| Today |
| 04:47 PM |
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McConnell calls for end of import sanctions on Myanmar
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday urged Congress not to extend import sanctions on Myanmar, warning that sticking with the sanctions would be "a slap in the face" to reformers in the Southeast Asian nation. Mr. McConnell said Congress must end the sanctions as an acknowledgement of the reforms taking place in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
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| 02:42 PM |
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Peace Corps opens door for same-sex couples seeking assignments
Gay or lesbian domestic partners who want to serve together in the Peace Corps may start applying for assignments this summer. "Service in the Peace Corps is a life-defining leadership experience for Americans who want to make a difference around the world," Carrie Hessler-Radelet, deputy director of the Peace Corps, said Tuesday.
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| 02:28 PM |
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FBI identifies 5 suspects in Benghazi attack; no arrests yet
The U.S. has identified five men who might be responsible for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and has enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists, officials say. But there isn't enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian court as the Obama administration prefers.
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| 02:04 PM |
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Israel warns Syria: More strikes loom
Israeli's military warned on Tuesday that more strikes on Syria could be coming if the nation doesn't stand down its missile attacks. The IDF said Syria launched against Israel three times in three days...
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| 01:59 PM |
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Peace Corps to accept same-sex couples
WASHINGTON (AP) , The Peace Corps says it will begin accepting applications from same-sex domestic partners who want to serve together as volunteers overseas. Peace Corps Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said the change will diversify the pool of applicants who want to help improve the quality of education, health care and economic development in host countries around the world.
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| 01:14 PM |
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Cuba lifts import ban on air conditioners, appliances
Cuba has lifted an import ban on air conditioners and other energy-sucking appliances, and now residents can bring up to two appliances per person into the country. Since 2005, the country has prohibited individuals from bringing into the country air conditioners, refrigerators and microwaves, due to widespread energy shortages and power outages, The Associated Press reported.
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| 01:03 PM |
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South African court acquits Oscar Pistorius' brother in road-death case
JOHANNESBURG (AP) , One Pistorius brother is free of charges, acquitted Tuesday of culpable homicide in the death of a woman in a road accident. The famous younger brother, Olympic double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, still must face his day in court for shooting and killing his girlfriend.
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| 11:59 AM |
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Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is evacuated after suicide
Police in Paris have evacuated Notre Dame Cathedral after a man reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday. The police wouldn't confirm details of the suicide, but French media were reporting he shot himself. Cathedral workers would say only that the structure had been evacuated, The Associated Press reported. The monument attracts 13 million tourists from around the world each year.
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| 11:07 AM |
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Pope Francis ‘did not intend to perform any exorcism,' Vatican says
The Vatican on Tuesday rushed to deny the contents of a television broadcast that appeared to show Pope Francis performing an exorcism on a wheelchair-bound boy. "The Holy Father did not intend to perform any exorcism," the Rev. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said in a statement reported by Raw Story.
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| 10:36 AM |
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European Union poised to add Hezbollah to terror list
The European Union, under pressure from the international community and on the heels of a formal request from Britain, is poised to add Hezbollah to its list of terror groups. Agence France-Presse reported that Britain formally had petitioned the EU to blacklist the group, a Shiite militant movement headquartered in Lebanon.
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| 10:29 AM |
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Libyan leaders expected to step down soon
The president of Libya's General National Congress and more than a half-dozen Cabinet ministers are expected to resign within days following the adoption of a law that bans officials who had served under late dictator Moammar Gadhafi from holding public office.
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| 09:13 AM |
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Gay marriage in Britain tears apart conservatives
British Prime Minister David Cameron may rue the day he supported gay marriage. Mr. Cameron is facing a deepening rift in his own conservative party as nearly 40 percent of the party's 303 lawmakers voted in favor of an amendment that gives marriage registrars the right to refuse same-sex unions.
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| 09:02 AM |
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Gandhi's blood heads to London auction block
Yes, you read that headline right. Mahatma Gandhi's blood really is set for auction in London on Tuesday. Preserved drops of his blood that were taken when he was recovering from an appendectomy in 1924 are believed to be worth at least $20,000, historians say, Newser reported. The auction will offer other Gandhi-related items of historical interest and significance.
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| 07:08 AM |
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Israel returns fire, hits Syrian post
Israeli's military on Tuesday shot a Tamuz missile into Syria, destroying a post in retaliation for what it said was three consecutive nights of firing from Syria. IDF reported that Syria had fired at its unit in the Golan Heights on Tuesday , same as on Monday and Sunday. There were no injuries, but Syria's firing did destroy a patrol jeep, Ynet reported.
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| Mon, May 20, 2013 |
| 09:56 PM |
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Victims of sex assaults in military are mostly silent men
More military men than women are sexually abused in the ranks each year, a Pentagon survey shows, highlighting the underreporting of male-on-male assaults. When the Defense Department released the results of its anonymous sexual abuse survey this month and concluded that 26,000 service members were victims in fiscal 2012, which ended Sept. 30, an automatic assumption was that most were women.
