GILBERTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a shooting in a rural area outside Philadelphia has left two people dead and three others injured, and a manhunt is under way for the shooter.Police were sent to Douglass Township in Montgomery County late Saturday after reports of a shooting.First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele confirmed with The Associated Press on Sunday that a child and an

July 3, 2011

BANGKOK (AP) — The proxy party of exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra appeared poised for victory Sunday in fractious Thailand's elections, preliminary results from the Election Commission showed. If confirmed, the outcome would mark an extraordinary political comeback for Thaksin and his allies five tumultuous years after his overthrow in a military coup.With 56 percent of the vote counted,

July 3, 2011

DAMASCUS (AFP) ― Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sacked the governor of Hama on Saturday, a day after hundreds of thousands rallied against the regime in the hotbed city, as activists said the latest crackdown cost 28 lives.Anti-regime dissent billowed on Friday in response to a call by a Facebook group for massive protests to demand the ouster of Assad and his autocratic regime.In Hama alone, 50

July 3, 2011

NICOSIA (AFP) - Syrian security forces killed 28 civilians as more than half a million people rallied on Friday for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, a human rights group said.   Many victims were protesters demanding the overthrow of the president but 16 were killed in the northwestern province of Idlib where the army has swept into villages to quash dissent, the National Organisation for

July 2, 2011

MANILA (AFP) - At least 17 children and infants were among 30 people killed after a towering flash flood hit one of the Philippines' largest provincial centers, the government said Saturday.   The victims were swept away after the Pangi river in the southern city of Davao burst its banks on the night of June 28, said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.   At one point durin

July 2, 2011

   KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Eleven members of an Afghan family were killed by a roadside bomb that struck their minibus in southern Afghanistan Saturday, a local official said.   "Eleven civilians were killed after an IED (improvised explosive device) hit their vehicle today at 7:50 a.m.," Mohammad Jaan Rasulyar, deputy provincial governor of Zabul told AFP.   "They were en route to Ghazni pr

July 2, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's choice for his next counterterrorism chief is Matthew Olsen, a former prosecutor with extensive experience in intelligence matters for the federal government, the White House announced Friday.Olsen, if confirmed by the Senate, would direct the National Counterterrorism Center, an agency born in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on America

July 2, 2011

   CHICAGO (AP) _ After spending years at the center of heated national debate over capital punishment, Illinois' death row officially died Friday when a state law abolishing the death penalty quietly took effect.   The state garnered international attention when then-Republican Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium in 2000 after several inmates' death sentences were overturned and he cleared dea

July 2, 2011

BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese President Hu Jintao warned the ruling Communist Party faced severe "growing pains" as it turned 90 on Friday and said corruption, and alienation from China's masses, could erode public support.But in a speech on the anniversary of its 1921 founding, Hu gave no sign that the party intended to loosen the iron grip on political power it has maintained for more than six tumultu

July 1, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Incoming US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who takes the helm at the Pentagon on Friday, is determined to avoid gutting the US military despite the prospect of difficult budget decisions.Panetta, 73, who is stepping down as head of the CIA, is due to take over at 8:45 am (1245 GMT) from Robert Gates, who is retiring after more than four years on the job supervising troubled war

July 1, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to confirm Gen. David Petraeus to be the nation’s CIA director.The vote was 94-0.Arguably America’s most famous military commander in a generation, Petraeus has been in charge of U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan since June 2010. The 37-year Army veteran is also credited with turning around the war in Iraq, from which U.S. troop

July 1, 2011

A Chinese manufacturing index fell to the lowest level since February 2009, signaling that the world’s second-biggest economy is cooling as export demand weakens and the government reins in credit to control inflation. The Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 50.9 in June compared with 52 in May, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in an emailed statement on Friday. A separate surve

July 1, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Former International Monetary Fund Leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn will have his pricey bail substantially reduced in his sexual assault case because of issues with his accuser’s credibility, a person familiar with the case said Thursday.The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public in court, said prosecutors have raised issues about the credi

July 1, 2011