WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday said he would address a package of new measures next week to boost U.S. growth and hiring as he greeted the August job report as positive news.            JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has stood down from international football for the foreseeable future, telling Ghana he wants to return to form at club level, coach Milovan Rajevac said.            MOSCOW (Reuters) - Wildfires swept through dozens of villages in southern Russia, killing at least eight people and reducing more than 400 homes to smouldering ruins, officials said on Friday.            MANTEO, N.C., (Reuters) - Hurricane Earl slapped North Carolina's coast with rain, winds and heavy surf on Friday and swirled up the U.S. eastern seaboard toward New England and Canada as a weakened but still potent storm.            HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, wearing his green military cap and clothing like the comandante of old, made his first speech before the Cuban public since falling ill in 2006 on Friday, warning of the threat of nuclear war.            DUBAI (Reuters) - Concerns over Israeli access to BlackBerry data, and the use of the device by the United States to spy on the United Arab Emirates are behind the Gulf state's moves to curb the smartphone, Dubai's police chief said.            PARIS (Reuters) - Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema will miss France's Euro 2012 qualifier against Belarus because of an ankle injury, the French Football Federation said on Friday, a few hours before the game at the Stade de France.            LONDON (Reuters) - Cricket's governing body vowed on Friday to do whatever necessary to root out cheats and preserve the integrity of the game after suspending three Pakistan players over match-fixing allegations.            LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Lime green dresses for girls spill out of the sack of food, supplies and shoes -- a gift from the Islamist charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) to help flood victims celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid this month.            KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan have called up Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Irfan as replacements for the suspended Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif for the one-day series in England.           

Society

Somali government says 31 dead in hotel attack

Somali government says 31 dead in hotel attack

MOGADISHU August 24, 2010  The Somali Information Ministry  said  31 people have died in the militant attack  on a hotel in Mogadishu. The dead included 6 members of parliament and 5 government security personnel.

"The blood of the dead is leaking out of the hotel," said Information Minister Abdirahman Osman.

The Muna Hotel stands in one of the small nominally government-controlled areas of the capital, between the presidential palace and the Indian Ocean.

Osman said one gunman had been captured. His ministry said two others had blown themselves up.  Gunfire and shelling were continuing in the area.

Mexico finds Aztec remains during subway drilling

Mexico finds Aztec remains during subway drilling

MEXICO CITY August 19, 2010  Archeologists have found more than 500-year-old remains of about 50 Aztec children, during excavations for a new subway line in Mexico City.

The team also found the foundations of Aztec homes, hundreds of small figurines, and pots and plates dating from 1100 to 1500 AD, on the eve of the Spanish conquest, along the 15-mile (24-km) subway line., .

"In total there are 60 graves, 10 adults and around 50 children of different ages, some two or three years old," archeologist Maria de Jesus Sanchez told Reuters.

 The Aztec empire, with its capital in modern-day Mexico City,  ruled over a large part of Mesoamerica for about a century until the Spanish came.

Death toll from Iraq suicide blast put at 47

Death toll from Iraq suicide blast put at 47

BAGHDAD August 17, 2010  A deputy health minister of Iraq,  Khamis al-Saad, said 47 have died so far  and  77 wounded  from a suicide bombing at an Iraqi army recruitment centre on Tuesday. /sites/default/files/xml_images/2010-08-17T144906Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-508874-1-pic0.jpg

More deaths were  not expected,  he said.

Military deaths pass 2,000 as Afghan war review nears

Military deaths pass 2,000 as Afghan war review nears

KABUL August 16, 2010  /sites/default/files/xml_images/2010-08-16T092409Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_1_India-508601-1-pic0.jpgThe deaths of at least one more U.S.

Obama swims in Gulf, says beaches open for business

Obama swims in Gulf, says beaches open for business

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. August 15, 2010 U.S. President Barack Obama went swimming off the coast of Florida on Saturday and declared the Gulf area's beaches "open for business."

Related Stuff :: 

PM orders Delhi Games graft investigation

PM orders Delhi Games graft investigation

/sites/default/files/xml_images/2010-08-14T234326Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNP_2_India-508500-1-pic0.jpg

NEW DELHI August 14, 2010 The Indian  prime minister Manmohan Singh ordered ministries on Saturday to  look into complaints of corruption and mismanagement in the preparations for October's Commonwealth Games.

China widens milk powder checks, tests breast milk

China widens milk powder checks, tests breast milk

SHANGHAI August 14, 2010 China plans to test a range of infant milk powders and breast milks to looking deeper  into reports of hormone-tainted milk powder,  the People's Daily reported on Saturday.

The Ministry of Health  started the probe following complaints that tainted milk powder had caused baby girls to show signs of premature sexual development.

Food safety problems  have alarmed consumers, hurt China's global image and drew criminal cases.

Two years ago, China was hit by  a melamine scandal when at least six children died and nearly 300,000 became ill.   Powdered milk was found to have been laced with melamine, a chemical  added to cheat  protein tests.

Sri Lanka Tamils tell war commission about rights abuse

Sri Lanka Tamils tell war commission about rights abuse

VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka August 14, 2010  Sri Lank's minority Tamils told  the  government-appointed war commission on Saturday that the army abused civil rights  during the final stages of  action  against LTTE.

Rights groups say thousands of ordinary people were killed towards the end of the war. The Sri Lankan government  has denied  the charge.

Witnesses told the commission of loved ones taken away by unidentified gangs, and sometimes by the military as it pressed on against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in a 25-year war that ended last year.

Four charged over deaths of 800 Bosnian Muslims

Four charged over deaths of 800 Bosnian Muslims

SARAJEVO August 13, 2010  Bosnia's war crimes court  has charged  four former Bosnian Serb army soldiers with genocide over the killing of at least 800 Bosnian Muslims from Srebrenica in 1995.

The court found that  they took part in the killing of Bosnian men and inflicted on them severe physical and mental injuries. They wanted to destroy Bosniaks, the court statement said.

Bosnian Serb troops killed about 8,000 Muslim men and boys after capturing the U.N.-protected eastern enclave of Srebrenica. This is  Europe's most serious atrocity since World War Two.

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