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Fire in New Delhi Slum Destroys 500 Dwellings

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 5:50 pm (UTC-5)
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Police in the Indian capital, New Delhi, said Tuesday a massive fire in the densely populated Ghazipur area destroyed nearly 500 dwellings. Fire officials said the fire broke out early morning and quickly spread. They said it took 20 fire trucks and several water tanks to contain the blaze. No fatalities have been reported and […]

Tags: , , Posted in South Asia

Burmese President Says Nation on Path to Democracy

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 5:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Burmese President Thein Sein says his government is committed to moving the country towards a healthy democracy after decades of military rule. Thein Sein commented Monday during a formal state dinner in Singapore, and again in a newspaper interview in the city-state’s Straits Times newspaper. Burma’s military-backed civilian government has undertaken a series of dramatic […]

Tags: , , , , Posted in East Asia Pacific

Syrian Troops Retake Damascus Suburbs as UN Showdown Unfolds

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 5:30 pm (UTC-5)
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Syrian government troops retook the Damascus suburbs Tuesday after crushing rebel forces attempting to push closer to the capital, while diplomats debated a United Nations draft resolution demanding President Bashar al-Assad halt the violence and cede power. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby urged the U.N. Security Council to take “rapid and decisive action” while Qatari […]

Tags: , , Posted in Middle East

India’s Supreme Court Adjourns Mumbai Gunman Appeal

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 4:50 pm (UTC-5)
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India’s Supreme Court has adjourned an appeal hearing against the death sentence for the lone surviving gunman in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. News reports said Tuesday that the hearing in Ajmal Kasab’s appeal was postponed after one of the two Supreme Court judges due to hear the case was unavailable. The court did […]

Tags: , , Posted in South Asia

Syrian Troops Retake Damascus Suburbs as UN Showdown Unfolds

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 4:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Syrian government troops retook the Damascus suburbs Tuesday after crushing rebel forces attempting to push closer to the capital, while diplomats took up a U.N. draft resolution demanding President Bashar al-Assad halt the violence and cede power. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby urged the U.N. Security Council to take “rapid and decisive action” while Qatari […]

Tags: , , Posted in Middle East

US Envoy Urges North Korea to Improve Relations With South

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 4:20 pm (UTC-5)
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The top U.S. diplomat for Asian and Pacific affairs says North Korea’s new leadership must improve ties with South Korea if it wants to have better relations with the rest of the world. Speaking in Seoul late Tuesday, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the United States will support South Korea’s diplomatic dealings with […]

Tags: , , , Posted in East Asia Pacific

US: Iran “More Willing” to Conduct Attack on American Soil

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 3:50 pm (UTC-5)
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The U.S. intelligence chief says there is an increased threat that Iran could conduct an attack on U.S. soil in the wake of last year’s failed plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper presented his annual assessment of the worldwide threats to U.S. national security […]

Tags: , , , , , Posted in US

Cargo Ship Sinks in Black Sea off Turkey, 10 Missing

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 3:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Turkish rescuers are searching for 10 Polish crew members of a cargo ship that sank during a storm in the Black Sea Tuesday. Two crew members were rescued when the Cambodian-flagged ship Vera went down near the coastal city of Zonguldak. Authorities say the ship was headed to the Turkish port of Aliaga from Russia […]

Tags: , , Posted in Europe

US Navy Rescues Iranian Dhow In Persian Gulf

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 3:20 pm (UTC-5)
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U.S. naval forces aided a stranded Iranian fishing crew in the Persian Gulf Tuesday after the dhow’s engine overheated. The U.S. Navy says the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group responded at mid-day Tuesday to a distress call from a fishing boat carrying nine Iranian mariners. U.S. naval engineers boarded the Iranian dhow to find […]

Tags: , Posted in Middle East

Spanish Judge Defends Investigation Into Civil War-Era Crimes

Posted January 31st, 2012 at 3:20 pm (UTC-5)
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A high-profile Spanish judge known for trying to bring foreign dictators and terrorists to justice has defended his decision to open an investigation into crimes committed during the 1936-39 Spanish civil war. Judge Baltasar Garzon is on trial on charges of abuse of power on the grounds that the alleged atrocities he was investigating were […]

Tags: , Posted in Europe