|  US sniper execution appeal denied   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:48 PM PST The US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal for a stay of execution from lawyers for the man behind the 2002 sniper attacks in Washington DC.   
 
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  |  PM in row over letter to dead soldier's mother      (AFP)   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:32 PM PST  AFP - Gordon Brown was on Tuesday embroiled in a row with the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan, after he telephoned her to apologise for a handwritten letter of condolence.
  
 
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  |  Marine base debate clouds US-Japan relations      (AP)   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:52 PM PST AP - The deepening debate over the future of a major U.S. Marine base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa has opened a broad rift in Washington's most important alliance in Asia ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the region this week.   
 
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  |  Australian students 'pro-rape' Facebook scandal      (AFP)   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:41 PM PST  AFP - Members of an elite Australian college linked to Sydney University provoked outrage Tuesday after it was revealed they had set up a "pro-rape" group on social networking site Facebook.
  
 
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  |  Ousted Thai PM lands in new storm   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:47 PM PST Former PM Thaksin stirs up fresh controversy as he takes up Cambodian advisory role.   
 
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  |  Fort Hood suspect contacted Islamist -sources   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:48 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies learned an Army psychiatrist contacted an Islamist sympathetic to al Qaeda and they relayed the information to authorities before the man allegedly went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people in Texas last week, U.S. officials said on Monday.   
 
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  |  Two Koreas in brief naval clash; no casualties   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:48 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korea's navies clashed briefly in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, just ahead of a visit to Asia this week by U.S. President Barack Obama, in an incident that left a northern vessel damaged.   
 
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  |  Ousted Thai premier Thaksin arrives in Cambodia   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:48 PM PST PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, wanted at home for a graft conviction, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday to take up a job offer from the government that has set off a diplomatic row with Bangkok.   
 
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  |  TIMELINE - Major incidents along border of rival Koreas   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:48 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea increased regional tension just ahead of a trip to Asia this week by U.S President Barack Obama by sparking a small-scale naval skirmish with the South on Tuesday.   
 
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  |  Toppled Thai leader arrives in Cambodia      (AP)   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:23 PM PST  AP - Thailand's fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived Tuesday in Cambodia following his appointment as economic adviser to the government, fueling tensions between the neighboring countries.
  
 
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  |  Rio Tinto wants to work with Chinalco: chief      (AFP)   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 09:55 PM PST  AFP - Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto said Tuesday it was interested in collaborating with Chinalco, months after rejecting a massive cash injection from the state-owned Chinese firm.
  
 
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  |  Obama says not soft-pedaling China rights issue   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:20 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday rejected criticism that he was giving short shrift to human rights issues in his approach toward China.   
 
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  |  Japan aid to Afghanistan ahead of Obama visit   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:20 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said on Tuesday it would give Afghanistan up to $5 billion in new aid, a package Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama hopes will improve strained security ties with Washington ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit this week.   
 
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  |  FEATURE - Climate change makes English winemakers see red   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 10:20 PM PST DORKING, England (Reuters) - The pickers working their way along the hillside, clipping bunches of small, dark purple grapes from the rows of vines and dropping them into plastic buckets are harbingers of a warmer planet.   
 
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  |  Military to try Fort Hood suspect   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 09:39 PM PST Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 people to be tried in military court.   
 
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  |  French envoy meets with NKorean foreign minister      (AP)   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 09:40 PM PST AP - The French president's special envoy on North Korea held talks Tuesday with the country's foreign minister during a visit to Pyongyang to explore the possibility of establishing diplomatic ties with the communist regime.   
 
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  |  Fort Hood suspect contacted Islamist - sources   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 09:48 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies learned an Army psychiatrist contacted an Islamist sympathetic to al Qaeda and that the information was relayed to authorities before the man allegedly went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people in Texas last week, U.S. officials said on Monday.   
 
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  |  ANALYSIS - North Korea takes calculated step for attention   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 09:48 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea increased regional tension just ahead of a trip to Asia this week by U.S. President Barack Obama by sparking a small-scale naval skirmish with the South on Tuesday.   
 
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  |  Venezuela keeps up war of words with Colombia   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 09:48 PM PST CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela stoked a diplomatic feud with Colombia on Monday by accusing its South American neighbor of "lies" and "hypocrisy" in a growing dispute that is threatening trade and regional stability.   
 
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  |  U.S.: No Afghan troop decision made   Posted: 09 Nov 2009 08:51 PM PST White House National Security Adviser Retired Gen. Jim Jones issued a rare public statement on Monday vehemently denying media reports that suggest U.S. President Barack Obama has privately decided to send close to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.    
 
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