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China police stop spread of Egypt news: activist

BEIJING — Police in southwest China have barred activists from distributing leaflets about anti-government protests in Egypt and Tunisia, deeming the news too sensitive, one dissident said Wednesday. Activists in Guizhou province tried to hand out information about the demonstrations over the weekend, but police told them this was an…

Aussie opposition chief in Afghan gaffe row

SYDNEY — Australia’s gaffe-prone opposition leader Tony Abbott was engulfed in a new row Wednesday over an unguarded comment about a soldier’s death in Afghanistan. Abbott hit out at media after TV station Channel Seven showed him rudely describing that things “happen” while discussing the death of Lance Corporal Jared…

Ghost villages left as 36,000 Afghans flee war

KHAKAI, Afghanistan — There is no-one drinking tea or tending animals outside their homes in Khakai, one of the ghost villages of southern Afghanistan — just lots of collapsed mud walls and an eerie quiet. “It’s totally empty,” said Bryan Baker, a medic accompanying a US-Afghan military patrol searching for…

Hague warns Israel over ‘belligerent’ rhetoric

LONDON — Foreign Secretary William Hague warned “belligerent” Israel to tame its rhetoric and said unrest in Arab countries may hinder the peace process, in comments published on Wednesday. Hague told the London Times that recent popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan could undermine the search for a permanent…

Inter-Korea military talks collapse: official

SEOUL — Military talks aimed at easing high tensions between North and South Korea collapsed Wednesday when the North’s delegation walked out, Seoul’s defence ministry said. It was the first cross-border dialogue since the North’s deadly shelling of a South Korean island on November 23, which briefly sparked fears of…

Pakistan cabinet resigns

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s ministers on Wednesday submitted their resignations to the prime minister as part of plans to appoint a smaller cabinet in order to reduce government spending at a time of economic crisis. Still reeling from unprecedented flooding last year that caused damages of $9.7 billion, the government is…

Egypt rejects ‘hasty’ reforms

CAIRO – The United States urged Egypt to immediately lift an emergency law and launch democratic reforms as protestors staged the biggest show of defiance against President Hosni Mubarak in a three-week-old revolt. But Mubarak’s newly appointed deputy, Vice President Omar Suleiman, warned that hasty reforms could spell “chaos” in…

UK court bans man from having sex because of low IQ

What does a “vigorous sex drive” and a low IQ get you? In Britain, the answer seems to be a court order preventing you from having sex. In a ruling that was attacked by some as homophobic and insensitive to disabled peoples’ rights, a British court ordered last week that…

US denies involvement in Cairo hit-and-run

CAIRO — The US embassy in Cairo on Tuesday denied its staff were behind the wheel of what appeared to be an official vehicle that mowed down dozens of protesters in a high-speed hit-and-run captured on video. “We have seen a video that alleges a US diplomatic vehicle was involved…

Prosecutors to seek sex trial for Berlusconi

MILAN – Italian prosecutors will on Wednesday seek an immediate trial for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, accused of paying for sex with an under-age girl and intervening improperly to have her released from police custody. Once the request is submitted by Milan prosecutors, who believe they have enough evidence to…

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