Official: Afghan militants fled dressed as women

U.S. Marines scan the site of a blast that hit a U.S. vehicle in southern Afghanistan.span clacnn)="" --="" insurgents="" locked="" in="" a="" standoff="" with="" u.s.="" marines="" tricked="" them="" by="" dressing="" up="" as="" women="" to="" escape,="" task="" force="" spokesman="" said="" monday.ss="fullpost"> Women and children had been caught in the standoff between the armed groups, but some of the women were not what they seemed, according to task force spokesman Capt. William Pelletier.After the Marines began taking fire from insurgents in the town of Khan Neshin, in south Afghanistan near the Helmand River, the militants ran into...

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In India's Financial Hub, Mumbai, 'Sea Bridge' Aims to Ease Congestion

umbai "Sea Bridge" is inaugurated with fireworks By Anjana PasrichaNew DelhiIn India's financial hub Mumbai, a bridge has been built over the sea to ease chronic traffic congestion in one of the worlds' most crowded cities. Updating inadequate infrastructure in Indian cities has become critical as its economy expands.After a brief inauguration ceremony, ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi drove on the eight-lane bridge that extends over the Arabian Sea across Mahim Bay.The 5.6-kilometer bridge is the first to be built over the sea in India, and links the western suburb of Bandra with Worli in south Mumbai. It will cut travel time along...

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Remember Me?

Coleman: there is no way that you could be involved in something like this without feeling tremendous sorrow and guilt. But looking back on it was clear that there was not anything else. There was no other way that this could have ended. (03 July 2009)By Brian Calvert and Men KimsengOriginal report from Washington[Editor’s note: When it opened in March, the trial for Kaing Kek Iev, the infamous Khmer Rouge torture chief better known as Comrade Duch, returned the world’s attention to Cambodia and the horrors of the failed regime. In 1976, two American women helped care for a group of 114 Cambodians in the US who were determined to return to their...

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A look at health care plans in Congress

KSFYBy The Associated PressA look at health care legislation taking shape in the Democratic-controlled House and Senate as President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul the system, cover nearly 50 million uninsured Americans and reduce costs. Many of the details are still being negotiated and any final health care bill would have to meld proposals from the House and Senate.___HOUSE DEMOCRATSWHO'S COVERED: Around 95 percent of Americans would be covered. Illegal immigrants would not receive coverage.COST: Unknown.HOW'S IT PAID FOR: Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid; $600 billion in unspecified new taxes, likely including new levies on upper-income Americans.REQUIREMENTS...

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Business booming for Aussie Jackson impersonator

Michael Jackson impersonator Jason Jackson (right) performs beside a wax portrait of his idol, in 1999By Amy CoopesSYDNEY (AFP) — He may be mourning the death of his idol but business is booming for Jason Jackson, Australia's answer to the late King of Pop.The tribute artist, who has turned his Sydney home into a mini-Neverland Ranch, said he had been inundated with booking requests since the star's death."Before Michael Jackson's passing I was, I would say, 50 to 70 percent booked," he said. "Now I'm 200 percent."Jackson, 35, changed his name by deed poll from Jason Zamprogno aged 18 and credits the "Thriller" icon with curing him of bone cancer.He...

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Jackson's estate could be a thriller of a profit machine

Times OnlineThe singer's valuable share of a music catalog including songs by the Beatles and careful management of his image in the future could expand the vast fortune he leaves behind.By Harriet Ryan and Chris Lee Michael Jackson was one of the most famous people on Earth and also one of the most famously broke. Many who crossed paths with the performer in the final years of his life -- business advisors, lawyers, a Tennessee art dealer and even a Bahraini sheik -- accused him of skipping out on bills. Jackson came within days of losing Neverland Ranch to a foreclosure auction last year, and he died owing more than $400 million to various...

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OIL FUTURES: Crude Drops Further, Plagued By Bearish Economy

New York Times SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Crude oil futures dropped amid thin trading in Asia Monday, still plagued by bearish sentiment resulting from earlier U.S. macroeconomic data.On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $64.29 a barrel at 0718 GMT, down $2.44 in the Globex electronic session.During the intraday session, August Nymex crude fell to $64.19 a barrel before rebounding.August Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $1.47 to $64.14 a barrel.Until the U.S. equities and currency markets open and offer new signals, oil prices will likely continue to be weighed down by earlier...

