Hillary Clinton meets Burma president for historic talks
US secretary of state hails 'new chapter in relations' ahead of private dinner with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
The US secretary of state has begun her first substantive talks withBurma's new leaders, in a meeting Washington hopes will embolden reformers in the country where entrenched military interests loom large.
Hillary Clinton, whose landmark visit on Thursday marks a tentative rapprochement after more than 50 years of estrangement with the west, began a series of meetings with the president, Thein Sein, the foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, and officials from parliament in Naypyitaw, the country's new capital.
"I am here today because President Obama and myself are encouraged by the steps you and your government have taken to provide for your people," Clinton told Thein Sein as the two sat down for talks in the presidential palace.
With his wiry frame clad in a blue shellsuit, a disengaged expression and cropped, mousy hair, Dmitry Konovalov looks more like a playground terrorist than a real one. But a court in Belarus yesterday decided that, together with his friend Vladislav Kovalyov, he was responsible for a series of very real crimes, the worst of which was the planning and execution of a bomb attack on the Minsk metro system in April this year, which killed 15 people and injured over 200. Amid gasps of shock and cries of disgust in the viewing gallery, the pair were sentenced to death.
Giant meat-eating 'Milky Bar' snail stuns hikers
December 1, 2011
A giant carnivorous albino snail has been found living in New Zealand bushland.
A group of trampers stumbled across the white Powelliphanta - only the second recorded - during a trip though the Kahurangi National Park at the tip of the South Island.
"Our group had seen three or four snails already that morning as it had rained and they'd come out in the wet conditions," said hiker Bill Brough, of Motueka.
"Then I saw the white snail and went wow! We were excited to see it, knowing how extraordinary it was."
Powelliphanta snails are found only in New Zealand and are the giants of the snail world. They are carnivores, with their favourite prey being earthworms. They also eat slugs.
Kabila camp threatens to smash DRC rival's 'insurrection'
KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - Dec 01 2011 06:45
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Two days after elections marred by deadly violence and reports of fraud began, Presidential Majority secretary-general Aubin Minaku accused opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS party of "insurrectionist schemes".
"We're in the last phase of the insurrectionist schemes of the UDPS," Minaku said.
"The state will exercise its prerogatives in a firm manner" if there is any unrest, he added.
"Whoever commits an infraction, even if it's Etienne Tshisekedi, will have to face the force of the law, that's what we will see in the coming days."
Monday's polls were marred by allegations of fraud, chaos at many voting centres and apparent separatist attacks that killed at least 10 people. Four opposition presidential candidates have called for the elections to be annulled, alleging pro-Kabila fraud -- though Tshisekedi has not joined the call.
Pakistan to US: Vacate Shamsi airbase by Dec 11
Pakistan has set a December 11 deadline for the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase, used to launch drone attacks, following a Nato airstrike that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday in Karachi: "The US will vacate the airbase by December 11."
Islamabad on Saturday asked the US to vacate Shamsi airbase in Balochistan province.
Nato helicopter gunships had targeted two border posts in Mohmand Agency November 26, killing 24 soldiers and sparking outrage in the country.
The US has been using the airbase for nearly a decade for military operations in Afghanistan and drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions, said Xinhua.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan had sent a formal letter to the US to vacate the airbase. Islamabad has stopped the passage of Nato supply through the country to protest the Nato attack.
Eviction pushes Occupy protesters in new directions
Activists in L.A. and around the country weigh new strategies to continue momentum after the loss of City Hall and other sites, and a possible end to using camps as a primary tactic.
By Abby Sewell and Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times
Within hours of the dismantling of the largest of the remainingOccupy Wall Street-inspired encampments outside Los Angeles City Hall, organizers were framing the eviction as a new beginning.
"City Hall and the occupation of City Hall was a potent and powerful symbol," said Mario Brito, an Occupy protester who was among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Monday in an attempt to stop the city's action. But "our movement is not just made of symbols."
The end of the Los Angeles camp — and the OccupyPhiladelphia site, which was dismantled the same night — could signal the end of public encampments as the Occupy movement's primary tactic.
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