Ukraine’s Poroshenko vows to ‘attack’ rebels as ceasefire dropped
Full ArticleSouth China Morning Post
01 Jul 2014
Ukraine’s Western-backed president has decided to resume a military offensive against pro-Russian separatists in the country’s restive east after opting not to prolong a shaky truce, a move that threatens to escalate the deadly conflict. “After examining the situation I have decided, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, not to extend the…
Nicolas Sarkozy arrested over ‘influence peddling’
01 Jul 2014
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was held today for questioning over suspicions that a network of informers kept him abreast of a separate inquiry into alleged irregularities in his 2007 election campaign, a legal source said. It was the first time a former head of state had been held for questioning…
Israel Blames Palestinian Bigs for Murdered Teens
Netanyahu is pledging retaliation against Hamas, but his intelligence minister says the Palestinian Authority is supposed to prevent terrorist acts like the killing of three Israelis. The discovery Monday by Israel Defense Forces(IDF) of the bodies…
photo: Creative Commons / Israel Defense Forces
50 die in Nigeria church attacks
Lagos – An attack on churches in north-east Nigeria blamed on Boko Haram killed more than 50 people, an official said on Monday, overshadowing festivities ahead of a last-16 World Cup match against France.Gunmen stormed Sunday services in four…
photo: AP Photo
Rolf Harris guilty of 12 indecent assaults
Veteran TV personality Rolf Harris was today found guilty of 12 indecent assaults at Southwark Crown Court. The Australian entertainer was found guilty after more than a week of deliberation by jurors. Harris, 84, was found guilty of the assaults on…
photo: GFDL /
David Cameron calls to congratulate Juncker
British Prime Minister David Cameron has called Jean-Claude Juncker to congratulate the man he tried to block from becoming president of theEuropean Commission. Cameron‘s failure to prevent Juncker getting the job after a bitter campaign was seen as…
photo: AP / Matt Dunham
Afghans battle for strategic Helmand after U.S. troops pull out
LASHKAR GAH Afghanistan (Reuters) – Afghan forces battled the Taliban in southern Helmand province on Monday for a second week, officials and residents said on Monday, seeking to reassert control over a strategic district just weeks after the…
photo: US Army / Nikayla Shodeen
Now, light-sensitive protein can control brain from outside
New York, June 30: In a boost to optogenetics, a technology allowing scientists to control brain activity by shining light on neurons, the first light-sensitive molecule that enables neurons to be silenced non-invasively using a light source outside…
photo: AP / Mary Altaffer
‘Fifa a gang of old sons of bitches’
Montevideo – Uruguay‘s President Jose Mujica has slammedFifa leaders as “sons of bitches” for banning the country’s star striker Luis Suarezover his infamous World Cup bite. Mujica called the four month ban on all football activity…
photo: AP / Cadu Gomes
Putin Is Just Getting Started in Ukraine
Forget reports that the Russian president has wound down his campaign of interference in east Ukraine. Just the opposite is true— it’s getting much worse.
Fury at ‘creepy’ Facebook experiment to manipulate users’ emotions
30 Jun 2014
Facebook users have reacted angrily to a “creepy” experiment carried out by the social network and two American universities to manipulate their emotions. The UStechnology giant secretly altered almost 700,000 users’ news feeds to study the impact of “emotional contagion”. It tinkered with the algorithm controlling users’ feeds to find out what…
Georgia’s EU alignment: Regional repercussions
In a long-awaited move, Georgia signed an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) on June 27, cementing the country’s political and economic ties firmly with the West. In a signing ceremony in Brussels, Georgia joined Moldova and Ukraine…
photo: AP / Shakh Aivazov
Massive Floods In Brazil Force 50,000 People To Evacuate Their Homes
The gaze of the world is fixated on Brazil as they host this year’s World Cup. But outside the stadiums a severe week of weather has wreaked havoc on tens of thousands. On Sunday officials in Brazil revised earlier estimates, now saying that 50,000…
photo: AP / Nelson Antoine
Robben apologises for diving in Mexico clash
Arjen Robben apologised for diving before winning the decisive injury-time penalty in the Netherland’s FIFA World Cup victory over Mexico.Louis van Gaal‘s men, who topped Group B, were staring at elimination in Sunday’s last-16 clash until Wesley…
photo: AP / Luca Bruno
Netherlands stuns Mexico with two late goals
Why not? Everything else has happened in this World Cup, so why not a totally unpredictable, crazy, controversial, mind-boggling ending that nobody saw coming. You know it’s a crazy game when both the loser and the winner are stunned. Mexico…
photo: AP / Fernando Vergara
North Korea fires 2 ‘Scud’ missiles into Sea of Japan
Jiji Press SEOUL (Jiji Press)—North Korea fired two projectiles that are believed to be Scud short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Sunday, officials of South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said. The…
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
Pistorius trial to resume after psychiatric tests
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The murder trial of Oscar Pistoriusresumes Monday after one month during which mental health experts evaluated the athlete to determine if he has an anxiety disorder that could have influenced his actions on the night he killed…
photo: AP / Themba Hadebe
Terrorists are planning Mindanao bomb attacks
Security forces in Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Iligan cities have been alerted, prompting local officials to put up checkpoints, said a senior military intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said based on information…
photo: WN / RTayco
World Cup: It’s in the woodwork for Brazil to advance
29 Jun 2014
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil • Tight and tense as it was, it was enough to keep Brazil’s national obsession of winning the World Cup on home soil from taking a desperately disappointing turn. And it wasn’t Neymar, the country’s poster boy for this year’s World Cup, who played the key role this time. It was goalkeeper Julio Cesar, the country’s scapegoat…
U.S. Military Enlistment Recruiters Reject 71 Percent Of Applicants For Army, Navy, Marines, And Air Force
In a related report by The Inquisitr, even though President Obama recently touted the Afghanistan war ending, and how many US troops will be coming home, he’d still like to keep a military unit of about 10,000 soldiers stationed there for years…
photo: USMC / Michael Dye
Brazil beats Chile in shootout
The Associated Press BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (AP)—Brazil advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday with a 3-2 shootout win overChile following a tense and thrilling battle that ended 1-1 after extra time. Neymar,David Luiz and Marcelo…
photo: AP / Martin Meissner
Serena Williams Upset In Third Round At Wimbledon, Her Earliest Exit Since 2005
LONDON (AP) — Five-time champion Serena Williams lost to 25th-seeded Alize Cornet of France 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of Wimbledon on Saturday. It’s Williams‘ earliest exit at the All England Club since 2005, when she also was beaten in the…
photo: AP / AELTC, Scott Heavey
Pro-Russian rebels free 4 OSCE observers
VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press= MOSCOW (AP) â?? Pro-Russian insurgents on Saturday released a second team of observers from theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who had been held captive since the end of May, the…
photo: Creative Commons / Yevgen Nasadyuk
Four Egypt police killed in Sinai attack: Security
CAIRO: Gunmen killed four Egyptian policemen in the restive northern Sinai on Saturday, a security source said, with police blaming the attack on “takfiri” jihadist militants. Militants in…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Iraq Launches Operation Against Sunni Insurgents in Northern City
BAGHDAD — Iraqi troops backed by helicopter gunships launched an operation early Saturday aimed at dislodging Sunni militants from the northern city of Tikrit, one of two major urban centers they seized in recent weeks in a dramatic blitz across the…
photo: US Army / Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
Pakistani jets kill 17 in anti-militant offensive
Pakistani jets killed 17 militants in the latest raid on rebel hideouts in the country’s restive northwest, officials said on Saturday. The planes bombarded hideouts in the Dargamandi and Chashma Gaon areas of North Waziristan late on Friday, as aid…
photo: AP / Mohammad Iqbal
BP seeks to wrest back Gulf of Mexico compensation
Full ArticleBBC News
28 Jun 2014
BP has asked a US court to order a “vast number” of businesses to repay part of the compensation awards they were paid in the wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The oil firm said the administrator in charge of processing…
Panama court frees captain of seized N Korea ship
PANAMA CITY (AP) â?? A Panamanian court has acquitted the captain and two other officers of charges stemming from the seizure of a North Korean ship last July for carrying undeclared…
photo: AP / rnulfo Franco
GM recalls over 450,000 more vehicles, some in Canada
General Motors Co announced on Friday that it would recall 428,211 more vehicles in the United States, including new four-wheel drive pickups and SUVs with a software problem that could cause the vehicles to automatically switch to neutral and roll…
photo: AP / Paul Sancya
US armed drones flying over Baghdad
The US has armed drones flying over Baghdad to protect US troops that recently arrived to assess Iraq‘s deteriorating security, the Pentagonsaid. For more than a week the military has been flying manned and unmanned aircraft over Iraq, averaging a…
photo: AP / Ariel Schalit
Britain one step closer to quitting Europe after vote on Jean-Claude Juncker
Battleground: British Prime Minister David Cameronaddresses the media after the vote. Photo: AP Britain moved a step closer to leaving the European Union on Friday after David Cameron declared “war” on Brusselsover the nomination of…
photo: AP / Geert Vanden Wijngaert
San Francisco‘s iconic Golden Gate Bridge moved a big step closer to getting an oft-debated suicide barrier after bridge officials on Friday approved a $76 million funding package for a net system that would prevent people from jumping to their…
photo: Creative Commons / Pemolo
Obama rips GOP in election-year economic salvo
MINNEAPOLIS — Blasting the GOP as wilfully indifferent toAmerican struggles, President Barack Obama issued a rebuke Friday to Republicanattempts to thwart his economic agenda, offering a stark contrast that Democratshope will yield electoral…
photo: AP / Gerald Herbert
UK facing ‘major’ sperm shortage
The UK is facing a major sperm shortage that may be tempting fertility clinics to accept poorer quality sperm, the British Fertility Society(BFS) warns. Some clinics rely on imported sperm to keep up with demand. However, the BFS chairman, Dr Allan…
photo: Public Domain File
Rights group: Iraq militants executed 160 captives
27 Jun 2014
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi insurgents executed at least 160 captives earlier this month in the northern city of Tikrit, Human Rights Watch said Friday, citing an analysis of satellite imagery and grisly photos released by the militants. The U.S.-based rights group said militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant killed between 160 and 190 men…
Juncker is wrong person for European commission job, says David Cameron
Prime minister attacks the frontrunner for the leadership who he says has been dedicated to increasing the power of Brussels Jean-Claude Juncker, right, arrives for a European People’s party meeting in Kortrijk, Belgium.Photograph: Thierry…
photo: AP / Michel Euler
Google removes first search results after EU ruling
Brussels: Google has started removing some search results in the European Union after an EU court told it last month to respond to requests by people seeking the…
photo: AP / Mark Lennihan
Paedophile TV man did not spare dead
London: Former BBC presenter Jimmy Savile sexually assaulted victims aged five to 75 in NHS hospitals over decades of unrestricted access, it has emerged. He assaulted patients in bed, and claimed to have abused corpses, reviews into his conduct on…
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth
Cold, Dead Star Crystallized Into Earth-Sized Diamond
Astronomers aren’t being poetic when they say this star is a diamond. Scientists have identified what is possibly the coldest white dwarf ever detected. In fact, this dim stellar corpse is so cold that its carbon has crystallized, effectively forming…
photo: AP / ESO, L. Calcada
Somalia’s al-Shabab kill AU peacekeepers in Bulo-burde
At least two foreign peacekeepers have been killed in Somaliafollowing an attack on a military base by militant Islamist group al-Shabab.Gunmen stormed the base in the central town of Bulo-burde, leading to a heavy exchange of gunfire, residents…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
Luis Suarez‘s career for club and country is in jeopardy withFifa prepared to throw the book at the disgraced striker following his latest biting incident. The Uruguayan striker is facing disciplinary action following his bite onGiorgio Chiellini…
photo: AP / Jon Super
Water as only teatime drink ‘will combat child obesity’
Children should be given only water to drink at teatime to help tackle the obesity crisis, experts argue. A group of nutritional scientists said sugary drinks were empty calories, damaged health and contributed to obesity. They argued people were…
photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba
Suarez Gets Four-Month Ban For Italy Bite
The Uruguay star is out of the World Cup and will miss the start of the Premier League season after Fifa revealed his punishment.
Video: Fifa Announces Four-Month Ban For Suarez
Luis Suarez has been caught up in yet more controversy at the World Cup in Brazil, appearing to bite an opponent, Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini (C).
