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Cut in nuclear stockpiles proposed by Obama in talks with Russia

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:25:30 -0400

BERLIN - US President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he would seek talks with Russia to reduce the number of strategic nuclear weapons both hold by up to a third. Speaking in front of Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate during a visit to the German capital, Obama said he was confident the US could maintain its security while reducing its nuclear capacity by a third. He also called for ...

Dalian Wand Group to enhance UK presence with luxury hotel and yacht unit

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:45:23 -0400

LONDON - China's largest premier commercial property and entertainment conglomerate, Dalian Wanda Group Wednesday entered into 320million pounds definite acquisition deal with leading British yacht company, Sunseeker International Ltd, under which Wanda will acquire a majority shareholding of 91.81% in pre-eminent luxury motor yacht manufacturer. Under the agreement, the remaining 8.19% stake ...

Karzai says peace talks with Taliban should be Afghan led

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:23:12 -0400

KABUL - An angry Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday his government would not join US peace talks with the Taliban "until the peace process is totally under Afghan control." He also suspended talks with the US to discuss the nature of US military presence after international troops withdraw in 2014. A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said the decision was taken over ...

North Korean leader Kim used luxury yacht to tour coast, says report

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:35:12 -0400

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has used a luxury boat to tour the country's east coast amid indications that the 90-feet-long yacht may have been smuggled into the country in defiance of UN sanctions that bans importing of luxury items to the impoverished country. A website that tracks events in the reclusive state said the yacht, a Princess 95MY made by British-based ...

Somalia UN office attacked and 15 killed by Islamist militants

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:34:40 -0400

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least 15 people, including some United Nations workers, were killed Wednesday when a UN compound in the Somali capital came under a bomb and gun attack by Islamist militants of an Al Qaeda-linked group, a minister said. Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled in a hurriedly called press conference said that the eight slain UN workers included four foreigners working ...

NSA director defends e-snooping claiming it helped foil 50 terror attacks foiled

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:28:19 -0400

WASHINGTON - The controversial US snooping of foreign emails and telephone calls has prevented more than 50 potential terrorist attacks in at least 20 countries, the director of the National Security Agency (NSA) has said in defending the surveillance programme. The targets include the New York Stock Exchange and other important installations across the world, General Keith Alexander said ...

EU antitrust regulator fines Lundbeck and several generic drug firms

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:13:25 -0400

BRUSSELS - European Union in its first case over pay-for-delay deals that held back sales of cheaper generic drugs Wednesday fined Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck 93.8 million euros and imposed fines totaling 52.2 million euros on several other producers of generic medicines. The European Commission, the EU's antitrust regulator, said the companies had reached agreements that may have ...

Chrysler to recall 2.7 mn Jeeps but says vehicles not defective

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:20:18 -0400

NEW YORK - Chrysler avoided a showdown with the US government by agreeing to recall 2.7 million Jeeps with fuel tanks that could rupture and cause fires in rear-end collisions. Chrysler said it recognised the matter had raised concerns for customers The US company said it had resolved its differences with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall affects ...

Four US mortgage servicers faulted for lapses by settlement monitor

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:19:27 -0400

WASHINGTON - Four of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers, including Citigroup Inc (C). and Bank of America Corp., have failed to adequately upgrade their treatment of customers in danger of foreclosure, according to a court-appointed monitor. Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have failed to adhere to some of the new standards set out in a landmark settlement meant to ...

Spain making progress but requires urgent action to generate growth says IMF

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:10:52 -0400

MADRID - Spain risks high joblessness and sluggish growth for years unless its government together with Europe takes "urgent action' to generate growth and jobs, the International Monetary Fund stated Wednesday. "While there are signs the economic contraction may end soon, the outlook remains difficult," IMF said in its annual assessment of the Spanish economy. "But unemployment remains ...

Kosovo Liaison To Serbia Resigns

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:27:16 -0400

Kosovo's liaison officer to Serbia has resigned, just two days after he took the job. Lulzim Peci resigned June 19 after saying in an interview that Kosovo and Serbia could only have normal relations after Serbia recognizes Kosovo’s independence. Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry said Peci had exceeded his powers as a diplomat. Serbia refuses to recognize the independence of its ...

Putin First Soviet government was mostly Jewish

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:22:50 -0400

Russian President Vladimir Putin at Moscow's Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, June 13, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Aleksey Nikolskyi/RIA ...

US jobless to fall but Fed wary of putting brakes on stimulus

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:12:43 -0400

The US Federal Reserve's bond buying programme could begin to slow down this year and come to an end around the middle of next year, the country's top central banker, Ben Bernanke, said ...

Next up for Obama Major effort on climate change

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:00:51 -0400

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "We know we have to do more - and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in ...

Nuclear waste clean-up delayed and billions over budget

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:00:49 -0400

(CBS News) The new Secretary of Energy has been on the job only four weeks, but he made a beeline Wednesday to see his biggest headache for himself. Ernest Moniz went to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state. Hanford made the plutonium for American nuclear weapons from the Manhattan Project in World War II until 1987. Now, highly radioactive waste is leaking, and a project to clean ...

James Gandolfini dead at 51

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:00:45 -0400

James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO's "The Sopranos" helped create one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51. In a statement, the cable channel, and Gandolfini's managers Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders, said he died Wednesday while on holiday in ...

US arming of Assads foes forces Iran to bleed resources in Syria

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:17:22 -0400

The fact that Iran, Hezbollah are sending militias, arms and money into Syria is a sign they are worried the regime might fall. Keeping them engaged and pouring resources into Syria weakens them ...

Summers predicts US economy will return to 3 growth this year

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:17:21 -0400

The United States economy will reach a 3 percent growth rate by the end of 2013, Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary, predicted Wednesday night.Speaking on a panel of distinguished economists and thinkers at the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem, Summers praised US President Barack Obama for policies that are beginning to bear fruit in the economy.Obama's stimulus push helped ...

Rail delays the worst for six years say passengers as just 40 say tickets are value for money

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:13:33 -0400

One in eight passengers are unhappy with their unreliable rail services at a time of inflation-busting fare rises and bumper bonuses for rail ...

Thousands stage new protests in Bulgaria despite PMs apology

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:12:32 -0400

Thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets for a sixth straight day of protests on Wednesday, demanding the resignation of new Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski despite his apology over a political ...

Syrian troops rebels clash outside Damascus district

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:12:31 -0400

Syrian troops and rebels were locked in fierce clashes on Wednesday night outside the Damascus district of Qabun as the army tried to storm the area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights ...

Postcard from... Coria del Rio

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:07:15 -0400

It is exactly 400 years since the samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga established the first ever diplomatic contact between Japan and Spain when, after a 12-month journey, his ship made its landfall in the small town of Coria del Rio on the River Guadalquivir in Andalusia.And to commemorate that encounter, Prince Naruhito, pictured, the heir to the Japanese throne, ensured that part of his state visit to ...

