The major U.S. stock indexes posted gains in midday trading Thursday after reports from the government and a private payroll company indicated improvements in the country’s job market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up seven-tenths of a percent. The S&P 500 index advanced nine-tenths of a percent. And the NASDAQ gained 1.3 percent. European […]
Groups Call for Tajikistan to Release Jailed Reporter
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 12:35 pm (UTC-5)
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is calling on Tajikistan to release jailed BBC reporter Urunboi Usmonov. The 59-year-old Usmonov was detained June 13 on charges of belonging to a banned extremist organization, the radical Islamic movement Hizb-ut-Tahrir. But an OSCE statement says it believes Usmonov’s arrest is an attempt to quash reporting […]
12 Soldiers Dead in Southern Yemen Violence
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 12:20 pm (UTC-5)
Two attacks in southern Yemen have left 12 soldiers dead. Officials say suspected al-Qaida militants fired on a vehicle near the city of Lawdar, late Wednesday, killing 10 soldiers. Elsewhere, Yemeni officials say two soldiers were killed and several civilians wounded in the city of Taiz, where tribesmen have been fighting forces loyal to President […]
Canada Set to End Combat Mission in Afghanistan
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 12:10 pm (UTC-5)
Canada is set to end its combat mission in Afghanistan after nine years of fighting as part of the U.S.-led NATO coalition. Hundreds of troops will carry out a training mission in the capital, Kabul, until 2014, but combat operations end Thursday in accordance with a deadline set by Canada’s parliament three years ago. Canada […]
NATO Airstrike Kills 13 Civilians in Afghanistan
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 11:55 am (UTC-5)
Afghan officials say a NATO airstrike killed at least 13 civilians in the eastern province of Khost on Tuesday. NATO acknowledged Thursday that an airstrike in the Shamul district that killed four Taliban-linked Haqqani militants also killed civilians. A spokesman said the coalition had not realized the Haqqani militants were mingling with family members, including […]
Georgia Arrests 4 Photographers on Spy Charges
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
Georgia has arrested four news photographers and accused them of spying, including the personal photographer for President Mikheil Saakashvili. Georgia’s interior ministry says the four journalists include the president’s photographer Irakli Gedenidze and his photographer wife Natia, European Pressphoto Agency photographer Zurab Kurtsikidze, and Foreign Ministry press photographer Georgy Abdaladze. Reports said police raided the […]
Obama, Lawmakers Start High Stakes Debt Talks
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 11:45 am (UTC-5)
U.S. President Barack Obama is sitting down with top lawmakers, hoping to win support for a bolder package of spending cuts and tax increases aimed at slashing the nation’s debt. White House and congressional aides say Mr. Obama will propose doubling the amount of money trimmed from the country’s budget deficit to $4 trillion during […]
South Sudan Becomes World’s Newest Country Saturday
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 11:45 am (UTC-5)
The Republic of South Sudan becomes the world’s newest country on Saturday. Following is a look at the 28-year process leading to South Sudan’s independence. January, 1983 – Sudan’s second civil war breaks out between the Khartoum government and the southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), led by John Garang. Islamic Law […]
Dutch Court Convicts Rwandan of Genocide
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 11:15 am (UTC-5)
An appeals court in the Netherlands has sentenced a Rwandan man to life in prison for war crimes committed during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. Joseph Mpambara was convicted by a lower court of torture in 2009 and sentenced to 20 years for causing the deaths of two Tutsi women and their four children. The appeals court, […]
New Breakdown Shows US States Getting Fatter Fast
Posted July 7th, 2011 at 11:05 am (UTC-5)
A state-by-state breakdown shows Americans are getting fatter, with almost one-third of the adult population in 12 states now classified as obese. The findings are part of a report released Thursday by two private organizations, the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report found obesity rates increased in 16 U.S. […]
