03/05/2010

Violence greets early voting in Iraq elections
BAGHDAD – Iraq opened its polls Thursday for early voting by hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police officers responsible for protecting the country's electorate, and they came under assault themselves.

Haitian family tries to leave quake behind, but disaster strikes twice
SAN BERNARDO, Chile – The Desarmes family left their native Haiti two weeks after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, joining the oldest son in Chile for what seemed a refuge from the fear and chaos of Port-au-Prince.

Signs of normal life emerge from still-grieving Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Their home is a pile of rubble, their church is in ruins and their honeymoon suite is a tent shared with eight relatives.

Iraq's prime minister facing tough battle to hang on to his post
BAGHDAD – Since taking office in 2006, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has defied expectations, proving to be a canny and often bold leader who has transformed himself from a virtual unknown into possibly the single most popular politician in Iraq.

Envoy urges Afghans to pursue peace
KABUL – The departing U.N. envoy to Afghanistan said Thursday that the nation's leaders must "clean up their own house" and warned that U.S.-led military operations must not jeopardize political efforts toward reconciliation with the Taliban.

Turkey upset with genocide resolution
WASHINGTON – Turkey, a key Muslim ally of the United States, withdrew its ambassador Thursday after a congressional committee narrowly approved a resolution calling the World War I-era killing of Armenians a genocide.

Dozens killed in India temple stampede
KUNDA, India – A handout of free food and clothing set off a stampede of thousands of poor villagers at a Hindu temple Thursday, killing 63 and injuring dozens of others.

Safeguarding its prosperity, China reins in defense spending
BEIJING – China's government on Thursday proposed its smallest increase in defense spending in two decades – a symbolic down payment on efforts to lift public spending and even out a rich-poor gap that is stoking social tensions.

Egyptian real estate mogul will be retried in murder of ex-lover
CAIRO – An Egyptian court on Thursday ordered the retrial of a real estate mogul and former legislator who was sentenced to death for hiring a hit man to murder his former lover, a Lebanese pop star.

03/04/2010

Do-it-yourself aid workers help pitch tents to help Haitians
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A Miami property developer, volunteering after Haiti's earthquake, was horrified to see children sleeping in the dirt under makeshift tents of bed sheets propped up on sticks. A global billion-dollar aid effort should be able to do better, he thought.

In Beijing, security tight for annual fortnight of political meetings
BEIJING – With great fanfare and rigid security, China on Wednesday launched its annual exercise in participatory democracy, socialist-style: The opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress, a 2,252-member body that advises Communist Party leaders on how to run the nation.

Troops, food arrive to help Chile quake victims

03/03/2010

Online Google Earth map pinpoints need in Haiti
GENEVA – Aid workers, with the help of Google Earth, are uploading key information onto the Web to illustrate the needs of hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by Haiti's earthquake – an innovation that could boost the ability to respond to future disasters.

03/04/2010

String of suicide blasts in Iraq kills 32
BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers struck in quick succession Wednesday in a former insurgent stronghold northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 32 people just days before a crucial election.

International news briefs
Pakistan battle kills 30 militants, 1 soldier

Ex-Gitmo prisoner helps lead Taliban in Afghanistan
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan – A man who was freed from Guantánamo more than two years ago, after claiming that he only wanted to go home and help his family, is now a senior commander running Taliban resistance to the U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, two senior Afghan intelligence officials say.

03/03/2010

Chileans welcome troops now
CONCEPCIÓN, Chile – The Chilean army marched into this wrecked city Tuesday, rounding up looters and receiving the applause of besieged survivors of the weekend's massive earthquake.

Plan to raze Palestinian homes in Jerusalem for tourist center draws criticism
JERUSALEM – Jerusalem's mayor unveiled a plan Tuesday to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes to make room for a tourist center in one of the disputed city's most volatile neighborhoods, drawing criticism from Palestinians.

Offensive gives Pakistani government control of Taliban cave, tunnel complex
DAMADOLA, Pakistan – The Pakistani flag now flies over the complex of caves and tunnels that al-Qaeda and local Taliban militants had made their logistical hub, and a major infiltration route into and out of Afghanistan is under government control, authorities said Tuesday.

Guatemala police chief, anti-drug czar arrested
GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala's national police chief and anti-drug czar were detained Tuesday in connection with stolen cocaine in a case that led to the deaths of five police agents.

Pakistani militants tied to attacks in India are suspected in Afghan capital bombings
KABUL – An Afghan intelligence official said Tuesday that the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba orchestrated the deadly attack that targeted two guesthouses in the capital last week.

03/02/2010

Rescuers track signs of life in Chile as looters press on
CONCEPCIÓN, Chile – Rescuers found signs of life in the wreckage of a 15-story building Monday as the world offered aid to victims of an earthquake that killed more than 700 people. Looters roamed the streets even after troops and police arrested dozens of people for violating a curfew.

Mexico's habit of parading drug suspects before TV cameras is debated
MEXICO CITY – The manhunt was over. Raydel "Crutches" Lopez Uriarte, suspected of being the top enforcer for a vicious Tijuana drug gang that dissolved victims in lye, would now have to face justice.

U.S. says drug traffickers turning to other routes
WASHINGTON – Drug traffickers are adjusting to law enforcement pressures in Mexico by shifting operations to smuggling corridors in Central America and the Caribbean, the State Department said Monday in a survey of anti-drug efforts.

Wartime Bosnian Serb leader tells war crimes tribunal he was protecting his people
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, defending himself against charges of Europe's worst genocide since the Holocaust, told judges Monday that he is not the barbarian depicted by U.N. prosecutors but was protecting his people against a fundamentalist Muslim plot.

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.

03/02/2010

UPDATE: WAR REPORT
A NATO soldier and four Afghan civilians were killed Monday when a suicide car bomber struck a convoy on a bridge between Kandahar city and the local airport, a major alliance base in the south.

Election in strife-ridden Kirkuk may have implications for rest of Iraq
KIRKUK, Iraq – Young men hurtle down dusty streets in cars, waving flags and blaring campaign slogans in a fervor that highlights this city's dangerous ethnic divisions. Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds each see Iraq's parliamentary elections as a chance to prove one thing: Kirkuk is ours.

Haiti's school question: Reopen soon or overhaul system?
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – After seven weeks with seven kids huddled under a shelter of tarps and bedsheets on the median strip of a busy road, Lissithe Delomme says the Haitian government can't reopen schools fast enough.

CHILE BRIEFS
Clinton to bring satellite phones

World briefs
Argentina wants U.S. help with Britain dispute

NATO, Afghan officials look for support from Marjah civilians
MARJAH, Afghanistan – One by one, residents of Marjah stood up before Afghan officials Monday to voice complaints – their houses damaged and relatives killed during the massive military offensive in southern Afghanistan.

03/01/2010

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.

02/01/2010

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