Iraqi cleric pushes for emergency government
26 Jun 2014A
Iraq‘s powerful Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called for a national emergency government and promised to “shake the ground” under the feet of advancingSunni rebels, a day after Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, rejected any attempts to undermine his rule. Sadr, whose movement, the Mahdi army, battled the US forces during Washington’s nearly…
Somalia’s al-Shabab kill AU peacekeepers in Bulo-burde
At least two foreign peacekeepers have been killed in Somaliafollowing an attack on a military base by militant Islamist group al-Shabab.Gunmen stormed the base in the central town of Bulo-burde, leading to a heavy exchange of gunfire, residents…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
Water as only teatime drink ‘will combat child obesity’
Children should be given only water to drink at teatime to help tackle the obesity crisis, experts argue. A group of nutritional scientists said sugary drinks were empty calories, damaged health and contributed to obesity. They argued people were…
photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba
U.S. appeals court backs gay marriage in conservative Utah
By Daniel Wallis DENVER (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday that conservative Utah may not ban gay couples from marrying, a decision that capped a day of victories for same-sex nuptials and nudges the issue closer to the U.S. Supreme…
photo: AP / Mary Altaffer
Google shows off watches, cars and TVs using Android software
SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. touted new models of smart watches, connected cars and Internet-enabled TVs on Wednesday, all based on the company’s Android software, as the giant tech company showed its determination to extend its services into just…
photo: AP / Jed Jacobsohn
Ridley Scott will shoot his next film ‘The Martian’ this fall, says screenwriter/producer
It has already been revealed that Ridley Scott‘s next film will be The Martian, starring Matt Damon. But details on its production have been skimmed, until now, as screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg revealed that filming is supposed to begin…
photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore
FIFA probes Luis Suarez for biting Giorgio Chiellini
RIO DE JANEIRO: FIFA said it has opened a disciplinary probe against Luis Suarez of Uruguay for allegedly biting an Italian opponent during aWorld Cup game Tuesday. Full Coverage: World Cup 2014 | Points Table | Schedule &Results Uruguay won the…
photo: AP / Ricardo Mazalan
Luis Suarez bites Giorgio Chiellini: the Internet reacts
Luis Suarez should maybe consider eating before a big game, after he was once again seen allegedly taking a bite out of another player. During today’s (June 24) Uruguay v Italy World Cup match, Suarez appeared to headbutt Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini…
photo: AP / Ricardo Mazalan
Nigerian Terrorists Abduct Another 91 Children
24 Jun 2014
Islamist militants have reportedly taken another 60 girls and 31 boys in northeastNigeria, compounding a crisis that began in April when the same group kidnapped more than 200 girls. The latest abductions were made public on Tuesday by theAssociated Press, whose reporters couldn’t safely verify the information. Nigerians reportedly witnessed the…
Luis Suarez bites Giorgio Chiellini: the Internet reacts
Luis Suarez should maybe consider eating before a big game, after he was once again seen allegedly taking a bite out of another player. During today’s (June 24) Uruguay v Italy World Cup match, Suarez appeared to headbutt Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini…
photo: AP / Ricardo Mazalan
Ukraine’s president warns he could end cease-fire
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president says he may terminate a weeklong cease-fire ahead of time because of continuing rebel attacks.President Petro Poroshenko‘s statement Tuesday came hours after pro-Russian insurgents in Slovyansk downed a…
photo: Creative Commons / White House / Pete Souza
This Guy Is Suing British Airways After a Misspelling Sent Him to the Wrong Destination
At least the airline didn’t mix up the cities of Paris andDetroit. That would have been a very unfortunate surprise. Edward Gamson, anAmerican dentist, and his partner booked a trip to the Spanish city of Granadathrough British Airways. They were…
photo: AP / Mark Lennihan
Major earthquake hits off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands
JUNEAU Alaska (Reuters) – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck deep under the ocean floor near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, triggering shaking felt over vast distances and setting off a small tsunami, the National TsunamiWarning Center said. A tsunami…
photo: US Navy / Chief Journalist Joe Kane
Ex-UK editor Coulson convicted of phone hacking
JILL LAWLESS Associated Press= LONDON (AP) â?? Two powerful British political insiders met starkly different fates Tuesday as formerNews of the World editor Andy Coulson was convicted of phone hacking but fellow editor Rebekah Brooks was acquitted,…
photo: AP / Alastair Grant
C African Republic at risk of genocide, says group
RABAT, Morocco — In the early hours of Monday morning, aChristian militia swept down on the village of Ardo-Djobi near Bambari in theCentral African Republic killing 18 Muslims of the Fulani ethnicity. Just a few days earlier, Muslim gunmen…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
At least 22 killed in clashes in Central African Republic: witnesses
BANGUI (Reuters) – At least 22 people have been killed in two days of clashes in Central African Republic, witnesses said on Tuesday, as foreign troops struggle to curb cycles of violence between Muslim and Christiancommunities. Witnesses in…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Iraq claims control of Baiji oil refinery
24 Jun 2014
Iraq’s foreign minister has said government forces are back in control of an important oil refinery after days of fighting with Sunni rebels led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Hoshyar Zebari told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that special forces soldiers had taken over the Baiji refinery, after almost a week of fighting. Sunni rebels had…
Michael Schumacher’s medical records stolen, offered for sale; probe underway
Geneva: Medical records purported to be those of Michael Schumacher have been offered for sale and officials are investigating the theft, his agent said, one week after the seven-times Formula One champion came out of a coma. The German driver, who…
photo: AP / Mark Baker
Widespread impacts of neonicotinoids ‘impossible to deny’
Neonicotinoid pesticides are causing significant damage to a wide range of beneficial species and are a key factor in the decline of bees, say scientists. Researchers, who have carried out a four-year review of the literature, say the evidence of…
photo: creative commons
Rand Paul: We will make Hillary Clinton answer for Benghazi
Facebook Follow @washtimes Should Congress make Englishthe official language of the U.S.? View results Sen. Rand Paul, in his appearance onNBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, refused to criticize President Obama’s handling of…
photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore
Iran rejects U.S. action in Iraq
ANBAR, Iraq – Iran‘s supreme leader accused the United States on Sunday of trying to retake control of Iraq by exploiting sectarian rivalries, as Sunni insurgents drove toward Baghdad from new strongholds along the Syrianborder. Ayatollah Ali…
photo: AP / Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader
Kosovo protest turns violent
Police in Kosovo fired teargas and rubber bullets at ethnicAlbanian rioters burning police cars and lobbing rocks in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, in protest at the blockade of the main bridge by ethnic Serbs. A Reuters reporter saw…
photo: AP / Visar Kryeziu
Abdullah Abdullah gives President poll fraud ‘proof’
Kabul: The campaign team of Afghan presidential candidateAbdullah Abdullah on Sunday released audio recordings which they said contained evidence of fraud against a…
photo: AP / Massoud Hossaini
France agrees to buy 20% stake in Alstom
Travel deals PARIS – (AP) — The final obstacle to GE’s $17 billion takeover of Alstom’s power division has been overcome after the French government agreed to terms with the French engineering company’s main shareholder. Economy minister Arnaud…
photo: Creative Commons / Tangopaso
ENTIRE WESTERN FRONTIER OUT OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL
Iraq Loses Control Of Borders With Syria And Jordan… Army In Shambles… ‘Increasingly Clear’ It Can’t Retake Lost Ground… Tens Of Thousands Of Desertions… ‘Psychological Collapse’… Militants’ Goal: Erase Borders, Create A Caliphate… Kerry Meets With Maliki… Pushes For Political Inclusion…
Sunni militants make major gains in western Iraq
23 Jun 2014
Baghdad — Sunni militants have blitzed through the vast desert of western Iraq, capturing four towns and three border crossings and deepening the predicament of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad led by Nouri al-Maliki. The latest military victories – including two border posts captured Sunday, one along the frontier withJordan and the other…
Rand Paul: We will make Hillary Clinton answer for Benghazi
Facebook Follow @washtimes Should Congress make Englishthe official language of the U.S.? View results Sen. Rand Paul, in his appearance onNBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, refused to criticize President Obama’s handling of…
photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore
Iran rejects U.S. action in Iraq
ANBAR, Iraq – Iran‘s supreme leader accused the United States on Sunday of trying to retake control of Iraq by exploiting sectarian rivalries, as Sunni insurgents drove toward Baghdad from new strongholds along the Syrianborder. Ayatollah Ali…
photo: AP / Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader
Kosovo protest turns violent
Police in Kosovo fired teargas and rubber bullets at ethnicAlbanian rioters burning police cars and lobbing rocks in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, in protest at the blockade of the main bridge by ethnic Serbs. A Reuters reporter saw…
photo: AP / Visar Kryeziu
Abdullah Abdullah gives President poll fraud ‘proof’
Kabul: The campaign team of Afghan presidential candidateAbdullah Abdullah on Sunday released audio recordings which they said contained evidence of fraud against a…
photo: AP / Massoud Hossaini
Sea disputes should be settled through direct talks, Chinese official says
Vietnamese protesters chant anti-China slogans at a demonstration in Hanoi. Photo: AP Beijing: China will be firm in upholding its territorial integrity and believes disputes in the region should be settled through direct talks with the countries…
photo: AP
Search on for SKorea soldier who killed 5 comrades
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The military searched Sunday for an armed South Korean soldier who fled after killing five of his comrades and wounding seven at an outpost near the North Korean border. The sergeant, identified only by his surname, Yim,…
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
Warlords endangering lives of 50,000 children
An international organization says a surging fight between two warlords in South Sudan could leave thousands of children starving, even dead, by the end of the year. The report from UNICEF calls out South SudanPresident Salva Kiir and his former…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
Pope Francis Declares War On The Mafia
21 Jun 2014
See Also Pope Francis journeyed Saturday to the heart of Italy’s biggest crime syndicate and declared that all mobsters are automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church. During his one-day pilgrimage to the southern region ofCalabria — the power base of the ‘ndrangheta, a global drug trafficking syndicate that…
Sea disputes should be settled through direct talks, Chinese official says
Vietnamese protesters chant anti-China slogans at a demonstration in Hanoi. Photo: AP Beijing: China will be firm in upholding its territorial integrity and believes disputes in the region should be settled through direct talks with the countries…
photo: AP
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The military searched Sunday for an armed South Korean soldier who fled after killing five of his comrades and wounding seven at an outpost near the North Korean border. The sergeant, identified only by his surname, Yim,…
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
Warlords endangering lives of 50,000 children
An international organization says a surging fight between two warlords in South Sudan could leave thousands of children starving, even dead, by the end of the year. The report from UNICEF calls out South SudanPresident Salva Kiir and his former…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
No more child mafia victims, demands Pope Francis
POPE Francis has launched a scathing attack on organised crime during a trip to the heartland of a feared syndicate. The pontiff declared all mafia members “excommunicated” from the Catholic Church. The mafia “is the adoration of…
photo: AP / Andrew Medichini
Russia’s Vladimir Putin backs Ukraine ceasefire
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has expressed support forUkraine‘s unilateral ceasefire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and appealed to both sides to halt all military operations. But he warned that Ukrainian President Petro…
photo: AP / RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Government Press Service
Israel intensifies hunt for missing teenagers
Israel has sent more troops to the occupied West Bank to search for three missing teenagers it says were abducted by the Palestinian group Hamas. The military said it arrested 10 Palestinians on Saturday and that some 1,350 sites in the West Bank had…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Israel threatens UN envoy over Qatar cash for Palestinians
June 21: Israel‘s foreign minister said today the UN’s special envoy could be declared persona non grata for offering to help transfer Qatarifunds to the Gaza Strip. Avigdor Lieberman said Robert Serry, the world body’s special envoy on the Middle…
photo: UN / Evan Schneider
Iraq militants take border post with Syria
21 Jun 2014
Reuters Image Caption: Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadrparticipate in military-style training in the street in Basra (reuters tickers) June 21, 2014 – 10:15 By Kamal Namaa BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Sunni fighters seized a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier on Saturday, smashing a line drawn in 1932 by colonial…
Ex-Slovenian leader goes to prison for 2 years
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa has gone to prison to serve a two-year sentence for bribery in an arms deal with a Finnish company. Some 2,000 banner-waving…
photo: AP / Darko Bandic
Ukraine Orders Unilateral Cease-Fire With Separatists
Ukraine president has ordered a unilateral week-long cease-fire against pro-Russia separatists in the country’s east in hopes the move will lead to a broader de-escalation of a conflict that has threatened to bisect…
photo: Creative Commons / The Presidential Press and Information Office
U.S. says Thailand, Malaysia, Venezuela among worst human trafficking centres
Arab Spring Reuters June 20, 2014 – 16:59 By DavidBrunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States downgraded Thailand,Malaysia and Venezuela on Friday to its list of the world’s worst centres of human trafficking, opening up the countries to…
photo: WN / Bright Mills
Philippine senator arrested over massive corruption
Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla became the first politician detained following a massive corruption scandal allegedly involving dozens of lawmakers. APhilippine senator who rose to fame as an action movie hero was arrested on Friday, becoming the first…
photo: WN / Renzelle Mae Abasolo
Berlusconi’s appeal in sex case starts in Italy
MILAN (Reuters) – Silvio Berlusconi‘s appeal of his conviction for abuse of office and paying for sex with a minor began on Friday, opening a new legal battle that could severely limit any active political role for the former Italian prime minister.…
photo: AP / Alexei Nikols
Expansion not in Chinese DNA, says Premier Li Keqiang
BEIJING: Seeking to allay fears over China’s expansionist agenda, Premier Li Keqiang said territorial expansion is not part of the Chinese DNAand the country will never indulge in it. “Expansion is not in the Chinese DNA, nor…
photo: AP / Ng Han Guan
England Face ‘Unbearable’ Early World Cup Exit
When it comes to England even low expectations can be dashed. When they were drawn against Italy and Uruguay, FA chairman Greg Dykeran his finger across his throat. On a cold, grey night in Sao Paulo, we discovered how right he was, as England…
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth
Scientists Have A New Theory About The 1 Billion-Year Pause In Evolution
Iraq crisis: Fierce battles for Baiji and Tal Afar
20 Jun 2014
Islamist-led militants and pro-government forces are engaged in fierce battles for the Baiji oil refinery and Tal Afar airport in northern Iraq. Baiji, Iraq‘s biggest refinery, is surrounded by the rebels, who say they have seized most of Tal Afar airport. The fighting comes a day after the US said it would send some 300 military advisers to…
Expansion not in Chinese DNA, says Premier Li Keqiang
BEIJING: Seeking to allay fears over China’s expansionist agenda, Premier Li Keqiang said territorial expansion is not part of the Chinese DNAand the country will never indulge in it. “Expansion is not in the Chinese DNA, nor…
photo: AP / Ng Han Guan
Obama says U.S. military plans for Iraq strictly limited
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama insisted on Thursday that his decision to send military advisers to Iraq and consider targeted strikes against insurgents from an al Qaeda splinter group did not meanU.S. troops would again be at war in…
photo: White House / Pete Souza
House GOP elects McCarthy, Scalise to leadership
WASHINGTON — Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California capped a meteoric rise through the ranks of power on Thursday, winning election as House majority leader as Republicans shuffled their leadership in the wake of Rep. Eric Cantor‘s primary defeat in…
photo: Creative Commons
U.S. Cuts Aid To Uganda, Cancels Military Exercise Over Anti-Gay Law
By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday cut aid to Uganda, imposed visa restrictions and canceled a regional military exercise in response to a Ugandan law that imposes harsh penalties on homosexuality. The…
photo: AP / Ben Curtis, File
Mountaintop Explosion Signals Start of Huge Telescope’s Construction
Officials with the European Southern Observatory made way for the future European-Extremely Large Telescope on June 19, 2014 with a modest explosive blast atop a mountain in Chile. Credit: ESO View full size image A modest mountaintop blast in Chile…
photo: Creative Commons / HHahn
Egypt court calls for death sentence for Brotherhood leader
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court signalled on Thursday that it wanted death sentences for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and 13 other defendants charged with murder and firearms possession, when it referred the case to the country’s…
photo: AP / Mohammed Abu Zaid
Israel arrests 30 Palestinians as search for teens continues
Jerusalem/Ramallah, June 19: Israeli security forces arrested 30 Palestinians in predawn raids in the West Bank as they continued searching for three Jewish youths abducted in the area a week ago, the Israeli military said Thursday. Previously, some…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe becomes king
19 Jun 2014
Spain‘s Crown Prince Felipe ascended to the Spanish throne at midnight on Wednesday, but there weren’t any ritzy official celebrations. The economic crisis that has left a quarter of Spaniards out of work prompted Europe‘s newest king to be relatively frugal at his proclamation. The former king, 76-year-old Juan Carlos, misjudged public anger at…
