Afghan war's deadly toll on US forces hasn't eased (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan – Despite U.S. reports of progress on the battlefield, American troops were killed in the first half of this year at the same pace as in 2010 — an indication that the war's toll on U.S. forces has not eased as the Obama administration moves to shift the burden to the Afghans.

While the overall international death toll dropped by 14 percent in the first half of the year, the number of Americans who died remained virtually unchanged, 197 this year compared with 195 in the first six months of last year, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

Americans have been involved in some of the fiercest fighting as the U.S. administration sent more than 30,000 extra troops in a bid to pacify areas in the Taliban's southern heartland and other dangerous areas. U.S. military officials have predicted more tough fighting through the summer as the Taliban try to regain territory they have lost.

President Barack Obama has begun to reverse the surge of American forces, ordering a reduction of 10,000 by the end of the year and another 23,000 by September 2012. But the U.S. military has not announced which troops are being sent home, or whether they will be withdrawn from any of the most violent areas in the south and east.

Rear Adm. Vic Beck, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Kabul, said he couldn't comment specifically on the U.S. death count, but noted that the casualties were unchanged despite the surge in forces. He attributed the overall decline in the international toll to coalition progress on the battlefield, including the discovery of a rising number of militant weapons caches. He also said Afghan security forces are increasingly taking the lead, although recent violence has raised concerns about their readiness to secure their own country.

Beck said insurgents were shifting their focus to attacking civilians, pointing to last week's attack against the Inter-Continental, a luxury hotel in Kabul, that left 20 people dead, including the nine assailants.

"The enemy is taking the fight more to innocent Afghan civilians because we're taking it to them pretty hard on the battlefield," he said.

According to the AP tally, 271 international troops, including the Americans, were killed in the first half of the year — down 14 percent from the 316 killed in the first six months of last year.

With the American deaths virtually unchanged, the decline reflects a drop off in deaths of troops from other contributing nations. In the first half of the year, 74 of these troops — from countries like Britain, France and Australia — died compared with 121 in the first six months of last year.

In the most recent deaths, NATO said two coalition service members were killed in roadside bombings — one Saturday in the west who was identified as an Italian, and another Friday in the south whose nationality was not available.

By contrast, a recent U.N. report found that May was the deadliest month for civilians since it began keeping track in 2007, and it said insurgents were to blame for 82 percent of the 368 deaths recorded. The U.N. does not usually release monthly civilian casualty figures but said it was compelled to do so in May because of the high number.

The Taliban have denied targeting civilians and insist coalition claims that insurgents have suffered heavy losses at the hands of foreign troops are false.

Monthly death tolls of foreign forces have varied so far this year, but they fell dramatically in June.

Overall, 65 international troops, including Americans, died last month. That's down 37 percent from the 103 who died in June 2010 — the deadliest month on record for foreign forces. More than 25 died last month in Helmand province in the south where fierce fighting continues in some hot spots, the AP tally showed.

"In the areas that we believe were pretty secure, there has been very little violence," U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. John Toolan Jr., the commander in Helmand province, said at a recent Pentagon briefing. He said he's still concerned about northern districts like Gereshk and Sangin.

He said his forces are working with their Afghan partners to try to keep hold of security gains made in recent months.

"I'm pretty sure, pretty confident we'll be able to do that, but it won't be without a fight," Toolan said. "But it will not be as big a fight, in my estimation, as it has been in the past."

Underscoring the dangers, a roadside bomb ripped through a van carrying a family Saturday in southern Afghanistan, killing all 13 on board — the deadliest incident in a string of attacks since Friday that killed 18 civilians, according to Afghan officials.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the attacks, saying in a statement that "bombings that kill innocent civilians are the work of people who don't want the nation to have a life without sadness."

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Haitians clean up after deadly storm; deaths at 25 (AP)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitians cleaned up homes and streets Wednesday as rains let up and rivers receded following an early summer storm that caused flooding, wrecked homes and killed more than two dozen people.

Haiti's Civil Protection Department said the death toll from seven days of rain climbed to 25 and was likely to increase as Haitians searched for relatives feared dead.

