Global announcement&Announcement & Sticky [0]

By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press Writer Ahmed Al-haj, Associated Press Writer

SAN'A, Yemen – A Yemenia Air plane going from the Arabian Peninsula country of Yemen to the island nation of Comoros has crashed in the Indian Ocean, a Yemen airport official said Tuesday.

The official said the plane was going from the Yemen capital San'a to Moroni, on the main island of Grand Comore.

It was not known how many passengers were on board the Airbus 310 or the status of the passengers and crew.

The official said most of the passengers...

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Next year’s World Cup just got a little more interesting.

Forget that the final score of the Confederations Cup final Sunday was Brazil 3, the United States 2. The Americans proved their upset of top-ranked Spain was no fluke, dominating the Brazilians in the first half and giving the five-time World Cup champions a test to the final whistle.

“This disappointment’s going to be here for a while,” captain Carlos Bocanegra said. “But it’ll go away, and what we can take away from this is the confidence...

By WILL WEISSERT and FREDDY CUEVAS, Associated Press Writers Will Weissert And Freddy Cuevas, Associated Press Writers

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras is now torn between two presidents: one legally recognized by world bodies after he was deposed and forced from the country by his own soldiers, and another supported by the Central American nation's congress, courts and military.

Presidents from around Latin America were gathering in Nicaragua for meetings Monday to resolve the first military overthrow of a Central American government in 16 years,...

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer William J. Kole, Associated Press Writer

EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.

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Iran began recounting some of the votes cast in its disputed presidential election Monday in an apparent attempt to placate opposition protesters, and the government dismissed...

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, AP

Witnesses in Iran say police have clashed with up to 3,000 protesters near a mosque in north Tehran.

They say security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and some demonstrators fought back, chanting: "Where is my vote?"

Witnesses at the scene tell The Associated Press that some protesters claimed they suffered broken arms or legs in Sunday's clashes around the Ghoba Mosque.

They say some young demonstrators screamed at police and then attacked them after the officers allegedly beat an elderly woman.

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer Kwang-tae Kim, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea threatened Saturday to shoot down any Japanese planes that enter its airspace, accusing Tokyo of spying near one of its missile launch sites.

The North has designated a no-sail zone off its eastern coast from June 25 to July 10 for military drills, raising concerns that it might test-fire short- or mid-range missiles in the coming days, in violation of a U.N. resolution.

North Korea's air force said Japan's E-767 surveillance...

By BRADLEY BROOKS, Associated Press Writer Bradley Brooks, Associated Press Writer

SAO PAULO – Brazil has ended the search for more bodies from the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last month, calling the task "impossible," but the search for the jet's flight recorders will go on.

Brazilian and French searchers have recovered large chunks of debris and 51 bodies from Air France Flight 447, which disappeared with 228 people on board late May 31.

Brazil's air force and navy on Friday ended their search for...

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson the singer was also Michael Jackson the billion-dollar business.

Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the "King of Pop" died Thursday at age 50 reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal.

The moonwalking pop star drove the growth of music videos, vaulting cable channel MTV into the popular mainstream after its launch in 1981. His 1982 hit "Thriller,"...

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Just call Daniel Alves the spoiler.

Alves scored the only goal on a free kick with just two minutes left at the Confederations Cup on Thursday, sending Brazil into the final against the surprising United States and ending host South Africa’s upset bid.

The Americans stunned Spain 2-0 Wednesday in the other semifinal, handing the top-ranked team its first loss since November 2006.

Sunday’s final at Ellis Park will be a rematch of last week’s game in group play, when the five-time World Cup champions crushed...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop giant Michael Jackson, who took to the stage as a child star and went on to set the world dancing to the thumping rhythms of his music for decades, died Thursday, TMZ website reported. He was 50.

"We've just learned Michael Jackson has died," TMZ said.

"Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back," the entertainment site said.

There was no official confirmation...

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports

Perhaps nothing inspires Shaquille O’Neal(notes) as does the prospect of vengeance and vindication. Yes, LeBron James’(notes) best chance to be an NBA champion is born of that relentless rage. The Cleveland Cavaliers have laid it all out for Shaq: Go through Dwight Howard(notes) and Stan Van Gundy, and get us to Kobe Bryant(notes) and Phil Jackson. Here comes Shaq to the Cavaliers, and in his mind, here comes hell to pay for slights real and imagined.


Shaq is the gift that never stops giving for David Stern and...

