2012 was the "deadliest year for journalists," said the International Press Institute on Monday, with the highest number of deaths recorded since the media watchdog began its annual tally.The year had "been marked by an appalling and disturbing truth: an unprecedented 132 journalists were killed in the line of duty or as a consequence of their reporting in 2012", the IPI said in a statement posted to its website.The previous highest figure had been 110 deaths in 2009. Last year, 102 journalists

A Swedish hospital said new precautions are being taken after a dentist's drill unattached during a procedure and ended up in a patient's lung.Officials at the Vastmanland Central Hospital in Vasteras said the drill became loose and fell into the mouth of a 60-year-old woman, who was undergoing dental implant surgery last September, The Local.se reported Friday."She tried to spit it out, and was made to cough, but she'd already swallowed," said Per Weitz, the hospital's medical chief.Weitz said

The Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in at midnight. The pre-dawn vote was 89-8.Senate passage set the stage for a final showdown in the House of Representatives, where a vote was expected later Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday.  Without legislation, economists in and out of government had warned of a possible new recession and spike in unemployment if the fragile U.S. economy were

A gas leak in an Istanbul hotel poisoned at least 23 people, with four listed in critical condition, hospital officials said.The incident occurred Monday in the Modern Sultan Hotel in Istanbul's Faith district, the newspaper Today's Zaman reported.Two of the victims were hotel employees, the rest foreign tourists, the newspaper said, adding they were taken to five different hospitals.Witnesses described several of the victims as unconscious, with white foam emerging from their mouths. (UPI)<한글 기

A failure to meet a midnight deadline to avoid the sharp tax hikes and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff became inevitable late Monday when Republicans leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives said they couldn't keep waiting for the Senate to send a bill their way. But lawmakers continued to hold out hope a deal could be reached when Congress reconvenes in the next couple of days, thereby avoid the possibility of a recession as the economy slows down.While the deadline to prevent tax i

CAIRO (AP) ― Egypt’s Islamist president used his first address before the newly convened upper house of parliament on Saturday to warn against any unrest that could harm the country’s battered economy, as he renewed calls for the opposition to join in a national dialogue.In the nationally televised speech, Mohammed Morsi said the nation’s entire efforts should be focused on “production, work, seriousness and effort” now that a new constitution came into effect this week. He blamed protests and v

MANILA (AP) ― The Philippine president has signed a law that will promote contraception, sexual education and family planning programs vigorously opposed by the country’s Roman Catholic Church.President Benigno Aquino III signed the law on Dec. 21 and his administration announced it only Saturday because of the “sensitivity” of the issue, said deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte.Valte said the passage of the law “closes a highly divisive chapter of our history” and “opens the possibili

QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) ― A car bomb killed at least 19 Shiite Muslim pilgrims in southwest Pakistan on Sunday as troops searched for the killers of 21 kidnapped soldiers in the troubled northwest, officials said.The remotely-triggered bomb hit a convoy of three buses carrying about 180 pilgrims to Iran and set one of the buses ablaze in Mastung district, they said.“At least 19 people have been killed and 25 injured,” said Tufail Baluch, a senior district government official. “All of them were Sh

HAVANA (AP) ― Venezuela’s vice president arrived in Havana on Saturday in a sudden and unexpected trip to visit President Hugo Chavez as he recovers from cancer surgery. Communist Party newspaper Granma published online a photo of a smiling Vice President Nicolas Maduro being greeted at the airport in the Cuban capital by the island’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez.“From there, (Maduro) went directly to the hospital where President Hugo Chavez Frias is receiving treatment to greet his family

NEW YORK (AP) ― A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform into the path of a train because she has hated Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and thought he was one was charged Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said. Erika Menendez was charged in the death of Sunando Sen, an immigrant from India who was crushed by a No. 7 train in Queens on Thursday night, the second time this month a commuter has died in such a nightmarish fashion

HOUSTON (AP) ― Former President George H.W. Bush’s condition continued to improve Saturday, prompting doctors to move him out of intensive care, a spokesman said. “President Bush’s condition has improved, so he has been moved today from the intensive care unit to a regular patient room at The Methodist Hospital to continue his recovery,” family spokesman Jim McGrath said Saturday. “The Bushes thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes.” The 88-year-old Bush was hospitalized Nov. 23 for tre

A suspected norovirus outbreak has killed four people and infected almost 100 others at a hospital in the Japanese city of Yokohama south of Tokyo, officials said.Four patients aged between 80 and 97 died of breathing problems and pneumonia between Wednesday and Friday after suffering vomiting and diarrhea, officials at the city‘s Denentoshi Hospital said late Saturday.A total of 72 patients including the four and 27 hospital staffers have been infected since Tuesday, they said.The norovirus, wh