Kansas City Star: World

Russian says troops kill 20 militants in Chechnya

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:05 CST

Government forces have killed more than 20 militants in Chechnya, and a bomb blast at a cemetery in a neighboring province killed three relatives visiting the grave of a police officer slain by insurgents, law enforcement authorities said.

Grenade fired at building with Honduran ballots

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:38 CST

Assailants fired an anti-tank grenade toward the building housing ballots for the upcoming Honduran presidential elections, which are taking place under the shadow of a four-month crisis caused by a coup, police said Friday.

Heavy snow storms in northern China kill 40

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:18 CST

Unusually early snow storms in north-central China have claimed 40 lives, caused thousands of buildings to collapse and destroyed almost 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of winter crops, the Civil Affairs Ministry said Friday.

5,000 more European troops expected for Afghan war

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:43 CST

Europe may send 5,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan, Britain's prime minister said Friday - affirming support for the NATO mission as the Obama administration nears a decision on increasing American troop levels.

Turkey announces plans for Kurdish rights

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:18 CST

Turkey's government on Friday announced new measures aimed at reconciling with minority Kurds and ending a 25-year-old insurgency, but there was no mention of the sweeping amnesty sought by Kurdish rebels.

Obama hails expanded U.S. engagement in Asia

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

TOKYO | President Barack Obama declared today that an era of American disengagement in the globe’s fastest-growing region was over. He also warned that the United States and its Asian partners “will not be cowed” by North Korea’s continued defiance over its nuclear weapons and other provocations.

Obama rejects Afghan options

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

WASHINGTON | President Barack Obama rejected the Afghanistan war options before him and asked for revisions, his defense secretary said Thursday, after the U.S. ambassador in Kabul argued that a significant U.S. troop increase would only prop up a weak, corruption-tainted government. Obama’s ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, who is also a former commander in Afghanistan, twice in the last week voiced strong dissent against sending large numbers of new forces, according to an administration official.

Medvedev urges modernization of Russian economy

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

MOSCOW | President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday laid out his plan to move Russia’s economy into the modern age and overcome the grim industrial legacy of the Soviet Union. In his annual state-of-the-nation address, he took a few digs at Vladimir Putin, his predecessor and mentor, but made clear that the tightly controlled political system Putin created is here to stay.

Missing soldier's body found

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

KABUL | Military divers have found the body of a U.S. paratrooper who disappeared last week along with another soldier as the two tried to retrieve airdropped supplies from a river in western Afghanistan, NATO said Wednesday. Relatives said they think Spc. Benjamin Sherman of Plymouth, Mass., died after jumping into the river to try to save his comrade, who was also swept away by the current.

Vatican considers possibility of extraterrestrial life

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

VATICAN CITY | E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.

NATO seizes bomb-making materials in Afghanistan

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

KABUL | International troops and Afghan police seized 250 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer — enough to make up to a couple hundred roadside bombs, the Taliban’s most lethal weapon in this deadliest year of the war — NATO announced Tuesday. Separately, video footage emerged of insurgents brandishing what appears to U.S. ammunition in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan where eight Americans died in a battle last month.

AIDS tops list of risks for women

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

GENEVA | In its first study of women’s health around the globe, the World Health Organization said Monday that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44. Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing countries for women of childbearing age, with others including iron deficiency and a lack of access to contraceptives, the WHO said. Throughout the world, one in five deaths among women in this age group is linked to unsafe sex, according to the U.N. agency.

Honduran Congress awaits court opinion on Zelaya

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras | The head of Honduras’ Congress said Monday there is no guarantee lawmakers will vote on whether to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya before the Nov. 29 election that will choose his successor.

Iraq's Parliament quells ethnic dispute, sets elections for Jan. 23

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

BAGHDAD | After nearly a dozen delays, Iraq’s Parliament on Sunday passed a law setting national elections for January, averting a political crisis that threatened the country’s progress toward stability. Approval of the law after a final rowdy session eases a growing source of concern for the Obama administration. President Barack Obama is considering sending 34,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, and successful elections in Iraq are key to a major reduction in U.S. combat forces in the country by next summer.

