The U.S. Senate is to vote Tuesday on a bill to cut spending and raise the nation’s debt limit, just 12 hours before the Treasury Department says it would run out of money without more borrowing. The compromise legislation passed its biggest test late Monday when the Republican-led House of Representatives approved it by a […]
NATO Requests More Troops for Kosovo
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 9:50 am (UTC-5)
NATO says it is asking for additional troops for Kosovo after an escalation of violence in the country’s ethnic Serb-dominated north last week. A spokesman for NATO’s Kosovo Security Force said Tuesday a battalion-sized force has been requested. He added that the reinforcements would act as relief troops for the soldiers currently deployed to maintain […]
2 Jailed Thai Red Shirt Leaders Granted Bail
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 9:35 am (UTC-5)
Asian news reports say a criminal court in the Thai capital has granted bail to two jailed former opposition leaders charged with terrorism last year in connection with massive anti-government protests that left at least 90 people dead in Bangkok. The court ordered the temporary release of Jatuporn Prompan and Nisit Sinthuprai and set bail […]
U.N. Mulls Syrian Violence as Government Crackdown Continues
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 9:35 am (UTC-5)
The U.N. Security Council is set to resume debate Tuesday on a draft resolution condemning violence in Syria even as Syrian security forces expand their crackdown on dissent. The council is holding a second day of talks on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s attacks on civilians who have staged massive anti-government protests. Residents in the flashpoint […]
Kidnapped Bangladeshi Workers Freed in Afghanistan
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 8:50 am (UTC-5)
Officials say five Bangladeshi workers kidnapped in Afghanistan late last year have been freed. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters in Dhaka that the hostages were released early Tuesday following negotiations between their captors and Afghan tribal elders. Seven Bangladeshis working for a South Korean construction company were kidnapped in December of 2010 when […]
Ambassador: US Not Against Mugabe’s Party
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 8:30 am (UTC-5)
The U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe says the United States is not against the party of President Robert Mugabe, which it has accused of human rights abuses. In a speech on U.S.-Zimbabwean relations, Ambassador Charles Ray said “the U.S. does not favor one party over another in Zimbabwe.” He said the U.S. is “not anti-ZANU-PF,” and […]
Bus Collision Kills 16 in Bangladesh
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 8:25 am (UTC-5)
Bangladeshi police say a head-on collision between two passenger buses has killed at least 16 people and injured more than 50 others. Police say the two buses were traveling on a major highway just outside the capital of Dhaka when they collided early Tuesday. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. Prime Minister […]
Oxfam: Horn of Africa Needs Faster Drought Aid
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 7:55 am (UTC-5)
A prominent relief agency says governments and donors are not acting fast enough to address the drought crisis in the Horn of Africa. London-based Oxfam said Tuesday that donors must immediately fulfill pledges of aid to help more than half a million people who are at risk of starvation in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Oxfam […]
European Stocks Lower in Midday Trading
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 7:45 am (UTC-5)
European stock prices are lower in midday trading Tuesday. London’s Financial Times index is down more than one-half of one percent. The CAC-40 in Paris is down four-tenths of one percent, and trading on the DAX index in Frankfurt is down just over one-half of one percent. In New York, the S&P futures contract is […]
Suicide Bombers Kill 4 in Northern Afghanistan
Posted August 2nd, 2011 at 7:45 am (UTC-5)
Afghan officials say a suicide bomb attack has killed at least four people and wounded 10 others in northern Afghanistan. Officials say a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb just before dawn Tuesday outside a compound that houses two separate private security companies in the city of Kunduz. Police say two other militants then stormed […]
