Yemeni troops opened fire Sunday on a large group of anti-government protesters in the capital, Sana’a, wounding at least 17 people with reports of at least one protester killed. The shootings came hours before Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was expected to make a speech on state television. Mr. Saleh unexpectedly returned to the country […]
Pakistan Holds Special Military Meeting Amid US Tensions
Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani chaired a special meeting with his top commanders Sunday as an escalating war on words with the U.S. drags relations between the two nations to a new low. Pakistani officials say the corps commanders met at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi to review the “prevailing security situation” in the […]
US: Republican Presidential Candidate Perry Suffers Setback
The Republican presidential candidate considered the party’s front-runner in the race to oppose U.S. President Barack Obama in next year’s election has suffered a significant set-back. Texas Governor Rick Perry came in a distant second in Saturday’s straw vote in (the southern state of )) Florida. The surprise winner was Herman Cain, a former pizza […]
Saudi King Grants Women Right to Vote, Run in Elections
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has granted Saudi women the right to vote and run in nationwide local elections, four years from now. The king’s announcement Sunday applies to elections set for 2015. The kingdom holds its next local elections on Thursday, but women are not allowed to vote or run in those. King Abdullah also […]
Report: North Korean Defectors to Arrive in South This Week
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency says Tokyo is set this week to transfer 9 North Korean defectors who mistakenly entered Japan earlier this month while trying to reach the South aboard a small wooden boat. The defectors, including 3 children, were found September 13 adrift near the Japanese port city of Kanazawa and have remained […]
Mass Grave Found in Libya With 1,270 Bodies
Libya’s interim authorities say they have found a mass grave holding the remains of 1,270 people killed by Moammar Gadhafi’s security forces. The grave was discovered near Tripoli’s Abu Salim prison, where the victims were killed in 1996 after protesting conditions in the facility. Lingering anger over the massacre helped spark the revolt that toppled […]
American Hikers Freed by Iran Returning to US
Two American hikers released by Iran this past week have returned to the United States Sunday, after spending more than two years in an Iranian prison on spy charges. Officials say a plane carrying hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport at around 11:00 AM local time . […]
1 Dead, 20 Wounded in Indonesia Church Bombing
Indonesian police say a suicide bomber in Central Java province detonated explosives Sunday at a Protestant church packed with hundreds of worshippers, killing himself and wounding at least 20 others, some critically. Authorities say the bombing in the city of Solo occurred just as people were exiting the church at the end of the service. […]
French Senate Poised to Swing Left
France’s opposition Socialist Party is expected to make strong gains during Sunday’s vote to fill half the government’s Senate seats. Polls are projecting a historic swing to the left just seven months ahead of presidential elections, delivering an early electoral blow to President Nicholas Sarkozy’s UMP party. The Socialist Party needs just 23 new seats […]
US Marathon Swimmer Ends Cuba-Florida Crossing
American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad has abandoned her latest attempt to swim the 166 kilometers from Cuba to Florida. Making the journey without the benefit of a shark cage, the 62-year-old Nyad had reached the halfway point despite suffering painful stings by Portuguese Man o’ War jellyfish. But medics warned her that with toxins from […]