Bombing kills Pakistani mayor

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

PESHAWAR, Pakistan | A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in a market in northwest Pakistan crowded with shoppers ahead of a Muslim holiday. The blast killed 12 people, including a mayor who once supported but had turned against the Taliban, officials said.

Flu poses one more threat for Afghans One more threat for Afghans

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

KABUL, Afghanistan | As if the Taliban, car bombs, roadside bombs, leftover Soviet land mines, political unrest and errant NATO air attacks weren’t enough, Afghans face a new killer: the H1N1 flu pandemic. The government has declared a state of emergency and closed schools, universities, and even wedding halls and public bathrooms for three weeks to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed 10 people in the capital in less than two weeks. Cases span the country.

124 die in El Salvador floods

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

VERAPAZ, El Salvador | Torrents of mud and boulders choked the streets of Verapaz on Sunday, part of a massive wave of rain-fueled flooding that authorities said killed 124 people throughout El Salvador and left about 60 missing. Thousands of people saw their homes damaged, destroyed or cut off by floods and mudslides across this Central American nation.

Talkers | Why Meadow can lark

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

Why Meadow can lark ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. | Meadow the yearling Black Angus calf spends her days frolicking in northeastern New Mexico’s cattle country with her prosthetic hind legs.

Researchers say deforestation caused collapse of Nazca culture

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

Peru’s Nazca people — famous for their huge line drawings on a desert plateau that are fully visible only from the air — set the stage for their collapse around 500 A.D. by deforesting the plain, allowing a flood free rein through the Rio Ica valley, researchers have found. “They died out because they destroyed their natural ecosystem,” said archaeologist Alex Chepstow-Lusty of the French Institute of Andean Studies in Lima, Peru, co-author of a paper in the current issue of Latin American Antiquity. “As the population expanded, they put in too many fields and didn’t protect the landscape. The El Nino wiped away society.”

Thaksin on a mission to humiliate Thai government

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

BANGKOK | Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s former prime minister, has spent much of the past three years roaming the globe, shopping for diamonds in Africa, golfing at Asian resorts — and humiliating the government from a distance. Now the fugitive ex-leader is an economic adviser to the government of neighboring Cambodia, and that is too close for comfort for Thailand’s current leadership.

Someone in U.S. behind attacks, Guyana says

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

GEORGETOWN, Guyana | Recent arsons and shootings are the work of someone living in the United States, President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana said. Jagdeo made the allegation late Friday, shortly after his administration requested the U.S. Embassy for assistance with the investigation.

Prized mushroom collection returns to China

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

BEIJING | A Chinese scholar persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for smuggling a rare collection of mushrooms out of China before World War II was honored Saturday when the collection was returned more than 70 years later. At a ceremony at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cornell University President David Skorton handed over the collection that had been meticulously gathered by scholar Shu Chun Teng.

Yemen rebels say Saudi bombardments hit stronghold

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

SAN‘A, Yemen | Saudi warplanes and artillery bombarded a Shiite rebel stronghold in northern Yemen on Saturday for a third straight day, according to the rebel fighters, and Yemen’s president vowed to wipe out the insurrection. The sporadic five-year conflict between Yemen’s weak central government and rebels in the north of the impoverished country escalated last week when military forces from neighboring Saudi Arabia began shelling and bombing rebel positions.

Unique homecoming to Vietnam for U.S. commander

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

DANANG, Vietnam | On the day his side lost the Vietnam War, Hung Ba Le fled his homeland at the age of 5 in a fishing trawler crammed with 400 refugees. Thirty-four years later, he made an unlikely homecoming — as the commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer.

Crashing dominoes to signify Berlin Wall's fall

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:15 CST

BERLIN | Massive colorful dominoes painted by German students were placed Saturday along the former path of the Berlin Wall to mark the 20th anniversary of the end of the barrier that divided the city for nearly three decades. Many of the 7.5-foot-high plastic foam dominoes carried messages, including “We are one people.” The 1,000 or so dominoes stretching for a mile will be toppled Monday as part of celebrations of the wall’s fall.

