Denton Record-Chronicle | News for Denton County, Texas

05/08/2008

Reports: Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader arrested
Iraqi police commandos captured the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said Thursday, in what could mark a significant blow to the Sunni insurgency in its last urban stronghold.

Lebanese Shiites, Sunnis battle in Beirut neighborhoods
The latest clashes follow a defiant speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in which he said the militant organizations would respond with force to any attacks. The sectarian confrontation have also spilled over to other parts of the country.

Official: Myanmar cyclone deaths could top 100,000
Hungry people swarmed the few open shops and fistfights broke out over food and water in Myanmar's swamped Irrawaddy delta Wednesday as a top U.S. diplomat warned that the death toll from a devastating cyclone could top 100,000.

Israel reflects before 60th anniversary
BRIAN HENDLER/Getty Images A man reads the names of fallen soldiers inscribed on a memorial wall at the Israeli army's Armored Corps' Museum in Latrun, near Jerusalem. On Wednesday, Israel remembered its 22,437 fallen troops during Memorial Day commemorations. The Jewish state began celebrating its Independence Day at sundown. Events marking Israel's 60th include plays, concerts, sports tournaments and Holocaust memorials.

05/07/2008

UN officials: Myanmar cyclone a 'major, major disaster'
Hungry crowds of survivors stormed the few shops that opened in Myanmar's stricken Irrawaddy delta, where food and international aid has been scarce since a devastating cyclone killed more than 22,000 people, the U.N. said Wednesday.

05/06/2008

60,000 dead, missing in Myanmar cyclone; first international aid arrives

International aid began to trickle into Myanmar on Tuesday, but the stricken Irrawaddy delta, the nation’s rice bowl where 22,000 people perished and twice as many are missing, remained cut off from the world.

Report: Myanmar cyclone death toll soars past 22,000
The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as the international community prepared to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported.

Brazil seeing sweet profit from sugar cane-based ethanol

JIM LANDERS/DMN

Field workers toss sugar cane stalks into a plowed field to be chopped into seedlings at a farm in Costa Rica, Brazil, owned by Brenco.

The other side of ethanol, vilified as a cause of soaring food prices and hunger, can be seen in Brazil, where farmers are pushing down energy costs – both at the pump and the electricity meter. A $2.7 billion ethanol project is getting started.
Video: Brazil expands ethanol imports

05/05/2008

Complaints soar against Mexican soldiers charged with protecting citizens from cartel violence

José Antonio Barboza still has a bullet under his skin after Mexican soldiers in ski masks opened fire in Reynosa.

ERICH SCHLEGEL/DMN

As the presence of the military has increased in cities along the border, complaints of human rights abuses by those charged with protecting residents from drug cartels has soared.

10,000 dead in Myanmar; toll rising

Destroyed fishing boats float in the port of Yangon.

Getty Images

In Washington, first lady Laura Bush said the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar had authorized $250,000 to help with relief efforts and was prepared to provide more if the government allows a U.S. disaster assistance response team to enter the country to assess needs.
Photo: Cyclone hits Myanmar

Death toll from Myanmar storm could reach 10,000
Almost 4,000 people were killed and nearly 3,000 others are unaccounted for in a single town after a devastating cyclone in Myanmar, a state radio station said Monday.