International News Topics Overviews

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Automatically compiled digests of WORLD news stories
(originally clustered by the Google News):

Friday (Update 1)

Nov-20-2009 -- South Korean model Daul Kim found dead in Paris
In further unwelcome proof that fashion is not the carefree, glamorous whirl it may seem from outside, South Korean supermodel Daul Kim has been found hanged in her Paris apartment at the age of just 20.
Kim modeled for most of the top fashion designers, including Vivienne Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Russia's shocking corruption belies Medvedev's tough rhetoric
The videos quickly generated more than one million hits on YouTube.
MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has fired one of his top advisors for abuse of office in one of the biggest changes to his Kremlin administration since taking power, media reported on Thursday. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Copenhagen Climate Change summit: do businesses need to be there?
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Copenhagen summit next month, a UN report has called for the inclusion of human and gender dimensions into the debate on climate change.
"Given women's significant engagement in food production in developing countries, the close connection between gender, farming and climate change deserves far more analysis than it currently receives," the UNFPA said. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Colombia says will not be provoked by Venezuela
The slanderous Yankee accusation that Chavez is planning a war against neighboring Colombia led an influential paper of that country to run a story last Sunday, November 15, under the headline '''War Drums.'''
In the current new stage, the Venezuelan revolution is facing entirely new problems which did not exist almost exactly 50 years ago, when our revolution triumphed in Cuba. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- EAC member states sign protocol on common market
Today marks a major turning point in the history of the revived East African Community.
The treaty means that goods and people should be able to move across the region without the current barriers. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Honduran channel says de facto govt blocks signal
Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Mexico City - For months, ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya ''' with the backing of the world community ''' has demanded that Roberto Micheletti step down as the interim president of this Central American nation roiled in political conflict.
TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Honduran ousted President Manuel Zelaya proposed on Thursday to postpone the Nov. 29 elections, till the power of the state is restored to the situation before the June 28 coup. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- ANALYSIS-Lashkar-e-Taiba threat revived after Chicago arrest
At age 16, as Daood Gilani, he was taken out of Pakistan, where he attended a military school, and brought to Philadelphia by his mother, a well-known Old City nightspot owner.
At the time, the Khyber was a slice of exotica on the Philadelphia bar scene, with Pakistani wedding tents and 180 brands of beer. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Peruvian gang killed victims for their body fat, police
Gen Felix Burga, head of Peru's police criminal division, said there were indications that "an international network trafficking human fat" was operating from Peru.
Officials are investigating the disappearance of at least 60 people who may have been killed by gang members in two mountainous states in central Peru, the nation's attorney general said in a release Wednesday. More...

Friday

Nov-20-2009 -- Ukraine: Putin Soothes Disputeover Price of Sending Fuel
Agreement on the South Stream project allows the Kremlin to supply the southern regions of the European Union with uninterrupted supplies of gas as the pipeline as it will bypass Ukraine, which in recent years has had numerous standoffs with Moscow over gas payments resulting in a reduction of gas supplies to European countries.
"In line with the formula stipulated in the transit contract, the price should increase by about 70-80 cents. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Bangladesh Supreme Court Upholds Assassins' Death Sentences
Five former army officers convicted of the 1975 killing of the country's independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, could face the death penalty after the supreme court rejected their appeals.
After 34 years of uncertainties, manipulation and agonising delay, the legal process of the Bangabandhu Murder Case has come to an end. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Three killed in latest bomb blast in Pakistan city
The attack on a police patrol, shortly after midnight, came hours after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court building in the city, killing at least 18 people.
Militants have responded to the South Waziristan offensive by unleashing a wave of terror attacks that have killed more than 300 people. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- What is an MP doing in a cesspit?
Drawing together 215 member organisations from 57 countries, the WTO has come up with the idea of publicising November 19th as World Toilet Day in order to break through the reluctance that most of us have to discuss proper sanitation.
World Toilet Day is promoted by the World Toilet Organization (www.worldtoilet.org), founded in 2001 by Singapore entrepreneur Jack Sim as a global non-profit network aiming to improve sanitation and public health policies. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Anglican leader urges 'convergence' with Catholics
Dr Rowan Williams challenged Catholic doctrine by claiming that even the dispute over whether women can be priests should not be a serious dividing issue between the two major Christian denominations.
"The cardinal said that while the TAC leaders asked the Vatican two years ago to find a way for them to join the Catholic Church, they did not participate in the conversations that led to the pope'''s recent provision." More...

Nov-20-2009 -- UN notes Sri Lankan progress on camps
Foreign Minister Bogollagama requested Sir John Holmes to consider providing more assistance in the areas of demining, infrastructure development and livelihood enhancement for the IDPs who were recently resettled and added that there was room for further movement out of the welfare villages in the coming days.
"In that case, freedom of movement becomes more crucial. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Africa: Food Security Now at Center of Global Development Agenda
Speaking at a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) ceremony in the Economic and Social Chamber of United Nations Head-quarters in New York to mark the World Food Day 2009, Ban said throughout the developing world, food prices remain stubbornly high and volatile.
The world needs to invest $83 billion a year in agriculture in developing countries to stamp out hunger and feed a projected population of 9.1 billion by 2050, up from 6.8 billion now, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says. More...

Nov-20-2009 -- Yemeni says kills rebel leader, Saudis comb border
"Give yourself up. and we will not do you harm," a statement said.
Abbas Aid, head of a rebel combat unit, and Abu Haidar, another senior figure, were killed on Wednesday, security sources said. More...

Thursday (Update 1)

Nov-19-2009 -- UN says more children in school and fewer dying
UNITED NATIONS — Twenty years after the U.N. adopted a treaty guaranteeing children's rights, fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school — but an estimated 1 billion still lack services essential to their survival and development, UNICEF said Thursday.
Turkish teenagers at TEV 'nanç High School, or TEV'TÖL, in Gebze, Kocaeli, west of Istanbul, consider themselves lucky. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- U.N. rights experts call for proper toilets in prisons
World Toilet Day is set aside to demand proper sanitation for people all over the world, a cause championed by the World Toilet Organization.
However due to the shortage, one toilet seat is used 55 times in a day. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Obama's China visit leaves dissidents disappointed
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader made the comments Tuesday to the Italian news agency ANSA, on a trip to northern Italy.
Dharamsala, Nov 18 - ANI: Tibetan exiles have expressed unhappiness over U.S President Barack Obama calling Tibet an integral part of China and calling for a resumption of a dialogue to resolve the Tibet crisis while on a visit to Beijing. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Saudi soldier killed in clashes in Yemen: report
In August, Sana'a pressed a new offensive against the resistance fighters, who took arms in 2004 to put an end to the repression of the country's Shia minority by the Sunni-dominated government.
Saudi forces have been shelling and bombing rebel positions in the 2,000-metre (6,600-foot) Jebel al-Dukhan mountain area since November 4, after rebels killed a border guard and occupied two small villages inside Saudi territory the previous day. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Scientology under attack
Blackmail, cover-ups of child abuse, labour camps, embezzlement and coerced abortions are spelled out among the 53 pages of allegations by seven former Scientologists - some of whom had climbed high in the church hierarchy - tabled in the Senate.
KEVIN RUDD: The true question is, I suppose, is the actual nature of the operations of Scientology now against the determinations provided in law at that stage. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Sarkozy Given Proposals For EUR35B Spending Plan
Moody's Investors Service said the 'big loan' would only marginally weaken France's position in the Aaa category over the short term and may help over the long term.
The National Loan could end up totalling 35 billion euros. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- UN confirms Tamil exodus from Sri Lanka refugee camps
Until May, the structure was directly controlled by senior leaders based in northern Sri Lanka.
In May, Sri Lankan troops defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels who were fighting for a separate homeland since 1972. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- ngo's Jewish-Arab index: socioeconomic gaps growing
Phyllis, the little show the Women of the Wall put on once a month is nothing but a provocation and an attempt to fool non Israeli Jews like you into believing that Jewish women in Israel lack rights or privileges, or God forbid suffer religous discrimination.
There are indeed radical ultra Orthodox Jewish religionists in Israel and Jerusalem, but there behavior can hardly be compared to the savage, murderous, and misogynist Taliban. More...

