March 10, 2010 In the late summer of 2007, Baghdad was buzzing with talk of a coup. Iraq was gripped by horrific civil war, and the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki seemed at best unable...

Writer Susan Konig ran for office in her community though having no political background. She explains why anyone who cares about where they live should...

LAST week at St Augustine's High, pupils at the Catholic secondary school were celebrating "unity and diversity week". So far, so politically correct you might think. Yet this is a school which is a...

The snow is melting in the woods of North Carolina and the kudzu is greening up. This ravenous pea-like vine was introduced to prevent soil erosion and now it is devouring the South, which goes to...

When the Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko died on the evening of March 10, 1985, and Mikhail Gorbachev was elected by the Communist Party’s Central Committee as its general secretary less...

Losing your musical innocence either happens instantly, like getting shot at short range, or in a slow tide. Or it doesn’t happen at all. The consequences of a musical shock are unpredictable....

Barbara Tuchman, in her classic book “March of Folly,” examined four cases in history when governments acted contrary to their own best interests: the Trojans who let the Greeks bring the...

As mysterious as was her mode of living are the incidents surrounding the death of Mrs. Rettin Anna Gill, the aged recluse whose home was on the summit of Mount Laurel, two miles from Atlantic...

Damian Carnegie, of Baldwin Borough, took advantage of the warm weather to do some fishing Tuesday afternoon in the Youghiogheny River in McKeesport's Richard J. Gergely Park. The Youghiogheny likely...

The Presston Volunteer Fire Department now is officially part of the McKees Rocks Volunteer Fire Department. McKees Rocks Councilman Robert DiCicco said at Tuesday night's meeting that Presston...

For nearly a century, the J.E. Corcoran Co. has hawked fruits and vegetables from the Strip District's iconic produce terminal. But a proposed redevelopment could end its long run. Officials with...

March 10, 2010 The great thing about racists is they'll always take the bait. You won't get far into an immigration-reform debate, for instance, before the GOP's more zealous legislators start doing...

Liz Cheney, board member, Keep America Safe, addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. She recently released a controversial ad denouncing...

A woman has died in an early morning house fire in Penn Hills. Flames broke out about 4:30 a.m. in the home at 5737 Madison Drive. The woman was found dead just inside the house. The cause of the...

North Fayette officials are calling for owners of private sanitary sewer systems -- such as trailer parks and industrial parks -- to pay for video inspection of their sewer lines. Supervisors agreed...

Monroeville council recognized the memory of teen slaying victim Demi Cuccia during last night's meeting by supporting an anti-violence bill named in her honor. Council unanimously approved a...

Bill Drzal, veteran hydrologist with the National Weather Service, believes the rivers will rise gradually over the weekend, different than in 1996, when a torrential rain caused severe flooding...

(New York) - The Afghan government should urgently act to repeal a law that provides an amnesty to perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said today. The law was...

s 17, a trainee nursery nurse but impressionable, with little experience of the opposite sex, which left her dangerously open to the flattering chat from a 19-year-old Facebook "friend" called Peter...

The Rebus author revealed that he had held a script meeting in Moo Cafe in Canonmills, the scene of a knife-point robbery just hours earlier. And according to his latest post on Twitter, he is...

A true high flier. John Pascoe-Watson flew too many different aircraft to mention in his RAF days in the Fifties before he left in 1955 to become a test pilot with Ferranti.So much to tell. John...

STRANGER danger used to be the mantra. As a child you were warned never to accept sweets from anyone you didn't know, and to certainly never, ever go with anyone who wanted to show you some...

Mince Pie Supper This competition is open to readers aged 18 years and over. The weekly winner will be chosen by our judging panel. The editor's decision is final. Usual Evening News rules apply....

By Willy Lam China's ongoing tussles with the United States over issues including Taiwan, Tibet and trade are in a sense nothing new. For more than two decades, Sino-US relations have...

By Peter Lee An agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and China in 2008 to swap 10 million tonnes of copper ore for US$9 billion worth of mine and civic infrastructure...

