Straits Times Interactive - WORLD

Inexperience found in AirAsia X Australia probe

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:20:00 GMT

SYDNEY (AFP) - Two AirAsia X crews who flew dangerously low into Australia's Gold Coast were 'probably not adequately equipped' to make the descent, Australian air safety investigators have found.

Steve Tsang: China's Syrian Folly

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:45:00 GMT

In vetoing the UN Security Council's draft resolution on Syria, China claims that it has acted in the interests of the Syrian people.

In fact, the Chinese stance has effectively ensured that atrocities in Syria will continue and increase in intensity - and that China's soft power will diminish throughout the Middle East.

Steve Tsang is Director of the China Policy Institute and Professor of Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham.

Qantas chief lashed for fleet grounding comments

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:15:00 GMT

SYDNEY (AFP) - Qantas chief Alan Joyce on Monday said a fleet grounding he ordered last year was 'positive for the brand', sparking an angry backlash from pilots who called his comments 'bizarre and worrying'.

London police launch security hotline ahead of Olympic Games

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:08:00 GMT

LONDON (AFP) - With just over five months to go until the Olympic Games, police in London launched a new anti-terrorism hotline on Monday to persuade residents and visitors to shop potential attackers.

White House sticking to contraception plan

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:06:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama will not make any more changes to the rule announced last week requiring health insurance plans to provide women with coverage for contraception, although United States Catholic bishops have said it violates the Church's religious principles.

Carnival goes to the dogs with Rio pet parade

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:29:00 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Most pre-Carnival street parties in Brazil are all about samba, but the moves on display at Blocao parade are focused more on wagging and strategic sniffing than on fancy footwork.

Flight quarantined in New Zealand over flu scare

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:26:00 GMT

WELLINGTON (AFP) - An Air New Zealand flight was quarantined on the tarmac at Auckland airport Monday after about 60 passengers on a flight from Japan displayed 'flu-like symptoms', the airline said.

Greek police fire tear gas as 100,000 protest austerity plan

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:17:00 GMT

ATHENS (AFP) - Greek police on Sunday fired tear gas at petrol bomb-throwing protesters outside parliament, where tens of thousands had massed in a rally against austerity plans being debated by lawmakers.

Salvage workers begin pumping fuel from Italian shipwreck

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:15:00 GMT

ROME (AFP) - Salvage workers on Sunday began pumping fuel from the shipwrecked Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, a day ahead of schedule, officials said.

Greek parliament approves new austerity bill as Athens burns

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:09:00 GMT

ATHENS (AFP) - Greek lawmakers approved a new round of drastic austerity measures late Sunday after a long day of street battles between police and protesters left Athens buildings ablaze and the streets in chaos.

Arabs agree on Syria opposition contacts, peace force

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:01:00 GMT

CAIRO (AFP) - The Arab League said on Sunday it had agreed to open contacts with Syria's opposition and ask the United Nations to form a joint peacekeeping force to the nation, moves swiftly denounced by Syria.

Pakistan PM faces indictment for contempt

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:57:00 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday faces indictment for contempt in Supreme Court which may cost him his job for his refusal to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

US, allies putting 'pressure' on Syria: White House

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:54:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and its allies are bringing 'pressure to bear' on Syria, White House chief of Staff Jacob Lew said on Sunday, predicting the efforts would lead to the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule.

German mayor forced out 1 1/2 years after Love Parade tragedy

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:52:00 GMT

BERLIN (AFP) - The mayor of Duisburg was forced to resigned on Sunday, a year and a half after 21 were killed in a panicked stampede at the Love Parade music festival held in the western German city.

Man attacks pilot on Brazilian jet, subdued by fellow passengers

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:46:00 GMT

MONTEVIDEO (AFP) - Passengers leapt to the aid of the pilot of a Brazilian jet, subduing an attacker on a flight from Montevideo to Sao Paulo, a officials said on Sunday.

Castro meets writers and intellectuals at Havana book fair

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

HAVANA (AFP) - An animated Fidel Castro met for more than nine hours with writers and intellectuals at Havana's International Book Fair, in a return to form for the ailing Cuban leader, the local media reported on Saturday.

Former Maldives president rejects US compromise call

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

MALE (AFP) - Ousted Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed on Sunday rejected a United States (US) call for compromise and dismissed proposals for a unity government to end political unrest in the Indian Ocean nation.

8 arrested in bribery probe at Murdoch's Sun

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

LONDON (AFP) - Britain's top-selling newspaper The Sun was in crisis on Saturday after police arrested five of its journalists over bribery allegations, but owner Rupert Murdoch vowed to keep publishing the tabloid.

Statue of Carla Bruni as a worker angers France

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:01:00 GMT

PARIS (AFP) - A French mayor's plan to erect a statue of President Nicolas Sarkozy's former supermodel wife Carla Bruni in worker's attire has angered the opposition and embarrassed the first lady.

Arabs ministers meet over Syria after UN veto

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:11:00 GMT

CAIRO (REUTERS) - Arab ministers met in Cairo on Sunday to discuss efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria after Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed Arab League peace plan at the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

Earthquake shakes Switzerland, no damage reported

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:02:00 GMT

GENEVA (AP) - The Swiss Seismological Service says a moderate earthquake shook Switzerland with the epicentre in the north-central canton (state) Zug and Lake Zurich area.

Osama told children to live in peace in the West

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:37:00 GMT

LONDON (AFP) - Slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden urged his younger children to go live peacefully in the West and get a university education, his brother-in-law said in an interview published on Sunday.

Palestinian unity deal a mistake: Gaza Hamas leader

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:25:00 GMT

CAIRO (AFP) - Senior Hamas official Mahmud Zahar slammed a Palestinian unity deal as a 'mistake' that has thrown the Islamist movement into crisis, in an interview with Egypt's official Mena agency published on Sunday.

Iran speaker warns Gulf Arab states not to side with US

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:22:00 GMT

TEHERAN (AFP) - Iran's parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani warned Iran will not forgive Gulf Arab nations if they continue backing United States (US) 'plots' against Teheran, local media reported on Sunday.

US sex abuse lawsuit against Vatican dismissed

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Lawyers for a man who was sexually abused decades ago by a priest at a Wisconsin school for the deaf have withdrawn their lawsuit naming Pope Benedict XVI and other top Vatican officials as defendants.