Pope presides over final general audience

Pope presides over final general audience

Pope presides over final general audience

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 11:06 PM PST

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI is preparing for his final general audience, the weekly appointment he kept with the faithful and tourists to teach them about the Catholic faith.

Kenyan city fears violence re-run ahead of tight vote

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 11:10 PM PST

KISUMU, Kenya (Reuters) - Some businesses in Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city, have reduced stock or closed ahead of Monday's presidential elections for fear of a repeat of the tribal violence that killed more than 1,200 people at the last such vote five years ago.

VIDEO: Syria destruction alarms aid agencies

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:39 PM PST

Aid agencies say they are shocked and appalled by the number of children killed in Syria last week.

Kurdish rebel leader sees August withdrawal from Turkey: media

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:15 PM PST

A flag with the portrait of jailed PKK leader Ocalan is seen in front of the entrance of the Information Centre of Kurdistan in ParisISTANBUL (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan envisages the withdrawal of his fighters from Turkey by August under a draft peace plan sent to his group's leadership and Kurdish politicians, media reports said on Wednesday. Held in an island jail since his capture in 1999, Ocalan has been negotiating with Turkey's government since October the outlines of a deal to end a conflict which has killed 40,000 people since his fighters took up arms in 1984. ...

NZ man fatally attacked by shark, police open fire

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:52 PM PST

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A New Zealand man was attacked and killed by a great white shark on Wednesday in a rare fatal shark incident in the country, prompting police to open fire. Police said they fired shots at the shark after a man was fatally bitten at Muriwai beach located around 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Auckland, one of many beaches dotted along the North Island's west coast that are known for their wild surf. Rescue crews were quoted by local media as saying the shark was a "white pointer", commonly known as a great white, measuring roughly 4 meters (13 feet) long. ...

Head of Mexico's powerful teachers' union jailed

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:54 PM PST

FILE - This May 12, 2003 file photo shows Elba Esther Gordillo, then secretary general of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) speaks at a news conference with foreign correspondents in Mexico City. Gordillo, the head of Mexico's powerful teachers' union, was arrested at an airport outside Mexico City on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, for alleged embezzlement, with federal officials accusing her using union funds to pay for plastic surgery, buy a private plane and even pay her bill at Neiman Marcus. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)MEXICO CITY (AP) — One of Mexico's biggest political kingfish sits in a women's prison in the capital, accused of embezzling millions in funds from her teachers' union to pay for property, private planes, plastic surgery and her Neiman Marcus bill.

Israel returns 6 wounded to Syria after treatment

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:41 PM PST

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says six wounded Syrians have been returned to their country after receiving medical treatment in Israel.

NZ man fatally attacked by shark, police open fire

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:52 PM PST

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A New Zealand man was attacked and killed by a great white shark on Wednesday in a rare fatal shark incident in the country, prompting police to open fire.

Australia cyclone upgraded as winds hit coast

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:32 PM PST

Cyclone Rusty upgraded to category four, as country's mining belt braces for more rains and destructive winds.

Badges Lend Gravitas To Free Education Revolution

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:35 PM PST

Just over a year ago, I wrote a column about badges, those digital displays of hyper-focused competency that migrated from foursquare, gaming, and e-commerce to education. I noted then that badges "won't supplant transcripts, majors, degrees, and resumes anytime soon," but that "they are a free or low-cost way in which job-seekers can demonstrate hyper-specialized competency in lieu of, or as an adjunct to, a certificate or diploma." I also mentioned in an earlier piece on MITx that badges might be a way for a free online Massive Open Online Course (or MOOC) to verify competency.

Getting the Right People into the Right Seats on the Bus is Essential to a Company's Success

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:29 PM PST

Behind every company, whether it's a multinational corporation or the smallest startup, is an intersection of talent. Each person is uniquely capable of performing their job: the company spokesperson is a gifted public speaker; the administrative assistant is a master multi-tasker; and the CEO is excellent at setting the vision and leading the team.

