Kansas City Star: World

Iraq elections face delay

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:50 CST

Iraq cannot hold a national vote scheduled for January on time, Iraq's election panel said Tuesday, even as a vice president signaled he would again veto an election law in a dispute whose roots lie in Iraq's ethnic and sectarian divisions.

Big Bang atom smasher starts speeding proton beams

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:45 CST

Scientists running the world's largest atom smasher used the $10 billion machine's accelerator to speed up proton beams for the first time Tuesday, in a step toward experiments about the makeup of the universe.

Pakistani troops kill 18 Islamist militants

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:15 CST

Pakistani troops killed 18 militants in a fresh offensive Tuesday against insurgents blamed for a wave of recent bombings in the main northwestern city of Peshawar.

11 more Philippine victims found; death toll to 46

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:24 CST

A police official says 11 more bodies have been unearthed from a mass grave in the southern Philippines, bringing the death toll from a massacre of political supporters and journalists to 46.

Romania's president, rival in runoff election

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:39 CST

The third-place candidate in Romania's presidential election threw his support Monday behind the Western-backed socialist who faces the centrist president in a runoff seen as key to the country's emergence from political and economic crisis.

Belgian man was conscious throughout 23-year-long misdiagnosed vegetative state

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

BRUSSELS | For 23 torturous years, Rom Houben says he lay trapped in his paralyzed body, aware of his surroundings but unable to tell anyone or even cry out. The car-crash victim had been diagnosed as being in a vegetative state but apparently was conscious the whole time. An expert using a specialized type of brain scan that was not available in the 1980s finally realized it and unlocked Houben’s mind.

Israel, Hamas near swap of prisoners for soldier

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

JERUSALEM | Hamas leaders raced to Egypt on Monday amid signs of progress on a deal to swap hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier held by the Islamic militant group for more than three years. The exchange could boost Hamas at the expense of its key rival, Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in part because one of the prisoners to be freed is Marwan Barghouti, his main challenger.

Deadly explosion in Hegang raises new questions about safety of China's mines

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

H EGANG, China | When gas levels suddenly spiked deep in the Xinxing coal mine, Wang Jiguo grabbed two co-workers and they ran for their lives. Minutes later, there was a huge bang. Two days later, at least 92 people are reported killed and 16 missing, the official Xinhua news agency said. The deadliest accident in China’s mining industry in two years highlights how heavy demand for coal comes at a high cost.

Iraq's prime minister ramps up attacks on Baathists before election

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

BAGHDAD | A stepped-up campaign by Iraq’s prime minister against Saddam Hussein loyalists is alienating Sunni Muslims and stoking tensions between them and the majority Shiites ahead of key national elections. In its latest anti-Baathist attack, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government put three men on state television Sunday to confess their alleged role in planning suicide attacks in Baghdad last month. The three said the bombings were ordered by Hussein’s Baath Party.

Islamic nations seek a ban on blasphemy

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

GENEVA | Four years after cartoons of the prophet Muhammad set off violent protests across the Muslim world, Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery. It’s essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West.

A year after deadly attacks in Mumbai, concerns linger

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

MUMBAI, India | The walls that the rockets blew out have not been repaired, and the plaster is a dense scattershot of bullet holes. The linoleum floors are pockmarked from grenades. One year after the terror attack that left 166 people dead, the Chabad House — a once-popular site with Jewish travelers where six foreigners were killed — remains scarred, still and quiet.

Influential militant imam has Western flavor

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

CAIRO, Egypt | The Yemeni-American imam who’s been under renewed scrutiny after the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, preaches against alcohol, birthday parties, black magic and extramarital sex. But he supports armed struggle against the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has encouraged extremist insurgents in Pakistan and Somalia.

Iran will hold air defense war games

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

TEHRAN, Iran | Iran will begin large-scale air defense war games today aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from possible attack, a senior military commander said Saturday. The drill comes as a top clerical official renewed his threat to target “the heart of Tel Aviv” should Israel attack Iran.

Last chapters | Recent deaths in the news

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

Elisabeth Soderstrom, a Swedish soprano who became an international opera star, died in Stockholm of complications from a stroke. She was 82. From 1949 to 1980, she performed at the Royal Swedish Opera and often appeared at some of the largest opera houses in the world. She also recorded frequently. Between 1959 and 1964, Soderstrom was contracted by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She returned for several years in the 1980s. Paul Wendkos, who directed more than 100 films and television shows during a 50-year career, including the 1959 surf movie “Gidget,” died in Malibu, Calif., of a lung infection that followed a stroke. He was 84. His films also included the 1957 drama “The Burglar,” starring Jayne Mansfield, and the 1969 adventure “Guns of the Magnificent Seven.” For television, he directed series such as “The Rifleman” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

Talkers | Michael Jackson's famous glove gets $350,000 at auction

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

Love that glove NEW YORK | The gleaming glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 has been auctioned for $350,000.

