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03/01/2010

Death toll in Chile quake climbs to 708 as looters complicate rescues
CONCEPCIÓN, Chile – Heroism and banditry mingled on Chile's shattered streets Sunday as rescuers braved aftershocks digging for survivors and the government sent soldiers and ordered a nighttime curfew to quell looting. The death toll climbed to 708 in one of the biggest earthquakes in centuries.

Al-Maliki says ban on candidates before vote is legitimate
BAGHDAD – Iraq's prime minister Sunday defended a ban of candidates with alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's former regime, calling it a legitimate decision that would not affect Sunni turnout at the polls.

Assassins used muscle relaxant, pillow to suffocate Hamas figure, Dubai says
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The assassins of a senior Hamas operative used a powerful muscle relaxant to incapacitate him before suffocating him with a pillow in his hotel room, Dubai police said Sunday, in the latest revelations about a slaying that local authorities have blamed on Israel.

Drug war clashes between Gulf cartel, Zetas may escalate, could affect North Texas
Longstanding tensions between the Zetas paramilitary group and their old employers, the Gulf drug cartel, have exploded into a full-blown war, worrying U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials that a likely protracted battle will further threaten this stretch of the Texas-Mexico border.

Nuclear-related equipment slips past sanctions into Iran
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Early last year, a Chinese company placed an order with a Taiwanese agent for 108 nuclear-related pressure gauges. But something happened along the way. Paperwork was backdated. Plans were rerouted, orders reconfigured, shipping redirected.

Winter storm batters Western Europe
PARIS – A violent late winter storm with fierce rain and hurricane-strength winds ripped across Western Europe on Sunday, battering France and four other countries and leaving at least 51 people dead.

Drug war clashes between Gulf cartel, Zetas may escalate, could affect North Texas
NUEVO LAREDO – Longstanding tensions between the Zetas paramilitary group and their old employers, the Gulf drug cartel, have exploded into a full-blown war, worrying U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials that a likely protracted battle will further threaten this stretch of the Texas-Mexico border. Parts of it are already under heightened security.

World's largest atom smasher is restarted
GENEVA – Operators of the world's largest atom smasher restarted their massive machine Sunday in a run-up to experiments probing secrets of the universe, a spokeswoman said.

Troops plan to remain in Marjah to deter Taliban
MARJAH, Afghanistan – More than 2,000 U.S. Marines and about 1,000 Afghan troops who stormed the Taliban town of Marjah as part of a major NATO offensive against a resurgent Taliban will stay several months to ensure insurgents don't return, Marine commanders said Sunday.

02/27/2010

Chilean earthquake one of strongest ever
The magnitude-8.8 earthquake killed nearly 150 people and set off a tsunami that threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean.
Hawaii feeling tsunami's effects
Dallas-area Chileans hope preparations help
How to help
Plate sliding under S. America blamed
More quake news

02/28/2010

Protests in Yemen could create more instability
ADEN, Yemen – Less than an hour's drive outside this dilapidated port town, the Yemeni government's authority is scarcely visible, and a different flag appears, that of the old independent state of South Yemen.

Building codes, preparation, luck kept Chile's quake toll lower than Haiti's
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The earthquake in Chile was far stronger than the one that struck Haiti last month – yet the death toll in this Caribbean nation is magnitudes higher.

Chile quake kills over 200, displaces 1.5 million, sends tsunamis across Pacific
SANTIAGO, Chile – One of the most powerful earthquakes on record jolted central Chile on Saturday, killing at least 214 people, ripping apart buildings and bridges and sending tsunamis surging across the Pacific, where countries as far away as Japan were evacuating coastal areas.

Chile quake struck near site of 1960 temblor that killed nearly 2,000
The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile early Saturday occurred along the same fault responsible for the biggest quake ever measured, a 1960 tremor that killed nearly 2,000 people in Chile and hundreds more across the Pacific.

Iran opposition leader calls rulers dictatorial 'cult'
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's top opposition leader said Saturday that a dictatorial "cult" was ruling Iran – his strongest attack to date on the country's clerical leadership.