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2ND UPDATE: Samsung's Shares Gain On 2Q Sales Outlook

AFP (Adds more analysts comments, updated share price move) SEOUL (Dow Jones)--Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) said Monday it expects second-quarter sales to come in higher than a year earlier, underpinning suggestions that Asia's flagship technology companies are seeing a recovery after posting steep losses in the fourth quarter of 2008.Samsung Electronics, South Korea's biggest company by market capitalization, said it expects sales for the three months ended June 30 to come in between KRW31 trillion and KRW33 trillion, up from KRW29.1 trillion a year earlier.Operating profit is expected to be between KRW2.2 trillion and KRW2.6 trillion,...

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Tokyo Shares End Dn On Thin Volume As Oil Stks,Shippers Weigh

AFPBy Juro Osawa TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Tokyo stocks ended lower Monday on thin turnover with shipping and commodities stocks falling due to renewed concerns about global economic recovery prospects."The market is now aware that economic rebound hopes had been too high," said Yumi Nishimura, a market analyst at Daiwa Securities SMBC.The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 135.20 points, or 1.4%, to 9680.87, falling for the fourth straight session. The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues fell 8.2 points, or 0.9%, to 912.42. Turnover ranked among the lowest seen so far this year, at about 1.6 billion shares, with the U.S. market...

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North Korean Freighter Said to Be Returning to Port

MSN Philippines NewsBy CHOE SANG-HUNEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Monday that a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying banned cargo was expected to return to home port, as U.S. officials claimed that international sanctions had forced the ship to turn back.The 2,000-ton Kang Nam 1 left North Korea in mid-June, and was believed to be heading for Myanmar only days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution that banned the North from nuclear and ballistic missile tests and called for a global embargo on its trade in weapons.The American Navy tracked the ship amid suspicions that the North was using the voyage to...

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140 slain as Chinese riot police, Muslims clash in northwestern city

Firefighters are seen dousing a bus in Urumqi, the main city in Xinjiang, where China's ethnic Uighur minority is concentrated. Eight hundred people were injured and hundreds held as demonstrations against racial discrimination erupted into street violence.Eight hundred people are injured and hundreds are reported arrested in Urumqi. The Uighur demonstrators were protesting against racial discrimination.By Barbara Demick Reporting from Beijing -- China's worst ethnic violence in years broke out Sunday in the northwestern city of Urumqi, leaving 140 people dead and more than 800 injured, the state news agency Xinhua reported.The unrest pitted...

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Obama heads to Russia facing nuclear arms impasse

Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, setting off from Andrews air force base for Moscow. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesMedvedev seeks to tie arms reduction treaty to US missile defence, ahead of Obama's first presidential trip to MoscowBarack Obama and his wife, Michelle, setting off from Andrews air force base for Moscow. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesBarack Obama is due to arrive in Moscow today for his first trip to Russia as US president, amid dwindling hopes of a breakthrough deal on nuclear weapons.The summit's centrepiece is supposed to be a groundbreaking pact on nuclear arms reduction, but Russia said there could be no...

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Who's Smiling and Who's Frowning About the Palin News

Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, on election night last year. She may be aiming for more time on the national stage. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)By Chris CillizzaAlaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to resign at the end of this month is one of the most surprising, perplexing and just plain fascinating moves from a national politician in recent memory.As such, it produces any number of consequences -- intended and otherwise -- in the political world. (Like it or not, Palin is a prime mover on the national scene; she acts and others react.)In the wake of Palin's announcement Friday, the Fix reached out to a handful of senior-level strategists...

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Scores Killed in Clashes in Western China

A photograph taken by a local citizen. Protesters clashed with the police Sunday in a Uighur part of XinjiangBy EDWARD WONGBEIJING — The Chinese state news agency reported Monday that at least 140 people were killed and 816 injured when rioters clashed with the police in a regional capital in western China after days of rising tensions between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese.The casualty toll, if confirmed, would make this the deadliest outbreak of violence in China in many years.The rioting broke out Sunday afternoon in a large market area of Urumqi, the capital of the vast, restive desert region of Xinjiang, and lasted for several hours before...

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