Thursday

Nov-19-2009 -- Leaders set to pick EU president
Reporting from London - He's smart, he's modest, he writes haiku about going bald.
Former Italian premier Massimo D'Alema appears to have the right credentials, and Spain is pushing Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, while Britain's EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton is another possibility. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Standoff with Sri Lankan asylum seekers ends
A group of 56 Sri Lankan asylum seekers has left an Australian customs ship moored off the coast of Indonesia after more than one month on board.
The exact details we won't know for a while." More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Pressing Reform for India
WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - When U.S. President Barack Obama welcomes India's prime minister on a visit to Washington next week, there will be one nervous onlooker: Pakistan.
India's ambassador in Washington, Meera Shankar, also played down tension in India over U.S. ties with China. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- UPDATE 1-Ukraine PM says gas not topic in talks with Putin
Ukraine's Tymoshenko says gas not on agenda for Putin meeting 19:27 '' 18/11/2009 '' Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said natural gas supplies would not be on the agenda of her meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later this week.
Pressed by journalists, Tymoshenko said: "No new agreement exists. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Key Denies Bowing to China on Dalai Lama, Dominion Post Reports
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader made the comments Tuesday to the Italian news agency ANSA, on a trip to northern Italy.
The convention also was attended by actor Richard Gere, a Buddhist who has been active in the movement to free Tibet. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- NATO sees US troop decision before December meeting
"Success must be based on aligning our military and civilian resources under a clear political strategy," said Miliband.
NATO holds force generation conferences regularly to fulfill the requirements of NATO missions and operations. More...

Nov-19-2009 -- Scientology faces allegations of torture in Australia
Under the protection of parliamentary privilege, Senator Xenophon declared the church a ''criminal organisation''.
In response to that statement, Mr Rudd said the senator was making "grave allegations". More...

Nov-19-2009 -- DIARY-France to December 31
One idea up for discussion in Riyadh is a reported Sarkozy idea for France to host a Middle East peace conference bringing together Palestinian leaders and the leaders of Israel, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States in addition to officials from the UN and European Union.
Mr Sarkozy's meeting with King Abdullah and his cabinet and advisers was "long and in-depth", the state owned Saudi Press Agency said. More...

Wednesday (Update 1)

Nov-18-2009 -- Cuban repression has increased under Ra''l Castro, says watchdog
WASHINGTON — Communist Cuba's shift from Fidel Castro's leadership to President Raul Castro's has brought continued serious human rights violations including persistent aggression against dissidents.
Since taking office in January, Obama has taken steps to ease the embargo as well as reopen dialogue with Havana. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Iran Will Not Ship Uranium Abroad, Minister Says
When Iran and India sit across the table for a high-level series of talks next week, the common link of two troubled neighbours ' Pakistan and Afghanistan ' will dominate discussions.
Iran is open to dealing with the region, through the United Nations or bilaterally'. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Czech Republic Marks 'Velvet Revolution' Anniversary Amid Political Turmoil
Praguers and the Czech political elite early Thursday gathered on Narodni Trida, or National Avenue, the downtown Prague site where 20 years early Communist State Police violently crushed a peaceful march of students.
Havel last addressed the EP nine years ago as the President of the Czech Republic. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- REFILE-Obama says Guantanamo prison to close "next year"
The'announcement that Khalid Sheik Mohammed will be tried in federal court in New York rather than before a military commission came as a surprise to news organizations.
"The American people can have confidence that our judicial and penal institutions are strong and that our military, law enforcement and corrections professionals are second to none. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- NATO sees US troop decision before December meeting
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to decide shortly whether to order up to 40,000 extra American soldiers to Afghanistan in an effort to turn around the war against the Taliban.
In remote, dangerous, insurgent-riddled districts where populations are largely uneducated, schools are scant and''where the overlap between''law enforcement and counter-insurgency is most acute, it is difficult to''find'' enough people to''match the''police's employment criteria. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Tamils end asylum ship stand-off
A typical example came last Friday, when two political heavyweights, one past, one present, took to the airwaves to comment on the situation of the 78 Sri Lankans who had been rescued by an Australian customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, and taken to an Indonesian port.
The Indonesian foreign ministry's Director of Diplomatic Security Sujatmiko confirmed that the Oceanic Viking with 56 Sri Lanka refugees on board, is still in Cempedak Island waters, Bintan District. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Sarkozy, Saudi king press need for Mideast talks
French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Saudi Arabia'''s King Abdullah, who received him in Janadriyah, near Riyadh.
Friday November 20, 2009 PARIS - President Nicolas Sarkozy meets some 700 French mayors to discuss the planned abolition of the taxe professionnelle (0900 GMT). More...

Nov-18-2009 -- EU Kroes Says Among Candidates For Dutch EU Commission Post
The positions - which have been created as part of the Lisbon treaty, a new set of rules that aim to streamline decision making in the EU - aren't seen by financial markets as being terribly important.
The solution has to satisfy North and South, countries large and small, men and women. More...

Wednesday

Nov-18-2009 -- Brown Vows to Continue War Effort in Afghanistan
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday that he wants to agree a timetable for international withdrawal from Afghanistan, and offered London as a venue for a conference to set that timetable.
UK: 9,000 TROOPS Britain is sending 500 new troops to Helmand imminently, with Gordon Brown estimating that Nato countries other than the U.S. will provide 5,000 in total. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Dalai Lama Welcomes US Appeal to China on Tibet
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader made the comments Tuesday to the Italian news agency ANSA, on a trip to northern Italy.
Not everyone is so negative, of course. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Iran military denounces Saudi "killing" in Yemen
TEHRAN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian military official on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of killing Shi'ite Muslims in Yemen and denounced it as the onset of "Wahhabi state terrorism," the official IRNA news agency reported.
The troops destroyed the rebels' hideouts in the hills of Anan, Mahjar Ghazi, Hatman in Ghraz east of Sa'''adah. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- At Rome Food Summit, Mugabe Alleges 'Neo-Colonialist' Sabotage of Economy
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday at a United Nations food summit in Rome defended his controversial decade-long land reform program as a matter of '''equity and justice''' and blamed the country's dramatic economic collapse in recent years on what he described as '''neocolonialist enemies''' in the West who have imposed sanctions.
While last year's FAO summit on soaring food prices rang out with denunciations of Mugabe's showing up at forums aimed at slashing hunger, the Zimbabwe president's speech on Tuesday was widely greeted with silence. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- RPT-POLL-Sri Lanka cbank seen easing rates by 50 bps on Wed
Forecast: Rates seen cut by 50 basis points By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's central bank is expected to reduce its key monetary policy rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday, a Reuters poll showed, to spur flagging growth.
The weighted average prime lending rate is at 11.88 percent, while average market lending rates are still hovering over 15 percent. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Comment / Why Netanyahu really does want to advance peace
Netanyahu told sailors aboard the ship INS Eilat "the threat that Iran poses is very grave for the state of Israel, for peace in the Middle East and the whole world."
Among the recent developments is renewed concern about the level of access being afforded to international weapons inspectors at nuclear sites in Iran. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Obama should raise N.Korea rights abuses - watchdog
SEOUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive in South Korea on Wednesday and hold a summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday, with North Korea and a trade deal topping the agenda of their talks.
South Korea ratified an FTA with India and initialed an agreement with the European Union. More...

Nov-18-2009 -- Shooting heightens tensions in Nigerian oil delta
MEND claimed that the JTF assault on the Kula community was unsuccessful as it '''yielded nothing.'''
Mr. Yar'''Adua met with the Aaron Team, appointed by the militant group to hold negotiations with the federal government on the amnesty deal. More...