Two deaths were added to the list Wednesday after residents found the bodies of a man and woman at the bottom of a ravine, said Edgar Joseph, a spokesman for the Civil Protection Department. He said six people were still missing.

Days of steady rain turned into a violent storm Monday that triggered widespread mudslides and floods in Haiti.

The storm system also caused flooding in the neighboring Dominican Republic and in Jamaica, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. A total of four people died in those places.

On Wednesday, crews cleared roads and repaired damaged homes throughout Haiti's capital while some families found a sorrowful ending to their search for loved ones missing since the storm.

Cherline Henry had been looking for Edgar Toussaint, her boyfriend of 18 months, when a stranger told her that two bodies were found at the bottom of a ravine in Nerette, a hillside slum southeast of downtown Port-au-Prince.

The bodies were found after an elderly woman walked through the trash-strewn valley to feed her pig. She noticed a swarm of flies hovering above a pile of debris and saw a leg, residents told The Associated Press.

People later pulled on plastic gloves and grabbed pick axes to pry free Toussaint's body and the corpse of a woman wedged under a fallen tree. Relatives identified her as Venette Morin, 46.

The two bodies were covered with one of the blue tarps that aid groups passed out after the devastating earthquake in January 2010. The sheets of plastic are used to cover flimsy shelters that house tens of thousands people left homeless by the quake.

Henry, 21, took a peek at the corpse of her boyfriend. "I just lost half my life," she said.

Temporary shelters in Thomazeau, a town northwest of the capital, continued to receive people as the United Nations' World Food Program handed out food rations. Michelet Lesly Dorce, a local representative for the Civil Protection Department, said a total of 800 people had arrived since Sunday.

That morning, Haiti's largest lake, Azuei, overflowed and flooded homes. Several hundred people left the area as a precaution because the lake has a long history of flooding.

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Deadly blast at Pakistan bus stand

Senior police official: A militant placed a bag containing an explosive in a van Three women, two men and one child are killed, a police official says The blast takes place in the village of Matni, south of Peshawar

(CNN) -- Six people were killed and 15 were injured from an explosion at a bus stand the northern Pakistani village of Matni, a police official said.

Kalam Khan, a Peshawar police official, told CNN that the dead included three women, two men and one child. The blast also destroyed three vehicles, Khan said.

Matni is about 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) south of Peshawar.

Muhammad Ejaz Khan, a senior Peshawar police official, said a militant placed a bag with an explosive in a passenger van set to leave for another city. He said the militant then ran away and detonated the bag with a remote control.

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DOT: Bus company involved in deadly wreck tried to change name

Four people were killed Tuesday when a Sky Express bus ran off I-95 near Fredericksburg, Virginia, and overturned.DOT says Sky Express attempted to use a new name to sell ticketsAgency issued a cease-and-desist order against the N.C.-based carrierIt had been placed out of service for violating multiple safety regulations

(CNN) -- The company that operated a commercial tour bus involved in a deadly crash this week has been issued a cease-and-desist order after the U.S. Department of Transportation said it tried to resume operations under a different name.

Four people were killed and 53 others injured Tuesday when the Sky Express bus ran off Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg, Virginia, and overturned.

Investigators have blamed the wreck on driver fatigue.

The 37-year-old driver of the bus, Kin Yiu Cheung of Flushing, New York, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sky Express Inc. had been placed out of service Tuesday by the transportation department's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for multiple federal safety violations, which prohibited it from operating interstate transportation services.

The department issued the cease-and-desist order Friday after it said it found the company trying to operate and sell tickets under two new names: 108 Tours and 108 Bus.

"We are relentlessly targeting unsafe and illegal bus companies," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "This action sends a strong message that the U.S. Department of Transportation will utilize every legal and enforcement tool available to shut down unsafe bus companies and protect passengers and motorists."

The transportation department also subpoenaed Friday the records of three websites that have sold tickets for the company as the DOT seeks to crack down on "unsafe, reincarnated bus companies."

A call to Sky Express was not immediately returned Saturday, and its website had been taken offline.

CNN's affiliate in Charlotte, WCNC, tried to contact the business Friday, but its building was closed.

