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Massive tornado rips through Oklahoma killing dozens
WASHINGTON - A massive tornado ripped through parts of Oklahoma city and its suburbs in the United States killing at least 24 people, including nine children, besides leaving scores homeless. As winds at over 320 kilometers per hour (kmph) flattened homes and businesses and severely damaged a hospital and two elementary school, the death toll was earlier said to be more than 90 but it was ...
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Thein Sein praised for reforms in Myanmar but urged to end violence against Muslims
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama praised the reforms of Myanmar leader Thein Sein but urged him to end violence against Muslims. Sein is the country's first president to visit the White House in almost half a century. Speaking from the US capital Monday Obama said he recognized Sein's work to guide Myanmar down "a long and sometimes difficult, but ultimately correct, path to ...
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Roadside bombing kills six Afghan policemen in Herat
KABUL, Afghanistan - At least six Afghan policemen guarding a strategically important dam were killed in a roadside bombing Tuesday in the war-torn country's western province of Herat, officials said. They said that suspected Taliban insurgents triggered the explosion when a police patrol vehicle heading to Herat city was travelling in the Chashti Shareef district of the province. "There ...
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Top court overturns genocide conviction of former dictator
GUATEMALA CITY - The constitutional court of Guatemala has ordered that the genocide trial of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt should be taken back to the middle of proceedings, thus overturning his conviction and sentencing to 80 years in prison. The ruling on Monday doesn't annul the entire trial of the case but the top court has ordered that whatever happened after April 19 should be ...
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After two weeks detention North Korea frees Chinese boat and 16 fishermen
PYONGYANG - A Chinese boat and 16 fishermen held by armed North Koreans for more than two weeks have been released, easing the latest tension in relations between the neighbouring allies. Owner Yu Xuejun, who was not on board the boat when it was seized on 5 May, wrote on his microblog that his captain called him at 3.50am to say the crew and boat were set free and that they were on their way ...
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Barroro voices concern over estimated one trillion euro tax evasion
BRUSSELS - Voicing concern about tax evasion that is estimated at one trillion euros, European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso said Tuesday that EU leaders will meet at a one-day summit on Wednesday to negotiate solution. The European Union can't afford to let tax evasion go on the way it is. Such large amounts of money, currently sitting in tax havens, would be greatly beneficial ...
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German central bank sees signals of economic pick up in Q2
FRANKFURT - Germany's central bank Deutsche Bundesbank expects the country's economy to improve "markedly" in the second quarter relying on signals of pick up in industrial orders and likelihood of weather related downturn in construction sector no longer impacting investment sentiments a development that could boost the wider eurozone as it struggles to get out of recession. "Overall ...
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HNL cancer drug trial discontinued by Pfizer
NEW YORK - Pharma major Pfizer has discontinued the development of cancer candidate inotuzumab ozogamicin, which is part of a class of therapies called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), in the haematological cancer non-Hodgkin lymphoma after it failed to show benefit in overall survival during phase III trials. Pfizer has notified the study investigators and appropriate regulatory authorities ...
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Merger pact by GrubHub and Seamless to stave off rivals
WASHINGTON - GrubHub Inc. and Seamless North America LLC, two of the biggest online services for food-delivery in the U.S., have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their companies to take on rivals in the growing market for online meal orders. The merger will create a combined company well positioned to drive more orders to restaurants, deliver a better experience for hungry ...
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Mortgage lending in UK rises highest in four years
LONDON - The UK housing market seems to be picking up with gross mortgage lending up 4.3 per cent in April over previous month to 12.1 billion pounds, the highest in over four years, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The mortgage lending was 21% higher than April 2012, but this data is skewed by the end of the stamp duty concession on 24 March, 2012. Under the stamp duty ...
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IRS Official Lois Lerner I Have Not Done Anything Wrong
"I have not done anything wrong," she said. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee."Lerner adds that she invoke her 5th Amendment right and "will not answer any of the questions or testify ...
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Dem. Congressman on IRS Scandal More Important than One Election
The Democratic ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, said that today's IRS hearing "is more important than one ...
