Anchorage Daily News

Sentence request for US woman in Italy murder case

Prosecutors are expected to request life in prison for an American student and her former boyfriend accused of killing a young British woman in Italy.

Sri Lanka to release 136,000 Tamil war refugees

Sri Lanka will release next month the remaining 136,000 Tamil refugees still in the squalid and overrun government camps where they've been detained since the country's civil war ended six months ago, a top official said Saturday.

Italian police arrest 2 linked to Mumbai attacks

Italian police on Saturday arrested two Pakistani men accused of providing logistical support for last year's terror attacks in Mumbai, officials said.

Buddhists from 2 Koreas to hold joint ceremony

South Korean Buddhist monks headed to North Korea on Saturday for a joint ceremony with monks there, showing the countries continue civil exchange despite a bloody naval skirmish earlier this month.

Chavez praises Carlos the Jackal

Hugo Chavez has defended the alleged terrorist mastermind Carlos the Jackal, saying the Venezuelan imprisoned in France was an important "revolutionary fighter" who supported the cause of the Palestinians.

Blast near aid office wounds 1 in NW Pakistan

An explosion struck the office of an aid organization in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border on Saturday, wounding a security guard, police said.

China says 37 dead, 71 trapped in mine explosion

A gas explosion tore through a state-run coal mine in northern China on Saturday, killing 37 people and trapping 71 others nearly a third of a mile under ground.

Pro-Castro mob attacks spouse of top Cuban blogger

The husband of an acclaimed dissident Cuban blogger was punched and shouted down by a pro-government mob Friday after he challenged the presumed state agents who earlier roughed up his wife to a street corner debate.

Mexico shifts strategy in border city violence

Mexico's top domestic security official said Friday that sectors of the general public have cooperated with drug cartels in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, and the government is about to launch new social programs there to combat gangs.

Argentina forces dirty war orphans to provide DNA

Valuing truth over the right to privacy, Argentina's Congress has authorized the forced extraction of DNA from people who may have been born to political prisoners slain a quarter-century ago - even when they don't want to know their birth parents.

McCain urges Obama to speed up Afghan decision

U.S. Sen. John McCain predicted success in the Afghan war effort Friday if President Barack Obama makes a decision quickly to send the reinforcements requested by his top commander there.

Mexican reporter on organized crime goes missing

Authorities in the western Mexican state of Michoacan are investigating the disappearance of a journalist who wrote about organized crime.

Mumbai still vulnerable 1 year after attack

The walls that the rockets blew out have not been repaired, and the plaster is a dense scattershot of bullet holes. Dozens of holes, blasted by grenades, pockmark the linoleum floors.

http://www.chabad.org/mumbai

Kidnapped Britons say Somali pirates may kill them

A British couple being held hostage by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast Friday that they fear they will be killed or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom is not paid soon.

Egyptian soccer fans riot against Algeria

Egyptian soccer fans burned Algerian flags and rioted outside the Algerian Embassy in Cairo, smashing cars and shop windows, in an escalating row between the two countries over a bitter World Cup rivalry.

Kidnapped Britons say Somali pirates may kill them

A retired British couple snatched from their yacht by Somali pirates said in an interview broadcast Friday they fear they could be killed within a week or handed to a terrorist group if a ransom demand is not paid.

Lesbian US war deserter wins stay of deportation

A lesbian who deserted the U.S. military and fled to Canada must be given another chance to plead her case for refugee status, Canada's Federal Court ruled Friday.

Guatemala reopening international adoptions

Guatemalan officials on Friday announced the resumption of international adoptions after a nearly two-year suspension prompted by the discovery that some babies were being sold.

Museum: Galileo's fingers, tooth are found

Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again and will soon be put on display, an Italian museum director said Friday.

WHO investigating Norway swine flu mutations

The World Health Organization said Friday it is investigating samples of variant swine flu linked to two deaths and one severe case in Norway, but that so far the significance of the mutation is unclear.

Afghan police are weak link in security force

Underpaid, under-equipped and under-trained, Afghanistan's 93,000-member police force is the weak link in an ambitious security strategy to hand over defense of the country to Afghans so American and other foreign troops can go home.