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Large Hadron Collider comes back to life

11/20/2009 11:02 PM

GENEVA | Scientists switched on the world’s largest atom smasher Friday night for the first time since the $10 billion machine suffered a spectacular failure more than a year ago. It took a year of repairs before beams of protons circulated late Friday in the Large Hadron Collider for the first time since it was heavily damaged by a simple electrical fault.

Pakistan presses Obama

11/20/2009 11:02 PM

ISLAMABAD | Pakistan expressed fear Friday that a large increase in foreign troops in Afghanistan could push militants across the border into its territory and called on President Barack Obama to factor in that concern as part of his new war strategy. Meanwhile, a suspected U.S. missile strike killed eight militants in northwestern Pakistan, officials said, the second attack this week in an area believed to hold many insurgents. American officials generally do not acknowledge the unpopular attacks.

Karzai pledges to fight corruption, boost security

11/19/2009 10:31 PM

KABUL | President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Thursday for a second term, pledging that Afghanistan will prosecute corrupt officials and control its own security within five years. As Karzai vowed to make the country safe from an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency, two U.S. service members died in a bomb attack and a suicide bomber killed 10 civilians in the south. But his speech appeared to make strides toward appeasing the international allies he needs to fend off the Islamist militants.

Iraqi leaders stifling press

11/17/2009 10:58 PM

BAGHDAD | Warid Badr Salim’s front-page satire in a recent edition of the newspaper al-Mada compared Iraq’s parliament to wolves stalking sheep — the Iraqi people — and cheekily suggested that its members need the diplomatic passports they’ve awarded themselves just to leave Baghdad’s fortresslike Green Zone. In the midst of parliament’s debate over Iraq’s pivotal January elections, a lawmaker held up the article and denounced it. More than 150 lawmakers signed up to sue the paper.

Gunmen slay 13 west of Baghdad

11/16/2009 11:14 PM

BAGHDAD | Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms abducted and killed 13 people whose bodies were found Monday with gunshot wounds to the head. The dead included a local leader of Iraq’s largest Sunni party, which once helped fight al-Qaida.

Obama, Hu meet in private

11/16/2009 11:14 PM

BEIJING | Seeking help with an array of global troubles, President Barack Obama said today that his closely watched talks with his Chinese counterpart are vital for their nations and for the world. Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sent cooperative signals before they began closed-door meetings that were likely to touch on challenges ranging from nuclear proliferation, hurting economies, climate change and human rights.

In first visit to China, Obama walks a tightrope

11/16/2009 12:00 AM

SHANGHAI | President Barack Obama is walking a tightrope on his first trip to China, seeking to enlist help in tackling global problems while weighing when — or if — he should raise human rights concerns. Obama, who arrived in Shanghai late Sunday, held talks with local politicians today and conducted an American-style town hall discussion with Chinese university students.

Get to know China, Americans living there advise

11/15/2009 10:54 PM

SHANGHAI | Days before President Barack Obama’s Asia tour stopped in China, Tess Kirtz emerged from the new Barbie Shanghai worldwide flagship store with a gift for a child. “It was wild. It was big and pink. It’s beautiful in there,” said Kirtz, an Ohio mom who moved to Shanghai for her husband’s job.

For former child migrants, an apology

11/15/2009 10:49 PM

CANBERRA, Australia | Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized today to thousands of impoverished British children shipped to Australia in past centuries with the promise of a better life, who then suffered abuse and neglect thousands of miles from home. At a ceremony in the Australian capital of Canberra attended by tearful former child migrants, Rudd apologized for his country’s role in the migration and extended condolences to the 7,000 survivors of the program who still live in Australia.

Police station bombed in northwest Pakistan

11/15/2009 10:49 PM

PESHAWAR, Pakistan | A pickup truck laden with explosives blew up in front of a police station in northwestern Pakistan today, killing at least three people in an area that has become the focal point for militant retaliation against a recent army offensive. Suspected militants have killed more than 300 civilians and security personnel in the last month in an attempt to weaken the country’s resolve to continue its military operation in the tribal area of South Waziristan, where al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding.

