World News

Chile's new president asks citizens to dry tears and go to work in rebuilding after quake
SANTIAGO, Chile - Calling on Chileans to dry their tears and get to work to rebuild the nation, Sebastian Pinera is already setting an example. Meeting late into the night with his ministers after a day when repeated earthquakes shook up inaugural ceremonies, the new president vowed "to work without rest" on relief and reconstruction, introducing his first proposals to the congress Friday morning.
      

Suicide bombings kill 39, wound 95 in Pakistan's Lahore, signal potential new wave of violence
LAHORE, Pakistan - A pair of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other Friday, killing at least 39 people in this eastern city and wounding nearly 100, police said. It was the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week, indicating Islamist militants are stepping up violence after a period of relative calm. At least six security personnel were among the dead, senior police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq said.
      

Malaysia detains 93 Rohingya boat people who have been at sea for 30 days
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian authorities have picked up 93 Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar who said they spent 30 days at sea in a crowded wooden boat, an official said Friday. The Rohingya men, an ethnic group not recognized by Myanmar's military regime, had apparently been chased out of Thai waters before they were detained Wednesday off Malaysia's northern resort island of Langkawi, said Zainuddin Mohamad Suki, an officer with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
      

Police kill 2 suspected militants in Indonesia, stepping up crackdown
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Indonesian police killed two suspected Islamist militants in a firefight in remote Aceh province Friday during the latest in a series of raids made since an extremist training camp was discovered there last month. Eight other suspects were arrested. The operations have highlighted the resilience of Southeast Asian militant networks allied to al-Qaida, as well as the continued pressure being applied on them by Indonesian anti-terror police.
      

Heavy rain and melting snow cause severe flooding in Kazakhstan, claiming lives
ALMATY, Kazakhstan - Heavy rain and melting snow have caused severe floods across a region of Kazakhstan neighbouring China, flooding villages and claiming lives, emergency officials said Friday. Southern Kazakhstan was affected by unusually intense snowfalls this winter and fast-rising temperatures are now causing massive flooding and mudslides across the region.
      

Somali official tells residents to flee battle zones as fighting flares for a third day
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Fighting erupted in Somalia's capital for the third straight day Friday in some of the worst violence in nearly a year, as government-backed troops shelled the front lines of rebels trying to advance into government-held territory. Mogadishu's mayor warned residents to flee the fighting, which is expected to intensify in coming weeks after the government launches a long-awaited offensive against Islamist insurgents.
      

Thai anti-government protesters begin to mass around the country ahead of march on Bangkok
BANGKOK, Thailand - Anti-government protesters massed around Thailand on Friday ahead of a march they hope will paralyze the capital and force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call new elections. Authorities mobilized 50,000 security officers and set up checkpoints around Bangkok. Several schools closed in Bangkok and foreigners were advised by over 30 embassies and the Tourism Authority of Thailand to stay away from the protests, as Thailand braced for violence in the latest chapter of a four-year political crisis.
      

Roads to be built to provide quick access to protect Cambodia's Angkor temples from fire
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Seventeen new roads will provide quick access to Cambodia's Angkor complex in case of fires at the ancient temples, officials said Friday shortly before a blaze started nearby. The roads will alleviate fears of damage to the country's greatest artistic treasure, especially during the dry season when blazes often break out, said Tan Sambu, an official of the Apsara Authority, the government agency that oversees the temples.
      

Chinese education official plan revamp for college exams, fostering creativity in schools
BEIJING - China plans to revamp its university admissions system, allowing students to take subject-specific tests and introducing other measures besides the exam to ease the stress millions of students undergo as they compete for a coveted few spots in colleges. Currently access to university is entirely dependent on the score students gets on a two-day test on a wide range of subjects. A little more than 10.2 million students take the exam each year, and only about 25 per cent of them get in. The vast majority of those who don't make the cut go straight into the work force.
      

Taiwan's justice minister resigns over objection to death penalty
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's justice minister has resigned after her public stance against the death penalty failed to win popular backing. The decision by Wang Ching-feng - announced by the Cabinet late Thursday - highlights the continued support for capital punishment in Taiwan, despite the island's four-year de facto moratorium on executions.
      

