World

Secret Tut chamber? Egypt calls experts to examine evidence

Published on Fri, 04/01/2016 - 3:40pm
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VALLEY OF THE KINGS, Egypt — Egypt on Friday invited archaeologists and experts from around the world to examine new data from new, extensive radar scanning conducted on King Tutankhamun's tomb to explore a theory that secret chambers could be hidden behind its walls.

The open invitation to a conference in Cairo in May, issued by the antiquities minister at a news conference just outside the tomb, aims to bring broader scientific rigor to what so far have only been tantalizing clues.

UN court acquits Serb nationalist Seselj; Croatia shocked

Published on Thu, 03/31/2016 - 3:02pm
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — In a rare courtroom victory for a Serb defendant, a U.N. war crimes tribunal on Thursday acquitted ultranationalist politician Vojislav Seselj of atrocities and pronounced him a free man. The decision inflamed simmering tensions in the Balkans, sparking joy in Serbia and horror and deep anger in Bosnia and Croatia.

Syrian activists: Airstrikes hit east of Damascus, kill 23

Published on Thu, 03/31/2016 - 2:56pm

BEIRUT — Airstrikes hit near a school and a hospital east of the Syrian capital of Damascus on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people in one of the deadliest incidents involving civilians since a partial cease-fire came into effect in the war-torn country more than a month ago, pro-opposition activists said Thursday.

South Africa's top court rules against president in scandal

Published on Thu, 03/31/2016 - 2:53pm
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JOHANNESBURG — For two years, South Africa's president brushed off a scandal over state spending on his private home, even when critics scoffed at the notion that a swimming pool and a chicken run were necessary security features. It took the country's highest court to bring him to account.

South African President Jacob Zuma "failed to uphold" the constitution when he didn't pay back some of the more than $20 million in state funds used to upgrade his rural home, South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled unanimously on Thursday.

Overpass collapse kills 21, leaves others trapped in India

Published on Thu, 03/31/2016 - 2:49pm
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KOLKATA, India — A long section of an overpass under construction collapsed Thursday in a crowded Kolkata neighborhood and sent tons of concrete and steel slamming onto midday traffic, killing at least 21 people and leaving scores of others injured, police said.

More people were feared trapped in the debris, and rescuers used saws, small cranes and their bare hands to search for survivors. Smashed yellow taxis, destroyed rickshaws and the bloody legs of trapped people jutted from the fallen girders and concrete.

Obama, Xi vow to narrow differences, work closely on NKorea

Published on Thu, 03/31/2016 - 2:29pm
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged Thursday to cooperate to confront the North Korean nuclear threat while working to narrow persistent differences over cybersecurity, human rights and maritime conflicts.

Last 5 hostages on hijacked Egypt plane recall fear, photo

Published on Wed, 03/30/2016 - 5:21pm
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LARNACA, Cyprus — First the hijacker said the women could leave. All the children, too. Then the man in the suicide vest agreed that all Egyptians and others from Muslim backgrounds would be allowed to escape from the plane.

That left five Western men — at least one of whom thought they were about to die.

Haiti migrants no longer stranded on desolate border

Published on Wed, 03/30/2016 - 5:12pm
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ANSE-A-PITRES, Haiti — Forced out of the Dominican Republic, Anise Germain and her family pitched a flimsy tent of blankets and cardboard on a patch of rocky ground just across the border in Haiti. She feared they might never leave the camp.

2 lions escape from parks in Kenya and South Africa

Published on Wed, 03/30/2016 - 5:09pm
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JOHANNESBURG — A lion was shot dead in Kenya on Wednesday after attacking a man, while trackers in South Africa searched for a lion whose escape from a park prompted appeals to wildlife officials to relocate it rather than kill it.

North Korea, again, demands halt to US-South Korea war games

Published on Wed, 03/30/2016 - 4:47pm
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PYONGYANG, North Korea — It's a demand North Korea has been making for decades: The United States and South Korea must immediately suspend their annual military exercises if there is to be peace on the Korean Peninsula. And, once again, it's a demand that is falling on deaf ears. Following the North's recent nuclear test and rocket launch, this year's exercises are bigger than ever.