March 12, 2010
LONDON: French President Nicolas Sarkozy showered praise on Prime Minister Gordon Brown Friday weeks before a general election here, but rebuked Brown's main rival over his policy in Europe.
Sarkozy said after talks in London that Brown was a "great reformer" and someone who was "willing to get things moving".
The centre-right president said that although Brown was from the other side of the fence politically -- he leads the centre-left Labour Party -- they were able to discuss issues frankly "even if we don't always agree".
International
March 12, 2010
BEIJING – Eleven rare Siberian tigers have died at a wildlife park in a startling case that activists say hints at unsavory practices among some zoos and animal farms in China: They are overbreeding endangered animals in the hopes of making illicit profit on their carcasses.
The deaths of the tigers occurred in the past three months at the zoo in China's frigid northeast, officials and state media said Friday. Reports said the tigers starved to death, having been fed nothing but chicken bones, while a zoo manager said unspecified diseases killed the animals.
International
March 12, 2010
LAGOS: The United States embassy on Friday slammed as "horrific" this week's massacre of more than 100 people in a central Nigerian state prone to sectarian violence.
"The death and destruction is horrific and the American people express their sorrow for the families on all sides affected by the violence," the mission said in an statement.
"The US Ambassador to Nigeria (Robin Sanders) reiterates that the US government continues to be concerned about the tragic loss of life of hundreds of people in the Jos area of Plateau State," it said.
International
March 12, 2010
VIENNA – At least two mass graves containing dozens of people killed by the Nazis have been found on property used by the Austrian army, government officials said Friday. An army statement suggested some of the remains may be that of U.S. pilots shot down and imprisoned during World War II.
Police Col. Rudolf Gollia, an interior ministry spokesman, said his ministry plans talks with the owners of the site to discuss exhumation, adding it was not yet clear whether the army owned the property or was renting it.
International
March 12, 2010
MEXICO CITY: An American citizen, two policemen, four young men and a local government official were among those killed in attacks scattered across Mexico, as a wave of violence associated with powerful drug cartels continues.
Police identified U.S. citizen German Norman Hall on Thursday as one of two men murdered by gunmen with assault rifles in the border town of Piedras Negras across from Eagle Pass, Texas. Police said Hall was shot eight times in the Wednesday attack.
International
March 12, 2010
NEW YORK: Western countries must press Syria on its continued repression of dissidents as part of their efforts to draw Damascus out of political isolation, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
International
March 12, 2010
RIYADH: Gulf states are worried about Iran going nuclear, but equally fret about a dangerous confrontation that could arise from more sanctions and military threats against Tehran, analysts say.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was in the Gulf on Wednesday and Thursday seeking support for a new round of UN sanctions to press Tehran to halt its drive to acquire nuclear weapons capability.
International
March 12, 2010
YANGON: Myanmar’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Thursday called on her people to respond to an “unjust” election law issued by the junta that bars her from the vote, her lawyer said. Under the laws enacted on Monday, which have sparked international anger, Suu Kyi faces exclusion from her own National League for Democracy (NLD) and is prevented from standing in the elections expected in October or November.
International
March 12, 2010
WASHINGTON: On Christmas Day, a passenger on a US-bound airliner tried to blow up the plane with plastic explosives in his underwear. He failed, yet the very attempt shook the US government, set federal agencies against each other and triggered months of political second-guessing.
In fact, short of mass casualties, the attack allegedly attempted by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had exactly the kind of reaction that al-Qaeda is after. And, it appears, that lesson is resonating with the terror network’s leadership.
International
March 11, 2010
CAIRO: There should be no Israeli-Palestinian talks, direct or indirect, unless Israel halts plans to build 1,600 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem, the Arab League said Wednesday.
Arab League chief Amr Mussa told reporters that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had told him he would not take part in talks in the current circumstances.
"The Israeli measures must be stopped before any discussion on a resumption of talks, direct or indirect," between Israel and the Palestinians, the Arab League said a statement.
International
