World | Journal Gazette

2 more arrested in London butcher knife killing

Paisley Dodds and Gregory Katz — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:42:56 EST

LONDON - British police say two more people have been arrested by officers investigating the hacking death of a U.K. soldier in London.

4 Americans killed in drone strikes: Holder

Karen DeYoung and Peter Finn — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

The Obama administration acknowledged Wednesday it has killed four Americans in overseas counterterrorism operations since 2009, the first time it has publicly taken responsibility for the deaths.

Drug cartel sets fire to rural state

MARK STEVENSON — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

The farm state of Michoacan is burning. A drug cartel that takes its name from an ancient monastic order has set fire to lumber yards, packing plants and passenger buses in a medieval-like reign of terror.

Building materials blamed in Bangladesh disaster

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:05:15 EST

DHAKA, Bangladesh - A government investigation found that extremely poor quality construction materials and a series of violations caused the collapse of a garment factory building in Bangladesh that has been called the worst garment-industry disaster in history, the committee head said Thursday.

Police: Car bomb kills 12 in southwest Pakistan

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:07:18 EST

QUETTA, Pakistan - A car bomb targeting a police vehicle killed 11 policemen and one civilian Thursday in an area of southwest Pakistan wracked by a separatist insurgency and Islamic militancy, police said.

Brave woman tried to reason with London attackers

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:31:13 EST

LONDON - A brave scout leader who may have prevented further violence has emerged as an unlikely hero in the apparent terror attack that left one man dead on the streets of London.

Simultaneous car bomb attacks in Niger

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:58:28 EST

NIAMEY, Niger - Attackers in Niger detonated two car bombs on Thursday, one in the city of Agadez where a military barracks was targeted and one in Arlit where a French company operates a uranium mine, injuring more than a dozen people.

UK leader says deadly attack likely terrorism

Anthony Faiola — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Two assailants hacked a man to death on a busy southeast London street Wednesday afternoon before delivering a rant about Islam to bystanders, leading Prime Minister David Cameron to cut short a diplomatic trip in Paris to deal with what he described as a likely terrorist attack.

Benghazi suspects ID'd by FBI; no arrests

KIMBERLY DOZIER — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

The U.S. has identified five men who might be responsible for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and has enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists, officials say. But there isn't enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian court as the Obama administration prefers.

Iran’s Ahmadinejad denounces election decision

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:29:20 EST

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says a decision by election overseers to disqualify his top aide from an upcoming presidential race is an act of oppression and he will take the case to the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Myanmar Muslims jailed for killing Buddhist monk

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:04:02 EST

MEIKHTILA, Myanmar - A Myanmar court sentenced seven Muslims to prison - one of them to a life term - in the killing of a Buddhist monk amid deadly sectarian violence that was overwhelmingly directed against minority Muslims but has produced no serious charges against the members of the country's Buddhist majority.

Israel returns fire following shooting from Syria

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:15:33 EST

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military says gunfire from Syria hit an Israeli patrol on the Golan Heights overnight, damaging a vehicle and prompting the troops to fire back.

Owner: Chinese boat’s captain beaten by North Koreans

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:46:50 EST

BEIJING - The owner of a Chinese fishing boat seized for more than two weeks by armed North Koreans says the captors wore military uniforms, and that they beat up the boat's captain and stole its fuel.

Obama lauds Myanmar's progress in meeting with president

Roger Runningen — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:06:30 EST

WASHINGTON - President Obama lauded the progress made by Myanmar President Thein Sein’s government to open the political process, and said greater emphasis on human rights will bring the Southeast Asian country more prosperity.

Myanmar army to continue role

Anne Gearan — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

The military that ran Myanmar for decades will continue to play a major role in the country, said the former general who has presided over the transformation of a nation that only three years ago was considered one of the world's most repressive.

Car bombs in Baghdad, south Iraq kill at least 34

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:07:55 EST

BAGHDAD - A wave of car bombings across Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods and in the southern city of Basra killed at least 34 people and wounded dozens on Monday, Iraqi officials said.

Pakistan: Gunmen attack polio team, kill policeman

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:03:09 EST

KHAR, Pakistan - Officials say gunmen have killed a policeman who was guarding a polio vaccination team in northwestern Pakistan.

