WORLD - News - Unites States Newspapers - NSBK

At least 3 snowmobilers dead in Canadian avalanche

2010-03-14 05:28:04: REVELSTOKE, British Columbia -- An avalanche struck a rally of up to 200 snowmobilers in Canada's Rocky Mountains on Saturday, killing at least three people and leaving an unknown number missing, police said.

China alleges diplomatic snub at Copenhagen summit

2010-03-14 05:28:04: BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he was snubbed at last year's Copenhagen climate change conference and fired back Sunday at critics who accuse China of arrogance.

Venezuela's Chavez: Internet should be regulated

2010-03-14 05:28:04: CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for regulation of the Internet on Saturday while demanding authorities crack down on a critical news Web site that he accused of spreading false information.

How Dubai unraveled a homicide, frame by frame

2010-03-14 04:38:06: A mix of old-fashioned legwork and high-tech razzle-dazzle, scouring hundreds of hours of surveillance videos, helped police home in on suspects in a Hamas man's slaying, blamed on Israel's Mossad.

Lacking witnesses but blessed with hundreds of hours of video, the cops and spooks worked the case of the slain weapons smuggler like a movie in reverse.

China's elephants jostle for a little room

2010-03-14 04:38:06: The country only has 300 wild elephants left, squashed into a patchwork of ever-smaller spaces. A wildlife park, and programs to help villagers view them more kindly, may help stave off extinction.

The love between man and elephant does not come easily.

In Beijing, the people's circus is underway

2010-03-14 04:38:06: Inside the Great Hall, the People's Congress may be a legislative yawn-fest, but outside, paparazzi chase stars, the well-off compare couture and shiny luxury cars line the lots.

Inside the Great Hall of the People, it's all canned speeches and stilted words of praise for the Chinese Communist Party. Yes, it's the annual National People's Congress. Yawn.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's harsh words stun Israel

2010-03-14 04:38:06: A spat over the Ramat Shlomo housing project in East Jerusalem becomes a bigger clash as the secretary of State calls it 'an insult to the United States.'

Beginning as a spat over a single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U.S.-Israeli clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one of its closest allies.

Vatican officials defend pope in German abuse scandal

2010-03-14 04:38:06: They deny that Benedict, as archbishop of Munich, had a role in an accused child abuser's reinstatement to priestly duties.

The Vatican sprang to Pope Benedict XVI's defense Saturday amid accusations that he tried to hush up reports of clergy sexual abuse and failed to adequately punish an offending priest in his native Germany before becoming pontiff.

4 suicide attacks hit Afghanistan; at least 30 die

2010-03-14 04:38:06: A suicide squad detonated bombs at a newly fortified prison, police headquarters and two other locations late Saturday, killing at least 30 people in the largest city of the southern Taliban heartland.

Afghanistan agrees to open its electoral commission to foreigners

2010-03-14 04:38:06: President Hamid Karzai says the Afghan-majority panel will get two outsiders, relenting to Western pressure to curb voting violations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed Saturday to allow foreign observers to sit on an election commission, reversing a decree that sidestepped international oversight and drew U.S. criticism that he was jeopardizing his government's credibility.

Afghanistan suicide bombings kill 31

2010-03-14 04:38:06: The attacks in Kandahar may have been an attempt to free Taliban militants at the city's main prison, officials say.

Four suicide bombers struck the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday evening, killing at least 31 people and destroying houses and shops, according to investigators.

Maliki has shaky lead in Iraq vote count

2010-03-14 04:38:06: Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's alliance is ahead in Baghdad and four southern provinces, with a small portion of the vote counted. Official results of the parliamentary elections may take a month.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's slate had an early lead Saturday as partial results trickled in from the parliamentary elections last weekend.

In Mexico, 13 killed in Acapulco area, 11 others elsewhere in Guerrero

2010-03-14 04:38:06: Five police officers are slain and the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men are found in Acapulco just as foreign tourists are arriving for spring break.

