US Pledges Help to France Against Al Qaeda Rebels in Mali
ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Monday pledged to aid France’s widening aerial assault on al Qaeda-linked rebels in Northern Mali, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. would provide the French with intelligence and ai…
US Pledges Help to France Against Al Qaeda Rebels in Mali
ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Monday pledged to aid France’s widening aerial assault on al Qaeda-linked rebels in Northern Mali, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. would provide the French with intelligence and ai…
Blind Teen Stands Up to Putin on Adoption Ban
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(MOSCOW) — A blind Russian teenager’s withering, at times sarcastic, criticism of the country’s new ban on adoptions to the United States has garnered a lot of attention in Russian media, and even from the Kremli…
Kate Middleton, Prince William Expecting Baby in July
Danny Martindale/WireImage(LONDON) — Prince William and Kate Middleton will be welcoming their first baby this summer, Prince Charles’ official London residence announced on Monday.In a statement, Clarence House said, “Their Royal Highnesses The Duke …
Huge Protests in Paris over Same-Sex Marriage
DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images(PARIS) — The City of Lights has turned into the city of fights over same-sex marriage.An estimated 300,000 people marched in Paris on Sunday to protest President Francois Hollande’s controversial “marriage for all” …
Thousands Protest in Moscow Against Ban on Adoptions to US
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Thousands of Russians took to the streets on Sunday to protest Russia’s new ban on adoptions to the United States.In what organizers called the “March Against Scoundrels” they paraded down a tre…
Limits of Russia Adoption Ban Unclear, Causing Anxiety for US Families
ALEXEY DRUZHININ/AFP/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Overlapping and often contradictory statements from various Russian officials over the past week have failed to provide much clarity about how Russia plans to implement its new ban on adoptions to the United…
New Comic Novel on Adolf Hitler Races Up Germany’s Best Sellers List
Photos.com/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — German books about Adolph Hitler are often labored historical tomes that manage to traverse well-worn facets of the Nazi leader and his diabolical march on Europe. But a new novel about the f dictator is employing a p…
French Troops Killed in Failed Commando Missions in Somalia and Mali
Hemera/Thinkstock(PARIS) — The French Defense Ministry has confirmed the deaths of two French military service members in two military operations launched in Africa over the past 24 hours. One mission was a secret hostage rescue in Somalia, and the ot…
Kate Middleton’s First Official Portrait Unveiled
LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images(LONDON) — Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton and Prince William visited the National Portrait Gallery in London Friday for the unveiling of her first official portrait.Award-winning artist Paul Emsley painted Middleton agai…
Russia Wants World to Hear Out Syrian President
ABC News/Rob Wallace(MOSCOW) — Russia is asking the world not to dismiss Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s purported “roadmap” for peace out of hand.Earlier this week, the embattled Syrian leader made a fiery speech in which he vowed no surrender to …
This Is Nuts: British Firemen Rush to Help Stranded Squirrel
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LONDON) — A squirrel in England is once again bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, thanks to the efforts of more than a dozen first responders.The Daily Mail reports the rodent accidentally slipped into a frigid pond in the town of Wat…
Missing Fashion Mogul Vittorio Missoni Turned Family Business Into a Global Brand
(NEW YORK) — Rescuers searched by air and sea Sunday off the coast of Venezuela for the plane carrying Italian fashion mogul Vittorio Missoni, the man credited with turning his father’s fashion house into a global empire that includes hotels, ho…
Plane Carrying Missoni, Italian Fashion Boss, Reported Missing
Medioimages/Photodisc/Thinkstock(CARACAS,Venezuela) — Vittorio Missoni and his wife are reported missing, who were last seen on board a flight from the archipelago of Los Roques heading towards Maiquetia Airport in Caracas, according to the BBC.The ai…
Malala Yousufzai Discharged from British Hospital
Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images(BIRMINGHAM, England) — Malala Yousufzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was targeted and shot by the Taliban last October for supporting education for girls, has been discharged from the British hospital where sh…
The Vatican No Longer Accepting Credit Cards
Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock(VATICAN CITY) — For those hoping to visit The Vatican in Rome, keep your plastic to yourself: the symbolic seat of the Catholic Church is going cash-only.
The decision was implemented after a lengthy review by the Italian C…
Icelandic Girl Suing Government to Keep Her Own Name
Hemera/Thinkstock(LONDON) — A teen in Iceland has filed a lawsuit against her government because for her entire life, she legally hasn’t been allowed to use the name her mother gave her.
In Iceland, as in several other countries, the government has a …
Malala Yousufzai and Family to Remain in Britain
Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images(LONDON) — Malala Yousufzai, the 15-year-old Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban in October for arguing that girls should receive an education, and her family will stay in the United Kingdom and will not return to Paki…
Prince William Spends New Year’s Morning in Daring Rescue Effort
Christopher Furlong – WPA Pool/Getty Images(LONDON) — While the rest of the world was ringing in 2013, the heir to the British throne was trying to rescue a man who had been swept out to sea in northwest England.It was just 15 minutes after midnight i…
Russia Contends Al-Assad Won’t Be Pushed Out of Syria
ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Moscow appears unwilling to convince Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he should forget about trying to hold on to power for the good of his country, which has been embroiled in a nearly two-year-long c…