Earthquake hits off Chile coast

Earthquake hits off Chile coast


Earthquake hits off Chile coast

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:55 PM PST

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake has hit the central coast of Chile, the US Geological Survey says.


Kayakers rescued off Dorset coast

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:42 PM PST

Sixteen kayakers are rescued from strong tides off Portland Bill, Dorset, after getting into difficulties, the coastguard says.


Major 7.1 magnitude earthquake hits Chile

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:58 PM PST

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A major earthquake of 7.1 magnitude hit central Chile on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.


G.O.P. Vows to Cut Spending and Roll Back Health Care Bill

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 11:44 AM PST

Congressional Republicans on Sunday said they would use their new majority in the House and their gains in the Senate to repeal President Obama's health care overhaul and press for sharp cuts in spending.


In pictures

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 08:00 AM PST

Aerial images from the flood-hit Australian state of Queensland


Swedish actor feared dead in fire

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 11:22 AM PST

Award-winning Swedish actor Per Oscarsson is feared dead after unidentified human remains are found in his burnt- out house.


Iran Says It Shot Down Two Drones in Persian Gulf

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 10:24 AM PST

Iran has shot down two unmanned western reconnaissance drone aircraft in the Gulf, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency on Sunday.


Take That lead 2010 album sales

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 11:02 AM PST

Take That scored the biggest-selling album of 2010 in the UK, beating Michael Buble into second place, the Official Charts Company reveals.


In pictures

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 08:00 AM PST

Aerial images from the flood-hit Australian state of Queensland


New defection leaves Pakistan with minority government

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 11:05 AM PST

The second-largest party in Pakistan's ruling coalition quit the government Sunday over fuel price increases and other complaints, leaving President Asif Ali Zardari at the head of a minority government.


Funeral services barred for Iranian political prisoner, son says

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 10:00 AM PST

Iranian authorities have buried the body of a political prisoner who was executed last week without the presence of his family or friends, his son told CNN.


Russia activist jailed over rally

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 10:18 AM PST

Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov is sentenced to 15 days in jail after taking part in an opposition rally on New Year's Eve, reports say.


Woman missing after house blaze

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 09:36 AM PST

A woman is missing following a fire at a house in Warwickshire which is too badly damaged to be entered.


Dead blackbirds fall from US sky

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 08:37 AM PST

Officials probe why more than 1,000 red-winged blackbirds - most of them dead - fell out of the sky in the US state of Arkansas on New Year's Eve.


Haitians protest against president

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 10:04 AM PST

Protesters demonstrated at events held to mark Haiti's Independence Day and called on the president to step down.


Kremlin critic Nemtsov and two others jailed

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 09:59 AM PST

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three Russian opposition leaders received short jail terms on Sunday for "disobedience toward police" after a rally, a party spokesman said, a sign of a new crackdown on critics of the Kremlin.


Favre to Sit Out Season Finale

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 09:57 AM PST

Brett Favre is sitting out Minnesota's game at Detroit, meaning the 41-year-old quarterback's career apparently ends with him on the sideline.


Egypt buries church bomb victims

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 08:45 PM PST

The Coptic community in Egypt starts to bury its dead after a bomb attack outside a church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve.


Copts return to bombed church in Egypt

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 09:18 AM PST

Emotional congregants returned to their church Sunday in Alexandria, Egypt, mourning the loss of fellow worshippers in a bombing a day earlier. At least 21 people were killed and 97 others injured in Saturday's blast.


Staffing review after prison riot

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 09:25 AM PST

A review of staffing levels at Ford open prison will be held following riots over the new year holiday, says Prisons Minister Crispin Blunt.


S.Korea tightens rules to curb illegal whale hunting

S.Korea tightens rules to curb illegal whale hunting


S.Korea tightens rules to curb illegal whale hunting

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:08 AM PST

SEOUL, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - South Korea said Sunday it will tighten rules on whaling and the processing of whale meat amid international pressure to curb illegal hunting of the endangered giant mammals.

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Hong Kong democracy icon Szeto Wah dies at 79

Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:07 AM PST

HONG KONG, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - One of Hong Kong's most influential democracy campaigners, Szeto Wah, has died at 79.

