War-hit countries 'most corrupt'

28 Oct 10 - WAR-torn Somalia is perceived as the most corrupt country in the world War-torn states are still seen as being the most corrupt in the world, according to a new report from Transparency International.The Berlin-based watchdog monitors perceived...

Turkey crash kills tourists

A BUS carrying French tourists slammed into a car on Thursday, killing six French citizens and the car's driver, an official said. Eighteen other passengers were injured in the accident near the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, local governor Salih Isik said. Ambulances and a helicopter transported the injured to hospitals in the area. The cause of accident is under investigation.

Putin tries to mask black eye

VLADIMIR Putin, who has carved out a health nut image by wrestling with tigers or judo opponents, raised eyebrows yesterday as he was pictured swollen-faced and caked in make-up, apparently to mask a black eye.

First ever minaret in the Arctic

The Inuvik Mosque after completion in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. The small mosque arrived in the Arctic to serve a growing Muslim population in Canada's far north. Picture: AFP

CANADIAN Muslims have erected the Arctic's first minaret, atop a little yellow mosque which serves as spiritual home to the area's fledgling Islamic community.

Naples to be garbage-free

29 Oct 10 - HUNDREDS of tonnes of festering trash lying uncollected in the streets of Naples will be cleaned up "within three days," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday. Berlusconi also said the stench from a landfill in the town...

Panama suspends trade talks with Colombia

PANAMA suspended free trade talks with Colombia after bargaining stalled ahead of a Friday deadline, even though much of the pact was completed, one of the Central American nation's negotiators said. Talks hit an impasse over agricultural issues, market access and customs cooperation, said Francisco Alvarez, Pamana's deputy trade minister.

Pakistan seeks intel sharing to thwart attacks in West

Pakistani Interior Minister, Rehman Malik exchanges documents with visiting British Home Secretary, Theresa May, at a signing ceremony in Islamabad. Pakistan called for greater intelligence sharing to pre-empt terrorist attacks in Britain. Picture: AFP

Egypt campuses no place for politics

 

Asian Muslim women chat after praying inside the women's prayer hall of the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Azhar is one of Cairo's oldest mosques and the world's oldest university.Picture: EPA

Palestine and Egypt say Mideast focused on talks

PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he was still focused on a return to direct peace talks with Israel but looking at alternatives. Abbas, speaking alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, repeated his demand for a halt to Jewish settlement building on occupied land before any return to peace talks. Abbas said his first choice was a return to those negotiations, which Washington hopes can resolve major issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within a year with the goal of establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

US, Japan hit back at China's muscle flexing

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (L) arrives with Japanese Foreign Minister, Seiji Maehara, for a press conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Picture: AFP

China says Hu open to discussing French G20 proposals

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L), his wife Liu Yongqing (2nd L), French President Nicolas Sarkozy (3rd R) and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (R) arrive at the banquet of the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Shanghai, China. Picture: EPA

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LimeWire filesharing site ordered to close

LimeWire has been shut down by a US court who found that the service had been used to infringe copyright on a huge scale
The ruling follows a long-running legal dispute with the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major record labels and accused Lime Wire, the company behind the LimeWire service, of infringing copyright.

Halloween Movie, Pumpkin Carving, Decorations, Witches, Costumes

Google Aims To Help Small Businesses With Boost

If you own a business and have claimed your free business listing in Google Places, which then appear on Google and Google Maps, then you will be glad to know the search and advertising company has introduced another way to help your business get noticed.

David Cameron admits defeat over EU budget | World news | guardian.co.uk

EU flags reflected in glass walls of EU headquarters in Brussels. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
David Cameron is planning to approve a £435m increase in Britain's contribution to the EU next year, prompting a row with the Tory right as he admits defeat in a battle to freeze Europe's budget.

Midterm elections live blog

Barack Obama and Jon Stewart during Obama's appearance on The Daily Show in Washington DC. Photograph: Charles Dharapak/AP
9am ET: Joe Miller is down to third place with 23% in a new Alaska poll. This, it has to be said, is very different from other polls that have showed him around the mid-30s and a point or two ahead of Lisa Murkowski. His disapproval rating in the poll is an astonishing 68%.

