Spain engulfed in anti-austerity strike

MADRID (AP) ― Spanish workers enraged by austerity-driven labor reforms to prevent the nation from becoming Europe’s next bailout victim has slowed down the country’s economy in a general strike, closing factories and clashing with police as the new-center right government tried to convince investors the nation isn’t headed for a financial meltdown.Tens of thousands held protest marches in Madrid and other cities Thursday, and the demonstrations turned violent in Spain’s second-largest city of B

March 30, 2012

13 dead in Honduran prison fire amid inmate riot

At least 13 people died during an uprising by armed inmates at a Honduran prison Thursday, one of them decapitated and the others killed by a fire started by the rioters, authorities said.Varying reports of local and national authorities said as many as 18 inmates were killed, but national police ch

March 30, 2012

University revokes Hungary president's doctorate

A Hungarian university decided Thursday to revoke the doctorate of the country's president after an investigation found that large parts of his 1992 thesis were copied from other authors.Rector Tivadar Tulassay said Semmelweis University's senate voted 33-4 in favor of revocation because Pal Schmitt

March 30, 2012

Rising powers say new bank can help development

NEW DELHI (AP) _ The leaders of five of the world's fast-rising powers agreed Thursday to move toward creating a new development bank that would improve access to capital for poor nations.Accusing current international institutions of failing to lift up poor countries, the BRICS group _ Brazil, Russ

March 29, 2012

BRICS summit insists on dialogue for Syria, Iran

(AFP) -- .The world's emerging powers on Thursday said dialogue was the only answer to crises in Syria and Iran at a summit aimed at bolstering their non-Western alliance's influence on global affairs.The BRICS bloc -- comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- vowed to work togethe

March 29, 2012

Clinton to open way to resume aid to Egypt: US official

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will open the way to resuming $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Egypt that had been suspended over human rights concerns.“Tomorrow, Secretary Clinton will certify that Egypt is meeting its obligations under its peace treaty with Israel,” a senior State Department official said in an email on Thursday.The move will free up $250 million in economic aid that had never been in serious question.Clinton would also waive requirements on whether Cairo is maki

March 29, 2012

Thousands march in Mali to support junta

BAMAKO (AP) ― Several thousand people took to the streets of Mali’s capital in support of last week’s coup and to protest against the possible use of force by Mali’s neighbors who are putting a peacekeeping unit on standby in case the country’s military junta refuses to stand down.The coup has been divisive in Mali because many were fed up with President Amadou Toumani Toure’s failure to contain a rebellion by Tuareg fighters in the nation’s north. The wives and mothers of soldiers killed in the

March 29, 2012

U.S. judge set to decide on Strauss-Kahn sex case

NEW YORK (AFP) ― The fate of a New York maid’s lawsuit alleging sexual assault by Dominique Strauss-Kahn rested in the hands of a U.S. judge Wednesday after the French politician’s lawyers claimed he had diplomatic immunity.Judge Douglas McKeon said he would rule quickly following a 90-minute hearing in a Bronx courthouse where a Strauss-Kahn attorney argued that the disgraced former head of the IMF had “the same kind of diplomatic immunity that other high-ranking officials and diplomats enjoy.”

March 29, 2012

Arab summit appears divided over approach to Syria

BAGHDAD (AP) ― Arab leaders gathering here Thursday will call for Syria to implement a cease-fire, but there’s little faith that President Bashar Assad will do anything to halt his crackdown on the year-old uprising.That could set the stage for Gulf Arab nations, eager to see Assad’s downfall, to take stronger action on their own.Arab governments are divided over how strongly to intervene to stop the bloodshed in Syria, and their divisions illustrate how the conflict has become a proxy in the re

March 29, 2012

US suspends plans for food aid to NKorea: Pentagon official

The United States has suspended plans to send food aid to North Korea because it has broken a promise to halt missile launches and cannot be trusted to give the help to those who need it, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.The United States had previously warned that any launch would jeopardize food

March 29, 2012

Pakistan army chief to meet senior U.S. commanders

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan's army chief will hold his first meeting with senior U.S. commanders Wednesday to discuss American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two Afghan border posts last year.The attack, which the U.S. has said was an accident and Pakistan claimed was deliberate, sev

March 28, 2012

U.S. could fly spy drones from Australian territory

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia said Wednesday it may allow the United States to use its territory to operate long-range spy drones, as part of an increased U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific that has rankled China.Washington and Canberra could also reportedly station US aircraft carriers and nuclear-power

March 28, 2012

Prominent Pakistani acid victim commits suicide

Pakistani acid attack victim Fakhra Younus had endured more than three dozen surgeries over more than a decade to repair her severely damaged face and body when she finally decided life was no longer worth living.The 33-year-old former dancing girl -- who was allegedly attacked by her then-husband,

March 28, 2012