FERRARA, Italy – I came to Italy to test a French adage by way of an American writer, Mark Twain.
Senate panel approves Kerry nomination
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved President Barack Obama's nomination of Sen. John Kerry to be the next secretary of state. UN: Mozambique floods displace 150k, leave 38 dead
CHOKWE, Mozambique (AP) -- A U.N. official in flood-hit Mozambique says the world body will launch an appeal for $65 million in aid after flood waters killed 38 people.
In recaptured city in Mali, Islamists hunted down
SEVARE, Mali (AP) -- It was payback time Tuesday in the newly liberated town of Gao in Mali, with residents hunting down and beating suspected Islamist extremists who had not fled with their brothers-in-arms as Malian and French military forces closed in and retook the town. Australian floods peaking; thousands in shelters
Rescuers helped drivers escape swift floodwaters and used helicopters to pluck stranded people from rooftops in northeast Australia on Tuesday after torrential rains flooded thousands of homes and businesses, … Activists: 65 bodies found in Syria's Aleppo
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian activists say at least 65 bodies, some of them with their hands tied behind their back, have been found on a river bank in the northern city of Aleppo. Israel is a no-show at its UN human rights review
GENEVA (AP) -- Israel became the first nation to skip a U.N. review of its human rights record without giving a reason, leaving diplomats scrambling to figure out how to respond Tuesday.
Phone video of South Africa mine massacre pressures police
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A cell phone video broadcast this wee k of the police shooting of 34 miners in South Africa last year has piled more pressure on the security forces, showing officers bragging about the killings and undermining claims that they fired in self-defense. Reuters television footage of some of the killings at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine showed a dozen striking miners being cut down in a hail of police bullets. … Australian radio show behind royal hoax canceled
The Australian radio show behind a hoax phone call to the London hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was being treated has been officially canceled.The show and the two DJs behind the prank …
NDP want MPs in the penalty box or suspended for bad behaviour in Commons
OTTAWA – The NDP wants to bring civility to the raucous House of Commons with measures that would impose suspensions and even loss of pay for MPs who go too far in personal comments or attacks.
In Port Said, alienation from Cairo makes anger burn hotter
Egyptians gathered outside a mosque yesterday in this Suez Canal city to mourn those killed the day before - killed as they marched in a similar funeral procession for people who died a day earlier day in clashes with police.
Famed tightrope walker Nik Wallenda to cross road in Sarasota, Fla., 200 feet in air
SARASOTA, Fla. – Famed tightrope walker Nik Wallenda will walk on a wire 200 feet over U.S. 41 in Sarasota, Fla., without a safety harness.
Record: More than 500,000 travelled the Bourbon Trail in 2012
FRANKFORT, Ky. – A record-breaking 500,000-plus people visited distilleries along Kentucky’s bourbon trail in 2012, marking a 15 per cent increase over the year before.
Dover City Council approves sites on Green to be part of Delaware's national park
DOVER, Del. – The Dover City Council has approved a plan to make two small parcels of the city’s historic Green part of Delaware’s proposed national park.
Hurricane Katrina's scars are harder to see as fans converge on New Orleans for the Super Bowl
NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans has celebrated plenty of milestones on its slow road to recovery from Hurricane Katrina, but arguably none is bigger than hosting its first Super Bowl since the 2005 storm left the city in shambles.
Hannibal museum curator to mark 150th anniversary of 'Mark Twain' pen name
HANNIBAL, Mo. – It was a century-and-a-half ago that Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain. His hometown of Hannibal will mark the occasion with a special event Saturday.
Delta plans outdoor airport terraces with sweeping runway views at NY's JFK, Atlanta airport
ATLANTA – Delta Air Lines is planning to open outdoor terraces with sweeping runway views for its Delta Sky Clubs members at New York’s John F. Kennedy and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airports.
Obama authorizes $155 million more in aid to Syria
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is authorizing an additional $155 million in humanitarian aid for people in Syria and refugees fleeing the violence there.
Transportation secretary LaHood to leave Obama administration, another Cabinent member gone
WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the only Republican still in President Barack Obama’s first-term Cabinet, said Tuesday he plans to leave the Obama administration.
Timbuktu: ancient seat of Islamic learning, home to thousands of precious Islamic manuscripts
SEVARE, Mali – Timbuktu, the fabled desert city where retreating Muslim extremists destroyed ancient manuscripts, was a centre of Islamic learning hundreds of years before Columbus landed in the Americas.
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has received an initial 340 million pounds from the Swiss government as part of a deal to tackle tax evasion that the gov ernment expects will net it some 5 billion pounds over the next six years. Switzerland agreed with Britain last year to impose a one-off levy on money in Britons' secret Swiss bank accounts and to tax future interest payments, with effect from the start of 2013. Germany rejected a similar deal. … 
PARIS (Reuters) – Labour tensions a t France's car makers took a turn for the worse on Tuesday as Renault factory workers protested over planned cuts and PSA Peugeot Citroen's restructuring plan suffered a legal setback. While Renault staff demonstrated at the company's Flins plant west of Paris and Peugeot workers marched on the company's Paris headquarters, the car makers pursued union talks on plans to improve productivity and eliminate close to 8,000 jobs each. … 
(Reuters) – Canada's main stock index looked set to open lower on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street, as investors looked to the outcome from the U.S. Federal Reserve two-day meeting to gauge the health of the world's largest economy. TOP STORIES * The U.S. Federal Reserve is paying close attention to risks linked to it s bond buying program, including the possibility of losses on its massive portfolio that might touch off a political fire storm and harm the central bank's independence. … 
ISTANBUL (AP) -- Turkish police have released security camera footage of a New York City woman who has gone missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul. 
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea appears all set to detonat e an atomic device, but confirming the explosion when it takes place will be virtually impossible for outsiders, specialists said Tuesday. 
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) – The separatist flag of Catalonia – with its yellow and red stripes, blue triangle and white star – was a rar e sight on the streets of Barcelona a decade ago. Now, it is almost ubiquitous. Two thousand km to the north in Scotland, the blue-and-white saltire has always been popular. But that flag too increasingly symbolizes something new, that after more than 400 years within the United Kingdom Scotland may be on the verge of demanding a divorce. … 
SEVARE, Mali (AP) -- Timbuktu, the fabled desert city where retreating Muslim extremists destroyed ancient Arab manuscripts, was a center of Islamic learning hundreds of years before Columbus landed in the Americas. 
SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) -- There was no alarm, no working fire extinguisher, no sprinkler and almost no escape from the nightclub that became a death trap for more than 200 Brazilian college students.