News For Friday Sep 5, 2008 News For Friday Sep 5, 2008

World World

Magnitude 5 quake hits Tibet, no damage reported - Added 6 days ago

A magnitude 5 earthquake struck Tibet on Friday near the border with Nepal, close to an area hit earlier in the week by a stronger quake that damaged hundreds of homes. There were no immediate reports of damage or...

US: More than 24 militants killed in Afghanistan - Added 6 days ago

More than 24 militants were killed in two separate battles with U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, the coalition said Friday. More than a dozen militants were killed after they attacked a coalition base in...

Missing cleric roils Lebanon's Shiites years later - Added 6 days ago

For the rest of the world, the disappearance of the imam Moussa al-Sadr is probably at most a footnote in the checkered history of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. In 1978, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim religious leader flew...

Ancient gold treasure puzzles Greek archaeologists - Added 6 days ago

A priceless gold wreath has been unearthed in an ancient city in northern Greece, buried with human bones in a large copper vase that workers initially took for a land mine. The University of Thessaloniki said in a...

Vietnam denies use of stun gun to break protest - Added 6 days ago

Vietnamese authorities denied Friday that they had used force or stun guns to break up a demonstration by Catholics who are demanding the return of land the Communist government took more than four decades ago. ...

US compensates family of Egyptian killed in Suez - Added 6 days ago

The U.S. Embassy in Egypt has offered monetary compensation to the family of a man shot dead by American naval personnel in the Suez Canal. In the March 24 incident, a security team on a ship contracted to the U.S....

Sri Lanka urges civilians to flee from rebel areas - Added 6 days ago

Sri Lanka urged civilians living in Tamil Tiger rebel-held areas to flee to government-controlled territory as fighting escalated in the embattled north, officials said Friday. Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans have...

Indian doctor cleared in Australian terrorism case - Added 1 week ago

An Indian doctor jailed in Australia last year in a bungled terrorism case has officially been cleared, Australian police said Friday. Police said there was insufficient evidence to institute proceedings against...

Probe reveals oxygen tank burst on Qantas flight - Added 1 week ago

An oxygen tank exploded and blew a car-sized hole in a Qantas jet last month, air safety officials said Friday, but investigators appear to be no closer to figuring out why. The release of the interim report by Julian...

Sydney orchestra faked 2000 Olympics performance - Added 1 week ago

China isn't the only country to fake a musical performance during an Olympic opening ceremony. Turns out Australia knows a thing about miming music, too. Eight years after Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics,...

West faces stark choice over Georgia - Added 1 week ago

Russia's invasion of Georgia presents the West with a difficult choice: Punish Moscow by kicking it out of clubs like the Group of Eight or pursue a strategy of placating it that could invite further bullying in places...

Report: 4,000 centrifuges in Iran nuclear program - Added 1 week ago

Iran's official IRNA news agency says the government now has nearly 4,000 centrifuges operating in its uranium enrichment plant. IRNA also quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh Attar as saying Iran is...

2 brothers smothered by grain on Canadian farm - Added 1 week ago

Two young brothers died when they were sucked beneath a load of grain that was being unloaded from a trailer western Canada, police said Thursday. The boys, ages 5 and 7, were on top of a trailer carrying grain that...

Tunisian courts convicts 19 Islamic militants - Added 1 week ago

A Tunisian court convicted 19 Islamic militants on charges linked to plots to carry out attacks in the north African country or send fighters to Iraq, a defense lawyer said Thursday. Thirteen suspects were handed...

Ex-generals convicted of killing Argentine senator - Added 1 week ago

An Argentine court convicted two former generals on Thursday for the murder of a senator during the country's seven-year military dictatorship and sentenced them to life in prison. Retired Gens. Antonio Bussi and...

Boats with Palestinians defy Israeli Gaza blockade - Added 1 week ago

Two boatloads of international activists who defied Israel's blockade of Gaza set sail for Cyprus on Thursday, carrying seven Gaza Palestinians who had been confined to the territory. Israel's navy made no effort to...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,150 - Added 1 week ago

As of Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008, at least 4,150 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians...

