Rescuers dig for India building collapse survivors

PANAJI, India (AP) – Rescuers using backhoes and shovels searched for survivors Sunday under a massive pile of broken concrete and dust that was left when a residential building under construction collapsed in southern India, killing at least 15 workers.Authorities suspected dozens more may be trapped under the rubble, but were still trying to determine how many workers were on site when the five-story structure crumpled Saturday afternoon in the state of Goa. Witnesses reported seeing at least

Jan. 5, 2014

Iraqi general: Forces will retake western cities

BAGHDAD (AP) – A senior Iraqi military commander said Sunday that it will take a few days to fully dislodge al-Qaida-linked fighters from two key western cities.Lt. Gen. Rasheed Fleih, who leads the Anbar Military Command, told the state television Sunday that ``two to three days'' are needed to push the militants out of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi. Fleih added that pro-government Sunni tribes are leading the operations while the army only is offering aerial cover and logistics on the ground. H

Jan. 5, 2014

At least 11 killed in Bangladesh election violence

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Police in Bangladesh fired at protesters and opposition activists torched more than 100 polling stations Sunday during a national election boycotted by the opposition and described as flawed by the international community. At least 11 people were killed in election-related violence.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's refusal to heed opposition demands to step down and appoint a neutral caretaker to oversee the election led to the boycott, undermining the legitimacy of the vot

Jan. 5, 2014

South Sudan peace talks must not be 'gimmick': Kerry

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Peace talks between South Sudan's warring factions must not be a "gimmick" to buy time to win the upper hand on the ground, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Sunday."Both parties need to put the interests of South Sudan above their own," Kerry told reporters in Jerusalem."The beginning of direct talks... is a very important step, but make no mistake it is only a first step. There's a lot more to do."Negotiations have to be serious, they cannot be a delay, (a) gimmick in

Jan. 5, 2014

Clashes kill at least 23 in north Yemen

SANAA (AFP) - Two days of clashes between Shiite rebels and Sunni tribesmen fighting alongside hard-line Salafists in northern Yemen have killed at least 23 people, sources said on Sunday.Fighting has centered for months on a Salafist mosque and Koranic school in Dammaj, which has been besieged by the Shiite rebels known as Huthis.But the conflict has spread in the northern provinces, embroiling Sunni tribes wary of the power of the Huthis, who have repeatedly been accused of receiving support f

Jan. 5, 2014

Ex-Israel PM Sharon faces 'imminent' death: hospital

TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) – Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon was on Sunday facing "imminent" death, the Tel Aviv hospital where he is in critical condition said.The health of the 85-year-old Sharon, who was dubbed "the Bulldozer" both for his style and physique, has been worsening since Wednesday when he suffered serious kidney problems after surgery.And on Sunday, the director of Tel Hashomer hospital said Sharon was "still in danger of imminent death" although his "heart is holding out

Jan. 5, 2014

Revelers usher in 2014 with fireworks, festivities

The world welcomed 2014 with a series of spectacular firework displays as a wave of pyrotechnic extravaganzas swept around the globe to celebrate the New Year.In Korea, people crowded together on the nation’s east coast to meet the first sunrise in 2014 while making wishes and declaring their New Year resolutions.About 300,000 people visited Haeundae in Busan to experience the start of the New Year, according to police.The occasion was celebrated in a number of ways on eastern beaches, including

Jan. 1, 2014

S. Korean, Chinese FMs discuss N. Korea over phone

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byun-se had phone talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, primarily on North Korea, Yun's ministry said Wednesday.The conversation, arranged at Wang's request, began at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and lasted about one hour, said the ministry.It was their first talks since North Korea executed Jang Song-thaek, the once-influential uncle of leader Kim Jong-un, in early December.Yun and Wang compared their assessment of the political situation in the secretive communist

Jan. 1, 2014

Huge car bomb attack on Egypt police HQ kills 14

MANSOURA, Egypt (AFP) - A powerful car bomb tore through an Egyptian police headquarters Tuesday, killing at least 14 people, in one of the worst attacks since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.The military-installed government said the bombing in Mansoura city, north of Cairo, was aimed at derailing Egypt's democratic transition, and immediately suggested Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood was behind it.But the Islamist movement, which says it renounced violence decades ago, condemned th

