World News

LONDON (AFP) - Clothing-to-food retailer Marks & Spencer is set to axe more than 1,000 jobs, The Times reported Tuesday, bringing further gloom to the British high street as it struggles under the weight of the downturn.

LONDON (AFP) - The number of suicides in England and Wales fell by about 40 percent after the July 2005 bombings on London, scientists revealed Tuesday, echoing a trend also seen after the September 11 attacks.

BLYTH (AFP) - A brilliant freekick by Chilean international Carlos Villanueva proved the difference between Premiership side Blackburn Rovers and non-league Blyth Spartans here on Monday as Rovers ran out 1-0 winners.

FREEPORT, Bahamas - Jett Travolta's body shows no sign of head trauma and his death certificate says he was killed by a seizure, an undertaker said Monday, after doctors performed an autopsy on the 16-year-old son of the U.S actor.

GUATEMALA CITY - A massive landslide tore down the side of a mountain and buried a highway in northern Guatemala, killing nearly three dozen people and leaving rescue workers frantically digging for more victims Monday.

HAVANA - Cuba on Monday began accepting requests for electronic access to more than 3,000 documents from Ernest Hemingway's home on the island, including the unpublished epilogue of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and coded messages the author sent when using his yacht to hunt for German submarines during World War II.

PARIS - Pirates hijacked a French boat and took its nine crew members hostage in the latest attack in some of the world's most dangerous waters off oil-rich southern Nigeria, the boat's owner said Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush promised on Monday not to forget after he leaves office about violence in the Darfur region of western Sudan, which the United States has described as genocide.

PARIS (AFP) - Pirates seized a ship belonging to French maritime services company Bourbon off the coast of Nigeria during the weekend and are holding nine crew members hostage, the company said Monday.

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will suspend production at all of its Japanese plants for a total of 11 days in February and March because of faltering global demand.

SEOUL, South Korea - Tens of thousands of North Koreans rallied in Pyongyang in a display of might and loyalty underscoring their government's guiding "military first" principal amid tensions with rival South Korea.

BEIJING - China warned Google and other popular Web portals Monday that they must do more to block pornographic material from reaching Chinese users, the latest in a series of government crackdowns targeting Internet content.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The finance minister and central bank chief met with the country's top bank executives on Monday to prod them to loosen up lending, officials said.

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Police are investigating what appears to be the fourth bombing of an EnCana Corp natural gas facility in the Western Canadian province of British Columbia, authorities said on Monday.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian auto sales tumbled 21 percent in December from a year earlier, industry figures showed on Monday, as the worsening global economy undercut consumer confidence and credit was harder to come by.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian woman who allegedly set fire to her husband's genitals because she believed he was having an affair appeared in court on a murder charge Monday.

SYDNEY (AFP) - A base jumper survived a 60-metre (200-foot) plunge from an Australian bridge Sunday despite his parachute failing during the stunt, officials said.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Saving the planet by eating kangaroos and wild camels may seem like pie in the sky, but the offbeat menu comes with a scientific stamp of approval in Australia.

FREEPORT, Bahamas - Doctors in the Bahamas conducted an autopsy Monday on John Travolta's 16-year-old son, but authorities did not immediately disclose the results.

BAGHDAD - The United States inaugurated its largest embassy ever on Monday, a fortress-like compound in the heart of the Green Zone — and the most visible sign of what U.S. officials call a new chapter in relations between America and a more sovereign Iraq.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian woman who allegedly set fire to her husband's genitals because she believed he was having an affair appeared in court on a murder charge Monday.