CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) ― Discovery ended its career as the world’s most flown spaceship Wednesday, returning from orbit for the last time and taking off in a new direction as a museum piece.After a flawless trip to the International Space Station, NASA’s oldest shuttle swooped through a few wispy clouds on its way to its final touchdown.“To the ship that has led the way time and time again,

BEIJING (AFP) ― China’s parliament chief Thursday ruled out any shift to multi-party democracy in a speech that appeared to pour cold water on political reform hopes sparked by remarks from Premier Wen Jiabao last year.Wu Bangguo, who is officially number two in the country’s leadership behind President Hu Jintao, said in his annual address to the legislature that abandoning the Communist Party-do

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) ― The Dalai Lama announced Thursday his plan to retire as political head of the exiled Tibetan movement, saying the time had come for his replacement by a “freely elected” leader.The Dalai Lama, whose more significant role is as the movement’s spiritual leader, said he would seek an amendment allowing him to resign his political office when the exiled Tibetan parliament me

CAIRO (AP) ― Thousands of Christians and Muslims clashed Tuesday, with one Christian man killed and scores wounded as anger rose over the burning of a church in a Cairo suburb.It was the second burst of sectarian fighting in as many days and the latest in a string of violent protests over a variety of topics as simmering unrest continues nearly a month after mass protests led to the ouster of Pres

Interim P.M. announces members of government, pledges to revive economyTUNIS (AFP) ― Tunisia on Monday scrapped its feared political police and named a new interim government free of any members of the regime of toppled strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Affirming a commitment “to apply the law and respect liberties and civic rights,” the interior ministry announced that it was abolishing the gener

U.S. administration’s policy faces difficulty in framing consistent messageWASHINGTON (AFP) ― As a wildfire of revolt whips through the Middle East and North Africa, the White House is embracing pragmatism and shying away from embroidering a grand “Obama doctrine” for a region in turmoil.For a politician as fond of the grand gesture as President Barack Obama, the idea of an eponymous school of for

Quake-hit city concludes there are no more trapped survivorsCHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) ― It will take at least 10 years to rebuild Christchurch, officials said Thursday, warning it would be months before they could even begin to reopen the quake-hit New Zealand city.The timeline, outlining the scale of damage to the country’s second largest city, came as the death toll from last week’s devast

SANAA (AP) ― Yemen’s embattled president Tuesday accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum for his ouster.Hundreds of thousands rallied in cities across Yemen against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in the largest of the protests of the past month, including one addressed by an influential firebr

Arab protest wave hurts al-Qaida, Iran: U.S.WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that protests across the Arab world have dealt a major setback to al-Qaida militants and Iran by endorsing democratic change.“It basically gives the lie to al-Qaida’s claim that the only way to get rid of authoritarian governments is through extremist violence,” Gates told reporters.W

TEHRAN (AFP) ― Iranian opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives have been arrested and put in a Tehran jail, their websites said Monday in reports swiftly denied by a judicial official.The two had been under house arrest after judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani said earlier this month they had committed “treason” and MPs demanded they be hanged.“Mir Hossein M

TUNIS (AFP) ― Tunisia’s Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned Sunday and was replaced by Beji Caid Essebsi, a former minister, after anti-government protests left five people dead over the weekend.Security forces again clashed with protesters in Tunis demanding the removal of some ministers of Ghannouchi’s interim government before the premier announced his resignation.“The acts of violence

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) ― New Zealand’s premier said the Christchurch quake may be the country’s worst disaster ever, as officials raised the toll to 146 dead and more than 200 missing while giving a grim prognosis for the city’s downtown.Residents said prayers for the dead and missing at church services Sunday in Christchurch and across New Zealand. But church leaders canceled a planned mu

CAIRO (AP) ― A constitutional reform panel on Saturday recommended opening Egypt’s presidential elections to competition and imposing a two-term limit on future presidents ― a dramatic shift from a system that allowed the ousted Hosni Mubarak to rule for three decades.The changes are among 10 proposed constitutional amendments that are to be put to a popular referendum later this year. The proposa

MARANA, Arizona (AFP) ― South Korean Yang Yong-eun, the first Asian man to capture a major title, is the lone Asian to reach the last 16 at the World Golf Championships Match-Play Championship.Yang, who won the 2009 PGA Championship in a ground-breaking effort, advanced on Thursday in emphatic style when he beat 2009 British Open champion Stewart Cink 4 and 3 in the second round of the $8.5 millio