World News

Former Sri Lankan army chief, losing presidential candidate forcibly arrested on coup charges
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's defeated presidential candidate has been arrested and will be court-martialed for allegedly planning to overthrow the government while serving as the head of the army. Sarath Fonseka, who as the top general helped defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels, was hauled away from his office by military police on Monday after objecting to his arrest, opposition politician Rauff Hakeem told The Associated Press.
      

Stranded travellers vie for golden tickets out of Mid-Atlantic before more snow hits
WASHINGTON - A $20 cab ride to the airport skyrocketed to the "snow rate" of $100 in the nation's capital, and those travellers who could get to the airport or train station still had to haggle or wait in long lines to escape the snowbound region. The most pressing matter: get out before more snow comes Tuesday.
      

Iran moves closer to nuke warhead capacity, tells UN it will enrich uranium to higher levels
VIENNA, Austria - Iran pressed ahead with plans that will increase its ability to make nuclear weapons as it formally informed the U.N. nuclear agency of its intention to enrich uranium to higher levels. Alarmed world powers questioned the rationale behind the move Monday and warned the country it could face more U.N. sanctions if it made good on its intentions.
      

Magnitude-5.7 earthquake rattles southern Mexican coast, felt in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY - A magnitude 5.7-earthquake has shaken southern Mexico near the Oaxaca coast. The quake was centred 35 miles (55 kilometres) north of the fishing and resort town of Puerto Angel, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Information Center.
      

Tel Aviv "saviour" accused of enslaving women in cult-like harem in cramped apartments
JERUSALEM - The women tattooed his name and portrait on their bodies and gave their children his name - Saviour. They spoon-fed the bearded, one-time healer as if he were royalty, brushed his shoulder-length white locks, sent him text messages when they were ovulating and slept with him at his bidding.
      

US Congressman John Murtha, influential critic of Iraq war, dies at age 77
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Rep. John Murtha, a retired Marine Corps officer who became the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War, died Monday. He was 77. The Pennsylvania Democrat had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. He died at the Virginia Hospital Center, spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said.
      

Yanukovych apparent winner over Tymoshenko in Ukraine's presidential race
KYIV, Ukraine - International monitors hailed Ukraine's presidential election as transparent and honest, bolstering opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych's claim of victory and leaving Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a strategic bind. Tymoshenko, who was the charismatic catalyst of the 2004 Orange Revolution mass protests, had said she would call supporters into the streets if she deemed Sunday's election fraudulent. But although she has signalled she will challenge the outcome in the courts, she issued no protest call on Monday and cancelled two planned news conferences as she apparently weighed her options.
      

Haitians struggling in aftermath of earthquake face new threat: a deadly rainy season
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Survivors of Haiti's catastrophic earthquake have had one saving grace: There's been no significant rain since the disaster. But that won't last. The rainy season in Haiti is deadly even in a good year. Now, in a devastated capital city, the early spring rains threaten to cause landslides and bring about health problems in the makeshift camps where more than 500,000 people are living.
      

Mexican authorities arrest top 2 reputed leaders of a brutal Tijuana drug cartel
TIJUANA, Mexico - Mexican federal police arrested two suspected gang leaders Monday, delivering another big blow to a brutal drug cartel that terrorized the border city of Tijuana for several years. The capture of Raydel Lopez Uriarte and Manuel Garcia Simental apparently wipes out the existing leadership of the cartel headed by Teodoro Garcia Simental, who was captured last month. Teodoro and Manuel Garcia are brothers.
      

Police say at least 23 killed when their vehicle overturns in northern India
LUCKNOW, India - At least 23 people were killed and 12 others injured when a vehicle overturned in northern India, police said Tuesday. The accident took place late Monday night in Sitapur town, 50 miles (80 kilometres) southwest of state capital Lucknow, said Amitabh Yash, a senior police official.
      

NATO says Afghan forces to play their biggest role of the war in upcoming operation in south
CAMP SHORABAK, Afghanistan - Thousands of Afghan soldiers and police will join U.S. and NATO troops in an upcoming offensive in southern Afghanistan, playing their biggest role in any joint operation of the Afghan war. The pending attack on the Taliban-held town of Marjah in Helmand province will be a crucial test for the NATO strategy of transferring more responsibility to the Afghans so foreign troops can go home.
      

