BAGHDAD (AFP) - An Al-Qaeda-linked militant group has claimed an attack on an Iraqi television station headquarters in which five journalists were killed.At the direction of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's "war ministry," militants attacked "the headquarters of the Salaheddin satellite(channel) which... distorts the facts and fights the Sunni people," the group said on online jihadist forums.It said two militants took part in the attack on Monday, although police said four suicide bom

International Dec. 24, 2013

AMSTERDAM (AP) – Global stocks posted further gains Tuesday as concerns over a cash crunch in China eased. Trading volumes were light in shortened Christmas Eve sessions.Most markets have been strong in general over the past week following figures showing the U.S. economy is performing better than expected. The advance has also come despite the Federal Reserve's decision to start reducing its monetary stimulus by $10 billion to $75 billion from January. Many had feared the decision to rein in it

Dec. 24, 2013

NongHyup Financial Group Inc. was picked Tuesday as the preferred bidder for three units of state-run Woori Finance Holdings Co., as the government pushes for the long-pending privatization aimed at recouping the bailout money put in more than a decade ago.South Korea's largest banking firm by asset chose NongHyup to buy Woori Investment & Securities Co., WooriAviva Life Insurance Co. and Woori FG Savings Bank at a board meeting, the bank said. Woori Asset Management Co., also included in the sa

Dec. 24, 2013

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A bomb struck the acting Iraqi defense minister's convoy west of Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding two of his guards, the ministry said.The roadside bomb hit Saadun al-Dulaimi's convoy as it travelled between Fallujah and Ramadi, "wounding two of his guards and damaging one of the vehicles," the ministry said on its website.It did not specify whether or not Dulaimi was travelling in the convoy, but a senior defense ministry official told AFP that he was not present at the time of the

International Dec. 24, 2013

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia has begun closing the criminal cases against the crew of a Greenpeace ship who were charged with hooliganism over a protest against Gazprom drilling in the Arctic, the group said Tuesday."Three (Greenpeace activists) have been officially informed about the closure of the criminal case," Greenpeace Russia spokeswoman Maria Favorskaya told AFP, saying that the 27 other activists charged were expected to receive similar notices soon. The move, part of Kremlin-backed amnesty, s

International Dec. 24, 2013

STRASBOURG, France (AFP) - Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai was handed the EU's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize Wednesday in recognition of her crusade for the right of all children, girls and boys, to an education.To thunderous applause announcing the European Parliament prize, the assembly's president Martin Schulz praised the 16-year-old activist as "a survivor, a heroine and an extraordinary young woman" and said: "You have given hope to millions of people."Malala, dressed in oran

International Nov. 20, 2013

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia suspended on Wednesday the operations of a popular Moscow bank whose board includes a cousin of President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of laundering more than half a billion dollars.Investigators accused managers at Master Bank -- Russia's 75th-biggest by total assets - of stealing more than $600 million (444 million euros) in clients' money and other illegal transactions.The unexpected announcements prompted an unscheduled parliament hearing and left long lines of anxious c

International Nov. 20, 2013

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - An Afghan district police chief was killed in an ambush by militants in the volatile southern province of Helmand on Wednesday, officials said.Tooryalai Khan, police chief of Helmand's Marjah district, was leading an operation against Taliban insurgents in the area when he was ambushed early in the morning, said provincial spokesman Omar Zewak.His bodyguard was wounded in the attack.Ismael Hotak, a senior provincial police officer, confirmed the incident and said Kh

International Nov. 20, 2013

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A wave of attacks, most of them car bombs targeting Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killed 33 people on Wednesday in the latest bout of deadly violence to hit Iraq.The bombings and shootings, which left more than 70 people wounded in all, come amid a protracted surge in bloodletting just months ahead of general elections that has forced Iraqi officials to appeal for international help in combating the country's worst unrest since 2008.At least eight explosions, including seven c

International Nov. 20, 2013

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was found to have ordered an intensified propaganda war against the Park Geun-hye administration last month in a possible policy shift, a South Korean government official said Wednesday.The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said South Korean authorities picked up intelligence that Kim ordered Kim Yang-gon, the head of United Front Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, to lash out at Park and her government.The United Front and its head

Politics Nov. 20, 2013

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused the Palestinians of creating "artificial crises" as he met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is striving to rescue the fragile peace process.The premier's remarks were made at the start of a meeting with Kerry at a Jerusalem hotel that lasted nearly three hours and came shortly after the Palestinians threatened to bolt the talks over a fresh row about settlements. Kerry arrived in Israel late on Tuesday as rumors swirl

International Nov. 6, 2013

BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union's executive Commission is backing plans to cultivate a genetically modified maize despite the objections of environmental groups which considers it dangerous. Wednesday's approval now sends the plans to approve Maize 1507 to the EU's 28 member nations for consideration and could lead to a decision on the issue as soon as next month. EU member states have sharply diverging views on the cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms, commonly known as GMOs. The EU

International Nov. 6, 2013

BEIJING (AP) – A series of small explosions killed one person and injured eight others Wednesday outside the provincial headquarters of the ruling Communist Party in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, officials said.Officials gave no word on the target or perpetrators of the blasts, which state media said were caused by homemade bombs. The explosions came during heightened security following a suicide car crash at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing that killed the car's three occupants and two bystand

International Nov. 6, 2013