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North Korea Announces Planned Satellite Launch

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 11:55 pm (UTC-5)
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North Korea announced Friday that it will launch a satellite next month in honor of late president Kim Il Sung’s 100th birthday, which falls on April 15. In a statement carried by official media, a spokesman for the North’s Korean Committee for Space Technology said a long-range Unha-3 rocket would launch a domestic-built polar-orbiting earth […]

Tags: , , Posted in East Asia Pacific

British Police Risk Pay Cuts Under New Fitness Proposal

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 11:50 pm (UTC-5)
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British police officers may have to prove their fitness on an annual basis or risk taking a pay cut. The proposal is part of a report commissioned by the government that found men and women overweight. The author of the report, attorney Tom Winsor, surveyed 11,500 officers and staff at London’s Metropolitan Police, and discovered […]

Tags: , , Posted in Europe

Swift to Expel Iranian Banks After EU Ban

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 6:25 pm (UTC-5)
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The world’s largest electronic payment system says it will cut off Iranian banks blacklisted by the European Union, another step in the West’s effort to further diminish Tehran’s ability to finance its nuclear program. The Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or Swift, said it would comply with an EU order to disconnect designated […]

Tags: , Posted in Middle East

IMF Approves New Loan for Greece

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 4:40 pm (UTC-5)
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The International Monetary Fund has approved a new $36-billion loan for debt-ridden Greece, despite misgivings about the country’s economic performance with a previous loan. The board of the Washington-based institution on Thursday adopted a proposal by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde for the new funding. The loan will be disbursed in installments over a four-year […]

Tags: , , , , Posted in Economy

Armed Egyptian Bedouins Blockade International Peacekeepers in Sinai

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 3:00 pm (UTC-5)
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Armed Egyptian Bedouins have surrounded an international peacekeepers’ camp in the Sinai Peninsula to try to pressure Egyptian authorities into releasing fellow tribesmen from prison. The Bedouin protesters have been blocking roads around the Multinational Force and Observers camp in northern Sinai since last Friday, preventing vehicles from entering or leaving the site. In a […]

Tags: , , Posted in Middle East

Belgium to Hold Day of Mourning for Bus Crash Victims

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 1:30 pm (UTC-5)
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Belgian officials have declared Friday a national day of mourning after a deadly bus crash in a Swiss tunnel killed 28 people, most of them children. Officials say the bodies will be flown back to Belgium aboard a military plane as early as Thursday evening. Seven Dutch citizens and 21 Belgians were killed when the […]

Tags: , , Posted in Europe

IMF Approves New Loan for Greece

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 1:30 pm (UTC-5)
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The International Monetary Fund has approved a new $36 billion loan for debt-ridden Greece, despite misgivings about the country’s economic performance with a previous loan. The board of the Washington-based IMF on Thursday adopted a proposal by its managing director, Christine Lagarde, for the new funding. She said last week that the IMF loan would […]

Tags: , , , , Posted in Economy

Ethiopia Says Forces Attack Base in Eritrea

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 1:20 pm (UTC-5)
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Ethiopia says its forces have attacked a military base inside arch-rival Eritrea, in what Ethiopia calls an act of retaliation. Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said Ethiopian troops moved 16 kilometers into Eritrea early Thursday and launched what he called a “successful attack” against two military posts used by “subversive groups.” He said the groups are […]

Tags: , , , Posted in Africa

US: Soldier Behind Leaked Documents Helped Al-Qaida

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 1:10 pm (UTC-5)
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U.S. government prosecutors are detailing the charges facing an Army intelligence analyst accused of passing classified documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Military prosecutors gave their written answers Thursday to a series of questions about the accusations facing 24-year-old Bradley Manning. Manning faces 22 counts, the most serious of which is “aiding the enemy.” A […]

Tags: , Posted in US

Italian Police Arrest Man Suspected of Planning Terror Attack

Posted March 15th, 2012 at 12:25 pm (UTC-5)
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Italian police have arrested a Moroccan man suspected of planning an attack on a Milan synagogue. Italy’s counter-terrorism unit says the 20-year-old man, who grew up in Italy, was arrested early Thursday in the northern city of Brescia. Authorities say they found evidence on his computer detailing the synagogue’s security, including the number of guards […]

Tags: , , , , Posted in Europe