Turkey fraud probe: Tip of the iceberg?
27 Dec 2013
A wide-ranging corruption scandal has engulfed the highest levels of the Turkish government. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reshuffled his cabinet, and replaced 10 ministers, after the three who were implicated in the scandal resigned.Erdogan had long ago announced that the cabinet was due for a reshuffle. But it has not stopped talk…
China icebreaker steams to rescue science ship trapped off Antarctica
A Chinese icebreaker was on Friday due to reach the frozen seas where a scientific mission ship is trapped off Antarctica, as those onboard welcomed the easing of blizzard conditions. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is co-ordinating…
photo: US Coastguard
Thirty-four children died in Muzaffarnagar relief camps
At least 34 children have died in relief camps set up for thousands of people who fled their homes during Hindu-Muslim clashes in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in September, an official report says. The…
photo: WN / Yeshe Choesang
Who can halt the crisis in South Sudan?
When South Sudan celebrated its independence from the Republic of the Sudan in2011 many analysts feared for the future. The conflict now raging in the world’s youngest state has serious regional and international implications. For the US, South…
photo: UN / Sylvain Liechti
Legacy debt deadline will be missed
A deadline for striking a deal on Ireland‘s legacy debt by mid-2014 will be missed, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has revealed. While he insisted the nation will continue to fight European finance chiefs for the restructuring of its bank debt, he said…
photo: European Community / EC
UN Responds to Ugandan Rebel Attack in Eastern DR Congo
Friday, 27 December 2013, 11:36 am Press Release: UN Peacekeepers Respond toUgandan Rebel Attack in Eastern DR Congo New York, Dec 26 2013 – United Nations peacekeepers in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) yesterday helped the national…
photo: UN / Sylvain Liechti
UN mission in DR Congo launches attack against rebels
Tweet Kinshasa, Dec 27 (IANS) The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) Thursday confirmed attacks on rebels who reportedly killed at least 42 civilians in the eastern province of North Kivu. In a statement, the UN…
photo: UN / Sylvain Liechti
African leaders ‘hopeful’ of South Sudan peace deal
Delegations from Ethiopia and Kenya call first meeting promising, but humanitarian crisis continues to worsen Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta (second right) and Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Dessalegn (right) meeting South Sudanesedetainees in Juba…
photo: UN / Rolla hinedi
December 26th
MCDONALD’S IN FAST FOOD FLAP
LET THE CRACKDOWN CONTINUE
Egypt’s Government Declares Muslim Brotherhood A Terrorist Organization
Japan’s Abe visits controversial Yasukuni war shrine
26 Dec 2013
Nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe went to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni war shrine on Thursday morning, in a move certain to roil troubled relations withJapan’s Asian neighbours. The visit came exactly one year after he took power and is expected to further inflame already-tense relations with China and South Korea, both of which are…
UN troops fire on Uganda rebels in DRC
A special United Nations (UN) force in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) used helicopters on Wednesday to fire on Ugandan rebels and help government troops retake the town of Kamango after an attack that killed civilians. “South…
photo: UN / Sylvain Liechti
Private data storage for NSA draws diverse critics
WASHINGTON — A measure that President Barack Obama is considering as a way to curb the National Security Agency’s mass storage of phone data is already facing resistance — not only from the intelligence community but also from privacy advocates, the…
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
Pope Francis prays world will see better days
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis offered Christmas wishes yesterday for a better world, praying for protection for Christians under attack, battered women and trafficked children, peace in the Middle East and Africa, and dignity for refugees fleeing…
photo: AP / Andrew Medichini
Sudanese family enjoys holiday season together
BALLWIN, Mo. — For years, Munawar Kabashi of suburban St. Louis assumed his oldest child, Mona, was dead. Likewise, she thought her family had been killed. More News Read more News The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that they are reunited,…
photo: UN / Albert González Farran
Holocaust survivors reunite with the woman who cared for them after the war
She was born Martha. But in the years after World War II, at an ivy-covered manse in the English town of Lingfield, the children under her care called her “Manna.”Perhaps the little ones found “Martha” too difficult to…
photo: UN / Evan Schneider
Google strikes back at Apple and Microsoft’s anti-Android patent consortium
It hasn’t taken long for Google to strike back in the latest patent world war. GigaOM reports that Google this week has filed a lawsuit against Rockstar, a consortium backed by Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry that has filed lawsuits against Google,…
photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba
Clinton Foundation spends $226M for 2012 projects
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former President Bill Clinton‘s foundation spent $226 million in 2012 on programs that range from providing medicine to AIDS patients in Africato curbing childhood obesity in the U.S., according to financial information…
photo: UN / Albert González Farran
Crowds throng Bethlehem for Christmas
25 Dec 2013
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world packed the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations on Tuesday, bringing warm holiday cheer to the biblical birthplace of Jesus on a cool, clear night. The heavy turnout, its highest in years, helped lift spirits in Bethlehem as leaders expressed
photo: AP / Majdi Mohammed
Israel launches Gaza airstrikes for worker killing
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli air and ground forces launched a series of attacks Tuesday on targets across the Gaza Strip, killing a young girl and wounding 10 in response to the deadly shooting of an Israeli civilian by a Palestinian sniper. It…
photo: WN / Ahmed
Judge rules against BP on oil spill
A US judge tonight rejected BP’s argument that a multibillion-dollar settlement over the company’s massive 2010 Gulf oil spill should not compensate businesses if they cannot directly trace their losses to the spill. District Judge Carl Barbiersaid…
photo: US Coastguard / Petty Officer
Brazil leader overflies flood-hit region
Brasília, December 24: Brazil President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday flew over the flood-hit southeastern state of Espirito Santo, where at least eight people have died in days of torrential rain. Rousseff said two helicopters and army trucks would be…
photo: AP / Roberto Stuckert Brazil’s Presidency, ho
Apple, China Mobile sign iPhone deal
NEW YORK: Apple on Sunday unveiled a long-anticipated deal with China Mobile, the world’s biggest wireless carrier, to bring the iPhone to customers in a market dominated by low-cost Android smartphones. The deal gives Apple a bigger entry into the…
photo: AP / Kin Cheung
Snowden reflects six months later, says mission’s accomplished
24 Dec 2013
MOSCOW — Edward Joseph Snowden emerged at the appointed hour, alone, blending into a light crowd of locals and tourists. Late this spring, Snowden supplied three journalists, including this one, with caches of top-secret documents from the National Security Agency, where he worked as a contractor. Dozens of revelations followed, then…
70 killed Nigerian clashes: military
Tweet Lagos, Dec 24 (IANS) Over 70 people have been killed in clashes between the army and members of the Boko Haram militant group in the northeast, following last Friday pre-dawn attacks on a…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Air raids kill 300 in Syria
More than 300 people have been killed in a week of air raids on the northern Syriancity of Aleppo and nearby towns by President Bashar al-Assad‘s forces, a monitoring group says. Many of the casualties, who included scores of women and children,…
photo: AP / Shaam News Network, SNN
$40 Million in Aid Set for Bangladesh Garment Workers
Eight months after the Rana Plaza factory building collapsed in Bangladesh, killing more than 1,100 workers and leaving hundreds of families bereft and financially adrift, several prominent retailers and labor groups have joined with the Bangladesh…
photo: Creative Commons / Sharat Chowdhury
Britain pardons gay ‘father of computing’ Alan Turing
ALAN TURING, the British mathematician who helped to crack the Enigma code but who took his own life after a conviction for “homosexual activity”, has been given a posthumous pardon. The official British government announcement marks the successful…
photo: GFDL
Mikhail Kalashnikov, Inventor of AK-47 Rifle, Is Dead at 94
MOSCOW — Mikhail Kalashnikov, whose work as a weapons designer for the Soviet Union is immortalized in the name of the world’s most popular firearm, died Monday at the age of 94. Enlarge This Image Dima Korotayev/Agence France-Presse— Getty Images…
photo: AP / Vladimir Vyatkin
Pussy Riot Members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova And Maria Alyokhina, Freed From Jail In Russia Under Amnesty Deal
KRASNOYARSK, Russia, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Pussy Riot member NadezhdaTolokonnikova was freed from prison on Monday under an amnesty that allowed for her early release from a two-year sentence for a protest in a church againstPresident Vladimir Putin….
photo: AP / Tatyana Vishnevskaya
Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina released from jail in Russia
Maria Alyokhina, a member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, walked free from jail on Monday under an amnesty allowing her early release from a two-year sentence for a protest in a church against President Vladimir Putin….
