Daily News Channel
Taliban militants carried out attacks on two government buildings in Afghanistan Wednesday, killing 10 civilians and three officials. The militants targeted the justice ministry in Kabul and a prison near the Khair Khana district, north of the capital. The Taliban claimed they were retaliating against poor treatment of prisoners in Afghan jails, the interior ministry said
Switzerland’s Credit Suisse has joined the list of banks revealing disastrous results for 2008 after it reported losses of $7.1 billion (8.2 billion Swiss francs). The officials told CNN that the alleged cell had connections to a senior al Qaeda operative who helped orchestrate the 2006 “Airline Plot,” widely recognized as al Qaeda’s most serious terror attempt since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
China has killed 13,000 birds in the country’s far northwest to control what it called an epidemic of bird flu, state media reported Tuesday. Five hundred fowl that had died in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region tested positive for the H5N1 virus, according to China’s Ministry of Agriculture.
The streets in many parts of Zimbabwe wore a festive look Wednesday morning as the nation prepared to swear in opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister. The post was specifically created for Tsvangirai as part of a unity government that Zimbabweans hope will signal an end to the political and economic crises that have gripped the nation for months.
Israel’s two largest parties each claimed a mandate Wednesday after elections that saw a surprise first-place finish by the ruling Kadima party and dramatic gains by its conservative rivals, according to unofficial returns. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s failure to assemble a ruling coalition for Kadima last year triggered Tuesday’s elections.
Relatives of slain toddler Caylee Anthony spoke at her public memorial service Tuesday, recalling a little girl who was full of life and love and expressing their grief at her death. “Sure, Caylee might be in God’s heaven right now, but her presence is still at home with me every day,” said George Anthony, the girl’s grandfather. “I can close my eyes and I can see her coming from her bedroom with her silly little glasses on, her beads, whatever it might be, to make me laugh.
Faced with a projected $42 billion deficit, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned Tuesday that 20,000 state workers will lose their jobs if a budget deal isn’t reached by the end of the week. The governor and the legislature are “making progress” in talks, said Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, Aaron McLear.
A U.S. spy satellite snapped an image within the last several days of preparations at a North Korean missile site previously used for Taepodong-2 missile launch operations, a senior U.S
Winds whipping across southeastern Australia’s countryside continued to fan deadly brushfires Wednesday, spreading flames through rural towns and ravaging scores of homes. “The temperatures are much cooler, but the concern is there’s still this wind which sort of fans the flames and keeps them spreading,” said CNN Correspondent John Vause from Whittlesea, where tent cities have sprung up just north of Melbourne. Relief agencies pitched camps for those forced out of their homes.
Days before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Asia on her first international trip, the State Department Tuesday voiced concern about an imprisoned Chinese blogger whose trial has been indefinitely delayed. “We are disturbed that prominent Chinese human rights activist Huang Qi remains in detention,” acting deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid told CNN.