| Obama to China: Help rein in North Korea Posted:  SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged China on Sunday to use its influence to rein in North Korea instead of "turning a blind eye" to its nuclear defiance, and warned of tighter sanctions if the reclusive state goes ahead with a rocket launch next month. "North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or provocations," a stern-faced Obama said after a tour of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas resonant with echoes of the Cold War. ...
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| Magnitude 7.2 quake hits central Chile Posted: A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit central Chile on Sunday, shaking buildings in the capital of Santiago and the government emergency agency, ONEMI, said it was preventively evacuating some areas of the coast. The quake struck 64 miles west north west of the town of Talca at a depth of 6.2 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Magnitude 7.0 quakes or greater are capable of causing widespread, heavy damage. ONEMI said, however, that the quake was not expected to generate a tsunami off the coast. The latest earthquake hit near the same central region that struck by a massive ... |
| U.S. negotiation efforts with Taliban have failed: group Posted:  KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. negotiation efforts with the Taliban have failed and the United Nations should take the lead to optimize the chances of ending almost 11 years of war, a think tank said on Monday. In a blow to hopes of a negotiated end to the war, the Taliban suspended talks with the United States two weeks ago after the alleged massacre of 17 Afghan civilians by a lone U.S. soldier and the burning of Korans at a NATO base last month. "U.S. ...
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| Annan due in China, Russia says Syria peace takes time Posted:  MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - International peace envoy Kofi Annan was expected to head to China on Monday after asking Russia to back his mission to end fighting in Syria despite Moscow's differences with Western and Arab states over who is to blame for the conflict. Russia said Annan had its full support and that his mission could be the last chance to avoid a protracted and bloody civil war but would need more time. ...
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| Pope condemns drug trade, corruption in Mexico Posted:  LEON, Mexico (Reuters) - Pope Benedict at a huge outdoor Mass on Sunday condemned drug trafficking and corruption in Mexico, urging people to renounce violence in the country where a brutal war between cartels has killed tens of thousands of people. On his last day in Mexico, the pope said Mass for a vibrant crowd that organizers estimated at more than 600,000 people in a sprawling park on the edge of Leon, a central city which has escaped the worst of the criminal violence plaguing the country. ...
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| Beijing loyalist to lead Hong Kong after fraught election Posted:  HONG KONG (Reuters) - An election committee of about 1,200 Hong Kong notables picked Beijing-loyalist Leung Chun-ying as the city's next leader on Sunday, after a fraught campaign which will intensify pressure on China to keeps its promise to allow Hong Kong a direct leadership election in 2017. Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is a freewheeling capitalist hub which enjoys a high degree of autonomy and freedom, but Beijing's Communist Party leaders have resisted public pressure for full democracy. ...
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| Chavez starts radiation therapy, may meet Pope Posted:  CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he had started radiation treatment in Cuba, where he could also meet Pope Benedict in the latest high profile development as the president tries to fight off cancer and win re-election. Chavez was back in Havana a month after he had surgery there to remove a second malignant tumor from his pelvis. The treatment will take him off the political stage just as his election rival gears up a nationwide campaign tour ahead of the October 7 vote. ...
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| Afghan gun massacre families paid compensation Posted:  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have given cash compensation to the families of Afghans killed in a shooting rampage allegedly carried out by an American soldier in Kandahar province, a family member and a tribal elder said on Sunday. The families received around $50,000 for each person killed and about $10,000 for each wounded in the shootings in two villages in Panjwai district earlier this month. Afghan officials say 16 people, including nine children and women, were killed in the attacks. ...
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| French gunman's brother suspected of complicity Posted:  PARIS (Reuters) - The brother of an al Qaeda-inspired gunman shot dead by French police was placed under investigation on Sunday for suspected complicity in a killing spree that has made security a central election issue, with President Nicolas Sarkozy scenting an advantage. Sarkozy, buoyed by a rise in opinion polls four weeks from the first round of a presidential vote, renewed hostilities with rival Francois Hollande over the weekend, saying the Socialist front runner was unfit to protect France's security interests. ...
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| Mali's capital returning to normal, north threatened Posted:  BAMAKO (Reuters) - Life in Mali's capital slowly returned to normal on Sunday after most mutinous soldiers returned to their barracks, but rebels exploiting a military coup in the country pushed towards three northern towns. Underscoring the threat to Mali's north, the head of the Ganda Iso militia, which has tried to fill the gap left by defeated or stretched government forces, was killed alongside about ten others in clashes with the rebels, a militia source said. The scene in Bamako, the capital, was calmer though. ...
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| Afghans: US paid $50K per shooting spree death Posted:  The U.S. paid $50,000 in compensation for each villager killed and $11,000 for each person wounded in a shooting rampage allegedly carried out by a rogue American soldier in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Sunday.
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| French gunman's brother charged, denies role Posted:  A Frenchman suspected of helping his brother plot attacks against Jewish schoolchildren and paratroopers was handed preliminary murder and terrorism charges Sunday.
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| Pope to Mexico: Have hope, use faith against evil Posted:  Pope Benedict XVI urged Mexicans to wield their faith against drug violence, poverty and other ills, celebrating Sunday Mass before a sea of hushed worshippers beneath a blazing sun in the highlight of his Mexican visit.
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| Egypt's Islamists tighten their grip on power Posted:  Egypt's newly empowered Islamists have tightened their grip, giving themselves a majority on a 100-member panel tasked with drafting a constitution that will define the shape of the government in the post-Hosni Mubarak era.
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| Obama squeezes N. Korea to change, China to help Posted:  Trying to muscle North Korea toward peace over provocation, President Barack Obama is broadening his squeeze play from the heart of this tensely divided peninsula, pressuring China to show more influence and warning North Korea that it is headed toward a crippling "dead end" of isolation.
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| Armed Libyans hand airport to police, ready or not Posted: The commander of a powerful Libyan militia said Sunday he has withdrawn from the country's main airport, while some of his men remained behind to give the government another chance to either hire them or take over security itself. |
| Senegal president, ex-protege face off in 2nd vote Posted:  Supporters of opposition candidate Macky Sall began celebrating in the streets of Senegal's capital late Sunday as partial results coming in showed him trouncing the country's 85-year-old incumbent president at many polling stations.
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| Hugo Chavez begins radiation therapy in Cuba Posted:  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that he has begun radiation therapy in Cuba as part of cancer treatment one month after undergoing an operation that removed a tumor.
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| Hamas blames fuel shortage for Gaza baby's death Posted:  A Gaza man said Sunday his 5-month-old baby died two days ago after the generator powering his respirator ran out of fuel, but the report was called into question after it emerged that the timing of the baby's death was misrepresented.
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| Mali ministers held by junta go on hunger strike Posted:  Mali's foreign minister and 13 others being detained by the junta that took over Mali started a hunger strike Sunday, the minister's brother said.
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