Australia count begins after tight election race
August 21, 2010
Counting is underway in Australia in a general election that looks to be one of the tightest in the country for decades.
Early exit polls put Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female prime minister, ahead of her conservative rival Tony Abbott by a slim margin.
Blast kills seven in China’s Xinjiang
August 19, 2010
Seven people have been killed and 14 injured in a bomb blast in China’s Xinjiang region.
The explosion happened in Aksu city in the west of the remote western region.
Last US combat brigade exits Iraq
August 19, 2010
The last US combat brigade in Iraq has left the country, seven years after the US-led invasion.
The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, began crossing by land into Kuwait in the early hours of Thursday, a military spokesman said.
Germany shuts 9/11 plotters’ mosque in Hamburg
August 9, 2010
German police have shut down the Hamburg mosque where the 9/11 hijackers met before their suicide attacks on the US in 2001.
Police said they believed the Taiba mosque was again being used as a meeting point for extremists.
Charlie Sheen sent to rehab for wife assault
August 3, 2010
US actor Charlie Sheen has been sentenced to 30 days in rehabilitation after he pleaded guilty to assault in a domestic violence case.
His wife, Brooke Mueller Sheen, had told police he had put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her during a row on Christmas Day 2009.
BP gears up to halt oil spill confirmed ‘world’s worst’
August 3, 2010
The US government has said the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the biggest oil leak ever, as BP prepares its “static kill” operation to permanently seal its well.
A new government estimate suggests BP’s Macondo well leaked 4.9 million barrels of oil before being capped last month.
Pakistan mourns victims of its worst-ever air crash
July 29, 2010
Pakistan is observing a day of national mourning following the country’s worst-ever air disaster.
An Airbus A321 crashed as it was about to land in the capital Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board.
Judge blocks Arizona’s controversial immigration law
July 29, 2010
A federal judge has blocked key parts of Arizona’s strict immigration law, hours before it takes effect.
The judge issued a temporary injunction against a requirement that police check the immigration status of criminal suspects they had stopped while enforcing other laws.
Intrigued by the symbolic
July 29, 2010
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has defended his comments about Pakistan’s record on tackling terrorism as he continued his trip to India.
He said it was “important to speak frankly” and while Pakistan had “made progress… we need them to do more”.
Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch found guilty
July 26, 2010
Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch has been found guilty of crimes against humanity by Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes tribunal.
Duch, 67, whose full name is Kaing Guek Eav, was sentenced to 35 years in prison.