WORLD NEWS
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images(SEOUL, South Korea) -- North Korea fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Monday, marking the third straight day the country has launched similar rockets in the area, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
The latest missile comes after the North launched one on Sunday, Yonhap reports. Three others were fired on Saturday.
North Korea's committee in charge of inter-Korean relations says the recent firing of short-range rockets are part of a regular military drill.
Following Sunday's launch, South Korea called North Korea's action "deplorable" and "provocative." Seoul warned that it had placed
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iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) -- Is Iraq destined for another civil war?
The most recent spike in sectarian-related violence leading to more 140 deaths in just four days has many worried that Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is losing control even as security patrols were ordered increased around the country.
Last Friday, at least 70 people died in targeted Sunni neighborhoods, with dozens killed in a bombing near a mosque north of Baghdad.
The capital itself is turning into an armed camp with more SWAT teams, army patrols, police officers and mobile checkpoints than in recent memory.
What precipitated the new tension was a government
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Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears resistant to any attempts by the international community to set up a peace summit that would work towards ending the two-year conflict in his country.
In an interview with the Argentinean newspaper Clarin, the embattled leader threw cold water on a joint U.S.-Russia effort to set up a conference in early June that would get officials from his administration and the main Syrian opposition to arrive at a ceasefire and compromise.
Once more, al-Assad blamed the West for supporting who he terms as "terrorists" trying to usurp his authority, saying, "We do
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Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images(KABUL, Afghanistan) -- The move to strengthen women's rights in Afghanistan took a major hit Saturday when conservative religious lawmakers blocked landmark legislation.
Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, a conservative member of parliament, said the measure was withdrawn when religious parties claimed it violated Islamic principles and encouraged disobedience.
Shaheedzada even went as far to say, "Whatever is against Islamic law, we don't even need to speak about it."
Had the legislation been considered and passed, it would have set a minimum age for girls to get married while ending prosecution of women who are raped.
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Hemera/Thinkstock(TEHRAN, Iran) – Iran executed two men they had convicted of spying for the Unites States and Israel, according to Iran State Radio.
The radio report said one of the men hanged was Mohammad Heidari, convicted of providing the Israeli intelligence service Mossad with classified information. The second man was Kourosh Ahmadi, who was alleged to have given the CIA intelligence on Iran.
Iran has long accused Israel and the United States of spying on its nuclear program.
It’s not known when the two men were arrested and tried, but they were hanged at dawn Sunday, according to BBC News.
The execution comes only a few months after
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(ROME) -- Fans of good olive oil should be pleased to learn about a new European Union ban on unlabeled, refillable olive oil bottles in restaurants.
The ban is intended to cut down on food fraud, as olive oil is a common target.
Instead of the ubiquitous olive oil containers that could be full of poor quality product masquerading as high quality olive oil, European restaurants may only serve olive oil in tamper-proof packaging, labeled to EU standards.
Top quality olive oil producers like Rosita Decimi of Umbria say the bottle ban will make it tougher for restaurants to pass off rancid-tasting oils for a high quality Italian product.
Though
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- Police in Great Britain said they have identified new leads in the case of Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing in Portugal six years ago at the age of three.
Several persons of interest, as well as "both investigative and forensic opportunities" in the case, have been identified by Scotland Yard, authorities said.
Metropolitan Police said they were working with Portuguese police to determine the next steps, even though the missing girl's case is closed in the country.
"Our investigative review is ongoing and we are encouraged by the progress we are making," Metropolitan Police said
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Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images(SEOUL, South Korea) -- The South Korean Defense Ministry says that North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into waters off its east coast on Saturday, raising concerns about the potential for more military provocation in the region.
Two KN-02 missiles were fired in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, spokesman Min-seok Kim said.
Unlike the mid-range Musudan missiles which are believed to be capable of traveling more than 1,800 miles, within reach of Japan and South Korea, the missiles launched Saturday only have a range of 75 miles.
Kyodo News, citing an unnamed Japanese official, said the
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AFP/Getty Images(MOSCOW) – In a breach of protocol, Russia has publicized the name of a man it says is the CIA station chief in Moscow.
In comments to Russian media Friday, a spokesman for Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB (the successor to the KGB), confirmed that Russia had complained to the CIA station chief in Moscow about efforts to recruit Russian officers as spies as far back as 2011. The name of the supposed CIA agent appeared in a quote attributed to the FSB spokesman in a Russian language article by Russia’s Interfax news agency. The man’s identity was removed from the quote in an English language version.
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Mark Wilson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- At their joint news conference Friday at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey addressed the reports of new Russian missile sales to Syria. Dempsey called it “ill-timed” and an "unfortunate decision." Hagel agreed with Dempsey with regards to missiles “and whatever else is involved with the Russians does not help. It makes it more dangerous.”
Hagel said Secretary of State John Kerry had traveled to Moscow a few weeks ago to work out issues with Russia regarding Syria, including arms sales. He said the U.S. is trying to "convince
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File photo. Stocktrek Images/Thinkstock(KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan) -- Nine people were killed more than 50 injured when twin vehicle bombs exploded in a housing complex of Kandahar City in Aghanistan. Children are reportedly among the dead and injured.
The complex, called Aino Mina, houses more than a half million people in the outskirts of Kandahar.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Kandahar media blames Taliban.
This is the latest in a series of blasts that have killed Afghan civilians. Earlier this month, at least 10 civilians were killed when a roadside bomb in Kandahar detonated, according to BBC News. Fifteen people,
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ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images(CANNES, France) -- It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller: while a fancy jewelry company is hosting a ball at the Cannes Festival, thieves break into a company employees’ hotel room and steal $1 million worth of jewelry.
But this story is real. It happened in Cannes overnight.
A representative of Chopard, the Swiss-based watch and jewelry company, left the stash in the safe in his room at the Novotel Hotel in Cannes while he attended a late-night gala at a much fancier hotel across town. When he returned, thieves had ripped a safe from the wall of his room.
Police are still trying to determine
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FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/AFP/Getty Images(ROME) -- Police in Italy have arrested four possible members of Anonymous, the global hacker group known for attacking websites of organizations that opposed the exposed WikiLeaks documents.
The suspects have been placed under house arrest, accused of targeting Italian government and parliament websites, as well as those of the Vatican.
Police say while the suspects are charged with hacking, it is not clear if they are individuals acting for their own private purposes and using the Anonymous name, or if they are really part of the Anonymous group.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(TOKYO) -- It’s not exactly the next big smartphone, but if you spend one too many hours searching for that misplaced iPhone, this could be even better. Researchers at the University of Tokyo are developing a system that puts the mobile phone on the palm of your hand -- literally.
Using a special camera that combines high-speed vision and two rotational mirrors, Masatoshi Ishikawa and his team at the Ishikawa Oku Laboratory say they’ve found a way to project a device’s display screen or keyboard onto the palm, or any other surface, so that you can operate it remotely in your home or office.
Ishikawa says the system
Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The recent video of a Syrian rebel commander carving open the corpse of a fighter loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, removing several organs and biting into what appeared to be a lung, shocked and revolted even the closest observers of Syria’s increasingly brutal civil war.
A new video has now surfaced of the rebel, Khalid al-Hamad -- who goes by the nom-de-guerre Abu Sakkar -- in which he warns that “if the blood in Syria doesn’t stop, all of Syria will become like Abu Sakkar.”
Asked by the cameraman what drove him to mutilate the man’s body, he responded: “Cellphones [of
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