All Trought about politic at Ukraine

CONAKRY, Guinea —  Soldiers reeking of alcohol menaced Guinea's capital Tuesday, a day after the military's presidential guard shot at pro-democracy demonstrators in the West African country, leaving at least 157 people dead, a human rights group said.

The soldiers fired into the air as they roamed the deserted streets of the normally bustling capital. Guinea's military leader, who rose to power in a December coup, said Monday's violence was beyond his control.

Dr. Chierno Maadjou with the Guinean Organization for Defense of Human Rights said 157 people had been killed and more than 1,200 wounded on Monday.

An Associated Press reporter said he saw halls full of wounded patients at the city's large Donka Hospital, some with bullet wounds, others who appeared to have been beaten.

Opposition politician Mutarr Diallo said he witnessed soldiers raping women with rifle butts d ... Read more »

MANILA, Philippines —  Two U.S. Navy construction troops and a Philippines marine were killed Tuesday in a roadside blast in the southern Philippines that officials said was likely an attack by suspected Al Qaeda-linked militants.

It was believed to be just the second time U.S. soldiers have been killed in the southern Philippines in violence blamed on the Abu Sayyaf group since American counterterrorism troops were deployed to the region in 2002, and the first fatalities in seven years.

One Philippine marine also was killed and two others were wounded in the blast on Jolo island, a poor, predominantly Muslim region where the Americans have been providing combat training and weapons to Filipino troops battling the Abu Sayyaf.

Philippine officials described the blast as being caused by a land mine, a descr ... Read more »

A 24th France Telecom employee has killed himself in what the company says is a "suicide spiral."

The 51-year-old father-of-two hurled himself to his death from a bridge onto a busy road in the Haute-Savoie region of the country.

In a letter to his wife, he blamed the unbearable "atmosphere" at his workplace.

France Telecomhas been dogged by a series of suicides in the last 18 months.

The deaths include a woman who jumped from her office window in the summer, while another man survived stabbing himself in the stomach during a work meeting.

Unions say a drive to restructure the company in the face of the global recession is behind the deaths.

The company laid off 22,000 workers between 2006 and 2008 while staff say changing working practices and poor management have placed intolerable pressure on workers.

Labour minister Xavier Darcos this m ... Read more »

A mother-of-two in Britain has pleaded guilty to causing the death of an 11-year-old boy by dangerous driving.

Hannah Saaf knocked down and killed Sam Riddall as he walked home with a group of friends from a church youth service in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, on May 1.

Saaf's white Ford Focus estate car was said to have careened off the road and mounted the pavement before hitting the group.

The mother of twins immediately bolted from the scene, leaving her car and Sam behind.

As the 27-year-old fled, doctors at Bristol Royal Infirmary desperately tried to resuscitate the boy but their efforts were in vain.

During the hunt for Saaf, which took nine gruelling days, Sam's parents, Martin and Rachel, made a heartbreaking televised appeal for Saaf to turn herself in.

Riddall, 39, fought back tears as she said: "I am here to appeal to Hannah as a mum, who ha ... Read more »

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan —  A bus packed with Afghan civilians hit a roadside bomb near the southern city of Kandahar Tuesday, killing 30 people and wounding 39, underscoring the dangers civilians face as the eight-year war turns increasingly violent.

Nine women and seven children were among the dead, said provincial police chief, Sardar Mohammad Zazai.

Militants are planting more roadside bombs than ever in Afghanistan. The explosives are intended to kill U.S., NATO and Afghan troops but kill far more Afghan civilians than they do soldiers.

"The enemies of Afghanistan are planting mines on the main highway and killing innocent women and children," Zazai said.

The bus hit the bomb on the western outskirts of Kandahar city, in a militant-controlled district called Maiwand.

Among the 39 wounded, some severely injured passengers were taken to a NATO base for trea ... Read more »

PATNA, India —  Two boats capsized in flooded rivers in eastern India's Bihar state during a major Hindu festival, killing at least 29 people and leaving around 22 missing, police said Tuesday.

At least 20 people swam to shore from one boat that was overcrowded with people returning to their homes after participating in festivities during the Dussehra festival, said Neelmani, a top state police official, who uses only one name.

Rescuers found the bodies of 21 people, including 16 children, Neelmani said, adding that those still missing might be male family members who swam to safety but had not been counted by authorities.

The boat capsized on the Kosi river near Alauli, a village nearly 125 miles north of Patna, the state capital, Neelmani said.

Hours ... Read more »

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan —  Officials say two suspected U.S. missile strikes in northwest Pakistan have killed 13 militants.

The first attack Tuesday killed six militants and wounded six others in South Waziristan.

Three intelligence officials and one government official said a second missile later Tuesday hit a house owned by a known Afghan militant in North Waziristan. Seven insurgents died in the attack.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity citing policy.

The tribal areas are a base for militants launching attacks both in Pakistan and on American and other NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Western officials say the area is a stronghold of Al Qaeda's senior leadership.

