Australian foreign minister quits in leadership crisis (Reuters)

Australian foreign minister quits in leadership crisis (Reuters)


Australian foreign minister quits in leadership crisis (Reuters)

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:49 PM PST

Reuters - Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigned his ministry on Wednesday amid speculation he was going to mount a bid to topple Prime Minister Julia Gillard, plunging the nation's minority government into a new crisis.


Australia's Foreign Minister resigns amid dispute (AP)

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:52 PM PST

AP - Australia's foreign minister resigned Wednesday amid an ongoing leadership squabble, saying he could not continue in his role without the support of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.


We Spend How Much On Unneeded Tests?

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 06:01 PM PST

Reuters has a great story on the American College of Physicians efforts to stem medical overuse. Early in the story, it cites a $250 billion figure for the amount wasted on unneeded tests. But then comes this titan of a figure: ?I don?t trust professional societies to do it because that?s how they make money ...


Australian foreign minister quits in leadership crisis

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:52 PM PST

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigned his ministry on Wednesday amid speculation he was going to mount a bid to topple Prime Minister Julia Gillard, plunging the nation's minority government into a new crisis.


VIDEO: New Zealand mourns quake victims

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:18 PM PST

People across New Zealand hold memorial services to remember the 185 who died in the earthquake that devastated central Christchurch a year ago.


Europe's debt crisis set to dominate G20 talks (Reuters)

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:17 PM PST

Reuters - Europe's debt crisis will dominate talks between Group of 20 (G20) policymakers this weekend as the rest of the world looks for pledges that the euro zone will boost its crisis safety net.


300 Cameroon elephants poached

Posted: 20 Feb 2012 04:21 PM PST

Poachers in search of ivory in northern Cameroon have slaughtered nearly 300 elephants for their tusks since mid-January, according to the country's minister of forestry and wildlife.


Comeback Billionaire: How Adelson Dominates Chinese Gambling And U.S. Politics

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:05 PM PST

Near default three years ago, Sheldon Adelson now dominates Chinese gambling--and U.S. politics. Inside his $25 billion comeback


Can We Eat Our Fish and Protect Them Too?

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 04:09 PM PST

It's hard to not feel guilty about eating seafood these days as reports of overfishing and collapsed fisheries abound. Led by a group of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, however, an exciting solution is beginning to emerge, the brainchild of marine ecologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala. Sala spoke to Forbes/Momentum ...


Fears grow of humanitarian crisis in Homs

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:53 PM PST

Activists say lack of food and water in the opposition stronghold Bab Amr is almost as great a threat as the violence.


Israel top court scraps pious Jews' draft exemption

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:03 PM PST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's top court struck down on Tuesday a law designed to encourage ultra-Orthodox Jews to join the military and the workforce, saying it had backfired by "entrenching" their blanket draft exemptions and protracted seminary studies.


Several wounded in Afghan protests over Koran burning (Reuters)

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:42 PM PST

Afghan men stand near pieces of wood and tyres which they set on fire during a protest outside the U.S. military base in Bagram, north of Kabul February 21, 2012. REUTERS/Mohammad IsmailReuters - Several people were wounded on Wednesday, witnesses said, when shots were fired as hundreds of angry Afghans gathered in a second day of violent clashes after copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, were burned at NATO's main base in Afghanistan.



Report: Top aide to Israeli prime minister resigns (AP)

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:37 PM PST

AP - Israeli media say the prime minister's top spokesman has resigned, injecting new turmoil into Benjamin Netanyahu's troubled bureau.


US, NKorea to hold first post-Kim Jong Il talks (AP)

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:20 PM PST

North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, right, arrives at Beijing's Capital International Airport, China, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. North Korea's top nuclear envoy arrived in Beijing ahead of important nuclear talks with the United States later this week. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)AP - The United States and North Korea reopen nuclear talks this week that will provide a glimpse into whether a political transition to Kim Jong Il's young son is going smoothly two months after the longtime North Korean leader's death.



New Zealand remembers 2011 quake victims

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:13 PM PST

Thousands stand in silence in Christchurch park to commemorate first anniversary of earthquake that killed 185 people.


Several wounded in Afghan protests over Koran burning

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:42 PM PST

HUDKHIL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Several people were wounded on Wednesday, witnesses said, when shots were fired as hundreds of angry Afghans gathered in a second day of violent clashes after copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, were burned at NATO's main base in Afghanistan.


In Europe, spending cuts fail to ease debt burdens (AP)

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 09:11 PM PST

AP - Europe has endured the pain of layoffs, wage cuts and tax increases designed to bring government debt under control.


VIDEO: Blues giants play the White House

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 08:55 PM PST

Blues giants including Mick Jagger, and B.B. King, played the blues at special concert held in the White House.


VIDEO: Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 08:45 PM PST

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, celebrates Mardi Gras - or Fat Tuesday - with boisterous street parties and spectacular, choreographed parades.


VIDEO: Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Posted: 21 Feb 2012 08:45 PM PST

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, celebrates Mardi Gras - or Fat Tuesday - with boisterous street parties and spectacular, choreographed parades.