27 April 2017

India Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna dies of cancer at age 70

In this Aug. 15, 2011, file photo, Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna attends the funeral of versatile Indian actor Shammi Kapoor in Mumbai. A hospital official says Vinod Khanna, a dashing Bollywood actor turned politician, has died of cancer in Mumbai. He was 70.
Vinod Khanna, a dashing Bollywood actor turned politician, has died of cancer, a hospital official said. He was 70.

Tushar Pania, a spokesman for Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, said Khanna died Thursday due to bladder carcinoma.

Khanna made his Bollywood debut in 1968 and acted in more than 100 films. His popular performances included "Mere Apne" (My Own), "Mera Gaon Mera Desh" (My Village, My Country), "Gaddaar" (Traitor), "Kachhe Dhaage" (Delicate Thread) and "Amar Akbar Anthony." He acted with top stars Amitabh Bachhan and Dharmendra in several Hindi movies.

26 April 2017

Brazil police arrest 12 men suspected of stealing millions

Guards and police inspect a vault that the assailants blew up early morning in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, Monday, April 24, 2017. Dozens of attackers armed with assault rifles used explosives to blast open the vault of an armored car company early Monday and apparently escaped by boat into Brazil with a haul of cash, authorities said.
Twelve men suspected of taking part in a dramatic, multimillion-dollar theft from an armored car company in a Paraguayan border city have been arrested in Brazil, officials in the Brazilian Federal Police said Tuesday.

The men are thought to be among roughly 50 men who used explosives to blast into the vault of the Prosegur company in Ciudad del Este, then escaped into Brazil, Federal Police Inspector Fabiano Bordignon said.

25 April 2017

'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' author dead

This 1975 image released by William Morrow shows author Robert M. Pirsig working on a motorcycle. Pirsig, whose novel “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” became a million-selling classic after more than 100 publishers turned it down, died at his home in South Benwick, Maine on Monday, April 24, 2017. He was 88.
Robert M. Pirsig, whose philosophical novel "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" became a million-selling classic and cultural touchstone after more than 100 publishers turned it down, died Monday at age 88.

Pirsig's publishing house, William Morrow, announced that he died at his home in South Berwick, Maine. He had been in failing health.

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" was published in 1974 and was based on a motorcycle trip Pirsig took in the late 1960s with his 12-year-old son, Chris.

24 April 2017

Maoist rebels kill at least 24 Indian paramilitary soldiers

Maoist rebels killed at least 24 Indian paramilitary soldiers and injured six others in their stronghold in central India on Monday in one of the worst attacks on the country's security forces in recent years, police said.

The rebels fired from hilltops at a group of paramilitary soldiers who were guarding workers building roads in a forested area of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh state, police officer Vishwaranjan said.

The government has been trying to improve roads in the dense jungles of Chhattisgarh to make it easier for security forces to pursue the rebels.

22 April 2017

Queen Elizabeth II turns 91 with day at the horse races

Britain marked Queen Elizabeth II's 91st birthday on Friday with gun salutes, as the monarch herself enjoyed a family day and a trip to the races.

The queen, who owns and breeds racehorses, was spotted smiling broadly and chatting animatedly Friday with jockeys and staff at Newbury Racecourse, not far from her Windsor Castle home.

She visited the racecourse with daughter Princess Anne and sat in the royal box to watch her thoroughbred Maths Prize run; it finished fifth.

21 April 2017

Paris police shot on Champs-Elysees; IS group claims attack

Bystanders raise their arms as police seal off the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. French media are reporting that two police officers were shot Thursday on the famed shopping boulevard. Many police vehicles can be seen on the avenue that passes many of the city's most iconic landmarks.
A gunman opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night, killing one officer and wounding three people before police shot and killed him. The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which hit just three days before a tense presidential election.

Security already has been a dominant theme in the campaign, and the violence on the sparkling avenue threatened to weigh on voters' decisions. Candidates canceled or rescheduled final campaign events ahead of Sunday's first round vote.

19 April 2017

India ruling party leaders face trial in 1992 mosque attack

In this July 28, 2005 file photo, Indian opposition leader and President of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) L.K. Advani, second right, senior BJP leaders Uma Bharati, right, Kalyan Singh, second left, and Murli Manohar Joshi wave to people during a public rally in Rae Bareilly, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. India's top court said Wednesday, April 19, 2017, that the four senior leaders of India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party will stand trial for their role in a criminal conspiracy over the destruction of the 16th century Babri mosque in 1992, an event that sparked bloody nationwide rioting. Of the four main leaders who will now stand trial, Singh is currently the governor of an Indian province, and the constitution protects him from criminal trial. Therefore his trial will start after his term ends.
India's top court on Wednesday ordered four senior leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party to stand trial over a 1992 attack on an ancient mosque that sparked Hindu-Muslim violence that killed thousands.