Italy agriculture minister defends support of McDonald's new burger amid sell-out criticism
ROME - Italy's agriculture minister is defending his sponsorship of McDonald's new all-Italian burger amid criticism that he is selling out to a multinational corporation and sacrificing Italy's culinary reputation in the process. Minister Luca Zaia has argued that McDonald's new McItaly burger - using all Italian beef, Asiago cheese and artichoke spread - will pump C3.5 million ($4.8 million) more a month into the pockets of Italian farmers grappling with tough economic times.
      

Palestinian official wants US to clarify that indirect peace talks will focus on key issues
NEW YORK - A senior Palestinian official urged the United States on Monday to make clear that the indirect Mideast peace talks it has proposed will deal with key outstanding issues including borders, settlements and the future status of Jerusalem. Nasser Al-Kidwa, who is being promoted by Fatah insiders as a candidate in the next presidential election, said he and many other Palestinians don't understand what the talks proposed by the Obama administration will lead to, and want assurances that they will be a step toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.
      

UN cuts off free medicine to Haitian hospitals it says have been charging
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The United Nations warned Monday that it will cut off shipments of free medicine to Haitian hospitals that charge patients, saying it had learned some are levying fees for drugs. When the catastrophic earthquake struck Jan. 12, authorities immediately decided to make all medical care free. More than 200 international medical relief groups have sent teams to help, and millions of dollars of donated medicine has been flown in.
      

NYC man accused of killing 5 of his girlfriend's cats pleads guilty to slaying 1 kitten
NEW YORK - A graphic designer accused of surreptitiously killing a series of his girlfriend's cats pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated animal cruelty, ending an eerie case in which authorities said the unsuspecting woman kept replacing her dying pets. Sean Lynde said little during a brief hearing in a Manhattan court, where he also admitted violating an order of protection by posting online messages aimed at his now-ex-girlfriend.
      

Report: NKorean leader Kim Jong Il reiterates promise to denuclearize Korean peninsula
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il assured a high-level envoy visiting from Beijing that Pyongyang is committed to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, China's state news agency reported Tuesday. Kim reportedly made the pledge during a meeting Monday in the North Korean capital at the start of a week of diplomacy designed to get the stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks back on track. A high-level U.N. envoy also was due in Pyongyang on Tuesday.
      

Australian political leader criticized for warning housewives of the rising cost of ironing
CANBERRA, Australia - The opposition leader has drawn criticism that he is behind the times and sexist after he suggested that a key concern of Australia's "housewives" when discussing global warming policy would be the cost of ironing clothes. Opposition leader Tony Abbott's efforts on Monday to undermine public confidence in the government's proposed curbs on Australia's greenhouse gas emissions has focused attention on himself instead.
      

Criminal investigation launched in US plant blast; mayor says negligence can’t be ruled out
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Authorities launched a criminal investigation Monday into the cause of an explosion that killed five people at a power plant under construction, saying they couldn't rule out negligence. The powerful explosion blew apart large swaths of the nearly completed 620-megawatt Kleen Energy plant as workers for the construction company, O&G Industries Inc., were purging a gas line Sunday morning. The blast tore apart sheet metal that covered the plant's sides and left parts of the complex so unstable that rescuers were unable to work Monday because of the danger of collapse.
      

UK's Iraq inquiry says it wants to discuss war with members of Bush administration
LONDON - Britain's inquiry into the Iraq war will seek meetings with former members of the Bush administration after taking evidence from Tony Blair and other key British officials, the panel's chairman said. John Chilcot, head of the inquiry, confirmed that he hopes to obtain evidence from officials in the United States, but did not name specific individuals, or specify if his panel hopes to put questions to former President George W. Bush himself.
      

Michael Jackson's doctor pleads not guilty to involuntary manslaughter
LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's doctor pleaded not guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter, capping an exhaustive investigation into the pop star's stunning death last summer and setting up the prospect of another sensational celebrity courtroom drama. Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist who was with Jackson when he died June 25 at his rented Los Angeles mansion, is accused of the single felony count in a five-page complaint filed in Superior Court. According to the complaint, Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson" by acting "without due caution and circumspection."