payout
Full Article France24
23 May 2013
Prosecutors will question IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday to determine whether she should face charges regarding a €400 million payout to disgraced businessman Bernard Tapie when she was France‘s finance minister in 2007. By News Wires (text) Prosecutors will grill IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday as they investigate…
Egypt leader claims victory in captives’ release
SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press= CAIRO (AP) — The safe release Wednesday of seven conscripts kidnapped by suspected militants in Sinai brought a victory for Egypt‘s Islamist president after months of criticism that his government is mismanaging the…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Amnesty report condemns ‘inaction’ over rights abuses
Amnesty International has accused governments of using state sovereignty as an “excuse” for failing to intervene in emergencies such as in Syria. In its annual report, the human rights group also blames world leaders for prioritising…
photo: AP / Aleppo Media Center AMC
Cruise Ship Captain to Be Tried for Manslaughter
ROME — An Italian judge on Wednesday ordered the captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia to stand trial on manslaughter and other charges related to the deadly capsizing of the vessel off the coast of Tuscany in January 2012. The judge set a July…
photo: AP / Enzo Russo
Colombia: 10 soldiers killed by in rebel attack
BOGOTA, Colombia — At least 10 Colombian soldiers were killed and six wounded Wednesday in a pre-dawn attack on an army patrol with homemade explosives by the country’s second-largest leftist rebel band, the military said. The 2 a.m. attack by…
photo: AP / Christian Escobar Mora
Iran’s Nuclear Program Gets 2 Major Upgrades In Uranium Enrichment And Plutonium Production, IAEA Says
VIENNA — The U.N. atomic agency on Wednesday detailed rapid Iranian progress in two programs that the West fears are geared toward making nuclear weapons, saying Tehran has upgraded its uranium enrichment facilities and advanced in building a…
photo: AP / Ronald Zak
‘Soldier’ killed in London attack
A man reported to be a serving soldier has been murdered near a military training barracks in southeast London, in what police say may be a politically motivated attack. British Prime Minister David Cameron has called a meeting of his…
photo: AP / Alastair Grant
Report: Palestinian organizations use U.S. funding to demonize Israel
On Tuesday, a report presented to Congress by Jerusalem-based watchdog NGO Monitor showed that several NGOs (“non-government organizations”) in the region that receive U.S. tax dollars are hostile toward Israel and the peace process. Gerald M….
photo: UN / Evan Schneider
North Korea sends military leader as ‘special envoy’ to China
Full Article The Times of India
22 May 2013
SEOUL: North Korea on Wednesday sent a top military official to China as a personal envoy of leader Kim Jong-Un, at a time of strained relations with Beijing and ahead of a key China-US summit. Choe Ryong-Hae, the director of the Korean People’s Army politburo, flew to Beijing with a handful of senior military and ruling party officials, the Korean…
Israel warns Syria of ‘consequences’ if Golan fire continues
May 21: The head of Israel‘s armed forces warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday of “consequences” if fire continues from Syrian territory against Israeli troops in the occupied Golan Heights. “If he disturbs the Golan Heights, he will…
photo: AP / Ariel Schalit
A Chinese Folk Remedy Draws Charges of Cruelty From Bear Advocates
CHENGDU, China — It was, at first glance, a rather modest initial public offering by a small Chinese company seeking to expand production of the key ingredient used in traditional remedies said to shrink gallstones, reduce fevers and sooth the…
photo: Creative Commons / Abu0804
Wall Street rises on Fed officials’ dovish remarks, with Dow, S&P refreshing new records
NEW YORK, May 21 (Xinhua) — U.S. stocks went up Tuesday after Monday’s slip, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock Index closing at record highs, boosted by dovish remarks by top U.S. Federal Reserve…
photo: AP / Richard Drew
Search nearly complete after Oklahoma tornado
Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives. Scientists concluded the…
photo: Creative Commons / Flickr / Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kendall James
Nigeria: Islamic extremist inmates to be released
ENUGU, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s military said Tuesday that the West African nation would release some of the prisoners it has taken in the country’s fight against Islamic extremists — including all the women now held in custody. The surprise…
photo: AP / Salisu Rabiu
Iraqi PM Orders Security Shakeup as Violence Surges
Iraq‘s Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered a shakeup of senior government security officers, as a weeks-long wave of violence grips the country and fears of all-out sectarian war spread. The shakeup was confirmed on the…
photo: US DoD / U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley
McConnell calls for end of import sanctions on Myanmar
Facebook Follow @washtimes Do you believe Jay Carney‘s assertion that aides insulated President Obama from the IRS scandal? Login to Vote View results Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday urged Congress not to extend import…
Justice in the Age of Drone Terror
21 May 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling “If the mainspring of popular government in peacetime is virtue, in revolution it is both virtue and terror: virtue without terror is fatal; terror without virtue is powerless.”-Maximilien Robespierre speaking to France‘s National Convention, 1794 If the French Revolution gave the world a new and…
Physician dismisses force-feeding concerns
A military physician who oversees a team of nurses force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility has dismissed ethical concerns raised by human rights groups and medical organisations about the procedure, saying the…
photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elisha Dawkins
Egypt army ready to release kidnapped soldiers
CAIRO – The Egyptian army sent more troops to Sinai Peninsula on Monday, getting ready for a possible military operation to release the seven kidnapped soldiers, a military source told Xinhua. On Thursday, a group of militants abducted seven military…
photo: AP
Hezbollah pulled more deeply into Syria civil war
ZEINA KARAM Associated Press= BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah was pulled more deeply into Syria‘s civil war as 28 guerrillas from the Lebanese Shiite militant group were killed and dozens more wounded while fighting rebels, Syria activists said Monday. The…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
US and Chinese leaders to hold summit in California
The US and Chinese presidents will hold their first summit in California in June, both sides have announced. Barack Obama and Xi Jinping will meet from 7-8 June at an estate in Rancho Mirage, a US statement said. Topics on the agenda are likely to…
photo: AP / Misha Japaridze
Pistorius will not compete in 2013
Peet van Zyl told Press Association Sport the 26-year-old was not mentally ready to return to the track. The six-time Paralympic gold medallist was charged with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in…
photo: AP
Mourinho to Leave Real Madrid at End of Season
MADRID — Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho will leave at the end of the season after three years at the Spanish club, paving the way for an expected return to Chelsea. The 50-year-old Portuguese coach has two remaining matches of a season that will end…
photo: AP / Daniel Ochoa De Olza
China Premier Li Keqiang to discuss border and trade in India
China‘s Premier Li Keqiang is due to hold talks with Indian leaders in an attempt to rebuild trust after a recent flare-up in border tensions. Mr Li is also expected to discuss trade ties and other bilateral issues at meetings with his Indian…
photo: AP / Saurabh Das
End the ‘forever’ war
20 May 2013
There’s no point in engaging in a perpetual global war on terror From both the left and the right, three common misper-ceptions have emerged about US foreign policy: First, that the Global War on Terror has become a perpetual state of affairs; sec-ond, that no strategy is available to end this conflict in the near future; and third, that “the…
China Premier Li Keqiang to discuss border and trade in India
China‘s Premier Li Keqiang is due to hold talks with Indian leaders in an attempt to rebuild trust after a recent flare-up in border tensions. Mr Li is also expected to discuss trade ties and other bilateral issues at meetings with his Indian…
photo: AP / Saurabh Das
Tunisian police clash with Salafists over banning of annual congress
Security forces and hardline Islamists fought street battles in Tunis on Sunday, with one protester killed and 15 policemen wounded, after the authorities banned the Salafists from staging their annual congress. A Tunisian protester jumps amid smoke…
photo: AP / Amine Landoulsi
Sinai abduction: Egypt President Morsi rules out talks
The Egyptian president has ruled out negotiating with the abductors of seven members of the security forces seized last week in the Sinai peninsula. In a statement, Mohammed Morsi said there was “no room for dialogue with the criminals”. He…
photo: AP / Ghiath Mohamad
Zimbabwe PM: We will end police, military abuse
GILLIAN GOTORA Associated Press= HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Sunday his party will end years of bias and abuse by the police, military and intelligence services and will make sure the services uphold the…
photo: AP / Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
North Korea test-fires 3short-range missiles
(Bloomberg) North Korea fired three short-range missiles yesterday as it showcased its military ambitions in defiance of international sanctions and diplomatic efforts to convince the totalitarian state to return to…
photo: AP / Ng Han Guan
Assad warns U.S. to avoid interfering in Syria politics
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won’t step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country’s politics, raising new doubts about a U.S.-Russian…
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
Denmark wins Eurovision contest
Denmark‘s Emmelie de Forest has won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune Only Teardrops, despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Juries and…
photo: AP / Alastair Grant
Saudi vies to avoid Afghan-style blowback from Syria
19 May 2013
May 19: Chastened by the experience of Afghanistan, where hundreds of Saudis fought before returning to sow terror at home, the kingdom is battling to avoid similar blowback from the conflict in Syria, analysts say. In recent months, Saudi officials have issued increasingly stern warnings against volunteers from the conservative Sunni Muslim…
North Korea test-fires 3short-range missiles
(Bloomberg) North Korea fired three short-range missiles yesterday as it showcased its military ambitions in defiance of international sanctions and diplomatic efforts to convince the totalitarian state to return to…
photo: AP / Ng Han Guan
Assad warns U.S. to avoid interfering in Syria politics
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won’t step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country’s politics, raising new doubts about a U.S.-Russian…
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
Denmark wins Eurovision contest
Denmark‘s Emmelie de Forest has won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune Only Teardrops, despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Juries and…
photo: AP / Alastair Grant
Gunmen kill senior woman member of Pakistani party led by Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Gunmen killed a senior female politician from a reformist party in Pakistan on Saturday night, the latest violent incident in a bloody election campaign and one that set off a war of words between two major opposition parties….
photo: AP / Fareed Khan
Ivory Coast Militia Leader Arrested for 2011 Massacre
Soldiers in Ivory Coast have arrested a militia leader who was allegedly involved in a 2011 massacre of…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Assad Says He Will Not Step Down
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says in a newspaper interview that he will not step down before next year&aposs elections. Mr. Assad&aposs…
photo: AP / Hussein Malla
Afghans block law protecting women’s rights
Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked a law that aims to protect women’s freedoms, with some arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles or encourage women to have sex outside of marriage. The failure highlights how tenuous…
photo: AP / Rafiq Maqbool
France gay marriage: Hollande set to sign bill
Full Article BBC News
18 May 2013
France‘s president is to sign into law a controversial bill that will make the country the eighth in Europe, and 14th globally, to legalise gay marriage. On Friday, the Constitutional Council rejected a challenge by the right-wing opposition, clearing the way for Francois Hollande to sign the bill. He said: “I have taken [the decision];…
Obama seeks to cut Afghan war spending by 10 percent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday trimmed his funding request for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas operations by 10 percent, reflecting his plans to wind down the U.S. presence in that country….
photo: U.S. Marine Corps / Public Domain
Syria crisis: US rues Russian missiles sent to Damascus
The US has chided Russia for what it calls an “unfortunate decision” to send missiles to the Syrian government. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey said the shipment “will embolden the regime and prolong the…
photo: US DoD / Glenn Fawcett
Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq
Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months. The major spike in sectarian bloodshed heightened fears the country could again be veering…
photo: AP / Adem Hadei
Mosque Bombings in Pakistan Kill at Least 13
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — In what officials called the first major terrorist attack since last week’s general elections, at least 13 people were killed and 30 injured when two bombs ripped through two separate mosques on Friday in a remote mountainous…
photo: AP / Mohammad Sajjad
Syria crisis: Refugee total now more than 1.5m – UNHCR
The UN‘s refugee agency has said that more than 1.5m people have fled the conflict in Syria. Most have fled to Jordan and Lebanon, but not have all been registered yet, meaning the true total is likely to be far higher, according to the UNHCR….