photo: GFDL
Pakistani army launches offensive near Afghan border
23 Dec 2013
Residents of Pakistan‘s ethnic Pashtun region of North Waziristan accused government troops on Monday of killing dozens of civilians during a military operation against Taliban insurgents. The operation started just after a Dec. 18 suicide bomb attack on a checkpoint in North Waziristan, a stronghold for al Qaeda-linked Taliban militants on…
Pussy Riot Members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova And Maria Alyokhina, Freed From Jail In Russia Under Amnesty Deal
KRASNOYARSK, Russia, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Pussy Riot member NadezhdaTolokonnikova was freed from prison on Monday under an amnesty that allowed for her early release from a two-year sentence for a protest in a church againstPresident Vladimir Putin….
photo: AP / Tatyana Vishnevsk
Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina released from jail in Russia
Maria Alyokhina, a member of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, walked free from jail on Monday under an amnesty allowing her early release from a two-year sentence for a protest in a church against President Vladimir Putin….
photo: GFDL
Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP set to form Delhi government
A new anti-corruption party in India is set to form the government in the capital,Delhi, after a surprisingly strong showing in recent state polls. The Aam AadmiParty (AAP), or Common Man‘s party, won 28 of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly…
photo: AP / Tsering Topgyal
NATO starts own talks with Afghanistan on post-2014 mission pact
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO and Afghan officials started work on Saturday on drawing up a framework for the alliance to stay on after 2014 despite the fact that a separate pact with the United States, which contributes the bulk of the forces, has still…
photo: USMC / James Mast
UN mission in South Sudan mourns fallen peacekeepers
Print 21 December 2013 – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) held a memorial ceremony in Juba today for two Indian battalion peacekeepers who died in the 19 December in a brazen attack on its base in the town of Akobo in restive…
photo: UN / Martine Perret
Service Learning to Develop Leaders Against Hunger
With Congress planning further cuts to food stamps, hunger in America is likely to escalate. Overseas, wars and disasters in Syria, the Philippines, Central African Republic and elsewhere are creating massive hunger emergencies. Rebuilding these…
photo: US Navy / Beverly Lesonik
Musharraf tells TV he did his best for Pakistanis
Comment () Tweet ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has spoken out for the first time since his house arrest earlier this year, defending his actions while in power and telling a local TV station he did his best…
photo: AP / B.K. Bangash
Cuba’s Raul Castro calls for better US relations
22 Dec 2013
22 December 2013 Last updated at 03:39 GMT Cuban President Raul Castro has called for “civilised relations” with the United States, saying the two countries should respect their differences. President Castro said the US should drop its demand for regime change on the communist-run island, which he believes would allow both sides to continue work on…
photo: AP / Ismael Francisco/Prensa Latina
Thai army chief warns of ‘civil war’ unless crisis ends
Full ArticleBBC News
21 Dec 2013
The head of the Thai army has warned the current political crisis in the country could “trigger a civil war”. General Prayuth Chan-ocha has proposed a “people’s assembly”, made up of civilians from all sides, not the leaders, to heal the divisions. Thailand is facing its most serious political turmoil since 2010. Prime…
Target cyber breach hits 40m payment cards at holiday peak
Full ArticleKhaleej Times
20 Dec 2013
Target did not detect the attack on its own, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Shoppers leave a Target store in North Olmsted, Ohio on December 19, 2013.AP Target Corp said hackers have stolen data from up to 40 million credit and debit cards of shoppers who visited its stores during the first three weeks of the holiday season…
photo: AP / Mark Lennihan
Musharraf tells TV he did his best for Pakistanis
Comment () Tweet ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has spoken out for the first time since his house arrest earlier this year, defending his actions while in power and telling a local TV station he did his best…
photo: AP / B.K. Bangash
‘Conspiracy’ behind US arrest of Indian envoy
India has alleged that the recent arrest of one of its top diplomats in the US was part of a conspiracy, a charge that has gained momentum with the emergence of new facts surrounding the incident threatening bilateral ties between the two global…
photo: AP / /Saurabh Das
Thai protesters march in bid to oust PM, but turnout low
BANGKOK: Anti-government protesters marched in Bangkok on Thursday in a bid to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office but their numbers appeared far smaller than earlier in the month, when she called a snap election to try to defuse the…
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
CAR death toll much higher than thought, says Amnesty
Former rebels in the Central African Republic killed almost 1,000 people in a two-day rampage this month, double an earlier UN estimate, Amnesty Internationalhas said. The group says war crimes are being committed in CAR. In a separate report, Human…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Europe’s Gaia mission ready for galactic survey
The European Space Agency is sending the $1.2 billion Gaia mission to space Thursday to catalog a billion stars, promising to be a prolific discoverer of planets, asteroids and supernovas for generations of astronomers. Artist’s concept of theGaia…
photo: AP / ESA–D. Ducros, 2013
European Space Agency Gaia Mission Photos Space Wikipedia: Gaia (spacecraft)
December 18, 2013 — Updated 1136 GMT (1936 HKT) FILE: Ronnie Biggs holds up a poster of himself during the promotion of his book on January 21, 1994 in Rio de Janeiro. London (CNN) — So-called “Great Train Robber” Ronnie Biggs — one of the most…
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth
Afghanistan: Mission accomplished is a ‘dangerous’ phrase
16 December 2013 Last updated at 18:17 GMT UK troops can come home fromAfghanistan knowing it was mission accomplished, Prime Minister David Cameronhas said. He met forces stationed at Camp Bastion in Helmand, a year before the last British combat…
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
Mikhail Khodorkovsky To Be Pardoned By Vladimir Putin
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV 12/19/13
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he will pardon jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a surprise decision that will let his top foe and Russia’s formerly richest man out of prison after more than a decade. The move, along with an amnesty for the two jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band and the 30-member crew of a Greenpeace ship, appears designed to assuage international criticism of Russia’s rights record ahead of February’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Putin’s pet project. Putin waited until just after his tightly choreographed annual news conference to make the announcement, dropping the biggest news of the day after journalists had already peppered him with questions, including one about Khodorkovsky’s fate, in a four-hour marathon. Putin said that Khodorkovsky, who is set to be released in August 2014, had submitted an appeal for pardon, something he had refused to do before. “He has spent more than 10 years behind bars. It’s a tough punishment,” Putin said. “He’s citing humanitarian aspects — his mother is ill. A decree to pardon him will be signed in the nearest time.” In October 2003, masked commandos stormed into his jet on the tarmac of a Siberian airport and arrested him at gunpoint. He was found guilty of tax evasion in 2005 and convicted of embezzlement in a second case in 2010. Critics have dismissed the charges against Khodorkovsky as a Kremlin vendetta for challenging Putin’s power.
Turkey PM brands graft probe ‘ugly’ anti-government plot
Full ArticleThe Times of India
19 Dec 2013
ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged on Wednesday that the detention of dozens of people in a high-profile graft probe was an “ugly” operation against his government. Several dozen police chiefs have been sacked in the wake of the dawn raids on Tuesday which led to the detention of 51 people including the sons of three…
‘Conspiracy’ behind US arrest of Indian envoy
India has alleged that the recent arrest of one of its top diplomats in the US was part of a conspiracy, a charge that has gained momentum with the emergence of new facts surrounding the incident threatening bilateral ties between the two global…
photo: AP / /Saurabh Das
Thai protesters march in bid to oust PM, but turnout low
BANGKOK: Anti-government protesters marched in Bangkok on Thursday in a bid to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office but their numbers appeared far smaller than earlier in the month, when she called a snap election to try to defuse the…
photo: UN / Rick Bajornas
CAR death toll much higher than thought, says Amnesty
Former rebels in the Central African Republic killed almost 1,000 people in a two-day rampage this month, double an earlier UN estimate, Amnesty Internationalhas said. The group says war crimes are being committed in CAR. In a separate report, Human…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Europe’s Gaia mission ready for galactic survey
The European Space Agency is sending the $1.2 billion Gaia mission to space Thursday to catalog a billion stars, promising to be a prolific discoverer of planets, asteroids and supernovas for generations of astronomers. Artist’s concept of theGaia…
photo: AP / ESA–D. Ducros, 2013
‘Great Train Robber’ Ronnie Biggs dies, aged 84
December 18, 2013 — Updated 1136 GMT (1936 HKT) FILE: Ronnie Biggs holds up a poster of himself during the promotion of his book on January 21, 1994 in Rio de Janeiro. London (CNN) — So-called “Great Train Robber” Ronnie Biggs — one of the most…
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth
Afghanistan: Mission accomplished is a ‘dangerous’ phrase
16 December 2013 Last updated at 18:17 GMT UK troops can come home fromAfghanistan knowing it was mission accomplished, Prime Minister David Cameronhas said. He met forces stationed at Camp Bastion in Helmand, a year before the last British combat…
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
UN rolls out aid in Yolanda-hit provinces
MORE than a month after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) pummeled the Philippines, the aid coming from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations(UN) is finally arriving in Iloilo province. FAO, in coordination with the Departmentof…
photo: USMC / Codey Underwood
NSA Task Force Calls Out White House Over Press Freedom
The Huffington Post | By Jack MirkinsonPosted: 12/18/2013
Buried deep in the report on NSA spying by President Obama’s advisory board is a paragraph that implicitly rebukes some of the unprecedented interventions by the White House into journalism this year. Media reform advocate Josh Stearns found this nugget on page 127 of the report: 
It’s easy to imagine who the panel is referring to. The Justice Department has admitted to spying on members of the press and their sources, and the White House’s tactics and attitude towards the press have led to what many say is a major chilling effect. Elsewhere, the group also stressed that it saw the preservation of the “rights and the security” of journalists as a “particular concern.”