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Deadly E. coli mixes common toxin with rare "glue" (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Scientists probing the deadly E. coli strain in Europe are finding the bacteria combines a highly poisonous but common toxin with a rarely seen "glue" that binds it to a patient's intestines.

It may take months for the global team of researchers to fully understand the characteristics of the bacteria that has killed at least 17 people in Europe and sickened 1,500. But they fear this E. coli strain is the most toxic yet to hit a human population.

Most Escherichia coli, or E. coli, bacteria are harmless. The strain that is sickening people in Germany and other parts of Europe, known as 0104:H4, is part of a class of bacteria known as Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, or STEC.

This class has the ability to stick to intestinal walls where it pumps out toxins, causing diarrhea and vomiting. In severe cases, it causes hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, attacking the kidneys and causing coma, seizure and stroke.

"Germany is now reporting 470 cases of HUS. That is absolutely extraordinary," Dr. Robert Tauxe, a foodborne diseases expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters. The CDC has been working with German health authorities on the case since late last week.

"That is 10 times more than the largest outbreak in this country," he said, referring to a 1993 outbreak involving fast-food hamburgers that sickened more than 700 people and killed four. In that outbreak, there were 44 cases of HUS.

Asked if this was the world's deadliest E. coli outbreak yet, Tauxe said: "I believe it is."

He said a strain very similar to the German strain had been seen in Korea in the 1990s, but is very rare.

Remarkably, the German strain appears to combine the toxin found in the most common type of STEC bacteria in the United States, known as E. coli O157:H7, with an unusual binding agent. Tauxe said that "glue" is typically only found in children in the developing world.

"The glue that this bug is using is not the same glue that is E. coli 0157 or most other STEC bacteria," he said. "It's this combination from the glue from another kind of E. coli and the shiga toxin that makes this an unusual strain," he said.

The U.N. World Health Organization has confirmed that the strain "has never been isolated from patients before," and said the bacteria had likely acquired some extra genes that may make it especially deadly.

SOURCE UNKNOWN

The source of the outbreak is unknown, but scientists say it is highly likely to have originated in contaminated vegetables or salad in Germany.

E. coli infections are spread by consuming even minuscule particles of feces of infected animals or humans, often via contaminated food or water.

Tauxe said the CDC has notified public health officials in all U.S. states to be on the lookout for the infections. So far, three U.S. adults have developed HUS after having traveled to northern Germany, the CDC said late on Thursday.

The CDC also said the Pentagon has been notified about the outbreak because of the presence of U.S. military bases in Germany but added that there are no known cases among U.S. military personnel.

U.S. health officials have not confirmed that the infections match the German strain, but Tauxe said it is very likely they are part of the same outbreak and more tests are being done to see if the infections have the same fingerprint.

He would not release the individuals' names or say where they lived.

Scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen city in southern China, who have sequenced the genome of the strain, also noted that the strain is highly resistant to several classes of antibiotics.

Tauxe said it is not clear how the bacteria became so resistant because antibiotics are not recommended as a treatment for E. coli.

He said there is no evidence that antibiotics help, and they could make things worse. "It is curious to us that it is so resistant," he said.

Dr. Phillip Tarr, a professor of microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said E. coli mutate all of the time and it may take months before scientists can fully understand the scientific characteristics of this strain.

"This is almost certainly something that cannot be sorted out in any rapid sequence," he said.

(Additional reporting by Ee Lyn Tan in Hong Kong and Kate Kelland in London; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Cynthia Osterman)

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Truce in Yemen halts week of deadly clashes (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – A sense of calm returned to Yemen's embattled capital on Sunday hours after armed tribesman and President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces reached a truce to halt clashes threatening to plunge the state into civil war.

Pedestrians and cars returned to Sanaa streets where pitched battles in nearly a week of fighting killed at least 115 and raised global worries over the impoverished country perched next to a crucial shipping lane through which about 3 million barrels of oil pass daily.

The latest violence, pitting Saleh's forces against members of the powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadeq al-Ahmar, was the bloodiest since pro-democracy unrest erupted in January and was sparked by Saleh's refusal to sign a separate power transfer deal.