Dark net ‘used by tens of thousands of paedophiles’
Tens of thousands of paedophiles are using the so-called dark net to trade images of sexual abuse, an investigation by BBC News indicates. One site receives as many as 500 page views per second, its founder says. Figures from another site suggest…
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Tacloban in pictures: After Typhoon Haiyan and six months later
June 19, 2014 — Updated 0234 GMT (1034 HKT) Editor’s note:Drag the slider left or right to see how the locations just after the storm and six months later (CNN) — When Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines onNovember 8, 2013, it struck…
photo: AP / Aaron Favila
Fish-eating spiders discovered worldwide: study
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Xinhua) — Spiders from at least eight different families can prey on small fish and “fishing spiders” are probably geographically widespread, occurring on all continents except Antarctica, according to a study published…
photo: Public Domain / Kaldari
One-Time Auschwitz Guard Arrested In Philadelphia On German Warrant
An 89-year-old man accused of aiding and abetting the killing of 216,000 Jews as a Nazi camp guard at the concentration camp located inAuschwitz, Poland, during World War II, has been arrested in Philadelphia. Johann “Hans” Breyer, who emigrated to…
photo: Creative Commons / Grippenn
Chile Eliminates Defending Champion Spain from World Cup
Chile has eliminated defending champion Spain from theWorld Cup, beating the Spanish 2-0 in a key Group B match Wednesday. AtMaracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Spain suffered its second loss of the tournament after falling in demonstrative fashion…
photo: AP / Christophe Ena
14 dead in bombing of WCup view site in Nigeria
DAMATURU, Nigeria (AP) — An explosion at an illegal World Cup viewing site in northeast Nigeria killed at least 14 people while security forces arrested a “terror kingpin” among nearly 500 people detained as suspected terrorists in the southeast of…
photo: AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Kenya arrests suspects after twin attacks
Kenyan police have arrested “several” suspects in connection with the twin attacks on the coastal town of Mpeketoni in which at least 60 people were killed, officials have said. The assault on the town of Mpeketoni late on Sunday, and a nearby…
photo: AP
Militants lay siege to Iraq’s largest oil refinery
18 Jun 2014
BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic militants laid siege to Iraq‘s largest oil refinery Wednesday, threatening a facility key to the country’s domestic supplies as part of their ongoing lightning offensive, a top security official said. The attack comes militants have seized wide swaths of territory in Iraq — and as the specter of the sectarian warfare that…
Israel Re-arrests Former Palestinian Prisoners in Hunt for Teens
Reuters JERUSALEM — Israel re-arrested 51 Palestinians freed in a 2011 prisoner swap deal, the army said on Wednesday, in the sixth day of a hunt for three missing teenagers believed abducted in the occupied West Bank. Israel accuses Hamas…
photo: AP / Ariel Schalit
Abbas criticizes abduction of Israeli teens
Associated Press= RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) â?? Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday defended his security cooperation withIsrael against widespread criticism and said his forces are helping in the search for three Israeli teens missing…
photo: AP / Nasser Shiyoukhi, File
UK says cyber-spies monitor Facebook, Google use
LONDON: The U.K.’s electronic spy agency is legally allowed to track the online activities of millions of Britons who use U.S.-based platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, Britain’s top counterterrorism official has said. In a…
photo: WN / Denise Yong
Deadly bird flu H7N9 at risk of spreading from China to India, Bangladesh
Washington, June 18: A new research suggests that a dangerous strain of avian influenza, H7N9, that’s causing severe illness and deaths in China may be inhabiting a small fraction of its potential range and appears at risk of spreading to other…
photo: AP / Vincent Yu
Europe’s Gaia telescope grapples with stray light
The orbiting Gaia telescope will lose some performance because stray light is getting inside the observatory, the European Space Agency(Esa) says. But the impacts are likely to be very small, scientists believe, and the expectation is that all the…
photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
French President Hollande calls brutal attack on Roma teen ‘unjustifiable’
A gruesome vigilante assault on a Roma teenager who is now fighting for his life has shocked France, with President Francois Hollandedubbing the savage beating an “unspeakable and unjustifiable” act. Accused of robbery, the 16-year-old was dragged…
photo: AP / Philippe Wojazer
Pentagon: Benghazi suspect in US custody
WASHINGTON — A Libyan militant suspected in the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, attack on Americans in Benghazi has been captured and is in U.S.custody, marking the first U.S. apprehension of an alleged perpetrator in the assault that killed U.S.…
photo: AP / Mohammad Hannon
China to Join Naval Exercise as Regional Tensions Rise
17 Jun 2014
Later this month, China will for the first time join the massive U.S.-led Rim of thePacific international maritime exercise, known as RIMPAC. Beijing‘s participation comes as tensions over maritime territorial disputes are growing between China and its Asian neighbors. In recent weeks, Chinese and Vietnamese ships have repeatedly seen…
More than 3 months on, MH370 relatives struggling
17 Jun 2014
BEIJING (AP) — In the more than 100 days since her husband disappeared along with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Zhang Qian‘s world has collapsed. She quit her job, sleeps rarely and prefers not to go out, except to the Buddhist temples where she has found some solace. “At the temple, I can speak from my heart to my husband,” Zhang,…
Iraq crisis: U.S. moves firepower to region as ISIS’ advance continues
17 Jun 2014
updated 2:32 AM EDT, Tue June 17, 2014 Baghdad (CNN) — As the Islamic militantscontinue their murderous advance in Iraq, the Pentagon is moving more firepower and manpower into the region to prepare for whatever U.S. President Barack Obama orders. Already at the U.S. Embassy, dozens of Marines and Army troops have moved in to beef up security.…
Prosecutors Seize More Assets of Ferry Owner
Prosecutors in Incheon who are investigating corruption charges against fugitive ferry owner Yoo Byung-eon and his family have applied for court approval to seize an additional W21.3 billion worth of…
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man
NZ could give up UN peacekeeping
New Zealand wants to give up doing peacekeeping work for the sake of being a good global citizen and instead pick missions that benefit our international interests. A review of peacekeeping options also suggests dropping a formal guideline that peace…
photo: UN / Mark Garten
Pakistan to Continue Offensive Until ‘All Terrorists are Eliminated’
Ayaz Gul ISLAMABAD — Pakistani fighter planes have bombed suspected militant sanctuaries in the troubled North Waziristan border region for a second day as part of a long-demanded military offensive. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says the…
photo: AP / Anjum Naveed
Amada Knox asks Italian courts for ‘annulamento’
Mercury is retrograde now and moving back into the previous sign of Gemini. The last time Mercury went retrograde, February 6 – 28, 2014 it also changed signs on February 12th. It was at this time that Amanda Knoxhit the news after she tweeted a…
photo: AP / Alessandra Tarantino
White House to Send up to 275 U.S. Forces to Baghdad
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is notifyingCongress that about 275 U.S. military personnel could deploy to Iraq. Obama says the forces are going to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. He says the…
photo: AP / Hadi Mizban
Greenpeace Loses $5.2 Million On Rogue Employee Trading
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Greenpeace has suffered a 3.8 million-euro ($5.2 million) loss on an ill-timed bet in the currency market by a well-intentioned — if reckless — employee in its finance department. The environmental group, which is based in Amsterdam,…
photo: AP / Akira Suemori
China premier in UK visit to boost trade ties
LONDON (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will arrive in Britain Monday for a visit that includes an unusual meeting with Queen Elizabeth IIand talks aimed at boosting fragile diplomatic relations. The three-day visit — Li’s first since he became…
photo: AP / Ed Jones, Pool
48 die in Kenya town terror attack
Full ArticleBelfast Telegraph
16 Jun 2014
At least 48 people were killed when dozens of Somali extremists wielding automatic weapons attacked a small Kenyan coastal town for hours, assaulting the police station, setting two hotels on fire, and spraying bullets into the street, officials said today. The assault began at around 8pm local time last night as residents were watching World Cup…
China sentences three to death over Tiananmen Square attack
BEIJING (Reuters) – China sentenced three people to death on Monday over a deadly attack at Beijing‘s Tiananmen Square last October, state television reported, an incident blamed by the government on Islamist militants. One attacker was given a life…
photo: AP / Alexander F. Yuan
Michael Schumacher out of coma
Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was transferred from a French hospital to a facility in Switzerland on Monday after emerging from a coma following his devastating skiing accident in December. In a surprise announcement, the retired…
photo: AP / Gero Breloer
Fears grow for missing Israeli teenagers
A Palestinian boy watches as an Israeli soldier signals during the search for three Israeli teenagers in Hebron, West Bank. Photograph: Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA Fears are growing for the safety of three Israeli teenagers believed to have been…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Pro-Russia Rebels Shoot Down Ukrainian Military Plane, Killing All 49 Aboard
Pro-Russian separatists search for ammunition at the site of the crash of the Il-76 Ukrainian army transport plane in Luhansk, June 14, 2014.Ukraine‘s new president vowed to “punish” pro-Russian insurgents on Saturday after they shot down a…
photo: AP / Evgeniy Maloletka
Pentagon orders U.S. aircraft carrier Bush nearer to Iraq
The Pentagon announced Saturday that Defense SecretaryChuck Hagel had ordered the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush to move during the day from the North Arabian Sea into the Persian Gulf, placing it closer to Iraq. “The order will provide the…
photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist MC1 Lynn Friant
Stubb to be Finland’s next PM following conservative vote
Finland’s EU minister Alexander Stubb, who wants to cut taxes and take his neutral country into Nato, won the leadership of his ruling conservative party today, putting him on track to become prime minister later this month. British and US-educated…
photo: AP / Shakh Aivazov
China bids to boost S America role by aiding development
China, whose presence in Latin America until now was largely based on an appetite for raw materials, is diversifying investments by financing much-needed development projects, analysts say. On its 50th anniversary, theG77+China bloc of developing…
photo: Creative Commons / Clarquitecto
Pakistan air raids kill ‘dozens’ of fighters
15 Jun 2014
Pakistani intelligence officials say that military air strikes overnight in the northwestern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan have killed dozens of fighters. Local officials said the…
Fears grow for missing Israeli teenagers
A Palestinian boy watches as an Israeli soldier signals during the search for three Israeli teenagers in Hebron, West Bank. Photograph: Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA Fears are growing for the safety of three Israeli teenagers believed to have been…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Pro-Russia Rebels Shoot Down Ukrainian Military Plane, Killing All 49 Aboard
Pro-Russian separatists search for ammunition at the site of the crash of the Il-76 Ukrainian army transport plane in Luhansk, June 14, 2014.Ukraine‘s new president vowed to “punish” pro-Russian insurgents on Saturday after they shot down a…
photo: AP / Evgeniy Maloletka
Pentagon orders U.S. aircraft carrier Bush nearer to Iraq
The Pentagon announced Saturday that Defense SecretaryChuck Hagel had ordered the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush to move during the day from the North Arabian Sea into the Persian Gulf, placing it closer to Iraq. “The order will provide the…
photo: US Navy / Mass Communication Specialist MC1 Lynn Friant
Stubb to be Finland’s next PM following conservative vote
Finland’s EU minister Alexander Stubb, who wants to cut taxes and take his neutral country into Nato, won the leadership of his ruling conservative party today, putting him on track to become prime minister later this month. British and US-educated…
photo: AP / Shakh Aivazov
China bids to boost S America role by aiding development
China, whose presence in Latin America until now was largely based on an appetite for raw materials, is diversifying investments by financing much-needed development projects, analysts say. On its 50th anniversary, theG77+China bloc of developing…
photo: Creative Commons / Clarquitecto
Legendary NFL coach Chuck Noll dies at 82
PITTSBURGH – Chuck Noll, who built the “Steel Curtain”Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s into one of the most dominant teams in pro football history, becoming the only NFL coach to win four Super Bowl championships, died Friday night in…
photo: AP
Iran sends troops into Iraq to aid fight against Isis militants
Full ArticleThe Guardian
14 Jun 2014
Tehran and Washington form fragile alliance to aid Nouri al-maliki as jihadist group threatens to take Baghdad Iraqi security forces and volunteers on the outskirts of Diyala province. Photograph: Reuters Iran has sent 2,000 advance troops to Iraq in the past 48 hours to help tackle a jihadist insurgency, a senior Iraqi official has told the…
Hunt for three Israelis believed kidnapped by Palestinian militants
Israeli security forces were engaged in a massive manhunt in the West Bank last night for three young Israelis, presumed kidnapped byPalestinian militants. The three youths, aged 16-19, left their yeshiva Jewish seminary south of Bethlehem on…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
U.S. stocks hold small gains despite escalating tensions in Iraq
NEW YORK, June 13 (Xinhua) — U.S. stocks managed to close modestly higher in seesaw trading session Friday, brushing off mounting geopolitical uncertainties in Iraq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 41.55 points, or 0.25 percent, to 16,775.74.…
photo: AP / Richard Drew
Hidden ‘Ocean’ Discovered Deep Underground Near Earth’s Core
We may have another “ocean” to add to the world map — only this one is hidden hundreds of miles beneath our planet’s surface. A new study suggests that a hidden “ocean” is nestled in the Earth’s mantle some 400 miles beneath North America. The…
photo: AP / Daniel Ochoa de Olza
Ukraine Says Tanks Have Rolled in From Russia
KIEV, Ukraine — Senior Ukraine officials said on Thursday that three tanks and other military vehicles had trundled into the restive eastern region of the country from Russia, igniting a firefight between Ukrainian and pro-Kremlin groups. “Today…
photo: AP / Evgeniy MBrazil Beats Croatia as World Cup Begins
Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo to be tried at Hague for election violence
By Thomas Escritt and Joe Bavier AMSTERDAM/ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is be tried at theInternational Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity during post-election violence in which around 3,000…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
Down And Out In Rio: What To Expect At The World Cup
Submitted 06/11/2014 – 22:29
Sticker shock. Expect to pay a lot. Hellishly hot in the summer and shockingly less sexy than advertised. But the city and local people, called Cariocas, are clean and the crime is greatly exaggerated. The Marvelous City is amazing in many ways. But if you look closely, you see the same old corruption and thuggery, the same painful poverty and injustice, that plague many states. And then there’s the Brazilian prostitutes, called programas, who frequent the bars and brothels of Copacabana and Ipanema as well as Central Rio… People in Rio and Brazil are the same as anywhere. They want the same things. Happiness, diversion, laughter, distraction, the so-called good things in life. A slightly larger piece of the pie. The World Cup is just a showcase and a distraction. Bread and circus on a grander scale.
West, African countries agree to eliminate Boko Haram
13 Jun 2014
London, June 13: Western powers and African countries Thursday agreed on a series of multinational missions to eliminate militant group Boko Haram and free the abducted Nigerian school girls, media reported Friday The agreements were reached at a meeting on Nigeria‘s security situation, hosted in London Thursday, byBritish Foreign Secretary…
Syria Islamist militants pause and reinforce from Iraq
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Syria branch of the Islamic State inIraq and the Levant (ISIL) has put fighting on hold in Syria while it brings in weapons seized inside neighboring Iraq, a monitoring group that tracks the violence said on Friday. ISIL, a…
photo: AP / Edlib News Network, ENN
Ukraine Says Tanks Have Rolled in From Russia
KIEV, Ukraine — Senior Ukraine officials said on Thursday that three tanks and other military vehicles had trundled into the restive eastern region of the country from Russia, igniting a firefight between Ukrainian and pro-Kremlin groups. “Today…
photo: AP / Evgeniy Maloletka
Brazil Beats Croatia as World Cup Begins
VOA News The 2014 World Cup is underway, with consensus-favorite Brazil seeking to win a record sixth World Cup title and its first since 2002, beating Croatia 3-1 in a Group A matchup at the Arena Corinthians, also referred to as Arena de Itaquera…
photo: AP / Shuji Kajiyama
Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo to be tried at Hague for election violence
By Thomas Escritt and Joe Bavier AMSTERDAM/ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is be tried at theInternational Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity during post-election violence in which around 3,000…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
Pitt joins Jolie at war rape summit
Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt added even more star power as he joined partner Angelina Jolie and “Team Hague” at a global summit to end rape in war zones. Human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, who has become engaged to Pitt’s friend and fellow pin-up…
photo: AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
California to add child care, transitional kindergarten slots in budget deal
California will add thousands of additional transitional kindergarten and child care slots for young children, according to a budget deal taking shape at the Capitol, while falling short of a broader program expansionDemocratic lawmakers originally…
photo: WN / marzena
Iraq Asked The White House For Air Support Against Militants — But They Said No
Civilian children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi security forces and al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 10, 2014. See Also Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri…
photo: AP / Cliff Owen
‘WE WILL MARCH TOWARD BAGHDAD’