It’s easy to imagine who the panel is referring to. The Justice Department has admitted to spying on members of the press and their sources, and the White House’s tactics and attitude towards the press have led to what many say is a major chilling effect. Elsewhere, the group also stressed that it saw the preservation of the “rights and the security” of journalists as a “particular concern.”Britain’s MI6 linked to Libya torture scandal
18 Dec 2013
False intelligence extracted by torture in Tripoli‘s notorious Abu Salim prison has been linked to arrests of Libyan dissidents in the United Kingdom, an investigation by Al Jazeera’s People and Power has revealed. In this exclusive report, Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, the leader of the anti-Gaddafi resistance group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group…
Great Train Robber’ Ronnie Biggs dies, aged 84
December 18, 2013 — Updated 1136 GMT (1936 HKT) FILE: Ronnie Biggs holds up a poster of himself during the promotion of his book on January 21, 1994 in Rio de Janeiro. London (CNN) — So-called “Great Train Robber” Ronnie Biggs — one of the most…
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth
Afghanistan: Mission accomplished is a ‘dangerous’ phrase
16 December 2013 Last updated at 18:17 GMT UK troops can come home fromAfghanistan knowing it was mission accomplished, Prime Minister David Cameronhas said. He met forces stationed at Camp Bastion in Helmand, a year before the last British combat…
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
UN rolls out aid in Yolanda-hit provinces
MORE than a month after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) pummeled the Philippines, the aid coming from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations(UN) is finally arriving in Iloilo province. FAO, in coordination with the Departmentof…
photo: USMC / Codey Underwood
How Bin Laden Escaped in 2001—The lessons of Tora Bora
By Yaniv BarzilaiDecember 15th 20136:45 am More Stories by Yaniv Barzilai In 2001, a small U.S. special operations force had won extraordinary victories in Afghanistanand closed in on Bin Laden before high-level blunders allowed him to escape into…
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
Pinoy architect suggests Lego-type homes
WHILE President Benigno Aquino III already made pronouncement that thePhilippines needed at least $3 billion (P132 billion) to rehabilitate the areas devastated by killer Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), an Filipino architect suggested a faster, more…
photo: US Navy / Brian H. Abel
National Guard in last major Afghan tour
They’ve taught Afghan troops all they could about policing and fighting insurgents, hooked up Internet at headquarters so they don’t have to hand-carry reports across country anymore, and shipped thousands of containers of military equipment home….
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
CAR Insecurity Worsens Humanitarian Crisis
Anne Look DAKAR — The communal clashes that broke out in the Central African Republic just over a week ago have killed more than 600 people and displaced approximately 100,000 in a matter of days. Aid agencies say French and Africantroops there need…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
What kind of Afghanistan will foreign forces leave?
17 Dec 2013
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said that British troops will return fromAfghanistan having accomplished the main aim of their mission – to achieve a basic level of security. But how secure is Afghanistan, and what shape is the country in?BBC World Service reporter Dawood Azami takes at look at the challenges Afghanistan faces today. Security…
Afghanistan: Mission accomplished is a ‘dangerous’ phrase
16 December 2013 Last updated at 18:17 GMT UK troops can come home fromAfghanistan knowing it was mission accomplished, Prime Minister David Cameronhas said. He met forces stationed at Camp Bastion in Helmand, a year before the last British combat…
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
UN rolls out aid in Yolanda-hit provinces
MORE than a month after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) pummeled the Philippines, the aid coming from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations(UN) is finally arriving in Iloilo province. FAO, in coordination with the Departmentof…
photo: USMC / Codey Underwood
How Bin Laden Escaped in 2001—The lessons of Tora Bora
By Yaniv BarzilaiDecember 15th 20136:45 am More Stories by Yaniv Barzilai In 2001, a small U.S. special operations force had won extraordinary victories in Afghanistanand closed in on Bin Laden before high-level blunders allowed him to escape into…
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
Pinoy architect suggests Lego-type homes
WHILE President Benigno Aquino III already made pronouncement that thePhilippines needed at least $3 billion (P132 billion) to rehabilitate the areas devastated by killer Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), an Filipino architect suggested a faster, more…
photo: US Navy / Brian H. Abel
National Guard in last major Afghan tour
They’ve taught Afghan troops all they could about policing and fighting insurgents, hooked up Internet at headquarters so they don’t have to hand-carry reports across country anymore, and shipped thousands of containers of military equipment home….
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
CAR Insecurity Worsens Humanitarian Crisis
Anne Look DAKAR — The communal clashes that broke out in the Central African Republic just over a week ago have killed more than 600 people and displaced approximately 100,000 in a matter of days. Aid agencies say French and Africantroops there need…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
‘Yolanda’ victims still need help — UN
HUMANITARIAN and early recovery needs remain great in typhoon-hit Philippines, a senior United Nations official said following a joint international mission to the areas of Guiuan, Ormoc and Tacloban. “We saw the enormity of the destruction that…
photo: US Navy / Jacob I. Allison
China Pulled Off the First Soft Moon Landing in Almost 40 Years
Israel shoots two Lebanese soldiers
16 Dec 2013
Israeli troops have shot two Lebanese soldiers, hours after a Lebanese army sniper killed an Israeli soldier. The shooting took place just after midnight last night afterIsraeli forces identified “suspicious movement” along the border and shot two members of Lebanon‘s armed forces. The shooting occurred near where a Lebanese army sniper killed an…
How Bin Laden Escaped in 2001—The lessons of Tora Bora
By Yaniv BarzilaiDecember 15th 20136:45 am More Stories by Yaniv Barzilai In 2001, a small U.S. special operations force had won extraordinary victories in Afghanistanand closed in on Bin Laden before high-level blunders allowed him to escape into…
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
Pinoy architect suggests Lego-type homes
WHILE President Benigno Aquino III already made pronouncement that thePhilippines needed at least $3 billion (P132 billion) to rehabilitate the areas devastated by killer Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), an Filipino architect suggested a faster, more…
photo: US Navy / Brian H. Abel
National Guard in last major Afghan tour
They’ve taught Afghan troops all they could about policing and fighting insurgents, hooked up Internet at headquarters so they don’t have to hand-carry reports across country anymore, and shipped thousands of containers of military equipment home….
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
CAR Insecurity Worsens Humanitarian Crisis
Anne Look DAKAR — The communal clashes that broke out in the Central African Republic just over a week ago have killed more than 600 people and displaced approximately 100,000 in a matter of days. Aid agencies say French and Africantroops there need…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
Dakar Humanitarian Insecurity Photos Wikipedia: Central African Republic
HUMANITARIAN and early recovery needs remain great in typhoon-hit Philippines, a senior United Nations official said following a joint international mission to the areas of Guiuan, Ormoc and Tacloban. “We saw the enormity of the destruction that…
photo: US Navy / Jacob I. Allison
UN peacekeepers find arsenal of weapons left by Congo M23 rebels
UN peacekeepers found an arsenal of weapons, including heavy caliber arms and enough ammunition to last a year, at the site of the last stand by M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said on Friday….
photo: UN / UN
Central African Republic: thousands seek refuge with French troops
Along the airfield in the capital of the Central African Republic, a makeshift camp for the thousands fleeing brutal violence now sprawls. Men armed with machetes and whips made of rubber and string stand guard next to an open space that has turned…
photo: UN / Martine Perret
With a hole in its heart, South Africa buries Mandela
Full ArticleChina Daily
15 Dec 2013
With a hole in its heart, South Africa buries Mandela Updated: 2013-12-15 15:28 (Agencies) QUNU, South Africa – South Africa held a state funeral for Nelson Mandela on Sunday, closing one chapter in its tortured history and opening another in which the multi-racial democracy he founded will have to discover if it can thrive without its central…
Pinoy architect suggests Lego-type homes
WHILE President Benigno Aquino III already made pronouncement that thePhilippines needed at least $3 billion (P132 billion) to rehabilitate the areas devastated by killer Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), an Filipino architect suggested a faster, more…
photo: US Navy / Brian H. Abel
National Guard in last major Afghan tour
They’ve taught Afghan troops all they could about policing and fighting insurgents, hooked up Internet at headquarters so they don’t have to hand-carry reports across country anymore, and shipped thousands of containers of military equipment home….
