Britain cleaning up in Europe-wide lottery

A third British ticket-holder in just over a month has won the jackpot in Europe's biggest lottery game.The unidentified winner matched all seven numbers to scoop 54.9 million euros ($73.8 million) on the twice-weekly EuroMillions lottery.A couple won 54.2 million euros on February 7 and another cou

Feb. 26, 2012

Man steals fire truck, kills pedestrian in U.S.

A naked man stole a fire truck at a South Carolina apartment complex and sped away, killing a pedestrian who was walking on a sidewalk, authorities said Saturday.The fire engine driver, identified as 26-year-old Kalvin Hunt, drove about three kilometers Friday before he hit a man, careened off the r

Feb. 26, 2012

Police say Argentine man imprisoned wife seven years

A 33-year-old man has been arrested for holding his wife captive in their home for seven years under threats of death against her and their four children, an Argentine court official said Saturday.His 24-year-old wife, identified as Sofia, had been locked in their small home in the Buenos Aires subu

Feb. 26, 2012

94 people killed in Syria on Saturday: monitoring group

Violence in Syria on Saturday left 94 people dead, including 68 civilians, a monitoring group said.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths included 24 civilians who died in the besieged city of Homs while eight others were killed in the area around the town.Twenty-three members of th

Feb. 26, 2012

New Yemen president takes oath of office

SANAA (AP)--Yemen's new president Abed Rabo Mansour Hadi has been sworn in before the country's parliament, replacing Ali Abdullah Saleh who ruled the country for 33 years before leaving office in a power transfer deal aimed at ending over a year of political turmoil.Hadi, who was Saleh's vice presi

Feb. 25, 2012

Bird flu kills an Indonesian boy on Bali

BALI (AP)--Indonesian health officials say a 12-year-old boy has died of bird flu on the resort island of Bali, bringing the country's death toll from the virus to 154 since 2005.Rita Kusriastuti, an official at the health ministry, said Saturday that the boy died on Feb. 21 after suffering high fev

Feb. 25, 2012

Hundreds of Afghans in anti-US protests

     KABUL(AFP)--Hundreds of Afghans took part in anti-US protests in four different provinces on Saturday, authorities said, in a fifth day of demonstrations over the burning of Korans that have killed 24 people.   Rallies were being held in the eastern provinces of Lo

Feb. 25, 2012

U.S. envoy says 'long way' before resumption of N. Korea nuclear talks

The U.S. special envoy on North Korea policy said Saturday that diplomacy aimed at restarting the six-party talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons program was unlikely to produce a breakthrough anytime soon, saying there is still a "long way" to go before a resumption of the talks.Glyn Davies m

Feb. 25, 2012

N. Korea "sacred war" threat over US-South drill

    SEOUL,(AFP)--North Korea on Saturday threatened to stage a "sacred war" over US-South Korean annual joint military exercises next week, denouncing the drill as a "silent declaration of war".   The North's National Defence Commission (NDC) described the exercise as "unpar

Feb. 25, 2012

At least 50 killed in Syria as regime pounds Homs

BEIRUT (AP)--President Bashar Assad's forces pounded rebel-held areas in central Syria on Friday, killing at least 22 people, activists said. More than 60 nations meeting in Tunisia asked the United Nations to start planning for a civilian peacekeeping mission that would deploy after the Syrian regi

Feb. 25, 2012

Argentines discover 51st victim in train wreck

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)--The discovery of a 51st victim Friday two days after Argentina's deadliest train wreck in decades left the man's family devastated and prompted rock-throwing and other violence by protesters holding vigil at the scene.The search for 20-year-old Lucas Menghini Rey, whose

Feb. 25, 2012

Marine found not guilty in Hawaii hazing trial

KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP)--A military jury has decided a Marine is not guilty of hazing a fellow lance corporal who killed himself in Afghanistan.The panel of three officers and five enlisted Marines found Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III not guilty Friday in a court-martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.H

Feb. 25, 2012

Obama apologizes as Quran protests rage

KABUL (AP) ― President Barack Obama apologized to Afghans on Thursday for the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base, trying to assuage rising anti-American sentiment as an Afghan soldier gunned down two American troops during another day of angry protests.The U.S.-led military coalition says the Muslim holy books were sent by mistake to a garbage burn pit at Bagram Air Field and the case is under investigation. The explanation and multiple apologies from U.S. officials have yet to calm outra

Feb. 24, 2012

Campaigning begins for Iran parliamentary poll

Campaigning began in Iran on Thursday for parliamentary elections to take place on March 2, with officials and state media calling for a big turnout to counter “enemies‘ threats” against the regime.It will be the Islamic republic’s first national poll since the controversial 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.A total of 3,444 vetted candidates are vying for the 290 seats in the parliament, known as the Majlis, to be decided by an electorate of 48 million voters.Iran‘s police chief

Feb. 24, 2012

Putin issues ‘victory’ battle-cry before polls

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Thursday issued a battle-cry to tens of thousands of supporters packing Moscow’s largest sports stadium as he predicted victory in next month’s presidential election.Putin declared in a fiery and nationalist-tinged speech to 130,000 people in the Luzhniki stadium that Russians had victory written into their “genetic code” and would not allow foreigners to meddle in their country’s affairs.Playing on themes of patriotism to mark the Defenders of

Feb. 24, 2012

Egypt presidential candidate wounded in apparent robbery

A prominent Egyptian presidential candidate was wounded in an apparent carjacking late Thursday in Cairo, his campaign manager and police said, underscoring an increase in crime a year after a country wide uprising.The Islamist Abdelmoneim Abul Fotouh suffered a concussion after three men armed with

Feb. 24, 2012

China‘s Xi pleases crowd, gives little away on tour

BEIJING (AFP) -- Xi Jinping returned to Beijing on Thursday after a high-profile foreign tour that analysts say put a more human face on China‘s leader-in-waiting, but gave away little about his politics.Xi, who is all but certain to be China’s next president, attended a basketball game, cracked jokes and showed off his skills on the Gaelic football field during his visit to the United States, Ireland and Turkey.The 10-day trip -- Vice President Xi‘s most high-profile role yet on the diplomatic

Feb. 23, 2012