ADDIS ABABA (AFP) -- Tens of thousands of Ethiopians mourned Sunday the late strongman Meles Zenawi, in the first state funeral staged for a leader of the Horn of Africa nation in more than 80 years.Followed by giant crowds, Meles’ flag-draped coffin slowly processed through the capital from the National Palace to the vast Meskel Square, his family dressed in black following behind, many in tears.The coffin arrived on top of a horse-drawn carriage adorned with white flowers and pictures of Meles

BEIJING (AFP) -- China’s ruling Communist Party has announced a reshuffle to a key post, state press said Sunday, a move widely seen as ushering in a once-a-decade leadership transition later this year.Li Zhanshu, 62, former head of the southwest province of Guizhou, was Saturday named to head the party’s powerful Politburo general office, the People’s Daily reported, a job that puts Li in charge of the party’s day-to-day workings.Li replaces Ling Jihua, outgoing President Hu Jintao’s top aide,

A senior Obama administration political appointee and longtime aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is resigning amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior lodged by at least three Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees. The agency says Suzanne Barr submitted her resignation Saturday. Barr is chief of staff to ICE Director John Morton and is accused of sexually ina

LONDON (AFP) - The German firm that made thalidomide has issued its first apology in 50 years to the thousands born disabled as a result of the drug's use, drawing stinging criticism from advocates for some survivors.Grunenthal's chief executive Harald Stock said in a speech on Friday his firm was "very sorry" for its silence towards the victims of the drug, which was sold to pregnant women to cur

GHANZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) - A twin suicide attack, one of them a "massive" truck bombing, struck a US-run NATO base in Afghanistan's central province of Wardak on Saturday, killing at least six civilians, officials said.Eight other people including two NATO soldiers were wounded in the attack around dawn, Afghan and NATO officials said."A suicide bomber on foot detonated near the gate of the base

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) _ Operations resumed Friday at the Amuay refinery where an explosion set off a raging fire and killed 42 people and injured more than 150 others, Venezuela's state oil company announced.The accident had paralyzed work at the oil installation in western Venezuela since the huge explosion early Saturday, which authorities blamed on a gas leak. Amuay is one of the largest refi

NEW YORK (AFP) ― As many as 125 students at Harvard University are being probed for allegedly cheating in a final exam at the elite institution, administrators said Thursday.The official university site news.harvard.edu/gazette reported that a large number of undergraduates “may have inappropriately collaborated on answers, or plagiarized classmates’ responses, on the final exam for the course.”An initial investigation by the Harvard College Administration Board of more than 250 final exams resu