Obama will demand BP establish escrow account to handle oil spill claims

President Obama will demand that BP establish an escrow account to compensate for Gulf Coast oil spill claims when he meets with company executives on Wednesday, White House officials said Sunday.
Obama is expected to announce the details of the escrow account request during an address to the nation Tuesday night, which he will make upon [...]

Thousands flee ethnic bloodshed in Kyrgyzstan

Tens of thousands of refugees fled raging ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday as the fragile interim government gave shoot-to-kill orders against marauding gangs terrorizing the population.
Neighbouring Uzbekistan said it had hastily set up camps along the border to provide shelter for a crushing influx of more than 32,000 ethnic Uzbeks [...]

People across Africa celebrate start of World Cup

From townships in Johannesburg to Ghana’s sprawling slums, millions of Africans danced in the streets and beamed with pride as the continent’s first World Cup kicked off.
Only Somalia’s Islamic militants tried to spoil Friday’s party, telling people not to watch the “mad men” in shorts.
In Uganda, people watched soccer’s most popular event on large [...]

India train blast kills scores; toll to rise

NEW DELHI – Maoist rebels are suspected of sabotaging a high-speed train in eastern India on Friday, killing at least 65 people after it smashed into the path of a goods train, officials said.
Local television showed the mangled wreckage of capsized carriages across the tracks and the death toll could rise as many passengers were [...]

Tragedy strikes Bhola at Eid

Tragedy greeted families in Bhola on Eid day as 35 bodies, 11 of them children, were recovered after the MV Coco-4 overturned late on Friday at Nazirpur, some 40 kilometres from the district town.
Ten bodies were retrieved from the hull of the vessel and another 25 from the waters of the Tentulia river throughout Saturday, [...]

China coal mine blast death toll jumps to 87

HARBIN – Rescuers worked in frigid cold to reach 21 miners trapped underground Sunday as the death toll from a huge gas explosion in a northern Chinese coal mine jumped to 87.
The pre-dawn blast Saturday at the state-run Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang (pronounced HAY-long-jeeahng) province near the border with Russia was the latest to hit [...]