Typhoon death toll in Taiwan climbs higher

The number of people killed by a typhoon that slammed into Taiwan and China earlier this month continues to rise, Taiwan announced Thursday. At least 543 people are now known to have died when Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan, the country’s Central Emergency Operation Center said Thursday. At least 117 people are still missing, and at least 46 people were injured.

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Violence hits Iranian refugee camp in Iraq

Members of an Iranian group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Iran say Iraqi forces attacked their camp Tuesday evening, killing at least four unarmed people and injuring about 385. However, an official with Iraq’s Interior Ministry said only 15 people were wounded by national police during a raid led by security forces at Camp Ashraf on orders from the government to take control of the city.

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Saro-Wiwa’s son welcomes Shell payout

A $15.5 million payout made by oil giant Shell to settle a lawsuit brought against it by relations of executed Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists will allow the families of the victims to move on with their lives, Saro-Wiwa’s son has told CNN. The New York lawsuit — brought to court by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Saro-Wiwa’s family and others in 1996 — accused Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary of complicity in the writer’s 1995 hanging and the killings or persecution of other environmental activists in the Niger Delta. Nigeria’s Ogoni people have complained for years that Shell was allowed to pollute its land without consequences

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Terrified teen surrounded by ‘shooting and shelling’

A teenage boy trapped alone in an orphanage commandeered by soldiers in Pakistan’s war-torn Swat Valley has described his terrifying ordeal. “The situation outside is extremely bad and scary,” said the boy, who is identified by his teachers using his first name Ubaid. “All the time I hear shooting and shelling.” About 50 orphans and 20 teachers and administrators escaped the Khpal Kor Foundation orphanage in the Swat district capital of Mingora over the past week.

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Awakening Council, Iraqi security exchange gunfire

Iraqi security forces and Awakening Council members clashed Saturday in Baghdad, leaving two civilians dead, 13 other people wounded, and five Iraqi soldiers kidnapped, a military official told CNN. The incident started after Adel al-Mashhadani — the leader of the Fadhil Awakening Council in northern Baghdad — and an aide were arrested by members of the Iraqi army and U.S

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N. Korea warns against ‘satellite’ interception

North Korea says it will retaliate if its "satellite" launch from its northeastern coast is intercepted, with the communist nation saying interference would "mean a war." The statement came as the North cut off communications with neighboring South Korea. “Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,” a spokesman for the North Korean army said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). U.S

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