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Iran nuclear talks stall over demand to freeze uranium enrichment (World, 31 articles)
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Rice said Iran must give a "serious answer" within the deadline laid down by the six world powers to an offer of trade and technical incentives to halt uranium enrichment. The talks between Iran and the European Union's chief negotiators in Geneva failed to reach an agreement Sunday on Tehran's nuclear program, but the sides agreed to resume talks on suspending uranium enrichment in two weeks. The United States said on Saturday after inconclusive international talks with Iran's nuclear envoy that Tehran must choose between cooperation or confrontation and give up sensitive nuclear work. GENEVA - A US decision to bend policy and sit down with Iran at nuclear talks produced no results yesterday, with Tehran rebuffing a call by Washington and five other world powers to freeze uranium enrichment. Iran s foreign minister said on Friday that his country was open to discussing the establishment by the Bush administration of the first American diplomatic presence in Tehran since relations were severed nearly three decades ago. The minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, welcomed as a "positive step" the administration's decision to send a senior American official to participate in international talks with Iran this weekend, and said he expected the talks to make progress.
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Obama pledges aid, military support to Afghanistan (World, 11 articles)
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Obama has made the US-led military mission in Afghanistan a central plank in his campaign platform, calling for 7,000 additional troops to be sent to the country as part of an overall drawdown in the number in Iraq. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's top military adviser said on Sunday setting an unconditional two-year timetable for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq in two years would be dangerous. The agreement, announced in coordinated statements released Friday by the White House and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki s government, reflected a significant shift in the war in Iraq.
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Other stories about Iraq, Maliki and Iraqi:
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Pope meets with clergy abuse victims in Australia (World, 17 articles)
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Support groups for victims of church abuse in Australia, whose numbers are not known but who activists say are in the thousands, had demanded the pope make a full and open apology for clergy abuse and do more to prevent future abuse. Sexual abuse by Catholic clergy has shadowed the pope's visit to Sydney, with emotional pleas by victims and their families for the pope to ensure that the Church deals openly with the issue. " As an expression of his ongoing pastoral concern for those who have been abused by members of the clergy, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI today celebrated Mass with a representative group of victims the Vatican said in a statement.
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Peres to Goldwasser and Regev families: All of Israel is hurting with you (World, 10 articles)
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The images were jarring: A young woman standing in the embrace of the prime minister of Israel, her outstretched hand placed atop the flag-draped coffin of her soldier husband. A 46-year-old man in fatigues, freed from an Israeli prison, standing proudly beside the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and smiling. Though officials had suspected that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were dead, the sight of the coffins was the first confirmation of their fate.
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ABC News: Afghan Officials: US-Led Forces Killed 9 Police (World, 8 articles)
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KABUL, Afghanistan - United States and NATO missile and mortar strikes continued to exact a heavy toll on Afghans over the weekend, killing at least 13 in two attacks that Afghan officials said were mistakes. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents attacking a supply convoy, killing nine militants, officials said yesterday, while roadside bombs killed a NATO soldier in a separate convoy and four police officers. In neighboring Kandahar Province, a blast struck a police patrol in Maywand district, killing four officers and wounding another, said Khan Mohammad
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Western Olympic Ads Cheerlead for China (World, 5 articles)
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" For most international brands here, China is the growth market for the next 10 years said Jonathan Chajet which consults on brands. Olympic-related advertising in China could reach $4 billion to $6 billion this year, according to CSM, a Beijing marketing research firm. The verdict found that China was breaking trade rules by taxing imports of auto parts at the same rate as foreign-made finished cars.
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U.S. trade chief cautiously optimistic on WTO talks (World, 7 articles)
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GENEVA (Reuters) - Developing countries and food exporters from rich and poor nations called on Sunday for the United States and European Union to open up their farm markets and eliminate trade-distorting subsidies. Global trade in farm products was at the centre of discussions as ministers from three dozen trading powers met in negotiating alliances to prepare for next week's make-or-break talks on a new world trade pact. Negotiators from more than 30 countries will meet in Geneva on Monday to inject fresh impetus into long-running efforts to agree a global trade deal.
