News For Monday Oct 13, 2008 News For Monday Oct 13, 2008

World World

Dalai Lama to leave Indian hospital after surgery - Added 7 minutes ago

The Dalai Lama was recovering Monday from surgery to remove gallstones and was likely to leave a New Delhi hospital early this week, a senior aide said. The Tibetan spiritual leader underwent surgery on Friday. He had...

South Korea may expand projects with North Korea - Added 31 minutes ago

South Korea is considering expanding cross-border projects with North Korea following major progress in an international standoff over the communist country's nuclear program, an official said Monday. On Saturday, the...

EU allows top Belarus officials to travel to EU - Added 43 minutes ago

Diplomats say the European Union has temporarily lifted a travel ban on authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Allowing Lukashenko and other top Belarusian officials to travel to the EU is part of...

Kenya's elephants send text messages to rangers - Added 50 minutes ago

The text message from the elephant flashed across Richard Lesowapir's screen: Kimani was heading for neighboring farms. The huge bull elephant had a long history of raiding villagers' crops during the harvest,...

British banks to get cash infusion from government - Added 53 minutes ago

The British government is making a major cash infusion into three of the nation's largest banks _ a move that will leave the taxpayers as their largest shareholders. The government said Monday it is spending about 37...

Thabo Mbeki to Zimbabwe to mediate new crisis - Added 1 hour ago

With Zimbabwe's political power-sharing deal in jeopardy, South Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki planned crisis talks Monday with both sides in Harare. Zimbabwe's political rivals called for Mbeki's help to get...

UK university holds artificial intelligence test - Added 1 hour ago

Computers argued, cracked jokes and parried trick questions Sunday, all part of an annual test of artificial intelligence carried out at the University of Reading. Typing away at split-screen terminals, a dozen...

Iraq: Christian businessman killed in Mosul - Added 1 hour ago

A Christian music store owner was shot to death in Mosul, Iraqi police said Monday _ the latest in a series of killings that has caused thousands of members of the religious minority to flee the northern city. ...

India's PM blames wave of violence on extremists - Added 1 hour ago

The Indian prime minister warned Monday that a recent wave of bloodshed that has left scores dead across India threatens the "fundamental underpinnings" of the world's largest democracy. He also denounced hard-line...

China lawmaker quits beauty contest after outcry - Added 1 hour ago

An ambitious young Chinese politician has withdrawn from a Hong Kong beauty pageant following withering criticism from commentators online, state media reported Monday. Yuan Jing, a member of Jiangsu province's...

Germany, Italy push EU to resume talks with Russia - Added 1 hour ago

Germany and Italy want the European Union to resume talks on a political and economic pact with Russia that were frozen owing to Moscow's war with Georgia. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini says it is time for...

Italian police arrest 5 in anti-mob raids - Added 1 hour ago

Italian police say they have arrested five people, including the mayor of a small town, for suspected ties to the local mob. Police made the arrests Monday morning in various towns in Calabria, a southern region where...

Swiss find melamine in Thai, Sri Lankan biscuits - Added 1 hour ago

Swiss authorities say they have found high concentrations of melamine in biscuits from Thailand and Sri Lanka and have called on other European countries to withdraw the products. Authorities in the canton (state) of...

China dairy sued over infant's toxic milk death - Added 1 hour ago

The family of a baby whose death has been blamed on toxic milk filed suit against one of China's largest dairies Monday, while another dairy ensnared in the scandal said it was a victim of unscrupulous subcontractors. ...

Lithuania's right-wing party celebrates victory - Added 2 hours ago

A conservative opposition party won the first round of Lithuania's national election, although strong support for two populist groups means this Baltic nation will face difficult talks on forming a coalition government....

Military: Clashes in Sri Lanka kill 30 combatants - Added 3 hours ago

Sri Lankan soldiers attacked Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers along the northern front lines triggering gunbattles that killed 27 guerrillas and three soldiers, the military said Monday. Fighting has escalated in recent...

Israel closes West Bank for Sukkot holiday - Added 3 hours ago

Israel has shut down entry from the West Bank during the weeklong Sukkot holiday. The order bars almost all West Bank Palestinians from entering Israel until Oct. 21, though Israel says exceptions will be made for...

