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Philippines mulls pullout of Syria peacekeepers

The Philippine foreign secretary says he is recommending to President Benigno Aquino III to pull out all Filipino U.N. peacekeepers from the Golan Heights following the abduction of four by Syrian rebels.

 

Bangladesh Factory Collapse Death Toll Hits 1,034

Death toll from factory collapse in Bangladesh passes 1,000 as recovery operation continues. 

 

8 die in clothing factory fire in Bangladesh as Rana Plaza toll passes 900

Eight people were killed when a fire swept through a clothing factory in Bangladesh, police and an industry association official said on Thursday, as the death toll from the collapse of another factory building two weeks ago climbed above 900. The fire, in an industrial district of Dhaka, comes amid global attention on safety standards in Bangladesh's booming garment industry f...

 

Porn and movies, not tech secrets, found on Chinese spy suspect's NASA laptop

The Chinese national taken into custody on an airplane waiting to take off for home had pornography and illegally downloaded movies on his NASA computer, not government secrets, reports say. He is now set to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating NASA computer rules. A felony charge of allegedly lying to FBI agents has been resolved, reports say, but it is not immediately clear if it is being dropped outright. Reports do indicate the lying charge is not going forward.

 

American gets 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for 'hostile acts'

An American tour operator has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for alleged “hostile acts” against the repressive regime, according to its official state news agency. Kenneth Bae, who is in his mid-40s and lives in Washington state, has been described by friends as a devout Christian who took tourists on trips to North Korea, The Associated Press reported.

 

Expert: Rhinos extinct in Mozambique

Mozambique's rhinoceros population was wiped out more than a century ago by big game hunters. Reconstituted several years ago, it has again been driven to extinction, or to the brink of extinction, by poachers seeking their horns for sale in Asia....

 

Bangladesh building collapse toll rises to 433

Bangladeshi Garment Factory Collapse - AP

Rescuers found more bodies in the concrete debris of a collapsed garment factory building Thursday and authorities say it may take another five days to clear the rubble. In addition to the 433 confirmed dead, police report that 149 people are still missing in what has become the worst disaster for Bangladesh’s $20 billion-a-year garment industry.

 

Baby food shortage in Europe due to China demand

Baby Food - AP

Yong-Hee Kim still can't believe that in a prosperous country like Germany, powdered baby formula would ever be rationed and that she would have to scour shops in the German capital to find the right brand for her 13-month-old son.

 

Study: New bird flu jumped directly from chickens

Bird Flu - USA Today

Chinese scientists have for the first time found strong evidence of how humans got infected with a new strain of bird flu: from chickens at a live market. In a small study of four patients who caught the new H7N9 virus, Chinese scientists compared swabs from birds at live markets in eastern China to virus samples from patients. The scientists found the virus from one patient was nearly identical to one found in a chicken. The research was published online Thursday in the journal Lancet.

 

Many trapped in Bangladesh building rubble as toll climbs to 187

Bangladesh Building Collapsed - Reuters

Survivors from a building that collapsed in Bangladesh killing at least 187 mainly women workers described hearing a deafening crack before the complex housing factories supplying Western clothes retailers crashed down in a matter of seconds.

 

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