In Colombia presidential vote, maverick outsider vies with Uribe disciple

Uribe torchbearer vs. outsider in Colombia vote

BOGOTA, Colombia – A former defense minister pledging to build on President Alvaro Uribe’s security gains was favored in Sunday’s election along with a maverick outsider whose campaign was a civics lesson on how to end Colombia’s endemic corruption.
Juan Manuel Santos, a Cabinet minister in three administrations and grandnephew … Read this article on Gaea Times at : In Colombia presidential vote, maverick outsider vies with Uribe disciple.

Maoists blow up Orissa village council building

BHUBANESWAR – Maoist guerrillas early Sunday blew up a panchayat (council) office building in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, police said.

About 30-40 rebels came to Kankurukunda village at about 1 a.m. and blasted the building using explosives, a senior police officer told IANS.
No body was inside the office when the blast took place, he said. …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : Maoists blow up Orissa village council building.

Mexican police, army probe silver mine where gangs tossed numerous bodies

Silver mine in southern Mexico used to dump bodies

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Mexican police on Saturday found an abandoned silver mine scattered with bodies outside a colonial-era town popular with international tourists.
Five bodies were recovered from the mine at Taxco in southern Mexico in what appears to be a dumping ground for victims of organized crime, …. Original article  : Mexican police, army probe silver mine where gangs tossed numerous bodies.

China executes man who attacked 29 children, 3 teachers at kindergarten

China executes man who attacked 29 children

BEIJING – Chinese authorities on Sunday executed a man convicted of slashing 29 children and three teachers with a knife in one of a series of recent assaults on schools and kindergartens, a state news agency reported.
Xu Yuyuan was found guilty of attempted homicide in mid-May by the Taizhou …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : China executes man who attacked 29 children, 3 teachers at kindergarten.

Oregon man accused of stealing dead boy’s identity said to have come to US from Bulgaria

Bulgarian accused of stealing dead boy’s identity

PORTLAND, Ore. – His war hero grandfather and namesake fought the Nazis, his parents are respected scientific scholars in Bulgaria, and a former Reagan administration lawyer and his physician wife helped raise him as a teenager, all predicting a bright future.
Doitchin Krastev walked away from it all in college …. Read the original article  : Oregon man accused of stealing dead boy’s identity said to have come to US from Bulgaria.

Jamaica police: Nearly all 980 etained during slum raid have been released

Jamaica cops release most of 980 detained in raid

KINGSTON, Jamaica – All but a handful of the roughly 980 Jamaicans detained during raids by security forces in gang-heavy Kingston slums have been released, police said Saturday.
Detainees had been held at the Kingston’s National Arena, where dozens of concerned relatives had congregated outside a security gate …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

Surrogate father: Oregon man accused of taking Ohio boy’s identity came to US from Bulgaria

Surrogate father: Man with Ohio ID is Bulgarian

PORTLAND, Ore. – His war hero grandfather and namesake fought the Nazis, his parents are respected scientific scholars in Bulgaria, and a former Reagan administration lawyer and his physician wife helped raise him as a teenager, all predicting a bright future.
Doitchin Krastev walked away from it all in …. Original source  : Surrogate father: Oregon man accused of taking Ohio boy’s identity came to US from Bulgaria.

NY man killed after shooting phone store clerk had been banned for making threats, slurs

NY phone store gunman had been banned for threats

NEW YORK MILLS, N.Y. – A man who shot a central New York AT&T phone store clerk had previously harassed and threatened employees so many times that the company banned him, cut off his cell phone service and lodged a complaint that led to his handgun permit … Read this article on Gaea Times at : NY man killed after shooting phone store clerk had been banned for making threats, slurs.

Oregon man using identity of murdered Ohio boy turns out to be Bulgarian

Mystery solved: Ore. man with Ohio ID is Bulgarian

PORTLAND, Ore. – The mystery over the real identity of an Oregon man calling himself Jason Robert Evers has been solved – he was born in Bulgaria, not Ohio.
A family that hosted Doitchin Krasev in Virginia told The Associated Press Saturday they were shocked to find out …. Original source  : Oregon man using identity of murdered Ohio boy turns out to be Bulgarian.

Malawi’s leader pardons gay couple, orders them freed from prison; still rejects homosexuality

Under pressure, Malawi’s leader pardons gay couple

BLANTYRE, Malawi – Malawi’s president on Saturday pardoned a gay couple who had been sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered their release but insisted that homosexuality was still illegal in his conservative southern African nation.
President Bingu wa Mutharika announced the pardon on “humanitarian grounds only” during a …. Source article  : Malawi’s leader pardons gay couple, orders them freed from prison; still rejects homosexuality.

