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

World World

Car bombings in Mosul and Baghdad kill 13 - Added 22 minutes ago

Suicide car bombers struck twice Sunday in the northern city of Mosul, killing at least six people and wounding dozens of others, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. A car bomb killed seven other people in Baghdad. Two...

Gunmen kill 6 at party in northern Mexico - Added 2 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...

Exit poll: conservatives ahead in Lithuania vote - Added 4 hours ago

A conservative opposition party won the most votes in Lithuania's parliamentary election, but strong support for populist groups set the stage for tricky coalition talks, an exit poll and partial results showed. The...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,181 - Added 4 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 6 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 6 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 7 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 8 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 9 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 9 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 10 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 10 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 11 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 12 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 12 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 13 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 13 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 13 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 13 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 14 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 14 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 14 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 14 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 14 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 14 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 15 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 16 hours 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 17 hours 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...

Sri Lanka fighting kills 30 rebels, 2 soldiers - Added 19 hours ago

Separate battles between government forces and Tamil separatists across Sri Lanka's volatile northern region killed 30 rebels and two soldiers, the military said Sunday. The new fighting came as soldiers closed in on...

More than 100 Taliban killed in Afghan clashes - Added 22 hours ago

Taliban militants launched a surprise attack on a key southern Afghan town, sparking a battle that killed some 60 insurgents, an Afghan official said Sunday. A second clash in the same region killed another 40...

MISSING TITLE - Added 23 hours ago

Afghan official says more than 100 Taliban killed in 2 battles in southern Afghanistan. ...

Kashmir shuts down in protest as Indian PM visits - Added 1 day ago

Shops, businesses and schools were shut in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Saturday to protest a visit by the Indian prime minister who inaugurated the first train line in the disputed Himalayan region. The visit by...

Official: 3,000 Christians flee Iraq's Mosul - Added 1 day ago

Hundreds of terrified Christian families have fled Mosul to escape extremist attacks that have increased despite months of U.S. and Iraqi military operations to secure the northern Iraqi city, political and religious...

Vienna director sick, but opera good - Added 1 day ago

Damnation was the dominant theme Saturday in a new Vienna State Opera production of Charles Gounod's Faust. But redemption triumphed in the form of wonderful singing and a powerful orchestral performance. On stage of...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,181 - Added 1 day ago

As of Saturday, Oct. 11, 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...

2 Arab homes torched in Acre: police - Added 1 day ago

Two Arab-owned apartments were set ablaze in the Israeli town of Acre amid clashes between Jews and Arabs, police said Saturday. Rioting in Acre _ one of only a few mixed Arab-Jewish towns in Israel _ first erupted on...

Kenya's elephants send text messages to rangers - Added 1 day 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,...

Mexico offers reward in bar massacre investigation - Added 1 day ago

Officials are offering a reward of 500,000 pesos (US$37,300) for the capture of gunmen who killed 11 people in a northern city bar. Unknown assailants walked into the Rio Rosas bar in Chihuahua before midnight Thursday...

Mercurial Austrian rightist dead in car crash - Added 1 day ago

Joerg Haider, who catapulted his rightist anti-immigration party into a powerful force with sharp attacks on rivals and provocative praise of the Nazi era, died Saturday in a car accident. He was 58. His death on a...

Peru governor says he's ready to be prime minister - Added 1 day ago

President Alan Garcia announced Saturday that he has appointed a leftist governor to become Peru's chief Cabinet minister, a day after the minister's predecessor resigned along with 16 colleagues amid a brewing...

Mazda says no decision on sale of Ford's stake - Added 1 day ago

Mazda denied Saturday that a decision had been made by troubled Ford Motor Co. to sell its stake in the Japanese automaker, but didn't rule out a possible deal. Japanese media reported Saturday that Ford was...

Italian woman in right-to-die case worsens - Added 1 day ago

The condition of an Italian woman at the center of a right-to-die case worsened after she suffered a massive hemorrhage, doctors said Saturday. Eluana Englaro has been in a vegetative state for 16 years and her father...

Peru governor says he's ready to be prime minister - Added 1 day ago

A leftist governor says he has agreed to become the Peru's prime minister, a day after the nation's Cabinet resigned amid a brewing oil kickbacks scandal. Yehude Simon says he will replace outgoing Jorge del Castillo...

Zimbabwe's president claims key ministries - Added 1 day ago

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, locked in a standoff with the opposition in power-sharing talks, went ahead Saturday and laid claim to all key ministries as he tries to retain his iron grip on the struggling southern...

12 killed in Russian North Caucasus quake - Added 1 day ago

A strong earthquake hit Chechnya and other parts of Russia's North Caucasus Saturday, killing at least 12 people and damaging scores of hospitals, schools and other buildings, emergency officials said. The quake hit...

Machel: Schools must act against trafficking - Added 1 day ago

Graca Machel, a Mozambican human rights campaigner and the country's former first lady, appealed to schools Saturday to take more action to prevent children being kidnapped and sold into prostitution. Machel, who is...

US enemies in Mideast gloat over financial crisis - Added 1 day ago

America's opponents in the Middle East are gloating over the financial meltdown in the United States, painting it as divine retribution for past misdeeds against Muslims and the last gasps of a dying empire. Hardline...

Strong quake shakes Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico - Added 1 day ago

A strong earthquake jolted people awake Saturday in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and nearby Puerto Rico. There were no immediate reports of damages. The magnitude 6.1 quake was the strongest to hit Puerto Rico...

Russian space chief reassures US partners - Added 1 day ago

The ongoing global economic turmoil and increasingly strained ties between Moscow and Washington will not stand in the way of further space exploration, Russia's space agency chief said Saturday. Roscosmos director...

Ex-volunteers angry at Peace Corps Bolivia pullout - Added 1 day ago

It took Ellen Arnstein the better part of two years to win the trust of the people of Camargo, a farming town of 5,000 in southeastern Bolivia. The mayor agreed to partially fund the Peace Corps volunteer's proposal to...