A lower court had earlier dropped conspiracy charges against the four in a case that has languished in India's sluggish legal system for almost 25 years.

14 April 2017

US drops 'mother of all bombs' on Islamic State tunnel

This undated photo provided by Eglin Air Force Base shows a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast weapon, the U.S. military's largest non-nuclear bomb, which contains 11 tons of explosives. The Pentagon said U.S. forces in Afghanistan dropped a GBU-43B on an Islamic State target in Afghanistan on Thursday, April 13, 2017, in what a Pentagon spokesman said was the first-ever combat use of the bomb.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan on Thursday struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan with "the mother of all bombs," the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military, Pentagon officials said.

The bomb, known officially as a GBU-43B, or massive ordnance air blast weapon, unleashes 11 tons of explosives. When it was developed in the early 2000s, the Pentagon did a formal review of legal justification for its combat use.

The Pentagon said it had no early estimate of deaths or damage caused by its attack, which President Donald Trump called a "very, very successful mission."

Ocean world near Saturn top contender for life beyond Earth

This June 28, 2009 image provided by NASA, taken by the international Cassini spacecraft, shows Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected hydrogen molecules in the geysers shooting off the ice-encrusted ocean world, possibly the result of deep-sea chemical reactions between water and rock that could spark microbial life, according to findings announced Thursday, April 13, 2017 in the journal Science.
A tiny, ice-encrusted ocean world orbiting Saturn is now a hotter-than-ever candidate for potential life.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected hydrogen molecules in the geysers shooting off the moon Enceladus, possibly the result of deep-sea chemical reactions between water and rock that could spark microbial life, scientists announced Thursday.

NASA and others are quick to point out this latest discovery does not mean there's life on Enceladus (ehn-SEHL'-uh-duhs), but that there may be conditions favorable for life.

13 April 2017

Chase pays off as Mumbai beats Sunrisers in IPL by 4 wickets

Mumbai Indians Nitish Rana bats during their Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, April 12, 2017.
The chasing team at Wankhede Stadium won for the sixth straight Indian Premier League game as Mumbai Indians beat defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets on Wednesday.

Mumbai won the toss and opted to field in what turned out to be a wise decision, given the recent success of teams batting second at this ground. Sunrisers made 158-8 off 20 overs, with only openers Shikhar Dhawan (48) and David Warner (49) achieving significant scores. Man-of-the-match Jasprit Bumrah took 3-24 as Sunrisers' middle-order collapsed. Harbhajan Singh also did some damage with 2-23, including the important wicket of Warner, who had smashed seven fours and two sixes.

12 April 2017

Philippines: Troops killed militant blamed for beheadings

Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa walks after an anti-terror simulation exercise at a bus terminal in Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, April 11, 2017. Dela Rosa said at least several people have been killed in battle between government forces and suspected Abu Sayyaf militants on a central resort island, far from the extremists' southern jungle bases and in a region where the U.S. government has warned the gunmen may be conducting kidnappings.
Philippine troops battling militants in a central province killed a key Abu Sayyaf commander who had been blamed for the beheadings of two Canadians and a German hostage and was apparently attempting another kidnapping mission, the military chief said Wednesday.

Military chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Ano told The Associated Press that troops have recovered and identified the remains of Moammar Askali, who used the nom de guerre Abu Rami, in the scene of the battle in a far-flung coastal village on Bohol island, where five other Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed in the fighting Tuesday, along with four soldiers and policemen.

Germany: Pregame blasts rock soccer team bus; player injured

A window of Dortmund's team bus is damaged after an explosion before the Champions League quarterfinal soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and AS Monaco in Dortmund, western Germany, Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
Three explosions went off near the team bus of Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany's top soccer clubs, as it set off for a Champions League quarterfinal match on Tuesday evening. One of Dortmund's players was injured.

Police said they were working on the assumption that the blasts were directed at the Dortmund team and caused by "serious explosive devices," which may have been hidden in a hedge near a car park.