NATO airstrike kills 25 Taliban in Afghanistan

KUNDUZ – A NATO airstrike in northern Afghanistan killed 25 Taliban insurgents, including two of their commanders, an Afghan government official said Saturday.

The air raid took place in Dana Ghori district in northern province of Baghlan Friday night, Sayed Zamanuddin, the deputy provincial police chief said.
“At least 25 Taliban were killed in the airstrike,” …. Source article  : NATO airstrike kills 25 Taliban in Afghanistan.

Activist gets back cell phone used in caper at La. senator’s office but video is deleted

Video gone from phone activist used in La. caper

NEW ORLEANS – Conservative activist-videographer James O’Keefe said video he shot of conversations with staffers of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu was deleted when his cell phone was returned after he and three others pleaded guilty to charges in a caper he orchestrated at the Democrat’s New Orleans … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Activist gets back cell phone used in caper at La. senator’s office but video is deleted.

Malawi president orders gay couple’s pardon and release, but warns homosexuality still illegal

Malawi’s president: pardon and release gay couple

BLANTYRE, Malawi – Malawi’s president on Saturday pardoned and ordered the release of a gay couple sentenced to 14 years in prison, but said that homosexuality remains illegal in this conservative southern African nation.
Activists were searching for a safe house for the couple, fearing they could be attacked upon …. Original source  : Malawi president orders gay couple’s pardon and release, but warns homosexuality still illegal.

European Parliament condemns railway attack in India

BRUSSELS – The European Parliament Saturday expressed shock over the train attack in West Bengal in which 131 people were killed.

“Attacking the civil infrastructure and killing innocent people is perfidious terror. On behalf of the European Parliament, I condemn this attack sharply,” Jerzy Buzek, president of the EU parliament, was quoted as saying by EuAsiaNews. …. Original article  : European Parliament condemns railway attack in India.

Nigeria: Gunmen release 3 Chinese technicians kidnapped in country’s restive southern delta

Nigeria: 3 kidnapped Chinese technicians released

LAGOS, Nigeria – China’s government news agency says three Chinese technicians kidnapped in Nigeria’s restive southern delta have been released.
The official Xinhua News Agency quotes an unnamed Chinese diplomat saying the three men were freed Saturday morning. The diplomat said the three men, who worked for a Nigerian steel company, …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

Antony doesn’t rule out using army against Maoists

NEW DELHI – Defence Minister A.K. Antony Saturday met Indian Army chief Gen. V.K. Singh to discuss the possibility of using the army against the Maoist guerrillas – a possibility that Antony later didn’t rule out.

A well informed source told IANS that Singh and Antony discussed the role of the army in “assisting” paramilitary … Original source on Gaea Times at : Antony doesn’t rule out using army against Maoists.

Malawi’s president orders pardon and immediate release of gay couple sentenced to 14 years

Malawi’s president pardons, releases gay couple

BLANTYRE, Malawi – Malawi’s president says he has pardoned and ordered the release of a jailed gay couple sentenced to 14 years in prison.
President Bingu wa Mutharika made the announcement Saturday during a press conference with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Lilongwe, the capital.
A judge earlier this month convicted and … Original source on Gaea Times at : Malawi’s president orders pardon and immediate release of gay couple sentenced to 14 years.

Police investigating prostitute deaths in northern England find more human body parts in river

UK police find human remains in river
LONDON – Police investigating the deaths of three British women say they have recovered what are believed to be human remains in a river in northern England.

West Yorkshire Police say an underwater search team made the discovery in the River Aire Saturday, near where body parts of 36-year-old Suzanne …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : Police investigating prostitute deaths in northern England find more human body parts in river.

Vatican abuse prosecutor warns of hell for perpetrators of child sex abuse

Vatican abuse prosecutor: Culprits going to hell

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican prosecutor of clerical sex abuse warned perpetrators on Saturday that they would suffer damnation in hell that would be worse than the death penalty.
The Rev. Charles Scicluna, a Maltese priest who is a top official at the Vatican’s morality office, led a special “make …. Original source  : Vatican abuse prosecutor warns of hell for perpetrators of child sex abuse.

‘US studying options for a possible Pakistan strike’

WASHINGTON – The US military is reviewing options for a unilateral strike in Pakistan in the event that a successful terror attack on American soil is traced to the country’s tribal areas, according to the Washington Post.

Ties between the alleged Times Square bomber, Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, and elements of the Pakistani Taliban have sharpened the … Read more >>>.