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| 09:51 PM |
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Myanmar president pledges to press ahead with reforms
Myanmar's leader met President Obama at the White House on Monday and pledged his government's commitment to democratic reforms, an end to communal violence and a cease-fire with ethnic minority rebels fighting in the northern part of his Southeast Asian nation.
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| 09:50 PM |
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Freedom of religion scarce in Iran, China
Declaring that "freedom of religion is a core American value," Secretary of State John F. Kerry Monday released his department's annual worldwide religious freedom report, which found "worrying" and "negative trends" around the globe.
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| 09:49 PM |
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Taiwan-Philippines dispute erupts after fisherman's killing
Taiwan and the Philippines are embroiled in a major diplomatic dispute after the Philippines coast guard fatally shot a Taiwanese fisherman in disputed waters earlier this month. Taiwan has imposed sanctions on the Philippines, withdrawn its representative from Manila and frozen visas for Filipino workers.
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| 05:17 PM |
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Tunisian feminist arrested for alleged provocation
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) , A Tunisian feminist who scandalized her country by posting topless photos of herself online has been arrested after allegedly sneaking into Tunisia's holiest city disguised in a veil, then trying to get undressed during a protest.
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| 05:04 PM |
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Church of Scotland takes step to allow gay clergy
LONDON (AP) , Senior members of the Church of Scotland voted Monday to let some congregations choose ministers who are in same-sex relationships , an important compromise that must still pass further hurdles before it can become church law.
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| 04:16 PM |
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Deadliest attacks in Iraq since US troop pullout
BAGHDAD (AP) , Here is a look at the deadliest attacks in Iraq since the withdrawal of U.S. troops on Dec. 18, 2011: , May 20, 2013: A wave of attacks, some at markets and rush hour crowds, hour killed at least 95 people in Shiite and Sunni areas. , May 18, 2013: Shootings and bombings kill at least 16 people including an anti-terrorism police captain and his family.
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| 02:31 PM |
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U.S. flies more than 200 air refuel missions to Mali
U.S. aerial tankers have flown more than 200 missions this year to fuel French airpower supporting Paris' intervention against al Qaeda linked extremists in Mali. The aid underscores NATO's reliance on U.S. military capabilities to stage even their own unilateral operations.
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| 01:50 PM |
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Russia upsets terror plot; 2 militants killed
Russian counterterrorism agents say they've killed two militants who were planning a terrorist attack in Moscow. The intelligence officials also said they've detained a third suspect and were questioning him, The Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, one Russian agent was slightly wounded.
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| 01:39 PM |
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South Africa: Mandela name pulled into politics
JOHANNESBURG (AP) , Nelson Mandela, old and frail, lives in seclusion in his Johannesburg home. Beyond the high walls of the house, the fighting over his image and what he stood for has already begun. The sense of possibility that Mandela embodied is fading as a gulf between rich and poor widens.
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| 01:20 PM |
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Blast at Spain bomb disposal base kills 3 soldiers
Three soldiers at an army bomb disposal unit in southern Spain were killed Monday when a blast rocked the facility, the country's defense ministry said. The cause of the explosion at the Alvarez de Sotomayor base in Viator is still unknown, the Associated Press reported.
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| 12:30 PM |
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4 dead in Israel bank shooting
At least four people are dead following a suspected robbery gone wrong or a revenge shooting at a Bersheeba, Israel, bank on Monday. Included among the dead are the gunman and three women, Ynet News reported. Several others have been injured, and one is in serious condition, authorities said.
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| 12:12 PM |
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Seen and heard at the Cannes Film Festival
CANNES, France (AP) , Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival: JAMES CAAN GOES BACK TO THE 70S They don't make movies like they used to , which is why James Caan was happy to go back to the 1970s in Guillaume Canet's "Blood Ties."
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| 11:51 AM |
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Russian oligarchs foot most of 2014 Sochi Olympics
SOCHI, Russia (AP) , The mountains of Sochi are now home to Potanin's slope, Gazprom's gondola lift and Sberbank's ski jump. The nicknames used by locals and an army of construction workers leave no doubt about who is paying for the 2014 Winter Games: Russia's business powerhouses.
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| 10:55 AM |
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China sentences underground bank operator to death
BEIJING (AP) , A businesswoman in southern China has been sentenced to death on charges of defrauding investors as the government tightens controls on informal financing that is widely used by entrepreneurs.
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| 10:33 AM |
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Egypt sends dozens of tanks into Sinai after abduction
President Mohammed Morsi sent dozens of armored vehicles into Sinai on Monday, in response to a video released over the weekend in which seven Egyptians kidnapped by militants begged for their freedom.
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