CAIRO - PRESIDENT Barack Obama called for a 'new beginning' in relations between the United States and the Muslim world on Thursday, addressing grievances over the Arab-Israeli conflict, two US-led wars and tensions over Iran.
Speaking to the world's more than one billion Muslims from Cairo, he pledged to pursue Palestinian statehood, said US troops did not want to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan forever and offered mutual respect in dealings with long-time foe, Tehran.
HONG KONG - A STEADY stream of Hong Kong citizens keen to mark the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests began four hours before the candlelight vigil started on Thursday.
The crowd was still pouring in 40 minutes after the lighting of the first candle.
FERNANDO DE NORONHA (Brazil) - AIR France has told families of passengers on Flight 447 that the jetliner broke apart and they must abandon hope that anyone survived, a grief counselor said on Thursday as military aircraft tried to narrow their search for the remains of the plane.
Air France's CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told the families in a private meeting that the plane broke apart either in the air or when it slammed into the ocean, according to Guillaume Denoix de Saint-Marc, who was asked by Paris prosecutors to help counsel family members and was at the Wednesday meeting with Air France.
BANGKOK - US actor David Carradine was found dead, naked and hanging from a rope in the closet of his luxury Bangkok hotel room on Thursday, Thai police said. He was 72.
Police said they were alerted to the death of the actor, who won fame as the wandering monk in the 'Kung Fu' television series, on Thursday morning.
