News For Saturday Jul 26, 2008 News For Saturday Jul 26, 2008

World World

Cambodia border dispute strengthens PM in vote - Added 1 hour ago

A dispute with neighboring Thailand over border land near an 11th century Hindu temple has sparked nationalist pride throughout Cambodia and strengthened the longtime prime minister's popularity ahead of parliamentary...

Bombings in western Indian city kill 29 - Added 1 hour ago

Bombs exploded Saturday near a busy market and a hospital in a western Indian city, killing 29 people and injuring 88 a day after deadly blasts struck the southern technology hub of Bangalore. There was no immediate...

Cubans attentive to Raul Castro on Revolution Day - Added 1 hour ago

President Raul Castro returned Saturday to the military barracks where he and his brother Fidel launched Cuba's revolution, addressing thousand of supporters amid questions about whether he will announce more changes to...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,124 - Added 2 hours ago

As of Saturday, July 26, 2008, at least 4,124 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...

Dozens of dead sea turtles found on Mexican coast - Added 3 hours ago

Environmental officials in Mexico say dozens of dead sea turtles apparently killed in fishing nets have washed up on beaches in recent days. Authorities say 59 Olive Ridley turtles have been found on beaches in and...

US military: Iraq inmates imposed Islamic justice - Added 3 hours ago

For years, extremist Iraqi detainees in U.S. custody held self-styled Islamic courts and tortured or killed inmates who refused to join them, military officials said, disclosing new details about the use of American...

Report: Iran now has 6,000 centrifuges for uranium - Added 4 hours ago

Iran's president said Saturday his country now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in its nuclear program that is certain to further rankle the United States and others who fear Tehran is intent on...

Obama defends tour, says McCain shifting on war - Added 4 hours ago

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama brushed aside Republican criticism of his overseas trip on Saturday and stood outside the famed 10 Downing Street to say that both President Bush and Sen. John McCain were...

8 abducted foreigners freed in Nigeria - Added 4 hours ago

Eight foreign oil workers kidnapped Saturday in Nigeria have been released unharmed, a military spokesman said. Six unidentified men in a speed boat seized the workers at gunpoint from a liquefied petroleum tanker...

Colombian rebels reject asylum - Added 4 hours ago

A senior Colombian rebel commander is rejecting asylum in France or anywhere else for jailed guerrillas freed in any potential prisoner swap. Rebel commander Ivan Marquez called the government's asylum abroad proposal...

Fatah activists detained in Gaza - Added 7 hours ago

Hamas security arrested about 200 supporters of the rival Fatah group, hurled grenades at the home of a Fatah leader and set up checkpoints across Gaza on Saturday after a mysterious beachside blast that killed five...

Policy gains in Europe may be tougher for Obama - Added 7 hours ago

There is little question that Barack Obama captured Europe's heart during the tumultuous visit that ended Saturday evening, but hard questions remain about whether Obama, if he wins, could transform that enthusiasm into...

Karadzic trial revives Bosnian hopes for justice - Added 7 hours ago

Sabaheta Fejzic felt cheated when Slobodan Milosevic, on trial for Balkan atrocities, died in his cell before his judges could reach a verdict. Instead of delivering quick justice, the trial at the U.N. war crimes...

Iraq provincial elections law deadline nears - Added 9 hours ago

Iraqi politicians have 48 hours to offer changes to a draft provincial elections law that has left Kurdish leaders at odds with the central government and delayed local elections planned for this fall, officials said...

Drunken passengers force flight to land in Germany - Added 9 hours ago

Two drunken British women went on a rampage on a charter plane, hitting one flight attendant with a bottle of vodka and trying to open a cabin door as the aircraft was cruising over Austria at 10,000 meters (32,800...

Big change for welfarist Sweden: School choice - Added 10 hours ago

!!-- pobj:NY377-0430081023 -->!!-- pobj:NY378-0430081010 -->!!-- pobj:NY382-0430081020 -->!!-- pobj:NY380-0430080958 -->!!-- pobj:NY381-0430081011 -->!!-- pobj:NY379-0430080937 -->Schools run by private enterprise? Free...