ASSOCIATED PRESSMilitants Vow Advance On Iraq’s Capital… ‘We Have An Account To Settle There’… Obama: ‘I Don’t Rule Out Anything’… EARLIER: Fighters Seize Saddam Hussein’s Hometown… Group Too Extreme For Al Qaeda Takes Over 2nd Largest City… Thousands Flee… Iraqi Kurds Seize Oil-Rich City Of Kirkuk… Iraq Asked U.S. For Airstrikes… Senior U.S. Official: ‘It Makes You Want To Kill Yourself’… MAP: Where ISIS Is Gaining… ‘By Invading, Occupying And Looting Iraq, Bush And Cheney Brought Al-Qaeda Into The Country’… LIVE UPDATES…
Another Indian woman found hanging from tree in Uttar Pradesh
12 Jun 2014
A 19-year-old woman has been found hanging from a tree in a village in northernIndia, the third such case in a month in Uttar Pradesh state. The body was found in Thakurdwara, about three hours’ drive from Delhi. Her family told police she was raped. A post mortem…
16 militants killed in two US drone strikes in Pakistan
California to add child care, transitional kindergarten slots in budget deal
California will add thousands of additional transitional kindergarten and child care slots for young children, according to a budget deal taking shape at the Capitol, while falling short of a broader program expansionDemocratic lawmakers originally…
photo: WN / marzena
Iraq Asked The White House For Air Support Against Militants — But They Said No
Civilian children stand next to a burnt vehicle during clashes between Iraqi security forces and al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 10, 2014. See Also Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri…
photo: AP / Cliff Owen
4 of 5 soldiers killed during friendly fire incident in Afghanistan ID’d
MOKENA, Ill. (AP) — The five American troops killed in a friendly fire airstrike included an Illinois soldier who went to Afghanistan a month after his father died, an Ohio man who was engaged to be married, a CaliforniaGreen Beret who only…
photo: USMC / Michael Dye
World Cup: ‘Brazil Ready For The Kick-Off’
In Rio de Janeiro, the sun has been a reluctant guest atBrazil‘s World Cup party. On the eve of the tournament clouds have hung stubbornly to the hills above the city all week, obscuring the statue of Christ the Redeemer. If and when he does emerge,…
photo: AP / Victor R. Caivano
Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills Palestinian militant
A Palestinian was killed Wednesday when the Israeli air forcetargeted a man on a motorbike in the northern Gaza Strip who Israeli authorities said was a militant preparing terrorist attacks. Local sources in…
photo: WN / Ahmed Deeb
Blackwater Guards on Trial Over Killing of Iraqi Civilians
VOA News Jury selection began Wednesday in the trial of four former Blackwater security guards charged with the killing of 14 Iraqis and the wounding of 18 others during a shootout in a Baghdad traffic circle. A…
photo: AP / Scott Snow
Tens of thousands flee Iraq’s Mosul
Full ArticleThe Times of India
11 Jun 2014
MOSUL: An al-Qaida splinter group seized control of the Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday, putting security forces to flight in a spectacular show of strength against the Shia-led Baghdad government. The capture of the northern city of 2 million by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — Sunni Muslims waging sectarian war on both sides of the…
Palestine’s unity government: Cause for celebration and scepticism
11 Jun 2014
The June 2 announcement of a Palestinian consensus government is both cause for celebration and scepticism. The national unity deal was struck in late April between Hamas and Fatah. It is a significant achievement in its own right, but also because it sets this latest agreement apart from previous, stillborn attempts at reconciliation between the…
Merkel endorses Juncker for EU top job
German chancellor Angela Merkel delivered her strongest statement yet in support of Jean-Claude Juncker’s bid to become the next president of the European Commission, dealing a fresh blow to British prime minister David Cameron, who is attempt to…
photo: European Community / EC
G7 Backs Curtailing Illicit Financial Flows
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations leaders have reiterated their backing for curtailing illicit financial flows stemming from crime, corruption, and tax evasion. At the end of their meeting last week inBrussels, they said in a…
photo: European Community / EC
Rivlin chosen as Israeli president
Israel’s parliament has chosen Reuven Rivlin, a stalwart in the ruling Likud Party, as the country’s next president. Policy makers chose the former parliament speaker and cabinet minister in a secret run-off ballot against long-time legislator Meir…
photo: AP / Dan Balilty
Somalia: UN envoy welcomes release of captives held by pirates since 2010
In a press release from the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia(UNSOM), Nicholas Kay welcomed the release Saturday of 11 crew members of the ship MV Albedo, held hostage since November 2010, reported the UN InformationCenter to Tehran (UNIC) on…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
Jolie and Hague at war rapes summit
Angelina Jolie and Foreign Secretary William Hague have arrived to co-chair the largest ever summit on the subject of sexual violence in war. The Hollywood star was greeted at the ExCeL conference centre in London’sDocklands by a bank of…
photo: AP / Amel Emric
Pakistani Taliban attack Karachi airport, 27 dead
Paramilitary forces say insurgents in assault on economic hub are Uzbeks Taliban militants disguised as security forces stormed Pakistan’sbusiest airport on Sunday and at least 27 people were killed in a nightlong battle at one of the country’s most…
photo: AP / Shakil Adil
Mark Rutte to meet Enda Kenny in Dublin for talks
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte flies to Dublin today for talks with Taoiseach Enda Kenny on the appointment of the next European Commission president, as British prime minister David Cameron continued his campaign against Jean-Claude Juncker’s…
photo: AP / Peter Morrison
MILITANTS STORM IRAQ’S SECOND LARGEST CITY
ASSOCIATED PRESSSeize Government Headquarters, Key Buildings.. PM Asks Parliament To Declare State Of Emergency.. ‘What Happened Is A Disaster By Any Standard’
Subway strike suspended in Sao Paulo, may hit Rio
10 Jun 2014
SAO PAULO — A paralyzing subway strike has been suspended, though union officials warn that if their demands for higher pay aren’t met they will call workers off the job again Thursday — the day Sao Paulo hosts the opening match of theWorld Cup. In an assembly Monday night, union members voted to temporarily suspend the strike they…
Another 20 women kidnapped’ in north Nigeria
10 Jun 2014
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have reportedly kidnapped 20 women from a nomadic settlement in northeast Nigeria near the town of Chibok, where the rebel group abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April. Alhaji Tar, a member of a vigilante group set up to resist Boko…
Jolie and Hague at war rapes summit
Angelina Jolie and Foreign Secretary William Hague have arrived to co-chair the largest ever summit on the subject of sexual violence in war. The Hollywood star was greeted at the ExCeL conference centre in London’sDocklands by a bank of…
photo: AP / Amel Emric
Pakistani Taliban attack Karachi airport, 27 dead
Paramilitary forces say insurgents in assault on economic hub are Uzbeks Taliban militants disguised as security forces stormed Pakistan’sbusiest airport on Sunday and at least 27 people were killed in a nightlong battle at one of the country’s most…
photo: AP / Shakil Adil
Mark Rutte to meet Enda Kenny in Dublin for talks
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte flies to Dublin today for talks with Taoiseach Enda Kenny on the appointment of the next European Commission president, as British prime minister David Cameron continued his campaign against Jean-Claude Juncker’s…
photo: AP / Peter Morrison
Chinese foreign minister calls on Pranab
New Delhi, June 09: Wang Yi, the foreign minister and special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Monday called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mukherjee said India and China have excellent relations and that Wang‘s visit will…
photo: PIB of India /
Human remains found in Australian crocodile after attack
A man is presumed dead and crocodiles are back inAustralian headlines after police found what they believe are the remains of a man taken from his boat over the weekend. (Via Flickr / Matthew Paulson) The 62-year-old man was camping with his family…
photo: Creative Commons / Peripitus
In Interview, Obama Reveals Frustration With Global Warming Skeptics
In an interview airing on Monday night, President Obamareveals his frustration with lawmakers who question the very existence of manmade global warming. The interview, conducted for the Showtimedocumentary series “Years of Living Dangerously,”…
photo: AP / Rebecca Blackwell
India-Pak verbal duel after Karachi airport siege; JuD chief blames Modi
LUCKNOW: After the Karachi airport siege unfolded, it was bizarre accusations doing rounds on Twitter with tweeples busy presenting their views on the search and rescue operations even as Pakistani security forces battled it out to secure the Karachi…
photo: AP / Shakil Adil
ATTACKED
Dozens Dead In Siege At Pakistan’s Busiest Airport…
Taliban Claims Responsibility For Attack…
ALSO: Suicide Bombing At Hotel Kills 23
Ambush shooting
09 Jun 2014
An armed man and woman shouting about a “revolution” opened fire and killed two Las Vegas policemen who were eating lunch in a pizza parlour on Sunday, then fatally shot a civilian in a nearby Wal-Mart store before killing themselves, police said. The two uniformed patrol officers, later identified as Alyn Beck, 41, and IgorSoldo, 31 – both family…
India-Pak verbal duel after Karachi airport siege; JuD chief blames Modi
LUCKNOW: After the Karachi airport siege unfolded, it was bizarre accusations doing rounds on Twitter with tweeples busy presenting their views on the search and rescue operations even as Pakistani security forces battled it out to secure the Karachi…
photo: AP / Shakil Adil
Nadal tops Djokovic: 9th French Open, 14th major
PARIS (AP) — Trying to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Openis, without a doubt, the toughest task in tennis. Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game,point to…
photo: AP / Darko Vojinovic
Kosovo’s Thaci bids for third term amid voter anger
Former guerrilla Hashim Thaci bids for a third term as prime minister of Kosovo yesterday, under pressure from voters angry over poverty and corruption and a war crimes investigation that threatens to ensnare his former comrades-in-arms. Some…
photo: AP / Visar Kryeziu
Russia-Ukraine dialogue minus the artillery fires
Tweet Moscow, June 8 (IANS) Russia is ready for a dialogue with Ukraine only when there are no artillery fires in the country, head of Russian parliament‘s upper house, Valentina Matviyenko said. “We’re…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Brazil Olympics: Rio bay ‘will not be clean for 2016’
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes has said that the Brazilian city will not be able to clean the polluted bay where Olympic sailing competitions will be held before the 2016 Games. Brazil had made a commitment to reduce pollution in the Guanabara Bay…
photo: Creative Commons
Al-Shabaab commander surrenders to Somali government
Mogadishu, June 07: A senior Al-Shabaab militant commander in Somalia have surrendered to authorites. Sheik Mohamed Said AtomSaturday gave himself up to authorities, saying he will not take part in violence in the country, Xinhua reported. The…
photo: AP / Mohamed Sheikh Nor
‘The Fault In Our Stars’ is dominating ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ at the box office
We are officially in summer blockbuster season, the time of year when studios roll out their big-budget, star-studded movies in hopes of raking in grosses that feature (at least) nine figures. This weekend brought…
photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to be sworn in as Egypt’s president
08 Jun 2014
Former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is to be sworn in as Egypt‘s new president after winning by a landslide in May’s elections. Security forces have been deployed at key locations around the capital Cairo in preparation for the ceremony at theSupreme Constitutional Court. The retired field marshal overthrew PresidentMohammed Morsi…
Anti-monarchy protests persist in Spain
08 Jun 2014
Thousands of protesters have continued to take to the streets of Madrid and otherSpanish cities calling for a referendum to abolish Spain‘s monarchy almost a week after King Juan Carlos abdicated in favour of his son. On Saturday, dozens of left-wing political parties and citizens organisations came together in support of republicanism. “Spain,…
Russia-Ukraine dialogue minus the artillery fires
Tweet Moscow, June 8 (IANS) Russia is ready for a dialogue with Ukraine only when there are no artillery fires in the country, head of Russian parliament‘s upper house, Valentina Matviyenko said. “We’re…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Brazil Olympics: Rio bay ‘will not be clean for 2016’
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes has said that the Brazilian city will not be able to clean the polluted bay where Olympic sailing competitions will be held before the 2016 Games. Brazil had made a commitment to reduce pollution in the Guanabara Bay…
photo: Creative Commons
Al-Shabaab commander surrenders to Somali government
Mogadishu, June 07: A senior Al-Shabaab militant commander in Somalia have surrendered to authorites. Sheik Mohamed Said AtomSaturday gave himself up to authorities, saying he will not take part in violence in the country, Xinhua reported. The…
photo: AP / Mohamed Sheikh Nor
UN to tap Jordan’s ambassador as new rights chief
Prince Zeid Al Hussein, a longtime diplomat and former UN peacekeeper, has been nominated to replace Navi Pillay. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nominated Prince Zeid Al Hussein of Jordan as the new UN high commissioner for human rights. Ban…
photo: AP / John Minchillo, File
Strike tangles Sao Paulo again in run-up to World Cup
SAO PAULO
A woman rides the metro during what is usually rush hour, in Republica station during a strike in Sao Paulo June 5, 2014.
Poroshenko promises united Ukraine and no compromise on Crimea
07 Jun 2014
Ukraine crisis Reuters Image Caption: Poroshenko walks past the honour guard as he arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Ukraine’s new president in Kiev(reuters tickers) June 7, 2014 – 10:35 By Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s new president Petro Poroshenko said his country would never give upCrimea and would not compromise on its…
photo: AP / Volodymyr Strumkovsky
Another awkward encounter for Obama, Putin
BENOUVILLE, FRANCE: Add another awkward chapter to the long-running story of the tense relationship of President Barack Obama andRussian President Vladimir Putin. This one came complete with a cameo from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who…
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
World honors D-Day’s fallen, 70 years on
COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France – It was a day of pride, remembrance and honors for those who waded through blood-tinged waves, climbed razor-sharp cliffs or fell from the skies, staring down death or dying in an invasion that portended the fall of…
photo: AP / Pascal Rossignol, Pool
4 shot, 1 dead at Seattle university shooting
A lone gunman armed with a shotgun and knife opened fire on Thursday (local time) in a building at a small Seattle university, fatally wounding one person before a student subdued him with pepper spray as he tried to reload, police said. A student…
photo: AP / Ted S. Warren
Wearing disguise, Boko Haram slaughters hundreds
HARUNA UMAR Associated Press= MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) â?? When men wearing military fatigues and carrying weapons showed up in pickup trucks, villagers thought Nigerian soldiers had finally come to protect them fromBoko Haram. But it was a disguise.…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Firefighters Investigate Smoke At The Shard
About 900 people have been evacuated from Londonskyscraper The Shard after smoke was discovered in the basement. Firefighters are now investigating what caused the smoke at the 1,004ft-high building – the tallest inWestern Europe. The mass…
photo: AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
G7 expresses concern over Asian maritime tensions
Leaders of the Group of Seven industrialised nations have said that they are deeply concerned by tensions in the East and South China Sea. The G7 leaders meeting in Brussels yesterday had warned against any use of…
photo: US Navy
Iran oil sanctions for six months
With Iran complying with the commitment on its controversial nuclear weapons programme, US President Barack Obama has suspended his action on Iranian oil sanctions for the next six months. Even though there is enough oil in the international market…
photo: Creative Commons / Nanking2012
Seattle Pacific University shooting: At least 4 shot, suspect in custody
06 Jun 2014
Seattle Pacific University had a shooting on Thursday in which at least four persons were shot. Police say that they have a suspect in custody. Though social media stated that a second gunman was being sought, those messages have been updated to say that there…
Wearing disguise, Boko Haram slaughters hundreds
HARUNA UMAR Associated Press= MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) â?? When men wearing military fatigues and carrying weapons showed up in pickup trucks, villagers thought Nigerian soldiers had finally come to protect them fromBoko Haram. But it was a disguise.…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Firefighters Investigate Smoke At The Shard
About 900 people have been evacuated from Londonskyscraper The Shard after smoke was discovered in the basement. Firefighters are now investigating what caused the smoke at the 1,004ft-high building – the tallest inWestern Europe. The mass…
photo: AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
Mass grave of 796 babies found in septic tank at Catholic orphanage in Tuam, Galway
The Catholic Church in Ireland is facing fresh accusations of child neglect after a researcher found records for 796 youngsters believed to be buried in a mass grave beside a former orphanage for the children of unwed mothers in Tuam, Co Galway.…
photo: AP / Peter Morrison
U.S. may stay in Afghanistan 10 more years
While some 9,800 troops are slated to stay until then, plans are being formulated to continue a U.S. presence through diplomatic and intelligence assets, as well as the hiring of private security contractors. The contractors would undertake training…
photo: AP / Igor Kovalenko
Ukraine tops agenda at G7 in Brussels
Ukraine topped the agenda of the G7 summit last night, as leaders of the world’s most powerful countries – minus Russia – gathered inBrussels. The summit, the first to be held in the EU capital, had been scheduled to take place in the Russian city…
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Assad wins Syrian election with 88.7% of vote
Syria’s parliament yesterday announced that incumbentBashar al-Assad won Tuesday’s presidential election, winning 88.7 per cent of the vote (10.3 million votes). An hour before the final result was proclaimed a rising ripple of celebratory…
photo: AP / Muzaffar Salman
Boko Haram Attack in Nigeria Killed 400 Villagers, Official Says
By Gbenga Akingbule Bloomberg News An attack by suspected militants from the Boko Haram Islamist group left at least 400 people dead in three villages in northeastern Nigeria, according to a local official. The…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Syria’s Assad Wins Presidential Election by Landslide
05 Jun 2014
As expected, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a third seven-year term in office, with a reported 89 percent of the vote. Voting took place Tuesday in parts ofSyria controlled by the government, but was boycotted by opposition groups in areas they control. Officials say voter turnout was 73 percent. But even asDamascus erupted in…
Ukraine crisis: Donetsk rebel leaders still talking tough
