GENEVA (AP) ― A United Nations panel said Wednesday that Libyan government forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in a conflict it estimates has killed between 10,000-15,000 people.The U.N. investigators found evidence that opposition forces also committed “some acts which would constitute war crimes,” the global body said.“The commission is not of the view that the violation

TOKYO (AP) ― The Japanese government wants the country’s suit-loving salarymen to be bold this summer. Ditch the stuffy jacket and tie. And for the good of a country facing a power crunch, go light and casual.Japan’s “Super Cool Biz” campaign kicked off Wednesday with a government-sponsored fashion show featuring outfits appropriate for the office yet cool enough to endure the sweltering heat. A m

 

KABUL (AP) ― A Taliban suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up inside a heavily guarded compound Saturday as top Afghan and international officials left a meeting, killing two senior Afghan police commanders and wounding the German general who commands coalition troops in northern Afghanistan.Two German soldiers and two other Afghans were also killed in the blast, the latest in an

Travel restrictions eased for 1.5 million residents of the Palestinian territoryRAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) ― Egypt lifted a 4-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, greatly easing travel restrictions on the 1.5 million residents of the Palestinian territory in a move that bolstered the Hamas government while dealing a setback to Israel’s attempts to isolate the militant group.The sense of re

BEIJING (AP) ― Police sealed off parts of two county seats in China’s Inner Mongolia for a second day Saturday in what residents described as a kind of martial law after protests triggered by the death of a Mongolian herder run over by a Chinese truck driver.The demonstrations this past week in two counties and a nearby city are rare for Inner Mongolia, unlike China’s other troubled border regions

President argues only Western allies have fortitude to promote democracyLONDON (AP) ― President Barack Obama stood in the historic grandeur of Westminster Hall and served notice to England and the world that the growing influence of countries like China, India and Brazil does not mean a diminished global role for America and its European allies.“The time for our leadership is now,” Obama declared

 

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ― Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parameters for a peace deal, outlined in a speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, fell far short of what is needed to resume negotiations, Palestinian officials said.Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu’s insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their

Authorities fear toll could rise as full scale of destruction becomes clearJOPLIN, Missouri (AP) ― Rescue crews dug through piles of splintered houses and crushed cars Monday in a search for victims of a half-kilometer-wide tornado that killed at least 116 people when it blasted much of this Missouri town off the map and slammed straight into its hospital.It was the deadliest single twister in the

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) ― An Icelandic volcano flung ash, smoke and steam kilometers into the air and dropped a thick layer of gray soot in an eruption far more forceful ― but likely far less disruptive ― than the one that grounded planes across Europe last year.The country’s main airport was closed Sunday and pilots were warned to steer clear of Iceland as areas close to the Grimsvotn volcano wer

RABAT, Morocco (AP) ― Moroccan police on Sunday spent hours chasing hundreds of pro-democracy activists through the streets of the capital in an effort to prevent any pro-reform demonstrations from taking place.Riot police armed with truncheons charged any attempts at protest gatherings, injuring some activists and hauling others off to waiting police trucks.Morocco’s Feb. 20 movement, which is ca

MADRID (AFP) ― A wave of nationwide protests against soaring unemployment and the economic crisis overshadowed local elections in Spain on Sunday in which the ruling Socialist Party faced the prospect of a humiliating defeat.The predicted rout would be a bad omen for the party ahead of general elections scheduled for March 2012, when the conservative Popular Party is expected to romp back into off

SANAA (AP) ― Under pressure from protesters and regional allies, Yemen’s president said Saturday he will sign a deal to step down after 32 years in power. Still, he condemned the proposal as “a coup” and warned the U.S. and Europe that his departure will open the door for al-Qaida to seize control of the fragile nation on the edge of Arabia.The mixed signals from Yemen’s embattled president, Ali A

Europe visit seeks to define West's role in Arab world, global economyWASHINGTON (AP) ― Weaving together strands of pomp, policy and summitry, President Barack Obama’s weeklong European tour is all about tending to old friends in the Western alliance and securing their help with daunting challenges, from the political upheaval in the Mideast and North Africa to the protracted war in Afghanistan.Ob

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― Europe fought to retain leadership of the IMF on Thursday to help tackle its debt crisis as emerging nations launched a sharp counter-attack, saying it was time rising economies took the helm.With the ink barely dry on Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s letter of resignation from a New York jail cell, European nations staked their claim to the top job at the world’s lender of last resort on

GLADSTONE, New Jersey (AFP) ― Top seed Choi Na-yeon advanced to the second round of the $1.5 million LPGA Match Play Championship by beating Scotland’s Catriona Matthew 3 and 2 but second seed Shin Jiyai was eliminated.South Korea’s Choi, claiming the top seed by virtue of leading last year’s LPGA money list, was level with her European rival until a birdie at the par-4 15th and a bogey by Matthew

NEW YORK (AP) ― A sea of cameras captured a rumpled, handcuffed, angry-looking Dominique Strauss-Kahn as plainclothes detectives took the International Monetary Fund head from a police precinct to court. The images weren’t unusual for a high-profile criminal case in the U.S., but in his French homeland, they’d be illegal.While American authorities have condoned such “perp walks” (short for perpetr

NEW YORK (AP) ― Guards at New York City’s massive Rikers Island jail complex are taking unusual precautions to make sure IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn doesn’t come to any harm behind bars.The 62-year-old banker and diplomat has a whole jail wing to himself, a medical device to make sure he doesn’t stop breathing during the night and guards checking him 24 hours a day to make sure he doesn’t kil

CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s Justice Ministry on Tuesday ordered the wife of deposed President Hosni Mubarak released from custody without bail, after she relinquished her disputed assets.Suzanne Mubarak, 70, has turned over her property and money to the state valued at some $4 million. The move aimed to settle corruption allegations against her, but it was unclear whether she still faces trial.In a state