Saudi king's second back operation successful (AP)

Saudi king's second back operation successful (AP)


Saudi king's second back operation successful (AP)

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 10:58 PM PST

AP - Saudi Arabia's royal palace says the kingdom's aging ruler has had a second successful back operation in New York City.


Kyrgyzstan renews attempts to build coalition government

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:27 PM PST

BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's new parliament launched a second attempt to build a coalition government on Saturday, seeking to avoid the need for repeat elections in the volatile Central Asian state.


Hostages at Peru bank freed; two hurt

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:04 PM PST

Two hostages were injured at a bank in Lima, Peru, before a police sniper killed a man who held 33 people there for seven hours, state media reported.


Obama to talk on free trade deal with S. Korea

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 10:29 PM PST

President Barack Obama will make a statement Saturday morning about a new U.S. trade agreement with South Korea, the White House said.


Memos reveal US-Libya standoff over uranium (AP)

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 10:52 PM PST

FILE - Seif al-Islam Gadhafi talks to reporters at the ancient city of Cyrene near the city of al-Bayda, northeastern Libya in this Sept. 10, 2007 file photo. Several leaked U.S. diplomatic  memos speculate on the jockeying for succession to power among the sons of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi — Seif al-Islam, Mutassim and Khamis. The series of memos released by the WikiLeaks website to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which published them in early Dec. 2010.  (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)AP - As it dismantled its nuclear weapons program, Libya sparked a tense diplomatic standoff with the United States last year when it refused to hand over its last batch of highly enriched uranium to protest the slowness of improving ties with Washington, leaked U.S. diplomatic memos reveal.



US, South Korea reach highly coveted trade deal (AP)

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 10:29 PM PST

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2010, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk arrives to meet his South Korean counterpart Kim Jong-hoon at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea. The U.S. and South Korea have reached an agreement on a free trade deal sought by the Obama administration to boost American exports and create tens of thousands of U.S. jobs. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)AP - The U.S. and South Korea have reached an agreement on America's largest trade pact in more than a decade, a highly coveted deal the Obama administration hopes will boost U.S. exports and create tens of thousands of jobs at home.



World news digest

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:46 PM PST

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who is being treated in New York for a blood clot that complicated a slipped disc, has started rehabilitation and his health is "very reassuring," the kingdom's health minister said Sunday.


For Europe, WikiLeaks offers cyberdrama with Julian Assange as main character (The Christian Science Monitor)

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 03:26 PM PST

The Christian Science Monitor - The week of WikiLeaks has not exactly found the French intelligentsia dancing around a bonfire of support for Julian Assange and his disregard for state secrecy.


37 years after escaping killing fields, a Cambodian returns as US Navy commander (The Christian Science Monitor)

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 01:43 PM PST

The Christian Science Monitor - US Navy Cmdr. Michael Misiewicz watched today as relatives prepared to board his destroyer, which was docked a few miles off the shore of Cambodia. He had not seen any of them since he left the Southeast Asian nation as a boy 37 years ago, escaping civil war and the murderous Khmer Rouge.


Dispute over Ivory Coast election result

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:27 PM PST

The opposition candidate in Ivory Coast's presidential election has declared himself the new head of state, despite his election victory being overturned by the Constitutional Council.


Dispute over Ivory Coast election result

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:27 PM PST

The opposition candidate in Ivory Coast's presidential election has declared himself the new head of state, despite his election victory being overturned by the Constitutional Council.


Fury at Ivorian election reversal

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 10:20 PM PST

World leaders criticise court decision to overturn provisional election results and declare incumbent president winner.


Abbas threatens to dissolve PA

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:46 PM PST

President of Palestinian Authority says he may disband his governing body if peace deal with Israel cannot be agreed.


Yemen 'opened door' to US forces

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:09 PM PST

Country's president told Washington it could fight al-Qaeda on its soil, according to WikiLeaks documents.


U.S., S. Korea and Japan to meet on N. Korea

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 07:26 PM PST

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Monday with the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan to discuss North Korea.


U.N. chief makes urgent appeal to fight cholera in Haiti

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 11:49 AM PST

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made an urgent appeal Friday for more money to fight the cholera epidemic in Haiti that has claimed more than 1,800 lives.


WikiLeaks: Some success in Mexico drug war

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 06:32 PM PST

Mexico's war against the drug cartels is frustrated by a risk-averse army and interagency rivalries, according to U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks. But amid some downbeat assessments of the challenges faced by President Felipe Calderon, some of the cables celebrate outstanding successes against the cartel "capos."


Clinton hopes for Iranian turnaround on nukes (AP)

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:05 PM PST

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses a global security summit Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, in Manama, Bahrain. (AP Photo/ Hasan Jamali)AP - Days before a key meeting on Iran's disputed nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Tehran Friday to begin proving its peaceful intentions and warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would lead to a regional arms race.



Release of top Taliban fighters concerns U.S. (Reuters)

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 08:52 PM PST

Reuters - The United States has expressed its concern to the Afghan government about reports Afghan security forces have freed captured senior Taliban for payment or political motives, a U.S. State Department spokesman said on Friday.


Staff no-show hits Spain air travel

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 09:13 PM PST

Thousands stranded as air traffic controllers stay away from work, forcing military to take control of airspace.