Sudan: at least 30 Darfur rebels killed in clashes

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The Sudanese army says its soldiers have killed at least 30 rebels in clashes in Sudan's troubled North Darfur region.The army spokesman, Col. Sawarme Khalid, says the rebel forces belong to Justice and Equality Movement. He told the semiofficial Sudan Media Center Wednesday that the army turned back a rebel attack in Jebel Marra area of North Darfur.Darfur has been in turmoil...

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Iran annual inflation hits 27.4 percent

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's central bank says the annual inflation rate hit 27.4 percent at the end of 2012, one of the highest rates ever quoted by Iranian authorities.The soaring rate is attributed to Western sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear program and government mismanagement.The figure was posted on the bank's website Wednesday. It reflects worsening economic conditions under President Mahmoud...

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Iranians freed by Syrian rebels arrive in Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian rebels on Wednesday freed 48 Iranians held captive since August in exchange for the release of more than 2,000 detainees in the first major prisoner swap of the country's civil war, officials said.The exchange came just days after Assad vowed to press ahead with the fight against rebels despite international pressure to end the bloodshed that has left more than 60,000...

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Michael J. Fox to play newscaster dealing with Parkinson's in NBC show

PASADENA, Calif. - On his upcoming NBC TV comedy, Michael J. Fox will play a newscaster who quits his job because of Parkinson's Disease but returns to work in the show's first episode because a new medical regimen has helped him control many of the disease's symptoms.NBC said Sunday the comedy closely tracks many aspects of Fox's personal life and tries to have fun with an image that has left him...

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NHL players in hurry-up mode to prepare for games with pending end to lockout

The clock is already ticking for NHL players preparing to return to the ice.With the end to the lockout pending, there will only be time for a brief training camp before a compressed schedule of 48 or 50 games.The next few weeks will quickly show whether players who haven't played a competitive game since last spring are ready for the rigours of a regular season."I don't think it'll be too tough,"...

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Canada's top court rejects blanket rule on niqabs in court

(Reuters) - Canadian judges should decide on a case-by-case basis whether women can wear the niqab, a full-face veil, while testifying in court, but a blanket rule on the issue would be "untenable," Canada's top court said on Thursday.The decision, supported by four of the seven judges who heard the case at the Supreme Court of Canada, said lower courts must consider, among other things, the harm...

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German magazine mistakenly publishes Bush obituary

 Germany's respected news weekly Der Spiegel mistakenly published an obituary Sunday for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, hours after a family spokesman said the 88-year-old was recovering from illness.Bush was hospitalized in Houston Nov. 23 for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough and moved to intensive care on Dec. 23 after he developed a fever. On Saturday, spokesman Jim McGrath...

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Reports: Russia sends another naval ship to Syria

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian news agencies say the navy is sending another ship to the Syrian port of Tartus, where Russia has a naval base.The reports Sunday by the ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agency cited an unidentified official in the military general staff as saying the Novocherkassk, a large landing ship, has set sail from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. The ship is expected to arrive in the Tartus...

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UK Catholics urged to lobby against gay marriage

 The leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales has urged followers to write to their representatives in Parliament to oppose the government's plans to allow gay marriage.In a letter read to congregations over the weekend, Archbishop Vincent Nichols called for Catholics to express their views "clearly, calmly and forcefully."Nichols says he is concerned about how a change in the law would...

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Housing equity injection lowest since Q1 2010

 Britons' mortgage repayments exceeded new borrowing during the third quarter of 2012, but by the smallest margin since early 2010, figures from the Bank of England showed on Monday.The net injection of housing equity totalled 8.043 billion pounds in the third quarter, equivalent to 2.9 percent of post-tax income - down from 9.439 billion pounds in the second quarter and the lowest figure since...

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About 25 arrested in Moscow New Year's Eve protest

About 25 people reportedly have been arrested in Moscow on New Year's Eve for trying to hold an unsanctioned protest.The gathering at Triumphalnaya Square in central Moscow on Monday attracted 50 to 100 people.Among those arrested was prominent radical writer Eduard Limonov; the Interfax news agency cited activists as saying about 25 people were taken into custody.For about two years, activists have...

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Judge denies Texas request for feds to keep funding health program

A judge on Friday denied a request by Texas for an order requiring the federal government to continue providing money for a state health program for low-income women.U.S. District Judge Walter Smith in Waco, Texas, denied the state's motion for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from cutting off Medicaid money for the Women's...

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Afghan leader: Foreigners to blame for corruption

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president accused on Saturday the countries that fund his government and military with enabling the widespread corruption that undermines his efforts to establish rule of law in the war-wracked country.Graft and payoffs are widely recognized as a major problem facing Afghanistan as the government works to establish authority over a volatile country and win the...

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Mob in Pakistan kills man accused of burning Quran

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A mob in southern Pakistan stormed a police station to seize a mentally unstable Muslim man accused of burning a copy of Islam's holy book, beat him to death, and then set his body afire, police said Saturday.The case is likely to raise further concerns about the country's harsh blasphemy laws, which can result in a death sentence or life in prison to anyone found guilty....

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Pakistan says 29 nationals beaten by Afghans

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say they are investigating allegations by neighboring Pakistan that Afghan forces severely beat Pakistani nationals.The Saturday protest note from Islamabad's Foreign Office provided no details other than to say that all 29 had valid travel documents.Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai says he has no information about the allegations, but Kabul...

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Bombing at political rally kills 8 in Pakistan

Bombing at political rally kills 8 in PakistanPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say a suicide bomber attacked a political rally in the country's northwest, killing eight people.Police officer Arfan Khan says the bombing Saturday in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, also wounded more than 20 people.Khan says the rally was being held by the Awami National Party, whose members...

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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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