Radiation weapon plot foiled in US

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:00:00 -0400

U. S. authorities accused two men of assembling a portable X-ray weapon that they intended to use to secretly sicken opponents of Israel. The indictment charged 49-year-old Glendon Scott Crawford and 54-year-old Eric ...

Nelson Mandelas health Is it time to let go

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:55:59 -0400

In South Africa, former President Nelson Mandela has now been in the hospital for 12 days, battling a lung infection. The official word is his condition remains serious but ...

4th suspect held in Ohio case

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:30:07 -0400

>Editor's note: For more information on this story, check out CNN affiliates WKYC, WOIO and WJW.(CNN) -- A fourth suspect is in custody in the alleged forced labor of a mentally disabled woman held with her young daughter, according to federal prosecutors in Ohio. Dezerah Silsby, 21, turned herself in and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon, authorities said. The two victims ...

Flooding Damages Lourdes French Holy Site

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:28:41 -0400

PARIS ...

Myanmar constitution likely to dash Suu Kyis presidential hopes

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:20:53 -0400

Reuters © Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi waves to supporters as she leaves the National League for Democracy party headquarters after attending her 68th birthday ceremony in Yangon June 19, 2013. REUTERS/Soe Zeya ...

National service in Arab sector up 76 over past year

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:12:49 -0400

A ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Haifa Cinematheque to recognize the record-high 3,000 Arabs volunteering in the national service program this year.This represents an increase of 76 percent over last year, when 1,700 ...

Common chiffchaff makes rare southern journey to nest in Israel

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:12:47 -0400

Birders in the Hermon region have for the first time ever discovered a community of nesting common chiffchaffs, a type of leaf warbler that typically is found 700 kilometers north of this spot.Bird experts from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel found a population of 20 pairs of the chiffchaffs nesting in the winter foliage of a remote valley in the Hermon.Until now, the ...

Jerry Silverman We have to be one Jewish community

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:12:46 -0400

In order to meet the acute challenges facing an increasingly fractured Jewish landscape, organized communal institutions are finding ways to evolve and adapt, Jerry Silverman, president of the Jewish Federations of North America, said on Wednesday.Speaking ...

Israelis worry whether they will get care they need if fall sick

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:12:46 -0400

Even though 83 percent of Israelis buy supplementary health insurance from their public health funds and 42% have commercial health insurance policies, only half of them feel secure they will get all the medical treatment they need if they become seriously ill.This is one of the findings of the ninth poll of Jerusalem's Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute on public satisfaction with service ...

Red-Dead conduit to be jointly promoted by gov’t KKL-JNF

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:12:45 -0400

Development of the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea conduit will occur under the joint administration of the State of Israel and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, leaders from both parties announced on Tuesday.Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, KKL-JNF chairman Efi Stenzler and presidents of JNF chapters from all over the world agreed to the joint pursuit of this enormous project ...

Agassi Green future inevitable – it’s cheaper

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:12:45 -0400

As renewable technologies continue to become more efficient and affordable, industries and entrepreneurs will inevitably switch to cleaner fuel sources - even if not for environmental reasons, Shai Agassi said Wednesday.The founder and former CEO of the now bankrupt Better Place spoke at the Israeli Presidential Conference 2013 in Jerusalem on the panel "Is There Hope for a Green ...

787 Dreamliner is forced into diversion due to a technical fault in latest embarrassment for Boeing

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:09:15 -0400

The incident will heap further embarrassment on Boeing, which has seen the Dreamliner get off to a troubled start by being grounded for several months thanks to overheating in its ...

Brazil protests Even footballers condemn government for spending billions on the World Cup

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:09:14 -0400

Some of Brazil's most famous footballers have backed the tens of thousands of people who have continued to protest today over the billions being spent on the 2014 World ...

Indian court rules that any couple who have sex are legally married... and could technically need to divorce if they wanted to sleep with someone else

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:09:13 -0400

If an unmarried couple have sex they are considered husband and wife - and would have to ‘divorce’ if they split, an Indian court has ...

Vatican pave the way to declaring Pope John Paul II a saint after attributing a mystery miracle to him

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:09:13 -0400

Fast-tracked: Pope John Paul II in Gdansk, during his seventh pilgrimage to Poland in 2011 An insider told The Daily Telegraph that details of the miracle are likely to be announced at the end of this month or at the beginning of ...

Militants claim three Britons dead after bomb attack on UN compound

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:02:25 -0400

The United Nations' gradual, peaceful return to Somalia was shattered this morning as a truck full of explosives was detonated at the front gates of its compound in the capital, ...

Louisiana teen allegedly killed half-sister with TV wrestling moves

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:01:29 -0400

Police car lights. (QMI Agency) A 13-year-old boy has been charged with murder in New Orleans after causing the death of his 5-year-old half-sister using wrestling moves he had seen on television, police said. Viloude Louis died Sunday afternoon of blunt force trauma to her body, including broken ribs and a damaged liver, police said, after the boy wrestled with her using World Wrestling ...

Pussy Riot star Maria Alekhina staging play in prison

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:01:29 -0400

Freed Pussy Riot star says she's under surveillance Incarcerated Pussy Riot star Maria Alekhina is planning to stage a theatre production for fellow inmates at the prison where she is serving her sentence. The punk star was jailed for two years in 2012 after staging a musical protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin at a church in Moscow. She has been a vocal critic of conditions ...

Civil rights under attack by big government Beck

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:01:28 -0400

Glenn Beck (L) addresses the crowd during a Tea Party rally to "Audit the IRS" in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington June 19, 2013. REUTERS/Gary Cameron WASHINGTON -- The United States government is trampling on Americans' civil rights, according to popular conservative commentator Glenn Beck. And the scandal currently embroiling the Internal Revenue Service, that it targeted ...

Goodfella Home Search Possible Remains Found

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:00:34 -0400

The FBI has found possible human remains at the New York City house once occupied by a famous gangster who inspired Robert De Niro's character in Goodfellas. An FBI spokesman confirmed that agents found material they want to test as part of an investigation, but declined to comment further. On Monday, agents began a digging operation at the former Queens home of James Burke, a Lucchese ...

Obamas nuke deal wont make us safe

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:53:15 -0400

>Editor's note: Ira Helfand is a past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility and co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Alan Robock is a distinguished professor of climate science at Rutgers University and a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union and American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is ...

US Fed set to ease stimulus measures

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:52:38 -0400

Open the Google Chrome browser Click Tools icon>Options>Under the Hood>Content Settings Check Allow local data to be set Uncheck Block third-party cookies from being set Uncheck Clear cookies Close ...

FBI says it uses surveillance drones on U.S. soil

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:52:08 -0400

FBI Director Robert Mueller gestures at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing about the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 19, ...

3 football players charged in Naval Academy rape case

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:50:29 -0400

ANNAPOLIS, Md. The U.S. Naval Academy has announced charges against three football players accused of sexually assaulting a female midshipman. The academy said Wednesday the students have been charged with making a false official statement as well as rape, sexual assault or other sexual ...

