Twenty-nine Chinese fishermen are being held for ransom after being kidnapped by a group of North Koreans earlier this month in the Yellow Sea. The Beijing News says the fishermen were working in three separate vessels in Chinese waters when they were seized on May 8 by armed North Koreans. The kidnappers took the boats […]
Chinese Fishing Boats Seized by North Koreans
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 7:00 am (UTC-5)
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Judge Suspends Mladic Trial
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 6:50 am (UTC-5)
A judge has suspended the war crimes trial of Bosnian-Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic on its second day at The Hague. Media reports cite errors by the prosecution as the reason for the stoppage. On the first day in the long-awaited war crimes trial Wednesday, the defiant 70-year-old taunted the families of victims. International prosecutors […]
Activist Group Threatens to Withdraw from Syrian National Council
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 6:45 am (UTC-5)
A key Syrian activist group has threatened to pull out of the country’s already fractured opposition bloc because of complaints that it has strayed from the spirit of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad The Local Coordination Committees said in a statement Thursday that the Syrian National Council, was acting with “political incompetence.” The LCC, […]
Pakistani President to Attend NATO Summit in Chicago
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 5:25 am (UTC-5)
Pakistani officials say President Asif Ali Zardari will attend the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago, after Pakistan’s cabinet endorsed a last-minute invitation to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. NATO made the invitation to President Zardari earlier this week after Pakistan suggested it would soon re-open ground supply routes to international troops in Afghanistan. Islamabad closed […]
Chinese Activist to Receive Passports in Two Weeks
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 5:05 am (UTC-5)
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng says he and his family will be issued passports to leave the country within the next two weeks. The blind activist told Western reporters Thursday that Shangdong provincial security officials brought visa applications for him and his family to fill out the day before, and that passport photos were taken. On […]
South Korea to Meet with US and Japan Over North Korea
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 4:45 am (UTC-5)
South Korea says it will host high-level diplomatic talks with Japan and the United States next week about North Korea. South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-je says the diplomats in Seoul will discuss developments on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang’s failed missile launch on April 13. Lim Sung-nam, South Korea’s ambassador for the nuclear […]
Afghan Suicide Attack Kills 7
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 4:35 am (UTC-5)
Afghan officials say a suicide bomb attack on a government compound in the western province of Farah has killed at least seven people and wounded 12 others. Interior ministry and police officials say four attackers stormed the provincial compound Thursday, setting off explosives and engaging in an extended gunbattle with police. Six policemen and one […]
Assad Blames ‘Terrorists’ for Violence in Rare Interview
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 4:15 am (UTC-5)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a rare television interview that his government is fighting foreign-backed terrorists – not democracy activists – as part of his 14-month crackdown against an opposition uprising. The interview with Russian television suggested Mr. Assad has little intention of ending his deadly crackdown on dissent, despite international condemnation and a […]
Chinese Activist to Receive Passports in Two Weeks
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 4:00 am (UTC-5)
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng says he and his family will be issued passports to leave the country within the next two weeks. The blind activist told Western reporters Thursday that officials brought visa applications for him and his family to fill out the day before, and told him it would take at least 15 days […]
Russian Soyuz Spacecraft Docks With ISS
Posted May 17th, 2012 at 3:15 am (UTC-5)
A Russian spacecraft carrying a crew of three, including one American and two Russians, has docked with the International Space Station. Soyuz linked up with the ISS just after 12:30 Thursday morning in the United States. The spacecraft’s arrival comes on the 45th birthday of on-board American astronaut Joe Acaba. Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady […]
