Suspicion falls on Islamist separatists from Chechanya or Caucasus regionMOSCOW (AP) ― Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has vowed revenge for the suicide bombing that killed 35 people at a Moscow airport ― a familiar tough-on-terrorism stance that has underpinned his power but also led to a rising number of deadly attacks in Russia.Lax security also was blamed for Monday’s explosion in the internatio

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― Somali pirates are spreading their attack zone and now costing more than $7 billion a year, according to a U.N. study released Monday which calls for new security and legal weapons to be urgently deployed.A new court to try pirates with Somalis jurisdiction but based in a foreign country should be set up, former French foreign minister Jack Lang said in the report.The intern

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Before there were modern weight loss diets, there was William Banting. He invented the low-carb diet of 1863.Even then Americans were trying out advice that urged fish, mutton or “any meat except pork” for breakfast, lunch and dinner ― hold the potatoes, please.It turns out our obsession with weight and how to lose it dates back at least 150 years. And while now we say “overweigh

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Republicans in the House of Representatives fulfilled a campaign promise, casting a largely symbolic vote to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. The measure was sure to die in the Democratic-controlled Senate and faced a certain veto if it should reach the president’s desk.Nevertheless, the Wednesday vote in the House, newly under Republican control, signaled th

Interim president promises amnesty for political prisoners and media freedomTUNIS (AFP) ― Tunisia’s interim president Wednesday promised a “total break” with the past and hailed “a revolution of dignity and liberty,” as prosecutors opened a vast inquiry against the previous leader.Investigators will look into the extensive domestic and foreign assets held by former president Zine El Abidine Ben Al

Duvalier's lawyer protests against legal moves, saying statute of limitation expiredPORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) ― More than two decades after being ousted from power, ex-dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier aims to profit from Haiti’s turmoil to recapture the presidency, an aide said Wednesday.The news came as Duvalier’s lawyer confirmed the former leader, who returned from exile amid political uphea

NAIROBI (AP) ― Pirates captured a record 1,181 hostages in 2010 ― almost all of them off the Somali coast ― during a year in which hijackings and attacks became more violent, a global maritime watchdog said.Attackers seized 53 vessels worldwide in 2010, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur. All but four were taken by

ISTANBUL (AFP) ― Iran and six world powers meet Friday in Istanbul for a second round of talks, amid guarded hope for progress in efforts to settle tensions over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.The meeting follows a first round in Geneva last month, which broke a 14-month hiatus in negotiations between the Islamic republic and the so-called 5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United

Government may seek justice over ex-dictator's regime, widely regarded as brutalPORT-AU-PRINCE (AP) ―A judge will decide whether former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier will be tried on charges that include corruption and embezzlement for allegedly pilfering the treasury before his 1986 ouster, a lawyer for the ex-strongman said Tuesday.A judge questioned the former dictator known as “Baby Do

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) ― President Barack Obama appealed for unity at a Wednesday memorial service for those attacked in the Arizona shooting rampage and implored a divided America to honor them by becoming a better country.Obama electrified the crowd by revealing that following his Wednesday hospital visit with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, she had opened her eyes for the first time since being shot poi

ROME (AP) ― A teenager at the heart of the latest criminal probe of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi says the billionaire media mogul gave her 7,000 euros ($9,350) when she came to a Valentine’s Day soiree at his villa but reiterated that she didn’t have sex with him.Milan prosecutors were investigating whether Berlusconi paid for sex with an underage girl from Morocco and then abused his power i

Disaster hits the poor hardest, rickety homes builts on steep inclines swept awayRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― Summer rains sent tons of red mud and torrents of water rushing down mountainsides in towns outside Rio, enveloping homes of rich and poor alike and killing at least 257 people in 24 hours. Some survivors clung to trees to escape the water and landslides.Rescuers used heavy machinery, shovels and

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― NASA has spotted a tiny, rocky planet about the size of Earth doing a speedy orbit of a star outside our solar system, but its scorching temperatures are too hot for life, the space agency said Monday.The exoplanet, named Kepler-10b, is the smallest-ever planet discovered outside our solar system, and was located by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft.It is about 1.4 times the size of Eart

WASHINGTON ― Last summer, as torrential rains flooded Pakistan, a veteran intelligence analyst watched closely from his desk at CIA headquarters just outside the capital.For the analyst, who heads the CIA’s year-old Center on Climate Change and National Security, the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history was a warning.“It has the exact same symptoms you would see for future climate change e

TEHRAN (AP) ― An IranAir passenger jet carrying 106 people crashed as it was making an emergency landing on Sunday in a snowstorm in the country’s northwest and broke into several pieces, killing 77 of those on board, Iranian media reported. The others survived with light injuries.The pilots of the Boeing-727, operated by Iran’s national airline, attempted the emergency landing in the city of Orum

Suspect claims he planned attack alone; prosecutors charge five countsTUCSON, Arizona (AFP) ― U.S. prosecutors Sunday charged a lone young gunman over the attempted assassination of a congresswoman as doctors voiced guarded hope she would recover from the attack that killed six others.President Barack Obama called on Americans to observe a moment of silence on Monday for victims of the attack in A

LAS VEGAS (AP) ― This year, the big national wireless carriers will be racing to stake their claims in the new frontier of service: ultra-fast data access ― for smart phones and laptops as well as for gadgets like tablets.The companies are boosting their wireless data speeds and revving up the marketing hype. They’re moving away from talking about call quality and coverage, and focusing on data sp

The fact that South Korea has failed to win the Asian Cup since 1960 is a source of puzzlement.The South Koreans, named the Taeguk Warriors after the emblem of their national flag, have by far the best record at the World Cup of any Asian team and has appeared at eight tournaments. Japan and Saudi Arabia are next with four each. At the competition itself, the team has progressed further than any o

Christians clash with police; interior minister blames 'foreign elements'ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (AFP) ― Egypt said a suicide bomber killed 21 people and wounded 79 outside a Coptic church on Saturday, in an attack President Hosni Mubarak said was the work of “foreign hands.”There was no immediate claim but al-Qaida has called for punishment of Egypt’s Copts over claims that two priests’ wives they say

NEW DELHI (AFP) ― The theme of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India was “friends not rivals,” but a border dispute remains a source of tension and, analysts warn, potential conflict between the Asian giants.The joint communiqu that concluded Wen’s recent visit barely mentioned the long-standing border issue, as both sides sought to highlight areas of agreement with an ambitious plan to double trade to 100 billion dollars by 2015.The only reference was a vague pledge to try and “maintain p