The ceasefire deal included a withdrawal of armed tribesmen from government buildings and moves to normalize life in the Hasaba district of Sanaa, where fighting with machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and mortars led thousands of residents to flee the city for their safety.

Despite the truce, analysts are concerned fighting could flare again given the animosity between the groups and growing popular anger at Saleh for not ending his nearly 33-year-long rule which has brought the country near financial ruin.

The truce also extends to areas outside of Sanaa where tribesmen have clashed with the president's Republican Guards and air force fighters have strafed armed tribesman with bombs.

The political crisis has already cost the economy as much as $5 billion and immediate aid is needed to prevent a meltdown in the country with a nominal GDP of $31 billion, Yemen's trade minister told Reuters on Saturday.

TRIBAL RIVALRIES

The United States is concerned that tribal rivalries are complicating efforts to reach a power transfer deal and believes al Qaeda is trying to exploit instability there, senior U.S. officials said on Saturday.

"Tribal as well as extremist elements are attempting to exploit the current instability in order to advance their own parochial interests," one official said.

International negotiators have become exasperated with Saleh, saying he had repeatedly imposed new conditions each time a Gulf-led transition agreement was due for signing, most recently demanding a public signing ceremony.

Nearly 300 people have died over the past months as the president has tried to stop pro-reform protests by force.

But global powers have little leverage to influence events in Yemen, where tribal allegiances are the most powerful element in a volatile social fabric and the fighting already appears to be playing out along tribal, quasi-feudal lines.

A growing concern for the outside world is that the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) will exploit the political instability to build on its proven talent for daring and inventive bombing plots, analysts said.

The United States and Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled attacks by the AQAP, are worried growing chaos could embolden the militant group.

In the south, dozens of armed men believed to be from al Qaeda appeared on Saturday to have full control of city of Zinjibar in the flashpoint province of Abyan.

Also in southern Yemen, three French aid workers went missing and a local security official said on Saturday they were believed to have been abducted.

Kidnappings of Western tourists or workers by disgruntled tribes seeking ransom or concessions from the government have been frequent in Yemen. Most hostages have been freed unharmed.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa, Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden and Helen Massy-Beresford in Paris; Writing by Jon Herskovitz and Firouz Sedarat in Dubai; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Wave of deadly bombings in Baghdad

Baghdad (CNN) -- Fifteen bombs exploded Sunday within hours of one another in Baghdad, killing at least 18 people and wounding 80, Iraqi authorities said.

The bombings came the same day Britain wrapped up its military mission in Iraq, leaving a predominantly American military presence that is expected to disappear by the end of the year under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact that requires U.S. troops to withdraw from the country.

The blasts Sunday were the latest in a spate in recent weeks that have raised concerns about Iraq's ability to protect itself. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said he plans to meet with Iraqi political leaders this month to discuss whether to request U.S. troops remain in Iraq beyond the Jan. 1, 2012, withdrawal deadline.

Sunday's blasts were a mix of car bombs and roadside bombs that appeared to be targets of opportunity, striking Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods as well as Iraqi and U.S. security forces.

The bombings began early with a car bomb and four roadside bombs exploding in quick succession near the federal police headquarters in southwest Baghdad, killing two and wounding 15 others, two Interior Ministry officials said.

That was followed by a car bomb that targeted the convoy of an Interior Ministry official in eastern Baghdad, killing one person and wounding five others, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

A U.S. convoy on the outskirts of Baghdad, near Taji, was targeted by a car bomb, the officials said. When Iraqi police and soldiers arrived to investigate the blast, a suicide bomber standing blew himself up and killed 12 people -- including members of the Iraqi security forces -- and wounded 23, officials said.

Two roadside bombs struck near a hospital and an outdoor market in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, killing two and wounding 12, while an explosion wounded three in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of al-Saydiya, the two officials said.

Two more roadside bombs struck an Iraqi police patrol in central Baghdad, killing one and wounding 12, the officials said.

At least eight more people were wounded in three separate blasts in Baghdad, the officials said.

