VIDEO: Inside Tunisian grand palace

VIDEO: Inside Tunisian grand palace


VIDEO: Inside Tunisian grand palace

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:31 PM PST

The BBC's Lyse Doucet has gained rare access to one of the grand palaces lived in by deposed Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Analysis: Franco-German chill reshuffles cards in Europe

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:58 PM PST

France's President Hollande walks past Germany's Chancellor Merkel during European Union leaders summit in BrusselsPARIS (Reuters) - A chill has settled over the Rhine seven months after the election of Socialist French President Francois Hollande, reshuffling the cards in Europe's perpetual power game. The cooling of traditionally close Franco-German relations was partly an intentional step by Hollande to demonstrate that he is not in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's pocket but wants to change the policy direction of the European Union. It also reflects a fraught process of rebalancing power to accommodate Germany's greater political heft and economic clout. ...


Eight killed as Taliban suicide bombers attack Pakistan police station

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:00 PM PST

Security forces stand at the site of a suicide bomb blast in BannuDERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Four Taliban suicide bombers attacked a police station in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least eight police and local residents, security officials said. The Pakistan Taliban took responsibility for the attack near Bannu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, close to the border with Afghanistan, a hotbed of insurgency where attacks on security forces are common. "Three suicide bombers blew themselves up, while one was shot by police before he could blow himself up," an intelligence source said. ...


Analysis: North Korea a looming problem for whoever wins South vote

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:29 PM PST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Thrice Three-Revolution Red Flag Kamnamu Company under in PyongyangSEOUL (Reuters) - Whoever wins South Korea's December 19 presidential election will likely find that spiky and unpredictable North Korea is as ready to strike as it is to negotiate. The main contenders in the South's election have said they would hold talks with Kim Jong-un, the youthful ruler of one of the world's most heavily armed states, in a bid to end the chill that has descended on relations under South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak, whose mandatory single term ends in February. ...


Italy's Monti says his political future unclear: press

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:45 PM PST

Italy's Prime Minister Monti gestures at the World Policy Conference in CannesMILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who said on Saturday he would resign as soon as the country's budget for 2013 is approved, told daily La Repubblica he does not know what his political future is. "I don't know," he was quoted as saying in an article published on Monday. "If I had to ...describe my feelings today, I would say that I am very concerned." Monti has previously said he would not stand in the next election, now expected to take place in February. But potential allies among smaller centrist groups note he has not definitely closed the door on the idea either. ...


Analysis: Franco-German chill reshuffles cards in Europe

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:58 PM PST

PARIS (Reuters) - A chill has settled over the Rhine seven months after the election of Socialist French President Francois Hollande, reshuffling the cards in Europe's perpetual power game.

Eight killed as Taliban suicide bombers attack Pakistan police station

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:00 PM PST

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Four Taliban suicide bombers attacked a police station in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least eight police and local residents, security officials said.

Italy's Monti says his political future unclear: press

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:46 PM PST

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who said on Saturday he would resign as soon as the country's budget for 2013 is approved, told daily La Repubblica he does not know what his political future is.

Egypt's opposition calls for more protests

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:02 PM PST

Coalition of opposition parties calls for demonstrations against President Morsi's plans for vote on draft constitution.

VIDEO: President declared Ghana winner

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:02 PM PST

Ghana's presidential election has been won by incumbent President John Mahama, the electoral commission has announced.

Taliban attack Pakistan police station, kill 6

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:05 PM PST

Taliban militants armed with a rocket, hand grenades and automatic weapons attacked a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing six people, police said.

Two officials assassinated in Afghanistan

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:11 PM PST

Nimroz province police chief killed in roadside bombing, while gunmen shoot dead women's affairs official in Laghman.

VIDEO: Postcards from the Arab uprising

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 04:08 PM PST

Two years on from the start of the Arab uprising, people in Lebanon, Jordan and Algeria talk about how the events have changed their countries.

North Korea repairs faulty rocket for launch

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:57 PM PST

Iranian missile experts help replace a faulty section of a long-range rocket, a South Korean newspaper reports.

Nigeria finance minister's mother kidnapped

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:52 PM PST

It is not clear if the motive behind the abduction of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's mother was political or ransom-seeking.

VIDEO: Washington same-sex couples marry

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:08 PM PST

Scores of same-sex couples in Washington State have taken their wedding vows, after a voter-approved gay marriage law came into effect.

Analysis: North Korea a looming problem for whoever wins South vote

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:29 PM PST

SEOUL (Reuters) - Whoever wins South Korea's December 19 presidential election will likely find that spiky and unpredictable North Korea is as ready to strike as it is to negotiate.

No sign of imminent rocket launch in North Korea

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:46 PM PST

FILE - In this April 8, 2012, file photo, a North Korean soldier salutes in front of the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. North Korea may postpone the controversial launch of a long-range rocket that had been slated for liftoff as early as Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, North Korean state media said Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. North Korea announced earlier this month that it would launch a three-stage rocket mounted with a satellite from its Sohae station southeast of Sinuiju sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)North Korea held off launching a long-range rocket Monday, the first day of a 13-day window during a frigid, snowy stretch of winter weather, a day after announcing it may delay the controversial liftoff.


