WORLD NEWS

Philippines' Arroyo pleads not guilty to fraud

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pleaded not guilty to an electoral fraud charge Thursday at the opening of a landmark trial that is seen as a key test of her reformist successor's campaign to stamp out corruption. ...Read More

Shelling kills 2 Western journalists in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold where the last dispatches from a veteran American-born war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist — two of 74 deaths reported Wednesday in Syria. ...Read More

Argentine train slams into station, killing 49

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The first two cars were packed as usual for the morning rush, so tightly that people stood pressed flesh to flesh, sandwiched between bicycles and the few seats, many without so much as a strap to hold onto. ...Read More

West Bank settlement housing gets initial approval

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli officials say that a committee has given preliminary approval to a plan that could allow construction of 600 new homes in a settlement deep inside the West Bank. ...Read More

Italy: Divers find 4 more bodies in ship wreckage

ROME (AP) — Italian authorities say divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship have spotted four more bodies in a submerged section of a passenger deck. ...Read More

Italy: Divers find 8 more bodies in ship wreckage

ROME (AP) — Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship found eight bodies Wednesday on one of the passenger decks, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said. ...Read More

US, NKorea to hold first post-Kim Jong Il talks

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. and North Korea reopen nuclear talks Thursday that will provide a glimpse into where Pyongyang's opaque government is heading after Kim Jong Il's death and test its readiness to dismantle nuclear programs for much-needed aid. ...Read More

Red Cross meeting with Syrian opposition in Geneva

GENEVA (AP) — The International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday that it was holding a meeting with Syria's main opposition group in Geneva, a day after the humanitarian agency called for temporary pauses in the fighting so that it can bring in emergency aid and evacuate the wounded and sick from affected areas. ...Read More

Israeli religious party denies coalition crisis

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top religious partner said Wednesday that Israel's ruling coalition would not be shaken by the Supreme Court's annulment of a contentious law allowing ultra-Orthodox Jewish men to avoid military service. ...Read More

Top leader insists Iran not seeking nuclear arms

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's top leader insisted on Wednesday that his country is not seeking nuclear weapons, saying that holding such arms is a sin as well as "useless, harmful and dangerous" ...Read More

Aussie foreign minister resigns in leadership spat

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's foreign minister resigned Wednesday in a bitter rift with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who may poll her party's lawmakers next week on who should lead the country. ...Read More

Syria shelling of Homs kills 2 Western journalists

BEIRUT (AP) — A French photojournalist and a prominent American war correspondent working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday as Syrian forces intensely shelled the opposition stronghold of Homs. President Bashar Assad's regime also escalated attacks on rebel bases elsewhere, with helicopter gunships strafing areas in the northwest, activists said. ...Read More

EU plans sanctions against Hungary over deficit

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm said Wednesday it plans to withhold euro495 million ($655 million) in EU development funds from Hungary after the country failed to reduce its deficit. ...Read More

Afghan police fire at anti-US rallies; 3 killed

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say at least three people have been killed after police opened fire to disperse thousands of anti-American demonstrators rioting for a second day over what the U.S. has said was the inadvertent burning of Muslim holy books at a NATO military base. ...Read More

UN nuclear agency reports failed Iran talks

VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. nuclear agency acknowledged renewed failure Wednesday after a trip to probe suspicions of covert Iranian nuclear weapons work, in a statement issued just hours after an Iranian general warned of a pre-emptive strike against any foe threatening the country. ...Read More

McCain urges Libyan militias to join national army

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Sen. John McCain urged Libya's militias on Wednesday to integrate themselves into the country's new national army and called for the reported abuse of prisoners held by the ex-rebels to stop. ...Read More

2 Western journalists among 74 killed in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold Wednesday where the last dispatches from a veteran American war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage claimed her life as well as that of a French photographer. ...Read More

Strauss-Kahn freed after French police questioning

PARIS (AP) — French police released former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Wednesday after nearly 30 hours in custody for questioning about a suspected hotel prostitution ring. ...Read More

Russia warns against 'hasty conclusions' over Iran

VIENNA (AP) — Russia said Wednesday the world should not draw "hasty conclusions" over Iran's most recent rebuff of U.N. attempts to investigate allegations the Islamic Republic hid secret work on atomic arms, but the U.S. and its allies accused Tehran of nuclear defiance. ...Read More

Verdict in trial of Egypt's Mubarak set for June 2

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian judge on Wednesday set June 2 as the date for the verdict and sentencing in the trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, which could put the man who spent nearly 30 years as one of the Arab world's key strongmen on death row. ...Read More

Quran burning incites deadly riots in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Clashes between Afghan troops and protesters angry over the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. military base left at least seven people dead and dozens wounded Wednesday as anger spread despite U.S. apologies over what it said was a mistake. ...Read More

