| U.N. aid chief visits Syria's stricken Baba Amr area Posted:  AMMAN (Reuters) - The U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos accompanied a Syrian Arab Red Crescent team on Wednesday into a former rebel-held district of Homs where dissidents have reported bloody reprisals by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. "She went in with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to Baba Amr," an International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman said. The Red Crescent team found that most residents had fled the district, where rebels had resisted a 26-day army siege until March 1, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva. ...
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| France says Iran "two-faced", skeptical talks can succeed Posted:  PARIS (Reuters) - France voiced skepticism on Wednesday that a planned revival of talks between six world powers and Iran would succeed, saying Tehran still did not seem sincerely willing to negotiate on the future of its contested nuclear program. The EU's foreign policy chief, who represents the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany in dealings with Iran, said on Tuesday they had accepted Iran's offer to return to talks after a standstill of a year that has seen a drift towards conflict in the oil-rich Gulf. The talks could dampen what U.S. ...
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| Israel cautiously welcomes big-power talks with Iran Posted:  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday cautiously welcomed the planned resumption of big-power nuclear talks with Iran, insisting that Tehran be denied the means to turn uranium into bomb fuel. With Israel speaking increasingly loudly of resorting to military action to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons, the talks could provide some respite in a crisis that has driven up oil prices and threatened to suck the United States into its third major war in a decade. ...
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| Colombia says Chavez will head home early next week Posted:  CARACAS (Reuters) - - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will return home next week from Cuba where he is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. The two presidents were meeting in Havana to discuss a regional summit and bilateral trade. (Reporting by Venezuela Newsroom; Editing by Eric Beech)
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| Amid Gandhi defeat, India greets new political star Posted:  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - It was supposed to be the crowning moment for Rahul Gandhi, the heir-apparent in India's ruling Congress party, but he was thrashed in this week's state election results and another young man thrust into the spotlight. Akhilesh Yadav has won national acclaim by helping return his father to power as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous and politically key state where Gandhi had hoped to stage a revival for Congress as it prepares to contest national elections in 2014. ...
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| Yemen Qaeda-linked group demands prisoner release Posted:  ADEN (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-linked group in Yemen has threatened the lives of 73 government troops it says it has captured, demanding the authorities release its fellow Islamist fighters from jail in exchange for the soldiers' safety. The threat from the Ansar al-Sharia group (Partisans of Islamic Law), whose precise ties to al Qaeda remain unclear, was delivered via a text message sent to Reuters on Wednesday, and followed a fierce fire fight in the south of the country on Sunday between government troops and militants that left at least 110 government troops dead. ...
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| Mexican judge seeks to free jailed French woman Posted: MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican Supreme Court judge has proposed freeing a French woman serving a 60-year prison sentence for kidnapping, though his motion needs the backing of at least two others on a five-member panel determining her fate. Judge Arturo Zaldivar said in his motion that Florence Cassez, 37, was denied her rights, not given a fair trial, and that witness statements used to convict her of kidnapping and other crimes in 2008 were unreliable. The case has caused tension between France and Mexico. ... |
| India police arrest man with Iran link over Israel attack Posted:  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian authorities have arrested a local journalist working for an Iranian news agency in connection with last month's Israeli embassy car bomb blast, a police official said Wednesday. It was the first arrest over the February 13 attack that Israel has blamed Iran of perpetrating. An Israeli diplomat's wife, her driver and two others were wounded, and the blast coincided with an attack on another Israeli diplomat in Tbilisi, Georgia. ...
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| EU moves to help free Italian sailors held in India Posted:  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Wednesday it was intervening to seek a resolution to the dispute between Italy and India after two Italian marines were detained for allegedly shooting dead two Indian fishermen they believed to be pirates. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, in a phone call to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, said it is still not clear who actually shot the fishermen, and repeated that India had no jurisdiction over the matter because it occurred in international waters. ...
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| Norway mass killer charged with terrorism Posted:  OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian anti-Islam militant whose bomb attack and shooting massacre shocked this small country last summer was charged on Wednesday with terrorism and the premeditated murder of 77 people as officials prepared for a trial to start next month. Prosecutors said they would initially seek a sentence of psychiatric care for the admitted killer but might demand 21 years in prison - Norway's nominal maximum - if an initial diagnosis of psychosis is contradicted by a second opinion. ...
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| Syria's Baba Amr is deserted, Red Cross says Posted:  The U.N. humanitarian chief toured the shattered Syrian district of Baba Amr on Wednesday but found most residents had fled following a bloody military siege, while activists accused the government of trying to cover up evidence of atrocities there.
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| Australian admits fake-collar-bomb extortion bid Posted: An Australian investment banker pleaded guilty Thursday to chaining a fake bomb to a young woman's neck in a bizarre extortion attempt last year. |
| French premier reaches out to Jews, Muslims Posted:  France's prime minister scrambled Wednesday to dispel concerns in the Jewish and Muslim communities after criticizing the ritual slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meat.
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| AP Exclusive: Iran may be cleaning up nuke work Posted:  Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
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| In bin Laden's lair, his wives split by suspicions Posted:  Osama bin Laden spent his last weeks in a house divided, amid wives riven by suspicions. On the top floor, sharing his bedroom, was his youngest wife and favorite. The trouble came when his eldest wife showed up and moved into the bedroom on the floor below.
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| Al-Qaida claims responsibility for Yemen attack Posted:  Al-Qaida claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a daring weekend assault on a military base in southern Yemen, killing nearly 200 soldiers, the bloodiest battle in a year of turmoil.
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| Alliances the buzz word for Europe auto survival Posted:  Alliances are the buzz word of European automakers' struggle for survival.
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| Justice: Mexico should release jailed French woman Posted: A Mexican Supreme Court justice will argue that a French woman serving a 60-year sentence for kidnapping should be released because authorities violated her rights, according to a written opinion released by the court on Wednesday. |
| Terror indictment: Breivik shot 56 victims in head Posted:  Exactly 100 people were shot, some of them up to eight times, before the gunman surrendered to police. Of the 69 people killed, 56 were shot in the head. One drowned and another fell off a cliff in desperate attempts to flee the mayhem.
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| Egypt court overturns police death sentence Posted: An Egyptian court has overturned a death sentence against the only police officer convicted of killing protesters during 18-day uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down last year. |
