Syria agreed to ceasefire, says U.N. envoy

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• Syria agreed to ceasefire, says U.N. envoy
• Ship heralds arrival of tsunami debris
• Al Jazeera won't air shooter's footage
• Annan says Syria accepts peace plan, U.S. skeptical
• Pope to end Cuba trip with mass, Fidel Castro meeting
• Afghan soldiers arrested over Defence Ministry plot: NYT
• Italy PM Monti downplays Spain contagion risk
• Australia open to U.S. spy flights from Indian Ocean island
• Revolving credit: the beating heart of China's metal trade
• China allows detained rights lawyer first visit in two years
• Jail may await Afghan women fleeing abuse, rape: HRW
• Analysis: French shooting case shows counterterrorism limits
• Venezuela's Chavez leads rival in latest poll
• Pope prays for freedom, 'renewal' in Cuba
• Bloc puts peacekeepers on standby after Mali coup
• Syria accepts peace plan but clashes continue
• Former Israeli defense chief seeks premiership
• Chavez criticizes US take on crime in Venezuela
• Fiji takes control of national airline from Qantas
• Mexican candidate accuses rivals of wiretapping
• Mexican activists detained in resort protest
• Egypt Brotherhood conflicted over presidential run
• Boy beaten near Paris Jewish school amid tensions

Syria agreed to ceasefire, says U.N. envoy Posted: Annan's remarks came as Syrian troops reportedly clashed with Syrian rebels in northern Lebanon.

Ship heralds arrival of tsunami debris Posted: An empty Japanese fishing boat drifting off the coast of western Canada could be the first wave of 1.5 million tons of debris heading toward North America from Japan's tsunami last March. The wreckage from flattened Japanese coastal towns - including refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, roofs and fishing nets - is heading inexorably east across the Pacific and could arrive sooner than expected, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ...

Al Jazeera won't air shooter's footage Posted: Al Jazeera confirmed on Tuesday that its Paris office received from an anonymous source video footage that appears to show last week's shooting spree in Toulouse, France--and said the network would not televise it.

Annan says Syria accepts peace plan, U.S. skeptical Posted: BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has accepted a U.N.-sponsored peace plan, international envoy Kofi Annan said on Tuesday, as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad raided rebel forces who have taken refuge across the border in Lebanon. The United States reacted skeptically to Annan's announcement, saying it would judge Assad's sincerity in agreeing to the peace plan by what he did and not by what he said, given his record of "over-promising and under-delivering. ...

Pope to end Cuba trip with mass, Fidel Castro meeting Posted: HAVANA (Reuters) - Pope Benedict will step onto Cuba's biggest stage on Wednesday with a public mass in Havana's Revolution Square as he wraps up a trip that began with a blast at communism and will end with a visit with Fidel Castro. The leader of the world's 1.2 billon Catholics will speak to several hundred thousand people, perhaps more, in the sprawling plaza that Castro, 85, used to fill with big crowds and fiery revolutionary rhetoric in hours-long speeches. ...

Afghan soldiers arrested over Defence Ministry plot: NYT Posted: (Reuters) - More than a dozen Afghan soldiers suspected of plotting to attack the Defence Ministry in Kabul were arrested after 10 suicide vests were found inside the ministry, the New York Times reported, citing Afghan and Western officials. Security across Afghanistan has worsened after a string of incidents that have enraged Afghans in recent weeks, including the shooting deaths of 17 civilians in the volatile south more than two weeks ago blamed on a U.S. sergeant. ...

Italy PM Monti downplays Spain contagion risk Posted: TOKYO (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Wednesday that he was not worried about economic troubles in Spain spreading to the rest of Europe, further downplaying comments he made over the weekend that Madrid's fiscal problems could reignite the euro zone debt crisis. "Spain, I'm sure, is on a steady course of budgetary consolidation," Monti told reporters in Tokyo where he arrived from a nuclear security summit in South Korea. ...

Australia open to U.S. spy flights from Indian Ocean island Posted: CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia could one day allow U.S. spy flights to operate from a remote Indian Ocean island, Defense Minister Stephen Smith confirmed on Wednesday, supporting the U.S. pivot to Asia but likely upsetting Australia's biggest trading partner, China. Smith said the possible use of Australia's remote Cocos Islands territory had been raised with the United States, but the proposal was not under active consideration and was not among current plans for Canberra to strengthen military ties with Washington. "We view Cocos as being potentially a long term strategic location. ...

