Preparations were underway on Tuesday for a mass rally in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against a decree by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi granting him broad powers.Activists who have been camping out in the square since Friday were hoisting banners on lampposts slamming the Muslim Brotherhood, on whose ticket Morsi ran for office."The Muslim Brotherhood stole the revolution" read one banner. Another said the president was "pushing the people to civil disobedience."A new clinic was set up i

Russians can face the Mayan apocalypse fully prepared thanks to a kit being sold that includes a bottle of vodka and -- as a nod to pessimists -- some rope.For those who think they might have a chance of surviving whatever comes on Dec. 21, the kits contain other staples: a packet of buckwheat, a can of fish, candles, matches, notepad, pencil, heart and other medication, and soap. It also has a helpful tutorial on post-apocalypse board games to pass the time after the world as we know it comes t

A European Union official has told The Associated Press Tuesday that a deal has been reached that would pave the way for Greece to receive the next installment of its much-needed bailout loans.Part of the agreement is that the target for Greece‘s debt levels - one of the conditions of the deal going ahead - would reach 124 percent of its gross domestic product by 2020. The original goal had been 120 percent of GDP.Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, welcomed the agreement.“It w

BEIRUT (AP) ― Syrian rebels captured a helicopter base just outside Damascus Sunday in what an activist called a “blow to the morale of the regime’’ near President Bashar Assad’s seat of power, while the bombardment of a village near the capital killed at least eight children.Activists said the children were killed when Syrian warplanes bombed the village of Deir al-Asafir just outside the Damascus. The village is close to suburbs of the capital that has been witnessing clashes, shelling and air

CAIRO (AP) ― Supporters and opponents of Egypt’s president on Sunday grew more entrenched in their potentially destabilizing battle over the Islamist leader’s move to assume near absolute powers, with neither side appearing willing to back down as the stock market plunged amid the fresh turmoil.The standoff poses one of the hardest tests for the nation’s liberal and secular opposition since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster nearly two years ago. Failure to sustain protests and eventually force Mohammed Mor

He last set foot on Chinese soil in 1997, but New York-based publisher Ho Pin certainly has the Midas touch in predicting who’s in and who’s out back in his home country.Ho, 47, a native of Hunan who left China in 1989, was the first to correctly name the top seven new leaders and their portfolios, in an Oct. 22 interview with the Voice of America.Nor is this the first time the former reporter got it right: He correctly forecast the list of new leaders at the last two Communist Party congresses

Superheroes are not usually pegged as the most fashionable people in the world.After all, superhero costumes in their quintessential forms may very well be considered a fashion faux pas. Overly bright body suits made in a too-tight fit? Outrageous masks and capes in overabundance?Well, it will certainly take a more open mind (or perhaps, creative one) to appreciate the aesthetics that these saviors of the world display through their costumes.That being said, however, the fashion and design indus

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Sunday the sweeping new powers he has assumed are only temporary and called for dialogue, as clashes in the Nile Delta saw a member of his party killed, medics said.Morsi's constitutional declaration on Thursday, allowing him to issue decisions and laws unchallenged, triggered a wave of protest and has set him on course for a showdown with Egypt's judges, whom he is due to meet on Monday in a bid to defuse the crisis.Clashes between supporters and opponen

Catalan parties pushing for a referendum on breaking away from Spain won strong backing in an election Sunday, while voters punished the rich region's leader Artur Mas, forcing him to share power.The result could set Catalonia up for a clash with Spain's central government, already riled by Mas's push for greater self-determination as Spain fights to avoid getting bailed out by its EU neighbours.But it was unclear how Mas would move forward after he saw his support plunge in favour of rival part