'Mary Mania' as Australia prepares for first saint (AFP)

'Mary Mania' as Australia prepares for first saint (AFP)


'Mary Mania' as Australia prepares for first saint (AFP)

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:46 PM PDT

Giant images of Mary MacKillop who founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph order are projected onto the pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on October 12, 2010. Nationwide celebrations are planned for Sunday's canonisation, with MacKillop's former home town of Penola expecting up to 20,000 worshippers and special masses across the country.(AFP/Torsten Blackwood)AFP - "MacKillop" the musical is playing to sold-out shows, extra nuns are pricing souvenirs and in one town, "MacScallops" are the must-have lunch.



Bomb kills 3 foreign troops in west Afghanistan

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:32 PM PDT

KABUL (Reuters) - A bomb attack in western Afghanistan on Thursday killed three foreign troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the alliance said.


Iran leader to visit south Lebanon

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:42 PM PDT

Iranian president vows to stand by Lebanon against what he called hostilities from Israel.


NATO ministers meet to mull new strategy (AP)

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:07 PM PDT

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks with the media during his monthly press briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Oct. 11, 2010. NATO ministers  will this week consider changes in the alliance's mission statement designed to bridge a rift between the U.S., which favors a greater international role for the alliance, and European nations that want it to retain its traditional defensive focus. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)AP - Foreign and defense ministers from NATO's 28 nations meet Thursday for a historic first joint session, before a summit conference expected to ratify the 62-year-old alliance's new mission statement and other reforms.



Singapore primes policy for volatility like after 9/11 (Reuters)

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:02 PM PDT

Reuters - Singapore widened the trading band for the Singapore dollar on Thursday for the first time since just after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, underlining the depth of its concern about financial markets.


Baby Hope's parents reunite

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 09:25 PM PDT

Ariel Ticona becomes the 32nd miner to be brought to the surface as the Phoenix capsule emerges from the ground.


US soldier 'may be disciplined' for aid worker death (AFP)

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:34 PM PDT

British aid worker Linda Norgrove who was killed during a rescue attempt as she was held hostage in Afghanistan. A US soldier who may have accidentally killed Norgrove is likely to face disciplinary action, a report said Thursday.(AFP/Ho)AFP - A US soldier who may have accidentally killed a British aid worker being held hostage in Afghanistan during a failed rescue attempt is likely to face disciplinary action, a report said Thursday.



Cisco Takes On Social Media

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:29 PM PDT

Cisco seeks to influence and entertain in its corporate presence in social media.


Japan PM: desirable for China to free Nobel winner

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:36 PM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Thursday it would be desirable for China to free Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo but stopped short of an explicit call for his release as Tokyo and Beijing try to repair ties.


Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao talks reform, but most countrymen never get to hear what he says

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 04:29 PM PDT

BEIJING - A group of former Communist Party officials has weighed in on a debate over political reform, censorship and China's premier, bluntly criticizing the party's Central Propaganda Department as an "invisible black hand" powerful enough to censor the prime minister and calling for an end t...


NATO forces facilitate talks between Taliban leaders, top Afghan officials

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 05:34 PM PDT

Momentum toward peace negotiations in Afghanistan appeared to grow Wednesday as a senior NATO official said the military alliance had "facilitated" contacts between senior Taliban members and the "highest levels of the Afghan government."


Dutch court to free Iraq insurgent who plotted to kill Americans

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 05:31 PM PDT

The United States denounced a Dutch court's decision on Wednesday to grant an early release from prison to a Dutch citizen who had been sentenced to a 25-year term for conspiring to kill Americans in Iraq.


Administration expected to appeal 'don't ask' ruling

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:43 PM PDT

The Obama administration, which is seeking repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law, is nevertheless is expected to appeal a ruling by a California federal judge who declared the policy unconstitutional. The administration is also expected to seek a stay of the judge's injunction Tuesday ordering t



Brigade linked to Afghan civilian deaths had aggressive, divergent war strategy

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 07:50 PM PDT

When the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade arrived in Afghanistan, its leader, Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV, openly sneered at the U.S. military's counterinsurgency strategy. The old-school commander barred his officers from even mentioning the term and told shocked U.S. and NATO officials that he was unintere


U.N. could police parts of north-south Sudan border (Reuters)

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:05 PM PDT

Reuters - U.N. peacekeepers could create limited buffer zones in hotspots along the border of north and south Sudan before a referendum on independence is held in the south of the country, Security Council diplomats said on Wednesday.


Dollar falls to fresh 15-year-low against yen (AP)

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:38 PM PDT

AP - The dollar fell to a fresh 15-year-low against the yen in Tokyo on Thursday amid growing speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy next month.


The 100 Most Powerful Bald Men In America

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:07 PM PDT

Shear genius. Why the hell didn?t we think of that list first? The Bald 100: Celebrities: GQ.


Drug Violence Spurs Cemex to Action

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 06:24 PM PDT

Cement giant Cemex is lending a hand in an effort to rescue Monterrey, Mexico's northern business capital, from the drug-related violence that has engulfed it.


Q&A With Lorenzo Zambrano, Owner of Cementos Mexicanos

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 06:28 PM PDT

Lorenzo Zambranois the billionaire owner of Cementos Mexicanos SAB, or Cemex, one of the world's biggest cement firms.


U.N. could police parts of north-south Sudan border

Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:05 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. peacekeepers could create limited buffer zones in hotspots along the border of north and south Sudan before a referendum on independence is held in the south of the country, Security Council diplomats said on Wednesday.