Japan Today - International

Russia and China blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its crackdown on protests, amid growing outrage Sunday at a "massacre" in the protest city of Homs and a spiralling death toll. The vetoes came as activists reported another 57 people killed in Syria, adding to the body…

Thousands of Australians were forced to abandon their homes Sunday as record flooding that has cut off thousands of people threatened to engulf areas devastated by wild weather last year. Police ordered the 3,800 residents of the town of St George, in northern Queensland state, to evacuate as rising floodwaters…

Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney romped to victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, U.S. media predicted, cementing him as frontrunner to take on President Barack Obama in November. And former House speaker Newt Gingrich was only a few points ahead of libertarian congressman Ron Paul in a battle for…

Tens of thousands took to the streets of Moscow Saturday for rival rallies duelling over Russia's future, in a test of strength for the anti-Vladimir Putin movement one month before presidential polls. Bundled up in down jackets, fur coats and felt boots, the demonstrators defied freezing weather of around minus…

Greece is under heavy pressure from its creditors to implement further austerity and structural measures if it wants to get a second, 130 billion euro ($171 billion) bailout, and avoid bankruptcy. Representatives of Greece's public creditors -- the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund --…

Egyptian security forces on Saturday fired tear gas from armored trucks at protesters demanding an end to military rule, as anger over a deadly soccer riot fueled a third day of clashes that have killed at least 12 people. The violence followed a melee and stampede after a soccer match…

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is publishing two volumes of his autobiographical memoir entitled "Time Guerrilla," the Cuban news media reported Saturday. The memoirs trace his life from infancy until 1958, when he succeeded in leading a revolution that turned Cuba into a communist country aligned with the Soviet Union. Castro's…

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake has been recorded about 170 kilometers west of Ucluelet off the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. A National Earthquake Information Center spokesman in Golden, Colorado, says there is no danger of a tsunami from the shallow quake. It occurred at 12:05 p.m. local time Saturday…

Syrian forces killed at least 217 civilians, including women and children, in a "massacre" in the central city of Homs, a rights group said Saturday, ahead of a U.N. vote on the repression. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 138 of the fatalities were caused by mortar fire in…

Australia's flood crisis deepened Saturday as authorities braced for waters to peak in Queensland where one woman is missing after being swept away while elsewhere thousands remain stranded by the surge. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said eight military helicopters would help in search, evacuation and resupply missions in the eastern…

Temperatures plunged to new lows in Europe where a week-long cold snap has now claimed more than 220 lives and forecasters warned Friday that the big freeze would tighten its grip over the weekend. A total of 223 people have died from the cold weather in the last seven days…

Mitt Romney admitted Friday he "misspoke" in an ill-advised comment about poor Americans, as polls predicted a huge victory for the Republican White House hopeful in a Nevada vote. Romney is aiming for a third win over his main rival, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, as the two wrestle to…

Police fired salvos of tear gas and birdshot Friday at rock-throwing protesters in Cairo as popular anger over a deadly soccer riot spilled over into a second day of street violence that left at least five people dead and more than 1,500 injured nationwide, officials said. The protesters blame the…

Reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar wrote to President Barack Obama last year indicating an interest in talks key to ending the war in Afghanistan, current and former U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The letter purportedly from Omar was unsigned. It was passed through a Taliban intermediary in July…

The head of the BBC on Friday accused Iran of intimidating staff members of its Persian service through slander, snooping and the arrest of their relatives. BBC director-general Mark Thompson said "a campaign of bullying and harassment" against the broadcaster had worsened in recent months. Thompson said in a blog…

The Obama administration pressed Russia on Friday to back a softened version of a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the violence in Syria, though it was unclear if the compromise wording would compel President Bashar Assad to step down as Washington wants. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke by…

Queen Elizabeth II starts five months of diamond jubilee celebrations this weekend with the promise of pomp and splendour despite the British monarch's wishes for restraint. The queen will make a deliberately low-key visit to Norfolk in eastern England on Monday, 60 years to the day since she ascended to…

The captivating and chaotic Republican presidential race was briefly sidetracked by an almost farcical diversion Thursday, with conflicting reports about whether Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich was in line for the endorsement of Donald Trump, the American master of publicity. In the end, Trump went with Romney. The endorsement puts…

Even as the Obama administration says it's close to defeating al-Qaida, the size of the government's secret list of suspected terrorists who are banned from flying to or within the United States has more than doubled in the past year, The Associated Press has learned. The no-fly list jumped from…

Capping a day of strident warnings by Israeli officials about the dangers posed by Iran, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that the world is increasingly ready to consider a military strike against Iran if economic sanctions don't halt Tehran's suspect nuclear program. Earlier in the day, officials gathered at…