World News Headlines - Canadian Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber apparently targeting an anti-Taliban mayor struck a crowded market Sunday in northwest Pakistan, killing the mayor and 11 other people and injuring dozens, police said.

TAWANG, India - The Dalai Lama brushed off Chinese protests and travelled Sunday to a remote Himalayan town near the Tibetan border to lead five days of prayers and teaching sessions for Buddhist pilgrims.

CANCUN, Mexico - Ida grew into a hurricane for a second time as it roared over the Caribbean on a path that could take it between Mexico's resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba before heading for the southern United States.

WASHINGTON - In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.

BERLIN - Twenty years ago Monday, they danced atop the Berlin Wall, feet thudding on the cold concrete, arms raised in victory, hands clasped in friendship and giddy hope.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - A member of a team sent to Honduras to monitor implementation of a U.S.-brokered deal says interim leaders violated the accord by forming a unity government without the ousted president's input.

The Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur refuse to abandon the military option and are increasingly violating a U.N. arms embargo with the help of dual-use vehicles and aircraft, a U.N. panel said in a new report.

NEW YORK - Students and university officials started getting emails last year in which a prominent Judaic studies scholar seemed to make a startling confession: He had committed plagiarism.

FORT HOOD, Texas - A U.S. Army spokesman says the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood has been taken off a ventilator but still remains in intensive care at a military hospital.

MORELIA, Mexico - The Mexican army said Saturday it has seized a shipment of almost a quarter-ton of opium in the country's northern mountains, one of the largest such seizures made in Mexico.

MARION, Ala. - The sign going on the front door at the Perry County courthouse reads: "Closed for the Obama Holiday."

BERLIN - Massive colorful dominoes painted by German students have been placed along the former path of the Berlin Wall to mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of the barrier that divided the city for nearly three decades.

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. and Afghan authorities are investigating whether a botched NATO air strike was to blame for the death of Afghan soldiers and police during a search for two American paratroopers missing in a Taliban-infested area of the country's west.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honouring victims of the Ford Hood shootings, an attack he described as "all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable" because it occurred on the nation's largest Army post.

NEW YORK - The USS New York, built with steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center, was put into service Saturday both as a symbol of healing and strength.

STERLING, Va. - A brother of the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood says the Army psychiatrist is a peaceful person - and hopes he will be treated fairly by the legal system.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Finance officials from rich and developing countries pledged Saturday to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured, but failed to reach a clear agreement to bear the cost of fighting climate change.

ST ANDREWS, Scotland - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has dismissed the idea of imposing tax on financial transactions to guard against another crisis in the banking sector.

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. - With the words "Let's roll" - the command issued by United Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer to lead the passenger revolt against the Sept. 11 hijackers - U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and 39 victims' relatives and dignitaries turned shovels of dirt at a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday for a permanent national memorial.

ORLANDO, Fla. - His marriage long ago went sour, his home taken in foreclosure, his job lost to incompetence, his finances sunk in bankruptcy. Everything Jason Rodriguez sought ended in failure. Except his alleged plot to kill.

WASHINGTON - In a private meeting on Capitol Hill and from the presidential podium in the White House Rose Garden, President Barack Obama on Saturday pressed for House passage of a health care reform bill and told lawmakers "to rise to this moment" and "answer the call of history."

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota teen who fled the state to avoid chemotherapy has finished his cancer treatment.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to pass a proposed health care overhaul during a rare visit to Capitol Hill on Saturday and later told them: "Now is the time to finish the job."

SAN'A, Yemen - Saudi warplanes and artillery bombarded a Shiite rebel stronghold in northern Yemen Saturday for a third straight day, according to the rebel fighters, and Yemen's president vowed to wipe out the insurrection.

MONTREAL - Canadian Charles Hamelin took the gold medal in the 1,500 metres Saturday at the short-track speedskating World Cup, winning by a thousandth of a second over South Korean Sung Si-Bak.

TEL AVIV, Israel - Israel's president on Saturday called on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to rescind his decision to stand down, invoking the memory of Yitzhak Rabin at a public commemoration for the assassinated Israeli premier.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Scores of relatives of the 228 people killed in the June 1 Air France jet crash dedicated a memorial in an upscale beach neighbourhood Saturday amid strong criticism that the airline has failed to provide them with the answers or compensation they were promised.

MOSCOW - Russia and the United States have a good chance of reaching a new nuclear arms reduction deal before year's end, but other nuclear powers must join disarmament efforts, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks released Saturday.