Russian police have detained as many as 14 activists taking part in an unauthorized gay rights demonstration coinciding with gay pride events in other parts of the world. The activists were arrested Saturday in Saint Petersburg. Russian authorities regularly ban gay rights activists from assembling. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people marched through Paris Saturday […]
Russia Detains Gay Activists; Thousands March in Paris
Afghan Lawmakers Hit Back At Top Court
Afghanistan’s parliament has voted to sack the country’s five most senior judicial officials, a move that deepens the nation’s ongoing political crisis. The vote comes after a special tribunal set up by President Hamid Karzai on Thursday disqualified about one quarter of the winners of last year’s parliamentary election after an investigation into allegations of […]
Militants Kill 10 in Assault on NW Pakistan Police Station
Pakistani police say militants have attacked one of their stations in the northwestern part of the country, killing at least 10 police officers and wounding five others. Local police officials said militants armed with guns and grenades attacked a station in the small town of Kolachi Saturday. At least 17 police officers were on duty […]
Hundreds of Syrians Flee Into Lebanon
Hundreds of Syrians have fled across the border into neighboring Lebanon to escape escalating violence in their homeland. A Lebanese security official said Saturday that up to 1,000 Syrians, at least six with gunshot wounds, have crossed into northern Lebanon over the past two days near the border town of Wadi Khaled. The injured refugees […]
US Signals Support for Burma Investigation
The United States says it is working to establish an international commission of inquiry into human rights violations in Burma. In a statement issued Saturday, the U.S. State Department said Washington is committed to seeking accountability. The statement says the U.S. is consulting with its friends, allies and other partners at the United Nations to […]
Militants Launch Deadly Attack on Police Station in NW Pakistan
Pakistani police say militants are attacking one of their stations in the northwestern part of the country, killing at least seven police officers. Local police officials said at least seven militants armed with guns and grenades launched their attack on a station in the small town of Kolachi. At least 17 police officers were on […]
Israelis Mark 5th Year of Soldier’s Capture
Hundreds of supporters of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have gathered in Jerusalem and at the site near the Gaza border where Palestinian militants seized him in a deadly raid five years ago. At least 400 people massed Saturday at the Kerem Shalom crossing, close to the spot where Shalit was abducted on June 25, […]
France Bans British Seeds After E. Coli Outbreak
French authorities have halted the sale of vegetable seeds from a British company after an E. coli outbreak. Officials say at least two of the people hospitalized have the same strain of E. coli that recently killed dozens of people in Germany. British seed and plant seller Thompson & Morgan is the supplier of the […]
Wayward Penguin Mistakes Sand for Snow
Veterinarians in New Zealand say a wayward emperor penguin, nicknamed Happy Feet, is in critical condition following two medical procedures performed at a zoo in Wellington. On Friday veterinarians cleared the bird’s throat. On Saturday they attempted to flush sand from its stomach. The bird had been eating sand and twigs since landed a few […]
Suicide Bomber Attacks Afghan Hospital
A suicide car bomber set off a huge blast Saturday at a hospital in eastern Afghanistan. The explosion in Logar province, about 40 kilometers from the capital, Kabul, caused heavy casualties, but Afghan authorities gave conflicting estimates. Hours after the attack, officials said they think the blast killed more than 30 people, including women and […]