Suicide bomber kills 14 at Afghan province council

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:05:12 EST

KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber struck outside a provincial council headquarters in northern Afghanistan on Monday, killing the council chief and at least 13 others, authorities said.

5 dead, 20 missing in China factory explosion

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:06:30 EST

BEIJING - A blast at an explosives factory in eastern China has killed five people and left another 20 missing.

South Korea: North Korea fires 5th projectile into waters

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:28:08 EST

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea says North Korea has fired a short-range projectile into its own eastern waters - for the fifth time in three days.

Turtles draw tourists to Trinidad

DAVID McFADDEN — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Giant leatherback turtles, some weighing half as much as a small car, drag themselves out of the ocean and up the sloping shore on the northeastern coast of Trinidad while villagers await wearing dimmed headlamps in the dark.

Blasphemy cases on rise in Egypt

MAGGIE MICHAEL — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, "All except the Prophet Muhammad.

Assad: US must not interfere

Associated Press — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the civil war.

US Myanmar sanctions list far out of date

ERIKA KINETZ — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

If you're American and want to do business in Myanmar, there's a list of people and companies you have to steer clear of by law. But it leaves off a former minister's son whom U.S. officials suspected of brokering arms deals with North Korea, and high-rolling relatives of the man who led the repressive military government for 19 years.

North Korea fires projectile into eastern waters

Associated Press — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:28:46 EST

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea says North Korea has fired a projectile into waters off its eastern coast a day after launching three short-range missiles in the same area.

Syrian activists: Shelling near Lebanon kills 16

Associated Press — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:59:21 EST

AMMAN, Jordan - Syrian activists say government airstrikes and heavy shelling of a strategic town near the Lebanese border have killed at least 16 people, including rebel fighters.

Japan's prime minister to visit Myanmar next week

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:10:02 EST

TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Myanmar next Friday, the first Japanese prime minister to do so in 36 years, informed sources said Saturday.

South Korea says North Korea fires 3 short-range missiles

Associated Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:33:44 EST

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing tensions.

Former Argentine dictator dies at 87

MICHAEL WARREN — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who took power over Argentina in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a dirty war to eliminate so-called "subversives," died Friday. He was 87.

$1 million in jewelry stolen near Cannes film fest

Jamey Keaton — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:15:25 EST

PARIS – Thieves ripped a safe from the wall of a hotel room near the Cannes Film Festival and made off with around $1 million worth of jewelry, in a brazen late-night burglary just hours after the screening of a film about break-ins at the homes of Hollywood celebrities, French officials said Friday.

Scarce food is one thing, but TP?

FABIOLA SANCHEZ — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls.

Suicide attack on convoy kills 6 Americans

KATHY GANNON — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

A suicide car bombing tore through a U.S. convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 15 people including six Americans in a blast so powerful it rattled the other side of the Afghan capital. U.S. soldiers rushed to help, some wearing only T-shirts or shorts under their body armor.

Myanmar leader frees prisoners ahead of US visit

Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:56:52 EST

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's president has pardoned political prisoners just ahead of a state visit to the United States, maintaining the momentum of warming ties between the countries.

Cyclone fizzles, spares Myanmar

FARID HOSSAIN — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh - Cyclone Mahasen weakened Thursday afternoon into a tropical storm and then dissipated, causing far less damage than had been feared as it passed over Bangladesh and spared Myanmar almost entirely, meteorological officials said.

Spy's get-up or ill-conceived setup?

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

A couple of wigs, sunglasses and a compass? Really.

Car bomb hits NATO convoy in Kabul; 6 dead

Associated Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:15:46 EST

KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing at least six people in the explosion and wounding more than 30, officials said.

Cambodian shoe factory collapse kills 2, injures 7

Associated Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:20:17 EST

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The ceiling of a shoe factory in Cambodia collapsed while several dozen workers were inside the building early Thursday, killing at least two people and possibly trapping more under the debris, police said.

Myanmar villagers resist cyclone rout

TIM SULLIVAN — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

The cyclone was only a day or two away, churning through the Indian Ocean and carrying with it winds and rains that authorities warned could quickly turn deadly.

North Korea: American starts life at 'special prison'

Associated Press — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:04:47 EST

PYONGYANG, North Korea - An American citizen sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what Pyongyang has described as hostile acts against the state has started life a special prison, state media said Wednesday.