Dec. 24, 2013

Qaeda claims attack that killed five Iraqi journalists

BAGHDAD (AFP) - An Al-Qaeda-linked militant group has claimed an attack on an Iraqi television station headquarters in which five journalists were killed.At the direction of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's "war ministry," militants attacked "the headquarters of the Salaheddin satellite(channel) which... distorts the facts and fights the Sunni people," the group said on online jihadist forums.It said two militants took part in the attack on Monday, although police said four suicide bom

Dec. 24, 2013

Bomb hits Iraq defence minister's convoy, wounds two

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A bomb struck the acting Iraqi defense minister's convoy west of Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding two of his guards, the ministry said.The roadside bomb hit Saadun al-Dulaimi's convoy as it travelled between Fallujah and Ramadi, "wounding two of his guards and damaging one of the vehicles," the ministry said on its website.It did not specify whether or not Dulaimi was travelling in the convoy, but a senior defense ministry official told AFP that he was not present at the time of the

Dec. 24, 2013

Russia begins closing cases against Greenpeace activists

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia has begun closing the criminal cases against the crew of a Greenpeace ship who were charged with hooliganism over a protest against Gazprom drilling in the Arctic, the group said Tuesday."Three (Greenpeace activists) have been officially informed about the closure of the criminal case," Greenpeace Russia spokeswoman Maria Favorskaya told AFP, saying that the 27 other activists charged were expected to receive similar notices soon. The move, part of Kremlin-backed amnesty, s

Dec. 24, 2013

Only 16% of Japanese trust Korea: Yomiuri-Gallup survey

A new survey in Japan has found that just 16 percent of Japanese citizens trust South Korea. They also ranked South Korea the third-highest military threat to the country behind China and North Korea.The Yomiuri Shimbun said Monday that its joint survey of members of the public in Japan and the United States with Gallup found that 72 percent of Japanese respondents did not trust South Korea.The figure apparently reflects South Korea’s criticism of Japan over historical and territorial issues, th

Dec. 17, 2013

Argentine footballers to dedicate win to Pope

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) -- Representatives of Argentina's San Lorenzo first division football team are travelling to the Vatican on Monday to dedicate their national championship title to their top fan, Pope Francis.Team president Matias Lammens said after winning the Argentine title on Sunday that he would fly to Rome along with team coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, team vice president Marcelo Tinelli and several players.The pope, an avid San Lorenzo fan, also happens to turn 77 on Tuesday.The Argentine po

Dec. 16, 2013

South Sudan repulses coup attempt, minister says

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) -- Disgruntled soldiers and politicians led by a former vice president attempted to overthrow the South Sudanese government, a top government official said Monday, as sporadic fighting continued between factions of the military in the latest violence to hit the world's youngest nation.Some troops within the main army base raided the weapons store in the capital but were repulsed, South Sudanese Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told The Associated Press Monday. The

Dec. 16, 2013

Colin Wilson, author of 'The Outsider,' dies at 82

LONDON (AP) -- British author Colin Wilson, who gained fame with his first book, "The Outsider," has died. He was 82.Colin Stanley, Wilson's publisher and bibliographer, said the writer and philosopher never fully recovered from a stroke in 2011.Stanley said Friday that Wilson was admitted to a hospital in Cornwall, southwestern England, in October for pneumonia and died peacefully Dec. 5 with his wife, Joy, and daughter Sally by his side.The 1956 publication of "The Outsider," a study of creati

Dec. 13, 2013

27 Muslims killed in C.Africa village attack: UN

GENEVA  (AFP) -- Twenty-seven Muslims were killed Thursday in an attack by militias in a village in the west of the Central African Republic, the UN's human rights agency said Friday."According to information we have received, 27 Muslims were killed by self-defence militias, known as anti-Balaka, in the village of Bohong ... on Thursday," agency spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva, decrying "a vicious cycle of attacks and reprisals" in the country.

Dec. 13, 2013

China reaffirms air defense zone after S. Korea-Japan drill

BEIJING  -- China is exercising "effective supervision" of its recently expanded air defense zone over the East China Sea in response to a South Korea-Japan joint naval drill in international waters covered by Chinese airspace, Beijing said Friday. South Korea and Japan conducted the regular naval drill this week with two destroyers and two helicopters each from the two navies, South Korean military officials said. They practiced search and rescue operations, according to the officials.As South

Dec. 13, 2013