The U.N. office in Iraq has expressed concern over recent violence targeting government and security officials. Al-Maliki has said al Qaeda and other terrorists are behind the killings but also has blamed political movements and security guards. He promised to pursue the attackers.

The attacks came as Britain withdrew its remaining troops, primarily members of the Royal Navy, from Iraq. At the height of the war, Britain had deployed about 46,000 troops to Iraq as part of then President George Bush called the "Coalition of the Willing."

Britain will continue to support the NATO training mission in Iraq, according to Britain's Defence Ministry.

A small military contingent will remain in Baghdad to protect personnel at the British Embassy.

In Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, where much of the poor popuation is loyal to Shiite anti-American firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, some residents blamed the United States.

"I blame the occupier forces," said resident Kamel al-Fartossi, a truck driver, referring to U.S. troops. "The want to prove that Iraq is still an unstable country so they can stay longer."

Mohammed Abdul Hussein, a businessman, made a similar claim. "The Americans are behind today's attacks. They are doing this because they don't want to leave in six months," he said, as people around him started shouting, "No, no, America."

Still other, such as 71-year-old Abbass Muhssein, pointed to "al Qaeda and the Baathists" as the culprits behind Sunday's attacks. As people whispered in his ears that he should blame America, Muhssein refused. "No not the Americans. Why should I lie?" he said. The Iraqi army is not able to protect the country, he said. "We don't know what will happen after they (U.S troops) leave Iraq."

Um Ali , 53 years old, a mother of six and street vendor who sells vegetables, said this about Sunday's death and destruction: "What can we do? This is our destiny."

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.

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Grief, anger in Syria after deadly violence

Syrian soldiers prepare to hand over an elderly Syrian woman who was caught trying to cross the border into northern Lebanon.NEW: A massive funeral procession in HomsNEW: A human rights group says at least 44 people died on Azadi Friday11 people, seven of whom were injured, crossed the border to Turkey

(CNN) -- At least one person was killed and dozens more were injured on Saturday when security forces in the restive Syrian city of Homs Saturday greeted anguished mourners with brute force, an activist told CNN.

The latest confrontation rattled a country on edge after at least 44 people died in Homs and other cities Friday when Syrian security personnel fired at demonstrators, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.

The violence erupted after as tens of thousands of people marched in a funeral procession and went to a graveyard to bury some of the Friday's victims, the activist said. The assault began after mourners were filing out of the cemetery, the activist said.

"We were chanting and praying for the martyrs and they just sprayed us with their bullets. I saw seven to eight people on the ground bleeding and moaning. I ran as fast as I could as bullets flew past us towards the fields and hid among the olive trees until another mourner saw me and helped me walk to the main road," the activist said.

"From there I ran to my apartment to see my wife and children. We live very close to the graveyard and I can still hear the sound of heavy gunfire coming from the area."

Security forces earlier used force against 300 demonstrators in Homs who were demanding the right of mourners to march through the city center. But security forces forcefully put down the turnout in about 30 minutes, and many of the demonstrators were arrested.

Later Saturday, tens of thousands of people gathered for the funeral procession on the outskirts of the city to bury eight victims of the Friday demonstrations, and it appeared the event would remain peaceful.

The miles-long funeral procession defiantly passed by army stations and several tanks, but the marchers were greeted kindly by soldiers to which the crowd responded by chanting, "The people and the army are one hand."

However, violence erupted as security forces stepped in, the activist said. Mourners quickly dispersed some into the graveyards and surrounding fields, and gunfire could be heard.

CNN has not been granted access into Syria and is unable to independently verify witness accounts.

The deaths occurred after demonstrations broke out after Friday prayers in Syrian cities, as they have for weeks.

Every week, the demonstrations have particular themes. May 20 was Azadi Friday in honor of the Syrian Kurdish protesters. Azadi means "freedom" in Kurdish.

A military source quoted by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said at least 17 civilians and security personnel were killed on Friday by the unidentified "armed groups" the government has been blaming for the discord.

For two months, Syria has been torn by street protests against political repression and a fierce security crackdown against demonstrators.