Hackers heat up debate on climate change by leaking researchers' e-mail

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

LONDON | Hackers have broken into computers at a research center and posted private e-mails and documents online — stoking debate over whether some scientists overstated the case for man-made climate change. The University of East Anglia in eastern England said Saturday that the hackers had entered the server and stolen data at its Climatic Research Unit, a leading global research center on climate change.

Large Hadron Collider comes back to life

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

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.

Furry felons rob SAfrican tourists, steal food

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:58 CST

Visitors to South Africa's premier holiday destination who are worried about becoming victims of the country's high crime rate could find themselves instead robbed by a more furry kind of felon: baboons.

Mullen leads US in arms control talks with Russia

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:13 CST

President Barack Obama's top military adviser attended the latest talks with Russia to replace an expiring Cold War-era arms control agreement, the U.S. said Tuesday.

Political crisis roils Pakistan as Taliban loom

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:29 CST

The collapse of a deal granting Pakistan's president and thousands of other officials freedom from prosecution on graft charges has triggered fresh political turmoil just as the army wages a major battle against Taliban militants near the Afghan border.

US woman killed by gunshot in Mexican border city

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:38 CST

A U.S. consular official said Monday that an American woman has died of a gunshot wound she reportedly suffered in the Mexican border city of Matamoros.

Jaguar kills gold miner in Guyana jungle

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:34 CST

Police say a jaguar prowling the lush jungles of Guyana killed a gold and diamond miner as he fetched water from a creek.

Israeli aircraft strike arms operations in Gaza

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:28 CST

Israel's military says it has carried out three airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting a weapons-manufacturing facility and weapons smuggling tunnels.

Report: Iran lifts ban on popular newspaper

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:28 CST

An Iranian news agency reports that the judiciary has after just a day lifted its ban on a popular newspaper which ran a photo of a Baha'i temple.

Yemen conflict inflaming Saudi-Iranian rivalry

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:23 CST

For years just an obscure fight raging in remote desert mountains, Yemen's war with Shiite rebels has been dragged up to a new level, inflaming the rivalry between the Middle East's two powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Astronaut says Mexico needs its own space program

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:13 CST

A NASA astronaut says he wants to help Mexican officials start the country's first space agency.

2 warlords plead innocent in Congo massacre trial

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:49 CST

Two Congolese militia leaders sent child soldiers and other fighters to wipe out a village in a revenge attack that left more than 200 men, women and children dead, a prosecutor told judges Tuesday at the International Criminal Court.

NIreland: 2 charged with attack on police

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:43 CST

Two suspected Irish Republican Army dissidents have been charged with attempting to kill an off-duty police officer near the province's border with the Republic of Ireland last week, police said Tuesday.

Sudanese woman praised for fighting pants law

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:48 CST

France's foreign minister has praised the courage of a journalist who has led a fight against a law in Sudan allowing for women to be flogged for wearing pants.

Long prison term sought for Khmer Rouge jail chief

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:23 CST

The former prison chief whose trial by Cambodia's genocide tribunal is coming to an end was a willing, even enthusiastic, participant in atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge, prosecutors charged Tuesday.

Pakistani officials: 5 army officers detained

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:43 CST

Five Pakistani army officers have been detained for questioning over possible links to two U.S. terror suspects accused of plotting an armed attack on a Danish newspaper, intelligence officials said Tuesday.

Iraq elections face delay

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:03 CST

A senior official said Tuesday that Iraq must delay a national vote scheduled for January because of a political dispute, and the vice president who triggered the crisis indicated he would veto a key election law for a second time.

Italy police nab 'paralyzed' Mafia boss on the run

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:08 CST

A convicted Mafia boss who got out of jail by faking paralysis and anorexia has been arrested at a restaurant after more than two months on the run, police in Sicily said Tuesday.

UK official: Obama's delay hurts our Afghan case

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:18 CST

British defense secretary Bob Ainsworth says the United States' delay in deciding how many reinforcements to send to Afghanistan has harmed his country's ability to rally public support for the war.

Unnatural selection? Thieves swiped Darwin's notes

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:23 CST

British authorities say they're searching for a leather-bound notebook Charles Darwin used in developing his theory of natural selection.

China executes 2 for role in tainted milk scandal

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:03 CST

China executed a dairy farmer and a milk salesman Tuesday for their roles in the sale of contaminated baby formula - severe punishments that Beijing hopes will assuage public anger, reassure importers and put to rest one of the country's worst food safety crises.

British panel begins inquiry on Iraq war

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:59 CST

An inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war kicked off Tuesday with top government advisers testifying that some Bush administration officials were calling for Saddam Hussein's ouster as early as 2001 - long before sanctions were exhausted and two years before the U.S.-led invasion.