Statue defaced as protests over Confederate past rise

WASHINGTON - A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was defaced at North Carolina's Duke University and there were more arrests on Thursday over the toppling of a similar statue as communities in the US South faced a contentious debate over such divisive monuments.

African cities face threat of landslides like Sierra Leone

FREETOWN - Natural and human factors made Sierra Leone's capital vulnerable to a landslide that killed more than 400 people this week: Heavy rain, deforested land and communities forced by overcrowding to live on steep hillsides.

Fishermen fight to save Aztec floating gardens

MEXICO CITY - Roberto Altamirano has the lake to himself as he casts his glistening net onto the still water in a perfect circle, lets it sink, then slowly pulls it in.

Navy hands penalties on collision, both ships made errors

WASHINGTON/TOKYO - The US Navy has removed the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor on a US warship that almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after it was struck by a Philippine container ship, the Navy said on Friday.

IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Film sheds light on poison gas factory

TOKYO - A new documentary film about Okunoshima, an island where Japan manufactured poison gas for its 1937-45 war of aggression against China, is attracting a great deal of attention.

Salt producers fear craft is drying up

ANFEH, Lebanon - At 93, Elias al-Najjar has spent half a century harvesting salt by hand from ponds on Lebanon's Mediterranean shore, but he and his colleagues fear their way of life is dying.

Making a life out of chasing eclipses

WASHINGTON - While Monday's total solar eclipse in the United States will be a once-in-a-lifetime sky show for millions, there's a small group of people who have experienced it all before - and they can't get enough of it.

Birds cut down by razor-sharp strings

NEW DELHI - Razorsharp strings on kites flown as part of the traditional Indian Independence Day celebrations are taking a painful toll on birds.

Tourist spots take away welcome mat

BARCELONA - Exasperated with the hordes of visitors they blame for making their city unlivable, Barcelona residents have risen in protest.

Shipwreck detective on trail of Senegal's slave trade secrets

DAKAR, Senegal - Staring out to sea on a flawlessly sunny day, underwater archaeologist Ibrahima Thiaw visualizes three shipwrecks once packed with slaves that now lie somewhere beneath Senegal's Atlantic waves.

Models promote clothing, culture in show of unity on Kabul catwalk

KABUL - Amid tight security, over two dozen young models, including six women, strutted down the catwalk in the garden of a private Kabul villa, proudly displaying the traditional clothing and costumes of Afghanistan's many ethnic groups.