photo: AP / Raad Adayleh
5.2-magnitude earthquake felt in Ontario
TORONTO – (AP) — A 5.2 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of rattled buildings Friday in Ontario and and was felt across upstate from to the border. ‘s government agency that monitors…
photo: Creative Commons / Nicolas Marchildon
U.N. chief appoints former Dutch minister to head Mali mission
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday appointed former Dutch development minister Albert Gerard Koenders as U.N. special envoy for Mali and head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the West African country. Ban said…
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
Syrian regime’s position strengthens as world pushes for diplomatic solution
17 May 2013
If there’s one thing you can say about Bashar al-Assad, it’s that he has staying power. For more than two years, the Syrian president has defied predictions that his downfall is imminent. His regime has certainly suffered many setbacks during the brutal civil war that shows no signs of ending, but it’s clear right now that Assad and his followers…
Iraq’s sectarian violence on the rise as 50 die over two days
Attacks across Iraq have killed 50 people in the last two days as growing friction between Sunni and Shia leads to more sectarian violence. Sunni anger has been increasing since Iraqi army soldiers broke up a peaceful sit- in in a square in the town…
photo: AP / Karim Kadim
Alaska volcano continues to erupt, with lava, ash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A remote Alaska volcano continues to erupt, spewing lava and ash clouds. The Alaska Volcano Observatory said Thursday a continuous cloud of ash, steam and gas from Pavlof Volcano has been seen 20,000 feet above…
photo: AP / Alaskan Volcano Observatory, Theo Chesley
Obama and Erdogan demand Assad step down
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted Thursday that Bashar al-Assad must still quit power despite moves to organize peace talks in Syria‘s bloody civil war. The leaders met in Washington amid a…
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
More than 20 people killed in Congo mining collapse, government says
KINSHASA, Congo — The government of Congo says more than 20 people have died in a collapse at a bush mine in the region of Masisi in North Kivu province. That’s in the far eastern part of the country. The statement sent to reporters late…
photo: AP / Schalk van Zuydam
End It Like Beckham: Soccer Star to Retire
By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN and JOSHUA ROBINSON David Beckham, the soccer star and one of the most famous athletes in the world, announced his retirement from the sport Thursday. “I think I’m ready,” said the 38-year-old Beckham, arguably the world’s most…
photo: AP / Jordan Strauss
Croatia Gets Germany’s Blessing to Join EU
Germany‘s lower house of parliament approved Croatia‘s entry to the European Union on Thursday, clearing the last formal hurdle for the former Yugoslav republic to enter the bloc. Croatia is…
photo: Creative Commons / Bogdan Giu?c?
Sreesanth, 2 others held over spot-fixing charges
The special cell of Delhi police on early Thursday morning (2.30 AM) arrested three players of Rajasthan Royals, a cricket team participating in Indian Premiere League (IPL), over the allegations of spot fixing in the IPL matches. S. Sreesanth, Ankit…
photo: AP / Rick Rycroft
Taliban suicide bomber strikes Nato convoy in Afghanistan
Full Article The Guardian
16 May 2013
At least six Afghans killed, including three children, in rush hour attack that may also have killed a number of Nato personnel A US soldier inspects the scene of a suicide car bomb attack targeting a convoy of Nato forces in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photograph: S. SABAWOON/EPA A suicide bomber drove his explosives-packed Toyota Corolla into a Nato…
For Syria, the civil war is still to come
The US and Russia announced plans for a conference on Syria last week. The world can be forgiven for wondering: what use is that? Indeed, what use has any outside activity been on Syria? Two years ago, in the border town of Deraa, a flame of…
photo: AP / SANA
Officials: Car bombing kills 5, wounds 19 in Iraq
Comment () Tweet By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Officials say a car bomb explosion in a sprawling Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad has killed at least five civilians. Two police officers say the explosives-laden vehicle…
photo: AP / Khalid Mohammed
At least six dead in Cambodia shoe factory ceiling collapse
A ceiling collapse at a Cambodian shoe factory has killed at least six workers, police said, with regional industrial safety in the spotlight after last month’s disaster in Bangladesh. A Cambodian rescue team look for workers after a factory…
photo: AP / Heng Sinith
Suicide bomber targets troops in Afghanistan
A suicide bomber has attacked a convoy of foreign military vehicles in the Afghan capital Kabul, police have said. “A [Toyota] Corolla suicide car detonated near two foreign military vehicles,” Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi told the AFP…
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
White House releases Benghazi emails
Washington, May 16: The US has released emails exchanged between the various wings of the Obama administration about Benghazi terrorist attack last September that left three American nationals, including its ambassador to Libya, dead. The release of…
photo: AP / Mohammad Hannon
Kim Jong-un had ‘secret’ daughter in 2010
Kim Jong-un reportedly fathered a baby girl in 2010 with an unknown woman, more than two years before his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child, it has emerged. Kim Jong-un during an inspection of the second battalion under Korth Korean army…
photo: AP / Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service
Bangladesh: One Million Flee Cyclone Mahasen
16 May 2013, 4:08 Bangladesh: One Million Flee Cyclone Mahasen Tweet Bangladesh is evacuating one million people as Cyclone Mahasen approaches, bring with it gale-force winds and heavy rain. The country has raised its storm warning to seven, on a…
Nigeria: State of Emergency Declared
15 May 2013
Admitting that Islamist extremists now control some of his nation’s villages and towns, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on Tuesday across Nigeria’s troubled northeast, promising to send more troops to fight what he said is now an open rebellion. Mr. Jonathan warned that any building suspected of housing Islamist extremists…
Cyclone Threat To Bangladesh And Burma
Hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh and Burma have been ordered to move to safety to avoid a cyclone travelling towards low-lying coastal areas. The UN is warning that more than eight million people may be at risk from Cyclone Mahasen,…
photo: AP / A.M.Ahad
South Sudan Could be Africa Powerhouse: ex-IMF head
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN — South Sudan has the potential to become an economic powerhouse in Africa if the government pursues the right policies, former International Monetary Fund chief, Dominique Straus Kahn, said Tuesday during a visit to the world’s…
photo: UN / Mark Garten
Brazil clears way for same-sex marriage
A top judicial panel in Brazil has cleared the way for same-sex marriage in the country, ruling that gay couples could not be denied marriage licenses. The National Council of Justice, which oversees the Brazilian judicial system and is headed by the…
photo: Creative Commons / Luiz
Boat capsizes off Myanmar; dozens feared dead
NEW DELHI — At least 58 people were missing and feared dead Tuesday after a boat capsized off Myanmar while residents tried to flee an approaching cyclone, United Nations officials said. The boat was carrying about 100 Rohingya Muslims, many of…
photo: AP / Gemunu Amarasing
Cyclone Kills 7 in Sri Lanka, Thousands Displaced
A cyclone caused by a tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal killed at least seven people in Sri Lanka, government officials said on Tuesday. Cyclone Mahasen, which brought heavy rains and…
photo: Public Domain / Taprobanus
Cyclone Mahasen to hit NE in 72 hrs
GUWAHATI/KOHIMA: Tropical cyclone Mahasen is expected to hit northeast India in the next 72 hours with heavy rains and thunderstorms expected in the region. On May 16, the cyclone is expected to cross the Bangladesh coast between Khepupara and…
photo: Creative Commons / Keith Edkins
Holder says he played no role in AP phone subpoena
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder today defended the Justice Department‘s secret examination of Associated Press phone records though he declared he had played no role in it, saying it was justified as part of an investigation into a…
Gitmo prisoner: Obama has ‘abandoned’ detainees
Full Article San Francisco Chronicle
14 May 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Guantanamo Bay detainee says he feels abandoned by President Barack Obama and the world after more than 10 years at the U.S. prison. “I believe that President Obama must be unaware of the unbelievably inhumane conditions at the Guantanamo Bay prison, for otherwise he would surely do something to stop this torture,” Yemeni…
Human Rights Watch outraged by video showing Syrian rebel commander cutting out government soldier’s heart …
A graphic video has emerged of a Syrian rebel commander cutting out the heart of a government soldier’s chest and biting into it. Described by Human Rights Watch as “emblematic” of a civil war that has rapidly descended into sectarian hatred and…
photo: WN / tamer
Pakistan’s Sharif sends mixed message to US
RAIWIND, Pakistan — Pakistan’s presumptive prime minister said Monday that he wants good relations with the United States but criticized American drone strikes on militants as a violation of the country’s sovereignty – perhaps hinting the…
photo: AP / K.M. Chaudary)
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has double mastectomy
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer. The 37-year-old mother of six has explained her…
photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore
Greek workers walk off the job to protest ban on teachers’ strike
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek state workers walked off the job on Tuesday to protest a government decision to ban a strike by high-school teachers, shutting down schools and reducing staff at hospitals to a minimum. Invoking emergency powers under Greek…
photo: AP / Kostas Tsironis
British PM visits Boston to discuss marathon bombs
Boston: British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to offer his condolences and discuss lessons that can be learned from the deadly Boston Marathon bombing. The meeting followed a White House visit in which…
photo: AP / Elise Amendola
Rebuilding Egypt’s tarnished police
Shaimaa Khalil visits a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo, where new recruits get lessons in combat training and human rights. Continue reading the main story Egypt changing Egypt’s challenge: The economy Sexual harassment debate…
photo: AP / Hassan Ammar
Insects Can Fill Gap in Diets, UN Says
A new study by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says insects could be used in the fight against hunger and to increase food security. A report released Monday says that forest insects form part…
photo: WN / Janice Sabnal
19 wounded at New Orleans parade shooting
13 May 2013
NEW ORLEANS — Gunmen opened fire on people marching in a neighborhood Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 19. Order Reprints Doug Parker New Orleans Police investigate shooting at the intersection Frenchman Street at N. Villere on Mother’s Day in New Orleans, Sunday May 12, 2013. Gunmen opened fire on dozens of…
‘Carlos the Jackal’ appeals life sentence in Paris court
Venezuelan-born terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, best known as “Carlos the Jackal,” appeared in a Paris court on Monday to appeal his 2011 conviction for a string of deadly bombings in France during the 1980s. By FRANCE 24 (text) …
photo: AP / Michel Lipchitz
Bangladesh plans to raise pay for garment workers
FARID HOSSAIN Associated Press= DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s government plans to raise the minimum wage for garment workers after the deaths of more than 1,100 people in the collapse of a factory building focused attention on the textile…
photo: AP / A.M. Ahad
19 New Orleans shooting victims included 2 kids
CHEVEL JOHNSON Associated Press= NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a neighborhood Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 19 people, police said. The FBI said that the shooting appeared to…
photo: AP / Doug Parker
UN: Some 800,000 People to Need Food Aid in Niger
NIAMEY, NIGER — Some 800,000 people will require food aid in Niger in the coming months despite a good harvest last year due to problems supplying cereals to markets, which have pushed up prices, and an influx of Malian refugees, the United Nations…
photo: UN / WFP/Phil Behan
Pakistan election: Why voters backed Nawaz Sharif
Nawaz Sharif has established himself as the most successful politician in Pakistan‘s history. It’s not just that he has won an unprecedented third term as prime minister. He has also survived sustained corruption allegations, periods of…
photo: AP / B.K. Bangash
USS Nimitz Aircraft Carrier Arrival Slammed By North Korea
North Korea has criticised the arrival of the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the South for a joint drill as an “extremely reckless” provocation and a rehearsal for war against the communist state. A US naval strike group led by the nuclear-powered…
photo: Public Domain / Official Navy Page
Leila Fowler: Brother Arrested in Fatal Stabbing of 8-Year-Old California Girl
Share 0 The 12-year-old brother of 8-year-old Leila Fowler, who said his sister was stabbed to death in their home by an intruder last month, has been arrested. The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office in Northern California announced the arrest…
photo: Creative Commons / Mifter
Pakistan election: Nawaz Sharif ‘set for victory’
12 May 2013
Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif is celebrating with his supporters, amid early signs that his party will be the largest after parliamentary elections. Media projections based on partial results suggest a big lead for Mr Sharif‘s Muslim League, and he has already claimed victory. The election should lead to the country’s first transition…
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator joins presidential race
TEHRAN, May 11 (Xinhua) — To many’s surprise, Iran‘s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili made an announcement on Saturday about his decision to run for the country’s upcoming presidential contest. Earlier in the day, he appeared in Iran’s Interior…
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
Military ambush: Soldiers should not victimize their fellow troops
The biggest threat these days to unit cohesion in the U.S. military is the tolerance for sexual assaults in the ranks. A Pentagon report released Tuesday underscored the seriousness of the problem. Last year, the Defense Department recorded 3,374…
photo: USMC / Aaron Hostutler
Carbon dioxide level passes feared milestone
11 May 2013
The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the Earth for millions of years. Scientific monitors reported that the gas had reached an average daily level that surpassed 400 parts per million — a sobering…
Rock Hill Guard unit finishes in Afghanistan, readies for return
The 161 soldiers of Rock Hill’s Army National Guard 178th Combat Engineers who have spent the past nine months in Afghanistan have finished their mission and are soon heading home, Army officials confirmed. The unit has the dangerous job of…
photo: US Navy / Josh Ives
US seeks permanent occupation of Afghanistan: Taliban
May 10: The Taliban militant group has said that the United States seeks permanent occupation of Afghanistan following its announcement to keep nine military bases in the war-torn country. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahed said in an e-mailed…
photo: US Army / Aaron Hostutler
Bangladesh garment factory collapse death toll hits 1,021
10 May 2013
DHAKA: The death toll from a garment factory building that collapsed more than two weeks ago outside the Bangladeshi capital soared past 1,000 on Friday, while the list of the dead from a fresh fire at a sweater manufacturer showed the entanglement of the industry and top Bangladeshi officials. Officials said 1,021 bodies have been recovered from…
Hezbollah says Syria will supply it weapons
Syria will supply “game-changing” weapons to Hezbollah, the chief of the Lebanese militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Thursday. He made the comments less than a week after Israeli airstrikes on Damascus targeted alleged shipments of advanced…
photo: AP / Hussein Malla
‘US does not seek permanent military base in Afghanistan’
May 09: The United States does not seek a permanent military base in Afghanistan, the White House has said, strongly refuting the claims made in this regard by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “The United States does not seek permanent military bases…
photo: US Navy / Josh Ives
Lieberman: Boston bombings could have been stopped
STEPHEN BRAUN Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman says failures by national security agencies tainted investigations into the Boston bombing plotters — and says the scheme could have been discovered beforehand….