Goo from naked mole rat may protect against cancer

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:50:26 -0400

The naked mole rat may hold the secret to cancer resistance. Scientists have identified a chemical that they say prevents the notoriously ugly rodent with a long lifespan from developing cancer. They hope the substance could one day lead to effective cancer treatments in humans. "A lot of cancer research focuses on animals that are prone to cancer," study author Vera Gorbunova, a ...

Paula Deen says she used racial slur but doesnt tolerate hate

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:50:26 -0400

Paula Deen says the celebrity chef "does not condone" racial epithets, following reports that Deen admitted to using "the N-word" and once planned a wedding reception with all black waiters. Deen's admission of using the slur came while she was providing deposition as part of a $1.2M lawsuit filed against her and her brother Earl "Bubba" Biers by Lisa Jackson, ...

Confusion over planned US-Taliban talks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:49:12 -0400

Tensions over the Taliban's new political office in Qatar have thrown planned talks between the Afghan anti-government group and the US into disarray. The meeting was expected to take place in Doha on Thursday but the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has said he will not be attending it. Wednesday's developments came one day after the ...

There is no safe number of nukes

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:25:28 -0400

Reforming Veterans Affairs Preserving Promises to Those Who Serve

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:16:23 -0400

- Roughly 900,000 veterans are awaiting their Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation claims, with 70 percent backlogged for more than 125 days. Veterans' waiting in line for claims--sometimes for years--is utterly unacceptable; yet the VA says they can't resolve the backlog until 2015.On June 20 ...

Vitamins

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:12:47 -0400

>Editor's note: To see Offit's interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, check out "Sanjay Gupta, M. D. " Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.(CNN) -- Dr Paul Offit doesn't take any ...

Vitamins

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:12:47 -0400

>Editor's note: To see Offit's interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, check out "Sanjay Gupta, M. D. " Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.(CNN) -- Dr Paul Offit doesn't take any ...

Vitamins

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:12:47 -0400

>Editor's note: To see Offit's interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, check out "Sanjay Gupta, M. D. " Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.(CNN) -- Dr Paul Offit doesn't take any ...

Why Brazil was burning

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:11:31 -0400

>Editor's note: Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review. A former CNN producer and correspondent, she is the author of "The End of Revolution: A Changing World in the Age of Live Television. " Follow her on Twitter: @FridaGColumns.(CNN) -- Presidents, prime ministers and assorted rulers, consider that you have been warned: A massive protest can ...

Why Brazil was burning

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:11:31 -0400

Why Brazil was burning

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:11:31 -0400

Swiss Parliament Scuttles U.S. Deal on Bank Secrecy

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:09:57 -0400

Switzerland's Parliament on Wednesday scuttled an information-sharing agreement with the United States that the Swiss government had hailed just weeks ago as a breakthrough in a dispute over banking secrecy, but left open the possibility for another ...

U.S. slow to deliver promised aid to Syrian rebels

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:08:23 -0400

WASHINGTON - While State Department officials are fond of saying they’re providing hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to the Syrian opposition, only a fraction of the promised funds has arrived, and none has gone to the political body the U.S. looks to as an alternative to President Bashar Assad’s regime. The State Department this month released the most in-depth aid ...

Iran’s president-elect may shift country’s policies toward Persian Gulf Israel

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:08:22 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran - To understand the changes likely to occur under Iran’s new president, Hasan Rowhani, consider this summation of the outgoing regime by a veteran foreign policy analyst. Iran’s approach to the world was ideological and focused attention on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Lebanon – issues far from the country’s vital interests, said Davood Hermidas Bavand, a ...

Senators pressure Obama on no fly zone in Syria

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:07:05 -0400

WASHINGTON - Less than a week after the White House announced findings of chemical weapons use in Syria and the initiation of a policy that would allow the CIA to provide Syrian rebels with light weaponry and ammunition, President Barack Obama is answering critics who say that small arms are no longer enough to turn the direction of the war.In a letter from leading senators on foreign ...

Cisco CEO Israel will be the first digital state

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:07:04 -0400

Israel will be the first end-to-end digital nation, Cisco CEO John Chambers said on Wednesday in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Chambers agreed earlier in the day to establish a working group to explore how Cisco can help upgrade Israel's digital infrastructure.Whereas most countries upgrade one area at a time, Israel is moving to connect homes with fiber-optic networks ...

AIPAC warns on Iranian president-elect Rohani

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:07:03 -0400

WASHINGTON - In a memo to supporters, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee expressed deep suspicion of Iranian President-Elect Hassan Rohani, saying that he "has signaled no willingness to halt Iran's illicit nuclear program."The powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington said the Iranian people voted for Rohani because they saw him as the best chance for sanctions ...

Russia China among worst in human trafficking Report

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:55:32 -0400

Chinese tourists look up at the Chinese national flag as it flies at half-mast on Beijing's Tiananmen Square October 17, 2012. (REUTERS/David Gray) WASHINGTON - An annual U.S. State Department report on Wednesday cited Russia and China among the world's worst offenders in fighting forced labor and sex trafficking, which could lead to U.S. sanctions. The U.S. designation drops Russia ...

As Tea Party rallies FBI says IRS probe a top priority

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:55:32 -0400

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) addresses the crowd during a Tea Party rally to "Audit the IRS" in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington June 19, 2013. REUTERS/Gary ...

Analysis Brazils protests Not quite a Tropical Spring

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:46:18 -0400

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability or established political ...

Bernanke sends stocks bonds skittering

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:44:37 -0400

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is on a television screen as specialist James Naughton works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, June 19, ...

Fast-Spreading Virus Under Inquiry in Saudi Arabia

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:06:07 -0400

A man in a Saudi hospital has pneumonia. The patient in the room next door gets sick, and before anyone realizes what is happening he infects seven others, each of whom infects at least one more. An outbreak is born. A detailed investigation of the viral illness first detected last year in Saudi Arabia has revealed the chilling ease with which the virus can spread to ill patients in the ...

Opponents protest Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s appointments

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:59:08 -0400

CAIRO - The decision by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to name 17 new provincial governors, including several who belong to his former party, triggered another round of violence here and the reported resignation of a top minister. The events stoked fears that Egypt’s first democratically elected leader was increasing Islamists’ control over the nation. Such violence, which ...

Palestinians fire rocket at South shattering calm

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:57:49 -0400

Shattering a lengthy period of calm, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired an unknown number of rockets at southern Israel, triggering air raid sirens in Ashkelon and surrounding areas early on Wednesday morning and awakening residents.As of Wednesday evening, the IDF, which launched a search of the area, found no projectiles in Israeli territory, and an army source indicated the rockets may ...

Netanyahu recommends keeping 60 of natural gas

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:57:49 -0400

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will propose to the cabinet on Sunday that Israel maintain 540 billion cubic meters of natural gas in its reservoirs - a 20-percent jump from previous government recommendations.Netanyahu presented the proposed export policy, which has been a contentious subject since the discovery of Israel's copious gas supplies, at a press conference in his Jerusalem ...