Voting in Kosovo goes peacefully

11/15/2009 10:35 PM

PRISTINA, Kosovo | Kosovo’s first independent elections have ended peacefully, with the prime minister claiming his party won convincingly. Some minority Serbs ignored a call to boycott and cast ballots alongside ethnic Albanians.

India will move all zoo elephants to wildlife parks

11/14/2009 09:00 PM

NEW DELHI | All elephants living in India’s zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said. The decision affects about 140 elephants in 26 zoos and 16 circuses in the country, said B.K. Gupta, an officer at India’s Central Zoo Authority.

Witness in Italy may hold key to Guantanamo trials

11/14/2009 09:24 PM

MILAN | In a decade-long journey, the Tunisian went from drug pusher on the streets of Milan, to Islamic militant trained in Afghanistan to kill Americans, to potential key witness against Guantanamo Bay detainees. Prosecutors said Lazhar Ben Mohamed Tlil may hold the key to prosecuting Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Italy and may be crucial to U.S. prosecutions, too.

Talkers | Pelican sends sports car into salt marsh

11/14/2009 09:00 PM

For the birds LA MARQUE, Texas | Police say a low-flying pelican distracted a driver, causing him to veer off a road and drive his million-dollar sports car into a salt marsh.

In Asia, Obama pushes arms control with Russians

11/14/2009 09:24 PM

SINGAPORE | A major pact within reach, President Barack Obama aims to nudge forward an arms control deal in talks with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. The 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum brought Obama to Singapore, but he is focusing on individual meetings today with Medvedev and with Indonesia’s Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of the world’s largest Muslim nation. The U.S.-Russia meeting takes place as the nations seek a successor to a Cold War era agreement.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Il reportedly rides on tricked-out trains

11/14/2009 08:59 PM

SEOUL, South Korea | North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, known for shunning air travel, has six luxurious trains equipped with reception halls, conference rooms and high-tech communication facilities, a South Korean newspaper said. There are also 19 stations across North Korea exclusively for Kim’s trains, which have some 90 carriages, the mass circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing an analysis by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.

Taiwan’s young democracy struggles with gangsters

11/14/2009 09:05 PM

TAIPEI, Taiwan | Revelations that Premier Wu Den-yih traveled abroad with a former gangster have stirred great interest among this island’s sensation-seeking media but left few of its 23 million people gaping in surprise. Taiwan’s six round-the-clock cable TV news stations and its mass circulation newspapers have given prominent play to Wu’s trip to the Indonesian resort of Bali last December with convicted murderer Chiang Chin-liang, a reputed extortionist and international gunrunner who was freed from prison in 2002 after serving 15 years.

Obama hails expanded U.S. engagement in Asia

11/13/2009 10:44 PM

TOKYO | President Barack Obama declared today that an era of American disengagement in the globe’s fastest-growing region was over. He also warned that the United States and its Asian partners “will not be cowed” by North Korea’s continued defiance over its nuclear weapons and other provocations.

Obama rejects Afghan options

11/12/2009 11:09 PM

WASHINGTON | President Barack Obama rejected the Afghanistan war options before him and asked for revisions, his defense secretary said Thursday, after the U.S. ambassador in Kabul argued that a significant U.S. troop increase would only prop up a weak, corruption-tainted government. Obama’s ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, who is also a former commander in Afghanistan, twice in the last week voiced strong dissent against sending large numbers of new forces, according to an administration official.

Medvedev urges modernization of Russian economy

11/12/2009 10:58 PM

MOSCOW | President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday laid out his plan to move Russia’s economy into the modern age and overcome the grim industrial legacy of the Soviet Union. In his annual state-of-the-nation address, he took a few digs at Vladimir Putin, his predecessor and mentor, but made clear that the tightly controlled political system Putin created is here to stay.

TODAY'S TOP 5


FROM NEWS SERVICES


Italian police arrest 2 linked to Mumbai attacks

11/21/2009 11:56 AM

Italian police on Saturday arrested a Pakistani father and son who allegedly spent just over $200 to set up a reliable and untraceable phone network that was used by the militants who carried out last year's terror attacks in Mumbai, India.

Pope and Anglican leader agree on closer relations

11/21/2009 01:37 PM

After offering a home in his church to disaffected Anglicans, Pope Benedict XVI assured the archbishop of Canterbury on Saturday that he is still committed to seeking closer relations between Catholics and Anglicans.

