World

Turkey threatens to expel Armenians over genocide talk

Raising the stakes in Turkey's rejection of the genocide label by U.S. and Swedish lawmakers for the mass deaths of Armenians a century ago, Turkey says it might send home up to 100,000 Armenians currently living in Turkey without citizenship. | 03/17/10 19:58:47 By - Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor

Militant Islamist group tightens grip over southern Somalia

On Oct. 27, 2008, human rights activist Ali Abdullahi Egal saw militant Islamist group al Shabab stone to death a 13-year-old girl, Aisha Duhulow, under the charge of adultery. The act was not only brutal, but also, in his view, un-Islamic. | 03/17/10 19:30:37 By - Scott Baldauf

Even if he wins, Maliki may be out as Iraq's prime minister

Nearly half a million people voted for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki in Baghdad, making him by far the leading candidate in the province where the most seats are at stake. But Maliki's chances of retaining his post appear slender, especially now that he's locked in a neck-and-neck race with rival Ayad Allawi, the man who was Iraq's first post-war prime minister. | 03/17/10 20:46:14 By - Hannah Allam and Laith Hammoudi

Irish Protestants go to polls with rock star candidate

Politics and popular culture often make for uncomfortable partners, but the Ulster Unionists — whose politics and penchant for the color orange are not exactly popular in much of Ireland on St. Patrick's Day — are reaching out for a little rock-and-roll glitter to improve their chances at the polls in Northern Ireland. | 03/17/10 17:56:20 By - Jason Walsh

Slow progress in Iraq vote count fuels suspicions

Iraq's embattled election commission announced Tuesday that 79 percent of the votes from parliamentary elections have been counted, a breakthrough for a process so slow that it's raised suspicions of fraud. The close race got even closer as a secular rival edged nearer to Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's coalition. | 03/17/10 11:52:41 By - Hannah Allam

Haiti earthquake has left many families divided

The earthquake in Haiti has split families who have sent their children to school in South Florida. It's hard to say how many families divided by the Jan. 12 earthquake are in South Florida. But as of Friday, 990 Haitian children have enrolled in Broward schools and 938 in Miami-Dade after the quake. Many of them have at least one parent in Haiti. | 03/17/10 07:14:12 By - Patricia Mazzei

Afghan poppy harvest is next challenge for U.S. Marines

U.S. Marine Sgt. Brad Vandehei stood on the edge of the small opium poppy field that serves as a central helicopter landing zone for the new military compound that's rising nearby. | 03/17/10 06:51:46 By - Dion Nissenbaum

Cuban hunger striker Farinas receiving IV fluids

Dissident Guillermo Farinas remained in a Cuban hospital Monday in what one human rights activist called a "milimetric" government concession to his hunger strike. Farinas was stable but weak and suffering from severe headaches at the intensive care unit of the Arnaldo Milan Castro hospital in his hometown of Santa Clara, said his mother, Alicia Hernandez. | 03/16/10 07:08:59 By - Juan O. Tamayo

Knocked out of power in Afghan town, Taliban turn to intimidation

Two weeks after the U.S.-led forces swiftly seized control of this long-standing insurgent stronghold, Taliban forces are posing a new threat by menacing, beating and even beheading local residents who cooperate with the emerging Afghan government, according to Afghan and American officials. | 03/15/10 20:09:26 By - Dion Nissenbaum

A week after Iraqi elections, vote count far from complete

Partial election results released Sunday for all of Iraq's 18 provinces showed Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's coalition ahead of formidable rivals, both secular and religious, in a tight race that's complicated by a glacial vote-counting process and allegations of fraud. | 03/14/10 17:55:49 By - Hannah Allam

U.S. consulate employee slain in drug-ridden Mexican city

The Mexican government pledged Sunday to investigate the brutal killings of a U.S. consulate employee and two family members of consulate employees in Ciudad Juarez, a violent, drug-plagued city of 1.5 million across the border from El Paso, Texas. | 03/14/10 16:26:30 By - Kevin G. Hall

U.S. criticizes Afghanistan's 'poor' human rights record

The U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has a "poor" human rights record, tarnished by widespread impunity for security forces who commit abuses; violence against women; torture and extra-judicial killings, the State Department said in an annual report released Thursday. | 03/12/10 22:15:22 By - Warren P. Strobel

Suicide bombers strike Pakistani market, killing at least 43

In the fifth terrorist attack this week in Pakistan, extremists set off twin suicide bombs Friday in the eastern city of Lahore, killing at least 43 people, a reminder of the continued threat to the country despite an overall fall in violence. | 03/12/10 19:38:30 By - Saeed Shah

Burmese refugees face starvation in Bangladesh

Thousands of Burmese Muslim refugees at an unofficial refugee camp in Bangladesh are facing starvation and acute malnutrition as the government continues to block international humanitarian aid, according to Physicians for Human Rights, a humanitarian watchdog group. | 03/12/10 18:33:40 By - Sananda Sahoo

Cuba rebuked by European Parliament over Zapata Tamayo's death

The European Parliament voted Thursday to condemn Cuba by a crushing margin over a hunger striker's death, and Spain's ruling Socialists later hinted they might trim back their bid to improve European ties with Havana. | 03/12/10 07:09:04 By - Juan O. Tamayo

Despite Biden's plea, outlook shaky for Mideast peace talks

Vice President Joe Biden left Jerusalem on Thursday with a final plea for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to begin peace talks without delay, but Mideast officials acknowledged that the atmosphere for talks was "shaky and uncertain." | 03/12/10 06:51:21 By - Sheera Frenkel

Iraqi race is tight amid claims of election fraud

Partial results from Sunday's parliamentary elections showed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki ahead in two southern provinces but apparently trailing former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in two central provinces, indicating a tight race amid allegations of fraud. | 03/11/10 19:40:33 By - Hannah Allam

Bachelet ends term as Chile's president two weeks after earthquake

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's term ends Thursday, almost two weeks after leading response to a powerful earthquake. Bachelet had planned to spend the past two weeks doing a victory lap around Chile as she wound down her four-year term. Instead, the Feb. 27 earthquake and tsunamis forced Bachelet into emergency mode. She has spent her final days as president as Comforter in Chief, a role that comes naturally to a pediatrician credited with healing scars left from Chile's 17-year military dictatorship, first as defense minister and then as president. | 03/11/10 07:02:43 By - Tyler Bridges

Egyptian cleric, head of Sunni Islam's key learning center, dies

Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, a controversial figure throughout the Islamic world, was 81. He was the "grand sheik" of al Azhar, Sunni Islam's principal center of scholarship and faith, a 1,000 year-old insitution that Obama called the "beacon of Islamic learning" during his trip to Cairo last year. | 03/10/10 15:17:24 By - Miret el Naggar

Haiti's Preval seeks renewal of direct U.S. aid to government

Haitian President Rene Preval said he lobbied both President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for direct payments to help support government services in Haiti. The U.S. had cut such payments in 2008 out of concerns about corruption in the Haitian government. But Preval said without money, the government will have to cut services, with dramatic consequences. | 03/10/10 15:15:19 By - Lesley Clark