The government's fierce actions toward marchers and its thousands of mass arrests have drawn widespread criticism.

Around 830 people have been killed in protests, according to the Syrian Human Rights Information Link.

That number does not include security personnel, many of whom have been killed in attacks by "armed groups," according to the Syrian government.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials. On Thursday, President Barack Obama singled out Syria for criticism during his speech on the Middle East.

The clashes have spurred people to flee to other countries, such as Turkey and Lebanon.

Seven injured Syrians and four others people crossed the border into Turkey and were brought to Antakya state hospital Friday night, according to a doctor and the Hatay province governor quoted by Turkey's state-run Anatolian Agency.

The doctor at the Antakya State Hospital said the patients were between the ages of 25 and 40 and the injuries stemmed from gunshots. One patient was in intensive care and some of them had injuries on their feet. Another patient who was shot on the eye, was transferred to the university hospital in Hatay.

About 250 Syrians fled to Turkey end of April, mostly from Latakia, on the western coast of Syria. They have been living in a tent camp set up by the Turkish Red Crescent for them in the border town of Yayladagi since then.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and al-Assad developed close ties between Turkey and Syria in recent years.

Turkey lifted visa restrictions on Syrian visitors last year. But escalating violence in Syria is increasing worries of the Turkish government which has been advocating a "zero problems" foreign policy with its neighbors.

The U.N. refugee agency on Friday said it is helping serve the thousands of Syrians who "escaped to the border areas of Wadi Khaled and Tall Bire in northern Lebanon. "

"Local leaders say some 1,400 people have crossed into these two regions over the past week from Tall Kalakh in Syria.

"This is in addition to those that have crossed since late April. Local authorities estimate that around 4,000 Syrians have crossed to Lebanon recently," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.

The agency said many have found refuge with host families or relatives and some have taken shelter in a school.

The Human Rights Watch on Friday said locally elected officials are estimating that 3,500 Syrians "are currently present" in the Wadi Khaled area.

But it criticized Lebanon's security forces for detaining Syrian refugees in some instances.

It said nine Syrian men and a child have been detained since Sunday. The relatives and friends of these people said they fled to Lebanon because they were afraid Syrian forces would arrest or shoot them.

"Lebanese authorities should instead provide them with at least temporary asylum, and above all refrain from deporting them back to Syria," Human Rights Watch said.

"Syria welcomed many Lebanese fleeing war back in 2006," said Nadim Houry, Beirut director at Human Rights Watch.

"Now it's time to return the favor. Lebanon should be offering immediate refuge to Syrians fleeing death or torture in their country."

CNN's Arwa Damon, Yesim Comert, Hamdi Alkhshali, Salma Abdelaziz and Joe Sterling contributed to this report

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Palestinian refugees call for third intifada during deadly clashes at Israel-Lebanon border (The Christian Science Monitor)

Maroun er Ras, Lebanon – At least six people were killed and scores wounded Sunday when Israeli troops opened fire on a massive crowd of Palestinian refugees who gathered on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel to demand a return to the homes they were forced to leave 63 years ago.

Another four Palestinians were reportedly killed when they infiltrated the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria during another demonstration to mark the anniversary of the "nakba," or "catastrophe," as many Palestinians call the day Israel was founded in 1948.

Security on both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border was tight as an estimated 50,000 Palestinians were bussed from refugee camps all over Lebanon to the tiny hill village of Maroun er Ras which overlooks the border with Israel.

MONITOR QUIZ: Weekly news quiz for May 9-13, 2011

The huge turnout defied the expectations of the organizers, who had predicted some 20,000, and spurred calls for a peaceful “third intifada.” But it is too soon to tell whether a fresh mass uprising will gain traction.

“This is a peaceful message to Israel and the world, God willing, this will be the beginning of a peaceful third intifada,” says Mahmoud Zeidan, a Palestinian organizer from the Ain al-Hilweh camp in the southern Lebanese town of Sidon.

With the narrow winding road leading to Maroun er Ras blocked by parked buses, entire families – from toddlers to stooped and wrinkled old men – began climbing the steep northern slopes of the hill to reach the village. Colorfully dressed Palestinians steadily walked up the verdant flower-speckled hillside in narrow winding columns, red, green and black Palestinian flags fluttering in the spring breeze.

