HANOI (AP) ― Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly appointed Truong Tan Sang as the communist country’s new president Monday amid challenges at home with the economy and abroad with China over disputed territory in the South China Sea.Sang, 62, a southerner who was a former mayor and party chief in Ho Chi Minh City, had most recently served as the de facto No. 2 in charge of the Communist Party, r

 

 

NAIROBI (AFP) ― The International Red Cross said Sunday it had handed out 400 tons of food in drought-hit parts of rebel-held southern Somalia as the UN prepares to host emergency talks on the crisis in the region.“The distribution took place in the Bardera district and passed without incident, with the knowledge of the authorities and the recipients,” ICRC spokesman Yves Van Loo told AFP in Nairo

Fierce fighting serves as reminder that war is not over in some partsSIRAQULA, Afghanistan (AP) ― Shortly after the call to prayer resounded over the harvested poppy fields near Salaam Bazaar, two Taliban commanders were heard on their radios asking how their forces were doing.The number of Taliban fighters who respond varies, but in the last month a squad of U.S. Marines at a small patrol base he

 

NEW YORK (AP) ― Hundreds of gay couples dressed in formal suits and striped trousers, gowns and T-shirts recited vows in emotion-choked voices and triumphantly hoisted their long-awaited marriage certificates on Sunday as New York became the sixth and largest U.S. state to recognize same-sex weddings.Couples began saying “I do” at midnight from Niagara Falls to Long Island, though New York City be

BEIJING (AP) ― The fugitive at the center of a 12-year extradition court battle in Canada was returned Saturday to China, where he is accused of running a $10 billion smuggling ring that dealt in everything from cars to oil in a scandal touching the government’s highest levels. Chinese businessman Lai Changxing is escorted by Chinese authorities after he landed in Beijing on Saturday. (AFP-Yonhap

MADRID (AP) ― Several hundred Spaniards angry about their country’s economic crisis protested on the outskirts of Madrid Saturday after spending about a month marching to the capital from their hometowns.The marchers set off from Barcelona and Bilbao in the north, Valencia in the east and Cadiz in the southwest on June 25. En route, they were joined by other people angry about Spain’s economic woe

CARACAS (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he soldiered through his first week of chemotherapy in Cuba with only minor discomfort but that a long process of additional treatment lies ahead as he confronts cancer.Chavez, 56, made an unannounced return to Venezuela late Saturday after spending a week in Cuba undergoing treatment. He strode away from the plane down a red carpet while troop

CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s council of military rulers will not allow international monitors to observe upcoming parliamentary elections designed to move the country back toward civilian rule, a council member said Wednesday.The decision, which is part of a new election law approved by the country’s ruling generals, was swiftly criticized by activists who said it raises questions about the transparency o

U.N. declares crisis in parts of the country, tens of thousands feared deadNAIROBI (AP) ― Tens of thousands of Somalis are feared dead in the world’s worst famine in a generation, the U.N. said Wednesday, and the U.S. said it will allow emergency funds to be spent in areas controlled by al-Qaida-linked militants as long as the fighters do not interfere with aid distributions.Exhausted, rail-thin w

LONDON (AP) ― Prime Minister David Cameron dragged his political foes into Britain’s phone-hacking scandal at a raucous session of Parliament, distancing himself from a former aide at the heart of the allegations and denying his staff tried to thwart police investigations.Cameron, who flew back from Africa early for Wednesday’s emergency session, defended his decision to hire former News of the Wo

 

ISLAMABAD (AFP) ― Pakistan’s first woman foreign minister ― and also its youngest ― was sworn in on Tuesday, ending a five-month job vacancy a week before crucial peace talks in India.Hina Rabbani Khar, 34, is also expected to meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the regional ASEAN forum in Indonesia this week. “On the advice of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the pr

 

JERUSALEM (AP) ― Israeli naval commandos on Tuesday seized control of a French ship attempting to break Israel’s sea blockade of the Gaza Strip and towed it into port, reporting no resistance during the takeover in international waters.The takeover was the latest in a series of run-ins on the high seas between the Israeli navy and pro-Palestinian activists trying to breach the blockade. In the mos

 

THE HAGUE (AP) ― The U.N.’s highest court Monday created a demilitarized zone around a 1,000-year-old temple on the disputed border between Cambodia and Thailand, and ordered the armed forces from both countries to withdraw.Both countries said they were satisfied with the ruling by the International Court of Justice, meant to end clashes that have claimed about 20 lives in the last three years and