Egypt to consider refusing U.S. aid

CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s parliament moved Sunday toward a vote to order an end to more than $1 billion in U.S. aid, a reflection of tensions with Washington over the case of Americans charged with illegal activity by their pro-democracy groups.The U.S. was angry enough over the charges against the American workers that it threatened to cut off aid to Egypt. The measure in the Islamist-dominated Egyptian parliament, probably just symbolic, showed that there is considerable anger in Cairo over charges

March 12, 2012

Over 100 buried in Congo mass funeral

Women wearing masks against the odor of death threw themselves over the graves of their dead children, while men had to be restrained to stop them from hurting themselves as more than 100 victims of last week‘s arms depot explosion were laid to rest in a mass funeral.Republic of Congo’s government scrambled to organize Sunday‘s mass burial, which took place exactly one week after an arms depot inside a military barracks caught fire, setting off a lethal rain of grenades, mortar rounds, shells an

March 12, 2012

US Army sergeant kills 16 in Afghan villages

Moving from house to house, a U.S. Army sergeant opened fire Sunday on Afghan villagers as they slept, killing 16 people _ mostly women and children _ in an attack that reignited fury at the U.S. presence following a wave of deadly protests over Americans burning Qurans.The attack threatened the dee

March 12, 2012

Japan cabinet was warned of Fukushima meltdown

TOKYO (AFP) ― Top Japanese cabinet ministers were warned of possible nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima hours after the tsunami hit last March, government papers have revealed, despite repeatedly denying the risk in public.A summary of a government meeting held about four hours after a giant earthquake sent huge waves crashing into the atomic power station showed that one unidentified participant had cautioned of the risk of a meltdown.“If the temperature of the reactor cores rises after eight hours

March 11, 2012

Key figures on ...Japan’s disaster

TOKYO (AFP) ― The earthquake and tsunami of March 11 last year killed thousands and caused widespread damage as well as sparking a nuclear emergency at Fukushima.As Japan marks the first anniversary of the disaster, here are some key figures:Time of earthquake: 14:46 local time. A tsunami warning was issued three minutes later.Magnitude: 9.0Epicenter: At 38.1 degrees north latitude, 142.9 east longitude in the Pacific Ocean, at the depth of 24 kilometers underwater.Height of waves: Waves higher

March 11, 2012

U.S. preparing to restart military aid to Yemen

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Pentagon is planning to restart programs that would fund military training and equipment in Yemen, nearly a year after they were shut down because of escalating chaos in the embattled country.While no agreements have been cemented, U.S. defense officials said as much as $75 million in military assistance could begin to flow later this year. The officials said the Pentagon and State Department are putting together a letter to send to Congress to request the aid be restarted.

March 11, 2012

Leftist opposition wins big in Slovakia election

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) -- A leftist opposition led by one of the few leading politicians in Slovakia to escape voter anger over a major corruption scandal has been propelled back to power in an early parliamentary election, according to almost complete results on Sunday.Smer-Social Democracy of former Prime Minister Robert Fico is a clear winner with 44.8 percent of the vote, or 84 seats in the 150-seat Parliament, with the votes from 5,842 of the 5,956 polling stations counted by the Statist

March 11, 2012

Anglican leader, pope pray for unity, warn of greed

VATICAN CITY (AFP) ― The Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Benedict XVI jointly prayed for the unity of Christianity in a rare gesture on Saturday despite simmering resentment over the Catholic Church’s move to recruit Anglicans.Anglican leader Rowan Williams and the pope celebrated vespers together in the monastery of San Gregorio al Celio near the Colosseum in Rome and a stone Celtic cross brought from Canterbury was put up in the ancient church.The late pope John Paul II had held ecumenical p

March 11, 2012

Distraught attendant disrupts U.S. flight

A distraught flight attendant disrupted an American Airlines flight Friday with warnings that it was going to crash, references to the September 11, 2001 attacks and a rant on the carrier's bankruptcy reorganization.Two flight attendants were injured in the incident, which began as the Chicago-bound

March 11, 2012

UN says 145 'presumed dead' in Afghan avalanche

At least 145 people are missing and "presumed dead" after an avalanche hit a remote village in Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province last week, the United Nations said Saturday.Afghan officials had earlier in the day put the death toll from a series of avalanches in the province's Shekay di

March 11, 2012

Senate rejects GOP proposals

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Senate killed Republican-backed attempts to overturn several of President Barack Obama’s environmental and energy policies Thursday as lawmakers worked against a March 31 deadline to keep aid flowing to more than 100,000 transportation construction projects around the country.The two-year, $109 billion transportation bill before the Senate has wide, bipartisan support, but has become a magnet for lawmakers’ favorite causes and partisan gamesmanship. Among the amendments bat

March 9, 2012