photo: AP / Senate TV
‘Political, not military’ solutions needed in Mideast, Chuck Hagel says
WASHINGTON: The problems that plague the Middle East, including Iran‘s nuclear ambitions and Syria‘s civil war, require “political, not military” solutions, US defense secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday. Saying the “old order” was vanishing in the…
photo: USMC / Aaron Hostutler
In Its Efforts to Integrate Roma, Slovakia Recalls U.S. Struggles
SARISSKE MICHALANY, Slovakia — Gazing out his window during morning recess on his first day at work, the principal of an elementary school here, Jaroslav Valastiak, was caught up short: all the children playing in the asphalt-covered yard were…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
Castro May Be Charged with Murder
Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro appeared in court briefly on Thursday and was arraigned on kidnapping and rape charges. Prosecutors said they may charge Castro…
photo: AP / Mary Altaffer
Israel to build 300 new settlement homes in West Bank
Palestinians have accused Israel of jeopardising attempts to restart peace talks after Israel announced plans to build almost 300 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, near the Palestinian city of Ramallah. The decision by Israel’s civil…
photo: AP / Sebastian Scheiner
Ariel Castro charged with kidnapping, rape of three Cleveland women
09 May 2013
Gina DeJesus gives a thumbs-up to well-wishers as she arrives Wednesday at her family home in Cleveland after a decade in captivity with two other women. The man suspected of being her captor has been charged with kidnapping and rape. (Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty Images) CLEVELAND — Cleveland law enforcement authorities Wednesday charged the…
Syria’s Assad must go, Kerry insists
US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Syrian President Bashar Al Assad will have to step down as part of any political solution in Syria, as he held a third day of talks on the bloody conflict. Speaking as he met Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser…
photo: AP / Winslow Townson
Pakistani prisoner dies in India after revenge beating
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) – A convicted Pakistani militant jailed in India died on Thursday after being beaten by another inmate in an apparent revenge attack for the death of an Indian spy prisoner, threatening already fraught relations between the…
photo: AP / Channi Anand
Lift Syria opposition arms sanctions, says UK
The government has set out the case for lifting or amending the EU arms embargo against the main Syrian opposition group, the National Coalition. The UK said such a move would strengthen moderate forces in the opposition. It would put also pressure…
photo: AP / Rodrigo Abd
Obama, Netanyahu Discuss Regional Security Issues
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken by phone about regional security issues and Middle East peace. The White House says the two leaders agreed to continue their…
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
31 detained in probe of $50M Belgium diamond heist
Unlike the brilliant thieves in “Ocean’s Eleven,” it appears that those behind the clockwork-precision, $50 million diamond heist at Brussels Airport may not get a Hollywood ending. After three months of virtual silence on the matter, authorities…
photo: Creative Commons / Lucash
Ex-Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in court
Haiti’s reclusive former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, made a rare public appearance Wednesday, showing up at about 8:15 a.m. at the main Port-au-Prince courthouse to answer an investigative judge’s summons. With hundreds of…
photo: AP
Sir Alex Ferguson Retires: Tributes Flood In
While Sir Alex Ferguson‘s 26-year reign was by the pitch, retirement tributes have come from across the world of sport, politics and showbusiness. Little did US-based TV presenter Piers Morgan know, when he tweeted last night, “Please God, on…
photo: AP / Jon Super
Syria cut off from global Internet
08 May 2013
Internet connections between Syria and the outside world have been cut off, according to data from Google Inc and other global Internet companies. Tuesday’s shutdown effectively “disconnects Syria from Internet communication with the rest of the world,” according to companies that monitor online traffic around the world. Google‘s Transparency…
Brazilian chosen to head WTO
The World Trade Organization has settled on Roberto Azevedo of Brazil, a well-known diplomat and consummate insider in Geneva circles, to serve as its director-general for the next four years, officials said on Tuesday. He is poised to become the…
photo: Flickr / PR / Roberto Stuckert Filho
Germany’s European Leadership Extends to the Soccer Field
BERLIN – France‘s finance minister, Pierre Moscovici, warned on Tuesday against caricatures and misunderstandings over Germany‘s handling of the euro crisis, but quickly qualified his conciliatory statement about the European…
photo: AP / Oliver Lang
Military Sexual Assault: Not Patriotic, Still Common
With guys like alleged groper Jeffrey Krusinski running sexual assault prevention in the Air Force, it will surprise few that sexual assaults are on the rise in the military, and still dangerously underreported. According to a new Pentagon report,…
photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jorge Saucedo
Russia And US Agree International Syria Talks
7 May 2013, 22:08 Russia And US Agree International Syria Talks Tweet Russia and the US will hold a new international conference later this month in an attempt to push the Assad regime and Syrian opposition into talks on a political transition. The…
photo: Public Domain / State Department
Goodluck denies SA-Nigeria economic competition
President Goodluck Jonathan and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. (AFP) Our Coverage More Coverage Nigeria‘s President Jonathan urged co-operation between his country and South Africa on Tuesday to further peace and prosperity in…
photo: Flickr / The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa
20 dead in gas tanker explosion near Mexico City
ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and JOSE OSORIO , The Associated Press Posted: Tuesday, May 7, 2013, 1:30 PM MEXICO CITY – A natural gas tanker truck lost control and exploded on a highway lined by homes in the Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec early Tuesday,…
photo: AP / Gabriela Sanchez
China Cuts Ties With Key North Korean Bank
HONG KONG — The state-controlled Bank of China said on Tuesday that it had halted all dealings with a key North Korean bank in what appeared to be the strongest public Chinese response yet to North Korea’s willingness to brush aside…
photo: AP / Ng Han Guan
Hell in a Very Large Place
Full Article WorldNews.com
07 May 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling When it was announced that the Taliban in Afghanistan had again launched another spring offensive against U.S. forces, the twelfth one since 2001, it was reminiscent of Bernard Fall, a prominent war correspondent and expert on Indochina. He referred to the desperate and horrific battle of Dien Bien Phu…
Malaysia opposition to challenge election results
SEAN YOONG Associated Press= KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim pledged Tuesday to mount a “fierce movement” to challenge what he called fraudulent election results that kept the country’s long-ruling coalition in…
photo: AP / Vincent Thian
China denies renewed US cyber-attack claims
BEIJING – (AP) — China’s military is denying renewed U.S. accusations of carrying out cyber-attacks and says the sides should…
photo: AP / Greg Baker, File
Two Days of Riots in Bangladesh Turn Deadly
Two days of rioting in Bangladesh by conservative Islamists demanding an antiblasphemy law have left at least 19 people dead, more than 100 wounded and dozens of shops and vehicles destroyed, the official news agency BSS reported on Monday. The…
photo: AP / Photo
Anti-Putin protests to be revived
Moscow – Russian protesters unfurled a huge banner demanding the release of “political prisoners” on Monday, at the start of a day of protest against President Vladimir Putin intended to revive their flagging opposition movement. The…
photo: AP / Pavel Golovkin
Navalny’s Party Hits Hitch in Registration Bid
MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – A party linked to opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny is unlikely to be able to participate in this year’s regional elections after the Justice Ministry halted its…
photo: Creative Commons / Alexey Yushenkov / ??????? ???????
Italy’s Seven-Time Premier Andreotti Dies at 94
By ALESSANDRA GALLONI ROME—Giulio Andreotti, a seven-time prime minister who over six decades in politics helped guide Italy out of the wreckage of World War II and into a period of economic…
photo: Creative Commons / White House
Syrian Rebels May Have Used Sarin, U.N. Investigator Says
— There are “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” pointing to the opposition. — The evidence comes from interviews of “victims, doctors” and others at field hospitals in countries…
Libya: Security versus democracy
Full Article Al Jazeera
06 May 2013
Whenever a bomb explodes in Libya, so do the arguments amongst those who profess to be the guardians of democracy despite their differing discourses on what constitutes security. It then becomes a chicken-egg dialogue: what should come first, security or democracy? Or are they, as many argue, the two sides of the same coin? I am biased….
