News For Thursday Aug 21, 2008 News For Thursday Aug 21, 2008

World World

Red Cross gets radio threats in Mexico border city - Added 18 hours ago

Red Cross workers stopped treating gunshot victims for several hours in a violent city across the border from Texas after receiving death threats over their radio frequencies, officials said Wednesday. Two voices were...

US coalition: 30 militants die in Afghan battle - Added 19 hours ago

U.S.-led coalition troops battled a group of militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing over 30 insurgents, while three NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast elsewhere, officials said Thursday. The coalition...

Typhoon moves away from Philippines after 7 dead - Added 19 hours ago

Rains from Typhoon Nuri triggered a series of landslides and floods in the northern Philippines, killing seven people before the storm moved on Thursday toward Hong Kong. Nuri, packing winds of 87 mph and gusts of up...

Some of the deadliest plane crashes on takeoff - Added 22 hours ago

Some of the deadliest plane crashes that have occurred during takeoff: _ Aug. 20, 2008: Spanish airliner bound for the Canary Islands crashes, burns and breaks into pieces while trying to take off from Madrid's Barajas...

Saakashvili doubts Russians will withdraw - Added 23 hours ago

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Wednesday that he does not believe Russia will soon withdraw from most of the country, suggesting there was little Georgians could do but offer "passive resistance." ...

Mexico starts campaign to save endangered porpoise - Added 1 day ago

Mexico said Wednesday it will invest 163 million pesos ($16 million) to save a highly endangered species of porpoise in the upper Gulf of California, asking reluctant fishermen to adopt safer methods or give up their...

Puerto Rico governor denies fraud, other charges - Added 1 day ago

The governor of Puerto Rico denied new charges of alleged campaign finance violations on Wednesday, accusing federal authorities of political sabotage. Anibal Acevedo Vila declared his innocence in a televised speech...

Canada says 1 dead, 16 ill in listeriosis outbreak - Added 1 day ago

An outbreak of listeriosis has killed one person and sickened at least 16 others, Canadian public health officials said Wednesday, as a food company suspended production at a Toronto plant and expanded a recall of...

Top Greek fugitive arrested in kidnapping probe - Added 1 day ago

Police arrested the country's most wanted man while tracking down the alleged kidnappers of a prominent businessman, officials said Thursday. Convicted armed robber Vassilis Paleokostas escaped from a maximum security...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,145 - Added 1 day ago

As of Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, at least 4,145 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...

Capt. Cook's boomerang to be auctioned in London - Added 1 day ago

Christie's says it will auction an Aboriginal boomerang collected by the explorer Capt. James Cook. The auctioneer says the antique throwing stick was probably collected by the British naval officer during his first...

Zambia mourns president; funeral set for Monday - Added 1 day ago

Zambians wept on the streets of the capital, Parliament suspended its session and even a doctors' strike was called off as the southern African nation mourned its president Wednesday. The Zambian flag flew at half...

Iraq's Sunni politicians angry over arrests - Added 1 day ago

Top Sunni politicians on Wednesday accused Iraq's Shiite-dominated security forces of carrying out political arrests, and warned that this could push Iraq into another round of sectarian fighting. The outcry came in...

Norway: Russia to cut all military ties with NATO - Added 1 day ago

Russia has informed Norway that it plans to suspend all military ties with NATO, Norway's Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a day after the military alliance urged Moscow to withdraw its forces from Georgia. NATO...

US, Poland OK missile defense base, riling Moscow - Added 1 day ago

The United States and Poland signed a deal Wednesday to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia _ a move followed swiftly by a new warning from Moscow of a possible military response. For many...

Twin car bombings hit Algerian hotel, barracks - Added 1 day ago

Twin car bombs rocked a hotel and military headquarters in Algeria, killing 12 people Wednesday, a day after a suicide bombing nearby killed 43. The new bombings were the sixth major terrorist action this month in the...

Lieberman advocates stronger Georgia defense - Added 1 day ago

A prominent U.S. senator advocated strengthening Georgia's capability to defend itself against possible future Russian attack as he visited the country Wednesday in a signal of solidarity. Senators Joe Lieberman and...