By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Karin Laub, Associated Press Writer

Iran's key opposition leader said Thursday for the first time that he is being isolated by authorities and pressured to drop his presidential election challenge, while the declared winner of the vote, hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sharply criticized President Barack Obama.

In another sign of the widening post-election crackdown, 70 university professors were arrested late Wednesday, after a meeting with Mousavi, who has alleged massive fraud in the June 12 vote. The detention of the...

PARIS – Search crews in the mid-Atlantic have retrieved the bodies of the chief pilot of Flight 447 and a flight attendant, Air France said Thursday.

The two are among 50 bodies pulled out of the ocean in the international search for remains of the 228 victims and wreckage of the May 31 crash.

Air France, in a statement on its Web site, said the pilot and male flight attendant have been identified but did not release their names. A pilots' union named the flight captain as Frenchman Marc Dubois.

Earlier this week the international police agency...

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP)—The world will surely take notice of this.

The U.S. soccer team is in the final of the Confederations Cup, beating mighty Spain 2-0.

Even more stunning, the Americans were on the verge of elimination and ready to head home last weekend before a reversal of fortune. On Wednesday, goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey led to an upset of the planet’s top-ranked team.

Call it a miracle on grass—maybe not the World Cup, but still an American soccer echo of the U.S. hockey team’s upset of the...

By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy, Associated Press Writer

EDITOR'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.

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A flood of security forces using tear gas and clubs quickly overwhelmed a small group of rock-throwing protesters near Iran's parliament Wednesday, and the country's supreme leader...

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea accused Washington of seeking to "provoke a second Korean War" as the regime prepared to hold maritime military exercises off the eastern coast. U.S. and regional authorities were watching closely for signs that North Korea might fire short- or mid-range missiles during the June 25 to July 10 timeframe cited in a no-sail ban for military drills sent to Japan's Coast Guard.

North Korea had warned previously it would fire...

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea threatened Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.

Off China's coast, a U.S. destroyer was tailing a North Korean ship suspected of transporting illicit weapons to Myanmar in what could be the first test of U.N. sanctions passed to punish the nation for an underground nuclear test last month.

The Kang Nam...

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Andres strengthened into the Pacific season's first hurricane Tuesday, flooding homes, toppling trees and killing at least one person as it swiped Mexico's southwestern coast with wind and rain.

Andres packed maximum winds near 75 mph (120 kph), just over the threshold of hurricane strength, but was expected to weaken over the next day or two, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The center of the storm as of 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT) was about 70 miles (110 kilometers) west of the port city of Manzanillo. Moving near 13 mph...

By SARAH KARUSH and BRIAN WESTLEY, Associated Press Writers Sarah Karush And Brian Westley, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON – Investigators looking into the deadly crash of two Metro transit trains focused Tuesday on why a computerized system failed to halt an oncoming train, and why the train failed to stop even though the emergency brake was pressed.

At the time of the crash, the train was also operating in automatic mode, meaning it was controlled primarily by computer. In that mode, the operator's main job is to open and close the doors...

CBC Sports
Jun 21, 10:00 pm EDT

Buzz up! PrintThe Italians looked nothing like defending World Cup champions while being thoroughly outclassed 3-0 by Brazil Sunday at the Confederations Cup in Pretoria, South Africa.

Forward Luis Fabiano led the offensive onslaught with a pair of goals, while Italian defender Andrea Dossena scored Brazil’s third goal into his own net.

“Our team showed physically, technically and in all aspects that it was superior to a great team, a team which is the current world champion,”...

BY ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press Writer Angela Charlton, Associated Press Writer

PARIS – French military ships searching for the black boxes of Flight 447 have detected sounds in the Atlantic depths but they are not from the Air France plane's flight recorders, a French official said Tuesday.

The official and French investigators denied a report on the website of the French newspaper Le Monde that French ships had picked up a signal from the black boxes.

French military ships searching in the area where the plane crashed have "heard...

By BRETT ZONGKER and MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writers Brett Zongker And Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON – One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of the capital city's Monday evening rush hour, killing at least six people and injuring scores of others as the front end of the trailing train jackknifed violently into the air and fell atop the first.

Cars of both trains were ripped open and smashed together in the worst accident in the Metrorail system's 33-year history. District...

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama cited his own long struggle to quit the cigarettes he got hooked on as a teenager as he signed the nation's strongest-ever anti-smoking bill Monday and praised it for providing critically needed protections for kids.

"The decades-long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of tobacco has emerged victorious," Obama said at a signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

The bill marks the...

