| Iran atomic cooperation could spur fast sanctions relief: Clinton Posted: 03 Oct 2012 12:44 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held out the possibility on Wednesday that sanctions on Iran could be eased quickly if Tehran worked with major powers to address questions about its nuclear program. Speaking to reporters about protests in Iran triggered by the collapse of the Iranian currency, which has lost 40 percent of its value against the dollar in a week, Clinton blamed the Iranian government - rather than Western sanctions - for the financial troubles. ...
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| Turkey strikes back at Syria after mortar kills five Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:50 PM PDT  AKCAKALE, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish artillery hit targets inside Syria on Wednesday after a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory killed five Turkish civilians, while NATO called for an immediate end to Syria's "aggressive acts". In the most serious cross-border escalation of the 18-month uprising in Syria, Turkey hit back at what it called "the last straw" when a mortar hit a residential neighborhood of the southern border town of Akcakale. NATO said it stood by member-nation Turkey and urged Syria to put an end to "flagrant violations of international law". The U.S. ...
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| Netanyahu-Barak spat stokes early Israel vote talk Posted: 03 Oct 2012 08:07 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Friction between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak over relations with the United States fuelled talk on Wednesday of an early Israeli election. Ministers said the quarrel, Barak's resistance to Defense cuts in coalition budget talks and his dovish comments on peace efforts with the Palestinians were signs of a fraying alliance with Netanyahu and a national ballot as early as February. "It looks like the disputes herald an election," Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Army Radio. ...
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| Clinton pledges full accounting of deadly Benghazi attack Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:51 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday vowed to pursue a full accounting of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi "wherever that leads," but cautioned that it could take time for a complete picture to emerge. "There are continuing questions about what exactly happened in Benghazi on that night three weeks ago. And we will not rest until we answer those questions and until we track down the terrorists who killed our people," Clinton said in an appearance with Kazakhstan's visiting foreign minister. ...
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| Iranian police clash with protesters over currency plunge Posted: 03 Oct 2012 01:30 PM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Riot police clashed with demonstrators and arrested money changers in Tehran on Wednesday in disturbances over the collapse of the Iranian currency, which has lost 40 percent of its value against the dollar in a week, witnesses said. Police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, angered by the plunge in the value of the rial. Protesters denounced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "traitor" whose policies had fuelled the crisis. ... |
| Guarantors ask London court to halt Assange bail payout Posted: 03 Oct 2012 01:28 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Nine people who put up bail guarantees for Julian Assange argued in court on Wednesday they should not be forced to pay after the WikiLeaks founder sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Vaughan Smith - one of the nine, who between them put up 140,000 pounds ($225,000) - told Westminster Magistrates Court in London they were not to blame for Assange violating the terms of his bail. ...
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| Colombia's Santos recovering from successful cancer surgery Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:40 PM PDT  BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos' surgery for non-aggressive prostate cancer was successful and the 61-year-old is recovering well, his medical team said on Wednesday. Midway through his four-year term, Santos surprised the Andean nation on Monday by announcing that doctors had discovered a cancerous growth on his prostate. He said the disease had been caught in time and there was minimal risk. "Thank God, everything went well. I'm recuperating well. My family and I are very grateful for all your support," Santos said in a message on Twitter after the surgery. ...
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| Palestinian U.N. status likely to be debated in November Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:26 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is likely to hold a debate on whether to upgrade the Palestinians' U.N. status to a sovereign country in mid-November - after the U.S. election, the president of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly said on Wednesday. Having failed last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said last week he would seek a less-ambitious status upgrade at the world body to make it a "non-member state" like the Vatican. The Palestinians' current U.N. status is an "observer entity. ...
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| Libya PM government line-up omits liberal coalition Posted: 03 Oct 2012 01:21 PM PDT  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan Prime Minister-elect Mustafa Abushagur nominated his cabinet on Wednesday for approval by the national congress, presenting a line-up that excluded the North African country's leading liberal coalition. Abushagur, elected prime minister by the congress on September 12, has said he wants to build a coalition government with a "geographical balance" in a country where regional rivalries are still rife. ...
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| Argentine coast guard, military police hold rare strike Posted: 03 Oct 2012 03:15 PM PDT  BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina fired its chief coast guard and military police officials on Wednesday after an unprecedented two-day protest by rank-and-file officers demanding better wages. Pay strikes are common in Argentina, where inflation is more than 20 percent annually, according to private economists. But this was the first time in memory that uniformed Argentine military forces have protested over wages. "We support democracy. This is not a political uprising. ...
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| Turkey fires at Syria after deadly shelling Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:20 PM PDT  Turkish artillery fired on Syrian targets Wednesday after shelling from Syria struck a border village in Turkey, killing five civilians, sharply escalating tensions between the two neighbors and prompting NATO to convene an emergency meeting.
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| Iran tightens grip to stem currency fall Posted: 03 Oct 2012 01:11 PM PDT  Iranian authorities used aggressive measures Wednesday in an attempt to halt the nosedive of the country's currency, making arrests, vowing to stamp out sidewalk money changers and warning merchants against fueling the mounting public anger over the economy.
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| Protester gives up St. Peter's protest Posted: 03 Oct 2012 01:34 PM PDT  An Italian man gave up his protest atop the St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday evening, after more than 24 hours perched on the 130-meter-high (426-foot) dome to demonstrate against government reforms.
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| Fears abound ahead of close Venezuelan elections Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:42 PM PDT  Venezuelan voters Luis Gustavo Marin and Dunia Nessi are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but as Sunday's election draws closer they both fear what will happen if their candidate loses.
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| Frida Kahlo, her real look, on display in Mexico Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:45 PM PDT  The women on the cocktail circuit of the late 1930s were all curve-hugging dresses and gelled curls. Not Mexican surrealist painter Frida Kahlo. She graced dinner parties and theaters from Paris to New York in ribbons, full skirts and loose peasant blouses embroidered with vividly colored flowers, and her uni-brow was a bold contrast to the pencil-line eyebrows of the time.
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| Tips on bringing out your inner Frida Kahlo Posted: 03 Oct 2012 04:03 PM PDT Some pointers on bringing out your inner Frida Kahlo by adopting the look made famous by the Mexican surrealist painter: |
| Islamists in Mali recruit, pay for child soldiers Posted: 03 Oct 2012 07:26 AM PDT  Salif Haidara sat drinking tea on the side of the road with other weary bus passengers when a man with a turban and a long beard approached them: Did they want to become holy warriors?
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| Morocco says incoming abortion ship illegal Posted: 03 Oct 2012 01:05 PM PDT Moroccan authorities said Wednesday that a Dutch ship promoting legal abortions set to dock in Morocco is operating outside the law and could possibly be stopped before arriving at a northern Mediterranean port. |
| Young Ecuadoreans stage musical sensation Posted: 03 Oct 2012 01:02 PM PDT  Not long ago, most of the 80 young cast members of one of Ecuador's most successful musicals were barely seen or heard.
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| Vatican police testify in trial of pope's butler Posted: 03 Oct 2012 06:49 AM PDT  Vatican police said Wednesday they found thousands of documents hidden inside the home of Pope Benedict XVI's former butler, including original documents signed by the pope bearing indications they should be destroyed.
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