Bomb kills Afghan provincial police chief

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:43 PM PST

Afghan police say a roadside bombing has killed the police chief of a southern province.

Philippines, leftist rebels declare truces in disaster areas

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 09:10 PM PST

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippine government and Maoist rebels have declared truces in two southern provinces devastated by a typhoon last week as the army concentrates on relief and many rebels recover from the disaster, a commander said on Monday.

Analysis: As China's clout grows, sea policy proves unfathomable

Analysis: As China's clout grows, sea policy proves unfathomable


Analysis: As China's clout grows, sea policy proves unfathomable

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 01:05 PM PST

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Imagine if the U.S. state of Hawaii passed a law allowing harbor police to board and seize foreign boats operating up to 1,000 km (600 miles) from Honolulu.

Analysis: North Korea a looming problem for whoever wins South vote

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 01:08 PM PST

SEOUL (Reuters) - Whoever wins South Korea's December 19 presidential election will likely find that spiky and unpredictable North Korea is as ready to strike as it is to negotiate.

Messi breaks goal-scoring record

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST

Lionel Messi scores his 86th goal of 2012 to break Gerd Mueller's record for most goals in a calendar year.

Morsi’s Concessions Fail to Quiet Egyptian Opponents

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:54 PM PST

President Mohamed Morsi reportedly issued an order placing security over government institutions in the hands of the military until after a constitutional referendum on Saturday.

News Analysis: Stage Is Set for Turmoil in Italy

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:54 PM PST

Mario Monti's surprise announcement late Saturday that he would step down as prime minister raised the prospect of more upheaval for Europe's third-largest economy.

The night Italy's coalition fell

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:36 PM PST

David Willey on how Italy's crisis was previewed at La Scala

Ghana opposition cries foul ahead of election results

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:32 PM PST

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's main opposition party said on Sunday the country's presidential and parliamentary election had been rigged by electoral workers, raising concerns of unrest in a nation seen as a bulwark of African democracy.

Romania government headed for parliament majority

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:35 PM PST

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Exit polls showed Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta's alliance won a clear victory in a Sunday election, putting him in a strong position in a power struggle with the rightist president.

Fear of Fighting Haunts Once-Tranquil Damascus

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:50 PM PST

Through decades of political repression, the Syrian capital has maintained a sense of peace, but nearby fighting has rattled residents, making them afraid to leave their neighborhoods.

Philippine typhoon havoc 'getting worse'

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:08 PM PST

Hundreds of fishermen still missing as aid groups say up to five million people have been affected by Bopha.

U.S. Drone Strike Kills a Senior Al Qaeda Commander

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:25 AM PST

The militant, Abdel Rehman al-Hussainan, died in a missile attack on a house in North Waziristan, along the border with Afghanistan.

Casamance rebels free eight Senegalese prisoners

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:27 AM PST

DAKAR (Reuters) - Separatist rebels in the south of Senegal released eight prisoners on Sunday in a first positive result from renewed peace talks seeking to end a three-decade-old, low-intensity conflict in the Casamance region.

Nigerian finance minister's mother kidnapped

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:25 AM PST

ABUJA (Reuters) - Kidnappers snatched the mother of Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala near her home in southeast Nigeria on Sunday, security sources said.

Romania governing alliance set for majority - exit polls

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:31 AM PST

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's leftist governing Social Liberal Union (USL) won 54-57 percent of votes in a parliamentary election and is headed for a majority of seats, two exit polls showed on Sunday.

U.S. Drone Strike Kills a Senior Al Qaeda Commander

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 11:25 AM PST

The militant, Abdel Rehman al-Hussainan, died in a missile attack on a house in North Waziristan, along the border with Afghanistan.

Philippine typhoon havoc 'getting worse'

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 12:08 PM PST

Hundreds of fishermen still missing as aid groups say up to five million people have been affected by Bopha.

West Ham 2-3 Liverpool

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:28 AM PST

Liverpool score two goals in three second-half minutes as they fight back from 2-1 down to beat West Ham.

City Room: Tom Wolfe Would Hardly Recognize The Bronx Today

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST

Twenty-five years after the publication of Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities,'' the South Bronx depicted in the book has changed.

Senior al Qaeda leader killed, officials say

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:27 AM PST

A senior al Qaeda leader was killed in a drone strike Thursday in Pakistan, two of the country's intelligence officials told CNN on Sunday.

IHT Rendezvous: 'Fragile' Australian Radio Hosts Get Counseling After Nurse's Death

Posted: 09 Dec 2012 10:16 AM PST

Anger continued to swirl around a hoax call made to a London hospital by two Australian radio hosts who talked their way past a nurse to get a medical update on Kate Middleton. Three days later, the nurse was found dead in an apparent suicide. But some Australians are also defending the hosts, who are said to be "shattered" by the uproar.