In Georgia, Russia digs in as pullback date nears - Added 1 day ago

Russian forces dug trenches and built sentry posts deep inside Georgia on Wednesday, showing few signs they would pull back later this week as promised. Georgian soldiers suggested the Russians were trying to provoke...

Beijing bishop urges pope to visit China - Added 1 day ago

The Beijing bishop appointed by China's state-controlled Catholic Church said in an interview Wednesday that he hopes Pope Benedict XVI will visit his country and that relations with the Vatican are improving. "We...

At UN, Russia circulates Georgia resolution - Added 1 day ago

Russia is countering a French push for immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia by circulating a competing U.N. Security Council resolution. The Russian draft put forth Wednesday restates the terms of a...

Sudan's president: Darfur genocide 'nonexistent' - Added 1 day ago

Sudan's indicted president denied Wednesday that his regime is orchestrating genocide in the troubled western region of Darfur _ and offered hope for an end to the violence and the dawn of reconciliation by promising...

Retired UK lawmaker Leo Abse dies at 91 - Added 1 day ago

Leo Abse, a colorful Welsh politician who took a leading role in liberalizing laws on homosexuality and divorce, has died at age 91. Abse died Tuesday in London, according to Leo Abse and Cohen, the Welsh law firm that...

Officials say US, Iraq finish draft security deal - Added 1 day ago

Iraqi and U.S. negotiators have finished work on a draft security agreement that would see all American troops leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and the rest of the country by the end of 2011, Iraqi officials said...

Close ally of Colombia's president freed from jail - Added 1 day ago

A former senator close to President Alvaro Uribe was freed from prison on Wednesday, four months after his arrest on charges of colluding with far-right death squads. Mario Uribe was released after Colombia's No. 2...

Missile strike reported in northwest Pakistan - Added 1 day ago

Missiles destroyed a suspected militant hide-out near the Afghan border Wednesday where foreign insurgents were known to frequent, killing at least five people, Pakistani officials said. The reported strike _ which...

Musharraf unwinds, but could face court - Added 1 day ago

Ousted from Pakistan's presidency, Pervez Musharraf has been unwinding with friends and admirers and on the tennis court. He's building a roomy farmhouse on the edge of the capital. But his critics may not be finished...

9 inmates die trying to escape prison in Cameroon - Added 1 day ago

Nine inmates were electrocuted Wednesday while trying to escape from one of Cameroon's largest prisons, a staff member of the justice minister said. Their bodies were found draped around the prison's perimeter fence,...

Publisher withdraws book after Muslim protests - Added 1 day ago

A Serbian publisher says it has withdrawn a controversial book by American writer Sherry Jones because of protests from the local Islamic community. The book "Jewel of Medina" is about Aisha, one of the Prophet...

Drug lord's extradition to US approved - Added 1 day ago

Brazil's Justice Ministry said Wednesday it has approved the extradition of Colombian drug lord Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia to the United States to face racketeering charges. The announcement comes six months after the...

Far from Beijing, Chinese transfixed by Olympics - Added 1 day ago

Perched on a stool beside a roadside fruit stand piled high with melons and pears in farming country north of Shanghai, Meng Zhoucui conceded she's not a big sports fan. But like many Chinese who normally wouldn't pay...

Campaigning UK journalist dies of cancer at age 27 - Added 1 day ago

Adrian Sudbury, a young British journalist who blogged about his fight with cancer and campaigned for more bone marrow donations, died in his sleep Wednesday, his family said. He was 27. "Baldy's Blog" was Sudbury's...

Sarkozy visits Kabul after French soldiers killed - Added 1 day ago

French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed Wednesday that French troops would stick it out in Afghanistan despite an exceptionally deadly attack and frustration at home about the war. "We have to be here," he said while...

Philippines peace in tatters after rebel attack - Added 1 day ago

Police special forces with orders to kill headed into the hinterlands of the southern Philippines on Wednesday, seeking Muslim rebels responsible for shooting and hacking 37 people to death in a brutal rampage that has...

Russian government help slow to come, refugees say - Added 1 day ago

Since she clutched her two children by the hands and fled the war in Georgia, Frosia Besayeva has found shelter, food and comfort in the house of a Russian family. But she said the Russian government was slow to help. ...

