World
 KTVU.com | Pakistan looks for clues to ID bomber USA Today - By Riaz Khan, AP Writer PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Police examined clothing, shoes and the severed legs of a man Saturday to try to identify a suicide bomber who killed at least 50 people during a holiday prayer service at a crowded mosque in northwestern ... |
 GulfNews | Mbeki Plans to Stay in Office New York Times - By MICHAEL WINES PRETORIA, South Africa - South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, said Friday that he intended to remain in office until his term ended in early 2009, despite being ousted as leader of the African National Congress earlier this week by ... · Law must take its course, says South Africa president South Africa's ANC Dumps Mbeki Loyalists from Leadership |
Cuban Refinery Inaugurated, With Chávez in Spotlight New York Times - By MARC LACEY CIENFUEGOS, Cuba - The speculation was that he would be here, that Fidel Castro was ready to leave his hospital bed after 17 months of convalescence and that he would come to inaugurate a revamped Soviet-era oil refinery that he had been ... Cuba Hosts Regional Leaders at Oil Summit Chavez extends oil largesse at Caribbean summit |
 Canada.com | Under Pressure, Japan Delays Plan to Hunt the Humpback New York Times - By ANDREW C. REVKIN Japan, under pressure from the United States and Australia, is delaying plans to kill 50 humpback whales as part of its already contentious annual whale harvest in waters near Antarctica. Australia leads diplomatic protest against Japan's whaling program Japan abandons plans to kill humpback whales |
 Canada.com | South Korea, Open for Business Wall Street Journal - By MICHAEL BREEN The election of Lee Myung-bak, a former Hyundai Group executive and former mayor of Seoul, to the South Korean presidency gives Koreans a president with business credentials and administrative experience for the first time in their ... South Korea president to back Lee probe: media South Korean President-Elect Signals Tougher Line on North Korea |
 Xinhua | Junta uneasy as Thailand goes back to the polls Guardian Unlimited - Fifteen months after the bloodless coup that unseated prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand will go to the polls again tomorrow to restore the democracy taken by the generals. Thailand readies for poll unlikely to end divisions Thailand’s election South-East Asia’s Pakistan? |
 Christian Science Monitor | No truce until Hamas stops rockets-Israel's Peres Reuters - JERUSALEM, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Friday the Jewish state should not agree to a truce with Hamas unless the Islamist group first stops firing rockets from the Gaza Strip. Hamas Fighter Killed in Gaza Israel ministers urge Hamas talks |
 Alalam News Network | Rice Says Serbia, Kosovo, Will Stay Separate Voice of America - By David Gollust US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday Serbia and Kosovo will never be part of the same country again, and all those concerned should work for a stable outcome in the Balkans based on that reality. Russia says new EU role in Kosovo "not impossible" Slovenia fears Kosovo partition |
 KATU | Man of the Year? Wall Street Journal - By GARRY KASPAROV Ever since President Vladimir Putin took office eight long years ago, the political and media leadership of the West have had a full-time job trying to look on the bright side of Russia's rapid turn from democracy. |
 RTE.ie | Million passengers face airport chaos Guardian Unlimited - More than 1 million air passengers face a miserable start to the new year after staff at Britain's largest airport owner voted for a wave of strikes next month. London airport workers delay strike, spare holiday travelers BAA airport workers vote to strike in January over pensions row |
 PRESS TV | 14 arrested in Belgian jailbreak case Los Angeles Times - An imprisoned Al Qaeda operative and alleged accomplices are accused of plotting his escape and a terrorist attack. By Sebastian Rotella, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer MADRID -- Belgian police arrested 14 suspected extremists Friday on suspicion of ... Belgium frees 14 terror suspects Belgium Frees 14 Terror Suspects |
 Boston Globe | Saudi police nab militants as pilgrims complete haj Reuters - By Jonathan Wright MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi security forces arrested suspected al Qaeda militants planning attacks during the haj pilgrimage, a Saudi-owned television said on Friday as Muslim pilgrims performed the last rituals in Mecca. Saudi arrest of 'Hajj militants' Saudi Officials Foil Suspected Terror Plot as Hajj Comes to a Close |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Suspect acquitted in N. Ireland bombing Los Angeles Times - The 1998 attack, which killed 29, was the deadliest in the region's history. The judge lashes out at investigators over their handling of forensic evidence. How the Omagh case unravelled Woodward refuses to rule out Omagh inquiry |
 Brisbane Times | NZealand city rocked by aftershocks after major quake - UPDATE Forbes - WELLINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Aftershocks continued to rattle the eastern New Zealand city of Gisborne Friday as residents started counting the cost of a powerful 6.8 earthquake which smashed buildings in the commercial center. New Zealand quake wreckage clean-up begins in 'lucky' city New Zealand Town Declares Emergency After 6.6 Quake (Update1) |
 Boston Globe | Pakistan begins formal probe into train crash Reuters - ISLAMABAD, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Pakistani investigators began a formal probe on Thursday into the derailment of an express train, with officials saying a mechanical fault on the track was the likely cause of the crash that killed at least 40 people. Pakistan Train Crash Caused by Faulty Line; Terrorism Ruled Out Pakistan lowers train death toll |
 Canada.com | Sarkozy, Rudd on Afghanistan visit CNN International - KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The leaders of France and Australia were both to hold meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday and visit with their respective country's troops participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance ... French President Visits Afghanistan French president in Afghanistan |
 KIDK | Elizabeth II Outlives Victoria Today New York Times - By Patrick J. Lyons Long live the Queen, indeed. Just past teatime in London today (or about 10 am Eastern time), Elizabeth II will become the oldest monarch in Britain’s history, surpassing Victoria, who was 81 years, 7 months and 29 days old when she ... Queen becomes longest living British monarch Elizabeth II now Britain's oldest monarch |
 Telegraph.co.uk | Former Guantanamo detainees freed after return from Guantanamo Bay International Herald Tribune - AP LONDON: Three men released from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay were finally freed from detention in Britain to be reunited with their families for the first time in more than four years. Ex-Guantanamo detainees walk free UK Men Freed From Guantanamo Face Extradition Bid (Update1) |
 Washington Post | Turkey: US helped in PKK attack CNN International - ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkey's ambassador to the United States said Wednesday his country's air strikes this week against Kurdish militant targets in Northern Iraq were the result of real-time, actionable intelligence provide by the United States. Friends Again Turkey, US, and the PKK |
 Servihoo | Secretive oil firm denies Putin has any stake in its ownership Guardian Unlimited - The secretive oil company Gunvor yesterday broke its silence over its alleged links with Vladimir Putin, denying that the Russian president was the company's "beneficiary" owner but admitting that he was a friend of its founder. In Putin's Past, Glimpses Of Russia's Hardline Future Kissinger on Putin: "He Thinks He is a Reformer" |