Michigan Governor hopes Waze will reroute to his state

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:57:47 -0400

recently purchased Israeli firm Waze to the US, why not to the search company's R&D facility in the state instead of its headquarters in Silicon Valley? That is a question Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder asked this week on a visit to GPS-based navigational app company Waze's headquarters in Ra'anana that he described as one of the highlights of his nine-day trade mission to ...

The world’s preferred refugees

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:57:46 -0400

For millions of refugees, World Refugee Day is a day like any other. From Mali to South Sudan and from Myanmar to Haiti, countless men, women and children will once again awaken today to an uncertain future.They are aided in their perilous journey by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which works with governments to advocate and seek asylum for all refugees. That is, ...

Media Comment The media and their icons

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:57:44 -0400

Media outlets report the news. They also serve as a platform for public debate and the exchange of views. Many critics see the media as also managing the news and setting agendas."The news" then morphs from being a collection of facts into an opinion-driven manipulation of events. A reporter and his/her editor, if biased, can alter reality.The academic literature has long ...

European Commission fines drug companies for delaying generics

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:55:33 -0400

drug manufacturers , including Denmark’s Lundbeck, Germany’s Merck, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Arrow Group and Zoetis Products, for colluding to keep a generic drug off the market. Officials for the commission, the European Union’s anti-trust regulator, claim that the companies agreed not to introduce generic versions of Lundbeck’s antidepressant citalopram when its basic ...

Iceland Informal talks about Snowden asylum

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:52:33 -0400

A WikiLeaks spokesman who claims to represent Edward Snowden has reached out to government officials in Iceland about the potential of the NSA leaker applying for asylum in the Nordic country, officials there said today. Johannes Skulason, an Icelandic government official, told The Associated Press that WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson had held informal talks with assistants at the Interior ...

Stripes set to be big for Dolce and Gabbana as fashion designers get 20 months in prison for tax evasion

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:46:51 -0400

A court in the fashion capital of Milan found the pair guilty of failing to declare EUR1bn (860m) of income.Prosecutors said the designers sold their D&G and Dolce & Gabbana brands to their own holding company, Gabo, in Luxembourg in 2004 for EUR360m - a third of its market value - to slash their tax liability.This, plus other dodges, meant the designers owed more than EUR400m in tax. The ...

Snowden Iceland Talks About Potential Asylum

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:45:08 -0400

Iceland says a spokesman who claims to represent Edward Snowden has held talks with government officials about the potential of the NSA leaker applying for asylum in the Nordic country. "A representative of his has, to my knowledge... had some informal discussions with some employees of a couple of ministries, but no formal discussions," Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David ...

TWA Flight 800 Investigators Want New Probe

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:45:07 -0400

Calls have been made for a new inquiry into the 1996 crash of a TWA jet off the coast of New York amid fresh claims that a missile was involved. TWA Flight 800 came down just minutes after taking off from JFK airport, killing all 230 people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that a centre fuel tank explosion, sparked by faulty wiring, was to blame. ...

Matter A Homely Rodent May Hold Cancer-Fighting Clues

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:39:25 -0400

Is the naked mole rat a cancerproof rodent? New research shows that the animals produce a unique compound that appears to protect them against the ...

Budget cuts hit security checks for defense contractors

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:36:43 -0400

A new National Security Agency (NSA) data gathering facility is seen under construction in Bluffdale, about 25 miles (40 kms) south of Salt Lake City, Utah June 11, ...

Ex-Playmate pleads guilty in immigrant smuggling case

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:34:52 -0400

Syracuse's The Post-Standard newspaper says Shannon pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a felony charge and faces a sentence ranging from no jail time to 10 months. Federal agents say the 35-year-old Los Angeles resident and her boyfriend were arrested after he illegally crossed the border and rendezvoused with her in Fort Covington. Officials say the boyfriend has a criminal record ...

Rare twin gorillas born in Dutch zoo

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:34:51 -0400

Burgers' Zoo in the Netherlands gave zookeepers two little surprises: twins! The baby great apes are in the care of 20-year-old mom N'Gayla, who already has three offspring. What makes the event even more special is that twins are extremely rare among gorillas, especially those in captivity. In fact, they're said to be a once-in-a-decade experience. "In gorilla world, twins ...

James Franco blasts Spider-Man reboot

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:34:49 -0400

"Man of Steel," Franco took issue with the "new Spider-Man series that arose even before there was time to bury the corpse of the old one and enshroud it in the haze of ...

CDC HPV vaccine reduced disease rates in teen girls 56

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:34:48 -0400

University of Miami pediatrician Judith L. Schaechter, M.D. gives an HPV vaccination to a 13-year-old girl in her office at the Miller School of Medicine on Sept. 21, 2011 in Miami, ...

FBI admits to using surveillance drones in US

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:33:27 -0400

The Federal Bureau of Investigation uses drones for surveillance over the US soil, but does so very rarely, the FBI director has told Senate Judiciary Committee. Robert Mueller told the Senate Committee that the FBI was developing guidelines for drones and that the privacy implications of using drones are, in Mueller's words, worthy of debate and legislation down the road. The aerospace ...

Kiwi dies in freezing Queensland conditions

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:12:24 -0400

A New Zealand man was found dead on the patio of a central Queensland home today after he slept outside in what were described as freezing conditions. Reports suggested the 40-year-old man told friends he was going to sleep outside the house in Clermont on Tuesday night. It was believed his friends covered him with a blanket but when they found him in the morning he was dead. Wellington Police ...

Kiwi freezes to death in Queensland

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:12:24 -0400

Fed Outlines Timeline for Winding Down Stimulus

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:09:53 -0400

WASHINGTON ...

In Germany Obama Says U.S. Lags Behind By Not Teaching Youth Second and Third Language

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:58:38 -0400

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MSNBC Panelist Suggests Opponents of Late-Term Abortions Are Racist

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:58:38 -0400

Democrats criticized Republicans for what they see as a new attack on abortion rights. In a recent MSNBC panel discussion on the bill, University of Pennsylvania professor Salamisha Tillet suggested that this is a racial issue. She expressed the possibility that Republicans support abortion bans so that white women will keep having babies, thereby "reproducing whiteness, white supremacy, ...

How Many Chechens Are Fighting In Syria

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:53:44 -0400

It is almost a year since the first reports surfaced that some Chechens, together with fighters from elsewhere in the Russian Federation, had joined the ranks of the armed opposition to Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. Since then, Western journalists have met with some of those Chechen fighters, and video footage of them has been posted on YouTube. While their numbers remain unclear, it seems that ...

Family learn of death via radio

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:51:46 -0400

The family of a Dunedin man found dead in a Thai apartment complex are distraught and angry they learnt of his death through media reports rather than police yesterday. Alan Patrick Mouncey, 38, was found dead with a head wound in the bathroom of his apartment at P Place Apartments in Pattaya, a tourist mecca on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand on Monday night. The ...

