Pakistan stops NATO supplies after deadly raid

Student supporters of Islami Jamiat Talaba, a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, protest against NATO forces in front of a burning tyre in Lahore, November 26, 201


NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan yesterday, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging US-Pakistan relations deeper into crisis.

Pakistan retaliated by shutting down NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, used for sending in nearly half of the alliance’s land shipments.

Islamabad also said it had ordered the United States to vacate a drone base in the country, but a senior US official said Washington had received no such request and noted that Pakistan had made similar eviction threats in the past, but did not follow through.

Arab ministers impose travel sanctions on Syrian officials

Arab finance ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on Syria including a ban on its senior officials' travel and suspension of trade links after Damascus ignored a deadline to end a violent crackdown on opposition protesters.

Quake Kills at Least 3 in Turkey

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday in the same region hit by a larger quake two weeks ago killed at least three people and trapped others who had moved into damaged buildings that collapsed Wednesday, the Turkish media ...

Cemetery collector with 29 bodies arrested

A still image taken from undated police footage shot inside the flat of Anatoly Moskvin and released to Reuters on November 8, 2011. It shows books, clothes and dressed figures, reportedly mummified bodies desecrated from cemeteries.


Russian police have arrested a man described by local media as the "cemetery collector" for digging up 29 corpses and dressing the remains in female clothing to display around his flat.

Grainy police video images of the man's cramped flat showed what look like several life-sized female dolls without faces, some with platinum blond wigs.

The world's infamous dictators and how they met their violent ends

Cut down in the cross-fire between loyalists and rebels, then flung in a truck and executed in front of a baying mob, Gaddafi’s final moments were as brutal as his crimes.

Covered in blood and dirt, he had pleaded for his life - the answer was a bullet to the temple.

So how does it compare to the grisly deaths of other ruthless dictators such as Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Nicolae Ceausescu and Rafael Trujillo? The circumstances varied, but the cold and bloody nature of their final seconds did not.

The end: Saddam Hussein was hanged by vengeful countrymen after overseeing a brutal regime - his death signalled by a loud crack of his neck
'Caught like a rat': Saddam Hussein after being tracked down by U.S. forces
The body of Saddam Hussein in an undated image obtained by the Associated Press from an Arab language web site. Seemingly shot on a camera phone, the image appears to show the former Iraqi leader's corpse, with a gaping neck wound

At least 24 killed and 200 injured as Christians clash with Egyptian military in Cairo

At least 24 have died after fierce clashes erupted between Christians and the Egyptian military in Cairo yesterday.

A further 200 were injured in the rioting, sparked by a protest over a recent attack on a church in the South of the country.

Thousands gathered as the protest spread from outside the state television building along the Nile to nearby Tahrir Square.





Anger: Coptic Christians throw stones at a military vehicle.Victim: A protester is injured during the clashes with the military.Huge numbers: Thousands of Coptic Christians took part in the march.Before the clashes: The demonstrations began peacefully outside the state television station in central Cairo

Coptic Christian protesters clashed with security forces in Cairo yesterday 24 deaths

Coptic Christian protesters clashed with security forces in Cairo yesterday

Chaos on the interstate as huge dust storm blinds Arizona drivers and causes multiple pile-ups as one driver dies

A blinding dust storm rolled across the Arizona desert Tuesday, causing three pile-ups involving dozens of vehicles on a major interstate. A 70-year-old man was killed and at least 15 other people were injured, authorities said.

The first two crashes occurred just after noon as a dust storm suddenly covered Interstate 10 near Picacho, about midway between Phoenix and Tucson. Those collisions involved 16 vehicles and led to the fatality.

Video showed dust roiling over dozens of cars, tractor-trailers and ambulances pulled over or strewn about the highway. Authorities were unable to transport injured motorists by helicopter because of the heavy dust.

One man was killed and at least 15 other people were injured in the accident, authorities said.Arizona Department of Public Safety officers and other emergency personnel make their way around vehicles involved in a crash on Interstate 10
The pile-ups involved a number of larger vehicles as well as cars
State public safety officers brave the dust storm to help in the massive clear-up operation

Rate of German E.coli cases slows, tests inconclusive

Germany said on Tuesday the rate of infection from a deadly new strain of E.coli that has killed 23 people was slowing down.