At least 13 people were killed Saturday, some of them beheaded, around the popular beach resort of Acapulco, just as foreign visitors have begun arriving for spring break.

Iraq's PM leads in early Baghdad vote count

2010-03-14 01:58:07: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's political coalition took an early vote lead Saturday in the election's all-important battleground ...

Former top U.S. diplomat out of Seoul hospital

2010-03-14 01:58:07: Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was released from a hospital in the South Korean capital Sunday after recovering ...

Police release U.S. woman, 3 others held in terror probe

2010-03-14 01:58:07: An American woman and three others arrested in Ireland over an alleged plot to assassinate Swedish artist Lars Vilks have been ...

24 die in western Mexico; 11 in one shootout

2010-03-14 00:28:02: A series of shootings killed 24 people Saturday in a Pacific coast state plagued by drug gang violence. Nearly half died in one shootout between soldiers and armed men.

Avalanche kills at least 3; others missing

2010-03-14 00:28:02: At least three people are killed, 17 hurt and an undetermined number missing after an avalanche hits a snowmobiling event in British Columbia, authorities said.

Japan Says It Allowed U.S. Nuclear Ships to Port

2010-03-13 18:48:19: The agreements were made public in the United States years ago, but until recently the Japanese government had denied their existence.

Maldives Ban Fishing of Sharks

2010-03-13 18:48:19: The Maldives will make its territorial waters into a shark sanctuary, a government official said Tuesday.

Mexico Drug War Hits New Bloody Level in Border City

2010-03-13 18:18:12: Bodies are piling up, several journalists are reportedly missing or dead and once-busy streets are empty after dark.

U.K. Rejects Calls to Raise Criminal Age From 10 to 12

2010-03-13 18:18:12: The U.K. government rejected calls from one of its advisers to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, the Times of London reported Saturday.

Homicide Attack at Security Checkpoint in Pakistan Kills 13

2010-03-13 18:18:12: A homicide bomber driving a motorized rickshaw blew himself up at a security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials said, killing at least 13 people, injuring 52 and underscoring the nation's relentless security threat.

Vatican Officials Defend Pope on Abuse

2010-03-13 18:18:12: The Vatican on Saturday denounced what it called aggressive attempts to drag Pope Benedict XVI into the spreading scandals of pedophile priests in his German homeland, and contended he has long confronted abuse cases with courage.

Iran Says it Broke Up U.S.-Backed Cyber War Networks

2010-03-13 18:18:12: A judiciary statement says the networks were set up by Iranian opposition groups, including the armed People's Mujahedeen, and that 30 of their members were arrested.

4 Homicide Attacks Hit Afghanistan, Killing 30

2010-03-13 18:18:12: A homicide squad detonated bombs at a newly fortified prison, police headquarters and two other locations late Saturday, killing at least 30 people in the largest city of the southern Taliban heartland.

Nudes Photographer Meets Resistance In the Holy Land

2010-03-13 18:18:12: Dov Litvinoff, head of the Tamar Regional Council, vowed he wouldn't support the project "logistically nor in terms of budget."

Vandals Ransack Former Nazi Concentration Camp

2010-03-13 18:18:12: Vandals sprayed anti-Semitic graffiti on Holocaust memorials at a former Nazi concentration camp in Poland, desecration that authorities discovered Saturday and are investigating.

Vatican defends pope on abuse scandal

2010-03-13 17:48:04: The Vatican denounces what it calls aggressive attempts to drag Pope Benedict XVI into the spreading scandals of pedophile priests in his German homeland.

Catholic abuse claims sweep Europe

2010-03-13 17:48:03:

From Ireland to Germany, Europe's many victims of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church are finally breaking social taboos and confronting the clergy to face its demons.

At least 30 killed in Afghan bomb attacks

2010-03-13 17:48:03: A series of suicide bombings in Kandahar leave at least 30 people dead and dozens injured.

New border war erupts with Mexico cartel rift

2010-03-13 17:48:03:

This border city and others near the eastern end of the U.S. border escaped the worst of Mexico's bloody drug war for years, but now the bodies are piling up, several journalists are reportedly missing or dead and once-busy streets are empty after dark.

