World

Al-Qaida steps up violence against Syrian government

Published on Mon, 03/20/2017 - 4:21pm

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Under pressure from fellow insurgents and escalating airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, Syria's al-Qaida branch is stepping up violence against President Bashar Assad's strongholds with precise, high-profile attacks, including a surprising breach of the capital in the most serious infiltration in years.

Tillerson: Pre-emptive force an option with NKorea

Published on Fri, 03/17/2017 - 4:10pm
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By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States signaled a tougher strategy toward North Korea on Friday that leaves open the possibility of pre-emptive military action and rejects talks with the communist nation until it gives up its weapons of mass destruction.

"Let me be very clear: the policy of strategic patience has ended," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures. All options are on the table."

Syria fires missiles at Israeli jets after airstrikes

Published on Fri, 03/17/2017 - 4:07pm

By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Syria fired missiles at Israeli warplanes on a mission to destroy a weapons convoy destined for the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah prompting it to deploy its missile defense system, Israeli officials said Friday, in a rare military exchange between the two hostile neighbors.

The Israeli military said its aircraft struck several targets in Syria and were back in Israeli-controlled airspace when several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria toward the Israeli jets.

Military attack kills 42 Somali refugees off Yemen's coast

Published on Fri, 03/17/2017 - 4:06pm

By ABDEL-KARIM AL-AYYASHI and JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press

HODEIDA, Yemen (AP) — The boat packed with dozens of Somali refugees was more than 30 miles off war-torn Yemen's coast when a military vessel and a helicopter gunship swooped in, opening fire in the dead of night Friday, killing at least 42 people. The attack, which Yemen's Shiite rebels blamed on a Saudi-led coalition, highlighted the perils of a heavily used migration route running from the Horn of Africa to the oil-rich Gulf, right through Yemen's civil war.

China plans first structure on disputed South China Sea shoal

Published on Fri, 03/17/2017 - 4:05pm

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China plans to build the first permanent structure on a South China Sea shoal at the heart of a territorial dispute with the Philippines, in a move likely to renew concerns over Beijing's robust assertions of its claims in the strategically crucial waterbody.

Toddler with Down syndrome models for British retailer

Published on Fri, 03/17/2017 - 4:04pm
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LONDON (AP) — A British clothing retailer is featuring a toddler girl with Down Syndrome as a model in its stores across the United Kingdom.

Britain's ITV reports that Lily Beddall's picture is hanging on the walls of 217 Matalan locations in the U.K.

Her mother, Vicki Beddall, took Lily to see her picture in one of the stores and posted the moment on Facebook . She writes that she's "proud of Lily and proud of what she has achieved." She adds, "no limits for our little girl."

Sierra Leone pastor discovers 706-carat diamond in village

Published on Thu, 03/16/2017 - 4:12pm
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By CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY, Associated Press

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — A pastor in Sierra Leone has discovered the largest uncut diamond found in more than four decades in this West African country and has turned it over to the government, saying he hopes it helps to boost recent development in his impoverished nation.

Pastor Emmanuel Momoh found the 706-carat alluvial diamond in Yakadu village in Sierra Leone's diamond-rich east, and it was presented to President Ernest Bai Koroma on Wednesday, said presidential spokesman Abdulai Bayraytay.

Mexico has so many graves, lacks space for bodies exhumed

Published on Thu, 03/16/2017 - 4:11pm

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican prosecutor said Thursday that Veracruz state's clandestine graves were of such an industrial scale that backhoes or bulldozers were probably used in creating them, and so many bodies were dumped that officials aren't digging in some places because they don't have enough space to hold the remains.

After Dutch reject populism, will other Europeans follow?

Published on Thu, 03/16/2017 - 4:09pm

By RAF CASERT and ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch voters showed Europe that populism isn't always inevitable.

The disappointing showing by firebrand Geert Wilders in the Netherlands election has energized traditional parties across Europe from left and right. But it's unlikely to extinguish the anti-immigrant, anti-establishment sentiment that has been blazing around Europe.

Brazil yellow fever cases pass 400; more than 130 dead

Published on Thu, 03/16/2017 - 4:08pm

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's Health Ministry says 424 people have been infected with yellow fever in the largest outbreak the country has seen in years. Of those, 137 have died.

An update published Thursday said that more than 900 other cases are under investigation. During the current outbreak in the Southern Hemisphere's summer rainy season, the vast majority of the confirmed cases have been in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.