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Colombians march, Shakira sings, to demand release of rebel-held hostages (World, 7 articles)
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BOGOTA, Colombia - Well over a million Colombians, clad in white and cheering " No more kidnapping marked their independence day on Sunday with marches and concerts demanding freedom for hostages still held by leftist rebels. Demonstrators chanted "freedom" in rallies across the Andean nation and in some 40 cities abroad including Paris, London, Miami, Beijing, Sydney and New York. People cheer Sunday during a peace concert dedicated to hostages still held by FARC that was part of the Independence Day celebrations in Leticia, Colombia.
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Somalia aid-worker attacks jeopardizing relief (World, 4 articles)
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The deliberate assault on aid workers is a chilling new dimension to Somalia's 17-year-old civil war, which has become more of an international conflict, with the use of U.S. military and other outside forces. Without professional workers to distribute food or tend to the sick, the country could sink into a catastrophe reminiscent of the early 1990s, when hundreds of thousands of people starved. The attacks on aid workers - including Westerners, Somalis working for Western organizations and Somalis working for local groups - have escalated this month.
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U.N. Security Council Takes Up Discussion of Rights in Burma (World, 6 articles)
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JAKARTA, Indonesia, March 15 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized Burma's military government Wednesday for denying the aspirations of its people. Speaking during the second day of a visit to Indonesia, Rice condemned Burma's rulers for bankrupting their once vibrant economy and shuttering universities that had previously attracted top scholars. Her tough remarks, which echoed earlier administration criticisms, capped an address surveying the state of U.S. relations with countries across Southeast Asia.
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Other stories about burma, Suu and Kyi:
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British hostage in Iraq reportedly commits suicide (World, 4 articles)
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LONDON A Shiite militia that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of five Britons in Iraq more than a year ago said one of its hostages has committed suicide, a British newspaper reported. The video, available on the Times' website late Saturday night, shows an Arabic-language statement claiming that one of the hostages, identified only as Jason, killed himself on May 25. In the past, the militia had demanded that all British forces be withdrawn from Iraq and that Iraqis held by U.S.-led forces be freed.
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Cambodia informs UN Security Council of alleged Thai incursion into its territory near temple - (World, 4 articles)
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Hundreds of Thai and Cambodian soldiers faced off at the ruins of an ancient Hindu temple here for a sixth straight day on Sunday, in a modern-day echo of the age-old clash of empires across Indochina. The conflict has also created a secondary, more prosaic target: an embattled government in Bangkok, where the opposition is using the historical dispute and nationalist fervor as weapons. ARANYAPRATHET, Thailand - Cambodian and Thai military leaders began talks Monday aimed at resolving a lingering dispute over territory near a World Heritage Site temple, where more than 4,000 troops from the two sides have been deployed.
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Brown in £30m Palestinian pledge (World, 4 articles)
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Gordon Brown has said he is optimistic Israel and the Palestinians can sign a peace deal, and has promised British funds to help it work. Gordon Brown has announced $30m (38m euros; $60m) of additional financial support for the Palestinian Authority (PA), on a visit to the West bank. As auctioneers hammered down the remains of Brown's estate in a two-session sale that, despite some curious highlights, brought disappointing results, there were reasons to consider how the fates of legends fall to their keepers.
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India set for key nuclear debate (World, 5 articles)
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After days of political bargaining and arm-twisting, the government and the opposition are heading into the debate still uncertain about who will win. India's Congress party is frantically lobbying key parliament members to try to shore up support for its coalition government, amid concerns that it may not survive a crucial confidence vote over a controversial nuclear energy deal with the US. " The only thing being sold at a 100 per cent discount is the Indian national interest Prem Shankar Jha, a political analyst and supporter of the nuclear deal, said.
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Rivals in Zimbabwe Nearing Talks After Mbeki Intervenes (World, 4 articles)
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Zimbabwe's main opposition party could sign an agreement as early as Monday to begin substantive talks with President Robert Mugabe s party on ending an impasse that has worsened the country's severe economic crisis, opposition officials said on Saturday. A statement reviewed by Reuters on Saturday said that Mr. Mbeki on Friday had proposed creating a team that represented the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the United Nations. The opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change, has refused to recognize Mr. Mugabe's overwhelming victory in a June 27 runoff election held after its candidate , Morgan Tsvangirai, pulled out because of violence by ruling party militia.
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blaster@cs.columbia.edu
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