Pakistan polls one of bloodiest in history
Islamabad, May 06: This election is turning out to be one of the bloodiest in Pakistan’s history, said a daily, warning that the “prospects for the situation on May 11 are grim and frightening”. The caretaker government needs a reality check,…
photo: AP / Fareed Khan
Egypt’s PM survives armed attack on his motorcade
CAIRO, May 6 (Xinhua) — Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Qandil survived an attack on his motorcade by a group of armed men late Sunday evening, an interior ministry statement said. “A vehicle intervened in the prime minister’s motorcade and when the…
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
7 killed in suicide bomber attack in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Seven people were killed on Sunday when a suicide bomber attempted to ram a car laden with explosives into a military convoy escorting a four-member Qatari delegation. Gen. Garad Nor Abdulle, a senior police official, said the…
photo: AP / Farah Abdi Warsameh
Libya bans Gadhafi-era officials from state posts
ESAM MOHAMED Associated Press= TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Under pressure from armed militias, Libya’s parliament passed a sweeping law Sunday that bans anyone who served as a senior official under Moammar Gadhafi during his 42 year-long rule from working…
photo: AP / Mohammad Hannon
War clouds over Syria
Israel is in an offensive mood. Its jets once again flew over Syrian airspace and bombed suburbs in Damascus. The Jamraya facility, which houses a research centre, seems to have been targetted and destroyed. The magnitude of the…
photo: AP / Ugarit News via AP video
Israel strikes Syria, targeting missiles – security source
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Israel carried out its second air strikes in days on Syria early on Sunday, a Western intelligence source said, in an attack that shook Damascus with a series of powerful blasts and drove columns of fire into the night sky. A cloud…
photo: AP / Shaam News Network via AP video
Voting begins in Malaysia elections
Millions of Malaysians have begun voting in tight national elections that could see the long-ruling coalition ousted after nearly 56 years in power. Incumbent prime minister Najib Razak has voiced confidence that the National Front coalition will…
photo: AP / Mark Baker
Syria: Israeli rockets pummel Damascus area
05 May 2013
May 5, 2013 — Updated 0726 GMT (1526 HKT) An image taken from a YouTube video purportedly shows an explosion on a mountain filmed from a Damascus suburb Saturday. Damascus, Syria (CNN) — A series of massive explosions illuminated the predawn sky in Damascus, prompting more claims that Israel has launched attacks into the war-torn country. Syria…
Israel strikes Syria, targeting missiles – security source
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Israel carried out its second air strikes in days on Syria early on Sunday, a Western intelligence source said, in an attack that shook Damascus with a series of powerful blasts and drove columns of fire into the night sky. A cloud…
photo: AP / Ugarit News via AP video
Iraq PM Nouri Maliki’s bloc leads provincial elections
The Shia-led coalition led by Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has come first in seven of 12 provinces, including Baghdad, in elections held last month. Its main rival, the Sunni-dominated Iraqiya bloc, suffered poor results. Observers say the results give an…
photo: AP / Petr David Josek
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Successor As President Of Iran Could Be Less Hostile Toward U.S.
TEHRAN, Iran — For eight years, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has played the role of global provocateur-in-chief: questioning the Holocaust, saying Israel should be erased from the map and painting U.N resolutions as worthless. His…
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
California wildfire nearly triples in size
04 May 2013
Firefighters have deployed ground crews to battle a raging southern California wildfire that has nearly tripled in size as it threatens 4,000 homes. The Springs Fire, near Malibu 60km west of Los Angeles, grew to 11,330 hectares from 4,040 hectares on Friday morning. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) said that the blaze was just…
Rights group urges more backing in Iraq raid probe
ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press= BAGHDAD (AP) — Human Rights Watch on Saturday urged Iraqi authorities to give a government committee charged with probing a deadly raid by security forces on a protest camp last week greater financial and political…
photo: AP
Senior Tories urge ‘radical response’ to UKIP
Senior Conservative MPs are urging the prime minister to consider a more radical response to the party’s losses in council elections in England. The UK Independence Party made gains as the Tories lost control of 10 councils. Former leadership…
photo: AP / Virginia Mayo
California wildfire grows to 43 square miles
It seemed that each time wind-driven embers sparked new blazes or a wall of fire leaped a Southern California hillside and came charging toward hundreds of homes, an army of firefighters was right there to either douse or direct the flames away from…
photo: AP / Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Obama doesn’t foresee US ground troops in Syria
JIM KUHNHENN Associated Press= SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — President Barack Obama said Friday he doesn’t foresee any circumstance requiring the U.S. to send ground troops into Syria, even as Washington pursues more evidence about the regime’s…
photo: Public Domain / United States Army
Latin America growth key for war on drug – Obama
President Barack Obama has said the war on drugs will not be effectively won unless the economies of Latin American countries are strengthened. Mr Obama was speaking in Costa Rica, where he is due to attend a summit of Central American leaders. They…
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
U.S. President Obama arrives in Mexico on working visit
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (R) and U.S. President Barack Obama shake hands at the National Palace, in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, on May 2, 2013. Obama visits Mexico to meet with Pena Nieto and analyze matters concerning education,…
US considering arms for Syria rebels
03 May 2013
The United States said on Thursday it was taking a fresh look at whether to arm Syria’s rebels as the Damascus regime pressed an assault on opposition forces in the embattled city of Homs. After having rejected the idea previously, President Barack Obama’s deputies were weighing the option of providing weapons to Syria’s outgunned…
After 23 years in Pak jail, Sarabjit Singh returns amid tears and anger
LAHORE/NEW DELHI/AMRITSAR: Sarabjit Singh‘s death sparked a countrywide fury against Pakistan on Thursday, dealing a heavy blow to the prospects of normalization of ties with the estranged neighbour in the near run, while exposing the government to a…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
Obama pledges to help Mexico in drug war
US President Barack Obama has vowed to help Mexico in the fight against drugs and end the violence that has claimed thousands of lives. Obama vowed to put trade at the center of the two countries’ relations. Obama on Thursday said there was an…
photo: AP / Jacquelyn Martin
900 held in China for meat-related crimes
Tweet Beijing, May 3 (IANS) A total of 904 people have been arrested in China during a three-month campaign for crimes such as producing fake beef and mutton made from rat and fox, the ministry of public security said. Since Jan 25,…
photo: Creative Commons / Magnus Manske
Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam in court accused of harming state security and trying to escape custody
General Gaddafi‘s son and likely successor until the family was toppled from power during Libya‘s Arab Spring, appeared in court accused of harming state security and trying to escape custody. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi gave a thumbs up sign to reporters…
photo: AP / Zintan Media Center
Hagel: US rethinking possibly arming Syrian rebels
The Obama administration is rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels who have been locked in a civil war with the Syrian regime for more than two years, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday, becoming the first top U.S. official to…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
The Death Toll Rises in Bangladesh as Legal Impunity for the Powerful Rules
The system that enables powerful politicians and their business cronies to act as if they are above the law in Bangladesh has been horribly exposed by the rising death toll at the Rana Plaza building, which collapsed last Wednesday. The death toll…
photo: Creative Commons / Sharat Chowdhury
Pope Francis welcomes Benedict XVI back to the Vatican
VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI returned to the Vatican on Thursday (May 2), where he will live a few hundred meters from his successor, Pope Francis, in an arrangement that has no precedent in the history of the Catholic Church….
photo: AP / Alessandra Tarantino
North Korea sentences American to 15 years’ labor
Full Article Herald Tribune
02 May 2013
SEOUL, South Korea – An American detained for nearly six months in North Korea has been sentenced to 15 years of labor for crimes against the state, the North‘s state media said Thursday, a development that further complicates already strained ties between Pyongyang and Washington. The sentencing of Kenneth Bae, described by friends as a devout…
Indians angry at convicted spy’s death in Pakistan
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indians expressed outrage at the Pakistan government Thursday over the death of a convicted Indian spy who had been attacked with a brick by two fellow inmates in a Pakistan prison, a development New Delhi said has damaged relations…
photo: AP / Channi Anand
Bolivia Expels USAID
Bolivian President Evo Morales says he is expelling the U.S. Agency for International Development, accusing it of interfering in his country’s internal affairs. Morales said Wednesday…
photo: AP / Brennan Linsley
Bayern humiliate Barca to reach Champions League final
By Iain Rogers BARCELONA (Reuters) – Bayern Munich cruised into a first all-German Champions League final when they routed Barcelona 3-0 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday to secure a crushing 7-0 aggregate success. The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions,…
photo: AP / Michel Spingler
Maliki government fails again: Violence in Iraq rises sharply in April
Violence in Iraq rose sharply in April, with 460 people killed according to figures, raising fears of a return to the all-out sectarian conflict that plagued the country in past years. The majority of the deaths came during a wave of unrest that…
photo: AP / Alaa al-Marjani
Bangladesh workers protest as building collapse death toll passes 400
Thousands take part in May Day march in Dhaka demanding better safety at work and death penalty for Rana Plaza owner Bangledeshis hold pictures of relatives and loved ones still missing after the Rana Plaza building collapsed a week ago. Photograph:…
photo: AP / Ismail Ferdous
Kerry calls new Arab League peace stance ‘big step forward’
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the Arab League’s acknowledgment that Israelis and Palestinians may have to swap land in any peace deal was ‘a very big step forward.’ Arab states appeared to soften their 2002 peace plan on Monday…
photo: AP / Cliff Owen
Why Libya’s militias are up in arms
Libya‘s disgruntled militiamen are flexing their muscles in the capital, Tripoli. Both the foreign and justice ministry buildings in the city remain surrounded by a mix of young and older men in pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns….
photo: AP / Kevin Frayer
Netherlands celebrates King Willem-Alexander
Full Article Detroit news
01 May 2013
By Mike Corderand Toby Sterling Associated Press Comments King Willem-Alexander, 46, arrives with his wife, Queen Maxima, for his inauguration in Amsterdam. He is the youngest monarch in Europe. (Frank Van Beek / Getty Images) Amsterdam — Millions of Dutch people dressed in orange flocked to celebrations around the Netherlands Tuesday in…
Kerry calls new Arab League peace stance ‘big step forward’
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the Arab League’s acknowledgment that Israelis and Palestinians may have to swap land in any peace deal was ‘a very big step forward.’ Arab states appeared to soften their 2002 peace plan on Monday…
photo: AP / Cliff Owen
Why Libya’s militias are up in arms
Libya‘s disgruntled militiamen are flexing their muscles in the capital, Tripoli. Both the foreign and justice ministry buildings in the city remain surrounded by a mix of young and older men in pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns….
photo: AP / Kevin Frayer
Ireland may spend any spare budget cash rather than ease austerity
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland may spend any spare cash from future budgets rather than ease austerity measures, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Tuesday, after it left its plans to cut spending by 5.1 billion euro ($6.7 billion) for the next two…
photo: European Community / EC
ANSF troop totals shrinking, still short by 20,000
Afghan National Security Forces have shrunk by 4,000 troops and policemen from last year and are still 20,000 people short of the numbers they expect to have in place by the end of next year, according to the government watchdog overseeing…
photo: USMC / Pete Thibodeau
Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander crowned
Willem-Alexander became the first king of the Netherlands since 1890 today, ascending a throne largely stripped of political power but still invested with enormous symbolic significance for the Dutch people. At his investiture in Amsterdam‘s…
photo: AP / Robin Utrecht, Pool
Stocks Drift Mostly Higher; Pfizer Weighs on Dow
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting mostly higher on Wall Street, but poor results from Pfizer are holding down the Dow Jones industrial average. The Dow was down three points to 14,814 at midday Tuesday, a decline of 0.02 percent. Pfizer fell…
photo: AP / Richard Drew
UN chief condemns latest attack on Somali legal system
Print 30 April 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the killing of Somalia’s Deputy State Attorney, Ahmed Malim Sheikh Nur, expressing deep concern that the recent attacks in Mogadishu seem to be targeting the…
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
Kercher murder case: Amanda Knox proclaims innocence
Full Article BBC News
30 Apr 2013
Amanda Knox – who is facing a retrial over the killing of Briton Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007 – has gone on US television to protest her innocence. In an ABC News interview to be aired later on Tuesday, Miss Knox says claims that she is a “she-devil” and “heartless manipulator” are all wrong. “I’d like to be…
New Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta survives vote of confidence
Italy‘s new Prime Minister Enrico Letta has won his first vote of confidence. He had earlier pledged to reverse an austerity policy he said was killing Italy and focus on jobs and growth. Italy’s lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies…
photo: AP / Alessandra Tarantino
Dutch Queen Beatrix to abdicate in favour of son
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is to abdicate in favour of her son Prince Willem-Alexander – an event which is being celebrated across the nation. Queen Beatrix, 75, will sign the instrument of abdication in Amsterdam after 33 years on the throne….