Tuesday (Update 1)

Nov-17-2009 -- Japanese Mortified By Obama's Bow
Former President Richard Nixon, a Republican, can be seen in a Life magazine photo from 1971 bowing to Akihito's father, Emperor Hirohito.
I see nothing wrong with a bow. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Ship with 100 tourists stuck in Antarctic ice
MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - A group of mostly British tourists on board a Russian icebreaker in the Antarctic are getting more of a trip than they bargained for as the ship has become stuck in the ice.
A Russian cruise ship sold in the UK by Exodus is finally starting to move after being trapped in Antarctic ice since the end of last week. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Nigerian Militants Accuse Military of Threatening Cease-Fire
The President described land reform as "as an exercise of great importance," stressing that "it is going to open new economic opportunities to all Nigerians."
PORT HARCOURT, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Nigerian militants accused the army of threatening a ceasefire in the oil-producing Niger Delta on Tuesday by raiding a former rebel commander's home, but the military said it was just responding to reports of shooting. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Iran military denounces Saudi "killing" in Yemen
TEHRAN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A senior Iranian military official on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of killing Shi'ite Muslims in Yemen and denounced it as the onset of "Wahhabi state terrorism," the official IRNA news agency reported.
About Iran's support for al-Houthi, Jarallah said, '''Yes, there is clear support from Iran, for more than two years al-Houthis have been repeating the speeches of Khomeni and Hassan Nasr Allah as the only scholars of Islam. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Zimbabwe: Bennett's Trial Opens
This image is in the public domain.
Mugabe isn't happy about having to share power with Bennett's party after elections in June 2008 that were marked by factional violence and the withdrawal of the MDC's candidate, current Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, from the race, citing intimidation by Mugabe and his supporters. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- A look at prosecutions of Nazi suspects in Germany
BERLIN — Former SS sergeant Adolf Storms lived in Germany unnoticed for more than six decades after World War II until an Austrian university student last year came across his name while researching a 1945 massacre of Jewish forced laborers.
The remains of the victims of the Deutsch Schuetzen massacre were found in 1995 in a mass grave by the Austrian Jewish association. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- N.Korea kidnapped Chinese in refugee crackdown: report
SEOUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive in South Korea on Wednesday and hold a summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday, with North Korea and a trade deal topping the agenda of their talks.
U.S. -North Korea relations have thawed in recent months ahead of anticipated bilateral talks between the former foes of the 1950-53 Korean War. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Kosovo PM party leads in local election 1st round
Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci claimed victory on Monday, hailing the polls as a success after some minority Serbs ignored a boycott.
Darko Aleksov, the head of a European network monitoring elections, said that "Kosovo met many of the international standards for elections." More...

Tuesday

Nov-17-2009 -- Veterans Groups Speak Out On Afghanistan
The question requires a definition of failure.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's review of war strategy in Afghanistan not only has exposed differences between his political and military advisers over how many troops to send, but also what it will cost. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Partners in Zimbabwe's Fractious Government Pursue Crisis-Resolution Talks
The Attorney General accused Bennett with attempts at "deposing a lawful government through violence."
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Grenades, guns and ammunition were shown in a Harare courtroom as prosecutors began their case against a top prime minister's aide accused of plotting to overthrow the president. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Chavez to join airborne scientists seeking rain
The latest batch was triggered by an agreement signed on October 30th under which Colombia has granted the United States access to up to seven military bases.
HUGO CH''VEZ'''S belligerent rhetoric trades at a substantial discount. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Libya Leader in Italy Seeks Tall, Leggy and Pious
After arriving an hour late, Gaddafi began distributing gifts to the women, who were reportedly all Italian.
The reports said Hostessweb has recruited another 400 women for two new evenings with the Libyan leader on Monday and Tuesday. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- The statesman's guide to bowing and scraping
WASHINGTON — News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the U.S. leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.
John Park, a senior researcher at the United States Institute of Peace think tank, said it is a respectful tradition for visitors to bow to the emperor in a formal setting. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Taliban rockets kill 12 Afghan civilians
The rockets were fired into a crowded market in the town of Tagab in Kapisa Province, northeast of Kabul, where the head of French forces in Afghanistan and tribal elders were holding a meeting, known locally as a shura.
France has more than 3,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan, mainly north of Kabul in the Kapisa and Surobi areas. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- 'Night Stalker' suspect charged with 22 offences
London, Nov. 16 - ANI: A British man, who was arrested for allegedly carrying out a series of rapes and indecent assaults on elderly people over the period of last 17 years, will appear in court today to face charges.
Nearby lay a weightlifter's barbell and a cricket bat. More...

Nov-17-2009 -- Top paramilitary officer, two soldiers killed in Kashmir
Balakrishna,'' spokesman of Indian border guards commonly known as BSF said militants detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) near Ballad post in Samba sector near border with Pakistan in the restive region on Monday morning when a senior BSF official and his guards were inspecting the post, where suspicious movement of militants had been noticed last night.
SRINAGAR (Reuters) - A senior Indian security officer was killed on Monday when his jeep ran over a landmine near the Pakistan border of disputed Kashmir, police said. More...

Monday

Nov-16-2009 -- Double Dip for Japan?
Japan's economy expanded at an annual pace of 4.8 percent in the third quarter, the government said Monday, marking the second straight quarter of growth and the biggest rise in real gross domestic product since 2007.
Continuing stimulus efforts by Japan's new government have succeeded in making some consumers feel happier about spending, though Richard Jerram, chief Japan economist at Macquarie Securities said that the composition of Japan's GDP had now improved. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Obama Draws Fire for Bow to Japanese Emperor
I don't know why some are surprised or for that matter angry about Obama's actions.
By most accounts, it hasn't been official protocol for a U.S. president, or any American, to bow to a foreign head of state or symbolic monarch. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Serbs mourn their patriarch
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle, who called for peace and conciliation during the Balkan ethnic wars of the 1990s but failed to openly condemn extreme Serb nationalism, died Sunday.
Pavle's body remained on display in an open coffin at Belgrade's main Saborna Church on Monday. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Zimbabwe MDC aide denies charges
Roy Bennett, a former white farmer who is treasurer in Tsvangirai's MDC party is accused of possessing weapons for the purposes of committing banditry, insurgency and terrorism.
Harare -- NEGOTIATORS of political parties which signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) last year are preparing to resume intense political bargaining to resolve a series of issues in dispute in what could turn out to be a renewed fierce battle of wills between the three main rival players. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Doctors up-beat about twins' separation
MARATHON surgery to separate conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna continued late into last night as well-wishers prayed for a miracle.
Doctors were first working to remove the bone at the back half of the girls' heads. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- China may ask US to insist that India sign anti-nuke agreement
Obama will also get a doze of Chinese reasoning about the need to open a line of dialogue with milder elements of Taliban in Afghanistan, which is also the thinking in the Pakistan government.
The post-modern racists think we can't launch the modernization. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Members of Dissident Rock Band in Czechoslovakia Recall the Velvet Revolution
PRAGUE — U.S. singers Joan Baez, Lou Reed and Suzanne Vega performed Saturday at a concert in Prague paying homage to former Czech president Vaclav Havel, a hero of the Velvet Revolution 20 years ago.
Havel, also a playwright and essayist, is known for mixing politics with the arts. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Israel's relationship with American Jews has changed
As the unemployment rate in the U.S. climbed to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent last month, growing numbers of young and adult American Jews were arriving in Israel to inexpensively "wait out" the economic lull.
One of the serious problems was and remains assimilation (for those who consider it a problem). More...

Monday

Nov-16-2009 -- UN atomic agency to unveil latest Iran report
World powers, namely Britain, France, Germany and the United States - under pressure from Tel Aviv - claim that the Iranian government is hell-bent on producing nuclear weaponry.
Medvedev said that Tehran risked sanctions if the crisis continued. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Kosovo Vote Is First Since Declaration
The poll takes place amid renewed tensions between rival ethnic Albanian parties, fears of fraud and a likely boycott from the Serb minority.
PRISTINA — Kosovo went to the polls Sunday for the first time since the ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia last year, amid a partial boycott by a divided Serbian community. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- PASSINGS: Patriarch Pavle, Paul Wendkos
Pavle called for peace and reconciliation in the 1990s during ethnic conflicts that resulted in the breakup of Yugoslavia.
More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Nigerian President Meets Rebel Negotiators on Oil-Region Peace
The Movement for the Niger Delta (MEND) said a team of representatives including Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka and two retired senior military officers met Yar'Adua for more than two hours on Saturday.
More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Yemen and Saudi Arabia Continue to Battle Houthi Rebels
Known as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Saudi kings preserve the role as protector of the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, which had traditionally been the role of the Caliph.
Fighting between rebels and Yemeni forces on the country's border with Saudi Arabia is beginning to cause a refugee crisis, according to the UN. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- skorea investigates cause of shooting range fire
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean police and fire officers Sunday investigated what caused a blaze that raced through an indoor shooting gallery killing 10 people, including eight Japanese tourists.
The National Emergency Management Agency has set up a special task force to conduct an investigation into the incident and to prepare measures to prevent recurrences of similar fires. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- Barkat voices his support for Intel
A company spokesman said the plant was operating within the law and would continue to do so.
Signs on the fence read: "touching the fences will set off an electronic warning," assuming the protesters would avoid climbing the fence to keep from profaning the Sabbath. More...

