Inside the dark, cliffside cave last occupied by the people of Frijoles Canyon some 500 years ago, is evidence of more recent human activity: graffiti proclaiming "2008" and "I love you" carved into a wall."Oh, man," art conservator Larry Humetewa muttered as he bent to inspect the damage in the "cavate," a large, cave-live room. more >>
Thailand's prime minister defended himself Monday against accusations he violated the constitution by hosting a televised cooking show while in office, potentially the most damaging of a line of troubles confronting him. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who denies that he violated the constitution by working for a private company, would be forced to resign if found guilty by the Constitutional Court. more >>
African immigrants clashed with Spanish police in a second night of violence triggered by the killing of a Senegalese man in an apparent drug dispute, the Interior Ministry said Monday. Four demonstrators were arrested and a Civil Guard officer was injured, it said. more >>
Pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked three vessels off Somalia's coast but failed to hijack them because of quick action by crew members, a maritime official said Monday. A Chinese cargo ship, a Singaporean liquefied gas carrier and a Thai bulk carrier managed to thwart the pirates in the Gulf of Aden by increasing speed and taking evasive maneuvers, said Noel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau. more >>
The U.S. and Vietnam on Monday opened their third round of annual talks on ways to limit the environmental effects of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant the U.S. sprayed extensively during the Vietnam War. Officials and experts from both countries convened a weeklong session that will include a visit to the former U.S. air base at Bien Hoa, one of several so-called Agent Orange "hotspots" where the U.S. military stored and mixed Agent Orange before loading it onto planes. more >>
Police have arrested five men on suspicion of bombing the home of Nepal's vice president last month, officials said Monday. Police official Upendra Aryal said authorities were still searching for three more suspects and continue to investigate the Aug. 17 attack. He refused to say if the men arrested had links to any known militant groups. more >>
A roadside blast in southern Afghanistan killed six civilians Monday, and a Canadian soldier died in another explosion in the same region, officials said. The six civilians, including a woman and a child, died when their private vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Naw Bahar district of Zabul province, said district chief Zarif Khan. Two other civilians were wounded in the explosion. more >>
Hong Kong's pro-democracy politicians lost several legislative seats according to final election results announced Monday, but held onto their veto power over major legislation as they push for greater political freedoms in the Chinese territory. Democratic parties won 23 of 60 legislative seats in Sunday's voting, down from their previous 26. Ordinary citizens directly elect 30 of the seats, while the rest are chosen by special interest groups that tend to side with China's central government in Beijing. Fourteen of the interest group seats were uncontested. more >>
The government's historic bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday will be good news to homebuyers and some homeowners hoping to refinance if it leads to lower mortgage rates, as experts expect. But for homeowners already behind on their mortgage payments, or who owe more than their homes are now worth, the plan unveiled Sunday by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offers little in the way of extra relief. more >>
Hurricane Ike's winds and massive storm surge ripped apart houses and toppled trees Monday as the deadly storm roared across Cuba toward Havana and its historic but decaying old buildings. Forecasters said it could enter the Gulf of Mexico next, with Louisiana among the likely targets. more >>
When reports circulated over the weekend of a last-minute deal to keep Coney Island's historic Astroland amusement park open for another year, owner Carol Hill Albert was not amused. Indeed, her tone was bitter as she described plans to close the park Sunday night in lieu of an agreement with the city or with private developer Thor Equities, which have competing plans for the 3-acre Brooklyn site. more >>
Several explosions, reportedly caused by missile strikes from unmanned U.S. drone aircraft, hit a house and seminary linked to a key Taliban commander in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. Also on Monday, a 16-year-old boy wearing a suicide-bomber jacket and carrying a hand grenade was arrested in an army-controlled area in the northwest, police said. more >>
As a ferocious Hurricane Ike ripped across Cuba, residents from Key West to the Gulf Coast watched the storm's unpredictable path, worrying it could hit anywhere in the U.S. from Texas to Florida. Still, even with an evacuation order in place for the Keys and the region under a hurricane watch, many were reluctant to leave, hoping the storm would turn west, sparing this low-lying island chain a devastating blow. more >>
Nearly a year after O.J. Simpson walked into a casino hotel room intent on reclaiming some sports memorobilia, lawyers in his robbery-kidnapping trial are finally set to begin picking a jury. What figures to be a lengthy jury selection is scheduled to start Monday morning in a Nevada court for the fallen NFL star, actor and advertising pitchman, and his remaining co-defendant, Clarence "C.J" Stewart, a 54-year-old golfing buddy from North Las Vegas. more >>
Two popular Russian sumo wrestlers were slapped with lifetime bans from Japan's ancient national sport for allegedly using marijuana and the head of the Japan Sumo Association resigned Monday to take responsibility for the scandal, officials said. The wrestlers, brothers Roho and Hakurozan, tested positive for the drug when the sport conducted its first drug tests following the arrest last month of another Russian wrestler, Wakanoho, for marijuana possession. more >>
Dozens of Malaysian ruling coalition lawmakers traveled abroad together Monday amid jitters about opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's threat to recruit enough defectors from the government to seize power by next week. The opposition has accused the National Front coalition of sending its members of Parliament overseas to keep them away from Anwar and to prevent him from enlisting government legislators to join the opposition by Sept. 16 - the date Anwar has vowed to take power. more >>
Hurricane Ike's torrential rains swelled rivers across Haiti and sent floodwaters gushing into homes in the dead of night in one eastern town, killing at least 58 people. Flooding also collapsed a bridge that had been the last land route to the starving northern city of Gonaives, where residents fled to rooftops as waters rose for the second time in a week. Three more bodies were found in Gonaives on Sunday, according to civil defense director Maria Alta Jean-Baptiste, all victims of previous storms. more >>
A Chinese woman detained for a month after protesting about being evicted from her home ahead of the Olympics has been freed, the woman and her son said Monday. Zhang Wei said she was released on Saturday on condition that she keep her cell phone on at all times so police can contact her and order her back to jail if necessary. more >>
The U.S. Coast Guard is suspending its search for a Coast Guard pilot missing since his helicopter crashed during exercises near Hawaii last week. Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown said Sunday he had a "heavy heart" as he announced the search was over for Cmdr. Thomas Nelson of Staten Island, N.Y. more >>
A strong earthquake has rocked the sea floor off the coast of the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, but there are no immediate reports of injury or damage. The magnitude-6.5 quake struck at 2:03 p.m. local time Monday about 53 miles below the earth's crust, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site. more >>