By Mel Frykberg RAMALLAH - Iran and Israel appear to be spoiling for a fight, going by recent belligerent statements emanating from several regional capitals. Military movement on the...

By Mohammad Elyas Daee and Abubakar Siddique MARJAH - Azizullah Khan might be this town's best example of civic-mindedness. He is a middle-aged farmer in this area, at the center of a recent...

a labyrinth of quaint buildings, gathering spaces and water features manufacture a different reality. "It's very beautiful!" crooned nine-year-old Samantha Tan, who pleaded with her parents to...

Different takes on coping with change By Francesco Sisci BEIJING - In recent weeks on Chinese movie screens there has been a confrontation: Oscar-winning Avatar from the United States pitched ...

also widely seen as politically necessary to create enough jobs to stave off social unrest. While the world's largest economy - the United States - struggles to stem the bleeding of jobs in its...

By Gary LaMoshi DENPASAR, Bali - An investigation of Indonesia's Bank Century, which required a bailout in 2008 that eventually climbed to 6.7 trillion rupiah (US$720 million), has been taken...

Perhaps not surprisingly, it appears that the seed money for the petition drive is coming from two oil refiners, Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., based in San Antonio. Each owns refineries in...

And the housing market, which was the catalyst for 2008's economic disaster, remains grim all over. There were nearly a million "past due" mortgages at the end of 2009 in California alone, and nearly...

California's bond rating is the country's lowest. The state faces near unprecedented unemployment and underemployment. State government and most counties face deficits for the foreseeable future. The...

We've now been at war intermittently with Iraq for almost 20 years, and with Afghanistan for 30. It adds up to nearly half a century of experience, all bad. Yet an expanding crew of Washington-based...

The self-outing of state Sen. Roy Ashburn, who confessed that he is gay on a right-wing talk-radio program Monday, was undoubtedly agonizing -- not only for Ashburn but for his family (the divorced...

At some point in the next week, President Obama is expected to announce whether he's decided to backtrack on his decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-admitted mastermind of the 9/11...

As I started reading The Times' March 4 article, "California disqualified from receiving federal school funds," I hoped the story would examine the devastating impact the Obama administration's...

The move by online retailer Amazon to drop its Colorado affiliates was a predictable result of the legislature's recent efforts to revoke tax exemptions. We were convinced from the outset that House...

Not that $200 million was anything to scoff at, but now we learn that a potential deal with Pinnacol Assurance could net the state much more than originally thoughtup to $174 million more. Does that...

Imprisoning Liu Xiaobo for his criticism of the government is a stain on China’s reputation and standing in the world. Instead of punishing and making an example of Liu, the Chinese government...

criticized for supporting Cambodian detention centers where children are subject to arbitrary detention, torture, violent beatings and other sadistic punishments. "UNICEF is torturing kids,...

Betty Draper has everything a woman in the early 1960s could possibly want: a handsome high-earner husband, an attractive suburban house, two rambunctious kids, and a clatter of pleasant distractions...

BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese newspaper editor said he has been punished for co-writing a bold editorial demanding reform of China's unpopular household registration system, which critics say...

Some victim advocates and some in law enforcement would have you believe unless you support the collection of DNA samples from all people arrested for violent offenses, that you're soft on crime. ...

Most politicians, and probably most Americans, see health care as a right. Thus, whether a person has the means to pay for medical services or not, he is nonetheless entitled to them. Let's ask...

Shame on the 14 Republican congressmen who last week proposed substituting Ronald Reagan for Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill. Their action suggests they need a history lesson about the northern...

J. Duke Edwards (My View, March 5) fails to recognize important facts and principles in the Conatser ruling. The 2008 Utah Supreme Court's decision came as a shock to property owners whose lands had...

Had he signed a contract with the Miami Dolphins, Ryan Clark said he was going to wear No. 43 for his new team, a salute to his safety partner for the past four years with the Steelers -- Troy...

Not long after wide receiver Limas Sweed was walking out of the Steelers office, Antwaan Randle El came strolling in, wearing a straw fedora and the look of a man happy to be back home again. Four...