Nov-16-2009 -- S.Korean president calls for firm border defence
SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean cargo ship arrived in a South Korean port Monday, showing that trade between the rival countries is continuing despite their bloody naval skirmish last week.
I've heard that's how you like to be addressed by the people of North Korea, but since this is the beginning of a letter I guess I should say Dear Dear Leader. More...

Sunday (Update 1)

Nov-15-2009 -- Serbian Orthodox patriarch dies
Bulgaria's Education Minister, Yordanka Fandakova, has expectedly been elected the new Mayor of the capital Sofia in Sunday's by-elections.
Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Iran's Parliament Approves Ahmadinejad's New Cabinet Ministers
Iranian lawmakers voted Sunday to accept current parliament member Hamid Reza Hajibabai as the new education minister.
The president's victory was announced in the evening of the voting day, much earlier than in the past, which Motahari said cast further doubt on the results. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Brazil: Deforestation down, carbon emission cuts up
Paris, Nov 15 (EFE) French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said thay have adopted a common position for the Copenhagen climate change summit that suggests, among other measures, the creation of a World Environmental Organisation.
Brazil'''s plan, announced in Brasilia by chief minister Dilma Rousseff and environmental chief Carlos Minc, would lower the country'''s greenhouse emissions by 36% to 39% in 2020 compared with levels under a '''do nothing''' scenario. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Kosovo voters take to polls in test of new nation
The Serbian president and government have stated that there are no conditions for the Kosovo Serbs to take part in the local elections.There are no conditions for Serbs to take part in the local elections in Kosovo on November 15, Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic said.
"Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia, and it will always be so," Jeremic said. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- PM: We would accept France as a mediator in talks with Syria
JERUSALEM — French President Nicolas Sarkozy has offered to host a Middle East peace conference in Paris in talks with Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian leaders last week, an Israeli daily reported on Sunday.
Netanyahu, visibly pleased by Clinton's remarks, said "we think we should sit around that negotiating table right away." More...

Nov-15-2009 -- skorea investigates cause of shooting range fire
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean police and fire officers Sunday investigated what caused a blaze that raced through an indoor shooting gallery killing 10 people, including eight Japanese tourists.
The blaze broke out in the first floor at around 3:45 a.m. According to fire brigade officials,. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Peru's Relations With Chile Strained Over Spying Allegations
Peru's President, Alan García, confirmed he will return to the country 24 hours earlier than expected due to the recent case of espionage in favor of Chile, that led to the arrest of Peru's Air Force NCO Victor Ariza Mendoza.
In Peru's capital will have a new freeway connecting Lima and Callao Oliver says : 14 November, 2009 12:42:15 There is a video in el comercio or something. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Nigerian President Holds Talks With Rebel Group
The Movement for the Niger Delta (MEND) said a team of representatives including Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka and two retired senior military officers met Yar'Adua for more than two hours on Saturday.
The government has also proposed a massive infrastructure development program for the impoverished oil-producing region. More...

Sunday

Nov-15-2009 -- Mock Funeral for Venice Dramatizes Flight of Residents From City's Heart
To draw attention to the issue, residents of Venice have organized a mock funeral in which three gondolas will pull a red coffin through the city's canals on Saturday, November 14th.
The casket was then lifted onto dry land and deposited outside the town hall, home to Venice's governing council, in a lament for the once-bustling lagoon city. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- In China, Obama will glimpse world's new center of gravity
Calling himself the "first Pacific president," Obama looks to strengthen old alliances, including the alliance with Japan, which is entering the 50th year in two months, and build new partnerships with the nations of the region to cope with challenges of the 21st century.
The workers in other countries are paid less than workers here in the U.S. which makes it cheaper for a company to run and make a profit. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- China Mayor Apologizes as Heavy Snows Kill 38 People
Beijing has been hit by three successive waves of snow, causing havoc on roadways and forcing the cancellation or delay of scores of flights.
Experts say the sort of exact estimates attributed to the Beijing Weather Modification Office official by Xinhua -- 16 million tons of extra snow -- is nearly impossible to make for any individual storm, although statistics gathered painstakingly over years can enable estimates of the effectiveness of longer-term efforts. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Sri Lanka's President Rajapaksa 'feared coup' after defeat of Tamil Tigers
COLOMBO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Friday accepted the resignation of its top general, who delivered a scathing departure letter accusing the president he may challenge at polls next year of unjustly sidelining him over unfounded coup fears.
Most recently, the military commander Sarath Fonseka who may contest the Presidency is trying to paint himself as a humanitarian . More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Colombia to return Venezuela national guard troops
The latest batch was triggered by an agreement signed on October 30th under which Colombia has granted the United States access to up to seven military bases.
"If you want peace you have to be ready for war." More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Assad rejects direct talks with Israel
Paris - Presidential Political and Media Advisor Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban said on Friday that the meeting between President Bashar al-Assad and French President Nicolas Sarkozy was distinguished, transparent and very important.
Later, upon the invitation of the General Secretariat of the French Presidency, President al-Assad attended a dinner banquet at Marigny Palace, attended by a number of industrialists and owners of major companies and projects in France, in addition to several diplomatic consultants at the Elysee. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Celebrated mountaineer found dead in Himalayas
Kathmandu, Nov 13 (IANS) An ace mountaineer with over 1,500 ascents who survived being trapped by avalanches in Pakistan is missing in northern Nepal since he fell during a solo climbing expedition.
Gerold Biner, flight operations manager for the Swiss Air Zermatt company, said earlier that Humar's body was recovered early Saturday by a three-man rescue team. More...

Nov-15-2009 -- Thaksin Leaves Cambodia
"We do not see any sign to protest against Thais or to run riot at Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh," Koy Kuong said, adding that no sign of riots against Thais at all.
The Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters on Saturday rejected a Cambodian news report that one of its security staff was arrested on spying charges. More...

Saturday (Update 1)

Nov-14-2009 -- Brazil to offer carbon cut of 36% at UN climate meet
On Friday Brazil said it would offer a "voluntary" cut of between 36 and 39 percent in greenhouse gas emissions at the December 7-18 UN conference.
Under the plan, which Brazil's negotiators will present at the Copenhagen talks, about half of Brazil'''s greenhouse gains would come by putting the breaks on clear-cutting in the Amazon forest. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Medvedev orders checks of Russian arms depots after fatal fire
ULYANOVSK, November 14 (RIA Novosti) - Two service personnel are still missing and 44 are injured following a series of explosions on Friday night at a weapons depot in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk, the Defense Ministry said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said at least two firefighters were dead and 44 were injured after a series of explosions ripped through the military depot on Friday. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- China Focuses on Territorial Issues as It Equates Tibet to US Civil War South
Critics have already charged the president with downplaying human rights conditions in Tibet to appease the Chinese government.
The ministry'''s spokesman appeared to be trying to make foreign audiences believe that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the moral equivalent of Abraham Lincoln, and that the Dalai Lama is a supporter of feudal serfdom. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Cambodian gov't guarantees safety for all Thais, no sign against Thais: official
"We do not see any sign to protest against Thais or to run riot at Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh," Koy Kuong said, adding that no sign of riots against Thais at all.
Nice to see that the innocent Mr. Thaksin feel at home in Cambodia, of course no problem, when comming close to all the criminal thais living in the country. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- France Awards Clint Eastwood With French Legion Command
President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded the 79-year-old Eastwood with the rank of commander of the French Legion.
In the one-man show, the Scottish actor-singer unveils a naughty evening. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Turkey Plans to Ease Restrictions on Kurds and Help End Decades of Conflict
ANKARA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey revealed Friday details of a reform plan to broaden rights for the country's Kurdish minority and end 25-year-long conflicts with Kurd rebels, Turkish media reported.
Alevi groups in Tunceli, ''stanbul and Ankara continued holding protests yesterday to condemn CHP Deputy Chairman Onur ''ymen's controversial remarks about the 1937 Dersim incidents, in which thousands of Alevis were killed in a military campaign to suppress a rebellion. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- France seeks Middle East momentum
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Friday in Paris that there was no "Israeli partner willing to move forward" in peace talks and called France to support Turkey's mediation efforts in the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Middle East.
Key to any deal is the future of the Golan Heights. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Wanted: People Willing to Lead the European Union
The Lisbon Treaty, which is expected to come into force on December 1, creates the posts of president and foreign-policy chief of the council of EU member states, the closest thing the bloc has yet had to a prime minister and foreign minister.
In the Spectator, Fraser Nelson looks at "how David Cameron can win in Europe", saying that, instead of going the "slow diplomatic route" by seeking to repatriate powers, a Conservative government could simply unilaterally refuse to implement certain directives deemed particularly burdensome, or "stop making the situation worse" by adding to the original requirements in an EU law. More...

