Syrian Split Sets Back Bid to Unseat Assad
Syrian Split Sets Back Bid to Unseat Assad BY NOUR MALAS BEIRUT—The head of Syria’s main opposition coalition offered to resign, two days after his re-election sparked broad discontent among antigovernment activists, as hundreds of students clashed with pro-government forces. The move on Thursday threw Syria’s fragmented opposition into further disarray, as frustration mounts among activists who say their political infighting has helped President Bashar al-Assad pursue an unfettered crackdown on dissent. The development was also likely to set back efforts to lure more Western aid, as foreign powers have cited the lack of cohesion by Syria’s dissidents as an impediment. Kofi Annan, the United Nations and Arab League peace envoy … BY NOUR MALAS BEIRUT—The head of Syria’s main opposition coalition offered to resign, two days after his re-election sparked broad discontent among antigovernment activists, as hundreds of students clashed with pro-government forces. The move on Thursday threw Syria’s [...]
Catalog of Wounded in Afghan War Could Be Model
Catalog of Wounded in Afghan War Could Be Model Tyler Hicks/The New York Times While in flight in Helmand Province, Sgt. Ian J. Bugh, a medic, worked on Cpl. Brett Sayre, a Marine who was injured by an improvised explosive device. FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky — To those unfamiliar with a battlefield’s bleak routine, Col. Michael D. Wirt’s database could be read like a catalog of horrors. In it, more than 500 American soldiers are subjected to characteristic forms of violence of the Afghan war. Faces are smacked with shrapnel, legs are blasted away near knees, bullets pass through young men’s abdomens. Vehicles roll over, crushing bones. Eardrums rupture. Digits are severed. Dozens of soldiers die. Hundreds more begin journeys home, sometimes to treatment that will last the rest of their lives. Each was listed in a small but meticulous computer entry by Colonel Wirt, a doctor intent on documenting how [...]
U.S. Agonizes Over Apology to Pakistan
U.S. Agonizes Over Apology to Pakistan BY ADAM ENTOUS, SIOBHAN GORMAN AND JULIAN E. BARNES For nearly six months after U.S.-led forces accidentally killed two dozen Pakistani troops at the Afghanistan border, officials at the highest reaches of the Obama administration have been locked in a heated debate over what might appear to be a small step—apologizing for the loss. The U.S. had expressed “regret” for the Nov. 26 deaths. But whether to publicly apologize, at the risk of appearing weak to Pakistan or American voters, was argued in dozens of video conference calls, nearly 20 high-level White House meetings and hundreds of confidential emails. The administration came to the brink of saying sorry several … BY ADAM ENTOUS, SIOBHAN GORMAN AND JULIAN E. BARNES For nearly six months after U.S.-led forces accidentally killed two dozen Pakistani troops at the Afghanistan border, officials at the highest reaches of the Obama [...]
US slaps sanctions on two men over terror ties
US slaps sanctions on two men over terror ties Washington: The US has declared a Haqqani network communications official and an alleged Taliban money launderer as global terrorists. Thursday’s action bans Americans from doing business with the men and blocks any assets they hold in the US. The Treasury Department said Bakht Gul would relay reports from commanders in Afghanistan to Haqqani network leaders, Taliban and Afghan media. Gul would also coordinate insurgent movement and weapons transfers. The department also said Abdul Baqi Bari laundered millions for the Taliban in the last decade. It said that he also funnels funds to support Al Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden gave him and an associate $ 500,000 to purchase a factory in 2002. Department sanctions chief Adam Szubin said those perpetuating terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan will increasingly be cut off from the international financial system. For NDTV Updates, follow us on [...]
34 killed in Vietnam bus crash: police
34 killed in Vietnam bus crash: police Hanoi: Thirty-four people were killed and 20 injured — some seriously — after a bus overturned, ploughed off a bridge and crashed into a river in central Vietnam, traffic police said. The bus was travelling from Buon Ma Thuot city in the central highlands to southern Ho Chi Minh City, a policeman in Krong Pak district where the accident took place late on Thursday said on condition of anonymity. “We are investigating the cause of the accident and identifying the victims,” he told AFP on Friday. The wreckage of the bus was raised from the Serepok river bed early on Friday, he said. A total of 54 people, including the driver, were believed to be on the bus. Road accidents are common in communist Vietnam and kill about 35 people every day. Narrow highways, poorly maintained vehicles and drivers’ disregard for road safety [...]
Categories: World News Tags: crash, Killed, Police, Vietnam
Obama names first US ambassador to Myanmar in 22 years
Obama names first US ambassador to Myanmar in 22 years Soe Than Win / AFP – Getty Images US Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Myanmar Derek Mitchell addresses media representatives during a press conference at the US Embassy in Yangon on March 15, 2012. By The Associated Press The Obama administration says it is easing restrictions on U.S. investment and trade in Myanmar to encourage business development in the impoverished country and in recognition of its political reforms. The administration also named on Thursday the current special envoy to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, as its first ambassador to the country in 22 years. The U.S. is currently represented by a lower-level diplomatic officer. Myanmar’s reforms over the past year or so have seen it emerge from decades of direct military rule and diplomatic isolation. In a sign of its international rehabilitation, the Asian nation’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin was [...]
Categories: World News Tags: Ambassador, First, Myanmar, Names, Obama, Years
Greek Leftist Leader Challenges EU on Debt
Greek Leftist Leader Challenges EU on Debt BY JAMES ANGELOS AND ALKMAN GRANITSAS ATHENS—The head of Greece’s radical left party says there is little chance Europe will cut off funding to the country and if it does, Greece will repudiate its debts, throwing down a gauntlet that could increase tensions between Greece’s recalcitrant politicians and frustrated European creditors. A financial collapse in Greece would drag down the rest of the euro zone, says Alexis Tsipras, the 37-year-old head of the Coalition of the Radical Left, known as Syriza, and potentially the country’s next prime minister. Instead, he says, Europe must consider a more growth-oriented policy to arrest Greece’s spiraling recession and address what … BY JAMES ANGELOS AND ALKMAN GRANITSAS ATHENS—The head of Greece’s radical left party says there is little chance Europe will cut off funding to the country and if it does, Greece will repudiate its debts, throwing [...]
Categories: World News Tags: challenges, debt, Greek, Leader, leftist
Country Sues Over Google Maps Dispute
Country Sues Over Google Maps Dispute
Swing states: Could Europe decide the US election?
Swing states: Could Europe decide the US election? NAVARRE(OHIO)/WASHINGTON: The busy shop floor at Miller Weldmaster Corp could make a great location for an Obama campaign ad. As workers assemble the family-owned company’s hot-air fabric welders, used to manufacture everything from inflatable rafts to truck tarps, it’s hard to know the recession of 2007-2009 ever happened. Ten clocks on the wall of the plant in Navarre, Ohio, show local time from Norway to New Zealand and tell Miller Weldmaster’s comeback story in a word: exports. Sixty percent of the company’s business now comes from outside the United States. Manufacturing growth, surging exports: These are central promises of Obama’s reelection bid, especially in blue-collar industrial states that could determine the election. Mindful of the Indiana surprise of 2008, when a spike in unemployment helped Obama win the reliably Republican state, the White House has every reason to fear payback in states [...]
