ATHENS. A second Greek cabinet member has resigned in two days, the latest casualty for the struggling country's new conservative-led government.
Giorgos Vernicos, deputy minister for Greece's merchant marine ministry, announced his resignation on Tuesday and it was accepted by the government.
He did not give a reason for his departure. But the main opposition Syriza party had accused him of maintaining an offshore company in what appeared to be a conflict of interest.
On Monday, the designated finance minister resigned due to illness. And new Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is recovering from a weekend eye operation and will be unable to attend a European Union leaders' summit later this week.more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/second-minister-resigns-20120627-212sn.html#ixzz1z360w3kr

Attack ... Mollie, right, died but Mary survived.

'We don't have murder cases like this': shot gay teens may have been victims of hate crime

11:50am Investigators on Wednesday were still trying to determine a motive for the killing of a teenage woman and the wounding of her girlfriend in a shooting at a South Texas park that has caught the attention of gay rights groups.

Bath salts not to blame for 'Miami zombie' attack

Rudy Eugene chewed the face off another man.
9:45am Lab tests detected only marijuana in the system of a Florida man shot while chewing another man's face, the medical examiner has revealed, ruling out other street drugs including the components typically found in the stimulants known as bath salts.

Thousands flee as wildfire bursts into Colorado city

fire
6:04am A massive wildfire has swept through a residential area of Colorado's second most populous city, destroying homes and prompting 32,000 people to flee to safety.

Circumcision on boys assault, court rules

The decision could have serious repercussions for religious groups.
Nicholas Kulish, Berlin A German court has ruled that circumcising young boys represents grievous bodily harm, a decision that could have significant repercussions for religious groups.

Port city largest in US to declare bankruptcy

The city of Stockton in central California has been mired in debt due to expensive investments.
Stockton, California The Californian port city of Stockton is set to become the largest American city ever to declare bankruptcy as officials say mediation with creditors has failed.

Anti-Semitic drug speech

Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi
IRAN Iran's vice-president has used the podium of an international conference on drugs held in Tehran to deliver a baldly anti-Semitic speech.

British lawyers condemn Israeli injustice on Palestinian minors

A
Ruth Pollard Israel's practice of holding Palestinian children in solitary confinement and its use of violence and coerced confessions in interrogations is again in the spotlight following a report by eminent British lawyers.

HIV test for pharmacies

The US is set to allow free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies.
UNITED STATES US health officials have set up a $US1.2 million pilot program that offers free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and clinics in 24 cities and rural communities.

Queen takes step to heal IRA pain

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Caroline Davies Enniskillen, Northern Ireland As she prepared for her meeting last night in Northern Ireland with former IRA commander Martin McGuinness, the Queen visited a community that had suffered one of the most notorious IRA attacks.

Second minister resigns

Greece
GREECE A second Greek cabinet member has resigned in two days, the latest casualty for the struggling country's new conservative-led government.

State helped spur mutiny

Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
RWANDA The Rwandan government violated UN sanctions by playing a pivotal role in the creation of an anti-government mutiny in Congo and supplying the M23 mutineers with weapons, ammunition and young Rwandan recruits.

Syrian state TV station hit by deadly raid

Syria's president Bashar al-Assad speaks to the new government in Damascus.
Rod Nordland and Donna Abu-nasr, Beirut Gunmen have attacked Syria's state-run Ikhbariya television station, killing three employees, a day after President Bashar al-Assad said the country was in a 'real state of war'.

Trebly talented Ephron dies at 71

Nora Ephron poses in her home in New York.
New York 'Take notes,' Nora Ephron's mother advised her as a child. 'Everything is copy.'

The truth is out there: one in three believe in UFOs

80 million Americans are certain UFOs exist.
UNITED STATES Aliens often compete with superheroes, vampires and zombies to top hit movie lists - but more than a third of Americans say UFOs are not a fantasy.

Copyright convention spooks Beijing's pirates

Beijing has a shortage of fake fashion thanks to a world intellectual property conference.
John Garnaut, Beijing Beijing has been struck by a desperate shortage of pirated DVDs, clothes and handbags.

Dad of forcibly aborted baby in hiding

Forced abortion ... Feng Jianmei lies on a hospital bed with the corpse of her daughter (pixelated) beside her.
Beijing A father whose unborn daughter was forcibly aborted by Chinese officials has gone into hiding after his family were branded 'national traitors' for speaking to foreign media.

Migrants, locals clash in south China riots

Guangdong is known as the world's
Beijing Scores of people were injured when police in southern China broke up clashes between migrant workers and the local population in the latest unrest to hit the nation, a rights group said.

Developing nations face drug epidemic

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Alan Travis LONDON: The number of illicit drug users in the world is likely to grow by 25 per cent by 2050, with the bulk of the increase expected to take place in the rapidly rising urban populations of developing countries, according to the United Nations.

Trade treaty struck down

Kelvin Thomson.
Peter Martin A treaty signed by the Australian government that could have made it illegal to link to, or mention on the web, sites that breach copyright law has been struck down by an all-party parliamentary committee.

2.7 million flee violence, politics

Asylum seeker boat.
Ben Doherty Afghanistan remains the largest provider of refugees in the world, with 2.7 million Afghans fleeing the country.

Tensions rising ahead of talks

Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Michael Bachelard, Jakarta Tension is growing between Australia and Indonesia over asylum seekers in the lead-up to a meeting between Julia Gillard and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Darwin next week.

Boats add heat to PM's talks with Indonesia

Julia Gillard
Michael Bachelard, Rory Callinan TENSION is growing between Australia and Indonesia over asylum seekers before a meeting between Julia Gillard and the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in Darwin next week.

A country at the crossroads

Candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota is lagging behind in opinion polls.
Ian Munro Mexicans go to the polls on Sunday to vote for the party they hope can repair a nation blighted by poverty and torn apart by inequality, drug traffickers and counting the dead.

Queen and ex-IRA commander meet

Gordon Rayner Belfast A RING of steel was set up around the theatre where the Queen had a historic meeting with the former IRA commander Martin McGuinness yesterday.

'The nightmare ends today': mother of four accused of being multimillion-dollar madam released from jail

Anna Gristina
2:31pm A suburban New York mother charged with moonlighting as a big-city madam was released from a US jail on bond on Tuesday night, after four months behind bars in a case laced with claims of prominent clients and law-enforcement protectors.

Remarkable fall from grace for polo-playing businessman who met the Queen

Jeep Polo Cup at Werribee Park Mansion polo field , Corin Gibbs , left leads Tim Stewart to the ball


Photo by Pat Scala The Age
Saturday 24th of March 2012
Matthew Day in Warsaw A Polish businessman who met Queen Elizabeth, mingled with the polo-playing elite and enjoyed a life in British high society has been jailed for three and a half years for corruption.

Fukushima's fishermen ready to test the waters once again

Unease about radiation levels could catch the industry out.

India holds suspect of 2008 terror in Mumbai

2008 Mumbai terror attacks
Mark Magnier, Delhi Indian police say they have arrested an Indian national allegedly involved in helping plan and provide real-time directions for the deadly Mumbai terror attack in 2008.

Jet downing a Syria attack on NATO, Turkey to claim

A Turkish Air Force F-4 war plane
Colum Lynch, New York Turkey suggested it would ask its NATO allies to consider Syria's downing of a Turkish jet to be an attack on the entire alliance, and is seeking to galvanise support at the United Nations for a tough response that falls short of military action.

Journalists go to men on women's issues

Womens' issues
Paul Farhi, Washington New analysis of campaign coverage finds women aren't even the principal news source on a topic they would presumably know best: women's issues.