News For Sunday Jul 20, 2008 News For Sunday Jul 20, 2008

World World

Haiti food aid lags, hunger deepens - Added 1 hour ago

Every inch of Rivilade Filsame's body hurt, from his swollen, empty stomach to his dried-out, wrinkled skin. The 18-month-old had been crying for so long in the hospital malnutrition ward that his mother no longer tried...

Iraqi panel proposes delay in key election - Added 2 hours ago

Iraq's election authority proposed Sunday to delay important provincial balloting in an apparent sign of frustration over a political impasse that has stalled preparations for voting planned for this fall. The...

Colombians march against kidnappings - Added 2 hours ago

Well over a million Colombians, clad in white and cheering "No more kidnapping," marked their independence day on Sunday with marches and concerts demanding freedom for hostages still held by leftist rebels. ...

Poles who rescued Jews honored in Warsaw - Added 2 hours ago

Wanda Bulik was only 18 when a conductor approached her on a train during the height of World War II and asked her to take care of an abandoned 3-year-old Jewish boy found traveling alone. Without hesitation, the young...

Williams: Anglicans in 'severe' crisis - Added 2 hours ago

The head of the Anglican Communion said Sunday that the global fellowship faces "one of the most severe challenges" in its history, and he urged bishops at their once-a-decade Lambeth Conference to do the hard work of...

Zimbabweans use blogs, text messages for info - Added 3 hours ago

The photographs of the tortured body of an opposition official are blurry but chilling. Posted on the "This is Zimbabwe" blog, they show charred, lacerated limbs and blank eyes staring out from the face of the...

Indictment is biggest test for Sudanese leader - Added 3 hours ago

President Omar al-Bashir's indictment on Darfur genocide charges presents the Sudanese leader with the most serious challenge to his 19-year rule, raising questions about his legitimacy that could weaken his grip on...

Britain's Brown demands end to Israel settlements - Added 4 hours ago

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded Sunday that Israel cease settlement construction and promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy. In his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian...

Pope wraps up Australia trip with final Mass - Added 4 hours ago

Pope Benedict XVI ended his farthest pilgrimage Sunday, one intended to inspire a new generation of faithful while trying to overcome a dark chapter for his church from a clerical sex abuse scandal. Summing up his...

To avoid Olympic smog, Beijing limits traffic - Added 5 hours ago

With the Olympics less than three weeks away, Beijing began restricting car use and limiting factory emissions on Sunday in a final drastic effort to clear its smog-choked skies. Under the two-month plan, half of the...

Activists: Iranians to be stoned to death - Added 5 hours ago

Iran has sentenced eight women and one man convicted of adultery to death by stoning, activists said Sunday. A lawyer and women's rights activist, Shadi Sadr, said the nine, who are between 27 and 50 years old, were...

Afghan officials: US-led forces killed 9 police - Added 5 hours ago

U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces killed nine Afghan police Sunday, calling in airstrikes and fighting on the ground for four hours after both sides mistook the other for militants, Afghan officials said. In a separate...

Serbia: Envoys may return to EU states - Added 5 hours ago

Serbia's foreign minister announced plans Sunday to reinstate the country's ambassadors to EU countries that recognized Kosovo's independence. The aim is to improve relations between Serbia's new pro-Western government...

Brazilian comedian Goncalves dies at 101 - Added 5 hours ago

Brazilian actress and comedian Dercy Goncalves, known for her vulgar wit and scandalous behavior, has died. She was 101. Rio de Janeiro's Hospital Sao Lucas says Goncalves died Saturday of respiratory problems after...

Myanmar says Suu Kyi may be freed soon - Added 5 hours ago

Myanmar's military junta has indicated to its Southeast Asian neighbors that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed from house arrest in about six months, Singapore's foreign minister said Sunday. The hint...

Kurdish rebels release 3 German captives - Added 5 hours ago

Three Germans seized by Kurdish rebels during a climbing expedition on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey more than a week ago were released Sunday in good condition, authorities said. The hostages were released at noon,...

