India Wacks Pirates Again

12-13-2008 • NEW DELHI, India (CNN)

The Indian navy captured 23 piracy suspects who tried to take over a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden, between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, Indian officials said.

Paris Police Find Dynamite at Department Store

12-16-2008 • AP

Police acting on a warning Tuesday found a bundle of dynamite inside a Paris department store at the height of the Christmas season, and a group demanding that France withdraw from Afghanistan claimed responsibility.

Only Known North Korean Prison Camp Escapee Tells of Horrors

12-11-2008 • Washington Post

In Camp No. 14, the North Korean political prison where Shin Dong-hyuk was born and where he says he watched the hanging of his mother, inmates never saw a picture of Kim Jong Il. Inmates did not need to know the face of their "Dear Leader,

Riots rock Greece, opposition calls for election

12-9-2008 • Reuters

Riot police fought running battles with hundreds of protesters outside Greece's parliament on Tuesday while the opposition socialist party called for elections to end four days of protests.

Mystery phone call put Pakistan and India on the brink of war

12-7-2008 • McClatchy News

A mysterious night-time telephone call last week brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan close to the brink of war at the height of the crisis over the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistani officials said Sunday.

Court ruling brings down Thai government

12-2-2008 • AP

A court today dissolved Thailand's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud and banned the prime minister from politics for five years, bringing down a government that has faced months of strident protests seeking its ousting.

Sarkozy Voodoo Dolls Must Be Sold With Warning Label

11-28-2008 • Bloomberg

French President Nicolas Sarkozy voodoo dolls can still be sold by a publisher as long as they come with a warning that sticking pins in the toy is an affront to his dignity, a Paris court ruled today.

Protesters swarm Thai airport, takeoffs suspended

11-25-2008 • AP

Political tensions simmering for 2 years have boiled over, but Tuesday’s violent confrontations saw protesters using slingshots, knives and gunfire on a busy street and tourists caught up in the airport chaos — marked a dramatic escalation.

Dubai: Strip Searching the Fun From Vacations

11-25-2008 • pat

Ahhhh, the typical vacation in Dubai: sandy beaches, resorts and strip searches at the airport–even for celebrities like Lily Allen and supermodel, Agyness Deyn. A travel advisory for the modest traveler.

Once Considered Invincible, Chávez Takes a Blow

11-25-2008 • NY Times

From the hardened slums of this city to some of Venezuela’s most populous and economically important states, many of President Hugo Chávez’s supporters deserted him in regional elections, showing it is possible to challenge him in areas where he was

HORROR: AIDS patients face microchip monitoring

11/24/2008 • Yahoo News

("We're from the Government, and we just want to help you.") Lawmakers in Indonesia's remote province of Papua have thrown their support behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips.

Venezuelans Expected to Whittle Away at Chávez's Power

11-21-2008 • Washington Post

In campaign slogs through Venezuela's biggest slum, Carlos Ocariz seeks out those who worship President Hugo Chávez. He then urges them to abandon "El Comandante" and throw their support behind him in the mayoral race for Sucre -- a dow

UK's Brown: Now is the time to build global society (New World Order)

11-10-2009 • Reuters.com

In his annual speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, Brown -- who has spearheaded calls for the reform of international financial institutions -- will say Britain, the United States and Europe are key to forging a new world order.

Today - Anniversary of the Fall of The Berlin Wall

11-09-2008 • Christine Smith Blog

...a powerful reminder of the power of the human spirit of freedom to prevail against tyranny...it inspires me just as I remember it did in 1989. Let's hope the U.S. doesn't complete its own Wall of Shame.

Georgia Claims on Russia War Called Into Question

11-6-2008 • NY Times

Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the longstanding Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggress

Their "Fed Did It," Too

11/02/08 • Boncherry.com

"After the collapse of the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe in 2000, the inflation in that country skyrocketed to 231 million percent a year! Let`s now have a look at the photos that you may not be able to see anywhere else in the world."

Cairo Activists Use Facebook to Rattle Regime

11-01-2008 • Wired Magazine

Maher is part of a new generation in the Middle East that, through blogs, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and now Facebook, is using virtual reality to combat corrupt and oppressive governments.

Georgian president dismisses PM: govt official

10-27-2008 • Rawstory.com

Saakashvili will ask Georgia's parliament to approve the nomination of Gega Mgaloblishvili, the former Soviet republic's ambassador to Turkey, to replace Gurgenidze, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

North Korea clamps down on mobile phones to stop news of food crisis

10-24-2008 •

His report came two days after the World Food Programme said that two thirds of North Koreans do not have enough to eat, in the country’s worst crisis since as many as three million people died of famine a decade ago.

Argentina to take over pensions

10-22-2008 • BBC

Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez has signed a bill that will nationalise the country's 10 private pension funds.

Britons sentenced to jail in Dubai for beach sex

10-16-2008 • AFP

DUBAI (AFP) — A Dubai court on Thursday sentenced two Britons to three months in prison to be followed by their deportation for having sex on a beach in the booming Muslim Gulf emirate.

Toxins Found in Russian Rights Lawyer’s Car

10-16-2008 • NY Times

The French police are investigating the discovery of toxic mercury pellets in the car of a human rights lawyer who was taken ill in Strasbourg on Tuesday, a day before pretrial hearings in Moscow into the killing of one of her best-known clients, the

Nancy Reagan hospitalized with broken pelvis

10-16-2008 • Reuters.com

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former first lady Nancy Reagan has been hospitalized for treatment of fractures to her pelvis and lower spine suffered in a fall at her home last week, her spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Canada's Conservatives return stronger

10-16-2008 • AFP

The ballot was the first in a major economy since the eruption of the worst worldwide financial crisis in almost a century.

Berlusconi Says Leaders May Close World's Markets

10-10-2008 • Bloomberg via Drudge Report

By Steve Scherer - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world's financial markets while they ``rewrite the rules of international finance.''

The rival to the Bible

10-09-2008 • BBC

What is probably the oldest known Bible is being digitised, reuniting its scattered parts for the first time since its discovery 160 years ago. It is markedly different from its modern equivalent. What's left out?

Jerome Corsi arrested by Barack Obama’s Cousin in Kenya

10/07/2008 • Daily Newscaster

Author Jerome Corsi arrested in Kenya by Barack Obama's cousin Raila Odinga. Obama campaigned for Odinga in 2006, when he lost the election in December 2007 a wave of violence and ethnic cleansing left at least 1000 dead and 300,000 homeless.

Russia Strikes Oil Deal With Chávez

9-27-2008 • NY Times

Russia continued its international muscle-flexing, strengthening its ties to Venezuela through a $1 billion military loan and a new oil consortium as it announced an upgrade of its own military focusing on nuclear deterrence and permanent combat read