Blast outside school in west Afghanistan - residents

Blast outside school in west Afghanistan - residents


Blast outside school in west Afghanistan - residents

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:37 PM PDT

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - An explosion was heard outside a school on Sunday in Afghanistan's western city of Herat, residents said, but the cause was not immediately clear and it was not known if there were any casualties.


China formally begins probe into U.S. chicken parts

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:37 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Sunday formally launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into chicken parts imports from the U.S., two days after U.S. lawmakers agreed to end a gag order that prevented the U.S. from even considering importing Chinese cooked poultry.


Germans vote amid economic issues, Islamic threats (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:04 PM PDT

An armed German federal police officer is seen in the terminal of the International Airport of Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. The U.S. State Department is cautioning Americans in Germany to be particularly careful in coming weeks because of a threat from al-Qaida. The State Department's advice came Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 in a Travel Alert, a lesser document than a Travel Warning. Germany's federal elections are Sunday.   (AP Photo/Michael Probst)AP - Germans decide Sunday whether to return the nation's first woman chancellor to a second term in office following a lackluster campaign centered largely on economic issues and a rash of last-minute threats by Islamic extremists.



Socialists tipped to lead as Portugal votes (AFP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:06 PM PDT

Prime Minister Jose Socrates, secretary general of the Socialist Party, gestures during a campaign rally in Lisbon. Some 9.5 million people go to the polls in Portugal Sunday in an election which Socrates' Socialists are tipped to win, but without their current absolute majority in parliament(AFP/Joao Cortesao)AFP - Some 9.5 million people go to the polls in Portugal Sunday in an election which Prime Minister Jose Socrates' Socialists are tipped to win, but without their current absolute majority in parliament.



China formally begins probe into U.S. chicken parts (Reuters)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:58 PM PDT

Reuters - China on Sunday formally launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into chicken parts imports from the U.S., two days after U.S. lawmakers agreed to end a gag order that prevented the U.S. from even considering importing Chinese cooked poultry.


Germany set for general election

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:10 PM PDT

Germans are set to vote in a national election in which Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a second term.


Germans set for federal vote

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:55 PM PDT

Chancellor Merkel looking to gain enough votes to permit new centre-right coalition.


UN chief, Europeans chide Iran's new atom plant (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:30 PM PDT

Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak addresses the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.  (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)AP - Iran's sudden revelation of a formerly secret uranium enrichment plant brought more condemnation Saturday at the U.N. General Assembly, with the Netherlands calling Tehran's presumed weapons program "a major challenge to international peace and security."



Philippine storm leaves 72 dead and missing (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:17 PM PDT

Benfica's Oscar Cardozo, from Paraguay, celebrates after scoring his second goal against Leixoes during their Portuguese League soccer match Saturday, Sept. 26 2009, at Benfica's Luz stadium in Lisbon. (AP Photo/Alvaro Isidoro)AP - Rescuers stepped up their efforts in the northern Philippines on Sunday as the skies started to clear a day after a tropical storm tore through and left more than 70 people killed or missing in the worst flooding in more than four decades.



UN urges Asian nations to get tougher on Myanmar (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:43 PM PDT

A protester from Myanmar's National League for Democracy holds a portrait of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi while shouting a slogan during a rally to mark the second anniversary of pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar, near the Myanmar Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009. The demonstrators demanded the immediate release of Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)AP - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged a ministerial meeting of southeast Asian nations late Saturday to take a tougher line with fellow member Myanmar in hopes its military junta will free political prisoners and hold fair elections.



Germany set for general election

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:10 PM PDT

Germans are set to vote in a national election in which Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a second term.


Protests grow in Honduras, 90 days after coup

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 06:21 PM PDT

TEGUCIGALPA -Protests have been mounting here, as thousands of supporters of deposed President Manuel Zelaya took to the streets 90 days after his ouster and hopes faded for a way out of a tense standoff in the nation's capital.

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Merkel shoots for second term in crisis-hit Germany

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 06:18 PM PDT

BERLIN -Angela Merkel was gunning as favourite for a second mandate from German voters on Sunday to lead a country hit by the global recession and at odds over its increasingly bloody Afghanistan mission.

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Recount of votes in Gabon election on Tuesday: court

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 02:13 PM PDT

LIBREVILLE -Gabon's constitutional court on Tuesday will recount all the votes from last month's contested presidential election won by the son of longtime leader Omar Bongo Ondimba, it was announced.

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A look at Russia's violence-wracked North Caucasus (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:00 PM PDT

AP - The mountainous regions of southernmost Russia, known as the North Caucasus, have a combined population of almost 7 million and have long been beset by violence, stoked by poverty, corruption, Islamic extremism, ethnic tensions, feuding criminal gangs and the two separatist wars that ravaged Chechnya since 1994. Here's a look at the most troubled republics:


Arabs and Israelis tell clashing tales of the land (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:00 PM PDT

In this photo taken July 3, 2009, Israelis walk over a bridge during a hike in Ramot Menashe, northern Israel. Israeli and Palestinian hikers are taking to the hills in the footsteps of their ancestors, deploying maps, holy texts and walking boots in the long-running battle for control of the Holy Land. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)AP - Israeli and Palestinian hikers are taking to the hills in the footsteps of their ancestors — deploying maps, holy texts and walking boots in the long-running battle for control of the Holy Land.