WASHINGTON – With North Korea reportedly getting ready for a long-range missile test, President Barack Obama says the U.S. is prepared for any threat the secretive and unpredictable regime might pose.

Japanese media have reported Pyongyang appears to be preparing for a long-range test around July 4 and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered additional protections for Hawaii in case a missile is launched over the Pacific Ocean.

"This administration — and our military is fully prepared for any contingencies," Obama said during an interview...

By ANNE GEARAN, AP National Security Writer Anne Gearan, Ap National Security Writer – 29 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama stuck to his carefully tailored response to Iran's internal crisis Sunday despite pressure from Republican critics, as he continued to speak up for protesters' rights without making specific demands on Iran's hard-line leaders.

"The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United...

By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press Writer – 29 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – A U.S. Navy destroyer is tailing a North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons toward Myanmar in what could be the first test of new U.N. sanctions against the North over its recent nuclear test, a leading TV network said Sunday.

The South Korean news network YTN, citing an unidentified intelligence source in the South, said the U.S. suspects the cargo ship Kang Nam is carrying missiles and related parts. Myanmar's...

By NASSER KARIMI and WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writers Nasser Karimi And William J. Kole, Associated Press Writers – 10 mins ago

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's government said Sunday it arrested the daughter and four other relatives of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the country's most powerful men, in a move that exposed a rift among the ruling Islamic clerics over the disputed presidential election.

State media also reported at least 10 more deaths, bringing the official toll for a week of confrontations to at least 17. State...

By MIKE MELIA, Associated Press Writer Mike Melia, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 17 mins ago

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Ships from Miami steam into Jamaica's main harbor loaded with TV sets and blue jeans. But some of the most popular U.S. imports never appear on the manifests: handguns, rifles and bullets that stoke one of the world's highest murder rates.

The volume is much less than the flow of U.S. guns into Mexico that end up in the hands of drug cartels — Jamaican authorities recover fewer than 1,000 firearms a year. But of those whose...

La mission des nations unies se dit prête à aider la police nationale a assuré la sécurité de la population dans le cadre du deuxième tour des élections sénatoriales partielles.

Un « plan de sécurité» a même été mis en place selon la porte parole des nations unies qui a rencontré la presse hier jeudi.18 juin. .

Composé de militaires, de policiers onusiens et d'agents de la Police nationale d'Haïti (PNH), ce plan de sécurité prévoit une répartition des forces de sécurité sur l'ensemble du territoire haïtien et aux abords des centres de vote, précise Sophie...

Une heure avant le lancement de la cérémonie, une forte pluie, qui s'est calmée par la suite, s'est abattue sur Port-au-Prince, une intervention de la nature assimilée par certains à une bénédiction du ciel, pour un événement destiné à rendre hommage aux
entrepreneurs de ce pays, des hommes et des femmes de foi qui ont investi en Haïti, le pays des impondérables.

La presse était présente pour couvrir l'évènement. Radio Télé Ginen, en assurant la retransmission en direct, a permis à une large frange de la population de suivre cette sensationnelle initiative.

Figurant...

TEHRAN, Iran – An eery calm settled over the streets of Tehran Sunday as state media reported at least 10 more deaths in post-election unrest and said authorities arrested the daughter and four other relatives of ex-President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's most powerful men.

The reports brought the official death toll for a week of boisterous confrontations to at least 19. State television inside Iran said 10 were killed and 100 injured in clashes Saturday between demonstrators contesting the result of the June 12 election and black-clad police wielding truncheons,...

CINCINNATI – The push for racial equality is far from over, in sports and in everyday life, former President Bill Clinton told a crowd at Major League Baseball's Beacon Awards on Saturday, part of its Civil Rights Game.

Clinton, who as president took part in MLB's ceremony retiring Jackie Robinson's No. 42 uniform number in 1997, spoke at a luncheon honoring Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, Muhammad Ali and entertainer Bill Cosby for the trio's contributions to civil rights and charitable works.

The former president told a crowd of about 1,400 at the Duke Energy...

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea has accused the United States of plotting atomic war against the communist regime, saying President Barack Obama's recent reaffirmation of nuclear protection of South Korea only exposed his government's intention to attack.

In what would be the first test for the new U.N. sanctions against the North, South Korean media also reported Sunday that a North Korean ship sailing toward Myanmar via Singapore was being shadowed by the U.S. military over suspicion that it may be carrying illicit weapons.

U.S. officials said Thursday...