Economists want German consumers to spend more as euro crisis debated
BERLIN – Greek extravagance touched off the biggest crisis in the 11-year history of the euro. But the world's most ambitious monetary union faces a less-obvious problem that might be even harder to lick – German frugality.

Egyptians 'hungry for change,' former U.N. nuclear leader says
CAIRO – The former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, who has emerged as an opposition leader in Egypt, appealed to the government Saturday to heed calls for change before frustration over a stale political system – ruled by one man for nearly 30 years – spirals out of control.

Europe wary about following trail of Dubai killers
GENEVA – A killer – or killers – may be on the loose in Europe after a Hamas operative was slain last month in Dubai.

IRAQI PARLIAMENT
BAGHDAD – Ahmad Chalabi, the one-time Pentagon darling who helped the Bush administration make the case for invading Iraq, is in a good mood as he settles into the back seat of his armored SUV to head out on the campaign trail. He ought to be.

U.S., Afghan forces break Taliban grip on Marjah
MARJAH, Afghanistan – Marines and Afghan troops cleared the last major pocket of resistance in the former Taliban-ruled town of Marjah on Saturday, part of an offensive that is a run-up to a larger showdown this year in the most strategic part of Afghanistan's dangerous south.

02/27/2010

Plate sliding under South America blamed for Chile earthquake
The magnitude-8.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile early Saturday morning occurred along the same fault responsible for the biggest quake ever measured, a 1960 tremor that killed thousands in Chile and hundreds more across the Pacific.

How to get information on U.S. citizens in Chile
To request or provide information about U.S. citizens in Chile, call 1-888-407-4747 (outside the U.S. 202-501-4444) or follow @dipnote on Twitter. Information can also be found at www.travel.state.gov.

02/26/2010

2 huge icebergs let loose off Antarctica's coast
A massive iceberg struck Antarctica, dislodging another giant block of ice from a glacier, Australian and French scientists said Friday.

02/27/2010

World briefs
Turkey holds 18 more

Thai court allows fugitive former prime minister to keep almost $1 billion
BANGKOK – Thailand's Supreme Court confiscated $1.4 billion in frozen assets Friday from the nation's fugitive former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, after finding him guilty of illegally concealing his ownership of a family company and abusing his power to benefit the companies he owned.

Taliban aim Kabul blasts at foreigners in bid to drive U.S. from Afghanistan
KABUL – Taliban militants claimed responsibility for a series of bombings early Friday that targeted foreigners in central Kabul. They said the blasts were intended to force the U.S. and its allies to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Iraq reinstates 20,000 Saddam-era army officers
BAGHDAD – Iraq on Friday reinstated 20,000 army officers dismissed after the U.S.-led invasion, a landmark gesture at reconciliation ahead of the March 7 elections.

Colombian court rules president can't run again
BOGOTA, Colombia – A ruling Friday by Colombia's Constitutional Court closed the door on a third term for President Alvaro Uribe, a staunch U.S. ally in a volatile region.

U.S., allies debate Iran's reasons for moving nuclear fuel
WASHINGTON – When Iran was caught last September building a secret underground nuclear enrichment plant at a military base near the city of Qum, the country's leaders insisted they had no other choice. With its nuclear facilities under threat of attack, they said, only a fool would leave them out in the open.

U.S. rice doesn't help struggling Haitian farmers
POND-SONDE, Haiti – Haiti's rice farmers are dismayed. It's nearly harvest time in this fertile valley, where most of Haiti's food is grown, and they're competing once again with cheap U.S. imported rice.

IN THE KNOW: HUNGER IN HAITI
About 2.4 million Haitians out of a population of nearly 10 million cannot afford the minimum daily calories recommended by the World Health Organization.

Egg-size South African diamond sells for $35.3 million
LONDON – A diamond the size of a chicken's egg has sold for $35.3 million, breaking the record for the highest price ever paid for a rough diamond, supplier Petra Diamonds Ltd. said Friday.

Huge Antarctic iceberg broke off as scientists focused elsewhere
WASHINGTON – With the dramatic crash of an iceberg against a glacier, dislodging a massive new chunk of ice, the mysterious continent of Antarctica once again did the unexpected.

