Tag Archives: united-states-

Asian economic outlook ‘bleak’ for 2009

Asia’s economic growth will tumble to the slowest pace since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report released Tuesday. “The short term outlook for the region is bleak as the full impact of the severe recession in industrialized economies is transmitted to emerging markets,” said Jong-Wha Lee, acting chief economist for the ADB. The Asian Development Outlook 2009 forecasts that economic growth in developing Asia will slip to 3.4 percent in 2009, down from 6.3 percent last year and 9.5 percent in 2007.

Clinton doesn’t rule out Iran talks at Afghanistan conference

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was coy Monday about whether she would meet Iranian delegates at an international conference on Afghanistan, and she urged Tehran to play a positive role in helping stabilize its neighbor. “I believe that there will be an opening by this conference that will enable all the countries, including Iran, to come forward,” Clinton told reporters aboard her plane en route to The Hague for Tuesday’s conference.

‘Python Patrol’ targets giant snakes of South Florida

Juan Lopez reads meters with one eye and looks for snakes with the other. Lopez is a member of the "Python Patrol," a team of utility workers, wildlife officials, park rangers and police trying to keep Burmese pythons from gaining a foothold in the Florida Keys. Officials say the pythons — which can grow to 20 feet long and eat large animals whole — are being ditched by pet owners in the Florida Everglades, threatening the region’s endangered species and its ecosystem

Image shows North Korea rocket on launch pad

A North Korean rocket slated for launch sometime early next month can be clearly seen in a satellite photograph taken Sunday, the Institute for Science and International Security said Sunday. The satellite imagery, obtained by the ISIS from DigitalGlobe, is said to show the rocket at the Musudan-ri launch site in northeastern North Korea.

Rock star: That’s not me drinking on Google

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher on Saturday denied that he is the man shown pointing at the Google Street View camera as it drove past his local pub in London last summer. “Just saw google earth apparently that’s meant to be me, who … wears legwarmers with reeboks Not this kid!! LG,” he wrote on Twitter.

Dozens dead in Pakistan mosque attack

A devastating suicide blast struck a mosque in the strife-torn tribal region of Pakistan Friday, killing at least 51 people and wounding more than 100 others, local officials said. The casualty toll was expected to rise in the blast, which occurred near the Afghanistan border in the Bigiari area of Jamrod sub-division in Khyber Agency.

Obama to send 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan, officials say

President Obama plans to send another 4,000 troops to Afghanistan along with hundreds of civilian specialists in an effort to confront what he considers "the central challenge facing [that] country," senior administration officials said Thursday. The president also will call on Congress to pass a bill that triples U.S. aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year over five years, the officials said

Pirates hijack two chemical tankers off Somalia

Pirates have hijacked two European-owned chemical tankers off the coast of Somalia in the past 24 hours, the European Union Maritime Security Center said Thursday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will represent the United States at the United Nations meeting Tuesday in The Hague, the State Department said earlier. It is not clear who Iran will send to the conference.