China's Property Battle Not Over

China's Property Battle Not Over


China's Property Battle Not Over

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:47 AM PDT

Chinese data is likely to show still-fast growth and taming the country's real-estate market may prove a challenge despite Beijing's unexpected interest-rate rise this week.


Moscow Permits Small Rally

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:27 PM PDT

Moscow city officials delivered a concession to a growing opposition movement by giving permission for a rally by up to 200 people, just five days after the Kremlin installed a new Moscow mayor.


Fifa suspends two over 'bribery'

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:52 PM PDT

Less than two months before the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosting decisions, Fifa suspends two members on bribery charges.


MoD names killed British soldier

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:01 PM PDT

A British soldier killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan is named by the Ministry of Defence as Acting Corporal David Barnsdale.


Woman, 20, Mexico town's top cop

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 10:52 AM PDT

Marisol Valles Garcia, 20, a criminology student, this week became police chief of Praxedis G. Guerrero, one of the most violent municipalities in the border state of Chihuahua, Mexico.


India to study neutrino particles

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:25 AM PDT

Indian scientists win clearance to build a multi-million dollar observatory deep under hills in the south to study elusive particles called neutrinos.


Opposition says Moscow square rally given go-ahead

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:21 PM PDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leaders on Wednesday said they had received permission to hold a rally on Moscow's central Triumph Square for the first time in years, weeks after the Kremlin dismissed the city's veteran mayor.


After Real Estate Bust, a Legal Remedy for Buyer’s Remorse

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:50 AM PDT

Homebuyers are using a 1968 federal law, originally intended to protect buyers from unscrupulous developers, to back out of deals.


Date Set for American Hiker Trial in Iran

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:08 PM PDT

Two American hikers held in Iranian custody as well as a companion released in September who is now back in the United States will be tried on spying accusations Nov. 6, a lawyer confirmed.


US confirms $60bn Saudi arms deal

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:31 PM PDT

Largest ever US arms sale includes 84 Boeing F-15 fighter jets and more than 100 attack helicopters.


Chavez And Ahmadinejad Say United to Change World Order

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:40 AM PDT

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Venezuelan counterpart on Wednesday they would defeat their common foes, the latest defiant salvo against Western countries that he says are failing in their attempts to isolate Iran.


Fifa suspends duo over vote claim

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:12 AM PDT

Fifa provisionally suspends officials Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii over allegations of corruption.


Malaysia tightens faith healer controls

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:58 AM PDT

Faith healing has played a part in medicine in Malaysia for centuries, but health officials are afraid some patients are being cheated.


Palestinians Consider Shift in Strategy on Statehood

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:40 AM PDT

The Palestinian leadership, despairing of attaining a negotiated agreement with Israel, is focusing on how to get international bodies to declare a Palestinian state.


Spanish PM orders cabinet reshuffle

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 09:12 AM PDT

Zapatero names new foreign minister and deputy while scrapping two ministries in attempt to boost popularity ratings.


S Korea arrests 'N Korean agent'

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:43 AM PDT

Alleged agent detained on suspicion of plotting to kill high-profile defector Hwang Jang-yop, who died of heart failure.


Canada murder pilot horror heard

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:53 AM PDT

The horrific details of murders committed by a senior Canadian air force officer, Col Russell Williams, are revealed at a sentencing hearing.


Belgian convicted in rival's parachute death dive

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:38 AM PDT

TONGEREN, Belgium (Reuters) - A Belgian woman was convicted on Wednesday of murdering a fellow skydiver and love rival who plunged to her death four years ago after her parachute was sabotaged.


Chavez and Ahmadinejad say united to change world order

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:26 AM PDT

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Venezuelan counterpart on Wednesday they would defeat their common foes, the latest defiant salvo against Western countries that he says are failing in their attempts to isolate Iran.


New Requirements for New York Foreclosure Lawyers

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 11:29 AM PDT

New York's chief judge issued a rule requiring lawyers handling foreclosure in the state to verify to the courts that all their paperwork is accurate.


Planes to France to carry double fuel

Planes to France to carry double fuel


Planes to France to carry double fuel

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 11:37 PM PDT

France is facing yet more severe disruption as airlines flying in to the country are being told to carry enough fuel for the return journey.


Injuries after Italy rubbish protests

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:41 PM PDT

Italian police said three officers were injured breaching a protest blockade to deliver rubbish from Naples to a dump in the nearby town of Terzigno.


‘Super typhoon’ regains strength, takes aim for China

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 11:57 PM PDT

HONG KONG, Oct 20 — A "super typhoon" regained strength and headed for southern China today after wreaking havoc across the northern Philippines, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 11 people. Chinese ports called in vessels as Typhoon Megi looked set to make landfall east of Hong Kong, one of the most crowded cities on Earth and ...


Wedding bells for five of Chile’s rescued miners

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 11:46 PM PDT

COPIAPO, Chile, Oct 20 — Five of Chile's 33 rescued miners are to have church weddings, in some cases more than 20 years after they first tied the knot, inspired by their survival after two-months trapped underground after a cave-in. On bended knee, the miners proposed to their wives and girlfriends at a party in the seaside town of Caldera in far ...


