Science News

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan and the United States took public steps to end a feud on Sunday with the Afghan president touring a city alongside the U.S. and NATO commander and Washington calling him a "reliable partner".

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (Reuters) - Assailants hurled an explosive device at a U.S. consulate in a northern Mexico border city, damaging windows but causing no injuries, the consulate said on Saturday.

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Britain's Lee Westwood maintained ice-cool composure while fending off an electrifying back-nine charge by Phil Mickelson to take a one-shot lead after Saturday's third round of the Masters.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai "red shirt" protesters ruled out negotiations with the government on Sunday and said they would not give up their fight for early elections a day after clashes with security forces killed 21 people.

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish President Lech Kaczynski's coffin returned home to a stunned nation on Sunday, a day after he and much of the country's political and military elite perished in a plane crash in Russia.

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (Reuters) - Assailants hurled an explosive device at a U.S. consulate in a northern Mexico border city, damaging windows but causing no injuries, the consulate said on Saturday.

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Britain's Lee Westwood held off a spectacular charge by Phil Mickelson on the back nine to hold a one-shot lead after Saturday's third round of the Masters.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Reuters television cameraman was shot dead on Saturday during a violent clash between Thai troops and anti-government protesters in Bangkok that killed 12 people.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan holds historic multi-party elections Sunday that have been marred already by fraud allegations and will test the fragile unity of a nation divided by decades of civil conflict.

MIAMI (Reuters) - A Cuban diplomat who disappeared with her husband from her post at the Cuban embassy in Mexico last month has told relatives they are "safe in the United States," the Miami Herald reported on Saturday.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Pirates have abandoned a Turkish-flagged bulk carrier they hijacked while it was en route to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, leaving its crew of 25 unharmed, the head of a regional maritime body said on Saturday.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai took small but public steps on Saturday to signal he was still friends with the United States after a war of words that tested their alliance.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of demonstrators, who fought back with guns, grenades and petrol bombs in riots that killed 12 people, Bangkok's worst political violence in 18 years.

WARSAW/SMOLENSK, Russia (Reuters) - Poles were in deep mourning on Sunday after President Lech Kaczynski and many of the country's ruling elite were killed in a plane crash.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China recorded its first monthly trade deficit in six years, but a customs official called the shortfall a blip and economists doubted it would stand in the way of a resumption in the yuan's rise before long.

MONTCOAL, West Virginia (Reuters) - Four missing West Virginia coal miners were found dead early on Saturday, nearly five days after an explosion killed 25 others in the worst U.S. mining disaster in nearly four decades.

By now you've probably heard of Australopithecus sediba, the 1.95-million-year-old human species that made news on April 8. In a nutshell, researchers have found two beautifully preserved partial skeletons that they say represent a previously unknown member of the human family--one that may have given rise to our genus, Homo. You can read my story on the find here .

There's a lot to talk about with this discovery, so I thought I'd supplement the story with some tidbits from the cutting room floor and material that came in after my deadline.

[More]

By Maria Golovnina ATA-BEIIT, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - The United States stopped all troops flying to Afghanistan via its air base in Kyrgyzstan as security concerns persisted on Saturday following an uprising in the Central Asian republic.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Scores of Thai anti-government protesters tried to force their way into an army base in Bangkok on Saturday but were repelled by water cannon, as their leaders vowed to carry on their fight for new elections.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican on Saturday defended Pope Benedict from accusations that, in a previous post as a senior Church official, he tried to impede the defrocking of a California priest who had sexually abused children.