Obama offers Myanmar better ties if it reforms

Obama offers Myanmar better ties if it reforms
Shen-Zhao lead pairs at Skate America (AFP)
Refugee standoff in Indonesia eases
Wounded Pumas worry Wilkinson (AFP)
World Cup chaos fears as Egypt, Algeria clash (AFP)
Seven dead in India train accident: police (AFP)
China's Hu meets with top Taiwan politician: official
Iraqis claim torture by British soldiers: ministry
British ship watched pirates seize couple: ministry
Obama pledges greater U.S. engagement in Asia
Japan atomic bomb-hit city applauds Obama speech
9 killed as speeding train derails in India (AP)
Nepal Maoist protests continue
Turkey launches Kurd reform plans
Yemen's fight with rebels a regional concern
In Japan, Obama stresses Asia's role in U.S. economy
Sudan's 'trouser lady' continues to fight decency laws
Alleged Sept. 11 planner will be tried in New York
For smug KSM, federal court could be perfect arena
The alleged Sept. 11 conspirators, at a glance

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 10:49 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday offered Myanmar the prospect of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Shen-Zhao lead pairs at Skate America (AFP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:38 PM PST

AFP - Chinese veterans Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, fresh from victory in the Cup of China, seized the pairs lead at Skate America with a dominant performance in the short programme.

Refugee standoff in Indonesia eases

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:58 PM PST

Minority of Sri Lankan refugees agree to leave Australian ship moored in Indonesia.

Wounded Pumas worry Wilkinson (AFP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:16 PM PST

AFP - England may be without several players through injury for Saturday's international against Argentina here at Twickenham but the South Americans too are missing key men.

World Cup chaos fears as Egypt, Algeria clash (AFP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:03 PM PST

AFP - Threats of violence in Cairo have overshadowed the final round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Africa this weekend with three places in South Africa up for grabs.

Seven dead in India train accident: police (AFP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:24 PM PST

AFP - A Delhi-bound express train derailed in the western Indian state of Rajasthan on Saturday, killing seven people and injuring around 26, police said.

China's Hu meets with top Taiwan politician: official

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 07:23 PM PST

SINGAPORE -China's President Hu Jintao met with top Taiwan politician Lien Chan on Saturday, a Chinese official told AFP, in rare talks expected to have covered a landmark trade agreement.

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:22 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Saturday to deepen dialogue with China rather than seek to contain the rising power, as he laid out a vision for greater engagement with a vibrant Asia-Pacific region.

Japan atomic bomb-hit city applauds Obama speech

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:22 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - The mayor of the Japanese city of Nagasaki praised U.S. President Barack Obama's speech laying out his vision for engagement with Asia on Saturday, saying he had paved the way to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

9 killed as speeding train derails in India (AP)

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:25 PM PST

AP - A speeding train derailed in western India early Saturday killing at least nine people and injuring more than 80 others.

Nepal Maoist protests continue

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 01:40 AM PST

Maoist demonstrators blockade government offices in Kathmandu for second day.

Turkey launches Kurd reform plans

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 07:26 PM PST

A peace plan to try to end the conflict in the mainly Kurdish south-east of Turkey has been launched by the country's interior minister.

Yemen's fight with rebels a regional concern

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:00 PM PST

MAZRAQ, YEMEN -- Along the jagged, oatmeal-colored mountains of northern Yemen, civil war has transformed the windswept landscape into a canvas of human misery, bolstering al-Qaeda's efforts to create a haven in the Middle East's poorest nation.

In Japan, Obama stresses Asia's role in U.S. economy

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:00 PM PST

TOKYO -- Declaring himself "America's first Pacific president," President Obama opened his trip to the region Saturday by asserting that the future of the U.S. economy depends more than ever on Asia -- and by pledging that China's growth will not come at the expense of its neighbors.

Sudan's 'trouser lady' continues to fight decency laws

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:00 PM PST

KHARTOUM, SUDAN -- A few months after she was arrested for wearing pants, Lubna Hussein was lounging around her home in a shady, upper-class neighborhood in this capital along the Nile River. It was a hot afternoon, but the 34-year-old Sudanese journalist was wearing thick jeans adorned with sequins...

Alleged Sept. 11 planner will be tried in New York

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:00 PM PST

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and four co-conspirators will be tried in Manhattan federal courthouse less than a mile from Ground Zero, the Justice Department announced Friday, the most concrete demonstration yet of the Obama administration'...

For smug KSM, federal court could be perfect arena

Posted: 13 Nov 2009 09:00 PM PST

When two planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, Khalid Sheik Mohammed was sitting in an Internet cafe in Karachi, Pakistan, monitoring the attacks. At first, Mohammed later told CIA interrogators, he was disappointed. He said that he expected the...