Drug gang hushes killings with news blackout

2010-03-13 17:48:03: A powerful drug cartel is buying off journalists in northern Mexico to work as spies and smother coverage of a spike in killings on the U.S. border in the latest attack on the media in Mexico.

Georgia invaded? Hoax report causes panic

2010-03-13 17:48:03: Panic grips Georgia when a pro-government television station broadcasts a fake report that Russian tanks had entered the capital and President Mikhail Saakashvili had been killed.

Iraqi vote signals shift from religious leaders

2010-03-13 17:48:03: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's political coalition took an early vote lead Saturday in the election's all-important battleground of Baghdad, pulling away from its two closest rivals in the latest indication that Iraqis want a moderate government instead of Shiite religious hard-liners leading the postwar nation.

Al-Qaida suspect from US tricked his Yemeni guard

2010-03-13 15:08:06: SAN'A, Yemen -- An American al-Qaida suspect detained in Yemen fooled his hospital guards into unshackling him by asking to join them for prayers, security officials said Saturday. He then killed a guard who laid down his weapons as he went ahead at prayer time.

New border violence erupts with Mexico cartel rift

2010-03-13 15:08:06: REYNOSA, Mexico -- This border city and others near the eastern end of the U.S. border escaped the worst of Mexico's bloody drug war for years, but now the bodies are piling up, several journalists are reportedly missing or dead and once-busy streets are empty after dark.

Bluefin tuna tops CITES conference agenda in Doha

2010-03-13 15:08:06: DOHA, Qatar -- A contentious battle between Asia and the West over the fate of the Atlantic bluefin tuna prized by sushi lovers overshadowed a United Nations conference that opened Saturday in the Gulf state of Qatar.

Child abuse claims sweep Catholic Church in Europe

2010-03-13 15:08:06: DUBLIN -- It often starts as a voice in the wilderness, but can swell into an entire nation's demand for truth. From Ireland to Germany, Europe's many victims of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church are finally breaking social taboos and confronting the clergy to face its demons.

Ex-US Secretary of State Kissinger hospitalized

2010-03-13 15:08:06: SEOUL, South Korea -- A hospital official says former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is recovering after being hospitalized in the South Korean capital with stomach pains.

Muslims attack Coptic Christians in northern Egypt

2010-03-13 15:08:06: CAIRO -- Muslims attacked a community center and burned several homes belonging to Coptic Christians in northwestern Egypt over the weekend, injuring 23 people, in a rampage that a local bishop said was incited by a radical Muslim preacher.

Unemployment rate for young veterans hits 21.1 percent

2010-03-13 13:28:15: The unemployment rate last year for young veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle that combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war.

World Digest: Blasts in Pakistan show pattern of insurgent resilience

2010-03-13 13:28:14: PAKISTAN A pattern seems to be developing in Pakistan's war against Islamist extremists: State security forces beat militants into submission, only to see them roar back to life a few months later.

China holds firm against Google, says firm must obey its laws

2010-03-13 13:28:13: BEIJING -- China's top Internet regulator warned Google on Friday that it must obey Chinese laws or "pay the consequences," in the bluntest official reaction yet to Google's threat to pull out of China unless the government stops censoring the Internet.

Roadside bomb kills 6 civilians in Afghanistan

2010-03-13 12:38:07: A remote-controlled bomb killed six Afghan civilians Saturday as they traveled in a central province, an official said.

Police: Suspect in poker heist arrested

2010-03-13 12:38:07: German authorities say they have arrested a man suspected of taking part in the storming last weekend of a poker tournament in ...

23 Christians Wounded in Egypt, Bishop Says

2010-03-13 11:38:17: An Egyptian bishop says 23 Coptic Christians have been wounded when extremist Muslims attacked a church community center in a western province.

Housing Still Elusive in Haiti Ahead of Torrential Rains

2010-03-13 11:38:17: Trash and sewage are piling up at the squalid tent camps that hundreds of thousands have called home since Haiti's devastating earthquake � and with torrential rains expected any day, authorities are not even close to providing the shelters they promised.

