<![CDATA[Straits Times Interactive - WORLD]]> en-us Copyright 2005 Straits Times Interactive. 8 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT 8 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT 60 <![CDATA[Straits Times Interactive]]> http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/others/rss/sti_rss_logo.gif 120 31 <![CDATA[Leaders pay Berlin Wall tribute]]> BERLIN - WORLD leaders past and present on Monday gathered for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, with 100,000 people expected at celebrations to toast a free and united Europe.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French and Russian presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev and representatives from across the European Union as well as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of German unity.

]]> 9 Nov 2009 02:53 GMT <![CDATA[Burglar caught napping]]> SYDNEY - AN EXHAUSTED Australian man fell asleep while apparently trying to pick the lock of a shopping centre after a 'long night", police said on Monday.

The 35-year-old man was found snoozing outside a Perth shopping complex early Sunday with a lock-breaking wire still in his hand, police spokesman Samuel Dinnison said.

]]> 9 Nov 2009 02:33 GMT <![CDATA[Obama to meet Netanyahu]]> WASHINGTON - US PRESIDENT Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for the first time since US efforts to restart Middle East peace talks stalled, a White House official said.

The US president will host Mr Netanyahu at the White House's Oval Office on Monday evening, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

]]> 9 Nov 2009 00:54 GMT <![CDATA[Sex attacks by women up]]> LONDON - REPORTS of women carrying out sex attacks on children have soared in the last five years, a British charity said on Monday.

ChildLine said there had been a 132 per cent rise in reports of female sex abuse made to its telephone helpline, compared to a 27 per cent rise in abuse by men in the same five-year period.

]]> 9 Nov 2009 00:35 GMT <![CDATA[Tied to 9/11 hijackers?]]> WASHINGTON - THE alleged Fort Hood shooter apparently attended the same Virginia mosque as two Sept 11 hijackers in 2001, a time when a radical imam preached there.

Whether the Fort Hood shooter associated with the hijackers is something the FBI will look into, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 23:17 GMT <![CDATA[Karzai vows to fight corruption]]> WASHINGTON - AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai has vowed to remove corrupt officials from government, after high-profile international criticism that graft has undermined coalition war efforts.

In an interview to be broadcast Monday, Mr Karzai told PBS that 'individuals who are involved in corruption will have no place in the government.' His comments come after warnings from the UN and others that Afghanistan could see billions in international asistance dry up unless his new government tackles corruption.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 23:06 GMT <![CDATA[Families sue over plane crash]]> WASHINGTON - RELATIVES of eight victims of an Air France flight that crashed en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris have filed lawsuits in the United States and Britain seeking damages.

The US lawsuits filed in Illinois and California, copies of which were obtained by AFP on Sunday, name as defendants Airbus and a number of companies that make airplane instruments, including General Electric, Motorola and Intel.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 23:00 GMT <![CDATA[Hurricane floods kill 91]]> SAN SALVADOR - A LATE-SEASON hurricane ravaged parts of Central America on Sunday as floods and landslides killed at least 91 in El Salvador and thousands were left homeless in Nicaragua.

Hurricane Ida, which grew to a category two storm on Sunday, was now moving into the southern Gulf of Mexico.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 22:45 GMT <![CDATA[Iraq approves 2010 election law]]> BAGHDAD - IRAQI MPs on Sunday approved a law to govern the country's general election in early 2010, paving the way to finalise a date for a vote seen as crucial ahead of a US military exit from the country.

The law was passed after weeks of delays and following huge pressure from the United Nations, religious leaders and the United States, with intense lobbying at parliament on Sunday from American ambassador Christopher Hill.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 22:30 GMT <![CDATA[Sarkozy office seeks favours?]]> PARIS - FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy's office on Sunday denied it was seeking favourable treatment when an advisor called a grant-giving body to find out why one of Mr Sarkozy's sons was not given an award.

The denial came after the Civil Society of Phonographic Producers (SCPP), which groups French record labels, said that Sarkozy's office had called to find out why his eldest son Pierre had been turned down for a grant.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 22:15 GMT <![CDATA[Next step in health care fight]]> WASHINGTON - DEMOCRATS on Sunday girded for the next battle to push the most sweeping US health care overhaul in a half-century through Congress, after handing President Barack Obama victory in a narrow House vote.

Following a razor-thin win late on Saturday in the House of Representatives which saw 39 Democrats vote against the controversial bill, Mr Obama urged the whole Senate to rally behind the issue when it takes up its version in the coming weeks.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 22:07 GMT <![CDATA[US health-care bill passed]]> WASHINGTON - THE US House of Representatives has approved a sweeping overhaul of the health-care system after a day-long debate and an appeal from President Barack Obama to 'answer the call of history'.

Late on Saturday, lawmakers passed by a vote of 220 to 215 a 10-year, US$3 trillion (S$4.2 trillion) plan to extend health coverage to 36 million Americans not covered currently.

]]> 8 Nov 2009 22:00 GMT