Australian Wins Snowboarding Gold

Australian Wins Snowboarding Gold
National Trust may buy over Abbey Road studio
Missionary leader faces questions
Expert: Afghan offensive likely first of many
Noriega appeals to U.S. high court to avert extradition to France
UN envoy presses Myanmar ministers on Suu Kyi (AFP)
ElBaradei set for Egypt return
Missionary leader faces questions
Top U.S. Pacific Marine says base must be in Okinawa
South Korea restricts Twitter for poll campaigns
Australia warns Japan to stop whaling
Georgia under increasing fire over media freedoms
US pilot in plane attack on Texas tax office
IMF Urges Emerging-Market Capital Controls
Lysacek Wins Figure Skating Gold
Coe defends Vancouver after criticism (AFP)
Proud Aussie Bright ends US domination (AFP)
China anger at US over Dalai Lama
UN climate chief to step down
Military coup ousts Niger leader

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:27 PM PST

Torah Bright, who carried the Australian flag in the opening ceremonies, won the women's halfpipe event, bringing her country its first gold medal in Vancouver.

National Trust may buy over Abbey Road studio

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:01 PM PST

LONDON – Britain's National Trust, which looks after historic properties for the public good, is thinking of buying London's iconic Abbey Road studio from its debt-ridden owners, the organisation said yesterday.

The trust, a heritage body which manages stately homes, parks and other facilities across the country, responded after

Missionary leader faces questions

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:48 PM PST

The leader of a group of American missionaries charged with kidnapping in Haiti says she is pleased with the judicial process and hopes she will soon be free.

Expert: Afghan offensive likely first of many

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 06:10 PM PST

As U.S., British, and Afghan troops move deeper into insurgent-infested areas of southern Afghanistan, one of the world's leading authorities on the Taliban says the offensive is likely to be the first of many coalition attacks this year and next.

Noriega appeals to U.S. high court to avert extradition to France

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 08:12 PM PST

In what may be former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega's final showdown with the United States, his attorneys have filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to block his extradition to France.

UN envoy presses Myanmar ministers on Suu Kyi (AFP)

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:20 PM PST

AFP - A UN envoy met ministers from Myanmar's junta Friday to press for a meeting with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and discuss human rights ahead of elections this year.

ElBaradei set for Egypt return

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:35 PM PST

Opposition groups hope for hero's welcome for former nuclear watchdog chief.

Missionary leader faces questions

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:48 PM PST

The leader of a group of American missionaries charged with kidnapping in Haiti says she is pleased with the judicial process and hopes she will soon be free.

Top U.S. Pacific Marine says base must be in Okinawa

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:41 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - The top U.S. Marine in the Pacific said on Friday that his forces needed to be based on the southern island of Okinawa for strategic reasons, as Tokyo struggles to resolve a dispute with Washington over relocating a base.

South Korea restricts Twitter for poll campaigns

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:41 PM PST

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea announced controls on Friday on how the microblogging service Twitter can be used during elections, an issue that has some people calling for changes in the country's stringent election law.

Australia warns Japan to stop whaling

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 06:43 PM PST

SYDNEY -Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd bluntly told Japan on Friday to stop hunting whales or face international court action this year, just a day before a visit by Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 05:41 PM PST

TBILISI -Authorities in Georgia are coming under increasing fire for manipulating the media, especially television news, damaging President Mikheil Saakashvili's reputation as a democratic reformer.

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 09:24 AM PST

AUSTIN, Texas -A Texas pilot with an apparent grudge against the US government has flown his single-engine plane into a tax office building, leaving two dead and 13 wounded and setting off a huge fireball.

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 09:26 PM PST

Fund economists, reversing course, urged developing nations to consider using taxes and regulation to moderate vast inflows of capital so they don't produce asset bubbles and other financial calamities.

Lysacek Wins Figure Skating Gold

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 10:33 PM PST

Evan Lysacek won the gold medal in men's figure skating. He is the first American since Brian Boitano in 1988 to take gold. Russia's Yevgeny Plushenko won the silver medal and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi took the bronze.

Coe defends Vancouver after criticism (AFP)

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 09:48 PM PST

AFP - Sebastian Coe, chief of the London 2012 Summer Games, went into bat for the under-fire Vancouver Winter Olympics which have been heavily criticised in the British press.

Proud Aussie Bright ends US domination (AFP)

Posted: 18 Feb 2010 09:35 PM PST

AFP - A proud Torah Bright won Australia's first gold of the Vancouver Games in women's halfpipe, ending long-standing American domination of the sport.