05 Jun 2014
In the “City of a Thousand Roses“, five female gardeners are tending a flower bed in the centre of town. Across the street, a man is sweeping dust and leaves from the pavement. A trolleybus trundles by, stopping briefly to collect more passengers. On the surface, this is a picture of normality. Continue reading the main story “Start…
U.S. may stay in Afghanistan 10 more years
While some 9,800 troops are slated to stay until then, plans are being formulated to continue a U.S. presence through diplomatic and intelligence assets, as well as the hiring of private security contractors. The contractors would undertake training…
photo: AP / Igor Kovalenko
Assad wins Syrian election with 88.7% of vote
Syria’s parliament yesterday announced that incumbentBashar al-Assad won Tuesday’s presidential election, winning 88.7 per cent of the vote (10.3 million votes). An hour before the final result was proclaimed a rising ripple of celebratory…
photo: AP / Muzaffar Salman
Ukraine tops agenda at G7 in Brussels
Ukraine topped the agenda of the G7 summit last night, as leaders of the world’s most powerful countries – minus Russia – gathered inBrussels. The summit, the first to be held in the EU capital, had been scheduled to take place in the Russian city…
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Boko Haram Attack in Nigeria Killed 400 Villagers, Official Says
By Gbenga Akingbule Bloomberg News An attack by suspected militants from the Boko Haram Islamist group left at least 400 people dead in three villages in northeastern Nigeria, according to a local official. The…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Bombings strike busy areas in Iraq, killing 25
BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombings tore through busy areas in the Iraqi capital and cities to the north and south on Wednesday, killing at least 25 people, officials said. Iraq is experiencing its worst surge in violence since the sectarian bloodletting of 2006…
photo: AP / Hadi Mizban
PM meets secretaries to outline governance agenda
Tweet New Delhi, June 4 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra ModiWednesday met the secretaries of all government departments to outline his agenda of governance to the top bureaucrats. In a first for a…
photo: PIB of India / PHOTODIVISION
France targets flow of jihadis to Syria
The three young Frenchmen were arrested as they tried to make their way to Syria to wage jihad. They had not harmed anyone in France or made plans to do so, according to the evidence at their trial in January, but in France these days, seeking to…
photo: AP / Francois Mori
Tiananmen: Lockdown As China Passes 25 Years
04 Jun 2014
4 June 2014, 6:04 Tiananmen: Lockdown As China Passes 25 Years Tweet Chineseauthorities are imposing severe security measures in central Beijing today as the city passes the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Thousands of police and security forces, some armed with automatic rifles, have been deployed across the Chinese capital.…
NSA whistleblower Snowden seeks Brazil asylum
04 Jun 2014
Edward Snowden, the former US intelligence contractor turned whistleblower, has said he has requested asylum in Brazil, in an interview with journalists from the country. Appearing on Brazil’s Globo TV channel on Sunday, Snowden said he would not exchange information in return for asylum. “I already sent a petition to the Brazilian government…
China defends Tiananmen crackdown on eve of 25th anniversary
A billboard at the June 4th Museum in Hong Kong, dedicated to remembering the Tiananmen Square massacre. Photo: AFP Beijing: Chinadefended the bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators aroundBeijing‘s Tiananmen Square on Tuesday, the eve…
photo: AP / Alexander F. Yuan
Gopinath Munde: Indian minister dies in car crash
India‘s Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde has died in a car…
photo: Creative Commons / Deepak13066
Spain’s King Juan Carlos to abdicate in favor of son, Prime Minister announces
Published June 02, 2014Associated Press Facebook0 Twitter0 Gplus0 FILE – In this file photo from April 12, 2009, Spanish King Juan Carlos, waves after attending an Easter Mass at the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca, Spain. (AP)Spain‘s King Juan…
photo: AP / Daniel Ochoa de Olza
Spain’s King Juan Carlos steps down
Spain‘s King Juan Carlos plans to abdicate and pave the way for his son, Crown Prince Felipe, to become the country’s next king, the nation’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy said today. Juan Carlos, 76, oversaw his country’s transition from dictatorship…
photo: AP / Paul White
Pele’s son sentenced to 33 years in prison
The son of former Brazil striker Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for laundering money earned from drug trafficking, Brazilian media reported. Edinho, who…
photo: AP / Vincent Yu
U.S. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl flies to freedom after Afghan prisoner swap
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan/WASHINGTON – The soleAmerican prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Sunday after being freed in a swap deal for five Taliban militants who were released from the…
photo: AP / Militant Video
‘Qatar paid millions’ for World Cup bid support
UK newspaper report accuses Bin Hammam of using slush funds A former top Qatari football official paid more than $5 million to get support for the emirate’s controversial campaign to host the 2022 World Cup, a Britishnewspaper alleged on…
photo: AP / Osama Faisal
Leading Pakistani politician arrested in London
03 Jun 2014
JILL LAWLESS Associated Press= LONDON (AP) â?? British police on Tuesday arrested leading Pakistani politician Altaf Hussain on suspicion of money-laundering â?? a move that sparked fears of violence in his home base of Karachi. Police in Britain do not name suspects until they are charged. But when asked about Hussain, theMetropolitan Police said…
Spain’s King Juan Carlos to abdicate in favor of son, Prime Minister announces
Published June 02, 2014Associated Press Facebook0 Twitter0 Gplus0 FILE – In this file photo from April 12, 2009, Spanish King Juan Carlos, waves after attending an Easter Mass at the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca, Spain. (AP)Spain‘s King Juan…
photo: AP / Daniel Ochoa de Olza
Spain’s King Juan Carlos steps down
Spain‘s King Juan Carlos plans to abdicate and pave the way for his son, Crown Prince Felipe, to become the country’s next king, the nation’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy said today. Juan Carlos, 76, oversaw his country’s transition from dictatorship…
photo: AP / Paul White
Pele’s son sentenced to 33 years in prison
The son of former Brazil striker Pele has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for laundering money earned from drug trafficking, Brazilian media reported. Edinho, who…
photo: AP / Vincent Yu
U.S. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl flies to freedom after Afghan prisoner swap
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan/WASHINGTON – The soleAmerican prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Sunday after being freed in a swap deal for five Taliban militants who were released from the…
photo: AP / Militant Video
‘Qatar paid millions’ for World Cup bid support
UK newspaper report accuses Bin Hammam of using slush funds A former top Qatari football official paid more than $5 million to get support for the emirate’s controversial campaign to host the 2022 World Cup, a Britishnewspaper alleged on…
photo: AP / Osama Faisal
Abkhazia’s president resigns before early elections
Reuters June 1, 2014 – 17:33 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Alexander Ankvab, the head of Georgia‘s breakaway region of Abkhazia, resigned on Sunday, just a day after the local parliament voted to hold early presidential elections in August, a spokeswoman…
photo: Creative Commons / Presidential Press and Information Office
US prisoner of war freed in swap deal with Taliban
02 Jun 2014
WASHINGTON: The long-held belief that the US does not negotiate with terrorists, mostly romanticized in movies, was quietly set aside when the Obama administration released five Taliban terrorists on Saturday in exchange for anAmerican prisoner of war captured by their associates in Afghanistan nearly five years ago. Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, 28, was…
Spain’s King Juan Carlos to abdicate in favor of son, Prime Minister announces
Published June 02, 2014Associated Press Facebook0 Twitter0 Gplus0 FILE – In this file photo from April 12, 2009, Spanish King Juan Carlos, waves after attending an Easter Mass at the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca, Spain. (AP)Spain‘s King Juan…
photo: AP / Daniel Ochoa de Olza
U.S. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl flies to freedom after Afghan prisoner swap
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan/WASHINGTON – The soleAmerican prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Sunday after being freed in a swap deal for five Taliban militants who were released from the…
photo: AP / Militant Video
‘Qatar paid millions’ for World Cup bid support
UK newspaper report accuses Bin Hammam of using slush funds A former top Qatari football official paid more than $5 million to get support for the emirate’s controversial campaign to host the 2022 World Cup, a Britishnewspaper alleged on…
photo: AP / Osama Faisal
Abkhazia’s president resigns before early elections
Reuters June 1, 2014 – 17:33 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Alexander Ankvab, the head of Georgia‘s breakaway region of Abkhazia, resigned on Sunday, just a day after the local parliament voted to hold early presidential elections in August, a spokeswoman…
photo: Creative Commons / Presidential Press and Information Office
Watch This CNN Reporter Get Detained By Turkish Cops — On Air
In a sign of how tense things have gotten in Turkey these days, a CNN journalist was detained and kicked by police — live on air. Reporting from Taksim Square in Istanbul, CNN’s Ivan Watson was showing the audience lines of riot police,…
photo: Creative Commons / Chris Green
Turkish activists mark 1st anniversary of protests
ISTANBUL — Hundreds of activists mobilized Saturday for demonstrations in Istanbul and other cities, defying a heavy police presence on the anniversary of nationwide anti-government protests that erupted last year. Policeblocked access to…
photo: Creative Commons
Volcanic Ash Disrupts Flights in Australia and Bali
Billowing clouds of volcanic ash have forced airlines in northern Australia and Bali to cancel flights Saturday. Mount Sangeang Api began spewing ash on Friday. The volcano is located on…
photo: Creative Commons / Szymic1
BANGKOK DANGEROUS
CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT via Getty ImagesThailand’s Ruling Junta Deploys Thousands Of Forces.. Protesters Arrested..Army And Police Flood Into Bangkok
Watch This CNN Reporter Get Detained By Turkish Cops — On Air
In a sign of how tense things have gotten in Turkey these days, a CNN journalist was detained and kicked by police — live on air. Reporting from Taksim Square in Istanbul, CNN’s Ivan Watson was showing the audience lines of riot police,…
photo: Creative Commons / Chris Green
Turkish activists mark 1st anniversary of protests
ISTANBUL — Hundreds of activists mobilized Saturday for demonstrations in Istanbul and other cities, defying a heavy police presence on the anniversary of nationwide anti-government protests that erupted last year. Policeblocked access to…
photo: Creative Commons
Volcanic Ash Disrupts Flights in Australia and Bali
Billowing clouds of volcanic ash have forced airlines in northern Australia and Bali to cancel flights Saturday. Mount Sangeang Api began spewing ash on Friday. The volcano is located on…
photo: Creative Commons / Szymic1
Spain’s PM says his government is to unveil 6.3 billion euro ($8.6 billion) stimulus package
Published May 31, 2014Associated Press Facebook0 Twitter0 Gplus0 MADRID – Spain‘s prime minister says his government will unveil a stimulus package worth 6.3 billion euros ($8.6 billion) to boost competitiveness. In anothersign that the…
photo: AP / Andres Kudacki
‘WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF THE SIXTH EXTINCTION’
China is ‘destabilising’ South China Sea, US defence secretary warns
31 May 2014
Chuck Hagel says US will ‘not look the other way’ if Beijing tries to ride roughshod over international maritime rules A Vietnamese boat sinks after being rammed byChinese vessels near disputed Paracels Islands in the South China Sea on Thursday.Photograph: Reuters China is “destabilising” the South China Sea region by pursuing territorial…
FBI reportedly investigating Phil Mickelson for insider trading
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating possible insider trading involving billionaire investor Carl Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and Las Vegas gambler William Walters, a source familiar…
photo: AP / Tony Dejak
Argentine vice-president Boudou summoned in corruption case
A judge in Argentina has summoned Vice-President Amado Boudou to appear in court in July to defend himself in a corruption case. MrBoudou is suspected of using his influence to ensure that a contract to print Argentina’s banknotes…
photo: AP / Victor R. Caivano
Google launches ‘right to be forgotten’ webform for removal requests
Company responds to EU court ruling empowering citizens to have certain links about them deleted from search results Google has created a page where EU citizens can request removal of search results about them.Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP Google has…
photo: Public domain photo
New threats will not distract U.S. from Asia, Hagel says
By David Brunnstrom ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) – The United States will not be deterred from plans to strengthen its military position in Asia by emerging threats elsewhere, the U.S. defense secretary said on Thursday as he prepared to…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Los Angeles Clippers Sold To Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
How Was The Team Sold? The deal comes after a tumultuous ‘bid war’ that pitted Ballmer against the Guggenheim Group (represented by David Geffen) and Los Angeles investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh. Ressler and Karsh bid $1.6 billion,…
photo: AP / Richard Drew
Ukraine’s new leader vows to crush rebels after deadly attack
Ukraine‘s President-elect Petro Poroshenko has vowed to punish “bandits” after pro-Russian rebels shot down an army helicopter, killing 12. “These criminal acts of the enemies of the Ukrainian people will not go unpunished,”…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Egypt’s Sissi Crushes at Polls, Turnout Questioned
Elizabeth Arrott CAIRO — Egyptian officials say preliminary results give former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sissi a sweeping victory in his presidential bid against Hamdeen Sabahi. But, the vote has raised many questions about a Sissi…
photo: AP / Jim Watson
DETAINED AGAIN
ASSOCIATED PRESSOSCE Says Another Team Of Monitors Held In East Ukraine
STANDOFF SHIFT
ASSOCIATED PRESSU.S. Defense Officials: Most Russian Troops Leaving Ukraine Border
Rape victim’s mother attacked in northern India
30 May 2014
BISWAJEET BANERJEE Associated Press Comments In this May 28, 2014 image taken from video, police stand amongst the crowd near where two teenage sisters were found hanging from a mango tree in the Katra village in Uttar Pradesh state, in northern India. Authorities have arrested three men, including two police officers, suspected of gang-raping and…
Google launches ‘right to be forgotten’ webform for removal requests
Company responds to EU court ruling empowering citizens to have certain links about them deleted from search results Google has created a page where EU citizens can request removal of search results about them.Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP Google has…
photo: Public domain photo
New threats will not distract U.S. from Asia, Hagel says
By David Brunnstrom ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) – The United States will not be deterred from plans to strengthen its military position in Asia by emerging threats elsewhere, the U.S. defense secretary said on Thursday as he prepared to…
photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
Ukraine’s new leader vows to crush rebels after deadly attack
Ukraine‘s President-elect Petro Poroshenko has vowed to punish “bandits” after pro-Russian rebels shot down an army helicopter, killing 12. “These criminal acts of the enemies of the Ukrainian people will not go unpunished,”…
photo: AP / Alexander Zemlianichenko
Egypt’s Sissi Crushes at Polls, Turnout Questioned
Elizabeth Arrott CAIRO — Egyptian officials say preliminary results give former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sissi a sweeping victory in his presidential bid against Hamdeen Sabahi. But, the vote has raised many questions about a Sissi…
photo: AP / Jim Watson
Narendra Modi cracks the whip in Uttar Pradesh rape
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday cracked the whip on the brutal rape and murder case of two minor girls in Uttar Pradesh seeking to demonstrate the BJP government’s “zero tolerance’’ approach towards crime…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
Vatican: Israel, Palestine prayer meeting June 8
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Israeli President Shimon Peres andPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will join Pope Francis for an afternoon of prayer at the Vatican on June 8, the Vatican said Thursday. In a brief statement, the Vatican said both sides…
photo: AP Photo Burhan Ozbilici
Fatah and Hamas agree on new Palestinian prime minister
Mahmoud Abbas names Rami Hamdallah as PM in step towards reconciliation between former rival factions Rami Hamdallah, the newPalestinian prime minister, left, with Mahmoud Abbas. Photograph: Thaer Ghanaim/AFP/Getty Images The two main Palestinian…
photo: AP / Majdi Mohammed
Malaysia missing plane: Acoustic pings ‘not likely’ from jet
29 May 2014
Underwater pings that were believed to be connected to the missing Malaysian Airlines plane were probably not coming from the jet, a US official has said. Michael Dean, the US Navy‘s deputy director of ocean engineering, told CNN the acoustic signals were likely from some other man-made source. The US Navy said Mr Dean‘s comments were…
Global population of obese and overweight tops 2.1bn
The number of people in the world who are obese or overweight has topped 2.1 billion, up from 875 million in 1980, the latest figures published in the Lancet show. And not one country is succeeding in treating it, said the research. US, China and…
photo: AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth, FILE
Apple buys Beats Electronics for $3 billion, most expensive acquisition in company history
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple is striking a new chord with a $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics, a headphone and music streaming specialist that also brings the swagger of rapper Dr. Dre and recording impresario Jimmy Iovine. Wednesday’s…
photo: AP / Michael Dwyer, File
Mexico vigilantes urge more ‘self-defense’ groups
MEXICO CITY — Human rights activists and vigilante leaders who rose up to fight a drug cartel in western Mexico are urging Mexicans to form “self-defense” groups to demand public security and justice. In a meeting Wednesday, they…
photo: AP / Christian Palma
Russian spaceship flies three astronauts to ISS
Tweet Moscow, May 29 (IANS) Russia‘s manned spaceship carrying three astronauts blasted off late Wednesday from Kazakhstan‘s Baikonurspace centre, heading to the International Space Station (ISS). The three astronauts aboard the Soyuz TMA- 13M…
photo: AP / Dmitry Lovetsky
Muslim Rebels Kill 30 at African Church
Islamist fighters attacked a Catholic Church in the Central African Republic with grenades and firearms, killing at least 30 people. The rebels who attacked the…
photo: AP / Jerome Delay
