Americans named as the coolest nationality

While America’s global influence is declining, Americans have been voted the world’s “coolest nationality.” A social networking site Badoo.com, named Americans as the coolest nationality based on a poll taken among 30,000 people across 15 countries.The site announced that Brazilians ranked the secon

Sept. 7, 2011

U.N., Haiti, Uruguay probe sexual assault

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United Nations, Haiti and Uruguay are investigating allegations that U.N. peacekeepers from Uruguay sexually abused an 18-year-old Haitian man, the United Nations said Tuesday.U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters that the five alleged perpetrators have bee

Sept. 7, 2011

Still undecided, Palin rails against Obama

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) ― Sarah Palin left open the possibility of a presidential bid Monday afternoon, while encouraging tea party activists to unite against President Barack Obama.And the former Alaska governor praised Republican presidential candidates for working harder to appeal to the t

Sept. 6, 2011

Japan urges China to play fair globally

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan’s new foreign minister said Monday that the international community should encourage China to observe global rules and play fair rather than become a threat.Koichiro Genba said the Asia-Pacific region is a center of growth but also a source of instability. Tokyo has expressed caut

Sept. 6, 2011

U.N. declares famine in another Somali region

MOGADISHU (AP) ― A famine spreading through Somalia is killing more than a hundred children each day, the U.N. said Monday, and warned that hundreds of thousands more people may die in the coming months unless they receive urgent help.The starvation is mostly taking place out of sight of the world m

Sept. 6, 2011

Syria makes arrests in manhunt for defector

BEIRUT (AP) ― Syrian soldiers raided homes and made arrests Monday in a manhunt for a provincial attorney general who appeared on video last week saying he had defected from President Bashar Assad’s regime to protest a violent government crackdown on dissent, activists said.Also Monday, the head of

Sept. 6, 2011

Mubarak trial witness: no order to shoot protesters

CAIRO (AP) ― The prosecution’s first witness in the trial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak startled the court in a stormy session Monday, testifying that police were not ordered to fire on protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in a contradiction of the prosecutors’ central claim.The police g

Sept. 6, 2011

Al-Qaida dealt another blow as senior leader captured

ISLAMABAD (AP) ― A battered al-Qaida suffered another significant blow when Pakistani agents working with the CIA arrested a senior leader believed to have been tasked by Osama bin Laden with targeting American economic interests around the globe, Pakistan announced Monday.Younis al-Mauritani’s arre

Sept. 6, 2011

Experts suspect Iran in Dutch hacking

AMSTERDAM (AP) ― Hackers who broke into a web security firm issued hundreds of bogus security certificates for spy agency websites including the CIA as well as for Internet giants like Google, Microsoft and Twitter, the Dutch government said Monday.Information Technology experts say they suspect the

Sept. 6, 2011

Turkey to expel Israeli diplomats, feud deepens

ANKARA (AP) ― Turkey deepened its rift with Israel on Monday by vowing to work for the recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations and by saying it has notified high-level Israeli diplomats they have two days to leave the country.Late last week, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador af

Sept. 6, 2011

Wildfire spreads in Texas, destroys nearly 500 homes

BASTROP, Texas (AP) ― A roaring wildfire raced unchecked Monday through rain-starved farm and ranchland in Central Texas, destroying nearly 500 homes during a rapid advance fanned in part by howling winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.At least 5,000 people were forced from their homes in B

Sept. 6, 2011

Obama urges approval of jobs program

U.S. president says Republicans should place country’s interest above all elseDETROIT (AP) ― President Barack Obama used a boisterous Labor Day rally on Monday to put congressional Republicans on the spot, challenging them to place the country’s interests above all else and vote to create jobs and p

Sept. 6, 2011

Newborn fatally mauled by family dog near Houston

HOUSTON (AP) — A two-week-old Houston-area boy has died after being mauled by the family dog.The incident happened Saturday night as the baby sat in an infant carrier on the floor of a room in the family house. Harris County sheriff's spokesman Thomas Gilliland says the dog, a Labrador mix, be

Sept. 6, 2011

World is safer 10 years after 9/11: EU, NATO

The world is safer today than in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States, with global terror groups weaker than 10 years ago, senior EU and NATO officials said Monday.A decade after Al-Qaeda traumatized the United States, the terror network has lost its leader, Osama bin Laden

Sept. 6, 2011

Chinese students join Taiwan universities despite strict rules

About 1,000 Chinese students are joining their Taiwanese counterparts at college campuses here today, as the new academic year starts.They are the first mainlanders to study here as full-time degree students under a new initiative that the Taiwanese authorities hope will boost cross-strait understan

Sept. 5, 2011

Talks fail, Libyan rebels ready to strike loyalists

NATO bombs military targets near Sirte overnightTARHOUNA, Libya (AP) ― Negotiations over the surrender of one of Moammar Gadhafi’s remaining strongholds have collapsed, and Libyan rebels were waiting for the green light to launch their final attack on the besieged town of Bani Walid, a spokesman sai

Sept. 5, 2011

Israel P.M. won’t apologize to Turkey for flotilla deaths

JERUSALEM (AP) ― Israel’s leader defiantly refused on Sunday to apologize to Turkey for a deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish-led flotilla bent on breaching Israel’s Gaza Strip blockade ― an incident that has battered a relationship once seen as a cornerstone of regional stability.In his first public r

Sept. 5, 2011

Deaths, arrests as ICRC visits Syria

BEIRUT (AP) ― Syria saw a wave of violence and arrests Sunday as the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited Damascus to address issues including caring for the wounded and access to detainees during the government’s crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising.Activists reported militar

Sept. 5, 2011