02/26/2010

Haitian refugees to be sent back to ravaged neighborhoods
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – With forecasters warning of Haiti's first big rainstorm since the earthquake, relief officials have changed tack, delaying plans to build big refugee camps outside the capital. They are telling the homeless instead to pack up their tents and tarps to return to destroyed neighborhoods.

Israel tries to ease tensions over adding West Bank heritage sites
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried Thursday to calm tensions over the addition of two West Bank shrines to a list of national heritage sites, a decision that has sparked clashes with the Palestinians and drawn widespread international criticism.

Party of Sunnis to rejoin parliamentary elections in Iraq
BAGHDAD – A prominent Sunni lawmaker who had pulled his party out of parliamentary elections reversed course Thursday and said it would participate after all.

02/25/2010

No one believed Dutch collector, but painting is confirmed as a van Gogh
AMSTERDAM – Dirk Hannema was known as a brilliant art curator but a bit of a fool. He claimed to have seven Vermeers in his collection, several Van Goghs and a few Rembrandts, but no one believed him.

02/26/2010

Pakistan arrests 4th Taliban leader in crackdown
KABUL – Pakistan has arrested a fourth leader of the Afghan Taliban within three weeks, Afghan officials said Thursday, a further sign that Pakistani security forces are cracking down on the insurgent movement.

World Briefs
Missing actor's body found in Vancouver

Growing list of assassination suspects includes more Israeli names
JERUSALEM – Eight more people in Israel have names matching those of suspects in the assassination of a top Hamas operative in Dubai, and they said Thursday that their identities had been stolen.

Shark-filled aquarium in upscale Dubai mall springs leak
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A giant aquarium holding sharks and stingrays sprung a leak Thursday at an upscale Dubai mall, sending startled shoppers scattering and shutting down shops in one of the city's proudest attractions.

Sun, not sails, for solar yacht
KIEL, Germany – No need to hoist the sails aboard this yacht. Sunshine is all that Raphael Domjan, the skipper of a vessel with more than 5,300 square feet of solar panels, will need to power the PlanetSolar. The boat – 102 feet long, 50 feet wide and 24 ½ feet high – was unveiled Thursday at the Knierim Yachtbau shipyard. Formal launching is planned for April and an around-the-world voyage in 2011.

Britain issues rules for assisted suicide
LONDON – Guidelines published Thursday offer people in England and Wales broad hints about how to help gravely ill loved ones end their lives with minimal fear of prosecution.

As Afghan government takes helm in Marjah, insurgents try to hang on
MARJAH, Afghanistan – Afghan officials raised the national flag over Marjah on Thursday and formally installed a new civilian administration, asserting government control over the former Taliban stronghold.

02/25/2010

Son of Hamas founder reveals he was a top spy for Israel
JERUSALEM – The son of a founder of the militant Hamas organization says in a new book that he served as an informant for Israel for more than a decade, providing intelligence that helped prevent dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis.

British charity honors army's bomb-sniffing Labrador with medal for courage
LONDON – A perky Labrador whose bomb-sniffing work helped save lives in Afghanistan was decorated for canine courage in a ceremony Wednesday at London's Imperial War Museum.

Turkish court charges 12 military officers in coup plot
ANKARA, Turkey – A struggle between the secular Turkish military and the Islamic-oriented government heightened Wednesday as a court jailed 12 senior officers – five admirals, an army general and six other officers.

NATO issues directive limiting nighttime raids on Afghan civilians
KABUL – American troops knocked on the door, and before the Afghan family could find the key to let them in, the soldiers broke it down.

World briefs
New U.S. Embassy in

War report

Update: Hamas assassination
Fifteen more suspects carrying foreign passports were linked Wednesday to an elaborate hit-squad slaying of a Hamas commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. The accusations by Dubai police raised the size of the alleged assassination team to at least 26. Although Dubai's police chief said he was nearly certain Israel was behind the killing, the new details add an incongruous wrinkle: Two of the new suspects allegedly left Dubai on a ship bound for Iran, Israel's archenemy.

02/01/2010

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