photo: USMC / Zachery B. Martin
CAR Insecurity Worsens Humanitarian Crisis
Anne Look DAKAR — The communal clashes that broke out in the Central African Republic just over a week ago have killed more than 600 people and displaced approximately 100,000 in a matter of days. Aid agencies say French and Africantroops there need…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
‘Yolanda’ victims still need help — UN
HUMANITARIAN and early recovery needs remain great in typhoon-hit Philippines, a senior United Nations official said following a joint international mission to the areas of Guiuan, Ormoc and Tacloban. “We saw the enormity of the destruction that…
photo: US Navy / Jacob
UN peacekeepers find arsenal of weapons left by Congo M23 rebels
UN peacekeepers found an arsenal of weapons, including heavy caliber arms and enough ammunition to last a year, at the site of the last stand by M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said
Central African Republic: thousands seek refuge with French troops
Along the airfield in the capital of the Central African Republic, a makeshift camp for the thousands fleeing brutal violence now sprawls. Men armed with machetes and whips made of rubber and string stand guard next to an open space that has turned…
Beyonce is full of surprises
The surprise release of her new album blends the intimate with the extravagant in a mixture of contradictions that pushes the creative envelope.
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Entertainment) |
UN chief says ‘world watching’ CAR atrocities
14 Dec 2013
The United Nations has warned groups carrying out atrocities in the Central African Republic that the world is watching and will hold them to account, after the killings of hundreds of people, mainly civilians. The warning from UN Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon on Friday came a day after a militia killed 27 Muslims in a village outside the capital,…
Australian court strikes down gay marriage
Australia’s highest court has struck down a landmark law that allowed the country’s first gay marriages. Dozens have wed in the nation’s capital, but those marriages will be annulled in light of Thursday’s ruling, which found that the country’s…
photo: AP / Rob Griffith, File
ESA’s satellite shows Antarctica’s ice loss on the rise
Tweet Washington, Dec. 11 (ANI): Three years of observations by ESA‘s CryoSat satellite show that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing over 150 cubic kilometres of ice each year- considerably more than when last surveyed. Dr. Malcolm McMillan from…
photo: Public Domain / Felipe Menegaz
Pussy Riot Almost Free, Maybe, Thanks to Suddenly Sensitive Putin
International punk icons Pussy Riot could be released from prison early under a new amnesty bill — proposed by Vladimir Putin — to celebrate the anniversary ofRussia‘s 1993 constitution. See? Not totalitarian-ish at all! The new rule…
photo: AP / Misha Japaridze
Afghan president lashes out at US ‘threats’
PARIS: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai lashed out at the United States, accusing it of making threats in the dispute over an agreement to keep US troops in the country beyond 2014. In an interview published today by the French daily Le Monde,…
photo: AP / Anja Niedringha
Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair worth over $123 million
Tony Blair is the $123 million man. The former British prime minister has racked up a staggering fortune since leaving office in 2007, it’s emerged. He’s now so wealthy, in fact, that he’s set to be included on the prestigious annual Sunday…
photo: UN / UN
Thailand’s Embattled Prime Minister Insists She Will Stay
Steve Herman BANGKOK — Thailand’s government is again rebuffing demands from protest leaders that it be dissolved to make way for an appointed council to lead the country. A day after she moved to dissolve the parliament and call for elections,…
photo: AP / Apichart Weerawong
Thai PM insists she will not resign before polls
BANGKOK (AP) — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Tuesday she would not resign ahead of national elections set for Feb. 2, despite opposition demands she step down as the caretaker head of government. Yingluck spoke one day after she announced…
photo: AP / Manish Swarup
December 13
ONE KNOCK. TWO MEN. ONE BULLET.
SAY UNCLE Jang Song Thaek’s Execution May Just Be The Beginning Of A Bigger Purge
Breaking News
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North Korea says leader’s uncle was executed
(CNN) — An uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been executed for trying to overthrow the government, the Korean Central News Agency reported early Friday.
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US and UK suspend non-lethal aid for Syria rebels
12 Dec 2013
The US and UK have suspended all “non-lethal” support for rebels in northernSyria, but not humanitarian aid. A US embassy spokesman in Ankara said the decision was made after Islamist rebels seized bases belonging to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). Fighters from the Islamic Front, a new alliance of rebel groups, ousted…
Australian court strikes down gay marriage
Australia’s highest court has struck down a landmark law that allowed the country’s first gay marriages. Dozens have wed in the nation’s capital, but those marriages will be annulled in light of Thursday’s ruling, which found that the country’s…
photo: AP / Rob Griffith, File
ESA’s satellite shows Antarctica’s ice loss on the rise
Tweet Washington, Dec. 11 (ANI): Three years of observations by ESA‘s CryoSat satellite show that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing over 150 cubic kilometres of ice each year- considerably more than when last surveyed. Dr. Malcolm McMillan from…
photo: Public Domain / Felipe Menegaz
Pussy Riot Almost Free, Maybe, Thanks to Suddenly Sensitive Putin
International punk icons Pussy Riot could be released from prison early under a new amnesty bill — proposed by Vladimir Putin — to celebrate the anniversary ofRussia‘s 1993 constitution. See? Not totalitarian-ish at all! The new rule…
photo: AP / Misha Japaridze
Afghan president lashes out at US ‘threats’
PARIS: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai lashed out at the United States, accusing it of making threats in the dispute over an agreement to keep US troops in the country beyond 2014. In an interview published today by the French daily Le Monde,…
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair worth over $123 million
Tony Blair is the $123 million man. The former British prime minister has racked up a staggering fortune since leaving office in 2007, it’s emerged. He’s now so wealthy, in fact, that he’s set to be included on the prestigious annual Sunday…
photo: UN / U
Thailand’s Embattled Prime Minister Insists She Will Stay
Steve Herman BANGKOK — Thailand’s government is again rebuffing demands from protest leaders that it be dissolved to make way for an appointed council to lead the country. A day after she moved to dissolve the parliament and call for elections,…
photo: AP / Apichart Weerawong
Thai PM insists she will not resign before polls
BANGKOK (AP) — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Tuesday she would not resign ahead of national elections set for Feb. 2, despite opposition demands she step down as the caretaker head of government. Yingluck spoke one day after she announced…
photo: AP / Manish Swarup
The Handshake Seen Around the World
11 Dec 2013
Article by WN.com Corespondent Dallas Darling. Perhaps the United States is once again regaining its revolutionary spirit. But this time instead of a “shot heard around the world,” it will be known as the “handshake seen around the world.” And instead of George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, the hero will bePresident Barack Obama as…
ESA’s satellite shows Antarctica’s ice loss on the rise
Tweet Washington, Dec. 11 (ANI): Three years of observations by ESA‘s CryoSat satellite show that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing over 150 cubic kilometres of ice each year- considerably more than when last surveyed. Dr. Malcolm McMillan from…
photo: Public Domain / Felipe Menegaz
Pussy Riot Almost Free, Maybe, Thanks to Suddenly Sensitive Putin
International punk icons Pussy Riot could be released from prison early under a new amnesty bill — proposed by Vladimir Putin — to celebrate the anniversary ofRussia‘s 1993 constitution. See? Not totalitarian-ish at all! The new rule…
photo: AP / Misha Japaridze
Afghan president lashes out at US ‘threats’
PARIS: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai lashed out at the United States, accusing it of making threats in the dispute over an agreement to keep US troops in the country beyond 2014. In an interview published today by the French daily Le Monde,…
photo: AP / Anja Niedringhaus
Thailand’s Embattled Prime Minister Insists She Will Stay
Steve Herman BANGKOK — Thailand’s government is again rebuffing demands from protest leaders that it be dissolved to make way for an appointed council to lead the country. A day after she moved to dissolve the parliament and call for elections,…
photo: AP / Apichart Weerawong
Thai PM insists she will not resign before polls
BANGKOK (AP) — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Tuesday she would not resign ahead of national elections set for Feb. 2, despite opposition demands she step down as the caretaker head of government. Yingluck spoke one day after she announced…
photo: AP / Manish Swarup
Thai House dissolved, yet protests persist
Anti-government protesters pass a giant Thai national flag outside theGovernment House during a demonstration in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 9, 2013.Thailand‘s anti-government protesters on Monday demanded interim Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to…
photo: Creative Commons / ilf_
Historic agreement signed to lay pipeline linking Red Sea and Dead Sea
In a rare instance of Middle East co-operation, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have signed an agreement for laying a pipeline from the Red Sea, at the southern tip of Israel, to the Dead Sea. About 100 million cubic meters of water…
photo: AP
THE WORLD SAYS GOODBYE
GettyMemorial Draws Mourners And Leaders From Around The World… Obama: Mandela Was ‘Last Great Liberator Of The 20th Century’… Bush, Clinton, Hollande, Raul Castro In Attendance… Crowd Joyous..