Taiwan tribe struggles to keep traditional culture - Added 6 hours ago

!!-- pobj:NY324-0615081217 -->!!-- pobj:NY329-0615081240 -->!!-- pobj:NY330-0613081505 -->!!-- pobj:NY323-0615081213 -->!!-- pobj:NY320-0614081944 -->!!-- pobj:NY318-0615081219 -->!!-- pobj:NY313-0613081524 -->!!--...

Food rise has Bolivia's coca farmers planting rice - Added 6 hours ago

Soaring food prices may achieve what the United States has spent millions of dollars trying to do: persuade Bolivian farmers to sow their fields with less potent crops than cocaine's raw ingredient. The unlikely...

Man beats child's head on Rome monument - Added 8 hours ago

A man beat his 4-year-old daughter's head against the stone base of a Rome monument in front of tourists and a police officer, leaving the child in a coma, police said Sunday. Carabinieri Lt. Col. Antonello Casarsa...

4 bombs in Spain's Basque country - Added 8 hours ago

Four bombs exploded in northern Spain on Sunday _ including one outside a bank _ causing damage but no injuries, officials said. A caller earlier warned about the explosives, saying he was speaking on behalf of Basque...

Sri Lankan soldiers capture rebel base - Added 9 hours ago

Sri Lankan government forces captured a Tamil Tiger rebel base in the north Sunday after a 48-hour battle that left at least 15 rebels dead, while air force jets destroyed six rebel boats, the military said. Clashes...

US troops kill relatives of Iraq governor in raid - Added 9 hours ago

The U.S. military says American soldiers have killed two armed relatives of a provincial governor during a raid against al-Qaida in Iraq. The military says in a statement that the soldiers were acting in self-defense...

US general: al-Qaida may be easing effort in Iraq - Added 10 hours ago

!!-- hobj:145 -->After intense U.S. assaults, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in...

Sun Myung Moon released from hospital - Added 10 hours ago

The founder of the Unification Church was released from a South Korean hospital Sunday, a day after he and 15 others were injured when their helicopter crashed on a mountain near Seoul. The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 88, was...

Police in India say 17 killed in bus accident - Added 10 hours ago

Police say a packed bus collided with a truck in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, killing at least 17 people and wounding 35 others. State police spokesman Surendra Srivastava said seven of those wounded in...

Iran praises latest nuclear talks - Added 11 hours ago

Iranian state radio is quoting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhahd) as saying the latest round of talks between Iran and world powers are "a step ahead." The Sunday report also quotes the Iranian...

3 suspected in Austria swastika graffiti - Added 11 hours ago

Police say three people are suspected of spraying swastikas and Nazi slogans on buildings and road signs in southern Austria. Police said Sunday that the suspected vandals acted overnight in the small town of Bad St....

Iraq opens airport in holy city of Najaf - Added 11 hours ago

Iraq opened a new airport in the southern city of Najaf on Sunday in what the prime minister said was a key step in the reconstruction of a country devastated by war. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, mostly Iranians,...

British leader in Israel for first official visit - Added 11 hours ago

Gordon Brown, in Israel on his first official visit as Britain's prime minister, said Sunday that economic development was key to bringing peace to the Middle East. Brown's two-day Mideast visit has been overshadowed...

Palestinian extremist dies in Lebanon - Added 12 hours ago

Palestinian security officials say the leader of an extremist Palestinian group has died from wounds sustained in a clash inside a refugee camp in south Lebanon. Shehadeh Jawhar was military commander of the Jund...

Death toll in Taiwan storm rises to 19 - Added 12 hours ago

Taiwanese officials say the death toll from flash floods triggered by Tropical Storm Kalmaegi has climbed to 19. The disaster relief center says six other people remain missing. The storm lashed southern Taiwan with...

Brazil, Colombia boost trade ties - Added 13 hours ago

The presidents of Brazil and Colombia vowed Saturday to boost trade and investment between their nations ahead of crucial world trade talks next week. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Colombia and...

Pakistan army says 15 militants killed - Added 13 hours ago

Security forces killed 15 militants and detained 60 others, the army said Sunday, in the first major action against insurgents under Pakistan's new government. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said five troops have...