Report: N. Korea to Rejoin Nuclear Talks in April

2010-03-13 11:38:17: North Korea plans to head back to the bargaining table early next month for talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program, a news report said Saturday.

2 Dead After Gunman Opens Fire at Canadian Car Dealership

2010-03-13 11:38:10: Police say two men are dead and another is wounded after a gunman fired shots at a car dealership in Western Canada.

Cops: Woman, 92, kills 98-year-old husband

2010-03-13 11:08:08: A 92-year-old woman is charged with murder following the discovery of her 98-year-old husband's body at their home in Australia, police say.

Sri Lankan Tamil party drops separatist demand

2010-03-13 11:08:08: Sri Lanka's main ethnic Tamil party on Friday dropped its demand for an independent state and said it is ready to accept regional self-rule, following the defeat of separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a 25-year civil war.

Afghan leader to allow foreign election monitors

2010-03-13 11:08:08: Afghanistan's president has agreed to reverse an earlier decision and allow two foreigners on a commission that will monitor upcoming parliamentary elections, his spokesman said Saturday.

Irish police free 3 in alleged artist murder plot

2010-03-13 08:28:07: DUBLIN -- Three Muslims arrested over an alleged plot to assassinate Swedish artist Lars Vilks have been freed without charge, but three other men and an American woman remain in custody, Irish police said Saturday.

HRW: Iran should release or charge famed filmmaker

2010-03-13 08:28:04: CAIRO -- An international human rights group on Saturday called on Iran to either charge or release an acclaimed Iranian filmmaker who backed the country's opposition.

Questions abound after Biden's Israel visit

2010-03-13 07:38:04: Oddly timed news that Israel was approving new housing in disputed East Jerusalem antagonized the Palestinians and the Americans. Why was it made public during the vice president's trip?

Reporting from Jerusalem — You come for a hug. You leave with a slap.

Another suicide attack in Pakistan kills 10

2010-03-13 05:58:06: A suicide attacker set off a bomb at a security checkpoint in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 10 people and ...

Report: Colo. mom in on plot to kill Swede

2010-03-13 04:28:04: Authorities in Ireland are investigating whether a second American woman was involved in a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Rickshaw bomber kills 10 in Pakistan

2010-03-13 04:28:04: Officials say at least 10 people were killed at a security checkpoint by a suicide bomber in a rickshaw in the latest of a series of attacks.

Suspect held over $331,000 poker heist

2010-03-13 04:28:04: A suspect has been arrested in connection with a daring $331,000 raid on a poker tournament, according to German media reports.

Anti-government protesters head for Bangkok

2010-03-13 04:28:04:

Thousands of red-shirted, anti-government demonstrators converge on the Thai capital, vowing to oust the government in a mass display of muscle.

8 youths die in attack on party in western Mexico

2010-03-13 04:28:04: Gunmen burst into a party in western Mexico and killed eight youths and left another person wounded on Friday.

Kazakhstan flooding death toll rises to 30

2010-03-13 04:28:04: The death toll from a massive flood that devastated a village in southern Kazakhstan has risen to 30, officials said Saturday.

Report: NKorea to rejoin nuclear talks in April

2010-03-13 04:28:04: North Korea plans to head back to the bargaining table early next month for talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program, a news report said Saturday.

Pope under fire for transfer, letter on sex abuse

2010-03-13 04:28:04: Germany's sex abuse scandal has now reached Pope Benedict XVI: His former archdiocese disclosed that while he was archbishop a suspected pedophile priest was transferred to a job where he later abused children.

Housing still elusive for Haiti quake victims

2010-03-13 04:28:04:

With torrential rains expected any day, authorities are not even close to providing the shelter they promised for tens of thousands of Haitians left homeless by January's earthquake.

