Pakistanis bury slain teachers, aid workers

SWABI, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of villagers in northwest Pakistan turned out Wednesday to bury five female teachers and two health workers who were gunned down a day earlier by militants in what may have been the latest in a series of attacks targeting anti-polio efforts in the country.The seven had worked at a community center in the town of Swabi that included a primary school and a medical clinic...

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Gunmen kill 5 female teachers in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen in northwest Pakistan killed five teachers and two aid workers from a non-governmental organization Tuesday as they were driving home from work. The group's director said they may have been targeted for their anti-polio work.Militants in the past have accused health workers of acting as spies for the U.S., alleging the vaccine is intended to make Muslim children sterile....

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Pakistan releases 8 Afghan Taliban prisoners

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan released eight members of the Afghan Taliban from prison on Monday, including the former justice minister under the Taliban, in a bid to boost the peace process in neighboring Afghanistan, the government said.Pakistan is seen as a lynchpin in efforts to bring about peace in Afghanistan as foreign troops plan to depart the country in 2014. Kabul has been pressing its neighbor...

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Afghan violence falls in 2012, insider attacks up

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Violence in Afghanistan fell in 2012, but more Afghan troops and police who now shoulder most of the combat were killed, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.At the same time, insider killings by uniformed Afghans against their foreign allies rose dramatically, eroding confidence between the two sides at a crucial turning point in the war and when NATO...

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Indian rape victim's condition deteriorates

NEW DELHI (AP) — The victim of a gang-rape in New Delhi fought for her life at a Singapore hospital Friday as officials in the Indian state of Punjab fired and suspended police officers accused of ignoring the rape of another woman, who then committed suicide.Indian authorities have been accused of belittling rape victims and refusing to file cases against their attackers, further deterring victims...

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China tightening controls on Internet

BEIJING (AP) — China's new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.The measures suggest China's new leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November share their predecessors' anxiety about the Internet's potential to spread opposition to one-party rule and their...

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New Japan PM: Saving economic crisis top mission

TOKYO (AP) — Shinzo Abe took office as Japan's seventh prime minister in six years Wednesday and vowed to overcome the deep-rooted economic and diplomatic crises facing his country.Abe was elected as Japan's leader hours earlier Wednesday, bringing back to power the conservative, pro-business Liberal Democratic Party that governed for most of the post-World War II era. It replaces the liberal-leaning...

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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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US budget negotiations setback drives stocks down

PARIS (AP) — A failed attempt find a compromise in U.S. budget negotiations sent global stock markets plummeting Friday, as investors feared the world's largest economy could teeter into recession if no deal is found.Without an agreement, the U.S. economy will fall off the so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1 when Bush-era tax cuts expire and spending cuts kick in automatically. The measures were designed...

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Indian women live in fear of violence

NEW DELHI (AP) — It is almost every Indian woman's nightmare, lived daily when in public — a stream of obscene comments, unwanted hands being placed on them and then being blamed for causing the sexual violence.The gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old student by six men on a bus in New Delhi may have sparked days of protests and demands for authorities to take tougher action, but for women in India...

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Park Geun-hye elected SKorea's 1st woman leader

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Park Geun-hye, daughter of a divisive military strongman from South Korea's authoritarian era, was elected the country's first female president Wednesday, a landmark win that could mean a new drive to start talks with rival North Korea.After five years of high tension under unpopular incumbent Lee Myung-bak, Park has vowed to pursue engagement and send greater aid to North...

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Both SKorean presidential hopefuls promise change

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The liberal son of North Korean refugees faces the conservative daughter of a late dictator in South Korea's presidential election Wednesday. For all their differences, they hold similar views on the need to engage with Pyongyang and other issues.One big reason: Voters are deeply dissatisfied with current President Lee Myung-bak, including with his hardline stance on the...

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Car bomb kills 17 people in market in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A car bomb exploded in a crowded market in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region near the Afghan border Monday, killing 17 people and wounding more than 40 others, officials said.The bomb went off near the women's waiting area of a bus stop close to the office of one of the Khyber tribal area's top political officials, said Hidayat Khan, a local government official....

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Conservative LDP wins landslide in Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in a landslide election victory Sunday after three years in opposition, exit polls showed, signaling a rightward shift in the government that could further heighten tensions with rival China.The victory means that the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint...

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Rockets fired at airport in Pakistan, 3 killed

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants fired three rockets at an airport in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Saturday night, killing three people and wounding over 30 others, officials said.Peshawar is located on the edge of Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the country. The city has been hit by repeated attacks in the past few years, but...

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NKorea rocket launch shows young leader as gambler

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — A triumphant North Korea staged a mass rally of soldiers and civilians Friday to glorify the country's young ruler, who took a big gamble this week in sending a satellite into orbit in defiance of international warnings.Wednesday's rocket launch came just eight months after a similar attempt ended in an embarrassing public failure, and just under a year after Kim Jong...

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