Secret hearings debated in Guantanamo 911 case

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:50:35 -0400

The war crimes tribunal for the Guantanamo prisoner charged in the attack on the USS Cole is going into a closed session dealing with a subject so secret even the defendant can't hear ...

Britain fails to get EU backing for Hezbollah blacklisting

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:49:07 -0400

UK pushes to place Hezbollah's armed wing on EU terror list; diplomats say British proposal gains support amid Hezbollah involvement in Syria, but Austria, Italy, Czechs among those preventing required unanimous ...

Right-wing MKs slam pretentious Peres birthday celebration

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:49:06 -0400

star-studded birthday party thrown in honor of his 90th birthday party.Knesset members on the Right called the 11 million shekel event a waste of money, even though it was funded by contributions and not ...

Encountering Peace Decision-making time

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:49:05 -0400

Naftali Bennett's "the idea of a Palestinian state has come to a dead end," if true, should be restated as "the idea of the Zionist movement has come to a dead end." That is the only logical conclusion of the ideology of Bennett and his followers. If the idea of the partitioning of the land between the river and sea into a "Jewish state and an Arab state" is ...

Washington Watch Iranian elections worry Netanyahu

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:49:05 -0400

Binyamin Netanyahu is a worried man. The results of the Iranian presidential election were a deep disappointment, judging by his rhetoric lately. He's afraid that partners in the no-nukes-for- Iran coalition might be seduced by descriptions of President-elect Hassan Rohani as a moderate.He is reminding everyone that "moderate" is a relative term when it comes to describing ...

Almost there King David’s Crown Residences Jerusalem

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:49:03 -0400

Few building sites in Jerusalem, if any, can match the size and location of this one. Situated on the site of the former Beitar Jerusalem football field formerly owned by the YMCA, this is a prime location in an historic area, in close proximity to the King David and David's Citadel hotels, the Mamilla quarter and the Old City, not to mention excellent access to the center of town.You ...

Why is the UK media scared to name names

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:49:00 -0400

While the rest of the world media, not to mention the Internet, is awash with rumours of the identities of two people at the center of British politics who allegedly had an affair, the British media itself, even its famously fearless tabloids, has hardly spoken of the matter.So while Israeli radio listeners hear speculation about London Mayor Boris Johnson and the prime minister's wife, ...

If negotiations are out the UN will be in

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:48:59 -0400

When US Secretary of State John Kerry first tackled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in late March, he made a serious request of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas: In order to give talks a chance, pledge to temporarily refrain from bringing Israel before the International Criminal Court or taking unilateral actions at the UN. By early April, reports surfaced that Abbas had agreed ...

Who will be at Duchess of Cambridges bedside for the Royal babys birth at St Marys hospital

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:45:05 -0400

Who will be at the Duchess' bedside for the birth? William could be forced to take helicopter from Wales while mother Carole and sister Pippa will also head for the ...

Royal babys birth announcement will be displayed on an easel at Buckingham Palace

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:45:04 -0400

Royal birth announcement will be taken by police escort to Buckingham Palace and displayed on an easel... the same way news of William's arrival was ...

UK weather Thunderstorms and humidity as temperatures top 26C on hottest day of the year

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:45:03 -0400

Hottest day: University students (pictured left to right) Lindsay Varty, Zosia Gamgee, Maryna Farrell, Billie Blue and Jennifer Grant enjoy the warm weather this afternoon on Barry Beach, ...

Evidence shows missile may have downed jumbo jet

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:43:48 -0400

Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet. The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after the jetliner took off from John F. Kennedy Airport, killing all 230 people aboard. The effort to ...

Mr Obamas farewell to arms in Berlin

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:38:23 -0400

When John F Kennedy spoke in Berlin half a century ago and uttered the words "Ich bin ein Berliner", he unwittingly set the standard for every US president who came after ...

Climate change is the threat of our time President Obama pledges new arms pact with Russia and a greener world

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:38:21 -0400

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate that instantly invited comparisons with visits to the same spot by some of his predecessors, President Barack Obama sought to make a historic imprint of his own, pledging to forge a new pact with Russia to further cut nuclear arsenals and to step up the fight against global ...

Boston poised to begin condom giveaway in high schools

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:33:07 -0400

By Stephanie Simon (Reuters) - Students at all Boston public high schools may soon be able to obtain free condoms at the front office - as long as they sit through a few minutes of counseling about safe sex - under a policy due to be voted on Wednesday by the school board. Condoms are already available in 19 high schools with on-site health centers. The policy, up for a vote by the Boston ...

More elephants slaughtered for tusks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:28:41 -0400

>Editor's note: Mark Quarterman is the research director of the Enough Project, a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity.(CNN) -- The accelerating pace of the slaughter of elephants for their tusks has put African elephants at catastrophic risk in the coming decades. To make matters worse, some of the region's most notorious armed groups are ...

TWA FLIGHT 800 Whistle-Blowers Dispute Deadly Plane Crash Cause

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:28:21 -0400

A handful of investigators, some of whom were part of the original probe of Flight 800, which crashed into the sea off the coast of New York in 1996, say the public wasn't given straight answers regarding the crash. The investigators, who claim in a new documentary that new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet, leveled their ...

US No talks scheduled with Taliban

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:28:16 -0400

The United States has not scheduled talks with the Taliban, the State Department said today, after reports that discussions with the Afghan insurgent group could begin this week in Qatar. "Reports of a meeting being scheduled or on the books aren't accurate,'' spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, saying Washington had "never confirmed'' the date and place of any specific meeting. "We are now in ...

Brazil protests proceed as smaller cities join the fray

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:27:33 -0400

1 of 6. Members of the Brazilian law enforcement troops confront protestors ahead of the Confederations Cup soccer match between Brazil and Mexico outside the stadium of Fortaleza June 19, ...

Obama draws on Kennedy speech in Berlin

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:27:02 -0400

Speaking in front of Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate, President Barack Obama has called for a world of "peace and justice'' and said Russian and US nuclear weapons should be slashed by up to a third. Obama used the once divided city's rebirth as a metaphor for progress, as he stood on the east side of the route of the Berlin Wall, and warned the "complacent'' West that history did not stop with ...

Bernanke holds the line on Fed monetary policy

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:25:52 -0400

(MoneyWatch) Ben Bernanke and other Federal Reserve officials are in no rush to take away the punch bowl. In a news conference, the Fed chairman said Wednesday that the U.S. economy continues to heal, but suggested that it is too soon to start tapering the central bank's $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. He also emphasized that monetary policy will continue to support growth even as the ...

Serena Williams sorry for what I supposedly said on rape

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:25:51 -0400

a Rolling Stone article saying "she shouldn't have put herself in that position." "I am currently reaching out to the girl's family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article," Williams said in a statement released through her agent ...

US denies talks planned with Taliban

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:24:27 -0400

The US has not scheduled talks with the Taliban, the State Department said on Wednesday, after reports that discussions with the Afghan group could begin this week in the Qatari capital, Doha. "Reports of a meeting scheduled are inaccurate," spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday, saying that Washington had "never confirmed" any specific meeting. "We are now ...