EA Implements 'Single Identity' System (and Data Tracking) Across All Platforms

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:18 PM PST

According to Venture Beat, EA has employed 1500 engineers over eighteen month to create a single ID system, Single Identity, which will unify all their games across every platform: PC, Xbox, PS3, even iOS and Facebook. Intrigued, I talked to an EA representative to learn more of this new system and what it will mean for EA…and for gamers. Okay, to be honest, my first thought was, "OMG, I can play my game on both the Xbox and the PS3."

Australian Muslim activists lose free speech case

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:28 PM PST

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's highest court on Wednesday narrowly rejected the case of two Muslim activists who argued they had a constitutional free-speech right to send offensive letters to families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Israel repatriates six Syrians treated for civil war wounds

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 09:53 PM PST

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad heads a cabinet meeting in DamascusJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel repatriated on Wednesday six of seven Syrians after treating them for wounds suffered in the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad, the Israeli military said. Israel admitted the Syrians on February 16 through the occupied Golan Heights, whose eastern foothills have seen fighting between Assad's forces and rebels. Israeli officials gave no further details on the casualties' identities. A military spokeswoman said six of them were discharged from hospital and returned to Syria on Wednesday. ...

Parties may struggle to form government in Italy

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 09:53 PM PST

Democratic Party leader Pierluigi Bersani leaves after a press conference in Rome, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Italy emerged from elections Tuesday with no clear winner, driving markets around the world markedly lower as investors worried that one of Europe's biggest economies would be unable to build a governing coalition that can stay the course on unpopular austerity measures. A day after polling ended, a few seats in Parliament based on Italians' voting abroad still remained to be decided, but their numbers won't ease the gridlock. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)ROME (AP) — A center-left group of parties appears to have the best shot at forming a coalition government in Italy after an inconclusive national election, but the challenge is steep and comes amid public anger over austerity measures.

Fire at illegal market In India kills at least 18

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:18 PM PST

KOLKATA, India (AP) — A fire broke out at an illegal six-story plastics market in the Indian city of Kolkata early Wednesday morning, killing at least 18 people, police said.

Kurdish rebel leader sees August withdrawal from Turkey: media

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 10:15 PM PST

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan envisages the withdrawal of his fighters from Turkey by August under a draft peace plan sent to his group's leadership and Kurdish politicians, media reports said on Wednesday.

VIDEO: Tourists watch balloon tragedy unfold

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 02:06 PM PST

A tourist in a hot air balloon over Luxor, Egypt, caught the moment another balloon caught fire and plunged to the ground, killing 19 people.

Could TiVo And Roku Beat Apple To TV Nirvana?

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 09:58 PM PST

Fifth in a series.

FDA Wants to Regulate Drug Firms on the Internet. Its Targeting Facebook "Likes"

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 09:56 PM PST

The Food and Drug Administration is expanding its regulation of the Internet.
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Ivory Coast soldiers killing rivals, attacked camp: Amnesty

Ivory Coast soldiers killing rivals, attacked camp: Amnesty

Ivory Coast soldiers killing rivals, attacked camp: Amnesty

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:40 PM PST

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivorian soldiers and allied militias are killing and torturing supporters of ousted president Laurent Gbagbo and took part in a deadly attack on a camp housing displaced civilians, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Car bomb hits northern Mali town of Kidal: sources

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:25 PM PST

BAMAKO (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded in the remote northern Malian town of Kidal on Tuesday, Malian military and Tuareg rebel sources said, the second such attack in the town in recent days as Islamist rebels step up a guerrilla campaign.

Sri Lanka security rape, torture Tamil detainees: HRW

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:31 PM PST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's security forces have used rape to torture and extract confessions from suspected Tamil separatists almost four years after the country's civil war ended, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday.

Chinatown Bus Operator Fung Wah Is Ordered to Shut Down

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 11:46 AM PST

Investigators will conduct a thorough safety review of Fung Wah Bus Transportation, one of the first bus companies in Chinatown to offer deep discounts.