US forces move into central Afghan city (AP)

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:21 PM PDT

This Sept. 17, 2009 photo shows an Afghan boy holding a ball given to him by Special Forces soldiers through local leaders in the village of Nili, the provincial capital of Day Kundi in central Afghanistan. The team is among only a few U.S. troops to live among Afghans, but there will likely be more. The hope is to push Special Forces teams into villages throughout Afghanistan, giving them the mission of rebuilding and training Afghan police and soldiers rather than hunting insurgents. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)AP - The soldiers hesitated as the mullah preached, unsure if they would be welcome at the celebration of one of Islam's highest holidays.



Turkey PM to visit Iran, urges caution on sanctions

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:06 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he would discuss Iran's controversial nuclear program with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran next month, but urged caution over new sanctions.


Gaddafi cancels Canadian stopover - CBC

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:06 PM PDT

TORONTO (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has canceled a stopover next week in Canada, where he was due to be rebuked for giving a hero's welcome to the man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, the CBC said on Saturday.


FEATURE - Steam rises anew in Turkey's historic bath houses

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:06 PM PDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Old Istanbul's bath houses hosted scheming Pashas and shapely concubines before modern bathrooms sent them into decline, but their appeal to tourists and the growth of the spa industry promise a revival.


PM in pledge 'to halve deficit'

PM in pledge 'to halve deficit'


PM in pledge 'to halve deficit'

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 12:55 PM PDT

Gordon Brown is promising to halve the Treasury's deficit in four years, on the eve of the party's autumn conference.


U.S. Demands Inspection of Iranian Plant in 3 Months

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 12:37 PM PDT

The Obama administration plans to tell Tehran it has three months to open its nuclear sites to inspection and answer questions about its suspected efforts to build a nuclear weapon.


Perry Vaults Into Lead at Tour Championship

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 11:54 AM PDT

Finishing the third round at eight under par, Kenny Perry is teaching the youngsters a lesson, this time in golf's richest event.


Cech sent off as Wigan stun Chelsea

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:01 AM PDT

Wigan produce one of the shocks of the season with a deserved 3-1 victory over 10-man Chelsea.


Cricket: Johnson blitz rescues Australia

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 08:28 AM PDT

Mitchell Johnson's 73 from 47 balls helps Australia beat West Indies by 50 runs in their opening Champions Trophy match.


F1: Hamilton on top in Singapore

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 12:07 PM PDT

Lewis Hamilton will start the Singapore Grand Prix on pole position as the title contending Brawn drivers suffer a bad qualifying session.


Taking Health Care Courtship Up Another Notch

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 12:01 PM PDT

White House officials say they have begun an aggressive campaign to line up votes for a health care bill.


Ottoman heir's death 'the passing of an era'

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:17 AM PDT

More than 80 years after his family was ordered from Turkey, the grandson of one of the last Ottoman sultans was buried today in Istanbul, marking "the passing of an era," according to one historian.


Iran nuclear chief: U.N. can inspect new plant

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:59 AM PDT

Tehran's new uranium enrichment plant will be operational soon, and "will blind the eyes of the enemies," a senior Iranian official was reported as saying. The boast came as the head of Iran's atomic energy program was reported to say that U.N. nuclear experts would be allowed to inspect the plant.


Doctors 'must report knife crime'

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 11:08 AM PDT

Doctors should tell police every time they treat a gun and knife crime victim under new guidelines on confidentiality will say.


A Burst of Technology, Helping the Blind to See

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 12:24 PM PDT

Research based on advances in technology and biology is raising hopes for progress on one of science's holy grails.


Chavez seeks Africa unity, reveals Iran uranium aid

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:29 AM PDT

PORLAMAR, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez hosted some of Africa's longest-ruling leaders at a Caribbean resort on Saturday for a summit he says will help end Western economic dominance.


Fat Duck free meal for ill diners

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:54 AM PDT

Heston Blumenthal offers a free meal to more than 500 diners who suffered food poisoning after eating at his restaurant.


Iran hands IAEA plant supervision

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:37 AM PDT

Vice president says newly-disclosed uranium facility a "precautionary measure".


Serene shippers

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:33 AM PDT

Hamburg unruffled by downturn before elections


Wives urge release of stranded Arctic Sea crewmen

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:39 AM PDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The wives of four crewmen on the ship Arctic Sea have appealed for them to be allowed home from a voyage still shrouded in mystery after eight other men who boarded the vessel were charged with piracy.


Afghanistan Troop Request Splits Advisers to Obama

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 12:24 PM PDT

President Obama is deciding whether he wants to fully engage Afghanistan or make a dramatic change of course while the military and his administration remain divided.


New Rules Lead Europe to Dump Trash Abroad

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 12:24 PM PDT

Exporting waste illegally to poor countries is now a vast business, as companies try to reduce the costs of environmental laws.


Scores killed in Philippines floods

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 11:02 AM PDT

Thousands of people forced from their homes in capital's worst flooding in 20 years.


Stoke City 0-2 Man Utd

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 09:00 AM PDT

Manchester United go top of the Premier League table after goals from Dimitar Berbatov and John O'Shea give them victory at Stoke City.