World News

Israeli forces manhandle EU diplomats, seize West Bank aid

9:42am Israeli soldiers manhandled diplomats and seized a truck full of tents and emergency aid they had been trying to deliver to Palestinians whose homes were demolished this week.

Syria sends watchdog weapons inventory

5:32am Syria has sent the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons an "initial declaration" outlining its weapons program, the organisation said Friday.

Al-Qaeda gunmen seize northern Syrian town

Albert Aji and Bassem Mroue Al-Qaeda militants in northern Syria captured a town near the Turkish border following heavy clashes with Western-backed rebels, prompting the closure of a nearby frontier crossing.

McCain slams Putin in Pravda opinion piece

Donna Cassata Republican Senator John McCain insisted he is "more pro-Russian" than President Vladimir Putin, accusing Putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule.

Vladimir Putin may lead Russia until 2024

President Vladimir Putin says he may run for a fourth term in the Kremlin, raising the possibility that he could lead Russia until 2024.

Sci-tech

Destination Mars when Earth moves out of 'habitable zone'

Life on Earth will continue for at least another 1.75 billion years - but human life could die out long before.

Violence flares in Egypt

A police general was killed when Egyptian security forces stormed a village on the outskirts of Cairo on Thursday in the latest crackdown on Islamist militants, security officials said.

China's new population crisis: the unwanted elderly

Simon Denyer The elderly couple sat on their metal frame bed surrounded by hopelessly worn-out shoes, empty tin cans, dried-out corncobs, plastic bags, filthy clothes, all strewn across the uneven dirt floor.

Australians drugged, raped and robbed at Thai beach parties, diplomat warns

Lindsay Murdoch Young Australians partying on beaches in southern Thailand are drinking a potentially deadly drug cocktail made from a local leaf trafficked by criminals who then prey on them.

Canada passenger train collides with bus in capital, at least six dead

Randall Palmer A passenger train collided with a double-decker city bus on the outskirts of Ottawa and derailed on Wednesday, killing at least five people, an emergency official said.

Soccer match-fixing scandal: police arrest 14 in Singapore

LINDSAY MURDOCH Authorities in Singapore have arrested 14 members of a syndicate accused of rigging soccer matches, only days after the Victorian Premier League arrests shocked Australian sport.

Foss Lake mystery: cold cases opened as skeletons found in cars

For more than a generation, a rural community in the US has been haunted by a mystery: what happened to three teenagers who headed off to a high school football game in the early 1970s and were never seen again?

Washington massacre survivor: gunman set up camp outside my office

Aaron Davis Christopher Mercer hid under his desk as Aaron Alexis fired through his office door. Then just as he thought he was safe, the gunman returned.

White House shooting: man pleads guilty to avoid assassination charge

Andrew Zajac A man accused of trying to assassinate President Barack Obama in 2011 by firing at the White House has pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm during a crime and jeopardising lives.

Russia dismisses UN report on Syrian sarin attack

Steven Lee Myers Russia has sharply criticised the new UN report on Syria's chemical arms use as biased and incomplete, hardening the Kremlin's defence of the Syrian government.

Graft net closes on a major fish

PHILIP WEN Bo Xilai's downfall has shaken other Communist Party giants. Zhou Yongkang, the ruthless former chief of domestic security, is now in the crosshairs of the party's anti-corruption drive.

Gunman tried to buy assault rifle

Michael Schmidt The gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday had test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun shop last week and tried to buy one, but was stopped by Virginia state law.

Tourists in Acapulco desperate as storm toll rises

Michael Weissentein The death toll in the Mexican floods has risen to 57 as desperation mounted in the cut-off resort of Acapulco.

Greece crippled by fresh strikes

Thousands of striking Greek public sector workers have taken to the streets, closing hospitals, schools and transport links, bringing many parts of the country to a standstill.

Starbucks says guns unwelcome, though not banned

Candice Choi Starbucks says guns are no longer welcome in its cafes, though it is stopping short of an outright ban on firearms.

No thongs allowed: city plays it safe to avoid footing the bill

Meghann Cuniff, McClatchy When Jenna Burgdorf sat at a picnic table enjoying San Juan Capistrano's new dog park recently, the 20-year-old had no idea she was violating park rules regarding footwear. The culprit? Her thongs.

Landslide wipes out tourists in New Zealand

Two Canadian tourists travelling around the South Island may have been swept to their deaths by a landslide with wreckage of their van found spread over 50 kilometres.

China's mooncake crackdown

PHILIP WEN President Xi Jinping's white-knuckled anti-corruption crackdown has engulfed another unsuspecting victim: the humble mooncake.

Report: Syrian sarin strikes came from crack Assad unit

C.J. Chivers Details buried in the UN report on the Syrian chemical weapons attack suggest that elite military formations loyal to President Bashar al-Assad fired sarin-filled rockets at civilians.

Geoffrey Portway, would-be child killer and cannibal, gets 27 years jail

A British man who plotted to kidnap, rape, kill and eat children has been jailed for nearly 27 years in the US. Police found a child-sized coffin and torture equipment at his home.