Egypt: El-Sissi way ahead in presidential poll
CAIRO (AP) — Partial results of Egypt‘s presidential election announced late Wednesday showed the nation’s former military chief comfortably ahead of his rival after votes from 2,000 polling stations were counted. The campaign of retired field…
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
Manchester United (MANU) owner Malcolm Glazer dead at 86
Malcolm Glazer, the American billionaire who led the controversial takeover of Manchester United (NYSE: MANU, Stock Forum), has died at the age of 86, according to a BBC report.…
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite, File
Edward Snowden: ‘I was trained as a spy’
28 May 2014
Behind the mask: Edward Snowden‘s revelations forced the issue of court authorisation for surveillance into the open. Photo: Reuters United Statesintelligence leaker Edward Snowden said in a TV interview he “was trained as a spy” and had worked undercover overseas for US government agencies. In an advance excerpt of his interview in…
Santa Barbara rampage victims mourned
Thousands have gathered to mourn six US students killed in a weekend rampage as California lawmakers proposed new ways of keeping guns out of the hands of disturbed killers. “All died much too young but it’s important that we do not let the…
photo: AP / Chris Carlson
State Department tells U.S. citizens to leave Libya immediately
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The State Department on Tuesday told U.S. citizens in Libya to leave immediately, warning that the security situation in the country was “unpredictable and unstable.” “The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all…
photo: AP / Evan Vucci
EU leaders call for simpler EU after poll setback
BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron‘s recurring complaint that the European Union is “too big, too bossy, too interfering” gained traction at an EU summit on Tuesday, after election results that underscored voter apathy and hostility…
photo: AP / Virginia Mayo
Mali’s defense minister resigns following army defeats: sources
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali Defence Minister Soumeylou Boybeye Maiga resigned on Tuesday, less than a week after an embarrassing defeat of army forces by Tuareg separatist rebels who seized several northern towns, sources close to the minister said. The…
photo: AP
French politics in disarray, except for far right
PARIS — An anti-immigration movement founded by a man repeatedly convicted of anti-Semitism now leads polls in France. The mainstream conservative party risks collapse amid a financing scandal. The Socialist president is the most unpopular leader in…
photo: AP / Thibault Camus
Iran summonses Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook privacy
AN Iranian judge has summoned Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to answer allegations that his company’s apps have breached people’s privacy, reports say. A series of rows over internet access have in recent months underscored…
photo: AP / Vahid Salemi
Brazil’s indigenous, police clash in protest
Click photo to enlarge Indigenous protesters in traditional headdress clash with military police during a protest against FIFA World Cupoutside the National Stadium in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, May 27, 2014. Brazil‘s indigenous communities calling…
photo: AP / Eraldo Peres
Nigerian defense chief says abducted girls located
27 May 2014
ABUJA: Nigeria’s military has located nearly 300 school girls abducted by Islamic extremists but fears using force to try to free them could get them killed, the country’s chief of defense said Monday. Air Marshal Alex Badeh told demonstrators supporting the much criticized military that Nigerian troops can save the girls. But he added, “we…
Ukraine Army, Rebels Battle For Control Of Donetsk Airport
27 May 2014
A Ukrainian helicopter Mi-24 gunship fires its cannons against rebels at the main terminal building of Donetsk international airport May 26, 2014. Ukrainian government warplanes carried out airstrikes against pro-Russian rebels who seized Donetsk international airport on Monday, triggering a battle in and around the complex in a show…
Nigeria: Kidnapped girls found, not freed
Michelle Faul Associated Press Comments Abuja, Nigeria?Nigeria?s military has located nearly 300 school girls abducted by Islamic extremistsbut fears using force to try to free them could get them killed, the country?s chief of defense said Monday.…
photo: AP / Gbenga Olamikan
Obama on Memorial Day: ‘Our war in Afghanistan will finally come to end’
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama led the nation in commemorating Memorial Day, declaring the United States has reached “a pivotal moment” in Afghanistan with the end of war approaching. Obama, who returned just hours earlier from a…
photo: AP / Charles Dharapak
Pope to meet sex abuse victims at Vatican next month
Published May 26, 2014Associated Press Facebook0 Twitter0 Gplus0 ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE – Pope Francis announced Monday he would meet with a group of sex abuse victims next month at the Vatican and declared “zero tolerance” for any member…
photo: AP / Alessandra Tarantino
Eastern Libya oil rebel rejects new government
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The leader of the protesters occupyingLibyan oil ports said on Monday he did not recognize Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq’s new government and suggested a previously agreed deal to end his blockade could be in jeopardy. Ibrahim…
photo: AP / Francois Mori
Nigerian Military On Kidnapped School Girls: ‘We know where they are, but we cannot tell you’
Nigeria‘s military knows where the more than 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram are but has ruled out using force to rescue them, the state news agency quoted Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh as saying on Monday.…
photo: Creative Commons / Public Domain / VOA – Medina Dauda
Battle at Donetsk airport; new Ukraine leader says no talks with “terrorists”
Eight hours after it began, fighting was continuing after nightfall and had spread to residential neighbourhoods nearby. Ukraine launched air strikes and a paratrooper assault against pro-Russian rebels who seized an airport on Monday, as its newly…
photo: Creative Commons
White House mistakenly reveals CIA official’s name
In an embarrassing flub, the Obama administrationaccidentally revealed the name of the CIA‘s top official in Afghanistan in an email to thousands of journalists during the president’s surprise Memorial Day weekend trip to Bagram Air Field. The…
photo: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
Thai coup leader receives royal endorsement
26 May 2014
BANGKOK, May 26 (Xinhua) — Thai coup leader Prayuth Chan-ocha received royal endorsement on Monday appointing him the leader of the National Council forPeace and Order (NCPO). Addressing the press conference later, Prayuth called for public…
13-year-old Indian girl youngest to climb Mount Everest
Malavath Purna along with 16-year-old Sadhanapalli Anandachieved the historic feat. A 13-year-old girl from Andhra Pradesh Sunday became the youngest female climber to scale Mount Everest. Malavath Purna along with 16-year-old Sadhanapalli Anand…
photo: Public Domain / Gavidipus
Poll: Billionaire wins Ukraine presidential vote
KIEV, Ukraine — An exit poll showed that billionaire candy-maker Petro Poroshenko won Ukraine’s presidential election outright Sunday in the first round — a vote that authorities hoped would unify the fractured nation. Long lines snaked around…
photo: AP / Sergei Chuzavkov
Merkel’s center-right leads in Germany EU vote: exit poll
BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel‘s conservatives won the most German votes in a European Union election on Sunday with a projected 36 percent, but slipped…
photo: AP / Franka Bruns
UEFA Champions League Final, A Historic End For A Dramatic Season
Battle is the perfect definition for what took place at theEstadio da Luz in Lisbon on Saturday evening, when local Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid teammates came marching in to face-off their rivals from across town, Atletico Madrid. Both…
photo: AP / Daniel Ochoa de Olza
Rogue Libyan general welcomes protesters’ backing
Travel Deals $1824 — Ecuador: 7-Nt. Trip w/Amazon fromPhilly, $300 Off See all travel deals » The Associated Press Posted: Saturday, May 24, 2014, 11:23 AM TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) – A renegade Libyan general leading a week-long military…
photo: AP / Mohammed el-Shaiky
Nigeria’s Boko Haram kills 28 in three village attacks
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist Boko Haram gunmen rampaged through three villages in northern Nigeria, killing 28 people and burning houses to the ground in a pattern of violence that has become almost a daily occurrence, according…
photo: AP / Abdukareem Haruna
South Africa: President Jacob Zuma is officially sworn in for second term
The South African President Jacob Zuma has celebrated being sworn into office for a second term, with a major victory ceremony inPretoria. More than 4,000 guests and several heads of state were in attendance asZuma took the oath of office. He…
photo: UN / J Carrier
‘THE COUNTRY HAS GOT A NEW PRESIDENT’
ASSOCIATED PRESSHuge Turnout On A Crucial Day For Peace.. Exit Polls: Billionaire Chocolate Magnate Is Next President.. Final Results On Monday.. Tense Times In Restive East.. Italian Reporter And Translator Killed.. Tymoshenko Concedes
Echoes of the past as Egypt chooses a new president
25 May 2014
In Egypt it seems there has always been someone lying awake in the hot, airless night, dreading the policeman’s midnight knock. It is hard to imagine it now but once it was the old man we had come to interview. These days, straight of back and bright of eye he is the kind of pensioner who carefully puts on a suit and neatly knots a tie before…
UEFA Champions League Final, A Historic End For A Dramatic Season
Battle is the perfect definition for what took place at theEstadio da Luz in Lisbon on Saturday evening, when local Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid teammates came marching in to face-off their rivals from across town, Atletico Madrid. Both…
photo: AP / Daniel Ochoa de Olza
Rogue Libyan general welcomes protesters’ backing
Travel Deals $1824 — Ecuador: 7-Nt. Trip w/Amazon fromPhilly, $300 Off See all travel deals » The Associated Press Posted: Saturday, May 24, 2014, 11:23 AM TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) – A renegade Libyan general leading a week-long military…
photo: AP / Mohammed el-Shaiky
Nigeria’s Boko Haram kills 28 in three village attacks
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist Boko Haram gunmen rampaged through three villages in northern Nigeria, killing 28 people and burning houses to the ground in a pattern of violence that has become almost a daily occurrence, according…
photo: AP / Abdukareem Haruna
South Africa: President Jacob Zuma is officially sworn in for second term
The South African President Jacob Zuma has celebrated being sworn into office for a second term, with a major victory ceremony inPretoria. More than 4,000 guests and several heads of state were in attendance asZuma took the oath of office. He…
photo: UN / J Carrier
Gunman Kills 6 in Drive-By Rampage Near California College Campus
A gunman fatally shot six people and wounded at least seven more in a series of drive-by shootings late Friday near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, authorities said. After exchanging fire with sheriff’s deputies, the…
photo: AP / Hasan Jamali
Al Qaeda militants kill 31 in Yemen
Sanaa, May 24: At least 31 people were killed in multiple attacks launched by suspected Al Qaeda militants in Yemen, an official said Saturday. The attacks occurred overnight in the city of Seiyun in Hadramoutprovince, Xinhua reported. The Yemeni…
photo: AP / Hani Mohammed
Obama picks San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro to head HUD
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama elevated a rising star in the Democratic Party to a national job Friday, nominating San AntonioMayor Julian Castro to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the East Room of the White House,…
photo: Creative Commons / Lauren
Northern Mali rebels agree to ceasefire
Bamako: Armed rebels who humiliated Mali‘s army in a deadly offensive across the northern desert have agreed to a ceasefire after talks with African Union chairman Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, a diplomatic source says.Abdel Aziz “just…
photo: AP
US sheds 21 excess military facilities in Europe
WASHINGTON: The US military is shedding European real estate including a golf course, skeet range and hotel, as well as facilities like a munitions storage facility, as it looks to save cash during a US budget crunch,…
photo: AP / Dave Weaver
Ousted Thai Prime Minister ‘Detained’ by Coup Leaders
Steve Herman Ousted Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and dozens of other political figures appear to have been detained after arriving for meetings with military leaders who took power in a coup this week. After being summoned by the army,…
photo: AP / Manish Swarup
Chocolate tycoon heads for landslide victory in Ukraine presidential election
23 May 2014
Petro Poroshenko has faced down protesters and rivals to lead the opinion polls before the first round of voting on Sunday Presidential hopeful Petro Poroshenko meets supporters in Uma. Photograph: Reuters For a man with presidential ambitions, it was not a propitious scene. Petro Poroshenko stood atop a bulldozer between a line of police and an…
Air Force fails nuke test
Security team flunks drill in which “terrorists” hijack warhead at Montana silo WASHINGTON — Armed security forces at a nuclear missile base failed a drill last summer that simulated the hostile takeover of a missile launch silo because they…
photo: US DoD / Naval Historical Center
UN Blacklists Nigerian Militant Group Boko Haram
The UN Security Council, acting at the request of Nigeria, on Thursday imposed sanctions on Boko Haram in a bid to cut off funding and weapons to the extremist group. Nigeria had requested the measure on Monday because of the recent surge in Boko…
photo: UN / JC McIlwaine
Deadliest day for Ukraine troops: 16 slain in raid
BLAHODATNE, UKRAINE — In the deadliest raid yet onUkrainian troops, pro-Russia insurgents attacked a military checkpoint Thursday, killing 16, and the interim prime minister accused Moscow of trying to disrupt the upcoming election for a new…
photo: AP / Darko Vojinovic
NY judge gives ex-Guatemala president prison
Travel deals NEW YORK – (AP) — Guatemala‘s ex-president has been sentenced to more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy in New York as part of a bribery scandal. Alfonso Portillo was sentenced Thursday to a prison term of…
photo: AP / Moises Castillo
Thailand’s Military Forces Total Media Blackout Amid Coup
Hours after it declared a coup d’etat, Thailand‘s military instituted a media blackout on Thursday. “All radio and television stations, satellite and cable, must stop normal programming and broadcast army content until told otherwise,” an army…
photo: AP / Vincent Yu
Zuma elected president of South Africa
Pretoria, May 21: Jacob Zuma was Wednesday electedPresident of South Africa by members of the National Assembly. “In terms of Item 6 of part A, Schedule A of the Constitution, I declare the honourable Jacob Zuma duly elected president of the…
photo: AP / Schalk van Zuydam
EBay asks users to change password after breach
NEW YORK (AP) — E-commerce site eBay is asking users to change their password after a cyberattack compromised a database containing encrypted passwords. The company says there is no evidence of any unauthorized activity and no evidence any financial…
photo: AP / Sven Kaestner
Coups and terror are the fruit of Nato’s war in Libya
22 May 2014
Iraq may have been a blood-drenched disaster and Afghanistan a grinding military and political failure. But Libya was supposed to have been different. Nato‘s war to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 was hailed as the liberal intervention that worked. The western powers might have had to twist the meaning of the UN resolution about protecting…
Zuma elected president of South Africa
Pretoria, May 21: Jacob Zuma was Wednesday electedPresident of South Africa by members of the National Assembly. “In terms of Item 6 of part A, Schedule A of the Constitution, I declare the honourable Jacob Zuma duly elected president of the…
photo: AP / Schalk van Zuydam
EBay asks users to change password after breach
NEW YORK (AP) — E-commerce site eBay is asking users to change their password after a cyberattack compromised a database containing encrypted passwords. The company says there is no evidence of any unauthorized activity and no evidence any financial…
photo: AP / Sven Kaestner
Mali: Tuareg rebels ‘defeat government army in Kidal’
Tuareg rebels in Mali say they have defeated government forces in heavy fighting for control of the key northern town of Kidal. Several government soldiers were killed, wounded or captured, a rebel spokesman said. UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an…
photo: AP
Earthquake felt in eastern Madhya Pradesh, no damages reported
BHOPAL: Mild tremors were felt in eastern parts of Madhya Pradesh including Jabalpur and Mandla on Wednesday night as earthquake struck in Bay of Bengal about 400 km…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
Twin Bombings Kill Dozens In Nigerian City of Jos
4:52 PM ET Two explosions in the central Nigerian city of Jos killed at least 46 people on Tuesday, police said, while wounding dozens more. The car bombs were detonated about a half-hour apart at a bus terminal and market. “I can’t tell you the…
photo: AP / NTA via APTN
General Motors Recalls Another 2.42 Million Vehicles
General Motors General Motors said today it’s recalling another 2.42 million vehicles. The Detroit-based automaker now expects to post recall-related costs of $400 million for the second quarter, including $200 million in costs it announced on May…
photo: AP / Paul Sancya
Vatican denies former No. 2 is under investigation for 15M euro transfer
Published May 20, 2014Associated Press Facebook0 Twitter0 Gplus0 VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has denied that its former No. 2 is under criminal investigation for allegedly misusing 15 million euros. But it didn’t rule out that the…
photo: AP / Pier Paolo Cito
Russia signs 30-year gas deal with China
21 May 2014
Russia‘s President Vladimir Putin has signed a multi-billion dollar, 30-year gas deal with China. The deal between Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has been 10 years in the making. No official price has been given but it is estimated to be worth over $400bn. Russia has been keen to find an alternative energy…
Twin Bombings Kill Dozens In Nigerian City of Jos
4:52 PM ET Two explosions in the central Nigerian city of Jos killed at least 46 people on Tuesday, police said, while wounding dozens more. The car bombs were detonated about a half-hour apart at a bus terminal and market. “I can’t tell you the…
photo: AP / NTA via APTN
General Motors Recalls Another 2.42 Million Vehicles
General Motors General Motors said today it’s recalling another 2.42 million vehicles. The Detroit-based automaker now expects to post recall-related costs of $400 million for the second quarter, including $200 million in costs it announced on May…
photo: AP / Paul Sancya
Malawi president challenged in elections
BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Malawi’s president, Joyce Banda, faced stiff challenges from a field of 12 candidates in elections Tuesday in a poor, politically fractious country that is heavily dependent on foreign donors and has struggled with…
photo: Creative Commons
Microsoft unveils larger Surface tablet
NEW YORK — Microsoft announced a larger version of itsSurface tablet to make the device more compelling as a laptop replacement. The Surface Pro 3 will have a screen measuring 12 inches diagonally, up from 10.6inches in previous models.…
photo: AP / Mark Lennihan