Saturday

Nov-14-2009 -- Deaths at Russian arms depot blaze
Several hours after the first explosion, the governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Sergey Morozov, said in an interview with Russian Channel One TV that the fire had been largely contained, and fire brigades and special rescue teams had managed to keep the flames away from most of the facilities in the ammunition depot.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor's Office told CNN that it had opened a criminal case into the explosion on two charges -- "negligence" and "mishandling of weapons and other dangerous subjects which resulted in the accidental death of two and more people." More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Afghanistan Suicide Attack Wounds More Than 20
A spokesperson of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could only confirm that a suicide attack had taken place.
A suicide car bomber attacked an American convoy in Kabul this morning, wounding at least four U.S. troops and four civilian contractors, despite heightened security ahead of President Hamid Karzai's inauguration next week. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Wanted: People Willing to Lead the European Union
The Lisbon Treaty, which is expected to come into force on December 1, creates the posts of president and foreign-policy chief of the council of EU member states, the closest thing the bloc has yet had to a prime minister and foreign minister.
If the No side had prevailed in the referendum (as it did in the first one) the European Union would have suffered a massive, morale-sapping blow. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Why Obama Will Meet with a Leader of Burma's Junta
If Burma is a topic in the meeting room, there is likely to be considerable corridor discussion on - and informal attempts to mediate - the present tension between Thailand and Cambodia over Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's hiring former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an 'economic adviser,' the latest in a series of bilateral incidents that have eroded relations between the two countries over the past two years.
President Obama's meeting with Southeast Asian leaders'''including Myanmar's prime minister'''on Sunday will reflect the new U.S. stance on countries with unsavory human rights practices: pursuing engagement rather than isolation. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Sri Lanka's President Rajapaksa 'feared coup' after defeat of Tamil Tigers
Colombo,Nov.13 - ANI: General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's ceremonial Chief of Defence Staff and former Army Chief, who oversaw a successful military operation to crush the rebel Tamil Tigers in May this year, has resigned from his post to challenge the country's powerful President, Mahinda Rajapaksa in presidential elections scheduled for April next year.
Led by UNP the new alliance will contest as the United National Front." More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Turkey Plans to Ease Restrictions on Kurds and Help End Decades of Conflict
ANKARA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkey revealed Friday details of a reform plan to broaden rights for the country's Kurdish minority and end 25-year-long conflicts with Kurd rebels, Turkish media reported.
Atalay underlined that the initiative has two goals -- to end terror and to improve democracy. More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Heavy snow storms in northern China kill 40
Beijing has been hit by three successive waves of snow, causing havoc on roadways and forcing the cancellation or delay of scores of flights.
More...

Nov-14-2009 -- Clint Eastwood made Legion of Honour commander in France
REUTERS - President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded U.S. actor and director Clint Eastwood one of France's top honours on Friday, hailing him as a cinema legend and a symbol of the type of America that the French adored.
Paris, Nov.13 (ANI): French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that he is determined to ban the use of the burqa, the head-to-toe veil worn by some Muslim women, in secular France. More...

Friday (Update 1)

Nov-13-2009 -- Afghanistan Suicide Attack Wounds More Than 20
"In the past six years, I have not heard of one Afghan officer of captain or major rank killed in battle.
Western pressure to centralise power in Kabul excluded local people from key appointments and billions of dollars in aid. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Sri Lanka general hits out before possible poll bid
COLOMBO: Slamming Sri Lankan government for lack of "clear policy" to reach out to the Tamils, outgoing chief of defence staff Sarath Fonseka said it is "yet to win the peace" despite the military victory against LTTE and cautioned about another uprising in future.
"I have been serving my country in the past and I will serve the country in future as well." More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Major fire at Russia arms depot
Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Morozov, the governor of the Ulyanovsk region where the depot is located, as saying that over 3,000 people had been evacuated from the surrounding area.
The fire started at around 1600 local time (1300 GMT) while ammunition was being disposed of at the site, the regional Federal Security Service were reported as saying by Itar-Tass news agency. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- State media: Heavy snow in China kills 21
Beijing has been hit by three successive waves of snow, causing havoc on roadways and forcing the cancellation or delay of scores of flights.
The Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Civil Affairs have ordered local government officials to provide food, water, blankets and clothes to all stranded passengers. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- No licence to kill for SA police
"We have to create an environment where scarce skills can come into South Africa easily and contribute to the economy," Dlamini Zuma said on Thursday, during Governance and Administration Cluster media briefing in Cape Town.
'As Africa's leaders, we have pledged to our people that we will strive for the eradication of poverty, disease and conflict. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Nepal Maoist protests continue
No violence was reported as hundreds of police in riot gear ringed Singhdurbar, the complex housing the prime minister's office and other ministries.
Something has got to give in the war of attrition. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Saudis flee villages in Yemen clash
"Our war is not with Saudi Arabia," Yahya al-Houthi emphasized.
"Fighting has now spilled into Saudi Arabia, reportedly causing 240 villages to be evacuated and more than 50 schools to be closed," Sigrid Kaag, UNICEF's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Food majors triple investment in ending hunger
Critical food insecurity is affecting 31 countries and the situation is particularly acute in East Africa, where prolonged drought and mounting conflict have left an estimated 20 million people in need of food aid, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
A UN food summit aimed at helping the one billion people worldwide suffering from hunger has been declared a failure a week before it has even begun. More...

Friday

Nov-13-2009 -- Rich countries'should pay' to transfer low carbon technology, researchers says
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton echoed other key negotiators and called the UN climate talks in Copenhagen a "steppingstone," a far cry from UN Chief Ban Ki-moon's mantra of "Seal the Deal."
"The Secretary-general believes that direct head of state and government involvement is essential for governments to reach agreement on the core issues at the heart of a global climate change deal," Ban's spokesperson said in a statement. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Seychelles struggles to adapt to climate change in a losing battle
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton echoed other key negotiators and called the UN climate talks in Copenhagen a "steppingstone," a far cry from UN Chief Ban Ki-moon's mantra of "Seal the Deal."
The comments by Janos Pasztor, director of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's climate-change support team, suggest that U.N. officials are coming to terms with the likelihood that the Copenhagen summit won't produce a binding international climate deal, despite the secretary-general's recent warnings that delays could have "catastrophic" consequences for the environment. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Food majors triple investment in ending hunger
Critical food insecurity is affecting 31 countries and the situation is particularly acute in East Africa, where prolonged drought and mounting conflict have left an estimated 20 million people in need of food aid, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
From 1971 to 1997 the number of hungry people dropped from 878 million (or 23 per cent of the world's population) to 825 million (14 per cent of the population), mainly thanks to the green revolution in agriculture. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- China Web users to quiz Obama on Dalai Lama, basketball
The outcome of the talks between Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao will impact India'''s trade with China and climate change diplomacy.
Mure Dickie, the FT's Tokyo bureau chief, has spent most of the past two decades in East Asia. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Sri Lankan General Resigns
Troops commanded by Sarath Fonseka offered stiff resistance but ultimately had to withdraw.
Gen Fonseka is reportedly considering challenging President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an election to be held before April. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Critical state
One of the diplomats — a senior official from a European nation — says the hall is too small to be able to house the tens of thousands of centrifuges needed for peaceful industrial nuclear enrichment but the right size for the few thousand advanced machines that could generate the amount of weapons grade uranium needed for a military nuclear program.
There are serious reasons behind Russia's failure to deliver the missiles to Iran. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Saudi ships blockade North Yemen after capture of Iran vessel
"Our war is not with Saudi Arabia," Yahya al-Houthi emphasized.
A spokesman for Yemeni fighters called for mediation of any third party to find a solution to end the current fighting between Houthi fighters and Yemeni government. More...