UAE charges 30 over Muslim Brotherhood ties

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:24:26 -0400

A group of 30 Egyptians and Emiratis have been charged by the UAE authorities for allegedly setting up an illegal branch of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, a prosecutor has said.The suspects have been referred to the Gulf nation's State Security Court, prosecutor Ahmed al-Dhanhani said on Wednesday. He accused the group of having "established and managed a branch for ... the ...

Vitamins

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:12:27 -0400

>Editor's note: To see Offit's interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, check out "Sanjay Gupta, M. D. " Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.(CNN) -- Dr Paul Offit doesn't take any ...

Vitamins

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:12:27 -0400

>Editor's note: To see Offit's interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, check out "Sanjay Gupta, M. D. " Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.(CNN) -- Dr Paul Offit doesn't take any ...

Vitamins

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:12:27 -0400

>Editor's note: To see Offit's interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, check out "Sanjay Gupta, M. D. " Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.(CNN) -- Dr Paul Offit doesn't take any ...

Nadal Made a Dangerous Fifth Seed at Wimbledon

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:11:15 -0400

WIMBLEDON, England ...

Release Osama Bin Laden’s Files on Taliban

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:51:16 -0400

The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it was moving forward with its attempt to negotiate with the Taliban, which has opened a long-awaited political office in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban released a statement trumpeting its new political front. Within hours, Afghan president Hamid ...

Obama Expresses Gratitude for Some Very Important German Immigrants Anheuser-Busch

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:51:16 -0400

In Germany, President Barack Obama expressed gratitude on behalf of the American people "for some very important German immigrants, Anheuser-Busch." Via the pool ...

Boston Marathon Bombing Victim Tsarnaevs Mother a Vile Person

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:51:16 -0400

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of the men accused of bombing the Boston Marathon in April, isn't winning any fans among the victims of her sons' crimes. ...

Russian zoo welcomes baby liligers

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:48:22 -0400

The zoo in Novosibirsk, Russia's third-largest city, is home to a unique animal - the liliger. That's a big cat breed where the father is a lion and the mother is a lion-tiger hybrid, called a liger. The first liliger was born in the zoo last year and now there's a second litter of three, all of them females. They were born in May and now have grown up enough to start exploring their ...

Fifteen Reported Dead In Attack On UN Compound In Somalia

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:46:32 -0400

Somali National Government soldiers at the scene after Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents blasted their way into the UN compound in Mogadishu on June ...

Afghans quit talks with Taliban before they begin

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:43:17 -0400

KABUL, Afghanistan - Less than a day after the Taliban opened a new political office in Qatar, the prospects for peace talks that it represented for war-weary Afghanistan faltered. The Afghan government said Wednesday that it wouldn’t to send representatives to Qatar after all, and that it was suspending talks with the United States over a key military pact. The problem: When the Taliban ...

Lapid criticizes ally Bennett on Palestinian state

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:41:51 -0400

Finance Minister Yair Lapid issued rare criticism of his ally, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday when he said that Israel should make every effort to bring about two states for two peoples.Bennett made waves when he declared ...

Dagan Arab peace proposal a starting point

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:41:51 -0400

Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad, said that Israel first needs to make peace with the rest of the Arab world before the Palestinians. He said that the Arab world was in open conflict between Sunnis and Shi'ites and that this is "creating unique opportunities for Israel to seek different alliances." He noted that Israel has common interests with much of the Sunni Arab ...

Interview with a vampire

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:41:50 -0400

With Turkey embroiled in month-long anti-government protests, Istanbul resident Peter Murphy has only been able to watch the events in Taksim Square unfold from afar.The British-born Goth rock pioneer who founded '80s post-punk favorites Bauhaus has been on the road in the US throughout the uprising, and has been forced to rely on information from his family and friends back in ...

Peres confers Medal of Distinction on Clinton

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:41:50 -0400

William Jefferson Clinton the 42nd President of the United States of America is known to be an emotional human being. He has been the recipient of numerous accolades both at home and abroad, but he does not take his arsenal of honors for granted. Thus when President Shimon Peres conferred the Presidential Medal of Distinction on him on Wednesday in recognition for he has done for humanity at ...

The Kosovo case Punishing friends rewarding enemies

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:41:49 -0400

The monument is of the most perfect simplicity. A plain, upright marble slab.In Albanian, Serbian, Hebrew and English it records the site as the ground where the last synagogue in Pristina stood. In Kosovo, the Jewish presence is small, but has been constant since the fateful day in 1492 when the Catholic monarchs of Spain ordered the expulsion of Jews. Many settled in the Balkans, living ...

Watchdog approves Iran poll result

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:41:23 -0400

Tehran, Iran - Iran's state TV is reporting the country's election overseer, the Guardian Council, has approved Friday's presidential election result, affirming a first-round victory by a relative ...

UAE tries 30 for illegal Brotherhood cell

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:41:14 -0400

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it would put on trial 30 Emiratis and Egyptians accused of setting up an illegal branch of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, part of a crackdown on the Islamist organisation that has soured relations with ...

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei uses Twitter to tell young Iranians to take a hike

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:47 -0400

Presumably taking his cue from the US First Lady Michelle Obama and her physical education campaign, Iran's Supreme Leader has published a Twitter paean to the benefits of ...

102 killed by floods in north of India

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:46 -0400

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, put the death toll at 102, speaking after an aerial survey of the area. "It is feared the loss of life could be much higher," he said. A joint army and air force operation evacuated nearly 12,000 Hindu pilgrims stranded in a mountainous area by torrential monsoon rains and landslides, but nearly 63,000 people remained cut off, a senior official ...

Egypt’s tourism minister resigns over appointment of ex-terror leader

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:46 -0400

Egypt's tourism minister has resigned over the government appointment of an Islamic fundamentalist associated with the group behind the Luxor massacre as governor of Luxor ...

Al-Shabaab The key to support of Islamist rebels was their navigation of Somalias competing complex of clans

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:44 -0400

In 2005 a few dozen Somalis declared themselves to be the youth wing of a new Islamic Courts movement that was becoming influential in a country ravaged by warlords and their battling militias.Shabaab (Arabic for "youth") emerged as the dominant force within the courts as they took control of the capital Mogadishu imposing some order on what had become the world's most failed ...

Iraq election candidate killed in suicide bomb attack

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:42 -0400

The bomber attacked a guesthouse owned by Younis al-Rammah, who was a candidate in provincial elections beginning today, late on Tuesday in Nineveh. Mr Rammah and four relatives were killed and six others wounded. Candidates are frequent targets for insurgents who aim to disrupt the political process.Two suicide bombers also targeted a Shia mosque in Baghdad on Tuesday, one blowing himself up at ...

FBI digs for bodies at home of late gangster James Burke - the man who inspired Goodfellas

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:42 -0400

Investigators believe a long-missing mob associate might be buried at the former home of the infamous mobster who inspired Robert De Niro's character in the 1990 ...