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The atmosphere on the climb up the hill to Maroun er Ras and the view of the border was cheerful and friendly, almost like a picnic outing. But on the southern side of the hill overlooking the border, the situation quickly grew tense.

Hundreds of Palestinians scrambled down the rocky slope to reach the frontier fence. A crowd of some 300 to 400 reached the fence itself and began hurling stones at Israeli soldiers.

Lebanese soldiers belatedly attempted to stop the numbers growing at the fence and formed a line across a dirt track about 400 yards from the border. Short bursts of machine gun fire and individual rifle shots broke out as Israeli soldiers shot at the crowd.

Casualties were stretchered from the border to a handful of ambulances parked nearby. As the casualties increased, dozens more ambulances began to arrive on the scene. The silhouettes of Israeli troops could be spotted on the ramparts of a border outpost watching the scene.

Inside the outpost, a tank revved its engines and emitted a thick cloud of smoke, partly obscuring the position.

Checked by the thin line of Lebanese soldiers, Palestinian tempers raged as the young men attempted to push through to reach the border. A group of supporters of the Islamic Jihad militant group chanted “God is greater” and “We will liberate Palestine with the Kalashnikov.”

Every few minutes, the surging crowd of Palestinians gained sufficient momentum to push past the angry Lebanese soldiers, cheering and whooping as they dashed toward the border fence to join their comrades.

The scattered machine-gun fire and casualties did little to deter the Palestinian demonstrators. If anything, each fusillade appeared to galvanize them further.

“The Israeli shooting against peaceful demonstrators on our southern border is a blatant, intolerable aggression and we call on the international community and UNIFIL to hold Israel accountable for the crime,” said Saad Hariri, the Lebanese caretaker prime minister. UNIFIL is the term for the UN peacekeeping force deployed in south Lebanon.

By early evening, the Shiite militant group, Hezbollah, had placed its cadres on full alert.

MONITOR QUIZ: Weekly news quiz for May 9-13, 2011

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Deadly fire rips through Beijing building

Xinhua: At least 17 people were killed in a building fire in BeijingPolice say 24 people were injured Investigation into the cause of the fire is underway

Beijing (CNN) -- A deadly fire ripped through a four-story building in a southern suburb of Beijing early Monday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

At least 17 people were killed, said municipal police, and 24 were injured.

Firefighters have now extinguished the blaze, which began around 1 a.m. (1 p.m. ET Sunday) in Jiugong Town in Daxing District.

Officials are now conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire.

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Deadly storms rip through N.C., Va.

Aerial view of N.C. storm damageSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Bertie County, North Carolina manager reports 11 confirmed fatalities The National Weather Service reports 14 deaths in Bertie County"Reports are still incoming," a North Carolina official saysStorm-related deaths are reported in six other states"Epic event" for North Carolina, CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras saysIf severe weather happens near you, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please be careful.
See more coverage from CNN affiliates WTVD, WRAL, WNCN, News14, WITN

(CNN) -- Powerful storms that have ripped across the Southeast killed as many as 44 people over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service and reports from several states.

A CNN meteorologist called the storms' impact on North Carolina "epic."

There were 14 deaths in Bertie County, North Carolina, a rural area in the northeast part of the state, the weather service said Sunday.

Zee Lamb, Bertie County manager, told CNN that he could confirm 11 fatalities.

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The Deadly Blood Cancer

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Blood cancer is a broad term that encompassess three different types of malignancies. The first among them is the maliganancy of any of the many different varieties of blood cells and these are known as leukaemia. The second is the malignancy or a malignant tumor in the lymph node or any part of the body’s lymphatic system and these are known as lymphomas. The third type, about which most people are ignorant is myeloma and this involves malignancy of the plasma cells. The cells of the body that are involved in the formation of antibodies for their functioning in the immune system are known as plasma cells. Together the leukaemias, lymphomas and myelomas are referred to as blood cancer. Blood cancers constitute the deadliest disease to inflict human race.

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