Australian bushfires destroys almost 40 homes

Australian bushfires destroys almost 40 homes
Koreas open new military hotlines
Japan sets long-term economic goals, meets skepticism (Reuters)
Australian bushfires destroys almost 40 homes (Reuters)
S.Korea to trade emissions online from Jan - ministry
British shoppers hunt for Christmas sale bargains (AFP)
Wildfires destroy homes in Australia's west (AP)
Australian wildfire destroys at least 20 homes
Argentina media heirs take DNA tests
Argentina media heirs take DNA tests
Brown writes to Myanmar icon Suu Kyi pledging support (AFP)
UN seeks access to deported Hmong in Laos (AFP)
U.S. eyeing more targeted sanctions against Iran
Court lets Palestinians use major Israeli highway (AP)
Sri Lankan refugees leave Indonesia: official (AFP)
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Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:45 PM PST

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A major bushfire in the west Australian outback has destroyed almost 40 homes, officials said Wednesday, as firefighters end a third month of fighting bushfires across the country.

Koreas open new military hotlines

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:29 PM PST

New fibre-optic cables installed to aid communications over industrial park.

Japan sets long-term economic goals, meets skepticism (Reuters)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:48 PM PST

Reuters - Japan's government said it aimed for economic growth of more than 2 percent over the next decade, but its long-term plan unveiled on Wednesday lacked detail needed to convince investors the goal is realistic.

Australian bushfires destroys almost 40 homes (Reuters)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:45 PM PST

Reuters - A major bushfire in the west Australian outback has destroyed almost 40 homes, officials said Wednesday, as firefighters end a third month of fighting bushfires across the country.

S.Korea to trade emissions online from Jan - ministry

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:36 PM PST

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will launch a pilot carbon emissions trading scheme from January after the environment ministry received applications from 641 public and private organisations, the ministry said on Wednesday.

British shoppers hunt for Christmas sale bargains (AFP)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:19 PM PST

AFP - Recession-hit Britons are rushing to snap up bargains in the traditional post-Christmas sales, but economists warn that a looming tax hike is also fuelling demand -- and could stall economic recovery.

Wildfires destroy homes in Australia's west (AP)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:13 PM PST

AP - Wildfires roared across a swath of western Australia on Wednesday, razing almost 40 homes and sending hundreds of people fleeing for their lives, officials and witnesses said. At least three people were injured.

Australian wildfire destroys at least 20 homes

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 05:07 PM PST

SYDNEY -A raging wildfire in Australia's west has destroyed at least 20 homes and injured three firefighters, officials said Wednesday, evoking bleak memories of devastating fires in February.

Argentina media heirs take DNA tests

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 09:33 PM PST

A judge in Argentina has ordered the heirs to a powerful media empire to take DNA tests to establish whether they are the victims of a forced adoption scheme run by the country's former military rulers.

Argentina media heirs take DNA tests

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 09:33 PM PST

Brown writes to Myanmar icon Suu Kyi pledging support (AFP)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 09:43 PM PST

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown has written a personal letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, pledging his ongoing support for Myanmar's pro-democracy icon and praising her courage.

UN seeks access to deported Hmong in Laos (AFP)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 09:29 PM PST

AFP - The United Nations called for access to thousands of ethnic Hmong deported to communist Laos from neighbouring Thailand as Bangkok insisted Wednesday that the returned people would be treated well.

U.S. eyeing more targeted sanctions against Iran

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 08:51 PM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies are weighing focused sanctions against Iran's leadership rather than broad-based penalties that they fear could harm the protest movement, officials and diplomats said.

Court lets Palestinians use major Israeli highway (AP)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 09:16 PM PST

AP - Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the military to allow Palestinians to travel on the part of a major highway that runs through the West Bank, handing Palestinians their biggest victory yet against Israel's practice of reserving some roads for Jews.

Sri Lankan refugees leave Indonesia: official (AFP)

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 09:17 PM PST

AFP - Forty seven Sri Lankan refugees who spent weeks refusing to leave an Australian customs boat in Indonesia have been sent to Australia and Romania, an Indonesian official said Wednesday.