Rare killing of US prison guard

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:12 PM PST

An inmate at a high-security Pennsylvania prison kills a guard, the first time a federal officer has died on the job in almost five years.

Low hopes for Rome talks over Syria

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:11 PM PST

Jim Muir on why change of heart on Syria talks was inevitable

Instagrams from within North Korea lift the veil, but only slightly

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:07 PM PST

This photo by AP Korean bureau chief Jean H. Lee has rocketed around the Internet this week, and for good reason. It's one of the first Instagrams posted since North Korea enabled 3G access for foreigners this week.

Read full article >>

Chinese Intellectuals Urge Ratification of Rights Treaty

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:10 PM PST

More than 100 scholars, journalists, lawyers and writers signed a petition calling on the National People's Congress to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

New York Uncovers Offending Mural for Brief Public Views

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:28 PM PST

"The Genius of America," which was installed in a New York State building in the mid-20th century but later hidden after objections to its depiction of a slave, is now available on a limited basis.

U.K. Tries to Censor Data on Ex-KGB Agent's Death

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:46 PM PST

The British government is seeking to withhold certain documents from a coroner's inquest into the fatal 2006 poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Italy seeks path out of election impasse

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:03 PM PST

Political parties must confront election deadlock that has spooked financial markets and sent shockwaves across Europe.

Testimony begins in BP oil spill trial

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 01:03 PM PST

Expert tells court BP fostered culture that put cost-cutting over safety before deadly 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

Flogging sentence for Maldives girl

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:26 PM PST

A 15-year-old rape victim has been sentenced to 100 lashes for engaging in premarital sex with another man, say court officials in the Maldives.

How China and the U.S. misunderstand one another

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:33 PM PST

Fellow Washington Post blogger and Great Wall Szechuan House enthusiast Ezra Klein has a great post on what China's hackers got wrong about Washington. Like many of the city's own denizens, he writes, the hackers seemed to assume that there must be some sort of top-down master plan, which they actively sought to uncover, driving policy and politics here. Part of that may have been a product of the hackers (or, presumably, their allegedly military bosses) buying into Washington's myth of itself, and part may have been China perceiving and misperceiving the American system through the lens of its own.

Read full article >>

Hawkish Chinese general goes a little overboard on social media

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST

One of China's more hawkish generals waded into the melee of Weibo (China's Twitter) last week, but the masses appear to have shouted him down.

Major General Luo Yuan of the People's Liberation Army drew more than 237,000 followers in his first few days on Sina Weibo, and his first Weibo post drew more than 33,700 comments, reports the Sydney Morning-Herald. But while the general's nationalistic bent has been popular with conservatives and military enthusiasts, China's "netizens," who sometimes lean more liberal, haven't cheered him.

Read full article >>

Flogging sentence for Maldives girl

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:26 PM PST

A 15-year-old rape victim has been sentenced to 100 lashes for engaging in premarital sex with another man, say court officials in the Maldives.

Fire deaths mortuary 'a circus'

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 11:11 AM PST

A court hears a mortuary visit by the mother and father accused of killing their six children in a house fire was "like a circus".

Pig Rescues Goat, and the Video Is Really Cute, but Totally Faked

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 08:27 AM PST

An adorable animal video on YouTube proved irresistible to several news programs, but its dramatic rescue of a baby goat was staged.

Most Venezuelans think Chavez will recover: poll

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 12:12 PM PST

CARACAS (Reuters) - Most Venezuelans expect President Hugo Chavez to recover from cancer and return to active rule even though he has been in hospital and virtually unseen for two-and-a-half months, a poll showed on Tuesday.

Obama Takes Budget Warnings to Shipbuilder

Posted: 26 Feb 2013 11:24 AM PST

President Obama on Tuesday stood in the facility that builds the country's aircraft carriers to warn that cuts in the Pentagon budget threaten tens of thousands of jobs.
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