India set for murder, rape charges in gang attack

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police were preparing Thursday to file rape and murder charges against a group of men accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old university student for hours on a moving bus in New Delhi.The Dec. 16 attack on the woman, who later died of her injuries, has caused outrage across India, sparking protests and demands for tough new rape laws, better police protection for women...

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Taliban likens US Afghan role to Vietnam War

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban Wednesday likened the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan to America's pullout from Vietnam, calling it a "declare victory and run" strategy.A statement from the militant group said the ongoing transfer of security operations from U.S. troops to Afghan forces was merely a retreat similar to the American withdrawal from South Vietnam prior to the...

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US, Europe hope the new year brings better times

NEW YORK (AP) — From the glittering New Year's ball dropping in Times Square to joyous fireworks in London and cheers in a once-isolated Asian country, the world did its best to ring in 2013 with hope for renewal after a year of economic uncertainty, searing violence and natural disasters."With all the sadness in the country, we're looking for some good changes in 2013," Laura Concannon, of Hingham,...

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Myanmar to fete 2013 with first public countdown

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar will ring in the new year with its first public countdown and a grand fireworks display Monday night in a celebration unprecedented in the former military-ruled country.It's the latest, and perhaps most exuberant, example of the country's emergence from decades of isolation.Thousands were expected to attend the event at a large field in Yangon with a backdrop of the...

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Pakistan official: 19 killed in attack on Shiites

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber driving a vehicle packed with explosives rammed into a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims in southwest Pakistan on Sunday, killing 19 people, a government official and eyewitnesses said.Earlier Sunday, 21 tribal policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban were found shot dead in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region, government officials...

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Indian gang-rape victim dies in Singapore hospital

NEW DELHI (AP) — Shocked Indians on Saturday were mourning the death of a woman who was gang-raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi nearly two weeks ago in an ordeal that galvanized people to demand greater protection for women from sexual violence.Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was aware of the emotions the attack has stirred, adding it was up to all Indians to ensure that the young...

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Nowhere to use Japan's growing plutonium stockpile

ROKKASHO, Japan (AP) — How is an atomic-powered island nation riddled with fault lines supposed to handle its nuclear waste? Part of the answer was supposed to come from this windswept village along Japan's northern coast.By hosting a high-tech facility that would convert spent fuel into a plutonium-uranium mix designed for the next generation of reactors, Rokkasho was supposed to provide fuel while...

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India rape victim in Singapore, PM pledges action

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged Thursday to take action to protect the nation's women while the young victim of a gang rape on a New Delhi bus was flown to Singapore for treatment of severe internal injuries.The Dec. 16 rape and brutal beating of the 23-year-old student triggered widespread protests in New Delhi and other parts of India demanding a government crackdown...

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Afghan bomber attacks near major US base

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A vehicle driven by a suicide bomber exploded at the gate of a major U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing the attacker and three Afghans, Afghan police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.Police Gen. Abdul Qayum Baqizai said a local guard who questioned the vehicle driver at the gate of Camp Chapman was killed along with two...

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8 dead after Christmas Day fires in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Authorities in the Philippines say at least eight people are dead after two separate Christmas Day fires in the capital region. One of the blazes left about 1,500 people homeless when it razed their shantytown.Arson investigator Rosendo Cabillan says a predawn fire Tuesday razed two apartment buildings in Quezon City, a Manila suburb. A veterinarian and six household members...

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Afghan policewoman kills US adviser, police say

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan policewoman shot and killed an American adviser outside the police headquarters in Kabul on Monday, a senior Afghan official said. The circumstances of the killing were not immediately clear but the shooting could be another insider attack by Afghans against their foreign allies.A NATO command spokesman, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Lester T. Carroll, said the shooter...

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Bombing at political rally kills 9 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed nine people including a provincial government official at a political rally held Saturday by a party that has opposed the Taliban, officials said.The rally in Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was held by the Awami National Party, whose members have been repeatedly targeted by the Taliban.Among the dead...

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People flee Japan nuke disaster to faraway Okinawa

NAHA, Japan (AP) — Okinawa is about as far away as one can get from Fukushima without leaving Japan, and that is why Minaho Kubota is here.Petrified of the radiation spewing from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant that went into multiple meltdowns last year, Kubota grabbed her children, left her skeptical husband and moved to the small southwestern island. More than 1,000 people from the disaster...

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Malala asks Pakistan not to rename college for her

MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) — A 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for promoting girls' education has urged Pakistan to reverse a decision to rename a college in her honor to avert militant attacks on students, an official said Friday.Malala Yousufzai, who became a symbol of youth resistance to the Taliban, made the request after students broke into the school, tore down Malala's pictures...

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Thailand to extradite Italian accused of mob ties

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Thursday ordered the extradition of a fugitive Italian banker found guilty of laundering money for some of Italy's top mobsters through New York pizzerias in the 1970s and '80s.Handcuffed and dressed in an orange prison uniform, Vito Roberto Palazzolo told a judge, "This is not the rule of law!" Guards then escorted him to a prison van where he commented to reporters,...

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New attacks on polio teams in Pakistan kill 2

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen shot dead a woman working on U.N.-backed polio vaccination efforts and her driver in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said, just a day after similar attacks across the country killed five female polio workers.The killings are a major setback for a campaign that international health officials consider vital to contain the crippling disease but which Taliban...

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Grenade attack at Pakistan army facility wounds 10

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Two men on a motorcycle hurled hand grenades at the main gate of an army recruiting center in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, wounding 10 people, police said.The injured in the attack in the garrison town of Risalpur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province included civilians and security personnel, said senior police official, Ghulam Mohammed.Mohammed told The Associated Press that...

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Car bomb kills 17 people in market in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A car bomb exploded in a crowded market in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region Monday, killing 17 people and wounding more than 40 others, officials said.The bomb went off next to the women's waiting area of a bus stop, which is located near the office of one of the top political officials in the Khyber tribal area, said Hidayat Khan, a local government official....

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Rocket still centerpiece as NKoreans mourn Kim

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Just days after launching a satellite into orbit in defiance of international critics, North Korea formally began mourning the death of late leader Kim Jong Il on Sunday, the eve of the first anniversary of his death.At a somber memorial service honoring Kim, North Korea's top leadership parlayed the success of Wednesday's rocket launch into praise not only for the late...

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Sympathy over US school shooting stretches globe

BANGKOK (AP) — Images of a tearful President Barack Obama speaking after a shooting rampage in Connecticut resonated around the world, with many outside the United States expressing hope Saturday that America's latest school massacre would prompt the country to strengthen gun control.Shock and sympathy were the initial reactions to the rampage that left 28 people dead, including 20 children at an...

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