43 dead, 100 hurt in Lahore blasts

2010-03-13 04:28:04:

Two suicide bombers� kill at least 43 people and wound 100 in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

2 dead in shooting at Canadian car dealership

2010-03-13 04:28:04: Police say two men are dead and another is wounded after a gunman fired shots at a car dealership in Western Canada.

Israel seals off West Bank amid growing tension

2010-03-13 04:28:04:

Israeli forces sealed off the West Bank and massed riot squads around Jerusalem's Old City and Arab neighborhoods during Muslim weekly prayers on Friday.

Aussie cabbie to take tourists 4,000 miles

2010-03-13 04:28:04: A Western Australian taxi driver named the state's favorite cabbie in an online contest has won the right to take 22 passengers on a 4,000-mile (6,500-kilometer) ride.

US avoids anti-abortion debate at UN meeting

2010-03-13 01:48:04: UNITED NATIONS -- A U.N. meeting to assess progress in advancing the fight for women's equality that ended Friday had a dramatically different slant than a similar session held five years ago: This time, the United States was not trying to make an anti-abortion declaration a crucial theme.

Japan Kept Secret Deposit With Fed

2010-03-12 23:48:10: The Japanese government secretly gave the U.S. government $103 million four decades ago as part of an agreement to end the U.S. occupation of the island of Okinawa.

Terror Suspect Worked at Nuclear Sites

2010-03-12 23:48:10: Federal regulators say a U.S. citizen in custody in Yemen as a suspected al Qaeda member worked at five Mid-Atlantic nuclear-plant complexes.

China Hits Back at U.S. on Yuan, Rights

2010-03-12 23:48:10: A Chinese central banker hit back at U.S. criticism of Beijing's currency policies, suggesting that Obama wanted to divert attention from U.S. economic woes.

A Nation of Conspiracies

2010-03-12 23:48:10: Turkey is drowning in coup plots, growing extremism and persecutory theories.Why the West can't ignore Turkey's paranoia.

In Disaster's Wake, Hurried Claims

2010-03-12 23:48:10: Natural disasters like the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti are often followed by near-instant assessments of the economic impact. But the figures, closely monitored by insurers, can be unreliable.

Explorer Established Antarctic Stations

2010-03-12 23:48:10: Phillip Law, an Australian explorer who established three stations on Antarctica and mapped more than a half a million square miles of the continent, dies at 97.

Video Shows Aftermath of Lahore Bombings

2010-03-12 22:48:19: Video showed the aftermath of a bombing in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Friday.

Peru Funds Tsunami-Warning System on Pacific Coast

2010-03-12 22:18:12: Peru is creating a tsunami-warning system to help protect 1.6 million residents who live along the South American country's Pacific coast.

Damage From Chilean Quake Estimated to be $30 Billion

2010-03-12 22:18:12: Chile's Treasury minister says initial projections put the damage from last month's major quake there at about $30 billion.

Air France Crash Families Demand Equal Compensation

2010-03-12 22:18:12: French support group said Friday that it will seek equal compensation for the families of French victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447.

U.S. Dismayed After Morocco Expels Americans

2010-03-12 22:18:12: The U.S. ambassador to Morocco has expressed dismay over the expulsion of Americans accused of trying to convert Moroccans to Christianity in the North African kingdom.

Yemeni Authorities Raid Offices of 2 Pan-Arab TV Networks

2010-03-12 22:18:12: Yemeni authorities stormed local offices of the two leading pan-Arab television networks and confiscated broadcasting equipment in an apparent response to their coverage of the country's south

Al Qaeda: Spanish Hostage Freed After Converting to Islam

2010-03-12 22:18:12: An Al Qaeda offshoot in North Africa says it released a Spanish woman who spent 100 days as a hostage in Mauritania because she voluntarily converted to Islam.

Women on the pill may live longer

2010-03-12 19:08:05: LONDON -- Women who took the birth control pill beginning in the late 1960s lived longer than those never on the pill, a new study says.

Hung Parliament possible as UK polls tighten

2010-03-12 19:08:05: LONDON -- The latest buzz word in the clubby world of British politics is "hung Parliament."

