Newsday.com - Nation/World

Midsummer madness: The hunt for the chupacabra

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:11:47 -0400

In Zimbabwe, evil has an ordinary face

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

HARARE, Zimbabwe - When Robert Mugabe's "green bombers" walk the streets, they know everyone else is afraid of them. But what everyone else doesn't realize is that the green bombers are frightened of them, too.

Calif. woman attacked by bear, drives self to help

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:57:00 -0400

A woman walking her two dogs in a rural area of Southern California was attacked and severely injured by a bear, but managed to escape and drive herself to a nearby fire station.

WORLD & NATION UPDATE: ABROAD

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

A suspected Islamic militant threw a hand grenade at a group of migrant laborers in Indian Kashmir, killing a woman and her four children yesterday in one of two attacks that claimed a total of nine lives in the disputed Himalayan region. Separately, authorities imposed a curfew in the city of Jammu, clamping down on a Hindu nationalist protest, police said. The attacks and protests are part of a surge in unrest in recent months in the region that is claimed by both India and Pakistan. The grenade attack in Srinagar, the region's biggest city, occurred as families of migrant laborers waited to board a bus to go home, Police Superintendent Atul Goel said. Mohammed Afroze, a worker from the northern Indian state of Bihar, lost his wife and four children, ages 4 to 12, in the attack. The blast wounded 21 more people, police spokesman Prabhakar Tripathi said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

International Olympic Committee upholds ban of Iraq

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

BAGHDAD - Just two weeks before the start of the Olympics, Iraq was told yesterday it's not welcome in Beijing because of a political feud in Baghdad that angered the games' guardians and exiled a country that arrived to a roaring ovation at the opening ceremony four years ago.

NATO soldier, 3 Taliban killed in separate clashes in southern Afghanistan, alliance says

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:06:00 -0400

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ A NATO soldier was killed and two were wounded during a clash with militants in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, the military alliance said Friday.

In Berlin, Obama asks Europe, America to defeat terror

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

BERLIN - Before the largest crowd of his campaign - 4,000 miles from the United States - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama yesterday summoned Europeans and Americans together to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it" as surely as they conquered communism a generation ago.

Grandmother of missing Fla. girl told 911 dispatcher that mother's car smelled like dead body

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:25:00 -0400

MIAMI (AP) _ The grandmother of a missing 2-year-old Orlando girl told an emergency dispatcher that a car driven by the girl's mother smelled like there had been a dead body inside, according to recordings of 911 calls released Thursday.

Report: Bloomberg to tout McCain

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As Barack Obama delivered a high-profile speech in Berlin, John McCain had his own German experience - at a restaurant in Ohio - as reports swirled that the Arizona Republican's campaign may get a boost from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

WORLD & NATION UPDATE: AT HOME

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The State Department urgently needs to overhaul the way it handles passport applications to avoid a repeat of the massive backlogs last summer that frustrated countless travelers, congressional investigators concluded. They said the department must develop a "comprehensive, long-term strategy" to meet rising demand for the documents. The Associated Press obtained a draft copy yesterday of the report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, ahead of its expected release today. Lawmakers asked for an investigation into the backlog last spring and summer.