10 April 2017

Pakistan's army sentences alleged Indian spy to death

In this March 29, 2016 photo, journalists look a image of Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016, during a press conference by Pakistan's army spokesman and the Information Minister, in Islamabad, Pakistan. The army said in a statement Monday, April 10, 2017, that Jadhav was sentenced to death on charges of espionage and sabotage. Pakistan says Jadhav was an Indian intelligence official who aided and financed terrorist activities.
Pakistan's military sentenced an Indian naval officer to death Monday on charges of espionage and sabotage, officials said.

Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016, had been convicted by a military tribunal, the Pakistani army said in a statement. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the head of Pakistan's armed forces, signed off on the sentence.

Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif alleged that the spy had official Indian government backing.

9 April 2017

Bereaved Syrian father: US missile strike not enough

Abdel Hameed Alyousef, 29, of Khan Sheikhoun, Syria, looks at photographs of his deceased children on his cell phone in Antakya, southeastern Turkey, late Friday, April 7, 2017. His wife Dalal and his 9-month-old twins Aya and Ahmed, along with other members of his family were all killed in Tuesday's chemical weapon attack on the Syrian town that killed some 87 people. The human cost of the attack is evident as Alyousef says 'I had lost 19 of my close relatives' in the attack which has been widely blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, although Syria officially denied using chemical weapons.
Abdel Hameed al-Yousef woke to the sound of an early morning bombardment in the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun and told his wife Dalal to take their twins Aya and Ahmed to safety outside.

He emerged to find the home covered in dust, and then a new strike exploded about 400 yards (300 meters away).

Within minutes, he said, his eyes started to water, and he soon lost consciousness.

Historian: Nazi leader Hitler once had Jewish landlord

A German historian says Nazi leader Adolf Hitler lived for almost a decade in a house that belonged to a Jewish merchant.

Paul Hoser says Hitler lived at Thierschstrasse 41 in Munich's Lehel district from 1920 till 1929, interrupted by a year spent at Landsberg prison for staging a failed coup in Bavaria.

8 April 2017

India extends $4.5 billion line of credit to Bangladesh

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hand with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi, India, Saturday, April 8, 2017. India and Bangladesh have signed a slew of agreements, including a $4.5 billion concessionary line of credit from India for development projects in Bangladesh, as the South Asian neighbors try to deepen their ties.
India and Bangladesh signed a slew of agreements on Saturday, including a $4.5 billion concessionary line of credit from India for development projects in Bangladesh, as the South Asian neighbors try to deepen their ties.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, held wide-ranging talks in New Delhi, exchanging views on defense, regional security and cooperation in combating international terrorism.

6 April 2017

Former Mexican cartel head gets life for drug smuggling

In this Jan. 21, 2008, file photo, Mexican federal police officers escort Alfredo Beltran Leyva, known as "El Mochomo, upon his arrival at the Mexico City's airport. Beltran Leyva, 46, was sentenced to life in prison on April 5, 2017, after pleading guilty in February to charges his multibillion-dollar operation smuggled tons of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States.
A once-powerful Mexican drug cartel leader and associate of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been sentenced to life in a U.S. prison.

Alfredo Beltran Leyva, 46, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty in February to charges his multibillion-dollar operation smuggled tons of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States. Beltran Leyva led the organization from the 1990s to his indictment in 2014, as it shipped tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, prosecutors said.

5 April 2017

Indian police: Mob kills Muslim man who was transporting cow

In this Oct. 2, 2015 file photo, a student activist holds a placard during a protest denouncing the killing of a 52-year-old Muslim farmer Mohammad Akhlaq by villagers upon hearing rumors that the family was eating beef, a taboo for many among India's majority Hindu population, in New Delhi, India. A Muslim man accused of transporting cows for slaughter has died after he was beaten by a mob in western India, police said Wednesday, April 5, 2017, in the latest incidence of violence by Hindu vigilante groups enraged over the treatment of animals they consider sacred.
A Muslim man beaten by a mob that accused him of transporting cows for slaughter has died in western India, police said Wednesday, in the latest violence by Hindu vigilante groups enraged over treatment of the animal they consider sacred.

Pehlu Khan died late Tuesday of injuries sustained when he and 14 other men were brutally beaten three days earlier in Rajasthan state, police said.

Hindus, who form 80 percent of India's 1.3 billion population, consider cows to be sacred and for many eating beef is taboo. In many Indian states, the slaughtering of cows and selling of beef is either restricted or banned.

N. Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

Visitors sit in front of the TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile firing, at Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 5, 2017. North Korea fired a ballistic missile into its eastern waters Wednesday, U.S. and South Korean officials said, amid worries the North might conduct banned nuclear or rocket tests ahead of the first summit between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week. The letters read "North Korea fired a ballistic missile into its eastern waters."
North Korea fired a newly developed powerful ballistic missile into its eastern waters Wednesday, U.S. and South Korean officials said, amid worries the North might conduct nuclear or long-range rocket tests ahead of the first summit between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week.