French troops start disarming fighters in C. African Republic
10 Dec 2013
BANGUI (Central African Republic), Dec 9: French troops on Monday began disarming fighters in the Central African Republic to try to restore security after a swell in sectarian violence that claimed hundreds of lives. Bangui was relatively calm after days of fighting involving former Seleka rebels in which nearly 400 people were killed, although…
Thai PM insists she will not resign before polls
BANGKOK (AP) — Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Tuesday she would not resign ahead of national elections set for Feb. 2, despite opposition demands she step down as the caretaker head of government. Yingluck spoke one day after she announced…
photo: AP / Manish Swarup
Thai House dissolved, yet protests persist
Anti-government protesters pass a giant Thai national flag outside theGovernment House during a demonstration in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 9, 2013.Thailand‘s anti-government protesters on Monday demanded interim Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to…
photo: Creative Commons / ilf_
Historic agreement signed to lay pipeline linking Red Sea and Dead Sea
In a rare instance of Middle East co-operation, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have signed an agreement for laying a pipeline from the Red Sea, at the southern tip of Israel, to the Dead Sea. About 100 million cubic meters of water…
photo: AP
Two Spanish journalists held by Al-Qaeda group in Syria
MADRID: A radical group linked to Al-Qaeda kidnapped…
photo: AP / Narciso Contreras
Chinese hacked G20 computers
Boston: Chinese hackers eavesdropped on the computers of five European foreign ministries before last September’s G20 Summit, which was dominated by the…
photo: AP / RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Government Press Service
Mayor of Colombia’s capital ordered removed
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia’s inspector-general ordered Bogota‘s left-leaning mayor removed from office Monday for alleged unconstitutional behavior in a showdown last year with private garbage collectors. Mayor Gustavo Petro was disqualified…
photo: Creative Commons / Thelmadatter
British soldier slayed ‘for Allah’
A man accused of killing an off-duty British soldier in a frenzied knife attack on aLondon street has defended his actions in court, claiming he is a soldier fighting for the Muslim religion and declaring his love for al Qaeda. Michael Adebolajo,…
photo: AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
Aid agencies ‘paid Somalia’s al-Shabab’ during famine
09 Dec 2013
Humanitarian agencies paid Somalia‘s al-Shabab militants for access to areas under their control in the 2011 famine, according to a joint report by two think tanks. In many cases al-Shabab insisted on distributing the aid and kept much of… Wn.com/
India’s BJP set to form government in key states
India‘s main opposition BJP is set to form a government in three key states after winning an absolute majority in assembly elections. The Hindu nationalist party has won 162 assembly seats in the northern state of Rajasthan, leaving the ruling…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
Colombia‘s largest rebel group, the Farc, has announced a 30-day-long ceasefire starting on 15 December. The announcement came a day after five soldiers, one police officer and three civilians were killed by a Farc car bomb attack against a…
photo: AP / Christian Escobar Mora
Venezuela local elections test Maduro
People in Venezuela have begun voting in municipal elections seen as a crucial test for President Nicolas Maduro. Mr Maduro narrowly won a presidential election in April to replace Hugo Chavez who had died from cancer. Since November, Mr Maduro has…
photo: AP / Ariana Cubillos
One Month Later, Typhoon’s Impact on Philippines
Simone Orendain MANILA — One month ago, a powerful super typhoon slammed the central Philippines, knocking out power and communications, and kicking up piles of debris that cut people off from aid for days. Humanitarian officials say these days,…
photo: US Navy / Beverly Lesonik
Related articles Iraq seeks US arms as bombs kill another 55 BAGHDAD — Car bombs killed at least 30 people across Iraq on Sunday and wounded nearly a hundred, with attackers mainly targeting busy commercial streets in the capital, police sources…
photo: AP / Hadi Mizban
UN Inspectors Visit Iranian Nuclear Plant
VOA News Iranian media have reported inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog visited an Iranian heavy water production facility for the first time in two years. The…
photo: AP / ISNA, Arash Khamoushi
Thousands Gather for Protest Against Ukraine Government
VOA News Thousands of Ukrainians are flocking to the center of the capital city ofKyiv for what opposition leaders expect to be the largest anti-government demonstration since mass protests started three weeks ago. Organizers…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Egypt courts release 21 pro-Morsi female protesters
08 Dec 2013
CAIRO: Egyptian appeals courts ordered the release Saturday of 21 women and girls jailed over an Islamist opposition protest, after reducing harsh sentences that had sparked outrage. To chants of “God is greatest” from supporters in anAlexandria courtroom, the 14 women, initially jailed for 11 years, were ordered freed after receiving one-year…
Official: Deadly clashes in northern Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya — A Kenyan official says several people have been killed and injured in fighting between rival ethnic groups in the country’s north. Marsabitcounty governor Ukur Yatani said there were “many casualties” but…
photo: AP / Photo
Deal to boost global trade reached at WTO summit
The Associated Press BALI (AP)—A deal to boost global trade has been approved by the World Trade Organization’s 159 member economies for the first time in nearly two decades, keeping alive the possibility that a broader agreement to create a level…
photo: Flickr / PR / Roberto Stuckert Filho
Hagel Arrives In Afghanistan, Has No Plans To Meet With Karzai
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel landed in Afghanistan Saturday for a surprise visit with the troops. Despite the fact that the U.S. and Afghanistan are at odds over a security agreement that allows U.S. troops to remain in the country past 2014,…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Dubai’s Camel Races Embrace Robot Jockeys
By Adam Rasmi
December 7th 2013
Just when you thought the most competitive sport in Dubai couldn’t get any more exciting, the owners of purebred racing camels have gone and invented remote-control jockeys to whip their dromedaries to victory.
Pope to launch plan to end world hunger
07 Dec 2013
Catholic Relief Services announced that Pope Francis would be leading a major initiative to end world hunger. A global wave of prayer will start at noon on Tuesday, December 10th on the Pacific island of Samoa. The prayer will move through each time zone for the next 24 hours. The public is asked to become a voice for the hungry. There are 842…
Biden visits DMZ as NKorea releases US tourist
OBSERVATION POST OUELLETTE, South Korea (AP) ? U.S. Vice President Joe Bidenstepped foot into the no-man’s land between North and South Korea on Saturday, peering out at the furtive nation hours after it released an American tourist the regime had…
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man, Pool
North Korea deports US tourist and Korean War veteran
North Korea said he had been released on humanitarian grounds and because he had admitted to his wrongdoing and apologised. US tourist Merrill Newman arrives at Beijing airport on December 7, 2013 after being released by North Korea. AP North Korea…
photo: AP Photo/Stephen Shaver, Pool
There are fresh reports of violence in the Central African Republic, as the death toll from two days of fighting has risen to nearly 300 people. Joanna Mariner works forAmnesty International in the CAR capital, Bangui. She tells VOA that gunmen…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Alien planet 11 times bigger than Jupiter found in bizarre, massive orbit
By Denise ChowPublished December 06, 2013Space.com An artist’s conception of a young planet in a distant orbit around its host star. The star still harbors a debris disk, remnant material from star and planet formation, interior to the planet’s…
photo: Creative Commons / ESO/L. Calçada
Jordan takes UN seat rejected by Saudi Arabia
The UN General Assembly has elected Jordan to the Security Council to replaceSaudi Arabia, which had rejected the seat in an unprecedented act to protest the council’s failure to end the Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. Arab countrieschose…
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Obama Traveling To South Africa For Mandela Memorial
(Adds more Carney comments) WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will travel to South Africa next week to participate in memorial events forNelson Mandela, the former South African president who died on Thursday.Obama‘s exact…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
Ukraine’s Yanukovich meets Putin
KIEV – Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich met Russia‘s Vladimir Putin on Friday to lay the grounds for a new “strategic partnership” to shore up Ukraine‘s creaking economy in defiance of protesters back home enraged by his U-turn away…
photo: AP / RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky
Two, Even Three, Always Makes for a Better Peace
Full ArticleWorldNews.com
06 Dec 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling While Nelson Mandela became the foundation and architect for a free and peaceful democratic South Africa,Frederik de Klerk was the catalyst. They are living witnesses that two, not one, makes for a better peace and democratic system. And when the United States Congress decided to implement economic…
