Beaches, bombs and gangsters - Corsica becomes victim of its own success as vacation paradise

The bombs exploded across hundreds of miles of Corsican coastline, gutting two dozen villas nearly simultaneously on some of Europe's most beautiful — and valuable — land. Elsewhere on the same French island off the Mediterranean coast, a young man was shot to death in his car, his stepson wounded beside him.The night of violence in early December epitomized the problems of Napoleon's native island...

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Jaguar to add 800 new UK jobs on soaring Chinese demand

LONDON (Reuters) - Jaguar Land Rover plans to create 800 new jobs at its Solihull factory in central England as demand for its premium cars rockets in China and elsewhere.For the first time, demand from China outstripped that of British carmaker JLR's home market, with sales in China in 2012 rising more than 70 percent to 71,940 cars.JLR, owned by India's Tata Motors , said on Sunday that total global...

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Goldman may delay UK bonuses until top tax rate falls

REUTERS/Brendan McDermidNEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc is considering delaying bonus payments in the U.K. until after April 6, when the top rate of income tax in the country will drop to 45 percent, from 50 percent, a person familiar with the bank's operations said on Sunday.The strategy relates to bonuses that were deferred from 2009, 2010 and 2011, the person said. The Financial Times...

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5 men charged with murder in New Delhi gang rape

NEW DELHI (AP) — Five men accused of raping a university student for hours on a bus as it drove through India's capital were charged with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring them the death penalty.The attack on the 23-year-old woman, who died of severe internal injuries over the weekend, provoked a fierce debate across India about the routine mistreatment of females and triggered daily...

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New law points to Philippine church's waning sway

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Twenty-six years after Roman Catholic leaders helped his mother marshal millions of Filipinos in an uprising that ousted a dictator, President Benigno Aquino III picked a fight with the church over contraceptives and won a victory that bared the bishops' worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses.Aquino last month signed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health...

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Afghan militants freed by government

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Some 250 prisoners formerly held by the U.S. have been released by Afghan authorities in hopes that this will lead to reconciliation in the 11-year conflict, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday.Police Maj. Jalal Uddin said that 80 were freed from prisons across the country that day, the latest batch of a total of 400 to be released this week. The released prisoners had...

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Syrian rebels make more gains in north

 Syrian rebels fully captured a northern town near the Turkish border on Tuesday after weeks of heavy fighting and attacked a regime air base in a neighboring province, activists said.The air base is in Aleppo province, where opposition fighters have already captured three other large military bases in recent months. Rebels have also laid siege to the international airport in the city of Aleppo,...

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Egypt's parliament convenes after charter passes

 Egypt's upper house of parliament has convened in its first session after the passing of the country's Islamist-backed constitution, the first action by a state institution in accordance with a document whose legitimacy is still contested by the opposition.The Shura Council was swearing in 90 new members appointed by President Mohammed Morsi Wednesday. The charter, approved by 63.8 percent in...

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Report: Iran ex-president's family sues hardliner

 An Iranian news agency says four children of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani are suing a radical lawmaker for describing the influential ex-president's family as a corrupt "octopus."Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, who is a lawyer for Rafsanjani's family, was quoted by the semiofficial ISNA news agency Wednesday as saying that a complaint has been filed against Hamid Rasai.Rafsanjani is considered a political...

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Report: Top Syrian general joins opposition

The general who heads Syria's military police has defected and joined the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime, one of the highest walkouts by a serving security chief during the country's 21-month uprising, a pan Arab TV station has reported.Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal appeared in a video aired on Al Arabiya TV late Tuesday saying he is joining "the people's revolution."Al-Shallal's...

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Iraq: New protests break out in Sunni heartland

RAMADI, Iraq (AP) — Thousands of Iraqi demonstrators massed in a Sunni-dominated province west of Baghdad Wednesday, determined to keep up the pressure on a Shiite-led government that many accuse of trying to marginalize them.It was the third major protest in less than a week in Anbar, Iraq's largest province, once the heart of the deadly Sunni insurgency that erupted after the U.S.-led invasion in...

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Latin Americans rank as happiest people on planet

The world's happiest people aren't in Qatar, the richest country by most measures. They aren't in Japan, the nation with the highest life expectancy. Canada, with its chart-topping percentage of college graduates, doesn't make the top 10.A poll released Wednesday of nearly 150,000 people around the world says seven of the world's 10 countries with the most upbeat attitudes are in Latin America.Many...

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Quotes from the most, least positive countries

MOST POSITIVE1. PANAMA"We're naturally very happy. We have our problems in life but we forget them quickly and we start over; it's a question of culture." — Hildaura Ortega, 30, English professor, Panama City.1. PARAGUAY"The farmers, the peasants, they are happy and joyful despite the problems of everyday life, but the city dwellers, those used to the city routine, are very individualistic and colder...

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YPF, Chevron sign Argentina petroleum pact

 Argentina's cash-strapped state energy company signed a partnership deal Wednesday with Chevron Corp. for a "massive development" of the South American country's vast nonconventional oil and gas resources.YPF President Miguel Galuccio and Chevron's Latin America and Africa chief, Ali Moshiri, signed a letter of intent to start on a shale pilot project by drilling more than 100 wells within 12...

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FBI question Benghazi consulate attack suspect

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — After months of asking, agents from the FBI questioned the only known suspect in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed four diplomats, the suspect's Tunisian lawyer told The Associated Press Saturday.Ali Harzi, a Tunisian, was detained in Turkey and extradited to Tunisia in October where authorities have said he is "strongly suspected" of being involved...

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Rebels threaten to storm 2 Syrian Christian towns

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels have threated to storm two predominantly Christian towns in central Syria if residents do not "evict" government troops they say are using the towns as a base to attack nearby areas.A video released by rebels showed Rashid Abul-Fidaa, who identified himself as the commander of the Ansar Brigade for Hama province, calling on locals in Mahrada and Sqailbiyeh to rise up against President...

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Egypt's vice president quits

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's state TV says Vice President Mahmoud Mekki has resigned.Mekki's Saturday resignation was announced with more than five hours to go of voting in the second and final phase of a referendum on a disputed, Islamist-backed constitution. Mekki, a career judge, has said he intends to quit once the charter is adopted. The new constitution eliminates the post of vice president.However,...

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Ex-Tunisian dictator's property goes under hammer

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisian authorities are putting property confiscated from ousted Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali up for auction. That includes a pair of miniature gold sphinxes, a diamond-encrusted pen and a staggering 39 luxury cars.Officials hope the sale, which was inaugurated by Tunisia's Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali in Tunis Saturday, will fetch some 20 million dinar ($12.9 million)...

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Egypt's central bank governor quits

CAIRO (AP) — State television says Egypt's central bank governor has resigned.Farouq el-Oqdah's resignation is the second such high profile move on Saturday. Earlier on the day, Vice President Mahmoud Mekki resigned, saying he realized that politics did not suit his professional background as a judge.The brief TV report did not say why el-Oqdah quit, but it ends days of media speculations about his...

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Iran police confiscate over 11 tons of narcotics

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state TV says the country's border police have confiscated over 11 tons of narcotics after fierce clashes with drug traffickers in southeastern Iran, the biggest single consignment ever seized in Iran's war against drugs.It quoted provincial border police chief, Gen. Qolam Nabi Kouhkan, as saying Saturday that the various narcotics were seized from traffickers Friday night.One...

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