TAIPEI, Taiwan —  A 17-year-old Taiwanese boy has been arrested for chopping off his father's hands, allegedly to avenge years of physical abuse, a police official said Tuesday.

The boy cut through his father's wrists with a knife while he was asleep at the family's home in central Miaoli on Monday, the official said. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

The 37-year-old father, a divorced ironsmith, was in stable condition after doctors reattached his severed hands, the offcial said.

The father and son were identified only by their surname, Fan.

The police official said the boy admitted to cutting his father's hands off and showed no remorse, complaining that he was beaten after refusing to get a job while attending school.

The Apple Daily newspaper quoted the boy as telling police that since his mother left home so ... Read more »

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras —  The coup-installed president of Honduras backed down Monday from an escalating standoff with protesters and suggested he would restore civil liberties and reopen dissident television and radio stations by the end of the week.

Riot police ringed supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya who gathered for a large-scale protest march, setting off a daylong standoff. The government of interim President Roberto Micheletti declared the march illegal, sent soldiers to silence dissident broadcasters, and suspended civil liberties for 45 days.

But in a sudden reversal, Micheletti said Monday afternoon that he wanted to "ask the Honduran people for forgiveness" for the measures and said he would lift them in accordance with demands from the same Congress that installed him after a June 28 c ... Read more »

Fish that generate electric fields to navigate, fight and attract mates are equipped with a dimmer switch of sorts that can turn down their signals to save energy, a new study finds.

Electric fish, such as some sharks and eels, emit weak electrical signals from a battery-like organ in their tails. The fish studied, called Sternopygus macrurus, are active at night and must avoid predators, such as catfish, that can sense their electric field.

Generating such impulses can be energetically costly.

Now, researchers have located a dimmer switch in the membranes of cells called electrocytes within this electric organ. The switch takes the form of sodium channels that the fish can insert and remove from the electrocyte membranes. More sodium channels mean a stronger electric impulse.

A NASA spacecraft is closing in on Mercury to snap pictures of uncharted territory Tuesday when it whips around the planet for the final time.

The Messenger probe will skim just 142 miles above Mercury at its closest approach during the flyby, the last of three designed to guide the spacecraft into orbit around the planet in 2011. More than 1,500 photographs of Mercury are expected to be taken, some of regions never before observed up close.

"A planetary flyby is really like Christmas morning for scientists," said Messenger principal investigator Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "We expect to be surprised and we expect to be delighted."

On Sunday, Messenger snapped a ... Read more »

NEW YORK — CNN is coming out with an iPhone application Tuesday that has a feature few other news apps have tried: a price tag.

There's been a lot of talk this year about finally charging readers for news, especially on mobile devices, where media executives see a chance to condition consumers to handing over a few dollars for a constant stream of updates to their pocket. CNN is among the first big news outlets to give it a shot. Its app costs $1.99 to download.

The new app follows an announcement this month by News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch that the company will start charging a subscription — possibly as much as $1 or $2 per week — for access to The Wall Street Journal's mobile applications.

Even so, CNN is in relatively new territory as a provider of general interest news. Many in the industry are skeptical that readers will pay for much online beyond business and fina ... Read more »

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. says its new computer security program can be downloaded starting on Tuesday.

Microsoft Security Essentials, as the free antivirus software is called, has been available in a beta test version since June.

The software updates daily to stay current with the latest malicious programs, which can steal passwords or turn PCs into spam servers. Microsoft says it won't make computers run slower.

Microsoft has said it isn't out to steal business from companies like McAfee Inc. and Symantec Corp., which make popular antivirus programs with more features. Microsoft says it hopes the free program will appeal to people who don't already run antivirus software.

BRUSSELS — Turn it down. That's the advice the European Union wants to hear from the makers of digital music players.

It wants those companies to adopt new standards aimed at preserving the hearing of the people who listen to music on those devices.

The EU's consumer affairs commissioner says people who want to still be able to enjoy their favorite songs 20 or 30 years from now should listen to them at a lower volume now. She says there's concern over the health risks of turning the volume too high, especially among younger people.

An EU scientific advisory body says between 2.5 million and 10 million Europeans could suffer hearing loss from listening to MP3 players at unsafe volumes — meaning a volume over 89 decibels — for more an hour a day for at least five years.

The new standards would see new players include a maximum sound level default at 80 decibels. H ... Read more »

A skull long believed to be that of Adolf Hitler actually belonged to a woman, according to an American scientist who has taken DNA samples from it.

The skull was taken by Soviet forces in 1945 when they found charred remains outside the Nazi dictator's bunker in Berlin.

The Russians said at the time that the findings backed claims that Hitler had shot himself on April 30, 1945, and then been cremated along with his wife, Eva Braun.

Now, however, archaeologist and bone specialist Nick Bellantoni says the skull really belonged to a woman aged under 40 and not Hitler - who was 56 when he died.

Neither does Mr Bellantoni believe the skull belongs to Braun, Hitler's long-time girlfriend and last-minute wife, who is thought to have killed herself by taking cyanide and would therefore not have had a bullet wound - as this skull has.

The Russians say they ... Read more »