Grenades hit Thai barracks amid protests

Grenades hit Thai barracks amid protests


Grenades hit Thai barracks amid protests

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 08:13 PM PDT

BANGKOK -Four Thai soldiers were wounded Sunday when grenades were fired into the army barracks which has served as the government's base during two weeks of street demonstrations, police said.

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Robots, space technology run Australia's mining miracle (AFP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:33 PM PDT

A train carrying iron ore is emptied for loading onto bulk carriers at Rio Tinto's port facilities near Dampier in Western Australia. Automation has long been a part of the mining industry, but advances in satellite, motion-sensor technology and robotics have made the stuff of science fiction a fact of everyday life.(AFP/Amy Coopes)AFP - The heavy clank of machinery rings out across a seemingly deserted Outback mine site as an invisible satellite signal fires Rio Tinto's production line into motion.



Merkel, Erdogan trade barbs before Turkey trip

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:46 PM PDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - Differences over Iran and Turkey's bid to join the European Union will dominate talks when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Turkey on Monday.


Libya and EU patch up Schengen visa dispute

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:46 PM PDT

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Libya lifted a visa ban on citizens of 25 European countries on Saturday after EU president Spain said a Swiss-instigated visa blacklist against 188 Libyans in those countries had been scrapped.


Mixed messages from UK opinion polls

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:46 PM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Two opinion polls on Saturday signalled no party would win an overall majority in the upcoming British election, and failed to agree on which party would be the largest in parliament.


Muslims pray for rain in drought-hit Guyana

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:46 PM PDT

GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - Muslims across Guyana prayed for rain on Saturday to end a drought that has battered the tiny South American nation's rice and sugar exports and caused food shortages in indigenous communities.


BA cabin crew threaten more strikes (AFP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:27 PM PDT

A British Airways plane flies over striking British Airways cabin crew at Heathrow Airport . BA cabin crew entered the second day of a four-day strike Sunday, forcing cancellations and bringing disruption for travellers amid no sign of an end to the bitter dispute.(AFP/Carl Court)AFP - BA cabin crew entered the second day of a four-day strike Sunday, forcing cancellations and bringing disruption for travellers amid no sign of an end to the bitter dispute.



Thai government, protesters edge towards talks (AFP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:57 PM PDT

Thai troops withdrew from several security posts in the capital Saturday, under pressure from some 80,000 jubilant red-shirted protesters who mounted a new rally to call for fresh elections. Duration 00:01:33(AFPTV)AFP - Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and anti-government protesters on Sunday edged closer to landmark talks aimed at ending two weeks of mass rallies.



Venezuela congress lifts ex-Chavez ally's immunity (AP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:33 PM PDT

AP - Venezuela's National Assembly, dominated by allies of President Hugo Chavez, has voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of an opposition lawmaker who is accused of striking a police official.


Grenades hit Thai barracks amid protests (AFP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:08 PM PDT

Red-shirted supporters of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra wave to Thai soldiers as they leave in army trucks an area nearby the Governement house on Saturday. Four Thai soldiers were wounded Sunday when grenades were fired into the army barracks which has served as the government's base during two weeks of street demonstrations, police said.(AFP/Nicolas Asfouri)AFP - Four Thai soldiers were wounded Sunday when grenades were fired into the army barracks which has served as the government's base during two weeks of street demonstrations, police said.



Arab League eyes alternatives to peace process

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:45 PM PDT

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Arab states should prepare for the possibility that the Palestinian-Israeli peace process may be a total failure and come up with alternatives, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Saturday.


Tuvalu to Times Square; landmarks off for Earth Hour

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:45 PM PDT

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Landmarks such as Sydney's Opera House, Beijing's Forbidden City and Taiwan's Taipei 101 office tower temporarily went dark on Saturday as nations dimmed the lights for Earth Hour 2010 to call for action on climate change.


LRA killed hundreds in late 2009 Congo massacre - U.N.

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:45 PM PDT

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels killed at least 290, and maybe more than 300 people in Congo in a previously unreported massacre in December 2009, U.N. officials told Reuters on Saturday.


In quick reversal, Thai PM to talk with protesters (AP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:28 PM PDT

Lao Hmong hill tribe women (L) greet visiting foreign media and diplomats in the village of Phongkham in Bolikhamsai province on March 26, 2010 where some 3,000 Lao Hmong were resettled after recently being deported from Thailand.(AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam)AP - In an abrupt reversal that played out on national television, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed Sunday to talk face-to-face with protesters growing increasingly confrontational in their demands for new elections.



Hope and a telescope enthrall Gaza stargazers (AP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:00 PM PDT

In this photo taken Feb. 22, 2010, Palestinian scientist Suleiman Baraka stands with his family next to a hut where his mother lives in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. The eldest of 14 children of a butcher, Baraka rose from humble beginnings in violence-wracked Gaza to become an astrophysicist, space weather expert and researcher for NASA, the U.S. space agency. Now he is back home with a new mission to teach kids to look up from their blockaded, beaten-down surroundings and into the limitless beauty of the universe.  (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)AP - Suleiman Baraka's journey could be measured in light years: the eldest of 14 children of a butcher, he rose from humble beginnings in violence-wracked Gaza to become an astrophysicist, space weather expert and researcher for NASA, the U.S. space agency.