photo: AP / Peter Dejong
Bangladesh Needs Strong Unions, Not Outside Pressure
BANGLADESH, my country, is again in tears. Last week in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, the capital, a poorly constructed building that housed garment factories and other businesses collapsed. More than 300 have been confirmed dead, and the final death…
photo: Creative Commons / Sharat Chowdhury
Tainted Water Poses New Risks at Japan Reactor
TOKYO — Two years after a triple meltdown that grew into the world’s second worst nuclear disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is faced with a new crisis: a flood of highly radioactive wastewater that workers are struggling…
photo: AP / Wally Santana
Afghanistan: 7 People Are Killed in Cargo Plane Crash Near Kabul
Seven people were killed on Monday when a civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off from Bagram Air Base, northeast of Kabul, according to an international military spokesman. The police chief of the surrounding area, Ezmarai Nasiri, said…
photo: Lance Cheung, U.S. Air Force
Michael Jackson Wrongful Death Trial Begins: 5 Opening-Statement Slams
Think there are no more revelations to be had about the life and death of Michael Jackson? Opening statements began today in the $1.5 billion wrongful-death case brought by Katherine Jackson, on behalf of her son’s estate, against concert promoter…
photo: AP / Ed Souza
Study: Germans see Islam as a threat
A major study of attitudes towards religion says Germans approve of openness towards other religions. But many are still suspicious of Islam. Former German President Christian Wulff earned much praise but also much criticism when said in a speech…
CIA Bribes Karzai: Millions In ‘Ghost Money’ Paid To Afghanistan President’s Office, New York Times Reports
Reuters | Posted: 04/29/2013
Last S. Korean workers to leave joint factory zone
PAJU, South Korea: South Korea was due Monday to pull out its last workers from a joint factory zone in North Korea — a rare symbol of cross-border cooperation now crippled by a tense military stand-off. The move raises the prospect of the permanent…
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
Israel not to tolerate rocket fire: Netanyahu
Jerusalem, April 29: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country would not allow the intermittent firing of rockets into its territory and warned the continued attacks would be dealt aggressively. “I want to make clear…
photo: AP / Sebastian Scheiner, Pool
Japan PM Abe in Russia for talks on territorial row, energy
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in Russia for the two nations’ first top-level talks in a decade. Discussions are set to focus on energy deals and a territorial row unresolved since the end of World War II. Ahead of the visit, Mr Abe said…
photo: AP / Koji Sasahara
Iraq suspends Al-Jazeera and 9 Iraqi TV channels
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities suspended the operating licenses of pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera and nine Iraqi TV channels on Sunday after accusing them of escalating sectarian tension. The move signaled the Shiite-led government’s mounting…
photo: Creative Commons / Kimse
Gunmen surround Libya’s foreign ministry
Gunmen surrounded Libya’s foreign ministry and attempted to storm the interior ministry on Sunday to demand that all officials who worked under former leader Muammar Gaddafi be prohibited from senior positions within the new administration. By News…
photo: AP / Kevin Frayer
Gene clues point to Cambodia for resistant malaria
An international consortium of researchers unravelled the genetic code of 825 samples of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite from Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Thailand, Vietnam and from northeastern and western Cambodia. The 166 samples from…
photo: UN / UN
Obama Muslim Socialist joke headlines Press Association dinner
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he’s not “the strapping young Muslim socialist” he used to be. Obama poked fun at himself as well as some of his political adversaries during the…
photo: AP / Haraz N. Ghanbari
Two police officers shot as Italian government sworn in
28 Apr 2013
ROME (Reuters) – Two Italian police officers were shot and wounded on Sunday outside the prime minister’s office in Rome at the same as Prime Minister Enrico Letta‘s new government was being sworn in just a kilometer (mile) away. It was not immediately clear whether the attack was linked to the launch of the new government, but the episode came at…
Iceland centre-right wins election, final count shows
Reykjavik: Iceland‘s centre-right opposition scored a clear victory in the island’s parliamentary poll, allowing the two parties to kick off negotiations for a coalition government, a final count Sunday showed. The right-wing Independence Party was…
photo: AP / Brynjar Gauti
Germany ready to contribute troops to UN mission in Mali
ACCRA, Ghana — Germany is ready to commit troops to a United Nations mission to Mali, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Saturday during a…
photo: UN / UN
Roadside bomb kills 3 policemen in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan—A remote-controlled roadside bomb killed three police officers in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, an attack the Taliban claimed as the opening round of their spring offensive. The bomb exploded in Ghazni province beneath a…
photo: US Navy / Josh Ives
Algeria’s Bouteflika in Paris after ‘having mini-stroke’
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been flown to hospital in Paris after suffering a mini-stroke, the state news agency said. Mr Bouteflika had a “transient ischemia” – a temporary blockage of a blood vessel often called a…
photo: AP / Sidali Djarboub
Anxious British parents queue for vaccines as measles rages
SWANSEA (Britain): Fears about the purported side effects once sent British parents running from vaccinations against measles. But now an outbreak of the potentially deadly disease in one city has brought them back in droves. As others went about…
photo: EC / European Commission
UN Security Council Extends Arms Embargo on Cote D’Ivoire
Sunday, 28 April 2013, 2:27 pm Press Release: United Nations UN Security Council Extends Arms Embargo on Cote D’Ivoire New York, Apr 25 2013 5:00PM Maintaining that Cote d’Ivoire was still vulnerable to instability fuelled by available weapons, the…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
Syria’s escalating refugee crisis means that Jordan is crying out for help
Jordan is desperate. In January, $1.5bn was pledged to provide aid for Syrian refugees at the UN summit in Kuwait. Three months later, only a fraction has been delivered and there is no definite plan in place for funding from the end of June. As the…
Bangladesh Factory Owners Arrested After Building Collapse
27 Apr 2013
After an eight-story building collapsed in Bangladesh Wednesday, killing at least 300 workers, police have arrested the owners of two factories that operated within the building. “We’ve arrested Bazlus Samad, the chairman of New Wave Buttons and New Wave Style factories, and Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash, a managing director of one of these plants, after…
Taliban announce start of spring offensive
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have announced the start of their spring offensive, signaling plans for an uptick in violence as the weather warms across Afghanistan, making both travel and…
photo: Public Domain / Lance Cpl. David A. Perez, U.S. Marine Corps
Russian court rejects Pussy Riot member’s early release
Zubova Polyana (Russia): A Russian court on Saturday rejected a plea for early release from prison by a member of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot, whose provocative songs and prosecution have made them a symbol of the country’s opposition movement….
photo: AP / Mikhail Metzel
Chunk of 9/11 airplane found in NY
New York police said on Friday that they have found a fragment of one of two airplanes that slammed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The huge chunk of aircraft was found wedged between two office buildings in lower Manhattan. The…
photo: AP / Mark Lennihan
Obama: Syrian WMD Would Be A ‘Game Changer’
27 April 2013, 2:27 Obama: Syrian WMD Would Be A ‘Game Changer‘ Tweet US President Barack Obama has warned the Syrian government that using chemical weapons would be a “game changer” as he faces rising pressure to intervene in the civil war. His…
photo: AP / Susan Walsh
11 killed, 40 injured in bomb blast in Pakistan’s Karachi
People examine the blast site in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on April 26, 2013. At least 11 people including a child were killed and 40 others injured on Friday night in a bomb blast that targeted a political meeting in Pakistan’s…
photo: AP / Fareed Khan
UN panel: Ex-rebels now powerhouse in Ivory Coast
Rebels in Ivory Coast who helped bring President Alassane Ouattara to power are not only commanding the nation’s armed forces but are raking in millions of dollars from illegal smuggling and a parallel taxation system, U.N. experts said in a report…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
Pussy Riot member denied early release from prison
Judge says Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has ‘not always followed the rules of behaviour’ Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova attends court in Zubova Polyana, where she was denied early release from prison. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov/EPA A Russian…
White House says Syria uses chemical weapons
26 Apr 2013
WASHINGTON – The Syrian government has used chemical weapons in its conflict with the opposition forces, the White House said on Thursday. In a letter sent to some members of the Congress, the White House said that “The US intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying…
Chemical weapons used in Syria: US defense secretary
Washington, April 25: US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has said that America has determined that chemical weapons have been used in the civil war in Syria. Speaking in Abu Dhabi during his first trip as defense secretary to the Middle East, Hagel…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk Cuomo
Boston bomb suspects also wanted to attack New York – officials
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The two men suspected of carrying out last week’s deadly Boston Marathon bombing decided after authorities identified them to drive to New York and set off additional explosives in Times Square, New York City officials…
photo: WN / Periasamy
Presidents together for Bush event
President Barack Obama has praised George W Bush at the dedication of the former president’s library for showing strength and resolve in the days after the September 11 attacks and said if Congress passes immigration reform “it will be in large part…
photo: AP / Eric Draper
US says Syria has used chemical weapons
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence has concluded “with some degree of varying confidence” that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its fierce civil war, the White House and other top administration officials said Thursday….
photo: AP / Muzaffar Salman
Chuck Hagel’s Statement on Syria
As delivered by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @NYTNational for breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors This morning, the…
photo: AP / Dave Weaver
Myanmar Activists: 7 Injured in Mine Crackdown
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Activists in Myanmar say police have injured seven people and arrested three others in a new crackdown on residents opposed to a controversial Chinese-backed copper mine project. The violence occurred Thursday near…
photo: AP / Khin Maung Win
Israeli Jet Shoots Down ‘Hezbollah’ Drone
Israel says it has shot down an unmanned drone from Lebanon off its northern coast. Military officials said the plane was intercepted in Israeli airspace near the city of Haifa. Deputy defence minister Danny Danon confirmed the incident to Israeli…
photo: AP / Ariel Schalit
Unemployment misery deepens in Spain and Greece
By Charles Riley @CNNMoney April 25, 2013: 5:55 AM ET HONG KONG (CNNMoney) The eurozone debt crisis extracted a heavy price in Spain and Greece to start the year as labor markets in both countries continued to shed jobs. The number of unemployed in Spain broke the 6 million barrier during the first quarter, a new record. The unemployment rate rose…
At least 160 confirmed killed in Bangladesh building collapse
The death toll from a building collapse in Bangladesh yesterday has risen to 160 and could climb higher, police said this morning. People remain trapped under the rubble of a complex that had housed garment factories supplying retailers in Europe and…
photo: AP / A.M.Ahad
Venezuela’s Henrique Capriles issues ultimatum over vote audit
Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has threatened to take action over disputed votes he claims were “stolen” by Nicolas Maduro‘s government. Mr Capriles demanded details of an audit of the vote the electoral council says…
photo: AP / Fernando Llano
China Leads World in Cyber Espionage, says Report
China leads the world in computer espionage, according to an annual report that monitors the state of global cyber threats. Ninety-six percent of cyber espionage cases targeting intellectual property and business trade secrets were attributed to…
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man
Syria: Minaret Of Famous Mosque Destroyed
24 April 2013, 20:26 Syria: Minaret Of Famous Mosque Destroyed Tweet The minaret of a landmark 12th-Century mosque has collapsed in the clashes between Syrian rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al Assad. The minaret was in the heart of…
photo: Creative Commons / Bgag
Syrian army seizes rebel town near Damascus
Fierce gunbattles have remained unrelenting across Syria, as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad seized a strategic town east of Damascus, while the minaret of Aleppo‘s ancient Umayyad mosque was destroyed, Syrian state media and a…
photo: AP / Bilal Hussein
Profile: Italy’s Enrico Letta
Tasked by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano with forming a government, Enrico Letta is a centrist thought to have as good a chance as anyone of winning the support for a broad-based coalition. A Europhile on the moderate side of the centre-left…
photo: Creative Commons
Official: 70 dead in Bangladesh building collapse
JULHAS ALAM Associated Press= SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s health minister says 70 people have been confirmed dead in the collapse…
photo: AP / A.M. Ahad
Canada train plot suspects reject charges
Toronto: Two foreign nationals arrested on suspicion of what police say was an Al-Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Canadian passenger train rejected the charges as they made their first court appearances Tuesday. Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, were arrested on Monday for allegedly planning to carry out an attack on a Via Rail train in the…
Israeli focus on Syria gives Hagel respite on Iran
ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer= JERUSALEM (AP) — On Chuck Hagel‘s inaugural visit to Israel as U.S. defense secretary, Syria surpassed Iran as the security threat of greatest urgency to the U.S.’ closest Mideast ally. That quite…
photo: US DoD / Glenn Fawcett
US Cluster Munitions: 277 Million Boston Bombings
About UsMission Statement & Contact UC-IMC Highlights 10 Years of Success UC-IMC Structure Global IndyMedia Important Docs EventsUC-IMC Calendar Host Your Event Get InvolvedVolunteer Internships Membership Our ProjectsGeneral Membership Artists…
photo: USAF / Master Sgt. Robert Wieland
Hundreds of Europeans fighting in Syria, says EU expert
The EU’s anti-terror chief has told the BBC that hundreds of Europeans are now fighting with rebel forces in Syria against Bashar al-Assad‘s regime. Gilles de…
photo: AP / Hussein Malla
Napolitano: Immigration Reform Good For National Security
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate committee Tuesday that a bipartisan immigration bill would better secure U.S. borders and enhance national security. Napolitano said the bill would fund continued deployment of…
photo: Creative Commons / Chaser
Another ricin letter found in US
April 23: A letter that was intercepted and sent to a screening facility at an airbase in the United States contained the deadly poison ricin according to preliminary tests. The letter was discovered at Bolling Air Force Base outside Washington on…
photo: Creative Commons / SusanLesch
Drone Strikes Not Effective, Yemeni Tells U.S. Panel
WASHINGTON — A Yemeni man who studied at an American high school told Congress on Tuesday that a drone strike on his village in Yemen last week terrified his neighbors, turning them against the United States in a way that terrorist propaganda…
photo: UN / Jean-Marc Ferré
Venezuela’s Maduro sends conciliatory message to U.S.