Xi gives Putin a diplomatic boost
Russian President Vladimir Putin met yesterday with Chinese President Xi Jinping (???) in a diplomatic boost for the isolated Russian leader, but his spokesman said the two sides had yet to agree on a widely anticipated multibillion-dollar…
photo: AP / Sergei Ilnitsky
This is no coup, Thai army says
Thailand’s army chief imposed martial law yesterday after months of deadly anti-government protests caused political paralysis, but insisted the intervention did not amount to yet another military coup. Gun-toting troops fanned out after martial law…
photo: AP / Apichart Weerawong
France delays Sahel plan after Mali unrest
Paris – France has delayed plans to redeploy 3 000 soldiers to fight militants across West Africa, saying it first needs to help deal with a fresh outbreak of violence in northern Mali. Paris had hoped to move the troops from its former colony Mali…
photo: AP / Ghislain Mariette
Balkan floods affect over one million people, destruction “terrifying”
20 May 2014
MAGLAJ – Bosnia said on Monday that more than a quarter of its 4 million people had been affected by the worst floods to hit the Balkans in living memory, comparing the “terrifying” destruction to that of the country’s 1992-95 war. The extent of the devastation became apparent in Serbia too, as waters receded in some of the worst-hit…
Man United hires Van Gaal as manager
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal was hired as Manchester United manager on Monday, tasked with repairing the damage from David Moyes‘ disappointing 10 months in charge and reviving the fortunes of one of the world’s biggest clubs. The 62-year-old…
photo: AP / Peter Dejong
French Rogue Trader Kerviel Behind Bars
19 May 2014, 13:04 French Rogue Trader Kerviel Behind BarsTweet A French rogue trader convicted for his role in the near collapse of Societe Generale bank has been detained after spending two months on a protest walk.Jerome Kerviel journeyed from…
photo: AP / Laurent Cipriani
South Korea’s President Will Disband Its Coast Guard
Apologizing for a rescue operation that saved only a fraction of the passengers on a ferry that sank last month, South Korea‘s president said she plans to dismantle the country’s Coast Guard and reform its emergency and safety systems. President Park…
photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon
Quickly Rising Antarctica Suggests ‘Runny’ Earth
Antarctica is rising unusually quickly, revealing that hot rock in the Earth‘s mantle hundreds of miles below the icy continent is flowing much faster than expected, researchers say. Antarctic ice is more than 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers) thick on…
photo: Creative Commons / Vincent van Zeijst
Death toll unknown in North Korean building collapse
SEOUL, South Korea — A 23-story apartment building that might have housed more than 90 families collapsed last week in Pyongyang, theNorth Korean capital, a South Korean government official said yesterday, after theNorth reported a “serious”…
photo: AP / Jon Chol Jin
Korean leader’s ex survives rumor mill
BEIJING — Yet another urban legend about North Korea bites the dust. The ex-girlfriend of leader Kim Jong Un, reportedly executed by firing squad last year, turned up apparently alive and well on a state television broadcast Friday night. Hyon Song…
photo: AP / Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service
Activists: Death toll in Syria’s war tops 160,000
BEIRUT (AP) — The death toll in Syria‘s three-year conflict has exceeded 160,000, an activist group said Monday, a harrowing figure that reflects the country’s relentless bloodletting that appears no closer to a resolution. The Britain-based Syrian…
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
The human cost of Syria’s conflict
19 May 2014
Beirut – At least 162 000 people have been killed in Syria‘s three-year-old conflict, a monitoring group said on Monday, and thousands more are missing after being captured by President Bashar al-Assad‘s forces and rebels trying to overthrow him. The pro-opposition, British-based Syrian…
Death toll unknown in North Korean building collapse
SEOUL, South Korea — A 23-story apartment building that might have housed more than 90 families collapsed last week in Pyongyang, theNorth Korean capital, a South Korean government official said yesterday, after theNorth reported a “serious”…
photo: AP / Jon Chol Jin
Activists: Death toll in Syria’s war tops 160,000
BEIRUT (AP) — The death toll in Syria‘s three-year conflict has exceeded 160,000, an activist group said Monday, a harrowing figure that reflects the country’s relentless bloodletting that appears no closer to a resolution. The Britain-based Syrian…
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
Russia Urges Kiev to Halt Punitive Operations, Pull Back Troops
MOSCOW, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev must immediately stop its punitive operation in southeastern Ukraine and work to settle the conflict in the country peacefully, the…
photo: AP / RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service
Esa’s Cryosat mission sees Antarctic ice losses double
Antarctica is now losing about 160 billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean – twice as much as when the continent was last surveyed. The newassessment comes from Europe‘s Cryosat satellite, which has a radar instrument specifically designed to…
photo: USAP, National Science Foundation / Nate Biletnikoff
Australian researchers develop real-time emotion online tool
Tweet Canberra, May 19 (IANS) Australian researchers has developed a new online tool called “We Feel” which analyses words from millions of tweets to display a real-time view of our emotions, a statement from Australia’snational science agency, the…
photo: Creative Commons / Damien Ramon Naidoo
4 packaged foods that are killing you
Packaged foods help in time-management, but experts say they are killing you slowly Mornings are a rushed affair and to make life easy, you pour a glass of milk over the cereal that you picked from the supermarket. So you think you’ve had a wholesome…
photo: WN / Geeta
Atletico Madrid Crowned Champions Of La Liga
Peace FM Online
Atletico Madrid have been crowned champions of La Liga following a dramatic draw in the final fixture against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Saturday. Barcelona needed a…
photo: AP / Andres Kudacki
South Sudan’s civil war puts 5 million at risk of ethnic violence and famine
18 May 2014
Women walk for miles, barefoot down muddy tracks, to come to malnutrition clinics. They carry with them listless and emaciated children. In this small part ofJonglei state, more than a quarter of children are thought to be severely malnourished – well above crisis levels. In areas where conflict is fiercer, life is harder still. At one clinic,…
Atletico Madrid Crowned Champions Of La Liga
Atletico Madrid have been crowned champions of La Liga following a dramatic draw in the final fixture against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Saturday. Barcelona needed a…
photo: AP / Andres Kudacki
Trader appeals to French leader as jail looms
Travel deals PARIS – (AP) — A rogue trader facing three years in prison for one of the biggest trading frauds in history is appealing to the French president. Jerome Kerviel, who almost took down his bank, Societe Generale, with 4.9 billion euros in…
photo: AP / Remy de la Mauviniere
Record Balkan floods claim at least 20 lives
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) ? Tens of thousands fled their homes Saturday in Bosnia and Serbia, evacuated by boat or helicopter as rising waters surged into villages and towns. Authorities said the record flooding killed at least 20 people and the death…
photo: AP / Darko Vojinovic
Three Brazilian cities at higher dengue risk during Fifa World Cup
PARIS: Three Brazilian host cities — Fortaleza, Natal andRecife — are at higher risk than the other nine of a dengue fever outbreak during the World Cup, scientists said on Saturday. In absolute terms, the risk is low in all event venues, but…
photo: AP / Victor R. Caivano
Skeleton in “black hole” sheds light on early Americans
A skeleton discovered in a watery grave called Hoyo Negro – or black hole – has shed light on the origins of the original people of the Americas. The skeleton of a teenage girl, found in a cave in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is between 12,000 and…
photo: Creative Commons / Magnus Manske
India’s Narendra Modi Celebrates Election Triumph
India‘s incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi was mobbed by jubilant supporters as he arrived in Delhi to take part in a victory parade after his historic win. Narendra Modi’s BJM party’s was swept to power by the most resounding election…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
Indian election: Modi readies for victory parade
17 May 2014
India‘s Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi is to take part in a victory parade inDelhi after his opposition BJP party secured the most decisive election victory in three decades. Mr Modi will fly to Delhi from his home state of Gujarat. Current PMManmohan Singh, whose Congress party was crushed in the poll, is expected to resign. Mr Modi, a…
‘Biggest dinosaur ever’ discovered
The “largest creature ever to walk the Earth” has been discovered in Argentina, palaeontologists say. Continue reading the main story This gigantic dinosaur stood 40m long and 20m tall, based on the length of its enormous thigh bones.…
photo: Creative Commons / Greg Willis
Bangladesh ferry capsizes; 26 bodies recovered
The Associated Press MUNSHIGANJ, Bangladesh (AP)—Rescuers have recovered at least 26 bodies after a ferry capsized during a storm in a river in central Bangladesh,…
photo: AP / Saidur Rahman
Sept. 11 museum opens to relatives and survivors
NEW YORK (AP) — Tears in her eyes, firefighter widowMaureen Fanning emerged Thursday from the new Sept. 11 museum deep beneath ground zero, unable to bring herself to look at all of it. “I just think it would be a little too overwhelming today,”…
photo: AP / Mark Lennihan
Aaron Hernandez charged in 2 more shooting deaths
BOB SALSBERG Associated Press= BOSTON (AP) â?? Aaron Hernandez ambushed and shot to death two men after a chance encounter inside aBoston nightclub, prosecutors said Thursday as they announced new murder charges against the former NFL star, who was…
photo: AP / The Boston Globe, Jonathan Wiggs, Pool
Algeria’s Bouteflika offers reforms to skeptical opposition
By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika, newly re-elected despite suffering a stroke last year, has proposed a raft of reforms including setting a two-term presidential limit and delegating more authority to the…
photo: AP
Bangladesh ferry carrying hundreds sinks: officials
DHAKA: A heavily-laden ferry capsized and sank in centralBangladesh on Thursday after being caught in a storm, leaving at least 12 people dead and hundreds more missing, police and officials said. Survivors of what is the latest in a string of ferry…
photo: AP / A.M. Ahad
Afghan election goes to round two
Afghan voters will return to the polls next month to choose a successor to outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose refusal to sign a deal permitting US troops to stay beyond the end of the year has raised security concerns as the Taliban wages…
photo: Creative Commons / Employee of the U.S. State Department
Homs is a victory for no one
16 May 2014
The evacuation of rebel fighters from the Old City of Homs is being widely portrayed as major victory for the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Rather incredulously, some in the opposition are even claiming it as a win for their own side. The truth is, given the scenes of utter devastation witnessed by the media and returning residents, it is grotesque to…
Sept. 11 museum opens to relatives and survivors
Algeria’s Bouteflika offers reforms to skeptical opposition
By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika, newly re-elected despite suffering a stroke last year, has proposed a raft of reforms including setting a two-term presidential limit and delegating more authority to the…
photo: AP
Bangladesh ferry carrying hundreds sinks: officials
DHAKA: A heavily-laden ferry capsized and sank in centralBangladesh on Thursday after being caught in a storm, leaving at least 12 people dead and hundreds more missing, police and officials said. Survivors of what is the latest in a string of ferry…
photo: AP / A.M. Ahad
Afghan election goes to round two
Afghan voters will return to the polls next month to choose a successor to outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose refusal to sign a deal permitting US troops to stay beyond the end of the year has raised security concerns as the Taliban wages…
photo: Creative Commons / Employee of the U.S. State Department
Seoul ferry captain charged with homicide
SOUTH Korea‘s prosecutor has indicted 15 crew members over last month’s ferry sinking, four of them on homicide charges, in a disaster that has left more than 300 people dead or missing. Prosecutors said yesterday they brought homicide charges…
photo: Creative Commons / jinjoo2713
Saudi Arabian man ‘divorces wife for driving’
A Saudi Arabian man has reportedly divorced his wife after she sent him a video which showed her driving the family car. Saudi women are subjected to a de facto ban on driving in the kingdom because they are not allowed to apply for licences, a fact…
photo: AP Photo
Dr Manmohan Singh: A decent man bows out
Ten years as head of government have taken a toll onManmohan Singh, as they might of any other figure, no matter how sturdy. But the evaluation of posterity is likely to do him greater justice than that of his contemporaries, as the Prime Minister…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
The Right Goal in Ukraine
Don’t be distracted by Putin and his antics. The real test is stabilizing Ukraine.
Nigeria rules out prisoner swap for missing girls
15 May 2014
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has ruled out the release of Boko Haramfighters in exchange for the freedom of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militants a month ago. Britain’s Africa Minister Mark Simmonds, in Nigeria for talks about the international rescue mission, told reporters on Wednesday that he raised the…
Dr Manmohan Singh: A decent man bows out
Ten years as head of government have taken a toll onManmohan Singh, as they might of any other figure, no matter how sturdy. But the evaluation of posterity is likely to do him greater justice than that of his contemporaries, as the Prime Minister…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
Turkey’s mining safety: Bleak track record
As people in Turkey start looking for answers after one of the country’s worst mining tragedies, attention has quickly turned to mining safety standards in the western town of Soma. The issue of mining safety was on the political agenda before…
photo: AP / Emrah Gurel
Violent protest in Turkish town where 245 miners died
SOMA, Turkey — Anger and grief boiled over into a violent protest Wednesday in the western Turkish town of Soma, where officials said at least 245 miners died in a coal mine explosion and fire. Nearly 450 other miners were rescued, the mining company…
photo: Creative Commons / Mstyslav Chernov
Coal Mine explosion in Turkey; 363 safe, 238 dead, rescue efforts ongoing
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared three days of national mourning in Turkey after a huge explosion ripped through a coal mine in Soma yesterday. A few hours ago President Erdogan confirmed in a press conference that 363 miners have…
photo: AP / Emrah Gurel
Italy’s Berlusconi says was forced from office by EU ‘plot’
ROME (Reuters) – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi repeated accusations on Wednesday that he was forced out of office at the height of the euro zone crisis in 2011 as the result of a “plot” by European Unionofficials. Berlusconi‘s…
photo: AP / Riccardo De Luca
Obama announces sanctions over CAR conflict
Tweet Washington, May 14 (IANS) US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on five individuals for their roles in the escalating conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), media reported Wednesday. Obamasigned an executive order Tuesday,…
photo: UN / JC McIlwaine
Russia rebuffs US on extending life of space station
Tweet Moscow, May 14 (IANS/EFE) Russia has no intention of prolonging the use of the International Space Station after 2020, as the US is proposing, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin said here Tuesday. Russia wants to redirect the money…
photo: Public Domain / NASA
Turkey mine blast kills at least 201, hundreds trapped
14 May 2014
SOMA: At least 201 people were killed and hundreds more remained trapped underground after an explosion at a coal mine in western Turkey, the government said today, warning that rescue efforts faced a race against time. The toll has risen rapidly since Tuesday’s disaster in the province of Manisa, when a total of 787 mineworkers became trapped…
Obama announces sanctions over CAR conflict
Tweet Washington, May 14 (IANS) US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on five individuals for their roles in the escalating conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), media reported Wednesday. Obamasigned an executive order Tuesday,…
photo: UN / JC McIlwaine
Russia rebuffs US on extending life of space station
Tweet Moscow, May 14 (IANS/EFE) Russia has no intention of prolonging the use of the International Space Station after 2020, as the US is proposing, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin said here Tuesday. Russia wants to redirect the money…
photo: Public Domain / NASA
National alert system would help save lives
National alert system would help save lives In recent weeks, we have experienced the destruction of entire communities in some of ourSouthern states. Part of Florida was subjected to unusually heavy rain and floods, and many people were forced to…
photo: US Army / Jessi McCormick
Somalican Solution’ or Subjugation?
Wednesday, 14 May 2014, 3:48 pm Article: Somalia: ‘AfricanSolution’ or Subjugation? by Abukar Arman May 13, 2014 One of the most potent intoxicants in Africa today is the canned phrase “African solutions for African problems.” While ‘ASAP’ is an…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
South Sudan Church Expands Aid Amidst Conflict, Begins Healing and Reconciliation
Episcopal Relief & Development is strengthening the crisis response of the Episcopal Church in South Sudan & Sudan (ECSSS) by providing financial and technical assistance to its humanitarian arm, SUDRA (the SudaneseDevelopment and Relief…
photo: UN / Isaac Billy
UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi resigns: Ban
Tweet United Nations, May 14 (IANS) UN Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon Tuesday announced resignation of Lakhdar Brahimi as the jointUnited Nations-Arab League Special Representative on the Syria crisis, terming it a “tragedy for the Syrian people” and…
photo: UN / JC McIlwaine
Hope new govt will carry forward dialogue with Pakistan: Omar Abdullah
Srinagar, May 13: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday expressed hope that the new government at the Centre would carry forward the dialogue process with Pakistan to address long-pending issues, including Kashmir. “Hope the new…
photo: WN / Imran Nissar
Google Must Honor Requests to Delete Some Links, E.U. Court Says
By JAMES KANTER and MARK SCOTT
An entrance to Google’s European headquarters, in Dublin. A decision by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Tuesday appeared to represent a blow for Google. CreditPaulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times
The highest court in the European Union decided on Tuesday that Google must grant users of its search engine a right to delete links about themselves in some cases, including links to legal records.
The decision by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is a blow for Google, which has sought to avoid the obligation to remove links when requested by European users of its service.