Black rector stirs once-white S. African school (AP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:00 PM PDT

In this combo made with photos taken March 5, 2010, South Africa University of the Free State administrator Jonathan Jansen is photographed in his office in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Jansen's mandate is to integrate a university where many white students don't want to be integrated, and he is being closely watched across a country still struggling to unify. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)AP - The first black leader in the 106-year history of the University of the Free State started his tenure last year with a surprise.



Tajiks sink money into Soviet-style dam project (AP)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 09:00 PM PDT

In this March 2009 photo, a town in the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan created to house laborers is seen near the planned site for the Roghun dam, an epic multibillion-dollar venture touted by the government as the solution to the cash-strapped country's woes. (AP Photo/ Ravshan Abdullaev)AP - When Abdullo Bobokhonov's grandson was born in this Tajik village, he named the baby after a government-ordered hydroelectric dam and raised a small fortune to help fund it.



Sarah Palin rallies Nevada Tea Party

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 08:33 PM PDT

Thousands of supporters of the US conservative Tea Party movement have gathered in Nevada for a rally led by Republican politician Sarah Palin.


British concern over Afghan police: report

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 08:35 PM PDT

LONDON -Serious concerns over the Afghan National Police are voiced in leaked British documents published Sunday which warn that building an effective force will take "many years".

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Two more nuclear sites suspected in Iran: report

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 08:14 PM PDT

WASHINGTON -UN inspectors and intelligence specialists in western countries believe Iran may be preparing to build at least two additional secret nuclear sites despite demands that it open up its nuclear program, The New York Times reported.

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Donations fund Moors victim hunt

Donations fund Moors victim hunt


Donations fund Moors victim hunt

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:50 PM PDT

A search for the remains of Moors Murders victim Keith Bennett made possible by private donations begins on Saddleworth Moor.


DR Congo massacre uncovered

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:40 PM PDT

Evidence of the massacre of at least 321 people by the Lord's Resistance Army in DR Congo is uncovered by the BBC.


Man Utd thump Bolton to return to top

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:30 PM PDT

Dimitar Berbatov scores twice to inspire Manchester United to victory over Bolton and restore the champions' narrow lead at the top of the Premier League.


Soldier killed by grenade named

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:51 PM PDT

A UK soldier killed in a grenade attack in Afghanistan is named as Lance Corporal of Horse Jonathan Woodgate.


Cities switch off for Earth Hour

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:20 PM PDT

Global landmarks plunge into darkness for an hour to protest against climate change.


Obama Makes 15 Recess Appointments

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:18 PM PDT

President Obama is making 15 recess appointments and blaming Republicans for forcing his hand.


Vatican: Scandal Is 'Moral Credibility' Test

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:39 PM PDT

The Vatican said the Roman Catholic Church faces a test of "moral credibility" in confronting a global sexual-abuse crisis that has shaken the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI.


Cities switch off for Earth Hour

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:20 PM PDT

Global landmarks plunge into darkness for an hour to protest against climate change.


Libya visa blacklist scrapped: Spanish ministry

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:24 PM PDT

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Spain's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday it regretted that some Libyans had been blacklisted for travel to the Schengen passport-free zone and said the blacklist had now been scrapped.


Suspected U.S. Missiles Kill 4 in Pakistan

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 11:57 AM PDT

Suspected U.S. missiles killed four people in the Pakistan's insurgent-dominated northwest Saturday, officials said.


U.S. missile strike kills four in Pakistan

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:13 PM PDT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. missile strike in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border killed four people in a suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban hideout on Saturday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.


Merkel, Erdogan trade barbs before Turkey trip

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 11:53 AM PDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - Differences over Iran and Turkey's bid to join the European Union will dominate talks when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Turkey on Monday.


Iran hosts leaders for Nowruz

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 11:59 AM PDT

Regional leaders gather in Tehran to celebrate Persian New Year at Ahmadinejad's invitation.


Israel Withdraws Troops From Gaza

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 07:28 AM PDT

Israel withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip Saturday after some of the fiercest gunbattles with Palestinian militants in the Hamas-run territory since last year's military offensive.


Thai Protesters Force Army to Pull Back

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 07:54 AM PDT

Protesters in Thailand claimed a symbolic victory Saturday after forcing soldiers to retreat from parts of Bangkok's historic district, raising tensions in what so far has been a nonviolent bid to bring down the government.


Arab League Chief Urges Closer Iran Ties

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 11:36 AM PDT

The head of the Arab League urged the 22-nation bloc on Saturday to engage Iran directly over concerns about its growing influence in the region and its disputed nuclear program.


Comptroller of Currency Often Sides With Banks, Critics Say

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 10:39 AM PDT

Critics say John C. Dugan, the comptroller of the currency, often takes positions that align with the banking industry he regulates.


Urban Forager | Seize the Daylily

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:23 PM PDT

One of the first urban wild edibles of the season, the succulent daylily shoot, is out in force in the city's green spaces. Get it while you can.


Complaint Box | Religion on the Field

Posted: 26 Mar 2010 01:37 PM PDT

Baseball season is upon us, as are the constant displays of religiosity on the field.


Soldier killed by Afghan car bomb

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 11:23 AM PDT

A British soldier has been killed by a suicide car bomber in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence says.