Israel under pressure as talks prospects fade ( March 11th, 2010 )
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP)
Prospects for indirect peace talks lay in tatters on Thursday after the Palestinians said they would not negotiate with Israel unless it reversed plans to build 1,600 settler homes in east Jerusalem.
The move came following a similar decision by the Arab League as international pressure mounted on Israel after the project was [...]
New Chile president takes on rebuilding challenge ( March 11th, 2010 )
SANTIAGO (AFP)
Tycoon Sebastian Pinera takes over the presidency of Chile on Thursday faced with the challenge of rebuilding a nation devastated by one of strongest ever recorded earthquakes and a tsunami.
Popular outgoing President Michelle Bachelet will hand over to Pinera at 12:00 pm (1500 GMT) at the seat of Congress in Valparaiso, 120 kilometers (75 [...]
Myanmar annuls Suu Kyi’s 1990 election win ( March 11th, 2010 )
YANGON (AFP)
Myanmar’s ruling junta has used new election laws to officially annul the result of polls in 1990 that were won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party, state media said Thursday.
The regime is planning to hold elections later this year, the first in the country since Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy swept to [...]
Greece braces for another general strike ( March 11th, 2010 )
ATHENS (AFP)
Thousands of Greek workers were due to strike Thursday, the second such protest in two weeks over the socialist government’s austerity plan to solve the country’s debt crisis.
Government offices, public hospitals and schools were to close as more than a million people were called out on strike and urged to join street protests.
They will [...]
Thailand deploys 50,000-strong force ahead of protests ( March 11th, 2010 )
BANGKOK (AFP)
Thai authorities Thursday began deploying 50,000 troops on the streets of Bangkok ahead of rallies by anti-government protesters that they fear could turn violent, the deputy prime minister said.
The demonstrations by the so-called “Red Shirts”, who support fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, begins Friday — two weeks after the kingdom’s top court confiscated 1.4 [...]
King Abdullah, Medvedev to discuss Mideast ( March 11th, 2010 )
MOSCOW (AFP)
Jordan’s King Abdullah II will discuss arms contracts and the Middle East peace process with Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev Thursday, news agencies reported.
“The situation in the Middle East will become one of the key issues to be discussed in the Kremlin,” Medvedev’s press service said ahead of the talks with Abdullah, who arrived in [...]
Lotus returns to F1 with dreams of world championship ( March 11th, 2010 )
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)
The iconic Lotus name returns to Formula One at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, with modest ambitions for this year but big plans to seize a future world championship.
The Malaysia-backed team, wrapped in green and yellow livery recalling the marque’s 1960s heyday, has been revived by aviation tycoon Tony Fernandes after [...]
Juve, Liverpool seek Europa League salvation ( March 11th, 2010 )
PARIS (AFP)
European heavyweights Juventus and Liverpool will both seek to rescue disappointing seasons when the first legs of their respective Europa League last-16 ties kick off on Thursday.
Both clubs have fallen well off the pace in their domestic championships and face a battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Juve have begun to move in [...]
Federer, Nadal return to action in desert ( March 11th, 2010 )
INDIAN WELLS, California (AFP)
World number one Roger Federer faces a potentially difficult path to the final of the Indian Wells hardcourt tournament, the season’s first prestigious ATP Masters 1000 event.
The top-seeded Swiss is seeded to meet seventh-seeded American Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals and last year’s runner-up, Andy Murray of Britain, in the semi-finals.
Federer, who [...]
‘Britain’s Fritzl’ raped daughters for over 25yrs ( March 11th, 2010 )
LONDON (AFP)
Two British women who were raped and abused by their father for over 25 years, becoming pregnant 18 times, have won an apology from local authorities for failing to prevent the serial incest.
In a case compared with that of Austria’s notorious Josef Fritzl, the 56-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is [...]