News For Saturday Jul 19, 2008 News For Saturday Jul 19, 2008

World World

Dignitaries attend grand party for Mandela's 90th - Added 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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 5 weeks 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,...

Iraqi refugees duped by smugglers promising Europe - Added 5 weeks ago

In the depths of despair, Suzan doused herself and her 14-year-old daughter with gasoline and prepared to set them both on fire. The Iraqi refugee's dream of reaching Europe was dead. Suzan, a hairstylist, had fled her...

Quotes from Petraeus interview - Added 5 weeks ago

Comments by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, in an Associated Press interview Saturday in Baghdad: On al-Qaida in Iraq: "We do think that there is some assessment ongoing as to the continued...

Sharing power with Mugabe may be only option - Added 5 weeks ago

Zimbabwe's beaten down opposition may end up being forced to accept what it swears is unacceptable _ a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe. Some say it would only prolong Zimbabwe's agony, while others see...

Unification Church founder Moon hurt in crash - Added 5 weeks ago

A helicopter carrying the Rev. Sun Myung Moon crashed into a mountainside Saturday as it attempted an emergency landing, injuring the founder of the Unification Church and 15 others, officials said. Moon, 88, was...

Israel didn't know of cluster bomb use - Added 5 weeks ago

A former Israeli defense official says the Israeli military used cluster bombs for two weeks during the 2006 Lebanon war without telling the Israeli government. Hagai Alon, an adviser to then-Defense Minister Amir...

Five-star hotel planned for Baghdad - Added 5 weeks ago

Iraqi officials say they have approved plans to build a five-star hotel in the Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone. Iraq's National Investment Commission says land for the project is being leased by the Summit Global...

British prime minister meets with Iraqi leaders - Added 5 weeks ago

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown held talks Saturday with Iraqi leaders less than a week after the announcement of expected British troop cuts in southern Iraq. Brown was greeted in Baghdad's protected Green Zone by...

Austria: New evaluation of health of Nazi suspect - Added 5 weeks ago

Austrian authorities have ordered a new round of medical and psychiatric tests to determine whether a suspected Nazi is healthy enough to be extradited to Croatia to stand trial for alleged atrocities. The public...

Beijing begins massive Olympic shutdown - Added 5 weeks ago

Beijing's Olympic shutdown begins Sunday, a drastic plan to lift the Chinese capital's gray shroud of pollution just three weeks ahead of the games. Half of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles will be pulled off the roads...

Myanmar security tight on anniversary - Added 5 weeks ago

Hundreds of riot police and soldiers ringed a monument in downtown Yangon on Saturday as officials gathered to commemorate the shooting death 61 years ago of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's father. Myanmar...

Pakistani rescuers spot Italian mountain climbers - Added 5 weeks ago

Pakistani rescuers in a helicopter spotted two Italian mountaineers on one of the world's deadliest peaks, where a third Italian climber is believed to have died this week, a tour operator said Saturday. The two...

Tropical storm floods southern Taiwan - Added 5 weeks ago

Tropical storm Kalmaegi churned along the Chinese coast Saturday, after leaving 13 dead in heavily populated Taiwan and its president scrambling to explain the island's apparent lack of preparedness in the face of the...

Woman attacked by kangaroo saved by pet dog - Added 5 weeks ago

An elderly woman was attacked by a large kangaroo on a farm in Australia and was lucky to be alive after a pet dog leapt to her aid, her son said Saturday. The 6-foot-5-inch kangaroo lunged without warning at...

Sri Lanka: 19 rebels killed in fighting - Added 5 weeks ago

Sri Lankan government forces killed 19 Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh fighting along the front lines of the island nation's civil war, the military said Saturday. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said Friday's...

Colombian freed hostages: Trauma remains with them - Added 5 weeks ago

Former Colombian rebel captive John Freddy Diaz knows something that recently freed hostages may just be discovering: The pain of a kidnapping doesn't end with liberation. Seven years after his release, the tall,...

Iraqi village shows hope for wider stability - Added 5 weeks ago

!!-- hobj:08187328 -->Brick by brick and one cinderblock at a time, the residents of this Euphrates River village about 45 miles southwest of Baghdad are rebuilding homes that the U.S. military says al-Qaida destroyed...

Israel shoots smuggler on Syrian border - Added 5 weeks ago

Israel's army says it shot and killed a suspected smuggler in a rare incident on the frontier with Syria. An army spokesman says another man was wounded in the incident that took place overnight Friday. The army says...

Pakistan: at least 10 die in militant clashes - Added 5 weeks ago

At least 10 Taliban have died in fierce fighting between two rival militant groups in northwestern Pakistan, a government official and Taliban spokesman said Saturday. Hundreds of supporters of the top Pakistani...

More troops on Thai-Cambodian border - Added 5 weeks ago

Cambodia and Thailand continued to reinforce their troops along a disputed border area near an 11th century temple Saturday, even as they prepared for talks to avert a military confrontation. Some 300 more Cambodian...