Teenagers in Jordan support ‘honour killings’ research finds

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:41 -0400

A new generation of teenagers in the Middle East believe honour killings to be 'justified', according to a new study of young people in ...

‘The last couple of years have been a bit bumpy’ admits Johnny Depp after break-up with partner Vanessa Paradis

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:40 -0400

"The last couple of years have been a bit bumpy," the 50-year-old actor told Rolling Stone magazine, in an interview to promote his new blockbuster, The Lone Ranger. "At times, it was certainly unpleasant but that's the nature of break-ups, I guess, especially when there are kiddies involved," he said.Depp and Paradis, 40, announced their split last June after 14 years ...

Kanye West Slammed Over Parkinsons Lyric

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:28:44 -0400

Kanye West has been branded "stupid" by Parkinson's charities for making light of the disease on a new song. The rapper's track On Sight features the lyrics: "A monster about to come alive again / Soon as I pull up and park the Benz / We get this ***** shaking like Parkinson's." The reference to involuntary shaking, which is among the main symptoms of the ...

Jimmy Hoffa Detroit FBI Calls Off Field Dig

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:28:44 -0400

A search of a field north of Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former union boss Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI has said. Robert Foley, head of the FBI in Detroit, said on Wednesday the dig was being called off a few hours into its third day. Mr Foley said: "We did not uncover any evidence relevant to the investigation on James Hoffa ... As of this point, we'll be closing down ...

Serena Williams Sorry Over Rape Case Comments

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:28:43 -0400

Tennis star Serena Williams has moved to clarify remarks she made about a rape case in the US town of Steubenville. The world number one issued a statement on her website saying she is deeply sorry for the way her comments were reported in Rolling Stone magazine. The case involved two teenage football players who were jailed for raping a 16-year-old girl at an alcohol-fuelled party in east ...

Turkey unrest Police investigated over demonstrators death

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:26:49 -0400

Ethem Sarisuluk was declared brain dead in hospital after being shot in the head during a violent police crackdown on protesters in the Turkish capital, Ankara, two weeks ago.There has been international condemnation of the brutal police tactics against the protesters. At least four people have died so far. But unlike others who died of injuries related to tear gas and a traffic accident, Mr ...

Vitamins Not such a good thing

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:25:05 -0400

>Editor's note: To see Offit's interview with Dr Sanjay Gupta, check out "Sanjay Gupta, M. D. " Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.(CNN) -- Dr Paul Offit doesn't take any ...

U.S. Presses Taliban on Qatar Office in Bid to Save Talks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:20:40 -0400

KABUL, Afghanistan ...

France hit by weather chaos floods claim two victims

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:20:33 -0400

A flooded house is pictured one day after the village of Saint-Beat was submerged by flash floods on June 19, 2013. Flash floods in southwestern France claimed two elderly victims in the space of 24 hours as unseasonal storms caused havoc across huge swaths of the country on ...

Fed says it will continue $85B in bond purchases

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:18:07 -0400

Federal Reserve says it will maintain the pace of its program to keep long-term interest rates at record lows, but offered a slightly more optimistic outlook for the U.S. economy and job market. The brighter outlook could be a hint that the Fed is moving closer to reducing its stimulus. But the statement gave no indication of when that might happen. In a statement after its meeting, the Fed says ...

Europe Fines Drug Companies for Delaying Generics

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:55:31 -0400

BRUSSELS ...

Gyula Horn former Hungarian prime minister dies

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:39:28 -0400

BUDAPEST, Hungary -; Gyula Horn, a former Hungarian prime minister who played a key role in opening the Iron Curtain, has died at the age of ...

What Afghanistan United States Taliban Seek From Doha Talks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:38:22 -0400

It's possible that they won't all sit at the same negotiation table, but the Afghan government, the United States, and the Taliban all have their own wish list for peace negotiations. We look at some of the various expectations, demands, and sticking points among the three main players in the Afghan ...

Yaalon Iran should be forced to choose between nuclear weapons or survival

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:33:26 -0400

Defense minister calls on international community to increase pressure on Iran; says Israel examining new developments in Tehran in light of presidential election results; adds that Syria's war is "nearing our ...

Entrepreneurs launch initiate for Palestinian future

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:33:26 -0400

RAMALLAH - Young Palestinians who are fed up with the existing leaders' attempts to establish an independent Palestinian state launched their own initiative designed to give the young people a voice in determining the Palestinian future.Several Palestinian entrepreneurs launched NEWpal, a youth group based in this city, which got started this week by hosting a full day "Future ...

Dementia will be bigger world plague than AIDS

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:33:25 -0400

AIDS, which affects millions of patients around the world, is a relatively minor plague compared to the epidemic of dementia -- especially Alzheimer's disease -- that will occur around the world in the coming decades, Prof. Richard Frackowiak, the director of the department of clinical neuroscience and head of the neurology service at CHUV University Hospital in Lausanne and co-director of ...

Militants Attack U.N. Compound in Somalias Capital

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:31:47 -0400

MOGADISHU, Somalia ...

U.N. Compound in Somalia Is Attacked

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:31:47 -0400

MOGADISHU, Somalia ...

Syria wont be another Iraq

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:20 -0400

David Cameron insisted he had "learned the lessons of Iraq" as world leaders at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland set out an agreed blueprint for the future of Syria. But the British Prime Minister was again warned not to consider arming the Syrian rebels by President Vladimir Putin, who compared them to the killers of Drummer Lee Rigby. Cameron and President Barack Obama persuaded Putin to agree ...

First US strike at News Corp

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:18 -0400

The British former stunt double of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie is the first of six people to formally launch legal proceedings against Rupert Murdoch's media empire in America over alleged phone hacking. Eunice Huthart, a star of the Gladiators television show who went on to become a stunt specialist in the US, lodged a damages claim in California. Previous hacking civil actions have been ...

History weighs on Berlin speech

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:16 -0400

Five years and 50 years. As US President Barack Obama revisited Berlin last night, he could not escape those anniversaries and the inevitable comparisons of history and personal achievement. His 26-hour whirlwind visit to the German capital marks his return to a place where he once summoned a throng of 200,000 to share his ambitious vision for American leadership. That was 2008, when Obama was ...

Karzai US row over Taliban talks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:14 -0400

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said last night that he has suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest against the way the Americans are reaching out to the Taleban in efforts to find a political solution to the war. Karzai says he has suspended negotiations with the US on what troops will remain in the country after 2014. He says he did this "in view of the ...

Jill Meaghers rapist and killer gets life

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:12 -0400

Adrian Bayley murdered Jill Meagher after raping her so as to avoid a lengthy jail term, he told police. Sentenced yesterday to life for "a crime among the worst kinds conceivable", he will be 76 before he becomes eligible for parole. For some, even that sentence - stipulating a non-parole period of 35 years - did not adequately reflect the brutality of a crime which shocked ...