Australia police serve court order via Facebook

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 03:08 PM PDT

SYDNEY: Australian police served a court order on an alleged cyber bully using the social networking site Facebook, officials said today, describing it as a national first.

Victoria police got court approval to use the site after attempts to serve the order in person, over the telephone or via the post failed.

The "prolific" Facebook user was accused of, among other things, using the site to harrass, bully and threaten another person, and police said they transcribed all the court documents and sent them to his Facebook inbox.

A video was also made of the order being read "as if the Respondent was being directly spoken to" and sent electronically to him.

"He stated that he understood the seriousness of the orders, having read... documents served via the social media website and agreed to comply, stating that he would delete his Facebook profile," a police statement said.

"In this instance we were able to deliver justice through the same medium as the crime committed," said leading senior constable Stuart Walton, the officer in charge of the investigation.

"Police will always pursue traditional means to enforce the law and to protect the community, but we won't shy away from innovative methods to achieve positive outcomes either."

In 2008 an Australian lawyer won the right to serve legal documents via Facebook, the same year a Sydney court allowed lawyers to serve rugby player Sonny Bill Williams with a subpoena via SMS text message.

Australia, with a population of 22.5 million, has almost nine million Facebook users.

- AFP


Piracy on the rise in Asia

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:07 AM PDT

Piracy is on the rise in Asia, and reports show that incidents have increased 60% last year, wth pirates becoming more violent

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"Super typhoon" regains strength, takes aim for China

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:15 AM PDT

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A "super typhoon" regained strength and headed for southern China on Wednesday after wreaking havoc across the northern Philippines, destroying thousands of homes and killing at least 11 people.


Britain to slash welfare in austerity gamble

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 12:15 AM PDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will on Wednesday take an axe to its welfare state as part of an 80 billion-pound cut in public spending that could seal the fate of both the economy and the coalition government.


China says in no rush to talk politics with Taiwan

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 11:54 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is in no rush to begin talks with historic rival Taiwan over sensitive military or political issues, Beijing's top man in charge of policy towards the self-ruled island was quoted as saying on Wednesday.


Heaven on Earth

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:47 PM PDT

Built in 1692, the Taktsang Dzong or Tiger's Nest monastery near Paro, Bhutan, was constructed around a cave where Guru Padmasambhava, credited with introducing Buddhism to Bhutan, is said to have meditated for three months in the 8th century.

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Australia police serve court order via Facebook

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:42 PM PDT

SYDNEY, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - Australian police served a court order on an alleged cyber bully using the social networking site Facebook, officials said Wednesday, describing it as a national first.

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Chinese mother beats daughter, 5, to death over poem

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:41 PM PDT

BEIJING, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - A woman who beat her five-year-old daughter to death while trying to get her to memorise a poem has been spared jail by a Chinese court, state press said Wednesday.

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Indonesia must investigate torture video: Amnesty

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:41 PM PDT

JAKARTA, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - Amnesty International on Wednesday demanded Indonesia investigate allegations of torture by security forces in restive Papua province.

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Two Koreas exchange names for family reunions

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:40 PM PDT

SEOUL, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - North and South Korea Wednesday wrapped up preparations for resuming reunions of families separated by war 60 years ago, a move which could help improve acrimonious cross-border relations.

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Mumbai university book ban sparks free speech fears in India

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:38 PM PDT

MUMBAI, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - Writers, filmmakers and social commentators have expressed fears about freedom of speech in India after hardline Hindu activists forced an award-winning book to be taken off a university syllabus.

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Tibetans protest over Chinese-language rules: rights group

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:36 PM PDT

BEIJING, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - Thousands of Tibetan students have staged protests in northwestern China, angry at being forced to study in the Chinese language, a London-based rights group said.

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Catholic pub opens in historic Rome crypt

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:36 PM PDT

ROME, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - The beer is cheap, the waiters are talkative and the music is 1960s Motown -- but the new pub that opened its doors this week in a historic crypt in central Rome is not really like any other.

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Namibia's Himba embrace tourism, with little profit

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:31 PM PDT

OHUNGUMURE, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - Their bare-chested bodies painted with rich ochre-red colours, Himba women sing and dance in villages untouched by modernity since their ancestors settled on the Angola-Namibia border 200 years ago.

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China ties cause widening income gap in Taiwan

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:28 PM PDT

TAIPEI, Wednesday 20 October 2010 (AFP) - Taiwan was one of Asia's most equitable societies, but closer ties with China have changed the rules of the game, benefiting some at the expense of others and causing a widening income gap.

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Wedding bells for five of Chile's rescued miners

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 10:48 PM PDT

COPIAPO, Chile (Reuters) - Five of Chile's 33 rescued miners are to have church weddings, in some cases more than 20 years after they first tied the knot, inspired by their survival after two-months trapped underground after a cave-in.