Britain investigating fresh Iraq abuse claims

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:05 CST

Iraqi civilians who were detained by British troops during the U.S.-led war have leveled some 33 allegations of rape and abuse against male and female soldiers, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Saturday.

No bars, no mistresses, Chinese officials warned

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:15 CST

Chinese officials are being told to dump their mistresses, avoid hostess bars, and shun extravagances as part of the Communist party's efforts to clamp down on the corruption that is threatening its rule and sullying its reputation.

Few call Venice home, but it's not history, either

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:05 CST

A dozen gondolas snaked down the Grand Canal on Saturday in a mock funeral procession bemoaning Venice's approach to the dreaded status of living museum, with a population now below 60,000.

A president of Europe? Continent's unity is tested

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:10 CST

The European Union has battled long and hard for this moment: the imminent choice of its first president.

Bill Clinton urges Mideast foes to end conflict

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:50 CST

Former President Bill Clinton, whose energetic efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal collapsed, urged both sides Saturday to end their decades-old conflict, saying they cannot escape their common future.

Czechs celebrate 20 years since Velvet Revolution

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:35 CST

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel opened the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Velvet Revolution with a concert attended by celebrities.

NKorean cargo ship arrives in South after clash

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:55 CST

A North Korean cargo ship entered South Korean waters Saturday - a sign that trade has been unaffected by a recent deadly naval clash off their western coasts, an official said.

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis protest Intel Sabbath work

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:10 CST

More than a thousand devout Jews noisly protested in Jerusalem on Saturday against plans by computer chip maker Intel to operate on the Jewish day of rest.

Indonesia deports Greenpeace activists

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:00 CST

Indonesian authorities say they are deporting 11 foreign Greenpeace activists for joining a protest against forest destruction.

South Koreans protest Afghan troop dispatch

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:55 CST

About 200 South Koreans rallied Saturday to protest a government plan to send troops to Afghanistan, days ahead of a visit to Seoul by President Barack Obama.

Sweden returns 22 human skulls to Hawaii

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:15 CST

With a solemn ceremony in Stockholm's antiquities museum, Sweden on Saturday marked the return of 22 skulls looted from a native Hawaiian community mainly in the 17th century.

Iran artists in tug of war with government

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:30 CST

Iran's greatest master of traditional music, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, always avoided open clashes with his country's ruling hard-line clerics.

Kenya harvest example on reversing food shortage

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:50 CST

Joram Abiero remembers it was not too long ago that his neighbors went to bed hungry.

15 people killed in 1 day in Mexican border city

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:10 CST

Authorities say a 7-year-old boy, three women and a university professor are among 15 people who were killed in a single day in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.

In China, Obama will glimpse world's new center of gravity

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:00 CST

When President Barack Obama lands Sunday night in China's largest city, Shanghai, he'll find many of its 20 million people intrigued by him and welcoming, but hardly deferential, and some openly skeptical of his promises of change.

WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: What time is it?

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:20 CST

What time is it again? Even White House press secretary Robert Gibbs found the time change startling as President Barack Obama's tour of Asia got under way. As he began briefing the traveling press corps, he found he didn't really know whether to wish them a good morning, afternoon, evening or night.

Opposition: Iran rulers more brutal than shah

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:10 CST

Iran's embattled opposition leaders accused the government of becoming more brutal than the shah's regime in Web statements Saturday, and authorities announced a new Internet crackdown aimed at choking off the reform movement's last real means of keeping its campaign alive.

Obama boosts hopes for free trade in Asia-Pacific

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:40 CST

President Barack Obama raised hopes for creating an Asia-Pacific free-trade region by announcing Saturday that the U.S. would seek to join a smaller group seen as a precursor to a broader Pacific Rim agreement.

UN food chief stages hunger strike ahead of summit

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:50 CST

The U.N. food chief said Saturday he was chilly but otherwise slept OK after his first night on a hunger strike to draw attention to the plight of the world's hungry before next week's U.N. food summit.