World News

1st Sgt. Jamie Nakano, from the 10th Mountain Division, blends in with the mountainous terrain of Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, during a patrol. This photo appeared on www.army.mil. wnhires (js1)

photo: US Army

Taliban tightens grip over Nuristan
read more Al Jazeera

Taliban fighters are expanding their control of Afghanistan's Nuristan province, an area they claim to have recaptured from US troops. A video obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera purports to show Taliban fighters in the Kamdesh district. Their leaders say they have appointed some local officials and reopened schools. Sections of the footage...

File - Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, waves beside House Representative leader Taufik Kiemas as they arrive for the inauguration ceremonies of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

photo: AP / Tatan Syuflana

Indonesian leader visits Malaysia
read more BBC News

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrives in Malaysia on the first visit since being sworn in for a second term last month. The visit comes at a time when relations between...

Stephen W. Bosworth, the U.S. special envoy on North Korea, speaks to media following a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Wi Sung-lac at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 9, 2009.

photo: AP / Ahn Young-joon

US agrees to North Korea talks
read more Al Jazeera

The Obama administration is to send a senior envoy to North Korea for direct bilateral talks on the country's nuclear programme, the US state department has confirmed. Stephen Bosworth will visit Pyongyang at a date yet to be announced but most likely by the end of the year, US officials said on Tuesday. North Korea last week called for direct...

The Copacabana beach is seen during a blackout in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009.

photo: AP / Felipe Dana

Major power failures hit Brazil
read more BBC News

Brazil's two largest cities - Rio de Janeiro and San Paulo - are suffering major blackouts due to a problem at the Itaipu dam on the border with Paraguay. Several other cities have also been affected by the power failures. The country has lost 17,000 megawatts of power after the massive dam was hit by unspecified problems, local media reports. The...

Federal agents exit 26 Federal Plaza with handcuffed former Bear Stearns hedge fund manager Matthew Tannin, Thursday, June 19, 2008, in New York.

photo: AP / Louis Lanzano

Jury acquits ex-Bear Stearns hedge fund managers
read more The Guardian

* Cioffi, Tannin were charged with fraud, conspiracy * Verdict could cool prosecutors on Wall Street cases * Prosecutor says won't stop enforcing honesty in markets * Tears of relief after verdict is read (Adds Cioffi comment, juror on email evidence) By Grant McCool and Michael Erman NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund...

Former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela arrives at a hotel in central London, Monday, June 23, 2008. Mandela arrived in London Monday for a week of events to celebrate his 90th birthday, including an outdoor concert in his honor at Hyde Park on Friday with Proceeds going to his 46664 charity

photo: AP /

Mandela Day made official by UN
read more Independent online (SA)

New York - The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday declared July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day to mark the South African anti-apartheid leader's contribution to peace. A resolution adopted by consensus by the 192-member world body calls for commemorations every year starting in 2010 on July 18 - Mandela's birthday - to recognise the...

In this photo released Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009 by the Iraqi Government, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks during a meeting with Turkmen Shiite Muslims from the northern province of Kirkuk. in Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009.

photo: AP / Iraqi Government, Handout

No election alliance with Shiite rivals, says Al-Maliki
read more Arab News

Qassim Abdul-Zahra | AP BAGHDAD: Iraq's prime minister on Tuesday denied reports he will form an alliance with the nation's leading Shiite parties ahead of national polls in January. Nuri Al-Maliki said the suggestions that he will create an election bloc with the rival Shiites of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council and the followers of Moqtada Sadr,...

President Obama speaks at a memorial service at Fort Hood, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 10. 2009.

photo: AP / Donna McWilliam

Obama vows 'justice' at Fort Hood
read more Al Jazeera

The US president has honoured the memory of 13 people killed in a shooting attack at the Fort Hood military base in Texas and said their killer "will be met with justice". Barack Obama attended a memorial service at the army post on Tuesday and condemned the "twisted logic" that led to the gun attack, which also left at least 29 people wounded. No...

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pauses during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009.

photo: AP / Gali Tibbon, Pool

Netanyahu upbeat after talks with Obama
read more Daily Star Lebanon

Compiled by Daily Star staff Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - Powered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded an unusually low-key US visit on Tuesday voicing confidence that his White House talks had helped secure Israel and promote peace efforts. Netanyahu, whose ties with Washington have been strained by Israeli settlement...

This undated photo released by the South Korea Navy on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 shows South Korean Navy patrol boats, the same type of South Korean boats that involved in a naval clash with a North Korean ship, engage in an exercise in the West Sea, South Korea.

photo: AP / South Korea Navy via Yonhap

Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire near border
read more The Guardian

HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press Writer= SEOUL, South Korea (AP) â A badly damaged North Korean patrol ship retreated in flames Tuesday after a skirmish with a South Korean naval vessel along their disputed western coast, South Korean officials said. The first naval clash between the two sides in seven years broke out just a week before President...