THE WORLD GRIEVES
Storm causes havoc in Europe and deaths in UK
06 Dec 2013
Hurricane-force winds cut transport and power in northern Britain and blasted towards mainland Europe as meteorologists warned Storm Xaver could be the worst to hit the continent in years. British authorities warned of “the most serious coastal tidal surge for over 60 years in…
Deadly Violence Erupts in CAR Capital
Heavy fighting is reported in the capital of the Central African Republic, as the U.N.prepares to authorize deployment of more troops to the troubled country. The initial accounts from Bangui said at least several people were killed Thursday in…
photo: AP / Ben Curtis
Thai King Urges People to Do Their Duty, Declines Comment on Crisis
By Reuters on 5:43 pm December 5, 2013. Category International, World Tags:Bangkok, Thailand protests Bangkok. Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej called on his people to do their duty for the good of the country in a birthday address on Thursday, but…
photo: AP / Bureau of the Royal Household
15 killed in Yemen ministry bombing
At least two people have been killed in a bombing at the defence ministry headquarters in Yemen, officials said. Another 20 were wounded when the suicide car bomb was detonated at the complex in the centre of the capital, Sanaa. The blast blew out…
photo: AP / Hani Mohammed
Apple and China Mobile to Strike iPhone Deal, Report Says
After years of wrangling over various issues, China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless carrier with 740 million subscribers, has finally struck a deal with Apple to offer the iPhone on its network in China, according to a report in the Wall Street…
photo: AP / Eric Risberg
Obama says he’s not allowed iPhone for ‘security reasons’
WASHINGTON Dec 4 (Reuters) – The troubled mobile phone maker BlackBerry still has at least one very loyal customer: U.S. President Barack Obama. At a meeting with youth on Wednesday to…
photo: AP / Jae C. Hong
Dementia epidemic looms with 135 million sufferers seen by 2050
LONDON (Reuters) – Many governments are woefully unprepared for an epidemic of dementia currently affecting 44 million people worldwide and set to more than treble to 135 million people by 2050, health experts and campaigners said on Thursday. Fresh…
photo: AP / Mike Derer
911 calls about Newtown school shooting released
DANBURY, Conn. – “Sandy Hook School, I think there is someone shooting in here, Sandy Hook School.” The female caller’s voice is shaking, the call lasts just 24 seconds and there are few details she can provide. Within moments the Newtown, Conn.,…
photo: AP / Jessica Hill
Swiss scientists stand by Arafat findings
05 Dec 2013
The Swiss researchers who concluded that former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was poisoned are standing by their findings. On Tuesday, a French research team ruled that high levels of Polonium found in Arafat’s body came from the element Radon in the environment. But the Swiss team said on Thursday their radiation…
Apple and China Mobile to Strike iPhone Deal, Report Says
After years of wrangling over various issues, China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless carrier with 740 million subscribers, has finally struck a deal with Apple to offer the iPhone on its network in China, according to a report in the Wall Street…
photo: AP / Eric Risberg
Obama says he’s not allowed iPhone for ‘security reasons’
WASHINGTON Dec 4 (Reuters) – The troubled mobile phone maker BlackBerry still has at least one very loyal customer: U.S. President Barack Obama. At a meeting with youth on Wednesday to…
photo: AP / Jae C. Hong
Dementia epidemic looms with 135 million sufferers seen by 2050
LONDON (Reuters) – Many governments are woefully unprepared for an epidemic of dementia currently affecting 44 million people worldwide and set to more than treble to 135 million people by 2050, health experts and campaigners said on Thursday. Fresh…
photo: AP / Mike Derer
911 calls about Newtown school shooting released
DANBURY, Conn. – “Sandy Hook School, I think there is someone shooting in here, Sandy Hook School.” The female caller’s voice is shaking, the call lasts just 24 seconds and there are few details she can provide. Within moments the Newtown, Conn.,…
photo: AP / Jessica Hill
French lower house backs prostitution law reform
The French lower house of parliament passed a reform of prostitution law on today imposing fines on clients, a shift to tougher rules which has split the country and angered some sex workers. Lawmakers voted 268 in favour and 138 against to give…
photo: AP / Andrew Medichini
At least 21 bodies found in mass grave in Mali
Authorities in Mali have found a mass grave believed to contain bodies of soldiers missing since last year The nation’s leading prosecutor has said the find should lead to murder being added to the list of charges being brought against a former…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Ivory Coast’s Ouattara says to seek re-election in 2015
Reuters December 4, 2013 – 18:52 PARIS (Reuters) – Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Wednesday he would run for a second term at elections scheduled for October 2015, saying the task of rebuilding the West African country after a…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
December 4, 2013
‘EITHER THEY WILL DEFEAT US OR WE WILL DEFEAT THEM’
ASSOCIATED PRESSThousands Take To The Streets In Kiev.. Gov’t Shows No Sign Of Yielding
Hezbollah blames Iranian embassy blasts on Saudi Arabia
04 Dec 2013
The bombed Iranian embassy in Beirut. Photo: AFP Beirut: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has blamed Saudi Arabia for a twin suicide attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut that killed 25 people. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaeda affiliate that claimed responsibility for the attacks last month, “has an emir and he is Saudi, and I am…
Traffickers may target typhoon survivors
Washington – Thousands of women and children in the Philippines risk falling prey to human traffickers in the aftermath of last month’s catastrophic typhoon, lawmakers and the chief US aid agency warned on Tuesday. A US congressman returning from a…
photo: US Navy / Ramon G. Go
NY court asked to give chimpanzee ‘legal person’ status
A US animal rights group is calling on a New York court to recognise a chimpanzee as a legal person, in what is believed to be a legal first. The Nonhuman RightsProject wants a chimp named Tommy to be granted “legal personhood” and thus…
photo: Creative Commons / Thomas Lersch
Hussein al-Laqis Dead: Hezbollah Commander Killed Outside His Beirut Home
BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah says that one of its commanders has been “assassinated” outside of his home in Lebanon‘s capital of Beirut. A statement issued by the group Wednesday said Hussein al-Laqis was killed as he returned home from work around…
photo: AP / Hussein Malla
U.N. Measure Would Send Forces to Aid Central African Republic
UNITED NATIONS — France formally circulated a Security Council resolution on Tuesday night that would authorize thousands of African troops, aided by hundreds of French soldiers, to restore order in the Central African Republic, a mineral-rich…
photo: UN / Ryan Brown
India’s Delhi holds key state elections
Polling is under way in crucial state elections in the Indian capital, Delhi. The rulingCongress party – which is seeking a fourth consecutive term – and the main opposition BJP are the main rivals for the 70-seat assembly. But the new Aam Admi…
photo: PIB of India
Temporary US immigration status urged for Filipinos after typhoon
Advocates are putting pressure on the U.S. government to grant temporary refuge to Philippine nationals because of Typhoon Haiyan. Only Filipinos already in theU.S. would be eligible for temporary protected status, which is granted to foreign…
photo: US Navy / Peter D. Blair
Americans see a US in decline, finds Pew survey
For the first time in 40 years, a majority of Americans say the US plays a less important and powerful role in the world than it did a decade ago. The Pew surveyalso found that 70% of Americans saw the US as less respected than in the past, nearly…
photo: AP / Charles Dharapak
UN links Assad to war crimes
03 Dec 2013
Opposition protesters in northern Syria stand on a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad. Photo: AP Geneva: The top United Nations human rights official has linkedSyrian President Bashar al-Assad to war crimes and crimes against humanity for the first time, citing evidence collected by her panel of investigators over the course of the 33-month-old…
Ukraine protesters dig in heels, PM condemns ‘signs of coup’
December 02: Ukrainian protesters today blockaded government buildings and camped on Kiev‘s central square, seeking to oust President Viktor Yanukovych after police brutality and a row over EU ties plunged the country into its worst political crisis…
photo: AP / Efrem Lukatsky
Romania President Won’t Sign IMF Memorandum
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanian President Traian Basescu says he won’t sign a letter of intent and International Monetary Fund memorandum to protest a government decision to hike fuel prices. In November, the government said it would increase 1 liter…
photo: AP / Christian Lutz
Amazon Drones Are Part of Jeff Bezos’s Pre-Lobbying Strategy
What do Amazon‘s new drone delivery program, Elon Musk‘s Hyperloop, andUber‘s ice-cream sandwiches have in common? They all look like a kind of blogger-bait vaporware — improbable PR stunts designed to garner lots of attention and make the…
photo: AP / Reed Saxon
Vitali Klitschko: could he be the next president of Ukraine?