Iraq working for release of Americans held in Iran

11/21/2009 08:11 AM

An Iraqi official says Baghdad has contacted Tehran in a bid to secure the release of three Americans detained in Iran, but has received no reply.

Afghan road builder's dream thwarted by violence

11/21/2009 09:07 AM

Khalid Khan stares through the dusty window pane, down across the rooftops of the capital, and wonders if they really know where he lives.

Saudi: 4 pilgrims die of swine flu before hajj

11/21/2009 11:01 AM

Saudi health officials announced the first deaths from swine flu of this year's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as four pilgrims succumbed to the disease soon after arriving in Saudi Arabia.

Swiss police: man attacked by bear in park

11/21/2009 04:41 PM

A bear has attacked a man who entered its enclosure at a new park in Switzerland, and a policeman opened fire on the animal to defend the intruder.

Chavez praises alleged terrorist Carlos the Jackal

11/21/2009 10:52 AM

Hugo Chavez has defended the alleged terrorist mastermind Carlos the Jackal, saying the Venezuelan imprisoned in France was an important "revolutionary fighter" who supported the cause of the Palestinians.

Sri Lanka to release 136,000 Tamil war refugees

11/21/2009 11:42 AM

Sri Lanka will release next month the remaining 136,000 Tamil refugees still in the squalid and overrun government camps where they've been detained since the country's civil war ended six months ago, a top official said Saturday.

Iran to hold war games to protect nuclear sites

11/21/2009 04:07 PM

Iran will begin large-scale air defense war games Sunday aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from possible attack, a senior military commander said Saturday, reflecting the country's concern that Israel could make good on threats to strike militarily.

Germany to send trial observer to NY

11/21/2009 08:11 AM

A German government official says the nation will send an observer to the upcoming trial in New York of the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and four accused henchmen.

Reports: 101-yr-old Brazil architect back at work

11/21/2009 09:36 AM

Famed 101-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is reportedly back at work just weeks after surgery for gallstones and an intestinal tumor.

McCain links political correctness to shootings

11/21/2009 03:46 PM

Sen. John McCain says he has no doubt that "political correctness" played a role in preventing concerns about the alleged Fort Hood gunman from reaching the right people.

Buddhists from 2 Koreas hold joint ceremony

11/21/2009 07:27 AM

Buddhist monks from South and North Korea held a joint ceremony at a temple in the communist country Saturday in a continuation of civic exchanges between the nations despite a bloody naval skirmish earlier this month.

Life requested for US suspect in Italy murder case

11/21/2009 10:52 AM

Prosecutors on Saturday requested life in prison for an American student and her ex-boyfriend accused in the fatal stabbing of her British roommate during a drug-fueled sex game - charges the U.S. woman dismissed as "pure fantasy."

Rocket hits outside luxury hotel in Afghan capital

11/21/2009 10:17 AM

A rocket hit outside the luxury Serena Hotel in Afghanistan's capital late Saturday, wounding two people, the Interior Ministry said.

McCain says he enjoyed reading Sarah Palin book

11/21/2009 10:36 AM

U.S. Sen. John McCain said Saturday that he enjoyed reading running mate Sarah Palin's new memoir and downplayed any tension between their campaign aides as "no big deal."

Azerbaijan threatens force over Nagorno-Karabakh

11/21/2009 11:26 AM

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan said Saturday his nation may resort to military force if talks with Armenia on resolving a long-standing territorial dispute produce no result.

Gaza militants agree to halt rocket fire

11/21/2009 12:21 PM

Hamas announced Saturday evening that it has reached an agreement with other militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets at southern Israeli towns to prevent retaliatory attacks.

Midday shooting in central Paris kills 1, wounds 2

11/20/2009 08:31 AM

Police say a man with an automatic rifle opened fire on a car near a Paris train station, killing one man and wounding two others.

Suicide bomber kills 16 in western Afghanistan

11/20/2009 07:47 AM

A suicide bomber killed 16 people and wounded at least 23 others Friday in a busy city square in western Afghanistan, while near Kabul a powerful former warlord narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, officials said.