U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is in Africa for a week-long trip focused on youth empowerment. Mrs. Obama and her daughters Malia and Sasha arrived in Pretoria, South Africa Monday night. The first lady said she will encourage young Africans to become leaders in solving the continent’s problems, such as poverty, disease, and climate change. […]
French Minister Arrested in Rape Case
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 3:35 pm (UTC-5)
French police say a former member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government has been arrested on rape charges that forced him to resign last month. George Tron was held for questioning Monday in connection with accusations that he sexually assaulted two women who worked in the town hall of Draveil, near Paris, where he is mayor. […]
US Prosecutors: Iran’s Top Shipping Firm Uses Alias to Evade US Sanctions
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 3:15 pm (UTC-5)
New York prosecutors have charged Iran’s largest shipping company with conspiracy for allegedly using corporate aliases to move millions of dollars through U.S. banks in violation of U.S. trade sanctions. In an indictment announced Monday, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. accused Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines of setting up shell companies to fool […]
France Set to Extradite Noriega to Panama
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 3:15 pm (UTC-5)
France says it will begin proceedings to extradite former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to his home country. Noriega served 20 years in prison in the United States for drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering before being extradited to France in 2010. He had been sentenced in absentia in 1999 to seven years in jail on […]
Croatia Refinery Fire Injures 4
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 3:10 pm (UTC-5)
A major fire at an oil refinery in central Croatia has left four firefighters injured, one seriously. The fire broke out Monday at the refinery in the town of Sisak. Officials say it took 130 firefighters to bring the blaze under control. Reuters news agency quotes the national oil company, INA, as saying the cause […]
Ageement Reached on Sudan’s Abyei Region
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 2:55 pm (UTC-5)
Negotiators for north and south Sudan have reached a landmark agreement on the future on the disputed oil-rich region of Abyei less than three weeks before the south is to gain its independence. The accord was signed Monday in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, following days or tortured negotiations led by former South African President […]
US: Al-Qaida Turns to Kidnapping for Money
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 2:50 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. officials say documents retrieved from Osama bin Laden’s compound show al-Qaida is turning to kidnapping for ransom as a way to offset cash shortages. The unnamed officials have told news agencies the militant group’s financial sources have been squeezed in recent years, forcing it to look to other methods of funding terrorist operations. Al-Qaida’s […]
Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi to Speak to US Congressional Committee
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 2:20 pm (UTC-5)
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will deliver remarks to members of the U.S. Congress on recorded video Wednesday, to discuss her country’s elections last year. Representative Don Manzullo announced the plan for the recorded testimony on Monday. The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Wednesday will hold a hearing on […]
Suspected US Drone Attack Kills 11 in Pakistan
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Pakistani officials say U.S. drones fired missiles at a vehicle and house in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 11 militants, including Afghans. Monday’s rare attack in the Kurram tribal region was said to have killed members of the Haqqani network, which has been attacking NATO and Afghan forces in neighboring Afghanistan. The United States has […]
Shell Fined for 2008 Explosion in England
Posted June 20th, 2011 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
A British court has fined the Shell oil company more than $2 million for a 2008 explosion and fire at a gas terminal in England. The court ruled the company ignored warnings by workers at the plant in Bacton, on the Norfolk coast 200 kilometers northeast of London. No one was killed in the incident, […]
