All Trought about politic at Ukraine

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 »

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico —  Two Canadian men were shot to death in execution-style killing outside an apartment building in the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta, authorities said Monday.

Witnesses told police that a gunman approached Gordon Douglas Kendall and Jeffrey Ronald Ivans outside the building they were staying in and shot Kendall, according to Jalisco state prosecutor Guillermo Diaz.

The gunman then chased Ivans to the pool area and shot him. Witnesses said two other gunmen arrived minutes later and repeatedly shot the dead or dying Canadians, Diaz said. The men fled and no arrests have been made.

Diaz said Ivans was carrying a handgun, though he apparently was not able to use it before he was shot. It is unusual for people in Mexico, particularly foreigners, to carry handguns. It was not clear if Ivans had a permit.

Diaz said police have reports that the men we ... Read more »

VANCOUVER, British Columbia —  Canada's so-called Prince of Pot is now in jail awaiting extradition to the United States for selling marijuana seeds.

Marc Emery has sold millions of marijuana seeds around the world by mail over the past decade. In doing so, he has drawn the attention of U.S. drug officials, who want him extradited to Seattle.

Emery has agreed to plead guilty in Seattle to one count of marijuana distribution in exchange for dismissal of all other counts, and the U.S. Attorney's Office is pressing for a sentence of five to eight years in a U.S. prison.

Emery will plead guilty in a Seattle court at a later date. Emery will be extradited after Canada's justice minister signs a surrender order.

MOSCOW —  Russia voiced concern Monday about the latest Iranian missile tests and urged Tehran to fully cooperate with a U.N. nuclear watchdog and answer questions about its secret nuclear facility, news reports said.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after meeting with his Iranian counterpart at the United Nations in New York that he urged Tehran to be "maximally cooperative" in its contacts with the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding its previously undisclosed uranium enrichment facility.

Last week, Iran disclosed that it was developing a new secret facility for the enrichment of uranium — the key step to making a bomb. On Monday, Iran successfully test launched upgraded missiles capable of reaching Israel.

"We proceed from the assumption that the Iranian side got the message and we shall see a result of our conversation in Geneva" at a new round of talks betwee ... Read more »

BAGHDAD —  A string of bombings killed at least 18 people across Iraq on Monday, shattering a relative lull in violence during the celebration that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The blasts primarily targeted Iraqi security forces, which have been the focal point of insurgent attacks since U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq's cities at the end of June. The uptick in violence also comes as the country's shops and schools reopened after the Eid holiday that follows the end of the Muslim holy month.

The deadliest attack Monday occurred in Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber slammed a tanker truck packed with explosives into a police post, killing at least seven people and wounding 16 more, a security official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Witnesses said ... Read more »

CAIRO —  Al Qaeda's deputy leader on Monday seized upon President Barack Obama's failure to bring about a freeze in Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and called him a "fraud" in a new audio message.

Ayman al-Zawahri's 28-minute audio message was mainly a eulogy for slain Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, but he also took the opportunity to slam NATO member states operating in Afghanistan, including Germany, which he criticized for keeping troops there.

The recording comes after a series of Al Qaeda videos this past month, including several attacking Germany and threatening strikes against Berlin's military mission in Afghanistan. Those releases raised concerns among German authorities ahead of parliamentary elections which ended Sunday.

Al-Zawahri res ... Read more »

SYDNEY —  An Australian couple has been sentenced to jail time after being convicted for the manslaughter of their baby girl.

She died after they chose to use homeopathic remedies instead of conventional medicine to treat her skin disorder.

Thomas Sam, a college lecturer in homeopathy, has been sentenced to up to eight years behind bars. His wife is facing a maximum of five years and four months.

The parents were convicted in June of the manslaughter of their nine-month-old, who died of septicemia and malnutrition in 2002. She became malnourished while battling frequent infections that grew through skin broken by her severe rashes. Her parents eventually took her to a hospital, where she died within days.

The judge in the case says her parents' failure to seek proper help for her "may be characterized accurately as cruelty."

BELGRADE, Serbia —  Former Serb paramilitaries took part in last week's brazen helicopter raid of a cash depot in Stockholm, Serbian police officials said Monday.

Former members of the "Red Berets" paramilitary unit who fought wars in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s took part in the heist, along with Swedish robbers, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, who heads Serbia's police.

Serbian police "handed certain information about a criminal group which was preparing a robbery" in Stockholm to the Swedish embassy in Belgrade a month ago, but Swedish authorities did not react or contact Belgrade after that, said Milorad Veljovic, a senior Serbian police official.

Masked gunmen used a helicopter in the Hollywood-style heist last Wednesday. They broke through a roof window and set off explosions inside the building before taking off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

A Swedish ... Read more »

TEHRAN, Iran —  Iran tested its most advanced missiles Monday to cap two days of war games, raising more international concern and stronger pressure to quickly come clean on the newly revealed nuclear site Tehran was secretly constructing.

State television said the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's missile program, successfully tested upgraded versions of the medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles. Both can carry warheads and reach up to 1,200 miles, putting Israel, U.S. military bases in the Middle East, and parts of Europe within striking distance.

The missile tests were meant to flex Iran's military might and show readiness for any military threat.

"Iranian missiles are able to target any p ... Read more »