WORLD NEWS

Greece gets caretaker PM until new vote in June

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A senior judge has been sworn in to head Greece's caretaker government for a month as the debt-crippled country lurches through a political crisis that threatens its membership in the 17-nation eurozone. ...Read More

UN observers caught up in Syrian violence

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N.'s observer mission in Syria was caught up in a burst of violence Tuesday captured on video, with a roadside bomb damaging its cars just minutes after witnesses said regime forces gunned down mourners at a funeral procession nearby. ...Read More

Anger, drama at Ratko Mladic's genocide trial

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — He's no longer the swaggering general who held Sarajevo "in the palm of his hand" during Bosnia's 1992-95 war. Yet as his long-awaited genocide trial began Wednesday, Ratko Mladic still managed to reopen old wounds with the flick of his hand. ...Read More

War crimes charges against Mladic

The indictment against Ratko Mladic — who went on trial Wednesday at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands — holds the former Bosnian Serb army commander "individually criminally responsible for planning, instigating, ordering and/or aiding and abetting the crimes charged in this indictment." Mladic is charged with 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. The counts below detail the atrocities during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war that Mladic is accused of commanding. ...Read More

Yemeni army kills 29 al-Qaida fighters

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Government troops and warplanes pounded al-Qaida positions in southern Yemen on Wednesday, killing at least 29 militants as part of a ramped up campaign against the group, military officials said. ...Read More

Charles Taylor: Sorry for those hurt by war crimes

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Convicted war criminal and former Liberian President Charles Taylor said during his sentencing hearing Wednesday that he sympathizes with victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone he helped foment, and asked judges to render their sentence against him in a spirit of "reconciliation, not retribution." ...Read More

China TV blames Dalai Lama for Tibet immolations

BEIJING (AP) — China has released a documentary accusing the Dalai Lama of orchestrating a wave of self-immolations by Tibetans, in its most elaborate attempt so far to shape international opinion about the protests against Chinese rule. ...Read More

Bangladesh announces probe into Grameen Bank units

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh has ordered a four-member commission to investigate 54 businesses linked to the pioneering microlender Grameen Bank founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. ...Read More

Yemen clashes kill 13 al-Qaida militants, 4 troops

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen military officials say the latest fighting to uproot al-Qaida from the country's south has killed 13 militants, as well as four soldiers and two militiamen fighting alongside the army. ...Read More

Arafat's former aide faces embezzlement charges

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The shadowy financial adviser of the late Yasser Arafat is being sought on suspicion he stole millions of dollars in public funds, the top Palestinian anti-corruption campaigner said Wednesday. ...Read More

Greece: Business blasts 'undertaker' politicians

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The head of a major Greek business organization has lashed out at the country's politicians for failing to form a coalition government and triggering new elections, accusing them of acting like "undertakers" ...Read More

Reaction to death of Mexican author Carlos Fuentes

Some reactions to the death of Mexican author Carlos Fuentes: ...Read More

Australia pledges $300 million to Afghan forces

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia will contribute $100 million annually for three years beginning in 2015 toward the $4 billion a year cost of running the Afghan National Security Forces after they take responsibility for their country's security. ...Read More

War crimes judges hear Taylor's sentencing pleas

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Convicted war criminal and former Liberian President Charles Taylor told judges at his sentencing hearing Wednesday that he sympathizes with victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone he helped foment, and judges should render their sentence against him in a spirit of "reconciliation, not retribution." ...Read More

Iran's tough nuclear stance masks struggles at top

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The negotiating stance from Iranian officials never varies: The Islamic Republic will not give up its capabilities to make nuclear fuel. But embedded in the messages are meanings that reach beyond Tehran's talks with world powers. ...Read More

Police uproot protest camp in Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian police dispersed a protest camp in central Moscow that had become a rallying point for President Vladimir Putin's foes, briefly detaining about 20 activists in a show of force that comes as part of a broadening crackdown on the opposition. ...Read More

Assad says Syria is fighting foreign mercenaries

BEIRUT (AP) — In his first interview in nearly half a year, Syrian President Bashar Assad claimed Wednesday that his regime had captured foreign mercenaries who were fighting for the opposition in a bid to show his forces were fighting terrorists instead of pro-democracy activists. ...Read More

Court official to be appointed Greek interim PM

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece appointed a senior judge Wednesday to head a caretaker government for a month as it lurches through a political crisis that threatens its membership in the euro. ...Read More

Mexican novelist, essayist Carlos Fuentes dies

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Author Carlos Fuentes, who played a dominant role in Latin America's novel-writing boom by delving into the failed ideals of the Mexican revolution, died Tuesday in a Mexico City hospital. He was 83. ...Read More

Israeli group wins terror suit against Syria, Iran

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli advocacy group won a $323 million judgment in a U.S. court against Iran and Syria for supporting Palestinian militants that killed an American teenager and ten others in a 2006 bombing, the group's director said Tuesday. ...Read More

Al-Qaida leader calls new Yemen leader a US agent

SANAA (AP) — Al-Qaida's leader has released a 17-minute audio address aimed at swaying public opinion against Yemen's new president, calling him a U.S. agent and a traitor. ...Read More

US helps Yemen in offensive on al-Qaida in south

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni warplanes and troops backed by heavy artillery waged a four-front assault Tuesday against the strongholds of al-Qaida militants in the south, with U.S. troops for the first time helping direct the offensive from a nearby desert air base-turned-command center. ...Read More

2 dead in Bogota bombing targeting former minister

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A midday bombing that killed two bodyguards of an archconservative former interior minister and injured at least 39 people in a busy commercial district of Bogota has raised fears that violence not seen in the Colombian capital in years could return. ...Read More