Edward Snowden in line for European human rights award

Dan Bilefsky NSA leaker Edward Snowden has been nominated for a prestigious human rights award in Europe, a move that is sure to irk the United States, which wants him tried as a traitor.

Washington gunman treated for mental health issues: officials

David Alexander US law enforcement officials say that the Navy contractor identified as the gunman in the mass shootings at the Washington Navy Yard had been suffering a host of serious mental issues, including paranoia and a sleep disorder.

I do (again): Swaziland's king takes 14th wife

Swaziland's King Mswati III has chosen an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant as his 14th wife, a palace spokesman says, days before a much-criticised parliamentary vote.

UK man robbed of Grand Theft Auto game

A man who picked up one of the first copies of Grand Theft Auto V when shops opened at midnight was stabbed and robbed of the game as he made his way home.

A family braces for the news they fear

Ian Shapira All day and into the night, they waited for news. Sylvia Frasier's parents and siblings gathered, hoping to hear something about her fate.

Russia, France at odds over Syrian response

Maria Antonova Russia and France have admitted they still had differences over how to solve the Syrian conflict before a debate in the UN Security Council over stripping the country of its chemical arsenal.

Floods claim eight lives, destroy 1600 homes

Keith Coffman Colorado is cleaning up and counting the cost of the massive floods that caught many off guard.

Costa Concordia upright again

Giglio Island: Salvage operators in Italy have lifted the Costa Concordia cruise ship upright from its watery grave off the island of Giglio in the biggest ever project of its kind.

Horror in the heart of US power: how the Washington Navy Yard massacre unfolded

NICK O'MALLEY The killing at the US Navy Yard began with the work day, as 3000 military and civilian staff were settling at their desks or taking their first meetings in a sprawling facility in the US capital.

Massacre: Don't expect gun reform

NICK O'MALLEY Despite another mass killing, the chances of genuine change to gun laws are slim, thanks to the enormous political clout of the gun lobby in the United States.

Syria UN report: unequivocal, objective evidence chemical weapons used

RUTH POLLARD A United Nations chemical weapons team has found "clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface-rockets containing the nerve agent sarin" were used in last month's deadly attacks.

Turkey shoots down Syrian chopper

Kareem Fahim Turkey said its fighter planes shot down a Syrian military helicopter that flew into Turkish airspace on Monday, a potentially significant escalation of tensions between the neighbours.

Social

Iran ends brief social media access, calls it a glitch

Yeganeh Torbati Iranians had a few hours to access Facebook and Twitter before a web firewall went back up.

White House security scare

The White House was locked down in a sudden security alert after a man threw firecrackers over the outer fence, sparking alarm hours after a gun massacre in Washington.

Afghan policewomen battle sex abuse

Alissa Rubin An unpublished United Nations report on female police officers in Afghanistan found accounts of pervasive sexual assault and harassment by their male colleagues.

Muslim woman's veil allowed in British court

Stephen Castle The vexing debate over the wearing of full-face veils in public has come to Britain, a country that prides itself on the protection of individual liberty.

Japan tells 300,000 households to evacuate

Typhoon Man-yi has battered central Japan, forcing the evacuation of almost 300,000 households amid fears the storm could go on to hit the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Chinese blogger Charles Xue 'confesses' on state TV

Philip Wen Chinese celebrity blogger appears on prime-time television to renounce his online blog posts and encourage greater government control of the internet after being arrested for soliciting prostitutes.

Kerry warns strikes still on table

David Lerman After reaching a dramatic deal with Russia on eliminating Syria's chemical weapons, US Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to shore up support from Washington's traditional allies.

Indian rapists' lawyer warned over 'misogyny'

A lawyer for two men sentenced to death for the fatal gang-rape of an Indian student could lose his licence for remarks that "reek of misogyny", a regulatory body says.

Cambodia: violence over disputed elections leave protester dead, hundreds injured

LINDSAY MURDOCH Police fired smoke grenades and water cannons in clashes with hundreds of demonstrators on Phnom Penh's waterfront, leaving one protester dead and hundreds injured.

$US300 million inheritance disputed

Anemona Hartocollis Does a card every Christmas entitle the sender to part of a $300 million-plus inheritance? A US court is about to decide whether estranged relatives should get an heiress's fortune.

Mexico hurricanes kill 20 people

Hurricane Ingrid and Tropical Storm Manuel have triggered rain, landslides and floods on Mexico's east and west coasts, killing at least 20 people and forcing thousands to evacuate.

Israel backs John Kerry on Syrian deal, for now

Netanyahu says the deal will be judged by the results - the total destruction of all Syria's chemical weapon stocks

Colorado floods: 700 listed as missing

Jenny Deam Widespread flood recovery efforts are continuing in Colorado as hundreds of residents remain unaccounted for and the death toll rises.

Cheeky Romanians stick it to the Brits

Gemma Khaicy "We speak better English than anywhere you've been in France."

Wind farms a disease, says Boris Johnson

Wind farms are a "disease" that have blighted Britain's countryside and the country should embrace nuclear power and fracking to meet its energy needs, London Mayor Boris Johnson says.