The initial U.S. and South Korean assessments indicated it was a KN-15 medium-range missile, whose first publicly known test in February was considered by many foreign experts as a potentially worrying development. It uses solid fuel already loaded inside the missile, which would shorten launch preparation times, boost the weapon's mobility and make it harder for outsiders to detect the signs of its liftoff.

4 April 2017

India-China row deepens as Dalai Lama arrives in NE India

India said Tuesday that China should not interfere in its internal affairs, as the Dalai Lama began a weeklong visit to India's remote northeast that Beijing has protested.

The Tibetan spiritual leader was greeted by cheering supporters as he arrived in Arunachal Pradesh. China claims the partly ethnically Tibetan Himalayan state as its own territory, and warned last month of "severe damage" to relations with India and increased regional instability if the Dalai Lama proceeds with his trip.

Renowned Indian classical singer Kishori Amonkar dies at 84

A man pays his last respect to classical Indian musician Kishori Amonkar in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Amonkar, renowned for her innovative interpretation of classical Indian music, has died, one of her students said Tuesday. She was 84.
Singer Kishori Amonkar, renowned for her innovative interpretation of classical Indian music, has died, one of her students said Tuesday.

Amonkar, 84, died late Monday at her home in central Mumbai after a brief illness, said Gandhar Bedekar. Music students in India often live with their mentors, and Bedekar's mother was one of Amonkar's oldest disciples.

One of the leading lights of the Jaipur "gharana" or community of musicians, Amonkar was trained by her mother, Mogubai Kurdikar, who was also a well-known singer.

3 April 2017

11 Indian sailors on small boat hijacked off Somali coast

In this Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 file photo, masked Somali pirate Hassan stands near a Taiwanese fishing vessel that washed up on shore after the pirates were paid a ransom and released the crew, in the once-bustling pirate den of Hobyo, Somalia. Somali pirates have seized a small boat, kidnapped its Indian crew members, and are taking the vessel to the Eyl area of northern Somalia, an investigator said Monday, April 3, 2017, the latest vessel targeted by the region's resurgent hijackers.
Somali pirates have seized a small boat, and its 11 Indian crew members, and taken the vessel to along the central coast, a state official said Monday. It is the latest ship targeted by Somalia's resurgent hijackers.

The pirates on Monday afternoon anchored the sailboat on the coast off Elhur, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Hobyo, which was a center of the piracy that was rampant several years ago, said Ahmed Mohamed, an official with the Somali state of Galmudug.

Desperation sets in as flood death toll in Colombia tops 200

Firefighters search for survivors in Mocoa, Colombia, Sunday, April 2, 2017. Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, who has declared Mocoa a disaster area, said that at least 207 were killed but that the death toll was changing "every moment." Authorities said another 200 people, many of them children, were injured and just as many were unaccounted for amid the destruction.
Townspeople desperately searched their ruined homes and the local hospital for loved ones Sunday after a torrent of water, mud and debris swept through a city in southern Colombia, causing more than 200 deaths, many of them children, and leaving hundreds more missing and injured.

Neighborhoods were left strewn with rocks, wooden planks, tree limbs and brown muck after heavy rain caused the three rivers that surround Mocoa to rise up and surge through the city of 40,000 Friday night and early Saturday as people slept. The deluge smashed houses, tore trees out by the roots and washed cars and trucks away.

2 April 2017

Iconic New Delhi movie theater shuts down after 85 years

In this Thursday, March 30, 2017 photo, motorists drive past the colonial era Regal Theater in New Delhi, India. The Indian capital's iconic theater signed off on Thursday night after more than eight decades with nearly 600 movie buffs cheering a 1964 Bollywood classic at a final screening. With nostalgic theater-goers singing their way to the exits, the iconic New Delhi theater has closed its doors to make way for a multiplex.
From Bollywood superstars to political heavyweights, the Regal theater hosted some of India's biggest names over more than eight decades.

But with nostalgic theater-goers singing their way to the exits after a final showing of a Bollywood classic, the iconic New Delhi theater has closed its doors to make way for a multiplex.

"It's the end of an era. It's very sad," said Nanak, who had worked at the theater since 1979. Nanak, whose grandfather and father were part of the Regal's management team in the 1950s and '60s, uses one name.