Nov-13-2009 -- Saudis' Efforts to Swat Rebels From Yemen Risk Inflaming Larger Conflict
"Our war is not with Saudi Arabia," Yahya al-Houthi emphasized.
Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the Saudi deputy defence minister, said the offensive would continue until the Houthis "withdraw dozens of kilometres" from the border. More...

Thursday (Update 1)

Nov-12-2009 -- Thaksin's Cambodia Role Runs Risk for Ousted Thai Leader
BANGKOK -- Since being forced out of power in a military coup three years ago, ousted Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra has made a show of traveling the world to keep himself in the public eye back home.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Saudi military enforcing no-go zone inside Yemen
The Saudi government adviser said no Saudi troops were fighting inside Yemen where the terrain was in any case too mountainous to deploy tanks and artillery effectively.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Profile: Gen Sarath Fonseka
Troops commanded by Sarath Fonseka offered stiff resistance but ultimately had to withdraw.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Pakistani working in Iranian consulate shot, killed
Tension between the neighbors increased last month after a massive suicide bombing in Iran killed at least 42 people, including a number of senior Revolutionary Guard officers.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Clinton: U.S. concerned about Afghan corruption
A proposal to add an additional 30,000 troops has gained favor among top advisers, officials said.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Dalai Lama retraces trip to Bomdi-la from air
GUWAHATI: The Dalai Lama concluded his four-day trip to Tawang on Thursday, but not before revisiting the district deputy commissioner's residence, called the Tawang House, his first stopover on Indian soil after pulling off a sensational escape from Tibet 50 years ago.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Response to the 'Head Scarf Martyr' Verdict in Egypt and Germany
Mr. Zaki told Al Ahram that the state of Egyptian-German relations was strengthened by the German court's response to the hate crime.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Taliban battles kill 10 Pakistan troops: officials
The military said five soldiers and 22 militants were killed, but army and security officials in the area said 10 to 15 troops died in what would be the deadliest single incident for troops in South Waziristan since October 17.
More...

Thursday

Nov-12-2009 -- Egypt gripped by 'veil martyr' trial
The Egyptian ambassador in Berlin, Ramzi Izz Al-Din, told Channel One that Alexander Wiens had received "the harshest ruling possible".
More...

Thursday

Nov-12-2009 -- Kidnapped Irish priest released in Philippines
The MILF maintained it was not responsible, as earlier alleged by the Philippine government, while seeking to take credit for Sinnott's release.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Merkel, Sarkozy in first joint Armistice ceremony
To the sound of the national anthems of the two former enemies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy laid down a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
While the leaders paid homage to the war dead, much of the talk was about the future, from policy to conflict resolution. More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Spain calls for blockade of Somali pirate ports
Several law firms in London, business capital of the world's maritime industry, have handled piracy kidnap and ransom cases in recent years.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- 'Protectionism' the bogey at APEC
The fact that the leaders of the two nations will be gathering here on Saturday ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's first visit to China puts implicit pressure to reduce the protectionist rhetoric, said Tan Khee Giap, chairman of the Singapore National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Nasrallah slams Obama Israel 'bias'
The leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah has accused Barack Obama, the U.S. president, of "absolute bias" in favour of Israel and of disregard for the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Security plan looks to Afghan villages in fight against Taliban
The U.S. military will oversee the plan.
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Egypt gripped by 'veil martyr' trial
The Egyptian ambassador in Berlin, Ramzi Izz Al-Din, told Channel One that Alexander Wiens had received "the harshest ruling possible".
More...

Nov-12-2009 -- Yemen rejects Iran security offer
The offensive followed the killing of a Saudi border guard in a raid by the Houthi fighters.
More...

Wednesday (Update 1)

Nov-11-2009 -- Nato Sec-Gen expects more resources for Afghanistan
WESTERN AFGHANISTAN - The body of one of two U.S. soldiers missing since last week has been found by a military diving team in a river in western Afghanistan, said Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, a spokesman for NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops.
The Afghan soldiers were killed when a "friendly aircraft arrived in support, but fired at troops by mistake," local Police Chief Mohammed Jabbar was quoted by Xinhua as saying. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- 'Weak' cyclone nears Mumbai, heavy rains predicted
India'''s western coast should start preparing itself for two days of rough weather and heavy rain as a cyclonic storm, called Phyan by the Met office is developing over the Arabian Sea off north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts.
Mumbai: With Cyclone Phyan crossing India's west coast just north of this metropolis on Wednesday evening and fading into a tropical storm, a major threat has gone away and residents have taken a sigh of relief. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Life for German Who Killed Woman in Court
A RUSSIAN-born German man has been sentenced to life behind bars for the brutal courtroom murder of a pregnant head-scarved Egyptian woman, a crime that sparked outrage in the Muslim world.
Police cordoned off streets around the court during the proceedings, and about 200 officers stood guard. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Japan to Tell Obama It Wants Okinawa Marine Base Closed
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama came into office two months ago pledging to alter a 2006 accord that would relocate the Futenma Air Base within the island of Okinawa, host to more than half of the 47,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan.
Signs of sympathy toward Japanese suffering could be seen as criticism of the decision to drop the bombs — viewed among many Americans as a pragmatic decision to hasten the end of the war that the U.S. entered after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Would Taliban fighters switch sides?
HELMAND/QUETTA: Afghan Taliban Commander Abdul Manan, known as Mulla Toor Jan, has denied any link between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants, saying that the Afghan Taliban were not in Pakistan but were fighting in Afghanistan against the occupied troops.
The presumption is that a stable Afghanistan won't be a place that provides strategic depth for al-Qaeda in Pakistan. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Blackouts Plague Energy-Rich Venezuela
Any confrontation that might lead to an all-out war, whichever side it may originate from, cannot be in the interest of Venezuela or Colombia.
The on-off feud between the two South American neighbors since Venezuela's Hugo Chavez came to power a decade ago has usually stopped at sabre-rattling and diplomatic barbs. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Separatists protest at Royal tour
OTTAWA Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are scheduled to attend Remembrance Day services at the National War Memorial and have paid tribute to veterans by wearing two versions of the poppy during their royal visit to Canada.
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are on a 11 day tour across Canada. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Lebanon's Unity Government Convenes for First Time
The country's Shiite armed group Hezbollah, which is a dominant power in the Iran-and-Syria-backed opposition, holds two seats in the new cabinet, the Agriculture Ministry and State Ministry for Administrative Reform.
Five more seats will be appointed by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. More...

Wednesday

Nov-11-2009 -- Jacqui Janes accepts PM's apology
The mother who accused the Prime Minister of being disrespectful over the death of her soldier son has accepted his apology after he told a press conference that he understood her grief.
Jamie Janes: Jacqui Janes said Mr Brown's letter is clear evidence of his attitude towards the forces. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Brazil, US urge talks in Venezuela, Colombia spat
The Venezuelan government argues that granting of immunity to U.S. officials will facilitate human rights abuses and that the U.S. plans to infiltrate Venezuela and fabricate evidence that links Venezuela to drug trafficking and Colombian guerrilla insurgents in order to justify a military intervention.
"Commander of the military garrison, militia battalions, let's form the militia body, let's train ourselves. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Obama to seek stronger ties on Asia trip
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama this week heads to Asia for the first time as president, seeking to show the region and a rising China the United States is not in decline nor distracted by multiple crises elsewhere.
President Obama will have to pronounce an alliance new and old with Korea and Japan in the new age of joint U.S. -China leadership. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Japan Machine Orders Rise More Than Expected; Recovery May Last
Manufacturers surveyed by the Cabinet Office forecast that core orders, a highly volatile series seen as a leading indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, would rise 1.0 percent in three months to December from the previous quarter, which would be first rise in seven quarters.
Analysts were cautious on whether the forecast return to modest growth would be enough to help Japan avoid a double-dip recession, with core orders still more than a fifth lower than a year ago despite a 10.5 percent jump in September. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Israeli flights over Lebanon break resolution: UN
Israel's army chief says the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, now has rockets capable of striking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
"Alterations in policy towards Iran by the international community as well as efficient pressure could bring change within Iran." More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Pacific Rim Urges Strong Dollar
SINGAPORE, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- Singapore hoped the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies would commit themselves to cooperate with one another to sustain growth, to eschew protectionism, and to promote regional economic integration.
We hope that APEC economies will commit themselves to cooperate with one another to sustain growth, to eschew protectionism, and to promote regional economic integration. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- Japanese Police Question Suspect in Hawker's Murder
The father of a young British teacher murdered in Japan said yesterday he could 'go to her grave and tell her it's over' after the prime suspect was arrested following a manhunt lasting more than two years.
Some 6,000 miles away in the village of Brandon, near Coventry, Bill Hawker was telephoned with the news that the man for whose capture he and his family had campaigned since March 2007 - when his daughter's body was found buried in a bathtub filled with sand and soil on the balcony of Ichihashi's Tokyo flat - had finally been arrested. More...