Beijing manufactures its own scenery for Olympics - Added 10 hours ago

Polluted Beijing is usually shrouded in gray, so for the Olympics, Beijing city officials have tried to add some color. They have taken a dusty metropolis with thousands of cranes hovering over construction sites and...

Australian investigators examine hole in jumbo jet - Added 10 hours ago

Australian investigators on Saturday began examining a Qantas jumbo jet which had to make an emergency landing after a large hole opened on its fuselage, a Philippine aviation official said. The Boeing 747-400 was...

Indian army to help prevent rhino poaching - Added 11 hours ago

Authorities in northeastern India have asked the army to help protect endangered one-horned rhinoceroses from poachers and have made the soldiers honorary wildlife wardens, officials said Saturday. "The army will now...

Unclear whether Karadzic appeals extradition - Added 11 hours ago

Radovan Karadzic's lawyer refused on Saturday to confirm or deny that he had mailed a last-minute appeal against the extradition of the former Bosnian warlord, who faces 11 charges at The Hague war crimes tribunal. The...

Custody battle for lost India riot child - Added 12 hours ago

The parents of a Muslim child who was separated from them during some of India's worst religious riots six years ago are demanding that his Hindu foster parents give him back. Mohammed Salim and Jebunnisa Sheikh were...

Ukrainian president wants national church - Added 12 hours ago

The Ukrainian president on Saturday asked the world's Orthodox spiritual leader to bless the creation of a Ukrainian church that would be independent of the powerful Moscow patriarchate. The request to Bartholomew I of...

Clashes continue in northern Lebanon, 3 die - Added 12 hours ago

Lebanese security officials say three people have been killed in the second day of sectarian clashes in northern Lebanon. The clashes in Tripoli are between Sunnis and Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The...

Sri Lanka: Fighting kills 70 combatants - Added 16 hours ago

Heavy fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels along the front lines of their civil war killed 62 rebels and eight soldiers, the military said Saturday. The fighting occurred throughout...

Pakistani leader to defend anti-militant strategy - Added 16 hours ago

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani left Saturday on a three-day visit to Washington to defend his government's reluctance to use force against Islamic militants blamed by U.S. officials for soaring violence in...

NATO: 4 civilians killed in Afghanistan - Added 16 hours ago

NATO forces on Saturday fired on a vehicle that wouldn't stop at a checkpoint in Afghanistan's volatile south, killing four civilians and wounding three others, the alliance said. Civilian casualties has been a sore...

Cambodians go to polls amid border row - Added 17 hours ago

Nationalist pride sweeping through Cambodia triggered by a border dispute with Thailand appeared to strengthen the popularity of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen ahead of parliamentary elections Sunday. The election has...

Heavy rains kill 7 people in SKorea - Added 17 hours ago

Torrential rains that lashed South Korea this week have led to the deaths of seven people and left six others missing, the government said Saturday. Six people were also injured, with one in critical condition, in...

China bends 1-child rule in quake area - Added 17 hours ago

Parents whose children died or were disabled in China's devastating earthquake will be allowed to have more children after lawmakers in the hardest-hit province waived strict family-planning controls, state media...

For some Africans, Scrabble more than just a game - Added 18 hours ago

To compete in the Francophone World Scrabble Championship, 32-year-old Elisee Poka spent five days in a bus traversing Africa's potholed roads. His competitors from France arrived by plane. To prepare for the game, he...

Wanted US woman freed in Costa Rica - Added 20 hours ago

A Texas woman wanted by the FBI for international parental kidnapping has been awarded refugee status in Costa Rica and cannot be extradited to the United States. Costa Rican court on Friday ordered the release of...

Genevieve becomes Pacific hurricane - Added 20 hours ago

Tropical Storm Genevieve strengthened into a hurricane far off Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday, and forecasters say it is expected to stay out at sea. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Genevieve was 675...

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 488 - Added 1 day ago

As of Friday, July 25, 2008, at least 488 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department....