Libya's oil minister defects to 'fight for democracy'

Shukri Ghanem told reporters in Rome: 'I have left my country and my work to unite myself with the choice of young Libyans to fight for a democratic country.' Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP Libya's oil minister Shukri Ghanem has defected and ...

Virulent E. Coli Strain Spreads in Germany and Puzzles Health Officials

Cucumbers from Spain were left in crates as suppliers in several European nations halted entry. By ALAN COWELL and WILLIAM NEUMAN BERLIN - An unusually lethal strain of E. coli bacteria has infected more than 1500 people in Germany, mystifying public


E.coli epidemic continues to gather pace with almost 200 new cases reported over the last 24 hours amid a bad-tempered spat between Berlin and Madrid over Spanish cucumbers. Yesterday authorities confirmed more than 1500 infections with

Another Tornado Reported, This One in Massachusetts

Residents of Springfield, Mass., sought cover Wednesday after a warning about another possible tornado. An earlier storm damaged buildings, toppled trees and caused numerous injuries

The National Weather Service says experts are preparing to go out and assess the severity of a severe weather system that has spawned apparent tornadoes and caused heavy damage in several Massachusetts communities.At least two tornadoes struck Springfield, Massachusetts, and numerous other communities in the western part of the state Wednesday, leaving behind "many injuries" and extensive damage, the state's governor said.

News crew films Western troops liaising with gunmen Are these men SAS helping Libyan rebels?

An Arab television channel has broadcast pictures which it says show Western special forces on the ground in Libya.

Footage by the Al Jazeera television channel shows a group of six Western-looking men – described as ‘possibly British’ – talking to rebel fighters near the besieged port city of Misrata.

With their peaked caps, wraparound sunglasses and assault rifles, the group certainly appear different to the rag-tag rebel army battling Colonel Gaddafi’s forces.

 Talks: South African President Jacob Zuma has arrived in Tripoli to meet Colonel Gaddafi

Elusive: The armed men quickly walk out of shot once they see the Al Jazeera camera

Special forces: The Western men are seen here walking away from the car and the pick-up truck, with the unarmed man in the pink T-shirt possibly an intelligence officer

Muslim girl, 19, 'stoned to death after taking part in beauty contest'

A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under 'Sharia law' after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine.

Katya Koren, 19, was found dead in a village in the Crimea region near her home.

Friends said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had come seventh in a beauty contest.

Murdered: Katya Koren was attacked after taking part in a beauty contest which her friends said angered hardline Muslims

Two US troops killed as Baghdad hit by bombs

A soldier inspects the remains of a vehicle used in a bomb attack in Baghdad’s Sadr city May 22, 2011. A string of bombings and explosions killed at least 13 people and wounded 74 in the Baghdad area yesterday, including a suicide bombing targeting Iraqi soldiers north of the capital, security officials said.


A string of bombings killed at least 15 people and wounded 74 more across Baghdad yesterday and two US troops were killed in central Iraq, officials said.

Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the height of sectarian conflict four years ago, but bombings, assassinations and attacks occur daily as the remaining US troops prepare to pull out of the country by the end of this year.

Gunmen storm Pakistan’s naval aviation base

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik speaks to the media outside Mehran naval aviation base, which was attacked by militants, in Karachi May 23, 2011.


More than a dozen gunmen attacked Pakistan’s naval aviation base yesterday, blowing up an aircraft and fighting pitched gunbattles inside one of the country’s most heavily guarded military installations.

Officials said up to four people had been killed in the attack on PNS Mehran in the southern city of Karachi and that three hangars housing aircraft had been targeted. Nine explosions were reported from the base, with jet fuel tanks possibly catching fire and exploding.