Thai, Cambodian ministers fail to solve border row - Added 3 hours ago

Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers on Monday failed to solve a border dispute that recently erupted into a brief military clash. In a statement issued after the meeting, Cambodia called for more talks to prevent...

Al-Maliki: British troops not necessary - Added 3 hours ago

Iraq's prime minister said the 4,100 British troops in southern Iraq are no longer necessary to provide security, a newspaper reported Monday. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Times of London that there may be a...

Official: Gunmen shoot at US consulate in Mexico - Added 5 hours ago

Assailants opened fire on the U.S. consulate in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, a Mexican official said. Nobody was injured in Sunday's shooting. Shell casings were found outside the consulate, but there were...

15 reported killed in Pakistan fighting - Added 6 hours ago

Clashes between Taliban militants and pro-government forces killed 15 people overnight in a Pakistani region on the border with Afghanistan, an official and a tribal elder said Monday. Security forces fired mortar and...

5 more Taliban killed in Afghanistan clash - Added 6 hours ago

The U.S. coalition says its troops have killed five Taliban militants in a raid in central Afghanistan. A coalition statement Monday says troops targeted a militant involved in the movement of foreign fighters in Andar...

Philippine leader wants summit to tackle economy - Added 6 hours ago

The Philippine president is calling on Asian leaders meeting in Beijing next week to convene a special session to tackle the impact of the global economic crisis. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Monday she is...

Poll: Support for Japan PM falls to 46 percent - Added 6 hours ago

Tepid public support for Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has fallen further in the weeks since he took office and voters now want help for the country's economy to take priority over domestic politics, according to a...

Gunmen kill 6 at party in northern Mexico - Added 9 hours ago

Gunmen killed six young men at a family party in the gang-plagued Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, prosecutors said Sunday. The men, ages 20 to 25, were killed during a party in a house, said Alejandro Pariente, a...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,181 - Added 12 hours ago

As of Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008, at least 4,181 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...

Canadian leader gambles for majority government - Added 14 hours ago

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is gambling that an opposition pushing an unpopular carbon tax will steer Canadian voters to the right in Tuesday's election and bolster his hold on power. If the polls are any indication,...

Norbert weakens to tropical depression over Mexico - Added 14 hours ago

Norbert dissipated into a tropical depression over the northern mountains of mainland Mexico on Sunday, after ripping off roofs, flooding streets, and forcing thousands to seek shelter in Baja California. The storm's...

Euro nations to guarantee bank refinancing - Added 14 hours ago

Nations in Europe's single-currency zone agreed Sunday to temporarily guarantee bank refinancing and pledged to prevent banks failing as part of a raft of emergency measures designed to get credit flowing again. It was...

No Internet access for 9/11 defendants at Gitmo - Added 15 hours ago

A U.S. military judge has denied a request from professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for Internet access inside his Guantanamo cell, ruling he does not need it to prepare for his death penalty trial. ...

Insulated from global woes, Iraqi stocks soar - Added 17 hours ago

While the rest of the world is facing a financial meltdown, the Iraq Stock Exchange is booming. The ISX index soared nearly 40 percent during September, boosted by increasing confidence in security gains. The ISX is...

Top general: NATO not losing Afghan war - Added 17 hours ago

The top NATO general in Afghanistan on Sunday rejected the idea that NATO is losing the Afghanistan war to an increasingly bloody Taliban insurgency. But U.S. Gen. David McKiernan also said he needs more military...

UK university holds artificial intelligence test - Added 18 hours ago

Computers argued, cracked jokes and parried trick questions Sunday, all part of an annual test of artificial intelligence carried out at the University of Reading. Typing away at split-screen terminals, a dozen...

NKorea announces plan to resume nuclear disabling - Added 18 hours ago

North Korea said Sunday it will resume disabling its key nuclear complex after the U.S. dropped the country from a terrorism blacklist _ a breakthrough expected to help energize stalled talks aimed at ending the...

