14 killed in bombings, clashes in north Iraq: officer

KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) - Militants attacked local government buildings in north Iraq on Wednesday with suicide bombers and mortar fire and clashed with soldiers, leaving 14 people dead, an army officer said.Seven civilians, three soldiers and four militants were killed in the violence in the town of Hawijah, west of Kirkuk, army Staff Major General Mohammed Khalaf al-Dulaimi said.One suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near a police station while a second blew up another near a loc

Sept. 25, 2013

Dutch police close shops after 'bloodbath' tweet threat

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch police closed two department stores and a restaurant in the city of Haarlem on Wednesday after someone tweeted threats of a "bloodbath.”Armed police were deployed outside V&D shops and a restaurant in the city to the west of Amsterdam after "threatening tweets" were made, police said in a statement.The tweets were made on Tuesday night saying there would be a bloodbath at a V&D shop on Wednesday at 11:50 a.m., with at least 10 dead, Dutch media reported.The author of the

Sept. 25, 2013

Pakistan releases senior Taliban commander:official

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan on Saturday released its most senior Afghan Taliban detainee, Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior official of the interior ministry told AFP, in a move Kabul hopes will encourage peace talks with the insurgents."Yes Baradar has been released," Omar Hamid, a spokesman for interior ministry told AFP, without elaborating.Abdul Ghani Baradar, a one-time military chief often described as the insurgents' former second-in-command, was the most high profile detained Taliban commande

Sept. 21, 2013

Syria opposition rejects Iran mediation offer

BEIRUT (AFP) - Syria's opposition National Coalition on Saturday rejected an Iranian offer to broker talks with the regime, saying the bid was "not serious" and calling Tehran "part of the problem.""The Iranian initiative is not serious and lacks political credibility," the key opposition grouping said in a statement.The comments came after Iranian President Hassan Rowhani said Thursday that his government was willing to "facilitate dialogue" between the Syrian government and opposition fighters

Sept. 21, 2013

More than 100 killed in Mexico landslides, flooding: official

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AFP) - More than 100 people have been killed and scores are missing in landslides and flooding caused by heavy rain in Mexico, a senior government official said late Friday.Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong delivered the grim news from the resort town of Acapulco, in one of the worst-affected regions, with President Enrique Pena Nieto by his side.The death toll stood at 101, with 68 people missing following a massive mudslide that swallowed half of the village of La P

Sept. 21, 2013

EU member states fear Syrian refugee influx

BRUSSELS (AFP) - European Union governments are bracing for a surge in Syrian refugees that threatens to become a flood as hopes fade for a quick end to the bloody civil war.Some two million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries so far, with four million internally displaced as the death toll mounts to more than 110,000.Thousands are seeking a new life in the EU, especially in the bloc's wealthier member states, with Italy among the worst affected.The European Commission, the EU's executive

Sept. 21, 2013

China says ready to talk if Japan admits dispute

WASHINGTON (AFP) - China said Friday that it was ready to talk to Japan over an increasingly heated maritime row, but only if Tokyo declares the islands to be disputed.Foreign Minister Wang Yi faced questions about ties with the US ally during a visit to Washington, where he called for mutual respect in relations between the United States and a growing China.Wang laid blame for tensions on Japan, which in September 2012 nationalized the islands, known as the Senkakus in Japanese and as the Diaoy

Sept. 21, 2013

Syria sends watchdog chemical weapons inventory

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – Syria has sent the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons an ``initial declaration'' outlining its weapons program, the organization said Friday, in keeping with the agreement Russia and the U.S. brokered to have Syria give up its chemical weapons arsenal.Michael Luhan, the organization's spokesman, told The Associated Press the declaration is ``being reviewed by our verification division,'' but details of it will not be released.U.S. State Department

Sept. 21, 2013

Officials: US moves to keep future Egypt aid money

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration moved Friday to ensure it does not  lose more than $500 million in potential Egypt aid as it weighs suspending assistance after this summer's coup, U.S. officials and congressional aides said.   In a notification to Congress, the State Department outlined its intention to spend the money. But left unclear in the procedural step was how it would use the funds, with officials still mulling whether to punish Egypt's military by withholding economic and mil

Sept. 21, 2013

Seoul mulls raising sex slavery issue at U.N. meeting

South Korea is positively considering raising the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery issue during the United Nations General Assembly meeting next week, sources here said Monday.The foreign ministry is discussing the plan to cover Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women in Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 27, said the sources on condition of anonymity.The plan is part of Seoul's efforts to turn up the heat on Japan to settle the compen

Sept. 16, 2013

Thousands told to evacuate in Colorado flooding

LYONS, Colorado (AP) -- Thousands more people in the inundated Colorado city of Boulder were ordered to evacuate as water rose to dangerous levels amid a storm system that has been dropping rain for a week.Rescuers struggled to reach dozens of people cut off by flooding in mountain communities, while residents in the Denver area and other areas were warned to stay off flooded streets.At least three people were killed and another was missing.President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration

Sept. 13, 2013

UN urges Kerry, Lavrov to help Syria rights probe

GENEVA, (AFP) -- The UN's top human rights body Friday urged US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to help a team probing rights' violations in Syria get access to the war-torn country.Kerry and Lavrov, in Geneva to discuss how to neutralise Syria's chemical weapons and avert US-led military strikes, should also consider how to help UN investigators enter the country, UN Human Rights Council president Remigiusz Henczel wrote in a letter to the two diplomatic heav

Sept. 13, 2013

Assad: 'expect everything' if U.S. attacks Syria

   WASHINGTON, District of Columbia, (AFP) - Sryian President Bashar al-Assad warned Washington Monday to brace for retaliation if US forces attacked his war-torn country, as he denied using chemical weapons against his people.   "You should expect everything... The government's not the only player in this region. You have different parties, different factions, different ideologies. You have everything in this decision now," Assad told CBS television's "This Morning."   Assad spoke in what CBS c

Sept. 9, 2013

Park arrives in Vietnam for state visit

HANOI -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Vietnam on Saturday for a five-day state visit that she plans to use as the starting point for her "sales diplomacy" drive.The highlight of the trip is a summit with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang on Monday. Park plans to use the meeting as the starting point for her "sales diplomacy" while trying to expand all-around cooperation with the Southeast Asian nation, officials said.Key topics for her discussions include how to forge a mut

Sept. 8, 2013

Syria neighbors brace for refugees fleeing U.S. strike

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Syria's neighbors are bracing for an influx of refugees fleeing their country in fear of U.S.-led military action, compounding what the UN has branded a "disgraceful humanitarian calamity."The movement could deepen an already enormous regional refugee crisis.The numbers of Syrians seeking safety abroad have increased nearly 10-fold from a year ago, the latest grim milestone in a 29-month battle between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels bent on overthrowing him.Correspondents a

Sept. 3, 2013