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Inspector General Who Uncovered IRS Scandal Dated Michelle Obama
J. Russell George, the inspector general who uncovered the IRS scandal, appears to have at one time dated Michelle Obama, well before she was married to Barack Obama. "All the attention was new, but George has operated in these halls of power his entire career. He worked for Dole, and then in President George H.W. Bush's White House. In between, he attended Harvard Law School, ...
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Tajik Opposition Leader Ordered Held In Pretrial Detention
DUSHANBE -- A leading Tajik opposition figure and businessman has been been ordered held in pretrial detention for up to two months. Zayd Saidov's lawyer told RFE/RL that a court in Dushanbe ruled on May 22 that Saidov cannot be released on bail. Saidov, a lawmaker and the leader of Tajikistan's unregistered New Tajikistan party, was detained on May 19 on charges of ...
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Ukrainian Prime Minister Bars Journalists After Protest
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has ordered that several local reporters shall be barred from covering government meetings after they staged a silent protest over a recent attack on journalists. Reporters attending a cabinet meeting on May 22 stepped in front of television cameras and turned their backs on Azarov and his colleagues. Signs pinned to their backs read, "Today ...
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FBI kills man suspected of ties to Boston bomb suspect
Boston Marathon bombings early on Wednesday, NBC News reported.NBC said the suspect was being questioned and was originally cooperative, but was fatally shot after attacking the ...
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German intel Assad strengthening hold in Syria
Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has become more stable, gaining an upper hand in capabilities to successfully thwart rebels amid the conflit plaguing the country, German foreign intelligence agency assessments were reported as stating Wednesday in German ...
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Jenin Jenin Bill approved in early vote
A bill allowing class-action lawsuits to be filed against those who slander IDF soldiers passed a preliminary vote on Wednesday.According to the legislation submitted by MK Yoni Shetboun (Bayit Yehudi) and coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu), if someone slanders IDF soldiers' operational activities, that person can be sued for slander in a class action ...
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Los Angeles elects first Jewish mayor
LOS ANGELES - Eric Garcetti was elected the first Jewish mayor of Los Angeles, one of a number of political contests that reflect the city's diversity, and its Jewish community.Garcetti, 42, a veteran city councilman, led city controller Wendy Greuel by six points around 3 a.m. Wednesday, with nearly 100 percent of the ballots counted. Greuel conceded about an hour earlier."Thank you ...
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China arrests 13 over ‘protest rumours’
Police in Beijing say they have arrested 13 people for allegedly spreading rumours and disrupting public order following a protest over a migrant worker's ...
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Stockholm riots spread as PM slams hooliganism
Rioting spread across Stockholm's suburbs early Wednesday in the third night of unrest to hit the Swedish capital, as Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt blamed the violence on "hooliganism" and appealed for ...
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Stockholm riots spread to districts after fatal police shooting
Gangs of youths have smashed shop windows, set cars ablaze and burnt down a cultural center as riots that started in one Stockholm suburb after a fatal police shooting spread to other low-income areas of the Swedish ...
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Costa Concordia Trial Date Set For Captain
A judge in Italy has ordered the trial of the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground in Tuscany last year, killing 32 people. Francesco Schettino, 52, will be the only defendant in the trial, which will begin on July 9 in the Tuscan town of Grosseto. Schettino had unsuccessfully attempted to plea bargain with the court earlier this month, when he had requested a ...
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Bernanke expected to stay the course on Fed policy
Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank Ben Bernanke attends the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council in Washington April 25, ...
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Tax official at center of scandal wont testify lawyer
(L-R) J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration of the U.S. Treasury, Steven Miller, the acting director of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and Douglas Shulman, former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, testify before the Senate Finance Committee in Washington May 21, ...
South Korea Focus
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South Korea's tool for northern diplomacy
A 66 square kilometre industrial complex just over the border is an important part of reconciliatory efforts between South Korea and the North. It is important to the economy as well, but its diplomatic significance runs far deeper.
The Kaesong Industrial Complex is the only industrial special administrative region that still exists as a joint agreement between North and South Korea. Following the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, relations between the two countries deteriorated significantly, with South Korea accusing the North of the attack and the North subsequently denying involvement. Read more
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