America's deadliest tornado for 64 years: Terrifying twister cuts six-mile swathe through a Missouri town, leaving up to 116 dead

* Devastating 198mph tornado tore a path a mile wide and six miles long straight through Joplin, Missouri
* Deadliest single tornado in over 60 years with at least 116 people killed
* Meteorologists issue new tornado warning for the ruined city
* Nearly 500 people have now died as a result of tornadoes in the U.S. in 2011
* Residents only had 20 minutes to take cover before monster tornado swept through the heart of the city
* Missouri governor declares state of emergency in city of about 50,000 people
* Emergency workers say thunderstorms are hampering efforts to find survivors as 1,500 rescuers search for missing
* Family and friends of the missing post moving appeals for information on Facebook and blogs
* Storm Prediction Center says more violent weather expected with further tornadoes through the middle of week

Thousands of people were left without homes to go tonight after the deadliest single tornado to strike the United States in over 60 years touched down on Missouri, reducing the city of Joplin to rubble, ripping buildings apart and killing at least 116 people in a 6-mile path of destruction.

Authorities said they had rescued seven people alive on Monday, but emergency warned that the death toll could climb higher as heavy winds, strong rain and hail quarter-sized hail stones hampered the search effort.

Meteorologists issued a new tornado warning for the devastated city as forecasters warned large swathes of the country to brace for more big storms on Tuesday.

Despair: A tree stripped of bark and leaves frames St John's Regional Medical Center

Relief: Maggie Kelley and her husband, Trey Adams hug their dog, Saint, after finding him amid the rubble of her home in Joplin

Map: Infrared image of the powerful tornado that spun through a densely populated part of Missouri

Devastation: Destroyed homes and debris cover the ground as a second storm moves in on Monday in Joplin, Missouri

Eye of the storm: The tornado tore a 6-mile path across southwestern Missouri

Desolation: A residential neighbourhood in Joplin is seen after it was levelled by the tornado

Aftermath: Aerial footage of the destruction in Joplin, Missouri, where a massive tornado tore straight through the city

Heatbreaking: Joplin resident Chue Vang, 50, reacts after coming home to discover that her home was destroyed by the devastating tornado

Widespread devastation: Another tornado in Minneapolis damaged at least 100 homes, toppling hundreds of trees and injuring at least 29 people

Emergency: Extensive damage can be seen at the St John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Missouri. An emergency agency spokesman says fatalities had been reported but was unsure of the exact figure

Devastation: Emergency personnel walk through a neighbourhood severely damaged by a tornado near the Joplin hospital. There are are no firm details on the number of dead or injured, as the hospital is out of action

Unbelievable: Destroyed vehicles are piled on top of one another in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Centre

Levelled: Red Cross representatives say 75% of Joplin is gone - here, vehicles and houses in the vicinity of Twenty-fourth and Main Streets are a jumble of rubble after a the tornado swept through

Nothing remains: Anita Stokes salvages meat from a freezer at her home that was destroyed by a tornado in Joplin

Efforts: Rescue workers in lime-green jackets search for bodies and survivors inside St John's hospital

Soul destroying: Jean Logan surveys the damage to her home in Joplin after the tornado. She had taken refuge in her laundry room with her granddaughter

Homeless: Ted Grabenauer sleeps on his front porch the morning after a tornado ripped off the roof of his home when it hit Joplin, Missouri

Search: An emergency vehicle drives through a severely damaged neighbourhood in Joplin

Ruins: A view of the devastation after a tornado blew the roof off the St John's Regional Medical Center, rear, where about 180 patients cowered and were eventually evacuated

Raised to the ground: Blocks of homes lie in total destruction after the devastating tornado

Clean-up begins: 'There was significant damage caused by large hail, which broke windows and broke tree limbs,' Ms Watson said. The local post office and volunteer fire department were damaged

A total mess: Rachel Hurst picks through her belongings that were strewn about from her garage that was blown away in Minneapolis on Sunday

Path of destruction: No house escaped the wrath of nature in some of Minneapolis

Condolences: President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon during his visit to Dublin, Ireland. The President extended his condolences to all impacted by the deadly tornadoes

Flattened: Reading - a town of about 250 people, 50 miles south of capital city Topeka

A taste of spring? Trees were stripped of branches and many were left resting against houses

Re-united: A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home

Community spirit: Residents of Joplin help a woman who survived in her basement after a tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses

Desperate: Amy Langford carries items from her house that she was in with her husband Mark when the tornado hit their home in Joplin