Five Australian soldiers killed in Afghan incidents

Five Australian soldiers killed in Afghan incidents
Iran leader rules out nuclear bomb, will pursue energy
Egyptian leader in Iran for first time since 1979 revolution
China's Premier Wen says confident Europe will beat crisis
Activists demand release of Pakistani girl in blasphemy case
North Korea may be facing new food crisis: aid worker
Former Maldives president urges supporters to topple government
South Africa: mine unrest to affect potential investment
Nearly 50 killed or missing in Chinese mine blast: Xinhua
Q&A about UN Security Council meeting on Syria
French probe deepens confusion over Arafat death
Egypt leader slams Syrian regime during Iran visit
5 Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Moscow's Hotel Metropol up for auction
Merkel in control despite allies' Greek cacophony
US commander: Stealth fighters '100 percent' safe
Pakistan: Bail delayed in Christian blasphemy case
Egypt president in Iran for first visit in decades
Iran's Khamenei: Nuclear weapons use a 'big sin'

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:38 PM PDT

KABUL/CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia suffered its worst combat losses since the Vietnam War when five troops were killed in Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday, prompting Prime Minister Julia Gillard to return home early from a regional Pacific leaders' conference. Officials from the Australian Defence Force and the NATO-led coalition said three Australians had been killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday by an Afghan wearing a soldier's uniform, bringing to 45 the number of NATO-led coalition troops killed in rogue shootings this year. ...

Iran leader rules out nuclear bomb, will pursue energy

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:34 AM PDT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will never develop a nuclear bomb but will not give up its pursuit of peaceful nuclear energy, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a gathering of leaders of developing countries meeting in Tehran. "Our motto is nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none," Khamenei told the Non-Aligned Movement summit. "Iran will never pursue nuclear weapons but it will not give up its national right to peaceful nuclear energy," he added. ...

Egyptian leader in Iran for first time since 1979 revolution

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:41 PM PDT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi arrived in Tehran on Thursday, the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since its Islamic revolution in 1979. Iranian state television broadcast live pictures of Mursi's red-carpet welcome at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. He was to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement that concludes on Friday. ...

China's Premier Wen says confident Europe will beat crisis

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:22 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday he is confident the crisis-stricken euro zone can survive its nagging debt crisis, but warned that conditions remained difficult for the world economy. Speaking to reporters after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Wen said the global financial crisis had not ended. Europe is China's largest trade partner and its debt problems have dented demand for Chinese exports, dragging China into its worst downturn in three years. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Activists demand release of Pakistani girl in blasphemy case

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 01:01 AM PDT

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani court adjourned on Thursday a bail hearing for a Christian girl accused of defaming Islam, prompting human rights activists to make fresh calls for her release in a case that has drawn renewed criticism of the country's anti-blasphemy laws. Religious and secular groups worldwide have protested over the arrest this month of Rimsha Masih, accused by Muslim neighbors of burning Islamic religious texts. "This will go on and on and this little minor girl will rot in jail," said human rights activist Tahira Abdullah outside an Islamabad court. ...

North Korea may be facing new food crisis: aid worker

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:54 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea could be heading towards a crisis similar to the 1990s when a million people are thought to have died after a series of natural disasters brought widespread famine, said an aid worker, just back from a tour of the impoverished state. North Korea has suffered heavy floods this year, including from a typhoon earlier this week and another storm heading in its way, and has little capacity to deal with any more damage, said Kim Hartzner, managing director of Mission East, a Danish aid group which focuses on providing food aid to children. ...

Former Maldives president urges supporters to topple government

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:09 PM PDT

MALE (Reuters) - Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed called on his supporters and the army to topple the government ahead of the release of a report on Thursday into this year's transfer of power on the Indian Ocean islands that Nasheed labeled a coup. The Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry was appointed to look into the circumstances that led to the crisis in the tropical resort group of islands on February 7 when Nasheed said he was asked to resign at gunpoint. Nasheed's supporters said the report would be biased against them. ...

South Africa: mine unrest to affect potential investment

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:57 PM PDT

PERTH (Reuters) - A wave of labor unrest and violence in South Africa's mining sector will have an impact on potential investments, the country's resources minister said on Wednesday. Clashes between police and workers killed 44 people this month and shut ore output at mines run by Lonmin, the world's third largest producer of platinum, a precious metal with industrial uses. "It is a cause for concern. The tragedy does impact on any potential investments," the South African minister for mineral resources, Susan Shabangu, told reporters on the sidelines of a mining conference in Perth. ...

Nearly 50 killed or missing in Chinese mine blast: Xinhua

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:07 PM PDT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Nineteen miners were killed and 28 are missing in China after a gas explosion in a coal shaft, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday, marking one of the biggest disasters of the year in the accident-plagued industry. Rescue teams from other mines had been sent to the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Sichuan province where 107 miners had been rescued after Wednesday's blast, it reported. China's mines are the deadliest in the world because of lax enforcement of safety standards and a rush to feed demand from a robust economy. ...

Q&A about UN Security Council meeting on Syria

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 09:53 PM PDT

Turkey's foreign minister will urge the Security Council on Thursday to set up a safe zone in Syria to protect thousands of civilians fleeing the civil war, but his appeal is almost certain to go nowhere given the deep divisions in the U.N.'s most powerful body.

French probe deepens confusion over Arafat death

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 02:23 PM PDT

A French murder probe into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat prompted an Israeli denial of responsibility on Wednesday and renewed doubts that Palestinians would stick to a halfhearted pledge to exhume Arafat's body.

Egypt leader slams Syrian regime during Iran visit

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:38 AM PDT

Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi has criticized Syria's regime, calling it "oppressive," during a visit to Syria's key ally Iran.

5 Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:35 AM PDT

Australia's prime minister on Thursday called the deaths of five of the country's soldiers in Afghanistan — three killed by an Afghan army colleague — Australia's worst day in the more than decade-long war.

Moscow's Hotel Metropol up for auction

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:33 AM PDT

Michael Jackson slept there. Vladimir Lenin harangued Bolsheviks there. Over the past century, the Hotel Metropol has seen the extremes of Russian life, from austere revolutionary fervor to flashy pop indulgence.

Merkel in control despite allies' Greek cacophony

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:47 PM PDT

Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the Greeks to keep the euro. Her vice chancellor says it wouldn't be so bad if they abandoned the common currency. Another ally says Greece should leave the euro club within months.

US commander: Stealth fighters '100 percent' safe

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:48 PM PDT

The deployment of a dozen F-22 stealth fighters to Japan has so far gone off without a hitch as the aircraft are being brought back into the skies in their first overseas mission since restrictions were imposed over incidents involving pilots getting dizzy and disoriented, a senior U.S. Air Force commander told the Associated Press on Thursday.

Pakistan: Bail delayed in Christian blasphemy case

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 10:47 PM PDT

A judge hearing the case of a Pakistani Christian girl accused of blasphemy has delayed a bail hearing after a lawyer challenged a medical report putting the girl's age at 14.

Egypt president in Iran for first visit in decades

Posted: 29 Aug 2012 11:09 PM PDT

Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi arrived in Tehran on Thursday in the first visit by an Egyptian leader to Iran in decades.