Revolving credit: the beating heart of China's metal trade Posted: SHANGHAI (Reuters) - In a dilapidated high rise in a residential district of Shanghai sits the beating heart of China's physical metal trade. The Wu Mao building, encircled by dusty bicycles and razor wire, houses around 500 companies trading copper, zinc, nickel, lead, aluminum and silver. China is the world's top consumer of metals and around 80 percent of the industry's transactions are done out of Shanghai -- 90 percent of which take place in Wu Mao, locals estimate. ...

China allows detained rights lawyer first visit in two years Posted: BEIJING (Reuters) - China's best known rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, whose case is a sore point in Sino-U.S. relations, was allowed a visit from his family last weekend, the first time he has been seen for nearly two years, his wife said on Wednesday. The treatment of Gao, whose secretive detention has also drawn criticism from the U.N. human rights body, is one of the thorniest human rights disputes between China and the United States. Senior Obama administration officials have raised it with Beijing, and the U.S. ...

Jail may await Afghan women fleeing abuse, rape: HRW Posted: KABUL (Reuters) - For Afghan women, the act of fleeing domestic abuse, forced prostitution or even being stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver by an abusive husband, may land them in jail while their abusers walk free, Human Rights Watch said. Running away is considered a "moral crime" for women in Afghanistan while some rape victims are also imprisoned, because sex outside marriage - even when the woman is forced - is considered adultery, another "moral crime". ...

Analysis: French shooting case shows counterterrorism limits Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mohamed Merah, the French gunman who killed Jewish children and French soldiers and then died in a firefight with police this month, was hardly an unknown quantity to intelligence and law enforcement officials on both sides of the Atlantic. Merah made two trips to Afghanistan between 2010 and 2012, and was detained by U.S. forces during the first. He had a record of moderately serious criminal activities in France. ...

Venezuela's Chavez leads rival in latest poll Posted: CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez has a solid 13-percentage point lead over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in a new survey ahead of October's election - but many Venezuelans remain undecided. The opinion poll by respected local firm Datanalisis found that 44 percent of voters favor Chavez compared to 31 percent for Democratic Unity coalition candidate Capriles, according to people who saw a private presentation. No further details were available for the poll, which was to be formally published later in the week. ...

Pope prays for freedom, 'renewal' in Cuba Posted: Pope Benedict XVI prayed for freedom and renewal "for the greater good of all Cubans" before the nation's patron saint Tuesday, but the island's communist leaders quickly rejected the Roman Catholic leader's appeal for political change after five decades of one-party rule.

Bloc puts peacekeepers on standby after Mali coup Posted: The body representing nations in western Africa has suspended Mali and has put a peacekeeping force on standby in the most direct threat yet to the junta that seized control of this nation in a coup last week.

Syria accepts peace plan but clashes continue Posted: Syria accepted a cease-fire drawn up by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday, but the diplomatic breakthrough was swiftly overshadowed by intense clashes between government soldiers and rebels that sent bullets flying into Lebanon.

Former Israeli defense chief seeks premiership Posted: Israel's Iranian-born former military chief and defense minister Shaul Mofaz has been waiting more than three years for another chance to take the helm of the centrist Kadima Party.

Chavez criticizes US take on crime in Venezuela Posted: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is taking issue with the U.S. State Department for posting a statement advising travelers to beware of rampant violent crime in his country.

Fiji takes control of national airline from Qantas Posted: Fiji's military government says it is taking control of the country's national carrier Air Pacific from Australian company Qantas.

Mexican candidate accuses rivals of wiretapping Posted: The campaign of conservative presidential candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota charged Tuesday that the rival Institutional Revolutionary Party makes regular use of wiretaps, like the one in which she is purportedly heard accusing Mexico's top cop of spying on her.

Mexican activists detained in resort protest Posted: Greenpeace Mexico says about 30 of its activists have been briefly detained by Mexico City police after several of them rappelled down the side of a hotel to hang a banner protesting a resort project.

Egypt Brotherhood conflicted over presidential run Posted: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has postponed an open confrontation with the country's military rulers and other political players Tuesday when it delayed a decision about whether to field a candidate for the first presidential elections since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

Boy beaten near Paris Jewish school amid tensions Posted: A 12-year-old boy was beaten outside his Jewish school in Paris by youths reciting anti-Semitic slogans, school officials said, amid high security and tensions in France following killings of Jewish children and a rabbi last week.

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