World News – General – Baroness Ashton faces first big international test with Middle East trip

Baroness Ashton faces first big international test with Middle East trip
Baroness Ashton of Upholland faces her first big international test as the EU s top diplomat this week after flying into the Middle East to plead for peace talks to start despite a dramatic increase of tension in the region.

Tamil party renounces demand for Independent homeland
Sri Lanka s main Tamil party has renounced its demand for an independent Tamil homeland, but vowed to launch a Gandhi-style civil disobedience campaign for greater regional autonomy.

Vatican moves to distance Pope from abuse scandal
The Vatican launched a counter-attack this weekend to limit damage over reports in Germany linking Pope Benedict XVI to the clerical abuse crisis. It announced that it would lift the statute of limitations for priests accused of molestation.

Mumbai police arrest men ‘planning terror strikes’
Indian police have arrested two men suspected of planning to attack three targets in Mumbai, India s financial centre, including the offices of the state energy firm, Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

President Sarkozy faces poll wipeout
France signalled its displeasure with President Sarkozy yesterday in the first round of regional elections, which are expected to end with a clean sweep for the opposition Socialist Party.

Acknowledging Aborigines as traditional owners of Australia is ‘tokenism’ says Tony Abbott
Tony Abbot, the outspoken and often controversial leader of the Australian Liberal party has risked offending the country’s Aborigines by accusing Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister, and his ministers of political correctness and ‘tokenism’ when they acknowledge the indigenous population as the country s traditional owners while speaking at official functions.

Apple loses i-rritating Australian trademark spat
Apple is very protective, some would say overly so, about anything it thinks infringes on its trademarks. For example, it filed opposition against a proposed New York City trademark for its GreeNYC program. The logo (left) contains an apple (nothing like the Cupertino firm’s though). This time, in Australia, Apple lost.

Analysis: who will blink first in Bangkok?
Street violence has become such a feature of Thai political protest in the past two years that its absence almost seems a mark of failure.

Paradise lost here lie the remains of a school for teenage Taleban
The warning on the wall was written in blood. All who fight us shall face this same fate, it stated in swirling, Urdu script, ochre red with the passing of sun and rain.

Brazil’s Christ Statue Gets Facelift

Rio de Janeiro’s most famous monument, the Christ the Redeemer statue, is undergoing renovation work this year, aimed at protecting it from environmental damage, like rain and lightning.

Pope under fire for transfer, letter on sex abuse

Germany’s sex abuse scandal has now reached Pope Benedict XVI: His former archdiocese disclosed that while he was archbishop a suspected pedophile priest was transferred to a job where he later abused children.

Panic in Georgia over Russian ‘invasion’ report
A spoof television report that President Mikheil Saakashvili had been assassinated in a new Russian invasion of Georgia led to mass panic and furious opposition protests yesterday.

Thai Leader Rejects Ultimatum To Disband Parliament
Tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters vowed to continue their push to oust the government, threatening to pour more than 2,000 pints of blood drawn from their ranks at Government House, the seat of government, if their renewed dissolution demand is rejected.

German Diocese Suspends Priest
The pope’s former diocese said Monday a priest who had been convicted of sexually abusing minors during the pontiff’s tenure as archbishop has been suspended from his pastoral duties for violating a condition he not work with youth.

Election monitors report increases doubts over fairness of Iraq election
Independent election monitors in Iraq have raised significant concerns over the conduct and fairness of last week s national poll.

Washington stands firm as relations with Israel hit ‘crisis of historic proportions’
The White House is refusing to back down today in a bitter dispute with Israel over settlements in Jerusalem that has stalled peace talks, split Jewish lobbyists in Washington and which the Pentagon believes is threatening the lives of American soldiers in the broader Middle East.

Loan Guarantee To Secure Vauxhall’s Future

The Government has announced a A 270 million loan guarantee to car giant General Motors to help secure its Vauxhall operations in Britain.

Thai soldiers injured in grenade attacks on military base
Three grenades exploded in a Thai military base in central Bangkok early today, as anti-government protesters massed at another barracks where Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been holed up in a temporary command centre.

Further Lehmans revelations blocked by Barclays
Further damaging revelations about the collapse of Lehman Brothers are being held up in the US courts by Barclays.

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