World

French prosecutors demand 10 years' jail for Noriega

French prosecutors on Wednesday demanded the maximum 10-year jail sentence for Panama's ageing former dictator Manuel Noriega on charges of laundering drug money.

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Aquino takes power, vows to end Philippines poverty

Benigno Aquino was sworn in as president of the Philippines on Wednesday with a vow to lift his nation out of poverty and wipe out crippling corruption that he said thrived under his predecessor.

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US avoids condemning Russia over spy ring

The United States took pains to avoid rebuking Russia over a Cold War-style spy row and said the uproar would not damage President Barack Obama's vaunted "reset" of ties with the Kremlin.

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Anti-counterfeit deal 'threatens accessibility of drugs'

A proposed anti-counterfeit trade deal between 10 countries and the European Union (EU) could create ”a new set of barriers to the export of generic medicines to low income countries”.

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Britain, France, Germany use torture intel: HRW

Britain, France and Germany use foreign intelligence obtained through torture in the fight against terrorism, a new report from Human Rights Watch.

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Furious US lawmaker blocks Afghan aid

A senior US lawmaker has angrily blocked billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan, vowing not to give "one more dime" until Afghan President Hamid Karzai acts against corruption.

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Two held over failed break-in at French imam's home

French police detained two people after they tried to break into the home of an Islamic cleric who is in favour of anti-burqa legislation, officials said Monday.

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Turkey bars Israeli military plane from using airspace

Turkey barred an Israeli military plane from using its airspace after last month's raid on Gaza-bound aid ships killed nine activists, the country's prime minister said Monday, as Turkish media reported a second plane was also turned away.

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Thailand fights addiction to plastic bags

Thai Fund Foundation coordinator Chomphu Rammuang says that although she brings a big cloth bag to the supermarket and a lunch pack to work, she can still wind up with a plastic bag in hand by day’s end.

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China's cyber-warriors

The world now accepts that protecting our atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere – the “global commons” – is the responsibility of all countries. The same norm must apply to cyberspace, which is critical to our everyday life, economic well-being, and security.

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Activists slam G8's aid shell game

Oxfam and other NGOs charge that G8 donor nations have been playing a shell game - making multi-billion-dollar commitments at its meetings but without increasing their overall spending on overseas development aid.

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US teen sailor arrives on French island

American teen sailor Abby Sunderland arrived Saturday on the French island of Reunion after being rescued from her stricken yacht while attempting a controversial solo round-the-world trip.

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Time to give Wall Street the axe, say groups

As heads of state from the Group of 20 (G20) most developed and economically powerful emerging nations meet in Toronto, some activists are urging a more realistic look at the roots of the global economic crisis - and an end to the free-wheeling capitalist model embodied by Wall Street.

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Red Shirts targeted with harsh law, propaganda

With the force of an emergency law behind it, the Thai government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is tightening the screws on an opposition protest movement that, if mishandled, could extract a heavy political price.

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Bounce in polls for new Australia PM

The deposing of Australian leader Kevin Rudd by his female deputy appears to be paying off, with the first polls suggesting new Prime Minister Julia Gillard would win an election with a commanding lead.

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Toronto turned into fortress for G8, G20 summits

Thousands of Canadian police threw a tight security net over eastern Ontario province Thursday as world leaders began arriving for key summits focused on economic recovery and development.

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Police raid Belgian Catholic hierarchy in child sex probe

Police raided Belgium's Catholic Church HQ on Thursday and seized computer files at the home of its top cardinal over the last 20 years amid fresh accusations of child sex abuse by priests.

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Israel's Likud backs West Bank settlement growth

Israel's right-wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.

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Hong Kong lawmakers set to adopt political reforms

Hong Kong lawmakers were set Thursday to adopt a political reform plan that will give voters a greater say in the Chinese financial hub's running but stops well short of full democracy.

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Obama sacks Afghan war general, turns to Petraeus

President Barack Obama placed the sapping Afghan war in the hands of Iraq hero General David Petraeus, after firing US commander Stanley McChrystal for speaking out of turn.

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Australia gets first female PM after shock party coup

Welsh-born lawyer Julia Gillard became Australia's first female prime minister Thursday after the once hugely popular Kevin Rudd fell victim to a party coup less than three years after taking office.

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UN chief names advisory panel on Sri Lanka war abuses

Defying a challenge by Sri Lanka, UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon has named a three-member expert panel to advise him on how to proceed with probing violations of human rights and humanitarian law during the concluding stages of the country's separatist war last May.

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Britain raises GST tax to 20 pct, cuts spending

Britain has launched an emergency package of higher taxation and spending cuts aimed at slashing a huge public deficit.

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Peace groups slam ruling on 'terror support'

In the wake of a Supreme Court decision upholding a law making it a crime to provide any "material support" to an organisation designated as a "terrorist" by the US government, Jimmy Carter charged that the law "actually threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking organisation".

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