Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:07:23 +0000 Windsor Genova - AHN News Writer Yangon, Myanmar (AHN) - Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her two maids were brought to a prison in Yangon Thursday to face trial for allowing an American visitor in her home last week. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 19:40:47 +0000 Melvin Baker - AHN Reporter Bethlehem, West Bank (AHN) - Speaking at a Palestinian refugee camp in the town where Christianity was born, Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday said that Palestinians deserve to have their own state. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 18:10:51 +0000 Melvin Baker - AHN Reporter Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the swine flu (H1N1) has spread to three new countries. On Wednesday, the WHO confirmed H1N1 cases have reached Cuba, Finland and Thailand, bringing the global number of confirmed cases to 5,728 in 33 countries. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 17:07:50 +0000 Windsor Genova - AHN News Writer Santa Clara, CA (AHN) - U.S. computer chip giant Intel will appeal the European Union's decision on Wednesday to fine the firm $1.45 billion for unfair competition. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 15:43:03 +0000 Julie Farby - AHN Reporter Beijing, China (AHN) - In an effort to ramp up efforts to contain the swine flu virus, China has isolated 349 people including foreigners who travelled with the mainland's first swine flu case. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 14:31:28 +0000 AHN Staff Kingston, Ontario (AHN) - A study by Queens University law professor Nicholas Bala showed that parental alienation cases rose sharply. Bala analyzed 145 such cases which took place from 1989 to 2008. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 14:27:20 +0000 Julie Farby - AHN Reporter Washington, DC (AHN) - President Barack Obama has ordered government lawyers to object to the planned release of photos showing alleged abuse of prisoners in detention facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:32:27 +0000 AHN Staff Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - Canada's health food manufacturers are complaining about the bureaucracy in the federal health system which delays bringing healthier food items to consumers and causes the nation to be left behind by other countries in the field of food wellness. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:36:35 +0000 Kris Alingod - AHN Contributor Sherman, TX (AHN) - The Army sergeant who has been charged with shooting to death five fellow troops in Iraq was threatened by superiors and believed he was being set up to be discharged, according to the soldier's father. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 09:41:04 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor Iraq should break existing deals with its neighbors unless they increase Iraq's share of water from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, the chairman of the Water Committee of the Iraqi parliament, Karim Al-Ya'koubi, told local media. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 10:10:57 +0000 AHN Staff Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - Bankruptcies among businesses and consumers in Canada went up 51 percent in March, according to data released Tuesday by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 09:38:41 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor Egypt is refusing to sign treaties prohibiting biological and chemical weapons, a week after it was reported that weapons-grade uranium was found in Egypt. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 10:24:01 +0000 Matthew Borghese - AHN Editor Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. State Department is calling for increased diplomatic support to fight terrorism and piracy off the eastern coast of Africa. Piracy not only effects maritime security, but also impacts commerce, humanitarian aid and regional economic development, the State Department explained. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:15:54 +0000 Matthew Borghese - AHN Editor Berlin, Germany (AHN) - Two polls show conflicting results as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) look ahead to the upcoming fall election. The CDU and rival Social Democrats Party (SPD) had each hoped to form a majority government, but a series of recent polls show both will need support from smaller groups to take power. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:08:48 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor Pope Benedict XVI visited Bethlehem and a Palestinian refugee camp today, expressing "solidarity with the people who have lost so much." After celebrating mass in Bethlehem outside the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, the pope visited the 'Aida refugee camp just over a mile outside the city. Israel tried to blunt the political impact of Benedict's appearance in 'Aida by insisting that he not use a stage specially erected in front of the Israeli security barrier, which snakes around the camp in a towering wall of 30-foot concrete blocks. At Israel's insistence, the venue was moved across the road to a United Nations school so that cameras filming the pope would not have the barrier in the background. "It's disappointing that the pope will be at the school because we wanted him to be received on this beautiful stage that we worked day and night to build and decorate," Dr Abdel Fatah Abu Srour,... - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 09:43:14 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor Libya's most prominent dissident, Fathi Al-Jahmi, has been secretly transported to Jordan for an emergency operation, weeks after United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought the case to the attention of Libya's national security adviser Mutassim Al-Qadhafi, the son of the Libyan leader. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:18:56 +0000 AHN Staff Quebec City, Quebec (AHN) - Quebec is expected to adopt by July a cap and trade system and will implement the law by fall, Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp said Tuesday. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 07:22:14 +0000 Matthew Borghese - AHN Editor Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The United States has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the first time since the body was created in May 2006. The United States was elected to serve a three-year term despite international concerns over controversial American policies such as capital punishment and the detention and interrogation of terror suspects. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 07:10:06 +0000 Mogadishu, Somalia (AHN) - The needs of Somali people were highlighted by Senior United Nations officials who discussed the severity of the situation prompted by conflict and drought. Mark Bowden, Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, told reporters that the drought and a major conflict has left one half of Somalia's population reliant on food rations. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 07:52:32 +0000 Matthew Borghese - AHN Editor Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the swine flu (H1N1) has spread to three new countries and will raise the international alert level as the pandemic continues to grow. On Wednesday, the WHO confirmed H1N1 cases have reached Cuba, Finland and Thailand, bringing the global number of confirmed cases to 5,728 in 33 countries. - Joseph.Akintaju

Wed, 13 May 2009 09:15:55 +0000 AHN Staff Vancouver, British Columbia (AHN) - British Columbia residents gave Premier Gordon Campbell and the Liberal Party a third term on Tuesday as they elected 49 Liberals to the provincial legislature as against the New Democratic Party's 36 seats. The Toronto Star reported that as of 1 a.m., the Liberals had taken one more seat to gain 50 ridings. - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 22:14:01 +0000 Windsor Genova - AHN News Writer Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Pope Benedict XVI, , following Jewish custom, inserted a note containing a prayer for peace in Israel and the Middle East between the stones of Jerusalem's Western Wall, a holy site, on Tuesday. - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 17:33:32 +0000 Melvin Baker - AHN Reporter Khost, Afghanistan (AHN) - At least 10 Taliban fighters dressed as members of the Afghan army were killed Tuesday in a six-hour battle with Afghan and U.S. troops in a town near the Pakistan border. - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 12:04:41 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a former "ghost prisoner" of the United States whose false confession on links between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaeda was used to justify the invasion of Iraq, has died in Abu Salim prison in Tripoli, Libya. - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 13:01:51 +0000 AHN Staff Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - The good diplomatic relations enjoyed by Ottawa with Paris may be rocked following the filing by France on Friday of a letter of intent with the United Nations in which it stakes at claim at Saint Pierre et Miquelon. - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 12:03:33 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is set to appoint a new caretaker government without Hamas representation today, reinstating Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a move analysts expect to fray already delicate relations between Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 12:43:35 +0000 AHN Staff Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AHN) - A day after the Alstom-Bombardier consortium announced it will supply the Regie Autonome des Transports Parisien with 60 trains-sets worth $1.1 billion, a Bombardier official said Tuesday the company is setting its sights in the Middle East. - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 11:58:53 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor The pan-Arab media and entertainment industry is growing at a staggering 19 percent, despite global challenges such as declining advertising and lower consumer spending. - Joseph.Akintaju

Tue, 12 May 2009 12:02:47 +0000 Adam Gonn - The Media Line Editor Iran's Revolutionary Guards have begun deploying mobile launchers for surface-to-air and surface-to-sea missiles in the Strait of Hurmuz and other areas in the Gulf, it has been revealed. - Joseph.Akintaju