News Headlines

Women, kids among 17 dead in NW Pakistani bombing

A boy injured by an explosion in Kohat is treated at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010. A car bomb ripped through a police compound in a northwestern Pakistani city killing many people and leaving scores injured, the latest in a string of attacks proving that Islamist militants remain a potent force in the country. (AP Photo/Mohammad Iqbal)AP - A car bomb ripped through a police compound in a northwestern Pakistani city, killing 14 women and children and three officers, the latest in a string of attacks proving that Islamist militants remain a potent force in the country.


Angelina Jolie meets flood victims in Pakistan

Hollywood actress and the goodwill ambassador of UNHCR, Angelina Jolie visits a camp setup for people displaced by heavy floods, in Mohib Banda near Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)AP - American movie star Angelina Jolie met flood victims in northwestern Pakistan and appealed to the international community to provide aid needed to help the country recover from its worst natural disaster.


Top US commander: Burning Quran endangers troops

Afghan protesters step on a U.S. flag during a demonstration against the United States, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 6, 2010. Hundreds of Afghans railed against the U.S. and called for President Barack Obama's death at a rally in the capital Monday to denounce an American church's plans to burn the Islamic holy book on 9/11. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)AP - The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned an American church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.


Australian gov't plans to continue with mining tax

Australian independent lawmakers Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, left, speak during a press conference in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010. Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labor Party gained the ability to form a government for a second term after the two independent lawmakers joined her coalition more than two weeks after elections failed to deliver a clear winner for the first time since 1940. (AP Photo/Mark Graham)AP - Tensions emerged on the first full day of Australia's new minority government's rule Wednesday between the deputy prime minister and a kingmaker independent legislator over plans to make mining companies pay more tax.


Gates, Buffett to sell giving to China's richest

In this file photo taken March 15, 2010, Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD Company Limited attends a news conference of the company annual results announcement 2009 in Hong Kong. State media reported that Wang who is one of the richest person in China has been invited to a dinner hosted by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett who plan to sell the art of giving to China's super rich in a visit later this month that's already sparked some soul searching among the world's second-largest number of billionaires. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)AP - Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett plan to sell the art of giving to China's super rich in a visit later this month that's already sparked some soul searching among the world's second-largest number of billionaires.


Financial Sheriffs to Monitor Banks, Markets in European Union (Time.com)

Time.com - A trio of financial sheriffs will oversee finance in the entire European market

BBC World Service may axe broadcasts to Myanmar: report (AFP)

A tricycle driver reads a newspaper while waiting for passengers in downtown Yangon. The BBC World Service could face drastic budget cuts that may force it to withdraw from Myanmar, a move that critics fear would be a AFP - The BBC World Service could face drastic budget cuts that may force it to withdraw from Myanmar, a move that critics fear would be a "gift to the military junta", a report said Wednesday.


Iraqi soldier fires on US troops, kills 2

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (L) meets with Iraq's former Prime Minister and head of the Iraqiya coalition Iyad Allawi (R) in Baghdad June 29, 2010. REUTERS/Mohammed AmeenAP - An Iraqi soldier fired a barrage of bullets at American troops protecting one of their commanders during a visit to an Iraqi army base Tuesday and killed two of them, the first U.S. servicemen to die since President Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations in the country last week.


Report: Castro blasts Ahmadinejad as anti-Semitic

A barber works in a saloon in Havana September 7, 2010. Cuba will soon turn some small-scale manufacturing and retail services into cooperatives as the state retreats from minor businesses in an effort to boost the island's troubled economy, government and Communist Party sources said. Earlier this year, President Raul Castro leased back small barber shops and beauty salons to individual employees and is doing the same with taxis. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan (CUBA - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS)AP - Fidel Castro criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for what he called his anti-Semitic attitudes and questioned his own actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 during interviews with an American journalist he summoned to Havana to discuss fears of global nuclear war.


UN reports over 500 rapes in eastern Congo

AP - The United Nations reported Tuesday that more than 500 systematic rapes were committed by armed combatants in eastern Congo since late July — more than double the number previously reported — and accepted partial responsibility for not protecting citizens.

China calls in Japan envoy over boat collision

AP - Diplomatic tensions between China and Japan escalated Wednesday when Beijing called in Japan's ambassador after a Chinese fishing boat collided with two Japanese patrol vessels near a chain of disputed islands and Tokyo arrested the boat's captain.

China tells state companies to explore Potash bid (Reuters)

Reuters - Chinese officials have ordered state companies to meet investment bankers to explore ways to block BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Potash Corp, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Big aftershock again rocks New Zealand city

Pedestrians watch as a house damaged from Saturday's earthquake is demolished in Christchurch September 6, 2010. Aftershocks rocked New Zealand's second-biggest city on Monday causing further damage and forcing authorities to extend a state of emergency after the country's most damaging earthquake in 80 years. REUTERS/Carys Monteath/The PressAP - A magnitude-5.1 aftershock that hammered New Zealand's earthquake-hit city of Christchurch on Wednesday morning sparked evacuations and fresh damage to buildings, causing authorities to extend a state of emergency for another week.


U.S. offensive expected in home district of Afghan Taliban leader (McClatchy Newspapers)

McClatchy Newspapers - ASHEQUE, Afghanistan — Zhari, the birthplace of the Taliban movement and once again a major stronghold of the Taliban insurgency, looks set to become a battle zone where some 2,400 U.S. troops will lead an attempt to reclaim the region for the Afghan government.