BAGHDAD (AFP) ― A wave of attacks targeting both Iraqi security forces and civilians killed 48 people on Monday, in a second day of deadly violence ahead of the first anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S. forces.Monday was the deadliest day in Iraq since November 29, when 50 people were killed. The latest violence comes after attacks killed 19 people and wounded 77 on Sunday.U.S. military forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq on Dec. 18, 2011, ending a nearly nine-year war that cost the li

PARIS (AFP) ― The rivals in a bitter leadership row that split France’s former ruling party, the rightwing UMP of Nicolas Sarkozy, agreed Monday to a new internal election after a contested first vote last month.Jean-Francois Cope, the election’s disputed victor, and his rival Francois Fillon, Sarkozy’s former prime minister, said in a statement they had agreed to hold a new vote by October next year for the leadership of the Union for a Popular Movement.“A new election for the presidency of the

PASADENA, California (AP) ― A pair of NASA spacecraft tumbled out of orbit around the moon and crashed back-to-back into the surface on Monday, ending a mission that peered into the lunar interior.Engineers commanded the twin spacecraft, Ebb and Flow, to fire their engines and burn their remaining fuel. Ebb plunged first, slamming into a mountain near the moon’s north pole. Its twin, Flow, followed about a half minute later and aimed for the same target. By design, the final resting place was fa

A national mindset branding working mothers as bad parents is a key factor keeping the German birthrate among the lowest in Europe, creating long-term policy challenges, a study released Monday showed.A lack of nursery spots, inflexible working hours and widespread frowning on mothers who pursue careers are destroying Germans‘ desire to have children, researchers at the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) found.With the fertility rate of German women at 1.39, there are only 10 Europe

Israel on Monday said it was pushing forward with plans to build hundreds of homes in a Jewish settlement of east Jerusalem, risking renewed tensions with the Palestinians and its Western allies over the contentious project.The announcement was part of a new Israeli settlement push announced earlier this month as retaliation for the Palestinians' success in winning U.N. recognition for a state at the United Nations. Israel was widely criticized internationally for the settlement plans, though ac

Prominent gun-rights advocates in Congress are now calling for a national discussion about restrictions to curb gun violence, signaling that the horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school could be a tipping point in a debate that has been dormant for years.White House officials said President Barack Obama would make preventing gun violence a second-term policy priority. But it was unclear what Obama would pursue or how, and aides said stricter gun laws would be only part of any effort.

CARACAS (AP) ― President Hugo Chavez’s allies won a sweeping victory in Venezuela’s gubernatorial elections Sunday, capturing a large majority of states and showing their ruling party still has muscle even as cancer has put the socialist leader’s future in question. Chavez’s movement won 20 of 23 states, according to results announced by electoral council. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles held on for a re-election win in Miranda state, one of three opposition candidates declared winners. Capr

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ―A car bomb exploded outside the women’s waiting area of a government office in Pakistan’s troubled northwest tribal region on Monday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 45 others, government officials said. The bombing apparently targeted the office of the assistant political agent for the Khyber tribal area, one of the top local government officials, said Hidayat Khan, who works in the office. The office is located in Jamrud, the main town in the Khyber tribal area

Malaysian Mohd Noor Fikrie Abd Kahar was another Facebook recruit of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).The son of a retired policeman is a classic example of one who became self-radicalized through the social media and was killed in a failed terror mission.His intended target remains a mystery but Philippine police said the explosives could have gone off in a shopping mall, hotel or a church as pre-Christmas Simbang Gambi (dawn masses) were about to begin.There is also speculation that

Many people assume the Chinese rich own gigantic villas, keep a horse or two and collect luxury watches or art, but a new survey shows their favorite purchase trends to be leather goods and automobiles.According to the latest report by Robb and Ipsos, a Paris-based research company, those two products accounted for about 20 percent of Chinese millionaires’ total consumption over the past year.People surveyed in the report spent an average of 1.55 million yuan ($250,000) on high-end and fine-livi

The 76-year-old media baron said Sunday his engagement to 28-year-old Francesca Pascale _ part of a support group called ``Silvio, we miss you'' _ is ``official''.Berlusconi's second wife left him in 2008, citing alleged dalliances with young women. He is now on trial on charges of having sex with an underage woman and using his office to cover it up.Newspapers described Berlusconi's appearance on Canale 5 _ one of his television networks _ as attempt to boost falling approval rates ahead of an

A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of central Indonesia Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, sending panicked people rushing into the streets but there was no tsunami alert.The quake struck at 0916 GMT more than 160 kilometers south-southeast of Gorontalo in central Indonesia's Sulawesi island at a depth of 18 kilometers.The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics agency (BMKG) measured it at 6.0 at a depth of 10 kilometers."The epicenter was in the sea but it