Mexican Supreme Court upholds legal abortion - Added 1 week ago

Mexico's Supreme Court upheld the capital's abortion law Thursday, setting a precedent for the rest of the country that could inspire other Latin American cities. Mexico City is one of the few places in Latin America...

Iran, Nigeria to share peaceful nuclear technology - Added 1 week ago

An Iranian trade delegation announced an agreement Thursday for Iran to share peaceful nuclear technology with Nigeria, to help Africa's biggest oil producer bolster its woeful electricity-generation capacity. ...

Russia criticized at UN over S. Ossetia, Abkhazia - Added 1 week ago

Georgia and its backers in the U.N. Security Council on Thursday decried Russia's recognition of two breakaway provinces. Russia responded by accusing its critics of bias and hypocrisy in an emergency meeting that...

Afghans say deadly US raid based on misleading tip - Added 1 week ago

Afghan officials said Thursday that a deadly U.S.-led special forces raid on a remote western village last week was based on misleading information provided by a rival clan. It was the latest twist in a tangled debate...

Italy museum defies pope anger over crucified frog - Added 1 week ago

An art museum in northern Italy said Thursday it will continue displaying a sculpture portraying a green frog nailed to a cross that has angered Pope Benedict XVI and local officials. The board of the foundation of the...

Putin:19 US poultry producers barred from Russia - Added 1 week ago

Vladimir Putin says 19 U.S. poultry producers will be barred from exporting their products to Russia. The former president of Russia and now the country's prime minister says the move has nothing to do with tension...

Senior Iraqi official suspected of militia links - Added 1 week ago

A senior official in Nouri al-Maliki's government was in custody Thursday suspected of ties to Iranian-backed Shiite militias and plotting a June bombing that killed 10 people, including four Americans, Iraqi...

Congo rebels, army clash near Congo gorilla park - Added 1 week ago

Rebels and the army fought one of their fiercest battles in eastern Congo this year on Thursday, exchanging machine-gun and mortar fire all day outside a national park that is home to some of the world's last mountain...

UK: 3 men charged with terror offenses - Added 1 week ago

Three British men questioned about an online threat to assassinate Prime Minister Gordon Brown have been charged with a range of terror offenses, police said Thursday. One of the men, 22-year-old Ishaq Kanmi, is...

Pakistan's next president: Mr. 10 Percent? - Added 1 week ago

Asif Ali Zardari, the man poised to become Pakistan's next president, is still known as "Mr. 10 Percent" because of corruption allegations. Now his own lawyers say he may have suffered from mental health problems within...

After 1,500 years, pagans plan Acropolis prayer - Added 1 week ago

A small group of pagans pledged Thursday to hold a protest prayer among the ruined Acropolis temples, more than 1,500 years after Christians stamped out worship of the ancient Greek gods. Group spokeswoman Doretta...

US plans to close 15 Army facilities in Germany - Added 1 week ago

The U.S. Department of Defense says the United States plans to cease operations at 15 minor Army facilities in Germany amid a wider effort to realign the military's overseas structure. A statement Thursday says the...

Vietnamese Catholics complain of police violence - Added 1 week ago

Police used stun guns and beat parishioners protesting the arrest of fellow church members who have demanded the return of land they say was taken by Vietnam's communist government in the early 1960s, a Catholic priest...

Oil slick kills more than 200 penguins in Brazil - Added 1 week ago

More than 200 oil-slicked penguins have washed up dead on the beaches of a popular Brazilian resort, and officials say they are searching for a cause. Authorities said they have counted nearly 200 dead penguins found...

Abbas: no to settlement of refugees in Lebanon - Added 1 week ago

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday rejected the idea that Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon might be forced to stay there permanently, saying they should have the right to return home. About 400,000...

Bombing of Pakistani government bus kills 8 - Added 1 week ago

A surge of violence continued unabated in Pakistan's tribal border region Thursday, with a car bomb blasting a bus filled with Pakistani police and government workers off a bridge and killing eight people aboard. More...