Rwanda building collapse kills 6, injures 30

Associated Press — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:45:27 EST

KAMPALA, Uganda - A four-story building under construction collapsed, killing at least six workers and injuring dozens more people, police said Wednesday.

Death toll in Bangladesh set at 1,127

JULHAS ALAM — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Several of the biggest Western retailers embraced a plan that would require them to pay for factory improvements in Bangladesh as the three-week search for victims of the worst garment-industry disaster in history ended Monday with the death toll at a staggering 1,127.

Bomber targets US special forces in Afghanistan

Associated Press — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:06:45 EST

KABUL - NATO says a suicide bomber has targeted U.S. special forces north of the Afghan capital but there were no casualties among the troops.

Boats carrying fleeing Rohingya Muslims capsize

Associated Press — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:46:24 EST

SITTWE, Myanmar - Several overcrowded boats carrying more than 100 Rohingya Muslims trying to escape an approaching cyclone have capsized off the coast of western Myanmar. The United Nations says only 42 are known to have survived.

Myanmar says president to make official US visit

Aye Aye Win — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:29:47 EST

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar state television announced Monday that President Thein Sein will make a state visit to the United States in the near future, the first by a Myanmar head of state in almost 47 years and a sign of warming ties.

Turkey to press UN for end to war in Syria

Liz Sly — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Turkey said Sunday that it would step up its efforts to persuade the international community to do more to end the war in Syria, after investigators said they had found evidence that the regime in Damascus was behind the car bombing in a Turkish border town that killed 46 people.

Singapore begins inquiry in US scientist’s death

Associated Press — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:08:07 EST

SINGAPORE - Evidence presented Monday in a Singapore investigation revealed a U.S. software engineer was unhappy at work and had written suicide notes before he died last year in what his parents insist was a murder.

Pakistan's Sharif declares win in election

SEBASTIAN ABBOT and REBECCA SANTANA — Sun, 12 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared victory after a historic election marred by violence Saturday, as unofficial, partial vote counts showed his party with an overwhelming lead.

Pope Francis gives church hundreds of new saints

FRANCES D'EMILIO — Sun, 12 May 2013 09:37:04 EST

Pope Francis on Sunday gave the Catholic Church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony Sunday in a packed St. Peter's Square.

Turkey links explosions to Syria

SUZAN FRASER and MEHMET GUZEL — Sun, 12 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

In one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years, two car bombs exploded near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 43 and wounding 140 others. Turkish officials blamed the attack on a group linked to Syria, and a deputy prime minister called the neighboring country's intelligence service and military "the usual suspects.

Refugees face uncertain future as Myanmar opens

Associated Press — Sun, 12 May 2013 03:03:56 EST

MAE LA REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand - Since the day she was born, 20-year-old Naw Lawnadoo has known almost nothing of the world beyond the fence and guard posts that hem her in with 45,000 others - ethnic minorities from Myanmar and those like her who were born and raised in the Mae La refugee camp in neighboring Thailand.

Pakistan's Sharif declares election victory

REBECCA SANTANA and SEBASTIAN ABBOT — Sat, 11 May 2013 19:34:59 EST

ISLAMABAD Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared victory following a historic election marred by violence Saturday, a remarkable comeback for a leader once toppled in a military coup and sent into exile.

40 dead in Turkey car bombings near Syria

SUZAN FRASER — Sat, 11 May 2013 07:58:15 EST

ANKARA, Turkey - Two car bombs exploded in a Turkish town near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing around 40 people and wounding 100 others, official said.

World grapples with rise in cyber crime

PAISLEY DODDS — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:07:50 EST

LONDON - International law enforcement agencies say the recent $45 million dollar ATM heist is just one of many scams they're fighting in an unprecedented wave of sophisticated cyberattacks.

Woman pulled from ruins in Bangladesh after 17 days

JULHAS ALAM — Sat, 11 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

For 17 days, the seamstress lay trapped in a dark basement pocket beneath thousands of tons of wreckage as temperatures outside climbed into the mid-90s. She rationed food and water. She banged a pipe to attract attention. She was fast losing hope of ever making it out alive.

Myanmar issues cyclone warning

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:50:32 EST

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's government is warning that a cyclone barreling north in the Bay of Bengal could slam into the country's coast next week.