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,124 - Added 1 day ago

As of Friday, July 25, 2008, at least 4,124 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...

Appeal deadline passes for Karadzic - Added 1 day ago

The deadline passed late Friday for Radovan Karadzic to lodge a formal appeal against his handover to the war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands, with the ex-Bosnian Serb warlord's lawyer refusing to confirm that he...

Canadian teen dies under asphalt at work site - Added 1 day ago

A 15-year-old boy working in a crew paving a parking lot was killed Friday when he was buried by a mound of searing-hot asphalt, fire officials said. The boy apparently was too young to be working on a construction job...

Military says US troops killed Iraqi editor's son - Added 1 day ago

The U.S. military said Friday that bullets fired by American soldiers killed the 14-year-old son of the chief editor of a U.S.-sponsored newspaper during a gunbattle this week in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The...

Unexplained explosions kill 5, wound 20 in Gaza - Added 1 day ago

A powerful explosion ripped through a car on a busy Gaza City beach Friday night, killing a Hamas field commander and three other people, security officials said. It was the third unexplained blast of the day in this...

Cyprus reunification talks on Sept 3 - Added 1 day ago

!!-- pobj:XPK109-0725080818 -->Rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders said Friday they will start historic reunification talks on Sept. 3, ending years of deadlock and sparking hope that the island's 34-year division...

Somali opposition leader warns UN peacekeepers - Added 1 day ago

Somalia's new hard-line opposition leader promised Friday to pacify his shattered country through Islamic law, warning U.N. peacekeepers they will face attack if they deploy and support the government. Sheik Hassan...

Iraq talks on Olympic ban, but says no compromise - Added 1 day ago

Iraq's banned Olympic Committee has opened negotiations to try to regain its place in next month's Beijing Games after being shut out for political interference in Olympic affairs, a government spokesman said Friday. ...

Poland says no to DNA testing of Chopin's heart - Added 1 day ago

Like a religious relic, the heart of composer Frederic Chopin rests in a Warsaw church, untouched since it was preserved in alcohol after his death in 1849 at age 39. And that's how the Polish government wants to keep...

Cooperation hurts inmate at Gitmo trial - Added 1 day ago

An al-Qaida driver who gave detailed, insider knowledge of the terror network to U.S. agents is seeing his words used against him at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial. The first week of Salim Hamdan's trial ended...

Mexican military losing drug war support - Added 1 day ago

This hardscrabble Mexican border town welcomed 400 soldiers when they arrived four months ago to stop a wave of drug violence that brought daytime gunbattles to its main street. But then the soldiers themselves turned...

Catholics to pope: Lift the birth control ban - Added 1 day ago

More than 50 dissident Catholic groups from around the world have written an open letter asking Pope Benedict XVI to lift the church's ban on birth control. Taking a half-page ad in the Italian daily Corriere della...

Fires force tourists from Greek island of Rhodes - Added 1 day ago

Raging forest fires sent smoke billowing into hotels on the island of Rhodes, prompting the evacuation of more than 2,000 tourists, the Fire Service and municipal officials said. Authorities said the measure was taken...

Leading Colombian party chief arrested - Added 1 day ago

Police have arrested the head of one of Colombia's main governing parties for alleged ties with far-right paramilitaries. Local television is showing Friday's arrest of Sen. Carlos Garcia on criminal conspiracy...

Official says Zimbabwe power-sharing talks go well - Added 1 day ago

Power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe's rival political parties were proceeding well Friday, a South African official said, although violence continued and hundreds of opposition supporters remained jailed. Both sides...

Fighting in northern Lebanon kills 6, wounds 15 - Added 1 day ago

Sectarian clashes broke out Friday in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing six people, including a 10 year-old-boy and a policeman, and wounding at least 15, police officials said. The clashes between Sunni...

Rescued Italian climbers tell of ordeal - Added 1 day ago

Karl Unterkircher, one of the world's top mountaineers, died when a bridge of snow masking a crevasse on Pakistan's "Killer Mountain" gave way under his tentative step, his surviving colleagues said Friday. ...