Sir John Sawers's speech

MI6 chief Sir John Sawers today. Photograph: Toby Melville/PA
The Times published a reader's letter earlier this year. It read: "Sir – is it not bizarre that MI5 and MI6, otherwise known as the secret services, currently stand accused of being – er – secretive?"

Bahrain's elections overshadowed by crackdown on Shia protesters

A Bahraini woman walks past election campaign billboards near Manama. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images
It's hard to miss the signs on the streets of Manama: King Hamad peering benignly from giant billboards, and everywhere pictures of smiling candidates in spotless white dishdashas and headdresses pledging to build more houses, fight corruption...

The feting of Dmitry Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel at this month's tripartite summit between France, Germany and Russia. Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/REUTERS
Nato's Lisbon summit next month is in danger of becoming the stage for a triumphal procession by Russia's leather-jacketed president, Dmitry Medvedev. The mystery is what, exactly, Moscow has ...

Iran loads fuel rods into Bushehr nuclear reactor

Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
Iran began loading fuel into the core of its first nuclear power plant today, moving closer to starting up the facility.

Death of Gulf emirate ruler Sheikh Saqr prompts fight over succession

Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi, left, the late ruler of Ras al-Khaimah, with his son Sheikh Khalid. Photograph: Nasser Younes/AFP/Getty Images
One of the most bizarre international coup attempts of recent times, whose key players include a family solicitor from Buckinghamshire and an exiled Arab crown prince, entered its endgame today with the death of Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad ...

French retirement age reforms 'almost certain' to be passed

The French finance minister, Christine Lagarde, said the protest movement had reached a 'turning point'. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
France's lower house, the national assembly, is today expected to pass Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial plan to increase the retirement age, as unions vowed to continue their strikes and protests despite signs of dwindling support.

Chinese city wardens wanted: must be young, female and pretty

A team of policewomen patrol the streets of Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. They are part of a special squad of young, attractive female officers formed by the city of Zhengzhou's police department. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
A good temperament might be an obvious requirement for a city warden. Good looks? Perhaps less so.

Mikhail Gorbachev says Russia is moving 'away from democracy

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev says country's leaders are anti-democratic. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, has issued a sharp criticism of Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, and the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, saying they are "doing everything they can to move away from democracy, to stay in power".

Hitmen kill fifteen in massacre at Mexican carwash

The crime scene in Tepic, Mexico, where 15 people were killed by hitmen. Photograph: Nayarit En L Nea/EPA
Suspected drug hitmen shot dead 15 people at a carwash in western Mexico yesterday, the third massacre in just a few days, putting new pressure on President Felipe Calderón to stop the growing violence.

Indonesian tsunami warning system 'had been vandalised

Rescuers are continuing to look for survivors on Indonesia's tsunami-hit islands in West Sumatra Link to this video

Villagers in Indonesia were deprived of an advanced alert that a tsunami was heading towards them because part of an early warning system had been vandalised, an Indonesian official said.

Hotel Rwanda manager faces terror-funding charges

The former Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, pictured with his wife Tatiana in 2005, denies sending money to allegedly fund Rwandan opposition commanders. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP
The Rwandan hotel manager whose story was told in the film Hotel Rwanda could face charges by Rwandan authorities over allegations he sent money to opposition commanders, the country's top

China made peace prize decision for us, says Nobel judge

Geir Lundestad of the Nobel committee.
China's decision to jail dissident Liu Xiaobo for 11 years convinced the Nobel committee to award him this year's peace prize, according to one of the judges.

Zapatero faces election defeat in Catalonia despite cabinet reshuffle

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks during a press conference in Madrid. Photograph: Daniel Ochoa De Olza/AP The campaign for the regional election in Catalonia on 28 November got off to a discouraging start for Spain's ruling Socialist party (PSOE). Opinion polls are predicting that its Catalan branch (PSC), in power since ...