All Latest News Wires
- Myanmar ends censorship on media publications
Before this latest reform, every news report, book, song, cartoon and piece of art required approval by teams of censors in the country rooting out political messages and criticism of the government. Sill, questions of press freedom in Myanmar will remain, experts say.
- Gu Kailai, Bo Xilai's wife, gets suspended death sentence for British businessman's murder
Gu Kailai will likely face life in prison for her role in the death last year of Neil Haywood. Gu Kailai admitted to poisoning the British businessman.
- Another NATO soldier killed by Afghan comrade-in-arms
An Afghan police officer shot and killed the soldier Sunday, making it the ninth 'green-on-blue' killing in 11 days.
- Dip diplomacy: Japanese activists swim to disputed islands, raise flag
Days earlier, Chinese activists swam to the disputed but uninhabited islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands and in China as the Diaoyu Islands.
- Sudan's struggling government loses top officials in plane crash
Two generals, the Minister of Endowment, and a former adviser to President Omar al-Bashir were among the 32 people who died Sunday.
- Assange: US may be holding one of 'world's foremost political prisoners'
Speaking from Ecuador's embassy in London, WikiLeak's founder Julian Assange urged the US to release Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is charged with passing US documents to WikiLeaks.
- Syria's Assad emerges in public to mark Eid al-Fitr
The outing marks the Syrian president's first appearance in public since a bombing last month that killed four of his top security officials.
- 10 suspected militants killed by US drones in Pakistan
Two US drone strikes in northern Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, killed ten suspected militants.
- UN diplomat Brahimi to take over from Annan as envoy to Syria
Lakhdar Brahimi brings a long record of working in the Arab and Islamic world. The former Algerien foreign minister has unified support of the Security Council, according to a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Brahimi is well-known for not taking orders from the big powers.
- Why Pussy Riot supporters hold rallies from New York to Berlin
The Russian punk rock band spawned small bands of supporters dressed as Pussy Riot look-a-likes Friday dozens of cities worldwide. The three women were sentence Friday to two years in prison for hooliganism.
- Kazakh opposition leader on trial for attempting to overthrow government
Vladimir Kozlov faces 13 years in prison if convicted of charges that include orchestrating dissent among striking oil workers. Observers fear the trial could undermine some of the country's progress in developing a multiparty democracy.
- Japan sends jailed Chinese activists home to diffuse diplomatic row
One group of Chinese protesters, arrested earlier this week by Japanese authorities for landing on an island at the heart of a diplomatic dispute, arrived home to a hero's welcome.
- Boredom, stress accompany Julian Assange in prison
The once globe-trotting WikiLeaks founder is confined to several hundred square feet of space inside Ecuador's London embassy.
- Russian band Pussy Riot sentenced to two years in prison
The judge in Moscow said the three women were blasphemers who had deliberately offended Russian Orthodox believers by storming the altar of a cathedral in Feburary. President Putin's opponents portray the trial as part of a wider crackdown to crush their protest movement.
- Striking miners killed by police leaves South Africa in shock
After the move against 3,000 striking drill operators that caused 34 deaths and left dozens wounded on Thursday northwest of Johannesburg, a nation is asking itself the question of what has really changed since the end of the apartheid.
- Low on fuel on a Damascus runway, Air France asks passengers for cash
He said Air France found a way to pay for the fill-up without tapping customer pockets — and apologized for the inconvenience. The airline had never resorted to such a request before, he said.
- Chinese president meets with uncle of North Korea's Kim Jong-un
Hu Jintao held a meeting Friday with Jang song-thaek, an uncle of the new North Korean leader, in Beijing.
- Russian feminist band Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism
The sentence has yet to be issued, the verdict is spoken: The three Russian women are guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. Pussy Riot had stormed the altar of Moscow's cathedral in February. The charges raised concern abroad about freedom of speech in Russia.
- Syria has 'chosen the path of war', says U.N.
Without a peace to monitor, U.N. peacekeepers will leave Syria by August 24. Diplomats will meet at the United Nations in New York on Friday to discuss next steps.
- Will WikiLeaks founder Assange go free?
Ecuador's government offered asylum to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, on Thursday. But the British government will not allow him safe passage out of their country where he's been living in the Ecuadorian embassy for the past 60 days.