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named a new acting head of its U.S. diplomatic mission in Washington on Tuesday and sent an offer of dialogue after attacking the United States for “interference” in a row over his election….
Canada Foils Alleged al-Qaida-Backed Terror Plot
23 Apr 2013
WASHINGTON, April 22 (RIA Novosti) – Canadian security officials on Monday arrested two men who were suspected of planning a terror attack to derail a passenger train, allegedly with backing from “al-Qaida elements in Iran,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police…
North Korea demands recognition as nuclear arms state
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea demanded on Tuesday that it be recognized as a nuclear weapons state, rejecting a U.S. condition that it agree to give up its nuclear arms program before talks can begin. After weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula,…
Millionaire president-elect ‘to put Paraguay first’
Paraguay‘s President-elect Horacio Cartes, a wealthy businessman, has said he would “never put personal interests before the country’s”. Mr Cartes, one of Paraguay’s richest men, told reporters there wouldn’t be conflict…
photo: AP / Jorge Saenz
Palestinian prisoner to end hunger strike
A Palestinian prisoner held by Israel has agreed to end an on-off hunger strike that lasted for more than eight months in exchange for an early release, Palestinian officials say. The fast by Samer al-Issawi, from a suburb of Jerusalem, had…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Manchester United clinches Premier title
LONDON Manchester United became English champions for the 20th time Monday when a Robin van Persie hat-trick led them to a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa to…
photo: AP / Jon Super
Study Charts 2,000 Years of Continental Climate Changes
A comprehensive new analysis of temperature changes over the continents through 2,000 years has found that a long slide in temperatures in most regions preceded the unusual global warming of recent decades, but with a lot of regional variability and…
Earth Day celebrated around the globe
Today, April 22nd, marks the 43rd anniversary of the start of a global environmental movement. How are others across the world celebrating? More than 192 countries are celebrating the 43rd Anniversary of Earth Week. This week…
photo: NASA / NASA’s Earth Observatory/NOAA/DOD
Strike Grounds Most Lufthansa Flights
PARIS — A widespread strike all but grounded the German flag carrier Lufthansa on Monday, affecting around 150,000 passengers around the world amid a battle over wages as the airline pushes ahead with a $2 billion restructuring program. The…
photo: Creative Commons / T.Voekler
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect, Reportedly Awake And Responding To Questions In Writing
Updated: 04/22/2013 7:31 am EDT
China rushes relief after Sichuan quake kills 180
22 Apr 2013
YA’AN: Rescuers and relief teams struggled to rush supplies into the rural hills of China’s Sichuan province Sunday after an earthquake left at least 180 people dead and more than 11,000 injured and prompted frightened survivors to spend a night in cars, tents and makeshift shelters. The earthquake Saturday morning triggered landslides that cut off…
Rights group: Myanmar unrest is ‘ethnic cleansing’
BANGKOK (AP) — A leading international rights group is accusing authorities in Myanmar, including senior Buddhist monks, of organizing a “campaign of ethnic cleansing” against the country’s Rohingya Muslim…
photo: AP / Khin Maung Win
Horacio Cartes wins Paraguay presidential election
Businessman Horacio Cartes has been elected president in Paraguay. The result of Sunday’s poll restores the Colorado Party to power after its defeat by the left-wing candidate Fernando Lugo in 2008. Mr Cartes faces the challenge of fighting high…
photo: AP / Jorge Saenz
Police Clash With Protesters Ahead of Bahrain F1 Race
Dubai. Bahraini police clashed on Sunday with Shiite demonstrators, only hours ahead of the Gulf state’s Formula One Grand Prix race, which the authorities insisted would go ahead without disruption. Nico Rosberg of Mercedes will start on pole after…
photo: AP / Hasan Jamali
Iraq counts votes from first polls since US pullout
Baghdad: Iraqi election officials were to begin counting votes on Sunday from the country’s first elections since US troops departed, which served as a key test of its stability amid a spike in violence. Attacks killed three people on election day, a…
photo: AP / Nabil Al-Jurani
Paraguay holds key presidential election
Voters in Paraguay go to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election seen as key to restoring the country’s democratic credentials. Horacio Cartes, of the conservative Colorado Party, and the centre-right Liberal Party‘s Efrain Alegre…
photo: AP / Jorge Saenz
1.5 million people affected by China quake
BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) — More than 1.5 million people in southwest China’s Sichuan Province have been affected by Saturday’s strong earthquake, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs here Sunday. The quake has affected 69 counties in the province,…
photo: AP / Eugene Hoshiko
Napolitano re-elected president to tackle Italy impasse
ROME : Italy’s lawmakers re-elected 87-year-old President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday in a bid to break the country’s political gridlock, as protestors outside parliament jeered the result. The ex-communist Napolitano won with a sweeping majority…
photo: AP Photo / Plinio Lepri
Damascus: The changing face of Syria’s capital
Seven million Syrians now need humanitarian assistance, according to an estimate from the United Nations. The Assad regime is being blamed by the UN for hindering the distribution of aid. In the capital, Damascus, people struggle to get on with their…
photo: AP / SANA
What’s next for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect?
April 20, 2013 — Updated 1008 GMT (1808 HKT) (CNN) — The hunt for the men is over. The hunt for the motive is just beginning. As 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev remained in serious condition in a heavily guarded Boston-area hospital room early…
photo: White House / Pete Souza
Strong quake jolts China’s Sichuan, killing 113
Gallery: Strong quake jolts China’s Sichuan, killing 113 DIDI TANG , The Associated Press Posted: Saturday, April 20, 2013, 5:08 AM BEIJING – A powerful earthquake struck the steep hills of China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Saturday, leaving…
photo: AP
After Long, Tense Day Boston Suspect in Custody
BOSTON — Police in Boston apprehended one of the men suspected of having planted the bombs that exploded earlier this week at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring 170. The arrest followed a massive manhunt in which nearly a million…
photo: AP / Matt Rourke
Earthquake in China kills 56
A strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake has hit southwestern China’s Sichuan province, killing at least 56 people and injuring about 600 close to where a big quake killed almost 70,000 people in 2008. The earthquake occurred at 8.02am in Lushan county near…
photo: AP / Xinhua, Ding Haita
Italy parliament fails again to tap president
FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press= ROME (AP) — Italy‘s polarized Parliament failed in a second day of balloting Friday to elect a president, as the high-profile candidacy of ex-Premier Romano Prodi fell far short of the votes needed. The rebuff…
photo: AP / Gregorio Borgia
Pro- and anti-Islamist protesters clash in Egypt
SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press= CAIRO (AP) — Clashes erupted Friday between several hundred opponents and supporters of Egypt‘s Islamist president during a rally by his allies calling on him to “cleanse the judiciary” of alleged supporters of the old…
photo: AP / Mostafa Elshemy
China’s Sichuan Hit by Earthquake
BEIJING (AP) — A 6.9-magnitude earthquake has hit China’s Sichuan province, the site of a massive earthquake in 2008. There was no immediate word on any casualties in the quake that happened at 8:02 a.m. (0002 GMT) Saturday. The official Xinhua…
BOSTON SUSPECT CAUGHT
Dzhokar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, is in custody, police say, after a manhunt that left one suspect and one police officer dead
Manhunt in Progress for Boston Bomber
HELL NIGHT: EXPLOSIONS… GUNFIRE…
Pakistani police arrest Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad
Pakistani police have arrested former President Pervez Musharraf and presented him in court, reports say. TV images showed General Musharraf flanked by uniformed police officers at an Islamabad court….
photo: AP / B.K. Bangash
Argentines hold mass rallies against government
Tens of thousands of people in Argentina are taking part in protests against the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Huge crowds marched through the capital Buenos Aires chanting slogans, banging pots and pans and waving banners….
photo: AP / Victor R. Caivano
Guatemala judge suspends trial of former military ruler
A judge in Guatemala has suspended the trial of former military ruler Efrain Rios Montt. He was being tried for a counter-insurgency plan that killed more than 1,700 members of the Ixil indigenous group in 1982. Judge Carol Patricia Flores said she…
photo: AP / Luis Soto
U.S. aims to expand India arms trade by “billions of dollars”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has already made “tremendous progress” in expanding weapons sales to India since 2008, and U.S. companies could see “billions of dollars” in additional sales in coming years, a senior U.S. State Department…
photo: AP / Biswaranjan Rout
Exclusive: FAA nears decisive step in restoring 787 to flight
(Reuters) – U.S. regulators are close to approving a key document that could start the process of returning Boeing Co’s grounded 787 Dreamliner to service within weeks, according to several people familiar with the matter. Approval of the document,…
photo: AP / Chris O’Meara
Kashmir resolution holds key to peace in South Asia: Zardari
Islamabad: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said it is Kashmir that holds the key to peace and prosperity in South Asia, and no durable resolution of this issue…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
Boston bombing: Investigators focus on the who and why for the attack
17 Apr 2013
Two people leave flowers on the doorstep of 8-year-old Martin Richard‘s home in the Dorchester neighborhood in Boston. News reports say that Martin was one of the victims of two explosions which hit the Boston Marathon. (Brian Snyder, Reuters) Related Articles Apr 17:Boston tries to go on after attackBoston victims were a grad student, restaurant...
