India may suspend lawmakers accused of sex crimes

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian lawmakers facing sexual assault charges could be suspended from office if the country's top court rules in favor of a petition submitted after a gang-rape and murder that shocked the country.Six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape, said Jagdeep S. Chhokar, an official...

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Pakistan: Gunmen kill 7 teachers, aid workers

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Gunmen on motorcycles sprayed a van carrying employees from a community center with bullets Tuesday, killing five female teachers and two aid workers, but sparing a child they took out of the vehicle before opening fire.The director of the group that the seven worked for says he suspects it may have been the latest in a series of attacks targeting anti-polio efforts in Pakistan. Some...

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NKorea's Kim wants better living standards, arms

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Making his first New Year's speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called Tuesday for his country to focus on economic improvements with the same urgency that scientists put into the launch of a long-range rocket last month.Kim, shown speaking on state TV, said lifting living standards is the new year's most important task — a clear acknowledgement that North Koreans want...

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Indian gang rape victim's body cremated privately

NEW DELHI (AP) — A young woman who died after being gang-raped and beaten on a bus in India's capital was cremated privately as millions of grieving, angry residents demanded greater protection for women from sexual violence.The cremation took place during a private ceremony in New Delhi soon after the woman's body arrived in the capital Sunday on a special Air India flight from Singapore, where she...

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Suspects in India rape case charged with murder

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police have charged six men with murder, adding to accusations that they beat and gang-raped a woman on a New Delhi bus two weeks ago in a case that shocked the country.The murder charges were laid Saturday, hours after the woman died in a Singapore hospital, where she had been flown for treatment.New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the six face the death penalty if...

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Indian gang-rape victim dies in Singapore hospital

SINGAPORE (AP) — An Indian woman who was gang-raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi died Saturday at a Singapore hospital, after her ordeal galvanized Indians to demand greater protection for women from sexual violence that impacts thousands of them every day.Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was aware of the emotions the attack has stirred and that it was up to all Indians to ensure that...

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AP Exclusive: Photos show NKorea nuclear readiness

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Recent satellite photos indicate North Korea has repaired flood damage at its nuclear test facility and could conduct a quick atomic explosion if it chose.But analysis provided by the 38 North website to The Associated Press on Friday also shows water streaming out of a test tunnel that may cause problems.Washington and others are pushing for U.N. sanctions in response to...

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India gang-rape victim in Singapore for treatment

SINGAPORE (AP) — A young woman who was gang-raped and assaulted on a moving bus in the Indian capital was flown Thursday to a Singapore hospital for treatment of severe internal injuries that could last several weeks, officials said.The 23-year-old student, who is in critical condition, arrived in Singapore on an air ambulance and was admitted to the Mount Elizabeth hospital, renowned for multi-organ...

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Kazakhstan military plane crashes, killing 27

MOSCOW (AP) — Kazakhstan's acting border service chief was among 27 people killed in a military plane crash Tuesday near a southern city, another blow to the agency after he was appointed in June to deal with the aftermath of a mass killing involving a conscript.The Russian-made An-72 crashed at 1255 GMT (7:55 a.m. EST) about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the city of Shymkent near the border...

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Afghan policewoman kills US adviser in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan policewoman walked into a high-security compound in Kabul Monday and killed an American contractor with a single bullet to the chest, the first such shooting by a woman in a spate of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies.Afghan officials who provided details identified the attacker as police Sgt. Nargas, a mother of four with a clean record. The...

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Taliban not demanding Afghan power monopoly

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban representatives at a conference did not insist on total power in Afghanistan and pledged to grant rights to women that the militant Islamist group itself brutally suppressed in the past, according to a Taliban statement received Sunday.The pledges emerged from a rare meeting last week involving Taliban and Kabul government representatives.The less strident substance...

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Bombing at political rally kills 9 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed nine people including a provincial government official at a political rally held Saturday by a party that has opposed the Taliban, officials said.The rally in Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was held by the Awami National Party, whose members have been repeatedly targeted by the Taliban.Among the dead...

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Pakistani polio workers get police protection

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Under police guard, thousands of health workers pressed on with a polio immunization program Thursday after nine were killed elsewhere in Pakistan by suspected militants who oppose the vaccination campaign.Immunizations were halted in some parts of Pakistan and the U.N. suspended its field participation everywhere until better security was arranged for its workers. The violence...

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SKorea's 1st woman leader vows new NKorea effort

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Park Geun-hye's election as South Korea's first female president could mean a new drive to start talks with bitter rival North Korea, though it's unclear how much further she will go than the hard-line incumbent, a member of her own conservative party.After five years of high tension under unpopular President Lee Myung-bak, Park has vowed to pursue engagement with Pyongyang...

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Both SKorean presidential hopefuls promise change

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Koreans wrapped in mufflers and parkas braved frigid weather Wednesday to vote in a presidential election heading for a close finish between the two top candidates — the liberal son of North Korean refugees and the conservative daughter of a late dictator.For all their differences, the candidates hold similar views on the need to engage with Pyongyang and other issues.One...

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N. Korea displays Kim Jong Il a year after death

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea unveiled the embalmed body of Kim Jong Il, still in his trademark khaki jumpsuit, on the anniversary of his death Monday as mourning mixed with pride over a recent satellite launch that was a long-held goal of the late authoritarian leader.Kim lies in state a few floors below his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, in the Kumsusan mausoleum, the cavernous...

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After landslide, Abe says Japan has difficult road

TOKYO (AP) — After leading his conservative party to a landslide victory that will bring it back to power after a three-year hiatus, Shinzo Abe stressed Monday that the road ahead will not be easy as he tries to revive Japan's sputtering economy and bolster its national security amid deteriorating relations with China.The Liberal Democratic Party, which led Japan for most of the post-World War II...

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Conservative party favored as Japanese vote

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese voted Sunday in parliamentary elections that were expected to put the once-dominant conservatives back in power after a three-year break — and bring in a more nationalistic government amid tensions with big neighbor China.Major newspapers were predicting the Liberal Democratic Party, led by the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, would win a majority of the seats in the...

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