Sri Lankan troops break through rebel defenses - Added 1 day ago

The Sri Lankan military says it has broken through the Tamil Tigers' defenses in recent weeks, ending a prolonged stalemate and stirring predictions of an imminent rebel defeat after 25 years of civil war. Troops...

BAA may have to sell 3 of its 7 UK airports - Added 1 day ago

Britain's competition watchdog said it may force airports operator BAA to sell three of its seven airports around the country _ including two in London _ following fierce criticism of the company for poor customer...

Hua Guofeng, who briefly ruled China, dies - Added 1 day ago

Hua Guofeng, who briefly ruled China as communist founder Mao Zedong's successor but was pushed aside as a prelude to reforms that launched an economic boom, died Wednesday at the age of 87, state-run media reported. ...

Zardari backed for Pakistan president - Added 1 day ago

A major opposition party on Wednesday backed Benazir Bhutto's widower to become Pakistan's president, as the power struggle following the resignation of Pervez Musharraf intensified. Asif Ali Zardari leads the largest...

Canada extradites alleged Mafia boss to Italy - Added 1 day ago

One of Italy's most-wanted criminals was extradited from Canada on Wednesday and locked in an Italian high-security prison, the Justice Ministry said. Giuseppe Coluccio fled Italy in 2005 and was convicted in absentia...

UN chief expected to visit Myanmar in December - Added 1 day ago

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is planning to visit Myanmar at the end of this year to hold talks on the country's political problems, the main opposition party said Wednesday. National League for Democracy party...

Mourning gorilla holds on to body of her baby - Added 1 day ago

A gorilla at a zoo in the German city of Muenster is refusing to let go of her dead baby's body several days after it died of unknown causes. Allwetter Zoo spokeswoman Ilona Zuehlke says the 3-month-old male baby died...

NATO general says Pakistan chaos emboldens Taliban - Added 1 day ago

Drawing strength from the chaos in neighboring Pakistan, Afghan insurgents are using their growing control of the border area to plot increasingly brazen attacks against international forces, the NATO commander in...

25 wounded as Hindus protest in Indian Kashmir - Added 1 day ago

Police using tear gas and batons clashed with Hindu protesters defying a fresh curfew in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday, injuring at least 25 people, medics and witnesses said. Authorities reimposed a curfew in Jammu, the...

Sudan's president: Darfur genocide 'nonexistent' - Added 1 day ago

Sudan's indicted president denied Wednesday that his regime is orchestrating genocide in the troubled western region of Darfur _ and offered hope for an end to the violence and the dawn of reconciliation by promising...

Turkey confirms suicide bombing wounds 13 - Added 1 day ago

Turkey's interior minister on Wednesday confirmed that 13 policemen were wounded in a suicide bombing this week. The minister, Besir Atalay, said that a man who was being pursued by police detonated the explosives at a...

US offers aid to Pakistanis displaced by clashes - Added 1 day ago

The U.S. on Wednesday offered to help Pakistanis displaced by an army operation against Islamist militants in a northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani officials have said more than 200,000 have fled...

NKorea vows to boost 'war deterrent' - Added 1 day ago

North Korea stepped up criticism of ongoing U.S.-South Korea military exercises, warning Wednesday that it would boost its "war deterrent" _ a euphemism for its nuclear programs. North Korea "will increase its war...

Twin car bombings hit Algerian hotel, barracks - Added 1 day ago

Twin car bombings rocked a hotel and military headquarters in the Algerian town of Bouira on Wednesday, killing 11 people a day after a suicide bombing in a neighboring region killed 43, official media and witnesses...

Several missing after flooding in eastern Nepal - Added 1 day ago

A river swollen by monsoon rains spilled from its banks and flooded villages in eastern Nepal on Wednesday. Initial reports said several people were missing after being swept away in the water. Army helicopters were...

Red Cross says staff heading to S. Ossetia capital - Added 1 day ago

The Red Cross says that it is sending workers to the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali for the first time since the brief Russian-Georgian war broke out in the breakaway province earlier this month. The move follows...