Nov-11-2009 -- US denies Pakistan nuclear report
NEW YORK: The Obama administration has been negotiating highly sensitive understandings with the Pakistani military, the influential magazine 'The New Yorker' says in a detailed report by world famous Pulitzer prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh, published in its latest issue.
The Obama Administration has had difficulty coming to terms with how unhappy many Pakistanis are with the United States. More...

Tuesday (Update 1)

Nov-10-2009 -- Diplomatic spat over Thaksin
BANGKOK — The head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations urged Thailand and Cambodia to show "maximum restraint" amid tensions over Phnom Penh's job offer to a fugitive former Thai premier.
Last but not least, if we remember your no-nonsense threat to send commandos into Cambodia during the torching of the Thai Embassy a few years ago, so too must Hun Sen. If a relationship so sour can turn so good, it can definitely turn very sour again. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Differing views on Hinkley Point C
The Government has insisted the country needs nuclear power as it prepares to unveil plans to fast-track a new generation of nuclear power stations.
By 2025 nuclear electricity generation could provide two-fifths of new energy provision, while Mr Miliband set out "ambitious" plans for 30 per cent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Hugo Chavez intensifies conflict threat with Colombia
The Venezuelan government argues that granting of immunity to U.S. officials will facilitate human rights abuses and that the U.S. plans to infiltrate Venezuela and fabricate evidence that links Venezuela to drug trafficking and Colombian guerrilla insurgents in order to justify a military intervention.
"We support Colombia's call for dialogue between Venezuela and Colombia to overcome recent tensions in the relationship," a State Department spokesman told CNN en Español. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Suspect arrested over Japan bath of sand murder
A man wanted over the murder of British teacher Lindsay Hawker has been arrested in Japan.
THE father of murdered Brit teacher Lindsay Hawker wept today after being told that Japanese police have finally nabbed her suspected killer. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Sarkozy's Facebook entry stirs up debate
STAFF WRITER 20:20 HRS IST Paris, Nov 9 (AFP) French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised eyebrows today with his memory of how he rushed to Berlin 20 years ago to witness the fall of the Wall, amid questions over the accuracy of his account.
The post then goes on to describe how Sarkozy and Juppe rushed to the Brandenburg Gate, where crowds were gathered. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- British PM Defends Military Mission in Afghanistan
"We have increased the investment we have made in helicopters and in vehicles and in the equipping of the armed forces in a way that we have never done in our country before."
Two days later, Sergeant Phillip Scott, 30, of 3rd Battalion The Rifles, was killed by an improvised explosive device near Sangin in Helmand. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- A Chronicle of Gaza, in Kitsch Form
There had been a brutal Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip, resulting in serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, amounting to war crimes.
The sponsors wanted to find Israel guilty for pursuing Hamas in Gaza after Hamas had fired more than 7,000 rockets into Israel with hardly a peep from the international community. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Pakistan's Waziristan fight tougher than Kashmir ?
In an interview with a TV channel in Washington, Musharraf said Taliban leader Mullah Omar had never been to Pakistan, adding that Afghanistan was currently in complete control of Indian intelligence agencies.
"Always, in every group, there is an ingress of the ISI. And that is the efficiency, the effectiveness of the ISI. You must have ingress, so that you can influence all organisations. More...

Tuesday

Nov-10-2009 -- Sri Lanka Says 164000 War Refugees Remain in Northern Camps
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Stephen Smith and his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama signed an agreement to boost law enforcement cooperation on people smuggling.
Sri Lankan officials say many of the asylum seekers are economic refugees who are trying to use the war as an excuse to seek a better life. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Ten new nuclear power stations given go-ahead
The Government has insisted the country needs nuclear power as it prepares to unveil plans to fast-track a new generation of nuclear power stations.
No industry is more strategically important than energy, yet ministers dithered for 10 years before authorising a new generation of nuclear plants. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Sun releases recording of Brown's phone call to mother of dead soldier
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown has telephoned the mother of a serviceman killed in Afghanistan to say he "meant no offence" by misspelling the soldier's name in a letter of condolence.
Mr Brown rang the Guardsman's mother before issuing a statement apologising for any 'unintended mistake'. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Venezuela, Colombia in war of words
The Venezuelan government argues that granting of immunity to U.S. officials will facilitate human rights abuses and that the U.S. plans to infiltrate Venezuela and fabricate evidence that links Venezuela to drug trafficking and Colombian guerrilla insurgents in order to justify a military intervention.
Posturing and threats from Chavez are generally so common as to raise little alarm, the Independent notes, but the war of words with Colombia has been accompanied by a rise in violence, including the killing of 11 Colombians near the border last month. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Sarkozy's Facebook entry stirs up debate
STAFF WRITER 20:20 HRS IST Paris, Nov 9 (AFP) French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised eyebrows today with his memory of how he rushed to Berlin 20 years ago to witness the fall of the Wall, amid questions over the accuracy of his account.
The post then goes on to describe how Sarkozy and Juppe rushed to the Brandenburg Gate, where crowds were gathered. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- China restates yuan policy after Obama comments
"I have every reason to expect that the issue of Tibet will come up on the trip," Bader said, adding that Obama was ready to meet the Dalai Lama "at the appropriate time."
The primary significance of the Sino-American relationship was, apparently, geostrategic. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Report: Nine people executed after China riots
Once the dominant ethnic group in China's Xinjiang region, Uighurs were blamed for the July 5 riots in Urumqi in which 197 people, mostly Han Chinese, were killed and 1,600 injured.
Last month, news agencies reported that 12 people had been sentenced to death, with three of the sentences commuted to prison terms. More...

Nov-10-2009 -- Lebanon rivals form unity government
Sunni Muslim Hariri was designated to form the new government after he led his coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to victory in June election over Hezbollah and its allies.
Fifteen ministers come from Hariri's coalition, 10 from the opposition and five were nominated by the president. More...

Monday (Update 1)

Nov-09-2009 -- Desperate search in El Salvador
Mud and boulders loosened by days of heavy rain have partly buried a small town, swallowing up homes as flooding and landslides across El Salvador killed at least 124 people.
Around 7,000 people have been taken to shelters, but many towns remain cut off. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Australia tackles refugee source
COLOMBO — A top French envoy on Saturday asked Sri Lanka to end its state of emergency and probe war crimes ahead of a key European Union ruling on trade concessions to the troubled island.
Seventy-eight Sri Lankans were rescued from a sinking boat in Indonesian waters last month. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Thai government bans Thaksin Shinawatra interview with The Times
BANGKOK — The head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations urged Thailand and Cambodia to show "maximum restraint" amid tensions over Phnom Penh's job offer to a fugitive former Thai premier.
Suthep does not explain in details. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Colombia turns to UN, OAS after Venezuela war talk
Analysts suggest that the campaign has already started with Venezuelan opposition media personalities questioning the presence of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) units operating inside Venezuela with the connivance of President Chavez.
Central and South American electorates have voted before in ways displeasing to the U.S. - Guatemala in 1951, Guyana in 1953 and 1961, Chile in 1970 - and Washington successfully reversed the outcomes through subversion and coups d'etat. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Conservative Anglicans Priests Consider Offer to Join Catholic Church
There was also speculation about whether men who had left the Catholic priesthood to marry and later became Anglicans could return to the Catholic priesthood and remain married.
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has confirmed that opening its door to married Anglican priests doesn't mean the Roman Catholic church's requirement for celibacy for clergy is changing. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- 1 dead, dozens injured by strong Indonesian quake
In Bima town of the Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara, the hardest-hit and the closest area to the epicentre of the quake, one health clinic, four school buildings and ten houses have collapsed, and over 50 houses got damaged, a Xinhua report quoted Disaster Management Agency Priyadi Kardono as saying.
The provincial population agency reported the quake destroyed 86 houses and caused mild damage to hundreds of buildings in the three districts hardest hit by the disaster. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Kim Jong-il's'six luxury trains'
North Korea on Monday accused South Korea and the United States of scheming for a war against it, citing their reported completion of a joint action plan to cope with any contingency in the communist country, the Yonhap News said.
One source said Cha may have been unduly victimized in the case because the commercials were a product of Kim''s earlier instruction to create ''more interesting and diverse'' television programs. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Tsvangirai aide's trial adjourned
Mugabe had ruled the southern African country uninterrupted since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from Britain.
The veteran leader has in the past scoffed at any suggestions of foreign supervision of Zimbabwe'''s affairs including by African allies. More...