Ratko Mladic's genocide trial gets under way

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Twenty years after his troops began brutally ethnically cleansing Bosnian towns and villages of non-Serbs, Gen. Ratko Mladic went on trial Wednesday at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal accused of 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. ...Read More

Official: 1 dead in explosion on Kenya's coast

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — Police say attackers fired shots and detonated grenades outside a nightclub in Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa after they were denied entry, killing one person and injuring four. ...Read More

Race, age questions fuel Miss World Fiji fiasco

First came complaints that the winner of the Miss World Fiji pageant looked too Western to represent her country. Then her age came under scrutiny. And now, with the 16-year-old's crown lost, one of the judges says the contest was rigged from the start. ...Read More

German police begin clearing Frankfurt Occupy camp

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Frankfurt police are preparing to clear a tent-camp of about 300 Occupy protesters from near the European Central Bank. ...Read More

Group: Congo ex-general recruiting children again

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A Congolese general already sought on an international arrest warrant for his alleged use of child soldiers during an earlier conflict has forcibly recruited another 149 boys and teenagers since April, according to a Human Rights Watch investigation published Wednesday. ...Read More

UN team in Syria evacuated from tense town

BEIRUT (AP) — A team of international observers was evacuated from a tense town in northern Syria on Wednesday, one day after a roadside bomb hit their convoy and left them stranded overnight with rebel forces, a U.N. spokesman said. ...Read More

Police temporarily clear Frankfurt Occupy camp

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Police in Germany have temporarily cleared the Frankfurt Occupy tent camp next to the European Central Bank. ...Read More

Francois Hollande takes the helm in France

PARIS (AP) — Francois Hollande walked up the steps of the Elysee Palace in Paris and walked out Tuesday as France's first Socialist president since 1995, taking the helm of a country worried about Europe's future and pledging to make it a fairer place. ...Read More

Congolese military hunts evasive ex-warlord

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A notorious ex-warlord who became a general in the Congolese army despite international war crimes charges is now being blamed for fomenting more unrest in Congo's east and faces new charges of crimes against humanity. ...Read More

Lightning hits French president's plane, none hurt

PARIS (AP) — Socialist Francois Hollande took over as France's president Tuesday and jetted off to Berlin hours later for talks on Europe's debt crisis — only to have his plane struck by lightning. No one was hurt. ...Read More

Sudans: Trench marks new border as rains approach

TACHUIEN, South Sudan (AP) — A trench dug across a red dirt road marks part of the shifting border this week between Sudan and South Sudan, old enemies whose forces have clashed in recent weeks. Truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns and 107mm rocket launchers lurk underneath the trees. New foxholes have been dug. ...Read More

EU navy, helicopters strike pirate supply center

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — European Union naval forces in attack helicopters conducted their first onshore raid on a suspected pirate lair in Somalia Tuesday. A pirate said the strike destroyed a supply center and set back their operations. ...Read More

Ex-tabloid boss Brooks faces phone hacking charges

LONDON (AP) — One of Rupert Murdoch's most trusted lieutenants and five people close to her were charged with conspiring to hide evidence of phone hacking, bringing the scandal that has raged across Britain's media and political elite uncomfortably close to Prime Minister David Cameron. ...Read More

Iran hangs alleged Israeli agent in shadow war

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — At the gallows, the condemned prisoner Tuesday repeated the allegations Iran lodged against him: That he was trained by Israel's spy agency to carry out one of the first attack on Iranian scientists in a suspected shadow war against Tehran's nuclear ambitions. ...Read More

Prominent Legion priest admits he fathered child

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Legion of Christ religious order was hit Tuesday by its second scandal in a week after its most well-known priest — a prominent author, lecturer and television personality — admitted he had fathered a child. ...Read More

Egypt group documents 841 deaths in 2011 uprising

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian rights group released Tuesday the most comprehensive list to date of the more than 800 civilians killed by security forces in last year's uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak last year. ...Read More

'Black box' found of Russia jet in Indonesia crash

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Searchers have found the cockpit voice recorder from a Russian passenger jet that smashed into the side of an Indonesian volcano, killing 45 people. The recording of comments by the plane's veteran pilots could help explain what caused the crash. ...Read More

Legion admits it knew of priest's kid, did nothing

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Legion of Christ religious order, still reeling from revelations that its late founder was a pedophile, admitted Wednesday that it knew that its most famous priest had fathered a child years ago yet didn't remove him from teaching morality to seminarians or speaking publicly about ethics. ...Read More

Assad says Syrians support his reform efforts

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad has told a Russian state news channel that his country supports his reform agenda. ...Read More

Israeli company writes off stake in Egyptian gas

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli company has written off its entire 12.5 percent investment in the company that sold Egyptian natural gas to Israel before Egypt terminated the exports. ...Read More

Greece gets caretaker PM until next vote in June

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A senior judge was sworn in Wednesday to head Greece's caretaker government for a month as the debt-crippled country lurches through a political crisis that threatens its membership in the 17-nation eurozone. ...Read More

France's new leader Hollande has tough to-do list

PARIS (AP) — Francois Hollande campaigned for the French presidency with some pretty radical promises. But his carefully worded agenda and his political record suggest as president he's likely to revert to the moderate consensus-building that has characterized his career. ...Read More

Syrian leader says terrorists are behind unrest

BEIRUT (AP) — In his first interview since December, Syrian President Bashar Assad insisted Tuesday his regime is fighting back against foreign mercenaries who want to overthrow him, not innocent Syrians aspiring for democracy in a yearlong uprising. ...Read More