US team says Honduras prison fire was an accident

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — U.S. investigators concluded Tuesday that the deadliest prison fire in a century was accidental, and may have been caused by a lit match, cigarette or some other open flame. ...Read More

UN climate chief turns to CEOs for action

STOCKHOLM (AP) — As governments bicker over who should do what to slow the pace of global warming, the U.N.'s climate chief is increasingly looking to business leaders to show the way forward to a low-carbon future. ...Read More

Adele and Ed Sheeran win at UK music's Brit Awards

LONDON (AP) — Soulful songstress Adele capped a momentous year of Grammy Awards triumph and medical woes with a double win at the U.K.'s Brit music awards Tuesday, taking prizes for album of the year and best British female solo artist before making an obscene gesture after the show's host cut her acceptance speech short. ...Read More

Greece bailout wards off Europe meltdown

BRUSSELS (AP) — The bailout has saved Europe, for now, but it's unlikely to save Greece. ...Read More

Venezuelan leader Chavez faces new surgery

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez announced Tuesday that doctors in Cuba found a new lesion in the same place where he had a tumor removed last year and said he will require surgery. ...Read More

Australia's Rudd encouraged to seek leadership

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd said he was encouraged by support from government colleagues to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard for the leadership of their Labor Party. ...Read More

Chavez faces surgery, say lesion likely malignant

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez announced Tuesday that doctors in Cuba found a new lesion in the same place where a cancerous tumor was removed last year and said he will shortly return to the island to have it surgically removed. ...Read More

Venezuela president confirms faces new surgery

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that doctors in Cuba have found a new lesion in the area where he had cancer surgery last year, and he will require surgery. ...Read More

Nigeria ex-leader in Senegal to mediate standoff

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has arrived in Senegal to mediate the country's political standoff, while police once again fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital. ...Read More

Venezuela president faces new surgery

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that doctors in Cuba have found a new lesion in the same place where he had cancer surgery last year, and he will require surgery. ...Read More

Ex-Nigerian leader in Senegal to mediate

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Senegal on Tuesday to try to mediate a solution to the country's political impasse less than a week before a contentious presidential election takes place. ...Read More

New claims suggest sweep of Iran's covert plots

BEIRUT (AP) — Piece by piece, the tools for an alleged Iranian-directed murder team were smuggled into Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea. A sniper rifle with silencer. Pistols. Sixteen pieces of plastic explosives and detonators. ...Read More

Tel Aviv angers religious by seeking Sabbath buses

JERUSALEM (AP) — In the latest salvo in Israel's simmering cultural war between religious and secular Jews, municipal authorities in the bustling metropolis of Tel Aviv have outraged the country's religious establishment with a decision to launch bus service on the Jewish Sabbath. ...Read More

Yemen's new leader inherits shattered nation

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemenis flocked to the polls across their battered nation Tuesday to vote in a U.S.-backed, single-candidate election meant to instate a new leader to replace the outgoing autocrat. ...Read More

Strauss-Kahn held in prostitution probe

PARIS (AP) — French police questioned former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn all day Tuesday in a probe into a suspected hotel prostitution ring. ...Read More

Venezuelan leader Chavez faces new surgery in Cuba

UN nuke expert: no 'way forward' with Iran

VIENNA (AP) — A top U.N. nuclear official says his team could "could not find a way forward" in attempts to persuade Iran to talk about suspected secret work on atomic arms. ...Read More

Afghan police fire at anti-US rallies, wound 17

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan police opened fire Wednesday to disperse thousands of anti-American protesters rioting for a second day over an incident that the U.S. said was inadvertent burning of Muslim holy books at a military base in Kabul. ...Read More

Venezuela's Chavez says his cancer is likely back

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant. ...Read More

Greek lawmakers rush to clear promised austerity

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece scrambled Wednesday to adopt a batch of emergency laws that will further cut incomes and government spending, a day after securing a new bailout and debt relief deal designed to stave off bankruptcy. ...Read More

Argentine train slams into station, 100s injured

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, injuring at least 340 morning commuters, Argentina's transportation secretary said. ...Read More

American war reporter Marie Colvin killed in Syria

LONDON (AP) — She was instantly recognizable for the eye patch that hid a shrapnel injury — a testament to Marie Colvin's courage, which took her behind the front lines of the world's deadliest conflicts to write about the suffering of individuals trapped in war. ...Read More

Microsoft lodges EU complaint against Motorola

BRUSSELS (AP) — Microsoft on Wednesday lodged a formal complaint with the European Union's competition regulator against Google's Motorola Mobility, saying the company's aggressive enforcement of patent rights against rivals breaks competition rules. ...Read More