Brazil official's Nazi reference rocks WTO talks - Added 13 hours ago

Some pre-negotiation jabbing turned into a potentially damaging diplomatic incident Saturday when Brazil's foreign minister said rich countries' deception in trade talks reminded him of tactics used by Nazi propaganda...

Olympic traffic crackdown begins in Beijing - Added 13 hours ago

Beijing started its most drastic pollution-control plan Sunday, restricting car use and limiting factory emissions in a last-minute push to clear smog-choked skies for the August Olympics. Under the two-month plan,...

Cambodia informs UN of alleged Thai incursion - Added 13 hours ago

Cambodia has complained to the U.N. Security Council that Thai forces have violated its territory near an ancient World Heritage Site temple where hundreds of troops continued to face off Sunday. Cambodia's permanent...

Report: British hostage in Iraq is dead - Added 17 hours ago

A Shiite militia that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of five Britons in Iraq more than a year ago said one of its hostages committed suicide, a British newspaper reported. The Sunday Times of London...

Chavez demands respect from US, EU - Added 17 hours ago

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has a message for future U.S. and European leaders: Treat Latin America with respect. Chavez says Washington and the European Union "must respect the sovereignty of the Latin American...

Cambodia informs UN on alleged incrusion - Added 17 hours ago

Cambodia has sent a note to the U.N. Security Council alleging that Thai forces intruded into its territory near an ancient temple. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Sunday that Cambodia's mission in New York...

Dignitaries attend grand party for Mandela's 90th - Added 18 hours ago

QUNU, South Africa _ Songs, laughter, teasing and tender words marked Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration Saturday as presidents, village elders and African royalty joined him for a festive luncheon on his rural...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,124 - Added 22 hours ago

As of Saturday, July 19, 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...

Peace, not indictment of president, stirs Sudanese - Added 23 hours ago

For years, Mohammed Ali has been hearing relatives and friends tell how government-backed militiamen torched villages in his native Darfur, raped women and shot fleeing civilians. The painful past and present have...

First of 5 feet found in Canada identified - Added 1 day ago

One of five feet that have mysteriously washed up on the shores of British Columbia over the past year has been linked to a depressed man who disappeared a year ago, police said Saturday. Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre said DNA...

Iraqi Sunni bloc rejoins government - Added 1 day ago

Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc returned to the government fold Saturday after calling off a nearly one-year boycott of the Shiite-dominated leadership _ another critical stride toward healing sectarian rifts. ...

Afghan violence kills 14, including NATO soldier - Added 1 day ago

Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents attacking a supply convoy for NATO troops, killing nine militants, officials said Saturday. Roadside bombs killed a NATO soldier in a separate convoy and four policemen. ...

German Love Parade festival draws dancing crowd - Added 1 day ago

More than 1.5 million revelers danced through the streets of the western German city of Dortmund on Saturday at the annual Love Parade techno music festival. A roughly one-mile main road was closed in Dortmund to allow...

Iran nuclear talks stall, even with US at table - Added 1 day ago

A U.S. decision to bend policy and sit down with Iran at nuclear talks fizzled Saturday, with Iran stonewalling Washington and five other world powers on their call to freeze uranium enrichment. In response, the six...

Pope apologizes for clergy sexual abuse - Added 1 day ago

Pope Benedict XVI apologized Saturday for the sexual abuse of children by Australia's Roman Catholic clergy, keeping up efforts begun in the United States to publicly atone for what he called evil acts by priests. The...

Hard life for Indian sculptor after train bombings - Added 1 day ago

That one time, hanging out the open door of the crowded train was lucky for Mahendra Pitale. Had he been sitting inside the train car, the 34-year-old sculptor almost certainly would have been killed when the bomb...

Scientist plies Asia seeking freshwater stingray - Added 1 day ago

Rushing across a temple parking lot, British angler Rick Humphreys yells, "We've got a fish." He jumps into a small motorboat on the Maeklong River in time to see Wirat Moungnum bring the prize to the surface _ a rare,...