Bill targets power of food giants

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:10 -0400

Australia's two major supermarket chains are coming under increasing fire over their market dominance and allegations of "unconscionable" bullying of suppliers. Already the subject of an inquiry by corporate watchdog the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Coles and Woolworths are now being targeted by a federal bill introduced by north Queensland independent MP Bob Katter. Katter's ...

Royal love child seeks DNA proof

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:08 -0400

Delphine Boeul's art says it all: a neon sculpture spells out the words "Love Child" alongside a crown askew on a red heart. Another text work in colourful crepe appears to be a blunter message to King Albert II, the Belgian monarch she claims is her father: "F*** You I Exist. "Now the artist has launched a court battle to obtain DNA from the sovereign and his family in a bid to prove her claim. ...

Singapore chokes in smoke from Indonesian blazes

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:06 -0400

Singaporeans rolled back military training, kept cough-stricken children indoors and considered wearing protective masks to work after a smoky haze triggered by forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia caused air pollution to briefly hit its worst level in nearly 16 years. Singapore's main measurement of air quality has hovered in the "unhealthy" classification as smoke from roaring blazes on ...

US mega churches embrace Jesus Christ Superman

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:04 -0400

With its promise of action and romance, a cast led by Henry Cavill and a slick marketing campaign, the new Superman film was always expected to be a box office hit. But the takings for Man of Steel can be attributed in part to US mega-churches, which encouraged congregations to see the film by likening the superhero to Jesus. The film took in US$125 million ($156 million) at the weekend in ...

More than one Kercher killer

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:02 -0400

Meredith Kercher was killed by more than one person in what may have been a group sex game that spiralled out of control, Italy's highest court has ruled. The Supreme Court in Rome said "clues" that suggested Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend might have had something to do with the murder were "underestimated" by the appeal court that quashed their convictions. Judges said there was a good ...

Chris Mahony US red line looks convenient in Syria

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:00 -0400

Regime change would geographically isolate Hizbollah from critical Iranian support, significantly weakening Iran's influence in the region. Last Friday, the United States announced it would supply weapons to armed opponents of the Syrian Government. It justified this move by citing, with "high confidence", Syrian government use of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons use, the Obama administration ...

Editorial Moderates win raises hopes of new dawn in Iran

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:00 -0400

By any yardstick, the resounding victory by moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani in the Iranian presidential election was a welcome surprise. It had been widely believed the poll would be won by a hard-line candidate who would be even more difficult to deal with than the outgoing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Yet again, however, the Iranian people seized the opportunity to express their disapproval of their ...

Thousands evacuated after explosions at Russian munitions depot storing 13million shells with 1500 firefighters sent to tackle the blaze

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:29:20 -0400

Reports from Russia said about 1,500 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze and residents were evacuated from the nearby village of Nagorny, about 15km from the city of ...

Parents of little girl killed in Qatar mall fire hit out at show trial and say they fear justice will never be done for their daughter

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:29:19 -0400

The Georgia parents of a two-year-old girl killed along with 12 other children and six adults at a Qatar shopping mall fear the truth behind the blaze will never be ...

Fugitive Russian businessman who went missing weeks before he was due to be star witness in Lebedev trial filmed in Isreal

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:29:18 -0400

The fugitive businessman whose evidence could see media tycoon Alexander Lebedev jailed for up to five years has been filmed in Israel, it was claimed ...

Surviving Siberias toughest prisons The bleak conditions faced by some of Russias worst offenders... and how one criminal got through five years inside

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:29:17 -0400

Exercise: Like most prisons, Krasnoyarsk works to a tight schedule. Here, inmates walk inside an enclosure at a high-security male prison camp for their daily ...

Shah Rukh Khan sparks controversy in India after it is revealed surrogate mother is pregnant with his son

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:29:16 -0400

Bollywood star sparks controversy in India after it is revealed surrogate mother is pregnant with his son... as gender testing is illegal in the ...

Sunrise and fog create the illusion that Sydney is burning

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:29:15 -0400

Keen photographer Rob Karlen, 23, snapped these incredible images from the balcony of his apartment in the Sydney central business district after realising he was in no ...

Woman kid in subhuman conditions

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:28:49 -0400

>Editor's note: For more information on this story, check out CNN affiliates WKYC, WOIO and WJW.(CNN) -- A mentally disabled woman and her daughter were held in an Ohio apartment crowded with people and animals for more than a year, forced to perform manual labor and threatened with dogs and snakes to keep them compliant, authorities said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said the people accused of ...

Amanda Knox’s ex-lover Raffaele Sollecito loses right to stay in Switzerland

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:22:44 -0400

Raffaele Sollecito, who faces a retrial with Amanda Knox for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, has had to leave Switzerland after what his father called "a moral and social lynching of someone who has been found not ...

Turkey unrest Investigation launched into death of protester shot dead by police officer

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:22:43 -0400

Turkish authorities are investigating a police officer accused of shooting a demonstrator dead during anti-government protests, according to local ...

World Bank Climate change will trap millions in poverty over next 20 years

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:22:42 -0400

Britain faces a wave of deadly new animal and plant diseases that threaten to wipe out crops and livestock as a direct result of global warming, the World Bank's top agricultural expert has ...

Indonesia To Make Rain To End Sumatra Fires

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:20:48 -0400

Indonesia is to use weather changing technology to try to produce rain to put out raging fires on Sumatra island that have cloaked neighbouring Singapore in thick haze. The city-state, home to 5.3 million inhabitants, has been pressing Jakarta to take action over the fires which have pushed air pollutant levels on the island to a 16-year high. The government planned to use a technology ...

Monsanto Executive Is Among World Food Prize Winners

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:10:29 -0400

For the first time in its 27-year history, a prestigious award for enhancing the global food supply has gone to a creator of genetically modified crops, a top scientist at Monsanto. The choice is likely to add more heat to an intense debate about the role biotechnology can play in combating world hunger. Robert T. Fraley, ...

FBI Director Surveillance has been instrumental in stopping terror threats

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:10:03 -0400

Addressing the role of NSA surveillance programs in stopping terror threats, FBI Director Robert Mueller said, for most of the cases, it "has been a contributing factor - one dot amongst a number of dots - but there are those cases where it has been ...

FBI director acknowledges domestic drone use

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:10:03 -0400

FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged that the bureau uses unmanned drones for surveillance on U.S. soil during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, adding that such drone use is done in a "very, very minimal way, and very ...

Natura Pet Products recalls dry foods over salmonella

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:10:01 -0400

press release on the Food and Drug Administrations website stated the products in question include all lot codes of: Innova Dry dog and cat food and biscuits/bars/treats; EVO dry dog, cat and ferret food and biscuits/bars/treats; California Natural dry dog and cat foods and biscuits/bars/treats; Healthwise dry dog and cat foods; Karma dry dog foods; and Mother Nature biscuits/bars/treats. They ...

18 mayors want ban on using food stamps to buy soda

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:10:01 -0400

A social worker with the Cooperative Feeding Program displays a Federal food stamps card that is used to purchase food, Feb. 10, 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, ...