70 African migrants missing in Mediterranean - Added 1 week ago

A harrowing boat journey across the Mediterranean left some 70 African migrants missing after rough seas capsized the craft, the U.N. refugee agency said Thursday, calling on Malta to release the eight survivors from...

Court allows extradition of hacker to US - Added 1 week ago

The European Court of Human Rights has cleared the way for the extradition of a British man who allegedly hacked into secret U.S. military computers, his lawyer said Thursday. The court refused to delay Gary McKinnon's...

Dalai Lama admitted to hospital in India for tests - Added 1 week ago

The Dalai Lama was admitted to a hospital in this western Indian city on Thursday to undergo tests for abdominal discomfort, his spokesman said. "Since tests haven't begun yet, we don't know what the ailment is,"...

2 Chinese policemen killed, 7 wounded in Xinjiang - Added 1 week ago

Chinese police clashed with members of the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority in the far western region of Xinjiang, authorities and an activist said Thursday, the first reported outbreak of violence in the area since two...

AP interview: prosecutor expects Mladic's arrest - Added 1 week ago

Serbia's war crimes prosecutor said Thursday he expects the quick arrest of top war crimes fugitive Gen. Ratko Mladic, but predicted that the wartime Bosnian Serb military commander is not hiding in disguise like...

Mideast running on different clocks at Ramadan - Added 1 week ago

The start of the holy month of Ramadan next week is causing clock confusion in the Middle East. Egypt and the Palestinians are falling back an hour far earlier than usual, trying to reduce daylight hours for Muslims...

US Army hearing on death of 4 Iraqis ends - Added 1 week ago

Defense lawyers for two U.S. soldiers told a military court Thursday that their clients did not participate in the killings of four Iraqis last year and had little, if any, knowledge of them. But a U.S. Army prosecutor...

Strong quake hits off British Columbia coast - Added 1 week ago

A strong earthquake struck off Canada's west coast early Thursday near Vancouver Island. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. The magnitude-6.1 quake hit at 5:37 a.m. Its epicenter was 97 miles...

Duke offers British public a bargain masterpiece - Added 1 week ago

A British aristocrat is offering two public art galleries a 50 million-pound (US$92 million) bargain _ a Renaissance painting by the Italian artist Titian that has been on display in Britain for 200 years but now could...

Plan aims to save Britain's red phone booths - Added 1 week ago

A British politician says he has won a victory for an endangered icon _ the red telephone booth. Thousands of the kiosks have been removed in recent years as mobile telephones have cut into payphone use. Conservative...

Chinese agencies embezzled $660 million in 2007 - Added 1 week ago

Chinese government auditors have uncovered the misuse of millions of dollars in disaster assistance as part of an embezzlement probe spanning 10 central government departments, state media reported Thursday. A total of...

China's tallest building to open in Shanghai - Added 1 week ago

China's tallest building, the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center, will open to the public on Saturday, 14 years after its developer began the project. Japanese property tycoon Minoru Mori expressed relief...

UN official freed 2 months after Somalia abduction - Added 1 week ago

The head of the U.N. refugee agency's office in Somalia, kidnapped more than two months ago from his home and shot in the neck and knee, said Thursday he had been freed by his abductors. Hassan Mohamed Ali, head of the...

Kashmir police kill suspected rebels in shootout - Added 1 week ago

Government forces ended a hostage crisis early Thursday in the mainly Hindu city of Jammu in Indian Kashmir when they killed the last of three rebels believed to have seized eight people, army officials said. The...

Anwar, back in Malaysia parliament, stages walkout - Added 1 week ago

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim rejoined Malaysia's Parliament on Thursday, resurrecting his mission to become prime minister a decade after he was charged with sodomy and his career written off. Hours after he was...

Iraqi forces starting to lead but need US aid - Added 1 week ago

The Iraqi battalion leader huddled over the map with his American advisers, showing them how he planned to surround a Sunni enclave where al-Qaida militants were believed hiding. The Americans nodded in approval and...

Indian political party campaigns against English - Added 1 week ago

A regional political party has threatened to attack stores in Mumbai that place English-language signs more prominently than ones in the local Marathi language or refuse to use Marathi signs. The threats, which police...