Afghans free journalist who took execution pics - Added 5 weeks ago

An Afghan journalist who contributes to The Associated Press was freed Friday after his pictures and video footage of two women brazenly executed by the Taliban led intelligence officials to hold him for questioning for...

Magnitude 6.6 quake hits eastern Japan - Added 5 weeks ago

A strong earthquake with a preliminary 6.6 magnitude struck off of Japan's eastern coast Saturday, the country's meteorological agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The 11:39 a.m. quake,...

Tropical storms Fausto, Bertha become hurricanes - Added 5 weeks ago

Tropical Storm Fausto became a hurricane Friday far off Mexico's Pacific coast, while Bertha strengthened back into a hurricane in the open Atlantic. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said neither storm is...

14 killed in Nepal bus accident - Added 5 weeks ago

A bus veered off a mountain road and plunged into a river Saturday in central Nepal killing 14 passengers and leaving many missing. The bus plummeted into the river just after midnight in Khare Khola, about 100 miles...

Report: Mexico cop in torture case fired - Added 5 weeks ago

A Mexican police chief was fired Friday following the release of two police training videos that show officers practicing torture techniques, local media reported. Carlos Tornero, police chief in the central city of...

Mexico's brightest leave time capsule - Added 6 weeks ago

Mexico's president replaced a 1791 time capsule discovered atop Mexico City's cathedral with a new one containing messages from golf star Lorena Ochoa, novelist Carlos Fuentes and a boy genius. President Felipe...

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 476 - Added 6 weeks ago

As of Friday, July 18, 2008, at least 476 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 6 weeks ago

As of Friday, July 18, 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...

Haiti's Voodoo pilgrims pray for future - Added 6 weeks ago

Every year, Haitians crowd into the basin of a sacred waterfall to relax and pray for a better future. This time, they asked for relief from soaring food prices and rampant unemployment. Thousands of pilgrims bathed...

Pope apologizes for Australian clergy sex abuse - Added 6 weeks ago

Pope Benedict XVI says he is deeply sorry for the pain and suffering caused to victims of clergy sex abuse. The pope addressed a Mass Saturday attended by Australia's Roman Catholic bishops and seminarians, and said he...

Iraq crackdown focuses on arms smuggling from Iran - Added 6 weeks ago

With al-Qaida falling away, U.S. forces in Iraq are turning their attention to another front: the Iranian border. They aim to crack down on weapon smuggling from Iran by tightening the frontier with Iraq's neighbor to...

Military prepares for war crimes trial at Gitmo - Added 6 weeks ago

A jury of military officers is traveling to Guantanamo Bay this weekend as part of final preparations for the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War II. The panel members have been hand-picked by the Pentagon to...

Brazilian police say 8 die in raid at Shantytown - Added 6 weeks ago

Brazilian police say at least eight alleged drug traffickers were killed during a raid in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown. A Rio de Janeiro state police spokeswoman says officers were met by gunfire when they arrived at...

Nelson Mandela responds to reporters' questions - Added 6 weeks ago

Highlights from Nelson Mandela's interview Friday with reporters at his 90th birthday celebration: ___ Q: What is the message you would like to share with the children of the world, the children of the continent and...

South African reported to be new UN rights chief - Added 6 weeks ago

The United Nations chief told rights advocates Friday that his choice to be the next U.N. human rights commissioner is a South African judge who was the first black woman to serve on her country's High Court, the...

2 French aid workers kidnapped in Afghanistan - Added 6 weeks ago

Two French humanitarian workers were kidnapped at gunpoint Friday in Afghanistan and spirited out of the house they were sleeping in, the aid group Action Against Hunger and the French Foreign Ministry said. The two...

Russian minister seeks 'road map' over Abkhazia - Added 6 weeks ago

Russia's foreign minister on Friday called for an internationally developed "road map" to resolve the hot tensions over separatist Abkhazia, but raised serious objections to a plan devised by major countries. Sergey...

Dutch court voids language test for some migrants - Added 6 weeks ago

A Dutch court punched a hole in toughened immigration restrictions, ruling an illiterate Moroccan woman cannot be required to pass a Dutch language test to join her husband in the Netherlands. The order dismayed...

Mandela beams at grandchildren's 'Happy Birthday' - Added 6 weeks ago

Nelson Mandela sat beaming in a yellow armchair, his legs propped up on a large stool and covered with a pale yellow blanket. Ten grandchildren crowded around to serenade him with "Happy Birthday" and then smothered him...

Mexico to honor Sen. Kennedy on immigrant rights - Added 6 weeks ago

The Mexican government is honoring U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy for his defense of immigrant rights. Mexico announced Friday it will award Kennedy the Aguila Azteca, the highest honor the government can bestow on foreign...