Boko Haram offers to swap kidnapped Nigerian girls for prisoners
13 May 2014
MAIDUGURI (Nigeria): The leader of the Nigerian Islamist rebel group Boko Haramhas offered to release more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by his fighters last month in exchange for its members being held in detention, according to a video posted on YouTube on Monday. The search for the girls intensified as a senior US administration official said…
Kerry to testify on alternative date on Benghazi
WASHINGTON — The State Department and a House panel are working on an alternative date for Secretary of State John Kerry to testify about information related to the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, ending the immediate threat of a subpoena for a…
photo: US DoD / Daniel Hinton
Conchita Wurst, Drag Queen, Wins Eurovision, Shuts Down Anti-Gay Critics
Conchita Wurst won Eurovision on Sunday with her power ballad “Rise Like A Phoenix,” and her win ruffled feathers of homophobes who protest her…
photo: Creative Commons / Albin Olsson
‘Sick’ attack on black minister Christiane Taubira’s failure to sing national anthem La Marseillaise
Right-wing French politicians were accused of racism on Monday after they attacked a black minister who failed to sing the national anthem at a public ceremony. Christiane Taubira, the Justice Minister, defended her decision to stay silent by saying…
photo: AP / Remy de la Mauviniere
Glenn Greenwald: ‘I don’t trust the UK not to arrest me. Their behaviour has been extreme’
The dogs can smell Glenn Greenwald long before they see him. As we drive up the hill to his house, a cacophony of barking greets us. The chorus is so overwhelming it makes me think of the National Security Agency (NSA) chiefs who Greenwald has…
photo: Creative Commons
South Sudan’s president says 2015 election to be delayed
JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan will postpone the 2015presidential election to give warring factions time to reconcile, President Salva Kiirsaid on Monday, but his rival in a conflict that is threatening to tear apart the world’s newest nation said…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
German hacker club offers Snowden membership
BERLIN (AP) â?? A German hacking group says it is offering honorary membership to NSA leaker Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, a U.S.soldier convicted of providing classified documents to…
photo: Creative Commons / GNU / GFDL
Bengal records nearly 80 percent turnout amid violence
Tweet Kolkata, May 12 (IANS) Political violence left 24 injured as over two crore people – nearly 80 percent of the electorate – voted Monday in 17 Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal in the general election’s final phase. Dubbing the clashes…
photo: WN / Bhaskar Mallick
SCHOOLGIRLS FOR PRISONERS
Afghanistan attacks mark Taliban’s summer offensive
12 May 2014
Kabul‘s international airport came under attack on Monday as the Taliban announced the start of their annual summer offensive. Two rockets hit the airport but did not cause any casualties. There were also attacks on the US airbase inBagram, at a courthouse in Jalalabad in the east and elsewhere. Afghanistan is in transition, with a new…
Jordan reports new MERS death
AMMAN: A man has died in Jordan after being infected with the MERS virus, the government said today, on the eve of a World Health Organisation emergency meeting on the disease. The latest death brings to five the number of fatalities in Jordan from…
photo: UN / Devra Berkowitz
Former Afghan war soldier: ‘Flashbacks of bullets overhead’
12 May 2014 Last updated at 10:32 BST There has been a “significant increase” in the number of UK veterans of the Afghanistan conflictseeking mental health treatment, says a charity. Combat Stress said it had received 358 new Afghanistan veteran…
photo: US Army / Javier Amador
Insects in the frying pan! Take a bite
London, May 12: Ever fancied eating insects for lunch? A whole lot of people in the world, especially the impoverished parts, do it. Now it is your turn. Insects can potentially provide food security to the world, according toArnold van Huis, an…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
UN agencies are failing severely malnourished children in Tanzania
Despite efforts from the government and donors, a doctor shares his experiences struggling to save malnourished children In Tanzania nearly 2% of under-fives are malnourished. Photograph: Graeme Robertson For the past year I’ve been running a…
photo: UN / Isaac Billy
Storm season in Oklahoma brings out weather anxiety
After deadly tornadoes in May 2013 in Oklahoma, storm survivors commonly experience strong feelings of anxiety, and even can develop post traumatic stress disorder. By Heather Warlick, Staff Writer • If you’ve lived in Oklahoma long enough, you…
photo: US DoD / Andy Thaggard
EU mulls tougher sanctions on Russia
“We can maintain the pressure on Russia in order to reach a political solution,” is how a high-ranking European Union diplomat in Brusselsdescribed this Monday’s summit (12.05.2014). The foreign ministers of the 28 EU states will receive several…
photo: European Community / EC
African invoice fraud hampers development of poorest nations
Kenyan children play at the sprawling Mathare slum, one of the largest and poorest in Africa. Photograph: Antony Njuguna/Reuters More than $60bn (£36bn) has been illegally siphoned out of Uganda, Ghana, Mozambique,Kenya and Tanzania over 10 years,…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
Ukraine eastern regions hold ‘self-rule’ vote
11 May 2014
Pro-Russian rebels have started to cast ballots in a “self-rule” vote in easternUkraine, a move criticised by the US as “illegal” and which could pull the formerSoviet republic apart. Sunday’s poll, carried out as two “referendums” in the provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk, where armed men hold more than a dozen towns, marks a serious…
Pope Francis: Bible demands caring for the ‘poorest and most excluded’
Pope Francis condemned the growing disparity of wealth on Friday. Speaking to a group of United Nations agency leaders, the Pope said theBible demands an economic system that cares for the “poorest and most excluded.” He asked the leaders to resist…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
UN readies aid in S Sudan
Juba – The United Nations in South Sudan was readying aid on Saturday for towns ravaged by conflict but was waiting to see if a new ceasefire deal holds between the president and rebel leader before sending it. President Salva Kiir and rebel…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
Afghan forces kill 63 Taliban militants, wound 41 others
GHAZNI, Afghanistan, May 10 (Xinhua) — Afghan security forces have killed 63 Taliban militants and injured 41 others in Ghazni provincesince Friday night and the operation is still continuing, an army spokesman Nazifullah Sultani said…
photo: US Army / Javier Amador
South Sudan leaders reach ceasefire
10 May 2014
South Sudan‘s president has reached a ceasefire agreement with a rebel leader, a US official has said, after a vicious cycle of revenge killings drew international alarm. US national security adviser Susan Rice welcomed the peace agreement in a statement, saying it “holds the promise of bringing the crisis to an end”. A ceasefire in January between…
Let children stand up for themselves
Related Articles ‘Helicopter parents’ creating a generation incapable of accepting failure 30 Aug 2013 Helicopter parents should brace for impact 08 Jun 2012 ‘Helicopter parents’ hinder children’s learning 26 Dec 2007 Is this the most…
photo: WN / Marzena J.
Foreign rebels among 63 killed in Ghazni operations
At least 63 militants including foreign rebels were killed during military operations in eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan. The interior ministry of Afghanistan…
photo: US Army / Nikayla Shodeen
UNSC warns action against Nigerian girls’ abductors
The UN Security Council Friday strongly condemned the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria and attacks by extremist Islamic group Boko Haram, threatening to…
photo: UN / Paulo Filgueiras
Dallas-area trees took a beating in powerful storms
Commuters were still dodging downed trees that blocked streets Friday morning, while workers cleared debris after powerful storms whipped through the area the previous day. The National Weather Service said the damage was probably caused by…
photo: US Army / Nick Atwood
US hails South Sudan peace deal, urges swift implementation
South Sudan’s president and rebel chief signed a ceasefire deal Friday vowing to end nearly five months of civil war, with the US urging both sides to “swiftly” implement their promises. President Salva Kiir and rebel boss Riek Machar, who shook…
photo: UN / Isaac Billy
Rio’s 2016 Olympic Preparations Are So Bad, The IOC Considered London Instead [Report]
![Rio's 2016 Olympic Preparations Are So Bad, The IOC Considered London Instead [Report]](http://cdn1.wn.com/vp/i/72/f476343cfc03db.jpg "Rio's 2016 Olympic Preparations Are So Bad, The IOC Considered London Instead [Report]")
See Also The preparations for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are so far behind schedule that London was reportedly considered to re-host the games in the same venues used in 2012, according to the London Evening Standard. “At a comparable…
photo: WN / Marzena J.
Chinese Engineers Are Designing A Massive High-Speed Railway To Connect China And The US
The proposed line would begin in north-east China and run up through Siberia, pass through a tunnel underneath the Pacific Ocean then cut through Alaska and Canada to reach the continental US. Digging a hole to Chinamay not sound as crazy in the…
photo: AP / Alexander F. Yuan
‘PRESIDENT PARK, HEAR OUR VOICES!’
ASSOCIATED PRESSSouth Korea Ferry Victims’ Families March On Presidential Palace
U.S. officials ‘hitting the ground’ in Nigeria to help find missing girls
09 May 2014
May 9, 2014 — Updated 0734 GMT (1534 HKT) Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) — U.S. militaryofficials arrive in Nigeria on Friday to help in the search for hundreds of girls kidnapped by Islamist militants, the Pentagon said. The seven will join advisers supporting local efforts to find the girls abducted over three weeks ago, said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. John…
Brazil’s World Cup squad worth ‘half a billion’
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil‘s 23-strong World Cup squad is worth an estimated half a billion euros, Brazilian financial daily Valor reported Thursday, a day after Luiz Felipe Scolari named his list. According to a calculation by Pluri Consultoria…
photo: Creative Commons / BrokenSphere
Palestinian president, US official discuss peace process
Tweet Gaza, May 9 (IANS) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed the recent developments in the Israeli-Palestinian peace processwith the US National Security Adviser Susan Rice. “During the meeting in Ramallah(Thursday), Abbas and Rice…
photo: US DoS / U.S. Department of State
Berlusconi to begin community service for tax fraud
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is due to start a year of community service at a care home near Milan. He was sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud last year, commuted to four hours work a week with elderly dementia…
photo: AP / ho via APTN
We Will Dismantle Boko Haram – President Mahama Vows
President John Mahama has directed the National Security Council (NSC) to enhance security measures in the country as part of efforts to prevent terrorist attacks. The President made this known in a letter he wrote fromNigeria, where he, in his…
photo: AP / Gabriela Barnuevo
Nigerian President Vows Kidnapped Girls Will Be the ‘Beginning of the End of Terror’
The tone at the World Economic Forum in Nigeria today was tempered by the 276 school girls being held hostage by an extremist group, asNigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed the kidnappings would be the “beginning of the end of terror in…
photo: AP / Sunday Alamba
Sikorsky wins $1.24 billion US helicopter deal
Travel Deals $39 & up — Amtrak: One-Way Northeast Fares, 25% Off See all travel deals » The Associated Press Posted: Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 5:12 PM STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut helicopter manufacturerSikorsky Aircraft Corp. has…
photo: US Army / Javier Amador
Islamic militant attack in Nigeria kills hundreds
08 May 2014
ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press= LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) â?? Islamic militants who have triggered international outrage over the kidnapping of more than 270Nigerian schoolgirls opened fire on a busy marketplace, killing hundreds of people in a new spasm of violence in the country’s northeast. The attack escalates Nigeria’s growing crisis from a…
WHO most polluted cities list sees New Delhi smog trump Beijing
An effort by the World Health Organization to measure pollution in cities around the world has found New Delhi admits to…
photo: AP / Tsering Topgyal
Scientists create ‘alien’ life form with artificial genetic code
For the first time, researchers at the Scripps Research Institute have created a new organism based on E. coli in the lab that passes along artificially engineered DNA. by 7 May 2014 9:38 PM BST facebook twitter linkedin googleplus more more + email…
photo: Public Domain / Thorwald
Plight of displaced South Sudanese on agenda as Ban addresses UN food committee
Print 7 May 2014 – Having just met with displaced, war-wearySouth Sudanese sheltering in United Nations compounds, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged immediate help to end hunger and malnutrition around the world, warning that up to a…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
Monica Lewinsky speaks out on affair with Clinton
WASHINGTON — Monica Lewinsky says there’s no question her boss — Bill Clinton — “took advantage” of her when he was president. But she says their affair was consensual and if there was any abuse involved, it came afterward, when…
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
Angelina Jolie Calls Mass Nigerian Kidnappings ‘Unthinkable Cruelty’
Angelina Jolie is speaking out to condemn the mass kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls…
photo: AP / Amel Emric
5 things you can do about climate change
updated 3:15 PM EDT, Tue May 6, 2014 (CNN) — Climate change isn’t something in the far-off future: It’s a potentially disastrous reality that’s already starting to have effects that are expected to worsen, experts say.Longer summers and heavier…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
UN Chief Calls for ‘Bold’ Action to Curb Global Warming
United Nations Chief Ban Ki-Moon is calling on countries around the world to take strong measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming. “I am asking them (world countries) to announce bold commitments and actions that…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
Verdict due in Thai PM power abuse case
07 May 2014
Thailand‘s Constitutional Court is set to decide whether to remove Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra from office on abuse of power charges, a ruling that threatens to plunge the kingdom further into turmoil. Wednesday’s legal procedure comes as Shinawatra stands accused in the country’s highest court of abusing her authority by transferring a…
Monica Lewinsky speaks out on affair with Clinton
WASHINGTON — Monica Lewinsky says there’s no question her boss — Bill Clinton — “took advantage” of her when he was president. But she says their affair was consensual and if there was any abuse involved, it came afterward, when…
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
Angelina Jolie Calls Mass Nigerian Kidnappings ‘Unthinkable Cruelty’
Angelina Jolie is speaking out to condemn the mass kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls…
photo: AP / Amel Emric
5 things you can do about climate change
updated 3:15 PM EDT, Tue May 6, 2014 (CNN) — Climate change isn’t something in the far-off future: It’s a potentially disastrous reality that’s already starting to have effects that are expected to worsen, experts say.Longer summers and heavier…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
UN Chief Calls for ‘Bold’ Action to Curb Global Warming
United Nations Chief Ban Ki-Moon is calling on countries around the world to take strong measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming. “I am asking them (world countries) to announce bold commitments and actions that…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
HE founded the world’s most famous software company and is dedicated to eradicating malaria. Now Bill Gates could be set to add another line to his CV: World’s first trillionaire. That’s according to financial forecasters who predict…
photo: AP / Eduardo Verdugo
US gets new 10-year lease on military base in Djibouti
The United States secured a 10-year lease for a military base in Djibouti that it uses to launch counterterrorism missions, including drone strikes, in Yemen and the Horn of Africa. US President Barack Obama and his Djiboutian counterpart, Ismail…
photo: UN / Tobin Jones
IMF says Dubai may need to do more to avert property bubble
By Martin Dokoupil DUBAI (Reuters) – Dubai may need stronger measures to counter property speculation in the emirate, a seniorInternational Monetary Fund official said on Tuesday as it warned again about a potential real estate bubble. Growth in the…
photo: UN / Eskinder Debebe
Nigeria’s abducted schoolgirls: We’ll sell them as slaves, pledges Boko Haram terror leader
06 May 2014
In a chilling message, the leader of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in the north ofNigeria last month, and said that he would sell them into slavery. “I abducted your girls,” Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said in the one-hour video released on Monday. “By Allah, I…
Southeast Kansas still in storm radar blind spot
JOPLIN, Mo. — A new radar system helped meteorologists inOklahoma detect debris from a tornado just as it was hitting Quapaw last month, but a similar radar in Missouri failed to see debris from the same storm when theEF2 twister bore moments…
photo: US Army / Jessi McCormick
The worst place to be a mother
London – Somalia is the worst country on Earth to be a mother, according to a report published by Save the Children which calls for more action to protect mothers and children in crisis-hit areas. The London-based charity estimates that 800 mothers…
photo: UN / Marco Dormino
EU Hardens Position on South Stream Pipeline Over Ukraine Crisis
MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – The European Union has hardened its stance on the construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline amid the Ukrainian crisis, the EU commissioner for energy said in an interview with the Financial Times…
photo: European Community / Adam Chelstowski
Bomb kills 3 policemen in western Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan official says a roadside bombing has killed three policemen and wounded two in the country’s westernHerat province. District police chief Shir Agha Alokozay says the attack took place in the…
photo: US Army / Nikayla Shodeen
US urged to act after threats to sell Nigeria schoolgirls
KANO, NIGERIA: Calls for the United States to help find and free hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria are mounting after Boko Haramclaimed the abduction and threatened to sell the girls as “slaves”. “I abducted your girls,” the Islamist…
photo: WN / RTayco
Petition demands Obama stay away from Arkansas after recent tornadoes
On Saturday, Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., announced thatPresident Obama would visit Arkansas Wednesday to visit communities devastated by recent tornadoes. But a number of people don’t want Obama there, and have started an online petition to keep him…
photo: US Army / Jessi McCormick
22 immigrants die as boats sink
A yacht and a dinghy crammed with immigrants trying to enter Greece capsized today in the eastern Aegean Sea, leaving at least 22 dead, including four children, and several more missing. The vessels had been trying to enter Greece illegally when they…
photo: AP / Hellenic Coast Guard
WORLD HEALTH EMERGENCY
Pistorius defense enters critical phase at trial
05 May 2014
Oscar Pistorius‘ murder trial enters a critical phase Monday as his defense team attempts to recover from a faltering start and reinforce the disabled athlete’s claim that he fatally shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by mistake because he was overwhelmed by a long-held fear of violent crime. Pistorius’ mindset when he stood on his stumps in a…
Russia to Appeal to UN to Delay Election in Ukraine Amid Violence
MOSCOW, May 5 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Civic Chamber is preparing an appeal to the UN and the European Council to postpone the presidential election in crisis-hit Ukraine currently scheduled May 25, the first deputy secretary of the chamber…
photo: UN / Devra Berkowitz
International panel of experts to re-examine all gathered data on MH370
SYDNEY: An international panel of experts will re-examine all data gathered in the nearly two-month hunt for the missing Malaysia jet to ensure search crews who have been scouring a desolate patch of ocean for the plane have been looking in the right…
photo: US Navy / Official U.S. Navy Page
Baxter Springs won’t get FEMA aid after tornado
BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — Officials say the Baxter Springsand its residents affected by a recent tornado won’t get financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Roger Nomer | AP Volunteer AnitaLeyba, of Joplin, Mo….
photo: US Army / Jessi McCormick
Police release Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams
Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams has been released without charge after five days of police questioning over his alleged involvement in a decades-old Irish Republican Army killing, an event that