Klitschko, leader of the Udar party and champion boxer, has announced plans to run for president in 2015. Is Dr Ironfist, as he is also known, a heavyweight contender? Boxer and WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko: standing for president in…
photo: AP / Herbert Knosowski)
Germany wants UNESCO to recognize beer ‘purity’ law
Germany is pushing for the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO to recognize a beer ‘purity’ law that has been in place since the 1500s and place it on the ‘intangible cultural heritage list.’ The law is known as…
photo: Creative Commons / Flominator
>Africa’s elephants threatened by killings: report
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — An international conservation group says that as many as 20 percent of Africa‘s elephants could be killed in the…
photo: Creative Commons / Rob Hooft
24-Hour Curfew in Nigerian City After Suspected Boko Haram Attack
Authorities have imposed a 24-hour curfew in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri after an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants. Local journalists tell VOA that the pre-dawn attack Monday targeted areas in and around the Maiduguri airport, including a…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Thai PM says protesters’ demands unacceptable
02 Dec 2013
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand‘s prime minister on Monday rejected the demands of anti-government protesters locked in street battles with police, saying what they want is unacceptable under the constitution. In a televised news conference Monday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she is willing to “open every door” for negotiations to find a… Wn.com/
Amazon testing drones for delivery, Jeff Bezos says
Amazon‘s PrimeAir drones. Photo: 60 Minutes Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, says the company is testing drones to deliver goods, as it works to improve efficiency and speed in getting products to consumers. Bezos unveiled the plan on…
photo: AP Marcus R. Donner, file
Australia spy agency offered to share data on citizens
AFP – Australia’s spy agency offered to share information about its own citizens with its foreign intelligence partners, according to leaked documents published Monday. The latest revelations by US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden, reported by…
photo: AP / Kostas Tsironis, file
Croatians vote to ban gay marriage
Constitution will be amended after 65% of voters back statement that marriage is matrimony between a man and a woman A gay rights protest in Zagreb on Saturday. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images A majority of Croatians have voted in a referendum to ban…
photo: AP / Natacha Pisarenko
Train Derails in New York, at Least 4 Killed
THE BRONX, NEW YORK CITY (AP) – A New York City commuter train rounding a riverside curve derailed and came to rest only inches from the water Sunday, killing four people, injuring more than 60 and sending a chain of toppled cars shaped like a…
photo: Creative Commons / Bebo2good1
Thousands of Protesters in Ukraine Demand Leader’s Resignation
KIEV, Ukraine — More than 100,000 people took to the streets of Kiev on Sunday, and thousands more rallied in other cities across Ukraine, to demand the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich, the largest outpouring of fury so far over his…
photo: AP / Ivan Sekretarev
Police Battle Bangkok Protesters as Crisis Deepens
The leader of Thailand&aposs anti-government protests says he has met withPrime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and refused to back down from his movement&aposs demand that her administration step down in favor of an appointed council. Suthep…
photo: AP / Wason Wanichakorn
Paul Walker’s death in car crash stuns Hollywood
Actors, artists and celebrities reacted late Saturday to the death of “The Fast and the Furious” actor Paul Walker, who along with another man was killed in a single-car crash in the Santa Clarita Valley. Sheriff‘s officials said speed was a…
photo: AP / Felipe Dana
Ukraine braces for new mass protests
01 Dec 2013
Ukrainian opposition leaders have called for new mass protests against PresidentViktor Yanukovich‘s refusal to sign a trade deal with the EU. They are demanding new elections, and the impeachment of the president. Rallies continued through the night, with thousands gathered on the main square in the capital Kiev. Policeviolently dispersed an…
Ukraine protesters denounce rejection of EU pact
30 Nov 2013
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s president faced growing street protests at home Friday after he rejected an agreement to tie his nation’s political and economic future to the West, instead keeping intact Ukraine’s historical links with Moscow. The news that President Viktor Yanukovich came away from the European Union summit inLithuania…
Ukraine protests after Yanukovych EU deal rejection
Thousands of people have staged fresh protests in Ukraine‘s capital, Kiev, atPresident Viktor Yanukovych‘s refusal to sign an EU association agreement. Some 10,000 Demonstrators in Independence Square carried Ukrainian and EU flags late on…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Honduran leftist presidential candidate to unveil ‘fraud’
AFP – Honduran leftist presidential candidate Xiomara Castro vowed Friday to deliver proof of the fraud she claims cheated her out of the presidency. The electoral authorities called Sunday’s election in favor of her conservative rival JuanOrlando…
photo: AP / Esteban Felix
Mozambique passenger plane missing
Mozambique Airlines has said a plane carrying 28 passengers and six crew members did not land as scheduled in Angola, and authorities are trying to determine its location. The airline said in a statement that Flight TM470 took off from Maputo, the…
photo: Creative Commons / MilborneOne
Malian separatist rebels end ceasefire after clashes
Reuters November 29, 2013 – 23:21 By Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) – SeparatistTuareg rebels said on Friday they were ending a five-month-old ceasefire withMali‘s government and taking up arms following violence in the northern city of…
photo: AP
Venezuela’s Maduro threatens arrests over prices
AFP – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed Friday to arrest shopkeepers who defy government price controls, the latest salvo in a populist “economic war” ahead of key municipal elections. Maduro delivered the warning in a nationally televised…
photo: ABr
Calls for Zuma to repay cost of home upgrades
An independent investigation into the security upgrades undertaken at South African president Jacob Zuma’s rural home has provisionally found he received substantial personal benefits from the work done, a local newspaper has reported. The findings…
photo: AP / Schalk van Zuydam
Egyptians Demonstrate Despite New Protest Law
CAIRO (AP) — Hundreds of Islamist demonstrators took to the streets on Friday in cities across Egypt, days after a disputed protest law was adopted and police forcefully broke up unauthorized gatherings. Since a popularly backed military coup ousted…
photo: AP / Ahmed Gomaa
Amid tensions, China sends warplanes into new air defence zone
29 Nov 2013
China has dispatched fighter jets to a newly declared air defence zone over the East China Sea as a “defensive measure”, after the U.S., Japan and South Korea all sent their military planes through the airspace in defiance of Beijing’s unilateral move. Several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft from the People’s…
UN set to appeal for more aid to Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations said Friday it will seek more funds for a reconstruction of areas in the central Philippines that were devastated by a super typhoon, in addition to $348 million that U.N. agencies had sought for…
photo: US Navy / Brian H. Abel
Comet Ison ‘May Have Survived’ Brush With Sun
Astronomers tracking what they hoped would be the “comet of the century” say some of it may have survived its close encounter with the Sun. It was first reported that the Comet Ison’s nucleus and tail had been destroyed by the Sun’s radiation…
photo: NASA / ESA/NASA/SOHO
EU extends influence eastward to Georgia, Moldova
VILNIUS, Lithuania – The European Union is extending its geopolitical reach eastward by sealing association agreements with Georgia and Moldova, but has missed out on a landmark deal with Ukraine as its key objective. Enlarge Ukraine’sPresident…
photo: EC / © EU
‘I saw hope in their eyes’: Heroes team up for typhoon relief
November 28, 2013 — Updated 2210 GMT (0610 HKT) Doc Hendley, a top 10 CNN Hero in 2009, is providing clean water to victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Editor’s note: “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. Tacloban, Philippines(CNN) –…
photo: US Navy / Ramon G. Go
Briton searches landfill for $7.5 mn bitcoin fortune
AFP – A British IT worker has launched a frantic search of a landfill site after realising he accidentally threw away a computer drive holding $7.5 million (5.5million euros) in the online currency bitcoin. James Howells, 28, obtained 7,500bitcoins…
photo: Creative Commons / zcopley
Earthquake in Iran near nuclear plant kills 7
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck a town Thursday in southern Iran, killing seven people while causing no damage at the country’s only nuclear power plant, state television reported. The U.S.…
photo: AP / Mehr News Agency, Majid Asgaripour
Thai prime minister pleads for end to protests
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand‘s prime minister begged protesters Thursday to call off their sustained anti-government demonstrations and negotiate an end to the nation’s latest crisis. But the protesters marched instead to new targets, including the…
photo: AP / Vincent Yu
CIAO, SILVIO
China says monitored defiant US bomber flights
27 Nov 2013
BEIJING – China says it monitored two unarmed U.S. bombers that flew over theEast China Sea just days after Beijing declared it was asserting greater military control over the area. Tuesday’s flight of the two B-52 bombers underscored that the U.S. will not comply with China’s demand that aircraft flying through its newly declared maritime air…
US defies China with B-52 flight
Two unarmed US B-52 bombers on a training mission flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, Pentagon officials say, defying China’sdeclaration of a new airspace defence zone in the region. The flight on Monday night…
photo: US Navy / Chief Photographer’s Mate Todd P. Cichonowicz
Italy ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi ends cabinet support
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has withdrawn his support from the coalition government – ahead of a vote on a budget for 2014. His Forza Italia party is moving into opposition days after a split in the centre-right group he led since…
photo: AP / Alberto Pellaschiar
Military: Gunmen Kill 37 in Central Nigeria
JOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s military says gunmen killed 37 villagers in overnight attacks on four villages in the central Plateau state riven by conflicts over land rights between mainly Christian farmers and Muslim nomadic herdsmen. Special Task Force…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Amanda Knox Guilty Verdict Demanded By Italian Prosecutor
FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — An Italian prosecutor has demanded that an appeals court find Amanda Knox guilty for the 2007 murder of her British roommate and sentence her to 26 years for the murder and another four for slander. Prosecutor Alessandro Crini…
photo: AP / Elaine Thompson
Manny Pacquiao’s Bank Accounts Frozen Amid Tax Probe But Boxer Is Borrowing To Give Typhoon Aid
ASSOCIATED PRESS Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, raises his arms while wearing the champion’s belt as he celebrates winning his WBO international welterweight title fight against Brandon Rios of the United States, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013, in…
photo: AP / Frank Franklin II
Petition filed against Sharif for failing to end drone strikes
A contempt of court petition has been filed against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the federal authorities in the Peshawar High Court over the government’s failure to end US drone strikes. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami’s provincial president Maulana…
photo: USAF / Senior Airman Larry E. Reid Jr.