Brazilian judge awards $1M in Air France suit

2010-03-12 19:08:05: SAO PAULO -- A Brazilian judge has ordered Air France to pay the equivalent of more than $1 million in damages to the family of one of the victims of last year's crash that killed more than 200 people, officials said Friday.

Fixing what he can in Afghanistan

2010-03-12 18:18:04: Bicycle repairman Abdul Hibib has been plying his trade for 30 years, since losing his foot to a mine blast. He works to send his children to a university, in hopes they can help their country.

The bicycle man prefers working in the sun, sitting on a cushion nailed to a wooden block, stretching out his right leg, the one with a missing foot, taken years ago in that instant when a man's life veers another way.

India embraces Russia arms

2010-03-12 18:18:04: New Delhi signs five deals, buying fighter jets, an aircraft carrier and nuclear reactors.

India signed five deals Friday to purchase more than $7 billion in hardware and expertise from Russia, including an aircraft carrier, a fleet of MIG-29 fighters, defense and space technology and at least 12 civilian nuclear reactors.

Thai anti-government protesters begin to mass for rally

2010-03-12 18:18:04: Anti-government protesters massed around Thailand on Friday ahead of a march they hope will paralyze the capital and force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call new elections. Authorities mobilized 50,000 security officers and set up checkpoints around Bangkok.

2 blasts target military vehicles at Pakistan bazaar, killing at least 43

2010-03-12 18:18:04: The suicide blasts come seconds apart and fan fears of a new wave of militant violence after a period of calm. Pakistanis had been gaining confidence that offensives were shutting down the Taliban.

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Lahore, Pakistan -- Two suicide bomb blasts spaced just 15 seconds apart rocked the eastern city of Lahore on Friday, killing at least 43 people and sparking fears of a new wave of militant violence in Pakistan's major cities following a period of relative calm.

Japan arrests whaling activist for boarding ship

2010-03-12 18:18:04: Japan's coast guard arrested an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand on Friday for illegally boarding a whaling ship last month in the latest incident in the ongoing battle over Japanese whaling.

India, Russia sign nuclear agreements

2010-03-12 18:18:04: India and Russia Friday signed a nuclear cooperation agreement and chalked out an ambitious road map for a series of nuclear reactors to be built in India with Russian help over the next few decades.

Yemeni government upset over foreign media coverage

2010-03-12 18:18:04: Security officials storm the offices of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya and seize broadcast equipment. The stations say their coverage of unrest in Yemen's south triggered the incident.

The government of Yemen and the Arab world's two top news channels are embroiled in a fight over broadcast equipment, underscoring concerns about censorship in the troubled Arabian Peninsula nation.

German archbishops apologizes to abuse victims

2010-03-12 18:18:04: The head of Germany's Catholic Church apologized to victims of child abuse by priests and said after meeting Pope Benedict on Friday the pontiff encouraged him to press ahead with tackling the problem.

Irish PM talks about visit to Washington

2010-03-12 17:28:15: Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen meets with President Obama next week in Washington before a St. Patrick's Day celebration. Cowen discussed his objectives with Washington Post correspondent Anthony Faiola.

Iraqi vote results trickle in slowly

2010-03-12 17:28:15: BAGHDAD -- Preliminary results from Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections continued to trickle in Friday amid continued allegations of fraud and misconduct, but it remained unclear who had won a plurality of votes across the country.

Obama delays Asia trip to focus on health care

2010-03-12 17:28:15: President Obama has delayed his upcoming trip to Asia by three days to remain in Washington for what could be the climax of his year-long battle for health-care reform, his press secretary announced via Twitter this morning.

Irish PM Brian Cowen to meet with Obama

2010-03-12 17:28:15: LONDON -- At a time of deep concern over growing government debt in Europe and the United States, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is heading to Washington as a global spokesman for fiscal restraint.

Weeks after quake, Haiti's elderly hobble through chaos

2010-03-12 17:28:15: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- It was always hard to be old in Haiti, but after the earthquake, to be old and poor feels like a curse, say those who are both.