Afghan President Hamid Karzai opened a major donor’s conference in Tokyo Sunday with a pledge to crack down on corruption in his country and a warning that instability in Afghanistan threatens the whole world. The conference is attended by senior world officials including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who earlier in Kabul offered assurances […]
Karzai Opens Afghan Donors’ Conference With Pledge to Fight Corruption
Relief in Sight as Extreme Heat Grips US
Millions of heat-battered Americans are eagerly awaiting a Canadian cold front expected to soon break the back of a record-setting heat wave blamed for at least 30 deaths and untold suffering across large swaths of the central and eastern United States. There are reports of buckled highways, withered crops and power outages from Wisconsin and […]
Millions Vote in Libya’s ‘Extraordinary’ Elections
Counting has begun as polls closed across Libya, many Libyans taking to the streets to celebrate even though results may not be announced for days. Voters streamed into polling stations in Tripoli and across Libya Saturday hoping the country’s first multi-party elections in 60 years mark the start of a new era. In some parts […]
Sudanese State Officials Killed in Ambush
Sudan’s official SUNA news agency says rebels killed two state government officials and six other people in an ambush Friday in the war-torn border state of South Kordofan. The officials killed were the speaker of South Kordofan state’s legislative council, Ibrahim Balandiya, and the chief of its strategic planning council, Faisal Bashir. The Associated Press […]
Burmese Student Leaders Released
Burmese authorities have released at least 20 student activists detained Friday in four cities and held overnight at undisclosed locations. The students were detained in Rangoon, Mandalay, Lashio, and Shwebo late Friday, ahead of Saturday’s 50th anniversary commemoration of the brutal suppression of a student movement. In 1962 the military bombed the Rangoon University student […]
Libya’s ‘Extraordinary’ Elections Draw to Close
The polls are closed across much of Libya, many Libyans taking to the streets to celebrate even though results may not be announced for days. Voters streamed into polling stations in Tripoli and across Libya Saturday hoping the country’s first multi-party elections in 60 years mark the start of a new era. In some parts […]
103 Dead in Russian Storms, Crude Oil Shipments Halted
Russian officials say the death toll from flooding in the southern Krasnodarsky Krai region has risen to at least 103 after two days of torrential rain pounded the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to fly to the ravaged areas later Saturday. Authorities said the storms, floods and a landslide have affected thousands of […]
Voters Optimistic About Libya’s ‘Extraordinary’ Elections
Voters streamed into polling stations in Tripoli and across Libya Saturday, hoping the country’s first multi-party elections in 60 years mark the start of a new era. In some parts of the capital crowds began gathering more than an hour before polling places opened, amid scenes of jubilation and celebration seen in many major cities. […]
Romania’s Impeached President Basescu Prepares for Referendum
Romania’s President Traian Basescu has been suspended as part of a power struggle with the country’s prime minister, who says the president has overstepped his authority and interfered with the government’s work. A total of 256 lawmakers out of 432 voted on Friday in favor of the move. Mr. Basescu is now subject to a […]
US Gives Afghanistan ‘Major’ Boost Ahead of Donor Conference
The United States is giving Afghans more assurances they will not be abandoned after all U.S. combat troops leave the country in 2014. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally during an unannounced stop in Kabul Saturday, before traveling to Tokyo for an international conference on Afghan civilian assistance. “My […]