Monday

Nov-09-2009 -- Gen. Casey Lends Sway to Request for Troops
Gen. George Casey lent his support this morning to calls for more troops in Afghanistan.
Max Boot is a senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- 'US attitude to Israel may be changing'
Ultimately the U.S. agreed to schedule the meeting.
"Of course the ties between the two countries have been problematic ever since Obama demanded a total settlement freeze. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- US seeks climate framework, not legal pact: experts
The Bali conference agreed to negotiate a renewal of the Kyoto Protocol when it ran out, providing a "second commitment period" for member states to undertake emissions cuts, from 2013.
Considerably fewer have examined the science behind climate change, and fewer still the complex formulae that are at the heart of greenhouse-gas reduction targets. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall commemorate Canada's war dead
T his morning Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, officially open the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair at the Exhibition grounds in Toronto.
The crowd braved light rain as B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell received the British royals. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Australia tackles refugee source
207 Sri Lankan asylum seekers are being held at the Immigration Detention Centre at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and 108 Sri Lankan refugees are being detained at Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Centre in Johor, Malaysia.
Earlier, the Australian government said another known smuggler, Abraham Lauhenaspessy, known as "Captain Bram", had been found on the boat. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Cambodia celebrates 56th anniversary of Independence Day
Thai officials are preparing contingency plans to evacuate thousands of Thais who live in Cambodia if the dispute turns nasty.
The visit is set to increase tensions with neighbouring Thailand, which have escalated since Wednesday when Cambodia announced the appointment of Thaksin -- ousted as Thai prime minister in a 2006 coup -- as economics adviser. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Lottery ''90m winners' details due
Each winner from Friday night's Euromillions draw will scoop £45,570,835.50.
As of yet the identities of the winners have not yet been released as there is still a verification process to go through. More...

Nov-09-2009 -- Australians want PM to be tougher on boat people
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd taunted Mr Turnbull in a speech on Friday, saying sceptics - ''world government conspiracy theorists'' - and the Opposition Leader were ''holding the world to ransom'' by sabotaging progress on a global treaty.
Mr Turnbull dismissed Mr Rudd's attack as an attempt to distract attention from the controversy over border protection policy. More...

Sunday (Update 1)

Nov-08-2009 -- Israel barrier cuts off family
The United Nations General Assembly today, by a recorded vote of 114''in favour to 18''against, with 44''abstentions, adopted a resolution giving Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake '''independent, credible investigations''' into serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed during the conflict in Gaza that broke in late December 2008. '' (For''vote''details, see Annex.)
Moshe Halbertal, a professor who helped craft the Israeli army'''s ethics code, picks apart the Goldstone report and critiques its "overall biased tone." More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Thousands of Japanese protest US base plan
In recent decades, Japan has been the biggest outside source of aid to the sub-region, but China's global quest for resources, and its outward investment drive of the past decade or so, have enlarged Beijing's presence in Southeast Asia.
A meeting scheduled for Friday with Hatoyama would go ahead as planned, Kyodo News reported, quoting an unnamed foreign ministry source, while Hatoyama said the delay would not affect the content of the talks. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Defence chiefs voice anger at 'mixed messages' on Afghanistan
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, right, former British Prime Minister John Major, second from right, David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, second from left, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, attend the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the cenotaph in London, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009.
Mr Brown also praised the Royal British Legion and the Help for Heroes charity which provides support for wounded soldiers. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- All the pressure is on India, says Sangakkara
Two weeks ago, Bogollagama described the U.S. report on "war crimes" in Sri Lanka as "uncorroborated" and "fabricated by vested interests."
Sri Lanka has a great opportunity to re-engage the U.S. State Department after Ambassador Patricia Butenis, a competent diplomat who has already won the admiration of many Sri Lankans, was appointed to Colombo. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Tone Towards Pyongyang More Direct
No longer could the Chinese be telling the Americans to at least talk to these people, and no longer could anyone anywhere accuse the U.S. of not wanting to deal.
Men are more closely watched in North Korea. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Australia urges Sri Lanka reforms, reconciliation
207 Sri Lankan asylum seekers are being held at the Immigration Detention Centre at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and 108 Sri Lankan refugees are being detained at Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Centre in Johor, Malaysia.
The Howard and Rudd governments have concentrated on combating people smuggling and palming off boats to other countries, on the basis that if boatpeople stopped coming to Australia, it at least would take the issue off the political agenda. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Ousted Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra calls for'shining' new age after King's ...
Thai officials are preparing contingency plans to evacuate thousands of Thais who live in Cambodia if the dispute turns nasty.
BANGKOK, Nov 7 (TNA) - Bank of Thailand (BoT) Governor Tarisa Wattanagase on Friday downplayed concerns over the political tension between Thailand and Cambodia, saying it would not worsen significantly because both countries had forged good bilateral relations over a long period. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Thousands demonstrate for release of Spanish crew
MADRID (Reuters) - Somali pirates have threatened to kill three captive crew members from a Spanish fishing vessel if two suspected pirates being held in Spain are not freed, a senior officer aboard the vessel said on Friday.
Earlier, the Alakrana's first mate, Ricardo Blach, said the Somali pirates had given the Spanish authorities two days to free the Somali prisoners awaiting trial in Spain. More...

Sunday

Nov-08-2009 -- Police: Suicide attack in Pakistan kills 8
A soldier was also killed in the attack.
The military said while the army has taken control of two former strongholds — Sararogha and Ladha — there were still occasional clashes with militants. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Japanese to protest US base before Obama visit
In recent decades, Japan has been the biggest outside source of aid to the sub-region, but China's global quest for resources, and its outward investment drive of the past decade or so, have enlarged Beijing's presence in Southeast Asia.
Ko Ko Aung called for the Japanese government to investigate the details of the current political situation in Burma. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Analysis: Lessons for dealing more effectively with Iran
Alaeddin Borujerdi, the head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, has said "we do not want to give part of our 1,200kg of enriched uranium in order to receive fuel of 20 per cent enrichment".
Why would countries like the United States, Britain and France - which are not even situated within Iran's missile range - be so concerned? "If we were to wake up tomorrow and learn that Canada or Belgium had secretly developed a nuclear weapon we would not be happy about it, but neither would it ruin our day," Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in an article on October 13, 2009. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- China's Wen seeks to boost blossoming Africa ties
BEIJING — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao denied that Beijing was developing ties in Africa purely to satisfy its need for energy, as he headed for talks with the continent's leaders, according to state media.
Premier Wen also said the Chinese government works for the equality of all ethnic groups, a point disputed by China's Tibetan and Uighur dissidents, among others. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- China plays very important role in APEC: Singapore PM
To be held at the Istana, Singapore President's office, over two days (Nov. 14 and 15), the Leaders of the 21 APEC member economies will discuss long-term economic issues as the world emerges from recession.
"Leaders of ten ASEAN member countries have confirmed to join the meeting." More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Italy to Keep Crucifixes in Schools, Defying EU Court Ruling
The European Court of Human Rights recently barred Italian classrooms from displaying crucifixes.
The "Finnish citizen who lives in Italy" is also an Italian citizen, and has the right to contest religious symbols of any kind in a public school. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Joyce's asylum solution 'breaches refugee convention'
Sri Lanka has suggested to the Australian government to recruit unskilled workers for jobs there, to stem the flow of local asylum seekers to the country.
Australia did the right thing in rescuing the 78 Sri Lankans. More...

Nov-08-2009 -- Obama administration would talk to North Korea: aide
No longer could the Chinese be telling the Americans to at least talk to these people, and no longer could anyone anywhere accuse the U.S. of not wanting to deal.
A malnourished North Korean boy eating food supplied by the U.N. World Food Program at a hospital in South Pyongan province in February 2004. More...