Scottish government publishes blueprint for independent Scotland
Scotland’s Future – Your Guide runs to 670 pages and aims to answer all Scots‘ questions about secession from the UK Alex Salmond recently promised that an independent Scotland would renationalise Royal Mail. Photograph: KenJack/Demotix/Corbis The…
photo: AP / Scott Heppell
US warns Karzai it may leave no troops in Afghanistan
26 Nov 2013
KABUL: US national security advisor Susan Rice told Afghan President Hamid KarzaiMonday that a delay in signing a troubled security deal risked the US pulling troops out of the country completely next year. The US said that Karzai had called for “new conditions” for signing the bilateral security agreement (BSA) to allow US forces to remain in the…
Petition filed against Sharif for failing to end drone strikes
A contempt of court petition has been filed against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the federal authorities in the Peshawar High Court over the government’s failure to end US drone strikes. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami’s provincial president Maulana…
photo: USAF / Senior Airman Larry E. Reid Jr.
Scottish government publishes blueprint for independent Scotland
Scotland’s Future – Your Guide runs to 670 pages and aims to answer all Scots‘ questions about secession from the UK Alex Salmond recently promised that an independent Scotland would renationalise Royal Mail. Photograph: KenJack/Demotix/Corbis The…
photo: AP / Scott Heppell
Lockdown at Yale has been lifted after report of gunman on campus
Police believe a phone call where an unidentified person called police to report “his roommate” had intentions of shooting people is a “hoax.” The emergency call stated the unidentified man with a long gun was on his way to Yale University at about…
photo: Creative Commons / GK tramrunner229
Honduras Presidential Vote Count Disputed by Zelaya
Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, ousted in a 2009 coup, rejected official election results showing his wife, Xiomara Castro, losing the presidential vote with more than half the precincts reporting. Zelaya, whose overthrow prompted violence…
photo: AP / Esteban
Tymoshenko on hunger strike to push for EU deal
Uraine’s jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko declared a hunger strike Monday to push the government to sign a landmark integration deal with theEuropean Union. Thousands rallied in the Ukrainian capital against the government’s decision to…
photo: AP / Ukrainian Pravda
Syrian troops kill over 100 rebels in siege battle
DAMASCUS, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — More than 100 rebel fighters have been killed over the past two days in the eastern countryside of Syrian capital Damascus as the rebels attempted to break the government troops’ siege, local al-Watan daily reported…
photo: AP / SANA
World Powers Reach Historic Nuclear Deal With Iran
World powers reached a historic deal with Iran on its nuclear program early Sunday, but will face challenges ahead as they work to develop a comprehensive agreement. The United States, China, Russia, France, Britain, and Germany reached the six-month…
Alarm over Pakistan’s ‘conciliatory’ Taliban approach
25 Nov 2013
The chairman of the governing party in Pakistan has told the BBC that the government will continue to use whatever means it can to persuade the Pakistan Taliban to take part in peace talks, even though the militants have already rejected the offer. Senator Raja Zafar ul Haq went so far as to say they would refrain from making any critical comments…
photo: AP / Anjum Naveed
Egypt’s president issues law restricting protests
CAIRO: Egypt‘s interim president Sunday banned public gatherings of more than 10 people without prior government approval, imposing hefty fines and prison terms for violators in a bid to stifle the near-constant protests roiling the country. The new…
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
Tokyo rejects China’s air rights claim in East China Sea
The disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China in the East China Sea. Photo: Reuters Tokyo: Japan‘s foreign minister on Sunday refused to recognise China’s newly claimed air defense zone over disputed islands, signalling that…
photo: AP / Kyodo News
Italy’s president rules out pardon for Berlusconi
ROME – Italian President Giorgio Napolitano will not grant Silvio Berlusconi a pardon, the office of the head of state said Sunday, three days before a Senate vote on the former prime minister’s expulsion. Italy‘s upper chamber is expected to kick…
photo: AP / Luca Bruno
Donations come in Philippine typhoon survivors
A steady stream of cars lined up here at Cardi’s Furniture in West Warwick Sunday morning.This was one of several stores in Rhode Island and Massachusettscollecting items for those…
photo: US Navy / Peter D. Blair
Iran signs landmark nuclear deal with West
Iran and the six global powers have hammered out a landmark nuclear deal-the breakthrough achieved in the early hours on Sunday after seamless rounds of hard bargaining in Geneva in the teeth of a high octane Israeli campaign to scupper the…
photo: UN / Jean-Marc Ferré
Aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines: Hope emerges amid devastation
Video: Related Columns MANILA, November 23, 2013 — Two weeks after Typhoon Haiyan – known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines – struck the Central Regionof this country, hope emerges as makeshift stalls selling fruits and some local…
photo: US Navy / Jacob I. Allison
Africa to world’s top court: Stop picking on our leaders
In northern Uganda, a former altar boy-turned-rebel commander led an army of kidnapped children in a years-long terror campaign that pushed more than a million people into displacement camps. In Darfur in western Sudan, armed attackers riding horses…
photo: UN / ICJ-CIJ
Syria conflict: Children ‘targeted by snipers’
Full ArticleBBC News
24 Nov 2013
More than 11,000 children have died in Syria‘s civil war in nearly three years, including hundreds targeted by snipers, a new report says. Summary executionsand torture have also been used against children as young as one, the London-based Oxford Research Group think tank says. The report says the majority of children have been killed by…
Karzai agrees to Afghan-US security pact
24 Nov 2013
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has agreed to sign a strategic agreement with the United States if it brings peace to the nation after a more than three-decade-long conflict. Speaking at the conclusion of the “consultative” Loya Jirga, GrandAssembly, on Sunday morning, Karzai said the result of the Bilateral Strategic Agreement…
Philippine children face malnutrition risk
23 Nov 2013
The UN says 1.5 million children are at risk of malnutrition in typhoon-ravaged areas of the Philippines as it calls for greater efforts to provide food and water. A UN appeal to cope with Typhoon Haiyan‘s devastation has also…
Kerry, Russian FM join Iran nuclear talks
23 Nov 2013
GENEVA: Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers of other major powers were converging Saturday to lend their weight to the Iran nuclear talks after envoys reported progress in marathon negotiations to curb the Iranian program in return for limited sanctions relief. After a third day of talks, State Departmentspokesperson Jen Psaki said…
US gives Afghanistan year-end deadline to sign crucial security deal
22 Nov 2013
President Hamid Karzai triggered uncertainty about a vital security pact with theUnited States on Thursday by saying it should not be signed until afterAfghanistan’s presidential election next April, prompting the White House to insist on a year-end deadline. Karzai’s surprise move, which came just a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry…
Eating nuts tied to reduced death rate
People who eat a daily handful of nuts are 20 per cent less likely to die from any cause over a 30-year period than those who didn’t consume nuts, according to the largest study of its kind. Scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brighamand…
photo: WN / Geeta
Obama orders flags lowered on Kennedy anniversary
President Barack Obama is ordering that flags be lowered at government buildings Friday to…
photo: AP / Jacquelyn Martin
US weighs permitting cellphone calls on planes
WASHINGTON: Rules against making cellphone calls during airline flights are “outdated,” and it’s time to change them, US government regulators said on Thursday, drawing immediate howls of protest from flight attendants, airline officials and others….
photo: AP / Charles Dharapak
Apple Awarded Additional $290 Million From Samsung in Patent Trial
A San Jose jury ruled on Thursday that Samsung owes Apple an additional $290 million in damages for infringing on several of Apple’s patents, according to multiple reports. Apple was…
photo: AP / Sascha Schuermann