Obama calls gun control measure defeat shameful
Tweet Washington, April 18 (IANS) After a stinging defeat in the US Senate, President Barack Obama lashed out at those who voted against several gun control measures backed by him in the wake of Newtown massacre of the innocents last December. A…
photo: AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta
North Korea lists terms for talks with US and S Korea
North Korea has said it was ready to talk if UN sanctions against it were withdrawn and if the US and South Korea put an end to joint military drills. The conditions for dialogue were outlined in a statement from the North‘s National Defence…
photo: AP / Park Ji-ho, Yonhap
Boston Marathon bombings: Breaking the pattern
No matter who is eventually found and brought to justice for the odious attack in Boston, the rush to blame “the Muslims” fits a longstanding and disturbing pattern after attacks like this one. Although there have been very few terrorist attacks in…
photo: AP / Elise Amendola
Chavez heir charges US is behind unrest over vote
VIVIAN SEQUERA Associated Press= CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President-elect Nicolas Maduro and his opposition rival traded accusations Tuesday over blame for post-election violence that the government said had caused seven deaths and 61 injuries…
photo: AP / Ariana Cubillos
India-EU FTA talks gain momentum
While seeking a good package for the IT industry, including allowing flexible movement of IT professionals, India has made it clear to the European Union (EU) that it cannot go beyond the parameters of the TRIPS (Trade-Related Intellectual Property…
General: No rush to set post-2014 US force size
WASHINGTON – The commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan is telling Congress that he would like to assess the combat performance of the Afghan army this summer before deciding how many foreign troops to keep there after 2014. Marine Gen.…
photo: USMC / Gabriela Garcia
Iran’s President Visits Uranium-rich Niger
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) ? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the uranium-rich West African nation of Niger on Tuesday, although officials discounted that the mineral was the reason for his visit. Niger’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Bazoum…
photo: AP / Hussein Malla
U.S. Stocks Rebound After Boston Attacks
The S&P 500 was rising 0.8% to 1,565.06 after upbeat corporate earnings announcements this morning and inflation data indicated that the Federal Reserve still has room to maintain its stimulus program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was advancing…
photo: AP / Craig Ruttle
North Korea Demands Apology From South For Protests In Seoul
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea lashed out anew Tuesday at South Korea over a small public protest in Seoul in which demonstrators burned effigies of the North‘s leaders, saying it would not hold talks with its southern neighbor unless it…
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man
Boy killed during protest crackdown in Togo
Lome – A 12-year-old boy in Togo was killed on Monday by police who fired in warning to disperse a protest demanding the country’s schools re-open as demonstrations over the closures spread across the country, a statement said. The west African…
Police, students clash in Bahrain after raid
REEM KHALIFA Associated Press= MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Police in Bahrain’s capital have raided a boys’ high school and fired tear gas in clashes with students angry over a fellow student’s arrest the day…
photo: AP / Hasan Jamali
North Korea says it won’t warn South Korea before an attack
April 16, 2013 — Updated 0828 GMT (1628 HKT) Are you from South or North Korea? Send us your views. (CNN) — North Korea is raising the temperature on its neighbors, saying in its latest threat that it would not give any advance warning before any…
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man
Syria crisis: UN issues rare joint appeal for action
The heads of five major UN agencies have issued a rare joint appeal to the international community to do much more to end “cruelty and carnage” in Syria. In a statement, the chiefs of the WHO, Unicef, Ocha, WFP and UNHCR urged political…
photo: AP / Muhammed Muheisen
Obama: Boston culprits to feel ‘weight of justice’
WASHINGTON (AP) — A stony-faced President Barack Obama declared that those responsible for the explosions at the Boston Marathon “will feel the full weight of justice,” but he urged a nervous nation not to jump to conclusions. Top lawmakers declared…
photo: White House / Pete Souza
Chad: Troops to Leave Mali
Chad’s president says his country’s troops are pulling out of Mali three months after the French-led mission to oust militants linked to Al Qaeda began, raising questions about how feasible the planned French pullout will be if France…
photo: AP / Abd Raouf
Senegal ex-president’s son arrested
Police in Senegal have arrested the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade on suspicion of corruption. Karim Wade is suspected of illegally amassing about $1.4bn (£900m) during his father’s rule, his lawyers said. Karim was a senior minister…
photo: flickr
Obama Vows ‘We Will Find Out Who Did This’
Share 0 President Obama vowed justice today for the bombing that killed at least two people at the Boston Marathon. “We still do not know who did this or why, and people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts, but make no…
photo: Public Domain / Gage
Chavismo outlives Chavez in Venezuela
15 Apr 2013
Nicolas Maduro has cemented his position as Venezuela‘s president, winning a razor-thin mandate on Sunday, but the former bus driver seems unwilling to step out from the shadow of his larger-than-life predecessor to govern a country wracked by problems and possibilities. Describing himself as a “son” of former president Hugo Chavez who died…
German bakery blast: Pune court to give verdict today
Tweet Pune, Apr 15 (ANI): A court in Pune will give its verdict today on a man who allegedly plotted the bomb blast at the city’s German Bakery in February 2010, in which 17 people were killed and 64 others were…
photo: Creative Commons / KevinScott.Org
Kerry says US open to negotiation with North Korea
Secretary of State John Kerry has said the US is open to “credible and authentic negotiations” with North Korea over its nuclear policy. Kerry is in Japan on the final day of a four-day tour of the region. Kerry said Monday in Tokyo that the US will…
photo: US DoS
At least 16 killed in Somalia violence
At least 16 people were killed as two car bombs exploded outside the law courts in Somalia‘s capital Mogadishu and gunmen stormed the building , before a gunbattle erupted with security forces besieging the compound, witnesses said. A large blast hit…
photo: AP / Farah Abdi Warsameh
10 militants killed in Afghan raids
Tweet Kabul, April 14 (IANS) Ten Taliban militants have been killed in military operations across Afghanistan Since Saturday, the interior ministry…
photo: US Navy / Josh Ives
Fort Drum, former Griffiss Air Force Base eyed as possible home for missile defense site
Washington — Central or Northern New York could become the site of a sprawling, $3.6 billion development that would bring the region hundreds of new jobs for well-paid engineers and technicians. But there’s one big catch: The community would have to…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Ahmadinejad to visit uranium-rich Niger
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, is beginning a visit to West Africa that will take him to Benin, Ghana and Niger, the world’s fourth-largest uranium producer, Iranian media have reported. The Fars news agency said Ahmadinejad‘s trip would…
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
China: Reports of bird flu in humans reach 51
April 14, 2013 — Updated 0512 GMT (1312 HKT) Officials in Hong Kong test poultry at the border with mainland China on April 11 as authorities step up measures against the spread of the deadly H7N9 bird flu. Empty cages are seen at a closed bird…
10 militants killed in Afghan raids
Tweet Kabul, April 14 (IANS) Ten Taliban militants have been killed in military operations across Afghanistan Since Saturday, the interior ministry…
photo: US Navy / Josh Ives
Fort Drum, former Griffiss Air Force Base eyed as possible home for missile defense site
Washington — Central or Northern New York could become the site of a sprawling, $3.6 billion development that would bring the region hundreds of new jobs for well-paid engineers and technicians. But there’s one big catch: The community would have to…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Ahmadinejad to visit uranium-rich Niger
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, is beginning a visit to West Africa that will take him to Benin, Ghana and Niger, the world’s fourth-largest uranium producer, Iranian media have reported. The Fars news agency said Ahmadinejad‘s trip would…
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
China: Reports of bird flu in humans reach 51
April 14, 2013 — Updated 0512 GMT (1312 HKT) Officials in Hong Kong test poultry at the border with mainland China on April 11 as authorities step up measures against the spread of the deadly H7N9 bird flu. Empty cages are seen at a closed bird…
photo: UN / UN
Dozens killed in northern Peru bus crash
At least 34 people were killed and many others wounded after a bus plunged 200 metres down a ravine in northern Peru, police have said. The bus veered off a mountain road near the town of Otuzco almost 570km north of the capital of Lima,…
photo: AP
Quake Strikes Off Papua New Guinea, No Damage Reported
A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck 74 kilometers west of Bougainville island in Papua New Guinea on Sunday but there were no immediate reports of…
photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Valcarcel (
Pope taps 8 cardinals to advise on governing
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis named eight cardinals from around the globe Saturday to advise him on running the Catholic Church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy, marking his first month as pope with a major initiative to reflect the universal…
The Challenge to CHAVEZ MACHINE
Lion Air plane crashes into sea in Bali; 22 hurt
FIRDIA LISNAWATI= BALI, Indonesia (AP) — A Lion Air plane carrying more than 100 passengers and crew overshot a runway on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday and crashed into the sea, injuring nearly two dozen people, officials said. I…
photo: Public Domain / Lionlmi
Hosni Mubarak faces Egypt retrial
Cairo: The retrial of Egypt‘s former president Hosni Mubarak was set to begin on Saturday in Cairo, after an appeal against the life sentence handed down against him last June was accepted. Television footage showed Mubarak, dressed in white and…
photo: AP / Mohammed al-Law
Government: Strong 6.0-magnitude quake hits western Japan
TOKYO: A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit western Japan early Saturday but there was no risk of a tsunami, the country’s meteorological agency reported. The quake struck at 5:33 am (2033 GMT on Friday) near Awaji island in the Seto Inland Sea…
photo: Creative Commons / 663highland
Russia backs future Syria war crimes probe
Russia would eventually support an international war crimes tribunal for Syria, Russia’s foreign minister has said. Russia has been one of the Syria’s closest allies since the conflict began more than two years ago. “At this stage, I think the…
photo: AP / Jim Watson, Pool
John Kerry to press China over North Korea
US Secretary of State John Kerry is due in China, where he is expected to urge Beijing to use its influence over North Korea to rein in its belligerence. Ahead of the visit, Mr Kerry said that a policy of denuclearisation shared by the US and China…
photo: AP / Jacquelyn Martin, Pool
North Korea launch would be huge mistake: US
US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned North Korea that it would be a “huge mistake” to test launch a medium-range missile and said the United States would never accept the reclusive country as a nuclear power. Addressing reporters after talks…
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
Egypt Denies Military Abused, Killed Protesters
CAIRO — With the Islamist president by his side, Egypt‘s army chief warned against slandering the military, denying in remarks broadcast Friday that the military committed any abuses against protesters during the turbulent transition of the past two…
Afghanistan’s fractured future
12 Apr 2013
By Shahab Jafry Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. if you are interested in contributing. Despite the longevity of America‘s Afghan campaign, including the spillover into Pakistan’s tribal area, few in the international press really understand the true nature of the Taliban threat,…
Venezuela election to test Chavez’s socialist legacy
The late Hugo Chavez’s self-declared socialist revolution will be put to the test at a presidential election on Sunday that pits his chosen successor against a younger rival promising change in the nation he polarised. Most opinion polls give his…
photo: AP / Ariana Cubillos
Chilean students stage protests
Chilean students are staging nationwide demonstrations demanding free education. Riot police are patrolling the streets of…
photo: AP / Luis Hidalgo
Israel detains 5 women in Western Wall prayer protest
Israeli police detained five women activists on Thursday at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s most sacred sites, for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, a spokesman said. The incident occurred during a monthly…
photo: Creative Commons / David Shankbone
Palestine PM Salam Fayyad resigns: Official
Ramallah: Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has prepared a letter of resignation which he will submit to president Mahmud Abbas today, a senior Palestinian official said. Abbas and Fayyad are known to have been at loggerheads over a raft of…
photo: AP / Michael Sohn
Election will test Chavez’s legacy
Caracas – The late Hugo Chavez‘s self-declared socialist revolution will be put to the test at a presidential election on Sunday that pits his chosen successor against a younger rival promising change in the nation he polarised. Most opinion polls…
photo: AP Photo
Margaret Thatcher: No Argentines At Funeral
The guest list for Baroness Thatcher‘s funeral is expected to be released later, and it has already emerged Argentina‘s president is not invited. Cristina Kirchner, who has repeatedly called for the Falkland Islands to be handed to Argentina, will…
photo: AP / Eduardo Di Baia
Palestinian PM Offered Resignation, Officials Say
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian officials say Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has offered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas as part of an increasingly bitter conflict over authority. The officials say Abbas has not responded to…
photo: AP / Majdi Mohammed
NATO to expand counter-drugs training project
Tweet Brussels, April 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti) As part of a NATO-Russia project in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, counter-narcotics personnel training will be expanded within the next few years,…