Writers pick up pens to protest 42-day detentions - Added 18 hours ago

Dozens of renowned British writers came out against new anti-terrorism legislation Sunday, publishing a collection of satire, essays, fiction and poetry to protest a proposal allowing police to hold suspects without...

Pakistani tribesmen rise up against militants - Added 19 hours ago

!!-- pobj:PES101-1012081021 -->!!-- pobj:PES102-1012081021 -->!!-- pobj:PES103-1012081021 -->Pakistani tribesmen are raising armies to battle al-Qaida and Taliban militants close to the Afghan border _ a movement...

No al-Qaida fighters reported dead in US airstrike - Added 20 hours ago

The latest in a barrage of suspected U.S. missile strikes in Pakistan's northwest killed five people, but none was believed to be a foreign al-Qaida fighter, officials said Sunday. Two drone aircraft were seen above...

Iraq to begin first oil bid round in London - Added 20 hours ago

Iraq's oil minister will meet Monday in London with representatives of international oil companies for the first round of bidding for new contracts in the country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the minister's...

Iran: Merchants in main Tehran market stage strike - Added 21 hours ago

Merchants in Tehran's main market have closed their shops in protest of a new sales tax despite the government's announcement that it would suspend the measure for two months. Gold, carpet and textile merchants...

Wales rides a coal renaissance - Added 21 hours ago

!!-- pobj:LLP201-1007081328 -->!!-- pobj:LLP202-1007081436 -->!!-- pobj:LLP203-1007081428 -->!!-- pobj:LLP204-1007081448 -->!!-- pobj:LLP205-1007081326 -->!!-- pobj:LLP206-1007081348 -->Deep under a pine-covered...

China Communists seek to expand internal market - Added 21 hours ago

China's ruling Communist Party on Sunday said it would seek to expand its massive internal market to counter the global economic slowdown that has reduced international demand for Chinese goods. The party, led by...

Austrian rightist was speeding at twice limit - Added 21 hours ago

Far-right politician Joerg Haider was speeding at more than twice the posted limit before the car crash that killed him, investigators said Sunday as his grief-stricken party appointed a successor. Flowers, notes and...

Zimbabwe opposition leader threatens to quit gov't - Added 21 hours ago

Zimbabwe's opposition leader threatened Sunday to pull out of a national unity government if President Robert Mugabe refuses to cede control of key ministries. Morgan Tsvangirai slammed an official government list...

Pope creates 4 new saints, including Indian woman - Added 21 hours ago

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday gave the Roman Catholic church four new saints, including an Indian woman whose canonization is seen as a morale boost to Christians in India who have suffered Hindu violence. Thousands of...

Somali region raids 1 of many hijacked ships - Added 22 hours ago

Somali forces raided one of the many ships hijacked off the country's coast Sunday as a deadline loomed in a standoff aboard another, arms-laden vessel, officials said. Troops in northern Somalia's semiautonomous...

Dirndls, oom-pah, sausages? Oktoberfest in Iraq - Added 22 hours ago

Dirndl-clad waitresses deliver frothy beers, the brass band has the oom-pah music in full drive and there are sausages on the grill. Welcome to Iraq? It may still be a far cry from the Oktoberfest party in Munich,...

France annuls extradition for ex-leftist terrorist - Added 22 hours ago

France has decided not to extradite a former member of the Italian left-wing Red Brigades terrorist group to Italy because she is in poor health, the president's office announced Sunday. It stressed that the measure...

Billboard truce: Beirut scraps irksome posters - Added 22 hours ago

In polarized Lebanon, flaunting a political leader's poster can be enough to spark a gunfight. So shopkeepers on Beirut's al-Maamoun Street are breathing a little easier now that "poster disarmament" has been declared. ...

Palestinian leaders call for reconciliation - Added 1 day ago

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday the rift between his mainstream Palestinian faction and archrival Hamas must end. The Hamas leader, meanwhile, said the time is right for reconciliation. Fatah and Hamas...

Russian leader Medvedev watches missile tests - Added 1 day ago

President Dmitry Medvedev watched a missile soar from Russia's rain-soaked northern forests toward a target thousands of miles away on Sunday, capping a weekend of launches reminding audiences at home and abroad about...