Yahoo! News: World News
Gen. Petraeus calls relationship with Karzai sound (AP)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a meeting with U.S. senator John Kerry at the Presidential Palace in Kabul August 20, 2010. REUTERS/Yuri Cortez/PoolAP - The top US military commander in Afghanistan says the sometimes strained relationship between the US and Afghan President Hamid Karzai is solid.


Google, Skype targeted in India security crackdown (AP)

In this photo taken on Friday Aug. 27, 2010, a man chats on his mobile as he walks past the hoarding of BlackBerry mobile in Ahmadabad, India.  Indian authorities are scheduled to meet Monday evening, Aug. 30,  to decide whether to ban some BlackBerry services in India, an official said, one day ahead of a government-imposed deadline for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. to give security agencies access to encrypted data or face a ban. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)AP - India has widened its security crackdown, asking all companies that provide encrypted communications — not just BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion — to install servers in the country to make it easier for the government to obtain users' data. That would likely affect digital giants like Google and Skype.


2 US troops, dozens of Afghan insurgents killed (AP)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, is greeted by top NATO commander Gen. David Petraeus as he arrives in Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010.  (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)AP - Two American troops died in fighting in Afghanistan on Thursday, while NATO and local officials said coalition and Afghan forces killed dozens of insurgents in a series of ground and air engagements.


Sudan's north-south faultline worries about war (AP)

In this photo of Saturday, Aug.14, 2010, Residents of Agok in the contested border zone of Abyei gather under a tree for a session of traditional court, which occurs three times a week in this town, which is largely populated by the Ngok Dinka people. Four months before Southern Sudan is scheduled to hold an independence referendum, tensions are already rising in this oil-rich region that sits on the expected future border with allegations the central government is using violence and ethnic cleansing to sway the vote. The central Sudan region of Abyei is the subject of a tug-of-war between leaders in Sudan's north and south. The border zone is home to some of Sudan's richest oil fields, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.(AP Photo/Maggie Fick)AP - Four months before Southern Sudan is scheduled to hold an independence referendum, tensions are already rising in this oil-rich region that sits on the expected future border, with allegations the central government is using violence and ethnic cleansing to sway the vote.


SAfrica to end amnesty for illegal Zimbabweans (AP)

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2008 file photo, Zimbabweans queue at Home Affairs offices in Musina, South Africa, close to the Zimbabwean border, to seek  refugee status. South African government says Zimbabwean nationals in the country without proper documents will be arrested and deported early next year. Government spokesman Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010 said the special dispensation implemented April 2009 to allow Zimbabweans to stay in the country even when they have no proper papers, will end on Dec 31. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, file)AP - South Africa's government is withdrawing the special status granted to illegal Zimbabwean immigrants who fled their country's economic meltdown and political violence, a spokesman said Thursday.


Tony Blair in 'A Journey': On U.S. Leaders Bush, Clinton (Time.com)

Copies of Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair's book is placed on sale at a bookshop in London, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. Tony Blair's long-awaited memoir says the former British prime minister doesn't regret the Iraq war, although he wept for its victims, and carries revelations about the politician's alcohol use, his interactions with the queen and his testy relationship with his successor. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)Time.com - In an essay exclusively adapted for TIME from his new memoir, A Journey, Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair reflects on the U.S. Presidents he has known and worked with -- and on their country


Pakistan cricketers claim innocence in betting scam (AFP)

Pakistani cricketer Salman Butt (R) is escorted by a policeman through a scrum of media personnel outside the Pakistan High Commission in central London on September 2. The three Pakistan cricketers accused of involvement in an illegal betting scam protested their innocence Thursday as they formally withdrew from the scandal-tainted tour of England.(AFP/Leon Neal)AFP - The three Pakistan cricketers accused of involvement in an illegal betting scam protested their innocence Thursday as they formally withdrew from the scandal-tainted tour of England.


Group promotes Egypt's spy chief for president (AP)

An Egyptian man walks past four posters showing and supporting Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, which surround one poster showing and supporting Gamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, in the Giza area of Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. A group of activists have hung up posters around Egypt's capital supporting the country's intelligence chief as a possible candidate in next year's presidential elections. Writing in Arabic on posters showing Omar Suleiman reads 'The real alternative: Omar Suleiman, President for the Republic', and on posters showing Gamal Mubarak reads 'Yes to Gamal Mubarak, regards from Moataz Abdel-Hamid Ahmed and brothers'. (AP Photo)AP - Activists on Thursday hung posters across Cairo supporting Egypt's intelligence chief as a candidate in next year's presidential elections, the latest campaign to try to undermine a possible father-son succession in the Arab world's most populous nation.


Facebook page leads search for loved ones in Haiti (AP)
AP - The desperate quest to find loved ones started just minutes after the earthquake, as cell phones rang unanswered from beneath the rubble of Haiti's best hotel.
Mozambique says price hikes 'irreversible' (AFP)

A protester sets fire to tires on a street in Maputo, Mozambique. Mozambique's government called price rises in the impoverished southern African country AFP - Mozambique's government Thursday called price rises in the impoverished southern African country "irreversible" despite violent protests that it said left seven dead and 288 wounded.


Afghan govt declares bank safe amid withdrawal rush (AFP)

Afghans wait to withdraw money from the Kabul Bank. Afghan financial authorities and the owners of Afghanistan's biggest bank said that Kabul Bank was in no danger of collapsing, as people across the country rushed to withdraw their money.(AFP/Shah Marai)AFP - Afghan financial authorities and the owners of Afghanistan's biggest bank said Thursday that Kabul Bank was in no danger of collapsing, as people across the country rushed to withdraw their money.


Tories in deadlock with Liberals in poll (Reuters)
Reuters - Support for the governing Conservative Party slipped in an opinion poll released on Thursday, and the party is in a statistical dead heat with the opposition Liberals.
Australia's Gillard inches closer to power (Reuters)
Reuters - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard inched closer to a return to power on Thursday after one of four independent lawmakers holding the balance of power threw his support behind her Labor Party.
Obama challenges Netanyahu, Abbas to seize the opportunity (McClatchy Newspapers)
McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — On the eve of the first direct talks in nearly two years between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, President Barack Obama welcomed the leaders to the White House on Wednesday and urged them to "recognize this as a moment of opportunity that must be seized."
The trickiest issue in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas enter direct peace talks on Thursday, an intensifying battle for Jerusalem has rendered the conflict’s trickiest issue even more intractable.
Why Israelis Don't Care About Peace with Palestinians (Time.com)
Time.com - Israelis feel prosperous, secure -- and disengaged from the peace process with the Palestinians. Is that wise?
Mexico Massacre Galvanises Migrant Rights Activists (OneWorld.net)
OneWorld.net - MEXICO CITY, Sep 1 (IPS) - Activists in Latin America have been galvanised by atrocities like the recent massacre of 72 migrants near the U.S. border to step up their efforts on behalf of migrant rights.