India: 70,000 trapped in Sri Lanka war zone

India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka’s war zone. India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament. “Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now.

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Confessions of a Hollywood action king

Hollywood uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer is famous for his almost uncanny ability to recognize a potential hit movie. Once described as “the man with the golden gut,” Bruckheimer’s movies have earned more than $15 billion in box office, fueled by a potent mix of fast-moving action, big bangs and even bigger stars

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5 dead in Mexico border town violence

Five drug-trafficking suspects were killed and seven federal police officers were wounded Tuesday in clashes in the Mexican border town of Reynosa, police said. She’s expected to huddle with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda Wednesday evening before meeting with President Bambang Yudhoyono the following morning. Clinton will “discuss the close and growing partnership with Indonesia and perspectives on common interests in Southeast Asia,” according to the State Department Web site

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Arrested Zimbabwe opposition leader charged

A court in Zimbabwe charged a senior opposition official Tuesday over an alleged plot involving terrorism and insurgency, as President Robert Mugabe chaired the first Cabinet meeting of a coalition government. Roy Bennett, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) treasurer and the country’s agriculture deputy minister-designate, is charged with illegally possessing firearms for the purposes of trying to commit acts of insurgency, banditry and terrorism and to illegally leave the country last week, his lawyer said. Trust Maanda told CNN on Tuesday: “The charges were changed from treason which the state had initially charged Bennett, I am sure they discovered it could not stand

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Obama: Troops alone cannot win in Afghanistan

Diplomacy will play a bigger role in U.S. efforts in Afghanistan in future even as the Pentagon announced a significant troop increase, President Barack Obama said Tuesday in an interview on Canadian television. “I am absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely through military means,” Obama told journalist Peter Mansbridge as part of a wide-ranging interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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New nuclear plants to protect against jet strikes

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted Tuesday to require any future nuclear power plants to be designed to withstand strikes from commercial jetliners, addressing a possible terrorist scenario that has haunted some people since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Citizen activists have sought such a rule since the attacks, saying the consequences of an air assault would be catastrophic.

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