Current Affairs

Increase in carbon emissions seen tripling since '90s

2007-05-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

Emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning, the main culprit in global warming, have increased three times faster in recent years than they did in the 1990s, international climate researchers reported today.

Sectarian Violence Rises in Baghdad

2007-05-23T00:17:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD (AP) - A car bomb exploded Tuesday at an outdoor market in a Shiite area of Baghdad, killing 25 people and wounding at least 60 - the deadliest in a string of attacks that stoked sectarian tension in and around the capital.

G8 summit is "litmus test" for U.S. on warming: U.N.

2007-05-23T00:15:00.002-07:00

A meeting of rich nations next month in Germany will be a "litmus test" of how the United States plans to help the world fight climate change, the head of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Tuesday.

al-Qaida's No. 2 Praises Taliban Chief

2007-05-23T00:15:00.001-07:00

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, presented an eulogy for a slain Afghan Taliban commander in a new audiotape released on Tuesday, according to a transcript issued by a U.S. group that monitors militant messages.

Star dies in brightest supernova

2007-05-10T01:02:00.000-07:00

A massive star around 150 times the size of the Sun has exploded in what is the brightest supernova ever seen, Nasa scientists have said. Supernovae occur when huge, mature stars effectively run out of fuel and collapse in on themselves. But scientists believe this one was obliterated in an explosion which blasted all its material into space.

China identifies mystery pig illness

2007-05-10T01:01:00.001-07:00

BEIJING- A mysterious illness that has swept through pig populations in southern China and killing at least 300 of the animals has been identified as a strain of "blue ear disease,"

Pope arrives in Brazil on difficult mission

2007-05-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

By Philip Pullella | SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Pope Benedict arrived in Brazil on Wednesday, his first visit to Latin America, on a mission to reaffirm traditional family values and stem the exodus of Rom...

Cheney Presses Iraqi Leaders on Security

2007-05-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD (, ) - Vice President Dick Cheney pressed Iraq's leaders to do more to reduce violence and achieve political reconciliation

Bush 'would veto new Iraq bill'

2007-05-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

US President George W Bush would veto a second congressional bill on the war in Iraq that links funding to progress there, his spokesman has said.