Assad says Syria is ready to show world that foreign mercenaries fighting for opposition …
Wed May 16th 2012
Assad says Syria is ready to show world that foreign mercenaries fighting for opposition …
MOSCOW – Syrian President Bashar Assad says his country has captured foreign mercenaries who were fighting for the opposition and is ready to show them to the world.
Assad made the claim in an interview on Russian state television’s news channel Rossiya-24. In the interview broadcast Wednesday, he also complained that Western countries voice protests against violence by his regime’s forces but not by the opposition fighters. Read the rest of this entry »
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‘Black box’ found of Russia jet in Indonesia crash …
Wed May 16th 2012
‘Black box’ found of Russia jet in Indonesia crash …
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Investigators on Wednesday were analyzing the cockpit voice recorder from a Russian passenger jet that slammed into the side of an Indonesian volcano. They hope the final words of the two pilots will help explain what caused last week’s crash, which killed all 45 people on board.
The “black box,” found Tuesday at the bottom of a 500-meter (1,640-foot) ravine, was shattered and badly burned, said Tatang Kurniadi, who heads the National Commission on Safety Transportation, adding that the memory module appears to still be readable. Read the rest of this entry »
Israeli company writes off stake in Egyptian gas …
Wed May 16th 2012
Israeli company writes off stake in Egyptian gas …
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli company has written off its entire 12.5 percent investment in the company that sold Egyptian natural gas to Israel before Egypt terminated the exports.
Ampal-American Israel Corp. said this week that the scrapping of the deal and uncertainties in Egypt led to its decision to consider that its holding in East Mediterranean Gas has no value. Read the rest of this entry »
Zimbabwe politician drives off in motor show car …
Wed May 16th 2012
Zimbabwe politician drives off in motor show car …
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — State prosecutors in Zimbabwe say an opposition politician at a Ford Motor Co. car show got into the latest model on display and drove it away. He faces car theft charges in court next month.
Court papers made available Wednesday say police arrested 38-year-old Aaron Muzungu, an official of a small opposition splinter group, after he clocked up more than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) in the new Ford Ranger. Prosecutors said the politician claimed he was interested in buying the pickup. When he sat in it, the keys were in the ignition. Read the rest of this entry »
Iranian rapper receives death threats over song …
Wed May 16th 2012
Iranian rapper receives death threats over song …
An Iranian rapper who lives in Germany says he has received death threats for a song that criticizes Iranian society and, some say, an Islamic Shiite imam.
Shahin Najafi, who sings in Farsi, has faced a backlash since posting online the song, “Naghi,” earlier this month. Read the rest of this entry »
John Edwards’ attorneys will not call ex-candidate or mistress to testify …
Wed May 16th 2012
John Edwards’ attorneys will not call ex-candidate or mistress to testify …
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Attorneys for John Edwards say they will not call the former U.S. presidential candidate or his mistress Rielle Hunter to testify at his campaign corruption trial.
Defence attorneys also told a federal judge they expect to rest their case Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »
Afghan shrines last resort for Aghan mentally ill …
Wed May 16th 2012
Afghan shrines last resort for Aghan mentally ill …
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — The young man sits nearly naked in a small concrete room, a thick, heavy chain fastened around his ankle and bolted to the wall. Flies swarm around a wound on his wrist where shackles have rubbed the skin raw. His own waste has pooled in the corner, turning the dirt floor into a pungent mud.
This is no jail, however, and 23-year-old Jalaludin has committed no crime. The Mia Ali Baba shrine in eastern Afghanistan is a holy place, and those who care for it say that spending 40 days here will, God willing, free Jalaludin from his personal prison: mental illness. Read the rest of this entry »
Charles Taylor: Sorry for those hurt by war crimes …
Wed May 16th 2012
Charles Taylor: Sorry for those hurt by war crimes …
LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Convicted war criminal and former Liberian President Charles Taylor said during his sentencing hearing Wednesday that he sympathizes with victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone he helped foment, and asked judges to render their sentence against him in a spirit of “reconciliation, not retribution.”
However, he stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing, apologizing for his actions, or expressing remorse. Read the rest of this entry »
Man sets himself on fire outside court where confessed mass killer being tried …
Tue 15th May 2012
Man sets himself on fire outside court where confessed mass killer being tried …
OSLO – Oslo police say a man set himself on fire outside the courthouse where right-wing extremist Anders Breivik is being tried on terror charges for a bombing and shooting massacre last July
Police operations leader Finn Belle told The Associated Press that the man doused himself in a flammable liquid and set himself on fire. Read the rest of this entry »