photo: US Army / Shane Hamann
Syria air strikes ‘target civilians’ – Human Rights Watch
The Syrian Air Force is carrying out both deliberate air strikes against civilians and indiscriminate attacks, a leading rights group has warned. Human Rights Watch says it visited 52 sites in north-western Syria, documenting 59 such unlawful…
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
US State Department budget to spend more on East Asia, Pacific programs
THE US State Department has proposed a $47.8 billion budget with increases for East Asia and Pacific programs, while cutting budgets for Iraq and Afghanistan. The budget, which is six per cent less than in 2012, also includes more funds for embassy…
photo: US DoD / Bobby J. Yarbrough
Pentagon confirms Carson deployment plans
The Pentagon confirmed its plan on Wednesday to send the headquarters of Fort Carson‘s 4th Infantry Division to Afghanistan. About 450 soldiers with…
photo: USMC / Pete Thibodeau
Dozens Injured in Tamil Nadu Train Accident
CHENNAI, Tamil Nadu — One person was killed and at least 27 people were injured early Wednesday morning after the derailment of nearly half of the coaches of a 24-car train traveling from the eastern state of Bihar to the southern state of…
photo: WN / Raj Kumar Senapati
Obama sends Congress $3.8 trillion spending plan
WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama is sending Congress a $3.8 trillion spending blueprint that strives to achieve a “grand bargain” to tame runaway deficits. It would raise taxes on the wealthy and trim popular benefit programs including as…
photo: AP / Mary Altaffer
Egyptian Pope Tawadros rebukes Morsi
The leader of Egypt‘s Coptic Christians has accused the country’s president of “negligence” following deadly clashes outside the main cathedral in Cairo. Pope Tawadros II said Mohammed Morsi had failed to protect the building, where two people died…
photo: AP / Egyptian Presidency
Use of death penalty around the world dropping
The use of the death penalty is broadly diminishing around the world although a handful of countries that had not used capital punishment for several years resumed executions in 2012, according to Amnesty International. Methods of executions in 2012…
photo: Creative Commons
Russia: Orthodox Leader Condemns Feminism
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said Tuesday that feminism was a “very dangerous” phenomenon offering an illusion of freedom to women who should focus on their families and children. About three-quarters of…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
UN panel: Libyan weapons spread at alarming rate
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. panel says Libyan weapons are spreading at “an alarming rate” to new territories in west Africa and the eastern Mediterranean including Syria and the Gaza Strip where they…
photo: AP / Tara Todras-Whitehill
Biden: Threats to block gun bill ’embarrassing’
NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press= WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden says he refuses to believe a small group of senators will block a vote on gun legislation. The vice president says…
photo: AP / Charles Dharapak
Iran earthquake kills at least 32, spares Bushehr nuclear plant
A powerful Iran earthquake killed at least 32 people and injured nearly 1,000 on Tuesday. CNN shared the details on April 9 of the quake that hit in southern Iran with a magnitude of 6.3. The Iran earthquake left the Bushehr nuclear plant undamaged,…
photo: AP / Hamed Nazari
Peace Envoys From Taliban at Loose Ends in Qatar
DOHA, Qatar — When a handful of Taliban emissaries flew into Qatar on an American plane in 2010, the Obama administration hoped they would help negotiate a peace deal that could stabilize Afghanistan and allow the United States a graceful exit…
After violence, Egypt opposition presses Morsi
After Egypt’s worst sectarian violence in months left seven dead the past two days, Egypt’s leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday called on the Islamist president to make serious concessions to bring the opposition into…
photo: AP / Thomas Hartwell
Korean crisis could be worse than Chernobyl: Putin
Hanover, April 08: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for calm on the Korean peninsula, saying the escalation of tension in the region could lead to a nuclear disaster far worse than the Chernobyl incident. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster,…
photo: AP / Herbert Knosowski
City Wins Manchester Derby
The substitute Sergio Agüero slalomed through the defense to score the go-ahead goal in the 78th minute, giving Manchester City a 2-1 win at rival Manchester United on Monday night that cut their Premier League deficit to 12 points with seven…
photo: AP / Jon Super
Incumbent Filip Vujanovic Wins Montenegro Presidential Election
Incumbent Filip Vujanovic has won the presidential election in the tiny Balkan nation of Montenegro. The president of the election commission, Ivan…
photo: UN /Paulo Filgueiras
International donors pledge billions for recovery of Darfur
8 April 2013 – The International Donor Conference for Reconstruction and Development in Darfur wrapped up today with calls from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the Government of Sudan to demonstrate its commitment to the region and to…
photo: martine perret / UNMISS
Diplomat killed in Afghanistan ‘was the rock of our team’
Risks come with serving as a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East, but Anne Smedinghoff hardly dwelled on them and took all the precautions while in the field, her colleagues said Monday. “I think for Anne, (the risks are) what she saw as part of the…
photo: US Army / Ryan Hallgarth
Leaders Pay Tribute to Thatcher
By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW LONDON—Global and political leaders across the world remembered former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who died on Monday, as a leader who altered the U.K.‘s political and economic landscape and shaped global relations,…
WikiLeaks publishes 1.7m US diplomatic records
Julian Assange says 1973-76 reports, including many by Henry Kissinger, show vast range and scope of US activity Julian Assange said WikiLeaks had been working for a year to analyse US national archives data. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters…
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth)
UN chief: NKorea nuclear test would be provocative
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged North Korea not to carry out a new nuclear test, saying it would be a “provocative” act amid…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
North Korea preparing nuclear test, South Korea says
North Korea may be preparing for a fourth nuclear test, South Korean officials say. South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told lawmakers there are “signs” of increased…
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
Angela Merkel tells Vladimir Putin – Russia needs NGOs
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for Russia to give a chance to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). She spoke during a visit to Germany by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has backed a series of investigations into foreign-funded…
photo: REGIERUNGonline / Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung
Afghanistan: NATO Air Strike Kills 10 Children
KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO airstrike killed 11 Afghan civilians, including 10 children, during a fierce weekend gunbattle with Taliban militants that also left one U.S. civilian adviser dead in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Sunday. The…
photo: US Army / Kelvin Lovelist
China wades into Korean peninsula tensions
China has added its voice to the growing tensions in the Korean peninsula, saying no country should cause global chaos after the US postponed a missile test to ease war fears. Xi Jinping, the president of China, North Korea‘s financial and…
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
Korea tensions delay US missile test, cancel commander trip
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Heightened tensions with North Korea have led the United States to postpone congressional testimony by the top U.S. military commander in South Korea and delay an intercontinental ballistic missile test from a West Coast base….
Kashmir police investigating whether murdered Briton was sexually assaulted
Dutch national arrested on suspicion of murder of Sarah Groves, 24, who was found dead on a houseboat on Saturday Sarah Groves, from Guernsey, was found with multiple stab wounds all over her body. Photograph: Handout/EPA Police in India are…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
Venezuelan candidate Maduro puts curse on rival voters
The acting president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has put a curse on citizens who do not vote for him in next week’s election. He likened his main rival candidate, Henrique Capriles, to Spanish conquerors fighting indigenous people in the 16th…
photo: AP / Ariana Cubillos
John Kerry in Turkey for talks on Israel and Syria
US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Turkey, where he will hold talks expected to address relations with Israel and the conflict in Syria. After helping broker a reconciliation between Turkey and Israel, Mr Kerry will urge them to…
photo: AP / Paul J. Richards
US delays missile test to avoid exacerbating North Korea tensions
Chuck Hagel reportedly decides to delay Minuteman 3 test because of concerns the launch could be misinterpreted The tail of an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Vandenberg air base in California in 2005. Photograph:…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
6 Americans, doctor killed in Afghan attacks
Militants killed six Americans and an Afghan doctor in a pair of attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday, the deadliest day for the United States in the war in eight months. The violence — hours after the U.S. military‘s top officer arrived for…
photo: AP / Saurabh Das
Nelson Mandela discharged from the hospital
0 From the Associated Press AP April 6, 2013, 9:36 a.m. Former President Nelson Mandela was discharged from a hospital on Saturday following treatment for pneumonia, the presidency said in news that cheered South Africans who had waited tensely for…
photo: AP / Themba Hadebe
WFP and Yemen sign food aid agreement, but funding remains low (Photos)
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced today it had signed two agreements with Yemen‘s government on feeding five million people in the impoverished country. Implementation of the agreement will depend on funding received from the international..
Obama apologizes to California’s Harris
President Obama apologized Friday to California Attorney General Kamala Harris for comments he made about her physical beauty at a Bay Area fundraiser the day before. At the gathering Thursday in Atherton, Obama introduced Harris, saying, “You have…
photo: AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Massive earthquake measuring 7.2 magnitude rocks Indonesia, no tsunami warning
Jayapura: A major 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the eastern Indonesian province of Papua on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, sending panicked crowds running into the streets. There were no immediate reports…
photo: AP / Dita Alangkara
Bangladesh Islamists march against bloggers
Islamist groups in Bangladesh are to hold a rally in the capital, Dhaka, calling for tough curbs on bloggers who insult Islam. Thousands of activists have staged a “long march” from around the country to take part in the rally. A…
photo: AP / A.M. Ahad
Nuclear Plant Leaking Contaminated Water In Japan
TOKYO, April 6 (Reuters) – As much as 120 tons of radioactive water may have leaked from a storage tank at Japan‘s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, contaminating the surrounding ground, Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday. The power company has…
photo: AP / Wally Santana
Guantanamo Bay Prison Should Close, UN Rights Chief Says
Posted: April 5, 2013 Guantanamo Bay prison camp should close, according to the UN rights chief on Friday. Navi Pillay stated that the hunger strike being stagey by some inmates that the naval base in southeastern Cuba was “scarcely…
photo: US Navy / MCS1 David P. Coleman
Syria needs negotiations to stop ‘massacre’: Putin
Tweet Moscow, April 6 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia is not looking to oust Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and wants the conflicting parties to negotiate and stop the “massacre”, putting an end to the “catastrophe” in Syria, Russian President Vladimir…
photo: AP / RIA-Novosti
At least 60 killed in southern Nigeria road accident
China culls poultry as bird flu death toll reaches six
China has begun a mass slaughter of poultry at a market in Shanghai, after a new bird flu virus was detected there. The H7N9 virus, a form of avian flu not before seen in humans, was discovered in pigeons…
photo: AP / Eugene Hoshiko
Syria becoming ‘centre of gravity’ for terrorists
Moscow: Syria is turning into a “centre of gravity” for international terrorists as the ongoing civil war between rebels and government forces continues, a top Russian…
photo: AP
Afghanistan eyes Taliban peace ahead of Nato withdrawal
There is exactly one year to go before Afghans are asked to go to the polls to elect a new president, and just months later Nato combat troops will finish their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Last weekend, Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Qatar to…
photo: Public Domain / Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin S. O’Brien, U.S. Navy
South African military to withdraw troops in CAR
Isotope seized in Georgia too small for dirty bomb 8 minutes ago Iran, 6 powers meet Thursday for nuclear talks 8 minutes ago South African military to withdraw troops in CAR 13 minutes ago Iran, 6 powers meet Thursday…
photo: UN / Stuart Price
North Korea Missile Moved To East Coast, South Korea Says
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has moved a missile with “considerable range” to its east coast, South Korea’s defense minister said Thursday, but he added that there are no signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a full-scale conflict. The report…
photo: AP / Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service
Fourth death from H7N9 avian flu reported in China
A fourth person has died of human H7N9 avian flu infection in China and another person is in hospital after contracting the virus, Chinese health officials announced on Thursday. These infections bring the death toll to four and the total number of…
photo: AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
UN: Northern Mali remains volatile
New York – The United Nations on Wednesday expressed concern over reprisal attacks against ethnic Tuaregs and Arabs in Mali, where a French-led intervention recently routed Islamist rebels. The United States, meanwhile, called for a rapid transition…
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