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Russians advised to celebrate dry New Year holiday

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:59 PM PST

MOSCOW, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Russia's chief sanitary doctor advised the country's partying masses on Sunday to stay away from alcohol during the government-mandated 10-day New Year's holiday break.

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Lawyer slams Israel 'cover-up' of tear gas death

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:58 PM PST

JERUSALEM, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - The lawyer of the family of a Palestinian woman who died after being tear-gassed by Israeli troops at a West Bank protest accused the military on Sunday of a cover-up.

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Afghan envoys head to Pakistan for new stage in peace talks

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:57 PM PST

KABUL, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Afghan efforts to broker peace with the Taliban enter a new phase this week with the first scheduled visit of envoys to Islamabad, part of a growing recognition that the process hinges on Pakistan.

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Taiwan set to lift ban on solo Chinese tourists

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:55 PM PST

TAIPEI, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Taiwan is expected to lift its decades-old ban on visits by individual Chinese tourists from April in yet another sign of the island's fast-warming ties with China, officials and local media said Sunday.

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Brazil's new president spends first full day in office

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:54 PM PST

BRASILIA, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff began her first full day in office Sunday after pledging to build on the policies of her hugely popular predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

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S.Korea battles spread of foot-and-mouth, bird flu

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:52 PM PST

SEOUL, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - South Korea on Sunday reported seven new cases of foot-and-mouth disease as the country battles its worst outbreak of the highly contagious virus and its first avian influenza outbreak in more than two years.

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US ambassador to China hints at presidential bid: report

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:50 PM PST

WASHINGTON, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to China, has hinted he is considering running for the Republican presidential nomination in comments made to Newsweek.

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Floods ‘of biblical proportions’ hit Australia’s northeast

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:23 PM PST

GLADSTONE, Jan 2 — Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded today in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge. Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser described the floods as a "disaster of biblical proportions" and said the ultimate cost would ...


Japanese emperor greets New Year well wishers

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:34 PM PST

TOKYO, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Japan's Emperor Akihito appeared before tens of thousands of people at the imperial palace on Sunday, calling for world peace and wishing them a happy new year.

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Cathay makes pay offer to pilots: report

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:26 PM PST

HONG KONG, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Cathay Pacific has offered its pilots pay rises of up to 12 percent after they threatened to work to rule over Christmas, a report said Sunday.

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US to deploy new intelligence drone in Afghanistan: report

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:25 PM PST

WASHINGTON, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - The US military plans to to deploy a new intelligence drone in Afghanistan, which military experts say will allow US troops to monitor much larger operational theaters than before, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

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Cuban cardinal confident of release of political prisoners

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:23 PM PST

HAVANA, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - A top Cuban religious leader expressed confidence Saturday that many Cuban political prisoners remaining in jails will be released by the county's communist government "in coming months."

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Catastrophic Australian floods claim first victim

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:21 PM PST

BUNDABERG, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Devastating floods in northeastern Australia claimed their first victim Sunday, with the body of a missing woman recovered as the surging waters continued to rise and a fresh storm loomed.

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Israelis raid Gaza twice after rockets fired

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:18 PM PST

GAZA CITY, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Israeli warplanes carried out two raids on the Gaza Strip early Sunday, wounding two people, Palestinian emergency services said.

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China to explore Mars with Russia this year

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:17 PM PST

BEIJING, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - China's first Mars probe is expected to be launched in October this year in a joint operation with Russia after a two-year delay, state media reported Sunday.

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Beijing traffic rules turn car showrooms into ghost towns

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:16 PM PST

BEIJING, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - For the past year, car showrooms in Beijing have been heaving with people keen to buy their slice of the country's new middle-class dream. But now they are deserted.

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Spanish downturn ends immigrants' dream of better life

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:11 PM PST

MADRID, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - After losing her job as a maid several months ago, 26-year-old Magaly Baez is preparing to return to Paraguay with her husband, an unemployed waiter, and their nine-month-old baby.

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Spain holds Europe's fate in its hands in 2011: analysts

Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:09 PM PST

MADRID, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - For financial markets the doomsday scenario in 2011 starts with Spain buckling under its debt and unleashing a Europe-wide crisis that dwarfs anything seen so far in Greece or Ireland.

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