Japan arrests New Zealand anti-whaling activist for illegally boarding Japanese vessel
TOKYO - Japan's coast guard arrested an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand on Friday for illegally boarding a whaling ship last month in the latest incident in the ongoing battle over Japanese whaling. Peter Bethune, a member of the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd activist group, is accused of jumping aboard the whaling vessel from a Jet Ski on Feb. 15 in Antarctic seas, where Japan was conducting its annual whale hunt.
      

UK report says asylum seekers abuse allegations were not properly investigated
LONDON - A new report condemns the way U.K. authorities investigated claims of abuse made by asylum seekers. The Northern Ireland police ombudsman studied the claims after complaints that security contractors did not properly use restraint techniques when carrying out deportations.
      

Heavy rain and melting snow cause severe flooding in Kazakhstan, claiming lives
ALMATY, Kazakhstan - Heavy rain and melting snow have caused severe floods across a region of Kazakhstan neighbouring China, flooding villages and claiming lives, emergency officials said Friday. Southern Kazakhstan was affected by unusually intense snowfalls this winter and fast-rising temperatures are now causing massive flooding and mudslides across the region.
      

Pakistani navy tests missiles in Arabian Sea, calling it a message to ’nefarious’ forces
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's navy successfully test-fired a series of missiles and torpedoes Friday in what it called a message to "nefarious" forces - an apparent reference to longtime rival India. While the two nuclear-armed neighbours have taken slow steps toward restarting peace talks, they also have a history of using weapons tests as a form of diplomatic saber-rattling.
      

Hans van Mierlo, Dutch foreign minister at time of fall of Srebrenica, dies at age 78
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Former Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo has died of liver disease, the social democratic party he helped establish announced. He was 78 Van Mierlo, who died late Thursday, was foreign minister in 1995 when outnumbered and outgunned Dutch peacekeepers looked on helplessly as Bosnian Serb forces overran the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia and went on to massacre some 8,000 Muslim men.
      

US official indicates new policy of engaging with Myanmar to push reform is failing
YANGON, Myanmar - Washington's new policy of engagement with Myanmar's military government appears to be failing, a senior U.S. official indicated Friday, noting the junta's decision to bar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from upcoming elections. This week the government unveiled election laws that prevent the detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate from running for office or even voting in the polls and greatly weaken her National League for Democracy. The date of the elections has not been announced.
      

PM ahead in early Iraq election results, but secular challenger alleges fraud
BAGHDAD - First results from Iraq's parliamentary election showed the prime minister and his secular rival locked in an extremely tight contest amid fraud allegations by rival parties and a chaotic, unpredictable vote count. The partial tallies released Thursday came from only five of Iraq's 18 provinces. However, Iraqi officials who have seen results from across the country said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition appeared to have a narrow edge, though not an outright majority.
      

11 rare Siberian tigers die from malnutrition at cash-strapped Chinese zoo, report says
BEIJING - Eleven rare Siberian tigers kept in small cages and fed only chicken bones have died of malnutrition at a cash-strapped zoo in China's frigid northeast, state media said Friday. A manager at the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Liaoning province, however, said the animals had died of disease.
      

Afghan insurgents kill 3 police in gun and bomb attack on post in eastern province
KABUL, Afghanistan - Insurgents attacked a police post in eastern Afghanistan with guns and then detonated a roadside bomb as reinforcements sped to the scene, killing three members of an elite strike force, police said Friday. Among the dead was the commander of the new police rapid-reaction force created in Paktia province to respond to Taliban threats, provincial police Chief Azizudin Wardak said.
      

AP interview: Russian envoy criticizes US, NATO over Afghan drug surge
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Russia's envoy to NATO has sharply criticized the alliance's shift away from fighting drug trafficking in Afghanistan, saying the resulting surge in heroin smuggling is endangering Russia's national security. In an interview late Thursday, Dmitry Rogozin also highlighted the lack of cohesion within NATO, saying Moscow is worried about declining public support in Europe for the war.