Fresh wave of unrest across Iraq

A wave of attacks across Iraq, including a dozen car bombs, has killed at least 26 people while the head of Baghdad's provincial council escaped assassination in the capital.

Breakthrough on chemical weapons

The United States and Russia have reached a sweeping agreement that calls for Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons to be removed or destroyed by the middle of 2014 and indefinitely stalls the prospect of US air strikes.

US, Russia agree plan on Syria weapons

The United States and Russia have agreed on an ambitious plan to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons by the middle of next year.

Ceasefire fails in Philippines

Norman P Aquino, Joel Guinto Philippine soldiers and Muslim rebels traded fire in the restive south as the death toll rose to 53 in the most serious security crisis President Benigno Aquino's administration has faced.

Rights groups slam India death sentences

Indian rights groups have voiced dismay over death sentences handed to four men for a fatal gang rape, saying it was unlikely to reverse the country's "rape crisis" despite a clamour for their execution.

No more shark fin soup for us, vow Hong Kong authorities

David Jolly Hong Kong has bowed to years of pressure from environmental groups, saying it will no longer allow shark fin to be served at official functions.

Activist billionaire arrested in China

Edward Wong A Chinese billionaire venture capitalist who has strongly advocated more liberal political and social policies has been detained by Beijing police officers, friends of the businessman said.

Raise the Costa Concordia: salvage operation begins

The Costa Concordia will finally be hauled upright in an unprecedented 12-hour operation involving 500 men, 30,000 tonnes of steel and hollow boxes the height of an 11-storey building.

Hurricane Ingrid heads for Mexico

Ingrid has became the second hurricane of the 2013 season with authorities in Mexico predicting life-threatening conditions when it reaches landfall.

Police sweep striking teachers from plaza

Tim Johnson Riot police backed by water cannon have swept into the historic heart of Mexico's capital, to flush out striking teachers, some of whom swung pipes and threw rocks at security forces.

Space

Voyager 1 exits solar system in breathtaking achievement, 36 years after launch

The spacecraft's technology was laughable by today's standards: it carried an eight-track tape recorder and computers with 240,000 times less memory than a low-end iPhone.

Freedom Flotilla makes Papua connection, organisers claim

MICHAEL BACHELARD One Freedom Flotilla protest vessel has completed its ceremonial mission, meeting activists from West Papua in secret while another acted as a decoy, organisers have claimed.

The five best arguments for striking Syria — and the best rebuttals

Ezra Klein There's no one argument for the US striking Syria. There are many. And some of them contradict each other.

Australian Meliad Farah will be tried for Israeli tourist bus bombing in Bulgaria

Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarian prosecutors hope to put an Australian and a Canadian on trial by April over their suspected involvement in a bomb attack that killed six people.

Bashar al-Assad to give up chemical weapons because of Russia initiative

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his government has agreed to surrender its chemical weapons in response to Russia's initiative and not because of the US threat of attack.

New Jersey boardwalk goes up in flames

A famous Jersey Shore boardwalk barely rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy is threatened by fire, as flames that began in a historic frozen custard shop quickly engulfed businesses.

Prince William quits armed forces

Prince William is to leave the armed forces and temporarily focus on official engagements both in Britain and overseas, Kensington Palace says.

New aquifers found in desert-dry region of Kenya

A remote region of Kenya that suffers from frequent droughts may soon be flush with water after the discovery of huge underground aquifers.

Rapping American jihadi killed: reports

A rapping jihadi from Alabama who ascended the ranks of Somalia's al-Qaida-linked militant group high enough to attract a $5 million U.S. government bounty was killed Thursday in an ambush ordered by the militant group's leader, militants said.

Putin's Syria plan puts him in the driver's seat

Steven Lee Myers Russian President Vladimir Putin has, at least for now, made Russia indispensable in containing the conflict in Syria and has eclipsed President Barack Obama as the world leader driving the agenda.

Comments

Soccer triumph brings joy for war-weary Afghans

Pamela Constable The Afghan capital erupted in joyous pandemonium Wednesday night after its national soccer team defeated India, 2-0, to win the South Asian Football Federation championship. It was the first international soccer trophy ever for the war-weary nation and the first ebullient mass outpouring anyone here could remember.

Spanish mayor holds lottery for scarce council jobs as unemployment nears 50 per cent

The day Jose Antonio Perez Zembrana won the lottery, he did not jump for joy. He was pleased, of course. But around him were so many people from this village in the south of Spain who could have used the prize - a job.

Anthony Weiner runs last in bid for New York mayor nomination

NICK O'MALLEY Anthony Weiner's mayoralty campaign ended with him dead last in the count and being chased by Sydney Leathers through a McDonald's to find a back entrance to his election night party.

Italy

Costa Concordia to be righted soon

The hull of the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that has been lying sideways off the Italian coast since a deadly accident last year, is set to be righted next week, a government official said.

Muslim girl told to wear 'burkini'

A German federal court has rejected an appeal by a Muslim schoolgirl who wanted to skip swimming lessons because she was uncomfortable being close to bare-chested boys in the pool.