LONDON (AFP) - Oil briefly jumped on Tuesday after Russia said it had detected the launch of two ballistic missiles heading towards the eastern Mediterranean, dealers said.Brent North Sea crude oil for October delivery climbed to $115.74 per barrel, before pulling back to $115.25, up 92 cents from Monday's closing level.New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October, rallied as high as $107.77 per barrel. It later stood at $107.28, down 37 cents from Monday."This morning saw

ADEN (AFP) - A gun battle in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan left two suspected Al-Qaeda militants and a pro-government militiaman dead on Tuesday, an official from the militia said. Fighting between Al-Qaeda militants and the Popular Resistance Committees, which back the government, took place in Batis, northwest of the city of Jaar, the official said.Tuesday's violence erupted a day after a failed attack on the chief of the Committees in Abyan, Abdullatif Sayed. A blast targeted Sayed's

Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum was in a remote Japanese fishing village Monday to protest against its annual dolphin hunt.Sorum, who now leads his own group, is the latest celebrity to join the increasingly global campaign to stop the dolphin kill in Taiji, a quaint fishing village in central Japan made famous by the Academy Award-winning 2009 film about the hunt called ``The Cove.''The movie depicts how dolphins are herded into a cove and speared by fishermen for their meat. The fisher

 An 18-year-old man was convicted of murder in the shooting of a baby who was riding in a stroller alongside his mom in a town in coastal Georgia. Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding De'Marquise Elkins guilty of 11 counts, including two counts of felony murder and one count of malice murder in the March 21 killing of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Brunswick. The man's mother, Karimah Elkins, was on trial alongside him and was found guilty of tampering with evidence but acquitted

 Edging toward a punitive strike against Syria, President Barack Obama said Friday he is weighing ``limited and narrow'' action as the administration bluntly accused Bashar Assad's government of launching a chemical weapons attack that killed at least 1,429 people _ far more than previous estimates _ including more than 400 children. No ``boots on the ground,'' Obama said, seeking to reassure Americans weary after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. With France as his only major public ally

Professor Seo Kyoung-duk of Sungshin Women’s University gave a lecture on the Korean islets of Dokdo claimed by Japan to ethnic Koreans living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday.The 40-year-old professor and Korea PR expert said some 80 students and their parents gathered at Tashkent International School. “They had enthusiasm in learning about Dokdo,” he said. 　“I taught the students about the meaning and importance of Dokdo and explained why it is Korea ‘s territory.” 　Seo has visited Korean i

President Barack Obama on Wednesday declared unequivocally that the United States has ``concluded'' that the Syrian government carried out a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians. But new hurdles emerged that appeared to slow the formation of an international coalition that could use military force to punish Syria.Obama did not present any direct evidence to back up his assertion that the Syrian government bears responsibility for the attack. While he said he is still evaluating possible m

   (Yonhap) -- China voiced support on Wednesday for recent remarks by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who called for "deep introspection" by some Japanese leaders on their country's wartime atrocities, saying they should own up to history.   Ban had made the remarks in Seoul early this week over moves by Japan to revise its pacifist constitution, prompting Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to question the comments.   In a statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei sa

WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior administration official says there is “very little doubt” that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in an incident that killed at least a hundred people last week.The official says Sunday that the U.S. intelligence community based its assessment given to the White House on ``the reported number of victims, reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured, and witness accounts.'' The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the