Chinese authorities say more than 3 million people in Yunnan province are running short of drinking water, as a three-year drought continues to ravage community life, livestock and agriculture in the southwestern province. Official Chinese media quote Yunnan authorities as saying more than 130,000 hectares of forest land face an increased threat of fire, as […]
Suicide Attack Kills Nine Amid Protests in Afghanistan
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 11:10 am (UTC-5)
Nine people have been killed in a suicide car bombing outside the gates of a NATO base and airport in the Afghan city of Jalalabad. The Taliban said it carried out Monday’s attack in revenge for last week’s Quran burning at Bagram Air Base. Close to 40 people, including four U.S. military personnel, have died […]
Cruise Ship Adrift Off Seychelles
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 10:55 am (UTC-5)
An Italian cruise ship with about 1,000 people on board is reported to be adrift off the coast of Seychelles. The Italian coast guard said Monday the Costa Allegra is drifting in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and the Seychelles islands. Officials say a fire on board caused the ship’s engines to fail. There have […]
231 Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 10:50 am (UTC-5)
The Norway-based Nobel Institute said it has received 231 nominees for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. This year’s suggestions include Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private charged with leaking a huge cache of classified documents to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Thousands of […]
Syria Says Voters Back New Constitution, Fresh Violence Kills 10
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 10:40 am (UTC-5)
Activists say Syrian military forces killed 10 people Monday while the government announced that Syrian voters overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that Syrian leaders portray as a step toward democratization. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the casualties occurred in fresh shelling in a Sunni neighborhood in the central city of […]
Tymoshenko Ally Jailed in Ukraine
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 10:10 am (UTC-5)
A Ukrainian court has sentenced former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko to four years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzlement and abuse of office. The ruling Monday said Lutsenko gave illegal bonuses and perks to his driver at the expense of the state. Lutsenko, a close ally of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, […]
Indonesia Reinstates Militant’s Prison Sentence
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 9:45 am (UTC-5)
Indonesia’s Supreme Court has reinstated the 15-year prison sentence for a radical Muslim preacher linked to the deadly 2002 Bali bombings and convicted of setting up a terrorist training camp in western Indonesia. A court spokesman said Monday the court overturned a lower court ruling that last year reduced Abu Bakar Bashir’s prison term to […]
Bomb Targets Provincial Officials in NW Pakistan
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 8:30 am (UTC-5)
A bomb blast following a political rally has killed at least six people in northwest Pakistan. Monday’s attack took place in the town of Nowshera in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Authorities say the bomb, which was planted on a motorcycle, exploded as top officials from the province’s ruling Awami National party left a political rally. The attack […]
EU Imposes New Sanctions on Syria
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 8:25 am (UTC-5)
The European Union imposed new sanctions on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Monday, a day after more than 30 people died in violence across the country during a continuing crackdown on an anti-government uprising. EU foreign ministers imposed sanctions on Syria’s central bank and froze the assets of several Syrian government officials. The […]
WikiLeaks to Release Stolen E-Mails From Private Intelligence Group
Posted February 27th, 2012 at 8:15 am (UTC-5)
The whistle-blower website WiliLeaks says it has begun releasing more than 5 million e-mails from Stratfor Global Intelligence, a private U.S.-based firm providing strategic analysis. WikiLeaks says on its website that the e-mails reveal the company’s “web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods.” It says the e-mails also contain privileged information about […]
