WASHINGTON - U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing is boosting production of its large passenger jets to meet increasing demand as the airline industry recovers from recession. Industry experts say demand will grow in 2010 after falling in 2008 and 2009. But an aviation consultant says the optimism may be premature.
After losing nearly $10 billion last year, […]
MOSCOW - Russia is holding an official day of mourning for the 39 people killed in Monday’s twin suicide bombings on Moscow’s metro system.
Scores of others were severely wounded when two female suicide bombers set off explosions at the height of the morning rush hour.
National flags will be flying half-staff in the Russian capital on […]
DAKAR - Rescue workers in Morocco are searching for one of the world’s richest men, who is feared dead after his glider crashed south of Rabat.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al Nahyan’s glider crashed about 35 kilometers south of the Moroccan capital, near the coastal town of Skhirat. It went down late Friday in an artificial […]
SYDNEY - Residents in one North Island town warned local water levels so low that they are in danger of running out of supplies altogether
Parts of New Zealand’s North Island are experiencing their driest period in 60 years. Residents in one North Island town are being warned that local water levels are so low that […]
MOSCOW - Senior Russian officials say terrorists from the troubled Northern Caucasus could be behind two deadly explosions that ripped through Moscow’s subway during morning rush hour on Monday. Female suicide bombers are suspected of carrying out the bomb attacks that killed at least 36 people and injured dozens more.
The blasts occurred during the morning […]
WASHINGTON - Even though the heated legislative battles over U.S. President Barack Obama’s recently-signed health reform bill are over, both political parties are still trying to win the fight for public opinion. Opposition Republicans say the plan should be repealed.
The top Senate Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, admits President Obama won a political victory by […]
JERUSALEM - Two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinian gunmen have been killed in a clash on the border of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
A gun battle erupted after Israeli troops spotted Palestinian gunmen planting a bomb on the Gaza border.
Israeli General Yoav Galant told reporters at the scene that an army force crossed the border to […]
WASHINGTON - A panel of federal judges in San Diego, California is expected to rule on whether to consolidate a large number of lawsuits filed nationwide against Toyota.
Toyota has been inundated with lawsuits due to safety concerns that have led to the recall of more than eight-and-a-half million vehicles worldwide. Federal judges in California will […]
CAIRO - Arab leaders are preparing to meet this weekend, for the annual Arab League summit. Libya’s Colonel Moammar Gadhafi is hosting this year’s meeting, despite difficult relations with several Arab leaders.
Arab foreign ministers met behind closed doors Thursday in the Libyan coastal resort town of Sirte to discuss the agenda of the weekend summit […]
WASHINGTON - Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told top U.S. officials Wednesday his government will prevail in its struggle with the Taliban and other Islamic radicals. He spoke at the close of the first day of a bilateral dialogue that he said yielded a U.S. agreement to fast track delivery to Pakistan of key […]
WASHINGTON - The focus of U.S. health-care reform now shifts to the Senate, where members are debating a package of revisions, or fixes, to a bill President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday.
Senators are considering legislation that the House of Representatives has approved to modify the health care bill passed on Sunday. Some Democratic House […]
JERUSALEM - Israel’s continued settlement of East Jerusalem is a source of tension with the Palestinians. But perhaps even more contentious was the re-dedication this month of a synagogue in East Jerusalem that sparked clashes between Palestinians and Israelis.
The synagogue, destroyed by Jordan in 1948, is not far from the compound known to Muslims as […]
PORT AU PRINCE - Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have visited Haiti as part of their effort to raise aid and investment to help Haitians recover from January’s earthquake.
The two former leaders made their first joint visit Monday to Haiti, where they met with President René Preval at the badly damaged […]
BEIRUT - Lebanon has the most water of any Middle Eastern country, but is subject to persistent, chronic water shortages due to mismanagement and poor infrastructure.
Torrents of cool, clear water cascade from one of Lebanon’s many mountain springs at Ain So’ofar along an idyllic, country road overlooked by snow-capped peaks. From Biblical times, the country […]
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system, with majority Democrats handing President Barack Obama a victory on his top domestic priority.
The House approved a Senate-passed health care bill late Sunday by a vote of 219 to 212. Minority Republicans were unanimous in opposition, and […]
WASHINGTON - Several days of anti-war activities in Washington have culminated with the procession of symbolic coffins across the streets of the capital. Many demonstrators said they had supported President Barack Obama in his election in 2008, but were now disappointed in the lack of change from previous policies, and the ongoing wars in Iraq […]
NEW YORK - Over 10 percent of New Yorkers, nearly 425,000, are unemployed and looking for work, the highest rate in the three decades that records have been kept. The city’s jobless numbers are expected to stay at ten percent or above through next year. And that doesn’t include those who have given up looking […]
WASHINGTON - The U.S. space shuttle program comes to an end this year, and a debate is underway over what should replace it. The retirement of the shuttle fleet could result in massive job losses in Florida.
Thousands of workers protest in Titusville, Florida over plans to cut up to 9,000 jobs at the nearby Kennedy […]
HOUSTON - In the border city of Juarez, Mexico, authorities continue to investigate the murder of three people with connections to the US consulate that occurred on the streets of that city in broad daylight Saturday. Many observers on both sides of the border, however, question the Mexican government’s ability to solve such cases as […]
WASHINGTON - The commander who oversees U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan says the training of Afghan security forces is being “overhauled.” General David Petraeus told U.S. lawmakers the changes are based on lessons learned in Iraq. He also spoke about a move involving U.S. Special Operations forces in Afghanistan.
Training procedures for Afghan police […]
WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated his case before Congress Wednesday that the Fed should retain supervision of all U.S. banks and not just those institutions that are too big to fail. The Fed chief spoke before the House Financial Services Committee as new efforts to overhaul the nation’s financial regulations get underway.
The […]
WASHINGTON - Legislation proposed this week by U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd could result in big changes in the way financial institutions do business. Dodd, the Democratic Party chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, says the bill expands the Federal Reserve’s role in policing large financial institutions and creates a new consumer protection agency. But some […]
WASHINGTON - A top U.S. military official says U.S. forces in Afghanistan are undergoing a major restructuring that will bring virtually all American troops under NATO command.
Vice Admiral Greg Smith, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, says U.S. troops serving in eastern Afghanistan as part of the Operation Enduring Freedom command will soon be […]
WASHINGTON - The commander who oversees U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has cited progress in both places, but also warned of uncertain times ahead. General David Petraeus appeared in Washington Tuesday before the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee.
General Petraeus says the recent operation in and around the town of Marjah in Afghanistan’s Helmand […]
