| Japan mourns tsunami dead; grapples with unfinished business Posted:  OFUNATO, Japan (Reuters) - With a minute of silence, tolling bells and prayers, Japan will on Sunday mark the first anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis that shattered public trust in atomic power and the nation's leaders. A year after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake unleashed a wall of water that hit Japan's northeastern coast, killing nearly 16,000 and leaving nearly 3,300 unaccounted for, the country is still grappling with the human, economic and political costs. ...
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| Ethiopian troops clash with al Shabaab in Somalia Posted: MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Dozens died in fighting between al Shabaab rebels and Ethiopian troops near the central Somali town of Baidoa and another small town on Saturday, residents, regional officials and the Islamist rebels said. There were differing accounts of which side bore the brunt of casualties in the small town of Yurkud early on Saturday, the heaviest clashes involving Ethiopian troops since they returned to Somalia in force last year after withdrawing in early 2009. ... |
| Big Hungary rally calls for government ouster Posted:  BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested outside Hungary's parliament on Saturday calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his centre-right government which they say has undermined democratic values and weakened the economy. "Today we must say decisively and clearly, Viktor Orban and his gang must be voted out as soon as possible at an election," Peter Konya, leader of the Hungarian Solidarity Movement, told about 6,000 supporters. ...
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| Israel kills five more Gaza militants; rockets hit Israel Posted:  Israel killed four Gaza militants on Saturday as violence sparked by the death of a militant leader a day earlier escalated with gunmen firing more than 90 rockets at Israel, injuring four people, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. In all Israel, has killed 14 militants in aerial strikes launched since Friday, Hamas medics said. In the latest attack, a gunman was killed on a motorcycle and another was critically wounded and later died of his injuries, medics said. ...
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| Saudi women students boycott classes in rare protest Posted:  JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Thousands of students at an all-female university in Saudi Arabia boycotted classes on Saturday, protesting against poor services, witnesses said, in a rare display of dissent from women in the conservative Islamic kingdom. It was the second protest at King Khalid university in the southern town of Abha in a week - security forces broke up a demonstration there on Wednesday, leaving dozens injured, students told Reuters. The protests first erupted when the university cancelled cleaning services, saying students needed to take better care of their campus. ...
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| Air strikes in Yemen kill 45 suspected Qaeda militants Posted: SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) - U.S. drone attacks killed at least 25 al Qaeda-linked fighters including one of their leaders while a Yemeni air force raid killed 20 more in the south, sources said on Saturday, in the biggest airstrikes since Yemen's new president took office. Militants have expanded their operations in southern Yemen during months of turmoil which paralyzed the country and eventually unseated former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was replaced in a February vote by Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. ... |
| Mass grave in southern Mexico yields 167 bodies Posted:  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Authorities are investigating a mass grave in southern Mexico containing 167 bodies that may have been dumped there at least 50 years ago, a Mexican official said on Saturday. The remains, found in a cave near the Guatemalan border, "disintegrated at the touch," said the official at the Chiapas state prosecutor's office. Investigators are trying to determine the age and gender of the victims and the cause of death, the official said on condition of anonymity. ...
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| Blast at bus station in Kenyan capital kills three Posted:  NAIROBI (Reuters) - An explosion at a bus station in downtown Nairobi killed at least three people and wounded 40 on Saturday evening, with eight still in critical condition, the Kenya Red Cross said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Kenyan capital was hit by grenade attacks in October after Kenya sent troops into neighboring Somalia to fight al Shabaab, the militant group linked to al Qaeda. Police quickly blamed the Somali rebels. ...
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| Japan marks 1 year since quake, tsunami disaster Posted:  Japan is remembering the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation a year ago, killing just over 19,000 people and unleashing the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.
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| Bus station blasts in Kenya's capital kill 4 Posted:  A grenade attack at one of the main bus stations in Kenya's capital killed at least four people and wounded 40 others Saturday, officials said, in the latest bloodshed blamed on sympathizers of Somalia's al-Qaida-linked insurgency.
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| Syria assaults opposition as diplomacy staggers Posted:  Syria launched a long-anticipated assault to crush the opposition in the rebellious north on Saturday, bombarding its main city with tank shells from all sides and clashing with rebel fighters struggling to hold back an invasion.
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| Thousands rally to show support for Hugo Chavez Posted:  Thousands of supporters of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez held demonstrations across the country Saturday to show support for their leader while he recovers from cancer surgery in Cuba.
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| Clashes erupt after funeral in Bahrain Posted: Police in Bahrain fired tear gas Saturday at protesters following the funeral for a 22-year-old man whose family claims he was fatally injured during clashes earlier this month in the Gulf kingdom. |
| Israeli airstrikes kill 15 Gaza militants Posted:  Israel pounded Gaza for the second day in a row Saturday, trading airstrikes and rocket fire with Palestinian militants and killing 15 of them as the deadliest Gaza violence in over a year showed no signs of abating.
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| Yemen: US airstrikes kill 18 al-Qaida militants Posted:  Yemeni military officials said Saturday that two U.S. airstrikes killed at least 18 al-Qaida-linked militants in an evening attack on a central province that had been partly overrun by the group earlier this year.
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| Afghans find victims entombed by avalanche Posted: The only warning was the strong wind that howled through the village of Daspai. |
| Deadly hostage raid stuns Nigeria's home of Islam Posted:  While violence has engulfed much of Nigeria's Muslim north in the last year, the city of Sokoto in its far northwest offered a slow-moving glimpse of peace in the nation's Muslim north, anchored by a faith enshrined here more than 200 years ago.
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| Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo agree to transfer Posted:  Five top Taliban leaders held by the U.S. in the Guantanamo Bay military prison told a visiting Afghan delegation they agree to a proposed transfer to the tiny Gulf state of Qatar, opening the door for a possible move aimed at bringing the Taliban into peace talks, Afghan officials said Saturday.
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