world

Adult film screening sparks controversy at Maryland

Wednesday, April 15,2009 9:31 p.m.

Maryland state legislators threatened to withhold funding from the University of Maryland after the student union planned a screening of the X-rated film “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge.” After the university canceled the event earlier this month, a group of student activists screened a portion of the film anyway in response to the proposed legislation.

Coleman to appeal decision in election battle

Tuesday, April 14,2009 10:16 p.m.

Republican Norm Coleman will appeal his latest setback in the Minnesota Senate election battle, but probably not until next week, his lawyer said Tuesday, further stretching out the five-month struggle.

Castro insists US take action, lift ‘cruel’ embargo

Tuesday, April 14,2009 10:15 p.m.

Fidel Castro says the Obama administration did not go far enough in softening sanctions, and criticized it for leaving in place the embargo that bars most trade and travel between the two countries.

Thai police charge 14 leaders of violent protests

Tuesday, April 14,2009 10:15 p.m.

Police issued arrest warrants Tuesday for 14 leaders of an anti-government movement, including ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as protesters abruptly ended violent demonstrations in Thailand’s capital.

Anti-government protests in Bangkok kill 2, leave 133 injured

Monday, April 13,2009 11:40 p.m.

Thousands of troops fired warning shots and tear gas to turn back rampaging anti-government protesters Monday night, forcing retreating demonstrators into one neighborhood where residents furious at the chaos turned against them.

Italian Jews aid towns that gave shelter during WWII

Monday, April 13,2009 11:39 p.m.

Italian Jews and Holocaust survivors are rushing to aid communities that sheltered them during World War II and were hit by last week’s devastating earthquake.

Obama pledges to fight piracy; pirates vow revenge

Monday, April 13,2009 11:38 p.m.

President Barack Obama promised Monday to work with other nations “to halt the rise of piracy,” while Somali pirates vowed revenge for the deaths of three colleagues shot by snipers during the daring high-seas rescue of an American sea captain.

Blaze at homeless shelter kills 21 in Poland

Monday, April 13,2009 11:37 p.m.

A fast-moving fire tore through a three-story building housing homeless families in northwestern Poland early Monday, killing 21 people and injuring 20 more, including some who leaped from windows to escape the flames, officials said.

Obama to allow travel, money transfers to Cuba

Monday, April 13,2009 11:35 p.m.

President Barack Obama directed his administration Monday to allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and to take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.

Sri Lanka to suspend offensives

Sunday, April 12,2009 9:47 p.m.

Sri Lanka’s president ordered a two-day suspension of offensives against Tamil Tiger rebels to enable tens of thousands of trapped civilians to leave the war zone, his office said Sunday.

Rioting follows state of emergency in Thai capital

Sunday, April 12,2009 9:47 p.m.

Swarms of anti-government protesters attacked the prime minister’s car, seized control of major intersections in the capital and commandeered buses, bringing new chaos to the Thai capital as the country’s ousted leader threatened to return from exile to lead a revolution.

Texas wildfire conditions ease; weather a concern

Sunday, April 12,2009 9:45 p.m.

Firefighters in Texas faced calmer weather conditions Saturday while attacking deadly wind-driven wildfires, but worried that approaching thunderstorms could create new problems.

District attorney seeks toilet testers in Wisconsin murder case

Sunday, April 12,2009 9:44 p.m.

If you are a woman about 5 feet 8 inches tall, 140 pounds and willing to stick your head in a toilet, a northern Wisconsin prosecutor wants your help in proving a high-profile homicide case.

Captain held captive in lifeboat rescued

Sunday, April 12,2009 9:43 p.m.

The company that owns the American ship seized this week by Somali pirates says the captain that has been held hostage for days has been rescued.

Gay West Point grads target ban on serving openly

Sunday, April 12,2009 9:43 p.m.

As a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy, Dan Choi faced an ethical dilemma.

Navy snipers kill pirates; US captain freed

Sunday, April 12,2009 6:50 p.m.

MOMBASA, Kenya — U.S. Navy snipers opened fire and killed three pirates holding an American captain at gunpoint in a lifeboat, delivering the skipper unharmed and ending a five-day high-seas hostage drama on Easter Sunday.

The American ship, the Maersk Alabama, whose captain remains held hostage by Somali pirates, arrives Saturday in Mombasa, Kenya, with the 19 remaining crew members aboard. Capt. Richard Phillips is still being held in the lifeboat hundreds of miles from land. U.S. warships are nearby monitoring the situation. The U.S.-flagged ship was attacked by Somali pirates firing automatic weapons Wednesday but its unarmed crew locked themselves in a secure room and then overpowered one of the pirates.

US ship reaches Kenya minus kidnapped captain

Saturday, April 11,2009 4:11 p.m.

MOMBASA, Kenya — Cheering and guarded by Navy Seals, the crew of an American ship reached a Kenyan port Saturday evening without their captain, still held hostage by Somali pirates in a lifeboat hundreds of miles from shore.

In this Nov. 21, 2008 file photo, Somali pirates held by Puntland police forces, sit in Bassaso, Somalia. They've been described as "noble heros" by sympathetic Somalis, denounced as criminals by critics. But the adjective most used to describe the men holding an American captain off the Horn of Africa is "pirate," a word that conjures images of sword-wielding swashbucklers romanticized by Hollywood. The 21st century reality of ragged Somali fishermen armed with rocket launchers, GPS systems and satellite phones, though, is a far cry from that.

Somali pirates a far cry from buccaneers of old

By Todd Pitman · Saturday, April 11,2009 4:03 p.m.

NAIROBI, Kenya — They've been described as "noble heroes" by sympathetic Somalis, denounced as criminals by critics. But the adjective most used to describe the men holding an American captain off the Horn of Africa is "pirate" — a word that conjures images of sword-wielding swashbucklers romanticized by Hollywood.

Bowling Green bans art depicting oral sex

Thursday, April 9,2009 8:20 p.m.

“Sami Drops a Deuce,” “John Put His Head in the Oven” and “The Man Who Hasn’t Seen His Genitals in Years” are just some of the titles of sculptures Bowling Green State University senior administrators deemed “appropriate.” However, roughly two weeks ago, those administrators removed a sculpture from an exhibit on the university’s Firelands Campus titled “The Middle School Science Teacher Makes a Decision He’ll Live to Regret,” sparking a heated controversy surrounding issues of art censorship, freedom of expression and child pornography. According a news release from BGSU, the sculpture “graphically depicts a female middle school student, on her knees, performing oral sex on a standing male middle school science teacher.”

FBI joins effort in hostage standoff with pirates

Thursday, April 9,2009 7:48 p.m.

FBI hostage negotiators joined U.S. Navy efforts Thursday to free an American cargo ship captain held captive on a lifeboat by Somali pirates. A U.S. destroyer and a spy plane kept a close watch in the high-seas standoff near the Horn of Africa.