| Panetta says massacre must not deter Afghan mission Posted:  KABUL (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told troops in Afghanistan on Wednesday that the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by an American soldier must not deter them from their mission to secure the country ahead of a 2014 NATO withdrawal deadline. Despite calls from local residents for him to be tried in Afghanistan, the U.S. staff sergeant who killed the villagers on Sunday has been flown out of Afghanistan, the Pentagon said. In Washington, President Barack Obama said after meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron he did not anticipate any "sudden" change in U.S. ...
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| Syria marks anniversary of uprising, violence grows Posted:  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria marks the first anniversary on Thursday of an increasingly bloody uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, with recent army gains unlikely to quell the revolt and no diplomatic solution in sight. Troops loyal to Assad have pummeled rebel strongholds across Syria this week, deploying tanks and heavy artillery to crush opponents in a string of cities and villages, including Deraa in the far south where the rebellion took hold last March. Amid dire warnings that Syria is set to sink into a protracted civil war, the U.N. ...
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| Russia may give NATO a base for Afghan supply runs Posted:  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday endorsed a proposal to allow NATO use of a southern Russian air base as a hub for transport of supplies to Afghanistan and suggested it was premature to withdraw troops from the war-torn country. Sergei Lavrov said the proposal to lease NATO an air base in the Volga River city of Ulyanovsk for non-lethal NATO supply transits to Afghanistan via Central Asia must get formal government approval but is in Russia's "national interest." It would be the first deal allowing U.S. ...
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| Greece presses charges over alleged '08 plot against PM Posted:  ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek prosecutor pressed charges of treason and trying to destabilize the country against unknown suspects on Wednesday over an alleged 2008 plot to overthrow the then-conservative prime minister, Costas Karamanlis. Court officials said the plan was hatched to thwart efforts by Karamanlis efforts to improve energy relations with Russia and included overthrowing and even killing the premier. It was not clear who was behind it. "An investigative prosecutor will now try to locate the persons who devised and organized the plan," said a court official who requested anonymity. ...
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| Historic verdict condemns warlord, but Hague court limited Posted:  THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The war crimes court at The Hague found Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo guilty on Wednesday in its first ever ruling after a decade of work limited largely to Africa while major cases elsewhere remain beyond its reach. The International Criminal Court convicted the little known militia leader of using child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But critics noted that deadlock among world powers means the ICC is not even investigating daily tales of atrocity emanating from the Syria of President Bashar al-Assad. ...
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| Ahmadinejad grilled by hostile Iran parliament Posted:  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was summoned to parliament on Wednesday for an unprecedented grilling by lawmakers who accused him of economic mismanagement and making "illegal" appointments. Less than two weeks after a drubbing in parliamentary elections, Ahmadinejad became the first president in the Islamic Republic's history to be called before the legislature which has the power to impeach him if unsatisfied with his answers. ...
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| Swiss probe deadly bus crash as families arrive Posted:  SION, Switzerland/HEVERLEE, Belgium (Reuters) - Distraught parents flew to Switzerland on Wednesday after a bus carrying a Belgian school group home from a ski trip crashed into the wall of a Swiss tunnel, killing 22 children and six others. Twenty-four passengers remained in hospital, including three children in Lausanne with critical injuries, but the other survivors were out of danger, Swiss officials said. ...
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| Splits rattle Mexican ruling party before election Posted:  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The unity that helped Mexico's ruling conservatives end seven decades of one-party rule is cracking under the weight of infighting, scandal and defections that threaten their hopes of retaining the presidency in July. Eleven years after President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, or PAN, first took power, the party is battling accusations it has succumbed to corruption and vote-rigging, and betrayed its founding principles. ...
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| Seen by millions, will Uganda Kony video matter? Posted:  LONDON (Reuters) - A YouTube video gone viral has propelled Joseph Kony, leader of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army, back onto the agenda, entrenching his position at the top of the list of the world's most wanted men. But how long the current spike of interest will last is far from clear. Hits on the video appeared to have fallen sharply in recent days, while the charity has also found itself on the receiving end of a savage backlash. Produced by U.S.-based group " Invisible Children", "Kony 2012" has scored more than 77 million hits in less than a week. ...
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| Condition of Bahrain hunger striker seen worsening Posted: DUBAI (Reuters) - The condition of a jailed Bahraini activist who has been on hunger strike for over a month is deteriorating and prison authorities may force-feed him, a lawyer who visited him this week said on Wednesday. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is serving a life sentence for his role in a pro-democracy protest movement that erupted in February last year after uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia only to be put down by force one month later. He was found guilty of charges including forming and organizing a "terrorist group" to end the Al Khalifa monarchy and change the constitution. ... |
| Illegal gold miners riot in Peru's Amazon Posted: Thousands of illegal gold miners battled police for control of a regional capital in the Amazon basin on Wednesday and at least three people were killed by gunfire. |
| Syrian rebels lack guns, money after key defeats Posted:  Two significant defeats at the hands of Syrian government troops have exposed the limitations of the country's rebel forces: They are low on cash, running out of weapons and facing a fiercely loyal military that will fight to the death.
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| Dissidents occupy Cuba church, seek papal audience Posted:  Thirteen Cuban dissidents have holed up in a Roman Catholic church in Havana to press for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI when he visits in two weeks, saying they want to air their grievances about human rights on the island.
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| James Murdoch: 'I could have asked more questions' Posted:  News Corp. executive James Murdoch acknowledged Wednesday that he could have done more to get to grips with the phone hacking scandal that has rocked Britain and threatened his place as the likely heir to his father's global media empire.
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| Accused US soldier flown out of Afghanistan Posted:  The American soldier accused of shooting 16 Afghan villagers in a pre-dawn killing spree was flown out of Afghanistan on Wednesday to an undisclosed location, even as many Afghans called for him to face justice in their country.
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| UK paper claims to have Syrian leader's emails Posted: Thousands of emails purported to be from the private accounts of Bashar Assad and his wife show the Syrian president took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule, joked about his promises of reform and bypassed U.S. sanctions to shop on iTunes, the Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday. |
| Swiss bus crash kills 28, including 22 children Posted:  A tour bus carrying schoolchildren home from a class trip slammed head-on into a tunnel wall in the Swiss Alps, killing 22 Belgian students and six adults and instantly changing a joyous skiing vacation into a tragedy spanning two European nations.
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| Israeli court clears 2 of faking Jesus-era box Posted:  Is the purported burial box of Jesus' brother James fake or authentic?
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| Nigeria says Briton, Italian killed before rescue Posted:  The Briton and Italian kidnapped in Nigeria were abducted by a splinter cell of a radical Islamist sect and executed before a failed commando rescue operation, the nation's secret police said Wednesday.
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| Musical harmony: NKorean, French orchestras play Posted:  A North Korean and a French orchestra performed a landmark concert on Wednesday, adding a note of harmony to longstanding tensions between the isolated nation and the West.
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