Egypt's Mubarak questioned over alleged gifts

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian prosecutor placed a new detention order on Hosni Mubarak on Saturday after the ousted ex-president was questioned over valuable gifts he allegedly received from the country's top newspaper as a show of loyalty while he was in power, a security official said.The public funds prosecutor ordered Mubarak to be held for 15 days pending investigation, the official said. The former...

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Israel PM blocks roads to Palestinian tent site

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian protesters who pitched tents at a strategic West Bank site to protest plans to build a Jewish housing project there were evicted early Sunday, police said.Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police evicted about a hundred protesters from the site after a court decision authorizing their removal. He said no arrests were made during the half hour operation.Israeli Prime Minister...

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Palestinian protesters evicted from West Bank site

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian protesters who pitched tents at a strategic West Bank site to protest plans to build a Jewish housing project there were evicted early Sunday, police said.Palestinian activists erected tents in the area known as E-1 on Friday saying they wanted to "establish facts on the ground" to stop Israeli construction in the West Bank. The Palestinian activists were borrowing a...

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Syrian president to give speech Sunday

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad will deliver a speech on Sunday in a rare address to the nation, state media said, as rebels fighting to topple his embattled regime pressed ahead with an offensive on the capital.The official SANA news agency said in a brief statement Saturday that Assad will speak about the latest developments in Syria. The speech would be the first by the leader since...

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Iran parliament seeks full probe in blogger death

Iran parliament seeks full probe in blogger deathTEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's parliament is urging the judiciary to thoroughly investigate the death of a blogger in custody and monitor police stations to prevent further abuses.A parliamentary committee statement read during a Sunday session of the legislature called for a "special" investigation into the November death of Sattar Beheshti.It is not clear...

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Israel leader appeals for right-wing votes

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed in a rare interview on Sunday to his right-wing base to cast ballots for his list, rather than hawkish alternatives, to prevent his being unseated by a potential center-left coalition.His appeal reflects developments in recent weeks that have left Netanyahu more vulnerable ahead of Jan. 22 elections: the emergence of a charismatic...

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Poll: Spike in Palestinian support for military operations against Israel

Palestinian support for military operations against Israel has registered its most significant jump in 10 years, spurred by the recent Gaza conflict, ongoing Israeli settlement expansion, and frustration over a peace process that has been essentially deadlocked for more than four years.The percentage of Palestinians supporting such operations has reached 50.9 percent, up from 29.3 percent in January...

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Fatah rally in Gaza looks toward unity with Hamas

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of Fatah supporters rallied in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza on Friday for the first time since they were routed from power in the territory by the Islamist militants in 2007.The rally, approved by Gaza's Hamas rulers, marks a renewed attempt by the rival Palestinian factions to show unity following a fierce Hamas battle with Israel in November and Fatah's...

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Colombia firm makes armored clothes for kids

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Colombian firm that makes bulletproof vests is now creating armored clothing for children.Factory owner Miguel Caballero said he never thought about making protective clothes for kids until requests came in following the deadly attack on Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut last month."After the tragedy in Connecticut, we started getting emails from customers asking for protected...

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"Nobody helped us for an hour:" Indian rape witness

Passers-by left a gang-raped Indian student lying unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour, a male friend who was assaulted with her said on Friday in his first public comments on the case that provoked a global outcry.The 23-year-old student died in hospital two weeks after she was attacked on December 16 in a private bus in New Delhi, prompting street protests over the Indian authorities'...

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Pakistani girl shot by Taliban leaves British hospital

LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education has been discharged from a British hospital after doctors said she was well enough to spend time recovering with her family.Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged on Thursday but is due to be re-admitted in late...

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For Egypt's satirists, Morsi's power is no joke

There are few things dictators hate more than satirists, with their uncomfortable habit of piercing hypocrisy and self-importance with just a few well-placed verbal or written barbs.Under Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian public's rich horde of satirical memes was an underground phenomenon, the province of cafe talk and SMS messages. That former President Mubarak was commonly called La Vache qui rit ("The...

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Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

DAMARA, Central African Republic (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and agreed to start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally backed troops.The Seleka rebels had pushed to within striking distance of Bangui after a three-week onslaught and threatened to oust President Francois Bozize, accusing him of reneging on a previous...

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Malala's father given diplomatic role in UK

The father of a teenage Pakistani activist shot in the head by Taliban for advocating girls' education has been given a diplomatic post in the U.K.Malala Yousufzai has been recovering at a hospital in Birmingham, England, after she was shot in October in Pakistan. The Taliban have vowed to target her again.Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, confirmed a BBC report Wednesday...

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American journalist missing in Syria

 An American journalist has been missing in Syria since he was kidnapped more than one month ago, his family said Wednesday, less than two years after he was held by government forces in Libya while covering that country's civil war.The family of James Foley, of Rochester, N.H., said he was kidnapped in northwest Syria by unknown gunmen on Thanksgiving day.Foley, 39, has worked in a number of...

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U.N. worried about reports of air strikes in Myanmar

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Wednesday at reports of air strikes in Myanmar's Kachin State, where a 20-month conflict between government troops and rebels has been escalating."(Ban) has taken serious note of the most recent reports indicating air strikes against targets in Kachin State," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement."While details...

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Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem

Thousands of Christians from the world over packed Manger Square in Bethlehem Monday to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the ancient West Bank town where he was born. For their Palestinian hosts, this holiday season was an especially joyous one, with the hardships of the Israeli occupation that so often clouded previous Christmas Eve celebrations eased by the United Nations' recent recognition of an...

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Morales mum on Cuba trip after Chavez surgery

Bolivian President Evo Morales made a lightning trip this weekend to Havana where ally Hugo Chavez is convalescing after cancer surgery, but was mostly silent Monday on the details of his trip or even whether he met with the ailing Venezuelan leader. The secrecy surrounding his visit was sure to add to the uncertainty surrounding Chavez's condition, despite reassurances Monday from Venezuelan officials...

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Catholic Church urges Irish to oppose abortion law

The head of Ireland's Catholic Church urged followers in his Christmas Day message to lobby against government plans to legalize abortion. Ireland, the only EU member state that currently outlaws the procedure, is preparing legislation that would allow limited access to abortion after the European Court of Human Rights criticized the current regime. The death last month of an Indian woman who was...

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UN envoy worried after talks with Syria's Assad

The international envoy to Syria said after talks with the country's leader Monday that the situation was "worrying" and gave no indication of progress toward a negotiated solution for the civil war. Lakhdar Brahimi's mission came as activists reported intense fighting in the central province of Hama, where anti-government gunmen entered the predominantly Alawite town of Maan. Assad's regime is dominated...

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