Floods strand pilgrims in India, deaths could rise
By BISWAJEET BANERJEE | Associated Press
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Monsoon flooding that has stranded thousands of people and caused landslides in northern India has killed almost 120 people, and the prime minister said the toll could rise substantially.
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Iran says appeals for ‘jihad’ in Syria fuel radicalism
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Calls by Sunni Muslim clerics for a holy war against the Syrian government and its Shi’ite allies are fuelling radicalism in the region, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday.
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New MERS virus spreads easily, deadlier than SARS
By MARIA CHENG | Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — A mysterious new respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East spreads easily between people and appears more deadly than SARS, doctors reported Wednesday after investigating the biggest outbreak in Saudi Arabia.
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Afghan government to shun U.S. talks with Taliban
By Hamid Shalizi and Lesley Wroughton | Reuters
KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Revived Afghan peace talks hit their first roadblock on Wednesday, a day after they were announced, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not join U.S. talks with the Taliban and would halt negotiations with Washington on a post-2014 troop pact.
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Syrian exiles get taste of home: Beloved ice cream
By DALE GAVLAK | Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — For Syrians, no visit to Damascus’ Old City is complete without a stop at a more than century-old ice cream parlor in its main souq where you can watch them make their distinctive desert by pounding it into shape with giant wooden mallets, then enjoy a bowl of it sprinkled with pistachios.
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For Many Filipinos, Jobs and the Good Life Are Still Scarce
By FLOYD WHALEY
MANILA — At his vegetable stand on a busy street in the Philippine capital, Lamberto Tagarro is surrounded by gleaming, modern skyscrapers, between which a river of luxury vehicles flows.
“The Philippines is the rising tiger economy of Asia,” Mr. Tagarro said. “But only the rich people are going up and up. I’m not feeling it.”
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Militants storm UN compound in Somalia; 20 killed
By ABDI GULED and JASON STRAZIUSO | Associated Press
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Seven al-Qaida-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the U.N. compound Wednesday with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault.
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Myanmar constitution likely to dash Suu Kyi’s presidential hopes
By Jared Ferrie
YANGON (Reuters) – Her adoring compatriots believe democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is destined to become Myanmar’s next president. But don’t bet on it.
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US tries saving Taliban talks after Karzai objects
By DAVID RISING and AMIR SHAH | Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hopes dimmed for talks aimed at ending the Afghan war when an angry President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday suspended security negotiations with the U.S. and scuttled a peace delegation to the Taliban, sending American officials scrambling to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the militants.
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Japan to Overhaul Nuclear Safety Guidelines
By HIROKO TABUCHI
TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear regulator announced an overhaul of the country’s nuclear safety guidelines Wednesday, the first since a giant tsunami swept over a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan two years ago and set off the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, even as signs of new trouble at the stricken plant underscored the hazardousness of the site’s cleanup.
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